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At the close of Monday's episode of WWE Raw, it was clear that Roman Reigns has no momentum heading into his world heavyweight championship defense against Jacob Fatu at Backlash on Saturday.
Reigns and Fatu sat down to sign their contract for Backlash to close out Raw. For the second week in a row, things ended badly for Reigns as he found himself locked in his cousin's Tongan Death Grip.
CBS Sports was with you all night with recaps and highlights of all the action from CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska.
Jacob Fatu physically dominates Roman Reigns for the second consecutive week
Roman Reigns arrived at the arena seeking Jacob Fatu. Raw general manager Adam Pearce cut him off to say that Fatu was not in the building. Reigns then came face-to-face with Seth Rollins, who said Reigns was in his way before heading to the ring.
Reigns was seen talking to Pearce later in the show and Fatu arrived at the arena even later. This all led to Fatu and Reigns sitting down for their contract signing to close the show. Reigns claimed he was the one with his foot in the door, holding it open for members of his family. So, because he brought Solo Sikoa into WWE, when Solo brought in Fatu, it meant Reigns had actually done it. Reigns then expressed disgust at Fatu breaking out the Tongan Death Grip on his own family, but Fatu once again said that all that matters is winning Reigns' title and all that comes with it to build up his family's life. Reigns shot back that Fatu is just thinking about his household while Reigns thinks about generations of their family.
This eventually built to Fatu attacking Reigns. Reigns was able to fight off the Tongan Death Grip a few times, but Fatu eventually locked it in and used it for a modified chokeslam on a table, grabbing the contract and signing it as the show went off the air.
This felt like more of the same from last week, but bringing back the Tongan Death Grip is fun, and Reigns' reaction to that move being used added some weight to it. Saturday's match should be a blast, but everything has gone in Fatu's favor to this point, which removes some of the mystery, as that almost never leads to a title change for the dominant challenger. Grade: B
What else happened on WWE Raw?
- Bron Breakker attacked Seth Rollins. As Rollins was walking to the ring to open the show, Breaker jumped him from behind. Breaker physically dominated Rollins, even attacking some security guards to continue his assault. Breakker broke free one more time to deliver a spear to Rollins in the center of the ring.
- JD McDonagh def. Finn Balor via pinfall after a headbutt. The entire Judgment Day was at ringside, with Liv Morgan having already made it clear to Roxanne Perez that she needed to show her loyalty. Morgan tossed Perez the ring bell hammer during the match, which she used to hit Balor and set him up for the finish.
- Ethan Page & Rusev def. Penta & Je'von Evans via pinfall after Page hit Penta with a fisherman buster.
- Becky Lynch interrupted Sol Ruca's Raw contract signing. After the two went back-and-forth verbally, Lynch attempted to punch Ruca, only to land the shot on Pearce. Ruca then hit a Sol Snatcher to lay Lynch out.
- Joe Hendry def. Austin Theory via disqualification after interference from Logan Paul. Paul Heyman insisted on Theory, not Paul, being in the match. After Paul interfered for the disqualification, The Street Profits attempted to make the save, but Bron Breakker was next in and took out the Profits. Seth Rollins ran in to attack Breakker, only for the chaos to lead to Breakker delivering his second spear of the night to Rollins.
- Oba Femi def. Otis via pinfall with a Fall From Grace in the first week of the "Oba Femi Open Challenge."
- Asuka misted Iyo Sky during a sit-down interview. The two discussed their Backlash match before Asuka misted Sky.
- El Grande Americano Original & Los Hermanos Americano def. El Grande Americano Nuevo, Bravo Americano & Rayo Americano via pinfall after El Grande Americano Original hit Bravo Americano with a diving headbutt.
