WWE Raw live results: CM Punk responds to Seth Rollins
Date: December 16, 2024
Location: TD Garden in Boston, MA
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Show Recap —
Judgment Day, Bron Breakker and Ludwig Kaiser arrived at the arena.
There will be a medical update later on Cody Rhodes following Kevin Owens’ attack at the conclusion of Saturday Night’s Main Event.
CM Punk and Seth Rollins segment
CM Punk entered to kick off Raw and there was a nice wide shot to show the packed TD Garden. The crowd chanted for Punk. He told them to be careful because some people might be mad if they chant his name. He pointed out a guy wearing a New York sports jersey so the fans could boo him.
Punk admitted he was in a bit of a bad mood. He told Seth Rollins two weeks ago that he didn’t think about him at all. Over the past two weeks, however, his mind wandered back to Rollins. It put him in a bad mood because Rollins was right. There was something going on between them and it was only a matter of time before they went at it in the ring.
He knew that no matter what, at some point, Rollins’ stupid music would hit, and he would tip-toe out in clogs like the Purple Pieman of Porcupine Peak dressed like Liberace. And, for all the sensitive people, that wasn’t an insult because Punk thought Liberace was cool as hell. Just because Rollins wore Elton John’s shades didn’t make him Elton John. Just because Rollins grew up idolizing him, putting on a pair of wrestling boots didn’t make him CM Punk.
Punk said it was true that he ghosted Rollins. But Punk wasn’t here to litigate the past. He looked forward to the future. Rollins painted Punk out to be the bad guy. Punk wasn’t denying he was a bad guy and had the fans give a show of hands if they were ever considered the bad guy. There weren’t bad students, only bad teachers, so Rollins was Punk’s failure. Punk wanted to try it again, so he offered to give Rollins a wrestling lesson for free.
The last guy who went down this road was Drew McIntyre, and Rollins had to ask himself if he was tougher than McIntyre. There weren’t enough staples in the world to put Rollins back together when Punk was done with him.
Rollins appeared in the crowd (not dressed like a clown). He wanted to see Punk from the perspective of the fans but concluded, “You’re still an asshole.”
Punk was glad Rollins didn’t come out to his stupid song. Punk said Rollins was where he belonged, with the rest of the CM Punk fans.
Rollins said he was not embarrassed to be with the fans. Rollins was a fan, and this was his place. Punk wanted it to die when he left, but Rollins put it on his back and made it stronger than ever. Rollins had more WrestleMania main events than Punk ever would, “And that’s a fact, Phil.”
That was enough for Punk. They met in the crowd and exchanged fists as officials stepped in. Their pull-apart brawl continued for a while (and they exchanged a few swears) until officials were finally able to separate them.
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Judgment Day met backstage. Finn Bálor was miserable. Liv Morgan wondered why his mantra (“listen to Finn, and you win”) worked for her at SNME but not him. Bálor wondered where everyone was during his match. Morgan said they believed in him and didn’t think he needed help.
Morgan suggested he focus on his tag title defence because they were all banned from ringside. Morgan said Raquel Rodriguez would win her match tonight. Rodriguez repeated his mantra and said she would win. Morgan sarcastically wished luck to Bálor and JD McDonagh. Morgan said she had something special planned, so she left with Rodriguez and Dominik.
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They aired a video of Triple H unveiling the new Raw on Netflix logo.
Adam Pearce confronted Rollins backstage. Rollins wanted Pearce to make a match with Punk immediately. Pearce told them to stop trying to tear each other’s eyes out (perhaps a reference to Rollins’ eye-for-an-eye match against Rey Mysterio), and maybe he would be able to do his job. Pearce left.
McIntyre approached Rollins. McIntyre reminded Rollins that he once told him to get over his issues with the Bloodline. After watching Smackdown, it was clear that Roman Reigns was still the same person and everyone involved—Sami Zayn, Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso—needed to be taken out.
Rollins laughed at him. He told McIntyre they did not have a common cause. Zayn and the Usos were his friends. He respected them, but the jury was out on McIntyre. Rollins planned on doing something McIntyre couldn’t and that was end Punk.
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Bron Breakker defeated Ludwig Kaiser to retain the Intercontinental Championship (18:12)
They went to break 90 seconds in. Bron was in control after the break despite Kaiser’s efforts to target his shoulder. Kaiser poked Bron’s eyes and attacked his shoulder, but Bron hit a leaping clothesline over the announce table. That did further damage to Bron’s shoulder, and Kaiser targeted it again after poking him in the eye again.
Kaiser continued on the shoulder following a second commercial break. Bron came back with a knee strike and strikes with his right arm (while still selling the left shoulder). Bron still managed to hit a leaping Frankensteiner for two. Kaiser avoided a spear and hit a Finlay Roll for two. Bron missed a tackle and went shoulder-first into the turnbuckle.
With Bron leaning against the steel steps, Kaiser ran around the ring for a dropkick attempt, but Bron was gone. Bron ran up behind Kaiser and hit a shoulder tackle, followed by a gutbuster and super spear for the pinfall win.
(This was fine except for all the time they spent clearly communicating spots with each other.)
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New Day arrived backstage, and they bumped into Rey Mysterio. Rey blocked the locker room door. Xavier Woods wondered if he had a problem with them, too. Rey said it was everyone in the back. Kofi Kingston wondered if suddenly nobody had their backs after ten years of sharing the locker room.
Kingston said Rey was supposed to be a locker room leader and suggested he do something. Rey said they crossed the line with Big E, and it was in their best interest to find somewhere else to change. Woods said they didn’t want to share a locker room with them anyway. They left.
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There was a Rhodes/Owens video package. This was followed with a “Did you know?” factoid stating: “All the post show videos of Saturday Night’s Main Event across all of WWE social platforms have combined for more than 45 million views!”
It was funny seeing them celebrate this fake achievement over an image of Rhodes being stretched out with a potentially serious neck injury.
Joe Tessitore said Rhodes’s x-rays were negative for a fracture, and he was resting at home.
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There was a War Raiders video package. That was good. They spoke of the severity of their injuries over videos of them recovering at the hospital. They said their injuries should have ended their careers—but it didn’t.
Judgment Day tried to end their careers and cheated them out of the titles. The Raiders were stronger than ever. Every match could be their last, and their moment had to be now. Erik said his sons needed to know that all the pain was worth it. The only way to prove that was by bringing them the world tag team titles.
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Adam Pearce announced to Cathy Kelley that CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins will happen on Raw’s Netflix debut on January 6th, 2025.
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Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley segment
Morgan entered with Dom and Rodriguez. Dom was loudly booed before he handed things over to Morgan. She used a megaphone to announce she was the greatest Women’s World Champion ever. She said 2024 was the year of Monday Night Morgan, and they were just getting started. There were a lot of changes coming in 2025 and there was nobody better to lead this company into the future than her.
Rhea Ripley interrupted. Morgan kept talking, so Ripley told her to shut the hell up. Ripley said this had gone on long enough, so it was time to settle it. Ripley informed Morgan that Pearce named her number one contender.
Ripley said, “I will be the new Women’s World Champion, and all that you’ll be left with is your little chicken tender slut.” She dropped the mic and her music played.
(They didn’t announce a date for the match.)
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Jackie Redmond tried interviewing Rollins. In the background, you could see McIntyre making a beeline toward Rollins, but he was suddenly attacked by Zayn. They brawled as officials tried breaking it up. (Rollins vanished.)
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Miz met with Final Testament backstage. He tried to get out of their arrangement now that they beat the Wyatt Sicks. Karrion Kross said things weren’t over between them. He was still pissed about what they did to Scarlett. Kross told Miz he would be facing Dexter Lumis next week. Miz wasn’t happy, but Paul Ellering said he owed them. Kross tried to encourage Miz by reminding him that he’s won 22 titles in his career. Miz left.
Rezar asked if Kross thought Miz could take Lumis. Kross wasn’t sure, but he wanted to keep testing the Wyatts. He also wanted Miz to learn that you couldn’t back out of a deal with the devil. (He also gave Ellering a stern look when saying this, and Ellering looked a little concerned.)
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Tessitore congratulated Chelsea Green on winning the Women’s United States Champion.
Women’s IC title tournament first-round triple threat match: Zoey Stark defeated Kayden Carter and Raquel Rodriguez (9:21)
Carter wiped out her opponents with a dive before a break, and Stark returned the favour after the break. Rodriguez set up Carter for a Tejana Bomb, but Stark dropped them with a missile dropkick. That knocked Rodriguez out of the ring, so Stark gave Carter the Z-360 for the pinfall win.
Stark advances and will face Dakota Kai in the next round.
This wasn’t much, and it came to a crashing end when Stark messed up her own finisher.
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R-Truth met with Alpha Academy until he was confronted by Pete Dunne, who was still pissed about being called “Butch.” Truth responded, “Butch, please!” Dunne got in his face, but Otis stepped between them, so Dunne left. Truth left, too.
Chad Gable and American Made approached Alpha Academy. Gable called them a clown show that ruined his Academy. He called them a joke, and their commercial was pathetic. He ran them all down until Otis told him to shut up. Gable said it was time to kill his darlings, and he would start with Tozawa.
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Redmond interviewed New Day backstage. They were still without somewhere to change, and the disrespect continued because the interview was quickly interrupted by yet another commotion. This time it was PCF taking out Kairi Sane. (They trapped her arm in a heavy equipment box.)
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A red logo flashed on the screen. It appeared to be a zero, perhaps teasing Penta.
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The War Raiders defeated Finn Bálor & JD McDonagh to win the World Tag Team Championships (16:11)
The War Raiders were in control through an early break until McDonagh used Ivar’s beard to yank him down over the top rope as Bálor distracted the referee. Ivar responded by knocking down both men with a handspring double back elbow, which popped the crowd. Erik tagged in and was in control until Bálor tripped him from outside the ring. Bálor and McDonagh twice drove Erik into the steel steps, leading to another break.
They worked over Erik until Ivar made the hot tag. Ivar gave Bálor a seated senton and McDonagh a cartwheel kick. Ivar gave McDonagh a world’s strongest slam off the middle rope for a nearfall. They gave McDonagh a pop-up powerslam combo, but Bálor broke up the cover. They went for War Machine, but Bálor dropped the top rope to knock Ivar out of the ring.
Bálor gave Erik a slingblade and dropkick. McDonagh hit a moonsault, and Bálor followed with Coup de Grace, but Ivar broke up the cover.
McDonagh distracted the referee as Bálor went for a chair, but Damian Priest suddenly appeared (in exactly the right position) to prevent him from grabbing it. Priest knocked Bálor into the barricade.
Bálor rolled back in the ring, and Erik and Ivar gave him War Machine for the pinfall win. They got a nice pop and a big fireworks display as the show ended.