6 Ups And Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (Dec 29)
1. The Authority Finally Returns
It took a whopping five weeks for WWE to pull the panic alarm and rush Triple H and Stephanie McMahon back into power. Way to make Dolph Zigglers crowning victory and the biggest match in Survivor Series history completely irrelevant. And thus, 2014 ends just as it began, with the Authority smugly in charge. On one hand, having a set heel authority figure(s) is much more preferable than a rotating cast of GMs and hosts. But on the flip side, did we really need to bring them back after less than two months? How can we miss the Authority if they wont go away? The entire angle setting it up was just ludicrous. Seth Rollins has been begging/demanding that John Cena bring back the Authority (as hes the only one with that power). Instead of saving this unique power for some major development Cena selling out to get a title match, being blackmailed over several weeks, etc. it was set up in one segment with a retired 11-time world champ being threatened. If thats all it took, Rollins should have just grabbed Renee Young and done the same thing. Or maybe Jerry Lawler. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIQHp86E15E And now we get Triple H and Stephanie, opening every Raw with 20-minute promos about whats best for business and crowing about how they always win, even when they lose. Sure, Triple H could be a great foil for Roman Reigns and others, but this just feels like it was rushed I response to falling ratings rather than some master plan.
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 fortunately became a fan in time for WrestleMania III and came back as a fan after a long high school hiatus before WM XIV. Monday nights in the Carlson household are reserved for viewing Raw -- for better or worse.
