Arda OcalOct 21, 2025, 01:00 AM ET
The World Heavyweight Championship picture was completely flipped on its head on Monday's episode of "Raw." Seth Rollins was stripped of the world title after WWE general manager Adam Pearce announced the news that Rollins had undergone "major surgery" and would be "on the shelf for quite a while" after Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed turned on him last week.
A new World Heavyweight Champion will be crowned at "Saturday Night's Main Event" on Nov. 1. CM Punk, fellow No. 1 contender, added commentary to the "Raw" main event Battle Royal that named his opponent, Jey Uso.
Oct. 20 Raw results
• World Tag Team Championship: AJ Styles and Dragon Lee defeat The Judgement Day by pinfall
• Intercontinental Championship: Dominik Mysterio defeats Rusev by pinfall
• Women's Intercontinental Championship: Maxxine Dupri defeats Becky Lynch by disqualification
• Stephanie Vaquer defeats Roxanne Perez by pinfall
• Jey Uso wins Battle Royal
A new heavyweight champion will be crowned
With regard to Rollins, it doesn't really feel like we are in for a "ruse of the century" Part 2, because it wouldn't make sense to fake an injury that is going to get your title taken from you. But Rollins is truly one of the greatest wrestlers of his era, and I hope he can return before Wrestlemania 42 in April 2026. Imagine the reaction he would get from a return match on the biggest show of the year.
As for the world heavyweight title picture, Jey Uso had to go through a huge group of contenders, including his twin brother Jimmy, to get his shot. Dominik Mysterio, who successfully defended his Intercontinental Championship against Rusev earlier in the night, was eliminated early but snuck back into the match while the refs were distracted. Jimmy saved Jey from elimination, but Jey did not return the favor near the end of the match, sending Jimmy and LA Knight to the outside. Jey would go on to eliminate "Dirty Dom" to secure his title shot.
Punk vs. Jey will be a good match. Punk winning and holding onto the title until Rollins' return would be fun. Punk has no shortage of possible challengers in the meantime -- including "Dirty Dom."
More Raw takeaways
• Paul Heyman sure knows how to place importance on every single talent he backs. Breakker and Reed already were ascending, but Heyman's promo in the ring after Pearce's announcement to start the show made them look like future Hall of Famers.
• AJ Styles is a Mount Rushmore talent of this generation. He's a team player, a terrific locker room leader and the kind of guy who can have a match of the year-level bout with John Cena then go right back to the tag team title picture. That's not a knock on tag team wrestling. It's a testament to the ability of "The Phenomenal One" to excel in every situation, anywhere on the card.
• Speaking of that tag team title match, kudos to Styles, Dragon Lee, Finn Balor and JD McDonagh on a highly entertaining match. Some wonderful 2.999 near pinfalls, especially the McDonagh save after a Styles Phenomenal Forearm nearly pinned Balor. He couldn't have executed it better. CM Punk even praised McDonagh's performance while commentating on the main event Battle Royal.
• I don't mind Becky Lynch barely holding on to the Women's Intercontential Championship against Maxxine Dupri, because it makes Dupri feel like a worthy adversary with the ability to beat the veteran Lynch. A rematch between the two for the title would be a definitive conclusion to their story.
