WWE Raw Results: Winners, Live Grades and Highlights Before Elimination Chamber 2025
Just days before WWE rolls into Toronto for the Elimination Chamber premium live event, the premiere promotion in professional wrestling stopped in Cincinnati for the go-home edition of Raw on Netflix.
Rhea Ripley addressed her upcoming Women's World Championship defense against Iyo Sky, while CM Punk, Seth Rollins and Logan Paul met inside the squared circle ahead of the men's Elimination Chamber match Saturday night.
What went down, who emerged with momentum on their side and what did it mean for the Elimination Chamber PLE? Find out with this recap of the February 24 show.
Match Card
1 of 11
Announced in advance of Monday's show:
*Women's Tag Team Championship match: Bianca Belair (c) and Naomi vs. Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez
*Women's Intercontinental Championship match: Lyra Valkyria (c) vs. Dakota Kai
*LWO (Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde) vs. The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods)
*Triple Threat match: Penta vs. Ludwig Kaiser vs. Pete Dunne
*Appearances from Rhea Ripley, Seth Rollins, CM Punk, Logan Paul, Gunther and more
Logan Paul Promo
2 of 11
Ahead of Elimination Chamber, Logan Paul and his somehow worse, new theme music kicked off Raw. He took to the squared circle to address the fans in Ohio, drawing chants of "you suck."
After The Maverick ran down his opponents in Saturday's Chamber match, CM Punk interrupted and, after issuing a warning or two to Paul, he told the YouTuber: "In this business, you're nothing."
This resulted in a slap from Paul, who rolled out of the ring and rushed up the ramp, evading payback from the man with whom he will share a steel cage in Toronto.
The crowd was hot and the two polar opposite personas helped elevate this above what would otherwise be a one-dimensional opening promo.
The segment gave fans a side story to track in the Elimination Chamber match and planted the seeds for a potential WrestleMania 41 match between the two, if that is where WWE Creative wants to take them on the road to Las Vegas on April 19-20.
Grade
B
Top Moments and Takeaways
*The deafening boos that greeted Paul were outdone only by the eruption of cheers from fans upon Punk's entrance.
*Punk wore a Chicago Teachers Union shirt in support of educators in his hometown.
*"We are legends. We are history-makers," Punk said of the other men's Elimination Chamber competitors, before calling Paul "barely a flash in the pan."
*"I will make history and you will be history," he warned the social media star.
*"You're not going to be here long enough for them to figure out who you are or remember who you are," The Best in the World added.
Penta vs. Pete Dunne vs. Ludwig Kaiser
3 of 11
Chants of "this is awesome" poured from the stands in Cincinnati as three of the most gifted wrestlers in WWE battled in a Triple Threat match.
Penta, Pete Dunne and Ludwig Kaiser continued their weeks-long rivalry Monday night, each seizing the upper hand in the contest.
At one point, Dunne delivered the Bitter End to Penta, only for Kaiser to break it up. Moments later, the German would again capitalize on an opening, dumping Penta from the ring and delivering an inverted hammerlock DDT to The Bruiserweight for the win.
This was a fun three-way match that had the fans hanging on every near-fall and being solidly behind Penta. Ultimately, Kaiser scored what can best be described as an upset win, but it's one that continues his rivalry with the luchador.
What the endgame is remains to be seen, but if WWE does not have a clear path to WrestleMania for Penta as of yet, keeping him in the ring with Kaiser is not a bad call.
Result
Kaiser defeated Penta and Dunne
Grade
A
Top Moments and Takeaways
*Kaiser has done a magnificent job of utilizing the promo time between breaks to get himself over and evolve his microphone presence. He has been a staple of those off-air promos for those without ads on Netflix and has really highlighted himself as someone with tremendous upside.
*We knew WWE would present Penta in a way that maximized his marketing and merchandising potential, but few could have imagined how much the WWE Universe would love him this early in his run.
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Jackie Redmond Interviews Rhea Ripley
4 of 11
Women's world champion Rhea Ripley joined Jackie Redmond in the stands for a brief promo about her match against Iyo Sky next week on Raw.
The Australian reminded everyone of her dominance in the five years since she last squared off with The Genius of the Sky and ran down the list of Superstars she has defeated in that span.
Sky appeared, vowed to win the title and wrapped up the short segment by vowing to win the title next week.
Grade
B
Top Moments and Takeaways
*Imagine the speed with which Sky had to navigate the entire Heritage Bank Center to find where Redmond was conducting her promo with Ripley, just to come face-to-face with her in the closing seconds. That's dedication.
LWO vs. The New Day
5 of 11
The New Day added to a string of wins in recent weeks by defeating Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde of LWO.
The babyfaces started hot but Kingston downed Del Toro behind the official's back and The New Day took control of the match. They dominated the action from there, cutting short a comeback attempt late and scoring the momentum-building victory.
This was another heat-building win for the heels, who continue to be one of the hottest acts on Raw.
The post-match beatdown that saw them lay out Dragon Lee for good measure may have done more damage than good for the luchador, but it further strengthened New Day at a time when they are seeing their stature grow with every passing week.
Result
The New Day defeated LWO
Grade
C
Top Moments and Takeaways
*Cruz and Del Toro appear to be in the best shape of their WWE careers.
*The heat for The New Day remains off the charts, thanks in large part to the promo abilities of Kingston and Woods.
*Backstage, the tension within The Judgment Day continued to mount. Check out the box with The Demon adorning it strategically placed above Finn Bálor. If history is any indication, this is not a coincidence.
Akira Tozawa vs. Gunther
6 of 11
Ahead of his WrestleMania 41 match against Jey Uso, world heavyweight champion Gunther issued a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Akira Tozawa to do something he claimed the men's Rumble winner would never do: Earn his respect.
The underdog showed great fire as he unloaded on The Ring General early, but the dominant champion overwhelmed him with some devastating strikes, chopping the air out of Tozawa and finishing him with a powerbomb.
After the match, Gunther continued to punish his opponent and even downed Otis with a sleeper when he attempted to make the save for his tag team partner. Jey Uso hit the ring, chased off Gunther and stood tall to close out the segment.
This was a great bit of business that highlighted what can happen when Gunther's hubris gets the best of him. It's a story that will almost certainly play out at WrestleMania.
Kudos to Tozawa, who showed great fire here as he fought from underneath.
While it wasn't quite on the same level, this contest was reminiscent of a criminally underrated match between Triple H and Taka Michinoku from Raw in 2000, where The Game worked overtime to put over his opponent, even though the light heavyweight champion stood no chance of winning.
Result
Gunther defeated Tozawa
Grade
B
Top Moments and Takeaways
*Gunther selecting Tozawa as his opponent because he is a glorified cartoon character—just as The Ring General believes Uso is—was a nice bit of creative that makes sense within the context of what we know about the world champion.
*Can we get Gunther vs. Otis after this one because that match sounds like a great time.
Women's Intercontinental Championship: Lyra Valkyria vs. Dakota Kai
7 of 11
In a rematch from the finals of the Women's Intercontinental Championship Tournament, Lyra Valkyria took on Dakota Kai.
As has been the case throughout their rivalry to this point, the match highlighted the in-ring chemistry of the competitors.
Valkyria dominated early, but Kai fought her way back into the contest and even appeared to have victory in hand at one point.
The Valkyrie fended the onslaught off, though, and delivered the Nightwing to score the victory.
After the match, Ivy Nile attacked Kai on the ramp and laid out Valkyria in the squared circle, before holding the IC title overhead to close things out.
A strong bout coupled with a post-match angle that propels things forward and gives fans an indication of what is next for the champion helped make this entire segment a sizeable thumbs-up, even if Valkyria vs. Kai IV is a lot more interesting than Nile challenging for the gold.
Result
Valkyria defeated Kai
Grade
B
Top Moments and Takeaways
*Commentator Michael Cole noted Valkyria is 2-0 against Kai, but winning three in a row is a difficult ask of anyone.
*The champion showed solid aggression, working over Kai as the challenger played the de facto babyface role.
*The pace quickened coming out of the break and the crowd finally got behind what the competitors were doing. An impressive delayed suplex did not hurt.
*Justifiable "this is awesome" chants rang around the arena, proof that fans will react when the women's division is allowed to have longer, competitive matches.
Bron Breakker vs. Dominik Mysterio
8 of 11
One week after inadvertently spearing Dominik Mysterio, intercontinental champion Bron Breakker battled the second-generation Superstar in singles competition.
Mysterio got in more offense than some may have expected, thanks to well-timed distractions from Carlito and Finn Bálor at ringside, but Breakker brushed his opponent's offense off and was poised to fold him in half with a devastating Spear.
Instead, Mysterio's Judgment Day teammates attacked, drawing a DQ. Breakker still fended them off and was in a position of power as he backed Bálor off and stood tall to close things out.
Is Mysterio the next challenger for the IC title? Is it Bálor?
There are plenty of questions surrounding this one, not least of which involves AJ Styles and where he fits in given his recent confrontations with Breakker.
It appears things are headed toward a four-way match at 'Mania. Whether you like that or not probably depends on your love for multi-man matchups.
Result
Breakker defeated Mysterio via disqualification
Grade
C
Top Moments and Takeaways
*Breakker obliterated Mysterio, turning him inside out with a big clothesline.
*Breakker's Frankensteiner from the top rope is one of the most impressive moves in wrestling today. The ease with which the big man gets to the top rope might be even more so.
*The face-to-face with Bálor, only for the so-called "leader" of The Judgment Day to back down, was a great bit of business. Not only does it heighten the badassery of the champion, but it continues to suggest the Irishman may be more talk than walk.
Cody Rhodes Responds to The Rock
9 of 11
Undisputed WWE champion Cody Rhodes hit the ring to discuss his interaction with The Rock from Friday's SmackDown.
He waxed poetically about the moral dilemma before him until Seth Rollins interrupted and asked him what the hell he is thinking even considering becoming Rock's champion.
He warned his tag team partner from last year's WrestleMania main event not to make him hate him and then vowed to win the men's Elimination Chamber match and challenge for The American Nightmare's title on the grand stage.
This was extraordinary.
Not only did Rhodes call out Rollins for coming across as judgmental given how The Visionary has allowed hate to engulf him of late, but Rollins rightly questioned the champion's mindset given all they did to keep The Rock and The Bloodline from gaining absolute power over WWE at last year's WrestleMania.
Rollins has been the heart of WWE for the past year. He has called out those he believes are detrimental to the company and made vanquishing them his goal. Now he sees Rhodes one step closer to choosing the dark side, and this was his word of warning to him.
Whether Rhodes heeds his advice, opting to anger The Final Boss rather than incur the hate of The Visionary, remains to be seen and should be a major selling point for Elimination Chamber.
Grade
A
Top Moments and Takeaways
*No one can put over the gravity of a story like Rhodes. That was on full display here as he laid out all of the people who depend on him and whose input he needed before deciding to take The Rock up on his offer.
*"The fact that you didn't slap him in the face...is a slap in my face," Rollins told Rhodes.
*"Perhaps he didn't ask you for your soul because your soul is already compromised," Rhodes told The Visionary.
*"I'm not out here to judge you. Maybe I'm out here to protect you from making the same mistakes I made all those years ago. I've been filled with hate lately, some in the right direction. To guys like Roman Reigns and CM Punk. I don't want to hate you. Don't make me hate you, Cody Rhodes."
*"I'm not coming for your soul, but I am coming from your title," Rollins issued one last warning.
Women's Tag Title: Bianca Belair and Naomi vs. Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez
10 of 11
Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez are the new women's tag team champions following a dramatic main event that saw them benefit from incessant interference from Dominik Mysterio and their own resiliency to defeat Naomi and Bianca Belair.
The near-falls were plentiful and fans ate up every one of them, never quite knowing if the seemingly unbeatable champions would overcome the heel tactics used by their opponents.
They got their answer as Morgan pinned Naomi seconds after Rodriguez smashed her head into the ring post, unbeknown to the official, and secured her and her partner's place in the history books as the first-ever three-time tag champions.
On a night that also highlighted women's wrestling in the form of Valkyria and Kai, this was a banger of a main event that spotlighted the incredible chemistry of both teams.
Result
Morgan and Rodriguez defeated Belair and Naomi to win the titles
Grade
A
Top Moments and Takeaways
*The champs sent Rodriguez into the timekeeper's position early, leaving Morgan to fend for herself. She returned to the match by leveling Belair and seizing control for the heels.
*Belair kicked out of the assisted Codebreaker from Morgan in a great false finish. It was hardly the only one of the match.
Overall Grade
11 of 11
On a night when WWE needed to put a bow on the hype for Elimination Chamber, it not only did that in the form of the Punk-Paul and Rollins-Rhodes promo segments, but it also delivered some stellar in-ring work while highlighting the women's division.
Penta, Dunne and Kaiser kicked things off with a strong Triple Threat before Valkyria and Kai turned in a great IC title match. To cap it all off, Morgan and Rodriguez bested Belair and Naomi in a match that had main event heat and a few great near-falls that had fans eating out of the palm of the wrestlers' hands.
This was, arguably, the best and most complete episode of Raw on Netflix yet, the second week in a row that this writer has said something of that nature. It bodes well for it that some of its best television has been produced for the streaming giant over the past month.
Grade: A
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