WWE Raw 5/26/2025 - 3 Things We Loved And 3 Things We Hated

The Memorial Day edition of "WWE Raw" is in the books, and, much like every show, the program had plenty of good and plenty of bad.

The following will not be concerned with "what happened," as we've already dedicated a fastidious results page to that topic. Instead, we're going to get deep in our feelings and discuss the vibes of "Raw," some happy, some sad. Despite being a holiday show, giving WWE every reason to coast, there was plenty happening. From Money in the Bank qualifiers, to promo battles between two of WWE's top Irish Stars.

Without further ado, here's the Wrestling Inc. Staff's best and worst from the Memorial Day "Raw."

Of all the names you could rely on in WWE to stage a classic exhibition of the fight within professional wrestling, Sheamus would surely rank highest among the names of Drew McIntyre and Gunther. Hailing from the European – specifically the UK – scene of hardy brawlers that manage to make the simplest maneuver look and sound like a vehicular impact. Another one of those names who has only just returned to WWE is Rusev, who has since coming back decimated both Otis and Akira Tozawa. But has not really had someone who could credibly match his offense. The natural progression for Rusev after re-establishing himself in WWE is to move up the card, and Sheamus is someone who checks all the boxes as the first true test of his return.

It also puts Rusev clearly on the trajectory to be around the Intercontinental title picture, considering that has been Sheamus' desire for the past few years. But beyond any of that is the match itself that was promised during "Raw," with Sheamus emerging to run Rusev off of a beatdown on poor Tozawa, while commentary reminded us that the League of Nations was, in fact, a thing. Provided they're given the time and the framework to suit, the chances seem remote that their match isn't going to, as Sheamus puts it, be a banger. Also, and this is just the speculative mind racing, it doesn't seem likely that this is going to be just a one-and-done thing, considering the positioning of both the names on the card at present.

Written by Max Everett

WWE may have given away the result of the upcoming AAA Mega Championship Match between Alberto El Patron and El Hijo del Vikingo. On "Raw," it was announced that Vikingo will be defending the title, which he has not won, against Chad Gable at the upcoming Worlds Collide event.

I would love to sit here and say "RIP Bozo, we're smoking on that Alberto pack this weekend," but it really was a shoddy bit of work from the Sports Entertainment juggernaut. It has already been a forgone conclusion that Vikingo will likely win the title from the controversial former WWE Champion, but whatever little drama remained in the May 31 match has been completely sucked from the bout now that fans know Vikingo is winning and bringing the title to Los Angeles. It's just a worrying sign of a partnership that many felt was going to be one-sided from the get-go.

Maybe it's possible that this was one last "F*** you" to a wrestler who, all things considered, deserves it; a way to answer any questions that Alberto might have about his future with the now-WWE subsidiary with swift and clean "no." That doesn't change the fact that worried AAA fans have one more reason to be concerned about how WWE will be handling the booking of the promotion going forward.

Written by Ross W Berman IV

The Shield. The Authority. The Shield again. The Disciples. What cannot be said is that Seth Rollins doesn't like to find strength in numbers, especially when he is on a full-frontal offensive on the main event picture and his very many rivals. Even over the past half-decade, the other members of The Shield – Roman Reigns and Jon Moxley – have since followed the precedent set by their "Architect" with The Bloodline and the Death Riders. So in that vein, with he and Paul Heyman screwing over maybe the only other two on the roster to share his affinity for holding a grudge at WrestleMania 41, it makes all of the sense in the world that he would fall back on his safety net.

Since his second heist to occur in the main event of WrestleMania, Rollins has added Bron Breakker and someone he personally knows can pack a punch, Bronson Reed. All that was missing was a swanky new name to slap on T-shirts (you know, to truly assess the merit of their group). Enter: The Vision. No, not the Marvel superhero.

Rollins joining Heyman was an intriguing proposition to begin with, so expanding that and bringing two legitimate monster heels into the fold is something else entirely. Not only does it bode well for Rollins having two heaters of their level flanking him (see: the main event). But it's an opportunity to uplift Breakker and Reed from their positions as blue-chip prospects to genuine main event-level talents.

Damian Priest crossed that boundary by starting as the Judgment Day's enforcer, Jey Uso did the same through The Bloodline, Jacob Fatu is in the midst of doing it with the New Bloodline; when used correctly, factions are a great way to build a star by association. Rollins is genuinely one of the faces of WWE. Heyman himself has a clientele of alumni that reads like a Hall of Fame ballot. So it certainly bodes well for them to be brought into the mix, already feuding with the likes of Sami Zayn, CM Punk, and the WWE World Heavyweight Champion, and with the potential of feuding with Reigns upon his return. All that's left to say is I see and I respect The Vision.

Written by Max Everett

Roxanne Perez is a wrestling prodigy who has held the NXT Women's Championship twice and also won the NXT Tag Team Championship with Cora Jade. She's accomplished these accolades at just 23 years of age. Perez officially signed with the "RAW" brand last week and qualified for the Women's Money in the Bank ladder match the same night. She has also entered Judgment Day's orbit, and of course, that means "Dirty Dominik" Mysterio's vortex. For the last two weeks, she has brought him chicken nuggets. Tonight, she was busted by a returning Liv Morgan, who has been unable to escape his vortex. Raquel Rodriguez has been in this same vortex. Rhea Ripley was famously in his vortex for an extended period of time.

While Morgan was sucked in under the guise of trying to be like "Mami" after defeating her for the title, her entire title reign revolved around Mysterio. The title was secondary. I get that his moniker is "Dirty Dom" and that his character is modeled after "Latino Heat" Eddie Guerrero, but c'mon. I started watching WWE again a year and a half ago, and four women have had storylines revolving around Mysterio. It's such a lazy trope to have a woman in wrestling be obsessed with a man and be so obsessed with him that wrestling is secondary. If said woman has a title, well, that's just a prop that occasionally gets defended. Usually, with said man somehow getting involved or dangling above the ring in a shark tank.

Perez is fairly new to the main roster and it would be great if her in-ring skill were the focus, especially when introducing her to both a new and bigger audience. But that would require WWE's creative to think outside the box on developing a woman's character and giving her a meaningful storyline. "Evolution 2" is coming up, but I don't see WWE evolving past their tired booking of at least one angle of "woman wrestler must want to date man wrestler."

Yawn.

Written by Samantha Schipman

Last week was a big week for Roxanne Perez here in our article of things we loved and things we hated, as she qualified for her first Money in the Bank ladder match, and the love is rolling on again here for me this week. While it's not entirely thrilling that Dominik Mysterio is once again part of a women's storyline feud, he doesn't seem to be the entire piece of it after tonight. And, also, Finn Balor introducing the chaos into the Judgment Day just to sit back and watch it all burn with a big ol' grin on his face was very noticeable this week.

Though Balor wasn't the main figure of tonight's storyline after introducing Perez to the group last week, it was easy to tell he was enjoying himself and the chaos and dissension he caused in the group backstage. When Perez brought Mysterio chicken nuggets and offered to rub his shoulders, only for a recently returned Liv Morgan to walk in and blow off Perez, the look on Balor's face was just too funny. If you couldn't tell last week, he really made you believe tonight that he knew exactly what he was doing, simply by his over-the-top facial expressions while sitting on the couch back in the Judgment Day clubhouse as everything began to slowly unravel before him.

While pondering all of this, I started thinking how great it is for Perez to be involved with, maybe not Judgment Day specifically, but with Morgan. A feud between the pair would do wonders for Perez to turn her babyface on the main roster. If she ends up officially aligning with Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez, that's also a win. I think she could really fit in with the other women, but I wouldn't mind a feud with a series of matches with Morgan, either. Morgan is such a talented worker and really proved herself last year throughout her feud with Rhea Ripley, so I feel like she can only help elevate Perez on the main roster.

Tonight, Perez did her best to earn Morgan's respect by taking out Kairi Sane during Morgan's return match. Despite it not working out, Morgan didn't target Perez backstage; she blamed Rodriguez for being the veteran at ringside and not knowing better. That was the final piece of tonight that made things interesting for me, and Perez in Judgment Day is something I'm actually not mad about, despite forever harping that Judgment Day needs to just disband. I'm just not entirely 100% sure whether I want her to become Morgan's new best friend or for the pair to tear each other to pieces.

Written by Daisy Ruth

I will never personally say "no" to a match between Becky Lynch and Lyra Valkyria, especially if said match is for something like the Women's Intercontinental Championship. That being said, their verbal confrontation on "Raw" tonight didn't do anything to make me excited for their next encounter at Money In The Bank, nor did it do anything to make it stand out above any other promo segment WWE has put out in the last couple of months.

Given that Lynch has already now challenged once at WWE Backlash for Valkyria's title and lost that match clean, there should be some sort of increased stakes at Money In The Bank with how much more personal and tense things have become between them within the confines of their storyline. While Lynch never being able to challenge for the Women's Intercontinental Championship again if she loses on June 7 or making Valkyria raise her hand if she wins the title does technically fit that increase of stakes, it doesn't feel like it's necessarily enough of an increase or has the impact that a match with a stipulation attached to it for the title would have.

Written by Olivia Quinlan