Monday Night Raw Review - August 10, 2026

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Jey Uso Interrupted Solo Sikoa

Needless to say, Sikoa has been excelling as a babyface for the last month, so it was refreshing to see him start the show for a change. His verbal exchange with Uso was entertaining as they recapped their history and effectively set up their main event match which included adding some stakes. It's impressive Sikoa had the crowd fully behind him here considering how over Uso is, even now in his current role as a tweener.

Penta def. AAA World Mixed Tag Team Champion Laredo Kid in a World Heavyweight Championship No. 1 Contender's Tournament Quarterfinal Match

It would have been easy for WWE to make this a quick, forgettable match with it being the first round of the tournament, but I'm happy they gave Penta and Kid an ample amount of time and made it competitive with Kid looking credible in defeat. This was a super enjoyable outing. This is exactly the quality of wrestling I want to see in the remainder of this tourney. It's the sort of stuff Raw and SmackDown have been sorely missing for a while now.

World Tag Team Champion Austin Theory def. Akira Tozawa

I'm pretty surprised it took Theory as long as it did to put Tozawa away. Then again, based on how he's been booked over the last year or two, I shouldn't be that surprised. The match was fine with the expected outcome. The post-match angle was much better with Bron Breakker nearly attacking Tozawa before Oba Femi made the save and faced off with Breakker. It's encouraging that the crowd was hot for it considering how much Breakker has cooled off this year.

Becky Lynch Confronted Stephanie Vaquer and Attacked Women's World Champion Liv Morgan

Vaquer's promo wasn't the strongest, but her English is improving. Plus, it wasn't long before Lynch came out, so she didn't have to say much. This was a solid segment to establish tension between Vaquer and Lynch, making it clear that they aren't a united front against The Judgment Day. I could see them doing Lynch vs. Vaquer in a number one contender's match, but I'd prefer a Triple Threat for the Women's World Championship.

Dragon Lee def. AAA Mega Champion Dominik Mysterio (Non-Title)

These two have had a handful of matches dating back to 2023 when they were feuding over the NXT North American Championship, so it was nice to see them run it back here. They had a quality contest. Both guys need wins with Lee competing in the number one contender's tournament and Mysterio having just lost back-to-back matches a week ago, but I was happy to see Lee go over since it seems like they're telling the story of Mysterio being "cursed" and racking up losses. I don't agree with it, especially while he's still AAA Mega champ, but whatever. I liked Big Cass laying Lee and Je'Von Evans out afterward.

Sol Ruca and IYO SKY def. The Judgment Day (Roxanne Perez and Women's Intercontinental Champion Raquel Rodriguez)

Ruca was advertised as having a mystery partner, so SKY was probably a letdown for some viewers seeing as how she's a regular on Raw. She was a logical choice since she's been beefing with Judgment Day on and off all year, but they should have just announced her in advance in that case. Nonetheless, this was a well-worked tag team match to give the babyfaces a momentum boost. When is Perez going to finally stop taking pins for Judgment Day and start being built up on her own?

Jey Uso def. Solo Sikoa

The Bloodline would've had to leave Sikoa alone if Sikoa won here, but because Uso won, Sikoa will now be "hand delivered" to Roman Reigns next week. They didn't clarify whether that means he'll have to actually rejoin The Bloodline and be forced to fall in line, but I really hope not. The match itself was decent, but it was far from a barn burner and it didn't help that the Bloodline dynamic has been confusing.

Overall Show

This was certainly a step backward from last week's excellent edition of Raw. It wasn't as awful as the effort from two weeks ago, either, so it fell somewhere in the middle. The ending was frustrating, as was the continued burial of Dominik, but I did dig the opening segment, Lynch and Vaquer's confrontation and Penta vs. Kid. Sure, Penta is obviously winning that tournament, but the matches we'll get in the meantime should be fun.

SEE MORE: Raw Reviews