Don't start 2019 just yet! We know the New Year has officially begun, but we still haven't broken down everything we were fed during the New Year's Eve edition of Monday Night Raw. Yes, it was pre-taped and some of you may have opted to read spoilers, but that doesn't mean you don't know what we took away from the final WWE show of the year. Here is what we got from the pre-taped Raw that aired right before 2018 came to an end on New Year's Eve.
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The WWE Universe Is Extremely Loud During Pre-Taped Shows
The last two episodes of Raw, so this week and the one on Christmas Eve, have been pre-taped. In an ideal world, Vince McMahon would have his Superstars work throughout the holidays. Thankfully, this time around at least, the boss let his heart overrule his head. The one plus point for Mr. McMahon is that for just two episodes of Raw a year, he can sweeten things in post-production. The biggest tell that WWE does that is the crowd noise. On Raw this week, the WWE Universe was reacting to things it wasn't even being shown, like cutaways about Royal Rumble announcements. It's one thing to sweeten crowd reactions, but at least try and disguise it.
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Drew McIntyre Really Needed That Win
There was a point not so long ago when Drew McIntyre hadn't been pinned since his return to the main roster. He was built up to be an unbeatable monster. That all changed when he was beaten by Dolph Ziggler, and since then he has also lost to Finn Balor and in a triple threat match to both of those men. Something really need to change for the sake of The Scot's credibility, and it did on Raw this week. The show opened with a cage match between McIntyre and Ziggler, and The Showoff paid for meddling with his former tag partner. Not only did McIntyre beat Ziggler, after the match he punished him for the part he has played in his recent losses.
Zack Ryder Broke His Duck Just In Time
Shane McMahon was on Raw this week, and he took the opportunity to give one Superstar a "fresh start" via a battle royal. The winner of the over the top rope match would earn themselves an Intercontinental Title match against Dean Ambrose later that evening. One of the more notable faces among the sea of Superstars in the match was Zack Ryder. That's because Ryder has been making it known all year on social media that he hasn't had one match on Raw in 2018. Well, that fact changed just in time. Sadly, he didn't win, that honor fell to Apollo Crews.
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Apollo Crews' Fresh Start Didn't Last Long
Crews did not have to wait long to get his shot at Ambrose. In fact, the former NXT star's chance to win the Intercontinental Title came later on Raw. Despite having already competed earlier in the night, Crews looked extremely impressive. Unfortunately, a Crews win was always going to be extremely unlikely. Despite taking The Lunatic to his limit, the champ saw and took an opening to deliver a Dirty Deeds and picked up the win. What we're hoping is Crews' push wasn't entirely contained within this one episode of Raw. WWE could do with a new babyface or two, and there's no reason why Crews can't be one of them.
Tamina Is A Liability
We're not sure how WWE decides what its Raw main events are, but we're a little confused. Last week, a Women's Title match between Ronda Rousey and Natalya was not deemed good enough to close the show. However, this week those two did main event Raw in a haphazardly thrown together tag match, despite there being an Intercontinental Title match on the show. No matter as the main event was still an interesting one. Rousey wasted no time in attacking Nia Jax and Tamina and getting the match underway. It was also the champ who picked up the win, forcing Tamina to tap to the armbar. Snuka always seems to be the one taking the fall in matches like these. We imagine Jax must be taking note of that.
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