Monday Night Raw Review - August 11, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

CM Punk and LA Knight Challenged The Vision

Give me more of Punk and Knight together, specifically on the mic! This is a feud I've wanted to see since Punk returned to WWE two years ago, not only because it'd be fresh but also because their talking segments could be stellar. What we got here was good and it served to set up the tag team main event with them taking on Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed.

El Grande Americano and Intercontinental Champion Dominik Mysterio def. AJ Styles and Dragon Lee

This had potential on paper to be a blast and it did not disappoint. It was very well wrestled and the crowd was hot from start to finish. I'm genuinely shocked Styles ate the pinfall loss and not Lee, but I'm not complaining. Plus, the heels cheated, so Styles will be fine. I'm just curious if this means Styles and Mysterio will continue to feud or if Styles will go after Americano instead.

Sami Zayn def. Rusev by Disqualification

Michael Cole mentioned that this was the fourth match these two have had and that Rusev has never beaten Zayn before. I love fun facts like that. It was a quality contest up until the interference finish with Solo Sikoa and the rest of The MFTs attacking Zayn (who beat Sikoa on SmackDown last week). Sheamus and Rusev brawled afterward. Both of those bouts would be logical additions to the Clash in Paris card.

Roxanne Perez def. IYO SKY

SKY was scheduled to challenge Naomi for the Women's World Championship on this show, but it was announced shortly beforehand that Naomi wasn't cleared to compete, so Perez was named SKY's replacement opponent. I assume this lasted as long as it did to fill the time that SKY vs. Naomi would've had. It was great stuff and the outcome was pleasantly surprising. I'm definitely down for the upcoming Asuka vs. SKY feud.

Women's Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch def. Maxxine Dupri

I couldn't tell you the last time Dupri had a singles match on Raw. It's been a long time, and I'm not necessarily complaining. That said, she works well in the underdog role, so I was looking forward to this match. If anyone could get a decent match out of Dupri, it's Lynch. The crowd was pretty quiet for a majority of it, but these two told a simple story and it didn't take Lynch a ridiculous amount of time to put Dupri away.

CM Punk and LA Knight def. The Vision (Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed) by Disqualification

WWE desperately needs to normalize not ending every or most editions of Raw with disqualifications.​ I understand they're designed to protect the people involved, but it's lazy booking when they're done so regularly and they ruin matches that are otherwise entertaining like this was. Post-match, we got the announcement that it will be a Fatal 4-Way between Rollins, Punk, Knight and Jey Uso for the World Heavyweight Championship at Clash in Paris. I figured we'd get a six-man tag team match at the event, but this is a much better option.

Overall Show

There was also an awesome vignette for Bayley where she teased losing her mind, so I'm intrigued to see where that goes. Lame disqualification finishes aside, this was a solid edition of Raw that moved things along and the action was above average. The crowd was as lively as they were for Friday's SmackDown and that added to my enjoyment of the episode.

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