Opening segment
Sheamus’ celebration was interrupted by Roman Reigns, which was about as predictable as it gets. WWE has to be questioning their logic with giving Sheamus the strap — it’s not working. Plain and simple.
Dolph Ziggler vs. Tyler Breeze
Solid enough work from both of these guys, but the feud between these two has no life whatsoever. What’s the beef between these two? Why do their matches matter?
If I missed it, someone please fill me in.
Winner: Dolph Ziggler
Rusev vs. Ryback
The match served to start a feud between these two, but man, it was about as awkward as it gets.
Ryback sent Rusev into the stairs, which knocked Lana down. Rusev blamed Ryback, and it got really confusing from there. Why did Rusev, who is a heel, turn into a pile of mush? It really made Ryback look like a bad guy of sorts, and it didn’t come off well.
A rocky start to the feud, to say the least.
Winner: Ryback via countout
The Dudley Boyz and Tommy Dreamer vs. The Wyatt Family
This is a feud destined for a spotfest TLC match at the upcoming pay-per-view, and this segment did a great job setting that up. The inclusion of Tommy Dreamer drew a nice pop from the Pittsburgh crowd too. I don’t approve of talent like the Wyatts languishing in a low card feud with a tag team that’s probably asking what they even came back for at this point, but compared to the rest of the program, it wasn’t terrible.
Winners: I think the Wyatts were disqualified? No one really knows
Alberto Del Rio vs. Goldust
Boy, was this a match. There was a bell. Then there was some wrestling. Then there was another bell. This was definitely a match. Jack Swagger came to the ring after the match that was, but sadly there was nothing left for him. Del Rio had moved on. Let go, Jack. Just let go.
Winner: Alberto Del Rio
No. 1 Contender match for the World Tag Team Championship
The Lucha Dragons vs. The Usos
Remember how no one really knew who won the Dudleys/Wyatt Family match? Well, we got deja vu two matches later. The New Day attacked both tag teams mid-match and gloated about defeating both their contenders at the same time. This will probably set up some kind of multi-team match at TLC.
Winners: I guess both teams were disqualified at the same time? No one really knows
Sasha Banks vs. Brie Bella
Banks and Bella wrestled a good match with a good heel storyline running throughout, plus it had a definitive winner. It doesn’t mean much to any particular feud, but it stood as testament to how far the WWE Divas division has come.
Winner: Sasha Banks
WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match
Sheamus vs. Roman Reigns
Reigns got his title rematch on RAW, but it came with a unique stipulation: the match had a time limit as long as Reigns’ first WWE World Heavyweight Championship reign, which was five minutes and 15 seconds.
The two traded moves until Alberto Del Rio, Wade Barrett and Rusev came to Sheamus’ aide. Sheamus gave his new club a cute club nickname (The League of Nations) and The Usos and Dean Ambrose rushed to Reigns’ side. Reigns did not give his new club a cute club nickname.
Winner: Roman Reigns won via disqualification, so the title doesn’t change hands
Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch
What started as a friendly exhibition turned into something more when Charlotte feigned an ankle injury AND used her father as a distraction to gain a victory. These two wrestlers clearly have chemistry, and showing that Charlotte didn’t just skim over some of the dirtier chapters in the Ric Flair Wrestling Handbook was a great twist. The Divas were 2/2 on Monday.
Winner: Charlotte
7 vs. 4 Tag Team Match
League of Nations and the New Day vs. Roman Reigns, The Usos and Dean Ambrose
Again, WWE gave another match with only one logical outcome —the heels stand stall, and the faces get beat down.
That’s exactly what happened.
The work itself throughout the match wasn’t bad, and the trash talk between the two teams brought a certain life to the match. Still, there was no way the League of Nations was going to lose its first match, nor were the faces going to overcome those odds.
Winners: League of Nations and New Day
Gene’s thoughts: The formation of a new stable and a rare WWE World Heavyweight Championsip match couldn’t save this week’s RAW. WWE is stuck between a rock and a hard place, and every Monday night they keep replacing that hard place with a harder place that’s more of a challenge to come unstuck from.
Travis’s thoughts: WWE had to respond to last week’s abysmally low ratings, and they failed miserably. The League of Nations is a faction full of guys who haven’t been relevant up to this point. The WWE World Heavyweight Championship match had me intrigued, but WWE’s “gotcha” booking destroyed it. Otherwise, talent seems to be flailing in meaningless storylines when WrestleMania season is just around the corner. I bet that ratings will be low again this week.