RAW Review: 4th January

Hello! Right then, let's get the elephant in the room out of the way LAST NIGHT WAS THE BEST RAW OF THE YEAR! Now we can move on. I'm not even quite sure why, but I was genuinely quite hopeful for last night's RAW and the Royal Rumble build. I'll discuss the big Royal Rumble match news a bit later on, but it's definitely shaken things up- and will definitely have divided opinions and gotten people talking. I won't say I "enjoyed" RAW last night, but at the same time I did like a lot of what they did last night so in that respect it was a successful night for the WWE. Let's look at exactly what I enjoyed then eh? THE FIRST RAW REVIEW OF 2016 BEGINS!

OH FUCK, STEPHANIE WAS IN THE FIRST SEGMENT OF 2016.
Roman Reigns & Stephanie McMahon Promo
"The Morgue" why couldn't Roman have told Stephanie she'd be picking Vince up from "The Morgue". I realise it's PG, but come on. I think that little adjustment can sort of sum up Roman Reigns at the moment. In that, there's a lot of potential- that I don't think many people are disputing he has. But, at the same time- he's just not quite "there" yet. In my posting break, Roman did of course win the WWE Title. I was in two minds over whether I wanted Roman to win the Title, but after his TLC showing I was willing to give it a go. I'm yet to make my mind up when it comes to Roman as WWE Champion. The main problem for me is the fact they're making EVERYTHING about Roman, as I'll discuss later. As we've seen a million times in the WWE, if the WWE try and push something down our throats- the fans will push back. I didn't mind this segment, without ever "liking" it at any point.

Kevin Owens v Neville
I really liked this match. It was never going to be "Match of the Year" fare. However, for what it was- it was really enjoyable. Neville looked great in defeat last night, and provided they keep Neville on his current path I do have some hope for his future. Neville isn't going to be Main Eventing any time soon, however he's definitely getting pretty consistent pops at present- and if he keeps doing stuff like he did in the match last night those pops will only continue and grow. Ambrose was fine on Commentary, apart from at one point when he got completely lost. The stuff with Ambrose and Owens after was really good, and overall this segment did its job really well.

Vince McMahon Backstage Promo
The stuff Vince said was fine, but I think it would have been infinitely better had he entered in the Limo shouting "HAPPY NEW YEAR!" and his entire Interview with JoJo just consisted of "HAPPY NEW YEAR!".

Titus O'Neil v Stardust
I'm pretty sure they got the scripts mixed up, and this was in fact supposed to be on Superstars. Everything they did was perfectly acceptable, and the match was decent in a very "standard" way. I suppose that's all that you could really expect from the match in all honesty. So, fair play to both guys.

Becky Lynch & Charlotte Backstage Promo
I liked this segment, and it set-up what followed nicely. It's not a good sign that I can barely remember what's happen with Charlotte over the last two months, but this segment definitely worked.

Becky Lynch v Charlotte
I just need to write this down to make it a lot clearer in my head. Becky Lynch and Charlotte had a decent match, they told a good "story", Becky won with shenanigans after Charlotte attempted to do so making it "fair game", Charlotte then snapped at Becky and fully turned on Becky by killing her. WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THE DIVAS DIVISION?! ACTUAL STORIES?! CHARACTER DEVELOPMENTS THAT MAKE SENSE?! After this match last night, I legitimately want to see Becky go after Charlotte for the Title. This was one of the best Divas Segments we've had in recent memory, and we can only hope we get 51 (or more) more of them this year.

Vince McMahon & Sheamus Backstage Promo
Apparently the bloke Vince was belittling as they cut to him backstage was the Head Writer of NXT. This segment was pretty standard stuff, which would have been made better had Vince simply told Sheamus HAPPY NEW YEAR over and over.

Ryback v The Big Show
At leas the actual match was mercifully short. Before the announcement after the Main Event, I was convinced Braun Strowman was going to fuck shit up in the Rumble Match. While he still might, Roman's involvement as well as Brock, Cena, Owens, Ambrose- it all dilutes Strowman's potential impact on the match. I am still looking forward to The Wyatts in the Rumble match however, because chances are we'd be getting The Wyatts/Brock at some point during.

Alberto Del Rio & Rusev v The Usos
I've been a big critic of Del Rio's return, but I legitimately think this was the best match of Del Rio's return. With the only other contender being his match with Roman at Survivor Series. It wasn't perfect by any means, but a lot of what happened just "worked" last night. We actually got a great false finish for once, with the Uso Splash after a Superkick on Del Rio- and for the first time since his match with Cena I've actually liked Del Rio's finish. Why did I like it? BECAUSE IT FUCKING MADE SENSE! The problem, among others with the Corner Stomp is the fact Del Rio's opponent literally has to hold themselves up for Del Rio to hit it. That wasn't a problem last night with Jey draped over the Second Rope. So overall, I really enjoyed this match. MORE PLEASE!

Heath Slater v Dolph Ziggler
The match was nothing really. I thought Dolph looked a bit "off", but that may well be down to the fact he was losing to Heath Slater- albeit with interference. I genuinely, all joking aside love the "Social Outcasts" idea. I have no doubt it'll be dead by at the latest the Royal Rumble, but on the off chance it isn't- I'm really looking forward to what these four can do. I know there'll be 4MB Jokes, JOB Squad jokes and more, but I can legitimately see myself getting behind the "Social Outcasts" concept. I'm not getting my hopes too high for them, because there's a reason they're- well Outcasts in the WWE landscape. However, for now- LET ME DREAM!

Vince McMahon & Roman Reigns Backstage Promo
As with the Sheamus stuff it was pretty standard. HAPPY NEW YEAR, ROMAN! HAPPY NEW YEAR! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Chris Jericho meets The New Day
For once, and I mean once- I didn't really like The New Day's individual Promo Segment. I'm not even really sure why, it may have been the absence of a Gong they previewed in their little Backstage Segment beforehand. Then New Day's Countdown was interrupted by Jericho's and some stuff happened. Firstly, New Day's gift they were counting down to was a fully healthy Daniel Bryan ready to wrestle- so you can thank Jericho for Bryan not wrestling at Mania. I realise the crowd wasn't great last night, but the pop for Jericho was kind of depressing. It wasn't silent by any means, but still.

Remember, this all my personal opinion. I'm getting bored of "Happy, Smiley, Catchphrase" Jericho returning for a Month, leaving and then just repeating that cycle. Especially with the lack of one of the Top Heels in the Company for Mania in Seth Rollins, when I heard the Jericho rumours I thought we'd be getting Heel Jericho this time around. We still might, but I think it's unlikely- and that's annoying. The stuff with Jericho last night was especially annoying to me, because HE WAS BURYING ONE OF THE VERY FEW THINGS ON RAW THAT'S ACTUALLY CONSISTENTLY GOOD! So, overall this could have gone better. I'd also like to hear from anyone who would argue that Jericho's return in the Rumble wouldn't have been better as a surprise.

The New Day v Kalisto & The Dudleys
This match was pretty standard stuff on the whole, with some good individual moments scattered throughout the match. I know it's Wrasslin, but Bubba literally running away from D-Von- leaving him at the mercy of Kofi and Big E in order to chase XAVIER! THE WEAKEST MEMBER OF THE NEW DAY just blew my mind with its stupidity. There's bigger things to worry about in the world, but for some reason this really annoyed me.

Roman Reigns v Sheamus w/Vince McMahon as Special Guest Ref- WWE Title
There's a number of different angles to cover after this match, so I'll go through them all chronologically. The actual match itself was weird. I can't say good- but at the same time they didn't do an awful lot wrong from a match perspective. However, from an angle perspective WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK WERE THEY DOING IN THIS MATCH?! I know they were doing the whole "Corrupt Ref" gimmick, but there's a limit to what the Slow Counts should be for. Judging by this match, among other things Sheamus would have been pinned by a SAMOAN DROP! SHEAMUS, THE #1 CONTENDER FOR THE WWE TITLE WOULD HAVE BEEN PINNED BY A SAMOAN DROP!

The finish really pissed me off. Roman wasn't losing, I think that was an accepted fact. However, when they did the Double Brogue Kick spot there was an inkling of doubt. Especially with Vince STARING DIRECTLY AT WHAT WAS GOING ON. I know they were trying to sell Vince as being "dazed" but give me a break. I have to assume Vince was at the very least out of position. The finish would have been infinitely better had Vince not have been looking directly at Sheamus pinning Reigns in an apparent "daze". All of this after Roman Superman Punched Vince, and then when pinning Sheamus he was confused as to the lack of a Referee there to count.

Right then, the Royal Rumble match news. There's so many different angles to cover- that I can't cover them all. I will say, the Royal Rumble match being for the WWE Title is a good move in the sense that having people return/debut going after the WWE Title makes sense. It also makes sense in-terms of Brock going into the Rumble match. If as rumoured AJ Styles is showing up in the Rumble match it makes sense in that regard as well given anyone would want to go for the WWE Title.

I've seen a lot of people complaining that the Rumble match has been made too predictable for the third year running- to which I'd argue it was predictable beforehand, and is less so now. Before the announcement last night- at least to me it was common sense that Brock was winning the Rumble. Now, it's Roman or Brock. Brock can win and then we get the Rematch at Mania- or Roman can win and Brock can still go after Roman. I do still have reasonable hopes for the Rumble Match, and especially with Brock in the Match it should definitely be fun.

Overall, I did enjoy parts of last night's RAW- which is better than what could have been said about some of the Episodes. We had Divas Segments that made sense, some decent matches and crucially stuff that would make me want to tune in next week.

Thanks for reading as always, after my break toward the end of December- these Reviews are now officially back for the new year. I don't think we can get a much worse year than 2015, but I do have reasonably high hopes for 2016- it at least on paper has a lot of potential. Thanks again for reading, and remember- after last night we're one step closer to Heath Slater as WWE World Heavyweight Champion.