Penta opened and closed the Sept. 21 episode of WWE Monday Night Raw, one week after falling short against Roman Reigns in Mexico City. The former Intercontinental Champion was not originally booked for a Money in the Bank qualifying match that night. By the end of the show, he had a spot in the men’s ladder match. Money in the Bank takes place Oct. 10 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans.
Monday Night Raw returned to Mexico City on Sept. 14 for the first time in 15 years, and Penta challenged Reigns for the World Heavyweight Championship at Arena CDMX. The luchador earned the title match by winning a tournament run by AAA general manager Rey Mysterio. Along the way, he beat Laredo Kid, La Parka, and Rey Fenix.
Reigns retained the championship. In the closing moments, the champion caught a springboard attack from Penta with a midair Superman Punch. A Spear followed for the pin. After the bell, LA Knight hit Reigns with a BFT, and Reigns vs. Knight for the World Heavyweight Championship is now set for Money in the Bank.
Penta opened the Sept. 21 show, and Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh of The Judgment Day interrupted his promo. The luchador fought off both men. During the promo, he asked for another shot at Reigns and the World Heavyweight Championship, adding that “this is not over.”
Later in the night, the group 946 (Royce Keys, Bronco Nima, and Lucien Price) abducted Solo Sikoa before his qualifying match against Dominik and Dragon Lee. Raw general manager Adam Pearce responded by naming Penta as the replacement. The triple threat was the final match on Raw.
Penta won by sending Dominik into an exposed turnbuckle, then pinned him after a springboard Mexican Destroyer. The victory made the luchador the fourth man to qualify for the ladder match. Bron Breakker, Je’Von Evans, and United States Champion Trick Williams earned spots before him, and CM Punk joined the field on the Sept. 25 episode of SmackDown.
Penta made his in-ring debut on the Jan. 13, 2025 episode of Raw, defeating Chad Gable. The luchador won the Intercontinental Championship from Dominik on the March 2, 2026 episode of Raw, then kept it in a ladder match at WrestleMania 42. Gable ended the reign at 153 days on Night 2 of SummerSlam on Aug. 2. The Minnesota native countered a Mexican Destroyer into an ankle lock for the submission in front of his home crowd in Minneapolis.
The Intercontinental Championship is the only title Penta has held in WWE. Six weeks after dropping it, the luchador was challenging Reigns for the World Heavyweight Championship. The Money in the Bank contract would give him a guaranteed world title match at the time of his choosing.
Penta lost to Reigns in Mexico City and came out of it looking like a bigger star. Reigns needed a midair Superman Punch and a Spear to put the luchador away. One week later, he opened Raw, closed Raw, and punched his ticket to New Orleans. Losing the right way is exactly how a push is supposed to work.
WWE cannot let this cool off. The crowd is fully behind Penta, the Mexican Destroyer is one of the best finishers on the roster, and the Reigns rivalry already has a hook. A long chase of the OTC could carry Raw through the rest of the year. A Money in the Bank win would give him a clear path back to the World Heavyweight Championship.
The ladder match is loaded with Breakker, Punk, and Williams, but none of them has momentum like Penta right now. The luchador is hot, and the briefcase is the logical next step. WWE has to keep pushing Penta all the way back to the main event.
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