On Monday December 29th the final RAW of 2014 is upon us. Special guest GMs Edge and Christian wasted little time gearing up the viewers, as they announced a match between Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns for tonight’s feature bout.
It was pretty far fetched to think the WWE would give either Dolph Ziggler or Rusev both the US and Intercontinental belts tonight. Regardless it was still an entertaining match up and a great way to kick off the last RAW of the year. Rusev dominated the start of the match, but seeing the two in action really showed what's to come for 2015. While Ziggler mounted his assault late Rusev eventually regained momentum but instead of mounting an attack he caused a disqualification. He would have had more plans for the “show off” if not for the Big Guy Ryback. Keep an eye on that match up as it is most surely one we will see in a big moment of 2015.
That was followed by promo from Ryback as he took us through a journey through his career. Possibly justifying a reason for him to be the first to defeat the Bulgarian. Not sure and even though its always great to see Ryback’s highlights I think we all would have preferred a match there instead.
Up next was the Divas Champion Nikki Bella continuing her beef with Natalya and TJ as AJ is out with an injury. This storyline has some ground to cover but has enough angles to stay solid for the time being. What will keep the feud hot will be how Natalya handles herself in the ring. She tends to get frustrated with the inability of some of the other Divas, which causes her to be off her game. There could be one more run for Nattie but Nikki is just too hot right now. Royal Rumble could see them squaring off but they will need to pick up the storyline more and tonight’s victory by Nikki is just the thing to do that. A slight distraction by Tyson and Brie gave her the speedy victory and left the married couple lost.
If anyone got an extra stocking stuffer this holiday season it has to be the Tag Team of the year The Usos. In unprecedented fashion they took out The Miz and Damien Mizdow to once again reclaim their tag team titles. It’s not unheard of to think they would give the Usos back the titles, as it does nothing more than spark the rivalry heading into Royal Rumble. Look for The Miz and Damien to either implode or go on a path of destruction for the next few weeks to build hype for this bout. This could see the title changing hands again though as we prepare for LOD-light, sorry, The Ascension, to invade the tag team roster. When the Usos are champs in the WWE that is always best for business. (Read on later for my thoughts on The Ascension match)
In what should have been a great point of RAW we saw the return of Wade Bad News Barrett facing another superstar making a claim for his direction change in 2015 Cesaro. This match was slightly disappointing as Barrett looked rusty against the overpowering Cesaro. Still Cesaro trudged through and found himself on the receiving end of an elbow by Barrett. Not sure this match provided the fireworks they hoped but at least we know BNB us back and able to perform.
The downfall of one Jack Swagger continues tonight as he faced the former intercontinental champion Luke Harper. Old crazy eyes brought his normal arsenal to the table and Swagger had no qualms dishing it right back. The hard-hitting match up went back and forth until it looked as if Jack would secure the patriot lock on Harper. He would eventually escape and connect with the double turning clothesline finisher we have seen him do as of late. “The clothesline from smell’ may not have replaced the sideways slam or superkick we are used to seeing Harper do but tonight he showed it has the ability to be one of his finishers.
Maybe the time is not right for Roman Reigns to grab the brass as he can’t seem to prevail over his former teammates. While both Rollins and Ambrose have found their groove the former enforcer of the shield may just end up another big body on the roster. In the featured match up against Seth Rollins, Roman was outworked and shined by his former brother in arms. When Reigns mounted the comeback to set up a spear on Rollins as anticipated Big Show left the announcer booth to interrupt. Big props to the big fella as he actually was pretty entertaining to hear behind the desk. Speaking of a desk that’s exactly what was on top on Reigns at the end of the match.
The second half of RAW would bring some unexpected twists including the debut of The Ascension. No one fires up this generation of fans of like Daniel Bryan and the hipster hammerlock has made his announcement to return back to the ring at Royal Rumble. This is exactly what the WWE needs to make sure they are at their ultimate peak in 2015. What was not so great was the debut of the broke looking version of The Road Warriors known as the ascension. Their reign in NXT was clearly due to a lack of talent in the tag division down in Florida as these two clearly don’t have what it takes to be main eventers. Here is to the hope that rumor of Bray Wyatt capturing the two to make them new family members because this gimmick just does not fit. Could this be Vince McMahon’s way of punishing Triple H for creating a better product down in NXT? Who knows but with the talk of Adrian Neville having some sort of Mighty Mouse gimmick it’s hard to think otherwise.
The night ended with a blow to the gut as Edge and Christian’s combined talked show ended up being a welcoming home party for The Authority. While it was inevitable they would return soon this time is peculiar as it seems almost too fast to make any sense. This could be a set up for the first Smackdown of 2015 to cause the roster to think of splitting. When RAW hits next year if The Authority is truly back then the return of Bryan, Reigns and rise of Ziggler are all going to be tested often and early in Triple H and Stephanie’s warpath.
The final RAW of 2014 did not end with a bang as the first part of the show housed all the fireworks. Maybe if they sprinkled the storyline of return of The Authority a bit more in the episode it would have felt more organic. No matter what each wrestler proposed for their expectations in 2015 one thing is clear, all the stars seem to be at least healthy enough to compete right now. So that means all the upcoming programing should be filled with fresh matches to go along with the intriguing feuds currently forming.
Rating: 3.5 / 5