RAW Results and Recap: Burn. It. Down.

LaToya Ferguson
source: WWE
Monday Night RAW – December 10, 2018

San Diego, CA kicks off Monday Night RAW right, with Seth freakin’ Rollins in the center of the ring. And his entrance music plays on a loop, letting us all know we need to “BURN IT DOWN” even more so than usual… which is a choice. Is it a good choice? Is it a bad choice? (It’s one of those two.) But the point is: “BURN IT DOWN” is now Seth Rollins’ “rallying cry” this Sunday against Dean Ambrose. It’s actually also his battle cry “right here, tonight,” as he’s here to “spit some truth.” So he invites RAW General Manager-Elect Baron Corbin out to the ring to hear some of those truths.

And surprisingly, Corbin actually does come out. But unsurprisingly, it’s to the boos of the WWE Universe. Corbin’s out to say he and Rollins can have a conversation “in private,” because his door is always open to a Superstar of Rollins’ “caliber”… but Rollins wants him to “shut up and listen” for once in his life. Rollins is going to evaluate Corbin’s job, basically. (Even if that job is as “head idiot in charge.”) Rollins points out how RAW has “sucked” lately under Corbin’s leadership. (Narrator: “It has.”) He really tells the truth, noting things like The Revival falling to Lucha House Party with those Lucha House Party Rules, Baron Corbin and Bobby Lashley’s bullying, all of the pee stuff, the fact that it’s been 16 years since Brock Lesnar (the Universal Champion) has had a wrestling match on RAW, and literally everything that’s happened these past few weeks. (And to add insult to injury, the crowd also chants, “CORBIN SUCKS.”)

“An abject failure,” Rollins calls Corbin’s position on RAW; he even calls out the ratings being at “an all-time low” (also a fact) because of Corbin. Of course, Corbin says things will only get worse (is that even possible… or something any authority figure should want in a show?) once he’s finally the permanent GM of RAW. Corbin also promises that, once that’s the case, he will “put [Rollins] through hell” until the man formerly known as “The Man” finally quits. With that, Rollins challenges Corbin, specifically to a TLC match—tonight, since all the TLC fixins’ are all already around the ring. Corbin says no, but had he said yes, he would have made “an example of” Rollins.

Then Rollins just keeps calling Corbin a “coward” (even “Coward-Elect Corbin”) until he finally accepts the TLC match. Corbin accepts:  But now it will be for the Intercontinental Championship

Backstage, Rollins tells Dasha Fuentes he’s making a stand against Corbin as a lockerroom leader.


Bobby Roode & Chad Gable def. AOP (c) & Drake Maverick, in a 2-on-3 Handicap/Lucha House Party Rules match for the RAW Tag Team Championship

Oh, Chad Gable is now fully part of Bobby Roode’s entrance, with matching robes and a side-by-side situation. That’s cute.

Less cute is how, naturally, Drake Maverick gets cocky while the AOP get work done. He has no problem tagging in when Gable or Roode is down, but when there’s a chance he might get got by either one of them, he runs. Oh, how he runs. (You know, like the “modern day Rocky” he claims to be.) And that cockiness causes him to mock Roode before pinning him, only getting a one-count, and then losing the tag titles (which he doesn’t even technically hold) with a pin reversal from Roode.

Backstage, Bobby Roode and Chad Gable savor this win, telling Charly Caruso that this win is the result of “putting in the work.”


In the ring, Natalya cuts a promo about Ruby Riott and how Ruby tried to destroy Natalya’s dad’s legacy and Natalya’s accomplishments in WWE. An emotional Natalya brings up all the things she had to overcome to get to the WWE, including “The Montreal Screwjob.” (Maybe you’ve heard of it.) And she says that, at TLC, she plans to teach Ruby a lesson “about respect.” And she’ll do so while dedicating the match to her father, Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart.

The Riott Squad actually has the audacity to interrupt Natalya, with another table (when they’re not hiding under the ring, they’re just bringing out tables) and mockery. Ruby says Natalya is actually a disgrace to her family but promises Natalya that she actually has “a little gift” for her: Calling it “the gift that keeps on giving,” Ruby unveils the table, which of course has a picture of Jim “The Anvil” right on it. Ruby promises Natalya, “You and your daddy are going to be closer than ever” at TLC.


Oh, they’re doing selfie promos again. And with this one, Dolph Ziggler talks about beating Drew McIntyre last week, calling McIntyre another person who’s taken him for granted. He also says that like Roman Reigns (he doesn’t mention Reigns, but he clearly takes his catchphrase), Ziggler is neither a good nor a bad guy in this situation: He’s just Dolph Ziggler. And Dolph Ziggler also notes that he didn’t need Balor’s help last week—which is 100% debatable—and he’s going to prove that next (with Balor nowhere to be found).

Drew McIntyre def. Dolph Ziggler

Before the match, Drew McIntyre gloats to Charly Caruso in the ring about beating Finn Balor so badly last week that he’s not even here this week. (It’s true—he’s not here.) McIntyre says the WWE Universe will listen when he speaks—a point they of course boo—and when it comes to the kind of guy Ziggler is? Well, McIntyre just doesn’t give a damn. Sure, Ziggler beat him last week—bringing his main roster undefeated streak to an end—but as McIntyre points out, even the greats were eventually defeated once. This was was “once” for him.

But then Dolph Ziggler comes out to the ring, and he does so with a purpose. Of course, during the match, he gets wrecked by McIntyre, to the point where McIntyre even starts verbally mocking him for the very attempt to fight back. Ziggler is able to hit a ZigZag… but McIntyre then kicks out at two. Then Ziggler tries for a superkick and instead eats a Claymore Kick. So McIntyre gets his win back, essentially proving his point about Ziggler’s win last week not actually mattering in the grand scheme of things correct. Also, Ziggler technically proves himself wrong, as he apparently did need Finn Balor to win against McIntyre.

Post-match, McIntyre decides to keep punishing Ziggler, because that’s what you do with former “friends.” (While McIntyre noted last week that he and Ziggler were never actually friends, Michael Cole’s commentary apparently didn’t get the memo.) Luckily for Ziggler, WWE authorities come out to stop McIntyre before he does any permanent damage. But he still hits McIntyre with another Claymore, laughing his way up the ramp.


Bayley def. Alicia Fox

Despite everything Seth Rollins said at the beginning of the show, we’re getting the same match as last week (and the week before and the week before and all of eternity). Only, this one devolves into a bunch of interference (and Alicia Fox has mermaid hair), so Apollo Crews comes out to help Bayley and, by extension, Sasha Banks—as, due to the lack of Finn Balor, he’s Bayley’s new Mixed Match  Challenge partner… and he’s apparently the other dark avenger of WWE right now—and it works. Bayley beats Alicia again.


Dean Ambrose talks to Charly Caruso about how terrible Seth Rollins is, and for some reason, Charly asks nothing about Ambrose’s continued Bane cosplay. She does, however, ask him about Roman Reigns (as he brought him up first) and what he possibly thinks about everything transpiring between Ambrose and Rollins right now. Instead of actually answering, Ambrose just queues up a video package about this feud… and then says nothing at all once that actually ends. Okay.


Lio Rush def. Elias

First up is an Elias concert. According to Elias, Bobby Lashley insulted the city of San Diego (in favor of Los Angeles) earlier today, on the radio. However, tonight, Elias has a match against a child (it’s Lio Rush). But first: a song. Yes, if it were up to Elias, his entire concert would be all three hours of RAW, but you have to admit: For once, he kind of almost got to sing a full song before being interrupted. That is progress.

So, Lio Rush is a 205 Live Superstar and a very talented one. But on RAW, that apparently does not matter (which is why it’s probably for the best neither Cedric Alexander nor Mustafa Ali ever answers Seth Rollins’ Intercontinental Championship open challenges). In fact, he even comes out to Lashley’s music, even though his own is better.

Strangely enough, at first, there’s no referee in the ring for the match. But that’s because it’s Heath Slater. (Apparently he’s a bad referee for not realizing when he should be out for a match. Way to go, Baron Corbin.)

Rush pretty much gets destroyed during this match—beacause he’s a talented member of the 205 Live roster on RAW—but Lashley interferes and stops him for losing this match. Heath Slater doesn’t disqualify him though, obviously because of the Baron Corbin of it all. (Even though, in theory, what’s Corbin going to do? Fire him? He already didn’t do that.) And then Rush gets Elias’ guitar for Lashley to use on Elias—still no DQ, of course. Then Heath Slater has to count it for Rush.


Backstage, Slater is obviously upset, even though Corbin says he did a good job. Slater also says he’s going home—because he really doesn’t get this whole referee thing—but Corbin says Slater has another match to officiate tonight. Probably the TLC match, which doesn’t really need officiating in a typical fashion, but then again, we’ve already established Corbin is bad at his job and sucks.


source: WWE

Ember Moon def. Tamina

You can read more about this match (and the pre-match “discussion” between Ronda Rousey and Nia Jax) here.


Before the main event, Charly Caruso asks Baron Corbin about the possibility that this match and really, everything he’s doing is “an abuse of power.” Corbin threatens to ship her off to SmackDown (a girl can dream). Then he says that’s a joke. “All hail Baron Corbin,” he adds, and King Booker has never been more offended.

Seth Rollins def. Baron Corbin in a TLC match for the Intercontinental Championship

Yep, Heath Slater is the referee for this match. This is a TLC match though, so you’ve got to imagine that any of his attempts at officiating will really stick out. (They do, since he’s inside the ring the entire time. That’s abnormal for a ladder match of any type.) Also, thank god that the non-stop “BURN IT DOWN” remix is not Seth Rollins’ new official theme. It was a bad choice earlier, okay?

So, you know how the best part about a TLC match is the frantic use of weapons and even greater rush to climb the ladder and win the match? Absolutely none of that exists here. At one point, Baron Corbin even makes Heath Slater go fetch him a ladder—that’s the level of urgency we’re working with here. This is also the first TLC match on RAW in six years, and it looks like Corbin is as committed to making it suck as he is to making the rest of RAW suck. (Look, he even said he’s doing this on purpose.) Corbin beats the crap out of Rollins with weapons for 95% of the match, he mocks Braun Strowman, and he doesn’t even attempt to get to the title until he stops Rollins’ eventual attempt to rally. But once he starts climbing, Rollins is able to fight back hard. Corbin fortunately (for himself) doesn’t get hit with the Stomp and is able to cause Rollins to crash into a ladder in the ring.

But really, the key to this all is that Heath Slater screws (or, attempts to screw) Rollins at one point, which was literally the only way a TLC match where a single referee inside the ring could go. But wait! Even that can’t buy Corbin a win against top talent, as Rollins puts Corbin through a table (set up in the corner of the ring), superkicks Slater (who tries to reason with Rollins—but too late), Stomps Corbin for good measure, and then climbs the ladder and grabs the title for the win.

Then Dean Ambrose comes out at the top of the ramp. Will he become the champ at TLC? Rollins has definitely been softened up for him.

cartchevron-leftchevron-rightemail-share-iconfacebook-share-icongoogle-share-iconlinkedin-share-iconlocked megaphone play-signshirtstartvtwitter-share-iconunlocked user-signuserCrossed Legs Ronda Rousey Pointing