WWE Raw this week was the final episode on the road to WWE Sunday Night’s Main Event. Royce Keys escalated his feud with The Bloodline, while the men’s and women’s WWE Intercontinental Championship pictures took shape. Penta also defeated his brother, AAA Cruiserweight Champion Rey Fenix, in the WWE World Heavyweight Championship No. 1 contender tournament final. Full results and recap below.
Raw had a cold open this week, with Royce Keys and his new faction-mates, OTM (Bronco and Lucien), beating The Usos (Jimmy and Jey Uso) senseless in the parking lot. They were bloody and beaten when “The Samoan Werewolf” Jacob Fatu arrived to even the odds, but it was too late. The trio rushed off in an SUV just as he got there.
Sol Ruca had a shot at Raquel Rodriguez and her WWE Women’s Intercontinental Championship. Just as the bell rang, Fatu rushed the ringside area and grabbed a microphone. After multiple censored expletives, officials finally got him off the announcer’s desk, turning focus back to the match.
The match itself was extremely slow and uninteresting, failing to gain any momentum. Not only that, but the finish was played out and recycled, with Judgment Day (WWE Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan and “The Prodigy” Roxanne Perez) getting involved. There was the addition of Lyra Valkyria to the finish, who is attempting to progress her recent gimmick makeover. As the inaugural champion, Valkyria has been heavily involved in the IC title picture since its inception, winning it on January 13, 2025, against Dakota Kai.
WWE Intercontinental Champion Chad Gable, fresh off his first title defense against WWE Hall of Famer Rey Mysterio last week, cut an in-ring promo for the show. Gable announced a title defense for the upcoming show in Mexico City and called out Dragon Lee for a discussion. Just when it seemed the discussion was about to start, “All Ego” Ethan Page interrupted the love-fest, claiming to be the best choice for challenger. When Page disrespected Lee, a No. 1 contender match was born on the spot.
Lee delivered all of the high spots, but also took the vicious bumps in this match. Page threw his opponent into Gable, who sat ringside to scout the competition. His plans, however, backfired.
Gable made the referee aware of an exposed turnbuckle, saving Lee from the pin. From there, Page fell victim to Operation Dragon, and took the pinfall loss.
WWE World Heavyweight Champion “The OTC” Roman Reigns was interrupted by LA Knight during his in-ring promo. Knight claimed Reigns keeps putting obstacles between them and called him a coward. The Jumbotron then came to life, showing Solo Sikoa in a bloody mess backstage, with Fatu suspiciously lurking around. Knight found them, but was blindsided by a Superman Punch from Reigns.
AAA Mega Champion “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio, accompanied by JD McDonagh, had a singles match against “The Young OG” Je’Von Evans. Mysterio rushed him to gain the early advantage, but as he quickly learned, “that boy bouncy,” going back-and-forth from there. The match was pure sports entertainment, featuring plenty of jumping and thigh slaps. The brawl spilled to the outside, where McDonagh gave Evans a stiff clothesline to save his friend.
The referee called the match off as Joe Hendry rushed to help Evans, which sent out general manager Adam Pearce, who called for a tag-team match. It was an odd and questionable decision to send Hendry out there to save the day, only to cleanly lose the match.
It was time for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship No. 1 contender tournament final, in which eight luchadores entered for a chance at Reigns and his title. The match pitted brother against brother: Penta vs. AAA Cruiserweight Champion Rey Fenix. They put on an exhilarating lucha-style show, without losing physicality, featuring vicious strikes and slams throughout. This led to numerous believable near-falls before Fenix was on the receiving end of a Penta Driver through the announcer’s desk.
Fenix somehow kicked out after being rolled into the ring, leading to further near-falls. Penta ultimately picked up the victory via Mexican Destroyer, and was then joined by Reigns. It was merely a face-to-face to hype their upcoming match.
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Keys continued his vicious heel run, Rodriguez retained the women’s IC title, and Penta defeated Fenix to become the No. 1 contender.
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