WWE Raw Results: Highlights, Analysis, and Grades for December 4

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Cedric Alexander vs. Mustafa Ali vs. Drew Gulak vs. Tony Nese

Result: Drew Gulak pinned Mustafa Ali to win the match

Rating: 3.25 out of 5 stars

I was seconds away from writing down, “Boy, this match was okay, but it was nowhere near as good as last week’s match,” when the bonkers sequence leading into the commercial break happened. It was just one thing after another with no down time, much like the majority of last week’s qualifier. To me, that one sequence helped make up for a bit of a slow start. Sure, the back and forth between Cedric and Ali was terrific, and Nese and Gulak working together was perfect for the story the match was telling. But it just took a while to get going.

After the commercial, it was more good stuff. Any time Ali and Cedric worked together or against each other was an A-plus from me. I really thought the Spanish Fly with Cedric just passing out on top of Ali was going to be the finish. That would have been a perfect surprise ending to the match.

Thankfully, the match didn’t end there, and we got to see Ali’s springboard Spanish Fly. Such a beautiful move, perfectly executed. But the Zo Train kept breaking up all the pin attempts, or breaking up the moves that would be certain to win the match.

The finish to the match was what would be expected from just about everyone. Nese broke up the 054 from Ali, and was looking to hit a big move when Cedric caught him with the Lumbar check – but Nese rolled to the floor. Cedric is smart – he hit the Lumbar Check on Ali, but couldn’t pin him before Gulak appeared to snipe the pin.

So now we get Gulak vs. Swann next week, and – I’m assuming – a PowerPoint Presentation on 205 Live. Can’t wait!