On a charged night in Glendale, Arizona, the red brand finally exhaled after the chaos of Survivor Series: WarGames—but RAW didn’t so much move on as it did weaponize the fallout. From a rattled CM Punk being haunted by a masked assailant, to John Cena’s Last Time Is Now Tournament narrowing down to two very different finalists, to Liv Morgan planting her flag beside Dominik Mysterio and the Judgment Day, this episode felt less like a cooldown and more like the first real step on the road to Cena’s final match and WrestleMania season. Survivor Series scars were still fresh, and every match tonight seemed to ask the same question: Where do we go from here?
Here Are The Full Results:
From the Desert Diamond Arena – Glendale, AZ
- Last Time Is Now Tournament Semifinal:
LA Knight def. Jey Uso via roll-up counter to advance to the tournament final. - WWE World Tag Team Championship:
AJ Styles & Dragon Lee (c) def. The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) via Styles Clash on Kingston to retain. - Last Time Is Now Tournament Semifinal:
Gunther def. Solo Sikoa via low blow behind the referee’s back followed by a powerbomb to advance to the final. - Main Event – Non-Title Tag Match:
Rhea Ripley & Iyo Sky vs. Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss ended in a No Contest when the Kabuki Warriors attacked both teams, triggering a massive women’s tag division brawl.
Key non-wrestling segments & angles:
- Dominik Mysterio gloated about beating John Cena at Survivor Series as Liv Morgan returned to RAW in full Judgment Day colors, declaring that the group “runs Monday Night Raw” again.
- Paul Heyman and Bron Breakker cut a scathing promo on CM Punk, framing Breakker as the “real best in the world” ahead of their announced clash on the Raw-on-Netflix anniversary special in January.
- Adam Pearce continued investigating the mystery masked man who cost Punk at Survivor Series, with referees and talent being told to keep their ears to the ground.
- Announcements for next week’s RAW:
- Gunther vs. LA Knight tournament winner appears live
- AJ Styles & Dragon Lee vs. The War Raiders – World Tag Team Title Match
- Rey Mysterio vs. Finn Bálor, stemming from issues with Dominik and Logan Paul.
Survivor Series ghosts open the show
RAW opened with a stitched-together nightmare reel for CM Punk and John Cena. WarGames clips showed Bron Breakker driving Punk into the mat, Brock Lesnar and Drew McIntyre wreaking havoc, and the crucial shot of a masked figure slipping into the double cage to ambush Punk, handing The Vision their win. We then shifted to Petco Park highlights of Dominik Mysterio regaining the Intercontinental Championship thanks to a shocking return from Liv Morgan.
From there, cameras followed Dominik’s victory lap in Glendale: arriving in a lowrider with Liv by his side, greeting Judgment Day as if nothing in the world could touch them now.
Inside the arena, Iyo Sky’s music hit, followed by Rhea Ripley—black protective mask over her nose, WarGames bruises still obvious. On the mic, Rhea welcomed everyone to “Monday Night Rh-Iyo,” admitted she was sore and battered, but reminded the world that she and Iyo won the war. What she wasn’t done with, though, were the Kabuki Warriors. They’d betrayed her friend; tonight was about revenge and about the Women’s Tag Team Titles. Iyo chimed in with the familiar promise that “nobody’s ready,” and they demanded Asuka and Kairi come fight them right now.
Instead, Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss answered the call. The former champions reminded everyone they still hadn’t received a proper rematch. Revenge was nice, they said, but the queue starts behind them. Rhea bristled—48 hours removed from WarGames and they want to step in front again? Ultimately, Alexa proposed what everyone knew was coming: Ripley & Sky vs. Flair & Bliss tonight, a de facto No. 1 contender’s main event. Iyo accepted without hesitation. The seeds for chaos in the women’s division were planted before the first bell rang.
Backstage, Adam Pearce tried to juggle it all: Ivy Nile angled for a shot at Maxxine Dupri’s Women’s Intercontinental Championship; Paul Heyman and Bron Breakker arrived to “discuss business” but were immediately pressed on the masked WarGames intruder instead. Heyman pled innocence and pivoted to the real reason he was there—Bron pinning CM Punk and what that meant going forward.
LA Knight vs. Jey Uso – a semifinal built on pressure and ghosts
The first match of the night was framed like a fork in the road: Jey Uso, haunted by his own choices and the weight of Roman Reigns’ words, versus LA Knight, riding a wave of fan energy and believing this could be his shortcut to immortalizing himself as John Cena’s final opponent. A pre-match CM Punk–John Cena rivalry video added extra gravity, reminding everyone what it means to share a ring with Cena in a “last match” scenario.
Match: LA Knight vs. Jey Uso – Last Time Is Now Tournament Semifinal
From the opening bell, this felt less like a standard semifinal and more like two men trying to outrun their own narratives. Jey exploded out of his corner, nearly getting caught in a BFT within seconds before the two reset amid dueling “Yeah!” and “Yeet!” chants—a perfect microcosm of where both men stand with the crowd right now.
Knight controlled stretches with his brawling offense, but Jey’s athletic bursts—dives to the floor, counters on the top rope—kept him hanging on. A big turning point came when both men crashed to the outside off the top, barely beating the referee’s count. Every move after that felt like a finishing attempt:
- Knight hitting a burning hammer for a razor-thin near fall
- Jey answering with a spear and a top-rope splash that looked like it should have ended it
But Knight lived up to his reputation as an opportunist. After surviving the splash, he shifted his weight and snatched Jey into a clutch, pinning his shoulders to the mat for the upset three-count.
Result: LA Knight def. Jey Uso to advance to the Last Time Is Now Tournament final.
Post-match, an updated bracket flashed on screen—LA Knight in the finals—and the camera stayed on Jey. He looked shattered. As he staggered backstage, he knocked over the PRIME station and muttered about the voices in his head and Roman telling him the titles look better on his shoulders, not Jey’s. This wasn’t just a loss; it was another chapter in Jey’s on-screen crisis of confidence.
Judgment Day restored – Liv Morgan’s return and Dominik’s coronation
The Judgment Day already left Survivor Series with the Intercontinental Title back in their camp and Liv Morgan at Dominik’s side. Tonight, they dedicated a whole segment to rubbing it in.
Dominik opened in Spanish, immediately drawing loud boos, then pivoted into a smug monologue: he beat the Greatest of All Time, which makes him the greatest Mysterio, the greatest luchador, and the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time. He thanked Finn Bálor, JD McDonagh, Raquel Rodriguez, Roxanne Perez—and then brought out the wildcard: Liv Morgan.
Liv, back in purple and black, reveled in the reaction. She admitted that nobody saw her coming at Survivor Series—especially Cena. She shut down the idea that Judgment Day had gotten soft while she was gone and instead framed her return as the reset button: with her back, Judgment Day once again “runs Monday Night RAW.” The segment ended with a deliberately over-the-top kiss between Liv and Dom, making it clear this unit is stronger (and more obnoxious) than ever.
Later, we got a backstage confrontation that may shape Dom’s future defenses: Rey Mysterio vowed to go through Finn Bálor to get to his son, only for Logan Paul to appear and warn Rey to back off. Logan claimed the Intercontinental Title belongs to his “group” and threatened to retire Rey if he didn’t step aside—prompting Rey to slap him and kick-starting a pull-apart brawl. That tease puts Rey, Dominik, and Logan on an intersecting collision course, with Cena’s reign already in the rearview.
The World Tag Team Champions hold firm against The New Day
With the brand still reeling from WarGames, AJ Styles and Dragon Lee didn’t get a night off—they got The New Day, with Grayson Waller lurking at ringside stirring trouble.
Match: AJ Styles & Dragon Lee (c) vs. The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) – WWE World Tag Team Championship
The challengers jumped the champions before the bell, forcing AJ to survive early double-team flurries just to reach Dragon Lee. When Lee tagged in, the pace spiked: headscissors sending Kingston and Woods spilling to the floor, dives that crashed both New Day members into each other, and a frantic scramble for control heading into the break.
Down the stretch, the match turned into the kind of fast-paced tag sprint WWE has been leaning into all year:
- Kofi strung together near falls on Styles until a Calf Crusher nearly forced a tap before Woods broke it up.
- Dragon Lee and Kofi traded counters, with Woods blasting AJ into the barricade outside.
- Styles answered by sending Woods into the steps while Lee dropped Kofi for a hot tag.
The finish was a smart showcase of the champions’ chemistry: AJ placed Kingston on the ropes, setting him up perfectly for a double stomp from Dragon Lee, followed immediately by a Styles Clash for the pin.
Result: AJ Styles & Dragon Lee def. The New Day to retain the WWE World Tag Team Championship.
Post-match, the champs celebrated while Waller seethed. Backstage, AJ and Dragon petitioned Adam Pearce to face “a deserving team” next week. They got their wish: The War Raiders will challenge for the titles on RAW, while The New Day—via a later promo—complained they had to wait months for their shot only to see others leapfrog them.
The Vision speaks – Bron Breakker sharpens his aim at CM Punk
Later in the show, The Vision—Paul Heyman’s growing super-stable—took center stage. Heyman name-checked his WarGames monsters (Brock Lesnar, Drew McIntyre, Bronson Reed, Logan Paul) before presenting the man he dubbed the future face of the company and the next World Heavyweight Champion: Bron Breakker.
Breakker cut maybe the most venomous promo of his main-roster run. He mocked CM Punk for being “soft,” took shots at Punk worrying about everything except the fight in front of him, and even poked at Punk’s real-life dynamic with his wife—promising to take everything from him at their match on the January 5th Raw-on-Netflix special. He ended by flipping Punk’s own “big dogs” verbiage back on him, declaring himself the real best in the world.
The segment didn’t just heat up Punk vs. Breakker; it made clear that the mystery masked man from WarGames is still an open wound. Adam Pearce continued to hound officials for leads throughout the night, underscoring that the reveal is looming over Raw like a storm cloud.
Gunther vs. Solo Sikoa – a bruising semifinal with a dirty edge
Where LA Knight vs. Jey Uso hinged on emotion, the second semifinal was pure violence. Solo Sikoa, accompanied by Talla Tonga, walked into a collision course with Gunther, the standard-bearer of big-match WWE. The winner would meet LA Knight in the final and move one step closer to being John Cena’s last dance partner.
Match: Gunther vs. Solo Sikoa – Last Time Is Now Tournament Semifinal
The early going saw Solo doing something rarely seen: bullying Gunther. Shoulder blocks, big slams, and a sustained beatdown—juiced in part by Tonga’s interference during the break—had “The Ring General” on the back foot. But Gunther’s answer was the same as always: ruthless targeting and suffocating pressure.
Key beats included:
- Gunther eating a Samoan Splash and multiple Spinning Solos, somehow kicking out each time.
- A huge superplex that reset the match, followed by blistering chop exchanges that left Solo’s chest welted.
- Gunther slamming Solo’s hand against the apron to neutralize the Samoan Spike, then grinding him down.
The finish mirrored Gunther’s more villainous tendencies from his Intercontinental reign. With the turnbuckle pad loose and Tonga distracting the referee, Gunther slipped in a low blow and hoisted Solo up for a thunderous powerbomb to seal the win.
Result: Gunther def. Solo Sikoa to advance to the Last Time Is Now Tournament final.
Post-match, LA Knight hit the ring for a face-to-face stare-down. Knight promised that on SmackDown it would be his music playing, and that he’d see Gunther on Friday and John Cena soon after. The bracket was officially locked: LA Knight vs. Gunther, with the winner earning Cena’s last match at Saturday Night’s Main Event in Washington, D.C.
Main event meltdown – the women’s tag division explodes
The main event delivered exactly what the opening segment promised: unresolved grudges, overlapping claims to the titles, and a division that’s suddenly as deep as it’s chaotic.
Match: Rhea Ripley & Iyo Sky vs. Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss – Non-title
The early story saw Bliss and Flair trying to re-establish themselves as a polished team while Rhea and Iyo leaned on raw star power and chemistry forged in WarGames. Flair played her greatest hits—figure-four headscissors, Flair Flip, big chops—while Ripley punished Bliss’ back and Sky flew around to create chaos.
Several believable finishes were teased:
- Bliss hit Sister Abigail, only for Rhea to break up the pin at the last second.
- Flair cut off Iyo’s moonsault and nearly tapped her with a Boston Crab.
- A sequence where Flair hit Natural Selection and Bliss followed with another Sister Abigail had the crowd buying it as a decisive win before more interference.
Just when it looked like either team might stake claim to the next title shot, the Kabuki Warriors stormed the ring and attacked everyone. The referee had no choice but to call for the bell.
The post-match scene was almost a roll call of the division:
- Asuka & Kairi Sane beat down Rhea, Iyo, Charlotte, and Alexa.
- Bayley and Lyra Valkyria ran in to make the save but quickly got dragged into the brawl.
- Then Liv Morgan led Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez into the fray, with Judgment Day’s women ending the show standing tall, hoisting the tag titles as the final image.
It was less a main event finish and more a statement: the women’s tag scene is overcrowded, combustible, and—importantly—finally being treated as a central storyline on RAW.
The Last Time Is Now Tournament – full results and updated bracket
WWE has rarely treated a “who faces the legend in his last match” story with this much structure. The Last Time Is Now Tournament is a 16-man single-elimination bracket spanning RAW and SmackDown, with the winner set to face John Cena in his retirement match at Saturday Night’s Main Event on December 13 in Washington, D.C.
As of tonight’s RAW, all matches through the semifinals are complete. Here’s the verified breakdown based on WWE’s own results pages and major outlets like CBS Sports, Cageside Seats, and multiple recap sites.
First Round Results
Raw – Nov. 10, 2025 (Boston)
- Rusev def. Damian Priest – Rusev targeted Priest’s injured eye and finished with the Machka Kick.
- Sheamus def. Shinsuke Nakamura – A sudden Brogue Kick sealed the win.
SmackDown – Nov. 14, 2025 (Albany)
- Jey Uso def. The Miz – Jey overcame Miz’s veteran tricks to advance.
- LA Knight def. Zack Ryder (Matt Cardona) – The “mystery opponent” was revealed as Cardona, but Knight survived a spirited comeback and put him away with the BFT.
Raw – Nov. 17, 2025 (Madison Square Garden)
- Gunther def. Je’Von Evans – A grueling bout ended with Evans tapping to Gunther’s sleeper.
- Solo Sikoa def. Nic Nemeth (Dolph Ziggler) – Solo, backed by Talla Tonga, muscled past Nemeth to advance.
SmackDown – Nov. 21, 2025 (Denver)
- Carmelo Hayes def. Bronson Reed – Hayes pulled the upset over the powerhouse to punch his ticket to the quarters.
- Penta def. Finn Bálor – The masked luchador outmaneuvered Bálor and joined the last eight.
Quarterfinal Results
Raw – Nov. 24, 2025 (Oklahoma City)
- Gunther def. Carmelo Hayes – The Ring General powerbombed Hayes into the semifinals.
- Solo Sikoa def. Penta – A terrifying injury to Penta after a guardrail hurricanrana forced referee stoppage; Solo advanced by medical TKO.
SmackDown – Nov. 28, 2025 (Denver)
- Jey Uso def. Rusev – A hard-fought battle ended with an Uso Splash and a clean win for Jey.
- LA Knight def. The Miz – With Sheamus injured after his first-round victory, Miz politically weaseled his way back into the bracket. Knight treated him as an unwelcome substitute and dropped him with the BFT.
Semifinal Results (Tonight – Dec. 1, 2025)
WWE RAW – Glendale, AZ (Desert Diamond Arena)
- LA Knight def. Jey Uso – Jey hit a spear and splash, but Knight rolled through into a clutch for the shocking three-count.
- Gunther def. Solo Sikoa – After surviving Solo’s heaviest shots (and some help from Talla Tonga), Gunther used a low blow and powerbomb to secure the win.
Updated Bracket (Text Overview)
Side A: “Raw Monsters” side
- First Round:
- Gunther def. Je’Von Evans
- Solo Sikoa def. Nic Nemeth
- Quarterfinal:
- Gunther def. Carmelo Hayes
- Solo Sikoa def. Penta (referee stoppage after injury)
- Semifinal:
- Gunther def. Solo Sikoa → Gunther to the Final
Side B: “Cena’s ghosts & opportunists” side
- First Round:
- Rusev def. Damian Priest
- Sheamus def. Shinsuke Nakamura
- Jey Uso def. The Miz
- LA Knight def. Zack Ryder
- Quarterfinals:
- Jey Uso def. Rusev
- LA Knight def. The Miz (who replaced injured Sheamus)
- Semifinal:
- LA Knight def. Jey Uso → LA Knight to the Final
Final (Set, but not yet contested):
LA Knight vs. Gunther – to determine John Cena’s final opponent at Saturday Night’s Main Event in Washington, D.C.
Why LA Knight and Gunther are worthy finalists for Cena’s last match
LA Knight – the people’s wildcard
From the moment the bracket was announced, fans circled names like Gunther, Jey Uso, and Sheamus as likely finalists. LA Knight was the wild card—the guy whose connection with the crowd has often outrun his win–loss record. This tournament has been about changing that narrative.
- He dispatched a returning Zack Ryder/Matt Cardona in the first round, spoiling a nostalgia-heavy surprise.
- He weathered the politics of The Miz sneaking back into the field and beat him decisively in the quarterfinals.
- Tonight, he outlasted a former World Heavyweight Champion in Jey Uso, kicking out of Jey’s best shot and catching him on the one mistake he couldn’t afford.
From a creative standpoint, Knight represents the idea that Cena’s last match might be a reward—for someone who clawed their way to the top late and became a mega-star because the crowd simply refused to let him fail. A Knight vs. Cena match would be drenched in call-and-response energy, a modern echo of Cena’s old battles with Punk, Bryan, and Owens, only this time with the “not supposed to be here” underdog facing the most decorated company ace of his generation.
Gunther – the final boss
Gunther, by contrast, has been treated like the final boss of this entire era. He ended the longest Intercontinental Title reign in modern history by being the longest Intercontinental Champion in modern history, carried the in-ring standard for years, and rolled into the tournament fresh off a return from a short hiatus.
In this bracket alone he has:
- Choked out Je’Von Evans in a physical first-round test.
- Steamrolled Carmelo Hayes in the quarterfinal, reminding everyone how terrifying he is when he’s in pure “Ring General” mode.
- Survived a star-making effort from Solo Sikoa in tonight’s semifinal, needing every trick in the book—including a low blow—to make the difference.
For Cena’s last opponent, a Gunther victory would send him into retirement against the most dominant in-ring wrestler of this era, echoing the way legends once tried (and often failed) to conquer Ric Flair or Kurt Angle on the way out. The stakes are grim but compelling: does Cena get the fairytale ending, or does he go out being chopped into dust by the coldest killer on the roster?
Between LA Knight’s late-career surge and Gunther’s iron-fisted dominance, WWE has crafted a bracket that feels both statistically logical and emotionally loaded. Tonight’s RAW did the heavy lifting: it tightened Cena’s endgame, elevated Bron Breakker and the mystery masked man as Raw’s looming threats, and re-established the Judgment Day and women’s tag division as central pillars of the show.
For a brand emerging from the chaos of WarGames, this wasn’t just fallout. It was the beginning of the end for John Cena—and the start of something much bigger for whoever survives The Last Time Is Now.
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