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The last RAW before Elimination Chamber saw a huge title change in the show's main event. After months of going at it across both shows, Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez defeated Bianca Belair and Naomi to capture the WWE Women's Tag Team Title.
The match was among the best offerings of 2025, proving that Morgan's 2024 ascent wasn't just a fluke. Bron Breakker finally competed after weeks of limited appearances as Intercontinental Champion.
While most of the action delivered, there were a few glaring missteps. WWE made the next four mistakes on RAW ahead of the big Elimination Chamber PLE.
Is this man the funniest man in wrestling?
#4. Failing upwards with the Creeds
Chad Gable left for his vision quest to find the dark master of Lucha Libre. He implored both Ivy Nile and the Creeds to win gold before he returned from his walkabout.
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Brutus and Julius failed in their title match a few weeks ago, instead opting to intentionally get disqualified. It made little sense, but they aren't renowned for their book smarts.
They even celebrated like they won the belts after the decision. The brothers will get another crack at the War Raiders on next week's RAW.
Nile attacked Women's Intercontinental Champion Lyra Valkyria following her victory against Dakota Kai. The Creeds did nothing to deserve another title shot. The reasoning that "they attacked the Champs" isn't enough to warrant another opportunity.
#3. Featuring Michael Cole and Pat McAfee over RAW wrestlers
RAW commentators Michael Cole and Pat McAfee are important to the show because of their voices. WWE has changed that greatly by allowing both to have more screen time each week.
McAfee mentioned that Cole was a guest on Logan Paul's Impaulsive podcast, and WWE aired a brief clip. The former NFL punter then spent a few minutes fat-shaming his colleague because a few of the buttons on his shirt were tight.
Cole and McAfee then rationalized why Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston turned on Big E by concluding Woods has an "inferiority complex." Weren't the two loyal to each other for more than a decade? The "complex" didn't pop up then.
Pat then said that Woods wore goggles as an amateur wrestler and called him a nerd. Instead of calling the action, it felt more like high school bullies trying to sound cool. The whole situation was strange since Karrion Kross and Sheamus weren't present. AJ Styles appeared backstage for less than a minute.
#2. Still using SmackDown stars on RAW
Cody Rhodes appeared on RAW instead of building anticipation for SmackDown and the Elimination Chamber. Having him show up two days after the "offer" is too soon. They should have drawn it out a bit longer to tease both of his options.
He didn't say much of consequence until Seth Rollins came out and questioned why he didn't reject the Rock's offer on the spot. Along with The American Nightmare, Bianca Belair and Naomi made another appearance on both of WWE's shows.
It makes sense for the now-former Women's Tag Team Champs because those titles are defended across brands. It still doesn't fix the problem that the same four women have dominated programming for the last three months.
Why weren't Roxanne Perez, Alexa Bliss, Damian Priest, Drew McIntyre, and Bayley featured more, given that they're also in the Elimination Chamber match?
#1. Is the John Cena Retirement Tour already over?
WWE missed a massive opportunity by not having John Cena appear on the go-home episode of RAW. He made a huge deal about showing up more but has only done so twice in 2025 - RAW's debut on Netflix and at the Royal Rumble.
To sell the importance of the retirement journey, he needed to appear ahead of the Elimination Chamber. Missing an important episode of programming is something Roman Reigns made an art of.
Cena put himself in the Chamber match and then missed every episode of programming since. Why should we root for him to win if he doesn't put the same amount of time into the build?
