5 Lessons Learned from the 1st Year of WWE Raw on Netflix
The first year of WWE Raw on Netflix is done after the December 29 edition from the Kia Center in Orlando, Florida.
It was a night that played out as familiar to what WWE has delivered all year, focused on the major champions of Raw as well as The Vision.
New champions were crowned as The Usos dethroned AJ Styles and Dragon Lee as world tag team champions, while Stephanie Vaquer successfully defended her gold from the threats of Nikki Bella and Raquel Rodriguez.
This final show of 2025 elucidated the strongest lessons fans can take from this first year of WWE programming on Netflix, including what worked well and what needs to improve.
Hopefully, these are lessons WWE will take forward into the new year with the Netflix anniversary on the horizon.
Jey Uso's Ascension Was a Failed Experiment
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These were the 2025 highlights of Jey Uso:
This is not a bad resume on paper, but it comes tinged with the failed idea that Jey was supposed to solidify himself as a new main event player in 2025.
Instead, by the end of the year, he looks to have fallen right back into the tag team ranks, winning gold there for the 11th time.
Main Event's nickname was supposed to be a proclamation of his future prospects. His theme declaring "It's just me, Uce" indicated he had finally become his own man without his brother.
Excluding the possibility of a swerve such as The Vision taking the World Tag Team Championships early in 2026 and pushing Jey to fight on his own again, all signs point to him becoming just one of The Usos again for the rest of his career.
Why did it all fall apart? It likely comes down to Jey simply not stacking up in the ring. Without Jimmy on the apron to tag in, Jey has consistently looked slow and uncoordinated.
His promo work also left much to be desired, never able to match up to establish main event talent such as Roman Reigns, CM Punk or Seth Rollins.
He is still immensely popular, though that may diminish if WWE brings back The Usos' team theme going forward.
Even if WWE tries again with a Jey solo run, it is unlikely to recapture the magic of his 2025 start, the surprise and promise behind Main Event earning his own moniker by toppling the biggest stars.
WWE's Secret Weapon is Leaning Into Roster Variety
2 of 5When Raw was on point in 2025, it leaned into the variety of the roster. The men's main event scene may have been the red brand's focal point, but it was not what delivered the year's best moments.
The women's division elevated fresh names such as Stephanie Vaquer and Maxxine Dupri, while Asuka and Kairi Sane's heel turn on Iyo Sky and Rhea Ripley was Raw's most dramatic moment of the year.
Dominik Mysterio made the most of his Intercontinental Championship reign to deliver fun matches with Penta, Rusev and AJ Styles.
By the end of the year, even the often forgotten tag team division sparked, relying on memorable sprints led by AJ Styles and Dragon Lee as world tag team champions.
Raw was at its weakest when The Vision opened and closed Raw, especially during this final stretch of the year littered with non-finishes.
While CM Punk, Gunther and Seth Rollins were solid world champions, it did not lead to nearly enough interesting TV.
Next year should lean even more into the variety approach, delivering fresh main events that feature many different stars.
Men's Main Event Scene Needs a Youth Injection
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CM Punk stands atop Raw as world heavyweight champion at 47 years old, just one year younger than the recently retired John Cena.
While The Best in the World is still vital to the red brand, this should likely be his last run with the world championship.
He is not the only older Superstar on top of WWE. Raw's 2025 main event scene featured LA Knight (43), Jey Uso (40), Seth Rollins (39) and Gunther (38).
The one saving grace immediately into 2026 is Bron Breakker (28), who could dethrone Punk on the Netflix anniversary.
However, he should only be the beginning of a youth movement on Raw that could also include NXT call-ups such as Oba Femi (27), Trick Williams (31) and Je'Von Evans (21).
If WWE can find more interesting ways to use The Vision, Austin Theory (28) and Logan Paul (30) could become more permanent staples of the main event picture as well.
There is no need to wait on pushing these stars. Cena and Randy Orton became top guys in their 20s because WWE took chances on them early.
It is time to take more chances and rely less on the veterans who should focus more on elevating the next generation.
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Changing of the Guard in Women's Division Has Big Potential
4 of 5Stephanie Vaquer and Maxxine Dupri go into 2026 as the top women's champions on Raw, and neither of those names would have made sense at the start of 2025.
While their booking has been inconsistent through the year, it is refreshing to see WWE rely upon new talent, who have far more potential than fans have yet seen.
La Primera was the hottest free agent by WWE in 2024, but she did not fully break out in NXT until 2025. Her breakout was remarkable though, winning all the gold in NXT before a quick jump to Raw.
Once she arrived on Raw, her rise felt inevitable, and no one was truly shocked when she won the Women's World Championship over Iyo Sky.
Dupri's rise was much later in the year after multiple stumbles as a performer earlier in 2025. However, everything changed when she began feuding with women's intercontinental champion Becky Lynch.
The Man helped Dupri deliver the best matches and promos of her career before putting her over in Madison Square Garden.
This focus on fresh names should continue into 2026. Vaquer needs interesting challengers beyond just returning to the standard-bearers in Sky, Rhea Ripley and Lynch. Please move away from the Nikki Bella feud.
Dupri needs to keep working with talent who can elevate her, but that could easily include fresh names like Roxanne Perez or NXT call-ups including Sol Ruca and Jacy Jayne.
The established names can help continuing to elevate the Women's Tag Team Championships or build fresh rivalries with other young stars.
This division is diverse and deep, but it does not always feel like it when the same stars are highlighted every week.
Plenty of Room for More Experimentation with Weekly Structure
5 of 5Netflix presented Raw with a fresh home with different expectations. Rather than live network television, the show was streaming to a varied subscriber pool.
The main changes WWE made were to mostly commit to two-and-a-half hours of Raw and interviews during the commercial breaks that some subscribers could pay to avoid.
The length of the show occasionally pushed longer or shorter through the year, though Raw could have benefited from more flexibility on that front.
Sometimes, Raw would feel like it was forcing more content than the show needed; other times, the wrestling could have used more time to shine.
The content during the commercial breaks fell into too familiar a pattern, particularly the short interviews with talent not otherwise used on the show.
Some of these interviews were better than others, but the familiar setup and delivery made them feel entirely like filler.
It would be better to take more chances on this time, putting together pre-taped promos and more crowd interaction friendly segments that could bleed into the main show.
Anything that was missed live could be seen on YouTube or X after the show is over, making the most of the time spent each week.
Raw on Netflix also saw more celebrity appearances and interactions than ever before, which came with pros and cons.
While some interactions like New York Giants running back Cam Skattebo scrapping with The Judgment Day brought extra attention to the product, the frequency distracted from the product more than it helped the show's flow.
It would be best to be more tactful with how celebrities in the audience are presented and used. If they are not going to play into stories, keep to one-and-done shots of those in attendance.
The final interesting element of Raw's Netflix partnership will be first explored on the Netflix anniversary: partnerships.
On the Netflix anniversary show, Raw will be Stranger Things-themed, which is a potentially exciting way to make that show stand out more.
If possible, more themed Raws, even if they are purely for sponsorships, could make the weekly product more exciting. This could be similar to how WWE used to lean far more into holiday themes in the past.
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