WWE Raw takeaways: Jacob Fatu refuses to acknowledge Roman Reigns

Matthew Wells, Wrestling JunkieTue, May 12, 2026 at 12:03 PM UTC

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WWE Raw takeaways: Jacob Fatu refuses to acknowledge Roman Reigns

WWE Raw on May 11, 2026, took place at Food City Center in Knoxville, Tenn., and featured an "acknowledgment ceremony" with Roman Reigns and Jacob Fatu.

The first show following Backlash saw The Vision take a 6-man tag loss against the Street Profits and Joe Hendry. The Street Profits will now get a title shot at the upcoming Saturday Night's Main Event. Je’Von Evans got a win over Rusev, and the women's tag champs, Brie Bella and Paige, were attacked by Judgment Day. It was a relatively weak post-PLE Raw, but there were some good things here.

Here’s the top takeaways from this week’s show:

Asuka says goodbye, IYO SKY puts on a banger

After Asuka lost to IYO SKY at Backlash, speculation ran rampant about Asuka walking away from WWE. On Monday in a backstage segment, she embraced with IYO SKY again, looking relieved to be walking away. Asuka said she was waiting for someone to step up and take her place, and she now believes IYO SKY has become that person.

Asuka walked out of the building with her suitcase, and then IYO SKY took on Sol Ruca for what was easily the best match of the show.

IYO SKY and Ruca had the Tennessee crowd chanting "This is awesome" multiple times. It was a very fun match with bodies flying all over the place. There was a top-rope Spanish fly, a top-rope cartwheel DDT, and other impressive maneuvers, including the finish. IYO SKY was able to evade the Sol Snatcher to counter with a rollup pin for the win.

It seems we have some closure on Asuka, as she got to say goodbye. However, considering this happened in a backstage segment makes it seem she’ll be back for a surprise return – but maybe not. She’s posted cryptic messages on social media since Backlash, but as we’ve seen in recent instances, WWE is not opposed to hard-selling stories on socials these days.

Oba Femi Open Challenge canceled?

This week’s Oba Femi Open Challenge was canceled by Adam Pearce. Femi was in the ring, called for his opponent, but got the Raw GM instead telling him nobody was willing to step up.

Femi stormed to the back to find someone on his own. Angel and Berto were just past Gorilla position, and they got dragged to the ring by Femi. After the referee rang the bell, Femi went to work, tossing them all over the place in a handicap squash match.

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It’s not a surprise that we got an angle like this, because the Raw roster simply isn’t large enough to support a weekly squashing for Femi – and he took out two Superstars this week. This whole thing is designed to buy Femi more time until a title program makes sense. On one hand, it's dope for Femi's character to just feed his destructive desire by seeking out bodies, but on the other, with something like this already happening, the open challenge could be scrapped soon.

Dominik Mysterio defends AAA Mega Championship

The lone title match on this week’s show was for Dominik Mysterio’s AAA Mega Championship against the Original El Grande Americano. While getting ready to walk out, JD McDonagh, who was walking next to Mysterio, was taken out by Finn Bálor, leaving Mysterio alone to defend his title.

The match was humming along nicely, until Los Americanos appeared, distracting the referee and attacking OG Americano. This prompted the arrival of Hermanos Americanos, who ran them off, but the other El Grande Americano kept OG busy, allowing Mysterio to attack, and then hit a 619 and a frog spash for the pin.

This was a solid match, but of course there wouldn’t be a title change in this spot because a AAA title change should only take place on AAA programming. It was also kind of odd that this was the only title defended, despite multiple appearances from other WWE titleholders throughout the show.

Jacob Fatu refuses to acknowledge Roman Reigns

The final segment of the show was supposed to be a moment for Jacob Fatu to fulfill his contractual obligation by acknowledging Roman Reigns after losing at Backlash.

Instead, Fatu attacked. Jey Uso met him at his vehicle and tried to talk him out of attacking Reigns. For that, Jey was taken out in Gorilla. Jimmy Uso tried to cut off Fatu at the entrance, but he too was dropped. Fatu and Reigns then fought it out.

Tables and chairs were cracked, the Tongan Death Grip was utilized multiple times, and in the final attack, Fatu tackled Reigns and The Usos through the timekeeper’s barricade.

There was no acknowledgment from Fatu, if you didn’t guess. It’s tough to determine where this is heading, because Fatu still seems fixated on winning the title. Are they going to run this back at Clash in Italy? Maybe, but if they do, there must be some sort of stipulation attached. May I suggest an "I acknowledge you" match, instead of an "I quit" match?

This article originally appeared on Wrestling Junkie: WWE Raw takeaways: Jacob Fatu ramages on Roman Reigns, The Usos

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