prowrestlingindustrialcomplex

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Raw 6/23/25 — post show thoughts

Warning for anyone who needs it: this gets political and touches on what is currently happening in the Middle East. I've kept it to the end so if you still want to read my funny wrestling thoughts and avoid the serious stuff just stop at the Cody vs Jey section.

Seth Rollins opens the show, Breakker vs Penta

I don’t know how much it came across on tv but in the arena Rollins was getting a lot of boos and there wasn’t a lot of singing his song happening which I’m happy to see as he is trying to be a big bad heel.

Has Bronson Reed said anything since returning and joining Seth? I see no logic in him taking on this role.

Penta and Breakker put together a really good match with some unexpected spots. Both guys are super over too.

In fact, along with the CM Punk chants there was a lot of…. Woofing I guess? People love Bron.

The midair spear looked super awesome in person.

Goldberg video

Not much to say here. I don't think the title should be on the line for this match but WWE's current reliance on titles for matches is a topic for another day.

Queen of the Ring Semifinal – Cargill vs Perez

I'm not a fan of Jade. I think she relies solely on being 'stronger' than everyone else and that doesn't make for great matches.

Perez is gold. She sells so well, her in-ring psychology is always top notch, and she can pull off some impressive moves for her small stature.

I should probably add another warning here because I'm going to talk about shitty men for a second.

If you are a man and you are going to a live pro wrestling event please know that there are women there that can hear you when you talk about how nice the asses are of all the female wrestlers. I'm not saying that you can't appreciate their bodies. You can, they're stunning, I agree with you on that. But when that's the only commentary you have during women's matches when you're super invested in the wrestling of the men's matches it feels gross.

And if your response to reading that is to say it's not all men and I probably just sat behind some dickheads. I have been to a lot of wrestling shows. I've heard stuff like this at every single one. I just want those guys to know that people can hear them and I at least am judging them accordingly and do not feel safe with them in attendance.

Gunther promo

On a lighter note: I love Gunther!

That promo slapped. No notes.

My personal Main Event – Bayley vs Lynch

Glad that Becky was getting appropriately boo'd.

This definitely took a bit to get going but they were really putting something awesome together.

The buried-under-chairs spot was cool.

Lyra coming in to dig Bayley out was the right spot for her to interfere.

I liked that Lyra didn't bite on Becky's taunting on the ring apron and that Bayley got there before Becky could force a DQ.

But then of course they had Lyra take that baseball slide and even though Bayley and Becky were putting on a clinic after that point they had Lyra kill it all because she just couldn't possibly take a baseball slide from Lynch and let it go. Oh no no no. She had to get back at Lynch right there in the middle of a stellar match.

I don't know if this lived up to all my self-imposed hype but it was definitely building in that direction! Until the ending!

But at least the forthcoming triple threat at Evolution will be a banger ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Rodriguez calls out Ripley

This definitely felt like filler.

Gross men warning again.

Rhea continues to be the most over person in the company.

It doesn't feel like such a good thing when you see all the men standing up during this whole segment and filming closeups of her.

Rhea has agency and she obviously feels great about her image and is doing this all of her own free will and I would never say that she should change that. She can do whatever she wants. I agree that she's hot as hell and I like looking at her. But men don't know how to behave in respectful ways a lot of the time and it's not fun being a femme presenting person at shows and watching this all happen. You can enjoy her without making it so fucking obvious that you just want to fuck her and don't care about anything else.

King of the Ring Semifinal – Rhodes vs Uso

Here is where this recap/review is going to take a turn.

The build to Night of Champions I think is my breaking point for WWE at this moment.

I don't know how to best put this into words so this might come off as just word vomit but I'm happy to clarify or discuss specific statements if anyone wants or needs that.

WWE getting into partnership with Saudi Arabia was bad enough, WWE making up whole new 'Titles' to wrestle for and then display in Saudi Arabia was bad enough. WWE taking a ring canvas sponsorship from Saudi Arabia was bad enough.

All of those things made me incredible uncomfortable and sad. The House of Saud is a criminal organization that has buckets of blood on their hands. And WWE is playing into their continued Sports Washing.

But going to Raw tonight and seeing them advertise the Cena vs Punk match and then the Rhodes vs Orton match and then seeing the already edited graphic for Asuka vs Cargill where Jade is fully covered. It just broke me y'all.

Knowing that Iran has already bombed US bases in Qatar and that the biggest US presence in the Middle East is in Saudi Arabia was just the icing on top of the already shit-filled situation.

This next bit is probably going to come across as 'missing the point man' but it is how I'm feeling in this moment.

Sports (and live events in general) are incredibly powerful. They can be a massive force for good but under capitalism they are most often a massive force for bad.

And the specific reason this broke me over all the other Saudi shows is because Orton vs Rhodes and Cena vs Punk are generational matches. They are culminations of decades long stories and they should be played out as such.

These are Mania matches. These are SummerSlam matches. These are Chicago and Boston matches. These are fan dream matches.

But instead of taking these once in a lifetime stories and putting them on a show where the most diverse and wide audience has a chance to witness them, WWE took– what I can only assume is a metric shit ton of– money from criminals and tyrants to stage these matches in a dangerous location where the average WWE fan can not attend.

It feels so disrespectful and dismissive of the fans. It feels so grubby and dirty. It feels like such a waste.

I have a whole other part of this rant about Punk specifically but that's probably best left for another day.

To round this all out I'll say this, I won't be watching Smackdown on Friday or Night of Champions on Saturday or Raw on Monday. I can't in good conscience support in even the most tacit of ways the partnership between WWE and Saudi Arabia. I regret going to Raw tonight which is something I never thought I would say.

I'm still a wrestling fan and I will still be here talking about wrestling and making my silly Chris Sabin cosplay and my satanic G.O.A.T sacrifice fan art but not for this week, not for these shows.

If anyone reads this far, thank you. I take sports and the intersection of sports, culture, and politics very seriously. I did my thesis on this topic. So if you have any questions or want to have a good faith conversation about this I'm here and willing.

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If this triple threat nose to nose match had gone on any longer they would have summoned Triple H.

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Liv Morgan Injured

*It is 100% a legitimate injury.  For those who have asked with conspiracy theories that this was a way to write her out for an outside project, no it was not.

*Morgan was checked out by WWE medical personnel as soon as she was brought backstage.

*WWE is waiting to learn the severity of the dislocation, which would determine how long Morgan would be out of physical action.how

*If it is a severe dislocation, it could be upwards of 16 weeks before someone is cleared for athletic activity, but again, this is all dependent on the final diagnosis in terms of how severe the dislocation is and that has not been determined as of this writing.

*We are told it was being seen as a freak occurrence and there is no heat on anyone.

(Credit: PWInsider.com)

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Watching Liv's injury in person tonight was so scary, like she just suddenly disappeared out of the ring and we were just waiting for her to pop in again. It took us all like 30 seconds as the audience to realize what had happened.

That being said, Kairi Sane is a beautiful person and so good at what she does. At no point did she stop putting on a show or stop moving, and she was so lighthearted the whole time to keep the vibe up. Literally what a sparkly glittery professional. ❤️

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You cannot tell me Xavier Woods isn't having fun with this heel run, this shit is hilarious.

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Not Becky dressed like Sporty Spice in Chicago Bears gear.

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Omg, Xavier Woods is straight pimpin’!

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Seth: All right! Adam Pearce asked me to look after you all for the next couple of weeks. So I want to lay down a couple of rules: No cussing, clean your plates, and only a half-hour on your phones, and it’s off to bed.

Punk: Well, that sucks!

Seth: And, don’t you mouth off to me or I’m gonna slap you right in your penis!

[prowrestlingindustrialcomplex]

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📸 scottbrinegarstudio

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📸 scottbrinegarstudio

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[prowrestlingindustrialcomplex]

cat daddy is crazy. go off though. you deserve it queen 💛🖤💛

[prowrestlingindustrialcomplex]

R-TRUTH CAME BACK!!!!

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[prowrestlingindustrialcomplex]

Damn, Seth Rollins with the ink blue outfit. He’s in his leather raincoat pimp era.