WWE RAW 4/7/2025: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "WWE Raw," the show where suddenly WrestleMania is in two weeks so hey, let's officially confirm a WrestleMania match before the show, and another one to open the show, and then one more in the middle of the show! Interestingly, we here at the WINC staff only had strong feelings about one of those match announcements, and it might not be the one you expect!

You'll find out if you keep reading, though, because unlike our "Raw" results page, which documents everything that happened on the full Monday night broadcast, this column is strictly for our most passionate opinions. From a hotly-contested (and highly satisfying) Intercontinental title match to an inexplicably Tony Hinchcliffe-announced (and highly unsatisfying) tag team title match to Seth Rollins earning himself a Paul Heyman favor of his own, here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 4/7/25 episode of "WWE Raw."

Lyra Valkyria and Bayley's opening match for the Women's Intercontinental Championship was easily the highlight of the first half of Monday's episode of "WWE Raw." There was not a doubt in my mind that Valkyria and Bayley would be anything less than good, but their title match on Monday's episode of the red brand really surpassed my decently-high expectations. Both women are known for their in-ring capabilities — rightfully so — and their professionalism really shone through in every beat of their title match. There is a delicate balance in between putting over your opponent and getting your own moves in, and Valkyria and Bayley struck that balance perfectly as they went hold for hold, counter for counter, finisher attempt for finisher attempt. You hear about people claiming that two wrestlers "make magic" with their matches all the time — Valkyria and Bayley *actually* made magic with their in-ring performance. To put this much effort into some random episode of "Raw?" We're not worthy.

The match began with both champion and challenger engaging in a lengthy grappling sequence, which you don't really see with female competitors, much less on an episode of a weekly show. Even if extensive mat work and grapples aren't your favorite — they certainly aren't mine — the effort and intentionality of their movements were clear. Their grapples felt like a crescendo; what were once two allies engaging in a friendly match for the title quickly evolved into a rough tussle for not just the title, but everything it represented: dominance, glory, *power.* Valkyria, who is admittedly lacking in the character department, showed a new side of herself as she quickly became aggressive towards Bayley — and I mean aggressive. As Bayley began to close in on the champion, she bared her teeth, strangling Bayley in a unique submission dubbed by commentary as an "Irish swing" as she taunted the challenger with a distinctly painful hold. Bayley brought out a new side to Valkyria, and I loved the violence.

Don't call it a comeback — Bayley's been here for years. Aside from a failed turnbuckle spot at the beginning of the match, Bayley looked great during the entire bout. Her expertise shone through every move she made, offensive or not. She not only made Valkyria look like a hundred bucks, but she also sold herself to the crowd. Like, Bayley hasn't operated at this level in a while. Even in her loss, her performance makes her look like a veritable in-ring threat.

I'm not even mad at the Jackknife cover finish! I would have preferred a clean loss, but I do appreciate that the quick, uncertain finish leaves the door open for a Valkyria and Bayley rematch down the road — perhaps at WrestleMania. Even if it doesn't, this much is certain: Bayley and Valkyria brought something out in each other. This is by far Valkyria's best Intercontinental title defense to date, and Bayley truly feels like she's back in the game.

Written by Angeline Phu

While I already haven't been the biggest fan of Chad Gable's El Grande Americano character since it turned in to... whatever this is, rather than fun video vignettes of Gable training in "the dark arts of lucha libre" in Mexico, things got even worse on a much grander stage this week. Following a match where the LWO lost to the Creed Brothers and El Grande Americano, in a backstage segment with "Raw" General Manager Adam Pearce, Mysterio said he didn't want a match against Gable, he wanted a match against the idiot who's been making a fool of him and the LWO and everything they stand for.

Mysterio told Pearce that it was El Grande Americano who was making a mockery of lucha libre and everything he had worked toward in his career. Mysterio was super impassioned in this backstage segment, and it was almost to the point of being awkward, like Mysterio was really falling for Gable's crap. I know Mysterio is smarter than to really think Americano isn't Gable, but by the way he was talking, I'm now not entirely sure. The worst part of this is that instead of challenging Gable's goofy character for next week's 'Mania go-home episode of "WWE Raw" where the match belongs, Mysterio challenged Americano to a match at WrestleMania.

I think this is going to be frustrating to a lot of fans who have favorite wrestlers and even champions who haven't made it to the WrestleMania card and instead, are getting this silly match that I haven't seen much love for online as it is. While this is Gable's first-ever singles match at WrestleMania, the fact that he's doing so as this character just isn't it for me and I'm sure a lot of others. 

I can see this turning into a "mask vs. mask" match, which is a super cringey when you consider the culture of lucha libre and everything a mask stands for, though I don't think there's any way Mysterio is losing. With a week to go before WrestleMania, this is a match that could have fit perfectly onto the final "Raw" before WrestleMania. I'd go as far as to say it could be at the WrestleMania pre-show, but we don't have matches on those any longer, so, I guess we'll just be treated to a video recap of all of this ridiculousness and wonder how the heck it go on to "The Grandest Stage of Them All."

Written by Daisy Ruth

The past two weeks of "WWE Raw" have done really well at bringing Jey Uso back into the role that founded the breakout run he has been on over the past few tears, with Gunther beating Jimmy Uso in singles action and unleashing a bloody attack on him, tying Jey to the ropes to watch on as Gunther choked the air out of his twin brother. 

It provided the feud between Gunther and Jey some emotional stakes, transcending the bout from a cookie cutter babyface Rumble winner challenging the foreign heel champion – a tried and tested ad nauseam formula – to one with a sense of legitimate animosity. It also gives more depth to the already-domineering World Heavyweight Campion and "Ring General" beyond what he can do between the bells. WWE has been missing that legitimate monster since their last one was rightfully removed from the equation, and the package played prior to his arrival this week conveyed that they already have the next next big thing in Gunther – and he is present every week in a much more involved capacity. He came out like a man that had won the lottery, a sociopathic grin painted on his face all the way down to the ring, even dancing to Jey's music when his challenger was clearly not in the mood. After quite some time with Jey leaning into the "YEET" spamming as he deservedly went nuclear with the crowd, it was a refreshing change in direction to have him refrain from that jovial spirit. 

He immediately established he wasn't in the mood for Gunther's obvious mind games as he slapped the microphone out of his hand, sharing that he had admitted he was afraid of Gunther when his mother asked why he couldn't stop the attack on Jimmy. At first glance it was a bizarre strategy to literally tell your opponent that he had succeeded in striking fear into you, but it immediately grounded Jey for his rallying cry. He can't dance through the challenge stood before him, and he was openly telling Gunther that he had crossed the line and would come to pay for it. Meanwhile, Gunther himself portrayed through facial expressions a journey of glee and pride at the idea he had broken his challenger, all the way to the realization that he had sharpened the very blade poised to be thrown back at him. This was finally the segment that communicated why Jey won the Royal Rumble, why Gunther was the World Heavyweight Champion, and why the match between them deserves its spot at the "Show of Shows." Sure it could have come much earlier, but it's better late than never.

Written by Max Everett

A few weeks ago, WWE announced "The Roast of WrestleMania", which is taking place after Night Two. It was the announcement of the host that raised a lot of eyebrows and brought out strong opinions. "Comedian" Tony Hinchcliffe made a name for himself at a rally for Donald Trump last fall where he made distasteful comments disguised as jokes about Puerto Rico that went viral. He also made an antisemtic "joke" and a racist one about Black people. 

When people started questioning Hinchcliffe's involvement, WWE pointed out that the roast wouldn't be televised. Hmm, wonder why? So of course WWE decided to platform him on their product (he has comedy specials on Netflix) by adding him to commentary during the tag match between New Day and War Raiders. Part of his assignment was apparently to roast Michael Cole and *checks notes* make jokes about Big E's neck injury. Cool, cool, cool.

To make matters worse, a fan behind Hinchcliffe flashed the "White Power" symbol. Whether they were trying to be edgy or not, this is a terrible look, especially when two of the wrestlers in the ring are Black and when you regularly advertise beer from Hulk Hogan. WWE consistently looks tone deaf and out of touch, no matter what they try to tell you by inducting Paul "HHH" Levesque into this year's Hall of Fame and giving his wife, Stephanie McMahon, her own podcast.

This all happened while New Day caused a disqualification (by making it look like their opponent used a chair) and then tried to attack the surgically repaired neck of Erik while Hinchcliffe rooted them on and saying Erik deserved it. The whole segment sucked and didn't accomplish anything.

Written by Samantha Schipman

It's rare in this modern day and age of professional wrestling that I will actually like the use of a disqualification finish in a match, as they tend to be overused especially in WWE when they should be used rather sparingly to have more of an impact on storylines. I hate them even more when they're used to end title matches, especially when there isn't really a good reason for them to be employed and that applies to the World Tag Team Championship match between New Day and The War Raiders.

I can get WWE not wanting to have The War Raiders lose the titles or wanting to hand New Day a loss with the momentum they've gained over the past few weeks in the wins that they've scored, but there wasn't a ton of build-up to this match tonight other than a stare down between them. Things would've been much more effective if WWE had held off on the match another week and opted to instead do a verbal confrontation between the two teams that turned physical rather than have New Day opt to score a win by trading in the chance to win the World Tag Team Championships for a disqualification and then continue to beat Erik and Ivar down after the match. It felt like no one came out of this looking good, and made for a disappointing part on a lackluster episode of "Raw."

Written by Olivia Quinlan

"You get a favor, you get a favor, and you get a favor," said Paul Heyman in a meeting with two-thirds of The Shield and their original leader. Seriously, it sounds corny in concept but the main event segment this week did a fantastic job at justifying why Seth Rollins is going to be in the triple threat against Roman Reigns and CM Punk. Heyman came out to get things going and address the fact he had preemptively agreed to doing whatever Punk asked of him – Punk had in fact asked him to be his corner man during last week's "WWE SmackDown," conflicting his loyalties as he refused to go back on his word – much to the chagrin of his "Tribal Chief" before he got a knee to the face courtesy of the "Straight Edge Superstar." Up until this point though, due to the Heyman factor, the feud had presented itself more as one between Reigns and Punk with Rollins playing third-wheel merely through his unresolved feuds with the pair of them. 

Sure, it started with Rollins and Reigns years ago and likewise with Rollins and Punk, but it was this week that Rollins shifted out of bemoaning the match and into doing something to turn the odds in his favor. He played to the idea that neither Punk nor Reigns truly care about him beyond what he can do for them, picking digs that seemed to probe and stoke the clear unease Heyman was in. He even asked Heyman to willingly take a curbstomp so that he didn't have to corner either Reigns or Punk for the match, framing it as good for the "Wise Man." Putting it simply, Rollins was nearing on supervillain levels of provoking a man he knew he could take, pushing Heyman around to try and provoke Punk to emerge and make the save. Punk took the bait and eventually got a stomp himself for his troubles, with Heyman prone at his side to check on him and clearly open for Rollins to stomp him like he had said he would. But mid run he stopped and laughed at Heyman, making it clear he wanted something out of Heyman in return as the segment closed. Now the favor isn't going to be anything as wild as engagement sleuths on social media will be wish-casting, but it does add intrigue for the next installment heading into WrestleMania, and that's what it was designed to do.

Written by Max Everett