WWE Monday Night Raw Review – 7.20.26

Saturday Night’s Main Event has once again happened and now we’re in the final countdown to SummerSlam. Will Raw offer up something interesting tonight or will it be another standard, by the numbers edition? I know how I’m betting!

The last week: Raw / NXT / Evolve / Main Event / Impact / SmackDown / Saturday Night’s Main Event / Lucha Libre AAA

Then, Now, Forever, Together.

Here’s a look at Saturday Night’s Main Event with celebrities and news quotes. Why is Forbes reporting on Nick Aldis? Clicks, baby!

THIS is Detroit, Michigan. Tonight we’re at the Little Caesars Arena – pizza pizza! – with 11,000 fans on hand live on Netflix and presented by DoorDash. Little Caesars is the best pizza ever exactly twice a year when that craving hits.

Arrivals! The Vision, Penta, Chad Gable, Jimmy Uso, Jacob Fatu, L.A. Knight, and Royce Keys have all arrived. They’ll all be doing things tonight!

Je’Von Evans & Dragon Lee vs WWE World Tag Team Champions The Vision (Bron Breakker & Austin Theory with Logan Paul and Maxxine Dupri)

We are starting off with… a match? Where is my Seth Rollins fifteen minute promo I was promised? I’m so confused. Well, at least we’re getting our mandatory weekly dose of the Vision out of the way early. Evans and Lee start things off by leaping outside onto their opponents. Lee nails Theory with a basement dropkick that can only get a one count. Lee ranas Theory and tags in Je’Von as commentary notices Paul Heyman is MIA tonight. Some of us watched the show last week and remember Paul saying that they don’t need him because they have Maxxine. Bron gets a blind tag and plants Je’Von. Evans flips out of his way and tags in Lee as the fans are very alive for this one with lots of chanting, mostly for Je’Von. Lee drops Bron with a flying DDT for a two count. Lee leaps right into Bron’s arms and a slam, the fans barking and us taking our first eight-commercial break of the night ten minutes in.

We come back to Je’Von getting the hot tag and running wild, ducking a clothesline from Theory and turning it into a Stunner that Theory sells wonderfully. Evans gets “outside” onto Theory and dodges a charging Bron before circling the ring and leaping into that timekeeper’s area and onto Bron. Evans springboards onto Theory for a two count. Lee tags in as Logan distracts the referee, giving Bron a chance to take Lee’s head off. Theory gets a two and Bron spears Je’Von, tagging in and getting the speed up to break Dragon Lee in half with one as well.

Bron Breakker pins Dragon Lee, The Vision defeats Evans & Lee.

Post-match, here’s Alpha Academy (Otis & Akira Tozawa) for the save. Tozawa leaps outside onto Bron and Otis attacks Theory. Maxxine comes in to slap Otis and then ducks out. Bron tries to sneak in and Otis smashes him down. Otis clears the announce table and sets up a power bomb on Theory, Bron run with the spear. Otis crawls in the ring to try to get to Theory as Maxxine watches from the top rope. Bron gets the super speed spear on Otis as Maxxine leaps into Theory’s arms. The match was good and I mostly liked the results of the post-match stuff. Bring on the tag title match.

Fanatics Fest happened. Here’s some footage of Tom Brady slapping Logan.

Judgment Day confront Danhausen backstage, threatening him if he doesn’t give them his money. Dom gives Danhausen thirty seconds to find it.

Here’s our second package on Big Cass, a man who is large which is a thing you cannot teach. “Even if you haven’t reached the top, you have no idea just how far you can fall.”

After that break, here’s a look at Danhausen’s weekend in New York City. A parade, a blimp, the other KAT!

Back in the arena, here’s Danhausen to a chanting crowd. He marches on the stage with a large bag. “Hello, Detroithausen!” He tells us that he took care of the Judgment Day but they still want their human monies, causing quite a problem for him. He doesn’t want it but doesn’t want the Judgment Day to have it so offers human monies to the fanhausens. As you’d expect, this brings us The Judgment Day (AAA Mega Champion Dominik Mysterio, WWE Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan and JD McDonagh) yelling for their money. Danhausen yells that they’re cursed and they stomp him down as Liv laughs. Liv gives Danhausen a slap and Joe Hendry is here for the save, tossing JD out and slamming Mysterio as Liv grabs the bag and runs.

Here’s part three of the Reigns vs Rollins recap series, Seth cashing in at WrestleMania.

Judgment Day celebrates and come across Raw General Manager Adam Pearce, yelling as he does, as well as Danhausen and Hendry. JD reaches in and finds fake money. JD tosses the bag and we reveal Oba Femi who threatens to kill JD. Pearce sets up a match right now and Dom says it isn’t fair. Pearce agrees, setting up Dom vs Hendry tonight. It’s a good thing they didn’t announce any women’s matches tonight so Pearce had room to add two more men’s matches on the fly!

King of the Ring Oba Femi vs JD McDonagh

I don’t like young JD’s chances here. We return from break to Judgment Day arguing with Pearce and Danhausen and Hendry coming to toss them in the ring. Oba tosses Dom back out. Oba tosses JD across the ring. Oba smashes JD with a Fall From Grace. Oba wins.

Oba Femi pins JD McDonagh. As usual with Oba, what it needed to be.

Darius Rucker will be at SummerSlam Sunday to sing the National Anthem. The Dolphins once made him cry.

L.A. Knight is talking with Royce Keys backstage.

Michael Cole and Corey Graves greet us from ringside but are interrupted by a large man in a red suit strutting in front of their camera shot. Solo Sikoa tells us he isn’t even supposed to be here but wants Seth Rollins out here right now. Seth Rollins comes on out but takes his time so the fans can sing. I badly need Seth to find some color for his wardrobe again outside of black and brown. Seth welcomes Solo to Monday Night Rollins and asks what he can do for him. “Are we talking or are we fighting?” Solo says he is here to talk. He reminds Seth that it isn’t just Seth vs Roman at SummerSlam, it is Seth vs the entire Bloodline. Solo knows how they think because he was a part of it. He tells Seth that he can watch his back and the fans boo. The disrespect for Solo. The fans chant “OTC” and Seth says Solo makes a lot of good points. “Let me think about it, Uce.” Solo stops Seth from leaving. “The same thing you did for Cody years ago to beat Roman? I can do the same thing for you!” Jacob Fatu marches down, Solo ducks right on out into the timekeeper’s area. Fatu turns around into a kick from Rollins and heads out as well. Well, that wasn’t very effective for the Werewolf.

And now, the Highlight of the Night presented by Chime. Chad Gable and Penta talk at the SummerSlam Kickoff. Sure, these two guys calmly talking is the highlight of an event where Nick Aldis and Gunther brawled again and had a match announced.

WWE Unreal season three debuts tomorrow on Netflix. Here’s a clip of CM Punk telling John Cena that he will miss him.

Chad Gable & WWE Intercontinental Champion Penta vs Ethan Page & Rusev

How lucky we are to have this match on Rusev Day of all days. I wonder if Gable and Penta can co-exist. We last had a match with SummerSlam partners trying to co-exist on Saturday. Rusev and Page attack to begin, double teaming Penta as Graves tries to explain that Penta and Gable are allowing each other to study as they team together. We take a break and come back to the same thing we had going on three minutes ago, Rusev beating up Penta. Penta rallies with a dive and gets the hot tag to Gable as Ego also tags in. Gable suplexes Page and then tosses a charging Rusev as well before continuing to suplex Page.

Gable lands an Angle Slam for a two count as his Angle Slam is not as strong as Kurt’s Angle Slam. Ego dodges a moonsault and tags in Rusev. The heels double team Gable and Penta comes in to save, tossing Page outside and flying on him with a tope. This leaves Rusev and Gable in the ring with the men exchanging punches. Rusev hooks his Accolade and Gable almost fights out before a headbutt. Penta climbs the ropes, Rusev shoves Gable into Penta. Gable hooks the ankle lock and Penta leaps off Gable’s back to hit Page with a Destroyer. Rusev can’t help but tap as Gable and Penta embrace. Gable hands Penta the belt and raises his arm again.

Chad Gable makes Rusev submit, Gable & Penta defeat Page & Rusev. A good match that could’ve done without the opening part.

Part four of the Rollins-Reigns story, Money in the Bank 2016.

Seth is walking backstage and comes across Fatu. “Come on Jacob, hit me. You can’t, can ya?” Seth knows Jacob is under strict orders by the Tribal Chief to not lay a finger on him. “When I beat Roman at SummerSlam do I get his title and his bad boy?” Fatu replies that if anything is left of Seth after SummerSlam, he’s going to beat his ass.

Here’s a vignette with Paul Heyman. He sits in a darkened locker room. He talks about exactly what you think he’s going to talk about two weeks from SummerSlam.

The Raw Fact of the Night brought to you by Papa John’s: Roman and Seth have a combined 13 world championships!

Chapter five of the Seth-Roman story, the Shield reuniting.

AAA Mega Champion Dominik Mysterio (with WWE Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan) vs Joe Hendry

Did you know Liv has a Women’s Title defense in two weeks at SummerSlam? Well, it’s 9:30 and she is only the second women’s wrestler we’ve seen live on this entire show (outside of international commercials), both playing the role as manager. Tonight, Raw is brought to you by Chime! A shout out to the great Alicia Taylor on the ring mic as usual tonight.

Dom attacks as the bell rings as Cole reminds us that Liv has a match in two weeks. Hendry lifts Dom up for a vertical suplex, holding him up and marching him around for ten seconds before dropping him. Dom slides Hendry outside and tries to dive on him, Hendry catches him and tosses him on the announce table. Liv decides to shove Hendry into the ring post and Danhausen is marching down the ramp again. He tries to tell Liv she is cursed, she decks him which is fair because he’s told her that already. This is as good of a moment as any to go to a commercial. Then we come back early from the break, go back to a break, and come back again. This is certainly a broadcast of Monday Night Raw tonight. Dom has a sleeper on Hendry, Hendry powers out and suplexes Dom. Hendry’s a sneaky great wrestler under all of the entertaining personality. Hendry nails Dom with the Hit Single and Dom kicks out so Liv hops on the apron again, distracting the ref and giving DOm a chance to hit a DDT.

Danhausen drives out in the Danhausenmobile with Iyo Sky hitching a ride, both doing the Iyo face point. Fine, I love it. Iyo attacks Liv and the fight is on, Iyo tossing Liv into the apron and then into the ring. Iyo springboards a dropkick on Liv as the referee has no control of this situation. Iyo dives onto Liv on the outside and as the referee watches that, Danhausen sneaks in to hit Dom with the Triple D. Hendry covers and gets the pin.

Joe Hendry pins Dominik Mysterio. Alright, I’m glad we got some actual Iyo-Liv stuff and Iyo and Danhausen together were adorable. A good match, really. This might be the one to go back and watch. Putting Danhausen and Hendry together doing things is as good of an idea as any.

Here’s a look at Roman Reigns and Jalen Brunson on SNME.

Breaking news! Danhausen vs Dom has been added to SummerSlam. Meanwhile, we have Raw next week. Roman and Seth, face to face. Alpha Academy face The Vision. Sol Ruca faces Raquel Rodriguez in a match set up during the commercials. Plus, a Joe Hendry and Danhausen concert! And let’s not forget the Oba and Brock official weigh-in. Hey, at least they’ve announced stuff for next week.

Knight has some words for the crowd before Fatu joins in. He’s sick of hearing about Roman and the fans respond by chanting for the OTC. He laughs about how Roman begged for the fans to like him for years before he finally figured it out. “I’m everything that everyone back there wanted him to be but he couldn’t. Let’s just call it what it is.” He thinks Solo is focused on the wrong thing because a bridge too far is going to “help some cross-eyed half wit like Seth Rollins.” He suggests they destroy the Bloodline in their match so they aren’t even a factor when the main event rolls around. He makes fun of Fatu’s music, calling it Mortal Kombat music, and says he will smack Fatu back to factory settings.

L.A. Knight vs Jacob Fatu

We return from break to the match in action. Jacob tosses Knight around outside before Knight tosses Jacob knee-first and over the steel steps. Knight leaps right into a Samoan Drop onto the apron and Fatu stalks the camera around the ring before Knight drives him into the announce table. Knight dodges a running Fatu and slams his head into the steel steps as the fans chant for tables. Knight clotheslines Fatu from the apron and we take another break, this one picture-in-picture so we hear about DoorDash and Chime while the two guys throw each other around the ring. For John Cena being gone, we sure have seen him all night between Chime commercials, Club WWE ads, and Unreal promos. Cena, now more than ever!

Knight and Fatu brawl outside again and Fatu tosses L.A. into the announce table before finding a Gatorade under the ring for a drink. Back in the ring, Fatu screams something into the camera that we can’t hear because we need to hear the U.S. Navy recruitment commercial instead. How do y’all watch picture-in-picture wrestling? I’m so distracted. I need Michael Cole to talk me through things. We come back to full-screen to Knight trying to fight back. Fatu misses a splash in the corner, giving Knight a chance for a neck breaker that gets a two count. Knight fights Fatu up to the second rope and Fatu shoves him down. Knight leaps back up to land a superplex as we see Big Jim Uso marching down the aisle. Solo Sikoa appears from the timekeeper’s area and tries for a Samoan Spike, Fatu diving onto him to prevent it. Solo is very sneaky for a man in a bright red suit.

Knight lands the BFT and Big Jim hops on the apron to distract Chad Patton. Royce Keys is here to pull Jimmy down and toss him over the announce table and now Main Event Jey Uso joins us, entrance music and all but coming out of the crowd to superkick Keys three times and dump him into the timekeeper’s area. Knight dives out on Jey before coming back in to a pop-up Samoan Drop and Fatu landing the Money Moonsault for the three.

Jacob Fatu pins L.A. Knight.

Solo attacks after, Jim superkicks and Jey spears. Royce takes them down and trades blows with his friend Keys before the Usos take Royce down with the 1D. Knight comes in for the fight but gets caught in the Tongan Death Grip. Jey hits the Uso Splash on Knight and the Bloodline stands tall to end our program. A good match (a little long) and an entertaining brawl afterwards. This was the only ending most of us expected when we learned this match was happening, but it was the right move.

Hey, did you catch some negativity in this review? It was there. I felt it. The matches? Technically fine and entertaining. Danhausen? Love him. But what was this show tonight? How did they lose ME?

Hey, remember women? WWE didn’t tonight. Not one match and the followup to Lyra’s SNME victory happened during an international commercial break. We didn’t speak of the Women’s Tag Titles changing at SNME. The Women’s Champ spent most of the show chasing Danhausen around. I did enjoy the imagery of Iyo riding with Danhausen, but they deserved more. The booking for the women across the main shows has been ROUGH. Meanwhile, we’re two weeks out and Brock and Roman are missing again.

They do get some points for doing things with the men circling the Intercontinental Title as well as continuing the push into The Vision against American Alpha, though if you told someone six months ago that Bron Breakker would be fumbling around for Akira Tozawa they’d laugh at you.

A skippable show tonight unless you’re a big fan of Fanatics Fest clips. If you’re looking for a match to watch, Hendry-Dom was the best of them. Thankfully, next week seems to have more of a plan already.