WWE Monday Night Raw Review – 4.27.26

It’s Monday night and time for another edition of Raw. I hear a rumor that if you say his name… I guess we’ll see.

The last week in the WWEverse: Raw / Hulk Hogan: Real American (Ep 1, 2, 3 and 4) / NXT Revenge Week Two / Evolve / Impact / SmackDown / Lucha Libre AAA

Then, Now, Forever, Together. As Paul Heyman requested last week, Brock Lesnar has been moved to the “Forever” part.

We begin with a prerecorded vignette of WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns, Main Event Jey Uso and Big Jim Uso at a conference table. The OTC asks his cousins where they think cousin Jacob is coming from. Jimmy says he understands that Jacob wants to upgrade his household but it shouldn’t be at Roman’s expense. Jey calls Jacob dangerous, unpredictable and unhinged. Jey says Jacob gets it all – family name and all – if he beats Roman. Jey yells that there have to be consequences to this. Roman: “We ain’t doing charity. You’re right.” I liked this. Jey’s good at this kind of stuff.

This is sold-out Laredo, Texas. We’re live on Netflix and presented by DoorDash.

Seth Freakin’ Rollins is our first guest tonight, coming out to the flames and singalong as always. I miss Seth wearing colorful outfits. He says he has a lot to cover. He didn’t lose to Gunther because Gunther was better, there’s a reason that Roman is walking around with his championship. Those reasons all come together to be named Bron Breakker. Seth says Bron has nine staples in his head thanks to the chairshot last week and calls him on out. Bron Breakker and WWE Hall of Famer Paul Heyman march to the ring to respond and Bron walks right up to Seth for a stare. Seth tells Bron that he gave him everything and in return Bron took everything from him. Bron questions what Seth actually gave him because he and Bronson Reed felt like Seth’s errand boy putting out his fires. Bron did it because he needed Heyman.

Seth calls Paul a dried up bag of meat and wants to walk down memory lane. Seth remembers calling Shawn Michaels and asking to fight his best man, and Shawn names Bron. Seth remembers asking Paul who to take under his wing and Seth saying “hell yeah” to it being Bron. He knows Bron has everything that it takes to be the biggest new star in the industry except for a brain. Bron tries, he succeeds. “Breakker, you are not ready.” Bron says he was well on his way to be a main eventer before “all of this” and says Seth’s shoulder can’t handle the weight of a belt. “That was pretty good, Baby Steiner. Did you come up with that one on your own or did you call Big Poppa Pump for your hookup?” Seth says he’s giving Bron a shot to prove he is ready in two weeks at Backlash. This was… long. It didn’t work for me. Maybe I’m tired of the opening Seth promos, maybe Bron has an uphill climb for me after Oba and Trick have leaped over him in his absence. Maybe I’m just tired of these two men being in each other’s orbit.

Arrivals! Bayley and Lyra Valkyria! Joe Hendry! WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch! Stephanie Vaquer who is attacked by Raquel Rodriguez. Roxanne Perez shoves a conveniently placed storage case into Vaquer and WWE Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan tells her that this is her championship.

WWE Intercontinental Champion Penta vs Rusev

You may remember this match from about half a year ago when it happened twice on this show, once in September and once in October being spun into a triple threat match with Dominik Mysterio. Cole frames this as Rusev trying to win an opportunity at a title shot against Rusev. I imagine our road leads to Rusev/Page vs Penta/Evans before we get to that. Speaking of the devil, Ethan Page gets an entrance and takes a seat ringside to watch the match. Rusev slams Penta around a bit before tumbling outside and Penta leaping onto him. Penta gets in Page’s face and is grabbed by Rusev, who still can’t take advantage of it and gets superkicked. Back in the ring, Rusev does slam Penta to the mat as the fans boo, we go to a replay and a commercial break.

After the break, Penta crossbodies Rusev and drops the corner boots for a mere one count. Rusev takes Penta down for a kick and calls for the Accolade, taking far too long and Penta slipping behind him to roll him up for a three. That Rusev, never winning the big one.

Rusev attacks after the match and Ethan Page joins in the beatdown. Guess who makes the save? If you can connect the very clear dots we’ve been given, you know it is Je’Von Evans. Another in a line of great OG Cutters from Je’Von, this time on Rusev.

Penta pins Rusev. This was fine, there was zero doubt where it was leading or what is next because we follow a specific formula here. We’ll have a tag match in a week or two, then they’ll do some singles matches. Rinse and repeat.

Michael Cole and Corey Graves greet us from ringside and hype the Hulk Hogan documentary. I bet it would give us some passionate discourse here if it was reviewed in not one, not two, not three, but four parts.

El Grande Americano, Rayo Americano and Bravo Americano share pre-recorded comments in Spanish and English. EGA hypes his upcoming mask versus mask match against Original El Grande Americano, but he has to be ready to fight for his name. He issues a challenge to Rey Mysterio to get ready for it tonight.

WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch joins us in the arena, probably to gloat about that championship she regained at WrestleMania. Becky is in her ring gear tonight, so perhaps something is about to happen. She welcomes us to a new era where she finally has gotten rid of AJ Lee and became the first person to win four different titles at WrestleMania, winning more WrestleMania matches in history than any other woman. She looked out and saw her baby girl sitting from row and walked her up the ramp, realizing she needed to show her what a real champion is. It’s about showing up in rundown towns like Laredo and wrestling in front of common folk. She issues an open challenge to anyone new and shiny who wants to come out and be welcomed to the Big Time.

Iyo Sky heads out and accepts. Becky laughs. “You accept what? I said I wanted the best of the best, I wanted new, I wanted shiny. You are none of those things.” Becky says she understands, Iyo accepts on the part of Rhea Ripley. “I wanted to fight Shawn Michaels, not Marty Jannetty.” Well damn. Iyo slaps and Becky heads out, only for Raw General Manager Adam Pearce to come out and makes it official and calls for a referee. Vicky D’Errico heads out to referee. I smell shenanigans.

WWE Women’s Intercontinental Championship: WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch vs Iyo Sky

These two have one singles match in their past, on “WrestleMania Raw” in March 2023. Michael Cole mentions Iyo taking out the Kabuki Warriors, a tag team that once existed, with Corey thinking it’ll be a long time before senpai Asuka sees her former charge again. After a few minutes of fighting outside and back inside, Iyo nails the missile dropkick and emotes. She nails a Bullet Train for a two. Becky tries a Manhandle Slam, Iyo rolls it into a stop and Becky rolls out. Becky intercepts a suicide dive but that doesn’t stop Iyo from catching her with a sunset flip bomb onto the outside to send us to a break.

Becky’s in control again when we return and the fans are chanting “this is awesome.” Iyo rolls through another Manhandle Slam attempt and superkicks Becky, dropping her with a backbreaker for a two count. Iyo tries to go up top and Becky quickly follows her, being pulled into a tornado DDT. Iyo heads up again and goes for the Over the Moonsault, landing on Lynch’s knees. Manhandle Slam and a near fall, Becky giving us “shocked face.” Becky goes up for her own moonsault, Iyo knocking her to the outside and moonsaulting in her general area. As the ref checks on Becky, Asuka runs out to pull Iyo to the apron. Becky hits a Manhandle Slam and that’s your three.

Becky Lynch pins Iyo Sky to retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship. Fantastic match. Seek this one out, whether on YouTube or Netflix.

Asuka comes in for the post-match attack, locking on the Asuka Lock. Vicky pulls Asuka off and Asuka poses over Iyo’s body.

Original El Grande Americano talks with WWE Hall of Famer Rey Mysterio in the locker room. Rey tells OG EGA that he just wants them both to respect lucha libre. El Grande Americano and Los Americanos barge in and accuse Rey of fraternizing with the enemy. Rey says he isn’t choosing sides.

Byron Saxton has caught up with The Usos. L.A. Knight interrupts and laughs at them sitting at the table again, reminding Jey that he is a former World Heavyweight Champion and Jimmy has all the potential to win the gold. Jey tells Knight to stay in his lane.

The great Alicia Taylor introduces Joe Hendry, mid-ring with guitar. He sings that he has signed to Raw. He acknowledges the OTC and asks for Adam Pearce to fire Logan Paul, getting the fans to sing “can we fire Logan Paul.” Michael Cole is leaning in way too much on this and it isn’t helping. The angry WWE World Tag Team Champions Logan Paul and Austin Theory come out, Logan yelling that he can’t be fired. They declare themselves winners and Joe argues it, calling them prime time losers after WrestleMania. Theory shoves Hendry, Hendry attacks. The Vision outnumber the former TNA World Champion before the Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) run out for the save. Hendry and the Profits do the Hendry wave. A good first showing for Hendry, even if Cole was a big heavy-handed with the commentary support.

LJN Wave 2 figures are now available at Target! It’s your last chance to get a LJN figure before you save up for the big wave 3 Jelly Roll figure.

Grayson Waller complains to Adam Pearce. Oba Femi appears behind Waller and offers him an opportunity tonight. It is official.

Hendry and the Profits walk backstage, singing about firing Logan Paul. Hendry leaves and up walks Seth Rollins. They tell Seth it isn’t about him and leave.

WWE Hall of Famer Rey Mysterio vs El Grande Americano (with Rayo & Bravo Americano)

We are lucky to have a match between two living lucha legends on Raw. This is a first-time match for these two in a singles match. Some would tell you they’ve met once before on SmackDown in 2022, but those people would be silly as EGA was busy being a lucha legend at the time. The height difference almost feels like Rey is in there with Undertaker. After a break, EGA chops Rey in the corner and runs right into a boot. Rey springboards into EGA who catches him, then Rey spins it into a beautiful DDT. Rey dropkicks EGA into 619 position, Bravo trips Rey. As the referee checks on Bravo, Rayo tries to stick the metal plate in EGA’s mask, but Rey stops him. EGA picks up the plate, and Original El Grande Americano pops up to grab it, distracting EGA and rolling him into the 619 and the flying crossbody for the pin. Rey grabs the plate after the match and motions at Original EGA, shoving it into his tights and leaving. Well, the only steel plate in the entire world is leaving in Rey’s tights.

Rey Mysterio pins El Grande Americano. This was okay, never really got into anything exciting but it was just a leadup for…

EGA and Original EGA brawl in the ring, the entire ref and official squad pulling them apart. Not as grand as their epic AAA brawl, but I’m glad it happened. I do appreciate that Rey is frustrated with both Grande Americanos.

Iyo/Asuka and Seth/Bron are made official for Backlash. Asuka already has a heavily edited video package ready and tells Iyo that she’s alone again because she didn’t want a second Iyo and nothing will stop her from destroying Iyo at Backlash.

Oba Femi vs Grayson Waller

This is not going to end well for young Waller. Oba gets the chants even before his music starts. This is their first televised singles match, though Oba defeated Grayson twice in singles matches at NXT live events and they’ve crossed paths in a few multi-man matches. The fans chant “Oba’s gonna kill you” as Oba runs over Waller in the corner. Femi catches Waller and tosses him across the ring, hits the running uppercut and the Fall From Grace for the easy three.

Oba Femi pins Grayson Waller. Perfect. Just keep letting the big man squash people for a while. I do hope Waller gets some actual shine down the line because he’s entertaining, but tonight’s not the night.

Oba grabs a mic and says he has created a solution to the lack of opportunity. He says today starts the Oba Femi Open Challenge. Any man who wants to prove himself should step up but promises to be merciless and punish them. “You’re not stepping in with just any man; you’re stepping in with the ruler Oba Femi.” A perfect way to let him run through some guys until something bigger opens up.

The Judgment Day ladies chat in the JD Clubhouse. Liv asks for a minute alone with Rox and wants to continue the conversation they were having when Vaquer smashed their heads together. Liv apologizes for what happened with Finn and tells Rox that she also watched from home, but when Finn brought Rox in. She promises to be in Rox’s corner tonight as she gets closer to tag gold. “Do you trust me, my little Roxy?” Rox nods her head and says she needs a second. Liv leaves and Rox turns around to find Finn Balor. He tells Rox she can’t trust Liv or anyone in Judgment Day. She questions if it is Raquel and Liv that she can’t trust or Finn.

Bayley & Lyra Valkyria vs The Judgment Day (Roxanne Perez & Raquel Rodriguez with WWE Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan)

We last saw this matchup in October on Raw and I feel like we’ve seen endless variations of Bayley & Lyra against Judgment Day women over the last year. Cole notes Stephanie has a sprain from the earlier attack and may be out “for some time.” The fans chant for Rox, a hometown girl, and she gets it to a standing ovation. Lyra and Bayley work over Rox to the crowd’s displeasure. Raquel grabs Bayley off the apron and smacks her into the ringpost for our ad break moment.

Lyra’s taking out the JD ladies to solid booing when we come back. She crossbodies Raquel outside nad leaves us with Rox and Bayley. Liv jumps on the apron and distracts Rox, giving Rox the chance to hit the Shining Wizard and PopRox for the pin. The hometown girl gets the win.

Roxanne Perez pins Bayley, Judgment Day defeat Bayley & Valkyria. I kinda didn’t get into this one, not going to lie. I just feel like I’ve seen it. 58 times. The crowd reacting to Rox was cool.

Here’s a look at Sol Ruca doing cool So Ruca things. Next week, she’ll officially sign her Raw contract.

WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns joins us in the arena to OTC chants and fingers in the air. I’m glad he’s returned to the more dramatic theme recently as this evolves. Lots of chants and signing for the Tribal Chief. “They made this title in spite of me. They made this title to try to take away from my shine but it never worked. The title don’t make the man, the man makes the title.” It does look good on him. He put it on night two of WrestleMania and made it relevant. Now you can respect the title and choose to acknowledge it.

Jacob Fatu is out for our big talk. Jacob says Roman must be stuck in Tribal Chief land and says that he’s been grinding for twelve years while the Bloodline was doing their thing in the WWE. Roman, Jimmy, Jey never called him before he made it to WWE but Solo did. Roman says Solo couldn’t even get a cup of coffee delivered to the building. He tells Jacob that he hasn’t earned it and it would be nepotism if he let him. Jacob attacks and hooks on the Tongan Death Grip, headbutting Roman and saying he’s taking everything from him. He picks up the belt and tosses it at Roman, leaving the downed Tribal Chief to solid booing. Roman yells for Jacob and says he’ll see him at Backlash. Jacob tells the camera he’ll see Roman here next week. Where were Jimmy and Jey during all of this? This was good though, it made Jacob look like a killer.

Overall, it’s a show tonight that feels like a Raw that is going through some changes. There’s some stuff happening that has been happening since I started reviewing this show a year ago. Bayley and Lyra against the Judgment Day! Rusev trying to win the Intercontinental Title! Seth Rollins and Bron Breakker! There are a few fresh wrinkles to the stories at least. Meanwhile, we have things that feel refreshed just with some new faces, like Oba smashing people, Joe Hendry winning over the fans, the Street Profits having a new home and Jacob Fatu throwing new wrinkles yet again into the long-running Bloodline saga. I hope the older things keep evolving into newer interesting things. There are plenty of fresh matchups they could do, but they’ll have to keep fleshing out the various divisions to make that happen. Iyo vs Becky was the standout match of the show and the only one you need to immediately seek out.