John Cena hits a Grand Slam in his final night in Boston: Raw Recap, Nov. 10, 2025

Summary

Raw Recap with Sam Roberts and Megan Morant

Episode: John Cena Hits a Grand Slam in His Final Night in Boston
Date: November 11, 2025 (Recaps Raw of Nov. 10, 2025)
Hosts: Sam Roberts, Megan Morant
Guest: Big E (Former WWE Champion)

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Overview:

This episode dives deep into a wild, historic night on Monday Night Raw in Boston—John Cena’s last appearance as an active competitor in his hometown, where he not only gave an emotional farewell but shocked the wrestling world by capturing the Intercontinental Championship, completing his Grand Slam. Hosts Sam Roberts and Megan Morant, joined by guest Big E, break down Cena’s legacy, the dynamics of his match with Dominik Mysterio, the ripple effects on the championship tournament, big stories in the women’s division, the shape of upcoming War Games, and much more.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. John Cena’s Historic Intercontinental Championship Win

Segment Start: [00:41]

• Farewell in Boston: Cena’s emotional return to his home city, the crowd’s energy, and Triple H’s opening promo highlighting Cena as “the greatest of all time.”

  • "Triple H coming out and just being in the ring to cut this promo about the fact that John Cena is inarguably the greatest of all time." – Sam Roberts [04:26]

• No Match Advertised: Cena was only advertised to address the crowd; neither hosts nor crowd expected a title match.

• The Emotional Promo: Cena hints at wanting to leave the business better than he found it, reveals his true last match comes at Saturday Night’s Main Event (Dec 13), transitioning attention to NXT superstars.

• Dominik Mysterio’s Interruption: Dirty Dom interrupts, playing a classic heel, reminding Boston why he’s still booed in some places:

  • "Except...there's one city and one circumstance left where you better believe…this was old school Dominic boos. This was Dominic can’t get out of a sentence." – Sam Roberts [08:56]

John Cena vs. Dominik Mysterio – The Match itself

Segment Start: [12:00]

• Match Setup: Spontaneously made after a war of words; Triple H okays it on the spot.

• In-Ring Notes:

  • Dominic’s tactics echo Eddie Guerrero, but Cena matches every trick.
  • “John Cena has a storied history with Eddie Guerrero. John Cena and Eddie Guerrero, they fought in a parking lot brawl. They fought all over the place on SmackDown in the early 2000s when John Cena was just starting out.” – Sam Roberts [14:26]

• Key Moments:

  • Dominik kicks out of the Attitude Adjustment (AA).
  • A ref bump allows Dominik to tap out to the STF, but with no ref—Sam argues this is strategy, not a missed finish. [16:03]
  • Cena kicks out of Dom’s 619-frog splash combo.
  • Super Cena emerges, AA for the win.
  • Cena becomes a Grand Slam Champion: First time Intercontinental Champion.

• Memorable Celebration:

  • Backstage parade of superstars congratulating Cena, a final “point” photo with Triple H, emotional moment with Rey Mysterio.

“To see Cena get his moment, unbelievably win the Intercontinental Championship for the first time, it certainly completely changes the dynamic of everything we’ve got going into the remainder of this John Cena tour." — Sam Roberts [18:13]

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2. Cena’s Legacy, Retirement Tour, & Next Steps

Segment Start: [02:46], [19:59], [20:58]

• Cena has only three appearances left; hosts marvel at how he’s not slowing down but making history on the way out.

• Speculation:

  • Will the IC title be on the line at Cena’s final bout?
  • Sheamus, in the tournament, obsessed with finally claiming the IC title.
  • Cody Rhodes gives Cena an emotional sendoff—mixed feelings about whether the “torch” has been passed:
    • “To me, the torch got passed at SummerSlam… John Cena looking at Cody Rhodes, and Cody Rhodes looking at John Cena back, that’s the torch passing.” – Sam Roberts [24:12]

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3. John Cena Tournament & Title Picture

Segment Start: [25:11]

• Two Tournament Matches on Raw:

  • Rusev defeats Damian Priest (Priest wrestling injured, Rusev driven by wish to avenge WM31 loss to Cena).
  • Sheamus vs Shinsuke Nakamura – Sheamus wins an intense, hard-hitting bout.

• Upcoming Matches:

  • Miz vs Jey Uso, LA Knight vs Mystery Opponent, Javon Evans vs Gunther, Solo Sakoa vs Mystery Opponent.
  • Uncertainty over who gets placed where as brackets are not revealed.

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4. Women’s Division Shifts, Tag Titles, and War Games

Segment Start: [40:09], [44:02], [48:43]

• Nikki Bella’s Heel Turn on Stephanie VaCare:

  • Shocks everyone after weeks of friendly build-up.
  • "I love this for Nikki… That’s the Nikki we came to know and love.” – Big E [40:42]

• New Women's Tag Team Champions – Kabuki Warriors

  • Alexa Bliss & Charlotte's reign ends.
  • Exploration of whether Alexa/Charlotte remain a team.

• Big E & Hosts on Alexa Bliss/Charlotte Flair Tag Run:

  • “I think this team changed Charlotte Flair...this team was everything Charlotte needed.” – Sam Roberts [52:24]
  • “This tag team with Alexa, I think has just forced [Charlotte] to be a little more vulnerable, more human, to let people in…” – Big E [54:30]

• Momentum for Maxine Dupri:

  • Faces Becky Lynch at Madison Square Garden next week for the IC Title.
  • Praise for her development and ability to rise to big stage pressure.

• Women’s War Games Developments:

  • Rhea Ripley, Iyo, Charlotte, Alexa vs the likes of Asuka, Kairi, Nia Jax, Lash Legend—who is spotlighted as ‘rising fast, thrown into the deep end’ (Big E: “Such a great moment for her” [49:19]).
  • Hosts/Big E speculate on potential roster additions (Bianca Belair? Julia? Becky Lynch? Chelsea Green?).

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5. Men’s War Games: The Vision vs Top Faces

Segment Start: [57:55], [62:41]

• CM Punk segment:

  • Punk calls out Logan Paul, who now aligns with “The Vision” (Paul Heyman, Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed).
  • Jey Uso steps up beside Punk—Sam Roberts celebrates this new, self-assured side of Jey.
    • “When Jey is focused, he’s very dangerous… his best moments have been when he’s trusted himself.” – Big E [63:00]

• Cody’s Hero’s Entrance:

  • Cody joins Punk and Jey in fending off the heels; the Boston crowd erupts.
  • William Regal’s backstage War Games announcement is teased; teams are forming and star power is at an all-time high.

• Big E reflects on evolution in the men’s division and the allure of War Games.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Sam Roberts [04:26]:
  "Triple H coming out and just being in the ring to cut this promo about the fact that John Cena is inarguably the greatest of all time—that’s not marketing, that’s a unique perspective—without exception, John Cena is the greatest of all time."

• Mike (on the pop in Boston) [06:32]:
  "I mean, you could see the amount of green shirts everywhere, John Cena, which, by the way, those shirts were unbelievable."

• Sam Roberts (on Cena’s legacy) [19:59]:
  "Backstage, all these superstars... Stephanie Van Care, the Women's World Champion. Everybody’s there congratulating John Cena."

• Big E (reflection on Dominik Mysterio) [35:42]:
  "I do love this for Dom… Passing of the torch moment might not be the right way to put it, but I think it is a big cosign that, yeah, Dom is a guy we’re going to invest in."

• Mike (on crowd reaction to Dom) [37:19]:
  "It was really funny when Dom couldn’t get a word out because they were booing him. So I’m glad that we got that tonight because I have a feeling crowds are going to be chanting Dom’s name more often than not…"

• Big E (on Nikki Bella’s turn) [40:42]:
  "Her giving her flowers to this current generation, beautiful to see... I want to see a Nikki Bella who is ruthless. That’s the Nikki… I’m excited to see."

• Sam Roberts (on Charlotte’s evolution) [52:24]:
  "This team changed Charlotte Flair. This team was everything Charlotte Flair needed... more human side."

• Sam Roberts (on Cody’s pop) [65:13]:
  "It was almost like, because they didn’t expect it… when you felt the energy of that audience, it was almost like they surprised themselves with how happy they were to see Cody. But that’s when you know you’re that dude."

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Segment Timestamps for Key Moments

• 00:41–09:31: Cena’s return, promo, and emotional Boston crowd
• 09:31–13:56: Dom interrupts; match is made with Triple H
• 13:56–18:41: Cena vs. Dom recap; finish and post-match celebration
• 18:41–25:22: Cena’s future, Cody segment, torch-passing
• 25:51–30:36: John Cena tournament matches and shifting tournament dynamic
• 40:09–44:36: Nikki Bella turns on Stephanie; Women’s Tag division analysis
• 48:43–54:36: Women’s War Games, Women’s division shakeups, Maxine Dupri
• 57:55–64:18: CM Punk, Cody, Jey Uso confront “The Vision” and build toward Men’s War Games

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Flow, Tone, and Atmosphere

Sam Roberts and Megan Morant bring high energy and personal investment, blending analysis, wrestling history, and humor with honest speculation and reactions. Big E offers wrestler-to-wrestler insight and warmth, praising and defending both legacy and up-and-coming talents.

Numerous “fan pop” moments are called out, with the hosts making clear what felt special about the Boston crowd, the spontaneous title change, and backstage camaraderie.

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Conclusion

This Raw Recap covers the magnitude of John Cena’s surprise Grand Slam, the next evolution of championship tournaments, the new landscape in women’s wrestling with title changes and War Games on the horizon, the setup for War Games (both men’s and women’s), and leaves listeners hyped for the next stops—Madison Square Garden, Survivor Series, and Cena’s final battles. The show is a love letter both to Cena’s influence and to the thrilling unpredictability of WWE as it barrels into year’s end.

Transcript

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[Sam Roberts]

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[Sam Roberts]

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[E (Guest, former WWE Champion)]

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[Sam Roberts]

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[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Time.

[Sam Roberts]

Is the inter Continental Champion, Sam.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

He is still making history.

[Sam Roberts]

Yes.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

We have three appearances left on the John Cena retirement tour and he is not puttering out. He is a champion in wwe. He beat the man never held the Intercontinental Championship before.

[Sam Roberts]

And I would say that since his entire run in wwe, he beat the toughest Intercontinental Champion that he's ever been in the ring with. I would say that that's true and you could check the history books on that. Listen, this didn't go the way that I wanted.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Are you upset?

[Sam Roberts]

The beginning of Raw from a sort of big picture perspective, had it been anybody besides Dominic Mysterio, I would tell you it couldn't have gone any better. The idea that Triple H comes out, the idea that they're in Boston, this amazing city.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

By the way, I know a lot of Boston fans were very upset that John Cena's last match wasn't going to be in Boston. I used to live in Boston, a lot of Boston friends. I was getting text all day, oh my God. Cena's last match, oh my God. Are we going to be disappointed? What's going to happen? And there was just a ton of anticipation surrounding tonight for Boston fans. And then you saw Cena get emotional the last time in his hometown. I don't think it could have gotten any better for Boston tonight.

[Sam Roberts]

No. Because, I mean, there was even a conversation of what is John Cena going to do? And I don't think it was. It was on many bingo cards before today that John Cena would even wrestle, become champion. No, not even wrestle a match on Monday Night Raw. He wasn't. There was no match advertised. It was John Cena will address the crowd and Triple H comes out. First of all, the fact that Raw is starting with Triple H is like, this is going to be an episode. Right? We're onto something here. Triple H coming out and just being in the ring to cut this promo about the fact that John Cena is inarguably the greatest of all time. Not in a, this is good marketing. Not in a, this is a catchy nickname. But in a. Listen, I'm the guy who has this unique perspective, unique perspective of any perspective that exists where there's been nobody else that can sit there and say, I'm the promoter. I'm also a talent. I'm also a fan. I'm also a businessman. I'm also everything. Triple H gets to say that he's excelled at every single one of those buckets. And he has seen everything you could possibly seen in the WWE since opening the door in the mid-90s. And he comes out and he says, like, without exception, John Cena is the greatest of all time. So we are in Boston to just commend John Cena and for one more night for Boston to be able to hear that music and see John Cena come out. And, I mean, John's music plays and you understand why. Why Boston is one of these revered wrestling markets, you know, And. And by the way, this is true throughout the whole show. Yeah, I know you noticed it in the Stephanie Vicare match.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Oh, yeah.

[Sam Roberts]

They knew how to respond to A Devil's Kiss.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Yes.

[Sam Roberts]

But I mean, it was throughout the entire.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

These are Die Hards.

[Sam Roberts]

Yes. And were there, like, they brought all of the energy.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

I mean, you could see the amount of green shirts everywhere. John Cena, which, by the way, those shirts were unbelievable.

[Sam Roberts]

Incredible. Absolutely incredible.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Just like the banners up in the.

[Sam Roberts]

Rafters with all the dates of John Cena's big Boston matches on the shirt. So Cena comes out, and he really is just talking about how his goal is to leave the business better than he found it. And with all the sort of news that was breaking on Monday Night Raw, let us not bury the fact that Cena announced for the first time that Saturday night's main event, December 13, which is the last match for John Cena, is also going to be. You know, people keep talking about this tournament in the context of John Cena's first appearance on smackdown, and this brand new guy, fresh out of developmental confronting, Kurt Angle. And how do you replicate that? And you don't replicate that with John Cena, but how do you replicate that? You replicate that in this genius way where John Cena announces that this Saturday night's main event is going to be made up of exhibition matches where some of the top stars in the WWWE go against NXT's finest.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

And that's what John Cena wants to do. He wants to leave the business better.

[Sam Roberts]

Than he found it and give out as many opportunities as he possibly can. And I think that's what this whole tournament is. The fact that 16 superstars are competing for this match, which means that. That John Cena attention is, to varying degrees, put on all 16 of them. And then bringing people up from NXT to go like, okay, this is probably going to be the Saturday night. Saturday night's main event with more eyeballs on it than any other in the modern era.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Oh, of course.

[Sam Roberts]

And guess what? You get an opportunity and you get an opportunity and you get an opportunity.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

And that's massive for these nxt. Super huge.

[Sam Roberts]

Huge.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Because you and I are watching NXT every week. But there's some people just tuning in for Cena's last match, and they're going to get a treat to see these NXT superstars.

[Sam Roberts]

Right, Right. And just as he's saying, I just want to say thank you to Boston, I just want to say thank you.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

See the tears welling up in his eyes. He's talking about the first time he came to a WWE show at the TD Garden.

[Sam Roberts]

At the original Boston Garden.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Yes. And how emotional this was for him. And he didn't get to pick the locations, but his one request was to come home to Boston one last time.

[Sam Roberts]

And just as he's getting this off his chest, tears came to my eyes, Happy tears. Because Dominic Mysterio's music played. And I'm just like, yes, yes. You know, we come on here and I. And I make you eat your words every week by saying, listen, there's no cities anymore that boo Dominic Mysterio. Everybody loves Dominic. You're not going to get him booed. Except there's one city and one circumstance left where you better believe. I mean, this was old school. Dominic boos. This was Dominic can't get out of sentence. Dominic boos.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

I like how he put a little extra product in the hair. Cause he had a little extra grease in the hair, make it extra dirty.

[Sam Roberts]

That's conditioner.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

When he came out. Oh, he was shaking the hair.

[Sam Roberts]

Oh, yeah. Well, he was cocky, he was confident. But if there's one place left that will still boo Dom, it's Boston. When he's interrupting a John Cena thank you to Boston promo, and he's interrupting it to talk to Triple H about the fact that his celebration that he wanted to have last week didn't go well. Like, of all the times to come out and say, like, hey, no, no, no, I gotta talk to you about what happened last week. And here he comes and he's. And he's. And he's talking to Triple H about it and. And John Cena tries to say, hey, hey. And then, no, relax, Relax, old man. You know what I mean? I'm. I'm.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

The confidence out of Dirty Dom.

[Sam Roberts]

Yeah.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

I mean, just to not understand the magnitude of the moment, that timing. He understood regard. All of it.

[Sam Roberts]

Yeah, that's right. He understood it. He chose to disregard it, because that's.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

What he does as a double champion.

[Sam Roberts]

Well, listen to his viewpoint. An old man interrupted his moment last week, so he's here to interrupt an old man's moment. He interrupts old men's moments. That's what he said.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

And Dominic doesn't view Cena as the greatest of all time. He views himself as the greatest of all time. Andy even pointed out that he hasn't even really hit his. His. His prime yet.

[Sam Roberts]

Speaker speak. Well, I mean, is he a fan or is he a superstar? He's a superstar. So who should he think is the greatest of all time? You can't just say. I mean, Dominic is not in a space in his career where it's time for reverence for everybody around him. He's in the. He's in the take portion of his career. He's in the give it all to me portion of his career, and he's taking this moment. I don't think that he realized exactly how this was gonna go. Um, I mean, he's not wrong. Rey Mysterio. Why? Like, he was having a moment on Monday Night Raw last week, and Rey Mysterio did interrupt it, and nobody said any of this. Ray interrupting his moment last week. Nobody was like, oh, why wouldn't you have more reverence? The greatest is it two double champ is in there. Triple A Mega WWE Intercontinental. And everybody's like, oh, yay. Ray's back.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

After everything that Dom has done to Ray as well.

[Sam Roberts]

I mean, carried his name, whatever.

[E (Guest, former WWE Champion)]

So.

[Sam Roberts]

So Cena, unfortunately, becomes serious Cena, and when. When Cena becomes serious Cena, it's kind of scary because you. Oh, boy. It's almost like when a computer becomes self aware. It's like, we're all having fun. We're all having fun. We all know Cena's the greatest, but we're all having fun together. And then he's like, wait a second, are you challenging me? And you're like, oh. And he's like, you know, we're all having fun because it's my choice. You can't. He said, I'm invincible today. We're in Boston. It's my last night.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

But then Dom came back with even more confidence as a double champ and said, any time, any place, any era. Era.

[Sam Roberts]

Well, yeah, because John Cena said, wrong time, wrong place, wrong guy. And then to Triple H's credit, he said, well, I could. I could come up with a time and a place and an era and a guy. I could come up with all that. We have it all right here. And. And in an instant, the promo becomes, pop your shirt off, John. It's time to fight for the Intercontinental Championship.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

I was stunned. I thought it. Triple H was going to say, and this will be our main event.

[Sam Roberts]

Right, Right. You know, right now. You know, when he's ramping up, it's like, there's no way he's going to say, and we'll do it. Because I had said, look, I want to see John Cena versus Dominic Mysterio. I said, I want to see it at Survivor Series. I want to see it in Dominic's hometown, San Diego. I want Dominic to win, but it wasn't meant to be.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

I think you also said once that you wanted Dominic to lose.

[Sam Roberts]

I don't think I've ever said that about anybody, but that's what I wanted to see. And I go, oh, okay, we're going to get it tonight. Right now. Immediately. And the match goes on. And look, Dominic Mysterio, he looked like a million bucks. Like, let's not forget Dominic Mysterio did kick out of an aa. He kicked out.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

That's a fact.

[Sam Roberts]

Referee took a little long time to get to the ring, but he still kicked out.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Do you think his obsession with using underhanded tactics and cheating is actually getting in the way of him winning? I think it might. It may have. Tonight.

[Sam Roberts]

No, I don't think so. If anything, he. He hit his finish. I think it was just John Cena's in Boston. I don't think there was anything about. About Dominic Mysterio being up to his old tricks that led.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

What about the chair?

[Sam Roberts]

Well, I. Here's the problem. Everybody else that Dominic Mysterio is in the ring with, they don't have a storied history with Eddie Guerrero. John Cena, with his father, has a. Yes. Yes. With his. With his lineage, with his bloodline. John Cena has a storied history with Eddie Guerrero. John Cena and Eddie Guerrero, they fought in a parking lot brawl. They fought all over the place on Smackdown in the early 2000s when John Cena was just starting out. One of the guys that he wrestled with, that he teamed with was Eddie Guerrero. The chair throw the. Hit the ground throw. Give. Give the other guy the chair and hit the mattress. That's an Eddie trick, the boot trick. These are all Eddie tricks. And when you've been in the. When you're John Cena and you've seen the greatest. Knew it. Eddie Guerrero, it's almost like, yeah, I know. I know your game, kid. And I think that Maybe Dom, in this instance didn't realize it.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

He underestimated the greatest of all time, John Cena.

[Sam Roberts]

I mean, it's possible, it's, it's, it's certainly possible that that happened because John Cena then laid down, you know, did the. Did the double Eddie trick and winked.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

It was great. I mean, that's insulting my favorite part of the entire match.

[Sam Roberts]

That's insult to injury right there. The ref goes down, Dominic while he taps out to the stf. But here's, you know, Joe Tas on commentary said John Cena should be the intercontinental champion. Dominic tapped out to the stf.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

No bell.

[Sam Roberts]

However, Dominic did not tap out to the STF because he quit. Dominic tapped out to the STF because he realized there was no referee in the ring so he could tap out instantly and get John Cena to take the hold off.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

So you're, you're claiming that this was all a strategy.

[Sam Roberts]

If there's no referee in the ring, tap out immediately. Why wouldn't you, why would you be like, oh, why don't I just wait and have this horrible submission hold applied to me for as long as humanly possible? Of course it was strategy. Immediately get it off me. There's no evidence whatsoever that Dominic would have lost there. There was no tap out.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

There was a tap out. The referee didn't see it.

[Sam Roberts]

Smart tape.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Dominic knew that the referee wasn't there.

[Sam Roberts]

That's exactly right. That's exactly right.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

So it was a good way to get Cena to release a hold.

[Sam Roberts]

Genius. And then we end up with Cena hitting the aa. Eddie running down the aisle. Second referee jumping in the ring. One, two. Dom's able to kick out. Then Dom is able to hit the frog. Hit the 6, 19 into the frog splash. Somehow I didn't realize Super Cena was back. You know, there are many eras of John Cena I didn't realize.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

He's not puttering out.

[Sam Roberts]

No, he's bossy.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

History.

[Sam Roberts]

He's Super Cena again. And he rolls through the frog splash. And then once, once he rolled through and picked up Dom and put him on his shoulders, I went, no, no. And he put him up for that. Aa. Hit it. 1, 2, 3. At the cost of Dominic Mysterio, which.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

It's amazing that you're upset about this.

[Sam Roberts]

I mean, it's history. But also, like, you know, I thought that John was all about, you know, giving opportunities to the young guys and everything.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

He's also, he's also about hustle, loyalty and respect. I forgot about, which is really the exact opposite of Dominic Mysterio.

[Sam Roberts]

Well, whatever. They're both champs. I mean, Dominic Mysterio is the type of champ to lose a championship and he's still a champion.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Well, because he has another title.

[Sam Roberts]

I mean, and so it's like, you can't exactly go like, you know, what's wrong with Dominic? Absolutely nothing is wrong with Dominic. But to see Cena get his moment unbelievably win the Intercontinental Championship for the first time, it certainly completely changes the dynamic of, of everything we've got going into the remainder of this sort of John Cena two or the three more appearances.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Like, it's kind of wild because everything Cena's accomplished and nobody was talking like, oh, I'd love to see him become Intercontinental Champion.

[Sam Roberts]

It was just like, once you win the 17th world title, it's like, well.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

What else is there to do?

[Sam Roberts]

And there's also only three appearances left. Like, does that mean now that the purse, the people fighting in the tournament are realizing, hey, there's a pretty good chance the Intercontinental title is going to be on the line in that last match. Is this Seamus trying to kill two birds with one stone?

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

It could be.

[Sam Roberts]

What if the Seamus makes it to the finals and he finally gets his Intercontinental title?

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

He said with us last week, he's been obsessed, obsessed with the Intercontinental Championship.

[Sam Roberts]

Literally knock out all of his goals in one match and then he becomes. But unfortunately, unfortunately, that matches with John Cena and that's going to be tough for anybody. But, I mean, I just can't. And I want to talk about the celebration after the match, but first, and an amazing Monday Night Raw. It was after this John Cena Domin Mysterio match. We look at what's going on in gorilla position and we see all these superstars. You know, Damian Priest is there and Tazawa's there and Stephanie Van Care, the Women's World Champion. Everybody's there congratulating John Cena.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

I mean, that's a big deal. She had a title match later in the night.

[Sam Roberts]

But it's John Cena in Boston for the last time as the Intercontinental Champion. He got the one more point picture with Triple H and we got it for real this time. The last point picture with Triple H. John Cena was showing his back and you saw the one moment he was putting the title around his waist. It is kind of nice that we finally get real. John Cena, baby face. John Cena, the John Cena that we love as a champion. That is nice because there was that one moment where you're strapping it around his waist backwards. And he was like, nah, put it on his shoulder. Takes the pointing picture with triple H. I was happy that he had the conversation with Rey Mysterio, because John Cena came across as more paternal as far as Dominic Mysterio goes than Ray was. John Cena was the one who goes, oh, no, he's a good kid. You know, he'll learn. And Ray's sitting there going like, I'm glad you beat up my son and took his title. It's like, oh, that's nice. That's real nice. I wonder why Dominic Mysterio has.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Or maybe he was looking at it like, finally, somebody can teach my son a lesson.

[Sam Roberts]

Well, maybe he should have done that.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Listen to me.

[Sam Roberts]

So you're going to John Cena to do it?

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

I mean, who's better?

[Sam Roberts]

He's 20. He's.

[E (Guest, former WWE Champion)]

He's an adult.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Dominic Mysterio, never too late to learn a lesson.

[Sam Roberts]

Listen, people go like this, oh, I can't believe my son has a neck tattoo. That's what they say. I can't believe my son has a neck tattoo. And all he's doing is getting more neck tattoos. Dom's neck is getting more and more covered by the week. Why is that? Because he got no attention at home. Because Rey Mysterio is going, you know what? One of my favorite things to do is watch my son lose a title. That's crazy. You think these Little League dads, they want their sons. They get mad when their sons don't win trophies. Ray's the only one that was rooting against him at Little League games.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Dom should be.

[Sam Roberts]

He LOL'd on the Twitter. Rey Mysterio. Did he put LOL on Twitter after the match? Well, that's horrible. Can you imagine that if my dad. If you have your dad lol'd you. I mean, you finished a marathon this weekend.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

I did.

[Sam Roberts]

It's badass.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Thank you.

[Sam Roberts]

But imagine if you hadn't finished the marathon.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

I thought about not right a few times.

[Sam Roberts]

But imagine you go down, right?

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Yep.

[Sam Roberts]

You're like, okay, I'm done. I made it to mile 18 and a half rough.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Yeah.

[Sam Roberts]

And as you're walking off, you're like, I guess I'll see what's on Twitter. And you just see from, you know, Mr. Morant, and it just says LOL. You'd be like, what the hell?

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

I also don't have the history that Dominic has where I, you know, my actions led to that lol.

[E (Guest, former WWE Champion)]

No, no.

[Sam Roberts]

Okay. I don't know, I don't know what the relationship is like, but then.

[E (Guest, former WWE Champion)]

Then.

[Sam Roberts]

And it's not, by the way, I'm not saying that your dad is Jah Morant. I'm just saying, Mr. Moran, it's a different.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Very different. Yeah.

[Sam Roberts]

But then a surprise face. Cody comes face to face with John Cena.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Wasn't expecting to see him on Raw tonight.

[Sam Roberts]

No. For the first time since SummerSlam. And there was that moment where it's like, well, like your heart kind of dropped when you see this. And the two of them like have a moment. And Cody says, john Cena's last night in Boston, I wouldn't have missed it for the world. And John says, you're a class act. And they shake hands once more. Cody holding the WWE Championship that he won from John Cena. And you know, a lot of people talk about John Cena's last match and who it could potentially be with and they bring up passing the Torch. To me, the torch got passed at SummerSlam. There's a lot of things that can happen in these last matches. You know, there's a lot of things that can happen in the second to last match, in the third to last match. You know, all of these matches are very meaningful and all of them can mean different things for different superstars. But to me, when you look at John Cena looking at Cody Rhodes and Cody Rhodes looking at John Cena back, that's, that's the torch passing. That's, that's passing the torch to the, the guy that you're leaving the company in the hands of. You're sitting there and going like Cody has said he can do it. Fans believe in Cody. And now the greatest of all time is saying, yeah, Cody is. Cody is the one. That's what I get from that interaction.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

It is funny because as soon as I see Cena with Cody, I go, oh my God, I would love it one more time. Just because it's just dangling right there in front of you. Yeah. But I think the way you summed it up right there, we had, I mean, arguably a match of the year at SummerSlam.

[Sam Roberts]

John and Cody.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Yes.

[Sam Roberts]

It's in the conversation easily with yes, without a doubt.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

I don't think that's going to be our last match, but the moment there and the nod of respect.

[Sam Roberts]

Right. I think the torches bend past.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

That's it.

[Sam Roberts]

Right.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

But I think the acknowledgment of this is the last match and Cody's there and then Cody is later on involved in Monday Night Raw even more.

[Sam Roberts]

Yeah. Oh, yeah. Which we're going to get to Cody's busy boy.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Yes. Um, but yeah, I love that.

[Sam Roberts]

It's great. Yes, it's great. And you're right. You sit there and you're like, yeah, I want to see another one of these matches. You want the whole thing?

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Like, well, it is funny because, I mean, we have this conversation all the time. It's like, oh, they should turn Cody heel. They should turn Cody heel. Cody should be a bad guy. You see this interaction? You go, no, that was perfect.

[Sam Roberts]

Wow. You all.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Cody's the best.

[Sam Roberts]

It's not just the interaction. It's the fact that Boston was literally singing his theme after his theme went off. Yeah, that doesn't happen by mistake, but we'll get there. Okay, so before we. We wrap it up on the John Cena conversation for. For now, we also had our first two John Cena tournament matches. We had. And. And people are taking this John Cena tournament completely differently as well. We had Rusev versus Damien Priest.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Now this is a Damian Priest who is still suffering from what happened on Friday.

[Sam Roberts]

He had his eye.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

We saw as immediately as he makes his entrance. He has.

[Sam Roberts]

You could see the inflammation that's right around the eye. Of course, Rusev took full advantage of that, as he should. If you walk into a match with an injury that your opponent knows about, any vulnerability should be taken advantage of, especially when the stakes are this high.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

And who is Rusev? He's a killer.

[Sam Roberts]

That's it.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Obviously he's going to take advantage of that.

[Sam Roberts]

And it's interesting because everybody, and they, they did these great, like, social media videos before Raw, talking to, like, Priest and talking to Seamus, and we talked to Seamus here on Raw recap last week. If you missed that interview, just look it up on WWE's YouTube. It was fantastic. But, you know, there's all this conversation about, like, what it would mean for you to have this match and why you want to have this match. And there's this deep rooted respect amongst so many people that are having this conversation. But for Rusev, he's angry. He's still angry about WrestleMania 31. He looks back and he said that was the biggest loss of his career. Rusev is the one guy in this tournament who is in this thing because he wants to avenge the loss from ten and a half years ago at WrestleMania 31 against John Cena. And he got one step closer. He beat Damian Priest. He's moving on to the second round. We also saw Sheamus had an amazing match with Shinsuke Nakamura, and it really was. It was, it was. It was the type of match you want to see in this tournament. It was the type of match that you want to see from Sheamus. It was the type of match that you want to see from Shinsuke. It was just hard hitting all the way through, like these two guys were fighting for something. And ultimately Seamus is the one that comes out on top. So now we have Rusev and Seamus in the second round. We don't know if they're going to face each other. Cause we haven't seen the way the bracket is seated yet. So we don't know where everybody's going to get placed in that second round.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Don't even know who we're going to see in the. In the next set of matches on smackdown.

[Sam Roberts]

No. Yeah. We have four more participants still to be named on Friday on Smackdown, we have the Miz versus Jey uso.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Yep.

[Sam Roberts]

Which is massive. And then you have La Knight versus a mystery opponent. Wild speculation time. Then on Raw next week, you'll have Javon Evans against Gunter. I mean, I went on the radio today, I was talking about Gunther and I said, here is the thing about Gunther. He's one of the great no fun wrestlers of all time.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

And you know what? Javon Evans is maybe the funnest wrestler that I've ever seen in the ring.

[Sam Roberts]

And guess what no fun guys like to do?

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Destroy fun guys.

[Sam Roberts]

Remove fun. Wouldn't it be fun if Javon Evans advanced? Yes. That's why I must end it. I'm the most no fun wrestler of all time. Who else want. And I. And look, I love a no fun wrestler. I love an ultimate spoiler. I love. What did I used to call him? The reality of the whole thing. Because it just destroys your fantasy. Whatever dreams you may have, they're out the window when Gunther shows up. So I love that. And then you have another mystery opponent scenario where next week in Madison Square Garden you're going to get solo Sokoa versus a mystery opponent. So who's to say we know Damian Priest is out. We know Shinsuke Nakamura is out. I think it's going to get real interesting as we get closer and closer. I think that John Cena being the Intercontinental champion, seeing the fireworks go off. Did you think when you turned on Raw tonight you were going to get the title change? Fireworks going off? No. I mean, it wasn't even the only time, but we'll get there. But like, yeah, just a wild, wild thing. And now, I mean now it's so up in the air. John Cena is going to be on Raw next week at Madison Square Garden. Who has any clue what he's going to be doing? Because now it's fair game to wildly speculate. You know, his last smackdown, I believe, was the promo that turned into the match with Sami Zayn.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Yes.

[Sam Roberts]

Like this is now happening on television. And that wasn't the case at the beginning of this John Cena run. At the beginning of the John Cena run, for the most part, it was talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk match at the ple. Talk match at the ple. Now it's like, look, we got this much John Cena left. Let's get talking. Let's get matches. Let's get everything.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Oh, I hope we get another match.

[Sam Roberts]

At MSG Madison Square Garden. I do, too. I do, too, man. And then Survivor Series, I mean, who knows? There's. There's War Games is being bandied about.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Do we have a new intercontinental champion next week? Does John Cena have the title going into Survivor Series? Does he have the title at Saturday night's main event?

[Sam Roberts]

Well, there's no way. I mean, John's got it. He. There's no way he could lose it next week.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

I didn't think he could win it this week.

[Sam Roberts]

And, and who knows if he'll even be defending the title. There's a world where he's in that War Games match. CM Punk is putting together a team right now. We see Jay uso, we see Cody Rhodes. There's a world where John Cena is in that cage. Who's to say? I'll tell you what, here's the thing that I love too, about John Cena. We're going to talk to Biggie about this in a moment, but John Cena has a brand new action figure. Before we get to the end of the last year of John Cena, we celebrate John Cena as he comes to the LG LJN line of WWE action figures. I am so excited about this. We could step back in time to the WWE line that started it. All LJN WWE Superstar figures have returned. The retro toys recall the original design from the 1980s with fan favorites in signature looks including John Cena, Dusty Rhodes, Hulk Hogan and Logan Paul. You can get your favorite or collect them all on Black Friday in stores at [e-mail] or WWE shop.com and look, I have the John Cena right here. I want to. And it's not fair. I saw it like way Barrett got to play with his. They've told me in the control room. I'm not allowed to play with mine.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

They didn't tell me anything. So pass that over here. All right.

[Sam Roberts]

But look at it. So. So. Although I don't know if I can allow you to open this because the other thing that's great about these. And now we're going to get geeky. Okay. This is. Is such a true to life throwback to the original wwe.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Listening to the broski breakdown.

[Sam Roberts]

I mean, listen. That's right, to the original WWE LJN line. First of all, it looks perfect. But the last line of WWE LJN action figures came on a black card like this. See how it's black Where a lot of the photo, it's not blue like the black, like the back of it, it's black. So all four of these figures are also available in this version, which is the chase version. This is the rarer version of John Cena. The black cards are the rarer figures. The blue cards are the. Are slightly more common. The black cards are very, very collectible. They all come with posters inside. And it's so great because obviously like John Cena and Logan Paul weren't around yet to be a part of this original LJN line, which, you know, I mean, we're talking Jesse the Body Ventura, okay, this, these are the originals. Look how close that is. Look how close that is. Okay, but you have like Dusty Rhodes, who didn't get to be a part of the original LJN line, but it's somebody that we always wanted to be a part of it. And then you have Hulk Hogan that is like exactly like the original, first ever WWE Hulk Hogan action figure with the championship title and everything. I mean, I am so excited that these LJNs are back. It is. It's a collector's dream. So make sure Black Friday, you get out there, you get to Target and you get these figures because it is so fun that they're going to be back on shelves.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Those are a black. Look at those.

[Sam Roberts]

So cool, right? So cool. Hit them up. Black Friday. Get to target. Get your action figures. I want to. You hear that? That's not just a Toyota truck.

[E (Guest, former WWE Champion)]

That's the sound of no crowds, no alerts, no distractions, and no telling what you'll find next.

[Sam Roberts]

You know, like a detour. So why would you ever take a tour?

[E (Guest, former WWE Champion)]

And you could take a detour. Toyota trucks.

[Sam Roberts]

Invite our next guest into the Raw recap. Somebody that's going to help analyze all the many, many things that happened tonight on Monday night Raw. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Biggie.

[E (Guest, former WWE Champion)]

Hey, guys, what's happening?

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

What up, E?

[Sam Roberts]

I mean, Biggie, not much.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

We have a lot happening.

[Sam Roberts]

Yeah. As a former, as a former WWE Champion and a former Intercontinental Champion yourself, to see John Cena at this point in his career on this night, against, with all due respect to you.

[E (Guest, former WWE Champion)]

Come on.

[Sam Roberts]

I would argue the strongest Intercontinental Champion that I recall seeing, and I've been watching wrestling for a very long time. For John Cena to be Intercontinental Champion tonight. Is this mind blowing for you?

[E (Guest, former WWE Champion)]

Yes. Yes, it is. I did not expect this at all. I thought surely, okay, we'll set up the Dom match, but here's judgment day. Get to throw now. There's a six man or something. We're not actually getting the match. Surely there's going to be some shenanigans. We don't actually get the match. But the fact that we came back, we got the match right away. I love that we got that match one. I also just, I love this. Look, I know it's a losing effort, but I do love this for Dom. I think being in this is the last two months. We have what, four more weeks of John Cena's career. And Dominik Mysterio is not in a squash match with John Cena. He's going toe to toe with John Cena. He's getting mic time with John Cena. Look, I understand that he lost the title to Cena, but I think this was a big moment for Dom. I think passing of the torch moment might not be the right way to put it, but I think it is a big cosign that, yeah, Dom is a guy we're going to invest in for a long time and I thought he did a great job even in a losing effort. Uh, even just seeing like, I, I think for me one of the big markers was seeing him face to face with John Cena. I didn't see one iota of trepidation on Dom's face. I didn't see a second of, ah, is this moment too big. I saw a dude who thought, not only do I deserve to be here, but I'm better than you and I'm gonna prove that in all aspects. And he didn't get the job done. But I love this for Dom and, and I think this is going to be a moment that we look back on when Dom is a world champion. Who knows? A year, two years from now, whenever that time comes, I think we'll look back at pivotal moments in his career, his ascension to that top spot, and I think we'll, we'll look at this as a great moment in his career.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

It, you know, it. It has been interesting to watch the crowd's reaction to Dominik Mysterio, because last week, the entire crowd is chanting dirty, dirty Dom the whole time as Rey Mysterio is out there. And, And I keep thinking of the times that Dominic couldn't get a word out on the mic because he was getting booed so loud. And to me, as fun as it is when the crowd is singing Dom's name, it was really funny when he couldn't get a word out because they were booing him. So I'm glad that we got that tonight because I have a feeling that crowds are going to be chanting Dom's name more often than not because they are all falling in line with my friend Sam Roberts over here.

[E (Guest, former WWE Champion)]

It's, it's hard to deny. Look at his, his, his charisma, his ability. And I think he's just getting better and better. He's getting even more comfortable in the ring. He's getting even better on the mic.

[Sam Roberts]

He said it tonight, he's not even at his peak.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

And he's right. He's not.

[E (Guest, former WWE Champion)]

He's not. He's not. He's not. He's not 30 yet. And that like most of you look at the top of the roster, it's all guys in their late 30s and 40s. Like, he's still probably has another five, six, seven years before he's really in his prime. Man, his growth has been remarkable. So, yeah, it's, it was really a great night for Dom. Even though he lost his title, he's gonna be back. And this is not what I expected, but it was really a great spotlight for him.

[Sam Roberts]

But do you think at all, like, people go, well, technically, that really wasn't the referee assigned to the match. The referee that counted the fall wasn't actually assigned to the match. So there is, unfortunately for John, a little asterisk with the next.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

How come when I complain about referees, you say that it's, it's nonsense, but when you do it, it's, it's justified.

[Sam Roberts]

I'm just, I didn't say that anybody should be fined or suspended.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Multiple fines.

[Sam Roberts]

Plural. Fines and suspensions. I didn't say that. And I certainly didn't call anybody out by name like you did.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

I didn't.

[Sam Roberts]

But I believe you did call Jessica Carr out by name. But. But I'm just saying a little asterisk.

[E (Guest, former WWE Champion)]

No, no, no. Asterisk. Look, this is pro wrestling. This is. This is pro wrestling, okay? The Man. The man won it legally. And the fact that there. There wasn't a ref there presently was probably. You know, we could blame Dom for that. Dom and his shenanigans. So, look, there's. There's no asterisk at all. You can't put an asterisk on John Cena's title win anyways. Of all people. How dare you?

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

In Boston of all places. Come on.

[E (Guest, former WWE Champion)]

It's not in his home.

[Sam Roberts]

Yeah, no, you might be there. You might be onto something there. There's at least a conversation to have there. How about this?

[E (Guest, former WWE Champion)]

Okay?

[Sam Roberts]

Not to be forgot, because there were. I felt like there were multiple moments tonight where you were like, oh, I feel like I shouted more times watching this show than I have in weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks. And one of those moments that I didn't see coming at all and was timed, I feel like, to precision was Nikki Bella turning on Stephanie. If I care. Nuts, like, out of. It's like the whole. We've been having this nice sort of build of friendship, and Nikki Bella even going like, hey, I need a. I'm looking for a friend. I need a friend here to help me kind of ingratiate myself back into the. The current roster, into the current locker room. And she's helping her. She was in. She literally even helped her with the judgment day tonight, only to, boom, knock her out with that championship. And all of a sudden, Nikki Bell has that. Nikki Bella has that mean streak.

[E (Guest, former WWE Champion)]

Look, I. It's dastardly. It's low, but I. I love this for Nikki. I do. I. Her giving her flowers to this current generation. Beautiful to see. But I don't want to see a Nikki Bella who is just bigging up the younger folks and is saying, you're doing a great job and I'm here to be your friend. I. I want to see a Nikki Bella who is going after world titles. I want to see a Nikki Bella who is ruthless. That's. That's the Nikki that we came to know and love. That's. That's the Nikki from a decade ago that was on top was someone who was going to do whatever it took to be at the top of the industry. So I. This version of her, I'm excited to see. I thought there was a chance once we saw this pairing was. That's the problem with, you know, friendships in wwe. Anytime people come together and they're friendly for a bit, I'm. I'm just counting down the days where it eventually implodes. Now, look, it took 10 years for our friendships to implode in a new day. But eventually it happens. And I think this is a great trajectory for Nikki. I'm excited to see kind of what unfolds for her. A more ruthless, a more focused, a more. Hey, I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get that title version of Nikki. Yeah, I'm here for it.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

I'm with you, E. On being here for it. I just didn't anticipate it coming this quickly. I mean, when you see the relationship with them and everything Nikki was saying about how she knows she's a Hall of Famer, she knows she's done everything in this business, but this is a completely different women's locker room, and she, in a way, has to prove herself that she belongs in this locker room. I guess Nikki Bella just got tired of waiting around and being Miss Nice Girl.

[Sam Roberts]

I also think that there's something about what you just said. I don't think. I think Nikki. I think sometimes people get tired of having to prove themselves because you're not wrong, right? Where it's like, okay, I. Even though I'm a legend, literally a Hall of Famer, you're all new, and. And I guess I have to prove myself to you. But at a point, like, past performance does count for something at a point, I think when people still expect you to continue to prove yourself, it's like, no, we're done. We're done with me proving myself. I'm Nikki Bella, and if you want me to prove myself, here's what I'll do. I'll hurt you. That's how I'll prove myself. I'll start hurting you, right?

[E (Guest, former WWE Champion)]

And if CM Punk can come back after a decade, we don't have these conversations about Punk having to prove himself to this current generation or this current locker room. We don't really. I don't know if we always have these same conversations with the men who've done great things. And, look, people can feel the way that they want to to about Nikki. They can have their opinions. But I have met so many people who. I'm telling you, the impact of total divas and Nikki Bella is real. There are so many women who got into this industry because of that show and because of the Bella Twins. There are so many performers who got into the industry because of the Bellas. Whether you're a fan, whether you're a performer. Her impact, I think, is something we don't quite talk about enough. We talk about AJ's impact and how many young women she's influenced to get into this industry. But I have met plenty of fans and performers alike who got into our industry, who got into WWE because of Nikki Bella. So let's. Let's give her more of her flowers, because I'm not sure she always gets the flowers she deserves.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

And Maxine Dupri is one of them. I mean, she talks about it all the time, about how she was so obsessed with Bri and Nikki Bella. And now Maxine Dupri is in the situation where she has an Intercontinental Championship match against Becky lynch at Madison Square Garden, of all places. That's going to be week on Monday night.

[Sam Roberts]

Crazy. Two weeks in a row. Two new Intercontinental Champions in a row. That's going to be nuts. Well, right now, yeah, of course, he's got more momentum than Maxine Dupree.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

The greatest female wrestler of all time, Becky Lynch.

[Sam Roberts]

Oh, I didn't even think about that.

[E (Guest, former WWE Champion)]

Yeah, you didn't think about that. I. I will say, I. I'm excited for this one. The growth again, you think of someone who's grown and just someone who is. Maxine is so likable. Her work ethic is evident. You see the posts at the Dungeon where she's training with the. She's someone who wants this. And look, we have so many women who have done this at a very high level for a very long time, and Maxine is someone who is still climbing. She's still someone who's trying to prove herself. But I thought the match she had with Becky was probably her best performance yet. I think Becky's bringing out the best of her. And I can argue that. I would say the same thing probably about the match with Lyra. Becky is someone who continues to elevate the talent around her, and I think that is one of her greatest contributions to this industry is her elevating talent that she is in the ring with. She truly does. And I'm excited to see the version of Maxine Dupri who shows up and look, of all places, the Garden can be ruthless. New York fans can be ruthless. If you don't bring it, if you. If you don't bring all your energy, all. Everything you got, if you're not ready for that moment, it can be soul crushing. And I know Maxine is going to be prepared for that moment. So I'm really excited for her.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Welcome to the big time.

[E (Guest, former WWE Champion)]

Absolutely.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

What I'm saying. You like that one, Sam?

[Sam Roberts]

Yeah. Big time.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Backs.

[Sam Roberts]

I got it.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

There you go.

[Sam Roberts]

I got it. I got the connection. And I'll tell you, you're right about New York, New York is the spot. That's why all these big things happen in New York. Did you see, by the way, building up to the big Raw in Boston, there was an Instagram post that went out, John Cena hugging a certain member of the WWE broadcast team. I believe that was myself. Remember where that took place? Anybody remember where that took place?

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

I remember. Fanatics Fest.

[Sam Roberts]

Fanatics Fest. Yes. The place where dreams come true. Who would have thought as a little boy I'd be able to go to Fanatics Fest one day and and have John Cena charge me at 30 miles an hour and give me a giant hug. This. This is the type of magic that happens at Fanatics Fest. The world's number one sports fan festival. Fanatics Fest. It is indeed making its return to New York City, giving all of us the option to create even more moments. Yes, Fanatics is bringing you closer to the league's team Superstars and athletes that you love. Across four action packed days in July. Meet your favorite WWE Superstars, get your hands on exclusive merch, catch live podcasts, and interact with the biggest names in sports. Tickets go on sale this week. It's November 13th this week and fans of this show can get 10% off by using Raw Recap 10 at checkout. So go fanatics fest.com November 13th put in Raw Recap 10 for 10% off and we will see you at Fanatics Fest. Now, when we talk about what some of the women were doing on Monday Night Raw and we talk about these title changes in one fell swoop, not only did we get new women's tag team champions in the Kabuki warriors, not only did we get Lash Legend, who out of nowhere in the last like four days has gone from Superstar with all the potential in the world on NXT to somebody that everybody is taking notice of on the main roster. But we went all the way to beginning the crafting phase of women's war games teams. We heard those words come out of a returning Rhea Ripley's mouth. War games as who was it? It was. It was Ria. And it was IO and it was Charlotte. And it was Alexa Bliss in the ring, looking down at Asuka Kyrie, the new women's tag team champions. Nia Jax, Last Legend. The fact that I don't think even two weeks ago we could have predicted that a women's war games match might look anything like this.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Lash Legend. No, until Friday, I. I didn't expect to see Lash Legend on the main roster.

[Sam Roberts]

The Bougie Bully. And now it's like. But But, I mean, what do you think of that, Biggie, as somebody who, Who. Who made the journey from NXT to the main roster? The idea that it's like, okay, Lash, you're on the main roster now, but you're going right into war games, and you're going into war games with. I mean, listen to who's in there with Ria and with IO and with Charlotte and with Oscar and with like, these are the best of the best. And now Lash has to. Has to rise to that occasion.

[E (Guest, former WWE Champion)]

It's such a great spot for her. It is a big spot. There's a lot of pressure. But in. In, I will say, even just in the small moments that we've seen her on the main roster so far, she has looked excellent. In, in the two or three things that she did tonight, everything looked phenomenal.

[Sam Roberts]

She.

[E (Guest, former WWE Champion)]

She is an athlete. She is strong, she is powerful, she's got size, she's got length, she's got charisma. I think this is such a great moment for her, really, to put her stamp on saying, yeah, I'm here and I'm not just another body on the roster. I'm someone who's going to be a force here. So I'm really excited. I. I think it's about damn time for last legend to be called up. But I do love. This is a big spot. Look, I was on the main roster, I think, for about four or five months before I had my first main roster match, and that was at Wrestlemania. That's a very big spot. But, like, it's. This is a quick turnaround for last. She's only got a few weeks before she's in probably the most brutal match that we have, and the expectations for this match are high. She's in there with the best women in the world. She's in there with Iyo, she's in there with Rio. She's in there with the very, very best. And I think it's a great opportunity for her really to showcase her skills. But I love how. I think this all came together very quickly. To your point. But it's got so much juice. I love that they got the main event. I love even seeing Rhea with the face mask on. She looks like she's ready for war Games, you know? And Iyo, I can't wait. I need that trash can spot from Iyo. Sky. I can't wait. It's a staple. Anytime she's in a War Games match, we just need it. I'm sorry, any cage match, we need it. Okay. But no, this Match is going to be phenomenal. We've said it time and time again, especially on the show. The women have absolutely carried this year in wwe. I can't wait for this match because I think they're going to bring a lot of creativity, a lot of brutality, a lot of violence. It's going to be a great match.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

I'm really looking forward to seeing how Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley work on the same team with one another, because that was a match at WrestleMania that we all said was, you know, a candidate for Match of the Year. And we haven't really seen Charlotte and Ria together in quite some time. So to have them on the same team at War Games, I'm curious to see what that looks like.

[E (Guest, former WWE Champion)]

Yeah, me too. And again, I think there's something about Ria and her biggest rivals becoming friends, becoming teammates. I think they all, again, like I said before, I think shedding blood with someone, going in those, those brutal battles where you bring out the best in each other, those five star matches where you really have to dig deep. I think there is a level of kinship after those matches, a level of trust where, hey, we beat the hell out of each other and I know how good you are. There's a level of respect earned in the ring when you share that kind of chemistry, when you go toe to toe like that. And I think we'll see that at War Games. I can't wait for those two to team together. To your point, we haven't seen them in the ring together in quite some time. But now seeing them have each other's backs, that's going to be a lot of fun. It really will be.

[Sam Roberts]

I'm also really interested in the future of Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair because I think what really bonded them as a team was the Tag Team Championship and they are no longer tag team champions. Does this mean that, like, in the long term their work as a team is over or does this mean that they still have those team goals? Because both of them are single stars, right? They not only won the title, but they had this great reign. I think they elevated the Women's Tag Team Championship. I think if you look at the women's tag team division now, the division is stronger than it was when they got the Tag Team Championship, which I think is the mark of great champions. But at the same time, they're both top tier singles, female stars. So I think you have to ask yourself, like, did those two remain a tag team act or do they go their separate ways? Because I also truly believe and it's really hard to argue, in my opinion, that this team changed Charlotte Flair. This team changed the perception of Charlotte Flair. I think this team was everything Charlotte Flair needed. Before this team, you had this Charlotte Flair that was getting booed in buildings and was almost confused as to why, you know, and, and, and, and, and, and she, well, I'm trying my best and I came back from this injury and I'm, I'm putting on the best matches and they're booing me and I, I, I don't know why, I don't know why I can't win them over. And it, and it seemed like it meant a lot to her to win the fans over. But something has happened throughout the kind of the build and execution of this team with Alexa Bliss where this, I guess, more human side of Charlotte Flair has come out to the point where now she is getting cheered and now you don't even think, you know, you just take for granted. Well, of course I'm happy to see Charlotte Flair. Charlotte Flair is great. Like, you forget almost that she was getting booed before. So, so I wonder what, what that version of Charlotte Flair, not a tag team champion, potentially back in the singles division. I wonder what that looks like as well.

[E (Guest, former WWE Champion)]

Yeah, you know what, I, I hope this isn't it for those two. I have really enjoyed them together. I think oftentimes with these tag teams that can be thrown together, it, it just doesn't click. It doesn't feel right for me. It's clicked right away. I love the whole we're not friends bit. And to your point, I think from the Charlotte that I've known now for, for over a decade, I think she's someone who has had to kind of put up her walls to protect herself for a long time. And I think being that lone wolf, having that lone wolf mentality for so long, not just in her case, career, but I think in many ways probably throughout a lot of her life. I think that's like by design and it has been a survival instinct. It has allowed her to, to keep on going, to keep a lot of the outside forces from, from being able to bring her down. But I think her, this tag team with Alexa, I think has just forced her to be a little bit more vulnerable, more human, to let people in a little bit more. And it's been a joy to see this version of her because I think when you really get to know her, when she allows people in, when she trusts people, she really is magnetic, she's warm, she's funny, she's charismatic. All those things. And that's a version of her I don't think a lot of people have been able to see. And we got more glimpses of that with the backstage interviews with Alexa. Like that. I. I thought they really brought the best out of each other, and it was heartwarming to see both of them at this stage in their career. To your point, they both done so much as single stars. They've won countless world titles. They've had hall of fame careers by themselves. But this is, I think, has been just a. A really good time for both of them, and I think it's allowed them to both get their flowers a bit more. So I hope this isn't the end. I've really loved their pairing. It's been heartwarming to see them on smackdown. I've loved the backstages. It's. It's been touching in many ways for me. So I hope this continues. But more than anything, I hope they get to do what they want at this stage in their careers. If it is to go their separate ways and be single stars, so be it. But if they want to keep going as a tag team, I'd love to see that.

[Sam Roberts]

Deep in the cockles of your heart is where it touched you.

[E (Guest, former WWE Champion)]

Yes. Deep, deep in those go. I don't. I don't know why you felt the need to say it that way, but yes, deep in the cockles.

[Sam Roberts]

Yes, I thought was important. I just, you know, I like to paint the people picture. That's just kind of, you know, that's just kind of my thing.

[E (Guest, former WWE Champion)]

It's appreciated.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

We haven't talked about the. Arguably, the best moment of Monday Night Raw tonight was when William Regal appeared backstage.

[Sam Roberts]

Oh, we're getting there.

[E (Guest, former WWE Champion)]

Oh, we're. We're. We're.

[Sam Roberts]

We're definitely getting there before we get there, because you're right. I know you're excited, too. I know. I keep thinking about it. That moment, I was like, he's not really there. Traditionally, though, these war games matches are five on five, right?

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Traditionally, yes.

[Sam Roberts]

Who knows? Maybe it'll be four on four. Who's to say? I. We don't know anything. We're just sitting here watching the programs. I'm going to put you on the spot. E. You first. If you were to add one more person to each team, who's on the. The. The. The Rio Ripley team. Who's on the Oscar team? If you were to add one more on each.

[E (Guest, former WWE Champion)]

Ooh, that is a lot of pressure. When is Bianca going to be back? That is my question. Pie Pie in the sky. Let's say if Bianca's healthy. I would love to see Bianca on Team Rhea. I don't know who the captain is, but let's say on that side, she.

[Sam Roberts]

Said the War Games thing.

[E (Guest, former WWE Champion)]

Yes, yes, yes, she did. And on the other side. Ooh, I'm trying to. Who is missing? That would be. You know what? We need more big spots for Julia. I would love to see Julia in a big showcase like this. Obviously, she's coming off of a title loss to Chelsea, but I feel like this is a match that would allow Julia to shine. Let's. Let's add Julia to the mix.

[Sam Roberts]

What do you think, Mike?

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Well, now you brought up Chelsea, and I'm, like, torn, obviously. You know what I think, Sam? I mean, I want. I want Becky lynch in the match.

[Sam Roberts]

Okay.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

I want Becky lynch on Team Oscar.

[Sam Roberts]

But you want Chelsea on, too.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

But now they brought up Chelsea, and I'm wearing the Chelsea green shirt, and now she's United States Champion. I'm like, ah, Chelsea in War Games would be pretty spectacular. Or we could have Nikki Bella and Stephanie. Va care.

[Sam Roberts]

That'd be fun.

[E (Guest, former WWE Champion)]

I'm not mad at that. Not mad at.

[Sam Roberts]

Be fun.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

We could do Becky Lynch, Maxine Dupree.

[Sam Roberts]

That'd be my pick. I would want. I would love to see. Because going back to that War Games thing, like, I love the idea of Maxine. It's like, okay, like, she's had. She's had a couple of opportunities recently to really shine and has taken those opportunities well. And I feel like War Games becomes that next opportunity to be like, how much work have you been doing in that dungeon? What does it look like when you're in a War Games match? You know, And I think it could be really cool, but it'll get. It'll get very interesting. All right, let's get to. Let's get to the William Regal of it all. Let's get to. To. To when we saw it. Okay, so. So CM Punk comes out, right? And CM Punk is ready for a street fight. And you know he is, because he had his elbow taped. You know, it's one thing when you. If you just come out in a sleeveless shirt, that could just be Punk, right? But he had. He had the tape on the elbow. I was like, oh, somebody's getting beat up. This is going to be great. And he comes out, you know, and he calls out, Logan, Paul. Logan Paul comes out. Logan. Paul's doing a lot of talking. You know, Punk was proving, again, it's dangerous to go Mike for Mike with CM Punk. If you, if there's one chink in your armor, Punk is going to be the one to point it out. But then Logan said those magic words. Well, he said the vision is what he said. And the, and the, and the vision surrounds Logan, Paul. And I think that answers a lot of the questions that we had going off the air on Monday Night Raw last week. When you see that there is at least this cooperation, if not a full on membership of Logan, Paul and. Paul Heyman and Bron Breaker and Bronson Reed and, and, and Paul Heyman is, is insulting CM Punk and talking about how unlikable he is. He's a terrible friend. He's this only person worse is AJ Lee. And then CM Punk tells them that AJ Lee would leave them in a puddle of their own bodily fluids in front of everybody. And it just gets. But that's when Jey USO comes out to how to have CM Punk's back, right? And I love, I love what we're getting with Jey USO because this is what I wanted to see out of Jey uso was not him to become a villain. You know what I mean? Just do that sort of like, well, if he's this now, he'll be that more. This kind of evolution of Jay, this, this. There's a gradient nature to it where Jay is like, no, I'm not saying that I'm a quote unquote bad guy now. I'm saying that I'm a self assured person. I realize that I need to tune everybody out and just follow my instincts. And what I'm following is the fact that like, yeah, I'll have your back on this, CM Punk.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

When I saw this evolution of Jay uso, I said, lfg.

[Sam Roberts]

Yeah, yeah, I like it. I got it, I got it, I got it. I got it.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

I had to.

[Sam Roberts]

I got it. No, no, no. Good for you, good for you, good for you.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

I had to shoot.

[Sam Roberts]

But then you had this moment, right? And this moment where Cody comes out to save the day and you realize that this is, this is why Cody is special. This is why Cody's in the position that he's in. Because when you don't expect it happening, when you need a hero to come in on that horse and come into town and save the day, Cody is your guy. Boston, which isn't always the friendliest city to the good guys, is not only cheering for him, but after the music goes off, they're still singing Cody's song. And Cody and Punk and Jay are able to fend off the Vision and Logan, Paul, and we get to the back and of course, we're all thinking this as fans. We're all going like, okay, I see teams formulating, I see something happening. But that's when Punk goes Regal, get over here. And you're just like, yes, we get War Games. And already I would like to say that just looking at the three on three, it is already so compelling on the men's side and already so completely loaded with stars going into this War Games match.

[E (Guest, former WWE Champion)]

Oh, it absolutely is. And I also was wondering where this alignment with the Vision was going for for Logan and what this means. And look, whether it's temporary, whether it's just for War Games, whether it's more than that. It's. It's interesting. And, and I, I'm intrigued to see how he works with people. Typically, he doesn't play well with others. He does not play nice with others. But I, I think this pairing, this, this trio so far, I think is a fascinating one. And also, to make it to your point, the evolution of Jay, I also love this because I think I thought about his career. Career. And look, no one was. I think of Jay's biggest moments in his career and going from, look, you remember the USO's and the face paint going to today one ish going over to Smackdown. It wasn't listening to outside noise. It was, hey, it's time for us to make a change. This is the change we're gonna make. When Jay started doing the single stuff, what, five years ago, it was, I think, I think he needs to listen to his gut more because I think his best moments have been when he's trusted himself, when he's been able to block out that outside noise and just focus. And when Jay is focused, he's very dangerous. He can get so much accomplished. He can be at the very top of this industry time and time again. And I think too often he was listening to others. He was too worried about perception. But if Jay keeps the main thing, the main thing, and that's on being the best he can in the ring, he's going to be an absolute star for as long as he wants to be in this industry. But, yeah, I love the way this team is shaping up. I'm so intrigued to see who gets added over the next couple weeks before we get to Survivor Series. But right now it's, It's. It's looking real good on both sides.

[Sam Roberts]

Yeah. Yeah. And the fact that we have a World Heavyweight Champion and a WWE Champion on the same team for War Games. That's pretty massive. It's pretty big.

[E (Guest, former WWE Champion)]

And also like, one of the things that I thought was interesting as well is right before Cody's music hits, you get those Roman chants, the otc. And I thought, is there, is, is there going to be a moment where people are let down where. And that's, that's the last thing you want if you're Cody is to feel like, ah, Roman's really the guy they want and I'm, I'm just a substitute. But hearing them sing his song the way they did before the melee, hearing the Cody Rhodes, the European style chants really was heartwarming because that guy, the amount of work he puts in the way, he really captains the ship. Like he does it the right way. He gives so much to the fans, to this industry, to the company. He's a guy who deserves to get his flowers from the fans. And like you said, Boston is not the easiest town to get over in. But I love that he was heralded the way he should be in Boston.

[Sam Roberts]

Yeah, it was almost like, because they didn't expect it. It was almost like, oh, this is even better. You know what I mean? Like, they didn't know. And it almost like when you felt the energy of that audience when you listened to it, it was almost like they surprised themselves with how happy they were to see Cody. But that's when you know that you're that dude. Well, E, we always appreciate the analysis, my friend. Always great to have you on the show. I'm sure we'll talk to you again, hopefully before Survivor Series, but if not, you know, we'll talk to you. Maybe a Survivor Series.

[E (Guest, former WWE Champion)]

Yeah, let's do it.

[Sam Roberts]

Thank you, my friend.

[E (Guest, former WWE Champion)]

You kind of petered out there.

[Sam Roberts]

I know, I know, I know because I didn't.

[E (Guest, former WWE Champion)]

You know what I mean? Like, can we finish on a high? Like, I feel like. Because I feel like you've. You. I feel less than now. So if you could not peter out, can we do good?

[Sam Roberts]

Well, I will tell you this. I was just thinking, I always appreciate so much when the ultimate analysis of one of. One of the great talkers, one of the great purveyors of knowledge in this world of sports entertainment. When a former WWE Champion can grace us with his presence. And just the mere thought that sometime in the near future we will speak again has left me giddy with anticipation. E, thank you so much for being here with us today.

[E (Guest, former WWE Champion)]

That's what I'm talking about, my man. That's what I'm Talking about, that's how you go out. I appreciate you both. I'll talk to you soon.

[Sam Roberts]

Thank you, E. You are the best. We were just talking about Cody Rhodes. We got good news this week on Raw as well that Cody's podcast is coming back. What do you want to talk about Is part of the podcast fleet of shows that we have on the WWE Network along with, you know, impulsive and six feet under and what's your story with Stephanie McMahon and of course this podcast. But what do you want to talk about is back. Natalia is Cody's guest this week and of course, Natalia just came out with her book. So I'm sure I cannot wait to hear the conversation between Cody Rhodes and Natalia. Just getting into everything and, and to hear those two people who both are so entrenched in wrestling families. When you, when you hear wrestling has more than one royal family, that's two.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Of them right there.

[Sam Roberts]

Exactly. So I can't wait to hear that podcast. And by the way, Cody Rhodes arrived tonight. When you see what he was wearing when he was decked out in, it's.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

Like a little camel.

[Sam Roberts]

Oh, his all new camo collection. It is here. This collection features a T shirt, a hat, a weight belt, and of course, everyone's favorite, the windbreaker. Get yours now at WWE Shop and Fanatics. And speaking of Cody and fanatics, don't forget to wear your gear when you are listening to the new podcast which by the way comes out November 12th. Don't wait until the last minute. When it comes to gifting, check out early gift picks at WWE Shop and Fanatics and get your holiday shopping done early. From teas to collectibles, there's something for every fan on your list. You got to do it or you're going to get shut out and it's going to be very, very embarrassing. There's so much stuff there. Help yourself to it. You can even get a little Sam. You know the Sam, the, The, the, the WrestleMania figures that have a Sam Roberts. Build a figure. Those are up on WWE Shop. You can get one of these guys for yourself. Any child in your life, in your family, they'll all be so excited. A little suited Sam Roberts under the Christmas tree. It can happen. It can happen. You can make dreams come true. Are you doing that for your daughter?

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

That's right.

[Sam Roberts]

That's what you're doing.

[Mike (Co-host or Analyst)]

First action figure, it's Becky Lynch. And then, then little Sam.

[Sam Roberts]

Little Sam. Little Sam will be there, right there. Year for the holidays. I cannot wait for Madison Square Garden. The table is set Monday night Raw. Like I said, two more tournament matches. You got Javon Evans versus Gunther. You got solo SOA versus a mystery opponent. You've got Becky lynch defending her intercontinental championship. You had asked, when is Maxine Dupree going to be ready? She's going to be ready this coming Monday night at Madison Square Garden, the world's most famous arena. I think it's going to be a very and of course, John Cena's last time @ Madison Square Garden. I think it's going to be a very, very special Raw. I think it's going to be a very, very special RAW recap. Make sure that you're there for it. Subscribe across audio platforms. You can comment and like on YouTube. And we will see you next week when we recap the next RAW on RAW Recap.