WWE SmackDown on July 27, 2026, took place at Intuit Dome in Los Angeles and featured a face-to-face with Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins.
The go-home show for SummerSlam was filled with final opportunities to get fans excited about the PLE. There were some very solid highs and some questionable lows on this episode. This week's show was exponentially better than last week's dreadful offering
, though.Here’s the top takeaways from this week’s show:
Oba Femi steps on scale, Brock Lesnar doesn’t
Kicking off the show was a weigh-in for SummerSlam’s Hell in a Cell match between Oba Femi and Brock Lesnar.
The HIAC was brought down as Femi made his entrance, flanked by security. In the ring was a scale, Triple H and Adam Pearce. Femi weighed in at 302 pounds. Production didn’t consider the lighting,
because Femi was in a shadow from the cell when he stepped on the scale. Oops.
Oba Femi weighs in at 302 pounds 💪@Obaofwwe pic.twitter.com/wgJgWrNoOA
— WWE (@WWE) July 28, 2026
Then Lesnar entered with Paul Heyman, and this is where things got weirder. Lesnar didn’t enter the cell. Instead, he stopped at the door and locked it, then put the key in his mouth, teasing Femi, who got face-to-face with Lesnar – with a cell between them, of course.
Brock Lesnar is toying the Oba Femi 😳 pic.twitter.com/OiSZ9imkaM
— WWE (@WWE) July 28, 2026
Heyman began cutting a promo on Lesnar’s behalf as they circled the outside of the cell. Heyman’s mic cut out repeatedly, causing a big hiccup in the promo. After getting that sorted, Heyman announced Lesnar weighed in backstage at 303 pounds. Lesnar and Femi exchanged a few words, and then Femi destroyed the scale and the security in the cell as Lesnar and Heyman exited.
This was…strange. Weigh-ins in WWE are always completely pointless, because there’s no consistent usage of them throughout the year. Even if there were quick mentions of them or consistent social media videos, that would help keep the weigh-in kayfabe alive. It’s just a rare, random thing. This one was odd for many reasons.
Triple H and Pearce were just cool with Lesnar’s weight being recorded in the back. Both of them also have the power to call for production to raise the cell, and they just stood there while Lesnar teased Femi from outside after he locked it. This segment just came off as very strange.
Why are champions not defending their titles?
The first match of the night was a non-title tag team match between champions The Vision and Alpha Academy. For the second week in a row, the tag champs Bron Breakker and Austin Theory competed in a tag match without the titles on the line.
The Vision won using their tag finisher "Double Vision" and unleashed a brutal attack on their rivals after the match. All of that is well and good, but why not make this match mean something more by having gold on the line?
What are we doing here? Why are the tag champions active but not defending their titles? The same could be said for Liv Morgan, who has been women’s champion for 100 days now and has a grand total of ZERO title defenses. Don’t get me started on having qualifying matches for an INTERIM title match.
Is WWE’s creative team just completely out of ideas for its champions? Sad scenes right now.
Joe Hendry, Danhausen concert, Ryan Garcia attack falls flat
In a random act of weirdness, Joe Hendry and Danhausen performed a song, complete with mini-hausens and a group of dancers. "I believe that you are cursed" won’t be a chart-topper, that’s for sure.
"I believe that you are CURSED" 🎼
— WWE (@WWE) July 28, 2026
Sing it, @joehendry and @danhausenad! pic.twitter.com/MySoAlTr7W
Boxer Ryan Garcia joined the dance line as they circled the ring. He then got into the ring and smashed Hendry with a guitar. Then JD McDonagh and Dominik Mysterio also joined the attack. When they all stood tall after the beatdown, there was silence.
Ryan Garcia has aligned himself with The Judgement Day 🫢@RyanGarcia | @DomMysterio35 pic.twitter.com/Y4cucyyyiq
— WWE (@WWE) July 28, 2026
The crowd was not into this at all. You could see a few people trying to clap along with the chorus of the song, but it seemed like they were just trying to give two babyface characters some support rather than actually enjoying it.
I actually didn't mind this segment.
It wasn't good, don't get me wrong – but when you have creative, off-the-wall guys like Danhausen and Hendry, a lot of stuff will be thrown at the wall, and certainly not all of it will stick. Credit to them for going for it, but this one certainly fell flat in a hurry. WWE is committed to bringing in random athletes and celebrities, and in this segment, Garcia got his chance to be a part of the show. He certainly didn't add anything to a segment that was already beyond saving.
The only redemption here was in the backstage segment that followed. Danhausen told Adam Pearce to hang the money he owes Mysterio on a pole, for a "Human Monies on a Pole" match at SummerSlam.
Solo Sikoa brings the pew-pew
The Usos entered the ring to send a warning shot to their opponents at SummerSlam. Just as Jey Uso was about to hit the "BOW!" line, someone else said it for him. Turns out it was Solo Sikoa, who entered through the crowd.
"Bow! Bow! Pew. Pew-pew. Bow. Bow. Pew-pew-pew. Bow!" Sikoa hilariously mocked Jey’s line and got a nice reaction when the crowd spotted him. He then mocked Jey’s yeeting as he defied Jimmy’s suggestion to rejoin The Bloodline. Sikoa had the crowd on his side as this segment got cooking.
Everybody LOVES Solo Sikoa 😂🙌 pic.twitter.com/gI8ZJDADy7
— WWE (@WWE) July 28, 2026
After a promo from LA Knight, this whole thing turned into a SummerSlam preview, with all six men involved in the tag match brawling it out, including Jacob Fatu and Royce Keys.
For all of the struggles going on in creative right now, allowing Sikoa to lean into his funny side has been a bright spot. Sikoa is a naturally silly guy, and it comes off so well when he does it with a WWE mic in his hand.
Raquel Rodriguez wins Women’s IC title
The only title match of the show was a fun one, with Sol Ruca looking to defend her Women’s Intercontinental Championship against Raquel Rodriguez.
This match was heating up nicely, and then we got color out of nowhere. Rodriguez’s nose was busted open from a top turnbuckle moonsault from Ruca to the floor. Rodriguez leaned into the crimson mask and played it up to the crowd. She even wiped her face and slapped the blood all over Ruca. She didn’t miss a beat.
The match continued on at a nice clip until Roxanne Perez and Liv Morgan provided interference, which led to IYO SKY rushing out to support Ruca. IYO SKY slowed the interference, but Perez still managed to stop Ruca’s attempt at a Sol Snatcher, allowing Rodriguez to hit a Tejana Bomb to get the win.
.@RaquelWWE is the NEW Intercontinental CHAMPION 🏆
— WWE (@WWE) July 28, 2026
WOW! pic.twitter.com/70XwKFrLBl
Finally, Rodriguez gets a singles title! Even if it wasn’t clean, this was a well-deserved win. She’s been steadily improving over the past year, and this win signifies that growth. As mentioned above, with Sikoa, I’ll give creative kudos when they get something right. Although the blood wasn’t planned, it made the match even better. Awesome stuff here.
Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns faceoff
Before Reigns could get off his "Acknowledge me" intro, Rollins’ music hit for his entrance. Rollins finished the tagline himself.
Rollins once again reminded Reigns of his inability to beat him in the ring and asked if Reigns would call in The Bloodline to help him this time since he can’t get anything done on his own. Reigns replied by saying he’s dead serious about getting this win, because it’s not just him that needs to see the win. His family does. The whole industry does.
Roman Reigns NEEDS to beat Seth Rollins! 👊@WWERomanReigns pic.twitter.com/2VsO7NTLC3
— WWE (@WWE) July 28, 2026
Rollins twisted the knife further by saying he hopes Reigns’ family is there to see him lose again to realize their father is a fraud and Rollins’ "bitch." Reigns snapped and unleashed an attack. We then got a S.H.I.E.L.D. callback as Reigns grabbed a chair to hit Rollins in the back, but it (no pun intended) backfired. Rollins hit a stomp onto the chair, and then the credits rolled.
WHOA 😱
— WWE (@WWE) July 28, 2026
Roman Reigns let past demons distract him and @WWERollins made him PAY! pic.twitter.com/mka4iztTGw
This was a good promo segment to go home on. It didn’t do too much, but it did just enough. We’ll see what we get from the match with these two in the main event in Minnesota, which will no doubt include multiple outside parties.
This article originally appeared on Wrestling Junkie: WWE Raw takeaways: Raquel Rodriguez wins title in SummerSlam go-home show
