The pre-taped New Year’s Eve edition of Monday Night RAW kicks off with some hype for the Royal Rumble, once again confirming the winner of each Rumble match will choose which champion to challenge at WrestleMania.
As always, I advise caution to our naive viewers. Don’t expect the winner of the Royal Rumble to main event WrestleMania. He and she will earn a title match, but it doesn’t mean it’s the final match.
Our first match is a doozy, featuring two workhorses of the company, Dolph Ziggler vs. Drew McIntyre in a Steel Cage Match. Some might debate my use of “workhorse” but Ziggles has been around a long time, remember when the crowd erupted when he cashed in on Alberto del Rio? Doesn’t matter what gimmick he has, they usually bail on it within weeks and let him wrestle his way again. McIntyre hopped around, went to NXT, and worked his way back. Steel Cage seems like a good treat for the fans and a great marquee match for these two. McIntyre gets a pinfall victory in the cage, and if this was the end to their feud, this certainly has a clean send-off feel to it. Two big time Claymore Kicks ended it. If that wasn’t enough, Ziggler shouts “is that all you’ve got?” Well, McIntyre uses a chair to deliver a third Claymore against the steel cage. Wow.
One hell of a superplex spot. Ziggler awkward on the top of the cage, and McIntyre just lobs him down to the mat with a top rope superplex. Ouch. Ziggler took some serious bumps while McIntyre played crazy man.
Post match: McIntyre on the mic, vows to win the Royal Rumble and challenge for the Universal Championship. He could be a favorite to win I suppose. Perhaps a legit final four pick here. Depends if Brock can get out of bed to show up on TV I guess.
Ziggler got up, so McIntyre hit him again with a fourth Claymore.
Triple H and Shane McMahon interrupt Seth Rollins’ Promo: I will say, when Seth Rollins comes to the ring, the crowd is fired up. Part of these new era changes, Triple H interrupts to tell Seth there will no longer be “rematch clauses” for title bouts. Interesting. Also says he doesn’t think Seth deserves it. Triple H and Seth have some banter, where Triple H feels Rollins isn’t the person he used to be. Rollins fires back with stating he’s carried RAW on his back for the past year. Facing with Finn Balor, Dolph Ziggler, and even Mojo Rawley all while Brock Lesnar is hibernating in a cave. Triple H books Seth in a match with Booby Looshy tonight. Seth is on verbal fire threatening to take everyone down, even Triple H and his “whole family” if he has to. Shane McMahon then announces the next match, a Battle Royal to determine an opponent for Dean Ambrose tonight. He is afraid Seth will literally burn the building down if they let him.
Battle Royal: The final four… I’m not making this up. Zack Ryder, Curt Hawkins, Bacon Rorbin, and Apollo Crews. In case you forgot, or never knew, Hawkins and Ryder were WWE Tag Team Champions once upon a time. But no title opportunities tonight. Crews eliminated Bacon Bits to win the match. Crowd seemed hyped for the win, Crews had eight eliminations I believe, and the finish was pretty good. Then he spoke. Again, crowd sounded responsive, but… I’m not buying it.
Backstage: Natalya says something about the Royal Rumble and then eats floor thanks to Nia Jax.
Bacon Rorbin whines about the Battle Royal being unfair. Elias shows up to sing a song, but the segment turns into a brawl with Elias running Corbin off. Dang was hoping Elias wouldn’t be stuck with this.
Ember Moon, Bayley, & Sasha Banks defeated The Riott Squad: It’s good to see these frequent tag matches, with the hype now building for the Women’s Tag Team Championships. It seems these ladies are trading wins and losses in various matches, so it keeps it fresh. Action was good, Moon acts like a beast, although sometimes I think she goes a bit over the top when she doesn’t have to. I don’t know what’s with Bayley though, I feel like she’s lost some star power and just doesn’t have the same presence she used to. Maybe I’m wrong. Tonight’s match was decent, nothing spectacular.
Booby Looshy wins via DQ over Seth Rollins: Because Rollins loses his you-know-what and goes to town on Lashley and Lio Rush with chairs. This was better than any match involving Lashley. I guess a fire has been lit, and Rollins will burn anyone he is put into the ring with.
Jinder Mahal and The Bollywood Brothers defeated Heath Slater and Rhyno. I just hate calling them the Singh brothers. Doesn’t help I hate their gimmick, I hate Jinder, and what the hell is the point of having a 3-on-2 handicap match where the heels win. There’s no fun in this.
Dean Ambrose retained the Intercontinental Championship against Apollo Crews : I would have been astonished if Crews won. He’s got some good skills, but he’s missing the “IT” factor which would captivate fans. It would have been nuts to see Rollins interfere and cause Ambrose to lose the title. Nope.
In what is becoming commonplace, and about damn time, the women main even Monday Night RAW. Natalya & Ronda Rousey defeat Tamina & Nia Jax in the final match. Rousey appears somewhat heelish, but no heel turn. Decent match, I didn’t think it was anything special, but it seemed like a good way to close out the final show of 2018, and send us to SmackDown, where John Cena returns tomorrow night on the first WWE program of 2019.
Good show, now when do I get to declare my entry in the 2019 Royal Rumble?
