WWE Monday Night Raw 7/21/2025

WWE Monday Night Raw 7/21/2025

Last week's show is here:  https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2025/07/wwe-monday-night-raw-7142025.html

Next week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2025/07/wwe-monday-night-raw-7282025.html

We are in Houston, TX. 

We see various wrestlers arrive. The Judgment Day arrive in a cart together. Dom gives someone the keys to the car and it's AJ Styles dressed like a valet. He says he hopes he gets cleared today.

CM Punk comes out to talk. He said he had goals when he came back to main event Mania and win the title. He says he can focus on becoming champ now. He says Gunther is one of the best in the world and he can't promise a win. He says he will leave it all on the line. He says he won't quit and will give it all he has.

He says he's been training for this all his life and he's prepared because he's CM Punk. He says he's just not any other challenger, he's the best in the world.

Gunther comes out. Gun stares him down. Gun says they are both here to win money and championships. Gun says they both have egos but his is justified as it's based on results. He says the best in the world is the man that holds the title. He says he only focuses on what happens when the bell rings and he says he will make Punk regret stepping foot in the ring. He says he will maul him and choke him out like a wet towel. He says Punk will realize that Gun is right. He says atleast Punk will have the degenerate fans cheering for him the rest of his life.

Stephanie Vaquer is interviewed. She says Chelsea Green isn't her problem. Naomi comes in. She says she's the champ and Steph says she knows who she is. Naomi says they will fight at Clash in Paris when she wins at Summerslam. She says she will do what Steph couldn't and beat Iyo. She says Iyo walked Steph like a dog before the match got interrupted. 

Rusev vs Sheamus

Rusev slides out and they pound on each other. Rusev rams him into the apron and rail. Sheamus throws him into the rail. Rusev hits a hard high kick to the head then he suplexes him. Rusev suplexes him. Rusev stomps on him.

Sheamus hits punches then finlay rolls him. Sheamus knee drops him. They trade punches. Rusev lariats him. Rusev backdrops him. Sheamus lariats him. Rusev pulls Sheamus' throat over the top rope. Sheamus knees him while he's between the ropes. Sheamus goes up for a dive, comes down then goes back up and hits a top rope diving lariat outside. He then motions like he was close to hurting himself after. Rusev fallaway slams him on the commentary table. 

We go to break and return. Sheamus hits punches, a corner lariat and a uranage backbreaker. Sheamus slams him. Sheamus clubs on Rusev's chest. Rusev hits a big powerbomb for 2. Sheamus pumping knees him for 2.

Sheamus goes up top and gets chopped. Sheamus comes off the buckles and runs into a superkick for 2. Rusev camel clutches him and Sheamus ropebreaks. Rusev calls him a stubborn mule and tells him to give up.

Rusev stomps on him. Rusev's head is banged off the exposed turnbuckle connector. Rusev grabs Sheamus' shillelagh but gets pump kicked. Sheamus then pins him.

Thoughts: It was what you would expect with the two big guys clubbing on each other and beating each other up. It wasn't great or anything and was a little long for an opener but it was fine. I'm not sure where Rusev goes now.

El Grande Americano is interviewed. He only talks in Spanish. Dragon Lee comes in and says he's fake. Lee says he's disrespecting the luchadors and doesn't have fire. Grande talks in Spanish and they fight until it is broken up.

Bayley is taping up in the back. Lyra Valkyria goes up to her and asks why Bay asked to team with her in a tag title match. Lyra said she beat her last week and is going to Summerslam. She asks what game she is playing. Bay says the game is winning.

#1 Contenders to the Tag Titles - The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) vs The LWO (Cruz del Toro and Joaquin Wilde) vs The Creed Brothers (Julius and Brutus Creed)

Kofi gets punched by BC and Wilde. BC pop-up drops Wilde. JC suplexes Wilde, overhead belly to belly suplexes Kofi then then does a double overhead belly to belly on Woods and Kofi. Wilde jawbreakers JC. JC takes a double back elbow. Wilde is hiptossed into the ropes into a splash on JC. Cruz asai moonsaults JC for 2.

Woods superkicks JC then stomps on him in the corner. Kofi basement dropkicks JC in the corner. We go to break and return. 

Cruz enzugiri's Kofi then poisonrana's BC. Wilde flying forearms JC then hits a spinning ddt. Wilde then ddt's BC. Wilde reverse ddt's Kofi and does a cool double pin attempt on The New Day. Woods takes a ddt. Ivy Nile pushes Wilde off the top rope.

Dragon Lee then gets pushed by JC. Lee then kicks JC and superkicks BC on the apron. El Grande Americano then pulls down Lee from the apron and pounds on him. The Creeds tell Grande they know who he is. Cruz tornillos to the outside from the top rope. Wilde then rolls up Kofi and pins him.

Thoughts: It was your usual three way with lots of fast paced action and cool spots. The LWO winning was definitely random.

The Kabuki Warriors talk in the back. Sane says her and Asuka will be tag champs and Iyo will be women's champ again. Asuka says good luck against Rhea at Summerslam. Stephanie Vaquer comes in. She says her and Iyo may fight at Clash in Paris and they can see who may have won last time. Iyo said she had her beat. Steph says they don't need to wait until Paris to find out. Iyo says they should find out in Houston tonight. Steph accepts.

Dominik Mysterio and Adam Pearce talk in the back. Adam tries to get Dom to go to medical and tells him to stop stalling. Dom then runs into AJ Styles, who is dressed up like a janitor. Dom says he's not cleared and AJ says he will be. The New Day then run into AJ and wonder what is going on here. Kofi says the simulation is broken. Woods says they are the greatest team of all time and need to restore order. Grayson Waller comes in. He says Austin Theory is injured and A-Town Down Under is done. Waller says he's a free agent and wants to join them. He then says he will get the car and see them in the parking lot.

Thoughts: They've been teasing the break up of A-Town Down Under only on WWE Main Event recently and I guess it's finally over. Austin Theory is sadly one of the biggest losers of Vince losing power as Triple H does not seem to favor him. Waller isn't much better off.

Becky Lynch comes out. She says she shouldn't be here and should be at the premiere of her new movie, Happy Gilmore 2. She said she had the slickest victory of all time at Evolution and won. She said she held everyone down but was honest about it. She says Lyra's intentions are selfish and asks her to come out.

Lyra Valkyria comes out. Becky says they are 1-1 in singles and she made her a star. She said the free ride ends at Summerslam. She says when Lyra loses at Summerslam, she should never challenge for the title again. Lyra says she accepts but says the match should have no countouts or DQ's and there must be a winner. Becky agrees.

Lyra goes to leave. Becky says she has done nothing but disrespect her for months. Becky says their match will be the most important match this title ever has. She asks Lyra to shake her hand. Becky lunges at her and Lyra uranages her. Lyra then holds the title up and Bayley comes out.

WWE Women's Tag Titles - The Judgment Day (Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez) (c) vs Bayley and Lyra Valkyria

The set-up for this was dumb with Bayley just asking apparently and getting this shot.

We go to break and return with this already having started. Bay pounds on RP in the corner. Bay sliding lariats her. RR throws down Bay off the lock up. Bay slides under RR's legs and hits her in the back of the head.

Lyra tries shoulders on RR. Lyra knees her in the gut. Bay boots RR. RR hits a double suplex on her opponents. RR hits snake eyes on Bay. RR fallaway slams RP onto bay for 2. Lyra hits strikes on RR and spinning high kicks her. Lyra boots RR out of the corner. Lyra legsweeps RR and step up enzugiri's her. Bay cheerleads for Lyra. Lyra is dropped throat first on the top rope. RR pulls Lyra's arm down over the top. RR running lariats Lyra. We go to break and return.

RR throws Lyra down backwards. RR slingshot jackhammers Lyra. RP asai moonsaults Lyra for 2. RP clubs on Lyra. RR misses a vader bomb elbow on Lyra. Bay comes in and hits lariats on RP. She then backdrops her. RP is bridged on the 2nd rope and Bay double knee presses her down. Bay sunset bombs her into the buckles for 2.

Bay hits corner spears on RP then misses a charge. RR lariats Bay from the apron. RR does another slingshot jackhammer on Bay. RP then tries an asai moonsault again but Bay gets her knees up. Bay jumping knees RP for 2. We are told Corey Graves' chair broke at ringside.

Lyra top rope diving guillotine legdrops RP for 2. Bay and RP fight on the buckles. Bay running sitout powerbombs her for 2. Bay top rope elbow drops RP for 2. Lyra springboard crossbodies RR. Dom distracts Bay. RP rolls up Bay for 2.

Lyra threatens Dom outside. RR boots Dom on accident. Lyra dropkicks RR through the ropes. Bay and RP both facebuster each other at the same time. A doc checks on Dom. We then see AJ Styles dressed up as a doc. He tries to do CPR on him and Dom runs. Becky Lynch comes out and pulls Lyra down off the apron. Lyra is sent into the steps. RP rolls up Bay for 2. Bay rolls her up for 2. Bay hits a belly to belly on RP. RR single arm powerbombs Bay and pins her.

Thoughts: It was a long tag but it was good. The four worked pretty well together and Raquel had a decent night. I thought I pressed the rewind button or something when they did slingshot jackhammer + asai moonsault spot twice. 

Sami Zayn is interviewed. Jackie says he's supposed to be out indefinitely. Sami says he's not 100%. He says he's just done dealing with Kross. He says he's getting in the way of his goals. He said he could have been in the gauntlet match and Kross took it from him. He says he wants to deal with this right now.

Dom is looking for AJ in the back. Finn and JD say Dom is nowhere around. Adam Pearce comes up to Dom. He says Dom is either giving him the IC Title or he's getting his doctor's evaluation. Adam says he will see him in medical. Finn says to get them some lollipops.

Sami Zayn vs Karrion Kross

Kross waistlocks him and Sami ropebreaks. Kross rams him into the corner. Sami hits some shots and suplexes him. Kross back elbows him. Kross hits mounted shots. Kross sends him hard into the buckles with his injured ribs.

Sami hits chops then mounted punches. Sami lariats him over the top. Sami hits a seated moonsault on him outside. Scarlett hits Sami outside and we go to break. We return from break. Kross corner lariats him and foreamrs him. Kross exploders him. 

Sam blind springboards over him and lariats him. Sami boots him out of the corner. Sami walks up the buckles and tornado ddt's him for 2. Kross hits corner spears. They fight on the buckles and Sami sunset bombs him off the buckles for 2.

Scarlett has a pipe for Kross to use. Sami exploders Kross into the buckles. Kross is given the pipe. Scarlett trips Sami then Kross hits Sami with a pipe in the ribs. Kross then wins.

Thoughts: It was pretty average for the most part here with not too much of note happening. This is probably Kross' biggest win on in sometime. Kross got bloody here at the end somehow.

Adam Pearce and AJ Styles talk in the back. AJ is waiting to hear how Dom is. A doctor comes out. He says he needs to finish the paperwork. Dom then nails AJ hard from behind. Dom says he's cleared and will see AJ at Summerslam.

Iyo Sky vs Stephanie Vaquer

Iyo waistlocks her and SV wristlocks her. Iyo rolls out then side headlock takeovers her. SV side headlock takeovers her and is put in a headscissors. Iyo monkey flips her then SV straightjacket chokes her. SV rolls her up then Iyo la magistrals her. They then stand off.

They trade forearms. SV backdrops her. Iyo rolls her up for 2. SV headscissors her into a roll up. Iyo cartwheels, backflips and dropkicks her. Iyo topes her outside. Iyo misses an asai moonsault then is superkicked. SV springboard crossbodies her.

We go to break and return. Iyo misses a top rope move then is dropkicked. SV hits a double underhook codebreaker. Iyo crossfaces her and SV ropebreaks. Iyo 619's her. Iyo asai moonsaults her outside. Iyo hits a top rope dropkicks. Iyo rolls her into a double stomp. SV germans her. Iyo germans her. Iyo tries to sunset bomb her off the apron and SV knee drops her on the apron. SV hits the devil's kiss on the apron.

SV then rolls in the ring and does it. SV dragon screws her and corner meteora's her. Iyo hits her own double underhook backbreaker for 2. Iyo buzzsaw kicks her then hits a corner meteora. Iyo is crotched on the top rope. SV hits a 2nd rope reverse suplex.

Piper Niven and Alba Fyre come down and try to get in. SV hits them. Chelsea Green then nail SV from behind to cause a DQ.

Thoughts: Things were going well prior to the DQ finish. I'm not surprised it happened as neither one of them really needed to lose here.

SV is beaten up on after and Iyo makes the save. Piper is double dropkicked out. Naomi then pushes Iyo into SV and beats her up. Rhea Ripley comes out and beats up Piper and Alba. Rhea drops Naomi face first on the mat. Green gets stuck in the ring alone and takes shots from all 3 faces. Green then takes a riptide.

Paul Heyman, Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed come out to talk. Paul says he stands with the future of the industry. Paul says he has a lot to get off his chest then Roman Reigns comes out.

Paul says he doesn't want to seem disrespectful or rude like someone born in Texas. He says Seth Rollins will be out for a long time and it opens up leadership void over here. Paul says we can put this back together and says to look what comes with him. Paul says they are better together than opposing each other. Paul says he will always be his family and says, "I love you, my tribal chief".

Roman tells the crowd to acknowledge him. Paul holds up the one finger. Roman says Paul isn't a wiseman anymore, he's a dumb@ss. Bron gets mad and Roman says, "easy now, junior". Roman tells him to write this down as he will do the same thing he did to him. He says in a few years when Bron is the man around here, Paul will take all the credit.

Roman says a lot of people tried to take credit for him but it wasn't Paul. He says he's the tribal chief only because the fans still acknowledge him. 

Roman says he was a champ too and the greatest champ to ever step foot in the ring. He said Paul had a part in that but he didn't have any part in him keeping the title. He said The Uso's and Solo did. He said Sami even helped out. He said he lost the title and it only took 4 years. Roman said Paul took him he tucked his tail and went home. Roman said he went home to raise the future Bloodline.

Roman says Paul thought The Bloodline were a faction or a wrestling group. He says The Bloodline was divine work and was family. Roman says Paul used to be a friend to the family. He said he threw it all away though for a best friend.

Bron gets on the mic. He says we don't want Roman here anymore. He says he's yesterday's news and the old dog. He says he's just taking up a spot in his ring. Bron says he knows Paul won't stab him in the back as he holds value and says Roman is worthless. Bron says he's the big dog now and the top dog now. He says he's the future of WWE and the man around here now. Bron tells him to do what he does best - turn around and leave. 

Roman said he didn't hear any of that and says to use his mic. Roman then super man punches him and hits shots on Reed. Bron spears Roman. Roman is double teamed then Jey Uso comes out. Jey hits superkicks then trades with Bron.  Jey and Roman then hit stereo spears.

Thoughts: I liked some of the smack talk and I liked Paul trying to be friendly with Roman again, but this one ended as expected with Roman fighting the two heels and Jey saving him. I assume this sets up Jey/Roman vs Bron/Reed at Summerslam since all four are free, but it's not exactly a big match.

Overall thoughts: There weren't a lot of new developments here as Summerslam is coming up in 2 weeks. It was a heavy wrestling show with all of the matches getting enough time to play out. I liked Iyo/Steph, The Women's Tag Title match and Sheamus/Rusev. The main event segment was predictable. AJ dressing up in various ways to annoy Dom was amusing. I'd give the show a 6 out of 10 as the show was fine, just not super exciting.