5 takeaways from this week's Monday Night RAW, 27th November, 2017

WWE presented Monday Night RAW from Knoxville, Tennessee and looking back at it, and was one of the most underwhelming RAW show of this year. A silent crowd coupled with some notable absentees resulted in an awkwardly booked show from top to bottom.

RAW has no PPV scheduled before Royal Rumble, which is in the last week of January, which means they have to go over two months without proper focus and direction to the show.

It was quite evident this week, as little to no storyline advancement was made, and apart from the Elias vs Roman Reigns, no other matches stood out.

We look at five major talking points from this week's RAW.

#5 You want some, come get some!

As reports widely predicted, Roman Reigns came out this week and made the whole locker room aware that his reign will be that of a fighting champion. He did not explicitly use the term 'Open Challenge', but gave a clear message to the locker room that he is ready for a fight anytime and anywhere.

Roman Reigns received a positive reaction for the first time in a long time when he opened tonight's Monday Night RAW and he himself looked genuinely happy during his promo. The Miztourage, without their leader, The Miz, brought out Elias as a temporary reinforcement, and he challenged Reigns to a championship match later in the night.

Reigns' stock with the WWE Universe is improving gradually and having such open challenges will definitely improve his position with the fans.

#4 The 'Broken' universe

Matt Hardy continued his losing streak this week on Monday Night RAW, when he lost to Bray Wyatt. Wyatt gave a chilling promo about how he had no childhood and hates festive seasons. But his downfall in 2017 continued as he has no clear storyline after his feud with Balor ended abruptly.

Matt Hardy has been teasing the arrival of his "Broken" gimmick ever since he and Jeff returned back in April. Due to legal troubles with his former company, the Broken gimmick was kept on hold for several months. However, tonight he finally debuted his broken persona, with Michael Cole calling it a "breakdown".

Expect Hardy to become a sensation if his broken gimmick takes full shape in WWE and it will give him something relevant to do in WWE.

#3 Absolution

Paige, Rose and Deville debuted as a faction last week on RAW, taking out several RAW superstars. This week they destroyed Bayley and James even before their scheduled match started and declared themselves as "Absolution".

These three women have been on fire of late, and their new name suggests that they are about to inflict some punishment on the main roster. Paige cut a promo about she was on top of the mountain not long ago and wishes to reclaim her spot.

These three women had a long staredown with Asuka, but ended up letting the Empress of Tomorrow leave unscathed. Absolution has great potential and WWE needs to make them a legit threat in the future.

#2 Elias is a bonafide Superstar

Elias vs Roman for the Intercontinental Championship as the unofficial main-event was the biggest highlight from this week's Monday Night RAW. Elias is one of the best natural heels on the main roster, who has amazed the WWE Universe ever since his debut in April.

WWE is really high on Elias as a top Superstar in the company and this match was a solid proof of that fact. Elias got a ton of offence against The Big Dog, producing a great match and solidifying his status as a legit Superstar.

The commentators put over Elias' strength, his burly look and made him look like a million bucks. Elias is one of the overall performers in the company with a splendid gimmick. He is a star waiting to happen for WWE.

#1 An avoidable mess

The Monster Among Men got his revenge, but when will this stop?

The main event of the night saw Jason Jordan go up against Kane, which later became Finn Balor vs Kane and further changed to Braun Strowman's anger on Kane. Kane has been booked strongly ever since his return but feeding him two babyface superstars before being attacked by Braun Strowman made little sense.

Balor and Jordan became side characters in the main story which does not bode well for any one of them, especially Balor, who's booking has been questionable considering he is the first ever Universal Champion.

Strowman vs Kane was an enjoyable feud but should have ended when Strowman put Kane through the ring. This weekly 50-50 booking is horrible and takes away the momentum from both of the superstars.