Raw Deal - Raw recap for August 18, 2026

Seth "Freakin'" Rollins, Paul Heyman, Bron Breakker and "Big" Bronson Reed head to the ring to start tonight's show. Paul Heyman says he is too humble to accept a statue for everything he has done for the wrestling industry, then proclaims that the ring is full of the greatest right now, and that Seth Rollins deserves more credit than he does for bringing them all together. Before Rollins can utter a syllable, "Main Event" Jey Uso shows up from out of the crowd, and has some kids say "Yeet!" into the microphone because he is tired of hearing everyone in the ring talking and threatening his family. After Jey warns Breakker that he is messing with "a real one," Rollins manipulates Breakker into taking this as Jey disrespecting his family to the point that Breakker almost leaps out of the ring to get to Jey. Breakker has to be held back, and Heyman says that back in the days of ECW, this would be settled in a certain type of match, but Jey says that the only rules he needs are Extreme Rules.

Backstage, Iyo Sky is met by The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane). Asuka apologizes for last week, and Iyo accepts her apology. Kairi tells Iyo to let her know if she needs their help tonight. Iyo Sky says he is glad they have his back, but he must win on her own tonight just like Asuka did before her.

Iyo Sky beats Raquel Rodriguez after countering the Tejana Bomb with a hurricanrana into the corner. After the match, Roxanne Perez and Raquel attack Iyo Sky when Rhea Ripley shows up and fights them both. Rhea and Iyo quickly clean house.

Backstage, Jackie Redmond interviews LA Knight. Knight is soon confronted by CM Punk, who says that the two of them need to stick together regarding Seth "Freakin'" Rollins' numbers game, but Knight is not willing to cooperate on his path to become World Heavyweight Champion.

Backstage, Rhea Ripley apologizes to Iyo Sky as The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane) show up to see if Iyo is all right. Asuka takes offense to Rhea helping Iyo, and Iyo finally has enough of the arguing, goes off on them, and walks off. Asuka tells Rhea to stay out of their business, and Kairi is upset again.

Penta beats Xavier Woods with the Mexican Destroyer.

In footage from after TripleMania XXXIII, "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio tells El Hijo del Vikingo that he will see him at Worlds Collide before Rey Mysterio shows up and embarrasses Dominik.

Members of the Philadelphia Eagles are seen in the front row.

The Judgment Day (Finn Balor and JD McDonagh) beat Dragon Lee and Mr. Iguana following the interference from "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio. After the match, The Judgment Day attack Dragon Lee and Mr. Iguana, but when Dominik tries to slam Dragon Lee into the announce table, he is stopped by El Hijo del Vikingo, who also makes quick work of Finn and McDonagh. All of a sudden, Dominik smacks Vikingo in the back with the AAA Mega Championship, then hits him with the top rope frog splash with help from McDonagh.

Backstage, Jackie Redmond interviews Becky Lynch. Becky says Natalya attacked her, not the other way around, and that she gave Maxxine Dupri a chance at her title. She says that afterwards, she was forced to defend herself against Natalya, who she says does not belong in the same ring as her.

We hear from Bayley, who is haunted by her past actions as "The Role Model."

Becky Lynch retains the WWE Women's Intercontinental Championship against Natalya by submission with the Dis-Arm-Her. During the match, Becky injures Natalya by throwing her shoulder-first into the ring post, and the Dis-Arm-Her at the end of the match attacks the bad arm. After the match, Maxxine Dupri has to push Becky off Natalya to check on Natalya, and Becky goes on the attack and goes for the Dis-Arm-Her on Maxxine. Nikki Bella shows up and brawls with Becky, and hits the Rack Attack 2.0.

Backstage, Jackie Redmond interviews Sheamus. Sheamus says Rusev may have a god complex, but he has the complex of a light switch. Suddenly, Rusev shows up wanting to fight, and officials and security have to step in. An irate General Manager Adam Pearce puts both Sheamus and Rusev in a Good Old Fashioned Donnybrook Match at Clash in Paris for one final match.

Backstage, "Main Event" Jey Uso meets with CM Punk. Punk says they have to work together, as Jey is outnumbered, but Jey says he wants to do this alone and does not want to owe anyone any favors. Punk tells Jey that he has his back.

General Manager Adam Pearce is in the ring, where he introduces Naomi. Naomi heads to the ring, and Adam Pearce gives her the floor. Naomi reveals through her appearance on "What's Your Story?" with Stephanie McMahon that she is pregnant. Adam Pearce says that everyone is happy for her, then Naomi says this is not her first time relinquishing a title, and while she handed it over the first time, this time she is not "handing [him] shit," then tells him to get out of the ring. Pearce makes the wise decision to leave the ring. She then says that the women's division should be thanking Jimmy Uso, as she was about to walk the women's division like a dog and put everyone in the ground. The crowd chants "You deserve it!" before Naomi declares that The Bloodline continues, which leads to an "OTC" chant. Naomi then lays her custom Women's World Championship in the middle of the ring as the crowd chants "Baby Uso" and gives the women's division nine months and change to do what they want with it before she comes back to pick up where she left off. She then advises whoever has the title when she comes back to proceed with caution.

Next week's show will take place in Birmingham, United Kingdom with a special start time of 3 PM Eastern/12 PM Pacific.

Backstage, The Judgment Day (Finn Balor, JD McDonagh, Raquel Rodriguez, Roxanne Perez) is about to leave the arena when they notice "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio is not with them. They soon see Dominik talking with El Grande Americano, and tells Finn he is making sure The Judgment Day stays on top.

"Main Event" Jey Uso beats Bron Breakker in an Extreme Rules Match. During the match, "Big" Bronson Reed pulls the referee out of the ring after Jey Uso hits an Uso Splash, and as he beats up Jey Uso, LA Knight shows up and fights both Bronson and Breakker until Seth "Freakin'" Rollins shows up and shoves Knight into the barricade. CM Punk shows up, and he and LA Knight team up to take out Seth "Freakin'" Rollins until Rollins knocks Punk into Knight - who is on the ring apron taking care of Bronson Reed on the outside - off the apron and through a table. As Breakker and Jey Uso go at it, Breakker is about to hit a Spear on the outside when Roman Reigns suddenly returns. Breakker looks around for Roman only to fail to find him, and when he goes for the Spear anyway, Roman hits Breakker with a Spear out of nowhere followed by a Superman Punch on Bronson. Jey Uso then splashes Bron Breakker through a table for the pin and the win.

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