4 Ups & 8 Downs From WWE Raw (Dec 19 - Review)
Miz/Lumis drag show down, Bloodline runs roughshod and still goes 50/50.
‘Tis the season for another holiday episode of WWE Raw, which means another lacklustre show that leaves you feeling a bit empty at the end.
Holiday episodes have rarely been good – WWE is in a wind-down mode before ramping back up for the Royal Rumble, so you don’t have a ton of big developments, even if they sell matches as big deals. Developments are often brushed aside or forgotten.
We could grade on a huge curve, but honestly, WWE has literally had 30 years to figure out how to book a compelling holiday episode of Raw. And putting Miz and Dexter Lumis in a ladder match sounded like a bad idea on paper, but it was worse in execution, and it led to a muted debut for a returning NXT superstar.
Add in a former world champion losing when he got distracted by water and Adam Pearce giving two very different reactions to challenges to his authority and you have a lame duck Raw.
Once again, the wrestling was mostly good, but with this roster, that should be expected. Three matches were made on the fly, which is yet another gripe to lodge, as apparently a three-hour Raw was only going to have four matches before chaos led to the show’s card being filled out. Funny how the more things change, the more they still resemble Vince McMahon in charge.
And so ends 2022 for WWE Raw. We wouldn’t have it any other way. Let’s get to it…