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WWE

One night after a surprisingly entertaining TLC pay-per-view, WWE brought Raw to Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa. The show centered around Seth Rollins diving deeper into his new heel character, putting a target on Rey Mysterio as his dastardly actions since teaming up with AOP continued.

In the night's main event, Randy Orton got short-lived revenge on A.J. Styles, picking up a victory before falling victim to a beatdown from the entirety of The O.C. Let's take a look at what happened on the post-PPV edition of Raw.

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Rollins delivers a message to Mysterio

Rollins opened the show, immediately calling the AOP to the ring and calling them the first two men in the locker room who chose to live on the right side of history. He then launched into what was largely a retelling of his story from last week. He was the fan favorite, the media darling, the corporate choice for "the future" of the company and did everything right, but nothing was ever enough for the WWE Universe and so he fought back by taking the actions he felt were necessary in the interest of progress for the brand and, in fact, all of professional wrestling. He then offered an apology for what he and AOP would have to do to someone tonight, though gave no clue as to who would feel the group's wrath.

After the conclusion of the gauntlet match (see results below), Mysterio was helping Humberto Carrillo as he was stretchered out. That's when Rollins' music hit. He walked out with AOP carrying the lead pipe Mysterio had given Kevin Owens last week. AOP but a beating on Mysterio before Rollins told him he could have the pipe, but the attack continued before he could use the weapon. Rollins then said he wasn't the type of man who believed in "an eye for an eye" and went to exit the ring before turning around and hitting a curb stomp on Mysterio and leaving with AOP. After the ensuing commercial break, Rollins issued an official challenge to Mysterio for the United States Championship next week on Raw. Mysterio responded later in the show, saying Rollins showed why no one respects him as an athlete, professional or man before accepting Rollins' challenge.

There is a lot of good stuff going on with the Rollins heel turn. He has kept a consistent, justifiable reasoning for his actions. The fans fell out of love with him and then turned on him, leaving him in a desperate place. That has pushed him to his best mic work in years and, more importantly, his most interesting place as a character in the same span. The interactions with Mysterio, and callback to Rey aiding Owens last week were top notch. But the story loses some points this week for seeming to completely offset a 50-minute gauntlet match to crown a No. 1 contender to Mysterio's title. Almost immediately after the conclusion of that bout, Rollins vs. Mysterio was booked, completely deflating the match that took up almost the entire second hour of the show. Still, there was more good than bad in the Rollins story tonight. Grade: B

What else happened on Raw?

  • The O.C. def. The Viking Raiders via pinfall with a Magic Killer on Ivar. After their double countout at TLC, the two teams matched up in the first in-ring action of the show, the two teams of big men went back to their hard-hitting style. After Ivar missed a top rope moonsault, the O.C. teamed up to hit a magic killer on him to pick up the pinfall victory. Despite the previous night being a match for the tag belts that ended without a clear winner, the rematch was non-title, giving Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson a big win but not making them champions.
  • Erik Rowan def. Dante Leon via pinfall after two Iron Claw Slams. Prior to the match, there was a backstage attempt to ask Rowan what is in the covered cage that, of course, went nowhere. Again, a local talent ran from Rowan as the match started and tried to look under the cover, but Rowan gave chase, laying out the enhancement talent before throwing him into the ring and finishing things off.
  • Lana and Bobby Lashley cut an in-ring promo with Lana again announcing Lashley of the winner of his tables match with Rusev at the previous night's TLC event. Lana then pulled a ring out of her sleeve and handed it to Lashley, asking him to ask her to marry him. Lashley said he doesn't like when anyone tells him what to do ... except her, at which point he got down on one knee and proposed.
  • Andrade won a gauntlet match featuring R-Truth, Akira Tozawa, Ricochet, Matt Hardy, and Humberto Carrillo. The winner of the gauntlet earned a shot at Mysterio and the United States championship. Truth and Tozawa kicked the match off with Tozawa pinning Truth with a roll-up. Truth was then chased from the ring after the loss by a group of wrestlers seeking the 24/7 championship. Ricochet was out next to take on Tozawa and the two put on a solid match that could stand alone as an individual contest, not just part of a larger gauntlet. Ricochet eventually hit the Recoil to get the three count and eliminate Tozawa, bringing Matt Hardy out as the next man up. Ricochet and Hardy went back and forth before Ricochet countered a Twist of Fate into a roll-up for the elimination. Carrillo was out next with Ricochet exhausted from two fairly lengthy battles. Zelina Vega stood at the top of the ramp for much of the match, smiling at Carrillo as he and Ricochet engaged in high-speed, high-flying action. Another tremendous showing for Ricochet, but his run came to an end after Carrillo hit a big moonsault for the pin. Andrade entered the match by running in from the crowd, with Vega having been a distraction all along. Following his initial assault, Andrade hit the hammerlock DDT on the exposed concrete at ringside. Mysterio ran out to keep Andrade from doing any further damage. No winner was announced for the bout, but WWE's Instagram announced Andrade had won the bout.
  • Asuka def. Deonna Purrazzo via submission with the Asuka Lock. Purrazzo made her Raw debut seemingly out of nowhere but was aggressive off the bat, throwing a big pump kick to start the match and blindside Asuka. Purrazzo, who was listed as an NXT superstar, got a good bit of offense in as a spotlight but came up short by submission in a fairly short match.
  • A pre-taped interview with Becky Lynch aired where she claimed to have not been herself lately. She claimed she was put in the tag division because "the powers that be" are trying to protect her from losing the belt to Asuka. Lynch listed all the times Asuka had gotten the better of her before saying for once, she needs her opponent, not the other way around. She wants a match with Asuka because she is out to prove something to herself.
  • Randy Orton def. A.J. Styles via pinfall after hitting the RKO. Styles took out Orton's knee early in the match first locking in an early calf crusher and then a chop block when the match went to ringside, leading Orton to hobble as he tried to make a comeback. Styles continued to work the knee, driving a kick to Orton's leg to cut off a comeback and it paid off when Orton was unable to follow a powerslam into a pin due to the pain. Despite Styles dominating much of the match and Orton selling his knee every second of the contest, "The Viper" was able to counter a Phenomenal Forearm into an RKO to take the victory. Gallows and Anderson ran in to put a beating on Orton, leading to the Viking Raiders to run in for a failed attempt at the save. Styles took out Ivar's knee and Erik fell victim to the Magic Killer before the show went off the air.