 Gunther Addressed the AudienceThis was exactly how I hoped they'd start the show after Gunther forced John Cena to tap out at Saturday Night's Main Event and they did not disappoint. The crowd booed him out of the building and the heat was fantastic. Gunther was tremendous in trolling mode here, including coming back to the ring multiple times to taunt the crowd. It's all about the aftermath to make it matter and I liked the tease of him with AJ Styles as he was leaving the arena. The Usos def. The New DayFor the first match these teams have had in three years, this didn't feel as special as it should have, nor was it on par with some of their more memorable encounters from years ago. It was still a good match for what it was and they received plenty of time, even though it was clear that WWE wanted to get this out of the way so The Usos can challenge for the World Tag Team Championship soon. WWE Women's Tag Team Champions The Kabuki Warriors Attacked Rhea Ripley and IYO SKYI'm going to assume Ripley and SKY were on their way to the ring for a promo before Kabuki Warriors attacked them. This was a simple segment designed to put some much-needed heat on the heels before they collide for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship in three weeks. That'll be another nice attraction for that show along with CM Punk vs. Bron Breakker for the World Heavyweight Championship. I actually hope Ripley and SKY don't win so Ripley can go back to doing her own thing in time for WrestleMania season. Women's Intercontinental Champion Maxxine Dupri def. Ivy NileI appreciated that the commentators acknowledged how Dupri and Nile were partners prior to Nile betraying Durpi and the rest of Alpha Academy in the summer of 2024, but that was about the only build this bout received. Nile hasn't wrestled on Raw in many months and has never been over with the main roster audience. Although she wasn't a great foil for Dupri, she made sense as the first challenger for Dupri. Their match was decent despite lacking heat. World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk Addressed Bron BreakkerThis was in response to the promos Breakker has been cutting in Punk's absence since Survivor Series. It wasn't one of the best Punk promos ever or even from this return run, but it was strong stuff nonetheless and accomplished what it needed to as far as building toward his World Heavyweight Championship clash with Breakker on the first Raw of 2026. I look forward to them eventually having a war of words in the ring together, possibly as soon as next week. Women's World Champion Stephanie Vaquer vs. Raquel Rodriguez Ended in a No ContestThese two last met one-on-one for the title on the November 10th Raw. I didn't necessarily need a rematch, but it was apparent before it even got started that it only existed so Nikki Bella could get involved after being attacked by Rodriguez last week. What we got was fine, but the crowd was rather quiet outside of Vaquer hitting her patented Devil's Kiss move. A Triple Threat between Vaquer, Rodriguez and Bella for the title doesn't do much for me, personally. Logan Paul def. Rey MysterioThis was the third match Paul and Mysterio have had in the last two years, and this wasn't much different than their than their other outings. In fact, it actually felt slower paced for some reason, specifically when Paul took his time doing the Three Amigos. Paul winning with an assist from the masked man was predictable, as was the post-match reveal of it being Austin Theory. Hey, at least they didn't drag it out until January. With how badly Theory has been booked since January, it's going to take a lot more than this for me to care about Theory again, let alone take him seriously. Overall ShowI'd call this a slightly-above-average edition of Raw thanks to Gunther's promo and the Theory reveal at the end, even though it wasn't the most exciting in my opinion. We also got more hype for the January 5th Raw, which will now feature two title matches. The two women's matchups weren't anything out of the ordinary but didn't hurt my overall enjoyment of the episode.
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