Our WWE Raw results for tonight include Penta versus Kofi Kingston, Rhea Ripley versus Roxanne Perez, and advertised appearances from Roman Reigns and Nikki Bella. Here’s our review and grades for tonight’s show, live from BP Pulse LIVE in Birmingham, United Kingdom.
WWE Raw Card:
- Roman Reigns kicks off RAW
- Penta vs. Kofi Kingston
- Rhea Ripley vs. Roxanne Perez
- Nikki Bella calls out Becky Lynch
WWE Raw Results:
Paul Heyman disrespects Roman Reigns… out of love
Roman Reigns comes to the ring and takes in the Birmingham crowd’s chanting, playing it up before he says he has to acknowledge something. He’s not the same guy anymore, but maybe he can be. He says his time will come, and The Vision took everything from him, which brings him to Bronson Reed. Before he can go any further, Paul Heyman and Reed, wearing his Shoe-la Falas, interrupt the promo.
Heyman says he and Roman ran things for years, but that’s over. Heyman still loves his Tribal Chief, but he’s there to disrespect him. Heyman says Reigns needs the tough love that he can give him. Heyman isn’t man enough to beat the tough love into him, but Bronson Reed is.
“Hey dumbass,” Reigns replies to the delight of the crowd. Reigns says he’s going to kick Bronson Reed’s ass in Paris on Sunday. Reed says Sunday is about disrespect, but now it’s time for a history lesson. Reed says Reigns’ tribe is civilized, but he’s not. Reigns’ tattoos are bought, but Reed’s are earned, and Reed claims he’s the Samoan Roman’s family warned him about.
Reigns jokes that he didn’t know Reed was Samoan and invites him to the ring. Reigns says they can fix the problem by Reed returning his shoes and promising to not disrespect him again. Reed hands the Shoe-la Fala to Heyman and says if he comes to the ring, he’ll force Roman to acknowledge the Tribal Thief. Reigns says he’s going after Reed instead of waiting, then brawls with him in the aisle. They trade punches before security runs out and tries to separate them. Reed gets the upper hand and tries to steal Roman’s shoes again. Roman initially stops him, but Reed knocks him down and heads up top. Roman finally hits a Superman punch and things get broken up, then hits another before they brawl up the aisle and to the back, all while security rips at them to pull them apart.
Grade: B
This was a solid promo that featured some solid references and digs from all three men. However, it clocked in at nearly 30 minutes long. Opening segments really don’t need to be this long and could have been a little shorter. Sure, Roman played to the crowd a bit, but the segment picked up when Heyman and Reed arrived.
Read More: Bronson Reed Proclaims This WWE Superstar Is a ‘Genius’
Dragon Lee vs. JD McDonagh
AJ Styles ran out towards the end of the match to stop Dominik Mysterio from interfering in the match. This allowed Dragon Lee to capitalize, hitting Operation Dragon for the win.
Winner – Dragon Lee
Grade: B
This was a fine match. Dragon Lee is fun to watch, and JD was a great opponent. Cole mentioned Lee needing to earn the win, and he really did.
LA Knight is backstage with Jackie Redmond, who asks about his “accidental” issues with CM Punk last week. Knight questions it being an accident, then says he understands why CM Punk wants to work together. Unfortunately, Punk made it impossible to do that. Knight is hungry for gold on Sunday, but also has to deal with Bron Breakker tonight. He says he’ll send Breakker back to factory settings, and closes with “Woof woof, dummy.”
Penta vs. Kofi Kingston
Grayson Waller gets Corey Graves to sign his petition to ban the Mexican Destroyer as the match begins. Penta gets the upper hand early, and both Xavier Woods and Kingston run away before he can do any more damage. After a commercial break, Kofi got some offense in, but Penta remained in control. Penta superkicks Waller’s petition into his face to make the papers go flying, then Penta dove on Woods on the floor. Kofi took advantage and hit Trouble In Paradise for the surprise win.
Winner – Kofi Kingston
Grade: B-
This was always a match to showcase Penta, and the “will he join” story of Waller trying to join The New Day. It was a decent match, but the action outside of the ring (and commentary) got more spotlight. One funny non-match highlight was Michael Cole telling a screaming Xavier Woods to shut up, followed by Corey Graves asking if it felt good to insult a man with a cervical injury.
After highlights from last week’s show play, IYO SKY tells Rhea Ripley they need to go their separate ways. They hug as Rhea goes to prepare for her match, and the embrace is caught by a surprised Asuka and Kairi Sane, who were standing in the background.
Read More: Torrie Wilson Reveals Her Mount Rushmore Of Women’s Wrestling
Iyo Sky thanks Rhea Ripley for helping her last week, but says that Asuka & Kairi are her family, so she needs to keep her distance from Rhea for a while.
— The Movement – Pro Wrestling (@TheMovementXx) August 25, 2025
Asuka & Kairi watch on from behind as Rhea & Iyo hug.#WWERAW pic.twitter.com/rMWLrRdExO
WWE airs footage of Naomi’s pregnancy announcement before Adam Pearce tells Stephanie Vaquer that a title match at Clash In Paris won’t happen. He asks for a week to get an opponent and a match signed. She relents, shaking his hand to end the segment.
Nikki Bella calls Becky Lynch a few C-words
Becky Lynch comes to the ring and runs down the crowd before Nikki Bella interrupts her. Nikki calls her a bitch and asks why Becky won’t fight her. Becky says she calls the shots and won’t just give away a title shot to a “broke-neck Barbie” like her. Nikki stands her ground and says she paved the way for Becky, who agrees that Nikki and “the better twin,” Brie, did blaze a trail. After some more jabs back and forth, including Nikki saying Becky used to be Charlotte Flair’s sidekick.
Becky took issue with that remark, and Nikki says she reeks of desperation. The fans start a “Becky’s desperate” chant, so she brings up Ireland being oppressed. Nikki says Becky doesn’t have any balls and calls her a few C words. Cheap, coward and… whoa! Becky thought Nikki was going to say another C word. Becky finally gives Nikki her match… at Clash In Paris. After a dig about the late Ozzy Osbourne, Nikki rips the title out of Becky’s hand and says she’s going to be the new champion. They brawl a bit, with Nikki getting the upper hand before throwing the title back at an irate Becky on the ramp.
Grade: A
This was short and to the point, and very enjoyable. Becky was great in her responses to Nikki, who cut one of her better promos in recent memory. It was a bit vulgar with the C-word mentions, but obviously didn’t go too over the line. Nikki set the tone by delivering the following remark to Becky: “If you’re not a dog, then why are you acting like a little bitch?”
CM Punk addresses LA Knight’s remarks from earlier in the night. Punk says he was just trying to get to Clash In Paris, and doesn’t care if LA Knight thinks he was being malicious. Punk says he’s getting back to being champion, and he’ll paint his masterpiece in the blood of Knight and Jey Uso if he has to.
Roxanne Perez vs. Rhea Ripley
Rhea won with Riptide. The match centered around Roxanne trying to outwit the powerful Ripley. A bit on the short side, but still a fun dynamic. This was billed as the third match between the two, but didn’t feel like the climax of a trilogy at all.
Grade: B
Raquel got involved in the match after the bell, but IYO SKY ran down to make the save. The match was good, but you had to know some follow-up between IYO and Rhea was coming based on earlier events. That said, it was a little surprising that we didn’t see Asuka and Kairi here.
But wait… there’s more!
Rhea and IYO joke about the lack of time apart as Rhea rubs her knee. Asuka and Kairi show up and Asuka rips IYO in Japanese and storms off. IYO pleads with Kairi to trust her, but Kairi apologizes and walks away in Asuka’s direction.
AJ Styles vs. Finn Balor
Styles picks up the win after hitting the Styles Clash.
Grade: B
Surprisingly, the crowd was kinda quiet in parts of this one. This was another back and forth match, albeit a bit short. Not bad, but more of a “leave them wanting more” situation.
Roman Reigns gives Jey Uso a pep talk backstage, telling him to not worry about doing anything more because he’s done so much for others. Roman tells Jey to do things for himself now and hypes him for the Fatal Four-Way World Heavyweight Championship match at Clash In Paris.
Bayley isn’t sure what she needs
Bayley featured in a promo, thinking about her past days as a hugger. After some positive highlights, Bayley lets the criticism get in her head, further teasing a conflict between her original persona and the “Ding Dong Hello” era. Finally, Bayley screams at the voices in her head to stop. Lyra Valkyris is then shown asking Adam Pearce to check in on her.
Dominik Mysterio walks in and says Pearce needs to make AJ pay. He says AJ cost JD his match, but Dominik needs more. Pearce books Dominik versus AJ Styles for the title next week on RAW, and that is official.
Grade: A
Bayley’s recent promos have been great. We have an idea where this split personality gimmick might go, but still don’t know the endgame. Lyra is concerned about Bayley, but which voice will she ultimately side with? Roping in the Dominik part here too, if not just for him saying “Charles Xavier, this doesn’t work for me” to Pearce alone.
LA Knight vs. Bron Breakker
This match doesn’t officially start right away, as we see Bron Breakker and crew heading towards the ring. Roman Reigns attacks him backstage, and LA Knight jumps Breakker before going through the entrance tunnel. After a commercial, the match gets underway officially.
Breakker takes control and mocks LA Knight as he picks him apart. Knight makes a comeback, but Bron grounds him. Heyman tells Breakker to “finish this prick off” because they don’t want any problems.
Breakker… finds a problem in the form of a big boot from Knight to counter a spear. Commentary even points out Breakker’s issue with being a little too confident. The finish of the match sees Seth Rollins come to the ring, teasing that he’ll enter the ring to attack Knight. Rollins drops off the apron and runs around the ring, just in time for Breakker to hit a spear. Breakker hits a second, and Breakker makes the cover for the win.
Winner – Bron Breakker
Jey Uso runs out and attacks Rollins, laying him out after a superkick. He goes after Breakker next, but Rollins drops Uso with a Pedigree as the crowd chants for CM Punk to come help Knight and Uso. CM Punk answers the call, brawling with Breakker on the ramp as the crowd continues to sing Punk’s theme song throughout the fight. Punk and Rollins lock eyes and fight, with Punk gaining the upper hand as Breakker pulls Rollins out of the ring. The crowd chants “Seth’s a pussy” at Rollins, who claims he’s the king.
Punk and Knight shove each other in the ring, with Uso trying to play peacemaker. Rollins tells his crew to stay out of it, and Punk tries to hit a GTS. Uso instead hits Knight with a superkick, then surprisingly drops Punk with one to the shock of the crowd (and delight of Rollins).
WWE Raw Review:
RAW was a decent show, with most of the highlights coming in the form of the ladies’ respective promos and some solid in-ring work. The excited UK crowd was an added bonus, and we got some more matches (and tension) leading into Clash In Paris this weekend.
