WWE Raw: Burning Questions to Address After December 7 Show

With one last chance to sell Sunday's TLC pay-per-view to its largest audience, World Wrestling Entertainment presented Raw on the USA Network with Roman Reigns and Sheamus dominating the broadcast.

It made perfect sense that the company would invest time and energy into the WWE World Heavyweight champion and his top contender. What did not make sense is it would so definitively put Reigns over Sheamus in the night's opening contest then have him stand tall to close the show following a spear through a table.

Sandwiched in between those two occurrences was a promo about tater tots that is better left unspoken of.

Monday's show was another example of incompetent booking from a writing staff that has lost any and all faith fans may have had in it. Yet it is continuously allowed the opportunity to deliver more and more lackluster television thanks to Vince McMahon's insistence that his entertainment product needs legitimate Hollywood writers to script it.

The result was an exercise in illogical storytelling that did little to generate interest for this weekend's pay-per-view and, in the long run, may have hurt those Superstars it was originally intended to help.

The broadcast left some burning questions unanswered ahead of Sunday's TLC show.

What are they? Let's take a look.

Credit: WWE.com

1. Are We Supposed to Take The League of Nations Seriously?

A week ago, Sheamus announced the formation of a heel faction known as The League of Nations. Featuring the likes of King Barrett, Alberto Del Rio and Rusev, the talent is certainly there for a quality group capable of carrying months worth of storylines while simultaneously playing the foil for Roman Reigns on the road to WrestleMania.

Unfortunately, the general idiocy of WWE Creative has not left the group unscathed.

Thursday on SmackDown, Reigns beat it by himself in a 4-on-1 Handicap match that he won via disqualification. No harm, no foul because the loss was essentially a fluke.

Fast-forward to Monday, and the group again lost, this time in a huge 16-man Tag Team Elimination match. There was nothing done to make it appear like a legitimate threat to Reigns or any other babyface for that matter.

Del Rio was once again intimidated by a Jack Swagger who has been busy working such main event-caliber talent as Fandango at house shows around the country, while Rusev and Ryback battled to a not-so-thrilling double count-out later in the show. And do not even mention King Barrett, whose status as a jobber is intact after doing nothing of note anywhere else on Monday's broadcast.

Right now, The League of Nations closely resembles a group of four buffoons with a stupid name and no real shot of ever being taken seriously as a faction capable of dominating the company. As a midcard act, it would be fine. As a main event force, though, it more closely resembles Los Boricuas than The Four Horsemen.

Credit: WWE.com

2. Are There Any Babyfaces Left in the Divas Division?

Paige betrayed Charlotte and Becky Lynch, thus establishing herself as a villainess. Team B.A.D. had been heels since the beginning, Team Bella alternates but has been firmly entrenched on the heel side of the equation for months now. Add to that Charlotte's recent change of attitude and the fact no one likes her.

That leaves the aforementioned Lynch and the vanished Natalya as the only two legitimate babyfaces on the main Divas roster. Given the inconsistencies with the booking of that portion of the talent pool, it would be of no great surprise if either or both of them suddenly embraced their evil ways and made the turn as well.

The Divas division is being hurt significantly by a lack of consistent storytelling. It is almost as though those in charge of booking it are not quite sure of what direction they want to take things, whom they want to be the face of the division and whom fans should and should not care about cheering. 

That leads to a decided lack of crowd heat, which is of the utmost disappointment because the women have made the most of the increased television time given to them, as witnessed during Monday's Raw when Sasha Banks and Naomi battled Brie Bella and Alicia Fox.

They deserve better, but unfortunately, if the writing staff cannot get someone like Reigns over as a babyface despite being an intense badass, the likelihood it succeeds getting the Divas over is incredibly unlikely.

More consistency, less shades of gray and a better idea of a single star to build around would benefit the division greatly and eliminate the muddled mess it has become.

Credit: WWE.com

3. What is Dean Ambrose at This Point?

Is he an unhinged badass or an eccentric cartoon character?

One minute, he is unleashing with series of hardcore brawls with Bray Wyatt and Seth Rollins. The next, he is stepping into the squared circle with a tub of popcorn and a Coca-Cola and throwing it in the face of WWE Intercontinental champion Kevin Owens, as was the case Monday night on Raw.

The booking of the Superstar appears to depend on the attitude of the writing staff on any given night.

Slowly making his way to the ring, stuffing his face with the top two sellers from the concession stand, is not a way to build a believable, main event babyface. Instead, it ensures the character will remain firmly entrenched in the midcard, flirting with the top spot on the card but being smacked back down by the fact he is more of a caricature than a real persona fans can invest themselves in.

Ambrose is guilty of descending into caricature status, everything that could work being played up to the point that it is no longer believable someone would act in the manner he does.

The Lunatic Fringe is still incredibly over, but it is almost in spite of himself. WWE Creative has done everything imaginable to kill the character's heat, but Ambrose himself has done just enough to maintain his connection with the audience.

At some point, WWE Creative is going to have to pick and choose what Ambrose is supposed to be and stick to it. Is he the popcorn-eating cartoon character with a fancy nickname and cool merchandise or a legitimate, rebellious babyface willing to throw himself in harm's way if it means winning championships and sticking it to The Authority?