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WWE Monday Night Raw comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (Dec. 5, 2022) from the Capital One Arena in Washington D.C., featuring all the latest build to the upcoming Royal Rumble pay-per-view (PPV) extravaganza scheduled for late next month in San Antonio.
Advertised for tonight: The Usos will put the Unified Undisputed WWE tag team titles on the line against the team of Matt Riddle and Elias, with the winner moving on to Friday Night SmackDown this week to defend the straps against Sheamus & Drew McIntyre. Elsewhere, JBL will host a high stakes poker invitational, and a whole lot more!
Come right back here at 8 p.m. ET when the Raw live blog will kick off once the show starts on USA Network. It will be below this line here. Reminder: GIFs and pics allowed, but no links to illegal streams, please.
WWE RAW RESULTS AND LIVE BLOG FOR DEC. 5
I’m not sweating any consequences, I do what I have to do just to get on by. There’s no sex appeal in guilt nor anger, ain’t it enough— ain’t it enough to provide a liveblog for this here pro wrestling show for you, folks?
The show opens with the intro video.
The Usos make their entrance, flanked by Sami Zayn and Solo Sikoa.
We get footage from earlier today of them arriving at the arena, all smiles, and being interviewed by Byron Saxton.
Before they can answer a question, Matt Riddle drives through on his scooter, and they say they’re gonna get him and Elias tonight like they’ve got every other tag team in the game.
Elias comes walking over and Sikoa blasts him with a northern forearm and they beat him down!
Back in the present and in the ring, Jey Uso talks about how their tag match has been cancelled because of the injuries Elias suffered at Solo’s hands. Jimmy says everybody wants to see the Bloodline compete but they’re gonna just concentrate on being the best team ever and defending the tag titles.
Enter Matt Riddle.
He says it wasn’t cool of them to take Elias out, and one might say it wasn’t Ucey. Sami Zayn tells him he doesn’t get to decide what is and isn’t Ucey, and says he’s actually a certified Usologist. Solo showing once again why he’s the enforcer and taking Elias out of commission? Ucey.
The Usos continuing to be the longest-reigning tag team champions in history? Ucey. Riddle coming out here and running his mouth like he ever had a chance at beating the Bloodline? Not Ucey. So unless he wants to eat the same beatdown Elias did, Matt should turn around and go home.
Riddle says as a matter of fact he has a tag partner and there will be a tag title match tonight. He doesn’t get along with this guy, they’re not really bros, but they for sure both hate the Bloodline...
It’s Kevin Owens!
Kevin Owens & Matt Riddle vs. the Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso) (c) (WWE Undisputed Tag Team Championship)
Owens blocks a superkick and punches Jey back into the corner! Senton connects for two, Jimmy pulls his brother out of the ring and Kev slides out to freight train him with a lariat and throw Jey into the barricade to send us to break!
Back from commercial, Owens still in control, Riddle tags in and Jey manages a kick from the apron that opens the door to let him tag in. Usos wishbone Matt’s legs, stomp to the midsection, Jey with a backbreaker, double axehandle Demolition Decapitation... NOPE!
Jimmy lays him out with an uppercut, knocks KO off the apron with a well-placed elbow but turns around into Riddle throwing hands! Off the ropes, double flapjack takes Matt down and gets two! The Usos stay in control and we go to break!
Back from commercial, Riddle gets away with a senton and tags Owens in, senton atomico off the top... JIMMY KICKS OUT! Stunner blocked, kick blocked, Kev gets a kick, pop-up powerbomb denied and Uso lands a superkick that leaves both men down and out!
Riddle tags back in, Frankensteiner to the floor, Owens tries to run over and attack Jey but Sami saves him and Solo gets in the way! Riddle dives on them and jaws at Sami, Jimmy tags in, superkick sets him up...
The Usos win by pinfall with 1D on Matt Riddle to retain the WWE Undisputed Tag Team Championship.
Post-match, the Bloodline sets on Riddle but Kevin Owens runs them off with a steel chair! Solo stays behind and takes Matt out with a superkick and rains punches down on him! SAMOAN SPIKE! ODE TO RIKISHI! Sikoa horsecollars him with a steel chair and backs off... ODE TO RIKISHI WITH THE CHAIR!
Medics arrive to stretcher Matt Riddle out while Solo puts his hood up and strolls out up the ramp and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Rhea Ripley cuts a promo.
She says Bayley and Asuka are both very good at what they do, but they’re not Rhea bloody Ripley, so when she’s done with them tonight and they’re laying in the ring crying their eyes out and she moves on to Bianca Belair and the Raw Women’s Championship, the whole locker room is gonna call her mami.
A recap of Solo Sikoa completely destroying Matt Riddle follows.
We go backstage to John “Bradshaw” Layfield’s JBL Poker Invitational.
Layfield introduces it as a grand spectacle as much as WrestleMania and he tells Akira Tozawa that nobody likes him. He talks up the rules and grandeur of poker and Dexter Lumis drops his bag full of money on the table. John tells him he probably doesn’t have the buy-in and he should go wait outside, but Lumis dumps the money out and JBL’s tune changes.
Bayley makes her entrance and Becky Lynch comes down the stairs for a chat.
She greets her old pal and says she was just up at the merch stand reminiscing about their brawl last week and points out it’s been over three years since they had a singles match and they haven’t even scratched the surface and gives her credit for holding the company on her back during the ThunderDome era.
Bayley tells her she doesn’t need to retell their history because it doesn’t matter right now. She accuses Becky of not caring about anyone else and says she’s the one who actually cares about WWE and that’s exactly what she’s been doing while Lynch has been out. She’s looking out for the future of the locker room, for the bigger picture!
Becky, meanwhile, just looks in the mirror and sees herself. Lynch fires back and says Damage CTRL is two winners and one loser and she hopes Bayley wins tonight so they can make some more history, y’know, if she’s woman enough to face The Man.
Rhea Ripley makes her entrance and sizes Becky Lynch up on her way through. They go forehead to forehead and jaw at each other and we go to break.
Asuka vs. Bayley vs. Rhea Ripley (WWE Raw Women’s Championship #1 Contender’s Qualifying Match)
Ripley dominant in the early goings, taking Asuka out, shoulder thrusts to Bayley, straight suplex, well in control. The other two briefly team up to throw Rhea into the post to neutralize her and then start brawling right after, to the floor, Bayley throws Asuka into the barricade but Ripley cannonballs off the apron into both of them to send us to break!
Back from commercial, Rhea and Bayley team up against Asuka. Hard whip, Bayley goes flying, multiple Uraken, strike rush, whip blocked, hard into the corner and the Empress lands a roundhouse kick! Attempted Poetry in Motion doesn’t quite work out but Asuka follows it with a Codebreaker for two!
Leg-trap German suplex for Bayley, roundhouse kick for Rhea, but the Role Model pulls Asuka out of the ring! Bayley tries to direct traffic but Ripley’s not having it, goozle, they trade forearms, hair pull reversed into a an arm-trap, Asuka off the top with a double Codebreaker... NO DICE!
Missile dropkick to Bayley gets two, Asuka Lock in tight in the middle of the ring, Bayley struggles and Rhea breaks it up with a basement dropkick! Short-arm lariats to Asuka, reverse with a rolling armbar, Bayley breaks it up with an elbow drop... STILL NO!
Bayley-to-Belly, Rhea Ripley breaks it up! Bridging northern lights suplex, Bayley kicks out! Duck a kick to turn it into an electric chair facebuster, but it’s only a nearfall! Dropkick blasts Bayley off the apron, Rhea follows after her but she sidesteps a cannonball off the steel steps!
Back inside, Bayley-to-Belly reversed into a pin for two! Uraken after Uraken, Bayley desperately puts her into the corner! Big boot connects, missile dropkick sidestepped...
Bayley wins by pinfall with the Roseplant on Asuka.
Post-match, Rhea returns to the ring to beat Asuka up and lay her out with Riptide!
We see Seth Rollins walking backstage to send us to break.
Back from commercial, we get a Twitter update from Drew McIntyre saying he’s not cleared for SmackDown and he’ll be back soon.
In the meantime, Sheamus will be teaming with Pete “Butch” Dunne to challenge the Usos on Friday.
Seth Rollins makes his entrance and gets on the mic.
He welcomes us to Monday Night Rollins and does his spiel. He’s got some breaking news for us, because one week from tonight he’ll be going one-on-one with the All Mighty Bobby Lashley, and the winner of that match will be #1 contender for the United States Championship.
He’s got plenty of things to say to ol’ Bob, but he’s not out here so that’s no fun, and he wants to have fun tonight. He suggests that the crowd was having fun singing his song and begins to conduct them—
Enter Bobby Lashley.
He asks Rollins what he wants and Seth asks what his obsession with Brock Lesnar is about. Is he scared of Brock Lesnar? He’s probably a little bigger and definitely stronger— Bob accuses Rollins of trying to get under his skin but Seth carries on, saying if he’s not scared he must be jealous of Brock Lesnar.
That’s it, Brock’s a bigger star who’s won more titles, Lesnar had the career that Lashley wished he would have— Bob grabs him and says this isn’t about Brock, this is about the two of them and the United States Championship. Rollins asks him to relax and says that title isn’t gonna fill the void in his heart.
They brawl around ringside, road agents and referees break them up and Bob spears Petey Williams by accident!
Austin Theory is interviewed backstage.
He says he just saw the past, two former champions fighting over scraps, oblivious to the way the business has moved past them. We live on his time now, and he has all the cards in his hands, and the forever is just beginning.
He bumps into Mustafa Ali as he turns to leave.
Ali says Theory loves writing checks he can’t cash in, and Austin tells him he should just quit. Mustafa says he’s not like him because he has to fight for everything he has, so you can put him down but he’ll get back up, get back in your face, and become United States Champion.
Theory tells him they can do it tonight, but he doesn’t ever want to hear the word “opportunity” come out of his sorry mouth ever again.
And so we go to break.
Back from commercial, we go back to JBL’s poker tournament.
Chad Gable folds and talks about having the intelligence to know when to walk away. Luke Gallows calls him a nerd, Chad shushes him, they go back and forth until Baron Corbin yells at them. He says he thinks Dexter Lumis is bluffing and he’s gonna take all his money and send him back to the looney bin.
He calls and has a 5-9 straight, but Lumis has a jacks and aces full house, winning the hand. Baron accuses him of cheating and threatens him, but Dexter gets a fire axe from under the table and shuts him up.
We pan over to the other table, where Akira Tozawa accuses Dominik Mysterio of cheating, Dom says he does what he wants, things get tense and they get in each other’s faces. Layfield tells them to go outside if they want to fight, and Akira says he’ll see him in the ring.
Austin Theory (c) vs. Mustafa Ali (WWE United States Championship)
Collar and elbow, Theory shoves him away, Ali with a waistlock, side headlock, shot off, shoulder block! Another one, Mustafa coming back with dropkick, action to the floor, Austin pops him face-first into the ringpost and jaws at him before throwing him into the barricade to send us to break!
Back from commercial, Ali backs Theory into the corner and lays chops in, whip reversed, kick from the apron, Mustafa with a rolling thunder neckbreaker! Austin gets under him but he slips out, lungblower... SO CLOSE! Up top, avalanche Frankensteiner goes slightly wrong but Ali follows it with a tornado DDT... NOT ENOUGH!
Mustafa goes up top, Theory cuts him off and hangs him by the leg over the apron! Stomps to the ribs, referee Aja Perera backs him off but he goes right back at it! Punching him in the face, Perera physically backs him off but Dolph Ziggler appears out of nowhere and lays Theory out!
Austin Theory wins by disqualification.
Post-match, an angry Mustafa Ali confronts Dolph Ziggler and they jaw at each other until Theory returns and blasts Ziggler with a forearm! He picks Mustafa up and throws him out of the ring! Fireman’s carry on Dolph... A-Town Down!
We go back to JBL’s poker games where Miz interrupts Bradshaw on a phone call.
He says there was a slight oversight because he never got an invitation to the tournament. John tells him he’s welcome to join mid-game as long as he has the fifty thousand dollar buy-in. Miz says he doesn’t have liquid cash because of the way the crypto market is, and Layfield tells him he can’t let him in.
Miz tries to give him his Rolex as collateral but JBL points out it’s not real and the A-Lister shuffles off and sends us to break.
Back from commercial and back to the poker games, Corbin has four kings but cards fall out of his sleeve when he goes to collect the pot.
AJ Styles gets in his face and they shout at each other and JBL loses his mind and screams at them about how they’re ruining his tournament. Styles challenges Corbin to a match and JBL storms off mad about it. Johnny Gargano says this means Dexter wins as the last one standing and helps Lumis collect his winnings.
Bianca Belair is interviewed backstage.
She says what Bayley did tonight was impressive but she’s ready for her and everybody in our second qualifier is impressive and she lays out the merits for any of them to win and challenge her. But no matter who wins, they gotta be ready for the EST.
The OC make their entrance and we go to break.
Back from commercial, we get a recap of our opening match and Solo Sikoa’s destruction of Matt Riddle.
Alpha Academy (Chad Gable & Otis Dozovic) & Baron Corbin vs. the OC (AJ Styles, Karl Anderson, & Luke Gallows)
Corbin and Styles to start, Baron in control at first, AJ turns him around, tags made and Anderson squares up with Gable. Chad with a snapmare into a ride, deathlock applied, Karl tags Gallows in and he and Chad go back to the catchphrase trading from the poker room!
Tag back to Machine Gun, Gable gets him in the corner, tag to Corbin, heels working Anderson over. Styles with the hot tag, clear the apron, Styles Rush takes Baron out but Chad low-bridges him and Otis runs him over on the floor to send us to break!
Back from commercial, Styles is being worked over, Dozovic lands a big splash, quick tags, Deep Six... NOT ENOUGH! Tags made, Anderson with lariats for Gable, bodyslam, off the ropes, senton, clear the apron, big boot, off the second with a diving neckbreaker... NOPE!
Chad picks the leg, ankle lock, roll through, spinning spinebuster... BARON CORBIN BREAKS IT UP! Chokebreaker to Styles, out and back in, AJ clocks him with a forearm! Gallows with a big boot, into “everybody do something cool” stuff as the match breaks down!
Gable with a nearfall off a victory roll, trading shots, both men are down and out! Gallows tags in, Chad with Chaos Theory but Luke blocks him, Magic Killer... IT’S OVER!
The OC win by pinfall with Magic Killer from Gallows and Gun on Chad Gable.
We see Alexa Bliss warming up backstage and go to break.
Back from commercial, Candice LeRae is interviewed backstage.
She says she feels like she’s a marked woman because of her feud with Damage CTRL and she had to send them a message. Yes, she’s here with the same old pixie wings, but she’s a new mom and she has so much more to fight for.
Johnny Gargano and Dexter Lumis roll up and talk about winning the poker tournament, which shocks Candice, who immediately ejects herself from the interview to go talk about the money.
Akira Tozawa vs. Dominik Mysterio
Tozawa with a forearm, whip across, front kick, whip reversed, boot up, tijeras sends Mysterio sprawling into the corner! Dominik puts him into the turnbuckle and puts boots to him, following it up with the Three Amigos! Shining Wizard from Akira for two, whip across, big boot, dragging him over, heading up top, diving senton... NOBODY HOME!
Mysterio up top...
Dominik Mysterio wins by pinfall with a frog splash.
Post-match, Street Profits run down to save Tozawa from a presumptive beatdown!
And so we go to break.
Back from commercial, Adam Pearce rolls up on Bob Lashley.
He says he damn near cut Petey Williams in half and he knows he didn’t do it on purpose and he’s not here to punish him, but to warn him that if it happens again his hands are tied. He knows it was an accident and he’s just here to ask him not to let it happen again.
Bob tells him to make sure nobody else stands in his way.
We get some main event entrances and we go to break.
Alexa Bliss vs. Becky Lynch vs. Nikki Cross (WWE Raw Women’s Championship #1 Contender’s Qualifying Match)
Lynch and Bliss send Cross packing out the gates, waistlock, O’Connor roll blocked, looking for Dis-Arm-Her early but it gets reversed into a schoolboy for a nearfall! Trading pinfall attempts, Alexa hits the Nodowa Otoshi for some momentum! Insault to Injury interrupted by Nikki returning to mat slam her into Becky!
Opposite corners, charging corner body avalanches, Lynch with a Poetry in Motion to cut her off! Springboard solebutt to fend Bliss off, exploder for Nikki! Action to the floor, Cross puts Becky into the steps and then follows it up by hitting a spinning neckbreaker on Alexa on the floor!
Clearing the announce desk, we go to break!
Back from commercial, Cross has a top wristlock in on Bliss, shifting to a Japanese stranglehold, following with a Regal Cutter and Lynch returns to the ring and cuts her off! Strike combo, fired up, going up top, diving leg drop... SO CLOSE! Bliss back in, jockeying for position, Nikki on the floor and Alexa puts Becky face-first into the turnbuckles and then dives on both of them with a cannonball off the apron!
Dragging Cross back inside, fending Lynch off, Nikki climbs up with her, jockeying for position, Becky returns... TOWER OF DOOM! Cross and Lynch brawling in the aftermath, back body drop to the apron, Nikki off the top with a crossbody... BLISS BREAKS IT UP!
Cross with a bulldog, Alexa nails her with a forearm and passes her through the ropes and to the floor! Bliss slides through, blocks a forearm and hammers her with a series of her own! Short crossbody against the apron lays Alexa out but Nikki’s slow to capitalize! Trading strikes on the apron, Cross hangs her in the ropes for a DDT but Becky drops both legs into Bliss and nearly wins it!
On the apron, Cross and Lynch back and forth... MANHANDLE SLAM ON THE APRON! Rolling her inside, Nikki rolling away, Damage CTRL in the ring to pull Becky out of it and beat her down! THEY POWERBOMB THE MAN THROUGH THE ANNOUNCE DESK! Back inside, Bliss off the top...
Alexa Bliss wins by pinfall with Twisted Bliss, advancing to next week’s #1 contender’s match against Bayley.
That’s the show, folks.
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