Tommy Dreamer says Penta against Rey Fenix on Raw is the best match of 2026 in WWE. Penta beat his brother in the final of the World Heavyweight Championship No. 1 Contender’s Tournament on the August 31 episode of Raw, winning with the Mexican Destroyer in about 14 minutes.
It was the first time the two had wrestled each other on WWE television, and their first singles meeting since AEW in 2020. The brothers embraced and raised each other’s hands afterwards, and Roman Reigns came out to stand face to face with his next challenger and hold the championship up in Penta’s face. Dreamer gave his verdict on Busted Open.
“Match of the year. It’s seriously the best match of 2026, which is a slew of insane matches,” Dreamer said. “And why I say that, it’s because it’s the most recent best match. Because honestly, if you were to write down the top 10 matches, you would have to be really, really pressed hard.”
He then listed what it was competing with.
“I know today’s the last day of August, but we still have three months to go, and to try to name three top matches off the charts, because we have been seeing so, so many across the board in professional wrestling,” Dreamer said. “I mean, hell, Chad Gable, Rey Mysterio was a match of the year candidate up until, what? The fatal four-way on Sunday could have been a match of the year candidate. Kendal Grey, Kelani Jordan could have been a match of the year candidate. However, it doesn’t pale in comparison to tonight’s match.”
Penta reached the final with wins over Laredo Kid and La Parka. Fenix got there past El Fiscal and Dragon Lee. Fenix described the match beforehand as a dream 22 years in the making.
The bracket was built so the two of them could only meet in the final, which took most of the suspense out of the tournament and put all of it on the last match. Both men went at it accordingly. Penta put Fenix through the commentary desk with a Penta Driver on the way to the finish.
Both signed with WWE in 2025 and had been kept apart as singles wrestlers until now. Penta is a former Intercontinental Champion. Fenix is the current AAA Cruiserweight Champion and defended the title against EK Prosper on the August 25 NXT, six days before this.
Penta challenges Reigns for the World Heavyweight Championship on the September 14 Raw, live from Arena CDMX in Mexico City. It is the first world title match either brother has had in WWE, and it falls on the company’s return to their home city.
The Intercontinental Championship match on that card was set the same night. Chad Gable put Dragon Lee and Ethan Page in an impromptu match and named the winner as his challenger in Mexico City. Lee won it after Page tried to remove a turnbuckle pad and Gable pointed it out to the referee.
The Mexico City show sits three and a half weeks before Money in the Bank on October 10, which the Raw build has been pointed at since the start of the tournament. The August 31 episode was taped on August 28 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland ahead of WWE’s international run.
Dreamer’s verdict came the same night the match aired. He said he called it the best of the year because it was the most recent, and anyone trying to rank the top ten would struggle. Three months of the year are still left.
