WWE Raw 12/5/22 December 5th 2022
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WWE Raw Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from December 5
- Sana Ejaz Khan
- WWE
Welcome to ProfessionalPK's coverage of WWE Raw on December 5.
The Royal Rumble is still almost two months away but Superstars have already begun declaring their intention to enter and win the annual contest.
Monday's Raw featured The Usos putting the Undisputed Tag Team Championships on the line against Matt Riddle and Elias.
We also saw JBL host a high-stakes poker tournament alongside his new protege, Baron Corbin.
Let's look at what happened during Monday's show.
The Usos vs. Matt Riddle and Kevin Owens (Undisputed Tag Team Championships)
1 OF 6- Riddle interrupting a backstage interview with The Bloodline by riding his scooter through the shot was kind of funny, but seeing Sikoa walk away so he could return to surprise Elias was hilarious.
- Zayn trying to correct Riddle about what Ucey means shouldn't have been as funny as it was. That is how good Zayn is.
- The Usos are great at hitting strikes that look like they make a big impact. A lot of wrestlers are clearly pulling their punches, but The Usos look convincing when they hit someone most of the time.
- Elias should be really mad that Riddle recruited the guy who ended Ezekiel's career.
- Sikoa decimating Riddle was the best part of the first half-hour of the show. He is going to be a great character for years to come.
WWE did not waste any time at the top of the show, getting right to the action with the match for the Undisputed Tag Team Championships. The Usos thought they had found an easy way out.
Sami Zayn and Solo Sikoa were there to support Jimmy and Jey Uso. We saw a moment from earlier in the day when Elias was taken out backstage by The Bloodline. This led to Jimmy claiming the match was canceled.
Riddle came out and claimed he had found a new partner. Kevin Owens joined him to fight for the tag titles. KO started off against Jey and beat him into the mat right away.
The Usos were able to turn things around during the commercial break by isolating Riddle in their corner with quick tags, but The Bro began to show some signs of life before he finally tagged in Owens.
They were given a good amount of time to make this a competitive contest. All four men looked good, but the match as a whole felt like countless other tag team contests we have seen. It was good, but it didn't stand out for any reason other than the challengers being a bit of an odd couple.
The Usos were able to retain the titles by pinning Riddle with the 1D. The Prize Fighter chased The Bloodline off with a chair, but he didn't see Sikoa stay behind to beat up Riddle by himself. He used Umagas trademark Samoan Spike.
Winners: The Usos
Grade: B-
Notable Moments and Observations
Asuka vs. Bayley vs. Rhea Ripley
2 OF 6- Bayley wasn't acting quite as much like an annoying heel as she usually does, especially during her exchange with Lynch.
- Ripley being too powerful for Bayley to roll up was a nice touch. WWE has done a great job of portraying her as one of the most dominant women in the world.
- The way Ripley sold a roundhouse kick to the head from Asuka was perfect.
- Ripley hit a beautiful northern lights suplex.
Bayley was out first for a Triple Threat match against Asuka and Rhea Ripley. The winner of this bout will face the winner of another Triple Threat to see who gets the next shot at Bianca Belair and the Raw Women's Championship.
Before the match could begin, Bayley and Becky Lynch had a confrontation in the ring. As The Man tried to leave, she was met in the aisle by Ripley. They had a long staredown before The Nightmare got to the ring.
The Empress hit Bayley with a dropkick as soon as the bell rang, but Ripley prevented her from capitalizing on it. The Role Model was thrown from the ring so Asuka and Ripley could fight for a bit, but she didn't stay gone for long.
Bayley and Asuka were forced to work together in an attempt to neutralize The Nightmare, but their alliance broke down almost immediately.
This match was a lot of fun and gave all three women a chance to look good along the way. Everyone was laying their strikes in deep and selling for their opponents like the pros they are. They found several ways to use all three competitors in interesting spots that did not look too contrived.
While Ripley seemed like the favorite at times, Bayley was the one who ended up scoring the win. The Nightmare took out her frustrations on Asuka once the match was over.
Winner: Bayley
Grade: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
Austin Theory vs. Mustafa Ali (U.S. Title)
3 OF 6- Ali and Theory had a backstage segment that led to this U.S. title match being booked. Theory is finding his groove with this more serious version of his character.
- The show checked in on the poker game again before this match took place. Luke Gallows and Chad Gable yelled their catchphrases at each other a few times.
- After wearing shorts for a few weeks, Ali was back to wearing long tights again.
- That botched hurricanrana could have been bad news for both men. It's hard to tell if it was luck or skill that saved it from being a disaster.
Seth Rollins and Bobby Lashley will meet next week in a No. 1 Contender's match for the U.S. title, but they couldn't wait seven days to get their hands on each other. Petey Williams ended up taking a Spear when a bunch of officials tried to break it up.
The next match saw Mustafa Ali get a shot at the United States Championship against Austin Theory. The champ asserted his dominance early and overpowered Ali to take control.
The former Chicago cop kept trying to find a way to make a comeback, but Theory continued to push him around most of the time.
This was a solid, competitive performance from two young stars who both want to prove they deserve a top spot in 2023. Even though Ali has been booed terribly in recent months, he continues to put on fantastic matches.
However, they came close to having a dangerous botch during a hurricanrana from the top rope. Thankfully, both men appeared to be fine and recovered right away with a tornado DDT that gave Ali a near-fall. Other than that one spot, this was a good display of their skills.
Dolph Ziggler showed up and hit Theory with a superkick out of nowhere to cause a disqualification. Ali got in his face for costing him the title, but that allowed Theory to take both men down while they were distracted.
While this ending was not ideal, the fact that Theory has Ziggler, Ali, Lashley and Rollins all chasing the U.S. title makes it feel like one of the most sought-after belts in all of WWE.
Winner: Mustafa Ali wins by DQ
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
The OC vs. Alpha Academy and Baron Corbin
4 OF 6- Chas Gable and Luke Gallows were yelling their catchphrases at each other earlier in the night, so that seemed to be the basis for their animosity. They did it again during the match, and the crowd started to get into it.
- Gable and Anderson are both awesome technical wrestlers, so having them pair up for part of this match allowed them to display those skills a bit before Gallows tagged in. It would be awesome if we got a couple of singles matches between them.
- Otis is letting his beard get long again. His sense of humor is directly tied to the length of his beard, apparently.
- Otis sold the Pele kick from Styles perfectly.
AJ Styles and Corbin got into a disagreement during the poker game, so The OC ended up having a six-man tag match against Corbin and Alpha Academy.
The New Wrestling God and The Phenomenal One started for their teams since they had the main argument that led to this bout. Corbin used his size advantage to take Styles down early, but he bragged a bit too much and allowed his opponent to recover.
The match had a somewhat slow pace for the first several minutes, but not in a bad way. Everyone was obeying the rules, tagging in and out, and nobody was trying to go 100 miles per hour. They saved that for the final sequence.
This was a textbook WWE six-man match. It never really got too out of hand, but it also never reached that level of excitement that we expect from any match involving Styles. It was decent, but nothing to write home about.
After a fun exchange with all six competitors brought things to a close, Gallows and Anderson hit Gable with the Magic Killer for the win.
Winners: The OC
Grade: C+
Notable Moments and Observations
Akira Tozawa vs. Dominik Mysterio
5 OF 6- It's so great to see Tozawa wearing his original gear again. The ninja costume lasted way too long.
- Tozawa got some good height on his senton, so hitting the mat as hard as he did must have hurt.
After getting into an argument during the poker game, Tozawa and Mysterio met for a singles match, but Dom came with the entire Judgment Day stable.
The Japanese Superstar used his speed and agility to easily control his younger opponent for the first minute, but Dominik sent him into the middle turnbuckle to stall his momentum.
Tozawa missed his signature senton from the top rope, so Mysterio capitalized by hitting a Frog Splash for the win. This was a quick match that didn't do much other than give Mysterio a relatively easy win.
Winner: Dominik Mysterio
Grade: C-
Notable Moments and Observations
Becky Lynch vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Nikki Cross
6 OF 6- They have a giant AR graphic of Lilly for Alexa's entrance. The doll was gone for a little while, but it appears that WWE is bringing it back as part of her character. It probably had something to do with all of the teases we have been getting on screens near her lately.
- Some of the pinning combinations Bliss and Lynch used early on looked good, but one out of every three or four looked slightly awkward, so it made the whole sequence feel slightly off balance.
- Lynch tried to jump off Bliss' back to hit Cross in the corner, but she missed the mark by a couple of inches.
- The way Cross and Bliss were fighting felt like WWE might be considering reigniting their feud.
- The spot when Lynch tried to hit a leg drop while Cross hit Bliss with a neckbreaker looked very awkward.
The second Triple Threat match from the women's division closed the show with Lynch, Bliss and Nikki Cross fighting to see who would face Bayley next week. The winner of that match will get a title shot against Belair in the future.
Cross ended up leaving the ring so she could watch Bliss and Lynch have a nice exchange of near-falls and counters. When she tried to get back in the ring, The Man took her down with a baseball slide dropkick.
Cross used her unorthodox style of offense to take out both women right before the first commercial break. Big Time Becks began to dominate when we returned.
All three of these women have their own unique styles, but they are all versatile, too. That allowed them to put on a fun encounter that was almost as good as the other Triple Threat we saw earlier in the night. The first bout just had a slightly more aggressive pace to it.
Iyo Sky and Dakota Kai came out and interfered to prevent The Man from winning by powerbombing her through the announce table. This allowed The Goddess to hit Twisted Bliss for the win.
Winner: Alexa Bliss
Grade: B-
Notable Moments and Observations
