WWE Monday Night Raw Review: 15/12

Linus O'Howell
2 days ago
4 min read

Gunther Starts the Show, The Usos VS The New Day

After a long recap package going over the end of John Cena’s WWE Career, this week’s edition of Monday Night Raw properly started with Gunther coming out to a chorus of boos! Gunther completely played with the crowd, riling them up even more as he relished in the fact that he is the man who made John Cena give up! After multiple teases, Gunther eventually headed to the back, where he was met by Alpha Academy, Adam Pearce, and AJ Styles! The Ring General’s trolling of Styles when he drove off was absolutely incredible; what an insane reaction all of this was! Gunther’s always been a star, but this was next level!

Grade: A-

We then headed straight into the opening match of the night as The Usos and The New Day renewed their iconic rivalry! I thought this was a pretty good match; the chemistry between these two teams is off the charts, and whilst it wasn’t their best ever encounter, I still enjoyed it! The Usos being back together is still a weird choice; I personally feel like it’s a step backwards for both men, but that’s just the way it is! Eventually, despite multiple interference spots from Grayson Waller, eventually, The Usos were able to score the win via a 1D! I’m guessing Jimmy and Jey will challenge AJ Styles and Dragon Lee sooner rather than later!

Grade: B

Women’s Intercontinental Championship: Maxxine Dupri VS Ivy Nile, CM Punk Returns to Raw, Stephanie Vaquer VS Raquel Rodriguez: Women’s World Championship

The Kabuki Warriors sent a warning to RHIYO before Paul Heyman advised Bron Breakker not to go after CM Punk until his World Heavyweight Championship opportunity on the first Raw of 2026! Logan Paul then asked Bron to help him warm up ahead of his match with Rey Mysterio, before Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky headed down to the ring, only to get wrecked by Asuka and Kairi Sane! I liked that Iyo protected Rhea by taking the brunt of Kairi’s Insane Elbow! We were then set for the first of two Championship matches as Maxxine Dupri was aiming for her first-ever successful Title defense when she put her Women’s Intercontinental Championship on the line against Ivy Nile! Maxxine has definitely improved, and she fits the underdog fighting Babyface role perfectly! Ivy Nile is also someone I’ve rated since her days back in NXT 2.0; she’s a real titan who should be featured more frequently! However, unfortunately, the crowd doesn’t really care about either woman (particularly Ivy), so that meant that the crowd wasn’t the most reactive to the decent in-ring action! I personally liked the finish, where an intense Dupri made Nile tap out (which makes sense given the video packages we’ve been seeing over the past couple of weeks), but let’s be honest, this wasn’t the hardest challenge that Maxxine Dupri is going to face!

Grade: C+

Adam Pearce was very excited to have Je’Von Evans backstage at Raw, but the same could not be said regarding The Americanos! CM Punk then made his first Raw appearance in weeks to make one thing crystal clear: Bron Breakker cannot handle 2025’s CM Punk, let alone 2011’s version of The Best in the World! Punk consistently talked about how Bron has needed help to get to where he is, and that includes his stupid family! Punk ended the segment by claiming that everyone will leave Breakker in the end, and that his family is too stupid to help him moving forward! Wow, CM Punk was angry!

Grade: B-

Liv Morgan was getting pretty personal with her boyfriend Dominik Mysterio (who sadly confirmed that JD McDonagh is going to be out with an injury for a while), before Raquel Rodriguez told Liv and Roxanne Perez that she can handle Stephanie Vaquer on her own! This was pretty good timing as next up came Raquel going one-on-one with La Primera for the Women’s World Championship! Stephanie Vaquer has had an incredible debut year in the WWE, whilst Raquel Rodriguez has really come out of her “Main Roster shell” in 2025! The fact that this match was taking place on this show sort of gave the result away a little bit, but hey ho! Eventually, Nikki Bella arrived to take both women out, causing the DQ finish as Bella stood tall after dropping Vaquer inside the ring! A triple threat match isn’t a terrible idea moving forward, but I still expect Stephanie to retain!

Grade: C+

Paul Heyman told Adam Pearce that whilst it’s convenient that the hooded man keeps helping The Vision, that doesn’t mean that he knows anything about who he actually is! Rhea Ripley then demanded that Pearce gives her a match with Asuka (which he booked for next week), before CM Punk told Rey Mysterio that he’d have his back if need be! AJ Styles and Dragon Lee then talked about The Usos’ challenge, before Nikki Bella disrespected both Stephanie Vaquer and Raquel Rodriguez! Maxxine Dupri then got some nice support from Bayley, before The Role Model got pretty fired up after Lyra Valkyria said some things she didn’t like!

Logan Paul VS Rey Mysterio

And in the Main Event of this week’s edition of Monday Night Raw, Logan Paul looked to get some revenge for a slap he received a couple of weeks ago as he took on his former rival, Rey Mysterio! This match was alright; there wasn’t much to it, and it was very much about the closing phases! Both Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed appeared in the entranceway, but CM Punk dealt with them quickly, only for the hooded man to wreck Rey with a Stomp! This opened the door for Paul to deliver a wonderful Frog Splash to Mysterio to get the win, before the hooded figure revealed himself to be none other than Austin Theory. Bron Breakker then wrecked CM Punk with a Spear to end the show, and yeah, I’m glad to see Theory back!