6 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE Monday Night Raw (10 November - Results & Review)

1. The Champ Is Here!

WWE Raw John Cena Intercontinental Champion
WWE

John Cena announced his year-long retirement tour more than a year ago, and almost immediately after that news broke, this site published an article citing the top goal for his farewell: win the Intercontinental Championship.

It was such an obvious move, but here we are in November, and you can count the remaining dates on Cena’s dance card on one hand.

That all changed Monday night when Cena thwarted Dominik Mysterio and finally captured the IC Title, capping off his belt collection and sending the hometown Boston fans into a frenzy. For WWE, this was a home run of a call, bestowing Cena with the elusive championship in a city that means so much to him, and where he was guaranteed to get a huge reaction, even with Mysterio becoming a burgeoning face.

The match itself was fine, but in this case, the tendency to rely on bells and whistles for Cena’s matches in 2025 proved to be a huge boon, with the referee bump, attempted belt shot, and false finishes working fans into thinking Dirty Dom would prevail via shenanigans.

In the end, the Judgment Day did not come to save Mysterio, and his six-month title reign came to an end, giving Big Match John – and the 16,000-plus fans in attendance – a fantastic memory.

Great call, great execution, great moment. Can’t ask for more.

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Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.