Another "WWE Raw" has come and gone. The road to Money In The Bank kicked off this week, as the first entrants to both the Men's and Women's ladder matches were determined, and Liv Morgan defended her world title against Stephanie Vaquer. You can read all about it over on the WWE Raw 9/7/2026 Results Page.After a night of the triumphs and the defeats, the epic highs and lows of Sports Entertainment, the Wrestling Inc. Staff is ready to sing their praises and vent their frustrations. Certain parts of the show just worked, like Bayley's shocking return, and some stuff simply did not, like the utterly pointless opening slog. As always, the comments section will be open to any and all who have more to say.Without further ado, the best and the worst of the Labor Day edition of "WWE Raw."
I always say that opening segments and matches are meant to set the tone for what's to come on the rest of the show. While I certainly think that sentiment applies to the opening 25 minutes of this show with the promo from The Vision, the match between Austin Theory and Otis, and The Vision beating down Oba Femi, I don't necessarily think that happened in a good kind of way.There were a lot of things about the opening 25 minutes of this episode of "Raw" that didn't work for me, but by far, the biggest issue I had with all of this is that none of it really clicked in my mind or worked for me. First, I know it's been a while since Otis has been on television. However, I would also argue that the same could be said for Akira Tozawa, and for that reason, it made absolutely no sense to me for WWE to treat Otis' return to "Raw" as a big deal by having Tozawa be the one to introduce him. Second, I don't think that the romance angle between Austin Theory and Maxxine Dupri is working for me, as I'm finding it to be irritating more than anything else (not in the kind of way that gets heel heat) and distracting in the middle of everyone else in the stable trying to get their points across.I also didn't really understand the logic of having Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed beating down Femi once again to stand tall over him. It's fine to have Reed interfere in the match between Austin Theory and Akira Tozawa to lead into The Vision beating down Alpha if that's what you really want to do, but there was no point in having Femi appear if he wasn't going to be the man to stand tall. I know WWE really wants to emphasize Femi's injuries, but it's just repeating a plot point for the sake of repeating it, especially when it's happening just one night after the first time they did it at WWE Sunday Night's Main Event.Written by Olivia Quinlan
There has been a significant passage of time where the Vision had been quite an ironic moniker for a group wading through the darkness, booked to look a little bit like a joke rather than the future of WWE.Bron Breakker lost pretty much every match with any meaning and got injured. Bronson Reed also got injured, and the group consisted of just Austin Theory and Logan Paul, who then got injured just in time for Breakker's return. And Maxxine Dupri joined an out-of-left-field romance storyline with Theory.Breakker had been presented fairly alright in the lead-up to his match with Oba Femi this past weekend, though the Vision as a whole was becoming quite blurry. That seems to have changed with Reed's return, throwing a new gust of wind behind their sails by taking Femi out both on Sunday and during tonight's show.His interference on Sunday undoubtedly ruined an already limbering match, but outside of the in-ring work, he has been the driving force in making the group feel like it's on the right track again. Tonight he just continued in that vein, wiping out Femi with Breakker and allowing the group to stand tall yet again.Breakker qualified for Money in the Bank, and they had a brief backstage segment with Paul Heyman, "The Oracle," having been distant from the group since Brock Lesnar returned for his series with Femi. And it really feels as though the Vision is coming back together in full force.Of course, it's a matter of sustaining that booking and keeping it interesting. But certainly in the case of Breakker and Reed there is an immense wealth of potential, and they should be booked as dominant forces. That was the case tonight, and hence it gets some love.Written by Max Everett
I was excited for Joe Hendry to get his main roster call-up from "WWE NXT," which feels like it happened years ago at this point, and I remain a huge fan of "The Young OG" Je'Von Evans, but whatever went on tonight involving Judgment Day's JD McDonagh and a big Funko Pop head really made me want to step away from WWE television for the next few weeks, until Money in the Bank, at least.Hendry, who has a real album dropping with WWE Music next month, sang a song about McDonagh's father being a Funko Pop figure, complete with a music video where Hendry wore a giant head that looked like a vinyl figure of McDonagh. Because commentary and WWE creative have latched on to the thought that the star has a big head. Comedy gold, let me, sarcastically, tell you.It seems like Hendry's album is going to be legitimate, and not entirely a series of parody songs (though I could very well be wrong), but either way, this seems like a really odd thing to do with him instead of actually promoting the music. Hendry's direction overall has been really strange, with him having to pivot from feuding with The Vision's Logan Paul due to the former United States Champion suffering a triceps tear, and he hasn't gotten back on the right side of the comedy rails since.If the song and silly video weren't enough, during Hendry's match with McDonagh tonight, Evans came out rocking the bobblehead and "took out" AAA Mega Champion Dominik Mysterio with a headbutt. There are so many more interesting things Evans could be doing right now that it's painful to see. Hopefully he's involved in the Money in the Bank ladder match coming up, and it gets him far, far away from whatever this is.If WWE wasn't already in bed with Funko, as there are approximately one and a half million vinyl figures of WWE stars and legends out there already, I'd assume this was for another brand deal or something. I guess Funko is probably paying them for the advertising, which I guess is the name of the game in this company these days. There was also a loud "Funko Pop!" chant in the crowd toward McDonagh, so it's doubtful this silliness will be going away anytime soon.Written by Daisy Ruth
The women's divisions on both "Raw" and "SmackDown" have been entering #GiveDivasAChance territory with short matches, matches not actually happening, fighting over a man, and s*** shaming. Tonight's episode was an improvement, but the bar is low.There was a women's MITB qualifying match between Lyra Valkyria, Sol Ruca, and Maxxine Dupri (who does still wrestle despite spending weeks as Austin Theory's arm candy). Each woman had a compelling reason to advance, although it was obvious that Bayley would return to cost Valkyria a spot in the match. That's exactly what happened. Bayley returning should keep Valkyria busy and if done right, could be a really good feud. The qualifying match was solid, and I'm hopeful the other qualifying matches will be too.Liv Morgan didn't defend her title for 100 days until SummerSlam. She only waited a month between her last title defense and tonight's (I said the bar was low). She had a pretty solid match with Stephanie Vaquer, but of course, there was interference from Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez. Becky Lynch also was in the fray to help Vaquer. This will obviously play into "Raw" in Mexico next week and likely into upcoming MITB qualifying matches.It's nice to see some movement for multiple women on the red brand with a mix of veterans, current stars, and future stars. Stories are being built, and hopefully they'll stay away from some of their recent creative choices. Hopefully, they'll remember that Rodriguez is the U.S. Champion and will set up a feud for her too while the focus is on the qualifying matches.Written by Samantha Schipman
Monday's show saw the Bloodline's Usos and Jacob Fatu deciding what to do in the aftermath of Royce Keys and OTM's attack on them last week. First, the Usos rolled up with a bat and a pipe with the clear motive to get their receipt. Then Jacob Fatu told them that would be what Keys wants, and they held fire.Keys and OTM then called the Usos out in the parking lot. The Usos were getting restless and wanted to meet them, but once again Fatu implored them to be calm and rational, while also saying he would do whatever they needed in the moment.So they came down to the ring for the main event segment, calling Keys and OTM out to meet them in the squared circle. The Titantron showed that they had just stayed in the parking lot, because clearly they had been watching the show live, and they instead decided to burn the SUV the Usos arrived in to close things off for the night. That was it.Perhaps one would understand if Jey, Jimmy, or Jacob had, at any point, made mention of the car being treasured or custom-made to them. But no, it's a rental. The same type everyone seems to pull up to the shows in. This wasn't a family home. This wasn't a car that had someone in it. This wasn't a car that had ever been described as unique. And they burned it on live TV.What possible effect could this have on the Bloodline other than to inconvenience them? Everything was shot and treated as though it was a deep cut, but they literally burned a company rental car like it was something.The idea at this point, considering the Bloodline has the fortune of being the Bloodline, should be to establish Keys and OTM as a force to be reckoned with. So far, they have had one brawl where they managed to turn the Usos' faces blurry, and they have burned a car. It feels a little Retribution-y.Written by Max Everett
I was going to be happy for Bayley, whatever she decided to do, and it seems like we're going to get word that she's re-signed her WWE deal after she returned to "WWE Raw" tonight to interfere in the women's Money in the Bank qualifier. Lyra Valkyria was close to winning the bout after a Nightwing to Maxxine Dupri, but Bayley pulled the referee out of the ring, and Sol Ruca hit Valkyria with a Sol Snatcher off the distraction to advance to the ladder match.No shade to Dupri or anything, but I was a bit worried there for a second that she would be going on to Money in the Bank, as Valkyria and Ruca have been locked in a feud over recent weeks, as Bayley has been off television after Valkyria took her out at Saturday Night's Main Event back in July. Thankfully, that isn't the case, and the right woman moves on to compete for the guaranteed title shot.Valkyria would have done well in the ladder match as well, and WWE seemingly did have a plan in place for her against Ruca if Bayley didn't re-sign, if that indeed was the issue with Valkyria's booking for a month or so there. I do love that Bayley is back to reignite the feud with Valkyria, after her former friend and tag team partner laid her out across the steel steps after defeating her in the ring in July.At this point, I'd love to see a street fight or some kind of no disqualification stipulation between the pair at Money in the Bank next month. The show is just slightly over a month away, giving WWE a perfect amount of time to heat things back up (if tonight didn't do that for you already) and re-explain their history. I'll always love women's feuds outside of the title picture, and Bayley and Valkyria's is one of the strongest in quite some time.I loved the look in Bayley's eyes after she beat Valkyria down after costing her the match. It wasn't the look of the old heel Bayley of old, who I wasn't a huge fan of, but a woman looking for revenge. Their next match is going to be a banger, and I'm excited that we're actually going to get to see it. Here's hoping Bayley got everything she wanted and needed out of a new deal, if that was the holdup, but selfishly, I'm excited to see her back.Written by Daisy Ruth
