Raw Recap - Jimmy & Jey Uso at odds over LA Knight & The Vision: Raw Recap, Sept. 22, 2025

0:00Cody Rhodes returns to Monday Night Raw. Asuka turns on Eosky. Big Jim is on the Raw recap and so much more. This, this is Raw recap at WWE and Fanatics Original Production.

0:24I mean, Megan Moran, it looked like She-Hulk attorney at law was lying on the mat. beaten but not quite out when Rhea Ripley was laying there. I don't think Asuka has ever used that much mist in her entire career. Rhea was covered head to toe with mist. She was green. The mist actually looked pretty cool though. That's because Rhea's impossible. Even when Rhea is in her worst position, it's impossible for her not to look cool. All that said, I'd rather be not cool than be in the position that Rhea Ripley was in to end Monday Night Raw. Yeah, you're telling me. So I don't think, you know, we were trying to figure out where this was all going to go.

1:06I don't think that any of us saw it panning out this way. I thought tonight on Raw, we got a little bit of insight into what this kind of hold Asuka has over Kairi Sane and Io Sky. And this idea that Asuka, they consider as the person who kind of opened the door for them, that brought them to WWE. They both consider Asuka as family. you know and Asuka I think is in a point in her career where she's ready to accept those those flowers accept those compliments and not just ready to insistent upon you know it's like it's her way or the highway and it's really interesting because we've seen EO we've seen EO very aggressive we've seen Kairi Sane be very aggressive in the past but Asuka this version of Asuka she's put her foot down and she's kind of made it very very clear not to me maybe not to you I don't understand what's going on half the time but she's clearly made it very clear to both EO and Kyrie what the task at hand is and if you just step out of line if you don't complete the task at hand it's going to be bad news and that's what EO Sky found out at the end of Monday Night Raw you know the past couple weeks we've talked about these backstage segments and we've had a little bit of fun with it.

2:23A little. We love Kairi! Exactly. We love Asuka yelling for Kairi Sane. Tonight really was the first night where I started to feel a little scared for Kairi Sane. Scary can be entertaining. Of course it is. Kairi doesn't want to do this stuff. I mean, Kairi, look, it left Io and a deep green Rhea Ripley lying out on the mat. Kairi even at that one point in the match didn't even want to interfere no didn't you want to mess with rhea ripley she did not want to hit that insane elbow but she just saw what happened to eo sky and she said i i better go hit that insane elbow and i mean listen she also is kind of the reason that asuka lost the match with rhea ripley you know the distract the hesitation on on hitting rhea but look we you go back earlier on the show and you know it was Rhea Ripley it's not like Rhea Ripley and EO Sky are on the exact same page there's been a respect between the two of them but earlier on the show Rhea as a person who is a friend of EO is a person who respects EO is telling EO hey man stay away from Asuka and this is like EO's like that's the one thing you don't say that's my family that's the person who brought me here and by the way don't tell me who to hang out with and who to not to hang out with I don't need your advice because interestingly enough and this could be something that that in that moment eo felt was plaguing her what started this whole animosity what started this whole beef oscar it was oscar telling eo don't hang out with ria right yes and now we get all these weeks forward and ria's going hey eo don't hang out with oscar anymore and eo's like how about this out of all of us i'm the last one to be the champion i'm gonna go ahead and make my own adult decisions thank you very much so we get to this main event which joe tess explained perfectly and accurately as a ple quality main event between rhea ripley and oscar and i mean dude like you talk about and this is what i was thinking i was going all the way back rhea ripley and oscar two of the great nxt women's gold champions i mean the the the the hold that Asuka had over NXT for that first run when she first got to the WWE before she hit the main roster was the stuff of legends.

4:54So this was a real pleasure to see in the ring tonight. And it was physical and Asuka really dominated a lot of it. And Rhea started to amount to come back towards the end of the match, finding that razor's edge to the terror twin. Yes, Yes, the razor's edge. Because we just, you know, when you said before, EO saying, Oscar's my family. Don't tell me what to do. Don't tell me not to talk to her. I was thinking, now, if EO said to Rhea, how about you never talk to Priest? Stay away from him. That's my terror twin dog. That's right. That's what she was saying. And so I loved. But with the Australian accent.

5:30Are you going to do it? Nope. Okay. Go ahead. But when Rhea hit that, I was immediately thinking back to that interaction about just the tribute to family. Right, exactly, and the people who we're close to. And we'll talk to Jimmy Uso about just that later on. But yeah, seeing that go down and then seeing the physicality in this match and how good it was. And then Rhea hitting the outside. Kyrie not getting involved, obviously drawing Asuka's ire. Then finally, as the referee is distracted, she comes over and it was almost like she didn't know what to do with this fist of hers. Because that's the thing with Kairi Sane.

6:12Like, even though she's like, she's timid is not the word because she's coming across as timid, but she isn't timid. She's a lethal weapon. She is dangerous, but she doesn't want to hit these people. Except Asuka is asking for her to use that power, to use that danger against the people that Asuka wants her to use it against. Well, I imagine it's a very difficult situation, both for Io and for Kairi. because here's Asuka, this woman who they looked up to, this woman who helped bring them to WWE. Yeah. And this woman who, like, if you look at what she's done in WWE, if you're going to follow the orders of one woman on the women's roster in WWE, Asuka's pretty high on that list.

6:59But for the first time in their experience with Asuka, she's telling them to do some things that they're not exactly comfortable with, and they're starting to question a little bit. Okay, good. Let's talk about it. When was the last time Asuka was the women's world champion? It's been a little while. Don't you think Asuka should probably be switching up the game? And that's what she's doing. Yeah. And it's like, get on board or get off the train. Asuka's sitting there going like, listen, I'm not packing up the boots anytime soon. I want to be on top of this division. Io's saying, look, I was a women's world champion.

7:33Good. And I didn't have to go to this level. Okay, good. I wasn't asking my friends to do these things. Well, good. Are you the champion now? No. Did you win the championship at Wrestlepalooza? Nope. Okay, so what's the conversation we're having? Who are we talking to then? Switching up the game for Asuka. You got to switch up the game sometimes. And I think that's a smart thing to do. If the strategy is not working, that doesn't mean you change the goal. It means you change the strategy. And I think that's what Asuka is doing. And also asserting herself, you know, this whole year, ever since February.

8:07EO Sky has been the centerpiece of multiple main events this year on Monday Night Raw and the one this year that comes to my attention the most is the one that you and I sat there afterwards going, what just happened? And that's EO winning the Women's World Championship from, of all people, Rhea Ripley. So, you know, I think the fact that EO has won the title, has gone to WrestleMania with it, has had the year that she has had, I think Asuka's aware of that and going like, no, this isn't for you anymore. Now this is for me. And I think that's what you see at the end of Monday Night Raw. And of course, Asuka hears the chatter.

8:45Everybody, oh, EO Sky, potentially the best wrestler on the roster, men or women. No, on the planet, not the roster, the planet. EO Sky, best wrestler there is, is what they're saying. And Asuka goes, I taught Io everything she knows. I am the reason that Io's in the position she's in. Have you all forgotten what Asuka can do and what Asuka can accomplish? Nobody's ready. Especially not Kylie. So then we get in there. Kyrie and Asuka. And Kyrie doesn't want to do it, but she does it. They're beating down Rhea Ripley, who's green. And then Io Sky comes out to stop it. And I think that's this moment.

9:29That Asuka has where she's like, listen, like, number one, don't stop me from a beat down. But number two, she's looking around. She's looking at the fact that Kairi Sane is seeing all this. Your leadership is now being questioned. Who is the one who is calling the shots? Because if she stops right now, then it's like, okay, we have to stop because Io said so. What? No, no, no. That's not the game we're playing. Asuka's calling the shots, baby. Right. So we have a hug and then we have a spinning back fist and EO goes down. And I mean, that standing insane elbow, they're the worst. Just know, like Asuka's got, got EO perched like this.

10:10And then boom, EO just gets flattened to the mat. You know, I, I think, and the idea now that like, what are we looking at? We're looking at a potential EO and Rhea Ripley. It wasn't that long ago that you were coming on here going, why are they even friends? they both have the same goal Io and Rhea why are they friends this is the one person that Rhea can't be but now not only do they have this mutual respect but they have a common enemy and you wonder if it's going to be a situation where Io comes back and goes like okay it's time for us to fight or if she goes you know I'm not I don't want to fight Asuka I still don't want to fight Asuka Asuka is still that person I have that amount of reverence for and then what does Rhea do Right.

10:57Now I've got to believe Io's going to want to fight. I don't think it's going to go that way. He's a fighter. Io Sky being who Io Sky is, but that's a part of it. And I mean, you know, if you're teaming with Io Sky against the Kabuki Warriors, isn't there a part of you that's wondering, like, what if Io doesn't have the level of animosity that I do? What if they're able to bring Io back into the fold? It's a very, very complicated situation. Well, and then think of Kyrie's perspective as well. Kyrie's going to stand across the ring from Eoskai again, part of the family. Right. We saw, you know, you said timid's not the word, but we saw her hesitate today.

11:37Eoskai's a traitor. According to Asuka, and Kyrie spends a lot of time with Asuka. As a matter of fact, Kyrie's not allowed. She's required to. Yes, she's not allowed to spend more than 35 seconds outside of Asuka's presence or the scream comes and we can't have that. I mean, she's like a little dog that's been yelled at so much, just shaking. I kind of feel bad for Kyrie. I do too, but then the minute she starts that onslaught, you're like, oh, you know what? There's no reason to feel bad for Kyrie. She's ready to handle things on her own. So it's gonna be really interesting to see how that works out.

12:09But it was a very, very personal episode of Monday Night Raw. That's where it ends with this personal beef that is now involving Kyrie and Asuka, but then also Rhea and then also Io and Kyrie and Asuka turning on Io, all very personal. But Monday Night Raw started ultra personal. At Wrestlepalooza, Cody Rhodes was successful defending the WWE Championship against Drew McIntyre. On the post show, Cody, and this is not the first time he said something like this, said straight up, There is nobody on the roster that is more capable than me of being the quarterback, of being the number one guy in this promotion.

12:57And of course, that draws the ire again of Seth Rollins, who comes out and the two champions stand there with their titles, knowing Crown Jewel is right around the corner. Crown Jewel, where we have champion versus champion to crown that Crown Jewel champion every single year. And Cody won it last year. That was the inaugural crown jewel championship this year. Cody's back in it, but now he's in it against Seth Rollins. And I thought, you know, uh, Cody coming out on raw and really cool to see Cody Rhodes on raw. That's kind of a rarity, uh, coming out to address the audience, but before he can say anything, here comes Seth Rollins, Seth Rollins comes out and, and, and, and says, you know, it should just be champion versus champion because on paper, that's what this is designed to be.

13:44And I don't want to use the word exhibition as pejorative, but it's like it's just supposed to be on this night. Who's the better man? That's what it's all about. Or in the women's division, who's the better woman? That's what it's all about. It's not about what happens usually at these WWE premium live events where you build a story. You know, none's required. We never get to see both champions go at it. Champion versus champion. Once a year, we get to see it. And on this night, who's the better man and who holds that, you know, champion of champions crown jewel ring? Yeah, the ring. The ring.

14:19And Cody was wearing it proudly. And he didn't do that by mistake. Cody, you know, Cody, like, he keeps himself polite. He keeps it on the up and up. But he doesn't mind reminding you. He knew what he was doing bringing that ring to Monday Night Raw. Yes. That you can't miss it. Yeah, that's what you have to do, though. I agree. You're respectful. You're polite. You say all the right things, but you just a reminder. I'm the best. I'm the man. Let them know you have to. So Seth points out what I was thinking when I think a lot of us were thinking, which is this is beyond champion versus champion.

14:59This is beyond just who's the best on any given night. This is the real deal. This is deeply, deeply personal. And it just happens to be this road that we took that got us to another Seth Rollins, Cody Rhodes match. When Cody Rhodes first returned to the WWE. It was amazing. It was WrestleMania 38 and he was the mystery opponent against Seth Rollins. They ran it back once. They ran it back twice. The third match was, of course, that torn pec in the Hell in a Cell. Hell in a Cell in Chicago. Wow. Absolutely classic match. All three of them were absolute classics. all three of them won by Cody Rhodes, but it goes even deeper than that.

15:38And I had forgotten, right? I was like, oh, Seth versus Cody at Crown Jewel is gonna be awesome because of the three match series. We get to revisit it. But Seth was wearing a watch on Monday Night Raw and I had forgotten. Seth brought it up. You know, I was your shield at WrestleMania. And I was like, man, we have never cracked that can open. You know, it's interesting because I was actually listening to Cody Rhodes podcast and he had Becky Lynch on. And they were chatting as friends forever, so much history in the business. And Cody said, can I ask you something about your husband and you can't lie about it?

16:15Did he keep the watch that I gave him at WrestleMania because I've never seen him wear it? And Becky said, of course he has the watch. Well, why has he never worn it? He has it. And Becky was saying, I'm a terrible liar because my voice tends to go up. And she did get defensive of Seth and her voice did raise an octave. So Cody said, are you lying to me? And Becky said, I'm not lying. He has the watch. So this is something that Cody's been thinking about for a while. I gave him this watch at WrestleMania. What did he do with it? So for a shoot ski, he was wondering why Seth has never worn that watch.

16:51That's right. That he gave it to him. And that's the thing, man. That's the thing that people don't understand about wrestling. That like, there's a lot more reality in it than I think anybody realizes. And this idea that Cody Rhodes is going around in real life, talking about putting QB1 on his merch. Every interview he does talking about how he's the quarterback. He's the captain. He's the man. He has Bruce Prichard on his podcast talking about how he is there to be the man, to be the quarterback. And that's always been the intention to be the guy in the WWE. And that's his whole life's work.

17:31Also with Bruce Prichard, he talked about returning to WrestleMania 38 and the opportunity to face Seth Rollins. And that was one of the things that made him say, absolutely. Seth Rollins? I get Seth Rollins at WrestleMania? I get Seth Rollins at WrestleMania and that match would just be what I used to start my road to being the top guy. And Seth is like, whoa. And I think, so I think this is what Seth was talking about on Raw tonight. Where he goes, you say all these nice things, but what do you actually mean? What are you actually saying? Well, and Cody even said in that interview with Bruce Prichard, he was saying, you know, Seth was a guy who we started at the same time and he surpassed me by a lot.

18:10And then I returned to WWE and we're at the same place. That's what he said. Do you think he believes they're at the same place? No, I think Cody believes he's higher. And I think he does too. I think Cody truly believes he is the guy and nobody is capable of it. I don't think that he's in character. I don't think that he's, I think it's Cody as a man saying, I came back to the WWE to be the guy and I believe I am the guy and I believe nobody else is capable of doing what I'm capable of. And that is for real going to really bother somebody like Seth Rollins who, you know, the same stuff that he said about CM Punk, about CM Punk leaving and Seth having to be here the entire time and Seth having to be the one to put it all on his back and Seth having to do all of this.

18:55Who else left? Cody. It wasn't the same context because Cody wasn't a top guy when he left. But while Cody was gone, Seth was building this thing. And Cody now gets to be the top guy of something that Seth laid foundation for. And if it was true for one, it's got to be true for all. And I think that that is the kind of history that we're looking at here. And that's the reality of the whole vision thing. There's nothing about it that I think Seth doesn't believe. when he says straight up that he is the right person to lead this industry into the future. I mean, when he looked at Cody and said, that's fine if you want to be the quarterback, but you're going to be my quarterback.

19:36I don't know if he thinks he's Belichick. I don't know if he thinks he's Jerry Jones. I don't know who, what role Seth is playing here. But Seth is like, I also feel like Seth is the type of performer who's not even here right now. He's years in the future. you know what I mean we're playing on step three right now Seth's on step eight that's what he's playing for now he's not playing for being like the top wrestler there is he's playing for being the guy that runs the whole show because that's what Seth has said in interviews in the past wow Seth has said that in interviews in the past where he's like yeah when I'm done wrestling I could see myself being the guy who runs the show not being the the the actual top guy and then Cody would be his quarterback.

20:23Right. Right. I mean, it's what levels are we thinking that this is at? I think it's so, so great. And then he says, by any means necessary, I'm the alpha, is what Seth Rollins says. So who knows what that means by any means necessary. But I think it's going to be very difficult for Cody Rhodes to have two of those crown jewel rings. I think Seth is going to make it next to impossible. but Cody brought up the greatest point of the whole exchange, which was the three times that we've faced. How many did you win and just walked off? And that's when, you know what I yell out loud? Everything counts.

21:06It was years, three years ago, over three years ago, Cody beats Seth Rollins three times in a row. Usually when you have a series of three matches, the last one is called the rubber match. because the first guy wins one, the second guy wins one, and then you get to the rubber match at the end. And people were going like this years ago. Why did Cody have to win all three? Because of this moment. Because Seth was already on step eight. Right, and here we are. And it's not. The crown jewel championship wasn't even invented when that happened. Exactly, and here we are. Here we are, and it all counts.

21:44and we were doing all the right things by paying attention to every little detail. I can't wait to see how it all goes. You gotta show your support when you're showing everything. You know, in the women's division, we know Stephanie Vaquer, the new women's world champion, is gonna be defending the championship, or not defending the championship, but also fighting for the Crown Jewel championship at Crown Jewel against either Tiffany Stratton, Jade Cargill or Nia Jax. But if you want to celebrate Stephanie Vaqueri, you got to go over to WWE Shop and Fanatics. Check out the latest arrivals, bold designs from your favorite WWE superstars.

22:24I'm talking about the brand new Stephanie Vaqueri Women's World Champion t-shirt that is celebrating her rise to the top. You can do it all in style, whether you're a rep at ringside or you're watching from home, You got to gear up now and show your support available exclusively at wwe shop.com and fanatics. You know, you got to get it now so that you have it. Once crown jewel shows up, you know, you got to eat, get your burn it down shirt, get your American nightmare shirt, whatever you got to do, uh, to show which side you're on. You got to pick a side. It's part of history. I mean, it's America, you know, pick a side for goodness sake.

23:06Okay. You know, we've got, uh, We've got Jimmy Uso coming up, but before we get to Jimmy Uso, I want to tell you also about Finest WWE. You know about Finest WWE? Finally! Finest WWE is coming back to the hobby. Yes, this Friday, September 26th, it all goes down. Finest WWE. This set is a high-energy tribute to sports entertainment built for collectors who crave vibrant designs, premium tech, and chase-worthy pulls. Every box delivers a thrilling mix of content. Two autographs per box. A full spectrum of base and parallel cards. Rare refractors and inserts that highlight the best and biggest names and moments in the WWE today.

23:50It's a 300-card base set. It's a collector's challenge packed with common and uncommon and rare tiers. Each available across a rainbow of parallels. Plus, each case guarantees one major case hit. Dark energy, double exposure, or? The Ula Fala. Ula Fala. Whether you're chasing your favorite superstar, prospecting new talent, or going for the full rainbow, 2025 Finest WWE brings the action. I know I'm going to be trying for it on Friday when it comes out. But before we get there, we talk to our first guest. Jimmy Uso is our first guest. Let's go to him here on Raw Recap. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Raw Recap.

24:33Big Jim, Jimmy Uso, fresh off of defending LA Knight in the ring. Welcome to the Raw Recap, man. Appreciate you having me, man. How has it been right now? And did you ever think you would be here again? You and your brother Jay, back to being a tag team, back to being the Usos. You know, we heard the old Usos theme again, back on a premium live event. being the Usos. How does it feel based on where you're at in your career and Jay is at in his career seeing this team back? You know, teaming up with my brother is obviously something that's always – that's in my soul right there. So anytime I get to step in the ring with brother and we get to cook, it's just that's the day one, you know.

25:32It ain't a shirt. It's really our lifestyle. It's really how we really run. Man, it's a blessing, man. It's just really hard where we're at because, you know, Russ Pelosa, we lost. And brothers, obviously, just now on the same page. I thought we would be on the same page since we got back, but obviously I've been watching, you know, how it's been, and I'm trying to figure it out as well. Do you think the world title changes people? do you think because you know and this is something that I had talked about on some of the you know pre-shows and stuff before Wrestlepalooza which was yeah I mean you guys are brothers and you guys are the greatest tag team of all time except what happened after that tag team split was that you became a big single star and your brother became the world heavyweight champion so I just I naturally questioned whether the motivation to be a great tag team was still there when you both have these singles careers to look at and I mean I would think that would go double for Jay who has now kind of been in that world heavyweight title picture um I definitely I think it was more stressful than anything man like like you just said like we've been a tag team my whole lives so it's new field it's new water over there for brother especially when you got the the heavyweight champion man when when you got the big one man they're running with you you know so i i watched him you know i went to smackdown he went to raw man i knew deep down i could see it you know i talked to him i can hear it man when he's around me i could feel it so i already know man yeah it's like bittersweet you know so i honestly it's tag team wrestling with me and him heals us so i think when we're together we vibrant it's on when we're separate we still long but man the spark is a little dim yeah i bet it when it's just me who's like i know he feels like that when he's out there you know i know he's struggling out there i know he's he it's a lot of weight on your shoulders those you come from a long line of champions and how do you make your own footprint and your own sand coming from this big family and uh i'm just always blessed to be around the man so anytime i get in the ring with them we healing and you know I just like I said we're in different mind spaces right Jimmy we've heard you say at least twice now that Jay has been acting like Roman Reigns now is I mean after everything that you've been through with the bloodline both you and your brother Jay saying that is something that has to hit extremely deep now are you truly feeling like jay is acting like roman reigns or was that something you said maybe to make a point to your brother

28:29no no we've been around he's acting like roman reigns uh we all three grew up together and we take to heart what Big Blue says. Even the bad though. But I just feel like I feel like my brother is trying to be exactly that. I think that he thinks he needs to one up all of us. And I think that's changing him. because he's got tunnel vision. And it's like, he's lost in the sauce, man. And we got to get him, got to get him back. Because he's already, he's already, there's already, it's already took flight. He's already in a different head space. And that's dangerous. I mean, I get where you're coming from.

29:29And I get where you're coming from as somebody who, you know, you want your brother back. You want the Usos back. and you don't want to go through everything that you went through when the bloodline was the bloodline because we all saw that play out. At the same time, Roman Reigns having that tunnel vision and feeling like he needed to be the member of your family that stepped up above everyone else led to a three and a half year title reign and led to all of you guys, you know, being at the highest point that up until that point you'd ever been in your career. You know, when Roman was acting like Roman Reigns, you and Jay, you main evented WrestleMania as a tag team.

30:13If Jey Uso is acting like Roman Reigns and is starting to develop the capability to act like Roman Reigns, is that necessarily a bad thing? I mean, I think it comes at a cost. I think it comes at a cost. I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing, but you're paying for it. Whether it's through your vibes or your relationship with people or with your brothers. He ain't the same bro. He ain't the same moose out there. I'm telling you. I know it for a fact. What's happening, it's cloudy. It's coming at a cost. This is a different kind of game here, man. I ain't never seen him like this. And I don't like it because I don't even know how to respond to it.

30:57Because like I said, we in new waters. So it hurts dearly to watch him struggle even more to not even have an answer for him. I just know I just got to be around him now. But it do come out of cause, whether it's good or bad. At the same time, with whatever this sort of fluctuation in attitude is, when the music is playing, when he's around the people, when he's around fans, and even for most of Wrestlepalooza, for your entrance for most of the match, Like he has, he's still old Jay. He's still yeeting with the kids. He's still coming out through the audience. He's still got that enthusiasm. I mean, all that is still there.

31:38There just seems to be one sort of switch. And maybe it's that thing in him that didn't really know if he could be the man, that didn't know if he could beat Gunther at WrestleMania, that didn't know if he could hold that title. you know maybe something changes when you know you can hold that title i mean for you i would imagine you've talked about it before and you and jay were talking about it leading up to wrestlemania the idea of you holding a singles title you know i i i've got to believe that you have those singles aspirations as well that that you know you i was just reading a tweet before we walked in here that that somebody said based on what i'm seeing on television if i were going to invest in one WWE superstar in 2026, it'd be Jimmy Uso.