WWE Monday Night Raw Review: 21/09
Penta Starts the Show, La Catalina VS Roxanne Perez VS Iyo Sky: Women’s Money in the Bank Qualifying Match
As LA Knight arrived at the arena, Penta walked down to the ring to kick off this week’s edition of Monday Night Raw as he wanted to talk about his Main Event match with Roman Reigns last week! Even in defeat, Penta proved that he’s a Main Event star, with Mr. Zero Miedo making it clear that he’s not done chasing the World Heavyweight Championship yet! The Judgment Day would then interrupt, with JD McDonagh claiming that Dominik Mysterio is going to be the one to win the World Title first once he wins Money in the Bank! Penta then delivered a line about Rey Mysterio, leading to a brawl which Penta won! Once again, The Judgment Day were made to look rubbish!
Grade: C+
Jacob Fatu continues to tell The Usos that they cannot afford to make the first move against 946, whilst Solo Sikoa then appeared in their locker room to suggest that they should work together in order to take care of Royce Keys and OTM! Jimmy and Jey quickly rejected this, a decision that didn’t sit too well with Fatu! Anyway, it was then time for the opening match of the night as La Catalina made her official Monday Night Raw debut in a Triple Threat match against both Iyo Sky and Roxanne Perez in a Women’s Money in the Bank Qualifying Match! This was easily the best qualifying match we’ve had on the run-up to Money in the Bank, men or women, as this was a proper clash between three of the best female wrestlers in all of WWE! It’s been nice to see La Catalina get more exposure since she won the AAA Reina de Reinas Championship at TripleMania 34; she will compete on NXT tonight, too, whilst both Iyo Sky and Roxanne Perez are excellent! Despite this year’s MITB Ladder Matches taking on a trend of putting over young (and recent) NXT talent, it felt pretty clear that that was finally going to end, as having Iyo in a Ladder Match makes a ton of sense! However, to my surprise, it was The Prodigy who came out victorious as Perez delivered a Pop Rox to Sky to pin The Genius of the Sky! That’s a big deal!
Grade: B
LA Knight Promo, Bron Breakker VS Je’Von Evans
After joking around with Solo Sikoa backstage, LA Knight cut a much more serious individual in the ring as The Megastar sets his sights on Roman Reigns and the World Heavyweight Championship! LA said that for the past 3 years, the fans have been making it clear who deserves to be World Heavyweight Champion, but despite this, it’s now on Knight to make that happen! However, the difference between Money in the Bank 2026 and Crown Jewel 2023 is that Roman Reigns now wants to win on his own, which is all Knight needs in order to win the big one! Personally, as much as it would be an awesome moment, I just can’t see a world in which Knight dethrones Reigns!
Grade: C+
After Byron Saxton told Je’Von Evans that he’s set to make history as the youngest-ever competitor in a Money in the Bank Ladder Match, The Vision confronted Je’Von, with The Young O.G. eventually slapping Bron Breakker! In fairness to Bron, he stayed relatively calm, instead waiting to enact his revenge during an actual match! I enjoyed this match; I thought it was well produced, with Je’Von consistently outsmarting Breakker and The Vision! The OTB by The Young O.G. was particularly insane, whilst the match would eventually end in a disqualification after Austin Theory and Bronson Reed got involved! This would lead to the return of Oba Femi, with The Ruler making the save before Oba and Je’Von worked together to take care of The Vision! Evans and Femi have a ton of history together, so this was pretty cool!
Grade: B-
The Judgment Day Get Interrupted, Bayley VS Lyra Valkyria
946 cut yet another phone promo in their car, before The Judgment Day came down to the ring as JD McDonagh wanted to chat about the grief that his Mom has been going through due to Joe Hendry’s song about him and his father being a Funko Pop! Why is this a storyline?! Anyway, Liv Morgan will redeem everything for The Judgment Day by winning back her Women’s World Championship, but all this did was prompt Becky Lynch to appear in the crowd to state that she’s next in line! Becky also called JD “Jordan Devlin McDonagh”, which made me laugh, as she’d supposedly called McDonagh’s family's home phone! Stephanie Vaquer then arrived to make this segment actually mean something, as Vaquer agreed to fight both Lynch and Morgan at some point, as unlike Liv, she’s a real Champion! Honestly, besides Becky’s line, the most interesting part about this entire segment was the fact that The Judgment Day didn’t once say/celebrate the fact that Roxanne Perez qualified for Money in the Bank! I find that telling!
Grade: C+
After Lyra Valkyria said that she thought that her story with Bayley had finally come to an end at Saturday Night’s Main Event in July, The Morgen and The Role Model went one-on-one in San Antonio, Texas! This was obviously never going to be as good as their clash in New York City, but in fairness, there was still a good amount of intensity involved! The problem with this, though, is the fact that WWE completely failed to capitalise on a brilliant Valkyria Heel turn, as let’s be honest, she should’ve been in contention to win this year’s Women’s Money in the Bank Briefcase had they booked her properly! There’s also the question surrounding Bayley; if she is coming back properly, they have to push her! Except, in this match, she lost again! Granted, Valkyria cheated to win, but all this did was create an awful lot more questions than what was needed!
Grade: C+
Chad Gable showed respect to Dragon Lee backstage, whilst he told Ethan Page that he needs to do more in order to earn a shot at his Intercontinental Championship! Adam Pearce would then welcome out Lola Vice as the newest addition to the Monday Night Raw roster, but after putting herself over, Roxanne Perez arrived to state that she’s going to be the one who wins Money in the Bank! These two have an awful lot of history! Interestingly, Paul Heyman was seen watching this segment from the back, and when he asked Bron Breakker about what he’s going to do about Oba Femi, Breakker didn’t seem too bothered! Heyman and Vice?!
Men’s Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Dominik Mysterio VS Dragon Lee VS Solo Sikoa
Before we could even start the Main Event, Solo Sikoa got kidnapped by 946, with both The Bloodline and LA Knight failing to save him! What on earth?! Anyway, this meant that we were down to just Dominik Mysterio and Dragon Lee for the Men’s Money in the Bank Qualifying Match, until Adam Pearce made the decision to add a third competitor! That man being Penta! This was one way to tell us who was going to win this match, and I honestly have to question why we didn’t just have Dominik win?! Like, Mysterio needed this, and he would’ve been another guy to add to the up-and-coming feel of this year’s Money in the Bank Ladder Matches! Instead, a crazy Mexican Destroyer was enough for Penta to score the win, but hey, he’ll be fun to watch!
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