WWE Raw 01/08/18: Hooked on a Feeling
About Last Night is a quick reflection on the matches and segments, or random observations, from a wrestling show that sticks out to us the morning after we watch them. If you would like to get your comments featured, chime in below in our comments section or tweet us. You can also help support us on Patreon.
About Whatever This Matt Hardy Thing Is…
We’ve been waiting so long for Matt Hardy to “break” in the WWE and had fantasized about him feuding with the Wyatt Family. Now we have “Woken” Matt Hardy in a feud with Bray Wyatt and… I guess they just laugh at leach other a bunch? Matt is doing the “DELETE” thing and has really great music now, but it feels like such a shell of what it could be. Can we get some actual character progression other than him saying a few weird things and then doing that dumb laugh? I have no hope for Bray Wyatt, but at least they could try with Matt.
We’ve been pretty much standing still since he became “woken” and it’s worrying. We had a glimpse of potential with him playing chess, but we’ve yet to delve deeper into the Broken Universe. Where is King Maxel and Senor Benjamin? I’m worried they’re waiting for Jeff to come back, but this wait may cause the crowd to give up. We’re not even getting a singles match between Matt and Bray at the Rumble. Please WWE, start making some character progression before it’s too late.
About Enzo Amore…
Enzo Amore had a bit of a rough time last week as he was legitimately sick with the flu and was not cleared to enter the arena for Raw to defend his Cruiserweight Championship. I guess Goldust can thank him for giving him an early ranking boost. Fortunately he was cleared this week and was able to have his match with Cedric Alexander, but then things went south again. One of Cedric’s kicks busted Enzo’s face wide open right above his eye, making him finish the match wearing the crimson mask. Then Cedric did one of his big dives to the outside on him, and Enzo’s ankle seemed to buckle in a really bad way off of it. In the backstage segment with Nia Jax he looked is really rough shape and on the verge of tears, so I feel like this ankle injury is legitimate.
On the bright side, if he has to vacate the title or drop it quickly before the Royal Rumble, this could open the door for Philadelphia’s own Drew Gulak to swoop in and win the title in his hometown. It would probably be one of the top highlights of the night, so fingers crossed!
About The Miz’s Return…
After being gone for a couple months shooting yet another Marine movie, The Miz returned to Raw and hit the ground running. He may not have won this site’s Male Superstar of the Year, but he did win that award from Rolling Stone. Oh, and he also has his own reality show with Maryse coming later this year on USA titled “Miz & Mrs.”, which already sounds amazing. Now he’s back on Raw and gunning for the Intercontinental Championship.
His promo on MizTV was passionate and did an excellent job of putting over the Intercontinental Championship as the most important title on the show. By the end, I had nearly forgotten that the Universal Championship existed (which is helped by the fact that part-timers have held that title for nearly a year now). Later on he convinced Kurt Angle to give him his shot to reclaim the title at Raw 25 in two weeks, and I cannot wait. Hopefully he succeeds so The Miz can start working on getting the title in a major storyline for WrestleMania. It’s been quite a while since we’ve had that.
About The Bálor Club…
One of the best things in wrestling in 2018 two weeks in is The Bálor Club. Finn Bálor needed partners for a 6-man tag last week, so who better than his old friends Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson? Japan is big in the wrestling news lately, so why not form a group of friends from Japan who just so happened to found the biggest faction in New Japan? The Bálor Club’s full formation happened this week on Raw with them interrupting The Fake Shield’s segment at the top of the show, and it appears Finn has become a tweener leaning toward heel. And this is the more interesting his character has ever been in WWE.
Finn now has room to show off a cocky personality while being flanked by his good friends and be an actual character. Gallows & Anderson are also benefiting from this group as they get to be more than just jobbers who occasionally call people nerds when they have 3 seconds of microphone time. It’s quite incredible how big of a turnaround these men have had in just two weeks, and they even picked up a win in the main event against three champions. Please give these guys all the belts and continue to make them the focus of Raw.
About Braun Strowman WITH A GRAPPLING HOOK…
One of the best things in wrestling in 2017 was Braun Strowman. Guess what? He’s already got his foot on the gas this year and killing it (wording intended) on Raw these past two weeks. Last week he yelled at Heath Slater to “get these hands” and this week he decides to attack Kane and Brock Lesnar backstage… AND IT’S BANANAS. He’s throwing production trunks with zero fucks given about safety, and then pulls out A GODDAMN GRAPPLING HOOK to pull down a big piece of metal scaffolding like he’s playing a Batman Arkham game. Paul Heyman’s selling of this on-air double homicide elevated it even further, and I am still screaming internally about how wild it was.
If plans don’t change and they don’t give Braun the Universal Championship in three weeks, they’ve fucked up. Braun Strowman forever.
What did you think of this week’s Raw? Let us know in the comments!
