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WWE RAW REPORT
JUNE 30, 2025
PITTSBURGH, PA. AT PPG PAINTS ARENA
AIRED LIVE ON NETFLIX (WORLDWIDE)
REPORT BY WADE KELLER, PWTORCH EDITOR
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves
Ring Announcer: Alicia Taylor
Attendance: WrestleTix reports today that 14,432 tickets were distributed so far; arena set up for just under 15,000. The arena has a capacity of 19,758 spectators when configured for concerts.
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PWTorch editor Wade Keller is joined by PWTorch’s Sean Radican review WWE Raw LIVE tonight right after the show ends. Join us and let us know your thoughts on Raw during the show.
Email our post-show at wadekellerpodcast@gmail.com with your comments and questions about Raw. We’ll read your emails live during the post-show.
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[HOUR ONE]
-A video package aired on Night of Champions starting with bought-and-paid-for propaganda touting the “bustling metropolis” of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with Paul Levesque narrating as they showed aerial views of the glistening modern architecture. They praised the fan enthusiasm. Then highlights aired of the matches with clips of fans live streaming freaking out to big moments.
-Michael Cole narrated clips of the arrivals of wrestlers including Sami Zayn, Penta, New Day, and Sheamus. Then they showed an aerial view of Downtown Pittsburgh, with over a century of architecture supporting the blue collar jobs that have driven its economy, which didn’t get nearly the gushing hype Riyadh did. Cole simply called it The Steel City.
-Rhea Ripley made her entrance. Cole noted he was again joined by Corey Graves, but this time didn’t mention Pat McAfee by name as not being there. (Reports cite personal burnout as the reason for his time away.) Ripley welcomed everyone to “Monday Night Mami.” She said she has The Judgment Day behind her now, “hopefully for good, this time.” She said with Evolution right around the corner, she is wondering what is next for her. She said she wants to get her priorities straight. Iyo Sky’s music interrupted. Rhea looked quizzically toward Sky coming out on the stage.
Sky said you cannot have Evolution without Sky. She told Rhea that she is not on top now. “Not without this!” she said as she held up her belt. She said Raw G.M. Adam Pearce told her she can decide who she’ll defend against at Evolution. She spoke in Japanese and played excitedly to the crowd to scattered cheers. She said she wants to defend against the best, so that means defending against Ripley. Ripley smiled.
Ripley said she has nothing but respect for her, so if that’s what she wants, she should know she’ll stop at nothing to get the title back. She said, somewhat ominously in tone, that what happens at Evolution is “what you wanted.” She said she’s on. They exchanged some friendly but intense words off-mic.
-Backstage, Finn Balor and J.D. McDonagh were chatting with Dominik Mysterio and then walked away after fist bumps. Then, conveniently, in walked A.J. Styles. Dom showed Styles his doctor’s note. He said he had a setback, so he’s still not cleared. He told Styles if he lays a finger on him before he’s cleared, he’ll lose his title match. Styles grabbed his doctor’s note, put on reading glasses, and read the note. Styles pretended the doctor’s note says that Dom is a punk ass. Styles said he’ll beat him so bad, he’ll need a note form his doctor.
-Cole said Dom should keep his mouth shut because he’s not going to be hurt forever.
-Balor and McDonagh made their ring entrance. [c]
(1) THE NEW DAY vs. FINN BALOR & J.D. MCDONAGH – World Tag Team Title match
(Keller’s Analysis: So the Levesque era booking goes from a face-face dynamic with Ripley and Sky, leaving fans ambivalent about the outcome, to a heel-heel dynamic with New Day and Balor & McDonaugh, leaving fans ambivalent about the outcome. If he ran the NHL or NBA, would he run all neutral site games to take away the passion of the fans rooting for a certain outcome for their home team? I’m not against the novelty of heel vs. heel or face vs. face match-ups, but it’s so overdone this year.)
Fans chanted “New Day Sucks!” at the start. The bell rang 20 minutes into the hour. Kofi offered a piece of bread to Balor. Cole noted Balor hasn’t had carbs in weeks. They cut to a break a couple minutes in. [c]
Xavier and McDonaugh tagged in at 9:00. McDonagh, on his back, held Xavier in position for a Coup de Gras by Balor but Balor landed on McDonaugh. The New Day then landed their Midnight Hour double-team for a near fall. (Cole, thankfully, didn’t give away the finish by declaring the match over during the ref’s count, which is almost exclusively done when there will be a kickout.) McDonaugh took a cheap shot at Kofi from ringside, giving Balor a chance at roll-up for a two count. Xavier hit Balor with a tag belt for a two count. Cole said both sides cheated and neither got a payoff.
McDonaugh gave Xavier a Spanish Fly off the top rope. Kofi broke up the cover. Balor gave Kofi a Sling Blade at ringside. Back in the ring, Balor tagged himself in. McDonaugh landed a moonsault on Xavier and then Balor landed a Coup de Gras for the win. Fans cheered the outcome and witnessing a title change. Dom came out and celebrated with Balor & McDonagh as pyro blasted.
WINNERS: Balor & McDonaugh in 13:00 to capture the World Tag Team Titles.
(Keller’s Analysis: A well-executed tag match that played up both were willing to cheat in an attempt to win. Fans ultimately sided with Balor & McDonaugh.)
-After a clip aired of Lyra Valkyria interfering in the Becky Lynch vs. Bayley match for the IC Title last week, Jackie Redmond asked Bayley where her head is at. Bayley said she wishes she was standing there as champion, but Lyra had to get involved in her business. Lyra interrupted and said Bayley hasn’t returned her texts, but she’ll talk about her behind her back. Bayley said she doesn’t want to hear an apology from her. Lyra said she wanted to apologize, but Bayley won’t let it happen. She said she wasn’t there to sabotage her, but it’s personal between her and Bayley. Bayley said her issue with Becky has been going on ten years. Lyra said, “So it’s all about you.” Pearce yelled for them to stop yelling. He booked them against each other, with the winner becoming no. 1 contender. Lyra said it sounded great. Bayley rubbed her hands together.
(Keller’s Analysis: Two otherwise likable people acting like unruly immature kids, becoming entirely unlikable. This might be how life is sometimes, but it makes for obnoxious escapist entertainment.)
-Cole threw to a video package on Goldberg showing highlights of his winning streak in WCW and then clips of his time in WWE.
-They went to Cole and Graves at ringside who hyped Saturday Night’s Main Event taking place a week from Saturday. Cole also noted that WWE Smackdown reverts to two hours starting Friday.
(Keller’s Analysis: I’m surprised they’re pushing that. Do they think the three-hour format was a drawback for people watching, so drawing attention to the shorter duration could bring back some lost viewers? Cole says it half-solemnly, though.)
-A clip aired of Penta attacking Chad Gable last week backstage and snapping his arm. Gable told the Creeds and Ivy Nile they have to hold down the fort without him. Pearce walked in and wished Gable luck in his recovery from his injury. Pearce said this means they aren’t going to see El Grande Americano either. Gable said he keeps a busy schedule, but who knows for sure. Gable gave them a pep talk. Gable told the Creeds to listen to Ivy in his absence.
-Rusev made his ring entrance. [c]
-They showed Pearce and Aldis chatting backstage when Balor & McDonagh walked in. Balor said it’d be mean to strip Raquel Rodriguez of the Women’s Tag Titles because of Liv Morgan’s injury. He suggested they let Roxanne Perez replace Morgan. Pearce and Aldis chatted. Pearce said they will allow it, but they have to prove they’re worthy champions. He said they’ll defend the tag titles at Evolution against a team from Raw, Smackdown, and NXT. Aldis said, “Look at us, on the same page.” Pearce said, “For now.”
(Keller’s Analysis: Why are Pearce and Aldis on each other’s shows so often?)
(2) SHEAMUS vs. RUSEV
The bell rang 54 minutes into the hour. Cole noted Sheamus has never beat Rusev in a one-on-one match. Graves said tonight is the 16h anniversary of Sheamus’s WWE debut. Cole said they were once part of the League of Nations. Rusev knocked Sheamus down early. Sheamus came back with a clothesline and then yanked on Rusev’s mouth. Rusev attacked Sheamus in the corner and sent him to ringside. Cole said Sheamus isn’t used to being out-powered. Rusev leaped off the ring apron. Sheamus caught him and powerslammed him to the ringside mat. They cut to a break at 3:00 [c]
[HOUR TWO]
Rusev had Sheamus grounded after the break. Rusev landed a superplex. They cut to another break. [c]
Back from the break, Cole said this was precisely the pace they expected. Sheamus landed a near fall at 14:00 after a running kneelift. Cole said it reminds him of “a late-’70s match.” (Sounds familiar.) Rusev applied an Accolade at 16:00. Sheamus stood and they both tumbled over the top rope to the floor. Sheamus gave Rusev a big boot at ringside. Both were down and slow to get up. Sheamus beat the count first and Rusev barely beat the count just before ten. Graves said he might regret it as he looked spent.
They battled in the corner. Sheamus teased a White Noise on Rusev, but Rusev resisted and then poked Sheamus in the eye. Rusev yanked Sheamus by his wrists into the exposed turnbuckle strut sternum-first. Rusev then landed his signature Machka Kick for the win. Cole said a thumb to the eye and an assist with the turnbuckle gave Rusev the victory.
WINNER: Rusev in 21:00.
-A prerecorded message aired with Pearce and Aldis saying there will be a battle royal at Evolution where the winner gets a title match of their choice at the Clash in Paris event.
-Redmond interviewed Nile and the Creeds backstage. She asked how they’ll move forward without their leader. Niles said she’ll be in that battle royal. A wrestler walked by in an El Grande Americano outfit. Redmond asked for a comment. Nile looked perplexed and said, “No comment.” Redmond then walked over to chat with Sami Zayn, but Karrion Kross attacked him. He yelled, “Say it!” Kross picked up a pipe and swung it into Sami’s mid-section. Sami cried out in pain as officials ran in and asked for a medic. [c]
-Cole got in some plugs. A clip aired of the Ripley-Sky angle earlier. Then Graves and Cole hyped the Evolution line-up so far.
-Gunther made his entrance. Cole said Gunther would face Goldberg in Goldberg’s final match. Cole repeated that Goldberg called it “an interesting dilemma” if he wins the World Title. Gunther said he was impressed by the Goldberg highlight video. He took a dig by saying it was three minutes long, just like all of Goldberg matches. He said Goldberg wants to ride out his career on his coattail, “one last hurrah, at my expense.” He said he won’t let that happen, though. He said Goldberg is incapable of taking his title and he is capable of beating him in under three minutes. But Gunther said his goal is to take his time, blow him up, and outclass him and embarrass him in front of everyone and everything near and dear to him.
He said he heard Goldberg say he doesn’t like bullies, so it’s too bad he bumped into the biggest bully around WWE. He said he will push him around and treat him like a piece of crap. He said he can’t do anything about it. He said he’ll expose not that he doesn’t have it anymore, but that he never had it. Gunther said after Goldberg, he will then be the one to ask, “Who’s next?” Seth Rollins’s music then played. Gunther smiled and watched Seth and Paul Heyman walked to the ring. Heyman held up the Money in the Bank briefcase as they walked to the ring.
Gunther said Seth has traveled a long way to achieve nothing of significance. Seth said they hadn’t had a chance to congratulate him on his World Title victory. Seth said they didn’t intend to cash in the briefcase on John Cena. He said he has said over and over that if there is breath in his lungs, C.M. Punk will not be a world champion in WWE. He said they flew half way across the world to achieve that business. Fans chanted “C.M. Punk!” He said as it stands, when they won the MITB contract, they told the world it was going to be an all-out assault on both world titles.
Seth said, “Let me repeat – congratulations, champ.” Punk’s music then played and he ran to the ring. Punk punched away a Seth as fans loudly chanted “C.M. Punk!” Seth took a beating and then ran away through the crowd. Punk yelled that he was a coward. Another chant for Punk rang out. As Punk walked by him, Gunther grabbed his arm. Punk then shoved Gunther to the mat and told him to stay out of his business. L.A. Knight came up behind Seth and then attacked him. They brawled into the concourse where fans had already been moved aside to make space for them.
(Keller’s Analysis: Good news for Punk that John Cena’s promo didn’t totally extinguish his brand despite landing some hard truths and counter-productive accusations. As for the fans seemingly anticipating the Seth-Knight brawl, I suppose one could imagine Knight tipped them off to “prepare for chaos” or something. Gunther was wonderful, as usual, in his role.)
-Backstage, Raquel wasn’t thrilled with Perez replacing her. Balor said she’s not replacing Liv, but he knows from history how long shoulder injures can sideline someone. Balor asked for a vote to see if Perez should be added to The Judgment Day. McDonagh said yes. Dom said he wanted to check with Liv. Balor told him to make Liv proud and vote. Dom said, “Alleged yes.” Raquel looked at Perez and said she better hold up her end of the deal. Perez said she just wants to help out everyone while Liv is gone. She said she’ll do anything they need. Balor smiled and said it is going to be great. [c]
-A Kairi Sane vignette aired. She said she doesn’t run from the storm, but she runs to it. “The Pirate Princess is here,” she said.
(3) BAYLEY vs. LYRA VALKYRIA
The bell rang 44 minutes into the hour. They collided mid-ring and both went down at 3:00. They cut to a break. [c]
Bayley landed a superplex after the break for a near fall. Bayley bridged Lyra’s shoulders down, but hers were down also. The ref said the match was a draw because both shoulders were down.
WINNER: Draw.
-Bayley and Lyra fought into what Cole called “the WWF fanbase.” (That’s an improvement over “WWE Universe,” but how about saying “amongst WWE fans” or, in plain basic normal language, “into the crowd” or “into the audience.”) Graves said he didn’t like the referee’s decision.
(Keller’s Analysis: Predictability isn’t always bad if what happens is the logic thing to do, but this double-pin draw was so contrived given that two wrestlers were fighting to earn a title shot when it seemed pretty obvious they were heading toward a Triple Threat.)
-Cole said Becky is happy because she doesn’t have a no. 1 contender to deal with. Then Graves and Cole hyped SNME.
-Redmond chased down Punk backstage. She asked what was going through his mind. Punk said Seth’s knees haven’t worked that well in a while, citing how quickly he ran away. Punk then confronted Knight. He said when it comes to Seth, he should get to the back of the line. Knight said he was just booked to face Seth at SNME, so he is the line now.
-Backstage, Sami was being looked a by a trainer. Penta walked up and asked if he was okay. Sami stood and winced, but said he was. Sami then headed to the ring to his entrance theme. [c]
[HOUR THREE]
(4) SAMI ZAYN & PENTA vs. BRONSON REED & BRON BREAKKER
Sami was in the ring. The end of Penta’s ring entrance aired. They cut backstage to Heyman on the phone with Seth. Reed asked where Seth was. Heyman said he was on a flight, perfecting Plan B. Breakker walked in and said the plan is to smash anyone who gets in their way. Heyman stammered and said that is a plan. Breakker barked and he joined Heyman and Reed for the ring entrance. They cut to a break with Sami and Penta rallying. [c]
Reed had Sami grounded after the break. Sami landed a sunset bomb for a near fall. Breakker tackled Sami into the announce desk as they cut to a break. [c]
Breakker had Sami grounded after the break. Sami backdropped a charging Breakker over the top rope. Reed tagged in and stopped Sami from tagging out. Sami did hit the tag seconds later just as Breakker tagged in again. Penta went after Breakker with a flurry of offense. Penta gave Breakker his Sacrifice arm snap at 22:00. Heyman distracted the ref. Reed shoved Penta off balance on the top rope. Breakker gave Penta a Frankensteiner. Reed landed a sitout powerbomb for a two count. Penta avoided a Tsunami seconds later. Both were slow to get up.
Reed and Penta each tagged out to Breakker and Sami, respectively. Sami went for a Helluva, but Breakker countered with a flying clothesline. Sami blocked a Breakker spear with a big boot. Reed hit Sami across his back and the ref stopped his count. Sami set up a suplex. Fans chanted “This is awesome!” Reed resisted. Sami ducked a charging Reed. Penta snapped Reed’s neck over the top rope. Sami then pulled off a suplex despite sore ribs. Breakker then caught Sami with a surprise spear for the win.
WINNER: Breakker & Reed in 25:00.
-Breakker speared Penta afterward. As the heels went after Sami, Jey Uso came for the save. He bashed Breakker at ringside with a chair. Jey then went after Reed in the ring. He threw a chair at Reed, knocking him out of the ring. Jey’s music played and the fans had a good time as the show ended.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO OUR POST-SHOW PODCAST
JOIN US LIVE ON YOUTUBE TONIGHT FOR THE VIDEO-FORMAT OF OUR LIVE POST-SHOWS…
PWTorch editor Wade Keller is joined by PWTorch’s Sean Radican review WWE Raw LIVE tonight right after the show ends. Join us and let us know your thoughts on Raw during the show.
Email our post-show at wadekellerpodcast@gmail.com with your comments and questions about Raw. We’ll read your emails live during the post-show.
VIP MEMBER EXCLUSIVE VIDEO CALLER CODE: CLICK HERE
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Click that link during the post-show to enter the waiting room as “live video caller” (or just audio if you turn off your cam, which is fine). This is a private link, so don’t share. It’s just for VIP members at this time.
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