WWE Raw: Two No. 1 Contender Matches Booked for Next Week's Show (Dec. 12)

By Connor Casey

This week's Monday Night Raw spent a good chunk of time building up next week's show, as the Dec. 12 episode will have No. 1 contender matches for both the United States and Raw Women's Championships. The show featured two triple threat matches involving Becky Lynch, Alexa Bliss, Nikki Cross, Bayley Rhea Ripley and Asuka , which resulted in both Bayley and Alexa Bliss advancing to next week. Bayley has come up short multiple times against current champ Bianca Belair since returning from injury, while Bliss has not held a singles championship since 2018. She has also been heavily hinting at a return to her darker persona and affiliation with Bray Wyatt in recent weeks. 

Meanwhile, former US Champs Seth Rollins and Bobby Lashley will square off for a title bout with Austin Theory. Lashley nearly lost his spot in the match this week by accidentally spearing backstage producer Petey Williams during a brawl and Adam Pearce made it clear he's on thin ice going into next week. Rollins famously beat Lashley to win the US title (and become a two-time Grand Slam Champion) back in October, only for Theory to win the title in a triple threat involving both men at Survivor Series WarGames. 

The US title picture is actually getting a bit crowded as 2022 comes to a close. Theory agreed to defend his title this week against Mustafa Ali, only for the match to get thrown out when Dolph Ziggler — who also has issues with Theory — attacked the champ and forced a disqualification. 

The only other match announced for next week is Candice LeRae vs. Iyo Sky. LeRae has vowed to beat every member of Damage CTRL since returning from injury and has already defeated Dakota Kai. Fans can expect some sort of involvement from Lynch during that match, as Kai and Sky made sure "The Man" was unsuccessful in her qualifying match in Raw's main event. Stay tuned for full coverage of the show next week! 

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