6 Ups & 10 Downs From WWE Raw (6 Jan - Results & Review)

1. Punk Wins The Battle, War Over?

No one should kid themselves: CM Punk versus Seth Rollins was a perfectly good Raw main event on Monday night, but it was not a WrestleMania-level main event.

Punk and Rollins finally collided in a match after more than a year of trading barbs and throwing hands in pull-apart brawls. They battled into the crowd, fought at ringside, and traded finisher attempts in the ring – all in the first five minutes. They then settled into a war of attrition, with Punk targeting Rollins’ neck and Seth just countering and wearing down Punk.

They spammed each other’s finishers for near-falls, and Rollins delivered two Pedigrees – one on the announce desk – for a close two count, but Punk ultimately would come back and counter a Falcon Arrow with two Go-to-Sleeps, delivered in the same manner that he utilized to defeat Jon Moxley in AEW a couple of years ago.

While the match was good – it was the best one on Raw – it wasn’t the epic WWE had built up in recent weeks. What once was thought of as a WrestleMania-caliber match merely felt like a solid Raw show-closer. Perhaps that means this isn’t the end for this feud and they’ll tangle again at Saturday Night’s Main Event, the Royal Rumble, or another show down the line.

Still, at least WWE closed with this match rather than Tribal Combat, which would have been coma-inducing.