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WWE RAW REPORT
DECEMBER 16, 2024
BOSTON, MASS. AT TD GARDEN ARENA
AIRED ON USA NETWORK
BY MAURICIO POMARES, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Commentators: Joe Tessitore, Wade Barrett
Ring Announcer: Lilian Garcia
Attendance: WrestleTix reports today that 10,711 tickets were distributed so far. The arena has a capacity of 20,000 spectators when configured for concerts.
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[HOUR ONE]
– The show opened with CM Punk making his way to the ring to hype up the crowd. Punk said that he was in a bit of a bad mood because whatever his issues with Seth Rollins were, it was only a matter of time until they crossed paths. Punk said that he was annoyed that at some point Rollins’ music would play and he would interrupt him. He said that just because Rollins puts on Elton John’s sunglasses, it doesn’t make him Elton John
– Punk then said that just because Rollins idolized him, it doesn’t make him CM Punk. Punk admitted to being bad and said that he was a bad teacher before giving Rollins the lesson he deserved. He said that Rollins wasn’t as tough as Drew McIntyre and that there wouldn’t be enough staples to piece him together.
– Rollins showed up in the crowd to tell Punk that even from up there, he was still an asshole. Punk said that Rollins was where he belonged with the fans. Rollins said that he wasn’t embarrassed of being a fan and pointed out that he had more WrestleMania main events than he would ever do. Both men started brawling around ringside, until numerous referees and agents arrived to separate them. They tried to continue brawling all over the arena, until the referees managed to separate them.
– Backstage, Liv Morgan told Finn Bálor that he had everything under control, ahead of his title match tonight.
(Pomares’s Analysis: This segment started surprisingly weak with CM Punk’s promo being very messy and kind of all over the place. Things got much better when Seth Rollins arrived and they fully stepped up to greatness once they started brawling. While I thought there was a chance this match would take place at WrestleMania, it feels more likely that they are doing Punk vs. Rollins at the Netflix debut.)
– Ludwig Kaiser made his way to the ring, ahead of his match against Bron Breakker.
[Commercial Break]
– Backstage, Seth Rollins told Adam Pearce to do his job and get the match done. Drew McIntyre showed up to warn Rollins about what Roman Reigns said on SmackDown and targeting those who joined his side. Rollins told Drew that they weren’t alike and that he respected Sami Zayn and Jey Uso.
(1) BRON BREAKKER vs. LUDWIG KAISER – WWE Intercontinental Championship
Breakker cornered Kaiser with shoulder thrusts and dropped him with a Xploder. Kaiser slapped Breakker, only for Breakker to tackle him and pummel him down. Breakker caught Kaiser with a lariat, forcing him to roll out of the ring, as WWE Raw went to commercials.
[Commercial Break]
Back from break, Breakker laid Kaiser out with a clothesline and beat him down with a load of right hands in the corner. Kaiser managed to kick Breakker’s arm and put him in a double wrist lock, until Breakker put him down with a bodyslam. Kaiser kicked the ropes into Breakker’s arm, only for Breakker to take him down with a suplex. Breakker blasted Kaiser with a diving clothesline over the announce table. Back in the ring, Kaiser shocked Breakker by smashing his shoulder into the mat before stomping it down. Kaiser trapped Breakker in a top wrist lock using the ropes and snapped his arm with his feet. Kaiser nailed Breakker with a dropkick to the shoulder, as WWE Raw went to an ad break.
[Commercial Break]
Back from break, Kaiser dropped Breakker arm-first onto the ropes and crushed his arm with a double stomp. Kaiser put Breakker in a wrist lock, until Breakker cracked him with a jumping knee. Breakker laid Kaiser out with a pair of clotheslines, followed by a flying back elbow. Kaiser knocked Breakker off the top turnbuckle with a chop, only for Breakker to launch him across the ring with a Frankensteiner.
Kaiser caught Breakker off-guard with a Death Valley Driver and put him in a double wrist lock. Breakker missed a shoulder thrust and crashed into the turnbuckle, damaging his shoulder. Kaiser kicked Breakker out of the ring and around the ring for his dropkick into the steel steps, only for Breakker to get ahead of him and shut him down with a shoulder tackle. Breakker dropped Kaiser with a gutbuster and finished him with a Spear.
WINNER: Bron Breakker at 18:15 (Still WWE Intercontinental Champion)
(Pomares’s Analysis: A very good encounter that had a much different flavor than their previous one. Breakker selling his arm for the majority of the match was well-executed and he worked it around it really well. However, the ending felt a bit too sudden for my liking and I was left longing for a more explosive and quick-paced finish.)
– Backstage, Rey Mysterio told New Day that they crossed a line with Big E and that they should find another place to change.
[Commercial Break]
– A recap of Cody Rhodes defeating Kevin Owens and Owens hitting Cody with a Package Piledriver at Saturday Night’s Main Event was shown.
– A video package was shown, featuring the War Raiders speaking about their road to recovery and getting back at the Judgment Day for costing them their chance at glory.
[Commercial Break]
[HOUR TWO]
– The graphic for Roman Reigns vs. Solo Sikoa in a Tribal Combat match on the debut of Raw on Netflix.
– Backstage, Cathy Kelley interviewed Adam Pearce about possible matches to be announced for the debut on Netflix. Pearce officially announced that CM Punk and Seth Rollins would face each other at that show.
– Liv Morgan, Dominik Mysterio and Raquel Rodriguez made their way to the ring. Dominik tried to introduce Liv Morgan, but the crowd loudly booed her. Liv yelled in a megaphone that she was the greatest women’s champion in history. Liv said that she would lead this company to bigger and greater things in 2025. Rhea Ripley interrupted to tell Liv that this had gone on for long enough and that she was officially the number one contender to her title. Ripley said that she would take her title back and the only thing that she would have left is her chicken tender slut.
(Pomares’s Analysis: Just an okay segment to make this rematch official. I’m completely over Liv’s reign and I’m hopeful Rhea regaining the belt as a full-fledged babyface brings the belt some much legitimacy back.)
– Backstage, Jackie Redmond tried to interview Seth Rollins, but was interrupted by Sami Zayn and Drew McIntyre brawling in the back.
– Zoey Stark made her way to the ring, ahead of her triple threat match.
[Commercial Break]
– Backstage, The Miz told Paul Ellering and the Authors of Pain that he was proud of teaming with them. Miz said that they were done with the Wyatts and that he was ready to move on. Karrion Kross told Miz that this was over when they decided and told Miz that he was going to take on Dexter Lumis next week. Ellering told Miz that he owed them and that he would go talk with Adam Pearce to get the match booked.
(2) KAYDEN CARTER vs. RAQUEL RODRIGUEZ vs. ZOEY STARK – Women’s Intercontinental Championship Tournament 1st Round Match
Raquel threw Stark and Carter across the ring, setting them up for a double corner splash. Raquel took Carter down with a clothesline before receiving a bunch of forearms from Stark. Stark caught Carter with a thrust kick and put Raquel down with a DDT. Carter sent Raquel out of the ring with a hurracarrana, only for Stark to shut her down with a Death Valley Driver and a thrust kick. Stark blasted Raquel with a thrust kick and Raquel retaliated with a big boot, knocking her off the apron. Carter crashed into Raquel and Stark with a suicide dive into a Tornillo, as WWE Raw went to a commercial break.
[Commercial Break]
Back from break, Carter hit Raquel with a thrust kick and put her in a Figure 4 leg lock while hitting Stark with a swinging neckbreaker. Carter clocked Stark with a sliding big boot and crushed her with a springboard leg drop. Raquel pulled Carter out of the ring before Stark crashed into both of them with a springboard crossbody. Raquel pounced Stark out of the ring, only for Carter to immediately catch her with a basement dropkick.
Carter attacked Raquel with right hands, until Stark took her down with a German suplex. Raquel laid Stark out with a clothesline, but she kicked out at two. Raquel launched Carter away with a Fallaway Slam and hit her with a corkscrew Vader Bomb. Stark blasted Raquel with a springboard dropkick before she could put Carter out with the Tejana Bomb. Stark knocked Carter out with the Z-360 for the three count.
WINNER: Zoey Stark at 9:20
(Pomares’s Analysis: A solid encounter with some pretty good in-ring work, but a slightly lackluster reaction from the crowd. None of the participants in this match were very interesting contenders, but Zoey Stark was probably the best choice to have the better match against Dakota Kai.)
– Backstage, Alpha Academy and R-Truth talked about their commercial. Pete Dunne interrupted to call Truth for still calling him Butch. American Made interrupted and Chad Gable insulted Otis for ruining his academy. Gable said that he would start killing his darlings and start with Akira Tozawa.
– A video package recapping the Judgment Day’s title reign was shown.
[Commercial Break]
– A vignette featuring a red zero blinking in a black background was shown.
(Pomares’s Analysis: I’m assuming this is going to be Penta El Zero Miedo whose AEW contract recently came to an end.)
– Backstage, Jackie Redmond interviewed the New Day about what happened last week. They were immediately interrupted by Pure Fusion Collective assaulting and seemingly injuring Kairi Sane’s arm.
– The Judgment Day were banned from ringside for the next match.
(3) JUDGMENT DAY (Finn Bálor & JD McDonagh) vs. WAR RAIDERS (Erik & Ivar) – World Tag Team Championship
Ivar knocked JD down with a shoulder tackle and laid him and Finn with a series of bodyslams. Erik dropped Ivar on top of JD, as WWE Raw went to commercials.
[Commercial Break]
Back from break, JD caught Ivar with a resign kick and pulled his head into the ropes, allowing Finn to put him down with an elbow drop. Finn distracted the referee, allowing JD to hit him with an illegal leg drop on the apron. Ivar caught Judgment Day off-guard with a handspring double back elbow. Erik got the hot tag to drop JD with a Xploder and a forearm strike, setting him up for a back suplex. Erik laid Finn out with an uranage and threw JD out of the ring. Finn grabbed Erik’s legs from ringside, allowing JD to hit him with a strike to the back. Judgment Day drove Erik into the steel steps twice, as WWE Raw went to its final commercial break.
[Commercial Break]
Back from break, JD crushed Erik with a slingshot senton, but Erik quickly knocked him down. Ivar got the hot tag to crush Finn with a crossbody and a corner seated senton. Ivar laid JD out with a leg lariat and climbed the top turnbuckle. Finn tripped Ivar atop the turnbuckle, only for Ivar to flatten JD with an avalanche powerslam for a nearfall. The Raiders nailed JD with a pop up powerslam, but Finn broke the pinfall. Finn low-bridged Ivar out of the ring before he could go for the War Machine.
JD cracked Erik with a headbutt, reaching Finn for the tag. Erik clocked Finn with a knee to the back of the neck, only for Finn to retaliate with a sling blade and a shotgun dropkick. JD and Finn crushed Erik with a moonsault and the Coup de Grace, but Ivar broke the pinfall. Finn tried to use a chair while JD distracted the referee. Damian Priest stopped Finn from using the chair and pulled him into the barricade. Back in the ring, the Raiders crushed Finn with the War Machine to pick up the victory.
WINNERS: War Raiders at 16:12 (New World Tag Team Champions)
(Pomares’s Analysis: A good tag match elevated by an incredibly hot crowd and a really well-executed finish. The booking of the tag division on Raw throughout the majority of 2024 was abysmal, so having the War Raiders take over the division to start anew in 2025 feels like a step in the right direction. I don’t expect the Raiders to have that long of a reign since I’m assuming New Day will take the belts off of them by WrestleMania at the latest, but for now I’m just happy they got their moment after what seemed to be a long road to return to the ring.)
Advertised Matches & Appearances
- Judgment Day (Finn Balor & J.D. McDonagh) vs. The War Raiders (Erik & Ivar) – WWE World Tag Team Championship match
- Bron Breakker vs. Ludwig Kaiser – WWE Intercontinental Championship match
- Seth Rollins to appear
- C.M. Punk to appear
- Kofi Kingston to appear
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