The first "Raw" after Survivor Series began a season that will lead us to WrestleMania in April. With Royal Rumble still two months away, an announcement was already made that Bron Breakker will challenge CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship on the first "Raw" of 2026. Liv Morgan made an emphatic statement in her first Monday appearance since June. No, the identity of the masked man who interfered at the end of the men's WarGames match on Saturday wasn't close to being uncovered, and neither was the next challenger to the women's tag team titles, which was the focus of the main event -- in itself a pleasant surprise.
Dec. 1 'Raw' results
• LA Knight def. Jey Uso in "The Last Time Is Now" tournament semifinals
• AJ Styles and Dragon Lee def. The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) to retain the WWE World Tag Team Championship
• Gunther def. Solo Sikoa in "The Last Time Is Now" tournament semifinals
• Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss vs. Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky ended in a no-contest
The star of the show was Liv Morgan
Since returning to WWE at Survivor Series this past weekend to help Dominik Mysterio win back the Intercontinental Championship from John Cena, Morgan is seemingly establishing herself as the leader of The Judgment Day, proclaiming that they once again run "Raw."
After she smacked "Dirty Dom" again before leaping into his arms, Morgan led an absolutely chaotic scene to end the show. Multiple women's tag teams came running to the ring and turned Flair and Bliss vs. Ripley and Sky into a giant brawl that saw The Judgement Day's Raquel Rodriquez and Roxanne Perez stand tall, holding the tag titles. One was offered to Morgan, but she gave it back, centering herself between Rodriguez and Perez and raising their arms in the closing shot of the show.
It was a statement "Raw" for Morgan and establishes The Judgment Day as the favorites to challenge The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane) for the tag team titles. I wouldn't be surprised if a No. 1 contender match -- perhaps involving The Judgement Day, Rhiyo, Flair and Bliss and Lyra Valkyria and Bayley -- is in the works to determine who will face Asuka and Sane.
More takeaways
• The last 30 minutes of "Raw" was a great spotlight for the women's tag team division, one that involves a plethora of talented WWE stars whose attention is not on the Women's World Championship but on the tag team titles, adding extra value and prestige.
Not only that, but tag team wrestling as a whole is thriving. This week's "Raw" had a men's tag team title match and a women's tag team main event. There have been times in history where tag team wrestling was more of an afterthought than an important part of the show. That definitely wasn't the case on Monday night.
• Bron Breakker delivered a passionate promo addressed to CM Punk after manager Paul Heyman announced that Breakker would challenge Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship on the Jan. 5 edition of "Raw." Bron delivered it with tons of emotion and packed a lot of information (and threats) into a short amount of time. He held his own, but a likely inevitable back-and-forth with Punk on the mic will truly determine if Breakker can sink or swim with the best of the best.
I have mixed feelings about the title match. On one hand, I understand starting the year with a bang. Punk vs. Breakker would definitely do that. It's a fresh opponent for Punk and the biggest match of Breakker's young career. On the flip side, I just don't see Punk losing this match. Could Breakker win and Punk chase the title to WrestleMania? Possibly. But I'd side more with Punk winning and introducing a new opponent on the road to WrestleMania. That's not necessarily a horrible thing for Breakker, who could wind up back in the title picture at some point in the future.
• LA Knight and Gunther won the "The Last Time Is Now" semifinal matches and will meet Friday on "SmackDown" to determine who will face Cena in his last match Dec. 13. Gunther has been the heavy favorite to win and go on to Saturday Night's Main Event, but some are holding out for shenanigans to occur in order to see a surprise opponent face Cena instead. I wouldn't mind LA Knight beating Gunther, because I'd like to see how he does as a world champion and this would certainly propel him. Gunther, a former world champion, doesn't necessarily need a victory over Cena to vault himself to championship status again.
• Jey Uso snapped after losing to Knight. I like this wrinkle to his character, because he needs something to stay fresh. His entrance will always be a staple at WWE shows that fans (especially kids) look forward to. But more layers are needed in Uso's next chapter for fans to see his range. His character needs to struggle to overcome and perhaps regain a world championship someday. No one wants to see him suffer the fate we've seen other talented wrestlers face in the past by winning a title at WrestleMania, holding it for a short time, losing it and never reclaiming that spot again.