Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "WWE Raw," the show that emanated this week from Paris,France and featured both Sol Ruca and Penta retaining their Intercontinental Championships, plus new winners advancing in the King and Queen of the Ring tournaments! We have thoughts about all that stuff here at Wrestling Inc., from Liv Morgan winning to Seth Rollins losing, and we're excited to share them with you!Of course, we won't talk about the entire show here if you want comprehensive coverage, feel free to check out our 6/8/26 "WWE Raw" results page. This column is specifically for the WINC crew's opinions, and even more specifically for our opinions about the matches and segments that stood out to us the most, for good or bad reasons. Here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 6/8/26 episode of "WWE Raw!"
The fact Women's World Champion Liv Morgan is even in the Queen of the Ring tournament to begin with is ridiculous, so of course she advanced to the next round after pinning Chelsea Green and besting Alexa Bliss and Becky Lynch today on "Raw." I'm amongst the number of fans who figured former champion Stephanie Vaquer would be returning to take out Morgan, either from the tournament completely, replacing her somehow, or at least costing her the match.While that wasn't the case today, hopefully, it is whenever WWE is back in the United States and Morgan takes on the winner of the four-way pitting Sol Ruca, Lyra Valkyria, Charlotte Flair, and Jade Cargill against one another, a match set for Friday. In addition to how ridiculous it would be for the Women's World Champion, who hasn't had a single title defense or even a challenger step up to her since she won the gold 50 days ago at WrestleMania 42, to challenge for the other top women's title, it also sucks that the entire tournament could be used to further a Judgment Day feud.Raquel Rodriguez won her four-way match and is now set to take on IYO SKY to determine who advances to the finals. WWE could be, and it really looks likely, setting up Morgan vs. Rodriguez for the finals. In backstage segments, Morgan has been pretty much ignoring the fact Rodriguez is even in the tournament, gloating that she's "been fitted for the crown," and talking about how she and boyfriend Dominik Mysterio will reign as King and Queen of the Ring. If Vaquer isn't back to take out Morgan, Rodriguez will likely snap leading in to that finals bout, further fracturing Judgment Day.The only way that Morgan being in the tournament will be okay is if Rodriguez wins the entire thing at the end (though, how she beats SKY is beyond me, I guess with Roxanne Perez's help), and is also ousted from the faction and goes on to challenge Morgan for the Women's World Championship. It would be even more fantastic if she takes Perez with her, leading to the end of Judgment Day. I don't trust WWE to do the more interesting thing, however, and we could very well be headed for a champion-vs-champion match at SummerSlam, with Rhea Ripley and Morgan locking up once again during the "Biggest Party of the Summer."Written byDaisy Ruth
In the eyes of some, it might not live up to the men's Intercontinental title match that happened later in the show, but I really enjoyed SolRuca vs. Lyra Valkria. I thought it was yet another good showing for the still-green Ruca, and the latest in a string of strong performances for Valkyria, who continues to be one of WWE's more underused and underrated talents (she really should be winning singles matches these days rather than losing them, but that's a topic for another time). But while the match was good, there was really only one thing we were all watching for: could Ruca hit her SolSnatcher finisher clean on TV? The move has been the subject of much debate after a couple botched attempts on "Raw" and Saturday Night's Main Event, and while she nailed it onBecky Lynch at Clash InItaly, that was part of a spot that saw Ruca perform the move from a perched position on the ropes. She hadn't yet hit the more dynamic version that sees her jump up the ropes and flip into position.Fortunately for anyone immersed in online wrestling discourse, Ruca hit the full version of the move on Valkyria flawlessly, temporarily putting to bed any questions about whether she should be using it. It was a really good set-up, too, with Valkyria missing a spin kick and getting hung up on the top rope, putting her in the perfect position to take the move. Granted, a single well-performed SolSnatcher is not going to make all the talk about Ruca go away, but she proved the doubters wrong for at least another week, and personally,I was happy to see her do it.Written by Miles Schneiderman
I'm sure that there are plenty of fans out there who would be super excited about the prospect of another match between World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins at WWE SummerSlam on August 1 and August 2. I'm admittedly absolutely not one of those people at all.One of the persistent issues I've had with WWE's booking overall is how repetitive it's become. It's the same matches over and over and over again, which I've found has become incredibly boring and uninspired to watch as a viewer. When I tune in, I want to see new match-ups on WWE's weekly shows and Premium Live Events that haven't been done before between various members of the roster. It makes things really exciting to watch play out, and keeps me wanting to actually watch the product rather than dread seeing the same thing once again.Reigns and Rollins is no exception to this rule. WWE has done matches between the two men more than enough times over the years, with the most recent one taking place just over a year ago at WWE WrestleMania 41. I just can't help but feel that we don't need another meeting between the two men once again, and there's a roster full of people who could easily take Rollins' place and challenge Reigns for the World Heavyweight Championship instead.The teases of Rollins winning the 2026 King of the Ring Tournament in his interview with Jackie Redmond and The Usos/Jacob Fatu didn't really help matters at all, nor did it do any favors at all. It turned out that none of it really mattered anyways since Austin Theory and Bron Breakker interfered to cost Rollins his match, rendering the entire thing as pointless and taking up time on "Raw" that could've been better spent building up something else or allotted to give matches some more time.Written byOlivia Quinlan
Say what you will about Chad Gable's El Grande Americano character, and I know there is a lot to say from those who loved it and others who hated it, but I am simply just glad that one, it's wrapped up for the most part, and most importantly, two, WWE decided to do something with all that Gable has done over the last year. I fully expected the company to just throw him back into the mix of things, as a babyface all of a sudden following his mask-vs-mask match at AAA Noche de Los Grandes, with absolutely no explanation.I expected some kind of cheesy "Oh, wow, look, it's Gable, we haven't seen him in X amount of months!" kind of line from Michael Cole, though, after Gable's apology to Rey Fenix on "WWE SmackDown" on Friday, the story thankfully started to look like it was going to be more than that. Gable is now on an apology tour, and while WWE will never acknowledge that the gimmick initially had gross, racist undertones, at least Gable, the character, is apologizing for his actions.On "Raw," Gable apologized to Fenix's brother, Penta, and admitted he completely lost it after losing to the luchador during his debut match and was a coward. He also apologized to Dragon Lee and Rey Mysterio, with Mysterio telling Gable that he needs to look back further and work on himself, as he had done things he shouldn't be proud of even before he put on the mask.It's that line from Mysterio that has me hoping that WWE isn't pivoting to making Gable the savior of lucha libre now that he's returned. He helped Lee make the save when Ethan Page and Rusev attacked Penta and Mysterio following their Intercontinental Championship match. When I saw the spoiler, I initially really liked that, but I didn't expect Mysterio to be unmasked. I didn't necessarily love that part of the story tonight, but I suppose it made some kind of sense to bring Gable out there for that, to return the mask to the WWE Hall of Famer.I didn't mind that because of Mysterio's line earlier in the night, and I hope WWE creative is smart enough to go this route. A luchador was unmasked in the ring, Gable helped out, returned the mask, and now his lucha era is over. He can move to then make things right from his past, more than likely meaning making good with Alpha Academy's Otis, Akira Tozawa, and Maxxine Dupri.Written by DaisyRuth
Going into AAA Noche de los Grandes, I was sick at the very idea of the very dregs of the barrel that had manifested into a main event pretending to carry even a modicum of significance that comes with a traditional Mask vs. Mask contest.It was a genuinely great match in itself, over half an hour of the excellent wrestling that Chad Gable and Ludwig Kaiser could be putting on as themselves. And objectively speaking, it will be at the very top of a very many people's Match of the Year lists. But, what was always and remains truly egregious is the attitude that El Grande Americano and the characters portraying the luchador caricature have brought any form of legitimacy to Lucha Libre.This idea that Gable now, through losing the mask he only donned as a ridiculous Stardust-adjacent gimmick on par with Speedy Gonzalez for sheer, cartoon racism, has a newfound respect for Lucha Libre because he lost to his stand-in, is quite frankly ridiculous.Penta and Rey Mysterio wrestled yet another good singles match for the Intercontinental title on Monday, described as a dream match by the company continuing to pretend wrestling doesn't happen unless it's own cameras have seen it (this was actually their third singles match). But then that couldn't be all, there had to be a post-match angle, which involved spurned Intercontinental title challengers Ethan Page and Rusev banding together to attack Mysterio and Penta.Dragon Lee came out to make the save because "Luchadors Get It Done," only he didn't actually make the save and got himself yeeted into the timekeeper's area. Enter Gable, formerly a fake luchador and the new Messiah of Lucha Libre, to make the save definitively. As WWE's actual social media put it: "Chad Gable just taught Ethan Page and Rusev a lesson: RESPECT LUCHA LIBRE!"The issue is, what has Gable actually learned about Lucha Libre? What is this supposed resolution? Why is he a babyface now purely for losing the mask? Mysterio legitimately forgave Gable in a backstage segment because he had a good match. That's the bar to clear. You can appropriate culture and mock it on the highest levels, provided you have a good match.Gable didn't learn Lucha Libre, he didn't wrestle any differently than he has for the past 13 years. He put on a mask and continued to be himself but with a broken accent. It's easy to celebrate Gable as a good wrestler. It's easy to celebrate the match as a good one. But to remove catharsis and make Gable the hero of the tale is a symptom of a wider issue.Written byMax Everett
Oba Femi is easily one of the best things that WWE has going on right now, so of course they undid his monstrous win over Brock Lesnar by having Lesnar beat him at Clash in Italy instead of keeping him undefeated. Luckily, WWE redeemed themselves somewhat by having Oba Femi advance in the King of the Ring tournament the following night."Raw" opened with a great promo from Femi. The crowd was extremely loud for Femi from the moment the green lights hit. They continued their chanting into his promo. Femi addressed Paul Heyman and gave him and the fans a spoiler; he will take the throne as the next King of the Ring. He also said he'll collect the head of Lesnar. He called Lesnar out for cheating to beat him, called him b****, and declared he'll settle the score the next time they see each other. His opponent for next week, "Dirty Dom" Mysterio advised Femi to bend the knee and "respect the 'stache!" JD McDonagh hit Femi with a chair and it didn't phase him. He caught Mysterio midair and launched him across the ring. Femi said that everyone knows his dad his Rey Mysterio, "but next week, I'll introduce you to your daddy!" while pointing to himself. The delivery of this line was perfect.This segment was everything it needed to be. It was full of confidence and swagger. He declared himself as the next KOTR, called out Lesnar and his tactics, outsmarted McDonagh and Mysterio, and left with the last word while the crowd was going crazy for him. He kept himself over in spite of WWE's booking and reminded everyone that he's a real threat to anyone who crosses his path.Written bySamantha Schipman
