Roman Reigns to appear on Raw as Penta meets Rey Fenix in World Heavyweight No.1 Contender final

Roman Reigns will return on WWE Raw on August 31, 2026, in an episode taped on August 28 at the Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, that serves as part of the build to Sunday Night's Main Event on September 6, 2026, in Atlanta. The show features the World Heavyweight Championship No.1 Contender final between Penta and Rey Fenix and a Women’s Intercontinental Championship defence of Raquel Rodriguez (c) against Sol Ruca.

WWE is using this week’s Raw to progress several key storylines ahead of its first-ever Sunday Night's Main Event. The August 31 edition of Raw was recorded during a double taping of Raw and SmackDown following last week’s show in Ottawa. The pre-taped episode will air at 8 PM ET on Netflix.

Penta vs Rey Fenix is billed as the World Heavyweight Championship No.1 Contender’s Tournament final and will determine the next challenger to Roman Reigns. The matchup is presented on the card as the tournament final. The advertised lineup indicates Reigns will come face-to-face with tournament winner Penta to close the night.

Raquel Rodriguez is listed as defending the Women’s Intercontinental Championship against Sol Ruca on the show. The card denotes Rodriguez with the (c) designation as champion. That title defence is one of the championship matches scheduled for the episode.

Roman Reigns is slated to deliver a promo on his "OTC" mindset during the broadcast. That segment will include a confrontation with LA Knight. Those appearances form part of the promotional build toward the Atlanta event.

The Jacob Fatu–Solo Sikoa feud is indicated to continue on this Raw. Chad Gable is advertised as setting up his own path towards Sunday Night's Main Event. Stephanie Vaquer is among the additional performers named for the episode.

Promotional material for the show lists multiple top names, including Penta, Rey Fenix, Raquel Rodriguez, Sol Ruca, LA Knight and Stephanie Vaquer. WWE has positioned the August 31 Raw as a go-home show to finalise pieces of the Atlanta card. The company taped the programme as part of a double taping weekend following the Ottawa broadcast.

Sunday Night's Main Event is scheduled for Sunday, September 6, 2026, at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. WWE will use the remaining Raw build to set the card for that event.