Posted on 12/02/125 by Bob Magee
Live from Glendale, Arizona. Wade Barrett and Joe Tessitore
started the show in the crowd surrounded by fans. “It’s like
the energy from Survivor Series followed is here!” Boy, I
hope not. Tessitore kicked it to a recap of Survivor Series.
Paul Heyman escorted the Vision through the backstage area.
Solo Sikoa walked around the parking lot. Dragon Lee and AJ
Styles walked around backstage. The Judgement Day also
walked around the parking lot, meting up with Dominic
Mysterio & Liv Morgan in a low rider. So much walking! It’s
World Walking Entertainment!
Iyo Sky & Rhea Ripley Opening Promo.
Poor Iyo can’t do her head-pointing taunt without
aggravating her injured shoulder. So she opts for jumping
around the ring and waving to the crowd. Ripley welcomed the
crowd to “Monday Night Rh-yo.” I mean I guess that’s how to
spell that. Ripley gloated about winning the war at War
Games Saturday. But, the fight isn’t over because the Kabuki
Warriors betrayed her “best friend Iyo,” and Ripley wants
the Women’s Tag Team Championships as revenge.
While Iyo and Rhea want the tag champs, the former champs
Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss come out instead. Bliss
wanted Rhea to “pump the breaks” on going after the tag team
titles, since Charlotte and Alexa are still owed a rematch
for the tag team titles. Rhea invited Charlotte and Alexa to
get to the back of the line because they already lost to the
Warriors, and of course this leads to Alexa challenging Rhea
& Iyo for tonight. Iyo accepts. Joe Tessitore said “didn’t
see that coming.” Really?
— Cut to the back, where Adam Pearce made the women’s tag
match official for tonight. Ivy Nile demanded a title shot
with Maxxine Dupri, and Pearce will make that match for
later, once Maxxine is done training with Natalya. Pearce
turned around to find Bron Breakker and Paul Heyman. They
pled ignorance as to the identity of the masked man that
interfered in War Games. Paul would rather discuss the
implications of Breakker pinning the World Champion in War
Games. To be continued…
— After a video package on the CM Punk/John Cena feud,
Tessitore casually dropped that CM Punk is not cleared to
wrestle after War Games.
Jey Uso v. LA Knight in the Semifinals of The Last Time Is
Now Tournament
This match had great heat. The crowd “Yeah’d!” when Knight
landed a punch and “Yeet’d!” when Uso landed a punch. After
Uso hit a dive onto the floor, the match went to a
commercial.
Uso fought his way out of a superplex attempt, and both guys
exchanged punches before tumbling to the floor. The referee
started to counted them out, and the crowd counted along
with the ref. They made it to the apron, and Uso sent Knight
into the ring with a gamengiri. Knight hit a Burning Hammer
(called by Barrett!) for a near fall.
Uso hit a spear, but Knight kicked out at two. There was a
crazy drone camera shot of the match that was really cool.
Uso went to the top, and Knight popped up, slipped, then
popped back up to superplex Uso from the top for a near
fall. Uso escaped Knight’s finisher with a rollup attempt,
then hit a spear, a superplex and a splash. Uso went for the
cover, but did that cover where he laid on his back. Knight
rolled Uso up in a crucifix and got the pinfall. Knights
moves to the finals to face Solo Sikoa or Gunther.
Match Result: LA Knight defeated Jey Uso by pinfall to
advance to the finals of The Last Time is Now Tournament
(9:39) .
After the match, Jey sat in the corner and looked
despondent. The crowd gave him polite applause for his hard
fought match. Uso dropped to the floor and started banging
his head against the commentator desk before flipping out
like Bret Hart at the 1997 Survivor Series, tossing around
the Prime Energy Drink stand and flipping over some ringside
stairs.
— Bailey and Lyra Valkyria asked Adam Pearce about getting
into the tag title scene. Pearce kind of blew them off,
wanting to see the results of the match later tonight. Asuka
and Kari Sane came along to blame Bailey for their loss at
War Games (since she didn’t team with them). Bailey called
them idiots.
The Judgement Day Promo & The Return of Liv Morgan
The Judgement Day came out without Liv Morgan, at first.
Dominik Mysterio proclaims himself the greatest Mysterio of
all time, the greatest luchador of all time, and the
greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time by virtue of
his win over John Cena. Dom then brought out Liv Morgan. All
of this was getting babyface heat.
Liv is happy to be back and missed everybody in the
Judgement. But Live is here to right the ship with the
Judgement Day, who have been losing titles (close up on Finn
Balor looking disappointed in himself). The Judgement Day
are back to run Monday Night Raw and take back everything
that belongs to them. Liv slapped, then hugged Dom.
— A video aired of Natalya and Maxxine Dupri sparring.
— Adam Pearce asked one of the referees IN FRONT OF A CAMERA
MAN AND THE ENTIRE RAW AUDIENCE to discretely poke around
and see if he can find out if Seth Rollins is faking his
injury again. Or, maybe find out the identity of the masked
man who interfered at Survivor Series. Because no one will
talk to “the boss.”
Dragon Lee & AJ Styles v. The New Day (w/ Grayson Waller)
for the World Tag Team Championship
The New Day jumped AJ Styles before the bell and double-
teamed him liberally. Dragon Lee got the tag and took Kofi
Kingston down with a step up rana. Lee then jumped over the
ropes and snagged Xavier Woods with a rana, sending him to
the floor as well.
After a break, AJ Styles got the hot tag (the heat was
during the commercial), but he soon fell victim to a double
team from the New Day. Woods held Styles open for a legdrop
from Kingston for a near fall. Woods went for the Boom Drop,
but Styles countered it into a sunset flip for a near fall.
Styles locked in the Calf Crusher, but Woods made the save.
Kofi got a near fall with a roll up while holding the
tights. Styles sent Kingston into a sitout powerbomb from
Lee for a near fall. Lee and Kingston had a weird collision
in the middle of the ring. Woods hit Styles with a
superkick, then hung Lee up in the corner. Kofi then dove in
with a dropkick on Lee for a near fall.
Lee hit Kingston with a back elbow. Styles hung up Kingston
in the ropes, and Lee jumped off the top with a double
stomp. This sent Kofi into the waiting arms of AJ, in
perfect position for a Styles Clash. Lee hit Woods with a
dive on the floor, Styles hit the Styles Clash on Kofi, and
Styles got the pinfall.
Match Result: AJ Styles & Dragon Lee retained the tag team
titles by pinfall when Styles pinned Kingston (9:03)
— Jackie Redmond interviewed Stephanie Vaquer. Vaquer said
her victory showed that if you betray Vaquer, you get
burned. Just as Vaquer wondered who would be coming next for
her championship, Liv Morgan appeared to remind Stephanie
that she is back.
The Vision & Bron Breakker Get Promo Time.
Paul Heyman lead the Vision out to the ring. Heyman took the
mic and started giving shout outs to every member of the
Saturday’s winning team in the War Games main event. Heyman
praised Logan Paul for how he will fit into Heyman’s vision
of the future. And then Heyman makes the big announcement:
on January 5th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, the first
anniversary of Raw on Netflix, CM Punk will defend and lose
the world title to Bron Breakker.
Breakker took the mic and he’s a little bit upset. He’s not
upset about Bat-Man interfering in War Games and trying to
steal his moment, or being in Arizona. But no, he was
disappointed that it was so easy to beat CM Punk, who is
nothing but a “soft a$$ b!tch.” Punk is no different than
any veteran who is living off of past accomplishments. Punk
is no different than Seth Rollins, who was holding everyone
else down. Also, Punk should be worried about how his wife
is a bigger star than he is.
Bron promised a different kind of fight. Bron pivoted to
Punk trying to break his neck in the War Games and now he’s
really mad. Breakker said he’s coming for every good memory
these fans of CM Punk. Breakker recalled Punk big-timing him
backstage at WrestleMania, asking if Bron “can cut a promo
with the big dogs now.” “Well, la-di-da, consider the promo
cut!” Punk will be looking up in the lights on January 5th
and realize he’s not even close to the Bad A$$ Bron
Breakker, the real best in the world.
THAT WAS A MONEY PROMO. This was easily the best thing on
the show. It had shoot vibes and Breakker did a great job of
being “out of control” at the end of the promo. Breakker
stormed off without the rest of the Vision, leaving them in
awe, applauding, in the middle of the ring.
— Jackie Redmond won’t leave Jey Uso while he’s trying to
leave, annoying him with questions about the Masked Man and
Bron Breakker being the number one contender. He finally
said that the titles look best on Roman Reigns shoulders and
left.
Gunther v. Solo Sikoa in the Semifinals of The Last Time Is
Now Tournament
Barrett suggested on commentary that beating John Cena in
his last match would be the equivalent of ending the
Undertaker’s WrestleMania streak. It’s weird it was
face/face in one semi-final, and heel/heel in the other.
This does not start out with the crowd heat of the other
semi-final. Gunther worked a headlock before he and Solo
exchanged shoulder blocks.
Sikoa finally put Gunther down on the mat with a shoulder
block. Gunther responded with a big boot that sent Sikoa
down to the floor and sent the show into a commercial.
During the commercial, Talla Tonga tripped up Gunther while
he was trying to get back in the ring, allowing Sikoa to get
control with a nerve hold. Sikoa sent Gunther into the
turnbuckles hard, and both guys were on the mat selling. The
ref checked on both of them to see if they could conintue.
They did continue, and Gunther started chopping away at
Sikoa. Gunther blocked a bodyslam attempt. He tried to slam
Sikoa. Gunther couldn’t hold him and fell backwards,
allowing Sikoa a near fall. Sikoa went to the top rope.
Gunther hit Sikoa with a chop, then superplexed Sikoa and
both men were down again.
Both guys got to the feet and started exchanging chops and
strikes. Gunther hit a boot, Sikoa hit a superkick but
neither guy went down. Finally, Sikoa hit a spike to the
throat and both guys were down again.
After a second commercial, Sikoa hit Gunther with a hip
attack in the corner. Sikoa charged for a second one, but
Gunther bounced out with a clothesline. Sikoa backdropped
out of a powerbomb attempt, but Gunther hit a second
clothesline for a near fall.
Gunther went for the powerbomb again, but Sikoa countered
with a Samoan drop for a near fall. Sikoa telegraphed going
for the spike again, and Gunther countered with a flurry of
chops. Gunther backed Sikoa into the corner and hit more
chops, but walked into a uranagi. Sikoa came off the top
with a splash for a near fall and now the crowd was really
into the match.
Sikoa went for the spike again, but Gunther spun behind him
and locked in a sleeper. Sikoa made it to the corner to
force a break, but Gunther dropped down a gave him a German
suplex. Talla Tonga lured Gunther to the floor, and Tonga
hit him with a boot. The Samonas went to double team,
Gunther, but Gunther got out of it and smashed Sikoa’s hand
against the ring apron.
Back in the ring, the ref was still involved with Talla
Tonga. Seeing the ref distracted, Gunther gave Sikoa a kick
to the giblets. Gunther dropped Sikoa with a powerbomb and
the ref turned around to count the pinfall. Started out slow
but built really well. Probably the best match on the show.
Match Result: Gunther advanced to the finals of The Last
Time is Now Tournament, pinning Solo Sikoa (18:31).
After the match, LA Knight came out to talk trash to
Gunther. Gunther v. LA Knight in the finals this Friday on
Smackdown.
— In the back, Adam Pearce’s spy didn’t find out anything.
AJ Styles came along and informed Pearce that Seth Rollins
was seen running around without his arm in a sling. Which
Pearce had already heard. Styles wants to defend the titles
against the War Raiders next week, and Pearce made the match
official.
Next Week on Raw:
The winner of The Last Time is Now Tournament!
AJ Styles & Dragon Lee v. The War Raiders
Rey Mysterio v. Finn Balor
— Jackie Redmond interviewed Rey Mysterio, who called his
son Dom a b@st@rd. Rey hasn’t ruled out a challenge to Dom’s
Intercontinental Championship. Logan Paul came along to
disabuse Rey of that notion, since the IC title belongs to
the Vision. Paul promised to to retire Rey, Rey slapped him,
and a gaggle of suits came ran in to pull them apart.
Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss v. Rhea Ripley & Iyo Sky
The match started and almost immediately went to a
commercial, but not before Charlotte “accidentally” booted
Ripley to the floor. After the break, Ripley had Bliss
locked in her submission hold. Bliss escaped, but Ripley
“accidentally” collided with Flair and sent her to the
floor. Sky hit Bliss with a flapjack.
Ripley and Flair each got tags and squared off. The crowd
was into this, chanting for Ripley. Ripley got a go-behind,
but Charlotte escaped with an elbow. They started exchanging
forearms, and Flair went to chops to get the advantage.
Ripley ducked a chop and caught Flair with a headbutt. Flair
sent Ripley into the turnbuckles, but Ripley caught Flair
with a kick and both women were down.
After another commercial, Flair sent Ripley to the floor.
Iyo caught Ripley with a meteora. Ripley tried to powerbomb
Flair, but over-rotated and they both fell down. Ripley
picked her up again and gave her a crucifix powerbomb, and
Sky followed up with a top rope dropkick.
Ripley went for a Riptide, but Flair countered with a DDT.
Bliss got the tag and hit another DDT for a near fall. Bliss
went for Twisted Bliss, but Ripley got her knees up. Flair
and Sky got tags, and Flair put Sky down with a boot and hit
Natural Selection. Bliss followed up with Sister Abigail,
but Ripley broke up the pin attempt.
Bliss went after Ripley with forearms. Bliss tried for the
Sister Abigail, but Ripley escaped and hit a headbutt.
Ripley hit the Riptide, and Sky followed up with a
moonsault, but Flair broke up the pin attempt.
With everyone down, the Kabuki Warriors ran and attacked
Charlotte Flair, dumping her to the floor. The Warriors then
sent Ripley into a ringpost to send her to the floor. No
winner was ever announced.
Match Result: No-Contest? (14:30)
Lyra Valkyria and Bailey ran in to attack the tag champs.
Then the women from Judgement Day ran in and attacked
everyone. Valkyria was about to dive off of a table, but Liv
Morgan yanked her down. Back in the ring, Raquel Rodriquez
gave Asuka the Tahani Bomb, and Roxanne Perez hit Bailey
with the Pop Rocks. Rodriquez and Perez grabbed the tag team
title belts. Perez tried to hand a belt to Liv Morgan, but
Morgan insisted Perez keep the belt. The Judgement Day
stood tall to end the show.
Bron Breakker’s promo was pretty awesome, but the rest of
this was a pretty paint-by-numbers Raw. Certainly not the
“great show” that was promised.