We’re just days away from Night of Champions, which means there’s some work to do tonight on WWE Raw. Specifically, we need to determine who will advance to the finals of the King of the Ring tournament to face Randy Orton, meaning buddies Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso have to face each other.
Asuka is waiting for her Queen of the Ring opponent as well, which will be either Jade Cargill or Roxanne Perez. There’s a big women’s match tonight as well, with Becky Lynch and Bayley renewing their long-running rivalry, this time over the Women’s Intercontinental Championship. Away we go, then, to Columbus to see what awaits on this edition of Raw. Should we burn it down right off the bat? Yes, let’s.
Everything you love exists thanks to Seth Rollins
Michael Cole informs us that LA Knight is out indefinitely due to a rib injury on SmackDown, a result of an attack by the men standing in the ring to kick off the show: Seth Rollins, Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed. There have been rumors about WWE looking to expand this stable, but maybe it should first concern itself with how many fans keep cheering this group.
Perhaps acknowledging the “mixed signals” the fans have been giving, Rollins asks them what they want, pointing out that they cheer him and Breakker but also chant for CM Punk and Roman Reigns. “It’s painfully obvious to me that you have no damn idea what you want, so I don’t care what you want,” Rollins says, adding that a Visionary like him needs to explain what’s good for them.
“Roman Reigns exists because of me,” Rollins states before claiming that Punk returned to WWE because the company wanted to cash in on how much Seth hates him. Rollins and Paul Heyman know a bit about revolutions and how to deal with the opposition when it forces his hand … which is exactly what happened to Knight, who got “Tsunami after Tsunami after Tsunami for his troubles.”
He’s looking forward to Breakker doing something similar to another thorn in their side, Penta, a matchup that conveniently is coming up next.
Penta vs. Bron Breakker
Cole praises Penta’s great start to his WWE career, and he’s not wrong. It’s almost like AEW didn’t quite know what it had with him, or at least never gave him the opportunity to stretch beyond tag team wrestling except in very limited stretches. He doesn’t figure to be getting a dub here, but there’s always a chance more of Rollins’ enemies could interfere.
Breakker yells that Penta has been trying to keep up with him since his very first day in WWE. Penta gives us a chance to hear Cole call out a tope con hilo, always a good time. During a commercial break, Breakker launches into a flying clothesline from the apron to the announce table, and the announce team suggests maybe Penta banged up his knee on his prior dive.
Bron’s Breakkensteiner is always worth the price of admission as well. Penta has been trying all match to connect on the Mexican Destroyer, but even when he finally does, it’s not enough. You know what is, though? Bron’s spear that catches Penta in mid-springboard. Lights out.
Winner: Bron Breakker by pinfall
Adam Pearce lets AJ Styles know that Dominik Mysterio is injured, so their match at Night of Champions is off. He reassures Styles that he will be first in line when Mysterio is back, but has worse news for The New Day, letting them know they will have to defend their titles against Finn Balor and JD McDonagh next week.
Goldberg to Michael Cole: ‘I am going to beat the f–k out of Gunther at Saturday Night’s Main Event’
Goldberg isn’t going to let Gunther’s diss to his family go unpunished. That’s something he makes very clear to Cole, saying the Ring General embarrassed him in front of his wife, his son and his fans in his adopted home of Atlanta. So he’s had it in his mind to pay back Gunther ever since, regardless of when or where it might take place.
While Cole claims Goldberg said this would be his final pro wrestling match, he also asked what happens if he wins the title from Gunther. Goldberg’s answer was apparently that it would be an “interesting dilemma.”
Balor does his pep talk thing in The Judgment Day clubhouse, and he certainly seems to understand that different people need different forms of motivation. But poor Dom seems down without Liv Morgan around.
Lyra Valkyria and Bayley still don’t quite seem to be on the same page, though Bayley reassures Lyra that they are cool.
Jade Cargill vs. Roxanne Perez – Queen of the Ring Semifinal Match
There doesn’t seem to be much hope for Perez unless there are hijinks on the way here, and even she seems to know it as she is slow to engage with Jade. She is able to put up a credible enough fight to look good, even though you can feel in her bones where this is headed. Props to Corey Graves for adding to this idea even more by pointing out that Cargill can sometimes get a little overconfident.
It’s also worth remembering she’s still a little green, which a pump kick that mostly misses Perez drives home. But Cargill always looks good hitting her finisher, and indeed, Jaded allows her to advance to the Queen of the Ring final.
Winner: Jade Cargill by pinfall
As Cargill stares at the Queen of the Ring crowd, Asuka joins her on the other side of the case for a little staredown and exchange of pleasantries.
A video package promotes the Rhodes-Uso match and takes us back through their history together. In the back, Gunther is shown walking through the hallway before he joins us live tonight.
Sheamus has another talk with Alpha Academy and Natalya before he’s confronted by Rusev. “Some god, I remember you being the most embarrassing and egotistical member of the League of Nations,” Sheamus quips, as we’re clearly being pointed toward the two of them colliding in the ring again soon.
Gunther responds to Goldberg, reminds him he is 58 years old
No one is driven by perceived slights quite like Gunther, and he is upset because Goldberg interrupted what was supposed to be his celebration last week. While he admits Goldberg was the man in his time, it’s not 1999 any more and Gunther is the best pro wrestler in the company in 2025.
(Side note: Doesn’t it always feel like Gunther is slightly separated from everything else going on in WWE even when he is the champ? This program with Goldberg isn’t helping that.)
To keep it short and sweet, Gunther ends by saying he will do whatever it takes to ensure that Goldberg’s legacy dies.
Jackie Redmond catches up with Becky Lynch, who says they have seen Bayley and Lyra conspiring together. Since The Man stomps off, Redmond instead turns to Sami Zayn and asks how he is processing his loss to Randy Orton. Before he can respond, Karrion Kross shows up and says “I told you so” as only he can.
That finally gets a rise out of Zayn, who smashes Kross with a right hand and informs him they have a match coming up. But that only appears to delight Karrion and Scarlett.
Bayley vs. Becky Lynch – Women’s Intercontinental Championship Match
There isn’t much that needs to be said about how well these two wrestlers know each other, and the opening bit of this match is laid out in a way that reinforces that idea. It comes into play again when Bayley has the momentum, needing to gut through several counters to hit the Bayley-to-Belly Suplex for a near fall.
Bayley’s sunset flip powerbomb is a nice spot to follow that up, though it’s good for only another near fall. New matchups are always good, but it’s so satisfying watching competitors who have worked together so many times that they have to push themselves a bit to ensure they aren’t just treading the same ground they have before.
There’s another element in play here, and that’s Lyra. She helps Bayley after Lynch throws the Role Model over the announce table but is heady enough to not get Bayley disqualified. Or she does for a minute, finally entering the ring to attack Lynch directly after The Man throws hands at her.
The ref calls for the bell and Lynch escapes with her title while Bayley and Lyra are left to bicker in the ring.
Winner … and still Women’s Intercontinental Champion: Becky Lynch by disqualification
Chad Gable tries to give Ivy Nile some advice on wiping out anyone in her way before he sees Penta recovering from his loss earlier tonight. Penta won’t suffer that for long, superkicking Gable before officials arrive to separate them.
Raquel Rodriguez gets the drop on Rhea Ripley thanks to Roxanne Perez
Encouraged by Balor to deal with Rhea Ripley head-on, Rodriguez shows she isn’t scared by calling Mami to the ring. Brave, yes. Smart? Perhaps not?
Of course Raquel is one of the few who can match Rhea strength for strength and hurls her into the timekeeper’s area before going under the ring for a table. Ripley recovers and says if Raquel wants tables, she can get them. Perez rushes in to lend a hand, and it works out perfectly as the distraction is enough to allow Rodriguez to Tejana Bomb Ripley through the table.
Raquel and Roxanne hug, suggesting that they are now legit homies and Balor’s scheming is continuing to bear fruit.
Ripley bursts into Pearce’s office to demand a match with Rodriguez, which he gladly grants.
As John Cena and CM Punk prepare to meet for the 15th time in singles competition, a video package walks through their history and demonstrates how their yin-yang dynamic has reversed.
Jey Uso vs. Cody Rhodes – King of the Ring Semifinal Match
It’s kind of wild that these two would be meeting in the ring in 2025 with neither one of them holding a title. Looking at it the King of the Ring crown in a vacuum, Uso could certainly use it more, but the chance to put Rhodes in the final with Orton given their history may prove irresistible.
Hard to watch the repeated submission holds in this bout and not think that WWE is continuing to do everything possible to dispel the notion that Jey is limited as a singles competitor. Maybe things already went too far in that direction with Uso and Gunther trading tapouts in their title matches, so maybe their use here is logical after all in that context.
Jey hits a powerslam and tries to go for Cross Rhodes, but a Cody Cutter comes back the other way for a near fall. Uso’s spear returns the favor in kind, and that was a really nice spear to boot.
The Super Cutter doesn’t finish off Uso either, giving one the sense that maybe Jey is going to pull this off. He counters Cross Rhodes with one of his own, yet Rhodes manages to kick out at two. Another spear is next, and Uso climbs for a very long Uso Splash. He’s met up top and hurled down with another Super Cutter, and Cross Rhodes follows to send Cody through to the final.
Winner: Cody Rhodes by pinfall
After the bell and some replays, Cody and Jey shake hands and hug. Uso raises Rhodes’ arm in victory before another hug, and Cole sends us out by saying someone will define their legacy (heh) at Night of Champions.
