Results
- LA Knight def. Jey Uso (The Last Time is Now Tournament Semi-Final) (9:46)
- AJ Styles & Dragon Lee def. Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods (WWE World Tag Team Championships) (9:06) (Recommended)
- Gunther def. Solo Sikoa (The Last Time is Now Tournament Semi-Final) (18:30) (Recommended)
- Rhea Ripley & IYO SKY vs. Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss (14:31) (No Contest)
RhIYO, Flair & Bliss agree to settle tag title dispute in main event
This week’s episode of Monday Night Raw opened with a recap of Survivor Series: WarGames. Among the top headlines: A mysterious man helped The Vision win their cage match, a returning Liv Morgan aided Dominik Mysterio in a title win over John Cena, and the babyface side of the women’s WarGames bout emerged on top.
We then cut to the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, where IYO SKY and Rhea Ripley, a big part of the winning babyface team on Saturday night, marched to the ring. SKY got the viral spot of the night, wrapping a garbage can around her head then diving off the top of the cage with a massive Swanton Bomb.
Ripley got on the microphone and said that, while they are both banged up following last weekend’s match, they are already looking toward what is next for them: Facing The Kabuki Warriors and taking their WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships.
“Hey Asuka, no one is ready for RhIYO!,” SKY said.
They called out Asuka and Kairi Sane, but that’s not who met them on the stage. Instead, it was WarGames teammates Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss who appeared. Flair and Bliss said they never got their rematch after losing the tag titles to The Kabuki Warriors last month, and they should be in line for a shot first. Ripley wasn’t very receptive to this, arguing the former champs simply can’t beat Asuka and Sane.
Bliss proposed that the two teams face off tonight in what would be a #1 contenders match of sorts. “You are on!” SKY replied. And just like that, the main event of the night is set.
Backstage, Ivy Nile argued to General Manager Adam Pearce that she deserves a shot against WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion Maxxine Dupri, since the incumbent titleholder has never beaten her before. Pearce agreed to the matchup but didn’t set a specific time for that matchup – maybe next week?
Pearce turned around and saw the duo of Paul Heyman and Bron Breakker. Pearce accused Heyman of having a hand in the masked man who interfered in the WarGames match on Saturday. Hey, if someone interfering in a no-DQ cage match is such an issue for Pearce, maybe they shouldn’t make the cage so easy to enter? Just an idea. Anyway, Heyman denied any involvement. He said that since Breakker scored a clean pinfall win on World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk, he should be in line for a title shot. Pearce brought them into his office for further discussion.
LA Knight sneaks past Jey Uso earn Last Time is Now finals spot
The first matchup of the night saw Jey Uso and LA Knight face off in the semi-finals of The Last Time is Now tournament, a bracket to determine who faces John Cena in a retirement match later this month. Commentary noted that this was a quick turnaround for Uso after competing in WarGames over the weekend. An even more impressive stretch of matchups if you pretend that his Smackdown match on Friday wasn’t taped seven days prior.
Knight had a strong start to the match, but had his momentum taken away after Uso sent him tumbling out of the ring for a tope suicida. The wrestlers were battling it out on the top rope as the show returned, but both fell to ringside after a striking exchange. After both beating a count-out, Knight ended a long series of reversals with a Burning Hammer for a near fall.
Uso escaped a move from Knight and came off the ropes with a spear, but it wasn’t enough for him to earn the pinfall win. Knight met Uso at the top rope and connected with a huge superplex, getting him a near fall too.
Knight tried for a BFT, but Uso countered it into a roll-up pin attempt. Uso scored a Superkick, a not-great-looking spear, then a Uso Splash. However, Knight kicked out at two and countered into a roll-up pin, giving him the sudden pinfall victory. I think the crowd wasn’t entirely expecting this finish.
This match was fine, sort of a copy and paste of what we have seen from both in this tournament. However, the finish was, at least to me, a decent surprise. Uso was at least the second-biggest favorite in this bracket to win apart from Gunther, so seeing him get taken out in the semis wasn’t on my scorecard.
Uso had a post-match flip-out, destroying the Prime Hydration Station™ and throwing a few more things at ringside. He’s not taking the loss well.
Backstage, Lyra Valkyria and Bayley were seen begging Adam Pearce for a tag match. Pearce said they’re “under consideration” for a match, which is a nice way of saying “No.” The Kabuki Warriors then went up to Bayley and said she was an “idiot” for not joining their WarGames team.
Asuka clearly knew how to hit Bayley where it hurts: “I’m a champion. What are you?”
The Judgment Day is so back
48 hours removed from his WWE Intercontinental Championship win, Dominik Mysterio came to the ring to celebrate his performance. In a move of disrespect, Mysterio showed that he still has John Cena’s side plates on the title.
Mysterio was accompanied by a large number of the Judgment Day, all whom played a part in his win on Saturday. He then welcomed to the ring Liv Morgan, who got her own entrance. Morgan talked about how much she missed Mysterio and everyone else in the faction. Then things got serious for a second:
“Since I’ve been gone I’ve been hearing some things about the Judgment Day,” Morgan said. “I’ve been hearing that the Judgment Day is weak. I’ve been hearing that the Judgment Day has lost some of its gold. I’ve been hearing that the Judgment Day is falling apart. But all of that changes now because Liv Morgan is back!”
Morgan declared that Judgment Day now runs Raw once again. She gave Mysterio a rough slap, then jumped into his arms. Judgment Day better start producing some better results, or Morgan is going to get impatient fast. Not much to this segment, just a way to get Morgan on TV after her return on Saturday.
Backstage, we saw a clearly paranoid Adam Pearce tasking a WWE referee with trying to find out more about who interfered in the men’s Survivor Series match last weekend.
AJ Styles & Dragon Lee retain against New Day in banger
Tag team gold was on the line in the next segment, as WWE World Tag Team Champions AJ Styles and Dragon Lee faced off against The New Day.
New Day got the jump on Styles and Lee before the bell, giving them the lead for the first couple of minutes. Lee regained control for his team before the break, scoring an impressive running hurricanrana off the ring apron, causing Xavier Woods to land on Kofi Kingston and Grayson Waller at ringside.
Styles got a hot tag on Woods as the show returned, but a blind tag from Kingston briefly got The New Day back in control.
Boom Drop from Kingston was reversed into a roll-up pin attempt from Styles, a fun little sequence. Styles then attempted a Calf Crusher, which was eventually broken up by Woods. Styles escaped a roll-up pin from Kingston then tagged back in Lee for a double-team powerbomb, which earned them a near fall.
Kingston avoided an Operation Dragon then tagged Woods back in. Woods draped Lee upside down in a corner of the ring then tagged back in Kingston, who hit the Luchador with a dropkick to the head. Woods came flying out of the ring with a tope suicida to Styles as the legal wrestlers battled in the ring.
Lee turned Kingston inside out with an elbow to the jaw. The duo draped Kingston on the top rope, setting up for a creative finish: Lee came off the top with a stomp to the back of Kingston, launching him off the ropes and into the arms of Styles, who hit a Styles Clash. Lee took out Woods at ringside with a huge dive as Styles picked up the pinfall win.
I circled this match as the one tonight that could overdeliver, and it definitely did. Great performance by everyone involved here, the team of NJPW alums Styles and Lee is some good stuff.
In an interview backstage, Stephanie Vaquer was asked about what’s next for her after beating Nikki Bella in a title match last weekend. She was approached by Liv Morgan, who made it clear that she wants a shot at her belt next: “I just wanted to say that I’m back,” Morgan said, before glancing at Vaquer’s title.
Raw to begin 2026 with Bron Breakker vs. CM Punk
The Vision (Paul Heyman, Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed, and Logan Paul) appeared in the ring for the next segment. After some words from Heyman, Breakker got on the microphone and described how he is “upset” over how easy it was to earn a pinfall win over CM Punk on Saturday night. He said that he didn’t have to take himself to a different level to beat “soft ass bitch” Punk.
Breakker then had an announcement: On January 5, the first episode of Raw in 2026, he will challenge Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship.
“On January 5, when you’re on your ass looking up at the lights, and I’m standing over you, and they announce me as the new World Heavyweight Champion of the world, you will look into my eyes with your beaty, stupid face, and realize you are not even close to the badass Bron Breakker, the real Best in the World.”
A fired Breakker stormed out of the ring. Really enjoyed this.
Backstage, Jey Uso said there’s a “lot of people in my head,” and said the only person to blame is the person “looking back in the mirror.”
Gunther advances to Last Time is Now finals with impressive performance
The other half of The Last Time is Now finals was found in the next bout when Solo Sikoa and Gunther faced off. Sikoa was sent out of the ring with a big boot before the match went to commercials during the early goings.
Talla Tonga interfered during the break, sweeping the legs of Gunther on the ring apron to help Sikoa back into the match. Gunther tried powering back into the match with a slam, but didn’t have the strength to lift Sikoa up.
The match went to the top rope, where Gunther connected with a superplex. Once back up to their feet, Gunther and Sikoa traded shots, an exchange which continued until a Samoan Spike from Gunther sent him to the mat.
Sikoa connected with a Spinning Solo, but Gunther kicked out at two. He followed up with a hip attack in the corner then tried for another, but Gunther countered the second one into a big clothesline. Gunther tried for a powerbomb, but Sikoa countered it into a back bodydrop. Gunther was quick to spring back up to his feet after this blow, flooring Sikoa with another lariat right after he turned around.
Gunther tried again for a powerbomb, but couldn’t get it. Instead, Sikoa scored a Samoan Drop for a two-count. Sikoa called for the Samoan Spike, but Gunther prevented the move by chopping him in the chest numerous times. Gunther came off the ropes for a move, but Sikoa instead caught him for a Spinning Solo. Sikoa jumped off the top with a frogsplash, but Gunther kicked out at two again! The crowd bit on this near fall hard.
Sikoa once again called for the Samoan Spike, but Gunther slipped out of the way and instead locked in a sleeper hold. Gunther eventually gave up on the submission and instead tossed Sikoa away with a release German Suplex. A turnbuckle was undone from the ring by Sikoa during this sequence, distracting the referee. Tonga attempted to help Sikoa once again as the referee had his back turned, holding Gunther at ringside so that Sikoa could give him the Samoan Spike. However, the referee briefly glanced over to ringside and caught this attempted two-on-one move as they were setting it up!
The fight went back into the ring, where Gunther hit Sikoa with a low blow while the referee wasn’t looking. Gunther then hit his powerbomb, securing a pinfall victory in 18 minutes. This was a very good match and deserved its 18-minute runtime, the length you rarely see for a WWE TV match. The double-cheating spot with the attempted Talla Tonga interference then a low blow from Gunther was a creative way to write the finish for a heel-versus-heel bout. Gunther into the finals was expected, but some of these near falls had me second-guessing. Bravo!
Last Time is Now tournament finalists Gunther and LA Knight went face-to-face after the match. That’ll be taking place this Friday Night on Smackdown.
Backstage, AJ Styles and Dragon Lee said they want to defend their titles next weekend against a “deserving” team. They mentioned the War Raiders specifically, which Adam Pearce agreed to.
Here’s what the broadcast announced for next week’s Raw:
- The winner of The Last Time is Now Tournament to appear
- AJ Styles & Dragon Lee vs. Erik & Ivar (WWE World Tag Team Championships)
- Rey Mysterio vs. Finn Balor
Women’s tag main event in chaos
The main event of the night saw RhIYO (Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY) take on Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss, with it being assumed that the winning team would go on to challenge The Kabuki Warriors for the WWE Women’s World Tag Team Championships.
Flair inadvertently knocked Ripley off the ring apron early in the match; Ripley got her revenge with a similar spot a few minutes later. This tension built to a hot tag that they both received later on in the match.
SKY scored a huge springboard moonsault to the outside onto both Flair and Bliss during a commercial break. Flair reversed a move from SKY into a deadlift German Suplex a few moments later in the ring.
Ripley needed two attempts to pick up Flair for a Razor’s Edge, dropping her on the first try. SKY followed up the move from Ripley with a dropkick off the top rope, but it wasn’t enough to take Flair out of the match.
Flair reversed a Riptide into an awesome DDT. Bliss tagged back into the match and spiked Ripley on her head with another DDT for a near fall. Bliss came off the top with a Twisted Bliss, but Ripley put up her knees to block the move.
SKY and Flair got back into the ring. Flair scored a big boot then a Natural Selection, then tagged Bliss back in for a Sister Abigail. A follow-up pin attempt was stopped by Ripley.
Ripley dragged SKY into their corner so she could tag herself back into the match. Ripley tried for a Razor’s Edge to Bliss, but she avoided it. After a series of counters, Ripley landed a headbutt then a Riptide upon second attempt. SKY came off the top with an Over the Moonsault, but a pin attempt was stopped by Flair! The crowd was really into these near falls.
They were cooking, but The Kabuki Warriors decided to turn off the stove. The current women’s tag team champs hit the ring and attacked all four involved, causing a sudden DQ finish to this bout. In for the save came Bayley and Lyra Valkyria, who also have a vested interest in the women’s tag division. In next to the chaos was Liv Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez of Judgment Day, who ended up standing tall after all was said and done. Rodriguez and Perez raised the women’s tag team titles and posed with Morgan as the show went off air.
The main event match was quite good until the finish. The closing minutes of the show gave a solid snapshot of how the women’s tag division has numerous contenders, which is nice to see considering how poor the depth in some of WWE’s tag rosters can be at times. However, it does burn a little that we didn’t get to see the finish to what was a really good headlining bout for the night.
Final Thoughts
Overall, the in-ring for this show was quite good. Gunther’s performance, the tag title bout, and the main event all delivered. Bron Breakker cut a solid promo to kickstart the program for a title match taking place a month from now. And we got the first hints dropped at what Liv Morgan is focused on heading into 2026. Some segments left a little more to be desired (including the somewhat uneventful Judgment Day chat in the ring and the DQ finish in the main event), but I would still say this was a good episode.
