Straight Shoot UNFILTERED is back, and we’re kicking things off with Mr. Teshk’s Raw Review + Rankings. From last night’s chaos to the stories shaking up the wrestling world, here’s everything you need to know before the next bell rings.

Monday Night Raw live from Milwaukee kicked off hot, and I’ve got to say, that crowd was absolutely on fire all night. It set the tone for a show that had plenty of big moments, some questionable decisions, and a couple of storyline twists that could shape Wrestlepalooza in a big way.

The Usos Bring Back the Penitentiary

Right from the jump, it felt like the Uso Penitentiary was back in full effect. Jimmy and Jey coming through the crowd - Milwaukee lost their minds. Their chemistry was flawless, finishing each other’s sentences, spitting fire on the mic. It felt old school, in the best way.

Of course, out came Bronson and Bron Breakker to interrupt, but honestly, they couldn’t hang with the energy. The Usos verbally tore them down before LA Knight got involved, attacking Bronson and forcing Adam Pearce to book Knight vs. Reid as the main event.

Speaking of Pearce, I need to give him his flowers. His booking lately has been phenomenal. The dream matches, fresh matchups, and moments that we’ve never seen before. He’s putting real respect back on Raw. Honestly, he’s been taking notes from Nick Aldis over on SmackDown, but Pearce is carving out his own reputation now.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5/5) Electric opener, crowd ate it up.

AJ Styles vs. El Grande Americano

Before his match, AJ Styles cut an eerie, cryptic promo, taking shots at “people in suits” who’ve been holding him back, and; if you’ve been following social media, you know his family’s frustrations with WWE Creative spilled online this past weekend. To me, it feels like we’re about to see a darker, more dangerous side of AJ Styles … and that could be the spark his run needs right now.

Then we got the actual match: AJ Styles vs. El Grande Americano, and man, this was a banger. They could’ve gone 20 minutes easy, but of course, we had to deal with interference from yet another El Grande Americano. I swear it looked like Pete Dunne under that mask. Thankfully, Dragon Lee evened the odds, and Styles got the win. The crowd loved it, but the story moving forward is clearly about AJ’s change in direction.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5) Great action, interference dragged it.

Women’s Division: Confusion and Potential

The women’s division was all over the place tonight.

Nikki Bella suddenly being thrown into the Women’s World Title scene makes no sense. I’ve got nothing against Nikki, but she hasn’t been booked in a way that earns this spot.

Read more about NIkki Bella below …

The contract signing for Iyo Sky vs. Stephanie Vaquer at Wrestlepalooza didn’t happen, and instead we got Nikki vs. Asuka? Solid match, Asuka wins, but it felt thrown together.

⭐️⭐️ (2/5) Random booking, Asuka carried.

Lyra Valkyria vs. Raquel Rodriguez

I’ll be honest, they didn’t gel. Lyra’s an incredible in-ring talent, one of the best women technically speaking on the roster, but her character? Flat. She needs to evolve, and; with this darker version of Bayley rumored to return any week now, I think that feud might be exactly what gets Lyra out of this slump.

⭐️⭐️½ (2.5/5) Good effort, poor chemistry.

And then, the moment of the night - AJ Lee’s music hit. The roof came off. First Raw promo in nearly 11 years. I’ll be real: expectations were sky high, and she kept it short. Basically said she’s back, reminded people who she is, and warned Becky to keep her distance from Punk. It wasn’t peak AJ Lee on the mic, but it didn’t need to be - the crowd told the story.

Meanwhile, Becky Lynch is thriving in this crash-out heel role. I like this version of Becky way more than the ultra-serious ace we’ve had for years. That said, she’s got to freshen up the promos - too often she circles back to the same lines week after week. Still, (all of us over at Straight Shoot) don’t buy into the Kevin Nash chatter that Becky “peaked years ago.” She’s still got plenty left.

Matches That Fell Flat

Not everything clicked tonight. Rusev vs. Penta had the potential to be a classic, but interference from The New Day killed it dead. WWE has been leaning way too heavy on run-ins lately, and it’s dragging good matches down.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3/5) Could’ve been great without The New Day.

Dominik Mysterio: The Future Is Now

I’ve got to talk about Dominik Mysterio. This kid is nuclear. The crowd couldn’t even be contained during his commercial break promo - just booing him out of the building, and he soaked it all in.

If WWE and AAA don’t pull the trigger on Dom as the AAA Mega Champion this weekend, it’s a massive misstep. He’s that over, that hated, and that good at being the cockiest heel in wrestling right now. The scary part? He’s still so young. Dom’s only scratching the surface of what he can be.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½ (4.5/5) Nuclear heat, best heel work of the night.

Main Event Drama

The main event was exactly what you’d expect: The Vision vs. LA Knight. Bronson and Knight put on a decent match, but things broke down fast once Bron Breakker got involved. Bronson Reed picked up a clean pinfall after Breakker interfered near the end.

Then all hell broke loose. Breakker, off the leash, turned his sights fully on LA Knight. Just when it seemed Knight was about to be left for dead, Jimmy Uso ran in - even after Knight specifically told him not to get involved. That decision backfired as both Bron’s destroyed Jimmy, leaving him laid out.

The shocking part? Jimmy had supposedly left the building earlier in the night, only to return at the crucial moment. The Bron’s left him wrecked until LA Knight stormed back into the ring with a steel chair, using it as an equalizer.

The night ended in chaos - the Usos standing tall, only for Jey to spear LA Knight out of nowhere. His post-match words “yeah, we’re fine” dripped with venom, while Jimmy’s face told the opposite story. One brother is clearly not aligned with the other when it comes to LA Knight.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5) Solid match, chaotic finish set up big angles.

For me, Raw from Milwaukee lands at a 7 out of 10 overall. A few missed opportunities, but the crowd was molten, the booking advanced some key storylines, and we got big moments like AJ Lee’s return and Jey Uso’s shocking spear to close the show. It was the perfect chaotic close to a wild Raw.

What started as routine commentary at Clash in Paris has turned into one of the strangest storylines outside the ring. Nikki Bella and Wade Barrett are not booked for a match, but it feels like a feud all the same.

During the Clash in Paris pre-show, Barrett leaned into his heel role by praising Becky Lynch while painting Bella as “desperate” to prove herself in a women’s division that has evolved far beyond the Divas Era. He called her “fantastic for her time” yet suggested she was trying to “recapture past glory.” Classic heel banter in context, but Nikki Bella was not amused.

On her Nikki & Brie Show podcast, she admitted the words cut deeper than expected. She also claimed Barrett avoided her backstage at Raw when he normally greets her without fail. For Bella, this was a step too far. In her words, “We’re not robots. We’re athletes. Our real stories matter.”

Barrett took to social media to clarify his side. He denied ever avoiding Nikki and said he would have been happy to talk face-to-face. Cooler heads did eventually prevail. Barrett later confirmed the two had spoken and “smoothed things over,” even joking about being welcomed back into the “Bella Army.”

The timing, however, created more speculation. Michael Cole and Corey Graves took over SmackDown commentary for the coming months, and fans quickly linked Barrett’s absence to the Bella drama.

Barrett shot those rumors down almost immediately. He revealed that his time away had been scheduled months in advance for personal reasons. He described it as a “complete non-story” but admitted the online noise was causing needless negativity toward Nikki.

What should have been harmless heel commentary turned into a backstage podcast rant, a social media clapback, a reconciliation, and then a swirl of rumors about commentary shake-ups. The entire saga blurred the line between genuine heat and the performance that defines pro wrestling.

👉 Bella vs. Barrett will not headline Wrestlepalooza, but it is the perfect reminder that sometimes the most bizarre feuds are the ones that never make it past the microphone …

Rare picture of the WWF RAW TV Script from 2000!

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mr.teshk

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