WWE’s flagship show, Monday Night Raw, emanated from Milwaukee last night, which just so happens to be the stomping grounds of yours truly. WWE typically rolls into the Cream City about once a year, and this was their first and only trip in 2026. In my 20s, I would make sure to get to the old Bradley Center every time WWE was in town, usually with my younger brother, Joe. Since entering (and unfortunately almost finishing) my 30s, life has gotten in the way a bit more, and going to WWE shows has become
less of a sure thing.
But when a Raw taping was scheduled for the Fiserv Forum within two weeks of my 39th birthday, Joe bought tickets for me, him, his longtime friend Ryan, and our soon-to-be brother-in-law, Kyle to attend last night’s show. It had been almost two years since I had been to a WWE event, and I had never been to a Raw event since they shifted over to Netflix, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.
This was also the first WWE event I attended since joining the Cageside team back in February. Over the weekend, I posted in the Feed and asked you, dear Cagesiders, if there was anything you wanted me to pay special attention to last night. While I fully intended to find answers to everything you guys asked me to, I also hoped to enjoy a night of pro graps as a fan. All that said, here is a look at my Monday Night Raw experience last night:
Bring the Juice, Uce!
The first thing to jump out at me was the Minute Maid promotional area set up outside the arena. We got to Fiserv Forum just before the 6:30 bell time, so this area could’ve been more crowded earlier, but as you can tell from the picture, it had mostly cleared out by the time we got there. We wanted to get inside, so I didn’t look into getting the full Minute Maid experience, but it seemed like just a quick photo-op with a couple of merch tents.
Nothing all that exciting, but I’ve been to dozens of WWE shows over the years and I don’t remember ever seeing something like this set up outside. On the one hand, putting a sponsor’s logo all over something has become old hat in WWE (see: Slim Jim on the tables), but on the other, little things like this give families something else to do to enhance their experience. Even though this was just a random Raw taping in September, this felt like an appropriate amount of fanfare outside the arena. While I only got close enough to snap the picture shown above, it was clear this could be a small added perk for some fans.
Pre-Show
We made our way into the arena just as Megan Morant gave a video rundown of last week’s Raw and previewed what to expect on last night’s show. The action kicked off with two matches for Main Event, as Maxxine Dupri faced Chantel Monroe from Evolve, and Otis took on NXT’s Naraku.
(Programming Note: Check out my Main Event recap on Thursday night for a full breakdown of those matches!)
Maxxine had Austin Theory with her, and both got a pretty decent amount of heat. Chantel is pretty unknown to most, so the crowd was lukewarm on her, but Theory’s shenanigans definitely helped them get behind her more. Otis, who actually grew up a few hours north of Milwaukee, got a pretty big pop, while Naraku, like Monroe in the previous match, didn’t draw much of a reaction.
With about ten minutes between the Main Event matches and the start of Raw proper, I took some time to check out the crowd. The arena was about 80% full, with the entire lower bowl filled and about half of the upper deck. It wasn’t the biggest crowd I have seen at a Milwaukee show, but I’ve definitely seen smaller ones. This would’ve been a good time to pop over to a concession or souvenir stand, but I stayed in my seat. Most people who came back into the arena with food were carrying Chick-fil-A bags, including new Milwaukee Bucks coach Taylor Jenkins. (Chick-fil-A has multiple stands around Fiserv Forum and is usually a top seller at Bucks games and other events.)
As for merch, I saw a bunch of people wearing the special Milwaukee edition Danhausen shirts that was promoted throughout the night. Maybe I just had my ‘old-school’ radar on, but I noticed a lot of classic shirts in the audience. I wasn’t the only one sporting the nWo colors, and the audience wore a wide variety, with everyone from the Undertaker to Dusty Rhodes represented on the threads in the crowd. I saw a kid a couple of times wearing a sweet blue Penta mask, and a big dude a section over wearing a Rey Mysterio one.
Biggest Pops & Most Heat
If you read into the grandeur that WWE puts into wrestler entrances, last night’s show made it clear that they view Penta and Oba Femi in extremely high regard. The pyro and spectacle of their entrances stood out more than anybody else on the card, and the reaction my fellow Milwaukeeans gave them matched that. The “Oba!” chants carried on long after Femi was in the ring and looking to start his promo. The chants came back in full effect later after Bron Breakker’s appearance.
As for Penta, he went on to main event the evening in what I thought was the best match of the night. On top of his awesome entrance and great showing in the night’s final match, I noticed a lot of Penta signs in the crowd, including a row of about 4 or 5 right next to each other, a section over from where I was sitting.
While Penta looked great in that match and both Judgment Day boys sold their asses off, I was really impressed with Je’Von Evans. He’s really made his strikes look legit, and his athleticism and… bouncy-ness… were something to behold in person. That guy has an unbelievably bright future, and I wouldn’t mind him ending up with the briefcase in New Orleans in a little less than two weeks.
As for who got the most heat, it was probably Judgment Day, both when Raquel came down to help Roxy and when Dom and JD came out for their tag match. Bronson Reed and Big Cass caught a fair amount of jeers, but not as much as Judgment Day. Another moment that drew some boos was when the “Roman Reigns returns next week” graphic showed, and the people in the crowd realized the Tribal Chief wasn’t in the building.
Commercial Breaks
One thing I was most curious about was what WWE would do for the live crowd during commercial breaks. People can see those segments and interviews on Netflix if they are outside the United States (or use a VPN to pretend they are).
During those commercial breaks, we got multiple clips of various episodes of Stephanie McMahon’s podcast. I guess it pays to be married to the boss! One break gave us a Joe Hendry music video, during which some in attendance brought out their phone flashlights. The only real storyline development during commercials was Bayley cutting a quick promo right after distracting Lyra during her match with Iyo Sky. All in all, it wasn’t too big of a deal, as they kept the action moving pretty well for most of the night.
Other Stuff
- The show kicked off with a PAC/Neville Tron graphic. There wasn’t really much mention of him for the rest of the night. A guy a section over had a RIP PAC sign, and Becky, Bayley, and Penta (as shown in the picture above) all paid tribute to him in their gear, but that was all I noticed. I’ll be curious to see if they talk more about him tomorrow due to his time on NXT, or on Friday, since some guys on SmackDown’s roster were closer to him.
- The Netflix drone flew around all night and was louder than I expected. When they landed it between segments, there were two guys in army-green WWE shirts with pilot-like headsets on who would catch the drone and take it to the back.
- This Milwaukee sports fan found it kinda funny that the crowd was borderline indifferent when they showed the Bucks sitting in the front row, and then erupted into “Let’s go, Brewers!” chants when they showed Jacob Misiorowski, Brice Turang, and the rest of the Brew Crew.
- Ty Dolla Sign being there in the front row was pretty much the most random thing ever.
- After the show-closing angle with Jaida Parker and the Bloodline, Dominik Mysterio came back out and called out LA Knight. JD McDonagh came out eventually to make it a 2-on-1, but LA Knight fought them both off. He ended up putting Dom through a Slim Jim table and hitting like 4 BFTs on McDonagh to send the crowd home happy.
Overall, it was a fun night at the office. The main show had only four matches, but the crowd got into every one. The 946/Bloodline brawl was nuts, and this Oba Feminist was thrilled to see The Ruler in person for the first time. I’ll be curious to see how the Milwaukee crowd came off on Netflix when I rewatch the show later in the week, but in person, it was a pretty fun atmosphere and an enjoyable show all around.
