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WWE Monday Night Raw comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (Dec. 9, 2019) from the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina, featuring all the latest build to the upcoming TLC pay-per-view (PPV) scheduled for this Sunday night in Minneapolis.
Advertised for tonight: Rey Mysterio vs. AJ Styles for the U.S. championship, Rusev and Lana get divorced, 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. 9
I will descend to the depths of man, proclaim to the void, emptying my cup. The starved, weary, thirsting, from God’s barren grave within the garden of untruths a flower takes bloom and births a new reality. No creator in the heavens above, just me liveblogging this here pro wrestling show for you folks.
The show opens with Jerry “the King” Lawler in the ring to moderate some kind of contract signing, from the looks of it.
As it turns out, he’s actually here to officiate the divorce of Lana and Rusev.
Lana makes her entrance first, with her lawyer, and has a note saying that the part of the restraining order that keeps Rusev away has been waived for the night but the rest is still in effect.
Enter Rusev.
He takes a seat and Lana talks about how she used to love him back when the WWE Universe didn’t. She doesn’t let him get a word in edgewise and rants about how his success has gone to his head. He tells her to calm down and she threatens him with a jail sentence. He says he’s the one that needs protection after last week, and we get a video package of last week’s happenings.
Lana’s response is to say no one will ever love him like she did and he’ll never find someone like her again. Rusev says he can barely stand her, so why does he need another one just like her? Lana screams at him about being selfish, and Rusev just wants to get to the point and sign the divorce papers. They bicker back and forth about a puppy they owned together and finally Lana signs the papers.
Rusev hesitates a beat before signing and says on second thought, he needs something from her before he can sign the papers. She asks if he wants sex in an elevator again and says he’s a sick person like everyone in this arena. Rusev says that isn’t what he wants, though, what he wants is a match with her hot boyfriend Bobby Lashley.
Enter Bob himself.
He says this is ridiculous (to be fair, it is) before criticizing Rusev for making this a big joke. He talks about how he’s gonna marry her and Rusev says she’s bad and he’s gonna live happily on Rusev Day. He signs the papers and Lashley attacks. They brawl around the ring and, of course, the Bulgarian Lion puts Bob through the table.
We get a recap of the Authors of Pain attacking Kevin Owens last week.
Kev will talk to us after the break.
Back from commercial, Kevin Owens is indeed interviewed backstage.
He says it’s easy to figure it out, and AOP attacked him because Seth Rollins told them to. He was the only one to get in Rollins’ face and tell him he’s full of crap, so he’s retailiating, and he’s gonna go looking for the Authors.
He runs into Rey Mysterio and they embrace.
Rey says if KO wants anybody to watch his back, he’s happy to help, and Owens says he has to handle this himself, but Mysterio says it’s actually his homie that’s got him, and he passes KO the pipe he used to beat the shit out of Brock Lesnar.
Drew McIntyre cuts a promo during his entrance about how the show opened in a depressing way and they’re here to put smiles on people’s faces.
So he’s got good news-- last week, Matt Hardy’s wife Reby gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. He’s crosseyed, but at least we know he’s Matt’s! He talks about how Hardy hasn’t made the best decisions out of the ring and maybe he shouldn’t be reproducing, but he’s a good guy and he’s gonna give Matt and his family an opportunity-- if he walks out of the ring right now, he can hold his child and he won’t be broken-- MATT ATTACKS! TWIST OF FATE!
We go to break uncertain if the match will actually be happening.
Drew McIntyre vs. Matt Hardy
We have a bell and McIntyre is swinging on Hardy but Matt turns him around for corner lariats! Bulldog blocked, Hardy clotheslines him to the floor! “Delete!”, clubbing blows on the floor, Drew puts him into the steel steps and takes things back in the ring. Mounted punches, chops in the corner, Hardy reverses, Side Effect... NOPE! Calling for it, more “Delete!”s, Twist of Fate denied.
Jockeying for position over a backslide, Drew rolls through... FUTURE SHOCK! Lying in wait in the corner...
Drew McIntyre wins by pinfall with the Claymore.
We get a recap of last weeks’ handicap match between Kabuki Warriors and Charlotte Flair, followed by video footage of Flair from earlier today where she rolls up on Becky Lynch in the locker room offering a tag title match, but Becky’s gonna face them in her own handicap match.
And so we go to break.
Back from commercial, Kevin Owens is still looking for Authors of Pain.
Mojo Rawley screws around with him and laughs and Owens slaps the taste out of his mouth!
Viking Raiders make their entrance and get on the mic.
They say they’ve been searching for worth opponents but all they’ve encountered are victims, so tonight they’re issuing an open challenge. Street Profits answer the call!
...but we go to break before we actually get the match.
Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) vs. Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar) (c) (WWE Raw Tag Team Championship)
Back from commercial, commentary hypes Batista going into the WWE Hall of Fame next year.
Ford and Erik to start, Montez using his speed to take advantage, tag to Dawkins, big tope con giro and Angelo goes to work with the big man! Sky High, tag back to Montez, off the top with a frog splash... IVAR BREAKS IT UP! Electric chair, Erik slips out and tags Warbeard in. Dueling cartwheels, Montez is fired up but Ivar lays him out with a reverse roundhouse kick!
Working Ford over, he lands on his feet after a back suplex and tags Dawkins in. Big dropkick, an overhead exploder suplex for Warbeard, cover for two! Tag to Montez, double whip, Ivar shrugs off a lariat and hits a double handspring back elbow! Tag to Erik, shotgun knees, judo throw into the knee strike, tag back to Warbeard. Popping Montez up...
Viking Raiders win by pinfall with Viking Experience on Montez Ford to retain the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship.
Post-match, Dawkins helps Ford to his feet and they share a forearm bump with the Vikings as a sign of respect.
Enter Seth Rollins.
He gets in the ring and says he hates to interrupt but there’s something he’s got to take care of right now and the four of them are welcome to stick around while he does it. The Profits leave promptly and the Raiders follow. He doesn’t give a damn if he’s got a broken hand or if it’s two-on-one, he wants to fight the Authors of Pain right here, right now!
Enter Kevin Owens.
Seth says this is between him and the AOP and there’s no need for Kev to bring the pipe to the ring, but Owens says he didn’t bring it for him and he knows that Rollins knows the Authors aren’t here and that’s why he called them out now. He asks Rollins when they’re gonna be here and Seth denies any association with AOP.
Cut to backstage, where a big black SUV rolls up and the Authors get out to send us to break.
Back from commercial, Rollins is still whining about how he and AOP aren’t associated.
Owens says they can come and try to kick his ass but he’s not gonna let them have Seth in his corner, because he’s gonna take care of him right now. Rollins leaves the ring and talks about how he’s not gonna let that happen and they keep bickering. Seth says he’s gonna have to leave because it’s the right thing to do right now.
Rollins leaves and KO says that won’t save his ass because after he’s done with the Authors he’s gonna come after Seth. To AOP he says he’s not hard to find, he’s the loud one with the steel pipe, and they appear on the tron to cut a promo in their native languages. Owens says they made strong points he can’t argue with and he wants them to come down here to do this!
Enter Sami Zayn, with Mojo Rawley in tow.
Sami says he knows everybody’s surprised to see him, he’s a SmackDown superstar but he can get around the rules by applying and being accepted for a managerial license, and that gives him leeway to go between the two shows. But Owens knows he’s not a manager, he’s not an agent, he’s a liberator. He sets people free, and he knows that KO is a prisoner in his own head right now.
It’s fine, he doesn’t judge him for any of it, but what he did to Mojo backstage was way outta line. He would love to help, but he can’t until Kev admits he’s wrong for slapping Mojo in the face. Rawley yells at Owens and Sami warns him to watch his tone, but Mojo won’t relent, mocking the pipe. KO accepts the theory that everyone’s tough with a steel pipe in their hands, and he tosses it over to Rawley!
Kick to the gut, Stunner! Zayn leaves and Kev starts beating Mojo down with the pipe!
And so we go to break.
Back from commercial, Kevin Owens is still looking for the Authors of Pain backstage.
Aleister Black makes his entrance, and we get a promo from Buddy Murphy from earlier today about how he’s better than Al, and he’s gonna prove it with a victory on Sunday.
Akira Tozawa vs. Aleister Black
Circling, collar and elbow, Black with a side headlock, Tozawa reverses to a wristlock, shoulder armbreaker, arm wringer. Aleister turns it around but Akira hits a hip toss to counter. Black goes back to his own wristlock, Tozawa with the go-behind, snapmare, side headlock, Al reverses right back to the wristlock! Cartwheel when Akira threatens to escape and a kick sends Tozawa into the corner after.
Akira with another go-behind, again Aleister grabs the wristlock, off the ropes, drop down, arm drag, arm drag, into the armbar, drawing him up, arm wringer, roundhouse kick, Tozawa backs off into the corner in a hurry! Running kick caught, Black stands up, kick to the knee, striking, whip, the Stamina Monster with an elbow up and a pop-up Frankensteiner!
Off the ropes... BLACK COUNTERS A SUICIDE DIVE WITH A JUMPING KNEE STRIKE! Al pulls him up and throws him back inside...
Aleister Black wins by pinfall with Black Mass.
Backstage, Humberto Carrillo is interviewed after a video package.
Before he can answer, Andrade “Cien” Almas and Zelina Vega show up jawing at him. He and Almas get into a shoving match and seem to make a match for tonight.
And so to break.
Back from commercial we get a vignette for Liv Morgan’s return, promising a makeover.
Andrade “Cien” Almas vs. Humberto Carrillo
Almas in hot with a dropkick, stomping a mudhole in Carrillo against the ropes. Humberto with desperation strikes out of the corner, wheelbarrow arm drag, but Andrade back body drops him for two. Kneeling rear chinlock applied, shifting to a reverse chinlock, Carrillo posts to his feet and fights out with body blows only to get dropped by a back elbow.
Almas capitalizing, low dropkick gets two, punches and chops in the corner, but Humberto has the back body drop scouted this time! Diving crossbody, off the ropes, springboard arm drag and Cien falls to the floor! Running in, up to the post... ORIHARA MOONSAULT OFF THE RINGPOST SENDS US TO BREAK!
Back from commercial, Carrillo ducks a lariat, springboard crossbody, 540 enzuigiri connects! Back roll moonsault... NOPE! Set him up top, jockeying for position, Almas with the tree of woe double stomp... STILL NO! Missile dropkick from Carrillo sets up the Aztec Press... NOT HAPPENING! Off the ropes, duck the back elbow, duck the roundhouse, huge back elbow from Almas gets a deep two count!
Corner knees, Humberto with a dropkick, both men down and out, Andrade accidentally blasts Vega off the apron and Carrillo capitalizes...
Humberto Carrillo wins by pinfall with a victory roll.
Post-match, Almas and Vega bicker in the ring.
Rey Mysterio cuts a promo backstage about his title defense against AJ Styles tonight.
He talks about how much the title means to him and how he’ll shake AJ’s hand if he wins but he’s gonna do everything in his power to prove that he’s worthy of being Rey Mysterio.
And so we go to break.
Back from commercial, Kevin Owens is still looking for AOP.
Aleister Black gets a promo about how he’s gonna beat Buddy Murphy on Sunday.
Buddy Murphy vs. Zack Ryder
Murphy putting boots to him in the corner, running kick gets a nearfall. Knees to the back, a shoot kick to the spine, again just two and Buddy locks a rear chinlock on. Whip reversed, sit-out facebuster from Ryder! Knees up in the corner, missile dropkick, corner forearm sets up the Broski Boot! Murphy falls to the floor, he takes Curt Hawkins out with a forearm and Zack dropkicks him into the barricade!
Back inside, Buddy with the jumping knee...
Buddy Murphy wins by pinfall with Murphy’s Law.
Commentary promises us our women’s handicap match is next.
Kevin Owens and his steel pipe are still backstage looking for the Authors of Pain when he sets upon their vehicle and goes all Final Fight on it. At last Akam and Rezar show up and beat KO down after he opens the back doors. They slam his head into the back door and a man turns around in the back of the van... it’s Seth Rollins, of course.
He takes his hoodie off and says he’s sorry it’s come to this before hitting Blackout on Owens!
And so we go to break.
Back from commercial we get a recap of what we just saw, because Raw is three hours long. (Three hours long.)
Seth Rollins makes his entrance.
He asks what we want from him and says he’s been asking that for a long time because we used to get along but somewhere along the line it went wrong. He did everything right, he doesn’t take nights off, he fights through injuries, he puts himself on the line for us and what does he get? Spit on and disrespected, and he’s sick of it.
He denied his association with the Authors of Pain and what did we do? We didn’t take his word for it, we jumped on the bandwagon with Kevin Owens. He kept trying to tell us, and that was the truth, but once again he’s left wondering what’s good enough. He beat Brock Lesnar twice, brought the Universal Championship back to Raw, and that still wasn’t enough?
We want to push him? Well it’s time for Seth freakin’ Rollins to push back, and our negativity has become a self-fulfilling prophecy that turned our fiction into fact and forced him to stand side-by-side with the Authors of Pain.
Enter the Authors of Pain.
Rollins gives them the mic and they leave together.
We cut backstage where Kevin Owens is being stretchered out.
Becky Lynch vs. Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane) (Handicap Match)
Lynch and Asuka to start, boots in the corner, Becky running hot, sidestep a charge. Back elbow, straight suplex, and Asuka goes to the floor. Referee Shawn Bennett trying to restore order and Asuka gets the advantage, back inside and putting boots to Lynch before stepping on her head. Choking her, running hip attack in the corner, forearms and a snapmare, shoot kick to the back, cover for two and we go to break.
Back from commercial, Sane is in control with a Japanese stranglehold. Lynch turns her around, Kairi rushes for a tag but Becky nails Asuka with a dropkick as soon as she’s legal! Setting Kairi up in the corner when she interferes, putting boots to her, turning it around with knees when Asuka charges in, exploder takes Sane out! Float over a slam from Asuka, inverted DDT / normal DDT combo on both Warriors!
Lynch up top, Asuka runs interference and Sane brings her down with Iconoclasm! Elbow drop, Asuka tags in, Becky ducks the elbow, boot up, sidestep the missile dropkick from the Empress of Tomorrow! Exploder suplex on Asuka, Lynch off the top with a leg drop... NOBODY HOME! HER GLUTES! Asuka Lock applied, rolling around, jockeying for position and Becky puts Asuka into the turnbuckles!
Lynch with an Asuka Lock of her own, Sane makes the save and the action spills to the floor. Becky puts Kairi into the barricade, stops Asuka short of a kick and trips her up into the apron! Off the apron herself... ASUKA NAILS LYNCH WITH THE ALARM CLOCK KNEE! Barely breaking the count, Asuka catches her with a sliding knee... STILL NO! Trading forearms on their knees, rising to their feet, Lynch pulls ahead with a rolling solebutt.
Whip reversed, Sane slips in with a forearm, electric chair, forearm Doomsday Device... BECKY LYNCH WILL NOT STAY DOWN! Diving elbow... THE FEET ARE UP! Thinking Dis-Arm-Her, Asuka comes in and Becky plants her with a Rock Bottom! Back to Kairi, Dis-Arm-Her applied but Asuka drags her out of the ring for the save! Asuka brings a chair into things as they fight on the floor...
Becky Lynch wins by disqualification.
Post-match, the Kabuki Warriors geta table out and set it up on the floor. Asuka gets Becky on top of it and holds her in place... DIVING ELBOW THROUGH THE TABLE AND TO THE FLOOR!
The OC are backstage for a promo segment.
AJ Styles says he’s with the best tag team in the world and says Viking Raiders can run and hide but sooner or later his boys are gonna take their titles back. And if Randy Orton wants to stick his nose in OC business yet again, they’re not just gonna hurt him for tonight, maybe they’ll end his career for life.
Too Sweets all around and we go to break.
Back from commercial, commentary hypes up the induction of the nWo into the WWE Hall of Fame next year.
Charlotte Flair is backstage with Becky Lynch as she receives medical assistance. They have a cold exchange and Flair leaves, whereupon the Kabuki Warriors beat her down.
Erick Rowan vs. Tracer X
Tracer takes Rowan’s pet and runs, doing a circuit and demanding a count as Erick checks on his pet on the stage! Referee Danilo Anfibio counts... ROWAN BACK IN AT EIGHT! It’s a squash, of course...
Erick Rowan wins by pinfall with the clawslam.
Post-match, Erick clawslams the guy again and yells at him.
Backstage, Kabuki Warriors are interviewed and they answer in Japanese at first before challenging Flair and Lynch to a title match on Sunday!
And so we go to break.
Back from commercial, Charlotte and Becky are chilling in the medical room again.
They decide they do, in fact, want to fight, but they want to up the ante and do a Tables, Ladders, & Chairs match.
Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford do a riff on Weekend Update, talking about the women’s tag title match that just got set up, about Miz challenging Bray Wyatt, about the Lana/Rusev divorce, and about how small Baron Corbin’s penis is.
We get our main event entrances and go to break.
AJ Styles vs. Rey Mysterio (c) (WWE United States Championship)
Circling, Mysterio grabs a side headlock, shot off, go-behind, O’Connor roll blocked and Styles pins him in a test of strength. Rey pops up, victory roll pin, reversed, back and forth! Sidestep the charge, stalemate! AJ whips Mysterio into the turnbuckles, catapult follows. Back and forth for a bit, Rey sends Styles to the floor and dropkicks him down after!
Asai moonsault takes the Phenomenal One down! Following it with a kick, rolling him back inside as Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows make their way to ringside. AJ takes advantage with a forearm and passes Mysterio into the ringpost to send us to break.
Back from commercial and Mysterio is breaking free of a reverse chinlock. Trading shots, off the ropes, springboard and Styles plucks him from midair with a dropkick! Passing Rey to the floor, back inside, Mysterio sidesteps and AJ takes the buckle hard. Boots up, Rey sidesteps and lands a hard shot that knocks Styles to the floor! SLINGSHOT SUNSET FLIP POWERBOMB INTO THE BARRICADE!
Back inside, Rey presses the attack with forearms and kicks, whip reversed, satellite tijeras connects! Back body drop to the apron, forearm, springboard seated senton and off the ropes for a leg drop but AJ kicks out! Springboard caught, Rey reverses back to a DDT... NOPE! Thinking rolling sunset flip but Styles counters with a Gallon Throw! Enzuigiri gets Rey back into it and AJ into position... BIG HOOT TAKES THE 619 FOR AJ!
Rey takes Anderson out but Styles hits an Ushigoroshi for a nearfall and takes the momentum back as a result! Up top, thinking avalanche Frankensteiner but AJ blocks! Getting Mysterio up, powerbomb connects and he hangs on to hit the Styles Clash! He rolls Rey over only to see Randy Orton in the ring! The Viper winks at Styles, Mysterio is ready...
Rey Mysterio wins by pinfall with a small package to retain the WWE United States Championship.
The show’s running long enough that the post-match gets cut off.
That’s the show, folks.