wrestling / TV Reports
Cook’s WWE Raw Review 3.17.25
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...Hey kids! Steve Cook here with you for the latest edition of Raw on Netflix! It’s something a little different for us North American viewers, as the show will be airing live from Brussels, Belgium. Typically, we’d have to wait until the normal timeslot to see shows held in Europe or other places across the world. With Netflix, we can watch it live! What better way to spend one’s St. Patrick’s Day than by watching some live wrestling from across the pond? Let’s go!
Cook’s WWE Raw Review 3.17.25
Then. Now. Forever. Together!
We’re in Brussels, Belgium! Finn Balor is WALKING! Bron Breakker is WALKING! Bianca Belair is WALKING! IYO SKY & Dakota Kai are WALKING! We’ll look back at last week’s main event! The drone camera flies around the venue, Michael Cole is here with Corey Graves, who’s filling in for Pat McAfee this week. We flash back to Cody Rhodes’ words about what happened to him at Elimination Chamber.
John Cena’s music hits! The fans sing about John Cena sucking while he walks down to the ring. Cena slowly walks about the ring with microphone in hand while the crowd jeers and chants “Let’s Go Cena, Cena Sucks”. Cena pauses in the middle of the ring to soak it in. He places the microphone down a couple of times then finally speaks. When somebody is properly grounded in life, they shouldn’t have to look outside themselves for approval. They’re making this so easy for him. For 25 years, he’s been the victim of an abusive relationship. The fans have lost their time to talk! All they do is be hurtful & abusive, and all they’ve ever done to him is expect him to be a puppet and do it with a smile on his face! No more! Apparently the f word is a thing in Belgium. Cena is not a babyface. He’s not a heel. He’s a human being! Each and every one of them has been awful to him! It’s been the same noise for 25 years. When he first got here, the fans let him know that they hated him. He changed himself, hoping they would like him a little bit. It worked for a second, but it wasn’t enough. He worked hard and started to win and win and win and win and win and win. He won a lot and they hated it. He spent the next ten years trying to give everything away and it wasn’t enough. In his final moments, he could walk away. He announces his retirement. He tries one last time to get along with the fans and do something nice for them, and they ruined it! The fans sing the Na na na na hey hey hey goodbye song. Each one of these idiots is proving his point. No matter what he does, it’s ever enough and you should be all ashamed of yourselves. All they do is take, and they only care about themselves and what they get. Nobody asked him how he felt, it’s just about “what do we get”. They get nothing! They get what they have earned, which is nothing. You don’t get a new look, or new music. It’s his time and our time is finally up. The only thing you get is to take a long look in the mirror to see how awful you’ve been the last 25 years. The fans want Cody Rhodes. Cody is the fans’ brand new shiny toy. With every breath they prove his point. No one is safe, especially the ones he can pick out in the crowd! They’re the “Let’s Go Cena” people, who are like “man, I support you!”. The “Cena Sucks” people have already proven themselves awful. The others claim to support him. What have they ever done to support him? All they do is steal from him! They steal his personal moments and his time. They made him the butt of an invisible joke for 15 years, and it’s not funny. They’re pathetic. They don’t wear Cena merch for support, they wear it to feel good. They think they can buy Cena’s catchphrases, he lives them. They don’t support him, they use him as an excuse for their pathetic failure of a life. All they’ve ever done is sit on their ass and watch him be great. It’s a toxic, dysfunctional relationship. He’s breaking up with every single person, whether they like it or not, they’re dumped. He doesn’t care, they don’t matter. You know he’s right, and you’re wrong.
Cody Rhodes’ music hits! The fans sing along while Cody makes his entrance. Cena looks unimpressed. The fans just keep on singing Cody’s name! I have no idea what these chants are but I’m here for it. Cody says that everyone was willing to hear him out. They gave him their worst, but they also gave him their best for 25 years because he was special. He could take & carry it. Cena says “Listen, kid”, and Cody shuts him down. It’s not kid, it’s WWE Champion! Cody asks Cena who the hell he is. Where’s the guy on his shirt? Cody was excited about going at it week to week with Cena, and he got this. If this shows up at WrestleMania, Cody will retire it early. Go find John Cena, Cody wants to wrestle him at WM41, not this whiny bitch. Cody exits while Cena remains frozen. The fans sing while Cody poses at the entranceway. Cena drops the microphone and exits while the fans sing the goodbye song again.
Cole says he believed in Cena for two decades and bought everything he was selling. Cena is a 16 time champion and a star because of the fans, and he acted like an irrational prick tonight. Graves says that Cena believed what he said, and it’ll be the fight of their lives at WrestleMania. We see some clips of Ricky Steamboat & Randy Savage at WrestleMania III since the Intercontinental Championship is the main event tonight.
No Holds Barred: Penta vs. Ludwig Kaiser: Shots exchanged right away. Kaiser gets slapped down, then clotheslined over the top. Penta gets sent into the timekeeper’s area, but he walks the barricade and hits the rana! Penta back into the ring, Kaiser gets some chairs. Penta with a dive onto Kaiser, and he tears the lid off the announce table! They mount the table and exchange shots. Kaiser goes to the eyes, then hits a DVD on Penta on the table! Kaiser poses on top of the table as we go to commercial.
We return and Penta hits a crossbody, some kicks and a sling blade. Up & over into a backstabber by Penta for two. Corey namedrops his brother Sam, who’s a bit of a star in Mexico and told Corey that nobody feeds off the crowd like Penta. Kaiser bounces Penta off the steps. Kaiser tries to do his running kick, but Penta sees it coming and backdrops him onto the announce table. Back in the ring they exchange shots. Chops from Penta & punches from Kaiser. Kaiser drops Penta and hits a forearm to the back of the neck for two. Kaiser tells Penta that he will fear him. Kaiser gets the chair and hits Penta’s back. He chokes Penta with the chair in the corner. Kaiser really wants Penta to be afraid, but it’s not working. Penta with the Sacrifice armbreaker! Penta gets the chair, Kaiser begs off, rakes Penta’s face but gets the chair kicked into him. Penta kicks the chair into Kaiser’s face, goes up top, hits the Destroyer onto the chair! Penta Driver, and that’s all she wrote!
Winner: Penta (8:20 via pinfall)
Match Rating: ***
Fun little match here. Kaiser looked good in defeat, but Penta has obviously taken these fans by storm and is on to bigger & better things. I saw that Rey Fenix was hyped on SmackDown, and I love the idea of keeping the Lucha Bros on separate shows as they establish themselves in WWE. Plenty of time for them to interact later on.
Cathy Kelly is here in the aisle to ask Penta what’s next. Penta thanks the fans, and says the next thing on his agenda is the Intercontinental Championship.
Dakota Kai WALKS away from IYO SKY, as her match with Ivy Nile is next!
Finn Balor interacts with Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez, they all wish each other luck in their upcoming matches. Dominick Mysterio enters and Finn thanks him for getting him this match tonight. Dom pitches the idea of adding Penta to the Judgement Day. Finn is unimpressed, especially since Penta is going after “his” Intercontinental Championship. Dom tells Carlito he had no idea, and Carlito replies “You don’t watch the show, do you?”
Dakota Kai vs. Ivy Nile (w/American Made): Chad Gable joins the Creeds at ringside a bit late. Ivy takes the lead early, hits a big German suplex for two. Dakota counters a suplex with a small package for two. Kai with two clotheslines and a dropkick, then the facewash in the corner. Ivy gets dropped off the apron with a kick. Chad distracts Dakota on the apron, then Ivy hits a big move for two. Rey Mysterio & Dragon Lee run down to take the Creeds out, then they chase Gable out of the arena! Ivy gets a big kick from Dakota, then the GTK gets the 123!
Winner: Dakota Kai (2:49 via pinfall)
Match Rating: **
This was more about angle advancement than the in-ring part, continuing the issues with American Made & the LWO. Hey, Dakota Kai got a win so it’s not like I could ever be mad about that.
Up next, we gots a contract signing with IYO SKY & Bianca Belair! Adam Pearce is here to speak French and make this match official. IYO says that Bianca, Rhea and nobody will disrespect her again since she is the Women’s World Champion! After WrestleMania, she will still be the Women’s World Champion! The fans approve, and IYO signs. The fans chant that IYO deserves to sign the contract. Bianca has all of the respect in the world for IYO. Last week she gave her a pass because it was low key her fault. At WrestleMania she’ll find out who Bianca is, and Bianca will be the new Women’s World Champion. Adam thanks the ladies for being so responsible about this and signing the contract, and then Rhea Ripley’s music hits! Rhea is tired of Bianca being in her business. Rhea ends up knocking Bianca on top of the table, then she powerbombs IYO on top of Bianca! Rhea signs the contract too!
Jey Uso is now in Brussels! His mind has been playing tricks on him lately, so he flew halfway across the world to whip somebody’s ass. This leads to Jey bumping into Gunther, and Adam Pearce also winds up there at the same time and he’s already got a lot of issues to deal with!
Jey Uso vs. Austin Theory (w/Grayson Waller): Waller with the DISTRACTION and Theory takes advantage. Jey hits the crossbody off the ropes…for three? OK then!
Winner: Jey Uso (:29 via pinfall)
The natural reaction would be that Austin Theory’s career is dead. I’m not going that far…but he was one of Vince’s guys for the future and the new regime obviously went a different way. This could lead to Theory being featured sometime after WrestleMania, but I’m not holding my breath.
Jey nearly kills himself on a dive but seems ok, then Gunther attacks from behind. Jey counters the sleeper, then rips the title off of Gunther! Gunther charges and goes over the top rope! Jey tosses the title to Gunther and celebrates. Graves is impressed with Cole Yeeting right in front of Gunther. We get a video package building the main event.
We replay Rhea Ripley killing the people in the Women’s World Championship match at WrestleMania. She yells at Pearce, then Bianca & IYO attack. They can’t agree on who gets her, so Rhea has the upper hand yet again. Which one expects from Mami.
Brutus & Julius Creed vs. Rey Mysterio & Dragon Lee: Julius attacks right away, but Dragon Lee gets the upper hand. Brutus yanks Rey off of the apron. Julius hits a clothesline and we go to commercial.
We return for the tag to Rey Mysterio. Big headscissor to Julius. Some punches in the corner. Tornado DDT on Julius, Brutus sent to the floor by Lee! Julius fights back with some freaky athleticism, but Rey hits the 619 and the splash for three.
Winners: Rey Mysterio & Dragon Lee (2:00 shown via pinfall)
I’m not going to bother with a star rating here because two minutes and we all know these guys could have one heck of a match whenever the time is right.
The “goofy luchador” attacks again! He suplexes Lee and then suplexes Rey on top of Lee. He goes up top, shooshes the crowd and hits a diving headbutt. I’m still not sure who this masked man is.
We get a video package of last week’s main event steel cage match where Roman Reigns came back and chose to destroy both Seth Rollins & CM Punk.
Seth Rollins’ music hits! Alicia Taylor introduces him as Seth “Freakin” Rollins if you’re scoring at home, or even if you’re alone. The fans sing along for quite a while, we probably missed a lot of it during commercials! Rollins milks it a bit longer before welcoming us to Monday Night Rollins. He’s a visionary, a revolutionary, he’s Seth Freakin Rollins. They sing some more! Rollins must be having the time of his life here. He was coming out mad as hell, but it’s hard to be mad now, he thanks the fans. Then they chant CM Punk, he wants to get to Roman Reigns first. He’s not mad that Roman came for revenge last week, he would have done the same thing. Roman still can’t come up with a plan though, he needs an architect to come up with it for him. The one detail he left out is the luckiest loser on the face of the planet. If he had a few more seconds in that cage with Punk, he would have put his career on ice. He would have taken care of the CM Punk problem, but now it’s just like the good ol’ days, he has to clean up Roman Reigns’ mess. Seth will be sure to put the OTC in his place. It just so happens that Punk & Reigns will both be on SmackDown this Friday night. He wishes they were here too, but he’ll make a trip to Italy to be there with them. He puts over the crowd’s singing tonight and puts over the main event, and invites them to sing him out.
Next Monday, Raw will be in Glasgow, Scotland! Lyra Valkyria vs. Raquel Rodriguez! CM Punk will be there! Jey Uso & a mysterious partner will take on A-Town Down Under! Cody Rhodes & John Cena will be live!
Cathy is with AJ Styles! AJ stands behind everything he said about Logan Paul. Karrion Kross & Scarlett walk up. Kross suggests he’s mad at himself since it took him 17 years to get to WWE. AJ says he sees what Kross is doing and it’s not going to work. He walks off, and Kross & Scarlett seem convinced it’s working.
Intercontinental Championship Match: Bron Breakker (c) vs. Finn Balor: Gotta pop for Corey calling St. Patrick’s Day what a lot of us call it: Amateur Hour. I can’t believe Chad Patton is still working these shows as a referee. Balor not really wanting to tie up with Bron. Finn gets a headlock, shoulderblocked down. Finn tries a headlock takeover, that eventually works. Finn tosses Bron over the top rope, Bron lands on his feet, comes back in and shoulders Finn in the corner. Finn tossed over the top, Bron sets up for his outside the ring spear but Finn cuts it off with a sling blade as we go to commercial!
We return, Finn hits a side Irish legsweep for two. He kicks at Bron and talks some smack. Spinning elbow from Bron. Bron throwing the man around now, big powerslam. Dirty Dom & Carlito are here, and Finn gets a near-fall off the distraction. Finn hits the Final Cut, that only gets two. Finn doesn’t seem happy to see them. Bron takes Finn down. Bron hits a flying clothesline on Finn on the announce table that has zero give. Finn responds with a sling blade in the ring, shotgun dropkicks Bron into the corner. Series of big moves miss. Bron runs into a knee. Goes down. Bron meets Finn at the turnbuckle. The Judgment Day interference backfires! Carlito distracted the referee, Dom pulled Bron off the top rope, Finn ends up getting crotched. Bron hits the spear and gets the three count.
Winner: Bron Breakker (9:26 shown via pinfall)
Match Rating: ***
Pretty solid match to end the show. Bron has so much potential and Finn was a good person to get it out of him.
Dom & Carlito try to attack Bron after, then Penta comes down! He dispatches of Dom & Carlito, & Penta & Bron stare off. I think Bron welcomes that challenge.
So long and good night! When I’m not here you can catch me on the social media from time to time.
