WWE Monday Night Raw Review: 29/12

Linus O'Howell
Dec 30, 2025
4 min read

The Vision Start the Show, Stephanie Vaquer VS Nikki Bella VS Raquel Rodriguez: Women’s World Championship

The final Monday Night Raw of 2025 kicked off with The Vision, as Paul Heyman officially confirmed Austin Theory as the newest member of the group! Paul then wanted to put over Bron Breakker ahead of his World Heavyweight Championship opportunity next week, but this is when CM Punk interrupted to talk about how he’s potentially tougher than he is smart (why he said this, I do not know)! Eventually, this led to Breakker and Punk being left in the ring alone, with Bron firing lines at Punk to make it clear that he is ready to be a World Champion, to be the face of a brand! The Best in the World then responded by giving Bron Breakker his props, but he made it clear that,t as ready as Breakker may be, his biggest problem is that he simply isn’t CM Punk! I thought this was quite a good segment; Bron’s promo in particular was very strong, and it will be interesting to see what WWE decides to do next week!

Grade: B

After Raquel Rodriguez made it clear to both Liv Morgan and Roxanne Perez that she doesn’t need luck or help to win, we went straight into the first match of the night as Rodriguez and Nikki Bella challenged Stephanie Vaquer for the Women’s World Championship (in a Triple Threat Match)! This match was alright, it had some decent moments; I liked the action between Stephanie and Raquel in particular, but Nikki Bella is still failing to add anything good to the product! Rodriguez tried her best to showcase her power, picking both women up at one point, but in the end, after Raquel dropped Bella, Vaquer took advantage, stealing the pin on Nikki to get the win! I’m glad La Primera retained!

Grade: C+

Gunther VS R-Truth, Austin Theory VS Rey Mysterio, Becky Lynch Interrupts Maxxine Dupri

After Rey Mysterio told CM Punk that his got favours of his own to cash in, R-Truth headed down to the ring to face Gunther after an altercation in the Parking Lot (earlier in the show)! This match was very much done to give Gunther another win to close out the year, and I guess it was fine for that purpose! The Ring General destroyed Truth, refusing to win at one point despite delivering a Powerbomb, before Truth was eventually forced to tap out in Gunther’s chokehold! Like I said, there’s really not much to note about this!

Grade: C

After Jimmy Uso told Jey Uso that he needs to get his head right, Oba Femi had another video package teasing his imminent Main Roster debut, before Je’Von Evans was hyped to see AJ Styles and Dragon Lee! The same could not be said for Los Americanos, before Austin Theory made everyone in The Vision aware that he does indeed have their backs! This then led into the next match as Theory went one-on-one with Rey Mysterio! This felt like a great opportunity to give Austin Theory another win; he kind of needs it, and it’s not exactly a loss that would hurt a Hall of Famer like Rey Mysterio! However, WWE had no interest in doing that, as Logan Paul just took out Rey at one point to cause a Disqualification! Now, this did lead to the return of Penta, with Penta making the save, but that could’ve happened after the match! Like, seriously, this finish was incredibly weak!

Grade: C-

After Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky stated that they will become the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions next week, Maxxine Dupri headed down to the ring to stamp her authority as the Women’s Intercontinental Champion! Maxxine said that whilst Becky Lynch continues to pretend like she hasn’t already beaten her multiple times, Dupri is happy to do it again next week! This brought out Becky Lynch, who stated that Maxxine has always been weak and that Dupri will remember who she truly is next week! I’m not sure either of these promos were particularly good, but I will say that I do think it’s unclear as to who leaves the first Raw of 2026 as the Women’s IC Champion!

Grade: C

World Tag Team Championships: AJ Styles and Dragon Lee VS The Usos

After Adam Pearce got interesting visits from both Trick Williams and Bayley, it was Main Event time as Monday Night Raw in 2025 ended with The Usos challenging AJ Styles and Dragon Lee for the World Tag Team Championships! This was a pretty strong match; both teams looked pretty good, and it was enjoyable to watch! Whilst the pairing of Styles and Lee is a bit of an odd one, they look great together, meaning the decision to team them up has been a good one! The Usos also looked great here; both Jimmy and Jey always look ten times better wrestling together than they do when they compete alone! There were also some great near-falls, with AJ kicking out of a Uso Splash, whilst Jey Uso managed to somehow kick out of a Styles Clash! And then, one 1D later was enough for The Uso to defeat AJ Styles and Dragon to capture the World Tag Team Titles, becoming 9-time Champions in the process! I didn’t expect this result, so fair play to WWE, and congrats to Jimmy and Jey Uso!