RAW – DECEMBER 14, 2015

So remember way back when – you know, yesterday – when I said that it would be best for WWE to take it slow with Roman Reigns after his strong showing at TLC?

… WELP! Guess I was wrong!

Since being booed out of Philadelphia at this year’s Royal Rumble, I always figured that the only real way to get Reigns over the way WWE wanted him over would be to turn him heel. At TLC, we all started to see that there could possibly be other ways, like sending Triple H to the hospital. Then at Raw, we were reminded of the time-tested way to get a superstar over … punch Vince McMahon in the mouth!

Reigns being able to get the HUGE positive reaction he got from the crowd that wanted nothing to do with him 11 months ago just shows how far he has come. He has earned the title he now wears. He has the fans support – for the most part, I still can’t believe there are still some people out there saying that he is receiving an “undeserved push.” He has found himself in a storyline that works and 2016 could very well be a banner year for Reigns. Again, if booked correctly.

Here is a silver lining for those that are still against Reigns – with him holding the title, he won’t be in the Royal Rumble! The Rumble loses a bit of its mystique when it’s obvious who is being set up to win. We knew that Reigns would win this past January and with the way the show was going it looked like Reigns was being penciled in to win in 2016 again. Not if he is already the champ though! We’ll get someone new in the spotlight that night and throughout the Road to WrestleMania.

How great was it to see the boss back? It’s been over a year since McMahon has been on camera and he still power walks down to the ring as if it were 1998. Stephanie simply mentioning that the Chairman was on his way to the arena generated a huge buzz in the arena. When the boss is in town, you know something special is going to happen!

Keeping with the “rematch from the night before” theme, we got another battle from The Wyatt Family and the ECW Originals. The backstage promo the Originals gave was amazing! Throwing in clips from the old days of the ECW Arena were a perfect way to set this match up – and the match itself did not disappoint! The eight men took every to the largest level of extreme that a PG show would allow! Fighting all over the arena, guys driven through the barricade, thrown off the stage through tables – it was just well done! The best part about it is that, once again, The Wyatt’s went over! Not only that, but it was the one guy eliminated the night before, Erick Rowan, that got the pin in this match. The Wyatt’s look to be getting the build that they need.

New Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose showed off his new belt against The Show Off Dolph Ziggler. The match itself was a good one but the fun started when a stoic Kevin Owens walked down the ramp, into the ring, and made sure he let everyone know that he was not going away. After removing Ziggler from the ring, Owens viciously went after the man that took the title from him. Owens can be the top heel on the company – and it really seems like that is where he is headed!

This was a HUGE Raw! Everyone in the wrestling world has nothing but high praise for it. Now the question is – can WWE build on this momentum? As I have said before, if you want to fill AT&T Stadium on April 3, you need to do better creatively. Hopefully this is just the first step and not just a short glimmer of hope.

Other quick notes …

• I really don’t get what they are doing with Neville and The Miz. Neville is a tremendous talent that has just been booked horribly so far. This little program is just confusing, though at least it’s something to keep him on TV.

• Welcome back to a Raw match R-Truth and Bo Dallas! Your role tonight is to do something for three and a half minutes until McMahon comes down to kick you out of the ring.

• The League of Nations finally did something non-Sheamus title match related together! Good to see members of the faction finally in a tag match together. But where is Barrett? What did I miss? ***UPDATE*** WELP a few minutes after I initially posted this, reports starting coming out about a possible Barrett injury that possibly took place at the TLC Pre-Show. Hopefully it’s just minor, Barrett has had to deal with severe injury absences one too many times.

• More Flair shenanigans in the Divas tag match. At least it looks like they may be giving Becky Lynch the next shot at the title.