WWE Raw emanates live from Greenville, South Carolina of 12/9/2019, and it’s the final episode of Monday Night Raw until the TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs pay-per-view on Sunday, December 15. So far, only SmackDown-branded matches have been announced for TLC, so tonight’s episode of Raw should lay the groundwork for the matches that WWE fans will get to see at the upcoming pay-per-view.

There’s only one match announced ahead of time for Raw on 12/9/19, and that’s Rey Mysterio defending his United States Championship against AJ Styles. Mysterio won the title from Styles on the November 25 episode of Raw with the help of Randy Orton, so it will be interesting to see if Orton interferes in this match as well.

And while no other matches have been announced for Raw 12/9/19, we do know of at least one other segment that will be on the show, and that is the divorce of Lana and Rusev. WWE has featured many weddings on its television, but not many divorces, so who knows what will happen.

This post will be updated as Raw rolls along with match results and more.

1. Rusev and Lana Sign Divorce Papers

This segment started off hot with the crowd booing Lana’s every sentence, but it just went on way too long and lost most of its heat by the time Bobby Lashley came out. The feud between Lashley and Rusev continues to be one of the top-drawing feuds for the company for whatever reason though, so it’s not all that surprising that WWE decided to start the show off with the divorce proceedings.

As can be expected whenever WWE has people sign papers in a ring, things got heated and Rusev ended up putting Lashley through the table. Rusev only signed the divorce papers on the condition that he would get a match against Lashley, which will presumably be taking place at TLC, though that hasn’t been clarified yet. Hopefully WWE doesn’t pull a bait and switch like it did at Starrcade 2019 when the Last Man Standing Match between the two was advertised and ended up not taking place.

2. Kevin Owens Started Searching for the Authors of Pain

Kevin Owens was attacked by the Authors of Pain during his match with Seth Rollins last week on Raw, and Owens seems to think that the Akam and Rezar were working on the orders of Rollins. Owens is now on the hunt for the Authors of Pain, and while searching for them, he ran into Rey Mysterio backstage. Mysterio gave Owens the lead pipe he’s been using to even the odds against Brock Lesnar at events like Survivor Series, so now Owens has an “equalizer” to help him out.

3. Drew McIntyre vs. Matt Hardy

Winner: Drew McIntyre. McIntyre came out and insulted Matt’s newborn baby, which didn’t get much of a reaction from the crowd, unfortunately. Hardy has reverted to his 90s “Hardy Boyz” gimmick, but is still doing the “Delete!” taunt from his Broken Matt Hardy character, and he’s clearly just enhancement talent at this point. Hardy hit McIntyre with a Twist of Fate before the match even started, but despite this, McIntyre was able to make short work of Hardy. He hit him with the Future Shock DDT and followed that up with the Claymore to pick up an easy victory.

Grade: C

5. More Backstage Segments

Following the match, we got some more backstage segments. One saw Becky Lynch declare her intention to fight the Kabuki Warriors in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match like we saw Charlotte Flair do last week, and the other saw Kevin Owens slap Mojo Rawley in the face as he continued his hunt for the Authors of Pain.

6. Raw Tag Team Championship Match: The Viking Raiders (c) vs. Street Profits

Winners: The Viking Raiders. The Viking Raiders are having trouble finding legitimate competition on the Raw roster, and so they issued an open challenge, giving anyone that wanted it a shot at their titles. The Street Profits answered the challenge, and while they had a strong start, they were still defeated fairly quickly by The Viking Raiders, who were able to retain their titles without too much trouble.

7. Sami Zayn Got His Managerial License

WWE really just can’t stick with the Raw/SmackDown brand split very long. In this segment, The Authors of Pain arrived at the arena, Seth Rollins kept insisting he wasn’t involved with them, and then Sami Zayn revealed that he now has his managerial license. This means that he can move freely between Raw and SmackDown, managing various superstars. Mojo Rawley is apparently his second client after Shinsuke Nakamura, though Rawley ended up getting hit with a Stunner and a beating with a steel pipe (or a lead one, depending on who you ask).

8. Akira Tozawa vs. Aleister Black

Winner: Aleister Black. Another short match with an obvious winner, but this match was elevated a bit compared to the others on the card by a couple of especially hard-hitting spots. At one point, Black countered a Suicide Dive attempt by Tozawa with a vicious knee to the head, and then later hit a Black Mass square to the jaw to pick up the victory.

Grade: C+

9. Andrade w/ Zelina Vega vs. Humberto Carillo

Winner: Humberto Carillo. WWE clearly has a lot of stock in Carillo, as he has been consistently featured in higher-profile matches. This week’s episode of Raw was no different, with Andrade and Carillo given much more time than any other match of the evening so far. Carillo botched his Aztec Press a bit, but it didn’t really hurt the crowd’s investment in the match, with the audience consistently engaged. The finish came when Andrade accidentally knocked Zelina Vega off the apron, allowing Carillo to get a roll-up victory.

Grade: B

10. Buddy Murphy vs. Zack Ryder w/ Curt Hawkins

Winner: Buddy Murphy. This entire Raw has largely been enhancement matches, but that does make some sense with the TLC pay-per-view around the corner. This match succeeded in making Buddy Murphy look dominant, though it’s weird to see how far Zack Ryder’s star has fallen.

Grade: B-

11. Seth Rollins Shows His True Colors

Kevin Owens started destroying the Authors of Pain’s SUV backstage, but then was attacked by the two of them. Their leader was hiding in the back of the vehicle, and it was revealed to have been Seth Rollins. The Authors of Pain and Rollins brutalized Owens, slamming his head with a car door and then hitting him with a Curb Stomp on concrete. Owens was taken away on an ambulance, and then later Rollins addressed the crowd. He explained that he wasn’t originally aligned with the Authors of Pain, but is now because everyone assumed it of him, basically. His heel turn is now complete, in any case.

12. Handicap Match: Becky Lynch vs. The Kabuki Warriors

Winner: Becky Lynch. The Kabuki Warriors put on a great showing against Charlotte Flair last week, and this week’s match is an attempt to replicate that. There was some good action throughout, with the Kabuki Warriors nailing Lynch with some nice double-team moves, and Lynch getting in quite a bit of offense as well. Lynch was actually on the offensive for quite a bit of the match it seemed, though the Kabuki Warriors ended things when Asuka hit Lynch with a steel chair. After the match, Lynch was set up on a table, and Kairi Sane put her through with a great-looking elbow drop from the top to the floor.

Grade: B+

13. Erick Rowan vs. Local Competitor

Winner: Erick Rowan. The local competitor took the weird cage Erick Rowan has been carrying around and put it at the top of the stage. This was an attempt by the jobber to trick Rowan into getting himself counted out, but it didn’t work. Rowan made his way back to the ring and hit the local competitor with some faceslams. The referee called for the bell, ending the match via stoppage, though that angle didn’t work quite as well as it should have. It just didn’t seem like Rowan really damaged the kid enough to justify a match stoppage.

Grade: C-

14. Becky and Charlotte Join Forces

Backstage, Charlotte attempted to team up with Becky, but Lynch still refused. Then Charlotte was attack in the hallway by the Kabuki Warriors, who issued a challenge to the two of them for a match at TLC. Charlotte and Becky, getting looked over by medical physicians, agreed to team up so that they could face the Kabuki Warriors in a TLC match at the upcoming PPV of the same name.

15. Monday After Weekend Update

This was a really cringey segment. It’s a parody of the Saturday Night Live Weekend Update sketch, but the problem is that that’s already parody. This is a parody of a parody, and it just doesn’t work at all. There’s a reason why they used canned laughs here. This thing was useful in promoting the matches for TLC, which really haven’t been all that clear up to this point.

16. United States Championship Match: Rey Mysterio (c) vs. AJ Styles

Winner: Rey Mysterio. This was easily the Match of the Night, and a generally fantastic showing between these two competitors. With Brock Lesnar basically MIA with the WWE Championship, it makes the US title the de facto top singles title on Raw for the time being. Mysterio and AJ put on a wrestling clinic in this match, and when Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows interfered, it actually enhanced things, allowing for cool spots like a 619 to the back of Gallows’ head. It actually seemed like AJ was going to steal a victory here and get his US title back after he hit the Styles Clash on Rey, but Randy Orton showed up to cause a distraction. This allowed Rey to hook AJ in an inside cradle to get the pin and retain the title.

Grade: A

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