4 Ups & 8 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (Dec 14)

2. A Bruising Affair

Sometimes, all you have to do is create a little forward momentum and let your two accomplished wrestlers in a match drive the story ahead.

That was the case on Monday night with AJ Styles versus Sheamus, as the two veterans and former world champs battled in a bout that pitted WWE Champion Drew McIntyre’s friend against his next title challenger at TLC. The story of the match was pretty simple: AJ targeted Sheamus’ knee throughout the match, but the Celtic Warrior kept fighting back.

Ultimately, Sheamus’ knee betrayed him, as Styles tripped him off the turnbuckles and stacked him up for the pin. It was a needed win for the challenger. And then AJ went a step further, as he and Omos tied Sheamus up and waffled him with a chair. It just showed how the smaller Styles could conceivably use a weapon like a chair to bring a big brawler down to his size.

Sure, AJ probably won’t win Sunday, but this match served its purpose nicely.