Posted on 12/17/124 by Bob Magee
Date: December 16, 2024
Location: TD Garden in Boston, MA
**********
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.
********
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.
********
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.
********
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.)
********
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.
********
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.
********
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.
********
Adam Pearce announced to Cathy Kelley that CM Punk vs. Seth
Rollins will happen on Raw’s Netflix debut on January 6th,
2025.
********
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.)
********
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.)
********
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.)
********
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.
*******
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.
********
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.)
********
A red logo flashed on the screen. It appeared to be a zero,
perhaps teasing Penta.
********
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.