Jacob Fatu Receives Acknowledgment Day on WWE Raw

Paul Heyman goes through a barricade in the main event of "Monday Night Raw." It is Acknowledgment Day. So what did Jacob Fatu do? We start the King of the Ring tournament, we start the Queen of the Ring tournament, and so much more. This is the "Raw Recap" on WWE now, a WWE & Fanatics Original Production. (combative electronic music) Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Coming right off, right off of the Clash in Italy. "Monday Night Raw" still in Italy, still clashes.

Here we are on the "Raw Recap." Megan Morant, let's start where we often do, where we ended- The main event- On "Monday Night Raw." And what a main event it was. Oh, it was fantastic. You know, I have to say, when Seth Rollins was down outside of the ring, I sort of bit my tongue a little bit and said, "Here we go again." Bron Breakker is lining up for the Spear, but instead it was Paul Heyman through the barricade. And I was just so happy.

I mean, whenever, oh, you were? Yes. You're this mean? Paul would be so dismayed to hear you say that. I was thrilled. You were thrilled. You loved seeing that? I was so happy for Seth. I was so happy that, you know, we saw the interaction, when Seth got completely distracted by Paul Heyman, the vitriol, the hate, the history, all of it. And Heyman goes through the barricade? It was beautiful. You know what was the lesson, I think, of that match? It's that, like, if you watched Seth Rollins, I thought multiple times he was gonna lose his cool.

Mm-hmm. And he always, like, stayed in control. He was actually very Paul Heyman. Like, something happened, a switch was made. And maybe it was because, like, at the end of the match, Corey Graves, on commentary, said that Seth Rollins can leave The Vision behind him. Do you think that this was the definitive win for Seth? Like, is there more to prove for him, or has he gotten his revenge and now can he move on from The Vision? Well, I mean, Austin Theory got involved, but so did Montez Ford. So he didn't beat The Vision by himself. Well, that cancels each other out- It does.

You know? I mean, if anything, he figured out how to find things to combat each member of The Vision, including Paul Heyman himself. Mm-hmm. And it's really interesting, like, I was thinking about this. Like, The Vision is in a cursed scenario right now. Not a Danhausen curse. Totally. Not one of these curses. But, like, just a cursed thing where you got Bronson Reed out, you have Logan Paul out.

Yes. I mean, wait till you hear this, right? Because Logan Paul is out, Bron Breakker became a tag team champion. Freebird Rule. There is a precedent for it in professional wrestling. The New Day exercised it, Demolition exercised it. The Freebird Rule is a thing. Sure. You know? And Paul Heyman's ability to always put The Vision in the contract was crafty. I gotta hand it to him. It was crafty. And if anybody understands the history of professional wrestling, it's Paul Heyman.

I, honestly, when I saw, as a wrestling historian and traditionalist, I wasn't mad at it. You said that works. I said that's, 'cause I love Demolition, New Day, you know, Freebirds, who the rule is named after. If there's three, you never know which two you're gonna be facing, and so maybe we didn't know there was a Freebird Rule this whole time, but there had been. However, follow me with this, right? All right. Because of that rule, because of what Paul Heyman did in his contract, Bron Breakker was named a tag team champion. Because Logan Paul was out, Bron Breakker has a tag team championship belt.

Why did Bron Breakker lose the match to Seth Rollins tonight? Because he did a Spear right into that tag team championship belt that was around Seth- So realistically, if Logan Paul had never been out with injury, Bron Breakker would not have had the tag team championship belt and therefore Seth Rollins wouldn't have had to use it, or wouldn't have had it to use, is what I mean to say. And so, like, Bron Breakker crashing into that is symbolic of the fact that The Vision has had to stop and start and restart and reform over and over again. Like, it's that ripple effect, right? Mm-hmm. That you don't realize when one person goes down, it has all these effects that- It impacts the whole fraction- ripples off of it. Yeah.

And you have no idea until, and I would imagine there's still plenty of people who don't look at that as a direct result. But as soon as I saw it, I said there's something, and maybe I'm just in a poetic space right now because of the beautiful storytelling in that Mask vs. Mask Match. It was unbelievable. But I see the little pieces of story everywhere. And the fact is that if Logan Paul were not injured, Bron Breakker wouldn't have had that belt at ringside and therefore Seth Rollins wouldn't have been able to get it and block himself with it, like Bret Hart did to Goldberg. And then Bron Breakker would not have hit the Spear into that belt.

He would've hit it right into the ribs of Seth Rollins and Bron Breakker would've won that match. Yeah, and we're sitting here having an entirely different conversation. Yes. Now, unfortunately, Paul Heyman is still in some kind of Italian medical facility. Good luck to him. But, you know, best of luck. I hope he speaks the language. But, you know, but Bron Breakker might've won. The fact is he didn't. There were so many things going on, right?

Like, so you brought up Montez Ford. First of all, the match was incredible. It was fantastic. Just Seth and Bron Breakker, for the first 75% of that match, getting the crowd to chant "This is awesome" in Italian, not this is awesome in Italian, but "This is awesome," in quotes, and they did it in Italian. (Megan chuckles) "This is awesome in Italian," it doesn't ring the same way. It was great this morning, seeing that we were gonna get this match in the main event. Amazing. Yeah. I was like, you know, the crowd in Italy has been electric- Yes.

Since WWE touched down there. And then to me, it also felt a little poetic because they were in Europe when Bron Breakker- I thought the same thing. took Seth Rollins out. And it was one of those moments where I was like, "Wow, I knew at some point we would get Rollins against Breakker, but I didn't think we would get it that day at lunchtime." And so today to have the match, a daytime "Raw," all the dots were connecting. Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, daytime "Raws" are catastrophically changing for The Vision. Historically speaking. Yes, yes. So- I'm glad you thought of that, too.

I did. (Megan laughs) At the end of the match, I was like, "Oh my God." Like, as Bron Breakker was sitting next to, like, with his back up to the apron just sitting on the floor hopeless like, "I can't believe this happened. What do we do now?" That's exactly what I was thinking, that I remember, except it was even earlier. So I don't remember exactly where it was, but it was a international "Raw" for sure. Mm-hmm. 'Cause it was. I think it ended at, like, whatever it was, whatever time it was. And seeing Seth get laid out by Bron Breakker, and here we are, however many, however long later, a year later, and Bron Breakker is now just sitting there going,

and maybe, look, there's so many things at play here, okay, so let's go through it. Mm-hmm. So like I said, 75% of the match incredible. Mm-hmm. I mean, the whole match was incredible, but you know what I'm saying. It's one-on-one for a while. Then here comes Austin Theory. And Seth, like I said earlier, just came prepared. He came correct. Like, he came with his mind right, where it's like, "Okay, I'm not gonna, this isn't gonna be an angry Seth-" He wasn't getting overly emotional.

No, exactly right. All the emotions were in check. Right. And then Austin Theory gets flipped into the ring, then thrown out of the ring. And it was right in front of the referee. But since Austin Theory didn't actually get a chance to put his hands on Seth Rollins, no DQ. Referee gets distracted, Austin Theory actually does interfere. Paul Heyman, at one point, got Bron Breakker's foot up on the rope, which is becoming an epidemic. These feet and these ropes, it's too much. So then Montez Ford comes out to take care of Austin Theory. And it was a moment for me where I said, "Wow, look what Seth can do against The Vision when he has backup." Because that's really been his Achilles' heel

when dealing with The Vision. Yeah, he has no friends. Mm-hmm. And the crowd went nuts when Montez Ford was the one that showed up. Montez Ford then gets speared by Bron Breakker. And it occurs to me Ford was right. And I don't know, you know what I mean? Helping Seth Rollins always comes with a cost. And maybe it's worth the price of admission to get revenge on what they did to Dawkins.

Maybe he and Seth have come to an understanding after the match that they had. I don't know what goes on in Montez Ford's head right now, but clearly he was right that, as much as it was great to see him have Seth's back, it did cost him physically. Mm-hmm. You know? So then when it gets back to one-on-one and you've got Paul Heyman putting Bron Breakker's foot on the rope, all of a sudden Seth Rollins looks at Heyman and he starts going to the outside. And I thought, I thought he was gonna whale on him. Yeah, this is where I said, "No, Seth. Don't do this again." Right. "Don't do this again. We know how much you hate Heyman.

We know that this is more about Paul Heyman than it is about Bron Breakker." And maybe Seth knew that too. 'Cause as Bron Breakker is turning around the ring, Seth looks, moves, and then boom, Bron Breakker spears Paul Heyman through the barricade, and Heyman goes down. And I mean, and it's true. You were gleeful when you saw this. I mean, this is the happiest I've been, I think, since Paul Heyman went through the table at Madison Square Garden. I love a big Paul Heyman bump. You liked when Paul Heyman, when they put him through the table- High level entertainment. And then New Bloodline put him through the table?

It's great. Because Paul Heyman doesn't go down too often. But when he does, it counts. Yeah, it's always a big one. Oh, and you remember how bad he looked after Rollins stomped him. I can't imagine how worse for wear he's gonna be after going through that Italian barricade. I'm wishing all of the medical facilities that have to deal with Paul Heyman good luck. And, look, even there, Breakker realizing like, "I'm outsmarted," you know? He's done it. Seth then grabbing the belt at this point to protect the ribs. And you could see, even Seth still, like, kinda gripping the ribs towards the end of the match, 'cause it still hurts.

You get shot with a bulletproof vest on, I would imagine you're not gonna die, but it still hurts. You'll still get knocked down, right? And that happened to Seth Rollins. But Bron goes out, stomp one, two three, Seth wins, gives Montez Ford the look like, "Yeah, we were in this one together." Montez says, "Yep. Yes, we were." Bron Breakker's on the outside of the ring. Bron Breakker is looking despondent. Do you think it went through Bron Breakker's head, "What if Seth is right? I'm not ready." Because that's what I was sittin' there going like, when a guy tells you're not ready, and then that guy's the guy that puts you in your place,

it has to go through your head like, "Oh, no-" What am I gonna say now? Yeah, even if I don't believe it, even if I still say, "No, no, no, I am ready," what if I'm not? It didn't look like it, right? Right. Well, why didn't you beat Seth then? If you were so ready. How come you speared your own adorable Oracle? I was like, he's not a manager, he's not an advocate, he's not a wise man. And not only that, but then spears Seth with the championship protecting the ribs.

Right, why you- You didn't have the awareness to notice that. You speared your Oracle through the guardrail. And then you jumped in the ring, and you speared yourself into a big shiny gold belt. Are you ready? Seth looked like the veteran tonight. Very much so. Like, everything was very plotted out. Like, there were all these plans. Seth saw all the plans coming, even when Theory showed up. And the first thing Seth did was throw him right into the ring and then hit him right out.

Like, it was like, "Yep, I knew that was gonna happen. I knew Heyman was gonna get involved. I knew you were gonna respond when Heyman got involved. I know that you guys were gonna try to get me all upset. I knew that you were gonna try to spear me." Like, he knew all of this was going to happen. And, look, there is a big difference, right? Like, WWE is all about the youth movement right now. Of course. There's all these new superstars. There's your Bron Breakkers and your Austin Theorys.

There's your Oba Femis, there's your Trick Williams, and your Je'Von Evans, and all these guys. And they are so incredible. Sol Rucas. Sol Ruca. Of course, women's division as well. Yeah. And they are so incredible. But there is something that comes with experience. There is an intangible that comes with experience of familiarity that comes with the room that you're in. And that allows you to put Paul Heyman in the position to get speared by Bron Breakker. And maybe there's no substitute for that.

And that may be something that Paul Heyman overlooks in his hubris. The idea that, you know, Paul Heyman wants to be the person. Look, maybe, maybe, I'm just shooting spitballs here. Maybe, ever since 2002, Paul Heyman is obsessed with finding another Brock Lesnar. I don't blame him. It's turned out pretty good. It turned out pretty good. Somebody who may be the, that experience factor doesn't apply to. But you know why it turned out so well?

'Cause there's only the one. Everybody's different. That's not to say you're not gonna find more legends, more world champions, more intangibles, more anything. But, like, the reality is not only does experience count for something, but WWE, I don't think, has ever been this competitive when it comes to spots, especially when you're talking about people that are multi-generational at this point. That this isn't an instance of the new guard coming in and the old guard saying, "Okay, yeah, you got it." This is like, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. We just got here. We've been working all these years to get here.

You're not going to come in, and within three years on the main roster, take our spots. That's not happening." And I think you're seeing that from across the board. And I think Bron Breakker got introduced to that in a hard way on "Monday Night Raw." I mean, heck, people are lining up outside of Adam Pearce's door complaining. We saw La Knight looking for his spot tonight. And it's not just him. It's Breakker, it's Rollins. It's crowded- It's crowded. in WWE right now. Yeah, it's interesting. 'Cause it's crowded, but it's movable.

Yes. There have been times where it's been crowded, but it just felt like, you hear all these stories, like, about people who were in WCW, at the height of WCW, and they said it felt like the old boys network because they just knew they're not getting past the top guys. The top guys aren't moving. And that's when you get younger guys showing up in the WWE, because it becomes the land of opportunity. WWE is crowded like that now, but it's mobile. Yes, it's like- Spots are moving. Two of those things can be true at the same time.

Yes. It is crowded, but- But there's constant- It still can be the land of opportunity. It still is, because there's constant movement. Just a matter of putting yourself in the right spot to move as everything is moving with you. I mean, look at the fact that Bron Breakker's main eventing "Monday Night Raw" and we're not batting an eye. We're not sittin' there going like, "Ooh, it's a big spot from Bron Breakker," we're going, "No, Bron Breakker's wrestling.

He should be main eventing 'Monday Night Raw.'" I tell you what, though, while it is movable, it's pretty hard to move through. But that's because of the guys that are there. That's right. And because it's like, "No," and it's not a matter of, you know, kind of the old school way of politicking and doing this and that, it's simply who's the best, who's delivering the goods? Mm-hmm. You know? And that's the environment that everybody's in. And when you're in an environment where it's merit-based, you're going to see that kinda fight for that spot. And I wanna talk about LA Knight.

All right, let's do it. Because LA Knight is, well, he's obsessed with The Bloodline. Mm-hmm. But we should get into The Bloodline. Before we do, I do wanna tell you that the comeback style that you've been waiting for, a new Paige T-shirt, well, it's here. Add this must-have tee to your collection and show your love for one of WWE's most iconic superstars. I love this shirt. Available now at WWE Shop and Fanatics. And, Megan, you've been waiting for it. You've been waiting to see me show up in one of these.

I've been gearing up for the summer. How am I doing that? With the latest WWE tanks. Tank season. It's giving tank top "Sun's Out Guns Out," okay? Available now at WWE Shop and Fanatics. Rep your favorite superstar all season long. Look at that one. They have a tank that's dedicated to the SummerSlam 1997 event T-shirt. How do I know that? I was in the audience for it at the Meadowlands, '97, Bret versus Undertaker. It was unbelievable. I got the version with sleeves.

However, you don't even have to cut 'em off anymore. How about that? 'Cause the tanks are available now at WWE Shop and Fanatics. What a time to be alive. Now (chuckles). I can't wait till you roll up to work in a tank. Oh, every time. I mean, that's me. I work in tank tops. What can I tell you? It just screams Sam Roberts. Roman Reigns showed up at the top of "Monday Night Raw-" Yeah, he did. With the Usos, feeling really, really good.

You know why? Because it's Acknowledgment Day, Sam. There's no better day than Acknowledgment Day. I mean, there's birthday, there's Christmas Day, there's WrestleMania Day. But Acknowledgment Day trumps 'em all. Look at this Roman, this Roman Reigns, who's just sitting there waking up in a great mood. Can you imagine waking up on a Monday, you ever get a case of the Mondays when you just wake up and you're all sullen? Not Roman. You know why? Because it's Acknowledgment Day. Because this Monday, of all Mondays, is Acknowledgment Day. And Jimmy is happy for Acknowledgment Day. And Jey is very happy for Acknowledgment Day.

Do you think Jey was happy because he's been there before? There is a thing going on with Jey Uso right now, you know what I mean? Where it's like you are either, you know, sometimes when you got a little bit of a shaky upbringing, you either repeat your parents' behavior or you do everything you can to change 'em. I think Jey, when it comes to The Bloodline, might be a repeat-your-parents'-behavior type of guy. Oh. You know, I think that Jey, there are parallels that I draw to the journey that Jey went on six years ago, or, you know, five and a half, and the journey that Jacob is on right now.

Mm-hmm. And I think the fact that Jey is not looking at Jacob and going, "Hey, man, I've been there," and instead is going, "Come on, Jacob. Come on, Jacob." He's gloating. I mean, yeah, and smiling. Gloating. I mean, happy about it. I mean, when the entire crowd in Italy was chanting, "Roman, Roman Reigns, Roman, Roman Reigns," Jey's up there with a big ol' smile on his face. And he's doing the same thing, he was pumped for Acknowledgment Day. He was. But maybe it's because Jey is going, "Hey, look, like, you need to understand," like, here's the thing about Jey Uso.

"I'm right there." Roman even brought it up tonight. Like, "I've been world heavyweight champion. I've held that belt. You haven't." Like, "This isn't five and a half years ago. I'm in a different spot. I deserve a little bit of respect." And I mean, you've seen him posting all kinds of crazy stuff on Instagram. He doesn't like levels of disrespect. He does not. But he sees it all. Every single one. He's a former world heavyweight champion.

Everything that he said he could do he's done. Main Event Jey Uso is not a nickname anymore. So I get it. But Roman showed up. And, by the way, Italy was thrilled to see their Tribal Chief. I mean, when Roman flashed that million dollar smile to Italy- Oh. How could you not be? I wish I was in Italy. I know you do. I would've loved- I know you do. to have seen it in person. It looked amazing. But I mean, like, when you have to wait for minutes for everybody to quiet down so you can ask them to acknowledge you?

Like, I'm sitting there going like, okay, like, Roman's being very patient, like, just accepting all of his praise. But what's he doing? He's gonna wait until it quiets down, and then he's just gonna say, "Acknowledge me." Like, he's being acknowledged right now. And then he's going to have to wait again. For the acknowledgment. Yes. 'Cause the acknowledgment's gonna take a little bit of time. (Sam and Megan chuckle) But I said, "Way to go, Italy. Way to make your Tribal Chief feel at home."

He was smiling. He was having a great time. They were happy to have him back. And when the Tribal Chief is happy, I'm happy. We all are, right? We all eat good. Today was a big meal day. Mm-hmm. Although, you know what? Roman Reigns is very happy to receive the praise that he gets, but he's getting back into that spot where he doesn't like the criticism. He doesn't like the yip, yip, yipin'. You know, he doesn't like people bringing up his name in a way that's less than dutiful.

Well, because you see where he's taking this business, right? Oh. You talking to me? I don't see anybody else around here. You talking to me? I'm talking to you. Yeah, yeah. If anybody has seen what Roman has done, it's me. It's documented, okay? I'm the documentarian of what Roman has done. I have every move that he's made. I've gone on full monologues about the guy steps into a room and I've got a 30-minute emergency podcast.

Yeah. (laughs) Yeah, I've noticed it. And it's amazing. And he deserves it. Mm-hmm. He deserves every bit of it. Listen, I'm not gonna argue with you about that. I know you won't. I know you respect your Tribal Chief and acknowledge your Tribal Chief. I do. But Jey grabs the mic and is like, "Man, his first day, he's already late." (Sam laughs mockingly) And it's like (grunting). You know, somebody wrote into my "Notsam" podcast, and they said, "Is it too mean for me to say that Jey is starting to give me middle management vibes?"

Oh. And I went, "Huh." That's tough, right? "I never thought of that." But, like, the type of middle management that, like, takes on the power that the boss has because the boss has kind of put him in a position, like, the type of middle management that's like the boss has said, "You're my guy. Go do whatever you need to do." And then that guy just, like, acts as if he has the same power- Flexing his muscles. But, like, his muscles are the same size that the boss's muscles are. But they're not, 'cause he's not the boss. I mean, Jey, tonight, was taking a victory lap on Jacob, but it wasn't Jey that was even remotely involved in the victory over Jacob.

Right, right, right. So, I mean, it's just a lot to see, right? Because when- I like how he goes from crash out Jey to flexing on 'em Jey. He's emotional. It's great. Because he's in an honest place. I love that Jey's just in an honest place. He's just gonna be himself now, 'cause he's done it all. He has. He's ridden this wave with The Bloodline. He's the one guy who's quit and had to do it on his own. He made it to the main event.

He won the Royal Rumble. He won the world heavyweight title at WrestleMania. Like, he doesn't, in my mind, Jey Uso doesn't have anything to prove. And the fact that there are still critics of Jey Uso, that seems very off to me. Because it's like, this is the guy who's done it all, regardless of how or why or when or whatever. He's done it. He's done the impossible. He's done things that you would never, when the Uso showed up in board shorts and neon face paint, you weren't going like, "There he is. That's the guy." And Jey did it. Mm-hmm. So at this point, it's like, you shouldn't be letting things bother you.

And Jacob hasn't done that yet. And that probably gets under Jacob's skin. 'Cause he had the opportunity, and he wasn't able to do it because he was in there with the Tribal Chief Roman Reigns. And Jacob comes out, and he's dressed in all black, you know? And he has a totally different demeanor. He does, not a lot of Samoan shimmying. It was, like, pretty ambivalent, right? Like, he knew what was ahead of him. He was accepting of it. But he wasn't happy about it. No, it was almost like first day, like, when you get to a new school and you gotta be the toughest guy.

You know what I mean? Mm-hmm. You wouldn't know anything about that, but I know what you mean. What, you would go show up and just be the toughest person? Of course. Not you, though. No, not me. No. No, I wouldn't have made it in those Chicago schools. No. But you. Me, I would be like, "Yeah, faster than all of you," you know? Oh, faster. We talked about this the other day. No, that's right. It's a great strength. No, that's a good point. I can run faster than you. That's right. What are you gonna say?

Yeah, I don't have that. I don't have any of those skills, unfortunately. It's tough. I'd show up and be like, "I know more about wrestling than any of you." I mean- I'd be like, "Yeah, give me your shoes." You'd be like, "Okay." "All right, here's my shoes. Mom, I need a new pair of shoes." "Again?" "My socks are muddy, so." (Sam laughs) No, that's not inaccurate. So Jacob shows up, and he gets right in Jey's face right away.

Right in Jey's face. And Roman goes, "Jacob, I'm over here." And Jacob is cool. Jacob is calm. Jacob says, "Last night, I was beat by my Tribal Chief." And that's where you're going, "Oh my gosh, he's gonna do it. He's gonna say it." And then he's gonna say, "But Jey's punk ass didn't do it." (Sam and Megan laughing) I was like, "Good for you, Jacob. Make sure they know." "I'm acknowledging that guy, not that guy, okay?" "He's got nothin' to do with it." "Yeah, this punk ass didn't have nothin' to do with it."

Good for you, Jacob. And then he did it. And then he sat there, and he said, "So, Roman, I acknowledge you." And he got down on one knee, and he put up the hands of acknowledgment. And Roman, you know, (claps) embraced him. Clasped him. I mean, I never, this is literally the image that I was sitting there going, "This is why I'm so mixed up on this tribal combat thing, 'cause I cannot see Jacob serving Roman, acknowledging Roman, and yet here we are." But the Samoan Werewolf was neutered, as Michael Cole so eloquently said last night. He did say it. I don't think he said neutered.

He said domesticated. No, I think it was neutered. I don't think it was neutered. That feels like a- Domesticated? It was some, I don't know. We're gonna have to have a check on this. Okay, in the booth, they're saying it was both. Neutered and domesticated. So we're both right. Look at that, we're both right, wow. Michael Cole with the loose lips, huh? Michael Cole must have an insurance policy or somethin'. If I was Jacob Fatu, I'd say, "Maybe I was, but not by your punk ass Michael Cole."

(Megan chuckles) That's what I would say if I was Jacob. But I'm not Jacob Fatu, so I won't say it. Good for Michael Cole, right? He's probably exhaling big now. Oh. Oh, good thing Sam Roberts isn't after me. I thought he was Jacob Fatu, but it's just Sam. Okay, he won't say it then. Yeah, but he did. He knelt down. And then Roman said to Jacob, he said, "You don't understand this right now, Jacob, but I love you." And I was like, "Oh."

Uh-oh. Oh, whoa. And I'm thinkin' about how Clash ended. I'm thinking about Solo, I'm thinking about MFT. I mean, you can go back as far as you want. You can go back to the beginning of this whole thing. He told that to Jey. He told it to Jey in 2020. "I love you, Jey. That's why I'm doing this." He said it last night during the match. "I didn't need any of you." "I didn't need-" "I'm doing this because I love you." But guess what, who in that family is in a worse position because of what Roman did?

Mm, no one. Maybe Roman's right. And Jacob, and I'm sittin' there, right, and this whole time there's this level of tension. 'Cause The Bloodline is all in the ring together. And you got Roman, and you got Jey on one side, and Jimmy on the other side, and they got their one's up. And Jacob goes behind 'em. And I go, "Oh, is he gonna take out the Usos?" Uh-oh, uh-oh. "Is he gonna take out somebody?" "Is he gonna take out Jey?" Yeah. And he puts his one up. And he puts his one up, and he walks off with Roman Reigns and the Usos. And I'm looking at this. And I'm looking at Roman, and I'm looking at the Usos,

and I'm looking at Jacob, and I go, "We're so back. The Bloodline is back." And has never been stronger. No, and also it's all blood. Yes. No Wise Man, no Honorary Uce, 'cause I'm from yours truly- Well, I don't know. You know? No, but it's just, but I'm pretty much, you know? You weren't in Italy tonight, so. No, but they needed me to represent back here. You were literally in the room, so that's really not something you could take away from me.

Okay. Was it said or was it not said that I was the real Honorary Uce by somebody who had the authority to say it? Jacob Fatu said it, but he's not the Tribal Chief, as we know. No, but it's Uce, it's not, you know what I mean? He could still say, yeah, he could still, it's Jacob, he could still say that. Anyways, The Bloodline is stronger- No matter how jealous you are about it, yes. But that is saying a lot. That's a strong statement. That's what they say.

Bloodline red or Meghan Morant jealousy green. That's not what they say. No? No one has ever said that. Well, I can think of one person who said it, me, just now. The people who matter? No, I can't think of anyone. No one, no one, no one. But Jacob falls in line, and the four of 'em walk off together. And I've gotta tell you, I don't know how long this dynamic's gonna last, but I love it. I'm thrilled about it. I can't tell you. And then- There's a part of me thinking, as they were walking up the ramp, that this is going to be the best thing to ever happen to Jacob Fatu.

It's possible. And then you flipped out. I did? When they showed the video of Roman and Cody. I did flip out because I did not see that yesterday. You hadn't seen it. I had not, no. Yeah. I didn't see it. Because we were doing the show. Of course, of course. You know, everybody's algorithms are different. And so anyways, I did not see this. I did see the backstage interaction between Charlotte and Jade, saw that multiple times, but I didn't see the Cody and Roman one.

Just staring each other down. And then- 'Cause Roman also, on his way out of Clash in Italy, said something to the effect of F QB1. Mm-hmm. You know? So it's all still there, dude. Well, and then Roman was telling Jey, "Listen, you've held this one, the World Heavyweight Championship, but you haven't held that one." You haven't held the other one. Go get the other one. Go win King of the Ring tournament and go get that other one. And then he said, "Jimmy, I need you with me.

Jey needs to do this on his own." And that's so wild, because Jey is the one, I mean, Cody is the one who brought Jey back to WWE. Yes. He brought him in "Monday Night Raw." Yes. So much history, dude. There's so much history. But, like, what's interesting about that, you're right, is that, like, not only is that the case, but also Jey is just in such a different spot that if you said to him, "You remember quitting The Bloodline? You remember having to go to 'Raw,'" he'd go like, "What are you talking about that for?"

Like, he wouldn't even- It's not really relevant right now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. See where I'm at now? It's not even a discussion. No. Yeah, it's remarkable. And then of course you also had LA Knight, who, this guy, is Bloodline paranoid. Yeah, he's saying that Adam Pearce is playing favorites. Bro, (pen clatters) Adam Pearce is in charge of a business here, okay? Like, if you had Roman Reigns on your roster, you play favorites.

Yeah, because he puts food on tables. Yeah, the whole roster's table. Also, by the way, I'm really happy for that guy who's officially been promoted to title guy for Roman Reigns. Belt boy. Belt, (chuckles) belt boy. You talking about belt boy? Yes. He got a trip to Italy out of the deal. Good for him. You know? Yeah. I gotta get that goin', something like that. You know what I mean? Where it's like you got so much stroke that you get them to pay to send your dude to Italy 'cause you don't wanna carry the title all the way to Italy.

So the company has to pay to send your title boy to Italy so that he could go through customs with the belt. That's when you will truly be Honorary Uce. That's how far I gotta go? And that happens for you. Yeah, I would just hold my microphone or something for me. Maybe my earbuds. (Sam and Megan laughing) I do, I wanna start, maybe I'll give him to Alex. Maybe Alex could do that for me. Every time I walk into the podcast studio, Alex just hands me my earbuds. Because you're the podcast tribal chief.

He said, "No, I don't have that kind of respect." Oh, come on. He won't do it. I gotta find another, okay, he said money. He's Danhausen. (Sam and Megan laugh) He said he'll do it for human monies. By the way, shout out to Danhausen. Nice little video package about him and the influence that he's had on the New York Knicks. Yes, the NBA Finals. Going into the NBA Finals on Wednesday. Spurs-Knicks. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I hope Wemby doesn't get cursed.

He's cursed. He's as good as cursed. Danhausen is bleeding blue and orange, okay? Danhausen is a Knicks guy through and through. Have you seen how big Wemby is? What would that have to do with- I'm just saying, he's a big dude. Yeah, I mean, but Danhausen has a lot of cursing ability. Okay. You know? I mean, he could be as big as you want. You could be El Gigante, Danhausen could still curse you. Dude's like eight feet tall, big deal.

It's a Danhausen curse. You think 'cause the guy's tall he can't get cursed? I was just saying, I hope he doesn't get cursed. Well, good luck with that. Were you a Spurs fan? I don't know, I just like the, I would like it to go seven games, okay? Can I just- Four. Knicks at four. Four? Four. Oh. Fanatics Fest, by the way, is coming up. I don't have a dog in the fight.

(Sam grunts) The number one sports fan festival, Fanatics Fest, returns to the Javits Center in New York City from July 16th through the 19th, 2026. It is a must-attend event for WWE fans. You're gonna be able to meet your favorite superstars and enjoy surprise appearances all weekend long. New superstars, by the way, just added for Fanatics Fest, include Oba Femi- (Megan grunts) AJ Styles, Trick Williams- Whoop that, Trick. And The Undertaker. Ohh.

You gotta go meet him and say, "Hey, good job on that Mask vs. Mask thing." How about that? Additional photo on our grant tickets. Cookin' down there. for all WWE superstars have been added. Tickets will sell out, so go get yours today. Fanatics Fest general admission and photo opportunity tickets are on sale now at fanaticsfest.com. We did get to start the King and Queen of the Ring tournaments tonight on "Raw." You asleep last night fillin' out your bracket?

Oh, yeah, my bracketology is, well, yeah, my bracket's already busted. Well, because when I saw that these were Fatal 4-Way matches and I saw that Oba Femi was in one against Penta, Carmelo Hayes and Solo after the way that Clash ended- Yeah. I had a lot of intrigue for this match. Because I was like, "How can Oba lose, with Solo's involvement, but then at the same time you have the intercontinental champion in Penta and Carmelo Hayes's been on a heater?" Absolutely. And also it's a Fatal 4-Way, which means you don't even need to beat Oba. Oba doesn't have to be pinned. You just need to get him distracted for three seconds to pin somebody else.

Yeah, and it looked like for a while there, when Oba and Solo were outside of the ring that Carmelo Hayes and Penta were like, "All right, who's getting pinned?" But I'll tell you right now, for Melo, for Solo, for Penta, I think the worst thing that could have happened to them is Brock Lesnar beating Oba Femi. 'Cause Oba Femi showed up on one. I mean, he walked into the ring, he took all three of 'em out, and then he finished his entrance. Carmelo Hayes goes after him immediately while the music is still playing.

I go, "Wow, the ball's on Melo. Good for him." Good for Melo. And Oba's like, "Get out of the way. Get outta the way. Let me hit my pose-" Right. "And now we can continue the action." Now let's get back to business, yeah, yeah. And I mean, and they tried. And, you know, against anybody else, those Fatal 4-Way rules would've absolutely benefited Solo Sikoa. And they did for a period of time with Talla Tonga being out there. But, like, Talla Tonga wasn't even enough to stop Oba Femi on this absolute war path. I mean, in what other context, who other than an angry Oba Femi could get Solo Sikoa, Carmelo Hayes and Penta to be working together?

At one point, the three of them were working together to just try to stop Oba Femi. They had no other option. No. And they realized that pretty quickly into the match. Yes, yes. So Oba Femi wins this match and- How about the way he lifted up the seven-footer Talla Tonga- And dropped him on the table and then dives back into the ring, picks up Solo like he's nothing, and Solo's a big boy. Big. And then he picks him up, powerbombs him, one, two, three, Oba beats Solo, Oba advances into the final four. And this is less than 24 hours removed from- Yeah, his arm was still all taped up.

Yeah. Yes, absolutely. And he said, you know, he and Brock are one and one. That path will, at some point, cross again. But right now, he's gonna win the King of the Ring tournament. And when you hear a guy like Oba Femi say that the way Oba Femi said it, it's hard to argue. Well, he's like, "Brock wanted to know how I would respond to a beat down. Brock wanted to know how I would respond to seven F5s. This is how I respond. By winning, by dominating, and advancing in the King of the Ring tournament." And, like, you look at this, and I'm looking at the field, and, you know, the winner,

the finals of this tournament happened at Night of Champions. The winner goes to SummerSlam for a championship match. And there are a few people in this bracket that I would love to see going to SummerSlam for a championship match. But you can't even get ahead of yourself that way, you know? So I think next week is when we're gonna get Seth Rollins, Je'Von Evans, Talla Tonga, and Ricky Saints in a Fatal 4-Way. And I mean, Seth Rollins is coming off of a huge amount of momentum, but again he doesn't even have to be in the ring. It's a Fatal 4-Way. You know, Talla Tonga is impossible to beat. But you got, like, Ricky Saints and Je'Von Evans, who we were talking about the mobility of the roster.

We were talking about young guys looking for the opportunity. Finding a way to win in this King of the Ring tournament is what's gonna guarantee you to skip the entire line, to get ahead of the full pack and just do it. Now, listen, you got one-on-one matches after these Fatal 4-Ways, which means somebody in this Fatal 4-Way, Dominik Mysterio, Bron Breakker, Trick Williams or Damian Priest is going to have to fight Oba Femi in order to get into these King of the Ring finals, right? And I think that, like, Dominik Mysterio is in a real interesting spot right now, 'cause we saw what was going on with The Judgment Day backstage, you know? And it feels like The Judgment Day

doesn't have that sort of momentum. It feels like The Judgment Day needs that jumpstart. Although did the idea of Queen Liv Morgan and King Dominik Mysterio titillate your juices? Oh, it wet my beak a little bit. I don't know if it titillated my juices, but it wet my beak. I'll tell you that right now. Yeah, I would love to see it. Of course. I would love to see it, but it's a packed feel. You got Bron Breakker who needs this after this loss to Seth Rollins.

You have Trick Williams, who, it's like he showed up with the United States Championship and instantly declared himself- I imagine Lil Yachty would be by his side as well. Of course. Of course Boat's gonna be there. Boat. And then Damian Priest is another one who, I think right now- Former world heavyweight champion, come on. And needs to get back into that world heavyweight championship conversation, and I think is the type of guy that would love to be paired up against Oba Femi, to show him what he can do. One Razor's Edge and he could find himself there.

Hey, I don't know how he Razor's Edge Oba Femi. That'd be a sight to see. Yeah, absolutely. And then you have Jey Uso, LA Knight, Royce Keys, and Finn Balor. It's gonna be real interesting to see this Fatal 4-Way with Jey Uso and LA Knight, especially during that dynamic. And you wonder if La Knight is gonna be as smart as Seth Rollins was tonight, or if he's gonna be so focused on Jey Uso that he forgets that he's gotta deal with Royce Keys and Finn Balor. Because Royce Keys was tweeting. Royce Keys' Twitter fingers were out because Roman Reigns mentioned Royce Keys' name.

Royce Keys is like. I mean, honestly it is great news for somebody like Royce Keys that's like, just to be in that conversation is a good, good thing. Of course it is. And then of course you have Finn Balor, coming off of the past couple months that he's had, reminding everybody exactly who Finn Balor is. But think of any of these people in a championship match at SummerSlam, right? Oba Femi, Seth Rollins, Je'Von Evans, I mean, you know, Jey Uso is on a specific mission. LA Knight, who wants to make sure this all stops.

Royce Keys, Finn Balor, you know? I mean, Bron Breakker needs it, all of 'em, Oba Femi. Those are all amazing SummerSlam main events. And then you also had the Queen of the Ring tournament starting tonight where we got Roxanne Perez, Iyo Sky, Julia making that hometown appearance- Oh, Italy was pumped to see Julia. Loved it. And Lash Legend. And I mean, you know, it's interesting because they couldn't be more polar opposites. But I look at Oba Femi, and I go, "How could anybody possibly beat Oba Femi in this tournament? This feels like it's his." I kinda feel the same way about Iyo Sky. And you would never categorize Oba Femi and Iyo Sky together, but it's kind of how I feel about Iyo.

Yes, but the only way I'd contradict you is Jade Cargill. She's on the other side of the bracket. With Sol Ruca, Lyra Valkyria, and Charlotte Flair, who those two have problems. Again, I feel like the Cargill-Flair twosome in that Fatal 4-Way is similar to La Knight and Jey Uso where maybe it brings out the best in 'em, maybe they cancel each other out, you know? I mean, who knows? Sol Ruca could go double champ on this. She could, but then Lyra Valkyria, she's already politicking backstage less than 24 hours- I don't know if it's politicking- after she has the opportunity to now go after the intercontinental title.

Because we know when she lost to Becky, as long as Becky held that title, Lyra could never challenge for the women's intercontinental title. Well, guess what, Becky doesn't hold the title anymore. Well, Lyra's probably trying to get a match quick before Becky worms her way into a rematch and cheats to get the title back. That's smart, smart by Lyra. She's learning. Was she slick? Lyra Valkyria. Becky's pretty slick. Oh, she and Becky. And Becky has been known to be slick. It'll be Kiana James, Jacy Jayne, Raquel Rodriguez or Bayley that faces Iyo Sky.

Well, I don't know, man. Any of them would be amazing, right? I think Raquel, obviously The Judgment Day is looking for a win. But, like, I think Jacy Jayne versus Iyo Sky would be amazing just because of what Jacy Jayne has been doing since she got to the main roster. But Bayley versus Iyo Sky feels like the match I wanna see. And all of the history there. Oh, oh. With Toxic, no- No, with Damage CTRL. Yeah, no, I get it, they're confusing. But yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, Damage is Toxic, so.

It is. But yeah, all that- Fatal Influence. There's a lot. I know. But I think, yeah, Bayley versus Iyo Sky in a King of the Ring match, that would take me back to, like, '93 when it was Bret Hart and Mr. Perfect, who had, like, all this history. But there's just something about it being a King of the Ring or Queen of the Ring match that makes it, like, that much bigger, you know? And then, I guess, next week is when we'll get Liv Morgan, Becky- She's already gotten her head sized for the crown. That's smart. Becky Lynch, I thought- She also gotta figure out how to read a room. Who? Liv? Yeah, it was tough. It was not the time.

Alexa Bliss and Chelsea Green. A lot of people also, I mean, the big feedback that I read from this tournament was like, "Why on earth would the world champion be in a tournament where the prize is a shot at the world championship?" But I also thought Liv kinda clarified that on the post show, which is she wants everything, you know? All of it. And it makes sense that she wouldn't know how to read a room. 'Cause it's like nobody else is doing that, but Liv's like, "Well, I want Rhea's belt too." I want the Queen- And Liv probably feels confident in a match against Rhea Ripley. And then speaking of politicking, we saw Maxxine Dupri backstage

fighting for another opportunity, right? She wants to be in this tournament. And, again, we talked about the men's division, how crowded it is but movable. The women's, you could say the same thing. Absolutely. And Otis, over there, trying to control who she's friends with and who she's not friends with. Was he being a hater? Kind of. Or was he just being protective? No. Hater? You got hater vibes from that. I got hater vibes from it.

'Cause sometimes when, like, you have a friend who's a girl- Who's hot. I wasn't gonna say it. But she starts, you know, hanging out with somebody else? 'Cause it's a tough one. But you gotta be a little more strategic than being like, "Hey, babe. (Sam and Megan chuckle) Hey, babe, he's bad news." (Megan laughs) You know? Honestly, if Otis came up to me and said, "Hey, babe. Megan, Megan, she's bad news, babe," I'd be like, "Oh, podcast is over."

Otis, thank you for the heads-up. That's all it would take? He's very convincing. That's all it would take? You'd kick me to the curb just like that? You know what it is? He's so endearing when he says that. "Hey, Babe." You don't think, like, if he said that to you, you'd be like, "Oh my God, yeah, of course. Whatever you say. I wanna be your friend." Like, it's very endearing. Yeah, he's such a good guy. He is. He's so lovable. And he's very lovable. And he's best friends with Tozawa, and he's also lovable. And it's like, well, you know,

he's not gonna lead you astray, I don't think. But Maxxine wasn't havin' it. No, she wasn't. There's somethin' cookin' there. You talk about intriguing. Whatever's cooking between Austin Theory and Maxxine Dupri right now, I wanna know more. I'm a soap opera guy. It looked like things were cooking backstage. They were in a heated exchange. Tonight? Yeah. Oh, in the background there?

I saw it. Yeah, yeah. I mean, and then last week, she was runnin' off with them- People are starting to notice now. I mean, you can't not notice it. It's everywhere. It's one of those things where they're like, eventually gonna be like, "Hey, we've been hanging out," and it's like, "Yeah, we know." We all know. We know. Everybody knows. Everybody knows, everybody's been talking about it. (Sam chuckles) Yeah, I'm looking- We're just waiting for the hard launch, you know?

I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah, no more soft launch. Come on, hard launch that. Hard launch. Let's go. Are you shipping? I think so. Austin Theory and Maxxine Dupri? Yeah, I think so. I think so too. I think so, yeah. I think so. I think that's exactly what I'm doing. Topps NOW, by the way, captures major milestones and viral moments from the biggest events. Maybe the hard launch of Austin Theory and Maxxine Dupri will get a Topps NOW.

Oh. This past weekend was a huge one, ooh, I gotta get this, in the WWE and Topps is commemorating. Wait till you hear this. Noche De Los Grandes with El Grande Americano card, look for rare short print image variations and from Clash in Italy Topps to celebrating Sol Ruca's women's intercontinental title win. Look for Sol's first Topps NOW autograph card. Oh, I gotta get both those. Those are both great moments. As always, make sure you're following at Topps on social and sign up for notifications on topps.com for the big Moment cards from the WWE.

I love that everybody got the opportunity to get another look at Noche De Los Grandes. I mean, I can believe, based on how good it was, but, like, the level of conversation, this being a wrestling Monday. I got on the radio on Sirius today, do you know it was an hour and a half that I was talking about Noche De Los Grandes? And you could've done two. Easily could've done two. Just callers calling in nonstop. Just everybody. I mean, it's one of these moments that has completely brought wrestling fans together.

It's one of these things that everybody, I mean, I haven't heard one person that even said, "Oh, I just kind of liked it." Everybody was like, "This is it. This is why we love professional wrestling." We were all swept up in the emotion, the feelings of all of it. I mean, look at that. Come on. "Por Ti Y Por Mexico." That's right. Andrea Bazarte and El Grande Americano. And it's so real.

My favorite part of the entire match- Yeah. was when El Grande Americano was beating original El Grande Americano with the rope in front of Andrea. And she was cheering- Oh, yeah. She was cheering on the love of her life. Romance is in the air. And us wrestling fans, we love a love story. We love a love story low-key. Like, some people don't wanna admit it. "No, I like it for the moves. I like it for the work rate." No, you don't. You love it for the love story.

Everybody loves it for the love story. It goes Macho and Liz, Dominik and Liv Morgan- Oh. Grande and Andrea. Grande and Andrea are pretty high up for me. It might be tied for three. I'm being 100% honest. Mm-hmm. That might all be in the top place. Maybe it's recency bias. But yeah, I mean, I'm wrapped up in this whole thing. But what made, I mean, Mask versus Mask, Grande Americano versus Grande Americano so good, to me, was it was one of those matches I could go so far as to compare it to WrestleMania 40.

Wow! I know. Jaws are on the ground in there. In Philly, when Cody finishes the story- Yes, yes, yes. I'm honestly right there with you. Because it was one of these matches where within, over the course of the match, everything got tied up. The whole story played itself out. Every single story beat that we had played on the way to this thing was a part of it. It was all, whether it was Pimpinela ripping the mask off, or Andrea coming out with the ticket, or- The comedian. The blind comedian hitting him with the walking stick.

Everything, everything from Los Hermanos Americanos to Rayo and Bravo, like, all of it, everything that had been a part of this story was all encapsulated. And, like, it was the perfect, you know I say everything counts all the time, it was the perfect example of a match where everything counts. There was a reason to pay attention to everything that was going on 'cause it all showed itself. And then in the end, good triumphs over evil, as it always should. And you got this moment of respect from the audience that just rained down on these two grandes, as Grande Americano original took his mask off, of course, revealed himself to be Chad Gable.

JBL was shocked, most of us not shocked. "That's Chad Gable." Yeah, thank you, Bradshaw. Yes, it is. And then (laughing). The commentary was excellent as well. Excellent, excellent. So good. Between JBL, Graves- Rey Mysterio. Yeah, it was so good. But, like, just one of the classic Mask versus Mask matches, a story that started so ridiculous that ended in such a real, serious, good versus evil, love, hate, war story. It was just absolute cinema. And you mentioned how it started so ridiculous.

I don't think anybody, anybody could've imagined, when the El Grande Americano character was debuted, that it would lead to such an emotional finale. That you'd sit there and go, I, I, I, I would sit here and compare it to one of the greatest WrestleMania main events of all time. And it's not a stretch. No. Not at all. Unbelievable. And for some reason you didn't watch it on Saturday, if you didn't watch it on Netflix, if you're just sitting there going, "Oh, you know that thing that the entire wrestling world is talking about? Let me sit there with my fingers in my ears and my eyes glued shut. I refuse to watch it," stop being stubborn, it's on the WWE's YouTube channel.

Go, the whole card was amazing. War Raiders winning the Tag Team Championship, Vikingo winning the Latin American Championship, Ray Phoenix winning the Cruiserweight Championship. But then to cap it all off, and from the very top- The mariachi bands and the entrances? The entrances, the bands, everything. And then, oh, original Grande Americano not waiting for the bell to begin and hitting Grande with a guitar to start the thing? It was like, "You son of a-" (Sam grunting) Masks were torn, blood was shed, flesh was ripped. And in the end, Chad Gable looked at Grande Americano and said, "I will always be the original Grande Americano. But from now on, you are the only Grande Americano."

And it was like, "What a story, man. What a story." So check it out if you haven't, it's so, so good. It was so good I just wish we could do it all again. Unbelievable. So we will do it all again. Not that, but "Raw Recap." Of course, next week, we're gonna have our next Fatal 4-Way, and the King of the Ring tournament, and the Queen of the Ring tournament. I think we're gonna see how Jacob Fatu and the Usos are coexisting, how LA Knight is doing, and so much more. Make sure that you're subscribed across all audio platforms.

Make sure you're leaving comments and hitting Like on YouTube. And we'll see you next week for "Raw Recap" here on WWE Now. (mid-tempo electronic music)