WWE RAW 9/28/2026: 3 Things We Hated & 3 Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "WWE Raw," the show that saw Jaida Parker make her "Raw" debut by joining the 946! We have thoughts about that here in the column this week, as well as thoughts on Big Cass, JD McDonagh, and more — including some tributes to fallen AEW star Pac that popped up on Monday's episode of the red brand.

As always, if you missed the show, you can catch up on everything by checking out our "WWE Raw" 9/28/26 results page, which contains all the objective information you could possibly want about what happened Monday night. On the other hand, if you're looking for subjective information, this column is the place for you — though here we admittedly only cover the matches and segments that stood out to the WINC crew the most, either in a positive or a negative sense. With that having been said, here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 9/28/26 episode of "WWE Raw!"

There is no re-signing in WWE, in recent memory, at least, that confuses me more than that of Big Cass. I assumed he was going to be paired as a babyface alongside the also-returning Enzo Amore, but Amore's re-signing has not yet come to fruition, with no recent reports about it. So I have to assume Cass is stuck floundering in the midcard with nothing to do except take random losses.

While I'll never usually complain about a Dragon Lee match on my television screen, and it's great he stacked another victory, WWE has just given me no reason to care about Big Cass. By this time tomorrow, I'll likely have completely forgotten these two competed in a serviceable, albeit maybe slightly too long, match. Cass dominated a good portion of the bout, but Lee still came out on top, and looked much better throughout the match. Maybe I'll remember commentary continuing to bury Cass, though Wade Barrett's comment about his "big, bulging eyes" being laser-focused wasn't nearly as bad as Corey Graves commentating on a Big Cass match.

This was only Cass' third match since returning to WWE on the episode of "Raw" after SummerSlam. He only won in his debut match, on the August 24 "Raw," where he bested Je'Von Evans. While it hasn't been too long since he's got a TV win, Evans would go on to pin him in their Money in the Bank qualifier with Austin Theory, so in a way, it feels like that initial win didn't mean much. He's scored two victories on "WWE Main Event," which also feel like they barely count, so the big man has only won one important singles match since re-signing. At least he's getting TV time, I guess. WWE could always have him sitting in catering.

He's not scoring wins, so giving him a shot at Chad Gable's Intercontinental Championship wouldn't make sense. He doesn't have Amore, so there's no reason for him to be in the tag team scene. It's a good thing I don't have the pen, because there's truly nothing interesting I can think of for Cass to do at this point with the way he's been booked since his return, but it certainly doesn't seem like WWE creative has any ideas, either.

Written by Daisy Ruth

It's become something of a rare occurrence in WWE for a match to actually have a clean finish with no unnecessary interference to keep people looking strong. I have to give WWE props tonight for showing that they can still keep people looking strong without overutilizing the interference trope on their programming.

The problem with pitting Lola Vice and Roxanne Perez against one another on this episode of "Raw" had nothing to do with either woman themselves, but the fact that they're both competing in the 2026 Women's Money In The Bank Ladder Match and need to be kept looking strong heading into the October 10 Premium Live Event. Having Vice go over with the win only for Perez and Rodriguez to take out Vice and fellow 2026 Women's Money In The Bank Ladder Match competitor Sol Ruca post-match still allowed for Vice to win the match, but it also immediately helped to undo any damage Perez might've incurred by the loss by keeping her looking strong in a heel manner that suited her character. Beyond that, I thought that the match Vice and Perez had put on before the beatdown was really solid as well and was a fun opening contest for this edition of "Raw."

Written by Olivia Quinlan

This week's episode saw a continuation of the "JD McDonagh has a big head" storyline with a tag match between the man himself alongside Dominik Mysterio and Je'Von Evans and Penta. First off, that's quite the come down from Penta challenging Roman Reigns two weeks ago. But then it was actually an alright match. Boring. But alright.

Commentary was as insufferable as it gets between Joe Tessitore's faux fawning over Evans and Wade Barrett's cliche and platitude-heavy calling. If I have to hear "Lothario" said as "Low-Far-Iyo" one more time I might just arm wrestle a honey badger.

JD McDonagh was still a principal component of the match, and that's never good. There are a million and one wrestlers in the world who can do what he does if not better, and his latest attempt to find a personality has landed on the woke parody end of the spectrum. I'm sure that's great for anyone who likes the Daily Wire but that's not me. Of course, he does have a point. And that might be the most egregious thing about this.

Joe Hendry came out with a Funko Pop-looking head of JD, just like Evans had done when it was Hendry in the ring with him. The joke is that he has a big head, and it's not like he doesn't. But in the same way as if a storyline was geared towards Kevin Owens being big or Mascarita Sagrada as a little person it feels so unattached from anything entertaining. JD is a heel, so you're not really supposed to agree with him. But I can't lie, when Hendry came out I found myself on his wavelength. This can stop now.

It was just bad from start to finish, with only the illusion of a good match in between. It was always going to be something like this, and even when the match itself seemed to be picking up, there was that feeling of imminent bulls***.

It's hard to even begin imagining someone sitting in a writer's room coming up with this with a straight face, let alone someone else agreeing this should be the plan and everyone else letting it get on TV. But it did. So they evidently did.

Written by Max Everett

It's been a devastating 24 hours for wrestling fans with the news of the sudden death of Benjamin Satterley, aka Pac. The wrestling community has been overflowing with memories and stories about the high-flyer from all over the globe. Promotions big and small have also sent their condolences. Earlier today, Paul "HHH" Levesque posted a photo of them to social media. He talked about how Pac changed "WWE NXT" and how he was an even better person than wrestler.

WWE didn't post anything until "WWE Raw" came on air. They posted a photo of Pac with the caption "WWE extends their condolences to the family, friends, and fans of Benjamin Satterly, known to the WWE Universe as Neville." The same photo was shown at the beginning of "Raw." That was the only reference to "The Man That Gravity Forgot" until Bayley showed up during Lyra Valkyria's match, standing on the announce desk. She was wearing a black armband with "Ben" in white letters. Becky Lynch wore one in a backstage segment with "Pac" facing the camera.

Penta was Pac's partner in Death Triangle, the team they won the AEW trios titles with alongside Rey Fénix. During his tag match with Je'Von Evans, Penta pointed out his kickpad to the cameraperson. He had written "Pac" in big black letters.

WWE didn't treat Pac well leading up to his departure, including freezing his contract for eight months. They didn't go out of their way to acknowledge his death outside of the picture even though he was with them for six years. It was nice to see wrestlers who he made a big impact on honor him in a small, but significant way. From all the stories that have poured in about him in the last day, he wouldn't have wanted a huge fuss and would likely be embarrassed by any tributes. But Pac deserved his flowers when he was alive and he deserves them in death, and I'm happy to see them in every place he made an impact.

Written by Samantha Schipman

So the closing angle of this week's show was a little confusing. It's been a weird day to be a wrestling fan anyway, but the show itself did nothing to alleviate or remediate that feeling in any way. It was a typical Monday night "WWE Raw" in that nothing really mattered and the stuff that did was fleeting and sandwiched in nonsense. 

Personally, 946 hasn't really done much to capture the imagination and convince one that they aren't just fodder for the biggest group in the company. They've burned a car with no one or nothing in it and abducted Solo Sikoa. This week took that up a notch with Jacob Fatu literally getting run down with a car. Not only that, Jaida Parker was in the car and she aligned with 946 to complete her main roster transition. 

That should be cool. Those parts isolated are cool. But there was just too much riding against those things for me. To initiate the segment, 946 entered the building with tickets in hand. They weren't suspended or banned from the building, so why they needed to buy tickets to get into the building was a mystery. And they entered after doors closed, with no one there to check their tickets, and went and stood at ringside where there definitely weren't any assigned seats. 

Point being, unnecessary touch that one can only guess was to try and add to the unsanctioned vibe of it all while also not making the most sense. A little thing, but the silliness was building just a little bit more than the seriousness, and this is a faction trying to take itself seriously. 

When they did go to ringside, security didn't much care that they had tickets. Fortunately for 946, these guards had never watched wrestling before and had no idea that talking wrestlers down for a moment inevitably leads to them taking bumps. So they took bumps, and the Bloodline came down the ramp for a brawl. 

The brawl was a brawl. It's not as though it was a bad brawl. It was a brawl. But this has all felt just a little too try-hard and a brawl was never going to help that. Eventually the brawl was isolated to just Jacob Fatu and Royce Keys and went into the parking lot. Keys, to cement his bada**ery, retreated into an SUV. The next exchange was actually quite funny, and then Fatu got run over. If the segment was just those things it'd be fine, but then Jaida Parker started pretending she didn't see Fatu and acting shaken up, just to switch up and confirm what was pretty clear already. It was just too much.

Written by Max Everett

It was about time for Jaida Parker to be called up from "WWE NXT," and I thought WWE did it in a really interesting way tonight, bookending the show with her arrival, then her surprising alignment. Parker was once teamed up with OTM's Lucien Price and Bronco Nima down in "NXT," so it makes sense for her to join 946 alongside the team and Royce Keys.

I admit, I do always read rundown spoilers ahead of the show, but when she pulled up tonight and the Usos and Jacob Fatu assumed the black SUV she arrived in was the 946 and rushed out to start a brawl, only for Parker to go face-to-face with reported real-life boyfriend Jey Uso, I popped. I don't want to comment too much on Uso's relationship drama, or perceived drama on social media, at least, but as someone who's forever nosey, I absolutely loved it. Parker told Uso she was there to meet with General Manager Adam Pearce, which may have been the case, but that certainly wasn't all she was there to do.

After a brawl that spanned from the ring to the loading dock area, Fatu and Keys battled around another SUV. Keys got in, and nailed Fatu with one of the nastiest door shots I've ever seen, right to the head. That's when Parker came speeding out of nowhere to hit Fatu with a car, and played it up to the camera that she "didn't see him there!" and she was so sorry, before aligning herself with Keys with a simple "ain't nobody safe," which seems to be the 946's catchphrase at this point. Keys hit Fatu with an "all gas, no brakes!" before they sped away, which was a nice touch.

The sequence of events, from the door spot to the speeding car, was one of the most ridiculous endings to an episode of "Raw" I've seen in forever, and after such a heavy day, I absolutely loved it. I think Parker fits perfectly with the 946, even if they don't address anything with her and Jey. This, perhaps most importantly, means the Bloodline need to bring in someone to face-off with Parker, so hopefully the now-former "NXT" star is ready to "proceed with caution," as Naomi is reportedly waiting in the wings, ready to go. If I wasn't sold on the 946 vs. Bloodline angle before tonight, I certainly would have been with such a wild, fun ending to "Raw."

Written by Daisy Ruth