If you have Goldberg face off against Brock Lesnar for the first time since their match at Survivor Series, it's bound to be a mark out moment. This week, with only a few Mick Foley segments and the absence of Stephanie McMahon (except on the telephone), this was a better show.
The Cleveland, Ohio crowd was loud, vocal and in for a treat as they got a far more improved Raw than they’ve been watching on TV for many weeks now. Of course, the show wasn’t without its share of faults.
We bring you the best and worst of Raw!
#1 Best: Epic moment
Let’s give credit where its due. With Goldberg and Lesnar facing off, it was already going to be an amazing moment. Throw in The Undertaker into the mix, and you have a glimpse of just how star-studded this Royal Rumble match is.
While the whole segment was one botch after another, this moment saved it from being a total disaster.
Now for the worst from the very same segment.
#1 Worst: Dizzy and botchy Goldberg
Long time fans of Goldberg know that before coming to the ring, he hits the door with his head. Why? Because he is Goldberg.
In any case, this week he hit his head so hard against the door that Goldberg was busted open as he came to ringside. A seriously disoriented Goldberg began slurring his lines and could not even get his words out when he cut his promo.
Thankfully, the masterful Paul Heyman rescued this segment by stepping in and introducing his client Lesnar. As the two men would square off, The Undertaker’s gong (sounds dirtier than we intended it to) hit and there was a three-way face-off in the ring.
We had just one question. Chokeslam, spear or F5? The answer- nothing!
The three men would just face off in the middle of the ring, and we would go off the air with no physicality from the legends! Way to ruin an epic segment that had the potential to be the perfect go-home closer. Gosh!
#2 Best: An amazing babyface vs babyface contest
How do you make the crowd interested in a babyface vs. babyface match? You introduce stakes into the contest with only one of the two men being able to qualify for the Royal Rumble match.
Seth Rollins and Sami Zayn both seemed motivated as they matched each other move for move and told a story that the crowd was completely immersed in. The Triple H tease at the end was absolutely spectacular and popped the in-house crowd big time.
Now that Sami Zayn has taken Seth Rollins’ spot in the Royal Rumble; we wonder what WWE has in store for Rollins at the Rumble pay-per-view.
#2 Worst: More botches
Raw opened as always with the crowd booing Roman Reigns, and chanting ‘Y2J’ with all their might.
Jericho began cutting a very entertaining promo with extremely lame heel humour (Chris Salamico), and that was perfectly fine. Soon after, however, he would call the Alamodome the ‘Ala Dome’. Yup, there’s no ‘Mo’ in Jericho's vocabulary.
Soon after, Botchmaster extraordinaire Michael Cole would go on to announce the tag team title match for the Royal Rumble pre-show.
The match features Cesaro and Sheamus vs The Club. An over-excited Michael Cole mistakenly said it's a Cesaro vs Sheamus vs The Club match. He would recover soon after and quickly correct himself.
#3 Best: Sit down interviews
It is not always necessary to have in-ring segments to build a program. If anything, last week's entire segment with the Bayley poems took away a lot of heat from the match at the Royal Rumble.
The sit-down interviews with Charlotte Flair and Bayley worked far better in our opinion and actually made us interested in the match once again. Now, their clash seems like a big deal.
There was far more character development through this interview than there has been through Bayley's entire run on the main roster.
#3 Worst: Making Strowman look like a coward
We all know the score. The Big Show comes back during Royal Rumble season and announces himself as an entrant in the Rumble. However, the company should be more invested in Braun Strowman, Raw's only real breakout star this year.
We felt that with him backing down from Big Show, who is definitely a future Hall of Famer but at present is a glorified jobber, was a really bad move. Hey, but what do we know? Vince knows best!
In conclusion, Charly Caruso is really cute.
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