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Add FightsATW on GoogleThe WWE ‘RAW-after’ Night of Champions took place in Atlantic City following weeks of WWE being on the “road” portion of their 2026 schedule. The NOC PLE was filled with shocking moments, including Oba Femi defeating Jey Uso in the King of the Ring finals, as well as Sami Zayn finally realizing his dream as WWE World Champion.
The celebrations in Saudi for those two wins were epic, and the online discourse has continued to suggest that fans are engaged, but the direction for SummerSlam will now take center stage.
OBA FEMI AND BROCK LESNAR… HELL IN A CELL AT SUMMERSLAM!!!
Oba Femi has become familiar with kicking off RAW, so it was a no-brainer to insert him as the evening’s opening segment. His mass appeal continues to grow as he remains super over in front of the live audience. With the crown in hand, Oba Femi acknowledged that he had a decision to make, a choice between champions Roman (HW title) and Sami Zayn (the newly crowned world champion).
Before he could make his intentions clear, Brock Lesnar’s music hit, and out he came with Paul Heyman positioned behind him. Brock seemed to be in a good mood even when acknowledging Oba’s disrespect for him since they last fought—a match in which Brock won and evened the series 1-1.
Without knowing who Oba would select, he changed course and challenged Brock at SummerSlam. Brock accepted quickly and raised the match’s stakes even quicker by declaring that the Hell in a Cell would be the setting for their trilogy. Oba, of course, accepted, and the first match booked for SummerSlam (outside of Liv-Iyo) was confirmed, though it would not be the last on this show.
ROMAN REIGNS
The final segment of the show was reserved for Roman Reigns and his scheduled appearance, which had been advertised since the beginning of the summer. However, the weight of it feels different, given the road that brought us to Jacob Fatu flanking him for protection after taking his shot at Roman. Since Roman’s Mania program with CM Punk, Roman and The Bloodline have closed the show on Monday over 80% of the summer.
Roman did not get a single real piece of promo before Seth Rollins music hit, popping fans in a similar way that Brock’s own unexpected entrance theme did in the night’s first segment, and his presence as the champion’s main antagonist in the evening’s final segment lines up with reports suggesting Reigns-Rollins is booked for SummerSlam.
Seth harped on the lore of their time together dating back to their time together in The Shield—the group that reinvigorated the top of the roster and represented the future of the sport for the era to come. The issue is that most of that story has been told, so Seth then went into the idea that Roman has never beaten Seth, and the last time they faced off, Seth won by a technicality.
Seth acknowledged Roman’s dominance throughout The Bloodline era, but only to remind him that Rollins was not one of the names the current HW champion defeated during his unstoppable run. Roman had barely uttered a word to this point, and he barely said anything after the challenger’s speech—allowing Rollins to do the segment’s heavy lifting, almost as if Rollins was auditioning for the shot.
The most interesting aspect of the promo was Seth admitting that they were once the young upstarts walking through the audience and striking fear into the hearts of every veteran on the roster. Then he admitted that time has changed their roles and that there is a “new generation” on the rise, ready to do the same thing they did—push out the old to make room for the new.
Seth said that with everything changing in the company, this may be their last opportunity to face each other. That narrative brought a whole new context to this fight as the possible final chapter in their storied rivalry, Seth insinuating that they are natural enemies like Batman and Joker, Harry Potter and Voldemort, and Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker.
Roman accepted the challenge for SummerSlam while Jacob stood in the backdrop like a mad afterthought. Two major matchups were booked for SummerSlam on the same RAW after-show following the NOC PLE.
That said, it does muddy the waters regarding Oba Femi facing off with Brock Lesnar, despite winning his shot at the title by defeating Jey Uso in the KOTR finals. This almost makes the WWE HW title feel less important, and the world title, by virtue of this narrative, suggests that a legend’s name can reach a level of popularity that outshines the richest title in the sport.
TOO MUCH JUDGEMENT IN THE JUDGEMENT DAY
We saw Iyo Sky cut her Queen of the Ring promo after defeating Liv in the finals to earn a shot at the world title… against Liv. The whole program has been a mess, much like the drama that fills TJD’s current direction. Raquel and Roxxanne came out to help Liv beat down on Iyo, but there is still tension stemming from Liv’s selfish direction for the purple and black faction.
The group was in several segments tonight, including the continued ‘Dan Hausen stole our money’ storyline initiated several weeks back—in fact, Liv lost her match at NOC moments after being ‘cursed’ by Hausen. Stolen money, cloning machines, and drama have the entire faction embroiled in an arc that mirrors the dysfunction they have been inundated with over the past several years.
Other Tidbits
– Joe Hendry delivered a joint concert tonight with The Street Profits playing backup; that segment led to a match between Hendry and Austin Theory. Hendry picked up the win, stopping the momentum that Theory has been building on recent episodes of weekly TV.
– Rey Mysterio Jr. defeated Ethan Page in singles action. The push of Rey continues as we get closer to AAA’s big two-night September show.
– Jimmy Uso and LA Knight fought in singles action tonight as Jey performed commentary duties at ringside. There was no concern from Jey, no worry as it concerns disappointing Roman’s direct orders to win the KOTR, almost like none of it has been going on around Jey’s orbit since losing his HW title last year. Jimmy Uso won the match off the back of Jey’s distraction, and that is when Solo showed up to deliver a spike to Jimmy—similarly saving LA to last week. The idea of Solo interfering has been a narrative for some time now, but this ongoing aid being offered to Knight feels fresh.
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