Monday Night Raw – August 17, 2026: In Which Things Happen In A Good Way

Monday Night Raw
Date: August 17, 2026
Location: KeyBank Center, Buffalo, New York
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We’re on the way to Saturday Night’s Main Event and the big story here is Solo Sikoa being forced to come back to the Bloodline after losing to Jey Uso last week. Other than that, we have a tournament going on to determine who challenges Roman Reigns on Raw in Mexico City in a few weeks. Reigns is at least here tonight so let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Here is Stephanie Vaquer to get things going. She gets right to the point of calling out Liv Morgan for a fight so here are all three women of the Judgment Day. Morgan mocks Becky Lynch being worried about Morgan mocking the women who came before her. Why should Morgan care about any of them?

Morgan brings up the beatings she has given to Vaquer, who wants to fight anyway. Judgment Day gets in the ring and lays her out but Vaquer sends Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez to the floor. A superkick hits Morgan but the other two are back in to jump Vaquer again. Cue Becky Lynch for the save until she gets in a shoving match with Vaquer. That lets Morgan post Lynch and Vaquer is laid out again. They’ll need a third but a six woman tag could go well for Saturday Night’s Main Event.

The Bloodline arrives, including a rather reluctant Solo Sikoa. They run into LA Knight, who isn’t happy but they keep walking anyway because Roman Reigns is waiting.

Je’Von Evans vs. JD McDonagh

This is an impromptu match that was set up during the break. Evans knocks him outside to start but Dominik Mysterio trips Evans so McDonagh can stomp away. That earns McDonagh another trip to the floor, with Evans clotheslining him into the timekeeper’s area. The big running dive sends McDonagh into a wheeled chair for a huge crash. Mysterio offers another distraction though and McDonagh wraps the knee around the post as we take a break.

We come back with Evans fighting up again and hitting a spinning kick to the back. McDonagh gets in a headbutt into the brainbuster for two and can’t believe the kickout. Evans loads up….something from the inside to the announcers’ table but settles for avoiding a moonsault instead. The OG Cutter gives Evans the pin at 9:17.

Rating: B-. I’m not sure what Evans was teasing to the table near the end but thankfully he went with something that worked a lot better instead. Evans continues to be one of the easiest people in the world to get behind and it worked again here. Nice job here, though it feels like a countdown to the next Big Cass beating.

Post match indeed here is Big Cass to lay Evans out again. Cass goes to leave but Evans says no no no. He asks if that’s all Cass has so Cass lumbers back to the ring, where Evans gets in a dive. Evans hammers away until Mysterio posts him,

We recap the lucha tournament, with Rey Fenix and El Fiscal (the Prosecutor) ready for their first round match.

#1 Contenders Tournament First Round: Rey Fenix vs. El Fiscal

Fenix’s AAA Cruiserweight Title isn’t on the line. They run the ropes to start with Fenix getting the better of things off a dropkick. Fiscal is right back with a spinning rather high crossbody and they both go up top. That means some headbutts can knock Fiscal down for a really big springboard dive as we take a break. We come back with Fiscal hitting a discus lariat but not being able to get in his spinning Tombstone. Fenix sends him into the corner though and comes out with the Mexican MuscleBuster for the pin at 9:03.

Rating: C+. This was completely fine with both guys getting to do their high flying. Fenix is a rather talented started who can make almost anything work, including the flying around like this. Fenix winning makes sense, as it wouldn’t stun me to see him vs. Penta in the finals. Fiscal is a good star in his own right, but he’s not on the same star power level as Fenix.

Roxanne Perez still wants the Women’s Title when Becky Lynch comes in. Perez tells her to stay away, but Lynch says she’s always here when Perez is going for the title, which she seems to be doing next week.

Lyra Valkyria can’t believe she’s not getting anything after taking Bayley out. It’s all about Sol Ruca, who can’t do anything impressive because Valkyria could do all of them. Ruca isn’t just surfing part her, and then she’s getting her title back.

Sol Ruca vs. Lyra Valkyria

Valkyria grabs a headlock and headscissors on the mat to start, with Ruca headstanding her way out. Some cranks on the arm have Ruca down but she’s able to knock Valkyria outside. The moonsault connects but Valkyria knocks her back down again. A springboard is broken up back inside and we take a break.

We come back with Ruca fighting out of trouble again and hitting a knee out of the corner. The middle rope dropkick connects with Valkyria for two and they’re both down again. Back up and Valkyria cuts her off with a nasty neckbreaker across the rope, setting up the top rope ax kick for two. Ruca gets backbreakered out of the corner but manages to escape Nightwing. A tornado DDT sets up the Sol Snatcher for the pin on Valkyria at 10:48.

Rating: B-. I’m more than a bit surprised that Valkyria lost here, as she seemed to be being built up for something bigger down the line. At the same time, Ruca getting a win is a good thing as she could easily be rebuilt back into title contention. If nothing else, it feels like a matter of time before she’s in the main title picture and a clean win, with the Sol Snatcher looking smoother and smoother, is a good start.

The Usos come up to Jacob Fatu, with Jey bragging about beating Solo Sikoa when Fatu couldn’t.

Austin Theory and Maxxine Dupri are rather happy with how badly the Alpha Academy has been destroyed. Bron Breakker is asked about Oba Femi and says anything he has to say to Femi, he’ll say to his face.

And with that, Breakker comes to the ring and immediately calls Femi out. Instead he gets Bron Breakker, who says he knows what is wise and unwise. One thing that is wise is to find out who is the future of WWE. Breakker: “How about you tell me Paul?” This brings out Femi, who says that Brock Lesnar was the future, but even he knew who the future is now. That would be Femi himself, and if Breakker has a problem with that, do something about it.

Breakker is ready to go but Heyman says if Breakker takes a step towards Femi, he takes a permanent step away from Heyman. This is a publicly traded company and you don’t just have this kind of a fight for free. We promote this match to be the biggest it can possibly be, which is why Heyman has already gotten it signed for Sunday Night’s Main Event. Breakker goes to leave and Heyman gives Femi a friendly handshake (which Femi accepts), leaving Breakker not sure what’s going on. Heyman: “That’s good business!” That handshake is interesting as you never know what Heyman has going on.

Dragon Lee is ready for El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr.

El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. is ready to win to honor his family.

#1 Contenders Tournament: Dragon Lee vs. El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr.

Lee grabs a headlock to start and grinds away until Wagner sends him into the corner. That earns Lee a hard chop into a running forearm and the Death Valley Driver. Some tilt-a-whirl backbreakers have Lee in trouble and the big flip dive off the apron takes him out again. Back in and Lee charges into a superkick for two and we take a break.

We come back with Lee hitting his own superkick and a tornado DDT to send Wagner outside. The big running flip dive connects for Lee and they trade some rather loud chops back inside. Lee sends him into the corner for the Tree Of Woe double stomp so Wagner plants him back down. A frog splash gives Wagner two more but the Wagner Driver is broken up. Operation Dragon gives Lee the pin at 11:05.

Rating: B-. This got better as it went, though I still don’t quite get the appeal of Wagner. He’s a bigger guy than a lot of the people in AAA but he’s just kind of there for the most part. Lee isn’t exactly a top star, but he is someone who has been presented as a much bigger deal. His match with Fenix next week should go rather well too.

Intercontinental Title: Rey Mysterio vs. Chad Gable

Gable is defending and Mysterio takes him down to start fast and Gable seems to think twice about things. Mysterio sends him into the corner for the right hands and manages to launch him into the post. The running hurricanrana off the apron drops Gable again and we…don’t take a break, but we do get a big DiGiorno ad on the screen for a bit. Mysterio goes back in but gets suplexed out of the air, allowing Mysterio to go after the leg.

With that broken up, Gable goes with an upside down Gory Stretch until Mysterio powers out. Gable’s charge hits the post but he’s fine enough to hit a cliffhanger DDT. The Swan Dive (Cole: “For the retention!”) gets two so Mysterio is right back with a diving DDT for the same. They go up top again with Mysterio trying a super hurricanrana but getting reversed into a super spinning Angle Slam for two in a heck of a false finish.

Mysterio tries a 619, which is reversed into an ankle lock, which is countered with a roll into the corner. The 619 hits in the corner and a regular version connects, with the fans going absolutely nuts. The top rope splash hits knees though and the ankle lock is on again. That’s reversed into a cradle but Gable reverses into one of his own to retain at 13:19.

Rating: B+. This started off slowly but they were absolutely rocking by the end. They had me actually wondering if the title change was happening but it was a huge win for Gable, who won clean. Awesome match here and one of the best back and forth showcases I’ve seen on Raw in a good while.

Here are Roman Reigns and Jacob Fatu for the Solo Sikoa presentation. Cue the rather enthusiastic Usos and Sikoa looking like he’s ready to walk to the gallows. Reigns says it was about three years ago when Reigns beat him on the premiere on Netflix and we go into a package of Sikoa mocking Reigns and the Bloodline for years.

Back in the arena, Reigns takes off Sikoa’s sunglasses and stomps on them, before asking why Sikoa isn’t begging Reigns for forgiveness. Fatu then superkicks and Tongan Death Grips Sikoa, with Reigns shouting ENOUGH to break it up. Reigns says Sikoa needs to lay there for a bit because he has something else to do. He praises the Usos for their success and calls them made men, and if you disrespect them, you disrespect him. The Usos get some special black flower necklaces before Reigns goes back to Sikoa.

Cue LA Knight to clear the Usos but but Reigns and Fatu take him down. Reigns tells Sikoa to finish him but Sikoa Samoan Spikes Reigns instead to blow the roof off the place. Knight and Sikoa clear out the Usos (again) as Fatu just stands back and watches. Reigns is back up and tries a Superman Punch but gets caught in a BFT.

Sikoa and Knight fist bump as Fatu again just stands there (remember Reigns told him to leave Knight alone) to wrap everything up. While I’m not wild on the stipulation from last week just being ignored, it’s the kind of thing that has to happen as Knight is basically the top opponent to the Bloodline. He needs some help, and Sikoa fits that rather well.

Overall Rating: B+. The main event angle and match both worked very well and you had more than enough good going on in the midcard to keep up the pace. We’re pretty clearly moving towards Penta getting the title shot against Reigns in Mexico City, followed by the big showdown with Knight in…sometime after that. This did a rather nice job of getting us closer to those shows though, along with the Women’s Title picture getting that much better. Strong show here, with Sunday Night coming up soon.

Results
Je’Von Evans b. JD McDonagh – OG Cutter
Rey Fenix b. El Fiscal – Mexican MuscleBuster
Sol Ruca b. Lyra Valkyria – Sol Snatcher
Dragon Lee b. El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. – Operation Dragon
Chad Gable b. Rey Mysterio – Rollup

 

 

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