Match Ratings For WWE Raw 12/18/17 From Sean Ross Sapp

Opening segment

• Kurt Angle is out. Braun Strowman (TO A HUGE POP) and Kane make their cases for the Rumble title match.
• Brock Lesnar and Heyman are out to -- also huge pops. We're getting a triple threat match at the Rumble!
• Braun is tossed outside and Kane gets F5'd. He later sits up. Nice opening segment. Now Brock can catch his 9:30 flight.

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Seth Rollins defeated Jason Jordan
6.25/10

• Jason Jordan comes out trying to pick a fight with Samoa Joe, but Joe says Rollins and Jordan should fight for the chance. Rollins dismisses Jordan and gets pushed down. This sets Rollins off enough.
• I love Jason Jordan forcing himself to belong. He has little aspects of his character that scream "babyface trying to be a heel." I think he shouldn't rely as much on picking up people to run them into barricades and corners as much though.
• Rollins uses a reverse STO into the turnbuckle, and Jordan uses a lot of nice looking suplexes. One day Jason Jordan is going to roll through that first Northern Lights Suplex and hit the second one in one motion and I'll be joyous.
• Suicide dive, frog splash from Rollins. They're putting on a lot of PPV quality matches on Raw.
• Jordan gets tossed into Joe, and Rollins COOKS Joe with a superkick. Back inside the ring, Rollins wins a good match with a Ripcord Knee.
• Joe attacks Rollins after the match, then beats up Jordan too. 
• Backstage, Kurt Angle books Jordan, Ambrose and Rollins against Joe, Cesaro and Sheamus tonight. That'll be a good match, and the backstage segment was good, too. Shield 2.0!

Backstage Crappenings

• Spooky Bray Wyatt promo. I thought he was about to sing "Don't Dream It's Over." There's one of Matt Hardy playing chess, too. 
• John Cena is coming back next week!

Finn Balor defeated Miztourage via DQ
4.25/10

• Miz wrapped on his movie this weekend, by the way. Becky Lynch is still on set. 
• Didn't realize Curtis Axel was 38 until now.
• A lot of really basic work, beating up Balor. When he starts to make his comeback, they jump him and get disqualified. 
• Hideo Itami appears and saves Balor. We gots ourselves a tag team match, playa.

Hideo Itami & Finn Balor defeated The Miztourage
3.75/10

• Axel and Itami botch his spot from the corner to the ropes, and then Itami slips on a kick.
• This was just not a good match. Itami looked sloppy and out of place. He hits a GTS while Balor hits a front dropkick on the outside. Eesh.

Top Contender Tournament Finals Match
Cedric Alexander defeated Drew Gulak
6/10

• Drew Gulak calls Enzo Amore his best friend, and Enzo doesn't look happy. He's happy that Gulak has prepared a Powerpoint for him though.
• Enzo is on commentary, and he's great. 
• Cedric's Tope Con Hilo is nothing short of amazing.
• Both men get suplexed out of the ring and hold onto it. What a cool spot. Also a cool spot is Cedric's standing Spanish Fly.
• This match wasn't what I expected, but it wasn't bad. There's a nice submission series that sees Gulak stomp and transition while Cedric struggles. 
• Enzo gets a message on his phone and leaves. Gulak is confused and gets beaten by Cedric.
• Backstage, Enzo sees Nia, who they have stare into space for some reason. 
• Gulak shows up with toilet paper stuffed up his bloody nose. He says he needs to review the tape, and Enzo yells at him. Drew Gulak and Enzo are a joy.

Asuka defeated Alicia Fox

• C'mon. You know what happens here. 

Samoa Joe & The Bar defeated Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and Jason Jordan
5.75/10

• Standard six man stuff early, here. Rollins and Jordan both get worked over. The crowd is hot waiting for an Ambrose tag.
• Jordan is dressed exactly like The Bar. 
• They really needed this match to kill some time tonight.
• Sheamus hits the ring post HARD. 
• I'm starting to wonder about Ambrose and his right arm. He sells it, it's wrapped and padded, and looks a little smaller. They factor it into the match after a Rollins suicide dive onto Joe, Cesaro and Ambrose. This causes Rollins to get kicked and pinned.
• Backstage, Joe and The Bar attack Rollins and Ambrose, and do a number on Ambrose's arm.
• There is NO EXPLANATION Roman Reigns' absence.

The Revival defeated Heath Slater and Rhyno
5/10

• Man Rhyno and Slater really benefited from that move to Raw, yeah? They should join Titus Worldwide. Right after I tweeted this, we see Titus Worldwide backstage. 
• The Revival are back! Great. They get a nifty little video package refresher.
• This is a run of the mill tag match, but it served its purpose. The Revival win, and they looked great.
• Afterwards, Angle tells Rhyno and Slater they need to toughen up. Slater is great here, and I really hope we get some vignettes out of Rhyno toughening Slater up

Oh Snap!

• Elias has legend level banter with himself.
• Sasha, then Mickie interrupt him, but Elias is great. He's scripted to take a shot at Roger Goodell. "Even Bayley's inflatable man can't stay up for Elias' concert!"
• Paige is screaming at Absolution. I still love Sonya's strikes.
• The match breaks down, and Nia comes out to beat up Absolution. She impressively Samoan drops Sonya and Mandy.
• More people run out. Stephanie McMahon halts the action and announces a Royal Rumble match for the women! It really feels like Stephanie feels the need to interject herself in all these "history making moments," but she gave a good speech. At some point the women will have to stop acting incredulous that they're finally getting the opportunity to do shit that they should have a long time ago.