WWE RAW 3/24/25 REVIEW: THE HEEL IS HERE

WWE continued its European tour with a stop in Glasgow, Scotland for this week’s edition of Monday Night Raw. The show opened up with John Cena being met by a barrage of “Boo’s” from the Scottish audience. Cena, looking like he just found out his dog chewed up his favorite pair of sneakers, slowly walked to the ring and soaked up the response. 

 

After a “F*ck you, Cena” chant, John asked “What’s worse? Me, the one guy who tells the truth (Drew McIntyre might want to sue for copyright infringement on that one), or all of you, whose best idea is to use profanity? You were the ones who loved to watch, and rewatch, and meme a poor defenseless kid getting destroyed!” He kind of has a point, there. 

 

Cena berated the fans for a while longer, then eventually turned to his plans for Wrestlemania. “I’m going to destroy wrestling.” Said Cena. “I’m going to win that championship, the center of every superstar of this entire business, of every fan in this building. I will win that championship and retire with it. I am taking it home with me and leaving all of you to create a brand new toy belt, because the real one comes home with me. I will be the last real champion in WWE.”

 

Finally, Cody Rhodes comes out, smiling and high fiving the fans (like a good babyface champion should), while Cena stands stoic in the ring. “This guy is going to have to save wrestling” pontificates Pat McAfee.

 

Cody does an excellent job of summing up Cena’s perspective perfectly. “Just so I understand you correctly, you were saying that the timeline for all of pro wrestling hangs in the balance… because of your vanity?” Cody then laid down the title and offered Cena an opportunity to grab it. It looked for a moment like we were going to see these two lay hands on each other, but Cena did the classic heel move and walked away. 

 

Before he left, Rhodes left with these parting words: “Right now, I need you to see me. I need you to see all of [the fans], and I need you to understand that your psychotic need to take [the belt] does not outweigh our right to keep it. The champ is no longer standing there, the champ is standing in the center of this ring. And to see you walking away empty handed, that is how you  walk away from Wrestlemania, and that is how you walk away from the WWE.”

 

Cody did an excellent job with his retort, but that Cena promo was one for the ages. Say what you will about John Cena as a wrestler, but he spent 25 years cutting fantastic babyface promos, and has hit two home runs on heel promos as well. The buildup for this match is going as well as anybody could hope for. 

 

The only thing that still seems to be missing is any explanation by Cena (or questioning by Cody) as to what “selling one’s soul” to The Rock truly entails. There’s  of time still left to bring it up, but it seems strange that neither party has even mentioned The Rock in the past two weeks.  

THE USOS VS A-TOWN DOWN UNDER

 

Before he gets his shot at the World Heavyweight Championship against Gunther at Wrestlemania, Jey Uso had some unfinished business to settle with Austin Theory and Grayson Waller. To help even the sides, Jey recruited his brother and former 8 time tag team championship partner, Jimmy. 

 

The match was a bit of a nostalgia trip, as the Usos dominated the early parts of the match, hitting their signature tag team moves along the way. Eventually, Theory and Waller were able to isolate Jimmy Uso and lay a pretty good beatdown on “Big Jim.” However, Jimmy was able to get the hot tag to Jey. Jey took A-Town Down Under’s best shot and survived it. After a big splash from Jimmy, the Usos hit the 1D on Austin Theory to pick up the win. 

 

After the match, Gunther came out to try to attack Jey, but Uso got the better of him, hitting multiple superkicks before a critical stumble allowed Gunther to take the upper hand. However, before Gunther could do too much damage, Jimmy chased him out of the ring with a steel chair. 

 

While Jey’s moveset and in-ring ability is not as robust as many other stars on the roster, his charisma and ability to connect with the crowd is undeniable. Conversely, A-Town Down Under continues to struggle and slide down the card. At this point, they're pretty much glorified jobbers, and it might be time for WWE to have them part ways.

 

EL GRANDE AMERICANO

 

Before the in-ring action continues, we see a vignette for the new luchador, El Grande Americano (Chad Gable in a USA luchador mask). The tone of this promo was perfect. From the sepia tones to the old 8mm style of grainy film, to the fact that El Grande Americano hales from The Gulf of America, everything about this vignette was wonderfully stupid in all the best ways and just proves that Chad Gable is a criminally underrated pro wrestler AND sports entertainer (for those who still choose to make said distinction). 

 

RAQUEL RODRIGUEZ VS. LYRA VALKYRIA FOR THE WOMENS IC TITLE

 

Women’s tag champion Raquel Rodriguez looked to become a double champion by adding the Women’s Intercontinental title to her trophy case as she took on Irish superstar Lyra Valkyria. Since winning the title in January, Lyra has been a fighting champion, having previously retained her title against Dakota Kai, Ivy Nile, and Zoey Stark. However, as good as those women are, none of them have the size or power of Raquel Rodriguez. 

 

Rodriguez is no doubt going to be a big star for the WWE in the years to come, but she’s still finding her voice and her character, and this was too soon in her career to be a singles champ. Raquel put up a great fight, relying on help from Liv Morgan, along with a barrage of power moves to out muscle the champion (including a big boot on a diving Valkyria that almost went through the champ’s chest), but Valkyria was too cagey, too quick, and too resilient. Rodriguez went for the Tajana Bomb, but Valkyria was able to turn it into a roll-up and get the sneaky win and retain her title. After the match, Morgan and Rodriguez were beating down Valkyria but Bayley came to the rescue and saved the Women’s IC champ. 

 

Meanwhile, backstage, Jimmy tells his brother he needs the old Jey Uso back. The current Jey can’t beat Gunther, but the right hand man can. Jimmy then finds Gunther and gives him a smack for the ages after challenging him to a match next week.

 

ADAM PIERCE CAN’T GET A WORD IN 

 

Back in the ring, Adam Pierce is holding the contract between Iyo Skye vs. Bianca Belair that Rhea Rhipley hijacked and signed. Pierce explained that Rhea signing the contract means nothing. It's nice to know that at least one person in WWE understands basic contract law. 

 

Pierce is interrupted by Iyo who informs him she doesn’t care if Rhea is in the match or not because she’s a fighting champion. Pierce starts to explain the situation when Bianca interrupts him once again. Bianca states that if Rhea didn’t earn her way into the match, she doesn’t deserve to be in it. Technically true, though Bianca is coming off a little heel-ish.

 

Pierce once again tries to explain his position when he is interrupted for a third time by Rhea Ripley saying she wants her rematch. The reaction Pierce gives here is hysterical. A very frustrated Pierce finally is able to say that Rhea and Iyo will have a title match next week and the winner of that will face Bianca at Wrestlemania. The three tussle for a little bit before Bianca ends up being the one standing tall at the end of it. Backstage, Pierce lets Bianca know she will be the special guest referee for the match between Iyo and Rhea. It seems too obvious that this will end up as a triple threat match at Wrestlemania. 

 

DRAGON LEE VS EL GRANDE AMERICANO

 

El Grande Americano makes his debut, coming out to a mariachi-style version of Stars and Stripes Forever (Lex Luger's old theme. Brilliant touch), to take on the LWO’s Dragon Lee. El Grande hits a few mediocre lucha-style moves, including a hurricanrana, before delivering a brutal Gable-esque suplex to lee on the outside of the ring. 

 

Cole and McAfee play their parts well, with McAfee blindly going along with the charade while Cole points out that El Grande Americano is obviously Gable. The whole thing is old school wrestling done to perfection.Eventually, “El Grande” unmasks Dragon Lee, who has to cover his face and can not focus on the match. Eventually he taps out to an ankle lock and “El Grande” is now 1-0 in the WWE.

 

CM PUNK IS ALL BUSINESS

 

CM Punk comes out stating that he’s pissed off, because while he’d like to get what he wants, he can’t because he works with children, making a nice reference to his famous AEW press conference. Punk says Rollins and Reigns are taking it personally while it's strictly business for him. Punk wants to become the world champion, but in order for it to happen he has to take them both out. Then, Punk reminds them of two very important things. “Number one: Neither of you have ever defeated me without the other one’s help. Number two: I brought you both into this business, and I can't wait to be the man to take you both out of it.”

 

PENTA VS BRON BREAKKER FOR THE IC TITLE

 

Prior to his match, Dirty Dom found Penta in the back and tried once again to get Penta to join the Judgment Day. Penta still refused, but that didn’t stop Dom and Carlito from coming out to ringside to seemingly support Penta in his title match against the Intercontinental Champion, Bron Breaker. 

 

Both men played to their own strengths, with Penta using high flying moves and counters to get the upper hand, while Bron relied on his strength and speed to take control back. Bron hit an impressive gorilla press slam into a stomach breaker, but it wasn't enough to get the victory. 

 

Penta was able to get the advantage back, executing a Mexican Destroyer and nearly getting the victory. However, he became slightly distracted by Dom on the outside, and when it looked like Breakker was going to put Penta away with a spear, Dom interrupted and caused the disqualification, allowing Breakker to get the victory and retain his title. This was technically the first singles loss for Penta, though he has yet to be pinned or submitted. 

 

After the match, Finn Balor came out and the Judgment continued their beat down of Bron, using a steel chair to inflict damage. Finn then handed the chair to Penta, allowing him to take a shot and effectively join the Judgment Day. However, Penta threw the chair back to Dom and hit a superkick, turning down the offer. Balor then took out both Penta and Breakker in frustration, and that’s how we go off the air.

 

Next Week, Raw will emanate from the O2 arena in London, with a special start time of 3 PM EST.