WWE Raw results, recap, grades: Lita takes down Becky Lynch as Elimination Chamber opponents brawl

Lynch had the early advantage but was taken down by a Twist of Fate and moonsault

Monday's edition of WWE Raw focused on the build to the Elimination Chamber in Saudi Arabia on Feb. 19. That meant showdowns between participants in both the men's and women's Elimination Chamber matches.

In addition, Raw women's champion Becky Lynch came face to face with her challenger at the event, Lita. The champion and the Hall of Famer predictably came to blows, and it was Lita who came out on top as the women brawled. Lita will try to take that momentum to Saudi Arabia where she will wrestle in a singles match for the first time since 2012 and her first title match since 2006.

CBS Sports was with you all night with recaps and highlights of all the action from Ball Arena in Denver.

Lita takes down Becky Lynch

Lita made her way to the ring to open the final hour of the show. She claimed that being in the ring for the Royal Rumble made her feel like she was home. As she talked about how she has wanted a match with Becky Lynch for a long time, the Raw women's champion made her way to the ring to address her Elimination Chamber opponent. Lynch thanked Lita for saying kind words about her and that without Lita, there would be no Becky Lynch. Lynch then took a hard turn in her words, saying that now that there is a Becky Lynch, there can no longer be a Lita. Lita admitted that she was the underdog heading into the match and that she has no problem with that.

Tensions between the two continued to build until things turned physical. Lynch quickly got the upper hand, putting Lita on the mat and delivering a series of stomps before walking off. Lynch thought better of leaving, returning to try and hit the Manhandle Slam only to have Lita reverse into a Twist of Fate before hitting a moonsault and forcing Lynch to roll out of the ring while the challenger celebrated.

Lita and Lynch actually had decent chemistry on the mic and Lynch's sinister transition from being flattered by Lita's comments to saying there could no longer be a Lita was well done. Your excitement level over seeing Lita in the ring at this point may vary but it's happening and WWE is going to follow their playbook to get there. That playbook includes the challenger winning the initial physical confrontation, just like Liv Morgan and Doudrop did to Lynch in the champion's most recent major programs. Grade: B

What else happened on WWE Raw?

• RK-Bro bet Alpha Academy in a quiz bowl to win the three-part academic challenge and earn a rematch for the Raw tag team titles.
• Alpha Academy def. Street Profits via pinfall when Chad Gable pinned Angelo Dawkins with a roll-up.
• Bobby Lashley and MVP cut an in-ring promo guaranteeing that Lashley would retain his WWE championship when he faces five other men in the Elimination Chamber.
• AJ Styles def. Damian Priest via pinfall after a Phenomenal Forearm.
• Dominik Mysterio def. The Miz via pinfall with a roll-up. The match came after the Mysterios were guests on Miz TV and Miz taunted them for beating Dominik the previous week.
• Bianca Belair def. Nikki A.S.H. via pinfall after hitting the K.O.D. This was a pairing of two of the five women who will take part in the women's Elimination Chamber match.
• Kevin Owens def. Austin Theory via pinfall after hitting a stunner. Owens got revenge for a loss to Theory the previous week, pitching that he should take Theory's spot in the Elimination Chamber with a victory, though that was not a stipulation of the match. Owens would later make the pitch to Sonya Deville and Adam Pearce but both said that Theory would keep his spot since he'd won the qualifying match a week earlier.
• Doudrop def. Liv Morgan via pinfall with a Vader bomb in another meeting between women set for the Elimination Chamber.
• Riddle def. Seth Rollins via disqualification after interference from Kevin Owens. Owens attacked Riddle outside the ring, bringing Randy Orton running to the ring to hit Owens with an RKO.
  
• Seth Rollins & Kevin Owens def. RK-Bro via pinfall when Rollins hit Riddle with a stomp. The interference in the main event led to an impromptu tag match, as is the WWE way. After the loss, which came hours after RK-Bro had earned a tag title shot, Orton hit Owens with one more RKO before the show went off the air.