Rate Raw 12/18/2017

[Jacob Fox]

Rate Raw and leave comments to let us know what you thought of the show!

Spoiler: Raw Results

Opening

Kurt Angle came out to address who would be the challenger to Brock Lesnar for the Universal Champion Brock Lesnar. He said by the end of the night, he will determine who Lesnar's new opponent would be. Angle was interrupted by Braun Strowman. Strowman was quickly interrupted by Kane who was then interrupted by Paul Heyman. Lesnar then came to the ring. Angle made the Royal Rumble match a triple threat between the three wrestlers. They fought with Lesnar leaving the ring and Strowman staring him down.

Seth Rollins vs Jason Jordan

The match was supposed to be Rollins vs Samoa Joe but Jordan asked Rollins for a match to decide who would face Joe. When Joe came out and Rollins refused, Jordan pushed Rollins down and the latter accepted the match.

Seth Rollins defeated Jason Jordan by pin fall. Rollins tried to attack Joe after the match and got his butt kicked.

Rollins, Dean Ambrose and Jordan all demanded to face Samoa Joe and Angle put them in a six man vs Joe and the Bar.

Handicap Match: Finn Balor vs Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel

Balor won by DQ when both men kept attacking him. They continued until Hideo Itami made the save.

Hideo Itami and Finn Balor vs Dallas and Axel

Itami and Balor won by pin fall.

#1 Contenders Match: Drew Gulak vs. Cedric Alexander

Cedric Alexander won by pin fall.

Asuka vs Alicia Fox

Asuka won by submission

Samoa Joe and The Bar vs. Jason Jordan, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose

The Bar and Joe won by pin fall

Backstage

Stephanie McMahon arrived in a limo.

Rollins and Ambrose were attacked and laid out by Joe and the Bar. Ambrose was taken to the hospital for an X Ray.

The Revival vs Heath Slater and Rhyno

The Revival won by pin fall.

Elias Promo

Elias was playing and got interrupted several times, by Sasha Banks, Mickie James and finally left when Bayley interrupted him.

Absolution vs. Bayley, Sasha Banks and Mickie James

Bayley Banks and James won by DQ.

Absolution continued to beat down their opposition until Nia Jax came to the ring and they tried to attack her. Nia deftly fought them off. Paige managed to get the drop on Nia and they continued to beat her until more women came from the locker room. Finally Stephanie McMahon came to the ring and they all stopped and looked at her. Stephanie announced an all women's Royal Rumble match at the Royal Rumble and began a Yes chant.

 

[Grievous 3D]

Okay...let me have a look at the "Alexa Bliss Doesn't Wrestle Anymore" Show...

~ Ugh...That Universal title match is lame...plus does this mean Braun won't be
in the Rumble? I'm guessing Kane will eat the pin & Triple H may attack Braun
during the match.

No matter what happens...I honestly don't care...we all Lesnar is retaining...

~ Jason Jordan is awful...SKIP!!!

~ Good to see Seth getting a win! Hey WWE...have you ever thought
about pushing Seth as the "Face of the Company"? No? Okay...just
asking.

~ Is Jason Jordan from Napa Valley? because he sure knows how to WHINE!!!

~ Can Bray Wyatt do something other than talk?

~ They're going to move Finn into the Cruiserweight division aren't they?

Ugh...

~ I just hope Hideo Itami can stay injury free for longer than 6 months...

~ I see Enzo...I SKIP!!!

~ And Asuka squashes Foxy...again...Can Asuka squash Alexa Bliss
for the title next please? Please? No? Well fuck you!

~ And the 50/50 booking strikes back with Rollins being pinned! Fuck you WWE!
Your booking sucks!!!

~ Oh Great...Stephanie McMahon is here...This should be awful...I think.

~ Hey...so...is Matt Hardy actually going to wrestle now he's Woken?

~ I will admit it is good to see Samoa Joe kicking some teeth in...

~ Awesome! The Revival are back! FINALLY! Don't get injured again! & while
its a shame to see Rhyno & Slater eating the pin...The Revival need a few "quick"
victories to get back on track.

~ Smart move Elias...if you hug Bayley you might get infected with LOSER!!!

~ And I saw this match on the Tribute to the Troops Show...so...why should I care now?

~ And...wait...what...really?

Well...isn't that just fantastic news...we are getting a Women's Royal Rumble.

And the WWE made me smile.

Also...I just want to point out that since Survivor Series...Charlotte has
wrestled every week including 3 televised matches last week alone...while
Alexa Bliss hasn't been involved in a single match.

Put the RAW women's belt on Asuka before or at the Rumble WWE...
Alexa is doing nothing with the title at this point.

And I'm Done...

 

[Solid Snake]

~ Hey...so...is Matt Hardy actually going to wrestle now he's Woken?

I would like to know this too. I get building hype but they are going to end up running it dry.

 

[Rosie]

Matt Hardy played chess with Napoleon, anything else that happened is automatically irrelevant.

 

[Death Walker]

I gave this show a 3, it was nothing special happening on Raw this week (which can be expected since it's the holiday season, BUT STILL IT'S NO EXCUSE). I did however, like that they announced that there will be a women's Royal Rumble whether it crush and burn or not. I'm just glad that they decided to take the chance on trying and hopefully improving the opportunities provided for the women's division. Oh way to go making Nia look like an air head when she came down to the ring (WTF?!????!?!??!?!?!????!!?????!???!?!???!??), WWE really know how NOT to use or help improve her. Oh and WHAT IN THE HELL, are they doing with Finn Balor?? I'm trying to really be patient but like c'mon.

 

[SWL]

ok, I don't have anything against a women's rumble, but the announcement itself was so poorly thought through. First of all, why does Stephanie always get to act like she created this women's division? Because she's a woman? That's a cheap excuse in my opinion. It's like they feel bad for her, so they wanna give her credit for at least 1 good thing.
Second of all, these types of segments kinda break kayfabe themselves. People always complain about wrestlers breaking kayfabe outside of the ring.. then what is this? They just broke kayfabe inside the ring, on national live television lol. All of them standing next to each other, holding hands and celebrating something they usually should celebrate in the back. How's a casual viewer going to adapt to Absolution being a force to be reckoned with, when they're standing there lifting the other women's hands and hugging it out for a simple announcement? Paige was literally crying lmao

All of them should have started brawling to display dominance, instead they all smiled and hugged it out like "we all don't really hate each other, we're all women and love our division". Like, is this wrestling I'm watching or a women empowerment program because most of the time, that's what these things come across.

They better kill it at the Rumble and not let this "historical moment" end up like both of the first women's MITB ladder matches where nobody really went all out and tried to steal the show

 

[Grievous 3D]

All of them should have started brawling to display dominance, instead they all smiled and hugged it out like "we all don't really hate each other, we're all women and love our division". Like, is this wrestling I'm watching or a women empowerment program because most of the time, that's what these things come across.

They better kill it at the Rumble and not let this "historical moment" end up like both of the first women's MITB ladder matches where nobody really went all out and tried to steal the show

110% On the Money...

It should have been announced by Stephanie on the titantron and then
a Battle Royal should have taken place to decide who would get the highest
entry number of the RAW women...which then could have been replicated
on SmackDown tomorrow.

And as far as the Women's MitB matches went...well they were kind of
ruined by Ellsworth...and the ladies were possibly told to "Hold Back" &
"Don't do anything to Crazy"

The WWE has to protect the Men's Division after all...

 

[SWL]

And as far as the Women's MitB matches went...well they were kind of
ruined by Ellsworth...and the ladies were possibly told to "Hold Back" &
"Don't do anything to Crazy"

The WWE has to protect the Men's Division after all...

Dude I'm sorry, I know you're a big fan of the women and all but that one was on them. WWE has proven several times now that they let the women do whatever they want as long as they can, especially with the Charlotte/Sasha series. After all, at this point they have to keep going with the women and put them in new stipulations and stuff so I don't think they'd sabotage it. They want just as many good performances out of the women as we want out of the women.
And Ellsworth wasn't the factor either because they had a second one without him and it didn't change

 

[Grievous 3D]

Dude I'm sorry, I know you're a big fan of the women and all but that one was on them. WWE has proven several times now that they let the women do whatever they want as long as they can, especially with the Charlotte/Sasha series. After all, at this point they have to keep going with the women and put them in new stipulations and stuff so I don't think they'd sabotage it. They want just as many good performances out of the women as we want out of the women.

Clearly we are going to be disagreeing forever...

Your opinion is noted...

And Ellsworth wasn't the factor either because they had a second one without him and it didn't change

I believe he was a factor as he ruined the end of the first match
& HE WAS INVOLVED IN THE SECOND ONE and ruined that match
as well.

Hence why he was suspended for 30 Days by Daniel Bryan the
week after.

Perhaps check your facts before you type them champion...

 

[SWL]

I believe he was a factor as he ruined the end of the first match
& HE WAS INVOLVED IN THE SECOND ONE and ruined that match
as well.

Hence why he was suspended for 30 Days by Daniel Bryan the
week after.

Perhaps check your facts before you type them champion...

yes.. because an interference of a manager stopped a whole team of 5 women to put on a great match. It's like a woman was about to take a dangerous bump off of a ladder and Ellsworth just caught her and said "no no no, you don't get to do that" lol

 

[Grievous 3D]

Yes.. because an interference of a manager stopped a whole team of 5 women to put on a great match. It's like a woman was about to take a dangerous bump off of a ladder and Ellsworth just caught her and said "no no no, you don't get to do that"

You just don't get it do you?

The fact that a man (besides the referee/s) was involved in those
matches is FUCKING WRONG!

The WWE couldn't even book the first ever women's MitB match
without having a man involved it.

And if you only care about bumps...go watch the Undertaker
throw Mankind off the Hell in a Cell over & over again because
like most wrestling fans...unless someone is going to possibly
die or suffer serious injury...you aren't happy.

Yes...I enjoy a good ladder spot...but not every WWE performer
is willing to break their legs or hips to entertain a crowd...and I
personally believe the women were told to tone down their
pay per view ladder match because they didn't want them to
out shine the men's match...hence why it was the opening
match on the pay per view and why they possibly booked
Ellsworth to grab the briefcase so it would overshadow the
actual match itself.

And on a side note if you don't like the women's division & think
its a giant waste of time & would much rather watch the men...then
why even comment on it? Why not just ignore it? Much like I ignore
a certain someone because I think they are a giant waste of time.

 

[Jacob Fox]

All of them should have started brawling to display dominance, instead they all smiled and hugged it out like "we all don't really hate each other, we're all women and love our division". Like, is this wrestling I'm watching or a women empowerment program because most of the time, that's what these things come across.

The only hugging that was done was Absolution hugging each other, Nia giving her ally Alexa Bliss a hug and then Nia hugging Stephanie. No enemies hugged each other, so no one was hugging despite supposedly hating each other.

Now since this was the only thing that you and @Grievous seemed to agree on, I don't mind posting my viewpoint on it. But if you guys want to debate what the women's roster has accomplished and what they have been allowed to do and not do and everything else, please start the appropriate thread to do that. Keep this about rating Raw and talking specifically about this show. And this is directed at both of you

 

[Jacob Fox]

Gave it a 4 and glad I went to bed before it was over. Sheesh, what a stinker of an episode. Best part was the announcement of the women's Royal Rumble match. Not really much to talk about other than that. Two awful days of WWE shows. Hopefully Smackdown can break the streak tonight.

 

[Grievous 3D]

Now since this was the only thing that you and @Grievous seemed to agree on, I don't mind posting my viewpoint on it. But if you guys want to debate what the women's roster has accomplished and what they have been allowed to do and not do and everything else, please start the appropriate thread to do that. Keep this about rating Raw and talking specifically about this show. And this is directed at both of you

Sorry...I'll be good from now on...

 

[alexb]

I guess I'm in a good mood these days cause while everyone is going with 3's and 4's I'm handing out 6's and 7's....Thoughts:

- The main talking point of the evening - or one of the two - was obviously the announcement of the first ever Woman's Royal Rumble, something mind you that I hinted like 4-5 months ago. This is really big and hopefully WWE do this right, unlike the mess we had earlier this year with the Money in the Bank situation.

That being said, two things: a) I agree with our fellow member SWL and his point in regards to the poor execution in regards to the announcement and b) Asuka better win the damn thing....

- Second major story of the evening the announcement of the Triple Threat for the Universal Championship. I've already heard some people bitch and complain about it but the way I see it, this is smart booking on behalf of WWE, so long as it goes down as I think it will. Clearly they wanted to have a little showdown between Kane and Brock, something that made sure to point out these past two weeks by mentioning the fact that them two had never faced before but most importantly Kane should be in there to eat the pin. Whether Brock retains (which is the likeliest scenario) or but some miracle Braun wins, either way both major starts stay protected by not eating the pin so to all the people whining and complaining, put some thought into it before speaking up or...just shut the fuck up already...

- While on the same subject and to answer my good friend Greviou's question, no, this does not mean that Braun won't be part of the Rumble, unless of course he wins the title. As we all know, the - I should now specify Men's - Royal Rumble match is the main event and what closes the show so there's no stopping Braun or Kane (or Lesnar for that matter if by any chance he drops the belt) pulling double duty and entering the Rumble anyway, just like Roman Reigns did last year for example...

- Literally laughed my ass off with...Napoleon, the goldfish...yeeeeeeeeeessss
Since it was noted above and in regards to when we will get to see Woken Matt Hardy on live TV, my initial guess was they were going to do it on the Christmans edition next week, giving us fans all an extra reason to have to tune in that night but being they never made an announcement last night (I would assume they'd promote the shit out of it), I'm guessing they will just continue teasing it for a little longer. Don't want to say all the way till the Royal Rumble cause that's still one full month away and I won't say the RAW 25 year special the week prior cause that's going to be jam packed anyway so I am calling for New Year's Day, January 1st 2018. I think that would be a great time to do it and certainly a...wooonderful way to kick off the new year....yeeeeeesss

- Rest of the show was alright.....

P.S.: Wrestlmania 34, New Orleans....Stand off or should I say...Sing Off....Elias vs. Aiden English...WWE, you better book it )))))