Raw airs tonight (May 4) with a live show emanating from CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska. This is the final episode of Raw during the three week build to Backlash, which takes place on Saturday (May 9).
It looks like Roman Reigns’ full-time status in WWE is already ending
Even though Roman Reigns never wrestles on Raw in 2026, he’s had a regular presence on the show for the last couple of months. Then, shortly after Roman became the new world heavyweight champion at WrestleMania 42, he indicated that the “part-time crap” was over, and we’d be seeing his ass all
summer long. That was very interesting, and led some folks to think maybe his WWE contract was reworked in some fashion to accommodate for dates.
Reigns is indeed advertised to appear on Raw throughout the month of May. However, he’s missing from WWE’s upcoming schedule of events for at least one month after May 25. Our latest Rumor Roundup claims that the OTC was pulled from WWE’s television dates in June because he won’t be wrestling on the PLE in Saudi Arabia at the end of that month. Considering that’s the month when summer officially begins, it’s a little strange for Roman’s full-time status during the summer to already be ending at that point.
At any rate, if the rumor is true and there are only four weeks left of having a full-time Tribal Chief on Raw, then WWE better make the most of it. That includes tonight when Roman and Jacob Fatu have a contract signing to make their world title match at Backlash official.
Fatu unleashed the Tongan Death Grip on the OTC last week, which shows just how deadly serious he is about beating Roman’s ass for the title and taking everything away from him at Backlash. Jacob was on the phone with a mystery caller afterwards, which makes me wonder if Reigns is in for a betrayal after he said The Usos are the only ones he can trust right now. Then again, maybe Jacob plans to bring some new family members into WWE to help deal with the reunited Bloodline.
Will Jimmy and Jey be on hand tonight to stop the Samoan Werewolf from using the Tongan Death Grip on their Tribal Chief again? Does WWE continue to make Jacob Fatu look really, really strong by steamrolling the Usos and Roman all by himself during tonight’s contract signing? Or will this be the rare WWE contract signing that goes off without a hitch, where both sides peacefully sign on the dotted line and shake hands afterwards with no drama or violence? Tune into Raw on Netflix to find out.
The rest of the card
The Oba Femi Open Challenge officially begins. Will WWE send out another low card jabroni like Grayson Waller to be destroyed by The Ruler, or will it be someone more interesting?
Je’Von Evans & Intercontinental Champion Penta vs. Rusev & Ethan Page is also scheduled for tonight. This seemed like an obvious match to book when Page and Evans both had post-match run-ins after Penta defeated Rusev last week. If Je’Von or Ethan scores the pin fall for their respective team, could that be enough to earn the next title shot against Penta?
Finn Balor has a rematch against JD McDonagh tonight. Finn didn’t have much trouble beating him last time. Will Dirty Dominik Mysterio do something different this time to ensure the outcome goes in JD’s favor? What about Roxanne Perez? Whose side is she really on?
GM Adam Pearce said he will try to “get IYO SKY and Asuka to sit down and lay it all on the line” ahead of their match at Backlash. What exactly does that mean?
Roman Reigns and Jacob Fatu aren’t the only stars signing a contract tonight. Sol Ruca is in the building and will sign the contract that makes her an official Raw star. I don’t think brand designations mean a thing anymore, so maybe Ruca will celebrate her new main roster deal by showing up to wrestle on SmackDown later this week.
Other stuff to keep an eye on
– The Street Profits keep getting involved in The Vision’s business, so a match against World Tag Team Champions Logan Paul and Austin Theory seems inevitable. Do Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins get an automatic title shot just for constantly attacking the YouTube douchebag, or will they first have to get back in the ring and prove they can still win a match in WWE?
– Bron Breakker made a pretty good point last week about Seth Rollins not having any friends left to help him against The Vision’s numbers game. But what about Joe Hendry? I don’t think Seth has burned a bridge with him yet. If Joe is too busy performing live concerts to help Rollins, then maybe Seth can bring back his masked army of nobodies to take all of Bron’s spears for him. Seth’s lack of friends may allow Bron to get the last laugh on him tonight, ahead of their match at Backlash.
– Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan needs a new challenger after the Judgment Day brutally injured Stephanie Vaquer last week. Morgan’s interference did cost Bayley and Lyra Valkyria their tag team match later that night, so maybe one of them will come after the champ tonight.
– After winning that tag match last week, will Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez call out Paige and Brie Bella for a WWE women’s tag team championship match?
– Danhausen needs a tag team partner for Backlash. Will he be around tonight searching for someone on the Raw roster to join him? Or is this the spot where WWE has more celebrity involvement? It sounds like John Cena will be at Backlash. Has Danhausen considered asking him?
– LA Knight knows The Usos will eventually be corrupted now that they are doing Roman Reigns’ dirty work again as part of The Bloodline. Will the megastar run afoul of Jimmy and Jey as soon as tonight if he keeps saying this to their face?
– Women’s Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch might want to think twice about issuing another disingenuous open challenge after it almost blew up in her face with IYO SKY last week. But if The Man does put her title on the line again tonight, which WWE star will seize that opportunity?
– Why won’t deadbeat dad Rey Mysterio pick a side in the ongoing feud between El Grande Americano and El Grande Americano Original?
– Is GUNTHER now officially a SmackDown star after attacking WWE Champion Cody Rhodes last Friday night? Perhaps Adam Pearce can tell us what’s going on with GUNTHER’s status, or find out if Paul Heyman has any answers.
– Speaking of Rhodes, is CM Punk going to take some time off until the moment is right to accept Cody’s invite to come for his title? Or will CM be on Raw tonight punching someone else in the face instead?
– Where the f*** is Maxxine Dupri?
What will you be looking for on Raw?
