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WWE

When it comes to holiday episodes of Raw, they are viewed as throwaway shows with little drama involved. Well, Monday's Christmas Eve episode of Raw was anything but that now one week into the "new era" that was announced by the McMahon family. Two Raw championships were defended on Monday night, and while one of those titles put on the line was not that of universal champion Brock Lesnar (shocking, we know), he was represented on this edition of Raw as he gets set to step into the ring with the "Monster Among Men" once again at the Royal Rumble.

Ronda Rousey showed out in her signature Raw match to date, while the Christmas theme was carried throughout the entire three hours on Monday night. Check out the results, highlights and grades from Raw below.

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Royal Rumble universal title match hype begins

Paul Heyman made his return to Raw to pump up his client, reigning universal champion Brock Lesnar. He began to sing "Silent Night" with the lyrics changed to reflect a preview of the universal title bout, but out came challenger Braun Strowman with his injured elbow still in a sling. He had a few of his own words for Heyman to send to Lesnar as Heyman begged for his life, wishing Strowman "Merry Christmas," "Happy Hanukkah" and "Happy Kwanzaa" in an attempt to find a greeting that delighted him. Strowman responded by turning Heyman into Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer by dressing him with antlers and the giant red nose. Strowman, naturally, wanted Lesnar to know that he's finally going to defeat him come the Royal Rumble.

This was fine. Nothing to write home about. Heyman is always at his best when he's talking a massive amount of crap only to turn into a coward immediately afterward when confronted by an opponent for his client. It did not boost interested in the Royal Rumble match but rather provided a fun segment for a holiday show. Grade: B-

Ronda Rousey, Natalya go at it in exciting title match

Raw Women's Championship -- Ronda Rousey (c) def. Natalya via submission to retain the title: Before the match began, Natalya said bringing home the title would be the perfect Christmas gift for her family. Natalya had Rousey on the ropes through much of the match, nearly causing her to tap out as Cole sold that Natalya was going all out but Rousey was holding back against her friend. Natalya also showed some aggressiveness, slapping Rousey on the stomach while she was prone and talking trash to her.

Rousey audibly told Natalya she "didn't want to do this" before hitting her with a running knee and pleaded with Natalya to calm down; Natalya responded with a lariat. Rousey avoided a Sharpshooter and hit Natalya with Piper's Pit, but she hesitated when attempting her armbar, giving Natalya the opportunity to lock Rousey in a Sharpshooter. It took two attempts for Rousey to get out of the Sharpshooter, the second off which she converted into an armbar; Natalya lasted longer than anyone else but tapped. After the match, Rousey looked sad consoling Natalya and helping her friend to her feet; Natalya was angry and disappointed but accepted a hug from Rousey.

Though she has been performing at a high level on pay-per-views, Rousey's TV matches have been relatively lackluster, which is not much of a surprise. This one was completely different. Rousey and Natalya told a fantastic story (as outlined above), hit their key moves smoothly and finished with a bang that got the cold crowd on its feet for the final bell. A heel turn for Natalya was teased but not cashed in, which is probably a good move considering the other rivalries Rousey already has going with Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair. It would be interesting if WWE decided to run this back at the Royal Rumble. Grade: B+

Vince McMahon makes three announcements

Dressed as Santa Claus in a pre-taped segment, McMahon attempted to make some jokes about how foolish he looked in between making three announcements as gifts for the WWE universe. (1) Women's tag team titles will be introduced sometime in 2019. (2) John Cena will be returning to WWE TV on both Raw and SmackDown. (3) Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre will fight inside a steel cage on the New Year's Eve edition of Raw.

Talk about burying big news. Fans have been waiting for a women's tag team title announcement since the early part of the summer, yet WWE kept pushing it off. They had multiple opportunities to make such an announcement, including leading into (or during) Evolution, or even last week on Raw when the McMahon family described the new era that would take place in the company. Instead, Vince says it off-the-cuff without any fanfare or additional information? The only reason this is not a failure is because the news was positive. Grade: D

What else happened on Raw?

  • Elias def. Bobby Lashley via pinfall (Miracle on 34th Street Fight): Elias kicked off Raw by entertain the crowd with a Christmas song in the ring, to which he was finally not interrupted. Lashley got in some action during the match, but Elias got the win after dropping Lashley on exposed LEGOs, knocking Lio Rush off the apron and onto a table and both spraying Lashley with a fire extinguisher and rolling a bowling ball into his nether regions.
  • Raw Tag Team Championship -- Bobby Roode & Chad Gable (c) def. The Revival to retain the titles: Gable got the victory for the champs to retain when he was able to roll-up Scott Dawson for the pin. The match included some of the best technical tag team work WWE has had on TV in quite some time.
  • Finn Balor def. Dolph Ziggler (via pinfall) and Drew McIntyre: In the triple threat bout that was booked following what took place last week on Raw, Balor nailed Ziggler with the Coup de Grace and got the 1-2-3. After the match, McIntyre began attacking Ziggler but turned his back on him, only to eat a Zig-Zag before the segment ended. Prior to the bout, McIntyre officially entered himself into the 2019 Royal Rumble.
  • Sasha Banks, Bayley & Ember Moon def. Mickie James, Dana Brook & Alicia Fox via pinfall: The babyfaces went over as they have in such matches recently After the match, Riott Squad showed up to attack the victors without much storyline explanation.
  • Heath Slater def. Jinder Mahal via disqualification: The match was called after the Singh Brothers randomly interfered for no reason. As Slater appeared to be in trouble, Santa Claus emerged from the crowd and made the save by clearing the ring. It was, of course, Rhyno.
  • Seth Rollins def. Baron Corbin via pinfall: Backstage in a dimly lit room, Dean Ambrose said Rollins deserved to have a terrible Christmas. Before his match, Rollins said Ambrose would not take his reputation or his heart. OK? In the main event, Rollins put the former acting general manager down with The Stomp to send everyone home happy.
  • Christmas wishes from WWE superstars: A variety of wrestlers not seen on TV much, along with a couple that make weekly appearances, made some tongue-in-cheek holiday wishes in pre-taped segments throughout the show. The B-Team were also peddling their merchandise backstage to little success.