WWE RAW review, Dec. 11: Brock Lesnar has no challenger for Royal Rumble

Match quality ruled the night on Monday Night RAW. The main event… wound up being inconsequential, though.

RAW rolled into Cleveland, Ohio on Monday night, as the road to the Royal Rumble continued. With no WWE Network event coming up, the red brand is going with a “TV Matters” approach. And as a result, four huge matchups took place at the Q. One of which was an epic title match, which showcased two of the best the brand has to offer right now.

Here are the noteworthy moments from tonight’s episode:

• ‘Woken’ Matt and Bray Wyatt’s feud continued. The ridiculousness of it all is endearing. And certainly, it will be interesting to see how the character is fleshed out. Matt reportedly has complete control over it, so there’s no telling what could come in a few weeks. For now, we’ll have these off-the-wall, goofy promos.

• Finn Bålor took another member of The Miztourage down, this time Curtis Axel. They’re very clearly telegraphing that Finn will be feuding with The Miz once he gets back from filming The Marine 6. That should be a stirring program, but time will tell to see how they can keep things fresh from now until then. With that said, that’s two impressive showings for Finn, whO is clearly able to haVe vEry gReat matches.

• Drew Gulak and Cedric Alexander are going to fight for the Cruiserweight Championship. Cedric Alexander won a “Second Chance” Fatal 4-Way match Monday night to earn the right to take on Gulak. Rich Swann, who was arrested Sunday on battery and false imprisonment charges, was suspended by WWE. On the broadcast, WWE said that his No. 1 contender spot was revoked. All things considered, this was the best possible way for WWE to write him off TV, and the best on-screen explanation, too. Gulak and Alexander should have a whale of a match next week in a cruiserweight division that’s gaining more and more traction.
• Also, more advancement with Nia and Enzo, I guess? I’m not really feeling this angle. Nia could be used in better spots. Maybe this ends with Jax being Cruiserweight Champion. I don’t know.

Now, let’s go over our bigger takeaways from the night.

Absolution gets a much-needed kick in the behind

We talked at length last week how Absolution had been on the right path. But, they needed to slow down a bit. The multiple weeks of beatdowns were done well conceptually, but they definitely needed to be taken down a peg. You can’t have the antagonists overwhelm the protagonists too much. Sure, there are more satisfying payoffs in the end, but there’s a line, and WWE would have been wise not to cross it.

At first, on Monday night’s episode, it seemed like they were teetering away from that. Mandy Rose and Paige defeated Bayley and Mickie James and got away scot-free after. Then, later on in the show, the usual song and dance with Asuka occurred. They apparently did a number on Alicia Fox. That would mean everyone this side of Asuka and Nia Jax got touched up. And for a little while, it looked like they were going to mow through The Empress of Tomorrow, too.

And then… the cavalry finally came down. Everyone on the roster — literally everyone, including Nia, Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss (remember her?) and Dana Brooke — all came down to get theirs on the disruptive trio. Everyone got a bit of everything, and the RAW locker room finally got one over on Absolution.

Now, of course, there are a few nitpicks. Namely why Nia was there. They never made Nia a target. She had no reason to go after them, other than camaraderie. Also, Alexa’s role lately has been greatly diminished. So, seeing her as just another face in the crowd was disappointing. They could have certainly done them better justice by having a backstage segment where they rallied the troops up before going after them. But, in the end, the ends justify the means, I guess. And Absolution won’t mow through everyone without a fight.

What’s important, now, is what comes next. It would be best for Paige, Mandy and Sonya to not be too heavily involved for the next few weeks. That way, the RAW women’s division gathers their footing again, and reestablishes themselves. The endgame isn’t clear yet. Although, Paige vs. Asuka may be what’s at the end of the road. But, whatever the case, the right move happened Monday night.