Monday Night Raw Review - November 24, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Roman Reigns, Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk Interrupted Each Other

It was cool to see these three notable names sharing the ring, even though their entrances took up a ton of time. I appreciated Reigns acknowledging (no pun intended) that Rhodes' involvement in this WarGames conflict is random before Punk tried to get them on the same page. The tease for Reigns wanting one of their titles was also well done and planted the seed of possible dissension at Survivor Series. This segment didn't reach the level that it could have, but it was solid stuff to start the show, nonetheless.

Gunther def. Carmelo Hayes in The Last Time Is Now Tournament Quarterfinal Match

Hayes advancing over Bronson Reed on Friday's SmackDown was a miracle, but there was no way he was winning here. Despite that, he put forth a hell of a fight (much like Je'Von Evans did against Gunther last week) and even came close on a few occasions. He had a strong showing here and I hope he can capitalize on it coming out of it. This was a really good match. If it wasn't already apparent, Gunther is the guy to retire John Cena.

AAA Mega Champion Dominik Mysterio Attacked "John Cena"

This was a segment straight out of Vince McMahon's playbook with a little person portraying Cena and Dominik beating him up (not before revealing that he was the one responsible for putting him up to it and attacking him when he felt he went too far). It wasn't great by any means, but I didn't completely hate it as much as I normally would for whatever reason, maybe we never see this sort of segment anymore (thankfully). They did what they could to hype up Dominik vs. Cena at Survivor Series without Cena being able to appear on this show.

Rey Mysterio def. JD McDonagh

From getting pinned by Cena in his final Raw match to having a banger with Ilja Dragunov for the United States Championship on SmackDown to now facing Rey, McDonagh's had a huge past week. This wasn't on the same level as his outing against Dragunov, but they had a quality contest in the time they were allotted. My only nitpick is that this had nothing to do with Survivor Series, unless Rey ends up preventing McDonagh and the rest of The Judgment Day from interfering in Cena vs. Dom.

AJ Lee, Rhea Ripley, IYO SKY, Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss Attacked Becky Lynch, Nia Jax, Lash Legend and WWE Women's Tag Team Champions The Kabuki Warriors

The segment starting out with Lynch running down her opponents in the WarGames match and attempting to get on the same page as her partners (despite her history with both Asuka and Jax) was well done. Lynch's new gimmick is essentially that she's the Donald Trump of the women's division, which is hilarious and she's playing the role exceptionally well. This was a very basic brawl, but it accomplished what it needed to.

Solo Sikoa def. Penta in a The Last Time Is Now Quarterfinal Match by Referee Stoppage

The match barely got going before Penta got injured right before the commercial break by landing on his shoulder on the ring apron. They had to call the match off coming out of the commercial break and Sikoa was awarded the win. Reportedly, Sikoa was always supposed to advance. That's ridiculous if true because Gunther vs. Sikoa in the next round is not all that appealing. Hopefully Penta isn't out injured for too long.

Logan Paul and Drew McIntyre def. The Usos in a WarGames Advantage Match

McIntyre and Paul previously teamed and won against Randy Orton and Jelly Roll at SummerSlam, so it was logical for them to represent the heels for the men's WarGames match here. This was a ho-hum main event, but the big brawl afterward with everyone from both teams was obviously intended to be the focal point. It wasn't as hot as last week's brawl, but it was entertaining for what it was (not to mention Lesnar falling while making his entrance).

Overall Show

The last two weeks of Raw were significantly better and more newsworthy, but this show worked as far as delivering effective final hype for Survivor Series and progressing The Last Time Is Now Tournament. Gunther vs. Hayes was undoubtedly the highlight of the night. Nothing else quite came close, but it was an acceptable edition of Raw on the whole with everything serving a purpose.

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