3 Things We Hated And three Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.s weekly review of “WWE Raw,” the show where nothing — and we mean nothing — is more essential than the ladies’s tag titles! Monday’s episode began and ended with women’s tag team drama, because the team that is even calling themselves RHIYO now took on Charlexa Blair, who have not yet caught on, within the important event. In fact, like all “Raw” important events, it led to disqualification, but that did not stop the Wrestling Inc. staff from having opinions about it, in addition to almost every little thing else that happened!

We actually did not have anything to say this week about Bron Breakker facing CM Punk for the world title on January 5, or the promos he and Paul Heyman cut, but we’re hitting just about every little thing else. As at all times, try our “Raw” results page for those who missed the show and wish to know the bare bones details, but when you ought to know what the WINC crew thought concerning the men’s world tag title match, the Last Time Is Now tournament, and most significantly, the Maxxine Dupri/Nattie vignette, that is the column for you. Listed below are three things we hated and three things we loved concerning the 12/1/25 episode of “WWE Raw!”

LA Knight got the win over Jey Uso in Monday’s Last Time is Now tournament semi-finals, cementing his place in the ultimate against Gunther for the chance to face John Cena in his final wrestling match. One already thinks Gunther is the suitable man to win the tournament, as said, so that is admittedly an argument over who one thinks ought to be second place when the tournament is wrapped up. But a rematch between Uso and Gunther with the stakes at hand really did make all of the sense on the earth, especially considering the arc he’s evidently embarking upon after losing to Knight. Knight versus Gunther will certainly be effective, nevertheless it’s hardly going to rock the socks off the place, and while many would make that very same argument for Uso, that is just not an opinion shared here. 

Uso and Gunther a minimum of has a story and a thread to follow, the previous having already fallen to defeat thrice to the latter, avenged it at WrestleMania, only to lose once more to drop the title he captured that night. There is no doubt that Uso is within the relapse stage of his arc, characterised together with his post-match tantrum after losing and the backstage promo he cut afterward – saying that perhaps Roman Reigns was right when he said the titles look higher on him. But one can not help to think that this may all mean so far more if the loss was just just a little more significant, against a rival that has been proven to be a proverbial Everest to climb, and with the chance of constructing history on the road. Much of that is all the way down to personal preference, this being an opinion piece and all, nevertheless it really looks like WWE missed a possibility to amplify the stories they’re already intending on telling. 

Knight doesn’t feel like the suitable opponent for Cena in his very last match, and Gunther suits the bill higher than anyone else. So did Knight should be the one to face Gunther in the ultimate? Probably not. With Knight it looks like he ought to be difficult for the Intercontinental title after lingering and, frankly, stagnating within the important event gatekeeper role. Once more, much the identical could be said about Uso at this juncture. But he’s actively telling a story that leans on his shortcomings in the massive moments, and a transient roll-up loss to Knight just didn’t sit as the suitable final result from this frame of view.

Written by Max Everett

Liv Morgan made a surprise return on Saturday during Survivor Series to assist “Dirty” Dom Mysterio regain the IC title from John Cena. Prior to her interference, the opposite members of Judgment Day got involved. Before low blowing Cena, Morgan slapped Mysterio within the face and it gave the look of it is perhaps due to her stable adding a lady in her place.

Not long after Morgan was out as a result of injury, Roxanne Perez began hanging around their clubhouse. Since Morgan was one half of the tag time champions on the time of her injury, Raquel Rodriguez needed a partner. Adam Pearce allowed her to compete with Perez they usually held the tag titles for 33 days. On multiple occasion, she brought chicken tenders (his favorite) to Mysterio. All of them appeared to enjoy her company, but Mysterio was hesitant to have her around. Eventually, he caved and she or he became a member.

Morgan has barely acknowledged Perez’s presence within the group. When Morgan got here out during Mysterio’s segment, he was already joined by the remainder of his stable. Once Morgan got to the ring, she skipped right over Perez. When her promo began, it gave the look of she was finally going to handle “The Prodigy” being added in her absence. She began by saying she heard some things concerning the Judgment Day. As a substitute of addressing any rumors about Perez and Mysterio, she talked about rumors that they were falling apart and did not have any gold. In a backstage segment, she confronted Women’s Champion, Stephanie Vaquer.

This week would’ve been the proper time to have her confront Perez. As a substitute, Morgan has her sights on the ladies’s title. She got here with Perez and Rodriguez to cause chaos after the important event. The show ended with Perez and Rodriguez holding the tag titles with Morgan joining them. It looks like all three members will probably be trying for gold as a substitute of establishing for a showdown between Morgan and Perez. If they’ll do it, they need to start planting seeds of dissension now as we head into ‘Mania season. 

Written by Samantha Schipman

Have you ever ever heard of a lose-lose situation?

On Monday’s episode of “WWE Raw,” AJ Styles and Dragon Lee put up their WWE World Tag Team Championships against The Recent Day’s Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods, and it could only be described as a lose-lose situation. Do not get me incorrect; the match was good. It wasn’t any man’s best, but Styles and Lee are phenomenal performers, and it’s nice to see Kingston and Woods back within the ring (especially the previous, from an “SOS” Kingston kid). I do not detest this match in practice. I detest it in theory.

Who could have gone over in Monday’s match? Let’s go together with the fact: the champions retain. Is smart, right? Styles is about to approach a retirement tour of his own, and with a limited amount of Styles dates left, it is smart that WWE desires to book him strongly. What exactly did Styles and Lee gain, nonetheless, by going over The Recent Day? It could possibly be argued that it legitimizes them as a tag team — that it proved that they’re among the finest to do it, because they beat one in all the actual best tag teams to ever do it. Nonetheless, as a way to gain that notoriety, you have to have stakes. There must be build-up. Sure, Dragon Lee and AJ Styles have a win over The Recent Day, but unless WWE makes it an enormous deal — with a feud, prolonged time on air, stakes — then it’s just not an enormous deal. Styles and Lee just won a match, and The Recent Day is banished to catering in spite of everything the work they’ve done with unattainable tools, with backstage segments and interviews.

Let’s go in the other way now. For example Kingston and Woods dethroned Styles and Lee. The cycle is thus: we get excited for the brand new champions, then they’re banished to the locker room until Triple H remembers that titles should be defended. It happened to The Judgement Day before Styles and Lee got here to dethrone them. We’re seeing it occur with Styles and Lee themselves, with Monday’s match being their second title defense in 43 days. WWE is giving their tag team champions absolutely nothingburger reigns, and if The Recent Day went over tonight, it might have made that sentiment much more true. You literally cannot win with this match. If Styles and Lee go over, The Recent Day gets swept under the rug, and their work is wasted. If The Recent Day go over, we’re doomed to a different insignificant, tumbleweed-rolling-by reign. Nothing changes.

The tag team issue goes deeper than the titleholders. WWE must rehaul and revive its tag team division, stat.

Written by Angeline Phu

I actually enjoy Maxxine Dupri, each as a wrestler and as a personality, and this whole Nattie/Low-Key Legend thing Natalya has been doing these days is essentially the most interesting she’s been in years. Mix that with the proven fact that I also like it when wrestling gets cinematic, and the Dupri/Nattie video package on this episode was very much for me. It’s gone time the Nattie character got a shot on actual WWE programming, and while a pre-taped vignette is not exactly a debut, it’s still an indication that the character is perhaps heading to important roster TV sooner fairly than later. “Raw’s” women’s division is totally stacked (especially if Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss are going to point out up and wrestle from time to time), but Nattie would still be a welcome addition to the roster, either on her own or as a tag team with Dupri, adding to a women’s tag division that’s currently bursting on the seams with each talent and stardom.

Beyond the Nattie of all of it, though, I just really liked this video, which is able to surprise no person who knows how much I enjoy watching characters struggle, suffer, get knocked down, and get back up. I’m the Sami Zayn guy ’round these parts, in spite of everything; I like me an underdog, and I like characters who refuse to remain down. It’s especially interesting within the context of Dupri, who just beat Becky Lynch to win the ladies’s Intercontinental Championship. You’d think she could be feeling herself, riding on air, high on her own supply. As a substitute she’s back in Nattie’s dungeon, still training, still attempting to improve. I believe the vignette was filmed before her title win given we do not see the belt in any respect, however the timing of its release makes for a deeper and richer story for Dupri, who apparently isn’t satisfied with scoring the most important win of her profession and just wants to maintain recuperating. She’s a lady after my very own heart, and Ivy Nile should probably make funeral arrangements.

Written by Miles Schneiderman

Gunther ought to be the one to face John Cena in his final match at Saturday Night’s Essential Event. He’s by far the most important first-time match to be made on the roster, and the support for that claim was evident in the course of the semi-final bout against Solo Sikoa on Monday. Many would and have said that Sikoa isn’t the very best employee, and while that could be true in the broader scheme of things, he’s a resoundingly good employee when paired with someone who can throw hands in addition to him. 

Gunther’s head and shoulders above the remainder in terms of turning a wrestling contest right into a compelling fight, one way or the other managing to make the scripted combat look and sound as near real without becoming a felony. So paired together theirs was at all times going to be, as one other of Gunther’s rivals put it, “A banger.” 

Naturally, Sikoa didn’t come alone and he was flanked by his sentinel in Talla Tonga at ringside, and far of the match between the blows was spent constructing to the moment he eventually made his presence felt. Until then, Gunther and Sikoa threw lots of their best shots at each other to no avail, with a selected emphasis on Sikoa having the ability to fight on the “Ring General’s” level. He couldn’t, when all was said and done, and when the water grew too deep he relied on his safety raft. 

Only he and Tonga got caught red-handed as they moved to two-on-one Gunther, providing just a little bit a cathartic twist because the referee reprimanded Tonga, thus allowing Gunther to hit a low blow on Sikoa and at last get the win. The appropriate man won by the ultimate bell, and the best way wherein it was done worked to maintain Sikoa strong even in defeat. Gunther couldn’t put him down without delivering the low blow, while then again Gunther himself had to beat the two-on-one advantage, leaving asterisks over the lead to each direction. Gunther can now go on and hopefully win the tournament, and Sikoa can proceed his feud with the Wyatt Sicks on “WWE SmackDown.” All’s well that ends well.

Written by Max Everett

Did WWE must have the important event tag team match pitting Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss against Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY end in a disqualification? Beyond the proven fact that it’s mainly tradition at this point, absolutely not — especially considering how engaging the match was, how fast-paced the motion was throughout, and all of the little details that were scattered throughout it akin to Ripley and Flair staring each other down after they had each finally tagged in similtaneously each other. With that being said, if WWE was going to have this match end in a disqualification regardless as technique of not giving either team a loss, then this was about one of the best ways that they probably could’ve gone about doing it.

It felt pretty inevitable that Asuka and Kairi Sane were going to point out up in some unspecified time in the future during this match on condition that they’re the present Women’s Tag Team Champions, but adding the Judgment Day girls and Bayley and Lyra Valkyria into the combination made it feel just like the Women’s Tag Team Championship were THE titles in the ladies’s division straight away that everybody desires to fight over. It was an occasion where a disqualification ending definitely wasn’t the worst option for WWE to decide on, because it worked to really further a storyline, and it actually worked on this particular context as compared to those we typically see within the closing moments of “Raw.”

Written by Olivia Quinlan