WWE Raw: Burning Questions to Address After January 4 Show

The January 4 episode of Raw may have been the start of a new year for World Wrestling Entertainment, and the official beginning of the march to the Royal Rumble, but it continued the recent pattern of the company's programming leaving more questions unanswered than solved.

Roman Reigns will now defend the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the Royal Rumble match, a contest he won a year ago amid great anger and frustration on the part of the WWE Universe. After the disaster that was his first win in the annual extravaganza, he cannot afford to be booked like the superhero overcoming the odds for the second straight year.

Then there is The Wyatt Family, who made it abundantly clear they will be entering the same Rumble match come January 24. While they appear to be heating up just in time for the next pay-per-view spectacular, there is only so much that can be done to rehab an act booked so wildly inconsistently.

And what about The Social Outcasts, a new faction featuring Heath Slater, Bo Dallas, Adam Rose and Curtis Axel?

The foursome debuted Monday night as Slater scored a gigantic upset over Dolph Ziggler. It remains to be seen what the future holds for those involved, but the fact that WWE Creative took the initiative and put some focus on the group is a sign that the writers may be interested in giving stars elsewhere on the card something to do.

While all three of the aforementioned acts may have had strong nights, there are still questions about them and their immediate future in WWE.

Credit: WWE.com

1. Did WWE Do Roman Reigns a Disservice by Entering Him in the Royal Rumble?

Yes, the story of the anti-Authority champion having to overcome 29 other opponents in order to retain his title is intriguing. There is no denying that. But it was not even 365 days ago that Reigns' main event push was nearly derailed permanently following a disastrous night at the Royal Rumble in which fans rejected the idea of him as the lead babyface in WWE. 

Why put him in a position where he is potentially booed out of the building for the second straight year, the same Superman booking that doomed him in 2015 potentially unraveling all that has been done to establish him, finally, as the most popular star on the roster?

It lacks logic, especially if he wins. If Reigns somehow manages to win the Rumble match and retain his WWE World Heavyweight Championship, the likelihood that he faces the same negativity from fans who do not want to see the same invincible-good-guy act that they witnessed from John Cena for over a decade is high.

The decision is counterproductive, unless the idea is to screw him out of the title without actually having him pinned or submitted. In that scenario, the booking strategy works. Then it would be up to the aftermath of the match to determine the ultimate success of the angle.

Credit: WWE.com

2. Why Should We Buy into The Wyatt Family This Time?

The Wyatt Family surrounding the ring and beating down everyone inside is a story we have seen play out countless times in the past. WWE Creative has heated up the members of the faction on more than one occasion, building them up only to beat them down and have the hero triumph in the long run.

So why should fans even bother to buy what the writing staff is selling this time?

Creative has booked The Wyatt Family with such wild inconsistency that it is impossible to believe that this is the time management gets it right. It has been such a vicious circle in relation to Bray Wyatt and his followers that no amount of strong booking, or subsequent losses, can really hurt the group. They are, in many ways, just there.

They remain over because of the cool factor associated with the entrance, the theme music and the gimmick itself, even if the creative force behind the Wyatts has been as poorly executed as it has over the last three years.

This is particularly problematic because management has no reason to work hard to better portray the faction. At the end of the day, The Wyatt Family will remain in the same spot on the card as they have been because fans will still lift their phones in the air for their entrance and pop for the coolness of the idea behind the characters. 

Thus, The Wyatt Family will look strong in the coming weeks, then fail miserably at the Royal Rumble before their next major push ignites leading into WrestleMania.

Credit: WWE.com

3. Is It a Good Idea to Point Out that a Group of Guys are Essentially Jobbers?

The arrival of The Social Outcasts on Monday's broadcast may have been a nice way to reintroduce Heath Slater, Bo Dallas, Adam Rose and Curtis Axel to the WWE Universe as a meaningful faction, but one has to wonder if it is a good idea for WWE Creative to point out its failure to build those wrestlers into legitimate stars over the last handful of years.

By shining light on the fact that Slater, Dallas, Rose and Axel have been jobbers for the last two years only makes fans scratch their heads when those guys beat talent that has been significantly pushed over that same period. 

Take Dolph Ziggler for example.

The Showoff is a former world heavyweight and intercontinental champion who just lost to Heath Slater, whose only meaningful use over the last three years was as a punching bag for past-their-prime legends.

Now, Ziggler's credibility takes a major shot thanks to the loss. Sure, The Social Outtakes enjoy a nice jumping-off point, but a babyface who is legitimately over with fans is hurt in the eyes of those same supporters, no matter how screwy his loss may have been.

It is a fine line that WWE must walk while trying to build its latest creation up. Sacrificing some of the few legitimate stars the company has in order to put over a group of Superstars it has already admitted are nothing more than glorified job guys is a dangerous proposal.