As WWE continues its countdown to WrestleMania 33, the promotion's latest loop of live events produced a boatload of highly newsworthy returns, debuts, and matchups.
Let's start with the Raw brand, where Triple H had his first matches since his loss to Roman Reigns in the main event of last year's WrestleMania. On both Friday in Buffalo and Saturday in Toronto, the WWE COO teamed with Kevin Owens and Samoa Joe against Chris Jericho, Sami Zayn, and the returning Finn Balor, who finally was back in action after suffering a major shoulder injury at Summerslam last August. The trio of Balor, Jericho, and Zayn got the win on both nights.
Smackdown's live tour included a Sunday matinee stop at Madison Square Garden, where the card included a matchup of two stars currently on Raw--Owens and Brock Lesnar. The former UFC champion made short work of Owens, winning in about three minutes. Click the above video for highlights from that match. Lesnar also faced the Big Show on Friday at the Raw event in Buffalo. That MSG show also marked the main roster debut for Asuka, who was part of an eight-woman tag match. A rematch involving Asuka took place the next night in Charleston, WV, and she also is advertised for the last full weekend of Smackdown house shows before WrestleMania.
Meanwhile, the NXT brand stayed close to home in Florida. Highlights included the return of Hideo Itami, who laid out Riddick Moss with a Go To Sleep on Saturday's event in Orlando, as well as the (for now) one-night reunion of the team of Kassius Ohno and Aleister Black who, in their previous gimmicks as Chris Hero and Tommy End, worked together on several occasions as a team known as Heroes Eventually Die for EVOLVE and PWG.
Here are all the results from this past week.
RAW
March 10, Buffalo, NY
Big Cass def. Jinder Mahal.
Neville def. Rich Swann to retain the Cruiserweight Title.
Sasha Banks & Alicia Fox def. Nia Jax & Dana Brooke.
Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson def. The New Day (Xavier Woods and Big E) and Sheamus & Cesaro in a Triple Threat to retain the Raw Tag Titles.
Brock Lesnar def. Big Show.
Bayley def. Charlotte Flair to retain the Raw Women's Title.
Roman Reigns def. Braun Strowman by DQ.
Finn Balor, Chris Jericho & Sami Zayn def. HHH, Samoa Joe & Kevin Owens.
March 11, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows def. Big Cass & Enzo Amore, Cesaro & Sheamus and The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston) in a Fatal Four Way to retain the Raw Tag Titles.
Neville def. Rich Swann to retain the Cruiserweight Title.
Sasha Banks & Alicia Fox def. Nia Jax & Dana Brooke.
Sin Cara, Big Show, Goldust & R-Truth def. Bo Dallas, Epico, Primo & Titus O'Neil.
Bayley def. Charlotte Flair to retain the Raw Women's Title.
Roman Reigns def. Braun Strowman.
Chris Jericho, Finn Balor & Sami Zayn def. Kevin Owens, Samoa Joe & Triple H.
March 12, London, Ontario, Canada
Sin Cara, Big Show, Goldust & R-Truth def. Bo Dallas, Epico, Primo & Titus O'Neil.
Sasha Banks & Alicia Fox def. Nia Jax & Dana Brooke.
Neville def. Rich Swann to retain the Cruiserweight Title.
Chris Jericho def. Sami Zayn and Samoa Joe in a Triple Threat to retain the U.S. Title.
Bayley def. Charlotte Flair to retain the Raw Women's Title.
Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows def. Big Cass & Enzo Amore, Cesaro & Sheamus and The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston) in a Fatal Four Way to retain the Raw Tag Titles.
Roman Reigns def. Braun Strowman.Strowman.
SMACKDOWN
March 11, Fairfax, VA
Heath Slater, Mojo Rawley & Rhyno def. Fandango, Tyler Breeze & Curt Hawkins.
The Miz def. Kalisto.
Apollo Crews def. Dolph Ziggler.
American Alpha def. The Usos to retain the Smackdown Tag Titles.
Bray Wyatt def. Luke Harper to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Title.
Alexa Bliss def. Becky Lynch, Carmella, Mickie James, Natalya and Tamina in a Six Way Match to retain the Smackdown Women's Title.
Dean Ambrose def. Baron Corbin by DQ to retain the Intercontinental Title.
Randy Orton def. AJ Styles.
March 12, Madison Square Garden in New York City
Randy Orton def. AJ Styles.
Heath Slater, Rhyno & Kalisto def. Fandango, Tyler Breeze & Curt Hawkins.
Dolph Ziggler def. Apollo Crews.
Dean Ambrose def. The Miz, Baron Corbin, and Luke Harper in a Fatal Four Way to retain the Intercontinental Title
Brock Lesnar def. Kevin Owens.
Asuka, Becky Lynch, Tamina & Nikki Bella def. Alexa Bliss, Mickie James, Natalya & Carmella.
American Alpha def. The Usos to retain the Smackdown Tag Titles.
Bray Wyatt def. John Cena to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Title. Wyatt got counted out intentionally, but Shane McMahon restarted the match under No DQ rules.
March 13, Charleston, WV
Heath Slater, Rhyno & Kalisto def. Fandango, Tyler Breeze & Curt Hawkins.
Dolph Ziggler def. Apollo Crews.
American Alpha def. The Usos to retain the Smackdown Tag Titles.
Dean Ambrose def. Baron Corbin by DQ to retain the Intercontinental Title.
Bray Wyatt def. Luke Harper to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Title.
Asuka, Becky Lynch, Tamina & Nikki Bella def. Alexa Bliss, Mickie James, Natalya & Carmella.
Randy Orton def. The Miz.
John Cena def. AJ Styles in a Street Fight.
NXT
March 9, Largo, FL
Kassius Ohno def. Kishan Raftar.
Heavy Machinery def. The Ealy Twins.
Lana def. Aliyah.
Mustafa Ali def. Tony Nese.
Aleister Black def. Kona Reeves.
Shinsuke Nakamura def. Riddick Moss.
SAnitY (Eric Young, Killian Dain & Nikki Cross) def. Angelo Dawkins, Liv Morgan & Montez Ford.
Bobby Roode def. Buddy Murphy to retain the NXT Title.
March 10, Daytona Beach, FL
No Way Jose def. Steve Cutler.
Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado def. Drew Gulak & Noam Dar.
Eric Young def. Oney Lorcan.
Aliyah, Asuka & Liv Morgan def. Billie Kay, Kimberly Frankele & Mandy Rose.
The Authors Of Pain def. Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford.
Daria Berenato def. Macey Estrella.
Andrade Almas & Bobby Roode def. Aleister Black & Kassius Ohno.
March 11, Orlando, FL
Aliyah, Liv Morgan & Victoria Gonzalez def. Daria Berenato, Kimberly Frankele & Macey Estrella.
Dan Matha def. Cezar Bononi.
Buddy Murphy def. Tino Sabbatelli.
Tian Bing def. Kona Reeves.
Aleister Black def. Andrade Almas.
A Four Way Elimination Match between Authors of Pain, SAnitY (Alexander Wolfe & Killian Dain), Heavy Machinery, and Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford ended in a no contest.
Ruby Riot def. Mandy Rose.
Kassius Ohno & Shinsuke Nakamura def. Bobby Roode & Patrick Clark.
