Results
- Je’Von Evans def. El Grande Americano (12:31)
- Penta def. Bronson Reed (12:55) (Count Out)
- Stephanie Vaquer def. Raquel Rodriguez (WWE Women’s World Championship) (Philadelphia Street Fight) (21:55)
Bron Breakker blames mystery attack on Raw GM
This week’s episode of WWE Monday Night Raw, live from the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, didn’t open with our usual wrestler arrivals. Instead, we saw an enraged Bron Breakker was seen marching around ringside, still enraged after his unsuccessful Royal Rumble performance on Saturday night. For those who missed it, Breakker was attacked by a “masked man” at the Rumble, ruining his night and causing him to get eliminated basically immediately.
After flipping the commentary table, Breakker got on the mic. Despite the rest of The Vision trying to back him down, Breakker called for Raw General Manager Adam Pearce to come to the ring. “You wanna ruin my Rumble? I’ll ruin your entire show!” Why was Breakker mad at Pearce? Paul Heyman explained: Pearce has to approve each and every visa for the Rumble in Saudi Arabia. Heyman, like Breakker, was skeptical that Pearce didn’t know who the disguised man was last weekend.
Pearce was upset at Breakker and denied knowing who the masked man was. Pearce raised a good point: The last time there was a masked man, it was Breakker ally Austin Theory. The GM said he will give Breakker a gift and not fire him. If things couldn’t get worse for The Vision, LA Knight hit the ring and attacked the faction to end the segment, getting a little payback after suffering an attack from them recently.
The show started properly after this segment, airing a recap of what happened at the Rumble last weekend. Thought this was a decent way to get the show started. The masked man trope is super played out in WWE currently, but I’m curious to see how this Breakker story goes.
A faceoff between the two Americanos earns Je’Von Evans a win
The first match of the night saw recent Monday Night Raw call-up Je’Von Evans go head-to-head with El Grande Americano (the Ludwig Kaiser one). Evans, who went over 40 minutes in the Rumble last weekend, was sporting some athletic tape to show that he’s still banged up.
Evans scored his gigantic dive over the top rope and to the outside early in this match. He lost control of the bout as they went to commercials, as Americano tossed him shoulder-first into a ringpost.
Evans started to mount a comeback as the show returned, piecing together striking combinations against Americano. He reversed a move from Americano into a DDT, hit a superkick, then scored an awesome corkscrew kick.
Evans came off the top with a move, but Americano was able to counter it into rear naked choke-esque submission. The “Young OG” worked his way out of the move, laid out Americano with a kick in a corner of the ring, then scored a Swanton Coast-to-Coast for the near fall. Between this and the Seth Rollins coast-to-coast headbutt, that move has seen some big innovations as of late.
Rayo Americano got on the ring apron to distract the referee, allowing Bravo Americano to knock Evans off the top rope. Americano started to load a metal plate into his mask but was distracted by “The Original” El Grande Americano (Chad Gable), who appeared on stage. These two Americanos first met at Mania, and it was incredibly predictable that they would have a moment tonight as well. Evans capitalized on his distraction, hitting a knee strike to Americano then a beautiful top-rope OG Cutter for the pinfall win in 12 minutes. Decent match with an all-too predictable ending.
I can’t tell if we’re in commercials at this point (Netflix used to have a sign on-screen which would indicate this, but they have sadly gotten rid of that), but, The Usos appeared in the crowd and announced they’re putting their tag titles on the line against Alpha Academy next week.
Gunther celebrates taking another career, free agent Oba Femi destroys the War Raiders
We heard AJ Styles’ theme hit… Were we about to hear a goodbye speech from Styles after his 10-year WWE career was put to an end last weekend? Nope. Instead it was the man who retired him, Gunther, who appeared from behind the curtain. Styles’ theme switched to Gunther’s, causing a huge heel reaction from this crowd. Awesome.
Gunther started gloating about his latest win, saying when you step to him, your career dies. This interview was surprisingly cut short by former Styles tag partner Dragon Lee, who came to the ring and attacked Gunther. The Austrian talent was sent out of the ring and hit with a huge tope suicida from Lee.
Lee kicked Gunther into the timekeeper’s area and tried to follow up with another move, but ran full-force into a ring bell thrown by Gunther. The former world champ then applied a sleeper hold to Lee, not letting go until officials at ringside separated them. Gunther stormed off as Michael Cole described him as “the most dangerous man in WWE today.” Love what they’re doing with Gunther currently.
Backstage, Paul Heyman asked Adam Pearce to book Bron Breakker vs. LA Knight tonight. Pearce said that he escorted Knight out of the ring for disrupting the show and thus couldn’t make the match. Heyman issued a threat: Do you know who you’re talking to, he said.
Tag action was scheduled next, with Erik and Ivar of the War Raiders taking on… Oba Femi! The former NXT champ, who commentary said is still a free agent, wiped out both Erik and Ivar with ease. There was no actual match here, and I think the implication was that Femi was crashing a match which didn’t involve him. The War Raiders are two of the bigger guys on the roster, Femi handling him the way he did is a statement.
The Bella Twins have joined the tag division
The Bella Twins, who reunited last weekend at the Royal Rumble, came to the ring for the next segment.
The classy Philadelphia crowd started to immediately chant for Cooper DeJean, who is dating Nikki. “Can you blame a girl for having good taste?” she quipped.
Brie said that she came back because she was the “original tag team” with Nikki. She said that the women’s tag division is hot right now, and “we want in.” The Bella Twins are officially entering the tag division. Makes sense, a fun nostalgia act to have around.
Bert Kreischer was backstage with Alpha Academy and then eventually took his shirt off, which I think is his entire routine? Not my thing.
LA Knight returns for seconds with The Vision
WWE is shooting a lot of angles tonight, and by this point, we were long overdue to see some actual wrestling. So, up next, it was Penta going head-to-head with Bronson Reed.
Penta had some success early on, including a dive to the outside, but this eventually became a beatdown that favored Reed. Reed scored a huge powerslam at the nine-minute mark, but it wasn’t enough to put away Penta just yet.
Logan Paul and Austin Theory both got onto the ring apron as Penta started to mount a comeback. Penta knocked them off the apron then scored a huge crossbody to the outside. He got back into the ring and tried for a Mexican Destroyer, but Breakker reversed it into a Jagged Edge. He hit a Tsunami, but the referee was taken out during the exchange with Paul and Theory, so nobody was able to count the pin!
Breakker went to ringside and grabbed a chair but was stopped by LA Knight, who gave him a BFT onto the chair! Knight, who was already allegedly banned from the building by Adam Pearce, escaped back into the crowd. This venue has some awful security!
The attack kept Breakker down for the 10-count, giving Penta a count-out victory against Breakker. Rough night for The Vision!
Dominik Mysterio returns, introduces 2026 winner Liv Morgan
Dominik Mysterio, who we haven’t seen on WWE main programming for some time (although still present on AAA’s weekly show), appeared in the next segment. Mysterio has been out of action since December due to a shoulder injury.
Mysterio said he was only here to introduce Liv Morgan, the 2026 Women’s Royal Rumble winner. Welcomed by “You deserve it” chants, Morgan got on the microphone to celebrate her win.
Morgan said that, unfortunately, she won’t announce who she wants to face at Wrestlemania tonight. It’s a big decision, she mentioned, and that she might even visit this weekend’s Smackdown as she weighs her options.
Morgan brought out Raquel Rodriguez, who will be challenging Stephanie Vaquer for the WWE Women’s World Championship in a street fight tonight. Rodriguez was looking forward to her title appearance, but had a bone to pick with Morgan, who eliminated her at Saturday’s Rumble.
Morgan told Rodriguez not to worry about the move, as it was strictly business: “A win for one in the Judgment Day is a win for all,” she said.
Rodriguez accepted this, but told Morgan to go backstage for her title match next, arguing that it would make the victory much sweeter if she can do it on her own. Morgan accepted this request.
Despite Judgment Day help, Raquel Rodriguez comes up short against Stephanie Vaquer
The aforementioned title matchup between Vaquer and Rodriguez was next.
Vaquer sent Rodriguez out of the ring just two minutes into the match, then followed her to the floor with a springboard crossbody. The champ brought out a table, the first weapon to be introduced in this match.
Vaquer tried coming off the steel steps with a hurricanrana, but Rodriguez caught her and powerbombed the champ through the table set up at ringside. Rodriguez wrapped a chain around the injured ankle of Vaquer. She put Vaquer’s injured leg between the steel steps and ringpost then stomped it.
Vaquer dodged a chair shot from Rodriguez, then unloaded with a series of kendo stick shots to the back. Rodriguez hit Vaquer in the head with the hood of the announce desk. The challenger threatened a nasty Tejana Bomb onto the steel steps, but Vaquer thankfully dodged the lethal move. However, Rodriguez hit another nasty move instead just moments later, tossing Vaquer head-first into a ringpost.
Back in the ring, Rodriguez wedged a chair between two turnbuckles but it fell to the outside, so nothing came of that spot. A Devil’s Kiss attempt from Vaquer was stopped by Rodriguez, who threw her throat-first onto the top rope. Rodriguez came charging at Vaquer but ate a thrust kick for a near fall.
Rodriguez hit Vaquer over the head with a garbage can for a two-count. Rodriguez put many chairs into the ring – she tried to throw one over the ropes, but it ricocheted off the top rope and nearly hit her in the face. Rodriguez caught a crossbody attempt from Vaquer and reversed it into a fallaway slam onto the steel chairs in the ring.
Rodriguez tried for a Corkscrew Vader Bomb out of the corner, but Vaquer rolled out of the way. Vaquer did a Devil’s Kiss on top of a steel chair, then at ringside hit the move again on top of steel stairs.
Rodriguez was in control through a second commercial break, but Vaquer started to mount a comeback as the show returned. Vaquer wrapped a garbage can around the head of Rodriguez, then delivered a double knees for a near fall.
Rodriguez tossed a garbage can into the hands of Vaquer then gave her a front kick to the head. The challenger brought a second table into the mix and tried for a Tejana Bomb through it, but Vaquer escaped it.
Despite promising that she wouldn’t be at ringside, Liv Morgan appeared nearby and tried to hand the title to Rodriguez to use as a weapon. This ended up distracting Rodriguez more than anything, with Vaquer sending her head-first into a steel chair set up in a corner of the ring. Vaquer put Rodriguez on top of a table, setting up for a splash.
Roxanne Perez hit the ring and tried to distract Vaquer, but was she headbutted off the turnbuckles and through a table at ringside. Rodriguez got off the table and started battling in the corner with Vaquer. It looked like we were going to see a powerbomb out of the corner, but Vaquer reversed it into a hurricanrana. This was supposed to put Rodriguez through the table, and it. did. not. She bounced right off it. Very rough.
Vaquer hit the Corkscrew Splash off the top rope to win in 22 minutes and retain the title. With the amount of focus on Rodriguez and her feud of sorts with Morgan, I kind of assumed we’d see her win here. So, that result surprised me a little.
These two women did a lot to try and make this match work. Unfortunately, this sleepy Philly crowd didn’t budge for a lot of it. They woke up for the finish, which, with what felt like a stroke of bad luck, suffered significantly from a botched table spot. This match had some fun moments, but it dragged on for far too long and I wouldn’t recommend it.
Morgan, who didn’t seem too bothered that her factionmate just lost, laid out Vaquer then lifted her title to end the segment.
Roman Reigns knows who he wants to face
The final segment for this week’s Raw saw 2026 Men’s Royal Rumble winner Roman Reigns come to the ring for a promo.
Reigns mentioned the significance of being in Philadelphia, where he won his first Royal Rumble, had his last title reign stopped, and more. The crowd cheered when Reigns mentioned his Rumble win. “I didn’t sound like that [when I won],” Reigns said.
After his Philly banter, Reigns started to weigh which title he should go after: Drew McIntyre’s WWE Championship, or CM Punk’s big gold belt? Philadelphia was of the opinion that Reigns should take down Punk.
The man himself, world champ Punk, interrupted the promo. Punk brushed off Reigns, getting into the ring and, before addressing the “Tribal Chief,” immediately mentioning Finn Balor, who called him out for another title match earlier on the show.
Reigns, insulted, mentioned that he interrupted him. Punk replied that Reigns is a “visitor” on this show. Punk said that he, like the fans, preferred if Reigns chose him for Wrestlemania.
They went back and forth about their past with McIntyre. Punk said that they ran out of staples after fixing up McIntyre after their 2024 Hell in a Cell match. Reigns said he beat McIntyre for years during his impressive run. Punk said Reigns only beat him because he had help from all of his cousins.
Reigns didn’t like that comment. “We’re the only reason you had a show and a company to come back to, don’t ever forget that.” Damn, Roman, the product was in rough shape before your title run but I don’t remember it being that bad.
Punk mentioned his past lengthy title run. While Reigns had a longer title reign, Punk said: “Just because you did it longer doesn’t mean you did it better.” He kept going in: “You choose to be a part-timer, and I choose to go to 10 countries in three weeks … I choose to be a fighting champion, just like I chose to bring you into the company along with the rest of The Shield. And you chose to follow in my footsteps, and I’m here to tell you, Tribal Chief, you learned from the best. I’m proud of you.”
Punk laid it out for Reigns: You can go after a title that “makes” McIntyre, or “go after the man that has made this title and held it down in your absence.”
Reigns said Punk is making towns because he took a “10-year vacation.” He laughed at the idea that he learned from Punk: “The only thing I learned from you is what not to do.”
Reigns mentioned Punk’s rough WWE exit (including an appearance on Colt Cabana’s Art of Wrestling podcast, an episode which has become historically important wrestling media by this point) and said that his WWE return only happened because he approved it. Reigns said Punk screwed him, took his “wise man,” and brainwashed his cousins. There was a Zootopia “Zebros” reference in here, too. Reigns called Punk fake for shaking his hand at Survivor Series, but then mocking him after.
“I’m picking you because I hate you,” Reigns said. “I’ve always hated you. And Wrestlemania is going to be the best day of my life, because in the main event, you will acknowledge me.”
I really enjoyed this segment. Punk was incredible on the mic (him being anything but would be a rare exception), and Reigns’ final monologue was pretty great too. I thought before that there wasn’t much to build with these two, but they’ve cooked up something pretty good here with this segment. I’m sold.
Final thoughts
This week’s Raw had a good closing segment, but was otherwise just okay. Stephanie Vaquer vs. Raquel Rodriguez overstaying its welcome hurt the show significantly, and there overall just being three matches wasn’t ideal. This Raw established what will be the biggest angle of the year with an emphatic segment, and it deserves credit for that, but otherwise, it left something to be desired.
