3 days ago
WWE Raw takeaways: Gunther reclaims title; King and Queen of the Ring Tournament begins
WWE Raw takeaways: Gunther reclaims title; King and Queen of the Ring Tournament begins
"a sideshow comedian whose greatest achievement is pretending to be me" — WWE (@WWE) June 10, 2025
WWE Monday Night Raw on June 9 took place at PHX Arena in Phoenix, featuring the start of the King and Queen of the Ring Tournaments and a title match between Jey Uso and Gunther in the main event.
The first show after Money in the Bank saw WWE Hall of Famer Nikki Bella take the ring in her hometown to promote the all-women's event, WWE Evolution. Bayley also returned this week to get a little payback on Becky Lynch. AJ Styles also got one back on Chad Gable. This week's episode was a very good show from beginning to end.
Check out the top takeaways from this week's Raw:
CM Punk takes aim at John Cena
Decked out in Phoenix Suns colors, John Cena took the ring first, delivering a strong message to the fans. Cena told the audience that they wasted their breath to save a "sideshow comedian" act like R-Truth. Instead of the "keyboard warriors" bringing back someone they will forget about soon, Cena wanted them to bring him real competition.
Enter CM Punk.
Punk read Cena up and down, telling him that the title has corrupted him. Punk said he knows what the title would do to him, but as the voice of the people, he's willing to become a monster to stop a monster. Punk challenged Cena to a match later in the show, adding a fantastic callback to their first rivalry.
CM Punk comparing John Cena to the Yankees was a top tier call back up their OG rivalry 😭 #WWERAW — Public Enemies Podcast (@PublicEnemiesHQ) June 10, 2025
Cena hit everyone with a pump fake. He said, "Let's do it!" But Cena didn't mean on Raw. He challenged Punk to accept the match at Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia.
CENA vs. PUNK
ONE FINAL TIME
Night of Champions? 👀#WWERaw — WWE (@WWE) June 10, 2025
Enter Seth Rollins with his crew. Rollins stopped at the entrance and raised his Money in the Bank briefcase high…and…that was the end of the segment.
The John Cena farewell tour is starting to heat up. We all knew Cena would face Punk one last time, and now we know when that will go down – which is somewhat controversial. Punk has been vocal about Saudi Arabia in the past, although he recently softened his stance.
This was a solid promo segment between two of the best to ever do it, made even more special considering their history. Rollins coming out to hold his MITB briefcase up as a haunting reminder came off silly since he didn't say or do anything, but it is good to have him around anytime the title is in the ring.
Roxanne Perez advances in Queen of the Ring Tournament
The first match in the Queen of the Ring Tournament was a fatal four-way match between Rhea Ripley, Roxanne Perez, Liv Morgan and Kairi Sane. Just prior to the entrances, Perez stopped Morgan in Gorilla position to work out a partnership in the name of Judgment Day. Morgan wasn't having it, only agreeing to have Perez stay out of her way.
Although reluctant backstage, Morgan found herself receptive to Perez's teamwork throughout the match. They even gave each other a high five after taking Sane out. Ripley and Sane had their moments throughout, both with displays of power and aerial assaults, respectively.
Ripley hit a Riptide on Morgan, but Raquel Rodriguez appeared to break up the pin. This allowed Sane a chance to hit an Insane Elbow to both of them, and she then scrambled to the ring to pin Morgan. Perez rushed back into the ring for the reversal pin to take the win.
Fans are going to have to relax on the "Rhea Hogan" talk after she failed to win Money in the Bank, and now losing in the opening round of the QOTR. The right person won here, because it adds a whole new layer to Perez-Morgan and Judgment Day.
R-Truth speaks, introduces Ron Killings
After Bayley returned to run Becky Lynch out of the arena, R-Truth took a mic and jumped on the commentary desk.
"Don't let nobody tell you that you don't matter."
In what felt like a shoot promo, R-Truth seemingly directly addressed Triple H's claims after Money in the Bank that his release was always a part of the story. There was no fluff here. Every word was straight to the point.
"I am back because of y'all!" R-Truth said.
That's when R-Truth did something shocking. He put the mic down and cut off his hair with scissors, right there on the commentary table. It was an official signal that Ron Killings has arrived while R-Truth is in the past. The crowd responded with appropriate chants of "Holy sh*t!"
R-Truth just shocked EVERYONE with what he did!
Say hello to RON KILLINGS!#WWERaw — WWE (@WWE) June 10, 2025
This was a perfect promo – no notes. Ron Killings is here, thanks to the WWE fans. A more serious run for Killings will be interesting to see.
Sami Zayn advances in King of the Ring Tournament
Who will be the MYSTERY COMPETITOR?! 👀 — WWE (@WWE) June 10, 2025
The first King of the Ring Tournament fatal four-way match was between Bron Breakker (with Paul Heyman), Dominik Mysterio, Penta, and Sami Zayn.
It didn't take long for bodies to start flying all over the place in this one. Between Penta just launching himself at will without a care and Breakker turning into a missile, fans were quickly brought to their feet as the intensity of this match was high from start to finish.
Mess around with LA Knight and find out! 💥#WWERaw — WWE (@WWE) June 10, 2025
Breakker circled the ring for a huge spear to Penta, but was immediately taken out by LA Knight who disappeared just as quickly as he appeared. Back in the ring, Zayn lined up Mysterio for a Helluva Kick to advance.
Zayn was a solid choice to win this fatal four-way, although there were no wrong answers here. This was a very fun match, meeting the on-paper expectations. However, I do have one big gripe with not only this match, but the women's match before it: both of them ended due to outside interference. Can we not just have the four wrestlers in the ring determine the outcome? Here's to hoping we don't have interference in all of these opening-round fatal fours.
Gunther beats Jey Uso to reclaim World Heavyweight Championship
The main event of this week's show was another heavyweight title match between Gunther and the champ Jey Uso, who entered through the crowd with his son by his side.
Uso entered the match still banged up from his match at Money in the Bank, which Gunther took full advantage of once he realized the champ had his midsection taped up. Things weren't looking good for Uso. Even the sleeper hold that he used to win the title at WrestleMania didn't work. But he was able to gain enough momentum to hit a Uso Splash, but couldn't get the pin.
gunther had a STRATEGY — WWE (@WWE) June 10, 2025
Gunther would hit a powerbomb, followed by a spear from Uso's playbook. Neither could score a three count. Uso came back with another spear a few moments later, but the splash didn't connect. They then alternated sleeper hold positions, but it was Gunther who would slap it on last, and tightest, to put Uso out to reclaim the title.
GUNTHER DOES IT! 🏆
Jey Uso has been dethroned by the Ring General. 😲 — WWE (@WWE) June 10, 2025
There it is. Gunther is back on top.
This entry of the Uso-Gunther saga may have been its best. The final sequence was certainly something we don't see everyday, which made it special. To some, all is right with the wrestling world now that Gunther has the gold again.
Uso brings a lot of fanfare, especially with the kids who just want to yeet along with their favorite babyface. The older demo has been very critical of his matches due to his limited offense. As someone who has enjoyed Uso's entire career journey from when you couldn't tell him and Jimmy Uso apart as a face-painted tag team to the merch machine that is "Main Event" Jey Uso, I never subscribed to the hyper-critical online voices. Yes, obviously, his matches aren't going to be all-timers, but he's also not as bad as some make it seem. Sometimes, you just gotta enjoy the ride, which includes seeing the audience connect with the character through a four-letter word.
All-in-all, I'm not mad at the title change, because they are always welcome on weekly television – but mainly because it did feel like the appropriate time to put the title back on Gunther.
