WWE Monday Night Raw 12/9/2024

WWE Monday Night Raw 12/9/2024

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2024/12/wwe-monday-night-raw-1222024.html

We are in Wichita, Kansas. Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett are on commentary.

We see various wrestlers arrive. Seth Rollins has some weird blue monkey fur on. 

People in the back refuse to greet The New Day and Alpha Academy ignores them.

Gunther comes out to talk. He says Finn Balor made a big mistake and now he has his attention. He says Saturday Night's Main Event won't end up like Survivor Series did for him.

The Judgment day come out with Finn. Finn says Gunther wanted to give a title shot to people who didn't deserve it like Dom. He says SNME will not be like Survivor Series. He said Gunther retained the title at SS because of him and will lose it at SNME because of him. He says he will out champ.

Gunther said he used to respect him but doesn't anymore. He says Finn chose to cut corners and take shortcuts and to hang out with The Judgment Day. He says Finn chose to play second fiddle to Damian Priest. He says Finn was the best in the world 8 years ago for one night but says he's the best in the world now and the title proves it.

He says Finn won't leave champ as he's not on his level and never will be. The Judgment Day go to get in the ring and Damian Priest comes out. He beats up Finn and his buddies. Finn geats beaten up by Priest and Gunther. Gunther lariats Priest then hits mounted shots on him.

Finn dropkicks Gunther into the steps and bangs Priest's head off the commentary table. Finn double stomps Gunther on the floor from the apron. Priest beats up Judgment Day again. Judgment Day gets the edge though and stomps on Priest. 

Finn top rope double stomps Priest three times.

Thoughts: It made sense. I didn't like Gunther nailing Priest as that feud was not one of my favorites and I don't want to see it revisited. It may add some spice to the Gunther/Finn SNME match though.

The Judgment Day talk in the back. Adam Pearce comes upto them. He says he spoke to Gunther. He says the title match at SNME has changed and now it's Gunther vs Finn Balor vs Damian Priest. Finn says it'll be even more satisying to beat both and become champ. Adam says Finn and JD will face The War Raiders for the tag tiles on Raw next week and says Judgment Day is banned from ringside. Liv asks for advice for a match and Finn says he'll get back to her.

The Final Testament vs The Wyatt Sicks (Uncle Howdy, Rowan, Joe Gacy and Dexter Lumis)

Razar is lariated over the top. Howdy goes for sister abigail on Kross and Kross is pulled out. We go to break and return. Gacy takes a double team spinebuster. Razar hits punches to Gacy's gut. Gacy boots him out of the corner. Gacy does a handspring lariat on Razar.

Rowan hits lariat son Miz and spin kicks Akam. Rowan throws Akam out then Miz. Rowan hits a double baseball slide on them. Miz hits a kick on Rowan then takes a cutter. Rowan takes a double powerbomb. Gacy and Lumis hit AOP. Gacy topes AOP outside and Lumis does like a brutus ball on the outside.

Howdy comes in and corner lariats Miz. He hits a magic screw on him. Howdy lariats Kross over the top. Scarlet trips Howdy. Nikki Cross then scares Scarlet and thesz presses her off the steps. Miz hits Howdy from behind. Howdy gives Miz the mandible claw. Paul Ellering throws powder in Howdy's eyes. Kross hits his final prayer on Howdy and wins.

Thoughts: It was a shorter on with a chaotic ending and a lot of smoke and mirrors. It was entertaining and they likely just furthered this feud.

Jackie Redmond interviews CM Punk. Punk says he can't talk about the favor Paul Heyman owes him. He says he's confused of Seth's hatred for him and doesn't hate him. He said Seth came to ask Punk to train him for free at 16. Punk says the entitlement has carried on to adult Seth. He says Seth wants to be on everyone's Top 10 list but he was once on the Top 10 list of people to be fired. He said he shielded Seth from being fired. He said he did everything better than Seth before Seth got here.

He says Seth did a good job filling his absence from the company but says the starter is back and the second string has got to sit on the bench.

Liv Morgan vs Dakota Kai

Kai leapfrogs Liv and hits armdrags. Kai snapmares her and pulls her neck forward. Kai jack knifes her for 2 then Kai is back body dropped out to the floor. We go to break and return.

Liv takes Kai down. Pure Fusion Collective come out. Liv suplexes Kai. Kai hits shots and lariats. Kai facewash kicks her in the corner then curbstomps her down as she hangs over the 2nd rope.

Kai kicks Shayna from the apron and rolls up Liv for 2. Liv step up knees Kai in the corner. Liv goes for a 2nd rope headscissors and Kai powerbombs her. Liv hits oblivion and pins her.

Thoughts: It was a shorter one here. This followed Kai beating Shayna in a 3 way last week, hence PFC coming out. They kept it moving but it was average. Liv won as expected.

PFC pound on Kai after. Damage Ctrl come out to save Kai. Iyo hits a double dropkick then helps Sane up the buckles. Sane then plancha's onto all 3 PFC members. Liv then hits oblivion on Iyo and Iyo does a nice sell for it. 

Drew McIntyre talks. He says Hell in a Cell was the most violent match of his career. He says he proved time and time again that The Scottish Warrior isn't just a nickname, it's earned. He said he had to go to Scotland as his family needed him. He said he got screwed all year long and said what if he's wrong and everyone else was right. He said he turned on Survivor Series and saw Punk and Roman teaming up with Sami and The Uso's. Drew says Roman just snapped his fingers and then ran to his side. He said Punk took a bribe but they sold out for nothing. He said that's when he knew he had to come back and take out Jey Uso and Sami. He said he realized he can't change the past but will change the present and future.

We see Cody Rhodes leaving Adam Pearce's office. He runs into The New Day. Cody says they should be ashamed of themselves. Woods laughs and they move on.

Seth Rollins comes out in his blue gorilla fur jacket. Seth calls CM Punk a fraud and conman. He said he did ask Punk to train him. He said he looked up to him and said Punk helped him get his foot in the door. He said they were friends.

He said he called Punk when he left and Punk didn't respond. He said Punk tried to tear the company down while he was here. He said Punk failed at everything else but said the money was right. 

He said he realized Punk was a fraud and wanted to be better than him. he said he did everything Punk did twice and did the one thing he couldn't do - main event Wrestlemania.

Sami Zayn comes out. Seth says they will be fighting again if he defends Punk again. He says he doesn't have time for it. Sami said they fought last week and said it was wrong of him to assume he dropped Jey Uso backstage. Sami says he was wrong and says he's sorry.

Seth says he wants to know why Sami accused him of attacking Jey. Sami says Seth was out of his mind and was talking like Drew McIntyre.

Seth says he's not Drew McIntyre. He says he's better than him. Sami says this thing with Punk brings out the worst in Seth. Sami said maybe he shouldn't have gotten involved. He said the feud with Punk is Seth's business and Seth should deal with it the way he wants. Seth thanks him.

Sami asks if they are good. Seth says they are. Seth says it seems like Sami has business with Drew he needs to handle and then leaves. Sami says that's good advice. Sami says he will end this as quick as it started with Drew. He said he spoke with Pearce and said him vs Drew is set for Saturday Night's Main Event.

Drew then nails Sami as Sami goes to leave. Drew pounds on him and officials break it up.

WWE Women's Intercontinental Title Tournament First Round - Zelina Vega vs Lyra Valkyria vs Ivy Nile

Vega dropkicks Ivy and is rolled up by Lyra. Vega bangs Lyra's head off her knee then 619's her. Ivy tilt-a-whirl slams Lyra then stomps on her.

We go to break and return. Lyra dropkicks both opponents through the ropes. Lyra tornado ddt's Ivy then fisherman suplexes her for 2. Ivy armbars Lyra. Lyra rolls her up for 2. Vega 2nd rope swantons both opponents and gets 2 counts on both.

Vega slip and slides out into a sunset bomb on Ivy on the floor. Vega 2nd rope meteora's Lyra for 2. Ivy pendulum side slams Vega for 2. We get a double german spot.

Ivy backdrops Lyra for 2. Vega code red's Ivy for 2. Lyra hits a cradle shock on Ivy and wins.

Thoughts: It was a fast paced match that didn't get a ton of time. Vega's spots that didn't look that great here and she got a lot of them. Lyra was the favorite and it wasn't too shocking when she won. They tried and it was watchable but nothing memorable.

Cathy interviews The New Day and asked why they publicly humiliated Big E last week. The New Day says this isn't an unbiased interview and want to talk to the people directly. Woods threatens the camera guy and grabs the camera. New Day then head to the ring.

The New Day get in the ring. They get booed and complain about "New Day Sucks" chants. Kofi can't believe they are this mad at one day after 10 years of positivity. Woods get booed. The crowd chants, "We want Big E". Woods gets more and more frustrated. Woods get booed more and he throws the mic down. They then leave.

Anything Goes Match - Rhea Ripley vs Raquel Rodriguez.

Rhea hits Raq as she enters and sends her into the rails. Rhea is then thrown into the rails and knocks popcorn over. Raq's head is banged off a hockey board and Rhea sends her over the ringside rail. Rhea then hits her in the head with a trash can sending paper flying. Rhea lariats Raq and hits her with a kendo stick. 

Rhea top rope dropkicks her. Rhea dropkicks her through the ropes. Rhea is pushed into the steps then she takes a fallway slam on the commentary table.

We go to break and return and both go down. Rhea high kicks her and dropkicks a chair into her face. Raq knees Rhea in the face then alley oops her into the buckles for 2. Rhea drops Raq on a chair face first. She then chairs Raq for 2.

Liv Morgan gets on the apron. Rhea throws her in on the chairs. Raq chairs Rhea onto chairs. Rhea headbutts Raq. Liv interferes and gets on Rhea's back. Rhea throws her over. Rhea superkicks Raq. Liv hits oblivion on Rhea. Iyo Sky comes out and springboard dropkicks Liv. She then topes Liv outside.

Raq gets a 2 count on Rhea. Rhea sends Raq into a chair between the buckles. Rhea hits riptide on Raq through a table and pins her.

Thoughts: It didn't really get the time it needed and was a bit rushed. There wasn't much timed wasted here. It was a decent main but it was nothing you'd remember. Rhea winning wasn't surprising at all.

Rhea and Iyo both grab the title after. They stare down and the show ends.

Overall thoughts: Like most 2 hour Raw's, nothing on this show really got time to be great. Everything was a bit rushed. I like 2 hour Raw's ending at an earlier time, but having one less hour makes an impact on the quality of the show. The show was fine overall and real easy to sit through. They didn't waste a lot of time on this one. Nothing was great here but I liked The Wyatt's match best. I would give it a 6 out of 10 and maybe would recommend it for being easy to watch but it wasn't must see.