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WWE Raw goes live on Christmas Day for the first time ever. What’s in store for the WWE Universe on the holiday and beyond?
One of my favorite pastimes as a WWE fan is to try and guess what’s going to happen in the future. I don’t go out of my way to spoil myself. But trying to get into the heads of the creative department is a good way to kill some time.
This week, much of the WWE Universe is celebrating Christmas on Monday. Of course, Monday is also the night for Raw. For the first time in the show’s long history, there will be a live broadcast on Christmas Day. Will WWE play it safe, assuming most of the audience will skip the show live due to the holiday? Or will this be an episode filled with major happenings to try and draw in viewers on a night with little competition?
Last week, Stephanie McMahon announced the first ever women’s Royal Rumble match. Since that point, Naomi has declared herself as the first entrant. There’s lots of speculation as to who may be joining her in the match. Will we get some answers this week?
And what about the men’s match? So far, only Elias has declared himself as an entrant. There’s a ton of other superstars who could enter the traditionally 30 man match. So, who’s up next?
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Read ahead for our outside the box thinking for what may happen this week on WWE programming.
Raw Pulls Out All the Stops on Christmas
For most people, Christmas is a time to spend with family. It may not be that way for everyone, but traditionally, you gather up with your relatives, eat a ton of food, exchange gifts, and spend some quality time with one another. It’s either awesome, or your worst nightmare. Depends on the family, I guess.
This year, though, WWE is trying to insert itself into everyone’s holiday season. Christmas falls on a Monday this year, but instead of airing a clip show, or a best-of, or whatever, WWE decided to run a live broadcast of Raw. It’s been met with mixed reactions from people in all sections of the wrestling business.
Logic would probably dictate that not a whole lot will happen on this episode. With the holiday season in full force, the likelihood that a big audience will tune in is pretty low. Why do a show where a ton happens if no one’s watching?
Well, Vince McMahon and company don’t always do what’s logical. (See: ending of Survivor Series 2017, or any of a hundred other examples.) If we’re thinking outside the box here, maybe Raw features something massive, like a title change. No, not the Universal Championship, since there’s no way Brock Lesnar shows up on Christmas Day. But maybe Alexa Bliss drops the title to, say, Alicia Fox, so The Goddess gets herself into the upcoming Royal Rumble match.
Or maybe Cesaro and Sheamus lose the Tag Team Championships to… oh, jeez, what tag teams are left on Raw now that Dean Ambrose is injured? Gallows and Anderson? Heath Slater and Rhyno? Yeah, let’s go with Heath and Rhyno – lord knows the Good Brothers aren’t going to win a title any time soon.
Record Rating for Raw! (But Not in a Good Way)
This one may not be too outside the box, but no matter what Raw does this week, very few people will watch. There’s food to eat, new toys to play with, and wrapping paper to clean up. Die Hard will probably be on the big screen for most families (or It’s A Wonderful Life, if you’re not hip like that), so pro wrestling isn’t on the forefront of most minds.
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Let’s say Raw does feature some kind of title change. We also know that the entire first hour this week will be commercial free – thanks for the gift, sponsors! And, John Cena – the hottest free agent in sports entertainment – is returning to Raw for the first time since losing to Roman Reigns at No Mercy, and to WWE for the first time since being a total non factor at Survivor Series for Team SmackDown.
Despite all that is guaranteed to happen, and all that may happen, no one is tuning in. Heck, I review the show every week, and I’m not tuning in live. I’m doing what most people are going to be doing – spending the time with family, not all of whom appreciate my tastes in entertainment. To each their own, but I’m not forcing WWE down anyone’s throats.
The outside the box thinking here is that the rating for Raw will be so low that it sets a new record. WWE has never done a live show on Christmas before, but the highlight shows that usually air are not watched by many people. I can’t imagine too many more fans watching, especially in the age of DVR and Hulu replays. By the time ratings are official in the middle of the week, we’ll find that WWE has hit a new low for viewership. Not that I want that to happen, but it may make the company think twice about having the talent – and production crew – work on the holiday itself.
A Few Surprise Entrants for the Royal Rumble(s)
Each of the Royal Rumble matches for the upcoming pay per view has one announced entrant. Elias declared himself for the men’s match, and Naomi entered the first ever women’s Rumble. So what do you say to getting a few more names tossed into the mix this week.
As mentioned above, Raw is likely to try to do anything it can to gain viewers on the holiday. Perhaps announcing some surprising names for the Rumbles could do that. Kurt Angle could come out at the top of the show and tease an announcement for later in the night. Social media starts buzzing, and more people flock to the show. When viewership is at its peak, Angle announces that The Boogeyman will be entering the Royal Rumble.
Well, maybe not The Boogeyman, but you catch my drift. Someone no one expects will be announced for the Rumbles. On the men’s side, maybe one or two of the UK superstars will be entered. Tyler Bate would be a smart choice, although a Philly crowd at the Rumble would be all over him as a true surprise entrant. Same for Pete Dunne.
For the women, maybe one of the legends who have been discussed will be officially announced. How about this – Mickie James enters herself into the Rumble, then says she’s bringing a friend along with her. That friend? Trish Stratus, who had a long and storied rivalry with James. Hey, that would get some viewers over to Raw.
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What do you think is in the cards this week for WWE?