WWE Raw results and highlights (Dec. 16): CM Punk and Seth Rollins create magic, new tag team champs are crowned

Regardless of your feelings about CM Punk the person, there's no denying that the guy gets this whole pro wrestling thing.

The "WWE Raw" after Saturday Night's Main Event opened with "Chick Magnet Phil," and as usual, he demanded attention to progress his inevitable collision with Seth Rollins.

🔥 Roast Battle of the Night

Everybody loves a good insult war. Drama sells and attracts eyeballs. That's pretty much the biggest selling point of pro wrestling, isn't it? A good, old-fashioned five-star classic is a standalone joy, for sure. But to get that we typically need the setup beforehand.

Punk and Rollins are undeniably setting themselves up for a certified banger.

As much as I wish we saw CM Punk every single week like the old days of his prime, seeing him less makes his appearances a bigger deal. He still feels special every time he's on screen. That's wildly impressive considering he returned to the business in August 2022. I can't believe it's actually been that long already.

Punk is sort of like wrestling's version of Deadpool with more of a serious edge to him. He has no problem breaking the fourth wall and dropping nuggets only an educated viewer will understand. To kick off the show, he burned Rollins and owned up to the "bad guy" label Rollins has been painting him with. Of course, he used his own poor teaching skills as the reason Rollins has failed, begging Rollins to interrupt him again while he essentially called him a poor retread of Elton John and himself.

Rollins volleys back-and-forth with Punk so well too. I'm fascinated to see where Rollins lands in the pantheon of all-time greats by the time he's done. He's undeniably great in a plethora of ways, and I believe he's only gotten better. The way he turned Punk's digs back at him before delivering that WrestleMania main event zinger was excellent.

To wrap it up, they brawled in the crowd then in the ring, then back in the crowd again. They'll have their match on the Netflix debut show on Jan. 6. That's somewhat shocking, but helps the upcoming launch feel like as big of a deal as WWE is trying to make it.

🧑‍⚕️ Dissection of the Night

Ludwig Kaiser came up short in his bid for the Intercontinental title shot against Bron Breakker. In the process, he nearly ripped the arm off of Breakker with a targeted assault throughout the entire match.

These two are excellent alone. When paired, they've been even better, and the smarts of Kaiser were displayed perfectly throughout this, which made it disappointing that he didn't get the job done. It was fairly anticlimactic, ending with the typical "Super Spear" from Breakker.

I still don't love that name for the finisher. The only thing "super" about it is Breakker bouncing off the ropes. Anyway, the speed check psyche outside the ring right before the finish was admittedly fun.

Ultimately, something's got to give with Kaiser.

He has to reach the next level of villainy after coming up short like this. Breakker fits this spot wonderfully, so I'm fine with him retaining. Let's get that Kaiser turn on Gunther going already.

🤨 Confliction of the Night

Drew McIntyre shouldn't be asking for help to take out The OG Bloodline.

The former world champion confronted Rollins to ask for help in taking out Reigns. That was reasonable enough, considering the history they shared. Rollins remained his lone wolf self and declined, explaining his friendship and respect toward Sami Zayn and Jey Uso. The intertwining wrinkles are fresh and really keeps things open to several possibilities in the future.

McIntyre can certainly fit back into that picture with Rollins and Punk. For now, seeing him in an '03-one-man-destroyer-unmasked-Kane role would be pretty awesome.

A Judgment Day numbered

I'm done with it! No more Judgment Day! This thing has to end and it looks like we're on the cusp of the dissolution.

Inter-team snark levels have never been higher in what feels like a co-led faction between Finn Balor and Liv Morgan. Honestly, more female-led factions are the way to go if you have the right leader. I know Rhea Ripley was never the "official" leader of Judgment Day after they kicked Edge to the curb, but she always felt like it. Morgan could've slotted in that role well, replacing Ripley if Balor wasn't in the way.

Morgan and Dominick Mysterio have all the heat. They received wicked loud boos — Mysterio, in particular — when they came out to the ring. Their usage of the megaphone was perfect and self aware of what was coming their way. Morgan does her job very well by being so unlikable — and circling back to Edge, she reminds me a bit of a 2024 female version of him in his prime with Lita. There are some parallels there.

Overall, it was pretty short and sweet before the inevitable Ripley interruption. Thankfully, she declared that the rivalry has gone on for too long (she's right) and Ripley was the No. 1 contender.

So this is ending soon between them, and I assume "Mami" will be back on top where she belongs. If Judgment Day disbands before that, though, I may change my tune.

This whole show was very Judgment Day-heavy because of all the players involved. The Women's Intercontinental title triple-threat match was another awesome installment, as expected. Zoey Stark came out on top over Rodriguez and Kayden Carter, and that's another reason Judgment Day needs to disband.

WWE has done the right thing with these two new title tournaments, and I can't wait to see how this one concludes after Chelsea Green's perfect coronation at Saturday Night's Main Event. Rodriguez needs to be getting used better though. She's a great talent and should have won this. I never fully loved her with Morgan and Judgment Day and it's time to give her more of a spot to shine in.

To cap off Judgment Day's tough night, Balor and JD McDonagh lost their World Tag Team Championships to The War Raiders in another solid match. Carlito and the others already mentioned were banned from ringside, leaving the opportunity for ex-member Damian Priest to spoil the party.

Fine. Good. Great. Whatever, man. Have Priest fittingly put the nail in the coffin. We're almost there. One more title to go.

👍 MONDAY NIGHT MONEY 👍

1. Chad Gable calling out Alpha Academy for bringing embarrassment to the group and highlighting that commercial last week was hilarious. These are the things we think about as viewers but never expect to see mentioned in programming.

2. Rey Mysterio blocked off the New Day and told them to find somewhere else to go. Now you know it's serious, boys. Good luck back there.

I also love how their apparel has suddenly gone back to the Tapout and Affliction era. If you know, you know.

👎 RAW DEAL 👎

1. The Saturday Night's Main Event montage showing Cody Rhodes get piledrived after his Kevin Owens match was needed since many may have missed it if they stayed offline. Rhodes now has a kayfabe spine injury.

The loss here is WWE bragging about a (kayfabe) injury getting 45 million overall views on social media. Again, it's not a real injury so it's essentially nothing. But just thinking about any sports organization doing that is the most absurd thing ever.

(The more I think about it, this might actually belong in the above list.)

2. Miz tried telling Final Testament that the Wyatt Sicks feud is over — good — but Karrion Kross says it's not. Huh? You just beat them last week, bud. Now Miz faces Dexter Loomis next week. What are we doing? Why? Stop it. You killed it last week, WWE.

3. Poor Kairi Sane was minding her business backstage then sounds as if she is getting murdered in a horror film when attacked by Stark. No one wants a crushed hand.

4. I don't know what was up with Ripley's outfit on this episode, but it looked like she was wearing a castle. (Don't hurt me, please.)

👑 Uncrowned Gem of the Night 👑

Speaking of Stark, she deserves her flowers despite what I said earlier about Rodriguez deserving the win in their match.

The Pure Fusion Collective member has been solid ever since she joined the main roster and shown flashes of brilliance. Her expressions mid-match are on-point and she sells well. Obviously, she delivers the hits too. She's a fun wrestler with a devious side, as evidenced by her attack on Sane. I won't be mad if she's one half of the finals.

👑 I give this show a Crown score of: 8/10. 👑