WWE Raw Ratings Climb to 1.69M Amid Randy Orton vs. The Fiend TLC PPV Fallout

It turns out a person being (kayfabe) set on fire was just the thing needed to boost the ratings for Monday Night Raw.

According to Showbuzz Daily, Monday's fallout from the TLC pay-per-view drew 1.691 million viewers, up from last week's record-low 1.53 million mark.

Randy Orton cut a promo celebrating the kayfabe death of The Fiend before being interrupted by Alexa Bliss, who was still in her Fiendish rebrand. Bliss debuted a new segment called Alexa's Playground, saying The Fiend is "home" but warned Orton that he may return and be "like nothing you've ever seen before."

It's unclear if the end of TLC actually means the end of the Fiend character, which remained wildly popular among fans throughout its run. Bray Wyatt's tweet after the TLC pay-per-view seemed to indicate some level of rebrand coming. 

The last Raw ahead of the Christmas holiday featured a main event of Drew McIntyre, Sheamus and Keith Lee defeating The Miz, John Morrison and AJ Styles in a Holiday Street Fight.

Miz and Styles were on center stage earlier in the evening in an episode of Miz TV, when the two argued over Miz's decision to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase the night before. We could be headed for a storyline in which Miz blames Morrison, who technically cashed in the briefcase, for the loss. Or perhaps WWE will find a way to reintroduce the briefcase and retcon Miz's "cash-in."

Charlotte Flair made her Raw return with the women's tag team championship gold around her waist a night after being Asuka's surprise partner to defeat Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax at TLC. Flair and Asuka were in action later in the night, defeating Peyton Royce and Lacey Evans. They will defend the women's tag titles Friday on SmackDown.

We can probably start the countdown to which one of them turns to set up their inevitable one-on-one feud.

Jax and Baszler were also in action, getting a convincing win over Dana Brooke and Mandy Rose. 

Other matches included Angel Garza defeating Drew Gulak, T-Bar beating Ricochet and Jaxson Ryker over Gran Metalik.