Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "WWE Raw," the show that sometimes not often, but sometimes gives us an amazing show-opening promo that ends in a fantastic brawl and an amazing show-closing match that ends with a new champion. Between Monday night and Elimination Chamber on Saturday, WWE is really stringing some stuff together it has to be said though it also has to be said that it's somewhat annoying to have to wait untilFriday for any meaningful follow-up on the big Chamber stuff. Fortunately, these are all things the WINC staff is here to discuss!
If you're looking for a more comprehensive look at the events of Monday's "Raw," you might be better off checking out our "Raw" results page. You'll find information there on some matches like, for example, the World Tag Team Championship match, which was very good and didn't elicit any further thoughts whatsoever. The women's Intercontinental title picture, though? Oh, do we ever have stuff to say about that! Here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 3/3/25 episode of "WWE Raw."
I know patience is a virtue, but you can't turn John Cena heel after two decades of being a babyface and then not follow up on it.
Before I get into the meat of my opinion, let me put out a few disclaimers. I know that Cody Rhodes is technically a "WWE SmackDown" Superstar, but he has appeared on "WWE Raw" multiple times during his WWE Universal Championship reign, I don't see why the Monday after Elimination Chamber would be any different. I get that they're trying to sell Rhodes' beatdown. Have Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson or Cena himself show up. I figure they wouldn't have said anything Cena was famously reticent during Elimination Chamber's follow-up press conference and they probably wouldn't put out Johnson or Cena for just *any show,* for *these people.* Honestly...I have no rebuttal towards that. Cena's Elimination Chamber heel turn has got me hook, line, and sinker, and I'm just so mad there's no new content for me to get my serotonin hit.
The amount of time I have spent talking about Saturday's Elimination Chamber main event is legitimately concerning, and is honestly really inconvenient to anyone trying to hold a conversation with me. Like, with one segment one WWE has single-handedly restored my faith in Johnson, Cena, and Rhodes' WrestleMania 41 plans. All of the maxims and phrases don't even cover it; they did so much more than cook, eat, and serve. Even my 80-year old thesis advisor knows that Cena betrayed Rhodes at Elimination Chamber because I've been talking about it so much (and she called Rhodes "a poor little thing," which everyone needs to know).
So, I sat here for Monday's episode of "Raw," in the cute little "American Nightmare" shirt I got for Christmas, ready to see my favorite American (Cena and Johnson would've been cool too, I guess). They were playing recap after recap video, and call it my Gen Z attention span (eye roll), but I was tired of seeing clips of children crying for the umpteenth time. I wanted new Cena, Johnson, and Rhodes content, and I wanted it now.
As you can imagine, nobody showed up. I know I've been a bit silly during this piece, but there is actual criticism here. This storyline is, without a doubt, the hottest thing WWE has going on. I know Triple H loves his long-term storytelling, but WWE has received a lot of flack for not "pulling the trigger " for not acting fast enough on a hot storyline. They've gotten better about it in recent times, see Jey Uso's Royal Rumble win and IYO SKY's recent WWE Women's World Championship win, but that doesn't mean they should start rationing out storyline beats and content now. It doesn't have to be much, but just having something to keep the fans titillated until the next large story beat would have been nice.
Hopefully the boys are cooking for the upcoming episode of "WWE SmackDown." Life is too short for long-term storytelling!
Written by Angeline Phu
"WWE Raw" opened with an irate CM Punk marching to the announce table to stand on it while verbally wrecking multiple people on the mic. It was only 48 hours ago that he had his WrestleMania moment stolen from him by Seth Rollins, and he had hands for Rollins too.Punk has long been one of the best on the mic, and Monday night was a reminder of the Punk I became a fan of years ago. Instead of goosebumps, The Rock received tongue lashings when the "Second City Saint" informed "The Final Boss" that he is not above criticism just because he sits on TKO's Board. He delivered another blow by saying "I have never been so desperate to wear a fake title and proclaim myself 'The People's Champion' because I don't deserve it. Iearnedit!"
The other "Bald Fraud," Corporate Cena, wasn't immune either. Punk said "we can all see through you" while doing Cena's signature hand wave. He called Cena out for preaching about hustle, loyalty, and respect for two decades only to give up on his dreams by selling his soul to The Rock. The fans were so moved by Punk's decrees that some of them were pounding the barricades.
Punk turned his attention to Rollins and implored that Becky Lynch "come get your man." This was the bait that drew out his arch rival and they quickly came to blows. They threw each other over the announce tables. Security and people in management held them back as the crowd chanted "this is awesome!" The two would get physical again backstage before earning themselves a steel cage match in Madison Square Garden next week.
Punk should be enraged at all three men. He should confront them (both The Rock and Cena were nowhere to be found). For months his motivation has been to get to the main event at "The Show of Shows". It's the one thing he's never done before, even though he should've a decade ago. After missing last year's 'Mania due to injury, he's well aware that time is running out. He was so close he could taste it and Rollins snatched it from his grasp. Cena won the Elimination Chamber match after not qualifying for it, but declaring his entrance because of who he is. Now, he's aligned himself with The Rock to attempt to take down Cody Rhodes. Punk has seemingly lost out the one thing he's been fighting for months. I'm here for the Punk who wants to scorch the earth.
Written by Samantha Schipman
Don't get me wrong: I am more than happy to see that the Women's Intercontinental Championship picture get a new challenger and slowly expand as it continues to be established in the midcard of the women's division. That being said, Raquel Rodriguez would not be my first choice as the person to fill that position.
Rodriguez literally just won the Women's Tag Team Championship with Liv Morgan last week, so it's absolutely baffling to have her already have her sights set on a different championship. Yes, Judgment Day are looking to add some more gold to their stable, but if that's the case, then it makes much more sense for Dominik Mysterio and/or Carlito go after titles of their own since Rodriguez already has one. She also outright stated in the backstage segment she had with the rest of Judgment Day that she would be watching the Women's Intercontinental Championship match between Lyra Valkyria and Ivy Nile, but was never actually shown doing so at ringside or backstage which further made her seem less logical and significant as a challenger. Natalya, Alba Fyre Shayna Baszler, and Zoey Stark would've all been better choices, seeing as they all aren't really doing anything on "Raw" at the moment and it would've been a great opportunity to give them some television time rather than someone who already has plenty of it.
Written byOlivia Quinlan
If I'm going to be honest there has not nearly been enough done with the reign of Lyra Valkyria as inaugural WWE Women's Intercontinental Champion from how I can see it, and tonight was just another reminder of the untapped potential both in her as a champion as well as the ladies that should be scratching and clawing their way to the title.
Valkyria had already cemented her reign with two wins over Dakota Kai, beating her to claim the title in January and once more last month in some really good, even if fairly short, bouts. But tonight was a different kind of opponent in Ivy Nile, one that she had not wrestled one-on-one with since they were both in "WWE NXT." It needs stressing that both Valkyria and Nile have come a long way since that bout, which lasted just under three minutes, and that much was on show as they went thrice as long as that tonight. That doesn't sound like much on the face of it, but they worked a lot in to the time they were given, with Valkyria selling the effects physically and mentally from Nile's attack last week and itching to get absolution this week.
While Valkyria was working a very respect-laced wrestling match with Kai previously, this had more the makings of a fight, relying on Nile's strength and grappling while Valkyria endured and picked her spots. Nile appeared to have the match won convincingly with Valkyria locked in an ankle lock, which in itself was a testament to the selling of Valkyria as she provided a blood-curdling scream each time Nile wrenched. It helped drive home that Nile was a threat even in loss, and went further to legitimize the champion and the relatively new title she holds. Valkyria is a great worker and holding the workhorse belt on Monday nights should mean more of what we had this week, great pint-sized matches which establish those on the periphery of making their statement in the main event. Give us more of that, and get Nile in for a rematch whenever possible.
Written byMax Everett
Before anyone comes at me, I'm well aware that Jade Cargill and Naomi are both "WWE SmackDown" talent but coming off of Elimination Chamber with talents from both brands fighting each other in the Chamber matches and even Kevin Owens being on a different brand than Sami Zayn and Randy Orton, I don't want to hear it. Brands never really matter in WWE anyway, as much as we're told they do. I thought tonight we would get things furthered with this storyline, as well as CM Punk and Seth Rollins, but sadly, we only got ahead with one of those stories, with the women's storyline being likely the more convoluted going forward.
Bianca Belair was on "Raw" to sit ringside to watch, and partially be involved in, the Women's World Championship match pitting Rhea Ripley against IYO Sky. Makes total sense, as she won the women's Chamber match. But when Cathy Kelley caught up with Belair backstage, she said she wasn't talking about anything until she had the chance to talk to both Naomi and Cargill, which seemed a little weird, since she would technically have had time to do so. Ithink this showed us a little bit of how murky this is going to get for Belair, because she needs to focus more on her WrestleMania match against SKY now, but there's still gaping holes in the story involving Cargill and Naomi as many fans don't think it was Naomi who took Cargill out. It would make sense for Belair to be the one who took her partner out and turn heel ahead of her 'Mania match since SKY is also a face, but Belair has been pretty adamant that she's not keen on doing so.
Which leads me into my next thought involving heel turns, as we saw at least five video recaps of varying lengths about John Cena's heel turn. We were told that Cena and The Rock wouldn't be on "Raw" tonight, so playing at least one longer recap made sense, but we got so many of them and WWE didn't show Cargill returning to attack Naomi at all, outside of the beginning video with a full Elimination Chamber recap. We even got to see a recap of Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens' match with a returning Randy Orton, and none of them were on the show and interviewed like Belair was.
While "The EST" focusing on WrestleMania makes sense, I guess I just expected more tonight to further her story with the other women. Thankfully, there's plenty of time to do so on the longer show over the course of seven more weeks, but on a show tonight that was pretty good overall after a great premium live event, there wasn't too much more for me to hate, or in this case, be even mildly disappointed, about tonight. The Road toWrestleMania has definitely picked up, and it seems like finding dislikes on "Raw" are going to be few and far between.
Written by DaisyRuth
Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY's match for the WWE Women's World Championship was the third of Monday's many championship matches, and in the (rightfully deserved) main event of "WWE Raw," "The Eradicator" left it all on the line to defend her title against "The Genius of the Sky." With "The -EST" at ringside, anything could have happened.
Things happened.
To get it out of the way: this was a very good match, and yet another testament to Paul "Triple H" Levesque that the women should really main event every show. Ripley and SKY have faced-off twice before: first in the 2018 Mae Young Classic, and second on a 2020 episode of "NXT;" neither of them missed a beat during Monday's match. Aside from some hiccups on Ripley's part, Ripley and SKY wrestled a great match that highlighted both of their styles beautifully. For every Hurricanrana attempt, Ripley strongarmed her way into a counter. Just when you thought "The Eradicator" had the upper hand on a flightless SKY, the challenger countered with a submission or a particularly stiff strike (to show everyone that she is not just "The Genius of the Sky," but perhaps an all-around genius). SKY even managed to tug at our wrestling heartstrings when she pulled out moves from her sidelined Damage CTRL members, nailing Ripley with an Insane Elbow before nearly cementing the victory with an Asuka Lock.
N I'm not the fan of interference from a ringside wrestler, but Belair's was great. I have always given credit to Belair for her reactions her moment-making cries during Jade Cargill's Elimination Chamber return being a prime example of her theatrical ability but Belair's ringside reactions weren't just entertaining here. They were pivotal in the set-up for the inevitable WrestleMania's inevitable Triple Threat for the title. Tired and offended by Belair's words of encouragement towards a downed SKY, Ripley confronted "The -EST," and the two got in an altercation that referee Jessika Karr (who also always serves with her acting) had to break up. With this, they've effectively placed Belair as a key actor in Ripley's title loss, and have given us inklings of a more aggressive, heelish Ripley heading into WrestleMania.
Ripley's irate and aggressive behavior is setting pieces in play for a heel turn, which I'm thoroughly intrigued by. Belair is the babyface to end all babyfaces, and SKY is too much of a sentimental favorite to fully turn heel (my precious baby angel). It makes complete sense to turn Ripley. She has shown that she can be a great heel, but I'm curious to see if this Ripley who seemed more frustrated with Belair than plain evil will be different from that of her Judgement Day past.
Of course, I'm so pleased that WWE actually pulled the trigger on SKY. While she might be a transitional champion between now and WrestleMania, I'm glad that she got her moment, period. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: this is the must-watch feud heading into Vegas.
Written by Angeline Phu
