-The Raw audience still doesn’t know how it’s supposed to react to Jacob Fatu and Roman Reigns. So, the answer — even in Italy — was to simply cheer them both. That got me thinking … maybe THAT is the reaction they want? Man, that would suck. Reigns did a nice job soaking in all the adulation from the Raw crowd this week. Fatu did the same. He got the adulation in a different way that centered around being an honest loser of the Tribal Combat match, but the adulation did head his direction. This new Bloodline angle has compelling elements to it. The big stars are involved and those big stars are excellent at playing off one another. The questions I have coming out of this week are as follows. First, is there enough of an appetite for more Bloodline stories as we sit here in the middle of 2026? Second, will fans stay behind a Jacob Fatu character that is playing subservient to Reigns? That’s not the core trait that got Fatu over in the first place. Neither of those questions can be answered after one night, but the opening segment involving this group brightly shined a light on those potential issues. In a vacuum, Fatu owned his loss to Reigns well and did the honorable thing in acknowledging Reigns like he said he would.
Oba Femi finds his pre-WrestleMania aura
-Oba Femi had a fantastic night. To the surprise of nobody, he won his fatal four-way first round King of the Ring match over Penta, Carmelo Hayes, and Solo Sikoa. He didn’t bury the other guys in the match and that’s important to call out. In particular, Penta is a singles champion that ideally you’d like to protect a bit and they did.
-Once again, Femi cut a money promo after the win. He owned the Lesnar loss in a near-perfect way. Good teams lose. Good fighters lose. Femi didn’t run away from it, but he leaned into it as a motivator and that’s a likable character trait. Last week, Lesnar asked Femi Femi what his reaction would be doing getting his ass kicked. Not only did Femi show him this week and win an important match, but he made sure Lesnar knew it inside of the promo.
-Sol Ruca did fine with her first promo as WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t close to a disaster either. Ruca found the surfer girl character inside of what she said and had the audience the entire way.
Support Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month And Help Brass Ring Media Fundraise For NAMI Chicago
-An excellent tag match this week between the teams of Ethan Page & Rusev and Rey Mysterio & Dragon Lee. Mysterio was insanely over with the Italian fans and seemed to wrestle with an extra intensity in his step. Mysterio and Lee won, which gave the audience a feel good moment on the night.
Buying or selling?
-With Roman Reigns getting treated like a babyface, it’s hard for everything LA Knight is saying about The Bloodline to land cleanly. He’s not wrong about framing Reigns and The Bloodline as overbearing, but the audience doesn’t agree with him. Not a great place to be as a babyface.
-A huge reaction for Giulia in Italy. That should speak volumes to WWE brass. Her prime years and potential are being wasted by ignoring the fact that she can connect with an audience in a major way. She needs the help of the book and hasn’t gotten it yet on the main roster.
-Did Iyo Sky have to pin Giulia? You know that help of the book thing I just mentioned? This is a good example of it working the opposite way it needs to. As for Sky, she’s a viable winner of the tournament and will help the match quality of the entire thing as a whole.
-Well, Roxanne Perez has a beef with Liv Morgan and The Judgment Day coming out of her loss in her first round fatal four-way Queen of the Ring match this week. Perez calling out the group for not helping her didn’t phase Morgan much. Neither woman will win the Queen of the Ring, but this is the beginning of a storyline that will lead to a title match at SummerSlam. The other? Queen of the Ring tournament winner Jacy Jayne against Rhea Ripley for the WWE Women’s Championship.
-Maxxine Dupri is turning heel and joining Austin Theory and The Vision. I guess they are still called that? The writing has been on the wall for weeks. She adds an interesting element to the Austin Theory character, but makes Bron Breakker come across a regular mid-card guy. Split those two guys up yesterday.
-Seth Rollins vs. Bron Breakker in the main event was an absolute blast. The hot crowd ate up everything both guys did and really reacted for the big moments in the match. Rollins got the W, so it’s all tied up between them. Can you say rubber match?
-Again. Split up The Vision. Seeing Breakker work with Rollins as well as he did, emphasized the need to get him far away from Austin Theory. Those two guys being tag champions together is worthless if it diminishes Breakker in the long run. Just have Theory drop the belts, get Breakker away from him, and move on.
What did you think of this week’s episode of WWE Raw? Let us know in the comments!
Subscribe to the Brass Ring Media Newsletter HERE.
Follow Zack Heydorn on Bluesky @zackheydorn.bsky.social.