WWE needed last night’s RAW after WrestleMania to feel like a reset, a statement, and a shot of adrenaline after a WrestleMania weekend that a lot of fans came away from calling overproduced, ad-heavy, and a little too polished for its own good. Instead, WWE gave us a show that was useful more than electric. It had real movement, a couple of smart debuts, one very strong closing angle, and a Paul Heyman promo that carried genuine weight, but it also had the same corporate bloat and recap-heavy pacing that hurt parts of WrestleMania itself. The show mattered. It just did not always feel as alive as a RAW after WrestleMania is supposed to feel.
That disconnect started right away. WWE opened with the “Then. Now. Forever. Together.” graphic and a WrestleMania recap package before really letting RAW become RAW. For a normal weekly show that would be fine. For the RAW after WrestleMania, especially after a weekend that already drew criticism for feeling too commercial and too carefully packaged, it was the wrong tone.
From there, the show settled into a pattern that pretty much defined the entire night: some strong ideas, some shaky presentation, and several moments that were better in concept than execution. Oba Femi looked like a star in the simplest possible way, Ethan Page instantly felt like he belonged, Sol Ruca got one of the loudest crowd reactions on the show, and Jacob Fatu stepping to Roman Reigns gave WWE a genuinely compelling Backlash direction. On the other side, the women’s tag opener felt like a retread more than a statement, the Cody Rhodes and CM Punk segment had an odd “out-babyface each other” energy, the celebrity and ad presence stayed way too visible, and WWE once again leaned on Bloodline familiarity because it knows that story is always sitting there waiting when it needs a major hook. Even the RAW recap podcast and the overall post-show conversation made it pretty clear that Jacob challenging Roman, Oba Femi’s presentation, and the fresh faces on the show were the real headline moments coming out of the night.
Here are the full results
- Rhea Ripley & IYO SKY def. The Kabuki Warriors
- Ethan Page def. Je’Von Evans
- Liv Morgan def. Sol Ruca
- Finn Bálor def. JD McDonagh
Breakdowns & Reactions
Oba Femi opened the live portion of the show, and WWE handled him the right way by not overthinking it. He walked out, soaked up the reaction, said “Your Ruler has arrived,” dropped the microphone, and left. That was it. No long speech, no overexplaining, no filler. Coming off beating Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania, that was all he needed. It felt like WWE finally understood that with Oba, less is more. One line, one stare, one mic drop, and he already felt more important than half the roster.
The opening match saw new WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley team with IYO SKY against Asuka and Kairi Sane, and this is one of those spots where the match itself mattered less than what it exposed about WWE’s booking instincts. Rhea and IYO won, with Rhea hitting Riptide on Kairi before IYO finished the job with Over the Moonsault, but the bigger talking point was that WWE went right back to a version of last year’s Crown Jewel tag main event formula instead of using this show to cleanly separate these women into sharper directions.
That is the part that actually works. Rhea should be the top babyface champion on SmackDown in a division loaded with heels, while IYO is better off staying on the red brand and moving into something more focused with Asuka and Kairi. The match was solid, but as a post-Mania statement it felt like wheel-spinning. The post-match tension only added more fuel to the idea that IYO branching off into a story that eventually pulls Kairi away from Asuka would make more sense than keeping these women tangled together in repetitive combinations.
The IYO dive during that match also became one of the most talked about moments coming out of the show because of how dangerous it looked. That sequence added intensity, but it also became a reminder of how thin the line is between a hot highlight and a disaster. The match wound up being remembered as much for that landing as anything else, which says a lot about how little real story weight the bout had beyond serving as a temporary bridge.
CM Punk’s in-ring promo and Cody Rhodes confronting him should have felt bigger than it did. Punk addressed losing the World Heavyweight Championship to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania, insisted he is still the best in the world, and Cody came out to tell him his time was still coming before the segment ended with the clear tease of Cody vs. Punk down the line. On paper, that is a heavyweight follow-up. In execution, it was weirdly sterile. Instead of tension, it felt like two top stars trying to be more noble than the other.
It was a notable future setup, but the segment never really had heat. It felt polished, careful, and a little off-putting. The bigger issue is what it says about WWE’s world title scene right now. Punk immediately being slotted back into title orbit only adds to the criticism that WWE is still too dependent on the same older names when fans are clearly hungry for newer, fresher blood in the main event picture.
Ethan Page’s RAW debut was one of the smartest things on the entire show. WWE did not waste him on a random local competitor. They put him in there with Je’Von Evans, someone he already had history with from NXT, and immediately tied that match into the Intercontinental Championship scene. Before the match, both Page and Evans made it clear that they had Penta in their sights, and then Rusev inserted himself into the picture as well. That is exactly the kind of post-Mania midcard structure RAW needed.
Ethan Page beating Evans, thanks in part to the chaos caused by Rusev, made perfect sense. It protected Evans, established Page, and finally gave Penta defined challengers instead of leaving him stuck in random open-challenge territory or another storyless gimmick setup. More importantly, Page looked natural out there. He did not look like an NXT guest. He looked like a main roster act from the second he showed up.
The post-match angle made that whole section even better. Rusev destroyed Evans, Penta ran down to make the save, and Page then helped Rusev turn the tables so Rusev could lock the champion in the Accolade. That one sequence gave the Intercontinental title scene shape overnight. Now you have Page as the official challenger, Rusev as the violent spoiler, Penta as the champion with multiple threats, and Evans as the young star who still has unfinished business with both men. That is far more interesting than another ladder match or another week of filler. It also leaves the door wide open for Rusev and Evans to cross paths again before either one gets a straight shot at Penta, which would be a very easy feud to justify based on what happened here.
Liv Morgan’s championship celebration and Sol Ruca’s interruption produced one of the loudest crowd reactions of the night. WWE had Liv come out with Judgment Day, celebrate winning the Women’s World Championship, and start talking like the division belonged to her. Then Sol Ruca interrupted, and the crowd instantly woke up. Sol debuted here, got the non-title match, and lost after Zaria attacked her at ringside, which allowed Liv to catch her with Oblivion. The crowd reaction was the key takeaway. Sol felt like a star the second she walked out.
That said, she also looked a little tentative on the microphone, which is understandable for a debut spot like this. The audience carried a lot of that moment for her, but that is not a bad thing. It means the connection is already there.
This whole section also raised the same Judgment Day frustration that has been hanging over RAW for months. WWE keeps teasing cracks, keeps putting pieces of the group at odds, and keeps refusing to fully implode the thing. That can work if there is a real payoff coming, but at some point it just starts to feel like the company using the group as a convenience prop. Liv being aligned with Raquel is a perfect example when you remember Liv eliminated Raquel from the Royal Rumble back in January. That history is just being brushed aside because WWE wants the visual of the group still standing together. The post-match Stephanie Vaquer confrontation mattered more than the actual Judgment Day celebration, because at least that felt like forward movement.
Paul Heyman then delivered one of the best promos on the show, maybe the best. After a Brock Lesnar career retrospective aired, Heyman came out and basically told the audience that Brock no longer belongs in the “now” portion of WWE’s identity but in the “forever.” It was emotional, dramatic, and still left just enough wiggle room to keep people wondering if this is really the end. WWE is clearly framing WrestleMania 42 as Brock’s exit point after he left his boots and gloves in the ring against Oba Femi. The other smart piece of the segment was how Heyman used that emotion to pivot right back into current business with The Vision and the favor GUNTHER now supposedly owes him for taking Brock out of the picture. The promo worked because it felt sincere without losing its edge.
That led into the chaos involving Seth Rollins, Bron Breakker, Logan Paul, Austin Theory, and the returning Street Profits. Seth attacked Bron with a chair and busted him open the hard way, Logan and Theory swarmed Seth, and then The Street Profits returned to jump into the mess because of their own issues with the tag champions. Once the Profits and the champs brawled away, Bron recovered and wrecked Seth with spears. It was chaotic, violent, and messy in the best way.
The one thing WWE has to be careful about now is making sure there is actual logic behind any Seth-Profits overlap. Last night it came off less like a formal alliance and more like two separate rivalries colliding at the same time, which is fine. But if WWE starts treating it like a natural long-term pairing without explaining it, that is where it could get clunky fast. As for Bron being busted open, the accidental blood gave the segment more grit than most of the rest of the show.
Finn Bálor defeating JD McDonagh was solid enough, but it also felt like one of the clearest examples of how the pacing and ad-heavy structure of the night wore the crowd down. Finn beat JD with Coup de Grâce, Dominik Mysterio tried to jump him afterward, and Finn sent him running. It was fine. It served its purpose. But by that point the room felt like it was waiting for the main event rather than fully living in the moment. That is the problem with a show like this. Nothing was outright bad, but too much of it felt like setup instead of eruption.
Then came the closing segment, and that is where the show finally found the kind of angle it could build a real aftermath around. Roman Reigns came out as the new World Heavyweight Champion with Jimmy and Jey Uso, effectively restoring the OG Bloodline trio. Roman’s message was that apart they are weak but together nobody can touch them. If that had been the entire segment, it would have felt like WWE going right back to the same Bloodline comfort food because it knows fans will react to it. That criticism is fair.
But then Jacob Fatu interrupted, and suddenly the whole thing got much more interesting.
Jacob did not come out talking about respect or wanting to be Tribal Chief. He said he needs Roman’s title and everything that comes with it because that means taking care of his family. That was the hook. Roman was talking unity. Jacob was talking need. Roman wanted the family restored around him. Jacob wanted the life Roman has built for himself. That is a far better emotional conflict than just doing another variation of “I’m the real Tribal Chief.”
The RAW recap podcast and the post-show reaction had this pegged as the true centerpiece of the night, and they were right. Roman then told Jacob to think about his actions for a week and sent Jimmy to talk to him, which was a subtle but important reminder that even when Roman is calmer and less openly tyrannical, he still defaults to control. This has a chance to be a very strong Backlash story if WWE commits to the family tension instead of just the nostalgia visual of Roman and The Usos standing together again.
The fan and media response coming out of the show lined up with a lot of the same points. The broad praise was centered on Oba Femi’s presentation, Ethan Page’s debut, Sol Ruca’s reaction, Paul Heyman’s Brock promo, and Jacob Fatu stepping into the world title picture. The broad criticism was centered on the opening recap, the heavy celebrity and ad presence, the subdued energy compared to classic RAW after WrestleMania episodes, and WWE’s instinct to lean on familiar Bloodline material instead of fully embracing a fresher identity. WWE got the important stuff on the board. It just did not always make the show feel must-see in the moment.
What was announced for next week
- Roman Reigns will respond to Jacob Fatu’s Backlash challenge
- Joe Hendry concert
- Becky Lynch will appear
Final thoughts
Last night’s RAW after WrestleMania was not a bad show. It was a useful show. There is a difference. WWE gave itself a clearer Intercontinental title picture, positioned Oba Femi like a killer, introduced Ethan Page and Sol Ruca in ways that mattered, gave Paul Heyman a genuinely strong promo, and landed on a closing angle that finally felt like it could carry real emotion into Backlash.
At the same time, the show never fully escaped the same problems that dragged down parts of WrestleMania weekend. The recaps were too much, the ads and celebrity focus were still overbearing, parts of the card felt like placeholders instead of statements, and there is still a larger issue with WWE leaning too heavily on the same old top-of-the-card names and structures when fans are begging for younger, fresher stars to take over more of that space.
The good news is that the ingredients are there. Ethan Page feels ready. Sol Ruca already has crowd momentum. Oba Femi feels massive. Jacob Fatu stepping to Roman is exactly the kind of angle that can make the Bloodline feel urgent again instead of stale. WWE just has to follow through.
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I’m the quiet one until the bell rings then I’ve got takes. I live for WWE NXT and TNA, I want every promotion to succeed, and I will absolutely roast the bad decisions on sight (because someone has to). Anime taught me to respect long-term storytelling; wrestling taught me that sometimes the plan is “we panicked” and called it “unpredictable.” The Miz got me into all of this, so yeah I appreciate confidence, commitment, and the art of talking like you’re already the main event. Now I bring that same energy to the page as the main writer for Late Night Crew Wrestling because if you’re not here to be must-see and tell the truth, why are you here?!