4 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE Raw (15 December - Results & Review)

1. 52 Words

Not since Roman Reigns uttered five words (“This is my yard now!”) after defeating The Undertaker at WrestleMania 33 has an opening segment on Raw generated so much heat with so few words.

Gunther led off Raw Monday night to deafening boos and chants letting him know how the crowd felt about him. He soaked it all in, then encouraged the jeers by posing on the announce desk and turnbuckle, egging on the fans.

When he finally grabbed the microphone, he simply yelled, “I did what I said I would do. I made John Cena give up. And when he gave up, he tapped out like a little b*tch!” Gunther would go to leave but return to the ring – twice – before standing on the desk to more or less repeat himself and drive the message home to the crowd: he was reveling in the fact that he will be forever known as the man who made Cena give up.

But we weren’t done there.

Gunther walked backstage and scoffed at Alpha Academy and R-Truth before Raw GM Adam Pearce flat-out called him an a**hole and kicked him out of the arena.

Outside, Gunther ran into AJ Styles, another wrestler who has announced his retirement, and another potential victim for the Ring General. AJ said nothing, but the point was clear: Gunther is a career killer, and he’s going to enjoy adding trophies to his shelf. Styles’ last match might be 12 months out, but we’re already invited to envision who might send him off.

Start to finish, this was great stuff because they didn’t try to do too much. Gunther said next to nothing; AJ didn’t say anything at all. They let the crowd dictate the scene, and they didn’t club fans over the head about Styles being the one to silently confront Gunther.