Monday Night Raw Review - December 4, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Drew McIntyre def. Sami Zayn

Needless to say, McIntyre continues to kill it with his current character. It's completely based in logic, but he's going about things the wrong way. It's fascinating to follow. I really dug their pre-match verbal exchange and the subsequent match was great. They got a ton of time and the crowd was super into the action. McIntyre's attack on Zayn backstage afterward was a nice touch as it sets up Zayn to eventually return (though it's possible he's back as soon as next week) and avenge the "injury."

Nia Jax def. Shayna Baszler

I've praised WWE lately for their booking with Jax since her return to the company and how it's exceeded my expectations, but I don't understand why they've put her against heels in her last two matches. The crowd sat on their hands for this and I can't say I blame them. It wasn't bad, but there wasn't anything overly exciting about it, either. On the bright side, it's cool that they're revisiting the history between Jax and Becky Lynch heading into Royal Rumble season as it will keep the two of them busy, if nothing else.

#DIY def. Imperium (Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci) in a 2-Out-of-3 Falls Match

I know these teams have been feuding for the past month or so, but I'm not sure why this needed a two-out-of-three falls stipulation, especially with those first two falls being total throwaway. That said, this turned into quite the enjoyable outing that the crowd eventually came alive for. It was easily the best match #DIY have had since reuniting on the main roster, so hopefully they can capitalize off this win and continue building momentum.

Katana Chance and Kayden Carter def. Natalya and Tegan Nox

Chance and Carter have barely been on Raw since being called up to the main roster earlier this year, and that's because so little effort gets put into making the women's tag team division matter. Nox and Natalya had their shot, and now that they've lost, it's Chance and Carter's turn. It's basic booking, but it's better than none of them being on television at all. The match was okay while it lasted, but the crowd didn't have an incentive to cheer one team over the other.

Shinsuke Nakamura Interrupted Cody Rhodes

I already liked the idea of these two having a mini feud heading into the Royal Rumble, but I love that Nakamura brought up how he too won the Royal Rumble match and went on to lose at WrestleMania. I totally forgot about that, so that's a logical reason for why he targeted Rhodes. Rhodes' promo was solid and they effectively set up their match for next week. I assume there will be more matches between them and that it won't be a one-off.

The Creed Brothers def. The Judgment Day (JD McDonagh and NXT North American Champion "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio)

Creed Brothers became the number one contenders to the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship on last week's show, so it was smart to keep them rolling with a win over two members of Judgment Day that weren't the champions. They had a good, well-wrestled match and the Creeds continue to impress, specifically with their innovative offense. I don't know if they'll actually take the titles this early or not, but WWE has done pretty much everything right with them so far and that's an encouraging sign for their future.

World Heavyweight Champion Seth "Freakin" Rollins def. Jey Uso

The video package that aired for Uso earlier in the evening was fantastic. It honestly left me thinking there was a small chance Uso might become champion here. Of course, that was never going to happen, but I wouldn't have been disappointed if it did. They had an excellent main event, Uso was made to look credible in defeat and I appreciated that we got a clean finish instead of McIntyre interfering to attack both men or cost Uso the victory.

Overall Show

For a show that (unlike last week) lacked CM Punk, Randy Orton and most of The Judgment Day, this was actually an improvement over that episode. Fans having high hopes heading into last week's show and not being satisfied with what we ultimately got played a factor, but this show was also a lot less boring and had better wrestling to fill the three hours. Punk will be back on the red brand next week, so I'm looking forward to seeing what he has in store along with Rhodes vs. Nakamura.

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