WWE RAW Highlights And Verdicts: Roman Reigns Replaced, Naomi Injured, Top Faction Invades & More

Written by Debottam Saha • Published Aug 12, 2025 07:30 EDT
WWE RAW Highlights And Verdicts - Roman Reigns Naomi

WWE RAW emanated from Quebec City, Canada. The show was stacked from start to finish with some hits and misses sprinkled in.

With Clash in Paris only a few weeks away, the card is shaping up nicely for the PLE. Despite the two billion shows that WWE has in a year, it seems this PLE has a bit more natural buildup to it than some of the others earlier in the year. Despite this, only three matches have been announced so far, with only two or three left to be announced. RAW was another stepping stone in this direction (neither right nor wrong).

However, there are some minor and some major hiccups that WWE will have to endure.

Naomi Was Injured Before WWE RAW

It seems one of the major hiccups the company will have to endure is the injury sustained by Naomi. The undisclosed issue prevented the star from defending her Women’s World Title on WWE RAW against Iyo Sky. The latter instead faced Roxanne Perez. However, Naomi is set to face Stephanie Vaquer at Clash in Paris. With the champion potentially out for now, the title match seems to have been jeopardized.

It’s a sad turn of events for Naomi, as she was clearly doing well as a heel and making some great moves in her new gimmick.

It remains to be seen what the future holds for her.

Verdict: None

Bayley Teases Heel Turn On WWE RAW

This was the first time in a while that Bayley had a noteworthy and prominent role on WWE RAW. The star was part of a backstage promo segment where she talked about how she feels lost and that she is no longer the role model. The star poured her heart out in the promo and was clearly emotional about how she felt. She stated that not having a title or getting important wins has affected her psyche and that she was trying to get over it in her head.

Just then, she had a spark in her that clearly distressed her with her infamous “ding dong” catchphrase playing in the background. It seems that a heel turn was being teased for the star, and it will take place sometime soon. It was an interesting and creative way of doing things, and one that clearly felt like it mattered.

Bayley was her natural self in a really heartfelt promo that made you genuinely feel for her.

Verdict: A

Sami Zayn’s WWE RAW Match And The MFT Feud

Sami Zayn is randomly in a feud with The MFT, and that makes no sense, more importantly, because the group is on SmackDown. Zayn showed up on the latest episode of SmackDown, which was in his hometown, to take on Solo Sikoa. He inexplicably defeated the United States Champion. However, The MFT was not done there as they invaded RAW and attacked Zayn.

The Underdog from The Underground was in a match against Rusev, which was going well until the disruption. The MFT feud makes no sense as it seems very forced and a way of doing things without turning Zayn heel, which needs to be a thing at this point.

Where this will lead, no one knows, but it was one of the least fascinating angles on RAW in a while. At least it led to another super brawl between Sheamus and Rusev.

Verdict: D

The Kabuki Warriors Seemingly Betraying Iyo Sky Also Seems Half-Baked

The Kabuki Warriors should have no business with Iyo Sky at this point, mainly because Damage CTRL has broken up. The primary reason for the group to break up was for the stars to go their separate ways, but instead of that, Triple H and his creative team find ways to intertwine the Japanese stars’ stories together to cook something that doesn’t need cooking.

On RAW, Asuka and Kairi Sane offered to be by Iyo Sky’s corner to offer help. However, it turned into a disaster as they inadvertently cost Sky the match, and it led to some massive confusion.

It seems The Kabuki Warriors are heading for a full-fledged heel turn, and Iyo Sky will be their first target. However, the build-up to this has not been great, and if the stars were to feud now, they could have just done it while they were a part of Damage CTRL and had a great story. This booking seems baffling at best.

Verdict: E

Roman Reigns Is Missing Again, And Jey Uso Just Replaces Him

It seems WWE was hell bent on having a Fatal Four-Way match at Clash in Paris, but the problem that arose out of it was the unavailability of Roman Reigns. While many reports suggested Reigns would be at the PLE given his Street Fighter duties don’t start until September, the star was nowhere to be seen. As a matter of fact, it was Jey Uso who inexplicably showed up to aid LA Knight and CM Punk.

The star was away last week when Reigns suffered a brutal beatdown at the hands of Seth Rollins and The Vision. But it seems WWE had to move toward him on RAW, as he was the only top babyface who could take on The Visionary.

Clash in Paris will see three babyfaces take on Seth Rollins, and Uso was suddenly inserted into the picture. Roman’s history with Seth Rollins is known to everyone at this point. Punk lost the title to Rollins at SummerSlam, and LA Knight defeated The Visionary at SNME before his injury ruse.

It seems everyone has some sort of claim to a title match except Uso, who lost the title to Gunther months ago and has since only feuded with The Brons. It seems Gunther has a bigger claim to a title match than Jey at this point.

Either way, the match has been made official by WWE and will probably main event Clash in Paris.

Verdict: C

Thanks for checking out the RAW coverage this week. I’ll be back with SmackDown Highlights and Verdicts.