The first “Raw” after Survivor Series kicked off a season that will lead us to WrestleMania in April. Although Royal Rumble is still two months away, it has already been announced that Bron Breakker will face CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship on the first “Raw” of 2026.
Liv Morgan made a strong statement in her first appearance on Monday since June. The identity of the masked man who interfered at the end of Saturday’s men’s WarGames match was not revealed, nor was that of the next challenger for the women’s tag team titles, which was the focus of the main event, a pleasant surprise.
“Raw” Results from December 1st
- LA Knight defeated Jey Uso in the semi-finals of the “The Last Time Is Now” tournament.
- AJ Styles and Dragon Lee defeated The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) to retain the WWE World Tag Team Championship.
- Gunther defeated Solo Sikoa in the semi-finals of the “The Last Time Is Now” tournament.
- Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss vs. Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky ended in a no contest.
The star of the show was Liv Morgan.
Since his return to WWE at Survivor Series this weekend to help Dominik Mysterio regain the Intercontinental Championship from John Cena, Morgan seems to be establishing himself as the leader of The Judgment Day, proclaiming that they once again dominate “Raw”.
After slapping “Dirty Dom” again before jumping into his arms, Morgan led a chaotic scene to end the show. Several women’s tag teams ran to the ring and turned the Flair and Bliss vs. Ripley and Sky into a big fight that saw Raquel Rodriquez and Roxanne Perez of The Judgement Day standing, holding the tag team titles. One was offered to Morgan, but she gave it back, placing herself between Rodriguez and Perez and raising her arms in the final shot of the show.
It was a “Raw” declaration for Morgan and establishes The Judgment Day as the favorites to challenge The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane) for the tag team titles. I wouldn’t be surprised if a match is being prepared to determine the number 1 contender, perhaps involving The Judgement Day, Rhiyo, Flair and Bliss and Lyra Valkyria and Bayley, to determine who will face Asuka and Sane.
More conclusions
The last 30 minutes of “Raw” were a great showcase for the women’s tag team division, involving a plethora of talented WWE stars whose attention is not on the Women’s World Championship, but on the tag team titles, adding value and additional prestige.
In addition to that, tag team wrestling in general is thriving. This week’s “Raw” had a men’s tag team title match and a women’s tag team main event. There have been times in history when tag team wrestling was more of an afterthought than an important part of the show. That was definitely not the case on Monday night.
Bron Breakker delivered a passionate promo directed at CM Punk after manager Paul Heyman announced that Breakker would challenge Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship on the January 5th edition of “Raw.” Bron delivered it with tons of emotion and packed a lot of information (and threats) into a short period of time. He held his own, but a likely exchange with Punk on the microphone will determine whether Breakker can succeed or fail with the best of the best.
I have mixed feelings about the title match. On the one hand, I understand starting the year with a bang. Punk versus Breakker would definitely do that. It’s a new opponent for Punk and the biggest match of Breakker’s young career. On the other hand, I just don’t see Punk losing this match. Could Breakker win and Punk chase the title until WrestleMania? Possibly. But I would lean more towards Punk winning and introducing a new opponent on the road to WrestleMania. That’s not necessarily a horrible thing for Breakker, who could return to the title scene sometime in the future.
LA Knight and Gunther won the “The Last Time Is Now” semi-final matches and will face each other on Friday on “SmackDown” to determine who will face Cena in his last match on December 13th. Gunther has been the big favorite to win and advance to Saturday Night’s Main Event, but some expect tricks to happen to see a surprise opponent face Cena instead. I wouldn’t mind LA Knight defeating Gunther, because I’d like to see how he does as a world champion and this would certainly boost him. Gunther, a former world champion, doesn’t necessarily need a win over Cena to rise again to championship status.
Jey Uso reacted after losing to Knight. I like this turn in his character, because he needs something to stay fresh. His entrance will always be a staple in WWE shows that fans (especially children) look forward to. But more layers are needed in Uso’s next chapter for fans to see his range. His character needs to fight to overcome and perhaps regain a world championship someday. Nobody wants to see him suffer the fate we’ve seen other talented wrestlers face in the past by winning a title at WrestleMania, holding it for a short time, losing it, and never regaining that spot again.
