The road to WrestleMania Goes Hollywood officially kicks off tonight.
Following an exciting WWE Elimination Chamber 2023 premium live event over the weekend, the post-show episode of WWE RAW emanates live tonight from the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Canada.
On tap for tonight’s show is “The Rated-R Superstar” Edge going one-on-one against WWE United States Champion Austin Theory, as well as Drew McIntyre vs. Mustafa Ali and Seth Rollins vs. The Miz.
Featured below are complete WWE RAW results from Monday, February 20, 2023. The following report was written by PWMania.com reporter Matt Boone (@MattBoone0709) as the show aired live from 8-11pm EST. on the USA Network.
WWE RAW RESULTS (2/20/2023)
This week’s show kicks off with the usual “WWE Then. Now. Forever. Together.” opening signature narrated by WWE legend John Cena.
From there, we shoot to an elaborate video package recapping the Roman Reigns vs. Sami Zayn main event from Saturday’s WWE Elimination Chamber 2023 premium live event.
Sami Zayn Kicks Off Raw
We shoot live inside the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and immediately see the WrestleMania Goes Hollywood sign hanging in the rafters. Kevin Patrick and Corey Graves welcome us to the show, informing us that tonight officially kicks off the Road to WrestleMania.
From there, the theme for Sami Zayn hits and the fan-favorite makes his way to the ring as fans sing along with his catchy-ass theme song. He settles inside the ring and his Mighty Mighty Bostones-sounding tune fades down and the “Sami! Sami! Sami!” chants pick up.
The chants and cheers continue for another solid minute or two and then he begins by saying, “Wow…I’m feeling a lot of feelings.” He talks about how much the love from the fans this past week has been and how much it has meant to him. He thanks the fans and they respond with a loud “You deserve it!” chant.
Zayn talks about feeling like he let a lot of people down after coming up short against Roman Reigns at Elimination Chamber. He says it is because of the talk going into the match about needing to “finish his story.” He says one thing to keep in mind — around WWE — the story is never over.
Kevin Owens Is Still Done With Sami Zayn
He mentions heading into the next chapter, however, and calls out Kevin Owens. The familiar sounds of Owens’ theme hits and “The Prize Fighter” makes his way to the ring. Owens comes out and Zayn mentions how he’s grateful to him for coming out to help him over the weekend. He says the two each tried and failed to take out The Bloodline by themselves, and suggests they team up and try to do it together.
Owens responds by mentioning that he doesn’t need Zayn’s gratitude for Saturday night. He says he did it because he’s been going after The Bloodline for months alone. He says he was beaten down in front of his family by The Bloodline. He says he meant what he said after WarGames and that he is done with Zayn and will continue to go after The Bloodline alone. He says if Zayn wants help, “ask your buddy Jey Uso.” He walks off.
Sami Zayn vs. Baron Corbin
Now we see Sami Zayn heading up the ramp and out of nowhere Baron Corbin ambushes him from behind. As soon as he hits Zayn from behind, we cut directly into a picture-in-picture commercial break as his beatdown of Zayn at the top of the stage continues.
We return from the break and see Zayn is down and out, with several security and officials trying to help him up. Corbin says this is payback for Zayn interrupting his interview to come out to the ring and cry about all of his insecurities. He reminds everyone he was the last man to beat Roman Reigns.
Corbin then brags about predicting that Zayn would get beat down in front of his family and friends in his hometown by Reigns. He says his story is over and says tonight was just as pathetic, begging for help from Kevin Owens. He calls Zayn a complete and utter failure, but by this point, Zayn has recovered.
Zayn sprints down to the ring and comes completely unglued, tearing into Corbin with a vengeance. He beats him down in the ring and then tosses him out to the floor. The bell sounds as a referee jumps in the ring. Corey Graves informs us on commentary that Adam Pearce has made this an official impromptu match.
We see Sami go out after Corbin on the floor. He rams him into the steel ring post and then brings him back into the ring. He goes for his kick in the corner finisher on Corbin but Corbin sees it coming and avoids it. From there, he shifts the offensive momentum in his favor and goes to work on Zayn as the fans boo.
Baron continues to beat down Sami and hits a big spot on him before going for a cover and getting a close two-count. After Zayn kicks out, we head to a mid-match, picture-in-picture commercial break as the match continues.
When we return from the break, we see Corbin settle into the offensive lead again and nearly finish him off a few times, however when all is said-and-done, Zayn follows Corbin running into an opposing corner in the ring with his kick in the corner finisher for the pin fall victory.
Winner: Sami Zayn
Rhea Ripley & Dominik Mysterio Interview
The Progressive promotional segment of the evening looks back at the showdown between Rhea Ripley and Finn Balor vs. Edge and Beth Phoenix from the WWE Elimination Chamber 2023 premium live event over the weekend.
We then shoot back live inside the Canadian Tire Centre where Kevin Patrick and Corey Graves promote the Edge vs. Austin Theory showdown later in the show.
Now we see Rhea Ripley getting mic’d up with Dominik Mysterio sitting by her side as she will be in a featured interview segment when we return. On that note, we head into another commercial break.
As we settle back in from the break, we see Ripley and Dom seated together with Byron Saxton. They talk about the match at Elimination Chamber and then shift gears to her upcoming showdown against SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania Goes Hollywood.
Things close out with Rhea discussing going face-to-face with “The Queen” on Friday Night SmackDown later this week. Dom decides because his father, Rey Mysterio, has a match at the show, that he’ll go along with her.
Austin Theory Doesn’t Feel He Gets Credit He Deserves
Now we shoot to highlights from the WWE Elimination Chamber 2023 post-show press conference where Austin Theory spoke about an open challenge for the U.S. Championship on tonight’s show. We also see Edge talking trash about him in his post presser and their match for tonight being made.
From there, we shoot back live and we see Austin Theory backstage for an interview with Cathy Kelley. They talk about Theory’s win in the Men’s Chamber bout, how he isn’t getting the credit for it, and how everything is being out-shined by John Cena’s return in a few weeks.
The U.S. Champion then closes out the interview segment vowing to beat down Edge in his own “crappy Canada” country. He says after tonight, he’ll never lose. “How’s that for a headline?” he says before walking off.
Dolph Ziggler vs. Mustafa Ali
It’s time to head back to the ring as we switch gears for our next scheduled match of the evening. With that said, we head back inside the Canadian Tire Centre where we hear the familiar sounds of Dolph Ziggler’s theme music.
Ziggler makes his way to the ring for his advertised singles showdown against Mustafa Ali. As he finishes up his ring entrance, we head to a pre-match commercial break.
When we return from the break, Mustafa Ali makes his way down to the ring. As he does, we see split-screen footage of the past few weeks’ worth of backstage interactions involving Ziggler and Ali on Raw.
The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one, which sees “The Show-Off” jump into an early offensive lead. This doesn’t last long, however, as Ali starts to take over.
Following another minute or so of back-and-forth action, we see Ziggler go for his Fame-Ass-Er finisher only for Ali to counter and roll up the WWE veteran for the pin fall victory. As soon as he gets the three count, he seems shocked that he got the win. He runs around celebrating like he just won the title in the WrestleMania main event.
Winner: Mustafa Ali
The Miz Gets Exciting News From Maryse
Cathy Kelley is shown backstage attempting to get a word with The Miz, who is preoccupied in the background with his wife, Maryse. Kelley approaches the WWE power couple and we see Maryse hanging Miz a golden envelope.
He mentions the contents of said-envelope being bigger than his game-winning half-court shot at the NBA Celebrity All-Star game. He says he’ll save the reveal for next week on Miz TV on Raw.
They switch gears and focus on his match tonight with Seth “Freakin'” Rollins, talking about how he was upstaged by Logan Paul over the weekend. He mentions the news in the envelope being exciting and walks off with Maryse.
Things Get Even More Personal For Cody Rhodes Ahead Of WrestleMania Goes Hollywood
We then see Cody Rhodes in a suit walking backstage. Kevin Patrick and Corey Graves mention he will be up next when Raw returns. On that note, we head to another commercial break.
As we settle back in from the break, we see a shot of the crowd inside the Canadian Tire Centre and then the familiar sounds for “The American Nightmare” hits. The crowd pops as Cody Rhodes makes his way down to the ring.
Rhodes stops half-way to the ring and fireworks explode. He settle inside the squared circle and pyro explodes again. Corey Graves and Kevin Patrick remind everyone about Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania Goes Hollywood as the official match graphic flashes across the screen.
His theme dies down and the “Cody! Cody!” chants immediately spread throughout the arena. He begins, “So …” but before he can say anything else, we hear “My name is …” and see Paul Heyman appear on the big screen wearing a neck brace and holding Roman Reigns’ two titles.
Cody asks where Paul is. He says he’s backstage. Cody says he might as well come to the ring. Heyman says he doesn’t know if Cody is aware of this, but he was mauled on Saturday night and subject to the miserable Canadian health care system.
The two continue to talk and Heyman goes on a prolonged rant about whether or not Rhodes is man enough and willing to make the sacrifices necessary to handle the load that comes with being the champion.
He says he knows like Dustin Rhodes has always said, his father was never home and even when he was home, he was never home. He says he won’t go low and say something like Roman Reigns will keep Cody’s wife satisfied, he’s a happily married man. “But I’m not,” he concludes.
Rhodes smiles after looking serious for a while. Cody tells Roman Reigns he’s great but tells him not to send his “Wise Man” around again. He mentions how he knows he and Roman will be face to face soon.
He calls him the greatest champ in the history of the company and the current greatest champ in all of sports, but says that doesn’t mean a thing because “I must finish the story. I beat you at WrestleMania!” He drops the mic and his theme plays again to end the segment.
Asuka vs. Nikki Cross
We are shown highlights of Asuka’s victory in the Women’s Chamber match from the WWE Elimination Chamber 2023 premium live event this past Saturday night in Montreal.
After that, Asuka’s theme hits and she makes her way down to the ring. As “The Empress of Tomorrow” settles inside the ring, we hear Patrick and Graves promote her singles showdown against Nikki Cross coming up next.
But first, we head to some movie parodies with WWE Superstars for the WrestleMania Goes Hollywood two-night premium live event on April 1 and April 2 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA. After this, we head to another commercial break.
Following the break, Nikki Cross makes her way to the ring. As she does, we see highlights from the Women’s Chamber match. Back live, as soon as the bell sounds to officially get this one off-and-running, we hear Bianca Belair’s theme.
The Raw Women’s Champion and “The EST of WWE” makes her way out to get an up-close and personal look at this showdown between Cross and her challenger for WrestleMania Goes Hollywood, the 2023 Women’s Chamber winner Asuka.
Asuka and Cross finally start getting at it as Belair takes a seat next to commentators Patrick and Graves for this women’s one-on-one showdown here on the post-Elimination Chamber episode of Monday Night Raw in Ottawa.
We see Asuka miss a big kick and blast the steel ring post hard enough that Graves questions if she broke her foot. Cross then hits an inverted DDT on the hard part of the ring apron outside of the ring ropes as we head to a mid-match commercial break.
By the time we return from the break, we see Asuka starting to fight her way back into competitive form before ultimately taking over. She eventually gets Cross in her Asuka Lock and pulls off the submission victory.
Once the match wraps up, we see Bianca Belair enter the ring. She stares across the ring at Asuka and slowly raises her Raw Women’s Championship high in the air, before pointing to the WrestleMania Goes Hollywood sign in the rafters.
Asuka then starts drooling blue mist, the same she would use to spray in her opponents’ face to blind them. She smiles in sinister fashion and her theme plays again to end the post-match scene.
Winner: Asuka
Carmella Vows To Deliver Receipt To Asuka
We shoot backstage where Cathy Kelley is standing by with Carmella. She asks her about the Women’s Chamber match from the WWE Elimination Chamber 2023 premium live event. Mella vows to deliver a receipt to Asuka and make Belair’s victory easier than she’s expecting.
Omos Challenges Brock Lesnar To WrestleMania Match
We shoot to MVP who is shown after highlights of the Brock Lesnar vs. Bobby Lashley match and post-match attack from Lesnar to Lashley at Elimination Chamber. MVP calls Lesnar a coward.
Now we see the massive, 7’3” Omos standing by his side as the camera pans back. He mentions Omos is challenging Brock Lesnar to a match at WrestleMania Goes Hollywood. We will get the answer on next week’s show.
Seth “Freakin'” Rollins vs. The Miz
Carmella walks off and then Cathy Kelley notices Seth “Freakin'” Rollins walking backstage. She catches up with him for an impromptu interview. She asks him about Logan Paul’s attack on him at the Elimination Chamber event. Rollins vows to find Logan Paul and hurt Logan Paul.
He says since Paul is not here tonight, the man who wants to take credit for all of Logan’s success, The Miz, is a perfect surrogate to suffer on his behalf. He lets out his maniacal laugh and walks off.
Corey Graves and Kevin Patrick promote Rollins vs. Miz coming up next and then we head into another commercial break. When we return, The Miz makes his way down to the ring as Graves over-hypes his half-court shot from the NBA Celebrity All-Star game.
Miz settles in the ring and his music dies down. We then hear “BURN IT DOWN!!!” and out comes Seth “Freakin'” Rollins as fans sing along with his music and he makes his way to the squared circle for our next match of the evening.
The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one. We see Rollins charge across the ring and immediately start taking his frustrations on Logan Paul out on “The Most Must-See WWE Superstar in History.”
Now the action spills out to the floor where Miz tries to take over, but ends up getting slammed into the ringside barricade for his efforts. Rollins rolls Miz back into the ring and continues to work over “The A-Lister” as the fans start to sing along to Rollins’ theme again.
We see Rollins hit a slide drop-kick on Miz that launches him over the commentary table at ringside. Back in the ring, Miz hits Rollins with a scary-looking DDT that plants Rollins directly on top of his head. As he shifts the offensive momentum into his favor, we head to a mid-match commercial break.
When we return from the break, we see Rollins fight his way back into the offensive driver’s seat. He ends up beating Miz down and going on a violent rampage, hitting him with repeated stomps until finally the match is called off.
Winner: Seth Rollins
Adam Pearce Deals With Carmella & Chelsea Green
Asuka vs. Carmella is officially announced by Adam Pearce for next week’s show as we see he and Carmella walking backstage together. As Carmella walks off, Pearce gets a call on his phone from Chelsea Green. She talks about complaining to human resources and is given the brush-off by Pearce again.
Alpha Academy Has Run-In With Bronson Reed
Now we see Chad Gable and Otis, collectively known as Alpha Academy, staring at themselves in the mirror. Up walks Bronson Reed. Gable boasts being a model and then Otis and Reed go nose-to-nose.
Ding Dong, Hello with Bayley Invaded By Becky Lynch & Lita
Back inside the arena, we see a carpet being rolled out in the ring, as the ring crew are putting together the set for Bayley’s “Ding Dong, Hello!” segment, which is up next with her special guests, WWE Women’s Tag-Team Champions Damage CTRL — Iyo Sky and Dakota Kai.
On that note, we head to a commercial break. When we return, we see Bayley make her way onto the set where she is joined by the aforementioned duo from Damage CTRL.
The three put each other for a couple of minutes and then we hear the familiar sounds of Becky Lynch’s theme song. “The Man” emerges with a microphone in hand and talks about having her eyes on the WWE Women’s Tag-Team titles.
With that said, the iconic sounds of Lita’s theme song hits and the WWE Hall of Fame legend Amy Dumas makes her way out. She joins Lynch and the two head down to the ring together. Bayley is upset and mentions Lita doesn’t even work here. The fans interrupt with loud “Lita! Lita!” chants.
Lita acknowledges the crowd chants and then mentions that since she couldn’t end her career capturing a title from Lynch, she likes the idea of joining Lynch and entering WrestleMania Goes Hollywood as one-half of the tag champs.
Bayley goes on to mention how Lita and Lynch are nowhere near deserving for a shot at the tag titles. Lynch ends up taunting them and talking them into it after pulling their respective punk cards. Bayley yells back, “They accept!” Lynch and Lita snatch the tag titles and raise them over their heads.
Candice LeRae Asks Nikki Cross Why She’s Following Her Around
The segment ends and then we shoot backstage where Byron Saxton is standing by with Candice LeRae. He asks her for an update on Johnny Gargano after his performance in the Men’s Chamber match.
LeRae goes to answer and then notices Nikki Cross in the background. She approaches her and asks why she keeps following her around. Cross whispers something to her and walks off.
Chad Gable vs. Bronson Reed
Now we head back inside the Canadian Tire Centre where the Alpha Academy theme song hits and out comes Chad Gable accompanied by Otis. He heads to the ring where he will take on Bronson Reed when Raw returns.
On that note, we head to a pre-match commercial break. When we return from the break, Reed makes his way out and heads to the ring. The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one.
We see Gable and Reed go at it and while they are mixing it up in the ring, we see Otis presented with a business card from the Maximum Male Models. Soon after, Reed finishes off Gable for the victory. After the match, we head to another commercial break.
Winner: Bronson Reed
Bobby Lashley Beats Down Elias
As we settle back in from the break, Elias is introduced. He is already in the ring. He says if Rick Boogs is in the back, he hopes he’s taking notes. He then proceeds to talk about it being WrestleMania season. He asks who wants to “walk with Elias at WrestleMania?”
He waits to see who, if anyone, is interested. Finally the familiar sounds for Bobby Lashley’s theme hits and out comes “The All Mighty” one himself. As soon as he hits the ring, he hoists Elias up and plants him down into the mat.
The fight spills out to the floor at ringside where Lashley hoists Elias up and rams him into the steel ring post. Back in the ring, Lashley nearly be-heads Elias with a huge spear. He then slaps his Hurt Lock on Elias and squeezes the life out of him.
Lashley throws Elias down and then picks up the mic. He says everyone has a plan until he slaps his Hurt Lock on. He boasts trapping Brock Lesnar in a Hurt Lock at Elimination Chamber and mentions how he had to resort to a low blow to get out of it.
He goes on to mention how he refuses to be disrespected by anyone in the locker room. He vows that anyone who does will be put down.
WWE United States Championship
Austin Theory (C) vs. Edge
We shoot backstage where Byron Saxton is standing by with “The Rated-R Superstar” Edge. He talks about how his issues with The Judgment Day are finally behind him. He says Beth Phoenix is at home with the kids and he can now focus on the goals he set when he came out of retirement.
Edge goes on to talk about the similarities and differences between himself and Austin Theory. He mentions that cliches are cliches for a reason and he talks about how sweet it would be to capture a title as part of his comeback, something he hasn’t done yet. He ends by saying, “never say never.”
Now we head back inside the Canadian Tire Centre where WWE United States Champion Austin Theory’s theme music hits and he makes his way out for the main event of the evening. He heads down to the ring and we head to a pre-match commercial break.
As we settle back in from the break, we hear the iconic sounds of Edge’s theme music as the WWE Hall of Fame legend makes his way out, pyro and all, to a huge pop from his home country fans in Canada.
“The Rated-R Superstar” settles inside the squared circle ready for our headline attraction of the post-Elimination Chamber episode of Monday Night Raw. He stares daggers through Theory upon entering the ring. He soaks in the love from his fellow Canadian wrestling enthusiasts on the ropes and then gets ready for action.
We hear the bell sound and the ring announcer handles the formal, pre-match ring introductions for the champion and challenger as the lights are dimmed in the arena and a giant spotlight is shown on the two competitors in the ring.
Now the bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with our final bout of the evening here in Ottawa. We see Edge jump off to a hot start, taking it to the champ as the fans rally behind him. The action spills out to the floor where Edge slams Theory down chest-and-face-first onto the ground.
Back in the ring, Edge blasts through Theory and hoists him up for a big spot that draws a close pin fall attempt. After this, we see Edge continue to duke it out with Theory as we head to a mid-match, picture-in-picture commercial break as the match continues.
When we return from the break, we see Edge still working over Theory in the ring. We see things spill out to the ringside area on the floor again. Edge and Theory keep rolling in and out of the ring and then Theory chases Edge around the ring. Edge turns a corner, turns again and catches Theory running at him with a back body-drop on the floor.
The action resumes inside the ring where Theory ends up taking over. He hits a nice spot in the corner and then follows up with a Samoan drop on “The Rated-R Superstar” for a near fall attempt. Theory slaps a rear chin lock on Edge and wears down the legend as the fans try and rally behind him.
Edge starts to fire up after breaking free, but he ends up running into a big shot from Theory in the corner, who follows up with another big spot for a close pin attempt. As Theory continues to dominate the action, we head to our final commercial break of the evening.
Following the commercials, we return to the action in progress in the ring, with Theory still very much in a commanding offensive lead. The two head to the top-rope where Edge blocks a Theory superplex attempt and ends up suplexing him face-first down to the mat down below. He then leaps off the top himself and hits a cross body splash on Theory’s back for a near fall.
This is the beginning of a shift in momentum where Edge starts to fight his way back into competitive form. He goes for a few near fall attempts after a couple of high spots but isn’t able to finish off the champ. Theory slingshots himself into the ring from the ring apron but right into the waiting arms of Edge, who hits a sit-out power bomb for a close two count.
We build to a spot where Edge gets a cross-face on Theory on the mat and cranks back for all he’s worth as the fans in Ottawa go crazy. Theory eventually makes it to the ropes to force the hold to be broken. Theory takes over and goes for a pin attempt on Edge with his feet on the ropes for unfair leverage, but the referee notices this.
As the action continues, Edge hits his Edge-ecution for a close near fall that the fans bit on. Both guys are down and slow to get back to their feet. The fans break out in a loud “This is Awesome!” chant and then start rallying behind “The Rated-R Superstar” again.
Edge starts to look possessed and ready to finish this one off. He backs into a corner and waits for Theory to get up, looking for a match-ending spear. Finn Balor jumps on the ring apron and Edge runs over and hits him. He turns around into a big shot from Theory. He fights back but is blasted with a kick from Balor. Theory follows up with his finisher for the pin fall victory.
Winner and STILL WWE United States Champion: Austin Theory
Finn Balor Attacks Edge
With the win, Austin Theory successfully retains his WWE United States Championship. We then see Balor slide back into the ring and immediately go to work on Edge.
He beats him down and heads to the top-rope, where he leaps off and connects with his Coup de Grace finisher. He heads to the top a second time and hits him with another. We see some highlights of the conclusion of the Edge-Theory main event and when they wrap up, Balor leaps off the top-rope with a third Coup de Grace.
He leaves Edge laying as the fans loudly boo and that’s how this week’s show goes off the air. Thanks for joining us!
