La coupe du Monde: Wrestling Wrap Up: Is a Live Christmas RAW Bad for Business?

Plus, John Cena and Roman Reigns: Round 2, Ziggler tries on some new gimmicks, Shane McMahon suspended, and more.

I know, I know. I may have gone overboard with that headline, but you can't deny that Labor Day was not the best time to announce that Christmas day's RAW - a show that's usually taped ahead of time so that the superstars and road crew can be home with their families after working the other 51 weeks of the year - would be live.

Yes, on a day meant to celebrate the worker and the labor unions who battled on behalf of them to get things like a 40-hour work week, minimum wage, and dozens of other rights and regulations put into place, WWE announced that the RAW brand will have to spend Christmas performing on a traditionally low-rated show.

Before I spoon into this figgy pudding though, let's take a quick look at the best WWE moment of the week...

I know. It's a bold statement. Many things happened this week. Big Show arrived on RAW all clean shaven and looking like Handsome Squidward. Shinsuke kneed Randy Orton into oblivion. Shane-O-Mac got Shane-O-Suspended. Roman tried to verbally spar with Cena again. There was a whole lot going on. But that double-scream above - and bless Alexa for that pitch-perfect reaction and bless the technical director for cutting to that camera at that moment - was aces. It all of a sudden made me care about a Nia/Alexa feud.

I'm not saying that this feud will work in a long run because it's strange to have Nia be the default babyface here, but this is a pairing that many fans, and those behind-the-scenes, have been wary of. They've been hesitant to pull the trigger on it for months, making Nia sort of languish and decline as a "monster" heel. But now...let's see where it goes. I could stand for some more screaming. Which is a terrible Tinder profile, by the way. Don't use that.

Now, back to the whole live Christmas RAW. And live New Year's Day RAW too, as it turns out.

Let's look at both sides. Firstly, I can't assume anyone's being forced to do anything. But in the very least, from all we can guess, it's going to be hard for most of the locker room to say no. There's pressure to perform. This might be voluntary, but perhaps there are quotation marks around the word. Secondly, this might be coming from USA and not WWE. The incentive here, more than anything, would be to get higher ratings for a perennially paltry show. This may not have been WWE's idea at all.

Now there are plenty of people who have to work on Christmas. We've all had jobs that require a Christmas shift. Some jobs make you work on Christmas and some don't. There's no judgement here. The thing that would suck is if, say, you worked on Christmas when you didn't have too. Meaning, the store you work at is open and you have to be there but no one customers are going to come in. The boss company just wants the place to be open. This is kinda sorta the case here. Christmas RAWs are a throwaway. People don't watch because they're doing other things. Because Christmas. So you get to see things like Alberto Del Rio accidentally murder Santa with his car. Or Kevin Federline defeat John Cena. It's a gimme night.

Honestly too, it's not just the superstars and production team who need the break. Fans need the rest too. We need a week that, basically, doesn't matter [insert hardy har joke about most RAWs being that way anyhow]. The unofficial break in story also allows for the new year reset, which then takes us into the Rumble and all the stories that will lead us into WrestleMania. It's a necessary "calm before the storm." Plus, goddammit, just give everyone a week off from taking bumps. Sure, a lot of people have to work Christmas but then again a lot of people are able drive home after their Christmas shift.

Wrestling is a bizarre industry in its own right. I'm not here to gripe on behalf of the superstars because this is what they signed on for. It's a lifestyle like no other. Heck, I'm probably the only one complaining. Maybe they don't give a "s***" about working Christmas. Mostly here, the announcement just managed to shine a spotlight on things we already knew but don't really debate anymore like the fact that wrestlers don't have a union and don't get medical coverage because of the whole "independent contractor" loophole.

Here's my one and only idea. If everyone has to work that day, and put on a show that, odds are, people won't tune in to see - give us a full three-hour Southpaw Regional Wrestling event. Do up a Lethal Leap Year or a Showdown at the Swamp. That would garner mainstream attention for sure. SUUUUUSSAAAANNN!

Let's check in with SmackDown first. What a strange-ass episode. Not bad, just off-brand for the blue brand. It was waaaay more storyline heavy than usual. There weren't many matches (though it did have a solid main event) as most of the time was devoted to the big Shane/Kevin Owens angle - an arc that ended up with Shane getting the big boot and Vince being announce for a rare 'Down appearance next week. I always feel weird with these types of stories because...Kevin Owens said some s***ty things but does that mean Shane had the right to go all punchy punch on him? It's always been the credo in wrestling that people should be allowed to inflict physical violence on someone else if they don't like what they're saying.

Likewise, if someone chooses to sue for assault or involve the authorities, they're cowardly. Granted, it's wrestling and the entire design of the "show" is people fighting with no outside consequences. I understand that. But the messaging is shaky because it's teaching the "impressionables" out there that you solve things with an ass-beating. They don't even really allow you to draw your own conclusions. The announce team was like "make no mistake about it, Kevin Owens was in the wrong here."