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At the outset, I would like to wish all our readers and your loved ones a very merry Christmas. How lovely is it that we get to share the gift of sports entertainment, so many times a year! May the Holiday Season be filled with warmth and cheer for you all. What did you think of WWE RAW this week?
I thought that it was great. Even though I knew the results in advance, RAW did not disappoint at all. There was a lot more good than bad, on this week's show.
Maybe there is something to the McMahon regime bringing about new changes and fresh segments. Maybe the company has finally started listening to fans and giving them what they want.
Here's what I thought of this week's show, personally...
#1 Best: Vince McMahon's announcements
Vince McMahon did not appear in an in-ring segment this week at all. This was a welcome change in its own way. To have the show open with Elias and not an Authority segment is always a welcome change. It showed us how different the product can be with just a little twist.
Vince McMahon dressed up as Santa Claus later during the show. He would make three announcements, much to the delight of the WWE Universe. He would announce the fact that Women's Tag Team Championships would be debuted in the year 2019, that John Cena would be returning to both RAW and SmackDown Live soon, and that Ziggler and McIntyre would face off in a steel cage next week.
Things are about to pick up next week for sure. Maybe that is an indication of how 2019 will be.
If this continues, RAW ratings are bound to improve.
#1 Worst: Historic announcement feels underwhelming?
Having a separate Women's Tag Team Division is big news. Remember how Stephanie McMahon brought all the women to the ring to celebrate when the Women's Royal Rumble match was first announced? The women even broke character to sell the announcement. In comparison, Vince McMahon's announcement felt underwhelming.
Any new titles deserve their own segment when they are announced. They cannot be lumped with John Cena's return and a steel cage match getting confirmed for next week. I just think that this was a pretty strange move on WWE's part.
Maybe there will be a separate in-ring segment where the crowd will react appropriately to the said titles. But even then the charm of the first time announcement will be lost by then.
Maybe I am overreacting to this little grouse but I really think that the titles should not have been announced in such an underwhelming manner on RAW.
#2 Best: Finn Balor's push
As we keep reminding ourselves, Finn Balor was once a Universal Champion. Yes, he was all set to become the top superstar on RAW. And then a freak injury put him on the shelf and he was never able to bounce back to the same level since then.
Rumours have come forth that Balor is in line for a huge push, going forward. This is certainly good news and the rumours seem to be true, considering that he's been winning a lot more than he's been losing. This week, he won a triple threat match that featured two top superstars in Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre.
Let's hope that this momentum carries Finn Balor at least till the Intercontinental Championship in the weeks that follow. Balor and Ambrose can certainly have quite a feud, down the line.
#2 Worst: No interference from Ambrose
I mean let's look at the facts. You had Seth Rollins dress up as one of Dean Ambrose's henchmen last week on RAW and take the fight to the Lunatic Fringe. You also had the Intercontinental Champion cut a promo before the main event, talking about the match.
Therefore, it defies all explanation why Dean Ambrose would not want to interfere in the Corbin vs. Rollins match, logically. The match in itself was good and it is clear that Corbin operates at a much higher level now than he once did. But the match did nothing to further the Rollins vs. Ambrose feud at all.
Having Dean Ambrose interfere in the main event would have left fans with a cliffhanger and created heat between Rollins and Ambrose. Unfortunately, it was not to be.
#3 Best: The tag team division shines
'Sports entertainment' is a very integral component of WWE. But at the same time, there's a different sort of charm to just watching two amazing teams compete in the ring. Tag team wrestling is an art that few have perfected like The Revival have. If you've seen their matches in NXT, you know exactly what I mean.
The tag team division on RAW has not lived up to the hype at all. The AoP is too unprepared and the inclusion of Drake Maverick into the mix has just watered them down significantly. What the RAW Tag Team division needed was a great match to be relevant once again.
The Revival and Roode and Gable put on a clinic for all the wrestling purists on RAW. It was a great, hard-fought match that could have gone either way at various points.
Even though The Revival lost the match, tag team wrestling won this week.
#3 Worst: Taped show
It's Christmas Eve and WWE superstars were given the night off. This show was taped after RAW last week, and we all knew the results in advance, did we not?
It also showed in the audience that they were exhausted after watching a great deal of sports entertainment. There's only so much of a good thing that you can take in one go, sadly.
If you're one of those people, who missed the show because you knew the results in advance, I advise that you go back and watch it, because it was a pretty fun show from top to bottom.
It was not really 'Show Of The Year' material but there was a very entertaining undertone to the episode overall. I do admit that had I not known the results, it would have been far more entertaining.
#4 Best/worst: No title changes
When two titles are defended on a show, it makes sense to have a title change. Especially if your show is taped, so that more people tune in beforehand. There was a title change on SmackDown Live that WWE already announced and I know we're all excited to see it happen. But neither title changed hands on RAW, this week.
There was no chance that Natalya was going to defeat Ronda Rousey. As good as she is, Rousey is just the centrepiece of the RAW Women's Division. But maybe putting the titles on The Revival could have been a good way to shake things up.
Alas, we will have to wait a while for a title change in the RAW Tag Team Division. Maybe something special is in store for us, on next week's show?
Until the next time, we wish you a Merry Blissmas and a happy New Year!
