The main note from Raw was Seth Rollins & Jason Jordan winning the Raw tag titles from Sheamus & Cesaro in the main event. Jordan got the pin on Cesaro to further establish Jordan after the story that he hangs with all the top guys but always loses those matches.
Rollins and Jordan were paired on the show as a response to Dean Ambrose’s legitimate injury with Jordan being inserted as Rollins’ new partner for the time being. They were initially paired as reluctant partners earlier in the show but appeared to have ended that story already with both on the same page after winning the match.
On the show, they provided an update on Dean Ambrose and said he could be out for “up to nine months” due to the torn triceps injury he sustained. We cannot confirm if that is the legitimate timetable as the company has provided false timetables on television in the past, including when Braun Strowman was injured earlier this year.
John Cena appeared in the opening segment and it led to a match with Elias with Cena selling for the majority of the match, making his comeback and winning with the AA. There was no angle shot for Cena and nothing announced for the Royal Rumble. Cena is not advertised for another episode of Raw until the January 22nd anniversary show but he is on the road this week with the Raw crew for the post-Christmas house shows.
There was an official announcement that Asuka would be part of the women’s Royal Rumble after confronting Alexa Bliss during a segment. Neither of the women’s champions will be in the Rumble match with the same format as the men’s match with the winner receiving a title match at WrestleMania in April.
Brock Lesnar was advertised for next week’s Raw in Miami and will also be appearing on the January 8th episode in Memphis and the 25th Anniversary of Raw special on January 22nd in Brooklyn.
Next week’s show will also feature the Cruiserweight title match between Enzo and Cedric Alexander.
The most interesting aspect of this week’s show is how it performs with the first-hour airing commercial free. The number will be out later this week and will be delayed due to the holidays.
