Fired Bobby Lashley is New Brock Lesnar, Judgment Day Need Gold, More Raw Takes

The December 12 edition of WWE Raw promised two important No. 1 Contender matches and delivered memorable results.

Seth Rollins defeated Bobby Lashley in a wild main event to get a future shot at Austin Theory. The All Mighty was left so frustrated that he took his loss out on officials, including Adam Pearce, who fired him on the spot.

Alexa Bliss took advantage of chaos outside the ring to take down Bayley and earn a title match against Bianca Belair. The Goddess is hinting at aligning with Bray Wyatt more every day, which has left Asuka without a partner.

The Judgment Day continue to put on great performances. Finn Bálor, Dominik Mysterio and Damian Priest picked up a big win over The Street Profits and Akira Tozawa.

Asuka was focused too much on misting Dominik, allowing Rhea Ripley to beat her. Solo Sikoa picked up another big win, taking down Elias with the help of Sami Zayn.

WWE is hinting at an interesting future with each each episode as the new year approaches.

Bobby Lashley will not be gone from WWE too long. Even if Adam Peace is having trouble controlling him, The All Mighty is too important to the future of Raw.

His feud with Brock Lesnar has been on hold, but everything WWE has done with Lashley is setting him up for success when their third match does happen. In fact, all signs point to The All Mighty becoming the true new dominant monster in the company.

At 46, Lashley is a year older than The Beast Incarnate, and he has remained consistently healthy working a full schedule while Lesnar cannot wrestle more than a few dates per year.

The All Mighty has at least a good five years left in WWE, and the company must use that time fully. Hopefully, his short-term firing is only the beginning of putting him right at the top of the company.

If this story is put together correctly, Lashley could be the man to dethrone Roman Reigns. Even if he doesn't, he should be a world champion again in 2023.

The Judgment Day have been one of the most present stables on Raw in the past few months, but the direction of the group has been unclear.

This is the perfect time to start building up the faction with plenty of gold to challenge for. Finn Bálor may be the unofficial leader, but winning the United States Championship would solidify him more clearly.

Rhea Ripley has become the most interesting member of the group, and the women's division could use her far more. Once her feud with Asuka is over, she could be the perfect WrestleMania 39 challenger for Bianca Belair.

This leaves Damian Priest and Dominik Mysterio, who can help the tag team division. The Judgment Day have worked six-man tag team matches before, so the two have experience together.

This would be the logical step to make the most of the time spent on the stable these last few months heading toward WrestleMania in April. If it doesn't happen, there may not be another opportunity.

Solo Sikoa was one of NXT's best wrestlers over the past year, but he never quite put everything together. But that changed quickly with his main roster call-up.

While it was always going to be helpful for The Street Champion of the Island to join The Bloodline, his evolution as a character has been unexpected.

The 29-year-old has avoided overusing The Usos' offense, finding his own style by generously borrowing from Rikishi and Umaga. This has helped him stand out as an unstoppable enforcer, no matter his opponent.

It has also been helpful to pair him with Sami Zayn. Sikoa has been the straight man in The Honorary Uce's comedy routine, protecting Zayn from talking himself into trouble.

This year has helped solidify the legacy of the Anoa'i family, and that will continue for many years to come thanks to the impressive work of Roman Reigns, The Usos and Sikoa.

Asuka is one of the best wrestlers in WWE and a stalwart of the women's division, but she has been largely forgettable on Raw lately.

Following a subtle change in look and a fiery match with Rhea Ripley on Monday, though, The Empress of Tomorrow is hinting at undergoing a desperately needed character change.

On Twitter, she has shown pictures of herself before WWE when she went by the name Kana. Even if she doesn't adopt that same frightening face paint, she should take on a more aggressive style in the ring.

Alexa Bliss seems set to go off on her own or align with Bray Wyatt, and no one else is obviously poised to tag with The Empress. She needs to be a top singles star again for the sake of the women's division.

Asuka has become too watered-down as a babyface. She does not take enough seriously, which makes it hard to take her seriously.