Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa with fallout from the WWE TLC pay-per-view.
This will be the final live RAW of 2019 and the decade. WWE will also tape another episode of RAW tonight at the arena. The local start time is 5:45pm or 6:45pm ET. Matches advertised locally by the arena are Seth Rollins with AOP vs. Kevin Owens, plus Randy Orton vs. AJ Styles.
Styles vs. Orton is the only match WWE has announced for tonight’s show. WWE once again has not announced a RAW preview for the night except for what they posted below.
Seth Rollins broke bad in a major way on Monday when he allied himself with AOP. In essence, he became the villain the WWE Universe had been treating him as for some time. Whatever his reasons, however, The Architect is once again at the helm of a three-man group, and historically speaking, that makes him a difficult man to stop. We already saw what happened to Kevin Owens when he stood against Rollins & AOP on their first night. With a week under their belts, it’s already time to ask the question we’ll likely be asking for a long time: Can anybody stop them?
Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee as the road to TLC continues.
For the third week in a row, WWE has not opened the day with an official preview for tonight’s show.
WWE has announced that tonight’s show will feature Seth Rollins issuing an apology to the red brand roster after last week’s apparent heel turn.
Charlotte Flair vs. WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Kabuki Warriors (Asuka & Kairi Sane) in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match has also been announced for tonight.
Last night on Raw, Seth Rollins took some shots at CM Punk in the opening segment of the show. When the crowd chanted Punk’s name during Seth’s opening address to the roster, he stated Punk just wants to sit behind a desk in Los Angeles and talk about change.
“I tried to get [Punk] here, I’m sorry,” Rollins said, while the crowd chanted for Punk. “He didn’t wanna show up. He wants to sit behind a desk in Los Angeles and talk about a change that he’s too afraid to make himself.”
There is no deal in place for a Punk vs. Rollins match as of now. According to Dave Meltzer on the latest Wrestling Observer Radio, Vince McMahon was reportedly furious that Rollins mentioned Punk.
Meltzer pointed out it is a rule that you shouldn’t push an idea of match if you can’t deliver on it. In 2015, McMahon was upset at the ending of a Steve Austin Podcast episode with Paul Heyman, because they teased an Austin vs. Brock Lesnar match that was not in the works.
Rollins has called Punk out multiple times recently on social media. Punk responded to Rollins on last week’s episode of WWE Backstage, stating, “Seth needs to stop tweeting and realize sometimes it’s better to be viewed at as the fool and shut your mouth, or open your mouth and remove all doubt.”
Later on the show while cutting a promo on Tom Arnold, Punk insinuated that Rollins was using him to stay relevant. During an interview with 101 WKQX in Chicago last week, Rollins responded to Punk and once again invited him to face him.
“The funny thing is, for me, from a guy telling me I need to look for relevancy, here’s someone who has been in the doldrums for the past few years because he got his butt kicked in the Octagon, so bad that he didn’t want to show his face anywhere,” Rollins said. “Now he shows back up on a WWE TV show, called WWE Backstage. You can say it’s a FS1 show all you want, which it is, and you might be paid by FOX, but that show doesn’t exist without our company. The company you left 5 years ago. So, say whatever you want, play it however you want. That’s what Punk always does.
“But at the end of the day, if he wants to come on our show and run his mouth about me and a company he’s had no part of for the last 5 years, then of course I’m going to stand up for us. This is a place that has given me everything that I’ve ever wanted in my life. Not only me, but it’s provided a living for my family, for people that I love, that I care about. Of course I’m going to have its back. I’m not going to let you push it around, and push me around, and act like you’re so cool. You couldn’t bust a cherry in a fruit fight, dude. I want to make some money – so, if CM Punk wants to talk all the smack in the world, I’ve invited him a million times now to come to my ring, to my domain, on live television. Where you can’t hide behind anything, no desk in LA. Come, let’s do this thing, man. Let’s fight, let’s fight it out like men.”
While speaking to Wrestling Inc. at the NXT Takeover post-event press conference on Saturday night, Triple H admitted that despite Punk appearing on WWE Backstage, a Punk return to WWE is a “long, long way.”
“I have not spoken to him,” Triple H admitted. “To be honest, we have not had that conversation. I know he’s working for FOX and it’s a bit of an arm’s length from us. All of this stuff is baby steps, when people want something so bad, it’s like they’re saying, ‘So you’re saying there’s a chance.’ That’s the moment of time that we’re in.
“Be happy that he’s on WWE Backstage and doing something with the business again. The rest of it, I’ve said it a million times, never say never. But that’s a long, long way. I know when you say that, people say, ‘they’re working us!’ Because there’s nothing that you can say that will make people think otherwise, it is what it is.”
Punk is an occasional analyst on WWE Backstage on FS1 on Tuesday nights. Punk will not be on tonight’s episode, which features Triple H.
Matt Hardy returned to WWE TV last night on RAW. He lost to Buddy Murphy in singles action.
Murphy dominated the match and easily won, which was a setup for his post-match angle with Aleister Black. Murphy called out Black for a fight but Black got the upperhand and sent him packing.
Matt has been out of regular action since brother Jeff Hardy went down with a knee injury after WrestleMania 35, when they were forced to drop the SmackDown Tag Team Titles. Matt did work the big 50-Man Battle Royal at WWE Super ShowDown in Saudi Arabia this past June.
There’s no word yet on if Matt will be a regular on RAW, but he is still listed on the SmackDown roster as of this writing. This was Matt’s first red brand match of 2019.
Matt took to Twitter after the loss and thanked fans for the support, noting that he is going through a “confusing period of life” these days.
“Thanks for all the love from around the world regarding my #RAW appearance tonight.. I AM GRATEFUL. I’m going through a tough, confusing period of life right now & I appreciate your support,” Matt wrote, also sharing a link to the third episode of his ‘Free The Delete” series on YouTube.
Thanks for all the love from around the world regarding my #RAW appearance tonight.. I AM GRATEFUL.
I’m going through a tough, confusing period of life right now & I appreciate your support. https://t.co/4HhiieVOyH
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