A post-Christmas edition of Monday Night Raw hailed from the usually rowdy city of Chicago and if you were looking for lots of wrestling, this show probably didn’t deliver for you. The only two matches that got more than ten minutes (the opening tag and the main event) were enjoyable but everything else was restricted to about five minutes and under.
This wasn’t a three-hour show that focused heavily on in-ring action, but there was still plenty to like. Braun Strowman is still an angry monster ready and willing to wreck everything, so that’s always a positive. The problem with his strategy is that his anger went into the crowd this time, giving one fan way more than he paid for.
In addition to Braun probably giving WWE’s legal department anxiety attacks, there were several other noticeable slip-ups on this show. Two of them surprisingly came from Cesaro, which has to mean that we’ve all slipped into an alternate dimension in which The Swiss Superman is capable of making mistakes in the ring.
That’s really the only logical explanation for the entries from him that are highlighted in this article. That’s enough delay, so read on to relive the memorable botches from this edition of Raw...
#5 Just missed him
The introduction of Neville has been a breath of fresh air in the struggling Cruiserweight Division, but moves like this do him no favour. I realise that the point of professional wrestling is to not actually kick people in the face, but this strike wasn’t at any risk of doing harm to anybody.
Michael Cole immediately called this a “glancing blow,” then another announcer chimed in to say that it was more of an “evasion tactic by Neville.” Kudos to them for trying to cover this flub up but there was a sizable gap between Perkins’ foot and any part of Neville’s body.
#4 That kid doesn’t want to listen
I’ll give WWE some credit for scaling back on the amount of random close-up reaction shots of fans they attempted this week, but they still managed to sneak in this backfire moment. I’m sure the whole point of this shot to the crowd was to highlight the young girl who was majorly into Enzo Amore’s catchphrases, but that doesn’t erase the other kid right next to her.
That little boy with his fingers shoved deep in his ears, appears to not be enjoying the Smacktalker Skywalker’s diatribe at all. Oh well, Enzo isn’t really for the children anyways.
#3 Cesaro struggles
As amazing as even the Swiss Superman is inside a wrestling ring, he’s bound to slip up once in a while. While teaming with Sheamus to defend their Tag Team Championships against New Day, he definitely slipped while trying to hoist Kofi Kingston up for this press slam.
Being the gifted man of strength that he is, Cesaro was able to rebound fairly quickly and still about to throw Kofi out of the ring onto his buddy Big E. Cesaro & Sheamus were able to hold on in this contest and retain.
#2 Cesaro knees his partner
Okay, the previous Cesaro entry was only a minor slip up, but this one can be counted as a full-on botch. Sheamus held Xavier Woods across his knee, preparing him for a Cesaro strike off the ropes. Cesaro came off the top rope and struck Sheamus in the face instead of the New Day member below him.
Sheamus & Cesaro have been doing the shtick in which they have trouble getting along, so at least this is a moment that can play into their favour if they choose.
#1 Braun shoulder-checks a fan
Braun Strowman looked like his usual monster self in a singles match against former WWE Champion Seth Rollins. He might’ve even gotten the chance to defeat this high profile talent, had his arch-rival Sami Zayn not shown up to interfere. The two immediately started brawling, ignoring the match that was previously underway.
Sami ran into the crowd and Braun went to chase him, not caring about who might be in his way – even paying fans. If you look at the fellow wearing a black skull cap as Strowman rounds the corner, you can clearly see that he receives a massive shoulder check.
Hopefully, every WWE fan learns a lesson here: If a man the size of a house is running in your general direction, it might be wise to move out of the way.
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