Heydorn’s Raw Receipt 8/24/26

-The opening of this week’s episode of WWE Raw was so damn refreshing. Two babyfaces being good guys to one another. Madness!! LA Knight and Solo Sikoa were great. Not only did they nicely recap the events of last week, but they both were likable and made the audience want to cheer for them. They did this without losing their personalities. Huge thumbs up here. WWE — and really pro wrestling across the board — needs more of this.

Roman Reigns is a heel

-The other great thing about the Knight and Sikoa promo to start the show? Roman Reigns was clearly defined as the heel. A huge development. Now, we need to see Reigns take ownership of the new definition and work hard to get heat.

-It’s just great to have Stephanie Vaquer back, isn’t it? She and Roxanne Perez had a long match this week, but one that seemed like it existed for Vaquer to show-off. They chain wrestled, worked in some big spots, and of course, featured plenty of Judgment Day interference. Vaquer never looks tired during matches. Insanity.

-Well, we got another Vaquer and Lynch interaction this week, but it wasn’t littered with petty, Mean Girl, nonsense. Hopefully this was a permanent pivot. Their rivalry will be stronger and more interesting if they both stay babyfaces, even when interacting with and confronting the other.

-Hell yeah. Match of the night honors go to Rey Fenix and Dragon Lee. Their semifinal tournament match was all edge of your seat action and culminated with an insane Dragon Lee flying and flipping suicide dive from inside the ring across the matted ground and directly into the chest of Fenix. The precision on that needed to be perfect and it was. Another match that showcased the WWE lucha style. Fenix won and is now in the tournament finals.

Lola Vice is headed to Raw

-If I’m Lola Vice, I’m thrilled with the setup for my main roster debut. She got the full vignette treatment and the piece very much balanced her out of the ring personality with her in-ring viciousness. It gave her credibility as a fighter who wins, but kept in the character that will help her connect with a big audience. They didn’t always walk that line right when Vice was in NXT. So far, so good.

-You know how I feel about this Oba Femi and Bron Breakker storyline. We don’t have to go there again. This was it’s best week yet. Femi and Breakker looked more like equals this week and big credit goes to Breakker for that. He found some of his original main roster aura inside the promo he cut on Femi and it elevated his stock significantly. Femi was Femi. Smooth, collected, and witty at the right moments. You saw a little confrontation between Breakker and Paul Heyman. Keep that at the front of your mind. My prediction still plays. Breakker and Heyman realign at Sunday Night’s Main Event and beat Femi.

-Well, Big Cass had to win his first match back on the Raw roster. That was inevitable. Yes, it’s too bad it was over Je’Von Evans, but Evans got a lot out of it nonetheless. First off, Evans now has a lined up feud ready to go with Judgment Day. Second, Evans looked like a fighting bad ass during the match. A lot of the Evans gimmick to this point has been rooted in energy and a passion for WWE. He lost this match to Cass, but showed edge and attitude. Long-term? That’s a great thing for him to find.

Commitment to the bit

-Lyra Valkyria is out of her mind. There’s been a complete commitment to the new character and it just might get over. Here’s the thing she has to remember. It can’t devolve into comedy. If she can maintain a serious undertone to everything she does, the sky is the limit.

-And the AAA and WWE World Heavyweight Championship finals are set. Rey Fenix won his semifinal match earlier in the show. Late in the show, Penta defeated La Parka to advance as well. Fenix vs. Penta in the final. That’s exactly how this needed to be booked. Penta and Rey Fenix are the two best that the WWE lucha style has to offer. Now, they collide with big stakes on the line. I’m still taking Penta as your winner. Penta vs. Reigns should cook when WWE brings Raw to Mexico City.

-Did everyone catch that Zilla Fatu video package? Look, not all new NXT talents get that on Raw. Fatu is pulling some numbers for the company right now.

-Well, we finally appear to be getting a Chad Gable vs. Ethan Page feud for the WWE Men’s Intercontinental Championship. This should’ve been the match for Gable at SummerSlam, but better late than never. Gable and Page had a comfortable heel and babyface dynamic. Good chemistry.

-Annnnnnnnd a non-finish in the big Usos vs. Knight and Fatu tag team main event. I get it, this is a big match, but a finish either way was workable. You can’t maintain audience investment in matches like these if they assume nothing will get solved by the end. The crowd was excited to see this and then that excitement just fizzled away thanks to the nothing being decided in the end. Disappointing.

The debut Royce Keys needed

-Now, the reason for the non-finish was the return of Royce Keys and the debut of the OTM faction on his side. Very well done. Like, this was the type of debut Keys needed all those months ago when he first joined WWE. This was attention-grabbing. Plus, it set a hook for next week due to the fact that we don’t really know what side Keys is taking and how his group fits into the dynamic between The Usos and the team of Knight and Sikoa. In one segment, Keys became more established than ever.

What did you think of the Royce Keys return to WWE Raw this week with OTM? Let us know in the comments!

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Follow Zack Heydorn on Bluesky @zackheydorn.bsky.social.