WWE Raw results, grades (Aug. 31): Penta, Rey Fenix tear the house down; Roman Reigns escalates the Bloodline war

"WWE Raw" was in Cleveland this Monday, Aug. 31. After last week's chaotic close to the show, tonight started with further chaos, giving it a somewhat throwback feel to the early 2000s.Drive ByThe show began backstage as The Usos pulled up, only to be attacked by Royce Keys and OTM, who continued their assault from last week. It was violent for your typical "Raw" these days, and made to look as raw as it could — pun intended.Keys ripped Jey out of the driver's seat and cut him somehow. It really wasn't clear; Jey may have even used blood capsules for all we know. It was difficult to tell, thanks to Netflix or WWE censoring Jey's face. Jimmy got his too, crashing through the back windshield via a double chokeslam, leaving the Bloodline twins in heap — which also included a very corny screen-static effect to avoid showing the impact of the slam. The camerawork in this whole scene was just flat-out nauseating.By the time Jacob Fatu arrived on the scene, he was too late, as Key and the OTM dipped out in their vehicle of choice.OH MY GOD 😱Royce Keys and OTM have brutally attacked The Usos backstage! pic.twitter.com/oaJmZbBQT1— WWE (@WWE) September 1, 2026 It was fun in the sense of unpredictability and knowing there's a new, ever-lurking danger in the locker room. But that was all we saw of the trio all night. After their big show-closing angle last week, that felt like somewhat of a miss. It would've been nice to hear from Keys, at the very least. But like last Friday's "SmackDown," this was clearly just WWE phoning it in until Mexico, which is where Roman Reigns comes into play.A lot on the plateWith The Usos taken out, it really provided a vibe of helplessness for Reigns, despite his recent wins having come without help. Next up for "The Tribal Chief" will be Penta, who defeated his brother Rey Fenix in the night's banger of a main event to earn his first WWE world title shot.Before that, however, Reigns took to the ring to address his championship-sized burden and the fact that he now has so many enemies backstage — including Solo Sikoa and LA Knight. Last time we saw Reigns two weeks ago, the duo stood tall over him while Fatu watched on. And, despite interacting with Fatu on this show, Reigns didn't say a word about that, which felt extremely odd.The OTC has spoken! ☝️@WWERomanReigns pic.twitter.com/0uSMACKz8Q— WWE (@WWE) September 1, 2026 Nonetheless, the interaction between Reigns and Knight was short and sweet, mostly highlighted by the hilarious timing of Knight's entrance. It was nothing more than a vehicle to bring Fatu into question again, after he was shown backstage standing over a censored Solo.Reigns followed Knight backstage to hilariously Superman Punch his way into the camera shot and take out his rival. So, really, next to no progress was made on that front.YEAH!!! 🔥@RealLAKnight pic.twitter.com/ZF8sap2R5b— WWE (@WWE) September 1, 2026 What does OTC mean LA? 😂@RealLAKnight pic.twitter.com/MKZdGqihCU— WWE (@WWE) September 1, 2026 SOLO IS DOWN 😨The CHAOS backstage CONTINUES!! pic.twitter.com/oOV0XtP0Or— WWE (@WWE) September 1, 2026 👑 Uncrowned Gem of the Night 👑Unsurprisingly, Penta and Fenix brought the house down to close "Raw," which was really the only significant thing that happened on the show.The brother vs. brother element couldn't have been brought up more, and it was, of course, a fun narrative to play with. The two hadn't gone at it since 2020 in AEW, and this was arguably their best match yet, playing into several respectful moments throughout the match, all without ever going easy on each other. They actually probably went much harder on each other than they normally would on anyone else, especially considering the circumstances.PENTA WINS 🔥 @PENTAELZEROMA match for the AGES!!! pic.twitter.com/mLjK0VwGrP— WWE (@WWE) September 1, 2026 If there was one problem with the match, it was that Fenix realistically had zero chance of winning with how he's generally been booked in WWE — despite holding the AAA Cruiserweight title. He also battled the whole match without a moment where you actually thought he would win. Regardless, it was fantastic, especially for the standards we often get weekly — such as the rest of the show's in-ring work.With all of that in mind, Reigns vs. Penta is a wildly intriguing stylistic matchup. And while we again know clearly who is winning, it has the potential to be a really good, fun, straight-up, shenanigan-free wrestling match.Just imagine if we actually see Reigns get hit with a Destroyer — in Mexico. Absolute scenes. One can dream.The "Raw" RamblesEnforcement. So, this is actually a partially good ramble. But Adam Pearce finally did something about Judgment Day interference, which resulted in tonight's tag match on "Raw," after McDonagh gave Evans the DQ win directly before it. It would've been nice to see Pearce do something earlier in the other Judgment Day match, but hey, it's progress. However, this entire "situation" between Evans and Judgment Day is devoid of any story whatsoever.Adam Pearce has SPOKEN! 🗣️ @ScrapDaddyAP We now have an impromptu tag match! pic.twitter.com/Z70A0JsoyX— WWE (@WWE) September 1, 2026 Gone Missing. Big Cass and Iyo Sky were just gone this week after earning decently notable moments last week — at least for Cass, who beat Evans. Can't say that's a good sign for his immediate direction. The whole Vision stable, Oba Femi, and Seth Rollins were also all absent from this show.I give this "Raw" a crown score of: 3.5/10 👑WWE Raw full card results and match grades:World Heavyweight Championship No. 1 contender tournament finals: Penta def. Rey Fenix — 👑 4.5/5 👑The Judgment Day (Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonagh) def. Je'Von Evans and Joe Hendry — 👑 1.5/5 👑Je'Von Evans def. Dominik Mysterio — 👑 1/5 👑Dragon Lee def. Ethan Page — 👑 3/5 👑Women's Intercontinental Championship: Raquel Rodriguez (c.) def. Sol Ruca — 👑 2/5 👑 Recap "WWE Raw" with Uncrowned's live blog: