5 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE Raw (25 Dec - Results & Review)
Recap show misses the mark with aimless highlights despite a truly solid year.
Year-end recap shows can be a risky proposition for television programs to air: If the previous year has been a disappointment, then they can struggle to fill the show with good content. But even if it’s been a great year, it all comes down to how the material is presented.
Raw’s “best of 2023” program was perhaps one of the most skippable shows they could have produced, opting to air large segments of several PLE matches rather than focusing on storyline developments or memorable moments from the red brand during this year. It makes one feel like WWE doesn’t believe anything truly memorable really happened on Raw in 2023.
The clip show, hosted by Jackie Redmond and Peter Rosenberg, jumped around with no clear direction or chronology, focusing on some key superstars – Cody Rhodes, Becky Lynch, Seth Rollins, Jey Uso and Rhea Ripley – and their major matches, but didn’t really weave an interesting thread throughout.
The interviews were mostly bland and uninformative, with several wrestlers looking like they were doing Zoom calls in the middle of their vacation.
Watching this show, you wouldn’t realize that WWE had one of its most exciting, successful years in some time. There were snippets of those moments, but without a narrative and the hosts just bantering aimlessly, it was left to the viewer to piece it all together.
Rather than singling out the negatives, the “downs” are more a collective of vibes, with the “ups” cherry-picking a few positives.
Let’s get to it…