Roman Reigns may have hoped that successfully defending the world heavyweight championship against his cousin, Jacob Fatu, at Backlash would be enough to settle his family business. Unfortunately for Reigns, Fatu proved himself to be more motivated than ever at the conclusion of Raw.
Reigns had said that Fatu would need to either acknowledge his place at the head of their family or be fired. Instead of “acknowledging” Reigns, Fatu destroyed the champion, along with The Usos. Fatu has continually been too physical and deranged for Reigns outside of Reigns finding a crafty way to win at Backlash on Saturday, but this situation is clearly far from over.
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Jacob Fatu refuses to acknowledge Roman Reigns before destroying the champ
The show opened with Raw general manager Adam Pearce telling Roman Reigns that he didn’t want Jacob Fatu in the arena after Fatu attacked referees and WWE staff. Reigns asked if Pearce was intending to fire Fatu, before saying he’s the one who brought him to WWE, so he, not Pearce, would be the one to take him out. Later in the show, Jimmy Uso spoke to Reigns and told him it’s time to let Fatu go. Reigns said that respect from within the family was required to have respect from without, so either Fatu would acknowledge him or he would be fired.
Fatu arrived backstage when Reigns was in the ring to end the show. Jey Uso pleaded with Fatu to realize that doing the wrong thing would make things hard on him and his family. Fatu responded by knocking Jey out with a series of headbutts. Fatu said Reigns would have to beat an acknowledgement out of him before continuing on his path to the ring. Fatu took out Jimmy, leaving just Reigns in the ring. Fatu and Reigns exchanged big shots until Reigns grabbed a steel chair from under the ring, delivering shot after shot to Fatu while demanding to be acknowledged. However, Fatu countered a spear and locked in the Tongan Death Grip before sending Reigns out of the ring. Fatu continued attacking Reigns, screaming that Reigns had left him and his family broke. A brief Reigns comeback was cut off when Fatu again locked in the Tongan Death Grip before powerbombing Reigns through the commentary desk. Fatu once again locked in the Tongan Death Grip as WWE officials attempted to get him to back down. Fatu licked and posed with the world heavyweight championship as the show appeared ready to go off the air. Instead, Fatu sprinted back to ringside and crashed into Reigns and the Usos, sending them through the ringside barricade.
It’s the right move not to immediately move on from Fatu’s goal of taking down Reigns. Fatu is driven by a need to win the title, so why would Reigns taking a shortcut to beat him convince him he’s in the wrong? Fatu is unhinged and Reigns has to figure out a way to deal with his cousin in a way that convinces him that Reigns is the true top dog in the family. Until that point is driven home, it’s a solid idea to continue forward. Grade: B+
What else happened on WWE Raw?The Street Profits & Joe Hendry def. The Vision via pinfall when Angelo Dawkins rolled up Austin Theory. Seth Rollins ran in during the match to take Bron Breakker out and cause a match-ending distraction. Rollins shook Dawkins’ hand, but he appeared to pull Dawkins in the way of a Breakker spear while getting out of the way himself.Je’von Evans def. Rusev via pinfall after an O.G. Cutter. Penta and Ethan Page were interrupted by Rusev. Page called for an intercontinental championship match against Penta at Saturday Night’s Main Event, only for Rusev to interrupt. Page said that he agreed that Rusev deserved a title shot and had tried to convince Pearce before Je’von Evans burst into the office to claim Rusev didn’t deserve a shot because Rusev can’t even beat him. Evans arrived to say that none of that was true, except that Rusev can’t beat him, leading to the match.Asuka hugged Iyo Sky backstage, saying that she had been waiting for someone to come along who could take her place. Asuka said that she was happy it was Sky who stepped up, before saying goodbye and leaving with her bags.Judgment Day attacked Nikki Bella and Paige. After the women’s tag champs called Judgment Day to the ring, they exchanged words before Paige struck Roxanne Perez with a title belt. Liv Morgan ran to the ring to tilt things in Judgment Day’s favor and they beat down the champions before posing with the title belts.Iyo Sky def. Sol Ruca via pinfall with a crucifix pin. Sky turned away a spirited Ruca effort by avoiding a Sol Snatcher and turning it into the winning pin. After Sky praised Ruca backstage, Becky Lynch confronted Ruca saying the lights were too bright for Ruca, who is supposed to be the next big thing.Oba Femi def. Angel Garza & Humberto Carrillo via pinfall in a handicap match. Pearce announced that no one was willing to take the Oba Femi Open Challenge and it would be canceled. Enraged, Femi stormed backstage and grabbed both Garza and Carrillo and beat them in the ring.AAA Mega-Championship — Dominik Mysterio (c) def. “The Original” El Grande Americano via pinfall with a frog splash. El Grande Americano interfered during the match, setting up “The Original” to be taken out.