WWE RAW Review
December 16, 2014
By: Adam Martin of Wrestleview.com
“If you don’t like it, don’t watch it.”
“Turn off your TV.”
That’s some of the lines that hit my timeline during RAW on Monday night. I get the optimism from wrestling fans. You watch every Monday night with a gleeful twinkle in your eye waiting for that “moment” that can strike live.
We haven’t had that “moment” in a long time on RAW. Ladies and gentleman, this isn’t a good show right now and it hasn’t been for months. The complete boredom being portrayed week in and week out is starting to get concerning.
We are all wrestling fans. We want fun television. We may like different kinds of wrestling, but we can all agree when a show is fun and that is what this is designed to be. I’m not having fun. A lot of wrestling fans aren’t having fun either.
Fast foward to Monday night and we are coming off a very average TLC PPV.
Brock is back
I was genuinely looking forward to the return of Brock Lesnar on Monday night and I thought it was built nicely getting Chris Jericho involved. Paul Heyman trying to write a check to Jericho was a nice little wink to he audience and well played. Lesnar still has a “big fight” feel every time he walks out and WWE knows it. While the decision to keep him off television for months was definitely controversial, I don’t know see how the television product would have been any better if he was showing up every other week. While I give WWE credit for trying this aggressive move in 2014, the prospect of another Lesnar vs. Cena showdown isn’t all that exciting after we seen three different versions of it all ready going back to 2012.
Tag team match overload
WWE really needs to cool down on the tag team matches. We had Big Show/Luke Harper vs. Dolph Ziggler/Erick Rowan, Natalya/Alicia Fox vs. Nikki Bella/Brie Bella and Xavier Woods/Big E vs. Goldust/Stardust. By the third tag match, I was burnt out and the crowd in Detroit clearly was starting up “CM PUNK” and “NXT” chants. The one positive is that we finally got a RAW not ending with a massive six man or eight man tag.
Rusev finds a new opponent
As noted in my TLC review, I truly feel that Rusev is one of the few bright spots on WWE programming right now. The added element of Lana (who is has stepped in 2014 as one of the best character actors right now in WWE) is always a fun presentation. With the rehash of Jack Swagger out of the way, the prospect of Ryback as the next challenge for Rusev sounds really fun as we head into the Royal Rumble in six weeks.
Roman Reigns has a good night
Coming off quite possibly one of the most uncomfortable promos I’ve seen in years on WWE programming, Roman Reigns had a solid night in Detroit. His attack on Fandango is exactly how he should be used and it clearly connects with the audience. We also need to give a ton of credit to the Big Show who not only was great on the mic, but sold his frustration with the “pretty boy” even better. I’m interested in more between these two.
The New Day…I don’t get it
Sorry, I don’t get it. I’ve tried to give this a chance and it just isn’t clicking for me. The only person in the group who seems to be having genuine fun with it is Big E. Outside of that, I have literally no idea why I should care about Kofi Kingston or Xavier Woods. It’s still very early and they could easily make some tweaks in the presentation, but it comes off as a gimmick that works pre-packaged and horrible in a live environment.
Cena and Rollins work hard
John Cena and Seth Rollins worked hard again for the second night in a row – inside a Steel Cage no less. Coming off some pretty nasty bumps the night before at TLC in a Tables match, you have to think how hard it must be to get yourself physically up for another crash and burn scenario. I still find cage matches in WWE very goofy. They’ve just run out of ideas at this point and it continues to show with the same lame callback spots.
Overall impression
If you missed this show, I’d catch the Brock Lesnar highlights, the confrontation between Big Show and Roman Reigns and the tease of Ryback vs. Rusev. Outside of that, you didn’t miss much. WWE programming is in dire need of direction and excitement.
Agree? Disagree? Let me know in the comments below.
Follow me on Twitter: @adamwrestleview