Two weeks after yet another controversial finish, The Revival are back for one more crack at the champs, once again meeting Bobby Roode and Chad Gable. It’s January 21st 2019 and WWE are now a month into their new creative regime, with the fans operating as head booker. On this night in Oklahoma City, they’ll earn just a 4.67 out of 10, closing the evening with a Boss ‘N’ Hug Connection tag against Natalya and Ronda Rousey. Hmmm, I may review that at some point.
The lads are on just before that main event but first, Alexa Bliss announces her place in the Royal Rumble, earning a huge ovation before being interrupted by Lacey Evans. What happened to the game I love. Anyway, the stipulation here is that Curt Hawkins is our special guest referee. For the RAW Tag Team Titles match to be clear, not the Women’s Rumble or Alexa vs. Lacey. Nonetheless, Gable and Wilder get things underway for the first time, or first time on television at least.
Gable scores first but Roode fails to hold the tag rope, allowing Wilder to turn the tide with a yank of the hair. Oh my god, is the angle that Hawkins is a better official than WWE’s actual referees? That’d rule. Anyway, Dawson in and one of his first chops of the series follows, weirdly enough. Some brief “FTR” chants emerge in response, with Dawson roughing up Gable before The Revival target Roode. He responds as he did in their first match, walking the challengers into a trap as Gable flies from the top with double shoulder tackles.
It was a dropkick the first time, but same sweet spot anyway. Gable’s assisted dive comes next, but he eats a clothesline on the outside for his troubles. We return in some heat, which ends almost immediately, with Roode hitting his usual hot tag, receiving a momentary double feed to boot. That numbers game almost allows a title change though, only for Hawkins to halt The Revival’s cheating on three occasions. Howling.
Dawson whacks Hawkins in response, being rolled up by Gable mere moments later. Look, it’s the right match for this stipulation, and the stuff with Hawkins is at least well done. With that being said, they only have eight minutes and that content takes up an awful lot of this one, so there isn’t much to sink your teeth into. Oh well, it still has some nice moments and works as a piece of television, even to Zack Ryder’s post-match save as The Revival beat up Hawkins.
Hilariously, that sets up their WrestleMania match, which admittedly may not have been apparent to anyone involved. Even still, nice little piece of business, though their least satisfying actual match. If nothing else, this is notable for the fact that at core, it’s a match about cementing Curt Hawkins as a tremendous referee, which I can appreciate on some level, I’m sure.
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