WWE Raw Results, Highlights, And Grades For December 31, 2018

On tonight’s episode of WWE Raw, Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler will finish off their rivalry inside of a steel cage, and the Women’s Tag Team Championships could be unveiled.

The Christmas Eve episode of WWE Raw was filled with big matches and announcements, but nothing was bigger than Vince McMahon’s announcement that Women’s Tag Team Championships would finally be coming back.

Sasha Banks and Bayley, Nia Jax and Tamina, and the Riott Squad are among the tag teams that could participate in a Women’s Tag Team Championship Tournament for the new titles. With Mickie James, Alicia Fox, Ember Moon, and potentially Alexa Bliss involved, too, Raw would have plenty of tag teams available, allowing the Red Brand to match SmackDown Live’s teams in terms of quality.

It will be interesting to see if tonight’s Raw dedicates a segment or two to developing storylines that can help the fans get even more invested in these forthcoming championships.

An already-announced segment is a steel cage match between Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler. Formerly Raw Tag Team Champions together, McIntyre and Ziggler are two of the best in the business and have worked magic in the ring together as opponents or partners in 2018. Though Finn Balor bested both of them last week in a Triple Threat match, it’s highly doubtful that Ziggler will be able to hold off an enraged McIntyre on New Year’s Eve.

Ronda Rousey and Natalya stole the show on Christmas Eve, and while Nattie pushed the Raw Women’s Champion to the limit, it was Rousey who had her hand raised at the end of the match. The bond between these superstars remains incredibly strong and probably won’t be broken anytime soon, but which woman on the roster will attempt to become Rousey’s next challenger as we started focusing on the build to the Royal Rumble?

Dean Ambrose has managed to stay away from Seth Rollins, who doesn’t have a mandated rematch clause against the current Intercontinental Champion. But Rollins won’t forget his loss to Ambrose at TLC anytime soon, and the fan favorite likely has a plan for getting back at his former Shield brother. Perhaps the two have a confrontation tonight.

Finally, Chad Gable and Bobby Roode retained the Raw Tag Team Championships last week in nail-biting fashion, barely holding off The Revival in an evenly-wrestled match. It seemed like Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder would finally have their marquee victory on Raw, but they were robbed by some quick thinking from the champs. The Raw Tag Team Division is slowly heading back to relevancy, so Gable and Roode have a target on their backs.

Check back here for a thorough live review of WWE Raw, including up-to-the-minute grades for each segment, when the show airs at 8 p.m. ET on the USA Network.