WWE Monday Night RAW was live from Omaha, Nebraska, as this Saturday’s BackLash approaches. The BackLash PLE has always been a sort of ‘aftermath’ show to WrestleMania. That theme will be furthered on tonight’s episode, with most of the RAW programs scheduled for the PLE being reruns or Mania spillover.
Jacob Fatu has been pushed to be an unpredictable force, and his time on both brands has furthered that narrative. Fatu challenged his champion family member, but Roman Reigns responded by telling him to take his time to consider his wishes.
ROMAN REIGNS DEMANDS RESPECT
The sit-down contract signing came at the end of the night despite Roman’s best efforts to handle earlier in the night, and the heavyweight champion’s message was all about respect, or the lack thereof. He brought up the ‘Togan Death Grip’ that Fatu used last week on Roman, which caused the champ to fall to his knees.
The move is meant to be used in desperate measures, and Roman made it clear that it was ‘bush league’ for Fatu to pull out the choke maneuver on family, especially in a one-on-one situation.
“You don’t do that to family, you don’t do that to your own, you don’t do that to your ‘Tribal Chief,'” Roman yelled at Jacob Fatu before the challenger responded.
Fatu said he was left with no alternative but to ‘take Roman out’ and everything it comes with, as he promised to put a chokehold on this game in the same way “this company” has done to their family from day one.’
It was a powerful line with a powerful narrative that even The Rock, a sitting board member of TKO, has authenticated through past interviews and his sitcom based on his upbringing.
Roman said this was his ring, and that even though they were “equals” from within the parameters of their family, but in the WWE, Jacob is beneath him.’ That line caused Fatu to explode in anger, beating on the champ before WWE officials intervened. The two will clash this Saturday, and the result will be explosive regardless of who wins—Roman losing his belt would be almost as unbelievable as seeing Jacob acknowledging his ‘Tribal Chief.’
SETH ROLLINS GETTING DOG WALKED AT BACKLASH?!
Seth bumped into Roman Reigns in the ‘Gorilla position’ to begin RAW. Roman was hoping to finalize his contract signing with Jacob Fatu for BackLash in the evening’s first segment. Instead, he learned that Jacob had not yet arrived and would have to wait for the final segment of the night.
This was almost certainly a ‘power move’ from Fatu, who has run over everyone who has even remotely gotten in his way. Fatu destroyed the MFTs on SmackDown two weeks ago, which led to a narrative suggesting he “beat them out of WWE,” as two of them were cut a week later. This past week, he put down Talla Tonga and Solo before sending a message to Roman via The USOS as his method of delivery.
After Roman was bumped, Seth went out to cut a promo in his all-black suit, but he was almost immediately jumped by Bron Breakker, who speared him to no end. Their match for BackLash is five days away, as Seth reminded, and the narrative feels like Breakker is too much for ‘Monday Night Rollins.’
OBA FEMI IS THE MOST OVER ON THE ROSTER
Last week, in the wake of all the traffic amongst title holders, Oba Femi announced an ‘open challenge’ for weekly RAW TV. He said that he will take on all comers, and tonight that meant Otis. The segment started with a little comedy as Tazawa tried answering the call before Otis stepped up to the plate.
What transpired was five minutes of gold that the crowd ate out of the palm of Oba’s hand as he manhandled Otis by throwing him across the ring. He took the time to construct a plan for powerbombing Otis out of his shoes, so he placed the big boy on the second turnbuckle and shook the building after he nailed the move.
The crowd loved it, and it had the biggest response of anything on tonight’s show, with the entire audience, made up of all ages, caught in 4k doing the ‘Oba Femi Strut.’
PENTA & JE’VON EVANS VS RUSEV & ETHAN PAGE—Tag Team Match
The heels picked up the win, and the match continued the trend of fresh NXT callups pinning the roster’s most established stars as Ethan Page pinned the IC champ, Penta. Much was made after Jacy Jayne pinned Charlotte Flair in action last Friday, but Ethan’s push feels much more organic.
It is not clear why WWE is booking Penta and Evans, two singles stars with high ceiling potential, together in low-stakes feuds. WWE will have to decide which one of these guys to push before they lose momentum.
SOL RUCA STEALING THE SHOW… BECKY STEALS THE LIGHT
It was supposed to be Sol Ruca’s moment to shine as she was on the verge of signing her contract with GM Pearce in the ring. Commentary put over Sol Ruca’s story as a former Oregon gymnast, part of the NIL program, and a wrestler who has only been wrestling for 4 years.
Her debut on RAW following WM42 was epic, and that was enough for Becky to steal her moment. Just as she was getting ready to sign her RAW contract, the IC champ came down to make waves. This feud has all the potential in the world to get over Sol Ruca, and Becky is the perfect veteran to help initiate that.
The segment ended when Becky took a swing at Sol, only to accidentally hit Pearce. As he was leaving the ring, Sol Ruca hit a ‘Sole Snatcher’ on Becky to close the segment.
OTHER TIDBITS
– Finn Balor and JD McDonaugh faced off in singles action (kind of), running back their match from last week following role reversals between the once best friends. The match was made to further Finn’s feud with Dom Mysterio, who involved himself in the match, but it also continued the storyline between Roxxanne Perez and Liv Morgan. Liv confronted Perez before the match, demanding that she verbalize her loyalty.
– Joe Hendry gave another concert mocking Logan Paul, and for that reason, he faced off with Austin Theory in a singles match. The match was made to have the Street Profits further their feud with Logan and Theory, but the segment ended with Bron Breakker taking down the former tag team champs until Rollins came in to make the save.
– El Grande Americano VS El Grande Americano is booked for the end of May on AAA TV in a ‘Mask V Mask’ match, where the winner will have to lose the Lucha gimmick. The two factions faced off in a trios match with the heels coming out on top.
– Auska and Iyo Sky had a prerecorded segment in the form of a sit-down interview. It is difficult to properly enjoy this feud as great as it’s been, because it is missing the program’s biggest crux—Kairi Sane.
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