WWE RAW 5/25 Results: Roman Reigns & Jacob Fatu Face-Off Ahead of Sunday’s ‘Clash in Italy’ PLE

The contract signing segment began with a ring full of WWE officials alongside GM Pearce, but Roman pulled the ultimate power move by telling them to get lost before the segment even began. Pearce responded by telling “UCE” to ‘have it his way,’ a sentiment that speaks volumes in relation to the current product and the man considered its primary cash cow.

There is still an aspect for Roman that finds this entire feud unnecessary, and he questioned Fatu’s decision not to ‘acknowledge’ him after suffering that initial loss—claiming they could have put the feud behind them and done business ‘together.’

“Acknowledge you, like everyone else in here,” Fatu questioned in his opening statement. Fatu answered his own question with an emphatic “hell nah.”

Fatu spoke about a new direction, a new era, and it was then that he challenged Roman’s own ‘Bloodline morality.’ This was the first time that Roman’s looseness with the rules had been addressed since controversy sparked online following his win. This was another moment when Roman used a foreign object, such as the steel stairs, without any repercussions in a traditional singles match.

Fatu acknowledged that Roman was doing what he had to do, and that is how he is justifying his run at the title.

Then Roman said something he might come to regret, claiming that if he loses, he will not just acknowledge Jacob as his tribal chief, but will also follow the newly crowned champion. Furthermore, Roman made it clear that if Jacob comes up short, then he will have to “dog walk” Fatu for real, threatening to make an example of his family foe by treating him like a ‘beaten dog.’

Fatu cleverly responded by saying he has no problem with the stipulations because he has a job either way—playing on the differences in mentality for the kid in Roman, who had his way paved for him, versus a family member that had to hustle to survive.

BROCK LESNAR V OBA FEMI II—ODDS THIS ENDS UP BEING 50/50 BOOKING???

The most consistent work on WWE programming since the ‘road to WrestleMania 42’ has been Oba Femi’s dominant run on RAW, culminating in a win over Lesnar on night two of the ‘show of shows.’ Even with Lesnar considered retired and Oba left without a big-name or high-quality booking, he commanded the crowd each week during the post-WM push.

Brock returned last week for his ‘get back’ on Oba Femi, sparking theories that he was no longer retired (or never truly ‘hung up his gloves’ in the first place). However, the narrative quickly emerged that Lesnar remains retired despite his demand for a rematch. The match feels huge, but it would have served better had he delivered an in-ring promo as opposed to his pre-recorded video package that was played in the middle of Paul Heyman’s promo, where the ‘Beast Incarnate’ declared that Oba has awoken the monster in him.

Still, Oba delivered an impassioned promo when he came down ringside to confront Heyman. Oba said that Paul should be worried about what Brock has unleashed in him, ruminating on the five F-5’s that he was hit with in Lesnar’s return. The two men will face off at this weekend’s ‘Clash in Paris,’ once again scheduled for the ‘opening hour’ and free on ESPN.

SETH ROLLINS VS MONTEZ FORD

Seth Rollins went straight up to Dawkins, telling him that he ‘stayed away’ on SNME as Montez Ford suggested, but he then doubled down by attempting to persuade the Profits to attack The Vision now that they are without PAUL.

Ford popped up and challenged the narrative that Rollins was anything other than a distraction, but that led to Ford challenging Rollins to a singles match. It acted as the main event, though it concluded before the Roman-Fatu segment. Dawkins tried to come to the ring to support his tag partner, but Theory attacked him with a chair, making him a non-factor.

A VISION OF INJURIES

It was announced that Logan Paul suffered a significant injury following his and Austin Theory’s successful title defense against the Street Profits, and he was seen grabbing at his arm in the match’s aftermath. Theory was seen in the back attempting to give up his half of the tag titles before Heyman assured them that he secured “Freebird Rule” for The Vision—meaning that Theory can defend the title with any member of the faction. Still, the only healthy member is Bron Breakker.

Injuries have decimated a once fresh faction that felt like the future of the company, but with Breakker only recently returning from injury, while Bronson Reed continues to recuperate. WWE creative and Heyman need to adapt to the current situation without merely putting on the blinders and plugging ahead—an example would be Joe Hendry signing his ‘Fire Logan Paul’ song despite him being injured.

Theory attacked Hendry with a chair at Heyman’s request. It wasn’t really hitting with the fans when Logan was healthy, but Theory hit Hendry with a chair shot off the turnbuckle post.

PENTA(c) VS JE’VON EVANS—Intercontinental Title

The singles match is fresh off the heels of Penta’s successful title defense this weekend on Saturday Night’s Main Event against Ethan Page, and commentary put over the fact that this was the first singles match between the two.

Before the match, AAA’s newest GM, Rey Mysterio Jr., was seen walking in the backstage area ahead of this Saturday’s huge show featuring the ‘Mask V Mask’ match between dueling El Grande Americanos. It was a quality showing from Evans, who kicked out of the ‘Penta Driver’ in the match’s final few moments. Je’Von Evans hit a huge top rope ‘hurricanrana’ before Penta hit both a superkick and code breaker on Evans as a counter to his high flying attempts.

OTHER TIDBITS

– Rey Mysterio Jr. faced Rusev in a number one contender for Penta’s IC title, with the situation being instigated by Ethan Page. Rey won the match, and Dragon Lee returned to help him with Page. Rey will now face Penta for the IC title at an undetermined date.

– Bayley and Lyra defeated Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez in tag action after Dom attempted to interfere, leading to The Judgment Day’s loss. Things backfired, leading Roxanne to hit Dom with his own AAA title. This should complicate things further for Liv.