Monday Night Raw
Date: October 5, 2026
Location: Enterprise Center, St. Louis, Missouri
Commentators: Joe Tessitore, Wade Barrett

Somehow it’s the last Raw before Money In The Bank and that means we’re finalizing plans for the show. It doesn’t feel like we should be coming up on that big of an event yet here we are, with no more qualifying matches (thank goodness) and a World Title match between LA Knight and Roman Reigns which feels pretty cold. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of 946 being all violent last week and adding a new member in Jaida Parker, who ran Jacob Fatu over.

Roman Reigns arrives and the Usos want to talk to him about 946 but LA Knight is in the arena and he has something to do.

Here is Knight in the ring to talk about how there are all kinds of things going on but the only thing that matters is his title shot against Reigns. On Saturday, Reigns is going to walk down that aisle and at his pace, he might want to start now. Sure Reigns might be worried about the 946, but Knight always lives in the chaos. It’s down with the establishment, including Reigns, who comes out to interrupt.

Reigns says he was born in the chaos and thrives in it but he sees some doubt in Knight’s eyes. Knight has been running his mouth and then he jumped Reigns after the title match against Penta. The reality is that Knight is just another egg in the omelet and he’s getting broken on Saturday. Reigns is eating at the head of the table so St. Louis can acknowledge him.

They bump shoulders on the way out and Knight says Reigns is the most manufactured industry puppet he’s ever seen. Knight mocks Reigns’ teeth and then promises to win the title. There wasn’t much here but these two needed to be face to face before the title match. It doesn’t feel overly important, which might be due to the match being set up off air.

Je’Von Evans/Penta vs. The Vision

Non-title. The brawl starts on the floor and all four of them stay outside as we’re waiting for them to get inside. Penta kicks away at Breakker’s leg but his enziguri only hits the post. Breakker gets in a clothesline so Evans makes a save, only to be sent inside by Theory for the opening bell. Evans flips away from Theory but gets powerbombed by Breakker.

Another throw sends Evans flying and Breakker stops to yell at Penta, saying he’s already beaten him. Theory breaks up a tag attempt by pulling Penta to the floor, earning Evans a belly to belly over the top. The lights seem to unintentionally flicker and we take a break. We come back with a Steiner Bulldog taking Evans down but he avoids the Super Spear. That’s enough for the tag off to Penta, who gets to come in and clean house.

A slingshot dropkick hits Theory in the corner but he escapes the Penta Driver. The running flip dive hits Breakker on the floor but Theory breaks up Evans’ springboard cutter. Maxxine Dupri’s distraction looks to let Logan Paul send in the knuckles, with the throw going too far and Evans picks them up. A right hand knocks Theory cold for the pin at 8:22.

Rating: B-. The ending was a bit of a stretch as Theory watched Evans get the knuckles and put them on and then just stayed there with him. Theory isn’t quite that dumb but at least Evans didn’t take another fall. It wouldn’t surprise me to see another match for the title next week, as they haven’t actually defended the titles on TV since winning them in July.

Post match Bronson Reed runs in to beat Penta and Evans down but here is Oba Femi to clean house. The numbers get the better of Femi for a bit but he fights back and knocks Breakker outside. Reed knocks Femi down though and goes up, with Femi uppercutting him down to the floor. Breakker holds Reed back from getting in the ring again, leaving Femi to say that Reed has to climb a mountain on Saturday instead of a ladder. Femi promises destruction and teases drowning Reed. As usual, Femi feels like a monster here and he’ll probably smash Reed on Saturday.

Liv Morgan brags about being so amazing but Becky Lynch is keeping her from getting the rematch she deserves. She’ll beat Lynch tonight and then move on to Stephanie Vaquer.

We look at El Grande Americano/CM Punk/Rey Mysterio winning the main event of Worlds Collide.

Dragon Lee praises Mysterio’s abilities but Judgment Day interrupts. Lee tells Dominik to show some respect and the tag match is set up.

Video on 946, who want to take out the Usos and then come after Roman Reigns. No one is safe.

The Usos aren’t worried about Reigns comes in to ask what’s going on with 946. Reigns asks if Jacob Fatu is ok (which he apparently hasn’t bothered to ask in the last week) and says he’ll handle this.

Sol Ruca/Lola Vice vs. Judgment Day

Perez grabs a choke to start but can’t hit her spinning Russian legsweep. Ruca ties her up instead and does the surfing on her back, followed by a basement superkick. Vice comes in for a double hip shot to the head so it’s off to Rodriguez, who is pulled into a triangle choke. Everything breaks down and the villains are sent outside, with Ruca hitting a springboard corkscrew dive to take them out.

We take a break and come back with Vice getting the tag to clean house. Stereo running hip attacks hit the Judgment Day in the corners but Perez escapes a double suplex. Ruca dropkicks Rodriguez into the ropes but gets taken down by Perez. Another distraction looks to let Rodriguez Tejana Bomb Ruca, who reverses with a hurricanrana. Vice’s spinning kick tot he head drops Perez so Rodriguez makes the save. Back up and Vice accidentally spinning backfists Ruca, allowing Perez to get a rollup for the pin on Vice at 10:23.

Rating: C+. This was a weird one as it felt like four people wrestling on their own rather than having a tag match. Granted Ruca and Vice aren’t an actual team so it’s not like they should have any chemistry. The ending gives Perez another boost as she feels like a favorite to win the briefcase, which should make for an interesting situation. Ruca losing is a bit of a surprise, but it was off a fluke in a tag match so she’ll be fine.

Roman Reigns brings Adam Pearce into the locker room and Pearce makes 946 vs. the Bloodline for next week. It won’t be Reigns though, but rather Solo Sikoa, who doesn’t look thrilled.

Ethan Page vs. Rey Fenix

Non-title. Page shoves him down and brags about his size advantage and grabs a headlock. Back up and Fenix makes him run the ropes over and over, leaving Page looking panicked and winded. The rope walk kick knocks Page out to the floor and there’s the big corkscrew dive to the floor. Another dive connects inside, only for Page to send him into the corner and we take a break.

We come back with Page getting two off a release reverse fisherman’s suplex. Fenix pops up for a handspring cutter and a spinning kick to the head knocks Page silly again. An Angel’s Wings gives Fenix two more so he Tuns Up The Band and hits a superkick for the same. Page gets back up for a powerslam and another near fall but he gets superkicked on top. With that broken up, Page tries the EgoPlex but gets reversed into a small package for the pin at 11:13.

Rating: B-. I appreciate having Page back in the ring as he’s still one of the more consistent hands around. Having him getting frustrated by losing over and over should be interesting, as he could turn it into something good. For now though, it’s another case of getting Fenix over, which is fine after not having him do much of note.

Video on Money In The Bank and an explanation of its rules, along with the concept of cashing in a briefcase.

Judgment Day is ready to win even more titles but Liv Morgan makes the mistake of mentioning JD McDonagh having a large head. McDonagh doesn’t mind but he gets a present delivered. It’s a letter from Joe Hendry and a custom McDonagh Funko Pop.

Rey Mysterio/Dragon Lee vs. Judgment Day

Fenix takes over on McDonagh to start and sends him into the corner for the running dropkick. McDonagh is already rocked and gets clotheslined out to the floor, with Rey tagging himself in as Lee loads up a flip dive to the floor. Rey adds a running seated senton off the apron to drop Dominik and we take a break.

We come back with Rey in trouble and Dominik cutting him off with an elbow drop. McDonagh sends Rey into the corner and puts him down with a clothesline. Rey is tied up in the Tree Of Woe, where he does a situp to avoid McDonagh’s charge into the post. That and a tornado DDT to Dominik should be enough for the tag to Lee, but here is Big Cass to pull him off the apron. Rey takes Cass down and loads up a 619, only to get headbutted by McDonagh for the pin at 10:36.

Rating: B-. Ok the Funko Pop stuff is one of the dumbest angles they’ve had in a long time, but McDonagh using a headbutt as a huge finisher is rather awesome. Other than that, Judgment Day needed the win after some not so successful efforts. As for Cass…yeah I’m not seeing it happening, as he looks like a monster but that’s about it.

Post match Cass beats up Rey and Fenix without much trouble.

Money In The Bank rundown.

Becky Lynch talks about how many times Liv Morgan has cheated to retain the Women’s Title and then plays the victim. Lynch is the one who has to do all of the work and she’ll do it again here.

In case you were wondering, here’ show the Japanese commentary sounded for Oba Femi’s brawl earlier tonight.

Lyra Valkyria doesn’t know what it takes to get away from Bayley. Cue Bayley, who says this isn’t over until she says it’s over.

946 makes it clear that no one is safe.

Bronson Reed comes up to tell Paul Heyman that he’s planning to smash Oba Femi. Heyman hopes so and recommends a bunch of Tsunamis to make kids beg for mercy. Make it so bad that a priest and a rabbi deliver last rites. Then do about 25 more Tsunamis. Then one more. Heyman has seen this stuff taking place in person and while he’s been ticking people off for 40 years, this is different.

Even Brock Lesnar was just another opponent for Femi and that humbled Heyman. If Reed doesn’t hit Tsunami after Tsunami after Tsunami, he’ll be humbled too. Heyman leaves and Reed sees that he was watching a loop of Femi beating Lesnar in the Cell. As usual, Heyman can tell a story like no other, as it felt like he was going through PTSD here.

Liv Morgan vs. Becky Lynch

For the Women’s Title match on Saturday. Morgan gets knocked outside to start but sends Lynch into the barricade to take over. Back in and some running knees have Lynch in more trouble and we’re off to the chinlock. Lynch fights up without much trouble and gets in the running forearm in the corner, setting up the Bexploder. Some kicks to the chest have Morgan in trouble but she’s back with a Codebreaker. That’s shrugged off and Lynch hits a running clothesline as we take a break.

We come back with Lynch grabbing a DDT into a cross armbreaker, with Morgan quickly reversing. That means Lynch switches to the Disarm-Her so Morgan BITES THE LEG and reverses into a half crab. That’s broken up as well so Morgan knocks her down for two more. Back up and the Manhandle Slam is loaded up so here is Raquel Rodriguez for a distraction. Roxanne Perez comes in to snap Lynch’s arm over the rope, with Morgan adding a sunset bomb for two.

Oblivion is countered into a Manhandle Slam so Rodriguez puts the foot on the rope. Tessitore: “SHAME ON YOU!” Lynch takes out Rodriguez so Perez gets up on the apron, with Rodriguez knocking Lynch off the top. Stephanie Vaquer comes in to take Perez so Rodriguez hands Morgan the title. That’s caught as well and it’s a double ejection so Morgan tries Oblivion. Vaquer gets taken out by mistake, which draws her into hit both of them for the double DQ at 16:00.

Rating: B-. Well of course they did. You know where the ending is going and it’s one of the most annoying tendencies in all of wrestling. They were building up either Lynch making some big comeback against the odds or Morgan stealing the win (either would have been fine) but HA! Never mind, triple threat! It’s been done for years and my goodness I’m sick of it.

Post match Vaquer requests and receives a triple threat title match on Saturday. A corkscrew moonsault crushes both challengers to end the show. After a month of triple threat qualifying matches, we get a triple threat title match. Oh joy.

Overall Rating: B-. This show was the last push to Money In The Bank for the Raw side and….yeah it’s not exactly feeling great. It felt like they were trying everything they could but the stuff on here was a mix of filler and Knight vs. Reigns. That’s a problem when 946 has been the main story for weeks and Reigns only showed up at the last minute. They tried here, but it was pushing a big boulder uphill.

Results
Penta/Je’Von Evans b. The Vision – Right hand with brass knuckles to Theory
Judgment Day b. Sol Ruca/Lola Vice – Rollup to Perez
Rey Fenix b. Ethan Page – Small package
Judgment Day b. Rey Mysterio/Dragon Lee – Headbutt to Rey
Liv Morgan vs. Becky Lynch went to a double DQ when Stephanie Vaquer interfered

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Worlds Collide 2026
Date: September 30, 2026
Location: Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Illinois
Commentators: Corey Graves, John Bradshaw Layfield

Here we have a special, which was certainly not designed to mess with the AEW pay per view taking place at the same time. It’s WWE/NXT/AAA getting together for a special combined show, with CM Punk and some other guest stars involved. We also have a Reina de Reinas Title match as Roxanne Perez gets a shot at new champion La Catalina. Let’s get to it.

Mascarita Sagrada/Mr. Iguana/Adelicious/La Parka vs. Vanity Project/Mini Abismo Negro

Iguana, and Yesca, scares Smokes away so it’s off to Adelicious to roll Lockwood up for a quick two. Lockwood is right back up with a flipping fall away slam for two, which has JBL rather pleased. Adelicious is able to snap off a headscissors and Iguana comes back in for a spinning DDT to Baylor. Parka and Sagrada get in some running shots in the corner so Smokes comes back in, with Parka suplexing Smokes and Baylor at once.

That means it’s time for Parka to dance and then flip away from Smokes out of the corner, only to get clotheslined out to the floor. The villains get in a bunch of stomping on the floor and it’s Baylor coming back in for some gyrating of his own. Abismo’s running shot in the corner gets two and Smokes’ slingshot spear cuts Parka down for two. A flapjack finally gets Parka out of trouble and Iguana comes in to clean house.

That includes a springboard headscissors and it’s off to Sagrada (JBL: “I’ve always wanted to buy a mini!”). The suicide dive hurricanrana takes Abismo down on the floor but Sagrada runs into Lockwood back inside. Adelicious has to save Sagrada from a gorilla press and then dives onto Lockwood on the floor. Iguana and Parka hit dives of their own and Sagrada does his rather spinning headscissors into a small package to pin Abismo at 12:09.

Rating: B-. This is the signature kind of fast paced opening match that always works in AAA. Let them fly around and pop the crowd, which is exactly what you should be doing here. You get a bunch of people on the card and they get to do stuff without being out there too long. Fun opener, which was the goal here.

Corey Graves pays a quick tribute to Pac, who was his tag partner in NXT. That one still hurts.

Jack Cartwheel vs. Dragon Lee

They go with the grappling to start and flip away from each other without much effort. Cartwheel seems to win a flipping contest (the four straight standing cartwheels are hard to top) and headscissors him out to the floor. That means the Sasuke Special can connect with Lee, who is right back in with a slingshot dropkick in the corner.

Cartwheel is sent to the apron and tries some kind of a kick but gets knocked to the floor instead. Back in and Cartwheel flips out of a German suplex but is lifted up into a powerbomb for two. A running hurricanrana to the floor doesn’t work as Cartwheel sticks the landing, with Lee being rather stunned.

They slug it out on the outside and they go back inside, where Cartwheel hits a clothesline to the floor. Lee is fine enough to superkick him over the barricade but Cartwheel is back up with a Spanish Fly inside. Cartwheel fights out of the Styles Clash and grabs a poisonrana but a Black Arrow (in an amazing coincidence) hits raised knees. Operation Dragon finishes for Lee at 8:58.

Rating: B. You knew why this was on the card and it went exactly as you would have expected. This was two smaller, impressive high fliers being sent out there to do a bunch of crazy things. As usual that worked very well and it wouldn’t have been a AAA show without a match like this one. Lee is on fire right now and I could go for seeing more of him in the near future.

We look at Omos taking out Rey Mysterio at TripleMania, leaving Mysterio in a neck brace.

Fatal Influence vs. Las Toxicas

Non-title. Jacy Jayne and La Maravilla are here too, with JBL absolutely losing his mind at the entrances. Hiedra and Henley start things off with Hiedra sending her straight into the corner. It’s quickly off to Reid, who avoids a charge in the corner, allowing Flammer and Henley to come in instead. Henley gets double crotched against the post and Hiedra gets two off la majistral.

Everything breaks down and Hiedra hits both of them with some running hip attacks in the corner. Jayne offers a distraction, which just lets Flammer come in with a double high crossbody. Another Jayne distraction lets Reid get in a faceplant and a flapjack into a running Blockbuster gets two.

The chinlock doesn’t last long and Hiedra avoids some charges, allowing Flammer to get the hot tag. A suicide dive hits Reid but Henley is back in with a sliding German suplex. Reid’s moonsault gets two with Hiedra making the save. Flammer gets in a big running dropkick in the ropes but Hiedra is legal so there’s no count. Hiedra comes in and is immediately rolled up to give Reid the pin at 10:13.

Rating: C+. This was fine for a women’s tag match and a way to get more women on the card. That’s a good idea in this case, as the AAA women’s division has been hit and miss a lot of the time. WWE’s division isn’t much better but it has more star power and Fatal Influence have been doing well in their few months on the main roster.

Axiom vs. Mini Vikingo vs. Je’Von Evans vs. EK Prosper

The idea is that there’s one from each brand. They circle each other to start until Vikingo hits Evans in the face. Vikingo and Prosper are sent outside, leaving Evans to flip away from Axiom. Prosper is back in to take over on Evans until Vikingo is back in with a corkscrew high crossbody. Vikingo’s dive takes out Prosper for two and Fraxiom small packages Vikingo for two more.

The other two get back inside but Axiom and Evans are sent outside for a huge springboard moonsault from Prosper. Back in and Prosper gives Vikingo a super hurricanrana in to a frog splash for two. Evans and Axiom are back in for some rollups before Evans starts to take over.

The big dive to the floor hits Axiom and Vikingo gets two off a crucifix driver. Axiom and Evans get two each off super Spanish Flies before Evans hits him with a running knee. Prosper is back in to knee Vikingo for two and Evans gives Axiom an OG Cutter. That means Prosper can hit his great moonsault but Vikingo is in with a shooting star. The Phoenix 630 (geez) gives Vikingo the pin on Axiom at 12:40.

Rating: B. Of course this was good and it’s smart to have Vikingo, the AAA star, get his big win here. It was all action from beginning to end and everyone looked great. I was surprised that Evans didn’t win as he’s the biggest star of the match and currently firmly in the Raw midcard. Vikingo is clearly a big project though and him getting the win is a good move. More awesome high flying here.

Reina de Reinas Title: Roxanne Perez vs. La Catalina

Catalina is defending and grabs a headlock to start. That’s reversed into some quick rollups for two each before Perez gets in a rather cocky slap. That just earns her a spinning slam and elbow for two but Perez is back up for some forearms to the back. They head outside with Catalina being sent into the steps, followed by a kick to the face back inside.

A flipping kick to the head gives Perez two and she grabs a sleeper. That’s broken up and Perez misses a charge into the corner, setting up Catalina’s missile dropkick. Back up and they forearm it out with Catalina taking over off an exchange of running uppercuts. Perez knocks her down but a springboard moonsault hits raised knees.

Catalina’s Gory Bomb is countered into an armdrag and Perez faceplants her into the crossface. That’s escaped and Catalina gets in a running hip attack against the ropes. Perez sends her outside and hits a suicide dive but can’t get Pop Rox. Instead Catalina grabs a flipping backslide to retain at 12:43.

Rating: B-. This was a good win for Catalina and that’s why the match was put together. Perez is a star with some status and having Catalina beat her makes the still new title reign feel that much more legitimate. The match was back and forth as well, with Perez feeling like a threat to take the title.

Post match Perez lays her out and poses with the belt.

Los Perros del Mal vs. Penta/Rey Fenix

Penta has been dealing with Los Perros and now has his brother to help. Fenix and Berto start things off with Fenix trying to roll around and an exchange of near falls get two each. Penta and Daga come in and Fenix help take over. Everything breaks down and some stereo basement superkicks hit Berto, as does an elevated splash to Berto. Penta and Daga strike it out until Penta chases him on the floor, right into a cheap shot.

Back in and Penta quickly gets over to Fenix but Karmen Petrovic cuts off a dive so Berto can come in and work on the leg. A tag attempt is cut off and it’s back to Daga to stomp away in the corner. Fenix manages a pop up hurricanrana though and…well actually doesn’t tag, instead hitting a frog splash.

Now it’s back to Penta to hurricanrana Berto before Fenix comes back in, with his handspring cutter being blocked. Daga brainbusters Fenix for two and a running forearm gets the same. Back up and Fenix hits a rolling cutter into Penta’s running Mexican Destroyer to Berto, sending him outside. Petrovic gets on the apron for a distraction though and Daga goes low for the DQ at 15:17.

Rating: B. This was the second biggest match on the show and feels like it could become part of a big feud. It could be interesting to see who Penta and Fenix get to help them against Los Perros as they’re rather outnumbered at the moment. The ending definitely suggests that there is more coming and it was nice to see Los Perros avoid another big loss.

Post match the rest of Los Perros come in but Fenix and Penta clear them out.

We look at El Grande Americano winning the Mega Title at TripleMania with help from Rey Mysterio.

Omos/Judgment Day vs. CM Punk/El Grande Americano/Rey Mysterio

Before the match, Dorian Roldan rants about Omos and Dominik Mysterio, with the fans not approving. Punk even goes old school with the Straightedge Society mask and is of course over like free (non-alcoholic) beer in a frat house. To really mix it up though, we go old school with This Fire Burns, which is a great flashback. Americano starts with McDonagh…but they both tag in their respective Mysterio.

Rey hammers away and grabs a headscissors, allowing Punk to work on the arm. McDonagh comes in and gets his arm cranked as well but actually gets Punk in a wristlock. That’s broken up and Punk shoulders him down and gets a catapult to send McDonagh into the corner. A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker allows the tag to Americano for quite the reaction. Some impressive flipping sets up a hammerlock, with McDonagh getting a headlock but Americano headstands his way out.

Back up and McDonagh drives him into the corner for the tag off to Dominik. Americano stomps Dominik right back and gets two off a running kick to the face. Rey comes back in and tries the 619 to Dominik, who rolls away so McDonagh can take over. That doesn’t last long either as it’s right back to Americano, who is knocked down as well. Omos comes back in and elbows away in the corner before handing it off to Dominik. Americano’s fingers are bitten before McDonagh gets to rip at the mask.

A Blockbuster gets Americano out of trouble and we get what I’m guessing is some mistiming, as Americano basically has to freeze in place rather than tagging. It doesn’t make much sense anyway as Americano gets over for the tag a few seconds later and it’s a string of running knees to Judgment Day in the corner.

Omos teases coming in but gets the rope kicked into him, which is quickly shrugged off. Omos is back in so all three good guys get together to knock him outside again. Some dives have Omos in trouble but Dominik tries Three Amigos on Rey. The third is broken up and Dominik has to escape the GTS attempt. Instead it’s a double 619 to Judgment Day and Americano headbutts Dominik. The GTS finishes McDonagh at 20:04.

Rating: B-. It was a big time six man tag and more of a fun match than a good one, which is fine for a main event like this one. The match was a question of whom was going to pin McDonagh, as there’s no way you pin the giant and Dominik doesn’t need to lose any of his heat. This was a good time and how the show should have ended.

Post match the bad guys are back up to fight back but the lights go out…and it’s Oba Femi here for the save (ok that’s a better ending). Judgment Day bails and we get the Femi vs. Omos showdown. Omos shoves him and is immediately clotheslined over the top. Femi celebrates to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. What you had here was basically a big commercial for AAA, as you had all kinds of high flying and some big names in the main event. That’s in addition to the title defense and the tag match, which should set up a rematch. It’s not a must see show, but it’s rather entertaining and felt like a AAA focused event with some guest stars. This show did its job and that’s more than enough.

Results
Mr. Iguana/Mascarita Sagrada/Adelicious/La Parka b. Vanity Project/Mini Abismo Negro – Small package to Mini Abismo Negro
Dragon Lee b. Jack Cartwheel – Operation Dragon
Fatal Influence b. Las Toxicas – Rollup to Hiedra
Mini Vikingo b. Axiom, Je’Von Evans and EK Prosper – Phoenix 630 to Axiom
La Catalina b. Roxanne Perez – Flipping backslide
Penta/Rey Fenix b. Los Perros del Mal via DQ when Daga hit Penta low
CM Punk/Rey Mysterio/El Grande Americano b. Judgment Day/Omos – GTS to McDonagh

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Monday Night Raw
Date: September 28, 2026
Location: Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Commentators: Joe Tessitore, Wade Barrett

We’re coming up on Money In The Bank and the question this week is what 946 is going to do this time. The trio has been going kind of nuts around here, with Solo Sikoa being kidnapped last week. It’s going to take a special force to take them out and that should make for some interesting developments. Let’s get to it.

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

In Memory Of Neville. I still can’t get my head around that one.

Opening recap.

We look at a special clip from last week, with Solo Sikoa being kidnapped and then left to walk away with a bag over his head.

Here is the Bloodline to get things going. They recap 946 coming after them, with Jimmy Uso saying that attacking and kidnapping their little brother was too far because that’s their blood. Jacob Fatu says that he’s been telling his brothers that it’s not tonight because the first move isn’t the best move. Now this is on him because it was his fault. Tonight though, it’s time to go to war and dog walk 946.

A car arrives in the back and the Bloodline goes after it without the door opening. We cut to the back where the door is opened, with an attendant saying that Adam Pearce is expecting them. The Bloodline shows up and takes him out…but it’s NXT’s Jaida Parker, who is hear to see Pearce. Jey Uso and Parker have a bit of a staredown in a wink wink moment.

Penta runs into Je’Von Evans in the back but Judgment Day interrupts. Dominik Mysterio says Penta stole his Money In The Bank spot and asks if he even cares that Solo Sikoa was kidnapped. Evans points out that JD McDonagh has a big head and the match is teased for later.

Lola Vice vs. Roxanne Perez

Vice knocks her down to start and grabs a headlock takeover, which is broken up as soon as they hit the mat. Perez’s headlock works a bit better but she has to fight out of a cross armbreaker attempt. Vice knocks her outside so Perez tries to leave, only to be sent back inside. A choke has Perez in trouble and she flips backwards for two but can’t break free. Instead they roll outside, where Perez has to ram her into the steps for the break. A northern lips suplex onto the arm has Vice in trouble and we take a break.

We come back with Vice kicking her down into the corner and hitting the running hip attack. Perez is back up with a running elbow to the back and a crossface, which is kicked away from the ropes so Vice can grab a triangle choke. With that broken up, Perez kicks her in the ribs but walks into a great looking spinning backfist (that came out of nowhere and Perez went down like she ran into a boulder) for the pin at 10:23.

Rating: B. The ending alone bumped this up a bit as Vice’s spinning backfist looked perfect. Other than that, this was the kind of win that helps make Vice feel like she belongs around here and that’s still being established. We’re still waiting for her first real feud, but at least she’s off to a good start.

Post match Vice dances but Raquel Rodriguez runs in to boot her in the face. Sol Ruca runs in for the save with a springboard dropkick but Perez breaks up the Sol Snatcher. That means Rodriguez can hit the Tejana Bomb to Ruca and Pop Rox to Vice. I’d think that covers the first real feud part.

Dragon Lee, with Rey Mysterio, is ready to face Big Cass tonight. He promises the fire but Cass comes in to say he’s putting the fire out. Mysterio holds Lee back.

946 has released a video, saying they knew what the Bloodline was going to do and promising that no one is safe tonight.

Here is Oba Femi for a chat. He says he’s not here for combat (though that can change) but he has to do things the right way. Over the last few weeks, he has been having issues with the Vision. It is no secret that things have changed since Bronson Reed came back. Reed wasn’t around when Femi won the King Of The Ring or beat Brock Lesnar so he doesn’t understand that Femi is the captain now.

Femi has a contract to face Reed at Money In The Bank, which is approved by Adam Pearce. He has already signed and is ready to do this the right way, which is how a wise man taught him to do it (the fans are interested in that). Femi wants and receives Reed out here on his own right now. Cue Reed, who says that he’s wrecked Femi twice and he’ll do it again. There’s the signature and Reed goes to leave, with Femi saying Reed has guts for sealing his own fate. I’ll take this over a formal contract signing but this could have been announced without the segment in general.

Earlier today, Iyo Sky was talking to Adam Pearce about an opportunity but Lyra Valkyria came up to ask why she’s having to ask what is next for her. The women get in an argument so Pearce puts them in a match. Sky: “She has issues.”

Dragon Lee vs. Big Cass

Lee jumps him on the way into the ring and the bell sounds with Cass in trouble on the floor. They get inside with Cass hitting a heck of a big boot to cut Lee off just as fast. Cass knocks him over the corner and out to the floor, where a chokeslam drops Lee onto the apron. We take a break and come back with Cass still in control and planting Lee down for two.

The kickout has Cass annoyed and it’s off to a crossface chickenwing. Lee fights out and kicks away, with some running dropkicks connecting in the corner. Cass misses a running big boot and gets hurricanranaed to the floor, with a camera being taken out. A great looking suicide dive hits Cass and Lee pulls him into something like an octopus. That’s broken up as well and Lee rolls into a DDT to plant Cass again. A running elbow to the head gives Lee two and he reverses a chokeslam into a flipping rollup for the pin at 12:15.

Rating: B-. This got rolling with a hot crowd carrying it again, as the story of the match was hardly anything brilliant. You can see Cass falling down the mountain as he is now just a good look and a heck of a big boot. As long as this doesn’t lead to Enzo Amore returning to suck the life out of everything he touches, I’m fine.

Jacob Fatu thinks 946 is going to try to split the Bloodline up so they have to stick together. The Usos are in, though Jey wasn’t thrilled at first.

Stephanie Vaquer is ready to defend her Women’s Title. Next week, it’s Liv Morgan vs. Becky Lynch and the winner gets a title shot at Money In The Bank.

LA Knight talks about how he became a star the second he got here. Then he got a title shot against Roman Reigns and Jimmy Uso cost him the match. People like Reigns held him down for three years but now Knight is here again to do what he should have done a long time ago. As usual, Knight knows how to make anything sound serious and that he believes everything he’s saying. You can’t teach that kind of thing and it’s great to watch.

Iyo Sky vs. Lyra Valkyria

Feeling out process to start with Valkyria taking her down and working on the arm. Sky is right back to take the leg out and hit a running basement dropkick. Valkyria tries a monkey flip, with Sky landing on her feet. Valkyria’s rocking horse is broken up and Sky dropkicks her her out to the floor. Sky gets up on the barricade (with the fans helping her) and hits a high crossbody. Back up and Sky gets caught in the ropes, with Valkyria dropkicking her down and mocking the crazy pose as we take a break.

We come back with Sky armdragging her into a flapjack. A springboard missile dropkick looks to set up the Bullet Train, which is cut off with a superkick. Valkyria powerbombs her for two but Nightwing is countered into a double stomp. Sky kicks her in the face again and a butterfly powerbomb gives Sky two more. Valkyria gets in a catapult into the ropes and they go to the apron, with Valkyria hitting a fisherman’s buster.

Sky avoids an Asai moonsault though and Valkyria kicks the post by mistake. Now the Bullet Train can connect in the corner but Over The Moonsault is countered. Cue Bayley (with a BEN armband to honor Pac) to stand on the announcers’ table for a distraction, allowing Sky to dropkick her out of the air. Over The Moonsault finishes Valkyria at 14:11.

Rating: B. This was a couple of things at once, with Sky getting to show just how good she is again, which is always worth a watch, and Valkyria vs. Bayley continuing. That’s going to lead to a big showdown in the near future and I’m curious to see how it goes. Another good match here as the show is on a roll tonight.

LA Knight comes in to see the Bloodline, who blame him for Solo Sikoa being kidnapped last wee. Knight doesn’t seem to agree and says he’ll be waiting for Roman Reigns next week.

AAA Cruiserweight Champion Rey Fenix gets to defend his title across all brands so he wants to defend it on Raw. Chad Gable comes in to say he’s happy to have him here but Ethan Page comes in to mock the whole thing. Fenix tells him to shut up and a match is made for next week.

Money In The Bank rundown.

Judgment Day vs. Penta/Je’Von Evans

Judgment Day jumps them to start fast with Penta and Evans being sent outside. Mysterio hits a dive to the floor and we take a break. We come back with Penta getting to come in and clean house, including a slingshot dropkick to McDonagh in the corner. A springboard tornado DDT plants Mysterio and it’s back to Evans to hammer away in the corner. Penta sends both of them to the floor for a big running flip dive, which has Evans impressed.

We take a break and come back with Mysterio pulling at Penta’s mask. The 619 connects but Penta shrugs it off (not a great look there) so they can trade superkicks and clotheslines for a double down. Evans is back in to hit the Red Dot to McDonagh (that looked great) and then gets a heck of a dive to crush Mysterio in the timekeeper’s area.

Back in and a springboard dive gets two on McDonagh but the OG Cutter misses. A superkick nails McDonagh but another OG Cutter hits Penta by mistake. The headbutt sends Evans into Mysterio’s 619 for a rather near fall. Cue Joe Hendry with the McDonagh Funko Pop, which has McDonagh going up the aisle. Mysterio misses a frog splash and Penta superkicks McDonagh into Evans’ big dive. The Mexican Destroyer finishes Mysterio at 17:00.

Rating: B. You take out the latest WWE “OK WE GET THE JOKE!” with the Funko Pop and this is that much better of a match. They were going nuts out there with the action and it made for a heck of a main event. Mysterio and McDonagh work well together, but Evans stole the show here with that big sequence he had near the end. It made him look like a superhero and that’s where he shines best. Heck of a match, with a better performance from Evans. Just stop with the Funko Pop deal already.

Post match here is Bron Breakker to take Penta and Evans out.

Becky Lynch is ready for her #1 contenders match against Liv Morgan, who comes in to interrupt. Morgan talks about how she’s been cheated so much and deserves the title shot. Lynch says then Morgan should have no trouble beating her.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

946 arrives and they have their tickets in hand. Security is taken out and here is the Bloodline to join things. The big brawl is on with the Usos taking over on OTM but they come back to send the Usos into the post. Fatu is taken out as well and seems to have hurt his knee. OTM and the Usos brawl into the crowd, where a bunch of fans are taken out. Jey is dragged to the back where Jimmy joins them but we cut back to Keys unloading on Fatu with a chair.

Some superkicks get Fatu out of trouble though and he hits the running Umaga Attack in the corner. The chair is wrapped around Key’s neck but he slides to the floor before it can get crushed. Fatu is fine with getting in some chair shots on the run and we cut to the back where the other four are still being sent into various things. Fatu and Keys join them with Keys trying to escape in his car.

Fatu charges at the car but Keys opens the door to cut him off. Then a car runs Fatu over (or more than likely the stunt double given the amount of camera cuts)….and it’s Jaida Parker driving. Now one might think something is up as she was driven to the arena and is now leaving in a different car and indeed, Parker says no one is safe and leaves with Keys (“All gas, no brakes!”) to end the show. The Bloodline is going to need someone to help them deal with Parker, who is new at this and might need to proceed with caution.

Overall Rating: B+. The action here was good throughout the card and I like the angle at the end, which could help make 946 into a bigger story. They’ve been terrorizing the show for weeks now and it’s starting to work, but with Reigns back next week, things could go badly for them. In addition to that, this was a very good show with a red hot crowd making it even better. Solid show here and it should get bigger next week.

Results
Lola Vice b. Roxanne Perez – Spinning backfist
Dragon Lee b. Big Cass – Rollup
Iyo Sky b. Lyra Valkyria – Over The Moonsault
Penta/Je’Von Evans b. Judgment Day – Mexican Destroyer to Mysterio

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Monday Night Raw
Date: September 21, 2026
Location: Frost Bank Center, San Antonio, Texas
Commentators: Joe Tessitore, Wade Barrett

We’re back stateside and that means it’s time to keep getting ready for Money In The Bank. We’ll be having some qualifying matches, but we’ll also have to deal with LA Knight getting the World Title shot against Roman Reigns. You didn’t hear about that one? Well it was announced after last week’s Raw went off the air. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of Penta vs. Roman Reigns in their instant classic last week. We also see LA Knight coming out to lay Reigns out after the show, with the Money In The Bank title match being announced, oddly by Reigns, who wanted revenge.

Penta and LA Knight have a quick staredown in the back but everything seems to be ok.

Here is Penta to get things going and he gets quite the pyro. Penta talks about how big last week was for everyone, including himself and his family. Roman Reigns was the better man that night and Penta respects him, but this isn’t over. He wants another shot to win the title but here is Judgment Day to interrupt.

They don’t know why Penta is talking about the title when he lost last week. Dominik Mysterio is going to win Money In The Bank and become the champion while Penta is just a luchador. Dominik says he is the King Of The Luchadors but Penta says the only king is Dominik’s father. The brawl is on and Penta fights back with a double high crossbody to send the villains bailing.

Jacob Fatu yells at the Usos about how they keep screwing up with 946 (Royce Keys and OTM). Solo Sikoa comes in with a literal white flag and says they need to work together against OTM. That’s only happening if Sikoa acknowledges the Bloodline, which Sikoa says isn’t happening and leaves. Fatu says that was a big mistake….by the Usos.

Women’s Money In The Bank Qualifying Match: Iyo Sky vs. La Catalina vs. Roxanne Perez

Catalina’s AAA Reina de Reinas title isn’t on the line. Perez chases both of them outside to start before it’s Perez going back inside to get double dropkicked right back to the floor. Catalina spins Sky around for two and Perez is back in for some rollups of her own. They get up for a three way standoff and Perez knocks Sky outside again. The suicide dive is cut off by Sky’s forearm and Sky follows with an Asai moonsault. Catalina dives onto both of them and we take a break.

We come back with Perez grabbing a DDT and Russian legsweep at the same time for two each. Catalina is back up with a high crossbody for two and some running hip attacks in the corner. Sky is sent outside and a forearm to the back gives Perez two. Back up and Sky goes up top, where Catalina shoves her onto the post. Perez gets up top with them and throws Catalina down, leaving Sky to get caught with a super hurricanrana.

Catalina knees Perez down though and everyone needs a breather. They all get up and strike it out until Catalina Gory Bombs Perez for two. Sky is back in with a double missile dropkick and the running knees hit them both in the corner. Over The Moonsault only hits Catalina though, allowing Perez to Pop Rox Sky for the win at 14:02.

Rating: B. The ending was a nice sequence but it was another example of a triple threat match where one of them stayed down for awhile while the other two did their thing. It’s a problem with having this many triple threat matches because it always comes up. Perez going over is fine, even if pinning Sky is something of a surprise.

LA Knight makes sure Solo Sikoa isn’t joining the Bloodline again and they agree to both win at Money In The Bank. Sikoa just better not cash in on him.

Here is LA Knight for a chat. He gives Roman Reigns and Penta props after last week’s classic, but now he has his shot against Reigns at Money In The Bank. It’s been three years since they’ve fought one on one because Knight has been kept out of the plans. The problem is Knight is the plants.

Knight will acknowledge that Reigns won a great one last week and he did it himself. It’s easy to acknowledge Reigns’ greatness, but the people have kept staying behind Knight the whole time. The problem is the fans don’t believe it’s going to happen and Knight doesn’t blame you after losing the big one so many times.

Maybe no one believes that he can win, but what interests Knight is how many times Reigns has done things with no Bloodline. Knight: “Good for you. Yippy skippy.” The reality is Reigns has never been able to beat him one on one and Knight has done everything on his own. At Money In The Bank, he’ll acknowledge Reigns acknowledging him as the new champion. This was a fired up Knight, though I’m still not sure I can imagine him winning.

Je’Von Evans is ready to win Money In The Bank. The Vision comes in to threaten him, with Bron Breakker saying the briefcase belongs to him. Evans is ready with the challenge and slaps Breakker before running away. Breakker doesn’t follow, saying it’s time to use his head first.

Je’Von Evans vs. Bron Breakker

Breakker starts fast and hammers away in the corner, followed by some knees in the corner. Back up and Evans fights up for an uppercut in the corner and the suicide dive. They both wind up outside with Breakker being sent into the announcers’ table. Breakker’s charge misses and he crashes into the time keeper’s area. Evans follows with a big dive to take Breakker down again and we take a break.

We come back with Breakker snapping off the super Frankensteiner but the spear is blocked with a perfectly times superkick. They both get up and Evans hits a springboard crossbody but has to counter a gorilla press into a DDT. A running Sliced Bread gets two but Maxxine Dupri offers a distraction, allowing Austin Theory to get in a cheap shot. A spinning Boss Man Slam gives Breakker two but he misses a charge into the post. Evans hits a pair of big dives to the floor (one for Bronson Reed, one for Breakker). The OG Cutter is loaded up but Theory breaks it up for the DQ at 12:02.

Rating: B-. This was a case where I liked the result, as Evans was making me think he was about to win and the last thing I wanted to see was him getting speared in half for the pin. This leaves the door open for a rematch down the line and I could go for seeing them running it back, as the next generation gets another chance to show what they can do. Good match here with a better result.

Post match the beatdown is on but Oba Femi runs in for the save and wrecks the entire team, including some rather loud chair shots. That’s not enough though as Femi picks up Evans and launches him onto the team, with the Vision only kind of catching Evans.

Mark Henry is here.

946 is in a car and says no one is safe.

We look at Joe Hendry doing a live performance earlier, with some fans joining in to sing about JD McDonagh as a Funko Pop, and yes there is a life McDonagh Pop there.

Here is Judgment Day for a chat. McDonagh is sick of all the insults from Joe Hendry and they have to end because his family is being hurt. Liv Morgan brags about all of the success the team has had, including attacking El Grande Americano. Morgan wants her rematch for the Women’s Title right now because what happened to her was unfair.

Instead here is Becky Lynch to interrupt in the crowd, saying she’s disappointed of everyone there, including Jordan Devlin McDonagh. They’ve known each other for years and Lynch has CALLED HIS MOM. Mama McDonagh is sick of seeing her son like this and being around such losers. Lynch says Morgan must be disappointed as well, because she found out what happened when she actually defended her title.

They better not be disappointed in Referee Rebecca though, because she might be the greatest referee of all time. Cue Stephanie Vaquer, who says she’s the champion around here. Morgan can have her rematch to show that the win in Chile wasn’t a fluke. Lynch isn’t happy so Vaquer says she’ll talk to Adam Pearce about it. We’re getting another triple threat out of this but I’m trying to get over the idea of Lynch calling McDonagh’s mom. Lynch was acting like her old self here and that is awesome to see again.

Lyra Valkyria talks about everything she had to do to get away from Bayley and then tried to win Money In The Bank. Bayley cost her, so now it’s time to make Bayley wish that their last match was their last match. Valkyria’s transformation in recent months is remarkable.

Bayley vs. Lyra Valkyria

Bayley jumps her on the floor before the bell and the beating is on, with Sky in fast trouble. They go inside for the opening bell and Sky is sent outside again. The dive is cut off so Bayley grabs a belly to back suplex. Bayley gets flipped into the corner though and comes up holding her knee. That’s enough for Valkyria to hit a top rope Fameasser for two but Bayley is able to knock her off the top. The top rope elbow gets two and Bayley drops a string of elbows as we take a break.

We come back with Valkyria planting her down for two and knocking Bayley into the corner. Back up and a quick Bayley To Belly gets two on Valkyria, who can’t hit the Last Breath. The Rose Plant is blocked as well and they fight out to the floor. Valkyria is thrown over the announcers’ table and Bayley tries a piledriver, which is broken up. Back in and Bayley is so livid that she gets sent throat first into the rope. Valkyria grabs a rollup with tights for the pin at 11:45.

Rating: B-. You know this isn’t over and that’s not a bad thing, as there seems to be a lot left in the tank here. Bayley getting cheated out of the win after beating the fire out of Valkyria for a good while is a good example of Valkyria looking crazy but still coming off as smart. I’m liking her prospects as this is already working better than what she was doing before.

Chad Gable congratulates Dragon Lee on a great match last week and is willing to run it back anytime. Lee seems to appreciate that but Ethan Page comes in to interrupt. Page says maybe Gable should get a mask of his own because he’s clearly hiding. Gable points out that Page keeps getting chances but losing, so go show him something. Until then, stay away from the title.

Here is Adam Pearce with a contract. He brings out the officially signed Lola Vice, who is happy to come out and greet the fans. She talks about her mother introducing her to dance while her father introduced her to martial arts. Now she’s ready to knock out whoever she needs to in order to win Money In The Bank. This brings out Roxanne Perez, who says no one care about the signing. The fight is nearly on, with Vice just barely missing the spinning backfist.

Paul Heyman is shown watching Vice in the back when Bron Breakker comes up. Heyman says Oba Femi is still breathing and that’s bad for the Vision. Breakker says he’s still breathing too and that’s bad for everyone. Heyman: “Everyone?” Breakker: “Everyone.” Heyman isn’t sure what to think about that one.

Money In The Bank Qualifying Match: Solo Sikoa vs. Dragon Lee vs. Dominik Mysterio

Hold on though as 946 has attacked Solo Sikoa and throw him in the back of their car and drive off with him. Jacob Fatu and the Usos show up but the car drives away. Fatu blames the Usos for this as LA Knight shows up to hear what happened. We take a break and come back with Dominik Mysterio trying to get a bye to Money In The Bank but Adam Pearce sends him to the ring. So it seems we’re having a singles match…but hang on. Here is Adam Pearce to say this is still a triple threat match.

Money In The Bank Qualifying Match: Dragon Lee vs. Dominik Mysterio vs. Penta

Yeah this works. Mysterio gets double stomped down and Lee backdrops him out to the floor. A quick armdrag sends Penta into the corner but Mysterio pulls Lee outside. That means Penta can hit a big running flip dive and we take a break. We come back with Lee striking away at Penta out of the corner and hitting the big running flip dive to the floor.

Back in and a sitout powerbomb gives Lee two on Mysterio, who is able to catch Lee on top. Lee is right back up with the top rope double stomp but Penta takes Lee out to leave everyone down. Mysterio is back up with a trio of slingshot hilos to Penta until Lee cuts Mysterio off with a superkick (I’m guessing Lee wasn’t there in time so Mysterio had to keep doing it).

Lee gets sent to the floor but pops right back up with a slingshot hurricanrana to take Penta out on the floor. Mysterio hits a heck of a 619 to a running Lee, leaving Penta to come back in for the three way chop off. Lee is knocked down and a Penta Driver gets two on Mysterio to leave everyone down again. Lee forearms Mysterio down and hits Operation Dragon for two, with Penta diving in for the save.

Penta and Lee slug it out until Penta’s superkick only earns himself a poisonrana. Mysterio’s quick from splash hits raised knees and Lee Styles Clashes Mysterio for two with Penta making another save. Penta drops Lee on the apron and gets 619ed, setting up a frog splash for a heck of a near fall. The frustrated Mysterio pulls a turnbuckle pad off but Penta sends him into the steel instead. The springboard Mexican Destroyer gives Penta the win at 18:55.

Rating: B+. After last week, it made sense to put Penta in the match and have him win. He doesn’t have to win Money In The Bank, but what matters is he’s still in the picture here. That’s what the fans wanted to see here and it came after a heck of a match. These three know how to do the exciting style and it worked rather well.

Overall Rating: B. They weren’t going to be able to top what they did last week but we did get a very good show, with the fans still being all about Penta. The ladder matches are looking strong and I’m not sure which way they’re going. Raw is actually on something of a roll right now and I could go for seeing how they follow it up. Granted that doesn’t mean it’s going to go well, but they do at least have the momentum at the moment.

Results
Roxanne Perez b. Iyo Sky and La Catalina – Pop Rox to Sky
Je’Von Evans b. Bron Breakker via DQ when Austin Theory interfered
Lyra Valkyria b. Bayley – Rollup with tights
Penta b. Dominik Mysterio and Dragon Lee – Springboard Mexican Destroyer to Mysterio

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Monday Night Raw
Date: September 14, 2026
Location: Arena CDMX, Mexico City, Mexico
Commentators: Joe Tessitore, Corey Graves

So we’re in Mexico for the first time in fifteen years, it’s two days before Mexican independence day, and Penta is challenging Roman Reigns for the World Title. That opens up one heck of a door and I’m curious to see what happens. Other than that, of course we have Money In The Bank qualifying matches. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a video on Penta vs. Roman Reigns.

Penta arrives on a freaking horse. Dang he might actually win this thing.

Here is Rey Mysterio, with Adam Pearce, and in a neck brace after Triplemania, to talk about how proud he is to be back here in Mexico and to be a luchador. He is proud to represent Mexico and is proud of another Latina wrestler, as Stephanie Vaquer won the Raw Women’s Title over the weekend in Santiago, Chile. Mysterio brings out Vaquer, who could not be happier to have won the title in her home country.

Cue Dominik Mysterio and Liv Morgan to interrupt, with Morgan being lived about losing the title. Dominik is booed out of the building again, with Rey asking what happened to Dominik’s title? Dominik wants a mixed tag right now but Pearce says no as Rey (who is in street clothes) isn’t medically cleared. Instead here is El Grande Americano to a ROAR, who is in for the mixed tag. Pearce: “ES OFFICIAL!” I was waiting on Americano to show up and it didn’t disappoint.

El Grande Americano/Stephanie Vaquer vs. Liv Morgan/Dominik Mysterio

We’re joined in progress with Americano kicking Mysterio in the face, so Morgan can come in. That’s fine with Vaquer, who catches her with a high crossbody and gets two off a rollup. Mysterio low bridges her to the floor and Morgan is livid enough to hammer away. Vaquer fights up and knocks her down, allowing the tag off to Americano. House is quickly cleaned, including a middle rope Blockbuster, but Mysterio gets in a shot to put Americano on the floor as we take a break.

We come back with Morgan cutting off a tag attempt but Americano is fine enough to hit an Air Raid Crash for two. Now it’s Vaquer coming back in to take over on Morgan, including a quick powerslam for two. Everything breaks down and Morgan jumps into Mysterio’s arms. That means it’s a double 619 (Rey approves) but here is Judgment Day to jump the heroes for the DQ at 12:06.

Rating: B-. This was getting rather good before the ending and it’s kind of a shame that it had to go that way. I’m not sure why you can’t have the heroes get another win here as it’s not like it would be some devastating loss for Mysterio and Morgan. At least Americano got that entrance though and it was worth the wait.

Post match Dominik goes after Rey, with Americano trying to make the save but JD McDonagh hits the big headbutt to cut him off.

Video on the Vision going after Oba Femi and taking him out last week.

Rey Fenix gives Penta a pep talk.

Money In The Bank Qualifying Match: Je’Von Evans vs. Austin Theory vs. Big Cass

Maxxine Dupri is here with Theory, who jumps Evans instead of going after Cass. That earns Theory a big toss from Cass, with Evans sending him outside. Evans puts Theory into the timekeeper’s area but gets chokeslammed into it as well as we take a break. We come back with Theory hitting a pretty impressive torture rack bomb to Cass but getting frog splashed by Evans. That’s enough to send Theory outside for the big no hands dive but Cass is back in with the swinging Boss Man Slam.

The OG Cutter is blocked so Evans rolls Cass up for two instead. Back up and Cass boots Evans with Theory stealing the near fall as Cass pulls him out at two. Dupri yells at Cass so Theory hits a dive, only to be thrown down as well. Back in and Evans Sliced Breads Theory onto Cass, allowing the OG Cutter to drop Cass and give Evans the pin at 9:45.

Rating: B-. That’s a surprising result, as while Evans getting the win makes sense, I wasn’t expecting Cass, the new midcard monster, to lose so soon. He hasn’t exactly been lighting the place on fire but I wasn’t expecting him to lose already. Evans going to the ladder match is great though, as he can go do some stupid dives to the big reactions, which is why he’s involved.

We look back at Royce Keys and OTM burning the Usos’ car last week.

Jacob Fatu and the Usos say the play is to stay together, even with Roman Reigns needing protection.

Intercontinental Title: Chad Gable vs. Dragon Lee

Lee is challenging and we get a show of respect to start. They go technical, with Gable flipping him into a sunset flip for two. Back up and Lee knocks him into the corner for a running dropkick to send Gable outside. Gable is fine enough to snap off an overhead belly to belly and a northern lights suplex gets two. Lee cuts off an Ultimo Dragon headstand in the corner from Gable to send him outside. That means the big running flip dive onto the announcers’ table as we take a break.

We come back with Gable getting two off a super Angle Slam to leave them both down. Gable cuts off a flip with a sitout powerbomb for two more but the moonsault hits raised boots. Lee hits a running forearm but Operation Dragon is countered into a quickly broken ankle lock. They fight on top with Gable being knocked into a Tree Of Woe over the apron, with Lee hitting the big double stomp (with the camera looking up for a great angle).

Back in and Gable suplexes him into the corner, setting up a moonsault for two more. Gable rolls some German suplexes but Lee flips out of the third and grabs Operation Dragon for a rather near fall. The Styles Clash is countered into an ankle lock but Lee rolls over into the Styles Clash for an even nearer fall. The ankle lock goes on again and Lee FINALLY taps at 15:36.

Rating: A-. The crowd carried this one even higher, as the two of them were having an awesome match that was turned into something incredible due to the reactions. Gable is just on another planet right now and it’s great to see him getting these reactions just by being himself. It’s LONG overdue and he’s making the most of it, which is great for him. Lee had the best WWE match of his career and felt like a real threat to the title, which is more than I was expecting. Outstanding.

Post match Gable immediately lets go and checks on Lee. As Gable leaves, Lee apologizes to the fans.

Bayley talks about the beating that Lyra Valkyria gave her and how she has realized what Valkyria did to her. Valkyria has called her the doormat of the women’s locker room, which suggests that nothing she has done in fourteen years has mattered. Bayley chose her path and she’s going to show Valkyria what she is all about. This was serious Bayley and it worked.

Women’s Money In The Bank Qualifying Match: Kelani Jordan vs. Lola Vice vs. Raquel Rodriguez

Jordan’s NXT Women’s Title and Rodriguez’s Women’s Intercontinental Title aren’t on the line. Jordan bails to the floor to start, leaving Vice to kick away at Rodriguez. Vice’s kicks are blocked and Rodriguez picks her up, with Jordan coming in for a dropkick. Vice and Jordan team up to knock Rodriguez to the floor, with Jordan hitting a moonsault. That leaves Vice to dive onto Jordan, only to get crushed by Rodriguez as we take a break.

We come back with Vice kicking Jordan into the corner, setting up the running hip attacks in the corner (you’ll notice a theme from Vice). Rodriguez knocks Vice to the floor and counters a top rope hurricanrana, with Jordan rolling her up for two instead. Back in and Vice gets caught with a fall away slam but pulls Jordan into a triangle choke. That’s broken up and Jordan is sent outside, leaving Vice to roll Rodriguez up for the pin at 12:12.

Rating: B-. I’m not sure why you would have two champions and a debuting star there with one of them having to take a loss but that’s modern wrestling for you. Anyway, Vice felt like a star and you can probably expect her to get a big push in the coming weeks. If nothing else, she gets to be the fresh blood in the division for a bit and that’s nice to see again.

OTM and Royce Keys do their best Shield impression and suggest that Jacob Fatu might be paranoid, but also reveal that they’re in Mexico.

We get a clip from Joe Hendry’s music video about how he should get every single belt (right now).

Stephanie Vaquer is going to leave but runs into Becky Lynch, who thinks she should get a title shot after helping Vaquer win the title (as guest referee). Lynch leaves before Vaquer can say anything.

Raw World Title: Penta vs. Roman Reigns

Penta, in a massive headdress (probably three and a half feet in all directions), is challenging and gets an absolute hero’s welcome. The bell rings and Reigns stalls a lot but Penta does the Cero Miedo, earning himself a running shoulder. Back up and Penta hits a headbutt, earning himself a glare from Reigns. Penta knocks him outside and there’s the big running flip dive as we take a break.

We come back with Reigns whipping him hard into the corner and mocking the crowd for trying to start the comeback. The big right hands in the corner have Penta in more trouble but Reigns takes too long and gets knocked away. A Backstabber out of the corner gives Penta two, as does a springboard tornado DDT. Penta Sacrifices Reigns’ arm but he’s fine enough to plant Penta with a release Rock Bottom for two as we take another break.

We come back with Reigns’ arm giving out so Penta sends him to the apron. The springboard Mexican Destroyer is countered with a backdrop though and Reigns hits a big toss powerbomb onto the announcers’ table. Back in and the Penta Driver gets two in a heck of a near fall, followed by the Superman Punch to give Reigns two more. The spear misses and Penta gets the Mexican Destroyer, only for Reigns to come back with the spear for two more as the fans die and come back to live in the span of five seconds.

Reigns gets up and hammers away again before grabbing the mic and promising to end Reigns. Another spear is countered with a superkick and the springboard Mexican Destroyer gets two in a finish I bought so hard that I have an extended warranty. The go to their knees and punch the tar out of each other with Reigns getting the better of things. Three straight superkicks cut Reigns off but he Superman Punches a springboard out of the air. Back up and another spear retains the title at 22:24.

Rating: A-. Oh sweet goodness this was awesome. You know you’re seeing something special when you actually feel the air go out of you when the fall goes down. What mattered here is that Penta went out on his shield and it was an outstanding performance, even in defeat. At the same time though, Reigns was in his glory heeling on this crowd and it made the match that much better. Absolutely a pay per view worthy match, made even better with the molten crowd. This was a moment, and that’s not something you see very often.

And for once nothing happens, as Reigns mocks the crowd to end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. Two phenomenal matches and a white hot crowd and my goodness what else could you want? This was Raw turning it up and letting its talented people tear the roof off the place. I had a great time with this show and even the weakest stuff was rather good. The fans alone bring this one up but the wrestlers were doing their job as well. Outstanding show.

Results
El Grande Americano/Stephanie Vaquer b. Dominik Mysterio/Liv Morgan via DQ when Judgment Day interfered
Je’Von Evans b. Big Cass and Austin Theory – OG Cutter to Cass
Chad Gable b. Dragon Lee – Ankle lock
Lola Vice b. Kelani Jordan and Raquel Rodriguez – Rollup to Rodriguez
Roman Reigns b. Penta – Spear

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Monday Night Raw
Date: August 24, 2026
Location: Canadian Tire Center, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We’re in Canada for an earlier than usual show, which is going to have a lot of fallout. The big story coming out of last week’s show was Solo Sikoa rejecting the order to rejoin the Bloodline and instead siding with LA Knight. That isn’t going to go well for either of them and the Bloodline is going to have a response. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of last week’s Sikoa/Knight/Bloodline issues.

Here is Knight for a chat. He’s in the capital of Canada so he wants to talk about a coward with a capital C. It’s no secret that he wants the World Title and Roman Reigns told Knight to win a tournament that he can’t even enter. Knight knows that he’s going to have to deal with a lot of the family and there is already one man with him. That would be Solo Sikoa, who pops up in the crowd. Sikoa thanks Knight for having his back last week and who could have seen this coming just a year ago?

Knight says Sikoa has gotten a warning shot but here are the Usos to interrupt. They don’t like what Sikoa did and issue him another warning shot, with Sikoa doing the Matrix bullet time. The Usos don’t care for that either and the challenge for the tag match is issued for tonight. Sikoa: “You got my back?” Knight: “YEAH! You got my back?” Sikoa: “PEW!” Not exactly shocking stuff here but Sikoa is incredibly entertaining at the moment.

We recap the #1 contenders tournament.

Stephanie Vaquer vs. Roxanne Perez

The other women of the Judgment Day are here with Perez. Vaquer knocks her away to start and works on the arm. Back up and they trade rollups for two each until Vaquer ties her up again. A Judgment Day distraction lets Perez knock her outside though and it’s a whip into the barricade as we take a break. We come back with Vaquer in trouble and Liv Morgan yelling from ringside (Morgan: “I’m better than you! And I’m prettier than you!”) until Vaquer makes the comeback.

Some clotheslines set up the Devil’s Kiss (it’s still over) and Perez tries to go to the floor. That earns her a pull back inside but the referee has to fix the ring skirt, allowing Perez to go to the eyes. A Shining Wizard gives Perez two so it’s off to the crossface but Vaquer is up with the SVB. Morgan cuts her off on top though and that’s enough to bring out Becky Lynch. Vaquer cuts Rodriguez off and seems to thank Lynch before going back inside. Perez misses a moonsault and it’s a double underhook facebuster to give Vaquer the pin at 13:14.

Rating: B-. There was a lot going on here but Lynch and Vaquer as the female version of Sikoa and Knight going after the big stable with the title as the ultimate goal is working. Vaquer feels like she belongs at this level and if that can continue, they should be in for something good in the upcoming weeks.

Post match Vaquer thanks Lynch, who seems to say that Vaquer owes her two.

We look at Big Cass beating up Je’Von Evans.

The Judgment Day seems to threaten Rey Mysterio, with Evans running in for the save. Rey is rather appreciative.

#1 Contenders Tournament Semifinals: Dragon Lee vs. Rey Fenix

Fenix’s AAA Cruiserweight Title isn’t on the line. They trade flips to start until Lee sends him into the corner for the running dropkick. Fenix is right back with a kick to the head into a high crossbody for two as Lee bails out to the floor. A big moonsaults takes Lee down again but he snaps off a German suplex back inside. That means the big running flip dive can take Fenix out on the floor as we take a break.

We come back with Lee fighting out of trouble and loading Fenix into the Tree Of Woe for the big double stomp. Fenix is sent outside for a crazy running flip dive onto the announcers’ table (that looked great). Back in and a tornado DDT drops Fenix for two but he’s back up with a brainbuster (with commentary calling it together for extra emphasis). The Mexican MuscleBuster is reversed into a Styles Clash to give Lee two more but Fenix is right back with a rolling cutter. Now the Mexican MuscleBuster can give Fenix the pin at 13:31.

Rating: B+. Take two young, talented high fliers and let them go nuts for awhile. It’s worked before and it worked again here, which is great to see. Fenix going forward against Penta (because it’s going to be Penta) is the right call as it adds a personal touch to the finals. Lee held up his end here though as that flip dive was awesome. Outstandingly entertaining match here and I had a great time with it.

Lola Vice (not named but pretty clear) is coming on September 14.

Here are Paul Heyman and Adam Pearce for the Oba Femi/Bron Breakker contract signing. Breakker sits down and pauses before signing. He asks what Femi has done to be seen as the future around here. Yeah he squashed a bunch of people and beat Brock Lesnar. That doesn’t sound like a championship.

Eight months ago, Breakker had this place in the palm of his hand, but then he got hurt. He took himself out, because no one around here could take him out, including Femi. Then Femi took Breakker’s spot and is doing everything he was doing. Femi: “Bron, you are an angry orange man.” Breakker underestimates him, but if Breakker had debuted in 2002 or 2015, he would have been the big dog against John Cena. But it’s 2026 and Breakker has to run against Oba Femi. Now Femi is going to show Breakker what is coming for him, which seems to have Breakker thinking twice.

Breakker says he’s going to make Femi fight in the deep waters and it’s going to leave Femi as a sorry wrestler in the middle of the ring who can’t compete. Breakker signs and asks if Femi wants to do the same. He asks if Femi’s daddy should do it for him. Breakker: “Yeah sign it Paul.” Heyman: “Don’t do this.”

Heyman isn’t happy and Breakker grabs him by the jacket, which is enough for a cheap shot on Femi. That’s enough for Heyman to vamoose as Femi is back up. Cue Austin Theory from behind and Breakker….can’t hit the Super Spear. Instead Breakker gets clotheslined to the floor and Theory is put through the table. With Breakker on the floor, Femi signs as well to make the match official. Femi sounded so natural on the mic while Breakker sounded shaky.

The Usos, with their black necklaces, are ready to run the play but mock Jacob Fatu for not being on their level.

Big Cass vs. Je’Von Evans

Evans pounds away to start but gets cut off without much trouble. He’s back up to knock Cass outside and tries a dive, which Cass pulls out of the air. Cass beats on him on the floor and grabs a spinning Boss Man Slam back inside as we take a break. We come back with Evans hammering away and hitting a big dive over the barricade and into the timekeeper’s area. Evans: “I’m about to whip your a**!” More right hands have Cass in trouble and the spinning kick connects inside. The OG Cutter is loaded up but Cass cuts him off, with a big boot finishing Evans at 8:48.

Rating: B-. They kept this simple, with Evans wanting revenge and firing off everything he could until he caught with too much power. That’s an idea that has worked forever in wrestling and it worked again here too. I’m not sure what the endgame is with Cass at the moment, but every week that he’s here on his own is one week without Enzo and that means it’s a good week.

Post match Judgment Day jumps Evans, with Dominik Mysterio hitting a frog splash.

Sol Ruca is ready for the Judgment Day when Iyo Sky comes in for some giggling hugs. Lyra Valkyria comes in and says she’s their friend too. She wants Ruca’s match against Raquel Rodriguez but Ruca turns her down. Valkyria is not happy and this probably won’t end well.

#1 Contenders Tournament Semifinals: Penta vs. La Parka

Penta starts fast and sends him to the floor for the big dive. Parka fights right back and hits a moonsault but dives into a superkick back inside. The backstabber has Parka in more trouble and we take a break. We come back with Penta fighting back and cutting Parka off again. The super Spanish Fly cuts Parka off again but walking into a powerslam. Penta is right back to knock him into the corner for a handstand dropkick. Parka is right back with a tornado DDT and they go to the top, with Parka grabbing a super Spanish Fly. Penta shrugs that off and the springboard Mexican Destroyer connects to give Penta the pin at 9:54.

Rating: B. Yeah it was fun and the high spots worked, but this whole tournament has been little more than a countdown to Penta winning (they’ve all but announced him as winning in AAA). Parka is someone who can get some attention and the fans know who he is so putting him out there was fine. This was all about Penta though and that’s all it should have been.

Post match Penta and Rey Fenix have a staredown.

LA Knight and Solo Sikoa affirm their friendship before the main event.

Ethan Page interrupts Chad Gable and suggests he should be Intercontinental Champion. Gable points out that Page cost himself the title shot in the gauntlet match.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

We recap Stephanie Vaquer vs. Roxanne Perez.

Vaquer is told that she gets a title shot in two weeks and even though she didn’t need it, she thanks Becky Lynch for her help. She’s coming for the title in two weeks and is ready to destroy Judgment Day.

Usos vs. LA Knight/Solo Sikoa

Jimmy gets sent into the corner to start and Sikoa is right there with a running Umaga Attack and the early near fall. The Usos are back up to knock Sikoa outside for the double superkick though and we take a break. We come back with Sikoa fighting his way out of trouble but getting caught by Jey’s jumping enziguri. Jey cuts off another comeback attempt but the running Umaga Attack takes too long, allowing Sikoa to get in a clothesline.

Knight and Jimmy both come in, with the former firing off the left hands. Everything breaks down and Jey’s suicide dive is cut off. A superkick isn’t cut off though and Jey talks about Roman Reigns, only for Royce Keys to tackle Jey and Sikoa through the barricade. Cue NXT’s OTM (Bronco Nima/Lucien Price, a powerhouse team) to jump the Usos, as well as Knight. We’ll say the match is thrown out at about 9:30.

Rating: C+. Uh, yeah I’m not sure on this one, as OTM was hardly a big time team in NXT and then here they are. I can go with Keys getting some help and that’s a good thing, but dang this feels out of nowhere. Hopefully it winds up working as I like OTM, but this whole story just took a rather weird step.

Post match the beating continues, with Keys using the steps to beat on a bunch of people, including Sikoa and Knight. Jimmy is put through the announcers’ table and the new team poses to end the show. The fans weren’t exactly thrilled here and I get it, as OTM is just such a random pick for this spot.

Overall Rating: B. The tournament itself isn’t interesting as it feels like a long path to an obvious result, but dang the action worked rather well this week. It’s been good enough to make up for the lack of drama, with Fenix vs. Lee being a show stealer. I’m really not sure where the big main event angle is going, but the bigger issue is that I’m not sure I care. Other than the women’s stuff, there wasn’t much story development here that got my interest, but the wrestling more than pushed this one higher.

Results
Stephanie Vaquer b. Roxanne Perez – Double underhook facebuster
Rey Fenix b. Dragon Lee – Mexican MuscleBuster
Big Cass b. Je’Von Evans – Big boot
Penta b. La Parka – Springboard Mexican Destroyer
Usos vs. LA Knight/Solo Sikoa went to a no contest when OTM and Royce Keys interfered

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

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

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Monday Night Raw
Date: August 3, 2026
Location: Casey’s Center, Des Moines, Iowa
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We’re done with Summerslam and the big Raw story is the end of the Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins feud, as Reigns beat Rollins and they made peace after. Reigns is going to need a new challenger and we might be finding out more about that this week. Other than that, we’re coming up on…geez is there a PPV in September? Let’s get to it.

Here is Summerslam if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of Roman Reigns retaining the title over Seth Rollins.

Here is Reigns, with the fans loving him, to get things going. He talks about how he has called various shots and been right every time, including beating Rolling last night. Reigns says he can only acknowledge so much but the fans can do it for him. They sing his song but here is LA Knight to interrupt, leaving Reigns unimpressed.

Knight admits that Reigns did it himself last night, but Reigns is still a fraud. Knight wants to face Reigns one on one and he can do it anytime. Reigns thinks Knight is the real fraud for wearing a Wal-Mart watch while pretending to be a megastar. He holds up the kind of watch a champion wears and asks what Knight has done besides winning a six man tag. Reigns mocks him and says that’s not enough before going to leave.

Knight says he’s realized that Reigns’ aura goes away when he’s standing in front of Knight, with Reigns always needing help take Knight out. He mocks the Shield introduction and leaves, suggesting he’s still ready for a title match. Knight feels like a B show challenger but it needs to happen at some point.

We look at Oba Femi beating Brock Lesnar at Summerslam, with Lesnar endorsing him after the match.

Je’Von Evans vs. Ethan Page

Page shoulders him down to start but Evans knocks him to the floor for the big dive. Back in and Evans hits a heck of a high crossbody and we take a break. Page sends him into the corner though and we take a break. We come back with Page kicking him in the head but Evans escapes for a springboard clothesline.

Page breaks up a springboard and hits a kind of fisherman’s Russian legsweep for two. They go outside with both of them being sent into various things, allowing Evans to hit a heck of a dive over the barricade and into the timekeeper’s area. Back in and Page grabs a Codebreaker for two so let’s take off a turnbuckle pad. The referee isn’t having that and it’s an OG Cutter to give Evans the pin at 12:41.

Rating: C+. As usual, Evans is rather skilled at being able to make a great comeback and he got to do it again here. Page was beating him up a few times and flying through the air to make his comebacks. I liked this well enough, with Page getting pretty well locked into his spot around here.

Post match here is Big Cass to lay Evans out, including with the East River Crossing (bearhug swung into a side slam). This is the serious Cass who worked well in other places over the last few years.

We look at LA Knight/Royce Keys/Solo Sikoa beating the Bloodline at Summerslam.

Roman Reigns yells at the Bloodline for their loss and seems to want Jacob Fatu to take care of Royce Keys, who is NOT part of their family. The Usos volunteer to go after LA Knight but Reigns calls them off, saying leave him alone. Reigns leaves and Knight shows up to mock the Usos for having to follow “daddy’s” rules.

Post break Royce Keys comes up to see Jacob Fatu and says no matter what, they’re still family. Fatu says they aren’t because Keys is just one of the boys (what Reigns said to him) and wants a street fight tonight.

Here is Judgment Day for a chat. Liv Morgan (sporting a black eye) brags about beating Iyo Sky and doesn’t think she has any challengers at the moment. Morgan praises Raquel Rodriguez for her title win as well and knows Roxanne Perez will take out Sol Ruca.

Sol Ruca vs. Roxanne Perez

We’re joined in progress with Ruca working on the arm and they trade rollups for two each. Perez cartwheels away and slaps her in the face before stopping to pose. Ruca whips her into the corner and grabs a surfboard, followed by a moonsault to drop Perez on the floor. Back in and Perez breaks up the cartwheel DDT and we take a break. We come back with Perez hammering away and, eventually getting an X Factor. Ruca goes up but gets grabbed by Morgan for the DQ at 10:27.

Rating: C+. This was kind of a weird one as you would have thought Ruca was going to get some revenge on the team but instead gets beaten up again. Ruca hasn’t had the best run of success as of late and I’m not sure where she’s going next. At the same time, Morgan needs a new challenger and I was thinking Ruca was on her way there but apparently not so much at the moment.

Post match the beatdown is on but here is the returning Becky Lynch to interrupt. The Man has come back around because she doesn’t want Morgan to go another 100 days without defending her title. Morgan has the worst title reign of all time and it’s not just her saying it. That has Morgan annoyed so she says that Lynch should be back raising her daughter while Morgan is the best Women’s Champion of all time.

Morgan goes to leave but Lynch says Morgan isn’t even the best Women’s Champion to sleep with Dominik Mysterio. That gets a huge OOOO but Stephanie Vaquer is back to run through Judgment Day while Lynch watches on. Lynch and Vaquer stare each other down but don’t come to blows. It’s cool to have Vaquer back but Lynch returning at the same time is going to make Vaquer look smaller by comparison.

We look at Brock Lesnar’s career, including the UFC days, set to I Stand Alone. Unless they have another career highlight package for him set to the same song, this is the same video that aired the night after Wrestlemania, though it does include some clips from his Summerslam match with Oba Femi.

Paul Heyman is watching the video when Femi, in all white, comes in to say he never got to thank Lesnar for his kind words. Femi would like Heyman to thank Lesnar for him, with Heyman saying it would be a pleasure and offering what appears to be a sincere congratulations.

Here is Femi for a chat. He talks about the respect that he and Lesnar have for each other after Summerslam. Femi thought Lesnar knew that he was different after Wrestlemania, but then Lesnar came back and insulted him. Now Femi knows that it was just a test to see if he was that good.

We have an answer to that question and now we have gone from “can Femi swim” to “how long can Femi hold his breath?”. Femi won at Summerslam and passed the test and now the Beast can finally rest. So what’s next? If anyone has a problem with him, they will have to answer to the Ruler. And that’s that, which is good as he doesn’t need to start his new feud immediately. As Femi leaves, the Vision comes out, with Bron Breakker and Femi having a staredown, much to the fans’ interest.

Bron Breakker vs. Joe Hendry

Breakker stares at the entrance with his back to Hendry, who wants to get going. Hendry goes after him but gets dropped with a clothesline. Breakker’s spear hits the steps so Hendry takes out Austin Theory and throws Breakker inside…where the Super Spear finishes for Breakker at 1:39. Yeah that had to happen for Breakker, but dang that’s a bad look for Hendry.

Post match Theory hammers on Hendry until Akira Tozawa runs in for the save.

We look back at Big Cass’ return.

Cass talks about how he’s been gone for eight years and he was left in the dirt. It was nothing personal for Je’Von Evans because Evans was just in the way. Cass is here to stack bodies and Evans won’t be the last. Cass channeling Sid has worked for him before and it can work here again.

Here is new Intercontinental Champion Chad Gable for a chat. Gable wants to thank people who have believed in him over the years. He also wants to thank Penta for their match last night, along with the fans who have stuck with him. Even when he was Shorty G. Gable had promised himself that he would win a singles title here and he is proud to be the Intercontinental Champion.

This brings out Penta to interrupt, as he offers respect to Gable and calls him a true luchador. Gable is touched but here is Judgment Day to interrupt. They don’t like the idea of Gable being called a luchador when Dominik Mysterio is the AAA Mega Champion. The challenge is thrown out so get the referee out here.

Judgment Day vs. Penta/Chad Gable

We’re joined in progress with Penta taking over on Mysterio, who takes him into the corner for the tag off to McDonagh. The beating doesn’t last long as Penta is back up for the tag to Gable. House is quickly cleaned and Penta hits the big flip dive, leaving Gable to Olympic Slam Mysterio for a near fall. McDonagh gets in a headbutt though and a suplex puts Gable down on the floor as we take a break.

We come back with McDonagh’s standing moonsault getting two. Gable gets up again and brings in Penta for the Penta Driver on Mysterio for two more. Gable’s moonsault hits raised boots but he reverses into the ankle lock. McDonagh breaks that up so Mysterio loads up the hammer. Gable cuts that off and takes the hammer away, leaving Penta to hit Mysterio with the belt. The rolling Chaos Theory finishes Mysterio at 10:27.

Rating: B-. Gable gets to celebrate his big win and then win again here, which is a good thing to see. He had an awesome moment in winning the title and following it up was kind of a question mark, as he doesn’t have anything to do at the moment. Judgment Day losing again is hardly a surprise, but Gable vs. Mysterio again in the future could be an option.

We look at CM Punk retaining the Smackdown world Title over Cody Rhodes at Summerslam, thanks to the returning Randy Orton.

Bron Breakker asks Paul Heyman if he should do something about Oba Femi. Breakker also asks where Femi is, but Heyman doesn’t know. That doesn’t work for Breakker, who thought Heyman and Femi were best friends. Heyman knows this isn’t good. As this was going on, Lyra Valkyria and Adam Pearce could be seen arguing in the background.

Jacob Fatu vs. Royce Keys

Street Fight. They slug it out to start until Fatu misses a charge into the post. Fatu shrugs that off and clotheslines Keys out to the floor, setting up the suicide dive. Keys sends him into the steps but Fatu is right back with some rams into the announcers’ table. Fatu’s charge is cut off with a clothesline, followed by a running powerslam through the barricade for the huge crash.

Keys loads up a table, which takes too long as always, allowing Fatu to throw him over the announcers’ table. Some chairs are thrown in, with Keys diving off the announcers’ table with a clothesline. More chairs are throw inside and Keys beats him down with a kendo stick. The table is set up in the corner but Fatu grabs a choke with the kendo stick.

A suplex sends Fatu through some chairs for two but he comes back with the inverted DDT for two more. Fatu goes up but Keys catches him with the super powerslam for a very near fall and we keep going. The USB connects but Fatu pops up again with a Samoan Drop through the table in the corner. The triple jump moonsault sets up a flying….Tongan Death grip to finish Keys at 13:18.

Rating: B. This was designed to make Fatu look like a killing machine again and that’s pretty much what he did, as Fatu kept popping up after everything Keys threw at him. It was quite the smashing with Keys fighting him as hard as he could not but being enough. That’s not great for Keys’ future, but this was Fatu being more like the old monster that got him over in the first place.

Post match Fatu puts it on him again and then hits the running Umaga Attacks in the corner. Fatu wraps the chair around Keys’ throat and hits another Umaga Attack, with Adam Pearce and agents having no way to stop him. Cue Roman Reigns to pose, with Fatu posing back. Reigns leaves and runs into Rey Mysterio, who says he’s the GM of AAA. Mysterio wants to run something by Reigns, who goes with him. I have no idea what that’s going to be, but the fact that the upcoming AAA Worlds Collide event is taking place in the same city on the same day as AEW All Out makes me think we might be getting a guest star.

Overall Rating: B. This show felt similar to the Raw After Wrestlemania, with things wrapping up at Summerslam and moving on to a bunch of new stories. Throw in some returns with Cass, Vaquer and Lynch and this show felt rather strong. The wrestling got better in the end and that made things even better. Good show here which felt like a new start to a lot of things.

Results
Je’Von Evans b. Ethan Page – OG Cutter
Sol Ruca b. Roxanne Perez via DQ when Liv Morgan interfered
Bron Breakker b. Joe Hendry – Super Spear
Penta/Chad Gable b. Judgment Day – Rolling Chaos Theory to Mysterio
Jacob Fatu b. Royce Keys – Tongan Death Grip

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Summerslam 2026 Night One
Date: August 1, 2026
Location: US Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Commentators: Wade Barrett, Michael Cole

It’s the first half of one of the biggest shows of the year and for once we have a genuine double main event. That includes Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar inside the Cell, plus Cody Rhodes challenging CM Punk for the Smackdown World Title. Those two matches should be more than enough to carry the show but the undercard doesn’t look bad either. Let’s get to it.

The wrestlers arrive, with Michael Cole saying the two night Summerslam takes place tonight. That’s not how nights work.

The opening video is hosted by a Minnesota Viking (I believe Justin Jefferson), who talks about the effort that everyone puts in to get here, with the focus on their training.

Raw Women’s Title: Iyo Sky vs. Liv Morgan

Morgan is defending and goes after her to start, only to be knocked into the ropes. Sky dropkicks her out to the floor, where she uses Green Shirt Guy to get on the barricade and dive onto Morgan. Back in and Morgan goes after the banged up ribs to take over, setting up Three Amigos. An enziguri gives Morgan two but Sky is right back up with a flapjack. A missile dropkick has Morgan in more trouble and Sky sunset bombs her out to the floor.

Cue Judgment Day for a distraction to shove Sky off the top for two but Sky is fine enough to send Morgan outside. A moonsault to the floor takes the villains out but Morgan kicks her down back inside. Cole: “You have to give credit to Morgan for staying in this fight thanks to the Judgment Day.” As I try to figure out what we’re crediting Morgan for if the other people did the work, Sky catches her on top with a super Spanish Fly for two and they slug it out.

Oblivion is broken up and Sky faceplants her for two, followed by her own Oblivion for two on Morgan. Over The Moonsault misses though and Sky bangs up her ankle, allowing Morgan’s middle rope Codebreaker to connect for two. They head to the apron with Sky hitting a German suplex, setting up the Bullet Train Attack against the post. That leaves Sky favoring her knee again, meaning Over The Moonsault misses. Back to back Oblivions (though the first one might have been blocked) retain the title at 13:34.

Rating: B. Morgan did a lot better than I was expecting here and it was nice to see her actually defend the title for a change. Beating Sky as close to clean as she got here is a bit of a surprise and it was a good way to open the show. If nothing else, the fans are always going to respond to Morgan and they had a hard hitting match in the process.

Mark Henry, Sean Waltman, Dan Spivey and Jimmy Hart are here.

Bloodline vs. Royce Keys/LA Knight/Solo Sikoa

The Bloodline gets the Gears Of War inspired entrance (never played the games so I’m going to assume the entrance was good). The non Bloodline rush in to start fast and it’s Sikoa hammering on Jey to officially get things going. That lets Sikoa mock Jey’s entrance and even tease running it back. Fatu comes in to hammer on the rather cocky Sikoa and the running Umaga Attack in the corner gets two.

Sikoa punches his way to freedom and it’s a double clothesline to leave both of them down. Keys gets the tag and starts to beat up Jimmy, including a spinebuster. Jimmy finally gets in a shot to the head and goes up, where Keys hits a super fall away slam. Jey comes in to spear Knight for two but Knight runs the corner for the superplex.

It’s time for the parade of secondary finishers until Keys powerslams a charging Fatu into the timekeeper’s area for the awesome crash. Jey spears Knight again and Jimmy’s Superfly Splash gets two. Sikoa is back up to Spike Jimmy though and the BFT to Jey gives Knight the pin at 11:04.

Rating: B-. I’m surprised by the result but it’s nice to see the Bloodline lose for a change, with Knight even getting the pin. That’s a good sign for his future and maybe we can FINALLY get Knight in the main event picture. That powerslam to Fatu looked great too and it’s nice to see things going the other way for once.

Post match Knight eventually hugs Sikoa as a thank you.

Gunther vs. Nick Aldis

Gunther wasn’t happy when Aldis, then Smackdown GM, wouldn’t put him in the World Title match so Gunther attacked him. Now Aldis is back in the ring for one night to get some revenge. Aldis even gets to come to the ring to Oasis and Barrett absolutely loses it. Gunther backs him up against the ropes to start and takes over, allowing for a celebration on the announcers’ table.

Gunther gets back inside and gets suplexed for quite the reaction from the fans. The King’s Lynn (modified Texas) Cloverleaf is broken up though and Gunther chops him out to the floor. We pause for Gunther to yell at Aldis’ wife (Mickie James) and son before he rocks Aldis with another chop.

Aldis’ chop doesn’t do much good as Gunther sends him hard into the corner. A backbreaker works a bit better for Aldis, who tries and fails at the King’s Lynn Cloverleaf again. Gunther’s sleeper is broken up with a ram into the buckle and Aldis hits a nice superplex. The top rope elbow to the back sets up the King’s Lynn Cloverleaf and the fans go nuts, only for Gunther to make the rope. The sleeper is broken up again so Gunther hits a powerbomb into another sleeper, with Aldis tapping at 11:14.

Rating: B. This was pretty much exactly what it was always going to be, with Aldis doing as well as he could have and giving Gunther a sweat before falling in the end. Aldis certainly didn’t embarrass himself out there and had a heck of a match, with the whole thing being about the King’s Lynn Cloverleaf, which just wasn’t enough. Good match, and if Aldis wants to wrestle on occasion, he’ll be fine.

Post match Gunther leaves and Aldis’ family gets in to celebrate with him.

Bella Twins/Paige vs. Fatal Influence

Brie and Henley start things off with Brie taking over off a Russian legsweep. The YES Kicks connect and they quickly go outside, with Brie being sent into the steps. Jayne adds the running cannonball and the villains get to pose. Back in and Reid grabs a chinlock but is smart enough to cut off Paige to prevent the tag. She doesn’t cut Nikki off though and the tag allows Nikki to come in and take over on Reid.

The Rack Attack 2.0 is broken up though and Paige cannonballs off the apron onto Henley. Jayne has to come in for the save so Brie decks her, despite her arm looking like it’s just hanging there. Henley pulls Brie to the floor, leaving Reid to give Nikki a hard knee to the face. But Jayne misses the Rolling Encore. Paige sunset flips her for tow, only to walk into the Rolling Encore for the pin at 7:33.

Rating: C. Well, I’ll certainly take being completely wrong about the result here. I was sure the Bellas would get their big moment but it’s nice to be wrong here. This started off fine but got bad near the end. As usual, the Bellas are only so good in the ring and it doesn’t help when Brie clearly got hurt in the process. Not good here for the most part, but at least it didn’t go on that long.

Post match the winners leave and the Bellas….turn on Paige to lay her out. Nikki says the lesson is to never take her spot. Wait. Does Brie possibly being hut mean we might have to keep waiting on the Bellas to get their big title win? Good grief.

Smackdown World Title: Cody Rhodes vs. CM Punk

Punk is defending and sporting a Minnesota North Stars themed jacket. Since Rhodes is Rhodes though, he gets a big Street Fighter entrance, complete with a themed mask and helmet. They chop it out to start and Punk knocks him into the corner, with Rhodes suddenly favoring his arm. Punk immediately slaps on the hammerlock, which is reversed int a headlock.

That’s broken up so Rhodes sends him into the corner, meaning they can fight over a wristlock. Rhodes takes over and sends him outside, though the arm is still bothering him. Punk gets in a clothesline off the barricade and drops an ax handle to the arm back inside. Another shot drops Rhodes again but Punk comes up favoring his knee. The running bulldog out of the corner is blocked and Rhodes gets in a shinbreaker to start in on the leg. Rhodes gets in a dragon screw legwhip and it’s time to stomp away. A half crab is blocked but Punk can’t hit the GTS.

Punk can break up a Disaster Kick by kicking him out of the air though and they’re both down. That’s enough for Punk to get up and drop the elbow but the GTS is escaped again. The Cody Cutter, Disaster Kick and a top rope Cody Cutter combine for a series of near falls and the Figure Four goes on. Punk turns it over until Rhodes gets to the rope, but another Figure Four attempt is countered. Instead Punk pulls him into the Anaconda Vice, with Rhodes getting out again.

Back up and Rhodes tries a swinging Alabama Slam but without the Alabama or the Slam, as Punk pulls him into another Anaconda Vice. Rhodes gets up and grabs a Cross Rhodes for two so Punk goes up for a moonsault and another near fall. The GTS connects but Punk hurts his knee, allowing Rhodes to kick out. They head outside with the announcers’ table being loaded up. Neither finisher can hit so Rhodes sends him into the steps. Back in and another GTS drops Rhodes, though he’s able to grab the rope for the break this time.

Punk sends him outside again and loads up the top rope elbow…but completely misses Rhodes for the massive crash, with the knee taking most of the impact. Rhodes throws him back inside but accidentally kicks the referee. Punk hits a GTS and tries another, which is reversed into Cross Rhodes. With both of them down, Randy Orton runs in for the surprise return and drops Rhodes with an RKO. Punk, who didn’t seem to see what happened, gets back inside and hits another GTS to retain at 29:45.

Rating: B+. I liked the ending with Orton running in as that’s certainly a big surprise worthy of Summerslam. At the same time, this started rather slowly and eventually worked with the Punk crash through the table being a huge spot. The good thing is that Punk retained in the end as we need a break from Rhodes as champion. Rhodes vs. Orton non-title is fine and should open up some doors for Punk to face a few of those people he’s been talking about. The match took its time to get going but they got it rolling in the end, which is not surprising given the talent involved.

We recap Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi. They’ve fought twice before and split the matches, so it’s time for the two of them to hurt each other really badly inside the Cell.

Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar

In the Cell and Paul Heyman is here with Lesnar. Femi fires off the uppercuts to start so Lesnar snaps off the German suplexes. That’s shrugged off though and Femi clotheslines him out to the floor. A suplex drops Lesnar on the floor and Femi sends him into the steps. Lesnar doesn’t seem to mind as he picks up the steps for some HARD shots to Femi’s head

Another hard shot, this one with a chair, puts Femi down again and Lesnar suplexes him onto the chairs. Femi escapes an F5 though and gets in a chokeslam for the needed breather. Another chokeslam sets up a toss powerbomb as Lesnar is rocked for a change. The Fall From Grace (without the lift) gets two so Lesnar does and Undertaker sit up and hits an F5, but Femi pops up.

Lesnar does it again and Femi pops up again, so it’s a third F5 to finally get two. The frustrated Lesnar rips up the mat and exposes the boards, with a Tombstone onto the exposed wood (yes including the tongue out) gets two. Femi has had it and pops up, knocks a chair out of Lesnar’s hands, and hits a Fall From Grace for the pin at 11:41.

Rating: B+. Yeah it was kind of short, but this isn’t the sort of match that needs to go long. Sometimes you need to get in there and get out and that was the case with this match. Femi survived everything from Lesnar and won clean in the end, though I was expecting it to take a bit more. There was no reason for Lesnar to win here so it was cool to see them do the right thing in the end.

Post match the Cell is raised and Lesnar leaves, but comes back to hug Femi. Lesnar grabs the mic and offers congratulations and calls Femi the future. He himself is the past and Femi is the future. That felt like a retirement, but then again so did Wrestlemania so we’ll have to wait and see

Overall Rating: B+. It was another rather good one night event, which has me scared for the second night. The good thing is the big matches delivered and most of the rest worked too, though there was nothing that stole the show. I’ll take a show that is a steady supply of good though, even with the constant breaks and ads and all that time being wasted. The show was a strong one though and it was over before 9:15, which I’ll take any day. Rather good first half for Summerslam here.

Results
Liv Morgan b. Iyo Sky – Oblivion
LA Knight/Royce Keys/Solo Sikoa b. Bloodline – BFT to Jey
Gunther b. LA Knight – Sleeper
Fatal Influence b. Bella Twins/Paige – Rolling Encore to Paige
CM Punk b. Cody Rhodes – GTS
Oba Femi b. Brock Lesnar – Fall From Grace

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Summerslam 2025 Night One
Date: August 2, 2025
Location: Metlife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey
Attendance: 53,161
Commentators: Michael Cole, Wade Barrett

So for the first time ever, Summerslam is a double night show and that means we might be up to ten total matches! The main event for the first night is CM Punk challenging Gunther for the Raw World Title, which should be a heck of a fight if they are able to get enough time. Other than that, Jelly Roll has a match because of course he does. Let’s get to it.

Breland singe God Bless America.

Someone I don’t know named Druski talks about how huge some of these moments are going to be. The focus is on making moments, because going viral matters more than anything else these days.

Here is host Cardi B in a ery feathery dress. She hypes up the crowd and…that’s it.

Jey Uso/Roman Reigns vs. Bron Breakker/Bronson Reed

Paul Heyman is here with Breakker/Reed, the latter of whom stole Reigns’ shoes to be a real jerk. They pair off to start and Uso and Reigns clear the ring so let’s run that Uso entrance back. Reigns gets pulled out to the floor so Uso dives onto all three for quite the crash. The really big running clothesline hits Uso back inside and it’s off to Breakker, with Breakker getting a running start to hit the flying tackle on Reigns.

Back in and Breakker gives Uso a World’s Strongest Slam, setting up the pushups and pose. A double splash crushes Uso and it’s Breakker grabbing a chinlock, allowing him to sing a mocking song to Reigns (Barrett finds this questionable). Breakker knocks Uso outside but misses the big diving clothesline, sending him crashing into the announcers’ table. That’s still not enough for the tag as Reed runs over to pull Reigns off the apron, with Breakker tackling Uso at the same time.

A ticked off Reigns gets up as Uso knocks Reed down, allowing the tag back to Reigns. It’s Summerslam so Reigns busts out the big dive, with Reigns overshooting the two of them and thankfully rolling in time to prevent a massive faceplant. Back in and Reigns gives Breakker a release Rock Bottom but Reed knocks Reigns down. Uso is back in with an enziguri, earning himself a big running clothesline.

Reed isn’t done and hits a heck of a suicide dive, followed by Breakker hitting his big running clothesline to knock Reigns over the announcers’ table. Back in and a Steiner Bulldog hits Uso but Reigns is back up with the Superman Punch. The spear sends Breakker through the barricade, leaving an annoyed Heyman to tell Reed to finish him off.

The Tsunami is broken up with a Superman Punch and the 1D gets two with Breakker making another save. Breakker is up and pulls his straps up, only so he can pull them back down. The spear is loaded up but Reigns takes the bullet for Uso, who knocks Breakker outside. Reed is Superfly Splashed for the pin at 21:07.

Rating: B+. These guys beat the fire out of each other and it was an awesome opener with Breakker looking even more like a freak of nature. The big focus here was Reigns putting his body on the line for the sake of Uso and it made for a good story. Very exciting match here, with even the long Uso heat segment not being able to drag it down.

We recap the Women’s Tag Team Titles. Roxanne Perez is replacing Liv Morgan as Raquel Rodriguez’s championship partner. Alexa Bliss has attempted to befriend Charlotte, who really doesn’t want friends but does want gold, so they’ll get along for the time being.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Alexa Bliss/Charlotte vs. Judgment Day

Judgment Day is defending and naturally Charlotte and Bliss have issues deciding who starts. That results in Bliss being taken into the corner early on but it’s quickly off to Charlotte. Rodriguez gets in a clothesline from the apron though and gets to come in for some heavy stomping. Perez chokes away and it’s back to Rodriguez for a chinlock.

That’s broken up as well though and it’s Bliss coming back in for the comeback. A rake to the eyes breaks up Sister Abigail though and Twisted Bliss is blocked as well. Rodriguez drops Bliss with a clothesline and the champions take over again. A big boot and Russian legsweep get two on Bliss and Perez grabs the reverse chinlock.

Bliss fights up and brings in Charlotte to clean house. Everything breaks down and Bliss accidentally hits Charlotte, who gets planted with the Tejana Bomb. Pop Rox connects but Bliss makes the save with a running Blockbuster. Charlotte boots Rodriguez down and Sister Abigail finishes Perez for the titles at 13:31.

Rating: B. Bliss deserves a medal for what she has managed to do with Charlotte. These two took what felt like it should have been a short form story and turned it into an actual something. Above all else though, that something has turned Charlotte into a completely different version of herself and it is working so well. The match was good too, as both teams have chemistry and you could see the story they were telling.

Sami Zayn vs. Karrion Kross

Scarlett is here with Kross, who has been trying to get Zayn to embrace his dark side and if he loses here, he has to admit that he’s wrong. Zayn knocks him outside to start and hits the moonsault off of the barricade. Back in and a Death Valley Driver gives Kross two and he strikes away in the corner.

The t-bone suplex gets two but Zayn fights back with the ax handles. Some right handles in the corner are broken up so Kross knocks him down. Scarlett gives Kross the pipe and distracts the referee, only for Zayn to grab the Blue Thunder Bomb for two. Zayn strikes away in the ropes and goes for the pipe, which he throws down. Instead it’s the Helluva Kick to finish Kross at 8:12.

Rating: C+. This was Zayn getting his chance to show that good can win over evil and that’s where he tends to shine. Zayn knows how to overcome the odds like few others and it worked here. Kross would be done with WWE after this match, as his second run with the company ended about the same as the first.

We get a tribute to Hulk Hogan, with Michael Cole talking about what Hogan did at Summerslam over the years.

We recap Jade Cargill challenging Tiffany Stratton for the Smackdown Women’s Title. Stratton cashed in Money In The Bank and is described as someone who stole the title and needs to prove herself, despite doing so over and over. Cargill is the unstoppable new star and Stratton appears to be in trouble.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Tiffany Stratton vs. Jade Cargill

Cargill is challenging and we get the Big Match Intros. They waste no time in going outside, with Cargill taking over and suplexing her down for a nip up. Back in and Stratton knocks her down for a change, setting up a Swanton. Cargill gets in another shot in the corner though and the Eye Of The Storm gets two.

A suplex puts Stratton down again but she reverses a chokeslam with a hurricanrana. Stratton’s not great Alabama Slam connects but Cargill gets the feet up to block the Prettiest Moonsault Ever. Jaded connects, with the cover pulling Stratton’s feet into the ropes. Now the chokeslam connects but a super Jaded is countered. The Prettiest Moonsault Ever retains the title at 6:57.

Rating: C+. As much as WWE seems to want this to be the big rivalry of the future for the division, I really don’t see it happening. The chemistry isn’t there and while Stratton is better than Cargill in the ring, she’s not quite good enough to carry this to greatness. It’s not bad and Stratton gets a nice win, though Cargill clearly wasn’t ready for this big of a spot yet.

We recap Jelly Roll/Randy Orton vs. Logan Paul/Drew McIntyre. Paul didn’t like Roll showing up and getting so much attention so Orton yelled at Paul about it. Paul fought back and McIntyre got involved as well, setting up the big celebrity tag match where all three of the wrestlers deserved better on this show.

Jelly Roll/Randy Orton vs. Logan Paul/Drew McIntyre

Paul jumps Roll from behind before the bell so Roll tags himself in at the bell. Some kicks to the ribs have Roll in trouble but he fights up, causing Paul to bring in McIntyre. Orton begs for a tag but Roll wants to stay in, meaning Orton gives him a pep talk instead. Roll realizes he’s in trouble as he slugs away, only to get dropped with the Glasgow Kiss.

McIntyre slowly pounds Roll down (McIntyre: “I hear voices. They say YOU’RE SCREWED!”) and brings Paul back in for a double suplex. Roll fights out of trouble and gets over for the tag, with Orton giving McIntyre a hanging DDT. They head outside, where McIntyre is dropped onto the announcers’ table, but Paul distracts Orton. That’s enough for a Claymore from McIntyre and Paul takes Roll down as well.

The big right hand puts Roll down and McIntyre puts him onto the announcers’ table, leaving Paul to go up. After a toast of Prime, Paul hits the highe splash through the table and they’re both down. Paul gets up and Roll is taken out, leaving Orton to get beaten down. The Blockbuster gives Paul two but Orton is able to get in a top rope superplex to McIntyre.

Somehow Roll is still at ringside and says he’s going back to the ring, where he gets on the apron. Roll comes back in with a chokeslam to Paul and a Boss Man Slam to McIntyre. Orton is back in and takes out McIntyre, only to be sent outside. Paul drops Roll and gives him the frog splash for the pin at 17:05.

Rating: C. It was….fine. There were big spots in there and Roll wasn’t bad but ultimately it was nothing more than just ok. The problem here continues to be that the focus was ENTIRELY on Jelly Roll, which doesn’t make for a good tag match. It’s like a bunch of big stars had to stop what they were doing so he could play too and that’s not good for the second biggest match at Summerslam. It’s a case of focusing on the celebrity rather than the wrestling and that gets annoying fast. Roll did well enough, but this felt like a miscast Smackdown main event.

We recap CM Punk vs. Gunther for the Raw World Title. Punk has won a bunch of feuds since he came back and now he wants some gold. After winning a #1 contenders match, the match was set, with Gunther pointing out that they both consider themselves the best in the world. This basically boils down to Punk wanting to show he can still do it and Gunther wanting to smash through him.

Raw World Title: CM Punk vs. Gunther

Gunther is defending and they take their time to start. Punk gets backed up against the rope but avoids the big chop as he knows the big weapon he has to dodge. They take turns going after the arm and Punk blocks another chop, which might have hurt Gunther’s own hand. Back up and the big chop out of the corner finally connects to put Punk down hard.

Punk goes back to the arm until Gunther ties him in the Tree Of Woe for some big chops, including one to the leg. The regular chop to the chest has Punk down again and Gunther drops him a second time just to prove his point. They fight over an abdominal stretch until Punk tries a GTS, with Gunther escaping and trying the sleeper. That doesn’t work either so Gunther boots him in the face to take over again.

Another chop ties Punk in the ropes for the Terry Funk teeter totter spot, with Punk making it look more like death than a joke. The reverse chinlock goes on, followed by a Sharpshooter to put Punk in even more trouble. Somehow Punk powers out and reverses into a Sharpshooter of his own, sending Gunther over to the rope. Gunther chops him down again but Punk is back up with some strikes of his own into a swinging neckbreaker.

Punk’s running knee in the corner is countered into a powerbomb for two and they both need a breather. Another knockdown lets Gunther hit the top rope splash for two and Gunther is getting frustrated. The big clothesline puts him down and Gunther hits the even bigger version to make it worse. The dropkick into the corner sets up another powerbomb for another two, leaving Gunther stunned.

More chops have Punk in more trouble and Gunther knocks him outside. The announcers’ table is loaded up but Gunther takes too long posing and gets dropped onto said table. Gunther comes up and is cut open BAD and Punk goes after the cut back inside. The top rope elbow connects but Gunther pulls the GTS into the sleeper. That’s reversed into a GTS and Gunther is out on his feet, meaning it’s a second GTS to give Punk the pin and the title at 30:21.

Rating: A-. This was a war, with Punk trying to stop the monster and getting the fire beaten out of him, only for Gunther to get just a bit too cocky. That let Punk get in his big shot and finally unload on Gunther enough to beat him. It worked well and kept up the idea of Gunther not being at his best on the big stage, which is an interesting recurring theme for him. Awesome match here as Punk continues to absolutely bring it in the big spots.

Post match Punk gets the title in a very emotional moment…and here is Seth Rollins, on crutches, with Paul Heyman holding up the Money In The Bank briefcase. Rollins shouts a lot, goes to leave, and then throws his crutches down. The knee brace is removed and Rollins comes to the ring and we’re ready to go.

Raw World Title: Seth Rollins vs. CM Punk

Punk is defending and tries a GTS but Rollins hits him with the briefcase over and over. NOW we get the cash in and opening bell, meaning the Stomp gives Rollins the title back at 11 seconds. This was the big culmination of “Did Rollins fake a knee injury or not” and apparently he did, as they recreate the Wrestlemania XXXI ending and continue the neverending Punk vs. Rollins feud.

The Vision comes out to celebrate to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. This was a rather strong show, even if it weakened a bit in the middle. The opening two matches and the (advertised) main event are all more than good and it made up for the weaker (but still fine) middle of the card. If you mix this in with the top half of the second night of the show, it’s an all timer, but that’s not how we do things at major events these days. Still though, good stuff here and this worked well.

Results
Roman Reigns/Jey Uso b. Bron Breakker/Bronson Reed – Superfly Splash to Reed
Charlotte/Alexa Bliss b. Judgment Day – Sister Abigail to Perez
Sami Zayn b. Karrion Kross – Helluva Kick
Tiffany Stratton b. Jade Cargill – Prettiest Moonsault Ever
Logan Paul/Drew McIntyre b. Jelly Roll/Randy Orton – Frog splash to Roll
CM Punk b. Gunther – GTS
Seth Rollins b. CM Punk – Stomp

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