Welcome to Ringside News’ live coverage of Raw for December 3rd, 2018. So please keep checking back and tell your friends, family, and neighbors you don’t even care for. You can keep refreshing the page throughout the show because we will be updating it throughout the live broadcast.
Tonight’s show emanates from Houston Texas, and hopefully, we have a new show in store for us that will be worlds better than last week.
Baron Corbin spoke to Booker T and he promised that something fresh is coming. So only time will tell what will happen to pull that promise off. But we can be hopefully that WWE will have a packed show in store for fans to capture our interest for TLC on December 16th and on to the Royal Rumble even in January.
So far, we know about a few things that await us like Ronda Rousey and Natalya facing Nia Jax and Tamina Snuka. Of course, Rousey and Jax are scheduled to face each other at the TLC pay-per-view, but you never know how WWE might try to switch things up on the way to the San Jose event.
Alexa Bliss is also settling into her new role as an authority figure on RAW which should be interesting as she commands the female side of the roster. Corbin said if she looks good, then it will make him look good and he needs to look as good as possible on the way to TLC where he hopes to become the full-time General Manager of Raw.
We are also bound to see more from Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins as The Lunatic Fringe promised to be in Houston as well.
Opening Segment
Raw started off this week with a 10-bell salute for George H W Bush.
Ronda Rousey & Natalya vs Nia Jax & Tamina Snuka
Ronda Rousey kicked off the actual show this week and came out with all smiles. The Riott Squad came down and had a table with them. This caused the heels to jump Ronda and Nattie before the bell. They assaulted the babyfaces and soon ganged up on Rousey who took a shot into the steel ring steps.
The Riott Squad ganged up on Nattie and beat her down on the other side of the ring. Liv and Sarah set up the table and just smiled at each other as Rousey tried to crawl to them, but Nia and Tamina stopped her.
Then Nattie took a double powerbomb through the at ringside thanks to Liv and Sarah.
Yeah, this match isn’t happening.
The Riott Squad just walked off while Nattie rolled around in pain and sold the table bump as Rousey tended to her. It looks like Nia and Tamina just kind of stopped harassing Rousey after the table spot?
Natalya and Rousey were backstage and Nattie was still selling her injuries. Ronda wanted some help and then the medics went to look at her as Rousey just looked off camera looking as angry as she could.
Alexa Bliss Is The New Authority
Alexa Bliss walked to the ring as the Head Of The Women’s Division and she said that she’s going to work hard every week to give everyone the best Women’s Division Raw has to offer.
Then she wanted to do another “Open Forum” with Sasha and Bayley because the one last week apparently wasn’t enough. Then she invited Banks and Bayley to the ring.
Alexa apologized for last week when they got jumped. Then she asked for their first question from an obvious plant in the crowd asking about the comments on social media where Sasha is using Bayley.
Banks made some crack about stabbing Bayley in the back and called out Corey Graves for some reason. Then she said that Bayley and her are best friends for life.
Another plant got to ask if they could have a match with any female Superstar from any era, who would it be? Both Bayley and Sasha said Trish and Lita at Mania.
Another obvious plant asked what superpower they would have. Bayley would make things disappear and she would start with Alexa Bliss. They treated that like a huge burn and Bayley ran around her chair. Banks didn’t answer that one, she just agreed with her.
Bliss said that she took Banks’ title “but that’s fine.” Another plant asked about changes to the Raw Women’s Division in 2019 like it’s Banks and Bayley’s call. Then Bayley said they wanted to be the first-ever WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions. This didn’t get the pop it should have.
Alicia Fox, Dana Brooke, and Mickie James ran down. Bliss stopped them and set up a tag team match between Banks and Bayley and Fox and James

Sasha Banks & Bayley vs Mickie James & Alicia Fox
The heels took control as Mickie James and Banks wrestled until Bayley ran in to make the save. James sent Bayley out of the ring and Banks tried to roll her up for a two count.
Then after not much effort, Bayley got the tag and hit the Bayley To Belly on James and got the win.
Winner: Banks & Bayley
Alexa Bliss was strangely applauding the babyface ring from ringside.
Ronda Rousey got in Bliss’ face backstage saying The Riott Squad crossed the line. Bliss said she sent the Squad home and will address them next week. Rousey said she’s going the get ahold of Tamina and Nia tonight. Bliss said she’ll help find a tag team partner and then Rousey said she’ll find herself a tag team partner before leaving.
Baron Corbin was shown backstage and up walks Gable and Roode. They want a match against AOP for the titles and Roode wants a piece of Drake Maverick for peeing on his robe. Then Corbin says if Roode wins a match against Drake Maverick, then they’ll get another title match. But there’s one condition, Gable and AOP are banned from ringside. That sounds totally fair.

Lucha House Party vs The Revival
Dash and Dawson came down and cut a promo on how the Luchas don’t respect tag team wrestling because of their Lucha Rules deal. Then Dawson said he’s going to teach them a lesson in a one-on-one match.
Then JoJo said it’s still under Lucha House rules so it’s 3 on 1. This is an interesting gimmick for babyfaces to have, but the kids love it. There were a lot more flips than fists in this match as Dawson jobbed to the Lucha House Party as he took one move after another.
Then Dawson came back and started taking them out one by one. Lince Dorado ended up in the ring with him and took a bunch of damage with shoulder blocks and clotheslines. Dawson got Lince is the Gory Special, but Dorado flipped around on his feet and then the Luchas took advantage as well.
Corey brought up that Wilder should be allowed to come in as well if it’s Lucha House Party rules, but Cole said that’s not how it works.
Then they hit separate moves on Scott Dawson and won.
Winners: Lucha House Party
Some backstage assistant gave Baron Corbin a box. He opened it and said it’s perfect. Then Baron chased off the intern. Drew McIntyre appreciation night is next.
Drew McIntyre Appreciation Night
Baron Corbin was already in the ring to soak up the boos when he plugged the fact he is going to defeat Strowman via forfeit at TLC and become the full-time Raw GM. Then he praised himself a bit while people booed him as expected.
Then McIntyre was introduced to the ring and he shook hands with Corbin who thanked him for his hard work and support. “You have proven to be on the right side of history,” Baron said. Then he gave Drew an Olympic Gold Medal.
Baron said now that Drew has rid Raw of Kurt Angle, that he is rewarding him with the “Gold Medal Of Excellence.” Drew said he was simply doing what nobody else was strong enough to do.  McIntyre continued to praise himself and then he started running down Finn Balor.
Suddenly, Dolph Ziggler came out and said that Drew has some memory problems. Ziggler didn’t know what happened because they dominated Raw, yet he wasn’t invited to Drew’s little party. Then Drew said that Dolph was never invited. He said Dolph didn’t meet the height requirement.
Drew said he was always the brains, muscle, and talent. Then he continued to layer on the insults to Ziggler until the Show Off had enough. Dolph started raining down punches on Drew and hit a Zig Zag before Baron Corbin booked a match between the two of them to start immediately.

Drew McIntyre vs Dolph Ziggler
These two former partners could have feuded for a while but, why not have a match on RAW on the night they split up?
Drew had control for a bit, but Dolph fought back. After hitting a bodydrop and dragging Ziggler outside of the ring and hammering him against the barricade, he picked up the microphone and said he’s been going easy on Ziggler. So he’s going to pretend it’s Finn Balor instead. This caused McIntyre to be even more rough with The Show Off.
Ziggler sold everything like crazy and really put Drew over. Finally, Finn Balor walked out and Drew was a bit distracted, but the match carried on.
Balor stood at ringside as Dolph and Drew fought on. McIntyre hit an Alabama Slam for a two count as McIntyre and Balor kept trading glances. Drew placed Dolph on the top rope and smacked his chest before climbing down to gloat and climb back up. Dolph fought back with some punches and knocked Drew down and then Dolph hit a DDT for a near fall.
Drew ended up outside and Dolph hit kind of a dive on him in a way. But he pummeled Drew with punches anyway. Then McIntyre fired back with a stiff punch of his own and took control of the match again. He crotched Ziggler on the barricade and rolled Dolph in who rolled into the offiial for a moment allowing Finn Balor to nail a shotgun dropkick on Drew which bounced him off the barricade.
Then Dolph hit a Superkick when Drew got back in the ring and got the win.
Winner: Dolph Ziggler
This was the first time (as Michael Cole said) that McIntyre has been pinned or submitted since coming back to WWE which is totally true.
Charly Caruso caught up with McIntyre backstage and he wasn’t happy. He said that Dolph was just an asset and a means to an end. Dolph used him to get to the top of the maintain, but McIntyre is the mountain and Balor is a marked man.
It’s Time For Elias
Elias said he wants to wrap one of his guitars around Bobby Lashley’s head. He said he’s felt the fear Lashley carries around him but at TLC there will be no more hiding. Because Lashley will find out that WWE stands for Walk With Elias.
Lio Rush and Lashley showed up on the stage and Rush hyped his man Bobby Lashley. Finally, when Elias had seen enough posing and heard enough of Lio, he ran after them with his guitar, but Lashley jumped him first and beat him down a bit.
Elias turned it around on Lashley and drove him into the big LED board and then Lio Rush took off. Elias chased Bobby away and then he stood there for a bit before Lio Rush showed up thanks to Finn Balor tossing Rush on the stage. The Elias broke his guitar over Lio’s back. It looks like the babyfaces are getting a little bit more over this week.
Baron Corbin and Jinder Mahal were backstage and Mahal asked for a match against Finn Balor later on tonight.
Then Slater and Rhyno walked in and Corbin said there’s only room on Raw for one of them. He encouraged one of them to quit. Slater said he has kids and Rhyno said he’s worked hard for everything and he can’t quit. Then Baron Corbin booked a match between the two of them where the loser is fired.
Bobby Roode vs Drake Maverick
Maverick didn’t look too happy about facing Roode. This is Maverick’s first actual match in WWE if my memory serves me correctly.
Drake tried to jump Roode, but it didn’t work out too well for him at all. Suddenly, they showed AOP beating down Gable backstage on the big screen. Then Baron ran in and said he changed his mind and it’s now a 3 on 2 handicap match. So AOP ran to the ring and it was on.
Roode tried to pin Drake before AOP got to the ring, but they got there right in time to break up a pin after a Glorious DDT.
Roode took some abuse from AOP and then Chad Gable came down for more of a fight. He fought off both members of AOP for a bit, but the size and numbers game quickly helped AOP regain control. They hit a super collider and Maverick asked for the pin so he got the pinfall over Bobby Roode.
Winners: AOP & Drake Maverick

Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins Segment
A siren blared and then a SWAT team came out wearing gas masks. Then Ambrose walked out with the siren playing over his music while he was wearing a gas mask as well. Is this a gimmick they’re keeping?
Ambrose said he has to take these measures to protect him from a slum like Houston Texas and he needs them to protect himself from Rollins too. Then he took off the gas mask. He said he was attacked by Rollins, “unprovoked.”
Ambrose said that Rollins has a weak character because he placates to the fans and makes them feel important. Ambrose started explaining what he was going to do to Seth at TLC and that Seth is going to lose control of himself, his emotions, the situation, and the IC Title.
Ambrose said the IC Title will fall safely into his hands. Then Seth’s music hit and he came in through the crowd and took Ambrose out of the ring. Seth took out some SWAT team members and then he powerbombed one of them on the rest of them on the outside.
Dean took off through the crowd and Seth chased him. They brawled in the crowd until Ambrose made it back to ringside, took a gas mask and smashed Rollins with it as Seth went for a springboard dive off the barricade. Ambrose hammered down on Seth and then he got a “You suck” chant from the crowd before hitting a Dirty Deeds on the outside.
“I have integrity,” Ambrose kept saying as he directed the SWAT team members to roll Rollins back into the ring. Ambrose hit another Dirty Deeds on Rollins before posing over him as the audience chanted, “One more time.” Then they played Ambrose’s music again with the siren over it. Maybe they’re keeping it that way but we can only hope they lose that audio addition soon.
Corey Graves tried pressing Renee Young for answers and she snapped at him saying it’s nobody’s business to know what happens between closed doors between husband and wife “how dare you?” That was awkward.
Ronda Rousey Picks A Partner
Charly Caruso revealed that Ember Moon will be Rousey’s partner and Nia Jax said she wanted to fight Caruso. Then she screamed into the microphone about how she wants her Raw Women’s Title back.
Heath Slater vs Rhyno
This match would determine who got to keep their job on RAW. Rhyno tossed Slater around a bit and it looked like it could have been a squash match. Then Heath Slater suddenly hit a move and won the match.
So Heath is staying and Rhyno is apparently fired. Both members of the first-ever SmackDown Tag Team Championship team looked shocked when it was all said and done. This match got hardly any time at all.
Winner: Heath Slater
Baron Corbin applauded Slater backstage and Heath asked if there was anything he could do for Rhyno. Then Baron gave Heath Slater a referee shirt and told him that he could have a successful career as a referee.
Finn Balor vs Jinder Mahal
Mahal took advantage early on and dropped Finn’s throat over the ropes giving him a chance to sell on the outside.
Soon, Balor got fired up and mounted a comeback, he hit the Slingblade, shotgun dropkick (even though Mahal was standing way too close to the turnbucle for it to work right) but when Finn went to the top rope, the Singh Brothers knocked Balor down and danced on the outside.
Apollo Crews ran down and took out the Singhs, Mahal hit a kick on Crew and then Balor tossed Jinder back in the ring for a shotgun dropkick and a Coup De Gras for the win.
Winner: Finn Balor
Balor was seen backstage and Charly Caruso interviewed him. Then Drew McIntyre jumped him and they had to pull him off Balor. Drew came back to punish Finn some more, but they finally pulled McIntyre off and sent him on his way while Finn laid on the floor selling the attack.
Ronda Rousey & Ember Moon vs Nia Jax & Tamina Snuka
The heels attacked Ronda as Ember was making her entrance. Then the babyfaces sent Nia and Tamina out of the ring.
The bell didn’t even ring as Ronda and Ember too the punishment to the heels on the outside. Then they got back in the ring as Michael Cole talked about how fired up the babyfaces were.
When they finally got this match going, Ember was taking punishment from Nia and then Tamina got the tag. They only had about seven minutes until the end of the show when they went back to the match.
Rousey took the tag and applied some strikes only to tag Ember right back in. Tamina hit a move and kept Ember from tagging back in. Moon hit a flipping splash in the corner. Nia distracted Moon and Tamina clubbed her across the back and sent her down.
Moon took even more damage in the corner until Nia took control of Ember on her own. Nia ragdolled Ember Moon a bit until she started to fight back.
Ember almost got to the corner and Nia blasted Ronda off the apron with a cheap shot. Then The heels regained control over Moon. Tamina botched a move badly, but it might have been Moon’s fault too. Either way, Rousey got the tag with three minutes to go and it was certainly a hot tag.
Rousey hit Tamina with clotheslines and then some knees. Ronda told Tamina to tag in Nia Jax and she did. But Jax didn’t seem too eager to get involved with Rousey. In fact, Nia just turned around and tagged Tamina back in.
Ronda brought Jax back into the ring anyway, and then Tamina tried to hit a cheap shot. Rousey hot a close two count, but Nia broke it up. Moon fought Nia off and then she hit the Eclipse on Tamina before Rousey locked in an armbar for the win.
Winner: Ronda Rousey & Ember Moon