Two big matches have been revealed for the first WWE RAW of 2023.
WWE has announced that RAW Women’s Champion Bianca Belair will defend her title against Alexa Bliss on the January 2 RAW from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.
Bliss claimed she didn’t know what happened last week, but Belair didn’t believe her. Bliss talked about how Wyatt walked out on her and left her with abandonment issues, which she’s trying to work through. Belair mentioned how she knows what Bliss and Wyatt are capable of, but Bliss said she’s trying to make this about Wyatt when it’s all about Bliss. Bliss then declared that Wyatt is not a threat to Belair, but she is. They had a few more words and the segment ended with Bliss smashing a vase of flowers over the back of Belair’s head as she went to leave. Video can be seen below.
This will be the first-ever singles bout between Bliss and Belair.
The first RAW of 2023 will also see WWE United States Champion Austin Theory defend his title against Seth Rollins.
Theory and Rollins have feuded for a few months now, and Theory captured the title by defeating Rollins and Bobby Lashley in a Triple Threat at WWE Survivor Series on November 26. Tonight’s RAW featured a heated in-ring exchange between the two, which you can see below. Theory later attacked Rollins with a belt shot to the head during tonight’s main event, which saw Rollins and Kevin Owens defeat Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos in a non-title match.
As noted, it was also announced tonight that next week’s RAW, the final red brand show of 2022, will be the “RAW: The Absolute Best of 2022” special episode. This Friday’s SmackDown was taped last week and full spoilers can be found here. The next live SmackDown is scheduled for December 30 at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, featuring Owens and John Cena vs. Sami Zayn and Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, while the next live RAW is the January 2 episode with the aforementioned title matches.
Below is the current line-up for the January 2 RAW, along with the related shots from tonight’s show:
* RAW Women’s Champion Bianca Belair defends against Alexa Bliss
* WWE United States Champion Austin Theory defends against Seth Rollins
Stay tuned to WrestlingHeadlines.com for more.
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