WWE RAW 12/15/2025: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "WWE Raw," the show that starts with GUNTHER calling John Cena a little b**** and ends with a big Austin Theory shaved head reveal! You might say we have a lot to talk about, and the Wrestling Inc. staff is more than equal to the task. Not only do we have opinions about the aforementioned segments, but we also have thoughts on the Maxxine Dupri title defense, the Stephanie Vaquer title defense, and the CM Punk promo, as well as IYO SKY taking an InSane Elbow for her bestie Rhea Ripley.

As always, we can't touch on absolutely everything — sorry, Usos vs. New Day — but you can always check out our "Raw" results page if you just need to know about all the things that happened. If you want to know what the WINC crew thinks about the things that happened (or at least the things we cared about) here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 12/15/25 episode of "WWE Raw!"

Following John Cena tapping out in his final match, there was a visceral reaction in the arena and online. Some fans can not wrap their minds around the fact that Cena essentially gave up in his retirement match. They were so angry that they booed Paul Levesque and also chanted "A-E-W" at him. There's also video of GUNTHER needing extra security while leaving the arena on Saturday night as fans shouted at him.

Everyone has spent the last 48 hours wondering what the Austrian would say on "Raw" and he did not disappoint. Before he came out, footage of Saturday's match played. As soon as the first notes of "Prepare to Fight" played, the boos filled the arena. GUNTHER ate every single bit of the reaction up. A few fans tried to start a "You tapped out!" chant, but boos drowned it out. He grabbed a mic and told the crowd, "I did what I said I was going to do. I made John Cena give up! And when he gave up, he tapped out like a little b****!" before dropping the mic.

He began to leave, came back to stand on the announce desk, basked in the boos and told the crowd again that he made Cena tap before declaring, "it's my time now!" Backstage Adam Pearce asked him if he was proud of what he did tonight. When GUNTHER said he was, Pearce sent him home. As he walked to the car, AJ Styles was waiting. Perhaps this is a tease for Styles' own retirement match. Before he drove away, he did the "You Can't See Me" gesture at Styles.

This was the perfect response from GUNTHER. He has accepted the fans' vitriol and is using it to fuel him. He stated matter-of-factly what he did and soaked up their hatred. WWE really have to follow this up with something big for GUNTHER so his momentum doesn't stop, especially after retiring Goldberg and Cena in the same year. They have to follow through with GUNTHER's time being now.

Written by Samantha Schipman

It's rare that I actually like the way that ambush attacks in WWE are done these days just because of how overdone they feel, but there was one exception to that on this edition of "Raw".

The Kabuki Warriors leaving IYO SKY laid out and Asuka spraying the green mist into the eyes of Rhea Ripley prove that the length of time that a segment like this doesn't matter as much of the quality of it and the storytelling it's working to do, especially when you compare an ambush like this to many of the ones that generally tend to close out "Raw" (such as The Vision's attack on LA Knight last week or the one between CM Punk and The Vision in the closing moments of this show). The idea that Asuka and Kairi Sane are trying to do everything in their power to weaken Ripley and taunt SKY ahead of their Women's Tag Team Match on January 5 still clearly got across here without feeling like things were dragged out too much or repetitive storybeats that we often see in the main event ambushes that typically close out "Raw".

SKY throwing herself on top of Ripley to take the In-Sane Elbow from Sane additionally showcased the growing trust between her and Ripley really well, and spotlighted their dynamic in a manner that was engaging to watch without needing any words. Everything about this segment was simple, but still well done and created hype for the January 5 match in a way that was different from the usual verbal confrontations and match combinations of different members of tag teams we've become accustomed to seeing in WWE.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

So, Maxxine Dupri is far from a Lita...in terms of in-ring work, anyway. If we're talking about passion for the business, I'd say Dupri is on her way.

Dupri defended her Women's Intercontinental Championship against Ivy Nile on Monday's episode of "WWE Raw," and I'll be the first to tell you that it was far from a clean match. Dupri's strikes are still really slow, Nile isn't the greatest in-ring, and the two wrestled a very rookie match. Nile's performance wasn't much to write home about. On paper, neither was Dupri's.

Dupri, on paper, isn't anything special. Dupri in life, however? That is a different story.

You can always tell when someone is passionate about what they do — like, really, genuinely passionate. Passion lends an unspoken quality to their work. And to be clear, I'm not saying Nile isn't passionate. If she didn't love this business, she wouldn't be here. What I am saying, however, is that Dupri's passion — her inner fire and love for wrestling — is her biggest strength. You can feel Dupri's love for the business and determination to succeed ooze from every slow kick, every clumsy misstep, and every shout of determination.

I think Dupri has really sharpened up since feuding and winning the Women's Intercontinental Championship. She's no Shawn Michaels, but the difference between her before and after the Women's Intercontinental Championship is night and day. That was on full display during tonight's match. Nile, one of the many women who berated Dupri for her less-than-skillful in-ring performance, tried to overwhelm the rookie Dupri, and Dupri managed to find her footing as the match went on, ultimately to win her inaugural title defense by way of an Ankle Lock transition into a traditional, supine leg joint lock (think armbar, but on the leg). Her match tonight was a reflection of her in-ring journey. Her victory over Nile by way of submission — technical mat work, similar to the tactics that technicians like Bret Hart are revered for — is a breathing testament to her in-ring journey, and a preview of what is to come.

She's no Hall of Famer, but her passion is what makes these improvements, however marginal, noticeable and commendable. You can see just how much Dupri has improved in the ring, just because of how passionate she is. Every scream, shout, willingness to look "stupid" as her body is forced to move in these very unnatural ways just makes her improved in-ring ability — no matter how small the improvements are — augments her whole performance. She's fun to watch because she's having fun.

Dupri has a long way to go. If she keeps this fire stoked within her, though, she'll have no problem fueling the journey.

Written by Angeline Phu

I went on an entire journey with CM Punk's "WWE Raw" promo on Bron Breakker this week. I started out not loving it, kinda came around by the end, then watched it again and decided I didn't actually like it after all. I'm as susceptible as anyone else to a Steiner Math reference — not to mention a reference to the late Rob Reiner, who once had a character say he would "rip your eyes out of your head and p*** in your dead skull" — but I think what bothered me about the promo was that when you strip away all the Inside Baseball stuff, it was pretty bog-standard. "You can't beat me, you always get help from people, don't talk about my wife." That was basically all he said. I didn't really get much of a continued storyline out of that, especially considering Punk spent half of it bashing Rick and Scott Steiner, who I'm pretty sure won't be there on January 5.

I think wrestlers like Punk often find it pretty easy to pop an audience by referencing things like Steiner Math to dress up an otherwise blasé bit of promo work; it probably would have gone over like gangbusters in AEW, where the crowd lives and dies on Tony Khan acknowledging their smarkdom. Punk should probably stop trying this in front of WWE crowds who rarely get the joke, but he should also stop doing it because it's just kinda lazy and doesn't really inform the potential story of the match. Now, I could be wrong about that — maybe Punk pulls out a bunch of Steiner moves next week, or (in the darkest timeline) Scott and Rick actually do show up. But I thought the real meat of this promo should have been the stuff about how Breakker isn't ready for the bright lights, and about how Paul Heyman consistently gets behind people and pushes them before they're prepared. That was a little Inside Baseball, but it was stuff that could play into the action in the ring next Monday. Calling Bron a nepo-baby, not so much.

Also, if you're going to keep acknowledging that he's a Steiner, just change his name to Steiner already, what are we doing?

Written by Miles Schneiderman

I am not a Nikki Bella hater by any means, but why does this woman think she deserves yet another title shot? I really thought that the WWE Hall of Famer would take a little time off following her Survivor Series loss, as it is the holiday season after all, to Women's World Champion Stephanie Vaquer. Bella didn't exactly earn that first shot as it is. She didn't stack up any wins to challenge Vaquer, she just turned heel on her former friend and got the opportunity at the premium live event. I didn't even mind that too much, she is a Hall of Famer after all, and the match itself wasn't too bad, but now, it's just getting to be a little too much. 

There are plenty of other deserving women on the "Raw" roster, but they all might be too tied up in the tag team division, leading to yet another Vaquer vs. Bella bout. Sure, I think Bella is a better heel than a babyface, and outside of challenging Vaquer and making her life hell like she did tonight when she interfered in Vaquer's match against Raquel Rodriguez, I'm not exactly sure what else is left for her on the main roster as a villain. Maybe we're headed toward a triple threat match between Vaquer, Rodriguez, and Bella, but I can't say I'm too excited about that. I'm not sure how all three women's styles would mesh in a match-up, especially one that doesn't have many rules, like a triple threat.

I'm, like many people I'm sure at this point, really tired of DQ finishes in WWE. Rodriguez and Vaquer weren't having a bad match whatsoever, even if Rodriguez was getting quite a bit of offense in on the champion and not selling too much at certain points. I guess Rodriguez did come out of this looking pretty strong without actually technically losing her title opportunity, which is really why I'm thinking we might be headed toward that triple threat. 

However this ends, I'm not a fan of it, at least not at this moment, and I really hope Brie Bella makes a return alongside her twin sister, so they can go to the tag division, where they can win some tag team gold that they deserve to reign with for just a bit as Hall of Famers, and some other women step up to challenge Vaquer.

Written by Daisy Ruth

At Survivor Series: WarGames, Bron Breakker pinned CM Punk to win the match for Team Vision in the eponymous match, with a little help of a run-climb-run-in from a masked man making use of Seth Rollins' move-set. Was it actually Rollins? Only if one was going to credibly believe WWE would try to work the same injury angle with the same guy within a couple of months – which, on second thought, might have been understandable. But the fact of the matter is that it was always Austin Theory beneath the mask, despite some internet detectives getting their magnifying glasses out and declaring anything from "It might actually be Rollins" to "Hey look, it's Chris Jericho." So, when time came this week to finally reveal the man beneath the mask, it was ... Austin Theory. 

It is hilariously accurate to say there was more interest in him when he was under the mask than when he finally had taken it off. No one in the crowd really cared; there was the initial pop with the mask being taken off, but even that was a "Oh, it's him" rather than an "Oh my god, it's him." Theory is a great wrestler between the bells, though admittedly it's hard to feel excited for a guy that was accused of talking to an underage girl and has the personality of a frat boy's cardboard cut-out. Somehow putting all that aside, there have been numerous efforts to position him as someone to watch – ironic all things considered – that have never really come off. 

It doesn't really feel like this latest role is going to be the one that convinces the world to suddenly care about him. If anything, now no one really cares about the dude who was wearing the mask. Bearing in mind I am talking about a faction that has Logan Paul, but there is quite literally nothing Theory – buzzcut or not – can bring to the group. His presence dilutes the star-power that the group undoubtedly has. It's like taking a bowl of dessert and mixing it with a bowl of excrement. The dessert is still there, but once you dish that up, rest assured the customer is going to complain you've handed them a bowl of s***. 

Aside from Theory, the actual execution of the main event was just the latest example of copy and paste, 'Wrestling 101' booking that we have come to expect from WWE TV in recent weeks. Seemingly endless interference, no sense of catharsis, and just an all-round kick below the belt for anyone expecting a true main event.

Written by Max Everett