WWE Raw results, highlights (Dec. 15): Gunther gets booed out of the building; Austin Theory revealed as masked man

WWE Saturday Night's Main Event — and John Cena's career — have officially come and gone. That meant, to an extent, resetting as "WWE Raw" entered the cold climate of Hershey, Pennsylvania, starting with a tribute to the "Never Seen 17" and the entrance of his successor.

Ultimately, the show closed with a reveal that leaves WWE in a perplexing position.

And the crowd goes mild

Another "WWE Raw" main event, another interference finish. This week, it was the masked man, helping Logan Paul once again, as he stomped Rey Mysterio to secure Paul's victory. However, this time, Austin Theory revealed himself as the man under the hood from Survivor Series: WarGames, aiding in the heel team's victory.

OK, first of all, Mysterio and Paul have great chemistry, and were building until a potentially interesting finish. CM Punk ran off the Vision with a chair, so an interference was teased regardless. As for the reveal, reports had already spoiled that Theory was the mystery man, and despite that, it was still unknown whether he'd be revealed as such.

Unfortunately, WWE stuck with it, and the Hershey crowd couldn't have cared less, as everyone expected. Presumably, that's the reason there was no reveal at Survivor Series. 

I don't have anything personal against Theory, but he's never been for in practically any facet of pro wrestling. Objectively, however, he's simply not a big name worthy of this surprise reveal. Could this be a turn toward greener pastures? One would certainly hope. 

Rough start for 'The Ring General'

There was no telling what to expect in the immediate aftermath of Gunther's win over John Cena, but what we got wasn't good.

My theory that Gunther's "You tapped out" chants would go away thanks to the Cena win immediately died upon the former world champion's arrival. The Hershey crowd grasped at straws with that one. Admittedly, they did a great job of making this moment reminiscent of the night after Roman Reigns beat Undertaker at WrestleMania.

Gunther was showered in boos and only commented by saying he did as he promised and made Cena give up, and tap "like a b****." Subtle, substanceless heel work.

Where this whole segment became wildly stupid and nonsensical was when Gunther finally walked backstage with the camera following him. He had brief interactions with Alpha Academy and R-Truth, who were reasonably upset with him — then Gunther ran into "Raw" general manager Adam Pearce, who was also upset. He then forced Gunther to leave.

What?

So Gunther is punished for rightfully basking in a win in a match that he won his way through a tournament to earn? There's no other way to describe this kayfabe "logic" as bewilderingly stupid, because it makes no sense whatsoever.

Ultimately, a mild saving grace to the segment was a tease between Gunther and AJ Styles, who claimed earlier in the year that he would retire next year. Making the man who was just a part of one of the literal biggest moments of the year on-screen leave the show essentially before it started was WWE's "brilliant" way to capitalize on Cena's retirement.

It's actually maddening.

👑 Uncrowned Gem of the Night 👑

Boy, was it good to have CM Punk back.

Sometimes it's good to have a little reminder here and there. After Bron Breakker's excellent promo on Punk after Survivor Series, the "Voice of the Voiceless" returned to counter and clap back in vintage fashion. This was Punk on the mic at his best — and left the ring surprisingly uninterupted.

Punk, thankfully, has been gifted the ability to use common sense more than most in his promos. As he cut into Breakker, he mentioned the silliness in Breakker's comments about being disappointed that it was so easy to pin him. Well, that's because of all the help Breakker had, including from a masked man, which Punk mentioned. That was all before slicing into Breakker personally and bringing up his Steiner father and uncle. It was classic Punk, seemingly motivated by a new feud.

Earlier in the night, we got some nice touches to all of this when The Vision was in the locker room. Paul Heyman highlighted how it was good to see them getting help, given all the enemies they've made, and the need to be careful after the LA Knight beatdown last week. With Breakker, in particular, he wanted to assault Punk tonight, but Heyman pleaded with him not to be stupid and ruin their upcoming title match. These were all realistic little touches.

👍 MONDAY NIGHT MONEY 👍

1. "WWE Raw" started with a phenomenal recap video package of Cena's final match at Saturday Night's Main Event. The company has always been great at making a little bit of cinema when it feels the need to go all out, and this was one of those times.

2. The Usos defeated The New Day with the 1D. It was a match with some sloppy moments for career-long rivals, but they hadn't interacted in a long, long time. The Usos were never going to lose this, and it was solid, as the pairs' chemistry is still there. However, Xavier Woods kicking out of a double Uso splash was pretty surprising.

Also, Jimmy Uso has a noticeably better spear than Jey Uso, which is kind of funny, considering how much less we've seen Jimmy use the move.

3. Maxxine Dupri made a successful first Intercontinental title defense against Ivy Nile. First and foremost, this match should have been a squash for the champion after her incredible training vignettes — and Nile having not been on "Raw" since June in a match she lost. Instead, they put on a pretty solid, physical match that ended with Dupri relentlessly pursuing the ankle lock until the tap came. It was clear that WWE used this to keep building Dupri into more of a force as champion, but a squash title defense would have been even better story-wise.

🤷‍♂️ IT HAPPENED 🤷‍♂️

1. "RhIyo" made their entrance exclusively so the Kabuki Warriors could attack them. This may have been the most "it happened" moment of all time. 

It concluded with Iyo Sky protecting Rhea Ripley from Kairi Sane's In-Sane Elbow. I expect — and hope — that was only there as a nice touch for their title match next month, leading Asuka to refuse to protect Sane and costing them their titles. The latter two's promos have largely preached the family dynamic, after all. It plays perfectly into Asuka's abusive heel role, too. Predictable can be good. Don't let me down, WWE.

👎 RAW DEAL 👎

1.n Stephanie Vaquer defeated Raquel Rodriguez by disqualification thanks to a Nikki Bella interference attack that ruined the match. I'm ot even going to spend time on this because Bella remaining in the title picture without a win is ludicrously awful. She is 2-7 since returning and hasn't won since July. There's zero reason to care about this.

2. The whole Bayley-Lyra Valkyria angle is officially tired, especially since they're treading water repeating the same matches. I really don't understand why WWE refuses to put them in more prominent positions that very much need them right now. Yes, I'm talking about each world title picture.

👑 WWE is somehow feeling more lost and directionless by the week, and something needs to change. I give this show a Crown score of: 4/10. 👑