Monday Night Raw Review - September 29, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

The Kabuki Warriors Attacked Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY

It was cool to see this storyline close out the show last week and then open the show this week. It really is the best thing on Raw right now and arguably all of WWE in general. Granted, SKY's acting here was admittedly abysmal, but on the whole, this was more strong progression of the feud with it being confirmed later on that it will be SKY and Ripley against Kabuki Warriors at Crown Jewel.

Intercontinental Champion and AAA Mega Champion Dominik Mysterio def. Rusev (AAA Mega Championship Was Not Defended)

Although this had a strange dynamic with both guys being heels, it didn't end up mattering too much because Mysterio is basically a babyface at this point. Okay, so he doesn't act like one, but the crowd sure does treat him like one. They had a good match. I was expecting Rusev to take the title due to interference from The Judgment Day backfiring, so Mysterio retaining actually surprised me.

Raquel Rodriguez def. Bayley

I've learned in the last four weeks that Rodriguez is being protected (which is fine by me) yet Roxanne Perez can't buy a victory on her own. I've also learned that Lyra Valkyria is more forgiving than most considering she made the save for Bayley afterward despite Bayley treating her like trash last week and the week before. The match itself was well worked, but I'm waiting until we get the tag team match so Bayley can finally turn on Valkyria.

LA Knight def. Kofi Kingston

This match was made official via a backstage segment earlier in the episode. There really wasn't much to it other than it being an excuse to get Knight on the show and to give him a win. Hey, I'm not complaining. The New Day not interacting with Penta for the first time in two months was certainly refreshing and it was a nice match while it lasted. I have to assume Knight isn't done with Jey Uso.

World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins and Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes Faced Off

I liked how Rollins went at it alone this week without Paul Heyman or the rest of The Vision. They went even deeper with their history this week and it made for another excellent segment. I applaud their effort to make the match at Crown Jewel feel as meaningful as possible, and the video package that aired for them earlier on (Part 1 of 2) was also really well done. It feels like Rollins may get that elusive win over Rhodes after all, but the outcome doesn't feel like a foregone conclusion.

AJ Styles and Dragon Lee def. Los Americanos (Bravo and Rayo Americano)

It's wild that Styles has a match with John Cena coming up at Crown Jewel while simultaneously feuding with El Grande Americano on Raw. I appreciated that he had a chance to address the match with Cena in a pre-match promo and that Lee was able to talk as well. This wasn't the fast-paced sprint that these guys were capable of, but it was a quality contest, nonetheless. Styles winning for his team was obviously the right call.

The Usos def. The Vision (Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed) in a Tornado Match

These two teams' original encounter wasn't No Disqualification, but LA Knight let so much fly as special guest referee at it may as well have been. This was pretty much along the same lines in that the action was entertaining throughout. I didn't think Roman Reigns would return so soon, but not only did it end the episode on a high note, it also indicates he'll be a part of Crown Jewel in some form or fashion, which is an encouraging sign that Reed will make the card in his native Australia.

Overall Show

This was the usual thumbs-up edition of Raw with several stories moving forward heading into Crown Jewel. Some bouts were better than others, but everything was at least solid. The lineup advertised for next week doesn't inspire a lot of confidence considering it features a few matches we've already seen before recently, but for this week, I did like a lot of what we got and they filled the two-plus hours effectively.

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