WWE Raw Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights from September 26

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Alexa Bliss, Bianca Belair and Asuka (Credit: WWE)

Welcome to Bleacher Report’s coverage and recap of WWE Raw on September 26.

Extreme Rules is less than two weeks away on October 8, but WWE is not wasting any time putting some big matches together for its weekly shows.

Rey Mysterio and Seth Rollins have a complicated past that involves disciples, daughters and lost eyes, so everyone was paying attention when they stepped back into the ring on Monday.

Meanwhile, Matt Riddle found himself facing one of Dominik Mysterio’s allies, Damian Priest. We also saw Bianca Belair take on Iyo Sky, and AJ Styles too on “The Honorary Uce” Sami Zayn.

Let’s take a look at what happened during Monday’s show.

Bianca Belair vs. Iyo Sky

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Raw opened with Belair coming out with Alexa Bliss and Asuka for a promo. She spoke about facing Bayley at Extreme Rules and how Damage Control fights dirty. This brought out Bayley to challenge Belair to make their bout a Ladder match.

The EST and The Genius of the Sky ended up in a singles bout. As soon as the bell rang, Belair drive Sky from the ring with a dropkick to send us into a break.

When we returned, The Bloodline was shown getting out of an SUV backstage before we went back to the action in the ring. The Raw women’s champion maintained the upper hand for most of the match, but Sky was able to get in bursts of offense from time to time.

This match had a couple if minor awkward moments, but for the most part, this was a fun battle with a lot of physicality from both competitors. The crowd got more into it as time went on, and the women in the ring kept upping the ante to keep them invested.

Belair was able to hit the KOD for a relatively clean win after taking out Bayley and Dakota Kai with a slingshot crossbody.

Winner: Bianca Belair

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

Bliss continuing to hold onto the Lilly doll is going to fuel more rumors about her being with Bray Wyatt if and when he returns to WWE.
It feels like WWE is going to give every bout at Extreme Rules some kind of stipulation. If that happens, it will be the first time that has happened in years.
The way Belair can pick up and carry around most opponents with ease allows her to do some fun moves. For example, countering a headscissor takedown into a backbreaker was a cool spot.

Seth Rollins vs. Rey Mysterio

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Rey gave a quick interview backstage that address his ongoing story with Dominik before he took on Rollins, who also gave a quick promo about his Fight Pit match against Riddle at the upcoming PPV.

The elder Mysterio took control right as the show went to a break, but The Visionary was in firm control when we returned. He may have already been bleeding from having his head slammed into the steel steps, but he was not letting that slow him down one bit.

This is one of those combinations that is practically guaranteed to produce great results. Both men are quicker than most, but Rollins also has the power necessary to make all of Rey’s high-flying moves look even better.

Dominik came down to the ring with a chair while Rollins had his dad on the ground. He patted his former rival on the shoulder to show that he was not there to reignite their feud.

After an exciting performance from both future Hall of Famers, Dom threw down his chair in front of his father and kneeled. As Rey was distracted, Rhea Ripley attacked him from behind and rolled him into the ring so Rollins could win with a submission.

This finish made sense, even if interference has felt a bit excessive recently.

Winner: Seth Rollins

Grade: A-

Notable Moments and Observations

Rollins is already insanely over with the crowd. When he eventually turns babyface, he is going to get the biggest pops every night.
Rollins knew he was coming, so him being a little startled when Rey’s music hit was kind of funny.
You can tell Rollins was busted open the hard way because the cut wasn’t bleeding nearly as much as it would have been if he had used a blade.
The tilt-a-whirl backbreaker Rollins hit looked awesome. Perfect execution.

Johnny Gargano and Kevin Owens vs. Alpha Academy

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Otis and Chad Gable were out first to take on Kevin Owens and Johnny Gargano in a tag team match that came about after a confrontation last week.

Johnny Wrestling and the leader of Alpha Academy started for their teams, but after a quick exchange, both men tagged in their bigger partners so they could lock up and show off their power game a bit.

The former NXT mainstay was on defense throughout the break, but he was able to make the hot tag to Owens when we returned. The Prize Fighter had the upper hand until Gable countered a swanton bomb.

KO put Otis through the announce table with an elbow drop from the barricade while Gable and Gargano fought in the ring. Austin Theory distracted Gargano so Gable could hit a brutal DDT, but Johnny Wrestling kicked out and delivered a superkick to his former fake son. He spiked Gable with his own DDT to score the pin to end a fantastic tag team match.

Winners: Johnny Gargano and Kevin Owens

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

If you want to be a heel in Canada, bring the American flag with you when you make your entrance.
Somebody had a sign that said “Fight my sign” and KO was happy to oblige.
The press slam Otis hit on Gargano was picture-perfect. That is how Mark Henry should have been hitting the World’s Strongest Slam every time.
Otis doing a crotch chop out of nowhere was hilarious.

Omos Squash Match, Doudrop vs. Candice LeRae

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Omos was back to face another pair of local competitors this week. The Nigerian Giant destroyed both men like it was nothing. This was barely even a match. This was basically Omos fighting two sparring dummies that just happened to be living, breathing human beings. The big man obviously won to continue his streak of dominant squashes.

Winner: Omos

Grade: D

We saw a quick segment with Dexter Lumis attacking The Miz while dressed as a goalie for the Edmonton Oilers before we got a match between Nikki ASH and the returning Candice LeRae.

The Poison Pixie had to fend off an enraged Nikki before she could take control. In just a couple of minutes, LeRae was able to get the win with a swinging neckbreaker from the middle turnbuckle.

This was not much of a match, but it was a cool segment overall because the return was so unexpected.

Winner: Candice LeRae

Grade: C+

Notable Moments and Observations

WWE bringing Gargano and LeRae both back randomly without any buildup is actually kind of awesome. It makes you feel like anything can happen at any time.
Nikki was crying in the corner without her mask after the match. This might indicate she will be ditching the superhero stuff soon.
Just to be clear, the grade is solely for the match. LeRae being back is awesome and she is going to add some more depth to the women’s division.

AJ Styles vs. Sami Zayn

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Zayn came to the ring with Solo Sikoa by his side to battle Styles in a match that was made after the two had an exchange on social media.

The Honorary Uce took control early and taunted his opponent until Styles popped up and took him down with a hurricanrana.

They paced themselves during the first half but began to pick up the pace after a commercial break. Both men pulled out their big moves and took each other out as the show cut to another break.

While the ref has his back turned, Sikoa attacked him to give Zayn an easy target to win with the Helluva Kick. The interference made sense, but this show still had a bit too much of it overall. As a whole, this match was probably the best of the night.

Winner: Sami Zayn

Grade: A-

Notable Moments and Observations

They replayed the clip of Roman Reigns giving Zayn an Honorary Uce shirt last week. That is one of the best segments WWE has done in quite some time and it’s awesome to see Zayn getting so much love recently.
Zayn is so great at doing little things to sell for his opponents. The facial expressions he makes are the best.
A torture rack into a spinning powerbomb is always an impressive move when it can be pulled off.

Matt Riddle vs. Damian Priest

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Judgment Day attacked Styles after his match, so Priest was already in the ring when Riddle made his entrance for the main event.

The Archer of Infamy used his slight power advantage to take control at first, but The Bro managed to use some grappling skills to take over as the rest of Judgment Day looked on from ringside.

Even though Priest had control for the majority of this bout, Riddle kept finding ways to make comebacks and get in short bursts of offense. After a long and competitive match, Riddle scored the win with a surprise inside cradle. This was a great showing for both men and a fun way to end the show.

Judgment Day immediately pounced and beat down The Original Bro until Edge’s music hit. He ran to the ring and took out Priest and Balor with Spears. Rhea Ripley pulled Dominik from the ring to save him from The Rated-R Superstar. He challenged Balor to an I Quit match at Extreme Rules to end the show.

Winner: Matt Riddle

Grade: A-

Notable Moments and Observations

Priest looks better with a beard. He should keep growing it out.
They had a great exchange of blocks and dodges as both men tried to use their martial arts skills.
The way Priest slammed Riddle onto the barricade looked legitimately painful because he did not land in quite the right position.
Riddle does certain moves really well, and the Floating Bro is one of them.

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