The Champions Club – Monday Night Raw – January, 8, 2017

I’m of course referring to the Alabama Crimson Tide, 2018 College Football Champions, not this Jason Jordan nonsense.

Let’s see what Raw has for us in Memphis, Tennessee.

Club Scene

Roman came out first to talk about shutting Samoa Joe’s mouth, and doing so because if you mess with one member of the Shield (Dean), you mess with the trio.  Jason Jordan allows himself to come to the ring to second the notion, because apparently he thinks he’s part of The Shield, or if not the Shield, he’ll settle for Champions Club.  Seth came out, and he and Roman seemed concerned about Jordan’s overstepping.  I don’t know, this whole opening promo segment did nothing for me until……

Balor Club Worldwide (Balor, Gallows, Anderson) make their way out to talk about how they’re old friends, and easily the most dominant trio currently in WWE, as The Shield isn’t standing in front of them, but rather they’re staring down The Architect, The Big Dog and a……. Nerd.

Angle decides to set up a dream match, as Balor Club would see The Champions Club in six man tag action in the main event.  Long and short of it, Rollins and Reigns are laying waste, but Jason Jordan’s stupidity costs them the match as Balor lands Coup de Grace on Rollins to get the pinfall.

Get to the f***ing point with this Jason Jordan stuff already, because it was old when it started, so we don’t want to talk about how we feel about it now (as if you needed a clear indication, Jason Jordan finished a distant last in the voting for Bayley’s MMC partner behind two heels in Samoa Joe and Elias Samson).

The Rest of the Show

• Paul Heyman cut the standard Paul Heyman promo about BRRRROCCCCKKKKKKK LESNARRRRRRRR.  As Brock was leaving, Kane attacked him from behind.  The two fought into the backstage area, where Braun Strowman attacked them both, taking them down by heaving those 100+ pound roadie cases at them and then pulling the stage setup down on top of them.  It should be noted that they quickly came to Brock Lesnar’s aid with a stretcher, while Kane was sort of left to fend for himself, eventually hobbling off into the boiler room or wherever it is that he emerges from when he’s not sleeping under the ring.
• Cedric Alexander def. Enzo Amore via count-out.  Enzo was bleeding pretty bad, and if he wasn’t actually hurt he was selling one hell of an ankle injury.  Enzo retains the belt, we’ll have to see how long before he can actually wrestle again.
• Woken Matt Hardy debuts, def. Curt Hawkins.  Hardy has new music, and he’s seemingly being allowed to run with the character at will.  Following his victory, Bray Wyatt appears in the ring and the two laugh at each other for a while.  That’s all that happened.  There will undoubtedly be a point in the Rumble match when these two square off alone.
• Elias Samson ushers in the return of The Miz.  Bo Dallas’s hair was on point this evening.  The Miz lit up this promo like he hadn’t missed a beat.  We found out that 1) he wants his IC belt back and he’s going to get a chance at Raw 25, 2) Miz and Maryse are getting a new, unscripted reality series on USA, and 3) Bo Dallas has an unhealthy love for The Miz, sleeping with a photo of him.  Later in the evening, The Miztourage attacked The Champions Club, landing a triple powerbomb on Roman to end the show.
• Sasha & Bayley def. Rose & Deville.  This match was whatever.  You’ve seen all factors here 1,000 times.  If Paige is hurt and can’t participate, abandon Absolution now and make this interesting again.  Both Rose and Deville are entirely too good to be stuck in the perpetual loop that is the Raw women’s division.
• Samoa Joe def. Rhyno.  While it seemed like he was hyping a feud with John Cena after the match, Joe was injured and has been removed from both the Royal Rumble and the MMC.
• Titus Worldwide def. The Bar.  Yes, you read this correctly.  In any event, The Bar will get a tag title opportunity at Royal Rumble and God willing and the creek don’t rise, they will take the belts and Rollins will go psycho and absolutely demolish Jason Jordan.
• Nia Jax took out Asuka before the match could get started, attacking the Empress during her entrance.  The growing disconnect between Jax and Bliss is entertaining, and the potential for Jax vs Asuka has my interest.  They need to spend a touch of time letting Jax destroy jobbers to get a solid build going, and no I don’t mean let her demolish Bayley and Sasha which seems to be the way they build everyone else.

Overall Grade: B+.  This was a solid episode of Raw, highlighted by The Miz promo and Braun Strowman’s mere existence.  Rollins and Reigns are working overtime trying to keep this Jason Jordan stuff alive, but even Kurt Angle doesn’t seem invested in it anymore.  Looking forward to Smackdown tonight.  Heading to Birmingham, we’ll see you tomorrow, same Dark Match Time, same Dark Match Channel.