Monday Night Raw Review - July 13, 2026

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Oba Femi Fended off Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman

As I've said before, there's only so much these guys can do heading into SummerSlam since we've seen and heard so much from them since March, but this was a good segment. Femi looked like a badass for dominating the security team without getting his hands on Lesnar. On a side note, Femi tried to explain that he gave up his guaranteed King of the Ring title shot because he knew Lesnar would have cost him the title, anyway. Yeah, that doesn't make his reasoning any more logical, but hey, he explained himself... sort of.

IYO SKY def. Roxanne Perez

I believe this was only the third match these two have had in the last year, but it feels like we've seen it more than that. Nonetheless, they had a nice bout. SKY is challenging for the Women's World Championship at SummerSlam, so the outcome was never in doubt, but I appreciated that Perez was able to score a fair amount of offense. She and Sol Ruca were outnumbered by The Judgment Day afterward, so it looks like they'll need one more person (Stephanie Vaquer?) to even the odds.

The Vision Attacked Alpha Academy

Although the acting was abysmal, this segment was effective in putting some much-needed heat on The Vision. It established that Maxxine Dupri is definitively done with Alpha Academy, and to his credit, Otis played his role remarkably well. At the same time, it was sad seeing Bron Breakker reduced to a background role in a segment that featured a jobber tag team. What a waste.

Royce Keys def. Jimmy Uso by Disqualification

Man, what the hell was this? Apparently there was some sort of segment during the commercial break that led to Keys and Uso facing off in an impromptu match (much like on Friday's SmackDown). They showed the footage when they came back from commercial, but the matchup was joined in progress, so it ended up feeling insignificant. It only existed so LA Knight and Solo Sikoa could help Keys fend off The Bloodline and challenge them to a six-man tag team match at SummerSlam.

Lyra Valkyria Attacked Bayley

Valkyria just started doing this desperation gimmick (or whatever you want to call it) and I think she's already finding her footing with it. The question I posed when she turned heel a few weeks ago still stands, though: Will she get over in this role? I have my doubts, so I hope I can be proven wrong. This was a fine encounter between her and Bayley to set up their match for Saturday Night's Main Event.

Chad Gable def. Ethan Page, Rusev, Je'Von Evans, Dragon Lee, AAA Mega Champion Dominik Mysterio and Joe Hendry in an Intercontinental Championship No. 1 Contender's Gauntlet Match (Non-Title)

WWE has typically done an excellent job booking Gauntlet matches for the better part of the past decade and this was another entertaining one. It gradually got better as it went along with some fun mini matches. Gable winning the whole thing was the only acceptable outcome, so thankfully, they did the right thing. Now he just have to walk out of SummerSlam the new Intercontinental Champion. Him against Penta has the potential to be the sleeper of the weekend.

Seth Rollins Attacked World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns During the World Heavyweight Championship Contract Signing

I was worried when this started so close to when the show usually ends because I thought it meant we were in for the formulaic WWE contract signing with both men taking their time walking to the ring and doing their signature catchphrases before signing the contract. We did end up getting all of that, but we also got some strong mic, specifically Reigns. Rollins cut the better promo two weeks ago, and this week it was Reigns' turn to shine. The physicality was a pleasant surprise, too.

Overall Show

The best part of this show was easily the last hour. I really enjoyed the Gauntlet and thought the contract signing was great. Everything else was hit or miss, but at least there was an ample amount of hype for Saturday Night's Main Event as well as SummerSlam. It helped to have some star power on this episode, but there definitely could've been more wrestling outside of the Gauntlet.

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