The John Report: WWE Raw Deal 12/08/25 Review

It’s WWE Monday Night Raw, featuring Last Time Is Now Tournament winner Gunther, AJ Styles & Dragon Lee defending their titles, and more.

We are in that slow period for WWE as the year ends this month. Saturday Night’s Main Event is this Saturday, December 13th, featuring John Cena’s last match against Gunther. The former 2-time World Champion Gunther is in that match because he beat LA Knight on SmackDown last week.

Last week on Raw, we found out that World Champion CM Punk will defend the title against Bron Breakker on the January 5th edition of Raw to start the year. The World Champion CM Punk is expected to miss this Raw due to filming a Netflix movie, so it’s the second Raw in a row without him.

This is the Raw Deal for episode #1698 of Monday Night Raw. It’s taking place at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri. Follow me on Twitter/X @johnreport. Let’s get to it.

Raw started with a video about the Last Time Is Now Tournament to determine John Cena’s opponent in his final WWE match. The 16-man tournament ended with Gunther beating LA Knight to win it.

Analysis: I thought the tournament was fine for the most part, but the lack of upsets was a bit disappointing. Too many favorites won. This booking team has become very predictable. I like Gunther, but I know a lot of fans wanted Knight to win.

Let’s Hear from GUNTHER

“The Ring General” Gunther made his entrance to boos from the crowd. Gunther was in black street clothes. The fans chanted “Cena” at Gunther before he said a word. They also chanted “We Want Cena” at him. Sorry fans, but he’s not booked.

Gunther told the fans not to get their hopes up because he’s not coming tonight. Gunther said right now is his time. Gunther said that by submitting LA Knight, he earned one of the biggest honors of his career. Gunther said that in five days, he’ll be the last opponent in the last match in the career of John Cena. Gunther mentioned 17 WWE Championships, all that time on the road, and he fully agrees that Cena is the greatest sports entertainer of all time. Gunther claimed he’s the greatest professional wrestler of all time. Gunther cued up a countdown to how long until Cena’s last match. Gunther said beating Cena on Saturday is not enough for him. Gunther spoke into the camera, saying he’s going to break his spirit, push him around, bully him, drop him on his head, and wrap his arms around Cena’s neck and squeeze. Gunther said he’s going to squeeze until all the hustle, loyalty, and respect leave his body. Gunther said he’s going to force Cena to do the one thing he said he would never do…give up. Gunther left.

Analysis: Good heelish promo by Gunther. He knows how to be the bad guy, he knows how to piss off the fans, and that’s why he’s in the spot he is in. Plus, his matches are always great, so that helps a lot too. I think Gunther should beat Cena at SNME.

The Raw commentary team was Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett. Alicia Taylor was the ring announcer.

There was pre-show walking shown of Rey Mysterio, Lyra Valkyria with Bayley, AJ Styles and Dragon Lee, Stephanie Vaquer, and Iyo Sky with Rhea Ripley.

A video package aired about the end of last week’s Raw with multiple women’s tag teams getting into a brawl. The Judgment Day’s Raquel Rodriguez, Roxanne Perez, and Liv Morgan stood tall to end the show.

Iyo Sky made her entrance for singles action, and she was joined by Rhea Ripley. They went on a break for some fans, so Sky and Ripley killed some time waving at fans. The women’s version of the WrestleMania 42 commercial aired. Tickets on sale now. Kairi Sane’s entrance with Asuka was next. Sane and Asuka are the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions.

The WWE NXT Champion Oba Femi was shown in the crowd. He’s against WWE Champion Cody Rhodes at Saturday Night’s Main Event. I’m looking forward to that.

Iyo Sky (w/Rhea Ripley) vs. Kairi Sane (w/Asuka)

There’s a nice “I just hope they both have fun” sign in the crowd. I agree. Sane did a hurricanrana, but Sky flipped over to her feet. Sky and Sane exchanged pin attempts. Sky did a crucifix pin attempt for two. Sane did a headscissors off the ropes. Sky hit a running dropkick to knock Sane down. Asuka went on the apron to distract, and she sent Sky out of the ring. Ripley got in Asuka’s face. Sane hit a clothesline off the apron onto Sky on the floor. They went on a break for some fans for a few minutes as the heel Sane was in control.

Sane had Sky in a Boston Crab, but Sky flipped out of it. Sane charged with a sliding attack, but Sky got a boot up. Sky hit a flapjack, along with a kick to the chest. Sky hit a missile dropkick on Sane and the fans came alive. Sky hit the Bullet Train knee attack for two. Sky went up top, but Sane was back up to send Sky upside down and Sane hit a double foot stomp for two. Sky hit Sane with a roundhouse kick to the head. Sane countered a move by landing on her feet and she hit a clothesline. Sane tried a move on the apron, but Sky landed on her feet. Sky hit a bridging German Suplex on Sane on the apron. Sky hit a springboard moonsault onto Sane on the floor. Back in the ring, Sky kicked Sane in the face. Sky went up top, Sane rolled away, the referee was distracted and Asuka tripped up Sky on the top rope. Ripley superkicked Asuka and tossed her over the barricade. Sky gave Sane a headscissors off the top. Sky hit Over the Moonsault off the top on Sane for the pinfall win after 12 minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Iyo Sky

Analysis: ***1/4 A good match between two women who know eachother well. That was the result I expected because when a tag team champion is in a singles match, they tend to lose so that it can set up a future tag team title match. Sky and Sane know eachother very well. You could tell they had a lot of chemistry in the match. Asuka got involved multiple times, but when Ripley took her out, Sky was able to focus on Sane and get the win.

The Vision’s Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed, Logan Paul and Paul Heyman were in the locker room. Paul mentioned Rey Mysterio smacking him in the face last week. Logan said something has to be done about this. Bron said let’s handle it. Logan asked to talk to Heyman. Logan told Heyman that this situation with Rey is getting handled. Heyman said now Logan has backup. Logan said they get in trouble, Logan is their backup too. Heyman said he loves that idea. Heyman handed Logan his trusty brass knuckles…just in case. Logan left. Heyman said he liked that guy.

Analysis: It’s good to see Logan Paul working on Raw again.

Rey Mysterio was shown walking backstage while The New Day and Grayson Waller were arguing with Raw GM Adam Pearce as usual.

A video aired about John Cena’s iconic “You Can’t See Me” hand gesture while WWE talking heads spoke about it. They spoke about it being part of pop culture. Cena explained it as a goofy thing he did while hanging out with one of his brothers. The gesture was called a pop culture sensation. This was during a break for some fans.

Lyra Valkyria and Bayley were interviewed by Byron Saxton, who mentioned the Women’s Tag Team Title picture. Bayley said it’s the strongest the women’s tag team division has ever been. Bayley said she didn’t care who it was, and she said, “Lyra and Valkyria ain’t a team to mess with.” Oops. Lyra was fired up tagging up with the best person in the world. Bayley said that the fans want to see them as Women’s Tag Team Champions. The fans cheered.

There was a video package about The War Raiders talking about how your time to run and hide has ended. They get a World Tag Team Title match later in the show.

Rey Mysterio made his entrance for a singles match, but he was attacked by Logan Paul with a punch to the back. Logan sent Rey into the barricade. Logan sent Rey into the ring, where Logan kicked Rey in the ribs. Logan worked over Rey with forearms, and the fans were booing loudly. Logan took out the brass knuckles, Rey got a boot up and Rey punched Logan a few times. Logan hit an elbow to knock Rey down. Rey tripped up Logan into the ropes. The masked man with a hoodie went into the ring with a superkick on Rey. The masked guy hit The Stomp on Rey as well. The masked man ran away while security chased him. When Rey got back up with the help of a referee, Logan Paul punched Rey with brass knuckles on Logan’s hand. LA Knight ran out to the ring to chase Logan from the ring.

LA Knight told Logan Paul not to go anywhere. Knight said if that was Seth Rollins then he’ll have an aneurysm. Knight said that The Vision sucked and now it’s worse with Paul. Knight spoke about Rey being a legend, so he said that Logan had to pay for what he did. Knight told Logan he wants him to pay right here in KC and yelled, “Yeah,” repeatedly, with everybody saying, LA Knight, yeah.” It seemed like Logan agreed to it.

Analysis: A cheap attack from Logan Paul to get some massive heat on him as usual. The masked guy struck again, and I’ll maintain that I think it’s Austin Theory, but WWE is clearly going to take its time to reveal who it was. The Knight save earned him a big pop and it set up a match with Logan for later.

LA Knight helped Rey Mysterio to the backstage area. This was during the break for some fans.

The women’s WrestleMania 42 commercial aired, featuring Becky Lynch reminding us it’s anyone’s game at WrestleMania Vegas.

They showed NXT’s Je’Von Evans at ringside. It was announced that AJ Styles & Dragon Lee will face Je’Von Evans & Leon Slater at Saturday Night’s Main Event. That will be an awesome match.

WWE World Tag Team Championships: AJ Styles & Dragon Lee vs. War Raiders – Erik & Ivar

As the match began, The New Day and Grayson Waller showed up at ringside to watch the match.

Lee was on fire early on with a running dropkick on Erik against the turnbuckle. Styles tagged in with a double elbow smash. Ivar tagged in, Styles sent both opponents out of the ring. Lee tried a dive, but the Raiders caught him and punched Styles to stop a diving attack. Erik jumped off the apron to knock Lee down on the floor and some tech guy got hit against the barricade. Ouch. Ivar hit a running cross body block against the LED apron. They went to a break for some fans as the Raiders took control. Ivar hit a spin kick on Styles. Erik body slammed Ivar onto Styles for a two count. The Raiders remained in control of the action during the break.

It was Ivar in control of Styles with a boot to the face. Erik tagged in with a knee smash on Styles for two. Ivar went for a spin kick, Styles avoided it and Styles hit a Pele Kick. Lee got the hot tag with a kick on Ivar and he clotheslined Erik out of the ring. Lee kicked Ivar, followed by a jumping kick to the back. Lee trapped Erik by the turnbuckle and hit a double foot stomp. Second match in a row with that move. Lee picked up Ivar to go for a spot, but then they stumbled down. Lee tried another left and didn’t work. Lee did a third attempt and they crashed to the mat. Lee did a charging attack that looked like an elbow smash for two. Ivar sat on Lee with a senton splash. Erik was back in, but Lee countered both guys with a hurricanrana. Erik caught Lee on the apron, Lee avoided it and Lee hit a superkick. Erik launched Lee onto Ivar on the floor and Ivar hit the Viking Experience powerslam on the floor. Ivar hit a moonsault off the top onto Lee for two because Styles broke up the pin. Styles tagged back in against Erik, so they exchanged strikes. Styles went for a Pele Kick, Erik avoided it and Erik did the loud leg slap knee smash for two. Kofi shouted at Erik that he had to hook the leg. Ivar was back in and Styles hit him with a hurricanrana off the top onto Erik. Lee hit a somersault dive over the top onto Erik on the floor. Styles jumped off the top and hit the Phenomenal Forearm for the pinfall win after 12 minutes.

Winners by pinfall: AJ Styles & Dragon Lee

Analysis: ***1/2 The team of Styles & Lee continue to have great matches every time they get out there. There wasn’t a story for this match with the War Raiders, who have been away for a while, but these two teams had a competitive match and that puts over how important the World Tag Team Titles are. Styles & Lee have so much chemistry together. I like Erik & Ivar a lot because they are bigger dudes who are willing to bump for the smaller guys and always have an entertaining match.

The New Day’s Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods with Grayson Waller got in the ring to confront Styles and Lee.

The Usos made their entrance from the crowd and they did some Yeeting with the fans on their way to the ring. Jey got a young child and they did some Yeeting together. The little guy was into it. It took a few minutes for them to get into the ring as usual.

When The Usos got into the ring, they did the run it back thing again where they did more Yeeting in the fans. Jey Uso said that The Usos are now in your city. Jimmy Uso said that they are back in the tag team division. Jimmy said that the reason why is because they’ve been taking L after L. Jimmy mentioned they lost at WarGames, Wrestlepalooza, Jey lost his World Title, and Jey lost in the John Cena tournament. Jimmy saw Jey crash out, so Jimmy asked what are they doing? Jey said that they will get back to them, block the noise, body them all and the best tag team is in your city. Jey said that they need gold. Jimmy said that respect to the Tag Team Champions. Jey mentioned that The New Day knows about them. Jey said that this is Ali vs. Frazier, Rock vs. Austin and you know how this story ends because they’ll run through them like always. Jey soke to Styles & Lee saying they are taking it all. New Day spun The Usos around, so The Usos decked them with punches. Styles and Lee got in The Usos face to talk some trash. The Usos music played to end it.

Analysis: I like that announcement by The Usos. The tag team stronger just got a long stronger with The Usos in the mix. I also think it is the right for Jey Uso in particular because he had that long singles run over the last couple of years and there’s really nowhere for him to go, so putting The Usos back together makes a lot of sense to me. Jimmy did a good job explaining it by mentioning their losses, so now they are focused. The timing is also right to get them back in the tag team division leading into WrestleMania in April, so I expect The Usos to go into WrestleMania as the champions or the challengers. It’s fine with me.

A commercial aired about SmackDown and the Royal Rumble in Riyadh on January 30th and January 31st.

The Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer was shown walking backstage because she is next.

There was a video package about John Cena beating The Rock for the WWE Title at WrestleMania 29 in 2013. They had some WWE talking heads speaking about the Cena-Rock rivalry. The Rock said that they had a lot of love and respect for eachother, so it was a beautiful thing for them to work together. This was during a break for some fans.

The announcers did a rundown of Saturday Night’s Main Event this Saturday, December 13th in Washington, D.C.

* John Cena vs. Gunther in Cena’s final WWE match

* Sol Ruca vs. Bayley

* WWE World Tag Team Champions AJ Styles & Dragon Lee vs. Je’Von Evans & Leon Slater in a non-title match

* WWE Champion Cody Rhodes vs. NXT Champion Oba Femi in a non-title match.

They showed KC Royals catcher Carter Jensen at ringside. Go Toronto Blue Jays. That’s all.

Let’s Hear from Stephanie Vaquer

The Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer was in the ring where she was interviewed by Jackie Redmond. Jackie asked who is next for her. Vaquer said she’s ready for everyone. Vaquer said she’s not known for talking, but she’s known for her actions. Vaquer talked about how Nikki Bella is a legend, but the women’s division is so different from 15 years ago. Vaquer mentioned some of the women in the division like Rhea Ripley, Bayley, Nattie, Iyo Sky, and they’re all amazing. Vaquer mentioned she’s at the top.

Nikki Bella interrupted the promo even though Vaquer beat Nikki clean at Survivor Series. Nikki said that Kansas City doesn’t deserve the presence of somebody like her. Nikki said she’s a Hall of Famer, legend and celebrity. Nikki said they are so not done. Nikki demanded a rematch, but that’s when Raquel Rodriguez showed up and lawn darted Nikki into the ring post.

Raquel Rodriguez got into the ring and spoke Spanish to Vaquer. Raquel told Vaquer to name the time and the place because Raquel will be there to take her title. Raquel stared at Vaquer to end it.

Analysis: They have teased a Vaquer-Rodriguez feud in the past, so now it’s in the spotlight. Nikki Bella got her ass kicked easily. Nikki doesn’t have much of a case for a rematch since she rarely wins any matches. Good job by Vaquer improving a lot in speaking English. I know she has said that she has studied it a lot this year and it shows.

LA Knight was shown getting ready for the main event.

The WrestleMania 42 commercial aired again with Iyo Sky speaking in Japanese to let us know WrestleMania Vegas is anyone’s game.

Ivy Nile and The Creed Brothers were interviewed by Byron Saxton, who mentioned Nile will challenge Maxxine Dupri for the Women’s Intercontinental Title next week. Nile trashed Dupri about how she’s been training like a champion this entire time. Nile said Dupri will drop the ball like the Kansas City Chiefs did last night, so that drew boos. Nile said no matter how much training Dupri does, she won’t keep her championship from Nile. This was during the break for some fans.

A video was shown about John Cena’s history of WrestleMania with various WWE talking heads speaking about Cena’s legacy in big WrestleMania matches.

The Judgment Day was shown in the clubhouse. Finn Balor spoke about how he had an easy night because Rey Mysterio was attacked. Raquel Rodriguez (wearing Houston Texas gear to mock the KC Chiefs) walked in, Liv Morgan asked her about it and Raquel said she didn’t know that she had to run everything by Liv. Liv said it’s not like that and she wished Raquel the best. Raquel left to talk to Adam Pearce about getting a title match. Liv told Roxanne Perez she’ll be in her corner and Liv said that if Raquel is going for the Women’s Title then Liv and Perez can be a team. Perez was surprised by it. Dom said to Balor it was good because they are bonding.

Analysis: It appears that Liv Morgan is on the same page as Roxanne Perez even though there was some thought that those two might have issues. Perhaps those issues will resurface in the future.

Lyra Valkyria made her entrance with Bayley. Sol Ruca was at ringside since she’s against Bayley at Saturday Night’s Main Event this Saturday night. Roxanne Perez made her entrance, joined by Liv Morgan.

Analysis: It seems like they have pulled the plug on the story that Bayley had split personalities because they really haven’t pushed that idea in recent weeks.

Lyra Valkyria (w/Bayley) vs. Roxanne Perez (w/Liv Morgan)

There was a sweep kick by Lyra followed by a dropkick. Lyra hit a Northern Lights Suplex for a two count. Perez left the ring, got a hold of Lyra on the floor and Perez sent Lyra’s left arm into the steel steps. Perez pulled on Lyra’s left arm against the steel steps. They went on a break for some fans as Perez was in full control. Joe mentioned this was Perez’s 44th televised match this year, which is the most among women in WWE. Perez was in control as she hit a knee drop on Lyra’s left arm to continue working on the arm. Perez wrenched on Lyra’s left arm some more. Perez tried to stomp on the arm but Lyra tripped Perez up. Perez came back with a Northern Lights Suplex for a two count.

The match continued with Lyra managing to get back to her feet and hit a Powerbomb. Lyra worked over Perez with kicks. Lyra hit a jumping kick to the head. Lyra hit a running dropkick to knock Perez down on the floor. Lyra went up top and hit a cross body block on Perez for two. Lyra went for a suplex, Perez blocked it and Lyra put Perez onto the apron. Perez pulled on Lyra’s left arm against he top rope. Perez slammed Lyra face first into the mat and hit a cartwheel knee drop. Perez applied an armbar on the left arm, but Lyra got out of it. Lyra got a hold of Perez leading to a German Suplex. Liv was on the apron to distract, so Perez did an eye rake. Bayley tripped up Liv and Perez kicked Bayley off the apron to the floor. Lyra went for a pin, Perez sent her into the ropes and Liv kicked Lyra while she was by the apron. Perez hit a Pop Rox on Lyra for the pinfall win after 11 minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Roxanne Perez

Analysis: ***1/4 An entertaining match between two talented women who wrestled in NXT plenty of times before they got to the main roster, so Perez and Lyra always have good matches. I think it was booked this way to show that Liv is on the same page with Perez because Liv was the difference maker in this match.

Roxanne Perez and Liv Morgan celebrated the win. Liv gave her a big hug.

The WrestleMania 42 commercial aired again. It featured Tiffany Stratton talking this time.

It said that the LA Knight-Logan Paul match was next. It seems early for the main event match, but it’s coming up.

The New Day’s Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods (with Grayson Waller) interrupted Byron Saxton’s attempt to talk. This was during a break for some fans. Kofi bragged about how they are the greatest tag team and that the tag team division belongs to them. Woods trash-talked The Usos, saying that next week, they are going to bury The Usos under their very own penitentiary. Kofi told the fans to thank God for that, and Woods said thank God for The New Day to end it.

A video aired about Women’s IC Champion Maxxine Dupri training with Nattie. Dupri kept applying the ankle lock on women and tapping them out. Dupri kept on shouting “another one” as she faced more women. Nattie told Dupri to try it on her, so they locked up and Dupri got the Ankle Lock on Nattie too. Nattie tapped out. Dupri: “Again!”

Analysis: It’s a way to show how far Maxxine Dupri has come. I’m just looking forward to Nattie coming back in that persona because they need to use her more. I hope the reports are true that WWE plans to use Nattie more in the future.

There was a clip shown of John Cena’s exclusive interview with John Cena. It’s on WWE’s YouTube channel and it goes live after Raw, so check it out. Cena talked about how the fans chanted, “You can’t wrestle” at him because Cena won so many matches with the same five moves. Cena said that the audience’s words taught Cena to do more and try to be better when he competed against Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, AJ Styles and others. Cena said it was his way of saying he would try to get better.

Analysis: I look forward to watching that John Cena interview. Cena is a very honest and humble guy, considering how successful he has been in his WWE career.

They went over the Saturday Night’s Main Event lineup for December 13th again. I went over it earlier.

LA Knight made his entrance for the main event. As I mentioned earlier, it felt early for the main event since it was 9:52 p.m. ET and most Raw’s in the Netflix era got about 2.5 hours. This one will be shorter. Anyway, they went on a break for some fans. They did a Sign of the Night segment with ring announcer Alicia Taylor putting over the signs. That killed some time during the break for some fans.

Logan Paul made his entrance with “The Oracle,” WWE Hall of Famer Paul Heyman, and they were booed as usual.

LA Knight vs. Logan Paul (w/Paul Heyman)

Logan attacked early on, but Knight came back with a clothesline. Knight sent Logan into the turnbuckle. Knight suplexed Logan from the apron into the ring. Logan bailed to the floor, so Knight jumped off the apron to clothesline Logan on the floor. Knight cleared off the commentary table, Logan fought back, but Knight got a hold of him and slammed Logan’s head/hands into the commentary table repeatedly. Knight elbowed Logan while on the apron. Knight did a slingshot shoulder tackle to knock Logan down. Logan came back with a clothesline on Knight. After Knight tried a lifting move, Logan landed on his feet and hit a version of the Zig Zag neckbreaker for a two count. They went on a break for some fans as Logan was booed by the fans. Logan hit a running uppercut against the turnbuckle. Logan hit a split-legged leg drop for two. Logan was doing a lot of crowd taunting. Knight fought back with punches, leading to “Yeah” chants and Logan hit a knee to the ribs. Logan stomped on Knight against the turnbuckle.

Knight got some offense going by tripping up Logan by the turnbuckle and hitting some punches. Logan hit a stun gun into the top rope and a spinning reverse Powerbomb for a two count. Knight got some punches going, then he ran the ropes and hit a jumping clothesline. Knight hit a Russian legsweep, along with a neckbreaker for two. Knight stomped on Logan several times and put a boot to the throat. Knight hit a running knee. Knight set up for a superplex, but that’s when Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed showed up at ringside, so Knight was distracted. Logan hit a cross body block off the turnbuckle for a two count. The fans chanted “OTC” for Roman Reigns. Good luck with that, fans. Knight countered a Logan move and hit a reverse DDT. Knight hit an elbow drop off the top rope. Bron got on the apron, so Knight punched him. Reed headbutted Knight while the referee was looking at Bron. The referee ejected Breakker and Reed from ringside. Knight punched Reed down. Knight hit a running kick to knock Logan down on the floor. Knight punched Logan on the floor by the commentary table. The dreaded masked man went to ringside and hit The Stomp on Knight on the commentary table. The referee was looking at Heyman, so he never saw it. Logan went up top and hit a Frog Splash on Knight for the pinfall win. It went about 13 minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Logan Paul

Analysis: ***1/4 It was a solid match where the babyface Knight had to deal with Knight in the ring along with three guys on the floor and then a fourth guy when the masked man hit Knight with The Stomp. It was yet another cheap win for The Vision, which we have gotten used to whenever they are in matches.

After the match, Logan held up Knight, and Bron ran the ropes, leading to Bron hitting a Spear on Knight. Reed went up top and hit a Tsunami on Knight. Reed hit a second Tsunami off the top onto Knight.

Let’s Hear from Paul Heyman and Bron Breakker with The Vision

Paul Heyman was handed a microphone and was told by somebody at ringside they would go to a commercial. Heyman said that when they get back from commercial, he’ll still be talking. Heyman trashed Kansas City for not having ladies and mentioned the gentlemen who brought things with them. Heyman talked about his guys in the ring – Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed and Logan Paul. Heman announced Logan Paul as the winner of the main event. That was during the break for some fans and the break ended there.

Heyman told the fans he didn’t understand what they are booing for. The fans booed more. Heyman wondered if it was Kansas City, Kansas or Kansas City, Missouri (the fans cheered). Heyman said that on January 5th on Raw, you will have a new Heavyweight Champion of the World…and his name is Bron Breakker.

Bron Breakker was about to speak and was greeted by CM Punk chants. Bron asked where is CM Punk? Bron said that Punk wasn’t there because if he was there’d be two losses in back to back days in Kansas City. Bron said he wondered where “THE” CM Punk is. Bron talked about how Punk acts like this nice guy who helps young talent and takes photos of them. Bron said that Punk is a fraud. Bron trashed Punk for saying he had never done drugs or alcohol, but he looks like the biggest crackhead anybody has ever seen. Bron said he didn’t want to face this version of CM Punk. Bron said that can beat Punk easily. Bron said he wants the Punk from 2011, 2012 and 2013. Bron said that he wants the guy who beat The Rock and held the WWE Title for 434 days. Bron said in his eyes that he saw Punk as one of the greatest wrestlers. Bron went on his knees saying he wants to face the old CM Punk. Bron said if he doesn’t get that version of CM Punk, he’s going to destroy him, break him and while Bron is at it, he’ll take Punk’s wife too. That drew a big reaction from the crowd saying “ooohhh” for the personal shot.

LA Knight was shown getting checked on backstage, but Knight said he wasn’t done yet. That led to Bronson Reed and LA Knight going backstage.

Back in the ring, Bron Breakker spoke into the camera as if it was CM Punk and said it would be Spear….1, 2, 3 and he said “Spear…1, 2, 3 a few times.

Analysis: I would imagine that Bron Breakker saying he would take CM Punk’s wife AJ Lee would come across as a personal shot, so Punk should be aggressive when he comes back to the show next week or whenever he comes back.

Reed and Knight beat up Knight again. Reed gave Knight a Powerbomb through a table. Reed said that they run WWE. Logan said that it’s over. Knight rolled around on the table, so Reed threw Knight onto a car hood. The indy wrestler security guys were beaten up too. Logan punched Knight a few times and put him on top of a car hood. Reed went onto some equipment cases that were about 10 feet high and jumped on with a Tsunami onto Knight on the top of the car. Raw GM Adam Pearce and referees were there to put a stop to it. Reed trash talked Knight. End fo show.

Analysis: We have seen Bronson Reed do that Tsunami splash onto a car in the past to Braun Strowman, so it’s a way to create a new rival for Knight by having Reed do that extreme attack. I assume that Knight misses a week or two to sell that beating. Knight showed a lot of heart trying to fight back, but the guys in The Vision were too much for him.

This week’s Raw had a runtime of 2 hours and 22 minutes on Netflix. That’s the same as last week.

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I’ll add my final thoughts later in the night.