Despite it being a new year, Raw did little to improve its weekly dose of poor television. While this week’s episode was better than last week’s awful showing, the red brand continues to flounder in comparison to SmackDown Live.
Still, there were some strong highlights on an otherwise weak show. Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins’ chemistry popped on-screen in a strong opening match, although a dumb finish plagued their hard work.
Braun Strowman and Sami Zayn clashed in a splendid Last Man Standing match, which saw Zayn fall in a valiant effort. Roman Reigns and Chris Jericho had a splendid encounter that was helped by a hot crowd, with the fans on the edge of their seats to see if Reigns would retain his U.S. Title.
Goldberg returned to close the show, intriguingly facing off with younger stars such as Kevin Owens, Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns. However, the majority of the show remained lacklustre, with a number of filler segments contributing to another mediocre edition of Raw.
So, how did each segment grade, and what were their implications heading into the Royal Rumble in three weeks’ time? Let’s find out, as I analyse and grade each segment from the January 2nd edition of Raw.
The Kevin Owens Show with Goldberg:
Grade: 8/10
This was a strong way to close the show, with a number of big moments exciting fans. Chris Jericho entered himself into the Royal Rumble match, with another tease of Owens vs. Jericho happening, this time for Wrestlemania 33.
Owens confronting Goldberg was great as well, as we saw a glimpse of the badass Owens that has been missing since he won the Universal Title. Goldberg and Roman Reigns faced off in a dream encounter, with a staredown exciting fans about a possible match between the two.
The double spear on Strowman was a cool moment, although it undid the work earlier in the night to make him look extremely strong. The fans were not as hot for Goldberg here either, with a lack of electricity hurting his return here. Still, this was a strong way to close the show, with some anticipation for the Rumble match being created with some awesome face-offs.
Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins:
Result: Seth Rollins wins via DQ.
Grade: 7/10
This was a solid match between Owens and Rollins, who have strong chemistry. The stipulation (that the loser would be banned from ringside for the Reigns/Jericho title match later), helped add significance to the matchup, although it led to a flawed finish.
Owens got himself disqualified, which made no sense given the stipulation. Why would Owens be so dumb to attack Rollins with a weapon, knowing he would lose via disqualification? This made the Champion come across as unwise, which shouldn’t be the case for your top heel champion.
Although it was a strong match, we have seen Rollins and Owens clash before, and this was far from their best effort. Overall, a solid (but overdone) bout, with a weak finish.
Check out the match here:
Cesaro vs. Karl Anderson:
Result: Karl Anderson pins Cesaro after Gallows distracts the Swiss Superman.
Grade: 7.5/10
This was another solid match, with Cesaro and Anderson’s styles combining well. It was great to see Anderson pick up a win here after months of weak booking, as Gallows and Anderson look primed to challenge Cesaro and Sheamus for the gold.
Some more wins for the duo will be needed before they can be taken seriously as challengers, but this was a good start. Overall, a solid bout that saw Gallows and Anderson establish themselves as a threat to Cesaro and Sheamus.
Sami Zayn vs. Braun Strowman (Last Man Standing):
Result: Braun Strowman wins after Zayn is unable to get to his feet by the 10 count.
Grade: 8.5/10
This was a stellar Last Man Standing match that saw Zayn and Strowman play their roles to perfection. Zayn, the never-say-die, underdog babyface kept fighting back against the relentless monster heel Strowman. Even in loss, Zayn came across as a valiant underdog that the crowd should fully get behind.
In victory, Strowman further proved his monster-like ability, as he can move on to bigger and better things. The United States Championship should be Strowman’s next target.
What is next for Zayn is troubling. Although he lost the feud against Strowman, Zayn has a tonne of momentum as an underdog babyface, and that should be capitalised on with another strong rivalry. Maybe he moves to SD Live now, or challenges for the United States Title.
Whatever the case, both men benefited from this match, and WWE needs to capitalise. Overall, this was a splendid match that saw Zayn and Strowman both benefit from playing their roles extremely well.
Titus O’Neill vs. Xavier Woods:
Result: Xavier Woods pins Titus O’Neill.
Grade: 5/10
This was a filler segment (and match) that saw O’Neill attempt to join and then clash with New Day.
While it was nice to see WWE try to keep New Day present after their title loss, more clashes with Titus O’Neill is not the way to go. O’Neill is weak on his own, and should be either placed in a tag team again or kept off TV.
The announcement that New Day will be a part of the Royal Rumble match was great, as they can feature on the PPV without the need for a pointless undercard tag match. The bout here between O’Neill and Woods was forgettable and saw Woods pick up an insignificant win.
Overall, a filler segment that did little to excite.
Cedric Alexander vs. Drew Gulak and Brian Kendrick vs. TJ Perkins:
Results: Drew Gulak pins Cedric Alexander with a roll-up and TJ Perkins beats Brian Kendrick via submission.
Grade: 5.5/10
Both these Cruiserweight matches felt like filler, with neither having any sort of significance towards the show.
Cedric Alexander’s pairing with Alicia Fox continues to be baffling, as it seems WWE is building to her turning on Alexander for Noam Dar. Having Alexander losing matches continually due to Fox is a weak way of building towards their eventual implosion. Drew Gulak gained nothing from the win here either, and overall, this was a short, forgettable match.
TJ Perkins and Brian Kendrick’s match was just as forgettable. Rushed and lacklustre, Perkins gains nothing from the win. While Perkins will now get a shot at Neville on 205 Live tomorrow, this could’ve been given to him without this irrelevant bout. Kendrick has fallen far as well since he lost the Cruiserweight Title. It seems his run on top is already over.
Overall, two forgettable Cruiserweight matches that did little to entice fans, as Neville didn’t even make an appearance despite his recent revitalisation of the division in the last few weeks on Raw.
Roman Reigns vs. Chris Jericho (United States Championship):
Result: Roman Reigns pins Chris Jericho to retain.
Grade: 8.5/10
This was a great match between Reigns and Jericho, who have strong chemistry together after facing off numerous times in the past few months. The Tampa crowd was surprisingly into this matchup, far more than this writer expected, as they remained noisy throughout the contest.
The stipulation that Reigns would lose the title if he was DQ’d or counted out helped the result feel a little less predictable, as Jericho had lost so many times to Reigns that it was hard to buy in to Y2J as a potential new U.S. Champion.
Jericho was great here, the crafty veteran attempting all he could to cheat his way to victory, but ultimately, Reigns overcame the odds. Some stellar near-falls and great action helped this be one of Jericho and Reigns’ best matches, as Reigns retained the gold.
Why WWE decided to keep the title on Reigns here is questionable, however. It is hard to be enticed in Reigns’ chase for the Universal Championship when he is holding the U.S. Title. Hopefully, he drops it before the Royal Rumble.
Overall, this was a splendid title match that had fans on the edge of their seats.
Big Cass vs Jinder Mahal and Rusev:
Result: Rusev and Mahal beat Cass.
Grade: 5/10
This was a weak match that continued the poor feud between Enzo and Cass and Rusev and Mahal. This matchup was rushed, with Cass falling far too early due to the numbers game. Some more time to develop an actual story here would have helped this bout tremendously, but it was given little time to work with.
Rusev and Mahal’s partnership is weak. Mahal only brings the Bulgarian Brute down, rather than benefiting Rusev in a positive manner. Where this rivalry goes from here is anyone’s guess, as it continues to flounder. Overall, another poor segment for this insignificant feud, with Enzo and Cass being wasted here instead of prospering in the tag team division.
Bayley vs Nia Jax (No. 1 Contenders Match):
Result: Bayley pins Nia Jax after a distraction from Sasha Banks.
Grade: 7.5/10
This was a solid match, although a commercial break took up a significant part of the bout. Bayley picking up the win was definitely the right choice here, as she goes on to face Charlotte at the Royal Rumble.
Sasha Banks gaining revenge on Jax by distracting her was wise, as they look set to feud heading into the Rumble. However, a short match hurt the power of Bayley’s win, and Jax has already been pinned instead of saving her first pinfall loss for a big moment.
Overall, this was a nice way of establishing the two women’s feuds, but this match was nothing special.
Mick Foley opens the show:
Grade: 6.5/10
This was your regular authority figure segment to open the show, with Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho interrupting the GM and then Stephanie McMahon joining the fray. While three segments for later on were successfully set up here, this segment alone did little to excite.
Mick Foley continues to fumble his words, and it does little to help his already damaged credibility as a GM. JeriKO arguing with the GM is something we have seen much too often to open Raw, and even Jericho and Owens’ antics couldn’t save this segment from being tedious.
Stephanie McMahon mentioning SD Live beating Raw in the ratings should’ve felt significant, but the war between brands does not feel prominent enough for fans to care about it. Overall, this was a weak segment to open the show, with Raw relying on the same old tedious opening promo formula, that has been sadly prominent for years.
Overall Grade for January 2nd Raw: 7.5/10
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