Raw 1/18/16 Review

The last five Raws have opened with a member of the McMahon family and Roman Reigns. This one started slightly different as Reigns came out first and called out Brock Lesnar. Instead, he got Chris Jericho, pulling his "Cool Dad" routine. Reigns can come off as unlikable, but man, Jericho is just a total douche now. Anyway, this led to the League of Nations showing up and trading barbs. Rusev's hair game was seriously on point. He was also the only thing about this segment that was any good. Jericho somehow had the power to make a match and appoint himself as the referee. They ended up working a decently long match that kind of just sat there and wasn't very good. Jericho threw out the League of Nations, did a lame ass cartwheel and Reigns won. Nothing to write home about.

Backstage, Stephanie McMahon scolded Chris Jericho for acting like he had any power. She called him out for his 1999 routine which made me laugh but was also ironic. If you forgot that Total Divas returned tonight, the WWE made sure to remind you. Brie Bella faced the returning Natalya, who brought out the returning Paige. Mind you, Paige and Natalya weren't really friends when they both left and Paige was a heel. They were literally only together to plug Total Divas. Natalya won a short match with the Sharpshooter. Next, the never-ending feud between the Dudley Boyz and the Wyatt Family continued as the Dudleys picked Ryback to be their partner. This was another match that was again just there and didn't do much. The Wyatt Family picked up the victory. The crowd didn't care, the match wasn't good and none of this worked.

The Social Outcasts was a fun little experiment. Heath Slater faced Big Show and guess what? Show knocked him out. Show then proceeded to KO the rest of the group. Even if they're jokes, did Show have to destroy them all like nothing? It's so dumb. Then, the worst segment of the show, and year so far happened. Vince and Stephanie came out to use the tumbler and tell us who will enter number one in the Rumble. They wasted tons of time and pulled out Reigns' name three times. Surprised? Anyway, Becky Lynch brightened things up by beating Tamina. She then challenged Charlotte for the Royal Rumble. Charlotte declined but Becky baited Ric into saying yes, giving us another match for the Royal Rumble this Sunday.

The best match of the night followed when Kalisto teamed with Ambrose against the LON. Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio to be specific. They announced that we get Del Rio/Kalisto IV at the Royal Rumble. Now, even though this was the best match of the show, I wouldn't call it great. Still, it was rather fun. Sheamus Brogue Kicked Kalisto for the win. I think a DQ finish would have worked here to protect everyone heading into the PPV. Backstage, the New Day held a funeral for Xavier Woods' trombone, Franchesca. This led to Big E defeating Jey Uso in singles competition. I suspect Jimmy beats Kofi before the PPV too because 50/50 booking. Also, it will be the Usos vs. New Day at the Royal Rumble.

Technically, our main event was a random eight man tag featuring guys with no direction. Stardust, Tyler Breeze and the Ascension took on Mark Henry, Titus O'Neil, R-Truth and Neville. Poor Neville, Stardust and Breeze, who all deserve much better. The crowd was so dead for this that you could hear a pin drop. Neville pinned Breeze after a Red Arrow and not a single fuck was given. The final segment was Chris Jericho's Highlight Reel. Since it was going to involve Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar, he called it the biggest edition ever but as expected, it didn't top the night John Cena got drafted to Raw or the one where he murdered Shawn Michaels' eye. Paul Heyman came out as Jericho called himself a favorite for the Rumble. They went back and forth with Jericho saying he might throw out Brock, while Heyman promoted the show and the Network. Brock showed up and so did Reigns. Reigns speared Brock and out came the League of Nations. Brock got up and murdered them like they were nothing. Reigns hit another spear on Brock before the Wyatts showed up. They took out Reigns and then focused on Brock. It was cool to see Luke Harper kick Brock and then Bray hit him with Sister Abigail. I really enjoy when Brock interacts with someone new instead of the Triple H's and Undertaker's of the world. Seeing the Wyatts close the show on top was cool but so random considering their booking as of late.

I was not a fan of this episode to be honest. Most of it was filler and didn't sell me on watching the Royal Rumble, which a go home show should do. The matches weren't really bad, but nothing was very good either. A completely skippable episode. 4/10.