7 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE Raw (9 Dec - Results & Review)

6. Finn ‘Wins’

Finn Balor has managed to turn what is a “challenger of the month” program with World Heavyweight Champion Gunther into something that’s actually entertaining heading into Saturday Night’s Main Event.

No one is really buying Balor as a legit threat to Gunther’s title, but his antics have made it interesting. Monday, it was Gunther doing the talking, as he traced Finn’s past, winning the Universal Championship eight years ago and being the best in the world… for one night. Since then, the Ring General has lost all his respect for Balor and trashed him, his cohorts, and their clubhouse.

Damian Priest got involved, leading to a Judgment Day beatdown on both men, which would ultimately backfire when Raw GM Adam Pearce added Priest to the SNME World Heavyweight Championship match.

Normally, adding another person like this would be a “down,” but this is getting positive marks for a couple of reasons: Balor did nothing to “earn” this singles title match, with Gunther just granting it due to Finn’s attacks; Priest has a legit gripe for wanting another title shot since he lost directly due to Balor’s interference; all three men have legit issues with one another that have existed for a while, making this a more reasonable triple threat.

Mind you, booking a triple threat World Heavyweight Championship match isn’t the greatest idea, but given the circumstances and the reality that the Undisputed WWE Championship is being defended in a singles match, this one gets a pass.

And it's worth noting, Gunther once again made a CM Punk reference, using “best in the world” to refer to himself. This followed his “look in my eyes, what do you see?” to Ludwig Kaiser a few weeks back.