8 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE Raw (11 Dec - Results & Review)

1. Rollins, Punk Melt The Mic

Despite the goofy outfits, annoying laugh and obnoxious singalong music, Seth Rollins really can dial in when he needs to deliver the goods.

Monday night, the World Heavyweight Champion set his sights on the newest member of the Raw roster, CM Punk. Rollins wasted little time and didn’t mince words, stopping at one point to tell him clearly, in no uncertain terms and with every fiber in his being, “I hate you.”

More than that though, Rollins called out Punk for abandoning WWE 10 years prior and trashing it every chance he got. Going through the looking glass a bit, he called this Punk’s last chance and predicted that he will self-destruct at some point. If he doesn’t maybe he’ll get the chance to wrestle Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship someday, at which point Seth would expose him as a fraud in the ring.

Punk took the verbal onslaught, then gave Rollins a pass for the insults before announcing he was entering the Royal Rumble. When he wins, he said, maybe he will face Rollins for the world title.

There was a nice blurring of the lines here, without getting too heavy-handed with the real-life stuff or getting too inside baseball with their references. Rollins channeling his inner Hangman Adam Page in defending WWE against Punk was a nice touch that worked whether fans recognized it or not.

Fantastic first face-to-face between the two, and hopefully they will figure out a way to not burn this rivalry out before it really gets going. If this was a preview, then sign fans up for the full course.