WWE Monday Night Raw: May 26, 2025

Welcome once again to another big edition of Monday Night Raw! In case you need a refresher, here’s a look at last week’s Raw. Thank you all for the feedback on last week’s first weekly review. My style for these will evolve over time, and I appreciate you giving me a shot as your Blog of Doom recapper.

Now that you’re caught up on last week’s business, let’s dive into Netflix’s U.S. live broadcast (sorry, I’m missing whatever might happen internationally during the commercial breaks).

Then, now, forever, together. FOREVER. You’re stuck here. Dun dun dun.

We start with a look back at Saturday Night’s Main Event, which Scott recapped here. Michael Cole and Pat McAfee welcome us to an overhead shot of Tampa, Florida, which is presented by Snickers. Jey Uso is here to prepare for his next challenge and Lyra Valkyria will have thoughts on Becky Lynch. Sami Zayn and Finn Balor have arrived for their Money in the Bank triple threat qualifier as well.

We begin with burning it down as out walks Seth Rollins in a nice blue blazer with Paul Heyman, Bron Breakker, and new friend Bronson Reed. We have the abbreviated set tonight, the same used the previous two nights in this building for SNME and NXT Battleground. The fans, as always, an into singing along with Seth. The drone zooms by and shows the MITB briefcases hanging above as the fans also bark for Bron and chant along with Paul Heyman. Paul introduces his crew. First, an attack dog and a badass in a bloodline of badasses in Bron. The fans chant for “CM Punk” as Paul points towards Bronson. Heyman asks Seth if the fans realize Punk is not here tonight, which draws boos. His next intro is for Big Bronson, a man he says WWE wouldn’t put in the ring with top tier talent because they were afraid. And finally, a visionary, architect and future of the industry – acknowledge Seth Freakin’ Rollins, says Paul. The fans and McAfee take offense, the fans chanting “OTC.”

Seth, wearing Versace shades, waits out a “we want Roman” chant and tells Tampa that this is the vision – his vision – and the way forward to secure the future of the industry. He says the way to do it is through total control and domination. He gets onto the fans for chanting profanity at him when they were singing his song five minutes earlier, which is fair. He tells us he is the only one capable of wielding the power and he would be World Heavyweight Champion tonight if it wasn’t for Sami Zayn and CM Punk. He acknowledges that he’s found a way to control the fate of those championships, looking up at the briefcases. He says he is qualifying tonight, winning the contract, and cashing in – but he can do it when he wants, how he wants, and on whom he wants.

Michael and Pat welcome us from their table and run down the night tonight. We have a World Tag Championship triple threat with New Day, the Creeds and War Raiders and Akira Tozawa facing Rusev. Cole hypes up Worlds Collide and MITB in Los Angeles.

Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Penta vs Chad Gable vs Dragon Lee

Penta is, as always, very over with the crowd during his intro. Cole notes Gable could be wrestling twice MITB weekend if he qualifies, as he will be facing El Hijo Del Vikingo at Worlds Collide who happens to be in the crowd tonight. Lee and Penta team up early to toss Gable out before going for each other. With Gable back in, Dragon lands a running dropkick to Penta before being caught by Gable into a suplex. Gable catches a springboarding Penta with a suplex as well, the fans booing him.

Penta catches both men and drops them both, including Gable right on his face. Penta jumps out with a tope on both men to lead to commercial. We come back from break with Penta superkicking Dragon before trying to leap outside on Gable, who grabs his ankle and tosses him over the announce table instead. Gable gestures towards Vikingo as Dragon Lee does a WILD leap over the table and into Penta out of nowhere. Gable attacks Vikingo, then grabs Penta to toss him in the ring.

All three men are in and trading superkicks, Gable powerbombing Gable for a two count as we get our first “this is awesome” chant of the night. Gable grabs Penta as Penta holds onto Lee, suplexing them both. Gable goes up and nails the moonsault for a two. Vikingo kicks down Gable (we’re under no DQ as triple threat rules state), Dragon stomping Gable before walking into Penta’s Mexican Destroyer. Penta lands a Penta Driver on Dragon Lee and scores the pin, advancing to MITB. Gable is busted open. Penta joins LA Knight and Solo Sikoa thus far in the match. Fantastic match – seek it out.

Judgment Day are in the bank, playing WWE 2K as always. Roxanne Perez brings Dom some nuggets, noting that his shoulder looks tight. Liv Morgan returns, denying Rox’s handshake and asking Dom’s what’s been up. She’s on her way to talk to Adam Pearce and get her own qualifying match. Finn laughs while Carlito tells Dom to quit eating those nuggets.

Tozawa and Rusev are heading to the ring. They’re up next! Before we go forward, Cole and McAfee thank the 700,000 who have given their lives to the U.S. on Memorial Day. This leads to a video package narrated by Cody Rhodes, thanking those we’ve lost.

WWE Fact of the Night, thanks to Cash App: this is the 32nd Raw to emanate from Tampa, acknowledging the Thunderdome era as a large chunk of that.

Akira Tozawa (with Maxxine Dupri) vs Rusev

We start with Tozawa ripping his shirt, Rusev repeatedly tossing him out of the way. Tozawa lands an early dropkick but get shrugged away. Rusev hooks the Accolade and gets the quick submission. He doesn’t let go, referee Jessika Carr trying to stop it. Sheamus comes out for the save, Cole acknowledging their past as partners and opponents. After a stare down, Rusev leaves. Not much to the match, but it’s all storyline advancement.

Unbiased reporter Cathy Kelley is with comedians Bert Kreischer and Tom Segura, who are certainly people that exist. Tom is here to have a good time and plugs his new Netflix series. Bert does the same but runs off. Bert screams for Tom, Tom finding him shirtless and chanting with the War Raiders. Bert is the reddest person I’ve ever seen in my life, and I’ve seen Brother Love.

Sami Zayn is backstage, upset about the opening segment. We pan over to Jey Uso, telling him it would have been one on three if Sami went out and they have to be smart choosing their battles. Jey tells him to win the qualifying match, and he’s got his back, Use.

WWE World Tag Titles: New Day vs Viking Raiders vs Creed Brothers (with Ivy Nile)

The great Alicia Taylor is on the introductory call, as always. New Day are wearing their Giant Gonzalez WrestleMania gear, which is a sentence I wasn’t sure I’d type ever. Bert is ringside now, drinking a beer along with Tom. They’re on Netflix!

All six men start brawling, the Creeds rolling out. The Vikings throw Kofi onto them, then Erik slams Ivar onto the four men outside. Kofi is tagged in and the bell officially rings. New Day and Creeds work together to take down Ivar, tossing him into the stairs. The four men raise arms in the ring as we go to a commercial. We come back to Kofi and Ivar in the ring, New Day maintaining control.

Ivar and Julius tag in, Kofi running in and being slammed on top of Brutus as we’re all in now. Ivar powers all four opponents outside of the ring, then goes up top but being stopped by a Kofi kick. Julius leaps to the top and superplexes Ivar, Woods jumps in with an elbow, then Ivar frog splashes Xavier. The men all start leaping outside, Ivar catching Kofi and slamming him into the apron before splashing him into the LED board. Julis nails Ivar with a knee and Woods runs behind to roll him up. Xavier Woods pins Ivar, retaining the World Tag Team Titles with Kofi Kingston. A good match!

Liv and Raquel Rodriguez are walking backstage, finding Iyo Sky and Kairi Sane. Iyo tells them to keep walking as Liv laughs about Kairi’s MITB dreams being over. Kairi challenges Liv to a match tonight. Raquel: “You messed up, girl.”

Main Event Jey Uso is now in your city! Our World Champion enters through the crowd, yeeting with the kids as the drone flies around. Michael Cole hypes up a big triple threat for Atlanta this summer – NXT Great American Bash, Saturday Night’s Main Event and Evolution. He has a new “four letters, one word” shirt which will probably be topping the WWE Shop charts at any time now. Jey says everybody is after the champ – Logan Paul was yeeted on and John Cena might get yeeted on too.

Gunther comes out pretty quickly. Cole reminds us that Gunther will be awaiting Jey the Raw after MITB in a World Championship match, which we are probably about to hear him talk about. He congrats Jey on the “fifteen-year jubilee” of the Usos in WWE as well as his first successful title defense. He tells Jey he is holding onto the title way longer than he expected and can see Jey trying to be the captain of the Raw ship. Gunther notes how much is happening – Seth’s long-term plan and Jey being there for his friends – and says Jey being open for all of it makes a terrible quality for a champion. He doesn’t blame Jey, telling him he doesn’t know better since the position of World Champion doesn’t come natural to him. Gunther tells him he was champion for a year because the only person he cared about was himself. He doesn’t think Jey has the brain to carry himself as a great champion and he will relieve him from his position and “make things right.”

Jey removes the Yeet glasses, asking Gunther if he is done. Jey says he is done himself with people telling him his days as champ are numbered and done with everybody using the title as an excuse to turn on people. Jey tells Gunther he’s going to make him tap out again – four letters, one word, uhh uhh, YEET. He leaves Gunther standing in the ring.

Cole and McAfee hype “What Do You Wanna Talk About?,” the new podcast from Cody. His first guest is Brandi Rhodes (it will be open mic night), and we watch a clip as they discuss the WrestleMania return and drink some delicious Whatley American Vodka. You can watch the podcast Wednesday on Spofify, Apple, and YouTube.

Celebrities are in the house! Patrick Maroon, a 3x Stanley Cup Champion is present as well as diamond-certified rapper Waka Flocka Flame. Titus O’Neil is here too, who will be part of a new dating show called “King’s Count” which will be on Peacock and Bravo. Sure, why not.

Liv Morgan (with Raquel Rodriguez) vs Kairi Sane

Cole notes Liv was out filming a movie in Japan as we see a first-time one-on-one matchup. Sane lays in the chops on Liv, elbowing her in the corner. Sane flips Liv across the ring as Cole mentions Liv wants to be known as “the movie star” now. Kairi misses the running kick on the ring apron, Liv sunset flipping her into the mat. After a commercial, Liv has control and completes two of the Three Amigos on Kairi, Kairi springing out of the third and nailing Liv with a spear.

Kairi hooks Liv into a very stretchy leglock, but Liv reverses out. Kairi runs into a stomp from Liv, who hits Kairi with a beautiful second-rope Code Breaker for a two. Kairi blocks Oblivion, knocking Liv down with a backhand and a running forearm. Liv’s able to hit the Backstabber and then runs into Kairi, both women tumbling into a pin attempt by Kairi. Kairi’s up for the elbow, but Roxanne shoves her down as Raquel distracts referee Jessika. Raquel and Rox argue at ringside, which distracts from saving Liv. Kairi pins Liv after blocking Oblivion a second time. Liv is giving “annoyed” as Raquel tries to explain to her what happened in the ring.

It’s my favorite time of the show as we go to a Rhea Ripley promo. Rhea says that, for the first time in her career, she’s in a ladder match at Money in the Bank. She promises to win and cement herself at the top of the women’s division, telling Iyo and Tiffany Stratton to hold their titles closely as they won’t be safe from Mami in the Bank.

Lyra Valkyria is WALKING and will join us… next!

We’re in the Judgment Day clubhouse, where Raquel tries to blame it on Rox. Liv tells Raquel she was the veteran and should have had it out there.

Our Intercontinental Champion and bird lady Lyra Valkyria is here, ready to share some words with us. Cole leads us through some playback of her last few weeks with Becky Lynch. Cole tells us we have a return match for the title at Money in the Bank, something announced earlier in the day on social media. Lyra tells us she would love to talk about new competition and a new challenger for her title, but Becky did what Becky does best and twisted the right arms for a rematch. Lyra says she didn’t feel satisfaction by beating Becky because Becky came out, no embarrassment or shame, and talked like she won the match and tried to steal another shot in the MITB qualifying match.

Lyra is mad because Becky got in her fiancée’s face, tried to take her eye out and break her arm and yes, now it’s personal. Lyra says she will hurt Becky at MITB, break her ego and bash her head in. Out comes Becky Lynch to offer a rebuttal, offering a quizzical look on her face. Becky yells that she didn’t make this personal, she was done with Lyra and went home to her hot husband while Lyra went to the hospital with “your weird little fiancée.” Lyra says people are talking about her because she beat Becky, and Becky tells her that if Lyra beats her at MITB, she will never challenge her for the belt ever again. Lyra accepts, laughing that she did it with her eyes closed last time. This doesn’t sit well with Becky, who says she wasn’t finished and if she wins at MITB, Lyra has to raise her hand in victory. Lyra has never had an issue raising the hand of a woman that’s better than her, but that hasn’t been Becky. I liked this, Lyra showed some confidence and Becky is shaken.

Sami heads towards the entrance but meets Karrion Kross and Scarlett. Karrion tells Sami he could have just gone to SmackDown and challenged for the WWE Championship but had to do it his way. Kross tells Sami he’s never going to win the title.

We hype up Worlds Collide. Chad Gable goes for El Hijo Del Vikingo and the AAA Mega Championship according to the graphic, which I guess means goodbye to Alberto. Oh well, nothing of note was lost. El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr., Psycho Clown and Pagano face Legado Del Fantasma as well. It’ll be on YouTube and I’m sure it’ll be covered here. The announce team run down the MITB card thus far as well.

Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Seth Rollins vs Sami Zayn vs Finn Balor

Seth gets the Xfinity Live & Loud dBA reading during his intro, peaking at 110 dBA. That is, the internet tells me, very loud. I learned this with my Xfinity internet, so I guess this all worked. Finn is by himself tonight, the rest of Judgment Day backstage having issues.

The men battle early, Finn and Seth trading blows and Finn landing pin attempts on both men. This leads to a quick commercial, coming back with Samy taking control. Sami tosses Seth out, climbing on the apron and springboarding onto both opponents. Back in, Rollins counters Sami into a Falcon Arrow for two.

Sami and Seth tussle on the second rope, which leads to a sunset flip powerbomb by Sami for a two that is broken up by Balor. Finn tosses Sami out, but this gives Seth the chance to try for several Pedigrees. Finn goes up and is knocked by down by Sami, who superplexes Finn. Rollins jumps in with a frog splash on Sami and we’re all down as we head to a commercial break.

We come back to Seth trying to form an alliance with Finn. The two team up to tussle with Sami, who knocks both off the second rope before leaping Seth. Balor counters the Exploder into a two count, then tries for another two with the Sling Blade before Rollins breaks it up. Rollins Pedigrees Finn into a two and does the same to Sami for the same result, Heyman looking stressed. Seth misses the stomp but runs into a Blue Thunder Bomb. Seth kicks out as Sami has all kinds of bruising going on. I feel like Finn has missed half this match, but that’s a triple threat for you.

Sami looks up at the briefcases and trades blows with Seth, Seth getting the advantage with slaps in the corner. Sami catches Seth in that Exploder and sets up the Helluva Kick, which naturally is when Finn reappears with the Sling Blade and dropkicks both men into the corner. Sami rolls out of the way and Sami stomps Finn, then Sami almost gets a three on Seth before Bron appears to pull him out. Again, no DQ. Jey jumps in to help against Team Rollins, Reed crushing Sami into the ring post. Dirty Dom appears with a chair and slings it in the chair, but Rollins stomps Finn on top of it for the three. Seth Rollins pins Finn Balor to qualify for Money in the Bank. Things do not look good for Judgment Day but look good for Seth and friends. It was fine, but I was mostly ready for it to be over.

“Cult of Personality” hits very quickly as Breakker and Reed walk to the entrance to cut him off. Punk appears in the ring instead, taking Rollins out with a GTS and dashing off before the others get back to him. Punk taunts them from the stairs in the crowd as Michael Cole thanks us for watching and the Armed Services for serving. Goodnight from Tampa!

Another smooth showing for Raw. The opening MITB qualifier was especially good, we have advancement towards the various shows coming up, and we have a few peaks at future title programs coming with said advancement. A pretty breezy two and a half hours.