Raw airs tonight (Dec. 15) with a live show from GIANT Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania. This is the third episode of Raw during the nine week build to Royal Rumble, which takes place on January 31 in Saudi
Arabia.
Sports entertainment is finally dead in WWE
WWE spent most of 2025 telling fans that John Cena is the GOAT. Cena’s brief storyline with GUNTHER made it seem like WWE was actually saying Cena is the greatest sports entertainer of all-time, rather than the best professional wrestler. That’s why it was pretty interesting to hear the line that was fed to Michael Cole right after GUNTHER sent Cena into retirement as a quitter at Saturday Night’s Main Event, with the camera panning across the stunned live audience:
“Ladies and gentlemen, tonight, professional wrestling destroyed sports entertainment.”
Does this line mean sports entertainment is finally dead in WWE? Wrestling Observer Radio’s Dave Meltzer seems to think so:
“That is essentially the mantra of Paul Levesque, that it is no longer sports entertainment. We’re gonna call it professional wrestling.”
The truth of the matter is that “sports entertainment” is a really stupid phrase that Vince McMahon tried for decades to replace what WWF and WWE fans always understood to be “professional wrestling.” The term always sounded like ridiculous nonsense; practically nobody goes around saying things to friends and family like, “I’m a huge fan of sports entertainment!”, “Stone Cold is my favorite sports entertainer of all-time!”, or “I want sports entertainment action figures for my birthday!”
With that in mind, GUNTHER is scheduled to appear on Raw tonight, where he will cut his first promo since forcing Cena to give up in his final match. As he brags about ruining John Cena’s legacy, will the Ring General even address the matter of sports entertainment versus professional wrestling, or is it simply time to move and not waste any more time on this silly debate?
Tune into Raw to see what the best professional wrestler in WWE, and its new legend killer, has to say after ending John Cena’s career, and which babyface might be planning to get in his face about it.
The rest of the card
Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer puts the gold on the line tonight against Raquel Rodriguez. Will Nikki Bella interfere to get revenge on Raquel after last week’s attack, or was Bella lawn-darted out of the title scene for good? Is Liv Morgan really okay with Rodriguez chasing after the belt that she covets the most?
Women’s Intercontinental Champion Maxxine Dupri returns from her training at The Dungeon with Natalya to make her first Raw title defense tonight, and it’s against Ivy Nile. Considering that Ivy hasn’t won a match on Raw in 2025, it seems clear that Dupri will retain the belt as everyone awaits Becky Lynch’s eventual return from her current boycott of the show.
WWE is revisiting one of its greatest tag team rivalries ever tonight with New Day vs. The Usos. Neither team is performing at its peak level at the moment, with New Day rarely ever winning on Raw these days, and Jey Uso reluctantly returning to tag team wrestling after failing so many times to win back the world heavyweight championship. If The Usos prevail, will Jimmy and Jey already be in line for a title shot against World Tag Team Champions AJ Styles and Dragon Lee?
Rey Mysterio vs. Logan Paul is also booked on Raw. The YouTube douchebag now has The Vision backing him up, so Mysterio may very well end up as the next babyface who is Tsunami splashed through a car by the time tonight’s show is over. Will Intercontinental Champion Dominik Mysterio get dragged into this one for an eventual three-way title match against Paul and Rey?
Finally, a pissed off World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk returns to Raw for the first time since he was pinned at War Games. CM will address all the trash that Bron Breakker’s been talking in recent weeks, as well as the masked mystery man who is running around in WWE and helping The Vision. Does Punk think it might actually be his hated rival Seth Rollins under that mask?
Other stuff to keep an eye on
– Does WWE have any update on LA Knight’s status after Bronson Reed completely destroyed him last week?
– Are there any plans for Oba Femi, Sol Ruca, Je’Von Evans, or Joe Hendry to be called up to the main roster for good after they were showcased at Saturday Night’s Main Event? Will Bayley snap on Lyra Valkyria after losing to Ruca at SNME?
– The women’s tag division is deeper than ever, with a long list of challengers gunning for the Kabuki Warriors’ WWE women’s tag team championship. That list includes Rhea Ripley & IYO SKY, Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss, Liv Morgan & Roxanne Perez, and Lash Legend & Nia Jax. How will WWE decide which team gets the next title match? Kairi Sane has already lost singles matches against Bliss and IYO in December, so is it the Judgment Day’s turn to beat her next?
– Does creative have anything for Rusev now that The Last Time Is Now tournament is over?
– Which WWE stars will be the first to declare for next month’s Royal Rumble matches?
– Where the f*** is Omos?
What will you be looking for on Raw?
