WWE Monday Night Raw Review: 23/02

Linus O'Howell
58 minutes ago
6 min read

Gunther Starts the Show, Jey Uso VS Bronson Reed VS The Original El Grande Americano: Men’s Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match

This week’s special edition of Monday Night Raw was supposed to start with Michael Cole and Corey Graves, but they were swiftly interrupted by Gunther, as The Ring General was absolutely furious over the fact that “a loser” like AJ Styles was receiving a tribute show! Adam Pearce wasn’t having any of this, quickly bringing out security to escort Gunther out of the arena, but this didn’t go particularly well as Dragon Lee decided to attack the big Austrian to start a brawl! Eventually, security guards were able to pull Lee away before Gunther came face-to-face with Cody Rhodes! Cody then headed down to the ring to cut a promo of his own, but he could barely say anything before he was interrupted by The Vision! Austin Theory stated that he was ashamed to be from Atlanta, whilst Logan Paul made it clear that when The Vision takes over SmackDown, Rhodes will be the first man out the door! A lot went on at the start of this show, but I do appreciate Gunther’s fury!

Grade: C+

The first match of the night followed Cody Rhodes’ segment as Jey Uso, Bronson Reed, and the Original El Grande Americano faced off in the final Men’s Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match! For some reason, this week’s Raw on Netflix (in the UK) didn’t skip through the ad breaks, meaning I got to see every moment of this match! The match itself was decent enough, with El Grande Americano delivering an insane chaos-theory Suplex to Bronson Reed, but there was also a lot of bad luck here! See, at some point during this match, Bronson managed to tear his bicep, meaning he was taken out of the equation completely! This resulted in the match having to be changed on the fly, and fair play to both Uso and Americano because I think they did very well here! In the end, it was “Main Event” Jey Uso who managed to score the win with his Spear/Uso Splash combination, and it’s interesting to think about the fact that it was Reed who was supposed to win here!

Grade: B

Liv Morgan Makes Her Decision, Maxxine Dupri VS Nattie, Brock Lesnar Returns to Raw

Liv Morgan and Dominik Mysterio were in the ring next as Dominik welcomed out both Stephanie Vaquer and Jade Cargill ahead of Liv’s massive WrestleMania decision! Liv told Stephanie that she didn’t truly understand the privileged position that she was in until her words last week, with Morgan putting over Vaquer’s journey to get to where she is! However, when Morgan then looked like she was setting her sights on Jade, this year’s Royal Rumble Winner smashed Stephanie Vaquer in the face with a microphone, making her WrestleMania intentions clear! We sort of already knew that this was the direction that WWE was going in, but I’m glad because Morgan-Vaquer is working for me!

Grade: B-

Je’Von Evans was hanging out with “Offset” backstage, before a heated New Day interrupted, resulting in Je’Von challenging Kofi Kingston to a match! After we heard from the likes of Xavier Woods, Charlotte Flair, and Roman Reigns in regards to AJ Styles, Maxxine Dupri was looking to get some revenge on her former friend, Nattie! This was never going to be a particularly good in-ring bout, but the booking of this was even worse than I anticipated! See, after about 90 seconds, Nattie just smashed Dupri’s face into the ring post, resulting in Maxxine being knocked out, as the referee held Nattie back and just called for the bell! Amazingly, the win was still given to Nattie on referee stoppage, but deary me, this was bad on all levels!

Grade: E

JD McDonagh successfully apologised to Finn Balor in The Judgment Day Clubhouse, but when Dominik Mysterio stated that he does want backup next week, Finn told Dom to “grow up” and stop blaming others for not being able to get the job done! Very firm! After Trick Williams cut a promo in the ad break, Rusev wanted to speak with Adam Pearce before Oba Femi got in his face, resulting in Pearce telling them both to do this another time! Brock Lesnar then made his return to Raw next, with Paul Heyman speaking on The Beast’s behalf! Paul showed off Brock’s rather impressive upcoming schedule (he’s set to appear on Raw for 5-straight weeks heading up to WrestleMania), before Heyman said that Lesnar’s hosting an “Open Challenge” to anyone who wants to get destroyed at The Showcase of the Immortals! Whilst this was a pretty simple segment, it works as it allows someone like Oba Femi to accept Brock’s challenge!

Grade: B-

Je’Von Evans VS Kofi Kingston, CM Punk Speaks, Iyo Sky VS Kairi Sane VS Raquel Rodriguez: Women’s Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match

After Becky Lynch called AJ Lee “the second-best AJ to retire this year”, Je’Von Evans made his way down to the ring as The Young O.G. was set to go one-on-one with Kofi Kingston! Once again, Je’Von showed out, showcasing why he is one of the most exciting talents in all of Professional Wrestling! Kofi Kingston is very much a veteran, and whilst The New Day don’t do too much anymore, they’re still good at what they do, with Xavier Woods mouthing off at Offset whilst Grayson Waller kept being a nuisance! Eventually, though, after Offset dealt with Waller, Evans was able to take advantage, nailing Kingston with an O.G. Cutter to get the win! Decent action all-round!

Grade: C+

After more tributes were sent the way of AJ Styles, Finn Balor explained why he needs to win the World Heavyweight Championship this Saturday, before CM Punk came down to the ring to cut a promo of his own! Punk said that he didn’t want to speak for too long as he wanted to allow AJ Styles as much time as possible, but what The Best in the World did want to talk about was how he needs to be a fighting Champion! Punk also talked about how he only takes in facts, not maybes, and the fact is that he will Main Event WrestleMania this year! Again, this was another pretty simple segment, but it did its job!

Grade: C+

It was then time for the Main Event match of the night as Iyo Sky, Kairi Sane, and Raquel Rodriguez looked to fill the final spot in this weekend’s Women’s Elimination Chamber Match! I thought this was a pretty decent match, with all three women giving it their all! Everyone involved is talented, in some ways, everyone here is underrated (particularly Kairi and Raquel), and they managed to deliver an entertaining bout! I liked the moments where Iyo and Kairi worked together; I can imagine Asuka did not, but it was the smart strategy given Rodriguez’s size and strength advantage! It did look like Sky had the match won at one point when she nailed Sane with an Over the Moonsault, but Rodriguez was able to break that pinfall up, before eventually, Big Mami Cool floored Kairi Sane with a Tejada Bomb to get the win! I’m glad Raquel won here!

Grade: B-

A Tribute to AJ Styles

After Jade Cargill ran her mouth, this week’s Monday Night Raw ended with AJ Styles returning home to Atlanta, Georgia! AJ thanked everyone for always supporting him, from both in TNA, Japan, and WWE, and how he has the best wife and family in the world! AJ said that he’s content with his career being over, whilst also explaining as to why he kept his gloves on at the Royal Rumble! See, Styles wanted to bring them home, leaving both his gloves and his jacket in the ring as both WWE and TNA stars appeared on the stage to give The Phenomenal One a well-deserved round of applause! However, the show wasn’t done yet as The Undertaker’s music then hit, with The Deadman coming down to tease a potential WrestleMania rematch between the two! Thankfully, that won’t be happening as instead, AJ Styles was officially announced as an inductee into the 2026 WWE Hall of Fame! This was superbly done; a genuinely lovely surprise, and fair play to WWE because they nailed this! Thank You AJ!