The first "Raw" of the post-John Cena era of WWE gave the fans in Hershey, Pennsylvania, something to boo right out the gate when Gunther took the ring after the biggest win of his career. The crowd was not interested in letting "The Ring General" gloat about ending the career of the greatest wrestler of all time, but he did anyway, in perfect heel fashion.
The Usos then returned to the world tag team division against familiar foes, The New Day, whom they have now faced 45 times together, according to WWE. Two women's title matches and a massive win for Logan Paul over Rey Mysterio later, a mystery was solved to close the show when the masked man's identity was revealed to be Austin Theory.
The timing of the unmasking was a bit puzzling, but with three weeks until Bron Breakker takes on CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship on the Jan. 5 edition of "Raw" and more than a month until Royal Rumble, how Theory fits in with The Vision's plans is yet to be seen.
Dec. 15 'Raw' results
The Usos (Jey and Jimmy Uso) def. The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) by pinfall
Maxxine Dupri def. Ivy Nile to retain the Women's Intercontinental Championship by submission
Stephanie Vaquer vs. Raquel Rodriguez for the WWE Women's World Championship ends in a no-contest
Logan Paul def. Rey Mysterio by pinfall
Gunther can take the heat
The WWE universe has been wondering aloud since Saturday Night's Main Event if Gunther really needed to tap out Cena in his final match. Couldn't we have one more "Super Cena" comeback and victory for old times' sake?
The "Raw" crowd on Monday made it clear why that couldn't happen. Every time Gunther brought the microphone to his mouth for his promo, he was loudly booed by the Hershey audience, who didn't care to hear him out. There's a term in professional wrestling called "heat" that refers to a wrestler's ability to elicit emotion from the audience. Gunther has always had heat in some form, but Monday was next level, and it was a direct result of the manner in which Gunther defeated Cena on Saturday. He is a heel, and he's playing the role to a T, refusing to offer respect to Cena during their match and in the aftermath. Even after "Raw" general manager Adam Pearce booted Gunther from the arena for his disrespectful speech, Gunther responded by speeding off in a sports car, doing the "you can't see me" hand gesture to AJ Styles.
Gunther is not only a former world champion; he's a rising star. If anything, Saturday marked the next chapter in Gunther's career -- one in which he has a path to achieve drawing power and future success to the heights of Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns.
Gunther has now retired Goldberg and Cena. Styles, who has said 2026 will be his final year wrestling, could be next, and that Cena-style wave might be the first sign of "The Ring General's" future "legend killer" status.
Other 'Raw' takeaways
CM Punk delivered a passionate promo on Bron Breakker that hit all the right notes and likely made fans more interested in their upcoming title match. The night ended with Breakker getting the better of Punk via a spear. This feud checks a lot of boxes: high stakes, personal animosity and physicality. Plus, Breaker already earned a pinfall victory over Punk at Survivor Series.
The true test here, especially for Breakker, will be when both of them are in the ring together with microphones in hand. They are both aggressive on the mic, and we will see if the rising star can hang with the seasoned veteran.
The masked man was finally revealed to be Austin Theory, who we haven't seen since July because of an undisclosed injury. Theory and Logan Paul were aligned for a brief period last year, which could help explain why Theory has been helping The Vision. Theory's alignment with Paul Heyman could be beneficial. Theory is a talent who just needs elevation, and Heyman can certainly provide that. Assuming Theory gets introduced into the group, all four members of The Vision could be WWE champions at some point in 2026.
It's still hard to tell which direction the storyline for The Usos is going. Could Jimmy and Jey earn a tag team title shot at Rumble, then turn on each other again to set up another WrestleMania match? Their first one at WrestleMania 40 wasn't necessarily a career highlight. Will they run it back to try to get a match that ranks higher on their "best career matches" list, or will they remain in the tag team division for the foreseeable future?
