Roman Reigns vs. Penta reportedly delivered one of WWE RAW’s strongest worldwide performances of 2026, with the numbers said to have generated significant attention within the company.
Reigns defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Penta on the September 14 episode of RAW from Mexico City, ultimately defeating him clean to retain the title.
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline.com discussed the Netflix performance of the episode and revealed that it produced RAW’s second-biggest number of the year, behind only the episode immediately following WrestleMania. “RAW last Monday, Roman Reigns–Penta, did phenomenal numbers, and the only show this year that beat it was the RAW after WrestleMania. It beat the RAW after Royal Rumble by a small amount, but it did beat it. It was down from the RAW after WrestleMania, but I have heard from people in the company when this thing came out and, like, there’s no denying Penta.”
According to Meltzer, the numbers have resulted in considerable discussion within WWE, particularly regarding Penta and his potential drawing power.
Meltzer argued that the Reigns vs. Penta World Heavyweight Championship match was the primary attraction responsible for the performance. “Roman Reigns and Penta as a match, I mean, everyone knows that that’s what drew the number. Here’s the thing: it drew the second biggest number of the year against a Monday Night Football game that had 23.2 million viewers. So realistically, if you take away that Monday Night Football game, it probably beats the RAW after WrestleMania. Almost certainly, actually, I would say would beat the RAW after WrestleMania.“
The performance was considered particularly notable because RAW aired opposite a Monday Night Football game that Meltzer said attracted 23.2 million viewers.
While the show took place in Mexico City, Meltzer noted that its strong performance was not limited to Mexico. He claimed the episode performed particularly well across several international markets, including some countries where WWE traditionally does not generate its strongest numbers. “This match was huge, obviously huge in Mexico, but it was huge in many countries, including countries that WWE usually isn’t huge in. So I think that there’s no doubt that when this number comes out that everybody’s looking at Penta very differently. And also, Roman Reigns as well, as far as he had a match on television that was the biggest match on television of the year for them on RAW worldwide.”
Meltzer’s comments suggest the performance could have an impact on how Penta is viewed internally within WWE following his high-profile championship match with Reigns.
Penta has remained prominently featured since the loss.
On the September 21 episode of RAW, Penta competed in a Money in the Bank qualifying match and picked up the victory to secure his place in the men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match on October 10 in New Orleans.
With Penta remaining in a prominent position and his match against Reigns reportedly producing significant worldwide numbers, his performance appears to have attracted attention behind the scenes in WWE.
