Monday Night Raw Review - December 6, 2021

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

WWE Champion Big E def. Kevin Owens in a Steel Cage Match

It was refreshing to get a proper match between these two after their last two matches in the main event ended in anticlimactic fashion. Seth Rollins getting involved at ringside was inevitable, but I'm glad it was kept to a minimum. This was a very good cage match. This would have been the perfect opportunity to have Owens pick up a big win without Big E getting pinned, but the fact he lost instead and was laid out again afterward all but confirms he's on his way out of the company and that he's losing and that he's only involved in the Triple Threat at Day 1 to take the pinfall loss.

WWE Women's Tag Team Champion Queen Zelina def. Nikki A.S.H.

It's hard to believe that Nikki was Raw Women's Champion just a few months ago considering all the losing she's been doing lately. Granted, I realize they're telling a story with her and Rhea Ripley, but it's high time Ripley goes back to being on her own. Her facial expressions after Nikki's loss give me hope a heel turn is coming. The match itself was total throwaway, but at least they're booking one-half of the women's tag champs and the current queen to look credible for a change.

The Street Profits def. AJ Styles and Omos by Count-Out in an RK-Bro-Nament First Round Match

I like both of these teams, but their feud has been fairly tame over the last few weeks. This was a quality match, but it never felt like it reached that next level or lived up to its full potential. The dumb non-finish didn't help matters, but I suppose it's better than Styles eating another unnecessary pinfall loss. Post-match, the two gives me hope a split is coming and Styles can finally be utilized as a singles star again. He's been beyond wasted for months now.

United States Champion Damian Priest def. Robert Roode

I like that WWE has been consistent with Priest's open challenge gimmick for a few months now. Usually they'll do it for a week or two and then abandon it, but not with Priest. Granted, it's largely been accepted by lower-level talent, but he's definitely on the ascent. I assume the crowd didn't buy into Roode winning based on how quiet they were, but it was a well-wrestled affair, nonetheless. They set up Priest vs. Dolph Ziggler with Ziggler attacking Priest afterward.

Bianca Belair def. Doudrop by Count-Out

This feud has been a nice use of both women since it started. Doudrop is so much better off as a heel at the moment because what they had her doing as a babyface was terrible. A name change has to be coming, right? They worked well together here and I'm happy the feud isn't over yet. That said, doing two count-outs on the same show is incredibly lazy, so doing a disqualification may have been slightly more serviceable.

The Miz Hosted Miz TV with Edge

I loved the verbal exchange these two had last week, and although it didn't quite measure up to last week's, both guys still brought their best on the mic. Miz said his issues with Edge date all the way back to 2006 and Edge brought up how he gave him advice around that same time that Miz ignored. Regardless of whether that's true or not, it adds a sense of realism to the story. They also made their match official for Day 1, which I'm personally looking forward to.

The Mysterios def. Alpha Academy in an RK-Bro-Nament First Round Match

These teams had what felt like a million matches over on SmackDown and probably one or two on Raw, so this didn't feel new whatsoever. That's why I honestly didn't mind it not lasting long. What we got was perfectly fine but nothing you'll remember tomorrow. It's worth noting that Otis didn't get to tag in at all and then he attacked Riddle afterward. Maybe that means we'll get Riddle vs. Otis coming out of this. Mysterios vs. Street Profits in the finals should be fun.

Finn Balor def. T-Bar

I'm going to keep saying this until it happens (which it likely never will but oh well): Can we please do away with the dumb T-Bar name and face paint? It's impossible to take the guy seriously, though I realize WWE has him firmly slotted as an enhancement guy and that isn't going to change. The sad thing is that this would've been a banger in NXT, but it was nothing more than a short and sweet squash on the main roster. Austin Theory's next feud being with Balor makes total sense.

Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch def. Liv Morgan

I applaud WWE for all the work they put into trying to convince the masses that Morgan could win the Raw Women's Championship on this show. That being said, I was surprised the crowd was as quiet as they were. I'm aware Morgan isn't on the level of a Lynch or the rest of the Four Horsewomen yet, but she's been receiving strong reactions in almost every city she's appeared in for the past month or two. The match was a bit boring early on, but once they picked up the pace down the stretch, it turned into a great sprint. I have no issue with Morgan losing or in the fashion she did because hopefully the idea is to build toward a rematch at the next pay-per-view.

Overall Show

I was a big proponent of last week's show and thought this was a thumbs-up effort as well. The abundance of in-ring action was welcomed and it made for an enjoyable three hours on the whole (and opening and closing with two big bouts was smart), but obviously WWE can't follow this formula every week. They need more compelling stories, and while the brand isn't completely devoid of those, they could be doing a better job of making people want to tune in each week with some of the stories they tell. Raw can be wildly inconsistent from one week to the next, so all we can do is cross our fingers that this positive stretch of shows continues at least through the end of the year.

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