7 Ups And 10 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (Dec 7)

Does a stacked opening make for good television? Yes and no.

By Scott Carlson /

After bottoming out in the ratings (again) two week ago, WWE saw viewership climb last week and looked to capitalize on that increase by trying to hook viewers through a packed opening half-hour. The question that the ratings might bear out is whether that overstuffed opening will translate into sustained viewership or a bubble that quickly burst before 9 p.m. It€™s fair to say that Raw hadn€™t opened with a 16-man match in anyone€™s casual memory, but a main event confrontation between the current world champ and top challenger on the go-home Raw is something we€™ve probably seen 10 times in the past year. Monday, the WWE World Heavyweight Champion took a pinfall loss to his #1 contender, Roman Reigns, in a tag match, which is WWE€™s favorite way to raise the question of whether the champ€™s title is in jeopardy. Let€™s face it: Sheamus is not setting the world on fire as champ. In fact, he€™s going to be viewed as little more than a placeholder unless he starts Brogue Kicking opponents and pinning them cleanly. But his challenger hasn€™t fared much better. Reigns isn€™t the guy fans are clamoring for to take the Celtic Warrior down, though you get the feeling fans would accept him a lot more simply because it€™s obvious WWE believes Roman is a top guy. Meanwhile, there€™s a PPV on Sunday and a card needed to get filled out, which WWE tried to do to varying degrees of success. But hey, it€™s the last PPV of the year and it€™s right before the holidays, so you can€™t fault them for not being prepared, right? So what climbed the ladder of success and what got put through a table? Let€™s get to it€