WWE Monday Night Raw 3/3/2025

WWE Monday Night Raw 3/3/2025

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2025/02/wwe-monday-night-raw-2242025.html

We are in Buffalo, NY and are 47 days away from Wrestlemania. John Cena turned heel at Elimination Chamber in an absolute shocker of a moment.

Pat McAfee and Michael Cole are on commentary. Pat said Cena sold his soul to try and get hits 17th title.

We see various wrestlers arrive. American Made work out in the ring minus Gable. CM Punk rides his car in and heads to the ring.

Punks knocks the commentary table top off and knocks over some Prime bottles. He says to consider this a state of the union address and says people think he exhausted all opportunities of main eventing Mania. Punk asks for names to blame.

Punk calls The Rock a bald fraud. He says Rock walks in when he feels like it and thinks he's a bigger star because he's in Hollywood. He says he'd love to say this to his face but he never shows up to do that. punk says he has earned being the people's champ and said he was never so desperate to sell his soul.

Punk says we can all see through Cena. He says Cena stole something from him. He says everyone sees that Cena has been selling people BS for 20 years.

Punk says Cena gave up on himself and the people. He says he will see him down the road and get his hands on both of the bald frauds (Cena and Rock). He tells Becky Lynch to come get her man before he puts Seth Rollins in a wheel chair.

Seth Rollins comes out. Punk runs at him and they fight. Refs come to break it up with the agents. They fight more and go to ringside. Tons of people come out to stop this and Seth beats up security guards. They fight on the commentary table then rolls over it. The fight is eventually stopped.

Thoughts: This was a great opening segment. Punk showed some wild hate on the mic and the brawl after really popped the crowd. 

Judgment Day is in their hang out. Liv shows her scar from getting whipped by Bianca. Liv says it's time Raquel goes for the Women's IC Title. Finn says he's happy for Liv and Raquel being tag champs but says they lost at The Chamber. Finn then says Dom and Carlito got embarrassed by Bron. Dom says if they had a new member, maybe that wouldn't have happened. Finn says maybe he needs to deal with Bron Breakker tonight.

Gunther gets on the mic before his match with Otis. He says he knows Otis is strong and says he isn't a freak of nature, just a freak. He says he belongs with Jey Uso as a people pleaser who makes a clown of himself to entertain a degenerate audience. He says Otis doesn't belong in his sacred ring. Gunther says the fans cheer Otis as they pity him. Gunther says he wore the title as a belt but says Otis can't find a belt that fits. He says Otis could be great with self respect and says he will teach him that now.

Otis vs Gunther

This should be good. Gun facekicks him before it starts then stomps on him. Otis clubs on Gun. Gun side headlocks him. They shoulder each other. Gun facekicks him out of the ring.

Gun slaps Otis' head around. Otis grabs Gun and pulls him out of the ring. He then fallaway slams Gun on the floor. We go to break and return. Gun crossfaces Otis and slaps him around. Gun hits facekicks and drops Otis for 2. Otis back body drops him.

Gun hits chops and Otis tries to fight through it. Otis rips off his shirt. They trade chest slaps. Otis hits a corner splash. Otis slams him then hits a spinning back elbow. Gun crossbodies him but is caught and slammed. Otis does a caterpillar elbow for 2.

Otis misses a vader bomb and is dropkicked. Otis back body drops him. They collide with lariats. Gun hits lariats and a running facekick. Gun hits a big lariat for 2. Gun powerbombs Otis and wins.

Thoughts: It was an okay heavyweight match here. I wish it would have been a bit more even as Otis was totally treated like the underdog. Otis didn't get a lot of offense in here which hurt it some.

Gun sleepers Otis after. Akira Tozawa gets on Gun's back and is powerbombed onto Otis. Jey Uso then comes out to help. Jey gets nailed by Gun as he gets in and Otis hits shots on Gun. Jey spears Gun. Jey then holds up the title.

Grayson Waller and Austin Theory then nail Jey from behind and pound on him. Jey superkicks Waller and hits punches on Theory. Jey then spears him. Gun then sleepers Jey from behind. Gun chokes him out and holds the title up on him.

We get a package on Iyo vs Rhea. Iyo says she respects her and says she knows her better than she knows herself. Iyo says she beat her every time in NXT and says she will punch her ticket to Wrestlemania when she beats her.

Cathy Kelly interviews AJ Styles. AJ says he didn't see Cena selling out. Karrion Kross with long straight hair grabs AJ from behind. He says AJ knows how frustrating the new generation is. AJ tells him to stop. He says he's not John Cena and says maybe the WWE Universe needs a reminder of who he is. AJ says he will call out Logan Paul next week and see if he can back up the trash he talks. He says Kross wants to be the devil on his shoulder but says God knows his evil ways. 

WWE Women's Intercontinental Title - Lyra Valkyria (c) vs Ivy Nile

Lyra dropkicks her to start and stomps on her. Lyra hits knees to the face. Lyra hiptosses her for 2. Ivy lariats her.Lyra trips her and dropkicks her. Lyra northern lights suplexes her. Lyra dropkicks her through the ropes.

Ivy dragon screws her twice. We go to break and return. Ivy bangs Lyra's knee off the mat. Lyra rolls her up for 2. Lyra backslides her for 2. Lyra boots her off the buckles. Ivy rolls out of Lyra's 2nd rope crossbody. Lyra doctor bombs Ivy.

Lyra hits lariats, knees and a step up enzugiri. Ivy blocks Lyra's tornado ddt. Ivy then suplexes her while she is holding her in the air. Lyra cradles Ivy for 2.

Lyra twisitng neckbreakers Ivy and her leg gives out on a move. Ivy hits her from behind then kneebreakers her. Ivy  sitout powerbombs Lyra for 2. Ivy ankle locks Lyra. 

Lyra sunset flips her for 2. Ivy release germans her. Ivy misses a corner facekick and Lyra backbreakers her over her back. Lyra hits a cradle shock and wins.

Thoughts: It was a better effort than usual from Ivy. Ivy worked the knee some here and it played a role in the match but I would have liked to have seen it focused on more. I didn't think it was great but they did try.

Seth is about to be interviewed backstage. Him and punk find each other and go after each other. It is broken up and Pearce gets involved.

Seth Rollins tells Pearce to do something about Punk. He says he will make sure he doesn't make it to Mania at all. He says he will die on this hill and wants to finish it with Punk. Pearce says it'll be a Seth vs Punk in a cage next week and says to finish it.

Ludwig Kaiser comes out to talk. He says he took back what was his last week - the attention. He says he got the attention Penta had that he deserved for such a long time. Kaiser says he is a future champ whether you like it or not. He says Penta will know what fear is when he is done with him.

Penta then comes out. Penta flying headscissors him and superkicks him. Penta goes for a made in Japan then superkicks Kaiser. Penta sling blades Kaiser. Penta headscissors Kaiser over the top. Penta lariats him off the apron then tope con hilos him outside. 

Cathy interviews Bianca Belair. BB says he doesn't want to talk about Jade turning on Naomi. She says she feels guilty about what happened but is proud of winning The Chamber. She says she wants to focus on who she will be fighting at Mania. She says they will remember why you can't spell Wrestlemania without EST.

We see video of Chad Gable going to learn lucha libre. He's outside a junky looking convenience store and is looking for someone. He then finds someone in a poncho is was waiting for him. The guy tells him he can't fight what he doesn't understand. He says he must become lucha. Chad gives the guy money and gets a box. He's told he will have power beyond his understanding.

World Tag Titles - The War Raiders (Ivar and Erik) vs The Creed Brothers (Julius and Brutus Creed)

JC = Julius Creed, BC = Brutus Creed

JC and Erik go at it. They shove each other. JC takes him down and Erik rolls through it. BC hammerfists Erik from the corner. Erik is double team stomped on. Erik slams BC. Ivar hits lariats on BC. BC hits Ivar from behind.

Ivar does a double handspring back elbow. BC is slammed then Ivar is slammed onto BC. JC knees Ivar in the gut and Ivar uppercuts him. Ivar sits on top and is dropkicked down to the floor. Ivar is thrown into the steps. JC tells Chad they will bring the tag titles back.

Ivar takes a double suplex for 2. Ivar butt drops BC in the corner. Erik tags in. He forearms JC over several times then suplexes him. Erik uranages BC. JC goes up and over and takes a flying double knee from Erik. Erik knees JC in the face. JC is popped up into a powerslam for 2.

JC gets some attacks in and belly to belly suplexes Erik. Erik takes an olympic slam and BC 450's Erik for 2. Ivar gets stuck up top. JC jumps up to the top and superplexes Erik. BC misses a top rope moonsault. Ivar misses a top rope moonsault on JC. JC top rope ssp's Ivar for 2.

JC takes down Erik. Brutus misses an electric chair brutusball. Ivar crossbodies JC against the side of the ring. BC is popped up and takes a war machine. BS is then pinned.

Thoughts: It picked up in the 2nd half when they started doing the bigger spots. I think Erik hut himself here right before taking the olympic slam. It was very athletic with everyone but Erik doing a top rope dive. It would have been better with more build and a better angle behind it. I was surprised The Creed's didn't win here.

The LWO do a video. Wilde says well done by New Day and says they stomped on them. Lee and Cruz says they can't take their fire, spirit or fire. Lee says they couldn't get the job done and couldn't take them out. Rey Mysterio says they should have finished what they started. Rey says to enjoy their vacation as him and Lee will give them the worst Monday of their lives in a tornado tag match. Rey says theyre will be no tags or DQ's, just the four of them throwing down. Rey says he's proud of his group. Him and Lee say New Day sucks.

Finn Balor is in the ring and Bron Breakker is in the stands. He says Bron is only IC champ as Judgement Day have allowed him to be. Bron says he's a dog and said he embarrassed all of Judgment Day last week. Finn says he's untouchable in the ring and can take the title anytime he likes. Finn says Bron knows the first time he steps in the ring, the dogs won't bark but will watch Finn put him down.

Bron then heads to the ring. Carlito goes after Bron and is thrown over the rail. Dom jumps off the rail onto Bron and is belly to belly overhead suplexed on the floor. Finn slingblades Bron in the ring and pounds on him. Finn stomps on Bron. Bron gorilla presses Finn into a powerslam. Bro goes for a spear and Dom pulls Finn out. Bron then spears Carlito outside.

Jey Uso talks to Alpha Academy in the back and says he's got them. Cathy then interviews Jey. He says he was thrown off a little tonight. He says he's told he can't do it. He says Gunther said he would give him 10 weeks of hell but he will crash out at Mania. He says Gunther woke up a beast when he put him to sleep tonight and says yeet. 

Bianca Belair comes out for the main event.

WWE Women's Title - Rhea Ripley (c) vs Iyo Sky

They lock up and waistlock each other. Rhea takes her down and Iyo side headlocks her. Rhea shoulders her over then Rhea basement dropkicks her for 2. Iyo takes her down for 2 and botches a pin attempt. Rhea is supposed to catch a hurricanrana but drops her. Iyo rolls her up off her shoulders for 2.

Iyo high kicks Rhea. Iyo misses a 619. Rhea swings Iyo's head into the sides of the apron. Rhea suplexes her on the floor. We go to break and return. Ito straightjacket backcrackers her. Iyo hits a basement dropkick. Iyo top rope dropkicks Rhea. Iyo misses a corner meteora. Rhea short arm clotheslines Iyo. Rhea ripcord superkicks her in the gut. Iyo rolls her into a double stomp.

Iyo and Rhea trade forearms on their knees then get up and trade. Rhea drops Iyo chest first for 2. Iyo armwhips Rhea down on the apron. Rhea big boots her for 2. Iyo hits a top rope elbow drop for 2. Iyo chicken wings Rhea.

Iyo corner meteora's Rhea. Iyo goes up top and is crotched. Rhea hits a 2nd rope backdrop on Iyo for 2. Rhea does a reverse cloverleaf on Iyo. Iyo sends Rhea shoulder first into the post. Iyo dives through the ropes and sunset bombs Rhea into the rails.

Iyo hits a top rope moonsault on Rhea's back for 2. Iyo hits a hard tope on Rhea outside. Iyo's dropped face first on the apron and commentary table. Rhea pushes Bianca outside. Bianca pushes her back. The ref gets between them. They go up on the 2nd rope, Rhea tells Bianca she will see her at Mania and Rhea takes a 2nd rope hurricanrana down. Iyo hits a top rope moonsault on Rhea and wins.

Thoughts: The ending was a bit of a surprise here with Iyo winning. I don't know if that's the greatest pick for a lot of reasons but it keeps Iyo's win streak alive with Rhea and Iyo vs Bianca should be a high flying matchup. They had trouble early on with some sloppy moments. I didn't think they followed up that well on some of the submissions in the middle part of the match but but it got a little better towards the end. I didn't think it was their best work though and I thought it was about average overall.

Iyo holds up the title after and gets fireworks.

Overall thoughts: I didn't think it was the best follow up to such a big night at Elimination Chamber. They needed Cena on this show to explain what happened at The Chamber and we didn't get that at all. It was a weaker show and I didn't think Iyo/Rhea deserved to be a main event. Jey didn't do much of note here, Gunther was in an undercard match and the highlight of the night was the Punk/Seth stuff which opened the show. Lyra's still getting more time than she really deserves and while I did like The Raiders vs The Creed's, I think they could have had a better match. I'd just give this one a 5 out of 10 and would consider it disappointing. I wouldn't recommend this.