The Judgment Day Start the Show, JD McDonagh VS R-Truth: Miracle on 34th Street Fight
The Judgment Day arrived to kick off a very festive edition of Monday Night Raw, but they were very quickly interrupted by R-Truth who “somehow” seemed to believe that he was still a member of The Judgment Day. Truth also said him and JD McDonagh should have a “Miracle on 34th Street Fight” where the loser gets kicked out of The JD and whilst Rhea Ripley wasn’t happy about this, Damian Priest absolutely loved it. We then got the match and I always enjoy these, even if it wasn’t as good as some of the ones that have taken place in previous years. McDonagh is a terrific Professional Wrestler whilst the crowd was fully behind Truth, and after presents and “Candy Cane” Kendo Sticks were used, R-Truth ultimately pinned The Irish Ace after both men went crashing through a table.
Grade: B-
Becky Lynch Interrupts Nia Jax, Gunther VS The Miz: Intercontinental Championship, The “American Nightmare” Before Christmas
Katana Chance and Kayden Carter talked up their chances of leaving the night as the new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions before Becky Lynch quickly interrupted Nia Jax before Nia could say anything. Becky told Nia that she wanted a fight with her which Jax rejected before Lynch attacked Nia after The Irresistible Force brought up Becky’s child. This ultimately ended with Jax flooring Big Time Becks with a right hand, and yeah, this wasn’t great (but it wasn’t terrible either).
Grade: C
Kofi Clause handed some presents to the WWE Universe before Kofi found DIY. I enjoyed this as Santa Kingston gave Johnny Gargano a Jey Uso shirt and Johnny’s response was “Thanks, Jey Uso’s my Son’s favourite wrestler!” We also saw DIY shake hands with The Miz before it was time for The Miz’s last chance at dethroning Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship. This was really good stuff from both men and the crowd fully brought into some of the close near-falls. The Miz kicked out of Gunther’s Powerbomb whilst Gunther kicked out of Miz’s Skull Crushing Finale. We then got a great bit where The A-Lister delivered a super Skull Crushing Finale, only for The Ring General to roll to the outside. That was ultimately the beginning of the end for Miz as Gunther dropped him with a Powerbomb, a wicked lariat, and another Powerbomb to retain his IC Title. Fair play to both guys as this was really good.
Grade: B
We got a great video package hyping up The Creed Brothers for tonight’s Main Event before Gunther told Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci that he’s taking some time off and they’d better have sorted themselves out by the time he gets back. Kofi Clause then appeared to hand Ludwig some coal and yeah, I don’t think Imperium like Kofi very much. It was then time for a story as Shinsuke Nakamura told the tale of “The American Nightmare Before Christmas”. This was actually quite clever and well-delivered by Shinsuke, but it ultimately resulted in him being attacked from behind by Cody Rhodes before the two brawled into the arena. Security tried and failed to break it up before Nakamura and Rhodes were eventually separated. This wasn’t much, but I enjoyed the story.
Grade: C+
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships: Chelsea Green and Piper Niven VS Katana Chance and Kayden Carter, Akira Tozawa VS Ivar, Seth “Freakin” Rollins Promo, Jey Uso VS Ludwig Kaiser
Akira Tozawa told Adam Pearce who he wanted a match with before Chelsea Green and Piper Niven confronted Pearce about not having to defend their WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships. The Raw General Manager laughed this off before Bronson Reed walked in saying he wanted to talk business regarding the Intercontinental Championship. It was then time for Chelsea Green and Piper Niven to put their Women’s Tag Team Titles on the line as they took on Katana Chance and Kayden Carter. I thought this was a decent match between two enjoyable teams and the result really could’ve gone either way. However, after Chelsea Green tagged herself in, she got dropped by Kayden Carter before Chance and Carter hit the Afterparty on Green to get the victory meaning The KC’s are the brand-new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions. Whilst it was a slight shame to see Chelsea and Piper lose, I’ve been a fan of Katana Chance and Kayden Carter for a while and to say they deserved this moment is an understatement.
Grade: B-
Ivy Nile was training backstage with Alpha Academy before Akira Tozawa walked in to confirm he had a match tonight with Ivar. Master Gable didn’t seem particularly impressed by this before Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell congratulated Katana Chance and Kayden Carter on becoming the new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions. Kofi Clause also appeared to congratulate them before Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark, and Tegan Nox and Natalya got into a discussion about who’s going to be the next challengers. We then went into our next match as it was time for Akira Tozawa to try and attempt a miracle against Ivar. Surprisingly, Tozawa actually got quite a bit of offense in on Ivar whilst Maxxine Dupri dodged Valhalla at ringside. However, in the end, the big Viking dropped Akira with a massive World Strongest Slam from the middle turnbuckle to get the victory. This was totally fine for what it was.
Grade: C
Seth “Freakin” Rollins then arrived as it was time for the World Heavyweight Champion to cut a promo. Seth briefly brought up his interaction with CM Punk last week before Drew McIntyre interrupted and thanked Seth for telling the truth last week. Drew then cut a great promo on what it’s like being away from his family before he told Seth that that’s something his Wife can relate to in a great little line. Rollins then told McIntyre that he “pity’s him” which ultimately set The Scottish Psychopath off as he attacked The Visionary before Rollins came back with a terrific suicide dive. However, in the end, it was Drew McIntyre who stood tall after dropping Seth “Freakin” Rollins face-first onto the steel steps with an Alabama slam. This was another really good segment between Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre and I very much look forward to their rematch at Day 1 in two weeks time. Also, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t rooting for McIntyre to leave that night as the World Heavyweight Champion.
Grade: B
Cody Rhodes found The Creed Brothers and thanked them for having his back last week before Kofi Clause came down to ringside only to get attacked by Imperium. What I loved about this is after Ludwig (I believe it was Ludwig) ripped the beard off of Santa Kingston, Wade Barrett’s response was “Wait a minute, that’s not Santa, that’s Kofi Kingston!” I genuinely love this stuff like this. Anyway, Jey Uso then arrived to make the save before we headed straight into a match between Jey and Kaiser because why not? Both Uso and Kaiser are great in-ring workers so this was never going to be bad, and in the end, Kingston returned to take out Giovanni Vinci before “Main Event” Jey nailed Ludwig Kaiser with the Uso Splash to get the victory. Whilst I would sometimes label this as pointless, it was the Christmas edition of Monday Night Raw so it made total sense.
Grade: C+
Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships: The Judgment Day VS The Creed Brothers
After Damian Priest just about agreed that JD McDonagh should remain in The Judgment Day, it was Main Event time as Finn Balor and “Senor Money in the Bank” Damian Priest looked to keep hold of their Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships heading into Christmas as they took on The Creed Brothers. Before this show, I very much fancied The Creeds to win this match, but the fact that Katana Chance and Kayden Carter won Tag Team Gold earlier in the night made me question that. If anything, that made this match better as not only was the in-ring action fun, but the near-falls were great. There was one bit where after Ivy Nile took out the Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley, The Creeds hit the Brutus Ball onto Finn Balor only for Damian Priest to break the pinfall up at the last second. I genuinely thought Julius and Brutus had won here so fair play to WWE for that. In the end, after Brutus and Balor went crashing to the outside, Priest dropped Julius Creed with his trademark South of Heaven to get the victory and retain the Titles for The Judgment Day. This was another really good match between two great teams and the story of Priest basically winning this match fully for his team is a really good one. Also, The Creed Brothers are awesome and I have no doubt that they’ll end up as multi-time Tag Team Champions in the future.
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