WWE RAW 2/17/2025: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "WWE Raw," the show that has finally given us all six participants in both the men's and the women's Elimination Chamber matches! Here at WINC, we have thoughts about both those last two Chamber qualifiers, along with the women's Intercontinental title No. 1 contender's match, Sami Zayn getting his match with Kevin Owens at Elimination Chamber, and more! As always, keep in mind that these are our personal opinions, and they are subjective — if you're more into plain facts and you just want to know what happened on the show, check out our "Raw" results page.

Of course, we can't cover everything here — sorry, AJ Styles vs. Dominik Mysterio — but that only means that what we do cover is the carefully selected cream of the crop, only the opinions about which the WINC staff had the most passion. From the unexpectedly compelling GUNTHER vs. Jey Uso feud to the bizarre logic that dictates who gets tag title matches, here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 2/17/25 episode of "WWE Raw."

Look, I get it. I want Zayn vs. Owens at WrestleMania, too. Maybe it still happens, there are plenty of ways they could drag this out, but as of right now, the grudge match to end all grudge matches is happening in Toronto, not Las Vegas. It's unsanctioned, which means they're already starting pretty high up the escalation scale (though Hell in a Cell would work, if they went that route) meaning their latest feud could very well be a one-and-done, with Owens presumably transitioning into a Mania feud with Randy Orton while Zayn transitions into a Mania feud with ... uh ... Karrion Kross, it looks like?

Again — I get it. The loss of Zayn vs. Owens would be a real blow to a Mania build that already has a lot of people scratching their heads, and while Owens vs. Orton makes all the sense in the world, it is entirely understandable to wonder how WWE could possibly justify wasting one of their true main event stars in a Mania match with Kross. I only have two things to say that can explain why I still loved all of this.

1. Zayn vs. Owens in Canada rules. It's never happened before on a televised WWE show, it means a lot to the two of them to wrestle in their home country, and it should be a legitimate draw in the Toronto market. They're going to absolutely kill each other with the fans hanging on every moment, being as loud as any international crowd since Vince retired, and it is going to be awesome. Sami's promo to set up the match was great, Adam Pearce's involvement was great (he has some significant history with Zayn and Owens from their Ring of Honor days) and I simply don't have it in me to be upset that this match is happening in the location in which it should happen, just because the event doesn't have the right name.
2. Zayn vs. Kross at Mania is ... fine, honestly? I don't love it, it's one of the last Mania matches I would have wanted for Sami, but it also makes a certain degree of sense. Look at it this way — somebody, eventually, is going to have to kick Kross' ass and pay off him popping up backstage right before friendships get ruined for the last several months (at least; some people will remind you he returned to WWE shortly before cracks started forming in the original Bloodline). Somebody has to wrestle him. Why not Zayn? I guarantee you'll he'll get as good a match out of Kross as it's possible to get, and he'll probably get the most storytelling depth out of the feud, too. Is it Mania-worthy? No. Will it be the best possible version of itself? Likely.

So yeah, I'm fine with this. Sami vs. Kevin in Toronto, let's f***ing go.

Any championship — world, midcard, tag team, otherwise — should be treated as a big deal and used as a device to get fans invested in various storylines by making them feel like an even bigger deal than they are. It's fair to say that the Women's Intercontinental Championship hasn't been treated in this manner thus far, with this week's No. 1 Contenders Match between Dakota Kai and Ivy Nile only making things worse.

As talented as Kai is between the ropes, she already lost to Valkyria in the finals of the tournament to crown the inaugural Women's Intercontinental Champion and there wasn't really any good reason to give her yet another shot at the title. Nile seemed like a clear lock to win the match, having both eliminated Valkyria from the 2025 Women's Royal Rumble and had a couple of backstage encounters to make her intentions of receiving an opportunity known. By having Kai go over instead of Nile, WWE has now booked themselves into a situation where they either make her look weak in unsuccessfully challenging for the title a second time, or they have her dethrone Valkyria to essentially retcon the finals of the tournament. It seems like such a senseless move, especially when there was a better solution right in front of WWE all along.

Kai and Nile have also been the only two women on the roster who have been vocal about wanting to go after the title while the rest of the roster has remained radio silent about it having not said a word about it. In doing so, it's diminished some of the value of the title by not making it feel as big of a deal as it should be. Introducing the Women's Intercontinental Championship was supposed to bring renewed interest into the women's division and give them something besides a World Championship to fight over, but instead, it seems to be doing more harm than good.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

With it being set that this year's Royal Rumble winner Jey Uso will be facing WWE World Heavyweight Champion GUNTHER at WrestleMania this week was the start of their own intertwined road to the "Show of Shows," and it was the "Ring General" paving those first steps with a classic dominant heel promo — walking through the crowd to channel his own opponent. The crux of this tale is going to lie in how Uso fares against the odds, given he has already failed in two attempts at GUNTHER previously, and it worked well to have the champion illustrating that disparity from the get-go.

GUNTHER gave off the energy of a man that was genuinely disappointed he was getting a forced rematch when, in his words, there are so many lucrative options otherwise, and its setting up the perfect counterweight to the raw babyface energy of "Main Event" Uso. No one would really argue that of the two, GUNTHER is objectively the better wrestler and carries that legitimate aura to back his character. But Uso is thermonuclear with a pure and organic connection to the crowd is providing a genuine big fight feel behind the feud — if they can sustain it — heading into 'Mania.

Obviously the words were met with physicality, with Uso emerging and giving the Charlotte crowd what they wanted to see; it was your typical brawl broken up by officials who were less than great at actually breaking it up. Uso sending GUNTHER packing this week after getting the spit beaten out of him after making his decision was the catharsis needed to balance the feud, and the hope is that it gets better each week from now. There wasn't much to it as an angle, and it certainly didn't break any formula, but it served his role to get to the next part of the story.

Written by Max Everett

Last week, Bianca Belair and Naomi were shown a video that appeared to show that Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez were behind the attack on Jade Cargill last November. They rightfully want to get their hands on their friend's alleged attackers.

While they haven't outright confirmed or denied their involvement, Morgan and Rodriguez have said they'd do it to anyone who got in their way. During Rodriguez's match against Roxanne Perez, the tag team champs got involved by distracting her while they attacked Morgan. It cost her a spot in the Elimination Chamber match. After the match, Rodriguez saved Morgan from their wrath.

In order to get revenge, Belair and Naomi are putting their tag titles on the line against Rodriguez and Morgan. The people who (allegedly) attacked their friends should not be getting a title shot. If they aren't getting put through a car in the same way Cargill was, they should be in a street fight. This match doesn't need a title being defended. It almost feels like Morgan and Rodriguez aren't denying their involvement in order to get a title shot. If they win the titles, then what? Belair and Naomi don't fully get revenge and lose their titles in the process. This is an example of the ongoing booking issues surrounding the women's tag titles, which have long been a big issue.

Written by Samantha Schipman

Roxanne Perez is the sixth entrant in the Elimination Chamber and despite getting there in part due to a distraction off the Women's Tag Team Champions appearing to start brawling with Liv Morgan at ringside, this was the right call for so many reasons. Yes, I'm fresh off attending Vengeance Day live over the weekend, so my love for all things "WWE NXT" — especially the era of Perez, when I started watching the show more often — is definitely showing, but I loved this.

First, I didn't need Raquel Rodriguez in the Chamber just to protect Morgan. I know they're entirely different match concepts, but I had enough of that during WarGames back in November. Morgan needs to go out and fend for herself, like we all know she can, and she needs a good, solo showing after her lackluster Women's World Championship run. Rodriguez didn't need to be in, but Perez sure did. Despite her loss in "NXT" on Saturday in the fatal four-way match, she's still shining bright on the main roster. She's the record holder for the longest time spent in the women's Rumble match, and that's thankfully not something commentary is letting anyone forget any time soon until she's 100% only on the main roster. Rodriguez winning the Chamber wasn't believable, but Perez winning actually is, no matter how small that chance may be.

While I don't think Perez is necessarily winning the Chamber, she's going to have an excellent showing against the likes of Morgan, Bianca Belair, Naomi, and Alexa Bliss. We already know she can go against Bayley, and I'm sure that's where the story is going to go during the match, with their feud assumably continuing after Vengeance Day. One is going to eliminate the other in the Chamber, but neither is going to win, and we have a match set for WrestleMania weekend, likely at Stand & Deliver.

After that, Perez will surely be on the main roster full time, where she's already been set up for success in a way I can't recall an "NXT" call-up has been before, at least in recent memory. Despite winning off a distraction, something I can easily overlook, WWE is setting up one of "NXT's" brightest stars for an excellent future on the main roster. I thought that during the Rumble, and I'm so happy to see her in the Chamber.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Most fans of modern day professional wrestling have inevitably seen a match between Seth "Freakin" Rollins and Finn Balor at some point, given their numerous encounters with one another in the squared circle over the years. This is both a good thing and a bad thing, as they've proven that they have good chemistry with one another and have put on some great matches but also means that it's been done many times before and doesn't necessarily need to be done again.

It seemed to be abundantly clear that no matter who Rollins was facing tonight, he would be the one to emerge victorious with how many times he's brought up the 2025 Men's Elimination Chamber in promos and his ongoing feud with CM Punk (who of course, has already earned his spot in the match). Because of this, Balor didn't need to be chosen as Rollins' opponent and it was the perfect opportunity to give someone else the chance to face Rollins instead. On top of that, it clearly wasn't either man's best work or match against each other. It dragged on for several minutes, and was slow, boring, and a poor main event. For a show that was otherwise pretty solid, it felt like a very obvious low point and was unfortunately a disappointment. If you need any further proof, all you have to do is look at Rollins' face after the match, which said it all.

Written by Olivia Quinlan