WWE RAW 10/19/2026: 3 Things We Hated & 3 Things We Loved

WWE Add Wrestling Inc. on Google: Preferred Source Google Discover Welcome to Wrestling Inc.’s weekly review of “WWE Raw,” the show that saw Roman Reigns finally get involved in the war between the Bloodline and the 946! We also got a certified banger of an Intercontinental title match, the furtherance of the feud between Bayley and Lyra Valkyria, and a match that heavily involved a Funko Pop. The WINC staff has thoughts about all these things, and more, here in the column this week!’

If you missed the show, as always, you can check out our “WWE Raw” 10/19/26 live blog to catch up on everything that went down Monday night. We keep things factual and objective over there, not to mention comprehensive, which is not something that happens in this space. Here, you get the WINC crew’s subjective opinions, and only about the matches and segments that stood out to us the most. So please join us as we present three things we hated and three things we loved about the 10/19/26 episode of “WWE Raw!”

WWE Now that it’s officially Crown Jewel season, it made sense for this edition of “Raw” to open up with a verbal confrontation between World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns and Undisputed WWE Champion Sami Zayn ahead of their Men’s Crown Jewel Championship match. With that said, I really struggled to understand the point of what they were saying to each other and the connection between things that they were bringing up.

I had a hard time digesting why Reigns was bringing up The 946 to Zayn in the first place, and it wasn’t made any easier by the fact it had no relevance to anything else going on in this segment, was incredibly unnecessary to throw into there in the first place, and had the video about Carmelo Hayes joining The 946 to kick off the show when it had nothing to do with this opener. It had no relation to Reigns and Zayn’s subsequent debate about who the better champion was or their preceding conversation about Zayn now learning firsthand what Reigns tried teaching him in The Bloodline in terms of what being a champion entailed, making everything feel like it was kind of all over the place. I know that there will be those who did enjoy seeing this because it’s Reigns and Zayn, but it just didn’t click for me at all and was not my cup of tea.

WWE After Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn went from talking about whether or not Zayn’s title was important to talking about 946, Penta reminded them that he has El Dinero en el Banco briefcase. As Reigns was making his way up the ramp, Penta appeared. He did his Penta walk and then fist bumped some fans before standing directly in front of Reigns, forcing him to look him in the eye. Penta made his way to the ring and stared down Zayn. Without saying a word, Penta conveyed so much. He put both men on notice that he could come for them at any time and cash in his shot at one of their titles.

Following the staredowns, he wrestled Bron Breakker. They were evenly matched until Breakker speared Penta. Penta was able to kick out, but Austin Theory attempted to interfere. Luckily for Penta, Je’Von Evans was there to hit Theory and Breakker with the briefcase. Penta landed the Destroyer to defeat Breakker relatively clean.

That’s a big deal for a match involving The Vision, let alone a match in WWE. Penta looked like a big deal from the moment his music and pyro hit to him standing tall in victory. He’s being treated as someone who should be with the top talent. I don’t have the faith that he’ll successfully cash in his title, but I will enjoy how he’s being presented in the meantime.

WWE If there’s one thing WWE is going to do consistently, it’s drag out a bit that’s already so overdone it’s nauseatingly annoying. There’s no better example of that than what has been done in recent weeks on “Raw” in Joe Hendry’s feud with JD McDonagh. The joke about McDonagh having a big head was first picked up by commentary a while ago, then evolved into Hendry calling him a “Funko Pop.” That led to WWE bringing someone out wearing a full big costume head of a McDonagh-inspired Funko figure to accompany Hendry in his taunting of the Judgment Day member.

When I saw McDonagh and Hendry had an advertised match tonight, I groaned, knowing where it was going. It’s a shame, because I really liked Hendry in TNA, then in “WWE NXT.” I’ve found a lot of his stuff funny and cute, but of course, WWE has to beat you over the head with things.

The guy in the Funko Pop head was all over this match, and eventually, the competitors started throwing around an actual vinyl figure that Joe Tessitore had on the desk. Tessitore also made this entire match so much worse, with his over-the-top commentary smothered in his legitimate sportscaster voice. Hearing him play things so seriously with his delivery grates on my nerves, and I just need him to stop hollering about how “massive” McDonagh’s head is.

I figured Hendry would at least get the victory here. It’s a comedy match, even if it was advertised as a serious singles bout, so I thought the comedy character would get the win. To make things worse, Hendry and McDonagh are both tied at one win each, with Hendry scoring the first win back on the September 7 edition of the red brand.

During the match, the Funko Pop head was destroyed by McDonagh using Hendry’s guitar he brought to the ring, so I guarantee this feud continues to a third match where Hendry somehow gets retribution for the Funko. Hopefully WWE creative just lets this die, alongside the fallen Funko, and lets fans move past this. I also hope Hendry’s next storyline is actually enjoyably silly and not excruciatingly irritating.

WWE Chad Gable continued his apology tour for pretending to be a luchador by beating all of the luchadors this week, putting the Intercontinental title on the line against two of the men he had beaten previously: Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee.

It was pretty clear going into tonight’s show that this was going to be the one to watch, given the sheer pedigree of the wrestlers in it. But wrestling being the temperamental creature it is, that wasn’t necessarily a guarantee. Fortunately, each man delivered on the promise and staged an immensely fun match with fluid exchanges that in no way compromised on impact. Wade Barrett might have forgotten how pendulums work but he was right — this match was swinging in every direction and there were a few solid moments where Gable looked like he could drop the title.

Perhaps the best indication of a match being good is that very aspect, because it always felt like a foregone conclusion that he would be the one retaining the title. But in those moments, there was that suspension of disbelief as one just sat watching it unfold. Credit where it’s due, Gable’s entire title run has been littered with great matches against some of the best to do it. This was another installment in what could be an all-timer run that, hopefully, leads to him breaking that proverbial glass ceiling.

WWE The beginnings of the rivalry between Lyra Valkyria and Bayley really did seem to be promising, but that time has long since passed and now it’s stuck at the bottom of the barrel.

Honestly, the writing was on the wall when Valkyria first started to apply blusher to her eyes in an attempt to convey that she wasn’t in the “right frame of mind.” It’s a story that’s been told for years — Kazuchika Okada went a little off the rails when he lost his IWGP Heavyweight title to Kenny Omega; “Hangman” Adam Page went all the way off the rails in his feud with Swerve Strickland. Wrestlers go mad when things don’t go their way, that’s the general gist of it.

That’s fine. What’s not fine is dragging this out for as long as it has been in the way it has been. Adam Pearce either doesn’t watch the show or he is actively participating in the mind games that Bayley is playing on an already distressed Valkyria. Those mind games are effectively hide, seek, and occasionally attack. And that game is bleeding over into other matches that don’t have any right to be booked while Valkyria effectively has a stalker on the roster.

Tonight, she was being chased by Bayley backstage, looking back to find nothing each time. She set an ambush but then it just so happened that Lola Vice was the one walking into it, rather than Bayley. Despite Pearce telling everyone he makes the matches and not the talent whenever they ask for one, Vice then booked a match between her and Valkyria on the spot. One could argue in kayfabe that Vice got the match booked with Pearce, but even then that feeds into him participating in the mind games.

Valkyria made her entrance convinced Bayley was going to be behind her. She wasn’t, because Valkyria first had to forget what a wrestling match was and spend the opening stages trying to negotiate her way out of it. She could have just not turned up to the match and allowed it to be a forfeit, but that would have prevented Bayley’s master plan of hiding beneath the ring until she had the opportunity to trip her up and attack her behind the referee’s back.

They will now have a No Disqualification match next week and one would hope that’s the end of this entire thing. But that doesn’t change the fact that Valkyria has undergone a character assassination in recent months — one that didn’t really need to happen because she was very good to begin with.

WWE I thought World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns was done for the night when he got into his SUV to leave the arena following his mostly Crown-Jewel related face-to-face with Sami Zayn. Thankfully, Reigns returned and finally did get physically involved with a Bloodline vs. 946 brawl in the main event segment. Reigns needed to get further into this storyline somehow, and finally coming to the aid of his family and brawling with the opposing faction made the most sense.

After last week’s six-man tag team match-turned-brawl, which led to the introduction of Carmelo Hayes into the 946, Jimmy and Jey Uso were the only two left standing. They made their way out to the ring, armed with weapons, to call out 946. Solo Sikoa then appeared behind Royce Keys while he taunted the Usos and the rest of the faction surrounded the ring, and the brawl was off to the races. The Usos and their younger brother fought hard, but it wasn’t enough to keep down 946, who had the numbers advantage.

I loved how Reigns’ music hit right as Keys was heard on camera telling Sikoa to let Reigns know he was “coming for his a**,” as he was threatening Sikoa with a pair of handcuffs. That brought Reigns out, though he did rather slowly stalk down the ramp staring down Keys and the rest of the faction before he got in the ring. The Bloodline got back on their feet to join him, and Reigns kicked things off once again by going after Keys, which is a singles match I desperately want to see.

But first, we’re likely getting a WarGames match, and tonight, we saw a huge step toward that with Reigns’ involvement. The “Tribal Chief” may not be too thrilled about it, however, as he initially tried to get “Honorary Uce” Zayn to join his family in their fight, which didn’t work out. The Bloodline could still try to convince him, however, keeping the story fresh with so many weeks left to go until Survivor Series, and there’s also still a storyline beat with Fatu’s presumed return to keep the angle going through the end of next month.

The one piece of this that really needed to be added fell into place tonight. Reigns still may have Zayn and the Crown Jewel championship to worry about, but him not being involved with the 946 fight was getting a little ridiculous. Reigns finally mixing it up with Keys was the highlight of the show for me, and I’m looking forward to watching this play out.