Monday Night Raw Review - March 30, 2026

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Stephanie McMahon Slapped Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes

Stephanie confronting Rhodes was certainly a surprise, though I don't know that's necessarily a good thing. Yes, she was a victim of Randy Orton's heel antics many years ago and I know she's going into the WWE Hall of Fame this year, but this was still a strange segment to do, especially on Raw and not SmackDown. The most (unintentionally) hilarious part was Rhodes saying Stephanie wasn't her father and that apparently being enough for her to slap him. Wouldn't that be considered a compliment? Hopefully this doesn't mean Stephanie is the one Orton has been talking to on the phone recently.

The Vision (Austin Theory and Logan Paul) def. The Usos in a Street Fight to Win the World Tag Team Championship

The match had its moments, but we see so many Street Fights in WWE that most of them tend to blend together and I doubt we'll remember much about this one a week or two from now. Honestly, LA Knight being on commentary was the most entertaining part. IShowSpeed accidentally knocked him out with brass knuckles, but what is that supposed to be leading to? A six-man tag team match with The Usos and Knight facing Theory, Paul and IShowSpeed? Uh, sure, I guess.

WWE Tag Team Champions The Irresistible Forces def. Lyra Valkyria and Bayley by Disqualification

Good lord. A third straight disqualification finish in a WWE Women's Tag Team Championship match? That's so unbelievably lazy. This was better than the other two, but I hated how it ended. We already knew we were in for a multi-team matchup for the tag titles at WrestleMania 42, but surely they could have come up with something more creative than what we've been getting in recent weeks.

Oba Femi Fended off Brock Lesnar

We go from the worst built match on the 'Mania card to the best built. Seriously, WWE has knocked it out of the park with everything they've done with these two so far. It's been simple yet stellar. Both guys once again played their roles remarkably well and left me even more excited for their WrestleMania match than I was previously. I'm stunned Lesnar is involved in something that has my attention for a change.

Intercontinental Champion Penta def. Kofi Kingston

Penta issued an open challenge for the Intercontinental Championship on social media over the weekend and Kingston accepted. That's how this came about. They had a nice, well-worked match, but there was zero uncertainty surrounding the outcome. Post-match, Penta declared he'll defend the Intercontinental Championship in a Ladder matchup at WrestleMania. That's exciting and all, but most of the challengers shown in the graphic later on were rather random.

Gunther Attacked Seth Rollins

I thought we'd get more of Rollins and Paul Heyman spinning their wheels together, so I was shocked when we got a development with who he's facing at WrestleMania when Gunther returned and attacked him. No, a reason wasn't provided as to why he did that, but we'll probably find out next week. I'm expecting the reason to be lame, but at least their 'Mania match is official and they're both on the card.

Raquel Rodriguez def. IYO SKY

I was concerned for a few weeks that this would be the WrestleMania match, but I'm happy to have been wrong. What we got here wasn't anything special, but it was a means to an end with The Kabuki Warriors distracting Asuka and costing her the victory. Multiple matches were announced for WrestleMania on this show, but SKY vs. Asuka was not among them for whatever reason. What the hell is taking them so long?!

World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk Attacked Roman Reigns

Next to Femi vs. Lesnar, Punk vs. Reigns have had the most compelling rivalry on the road to WrestleMania. Not every segment has been a home run, but they've delivered more often than not and this was another excellent interaction from them. They bypassed the talking completely and went straight to brawling. It was Punk's turn to get the better of Reigns this week and it was a strong way to close the show. I don't believe Reigns will be on Raw next week, but I'm curious what they'll have in store for the final Raw before WrestleMania.

Overall Show

The stuff with Femi and Lesnar as well as Punk and Reigns has been carrying these shows. Everything has largely been in a state of flux as they try to figure out what the WrestleMania card will look like. Thankfully, a bunch of matches were made official this week, so it was a newsworthy night in Madison Square Garden. The build has been all over the place, but the lineup looks promising on paper and they have another few weeks to sell us on it.

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