WWE Monday Night Raw results and observations (1/16/17): Bayley loves poetry

For the first time in 2017, I didn't have to struggle to remember what happened on an episode of Raw.

That may sound strange, but some of these episodes have been tough to sit through.

That wasn't necessarily the case with this week's installment, as it featured a couple of memorable happenings worth analyzing.

I usually manage to cobble together some things to opine on, but this week I didn't have to strain my brain to wonder what actually happened on the show, which is good.

Before I go through my observations, here are the full match results from Verizon Arena in North Little Rock, Ark.:

- Enzo Amore & Big Cass def. Rusev & Jinder Mahal

- Ariya Daivari def. Lince Dorado

- WWE Raw Tag Team championship – Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows def. Cesaro & Sheamus via disqualification

- Cedric Alexander def. The Brian Kendrick

- Big E def. Titus O'Neil

- Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho & Braun Strowman def. Sami Zayn, Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins

No authority figures = good show?

When I sat back and began to unpack Raw in my brain, I realized that Raw was missing two notable names: commissioner Stephanie McMahon and general manager Mick Foley.

That's right, we didn't get an appearance from either authority figure on this week's show, and it just so happened that this was my favorite episode of Raw this year.

Was that coincidence? I don't think so.

Now that I look back, it was actually quite refreshing to watch a show completely devoid of authority figures and focused solely on the wrestlers — and the wrestlers are the reason why most people watch wrestling shows, not the authority figures.

I'm not advocating for there to be no authority figures moving forward. I would not mind them making sporadic appearances to make a match or some type of ruling, as long as they get out of the way soon after.

Smackdown Live has practiced this to success, in my opinion, as general manager Daniel Bryan gets more screen time on Talking Smack than he does on the two-hour telecast.

What I don't like is when we get three or four segments with Foley and McMahon. There have been episodes where they open the show in the ring, then have another segment backstage and maybe even come back to the ring later in the night.

To make matters worse you have McMahon being scripted to crush everyone's hopes and dreams without anyone standing up to her, not even Foley.

Royal Rumble match should be fun

One of the highlights of the program was the opening segment, which started out as just another parade of talking wrestlers, but ended up being a very fun brawl that featured some pairings we haven't had the chance to see before.

We had the usual suspects in the ring like Reigns, Owens, Jericho, Rollins, Strowman and even Paul Heyman. However, business picked up when Brock Lesnar went to the ring, but before he could get into it, Zayn attacked Strowman and the fight was on.

Eventually, Lesnar cleared the ring by tossing around the likes of Zayn and even Strowman to stand tall and put his fellow Royal Rumble participants on notice that he is not letting his loss to Goldberg at Survivor Series slow him down.

After watching this segment, I began salivating at the prospect of how fun the Royal Rumble match could be.

On paper, the field is stacked. That much cannot be debated, but in reality, this match has the potential to blow away the last couple of Royal Rumble matches. I mean make them look like child's play.

I hope I am right. The Royal Rumble hasn't quite been stellar the last couple of years.

Hopefully, that trend stops this year.

Owens finally gets the better of Reigns

We got a rare Lesnar sighting at the beginning of the show. At the end of the show we got another rare sighting: Owens getting the better of Reigns.

Not only did Owens' team win the six-man tag main event, but he also got to power bomb Reigns through the announce table to close out the program.

It's about time!

For weeks, maybe even months, Reigns has routinely beaten Owens like a drum. I'm not even talking about just tag team matches or random brawls. I'm talking about one-on-one matches, too.

But alas, Owens stood tall over Reigns in impressive fashion.

It was a reminder that Owens may actually have a fighting chance against Reigns at the Royal Rumble and that he has a dangerous side, which has taken a backseat to his comedic talents alongside Jericho.

Bayley's got bars

WWE attempted to paint Charlotte as a mean girl that made fun of Bayley's grade school fandom of professional wrestling.

Bayley got a chance to respond by talking about how proud she was of her passion for the industry and that she made it all the way to WWE without having her father open the door for her. She eventually recited poetry.

In theory, this was a great idea. The execution, however, wasn't so great.

I don't think either Charlotte or Bayley did a tremendous job conveying the story, but I can't totally blame them.

The biggest problem with this segment was that it was way too long. I'm all for giving the women the same amount of time as the men, but there are some segments that aren't designed to go for more than 10 minutes — no matter the gender of the people involved.

If this segment was shorter, each women could have gotten their point across in a much more succinct fashion that wouldn't have bored the fans in North Little Rock to tears.

Again, I like what WWE attempted to do, but I didn't think it was executed as good as it could have.

Tag team title controversy

We got a "Dusty finish" Monday, but with a twist.

Usually, a "Dusty finish" happens when everyone believes the babyface wins only to have the ruling changed.

It gives the impression that the babyface had the heel beat if it wasn't for the strange set of circumstances that caused the decision to be reversed.

The roles were switched when Cesaro and Sheamus went up against Anderson and Gallows for the tag titles Monday night.

Late in the match, Sheamus inadvertently knocked down the official, which led to Anderson and Gallows hitting their finishing move on Cesaro and pinning him. A second referee eventually slid into the ring and counted to three, seemingly crowning Anderson and Gallows the new Raw Tag Team champions.

However, the first official finally made it back to his feet and ruled that Cesaro and Sheamus were disqualified after Sheamus knocked him down, meaning that Sheamus and Cesaro lost, but retained their titles.

After watching all of this, I felt bad for Anderson and Gallows. It wasn't their fault the referee was knocked down and they pinned Cesaro fair and square.

I guess you could argue that the referee had every right to disqualify the champions, but how many matches have we seen where the referee is knocked down and still counts to three later in the match?

Plenty.

I shouldn't feel bad for Anderson and Gallows, as they are the bad guys. Yes, the win gave them credibility, but it also put them in the role traditionally held by babyfaces.

Also, what does this do for Cesaro and Sheamus? They now look like unworthy champions, which is a role usually held by heels. Sheamus is still mostly a heel, but Cesaro is a full-fledged babyface.

Video package controversy

WWE ran a pair of video packages for a pair of WWE Hall of Famers. One of the videos filled fans with joy while the other filled fans with uneasiness and some with downright anger.

As expected, WWE put together a fantastic video package on Kurt Angle, who was officially announced as the newest member of the WWE Hall of Fame before Raw.

To the surprise of many, WWE also ran a video package for Jimmy Snuka, who died Sunday at the age of 73.

I wrote about the complicated legacy Snuka left behind and it showed on social media and in the arena.

The reaction in North Little Rock was rather tepid, as people didn't know whether to cheer, boo or just sit silently. It was kind of odd.

Fans are never shy on social media and they expressed their feelings — good and bad — about Snuka and the controversy that surrounded him.

I'll say this much, I didn't expect WWE to air a video package regarding Snuka. Given WWE's track record, I wouldn't have been surprised if the company simply acknowledged his death like it did at the beginning of the show and kept it moving.

However, the company ran a video package that spoke glowingly about Snuka and his career, as if his name hasn't been in headlines recently for a very bad reason.

But at the end of the day, it's WWE's universe, and it makes up the rules inside of it. However, that doesn't mean that fans will agree with all of them.