JD McDonagh makes controversial statement ahead of WWE RAW
Tonight's WWE RAW will be a big night for The Judgment Day on multiple levels, all related to championship gold. The RAW Tag Team Champions have faced some criticism as of late, but they are now defending their titles. Amid preparation for the next big title match, JD McDonagh has caused a stir with his viral remarks.
The Irish Ace and longtime associate Finn Balor dethroned Awesome Truth as WWE World Tag Champions on June 24. Their first televised title defense came 84 days later with a win over The New Day's Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods, and their second championship match came on November 25 as they retained over Erik and Ivar of The War Raiders. Tonight's RAW will see The Raiders get a rematch after their last loss was forced by The Judgment Day.
JD took to Instagram today to take a shot at the tag team formerly known as The Viking Raiders. There are several examples throughout history of Norse Vikings battling various Irish armies but also forming alliances with different groups from Ireland. McDonagh seemingly referenced this history when hyping up tonight's RAW title defense with a five-word caption on the match graphic.
"The Irish hate the vikings," JD McDonagh wrote.
McDonagh and Balor have also defended the World Tag Team Championship at five non-televised live events. They retained over The New Day three times in Japan at the end of July, then retained over The LWO in a SmackDown dark match one month ago.
Updated lineup for tonight's WWE RAW
The card is shaping up for tonight's WWE RAW episode from TD Garden in Boston. Below is the updated lineup with just a few hours until showtime:
- Kofi Kingston returns home to Boston
- CM Punk will open the show and address Seth Rollins
- Seth Rollins will also appear live
- Women's Intercontinental Championship Tournament: Raquel Rodriguez vs. Kayden Carter vs. Zoey Stark
- World Tag Team Championship: Finn Balor and JD McDonagh (c) vs. Erik and Ivar
- Intercontinental Championship: Bron Breakker (c) vs. Ludwig Kaiser
- Fallout from SNME
Tonight's RAW will be a double taping due to the Christmas holiday. WWE will also tape the December 23 episode tonight in Boston but will return to live episodes with the final episode of the year on December 30 in Houston.