WWE RAW 11/3/2025: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

WWE

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "WWE Raw," the show where you can tell it's a new landscape in WWE when the main event ends in countout/DQ/no contest shenanigans! That's never happened before! Of course, the big news of the night was Logan Paul initially appearing to side with, then ultimately betraying CM Punk, possibly joining The Vision in the process, and the WINC crew absolutely have thoughts about that. We also have some women's division thoughts, some Rey Mysterio thoughts, and some John Cena tournament thoughts as we attempt to cover most of the show that aired Monday night!

Of course, we won't be able to cover everything (especially since the show went the full three hours this time around; sorry tag title match!) but if you missed it and need to know what happened, that's what our "Raw" results page is for. If you want to know what the WINC staff thought about (almost) everything that went down, here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 11/3/2025 episode of "WWE Raw!"

What timeline are we in?

I'm still attempting to process whatever happened on Monday's "WWE Raw" opener, where CM Punk took to the microphone to celebrate his world title win, only for Logan Paul to show up, trash talk him, then have a dramatic internal conflict when The Vision appeared to beat down "The Second City Saint." My hair is tousled from the absolute storm of an opening segment that was. The whiplash from this arc has me booking a chiropractor appointment. What do you mean we have babyface Logan Paul in the year 2025?

Okay, if you've seen the end of the show, then you know that we don't actually have babyface Logan Paul. Still, I have words about the opening segment, and how weird it was, both in vacuum and considering the end of the show. The arrival of Paul-shaped rain onto Punk's post-world title win parade was weird enough, but after some typical Paul-isms and the arrival of The Vision, his resolution began to falter. I get that he's a cowardly heel and that's his whole thing. I get that in order for a character to develop — for a person to change — they first must be made uncomfortable. Why not drag that out over the course of the month, then? Why not allow for us to gain sympathy for Paul (however much of a Sisyphean task that is), and draw out his babyface turn? Don't just shock us into the ice-cold water. I know that this turn actually didn't end up happening, but if this was a legitimate babyface turn, the pacing of it would have tarnished the entire thing for me (aside from, you know, the obvious towheaded man at the center of it).

I'm not going to get too into the end of the show — my colleague will indulge you — but the fact that WWE was so dramatic about babyface Paul, only to not pull the trigger with it, is so weird. WWE knows that Paul is an unsavory character in and out of the ring, so the fact that they even teased this babyface turn is crazy. This then loops back to my original criticism: why tease a Paul babyface turn, and why do it poorly? I know the jury is still out on whether WWE has employed the use of AI in its storylines, but I'd file this weird Paul arc as evidence for such an argument.

There were some redeeming qualities of the opening segment, mainly, Punk putting several stars over by name-dropping them, but the good was not sufficient to counteract the bad. What do you mean we got a babyface Logan Paul, even for a moment, in the year 2025?

Written by Angeline Phu

WWE

However long this run may last, by the end of it there can surely be no claims that Nikki Bella had been selfish in her return to the company. Despite being one of the larger names of the women's revolution and a former champion in her own right, she hasn't returned to take unnecessary title runs and bury rising talent with momentum-snuffing wins, but rather been on the losing end of more of her bouts, and more recently giving the platform to a particular rising star in the form of Roxanne Perez. 

While last time around Perez defeated Bella in singles action, this time it was arguably more significant as it came in a tag match pitting Perez and Raquel Rodriguez against Bella and Women's World Champion Stephanie Vaquer, pushing Perez and her partner into the title picture with the victory – as Bella herself would apologize for later. Bella has been working with names that she had never really mixed with previously – Becky Lynch aside – and the fact that she is working as the giving veteran rather than one looking to take the limelight only serves to elevate those opposite her. 

Tonight, she worked as the proverbial gatekeeper for Perez to push into title contention, continuing an all-too-good program between her and Vaquer from their time in "WWE NXT," while also continuing her own arc as someone who is self-aware of her shortcomings; or, perhaps, playing the long game for the title she stands so close to. Either way, it's been a program that has this writer invested for the next part however that may come, and that has to be considered a good thing.

Written by Max Everett

WWE

Women's Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch has only been off television for two weeks, but I still really liked her surprise return, if you want to go as far as to call it that, tonight. I think the surprise element of her popping up from the crowd to jump on the commentary desk, telling Joe Tessitore to shut up, and rant to the crowd was a really nice touch. I don't think the pacing of tonight's "Raw" was bad or anything, but it did help break things up a bit in a way I wasn't expecting. And, of course, Lynch rocked up in all black, so the immediate shock of "who is THAT?" was kind of fun.

She of course ran down Maxxine Dupri, who's she's more than likely going to be facing once again, but twisted her rant in a way that she blamed the crowd for making Dupri feel like she was more important than she really is, in Lynch's ind, at least, which I thought was a nice super-heelish touch. Her rant led to her staring down the camera to address Dupri with that fire only Lynch has when she's working heel, it was really excellent. She also snuck in a "Breaking Bad"/meth reference in there to run down the crowd, which I thought was pretty clever.

As Lynch was walking down the ramp to the back, the Kabuki Warrior's music hit, and I love when WWE does the whole overlapping thing with its talents entrances and departures. She stared down Asuka, who is also one of the best things going on "Raw" right now, and honestly, now all I want is a Lynch and Asuka feud, even though they're both heels.

Lynch's interruption of "Raw" tonight was such a small part of the show, but on a show that felt kind of slow without a lot of susbtance, in my humble opinion, it was a bright spot. I also really like that WWE gave the Lynch/Dupri feud a little bit of a breather, likely because Lynch was at home with a recovering Seth Rollins there for a bit, but it worked well to give it a bit of a break. Her promo tonight reminded me that I'm still very much invested in Dupri's journey, and I don't think I mind that the women are working toward yet another match.

Written by Daisy Ruth

We are so back.

You know what a "pop" is. Every wrestler dreams of walking through those curtains to be met with applause and uproar from the fans. Of course, there are big pops, like Edge (now-known as AEW's Cope) and his 2021 Royal Rumble return, or John Cena's closely-guarded 2008 Royal Rumble appearance. There are, however, personal pops. Maybe a talent you really enjoy does a post-match run-in to put themselves in title contention. Maybe a veteran you grew up with appeared in a backstage segment. Maybe a wrestler, who, in your eyes, is the best to ever do it, comes back after a groin injury to lay some truth into his rat-stached son before following it up with a 619.

I have never had a personal pop more meaningful to me than Monday, when Rey Mysterio returned to WWE programming.

I'm a Mysterio kid, through and through. He was the first person of color I ever saw celebrated on television, and even past the cultural foundation that set for me, his moveset and in-ring aura has just never been replicated, even with the great luchadors that have passed through WWE's doors. Mysterio has always been that guy, and so to see him coming back even in his old age, post-injury, to come out on top over one of WWE's most dastardly heels (who I also love)? I was the target audience for this return.

Rey didn't miss a step in his return, verbally or physically. He didn't waste any time getting Dominik Mysterio where it hurt as he invoked the name of Eddie Guerrero in his argument against Dominik's self-aggrandization as the greatest luchador to do it. He didn't waste any time in asserting himself as the king of the luchadores. He didn't waste a single step in laying out Dominik for his iconic 619. Rey moved with the wisdom of a veteran, but the energy of a rookie. Ring rust? Don't know her.

Aside from Mysterio's return, Monday was just a great night for real luchadors. Penta managed to get a win over El Grande Americano, even after interference from the other two masked minions. Laying EGA out with a Mexican Destroyer after EGA put that damned metal piece in his mask was so poetic. Dragon Lee was on fire in his first WWE World Tag Team Championship defense against Finn Balor and J.D. McDonagh. You couldn't blink at the end of the match, lest you miss the entire electrifying ending sequence! Real luchadors came out on top Monday night, and while I don't know if this is a definitive sign of turning tides within WWE, I'm appreciative of it all the same. Viva la lucha libre!

Written by Angeline Phu

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

We're just six weeks away from the official end of John Cena's illustrious career and instead of already having a final opponent announced for him and using his few TV appearances to build said match, WWE is doing the "Last Time is Now" tournament to choose his final opponent. Following his disastrous heel turn, this feels like another big misstep in Cena's retirement year.

On Saturday, WWE announced all the tournament participants, plus five additional wrestlers. Those five could be talent who don't work for WWE, meaning at least some of them will be TNA talent (no, it will not be Edge). Tonight, Adam Pearce used a raffle drum (or a tumbler) to pick which Superstars will face each other next week. Rusev will take on Damian Priest while Shinsuke Nakamura will try to beat Sheamus to earn a tournament spot. Nick Aldis will announce two additional matches on "SmackDown".

Cena will make his final appearance in his home state of Massachusetts when "Raw" comes to Boston next week. While it hasn't been announced what he's doing on the show, we can assume he'll be watching the two tournament matches closely. Of course, Cena will address the crowd to get a massive hometown pop. It still feels like a waste of an appearance when he could be having an in-ring segment with his final opponent. WWE should be building up Cena's final match as a bigger deal by already revealing who his opponent is instead of dragging it out.

Written by Samantha Schipman

There's no doubt that CM Punk, Jey Uso, Bron Breakker, and Bronson Reed deserve their flowers for being regarded as some of the biggest names among WWE's men's division. With that said, I just couldn't really get into their main event match due to its later start time and the finish of the match.

I can understand WWE wanting to keep all four men in this match looking strong by choosing to end things in a count out so that no one has to take a loss, but at the same time, it's a really boring ending to watch as a viewer. WWE has done countless similar endings to this one over the last several weeks during "Raw" main events (albeit more often than not as disqualifications that cause matches to end in a no contest), making it a predictable finish that many fans are able to see coming week in and week out.

The post match beatdown The Vision launched on Jey and Punk didn't really help add any unpredictability, nor did Logan Paul's involvement in everything. Not only do Reed and Breakker usually blindside people with attacks after most main events of "Raw", but it wasn't super hard to guess that Paul would betray Punk at the end of the show. I personally had a hard time wrapping my head around the concept of Paul even remotely being a babyface because he feels like such a natural heel character in the professional wrestling business, so it wasn't much of a surprise for me when he hit Punk with the brass knuckles. Moreover, I can get WWE wanting to leave things on a cliffhanger as to whether or not Paul is now a member of The Vision or just an ally, but him handing over the brass knuckles to Paul Heyman felt more confusing than anything else to decipher. It somehow wasn't engaging or fun viewing for me personally whilst somehow still being a lot to take in all at once with how abrupt the new Paul/Vision alliance is.

Written by Olivia Quinlan