WWE RAW Recap (27/10/25)

RAW makes one final stop in Anaheim before SNME. / WWE

Monday Night RAW makes one final stop in Anaheim, California before Saturday's highly anticipated Saturday Night's Main Event takes place in Salt Lake City, Utah. We saw the highly popular tag team of Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss come over to the red brand to defend their Women's Tag Team Championships against Lyra Valkyria and Bayley whilst we also saw a No. 1 Contenders match against Penta and Rusev for the right to race Dominik Mysterio this Saturday for his Intercontinental Championship.

As the show began, a video package was aired which reminded us of how we got to the World Heavyweight Title being vacated by Seth Rollins (who is out due to a legitimate injury). It recapped last week where we saw a Battle Royal which was won by Jey Uso giving him the chance to face off against the No. 1 Contender CM Punk. We saw the belt set up in the middle of the ring before Jey Uso made his entrance and Joe Tessitore describing Jey as "eyeing up the prize" before reminding fans that it has been six months since "that magic night at WrestleMania" where we saw Jey defeat Gunther to win the World Heavyweight Title and says he wants that again. Once Jey was in the ring they "ran it back" which is quite a regular thing once he's made his entrance and fans were super into it once the music had stopped the fans instantly began to chant for CM Punk.

Jey said he has a lot of people in his ear whilst referencing some of his family such as his brother Jimmy Uso and cousin Roman Reigns. He said he doesn't give a damn what they think and went onto say "It's just me, Uce" and went onto say he will become a two time champion this Saturday before CM Punk made his way to the ring. 

Punk decided to steal a bit of Jey's thunder by running back his own music and even stole the catchphrase of "Four letters, one word" before pointing at his hoodie which simply said "Punk". Punk went onto express his happiness about Jey finally listening to himself and expressed how much he likes the latter which makes it harder for him to lace up against him. He went onto mention how he had a lot of questions but Jey's body language and actions in the Battle Royal such as eliminating his brother (which earned a jeer from the crowd) answered a lot of them. Punk went onto say he needs to be champion like he needs air in his lungs whilst saying he knows how far he needs to go. He went onto agitate Jey a little by asking how far he's willing to go to win the championship which just earned a response of "Let's go, Punk." from Jey. He said he's been in deep waters before and knows how to swim reminding Punk that this isn't his first big match, he went onto snap before saying "Screw you, Punk." We saw the segment end with Jey reminding Punk that he will show him who the best in the world with before hitting him with the infamous "Four letters, one word, YEET" line before a classic staredown happens between the two.

(Rebecca's opinions: Such a great segment to kick off the show! I loved the intensity between two men and the outline of why they both want/need the Championship back. Jey is trying to burst out on his own without any advice from his family which is lovely to hear and see whilst Punk toned down his usual cockiness.)

We then saw a recap of last week which saw Dragon Lee and AJ Styles defeat JD McDonagh and Finn Balor for the World Tag Team Titles which then transitioned to The Judgment Day. Dominik seemed panicked thinking of the No. 1 Contenders match happening between Penta and Rusev and blames Adam Pearce for having some sort of vendetta against him. Raquel went onto take a little jab by calling him a "habitual cheater" which caused Dominik to defend himself. He asked what they were going to do which earned an angry reaction from Balor and McDonagh who mentioned they were focused on regaining the tag titles that they had lost. Balor told Dominik it was his fault and McDonagh went onto say he's on his own before walking off which caused Dominik to make a phone call to a mystery person asking for their help. Roxanne wanted to talk to the guys but Raquel softly reminded her to focus on her own business as she was going one-on-one with WWE Hall of Famer Nikki Bella which transitions to us seeing Bella arriving backstage.

Penta began to make his entrance before cutting off to a break but those of us internationally managed to see the rest of it if we were lucky to catch the coverage live. Once we came back to the break they showed a few faces in the crowd including actor O'Shea Jackson Jr and then a few players from the 2024 MLS Cup Champions the Los Angeles Galaxy before transitioning to the final moments of Rusev's entrance.

Match 1: Penta vs Rusev - No. 1 Contenders Match for the Intercontinental Championship.

Dominik Mysterio has screwed both of these men out of the opportunity to win the championship by using underhanded tactics which lead GM Adam Pearce to book a match between the two to determine which gets the right of a second chance to challenge him again this Saturday. We see the bell ring and Rusev immediately charged at Penta prompting the much quicker luchador to duck. Rusev then managed to catch a diving Penta with a punch mid-air. Penta kicked the much larger man off of the ring apron before landing a dive out to ringside. Back in the ring, he hit a springboard DDT and went for a cover but had a near fall, Rusev rolled to the outside in an attempt to regroup as fans were quick to boo him. Penta went after him but was met by a rejuvenated Rusev who took control before taking the fight back into the ring and bundling Penta into the corner. As Wade Barrett outlined the locker room not wanting to face Rusev, Penta came back with a back breaker for yet another near fall. Penta once again kicked Rusev back out to ringside from the apron and went to the outside himself before Rusev managed to catch a charging Penta and slamming him into the ring steps.

Back from commercials and we see Rusev trying to tear at Penta's mask, a classic move of disrespect when facing off against a luchador which saw Penta fire back with a series of kicks. Penta went onto the top rope and leapt off only to be met by the boot of Rusev's Machka Kick in mid-air for a near fall. Rusev stomped Penta before attempting to set up the Accolade which Penta was able to counter into the Penta Driver for another near fall of his own. Fans were unimpressed with the referee as they directed "you suck" chants towards him as the two men exchanged blows before Rayo and Bravo Americano attacked both men which threw the match into a no-contest. Barrett pointed out this stemmed from Dominik's phone call made just moments earlier as we saw El Grande boast in the middle of the ring as Rusev rose up behind them before tossing Rayo and Bravo out of the ring. Penta re-entered the ring to attack El Grande and set him up for a Penta Driver but Rayo and Bravo were able to quickly pull El Grande to safety and flea which left Rusev and Penta in the ring. Rusev looked like he was about to attack Penta but he was able to turn around quick enough which resulted in a staredown between the two.

Match Result: No-Contest via. an attack from Los Americanos.

(Rebecca's opinions: Although it was obviously going to happen, this was a very fun way to make Saturday's match a triple threat.)

Backstage we saw Jackie Redmond interview LA Knight about what's next after coming short last week in the Battle Royal. LA said he didn't come out with what he needed or a title around his waist but he'll do what he needs to in order to change that. He said whoever wins between Uso and Punk he wants the first shot at. - We then saw The Vision (Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed and Paul Heyman) backstage as they were slightly confused on why they weren't involved in last week's huge Battle Royal outlining that they would've "destroyed everyone". Heyman went onto say he loved the idea but it would've caused problems for them as Adam Pearce would've made it his life mission to keep them away from the title. Paul said whoever wins the title will turn up as a victim next Monday and the only person who can stand in the way of that is LA Knight hence a match between Breakker and Knight is lined up.

We then see a video package highlighting how it's been a decade since Asuka made her first appearance in WWE before cutting to Adam Pearce backstage on the phone making something official (presumably something relating to SNME) before Finn Balor and JD McDonagh interrupt his business. Pearce asks the two where to find Dominik as he has some news to deliver but of course, they don't know. Balor and McDonagh are only there for one thing and that's their rematch, Pearce says one of them needs to go one-on-one with Sheamus after he was left upset by the two eliminating him from the Battle Royal last week. McDonagh says that he'll rip off Sheamus' head and then come back to ask for the rematch.

Just before the break we see WWE Hall of Famer Nikki Bella make her entrance.

Match 2: Nikki Bella vs Roxanne Perez (w/ Raquel Rodriguez).

Once we're back from the break we're shown another guest who is starring in a Netflix show before the camera cuts to Roxanne Perez who is already in the ring. Roxanne goes in for a handshake with Nikki who is quick to slap the hand away which then causes Roxanne to hit Nikki with a slap of her own. Roxanne briefly sits back on the ropes but then swiftly moves causing a charging Nikki to land on the apron which leads to a shoulder block and sunset flip sequence for a count of two.

Once both ladies were up Nikki gets one back on Roxanne by slapping her, Roxanne stumbled back up and had to take a moment to collect herself before charging at Nikki who anticipated the move and connected with a dropkick and a sequence of reversals occurs between the two.

Nikki brings Roxanne up to a vertical base in a headlock before Roxanne slams Nikki down using her hair for some leverage and taking advantage with some clubbing blows. Roxanne took a moment to taunt the crowd before getting Nikki into a headlock which Nikki reverses into one of her own; Roxanne managed to get out and tried to go for a headscissors and a Russian legsweep which was quickly blocked by Nikki before we see a single knee facebreaker connect which causes Roxanne to scramble to the outside and regroup with Raquel. Nikki made her way to the outside but was soon confronted by Raquel which allowed Roxanne an opportunity for a cheap shot which is instantly thwarted by Nikki. Back in the ring, Nikki repeatedly smashed Roxanne's face into the turnbuckles before Raquel managed to interfere and smack Nikki's face onto the turnbuckle. Perez picked at Bella's legs and catapulted her into the ropes neck first before we go to a commercial break.

Perez is in control as we come back from commercials and subsequently targets the surgically repaired neck of Bella which commentary goes to mention Perez will be well aware of due to her being a huge fan of the latter a decade or so ago. Raquel once again interferes which Nikki focuses on more than Roxanne by blasting Raquel off of the apron; Roxanne goes for a schoolboy but has her foot on the ropes which referee Jessika Carr spots and voids the count. Bella goes in for her own schoolboy which isn't successful and then after a sequence is slammed hard into the buckles which sets up for Roxanne Perez's Pop Rox and a three count.

Match Result: Roxanne Perez def. Nikki Bella via. Pinfall. 

Post match, we see Judgment Day jump Nikki which is quickly stopped by the Women's World Champion Stephanie Vaquer. Bella and Vaquer stare down Rodriguez before escaping to the outside to raise Perez's hand whilst Vaquer and Bella share an embrace in the ring.

(Rebecca's opinions: Super interested to see where this will go! I'm hoping for some kind of tag match and then a classic show of Nikki Bella as a heel (maybe) to set up a match between herself and Vaquer in the future. Huge props to Bella as well for putting over Perez, what a huge win for her!)

We then get a recap of why Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss are on RAW tonight which stemmed from a video posted on X by Bayley; once the video has finished we see Lyra Valkyria running into the Kabuki Warriors backstage. Asuka is upset as she believes Lyra and Bayley are cutting the line for a shot at Bliss and Flair, Valkyria tries to explain herself but is quickly cut off by Asuka who begins to yell at her in Japanese. Once the Kabuki Warriors leave we see Bayley come up behind Valkyria and hands her a matching tag team jacket and mentions the tag match which is the main event of the night is her gift, Lyra mentions how she's never shared the ring with Bliss and Flair. This slightly knocks Bayley's confidence down but Valkyria is quick to try and lift their spirits and it ends with a handshake.

We then go onto seeing Jey Uso walking backstage who is quickly approached by his brother Jimmy, he seemingly isn't impressed by Jey's comments of "it's just me" and berated him for eliminating him last week. Jey tries to nonchalantly shrug it off by using LA Knight as an excuse but Jimmy essentially calls him selfish and teases a potential one-on-one match between the two in the future before it cuts to The Vision making their entrance before commericals.

Match 3: Bron Breakker vs LA Knight.

Knight opens up the match strong with a flurry of chops before whipping Breakker across the ring and taking him down with an uppercut. We then see a Manhattan Drop which Knight quickly comes back at with a lariat and headlock before being shot off and Bron wipes him out with a lariat of his own. We see a sunset flip from Knight for a count of two, Bron gets up and goes in for another lariat but Knight slips out and commences with a sequence of turning jabs, right hook and putting boots to Breakker in the corner. We then go to the outside where we see a wrecking ball dropkick from Knight which sends us into a commercial break.

Coming back from the break, Bron dominates with shoulder blocks in the corner, a big running knee and once again sends Knight crashing to the outside before stalking him. Knight eventually fires back with a jumping lariat and goes into a sequence ending in the People's Elbow! Knight went in for the BFT which was blocked by Breakker; Knight was flurried into the corner before another counter sent Breakker crashing down. Knight hits a superplex for a two count and then goes in again for a BFT which is countered again, we see our first interference attempt from Bronson Reed but Knight sidesteps it sending Breakker into the post.

Knight takes his attention off of Breakker focusing on diving off of the apron to take Reed out. He goes back to working on Breakker by smashing his face onto the announce table a few times before posing for the Anaheim crowd. Once Bron was back inside we then saw Paul Heyman cause the match altering interruption as shortly after Breakker kips up and hits Knight with a spear for the three count.

Match Result: Bron Breakker def. LA Knight via Pinfall.

(Rebecca's opinions: Nice match, Knight didn't look weak during that match at all and despite Breakker getting a little assistance along the way it was a great way to keep both looking strong.)

We cut to backstage where GM Adam Pearce is still searching for the Intercontinental Champion Dominik Mysterio and two guys having a chat point him into the right direction where we see Dominik hanging out with Los Americanos, presumably thanking them for their earlier antics in the match between Penta and Rusev. Pearce asks what that was about before Mysterio acts like he didn't have a clue why they'd interfere in the earlier match, Dominik tries to say Penta and Rusev are targeting Los Americanos but Pearce is quick to brush that off by reminding Dom that they're after him. This is where Pearce announces that it is official for this Saturday and we'll see a triple threat between Dominik, Rusev and Penta for the Intercontinental Championship which seemingly makes Dominik pretend he doesn't understand English.

We then see The Usos again with Jey telling Jimmy that he loves him and nothing will change that. Jey said Jimmy would have done the same thing but it didn't play out that way. Jey said Jimmy was coming at him just days before the biggest match of his career and claimed that betrayed him. Jey asked if they were good and Jimmy said "I feel you" before they shook hands to end the segment.

We then see JD McDonagh make his entrance before commercials, once we came back Joe Tessitore promoted the previously announced final WWE RAW appearance of John Cena on Nov. 17th.

Match 4: Sheamus vs JD McDonagh (w/ Finn Balor).

Sheamus' entrance wasn't televised but we did see him dominate in the early goings of the contest; Sheamus had set JD up for the ten beats but Balor saved his Judgment Day stablemate. Sheamus hit them with a double clothesline from the apron before we went to another set of commercials. We see McDonagh hit a 450 splash for a near fall, Sheamus rose to his knees which prompted McDonagh to throw kicks which Sheamus invited. McDonagh went in for a slap on Sheamus who returned to a vertical base and caught McDonagh's leg when he went in for another kick. McDonagh slapped Sheamus again which caused the latter to go onto the offensive before once again trying to set up for the ten beats but failing as McDonagh headbutted Sheamus.

Sheamus performed a rolling senton and finally got McDonagh with the ten beats (and more) as the crowd were invested and counted along as the hits rained down. Sheamus signalled for a Brogue Kick which McDonagh managed to cut off with a flying knee and an inside cradle which resulted in a two count. Sheamus came back at McDonagh with a High Cross and went in for a cover but Balor put McDonagh's foot on the bottom rope to force a break.

Sheamus went to the outside where Balor began his antics by grabbing the shillelagh that Sheamus carried to the ring with him but was hit with a knee strike. Sheamus set up for another high cross that McDonagh broke up but Sheamus roughed him up before tossing him back into the ring. Sheamus went to the ropes but the shillelagh that Balor had grabbed came back into play as Sheamus was hit by it giving McDonagh the chance to hit a top rope Spanish Fly for the win.

Match Result: JD McDonagh def. Sheamus via. Pinfall.

(Rebecca's opinions: This was a solid match, I definitely wasn't expecting McDonagh to win but as usual with The Judgment Day there was some interference.. This seems to be a huge trend with matches on this edition of Monday Night RAW.)

We then cut to Adam Pearce talking to Maxxine Dupri who has picked up two massive wins recently against Becky Lynch (via a count-out and disqualification). We're given the tease of Dupri vs Lynch III but Maxxine mentions needing to call a friend so she's prepared for everything Becky will possibly throw her way. Dupri is so confident that she'll win to give herself and everyone the biggest shock of their life, Pearce told Dupri to simply call him when she's ready for that match.

We then cut to Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair being interviewed by Jackie Redmond who congratulated them on holding the titles for 89 days whilst maintaining regular defences across all brands. Bliss went onto say all a team has to do is ask and they will happily defend the belts. Flair said they are two wins away from having the most successful WWE Women's Tag Championship defences in history. The Kabuki Warriors made another appearance with Asuka basically saying nobody deserves the titles aside from them. Charlotte said she's beaten Asuka a lot and that she and Bliss would be honoured to face the two of them which earned a response of they are not ready from Asuka before walking away. Kairi comedically stuck around opening her umbrella before Asuka yelled her name and she quickly caught up.

We then saw a preview of the card we're expecting to see this Saturday in Salt Lake City at Saturday Night's Main Event which now includes the Intercontinental Championship triple threat. Backstage we see the newly crowned World Tag Team Champions AJ Styles and Dragon Lee speaking with Adam Pearce. Styles said he and Lee want to face any deserving team that wants to challenge them for the titles which of course, enter Judgment Day, who are back for their match which Styles and Lee accept and it becomes official for next week's edition of RAW. Now we move onto Bayley and Lyra Valkyria making their entrance as it's main event time before a quick commercial break. Once we come back from commercials, we see Bella and Vaquer vs Perez and Rodriguez is official for next week's episode of RAW before we see Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair make their entrance.

Match 5: Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair (C) vs. Lyra Valkyria and Bayley - WWE Women's Tag Team Championships.

Alicia Taylor introduced both teams for the Championship match in her usual style before we see Bliss and Bayley start off the match before we see a quick tag to Flair who delivers a lariat to take Bayley into the corner. Bayley manages to get away and swiftly tags in Lyra Valkyria who performs a waistlock takedown on Charlotte with an up and over exchange before Valkyria taunts to the crowd. We see a sequence involving a legsweep, basement dropkick, sidestep and a enzuigiri from Flair. Flair immediately goes into a series of chops to take Valkyria down, whip to the corner, Flair Flip before delivering boots. Lyra goes in for a kick combination and an enzuigiri of her own which sends Flair to the outside. Valkyria is fired up as we go to commercials.

Valkyria catches a kick from Bliss who is now the legal competitor and trips her up, grabbing her into a rocking horse and swinging her around. Bliss manages to create some separation before she's thrown into the corner where Valkyria tags in Bayley. We see a flurry of offense in both a tag/singles capacity before Bliss counters a move on both Valkyria and Bayley into a double DDT. She was quickly able to get to Flair who is fired up and tags her in.

Flair immediately goes to the top rope and hits a diving double crossbody and taunts to the crowd before going off with chops at both of her challengers. Valkyria ducks under which allows Charlotte to get her with a handspring lariat which then transitions to a fallaway slam to Valkyria, a big boot and then a fallaway slam to Bayley! Charlotte performs a kip-up before flexing to the audience; she swiftly uses Bayley and Valkyria as a stepping stone before going up to successfully land a double moonsault for a near fall.

Charlotte was going to apply a Figure Four on Lyra until Bayley had to be swiftly kicked off of the apron with a big boot which gave Lyra a small bit of time to recover. Once Charlotte turned around, Lyra hit her with a kick which temporarily took the both of them out. Bayley was fired up, wanting to be tagged in which Lyra successfully managed to do. Bayley struck Charlotte with a knee before sending her onto the apron and executing a middle rope stunner and a stomp to the back of the head. Bayley kept momentum going by hitting a diving elbow to the back of Charlotte's neck before clearing the apron of Alexa Bliss with a dropkick. Bayley turned her focus back to Flair who had gotten up in the corner before charging into the knee of flair. This quickly turned into a Bayley to Belly which wasn't enough for a three count!

Bliss came in with a blind tag and as Valkyria and Bayley focused on Charlotte. As Valkyria came off the ropes, Bliss quickly caught her and set up for the Sister Abigail DDT which was quickly broken up by Bayley. Bliss went up to the top but was caught by Valkyria and driven down with a Nightwing for a cover which Flair broke up. Both teams changed legal participants as Flair and Bayley became the legal participants, Bayley came in with a Lou Thesz Press and a flurry of mounted punches.

Flair reversed into her own flurry of mounted punches which continued as the two were trading blows, Bayley took a page out of Flair's book and began to hit her repeatedly with chops towards the ropes. Bayley left Flair prone and ran off the ropes into a big boot before dragging her into the middle of the ring and transitioning beautifully into the Figure Four Leg Lock with a full bridge/extension. Valkyria was quick to help Bayley until Alexa broke the whole thing up with a Twisted Bliss! Flair and Bliss rose to their feet whilst the challengers were on their knees and gave a nod to each other before hitting a synchronised Natural Selection for the three.

Match Result: Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair def. Lyra Valkyria and Bayley via. Pinfall to retain the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships.

After the match we see Asuka and Kairi hit the ring and attack Bliss, Flair and Valkyria but they once backed off as Bayley got into the ring to prevent an attack to Valkyria. Asuka and Kairi made a quick exit whilst Bayley checks on Lyra.

(Rebecca's opinions: Such a fun main event! The attack at the end is definitely setting up the obvious future match of Flair and Bliss vs The Kabuki Warriors.)

And with that, RAW comes to a close until next week.