The apologies are rolled out like the red carpet in front of a red-hot Sacramento, CA crowd at the Golden 1 Center on 12/17/18.
Mr. McMahon, Triple H, Stephanie McMahon and Shane McMahon get it, they acknowledge the sagging ratings, the poor match quality and the lackluster writing performances right off the bat. It’s not only appreciated, but needed.
They say the fans will not only be heard, but they are now the “Authority”.
Baron Corbin is out and after a commercial break, it’s a chorus of boos. I feel bad that he’s made to fall on the sword, but he’s been about as good as the writing quality. He is nearly ousted from his position after the crowd lets him have it.
Triple H says that if Baron Corbin wins his match, which takes place right now, he has a chance to keep his job.
He just how to defeat this man, and here comes the legendary Kurt Angle!
Angle is dressed in the classic Olympic garb and he’s ready for singles actually. We get the hall of famer back on Monday Night Raw and as the McMahon-Helmsley regime takes their leave, they appoint a special guest referee, and it’s Heath Slater. He’s dressed in the zebra stripes and the match begins immediately.
Triple H forgot to remind us, in the spirit of Corbin’s regime, it’s a handicap match.
Shane McMahon comes us mid-match and informs us that it’s a No DQ match.
Kurt Angle, Bobby Roode, Chad Gable and Apollo Crews defeat Baron Corbin via pin fall after an Angle Slam.
This was the squash match that everyone wanted and a Raw version of what happened at TLC last night. Corbin literally had no offense and ate finishers from each and every man involved. Chairshots then rained down and he was ultimately put through a table after eating the pin fall. Corbin is out and we’re left wondering who will be the new GM, or if there will even be one?
Finn Balor and Dolph Ziggler are scheduled for their singles match next and it happens after the break.
Finn Balor defeats Dolph Ziggler via DQ after interference from Drew McIntyre.
These two put on a quality match as both men are apt to do. Balor is over like rover and he and Ziggler exchange finishers and near falls, keeping the crowd on the edge of their seats.
McIntyre comes down and mixes it up with Ziggler before Balor comes over the top rope with a plancha. A Zig-Zag and a rocker dropper nearly put him away, but he kicks out and comes roaring back before McIntyre intercedes and ends their night. He puts both men down with Claymore Kicks, reestablishing his dominance as he heads towards the main event, where he’ll be in short order.
This feud remains intriguing, as we’re left wondering about a potential triple threat match and when that will happen.
Dean Ambrose comes down to the ring with his newly won Intercontinental Title. He wants Seth Rollins to come out and admit he was wrong about everything, especially since Ambrose has taken everything he’s loved away from him. Rollins doesn’t show and Ambrose calls him a coward.
He instead says he’s taking a page out of Seth’s book and he issues an open challenge for the strap. Here comes “Prince Pretty”! It’ll be Ambrose and Breeze after the break.
Dean Ambrose defeats Tyler Breeze via pin fall with Dirty Deeds to retain the IC Title.
It was very nice to Breeze not only on Raw, but involved in a title match. He held his own against a very game Dean Ambrose, especially coming off a quality match against Ricochet last week. Breeze gets in plenty of offense, but in the end, he makes a key mistake and like a hiccup, a quick Dirty Deeds puts him away.
After the match, Ambrose brags about successfully defending the title and he once again calls us Seth Rollins. Rollins burns it down as he unveils himself as a member of the swat team and he issues superkicks, free of charge, to everyone. Ambrose makes his escape and this feud continues.
Drake Maverick approaches Shane McMahon backstage, accompanied by AoP, inquiring about a tag team title rematch for the straps. Shane informs us that we’ll instead be seeing a fatal fourway match tonight with the winner getting a future tag team opportunity.
It’ll be the B-Team, Lucha House Party, The Revival and AoP. This is going be an opportune time to get the Revival in the tag title picture. We shall see.
We get a graphic that shows us the new superstars, the “fresh faces”, we’ll be introduced too in the coming weeks. We start with an image of the impressive Lars Sullivan, the underrated NXT star, Lacey Evans, The “Top One Percenter”, EC3, Nikki Cross, and Heavy Machinery. Some great talent shown here and hopefully we’ll have Velveteen Dream and Kairi Sane involved in those callups as well.
The quick cut promos for each were very well done. It leaves the crowd wondering what show they’ll be appearing on, and more importantly, when?
We don’t “walk with Elias”, we instead see Lio Rush in the ring with “The Almighty” Bobby Lashley, and he’s holding a guitar and Rush says Lashley will be giving a performance like we’ve never seen before. The broken guitar used on Elias last night at TLC is shown after Elias beat him and suffered a post-match assault.
Lashley and Rush continue berating Elias before the fan favorite ultimately hits the ring and clears the heels from it. This feud appears to be continuing. We see Lucha House party headed to the ring and the fatal fourway match is up next.
Oh my goodness! We get an incredibly needed promo plugging the return of Sami Zayn! After battling back from not one, but two shoulder surgeries, the underrated star is said to be returning soon. Wow, they weren’t kidding about this show. Hype goes a long way, and letting us know about returning stars is another way to keep us interested.
The Revival defeat AoP, Lucha House and The B-Team via pin fall after a Shatter Machine on Bo Dallas.
This was needed. This match wasn’t the longest and we saw some great spots from all of the teams involved, but as the fans clamored for, Dash and Dawson are headed to the tag title scene after taking down Bo Dallas with their patented Shatter Machine. Bobby Roode and Chad Gable will have some hungry talent headed for their straps.
Seth Rollins is backstage and he is asked about his business with Dean Ambrose. Enter Baron Corbin, who blames everything that’s happened to him on Rollins opening his mouth last week. Rollins with a receipt in the form of a hard right hand Corbin’s bad night continues.
Ronda Rousey, the Raw Women’s champion, is out to a rousing reaction after and she immediately addressed her victory over Nia Jax last night and her interference in the main event, where she cost Becky Lynch the title and Charlotte an opportunity. Asuka won the title as a result of such and Rousey isn’t sorry.
She says a champion appears each and every week, and she’s ready for action tonight. We’ve got another open challenge.
All the women backstage are trying for the opportunity, but Stephanie McMahon leads them out and we’ve got our main event in the form of eight women gauntlet match. They gave them the entire hour. Wow.
During the main event, we got a promo for a returning Kevin Owens and the fans were going bananas for it after the break and rightfully so. Letting the folks know about returning talent is another step in the right direction. Kudos to them for that.
Natalya defeats Bayley/Alicia Fox/Dana Brooke/Mickie James/Dana Brooke/Sasha Banks in a gauntlet match to earn a title opportunity on next week’s Raw.
There’s a lot to cover here as each match was actually given ample time, so we’ll run through it quickly.
Bayley defeated both Alicia Fox and Dana Brooke, having Bayley to Belly suplexes for both to earn pin fall victories.
Mickie James defeated Bayley with a Mick-DDT after Bayley couldn’t get her legs back under her, favoring her left hamstring earlier in the match.
Ember Moon defeated Mickie James with an Eclipse. James held her own for a time, but ultimately, Moon was able to come away with this after a hard fought contest.
Natalya defeated Ember Moon with a sit-down pin. Moon’s momentum got the best of her as she tried to defeat the veteran Natalya, coming off a big victory over Ruby Riott last night. After Natalya defeats Moon, she also defeats Ruby Riott in back to back nights. It looked as if Riott had her number, but Natalya was able to best her once again, putting her in the final match against “The Boss” Sasha Banks.
Natalya was up against the ropes the whole match, the fresh Banks up to the task, hitting the Meteora as well as securing her signature spots and nearly putting it away. Natalya catches Banks with the Sharpshooter and she taps.
After the win, Rousey is out to congratulate Natalya on a hard fought victory and to show her the proper respect. The two friends will compete next week and we already have the trappings for a solid holiday edition of Raw.
We find out after the main event that next week we’ll have the triple threat match between Finn Balor, Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler.
Paul Heyman will be on Raw to address the holidays and Bobby Lashley and Elias will compete in a street fight. They set up the Christmas Eve edition of Raw as Natalya celebrates atop the stage to end the broadcast.
