Rivalries ignite in this Christmas Eve grudge match.

Drew McIntyre came to Raw with a three-point checklist: Beat Dolph Ziggler and Finn Bálor in a Triple Threat; win the Men’s Royal Rumble Match; main-event WrestleMania. To the shock of everyone involved, himself most of all, The Scottish Psychopath found himself stuck in No. 1.

Blame his propensity to make multiple enemies at once, as well as Triple Threat rules, for McIntyre’s defeat. Bálor and Ziggler didn’t hesitate to put their personal differences aside to hold off the former Intercontinental Champion, and even when McIntyre bullied his way back into the running, the unlikely alliance held. A combination of a superkick from Ziggler and a Coup de Grâce from Finn took McIntyre out of the running, at which point Bálor turned his attention to Ziggler and administered a second Coup de Grâce to pin The Showoff.

Adding insult to injury, McIntyre’s post-match confrontation with Ziggler ended in further humiliation, as his former partner hit him with a quick-strike Zig Zag out of nowhere after the Scot berated him for ruining his plan to “save” Raw. The good news for McIntyre is that tonight is probably a blip in the long run: Few doubt he’ll be a champion sometime soon. He’s just finding that the climb is, perhaps, a little higher than he thought.