Posted on 5/05/126 by Bob Magee
Show Recap —
Oba Femi, Chad Gable Americano and the Creed Brothers (under
their new masks), Sol Ruca, Je’Von Evans and Penta were
shown arriving. The live crowd seems hot so far, as
basically everyone got a big reaction, as did the graphic
for tonight’s contract signing.
Roman Reigns arrived and was on a mission. He quickly made
his way to Gorilla position as Adam Pearce tried to tell him
something. Reigns wasn’t listening, but Pearce finally
stopped him to tell him that Jacob Fatu wasn’t there.
Reigns turned around to find Seth Rollins, who told Reigns
that he was in his way. Rollins made his way out through the
stage instead, but was attacked from behind by Bron
Breakker.
Breakker press-slammed Rollins onto the edge of the
barricade and was swarmed by officials to stop. Breakker
shoved aside some security guards and continued his attack.
Officials briefly stopped Breakker from doing more, but he
sprinted by them and speared Rollins in the ring. (This was
a better-looking Bron spear than we’ve seen lately.) Fans
booed, barked and chanted, “One more time,” as Breakker
walked off.
********
Judgment Day met backstage. Liv Morgan said Stephanie Vaquer
was injured, so they didn’t have to worry about her anymore.
Morgan watches the show, it turns out, and she asked Roxanne
Perez why Finn Bálor was in the clubhouse last week, and why
she didn’t mention it.
Perez said she didn’t mention it because she was clear to
Bálor when she told him to leave and not come back. Perez
was loyal to Judgment Day.
Morgan said she knew that, but wanted Perez to promise that
she wouldn’t keep any secrets from her. Perez did promise,
but she was clearly just playing along.
Finn Bálor vs. JD McDonagh (w/ AAA Mega Champion Dominik
Mysterio)
Michael Cole wondered why McDonagh would align himself with
Judgment Day over Bálor and questioned his loyalty. Corey
Graves said loyalty doesn’t pay the bills. Indeed, it
doesn’t.
McDonagh worked over Bálor’s leg, but when Bálor mounted a
comeback, he was tripped by Dom while referee Jessika Carr
wasn’t watching, and McDonagh regained control. Perez
marched out to ringside as they went to break. Bálor began
his comeback after the break as Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez
made their way to ringside, too.
Bálor hit a back body drop, double foot stomp, and
slingblade. Bálor knocked Dom off the apron, which allowed
McDonagh to apply a cradle for two. McDonagh followed with a
Spanish Fly for two. Bálor took a nasty landing on the
Spanish Fly, landing high on his neck/upper back.
With Carr distracted again, Dom tripped Bálor off the apron.
Carr finally tossed Dom from ringside (but not the other
three Judgment Day members). McDonagh went for a moonsault,
but Bálor got his knees up and applied a cradle for a
nearfall.
Morgan distracted Carr next, while simultaneously tossing a
hammer to Perez. With Carr still distracted, Perez nailed
Bálor with the hammer (showing her loyalty to Judgment Day),
and McDonagh followed with a headbutt for the pinfall win.
Match result: JD McDonagh defeated Finn Bálor (11:44)
I assumed they were having a rematch so they could outdo the
six-minute match they had two weeks ago, but that was a
stupid assumption. This match was all about the insane
amount of interference to set up McDonagh getting a win.
They’re now even at one win apiece.
********
Jackie Redmond found Rollins backstage and asked if he would
be ok for Backlash. Rollins said the show was in five days,
so he would be fine. He told Breakker last week that if he
took chances, he better be able to finish the job, but he
(Rollins) wasn’t dead yet.
El Grande Americano (Ludwig Kaiser) and his buddies were
interviewed during commercials. El Grande said the Original
doesn’t know what he signed up for because he doesn’t
actually speak Spanish. In Mexico, El Grande might not be
allowed to touch him, but here, he can do whatever he wants.
(There’s a six-man tag match tonight.)
There was a video package of Jacob Fatu using the Tongan
Death Grip on Reigns last week, and the announcers tried to
put over the hold as lethal.
********
The Vision met backstage. There was some silly comedy with
Breakker and Austin Theory, imitating Rollins by holding
their noses and suggesting Rollins sounded like a duck. (I
didn’t mind Breakker’s impression last week, but this was
extra dumb.) Paul Heyman entered and asked if Rollins was
still breathing. Breakker, somewhat sheepishly, said yes.
Logan Paul said Joe Hendry wouldn’t be breathing when he got
his hands on him. Paul desperately wanted a match against
Hendry to put him in the hospital permanently. Heyman said
no. Heyman didn’t want Paul to end up in jail, especially
after what Breakker had already done tonight. Instead,
Hendry would wrestle Theory.
Intercontinental Champion Penta & Je’Von Evans vs. Rusev &
Ethan Page
Early in the match, Evans wiped out Rusev with a dive before
Penta gave Page a Penta Driver for a nearfall. A Rusev
distraction allowed the heels to take control over Penta
during a break.
Penta did a springboard move to knock Rusev off the apron,
but collapsed and struggled to make a tag despite doing a
springboard seconds earlier (the springboard actually got
him relatively close to Evans, so he had to drop back a bit
to create more space). The extra time allowed Rusev to knock
Evans off the apron.
Evans did wind up getting the hot tag moments later, hitting
Page with a jawbreaker and German suplex before wiping out
Rusev with a dive again. Evans followed with a springboard
clothesline for two. Page fought back briefly, but Evans
nailed a Red Dot kick. Penta tagged in and hit a tornado
DDT, but Rusev broke up the cover.
Evans hit Rusev with a dive for the third time, and Rusev
wound up on top of the announce table. The crowd loudly
cheered as Evans went to the top, but Page shoved him off.
Penta knocked Page outside the ring, but as Penta went for a
dive off the apron, Page yanked the apron skirt to trip him.
Page distracted the referee while Rusev slammed Penta onto
the announce table, and Page followed with a fisherman’s
suplex variation for the pinfall win. (Page’s usual finisher
was countered twice earlier in the match).
— Rusev was happy they won, and he celebrated with Page in
the ring. This might have been the first time Rusev has
smiled (on camera) since returning to WWE.
Match result: Ethan Page & Rusev defeated Penta & Je’Von
Evans (10:42)
A pretty good match, thanks in large part to Evans, and the
crowd was into it. He felt like a breath of fresh air here.
Page looked good, too, and he fits in well here.
*******
Sol Ruca contract signing
There was a video package for Sol Ruca before Adam Pearce
introduced her to the ring. He put this over as a big moment
for an NXT call-up.
Ruca entered, and Pearce handed her the contract. Instead of
just signing it, she said, “It is going to feel so damn good
when I sign this and officially be a part of Monday Night
Raw.” A bit of an odd thing to say, unless you know you’re
about to be interrupted.
Becky Lynch entered. She got in Pearce’s face while
completely ignoring Ruca. Lynch said this was meant to be
her time in the ring. She had a monumental WrestleMania win
and had to fight “Iyo Jannetty” last week in an unscheduled
match. She won that match despite Pearce’s meddling.
Lynch rambled until Ruca cut her off. Ruca told Lynch that
not everything was about her. Lynch thought that was funny,
because “everything is about me.”
Ruca said she knew all about Lynch’s accomplishments but
didn’t realize she was exactly what people said: a rude,
big-headed bitch.
Lynch asked Ruca, “Who are you?” and Ruca responded, “I’m
Sol Ruca, and if you ever interrupt me again, not only will
I kick your ass, I’ll snatch your soul.” (That got a big
pop.) Ruca signed the contract.
Lynch tried a cheap shot, but Ruca dodged it, and Lynch hit
Pearce by mistake. Pearce screamed at Lynch before leaving
the ring.
Lynch had her head in her hands because she couldn’t believe
what she did. Because she wasn’t paying attention, it
allowed Ruca to fly in and hit her with the Sol Snatcher.
Unfortunately, Ruca slipped on the rope, and it took her
extra time to hit the move. Ruca blew a kiss to Lynch and
posed for the crowd.
(The crowd was into this, and they liked Sol Ruca, but
because of the slip, they did not pop for the Sol Snatcher.
In her Raw debut two weeks ago, she hit the move but failed
to beat Morgan with it because Morgan rolled out of the
ring. It’s not a big deal, but not a great start for her
finisher.)
*******
Redmond asked Jimmy and Jey Uso for comment on tonight’s
contract signing. Jimmy said they loved Fatu, but he needed
to understand how Reigns handled business. Jey wasn’t
worried about how this would affect their relationship with
Fatu. Jey warned him that he’s swimming in deep water now.
The line has been drawn, and Fatu would find out who he was
messing with at Backlash. “Good luck, little cousin.”
********
Joe Hendry sang a song during a break, which bled into the
live broadcast. He encouraged Pearce to fire Logan Paul
again. An angry Paul marched out and said TKO couldn’t fire
him because that would be bad business.
Joe Hendry vs. Austin Theory (w/ Logan Paul)
Theory took control thanks to a Paul distraction, Hendry
made a comeback, did his pose, and Paul decked him from
behind for the DQ.
— Paul and Theory beat up Hendry until Montez Ford and
Angelo Dawkins ran out to make the save. Breakker broke up
the party by taking out the Street Profits with suplexes.
Breakker set up Dawkins for a spear, but Rollins attacked
Breakker from behind. Rollins fired up and set up Breakker
for a curb stomp. As he did, Ford sprinted towards Rollins,
leaped right over him and over the ring post to wipe out the
heels with a crazy flip dive.
However, Ford’s dive distracted Rollins, and Breakker laid
him out with a spear.
The crowd was really into all of this. (I laughed at Rollins
getting speared because Ford flew over his head moments
prior.)
Match result: Joe Hendry defeated Austin Theory via
disqualification (3:17)
********
Redmond interviewed Judgment Day backstage. Morgan wanted
them to have all the gold. Rodriguez called out the tag
champions, Brie Bella and Paige, and invited them to Raw.
Bayley and Lyra Valkyria interrupted. Bayley said she saw
them use the hammer earlier and told Judgment Day that she
and Valkyria wouldn’t be that easy to get rid of. Morgan and
Judgment Day brushed this off like nothing and left.
*******
Oba Femi entered for the first Oba Femi open challenge.
Akira Tozawa seemingly answered the call, entering with Otis
and Maxxine Dupri. Tozawa, a trained professional wrestler,
cowardly walked away in fear upon facing off with Femi in
the ring. Tozawa called Otis into the ring instead.
Oba Femi vs. Otis (w/ Maxxine Dupri & Akira Tozawa)
This was awesome.
Femi and Otis traded shoulder tackles, but neither man went
down or even budged. They traded tackles again before Femi
hit an awesome running uppercut. Femi hoisted Otis up and
chucked him across the ring.
Femi realized he may not be able to get Otis up for his
powerbomb in the traditional manner, so he hoisted Otis onto
the middle rope for leverage, got underneath, lifted him up
and walked toward the middle of the ring to hit the Fall
From Grace powerbomb for the pinfall win. The crowd ate this
up.
Match result: Oba Femi defeated Otis (1:48)
*******
Backstage, a frustrated Rollins told a referee that he
didn’t need his help. Rollins bumped into the Street Profits
and Hendry. Rollins sarcastically thanked Ford for getting
him speared again.
Ford said nobody trusted Rollins after everything he did
with the Vision. Rollins said he didn’t even trust himself
sometimes, but they were in the same fight against the
Vision, and sometimes those fights needed to come together.
Rollins told Ford to stay out of his way, and Rollins would
stay out of his.
(So, he implied they should fight together, but in his next
sentence, he said the opposite.)
********
Ethan Page (now wearing a suit) cut a commercial break
promo. He’s gunning for the IC title.
IYO SKY and Asuka sit-down segment
This was a pre-taped segment with Sky and Asuka seated
across from one another.
Sky told Asuka that she’s avoided this fight for years.
Asuka was her mentor. She looked up to her and loved her.
Despite everything Asuka has done to her, Sky still
respected her. She never wanted this fight or for it to come
to this. But Asuka has changed. The Asuka she looked up to
was no longer here, so now, Sky had to fight her.
Asuka said Sky was being disrespectful. Asuka wondered who
Sky even was and called Sky her biggest disappointment.
Asuka was done with Sky and would cut her out of her life
for good.
Sky responded, “I am ready for Asuka.” Asuka didn’t like
that, so she sprayed mist in Sky’s face. Pearce scrambled
into the ring to check on Sky, who screamed like she had
just been poisoned.
********
Redmond interviewed the Original Americano and Los
Americanos Hermanos (the Creed Brothers), who were all booed
when shown on camera (despite being babyfaces, I think).
Original Americano said he sought out their help because
they took after his friend, Chad Gable.
Six-man tag team match: El Grande Americano, Bravo Americano
& Rayo Americano vs. The Original Americano, Bruto Creedo &
Julio Creedo
After a break, everyone traded moves, and all the masked men
did all their usual spots. The Creed Brothers took out El
Grande and Rayo while Gable hit Bravo with a diving headbutt
for the pinfall win.
Even the announcers were having trouble keeping up with who
was who, and I can’t blame them.
Match result: El Grande Americano, Bravo Americano & Rayo
Americano defeated The Original Americano, Bruto Creedo &
Julio Creedo (8:34)
********
Backlash card:
John Cena appears with “history-making news”
Seth Rollins vs. Bron Breakker
Trick Williams (c) vs. Sami Zayn for the United States
Championship
The Miz & Kit Wilson vs. Danhausen & a mystery partner
IYO SKY vs. Asuka
Roman Reigns (c) vs. Jacob Fatu for the World Heavyweight
Championship
********
Roman Reigns and Jacob Fatu contract signing
Pearce hosted the contract signing between Reigns and Fatu.
Reigns entered to a big reaction. Pearce wanted them to sign
the contract. Reigns told Omaha to acknowledge him first.
They did.
Reigns told Fatu that the fans’ reaction wasn’t just love,
but the sound of respect. That respect wasn’t just from
hanging out. While Fatu was grinding for twelve years,
Reigns was in WWE for over twelve years.
Reigns held the door open for Solo Sikoa. If Sikoa brought
Fatu in, then Reigns was really responsible for Fatu coming
in, and he would be damned if there was not respect to be
had for him.
There had to be respect, a code, an honour system among
their family. There had to be a code of conduct. Fatu
disrespected him with the Tongan Death Grip, something you
only pull out in desperate times, like when you were at the
bar at 3 am surrounded eight-to-one. You don’t do that to
your own. You don’t do that to your Tribal Chief.
Fatu scoffed upon hearing Tribal Chief. Fatu admitted he was
desperate. It did feel like it was him against the world,
back against the wall. He had no other choice but to take
out Reigns, take the title, and take everything that came
with it.
Fatu was ready to put a chokehold on this game and squeeze
every dollar out of it, the same way this company did to
their family for decades. When he said ‘all gas, no brakes’,
it meant no slowing down and no going back to where he came
from. Fatu was desperate. He would do anything for his own
household, even if that meant going through his own blood.
Reigns scoffed at that remark. He signed the contract before
continuing. Reigns said Fatu was worried about his
household, but Reigns grinded here for over a decade for
multiple households. Fatu worried about his 7 kids, but
Reigns worried about the 170 kids that filled this family.
Fatu worried about his kids’ education, but Reigns worried
about higher education for all of them.
Reigns reiterated what he said a long time ago: This was all
his. This was his ring. They were the same blood in their
family, but in this ring, Fatu was beneath him.
Fatu lost it and tried the Death Grip, but Reigns fought him
off. Fatu went for the hold again, but Reigns countered it
again. Reigns went for a Superman punch, but Fatu caught him
in the grip.
Reigns no longer had a counter and held onto Pearce for
leverage as Pearce desperately tried to get Fatu to stop.
Fatu instead slammed Reigns onto the announce table.
Fatu signed the contract, and a portion of the crowd chanted
his name. Officials checked on Reigns as Fatu left the ring.