Winners, News And Notes On December 12, 2022

WWE Raw advertised Seth Rollins vs. Bobby Lashley to become No. 1 Contender for the United States Championship, Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss to become No. 1 Contender for the Raw Women’s Championship and Candice LeRae vs. Iyo Sky.

Following a loss in the main event after a ref bump, Bobby Lashley was fired by Adam Pearce after assaulting WWE official Chad Patton.

Last week’s broadcast of WWE Raw garnered a 1.54 million viewers. Raw set a new record low for the third hour with 1.263 million viewers.

WWE Raw Results on December 12, 2022

• Alexa Bliss def. Bayley
• AJ Styles def. Chad Gable
• The Judgment Day def. The Street Profits and Akira Tozawa
• Iyo Sky def. Candice LeRae
• Rhea Ripley def. Asuka
• Seth Rollins def. Bobby Lashley

WWE Raw Ratings

• December 5, 2022 | 1.54 million
• November 28, 2022 | 1.66 million
• November 21, 2022 | 1.646 million
• November 14, 2022 | 1.647 million
• November 7, 2022 | 1.593 million

• WWE Raw Venue: FiservFISV
  Forum (Milwaukee, Wisc.)
• WWE Raw Tickets Distributed: 6,784
• WWE Raw Tickets Available: 229

WWE Raw Winners And Match Card

Alexa Bliss def. Bayley

Corey Graves continued to talk up Alexa Bliss’ lack of aggression of late, which plays into her ongoing character change toward the 2020 Alexa Bliss.

Alexa Bliss defeated Bayley, setting the stage for not only a heel turn, but an inevitable reunion with Bray Wyatt. Following the victory, Bliss teased a Sister Abigail on Bianca Belair before letting go. This is one of multiple long-term stories WWE is telling, and you love to see it.

AJ Styles def. Chad Gable

Backstage, AJ Styles mentioned Karl Anderson’s current tour of Japan to drop the NEVER Openweight Championship. Chad Gable got a match against Styles after calling Styles a has-been.

Otis overheard Corey Graves call him a tree trunk, and he corrected Graves by saying he’s a whole load.

Alpha Academy loses a lot, but they’re in a good spot as a heel act that consistently works with top stars and legends.

The Judgment Day def. The Street Profits and Akira Tozawa

Backstage, The Street Profits cut a great promo about having Akira Tozawa’s back but Tozawa got the biggest pop simply by saying “I want the smoke.”

Dominik Mysterio tagged in and was showered with more heat than anybody on the show to this point.

Corey Graves’ unofficial nickname for Dominik Mysterio is “the heartthrob.” His second nickname is “caliente.”

The Miz vs. Dexter Lumis Ladder Match Announced

This segment began with Johnny Gargano and Dexter Lumis giving away Christmas presents.

The Miz attempted to abscond with Dexter’s money, making him the latest WWE Superstar to go broke.

Johnny Gargano and the Fiserv Forum antagonized The Miz by chanting…“Mike!”

Fans turned on Johnny gargano when he announced a Ladder Match between Dexter Lumis and The Miz for next week.

This storyline continues to get intricate with the details. Turns out, Miz isn’t broke, he’s just “not liquid,” and Maryse controls his money.

Iyo Sky def. Candice LeRae

Bayley sat ringside for this, but was unable to do commentary as there were sound issues.

I would have loved to see Candice LeRae in the Iron Survivor Challenge this past weekend, rather than doing yet another hapless job to Damage CTRL.

Solo Sikoa def. Elias

Elias was finally allowed to perform in front of a live crowd, and he remains a popular act. Fans were all-too-pleased to chant “walk with Elias.”

Elias made it seem like he had found a joint that belonged to Matt Riddle, but he un-rolled the paper and it turned out to be lyrics Riddle wrote for a song.

The opening moments were dominated by chants of “Sami Uso” and “Ucey.” In fact, Solo Sikoa was distracted by “Ucey” chants led by Sami Zayn as WWE (very) slowly progresses tensions between Sami Zayn and The Bloodline.

In a backstage segment, Kevin Owens insisted he wouldn’t have Elias’ back, and boy did he stick to that promise. Owens did, however, show up just as Solo Sikoa was preparing a running hip attack in the corner with a chair. After making the save, Owens hit Sikoa with a Stunner.

After back-to-back weeks of using the Samoan Spike, it’s officially been bequeathed to Solo. This is a much better finisher than the whimsical “spinning solo.”

Rhea Ripley def. Asuka

Given how much WWE is building up Rhea Ripley and The Judgment Day, there’s no way Rhea Ripley was going to lose a match like this, especially with Dominik by her side.

Dominik stole the show this entire match. He even figures into the finish, where Asuka spit blue mist into his face before taking a Riptide.

Bobby Lashley def. Seth Rollins

Not only did WWE build up Rollins vs. Lashley throughout the show, but backstage Dolph Ziggler cut a great promo on Austin Theory about the importance of the United States Championship.

Fans felt like they didn’t know whom to chant for, and when in doubt, they would just sing Seth Rollins theme song.

There was a great spot toward the end where Rollins attempted a stomp, but was unable to do so because Lashley’s neck was too strong.

Chad Patton suffered the rare ref bump, which gave Rollins an out to kick out of a Spear. It also gave Lashley a reason to continue to antagonize WWE officials after spearing Pete Williams last week.

Bobby Lashley was fired after attacking another official. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say WWE is building up Bobby Lashley vs. Adam Pearce.