WWE Raw Results, Winners, Live Grades, Reaction, Highlights From March 9

The road to WrestleMania 42 rolled through Seattle on Monday night, with a jam-packed episode featuring matches with Showcase of the Immortals implications.

Who emerged as the No. 1 contender to AJ Lee's Women's Intercontinental Championship, was Rusev able to slow down the unstoppable force that is Oba Femi, and was Penta's Intercotinental Championship reign a one-week wonder?

Find out with this recap of the March 9 show, featuring grades and analysis from the night's Netflix broadcast.

Lineup

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Announced in advance of the March 9 episode were:

Intercontinental Championship Match: Penta (c) vs. Original El Grande Americano

Oba Femi vs. Rusev

No. 1 Contender's Gauntlet Match: Iyo Sky vs. Lyra Valkyria vs. Bayley vs. Ivy Nile vs. Asuka vs. Raquel Rodriguez

Adam Pearce's Conversation with Seth Rollins

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Last Time in Action: Seth Rollins defeated Cody Rhodes (Crown Jewel, October 11, 2025)

Raw general manager Adam Pearce called out Seth "Freakin" Rollins to kick off the show. After some theatrics with a dozen other masked men, Rollins joined him in the squared circle.

Pearce implored Rollins not to go to war with The Vision, especially since he is only five months removed from surgery and not yet cleared to compete.

Before Rollins could respond, Logan Paul and Austin Theory interrupted. They cut a generic heel promo threatening to end Rollins, but missed out on attacking him, thanks to the return of the masked men.

LA Knight hit the ring, followed by The Usos, and the babyfaces beat down the heels, leaving them to scurry to the sanctuary of the arena floor.

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Grade

C

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Top Moments and Takeaways

"Seth, we've known each other a long time, and I didn't need that," Pearce told The Architect of the comically bad live shell game featuring other masked entities. You and us both, Pearce.

The Rollins shenanigans with the masked men was way too much, the visual representation of overkill. The Visionary did not have to come out to his standard entrance, and could have entered (unmasked) in black via the crowd, without all of the nonsense.

The Usos and Knight's involvement ensured some physicality at the top of the show but we have seen the three of them interact with the heels so frequently over the last five months that it feels like lather, rinse, and repeat at this point.

A lackluster start to the show and one that never hit like last week's red-hot opening segment.

No.1 Contender's Gauntlet Match

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Last Time in Action: Iyo Sky and Rhea Ripley lost to Lash Legend and Nia Jax (SmackDown, February 27); Asuka and Raquel Rodriguez lost to Rhea Ripley (Elimination Chamber, February 28); Bayley lost to Asuka in a Triple Threat Match also involving Nattie (Raw, February 16); Lyra Valkyria and Ivy Nile lost to Rhea Ripley (Raw, February 9)

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Bayley bested Asuka, Ivy Nile, Iyo Sky, Raquel Rodriguez, and Lyra Valkyria in a No. 1 Contender's Gauntlet Match to earn a shot at AJ Lee's Women's Intercontinental Championship next Monday night in San Antonio.

Sky out-wrestled Valkyria, delivering an Over the Moonsault to send the former IC champion packing.

When Liv Morgan appeared at ringside, and women's world champion Stephanie Vaquer cut her off, Sky capitalized on the distraction to eliminate Rodriguez. Big Sexy, though, attacked The Genius of the Sky, sending her face-first into the ring post.

Nile took advantage of a prone Sky, pinning her for the most surprising outcome of the contest.

Bayley overcame the strength of Nile, delivered the Bayley to Belly, and set up a final fall against Asuka. A back-and-forth match between former world champions concluded with Valkyria reappearing and taking out Kairi Sane on the arena floor, allowing the babyface to deliver the Rose Plant to The Empress of Tomorrow and score the final elimination of the match.

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Result

Bayley defeated Asuka, Nile, Sky, Rodriguez, and Valkyria

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Order of Elimination

Sky pinned Valkyria

Sky pinned Rodriguez

Nile pinned Sky

Bayley pinned Nile

Bayley pinned Asuka

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Grade

A+

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Top Moments and Takeaways

Backstage, Jackie Redmond caught up with The Usos. Jimmy insinuated him, and his brother had something to say to world champion CM Punk after his comments about Roman Reigns' late father, Sika, last week. Bloodline threads? It took them long enough to revisit them.

Giving us Sky vs. Valkyria to kick off this gauntlet, then putting a commercial break right in the middle of it, is some nasty work.

Morgan inadvertently (or not) created a distraction that led to Rodriguez losing, only continuing the narrative that she is toying with Big Mami Cool's career and keeping her a notch below her in the hierarchy since returning.

Nile shone in her one fall against Bayley, but WWE Creative really needs to find a way to build her some momentum because every time she has a promising performance, she disappears from television with no rhyme or reason.

Bayley and Asuka have remarkable in-ring chemistry, dating back to their days in NXT. Yet, despite what feels like an endless string of matches, they have competed against each other in singles competition just seven times across all brands.

Bayley vs. AJ Lee is the kind of match the latter's return to the squared circle is all about. The Role Model idolized her and has been open about wanting this dream match. Next week, we get it, in one of those bouts that once felt impossible.

Intercontinental Championship Match: Penta vs. Original El Grande Americano

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Last Time in Action: Penta defeated Dominik Mysterio (Raw, March 2); Original El Grande Americano defeated Rayo Americano (Raw, March 2)

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Backstage, Original El Grande Americano proved too impatient for Danhausen, who cursed him ahead of his title opportunity.

By the time the match against Penta for the Intercontinental Championship came about, the original was nowhere to be found. Instead, the second El Grande Americano strutted to the ring for the contest.

A competitive, back-and-forth match that highlighted the in-ring chemistry between them followed. Americano had the champion reeling more than once and at one point, used his power advantage to deliver a spinebuster.

Penta recovered, delivered a springboard Mexican Destroyer, and secured the hard-fought victory and successful title defense.

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Result

Penta defeated Americano

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Grade

B

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Top Moments and Takeaways

Penta's energy is infectious. He cut an inspirational promo about his IC title win last week, but he is so charismatic and likable that it works in a way that it would not for others.

The heel Americano strutting in and taking over the OG's title opportunity was on brand, considering he straight-up stole the gimmick the moment the original suffered an injury and disappeared from TV.

Penta winning a match against an opponent he was not ready for, beating him cleanly, is exactly the type of victory that babyfaces on TV should be getting. On a roster full of popular Superstars, he might be the best pure babyface on the roster.

A strong video package featuring Stephanie Vaquer aired, putting over her match with Liv Morgan at WrestleMania, and that, at least in her mind, she sees more in her opponent than the Royal Rumble winner sees in herself.

Dominik Mysterio In-Ring Promo

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Last Time in Action: Dominik Mysterio lost to Penta (Raw, March 2)

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Enraged after losing his Intercontinental Championship last week, Dominik Mysterio hit the ring, flanked by Morgan and Rodriguez, and called out Finn Balor, blaming him for the loss.

The former universal champion, flanked by JD McDonagh, made his way to the ring to confront Dirty Dom. He told Mysterio that he had spent years trying to protect him, but sometimes, one has to learn how to fight one's own battles.

He said that, maybe, Rey Mysterio was right about his son, that he was a "spoiled little p***k". That earned him a cheap shot from Dirty Dom, and the brawl was on from there. Inevitably, McDonagh betrayed his mentor and friend, joining the Judgment Day in a four-on-one beatdown of The Prince, even utilizing the timekeeper's hammer and a steel chair to lay out the Irish-born competitor.

The remnants of Judgment Day stood tall over their fallen leader to close out the segment.

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Grade

A

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Top Moments and Takeaways

When asked by Morgan backstage if he wanted her and Rodriguez to accompany him to the ring, tough guy Dom said, "Of course." The second-generation wrestler is the prototypical cowardly heel, and he pulls off the role perfectly.

McDonagh turning on Balor was the one moment that could have been better sold by the commentary team given how instrumental the latter was and has been on JD's career.

If Triple H and the creative team can build on this, they may have an incredibly hot midcard match on tap for WrestleMania 42. The history is plentiful, the characters involved are over, and the crowd ate this up. It helped that Balor had been reheated through his world title feud with CM Punk.

Oba Femi vs. Rusev

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Last Time in Action: Oba Femi defeated Johnny Gargano (SmackDown, March 6); Rusev defeated Joaquin Wilde (Main Event, February 2)

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Oba Femi faced his toughest test to date on Monday and weathered the storm, defeating Rusev in a physical, albeit short, battle.

The Ruler overcame an early onslaught, exploded back into the match, and laid flattened The Bulgarian Brute, and extended his winning streak in main roster competition.

Conveniently enough, right before Michael Cole revealed that Brock Lesnar will be in San Antonio next week for Raw. Interesting.

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Result

Femi defeated Rusev

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Grade

C+

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Top Moments and Takeaways

Backstage, Kofi Kingston pitched Je'Von Evans on joining up with The New Day, planting the seeds for an honest-to-goodness story involving the three instead of random one-off matches.

Rusev looked like a world-beater at points, finding success against Femi that others had not thus far in his main roster run. Sure, they may not want him in meaningless matches and angles if WrestleMania is not in his future, but he is too good not to be utilized more consistently.

Femi overcoming an early onslaught showed the WWE Universe a new side of himself, proving he can win beyond just obliterating the competition in short order.

The match itself was exactly what it needed to be and was executed to perfection.

CM Punk Promo

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Last Time in Action: CM Punk defeated Finn Balor (Elimination Chamber, February 28)

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World heavyweight champion CM Punk hit the ring for what is becoming a weekly main event promo segment.

The Best in the World said Roman Reigns has never respected him, but he will make him at WrestleMania 42. His presence alone makes everyone level up, he said, but he admitted that he sank to Reigns' level last week by mentioning Wild Samoan Sika.

The Usos cut him off and demanded an apology, to which Punk asked why Reigns is still sending his cousins to do his heavy lifting.

That remained a theme for the rest of the promo, during which Punk recalled his history with the Anoa'i family, including working for Afa in Allentown, Pennsylvania for knowledge, a meal, and a roof over his head.

Despite Jimmy and Jey's demands for an apology, Punk instead said "I'm sorry" for Reigns not apologizing to the family that he had disrespected and treated like garbage for years. He added one last jab, calling the Usos "young boys" before catching a microphone to the head from Jimmy.

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Grade

A+

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Top Moments and Takeaways

Punk reminding the world that the World Heavyweight Championship was created because Reigns did not defend the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship was a nice touch.

Jimmy was outstanding here. Whereas Jey brought the animated anger, his brother was calm, spoke logically and with respect toward Punk, which carried more gravity,

This was an outstanding show-closing segment. Punk is following the playbook on how to beat Reigns. He made the comment about Sika, which got into the OTC's head. Now, he has The Usos doubting their cousin by reopening old wounds. We know there is success to be had against the Tribal Chief by playing mind games with him. Ask Seth Rollins. Imagine the irony if Punk beats Reigns by using the strategy of his greatest enemy.

Show MVP and Overall Grade

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MVP: The Raw Women's Division

There was not an abundance of wrestling on this two-and-a-half hour show but a large portion of what was here belonged to the Raw women's division. Bayley, Asuka, Ivy Nile, Iyo Sky, Raquel Rodriguez, and Lyra Valkyria delivered a Gauntlet Match that featured the ultimate goal of earning a shot at AJ Lee's Women's Intercontinental Championship, while housing other ongoing stories.

From Liv Morgan's continued, subtle screwing of Rodriguez to Kairi Sane's role in Asuka's loss, not to mention some truly strong wrestling in between, this was an excellently executed contest that set up a big-time dream match of sorts between Bayley and Lee for next week.

As has been the case for the last year, the women come through big time with the best performances of the night.

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Overall Grade: B

This was not as strong as last week's show, but there was a lot to like here.

From Penta's victory and the match that preceded it, to the long-awaited Judgment Day split, to the show-closing angle that reintroduced the Bloodline story into the main event of WrestleMania 42, this had a little bit of everything, even if it may not have presented as a more dynamic episode.

Throw in the aforementioned women's gauntlet match and a big night for Oba Femi, and you have a steady, building block episode of the flagship.