The John Report: WWE Raw Deal 09/15/25 Review
It’s WWE Raw featuring John Cena starting the show, CM Punk & AJ Lee having a face-off with Seth Rollins & Becky Lynch, and more.
The next WWE PLE is Wrestlepalooza, which is this Saturday, September 20th, in Indianapolis, and the card is very strong for it with five matches announced so far. It does feel Raw-heavy as a card, so it will be interesting to see if another SmackDown match gets added later in the week.
Congratulations to WWE Intercontinental Champion Dominik Mysterio on winning the AAA Grand Championship from El Hijo Del Vikingo at the WWE-AAA Worlds Collide: Las Vegas event last Friday. Dirty Dom got an assist from El Grande Americano to get the title. I posted the results of the show, but didn’t write a detailed TJR review because it was a busy weekend, and now I figure it would be too late for that. I enjoyed the show, and I’m glad that Dom won.
Tonight’s Raw has a 7 p.m. ET start time, and the next two weeks after are also at 7 p.m. ET rather than 8 p.m. The reason for the change is to try to counter NFL Monday Night Football on ESPN. Tonight is a special double header at 7 p.m. ET and 10 p.m. ET of NFL MNF, so WWE wants to try the 7 p.m. idea for a few weeks and see how it goes in terms of viewership numbers. I like it because I’m a diehard NFL fan who wants to watch the game, but for this year, I’m sticking with Raw live and going to the game after. I do have the game on another screen as I’m writing this review, too.
This is the Raw Deal for episode #1686 of Monday Night Raw. It’s taking place at the Massmutual Center in Springfield, Massachusetts. Follow me on Twitter/X @johnreport. Let’s get to it.
I missed the first couple of minutes, but when I joined, there was Jey Uso (supported by Jimmy Uso) arguing with LA Knight, and Raw GM Adam Pearce was there with guys to break it up.
It’s Joe Tessitore and Corey Graves on commentary for Raw this week.
Let’s Hear from John Cena
John Cena got a huge ovation as usual, and this time he was in the state he grew up in, so it is fairly close to home for him. The fans were going wild for Cena. Alicia Taylor did the special introduction for Cena that he gets everywhere he goes and it gave the fans another reason to cheer him. Cena faces Brock Lesnar at Wrestlepalooza this Saturday in Indianapolis.
Cena said there was a lot of noise and energy in Springfield. Cena said a lot of these young fans may not know this but Cena played football at Springfield College. Cena said he was an offensive lineman, so you never get your name in the paper, you get your ass kicked and come back the next day so they can kick your ass again. Cena said Springfield College prepared him for life in WWE. Cena said he had some family, teammates and friends there tonight. Cena said his niece Ashley couldn’t make it for her birthday, so he wished her a happy birthday. Cena said there’s no stage because they wanted to pack as many people as possible in here.
Cena said he held onto that introduction because it’s evolved into a chance for the fans to show their energy and for them to share a final moment. Cena said he needs that moment because he has a tall hill to climb.
Cena mentioned the “Last Real Champion” part of that. Cena said that at Wrestlepalooza, Brock Lesnar wants to end the Last Real Champion. Cena spoke about how Lesnar was damn near Lesnar. The aggressive crowd chanted, “F**k You, Lesnar” and Cena told Netflix they’re saying “Talk To Lesnar” so they’ll talk to him. Cena said that Lesnar makes a target out of him like he’s done so many times. Cena talked about how his matches with Lesnar are some of the toughest challenges he’s ever faced. Cena wondered why did he not say no? The fans chanted, “Whoop his ass” at Cena. Cena said if he said no it would be good for his health and he could use backstage politics to get out of it. Cena said that Lesnar would be the only person upset. Cena mentioned he only has about 6 appearances left. Cena said saying no is easy and safe. The fans chanted, “Thank You Cena.” John said that right there is why he says yes, because he is the Last Real Champion. Cena said he fights his audience in the ring in front of the most important audience in the world – everybody in the building tonight. Cena said that Last Real Champion leaves this place better than they found it. Cena said that the Last Real Champion operates in hustle, loyalty and respect. Cena said that you can understand it’s a chance to make magic, so you give all that you have. Cena: “Am I afraid of Brock Lesnar? Yes, I am.” Cena admitted he could fail. Cena said he won’t back down or give up. Cena said that they will take the fight to the beast because that is what they do.
Cena said that this Saturday at Wrestlepalooza, The Beast faces the Last Real Champion. Cena said it’s a final showdown between two generational cities. Cena said he’s taken Lesnar’s best for 20 years and like a sign in the crowd says, his jorts are stronger than Lesnar’s jeans. Cena ended it with, “You Want some, come get some!” The fans cheered as Cena’s music played to end it. They didn’t show Cena leaving the ring.
Analysis: It was a great promo from John Cena as usual. I write that every time. The man is so good on the microphone. The promo was the noble babyface promo about how he’s not a quitter even though it’s the smart thing to do. I thought that maybe there would be someone showing up to tell him that he had no chance to beat Lesnar, and Cena would lose to Brock like he’s done so many times, but there was none of that. I was a bit disappointed that they didn’t show Cena leaving the ring to soak in a long ovation, but that’s okay.
Jey Uso and LA Knight were arguing with Raw GM Adam Pearce, who tried to reason with them. Jey and Knight continued to argue. Pearce said he can’t have Wrestlepalooza go off the rails. Knight said he wants a piece of Bron Breakker or Bronson Reed. Pearce asked him who his partner is. Knight said he knows just the person – Jimmy Uso. Jey said no because that’s his brother. Knight told Pearce to make it happen.
Analysis: A tag team match for later in the show, which is a different pairing compared to what we’ve seen before.
Lyra Valkyria made her entrance for singles action. They went to a break for some fans. Roxanne Perez made her entrance for the first match of the night.
Roxanne Perez (w/Raquel Rodriguez) vs. Lyra Valkyria
Lyra and Perez exchanged some holds early on. Perez went for a bridging pin, but Lyra got out of it. Lyra got a rollup for two. Perez ran the ropes, held onto them and kicked Perez in the back. Lyra did a legsweep and a dropkick. Lyra was selling a back injury after an attack last week. When Lyra went to the ropes, Raquel tripped her up and the referee Jessika Carr saw it, so Raquel got ejected from ringside. Lyra sent Perez out of the ring and hit a running dropkick on Perez on the floor. Lyra slowly went up top, but Perez pulled the leg and the back of Lyra hit the mat hard. They went to a break for some fans as I’ll take a break too. It was Perez in control for about three minutes.
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The next WWE PLE is Wrestlepalooza on September 20th. Here’s the lineup so far.
- John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar
- WWE Championship: Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Drew McIntyre
- CM Punk & AJ Lee vs. Seth Rollins & Becky Lynch
- For the Vacant Women’s World Championship: Stephanie Vaquer vs. Iyo Sky
- The Usos – Jimmy & Jey Uso vs. Bronson Reed & Bron Breakker
You can watch Wrestlepalooza, streaming LIVE Saturday, September 20, at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on ESPN in the United States and on Netflix everywhere else.