As we all know, Penta called out WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns for his crown on the September 14th airing of Monday Night RAW — which took place in Mexico City. This match achieved one of the highest viewership numbers on Netflix for 2026.
Dave Meltzer touched on the contest in the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio. He reported hearing from individuals within WWE that there is no denying Penta’s talent. Realistically, if you account for the absence of that football game, the episode would likely have outperformed RAW after WrestleMania. Meltzer on top of that pointed out that this particular episode of RAW garnered the second-highest viewership of the year — despite competing against a Monday Night Football game that attracted 23.2 million viewers.
To provide context, the airing drew 3.1 million viewers, tying for the third-highest viewership of the year with the February 2nd episode. The second-highest viewership was recorded on January 5th, with 3.2 million viewers. The most-viewed episode was the post-WrestleMania episode on April 20th, which reached 3.3 million viewers.
Meltzer’s remarks about Penta being perceived differently in WWE align with a report from the previous week — stating that creative plans for the luchador may have changed. Equally important, coupled with Penta being considered a “heavy favorite” to win the Men’s Money in the Bank Showdown, this includes the possibility of a future rematch with Reigns.