WWE Raw returns live tonight at 8/7c on Netflix from AllState Arena in Rosemont, Illinois, as the road to WWE SummerSlam 2026 continues.
‘WWE Then. Now. Forever. Together.’ kicks things off as always.
Sami Zayn Confronts Cody Rhodes, Gunther Attacks
We then shoot inside AllState Arena, where we see Undisputed WWE Champion Sami Zayn bumping into “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes ahead of their main event title tilt later in the show.
Zayn tells Cody he knows he’s here to reclaim the Undisputed WWE Championship, but insists tonight won’t be his night. Before their verbal exchange can escalate any further, Gunther storms into the scene and blindsides Rhodes in vicious fashion.
Following a brutal assault, Gunther turns his attention to the champion, issuing a stern warning to Zayn before attacking Rhodes once more. “The Career Killer” leaves “The American Nightmare” laid out and bloodied as officials rush to the scene.
Seth Rollins Kicks Things Off
Inside the arena, we hear “Burn it down!” Out comes Seth Rollins as advertised to officially kick off tonight’s show. He makes his way down to the ring as fans sing along with his theme. He settles inside the squared circle and gets on the microphone.
Rollins begins by welcoming everyone to Monday Night Rollins. He’s the visionary, revolutionary Seth “Freakin'” Rollins. He loves this building. The fans chant for CM Punk. Seth says he couldn’t care less about that guy right now, his business is the World Heavyweight Championship, SummerSlam and continuing to own Roman Reigns.
Roman is not here tonight. Seth doesn’t like it either, but Roman didn’t come either because he didn’t think it benefitted him, or the check wasn’t big enough. From day one, Roman has been the chosen one. Nobody ever wants to hold him accountable. The Shield debuted as a trio, but it was made clear that Roman was the chosen one.
Roman was going to the big star no matter if he couldn’t cut a promo or wrestle his way out of a wet paper bag. That didn’t sit right with Seth. There’s a bunch of little boys in the front row, he was that boy. He sat in the stands and wanted to be a pro wrestler his entire life.
He wanted to main event WMs and be the biggest star in the industry. To watch those dreams be handed off to somebody else broke something in him. Every decision he made after that is in response to watching his dreams being handed to somebody he didn’t think deserved it.
He broke up the Shield and cashed in at WrestleMania’s main event to stick close to Roman Reigns. It was petty, but he believed that he put in the work and believed in himself he could still achieve those dreams. They weren’t running the same race. A couple of years back, Roman said something about him that changed everything for him.
He admitted he worked ten times less than Seth and made ten times the money Seth did. He said it with such bravado that Seth wanted to puke. It wasn’t about the money or living in a mansion, the reward was the work. The ability to come in and make something of himself.
Roman has to beat Seth at SummerSlam because he needs to justify what he’s been trying to prove to himself the last 15 years, that he’s not a fraud. Seth needs to beat Roman just as much, he needs to prove to himself and the 5 year old version, through sacrifice, hard work and dreams you can still achieve greatness.
On that note, LA Knight makes his way to the ring. He catches the microphone and walks circles around Seth. There was no way that for two weeks in a row he was going to sit here and listen to this again. Roman and Seth bored everyone to sleep every week with the same old trash.
They bloviated all over each other, all they had to do was talk about how great they were and Seth got a title shot. LA remembers when you had to win matches and tournaments to get title shots. They both lost in the first round, but LA’s not making a claim for nostalgia’s sake.
Brother brother brother brother, they’re the greatest of all time, greatest at what? LA hasn’t been here as long as Seth, he’ll never catch him as far as world title shots go. When business was starting to peak a couple of years ago, who was on top? He’ll give credit to Cody, but everyone was saying LA Knight (Yeah!)
He was making his rise, but got cut off by the Bloodline, then cut off by the Vision. Here we are again, the Bloodline’s trying to stuff him down again but they can’t. Roman and Seth are the two biggest vomits in the business, they can’t stop LA because he must rise. Seth says he doesn’t like LA, but he respects him.
LA is a shining example of everything he described: hard work, hustle and grind, he believes his time will come. Right now, Seth can’t worry about LA because he has to go to SummerSlam and get the title he never lost. After he gets it back, LA can be the first person he puts in the dirt. Seth storms off.
LA turns around after talking some trash directly into the camera. He then walks right into a Jimmy Uso superkick. “Big” Jim is still mad about the last few weeks, and talks some trash at Knight before leaving through the crowd as the explosive opening segment comes to a close.
Backstage
Adam Pearce yells at Gunther, then Nick Aldis appears! He’s on leave! Gunther tells him he’s a failed wrestler and a failed GM. Aldis is mad that Pearce poached his SD main event for Raw, and says Pearce is doing a pretty crappy job of running both shows.
WWE World Tag Team Championships
The Street Profits (c) vs. Bron Breakker & Austin Theory
We return inside the arena, where the upbeat sounds of the official entrance tune for The Street Profits hits the house speakers. Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins, the reigning WWE World Tag-Team Champions, make their way out and head to the ring as we cut to a pre-match commercial break.
The show returns and we see Ford and Dawkins settled into the ring. In the Gorilla position, Paul Heyman approaches The Vision and talks down to them for failing in their mission with Joe Hendry and others last week. He tells them to go get the tag-team titles back or don’t come back to him.
With that said, the theme for the challengers hits and out comes The Vision duo of Bron Breakker and Austin Theory, accompanied by Logan Paul, who still has his arm in a brace. The four men involved in this opening tag-team title tilt stare each other down.
The bell sounds and we’re officially off-and-running with this one. Ford and Breakker kick things off for their respective teams at the onset. We see some good early action and then we head into a mid-match commercial break as things continue.
The show returns and after a few more minutes of back-and-forth action, it was the closing moments that shocked the 12,000+ fans in attendance, as Maxxine Dupri came out from under the ring and provided an assist that led to Austin Theory and Bron Breakker defeating Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins to become the new WWE World Tag-Team Champions.
Theory and Breakker were celebrating their victory, when Dupri ran over and jumped into Theory’s arms for a big kiss. The show went to a break and when it returned, Heyman told The Vision that was good for a “step one.” He congratulated Dupri on “actually getting something done.” Alpha Academy are shown watching on with sad looks.
Winners and NEW WWE World Tag-Team Champions: Austin Theory & Bron Breakker
WWE Intercontinental Title No. 1 Contender Gauntlet Announcement
It is announced that an Intercontinental Championship No. 1 Contender’s Gauntlet Match will take place next week on WWE Raw in Dallas, TX. Backstage, Jackie Redmond is with reigning WWE Intercontinental Champion Penta to get his thoughts on the field.
He’s excited for some of the names, but Ethan Page & Rusev appear to brag about how Rey Mysterio isn’t in the field because they crushed him. Dragon Lee appears, then Chad Gable appears. Ethan suggests a tag match for later tonight. Penta tells Lee & Gable to show cero miedo and daps them up.
WWE Women’s Intercontinental Championship
Sol Ruca (c) vs. Raquel Rodriguez
After a brief backstage segment involving Raquel Rodriguez, we head back inside the arena where the Judgment Day member makes her way to the ring. As she does, the show heads into a quick pre-match commercial break. When we return, reigning WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion Sol Ruca comes out for her title defense.
Raquel powers Sol into the corner, then onto the ropes. Sol with a headlock, she goes for a takeover, Raquel shrugs her off then hip tosses her over. A series of reversals and roll throughs lead to Sol getting hung up on the top rope.
She goes for a top rope move, but slips and Sol gets hit with Snake Eyes and some elbows in the corner. Sol sends Raquel into the corner, then evades Raquel and sends her outside. Sol misses a moonsault off the turnbuckle to the floor, but gets back on the apron, cartwheels and hits a PK.
Sol springs off the bottom rope with a corkscrew splash! Back in the ring, Sol gets a two count before diving into a choke, Sol avoids a chokeslam but gets clotheslined out of her boots. We go to commercial on that note. The show returns and we see Sol placed on the top turnbuckle.
Sol gets a sunset flip out of it but Raquel rolls out. Springboard crossbody by Sol gets two. Sol evades some strikes and lands a couple of her own. Sol hits a dropkick off the middle turnbuckle & kips up. Shining wizard gets a two count for Sol.
Springboard frog splash gets nothing but knees as Roxanne Perez appears at ringside. Sol avoids the Tejana Bomb, but Roxanne distracts the referee while Liv blocks Sol from doing the Snatcher. A twisting backbreaker gets two for Raquel.
Liv and Roxanne both on the apron, then IYO SKY’s music hits! IYO attacks from behind, cross-bodying Roxanne, taking Liv down, then moonsaulting both on the floor! Raquel getting distracted allows Sol to hit the Snatcher for the three count. Sol and IYO celebrate while the Judgment Day recover at ringside.
Winner and STILL WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion: Sol Ruca
WWE Unreal Season 3 Sneak Peek
We see a sneak peek of WWE Unreal that includes Cody Rhodes talking about his dancing partner in the ring. Somewhere Bill Watts is rolling over in his grave. I know he’s not dead, he just got so mad that he dug his own grave and started rolling around in it.
Paul Heyman Comes To The Ring
Inside the arena, Paul Heyman is in the ring to introduce himself as the advocate for Brock Lesnar. He came out here to talk about Oba Femi. Oba came into WWE like he owned the joint, which he doesn’t. He sauntered down to the ring like King Schlong and Brock kicked him in the little Femi’s.
That’ll be nothing compared to the pain Oba suffers in Hell in a Cell. Oba has inspired, compelled, and motivated Brock, and has made the biggest mistake of his life by accepting the challenge. Oba won’t come out of the Cell, Brock will destroy him there.
Heyman’s departure is interrupted by Oba Femi’s music. Oba struts to the ring while the fans chant his name and bark. Oba says he came out so Paul wouldn’t be lonely, and gives him a face to talk to. Paul says he talks facts, not sh*t.
Paul is valuable because he prevents people from making bad mistakes. At WM, Oba proved to the whole world that Brock is beatable. In Italy, Brock proved that Oba is beatable too. Now they have the trilogy match to determine who goes on as unbeatable.
He runs down Brock’s various accomplishments inside cages. He declares the cage the Brocktagon, and says that Brock is the beast Oba can’t beat and the mountain he can’t find. Only one man will leave with their reputation intact, and it’ll be Brock Lesnar.
The beatable one will be Oba Femi. Heyman throws the microphone down. Oba says that after weeks and weeks of calling Brock out, Brock showed up, and that proves the words got under his skin. He can pretend that he doesn’t watch the show, the fact he showed up tells Oba that he watches the show.
Paul keeps writing these checks that Brock can’t cash. Paul is less than an advocate, he’s a mouth. Mouths need to be fed, but how can he be fed if he has no head? Paul is here because he’s scared and here for damage control. This will be the final chapter, the book will end at Hell in a Cell.
In front of Brock’s friends, family, wife and children, Oba will beat him. You have to walk through hell in order to get to heaven. Paul can tell his client that Oba will see him in hell. Paul exits the ring and backs away as the intense segment comes to an end.
Undisputed WWE Title Main Event Update
Jackie is with Sami Zayn! She tells us that Cody is no longer able to compete tonight. Sami says it’s terrible while the fans chant for CM Punk. He doesn’t wish ill will on Cody or anybody, he was looking forward to testing himself against QB1.
He never really understood why he was defending the title on Raw anyway, so let’s go to Friday and figure things out then. Adam Pearce informs Sami that he’s in Chicago, and a title match was promised and one will be had tonight, with Zayn defending. He heads off to prepare.
Chad Gable & Dragon Lee vs. Ethan Page & Rusev
Back to the ring we go for scheduled tag-team action, with Chad Gable and Dragon Lee joining forces to take on the team of Rusev and Ethan Page. The theme for Gable hits and out he comes to a big crowd reaction. As he makes his way to the ring, the show heads to a pre-match commercial break.
The show returns and after the rest of the entrances are out of the way, we see Rusev and Page attack right away, and Dragon is the one that gets selected to start the match by Rusev. Lee fires back on Page, Page kicks him down. Rusev tags in and hits a couple of vertical suplexes.
Lee kicks Page off the corner and tags Gable. Gable hits a couple of Germans on Rusev, then overhead suplexes to both of his opponents. He goes for the ankle lock, Page forces a break and gets backdropped. Ethan gets dropped in the corner by Lee, Rusev pulls Ethan out of the ring.
Lee runs, and Gable overheads him onto Page and Rusev on the floor. On that note, the show heads into a mid-match commercial break as the action continues. When the show returns, we see Rusev is kicking Gable around. Rusev with some clotheslines. Gable fights back, but Rusev prevents the tag until a DDT by Gable.
Lee and Page tag in, lee kicks Rusev and Page. Dropkick in the corner, Rusev kicked to the floor, tornado DDT to Page. Page in the Tree of Woe, Lee hits the double stomp down for two. Rusev breaks it up and takes the tag from Page.
Gable prevents the double suplex and hits the Angle Slam on Page before getting Machka kicked by Rusev. Lee with a rollup to Rusev for two, he takes him down with a kick, goes up top and jumps into a uranage by Rusev. Machka Kick, then the Accolade for the win.
Winners: Ethan Page & Rusev
Joe Hendry’s Save Goes Awry
Rusev keeps the Accolade in until Gable waist-locks him out of it. Page attacks from behind, and Rusev gets the Accolade on Gable. Joe Hendry appears. Rusev is sent over the top rope, and Page is slammed down. Hendry goes for the Standing Ovation but gets Machka kicked instead. Page hits an Ego-Plex and Rusev locks him in The Accolade.
Jacob Fatu & Jimmy Uso Beat Down LA Knight
Jackie Redmond chases Jimmy Uso, and has one quick question for him, what kind of message was he trying to send by super kicking LA Knight earlier tonight? Jimmy says it’s time for “Big” Jim to step up in The Bloodline. He’s going to go to SmackDown and take care of Solo Sikoa. Knight tries to attack but Jacob Fatu beats him down.
Challenge Issued For Next Week’s WWE Raw In Dallas, TX.
Bayley talks about how Lyra Valkyria waited in line for hours to meet her. It’s the foundation of where her respect and trust in her began. She talks about Lyra became her best friend, and was there for her during one of the toughest years of her career.
She says she was also there to be the best version of herself every single week. She never questioned Lyra’s trust and wanted to help her. They couldn’t have an honest conversation, she took the easy way out. Bayley then issues a challenge.
Bayley asks Lyra to meet her face to face next week. This is set along with the I-C contender gauntlet, as is the return of Brock Lesnar, the return of Roman Reigns as well as Iyo Sky vs. Roxanne Perez. Next week’s Raw takes place in Dallas, TX.
Undisputed WWE Title Main Event Update No. 2
Nick Aldis walks up to Adam Pearce. Aldis says he placed a successful call while Pearce was talking to nobody and has found a replacement for Cody Rhodes in tonight’s main event.
The Undisputed WWE Title defense of Sami Zayn will take place, just against a different opponent. That star is in the building, and all Pearce has to do is say “You’re welcome.” With that final cryptic tease, the show moves on.
The Judgment Day With A Warning For Danhausen
JD McDonagh and Dominik Mysterio threaten Danhausen with more trouble at Saturday Night’s Main Event at MSG. They don’t care who his friend is. JD will embarrass him and dance on his head and put his story in the bin where it belongs. Dom says this can all be fixed if Danhausen un-curses JD.
Undisputed WWE Championship
Sami Zayn (c) vs. CM Punk
It’s main event time!
When we return inside AllState Arena, we await to see who will be the late-replacement challenger for the Undisputed WWE Championship defense of newly crowned champion Sami Zayn. The familiar sounds of ‘Cult of Personality’ by Living Colour plays and from outside of the building, CM Punk makes his way to the ring.
As he makes his way to the ring, we see a rare cameo from Michel Hayes. The crowd is going berserk for the return of “The Second City Saint” in “The Second City.” The reigning champion is also in the ring. Zayn pie-faces Punk before the bell sounds.
From there, things get officially off-and-running. A big shoulder-block by Punk to get his offense started. We see a headlock into the ropes, and then Sami with a chop. Tie-up into the corner, Punk with some shots, a snap mare and a chop to the back.
Zayn takes Punk into the corner, hits some punches before Punk hits the Manhattan drop. Punk with some mounted punches in the corner. Sami slips out and sends Punk down to the apron before knocking him to the floor. Punk trips Zayn.
He then takes him outside and bounces his head off the apron. We see a tope suicida by Punk to Zayn on the floor. On that note, the show shifts gears and settles into a mid-match commercial break as this high stakes championship contest continues.
When the show returns, we see the action still in progress. Zayn is punching away at Punk on the mat. Zayn comes off the middle rope with a double ax handle for a two-count. Zayn applies a rear chin lock to wear down Punk. Punk fights up and sets up for a Go-To-Sleep, but Zayn slides off.
Punk hits a pair of clotheslines before sending him into the ropes for a spinning heel kick. Punk connects with a running knee in the corner. Zayn avoids a bulldog, but Punk fires back with a swinging neck-breaker for a close two-count.
After that, Punk signals for the end and goes for a GTS, but Zayn slides off. Zayn goes for a Blue Thunder Bomb, but Punk elbows out. Punk applies a hammerlock before hitting a vicious lariat for a near fall. The crowd chants Punk’s name as he goes to the top rope.
Zayn cuts him off with a punch to the midsection. Zayn climbs to the second rope and clubs Punk’s back. Zayn pulls him onto the top rope and hits a picture-perfect super-plex. From there, we shift gears once more to head into yet another mid-match commercial break.
The show returns and we see the action begin to pick up as the end of this big Raw in Chicago main event continues to draw closer. Zayn hits the GTS on Punk a few times, but can’t finish him off. Ultimately, Punk hits a Helluva Kick on Zayn in the corner and follows up with a GTS for the win to become new Undisputed WWE Champion.
Winner and NEW Undisputed WWE Champion: CM Punk
