General Manager Elect Baron Corbin is made the scapegoat for the lackluster Raw episodes in recent weeks at the start of the show.
Rollins, the IC Champ, calls out Corbin in front of a packed out house at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, CA on 12/10/18.
Seth Rollins then goes on a needed tirade, making light of sagging ratings.
He continues on by asking why the Revival aren’t competing for the tag titles, instead battling in “Lucha House Rules” matches. He then mocks the focus on Drake Maverick’s urination angles and calls out Brock Lesnar, the Universal Champ, who hasn’t appeared or competed on Raw in years.
Corbin speaks up, but Rollins shuts him down and this ultimately leads to Corbin finding himself baited into a main event match for Rollins’ Intercontinental title in a TLC match.
Rollins states backstage after a break that competing in a TLC match isn’t the brightest decision he’s made, six days before his forthcoming match with Dean Ambrose, but champions step up in the face of adversity, and he will tonight.
Bobby Roode and Chad Gable defeat Drake Maverick and AoP in a three on two match to win the RAW tag team titles after Roode beat Maverick with a crucifix pin.
We start out the in-ring action with a refreshing change of pace as the crowd rallied behind the faces as they overcome the odds. AoP kept the pressure on, hitting the Super Collider before a counter from Gable. Gable then eats the double team powerbomb/neckbreaker before Maverick begs for the tag.
Maverick covers Roode, the legal man, very lackadaisically and Roode counters with a crucifix to secure the world tag team titles. The crowd goes bananas and we crown new champs who will hopefully feud with the Revival in short order. We shall see. A great win for Roode and Gable.
Roode and Gable celebrate backstage, saying that tonight was indeed “glorious”.
Natalya comes out and cuts a heartfelt promo about her father, the late Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart and how she overcame the Montreal Screwjob and her Uncle, Bret Hart, punching out the company’s owner to get her shot.
She says Ruby Riott doesn’t respect the business and in a throwback to the great Chris Jericho/Dean Malenko feud, Riott brings out a table with Jim Neidhart’s image on it and says after she and Natalya’s Tables Match at TLC, she and her father will be “closer than ever”.
Dolph Ziggler talks about his victory over Drew McIntyre last week. He isn’t a good guy or a bad guy, he’s himself. They have a rematch and it’s next.
Drew McIntyre defeats Dolph Ziggler via pin fall with a Claymore Kick.
Classic 50/50 booking rears its head, but you knew McIntyre was coming away with a victory before his PPV match against Finn Balor Sunday. Balor isn’t in the building as he sells last week’s injuries, but these two men tore the house down again.
McIntyre worked over Ziggler’s shoulder early in this one and the injury came back to haunt Ziggler in the end. Ziggler rolled back in the ring, as did McIntyre, just before the ten count. Unlike last week, Ziggler couldn’t capitalize and he collapsed from his “injury” and that allowed McIntyre to taunt him before nailing a Claymore for the win.
After the match, he nailed another Claymore and left with a smile on his face. Will we see “The Demon” this Sunday? Perhaps, and that would be something great.
Bayley defeats Alicia Fox via pin fall after a Bayley to Belly suplex.
Bayley’s new partner in the mixed match challenge, Apollo Crews, showed up to even the odds as Jinder Mahal and the Singh Brothers got involved. He took down the heels with clotheslines and press-slammed Sasha Banks into the heels to the delight of the crowd.
Fox missed a running kick and Bayley hit her patented move, putting this one away. The winners of the MMC get the thirty spots in the rumble, hopefully the winners are quality talents. We’ll find out soon.
Dean Ambrose is backstage and he’s called “The Lunatic Fringe”, which he doesn’t like. He mocks Rollins, calling him a “madman”, and he throws shade on Roman Reigns once again. He said that if Rollins comes away from tonight’s match with the title, he’ll take it from him Sunday.
Lio Rush defeats Elias via pin fall after interference from Bobby Lashley.
We “walk with Elias” in the usual fashion as he trashes the “Almighty” Bobby Lashley, a fantastic nickname by the way, as we find out he’s having a match with Lio Rush coming up next after he assaulted him with a guitar shot last week. Newly minted official Heath Slater will ref this one next.
Slater is still getting his “bearings”, fearing that he’ll lose his job. Corey Graves says he knows where his “bread is buttered” as he refuses to disqualify Bobby Lashley, who interferes repeatedly.
Lashley slams a guitar over Elias’s back and Rush makes the cover. Lashley implores him to make the count and he does. Lio Rush wins.
Slater is disgusted with himself and he leaves the ring, the damage already done. Lashley and Rush celebrate the victory as they head towards Sunday with great momentum.
Nia Jax and Tamina are out for a promo and Jax once again gloats about putting Becky Lynch on the shelf with a poorly placed right hand. She says she’ll take Ronda Rousey’s Women’s title and it leads the champ to come running out, ready to fight. The heels surround the ring and here comes Ember Moon. She’ll be in action against Tamina next.
Ember Moon defeats Tamina via pin fall with the Eclipse.
A great win for Moon as she gains needed momentum heading into the post TLC era of Raw and perhaps a claim to a future title opportunity.
Rousey evened the odds at ringside and Jax was a non-factor, ducking the champ before their match Sunday. Tamina fell victim to Moon’s assault and it ended with her impressive finish.
Heather Slater is ready to leave, but he has one more match to referee, it’s the main event and it’s next.
Seth Rollins defeats Baron Corbin in a TLC match to retain the IC Title.
Corbin controlled much of this early and they gave it thirty minutes with plenty of commercial breaks. Rollins fought back and he inadvertently hit Slater with a chair-shot.
After putting Corbin through a table with a frogsplash, Slater dumped the ladder and Rollins took the spill. Slater helped Corbin up and the GM Elect almost made it, but Rollins hit a buckle bomb through a table in the corner.
Slater said he was doing it to feed his family and he was “fed” a superkick for his troubles. Rollins hit the Blackout on Corbin and climbed the ladder, retaining the strap in a main event that was surely enjoyed by the fans, a rare TLC match on Raw.
As Rollins went to celebrate, Dean Ambrose made his way out on the ramp to hype their PPV match Sunday and that ended the broadcast. TLC is this Sunday and next week, we’ll cover the fallout!
