Starting this week, SEScoops will be bringing you a new RAW post-show review, where we take a closer look at everything that happened on Monday Night RAW. We’ll break down the matches, key moments, major storylines, and give you our honest opinions on what worked, what didn’t, and where things could be heading next.
So if you watched RAW and want more than just the results, this review is for you. Let’s get into it.
Penta’s Challenge, Unexpected Interruption
We’re starting things off with Penta, who came out on Monday Night Raw to address what happened in his recent match against Roman Reigns and make his intentions clear moving forward.
Penta spoke about his loss to Reigns and made it clear that he wants another opportunity at the World Heavyweight Championship.
That brought out Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh, with Dominik mocking Penta and claiming the San Antonio crowd wanted to hear from a winner instead.
Penta fired back by declaring Rey Mysterio the only real King of the Luchadors, which quickly sparked a brawl. Dominik and McDonagh eventually retreated, leaving Penta standing tall.
With Penta as over as he is right now, this feels like the right time to start moving him toward the top of the card, even if the World Heavyweight Championship does not come immediately.
Roxanne Qualifies
Next up, Roxanne Perez has added another major opportunity to what has quickly become an important stretch in her career.
Perez, IYO SKY, and AAA’s La Catalina battled for the final RAW spot in the Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match, with The Prodigy advancing after pinning SKY.
Perez stayed sharp throughout the competitive match, avoiding SKY’s Over the Moonsault, which crashed into Catalina. She immediately capitalized with Pop Rox to secure what has to be considered an upset victory.
The result continues Perez’s recent rise after being somewhat overshadowed as the third-most-prominent woman in The Judgment Day.
She now has a shot at Catalina’s Reina de Reinas Championship at Worlds Collide, followed by Money in the Bank and a guaranteed championship opportunity.
The questionable part was WWE choosing SKY as the one to take the pin.
SKY has not been featured heavily since SummerSlam, where she lost to Liv Morgan after winning Queen of the Ring.
Her last match was a tag team victory with Sol Ruca over Perez and Raquel Rodriguez on August 10.
Catalina may be a champion, but she competes on NXT tomorrow, making her easier to protect. Perez could have pinned Catalina here and then lost to her at Worlds Collide.
Instead, WWE chose to sacrifice one of its top stars to give Perez the win.
At the same time, this was a huge spot for La Catalina, making her RAW debut against two of the best workers on the roster: SKY and Perez.
It shows WWE officials have a lot of trust in her, even if her presence alongside The Prodigy was also a nice way to build hype for their Worlds Collide match.
This was a fantastic match featuring three women without any major story arcs, who managed to win over the fans in San Antonio through the action between the ropes.
It was a fantastic night for all three, and they should be factored into more significant plans, regardless of the brand, moving forward.
#1 Contender, Yeah
LA Knight came into Monday Night Raw with Roman Reigns on his mind, but the situation quickly became much bigger than his upcoming championship match.
After Raw General Manager Adam Pearce officially announced that Knight will challenge Reigns for the World Heavyweight Championship at Money in the Bank, Knight entered the ring to address the fans.
Knight gave Reigns credit for everything he has accomplished, but pointed out one fact he believes gives him confidence heading into their match.
The OTC has never defeated Knight one-on-one without interference or outside help.
With that in mind, Knight promised to walk into New Orleans and leave with the World Heavyweight Championship.
He also delivered one of the biggest lines of the night when he mocked Reigns’ “OTC” nickname, joking that the initials actually stood for “One Tremendous Coward.”
The line quickly caught attention on Instagram and X, with fans praising Knight’s insult.
But Knight’s connection to another storyline soon became impossible to ignore.
Before heading to the ring, Knight was shown backstage speaking with his former tag team partner, Solo Sikoa.
With tensions rising between Sikoa and 946, led by Royce Keys, Knight told him to stay safe.
Then, later footage showed 946, consisting of Royce Keys, Bronco Nima, and Lucien Price, brutally attacking Sikoa before dragging him out of the arena in a shocking abduction.
The Usos, Jacob Fatu, and LA Knight immediately rushed backstage to find their ally.
That attack created a major problem for the Money in the Bank qualifier.
Sikoa was scheduled to face Dominik Mysterio and Dragon Lee in a triple-threat match, but he was now unable to compete.
With no time to waste, Adam Pearce was forced to make a change, ultimately replacing Sikoa with Penta.
Bouncy Qualifier
What started with Knight discussing his championship opportunity therefore ended with a completely different competitor receiving a sudden chance to qualify for Money in the Bank.
Next up, we have Je’Von Evans taking on Bron Breakker, with the Young OG finding himself in a position to pull off a major upset.
Evans repeatedly avoided Breakker’s Spears while also shutting down interference attempts from Austin Theory, Bronson Reed, Logan Paul, and Maxxine Dupri.
The Young OG was getting closer to a huge victory and looked capable of actually beating Breakker before Theory returned to the action.
Theory interrupted an OG Cutter, forcing the referee to call for a disqualification and awarding Evans the win.
But the action didn’t stop there.
After the match, The Vision appeared ready to swarm Evans, only for Oba Femi to suddenly return and tear through everyone in his path before standing tall to close the segment.
Evans delivered one of the strongest underdog performances WWE has presented in quite some time.
He stayed confident, avoided falling for the usual heel tactics, and was on the verge of defeating Breakker while making The Vision look increasingly desperate.
The Ruler
Then came Femi’s return, which sent the crowd into a frenzy. He quickly took care of the heels and stood tall along with the young OG.
At this point, Femi has become a monster babyface, and the way WWE is presenting him makes a world championship run feel like something the audience would immediately accept.
Santiago Screwjob.
Next up, we have The Judgment Day addressing the WWE Universe, but the segment quickly expanded into multiple issues surrounding the women’s title picture.
JD McDonagh was the first to speak, taking issue with Joe Hendry’s Funk Pop insult and arguing that the jokes have gone too far because they are now affecting his family back home in Ireland.
From there, Liv Morgan shifted the focus toward the Women’s World Championship, bringing up her controversial loss to Stephanie Vaquer in Chile and once again referring to the result as the “Santiago Screwjob.”
That brought Becky Lynch into the conversation, as The Man appeared in the stands and immediately challenged McDonagh’s claims.
Lynch said the entire world considers her the best referee ever before making it clear that she wants another opportunity at the Women’s World Championship.
Say Her Name
But Vaquer was not going to let Lynch speak for her.
La Primera joined the segment and promised to prove that she does not need Lynch’s help to defeat Morgan. She also made it clear that she would be willing to defend the championship against Lynch herself.
Vaquer then raised the Women’s World Championship overhead to close the segment.
While this did not completely change the direction of the story, it effectively advanced two rivalries while continuing to build tension between Vaquer and Lynch, even as both have Morgan in their sights.
And if WWE eventually puts Lynch, Morgan, and Vaquer in the same match, the combination of star power could make it worthy of a major main-event position.
However, there was one noticeable botch during Stephanie Vaquer’s promo.
As part of her promo, The Dark Angel confused Lynch for Morgan while defending The Man’s work as a referee in her title match.
“Liv was doing her job as a referee,” Vaquer mistakenly said.
It was an obvious slip, but it was noticeable enough that fans watching closely may have caught it.
Were you able to catch the mistake? Sound off in the comments below.
Next up, we have Bayley vs. Lyra Valkyria, with their previous history boiling over as both former tag team partners finally collided.
Bayley entered the match with months of frustration behind her, bringing a noticeably more serious edge as she went after Valkyria from the opening moments.
However, a problem with Bayley’s knee eventually shifted the momentum.
Valkyria, the inaugural Women’s Intercontinental Champion, took advantage and controlled the match during the break.
Bayley found an opening when Valkyria missed a moonsault, allowing The Role Model to fight her way back.
From there, Bayley became increasingly aggressive. She attempted to put Valkyria through the announce table, but the heel escaped before Bayley continued the assault inside the ring.
The referee tried to intervene, but that distraction ultimately worked against Bayley.
Valkyria used the opening to send her into the ropes before catching her with a roll-up while grabbing the tights to steal the victory.
Bayley’s serious presentation was one of the strongest parts of the match.
She abandoned her usual upbeat personality and treated Valkyria like someone she genuinely needed to punish.
The finish may have been controversial, but the match itself showed that Bayley and Valkyria are capable of delivering something much bigger if WWE continues building this rivalry.
Grand Welcome
Next up, we have Lola Vice officially joining the Monday Night Raw women’s roster, but her welcome quickly turned into a heated confrontation with another Money in the Bank competitor.
Raw General Manager Adam Pearce introduced Vice to the San Antonio crowd, praising her impressive debut the previous week in Mexico City, where she qualified for the upcoming Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match.
Pearce then officially welcomed Vice as the newest full-time addition to the Raw women’s roster.
Vice wasted little time making her presence known, turning her attention toward the competition and specifically warning Sol Ruca, Jacy Jayne, and Roxanne Perez.
That brought Perez into the conversation.
The Judgment Day’s Roxanne Perez, who had already survived a grueling triple-threat qualifier earlier in the night, interrupted the celebration before Vice could complete her paperwork.
Perez dismissed Vice’s entire moment, telling her that “nobody cares about her or her story,” while confidently predicting that she would be the one leaving Money in the Bank with the briefcase.
The confrontation quickly became physical.
As the two women argued face-to-face, Vice suddenly launched a spinning backfist toward Perez’s jaw.
Perez barely managed to duck underneath it, narrowly avoiding a devastating shot.
With the situation about to explode, Pearce immediately stepped between them and separated the two competitors.
And just like that, Vice’s first major RAW moment as a full-time star ended by establishing a new rivalry with Perez ahead of Money in the Bank.
Penta Punches His Ticket
Next up, we have the main event, which delivered a fast-paced showcase from three talented luchadores, with the momentum constantly shifting before one man finally secured his spot in Money in the Bank.
Penta, Dominik Mysterio, and Dragon Lee kept the San Antonio crowd invested throughout a match filled with near-falls and momentum swings.
Late in the contest, Lee was taken out after suffering a Mexican Destroyer on the apron, leaving Mysterio and Penta to battle for the win.
Mysterio then hit a 619 and Frog Splash, but Penta somehow kicked out.
When Mysterio tried to follow up with another 619, Penta avoided it, connected with a springboard Mexican Destroyer, and secured the victory as the show went off the air.
Closing the show with Penta after his performance last week was an excellent creative decision, especially with his momentum continuing to build.
Lee is also red-hot right now and has started connecting with the audience through his in-ring work.
WWE should seriously consider securing him on a long-term deal sooner rather than later, especially now that he is finding his footing on television.
As for Mysterio, this felt like one of his strongest in-ring performances in a long time.
Putting him in there with fellow luchadores and allowing him to showcase that style, rather than constantly portraying him as a cowardly heel, may be exactly what he needed.
The Verdict
Overall, this week’s Monday Night Raw was a decent show, but aside from Penta’s strong night, perhaps the biggest talking point was just how heavily The Judgment Day featured throughout the episode.
The faction was involved in four different segments.
Roxanne Perez and Dominik Mysterio both competed in matches, while Perez later interrupted Lola Vice’s RAW contract signing and immediately created another confrontation.
Then, halfway through the show, the entire Judgment Day received its own promo segment, which also involved Stephanie Vaquer and Becky Lynch.
With Roman Reigns absent, there were stretches where Raw felt heavily centered around Liv Morgan and The Judgment Day.
Bron Breakker also received some important screen time, although the other members of The Vision did not compete.
That amount of Judgment Day involvement also meant less time for other names.
WWE could have given Sol Ruca more exposure or allowed stars like Joe Hendry and Ethan Page to have longer segments rather than repeatedly returning to the same faction throughout the night.
So how would you rate this week’s Raw? Which segment stood out to you the most, and do you think WWE featured The Judgment Day too heavily? Sound off in the comments below.
