It’s WWE Raw featuring John Cena, the beginning of the Last Time Is Now Tournament, two women’s title matches, and more.
It feels like a bigger-than-usual episode of Raw with John Cena making his second-last Raw appearance in Boston, which is considered his hometown in WWE land since he grew up in West Newbury, Massachusetts. Cena will be on Raw in New York City next week as well, and then it’s Survivor Series (November 29) and his final match at Saturday Night’s Main Event (December 13) to end this retirement tour. I like Cena, I’m a fan of his, I have covered his career a lot over the last two decades, and I am excited to see him fired up in front of these hot crowds that will show him the love he deserves.
Last week’s WWE Monday Night Raw featured Logan Paul uniting with The Vision’s Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed, and Paul Heyman after they beat up the World Champion CM Punk. That likely means they will be teammates for the Men’s WarGames Match at Survivor Series. Punk will have to find some babyface allies for his team. I’m sure WWE will start promoting WarGames soon because it’s supposed to be a big deal. If it were up to me, I would have set up the WarGames matches at least a month before it. Survivor Series is 19 days away, and nothing is officially announced yet, even though we know there will be Men’s and Women’s WarGames matches. You need to be better than that, creative team. Just saying.
This is the Raw Deal for episode #1694 of Monday Night Raw. It’s taking place at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. Follow me on Twitter/X @johnreport. Let’s get to it.
There was superstar walking shown of Shinsuke Nakamura, Damian Priest, The Kabuki Warriors duo of Asuka & Kairi Sane, and Stephanie Vaquer with Nikki Bella.
They showed a sign of Cena’s hometown of West Newbury, Massachusetts, which is about 35 miles from where they are in Boston. It was a packed house in the TD Garden in Boston.
Triple H Welcomes Us To Raw
The WWE Hall of Famer and Chief Content Officer, Paul “Triple H” Levesque, was in the ring in a suit to welcome us to Raw. They played his “King of Kings” song. They gave him a huge ovation. Hunter said that we live in a magical time where we can all be here for a night like this. Hunter says that people don’t agree on much, everybody has an opinion when it comes to this business. Hunter said that they all have their opinions on who the greatest of all time is. Hunter said you can measure it a million different ways – ability in the ring, charisma, promos, ability to do PR, box office attractions, and they are all subjective. Triple H said that he has seen it from a lot of different sides as a fan, a performer, an executive and so on. Triple H said that he thinks tonight they can all agree there is one person at the top of the list. One person who is a box office attraction, who left it all in the ring, he was ruthless on this microphone that can tear everyone apart, did it all with a smile on his face and he did it all because he loved this business as much as anybody on the plant and he wanted to elevate it to the biggest form possible. Hunter said that this is the single greatest asset that this business has ever seen. Hunter said for him objectively he is without a doubt, the Greatest of All Time, and it is his honor to bring him out for you all – it’s the hometown hero, the one and only Greatest of All Time…John Cena.
Analysis: That was a cool introduction by Triple H. I think what he said was genuine and I agreed with a lot of it. I don’t know how I’d rank the Greatest of All Time, but Cena is absolutely a guy who could do it all and he deserves the praise he gets.
Let’s Hear from John Cena
John Cena made his entrance wearing a Celtic green “Last Time Is Now” shirt for the Boston Celtics. Cena held up his towel and ran down to the ring to a huge ovation. What a pop! Wow. This crowd is on fire.
Cena was greeted by “Cena” chants. Cena said he’s been asked a lot about who he wants to face. The fans chanted “Thank You Cena” for him. Cena said that what goes on in here is a team effort and it doesn’t happen without the fans, so he thanked them. Cena said he wants to leave this business better than he found it. Cena said he’s super excited about tonight. Cena talked about the Last Time Is Now tournament, as WWE superstars will compete to try to face him in his last match. Cena said he’s not going down without a fight. Triple H said that on his last performance on December 13th at Saturday Night’s Main Event, this is where it’s good and it means so much to him. Cena said that it’s a night to close one chapter, but it’s also going to be a night of opportunity. Cena said it’s his final in-ring performance, but it’s a night when main roster superstars face the brightest that NXT has to offer for the future of this business. Cena said it’s about closing one chapter, but it’s about paving the road ahead. That’s what he wants for this tour.
Cena said that he wanted to come to Boston one last time. Cena said he doesn’t book the dates or towns. Cena said he just wanted to come to Boston one last time. Cena said it means a lot to see him look up to see the banners in the rafters and see the greatness in this building and be filled with joy. Cena said he wanted to say thank you so much…and here comes Dominik Mysterio. Oh my.
Dominik Mysterio made his entrance with the Intercontinental Title and AAA Mega Championship while Cena and Triple H were still in the ring. The crowd booed Dirty Dom loudly.
Dominik said you’re talking about the future, and the fans chanted, “Shut the f**k up” so the swear word got muted. Dominik asked Hunter what he’s going to do about what happened last week. Dominik said he’s the AAA Mega Champion and the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time. Dominik complained about his celebration being interrupted by a deadbeat as a reference to his father Rey Mysterio. Dom said he interrupts old men and not the other way around.
Cena spoke up to welcome Dom to Boston. Dom said it’s not about Cena or Boston, so he told Cena to sit in the corner and let the grown folk handle business. Dom threatened Cena saying he would put him down. Fans chanted, “You f**ked up” at Dom, so that got muted too. Cena said you forgot where you were and you forgot who you were talking to because he’s Cena and this is Boston. Cena said on any other night in any other city, he’d give Dom another chance, but not tonight because tonight, Cena is invincible. Cena said if Dom wants to pick a fight with him then he will lose. Cena said wrong time, wrong place, and wrong guy. Cena said he’ll do Dom a favor out of the respect that Cena has for Dom’s father. Cena said he’ll allow Dom to leave and walk his ass through that curtain. Dom said you’ll need more than magic to touch him because he’s not even at his peak yet and he’s better than Cena ever was in his prime. Dom said any place, any time, any era, he would have whooped John Cena’s ass. The fans brought the, “You f**ked up” chant back.
Triple H said if he can take this for a second, he agrees with the people in Boston. Hunter said Dom said any time, any place, any era. Triple H said it seems like a good era and a good place, and one hell of a time. Triple H said if it’s okay with Cena, Dominik will defend the Intercontinental Championship tonight (the fans popped huge), right here and right now, against John Cena. Triple H called for a referee and let’s get to work. The fans were cheering loudly.
Analysis: There was a report about this earlier in the day and here it is happening right before us. Huge. I thought they might save it for the main event spot, but they are going to do it now and the fans are into this as much as you can be into a title match that is impromptu like this. I liked Cena’s promo a lot, while Dominik showed a lot of heel charisma as usual. The fans ate this up perfectly and it felt like a big deal.
The commentary team was Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett. Alicia Taylor was the ring announcer.
They went on a break for some fans as Alicia Taylor did the championship introductions. Alicia did the special introduction for Cena. As soon as she finished the introduction. Dom attacked and the bell rang.
WWE Intercontinental Championship: Dominik Mysterio vs. John Cena
It was Dom in control with some kicks and punches. The show returned from break for some fans as Dom stomped on Cena by the turnbuckle. Cena sent Dom into the turnbuckle and hit a bulldog. Dom bailed to the floor. Cena went after him out there, but Dom managed to send Cena shoulder-first into the steel steps. Dom sent Cena into the steel steps. Barrett mentioned Cena hasn’t held the IC Title before, which is true. Dom hit the Three Amigos suplexes for a two count. Cena came back for punches. Cena went for AA, Dom avoided it and Dom hit a DDT for two. They went on a break for some fans as the action continued. Dom hit a running splash on Cena against the turnbuckle. It was very gentle splash. The fans chanted, “Let’s Go Cena/Dom you suck” and Cena avoided a splash, followed by Cena hitting a clothesline. Cena ran the ropes and hit a shoulder tackle. Dom hit a shoulder tackle to the leg to stop another one, so Cena bumped to the floor. Back in the ring, Dom hit a slingshot senton for a two count. Dom worked over Cena with punches.
Cena blocked a senton splash attempt from Dom. Cena hit the two shoulder tackles and the spinning suplex. The fans were standing as Cena did his, “You Can’t See Me” taunt and followed up with the Five Knuckle Shuffle fist drop. Cena wanted the AA, Dom slipped out of it and Dom sent Cena shoulder-first into the turnbuckle. Dom took the top turnbuckle pad off. The referee, Chad Patton, admonished Dom for that, so Dom grabbed a steel chair. The referee fixed the turnbuckle, Dom smashed the chair into the mat, tossed it to Cena and Cena put it down. Dom and Cena were both down on the mat. The fans were chanting “Eddie” since it’s an Eddie Guerrero move and Cena winked at Dom. The referee took the chair away from Dom, Cena picked up Dom and Dom’s feet kicked Patton down to the mat and out of the ring. Cena applied the STF in the middle of the ring, Dominik tapped out and there was no referee to see it, so the match was not done. Dom brought the IC Title into the ring, Cena ducked a belt shot and Cena hit Dom with an Attitude Adjustment. Referee Eddie Orengo went into the ring, Cena covered and it was a two count. The fans bought that as a nearfall. That was great. Dom tripped Cena against the ropes and hit a 619 kick to the jaw. Dom went up top and hit a Frog Splash, but Cena powered out of it. Cena picked up Dom and hit an Attitude Adjustment for the pinfall win! John Cena is the new Intercontinental Champion! It went 14 minutes.
Winner by pinfall AND NEW Intercontinental Champion: John Cena
That is the first time that John Cena has won the Intercontinental Title, so he is now officially a Grand Slam Champion in WWE.
Analysis: ***1/2 It was a very entertaining, old school kind of match with the weapon usage, the ref bump, the tapout without a referee around, the nearfalls that the fans bought as potential finishes and then the happy ending with Cena winning the IC Title for the first time. That was a cool moment. Dom was excellent in his role as usual, while Cena looked sharp throughout the match. They crushed it. I thought there would be interference with Dominik getting help from The Judgment Day, but that didn’t happen, and Cena beat Dom clean. The star rating doesn’t matter that much in a match like this, but it was still a lot of fun to watch. The hot crowd certainly helped a lot, too.
HE DID IT!!!!
JOHN CENA IS INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPION! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/wx2m4bXYUg
— WWE (@WWE) November 11, 2025
John Cena thanked Boston and said because of you, tonight, the champ is here! Cena posed with the Intercontinental Title while fireworks went off by the entrance. Cena teased putting the title around his waist, but instead, he put it on his shoulder. Cena held up the IC Title above his head, and the fans cheered again.
Analysis: Great moment for John Cena and for Boston. The fans absolutely loved this. There are reports that Cena is in the Men’s WarGames Match, so he’ll probably hold the IC Title all the way until his final match on December 13, where he will probably lose it to Gunther, who is his rumored final opponent.
LA Knight was interviewed by Byron Saxton in the back of the arena. This was during a break for some fans. Knight said that he’s the best in the business. Knight said in the John Cena tournament he can now become the Intercontinental Champion. Knight said that if he beats the Greatest of All Time, then what does that make him? Knight said that Nick Aldis doesn’t want to tell him his opponent on SmackDown. Knight said that whoever steps into that ring will get dropped and BFT three the hard way. They cut away before he finished his promo. There’s a timer, and he missed it.
They showed John Cena getting congratulations from WWE superstars backstage. Rey Mysterio congratulated Cena on the win, and Cena said he hopes Dom learns from it. Cody Rhodes, the WWE Champion, was there as well to congratulate Cena, and Cena thanked him.
A video package aired about last week’s Raw when The Vision and Logan Paul aligned to beat up CM Punk in the main event.
They showed Logan Paul backstage to let us know he was there tonight.
Damian Priest made his entrance for singles action. He has some makeup around the left eye to sell the fire that was thrown in his face by Aleister Black over a month ago.
A video aired honoring the brave heroes on Veterans Day in the US on Tuesday, November 11th. Here in Canada, we have Remembrance Day on the same day. We say thank you for your service.
There was a break for some fans as they did “Signs of the Night” with Alicia Taylor talking about the signs that were shown on screen. Rusev made his entrance after that.
Last Time Is Now Tournament First Round: Rusev vs. Damian Priest
I assume most of you know this, but this is a first round in the 16-man tournament to determine who will face John Cena in Cena’s retirement match on December 13th.
They locked up early on and Rusev went after Priest’s left eye that he has been selling for weeks. Priest worked over Rusev with punches. Rusev sent Priest into the turnbuckle, followed by a kick and a spinning back heel kick. Rusev pulled Priest off the turnbuckle and hit a fallaway slam across the ring. Priest bumped to the floor. They went on a break and I’ll take a break there. Rusev was in control during the break.
