WWE RAW 12/16/2024: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "WWE Raw," the show where WWE proves it does know how to end a show with a beautiful and heartwarming title victory, even if it's not necessarily the one we wanted. Honestly we don't have that much to say this week about The War Raiders winning the tag titles, aside from the fact that it's super cool for them and we're all very happy The Judgment Day's reign is over. We had stronger feelings about the rest of the show, from CM Punk and Seth Rollins setting up their match in January to Zoey Stark surprisingly advancing in the women's Intercontinental title tournament.

And yes, this column is about our feelings — specifically, how the WINC staff felt, both good and bad, about various portions of the show. We're not going to hit everything in-depth here, but our "Raw" results page goes pretty in-depth and is a must-read if you missed Monday night's offering from the red brand. If what you're looking for is some people to analyze the program and give their opinions on it, look no further! Here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 12/16/24 episode of "WWE Raw."

With "WWE Raw's" historic move to Netflix now less than a month within our sights, you would assume that WWE would ramp up the stakes for their inaugural Netflix show. To their credit, they have somewhat put some exciting matches on their card, with top dog Roman Reigns taking on the usurper Solo Sikoa in Tribal Combat officially slated for the red brand's Netflix debut. In the second half of the show, there were some exciting developments, with underdog Zoey Stark taking her first televised win in months and the War Raiders taking the WWE World Tag Team Championships shortly after insane injury recoveries.

I wish I could tell you more about the exciting developments coming to WWE programming, but in a two hour show, those three highlights are the most I can scrounge up for you. This recent episode of "Raw" was a whole lot of absolute nothing.

This is not saying that CM Punk and Rollins are not instant draws, or that Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan are not talented performers in their own right. Bron Breakker's title defense wasn't bad, and he is a worthy Intercontinental Champion. However, WWE is feeding us the same old feuds and same old match finishes day in and day out, and when the card is so scant that they can only fit three matches in a two hour show, having no news to talk about feels like a huge drag.

WWE is a creative rut, and that's being generous. Ripley and Morgan have been feuding since SummerSlam 2024 — half a year ago at this point — and people like Chad Gable and Otis have been feuding for about the same time, if not longer. It's weird that we're seeing the same feuds getting rehashed with no new twists or faces involved. Doesn't "Raw" have the biggest roster in WWE? Why aren't we adding more spice to our storylines? Why aren't we creating more storylines with new people? It feels like WWE doesn't know how to fill in these next few weeks of programming before the Netflix move, and are now reaching into what they know works with who they know will work. The problem with that is the staleness of it. If WWE cannot plan anything before Netflix besides Ripley and Morgan (where's IYO SKY, by the way?) and American Made versus Alpha Academy, then that is wholly on them.

As one of my esteemed colleagues will tell you, the thought of Ripley and Morgan going on until Royal Rumble is literally excruciating to think about. The thought of any of tonight's feuds — Rollins and Punk, American Made versus Alpha Academy, The Miz and The Final Testament against the Wyatt Sicks — going on until the Royal Rumble season (and possibly further, with how high-profile some of these stars are) is excruciating. Now is the time to build new stars to make an entertaining WrestleMania season. What are we doing here?

For a show that advertised two title matches, nothing really exciting happened.

Written by Angeline Phu

There's a difference between wrestlers getting their point across in a promo through a series of words delivered in an entertaining or emotional manner, and wrestlers saying words just for the fun of it without really having much of a point to them. CM Punk's promo in the opening segment of "Raw" definitely falls into the latter.

In a matter of just a few minutes, Punk talked about five different subjects at the same time including his issues with Seth "Freakin" Rollins only in the course of the past couple of weeks, hating the sound of Rollins' entrance music, looking towards his own future as he looks to accomplish his longtime goal of main eventing a WrestleMania, his love of being in front of a live crowd, and his past feud with Drew McIntyre. Punk brought up too many things at once, which made for a very convoluted and very puzzling promo that seemingly accomplished nothing due to the fact that the actual point of it got incredibly lost in the midst of everything. Yes, Rollins' presence and the couple of shots he took at Punk did somewhat help make things a little better, but the prolonged and dragged out brawl that followed more or less cancelled that out as it was nothing new and a boring way to set up their match on the "Raw" premiere episode on Netflix.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

With the growing isolation of Seth Rollins through his deep-seated hatred for both CM Punk and Roman Reigns perhaps it's only natural that Drew McIntyre will have entered the fray. McIntyre famously fought with Punk verbally, physically, and virtually for the better part of a year, and following the conclusion of that rivalry has pursued an all-new vendetta against members of The Original Bloodline. Rollins appears to working in a reverse parallel of sorts, brushing shoulders with Bloodline OGs Jey Uso and Sami Zayn after their alliance with Reigns – which he made clear he hated – led to them working with Punk, and straying ever so close to letting his hatred blind him (otherwise known as a heel turn). What an opportune time is it then for McIntyre to enter the picture once more, unable to do what he set out to do with Punk himself he will surely jump at the opportunity to help Rollins stick it to him, and with Punk having a pending favor from OG Bloodline "Wise Man" Paul Heyman there is the looming threat of conflict with that outfit on the horizon as well.

Could this be the beginning of a crusade against The Bloodline and Punk? If tonight was any indication, not yet at least. Rollins portrayed the idea of someone erring on the side of turning very well, spurning McIntyre for his recent animosity with Zayn and Jey Uso, those he would call friends even despite their recent tensions. But we know McIntyre it's unlikely to phase him in anyway; one would expect him to extend the offer as the story continues to unfold, and that in itself promises something entirely different and a potentially compelling dynamic. Whether it comes in the form of Punk's past catching up with him, or as a new antagonist for Reigns and co. after the conclusion of the Tribal mutiny, there is something cool about the idea of an Anti-Bloodline, and at the very least a pairing of McIntyre and Rollins should make for excellent viewing.

Written by Max Everett

I think I can officially say it. I am so tired of Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley's feud over the Women's World Championship, I could scream. Tonight made it much worse, however, and not just because Morgan and "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio were obnoxious in the ring with a megaphone to a booing crowd before an important women's match Raquel Rodriguez was involved in. It's because it seems like their feud could be stretched out as far as until the Royal Rumble on February 1, and I don't know how much more of it I can take, with everything these two women possibly could do having been done already. I say this because WWE didn't specify that Ripley versus the champion was happened on the "Raw" premiere on Netflix on January 6, as they had specified with other matches that have been made, or challenges were put forth, like CM Punk versus Seth Rollins and Tribal Combat between Solo Sikoa and Roman Reigns being made official. They clearly stated, and also had it written out in a graphic, that Ripley was the number one contender and challenged Morgan to a match – with no date or upcoming event in sight.

While this could happen on the next edition of Saturday Night's Main Event on January 25 from San Antonio, Texas, that's just six days from the Royal Rumble. I'd think WWE would want this match to be on a huge stage, not just an NBC special, but I'm hoping I'm wrong. The Rumble does need a few more top matches other than the two Royal Rumble matches themselves, but I just don't think this is it. Even with a stipulation where everyone (and by that I mean Mysterio and Rodriguez) was barred from ringside wouldn't be enough to get me invested into this any more.

Put the title on Ripley, and get these women on opposite brands. We've had Mysterio in a shark cage after Morgan stole Ripley's former boyfriend while she was on the shelf for months. We've had a mixed tag match with Ripley's "Terror Twin" Damian Priest involved in Berlin. They've been on opposite ends of a WarGames match. Ripley and Morgan squared off at SummerSlam in addition to Bad Blood and the shark cage. I don't know what's left for them to do, outside of Ripley just taking that title, hopefully clean as a whistle, and we can be done with all this. Morgan can even keep her "Chicken Tender S***" Mysterio in storyline, if she wants. I'm just over this.

Written by Daisy Ruth

I put this "Loved" in quotation marks, because I'm not the biggest fan of Zoey Stark (all two of her fans, do not find community with me). However, I can acknowledge that her upset win over Raquel Rodriguez was a great change of pace, and one that aligns with the precedent of these new women's midcard titles, as established by the Women's United States Championship.

Going into their Triple Threat match on Monday, I was sure Rodriguez was going home with the title. Out of all three women, Rodriguez was the most believable choice to take the win over the practically-washed Stark and the inexperienced Carter. While their match was nothing to write home about (although the way Rodriguez tossed those women around like it was nothing was quite entertaining), the finish really got me. Stark not only took home a win after a months-long victory drought, but she did so without any help from Pure Fusion Collective or other outside parties. Her win was cleaner than the Z360 she won with. Seeing Stark's hand raised at the end of the match was such a refreshing sight to see, and it only reaffirmed the positive perception I have with these new women's midcard titles.

These new titles are meant to give new women opportunities, point blank period. Take a look at the Women's United States Championship tournament finalists: Chelsea Green had only held tag team gold in WWE (and we all know the lukewarm reputation the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships have), and Michin has yet to hold a title in the company. These women's midcard titles are meant to give title opportunities to those who have not had them yet. Rodriguez is similarly without any main roster gold, but she had a dominant run as the NXT Women's Champion right before the end of the Black and Gold era, and was a frequent face in the women's world title scene before her most recent break. Stark only has an NXT Women's Tag Team Championship reign to her name. For what she can bring to the in-ring table, needed that Women's Intercontinental Championship win more than anybody, and I'm glad that WWE is giving her an opportunity to have some forward mobility (especially considering how abysmally slowed down she is by her association with Pure Fusion Collective).

Even if you think Carter should've gotten the win (I emphasize with you), the consistency in which WWE is giving these underrated female stars their flowers and their opportunities to shine is admirable. This is not another midcard title to give as an accessory to already-existing female stars; this is looking like a title that will be given to propel the hidden gems of the women's division into the limelight. It is a tool of upward mobility, an opportunity to scale the otherwise-impossible-to-reach heights of the WWE women's division. Someone like Stark needed this opportunity, and as her tournament semifinals match against Dakota Kai is fast-approaching, she best make the most of it.

Written by Angeline Phu

Just a few weeks ago, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods ripped our collective hearts out and then danced on them when they not only turned on Big E, but said some of the cruelest things imaginable (on the same day his emotional Players Tribune article talking about how New Day saved him came out). The following week, they were literally booed out of the ring. This part of the story is off to a great start.

Last week, Cody Rhodes stopped them in the hallway and reminded them that they all go back a long way, particularly Woods as they went to rival high schools and competed against each other as amateur wrestlers. Rhodes told them they "should be ashamed of themselves." Both men scoffed it off. When Rhodes was injured after his match on "Saturday Night's Main Event", Kingston posted about the video saying he deserved it after what he said to them.

Tonight, they were stopped by Rey Mysterio as they tried to access the locker room. Mysterio suggested it would be best for them to find somewhere else to change. Later they were being interviewed backstage by Jackie Redmond when Woods accused her of "bad journalism". Before she could defend herself, they were interrupted due to Kairi Sane getting attacked.

New Day getting turned on by the fans and the locker room is excellent storytelling. It proves how much their heel turn not only worked, but was the right call. After a decade together, they needed something different. Some fans have been rooting for them to break up for years. After living the mantra of the "Power of Positivity" for years, the only true way to solidify them as heels in a way we've never seen was to do something so dastardly that the fans would have no choice but to hate (while some of us still simultaneously love) them. Booing them out of the ring and relegating them to backstage segments, only to be turned on there, is brilliant.

Written by Samantha Schipman