Cook’s WWE Raw Review 3.16.26

Hey kids! Steve Cook here with you for the latest edition of WWE Raw on Netflix! We’ve got a big night planned, as Roman Reigns & Brock Lesnar will both be appearing on the show! We’ll also see Americano vs. Americano, AJ Lee defending her Intercontinental Championship against Bayley, and more fun in-ring action. Tonight should be a good time! Happy 3:16 Day!

Don’t forget to subscribe to the 411Mania Wrestling Newsletter! Click here to do so, and then tomorrow (Tuesday) you’ll get some exclusive insight from your humble Chef on everything you need to know about the latest and greatest pro wrestling happenings! I guarantee it’ll be a good time, so make sure you check it out.

Cook’s WWE Raw Review 3.16.26

Then. Now. Forever. Together!

We’re in San Antonio! The home of the Spurs, in fact! CM Punk & AJ Lee are WALKING! Alpha Academy are WALKING! Judgment Day are THROWING FINN’S STUFF OUT! Stephanie Vaquer is WALKING! We’ll see Randy Orton betray Cody Rhodes again, and Michael Cole will interview the Viper! Corey Graves joins Michael at ringside.

The Masked Men appear! Seth Rollins enters the ring and removes his mask. He created the Vision and he will be the one to kill the Vision. He doesn’t care if they’re on the shelf or a hanger on, but if Logan Paul stands next to Paul Heyman he can consider himself marked for death. Seth had the satisfaction of hitting Heyman with a chair to the back and stomping his fat head.

Paul Heyman slowly appears on stage, looking the worse for wear. He’s got pinkeye! Seth says that Paul thinks he’s smarter than him. The audience sings profanities at Heyman. Paul slowly walks towards the ring. Seth says that letting Paul in his inner circle was the worst move he ever made, and he’ll make Paul pay every day until he leaves the business. Seth will cut him out like the cancer he is. Paul wasn’t going to come out here, but he wasn’t going to miss this for the world. Paul’s effing with him since Seth effed with him. FAFO FAFO FAFO FAFO FAF5.

Brock Lesnar’s music hits, and the Beast Incarnate removes his cowboy hat & dances. Brock hands Paul his hat & jacket, then moves to the ring. The masked men are still in their positions around Seth, until they run at Brock and get suplexed on the floor. Some of the others run away while the ones not running away get demolished. Brock gets in the ring and throws the four masked men in the ring around while Seth watches. Seth & Brock stare at each other, then the lights go out.

OBA FEMI’S MUSIC HITS! Oba struts on down to the ring while Brock gets ready & Seth leans in the corner of the ring. Oba enters the ring while the fans chant his name & bark. Seth slips out of the ring and Oba lays Brock out with the Fall From Grace! Oba stands on Brock’s chest and points at the WrestleMania sign! Looks like Oba’s accepted the open challenge. Have fun with that, Brock!

Michael & Corey mark out at ringside. Brock slowly gets up in the aisleway before we see what happened between CM Punk & the Usos last week. Roman Reigns will address CM Punk’s comments tonight!

AAA Rey de Reyes saw El Grande Americano 2 win the prestigious sword while Rayo & Bravo handcuffed Original in the crowd. The Mexican fans absolutely loved this, but it seemed like chicanery to me. Up next, Original vs. 2!

”Original” El Grande Americano vs. El Grande Americano 2 (w/Rayo & Bravo Americano): 2 is in black & gold this week since those are San Antonio’s colors. Original with a rolling Liger kick right away, then a back body drop. Original has a hanging armbar for four seconds there before getting distracted by Rayo & Bravo. 2 dropkicks Original into the table. Back in the ring, 2 with a basement dropkick. Tiltawhirl reverse slam gets two for 2. Running uppercut in the corner, Original with a back suplex, then he works the leg. Original catches 2 with a Northern Lights suplex that gets two. Chops are exchanged. 2 gets sent over the top onto Rayo & Bravo. Original pumps up the crowd as we go to commercial!

WWE2K26 ranks both these men at 85. Original takes 2 down, they raise up and Original hits a Mexican legsweep. Rolling kick, then some Rolling Germans. Another suplex, Original sent to the apron and he cannonballs Rayo. Rolling kick to Bravo! Alphimari Waterslide gets two! I have no idea how you spell that, I just remember Claudio doing it back in the day. Original up top, 2 hits a rolling DVD on him for two. 2 charges & Original launches him into the corner. Original’s moonsault is blocked, but that leads to the ankle lock! Grande 2 finds the ropes. OG sends EGA into Bravo, Germans EGA for the count, but Rayo has the referee distracted! Original takes care of Rayo outside, but Bravo loads 2’s mask in the ring! Original hits the diving headbutt, but hits the loaded part of the mask! 2 covers for three.

Winner: El Grande Americano 2 (6:52 shown via pinfall)
Match Rating: ***
Pretty fun sprint, but I think we all know it’s going to work better & get a better response in AAA. Good way to keep the feud going.

A car pulls up, and Roman Reigns gets out! The Usos are there to greet him. They smile at each other, and Roman tells them they did the right thing. Everyone in the Bloodline should be offended by what Punk said about Sika. Punk is his at WrestleMania.

Folks celebrated Stone Cold Steve Austin on social media for 3:16 Day. You should read my old 411 Hall of Fame article about him. (And tell us if we need to bring that back or not, that’s an idea I’ve had off and on for a couple of years.) Meanwhile, we look back at Finn Balor getting beat up by the Judgment Day last week.

Liv Morgan lets Finn Balor in on a secret: this has been her plan since she entered the Judgment Day. She put up with him out of respect for his relationship with Dominik, She sees him, she knows when he’s lying and scheming. Finn got soft, pathetic, a loser, and it made her sick calling him family. They betrayed him because he taught them how to. JD is free from Finn holding him down and is free to soar. Dom will get his IC title back. Raquel is a future champion. At WrestleMania, Liv will be the new Women’s World Champion. The family has her back, and without Finn they’re better than ever. Watch them.

Dominik Mysterio managed to retain the AAA Mega Championship on Saturday night, but isn’t cleared to compete and hasn’t been seen tonight. Penta will defend the Intercontinental Championship tonight, but against who?

Jimmy, Jey & Roman talk about Punk. Punk calls Roman a part time this and that. Roman talks about how they missed their fathers while growing up, and how he wants to be a full-time father for his kids. Jimmy says that’s the truth, and Jey says that Punk still owes them an apology. Roman says he doesn’t really need it, but he’ll take it anyway because what’s Punk gonna do, beat him up? They all laugh.

Women’s Intercontinental Championship Match: AJ Lee (c) vs. Bayley: Tieup to start, both push off. Bayley whips AJ off the ropes, AJ with a headscissor into a pin for two. AJ with another rollup, and a crucifix into a pin for two. Bayley takes AJ down into a La Magistral for two. AA trips Bayley, then heads up top. Crossbody by AJ, then a dropkick sends Bayley outside. Cole tells Bayley that this might be her last chance at WrestleMania while she’s in front of the desk. Bayley says she knows that and heads back into the ring. AJ with a bridging hammerlock, then a regular one. Bayley gets out and spikes AJ on a springboard legdrop for two. We go to commercial!

Bayley goes for a vertical suplex but AJ falls on top of her for two. Bayley to Belly is blocked by an AJ bulldog. AJ with some clotheslines, a spin kick gets two. Sliced Bread gets two for AJ. AJ goes for a Shining Wizard, Bayley turns it into a Canadian Maple Leaf, then delivers a knee of her own for two. AJ blocks the Roseplant and rolls Bayley up for two. Bayley yanks AJ off the turnbuckle and hits the Bayley to Belly for two. Bayley & AJ start slapping each other and exchanging blows. AJ with a kick, the Shining Wizard, and then goes for the Black Widow, Bayley gets out with a side slam and goes up top for the elbowdrop, but misses! Back to the Black Widow! AJ stretches and Bayley taps out!

Winner: AJ Lee (7:36 shown via submission)
Match Rating: ***1/4
All Bayley does is have solid matches, and AJ continues to look good out there after a long break. Nothing to complain about here.

AJ celebrates while Bayley seethes at ringside.

Adam Pearce tells JD McDonagh that Dom is not medically cleared to wrestle. Penta steps up, does his Cero Miedo taunt, and struts towards the ring. He’ll wrestle next!

Actually, before all that Becky Lynch will attack AJ Lee! She sends her into the entranceway wall, stomps her down and sends her into the barricade. She rakes AJ’s face on it! Becky takes her jacket off and sends AJ into various barricades. The referees pull her off while Adam Pearce checks on AJ. Becky has the IC title in her hands, and she runs down and bounces it off of AJ’s face! Becky walks off while AJ is attended to and the fans say “Becky sucks”.

We then go back to Friday night and see Randy Orton beat the snot out of Cody Rhodes. You know it’s WrestleMania Season when somebody’s beating the snot out of Cody Rhodes. Nick Aldis & Jelly Roll even got shoved down!

Penta hits the ring and gets a microphone after quite the pyrotechnic display to announce his arrival. Last week, he told the world he would be a fighting champion. He told Adam Pearce to pick anyone, since Penta is always ready. He slips into Spanish and says he wants to defend the championship in San Antonio. He tells whoever his opponent is to be ready.

WWE Intercontinental Championship Match: Penta (c) vs. Dragon Lee: Looks like Dragon Lee is ready! After a commercial break we see them tieup. Dragon takes Penta into the corner and backs away. Some back & forth between Dragon & Penta. They both strut. Dragon rolls into a Penta kick, then Penta runs into a boot in the corner. Dragon with a rana. Dragon with a pendulum dropkick in the corner, Dragon lifted into a handstand then kicked by Penta. Penta handstands into a basement dropkick. Penta dumps Dragon outside, then teases a dive before Dragon runs in and kicks him out of the ring. Dragon doesn’t wait before hitting a dive of his own! Penta rebounds into the ring and it’s Penta with a dive! Back in the ring, Penta with a crossbody off the top for two. We go to commercial!

Dragon & Penta exchange shots as we return. Some big kicks & knees! Both men finally go down. Penta runs into a kick, Dragon hits a Styles Clash for two! The fans think it’s awesome. Penta hits the Penta Driver for two. Penta & Dragon fight back & forth, Penta kicks him down on the apron, then vaults into a kick from Dragon that sends Penta into the announce table. Dragon hits a Homicide dive onto Penta, who’s sitting on the table! Operation Dragon only gets two! Dragon removes the elbow pad, misses and Penta hits the Mexican Destroyer for three!

Winner: Penta (8:42 shown via pinfall)
Match Rating: ***1/2
That was quite the match! No surprise that these two would blend well together, and I join the announcers in requesting more.

Penta pulls Dragon up and Dragon raises his arm! Mutual respect shown between the two combatants.

Austin Theory says that Seth Rollins is a dead man, he & Logan Paul will handle it. Paul tells them not to do that. Seth faced no punishment for his attack on Paul because they have no power or leverage. If they can take the Tag Team Title from the Usos, they can get that power & leverage back. Austin says he’ll go after them now & storms off. Logan hangs back and tells Paul they’ll get LA Knight too.

Maxxine Dupri vs. Nattie: Nattie on the offensive early, she slams Maxxine down and talks smack while holding her against the ropes. Nattie catapults Maxxine off the middle rope. Maxxine placed in the Tree of Woe and choked by Nattie. Nattie claims that the Dungeon beat Becky, not Maxxine. Maxxine fights back, gets Nattie in the ankle lock. Couple of rollups and reversals lead to a spin kick by Maxxine. Maxxine with clotheslines, then a boot to the head. Splash in the corner by Maxxine, then a release fisherman’s suplex & a kipup. Maxxine hits the legdrop to the back of Nattie for two. Maxxine misses a kick and Nattie gets her in an electric chair. Maxxine rolls through and gets an ankle lock, Nattie kicks her to the apron. Maxxine misses off top, and Nattie hits the discus lariat. Maxxine gets put in the Sharpshooter and has to tap out.

Winner: Nattie (4:18 via submission)
Match Rating: **
We’re still in the early phases here, Nattie has a lot more beating up of Maxxine to do before the hero can get some shine.

Nattie tells us that the Dungeon is alive.

Michael & Corey throw us to another video package about Randy Orton, this time with fans reacting to the whole thing.

Randy Orton is on a phone and talks about how everyone was watching on Friday night. He appreciates whoever’s on the phone for doing this and says he’ll see them soon. Randy says he changed his mind and there won’t be an interview. Everyone’s been asking him questions, and he finally talked to someone with a brain. They said something that made him think about his life and why he is who he is and why he did what he did to Cody. Randy is a killer. Wrestling has more than one royal family! We’ll see Randy this Friday night on SmackDown.

Je’Von Evans runs up and congratulates Dragon on his match. Dragon seems a bit put off, to be honest. Kofi Kingston appears and speaks in Spanish to Dragon before launching into his sales pitch on Je’Von. He takes a shot at Dragon, and Je’Von decides it’s a no. Grayson Waller says he doesn’t know what Kofi sees in Je’Von, Kofi says that people said the same thing to him & Xavier Woods about Grayson. Danhausen appears and offers his services as a new member of the New Day. Kofi & Grayson turns him down, which leads to three words from Danhausen. Kofi pushes Grayson in the direction of the curse fingers! That just goes to show what kind of knowledge Kofi has, he wants nothing to do with the Danhausen Curse.

Non-Title Match: Stephanie Vaquer vs. Raquel Rodriguez (w/Liv Morgan): Tieup to start, Rauqel with some shoulderblocks in the corner. Raquel misses in the opposite corner, but runs Stephanie over anyway. Stephanie evades the boot, rollup on Raquel for two. Raquel misses Stephanie with one clothesline, hits the second. Stephanie fights out of a chinlock, tries a rana, Raquel catches her, Stephanie slips out and dropkicks Raquel outside. Stephanie kneedrops Raquel on the apron, then gets caught on a dive and Raquel bounces her head off the ringpost. We go to commercial!

We return and Vaquer has a sleeper on, but Raquel powers her into the corner and hits multiple back elbows. Vaquer comes off the top with a crossbody. Vaquer with kicks, misses in the corner, then Raquel misses with a boot and Stephanie hits the dragonscrew. Meteroa in the corner by Vaquer. Stephanie sets Raquel up, but Raquel powers up and hits a vertical suplex into a cutter. Vader corkscrew elbow misses, and now it’s time for the Devil’s Kiss! Liv distracts Stephanie so Raquel can boot her down. IYO SKY’s music hits, and she runs after Liv Morgan! Raquel pushes IYO over the announce table. Stephanie jumps onto Raquel, then sends Liv over the barricade! Stephanie up top, gets caught and slammed by Raquel. Stephanie evades the Tejana Bomb and rolls Raquel up for three!

Winner: Stephanie Vaquer (7:05 shown via pinfall)
Match Rating: **3/4
Stephanie & Raquel have had better matches with each other, but the story here was furthering the issue with Liv and working IYO in because…well, IYO needs a new best friend, I guess.

Stephanie raises her belt while Liv & IYO recuperate and Raquel is not happy.

Bayley doesn’t take Lyra’s compliments for her effort kindly, and Lyra says they’ll both get to WrestleMania together. Asuka & Kairi Sane appear, and Asuka’s not happy with them since they messed up her shot at the IC title. She would have beat AJ Lee! They are not ready for Asuka. Kairi tells Bayley to stay away from them before being called off. Lyra asks Bayley what Asuka said in Japanese, and Bayley replies that Asuka & Kairi are going after the Tag Team Championship. Lyra & Bayley decide to talk to Adam Pearce.

We look back to earlier tonight when Oba Femi beat up Brock Lesnar, and their match for WrestleMania is official! Brock will be on Raw next week and will be in a mood. Also: The Usos vs. Logan Paul & Austin Theory!

LA Knight walks up to the Usos and mentions how the Vision had their names in their mouths. He’s noticed that they’re getting cozy with Roman again. It’s family business and he should mind his. LA can respect family business, but if the old Bloodline comes back, they can’t be on the same page. He & Jimmy are still cool & fist bump, Jey declines and gets a YEAH.

Roman Reigns’ music hits! The OTC makes his way to the ring. He sets off some pyro after a commercial. The fans have difficulty deciding on which chant or song to do, but there’s a lot of noise. Roman asks San Antonio to acknowledge him. They hear that back there and understand whose show this is, at the end of the day he’s in the beginning, the middle & the end of the show. Phil gets a little confused, he must have forgot this is Monday, it’s the main event and it’s “his show”. He invites CM Punk out to handle some business.

LIKE MUSSOLINI! CM Punk makes his way to the ring. Punk takes his time shaking hands with the ringsiders, then stands on the announce desk before slapping more hands. Roman yawns while Punk walks on the apron. Me too, but I didn’t get enough sleep last night. Punk finally enters the ring and gets a microphone. Reigns welcomes Punk to his ring and his main event. Punk says he keeps using his government name like it’s an insult. His friends & family can call him that. Punk doesn’t obsess over Roman’s real name, and doesn’t dare call him Joe since that’d be insulting to a Samoan he actually loves very much. Roman says Punk can call that Joe and he’ll let him know who the Tribal Chief is. Punk says all the Samoans Roman invited to attack him will just shake his hand and hits his catchphrase. Punk’s surprised Roman hasn’t taken a swing at him yet. Punk knows he’s already in Roman’s head. The fans sing for Roman, and Roman says he’s on everybody’s mind all the time. Punk will just say anything, like he got Roman in the main event. Phil hasn’t main evented anything this year, not even a live event tour in Europe. Punk says he was calling for Roman last week but he says something naughty. Punk will say whatever comes to mind and that’s why people love him. Jimmy & Jey handled their family business, and he deserved what he got last week. Right message, wrong messenger. Who’s the real Tribal Chief? Roman says he’s heard this garbage for the last five years, Punk is trite, redundant and repeats the same stuff every week. Roman says he’s unfazed, and tells Punk not to waste his time. Roman tries to exit the ring, but Punk refuses to let him and calls him a young boy. Punk says it’s the last time Roman will main event, the Punkamaniacs will chant his name and he’ll split Roman’s ego in two and beat him on the grandest stage of all. Roman says we all know Punk’s great with the mental games, but you can’t phase him. Roman’s done everything under the sun, and when the talk is done Punk can’t do the walking. Punk isn’t faster or stronger, and can’t do anything he can do in the ring. That title is an embarrassment around his waist, he’s a try-hard that makes them all look terrible because he’s old.

That causes Punk to deck Roman! Adam Pearce and some officials come down to keep Punk away while Roman laughs and gets up. Apparently Punk doesn’t like to be called old! Roman taunts him from the ring and says he’s in his head now. “That’s the kind of the mental game?” Roman asks while we go off the air in loving memory of Davey Coates. So long for now!

If you’d like to chime in with your own thoughts on today’s show, feel free to join your fellow 411 Maniacs down in the comment section! As the legendary Larry Csonka always said: Have fun and don’t be a dick. When I’m not here you can catch me on the social media from time to time.

8.5

The final score: review Very Good

The 411

We got some barnburners in the ring this week and further angle development on the Road to WrestleMania. As a fellow old person, I can back up the fact that old people like CM Punk and myself don't appreciate being called old. Dang young'ins & their video tapes & whatnot. Honestly, any show with Oba Femi beating up Brock Lesnar is going to get a good score from me.