06/29/2026 Monday Night Raw: What Went Down in New Jersey?

Monday Night Raw took place at the Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. This was only the third time in WWE history that they hosted an event in Atlantic City. The show started off with all the highlights that went down at Saturday’s Night of Champions. After the highlights, Oba Femi walked out to the ring carrying his King of the Ring crown to a supportive crowd that serenaded him and chanted the war cries. Femi acknowledged the crowd, saying they needed to give him a reception befitting a king. The crowd obliged and showered him with more admiration than his initial walkout. ‘The Ruler’ said destiny was on his side in terms of becoming the King of the Ring Tournament winner in 2026.

Just as Femi was about to make a choice on which champion he wanted to take on at SummerSlam, Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman interrupted this year’s King of the Ring winner to a thunderous reaction. Heyman grabbed a microphone, and Lesnar motioned to ‘The Ruler’ to relax as he was getting into the ring. Lesnar started clapping in front of Femi. ‘The Advocate’ granted ‘The Beast’ the microphone before acknowledging Femi as this year’s King of the Ring. The 10-time World Champion said he hasn’t been watching the show, saying his advocate had been telling him what’s going on while he's not on the show. Lesnar mentioned how the new King of the Ring has been calling him names behind his back. ‘The Beast’ and Heyman looked at ‘The Ruler’ and mentioned how Femi can cut a good promo, something Lesnar admitted he could never do. The 10-time World Champion then said, “Talk sh-t, get hit” before kicking the new King of the Ring low and hitting him with an F-5 before leaving the ring. Femi then grabbed a microphone, calling his nemesis a ‘b-tch’ to his face before calling for their inevitable rubber match at SummerSlam. ‘The Beast’ accepted under one condition: the match has to take place inside Hell in a Cell. The new King of the Ring accepted the offer.

Heyman and Raw general manager Adam Pearce were talking backstage about the potential SummerSlam matchup. Austin Theory then interrupted the conversation, saying he didn’t know ‘The Oracle’ was there and that there are important matters for The Vision to take care of tonight. Heyman then mocked Theory back by stating, “I’m here.” Pearce then bumped into Femi, asking him if the Hell in a Cell matchup with ‘The Beast’ is what ‘The Ruler’ really wanted. This year’s King of the Ring demanded that bout, saying his guaranteed championship matchup can wait.

Rey Mysterio and Ethan Page then had a one-on-one matchup. Page started early with offense, even countering an early offensive attack from Mysterio. ‘All Ego’ got caught in an early 619 position before countering and getting countered by the Hall of Famer. Page countered Mysterio again, motioning to his motives of unmasking the Hall of Famer once again. The former NXT North American Champion continued his attack on the AAA general manager’s midsection and back, getting constant two-counts. Mysterio would attempt a Sunset Flip rollup; Page would counter and attempt to punch Mysterio in the face, but would punch the mat instead. The AAA general manager would get some solid offense and attempt a 619 before getting countered by ‘All Ego’; the latter would only get another two-count. Mysterio would finally hit a 619 and hit a Frog Splash to beat Page.

Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh walked into Danhausen’s lab. They couldn't find him, but they ended up with Danhausen’s gift from the New York Knicks. The duo decided to bait New York’s favorite wrestler with the Knicks’ gift. McDonagh then suggested to Mysterio to wreck the lab; ‘Dirty Dom’ said he had a few suggestions on how to wreck the place.

Joe Hendry continued Raw after the commercial. He brought out The Street Profits just before the start of Hendry’s concert. Montez Ford addressed the crowd and thanked the WWE Universe for supporting the team. He then thanked Seth ‘Freakin’ Rollins for coming out and helping his team out for the past couple of weeks. Finally, Ford went out of his way to thank the former NXT Champion for coming out to help out of nowhere. Hendry would begin his song on Theory, saying the latter’s career hasn’t been the same since John Cena destroyed the former World Tag Team Champion on the mic, but Theory rebutted by saying he beat ‘The Greatest of All Time’ at WrestleMania. After ‘A-Town Down’ announced how he was able to talk with Pearce to book a World Tag Team Championship rematch on next week’s episode of Raw. Angelo Dawkins asked if Bron Breakker would be ready by then, but the former United States Champion disregarded it and began to call out the man who appears when someone says his name. They went back and forth on the mic before an impromptu match between the two started.

Theory was on top after the commercial break. Hendry began to go on the offensive, even hitting his signature turn and pose. The man who appears when his name is said connected with a Hit Single to get a two-count. The former World Tag Team Champion would change the tide of the match, getting his own near fall on Hendry. They would trade punches and European Uppercuts before the former NXT Champion hit a Standing Ovation to win the match.

Pearce was backstage with Raquel Rodriguez, who asked about the state of the Women’s Intercontinental Championship; the Raw general manager said Maxxine Dupree was in line for a future title shot. ‘Big Mami Cool’ said Dupree would be easy work on her way to the Women’s Intercontinental Championship, and Pearce booked a match between the two later in the episode. Liv Morgan and Roxanne Perez would bump into their Judgement Day stablemate. Morgan was voicing her concerns over Iyo Sky coming after her championship and Danhausen messing with and stealing from them. Rodriguez would tell the Women’s World Champion that Morgan has nothing to worry about as long as she has her back. Interestingly, Perez had nothing to say during the entire segment.

Sky would come out with her Queen of the Ring crown after the commercial break. ‘The Genius of the Sky’s’ matchup with Morgan was announced as the first official bout for this year’s SummerSlam. The crowd chanted Sky’s name and said she was happy to come back to the United States as queen. She declared that she would beat the Women’s World Champion at SummerSlam after beating Morgan to be crowned at Night of Champions, but the champ came out to interrupt the newly crowned queen. Morgan said Sky got lucky with Danhausen’s curse, and their match at SummerSlam would go differently. Rodriguez and Perez would come at the champ’s call. This year’s Queen of the Ring looked strong at first, but the numbers game was too much for her to handle. They would end up targeting Sky’s left leg, and Morgan would hit her new half Boston Crab submission on ‘The Genius of the Sky’s’ left leg.

LA Knight would come out for his matchup with Jimmy Uso, and Jey Uso would join the commentary booth. Knight warned Jey to stay in his seat. The former United States Champion would start out in control. During the match, ‘Main Event Jey’ mentioned how he purposefully avoided Roman Reigns and that the two haven’t talked since his loss at Night of Champions. He also mentioned how, despite his relationship with Jacob Fatu being iffy when it’s business, they’re still family and will always have love for one another. ‘Big Jim’ would hit a Suicide Dive before the show went on a commercial break and would stay in control after the show hopped back on. Jimmy and Knight would trade blows with Jey calling on the latter for cheating during the match. ‘Big Jim’ would hit a spear for a two-count. Knight would hit a Superplex for another two-count. The combatants would head to the outside, where the ‘Yeah Man’ would stay in control and would pump fake, throwing Jimmy into his brother before throwing him back into the ring and booting the former World Heavyweight Champion in the face. Knight would hit his elbow drop before Jey came back out on the apron and would take out ‘Main Event Jey’ once again before ‘Big Jim’ would hit a surprise rollup to win the match.

Knight was frustrated with the outcome. He would sneak attack Jimmy as a result, but got taken down by Jey. As ‘Main Event Jey’ was getting his offense in on the former United States Champion, Solo Sikoa came up out of nowhere to scout ‘Big Jim’ and hit him with a Samoan Spike for the second week in a row. This would take all of the former World Heavyweight Champion’s attention, causing him to chase after his younger brother. Knight would come back up and hit a Blunt Force Trauma on Jey. Whether or not the two former United States Champions will team up in the future to take out The Bloodline remains to be seen.

It was announced that Raw general manager Pearce would run SmackDown and Raw simultaneously for now. This comes after SmackDown general manager Nick Aldis was put on administrative leave due to his backstage altercation with Gunther after Night of Champions. Gunther was accusing Aldis of always screwing him over because the SmackDown general manager was jealous of him. ‘The Ring General’ also brought up how Aldis was a failed wrestler, which caused the brawl. Gunther was also sent home by WWE.

The Usos would meet with Fatu backstage. They kept asking him where their cousin was during the match between Jimmy and LA Knight, but Fatu kept reminding the brothers that he only takes orders from Reigns. ‘The Samoan Werewolf’ even called Jey a “punk a–”, causing the latter to lose his mind. The former United States Champion would tell the Usos that ‘The OTC’ sent him to go to SmackDown to take care of the Sikoa problem. ‘Main Event Jey’ would also declare that he’d give SmackDown a visit with Sami Zayn as the new Undisputed WWE Champion without any upcoming opponents for the gold, and he intends to bring that gold back to The Bloodline.

Cole and Corey Graves continued their promotion of Saturday Night’s Main Event at Madison Square Garden on July 18th. This would be followed up by a pre-recorded promo of Lyra Valkyria explaining why she attacked her former tag team partner, Bayley, last week. Valkyria reasoned that Bayley had done the same to her for the past year before straightening out over the recent months. The former Women’s Intercontinental Champion wasn’t proud of her action, but wasn’t losing any sleep over it, either. She was tired of feeling weighed down by someone who’s supposed to be one of the greatest female wrestlers of all time.

Dupree would walk backstage and find Chad Gable preparing for his match. Dupree walked away from him at first, but walked back to talk with her former mentor. The former Women’s Intercontinental Champion said she meant every word she said on last week’s episode of Raw, but she was sorry how she handled it and tried to apologize for it. Gable told her to just focus on her match and wished her good luck.

Rodriguez and Dupree would do their match. The former Women’s Intercontinental Champion started strong and showed off her flexibility and agility, but ‘Big Mami Cool’ showed off her strength and started controlling Dupree around the ring. Rodriguez would even hold her opponent in a Torture Rack. The two would trade offensive blows and show signs of strength. The former Women’s Intercontinental Champion would hit one spinning kick, but when she attempted a second one, ‘Big Mami Cool’ would catch the leg and hit her Tejana Bomb to pick up a title shot against Sol Ruca for the Women’s Intercontinental Championship in the near future.

Danhausen would return to his lab in shambles. McDonagh and Mysterio left their mark as a sign of who destroyed the lab. WWE’s top merchandise seller would notice the Knicks gift was stolen before Morgan’s laugh echoed throughout the lab. The Women’s World Champion said that is what he got for stealing money from ‘Dirty Dom’, electrocuting McDonagh, and cursing her right before her Queen of the Ring Finals matchup at Night of Champions. Danhausen seemed to dismiss Morgan’s threats before the latter whipped her hair in his face.

Gable and McDonagh would begin their bout with Mysterio on the ringside. ‘Dirty Dom’ would wear Danhausen’s gifted jersey from the Knicks, causing Cole to say he deserves to go back into jail. The two competitors would start chain wrestling. The former Intercontinental Champion would gain the upper hand, chopping the former World Tag Team Champion’s chest. They would trade pinning combinations before Gable got an early Ankle Lock in. The AAA Mega Champion would throw the apron to help his stablemate crawl to the ropes to break the submission attempt, and he’d also distract the ‘Original El Grande Americano’ enough for his stablemate to shove him into the steel steps. McDonagh would start targeting Gable’s left knee heading into the commercial break. The latter would take his opponent to Suplex City while fighting through his new injury. McDonagh would hit a standing Spanish Fly, Powerbomb, and a Brainbuster for a two-count. The ‘Original El Grande Americano’ would attempt a Moonsault, but would read the counter to grab his opponent’s ankle for an Ankle Lock. This would be countered, and ‘Dirty Dom’ would distract Gable’s attempt at a Diving Headbutt. The former World Tag Team Champion would hit a top-rope Spanish Fly for a two-count. Danhausen would make his appearance at ringside, flaunting Mysterio’s money in front of him. This caused the AAA Mega Champion to run after WWE’s top merchandise seller, allowing for Gable to make McDonagh tap out to an Ankle Lock.

Danhausen left a gift for the Judgement Day men: a black leather briefcase that looks like the one they left inside the top merchandise seller’s lab. There would only be fake money and a smoke bomb that exploded in their faces. Danhausen would take his jersey back and run away from the ring, declaring his victory. Unfortunately, Rodriguez blindsided him and got the jersey back; he disappeared in the process. ‘Big Mami Cool’ would give ‘Dirty Dom’ the jersey back, only for him to wipe the sweat off of his face with it.

Dupree would ice her head backstage before meeting with Theory. The former Women’s Intercontinental Champion was venting about her match with Rodriguez, but the former United States Champion was talking about her interaction with her former mentor before the match. Dupree said, “Chad is complicated”. Theory mentioned how their relationship is simple and that if she wanted to go down that complicated path again, their relationship isn’t really working out. Akira Tozawa and Otis would come shortly after to comfort and help their Alpha Academy stablemate out, but she walked out on them with mixed feelings. The match between Femi and Lesnar inside Hell in a Cell at SummerSlam would be made official after the segment.

Reigns would walk out with only Fatu. ‘The OTC’ would demand that Atlantic City acknowledge him. Rollins would come out to confront his former Shield Brother and lead the WWE Universe into singing his theme song. The two would stand face to face and stare into each other’s soul for a good minute. Rollins would call Reigns “my brother”. ‘The Visionary’ would go on about their history as the Shield before telling ‘The OTC’ that he’s there to collect his World Heavyweight Championship back, with the World Heavyweight Champion firing back by saying his former brother hasn’t done anything to earn a shot at his title.

Rollins would respond by saying that Reigns owes him everything that he’s earned while saying that he owns ‘The OTC’ in the middle of the ring, in his mind, and in his heart for the past 14 years. ‘The Revolutionary’ would start by talking about the ending to night one of WrestleMania 41 and how he took the World Heavyweight Champion and ‘The OTC’s wiseman. Rollins would mention the ending to night two of WrestleMania 40 and how he helped Cody Rhodes finish his story and take the Undisputed WWE Champion from Reigns. The former World Heavyweight Champion would also go off on how, during ‘The OTC’s four-year run as Undisputed WWE Champion, he could never beat Rollins. To take it even further back, ‘The Architect’ was able to pull off the heist of the century at the main event of WrestleMania 31 and pinned ‘The Big Dog’ to win the WWE Championship and to put the final nail in the coffin, the former World Heavyweight Champion said he owned Reigns after putting a steel chair through his back after beating Evolution for a second time in 2014 to end The Shield.

‘The Visionary’ would state that he’s not there to ask Reigns anything, but rather to give him something instead. Despite winning every title imaginable, main eventing WrestleMania countless times, and doing everything there is in WWE, ‘The OTC’ has yet to beat him. Rollins was out there to give the World Heavyweight Champion that opportunity since it might be the last chance to get that opportunity. They’re closer to the end than they are at the beginning, and the newer generation of wrestling talent is getting ready to get the opportunity to kick the older generation out the same way they kicked out the older generation in their younger years.

‘The Revolutionary’ asked ‘The OTC’ about what he wanted his legacy to be. The latter is bound for the WWE Hall of Fame and will go down as one of the greatest wrestlers and champions of all time, but does he want to be remembered for not being able to beat his former Shield brother after what Rollins put him through before becoming’The OTC’? Reigns responded by saying he hasn’t heard his little brother spew the truth out of his mouth for a long time and that he needs to beat ‘The Visionary’. The World Heavyweight Champion also wants all of his family to witness him beat down the former World Heavyweight Champion at SummerSlam, and he ultimately accepted Rollin’s offer for his World Heavyweight Championship. ‘The OTC’ would mention that SummerSlam would be the place both men could finally close the door on The Shield legacy before the show ended.