Monday Night Raw - August 17, 2026
Preview
Confirmed for the upcoming Raw is: Jey personally delivers Solo to Roman; Sol Ruca versus Lyra Valkyria; Chad Gable versus Rey Mysterio for the IC title; and two matches for the number 1 contender to face Roman in Mexico.
I’m still not happy about the Solo loss to Jey and hope this doesn’t derail the groundswell momentum he’s been getting from the crowd. He’s been great the last several weeks and I really hope he’s not neutered the same way Jacob largely has been.
Chad versus Rey seems mostly like a way to showcase Rey and keep him fresh in peoples minds. They won’t have Chad lose the title so soon after winning it, especially without getting into a feud for it. I do hope that this begins to lead to an actual feud for Chad though. I want to say maybe with Dominik since they had him confront Rey last week about not being in the tournament. With Chad now defending the luchadores, I can see Chad sticking up for Rey’s decision to not include him leading to a short program.
For Lyra and Sol, I expect Bayley to come back tonight and cost Lyra the match. Yes, I know there’s rumors about Bayley’s contract being up but that’s still in a few months. Bayley and Lyra have had one match and you can certainly build to something bigger between the two.
We should also expect: More Cass, possibly his debut match with Je’Von getting involved; more Stephanie / Becky / Liv drama; and Bron continuing to be fixated on Oba.
Pre-Show
While I’m waiting for Raw to go live, I’m watching the WWE channel on YouTube and their “Attitude Era Full Match Marathon”. What I find interesting is during SummerSlam I noted not remembering a time the WWE scar was promoted as a color other than Red; they used Yellow for SummerSlam. They have used other colors such as blue for SmackDown, but I believe their main logo still uses red for it.
However; during the marathon they just had The Hardys versus The Dudleys versus Edge & Christian from WrestleMania 2000. And the scar there was green! So they have in fact advertised using different color scars in the past!
And as a side note to that - I always forget how hot these crowds were back in the day. I lived through the Attitude Era. I went to a few shows. It still shocks me how crazy these crowds go for nearly anything that happens.
Main Card
In-Ring Segment: Stephanie Vaquer & Liv Morgan
We’re kicking off tonight with La Primera calling out Liv Morgan. The beatdown was the best part of this segment. Liv and Stephanie promos, which we saw earlier this year, are doing nothing. We get it; Stephanie wants her belt back and Liv doesn’t care because she has the belt. I'll always say it, Becky is my GOAT. I’m most interested for what she brings and for the second week she wasn’t allowed to speak. Sad.
Segment: Jimmy and Jey introduce Solo in the back. Solo isn’t pleased by them. They come across Knight. He’s not pleased by them.
Match 1: Je’Von Evans versus JD McDonugh
We start with a random match. Based on Cole’s description, I guess this was set up during the commercial break and is based around Dom not being in the AAA tournament for Roman’s title. A fine match between the two as one would expect. They’re both excellent in the ring. There really wasn’t much to it with JD having control the entire match and Je’von eeking out a win. But they both played their role well.
Winner: Je’Von after an OG cutter.
After the match, Cass comes out and takes out Je’Von. Again. This time Je’Von grabs the mic after the beatdown and asks Cass if that’s all he has. He was actually allowed to get some offense on Cass this time which is nice. Until Dom intervened, took out Je’Von, and allowed Cass to keep the attack on Je’Von.
I’ve said it before but this is the perfect first program for Cass. Je’Von is young, he can take some losses and be made to look weak at times. He’s over, so the fans will get behind him in this feud.
Recap: Apparently some of the matches in the AAA tournament are happening… in AAA. For some reason I thought they were all taking place on Raw since it’s for Roman’s title. LA Parka and Psycho Clown took place on Saturday. I’d have loved to see Psycho Clown on Raw, but so it goes. LA Parka will take on Penta in the next round.
Match 2: Rey Fenix versus El Fiscal - First Round Match in #1 Contender’s Tournament
I’m not familiar with El Fiscal. When I saw his graphic earlier today I thought this was Gran Metalik’s new name. I’m not sure where Metalik is wrestling these days honestly, but it looks like he’s wrestling on the indies from what I can find. It’s nice to see Fenix in action. He’s good, doesn’t quite have the “it” as Penta, but is good in his own right. I expect Fenix to win this as I anticipate Fenix and Penta face each other in the finals with Penta winning the tournament. The commercials have felt very weird tonight. We kind of just go to commercial in what doesn’t feel like a clean move to commercial, and when it comes back it just feels… off tonight. I guess like Cole and Corey started commentating a second before it actually came back.
A very OK match. I didn’t see much from El Fiscal that led me to believe he’s a big player in AAA. Fenix looked good as expected.
Winner: Ray Fenix with a Mexican Muscle Buster
Backstage Segment: Stephanie is saying Roxanne is her problem. Becky comes out and tells Stephanie she did a great job out there without any help, and is sure next week nobody will interfere. I love that Becky is a face and is still herself. Incredible.
Video Package: Lyra talks. Reminds us she’s the first women’s IC champ. But she beat Bayley and got nothing for it. But she’s going to knock off Sol and get her belt back. Because she doesn’t need to do flippy-shit. Yawn.
Match 3: Sol Ruca versus Lyra Valkyria
Three matches in the first hour? They’re front loading the matches so I assume that the Roman segment to close the show will end up taking a good while. Wonder if Sol lost her gear or something. Wrestling in shorts and a t-shirt is not in her wheelhouse. It looks like she’s also wearing sneakers; I honestly never noticed if she normally wears boots or not. A bit of a weird match with Lyra trying to mat wrestle Sol, causing the match to start very slow. Sol takes the advantage and speeds things up which she does very well. This woman is going to be huge. Great look, great style. Honestly, this might be my favorite Lyra match so far. Sadly no Bayley. Guess I was a bit off on that.
Winner: Sol Ruca with a Sol Snatcher
Backstage Segment: So I guess Jacob is OK with Jimmy, but not Jey. This sounds all too familiar. Jey tells Jacob he’s a punk-ass. Maybe we get Jacob and Solo splitting off tonight? Jacob did once love Solo….
Backstage Segment: We get the Vision. Maxxine calls Theory a “bad boy”. Hope Kam has the chair ready for tonight. Bron is asked if he has anything to say to Oba and he says anything he has to say, he’ll say to his face. As they so say, business is about to pick up as Bron makes his way to the ring.
In-Ring Segment: Bron Breakker and Oba Femi
As Bron calls out Oba, Heyman comes out? Is he Oba’s new advocate? Oba doesn’t need him. While Heyman appears to be very pro-Oba, I’m expecting this to be a ruse and him to be realigned with Bron. September 6th at Saturday Nights Main Event, we’re getting Bron and Oba. Maybe someone interferes in the match? Someone gets speared through the tron and it causes a double count-out? Because neither man needs the loss right now.
Match 4: Dragon Lee versus El Hijo De Doctor Wagner Jr - First Round Match in #1 Contender’s Tournament
This match should be incredible. Both of these guys can go, and those not familiar with him, Dr Wagner Jr is really a sight. I hope they let these guys wrestle at their full ability and not just a toned down level. I’m somehow surprised they didn’t mention that Dragon Lee’s brother is also a wrestler - AEW’s Rush. So if Wagner 3 has a son who gets into the family business, what will his in-ring name be? El Hijo de El Hijo de Doctor Wagner Jr? This is a serious question - I’m sure there’s other fourth generation luchadores but I have no idea what their naming convention would be. A really fun match between the two. Really, a Dragon Lee win makes sense. This is the guy on Raw every week.
Winner: Dragon Lee via Operation Dragon
It’s announced Raw will be at 6p eastern next week.
Match 5: Rey Mysterio versus Chad Gable (c) - Intercontinental Championship
Excellent match. Did this one even get a commercial? Did we seriously get a great, full match uninterrupted on Raw? I can’t lie, with Rey’s hot moment near the end they had me. I sat here and said “Holy shit, they’re going to have Gable lose?” The match doesn’t lead to anything storyline wise, but we do have almost two months until Money in the Bank so I guess it’s fine that Gable is in a holding pattern for now, just delivering bangers on Raw like it’s nothing.
Winner: Chad Gable with a reversed O’Connor roll style cover
Announced for next week: Roxanne Perez versus Stephanie Vaquer; Penta versus LA Parka; Rey Fenix versus Dragon Lee; Oba and Bron contract signing (that went well last time)
Backstage Segment: Roman shows up to the arena. He shows up 2 hours into the show, doesn’t carry the belt with him like other champions do. Whatever. He makes his way through the back with Jacob to the ring.
In-Ring Segment: Jey Uso Delivers Solo Sikoa to Roman Reigns
Roman says that people think he’s petty and “How can I hold receipts for so long”? But meanwhile the story at SummerSlam was that Roman left his receipt and let things lay with Seth. He’s upset about what Solo did 2 years ago; but he just let go of what Seth did 10 years ago and has haunted him him entire solo career. That makes sense. Loving Jacob looking pissed in the corner. He knows he’s been a good soldier for Roman and wants to know why he doesn’t get the adulation the twins are getting right now.
Oh, shit. Solo said NOPE. I’m not doing this Bloodline shit again. He takes out Roman and Knight helps him take out the Uso’s while Jacob watches from the corner. Knight then takes out Roman while Jacob continues to watch! Excellent ending to the show.
Final Thoughts
This was a surprisingly action packed Raw. This certainly felt like more in-ring action that most Raws over the past several months, and very little towards building stories.
Chad Gable continues to show that he should have been reigned as a champion long ago. Rey Mysterio also continues to show that even into his 50’s, he can very much still hang.
Things feel very much like they’re in a holding pattern right now. With just under 2 months to Money in the Bank, I get not putting all the cards on the table yet so the rivalries don’t feel drawn out for too long. I’m expecting in the next few weeks that we start to get some real builds for what’s next for Gable (I still won’t be surprised if it’s Dominik) and Raquel for both IC titles.
Speaking of, I’m surprised on the US broadcast we got no Dominik tonight. He was ringside, but he didn’t get any time to speak. They’re really not doing anything with him.
I’m hoping we get Cass and Je’Von on Raw soon. Let Cass have a match. Let’s see what he’s capable of doing after rebuilding himself in AEW. I don’t expect him to be pushed to the World Title, but I won’t be surprised if he ends up like Ethan and Rusev, someone who hangs around the IC title picture to make the faces look good.
The Lucha matches didn’t feel very lucha based. I do wonder if they asked them to tone down the lucha style, worried that it would dilute it by showing that there’s a promotion of it for anyone who watches more casually and doesn’t follow AAA. There was some great moments in both matches, but I never felt like “this match could be on AAA” with either.
I’m happy with how Raw ended this week. I was worried that they’d legitimately put Solo back with the Bloodline. I’m actually more intrigued now because Jacob seems to be in this spot of realizing he’s not actually respected by Roman and is just being used as a pawn to do his deeds for him. I look forward to what’s next for him specifically. He won’t challenge Roman again so soon; especially when Solo and Knight are both right there right now, but at least move him back face and let him destroy the big dudes like Rusev. He’ll get over again quickly doing that.
I said it above but I still think that Oba and Bron so soon is a bad move unless the match ends in a fuck-finish of some sort. Oba winning does nothing for Bron except show he can’t hang. Bron beating Oba after he’s taken tombstones on exposed ring boards, 7 F5’s in a match.. Oba’s time to be the beatable guy will come, but it doesn’t need to be now if they intend to move him to the world title picture imminently which they do appear to want to. Maybe this is where Bronson comes back and he destroys Oba? That could lead to some more interesting stuff like Bron now infuriated that he didn’t get a chance to fight Oba himself, putting them on hold and allowing Bron and Bronson to fight?
Over on the SmackDown side, Chelsea had a hell of a promo. If you didn’t see it, you need to check it out on YouTube. There was a point where I looked away to check an email and the pure emotion of her promo caught me by surprise where I had to whip my chair back to my monitor. It was 7 minutes and really felt like it was 2. That’s a good thing. It didn’t drag on, it never felt like “this can be over now”. It kept me hooked.
Although I don’t watch SmackDown, I’m excited for Punk and Owens. Punk has definitely felt more heel in this build. Telling Owens he’s a fatass and all. Dude struggles with his weight, what do you gotta put him down for? This is the kind of match where I’m thinking about subscribing to YouTube TV or Sling or something just for a month to see it.
Overall, I will honestly say that this Raw felt a bit mid to me. It was fine, and that’s all it was. Honestly, I think the ending saved it for me. The action was good, but there was very little story progression outside of Oba and Bron, and the Bloodline. I don’t even count any of the women stuff as that didn’t actually progress any stories. The Liv / Stephanie / Becky stuff stayed in the same lane it’s been for a couple weeks now (Oh, god. This is leading to Stephanie and Becky teaming up in two weeks in a “Can they co-exist” story isn’t it). And if nothing else, I guess this set Sol up to try and win back the women’s IC title.
Where do you see Jacobs allegiance laying? Along with Solo? Or continuing along as the lapdog of his Tribal Chief?