WWE Raw results, highlights (Dec. 22): Austin Theory joins The Vision, channels Seth Rollins

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"WWE Raw" delivered holiday cheer with its final installment before Christmas 2025. Stopping through Grand Rapids, Michigan, there was plenty of story to progress on after last week's reveal.

All good in Theory

T'was the "Raw" before Christmas, and my true love sent to me: A rare, clean main-event finish.

That really was a big surprise. It all centered on Austin Theory, the new-old kid on the block after he revealed himself as the masked man last week. 

Let's start off with his presentation, which looks like a problem. Theory, one of the more charismatic younger talents on the roster since he arrived, has seemingly been stripped entirely of any personality. His rationale when speaking to Paul Heyman to start the show — and asking to join The Vision — was that he had made mistakes in the past and was ready to take what he wanted.

It makes a sliver of sense to go that route with Theory while Logan Paul is involved in the stable, but one would think he can't be this stoic figure for long. At least if he wants to maximize the potential he's always had.

Ultimately, it led to the main event, when he partnered with Bronson Reed against recent victims CM Punk and Rey Mysterio. It was a good match, and Theory got plenty of time to show off. The guy is objectively very solid in the ring. Most interestingly, to get the win, Theory hit Mysterio with the stomp, channeling Seth Rollins.

That was unexpected, and leads me to believe we could be headed for a "mole" angle, with Theory secretly working for Rollins. Some fans online even compared his new gear to that of The Shield. In kayfabe, it would be a clever playbook Rollins move, but a bold one to make if the former champion's injury timeline remains unknown. Nonetheless, Theory, at the moment, feels like a miss in this role if he's nothing more than another addition to The Vision.

Oh, and at the very, very end after the match, Bron Breakker speared Punk again. Nothing new on that front, unfortunately.

The Man and the Maxxine

What an end to the year it has been for Maxxine Dupri. I mean, seriously. If we were to do a Breakthrough Wrestler award that consisted only of the past couple of months, she would be my No. 1 pretty easily. On "Raw," she delivered probably the best promo of her career opposite a returning Becky Lynch.

So there's a lot to unpack with Lynch right now. She's fully devolved into a Donald Trump character. Like, literally everything from her delivery to the phrases she's using is blatantly mocking the standing president. Think of that what you will, she's objectively fitting the role well, and is entertaining as always. I just hope it doesn't last for much longer.

What remains perplexing, however, is Lynch's involvement with Dupri at all. Sure, she lost her Intercontinental title to the Alpha Academy "rookie," but it was at the expense of AJ Lee. What is happening with that feud? Will it ever be returned to?

As great as Dupri's matches with Lynch were, there's not much interest in another, especially without Lynch earning it. In a way, this segment gave us a good capstone on it with Dupri digging into Lynch before she was attacked — only to come out on top and force Lynch to tap with an Ankle Lock. Good. Keep Dupri looking strong the way she's been built to look since she won the title. Let's just start moving on to some consistent, fresh programs, shall we?

That's an optimistic ask, because Lynch now has a random title shot rematch next week. All right then.

Judgmental

Seeds are being planted for some long-awaited change in the Judgment Day.

All the points I've made in recent weeks about Bayley and Lyra Valkyria stand until we get some real development. But the Bayley split-personality gimmick doesn't appear to be fully dead in the water, as she was "activated" by Valkyria to win her match against Roxanne Perez. That all came as a result of Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez miscommunicating about their interference and distraction tactics. You know. The usual Judgment Day shenanigans.

The tease here is for Perez to take over Rodriguez's longstanding spot, and it's hard to imagine where things would go after that. Either way, some change with Morgan back in the fold would be refreshing.

👍 MONDAY NIGHT MONEY 👍

1. Stephanie Vaquer will defend her Women's World title against Raquel Rodriguez and Nikki Bella next week. I'm in a good, positive mood regarding all of this, purely because I'll take a triple threat whenever I can. Rodriguez, nor Bella, in particular, deserves to be challenging for the title at all. It's dumb, and likely won't be the end of this terrible Bella saga, but again, a triple threat always works for me.

2. Je'Von Evans defeated Rayo Americano with the OG Cutter. This was a stunningly (mostly) interference-free match that fully showcased Evans. It looks like the NXT star is headed full-time to "Raw." Nothing bad about any of this.

3. Bron Breakker cut another excellent promo on CM Punk, this time through a vignette. If you needed any more evidence that this guy is the future, these are reasons why. This was quality.

🤷 IT HAPPENED 🤷

Gunther delivered a one-liner promo in the midst of a shower of boos. "The Ring General" came out and told the crowd not to be mad at him, but Cena for "tapping like a b****." That prompted an angry Punk to march to the ring for a staredown. Obviously, the inclusion of the World Heavyweight Championship was the interesting part, as Gunther had been gone for months after losing to Punk. However, hopefully, this would be more for a tease toward Gunther continuing his pursuit of legends, rather than the title.

To add to that hope, 

👎 RAW DEAL 👎

1. Going back to the first upvote, I do have to highlight the bigger issue with plenty of championship bookings in WWE right now. The whole reason Bella and Rodriguez are getting their title shot is that the champion Vaquer just gave it to them. WWE's lack of creativity has led to several "fighting champion" gimmicks that reward wrestlers with title shots without wins. It's not just Vaquer, it's Cody Rhodes, AJ Styles and Dragon Lee, Dupri, Jade Cargill and the list goes on. I mean, that's almost all of them.

2. Bella cut her first real heel promo, and while it was delivered well, it was substanceless since she hasn't won any matches to earn her title shots. Her heel character is a rinse-and-repeat of every old entitled superstar.

👑 Uncrowned Gem of the Night 👑

Tonight's "Raw" started uniquely — with a near-immediate match. I say "near" because there were some very quick backstage interactions first, but then the show rolled right into Rhea Ripley vs. Asuka. As per usual, these two delivered a banger, with the story focusing on Asuka being winless against Ripley.

The pace was hot right out the gate, and Ripley's dropkicks shone bright for the first half of this match. There are just some opponents she meshes so well with, and considering the talent of each, they're always a great mix.

Admittedly, the finish was lackluster, as Asuka rolled up Ripley after tending to Iyo Sky on the apron. But the big part there is that Asuka won, which was important after the Kabuki Warriors lost on "SmackDown." The funniest part was Sky running to the ring, still selling her back from the In-Sane Elbow she took last week. I mean, talk about a great way to make a finisher look strong as hell, because you would think Sky had a broken spine.

Nonetheless, the gem of all this is that "Raw" started fast with a match, and a good one at that.

👑 I give this show a Crown score of: 8/10. 👑