Tuesday Raw Roundtable: Ho Ho Hogan, Bray Wyatt vs. Dean Ambrose

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WWE Monday Night Raw had a pre-Christmas edition of the show last night.

What did the Pulse Wrestling crew think about Raw? Here are our staff thoughts!

CB

This was a very good Raw with three solid matches that kept my interest. John Cena vs. Seth Rollins was one of Cena’s most inspired performances of the year, mainly because Rollins is that awesome at carrying a match. Dolph Ziggler vs. Luke Harper was great once again, and Ziggler’s impassioned speech after the match really goes a long way in making the IC belt really feel important again. Dolph has really done a tremendous job rebuilding the prestige of the IC title, and I look forward to big things for Ziggler in 2015.

Lastly, the seemingly annual Miracle on 34th Street Fight between Bray Wyatt and Dean Ambrose was a fun way to cap off the night, and Bray Wyatt looked vicious in victory while Ambrose closed the show on a high note with the table spot. Good stuff.

Matthew Harrak (@MattHarrak)

Even though I knew it was coming, there was a helluva a lot more comedy in Ambrose/Wyatt than was necessary. Honestly, it would be the best thing for everyone involved if this rivalry ended as soon as possible. And then for everyone to forget this feud ever took place. Let’s be honest, a feud between Bray Wyatt and Dean Ambrose looks terrific on paper but ever since a hologram kicked off the rivalry, it was doomed. Now it looks like it might have ended with the crowd chanting for them to hit each other with a Christmas tree…

Steven Berkman (@Sbfantom)

Ah the Xmas show. A given throwaway, like basically every other theme show. Hogan, of course, added nothing to the show. The money going to Hogan showing up is an absolute waste.

Harper and Ziggler had match of the night but on Raw, that’s like being the tallest midget. The six divas match was better than one would expect and this crowd was 110% behind Paige. My (casual fan) wife couldn’t help but comment “I feel so bad for Paige having to wrestle with these girls and in a stupid ‘dress up’ match”. Vince, if a completely casual fan recognizes that one diva is so far ahead of all the others, you are officially not doing your job.

Comedy in the street fight wasn’t needed. Ambrose vs Wyatt should be a huge success and has been nothing but a failure.

Raw is quickly becoming a background to my Monday night goings on – not an entertainment focus. This is why I do not subscribe to the network. At this point I don’t feel WWE is doing anything worth giving them a dime.

Justin Czerwonka (@JCWonka)

There was some good wrestling on tonight’s show. But the problem is for a lot of these matches, it is the third time we are seeing them over a span of eight days. That just kills a lot of heat for most of these matches. They don’t feel special at all anymore. Rollins/Cena was good, Bray/Ambrose was fun as well. But again, it was the third time we have seen these matches. Tonight’s show for the most part felt like a glorified house show with a Christmas theme. And that’s what we get around this time of year. I know it would never happen, but the WWE could really use a two week or so break from the RAW after TLC to the first RAW of the new year. Nothing of note ever really happens on these last few shows. The show gets a 4 for the good wrestling that it had. But nothing else really happened. And I do hope the WWE audience gives Roman Reigns a fair shot. I have questions about whether he succeeds as well, but to turn on him before he is given a shot is ridculous. Its because of this we get stuck with John Cena all the time. Reigns isn’t taking Daniel Bryan’s spot. For all we know, Bryan won’t wrestle ever again. Now if Bryan is healthy and ready to go? Sure I’ll take him over Reigns. The storyline is so easy and ready to go. But that is IF Bryan is healthy, which is the big unknown. But for the fans to turn on Reigns without just cause is not fair to him.

And that ends my Roman Reigns rant.

Widro (@widro)

It’s crazy to keep seeing these main events given away over and over again, tonight with three huge matches Cena/Rollins, Show/Reigns and Ambrose/Wyatt that seemed almost like a PPV, except thrown together and inconsequential. The in-ring work was strong throughout the show, which was nice, and the lack of a heel GM is noticeable. The Hogan stuff was fine for what it was. This was the best Raw over the last few weeks, however much of a compliment that is at this point.

Jonathan Widro is the owner and founder of Inside Pulse. Over a decade ago he burst onto the scene with a pro-WCW reporting style that earned him the nickname WCWidro. Check him out on Twitter for mostly inane non sequiturs