WWE Monday Night Raw 6/16/2025

WWE Monday Night Raw 6/16/2025

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2025/06/wwe-monday-night-raw-692025.html

Next week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2025/06/wwe-monday-night-raw-6232025.html

We are in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Michael Cole and Corey Graves are on commentary.

We see various wrestlers arrive.

Liv Morgan and Dominik Mysterio come out. Liv says "Welcome to Monday Night Morgan". Liv says she came out to talk about respect. She says everyone needs reminding that this is her division and when you talk about it, you talk about her. She says no one paved the way for her, especially Nikki Bella. She says she became the only 4x Women's Tag champ.

She says that makes her the greatest women's tag champ of all time. She says she's demanding respect and her rematch for the women's title.

Iyo Sky comes out. Iyo tells Liv to shut her mouth. She says all she does is whine and show disrespect. She said she disrespected her and Nikki Bella. She says she's here if Liv wants to fight her. Liv says she wants to fight her, but only for the title.

Liv says she can hand her the title. Iyo says if she wants it, she has to earn it. Iyo says she can have the title if she wants it, then she throws it at her and dropkicks her. She then kicks Dom in the back of the head.

Liv and Raquel talk in the back. Liv tells her to win tonight and Raquel says she got it.

Queen of the Ring Tournament First Round Match - Ivy Nile vs Asuka vs Stephanie Vaquer vs Raquel Rodriguez

The four pair off and fight. Asuka shoulders over Ivy then urakens RR. RR takes a double superkick. SV and Asuka trip each other and stand off. RR powerbombs Asuka into her opponents.

We go to break and return. SV headscissors Ivy into a roll-up for 2. SV suplexes Ivy. SV hits soul foot on RR then superkicks Asuka. She meteora's RR then dragon screws Asuka. SV backdrops Ivy then hits the devil's kiss on her.

SV snapmares RR. RR lifts her on her shoulders and boots Asuka over. SV headscissors RR over the top then hits the devil's kiss on the apron. SV springboard crossbodies RR. Ivy flying facekicks SV then hits chest forearms on Asuka.

Asuka hip attacks RR on the ropes. Ivy cradles Asuka then germans her for 2. We go to another break and return. Ivy and SV are on RR's shoulders and Asuka top rope dropkicks both. Asuka kicks Ivy and SV then headkicks Ivy. Ivy slaps RR around the codebreakers her. SV hits headbutts on Asuka. SV knees her on the ropes. SV suplexes her.

SV double underhook codebreakers Asuka for 2. Ivy swinging pendulum slams Asuka for 2. SV jawbreakers Ivy then hits a hard superkick. RR facekicks SV over. RR one arm powerbombs SV. Rhea Ripley then pulls out Raquel. Rhea riptides her on the floor and throws her in. Asuka running hip attacks RR and wins.

Thoughts: Asuka should have won here since she returned by Steph could have also used a win with how she's been getting pushed. This went long as it went through two breaks. It wasn't as good as some of the other multi-person matches we had as it just didn't have a great flow going for it. 

Asuka is interviewed in the ring after. She says the fire didn't die and it's still alive. She says she will be Queen of the Ring and says no one is ready for Asuka.

The Judgment Day talk in the back. Liv yells at Raquel. Dom asks JD to take care of AJ and says he can go back to the tag titles next week. Dom says Finn was supposed to take care of AJ a few weeks ago and it's best he stays back. Finn agrees. Finn tells Perez that he has an idea to counter Liv wanting to handle things herself.

Gunther comes out to talk. He says Jey Uso was the better man for one night at Mania. He says he is untouchable every other single night. The fans chant for Goldberg. He says Seth has the MITB contract and he has what Seth wants. He says Seth labeled him as a target and he says he's right here.

Goldberg then comes out. He says it's all good. He says tonight is Gunther's night and he's here to celebrate him winning the title. He says before he goes, Gunther started something with him and his family in Atlanta, GA. He says he's gonna make sure he ends it in Atlanta, GA. He challenges him for SNME on 7/12 and says he's next.

Thoughts: The internet kind of spoiled this so we knew it was coming sooner rather than later. I'm interested to see what it looks like and hope Goldberg can put on a good show.

AJ Styles vs JD McDonaugh

They lock up. AJ side headlock takeovers him. JD shoulders him over. AJ side headlocks him. AJ sunset flips him then armdrags him. JD headscissors him then they bridge up together. JD boots him in the corner then foot chokes him. 

AJ puts him in a calf crusher and Dom helps JD ropebreak.  AJ chases Dom around the ring. JD flies over the rail and dives on him. We go to break and return. JD throws him down backwards then stump pullers him. AJ up kicks him then hits a strike combo. AJ lariats him then sliding forearms him.

AJ ushigoroshi's him for 2. JD headbutts him then brainbusters him for 2. They go up top and JD is knocked off the buckles. AJ is stuck on the top rope and Dom distracts AJ. AJ rolls JD into a styles clash and wins.

Thoughts: It was short but fine. They worked well together and were a decent match for each other. AJ won as expected.

Dom tries to attack him after and AJ pele kicks him. Finn then saves Dom. AJ then holds up the IC Title after. The Judgment Day try to 3v1 AJ but he leaves.

Sheamus, Akira Tozawa, Maxine Duprii and Natalya talk in the back. Sheamus is asked to take care of Rusev. He says it's time to bully the bully. Akira tells him to kick his @ss.

Bayley heads to the ring to talk. Bayley says you don't know what you have until it's gone but she knows what she has when she steps in the ring. She says she revels in it. She says she was robbed of a Wrestlemania match 2 months ago. She said she doesn't come in day after day just for one night. She says she does it for nights like tonight for people like these fans.

Bay says Becky taking her out made her better and stronger. She said it ate at her that Becky said she's always 2 steps ahead. She tells Becky to come out.

Becky Lynch comes out. She says her and Bay weren't supposed to be on top of the business. She says Bay accepts being 2nd fiddle and she doesn't. She says Bay would always rather have her friends than legacy and Becky says she's the opposite. Bay says she's a future HoF'er and doesn't mind bringing her friends with her. Becky says she used to fight for the people but they stopped fighting for her. She said the people stopped fighting for her too. She said no one cared when she took Bay's place at Mania.

Bay says Becky is so insecure and is worried about what people think. Bay says she doesn't know what it's like to fight for opporunities. She says her head is too far up her @ss. Becky asks if she remembers what gold feels like. Bay asks to remind her. Becky says she can have a match in Columbus but not for her title. Becky slaps her then is dropped with a forearm.

Thoughts: It's nice to see Bayley get back in the mix some. She really lost her stock over the last year and maybe this is a way to get her back up. I liked this segment.

Jey Uso is interviewed in the locker room. Jey said he won his first title from Gunther. He says Gun won it back and they are 1-1. He says they will run it back. He says if it means winning KOTR then yeet.

Nick Aldis and AJ Styles talk in the back. Nick says he will return the title to Dirty Dom. Nick says he has a chance to get it back permanently when he faces Dom in an IC Title match.

Bayley comes up to Nick. Nick says Bay is owed a title match. He says it's Bayley vs Becky Lynch for the Women's IC Title.

Lyra Valkyria welcomes Bay back and says congrats. Bay says she's doing what's best for her and said she didn't get back to her or anyone while she was out. Lyra says if Bay wins the title, she will do what's best for her.

Liv Morgan vs Kairi Sane

Sane takes her down by the foot, Liv's arm bangs off the mat then Liv slides out. Liv holds her arm outside and the announcers think she is injured.

The match is then called off as Liv is helped out to the back.

Sami Zayn is interviewed. Sami said he talked about how important the World Title is and says the opportunity is here. He says it feels different. Karrion Kross mocks him. He says Sami is insane as he does the same thing everyday and expects a different result. He says Sami is fighting Randy Orton and will lose while Orton becomes a 15x champ. He says Sami will stay at 0. Sami says he thinks Kross is a coward. He says he hides and talks in riddles in the back. He says Kross doesn't go out there as he can't back it up. He says maybe Kross doesn't have the courage to go back out after a loss. Sami says he's done listening to him talk. He says the second KOTR is done, he will ask for a match with him from Adam Pearce. Kross says it's about time.

King of the Ring Tournament First Round Match - Bronson Reed vs Jey Uso vs Sheamus vs Rusev

Reed forearms Sheamus then Sheamus hits punches. Reed headbutts him then throws him over the top. Sheamus hits Reed in the leg and sends him into the rail. Reed sends him into the post and rail.

Rusev gets the edge on Jey then Jey pulls him out. Rusev hits Jey from behind. Reed and Rusev forearm each other. Reed is sent into the steps. Jey topes Rusev. We go to break and return.

Jey hits punches on Reed. Jey superkicks him in the gut and uppercuts him. Jey spinning enzugiri's him and superkicks Sheamus and Rusev. Rusev lariats Jey. Reed is sent into the post. Sheamus is back body dropped over the rail outside. Sheamus clubs Reed's chest against the rail outside.

Reed spears the rail when Jey moves. Rusev bodyblocks Jey. Sheamus and Rusev trade forearms in the ring. Rusev spinning heel kicks him. Sheamus hits a big slam on Rusev. They trade shots on their knees. Reed running lariats both. Reed splashes both in the corner.

Reed catches Jey off the buckles. Reed hits a world's strongest slam on him. We go to break and return. We are told Sheamus threw Rusev over the commentary table.

Jey and Sheamus trade. Jey enzugiri's him from the apron. Sheamus irish curse backbreakers him. Reed headbutts Sheamus in the chest. Sheamus air raid crashes Reed for 2. Rusev uranages Sheamus onto Reed. Jey superkicks all 3 opponents. 

Rusev high kicks Jey then camel clutches him. Sheamus pumping knees Rusev and Reed. Sheamus brogue kicks Rusev and Reed hits a senton on Sheamus. Reed top rope splashes Sheamus for 2. Jey spears Reed. Bron Breakker pushes Jey off the top. Sami Zayn attacks Bron.

Bron is sent into the post. Bron gorilla presses Sami onto and over the commentary table. Penta then comes out and tope con hilos Bron. Reed death valley drivers Jey. LA Knight pushes Reed off the top. Jey superkicks and spears Reed. Jey top rope splashes Reed on his back. Jey then top rope splashes him on his chest and wins.

Thoughts: It was a good main and what you would expect and want here. I thought at least 3 people in this had a shot at winning which made it more exciting. There was a ton of run-in's here with 4 different people getting involved which tied a lot of stories in. I was surprised Gunther and Punk didn't end up coming out.

Seth Rollins comes out after. Seth goes for Jey. Cody Rhodes comes out. Cody stares down Seth. They stand off and Seth leaves. Cody and Jey then look at each other and shake hands.

Overall thoughts: It was an okay show but nothing must see. We only had 4 matches here and one of them got cut short due to injury. Hopefully Liv is alright as her being out would mess up a bunch of different stories. The main was the best thing on here and while AJ/JD was fine, it wasn't their best. I liked the Bayley segment and Kross' new gimmick is working. Goldberg coming back is exciting as well. I'd give it a 6 out of 10 here. I'd go higher but there wasn't enough in-ring action. There was nothing must see on this one.