WWE Monday Night Raw Review – 7.27.26

Happy Monday once again. It’s time for Raw. This is our last Raw on the road to SummerSlam and we have lots of SummerSlam-related things on the card. Will it be a good show? Well, it’ll probably be better than last week.

The week in WWE: Raw / NXT / Evolve / Main Event / Impact / SmackDown / AAA Verano de Escandalo Night One

Then, Now, Forever, Together.

THIS is Los Angeles, California, and THIS is the Intuit Dome. We’re live on Netflix and presented by DoorDash. We flash into the arena to see Hell in a Cell above the ring and the center of our universe in the middle of the ring.

Fire blazes and Hell in a Cell lowers as we see a scale, WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H and WWE Raw General Manager Adam Pearce mid-ring. We cut to backstage where we see Oba Femi in one frame and Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman in the other, both advancing towards the ring and both followed by security. Boy, I hope they don’t get to the Gorilla position at the same time. King of the Ring Oba Femi is our first televised entrance of the night and as always is very, very popular as evidenced by the split-screen entrance also featuring footage of fans doing the Oba strut when they can remember to quit staring at their phones when the camera hits them. Pearce asks Femi to stand on the scale and Oba pulls his shirt off, weighing in at 302 pounds.

And now his opponent, Brock Lesnar accompanied by WWE Hall of Famer Paul Heyman and several more security guards and wearing his “Talk Shit” shirt that Netflix will censor in replays. We have ten security guards in-ring now and if you think they will all be standing when this is over, you haven’t watched wrestling before. Brock decides to lock the cage from the outside instead of coming in, the fans booing and Brock laughing, displaying the key and sticking it in his mouth. Friends, Brock Lesnar may be shitting out a key later tonight. Heyman and Brock pace around the Cell and Oba follows from the other inside of the cage. Heyman hypes up Brock’s various accomplishments as Brock hops on top of the announce table (but not obscuring the KFC advertising). The sound is cutting in and out as Paul tries to talk and Brock turns more and more red which doesn’t seem healthy, but I don’t live on a diet of all meats that I’ve hunted by hand like Brock does so what do I know. You notice he didn’t have problems with the lettuce pandemic.

Heyman grabs another mic and says Brock’s streak of never being defeated in the Cell will never be over. Paul tells us that Brock weighed in backstage and weighs 303 pounds. Brock puts the key on the ground in front of the cage and grabs a mic. “I’ll see you at SummerSlam, bitch.” Oba: “Saturday’s coming. Hell in a Cell is coming. Oba Femi is coming. Regardless of how free you think you are, again, I’m not locked in here with you. You’re locked in here with ME.” The men yell at each other through the Cell and then Oba tosses a security guard into the camera and unloads on the others. He clokeslams one, almost drops one that sandbags him before lifting him back up and catching him and landing the Fall From Grace, and takes a disapproving look from Triple H.

And now, part six of the Roman/Seth story, the 2022 Royal Rumble.

Arrivals! The Bloodline are here in several cars. Roman will be face-to-face with Seth later tonight.

Here’ s a look at a WWE Radio advertisement. If you’d like to listen to Bubba Ray and Tommy Dreamer talk, you’re in luck! I left Sirius a few years ago because I never used it and just listen to Spotify all the time, but I’m also one of those people that needs music and not talking or my focus is gone in thirteen seconds. I tried to be a podcast girlie, I really did.

Celebrities, they love Raw! Here’s Welterweight World Champion Ryan Garcia. WWE, the stars dig it!

WWE World Tag Team Champions The Vision (Bron Breakker and Austin Theory with Logan Paul and Maxxine Dupri) vs Alpha Academy (Otis and Akira Tozawa)

Non-title. Otis is wearing a shirt that says “Polish & Pissed” as Michael Cole runs us through this weekend’s SummerSlam viewing schedule. Theory immediately laughs and tags out to Bron as we have to wait for Otis to get his hands on Theory. Otis takes down Bron and tags in Tozawa. Some would question how we got to a point where “can’t miss” star Bron is in weekly stories with Tozawa, but here we are. Tozawa chases Theory around the ring and Maxxine grabs Akira’s leg, drawing some booing as Theory bounces Tozawa off the announce table and we hit our second ad break of the night. Did you know it is Shark Week? A wise man once told us to live every week like it’s Shark Week.

As we come back, let us note that they have the lights on the Intuit Dome seats turned off tonight at least so far. Tozawa dodges a Bron spear and gets the hot tag to Otis who bulldozes Theory. Otis splashes each Vision member in the corner, dodges Bron and splashes them together before ripping the tee. Otis his the Caterpillar, Tozawa flies outside onto Theory and tosses him back in, climbing to the top. Logan distracts the ref on the apron as Theory lifts the knees on Tozawa’s senton. Bron sends Otis into the ring post and tags in, Bron nailing Tozawa with the spear and getting the win.

Bron Breakker pins Akira Tozawa, The Vision defeats Alpha Academy. A pretty good match and what happens next sets us up for some Raw stuff in about six weeks or so.

Post-match, the Vision boys continue beating away at Tozawa but Otis comes in for the save. Otis goes up top and Maxxine meets him on the apron to caress his face, the Vision attacking and teaming up to power bomb Otis onto the Slim Jim logo. Bron spears Otis as the self-tanner leaks off Bron’s nose. Tozawa yells that Maxxine is with him, not Otis. Theory grabs a chair out of the crowd and smashes it into Otis and the ring post as Logan makes a shocked face and yells, “You’re HIM!” Enjoy your vacation, big Otis.

Jackie Redmond is backstage with our friend L.A. Knight. Knight tells us he IS paranoid because everything he said would happen has happened. “Saturday night’s alright for fighting and fighting is what we’re gonna do.”

Here’s a vignette with Raquel Rodriguez, yelling that she isn’t letting Sol Ruca’s title slip through her fingers tonight. And here’s Sol Ruca, promising to not let that happen.

Celebrities! They love WWE! Here’s Fluffy, of course. Sean Evans, host of Hot Ones and potential future boyfriend of Keke Palmer, is here. Matt Barnes from a NBA podcast is here. And hey, WWE Hall of Famer Jimmy Hart! Finally, some real star power.

And now, the Cricket Highlight of the Night, a video package of Chad Gable talking about his career and finding himself on the road to SummerSlam.

And now, more vignettes! Iyo Sky says she is in Liv Morgan’s head and Liv’s arrogance may be her downfall.

Je’Von Evans vs Rusev

I’d say Je’Von’s 67 shirt is outdated now, but I also saw “67” chicken nuggets at the store the other day. Evans boots Rusev and dropkicks him to the corner, flipping off the ropes to rana him. Evans runs into a right hand and Rusev smacks him with a hell of an uppercut. Outside, Evans pushes Rusev into the post and slugs him into the timekeeper’s area. Evans does a lap around the ring and flies into Rusev’s arms, Rusev slinging him into the timekeeper’s area. Evans leaps back over the barricade onto Rusev and yells to the camera that we’ll be right back, but alas we never really leave as we do split-screen commercials instead. Luckily for us we get to hear Dana White talk about cars while Rusev yells at a camera that has no audio in the corner. I imagine Rusev probably yelled something like, “Leave a comment on Kat’s Raw review.” We’ll never know, but I’m sure that is what he said.

We return to paying attention to the actual match with Evans in a headlock. Cole compares Rusev to a bear as Evans catches Rusev with punches in the corner. Evans lands the Red Dot and Rusev rolls outside and we focus the camera on Je’Von, the ref going out to check on the big man. Rusev leaps on the apron and Evans flies outside, tossing Rusev inside. Rusev hits his kick for a two count and can’t hook the Accolade, Je’Von escaping and getting caught in an OG Cutter attempt. Rusev hooks the Accolade this time and Evans fights out and reaches the bottom rope. Rusev misses a second kick and Evans flips into a Stunner before leaping up and nailing the full OG Cutter.

Je’Von Evans pins Rusev. A little slow in the middle but overall enjoyable. Evans still seems like our next “can’t miss” name while Rusev has settled into his role as monster that can’t ever win the big one.

Romans-Rollins story part 585894, WrestleMania XL.

And now, a guitar strums and the lights come back up, welcoming us to the Joe Hendry and Danhausen concert. Danhausen plays a solo on his very nice, very evil organ as Mattel plots out another Danhausen figure. If they can make a Ghoulhousen figure of his wife, they can do anything. Hendry and Danhausen are joined by the Minihausens to sing and dance to “I Believe That You Are Cursed” as we cut to the ring aisle and find the Clippers Spirit with Danhausen masks who join in the dance party. Not one of these dancers ever thought they’d be dancing in front of Minihausens. This goes on entirely too long but I appreciate the effort. Ryan Garcia joins in the conga line as well before grabbing a guitar and hitting Hendry Jarrett-style with a guitar. Judgment Day (JD McDonagh and Dominik Mysterio) come in and attack Danhausen and fend off the Minihausens. Of all the segments that have happened on this show, that was one of them. I’m a big fanhausen but this could’ve used about a minute and a half less.

Penta is back, but in vignette form! He has words for Chad Gable.

Celebrities! That’s Harry Joswey, the star of “Let’s Marry Harry” on Netflix. That’s Mario Lopez! O’Shea Jackson Jr. is here as he often is. He might be here more than Roman Reigns is here. And hey, Ashton Kutcher. Stars just love Monday Night Raw!

Big Cass tells us that when you reach rock bottom, you have to climb back up and prove them all wrong. 8/3 flashes on the screen.

AAA General Manager & WWE Hall of Famer Rey Mysterio vs Ethan Page

Somewhere, Nick Aldis is wondering why HE had to take a step away from being a GM to wrestle. These two last had a singles match right here on Raw back on June 29th that Rey won in ten minutes. Ethan works over Rey early before Rey flips him outside. Ethan hangs on and powerbombs Rey onto the apron and we take a break to see Rey’s son get excited for his chicken tendies.

We return to Ethan trying to pull Rey’s mask off. Rey elbows out and moonsaults onto Page but is too beaten down to take advantage. Rey stuns Ethan into the 619 position but Ethan springs back out to booth him right in his face. Rey ranas Page and pays homage to Dom’s real father, the fans chanting for “Eddie” as Rey sentons Ethan. Page catches Rey mid-air for a power slam and yanks Rey up in the air again, Rey turning into a DDT for a near fall. The fans declare this awesome as Ethan kicks Rey off the top rope and then climbs up himself, trying to set up a suplex. Rey headbutts Page to the floor and leaps down with a rana, sending Page into the announce desk. Rey sets up another 619 and Page lifts up the ring apron to block it, which I’m not sure is a thing that would actually work but that might be a very thick apron. Ego lands the Ego-Plex and gets the pin.

Ethan Page pins Rey Mysterio. I liked this one. Page has grown on me a lot since he joined the Raw roster. I don’t know if it hit the level of “awesome,” but it was very enjoyable.

You too can be a founding member of Club WWE for only $99.99. You get access to the 1,000th episode of Raw. Wait, no, we DO want you to sign up. Where are you going?

Liv Morgan has some pre-recorded words for Iyo. She doesn’t care what people think but does care about her title which means now she cares about Iyo. She thanks Iyo for the chance to prove she is the greatest Women’s World Champion of all time. It will be her first defense since WrestleMania.

Backstage in Danhausen’s lab, a nurse checks on the Minihausens as Danhausen yells in agony. Adam Pearce pops in to tell Danhausen to give the money back. Danhausen suggests turning it into a Human Monies on a Pole match. “Haven’t you ever watched wrestling?” Fine, I’m back in.

Main Event Jey Uso and Big Jim Uso enter through the crowd, Jey yeeting with the Los Angeles fans. After a commercial and running back the entrance, Jey yells that this is a warning shot. Solo Sikoa appears in the crowd to make fun of the warning shot, making gun noises. Solo tells us that the real Bloodline has Solo Sikoa in it “so whatever this crap is, you guys don’t have a chance at SummerSlam.” Solo makes fun of the yeeting. We get a Solo chant! Solo tells the brothers to tell Roman to kiss his ass because at SummerSlam, he’ll be with Royce and L.A. Knight. That brings us an appearance by Mr. L.A. Knight. “My heart doesn’t pump purple piss for your little family drama.” He promises to see them at SummerSlam and then decides that he could also see them tonight as he heads back down the aisle. The four-man brawl is on and here’s Jacob Fatu and then Royce Keys for our standard brawl. I liked this though and I need Solo doing his standup routine on every show.

The Hell in a Cell cage gets its own vignette complete with a voice over speaking on behalf of the Cell. No, I’m serious. This is a thing that happened. The Hell in a Cell now has a voice in WWE canon.

WWE Women’s Intercontinental Championship: WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion Sol Ruca vs Raquel Rodriguez

It has taken us until 10:00, but we’ve found a Raw match for the women for the first time in a few weeks. Speaking of a few weeks, we last saw Raquel get a title shot against Sol right here on Raw back on the July 6th episode. Raquel clotheslines Sol down as we see our Bird Lady Lyra Valkyria watching from the back. Hey, remember Lyra? Remember that thing she did two weeks ago that we couldn’t talk about last week because we were busy recapping Fanatics Fest eight times? Sol dropkicks Raquel outside and moonsaults off the top onto her as we cut things down to 3/4ths of the screen so we can announce that coverage is continuing thanks to this large DiGiorno logo. Thanks, frozen pizza! Raquel’s nose is busted open and she looks badass, really.

Raquel shoves off Sol to wipe her blood and take a taste of it because she’s a wild one. Raquel hooks a shoulder lock as referee Jessika Carr wipes the blood off her face. I bet she wouldn’t do that for Becky. Corrupt Carr at it again. Sol ducks a clothesline and sweeps the leg, taking Raquel down with a basement dropkick. Sol hits Raquel with a running knee right into the chin and Raquel still kicks out. Sol tries to lift Raquel and can’t, springing into Raquel’s arms. Raquel powers her up and Ruca shifts her weight, falling to the apron. Sol heads up top and hits part of a DDT from the top rope for a near fall. Roxanne Perez runs out and Sol yanks her in the ring, Raquel grabs Sol. The distraction lets WWE Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan appear to grab Sol and Raquel hits a big boot, getting a two. The music of Iyo Sky brings out Iyo in her most sparkly outfit and the SummerSlam opponents brawl, Iyo tossing Liv into the ring post. Raquel grabs the hair of Iyo and lifts her to the apron, Sol pops up behind with a Codebreaker. Iyo lands a Bullet Train into the ring post onto Liv. As the ref checks on Liv, Rox interrupts the Sol Snatcher and Raquel hits the Tejana Bomb, pinning her and becoming the new WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion.

Raquel Rodriguez pins Sol Ruca to become the new WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion. Hell of a match. The overbooking at the end was a bit much, but they only know one way to wrap up Judgment Day matches on Raw. I’ve been calling for Raquel to get singles gold for some time now and this might’ve been the most badass performance for her to win it. Watch this one.

Here’s a rundown of the six matches scheduled for SummerSlam Sunday and the six for Sunday. Human Monies on a Pole match!

And now, the final chapter of the Roman-Seth video packages.

The Hardys are in WWE 2K26 (if you pay for them). More importantly, Jelly Roll is in the game. He also costs money.

WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns is here for our main event face-to-face segment. He does not get to ask for acknowledgement as Seth Rollins is here to interrupt. Seth says Roman is everything Roman says he is. That said, he says Roman will never be better than him at professional wrestling. Roman responds that he is the only true superstar here. “I need to beat you. I need my family to see me beat you.” The whole industry needs him to beat Seth, he says. Seth tells Roman that he hopes the family is there Sunday so he can watch them cry again when “they figure out that their daddy is a fraud, their daddy is a loser, and their daddy will forever and always be Seth Rollins’ bitch.”

Roman throws hands and stomps down on Seth nailing him with the Superman Punch. Roman hits a spear. Seth pulls himself up by the ropes and Roman grabs his gold before having a flashback to being smashed in the back with a chair. As he comes in, Seth stomps Roman onto the chair as Cole tells us that Roman’s obsession has hurt him once again. The fans sing for Seth as we close out with Seth holding his wrist and yelling at Roman.

A much better show in my book this week, though it was a lot of pre-SummerSlam fluff as expected. Sol-Raquel was a lot of fun and Raquel won a much-deserved title. Rey-Ego was enjoyable as well. Neither of the big main event promo segments (Oba-Brock and Roman-Seth) did much for me, but we’ve had segment after segment with these guys yelling at each other. I did like the six-man promo segment. I am hoping we can freshen up with some new stories after SummerSlam, especially in Raw’s World Title pictures.