Monday Night Raw Review - March 16, 2026

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Brock Lesnar Confronted Seth Rollins; Oba Femi Attacked Lesnar

I was tempted to turn off my TV when Lesnar came out to confront Rollins. It seemed to confirm the reports that Lesnar vs. Rollins would be for the direction at WrestleMania 42 because Bron Breakker won't be cleared in time to fight Rollins, so I loved the swerve with Femi emerging instead and laying out Lesnar in emphatic fashion. I'm not convinced Femi will win, but that's absolutely the right match for Lesnar at 'Mania and this was a hot start for their storyline.

El Grande Americano def. "Original" El Grande Americano

I hate to sound like a broken record, but I'm so beyond done with the Americano crap that it's virtually impossible to care about their feud, no matter how well wrestled this was. Having the heel Americano win was better than doing a non-finish, but it does leave me thinking we're still getting them facing each other at WrestleMania with both of their masks on the line. At least I'll have my bathroom break for the event figured out.

Women's Intercontinental Champion AJ Lee def. Bayley

It was cool how Michael Cole noted on commentary beforehand that these two first faced off on an episode of NXT all the way back in 2013. I'm a big fan of both of these women and I'm glad we got this match. I enjoyed it for what it was and I appreciated the finish was decisive with Becky Lynch's beatdown of Lee was saved for afterward. Their rematch was always expected for WrestleMania, but I hope it has some sort of a stipulation.

Intercontinental Champion Penta def. Dragon Lee

Penta won the Intercontinental Championship two weeks ago and has already successfully defended the title twice on television. He's the perfect person to be holding the gold right now, so fingers crossed he ends up on the WrestleMania card in some form or fashion. This was an awesome sprint from Penta and Lee, who both such a treat to watch when they're allowed to go all out and do their thing.

Nattie def. Maxxine Dupri

I really wanted to like this feud, but it just hasn't clicked so far. WWE hasn't given viewers an incentive to give a shit, and this did nothing to change that. The match was fine for as long as it lasted, and Nattie winning decisively by submission was obviously the correct call, but I'm not sure how much Dupri will actually benefit from beating Nattie in the end based on how quiet the crowd was here.

Women's World Champion Stephanie Vaquer def. Raquel Rodriguez (Non-Title)

I got a good laugh out of Cole saying that this was an "old rivalry" despite their last match being only a little over a month ago. Was anyone clamoring for a fourth encounter between them already? The answer is a resounding no. This was decent, but IYO SKY's distraction combined with Rodriguez losing by a roll-up hardly made Vaquer look strong. Speaking of SKY, I'm convinced WWE has zero clue what she's doing at WrestleMania considering there was no indication she'll be rekindling her rivalry with Asuka on this show.

World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk Attacked Roman Reigns

Although this was another entertaining exchange, it was also the weakest they've had to date. This wasn't bad by any means, but Reigns going about business as usual even though Punk disrespected his dead dad two weeks ago was weird. I get the idea was what he was playing mind games with Punk, but Punk snapping at Reigns calling him old was pretty lame. You'd think he called him the New York Yankees or something! If you know, you know. Anyway, this wasn't the best night for their feud, but they can easily get back on track.

Overall Show

I thought last week was a hotter effort on the whole, as this show peaked with the opening segment. I liked Lee vs. Bayley and Penta vs. Lee was a banger, but Nattie vs. Dupri was flat, Americano vs. Americano was whatever, and Reigns and Punk didn't close the night on a high note. There was also a brief "interview" with Randy Orton via satellite, but that was more of a hook for Friday's SmackDown than anything. This was a mixed bad of a show, but I'm more so concerned that WWE still hasn't set in stone plans for multiple notable names at WrestleMania. And don't get me started on WWE not managing to get "Stone Cold" Steve Austin for the 3/16 Raw in Texas of all places.

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