– Braun Strowman appeared on this week’s WWE RAW and confronted Paul Heyman to promote the match against WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view. As seen in the video below, Strowman was not wearing the sling on his arm, but his elbow was taped up. Strowman underwent a minor elbow operation last month. The segment was taped last Monday night, just one night after Strowman appeared with the sling at the WWE TLC pay-per-view. The Monster Among Men noted on RAW that he will be cleared in time to face The Beast at the Rumble. As we’ve noted, Strowman is not expected to wrestle before the Rumble.
– Rusev turns 33 years old today while former TNA Knockout Rhaka Khan (Trenesha Biggers) turns 37 and former WWE & TNA star Chris Harris (Braden Walker) turns 45. Rusev will challenge WWE United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura on tonight’s Christmas Night edition of SmackDown.
– This week’s Christmas Eve edition of RAW saw Rhyno make his return as Santa Claus. The return came during Heath Slater vs. Jinder Mahal, which ended in a DQ as The Singh Brothers attacked Slater during a pin attempt. Slater went for the pin as Jinder was distracted by Santa in the crowd. Santa entered the ring and ended up attacking Jinder, then helping Slater clear the ring of The Singh Brothers. Santa then delivered a Gore to Jinder and revealed himself to be The Man Beast.
This could be Rhyno’s return to the storylines as himself. He was recently “fired” by then-General Manager Baron Corbin, who also demoted Slater to the job of a referee. Corbin lost his powers at the TLC pay-per-view and Slater quit as a referee. Tonight’s RAW saw Slater reveal his Christmas wish earlier in the show – that his buddy Rhyno could get his job back as a Superstar. Below are a few shots from Rhyno’s return on RAW:
RIGHT NOW: @JinderMahal vs. @HeathSlaterOMRB in one-on-one action on #RAWChristmas! #RAW pic.twitter.com/ofm2I4905K
— WWE (@WWE) December 25, 2018
It's RHYNO CLAUS! 🎅🎅🎅@Rhyno313 is BACK!!!!! #RAW #RAWChristmas @HeathSlaterOMRB pic.twitter.com/ihMRxywKjw
— WWE (@WWE) December 25, 2018