WWE RAW 2/3/2025: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "WWE Raw," in this case the Royal Rumble fallout show — and boy, was there fallout from the Royal Rumble all over this episode! We'll cover most of it — you'll have to form your own opinions on Luddwig Kaiser vs. Penta, but we will compare and contrast the show-opening promo from one Royal Rumble winner to the somewhat different promo from the other, and we'll talk Liv Morgan vs. IYO SKY, LWO vs. New Day, and even touch on AJ Styles joining the "Raw" roster before dumping out all our feelings on the main event match between Sami Zayn and CM Punk (which was followed by Kevin Owens committing murder).

As always, you can check out our "Raw" results page if all you want are the quick and dirty facts of the show, untainted by opinion. However, if you're looking to read about which parts of Monday's offering from the red brand we thought were good and which ones were bad, you're in exactly the right place. These are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 2/3/25 episode of "WWE Raw."

Like pretty much the rest of Gen Z, I don't have a very long attention span or much patience at all which means that I don't like waiting when a wrestler is inside the ring but doesn't say anything for a while. While Jey Uso did such in his opening segment, it was the only (and probably last time) that I actually enjoyed a wrestler waiting a while before they said what they had too as they soaked in the moment with the live crowd.

All it took was one look at Jey's face as he spoke about his journey to win the 2025 Men's Royal Rumble to see just how much it meant to him and just how emotional of a moment it was for him. WWE tends to overuse promos with wrestlers (especially babyfaces) talking about their journey to get to where they are today, but hearing Jey recall his story to being a future main eventer of WrestleMania 41 had a lot of intention and meaning behind it.

This was also one of the very rare times that I actually liked GUNTHER's recurring character arc of not taking his challengers seriously, as it actually served a purpose in this case and felt prevalent to a storyline in a way that it hasn't before. GUNTHER has something to back up his perspective of not seeing Jey as a legitimate challenger, given that he's now successfully defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Jey once at WWE Saturday Night's Main Event. When combined with Jey's emotional promo just seconds prior, it gave GUNTHER some much needed traction and heat especially with how lackluster and stale his World Heavyweight Championship reign has felt over the past few weeks.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

When a wrestler cuts a promo, it should have a clear, concise point to it and work to either get the wrestler over with the fans or heat from them depending on whether they're a babyface or a heel respectively. Charlotte Flair's post Royal Rumble felt like an awkward middle ground somewhere in between, and did not come anywhere close to landing how it was intended amongst fans.

It was clear from the get-go that while WWE was under the assumption that they could have Flair as a babyface character upon her return, the Cleveland live crowd was not feeling this at all. Flair looked to speak about her journey back from injury, but quickly turned on the audience as she became more impatient with their boos and was supposed to be cutting a feel good promo. Flair was supposed to be getting sympathy from the audience, but instead, she did the exact opposite and came off as incredibly conceited, hostile, and even self absorbed. Even the ever popular Rhea Ripley's presence couldn't help this segment to fully recover, as presumably much of the fan base (myself very much included) don't want to see Flair and Ripley square off a third time at WrestleMania 41 and would rather have Flair face a new opponent. If anything, this segment made it more clear that WWE needs to go ahead with Flair and Tiffany Stratton for the WWE Women's Championship due to how repetitive her exchange with Ripley felt in comparison to their previous ones heading into WrestleManias 36 and 39.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

Shame on me for not seeing it coming, but for whatever reason, I didn't expect a Logan Paul appearance Monday night, despite "Raw" being in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. Despite him coming out for the tag team match pitting the New Day against Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee, Paul's type of heat just doesn't work alongside Kofi Kingston and Xavier Wood's heat. Paul reeks of true "go away" heat and New Day's storyline heat is completely different. Paul also didn't interfere in the match to help Woods and Kingston, but rather to benefit himself for next week, when he faces Mysterio once again, this time in an Elimination Chamber qualifier.

I personally thought New Day needed the win, which they did get here, and I assumed it wouldn't be a clean victory, but Paul's interference just made the match feel off to me. Paul didn't even do too much, at least it wasn't dramatic, to make his involvement even interesting. He got in Mysterio's face, Mysterio pushed him over, and Paul got a cheap shot in for Kingston to hit a Trouble in Paradise to pin the Hall of Famer for the victory. Nothing special to see here, but thankfully, WWE had enough sense to not book Paul to celebrate with Woods and Kingston.

I also don't need to see Mysterio and Paul again. The last time the pair faced off was when Mysterio dropped the United States Championship to the former YouTuber, and that match didn't end well at all. It was the bout where people were initially praising Paul for "saving" Mysterio off a move so he didn't break his neck, but I remember it being clarified that Mysterio saved himself, and Paul wasn't in the right spot to begin with. That's all to say, I don't need it again. I'm confident it will be Paul going over to get into the Elimination Chamber, which will also be annoying. However, there is the small glimmer of hope that AJ Styles, "Raw's" newest roster member, will interfere, as it was Paul who eliminated him from the Royal Rumble, and it will be Mysterio to go on to the Chamber. I much rather see a Styles versus Paul feud for nothing meaningful than see Paul in the Chamber for the second year in a row.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Just when you thought that Women's World Champion Rhea Ripley and former champion Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez were done with each other, a new little wrinkle in some completely different storyline puts them back together, and this time, it cost poor ol' IYO SKY big time. Morgan and SKY were set to face off in an Elimination Chamber qualifier match, and Morgan attempted to take out SKY backstage before the bout. Ripley came to SKY's aid backstage, and was hit by Rodriguez for her troubles, but she also found her way out to the ring during their qualifier match to attempt to even the numbers game on behalf of SKY.

Ripley ran out to the ring to attempt to help, and instead of taking out Rodriguez, she hit Morgan with a forearm, causing the disqualification on SKY, letting Morgan move on to the Elimination Chamber. While I'm sure SKY is likely to win a Last Chance Match to get in the Chamber (I don't think WWE is going to keep her out of a match like that with how excellent her big spots always are), I'm more annoyed that Ripley and Morgan are once again so close together and intertwined, albeit, hopefully very briefly. I hope it doesn't go any farther than this, and it's Ripley and SKY who start to develop a feud, but on a show that wasn't too interesting outside of the start and the finish, this just wasn't it for me. It was an awkward ending to what could have been an excellent match.

SKY just kind of looked exasperated at Ripley and left the ring after the DQ. The pair didn't come to blows or anything close, so it's hopefully a slow brewing story and SKY ends up winning the Chamber. I know a lot of people were rooting for her in the Rumble, but I think she'd be far more interesting in the Elimination Chamber. Now, she has a reason to be ticked off with Ripley that can only grow from here. At least, that better be what happens, because I'm not sure I can take Morgan winning the Chamber and getting another crack at Ripley.

Written by Daisy Ruth

It was unfortunate that prior to the main event, we had to sit through another version of every single Seth Rollins promo since CM Punk came back, and even more unfortunate that Punk and Rollins had to tousle each other's hair during a brief skirmish on the ramp ahead of Punk's match with Sami Zayn. However, once Rollins finally left and he and Punk were properly separated by the adults in the room, he played no further part in the show, and the first-time-ever bout between Punk and Zayn was Very Good.

The clear story going in was the question of whether Sami is on Punk's level, which Punk keeps saying he's not even though we all know that's a damn lie. Zayn proved it in this match, keeping up with Punk every step of the way and even reversing the GTS into a roll up that was about a tenth of a second from getting the victory. In the end, Punk delivered a GTS for the win and moved on to the Elimination Chamber match, but both Michael Cole on commentary and Punk's offer of a handshake in the ring sold the idea that Sami had earned Punk's respect and showed he belong amidst WWE's top tier.

Out of nowhere, an enraged Kevin Owens appeared with a nasty black eye to attack Zayn from behind whilst wearing an "Sami Zayn Forever" shirt. To add insult to injury, he hit Zayn with a Package Piledriver, just the second time he's hit that move in WWE. The attack stemmed from KO's match against Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship at Royal Rumble, which Zayn was watching from ringside. When Owens was put through a ladder, Zayn rushed to his side, but also checked on Rhodes. He also didn't do anything to stop Rhodes from climbing the ladder and getting the belts dangling overheard. This seems to be what finally triggered Owens — he's been right in his feud with Rhodes, but Sami not helping him with the title may have been a bridge too far. And I'm here for it.

Written by Samantha Schipman

Well, it finally happened. As it was always going to happen. As it was meant to happen.

As WINC's resident French-Canadian superfan, I was obviously hoping for a couple different results this past Saturday at Royal Rumble. However, while I may not be getting Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania, it looks right now like I'm at least getting Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens at WrestleMania, and this time they're even in their proper alignments! Can't really complain, all things considered. And by "can't really complain" I mean "Kevin Owens hit a package piledriver on Sami Zayn for the first time since December 2012 and you expected me to not love it?"

There will be plenty of time to analyze this latest incarnation of Sami vs. Kevin and figure out where it fits within the tapestry they've been weaving together since 2003, so for now I just want to focus on what happened Monday night. WWE actually did a really good job of foreshadowing the turn — sure, it was inevitable after Zayn failed to help Owens win the WWE title at the Rumble, but the set-up throughout the episode was brilliant. We had the backstage moment between Sami and Jey Uso, which reinforced Sami as a good person who's genuinely happy for his friend. Then we had Seth Rollins projecting his hatred of CM Punk onto Sami, supporting Sami on the surface while actually manipulating him into making Rollins' road to the title easier — just like Kevin has been doing. And finally, we had Zayn losing yet another close match against the upper echelon of WWE talent and accepting a handshake from Punk afterward, which may have been the worst thing he could have done from Owens' perspective.

Sami is a good person, even when it's inconvenient and even when it's not helping him win titles. Yes, he had a lengthy heel run, but it wasn't a successful one — Sami was treated as a joke the whole time. He didn't find success until he became a fan favorite again. Owens (and also Rollins, actually) has always seen more success as a heel; he's won his world titles as a heel. Kevin hates Sami because he cared more about his morals than their friendship at Royal Rumble, but more broadly, he hates Sami because Sami thrives on adversity, while Kevin buckles beneath it. Sami took another loss to another top star, keeping him out of another world title match, and he still shook the guy's hand afterward because he's Sami Zayn. He's too strong for that.

Kevin Owens knows that indomitability, that incorruptibility, all too well, which is why he had to try and stamp it out with the same move he used the last time he tried to stamp it out, back when one of them wrestled under their real name and the other hid their identity beneath a mask.

Yeah, you might say I'm a little bit hype for this. Even if it should be for the WWE Championship.

Written by Miles Schneiderman