wrestling / TV Reports

Csonka’s WWE Raw Review 12.17.18

December 17, 2018 | Posted by Larry Csonka
The Revival Raw 12-17-18
6
The 411 Rating
Community Grade
12345678910
Your Grade
Loading...
Csonka’s WWE Raw Review 12.17.18  

Csonka’s WWE Raw Review 12.17.18

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– Kurt Angle defeated Baron Corbin @ 9:21 via pin [**]
– Finn Balor vs. Dolph Ziggler went to a no contest @ 9:40 [***]
IC Title Match: IC Champion Dean Ambrose defeated Tyler Breeze @ 7:30 via pin [***]
#1 Contender’s Match: The Revival defeated AOP, B Team, & Lucha House Party @ 10:15 via pin [**]
#1 Contender’s Gauntlet Match: Natalya @ 53:03 via submission [***]


– Follow all of my reviews at this link.

– You can check out my top 32 matches of NOVEMBER list at this link.

Vince is Back: As expected, no matter how bad the shows have been, Vince gets a huge reaction, and the fans bow to him. Vince says raw has been on air for over 25-years, and have changed with the times, and despite his intelligence, creativity, and brilliance, he can’t do it all by himself anymore. He brings out Stephanie, Triple H, & Shane. Steph admits that they haven’t been doing a great job or listening to the audience. They are here for a fresh start, and the four of them will be taking back Monday Night Raw and Smackdown. They will give the fans what they want something new & fresh, and there will be new faces, stars, and matches. The fans are now the authority, and as long as they work together, WWE will always be then, now, forever. Baron Corbin arrives and says he’s excited for a fresh start. He kisses their asses, but says that what happened last night’s WWE TLC PPV was not fair to him and he wants to have a conversation. They boo Corbin out of the building as the McMahon’s keep egging on the crowd. Corbin says he did his best and the superstars let him down. He wasn’t prepared for the unfair attack at the PPV; Triple H mocks Corbin for being predictable. Corbin still wants to be GM, the McMahon’s huddle, and that’s a negatory ghost rider. Vince says there may be a way, if Corbin wins his match right now, he can become the new GM. You almost have to admire the way they deflected all blame onto “the people” they let run the show and took no blame so that they could come off as the heroes. The Corbin stuff got good heat, but it was pretty much what I expected; McMahon’s appearing for the artificial ratings pop and empty promises in a 20-minute opening promo

Kurt Angle vs. Baron Corbin: Heath Slater is the referee. Angle attacks at the bell, laying in strikes and kicks. Angle hits a German. Post beak and Corbin is in control, an Triple H announced this is a handicap match. Roode, Gable, and Crews join in and beat the shit out of Corbin. Angle hits Germans. Gable in with a German. Roode and Crews beat on Corbin and he runs. They chase him and bring him back. They all lay the boots to Corbin as Slater carefully checks on the buckles. Shane then makes it a no DQ match. Slater lays the boots to him while the others beat on Corbin with chairs like at TLC. Roode and Gabel hit the Motor City Time Splitters version of skull and bones, frog splash by Crews, and the Angle slam finishes it. Kurt Angle defeated Baron Corbin @ 9:21 via pin [**] Don’t get me wrong, I love a good comeuppance and Corbin getting his ass beat, but they promised new and fresh and basically did a rehash of the angle they ran at TLC where these guys all kicked Corbin’s ass. The good news is that the crowd was completely into seeing Corbin getting killed after all of his bullshit.

– Post match, they put Corbin through a table.

Finn Balor vs. Dolph Ziggler: They lock up and work to the ropes. Ziggler grounds the action, Balor fights to his feet and hits arm drags and kicks. The dropkick follows. Post break, and Balor rolls through into a dropkick. Balor is favoring his leg, is slow to follow up, but maintains control and hits a standing double stomp. The inverted DDT follows for 2. Balor hits sling blade, but Ziggler cuts him off with a DDT for 2. Balor battles back, heads up top ad is cut off. The Zigzag follows for a good near fall. Drew arrives, Ziggler attacks, and they brawl on the floor and Balor wipes out Drew with a tope. Back in and the famasser gets 2. Drew in and attacks both for the DQ. Finn Balor vs. Dolph Ziggler went to a no contest @ 9:40 [***] This was good, continued the issues with all three, and should lead to a triple threat match at some point soon.

– Drew lays them both out and stands tall post match.

Dean Ambrose Talks: Ambrose and his swat team arrive. He mocks the fans and says he’s owed respect. Rollins choked, lost, and Ambrose won the IC Title. He took the most important thing in Rollins’ life and when he’s done, Rollins will have nothing left. He’ll take his career, his reputation, and put it in the gutter. But he could let Rollins admit he was wrong and that Ambrose was right. Ambrose tries to tempt him with an open challenge, non-title, just for a fight. Ambrose continues to run him down and then issues an IC open challenge for anyone not named Seth Rollins.

IC Champion Dean Ambrose vs. Tyler Breeze: Breeze attacks at the bell, runs wild and dumps Ambrose to the floor. Post break and Ambrose take control and beats down Breeze, covering for 2. Ambrose grounds the action, but Breeze gets to his feet, hits an enziguri and gets a RANA for 2. Ambrose posts himself, and gets cradled for 2. Breeze hits the beauty shot and high cross for 2. The superkick follows for 2. Ambrose quickly hits dirty deeds for the win. IC Champion Dean Ambrose defeated Tyler Breeze @ 7:30 via pin [***] This was a good match with a good post match angle. Breeze may have lost but he got another chance to shine.

– Rollins’s music hits and he was dressed as a swat team guy and superkicks Ambrose. He takes out the swat team guys as Ambrose run away.

– Shane promises new faces and changes. Drake Maverick and AOP arrive. AOP wants their match tonight, and Shane refuses the antiquated mandatory rematch clause. Shane books a four-way tag and the winners get a future tag title shot.

– They hype EC3, Lars Sullivan, Lacey Evans, Nikki Cross and Heavy Machinery coming soon.

– We get a video package on the new arrivals.

– Lio and Lashley are in the ring with Elias’ broken guitar from last night. Lashley does his posing routine. Elias arrives and nails Lashley with a guitar.

– We get a Sami Zayn returning soon video package.

#1 Contenders Match: AOP vs. B Team vs. The Revival vs. Lucha House Party: Lucha House rules are apparently gone from now on, thankfully. Axel and Dorado to begin. The luchas work double teams, Dawson tags in and he beats down Kalisto. Kalisto fights off the Revival, the luchas work double teams and cover for 2. AOP are in and start kicking Dorado’s ass. Post break, and dash is working over Dorado with a Gory special. Axel tags in and Dorado hits the lethal injection. Kalisto and Dallas tag in, Kalisto runs wild and hits a tornado DDT on Axel. Dawson tags himself in and Dallas works him over and hits the draping neck breaker for 2. Kalisto takes out Dash, it completely breaks down and Akem gets dumped. The luchas get tossed onto AOP on the floor. Dallas gets a series of cradles for 2. Shatter machine finishes Dallas. The Revival defeated AOP, B Team, & Lucha House Party @ 10:15 via pin [**] The match was ok, a bit sloppy at points, but at least the Revival won.

– Rollins talks about his loss to Ambrose, and says he heard the crowd and has town that. He will end Ambrose. Corbin arrives and blames Rollins for everyone thinking he’s done a poor job and that he got fired. Rollins lays him out.

Ronda Rousey Talks: Rousey says she told Jax she would win, told Charlotte she’d write the next chapter, and that she told Lynch she’s the last person to provoke. She’s here to define what a real champion is. A real champion is the best of the best in all areas, the best of what the human race has to offer. She wants to defend her title tonight. The women argue, Steph yells at them and brings them on stage. Steph will give them a chance to earn it against the winner of a gauntlet match.

#1 Contender’s Gauntlet Match: The winner faces Rousey next week. Bayley and Fox start us off. They lock up and Bayley gets several near falls. Fox cuts her off, lays the boots to her, and grounds the action. Bayley fights back, hits a Saito suplex, and covers for 2. Post break, and Fox is back in control. She slaps Bayley around, Bayley cuts her off and then tweaks hr knee. Fox hits a big boot, but Bayley cradles her for the win @ 8:05. Dana Brooke is in next, hits an enziguri and back handspring elbow for 2. She grounds things; chop blocks the knee and continues the attack. Dana goes for repeated covers, but Bayley hits Bayley to belly and pins her @ 10:40. We get a Kevin Owens returning soon promo, Post break, and James is in and working over Bayley. Bayley avoids a charge and gets a cradle for 2. Flapjack by James, she heads up top and hits the seated Senton, but Bayley counters out and runs into a kick as James covers for 2. Bayley cuts off the DDT hits a Saito suplex, and follows with a knee strike. Back in and Bayley heads up top but slips off due to her knee. She fires up hits a knee strike, and heads up top slowly and hits the elbow drop and James makes the ropes. Stunner in the ropes by Bayley, James keeps firing back and the DDT finally finishes Bayley @ 20:25 (HOLY SHIT MICKIE GOT A PIN). Ember Moon is in next, James attacks right away, but Moon battles back and hits a springboard high cross. James cuts her off, looks to powerbomb her to the floor, but Moon stops that. Post break and Moon hits a side slam. They trade strikes, Moon hits a superkick and enziguri and the cover gets 2. James gets a cradle and the ropes, but the ref breaks that up. The flapjack follows, James heads up top and leaps off into a code breaker. The eclipse finishes James @ 28:00. Natalya is next. They work into back and forth; superkick by Moon and that gets 2. Moon lays in kicks, works an abdominal stretch variation, but Natalya powers out. Moon follows with the tornado suplex for 2. Natalya cuts off the eclipse and hits the rolling lariat for 2. Moon fights off the sharpshooter and gets a cradle for 2. Natalya then gets a cradle and Moon is done @ 31:45. Post break, and Ruby Riot is in next. She has Natalya grounded, locking on a guillotine but Natalya powers up and escapes. They work into a double down, Natalya looks to fire up but Ruby hits a clothesline for 2. This has really slowed now, they trade slaps, and Natalya hits a dropkick. She follows with clotheslines, suplexes, and slaps. Ruby hits an STO, heads up top and misses the fall away senton and Natalya cradles her for the pin @ 41:40. Banks is the final competitor, allegedly. She works over Natalya, hits corner knees, and Bank follows with a DDT for 2. Post break, and both are down. Natalya fires up and hits the basement dropkick for 2. Banks counters the sharpshooter, but Natalya hits a lariat for 2. The sharpshooter follows, Banks fights, but Natalya sits back. banks again fights and sends Natalya to the buckles. Banks now rolls into a half crab, Natalya fights, but Banks transitions into the banks statement but Natalya counters up and hits a release German. Banks fires back, hits meteora and covers for 2. Banks again looks or the banks statement, but Natalya cuts that off and the sharpshooter follows and Banks taps. Natalya @ 53:03 via submission [***] Natalya winning works here, because next week’s Raw is taped, and you don’t burn the Banks vs. Rousey match on a taped show, Natalya is a fine place filler, and WWE has wanted to do that match. The match was really long, the layout wasn’t horrible, but all of the breaks really killed it each time they seemingly locked in momentum. Overall it was good, and it was nice to see the women get the chance.

– Post match, Rousey arrives and raises Natalya’s arm and they hug. They shake hands and hug again.

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

 photo GorgeousSharpCottonmouth_zpsmkdmwgzx.gif

~GLORIOUS~

6.0
The final score: review Average
The 411
This was a reset show, lots of talk about changes, shakeups, empowerment and listening to the fans. It all sounds nice, but its just talk until they actually put it into practice. Bringing in fresh names is nice, but when they don’t effectively use the talent they have, I don’t exactly have high hopes. It’s only week one, but right now it’s just a bunch of talk to try and stop the bleeding until they actually put things in motion. So while there were no grand or sweeping changes nor did I really expect any, I actually found Raw to be a solid show. The matches were better than usual and felt like they actually had a purpose to them, which most weeks they had little to no purpose at all. They also set up Rousey vs. Natalya, Elias vs. Lashey, Rollins vs. Corbin, and McIntyre vs. Ziggler vs. Balor for next week. It was far from a show that fixed all of the issues but was far from horrible.
legend

article topics :

RAW, Tremendous Tirades, WWE, Larry Csonka