WWE Monday Night Raw Review – 09.15.25

It must be Monday! Raw has rolled around again. This week, we’re starting an hour early! As always, I celebrate our ability to have earlier shows and get my old ass in bed at an appropriate time. WWE and Netflix are experimenting with 7 pm ET for the next few weeks because they can do that now, I guess. We’ll see how it goes.

The last week in WWE as presented by the all-star writing crew of the Blog of Doom: Raw / NXT / EVOLVE / SmackDown / LFG

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

Tonight, Raw puts the spring in Springfield! We’re in Massachusetts and Penta is here. Tonight, he battles Kofi Kingston. Stephanie Vaquer! She’s stunning and here tonight. El Grande Americano struts in – tonight, he battles Dragon Lee. The Vision (minus Paul Heyman) and Becky Lynch are here, and tonight Seth Rollins and Becky go face-to-face with CM Punk and AJ Lee.

Here’s a look at last week’s drama with The Usos and LA Knight.

Big Jim Uso and Main Event Jey Uso! They’re here too but interrupted by LA Knight with a shove to Jey Uso. Raw General Manager Adam Pearce breaks it up and demands they all go to his office.

Tonight, we’re presented by Snickers and live on Netflix. We take a walk through the arena hallway and see a photo of John Cena before droning into the arena where, for the last time, the hometown hero John Cena makes his entrance. We have the smaller modified entrance setup this week. John is introduced by the great Alicia Taylor as he runs into the ring and the crowd roars. She gives him his longform intro as well.

John remembers playing football across the street at Springfield College, but says the fans don’t know that because offensive linemen don’t get their name in the paper. He has some friends and family here tonight and wishes his niece a happy birthday. He says he needs this tonight and thanks Alicia for the job she does introducing him. He mentions that the words “the last real champion” in the introduction mean a lot and segues into talking about Brock Lesnar. “Brock Lesnar is no doubt controversial,” notes John. The fans chant “fuck you Lesnar,” which John jokes is “talk to Lesnar.” The fans chant for him to “whoop his ass,” and John wonders why he didn’t just say no to the match. He thinks saying no is safe, easy – fans chant “thank you Cena” – and he says that chant is why he says yes.

He is the last real champion and has never fought a battle in the back, he fights them all in the ring. The last real champion is not about a belt, it is about leaving the place better than they found it. It involves hustle, loyalty, respect and making magic. “Am I afraid of Brock Lesnar? Yes I am. Could I fail? Yes I could. Will I back down, will I give up? Hell no.” He has taken shots from Brock before, notes his shorts are stronger than Brock’s jeans, and says if you want some, come get some. The crowd sings his theme as he poses.

Adam Pearce has gotten LA and Jey in his office. Knight is upset about the spear last week. Adam reminds them Wrestlepalooza is this weekend, so he needs to know how to find peace tonight. Knight wants a peace of Bron and Bronson and yes, of course this connects the dots to our tag team main event with the same faces as every week but now with a second Uso in the mix. Adam tells Knight to pick a partner of his choice to battle the Bron’s, so Knight volunteers Jimmy as his partner.

Fact of the Night: John Cena is going for his 100th PLE victory at Wrestlepalooza, behind Undertaker’s 107.

Lyra Valkyria vs Roxanne Perez (with Raquel Rodriguez)

After a look at Raquel pinning Lyra last week thanks to Rox, we start this match. Good back-and-forth as the commentators note Lyra is favoriting her back. Raquel trips the bird lady and is tossed, which also means the referee misses Lyra rolling Rox up. She climbs the ropes slowly, giving us “pain.” Rox trips her up and Lyra falls hard and roughly towards her head and neck. Rox throws in a few punches and we throw to break.

We’re back and we’re all good, Lyra on her feet fighting. They trade roll ups and Lyra hits a sit-up powerbomb for a two as Corey and Joe continue to sledgehammer us over the head with the concept of Lyra having an injured back. Rox climbs up top and Frankensteiners Lyra, then nails her – right to the back! – with knees for a two. Rox hooks a crossface but Lyra rolls it into a Nightwing. Lyra lands it for a three, her back not totally broken. She collapses in pain. As she heads to the back, Raquel returns to attack. Judgment Day double team Lyra as Bayley’s music hits, our role mode runs out in her AJ Lee shirt and taking down both women. Lyra is understandably hesitant. Bayley suddenly snaps into hugger mode and runs out to hug Joe, Corey, Alicia, referee Jessika Carr, a security guard, and numerous fans.

Lyra Valkyria pins Roxanne Perez. Good at times, ugly at times. I’m intrigued with Bayley.

Adam meets with Stephanie Vaquer and Iyo Sky, signing their contract. Stephanie offers respect. Asuka and Kairi Sane are here to tell Stephanie nobody is ready for Iyo. Asuka offers up Kairi as an opponent tonight for Stephanie, which comes as a surprise to Kairi. It is official, notes Adam.

Big Jim is joined by Big LA in the locker room. Knight says he has a lot of reasons to not trust the Uso family, but Jim was good to him last week. Jim says Knight has to find somebody else. “Tough spot,” says LA.

Kofi Kingston (with Xavier Woods and Grayson Waller) vs Penta

If it’s an episode of Raw, we’re getting a Penta match. Penta springs right out onto Kofi and Grayson asks him to sign the petition to ban the Mexican Destroyer. The distraction is too much, Kofi dropping a body press from the apron onto Penta for a commercial break.

Kofi is in control when we come back, but loses it quickly. A corner handstand gives Penta a two count. Penta lays in a HUGE chop to Kofi’s chest and Kofi fights out of a Penta Driver attempt. Woods is yelling about Shelbyville outside the ring, which leads Corey to a Moe’s Tavern joke. Kofi and Penta are both down after dual kicks, but Penta is up first. Woods climbs on the apron to delay the possible Destroyer. After Woods is knocked down, Penta hits a beautiful springboard Destroyer on Kofi for the three.

Penta pins Kofi Kingston. Great match between two great ones. Penta continues to nail it on TV and New Day are great foils.

Jey Uso is on the phone. Big Jim asks who was on the phone and Jey tells him not to worry about it. Jey tells Jimmy he has to say no to the tag match tonight. Didn’t he already say no? Jimmy tells Jey he’s not taking any more orders from him and Jey isn’t the Tribal Chief.

Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch are walking towards the Gorilla spot. They’ll have some words for us next!

This weekend, Jey Uso threw out the first pitch at a Red Sox game. Some would say he yeeted it.

Jimmy finds LA – tonight he’s in! Well thank goodness.

World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins and Women’s Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch are here, both wearing their gold and black outfits. The fans immediately interrupt them with a “CM Punk” chant. Seth says he was going to say the name of their stupid little town, but since they’re acting like this he’s ignoring them and addressing the Netflix audience instead. Hi Seth! He welcomes us to Monday Night Rollins and asks for respect for our Intercontinental Champion.

The “AJ Lee” chants start, so Becky says she has a lot to say about her. She’s not one to talk about people behind their backs, so that brings us AJ Lee skipping out with CM Punk (to “Light it Up”). Punk introduces himself as AJ’s husband, bringing the fans to a “AJ’s Husband” chant. He says the fans came to see her as the fans chant for her again.

He tells Becky that he is overwhelmed at “you two goofs,” so the fans chant “goofs.” Punk says they can’t get on the same page and we had to listen to both of their crappy songs while he was happy to put “Cult of Personality” on the shelf tonight. Can they share the spotlight? He doesn’t think they can. Seth calls Punk the most selfish man he’s ever seen as the fans chant “shut the fuck up.” Seth actually offers to give Punk credit – “this is the best decision you’ve ever made in your entire life,” he says as he points to AJ. However, inserting her into this will be a mistake he’ll regret forever.

AJ says she wouldn’t even be here if Seth hadn’t used his wife as a human shield. Becky tells her she can’t believe how irresponsible of Punk it is to bring AJ back. Becky wonders how AJ is feeling physically, mentioning the extensive neck pain AJ mentions in her book. She asks how Punk will feel when she’s pummeling AJ’s face when he got in a blood feud over a bracelet. Becky is the greatest female wrestler of all-time – Sports Illustrated says it! – and tells AJ she is a liability.

AJ thanks Becky for reading her book but says she didn’t do the same for Becky’s, but she’s right. Both are very good books! She doesn’t know how her neck will hold up – stopping for the crowd singing “AJ, AJ Lee” – and doesn’t know how it will go on Saturday. She won two titles on this damaged neck and Becky should be worried that not even she knows what she’s going to do next. “I have been known to make a rash decision, I’m a Puerto Rican from New Jersey – sometimes I shank a chick.” She says they can’t make a plan for something they can’t predict. Seth calls her a little girl and he can’t predict her, but he can read her husband like a book. “Let me tell you something you may not know or want to believe about your husband. He has a nasty habit of leaving when things let him down, so this Saturday when my wife rips you into shreds, you better hope to god that he doesn’t leave you too.” AJ slaps Seth and he says he’ll never put his hands on a lady but thankfully he has someone he will. Becky argues with him and storms out of the ring. “Where are you going??” Seth shoves Punk and runs outside, Punk follows and Becky slides in to Manhandle Slam AJ and slap Punk repeatedly. These four work very well together.

Joe Tessitore and Corey Graves get their first on-camera moment of the night, hyping up Wrestlepalooza and looking back at AAA Worlds Collide.

Intercontinental Champion and AAA Mega Champion Dominik Mysterio is with Byron Saxton when we hear a loud clanging. We run over to see Penta on the ground thanks to New Day, the War Raiders running to help.

Joe Tess thanks Drake for “Nokia,” the official theme of Wrestlepalooza. Him?

El Grande Americano vs Dragon Lee

Back-and-forth Lucha stuff, including some impressive stuff from Americano. Americano lays in a thunderous chop as loud as Penta’s from earlier. Lee scissors Americano to the outside, who rolls himself onto the announce table. Lee sees this and flies, diving from the ring onto the desk and Americano to a “holy shit” chant and the “let’s go to commercial” replay.

We’re back in and Lee drops Americano with a nasty suplex and kick. They trade chops, Lee spinning Americano into a Liger Bomb for a two. These two are going for it! “This is awesome” chant. Americano is knocked off the top into a seated position, then knocked into a stomp by Lee from the top of the ring post. Another El Grande Americano kicks Lee, but Lee can only get a two. Americano Dos crawls under the ring and AJ Styles crawls under for him, chasing him across ringside and tossing him into the crowd. A third El Grande Americano springs out of the timekeepers area to attack Styles, the second shoves Lee down and American Originale hooks on a successful submission. Americanos Uno, Dos and Tres celebrate at ringside and then do the Spider-Man meme point.

El Grande Americano defeats Dragon Lee by submission. Enjoyable. We’re at the point where the Americanos acknowledge each other, so perhaps we’ll get to the Americanos in a Survivor Series elimination match.

Lyra walks up on a door and hears Bayley arguing with herself. She goes in and finds Bayley sitting on the couch, asking who she was talking to. She thanks Bayley, who stands up, thanks HER and calls her an idiot. Ding dong.

Stephanie is met by Rhea Ripley backstage, who promises that she’s coming for the winner. The fans chant “Mami” as we hopefully get back to Rhea doing important things in front of the live crowd soon.

Stephanie Vaquer vs Kairi Sane (with Asuka)

They wrestle to the mat early, trading moves as the fans chant for “La Premeira.” Kairi offers a handshake which gets Asuka yelling. Kairi takes Vaquer down with a head scissors and a flying knee to the ropes, unable to get a three. Kairi scoots under Stephanie outside, trying for a powerbomb but feeling a BRUTAL double stomp as we take a break so Ryan Reynolds can tell us about his phone service.

Kairi has the advantage when we return, whipping Vaquer into the corner. Steph fights out and lands a Meteora on Kairi. Kairi returns a Blockbuster on Vaquer and a running elbow in the corner. She climbs and Vaquer dodges, hooking her to a DDT and a two count. Kairi reverses a suplex as the crowd is starting to make a little more noise for this pairing. I think they’re a little quiet for Vaquer because they’ve been so inconsistent with her on TV lately. Stephanie catches Kairi with a dragonscrew and then leaps outside onto both Kabuki Warriors. She rolls Kairi back in and offers a Devil’s Kiss and the SVB for a three.

Stephanie Vaquer pins Kairi Sane. This started slow but turned into a little fun sprint that caught the crowd. Asuka attempts to go in afterwards, but Iyo Sky comes out. She gets between the two as Asuka walks off. Sky and Vaquer shake hands, their Wrestlepalooza match upcoming.

Here’s a video package on Bronson Reed and Bron Breakker talking about the Usos. They’re going to end the myth of the Usos being the greatest tag team of all time.

Iyo and the Warriors are arguing backstage. Iyo tells Asuka she wants to win it on her own. “FINE,” tells Asuka as she leaves before calling poor Kairi to follow.

Joe Tess and Graves run over the Wrestlepalooza card and how you can watch it.

Judgment Day is celebrating Dom becoming a double champ. Finn considers Dom putting a break on celebrating because Rox has had a rough night. He’s still upset about El Grande Americano. Dom questions if it is crazy that Americano just wants his respect. Rusev walks in and introduces himself to Dom, telling him that he is the next Intercontinental Champion.

LA Knight and Big Jim Uso vs Bron Breakker and Big Bronson Reed

It wouldn’t be a Monday evening without a Bron/Bronson main event. Boy, I sure hope the Usos and Knight can be on the same page when this match ends in two segments. Jimmy smacks Bron down with a big uppercut and a spinning elbow, but Bron quickly retains the advantage as the fans bark. Bronson tags in as does Knight, laying in punches. They trade suplex attempts and Knight is able to boot down Bronson in the corner before Jim comes in for a hip attack. They clothesline Bron to the outside as we head to break.

The Brons are running it when we come back. We’re in the “work over Jimmy” part of the match. After some extensive working over Jim, he gets the hot tag to Knight as Bronson tags Bron. Knight takes Bron down with a jumping neck breaker but can’t overcome both men, giving Reed a chance to tag in. Knight goes up for a leaping elbow, Big Jim tags in and hits a Uso Splash. Bron breaks the count.

“This is awesome” chant as Knight and Bron fight to the outside, while Jimmy leaps onto Bronson on the other side. Jimmy goes for a second but runs into a right hand. Knight leaps off the steps onto Reed and slings Reed in, giving Jim a superkick, spear, and then Bron distracting him. This gives Reed the chance to hit the Jagged Edge and get the pin.

Bronson Reed pins Jimmy Uso, The Vision defeats Jimmy Uso and LA Knight. They work over Jimmy after and yes, Jey comes for the save with a steel chair. Jey smacks Reed down with a chair to save his brother. As he checks on Jim, Knight runs from behind and grabs the chair. Jey turns around and questions it as if he didn’t spear the man last week. Knight drops it and shakes Jey’s hand before attacking him with a BFT and the credits roll. Oh no, they can’t coexist. Maybe they’ll win the tag titles.

A meh-to-decent episode this week. It is not as bad as some will tell you, but it was also kind of paint by numbers as we roll to Wrestlepalooza and ESPN. Hopefully we’ll reset a few things there. There’s nothing I would call “can’t miss,” but Americano/Lee and Penta/Kingston were fun as was the mixed tag promo.