LA Knight Back in the Main Event Scene, Rhea Ripley Must Lose, More WWE Raw Fallout

The June 30 episode of Raw on Netflix from the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania delivered some interesting surprises and memorable matches.

Iyo Sky chose to fight Rhea Ripley for the Women's World Championship at Evolution, setting the stage for the likely main event.

WWE also announced a women's battle royal to crown a future No. 1 contender and a four-team Women's Tag Team Championships match.

While CM Punk ran into Gunther, LA Knight went after Seth Rollins ahead of the announcement that he would face The Visionary at Saturday Night's Main Event.

Finn Bálor and JD McDonagh won back the World Tag Team Championships from New Day after a wild tag team battle.

It was a good night for WWE that better established the foundation for WWE's summer plans.

Time to Push LA Knight to the Main Event Scene

LA Knight has fully committed to a rivalry with Seth Rollins, the top babyface on Raw.

While he is not the only one confronting The Visionary, this feels like a major statement on Knight's future as WWE intentionally brought him over from SmackDown to Raw for this angle.

The Million Dollar Megastar is stepping up next to CM Punk, Sami Zayn and Penta, who all are taking the fight to Rollins' group.

Of all those names, Knight needs the push most as he still is waiting for a clear main event angle in his career.

WWE should let Knight push Rollins to a point that it looks like he could be a future world champion then take the next step of putting him up against the world champions of Raw and SmackDown.

He is ready. He just needs a big opportunity to come out of this.

Rhea Ripley Must Lose to Iyo Sky Again

Few women have beaten Rhea Ripley multiple times in WWE. Iyo Sky stands in an especially rarefied air as she has never lost to Mami.

Her match with Ripley will likely be the biggest match WWE can deliver on the Evolution card, possibly a match of the year contender with the right time and spotlight.

However, this should not be the time WWE hot-shots the title back to Ripley. It already happened once in 2025 when Mami beat Liv Morgan in the Raw on Netflix debut.

While Mami is too big a name to not hold the world title many times, this is the time for The Genius of the Sky to shine.

She needs to appear more regularly on television. She needs to get the opportunities to show off in the ring and on the mic.

Moreover, she needs the spotlight that will clearly establish her as a multiple-time future world champion like Ripley.

Defeating Mami again at Evolution would be a much better statement for WWE to make right now over going back to Ripley, who make anything work even without gold.

Raw Tag Division as Rudderless as Ever

For the past year, WWE has done nothing to make the World Tag Team Championships feel important.

From Awesome Truth to The Judgment Day to The War Raiders to New Day then back to Judgment Day, the tag team division on Raw has felt lifeless.

It has not helped that the tag division has not been featured on premium live events often, which is a byproduct of a complete lack of quality stories.

SmackDown has also struggled to some extent but not nearly at the same level, relying on the talent of The Street Profits, Motor City Machine Guns, #DIY, Fraxiom and more.

The Raw tag team division cannot go on working with current crop of teams, even if Bronson Reed and Bron Breakker eventually win the gold.

Seth Rollins' crew is the hottest act on Raw, so adding tag gold to the mix would be smart. It still will not set up strong teams over the whole division.

It is time to shake up the tag division rosters and move over a team like MCMG or Fraxiom. New Day would also benefit from a trade to SmackDown where they can work with fresh names.

This should have already happened. WWE simply has not shown a propensity to adjust any angle outside the main event scenes.

Judgment Day has dominated this tag division for so long, and a move back to the group shows very little foresight on the future of the entire division.

WWE Stumbles With Initial Evolution Match Reveals

Evolution should be an expression of pride and excitement for what should be the greatest women's roster in the world.

WWE has loaded up on some of the best wrestlers from all corners of the world and spread them out between Raw, SmackDown and NXT.

There are so many women that could be featured on this second-ever women's-only event for WWE.

Instead, early booking indicates WWE is more concerned with just getting as many bodies on the card as possible.

A battle royal to crown a future No. 1 contender for Clash in Paris, two months away, is hardly an exciting premium live event showcase.

It would be more interesting to see every women's championship defended in clearly defined rivalries.

Women's world champion Iyo Sky and NXT women's champion Jacy Jayne are already booked in singles matches.

The newly adjusted Women's tag team champions Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez will defend the tag titles against three random tag teams across all the brands.

While it would be better to deliver a more focused tag title match, this will at least be a better tag team spotlight than the women's tag division has seen in a while.

WWE women's champion Tiffany Stratton, Women's intercontinental champion Becky Lynch and women's United States champion Giulia should also all defend their gold.

That does not leave much room for the battle royal or other non-championship contests, even if WWE extends its usual 5-match card.

It is best to keep things simple and book this PLE like any other show on WWE's calendar.

Throwing wrestlers on the card just to be on the card makes the night feel like a novelty rather than a showcase of the best women in the world, which is exactly what it should be.

Dreaming of a CM Punk vs. Gunther Feud For SummerSlam

While CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins remains the long-term priority in WWE, it looks like WWE may be setting the stage for a different match for The Best in the World at SummerSlam.

The idea of Gunther vs. Punk has long served as a tantalizing possibility, but WWE has passed it up in the past for other pairings.

The Ring General will need a fresh challenger after (hopefully) defeating Goldberg at Saturday Night's Main Event, and there are bigger names than The Best in the World.

It would get people talking and make sure that Gunther was in one of the marquee matches of SummerSlam.

However, it could feel rushed when this is one of the few completely fresh match-ups WWE has left to deliver.

This should not be thrown together just for The Visionary to get in Punk's way of winning gold but used as a major clash of top talent on the best stage.

Since Rollins vs. LA Knight is already happening at Saturday Night's Main Event, the opportunity is still there for Punk vs. Rollins at SummerSlam.

Either match is intriguing for one of WWE's biggest shows of the year. At the very least, Gunther vs. Punk should be a plan some time in 2025.