WWE Monday Night RAW was live from Madison Square Garden, the famed NY venue that has a massive place in WWE/WWF history, and the show was jam-packed with bookings meant to further the WrestleMania 42 narrative. Cody Rhodes, Brock Lesnar, CM Punk, and Roman Reigns were all booked for the show, which is not surprising at this stage of the ‘road to WM,’ but this marks the third consecutive booking with Punk and Reigns as the final segment.
Last week was well received by fans, as Jey Uso ‘ordered’ Roman to take care of Punk, who was left beaten and bloodied, to end RAW. It could be argued that this is over-saturation, but the fact that these two legends have delivered every time in this spot offers reasons not to doubt them.
ROMAN VS PUNK ON THEIR ‘ROCKY SEQUELS’ ERA
It did not feel like the others, and if that was the goal, then it was accomplished. There was no epic final promo battle; instead, Roman received the briefest mic time before Punk came down and all hell broke loose. They battled around the ringside area as Roman attempted to put Punk through the commentator’s table, again.
Punk managed to not only avoid the spot but reverse course by putting Roman through the table. The brawl was received well by the live crowd as the MSG crowd cheered on their insatiable need to inflict violence on one another, but it felt like a ‘blow off’ segment—storyline-wise.
STEPHANIE GIVES CODY A ‘HEADS UP’ ON ‘THE VIPER’
Cody kicked off the MSG opener for RAW, reminding the crowd that this was WWE territory, and the champ is always ‘booked’ for the homefield showcase. It was not long before a familiar theme hit as the camera cut to the curtain, revealing Stephanie McMahon.
She received a tremendous ovation from the crowd, shocked to see her, though she reminded them (and Cody) that this was the house her grandfather had built, and that her last name gave her carte blanche. The tone felt a bit contentious, but Stephanie’s guise came in the form of a ‘warning.’ She said that despite Cody’s longtime friendship with Randy, he was not experienced when it came to the hostilities of ‘The Viper.’
Cody said he has known Randy for a long time, but he also admitted that Randy has done things so violent that they cannot be shown in WWE today—a line that hit hard for its ugly honesty. He took it further when he admitted that Stephanie was more familiar with Orton’s dastardly violent streak, having firsthand experience—the clip is searchable online and starts with Randy hitting Stephanie with a DDT, but adults should refrain from allowing younger, more impressionable kids to watch.
She told Cody that he was ‘not his father,’ a sentiment that Cody returned to her in reference to Vince—though it could be argued that it is also a compliment. Things were heated, and the provocative nature of her warning felt a bit passive-aggressive.
Could Stephanie be the person on the other side of Orton’s phone calls because she does fit the narrative of the ‘forgotten royal family’ bloodline in wrestling?
LESNAR DRESSED TO FIGHT… OBA FEMI BORN TO CONQUER?
Paul Heyman opened Lesnar’s promoted segment after two consecutive weeks of Oba Femi, Lesnar’s challenger for WM42, owning ‘The Beast.’ Last week, Heyman used the excuse that Oba Femi ‘caught Lesnar cold,’ caught off guard because his focus was on Seth Rollins.
The excuse Heyman used tonight was that Lesnar was not dressed to fight, and Oba Femi instead picked a fight with someone who was ‘just looking for a conversation.’ Heyman asserted that a ‘dressed to fight’ Brock Lesnar is much more dangerous than a ‘boots and jeans’ Brock.
Lesnar had enough and grabbed the mic from Heyman to demand Oba Femi come to the ring, but instead, GM Pearce came out to inform them that a showdown would not be happening as it is his duty to ‘protect’ the Mania match. So, of course, Oba’s music hit just as the boos rained down from Pearce’s decision. He looked even more focused than in previous weeks, and that contrasted with Lesnar’s look of anger with a hint of concern.
Oba Femi ran through WWE officials, including Pearce, and the crowd was chanting “Oba” on their feet as he stalked Lesnar around the ring with his ‘war walk.’ The crowd chanted ‘holy s**t’ as Oba Femi finally made his way into the ring after making Lesnar wait.
That is when Triple H himself came out from ‘Gorrila position’ to put a stop to this finally, and Brock manhandled his own WWE officials on his way backstage. This segment was huge and felt every bit like the kind of hype you expect from Mania.
DOUBLE CHECKING EMAILS AND AOL MESSAGES… SETH GETS GUNTHER?!
Paul Heyman came back out to finish off the storyline with Adam Pearce, who had been pestering him all night about ‘checking his emails.’ It was clear that Heyman had not checked them, and so in front of the entire MSG crowd, Pearce informed him that ‘Boston Police’ had “dropped all charges” on Seth Rollins after last week’s arrest courtesy of Heyman’s restraining order.
Pearce announced Seth is ‘medically cleared’ before Seth appeared to hit Heyman with a steel chair, but not until after Heyman hit us with the ‘only promoter from the 90’s left standing.’
In a moment that would have been perfect for Heyman to announce that Breakker is also medically cleared, Gunther came out to attack Seth Rollins—pointing at the ‘Mania’ sign at the end of the segment to signify their booking at the ‘Show of Shows.’ It seems like Breakker’s injury will keep him out of Mania this year—at least from a competitor standpoint.
THE USOS(c) VS THE VISION—WWE Tag Team Titles
The Vision was WWE’s premier faction last year, and even though their storylines suffered from pauses in programs, they were consistently booked as the ‘top dogs.’ Fast-forward to now, and the faction has fallen from grace with several key injuries, leaving them vulnerable, both in competition and story-wise.
Their biggest advantage was always the numbers game, specifically in a post-Bloodline era of WWE, so it was no surprise that their success tonight hinged on outside assistance.
iShow Speed has been a frequent guest of the WWE during major PLEs, and he has been utilized in actual in-ring moments, like his Royal Rumble appearance, which nearly left him sliced in half by a Bron Breakker spear. With WrestleMania 42 just weeks away, Speed has been on WWE TV, though, without any real program.
The ‘street fight’ was very entertaining, especially with LA Knight on commentary, and Logan Paul showed another facet to his game tonight with the help of his veteran opposition. However, it was when Speed decided to grab Logan’s brass knuckles that things went sideways.
Speed was ‘cursed’ by Dan Housen last week, and it seemed to come to fruition tonight, even though he tried to negotiate his way out of it with the kayfabe vampire. Speed put the knucks on, and when Knight came up to him from behind, the famous streamer inadvertently decked the face, leading to Logan and Theory winning the tag titles. After the match, Logan suggested to Speed that he ‘stay close to them’ as he drew the ire of Jey and Jimmy, standing in the middle of the ring, stunned by the events that unfolded.
iShow FEAR
Cut to their locker room, iShow Speed was trying to explain that his intentions were never to get involved, but Logan tried to make Speed understand that intent is of no consequence. He told Speed that he now has enemies and that he should ‘stay close’ to The Vision for safety. Paul Heyman entered the segment to reiterate Logan’s words.
LIV MORGAN GOES NUCLEAR (FAMILY)
The Liv Morgan-Stephanie Vaquer program has not always been great, or even coherent, and in a feud where some words have weighed heavier than others, the 2026 Royal Rumble winner refused to hold back in her promo. She started with her usual schtick before totally dropping the ‘act’ and telling the crowd that she was ‘done with the cute’ for tonight.
She called the champion out harshly from the jump, saying, “Stephanie Vaquer, you’re done for b***h,” as her opening line. However, it was the way she finished the promo that was most memorable, setting up the line by harping on Stephanie’s ‘lack of family’ in WWE—specifically, calling out Vaquer’s mother.
Liv used the term ‘on sight,’ and that might have been lame if she didn’t hit Vaquer with the very next line that was set up by claiming her mother taught her to ‘never let anyone get the better of her.’
“But you’re mother, tu madre es basura (“trash” in Espanol), Puta,” Morgan said in a line that ‘Dirty’ Dom had to have taught her.
The promo did what Liv intended it to do as Stephanie came running to the ring recklessly, only for a returning Roxanne Perez to assist Liv with the double team. Liv hit the ‘Oblivion’ on a chair before screaming ‘b***h’ at her to close the segment.Â
OTHER TIDBITS
– WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles: The match that was promoted for a week on both RAW and SD ended in a schmoz when the champs, Nia Jaxx and Lash Legend, had two other teams come down to interfere in their match with Bayley and Lyra. With Alexa Bliss and Flair coming out after The Bellas, it seems as though a multi-team match is being set up for Mania.
– Penta successfully defended his IC title against veteran Kofi Kingston in singles action. In the post-match, Penta announced that he will put his IC title on the line in a ladder match, likely a multi-man match, though it was not specified.
– Iyo Sky stood up to Auska in her singles match with Raquel Rodriguez. That distraction cost Sky the match, but she did it to help Sane, which furthers the current program involving all three.
– Lin-Manuel Miranda, the uber-talented Broadway producer and performer, was in attendance, as was ‘roast master’ Jeff Ross, for this MSG edition of RAW.
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