Welcome or welcome back to our weekly WWE RAW review where we recap some of the biggest hits and misses from the show.
WWE aired a pre-taped RAW this week. Drew McIntyre, Sami Zayn, IYO SKY, and other stars competed on the shpw.
Here’s what went down on the December 23 episode of Monday Night RAW.
Hit – Women’s Intercontinental Title Tournament Three-Way
Solid stuff from Natalya, Alba Fyre, and IYO SKY (who replaced Kairi Sane). The only issue this writer had with this match was the lack of TV time. WWE is on the cusp of crowning the first-ever Intercontinental Champion, but it seems like they cannot give the participants proper time on television. Make it make sense. Natalya would’ve been a more plausible pick for the winner, given her family’s illustrious history with the Men’s Intercontinental Championship.
Miss – Chad Gable vs. Akira Tozawa on WWE RAW
American Made should have ended 2024 on a strong note. Instead, they are feuding with Gable’s old stable, Alpha Academy. Not being able to pull the trigger when it matters the most remains a consistent flaw of Triple H’s booking. Hopefully, American Made will bounce back from what has been a lackluster stretch for them.
Hit – Damian Priest vs. Dominik Mysterio
This was a decent TV match between these two former team members. Dominik being the chicken s*it heel remains a highlight of the show. McDonagh’s head is too big for Santa. The DQ ending was a big example of overbooking, but the War Raiders’ run-in evened the odds.
Miss – Dexter Lumis vs. The Miz on WWE RAW
The original Dexter Lumis versus The Miz feud was fun to watch. Last night’s match wasn’t. This writer believes it’s still too early for WWE to be doing The Final Testament versus The Wyatt Sicks. Kross’ run-in caused the second DQ finish of the night. Come on, WWE, you need to be more creative with the finishes.
Hit – Kofi Kingston’s mom walks out on him
You know you’ve done something terrible when your own parent walks out on you. This is exactly what happened when Kofi tried to hug his mother. Mama Kingston wanted none of that. She questioned his treatment of Big E and then walked out on her son. That was cold. What’s better? Dominik Mysterio telling New Day they did Big E dirty.
Honorable Mention
The whole situation with Sami Zayn, Drew McIntyre, Jey Uso and the Outlaw Bloodline makes it to our honorable mention for WWE RAW. McIntyre and Sami had a solid back-and-forth promo exchange at the beginning of the show. That said, it seems WWE has become quite formulaic when it comes to Zayn’s promos. On the plus side, McIntyre’s expressions at one point during the match made it wrestling twitter meme fodder.
How would you rate 12/23 WWE RAW on a scale of 1 to 10? Let us know in the comments!
