Can I Live II
I’m keeping this short. Iv’e said that before and they’re not but trust me this time! And it’s short for one reason: I have no idea what WWE is doing with Roman Reigns and Jacob Fatu.
They built the night around an “Acknowledgement Ceremony” that everyone knew would go sideways. But the internal logic was all over the place. Jacob wasn’t fired for putting hands on WWE officials because Roman wanted acknowledgement first. But no one, not even Mr. It’s Official himself, acknowledged Roman’s transgressions
during the Backlash main event. Roman put his hands on a ref and tore the pad off the turnbuckle. The first one is something Adam Pearce usually frowns upon and the second is something he usually judges harshly.
The wild thing is, no one mentioned Roman’s underhanded deeds to retain the title. Michael Cole mentioned Roman “surviving” Backlash but it’s almost as if they want us to forget how he survived. I get it; they want to make Jacob look dangerous and unhinged while keeping Roman as the babyface here, but why should I cheer for him in this scenario?
Raw ended with Jacob losing his cool, again. Beating up Roman, again. But this time including the Usos, who warned their cousin all episode about why this was such a bad idea. Lo and behold, this happened:
And I rooted for him every step of the way. Jacob is justifiably pissed but that’s not the story WWE is telling even though they did. I don’t get it.
B-Sides
- It came to my attention that today is the 46th anniversary of Henry Hill flushing cocaine down the toilet and getting knocked. If you ever needed an excuse to watch Goodfellas, use that one.
- The Street Profits finally got their date with the tag team champs after Montez Ford pinned Austin Theory during the six-man tag featuring the Profits & Joe Hendry vs. The Vision. I’m burying the lede. Seth Rollins factored into that win when he attacked Bron Breakker outside the ring and surprised everyone, including me. Seth helped Angelo Dawkins to his feet, which seemingly forged a truce between the Profits and Seth after a few weeks of tension. But I like when things aren’t easy for former heels trying to come back to the good side. Bron lurked while Seth and Angelo made nice. The Big Bad Booty Nephew charged for a spear, Seth dodged, and it Angelo took the hit. So here’s Seth, trying to prove his trustworthiness only to save his butt instead of either taking the hit or pushing Angelo out of the way. To top it off, Seth was so focused on landing more blows on Bron after that spear, he showed no concern for Angelo’s writhing body. Seriously, the man was right under Seth in tons of pain. Montez missed all of that but he saw enough to get in Seth’s chest.
- This shouldn’t be an easy road to sainthood for Seth, so props to the territory for using some logic here. Seth’s reputation says he’s untrustworthy. Even though offered the Profits some advice to help them win the gold at Saturday Night’s Main Event, Montez wanted none of it. I think they get there with Angelo playing peacemaker, but my hope is if they’re doing all of this that they make the title switch. All of this story has to mean something.
- I guess Roxanne Perez’s internal conflict last week was either my imagination running away with me or purely a last week problem. This week, she stood side by side with Raquel Rodriguez and confronted Brie Bella & Paige. Roxy made it clear she’s no longer the little girl who idolized the Bellas. Nooooo, their legacy is far too small for her. Brie’s rebuttal about Roxy being a footnote on the Judgment Day’s legacy didn’t hit as hard because of the delivery and it doesn’t mean much coming from her. If she continued Finn Balor’s logic that Roxy is better off forging her own legacy rather than being tossed aside once Judgment Day is done with her, that would’ve worked. Raquel went for the low blow with Paige, referencing her “scandals.” Man, that feels like so long ago. Anyway, it ended with Liv Morgan coming in for a sneak attack and the heels standing tall over the champs. Judgment Day with all the gold is something I can get behind.
- Speaking of wanting gold, Ethan Page made it clear he wants Penta at Saturday Night’s Main Event. And he’ll get it.
- Rusev and Je’Von Evans want it too but since Adam pinned the champ, the spot is his. That didn’t stop All Ego from instigating a fight between Rusev and Je’Von, which meant we got a solid match between a high flyer and a tank. If Penta prevails on Memorial Day weekend, one of these two have to be next, right?
- Before I get to IYO SKY vs. Sol Ruca, Asuka said goodbye to IYO and WWE. As I wrote during the Backlash recap, Asuka’s joy came from the student finally surpassing the teacher. Asuka said she’s wanted someone to take her place and she’s happy it’s IYO. Of course, the official world from the announce table was that they don’t know the status of her career. Way to be useful, guys. But Asuka said her goodbyes and left the arena with her suitcase in hand.
- Now, as for the match itself, it was a nice showcase for Sol and continued IYO’s momentum. I have questions about the booking though. With Becky Lynch lurking, the easy out was her interfering as payback for Sol snatching her soul, while also sticking it to IYO since she keeps dissing her. But they went with IYO not just getting the clean win but outsmarting Sol in her debut match on the red brand. IYO raised Sol’s hand after the match and gave her more props backstage, but it still felt odd. Now, Becky showing up backstage to taunt Sol after losing means there’s a plan here, so I’m willing to ride that out and see where it goes.
- The Oba Femi Open Challenge didn’t go as planned this week. No one stepped up, Adam Pearce canceled it, so Oba stomped to the back and picked up two guys who earlier told GM Pearce how much they wanted an “opportunity:” Angel & Humberto I really do hate that buzzword in WWE. Anyway, Oba dragged those two unfortunate souls to the ring and did what you think he did. Since a ref was out there prior to Adam canceling the challenge, he had no choice to but to ring the bell as Oba demanded. Would you tell him no?
- Of everyone on the roster, including NXT, Logan Paul might be the corniest on the mic. He was meh in the first segment when he tried insulting Montez, and even worse later when he called Jackie Redmond “wacky.” The most interesting thing that came from Jackie’s backstage interview with the tag champs? Maxxine Dupri sitting in their ride as they drove to dinner. We’ve seen Austin and Maxxine in the background for a few weeks now, despite her still being a part of Alpha Academy. Well, what’s left of Alpha Academy. Where is this going?
- Dirty Dom is still the AAA Mega Champion, Finn Balor isn’t finished with Judgment Day, and El Grande Americano helped Dom retain said championship against OG El Grande Americano. Finn took out JD McDonagh before the match to force Dom into a true solo spot, but the Grande beef became the focus, which let Dom live to fight another day.
This didn’t feel like a Raw coming off a fun and interesting PPE. This felt like a Raw spinning its wheels before the next big event. They built the episode around Roman and Jacob but it was essentially the same confrontation we’ve seen. Nothing changed for either man. The company is in shoulder shrug mode as it relates to Asuka, The Vision is still missing Bronson Reed, and they have one more week to build to Saturday Night’s Main Event. The undercard should be fine but Roman and Jacob needs to hit another gear. Doing the same angle multiple times won’t suddenly make it a fresh idea.
What say you, Cagesiders? Is Jacob the good guy here or are you on Team Reigns?
