Sean Raw-Sapp: Goldberg Returns, Braun Strowman, Last Man Standing, Nia Jax Loses

Opening Segment

  • Mick Foley didn't look like he actually lost 100 pounds until he cut his hair. Good for him. For the weight loss, not the hair cut.
  • JeriKO are funny. The sky is blue.
  • I didn't miss the Stephanie McMahon hiatus a while back, but glad she's acting like she's on the same page as her hand picked GM.
  • Great that Stephanie brought up that Smackdown beat Raw in the ratings last week. Good stuff.
AEW Tag Team Title Number One Contender's Crowned On AEW Collision

Seth Rollins defeated Kevin Owens via DQ

  • These two did really good work, as was expected, but weeks away from the Rumble, everything feels inconsequential. Maybe that's why they wait so long to announce PPV cards generally.
  • The Owens DQ protected both guys, but made Owens look dumb. He's banned from ringside during the Jericho/Reigns match.
  • I'm pretty sure Owens knows the rules. An accidental DQ would have been better. 

 Karl Anderson (w/ Luke Gallows) defeated Cesaro (w/ Sheamus)

  • Cesaro got an awesome pop.
  • The crowd was much more into this match than I thought they'd be and that's awesome. 
  • Shocker that a guy named Anderson has an awesome spinebuster.
  • I wish they'd imply that Karl is related to Arn, Gene, Lars and Ole. I mean, why not? 
  • The finish of this match was fantastic. Sheamus yanked Gallows off the apron, and caused Cesaro to get crotched.
  • Anderson hit a flying neckbreaker for the win. Awesome more.

Last Man Standing
Braun Strowman defeats Sami Zayn

  • This was my main event, and unless Strowman gets involved later, should have been anyway.
  • Zayn made Strowman look like a million bucks. A perfect opponent.
  • Strowman looked like he killed Zayn when he went for the Torpedo DDT.
  • Going to commercial in a match like this is stupid. 
  • God, this is some awesome stuff. We don't see this anymore, and it's so much fun. 
  • WWE needs to explain why there's no chairshots to the head. Massive fine. There you go. You're welcome.
  • Braun can't sell for shit, but I'll allow it.
  • Strowman threw some awesome knees.
  • This was just great. They used a lot of production tricks and it worked. Braun has to work on his selling though.

New Day, Gallagher, Titus

  • New Day gives Jack Gallagher the rub in a segment. They're all backstage playing with umbrellas.
  • New Day out for their New Year's resolutions. Titus O'Neil interrupts and wants to join the New Day.
  • Titus gets a nice pop when he plays a whistle, but they end up trashing each other. 

Xavier Woods (w/New Day) defeats Titus O'Neil

  • Sometimes you forget how athletic Xavier Woods is.
  • Sometimes you forget how bad Titus O'Neil is.
  • Remember when people had Titus pegged as a future main eventer?

Backstage stuffs

  • Bayley and Stephanie McMahon had a great exchange. I'm okay with Bayley getting run down by Stephanie here, because that's a part of getting Bayley over.
  • STOP PUTTING SO MUCH GODDAMN MAKEUP ON THESE GIRLS.
  • We got some Noam Dar/Cedric creepiness again.

Cedric Alexander (w/ Alicia Fox) vs. Drew Gulak (w/ Tony Nese) then TJP defeats Brian Kendrick

  • Cedric is over, so they beat him a lot. Okay.
  • One of the reasons I wasn't hot on the brand split idea was that we'd see the same matches 100 times. We're getting close with TJP and Kendrick. 7 televised singles matches since September.

United States Championship
Roman Reigns (c) defeated Chris Jericho

  • There were stakes for this match that I liked. If Reigns got DQ'd or counted out, he lost the title.
  • I wasn't too into this one until the end, but they brought the heat.
  • Jericho pulled an Eddie Guerrero and tried to get Reigns DQ'd, but it didn't happen. 
  • Reigns won, and I don't know why he still has this title belt. 

Number One Contender Match
Bayley defeated Nia Jax

  • Whoever agented this match should have nixed the ringpost shoulder spot we've seen three times tonight.
  • Sasha Banks distracts Nia Jax, allowing a Super Bayley to Belly to get the win.
  • I'm cool with Bayley having Nia's number. Kind of cool.
  • Also. I skipped talking about the Enzo/Cass vs. Jinder/Rusev thing. It was wack.

Kevin Owens Show, Goldberg

  • Hilarious setup with a guy wearing a Kevin Owens show sign.
  • Chris Jericho announces he'll be in the Royal Rumble, and Owens isn't happy. Perhaps foreshadowing. I think this is Jericho's best chance to win a Rumble.
  • Goldberg comes out, he's terribly on the mic. So cheesy. 
  • Reigns comes out, and faces off with Goldberg. I thought this was a cool moment.
  • Heyman comes out and announces Lesnar isn't there. Then he cowers when Braun Strowman shows up. Good spot.
  • Strowman gets speared by Reigns and Goldberg at the same time....because EVERYTHING is a tool to get Reigns over except a quick heel turn that will get him there. OK.
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