WWE Raw Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from April 25

Credit: WWE

Welcome to Bleacher Report's coverage and recap of WWE Raw on April 25.

Becky Lynch has been absent from WWE television since losing the Raw Women's Championship to Bianca Belair at WrestleMania 38, but she returned this week hoping to get back what she lost.

This week's show also featured a celebration to mark Randy Orton's 20-year anniversary as a WWE Superstar, an arm-wrestling match between Omos and Bobby Lashley, and Belair defending her Raw women's title against Sonya Deville.

Let's take a look at everything that happened on Monday's show.

Raw opened with Riddle in the ring surrounded by most of the roster at ringside. He played a video package highlighting Orton's 20-year career in WWE before The Viper made his way to the ring.

Orton talked about how incredible his career has been, but he also said he hoped nobody was sick of him because he didn't intend on going anywhere anytime soon.

Riddle brought out Cody Rhodes, and he gave Orton a big hug when he got to the ring. This brought Seth Rollins out of his chair to talk some trash. He told The Viper not to trust Rhodes because he was just trying to steal the spotlight.

Ezekiel and Kevin Owens ended up joining the party to continue their feud, and The Usos soon followed. Adam Pearce came out and booked an eight-man tag match for the night.

This segment started off fine, but it eventually felt crowded. Once Ezekial showed up, it was clear WWE was trying to shove multiple storylines into one segment. It kind of worked because it all led to one match, but it still felt forced.

Grade: C+

Notable Moments and Observations

• The video package did a great job showcasing some of Orton's top moments from two decades of footage. It had to be hard to pick and choose which clips to use because he has been part of so many big events and moments.
• The crowd popping for Rhodes and Orton hugging each other was a nice moment.
• Ezekiel saying he did not like interrupting people is a funny bit of continuity if you think about it.

The first match of the night saw Belair put the Raw women's title on the line against the woman who has made her life a living hell for weeks, Deville.

They ended up taking the fight out of the ring within the first minute. The EST threw Deville over the announce table, and Deville ended up being counted out. The crowd was completely silent for this and Belair's music did not hit right away, so it was clear something else was going to happen.

Deville ordered the ref to restart the match, so he did. Belair went after her, and they fought at ringside until Deville hit the champ with a chair to get herself disqualified. She grabbed a mic and demanded the match be restarted again with no disqualifications.

Carmella and Queen Zelina joined her in the ring and tried to help beat up Belair, but The EST overcame the odds and won the match to retain her title.

This was really strange. The way it was booked was obviously designed to make Belair look like a valiant warrior who cannot be kept down, but it ended up being more of a mess than WWE probably expected. The second half of the match was better, but it was still crowded in the ring.

Grade: C

Notable Moments and Observations

• Deville's entrance took place during the break. That's not something that should be happening to the challenger in a title match.
• Carmella and Zelina just broke up their tag team recently. Having them out there working together to help Deville makes no sense.
• WWE showed them backstage after the match talking to Deville about getting another shot at the women's tag titles, so it looks like WWE is just glossing over their big fight from a few weeks ago.

Veer's victim this week was a jobber by the name of Sam Smothers. He defeated Smothers in about 30 seconds with his Million-Dollar Arm clothesline and then proceeded to destroy him at ringside after the match was over.

While we have seen Veer squash a few people already, this was arguably the most dominant he has looked. The bout achieved its goal, but WWE can't rely on these squash matches for too much longer. Veer needs a real rival.

Grade: C-

Next up were Omos and Lashley competing in an arm-wrestling match to see which powerhouse had more raw strength. MVP talked some trash before The All Mighty made his way to the ring.

After a long struggle that saw both men come close to beating the other, Lashley won. Omos attacked him right away and slammed his head into the table they were using.

This was predictable in just about every way. It seemed to get a little heat from the crowd at the end, but it was hard to tell if WWE was booking Omos because he's a heel or because the segment was relatively boring.

Grade: C-

Notable Moments and Observations

• The jury is out on whether Sam is related to Tracy Smothers.
• When are we going to get a remake of Over the Top starring only WWE Superstars?

After a short backstage segment with R-Truth pretending to be a couples therapist, Akira Tozawa and Tamina took on Reggie and Dana Brooke in a mixed tag team match.

Tozawa and Tamina ended up winning, and then we saw a few people try to pin Dana for the 24/7 title. She escaped without being pinned and ran to the back.

This was not funny and did nothing to help any of the people involved. At this point, it's hard not to feel bad for everyone involved in this.

Grade: F

Notable Moments and Observations

• Deville, who is openly lesbian, has been pushing for positive LGBTQ+ representation for years, and WWE just keeps teasing the possibility of two women kissing. The way WWE treats the representation of that community is disappointing, to say the least.

Lynch came out looking as depressed as we've ever seen her. She talked about going almost three years without making an appearance on Raw without the title around her waist and not knowing who she was without it.

Big Time Becks said she had hit rock bottom, but that meant there was nowhere else to go but up. She called this a new beginning of a legendary comeback.

Right after she said nobody could stop her, Asuka made her long-awaited return to a great reaction. Lynch tried to attack her, but Asuka sent her packing and continued to dance to her music.

This was a decent promo from Lynch and a good start to what will undoubtedly be a fun feud between these two great performers. Big Time Becks slowly losing her mind as she keeps racking up losses might be fun to watch.

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

• Lynch literally called the title her "Precious." It was already clear WWE wanted her to appear slightly unhinged, but using the word Gollum uses for The One Ring felt excessive.
• Seeing Asuka get such a warm welcome was great. She deserves it after spending the past few months sitting backstage waiting to be used after she was cleared.

Finn Balor and Damien Priest used to be fighting over the United States Championship, but now that neither man has the belt, this fight is 100 percent personal.

They did not hold back and started beating each other senseless as soon as the ref called for the bell. As we went to a commercial break, Priest dropped Balor with a powerbomb on the apron.

We returned to see The Prince still struggling to regain his footing. He began to make a comeback and hit a quick double stomp before staring up the ramp toward The Rated-R Superstar.

Balor was preparing to hit the Coup de Grace, but Edge distracted him. Priest capitalized with a huge chokeslam and his new finisher to get the win.

This match was solid, but it did not come anywhere near the quality of their previous encounters, so it's hard to give it a good grade when we all know they are capable of so much more.

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

• Edge entered the arena in a chair that was moving on a small track. Priest was standing on the platform beside him, so they were both completely still as they slowly moved forward on the stage to the ramp.
• Edge's new stable is called Judgment Day. That's right. WWE recycled the name of an old pay-per-view for this group.
• If Edge's group is going to grow, it needs to happen soon. WWE could use a good stable on Raw.

The Miz welcomed Theory as his guest for this week's episode of "Miz TV." The new United States champion made it clear he was no longer going by the name Austin. They stroked each other's egos and put themselves over like typical heels.

The Miz tried to give him some advice about watching his back now that he had the U.S. title around his waist. Mustafa Ali made his return for the first time since Crown Jewel. The Miz and Theory joked about not knowing Ali still had a job and called him the guy who took his ball and went home.

Ali declared his intentions to chase the United States Championship and called Theory a coward when he refused his challenge. Theory texted Vince McMahon and got him to book a match between Ali and The Miz, which The A-Lister did not seem to like.

They started off with some simple wristlocks and counters, but The Miz quickly turned it into a more physical fight with a forearm to the head. While Ali got in some good shots, The Miz controlled the first few minutes with some aggressive offense. Ali ended up winning with an improvised pinning combination to counter a Figure-Four.

The moment Ali came out, the energy in the arena picked up. Not only did he do a good job on the mic, but he also looked great in the ring. As he was celebrating, Ciampa attacked him out of nowhere, so we will see where that goes.

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Theory telling the crowd to shut up when it was chanting "What?" at him was kind of funny.
• The crowd was genuinely excited to see Ali back, and he looked just as happy to see everybody in the crowd.
• The Miz never gives less than 100 percent, and you have to respect that about him. Even when he is giving scripted lines, he has an extra level of energy behind his delivery.
• Ali is so smooth in the ring. If you follow him on social media, you have likely seen some of the videos of him and his students practicing certain sequences. He's on a different level.
• Ciampa no longer has a first name. Out of all the recent name changes in WWE, this is the least egregious.

Once all eight men were in the ring, a huge brawl broke out before the ref could even call for the bell. We returned from a commercial break to see Jimmy Uso and Ezekiel in the ring battling for control.

The American Nightmare ended up being the babyface who took the brunt of the opposing team's offense. They kept him cornered and tagged in and out to keep everyone fresh while keeping Rhodes isolated.

Zeke had a brief burst of offense after a hot tag, but Rollins was able to regain control when he hit Riddle with an inverted superplex.

Once The Viper finally tagged in, he started taking on everybody on the opposing team. After a handful of RKOs from various angles, The Legend Killer scored the pin for his team.

This was the most entertaining match on the entire show and managed to address three different feuds at the same time. Orton hitting everyone on the opposing team with an RKO felt like a good way to send the crowd home happy.

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• All of the entrances took over 10 minutes. WWE really needs to get better with time management. Just because you have three hours doesn't mean you should include a bunch of filler.
• When Jimmy tripped Riddle on the top rope, it looked like The Bro legitimately did not see it coming. He came down hard on that turnbuckle.
• This match was the first time the crowd seemed truly invested in anything that was happening. Other segments would get cheered or booed, but this bout was getting tons of different reactions.
• KO screaming "Ow, my eye!" after Orton poked him was so much funnier than it should have been.