Raw Recap - World Heavyweight Title VACATED, Jey Uso wins Battle Royal: Raw Recap, Oct. 20, 2025

31:38And that's what it is, right? When you're a champion, you zero in towards the goal. And that's where Jay's at. Surface level, if you just say what happens without really breaking it down and analyzing it, you could argue that Jay stabbed his brother in the back, but I don't see it that way. When it happened, did you see it that way? I did. Okay, see, that's important, though. I did, and the way that Jimmy was looking on as Jay's in the ring celebrating. Oh, bro, at the end of, well, what about at the end of the night when CM Punk and Jay Uso are staring each other down? And Jimmy is standing at the ramp.

32:16And Jimmy is in the back, in between the two of them. You always got to look. I love an in-between stare down. Last week, it was the stare down between Brom Breaker and Brunson Reed and Paul Heyman is behind them, who we'll get to. But this time, it's CM Punk and Jey Uso staring each other down, and Jimmy is on the ramp. I don't get Jimmy's problem here because it looked like he had a scowl on his face. And I get not being happy that you won. or I get not being happy that you didn't win. I get not being happy that you lost. But Jay was playing by the rules that you guys agreed to, which is it's every man for himself.

32:58And both of them did well in that match working together. But at a point in any battle royal, there's no two winner situation. If it's down to Jimmy and Jay at the end, one of them's getting eliminated. You're not going, okay, well, they're brothers. We can't expect one of them to eliminate the other one. And they're twins, so we'll give it to both. Right, you can't. There is no. No, it doesn't happen like that. And I'll bet there is a frustration with Jimmy Uso. You know, because as much as Jay wants this. I mean, they shared an entrance, right? Of course, they're the Usos. But as much as Jay wants this, as much as Jay wants to live in that space as world champion, as much as all of that, what are you looking at now?

33:35You're looking at Sami Zayn, who's been a United States champion. You're looking at Solo Sokoa, who's been a United States champion. You're looking at Jey Uso, who's been a world heavyweight champion. You're looking at Roman Reigns, who is maybe the most dominant WWE champion of all time, definitely of the modern era. The only person who hasn't gotten that singles gold is Jimmy Uso. And I'll bet there is a part of him that's looking on going, everybody's yeeting. Which, by the way, Jimmy yeets, too. Yeah. He said it backstage. He yeets. But everybody's yeeting at J. Everybody's yeeting at J. J's getting the world title match again.

34:24J got the world title match at WrestleMania. And look, at WrestleMania, Jimmy was happy for him. No, if you won, we won. If you won, we won. Well, what if I won, we won? Don't you think that there's some part of Jimmy that goes like, you want to live in that space. I want to touch it. And you took that away from me. Like, brother, can't you just give me one chance? Give me a moment to put my foot in there. Come on. But maybe Jay knows. No, because there's no put your foot in. Once you get a taste, it changes you forever. It changes you forever. And I'm changed by it. I want to stay in here too badly to let you get in for just a taste.

35:03And I think that that is a compelling, compelling story. So, I mean, speaking of compelling stories, we start the night, as I said, with Adam Pierce in the ring. The vision shows up in the black SUV. Paul Heyman has whatever, you know, moral tribulations that Paul Heyman went through when the turn happened last week. He's clearly gotten over it because he's figured out exactly where he stands. What did he call Seth? He called him a bum shoulder bitch. I'm glad you checked your notes. You don't want to misquote the oracle. No, I can't. You don't want to do that. I can't. No, no. He's very careful with his word selection.

35:45so bum shoulder bitch feels well thought out. You think important to him. Yeah. Yeah, and I think there's an integrity to it that you need to maintain and he'd probably be very happy about that. That's probably why he let you stay in the interview a couple weeks ago and told me to hit the bricks. Hey, you should start taking more notes like me. I probably should. I probably misquoted. I'm paraphrasing too much. I think you're right. So Adam Pearce, of course, is not happy but, you know, and you, he announces that Seth Rollins has had surgery and is on the shelf for a considerable amount of time.

36:18We don't know how long. You're the one who noticed immediately when they got out of the car, Braun still has the title. Yes. He took it a week ago in Australia. He put it in his bag, jumped onto a Quantis plane. It's a long flight. 22-hour flight. Nobody got it away from him. No. He knew it's in the overhead. Anybody wants it, come and get it. People were like, I'm not messing with Braun Breaker. Do you blame them? No. I'm leaving it in the overhead. Leave it right there. As a matter of fact, I'm probably not going to touch my bag either. He starts to do that shake thing and it's completely over.

36:49Forget it because I wouldn't go get my bag because I'd worried that he would think that I was kind of inching towards his. I'd be sitting there just dying. I'd be like, I can't believe I put my iPad up there. I'm 22 hours with no iPad now. Imagine the whole plane just starts barking. They were in Sacramento tonight. Well, yeah, they were. Yeah, they were. So Braun Breaker comes out. He's all confidence. You know, I think it was really interesting that Adam Pearce pointed out that there was this recognition that Cody was injured or that Seth was injured in the Cody match. but because the attack happened right on raw before medical had checked out Seth, that nobody really knows for sure whether the vision completely took Seth out.

37:38I'm sure they didn't help or how bad the injury was in the Cody match, but Adam Pierce seemed pretty hell bent. I'm blaming the vision. I'm blaming Braun Breaker and Bronson Reed. Yeah. I mean, Seth wasn't scheduled to have a match. He came out in all plaid, right? I mean, he was in a celebratory mood. He said this was one of the three proudest moments of his entire life. That's right. That's right. Next to marrying the man. Marrying Becky Lynch. Right. And the birth of his child. Right. You don't wrestle in plaid unless you're Cactus Jack. That's the only guy that could pull it off. Other than that, I don't think so.

38:17So, you know, Adam Pearce would like the title belt. Or hosting this show. You're not wrestling tonight. You're wearing your plaid. That's not, yeah, this isn't my working gear. No. No, no, I'm just, I'll just be behind the mic. You just wear plaid all the time so people don't accidentally think you're going to wrestle. It's because otherwise I think they'd feel threatened. Yeah. You know, it's to kind of put them at ease. Oh, good, Sam's just going to be behind the mic. He's not going to fight. Because he's wearing plaid. Because he's wearing plaid. He's not Cactus Jack after all. Bang, bang.

38:45Obviously. Right. Okay, great. I'm glad that I know why you wear plaid all the time now. Yeah, to just put people at ease because you can't work in plaid. You can't wrestle. No. No, it's impossible. Unless you're Cactus Jack. Unless you're Cactus Jack, but that's evidence as to why Seth Rollins showed up with the purest of intentions. So when Adam Pearce is trying to get the championship back from Braun Breaker, Braun Breaker makes Adam Pearce say please. And you could see on Paul Heyman's face, he was like, you know, this is a mistake. This is a mistake. Like, you shouldn't be doing this to the GM right now in the state that he's in.

39:21But Braun Breaker likes to push it. He likes to flex his power. He's a young man, okay? And Adam Pearce did say, please. And Paul Heyman handed him the title back. And Adam Pearce laughed after announcing the battle royal. Now, you're right. Paul Heyman said that Seth Rollins could not shoulder the responsibility of leading the vision. He said that this was not revisionist history. This was a re-vision of the future, which I like that. And I also like how he said that Bron Bron conspired to take the spot away from Seth. Because last week we sat here and we had a lot of questions about what was going on.

39:58Was Paul Heyman in on this? Was it Bron Breaker? And then Bronson Reed decided to join him later. But it seems like, at least from Paul Heyman's words tonight, that this was something they worked on together. Yeah, and that they realized, like, okay, this dude's injured. Let's take him out right now and get that WrestleMania main event now. Nobody else knows he's injured, but we know. We know, and we can injure him worse and make sure he's out. Because he brought up a WrestleMania main event. And at least that spot, which we'll see if they can take this that far. I hope they call them the Revision.

40:31I thought that was brilliant. Yeah, it was fun. I mean, to me, that is the name of this group. They were in the Vision, and it's a new version. It's a Revision. It's a Revision. so then that's where we find out that braun breaker and bronson reed later on in the night are out of the battle royal and paul hayman has to talk to him we went through a history lesson with paul hayman where he brings up the fact that in 2002 brock lesnar he could have beat everybody and wanted to beat everybody on his debut night but he waited he listened to paul hayman and he's right five months later SummerSlam 2002 Brock Lesnar versus The Rock and Brock Lesnar beats The Rock and wins the WWE championship for the first time and then he brings up CM Punk and now CM Punk was ready to get thrown out of the WWE with the championship but thanks to listening to Paul Heyman he had an over 400 day title reign 434 I believe is exactly is the CM Punk and then he brings up Roman Reigns and the big dog era and nobody likes to talk about the big dog era but But because Roman Reigns listened to Paul Heyman, he became the tribal chief.

41:41And he's not wrong. And that led to the bloodline. And this all got me thinking. All of these men, Brock Lesnar, CM Punk, Roman Reigns, they completely listened to and trusted Paul Heyman. Did Seth ever completely listen to and trust Paul Heyman? Well, I think we got that answer a little bit later when Becky Lynch called Paul Heyman a penguin face prick. You were quick with that pen tonight, huh? When Becky's talking, I'm writing. Yeah, you wanted everybody on there. Yeah, she did call him that. But that was before. That was after Paul Heyman offered her. And I would love to know how you would.

42:21Paul Heyman offered her the opportunity to have, I believe, a hot husband at home and an adorable oracle at work. Now, if Paul Heyman came to you and said, Began, how would you like to have a hot husband at home? Meanwhile, your husband is sitting there filming it. A hot husband at home, but an adorable Oracle at work. How would you respond to that? This has got weird two times in this show. First the Maxine situation and now this. Brother, it was a weird episode. Paul Heyman? I'm not trusting him. No, no. No, not even to be as adorable oracle at work. No. No, no, no, no, no. No, and that's what Becky said.

43:07Becky said, I don't trust you. And the difference is Seth never trusted you. Becky's smart. I mean, when Paul Heyman comes up to you and offers you the world, a lot of people would be brainwashed by that. A lot of people would look at the success of the people around Paul Heyman and say, I need to be with that guy. That's right. Not Becky Lynch. That's right. That's right. And Becky, see, Paul Heyman a lot of times uses mafioso tactics. You know what I mean? The way he talks and everything, almost like a godfather. But Becky did it this time, crunching up his shirt, holding him in clothes. That Becky slap, she's really mastered the Becky slap across the face.

43:45But when she said, she goes to him, Seth's not going to kill you. You're nothing. You never were anything. He knew you were going to betray him. He was surprised it took this long. he used you used you and he's not going to kill you he's not going to have to he's going to come back and he's going to kill everyone you love in this business and i go oh my god like this is like charles brunson death wish seth rollins this is liam neeson taken seth rollins like the idea of this seth rollins coming back because the way she phrased it my mind started going wild and i start going like not only is Seth potentially coming back and coming after the vision, but he could be coming after every person that Paul Heyman would run to.

44:39That means that just because. That means Brock Lesnar. That means CM Punk. That means Roman Reigns. Like just because Seth has a problem with the vision now could mean that he actually has an even bigger problem with CM Punk, an even bigger problem with Roman Reigns. And look, there's not that many guys who hold victories over Brock Lesnar. Seth does. That's right. It's going to get real, real. Paul Heyman is going to wish that Seth killed him. Look, speaking of the tribal chief of the big dog, I want to tell you about something going on on Fanatics right now. There is new gear that is just dropped on WWE Shop and Fanatics.

45:25First of all, Finn Balor has a brand new shirt. We're going to talk about the Judgment Day in a minute. But this is the brand new Demonito puppet T-shirt. It is unbelievable. Big Demonito on the front, Demonito written on the back. I mean, this is a puppet that has transcended culture, transcended borders. It's just amazing. I love this T-shirt. So the new Finn Balor T-shirt is up. You can rep the demon like never before, but I bring up the big dog. I bring up the tribal chief because there's Wild Samoans t-shirts that are live now at WWE Shop and Fanatics. You can rock these bold red and black retro tees and pay homage to wrestling's legendary duo.

46:14Look at that. The Wild Samoan Tee is one of them in that Bloodline font. Alpha and Sika. Available now at WWE Shop and Fanatics. Get your hands on them immediately. The other thing, and this is why you need to get your hands. I got my Fanatics gear on. Oh, the Alexa Bliss. Alexa Bliss jacket. Leather jacket. I love it. You know where you should wear that jacket to? Halloween. Halloween would be great. Where? Halloween first. Then? Fanatics Fest The big news dropped For WWE, for sports fans For entertainment fans, for everybody The world's number one sports fan festival Fanatics Fest is making its return To New York City Fanatics is bringing you closer to the leagues The teams, the superstars, the athletes That you love across four Action packed days In July you can meet your favorite WWE superstars Maybe you'll meet Becky Lynch you can get you can get your hands you're so cool on exclusive merch catch live podcast you can interact with the biggest names in sports maybe you'll interact with Becky Lynch I've interacted oh you're so cool you're so so cool tickets go on sale this November so mark your calendars and don't miss out you can get the full information at fanaticsfest.com well I felt like with everything that went down tonight on Monday Night Raw, we should bring in additional analysis.

47:44And the only place we go for that is right to the very tippity top. So let's bring him on in. Friend of the show, Big E is here. E, first of all, I've been meaning to tell you since I watched the kickoff and the post shows over the weekend, I love the haircut. Oh, thank you. Looking good. You know, I appreciate that. It was time. It was time. You know, age catches us all. Oh, I know. You know, it's thinning a little bit. So, yeah. Thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you so much. Hey, man. We all, we have some of us, it hits some of us worse than others. So I understand. You, yeah. It's coming for me.

48:25It's coming for me. But yes, thank you. Well, E, I mean, first of all, before we get into, because I want to talk about everything that the Judgment Day did tonight on Raw. but I would also love your take on the ending of this battle Royal on J Uso and CM Punk being the two men who will decide who the world heavyweight champion is going to be at Saturday night's main event and the the interactions that we saw between Jimmy and Jay in this battle Royal this thing is ready to boil over between the twins between the brothers but you know congrats to Jay obviously first and foremost winning this battle royal I'm really intrigued to see how things break down at Saturday night's main event CM Punk, Jey Uso their friendship has been detailed obviously those guys are both beloved but you know I'm just really intrigued to see what's been happening the last few months between Jimmy and Jay seeing a Jimmy who came in to make the save for his brother and then seeing Jay have no problem dumping out his brother.

49:30None. None. Not a second of hesitation. Not a moment of, hmm, is this the right thing to do? Nope. But look, I mean, this is something that we talk about often at this position. When you're at the top of the card, you have to fend for yourself. And you can argue that maybe they should have made some kind of pact to make sure that they were the last two and then go at it. But, you know, Jay, and look, hey, Jimmy has never been a world champion. And maybe this is why. Maybe it's because he doesn't have that killer instinct to decide, hey, pack be damned, family be damned, brotherhood be damned. And I think the world of Jimmy, obviously, we go way back.

50:05But maybe that's why Jay is in the position he's in right now is because he's willing to do what it takes to be world champion. And we saw a bit of a cutthroat Jay Uso. Obviously, that shot at the end, I love the shot of CM Punk, Jay Uso. And in the background, you see a seething Jimmy Uso was not pleased. But hey, Saturday night's main event, we're going to get just an excellent match between CM Punk, Jay Uso. This feels like a coin flip, but I'm excited for this one. Yeah, man. Listen, I think Jimmy may have found out the hard way something that Jay, I don't know when he figured it out, but he figured it out that it's not show friends and it's not show family, it's show business.

50:45And that's what Jay came in to do. Now, listen, I was telling Megan, and I'm curious to your take, I walked in, right, thinking, okay, well, if Seth is out, then Saturday night's main event becomes the place that CM Punk becomes the world heavyweight champion. It just makes sense. Like CM Punk, whoever, somebody wins this battle royal, we'll have a great match, and then CM Punk becomes the champion. That's where I think this, or thought, at that point, this is going. All of a sudden, with the way Jay looked, with the fact that he didn't even look at Jimmy, like he not only did he not have a problem dumping him over the top rope, he didn't even look like he considered that he may have done anything wrong he said no like i i stand 1000 by what i did and all of a sudden i have this vision of for lack of a better term of this version of jay usso being world heavyweight champion and i can't shake it like this is the one thing that has thrown the monkey wrench into the path to cm punk is that like wouldn't it be fascinating if cutthroat jay uso was the world heavyweight champion and cutthroat jay uso became that guy who you just couldn't get the title back from you know what i can definitely see it because i will say one of my i think and this might be a minor criticism but if i was going to critique jay's run as world champion it's like man you you're a guy who's done this for such a long time maybe you haven't won multiple world championships but you know what you're doing in the ring and I think too many times we saw a Jey Uso who doubted himself against Gunther I think this version of Jey Uso is not in his own head he's not worrying if he deserves this spot if he really is the guy it's hey that's an opening I'm gonna take it and maybe this is the Jey Uso we need to see at Saturday night's main event and I'm so curious to see against Punk is he going to take a shortcut is he going to take any opening that comes is he going to be decisive because I don't think we're seeing a J who is overthinking anymore.

52:48We don't see someone who is kind of caught up in this paralysis by analysis. We see a Jey Uso who is fiery, who is hungry, who is not seemingly worried about other people's opinions right now. So this Jey Uso might be the version that can once again become world champion. I would also like to say that Megan was on my side, in my opinion that the only way to get eliminated from a battle royal is for a referee to tell you that you've been eliminated and if there is no referee that tells you that you've been eliminated then you absolutely have not been eliminated and applause to Dominic Mysterio for understanding the assignment and going well if no referee is saying I'm eliminated I'm going right back in that wrestling ring well yeah I also have a question for you about Dirty Dom because during this Battle Royal, it was brought up on commentary that the reason he's actually called Dirty Dom is because he doesn't watch his gear.

53:44That's what CM Punk said, and you are our locker room insider, and so as soon as he said that, I was like, I have to ask Big E, does he wash his gear? He has historically given us all the scoop. I know you said you can't talk about locker room stuff anymore, but please, just one last time. I mean, Dominic, it was crafty, but The stinky gear, I got to know. I think what Megan is trying to ask is, as much as you're trying to avoid those weird questions, have you sniffed Dominic's gear in the locker room?

54:16Look, I'm not someone who has buried my nose. Are you sniffing gear? No, I am not. I am not. I'm not weird, okay? Just one whip. Just a little sniff. Never? Not once? Just to get the lay of the land, you know? That's a bit odd. Look, I've shared a locker room with Dom. I have not noticed a sticky gear. But look, things may have changed the last few years. I've not been in the locker room like that. Punk would know. So he is obviously someone who's very honest and upright. So we could probably trust his word. I'll tell you this. I mean, we've had Dominic Mysterio on the podcast before right after matches.

54:56And he has been April fresh every single time. I have never smelled one bad. And you were sniffing. Well, I'll take a whiff. You know what I mean? I just get the, I'll get, I'll figure, I just got to figure out where everyone's at. Okay, so we're all in agreement. Punk was way off on that assessment of Dominic Mysterio. But speaking of, I'm glad we're all in agreement. Speaking of the Judgment Day, it was a little up and down for the Judgment Day this week. It was like turning on brothers. I mean, we're all talking about Jimmy and Jay, you know, how Jay didn't help his brother, but Dominic didn't exactly help his Judgment Day brothers in the Battle Royal.

55:33battle royals are not team sports i tend to think so this was the philosophy when coke woods and i were all on the same page i tend to think hey use the help you got until the very end and then we all go at it i think if you naturally have a partner a friend a team member in there it makes sense too but to your point there there are no rules it is every man for himself uh and these battle royals and adam has has showed that he has a level of craftiness i think he uses his brain better than a lot of other superstars. He has outwitted many. He has manipulated many, continues to get away with it.

56:09He has, you know, look, obviously I'm not you, Sam, as far as being the biggest Dom cheerleader, but this man has a way of captivating people and being able to pull the puppet strings and manipulating them. And to me, I feel like from the outside looking in, it's all very clear what this man is doing. He's only in it for himself. He's using other people for himself. To me, it seems clear. But for some reason, the people around him, he's able to push and pull. And look, we've had him on the post shows before, and he does have an undeniable charm. I feel like I can see through it, but I get how he's able to coax other people into doing his bidding.

56:47I understand. Everybody loves a bad boy, right? I mean, yeah, and that seems like you were using a lot of words to just admit that you're a hater. That's how it sounded to me. I try to give you a well-rounded, nuanced take, and this is what you do. Just right to me being a eater. I mean, that's how it sounded to me. But look, okay, listen. Let's go over the night for the Judgment Day. So starting from the end and then going towards the beginning, you had a— By the way, an incredible match between Roxanne Perez and Stephanie Vaquer. The fact that Roxanne controlled the majority of the match. You know, she was really on offense for a lot of it.

57:32And I mean, you know, you find this in stars that you know are destined for even bigger things than they're already doing. But every moment of that match that she was in charge, Roxanne Perez had that vibe like she owned the ring, like she owned the room. all the, everything that's been happening lately with Stephanie Vaquer and all the momentum was not too big for Roxanne Perez. I even, I love that moment, that first devil's kiss set up when Roxanne was able to roll out of it and hook the rope. Like, I don't care if this is the most popular move, I'm getting out of it. It was a great match. I thought, I thought Roxanne Perez without winning did phenomenally.

58:13And she really carried over the confidence, you know, from her backstage interview last week with Jackie when she was saying, hey, look, I beat EO Sky. I deserve to be in the world championship picture. And sort of when she's backstage, you go, okay, that's one thing to say it like that, but then to come out tonight and have the performance against a star like Stephanie Vaquer, I think spoke volumes about Roxanne Perez. I couldn't agree more. We spent a lot of time talking about Stephanie and rightfully so, an absolute uh megastar in the industry right now but i'm not sure we we've obviously given uh roxanne her flowers on the show but sometimes i don't think we talk about her enough i am so continually impressed with her i i felt like she was already excellent in the ring the first time she stepped foot on monday night raw uh already one of the best men or women and i feel like she just continues to get better her confidence is growing uh her one of the things that really stands out for me is she is so smart with her transitions in the ring.

59:15She is so smart with her technique. She does so much creative stuff. You never really see coming. Her offense is, she's always adding a new wrinkle. I think we talk about her being the future. I think she's also the present. She hasn't, unfortunately, won in a lot of these very big spots when she's had a big opportunities, but Megan, as you mentioned, the win over EO is a huge one. One, like we talked about should get you to the front of the line absolutely as far as uh world title opportunities and i think she had another really stellar showing here tonight uh against stephanie i i think she's gonna get more opportunities uh she's she's gonna be one of those women who will look back at her career in 15 20 years and we'll see all the world championships we'll see all the main events uh what a star she is and someone who i got to spend a little bit of time in in perth with her doing a Q &A and just the way she carries herself, her desire to grow, the way she interacts with fans.

1:00:12I think she just has the right head on her shoulders for this game, because there's so many different things that are going to be thrown at you that really will tax you mentally. And I think she has the mindset. So not only is she physically just, she might not be the biggest superstar, but an athlete who is really able to use her technique and really outmaneuver so many much bigger talent I really think she showed a lot of people and continues to show people every single week that she is indeed a star and is only going to, you know, continue to climb to the top of the card. And it seems like she's going to have the opportunity to do that because after the match, her and Raquel put the beat down on Stephanie Vaquera.

1:00:53And it's Nikki Bella, who we haven't seen in a couple weeks, who comes in to make the save. I mean, the idea of I love when somebody like Nikki Bella comes back and the point is to interact with the wrestlers of today to not, you know, to be like, OK, I'm Nikki Bella and I have, you know, the I come with the resume that I come with. But the reason that I'm here is to see where I fit on the current roster and to be a part of this moving vehicle, if you will. And the idea not only of seeing sometime in the future, I hope, Stephanie Viqueira and Nikki Bella as teaming up. I would also love to see that match.

1:01:38But like Nikki Bella now getting in there with the Raquel's, with the Roxanne's, I think is going to be really good. I agree and I really love Nikki's approach and I think we saw it in the backstage as well I she's not someone who is just resting on her laurels and what she accomplished in the world championships from from years ago she's someone who's saying hey look I know I have not been in the mix for a bit I'm just now coming back this past year or so and I want to see uh how I match up in in these new fresh matchups I want to see how I you know how I am in the ring against some of the best women today uh you know i think a lot of people would be really excited to see uh potentially a face-off between her and aj lee you know but that's something that we've seen before and i i love that nikki is now throwing her her name in the ring against you know the best women of today we're gonna get so many fresh matchups so many new matchups but yeah this this version of nikki is is hungry i see someone who is not just you know uh saying hey i i was the the woman who ran things a decade ago and y 'all should bow down to me.

1:02:42It's no, like, I want to see how I stack up against this current lineup. And yeah, it was, it was really cool to hear her music hit because you know, she, we haven't seen her for a few weeks and I thought, Oh, that's, that's interesting. I'd love to see how she interacts with Stephanie. I'd love to see how she interacts with Raquel. So yeah, I, I, I'm, I love this mindset of Nikki and I love to see where the stuff goes between Nikki and Stephanie as well. I think it's so cool. Every single week, seeing Stephanie Valker on our television screens, it feels like we are also getting to experience her live out her dream.

1:03:15We know she grew up a Nikki Bella fan and she dedicated her entire life to getting to the position that she is now as the women's world champion and have Nikki Bella come out there and help her. I feel like each and every week looks like that dream of Stephanie Valker is just realized even more, which is pretty cool to I agree. And that's one of the things I love, too, is there are so I love hearing those stories of women now who were inspired by, you know, like hearing Roxanne being inspired by AJ Lee. And now they're taking that torch and they're running with it. They're not just keeping. I feel like they're, you know, the women now who grew up watching so many of the women from 10 years ago, 15 years ago, they are not just taking the torch and keeping things at status quo.

1:04:00they're taking things to another level uh it's really beautiful to see and and the growth of women's wrestling i am telling you since i've been in this company from 2009 to where we are in 2025 is astronomical and and i can't wait to see how many more new women come up and continue to raise that bar so many big moments uh monday night raw tonight you know uh you know it's all about the moments you know tops now that's right tops now is all about the moments so tops now it was actually actually able to capture the biggest moments from this weekend's Super Show Japan through exclusive event photography.

1:04:39I think that's really cool. It was CM Punk's return to Japan. It was Dominic's tribute to Eddie Guerrero and more. And fans who buy the base version of each card, they have a chance to receive serial numbered parallels and even kanji language short prints. I mean, very, very cool to see an event like that, that we didn't even get to watch on TV commemorated in these tops now cards. And of course the NBA season is about to tip off and the NBA has returned to tops with the launch of the inaugural NBA tops. Now program, NBA fans can expect the same must see moments and milestones, incredible photography and exciting chases.

1:05:23They've come to know and love from WWE tops. Now just the best. listen a lot of people doubted that Dominic Mysterio was going to be able to walk out with his intercontinental championship he got in there with Rusev and once again walked out with the championship by the way after a 619 into a frog splash leaving us all befuddled as to where the DNA actually lies but I will say I will you derailed yourself there I will because well it's just your like very subtle like wheeze in the background and then it got me and then you know but I've noticed something very and it's something very peculiar going on and it goes right into Saturday Night's main event too okay I was not surprised that Dominic Mysterio was able to retain against Rusev and I'll tell you why it has to do with one of Rusev's body parts and it's not his shoulders or his arms or his chest or his legs.

1:06:31Ilya Dragunov came back on Friday, right? Mm-hmm. He won the United States Championship, right? I know where you're going with this. Okay. I know exactly where you're going with this. What's he got on his neck? He has a neck tat. Okay. Okay. Intercontinental Champion Dominic Mysterio. Also a neck tat. Okay. WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. Also a neck tat. Okay. Now go to Saturday night's main event. What do Jey Uso and CM Punk both have? Sleeves. Oh, wow. And? Neck tats. Neck tats. Because CM Punk has the thing behind his ear that is on his neck and Jey's comes up to his neck. We are dealing with the reality that after Saturday night's main event, every men's singles champion will have a neck tattoo.

1:07:20And they said Cody was crazy when he got his neck tattoo. But all of the main roster men's singles champions will have neck tattoos. Biggie, this is no coincidence. I got to be honest. My mind's kind of blown right now. Okay. I'm a little speechless right now. Good. Somehow, you're spot on. I can't deny this. Apparently, the entire roster, if you want to get somewhere in your career, of the men's side at least, needs to immediately find a tattoo artist that they love and put, I don't care what it is, just put something on there. That's right. Your career will take off. And it could be the throat, it could be the side, it could be the back, wherever you want.

1:08:01As long as there's ink on that neck, you have a great shot at being a champion in the WWE. There's a lot of talk about what are we going to call this era? It might be the neck tattoo era. It can't be. Please, no. I mean, a lot of people think Corey Graves is the best commentator there is. neck tap neck tap neck tap I mean it was big it was big but I think uh the biggest moment I think that uh uh had to do with the judgment day unfortunately was at the cost of the judgment day major title change on Monday Night Raw and I am telling you and and and E you were with us And I'm so glad that you were with us when we interviewed AJ Styles before Crown Jewel.

1:08:50And he was talking about, apparently, I think somebody didn't think I was important. Apparently, somebody didn't think I was worth putting in the main event. I think going to Perth and having the match of the year with John Cena kind of reignited that flame that we know has been there for a long time. with AJ Styles because we saw an all-timer as far as tag team matches go with Finn Balor and JD versus Dragon Lee and AJ Styles. I mean, even the series of moves where Finn Balor, just the simplicity of Finn Balor trying to hook AJ in the Styles clash, but not AJ knowing that if you can't get my arm behind your leg, you're not going to be able to execute because who would know that better than AJ Styles but seeing that match watching that happen and then seeing AJ Styles and Dragon Lee stand up with the tag team championship I mean it was I it was one of those really cool really special moments that you didn't know would be so cool or special also I don't know if you guys caught up like picked up on this but what did John Cena call AJ Styles before their match.

1:10:06He had the whole thing. One of the things he called him was that AJ is the ace and the undisputed boss of the Bullet Club. Right. And tonight he pinned Finn Balor. Oh! Look at that! Look at that! That's fun. That's fun. And the dot connecting, the red string, it's beautiful. Beautiful tonight. Right? Everything counts. But I mean, Big E is one of the great appreciators of tag team wrestling of all time. Amazing. Yeah. what a phenomenal match pun intended the team of as CM Punk coined them the tag team of AJ Lee I guess it's a little confusing but there's something there man I'm someone who I've long clamored for Dragon Lee to get more opportunities and I love I love this impromptu tag team of AJ and Dragon Lee and this match all four men really just did a phenomenal job incredible match It was exciting The crowd in Sacramento Was really, really fortunate to watch an amazing match But you know, I agree with you, man I think, I love that we got to talk to AJ too Because at many times this last year or so I thought we were just seeing an AJ Styles Who was kind of quietly going about his business Not in very big matches But still had it And it just, I'm so happy for AJ That he's getting to go out In a way that he deserves to have again Like you said, the match of the year That match with Cena, Chef's Kiss, just was really, it felt like a love letter to wrestling, to so many of the greatest rivalries we've seen over the last 10 to 15 years.

1:11:45Really beautiful. And to see AJ carry that momentum. And then just to see the pictures and videos from those guys on tour in Japan. AJ, who really got to cut his teeth for so long in Tokyo, in Japan, to get to go back and then come over, back over to the States. and win tag team championships with the incredibly talented Dragon Lee, putting on a five-star match. As someone, as you said, as someone who loves tag team wrestling, who spent so much of his career involved in tag team wrestling, all four of those men should take a bow because that match was incredible and we have new tag team champions.

1:12:18It was really, really awesome. Can we go to the wide shot here real quick? Can we show Big E the wide shot of the room? Yes, because I do want to say, too, that there is more than one talented Megan on the Raw Recap podcast. Megan, back behind the scenes, created this work of art. Beautiful. The Raw Recap pumpkin. This is a legit, this is not some like, you know, 3D printed weirdness. This is an actual carved pumpkin. It is an incredible work of art that we have here. And I thought we should shout it out here. This is incredible. This is by hand. By hand, dude. by hand. Wow. By hand. I'm blown away.

1:12:59Salute to Megan. Unbelievable. Well, Big E, thank you so much for joining us here and providing such great insight as always. I'm sure that we're going to talk to you again very, very soon. Next week, there's a lot on the table for Monday Night Raw. I am fascinated as to where this Jey Uso story is going to go. I cannot wait to get there. Don't forget to subscribe across all audio platforms. Don't forget to hit like and leave comments on YouTube. and we will see you again next week here on the Raw Recap.