WWE Raw live results: Rey Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins

Air Date: December 23, 2019 (Taped December 16, 2019)
Location: Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa 

The Big Takeaway — 

The US title main event ended in a DQ after AOP attacked Rey Mysterio. Samoa Joe was laid out by AOP by Rollins’ request as the show ended. 

They did a hard push for next week’s wedding between Lana and Bobby Lashley.

Show Recap — 

Raw began with a big fireworks display. There are Christmas trees and decorations around the stage. They didn’t mention the town or arena, presumably to avoid people thinking the show was pre-taped. 

Kevin Owens came out as they aired a long video package. As soon as he started speaking, Mojo Rawley interrupted. Rawley was upset about “that nonsense with the pipe” and asked if Owens knew what his problem was. Owens said he had at least seven problems. Owens asked him to get to his point quickly so he could kick his ass again in their no disqualification match. 

Rawley made a comment about Owens not being able to enjoy Christmas with his wife and kids (they added crowd noise), then Owens basically told him to stop talking so they could start their match. 

No Disqualification Match: Kevin Owens defeated Mojo Rawley (6:27) 

The crowd chanted “we want tables” so Owens grabbed a table and yelled, “Merry Christmas!” As Owens set up the table, Rawley clocked him from behind with a chair and later slammed him on top of a pile of chairs. Rawley opened up four chairs and eventually slammed Owens through them. Soon after, Owens came back with a superkick and senton bomb for a nearfall. 

Owens set up the table but Rawley stopped him from using it. Owens then gave him a stunner followed by a pop-up powerslam through the table for the pinfall win. This was fine for what it was. The crowd liked Owens. 

Owens said Rawley got him fired up and he still had fight left in him. He had blood on his hands, so he wiped it on his face under his eyes as if it was eyeblack. Owens called out Seth Rollins and AOP and said he wasn’t leaving until they came out. Rollins and AOP were shown in the back watching on a monitor (they added crowd booing). 

After a break, Rollins and AOP came out. Rollins entered the ring alone and tried to reason with Owens (without a mic) as the crowd chanted for Owens. Rollins offered a handshake, then Owens superkicked him. Owens grabbed a chair but AOP swarmed him. Rollins went for a stomp but Owens tackled him and he was swarmed by AOP again. 

Rollins told Owens it didn’t have to be this way, then curb-stomped him. Owens struggled to his feet and began staggering to the back. Samoa Joe went on a rant about AOP and told everyone that they should have listened to him when he warned them about AOP. 

R-Truth was in New York City and asked a pedestrian where The Rock center was because he had to light The Rock Christmas tree. The pedestrian informed him that his instructions were in Japanese and that the tree was not named after The Rock. Truth was confused, then Akira Tozawa rolled him up to win the 24/7 title. Real-life people stood around and watched this happen. 

Bobby Lashley (w/Lana) defeated Cedric Alexander (13:21) 

Lashley and Lana entered to a chorus of fake booing. Their wedding is next week on Raw in Hartford, Connecticut. 

Alexander took out Lashley with a moonsault on the outside. Lana grabbed a mic and entered the ring. The referee just allowed this to happen. Lana spoke about how important next week was and wasn’t happy with Alexander. She suggested they have a traditional Greco-Roman wrestling match. She went on for a bit and they went to break. 

After the break, Alexander was still in control, hitting chops, an enziguri and soccer kick. Alexander tried a slingshot DDT but Lashley brushed him off and nailed a clothesline. Lashley hit a neckbreaker for two, then applied a chinlock. Alexander came back with a flying clothesline, suicide dive, flip dive and Neuralyzer for two. 

Lashley slammed him and went for a spear but Alexander gave him a low dropkick, followed by a dropkick in the corner. Lashley cut him off with a spinebuster and spear for the pinfall win. To recap, Alexander took most of the match but Lashley got the win. 

Charly Caruso asked Rollins what he was trying to achieve with his attacks on guys like Owens. Rollins was annoyed with the question because he tried to offer an olive branch to Owens but he kicked him in the face. Rollins stormed off with AOP. 

Back in New York, Tozawa took a seat near a statue when he was confronted by Truth. Tozawa backed into some guy who dropped his hot dog, then ran away as Truth chased him. 

Drew McIntyre defeated Zack Ryder (w/Curt Hawkins) (2:07) 

McIntyre won with the Claymore Kick. 

After the match, McIntyre chucked Hawkins from the ring and gave Ryder a double underhook DDT. Hawkins came back in just to eat a Claymore Kick. McIntyre grabbed a mic and said he was having fun, then asked if Ryder and Hawkins were having fun. He spoke on their behalf and suggested that they were also having fun. McIntyre said 2020 belongs to him. 

[Second hour] 

Becky Lynch promo 

Lynch said she has learned that she does so much better when she takes things in her owns hands. She’s become the face of the company, and now the company was trying to protect her. She didn’t care what the company wanted — Asuka vs. Lynch needed to happen next and she wasn’t taking no for an answer. 

She said Asuka was the one woman who beat “The Man” fair and square, and now The Man was coming to collect her debt. Lynch wanted a response. Asuka and Kairi Sane came out. Asuka asked if she remembered TLC and said “We are the champions! We are the champions!” 

Asuka yelled at Lynch in Japanese, then called herself “Asuka two-belts.” Lynch was willing if all it took was putting her title on the line, then told Asuka to name the date and place. Lynch then issued the challenge in Japanese. They played Lynch’s music, somehow knowing Asuka wouldn’t respond. This segment was only about five minutes. 

Aleister Black defeated Deonn Rusman (0:40) 

Jerry Lawler advised Santa Claus not to knock on Black’s door. Vic Joseph announced a rematch between Black and Buddy Murphy last week and called it the match that stole the show at TLC. Black won via pinfall quickly after a Black Mass. As Black left, Murphy came out for his match. They exchanged a few words before Muprhy went to the ring. 

Buddy Murphy defeated Joeasa (0:32) 

Murphy won via pinfall after a knee strike and Muphry’s Law. The jobber looked a bit like Sean Waltman. After the match, Black, who watched this match from the stage, went to the ring to offer Murphy a handshake. Murphy blew him off, so Black killed him with a Black Mass. I liked this segment a lot. 

Rey Mysterio told Caruso that he has looked forward to facing Rollins for a long time and wanted to defend his title against the very best, which Rollins was. However, this match would have an asterisk, because Rollins would have AOP with him. He said they made a mistake not finishing the job last week and looked forward to AOP watching him retain over Rollins. 

Year-End Awards will happen tomorrow on WWE Backstage. CM Punk is not announced for the show.

Ricochet defeated Tony Nese (2:30) 

Ricochet won quickly with a Codebreaker. The crowd was dead despite the loud (fake) reaction Ricochet received on the way out. 

Back in New York, Tozwa hid behind a bunch of pine trees that were for sale. Then he ran away as Truth got closer. 

Charlotte Flair defeated Chelsea Green (4:06) 

They aired a quick video package for Green before she came out. Joe mentioned that Green can sometimes have a bit of a crazy streak. Lawler was trying to tell a story about being under the mistletoe with Green earlier and Joe just cut him off and talked about Green working over Charlotte. Charlotte used chops and a boot, then won via submission with the Figure Eight. 

Tozawa and Truth ran into Santa in New York. Santa asked them to stop fighting. He told Truth he had a gift in his sleigh and told Tozawa he had a gift his in his sack. Santa hit Tozawa with his sack and pinned him to win the title. Truth told Tozawa they need to get Santa. I suppose it’s unbelievable happenstance that Santa ran into these two in New York, but he is Santa, after all. 

Liv Morgan promo video. “When you seek affirmation from someone other than yourself, you give that person all the power. I’ve done that before. I was young, I was impressionable. So typical. It’s up to me to decide who I am, and I’m anything but typical.” 

[Third hour] 

Six-man tag match: AJ Styles, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson defeated Randy Orton & The Viking Raiders (14:04) 

The OC received a chorus of fake boos on the way out. This one was particularly noticeable given that Styles and his buddies are never flat-out booed on the way out. 

The OC worked over Orton’s knee for much of the match. Viking Raiders had it won after a Viking Experience on Anderson but Gallows broke up the cover. Styles attacked Erik but Orton had made a blind tag. Anderson saved Styles from a DDT but Orton took him out with an RKO. Gallows distracted Orton, then Styles gave Orton a Phenomenal forearm for the pinfall win. This was nothing special. 

Santa tried to escape on a horse-drawn carriage, so Truth and Tozawa chased after him on a carriage of their own. Santa realized this was taking too long, so he ran away. 

Erick Rowan spoke to his cage. 

The Street Profits spoke backstage. Montez Ford wondered where his invite was for the Lana and Lashley marriage. Angelo Dawkins just wanted an invite to Lashley’s bachelor party. They commented on Rowan’s cage as fake crowd laughter was piped in. I’m genuinely curious how far back they had to go to find laughter on a WWE show. 

Erick Rowan defeated Travis Horn (2:19) 

Each guy was in the ring and they actually went to break letting us know this match was next. Do they know what the purpose of an act break is? The jobber offered a candy cane to Rowan before leaving the ring. It seemed like he would give whatever is under the cage a candy cane, then Rowan attacked him. Rowan won after consecutive chokeslams. I could be wrong, but the cage might be bigger now than it was at first. 

Back in New York, Santa was too out-of-shape and fell down while running. Truth shoved Tozawa, then pinned Santa to win the title. Referee John Cone was pissed and told them he had enough running around in the cold. He left. Truth called a truce with Tozawa and asked him how to say “Merry Christmas” in Japanese. Tozawa responded, “Merry Christmas.” 

(Sidney Crosby once asked Evgeni Malkin how to say “five-on-three” in Russian. Malkin responded, “five-on-three.”) 

Rusev came out. He grabbed a sign from a fan that read, “I will be your hawt hawt girlfriend.” Rusev seemed flattered but gave the sign back. 

After a break, Rusev spoke to the crowd. He said he was screwed over at TLC. He was upset about it and planned on doing something about it. However, he was not upset about Lana getting married to Lashley. In fact, it would be the greatest day of his life. The best punishment he can give Bob Lashley was allowing him to marry Lana. After all, their wedding was on Rusev Day. 

Rusev defeated No Way Jose (w/Conga Line) (0:36) 

Rusev won almost immediately with a Matcha kick. He helped Jose to his feet, then did a spin-a-rooni. He danced with the conga line and a girl from the conga line kissed him on the cheek. 

Caruso bothered Rollins again backstage. Rollins said he would beat Mysterio for the title and “we” would establish dominance. 

U.S. Championship match: Rey Mysterio defeated Seth Rollins (w/AOP) via DQ (9:52) 

They went to break two minutes into the match. After the break, Rollins worked over Mysterio as the crowd chanted for Rey. Mysterio came back with a sunset flip powerbomb into the barricade. Mysterio followed with a seated senton and tilt-a-whirl DDT for two. Rollins responded with a buckle bomb and superkick for two.

Rollins missed a stomp, then Mysterio used a leg scissors takedown and 619. AOP abruptly interfered for the DQ. As they attacked Mysterio, Joe said he would call them savages but that would be insulting savages. 

AOP dragged Mysterio up the ramp to the announce table. Joseph and Lawler bailed, but Joe remained seated at the table. AOP stared him down, and Joe told them he wasn’t moving from his spot. He let them know that if he got up, it would be both their asses. Joe got to his feet, but Rollins stepped in and tried to reason with him. 

Things seemed to calm down, then Rollins walked by AOP and calmly said, “finish him.” AOP attacked Joe. The crowd chanted “we want Kevin” (I believe the announcers said Owens was taken to the hospital again, though they never showed that.) Rollins gave Mysterio a curb stomp, then AOP slammed Joe through the announce table. 

This first-time-ever singles match ending in a DQ was lame. The postmatch was pretty good, and Rollins is good in this role. Otherwise, this show was as dull as it sounds. 

Final Thoughts — 

Enjoy the holidays. Watch out for pedestrians on the road.