4 Mistakes WWE made on RAW (September 8, 2025)

After SmackDown witnessed the return of AJ Lee, RAW didn't waste any time in booking her first official match in over 10 years. The former Divas Champion had a great back-and-forth with Becky Lynch before requesting a tag team match.

The mixed tag showdown was later confirmed for Wrestlepalooza in under two weeks. The Judgment Day experienced more turmoil as Dominik Mysterio couldn't get on the same page with the rest of the group.

Penta and Nikki Bella received impromptu matches after backstage interactions with Rusev and Asuka, respectively. Despite some good action and promos, WWE made the next four mistakes on RAW.

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#4. Penta loses yet again

While he won last week in six-man action with The War Raiders, Penta still lost a big match with Rusev. Booking the pairing in the first place was a quandary since both stars should be winning more than they lose.

Rusev defeated Sheamus in a Good Old Fashioned Donnybrook match at Clash in Paris, so that a loss would erase his momentum. The Mexican star is one of the most popular performers on any brand.

He beat both Grayson Waller and Xavier Woods but lost to Kofi Kingston. Penta even asked the General Manager if he wasn't a fan of his work. Pearce then booked the match for RAW, with the New Day and Waller distracting their nemesis.

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#3. The Vision doesn't interact with each other on RAW

Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch interacted with CM Punk and AJ Lee. Bronson Reed and Bron Breakker opened and closed RAW, dealing with LA Knight and the Usos.

While it's fine for The Vision to focus on their separate feuds, it's still incredibly strange for the faction not to cross paths or interact backstage at least once during the night.

Bookers used to have the Judgment Day conversation in the clubhouse once or twice an episode. Not having an active group meet-up makes them seem like separate entities.

This even happened on last week's show when the male and female members of the Judgment Day had back-to-back segments, yet didn't cross paths.

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#2. Faces lost four of the five matches

The latest episode of RAW featured five matches. The interesting tidbit is that the good guys lost four of the five contests on the night. AJ Styles was the only hero to win a match, toppling El Grande Americano.

Even his victory came with outside shenanigans. When the heels won, WWE utilized the same booking tactic. Asuka didn't necessarily cheat to defeat Bella, but she still threw Kairi Sane into Bella's path.

Roxanne Perez distracted Lyra Valkyria and took a few shots to make sure Raquel Rodriguez won. Penta essentially had to worry about four stars when he faced Rusev. With every titleholder being a heel, it decides to have the faces lose even more often.

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#1. No Stephanie Vaquer

Regardless of why she couldn't appear, not having Stephanie Vaquer on RAW with under two weeks before her title match at Wrestlepalooza was a massive mistake.

Pearce informed IYO SKY that the planned contract signing segment had been cancelled. He only mentioned that Vaquer wasn't in town for the scheduled segment.

If she had travel issues or other obstacles that forced a last-minute change, that is fine. However, it only compounded her lack of usage since earning a title shot at Evolution 2025. Consciously deciding to have her no-show RAW if everything is fine, however, makes the misstep even more of a massive problem.