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Veteran NFL writer and Pat McAfee Show contributor Mark Kaboly breaks down SmackDown and Raw with 10 takeaways.
10
New Day’s new era: Nobody … and I mean nobody could’ve anticipated the reaction that Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods received at Raw. Sure, you knew they would get booed for how they verbally abused Big E last week during what was supposed to be The New Day Celebration, but it was a reception that would even give “Dirty” Dom Mysterio pause. Maybe it was the: “Yeah, you broke your neck, so what” line from last week that took it too far and pushed the crowd to the point? Whatever button needed to be pressed to turn the loveable team into martyrs and they did it without lifting a finger. Kofi said, or at least tried to say, that it’s not like they hit Big E with a chair, which is true. An attack on emotions cut much deeper and that’s what we saw here (and you can’t discount the love the WWE Universe has for Big E playing a significant part in this). So move over “Dirty” Dom, Kofi and Woods are now not the most hated person/persons in the company, and they didn’t touch a soul in accomplishing that. Impressive. Let’s hope that Big E is close to getting cleared and returning to the ring. Now, that would be, um, interesting.
9
Back-to-back home runs: A couple of minutes of CM Punk having a sit-down interview with Jackie Redmond followed by Seth “Freakin” Rollins talking in the middle of the ring was highly informative of what the real beef is between the two and it was presented uniquely and entertainingly. It’s pretty difficult to find two better people on the mic than Rollins and Punk and to have those two explain their side of the story made me believe … well, both of their sides. Rollins saying that Punk took a little bit of truth and spun it into being the victim was the takeaway line for me. It’s never bad to intertwine truth into a storyline and when you have talent like Punk and Rollins delivering the spin, you get belief and entertainment … and a hell of a good watch.
!["CM]("/f/styles/wwe_16_9_xs/public/2024/12/dchiraw1646_06_ntwk_rev_1--8bf97d9ca160dd961bf27da0d7c33efe.jpg "\"CM")
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8
Making the connection: If you have to explain yourself then it’s not worth explaining, or something like that, right? WWE has done a good job of building their rivalries, and the Superstars have delivered crystal clear messages for what has fueled their hate. It’s been way more than just having a “good guy vs. a bad guy” until one is victorious and then they move on It’s so much more detailed than that and Raw hammered that home even more on Monday. In the two-hour program, you had Drew McIntyre hating on Sami Zayn, Jey Uso, Roman Reigns, CM Punk; Seth Rollins having issues with Punk and Zayn; IYO SKY, Liv Morgan, Rhea Ripley, Raquel Rodriguez, Sonya Deville, Dakota Kai all are intertwined in different levels of issues. It keeps everybody on their toes and everybody looking over their shoulders, which makes for great theater and a lot of bad blood heading into 2025.
7
Benefit for Bálor: You figured that the World Heavyweight Championship was going to go the route of a Triple Threat Match, and it will most definitely benefit Finn Bálor over the much bigger and stronger Damian Priest and Gunther. Triple Threat matches are no disqualification that will allow Judgment Day to get involved, which they certainly will in some capacity at Saturday Night’s Main Event. It will be Bálor’s best strategy to defeat both of these monsters even though he’s taken out both Priest and Gunther the past couple of weeks. Bálor helped Gunther win his title at SummerSlam and retain it at Survivor Series by screwing over Priest, so the Triple Threat makes all the sense in the world. It also allows Bálor to get a main title for the first time in eight years in a shady way. Raw’s opening segment will allow that to happen.
6
Not going away, thankfully: The Bloodline is must-see and has been for a while now. But that was in jeopardy before SmackDown. With the Bloodline losing ‘Big’ Bronson Reed and Tonga Loa for the foreseeable future with injuries suffered at WarGames combined with the defeat at the hands of the OG Bloodline, Solo Sikoa and Co. had two options – disappear and regroup or get pissed. Sikoa picked the latter. Starting SmackDown with the remaining members of the Bloodline taking out Apollo Crews and then arena security set the tone and then hammered it home by attacking LA Knight and Andrade for no real reason (yet didn’t go after Shinsuke Nakamura). Sikoa proclaimed that he is “still” The Tribal Chief, “still” The Head of the Table and “still” has the Ula Fala and did so emphatically. Now is a chance for Sikoa to ratchet up his vitriol for everything not related to the Bloodline. On a side note, Nakamura would make a wonderful addition to Sikoa’s gang.
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5
It’s OK to be funny: The car interview of Kevin Owens by Michael Cole didn’t break any new ground or provide much, if any fresh information, but that’s fine. The feud between Owens and Cody Rhodes has been percolating for months now and what else needs to be said? Owens thinks Rhodes is a lying narcissistic creep and Rhodes thinks Owens is just feeling sorry for himself because of his lack of championship success. But come on now, that segment with Owens and Cole in the car was funny as hell (rolling up the window in his face was priceless.) “The No.1. Cody fanboy” couldn’t get a question in edgewise but he didn’t need to. We get it. When you pair that with Owens’ attack on the compromised ankle of Rhodes following his match with Chad Gable added nuance to what lies ahead at Saturday Night’s Main Event. It’s OK to have silly moments like the rental car interview. It will be fine, I promise. (Three sets of pyros and that stupid logo, ha-ha!)
4
Back to the Future? We just may have got a glimpse into the future when it comes to Tiffany Stratton. She hasn’t been the most well-liked Superstar since aligning herself with Nia Jax but performing in from of her home state of Minnesota, the script was flipped. The crowd was all for Stratton, and I believe gave us a glimpse that when the inevitable occurs and Stratton cashes in her Money in the Bank for either title she can move forward in a whole new light. Stratton has the talent and ability to be the face of the Women’s Title now. She shined in her match against Elektra Lopez and Naomi in the first round of the Women’s United States Championship on SmackDown.
3
Anything goes: Rhea Ripley and Raquel Rodriguez was easily the best match of Raw even though it was kind of a quick one. Now, when you call it a “Anything Goes Match,” you know damn well it is going to end in chaos, which it did. But I don’t think you can overlook that Ripley is a brutal powerhouse, but Rodriguez can stand toe-to-toe with her physicality. Rodriguez took some stiff kendo stick whacks, a couple of hard chair shots, a missile dropkick and a Riptide through a table yet it was Ripley who came away bleeding. Good stuff all around.
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2
Setting the card: Saturday Night’s Main Event returns this weekend and a lot of what happened on Raw and SmackDown solidified what has turned out to be a potential special card that screams PLE with four title matches set. Rhodes vs. Owens for the Undisputed WWE Championship; Morgan vs. SKY for the WWE Women’s World Championship; Gunther vs. Priest vs. Balor for the World Heavyweight Championship; the crowning of the first-ever Women’s United State Championship; and McIntyre vs. Zayn. Plus, Jesse “The Body” Ventura” is back and part of the announcing team.
1
Odds and Ends: Nikki Cross as Sister Abigail is so creepy yet in a good way.… Who has more wrestlers who hate him right now: Reigns or Rhodes? … “At least CM Punk took a bribe.” … Seeing Rollins’ title history featured as a graphic while he was coming to the ring was a stunning visual. More of that, please. … Gunther continued to kill it on the mic with his opening promo to Raw. … #DIY upsetting Motor City Machine Guns for the WWE Tag Team Championship wasn’t something that was on my Bingo card. What a shocker on SmackDown!
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