WWE Monday Night Raw Review – 09.08.25

Happy Monday to you all. It was QUITE the night on SmackDown, and now we’re settling in with the aftershocks on Raw. I’m hyped, so let’s jump right in!

The week in WWE via the Blog of Doom writers: Raw / NXT / EVOLVE / SmackDown

Then, Now, Forever… TOGETHER. Dun dun dun.

The voice of Joe Tessitore welcomes us to Milwaukee, Wisconsin before sending us into a look at Becky low blowing Punk at Clash in Paris, slapping Punk on Raw, and the reappearance of AJ Lee on SmackDown.

Arrivals! WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins and WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch are here and they’re mad! Noticeably absent is Becky’s belt, which she left in the ring Friday. We’re live on Netflix and presented by Snickers!

Main Event Jey Uso is now in your city! As he does, Jey yeets his way through the crowd and with the children. Big Jim Uso appears from a nearby ramp and joins in the yeeting, the great Alicia Taylor introducing them both. As the drone flies over, Joe Tessitore and Corey Graves greet us from the announce table. Corey jokes about Wade Barrett being exiled (he’s on vacation) and Joe mentions it is football season so we have some announce team switchups. He’ll be on Raw a bit so he can do his college football duties, while Michael Cole heads to SmackDown. Corey is doing double duty for a bit while Bad News is on vacation.

The fans chant “one more time” and Jey calls to roll it back, giving us another round of yeeting. Jey has some thoughts on The Vision – they’ve screwed up, Uce. We don’t get to talk about it further as we are interrupted by Big Bronson Reed and Bron Breakker, though nobody seems to know Bronson’s terrible Def Rebel theme so they get no reaction. Bron asks Big Jim if he’s lost and tells them that the Vision runs Raw. Bronson holds Bron back, who is really mad about what the Usos’ family did to Paul Heyman. Reed simply wants them to acknowledge their Tribal Thief, so the crowd chants “OTC.” Reed tells Big Jim that he wasn’t in Seth’s Vision when he was on SmackDown, but now he’s in the sights since he’s appeared on Monday. After the fans sing for Roman, Bronson tells them to look at their cousin sitting in the hospital.

Big Jim confirms he knows where he is and he remembers J&J Security, but this must be PB&J Security. He’s irked because they both have the same name and take orders from Heyman, then they run through some nicknames for Heyman. Jimmy reveals that at Wrestlepalooza, the Brons will be facing the Usos but we don’t even have to wait, so come on down. Bronson says they can wait and L.A. Knight appears, attacking them from behind. The Usos don’t do anything to particularly stop it, but do both dive onto the Brons outside after they attack. They bring Bronson in and trade blows with him. The Usos and Knight clear the ring, though Knight almost slings Bronson into Jey. Jey and Knight argue as we head back to Joe and Corey. Special note: 7 p.m. ET for Raw next week.

We look at last week, with El Grande Americano helping Dominik Mysterio retain his Intercontinental Title against AJ Styles. I have to specify AJs now.

Raw General Manager Adam Pearce is arguing with L.A. Knight. Byron Saxton joins in and Knight doesn’t care about the family reunion. He’s annoyed at Jey thinking that he purposely threw Bronson at him and then challenges Bronson, Bron, Lebron, Bronny, and other people named Bron.

AJ Styles vs El Grande Americano

This crowd seems particularly subdued after those last few fun crowds, though I imagine they’ll wake up for the other AJ. Styles dives onto Americano and slings him into the barricades and ring post. The fans chant for AJ Styles as he roses Americano into the crowd, then finally into the ring to properly start the match. AJ clotheslines Grande back out and the referee remembers to call for the starting bell, giving AJ a chance to dive back out onto Americano. Styles tosses Americano back in and sets up the Phenomenal Forearm, but El Grande Americano Dos grabs his leg. Americano Originale tosses Styles into the steel stairs as we take a commercial break.

Back from three minutes of ads, Americano is working over AJ’s shoulder. Americano Dos remains at ringside, cheering on his friend. AJ reverses Americano into the corner with an Exploder and then lays in the kicks and forearms. AJ lifts Americano into a rack-bomb for a two, which is impressive. We learn it’s official that we get Knight vs Reed because god forbid we have a week without the Vision against one of the same three guys in the main event match. Americano nails a beautiful Blockbsuter for a two, AJ reverses out of a powerbomb. Americano Dos argues with Styles, so Dragon Lee runs out and takes Dos down. Americano rolls Styles up and Styles rolls it into a Styles Clash beautifully for a three.

AJ Styles pins El Grande Americano. It didn’t start out particularly interesting, especially with the crowd being a bit boring compared to our last few weeks, but the closing sequence was especially great. Apparently during the break, AJ cut a promo saying that “somebody” doesn’t want him there, that Michin is on SmackDown and Gallows and Anderson aren’t there to watch his back. I swear, if Gallows and Anderson find a way back, they’re the best businessmen on the planet.

Adam Pearce is with Iyo Sky. He tells her that Stephanie Vaquer couldn’t be there tonight, so we’ll hae no on-screen contract signing. Damn, they’re going to have to sign it off-screen like the rest of the matches. They’re interrupted by Nikki Bella, asking for updates on Stephanie. He thinks she’ll be fine by Wrestlepalooza. After he leaves, Asuka and Kairi Sane come up and tell Nikki to leave. Asuka tells Nikki to stay away from Iyo. Nikki tells Asuka to respect her, Asuka offers to beat the respect out of her instead. Kairi gives us distress before we get Asuka’s off-screen ‘KAIRI.”

WWE Fact of the Night: With over 178 million social views across all platforms, AJ Lee’s return is the most viewed SmackDown highlight of the year on WWE’s X and Instagram accounts. This leads us into an AJ highlight package of title wins, promos, and fan signs. Joe Tess reminds us that she returns to Raw tonight.

Raquel Rodriguez (with Roxanne Perez) vs Lyra Valkyria

Lyra requested this match last week. Lyra locks on a guillotine early, but Raquel powers it into a vertical suplex. Lyra takes Raquel down with a flying armdrag and Raquel rolls out, which means Lyra’s going leaping. She does, dropkicking Raquel on the outside and throwing her back in. Raquel catches Lyra leaping off the top and throws her with a fallaway slam, then grabs the bird lady’s hair and leg and stretches her spine-first across the ring post. I feel like that would kind of do wonders for my back. Raquel does a twisting corkscrew onto her back and keeps working it, getting a two.

After a commercial break, Lyra rolls Raquel into a two, but Raquel is able to lock in a very unique version of the Boston Crab. It’s worth zooming through just to see it, really. Raquel’s really something nowadays. Lyra finds her way out and spin kicks Raquel, then jumping into a modified jawbreaker. Lyra goes up to the second rope and drops Raquel with a jumping DDT for a two count. Raquel powers Lyra into a Jackhammer-type move off the ropes but only for two, then muscles her up and runs her right into the corner. Raquel climbs up with her but Lyra battles out, trying to leap over her into a sunset powerbomb. She hangs on, unable to pull her down, and repositions to make it happen. Crazy strength on Lyra’s part. “This is awesome” chant. Lyra tries for Nightwing which brings Roxanne to the apron for a distraction. Lyra leaps out and dropkicks Rox, then is able to roll Raquel into a near-fall bridge attempt. Lyra goes up again and Raquel grabs her by the throat, one Tijana Bomb later and she’s got the pin.

Raquel Rodriguez pins Lyra Valkyria. I’m not sure I ever expected to be able to tell you all to watch Raquel Rodriguez matches every week, but here we are. There were a few slow moments, but this one was mostly a lot of fun.

Penta and the War Raiders meet up backstage, the Raiders offering to have Penta’s back. Penta walks off with Pearce, asking him why he doesn’t love Penta. Penta wants to know why he hasn’t had a title shot. In barges Rusev, who tells Pearce he isn’t following the plan – Rusev returns, crushes Sheamus, becomes champion. As you’d guess, Adam takes this as an opportunity to set up a match between the two tonight.

AJ Lee returns… next!

AJ Styles and Dragon Lee talk backstage, with AJ thanking him for having his back. Dragon was probably telling Styles how happy he is that his cousin, the other AJ, is back. Big Jim Uso greets them both, asking if they’ve seen Jey. Jim sees Jey wandering in the background, wondering where he’s going. says he’s out and the main event isn’t their problem. Jimmy tells Jey the Vision is their problem, and Jey wonders why they should help L.A. Knight when it isn’t going to help them at Wrestlepalooza. He’s not wrong. Jimmy tells him that he kind of sounds like Roman. “Maybe sounding like myself ain’t working.” This is a nice little twist for Jey.

LIGHT IT UP. For the first time in a decade, AJ Lee skips out onto the Raw stage, this time wearing the WWE Women’s Intercontinental Title that didn’t exist when she retired. She gets a good reception, again not as good as SmackDown but this crowd is really not passing any of the tests outside of yeeting tonight. They do eventually get an “AJ Lee” chant going as well as “welcome back.”

“For those of you who weren’t here ten years ago and were really confused as to why your millennial parents were excited on Friday, allow me to introduce myself. My name is AJ Lee and I am your favorite wrestler’s favorite wrestler.” Now the crowd’s found their voices. “Ten years ago, I retired. I said I was sorry! I felt like I had accomplished all of my dreams in wrestling and I was content and I hung up my Chuck Taylors, I thought that was the end of my story. There was no way I was going to step back into a ring again wearing jean shorts that are two sizes too small. I was so sure! And so I went on a journey to accomplish all these other crazy dreams I had in life and I did it. But most importantly, I went on a mental health journey, I wasn’t healthy, I needed to take care of myself, get right. I went to therapy, I got treatment” (the crowd chants “therapy” and she cracks up).

“Fantastic. And I found a way to turn all of this mental chaos into my superpower. Man, the fight is not easy, every day is a fight but let me tell you if you’re going through the same thing, that fight is worth it. You are worth it. And i was doing really good for a long time, and then I watched Monday Night Raw and look, feeling isn’t linear because it is one thing to see your husband fighting Drew McIntyre or Seth Rollins or John Cena, but it’s another thing entirely to see him in the ring with Becky Lynch. Yeah, I mean, I wanted to like Becky. I thought that we had so much in common, she’s a leader, she’s a rebel, she’s a New York Times bestselling author. I did it first, yes. I am everybody’s favorite wrestler, I know, thank you. Back on track – there is a world in which me and Becky could have been friends, but then she had to go and motorboat my husband. She put her hands on him, she berated him, she defamed him.” Cue WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch.

AJ does her cutesy wave at the scowling Becky. Becky tells her “This has nothing to do with your stank ass husband” and says they’re all stupid because they live in Milwaukee and haven’t noticed that AJ is wearing her title. Becky says they’re nothing alike because she is the greatest female wrestler of all time – people are saying it, Sports Illustrated is saying it! She says she’s going to need to go to therapy after this and that AJ doesn’t deserve to touch her title. The crowd chants “therapy” again. AJ notes that it works and it does y’all, go to therapy if you need it. AJ says she’s been skipping around the house in the belt all weekend and slept in it. Becky pulls off her glasses and reveals quite the shiner. AJ: “Was that me? Was that one of my tiny fists of fury? I’m sorry! Sometimes I go feral and I black out, I’m sorry.” AJ drapes the belt across the Slim Jim logo and tells Becky to come and get it. The fans chant “chicken,” which sets Becky off again.

She calls AJ a “Jersey trash bag weirdo” and tells her to keep her hands off her title and questions where CM Punk is even at. She told AJ to not stick her neck in where it doesn’t belong and brings out her hot husband, WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins. He wants to leave this dump of a city, so asks AJ to give the belt back. AJ says it is a good idea, but she has a better idea – two options. The first is that Becky comes in and gets it, though it risks another black eye. Option two is her giving the belt to Becky if she agrees to a tag match – AJ and CM vs Becky and Seth. Seth shakes it off. Seth: “I am the World Heavyweight Champion. This is MY show. These are my people. You’ve been back for a cup of coffee, you don’t call the shots.” Seth says he’s coming in to take the title and that’s the end of it. AJ: “Thanks for mansplaining that.” As he enters the ring, AJ skips over the title and stands in front of him. As he reaches around, she jumps in front of him and smiles.

CM Punk walks up and taps Becky on the shoulder, then runs in and tries to GTS Seth, who slips out. Seth yells that they’ve got a match at Wrestlepalooza. “You’re both done for!” AJ kisses the belt and tosses it out at Becky. Friends, AJ still has it as much as ever as far as the promo game. She fit in immediately with two of WWE’s best promos, much like she did back ten years ago when most of the women’s side couldn’t (or weren’t given the chance) to keep up with her game. I love that she shouted out mental health, which was something that has won her over with the crowd in the first place, and I love that there were “therapy” chants. Now, as somebody who frequents therapy and is a better person for it more days than not – though still has plenty to work on – I can highly recommend you give therapy a thought if you’ve ever even questioned if it is for you. I also recommend watching this segment.

Bayley talking head segment time! She says the last person she wanted to hurt was Lyra, though she’s hurt a lot of people in the past and they deserved it. She snaps into thinking she’s a good person and she’s battling those inner voices hard. After the voices argue, Bayley says she’ll make it right. Corey notes that perhaps Bayley could benefit from AJ’s advice earlier.

Penta vs Rusev

This is the first time these two have met in the ring in any capacity. After some back and forth, Rusev slings Penta outside and right onto the announce desk. Rusev charges towards Penta and Penta moves, so the stairs go flying and we fly to a break.

Back from that break, we’re in the ring again and Penta is chopping Rusev. After a pin attempt, New Day and Grayson Waller come out to boos. This gives a chance for Rusev to go after Penta, who ducks out of it and leaps onto Kofi and Grayson instead. Rusev dodges and falls over the top rope, but then clubs Penta when he tries for another suicide dive. This doesn’t stop Penta from hitting a Code Red, though Rusev kicks out at two. Penta goes up and Xavier Woods runs into a kick, which gives Rusev time to move and land the big kick on Penta, getting the three.

Rusev pins Penta. A fine match between two guys who seem to be firmly stuck in the mid-card picture. I imagine we’ll find our way to a six-man tag in the next week or two.

Bron and Bronson are backstage. Tonight, Bronson battles L.A. Knight.

Our Highlight of the Night, presented by Toyota: Friday on SmackDown, John Cena visits Chicago for the last time and wrestles Sami Zayn for the U.S. Championship, which is interrupted by Brock Lesnar. Niz recapped the whole thing here. There were more important things that happened later in the show. The hairy cowboy man will be on SmackDown this Friday.

L.A. Knight is stretching and visited by Big Jim. Jim tells him it was an accident, and Knight thinks otherwise. Jimmy says cool, but they need to put their beef aside and focus on the Vision. Knight says there is no “we” and he tried to be friendly, but Jey kept him from winning the title and back in the day, Jimmy kept him from winning the belt from Roman. “If you want to help, don’t help. I’m gonna do this my damn self, YEAH.”

Asuka (with Kairi Sane) vs WWE Hall of Famer Nikki Bella

That’s a match I never thought I’d type. This is like when I play WWE 2K, making a tournament, and get a random second round matchup I didn’t think about. The fans trade “let’s go Asuka” and “let’s go Nikki” chants. Bella dropkicks Asuka down and gives her a boot, Asuka catches her with a huge knee to Nikki’s nose. Asuka stretches Nikki out with an armbar across the ropes, Nikki is able to hit a pretty spinebuster on Asuka for a two count. Outside the ring, Asuka pulls Kairi in front of her as a shield, then drops Nikki with a huge kick for our commercial.

Asuka drops Nikki with a huge suplex as Corey notes this has been one-sided. Asuka misses a dive from the top and slugs Asuka down with a few clotheslines. She catches Asuka with a nice kick from the second rope for a two count. Asuka rolls Nikki into a one and then nails her with a big kick. Asuka lays in her striking attack an and tries for the Asuka Lock, but Nikki fights out. Asuka tries again and Nikki rolls her into a two. Nikki lands an Alabama Slam for a two and then tries the Rack Attack 2.0, which Asuka slips out of. Asuka lands a kick and hooks on the Asuka Lock. Nikki tries to fight it but taps.

Asuka defeats Nikki Bella by submission. It wasn’t particularly good and Nikki still isn’t really connecting with the current crowd, but a fair effort. It’s hard to think that Nikki in her comeback is on the level to beat Asuka. I’m not sure exactly what you do with Nikki, especially with AJ back and easily able to outshine her on every level, but perhaps they should do something with her and the very quiet tag division.

We look back at the segment earlier with AJ, Punk, Becky and Seth.

Next Monday, a special start time at 7 p.m. EST! We’ll have the four mentioned above face-to-face. Lyra Valkyria battles Roxanne Perez to follow up on tonight and John Cena will be here with us in Springfield.

Judgment Day celebrates Raquel’s big win, minus Dominik, in their clubhouse. Dominik Mysterio joins them and says he’s been preparing for his match at Worlds Collide. Finn figured he was off talking to El Grande Americano. Finn knows nobody lends a helping hand without wanting anything in return, and Dom says it’s a lucha thing that they wouldn’t understand.

A dejected Nikki comes across Asuka and Kairi backstage. Nikki asks for round two and shoves Asuka. Rhea Ripley appears and asks if there is a problem. Asuka says two problems, her and Nikki. Well, maybe that solves that for a bit.

L.A. Knight vs Big Bronson Reed (with Bron Breakker)

It’s time for our weekly Vision Main Event, brought to you by Snickers and Toyota. Knight tries to take down Big Bronson but can’t quite do it, Reed taking his head off with a giant clothesline. Reed works over Knight for a while. As Graves compares Reed to Bam Bam Bigelow, we fight outside and Reed charges past Knight and into the post, then is shoved into the stairs as we take another break.

Reed’s working Knight over as we come back. Knight dives out of the way from a charging Reed, taking his chance to stomp down Reed. Knight tries to slug Reed down, but Reed simply slings him to the outside. As Bron taunts Knight, Reed lines up and charges, Knight charging him into the timekeeper’s area. Knight climbs the announce desk, leaps onto the timekeeper’s railing and onto Reed. Okay, that’s cool. Back in, Knight hits a flying elbow from the corner for a two. Knight tries for the BFT but Bronson shoves him into Bron, who happens to be on the apron, then hits a Jagged Edge to pin Knight.

Bronson Reed pins L.A. Knight. The Vision work over Knight and Big Jim runs out to the rescue because this is how we always end Raw in 2025. At least he’s a new face. Bron spears Jim and they work him over and you can probably guess what’s next. Jey Uso comes out for the save. It doesn’t work, and Bron stacks the Usos. Knight saves them with a chair. He yells “we good?” at Jey and helps up Jimmy. He turns around and right into a SPEAR from Jey Uso to loud boos from the crowd. Jey looks at Jimmy: “We’re good now.” Now that’s a wrinkle in the story to end the show on!

A decent show this week. AJ Lee was unquestionably the star and Becky and Seth were both fantastic foils for her. I don’t think we have shouted Becky especially out enough as she’s been perfect against others on the mic lately and doesn’t mind looking like an idiot. The twist for the main event was nice after it felt like every other main event I’ve reviewed in 2025 and Jey could use a few twists on his character.