Why This Was WWE's Worst Raw of 2026 and More Fallout

WWE Raw continued the build to SummerSlam at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Monday night, but viewers would be forgiven for not noticing.

Jacob Fatu and The Usos stood tall after The Samoan Werewolf defeated LA Knight, while Seth Rollins found an interesting potential ally in Solo Sikoa.

The Judgment Day ran into more issues with Danhausen, leading JD McDonagh to a quick loss against Oba Femi and setting up Dominik Mysterio to lose to Joe Hendry.

Check out all the fallout from Raw including some major signs for what WWE fans can expect at SummerSlam on August 1-2.

This Was the Worst Raw of 2026

Anyone watching Raw this week would be forgiven for thinking SummerSlam must be at least a month away given the pace and urgency of the night.

However, this week's Raw was airing just 12 days before SummerSlam weekend.

For this reason, Monday's Raw was not just boring and bland but also the worst show the red brand has delivered all year.

Over two-and-a-half hours, WWE did not deliver a single match over 10 minutes while showing repeating video packages and awkward advertisements.

WWE was more focused on highlights of Fanatics Fest and talking about NFL icon Tom Brady than putting any focus into building the forthcoming premium live event.

Two of the biggest names for SummerSlam were nowhere to be seen, leading to a show-ending angle focused on a six-man tag match with nothing at stake.

Worst of all, WWE delivered zero angles specifically focused on the women's division, relegating Lyra Valkyria, Sol Ruca, Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez to commercial break promos.

Liv Morgan and Maxxine Dupri's roles for the night were to be the girlfriends of Dominik Mysterio and Austin Theory, respectively, while Iyo Sky was an assistant to Danhausen's torment of The Judgment Day.

At least the show managed to add one new match to sell SummerSlam: Danhausen's inevitable victory over AAA Mega champion Dirty Dom.

Any fan who skipped this week's Raw would have benefited from not wasting two-and-a-half hours and missing nothing in the build to SummerSlam.

WWE Raw Has Failed to Properly Build SummerSlam

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Seth Rollins

SummerSlam is a two-night show built on three matches: Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins, Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar in Hell in a Cell, and CM Punk vs. Cody Rhodes.

While all three contests are big draws in current WWE, only Punk vs. Rhodes has any real drama behind it, and that only began to build after Saturday Night's Main Event.

Reigns vs. Rollins has so much history to explore, yet that Shield history is the only real selling point for this current match. Neither have seriously sold why they need to fight right now.

The story of The Ruler vs. The Beast Incarnate was told on the road to WrestleMania 42, and even then it grew repetitive before 'Mania.

Both follow-up matches have told the same story of two big men fighting for dominance without any fresh angle or matches along the way.

The worst part is that the remaining six matches announced for SummerSlam so far are not picking up the slack.

A last-minute women's ladder match, a six-man tag with no real stakes and the likely one-sided Gunther vs. Nick Aldis are not going to make SummerSlam worth watching.

The worst of it all may be Liv Morgan vs. Iyo Sky, which hardly feels like it is worthy of a premium live event despite the talent involved, all thanks to terrible booking...

Liv Morgan's Title Run Has Been Booking Malpractice

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Dominik Mysterio and Liv Morgan

What has become of the Women's World Championship? Iyo Sky, Rhea Ripley and Bianca Belair did not steal the show at WrestleMania 41 for this title just to see it fall to this level.

Liv Morgan is a good performer with major star power, but she has done nothing since 'Mania 42, especially refusing to defend her gold.

Her run in Queen of the Ring was a complete miss, wasting a fresh matchup with Sky a month before SummerSlam just to set up a barely built rematch.

Since that Queen of the Ring final, Liv has treated Danhausen as a bigger threat to her title than the woman who already beat her once recently.

The Genius of the Sky deserves more respect, and on the road to a SummerSlam in desperate need of credible women's matches, she has spent her time playing side comedy problem for The Judgment Day.

The primary culprit is booking malpractice that has no one on Raw even interested in challenging Liv except Sky and maybe her own Judgment Day teammates.

Recently, more attention has been paid to Sol Ruca's Women's Intercontinental Championship, which deserves a credible spotlight but not at the expense of the world title.

At best, this all leads to Sky walking out with the Women's World Championship and becoming the fighting champion that title needs.

Solo Sikoa, LA Knight and Royce Keys Prepared for a Dramatic Heel Turn

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The Usos and Jacob Fatu lay out LA Knight, Royce Keys and Solo Sikoa.

The Bloodline may be too popular for its own good, but that popularity could be the catalyst to create the new top heel faction in WWE.

While at first Solo Sikoa looked poised to turn face for the first time in his career, all signs now point to Sikoa pushing his teammates to the dark side instead.

Week after week, The Megastar has grown more justifiably frustrated with The Bloodline and the fans who keep supporting its bad behavior.

Keys has lacked a strong character direction beyond clashing with Jimmy Uso in recent weeks. This could be the moment to fully solidify him in WWE.

If Sikoa, Knight and Keys find common ground together in a mutual need to hurt The Bloodline, they will all turn heel soon.

The best way to present this would be for Sikoa, Knight and Keys to take the fight directly to Roman Reigns soon, leaving him, The Usos and Jacob Fatu laid out at SummerSlam or the Raw that follows.

From there, this trio could take over Raw or SmackDown, becoming what The MFTs tried but failed to be.

Don't Be Fooled, Big Cass is Still Coming Back with Enzo

Last week, WWE confirmed the rumors that Big Cass was returning to WWE. This week, WWE reinforced that news with a more direct video package for Cass.

These teases would initially indicate that Cass is coming back alone, but that is highly unlikely.

While Cass found some success outside WWE, particularly a solid run in All Elite Wrestling as Big Bill, he has never been as popular as he was with Enzo Amore at his side,

While Enzo is followed by plenty of controversy dating back to his days in WWE where he alienated most of the locker room, WWE has rarely shied away from some due to dated controversies.

As one of the best talkers in WWE in the mid 2010s, Enzo is a perfect mouthpiece for Cass whether they are a tag team or Enzo is Cass's manager on the road to singles glory.

Enzo and Cass makes far more as a pairing in WWE than either working alone at this point.