The past couple weeks of Monday Night Raw have shown a common problem with the WWE after pay-per-views: repetitiveness.
I remember when I was younger, when I asked my dad to order a pay-per-view, the most common response I'd get was, "We can get the same show on RAW." Now, he was exaggerating to some extent, however, I couldn't help but go back and think of it after this week's Raw.
The three biggest matches from TLC were John Cena vs. Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose vs. Bray Wyatt, and Dolph Ziggler vs. Luke Harper. Not only did we get all three of those matches on Raw Monday night, but we also had Cena/Rollins on Raw last week, and Ambrose/Wyatt on Tribute to the Troops.
In almost all cases, the pay-per-view match was better (though some have argued the Cena/Rollins cage match from last week was better), however, if we're going to get the same matchup three times in a nine-day span, the question remains, what makes the pay-per-view special?
I get it to an extent. With three hours to fill, five if you include SmackDown, there are going to be rematches. And sometimes, rematches make sense. Having a rematch between Harper and Ziggler for the title? Sure, that's fine. To have the same match three times in nine days though, even if the stipulation is slightly different, is ridiculous.
It's a problem with the WWE, and it's a reason that the buyrate for the smaller PPVs wnt down so much (before the Network, and this also shows a reason why people might not be subscribing in numbers the WWE would like). Why pay if you can watch the same thing on Raw the next day?
The end of the year always brings some rematches. Hopefully the turn towards the Royal Rumble comes soon, and ends the repetitiveness.
What happened on Raw:
** As with most Christmas-themed episode, there were a lot of faces winning, or otherwise going out on top. But some of the Christmas additions were fun. Ho-Ho-Hogan was unoffensive, if not particularly good. I did enjoy some of the things the wrestlers did with the presents. As much as people rag on the holiday episodes, since they don't build much, they actually can be entertaining if done properly.
** Cena and Rollins faced off in a regular match. Cena ended up winning after a pretty strong match, despite the interference of J&J security. Kind of a bad look for Cena to win cleanly in what was essentially a 3 vs. 1 match, but I guess we can chalk that up to the holiday episode.
** In what was a bit of a surprise to me, Bray Wyatt beat Dean Ambrose cleanly in a "Miracle on 34th Street Fight." The one nice touch in this match came when Ambrose unwrapped one of the presents to find a weapon, and when it was a TV, he got rid of it, as if he was afraid it would explode again. While Bray won cleanly, Dean Ambrose did get up and attack him after the match, hitting an elbow through a table. So presumably this feud isn't over.
** Dolph Ziggler retained his title against Luke Harper. Nothing wild about this match, just another solid outing between these two. The one notable thing to me was in the middle of the match, Luke Harper hit a Michinoku Driver (or Falcon Arrow). Michael Cole surprisingly called out the name of the move, and then JBL and King immediately started making fun of him for it. It was a completely ridiculous moment that showed one of the big things that's wrong with the commentary team. I'm not someone who feels that Cole needs to call out every move, but to ridicule him for saying the move is absurd. I don't know if that was Vince feeding them lines or if JBL and King did that on their own, but it was ridiculous.
** Roman Reigns beat the Big Show. It's kind of surprising that they would have this match at this point, instead of building it further. As it was, the match didn't get a big reception. Reigns is still over, but rushing this match could hurt his build.
** Adam Rose officially completed his heel turn. He lost to R-Truth, and then viciously attacked the Bunny. He then yelled at his Rosebuds on the way back up the ramp. The Rose character always made more sense as a heel, so hopefully this will be a spark for him.
** Roddy Piper hosted Rusev and Lana on Piper's Pit. After insulting them, he brought out a "present," which was Ryback, wearing a bow. He cleared the ring as Rusev and Lana retreated.
** Natalya beat Brie Bella. Clearly this is building to a Natalya vs. Nikki match at the Rumble, which actually could be pretty decent.
** Miz beat Jey Uso after grabbing the tights. I don't particularly like the way they're building the feud, as Jey Uso is acting like the classic "jealous boyfriend" heel, but the matches have been pretty decent.
** Los Matadores, including El Torito dressed as a Reindeer, beat the Dusts.
** Emma, Alicia Fox and Naomi beat Paige, Cameron and Summer Rae in a "Santa's Little Helper" match
** "The new and improved" Fandango finally showed improvement, as he beat Jack Swagger.
** Another promo for The Ascension aired, and at the end it announced that they will debut at Raw in Washington, D.C., next week. Should be a somewhat notable show, both with The Ascension debuting and Edge and Christian guest hosting.
Questions? Thoughts? Leave them in the comment section, email me, or find me on Twitter: @TheAOster
Happy Holidays to everyone!