WWE RAW 3/30/2026: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "WWE Raw," the show that this week added two matches to the WrestleMania card, then went ahead and added two more! That's one way to fill things out less than three weeks before the event! Anyway, as you might expect, the WINC staff has some thoughts about a couple of these new 'Mania matches and the segments that delivered them — particularly Penta's IC title match with Kofi Kingston and Seth Rollins getting taken out by GUNTHER. We also have some stuff to say about the opening Stephanie McMahon appearance, the Vision winning the world tag titles, and more!

As always, a lot happened on "Raw," and we can't cover everything, so things like Roxanne Perez' return and the women's tag title match are going by the wayside this week. If you want to know more about those or any other part of the show we're not going to get into here, check out our "Raw" results page. If you want to know what the WINC crew thought of the parts of the episode that stood out to us the most, here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 3/30/26 episode of "WWE Raw!"

This week's "WWE Raw" inexplicably started with "WWE SmackDown" star and WWE Champion Cody Rhodes coming out to cut a promo based on his "SmackDown" feud with fellow "SmackDown" star Randy Orton. Because the brand split only exists if you want to pretend what WWE says is true. He was then confronted by one of the biggest names on Monday nights... Stephanie McMahon. I get the reasoning to an extent. I also get what whomever put this segment together was going for.

After all, McMahon stood by Triple H throughout all those years feuding with Orton, getting both verbally and physically assaulted by the "Apex Predator" as a part of that. So there was a tiny sliver of a reason for her to be out there, although maybe not one that contemporary fans and viewers would necessarily be privy to. That's okay, the promo could have done the informing in that regard. Did it? God no. McMahon instead told the WWE Champion, the man who ended Roman Reigns' historic title reign and beat Brock Lesnar twice, that he cannot handle this version of Orton.

Which is to say that this Orton is the same Orton that was punting McMahon's head in. He hasn't hit a punt in however many years, so that isn't strictly true. He hasn't really done anything too crazy, unless RKO'ing Matt Cardona and pretending to have broken his arm is considered crazy. Rhodes gave only the slightest bit of credence to the way Orton was with McMahon, saying that what he did was so crazy they wouldn't even be able to air it – which means that this definitely can't be the same Orton, and thus undermines McMahon's point further.

Also Rhodes is the one who wrestled Seth Rollins with a completely torn pectoral. He is the one who beat Drew McIntyre ad nauseam. And McIntyre beat "this version" of Orton multiple times over the last time they feuded. Plus, "this version" of Orton is still 45 years old having suffered severe back issues over the past few years. Point being, it would take a lot of ignorance to go along with what was being portrayed in this extremely cringe segment.

Written by Max Everett

Overall, I'm not exactly loving the ride on this "Road to WrestleMania." The one thing I do know I love, however, is Oba Femi, and I'm remaining hopeful he's going to beat the absolute hell out of Brock Lesnar on "The Grandest Stage of Them All."

"Raw" General Manager Adam Pearce tried to keep them separated tonight, but Femi strode down the ramp anyway after Lesnar called him out. Femi stalked around the ring, almost toying with Lesnar, making him wait, but then of course things started to break down into a brawl. I looked away for a moment, and there was Paul "Triple H" Levesque between them in the middle of the ring, attempting to keep "The Ruler" and "The Beast Incarnate" separate.

I think every fan on the internet is aware of the joke that "Triple H hates to be involved in anything!" yet he's always finding ways to get himself involved in things, but I thought tonight it made sense. That's especially with the juxtaposition of his wife, Stephanie McMahon, extremely randomly offering advice in the form of a promo to "WWE SmackDown" star, Cody Rhodes. So, it at least made sense to have him out here trying to keep these guys away from one another.

And, if you're a casual fan who's not clued into everything online, you basically just know that Triple H is the boss. So, you see him in the ring to prevent these two guys from going after one another, you know it's a big deal, in storyline. It's 'Mania season, so those casuals are out, so it was a call that made sense to me. I'll certainly be arguing the other way next week, and/or the week after, if Triple H is involved in any way other than just keeping Lesnar and Femi away from one another, but for now, I thought this was pretty solid, if you really think about it.

Written by Daisy Ruth

The Vision's two worst members won gold because they're the only ones not injured, beating the Usos for the belts in a Street Fight that saw interference from Logan Paul's mom – not a joke, unfortunately – as well as IShowSpeed and LA Knight.

Knight has been feuding with the Vision since the Vision started to exist, as "WWE Raw's" resident main event gatekeeper with delusions that he will break that glass ceiling. It's quite tragic, really, given he was legitimately one of the hottest acts at one point. So he was on commentary keeping up the delusion. Paul's mom was at ringside because it would have been difficult to write her into the plot without that happening. And Speed was there because WWE twerks for viral celebrity culture with no shame.

The match itself was perfectly serviceable save for the existence of Paul and Theory, then Paul's mom gave him the brass knuckles. And it is a good thing she smuggled those in, otherwise he would have bee- Oh wait, it was a Street Fight, he literally could have turned up armed with brass knuckles on both hands. Then Knight got involved, the knuckles dropped to the floor, and Speed in his infinite wisdom jumped the rail and picked them up like they were Green Lantern's ring calling to him.

As he stared at the knuckles, enamored by them, Knight approached him behind and Speed dropped him. Speed performed an iteration of Anakin Skywalker's, "What have I done?" and walked away up the ramp. Paul got the knuckles, went to use them, didn't get the chance, only to use them a little bit later for Theory to get the pin on Jimmy and win the match. Then they celebrated with Speed on the ramp, shaking his head and disagreeing that he was deliberately trying to help them. All while commentary made out as though this had been the pay-off from Danhausen cursing Speed.

One looks at the roster WWE has, the resources at its disposal, and the unwavering support it receives, and can't help but feel they're running a grift at this stage. Ticket prices are higher than ever. Revenue, higher than ever. Social media impressions. The lot. And yet there is still this continual cranking out of some of the most soulless content entirely devoid of narrative gumption.

Written by Max Everett

Penta and Kofi Kingston had a solid match tonight for the Intercontinental Championship, a match that made Penta look strong going into WrestleMania 42, but it also did something for Kingston in defeat, or at least I hope so. As Kingston continues to kind of tease a babyface turn once again, hopefully to join up with Je'Von Evans, there were two separate points in this match where he tried to tell Grayson Waller to go away.

I wasn't a huge hater of Waller in the New Day back when he initially started to hang around them, but I do think he's stayed a bit over his welcome. WWE probably should have pivoted away from his involvement when Xavier Woods went down with an injury, but I suppose that's a bit more difficult to write around, when you're kicking someone out of a group that is now just down to two people as it is.

When Kingston had Penta on the floor with a back body drop, he told Waller to go away, and a bit later in the match Waller tried to get involved again. The second time, he cost Kingston, allowing for him to be laid out by the champion, and when he was gloating over the fallen Kingston, Waller took a Mexican Destroyer for his trouble.

I might not mean much now, as I don't know if I see WWE breaking them up and going into a different story ahead of WrestleMania when so many things are going on already, but I like that the seeds are being planted. Kingston and Woods need something different after WWE failed to capitalize following their heel turn on Big E, and maybe pivoting once again for them, or even just Kingston, to align with Evans could be what they need.

I also loved the fact Penta revealed after the bout that he had taken it upon himself to go to "Raw" General Manager Adam Pearce and book himself into a title defense at WrestleMania. Not just any defense, but a ladder match. He was so confident during his promo about it all, too, and said that it was "his kingdom" on top of that ladder. I don't necessarily love how convoluted it all was for a second when it came to Penta's challengers, with Michael Cole saying there were qualifying matches already (though, there apparently weren't?), but if you just look at the graphic, you get the picture. Penta will be taking on Dragon Lee, Je'Von Evans, Rusev, and JD McDonagh, which is a solid field already, and commentary mentioned those were the men involved "thus far," which leaves things open and interesting these next two episodes of "Raw."

Written by Daisy Ruth

We are just under a month away from WrestleMania 42 at this point. Considering how close the two night Premium Live Event is, you would think that WWE wouldn't be starting any new storylines.

NOPE.

I have nothing against Seth Rollins or GUNTHER, but having GUNTHER attack Rollins completely out of nowhere (in both the literal and metaphorical sense) while Rollins confronted Heyman made my brain almost short circuit. It was so random, abrupt, and out of the blue due to the lack of screen time that the two men have shared with one another, and I didn't even know how to react when it happened outside of knowing that I didn't like that as an option for either Rollins or GUNTHER's WrestleMania 42 matches. I know there's been some speculation in regards to GUNTHER originally being planned to face Rey Mysterio prior to Rey's injury and the unknown injury status of Bron Breakker if WWE did want to have him face Rollins, so in that regard, it does make sense to pair up two men who may have not had anything else to do for WrestleMania 42. With that being said, I would've preferred for GUNTHER and Rollins to have WrestleMania 42 opponents who weren't one another.

GUNTHER has been facing Hall of Famers and legends up until this point. While I'm sure Rollins is bound to be a future Hall of Famer as he should be, WWE could've surely brought back someone else for GUNTHER like they did when he faced Goldberg in one final match. On the flip side, if Breakker hasn't been medically cleared, then Rollins and a tag team partner could've easily challenged Logan Paul and Austin Theory for the World Tag Team Championship. Both of those options make far more sense in my mind then just randomly pitting GUNTHER and Rollins against one another without explanation (at least thus far), and somehow made me even less excited about the WrestleMania 42 card (trust me, the bar was already low there).

Written by Olivia Quinlan

For the last few weeks to prepare for Roman Reigns vs. CM Punk WrestleMania match, we've gotten several promo segments. Dead dads, old age, cousins who are disrespected, and pure hatred have filled these segments. In between Punk had a promo segment with The Usos, which was at least more entertaining than the promos with Reigns.

You can understand why I wasn't looking forward to yet another promo segment. They've said all they can say and as I've written about in this column before, the more they talk, the less interested I become in the match. Reigns came to the ring and it started like all other segments; by demanding to be acknowledged. Punk's music hit and they exchanged blows. Reigns put Punk on his a** and Punk dumped him over the top rope. Already off to a good start and then Punk bounced the O.T.C.'s head off the announce table. Punk and Reigns had to be kept apart, but couldn't be contained. Punk powerbombed Reigns through the announce table and sat next to him singing, "Roman, Roman Reigns," before pounding him repeatedly. Punk walked across the barricade and celebrated with the fans.

This was by far the most entertaining segment since the first one they had. It's been clear that there is a lot of tension between them and they needed to get physical. There's still two more episodes of "Raw" until WrestleMania. I don't know what more they can do and it's doubtful they'll hold them off TV until then. But for one week, we got something much more entertaining than the previous weeks.

Written by Samantha Schipman