In short
WWE Raw recap focused on the Bloodline storyline, Roman Reigns demanding acknowledgment from Jacob Fatu, and Oba Femi’s “Obafemi Open Challenge” being canceled after he comes out anyway. It also covers Asuka’s emotional sendoff to Io Sky, Io vs. Sol Ruca, and Paul Heyman’s comments about Seth Rollins and Braun Breakker.
Guests (podcast)
Megan Morant and Sam Roberts (co-hosts). No other guest interview subjects are clearly identified in the transcript.
Guest backgrounds
Megan Morant is a WWE/entertainment media personality and co-host. Sam Roberts is a wrestling media personality and co-host.
Key claims
Roman’s power is absolute; Adam Pearce effectively defers to Roman’s stipulations. Jacob Fatu is “different” and cannot be tamed—Roman may need to lose to stop him. Asuka’s future is “up in the air,” but she’s positioned Io Sky as her successor.
Notable examples
Roman vs. Jacob Fatu ends with Jacob powerbombing Roman through an announce table, then plowing through the Usos and Roman with a barricade run. Asuka and Io share a backstage goodbye with old-school Asuka face paint. Io defeats Sol Ruca via a roll-up after avoiding the “Soul Snatcher.”
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOBloodline Dynamics and Consequences
0:49 to 3:28
Discussion on the Bloodline's narrative and Jacob Fatu's consequences.
“This is the Raw Recap on WWE Now and WWE and Fanatics original production.”
Roman's Authority and Power
3:28 to 5:25
Exploring Roman Reigns' assertion of power within WWE.
“Well, no, because apparently Solo couldn't get a cup of coffee ordered to the building.”
Respect and Acknowledgment
5:25 to 7:50
The importance of respect and acknowledgment within the storyline.
“In every other case, Adam Pearce has been the one to take power.”
Jacob Fatu's Independence and Goals
7:50 to 12:44
Understanding Jacob Fatu's motivations and his independence in wrestling.
“from Roman Reigns but again it's justified because Roman said flat out he spent the last two years letting other people get the opportunity.”
Confrontations and Boundaries
12:44 to 14:00
Discussion on Jacob's confrontations and the boundaries within his actions.
“Because you were riding with the tribal chief while I was on the independence.”
Jacob's Destructive Rampage
14:00 to 18:15
Jacob's confrontation with Roman Reigns escalates into a physical showdown.
“Like we were talking about, he gave him warnings.”
The Crowd's Reaction and Jacob's Intentions
18:16 to 22:21
Discussion on the crowd's chants and Jacob's true motivations in the feud.
“Plows through his entire family, right through his entire family.”
Symbolism of Wolves and Bears
22:22 to 24:11
Exploring metaphors of wolves and bears to illustrate Jacob's actions.
“I was real happy with the example I came up with.”
Asuka's Emotional Moment
27:40 to 28:00
Asuka's unexpected embrace with EO Sky raises questions about her future.
“Speaking of over the weekend, a lot of people over the weekend, right?”
Emotional Farewell: Asuka and Io Sky
28:00 to 31:00
Learn about the emotional farewell between Asuka and Io Sky after their match.
“We saw this incredible match between Eoskai and Asuka.”
Show all 22 chapters
Io Sky's Rising Stardom
31:00 to 35:00
Discussion on Io Sky's development and the pressures she faces in WWE.
“And I think that's really what Asuka did for Io.”
Becky Lynch's Impact on Sol Ruka
35:00 to 37:47
Exploring the dynamics between Becky Lynch and rookie Sol Ruka in WWE.
“And she brings a skill set to this women's division that I don't know if we've ever seen before.”
Paul Heyman's Provocative Statements
42:04 to 43:50
Discussion of Paul Heyman's impactful comments and their implications.
“Oh, by the way, very interesting interaction between Paul Heyman and Cody Rhodes on SmackDown.”
The Readiness of Braun Breaker
43:50 to 46:28
Exploring the readiness of Braun Breaker in the current wrestling landscape.
“But Paul Heyman, I mean, look, history, something that Paul Heyman has always subscribed to is history is written by the winners.”
Seth Rollins' Reputation and Street Profits' Reaction
46:28 to 48:28
Analyzing Seth Rollins' standing in the locker room and the Street Profits' response.
“And you brought up how Seth might have to start from scratch and Seth went backstage and he caught up with the street profits.”
The Obafemi Open Challenge
48:28 to 51:19
Recap of the Obafemi Open Challenge event and its unexpected twist.
“Against Logan Paul and Austin Theory who are going to have to make sure there's no distractions.”
Obafemi's Dominance in the Ring
51:50 to 56:00
Discussion on Obafemi's performance and the chaotic match dynamics.
“At Backlash, we saw the incredible Titus O 'Neil who was there in Tampa and check out the show and everything.”
Obafemi's Rampage and Shot Put Strength
56:00 to 56:35
Explore the impressive strength of Obafemi showcased in his matches.
“Speed Who can run the fastest Who can throw the farthest Yes That's really ultimately all that matters in life.”
Challengers' Reactions and Upcoming Matches
56:35 to 57:45
Discussion on the reactions to Obafemi's victory and the upcoming challenges.
“Usually in a tag team, one will try to help the other out.”
The Unique WWE Roster Dynamics
57:45 to 58:52
Analyzing the unique characteristics of standout WWE superstars and their impact.
“It's almost similar to what we were talking about with Jacob and Bron.”
Adam Pearce's Decisions on Raw
59:40 to 1:02:19
Examining Adam Pearce's controversial decisions affecting the show and its superstars.
“First time the championship was defended on Raw.”
Dominic Mysterio's Championship Defense
1:02:20 to 1:04:56
Reviewing Dominic Mysterio's successful title defense and its implications.
“You started to mourn it before it even happened.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:01So close you can almost taste it. What? You're just gonna walk away? Time to bring the juice.
0:12Sam Roberts:Never leave a fit behind. Rip it, rip it, and bring the juice.
0:21Sam Roberts:That flavor's just out of reach. Drop the Legos and bring the juice. Gee.
0:31Believe it or not, Jacob Fatou did not acknowledge the Tribal Chief, but the AAA Mega Championship was defended. We got an answer somewhat on what's going on with Asuka. The Obafemi Challenge kind of continues and so much more. This is the Raw Recap on WWE Now and WWE and Fanatics original production.
1:05Oh, Megan! Bloodline story in full effect. We're back to Bloodline taking over all night on Monday Night Raw. Little drips and drops of this Bloodline story. The backlash of backlash of Roman Reigns and Jacob Fatu kind of sprinkled to us as Monday Night Raw went on throughout the night to build to an ultimate climactic ending. And we really, I mean, you brought it up on our Backlash Recap Podcast. We started answering the question. You said that you wanted Jacob to face consequences.
1:52Sam Roberts:I just said I wondered if Jacob Fatu would face consequences or if he would be suspended. And you called me a narc. Right, because you were like flipping through your little rule book. You know, you're not supposed to do this. You're not supposed to. Like, I'm all excited about seeing this main event. You know, some of the rules were broken. These are things you're not supposed to do. I don't sound like that. It sounded like that on Saturday. I don't sound like that at all. On Saturday, it did sound like that. But we got our answer. But what did Adam Pearce sound like when Raw kicked off tonight?
2:22Excuse me, Robin. Excuse me, Robin. Is there anything you want me to do to Jacob? Listen, I will tell you this. That's what it sounded like to me. But it's been a while since I had my ears clean, so I don't know 100%.
2:36Sam Roberts:You better get that taken care of. But most people sound like this. But the point is that Roman Reigns did not exaggerate, right? For the last couple months, really this year that Roman has been in the main event scene again since winning the Royal Rumble, thematically a big point that Roman has made and tried to get across is the amount of power that he now has within the WWE. when we were building to WrestleMania. He looked at CM Punk and he said they needed my approval. I had to sign off before you came back. And he did the same thing in the story to Backlash with Jacob Fatu. That's right. Saying that he had to sign off on Jacob being back.
3:26Sam Roberts:I helped bring you back. Well, Jacob said Solo brought him back. Well, no, because apparently Solo couldn't get a cup of coffee ordered to the building. I still think that's really hard. It feels like an exaggeration. I do too. I love Solo as well. But that's what Roman said. And like, that's not being objected to. And I think from our perspective, from a fan perspective, you kind of get it. Because when Roman Reigns is saying that this whole company revolved around him for four years, nobody's sitting there going like, whoa, that's not true. It is true. And we all feel the difference. There's no technicalities there.
4:02None. and we all feel the difference with Roman Reigns being back now and back in the fold.
4:09Sam Roberts:A thousand percent. As soon as that music hits. I mean, it was sprinkled all throughout Raw tonight. The car arrives at the beginning. Later on in the show, we see Roman Reigns backstage with his cousin, Jimmy Uso. Jay Uso's standing out in the parking lot. We get all of these interactions that ultimately lead to Roman on the show in the main event, waiting for Jacob to acknowledge him. So, and the reason we get there is because that power comes into play again. And I say that, like, from a fan perspective, it feels justified because there was a time, and traditionally by the rules of professional wrestling, you would look at something like that and go, well, that's the villain.
4:48That's a power-hungry villain. But we're kind of like, I feel like there's so much respect for Roman Reigns that we're like, if anybody's calling the shots, it should be Roman.
4:58Sam Roberts:Of course. And also, I'm just so happy that Roman is back on my TV screen, not just the car arriving and he's going to be in the main event, but he's there from the beginning of Raw all the way till the end. And we're telling a story all the way through the episode of Raw. I love it. I'm so happy to see it. But first he goes up to Adam Pearce. He's like, first of all, where's my title? And Adam Pearce is like, title, please, title, can we get his title? And he gets the championship and hands it to Roman Reigns. and then I mean I've never seen this before right Adam Pierce is going like look I mean he doesn't say it flat out but he's clearly considered uh some kind of a punishment for Jacob whether it's a suspension or more of course he did we were all thinking that I wasn't thinking it because I'm cool you're oh I'm sorry yeah us in the back of the bus weren't thinking about it you up front talking to the bus driver you were thinking about it with your little your little bag lunch that your mom made for you on your lap diagonally sliced right wondering who was shooting spit balls at you from the back of the bus why do they always do that just ignore them just ignore them so that's not cool so i don't think i don't know i don't advocate for it so but roman goes no like it really is we now see it's one thing for roman to be saying it in the build-up to these matches but to turn on the show and see roman being the one in charge of these decisions.
6:24In every other case, Adam Pearce has been the one to take power. Adam Pearce has been the one to go, no, it's my way or it's the highway. He's gone face to face with Paul Heyman. He's gone face to face with everyone. He's gone face to face with the Judgment Day, with Dominic Mysterio. But when Roman goes, no, I'm going to take care of it. He has to acknowledge me an agreement was made either you win and it or you don't and if you don't you acknowledge me
6:54Sam Roberts:and that has to happen and then he brings up how jacob signed the contract and if there's no that's later in the show when he's talking to jimmy usso right he's like he signed the contract we have to have order but the idea that like he's sitting there talking to adam pierce and pierce is like all right you got it it's like that's the that's it but that's the level of respect that roman reigns and power yeah and and power because he changed the entire industry right right right and then and i mean and and it's so it's so interesting because i mean just the idea of going like no i'll handle it and the raw general manager for only roman is going like okay all right if you say yep you got it that's the stipulation that you made that's what it is and then yeah he is talking to Jimmy Uso and he's talking about how Jacob has to acknowledge him because they need to maintain a level of respect and we haven't heard this type of language on TV from Roman Reigns but again it's justified because Roman said flat out he spent the last two years letting other people get the opportunity.
8:08I think like for Roman, it feels like there's an, it's not a dial. It's an on or an off switch. Yes. Like if I'm stepping back, then it's like, okay, let's see where everything kind of lands. But if I'm going to be the champion, we're running this. We're in charge again. We're running this. And so then he looks at Jimmy and he goes, there has to be order to your point. Yes. and it's a matter of respect. We are not going to be able to get the respect of the people around here unless we get the respect from the family first. If we have members of our family that are not respecting us, then we don't have our peers.
8:52Then we don't have the locker room. We have to be men of our word. Right. We can't expect other people to act in ways that we can't act in. But I mean, like, I'm sitting there going, listen, this is all well and good. These are great principles, right, to live by. These are perfectly reasonable rules if you want to be in charge. Yes. But on what planet is Jacob Fatu going, you know what? I didn't think of it that way.
9:18Sam Roberts:Especially after the tongue and death grip. Nah. That he destroyed him with. After the match. Yeah. The match is already over. I know. No. It ain't that. You know what I mean? Like, there's nothing about Jacob. Roman will tell you who he is. If you listen to Roman, if you watch Roman, Roman is telling you who he is every minute of the day. You shouldn't be surprised when he does certain things, when he acts a certain way. He's told you who he is. But the same thing has happened throughout the last, not two weeks, two years. With Jacob Fatu? Yeah. Yeah. He's told you who he was the whole time. He's even said, I'm different.
9:58I'm not that guy. I'm all gas, no brakes with it.
10:02Sam Roberts:Yeah, when Jey Uso was waiting for him in the parking lot, I'm like, what's Jey doing? What Jey, and it's interesting. Does Jey really think that he's going to be able to talk Jacob out of this? Maybe. I think that Jey, you brought this up on the Backlash recap. That you said that the SmackDown interaction was so interesting on Friday. Because Jey has this idea that because Jacob is stepping up to Roman Reigns, that Jey can relate to him. Because at one point, Jey stepped up. This is true. To Roman Reigns. But I'm completely on Jacob Fatou's side when he goes, we're not, me and you are not the same.
10:40This is not the same thing. What you did and what I'm doing are two completely different things. And he's right. When you look at it, if you look at what those stories were, Jey Uso was not about being the tribal chief, was not about making the most money, was not about any of it. It was just about him proving that he could stand on his own.
11:07Sam Roberts:Yeah, and it wasn't about, you know, bettering his family's life or anything like that. Main event, Jey Uso was always intended to show the world that he could stand independently. And that was from the beginning of the bloodline. Go back to 2020. The first thing, the first rival that Roman Reigns had after winning the WWE championship in 2020, when he first got back and first started to form what would be the bloodline and first started working with the wise man, the first rivalry was against Jey Uso. And from the very beginning, it was about Jey Uso proving he could stand independently, proving he could be his own entity.
11:53Sam Roberts:You know what they say about you. Which one are you? Right. That was the whole thing. So like, and that's great. And that's incredible. And Jay's the man. But it's very different from Jacob. Yay. Very different. Jacob's like, nobody, nobody, nobody has said, you really think Jacob Fatou can stand on his own? Oh, everybody knows he can stand on his own. Yeah, you know what I'm saying? Yes. That's never been a question. No, Jacob is coming for money and power. No power. Just money. I think just money. I don't think, I think that's the difference. That's what I think. That's what I read. That like, Jacob's not power hungry.
12:32Sam Roberts:I don't think Jacob is going to listen to anybody. No, but he's definitely, he might. And then he's verging on being insulted when somebody's going like, I get it. And he's like, no, you don't, man. You don't get it. No, you don't. Because you were riding with the tribal chief while I was on the independence. For 12 years. You know, Michael Cole on Backlash running down that list of the independent organizations, those small buildings that I would go to and see Jacob Fett to in those buildings. But the amount of people, those buildings could have been sold out. The amount of people those buildings held were not able to bring in the kind of money.
13:11That the bloodline was making. The Usos main evented WrestleMania 39. Yes. They main evented WrestleMania. It's a different thing, dude. and that's what Jacob is out here saying and Jacob did the same thing I loved talking to you about this after Backlash when it was the way Jacob is not out of control no I think Jacob knows what he's doing he's just playing by his own rules because like like we were talking about after Backlash
13:42Sam Roberts:he's not out of control but he also can't be tamed that's 100 % right I agree with you but at Backlash like referee Bennett, Sean Bennett's in there. And he's like, Hey Jacob, you got to get off him. And Jacob's not out of control. Cause he didn't right away rip his head off. Like we were talking about, he gave him warnings. No dude, I'm doing this. So like get out of the way or you're in trouble. Right. You need to control the controllable. And that's not me. You know what I mean? So like, and then the second time. And so it wasn't until the third time that he finally throws him up in the air and Samoa drops him.
14:17Same thing happened tonight. Jay's like Jacob you gotta stop What are you doing what do you think is gonna happen out there And Jacob's like I'm not putting my hands on my cousin I'm not gonna
14:26Sam Roberts:He just beelined as quickly as he could Yeah barreled through him Barreled through him And it's like And he gets to Gorilla Jay stops him one more time And he's like look I tried to get through this but now you're in my way Exactly he stood in front of him Yes He stepped in front of him I have to go take care of my business which is Roman Reigns get out of the way. Right, what are you doing? Don't step in front of me. Yes. Just don't get in my way and we'll be fine. Right, right. And it's like, and it's almost, there's a logic there because you go, on what planet are you like gonna rationalize with Jacob?
15:04Do you think there's something he needs to hear?
15:07Sam Roberts:No. That's gonna stop this? No. And then Jimmy's right there too and Jimmy's in front of him. Jimmy's blocking the way. Boom. Jimmy goes down. Now it's Jacob and Roman. And now we go, and there's no words. It's straight to strikes. Boom, boom, boom. Boom, boom, boom. And I think, you know, I don't think. Because he wanted Roman to beat the acknowledgement out of him. Well, he said, if you're going to get an acknowledgement, you're going to have to beat it out of me. But it's not happening. And Roman said, bet and grab that steel chair. Yeah. And still, even with the steel chair. I mean, this is one of those things where it's like.
15:49Sam Roberts:And he got a beating from the steel chair. Of course he did. That's Roman Reigns, dude. That's Roman Reigns. So he gets in there. They're throwing strikes. They're throwing strikes. Jacob is able to. I mean, he knocked Roman out of the ring, clothesline him over the top rope. Roman gets that chair. He beats him down with the steel chair. Brutal. But it's not enough. Jacob's able to come right back. And he power bombs Roman Reigns through that table. Again Again that's not the first time The crowd was chanting we want tables And Jacob said I got the best table for you No problem Which by the way This is a serious moment Are we really need to chant we want tables right now These two cousins are in the middle of a blood feud We're seeing them tear each other limb from limb And instead of being caught up in the moment We're worried about what furniture they're using Let the people use the furniture they're going to use Jacob said I got you Jacob said fine The announce table right here Roman's like, shh, stop with the tables.
16:49So he power bombs him through the table. And Roman is laid out again. And here come. And again, I don't know. I mean, the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Once again, the same gang that got thrown out of the ring and kicked in the face at backlash, those same people are out there trying to stop Jacob. And Jacob's like, I don't know how to, you guys got to stop. I don't know how to tell you guys this isn't going to work. And you're not going to threaten me. You're not going to sit there and go, oh, you better do it. Or like Megan says, you'll be suspended or fired.
17:25Jacob's like, no. What? What? I don't care. Are you crazy? You're going to threaten me with disciplinary action? That's the plan here? No, it ain't that. And I mean, to see it all go down like that, right? And Jacob's leaving. and then he's just talking to the camera, talking about how he's different.
17:49Sam Roberts:I thought this was it. Of course, because he's just like, he's just. Everybody's laid out. What more did Jacob have to prove? I saw on the screen. Not one thing. These are the executive producers. Here's our little copyright logo. He's walking up the ramp. I said, the damage has been done. And then he realized. He's like, I'm different. I'm all gas, no brakes with it. And he goes, that's right. Why would I put on the brakes? And I mean, the way he just ran, ran back to ringside where the Usos are picking up Roman Reigns and boom, he just he just like a boulder. Right through the barricade. Plows through his entire family, right through his entire family.
18:28Jimmy, Jay and Roman, all the cousins just got taken down. And it's literally the visual representation of everything that they worried could happen. It's the visual representation of why maybe three years ago. He's too dangerous. They were like, should we bring Jacob in? And Roman said, nah. And Jimmy and Jay said, yeah, I don't know. I don't think so.
18:56Sam Roberts:And here it is right now, this moment. Because of this. And I mean, it's like, and that's the discipline. that we see in Roman Reigns and in kind in the Usos where it's like, yeah, Jacob could be a real good soldier. Same thing Sola Sokoa thought, I'm sure, in the new bloodline. But realistically, once he gets a taste, he's like Jaws. He's like a shark. You give him a little taste for blood. Blood in the water. Oh my God, here he comes. There's nothing that's going to tame this animal now. And they knew this would happen and here it is. I mean, my question is, is Roman still sitting there going, I think I'm going to get that acknowledgement.
19:36Sam Roberts:Absolutely not. Absolutely. He can't be. He has to figure out. I thought he was going to get it tonight. He has to figure out how to tame Jacob Fatu. Yeah, okay. Okay, that'll happen. You know how you tame Jacob Fatu? You lose to him. He gets the title. That's the trade-off. Roman Reigns, who held the title for four years. 1 ,316 days Roughly To be exact Roughly Right, right I can break it down to hours if you want But I won't do that to you He successfully defends his title Title against Jacob Fatu Successfully, by the way, used loosely Yes Just by the record book successfully But it didn't look successful No, not at all Yeah, yeah, yeah And then He loses the title to Jacob Just like that Just like that I mean, you're talking about taming people That's what it would take How are you going to stop him?
20:30give him what he wants. And I get it. I get it.
20:34Sam Roberts:That's all of Knoxville was chanting fought too, by the way. Well, it was really interesting because afterwards he was going up the ramp. There was some booze in the crowd. I heard them. Yeah. Because again, this is not a traditional story by traditional wrestling logic. Like, like there are things Roman has done that by traditional wrestling logic, you'd go, no, that's not really a good guy thing to do. I don't like that. There's a lot that Jacob has done that you're sitting there going, is he a bad guy? You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Like there were people like I was doing my podcast, just kind of breaking down everything that happened at Backlash.
21:05And there were people in the comments going like, I think you read that wrong, Sam. Like, I think that that was absolutely Jacob being a villain. And I'm like, I don't think so. Based on the perspectives that we've gotten. And like I said, like the nuance in the characters that we're seeing. Where it's like, can you explain why this stuff is happening? Yes. Is it happening for a reason that has authenticity and integrity based on the people that are doing it from their perspective? Yes. So then why wouldn't you cheer that? You know what I mean? Is Jacob looking to ruin his family? No. Is Jacob looking to beat up the Usos?
Read the full transcript
21:46No. Is Jacob wanting to ruin Roman's life? No. Is Jacob wanting to be the tribal chief and take over power? No. No, none of the above. he's a bear that you threw a salmon to and he's like i don't want one fish i want all the fish you know you can't let a bear eat out of your trash can it's true this bear's coming back yeah bear's coming back for more and when jacob thought to after he had put roman through the
22:17Sam Roberts:announce table was walking up the ramp i felt like is jacob a bad guy for a moment of course jacob a bad guy i did hear some boos in knoxville tennessee but then when jacob ran through his family through the barricade immediately i connected and said oh he's different and so did all of knoxville because they were all chanting fatu let me ask you something you ever go camping yes okay if you're camping right you're in the middle of the woods and you're eating you're grilling up burgers you know on the campfire right and that delicious burger smell is through the air except there's wolves in the woods oh you think those are the wolves gonna go oh those humans brought the brought the burgers those aren't for us no what if you give the wolves you go okay well we got six burgers here we'll give you one you can have one do they want one burger i don't think they how many burgers do they want yeah they don't understand all the burgers you know why i use the term wolf because jacob fatu is the simone werewolf he wants all the burgers he smelled them you started cooking them shouldn't have cooked him here he also tried to tell him don't do that here don't do it don't do it he gave him the warning every time and and And when the wolves take all your burgers, do you blame the wolves?
23:42Sam Roberts:No, you blame yourself. Wolves are going to be wolves. Man, I got to tell you. Wow. We got to get back into this, right? That got deep. I know. I know. I was real happy with the example I came up with. But when I hit on that bear thing, I was like, you did it again, dude. I could have done without the roasting of me during that. But the rest was pretty good. Well, I could have done without the tattling. So we have to talk about the main event. Oh, yeah. That's happening in your own home. Okay. The main event is happening in your own home. Look, life is basically WrestleMania every single day. It's a high stakes gauntlet where the responsibilities just keep coming.
24:26It feels like you're constantly making tradeoffs between the things you have to do and the things you actually love. That's why we're celebrating those moments where you refuse to tap out. It's time for the Minute Maid Juice Break Where we highlight those everyday wins That deserve a massive pop I'll tell you, I'll give you an example This weekend, right, we're out there in Tampa
24:47Sam Roberts:This is a fun one We're out there in Tampa And man, did I want to hit up that Waffle House You know? It smells so good, looks so good Yeah, you saw that marquee off the highway You said, I gotta get there But I said, I gotta get to the arena Before the show I got to, you know, I want to get my rest and everything. I said, I don't, I don't think I'm going to be able to make it. I have to do this. I have to do that. I have to take a shower. All this stuff, right? It's tough. Tough. What did I do? Woke up a little earlier, bathed. Thank you. And made it just in time. Gave myself that extra amount of time so I could get my breakfast that I wanted and then go to continue to do what I had to do.
25:35And I said, man, you go, Sam. You made it. It was a grind. It was a grind getting up that early. But man, I got the three count.
25:43Sam Roberts:Wow. I'm happy for you. Waffle House, glad they had a table too. Oh, yeah, they did. Ready for you. I did. That's good. They knew I was coming. Well, I'm glad you got to enjoy. You know, I also was in Tampa this weekend. I flew in day of, morning of, Saturday morning, early flight, landed, wheels on the ground. in Tampa, looked at the clock. I got to get to the arena. But you know, I did the math and I had about about 90 minutes. And I said, if I time this right, I could get a run in right now. So right at the airport, put my running shoes on. It was already 90 degrees at 1030 in the morning. And I just went out, got a quick hour in and got back to the hotel.
26:28Sam Roberts:Quick shower. An hour? Yep, hour run. And in the 90 degree heat. How long was it? It was about like eight, eight or so. Eight what? Miles. Got the run in, made it to the arena on time. Stupid. You know, it was tough in the 90 degree heat, but we made it. Had to sacrifice a little bit of the fueling, but thankfully the catering was just fantastic. Eight mile run. It was a grind. Yeah, it was a grind, but we got it all done. I shouldn't have to go first every time. Minute Maid and WWE are tag teaming your daily grind. I would have thought of something different. Bringing main event energy to life's everyday matches together.
27:20Why is it breakfast? We're turning the toughest rounds into moments worth cheering for.
27:24Sam Roberts:Well, from the ring to real life, Minute Maid and WWE are here to help you bring the juice when the day tries to tap you out. Never tap out on taste. Bring the juice. Bring the juice. You had juice at Waffle House? No, I had a Diet Coke. You didn't even get some OJ? No. How with your breakfast? There were no vitamins, no. I shouldn't have gone first again. That's ridiculous. You knew what you were doing. You've sabotaged me again. We did. Speaking of over the weekend, a lot of people over the weekend, right? We saw this incredible match between Eoskai and Asuka. And it was fantastic. Yeah, and that was no surprise.
28:08Yeah. The surprise came at the end of the match when after this out-and-out war between two of the greatest women, but that's to say greatest people, to ever lace a pair of boots, there was an embrace. Asuka seemed to break away from the character that she had been for as long as she's been it And embraced EO Sky there in Tampa
28:36Sam Roberts:Which was pretty emotional Very emotional, tears in the eyes Seemed very proud of EO EO accepting the hug, waving to the audience A lot of questions coming off of that There were a lot of people wondering if we had seen the last of Asuka, if that was Asuka saying goodbye to WWE, to the audience, to EO. We saw Asuka backstage with EO tonight. And she's wearing the old school Asuka face paint. Yeah, she looked like the Asuka that we got to know in NXT. And I mean, if you guys haven't been watching more than a year or two, go back watch Asuka's entire WWE career is absolutely remarkable there's a reason why people hold her in such high regard going back to her NXT run but also her main roster run you're talking about NXT champion WWE women's champion just just just title after title but match after match after match and over the course of years just just bringing out the best not only in herself but everybody that she's in the ring with.
29:48She's an amazing, amazing performer. And tonight, backstage, speaking in Japanese and in English, she said goodbye to Io. She talked about how proud she was of Io Sky and that she wanted Io as somebody who Asuka has mentored for forever for Io's whole career. she wanted EO to rise to the occasion where she could take Asuka's spot. And Asuka said she did it. She finally did it. And she said goodbye. And I mean, I'd be lying if I didn't say the old eye sockets were getting a little heavy watching Asuka.
30:30Sam Roberts:Got a little dusty there. The little dusty allergies started acting up as Asuka hugged EO and then walked out of the building carrying that suitcase. It just felt very symbolic, the whole thing. It did. And you think about Io and what she's done, and a lot of people consider Io to be the best wrestler on the planet. And someone like Io Sky doesn't come along without somebody like Asuka. And thinking of everything that Asuka did, and they always say, like, send the elevator back down when you get to the top. And I think that's really what Asuka did for Io. So to see them have the match that they had at Backlash and then the embrace tonight.
31:11Sam Roberts:But you couldn't help but feel so sad, but also thankful seeing Asuka walk with the suitcase. Like so glad that we got to experience it. We got to experience it. Yes. Lucky that she's the type of wrestler that goes, I want to make sure that whether I'm here or not, this place is in good hands. That's right. And leaving it in the hands of somebody like Io Sky, I mean, it goes without saying how incredible Io Sky is. There's a reason why they call her the genius of the sky. Now, there was an update on commentary. Michael Cole said that all we know for sure is that Asuka's future is up in the air.
31:50Though we don't exactly know what that means, where she's going, if we'll see her again, when we'll see her again. but for now she feels as though Io has kind of leveled up and achieved what Asuka I guess always wanted Io to achieve which is really really interesting because you and I were having the conversation right before Backlash about how not only had it been a long time since we had seen Asuka in a singles match on a PLE but it had been a long time since we saw Io Sky in a singles match on a ple and it really does feel like all of this the match the asca of it all it really does feel like it's effectively shined an even greater spotlight on io and and how good she is yeah of
32:40Sam Roberts:course and just the way that io tends to to bring out uh another side in in people that she's been with and uh I think about the emotion that I felt seeing her and Asuka together tonight I think of the emotion I felt on the Monday Night Raw the night after Wrestlemania seeing her and Rhea Ripley kind of part ways and so now to see EO in this spot on her own completely by herself is something I'm really looking forward to yeah me too me too and we got a taste of it tonight uh And Saul Ruka, who has, I mean, has hit the ground running since coming over to Monday Night Raw in terms of the people that she's been paired up with.
33:25Sam Roberts:Liv Morgan, Becky Lynch, EO Sky. I literally. I mean, come on. It's a Hall of Fame. Yes. Lineup. Like only future Hall of Famers. Throwing you into the deep end. I mean, absolutely. But she's a surfer. She's used to it. That's what you did there. Thank you very, very much. Yeah, we just get right into it after all that emotion, Eoskai versus Sol Ruka. And it is, I mean, but talking about the deep end, you are right about seeing Eoskai on her own. And the idea that, you know, we do take for granted sometimes that like, well, Sol Ruka is the rookie. She's the one who's coming up from NXT. One of the people who inspired John Cena to get this John Cena classic up and running off the ground.
34:10and like Michael Cole said on commentary, has only even been wrestling at all for four years, which is, I mean, less time than a lot of people train.
34:21Sam Roberts:I feel like yesterday I was watching her on Level Up. That's right. That's 100 % right. And so it's like a default that it's like, okay, she's the one with her back up against the wall, but realistically, it's a lot of pressure on EO too to not only be in the position where she's alone for the first time in a while. In a while. But she's also got a lot of expectation on her. Massive. Right? Asuka just said, you're the one. Mm-hmm. And we're all going like we've heard. Michael Cole's on commentary. Going like, this is like the best wrestler on the roster, male or female. So it's like, it's great when somebody says that.
34:58But now it's time to prove it. And you got to prove it against Sol Ruka, who is as hungry as it gets.
35:02Sam Roberts:Yeah, and as athletic as they come. Right. And she brings a skill set to this women's division that I don't know if we've ever seen before. Yes, yes. It's almost there's a lot of Lita, I feel like, in Sol Ruka. I see that. But then, yeah, this whole other generational thing. But she can do things with her body that I don't know if any other human can do that. I would agree with that. I mean, you're still trying to figure out the physics of a Sol Snatcher. Every time. Right? And it just seems like it comes naturally to her. But I'll tell you who did figure out the physics of the Sol Snatcher. Eoskai.
35:39Eoskai figuring out how to, like, avoid the Soul Snatcher by just understanding the spacing of what was going on. So she backed up from the Soul Snatcher, and then it was just a roll-up. One, two, three, and that's all it took. But that is also the difference between somebody who understands every aspect of what's going on in there and a rookie.
36:00Sam Roberts:That's a veteran move for sure. You can tell that Eoskai, she has watched the tape, she has figured out the physics, she's dissected this and she's turning it into a finishing move so that she can but i think it's also just like knowing where that moment is yes oh got it she lined up for the soul snatcher there it is back up boom hit it instincts right she let her instincts take over right i avoided the soul snatcher that's great well now i can roll her up right here yes one two three and it's done And Io did give Sol Ruka respect after the match. Yeah, and I mean, Sol was there speechless, but also just had to tip her hat to Io.
36:41You got me. You got me. You got me. Yes. You know, he did not respect Sol Ruka. Who? Somebody who was pretty disrespectful just walking around backstage. I was thinking about spotlight-stealing Becky Lynch.
36:58Sam Roberts:No one is calling her that. Michael Cole did. something to that effect. It might be a paraphrase, but I think that's what he said. Nobody cares about Michael Coleslaw. Nobody. Why do they call him Coleslaw? Because nobody likes Coleslaw. Wow. And nobody cares that Michael Cole called Becky spotlight-stealing Becky Lynch. You don't think she did that with Sol Ruka? No. She didn't try to steal her spotlight? I think she was just trying to humble the rookie. Why? Why humble a rookie? Because she lost to EOS Sky. But why do you have to humble rookies? Well, why doesn't Sol Ruka show some of the respect that a rookie like Ethan Page shows?
37:35Sam Roberts:Right? Ethan Page, what a great guy. Showing Rusev all of the respect. Hey, man, I took care of this. No, not to Penta because he pinned Penta. Why would he show Penta any respect? He wants his title and he pinned him. He doesn't need to show him respect. You don't think Sol Ruka wants Becky's title? Of course she wants her title. Right. But she didn't pin her. No. I see. I see. You have to show the legend respect. Unless you pin them. She's new here. Okay? She's new What has she done? Well she's won the NXT North American Championship Here on Raw What has she done? She had a pretty competitive match with Liv Morgan Very competitive match with EO Sky Did she win any of those matches?
38:14Come on No
38:16Sam Roberts:And she's barking up the tree of Becky Lynch? Yeah I don't know She's not barking up the tree She was backstage I don't even know what Becky Lynch was doing on the show What do you mean what was she doing on the show? She wasn't on the show She's the greatest female wrestler of all time She's welcome wherever she wants to be on the show And then Becky just walks up to Seoul Yeah Once again, Seoul's time Becky walks in I don't know, what are you talking about, barking up a tree That'd be like if a tree walked up to a dog And of course that dog's gonna start barking It's like, oh my god, how'd that tree start moving I can't believe a tree just walked up to me I'm gonna bark at it If a tree walked up to me, I'd probably start barking too I don't think that's how it happened What are you talking about?
38:57Sam Roberts:Becky Lynch was backstage And Soul just happened to walk by her And then Becky was like Oh there's a camera on her Let me jump in the shot I'm sure she was on her way to a very important meeting With whom? A lot of big wigs Maybe Kane? Could have been Or in Knoxville Trying to get Becky Lynch Avenue or something like that That'd be good You'd love that avenue You know while she's in Knoxville She probably should. I mean, Kane's got the power to make that happen. Sure. Sure. She didn't even give, she called her E.O. Giannetti again, which is not, it's not a flattering thing to say, but I mean, God bless Marty Giannetti.
39:40He's great. She doesn't mean it in a nice way.
39:44Sam Roberts:Yeah. Poor Marty Giannetti's catching a lot of strays here. He's catching a few strays. It's not that cool. It's not cool. It's really not that cool. It's not cool. Like I understand, like it's like, but when Shawn Michaels is your partner, like it's like it's Shawn Michaels, you know? Sorry, I'm not Shawn Michaels. I'm Marty Jannetty. Yeah. It's like being on a podcast with the modern day Shawn Michaels of broadcasting. It must be done. I didn't know this was the roast of Megan Morant. I didn't know. Are we going to have to change the show from the now to the roast of Megan Morant? Okay, I couldn't help it.
40:15Don't make yourself into a victim. I couldn't help it. I couldn't help it. I had a vision for it. Anyways, it was an interesting interaction.
40:24Sam Roberts:You thought so? Yeah. Thought so. I am looking forward to an eventual Becky Lynch-Sol Ruka match. We'll see if she's ready. Who? Sol. Oh. We'll see if Sol Ruka's ready. I think she's ready. To go toe-to-toe with the big time. Do you think Sol Ruka deserves an intercontinental title match? For what? She hasn't won a match since she's been on Raw. She's had competitive matches with two of them. Oh, you got close. with two of the best women to have ever done it. That's true. Competitive. I would like to see it, but I don't know. Becky doesn't just hand these matches out. I guess you're right. I guess you're right.
41:01Well, you know, that question of whether or not people are ready, it came up for Seth Rollins. Before we get into that, I do want to tell you about what we've got over at Fanatics. Jey Uso have you seen that main event Jey Uso has new t-shirts available now at WWE Shop and Fanatics you can let the WWE universe know that you are down with the day one Uso warning shot the new warning shot shirts available right now on Fanatics and WWE Shop as well you can score a must have addition to your collection with brand new Funko Pops that are available on WWE Shop and Fanatics. Whether you're backing Penta's intensity or Tiffany's undeniable star power, these figures bring the action right to your shelf.
41:57Get them now. Ooh, I might get that demolition pack too. Get them now at WWE Shop and Fanatics. Paul Heyman opened Raw. Oh, by the way, very interesting interaction between Paul Heyman and Cody Rhodes on SmackDown.
42:11Sam Roberts:How about that? Were you as pumped as I was? I was so, I was hoping the siren would come out for that. Yeah. I had to talk about gingerbread man. I know. It was important. Yeah. There was a lot of important stuff though. It was important. Yeah. Yeah. I sent a couple texts around. You were one of them as soon as Paul said those words. Oh my God. When Paul Heyman said, sooner or later, everyone needs a wise man. Needs the wise man. And I'm going, is he talking about Gunther? Is he talking about who I think he's talking about? That guy who calls him Mr. Heyman all the time I don't even want to get too far down that road I mean it's too goose bumpy It's too goose bumpy But he was in there, I'll tell you what he said tonight He said that Seth Rollins Who looked at Braun Breaker right in the face Okay, okay, so Paul Heyman Brings forward the fact that Seth Rollins Looked at Braun Breaker and said you're not ready And Paul Heyman said clearly It's Seth Rollins who's not ready For anybody in the vision And he said that Seth Rollins a year ago wasn't ready to be mentored by the wise man.
43:15Well, I mean, I'm not surprised that Paul Heyman has a certain degree of bravado based on the dub that he took at Backlash.
43:26Sam Roberts:He says he wants Seth Rollins' existence to be expunged from the vision's history. I mean, I don't think that could ever happen. That's wild to say that. I know it is. I know it is. It would literally be like if it's like, well, we're going to do the NWO, but nobody bring up Hollywood Hogan. You know what I mean? You can't. You can't. That's the whole foundation of it. But Paul Heyman, I mean, look, history, something that Paul Heyman has always subscribed to is history is written by the winners. And he's not wrong. He's absolutely not wrong. And on Saturday, who won? Because what? Are we watching the documentary about the guy who lost?
44:08Never. Never. I'm not interested in that one.
44:10Sam Roberts:No, I only want to know about the guy who won. Right. Let the winner tell me about the guy who lost. I want his perspective on it. I don't care about second place. No, no, no, no, no. You're right. You're 100 % right. But Paul... Learn about the 98 Braves. Why? Why? What do we care? Why? What do we care? No. Paul brings... The 98 Braves. Paul brings forward that Seth clearly wasn't ready. Seth Rollins said, Bron Breaker, you are not ready. You're just not ready yet. It's not that you're not going to get there. You're not ready. After tonight, after Saturday night, is Brombreaker ready? Yes. You think he is?
44:50Sam Roberts:Well. Tell me. Is Brombreaker ready to be the guy? Well, after Saturday night, I go, yes, 100%. But tonight when Seth Rollins was able to ambush him. Well, look. I go, okay, Seth may have something. while he ambushed him, but is there anybody that can effectively never get ambushed? That's the whole point of ambushing. It's true. You know? Yes. And it did end up in a W for the opposing team, but it was Montez Ford, I believe, rolling up Austin Theory while all the chaos was going on. And Montez Ford, it didn't even seem like he knew what happened. No, he was just going to take advantage of the moment, which is exactly what you have to do.
45:37but by the end of the after the match in the post match after the vision had had suffered that loss braun breaker went for the spear on seth seth moved dawkins ended up getting hit by it but look somebody still got speared you know i mean it's tough because i love seth rollins but realistically and you could say the same thing about the roman reigns jacob fatu situation it's
46:03Sam Roberts:hard to make an argument against brawn right now you can attack as much as you want to attack but if you're not getting the pinfall victory when the match is happening what are we talking about i mean it's not dissimilar from what you were just saying about sol ruka and becky lynch like you can get close you can figure out the attack you can be in the right but if you can't get the pin when you need to get the pin, what are we talking about? You know, it is interesting because I think a lot of people were wondering after, and I think we had this discussion after Seth lost to Braun Breaker at Backlash, if he was just going to have to figure out whatever the next thing was, but no, he hasn't, he hasn't given up on this vision thing at all.
46:45Sam Roberts:And you brought up how Seth might have to start from scratch and Seth went backstage and he caught up with the street profits. And he said to Montez Ford and Angela Dawkins, look, if you're after the vision, maybe it's time that we talk. Yeah. Street Profits had no interest. They really didn't. No interest in working with Seth. I get it. Because they said that Seth, his reputation precedes him, and he is a guy that can't be trusted. I've said it before. You can decide you're done with the past, but the past's never done with you. These are things that linger forever. I mean, what were the two years like for Roman Reigns after the bloodline was done?
47:27Nobody wanted anything to do with him. Nobody trusted him. Everybody was really in this mode of making sure that nothing good happened for him. To this day, L.A. Knight still doesn't like that the Usos associate with their own family member because of what he did before. Drew McIntyre still has issues. Jimmy Sernan and Drew McIntyre. With what he did before. and so Seth Rollins decides to not only turn on everybody but decide with the person who was the wise man behind the bloodline to begin with of court what do you think the locker room is just going to be like wow we've all been there I don't think so no I don't think so and I like the fact that the street profits are not just in the space to forgive and forget I like the fact that we're seeing the street profits be in this place where they know who they can count on and they're not looking to make more friends.
48:19They don't need more friends. They want checks and championships. That's what the street profits want. And I appreciate that.
48:26Sam Roberts:And they have a championship opportunity at Saturday night's main event. Yes. Against the vision. Against the vision. Against Logan Paul and Austin Theory who are going to have to make sure there's no distractions. Otherwise they're going to get rolled up and lose the tag team championship. And they did. I guess they were going out to dinner together after Monday Night Raw. Did you? I mean, I... this has been in the background of shots for like weeks and weeks. Oh, I know what you're talking about. Is that, I know what you're talking about. Do you see what was going on in that car? It looked like Maxine Dupree was in the car.
48:57Yeah. It totally looked like that. With Austin series? And he was trying to get Jackie in the car too.
49:01Sam Roberts:Is he trying to holler? Is that? That's definitely Maxine. 100 % Maxine. I mean, what's up Maxine? Good for you. I, I, I, I would, I, I got a lot of questions. Yeah. And then he invited, He invited Jackie in the car after Logan Paul called her wacky. That's right. You know what this is? Tea? Ooh. That's tea. We got some tea here. That's tea. We have tea. Yeah. I mean, I don't know. I mean, can we - It's suspicious. I would love to talk to Otis and Tozawa, see if they have any information on what's going on here. Maybe if Natty has any information. I mean - She's texting someone. Oh, she is texting.
49:42Sam Roberts:But she and Natty aren't close anymore. I know. So Maddie cannot have any information Who are Maxine Dupree's friends right now? Maybe she's just checking comments or something Maybe she's not even texting right now Chelsea Green might know Would she tell us? No, absolutely not That'd be breaking girl code No chance she would tell us No, I don't think so If she told you, would you tell me? No You would break girl code for me? No For me? I'm one of the girls No Let's get together No, you're not invited No, no That blows. How much money you got? Maybe. What are you, Dan Housen?
50:22Speaking of, we were talking about Adam, actually, you want to tell us about what we got?
50:27Sam Roberts:Yeah, Tops Now. And Tops Now captures major milestones and viral moments from the biggest events. This past weekend at Backlash was no different. Tops is commemorating Backlash 2026 by releasing cards of Dan Housen. Hey! And the Minnie Houses. Oh, I love the Minnie Houses. The best. Look at that. Oh, you need that card. Oh, it looks like Groot and the Minions. Asuka and Eoskai's emotional post-match embrace and Roman Reigns retaining the world heavyweight title. These cards are only available for 72 hours. So you got to make sure you grab them quickly. Sign up for notifications on Topps.com so you never miss any big card drops.
51:13Sam Roberts:Those are three amazing cards. I got to get them all. I need all three of them. You'd have to. I mean, Backlash was full of moments. That's no surprise to me. But we had a moment tonight. Obafemi comes to the ring for the Obafemi Open Challenge. He's made this clear. Remember last week we talked about the fact that Otis answered the Obafemi Open Challenge. and as Big E pointed out, there was no amount of Grundle that could stop Obafemi from winning that match. We posted the clip and everything. Yeah, I like how Titus came up to us too. Oh yeah, we saw, we did. We saw the incredible, I'm glad you brought that up.
51:53At Backlash, we saw the incredible Titus O 'Neil who was there in Tampa and check out the show and everything. It's always so good to see Titus and his family and everything. But he said, oh yeah, I saw the clip you guys posted. I was like, which clip was that? You know?
52:07Sam Roberts:It's like, were you guys talking about Grundle? Yeah, you're talking about Grundle's, right? And I was like, yes. Yes, we were talking about Grundle's. But see, this is the type of analysis you get on what's called the now. Yes. You know what I'm saying? We can't get that anywhere else. No, no, no, no, no. You come on the now, we get the people that have been in the ring, that have had the experience, that can tell you, yeah, you know, this is something that from a fan's perspective, you and I would never take that into consideration at all. Oh, and by the way, Titus was talking about it. It sounds like this is something that has not been talked about enough.
52:38I feel like a lot of - Because Titus gave us the look like, oh, I've been in a Grundle situation before. Yeah, I think a lot of superstars were actually really happy that Big E brought forward the Grundle agenda. That like this hasn't been brought up. And I'm sure, you know, a lot of these podcasters out here, they're like, oh, that match was the worst. Why didn't he do this? You know why? Because they didn't even consider it. You go through the whole podcast. They didn't even consider the Grundle once. Nope. Once. Okay. So shout out to Obafemi for that. And to Titus. And to E. Yes. So the Obafemi open challenge continues on Monday Night Raw.
53:18Or so we thought. Oba comes out with his full entrance and the strut and everything. And Oba is in his gear in the ring. and that's when Adam Pearce comes out and he gets booed and for good reason because he into the microphone and for the whole audience to hear says nobody is stepping up for this Obafemi Open Challenge. Nobody wants to do it. Canceled. So it's canceled. And I'm sitting there going, you couldn't tell Oba it was canceled 90 seconds ago? You couldn't tell Oba it was canceled before he made his entrance? Like couldn't this have been done a lot easier?
53:59Sam Roberts:He's like, hey, I know you all had fun doing the arms. Right. And Oba, I know that entrance takes a lot, but no need. Just entrance tonight. That's it. Appreciate you getting in your gear. False alarm. I mean, it's like going to school and being like, no, class canceled. You're like, don't put it on the door. Call me at home. Let me know. Like hit me with a text or something that class is canceled. I wouldn't have come. Right. Well, we put the note on the door. I'm already here. What do you mean you put the note on the door? So Oba's in the ring. He's like, what are you talking about? It's canceled.
54:29I got boots on. These aren't the boots that I wear. You saw what I wear. I wear a suit. Remember when he wore that suit after WrestleMania? Oh, it was so good.
54:36Sam Roberts:It looked like a million bucks. The shoes were the best part. That's what I mean. The shoes were great. They weren't boots. Yeah, he put on the necklace and everything. The necklace was on. So what did he do? He said, well, if you want something done right, you just got to do it yourself. And so he went back and he went through Gorilla and he found Los Garzas. Who were looking for opportunities earlier in the night. I think that unfortunately people are not seeing this as the opportunity that Oba promoted that it was because they're just seeing it's an opportunity to get badly hurt. Because he picks up Angel and Berto and brings both of the Garzas to the ring, throws them in there.
55:14And I mean, I don't know if this was on Adam Pearce's call because he was just like, I got to cut my losses here. They rang the bell. even though they were in their street clothes Angel and Berto were still in street clothes they were like well we're doing the match now we have to and I mean I've never seen it before like Oba picks up
55:38Sam Roberts:I think it was Danilo he went up to Danilo Danilo was like I'm not nope I'm not getting involved with this I know how powerful of a man Obafemi is just ring the bell it probably was Danilo it probably was it probably was sounds like something he would do So he goes and he gets Angel and Berto And like he throws Angel You know he's got that incredible shot put strength I would say launched Launched him Launched You know how I feel about shot put You love shot put You're a big shot put guy It's the most impressive sport there is Other than marathon running Shot put is the most impressive It's like really like from a human perspective What are the two things we should measure people on?
56:19Sam Roberts:Speed Who can run the fastest Who can throw the farthest Yes That's really ultimately all that matters in life. You either got to be that person or be friends with that person. That's the only option that you have for survival. Oba decided to be that person. So he throws Angel, launches Angel. Yes. And I've never seen it before. Usually in a tag team, one will try to help the other out. Berto ducked. He got out of the way. See you later. Right. Like when he launched him, he used the shot put form. Yeah. It was like a launch, but hoist. Yeah, that's what it was, a hoist. Yes, yes, yes. And then, of course, there was one for Berto, too.
57:00And then it was the powerbomb finish. And that was it. That was all she wrote. Obafemi wins.
57:07Sam Roberts:That was enough. Yeah. More than enough. Done, done, done. No mas. Obafemi wins. Handicap match. That's 2-0 in the Obafemi Open Challenge. and somehow Adam Pearce has the nerve to advertise it next week. The Obafemi Challenge continues next week. They couldn't find anybody this week. After they saw what he did to Angel Umberto, is anybody going to stand up this week? Come on. I can't imagine, but now, I mean, look, I think Pearce has to make it a priority that somebody steps up. Otherwise, Pearce is going to end up in there. It's almost similar to what we were talking about with Jacob and Bron.
57:50Sam Roberts:How they have that thing where it's like, no, this is different. I will go through the barricade and my family. Right. Bron Breaker, no, I will spear somebody in half. Right. I don't care. I'm going to destroy someone. These laws that you have, they couldn't have been put here for somebody like me because I don't abide by them. Yes. You know what I mean? These don't work for me. I mean, you're gonna have to restructure this for someone like me. And that is crazy when you phrase it like that, because there's no doubt that the whole WWE roster is in flux right now. And the fact that all three of those people that you just pointed out are all so special and unique that rules don't apply to them in three completely separate ways.
58:36That's a wild thing that the WWE has right now.
58:39Sam Roberts:It's crazy. It really is amazing. And then don't even get me started with Gunter, right? Of course. Of course, nothing applies to Gunter. Nothing. Nothing. I mean, he's untouchable at the moment. You know, the number one sports fan festival, Fanatics Fest, is returning to the Javits Center in New York City from July 16th through the 19th. We were on the graphic today. I saw that. WWE now coming to Fanatics Fest for sure. It's a must-attend event for WWE fans. You'll be able to meet your favorite superstars and enjoy surprise appearances all weekend long. WWE superstar autograph and photo opportunities at Fanatics Fest are on sale now.
59:18Confirmed. WWE superstars for photo and autograph opportunities include Braun Breaker, Joe Hendry, and Trish Stratus. Fanatics Fest general admission and photo opportunity tickets are on sale now at FanaticsFest.com. History certainly made tonight. Dominic Mysterio was put in a bad spot by Adam Pierce once again Adam Pierce batting what's less than a thousand zero tonight
59:51Sam Roberts:zero is less than a thousand that is correct Adam Pierce batting zero tonight on Raw first he lets Roman Reigns decide who gets hired and fired then he tells Oba that the Obafemi thing is cancelled and then Oba says no it's not and third he makes Dominic Mysterio defend the mega championship from an entirely different promotion with no notice on Monday Night Raw. First time the championship was defended on Raw. First time it's been defended in WWE at all. Nuts. Nuts. I was worried. I was sweating. You were. I was sweating. I wasn't happy about it. They've, we, you know, Grande Americano original along with Julio and Bruto were, I guess, looking for opportunity or whatever it was.
1:00:37And here comes Dominic Mysterio, who's been looking for a title match. And Adam Pearce, I think, purposefully misunderstood what he meant by title match when he said, OK, you're going to get a title match. You're going to defend your title against Grande Americano. And I was like, oh, boy, because we know there's this massive at the end of the month.
1:00:56Sam Roberts:There's this, I mean, massive mask versus mask match. What are they calling it? El Noche de los Grandes, I believe. I cannot wait. Dude, if you are not watching AAA, it's on WWE's YouTube channel here in the States. Like, you have got to watch this show. And you have got to see what this Grande Americano versus Grande Americano rivalry has turned into in Mexico. It is the biggest thing in the world. It is so good. It is so deeply personal. I mean, you would never know it from watching Monday Night Raw. But like the newer Grande Americano is absolutely beloved in Mexico and in AAA. And OG Grande Americano is despised.
1:01:47Sam Roberts:And don't forget about my girl, Andrea. Andrea is involved now. It's my favorite part. It's just so it's it's so good. And it's such like a a a a a impassioned blood feud that is going on between the two of these. One of these guys gets unmasked. It's going to be unreal to watch this thing happen. And because of that, I said, oh, no. They might throw in the AAA Mega Championship into this match to really spice things up a little bit, you know? And I said, that's not right. That's not right for— You started to mourn it before it even happened. Well, I was worried. I was worried. I was sweating.
1:02:24I was sweating for Sucio. Sweating for Sucio is what I said. Dominic Mysterio. That's how I felt like.
1:02:32Sam Roberts:But you're deodorant on? little life hack little life hack put it on before I went to bed still good so that's what I learned from I won't say who just say she's a marathon runner so I don't want to embarrass her so life hack I appreciate it no I wouldn't of course you do that I would never embarrass whoever no I appreciate that you put deodorant on because I have to work with you so I appreciate it no worries then when you're sweating about Dominic Mysterio having an intense match right Right. It's not a concern for you. No, no, no, no, no. I don't make my problems anybody else's problems. Thank you.
1:03:08Take care for the night before.
1:03:12But once the newer Grande Americano gets involved, distractions, distractions, distractions. And I mean, you talk, that was the theme of the night, I think, taking advantage of the moment. Multiple superstars finding that moment, taking full advantage of it. Montez Ford did it. EO Sky did it. And Dominic Mysterio did it. one of my favorite ways I've seen a 619 get hit.
1:03:36Sam Roberts:Oh, yeah, because the new Grande Americano was holding. Well, OG was, I think, trying to take off his mask. Yes. OG was trying to take off newer Grande's mask. And he said, oh, here's the perfect opportunity for 619 and the frog splash. Right, because he's through the ropes. And then Dominic, I mean, just smart as a whip, this Dominic. I don't know where he learned it from. I don't think it was his dad. Couldn't have been. No, it must have been on his mom's side. he hits that 619 and as soon as he's up there for the frog splash I said we got this you noticed me I was bone dry at that point no sweat anymore so you didn't have to worry about a thing and the arms were up too oh yeah because Dominic hit it again another successful defense of that AAA mega championship and he is quickly approaching a year holding the AAA Mega Championship, which Rey Mysterio, by the way, that's a title he never held.
1:04:34Sam Roberts:I think they said, what, 261? Something around there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we're, you know, three months, give or take, from Dominic Mysterio holding that title for a year. I think he's going to do it. I think he's going to do it. He could. Did I mention that Rey Mysterio has never held that title? He has not. No. You did mention it. Never, never, never. Wow. Massive episode. Massive episode of Monday Night Raw. Appreciate you guys joining us for this. Make sure that you are subscribed across all audio platforms. Make sure that you're leaving comments and hitting like on YouTube. This has been the Raw Recap on WWE Now.
1:05:09And we'll see you all real soon. Thank you.
From the publisher
Oba Femi unleashes absolute destruction; Dominik Mysterio narrowly escapes with the AAA Mega Championship still in hand, Asuka and IYO SKY share an emotional moment, and Jacob Fatu leaves Roman Reigns in a heap. Sam Roberts and Megan Morant bring you the WWE Now: Raw Recap, A WWE & Fanatics Original Production, brought to you by Minute Maid.
Sip like a Superstar. Win your way to SummerSlam + exclusive WWE gear: https://www.coca-cola.com/us/en/offerings/minute-maid/wwe-bring-the-juice
Jey Uso Merch: https://shop.wwe.com/en/jey-uso/o-6700092548+t-017834516+z-8-3628254285?_s=bm-WWEShop-WWEcom-Jey_Uso_Purple-Podcast-2026
Funko Pops: https://shop.wwe.com/en/br-929?_s=bm-WWEShop-WWEcom-Funkos-Podcast-2026
Fanatics Fest: www.fanaticsfest.com/talent?utm_source=wwe&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ff26_onsale_5.8.wwepodcast&utm_term=awareness
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
