The biggest winners and losers of last night's RAW (December 2)

New faces dominated the show.
New faces dominated the show.

Last night's RAW didn't have a whole lot going on in the major title pictures. One gets the impression that nothing we saw will be important on the coming road to WrestleMania. Seth Rollins' story was left cryptic. Instead, new faces, or at least underlooked ones, emerged to dominate the programming. Was it the most effective? Who got the most and least out of the show?


Winner: Drew McIntyre

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Drew McIntyre had a really good match with Akira Tozawa, then he called out Randy Orton, who got a beating from The OC afterward.

The question is whether this leads to anything bigger. We've seen Drew McIntyre in big spots before, only to fall off the radar again. Will the same pattern repeat this time? We should reflexively say yes, but you never know for sure.

He's going to be feuding with Randy Orton, so that can be a stepping stone, if WWE wants it to be. Randy Orton has settled into his role as a gatekeeper to the main event at this stage of his career.


Winner: Aleister Black

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Despite the caliber of competitors in this match, there was nothing special about it. Rather, what does matter is that Aleister Black is getting a bigger spotlight and being put into a proper rivalry, which the company has more or less failed to do since he arrived on the main roster in February. With his unique character and style in the ring, it's honestly one of the company's bigger mistakes in 2019.

This match upped the tension between Aleister Black and Buddy Murphy and made us anticipate a great match to come from them. If they get enough time, it should be one final match of the year contender for our consideration as 2019 draws to a close.

Loser: Andrade

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Beating Eric Young, who hasn't been seen in a match on RAW in perhaps ever, isn't a big accomplishment. To make matters worse, Andrade's match took a backseat to 24/7 title shenanigans that took place at the same time.

Andrade won, of course, but this didn't telegraph that he's being built up to anything more substantial. A match at TLC is highly unlikely and a trip to the battle royal at WrestleMania is his most likely outcome.


Losers: Asuka and Kairi Sane

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Yes, Asuka and Kairi Sane beat Charlotte Flair, but does anyone really imagine that she isn't going to have the last laugh in the end? That tag team TLC match with Becky Lynch looks more and more likely, and she'll probably win the match that actually matters.

Hopefully, it won't happen, especially when the fallout for WrestleMania is likely to be yet another match between Charlotte and Becky, but it's hard to envision any other outcome at this point.

Losers: The Viking Raiders

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Even after all this time and becoming tag team champions, the Viking Raiders still don't have a real rivalry. It's just random jobber squash matches week after week like clockwork. The Viking Raiders might truly be one of the most mishandled main roster debutantes in recent memory, despite their constant winning ways. Does anyone care at all about the champions or the RAW Tag Team titles?

At least they'll probably get some spot on the WrestleMania card that isn't the battle royal, but they certainly won't get over.

At this point, one wonders why the RAW tag team titles even still exist. The division is in an even worse state than it was at this time last year, if that were even possible.

One figures that WWE should follow its own lead with the women's tag team titles and unify the RAW and SmackDown belts, leaving one set of tag titles to be defended across the main roster brands.

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