Nothing Left But TLC

We are quickly winding down 2020 with another RAW In A Nutshell. By the end of the evening, there should be nothing left but TLC for 2020.

OK, so that is not entirely accurate. While TLC is the final PPV, we do have a couple more RAWs between now and 2021.

However, there really will be nothing left, relative to RAW, but TLC for 2020. As in, this is the go-home show!

We’ve got more hype for the big title match between Drew McIntyre and AJ Styles, with the looming tease of a possible Miz MITB cash-in.

We’ve got the Women’s Tag Title situation still simmering, with Lana fixing to get another beating between now and Sunday.

There’s also the mind games between Bray Wyatt, his alter ego The Fiend, and The Viper. You get the feeling that tonight, something bad happens to Alexa Bliss…

So it should be a busy and eventful RAW, don’t you think?

Nothing Left But TLC

By the end of it, there’s nothing left but TLC for 2020!

Let’s crack open this Nutshell and find out!

Best Match of the night:

I am opting not for a match tonight, but for two segments.

Segment one, the Bray Wyatt-Randy Orton “hide and seek”. The interactions along the way were funny distractions.

The Orton/Wyatt/Fiend part at the end was the payoff, and it was satisfying.

Then we had the WWE Championship ascension ceremony. I don’t think we’ve ever had one of these before, but it was a unique take on things and set up Sunday.

What will be interesting is, Styles did say “what if it wasn’t just me you were facing on Sunday”, before Miz and Morrison began to attack Drew along with Styles.

So, is the match suddenly not one on one, or is Styles inferring the duo will be hanging around due to the briefcase…

Worst match of the night:

Lana and Nia Jax was short and forgettable.

Star of the Night

Well, by the end of it, AJ Styles stood tall.

Not saying he did enough to truly rank as the star of the evening, but hard to argue against him too.

Spot of the Night:

I am torn here. I liked getting the ladders involved in the closing segment.

I liked the fire involved in the Fiend reveal too.

Take your pick, I suppose.

Jobber of the Night:

MVP.

Yes, MVP.

I believe Riddle pinned him in like, under two minutes? Why even bother…unless that’s one where, rather than cut the match entirely due to time, they just cut it really short?

Upset of the Night:

Lana over Nia Jax in the blink of an eye. She paid for it, but I’d say it was an upset…especially due to the speed in which it happened.

Holy Sh** Moment of the Night:

The beating that Lana took…which I feel opens a spot for Charlotte.

Also, maybe I missed it, but Mustafa on commentary basically admited Mace is Dio Madden, by telling Joe that he’s in the seat Mace used to occupy.

Like, we all KNOW it’s Dio. Their identities weren’t the best kept secrets, and the crappy masks (when they manage to stay on) didn’t help prolong the mystery.

But I was a bit surprised to hear it basically acknowledged.

LOL Moment of the night:

R-Truth talking to Huskus, and then asking Bray if he was his son? Funny stuff.

Riddle talking with Ramblin’ Rabbit, asking the puppet to autograph his carrot? Also funny.

Not everyone liked the bro-nouns part, though…

Noteworthy Moment:

Lana and Asuka had a Women’s Tag Team title match on Sunday. Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax took out Lana early on RAW, and later we were told Lana cannot go on Sunday.

So, who will replace Lana?

What about Charlotte? This is not noteworthy, it’s purely speculation…but we’ve been hearing that Charlotte could have returned for the last couple months.

We’ve also heard, early on in her self-imposed absence, that she might not return until 2021.

Well, we’ve got just a couple weeks left in 2020, and she’s supposedly ready to go…and now there’s a spot open in a match.

I am not the only one thinking this…

A match against the woman-Nia Jax-who is storyline responsible for her prolonged absence.

So I ask…could WWE…would WWE…put Flair in the Women’s Tag Title mix?


Also, perhaps lost in the shuffle (not really, but kinda)-Mandy Rose is back.

Overall lowlights:

Right, wrong or indifferent, I was not a fan of the short matches.

Like, fine, they served a purpose, but to expend merely a couple minutes (literally) between Riddle and MVP and Lana versus Nia Jax…just puzzling.

Speaking of puzzling…I still don’t know what to think about Retribution anymore. They start off going for any and all, but quickly get knocked down by fellow heel faction The Hurt Business.

Now, they are barely mid-card, and currently it’s them chasing Ricochet and pretty much ONLY Ricochet, because Ali WANTS Ricochet in the gang.

Whatever momentum they may have had from the Ali reveal is gone.

Overall highlights:

Fiend/Orton and Styles/McIntyre got a lot of hype, for good reason. Expect those two to do well on Sunday.

WWE is planting a ton of seeds for a cash in on Sunday too, I think. My only beef with that is, should have had Miz tease one as the show faded to black, too.

After all, we just saw Miz, Morrison and AJ take out McIntyre…perfect opportunity to have considered the use of the briefcase.

After the final bell:

Well, from RAW’s perspective, not a terrible show.

Some spots need fixing, for sure…but that can be said about every RAW we endure anymore.

Two big feuds carried the night, and that is not a knock on anything. For me, those are two of the three RAW related ones I have to see on Sunday.

The other is who is Asuka’s new partner, with the popular money landing on Charlotte right now (but could we see Asuka’s former partner Kairi Sane make a surprise return?).

 

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