WWE Monday Night Raw Review – 12.15.2025

Almost 24 hours after John Cena’s Final Match, the wrestling world moves on with another Monday night and another edition of Monday Night Raw. Tonight, Gunther gloats, a classic tag rivalry is renewed, and I imagine we have a tribute or two to the leader of the Cenation.

The last week in WWE: Raw / NXT / EVOLVE / Impact / SmackDown / Saturday Night’s Main Event

Then, Now, Forever, Together.

Here’s a video package of things that happened at Saturday Night’s Main Event and Gunther defeating John Cena, sad fans, a celebrating Gunther and a retiring Cena.

The live crowd murmurs before the music hits and Gunther walks out. Gunther is all smiles while the crowd is all jeers. He takes an extra walk around the ringside area to stand on the commentary table as the great Alicia Taylor introduces him. Commentary has been silent the entire time, allowing us to fully soak in the boos. Fans chant “you suck” as he poses on the top rope. The fans chant “you tapped out” as he raises the mic. Several rounds of boos silence him as he continues to laugh at the crowd. “I did what I said I would do. I made John Cena give up! And when he gave up, he tapped out like a little bitch.” Gunther drops the mic and leaves, smiling and soaking in the sea of boos. He comes back to psoe on the second rope and continue to soak in the hatred from the audience who give him another “you suck” chant. He leaves again as they boo. He comes back a second time to again pose on top of the commentary table. He grabs another mic. “I MADE JOHN CENA TAP OUT LIKE A LITTLE BITCH! It is my time now. I will forever be the man that made John Cena give up.”

He walks through the Gorilla position and through the backstage area, passing Tozawa and Otis and telling them he feels good about himself. Next is R-Truth. “You are a piece of trash,” Truth tells him. Raw General Manager Adam Pearce asks if he is proud and Gunther says he is. Pearce calls Gunther an asshole for stomping all over Cena’s legacy and tells him to find the exit which seems like an easy night for Big Gunther. Gunther heads out the back door and comes across AJ Styles in the parking lot leaning on his car. Styles has nothing to say as Gunther gets in his snow-coated car, rolls down his window and gives AJ the “you can’t see me” hand wave.

I think the Gunther and crowd part was masterful. The roster being mad at Gunther didn’t quite hit for me. How dare Gunther do what he said and defeat John Cena by following the rulebook and being the better wrestler.

We’re in Hershey, Pennsylvania at the Giant Center live on Netflix and presented by DoorDash. Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett greet us from ringside, Wade telling us he has never felt the hatred like thrown at Gunther tonight.

Arrivals! The Vision is here as they usually are. Tonight, Logan Paul will face Rey Mysterio. Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer struts in and will battle Raquel Rodriguez. Ivy Nile, accompanied by the long-lost Creed Brothers, gets a shot at Maxxine’s Women’s Intercontinental Title. World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk has returned and will talk to us later.

The Usos (Main Event Jey and Big Jim) vs The New Day (Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston with Grayson Waller)

Kofi and Big Jim kick it off and are evenly matched. Jey tags in and uppercuts Kofi before being clotheslined by Woods on the apron. Wood offers a hip swivel and we go to break.

Jim spin kicks Kofi and gets some “Usos” chants before nailing the running hip attack. Jimmy climbs, kicks at Grayson and is knocked to the floor by Kofi. Grayson runs Jimmy into the ring post as Kofi distracts the ref, Woods leaps onto Jey as he tries to come to the save. Kofi tags in and misses a running slide, going balls-first into the ring post. Jey gets the hot tag and unloads on Woods, smacking Woods with a hell of a superkick for a two count. Jey suicide dives onto Woods gets a two count on a crossbody, giving us another three minute break.

Grayson trips Jey and is tossed by the very tanned referee to bring us back. The ref set the spray tanner on the Zack Ryder setting. The Usos offer up superkicks to both New Day members then hit Woods with stereo Uso Splashes. Kofi grabs Jey and slings him into the stairs, Woods tries to rull up Jimmy. Woods smashes Jimmy with a DDT to the floor and suicide dives onto Jey while Kofi frog splashes Jimmy. Woods takes a Jey spear on the outside and Kofi feels one on the inside from Jimmy. Jey tags in and we have a 1D for the first time in a while, Jey getting the pin.

Jey Uso pins Kofi Kingston, The Usos defeat The New Day. A hot ending at least but it felt like just another match. I think not having the commercial breaks destroying the flow would have helped this match a lot. The crowd was a bit subdued as well which I think is probably due to all that booing of Gunther. Something else to keep in mind is that SmackDown was taped prior to tonight’s show.

Joe has some hype for the one year anniversary of Raw on Netflix, January 5. CM Punk will defend his belt against Bron Breakker and the Kabuki Warriors defend the Women’s Tag Team Titles against Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky. Here’s a video package of the Kabuki Warriors being mad at Iyo for hugging around Rhea all the time. Sorry, Iyo made the correct choice here.

Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky are indeed hugging and they’re on the way to the ring next. Rhea’s always got her arm around Iyo.

Here’s a look at The Vision taking out L.A. Knight last week and Bronson splashing him through a car. Enjoy your Christmas, L.A. See ya around Rumble time?

The Vision are in their locker room with Logan Paul hyping up Big Bronson Reed. Bron Breakker tells them that they should destroy CM Punk. Logan thinks the masked man will show up and Paul Heyman questions if he knows who he is. Paul will take the help and Bronson would like to have another talk with Paul two steps away from where they were and with Paul talking as loudly as possible. Paul tells Bron to wait 21 more days so he can beat Punk and win the title. Logan says to lock in and he’ll take care of Rey tonight.

Season two of WWE Unreal premieres on Netflix January 20th. Perhaps I’ll review it. We have a medical update on Knight who has a cracked sternum and will be on the shelf indefinitely. By indefinitely, we mean around the Rumble.

Iyo Sky and Rhea Ripley join us in the arena, Iyo getting a respectable pop and then Rhea getting the wild ovation. Rhea has recovered from her annual injury that causes her to wear a mask for WarGames. Asuka pops out of the crowd and mists Rhea. Kairi Sane joins and they work over Iyo as Rhea swings but misses as she can’t see what she’s swinging at. Asuka holds Rhea, Iyo dives in the way and catches Kairi’s Insane Elbow. A good little segment and the Asuka mist was a surprise.

WWE Women’s Intercontinental Title: WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion Maxxine Dupri vs Ivy Nile

This is Ivy’s first Raw match since June, she last won a match on Raw in September 2024 teaming with the Creeds against Alpha Academy. Maxxine works Ivy’s arm in the corner but is tossed to the outside. Ivy suplexes Maxxine on the ringside mat as we go to break.

Ivy grabs Maxxine up for a neckbreaker and Maxxine rolls her through with a counter. Ivy strikes Maxxine, Maxxine powers up and hits Ivy with a nasty knee. The crowd is getting behind Maxxine a bit as she splashes Ivy and hooks the Perfect Plex for a two. Ivy gets a comeback and hits a few corner punches before Dupri powerbombs her into a two count. Maxxine misses a corner splash and Ivy rolls her up for two. Maxxine hooks the ankle lock and Ivy tries to kick out, unable to escape and tapping.

Maxxine Dupri defeats Ivy Nile by submission to retain the Women’s Intercontinental Title. They tried but the crowd just didn’t care. Having Maxxine against a person who hasn’t had a match outside of Main Event since June probably didn’t help.

Here’s a video look at Sol Ruca.

Pearce is talking with Je’Von Evans and interrupted by El Grande Americano and Los Americanos. The Americanos have also been lost on Main Event as we last saw them wrestle on Raw in September after all those months of attacks. Pearce sets up Je’Von against Rayo Americano next week.

WWE World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk joins us for a talk and does not look happy. Punk tells us he missed the last two Raws because he wasn’t medically cleared to fly. He calls Bron Breakker a cross-eyed nepo baby and says that brains don’t run in Bron’s family. He doesn’t think Bron can handle 2025 CM Punk, even more classic Punk. If he had a dime for every time he was across the ring from someone called a generational prospect, he’d have a pocket full of dimes. “Speaking of dimes, if you ever mention my wife again, this goes from personal to business faster than you can run.” He tells Bron to bring his friends, the masked man, the National Guard, “your dumb father and his dumber brother Scott” to the title match because he’s going to need it all to beat him for the title. “Even with Steiner Math, GTS equals 1, 2, 3. You lose, I win.” A fiery promo from Punk.

Dominik Mysterio is with Liv Morgan and Roxanne Perez. Dom tells us that JD is going to be on the shelf for a while. We cross over to Raquel Rodriguez, Liv offering to be by her side tonight. Raquel thinks she can do it all on her own. Liv can’t wait to see her bring the title back to the clubhouse.

WWE Women’s World Championship: WWE Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer vs Raquel Rodriguez

This one has a lot of potential. Raquel towers over Stephanie. Stephanie runs right into a shoulder. Raquel lifts her outside, Stephanie leaps right into her arms and Raquel powers her into a beautiful vertical slam to send us to another break.

Raquel is working Stephanie’s shoulders as we return. Vaquer dragon screws Raquel in the corner to work the knee. Raquel powers out of a corner armbar for a powerbomb for a two and the crowd isn’t really into this one either. Stephanie ducks a corner stomp and drops Raquel with a slam, getting the Devil’s Kiss to finally wake the fans up again. Running Meteora hits and Raquel clotheslines out of a SVB attempt. Nikki Bella hops the barrier to attack both women, getting us to a no contest. Stephanie takes a Rack Attack 2.0.

The match is ruled a no contest. A decent match and a quiet crowd. Raquel is still my most improved. I don’t mind the Bella attack.

Pearce and Heyman are talking backstage about the masked man. Pearce is tired of asking who it is, but he’s asking one more time. Heyman replies Rollins, Lynch, Aldis, and Sammartino before telling Pearce he doesn’t know. Paul reminds Pearce that convenience doesn’t equal guilt. Pearce is met by Rhea who wants Asuka. Pearce makes it official for next week.

Rey Mysterio is walking and walks up on Punk. Punk offers to watch his back and Rey’s down. “Go punch this guy in the face.”

Jackie Redmond is with WWE World Tag Team Champions AJ Styles and Dragon Lee. AJ knows their the team to beat and Dragon says they’ll bring the fire for any team, any time. As they leave, Nikki comes up. She’s not sorry or apologizing for putting people beneath her in their place. She’s tired of the women not appreciating the road she paved.

Next week: Bayley vs Roxanne, Evans vs Rayo, and Ripley vs Asuka in a show that will be taped after this week’s SmackDown taping on Friday (which will be next week’s SmackDown broadcast). We’re into the holiday taping gauntlet now.

Bayley congratulates Dupri on her win and Maxxine shows off her bloody finger. Lyra Valkyria meets up with Bayley who is a little upset about losing to Sol. Lyra says this isn’t the Bayley she grew up watching. “Maybe Asuka was right about one thing, you are an idiot.” This peps up Bayley who shoves her back and calls her an idiot. “There she is,” smiles Lyra as Bayley leaves.

Rey Mysterio vs Logan Paul (with Paul Heyman)

Rey tries for an early 619, Logan boots him. Knight boxes Rey with some punches and drops him with an uppercut, the fans booing. Logan pulls his belt off and begins whipping Rey, referee Chad Patton letting it go before taking the belt away. Logan pounds Rey in the corner before escaping outside. Rey dives crotch-first onto Logan on the outside and we take another break.

Logan has the advantage in the ring when we return, splashing Rey and then missing the Super Star Splash. Rey whiffs on another 619 and Logan taunts. Rey climbs up and nails a top rope rana for a two. Logan gets a Bulldog-style running powerslam for a two of his own which looks very good. He imitates putting a cigarette out on Rey’s back before Rey swerves out of a power bomb attempt, though Logan gets the upper hand right back. Logan hits two of the Amigos and places Rey on the top rope for the third, doing the Eddie shimmy. Rey sunset flips out of the corner attack and kicks Logan to the floor, hitting Logan with a sliding splash.

Big Bronson and Big Bron come out and are immediately followed by CM Punk and a chair, who smashes them back to the back. Rey leaps into Logan’s arms and is slammed across the ring again, Heyman sliding the brass knuckles on Logan’s hand as the ref checks on Rey. Rey trips Logan and this time gets the 619, the knucks being dropped. Rey tries to put them on and The Masked Man stomps him. Logan goes up, nails the Super Star Splash and gets the three.

Logan Paul pins Rey Mysterio. Like a lot of the show, this just kind of felt like it was happening. Everything that happened was good but probably would have been better in front of a crowd that cared about it.

The Masked Man confronts Logan on the apron and then runs as Punk returns. The man unmasks in the crowd and friends, Austin Theory has returned. The crowd largely doesn’t react. As Punk looks on shocked, Breakker spears Punk and grabs the title to pose and end the show.

This was certainly an episode of Monday Night Raw. I don’t know if I’m burnt out from a much hotter SNME or the crowd was burnt out from the SmackDown taping before the episode, but not a lot seemed to get reactions tonight outside of Gunther being the heel of heels and the crowd being hot for Punk’s promo. In-ring, most of the matches are competent but get little reaction while poor Maxxine has to try to overcome the crowd not caring about her opponent that they haven’t seen on the show in half a year or win on the show since before the show moved to Netflix. And, of course, the Austin Theory reveal was a thing that they just didn’t care about.

Not a good one this week, though go back and find the Gunther and Punk promos on YouTube. Next week will be taped so I’m not expecting too much exciting out of it, though Ripley and Asuka battling again will likely be very good.