Monday Night Raw Review - May 4, 2026

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Bron Breakker Attacked Seth Rollins

Rollins was making his way to the ring when he was attacked from behind by Breakker. This was a really good angle to put more heat on Breakker and I liked that they continued to interact throughout the show. I assume this was designed to give Rollins an out for losing to Breakker at Backlash, or at least that should be the idea. Either way, this kicked off the show on a chaotic note.

JD McDonagh def. Finn Balor

I enjoyed the outing these two had on post-WrestleMania Raw, but it was too short. This was given a few more minutes, and although it wasn't completely what they're capable of, it was a slightly better bout. They teased more tension between Roxanne Perez and Liv Morgan, only for Perez to help McDonagh win. McDonagh winning was a pleasant surprise. Hopefully that means we're in for a rubber match at some point.

Ethan Page and Rusev def. Intercontinental Champion Penta and Je'Von Evans

The Intercontinental Championship scene feels like it's cooking (as the kids say) right now. Granted, the booking has been basic, but all four of these guys have been utilized well coming out of WrestleMania 42, especially Page. Him pinning Penta was huge and I think there's a decent chance he could end up taking that title from him sooner rather than later. The crowd was into this match, which was a lot of fun.

Sol Ruca Attacked Women's Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch

This was probably as perfect of a debut as Ruca could've had... up until the botched Sol Snatcher at the very end. That was unfortunate, and the crowd picked up on it, but otherwise, this was a strong segment with quality mic work from both women. I love that Ruca's first feud on Raw will be with Lynch because it can totally see her being the one to dethrone Lynch for that Women's Intercontinental Championship eventually.

Joe Hendry Attacked World Tag Team Champion Austin Theory by Disqualification

Hendry was doing his signing shtick before The Vision interrupted him like last week. Hendry vs. Theory was made official backstage earlier in the evening, but you'd think this would've been announced earlier than that since it was Hendry's in-ring debut on Raw. Maybe it's for the best that it wasn't since it was a throwaway match that ended pretty quickly. The post-match chaos with Hendry, The Street Profits, Rollins and The Vision was well done, though.

Oba Femi def. Otis

This is exactly the sort of match people were worried we'd be getting weekly when Femi announced his open challenge last week, so while I was fine with it for one week, WWE can't keep feeding Femi undercard competitors going forward. That said, I appreciated that this was kept short and sweet. I totally forgot that Femi and Otis previously met for the NXT North American Championship on NXT two years ago until it was brought up on commentary, but Femi is in total domination mode at the moment, so there was no reason for it to be competitive.

“Original” El Grande Americano and Los Americanos Hermanos def. El Grande Americano and Los Americanos

The Creed Brothers finally resurfacing on Raw (albeit under masks) was the only good thing about this match. It wasn't bad, but the crowd clearly couldn't care less and I don't blame them. I've said this before, but it's wild to me that the storyline with these guys is way more over in Mexico/AAA than it is in the United States/on the main roster. I'm looking forward to the Mask vs. Mask matchup between Chad Gable and Ludwig Kaiser at the end of the month so we can stop seeing this stuff on Raw.

Jacob Fatu Attacks World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns During the World Heavyweight Championship Contract Signing

This was more of the same from Fatu and Reigns, and that's to say it was a solid segment. I would've preferred to see them take it to the next level, but it was a nice contract signing on the whole. Fatu standing tall yet again was the way to go as they attempt to establish him as a legitimate threat to Reigns. I still don't think Fatu is walking out of Backlash with that title, but him winning with an assist from The Usos isn't entirely out of the question.

Overall Show

Raw is largely entertaining most weeks and this edition was no exception. It was starting to drag once we got to the six-man tag team match with the Americanos, but they closed out on a high note with the contract signing. The pre-taped sit-down exchange with IYO SKY and Asuka was also excellent and worth checking out. The Backlash hype was successful and the rest of the show held my interest.

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