Providence bore witness to the reward for a successful revolution. Stephanie McMahon announces a WOMEN’S Royal Rumble match. Who will be victorious?
Monday Night Raw is LIVE from the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence, RI on 12/18/17!
The Highs:
Shattered Barriers
I have to start at the very top, or in this case, the very end. Absolution was competing in a six women’s tag match against Sasha Banks, Mickie James and Bayley.
The match was thrown out after a DQ, but Nia Jax and the rest of the roster surged to the ring and a brawl ensued.
Stephanie McMahon headed to the ring and spoke at length about how all the women should be proud of how far they’ve come and what they’ve done. She references title defenses in the Middle East and the Divas title becoming the Women’s Title.
She then gave me goosebumps by announcing the first ever women’s Royal Rumble match at the legendary pay per view in late January! Who will leave that match victorious and head to Wrestlemania for a title opportunity?
The Great War
“Woken” Matt Hardy and “The Eater Of Worlds” Bray Wyatt did it again.
Two exceptional promos continue to wet the appetites of any and all who are waiting for this feud to boil over and spill into the ring. When these two ultimately clash, who will be able to tell tales of their grand success in the Great War?
We Go Hard!
Be it a simple test for a returning team, it was great to see Dawson and Wilder, better known as the Revival, back in tag team action.
Heath Slater and Rhino had the dubious distinction of standing opposite them in the ring and the two didn’t look like they missed a step, getting a hard fought victory as they look to reestablish themselves as credible threats to the tag titles.
Beast Sighting
It didn’t really accomplish much as it relates to the broadcast tonight, but Raw GM Kurt Angle let us know that “The Beast” Brock Lesnar would be defending his Universal Title in a triple threat match at the Royal Rumble.
He’d be defending it against “The Demon” Kane and “The Monster Among Men” Braun Strowman. Strowman and Kane then got to square off against Lesnar and the champ stood tall when the dust settled.
Strowman was ousted from the ring and the veteran Kane fell victim to a devastating F-5 to end the segment.
Go Go Hideo!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLYdDpbBLcU&w=560&h=315]
Hideo Itami made his Raw debut, showing some actual continuity from the writing team. Finn Balor was being dismantled in the ring by the Miztourage after winning a two on one match against the duo via DQ.
Balor made his NXT debut years back by helping Itami in a tag match against the Ascension and tonight, Itami returned the favor.
The former KENTA got a huge pop from the live crowd and he put the contest away with a Go To Sleep, giving everyone a reason to tune in tomorrow night to see him compete on his 205 Live debut. Great to see him on Raw!
The Lows:
Drifting Nowhere
Elias is a talented cat. He is getting better in the ring and he works hard to draw heat and he often succeeds. He doesn’t have a solid feud to sink his teeth into and tonight he simply played his guitar before being interrupted three times.
Figure it out writing team and do it quickly, it’s getting as old as the hot topic tonight.
Third Wheel
Give me the Jason Jordan heel turn now, because this is getting hard to watch.
I actually have to put Seth Rollins in this category and it’s not even his fault. Jordan usually works a solid match, but he put the place to sleep tonight in a plodding contest with Rollins. I was waited for eighteen more rest holds, because that’s what the pacing felt like.
Not only did he remove the possibility of a Samoa Joe vs. Seth Rollins match, but he didn’t fill the spot well as I thought he might have. Rollins won and that was that, or was it?
Keep On Rolling
Jordan managed to worm his way into a six man tag team match along with Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins as they went up against The Bar and Samoa Joe.
The match was a great deal better than the former because it was carried by the veterans. The Bar sealed the deal for the heel team following a Brogue Kick on Rollins. Ambrose was “injured” on the outside and Jordan was nowhere to be found, again.
Joe is being booked like a million bucks right now, and I’m okay with that. The Bar look dominant, but this was another opportunity that Jordan was forced into. Where was the IC Champ, Reigns? Was he getting some vacation time? Just a strange night of booking as it relates to this feud.
Shut Your Cake Hole
Enzo Amore, the Cruiserweight Champ, RUINED a perfectly watchable match between Cedric Alexander and Drew Gulak.
These two really took it to each other, Alexander coming away with the victory in the end, but it was Enzo Amore, who in my opinion, went into business for himself on commentary.
When you have two quality athletes in the ring, you need to put some shine on them, and shame on the commentary team for letting this get hijacked as badly as it was. I was really disappointed with how much he was allowed to run his mouth at the expense of the in-ring action.
Maybe it’s what makes Enzo such a darn good heel, but in this case, it was a little over the top. It’ll be Alexander and Amore for the strap next week.
