RAW Review- 22nd December

Hey! With my penultimate RAW Review of the year to follow, and the promise of a festive RAW the question for this was; how bad will it get?

Ho Ho Hogan, Cena, Rollins Promo
I didn't make a "Santa with Muscles" joke last night and I won't now, Brother. Hogan did the best with what he was given, but at the end of the day- what on earth were they thinking having HULK HOGAN dress up as Santa, especially when Foley seems to live for it. If the dirtsheets are to be believed Cena rallied the Main Roster after the NXT Special trying to get them to step their game up and get serious- so he started singing Disney Songs. The Rollins promo was good, but at this stage we've heard the exact same promo so many different times its starting to lose its meaning- and the crowd aren't even reacting as much as they used to.

John Cena v Seth Rollins
I was saying in my RAW Review last week that "Supercena" doesn't really bother me anymore, and I still maintain that now. Yes, he ripped through J+J as well as Rollins but going into the match with Brock he does need to look ridiculously strong to still be taken seriously. Whether or not he needed to go over Rollins to "win the feud" before moving onto Brock is more of a debate to be had, I'd have just let this feud simmer for a while after having Rollins win via Brock to keep the "Rollins Can't Pin or Submit Me" angle going for a little while longer with both guys moving on to different opponents between now and the Rumble. However they didn't, the match itself was really good- considering the usual match quality on Festive RAWs this was a welcome opener and put me in a good mood for the rest of the show.

Fandango v Jack Swagger
This was a ridiculously short match, considering the way Swaggers been booked against Rusev recently- for him to be dispatched quickly by Fandango reaffirms Swagger suffering from the most schizophrenic booking on the current roster.

R-Truth v Adam Rose
IT HAPPENED, THE LSD FINALLY WORE OFF! KRUGAH

Roman Reigns v Big Show
This didn't even make Roman look strong, DAMMIT.

Brie Bella v Natalya
So it looks as though Nattie is next in line for the Divas Title, which is alright in my book as it means Tyson will get more TV Time, FACT.

The Dusts v Los Matadores & El Reno (Thanks @Abuckley000 for the Spelling)
This was the first stupid Christmas gimmick match of the night, and it wasn't horrendous as some of them can be, Reno nearly botching the finish aside it was an alright match everything considered.

Dolph Ziggler v Luke Harper- Intercontinental Title Match
We got another great match from these two. Of course Dolph is the guy getting all the credit, because he's Dolph Ziggler but the old saying "It takes two to Tango" is never more applicable and massive credit has to go to Harper for his role in the match also. Right from the gate Harper went full throttle, and despite the number of times he's now done it I'm still impressed by a guy of Harpers build doing a proper suicide dive. The spot where Harper no-sold the superkick and went into the lariat was great and the way in which Dolph finally dispatched Harper made everyone look good.

Also... MICHAEL COLE CALLED A WRESTLING MOVE- THIS IS NOT A DRILL

I was saying on Twitter last night that Dolph needs to drop the belt soon, at the latest the Rumble and I stand by that. I said in my TLC blogs that the IC Title is a glass ceiling that Dolph has already crashed through and I stand by that and going into Wrestlemania Season I think Dolph is worthy of a Main Event spot going into Mania, with the likely options being Rollins or Triple H.

Pipers Pit w/ Rusev
Pipers part was kept short, but to the WWE Lawyers relief- I was saying it last week as well its crazy the people Lana has been across the mic from considering how new she is to the business. The more I think about it the more I realise this Ryback v Rusev feud is a bad idea, I can't see a scenario where Ryback will end the Rusev streak- so this feud will only hurt Ryback like his feud with Punk did in his original babyface run.

Santas Helper Six-Diva Tag Team Match
The fact Xanta Claus was referenced in this match made everything worth it. The We Want Paige chants were fully fledged last night and hopefully Vince removes his special hearing aids that filter everything he hears and wakes up to the fact Paige is a special talent.

The Miz v The overly possessive Uso
I'd have preferred more of Mizdows zany antics in the match, but given the time constraints it wasn't meant to be. I wish they'd pull the trigger on whatever they're going to do with Naomi and whether she aligns with Miz or not because we've already had a stupid number of matches with these two either in Singles or Tag Matches.

Bray Wyatt v Dean Ambrose- Miracle on 34th Street Fight
This was the third really good match of the night, they brought out all of the toys and more. The match was a bit "bitty" in my opinion, perhaps because of the stupid stipulation but it seemed very disjointed and they were moving from one spot to another as opposed to a "match". Thats not to say I didn't enjoy the match, but its gotten to the point where these twos matches have basically become spot monkeys for their matches and they need to be careful how many of these they do because coming into Mania season both of these two can't afford an injury. I hope this was the blow-off of the blow-off matches these two have had- but the Elbow Drop through the Table makes me think we might be getting one or two more matches out of these two.

Overall I was happy with the show, I was saying on Twitter Festive RAWs aren't for storyline progression being between the December PPV and a month away from the Rumble but overall this a decent RAW and I think a lot of people were being overly critical.

Thanks as always for reading, any and all feedback is appreciated- this is my last Wrestling Blow before Christmas and considering the different audiences I get for my blogs this is probably the last one the majority of you will see before Christmas so I'd like to wish you all a very Happy Christmas.