Monday Night Raw Review - March 3, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

CM Punk and Seth "Freakin" Rollins Brawled

What an opening! I was worried that it'd be business as usual on Raw without John Cena, The Rock and Cody Rhodes (the key members of the epic show-closing angle at Elimination Chamber) appearing, but Punk's intense, impassioned promo started the show with a bang. Hopefully his words for Cena and Rock lead to something significant soon. The crowd was hot for the brawl between him and Rollins, leading to the announcement that it will be Punk vs. Rollins in a Steel Cage match on next week's Raw. Pissed off Punk is peak Punk, and this was one of the strongest promos he's cut since being back in WWE.

World Heavyweight Champion Gunther def. Otis (Non-Title)

Gunther had a fun little match with Akira Tozawa last week, so him facing another Alpha Academy member in Otis was a logical follow-up. With Otis being as over with the audience as he is, the crowd was behind him throughout here in what was a fun match while it lasted. I appreciated that Gunther stood tall over Jey Uso this week, too. The story's been simple so far, but they'll need to heat it up some more ahead of WrestleMania 41.

Women's Intercontinental Champion Lyra Valkyria def. Ivy Nile

The booking of the Women's Intercontinental Championship scene has made very little sense as of late. Nile lost to Dakota Kai in a number one contender's match two weeks ago, but apparently her attack on Valkyria was enough to earn her a title shot here. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to get fans to care about her. The crowd was quiet for a majority of this, but it was a well-worked match at least. I was surprised to not to see Becky Lynch return afterward to confront Valkyria and kick off that WrestleMania program.

Penta Attacked Ludwig Kaiser

Kaiser did his usual shtick by heeling on the audience before Penta came out to get the better of him. It was a fairly basic segment, but it did further their feud and set up an eventual rematch between them. It's worth noting that Penta's brother Rey Fenix was officially released from his AEW contract today, so his WWE arrival should be imminent. The Lucha Brothers vs. Kaiser and Pete Dunne books itself.

World Tag Team Champions The War Raiders def. The Creed Brothers

Similar to their last encounter a few weeks ago, it took some time for the crowd to get into the action, but once these teams picked up the pace, the crowd came alive. This was another enjoyable, hard-hitting bout from them. I can't imagine Chad Gable will be too happy when he returns from his excursion to Japan and finds out both the Creeds and Nile lost their championship opportunities.

Intercontinental Champion Bron Breakker Attacked The Judgment Day

The show came back from commercial and Balor was already in the ring addressing Breakker, who was standing in the audience. Balor's promo was perfectly fine along with Breakker subsequently fending off Judgment Day, but this didn't leave me any more excited for anything involving them going forward. I actually have minimal interest in Breakker feuding with Judgment Day going into WrestleMania, but I still suspect it will end up being a multi-man match for the Intercontinental Championship.

IYO SKY def. Rhea Ripley to Win the Women's World Championship

SKY and Ripley always had great matches in NXT (including in the Mae Young Classic years ago). This was another entertaining outing from them, even if it didn't reach the same heights as their previous encounters. Like most, I figured it was a foregone conclusion that Ripley would retain, so I was genuinely shocked when SKY picked up the win. Yes, Ripley was made to look like foolish by being so easily distracted by Bianca Belair at ringside, but I understand it was designed to protect her in defeat. Ripley vs. Belair one-on-one is the money match for 'Mania, but I have no problem with it turning into a Triple Threat with SKY, who also belongs in a prominent match on the card.

Overall Show

Honestly, I was expecting a hotter follow-up show coming off the newsworthy Elimination Chamber event, but I can't complain about what we got. It was bookended by a stellar segment and a big title change while everything in the middle ranged was largely solid and progressed several storylines. Sure, Cena wasn't present and reportedly won't be for another two weeks, but they're filling the time nicely until then, specifically with next week's loaded episode at Madison Square Garden.

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