WWE RAW 9/8/2024: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "WWE Raw," the show where Jey Uso totally isn't turning into Roman Reigns, it's fine! It's all fine! We have thoughts about all this Usos stuff, which will continue to play out in a tag team match at Wrestlepalooza, and we absolutely have thoughts about AJ Lee and the other tag team match happening at Wrestlepalooza! We're not going to talk about whatever the other AJ is doing, and you also won't find it on our "Raw" results page because it happened during a commercial break on Netflix, but that is definitely also a thing that happened!

Speaking of our "Raw" results page, you can definitely go check that out if you need to know everything that happened on this episode. What you're about to read is not comprehensive coverage, but rather the WINC staff's opinions on the things we felt most strongly about. Which is merely another way of saying, these are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 9/8/25 episode of "WWE Raw!"

As the old adage goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. And the same can be argued about "Main Event" Jey Uso's arc over the past five years. The former tag team stand-out breaking away as the "Right Hand Man" to Roman Reigns and being literally beaten into falling in line, dispersing that hatred and that frustration on whomever he was directed towards by the "Tribal Chief." 

He then broke away from that role, going on to cement his "Main Event" status winning the World Heavyweight Championship by making Gunther tap out at WrestleMania. He then reigned well, a fighting champion to a fault, falling on his sword to Gunther once more and forced to turn his focus on getting the title back. 

It has hardly turned out to be a fruitful journey for Uso back to the top, falling short in a pool of challengers including eventual champion CM Punk and LA Knight, and thus becoming embroiled in Reigns's issues once more as part of their joint pursuit of Seth Rollins as current champion. And once again, within the proximity of his larger-than-life cousin, Uso has felt the pressure of regaining the title and the weight of expectation. Something his brother Jimmy went on to note during tonight's show, as Jey said he was not interested in helping Knight against the Vision and he was just focused on getting his. 

Jimmy said that he was starting to sound like Reigns, and that was true. That is the point. It's subtle, but it is there, this gradual tension brewing in Jey where he no longer wants to be merely the purveyor of a catchy chant of a word popularized last decade. There is a return to the genuine and compelling emotion that propelled him to where he is now, and it is a well-needed development for a character that has been handed loss after loss and stumble after stumble over the past few months. 

It lays the foundation for a redemption arc, but more importantly in the short term it gives his character a bit of meat and bones after relying so long on the chant-happy fans and merch sales to reflect. 

This is the story of someone that has reached the top, defied all expectations and found new ones bestowed at his door along the way; it wouldn't be natural for him to continue stepping aside for the likes of Knight and Punk when he too is in the hunt for the world title, and that is the nuance that Jimmy cannot capture because, as Reigns told Jey before he broke away, being the guy requires the ugly decisions that make you look like a viciously selfish a**hole. The closing segment of the show being that soda-pop moment where Jey bursts into Knight to have the final word, that just cements it. He is not a bad guy, nor is he a good guy, he's just trying to be the guy. And I, for one, welcome that stuff.

Written by Max Everett

I enjoyed Lyra Valkyria's match with Raquel Rodriguez, and I very much expect to enjoy her match with Roxanne Perez. I've enjoyed ... pretty much every Lyra Valkyria match for a while now, which is why even though the match was good and I technically understand why it makes sense to have Valkyria take the loss to Rodriguez, I'm a little confused by the fact that a month or two after the fantastic Becky Lynch feud, Valkyria is out here taking a loss to Rodriguez.

Again, it's nothing against Rodriguez, who I actually think has had a really good 2025 all things considered. But I had been under the impression that WWE understood the extent to which Valkyria is built different, and I'm starting to question that just a little bit. I really, really think she should have won the women's Intercontinental title back from Lynch at SummerSlam, and since not doing that, she's wrestled twice and is 1-1 against Rodriguez and Kairi Sane, aka the women's tag division. Ask Bianca Belair what it means for your upward mobility to be stuck in the women's tag division.

Now, am I pretty sure Valkyria is mostly just coasting until her whole thing with Bayley starts up again? Yes. But could we like ... get that feud going, perhaps? It's been a month since Bayley started releasing schizophrenic vignettes that do a number on Mark Henry, and while those are consistently great, it's also been a damn month of them. It would be nice for fans if WWE could get a move on when it comes to actually getting Bayley and Lyra back in the ring, and it would be real nice for Lyra's career to be back in a high-profile singles feud with a major star. I'm not saying her career is in jeopardy or anything, but she had real momentum before losing the Lynch feud, and I would hate to see that derailed even further — especially for a performer of Valkyria's caliber — via losses to the likes of Rodriguez.

Written by Miles Schneiderman

Wrestling is often perceived as a space for many to come and escape their problems in the real world, but it can also be a great platform for talent to use to spread positivity or messages that fans out there may need to hear. As someone who has had her own struggles with mental health and knows that there are many other individuals out there struggling with similar things, I know that I truly appreciated AJ Lee addressing mental health in her promo in a deliberate manner that was a very refreshing change of pace in a sport that doesn't brooch the subject very often. Lee masterfully showed just how powerful it can truly be when a wrestler uses their platform to do good in the world, sharing a glimpse into her own mental health journey in a major feat of strength (and even getting the fans to chant for therapy) whilst still accomplishing the bullet points that she needed to get through.

On a more lighthearted note, Lee's promo worked to advance a rather stagnant storyline that was in desperate need of some advancement. Lee's verbal exchange with Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins actually felt like a war of words in a company where that feeling can be hard to come by, being engaging and interesting to watch throughout the entire thing. While many already knew that it would be Lynch and Rollins against CM Punk and Lee at Wrestlepalooza, WWE managed to make the announcement of the match in a very unique way that perfectly fits in with Lee's character by having her provide Lynch and Rollins with an ultimatum Rollins ultimately just couldn't say no to. From top to bottom, every single second of this segment was incredibly well done and a must watch for anyone who has yet to see it.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

Another "WWE Raw," and another week I'm begging WWE to release Stephanie Vaquer onto our television screens. This week, Adam Pearce kind of made it sound like travel issues for "La Primera," and while that could be true (I say, as I check her Instagram page, which gives no indication there actually was, from her end, at least), if she had been on "Raw" consistently following her battle royal victory at Evolution last month, it wouldn't feel like she's been gone forever. I'm beginning to think she's injured at this point, because it's all very strange. 

Hopefully it's just WWE being extremely overly cautious with Vaquer because they plan on belting her up in Indianapolis at Wrestlepalooza to cement her as a megastar with the company's first show on ESPN's new streaming service. Though, once again, very strange, as WWE hasn't been this wildly cautious with her opponent, IYO SKY. And, neither woman is exactly injury prone to need to protect either one of them before the big match. And, if you want Vaquer to seem like a huge star before going into that match against one of the best wrestlers on the WWE roster, outside of even putting the gold on her, wouldn't you want her wrestling more matches on "Raw" for more fans to become familiar with her? I could go on and on for days.

Vaquer has been in two backstage segments since winning her shot at the Women's World Championship, which she was meant to have at Clash in Paris. The first was following Naomi vacating the title and Pearce telling her the match couldn't happen in Paris. By the looks of her social media, Vaquer was somewhere on the European tour, but she didn't wrestle in any matches on "The Road to Clash in Paris" or whatever WWE was calling their house shows. The second backstage segment she was in was Pearce telling her she'd be wrestling SKY at Wrestlepalooza, and I believe I already wrote about how dumb of a moment I thought that was, as he had her wait a week for things to be "finalized," when the match already made sense and I'm not sure what storyline logistics Pearce had to figure out.

Her last match, outside of Evolution, was a six-woman tag team match. While exciting, it didn't exactly showcase Vaquer when it comes to her singles ability. The fact she didn't wrestle in Europe really has be questioning what the heck WWE is doing with her right now. The mystery of the missing "Dark Angel" every week is getting old, fast, and I'm glad I'm already set up with this new ESPN thing so I don't have to shell out $30 just to see Vaquer wrestle in a few weeks.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Just on paper, this match rocks. Nikki Bella is an icon of the professional wrestling business, with a WWE Hall of Fame induction and the longest-ever Diva's Championship reign just some of her accolades. Asuka is one of the best technical wrestlers in the world, and has a lengthy list of accomplishments of her own, with the longest-ever "WWE NXT" Women's Championship reign and first-ever Women's Royal Rumble Winner being among her most notable. There was not a doubt in my mind that this match was going to be a good one, and I love being proven right.

In a show that was mostly nothingburger, aside from a few great storyline progressions, this match stood out as one of the better ones. Despite being the icon that she is, Bella is not known for her in-ring ability, so her in-ring work Monday was somewhat of a pleasant surprise. Her selling might be overexaggerated and cartoonish to some, but I think her selling says a lot more about her in-ring ability than people realize. It's one thing to be able to dish out painful-looking moves and flaunt your own strength in the ring. It's another thing to be able to convince the audience that someone else's moves hurt — it's another thing to be able to make the audience believe that this person is stronger than they are.

I say that I'm somewhat surprised at Bella's performance, but only because I know that Asuka is a top-tier performer. She could make wrestling a plastic bag look interesting, so it's almost no wonder that she was able to have a great match with Bella. After her poor and spotty booking, Asuka's performance Monday was such a breath of fresh air. Ever since she got pulled into the Damage CTRL/women's tag scene vortex, Asuka's booking has felt like a drought: her recent storylines have done nothing to show the depths of Asuka's in-ring work. It almost feels like her legacy has dried up. While this is not one of Asuka's career highlights — admittedly, it is far from it — I do think that Asuka's match with Bella was one of the best ones in recent months. Perhaps I'm getting my hopes up too much, but it genuinely feels like we are returning to Asuka's heyday, where her booking matches up to her insane in-ring skill.

While it might be disappointing to see WWE Hall of Famer Bella take a loss in a match, especially so soon after her Clash in Paris performance, I do think that an Asuka victory was the right decision. Asuka needed the victory much more. She is on a collision course to a full-on heel turn and IYO SKY betrayal; she needs to look like a threat. Who better to sacrifice than Bella, whose notoriety proceeds her? By making Bella submit, Asuka is re-establishing herself as a lethal competitor — perfect for her ongoing character development. "The Empress of Tomorrow" is ramping up to be a must-watch superstar in the coming months.

Written by Angeline Phu

Another "Raw", another main event involving members of The Vision. Another "Raw", another beatdown involving the main event participants. Stop me if you've heard this before (yes, we've used this column to talk about this ad nauseam, but you can thank WWE for booking the same thing week in, week out).

This week's variation saw a main event of Bronson Reed vs. LA Knight. Of course, Bron Breakker has accompanied Reed to the ring, so of course, he got involved. He distracted Knight as he was setting up for the BFT, which allowed Reed to hit a Death Valley Driver for the win. Shocking, I know. You'll never guess what happened next. You mean you guessed that Breakker and Reed beat down Knight? Guess what else? The Usos came out to help Knight. When Reed tried to land a Tsunami on the Usos, Knight hit him with a chair. As Knight helped Jimmy, Jey speared Knight because he didn't trust him. That might have been a little unexpected. Overall the ending was the epitome of "same s***, different (Mon)day."

The laziness of this booking has made me check out for weeks. If I see a member of The Vision closing the show, I already know it will lose my attention. I simply do not care about seeing the "Groundhog Day" version of the "Raw" main event. There's a severe lack of originality. With Monday Night Football back, they've got to find a way to keep people from changing the channel. One remedy is moving the whole show up an hour. Here's an idea: change up the main event. Keep The Vision of the main event for a few weeks. Let women close the show. They always deliver (case in point, Asuka vs. Nikki Bella should've been the main). Please, try anything else.

Written by Samantha Schipman