Raw results, Dec. 9, 2019: The Viper slithers his way into U.S. Title clash between Mysterio and Styles

Matt Hardy looks to find a way to take down the vicious Drew McIntyre.

Drew McIntyre has been a new man since Survivor Series, dishing out chops to the chest, kicks to the mush and insults to the face of anyone who dares cross him. The latest unlucky recipient of all three was Matt Hardy, who has been working to get some momentum going since his own return a couple of weeks back.

Unfortunately for the former Raw Tag Team Champion, a round of adrenaline fueled by some pointed insults toward Matt’s (newly expanding!) family wasn’t enough to take down his towering opponent. Even though Hardy cut McIntyre down to size with a Side Effect and a trip into the ringpost, his attempt to execute a backslide was reversed into a Future Shock DDT, and a Claymore moments later was all she wrote.

The Street Profits answer an open challenge for a title bout issued by Raw Tag Team Champions The Viking Raiders.

The Viking Raiders have been feasting on an endless string of locals more or less since they debuted on Raw, so it made sense that Erik & Ivar would issue an open challenge to see if there was anyone who could stand toe to toe with them. As it turns out, there was. The Street Profits answered the Vikings’ call for a title bout and nearly supplanted the champs, putting on an impressive performance that cemented them as a team to watch even in defeat.

Much like the champs, The Street Profits employed a strategy to come out swinging. Montez Ford pancaked Erik with a Frog Splash just seconds into the match, and big man Angelo Dawkins sent Ivar tumbling with an exploder suplex. The Viking Raiders rallied to hit the Viking Experience on Ford for the win, but the effort by the young team was noted. Erik & Ivar shook the hands of The Street Profits after the match, clearly signaling that they’d welcome another fight down the line. It's not a title victory, but safe to say the Profits achieved a win of sorts all the same.

Kevin Owens viciously attacks Mojo Rawley with a steel pipe after Sami Zayn petitions for KO to apologize to Rawley for slapping him in the backstage area.

Kevin Owens came to Raw looking for AOP. Instead, he ran afoul of a truly unlikely duo: Sami Zayn and Mojo Rawley.

Throughout his quest to find Akam & Rezar, which was aided by a steel pipe given to him by Rey Mysterio, Owens came across Mojo Rawley in the backstage area and slapped him across the face after a brief confrontation. Moments later, KO took the ring to confront Seth Rollins, who claimed he had come to the ring to settle his own unfinished business with AOP. Of course, Owens still suspected Rollins of some sort of secret alliance with AOP, so The Beastslayer made the "unpopular decision" to make himself scarce. That's when Mojo resurfaced alongside Sami, who had apparently been granted a manager’s license that allowed him to move freely across Raw and SmackDown. But Zayn’s presence didn’t endear Rawley to Owens at all. In fact, KO Stunned Rawley, rained blows on his back with the pipe and sent Sami skulking off.

As for AOP, they did appear ... briefly, on the TitanTron, sneering at Owens in their native tongues but pointedly refusing to come to the ring. So, after dispatching Rawley, Owens did exactly what you’d expect him to do: Kept looking.

In a dominant display against Akira Tozawa, Aleister Black looks to send a message to his WWE TLC opponent Buddy Murphy.

The bad news is that Aleister Black has to wait a few more days for the fight he wants against Buddy Murphy. The good news is that he got a hell of a fight from Akira Tozawa. This should be no small consolation for the battle-hungry Black; Tozawa has looked so good the last few weeks that it’s easy to forget he’s on a bit of a losing streak, and this one could have gone either way until the deciding moments when Black snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. He did so by turning Tozawa’s momentum against him, countering The Stamina Monster’s suicide headbutt with a jumping knee and sealing the match soon thereafter with a Black Mass.

Humberto Carrillo looks to put a stop to a highly aggressive Andrade, who comes out swinging early.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have ourselves an upset. Humberto Carrillo, whose win-loss record hasn’t always matched up with his heart, got one over on the white-hot Andrade, who hasn’t lost a match in a month and a half and has been all but untouchable in the weeks since his Raw debut in the wake of the WWE Draft. Needless to say, he did not take the loss well.

Ironically, Andrade seemingly went looking for this fight, confronting Carrillo moments into an interview that introduced him as the hottest newcomer on Team Red. Andrade clearly wasn’t impressed by what he saw, and he made an example of Carrillo early in the match. But the young Superstar lived up to his billing by kicking out of everything Andrade threw at him, including a vicious elbow that all but floored Humberto. After the former NXT Champion accidentally knocked Zelina Vega off the ring apron, Carrillo made his move, rolling up Andrade for three to the assembled disbelief of all involved. No one was more shocked than Andrade, who got in a post-bout shouting match with Vega and blamed her for the loss.

Buddy Murphy prepares to take on Aleister Black at WWE TLC by making quick work of Zack Ryder.

With an upcoming fight against Aleister Black, it’s put up or shut up time for Buddy Murphy. With that in mind, his match with Zack Ryder was as much of a potential dry run for Murphy as it was a signal to The Dutch Destroyer that Murphy is no laughing matter. It was a resounding success either way you look at it. Murphy came out swinging against The Ultimate Broski and, despite eating a Broski Boot that almost relieved the Australian of his bicuspids, distracted Zack with a cheap shot to Curt Hawkins at ringside and put the match away with a jumping knee and Murphy’s Law. Looks like Buddy Murphy is in a fighting mood. Good. Then he and Aleister will both get what they want.

When a local competitor tries to make off with Erick Rowan’s prized cage, he feels the wrath of the enraged Superstar.

The local competitor who faced Erick Rowan instantly won the title for the bravest, most foolish man in Greenville when he stole Rowan’s beloved pen and placed it atop the ramp in the hopes of baiting the big man into a count-out loss. It did not work. In fact, it had the opposite effect, provoking Rowan to unleash an onslaught that included three Iron Claws and forced the ref to stop the match. Not that it prevented Rowan from continuing his attack after the bell and repeatedly accusing the local grappler of trying to hurt someone he loved. Points for strategy and originality to this man, if nothing else, but the mystery remains unsolved. The only thing we know at this point is what Rowan will do if you try to solve it.