Raw Reax - 12/23/13

Read on for my thoughts on last night's Raw.
I seem to remember Mark Henry being a big poetry fan off-screen, so I can't be too shocked he read one here.

I enjoyed that opening segment. The remark about HHH having his employees volunteer (as opposed to doing it himself) was funny. Also, nice heel move in keeping Orton out of the ring. That also makes it mean more when he does get in the ring. I wonder if this is leading to Kane getting back in the ring soon?

Interesting to have Vickie Guerrero in that match and not Rosa Mendes. It's pretty bad when they have 11 full-time Divas in the match and you're not included. JoJo I understand being so new.

So that was that match. I expect silly stuff tonight. The action itself wasn't terrible.

I'm glad Sin Cara's getting a reboot. Hopefully the character can be successful now.

I enjoyed Cara vs. Axel. Both men keep impressing me in the ring. I hope they keep it up and become really successful.

Kudos to WWE for rolling with the punches on the return of Batista, since it's not a surprise anymore. I enjoyed his work previously. He had some serious fire and could work a main event style in a way not everyone can.

Non-wrestling stuff isn't hugely important to me right now. I've got stuff to do.

I liked the six-man tag. I've praised Goldust a lot already, but I'm still very impressed by his work. I can't recall a time when he was this spry and agile. Everyone did well here and I wouldn't mind a rematch.

Good post-match. I definitely see Bryan eventually standing tall in this feud. That doesn't mean he has to beat the odds every show.

Ugh. Comedy segment. NEXT.

I was worried about the present on a pole match until they announced it's for an IC Title match. I can live with that.

I liked this match starting with them going for the gift immediately. Nice touch. Fine match overall.

Other than Darren's botch of where the show is, that was a good promo to set up the match. WWE needs more little things like that to make the matches mean something. It also made the Tag Team Titles seem more important.

Good little tag match. WWE went to their old standby of PTP vs. the Usos, yes, but the match was enjoyable.

I can't say I'm too surprised with Sandow vs. Henry. If there's any show to let WWE do their silly comedy stuff, it's a holiday show.

Fine comedy stuff after the match. I'm not holding this show to too high of a standard as a holiday show.

I liked the Punk/Big E/Cena promo well enough. Cool to see a younger guy rubbing shoulders with the established main eventers.

Zeb needs a YouTube show. Come on, WWE. He's one of the best characters these days because he's more than "we're here to win titles and matches", etc..

That was a good little tag match. Los Matadores have kind of stalled lately. Though there is the question of how far their gimmick can really go.

I liked Kofi vs. Ryback for what it was. I'm glad we're not in for ALL babyface wins tonight, though I'd understand if WWE went that route on something of a "throwaway" show.

I got a chuckle out of Barrett taking the donations for himself. I'm still not a fan of the gimmick, but they could do a lot worse by him.

I like The Shield's promos. Very different from the stereotypical WWE promo.

Good main event. WWE's younger prospects are really making their marks. Hopefully 2014 is a year where guys like The Shield and Big E move on to bigger things while guys like Big Show get used in a more wise fashion.

Not surprised at the babyfaces standing tall ending.

More wrestling coming up!