By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE Raw
Taped December 17, 2018 from Sacramento, California at Golden 1 Center
Aired December 24, 2018 on USA Network
[Hour One] Raw opened with a “Night Before Christmas” themed preview of the various matches… The broadcast team was Michael Cole, Corey Graves, and Renee Young…
Ring announcer JoJo introduced Elias, who sat on a stool in the ring with a Santa hat on his head while playing his guitar. Elias encouraged the kids to gather around the television and to put “your grubby little hands up in the air” for his Christmas song.
“Children can be so annoying, especially at this time of year,” Elias started. “But nothing’s more annoying than Lio Rush, especially when he’s pointing at Bobby Lashley’s rear.” The Christmas themed song’s chorus was “Bobby Lashley sucks”, which the fans sang along with until Lashley’s entrance music interrupted them…
1. Bobby Lashley (w/Lio Rush) vs. Elias in a Miracle on 34th Street Fight. There were Christmas trees, gift boxes, and a table with Christmas treats at ringside. They fought to ringside where Elias threw a tree at Lashley. Elias pulled out a candy cane stripped cane. Rush took it away from Elias, then Lashley charged, but Elias stepped aside and Lashley crashed into the ring steps heading into a break. [C]
Lashley took control of the match and ran Elias into some gift boxes at ringside. Back inside the ring, Lashley performed a nice suplex. Rush slid a gift box into the ring. Lashley dumped the box over and Lego pieces poured out. Graves spoke about how agonizing it is to step on a Lego let alone fall onto a pile of them.
Lashley set up Elias on the ropes for a move. They fought for position while fans chanted “we want Legos.” Elias won the battle and shoved Lashley ass first onto the Legos. Elias followed up by spraying a fire extinguisher at Lashley. Rush stood on the apron only to have Elias shove Lashley into him, which knocked Rush off the apron and through a table at ringside.
Elias pulled a bowling ball out of a gift box and rolled it into Lashley’s nuts. Elias pulled a cello out of another gift box and slammed it over the back of Lashley before pinning him. After the match, Elias poured a bowl of eggnog onto Rush at ringside…
Elias defeated Bobby Lashley in a Miracle on 34th Street Fight.
Powell’s POV: A crowd pleasing holiday themed match. It was a little more hardcore than one might expect for a WWE holiday themed match and the fans had a lot of fun with it. By the way, Merry Christmas! I watched the show on delay due to holiday plans and didn’t bother to time the matches since I sped through the commercial breaks.
The broadcast team checked in from behind their desk and set up a video recap of the McMahon family “offering a fresh start” on WWE Raw… The broadcast team hyped “Mr. McMahonta Claus” with stuffing stuffers for everyone, Paul Heyman celebrating the holidays later in the show, and the Raw Tag Title match… [C]
Heath Slater checked in from a holiday set and said he had a lot of kids and Christmas could be very expensive for him. He said his Christmas wish for his best friend Rhyno to get his job back on Raw…
2. Bobby Roode and Chad Gable vs. “The Revival” Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder for the Raw Tag Titles. Gable has the same robe as Roode, only his has his last name on the back rather than Glorious. Graves said automatic title rematches are a thing of the past and you have to earn each title shot. They cut to a break early in the match. [C]
Roode performed a spinebuster on Wilder for a near fall. Gable tagged in and the champions set up for their finisher, but Wilder avoided it. Gable performed his rolling German suplex on Wilder and had him pinned, but Dawson broke up the pin. The Revival performed a nice double team move on Gable and Roode had to make the save. They set up or Shatter Machine, but Roode speared Wilder and then Gable rolled up Dawson and pinned him…
Bobby Roode and Chad Gable defeated The Revival to retain the Raw Tag Titles.
Powell’s POV: Roode and Gable do some good things in the ring together, but the gimmick seems to be both men being obsessed with the word glorious. Ugh. Meanwhile, it looks like Shane McMahon’s line last week about contractually obligated title rematches being antiquated wasn’t just a throwaway line directed at AOP. Did someone in WWE actually convince themselves these rematches were annoying the fans? In my 20 years of covering the pro wrestling industry as a writer, I can’t think of one time when a reader complained about contractually obligated title rematches.
The broadcast team hyped Seth Rollins vs. Baron Corbin for later in the show…
Backstage, Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas wore bad Christmas sweaters and sang their version of “The 12 Days of Christmas” to Apollo Crews and tried to sell him on a B-Team t-shirt. Crews said he’d already done his Christmas shopping… [C] An ad for Smackdown hyped Shane McMahon appearing on Miz TV…
Lucha House Party checked in from the Christmas set and they filled out their Christmas wish list and wrapped it up by saying “lucha” repeatedly like dorks… They cut to Curt Hawkins on the same set. He had a losing streak t-shirt and settled in on the one thing he wants being to win a match.. No Way Jose was on the same set and spoke about bringing his conga line to the North Pole for Santa (who immediately put him on the naughty list)…
A video package aired on NXT call-ups Lars Sullivan, Lacey Evans, Heavy Machinery, Nikki Cross, and EC3…
Dolph Ziggler delivered a selfie style promo and said he’s had quite the year. He said he doesn’t know if he’s made the naughty or nice list. He said he wants Shane McMahon to hand them the World Cup trophy he deserves, a DZ and Friends comedy special on Netflix, and he gets the respect he deserves once he wins the Triple Threat match… Drew McIntyre made his entrance… [C]
A video package hyped Kevin Owens returning to television soon…
[Hour Two] Charly Caruso interviewed Drew McIntyre in the ring and asked if he was worried that Ziggler and Finn Balor might work together to take him out of their Triple Threat match. He said they would and should gang up on him, but they are limited whereas he is limitless. He said their pride and ego will get in the way and he’ll be there to take their heads off. McIntyre said he will go on to win the Royal Rumble match and fulfill his destiny when he main events WrestleMania….
Ziggler’s lump of coal worthy entrance music played and he made his entrance, which was followed by Balor’s entrance..
3. Drew McIntyre vs. Finn Balor vs. Dolph Ziggler in a Triple Threat. McIntyre was standing tall heading into an early break. [C] Balor had McIntyre down and went for his finisher. McIntyre avoided the Coup de Grace. Balor landed on his feet, but Ziggler was there to perform a Zigzag on Balor for a near fall.
McIntyre came back and went for a Claymore Kick on Balor, who ducked it and performed a sling blade clothesline. Balor went up top and was cut off by Ziggler, who also performed a superkick on Ziggler. Balor performed the Coup de Grace on McIntyre. Balor dumped McIntyre to ringside and then hit the same move on Ziggler and pinned him.
Finn Balor defeated Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler in a Triple Threat.
After Balor left the ring, McIntyre grabbed Ziggler and barked at him that he was screwing things up. The referee yelled at McIntyre, who was distracted long enough for Ziggler to perform a Zigzag…
Powell’s POV: A well worked match about nothing. The feud needs a hook. They need to be fighting for a title match. At this point, it’s hard not to assume that Ziggler will be pinned by the winner with the goal of protecting the third person.
A Tribute to the Troops video aired… The broadcast team hyped previously advertised matches…
B-Team was shown backstage singing their version of “12 Days of Christmas.” They got lost and were up set that they had to start over again. Bo Dallas shoved Christmas tree over, then they started the song over… [C]
“Mr. McMahonta Claus” Vince McMahon was shown sleeping in a chair next to a fireplace. Suddenly, he shot up and said “ho ho ho” and said he was checking in from the North Pole. Then he conceded he was in a studio and there wasn’t enough vodka. He said he had a present for everyone. McMahon said John Cena is back on Raw and Smackdown. McMahon said there would be women’s tag titles “coming this year.” He also announced Drew McIntyre vs. Dolph Ziggler in a cage match on the New Year’s Eve edition of Raw. He said he was unbelievably hot and took off his wig and beard while asking the crew if they’ve ever seen the movie Bad Santa
Powell’s POV: For starters, the movie Bad Santa is an absolute classic and is on my “must watch” Christmas movie list along with Christmas Vacation and Elf. Anyway, that was a flat announcement for the women’s tag titles, but we all knew it was only a matter of time once they started encouraging fans to start hashtags. They can make a bigger fuss over it once they tell us the details of how the first champions will be crowned. I continue to wonder if they will hold a tournament on Facebook watch to replace the Mixed Match Challenge. Finally, I’m curious to see how they use Cena. His last run with the company was a letdown in that they had him lose too many matches rather than having him lose strategically in ways that elevated others.
3. Sasha Banks, Bayley and Ember Moon vs. Mickie James, Dana Brooke and Alicia Fox. They took an early break. [C] Sasha performed a rough looking meteora on James and went for a cover, but Fox broke it up. Moon took out Fox with an Eclipse. Banks performed a Backstabber on James, then Bayley performed the Bayley to Belly on James and pinned her. After the match, Riott Squad attacked Banks, Bayley, and Moon and cleared them from the ring…
Sasha Banks, Bayley and Ember Moon defeated Mickie James, Dana Brooke and Alicia Fox.
Powell’s POV: A time filling six-woman tag match, but we’ve come a long way since the Santa’s Little Helper matches we used to get from WWE during Christmas week. I assume the post match attack by Riott Squad leads to another six-woman tag match on the New Year’s Eve show.
The broadcast team set up a recap of the Seth Rollins and Baron Corbin feud, then hyped previously advertised segments… [C]
Paul Heyman stood in the ring and sang his own version of “Silent Night” that included lines about Brock Lesnar conquering plans because he won’t get those hands. It concluded with the line “Brock Lesnar is your Christmas grinch.” Heyman introduced himself by saying, “Ladies and gentlemen, and people who live in California.”
Heyman spoke about a young Braun Strowman praying for a replica title belt for Christmas, but now wanting the real thing from Lesnar. Heyman said Santa would not come through and Rudolph couldn’t find Strowman a path to the WWE Universal Championship at the expense of Lesnar.
Braun Strowman’s entrance music played and Heyman froze and then showed signs of fear. Strowman walked out with his arm heavily wrapped. Young said he had six weeks to get his elbow right. Strowman entered the ring. “Merry Christmas,” Heyman said. “Happy Hanukkah? A good Kwanza? I’m just an advocate.”
Strowman put a red nose and reindeer antlers on Heyman. Strowman told Heyman that he would be healed up for the Royal Rumble and Lesnar “will get these hands.” Strowman dropped the mic and played to the crowd while Heyman remained standing in the ring with the antlers and red nose…
The broadcast team recapped Natalya winning last week’s gauntlet match to earn a shot at the Raw Women’s Championship…
Backstage, Caruso interviewed Natalya about facing Ronda Rousey. Natalya said she expects nothing but the best from her just as Rousey expects the same from her. She said she trained Rousey and nobody knows her better. Natalya said 2018 was one of the most challenging years of her life, but she’s focused, ready, and said she would bring home the Raw Women’s Championship as a gift for her family… [C]
Alexa Bliss was on the Christmas set. She said she wasn’t asking Santa for anything “because I’m perfect.” She said in the sprit of giving she’d like Santa to give Bayley a personality and Sasha some humility. She said Nataly was a lost cause that even Santa couldn’t help. She said she hopes Santa gives Rousey some good makeup…
Tyler Breeze checked in from the set and hoped for a speedy recovery from Fandango and a couple of Ariana Grande tickets. Someone off camera said he could only have one thing. He said he’d take the tickets…
Ring entrances for the women’s championship match took place…
[Hour Three] JoJo delivered in-ring introductions for the title match…
4. Ronda Rousey vs. Natalya for the Raw Women’s Championship. After a few minutes of back and forth grappling, Cole said it was an incredibly competitive, even match. Graves said Rousey wasn’t as intense as she normally was. Natalya performed a unique suplex to break a submission hold. Natalya went for a Sharpshooter, but Rousey kicked her through the ropes to ringside head ing into a break. [C]
Natalya applied an abdominal stretch. Rousey eventually escaped the hold. “Do you like Ronda?” Natalya asked a fan. “I like her too.” Natalya suplexed Rousey. Rousey came back with some punched in the corner and then dragged Natalya down by her arm and hit her with a knee to the head for a two count.
Rousey started pleading with Natalya while Cole said she didn’t want to put her away. Natalya came back with a clothesline. Natalya went for a Sharpshooter, but Rousey kicked her away. Rousey hoisted up Natalya and slammed her down, then showed some hesitation before going for an armbar, but Natalya countered out of it and applied a Sharpshooter. Rousey crawled toward the ropes, but Natalya pulled her back a couple times. The second time, Rousey countered into an armbar and got the submission win.
Ronda Rousey defeated Natalya to retain the Raw Women’s Championship.
After the match, Rousey showed concern for Natalya and helped her to her feet. Rousey and Natalya hugged. Natalya raised Rousey’s arm and they hugged again…
Powell’s POV: An entertaining match that told a story that will probably lead to the long expected Natalya heel turn. The question is whether Natalya can finally step up and deliver the type of money promos that she has failed to come through with in the past. She’s a terrific wrestler, but she just hasn’t been able put it together with her mic work. Hopefully this time will be different. Meanwhile, Rousey showed really good emotion, but she wasn’t convincing in selling the Sharpshooter
Dean Ambrose was shown at an undisclosed location. He said he wished Seth Rollins what he deserves in his match against Baron Corbin. He said Rollins is the kind of gullible fool who probably believes in Santa Claus, but he won’t be getting what he asks for this year. Ambrose said he has the Christmas gift he deserves, the Intercontinental Championship. Ambrose said to imagine the lousy Christmas that Rollins would have if he lost to Corbin. “Deck the halls, baby,” Ambrose said. “That’s what you deserve”….
A Fighting With My Family trailer aired and focused on The Rock’s scene… [C] A video package hyped the return of Sami Zayn…
5. Heath Slater vs. Jinder Mahal (w/The Singh Brothers). Believe it or not, Slater’s entrance was not televised, but Mahal’s entrance was. Early in the match, a man dressed as Santa Claus showed in in the crowd and threw gifts to the fans. Mahal became distracted, allowing Slater to catch him with a kick. Slater went for a pin, but the Singh Brothers hit the ring to break it up for the disqualification.
Heath Slater defeated Jinder Mahal by DQ.
After the match, Santa Claus hopped the barricade and entered the ring and tried to talk down Mahal and the Singhs. Fans chanted for Santa, who beat up the heels. Slater recovered and helped clear the Singhs from the ring. Santa speared Mahal, then unmasked and revealed himself to be Rhyno. Cole acted shocked and said it was magical. “That touches my heart,” Young said…
Powell’s POV: This was fine aside from the broadcast team laying it so thick.
Backstage, the B-Team collapsed while Graves said Christmas was too much for them to handle… [C] A recap of Mr. McMahonta Claus making his announcements about the return of John Cena, women’s tag titles coming in 2019, and next week’s cage match… A graphic hyped Cena as returning “in the new year”… The broadcast team set up the video package on the NXT call-ups again…
Caruso interviewed Rollins backstage. He said he was focused on putting away Corbin once and for all. He said Ambrose could try to take everything he wants, but he can’t take his reputation or his heart. Rollins made his entrance… [C]
Apollo Crews asked Santa for a tank to flip over. He said he would moonsault over it once he flipped over it… The Ascension spoke on the Christmas set. Viktor asked if they were doing Secret Santa. Konnor said no and if they did it would obviously be him. Viktor said he knew it was Konnor… Kurt Angle said Christmas came early when Baron Corbin failed to become permanent general manager of Raw… Corbin made his entrance…
6. Seth Rollins vs. Baron Corbin. It was all Rollins early on, but Corbin caught him on the ropes and punched him to the floor going into a break. [C] Corbin worked over Rollins coming out of the break. Rollins came back with a Blockbuster.
Late in the match, Rollins caught Corbin with a kick from the apron and followed up with a springboard move, but Corbin performed a chokeslam backbreaker for a near fall. Corbin set up for End of Days, but Rollins countered into an inside cradle for a near fall. Rollins caught Corbin with a kick to the face and followed up with the stomp for the win…
Seth Rollins pinned Baron Corbin.
Powell’s POV: The match was fine and gave Corbin his comeuppance yet again. The live crowd was clearly fatigued. Keep in mind that this was the second Raw show they sat through in one night. Overall, it was a missable episode in terms of major storyline developments if you are busy enjoying the holidays. At the same time, it wasn’t the insufferable sports entertainment holiday madness that we’ve seen in past years, and the Vince McMahon announcements were a nice little reward for the viewers who did watch the show. Have a Merry Christmas.
Check below for the new Pro Wrestling Boom Podcast with Jason Powell and guest Nick Perkins discussing the McMahon family’s vow to make changes to WWE television shows.
“She said in the spirit of giving she’d like Santa to give Bayley a personality and Sasha some humility. She said Natalya was a lost cause that even Santa couldn’t help. She said she hopes Santa gives Rousey some good makeup…”
Alexa pretty much nailed it. Lol.