5 Ups And 5 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (Dec 11)

1. Arm Pain? What Arm Pain?

Make no mistake: The match between Cesaro and Roman Reigns was a really good one, with the Intercontinental Champion showing that he can hang with a superior wrestler like the Swiss Cyborb.

But there is also a significant flaw with the match: Reigns’ ignoring of the repeated and focused attacks on his right arm throughout the contest. Cesaro spent a good portion of the match working on Roman’s arm, locking in a Fujiwara armbar and a crossface a couple times each. It became a major talking point of the announcers throughout the match. Cesaro also posted Reigns, further injuring the shoulder.

And yet, Reigns continued to throw punches with the right arm, including a Superman Punch. He executed a deadlift powerbomb, and hit a spear with the bad arm/shoulder to win the match.

Grabbing the arm after hitting a big move is not “selling the injury.” Changing your offense because you can’t use your arm or writhing in pain because you inadvertently used the injured arm is selling. The moment Roman lifted Cesaro off the mat for a powerbomb with his “bad” arm, that’s when it all fell apart.

It’s a shame, because with a few small changes, this would have been a much better story and still could have had the same outcome. Lefthanded punches, more headbutts, a one-armed spinebuster, and possibly a left-shoulder spear would have made a huge difference.