Monday Night Raw – May 12, 2025: There Wasn’t Much To Backlash

Monday Night Raw
Date: May 12, 2025
Location: KFC Yum Center, Louisville, Kentucky
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee

We’re done with Backlash and only so much changed. The big story on Raw would be Gunther smashing though Pat McAfee, but we’re coming up on Saturday Night’s Main Event where Jey Uso will defend the World Title against Logan Paul. Other than that, CM Punk is back and the good guys are coming after Paul Heyman and company. Let’s get to it.

Here is Backlash if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of last week’s main event, with CM Punk saving Jey Uso and Sami Zayn from Bron Breakker and Seth Rollins.

Here is Punk for a chat. It’s great to be alive in Louisville and he sees this place as home. He’s ticked off at a lot of people, to the point where it’s easier to remember the ones he’s not mat at right now. The worst of them all though is himself, because he trusted Paul Heyman. People, including Jey Uso tried to warn him about Heyman and Punk thought it was ok.

We all know how this ends, because we’ve been here before. He’s going to get his hands around Heyman’s neck and then get the Temu CM Punk Seth Rollins. Cue Heyman (Punk: “Come on Penguin, where you at?”) to storm part of the way to the ring, with Punk wanting an explanation as Heyman’s last words. Cue Rollins and Bron Breakker (Punk: “You’re just a song kid, that’s all you are. At some point, the bell’s gotta ring.”), with Rollins saying Punk is the one who betrayed Heyman.

The reality is that Heyman believed in Punk but now Punk is the reason Rollins isn’t World Champion. Punk swears Rollins will never be champion as long as he’s on two feet, so Rollins says Punk always wants to be a martyr. That can be arranged, so Breakker comes into the ring. Rollins gets in as well but here are Sami Zayn and Jey Uso to make the save. Odds are this sets up a tag match, but there are a lot of different options to pick from and that is a good place to be.

We recap El Grande Americano interfering to cost Penta the Intercontinental Title at Backlash.

Pat McAfee joins commentary.

Penta vs. Chad Gable

Penta jumps him to start but gets knocked down as we hear about El Grande Americano touring Mexico at the moment. Gable goes for the mask, which fires Penta up enough for the comeback. Penta knocks him to the floor but a dive is knocked out of the air. Gable declares that LUCHA LIBRE SUCKS and we take a break.

Back with Penta hitting a superkick for a breather but Gable grabs a German suplex. The Swan Dive is countered into a Codebreaker (nice) for two and they’re both down. The Backstabber out of the corner is countered and Gable hits the moonsault. Back up and Penta cuts him off with a superkick but the Sacrifice is reversed into an ankle lock. That’s reversed into an exchange of rollups for two each until Penta gets taken up top. Gable spends too much time arguing though and gets knocked down for a middle rope Canadian Destroyer and the pin at 8:03.

Rating: B-. This is how you get someone back on track as Penta gets a nice win and that’s all he needs to do. He beat Gable without any major issues and while El Grande Americano is the real story, this helps set Penta up for the big showdown in a little while. Penta still feels like a player around here and that is a great sign for his future.

Dominik Mysterio kind of accuses Finn Balor of almost costing him the Intercontinental Title but everything is ok.

We look at Gunther vs. Pat McAfee from Backlash, with Gunther eventually overwhelming him. Gunther did show respect to McAfee after the match.

McAfee gets an ovation from the Raw crowd and Michael Cole thanks him. He’s banged up but knows he was in a huge fight.

Sami Zayn/CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins/Bron Breakker is set for Saturday Night’s Main Event.

Zayn and Punk are ready for the match, though Punk is worried about trusting anyone. Zayn understands that but says it was the same when Punk teamed with them at WarGames and that went well. Punk agrees and they’ll do this.

War Raiders vs. Creed Brothers

New Day is on commentary. Ivar starts fast on Brutus and the slam sends Ivar onto him. Julius comes in to help knock Erik into the corner for the double teaming. Erik fights out of the corner but Ivar is knocked off the apron so there’s no tag. Julius suplexes Erik on the floor for a crash (New Day approves) as we take a break.

Back with Ivar giving Julius the seated senton out of the corner, setting up a Bronco Buster. Ivar goes up but gets superplexed down into Brutus’ moonsault for two. It’s back to Erik to clean house, including driving Ivar into Julius in the corner. New Day gives the match some mocking applause before Brutus hits an Angle Slam on Ivar. A double belly to back gets two on Ivar with Erik making the save. The Doomsault is loaded up but Kingston breaks it up, allowing the Brutus Ball to finish Ivar at 10:19.

Rating: B-. Normally I would ask what in the world happened to the tag division but it’s an obvious answer: the same thing that has happened to it time after time. The titles do not feel important in the slightest and instead come off as just something that happens to be there. New Day is cold again and a rematch with the War Raiders isn’t going to reignite anything.

Seth Rollins talks to Bron Breakker and says Sami Zayn and CM Punk probably think they got one up on them out there. They have no idea what Rollins is capable of. He wants Breakker to do one more thing, which he whispers to Breakker. Rollins: “Have some fun.”

We look at Logan Paul attacking Jey Uso after last week’s show went off the air.

Paul says he wants the World Title.

Paul vs. Uso is set for Saturday Night’s Main Event.

Here is Uso, who does his full entrance, plus an encore. Uso knows that he has a big target on his big back so he’s going to get something off his big chest. He’s been hearing Logan Paul talking about how Uso has a glass jaw. Well at Saturday Night’s Main Event…and here’s Gunther to interrupt.

Gunther says they met at Wrestlemania and Uso reminds him of the tap out. With that out of the way, Gunther says he knows Uso is out of his element because he’s not a natural champion. That’s what Gunther is, and he’ll prove it on June 9, when he challenges the winner of Uso and Paul (which Uso already knew, thanks to Adam Pearce).

Gunther hopes that it’s Uso so he can remind Uso of his place. That makes Uso take his glasses off and go into a rant about how THIS is his place. He’s going to walk into June 9 as champion and walk out the same way. Uso can do the fired up response rather well, even if that’s quite the spoiler for Saturday Night’s Main Event (which granted, might not have had much doubt in the first place).

Iyo Sky is ready to teach Roxanne Perez and Giulia respect.

Commentary pays tribute to Sabu. That had to be done.

Ludwig Kaiser is in the back…but Bron Breakker has attacked Jey Uso.

Finn Balor vs. AJ Styles

Judgment Day (minus Dominik Mysterio) is here with Balor. Styles quickly takes him down to start and they pop up for some glaring. Balor can’t spin out of a wristlock but does pull him into a headlock as the early wrestling continues. Back up and the drop down dropkick sends Balor outside for a breather.

We take a break and come back with Balor hammering away in the corner but a snap suplex takes him down. Balor chops away and knocks Styles down again, allowing some jumping stomps. Styles fights out of an abdominal stretch and comes back with the sliding forearm. A superplex drops Balor and we take another break.

Back with Styles winning a slugout and grabbing the Calf Crusher. Balor makes the rope but the leg gives out again, meaning the Calf Crusher goes on again. That’s broken up so a not quite normal Styles Clash gets two. Carlito gets on the apron for a distraction so McDonagh can interfere. This doesn’t go well either but Balor is back up with 1916 for two. Cue Penta to take out Judgment Day, leaving Styles to hit the Phenomenal Forearm for the pin at 16:54.

Rating: B. Oh like this wasn’t going to be really good. These are two people who can work well with anyone and they know each other from their time in the ring over the years. They got time and had a reason to fight each other so they wound up having a heck of a match. Good stuff here, which should not be a surprise at all.

We look at Lyra Valkyria retaining the Women’s Intercontinental Title over Becky Lynch in an upset at Backlash.

Here is Lynch, sitting on the top rope, for a chat. She talks about Lyra Valkyria attacking her character in recent weeks and then gave her the match of her life. Now Valkyria matters more than she ever has before and it isn’t even close. After the bell rang after the match though, it was an alarm going off to tell her how much she has been manipulated. She walked away from the crowd for about a year because of the backlash from the people.

The people carried her into the main event of Wrestlemania because they were in this together. Then something happened though, because she became a success, while all of these people are failures. One of her friends asked if she missed doing this and she missed being in the ring, but she didn’t miss listening to the people lie to her. She didn’t have to live up to expectations so from now on, she is whatever the people say she is. Greedy? Angry? Sure! What everyone accuses her of being backstage is what she is going to be. This was the big heel turn explanation and Lynch sold the heck out of it.

Rusev is still ready to hurt people and fulfill his purpose.

Akira Tozawa wants Rusev but he’s too injured. Sheamus comes in to request, and receive, a match with Grayson Waller next week.

Roxanne Perez/Giulia vs. Rhea Ripley/Iyo Sky

Sky and Perez go straight to the slugout to start but Giulia comes in for some running shots in the corner. Perez gets in a cheap shot from the apron so Ripley comes in for quite the dropkick. That’s not enough for a tag though and Sky flips around, only to have Ripley pulled off the apron. Ripley chases Perez around the ring but has to catch a diving Giulia, allowing Perez to dropkick Ripley into the post. Sky hits a dive of her own and we take a break.

Back with Sky flying maring Perez away and making the diving tag off to Ripley to clean house. A toss Razor’s Edge into a basement dropkick gets two on Perez. They go up top where a super Razor’s Edge is countered into a super hurricanrana and Ripley is in trouble for a change. Giulia comes in for some shots of her own before it’s back to Perez for a rear naked choke. That’s broken up and it’s back to Sky for the missile dropkick.

A double stomp to Giulia sets up Over The Moonsault for two with Perez making the save. Everything breaks down and Ripley tosses Sky into Perez for a knockdown. Giulia trips Ripley on the apron and butterfly superplexes Sky. The northern lights bomb gives Giulia two with Ripley (not Perez Cole, even if they’re dressed alike) making the save. Perez high crossbodies Giulia by mistake and Riptide finishes at 14:02.

Rating: B-. This was the stacked tag main event and while it was good, I was a bit disappointed with the thing. They didn’t have any kind of big moment and the result more or less kills Giulia and Perez’s status. Sky vs. Ripley is the big singles match down the line, but this doesn’t leave much for the villains to do at the moment.

Post match the winners pose but Ripley looks at the title to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This didn’t feel like a fallout show from Backlash, but that’s mainly because there wasn’t much fallout to cover. The big Raw match was Gunther beating up a commentator, along with the Women’s Intercontinental Title and the champion wasn’t even here. That doesn’t leave much to talk about so they focused on Saturday Night’s Main Event instead. I liked what we got here, and the upcoming special is feeling, well, special.

Results
Penta b. Chad Gable – Middle rope Canadian Destroyer
Creed Brothers b. War Raiders – Brutus Ball to Ivar
AJ Styles b. Finn Balor – Phenomenal Forearm
Rhea Ripley/Iyo Sky b. Roxanne Perez/Giulia – Riptide to Giulia

 

 

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