Why WWE Just Had Its Best Raw All Year

TD Garden in Boston hosted John Cena one last time for the November 10 edition of Raw on Netflix, including the veteran completing his WWE Grand Slam.

Dominik Mysterio interrupted Cena's address to his hometown fans, leading to Triple H booking an Intercontinental Championship match on the spot.

The GOAT won to capture the one major WWE title that had eluded him over the many years of his illustrious career.

Meanwhile, thanks to interference from Nia Jax and Lash Legend, Asuka and Kairi Sane captured the Women's Tag Team Championship from Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss.

In the aftermath, both Iyo Sky and Rhea Ripley returned and called for WarGames.

CM Punk received help from both Jey Uso and Cody Rhodes in his continued fight with The Vision and Logan Paul, also setting up a WarGames match to come.

Stephanie Vaquer was the only champion successful in retaining her title, defeating Raquel Rodriguez, but she also faced a surprise when her supposed friend, Nikki Bella, turned against her.

This was one of the most eventful nights of Raw all year and ramped up the build to Survivor Series: WarGames on November 29 in a big way.

Best Raw of the Year Delivered in Boston

The year 2025 has been an up-and-down one for WWE. The debut on Netflix for Raw in January promised a fresh style and format, but it was also awkwardly paced.

Since then, WWE has sought the right balance for Monday nights, and the answer finally came on November 10.

For Cena's final show in Boston, WWE delivered moment after moment across the run time.

The GOAT opened the show and claimed the one title he had never won in his WWE career.

Both of The Last Time is Now tournament matches were solid. Sheamus defeated Shinsuke Nakamura, while Rusev beat Damian Priest to advance.

Stephanie Vaquer and Raquel Rodriguez delivered on the hype of their promised clash for the Women's World Championship, and Nikki Bella's heel turn was a big surprise.

The great tag title reign of Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss came to an end against the top heel team in WWE while setting up the women's WarGames match for Survivor Series.

Meanwhile, the stars continue to converge for the men's WarGames match.

Everything on the show had a purpose and left fans with talking points for the future. It was about as good as Raw can get and the best of 2025.

This is not possible every week, particularly the title changes and heel turn, but shows like this should not be just once a year.

John Cena Winning IC Title is Best Moment of Retirement Tour

John Cena's retirement tour has been a mess unbecoming of a star at his level, but it has notably improved since SummerSlam.

Once The GOAT returned to the babyface role that he made famous, he has delivered strong emotional highlights week after week when available.

It is a shame fans won't get more time with the 48-year-old in this role as so much was tied up in his disastrous heel run.

However, WWE did find a way to deliver the most anticipated moment of Cena's remaining career on Raw: winning the Intercontinental Championship.

This makes him a Grand Slam champion and makes his remaining appearances more interesting as it leaves a question of whether he will leave with the gold.

He gave Dominik Mysterio one of his best matches in recent years, playing on his own experience with both Dirty Dom's father, Rey Mysterio, and uncle (or his real father, according to Dirty Dom) Eddie Guerrero.

Dom is still set up in a strong position as AAA Mega champion and ready to return to his rivalry with Rey.

Cena should have the Intercontinental Championship on the line for his last match, giving even more weight to his retirement contest.

WarGames Has Lost Its Charm

What is the point of WarGames in 2025?

Once the end of stable warfare in WCW, the gimmick has become a predictable element of each year where WWE struggles to build teams in November.

This feels truer than ever in 2025, particularly following Seth Rollins' recent injury.

WWE hastily paired up Logan Paul with Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed to give some excuse for why CM Punk needs Cody Rhodes, Jey Uso and more to combat the two-man alliance in The Vision.

Meanwhile, the women's tag team division fell hastily into pairings to make the women's WarGames match, relying upon the heat between The Kabuki Warriors and Iyo Sky and Rhea Ripley.

The most obvious awkward inclusions are the hastily assembled alliance of Nia Jax and Lash Legend for the heel team.

The issue is even more starkly felt with All Elite Wrestling delivering Blood & Guts in the same month.

AEW leans more into the brutality and carnage expected within the cage and has built both matches over a longer period. The women's match lacks cohesive stables, but it's a first-time opportunity for all involved.

Even with that said, AEW has still struggled to build consistent hype for the matchups and could also use a break from the format in 2026.

These WarGames matches feel more like traditional Survivor Series contests each year, lacking the intensity and team dynamics expected within the cage.

It would be best for WWE to return to the more standard Survivor Series matches, which can deliver more twists and turns in the ring, and let WarGames rest for a while before delivering it when two strong stables are ready to fight.

If Hell in a Cell can be put on the shelf for overuse, why can't WarGames?

Wrong Time for Nikki Bella Heel Turn

Everything about the Stephanie Vaquer/Nikki Bella storyline has failed to deliver since it first started.

The Hall of Famer was set up as an unnecessary veteran guide for La Primera without ever truly showing what Vaquer was learning from her.

They teamed together as a standard tag team last week for the first time, only to deliver the heel turn the next week.

Bella's heel turn felt inevitable, but it did not need to happen this soon. In fact, the fast delivery made it feel like everything that came before was a waste of time.

If WWE had built the two up more as a team and friends, it would have been easier to buy into the betrayal.

In the end, Bella tricked Vaquer for several weeks without elevating Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez, who have become secondary players in a feud between the world champion and a veteran with just one singles win in 2025.

WWE has made a booking adjustment to deliver turns more quickly lately, but this was an overcorrection, delivering the villainous switch far too soon.

Women's Tag Division Outshining Men's Tag Division

The tables have turned in WWE for the first time since the Women's Tag Team Championships were introduced in 2019.

The women's tag division is the most relevant tag division in WWE, and it's not even a close fight.

Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss made the titles relevant again and have traveled across brands to find challengers.

Asuka and Kairi Sane became Raw's top heels and put their focus on the tag titles, wrestling them away from The Queen and The Goddess on Monday's Raw.

The stories in the women's tag division matter and have set up the biggest women's match of 2025 not including a world champion for Survivor Series: WarGames.

Meanwhile, the men's tag team division cannot find a reliable story on Raw or SmackDown.

AJ Styles and Dragon Lee have no challengers after defeating The Judgment Day two times in a row.

The SmackDown tag team division has more momentum but still cannot touch the main event spot on Friday nights.

The Wyatt Sicks are primarily feuding with The MFTs, but it is almost more about Sami Zayn than The Wyatt Sicks at this stage.

WWE should take a cue from its own women's tag division booking to elevate the men's tag divisions, create stories that can believably main-event TV and set up interesting matches for premium live events.

It sounds simple, but WWE has not found that balance on Raw or SmackDown in 2025.

However, it is at least a major credit to WWE that the women's tag division has finally been revitalized. Hopefully, that will continue into 2026.