WWE Monday Night Raw – 06.16.25

Previously on WWE Raw: Gunther won the World Title back from Jey Uso, ending Jey’s first reign on top. There were LOTS of thoughts on that. Bayley returned to attack Becky Lynch while Nikki Bella returned and was confronted by Liv Morgan. Roxanne Perez qualified for Queen of the Ring while Sami Zayn advanced in King of the Ring. Ron Killings appeared and snipped off his hair. It was a big show!

Then, Now, Forever, Together

We’re in Titletown – Green Bay, Wisconsin – for the 19th Raw in its history, live at the Resch Center. Tonight, Raw is live on Netflix and presented by Snickers! Gunther arrives with a giant smile and his giant World Heavyweight Title. Bayley has a cup of coffee and arrives. Stephanie Vaquer is talking to me on the phone and telling me how she appreciates that I think she’s neat. Jey Uso has taken the mystery spot in the King of the Ring qualifier and walks up to happy fans.

We’re starting off in-arena with Liv Morgan and Dominik Mysterio, introduced by the great Alicia Taylor. Michael Cole welcomes us to the show and Pat McAfee is off tonight, which means we get Corey Graves! Good for Corey. We flash back to last week as Liv interrupts the returning Nikki Bella. Liv welcomes us to Monday Night Morgan to a mixed response. She asks the crowd to make some noise for Dom, and they mostly boo him because taste is low in Green Bay. They try to drown him out with boos as he talks, though not as loud as they once did.

Liv reminds us this is HER division and when you talk about her division, you talk about her. Nikki learned the hard way last week and is sitting at home beat up watching on Netflix. Liv tells us she felt disrespected by Iyo Sky telling Nikki that Nikki paved the way, and Liv took offense to that (so did a lot of men on the internet). Liv tells us she is the greatest Women’s Tag Team Champion of all time and she’s not asking for respect, she’s demanding it just like she’s demanding the rematch she never got – a shot at Iyo.

That brings out Iyo, who has not gotten a chance to defend her title since WrestleMania. The fans give us their first chant of the night, a solid chant for “Iyo.” Iyo asks Liv to do everyone a favor and “shut your mouth.” Iyo says all Liv does is whine and show disrespect. She’s a brat Iyo, that’s her thing. Iyo says she’s right here if Liv wants to fight her. Liv tells her she does want to fight her, but only for her title. Iyo tells Liv she has to earn the shot and not steal it like she did Dirty Dom. This brings Dom in for the interruption, telling Iyo to give Liv what she wants like he does every single day. Iyo tells Liv she can have the title and tosses it in her arms before drop kicking her and kicking her out of the ring. Iyo gives Dom a shot too which is very rude.

Cole and Graves run down what just happened as well as the opportunities open tonight. The men’s King of the Ring match has Sheamus, Rusev, Bronson Reed and Jey Uso while the Queen of the Ring match features the returning Asuka as well as Stephanie Vaquer, Raquel Rodriguez and Ivy Nile… and that’s next, after a commercial break!

Queen of the Ring First Round: Stephanie Vaquer vs Raquel Rodriguez vs Asuka vs Ivy Nile

Stephanie gets the hot crowd response for her entrance going into the break. When we come back, Liv tells Raquel she needs to win this before she enters. Ivy Nile found her way to the ring during the break. Asuka gets the big return applause and has her original CFO$ entrance theme, which I’m not sure she had when she left. She has a very cool white and black checkered mask, which she raises to show her face paint. It’s good to finally have her back.

Corey notes that the landscape of the women’s division has changed since Asuka went out as we break into pairs to brawl. Asuka and Stephanie team early as the fans chant “welcome back.” The winner of this match faces Alexa Bliss in the tournament Friday on SmackDown, a show that will also feature John Cena vs R-Truth.. Ivy and Raquel overpower the others as we head to a commercial.

Back from break, Stephanie has taken control. Vaquer takes Asuka down with a dragon screw, then Nile goes down and is rolled into the Devil’s Kiss (Corey tells us he isn’t going to try to do Booker’s thing). Vaquer tries for another on Raquel, who lifts Stephanie on her shoulders. Stephanie pulls Raquel out and does the Devil’s Kiss on the ring apron instead, Cole saying that WWE fans get what they want. Well, sometimes. Asuka sneaks up and tries to lock the Asuka Lock on Stephanie, who forces her way out in the corner thanks to a kick by Ivy. Raquel accidentally takes Asuka’s hip attack and Ivy gets a few near falls, but we know she’s not winning against these three as we go to another break.

After that break, Asuka brings all three others down as she missile dropkicks Ivy and Stephanie, who were on Raquel’s shoulders. The commercials are killing the flow of this match, I’ll say that. Asuka begins to roll through the others, but Stephanie interrupts a pin attempt on Ivy. Stephanie and Asuka trade blows and I need a full-on singles match, please. Stephanie knees Asuka, spinning her into a suplex. Stephanie drops Asuka with a double-underhook but Ivy breaks the pin. Stephanie tries for the SVB but is met by Raquel’s running boot. “This is awesome” chant. Raquel gets a powerbomb for a very near count, but Rhea Ripley appears to pull her out of the ring. Mami Riptides Raquel on the outside as, once again, there is no DQ in these matches. Rhea rolls Raquel in, and Asuka nails her with the Empress Impact – a running knee – for the pin. Asuka pins Raquel Rodriguez to advance in Queen of the Ring. Friday night, she’ll face Bliss. Unbiased journalist Cathy Kelley joins Asuka in-ring after the match and Asuka says the fire is still alive and no one is ready for Asuka.

This is where I say hey, we just opened the show with forty minutes of the women’s division, spotlighting seven different women.

We flash back to last week’s main event as Gunther makes his walk to gorilla backstage. Big Gunther: next!

After break, we’re in the Judgment Day clubhouse with a mad Liv, who says she will handle things herself. Finn Balor tells JD McDonough that he’ll have his back, but Dom reminds Finn that he wasn’t able to back up Dom last week. As Dom and JD leave, Finn tells Raquel she did well. Roxanne appears and walks off with Finn.

World Heavyweight Champion Gunther is next, strolling past the King and Queen crowns on the ramp with his title and a big grin. Graves tells Cole that he will not cover Cole’s ass for talking bad about Gunther. After a healthy pyro display, Gunther admits that Jey was the better man at WrestleMania for one night. “Every single other night, I am untouchable!” Gunther says he has heard all the rumors about what’s next for him. The fans chant “Goldberg” and Gunther says, “definitely not that guy,” reminding us that he cussed that guy out in front of his family. He knows Seth Rollins has the Money in the Bank contract and that Gunther has what he wants, so he addresses Seth straight into the camera. Gunther says he is right here and not to waste any more time.

“Theme from Goldberg” hits and the fireworks blaze, Goldberg walking through with a “Goldberg’s Last Ride” tee. Well, here we are. The fans chant his name, as they are known to do. Goldberg tells Gunther he is here to celebrate Gunther being champion. Gunther goes face-to-face with Gunther and is shorter, which is weird for whatever reason. Goldberg says Gunther started something with his family in Atlanta and he’s going to end it in Atlanta on Saturday Night’s Main Event. “You’re mine because YOU’RE NEXT.” The fans chant for Goldberg as Gunther heads out of the ring, frustrated. Next, JD McDonough vs AJ Styles in a match sponsored by Cash App!

JD McDonough (with Dominik Mysterio) vs AJ Styles

JD is already in the ring; AJ gets the TV entrance. Cole tells the story of Dom not helping the other members of the Judgment Day. JD gets some early chops in on AJ but is rolled into a calf crusher. Dom pushes the rope towards JD, helping him break it. AJ chases Dom around the ring and into the timekeeper’s area, where JD dives over the barrier and onto him to take us to a commercial break.

JD has the advantage post-commercial, and the crowd isn’t really into this one and neither am I. They do work up an “AJ Styles” chant. JD gets a near three after a nice brainbuster and Cole reminds us that Dom can’t keep running from AJ’s challenges. JD tries for a superplex, but AJ pushes him to the mat. AJ takes a while to reposition, which leads to a distraction by Dom. AJ walks into an attack by JD but turns it into a Styles Clash. AJ Styles pins JD McDonough. AJ stares down Dom, who runs in for an attack with the belt but walks into a Pele Kick. Finn runs out and pulls Dom out of further harm’s way as AJ takes a look at the Intercontinental Title which was left behind by Dom. Judgment Day try to attack AJ, who runs out with Dom’s title.

Sheamus is stretching and meets up with the Alpha Babes and Natalya. Tozawa screams at Sheamus, telling him to kick Rusev’s ass. Meanwhile, Bayley is heading towards the ring but passes New Day and A-Town Down Under, arguing backstage.

Monday Night Raw, sold out tonight, is presented by Snickers. We have famous people here! Evan Williams of the Green Bay Packers has the Packers replica title and the fans like him.

Our role model Bayley is out, soaking in the cheers. Cole fills in that Bayley was supposed to have a Women’s Tag Title shot at WrestleMania but was taken out by Becky Lynch. She pauses for the fans trying to sing and then working out a “let’s go Bayley” chant. Bayley points that right in arch-nemesis Michael Cole’s face. She tells us that she doesn’t take anything for granted and she was born to do this. This leads us into WrestleMania, a match she says she was robbed of. She says she doesn’t do this for one night or for big moments, she does it for every night. She says being out just made her stronger and she’s climbing the ladder to knock Becky off of it, calling her out to the ring.

“The Man” appears to respond, ripping off a Chicago Bears jersey to reveal a Bears jersey. The fans chant about the Bears sucking. “They beat you last time,” retorts Becky. Becky says that she and Bayley were never meant to be at the top of the business, but unlike Bayley she doesn’t accept it. She says Bayley would always rather have her group of friends than her legacy. Bayley tells Becky she is a future Hall of Famer and doesn’t mind bringing people that need help along with her. Becky tells her that the people quit fighting for her, so she quit fighting for the people. “The people stopped fighting for you too.” Becky says nobody gave a damn about Bayley when she was taken out of Mania. Bayley tells Becky that her head is too far up her ass and Becky doesn’t know what it’s like to have to fight for opportunities. Becky asks Bayley if she remembers what gold feels like. Bayley tells her she doesn’t and asks Becky to remind her. Becky says Bayley isn’t getting a match in Green Bay and not for her title, but she’ll see her in Columbus. That’s next week, for those of you like me who don’t have the live event schedule memorized.

Cathy has Jey Uso backstage who says he and Gunther are 1-1. He says if he has to win the tournament to get his title back, he will. Four letters, one word, uhh-uhh, yeet. Rusev is shadowboxing and the King of the Ring match will be next, says Cole. Or next-ish, because here comes Kairi Sane.

Nick Aldis, filling in for the vacationing Adam Pearce tonight, thanks AJ for returning the Intercontinental Title. Nick tells AJ that he will be getting a title shot at Night of Champions. Bayley runs up and tells Nick that it has also been made official for her, but with a twist. He says Bayley gets a title shot next week and leaves. Lyra Valkyria calls for Bayley, welcoming her back. Bayley apologizes for not responding to Lyra’s calls and texts like she hasn’t been all over social media. Lyra tells her that if she wins the title, she’ll be after her.

Liv Morgan vs Kairi Sane

Non-title match. We don’t make it far as Liv is taken down by a knee and rolls outside, holding her shoulder. We focus on Kairi as Cole notes Liv might have injured her shoulder. We watch a replay and see Liv landing roughly, possibly dislocating her shoulder. We head to an early ad break.

Post-break, Cole and Graves are back, and we take another look at Liv’s fall from several angles. We see her being helped to the back by the doctors during the break. Kairi Sane defeats Liv Morgan due to match stoppage. This sucks for her, especially with Evolution coming up and being on the roll she is on. Total fluke injury that unfortunately happened to her.

We take a look back at the John Cena-CM Punk confrontation from last week. They’ll battle at Night of Champions. But first, a look at SmackDown: Cena faces R-Truth.

Cole and Graves have an update on Liv, who appears to have suffered a dislocated shoulder according to WWE medical personnel.

We head back to Cathy, who has found Sami Zayn. This Friday, he faces Randy Orton in the tournament. Sami feels like he’s talked about what the title means to him so much and now the opportunity is here. That brings in Karrion Kross, who tells Sami he is an insane person who does the exact same thing every day expecting a different result. Kross tells Sami he is going to lose, Orton will become a 15-time World Champion, and Sami will stay at zero. Sami says Kross is a coward who hides in the shadows and doesn’t go out in front of the fans because he can’t back it up. Sami says he is focused on King of the Ring, but when that’s done, he is going to Pearce and they’re having a match. Kross: “It’s about time.”

WWE Fact of the Night, thanks to Cash App: this is the 19th Raw here. Next week, Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch defends against Bayley. The Queen of the Ring has Jade Cargill against Roxanne Perez, which sounds fun. On the men’s side, Cody Rhodes will be here to face the winner of the next match.

King of the Ring First Round: Jey Uso vs Sheamus vs Rusev vs Bronson Reed (with Paul Heyman and Seth’s Briefcase)

Main Event Jey Uso is now in your city, in a sea of yeeting fans and heading down the stairs. There is as much yeeting as always and Corey tells Cole to take it easy, so they don’t have another injury. Jey yeets with a child holding a sign saying that it’s his birthday. He yeets again with a child in his arms. Jey is the one for the fans.

Jey yeeted through the entire break, so we get the intros for the other three. Rusev gets a small reaction, Sheamus gets a decent reaction, and Bronson gets a decent one as well. This crowd is just here for Jey in this one. It’s probably a good thing they added him to the match. Corey calls this a Big E special due to the amount of beef. Bronson/Sheamus and Jey/Rusev pair off first, Jey with his ribs wrapped as he is now DDP in the late 1990s. Jey leaps out with a suicide dive on Rusev and yeets us to a commercial break.

After being reminded to bring the juice by Bianca, Jey and Cody, we return to Bronson and Jey going at it. Jey superkicks Bronson, trying to take him down. Sheamus rolls into a superkick, as does Rusev who doesn’t quite fall. Jey hits an additional superkick and then runs right into a clothesline. Outside, Sheamus is launched over the barricade by Reed. Reed poses but Sheamus rises behind him, hammering him with with clubbering beats – twenty of them. Jey superkicks Sheamus as he comes back over the barricade, then dodges a charging Reed.

Jey runs into Rusev again, who Graves compares to Vader. Rusev joins Sheamus in the ring as the League of Nations mates meet up. The fans chant for “Rusev Day” as they trade blows. Rusev takes Sheamus down with a spin kick and charges into a boot and a slam. They lock eyes and trade hits on their knees as the fans trade “let’s go Sheamus” and “Rusev Day.” Reed runs in and takes both men down, but Rusev and Sheamus get back up and go back at it. Reed splashes both in the corner, and Jey jumps into a big splash by Reed as we head to another break.

Rusev has been thrown over the announce table and the fans are chanting for tables (of course) as Sheamus and Jey trade punches in the ring. Jey runs into a slam and Bronson runs in and heatbutts Sheamus. Sheamus picks Bronson up on his shoulders because he is a wild man and lands the White Noise for a two count. Those Celtic Warrior Workouts really do their thing. Rusev drops Sheamus but stands there instead of doing anything to take advantage of it as the fans chant “this is awesome.” Jey delivers a round of superkicks to all three men, but spins into a kick by Rusev who hooks the Accolade onto Uso and his bad ribs.

Sheamus comes in with a knee to break it up and a Brogue Kick for Rusev and a two count, stopped by Bronson. Bronson goes up and Tsunamis Sheamus for a two, broken up by Jey. Jey ducks and spears Bronson, going up for his own splash. Bron Breakker appears to push Jey off – it’s no DQ, which means every single match is going to have something that should have been a DQ – and Sami runs out to attack Breakker. Sami runs into Breakker, who tosses him over the announce table. The fans roar as Penta runs in and leaps out of the ring onto Breakker.

Bronson lands a Death Valley Driver on Uso and goes up for a Tsunami, but LA Knight appears to push him down. Jey hits a superkick and a spear and goes up, landing the Uso Splash across Reed’s back. He goes up for a second and hits it, covering for a three. Jey Uso pins Bronson Reed to advance in the King of the Ring. Knight smiles from the crowd as the yeeting picks back up.

Seth Rollins’ music and fire hits as Seth storms out, throwing down his glasses and ripping off his blazer. He rolls up his sleeves and goes into the ring, eyeing Jey. Adrenaline is in Cody Rhodes’ soul as he hits the ring and stares down Seth, the crowd continuing to sing along with his theme after it stops playing. Seth shakes in anger as the fans chant “holy shit.” Seth leaves and the fans sing for Cody, who turns around and is face-to-face with Jey. Next Monday, they battle in the King of the Ring tournament. Jey’s music plays as he holds his ribs and shakes hands with Cody.

A decent show this week. I couldn’t get into much of it, but it wasn’t bad by any means. I’m ready to get past the multi-person matches that always have something that could have been a disqualification, and I’m not thrilled about Goldberg but I get it. Next week should be a hot show though with Cody-Jey and Jade-Rox.