WWE Raw on Aug. 17, 2026, took place at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, N.Y., and featured the deliverance of Solo Sikoa to Roman Reigns.
This week’s show had some solid high points. The commercials seemed way more excessive and poorly timed this week. What else is new, right? The crowd was virtually dead for most of the show, but when they wanted to pop, they popped big for a few moments, which, of course, will be touched on below.
Here’s the top takeaways from this week’s show:
Bron Breakker vs. Oba Femi match set
Bron Breakker and Oba Femi are now set for a match.
Breakker took the ring to call out Femi, but Paul Heyman arrived first. Femi wasn't too far behind and gave us a fantastic impression of Breakker.
Oba’s Bron Breakker impersonation is actually spot on pic.twitter.com/jPfnxQ88wO
— THE BOULDER 🪨 (@BASINGSEGRAPS) August 18, 2026
After a little back and forth about who will be the future of WWE, Breakker said he was ready to go at it, but Heyman stopped him and said that if he continued, he would walk away from him. Heyman said a match this big doesn't just get booked randomly on the spot, because there are shareholders to think about. So, it's set for Saturday Night's Main Event on Sept. 6 in Atlanta.
Dragon Lee advances in No. 1 contender tourney
The Roman Reigns Invitational (unofficial name, of course) continued Monday with a quarterfinal matchup between Dragon Lee and El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr.
This was a solid lucha match, but the crowd was dead for most of it. Why? Because everyone knew Lee was going to win – and he did after hitting Operation Dragon.
WHAT A WIN 👏@dragonlee95 is headed to the NEXT ROUND! pic.twitter.com/SRQdJLamE3
— WWE (@WWE) August 18, 2026
There's not much to take away here because this entire random No. 1 contender tournament has had zero surprises. Every main carder has advanced over the AAA talent. The lone exception would be LA Parka defeating Psycho Clown, but neither is on the main roster. Lee advances to take on Rey Fenix in the semifinals. The other match is Penta vs. La Parka. When the bracket was released, the expectation was a finals matchup between the brothers Penta and Fenix, and that is exactly where this is headed. From there, that winner will go on to lose to Reigns on Raw in Mexico City.
Chad Gable, Rey Mysterio put on a classic
Imagine this version of Chad Gable vs. a prime Rey Mysterio. That's a dream matchup. Even this near-retirement Mysterio can still do incredible things, though, and gave us one hell of a match on a random Monday with the Intercontinental Championship on the line.
In what was easily the best match of the show, and the best match on Raw in a while, Gable and Mysterio went back and forth, inside and out of the ring.
This man DOES NOT AGE 💪@reymysterio pic.twitter.com/zyTekYhHGb
— WWE (@WWE) August 18, 2026
The dead crowd couldn't even sit on their hands any longer for the climax of the match. Gable hit an Angle Slam from the top rope; a Mysterio 619 was countered into an ankle lock, but then that was countered. Everyone was on their feet at that point, hoping to see Mysterio pull off the title win. Gable didn't let it happen though after another counter into an ankle lock, followed by a series of roll-up counters.
WHAT A MATCH!!! 🔥@WWEGable retains after an amazing match! pic.twitter.com/meOyZGAMHx
— WWE (@WWE) August 18, 2026
This was so much fun.
While Gable is in the middle of a much-deserved push, I wouldn't have hated an impromptu swerve here to put the belt on Mysterio. The crowd was like a light switch: from near-dead to PLE-level pop when Mysterio had late momentum. Completing the moment with a title change would have made for the biggest pop on a Monday in recent memory. Throw a curveball once in a while. Make people tune in each week. Mysterio's reign wouldn't have to be long; he could drop it right back to Gable in a rematch at SNME. Ahh well. We still got a treat of a match here.
Solo Sikoa spikes Roman Reigns
The "main event" of this week's show was The Bloodline segment with Roman Reigns being delivered Solo Sikoa.
After Reigns entered with Jacob Fatu by his side (the crowd was super hot for this entrance) and asked for his acknowledgment, things got down to business. The Usos ushered Solo Sikoa to the ring, mocking the pew-pew gestures all the way to the ring. Sikoa was in a black suit and shades and took his spot right in front of Reigns. After playing a video recapping their history since the debut of Raw on Netflix, Reigns snatched off Sikoa's shades and stomped on them, and then the beatdown began.
A TOTAL beatdown of Solo Sikoa 😟@WWERomanReigns pic.twitter.com/ZTVgjZPeOn
— WWE (@WWE) August 18, 2026
While Sikoa was on the ground in pain, Reigns "leveled up" The Usos and gave them black Ula Falas. That didn't sit well with Fatu, who looked disgusted as he stood in the corner. LA Knight decided to join the party, and took out Jimmy and Jey. Knight turned his attention to Reigns, and Fatu laid him out from behind. Reigns quickly called him off to handle business himself. The Usos then held Knight up for Sikoa, and Reigns demanded he finish him off. Sikoa repeated "I'm sorry" to Knight before hitting a Samoan Spike – on Reigns.
SOLO SIKOA SPIKES ROMAN REIGNS!!!
— WWE (@WWE) August 18, 2026
OH MY GOD!!! pic.twitter.com/yOfUJTAwNW
More chaos unfolded, all while Fatu stood in the corner and watched. Sikoa and Knight got the upper hand and then hit the exit.
LA KNIGHT BFT TO ROMAN REIGNS!! 🙌
— WWE (@WWE) August 18, 2026
Sikoa and Knight stand TALL!! pic.twitter.com/Cn2mTAgVro
For all the worrying about Sikoa rejoining The Bloodline, we got exactly what should have happened here. Sikoa is cooking as a babyface right now, and to ruin that would be gross malpractice by the creative team. This segment was fantastic. It went from Reigns chants to Sikoa chants. Knight and Sikoa make for a fun duo, and hopefully it leads to one of them capturing Reigns' title – and it should be Knight.
Full match results
- Je'Von Evans def. JD McDonagh via pinfall
- Sol Ruca def. Lyra Valkyria via pinfall
- Dragon Lee def. El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. via pinfall - Roman Reigns No. 1 contender tournament quarterfinal
- (C) Chad Gable def. Rey Mysterio via pinfall – Men's Intercontinental Championship
This article originally appeared on Wrestling Junkie: WWE Raw takeaways: Sikoa spikes Reigns, Gable and Mysterio put on classic
