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WWE Monday Night Raw comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (Dec. 10, 2018) from the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, California, featuring the go home show to the upcoming TLC pay-per-view (PPV) set for this Sunday night in San Jose.
Advertised for tonight: A press conference for Ronda Rousey and Nia Jax, Heath Slater starts his new gig as a referee, and more!
Come right back here at 8 p.m. ET when the Raw live blog kicks off once the show starts on USA. It will be below this line here. (REMINDER: NO GIFS OR PICS ARE ALLOWED IN THE COMMENTS SECTION. OFFENDERS WILL BE BANNED.)
WWE RAW RESULTS AND LIVE BLOG FOR DEC. 10
Oh my God! My God this can’t be happening! God tell me, tell me this isn’t real! I can’t believe all that I have foreseen is finally happening. I cannot for a single second stand the way I feel. I always knew, I always saw it coming, enveloped now, encased by my worst fear, that I have to liveblog this here pro wrestling show for y’all even knowing how it’s been the past few weeks.
The show opens with Seth Rollins in the ring.
He gets on the mic and says he’s looking forward to his TLC match against Dean Ambrose on Sunday, but right here tonight that will also be the theme. He’s not here to play games and call Dean out, though, he wants to spit some truth about acting general manager Baron Corbin and he invites the Lone Wolf to the ring for a dose of reality.
Baron comes out and starts talking but Seth tells him to cut the crap and listen. Rollins admits he’s been wrapped up in the thing with Ambrose and he hasn’t had the opportunity to tell him how he feels about the job he’s doing as general manager and whatever he wants to call himself, under Corbin’s leadership, Monday Night Raw has sucked, and it’s sucked because of Baron.
Because he comes out here every week and puffs his chest out and makes everything about him, to which Corbin tells him he’ll let him vent but he best watch how he speaks to him. Seth asks what he’s gonna do, fire the whole roster? As an example of his mismanagement, Seth brings up the Revival being stuck in Lucha House Rules matches instead of contending for the tag titles.
And if he fires everybody what’ll it be, three hours of Corbin, Bobby Lashley, and Drew McIntyre patting each other on the back, or more segments with urination in them? Every decision he’s made is to mask his insecurities. Was Braun Strowman mean to Baron? Did he hurt his feelings so bad that he had to hand the Universal Championship back to Brock Lesnar?
And where is Brock? He’s not here. Seth asks if Baron knows when the last time Lesnar wrestled on Raw and points out it was 2002, sixteen years ago. Corbin’s tenure as acting general manager has been a disaster, with every measure of success at an all-time low, and Rollins pins it all on the Lone Wolf.
Baron tells him to write it down so he can file it under “I don’t give a damn,” because he doesn’t care what anyone thinks and Raw is his show and he’ll be in charge for a very long time and things are only gonna get worse for a guy like Seth. Rollins questions that and Corbin spells it out, saying that Dean is going to beat him, Baron’s gonna beat Braun by forfeit, and it’s too bad because he’s always wanted a TLC match.
But in any case, he’s going to win and then be announced as permanent general manager, and then he’s gonna put Rollins through hell until he quits! Seth tells him they don’t need to wait and he’ll start tonight with a match against Corbin! Baron refuses to take the bait and Rollins says he’s right, one-on-one isn’t good enough and hey, he said he always wanted to have one, so...
...how about a TLC match? Baron asks Seth if he understands that he’d end him, to which Rollins says it’d just be a tune-up for Sunday. Corbin says if he wants to be a hero, fine, but it’ll cost him everything and show everyone what it means to disrespect the general manager... and his answer’s still no. Seth straight up calls him a coward while Baron whines about paperwork and then he escalates to literally poking the man.
That gets Corbin hot and he agrees to the TLC match and says the Intercontinental Championship will be on the line!
Commentary hypes up a handicap match for the tag team titles and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Seth Rollins is walking backstage when he runs into an interview.
He says calling Corbin out might not have been the smartest move, but he can’t let him get away with it anymore, and if he wants to be a leader he has to take a stand. If he considers himself a real champion, he’s gotta take a stand, and if not, he doesn’t deserve to wear the title.
AOP (Akam & Rezar) (c) & Drake Maverick vs. Bobby Roode & Chad Gable (WWE Raw Tag Team Championship Handicap Match)
Gable and Akam to start, Chad with a dropkick that gets swatted aside and the Author lays some shots in before making the tag and going for a double lariat. Rezar choking over the ropes, crossface strikes, back in the middle of the ring, clubbing blow and he clears the apron. Gable with a kick, caught and Rezar runs him over with a lariat before tagging Maverick in.
He comes up empty on a cover and tags out, leaving his boys to quick tags but Chad ducks, low bridge, and he and Bobby clear the tag champs to the floor! Double hip toss brings Drake in the ring... AND THEY THROW HIM OVER THE ROPES AND INTO HIS BOYS ON THE FLOOR! WE GOTTA GO TO BREAK!
Back from commercial and Gable is isolated with one of the Authors having a neck crank locked on him in the middle of the ring. Maverick tags back in, right hand, a front kick, fired up and jawing at him but a slap only fires Chad up! Tag made, Rezar legal, he runs Gable over and makes the quick tag to Akam. Hard whip to the corner but Chad sidesteps and makes the tag!
Roode in hot, shoulder thrust, clear the apron, chops and punches, whip reversed, front kick nails Akam in the jaw! Back body drop to the apron, up top but he gets caught into a belly-to-belly suplex off the dive! Double-team Alarm Clock but Gable makes the save! Drake directs traffic, the Authors lift ‘em up, Super Collider... but Gable counters the actual powerbomb part with a Frankensteiner!
Suplex lift and the powerbomb / neckbreaker combo hits, tag to Maverick, he mocks Roode, cover... REVERSED!
Bobby Roode & Chad Gable win by pinfall with a crucifix pin from Roode on Drake Maverick, winning the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship.
We get a recap of Drew McIntyre and Finn Balor’s interactions of late and then commentary announces Dolph Ziggler vs. Drew McIntyre for later tonight.
Natalya makes her entrance and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Gable and Roode are celebrating backstage when an interview rolls up.
Bobby says there hasn’t been a lot of reason for hope on Raw lately, but he and Chad put in the work and now they’re standing here as tag champs, even if they wouldn’t have guessed they’d have won them in a handicap match. Gable says only one word describes how he feels, and they “Glorious!” together and leave.
In the ring, Natalya gets on the mic.
She says she normally walks out with a huge smile on her face because she wears her heart on her sleeve, but there’s something about Ruby Riott that she wants to get off her chest. Ruby doesn’t respect anyone or any thing in this business, and she made this personal by destroying her father’s sunglasses and tried to destroy his legacy. She keeps talking about Neidhart getting spoonfed everything because of her last name, but Nattie had to overcome all manner of struggles to get here, like how her uncle Bret Hart punched Vince McMahon in the face after the Montreal Screwjob.
She’s damn proud to be a Hart and to represent her family in WWE, and at TLC she’s going to teach Ruby about respect. And furthermore, she’s gonna dedicate her match to someone she loves and respects more than anyone in the world, her father, Jim “the Anvil” Neidhart. She takes a moment to compose herself before saying she’s gonna take every tear, every emotion, and use it to drive Riott’s ass through a table!
This brings the Riott Squad out, with Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan carrying a table-like object under a cloth. They lean it vertical and Ruby gets on the mic to mock Nattie for crying again. All she does is walk around the locker room feeling sorry for herself and she wants to come talk to Riott about respect? She doesn’t need respect, she needs a good counselor.
Ruby says no one has the guts to say it to her face, but Natalya doesn’t represent the Harts, she disgraces them. She knows she’s not gonna be invited to the Hart family Christmas but she brought a gift to pick her spirits up, and it’s the gift that keeps on giving. She removes the cloth and it’s a table with a picture of Jim Neidhart pasted on it! Ruby says everybody knows how close Neidhart and her dad were, but on Sunday when she goes through this table they’re going to be closer than ever.
Dolph Ziggler gets a handcam promo about how he plucked Drew McIntyre from obscurity and he’ll send him back without Finn Balor’s help, which he neither wants nor needs, because he’s Dolph Ziggler.
Commentary promises us the match is next and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Drew McIntyre makes his entrance and gets interviewed.
He wants to let us in on a secret, and that’s that nobody stays undefeated forever. Not Andre the Giant, not the Undertaker at WrestleMania, and not even Drew McIntyre, but do you think that makes him more or less dangerous? Ask Finn Balor... oh wait, you can’t because he beat him up so bad and he’s going to finish the job at TLC on Sunday.
Drew berates the crowd for not listening and demands their respect before saying he’s about to kick Dolph Ziggler’s head off!
Dolph Ziggler vs. Drew McIntyre
Ziggler in hard with forearms but McIntyre takes him down and draws him up for a single huge chop! Drew presses the attack, a belly-to-belly suplex gets two and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Ziggler is up top and McIntyre is striking away at him. Jockeying for position, punch for punch... AVALANCHE AIR RAID CRASH BUT DOLPH WILL NOT STAY DOWN! Ziggler rolls to the floor to get away and Drew stalks out after him but Dolph puts McIntyre into the post hard! Referee Darrick Moore counting... DREW MAKES IT BACK IN A HAIR BEFORE TEN!
Ziggler looking for the followup superkick but he collapses and can’t land it! He encourages Dolph to grab the ropes and keep fighting, grabbing him by the hair... KICK TO THE LEG AND THE ZIG ZAG CAN’T TAKE MCINTYRE OUT! Ziggler gets to his feet, fired up, charging in but Drew is ready...
Drew McIntyre wins by pinfall with the Claymore.
Post-match, Drew presses the attack, putting Dolph into the ringpost and hammering away with strikes on the floor. Looking for a powerbomb into the steel steps but five-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion Adam Pearce appears with a bunch of referees to back him off! McIntyre makes like he’s leaving... CLAYMORE! Ziggler’s rolling around clutching his neck!
Commentary argues about whether or not Seth Rollins was right in his promo at the beginning of the show, and that segues into a recap of the Heath Slater / Rhyno stuff from last week.
The Boss and Hug Connection make their entrance and we go to break.
Back from commercial we get a social media roundup about Sasha Banks’ visit to the United Arab Emirates.
Jinder Mahal and the Singh Brothers make their entrance to second Alicia Fox.
Alicia Fox vs. Bayley
Circling, collar and elbow, Bayley backs Fox into the corner and breaks clean at referee John Cone’s behest. Alicia returns the favor with forearms only to get caught with a tornillo and dumped to the apron. Stunner denied, neck snap over the top ropes and Fox hits the flipping neckbreaker for two before grabbing a reverse chinlock. Charging in, jockeying for position, Bayley clawing up the ropes before firing forearms off.
Back suplex connects, the Hugger’s fired up and puts Alicia into the corner for a running boot. To the apron, Stunner over the middle rope, adjust the ponytail, Singhs run interference and Fox lands a boot of her own! Apollo Crews makes his entrance to even the odds, back body drop for one Singh and he eats a Meteora from Sasha Banks after! Crews beats on Jinder and throws the other Singh into him!
BANKS WANTS HIM TO PRESS SLAM HER INTO MAHAL! APOLLO OBLIGES AND TAKES ALL THREE OF THEM OUT! Bayley is ready amidst the chaos...
Bayley wins by pinfall with the Bayley-to-Belly.
Dean Ambrose is shown stewing backstage in his coat and we go to break.
Back from commercial, commentary hypes TLC up some.
Dean Ambrose is interviewed backstage and berates Charly Caruso for calling him “the Lunatic Fringe” and then he digs into Rollins, calling him a madman that can’t think straight, not the Seth Rollins he knew. He got himself into a TLC match and why? His big fat ego. He always has to be the man, and he stepped on him and Roman Reigns to be the Architect, and Dean cuts himself off before swearing on TV.
Elias is shown preparing for a performance backstage as we go to break.
Back from commercial, Elias is in the ring to play us a song.
He plays a few bars instrumentally and talks about a radio interview Bobby Lashley did earlier today about moving all the local sports teams somewhere better, running him down for it, of course, before launching into his usual “Walk With Elias” spiel. He says tonight he’s got a match with Lio Rush and he’s got a lesson to teach him, but first he has a song to share with all of us.
The Drifter begins playing and the song is about how he’s been looking for something to bring him back down to earth and about how bad Bobby Lashley sucks.
Enter Bobby and Lio. Rush will be in action... after the break.
Back from commercial, Heath Slater makes his entrance as your referee for this contest.
Elias vs. Lio Rush
Rush running away, off the ropes, ducking and dodging, he tries a front kick, it gets caught, back flip, off the ropes and Elias pops him up and lets him fall! Elevated knucklelock to follow, Lio tries to escape a second with a sunset flip but gets bieled out of the corner for his trouble! Chops in the corner, Rush screaming agony and he gets whipped hard enough into the corner to fall to the floor.
The Drifter throws him back in the ring and gets into it with Lashley but that gives Lio a chance to recover and nail him with a seris of kicks. Duck a lariat, more kicks, whip reversed, up and over, caught into an electric chair and Elias drops him with the powerbomb... BOB ATTACKS BUT SLATER ISN’T CALLING FOR THE BELL! CORBIN’S GOT TO HIM! Lashley warns him not to do it for good measure and sends the Drifter off the ropes for a huge spinebuster!
Bob hits him with his guitar for measure, Lio makes the cover...
Lio Rush wins by pinfall with a lateral press.
We see Alexa Bliss discussing matters with a crew member backstage and are promised the face-to-face between Nia Jax and Ronda Rousey after the break.
Back from commercial we get a recap of tonight’s opening segment, because Raw is three hours long. (Three hours long.)
This segues immediately into another recap, this one of the Natalya/Ruby Riott segment, and after that a recap of Ziggler/McIntyre.
Heath Slater is backstage conflicted when Baron Corbin rolls up to tell him he did good but he has to get over his stuff and he’s got another match to referee tonight.
Alexa Bliss makes her entrance, followed shortly thereafter by Nia Jax and Tamina.
Jax gets on the mic and says she has a statement to make before they take questions. She says this Sunday she’s going to become the Raw Women’s Champion at the direct expense of Ronda Rousey. If Ronda had half a brain left, she’d walk out here tonight and lay the title at her feet so as to avoid the beating and humiliation she’s getting at TLC.
Nia realizes Rousey comes from a world where you have to talk trash to hype up a fight, but she doesn’t talk trash. She’s a six foot tall, 300 pound Samoan woman, and the embodiment of the anti-Rousey. And her secret? She clenches her fist and says that fist broke Becky Lynch’s face and she did it with one punch. On Sunday, when the bell rings, Ronda’s gonna come directly for her and get punched in the face, but she’s not stopping at one.
She’s going to punch Rousey in the face over and over until she submits to the punches! She’s not just the most imposing force in WWE women’s history, she’s also a strategist, and Ronda has held a variety of different titles, so if by chance she ducks the punch and gets her arm, Jax is going to open the fist and pry her hand off before creating distance and breaking her face.
She’s going to erase the myth of Ronda Rousey at TLC.
Enter Ronda Rousey, mic in hand. She says she didn’t come here to hit her poses and talk about fighting, she came here to fight! Nia, Tamina, and Alexa bail, but soon Jax and Snuka are doing a pincer and Ember Moon makes the save as we go to break.
Ember Moon vs. Tamina
I had to step away for a moment and may have missed a bit but Tamina is well in control with a reverse chinlock as I sit back down here. Moon struggling, she gets to her feet, flailing body blows but Snuka decks her with a right! Whip into the corner, roll away from the charge, kicking Tamina away from her before kipping up into a Frankensteiner!
Kick combo into a legsweep, off the ropes for the basement reverse STO but it’s only good for two! Off the ropes, this time Snuka catches her into a snap scoop powerslam for two of her own! Pass into the corner, missile dropkick and Ember’s fired up! Rousey runs interference to keep Nia from running inand puts her into the barricade as Moon hits a neckbreaker over the top rope to set it up...
Ember Moon wins by pinfall with the Eclipse.
We see Seth Rollins taping his wrists backstage and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Baron Corbin is in his office when an interview rolls up.
He scoffs at the idea that his match tonight is an abuse of power before threatening to send Charly to SmackDown and then claiming that he was just joking, it’s a great question, and it can’t be a conflict of interest because Seth asked for the match and besides, he doesn’t want to deprive us of seeing him in a TLC match. Further, he has no doubts about Braun Strowman maybe being cleared in time to compete.
As far as the wider locker room, they’ll have no choice but to hail him as general manager.
Commentary shills for the WWE Network by way of running us through the card for TLC on Sunday, adding that Elias vs. Lashley is now a ladder match that’ll have a guitar hung over the ring.
Heath Slater makes his entrance to officiate our main event and we go to break.
Back from commercial, commentary hypes Lars Sullivan up again and we get another video package.
Baron Corbin vs. Seth Rollins (c) (WWE Intercontinental Championship Tables, Ladders, and Chairs Match)
Circling, Rollins blocks a punch and fires his own off, backing Corbin into the corner before putting boots to him and backing off at referee Heath Slater’s behest. Baron puts him off the ropes, boot for a knee, suplex lift, Seth counters with a knee and knocks the Lone Wolf clean out of the ring. Following with forearms, smashing his face into the apron, the Architect collects a chair but drops it when he sees Corbin has entered the ring again and gets smoked by a forearm.
Baron orders Slater to get a ladder but Seth hits a springboard lariat and dumps Corbin to the floor before he can obey! And so we go to break.
Back from commercial and Rollins is trying to bring a chair into the action but Corbin steps on it and waffles him across the back with it! Another chairshot followed by literally stepping on Seth’s throat and ramming the chair into his neck! To the floor, throwing Rollins into the barricade a few times before collecting the ladder and setting it on the apron, where Seth baseball slides into it and knocks him down!
Bringing the ladder inside, Baron blindsides him before he can set it up and leans it in the corner, suplexing the Architect into the steel! Wedging a chair between the ropes, Corbin stalks back over and draws Rollins up only to get passed to the floor and come back in with the lariat! The Lone Wolf leans a table in the corner and mocks Braun Strowman before hoisting Seth on his shoulder.
Slip out, right hand, off the roeps, back body drop to the floor! Baron sets the ladder up and climbs but Rollins jumps from the ropes to the ladder and swats him away only to get yanked to the mat. Kick connects, Blackout ducked and Corbin throws him into the ladder! A baseball slide sends Seth to the floor and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Rollins gets caught by Deep Six! Corbin raining forearms down and then punching Seth clean in the face, but when he draws him back up the Architect fires back! Caught with a knee, whip reversed, pass outside and back in and Rollins hits a dropkick! Sidestep the charge, Baron eats the chair in the corner and Seth recovers first.
To his feet, he collects the busted chair and hammers Corbin’s back with it, over and over! Baron rolls to the floor, Rollins lines him up, off the ropes with the suicide dive! A second dive on the diagonal! A third in the perpendicular... CORBIN CATCHES HIM AND CHOKESLAMS HIM THROUGH A TABLE ON THE FLOOR! The Lone Wolf sets a ladder back up and begins climbing... ROLLINS IS BACK IN WITH A CHAIR TO STOP HIM!
Chairshots to the back, headed around... AND HE INADVERTENTLY TAKES REFEREE HEATH SLATER OUT WITH THE CHAIR! Corbin takes advantage and knocks Seth to the floor. Going for End of Days, Rollins slips out and puts him into the steel steps! Following up with a superkick, Seth puts him on a table on the floor and heads up top... FROG SPLASH THROUGH THE TABLE! Climbing the ladder, Slater’s recovered... AND TIPS IT OVER! He sets it back up and helps Corbin to his feet! Baron climbs but Rollins takes Heath out and gets under him... BUCKLE BOMB THROUGH THE TABLE! Seth goes to climb but Slater begs off, so he eats a superkick! Tuning up the band... BLACKOUT ON CORBIN! ROLLINS CLIMBS...
Seth Rollins wins by retrieving the title belt, retaining the WWE Intercontinental Championship.
Dean Ambrose comes to the ramp to stare his erstwhile brother down.
That’s the show, folks.