Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "WWE Raw," in which we simply have nothing whatsoever to say about John Cena's final "Raw" appearance! Sorry for those who were hoping the WINC staff would have an opinion on, you know, the thing this episode was supposedly built around, but the six-man tag was very house show and Cena vs. Dominik again at Survivor Series doesn't really move the needle for us one way or another. Be sure to check out our "Raw" results page if you missed any of it though, because it seemed potentially important!
No, the WINC crew has our eyes on other things this week, like Alexa Bliss promo segments, Nikki Bella vs. Stephanie Vaquer, the returns of GUNTHER and Dolph Ziggler, and the other new Intercontinental Champion! Not to mention Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns showing up to join their respective WarGames teams that also seems important, and we did have thoughts on it. And if you want to know what those thoughts were, keep reading, because these are three things we hated and three things we loved from the 11/17/25 episode of "WWE Raw!"
After the most recent episode of "WWE SmackDown," I criticized Alexa Bliss for what I called a "juvenile" promo against the WarGames team of Nia Jax, Lash Legend, Asuka, and Kairi Sane. I won't flatter myself: I don't think she read my piece. I do like to think, however, that we connected brainwaves all the same, because Bliss did a complete 180 on her promo game, and knocked it out of the park with her Monday night tirade on Charlotte Flair.
Bliss has been stuck playing nice on the mic, and while she's typically good enough to stay relevant and on top of her promo game either way, she's lost a little bit of bite. It's not entirely her fault; most of her S-tier promo work has been done during her "Goddess" heel era, where she verbally ran through everybody in the women's division, from Bayley to Mickie James. Such scathing tirades are a bit unbecoming of a Bliss who is currently playing nice. Luckily for us, Bliss had plenty of reason to not be such a graceful, levelheaded version of herself after Flair abandoned her, Rhea Ripley, and IYO SKY to the snapping jaws of the heel Women's WarGames team. She looked directly into the camera, cold and unyielding, tore into Flair, pointing out "The Queen's" superficial social media presence, her hypocritical reasoning for abandoning their WarGames team, and Flair's inconsistent reputation with the women in the back. Bliss did not hold back. Her speech quickened, her tone sharpened, and she glowered at the camera as she spat out truthful, scathing statement after truthful, scathing statement.
The best part of it all? Bliss didn't have to be petty in order to make her point heard. In her iconic "Goddess-"era promos, it wasn't uncommon for Bliss to make immature remarks about appearances, embarrassing career moments, or deeply personal low-blows. The promo she cut on Flair during Monday's "WWE Raw," however, was scathing, but not petty. It was deeply personal, but not catty. Bliss had all of the anger and rage to cut a great promo, but she had none of her historic spiteful edge that might have tarnished her babyface campaign. It might seem like a trivial thing, but any worker less talented on the mic would have toed into heel territory as passion and hurt took over. Bliss did nothing of the sort. She kept things classy, but intense.
I have my reservations about Flair's flip-flopping WarGames status, but if a Flair/Bliss feud post-WarGames is going to keep supplying us with these Bliss promos, I can get behind it. I was so sad to criticize Bliss in my last piece on her, but now? My GOAT is so back.
Written by Angeline Phu
Last week, Nikki Bella turned on her friend using said friend's title to clock her in the face. Then she blindsided her tonight and BAM!, she skips the line and gets a title shot at one of the biggest shows of the year.
Nevermind the fact that she hasn't won a match in singles competition since back in *checks notes* July. In fact, her last win came a week later. She teamed with Stephanie Vaquer, Rhea Ripley, and IYO SKY against The Green Regime and Naomi. Bella lost to Becky Lynch at Clash in Paris with the Intercontiental Championship on the line. She also lost her next two singles matches against Asuka and Roxanne Perez, respectively. She also lost her last match when she and Vaquer teamed up against Perez and Raquel Rodriguez.
One could argue that the women's division is thin when it comes to challengers for a midcard title. Since it's so thin, they could've padded her win-loss record and had her pick up a couple wins to get some momentum on her side. Some will argue that because she was popular in the mid-aughts, she's entitled to a title shot. Bella hasn't wrestled full time since 2018. There have been women since then that have been here, putting in work and they aren't in the title picture. Sure, Bella is someone new in the current title picture, but with four months since her last win, she's not a credible threat, especially to someone of Vaquer's caliber.
Written by Samantha Schipman
I really liked the thought behind the "Last Time is Now" tournament to determine John Cena's final opponent at Saturday Night's Main Event next month, and I thought it would be a really fun way to determine who will get the historic shot at "The Leader of the Cenation."However, and this is not shocking to me, because this is WWE we're talking about, the tournament has not been all it was originally cracked up to be.
When Cena initially narrated the announcement that aired at the last SNME, he made it seem like a big deal, and the line that the internet clung on to most was the whole "and maybe, even some people who don't work here will be competing" thing. While that did turn out to be true, we only got two of those surprises, and those two men are employed by TNA, which is basically WWE Lite at this point.
No shade to Matt Cardona/Zack Ryder or Nic Nemeth/Dolph Ziggler, as both men were important feuds in Cena's career, but there was just so much more that you could have done here. And no, I do not mean "more," as in somehow bringing in Edge, which was never going to happen, or Chris Jericho, who is still under AEW contract as well. Realistically, you could have brought in Vikingo (or heck, even Mr. Iguana) from AAA or even some fresher TNA talent who haven't worked in WWE, or least haven't worked on the main roster.
If reports are to be believed, WWE bought out the remainder of Joe Hendry's TNA contract. I guess no one said his name around the tournament, because he didn't appear, and as a big Hendry fan, I feel bad for the guy. He was really pushing for a Cena match on the retirement tour, and while I never really believed he'd get it, the least WWE could have done was make him a surprise entrant. So far, the only thing I've really liked about it all was the fact Je'Von Evans got a fantastic main roster match alongside GUNTHER. But, I really wish we would have seen some more "WWE NXT" talent in the actual tournament itself.
In addition to not having nearly the amount of surprises I expected, we also don't have a bracket for this tournament even after all the first-round matches. I'm well aware that WWE makes things up as they go, and it's clearly evident here. Seems like WWE had no idea who to put where until things actually shook out. I really do hope we have something concrete by "WWE SmackDown" on Friday, so I can see if there are any matchups to get excited about.
Written by DaisyRuth
Was Maxxine Dupri my first choice for the woman destined to dethrone Becky Lynch for the Women's Intercontinental Championship? No. When she finally did, did I lose my mind anyway? Yes.
Dupri shocked the world when she finally overcame the bully veteran Lynch in singles competition to walk out of Madison Square Gardon the new Women's Intercontinental Championship, but don't be mistaken. This is not a Loved written out of sheer emotion. For a woman whose wrestling ability has long been, at times, rightfully criticized by the wrestling community, Dupri put on an amazing show. There is no love lost on Lynch either, as the former titleholder beautifully incorporated all elements of this story into a performance that, even in loss, proved again why she is one of the greatest to ever step in a ring.
We've all seen how various WWE Superstars have improved their in-ring presence, from Jey Uso stepping up his singles game to become a main eventer to "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio's vast improvement post-heel turn. I don't think there is a female wrestler in recent memory who has upgraded as much, however, as Dupri has in the past few months. Dupri was always labeled as the girl with all the passion and none of the talent. She was waved off of a girl who loved the business, but lacked the moxy to make it. Monday's match, however, proved all of the doubters wrong. She's not perfect far from it, even but she showed that she has been putting in the work to deserve this Women's Intercontinental Championship reign. A few months ago, you would have never seen Dupri deliver a step-up Leg Drop. The improvement is tremendous. Dupri is putting in the effort.
Of course, Dupri's improvement is only half the story. I don't want to hear "Becky Hogan" ever again, because it would have been so easy for Lynch to refuse Dupri. It would have been so easy for Lynch to politick her way into retaining the title. Instead, she used her massive influence you can't argue that she's one of the biggest draws in this company to put Dupri over. I see shades of "The Man" here. Lynch knows what it's like to be an underdog. I'm not saying Lynch is a saint, but by putting Dupri, a woman a similar position to where she was at pre-SummerSlam 2018, over, she's damn close to it.
Referee Jessica Karr also got her time in the spotlight (thanks to Lynch's referee angle), and who can fail to mention AJ Lee's appearance? So many women, unsung and mainstream, got their time in the limelight tonight. How can you not feel great about this segment? Congratulations, Maxxine Dupri!
Written by Angeline Phu
Gunther returned to the ring for the first time since CM Punk dethroned him at SummerSlam to become World Heavyweight Champion this week, facing Je'Von Evans in the opening round of the Last Time is Now Tournament, with the goal of becoming the last opponent for John Cena. One man is billed as the "Ring General" and the other professes his bounciness every time he makes his entrance, so the match being announced was a promise of something special, and that wound up being exactly the case when the bell had rang.
Gunther grounded and beat away at his smaller high-flying opponent in the early going, ragdolling Evans around the ring and dropping him with clubbing strikes and kicks. Even when Evans got back into the fight, he was quickly brought back down the ground, whether Gunther was catching from a tope and ramming him into the apron, or delivering a stiff chop to the back of Evans' neck on an attempted cutter. But on the flip side, Evans was portrayed as the durable underdog, soaking that offense in and scrambling to remain in the match until his opponent wavered. When he did, Evans was quick to scale the ropes and compound the advantage, turning a fleeting stunner-counter into a rally that almost saw him get the win.
Gunther hit his signature powerbomb for what looked like the end of the match, only for Evans to find a kick out. Though the damage had been done and he was prone for a follow-up, which Gunther executed with hammer-and-anvil elbows and cinched in the rear choke. Evans had one last babyface rally with the crowd backing him, having been showered with "This is Awesome" chants from the MSG crowd just moments before, though it proved to be fruitless and he eventually submitted to Gunther. But this was an excellent match for Gunther to mark his return to the ring, and even more importantly it platformed the immense talent that Evans possesses at such a relatively young age.
The action was compelling from start-to-finish, an favorite to go on and win the tournament advances, and a future main eventer is given the spotlight for a night. What's not to love?
Written by Max Everett
I know that not everyone is going to share the same opinion with me here on this one, but I just cannot get into this year's Men's WarGames match at all. Tonight's closing segment did absolutely nothing to change my mind on that or get me even remotely interested in things.
First, doing ten straight minutes of essentially back to back to back entrances with the exception of a brief pause for Paul Heyman to introduce himself and his associates was not a great way to kick things off here. It's not exactly surprising considering that CM Punk and Jey Uso tend to have very long entrances, but that time never ends up being anything more than just dead air that isn't engaging to watch.
Second, the major brawl between The Usos, Punk, Cody Rhodes, Logan Paul, The Vision, and Drew McIntyre was fine but felt very uninspired. I was personally expecting a verbal confrontation between both parties involved to precede the brawl which would've added a little flavor to this segment given that it was advertised as a face-to-face segment, but at least it made sense in the context of a WarGames match to have them not want to talk and just fight.
Third, both Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns' respective involvements in the WarGames felt incredibly predictable. It wasn't exactly hard for regular viewers of WWE programming to guess that they would be the final participants in this year's Men's WarGames match, but they haven't really been part of the ongoing storyline heading into the match making their appearances tonight feel extra mid.
Fourth, security running down to the ring out of nowhere when Lesnar and Reigns had just begun brawling with one another felt random. They needed a little more time for the two men to just brawl with one another in order to make things work, and adding the police officers really made the entire thing feel more goofy than anything else. I get that WWE was going for big here, but it did not feel like it was the move to make here and might've made a little more sense if they had waited a week's time to involve security and police officers in order to let the returns of Lesnar and Reigns sink in with the fanbase a little more. Overall, this entire segment was messy, bland, and didn't carry the same sort of intrigue that the brief segment between Rhea Ripley and AJ Lee had to build up the Women's WarGames match.
Written byOlivia Quinlan
