6 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE Raw (16 Dec - Results & Review)

3. Pulling The Trigger

WWE Raw War Raiders Erik Ivar Finn Balor
WWE

Are the War Raiders as popular an act as they were in NXT? No. What about during the pandemic? Nope.

But Erik and Ivar decidedly have more upward trajectory than the Judgment Day, which is spiraling toward the end of their existence (God willing), so it made perfect sense to get the World Tag Team Championship off a duo who rarely defended the straps and pass them onto the Raiders.

Raw’s main event didn’t look like a hot ticket on paper, but fans were invested in the match and bought into the prospect of a title change, thus heating up throughout the contest. Erik spent a good deal of time getting beat up before Ivar tagged in and ran through his flurry of agile big-man offense, firing up fans and getting them into a position for the win… only for Finn Balor to break up an attempted War Machine by yanking Ivar to the outside via his beard.

Erik looked to be finished with a Judgment Day barrage, but Ivar made the save. Finally, it was Damian Priest who scored the biggest assist, preventing Finn from using a chair and flustering the Irishman leaving him open to a War Machine that ripped the titles away from them.

Balor’s world has collapsed, losing a world title match and his tag titles, and soon the Judgment Day itself will likely implode, which will all be punishment for screwing over Priest repeatedly. Who says heels don’t get their comeuppance?

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Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.