Cook’s WWE Raw Review 5.11.26

Hey kids! Steve Cook here with you for the latest episode of WWE Raw on Netflix! Backlash took place this Saturday, Roman Reigns won the match but got destroyed by Jacob Fatu afterward. This will probably be discussed at some point. Also, the Vision team up to take on Joe Hendry & the Street Profits, and we’ll see Brie Bella & Paige! Oba Femi will kill a guy. All this & maybe more!

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Cook’s WWE Raw Review 5.11.26

Then. Now. Forever. Together!

We open with a video package recapping events that took place at Backlash on Saturday night. IYO SKY beat Asuka. John Cena announced a new event. Bron Breakker beat Seth Rollins. Sami Zayn lost to Trick Williams. Danhausen & Mini-Hausen won their match. Roman Reigns retained the World Championship.

Knoxville hosts tonight’s show! Brie Bella & Paige are WALKING! Oba Femi is WALKING! IYO SKY is SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS! The Street Profits & Joe Hendry are WALKING!

Roman Reigns exits his vehicle and talks to Adam Pearce. Pearce says that Jacob doesn’t deserve to be here and shouldn’t be around at all. Roman asks where his title belt is, and Pearce yells for someone to give it to him. Pearce wants to fire Jacob, but Roman wants Jacob to acknowledge him. He was the one that got Jacob here, and he’ll be the one that takes him out. Roman enters his locker room and closes the door.

Lilian Garcia introduces the Vision as they enter the arena. Michael Cole & Corey Graves are our hosts. Paul Heyman introduces himself and calls Knoxville the inbred capital of eastern Tennessee before welcoming us to Raw. They appreciate true talent, like the talent that was demonstrated on Saturday night by Bron Breakker. Heyman asks who’s not ready now, and that’s Seth Rollins, who wasn’t ready for the physical onslaught of Bron Breakker. A year ago he wasn’t ready for the wisdom of the Wiseman, and now he’ll never be ready to have a vision of victory over any of them. There will no longer be a reason for them to mention Seth’s name. Heyman talks about the Tag Team Champions, Logan Paul & Austin Theory. Heyman asks them to air their grievances. Theory talks about how the Street Profits keep putting their noses in their business. Apparently they need the titles because Bianca can’t pay the bills anymore.

Before Austin can start on that Joe Hendry nerd, the Street Profits hit the stage. Montez shouts out Rocky Top, and says Theory has a point. Since Bianca is busy with the baby, somebody has to come to Raw and whoop their asses all over Knoxville. Their goal was the championship no matter who the champions were. They’re always up and they want the smoke. Logan is going to say something nice, everyone knows the Street Profits are a legendary tag team. They’re old news, the only thing Montez has done in the last six months is organize a baby shower. The Vision is ready anytime & any place. Bron, Austin & Logan are ready.

Joe Hendry emerges with his guitar and leads the crowd in the “Fire Logan Paul” song. Corey starts singing about admiring Logan, I’m guessing somebody in his headset told him to quit drowning the fan audio out because he stops. We go to commercial!

Joe Hendry & The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) vs. The Vision (Bron Breakker, Logan Paul & Austin Theory) (w/Paul Heyman): We return and our six-man tag is joined in progress. Dawkins splashes and kicks Theory in the corner for two. Theory takes control and tags Paul so he can land some punches. Logan misses a splash in the corner and Ford tags in. They hit a double team, but Bron tags in and hits the sped up clothesline on Ford. Bron hits a vertical suplex for two. Tag to Logan, Bron military presses Ford and drops him into a Logan uppercut for two. Logan works Ford over in the corner, then whips him off the ropes for a clothesline that gets two. Logan knocks Angelo off the apron, but misses another splash and Hendry tags in. Some strikes, then a fallaway slam. He hits the pose! Theory dives towards him, Logan takes them down and works Hendry over on the mat. Bron tags in and hits a release German suplex. We go to commercial!

Logan works Hendry over as we return, but Joe reverses with a vertical suplex. Ford tags in, hits Theory with a crossbody. Bron & Logan get knocked off the apron, Theory gets clotheslined. Bron gets sent over the top to the floor, Ford dives onto him! Theory runs into a kick, Ford goes up top, Theory avoids the move but then rolls into a powerslam from Ford to two. Dawkins tags in, Theory put in the electric chair, Ford goes up top but Logan knocks him to the floor. Hendry gets sent into the steps by Logan. Theory distracts the referee so Bron can hit the running spear, but here’s Seth Rollins to break it up by clotheslining Breakker! Dawkins rolls Theory up for the three count!

Winners: Joe Hendry & The Street Profits (7:08 shown via pinfall)
Match Rating: **1/2
Seth Rollins almost made himself a useful ally! As we’ll see in a minute he didn’t quite succeed. It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen either Ford or Dawkins, they both looked good here and ready for the opportunity.

Seth extends the hand of friendship to Dawkins, who then gets speared by Breakker! Seth drives Bron out of the ring, but Montez yells at Seth about the situation! He tells Seth to stay out of their way and checks on Angelo.

Adam Pearce talks to Bruto & Julio along with Original Grande Americano. Dominik Mysterio & Liv Morgan come up so Liv can say that Dom is overdue for a title opportunity. OG complains about the interruption, he & Liv go back & forth, Dom says that OG isn’t even a luchador! Pearce puts two & two together and books Dom vs. OG for the AAA Mega Championship tonight! As Pearce walks away, Los Garzas walk up to him and have some business to discuss. I remember them! Kinda!

Penta makes his entrance! We’ll hear from him next!

Last week, Penta heard somebody talking about his championship. He tells Ethan Page that he’s a fighting champion and invites Ethan out to say it to his face. Ethan takes him up on it. Ethan questions his audacity, since he painted up his chin and decided to hide his whole identity. Ethan stands in the spotlight with no mask or hidden identity. He’s “All Ego” Ethan Page, he’s from Canada, and he pinned Penta last week. That should make him #1 contender, but maybe Penta’s afraid to face him again. Penta wants to fight now and removes his WrestleMania jacket. Ethan tells him to pump the brakes. Penta’s ready to go, Ethan is not. The IC title is the token of excellence, every megastar in the history of WWE has held it. Ethan is the next megastar, and the title deserves the biggest stage: two weeks from now at Saturday Night’s Main Event! Penta says this title is the workhorse title, and Penta is always ready for the war.

Rusev comes out and tells them to stop it. Ethan amuses him, but him getting the IC title shot before him doesn’t sit well with him. It was Rusev that bounced Penta’s head off the steps and led to the pinfall. Ethan says he already went to Adam Pearce’s office and tried to get Rusev a match, but Je’Von Evans barged in questioning why Rusev would get a title shot when he can’t even beat him. Evans walks out saying woah and calls Ethan a liar. He didn’t say anything to Ethan or Adam Pearce, he never said that Rusev couldn’t beat him, which is true.

Ethan attacks Evans from behind and things break down into fisticuffs. Penta dives onto Ethan, Je’Von dives onto Rusev and they strut together before we go to commercial.

Je’Von Evans vs. Rusev: We return to an impromptu match! Rusev dominates early with strikes. Evans briefly comes back before getting wiped out by a spinning heel kick. Rusev with some suplexes, then he chokes Evans in the corner. Rusev puts Evans up top for a superplex, Evans fights back and knocks Rusev to the mat before hitting a Whisper in the Wind. Evans hits the bouncy rana, then a kick to the back of the neck. Rusev goes outside, Evans goes for a dive but Rusev meets him and fallaway slams him onto the announce table. We go to commercial!

Evans tries to fight back as we return, and Rusev encourages him before telling him he has nothing and throws him into the corner. Rusev misses, Evans with a superkick & clothesline. Evans with a kick in the corner, springboard clothesline gets two. Rusev drops Evans with a kidney punch. Evans goes for the OG Cutter, Rusev drops him with a urinaki, then the Machka kick gets two. Rusev gets kicked by Evans, Evans hits a cartwheel kinda kick, then dives OUTSIDE onto Rusev. Back in the ring, OG Cutter! Evans favors his lower back after the move but still gets the win!

Winner: Je’Von Evans (7:16 shown via pinfall)
Match Rating: **3/4
This was an interesting match to me because we got to see Je’Von not working at 100 miles per hour. He had to slow down a bit, and that’s a good learning experience for him.

We see a video package for the AAA Mega Championship. It’s been the premier title in lucha libre since 2007, only fourteen men have held it. El Mesias, Dr. Wagner Jr., Texano Jr. It’s a symbol of honor, hope and the proud, rich history of lucha libre. It wasn’t an exhaustive history of the title, but I’m glad they explained it here for those not familiar. Sometimes championships appear on wrestling shows and you have no idea where the heck they came from or why we should care.

IYO SKY & Asuka hug . Asuka says she was looking for someone to take over her position, and IYO is that person. Asuka is happy it was her and is proud of her. IYO says that even fi they fight they will always be family. IYO says “goodbye” and Asuka says “see you later” before leaving the building with her rolling suitcase. Cole promises an update on Asuka’s situation later tonight.

Brie Bella & Paige enter the arena. We’ll hear from them next!

Brie says that the Women’s Tag Team Champions are here. Paige says they’re ready for a fight and want to hear from the Judgment Day. Raquel Rodriguez & Roxanne Perez make their way down the aisle. Raquel welcomes them to their show and thanks them for taking a break from their nostalgia show. Roxanne loved watching them on TV when they were still young and relevant. Roxanne met Brie when she was a kid and told her she could continue the Bella legacy. Roxanne asks Brie how she could set the bar so low. Brie wanted her to start her own legacy, not be a footnote in the Judgment Day. Roxanne’s mom must be even more disappointed than Brie is. Raquel talks about how Paige got so many chances and blew every one. They’re waiting for her next scandal to hit. Raquel suggests they hand the belts over since there’s nothing more pathetic than two has-beens with titles they don’t deserve.

A fight starts, and Liv comes down to Codebreak Paige and make it a 3 on 2. Roxanne does the cartwheel knees into Brie’s head, then Paige gets taken out by a legsweep/big boot combo. The Judgment Day poses with the gold while Brie & Paige are laid out.

Jimmy Uso enters Roman’s locker room and says Jey is going to try and talk Jacob out of coming to the ring tonight. Jimmy says that Roman won, and he should leave it alone. Roman says they made a deal. There was a contract involved, there’s got to be order here. They need to be men of their word. If Jacob can’t respect his family, there will never be respect on the outside. Jacob has to acknowledge him. Jimmy doesn’t think Jacob will, and Roman says if he doesn’t, his ass is outta here. Jimmy says he’ll go find Jacob and exits.

Dominik Mysterio talks about how the Mega Championship is the pinnacle of lucha and he’s dominated for eight months as the greatest luchador on the planet. He’s surpassed everything his deadbeat dad ever did. Original Americano will never be a real luchador and will never get his hands on his championship.

NXT Origins shows us early Rhea Ripley! She wasn’t getting anywhere being a fake version of herself. Becoming champion meant the world to her. The most important lesson she learned was to be the person she was meant to be. She learned about the business & who she is as a person. Early Rhea wants to inspire the younger Superstars, I think she’s succeeded.

IYO SKY vs. Sol Ruca: IYO seems impressed with Sol, we flash back to last Monday when Becky Lynch interrupted Sol’s contract signing ceremony. Becky got Sol Snatched as a result. Tieup, some go-behinds, Sol takes IYO down, IYO to a hammerlock, Sol fights out, IYO flips out of an armbar. Sol walks on her hands, then ranas IYO before posing. IYO gets faceplanted by Sol, who stands on IYO and surfs. IYO with some gymnastics of her own, Sol walks on her hands again and gets kicked down. IYO with a headlock, she gets sent to the apron, then kicked to the floor by Sol. Sol goes for a moonsault, mosses, IYO with a rana on the floor that doesn’t miss. Sol hits a corkscrew off the ropes to the floor and we go to commercial!

Sol up top, IYO with the palm strike. IYO follows Sol up, hits the Spanish Fly for two. IYO selling her ribs after that one. Strikes exchanged, IYO wins that one and knocks Sol down. Sol gets IYO on her shoulders and hits a modified Blue Thunder for two. IYO with a kick in the corner, she goes up top and hits the missile dropkick. IYO does her crazy pose and then motions for the Bullet Train Attack. IYO misses, Sol hits some knees, roll through leads to a doublestomp by IYO that gets two. IYO goes up for the moonsault but Sol knocks her down to the apron. IYO snaps Sol’s knee on the ropes, springboard misses, Sol up top, cartwheels down into a tornado DDT! It gets a two count. Sol gets her legs locked in the middle turnbuckle, IYO hits a Bullet Train Attack and goes up top for the Over The Moonsault, it gets nothing but Sol’s knees. Sol rolls through and goes for the Sol Snatcher, but IYO sees it coming, avoids it and crucifixes Sol for the pin!

Winner: IYO SKY (9:25 shown via pinfall)
Match Rating: ***
The crowd was a bit slow to get into things but were eventually won over. Sol losing here is perfectly fine, IYO’s one of the top ladies on the roster and getting that first loss out of the way early is probably for the best.

IYO applauds and pulls Sol up for a handshake & hug. Mutual respect!

Cole & Graves talk about the upcoming acknowledgement ceremony and we see Jacob beating Roman up after their match on Saturday.

Jey paces & Jimmy shows up. Jimmy says his talk with Roman didn’t go well, and sometimes Roman can be delusional. Jey doesn’t think Jacob will acknowledge him, and will remain outside to greet Jacob while Jimmy will accompany the OTC to the ring.

We then see John Cena announcing the debut of the John Cena Classic.

Penta vs. Ethan Page & Austin/Logan vs. Street Profits have both been made official for Saturday Night’s Main Event.

JACKIE REDMOND is with the Street Profits. Angelo says they’re feeling great and this is exactly what they came back for. Seth Rollins appears and says they need to talk. Montez wants nothing to do with it, Angelo is open to listening. Seth admits he was wrong in the past, Montez says he can’t be trusted and they don’t need him to win the Tag Team Championship.

Oba Femi is WALKING!

IYO tells Sol that she is the future and they will fight again one day. Sol thanks her, then as IYO leaves Becky Lynch appears. Becky laughs & says that Sol can’t even beat IYO Jannetty. Becky guesses that the lights are too bright. Sol doesn’t appear pleased.

Oba Femi struts down to the ring! I’ll admit it, I thought that strut was silly when he started doing it in NXT but it’s freaking over. Oba says the time has come for the Open Challenge to begin. Adam Pearce appears on stage and says that nobody back there was willing to answer the challenge. The challenge is cancelled for tonight! The fans boo & Pearce apologizes. Oba storms up the ramp and tells Pearce to do his job. He barges backstage and grabs Los Garzas! He carries Berto & drags Angel out to the arena! Angel sent back-first into the ring, both Garzas tossed into the ring.

Oba Femi Open Challenge: Oba Femi vs. Los Garzas (Angel & Berto): Oba uppercuts both men in the corner a few times. Running uppercut takes Angel down, then Angel is tossed over Berto! Berto gets tossed as well. Berto takes the Fall From Grace and there’s the three count.

Winner: Oba Femi (:50 via pinfall)
Match Rating: SQUASH
Well, I hope Los Garzas enjoyed their excursion to Monday Night Raw.

Original Grande Americano talks about how the Mega Championship belongs around the waist of a true legend. Dom does not fit that description. OG will pin Dom tonight.

Dom is walking with JD McDonagh when Finn Balor appears! He takes JD out and asks Dom if he has a match tonight. Dom says he has gold to defend, something Finn wouldn’t understand.

AAA Mega Championship Match: “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio (c) vs. Original Grande Americano: The Mega Championship now has a black strap and looks spiffier in general. Dom & OG go back & forth, OG with an elbowblock and an Ole. OG goes for the ankle lock, gets it briefly before Dom kicks him away. Dom jumps off the middle rope into an armdrag. OG with the Northern Lights suplex for two, he works the arm while Cole & Graves plug AAA. OG goes up top, Dom smacks him and OG responds with the hanging armbar. Both men on the apron, OG goes for a suplex, Dom blocks with an elbow, then monkey flips OG off the ringpost to the floor! That could have rung OG’s bell for sure, we go to commercial.

Strikes are exchanged as we return, OG avoids the 619, hits the Angle Slam! OG up top, hits the moonsault for two! Dom fights back, hits a Michinoku Driver for two. Dom misses a hilo, then gets overhead thrown into the corner. Dragon suplex gets two for Americano! OG goes up top, here’s Rayo & Bravo! They distract the referee while El Grande Americano headbutts OG! Dom hits a tornado DDT for two. Julio & Bruto run down and start fighting with Rayo & Bravo, they fight off. OG goes for Grande’s mask, the problem with that is that he’s in position for the 619! Dom hits that and then the frog splash gets three.

Winner: Dominik Mysterio (6:03 shown via pinfall)
Match Rating: ***
I haven’t been the biggest fan of the Americano segments on Raw, but their usage felt a lot better this week since the announcers were putting over the significance of the AAA Mega Championship and having it defended on Raw. Cole doing that instead of burying the Americanos is a move in the right direction. They just need to find the fine line between opening more eyes to AAA and driving people away by focusing on it too much.

Raw will be in Greensboro next Monday! Brie Bella & Paige will defend the Women’s Tag Team Championship against Roxanne & Raquel! Oba Femi will have his Open Challenge!

Jackie talks to Logan Paul & Austin Theory and wants a reaction to what happened tonight. Logan calls Jackie “Wackie” and wishes she would go away, and if he has to listen to Joe Hendry’s song one more time he’ll cut his ears off. He can’t stand Joe Hendry. Theory tells Logan to relax. Jackie tries to ask Theory a question, Theory offers her a ride and she declines.

Roman Reigns’ music hits! Roman & Jimmy Uso make their way to the ring and the ones are raised to the sky.

After the commercial, Roman asks Knoxville to acknowledge him. We see Jacob Fatu arrive and walk towards the ring. Jey keeps talking and trying to convince him not to go to the ring. Jey asks Jacob to be smart and Jacob pounds him down! Jacob says “hell no” to the idea of acknowledging Roman. Roman will have to beat the acknowledgment out of him. Jimmy walks up the ramp to talk to Jacob and gets the same treatment Jey did. Jacob & Roman stare at each other before throwing hands. Jacob hits a running shoulderblock, then clotheslines Roman over the top rope. Jacob goes for the dive but runs into a Superman punch from Roman! Roman gets a chair out from under the ring and hits Jacob in the back with it a few times. He drives the chair into Jacob’s chest and hits him again. Roman hits his pose, but runs right into a Fatu superkick. Tongan Death Grip by Jacob! Roman is sent outside, and this time Jacob hits the dive. Jacob bounces Roman off the ringpost and yells about how Roman left him & his family broke. Roman is sent into the steps, then Jacob gets the announce table ready. Roman with another Superman punch! He tries another, but Fatu goes back to the death grip. Jacob powerbombs Roman through the table! He goes back to the death grip while officials & referees try to break it up. Pearce tells Jacob that’s enough, but Jacob’s not listening. Pearce gets shoved down in the process & Corey checks on him.

Jacob enters the ring and poses with the World Championship before leaving. Well, until he sees Jimmy & Jey checking on Roman, then he runs down and drives them through the barricade! Welp, that’s how our live event comes to an end. So long for now!

If you’d like to chime in with your own thoughts on tonight’s show, feel free to join your fellow 411 Maniacs down in the comment section! As the legendary Larry Csonka always said: Have fun and don’t be a dick. When I’m not here you can catch me on social media from time to time. To be honest, e-mail is a better option and you can reach me at [email protected].

6.7

The final score: review Average

The 411

The first episode after Backlash gave us an indication of the road to the next PLE. The Jacob Fatu push continues and he's doing a good job of looking like a dangerous monster. A rematch seems on the horizon. Penta's road will likely go through Ethan Page to some kind of multi-man match. We got a proper goodbye for Asuka. Decent episode of Raw to kick off the next cycle. See you tomorrow for NXT!