WWE RAW - 12/31/2018 - The Spanish Announce Table Review

WWE RAW is Detroit! 

Thankfully there was only one mention of, and ZERO appearances by Kid Rock!

New Matchups...

WWE promised us a whole bunch of new matchups, so to prove this point; we begin RAW with Dolph Ziggler vs Drew McIntrye!

Hey, at least this time it's in a STEEL CAGE!!!
image source: GiveMeSport.com

I like that WWE is writing McIntrye to look strong and vicious, but I'm not sure there was much else to this segment, other than to remind me that Drew is strong and vicious.

Coach Trips To The Rescue

image source: Bleacher Report

I liked this segment. 

Even if it takes Triple H coaching it out of him, it couldn't hurt for Seth Rollins to turn up the agression. 

It couldn't hurt for EVERYONE in WWE to turn up the aggression a little bit. 

I also like the odd-couple pairing of Triple H and Shane McMahon in an authority role.

A Start So Fresh And So Clean

We were treated to a "Fresh Start" Battle Royal.

The winner gets an IC Title Match TONIGHT! This is not a bad play, except the talent involved made it feel more like the Jobber Battle Royal; which is fitting since Apollo Crews won.

image source: YouTube

Watch Ya Backs For Dat Snukajax!

image source: RoundaRousey.com

I like that they kept this part short. 

Nia's interruption of Natalya was too short to screw up, and the surprise beat-down was quick and mean. 

I especially liked Jax taunting Natalya as she left, asking her "Where's your friend now?"

Even More New Matchups...

Baron Corbin complains about life, then Elias makes fun of Corbin in song-form. 

They fight, rinse, repeat. 

To be fair to Corbin and Elias; they were good enough in what they did, and there was some fun moments. 

I'm just still searching for a decent point to this story to care about.

More Different Stuff; Coming Soon...

Bayley, Sasha, and Ember Moon battled The Riott Squad. 

Again, there seems to be no real reason to any of this, except to highlight that they want Bayley and Sasha to appear as the favorites to win the WWE Women's Tag Team Titles; coming soon. 

Just more of those changes that we keep hearing are coming soon.

Not So Almighty

image source: Youtube

 Lio Rush hit a home run while hyping up Bobby Lashley before the match. 

He was super passionate during the whole promo, and I really like how he commanded Lashley to "DOMINATE". 

However, that was all for nothing, as Seth Rollins would eventually be the one who dominates, after taking both Lashley AND Rush out; leaving them laying in the ring. 

Great for Rollins, but it feels like Rush and Lashley have been KILLING it lately, and this kinda sets a ceiling on how high that can go.

Why Is This Happening?

Jinder Mahal and The Singh Brothers wrestled Slater and Rhyno. 

This is actually a thing that happened on WWE Raw. 

Who cares about this? 

Why are they doing this?

Taking The Champ To The Fringe

Dean had a decent backstage promo. Nothing terrible, but certainly nothing amazing. 

It did make it easy enough to not like Ambrose, which is basically what you want in a heel. 

The timing in this match felt off, especially in the transitions, and was therefore hard to find believable. 

Dean sold the match well by having to crawl up the ramp after his victory.

A Moment Of Bliss For WWE RAW

Alexa Bliss rarely fails to deliver a good heel promo and it was no different on RAW when she announced her new talk show coming to WWE RAW next week: A Moment of Bliss!

Alexa's first guest will be Ronda Rousey. 

The diss on Roddy Piper and Piper's Pit was a real nice, subtle touch.

More New Matchups...

It's getting seriously hard to continue to listen to WWE talk about new matchups when the main event of WWE RAW is Ronda Rousey and Natalya vs. Snukajax! 

The match wasn't the worst, but it certainly wasn't anything that moved me; which is precisely the same thing I could say about this entire storyline.

WWE RAW feels, at the end of 2018, EXACTLY like it did for ALL of 2018. 

The McMahon-Helmsly Regime promised us big changes, but I haven't seen them yet; so color me skeptical. 

I never thought I would be anticipating the next move of The Young Bucks; hoping it would be able to provide me with entertainment, but here we are; I'm ALL IN!

Here's hoping for something TRULY DIFFERENT for WWE RAW in 2019!

                                                                 - Tim

---

Listen to The Spanish Announce Table Podcast for more in-depth analysis of WWE RAW and many more wrestling topics.