Monday Night Raw, December 24th, 2012: Top 5 Questions Left Unanswered

The Christmas Eve edition of Monday Night Raw was all about just that—Christmas. From the opening segment with Santa Claus to Great Khali and Hornswoggle as elves to John Cena and Alberto Del Rio using Christmas presents in their street fight, the theme of the night was evident.

With that said, there were still hints of progression for some storylines in WWE. Dolph Ziggler and AJ Lee were seen getting cozy with one another, while feuds were foreshadowed throughout the night.

So let’s take a look at the top five questions WWE fans are wondering after tonight’s episode of Monday Night Raw.

Is Alberto Del Rio Turning Face or Not?

Alberto Del Rio has been teasing a face turn since WWE TLC 2012 when he saved Ricardo Rodriguez from 3MB.

Tonight on Raw, however, Alberto Del Rio accidentally hit Santa Claus with his car and was forced to face John Cena in a match. Wrestling the top babyface on the flagship show can only be done by another top babyface (like Rey Mysterio) or a heel.

He seemed like a heel to me.

During Del Rio’s match with John Cena, he used a microphone to attack the Cenation leader as he yelled that his attack on Santa was an accident. With that said, it doesn’t look like Del Rio will become a fan favorite just yet, if ever.

Who Will Challenge Big Show at Royal Rumble?

Tonight on Raw, Big Show faced Sheamus once again. This time, however, it was a non-title Lumberjack Frost Match. There was no mention of the Royal Rumble and who Big Show would defend his title against at the show.

All signs point to a rematch between Big Show and Sheamus.

However, WWE would be making the same mistake they made with Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio. The feud lasted much longer than it should have with the same superstar winning each time. Unless WWE is planning on giving the title to Sheamus (which I don’t expect) then this feud should be over now.

Will the Miz Be the Next One to Challenge Antonio Cesaro?

Tonight on Raw, The Miz joined former enemy Kofi Kingston to face Antonio Cesaro and Wade Barrett. While Kofi and Wade have been feuding recently, The Miz and Cesaro certainly have not.

With R-Truth currently injured after his match with Cesaro at WWE TLC 2012, The Miz would make a great new challenger for the U.S. Championship. Antonio Cesaro has not faced a serious threat to his U.S. title, but the Miz could change that. The Miz would challenge Cesaro to develop his mic skills, and Cesaro would help The Miz improve his wrestling skills.

It is a win-win situation.

We will learn more on Wednesday on Main Event when a battle royale will decide the No. 1 contender to Antonio Cesaro’s U.S. Championship.

Why Did All the Babyfaces Win?

Kane, face Divas, Sheamus, Zack Ryder, Miz and Kofi Kingston, Great Khali, The Usos, Tyson Kidd, Justin Gabriel, Brodus Clay, Santino, Daniel Bryan and John Cena were all victorious tonight on Raw.

That means that not one heel was victorious on Raw.

Why?

Because it’s Christmas Eve.

WWE decided to make this episode a happy-go-lucky show with all the good guys winning.

CM Punk and Dolph Ziggler, the top two heels in WWE, were not in action. CM Punk was out due to his injury. Ziggler, on the other hand, was shown in segments with AJ Lee. These segments were effective, making Ziggler and AJ look compatible and strong while allowing all babyfaces to win throughout the night.

Will CM Punk Face Ryback in Two Weeks on Raw?

Tonight we were told once again that Ryback will get his opportunity at CM Punk’s WWE Championship in two weeks on the first Raw of 2013. However, the match may not happen. Reports say that the match may be teased but not actually occur.

It almost doesn’t matter if the match happens due to the Rock. It is evident that The Rock will face CM Punk for the WWE Championship at Royal Rumble. The match with Ryback on January 7th depends on Punk’s health and WWE’s plans for the future.

The proposed match for January 7th would be a TLC match for the WWE Championship, which would give the match a good chance of being entertaining. With that said, either way CM Punk will enter Royal Rumble as WWE Champion.

Conclusion

Tonight’s episode of Raw was certainly geared towards entertaining the fans and making them happy in time for Christmas. There was little progression in the storylines, and the same should be expected next week on Raw.

Alberto Del Rio’s face turn seems to have stopped already, while we should learn who Antonio Cesaro’s next challenger will be later this week. We will have to wait until January 7th to see if the Punk vs. Ryback match actually happens. As I said earlier though, Punk should remain champion until at least Royal Rumble.

With another Christmas-themed Raw in the books, the new year should bring WWE fans new questions left unanswered.

What questions are you left with after tonight’s episode? Please leave your questions and comments in the section below.

 Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!

Seth M. Guttenplan is a WWE Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report, writer for CamelClutchBlog.com and host of OH YOU DIDN’T KNOW!? PWPRadio’s weekly radio show covering all wrestling news and rumors. To read more from Seth, follow him on Twitter (@sethgutt) and check out guttwrenchpowerblog.com.