Cook’s WWE Raw Review 6.9.25

Hey kids! Steve Cook here with you for this week’s edition of WWE Raw on Netflix! It looks like it’s going to be a big one, as we’ve got a World Heavyweight Championship match pitting current champion Jey Uso against former champion Gunther. Jey’s been running himself ragged lately while helping his friends with their various issues. Perhaps Gunther can take advantage. We’ve also got the start of the King & Queen of the Ring Tournaments, a rare appearance from John Cena and the return of Nikki Bella! As the longtime Colonel of the Bella Army’s 411th Airborne, I couldn’t be more excited.

Cook’s WWE Raw Review 6.9.25

Then. Now. Forever. Together!

We’re in Phoenix, Arizona! 107 degrees outside! Boy, that sounds fun. Becky Lynch is WALKING! Nikki Bella is WALKING! Gunther is WALKING! Jey Uso is WALKING with his kid! (They didn’t say it was his kid but I assume it was.)

We look back at Worlds Collide & Money in the Bank.

John Cena’s music plays! The last time in Phoenix is now. Cena wearing his Suns-themed retirement attire tonight. Lots of noise being made by the fans as Cena milks the moment. Alicia Taylor concludes the over-the-top introduction. Cena says the fans teach him something every time they open their mouths. At MITB, they taught him that truth is a lie. They opened their mouths and wasted their energy saving a sideshow comedian whose best trick is pretending to be Cena. They think they did something good! Do they think that accomplished anything? They’re all spineless keyboard warriors with no real power to change anything. R-Truth is a gimmick that they will spit out and not care about within a year. Cena’s time is running out, he’s now down to nineteen dates. He lists the towns he’s been to. Cena suggests they use their voice to send him competition. Everyone they have cheered for from R-Truth to Cody & Randy, he’s beaten their best.

LIKE MUSSOLINI! CM Punk walks down to the ring wearing a Ramones sweatshirt. Punk is in a serious mood, none of the usual entrance histrionics. Punk has a lot of things to get off his chest. Cena will listen to everything he has to say right here and now. It’s ironic how Cena’s now the cowboy going against the establishment while Punk seems to be defending it. Punk says he’s not defending the establishment, he’s defending the people. Is Cena mad because the people never picked him? Cena’s faced the best competition. Cody’s the best we have, Cena beat him because he takes shortcuts. Punk’s not here to kiss the Rock’s ass, the people are his boss. Cena holds up the belt. It’s Punk’s job to give the fans what they want, if they want the Truth they’ll get Ron Killings. It’s time Punk taught Cena that he’s just a spoke on the wheel too, and it starts with Punk taking that title off his shoulder. When Punk wrestled Cena at Elimination Chamber, the last thing Punk heard was Cena scream he’s sorry. Cena knows what he’s doing is not right. When Punk takes the title, Cena will cross the country and apologize to everyone for the man he’s become. The title’s corrupted Cena, just like it did to Punk in 2012. Holding that belt wasn’t one of his goals because he’s afraid of the man he would become. Now, he has to become the monster to beat the monster. The title represents control, to Punk that should belong to the people. Cena has 18 dates left. He’ll leave it up to Cena to decide which of those 18 dates he’ll defend against him. If Cena is more Red Sox than Yankee, he’ll do it tonight. Cena says he’ll have one final match with Punk. He says “Let’s do it!………Not tonight.” Cena says Punk will have to follow him to Saudi Arabia and do it at Night of Champions.

BURN IT DOWN! Seth Rollins, Paul Heyman, Bron Breakker & Bronson Reed come out. And that’s the end of the segment. OK.

Michael Cole is joined by Wade Barrett at ringside tonight. They break down tonight’s card and we see brackets for the King & Queen of the Ring Tournaments.

Chad Gable (w/Brutus & Julius Creed) vs. AJ Styles: Styles lost the MITB qualifier last week to El Grande Americano, a good friend of Gable’s. Just because they both have a heavily taped right elbow means nothing! Like no two people have ever had the same injury within the same time frame. Cole’s grasping for straws here. Headlock by Styles, arm drags traded, drop toe hold by Gable into a headlock. Leapfrog by Styles, then the dropkick sends Gable outside. The Creeds provide a distraction and Gable trips Styles on the apron before tossing him off. We go to commercial!

Styles clotheslines Gable down. Forearm in the corner by Styles, Gable gets hit with a torture rack bomb for two. Gable dumps Styles on his head with a German suplex and goes up top. Diving headbutt gets two. Gable goes for the moonsault, Styles meets him there and powerbombs him down. Styles goes for the Clash, but Julius saves Gable while Brutus distracts the referee. Styles goes after them on the floor, goes for the Phenomenal Forearm but Gable grabs the leg and locks in an ankle lock. Styles gets out, hits the Clash for the three count!

Winner: AJ Styles (4:13 shown via pinfall)
Match Rating: **3/4
Really good for the time it got, as one would expect. I wouldn’t expect Gable to be in there too long anyway, that match with Vikingo really took it out of him. I was hoping for a bit more of a banger here, but maybe we’ll get one in the future.

Liv Morgan is warming up when Roxanne Perez walks up to her. Roxanne has a plan, but Liv says she’s going to win the QOTR match. Roxanne suggests they team up, and Liv wants her to stay out of her way. I don’t see them teaming too well here, just a guess.

Queen of the Ring Fatal 4-Way Qualifier: Liv Morgan vs. Kairi Sane vs. Roxanne Perez vs. Rhea Ripley: Kairi & Roxanne pair off for a second, Roxanne saves Liv from a Rhea suplex. Liv kicks Kairi down. Kairi takes both Liv & Roxanne down and kicks them outside. Rhea blocks the headscissors and kicks Kairi. A running dropkick gets two for Rhea. Rhea lifts Kairi up, Kairi slips out and hits a modified Blockbuster for two. Rhea catches Kairi off the ropes, tosses her down. In the corner, Kairi gets caught with a knee, then Liv & Roxanne double team on Rhea, or at least try to. Rhea has some counters, but Roxanne goes to the knee when she tries Rip Tide on Liv. Codebreaker into an Arizonan Leg Sweep on Rhea. Liv & Roxanne gorilla press Kairi and toss her onto Rhea on the floor! We go to commercial!

Kairi with some strikes to Liv when we return. Sliding clothesline in the corner by Kairi gets two. Roxanne breaks it up. She goes for Pop Rox in the corner but Rhea breaks it up with a dropkick. Liv with a springboard Codebreaker on Rhea, Kairi saves the match there. Alabama Slam by Kairi on Roxanne, she goes up top but Liv crotches her. Liv & Roxanne go for a double suplex on Kairi, but Rhea slams them down! Kairi stayed up top, hits a flying forearm on Rhea for two. Kairi with forearms to Rhea. Rhea finally blocks, but Kairi with more strikes. Kairi with a whirlybird into a Stunner for two. Liv & Roxanne back in to save, they toss Rhea into the corner and stomp her down. Liv with a Backstabber on Kairi. Kairi gets sent out of the ring, but Rhea Mamis up! German suplex to Liv. Fall away slam to Roxanne. Kairi gets booted, Roxanne gets headbutted. Liv goes for Oblivion, Rhea blocks, hits the Riptide, but Raquel Rodriguez pulls Rhea out of the ring! They clubber each other, then Kairi jumps off the top rope onto them. She goes back up top, hits the Insane Elbow on Liv! Roxanne slides in, stacks Kairi up out of her cover on Liv and gets the three count!

Winner: Roxanne Perez (9:49 shown via pinfall)
Match Rating: ***1/4
The Roxanne push continues, much to my approval. Rhea was kept looking strong, Kairi would have won if Roxanne didn’t steal it from her, and the issues between Roxanne & Liv continue. Nothing to complain about here.

We see a video package of the Worlds Collide show.

Becky Lynch is WALKING. We’ll see her next!

Jey Uso paces backstage with his belt hanging on a ladder. Gunther is working his resistance bands.

We get a Nikki Bella video package including her return at the Royal Rumble back in February. Nikki finishes her chat with Natalya & Maxxine Dupri before offering Kairi her best as Kairi walks off from IYO SKY. Nikki talks to IYO and says that she is impressed with how IYO represents herself and the women’s division. IYO fangirls out and thanks Nikki. Nikki walks out and IYO is happy.

Becky Lynch makes her way to the ring! She asks where the “You Deserve It” chants are. She should be out here celebrating since there are so few opportunities for her to celebrate anything new at this point. She lists all her accomplishments, and yeah there’s a lot. This title is meant to be about opportunities. She gave the title its biggest opportunity when she won it. It’s now the most prestigious title in wrestling since she won it. She should have been celebrating with her husband & kid, but the bird lady Lyra Valkyria ruined everything. Lyra was so outraged that she raised Becky’s hand so aggressively that Becky thought she separated her shoulder. Becky tried to put everything behind them and asked Lyra to place the title around her waist. Lyra tried to kill her! She invites Lyra out to apologize and raise her hand properly.

Lyra comes out while Becky keeps yelling about an apology. BAYLEY ATTACKS FROM BEHIND! Becky rolls out of the ring, but Lyra’s right there to roll her back in. Bayley goes for the Roseplant but Becky shakes it off and runs into the audience.

A hooded figure walks between Michael & Wade and jumps onto the announce desk. IT’S R-TRUTH! He tells us not to let people tell us that we don’t matter, that our voice doesn’t matter. They heard, they listened, they felt and they understood. He’s back because of y’all. He’s back for all of us, and for him too. They didn’t just bring R-Truth back, they got him. R-Truth can be too funny, too nice and too forgiving. Not him! He feels different, alive. If anybody thinks he’s a sideshow act or a gimmick…he gets out a pair of scissors and cuts off his dreadlocks. The fans chant about religious excrement. The Truth has set him free! He is Ron Killings, the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Put some respect on his name! Killings runs out through the audience.

Dominik Mysterio chats with Finn Balor & JD McDonagh about his berth in the King of the Ring. Finn’s not worried about it, Dom will win the KOTR while he & JD in win the tag team titles. Roxanne Perez joins them to celebrate her win, but Liv & Raquel walk up and kinda poop all over it. Finn tells her not to worry about it and suggests that Dom go check on them. Dom has a match next though. These things happen.

We get a Mr. Iguana video package. On one hand I’m kinda surprised he got over more than anything else on Worlds Collide, on the other hand I’m really not.

Seth Rollins tells his group that both world championships are under siege now by victory or heist.

King of the Ring Fatal 4-Way Qualifier: “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio vs. Sami Zayn vs. Bron Breakker (w/Paul Heyman) vs. Penta: Penta takes Dom out on the outside while Bron sends Sami into the corner with some shoulderblocks, then an overhead suplex. Penta gets slammed down on a crossbody attempt. Dom gets clotheslined out of his boots. The replay of that airs as we go to commercial.

Penta with some strikes on Bron before getting belly to bellied. Bron pounds Sami down in the corner. Bron gets triple teamed for a few seconds, then Dom gets a rollup on Penta for two. Penta with the handstand kick in the corner on Dom. Cover gets two. Sami & Penta have a go, Sami hits a tornado DDT for two. Sami with some punches to Bron. Bron just spears him out of the corner and pounds and grounds him. Bron looks to Paul for advice. Sami with a slap, then Bron tosses him onto the apron. Bron ends up on the floor, Sami hits the moonsault. Penta dives onto Sami! Dom with a tope suicida into a tornado DDT! Bron jumps and drives Dom into the announce desk! We go to commercial.

Sami & Bron are up top, Bron gets knocked off, but Dom joins Sami! Penta grabs Dom and powerbombs him. Bron jumps up top and hits the Frankenbreakker on Sami! Penta & Bron trade blows. Bron with a jumping knee, Penta with a superkick. Bron presses Penta, who turns it into a DDT! Dom tosses Penta out and covers Bron for two. Dom wants none of Blue Thunder and goes for the three Amigos. Sami blocks the third and finally hits the Blue Thunder for two. Sami runs into a kick from Penta, and Penta makes a Sacrifice. Penta Driver gets two, Dom tries to get the rollup a la Roxanne earlier but gets two. Penta with a Sling Blade & Mexican Destroyer to Dom. Cover gets two. Bron stomps Penta & Dom down. Bron pulls the straps down and goes outside to do the super spear on Penta! LA KNIGHT attacks from behind and hits Bron with the BFT on the floor! Sami suplexes Dom and hits the Helluva Kick! That’ll get three!

Winner: Sami Zayn (11:00 shown via pinfall)
Match Rating: ***1/2
We got to see a lot of Bron wrecking people, which is always a good thing in my book. They also had him not win this match because somebody hit their finisher on him on the floor, which is a good way to protect a person. Really good action here, everybody got to shine to some extent. I might be late to this party, but Dom’s really getting good at this in-ring stuff.

AJ Styles can’t enjoy tonight because he can’t stop thinking about last week. If you disrespect AJ, he’ll punch you in the mouth! Cathy Kelly sees a developing story in the distance. The New Day are chatting with Grayson Waller, who runs off after seeing the camera. They have too much respect for the titles they hold to defend them against just anybody. They blow off Cathy’s dumb questions and put themselves over for elevating the titles.

Nikki Bella is WALKING! She’ll address us next.

Asuka will be back next week! OK, I can dig that.

YOU CAN LOOK BUT YOU CAN’T TOUCH! Nikki Bella makes her way to the ring. Come on guys, you must admit that the theme is a bop. Nikki says it’s good to be back home, she thanks the WWE Universe & the Bella Army. She missed us! Next month, WWE Evolution will be taking place in Atlanta. She remembers main eventing the first one and is in awe of where the division has gone since then. She puts over many of the women, and says she couldn’t be prouder.

Liv Morgan has heard enough of this and notes she didn’t hear her name mentioned. She’s the most talented woman in the division and is breaking records as a tag team champion. Nikki is lucky Liv wasn’t around during her career, she would have beaten her then. Nikki is jealous of her because she has everything Nikki doesn’t. Respect, a championship, and a mannnnnn. Nikki gets it. Liv lost tonight and she’s angry. Speaking of her man, Nikki’s wondering who he belongs to. Maybe Roxanne Perez? Nikki tells Liv to congratulate Roxanne for winning the match and taking her man. Liv calls Nikki a reality show diva, which brings Nikki back into the ring, where Liv catches her with Oblivion! Liv storms off while Nikki tries to recover.

World Heavyweight Championship Match: Jey Uso (c) vs. Gunther: You know Jey’s still gotta yeet! Jey’s son follows him out to ringside. Fortunately he doesn’t go all the way to the ring with that big ol’ Gunther there. Cole & Wade don’t yeet just in case Gunther sees them, but they do dap Jey up. The fans chant about Gunther tapping out. Some chain wrestling to start, Jey goes for the choke but Gunther drives him into the corner. A yeet punch, Gunther avoids the superkick and goes outside while we go to commercial.

Jey pushes Gunther off the turnbuckle, hits a crossbody for two. Jey favors his ribs after the move. Gunther notices the injury and commences targeting it. Gunther removes the shirt, and there’s tape on the ribs. Gunther with some knees to the back, then a backbreaker. Jey tries to fight back but gets vertical suplexed. Gunther now tears at the rib tape, just some classic old school rassling here. Knee to the ribs by Gunther. Big kick to the side. Gunther misses in the corner, Jey goes for the choke again but Gunther finds the ropes. German suplex by Jey. Gunther blocks the spear, but Jey sends him outside. Jey goes for the dive. Gunther cuts it off. Jey sends Gunther into the ringpost, but Gunther German suplexes him on the floor. We go to commercial!

Gunther goes for another vertical suplex, Jey blocks, tries to reverse and finally does. They exchange strikes. The yeet punches win the exchange, Jey kicks Gunther down. Gunther ducks out of the ass smash and goes for the choke. Jey sent to the apron, Gunther tries the choke again and Jey dumps him to the floor. Tope suicida by Jey. Gunther sends Jey into the barricade, drops him back first on it. Back in the ring, Gunther goes up top and tries a splash, but Jey blocks. Spear by Jey, Jey goes up top, hits the Uso Splash for two! Jey sets up for another spear, but runs into a clothesline. Gunther with a powerbomb, but Jey reverses to a rana for two! Superkick from Jey, choke exchange ends up with Gunther hitting a powerbomb for two! Gunther hits a spear for a two count, trying to use one of Jey’s finishers to end the match. Gunther clotheslines Jey down. Gunther talks some stuff and lands some shots. Jey wants some more. They both go for sleepers again, kick by Jey, then a spear! An Uso Splash misses, and Gunther gets ready for the sleeper. He locks it in right in the middle of the ring. Jey’s close to the ropes though, Gunther rolls back to the middle of the ring but they’re up now. Gunther takes Jey back down in that hold. Gunther with some elbows, then Jey reverses into his own sleeper. Gunther’s fading! No, Gunther gets out, hits more elbows and goes back to the sleeper. Jey finally passes out, and HISTORY HAS BEEN MADE IN PHOENIX!

Winner: Gunther (16:30 shown via submission)
Match Rating: ***1/4
I liked this a lot, I’m a sucker for wrestlers working over body parts and injuries playing into the outcome of a match. Not sure how I feel about the title change…Gunther’s certainly deserving of the championship, but I would think that a face champion would be more appropriate right now given the status of Seth Rollins and his group as the top contenders. Things might change within the next few weeks to make this all line up though. I don’t think losing the title hurts Jey at all, if anything it probably helps him with some people.

Jey’s son is out to console him at ringside as pyro goes off for our new/old World Champion. The live event has ended.

If you’re wanting to chime in with your own thoughts on tonight’s show, feel free to join your fellow 411 Maniacs down in the comment section! As the tremendous Larry Csonka always said: Have fun and don’t be a dick. When I’m not here you can catch me on the social media from time to time.

8.0

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

I think this could be a pretty divisive show, as some people will really like the direction things went tonight and some people really won't. It was certainly an eventful show with a major title change, and the matches from top to bottom delivered what you'd expect they would. I'm sure there will be a lot of discussion over the title match booked for Saudi Arabia tonight. All in all I enjoyed tonight's event and am interested to see what they do with Gunther's second reign as champion. See you next week!