Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns:
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Grade: 7/10
This was a solid tag main event that capitalised on last night’s PPV ending, but this felt more like a house show bout than the kick-start to the build for the Royal Rumble. The only thing that saved this match from a lower grade was Kevin Owens’ trash talk throughout the bout.
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His trash talk to his foes mid-match is just one of the little nuances that make him so great, and seeing him and Y2J pair up in a tag team again was fun as well. However, the Rollins/Reigns partnership is lacking, with Rollins in limbo right now without Triple H to feud with.
Until Triple H comes back, Rollins will be similar to Dean Ambrose at this time last year, merely Reigns’ sidekick. The Reigns/Owens feud benefited little from this either, meaning this match lacked significance. Another aspect of this match that saved this from being the same old was Strowman’s interference.
Usually, a Reigns and Rollins win would’ve been a guarantee, but Strowman injecting himself into this main event with a beatdown on the duo was a fresh and exciting finish. The seeds were possibly planted for a Strowman/Reigns feud moving forward, and Strowman continued to look like a monster with more attacks on babyfaces.
However, this meant the Strowman/Zayn feud came across as more intriguing and important than the Reigns/Owens feud, which shouldn’t be the case. Overall, a solid tag team main event with a surprising (but excellent) finish that saw Strowman wreak havoc as he demands a rematch with Sami Zayn, but the Reigns/Owens feud isn’t nearly as interesting, which is troubling for one of the top matches for the Royal Rumble PPV.
Check out the main event here:
Overall Grade for December 19th edition of Raw: 6.5/10
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