Welcome to Wrestling Inc.’s weekly review of “WWE Raw,” the show that once again ended with Jacob Fatu punking Roman Reigns ahead of their World Heavyweight Championship match at Backlash! The WINC staff has some thoughts on that main event segment, as well as a ton of stuff that preceded it, from Sol Ruca clashing with Becky Lynch to Oba Femi kicking off his open challenge by tossing Alpha Academy’s Otis around like he was Rey Mysterio.
As always, we’re not covering everything in this column — for a comprehensive and unbiased look at everything that went down in Omaha on Monday night, check out our 5/4/26 “Raw” results page. What we can give you here is our opinions about the parts of the show that stood out to us the most, whether in a positive or a negative way. So without further ado, here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 5/4/26 episode of “WWE Raw!”
Hated: Deja vu (yet somehow worse than the first time)
This week saw the rematch of the match no one ever asked for between JD McDonagh and Finn Balor, with all the milquetoast accoutrements of a Judgment Day member’s match.
McDonagh is a good wrestler in spite of the *gestures at him* and the in-ring portion was always going to be quite good, as it was during last week’s show. But there was zero reason for them to go back at it just a week later aside from TKO releasing everyone else on the roster because they’re really cash-strapped at the moment.
There was a vaguely interesting thread beforehand, with Liv Morgan asking why Roxanne Perez didn’t tell her about her little impromptu meeting with Balor backtage last week. She then made Perez promise she would never let anyone get between the family, and sure enough Perez emerged during the match to deliver a little bit of jeopardy in that regard. She was eventually joined by Morgan as the entirety of Judgment Day ultimately wound up at ringside, with Michael Cole floating the idea that Morgan was there to keep an eye on Perez and make sure her loyalties were true. But then eventually all was clear in its most mundane way.
Dominik Mysterio tried to interfere one too many times and got caught by the referee, who opted to throw just Mysterio out rather then disqualifying McDonagh. Raquel Rodriguez, Morgan, and Perez remained at ringside. And, predictably, as Balor went to finish the match off, Morgan climbed up onto the apron, entered a staring contest with the referee, threw a bell hammer to Perez behind her who then ran over to the other apron and struck Balor with it to cost him the match.
To be clear, the referee was staring right at Morgan as she struggled to pull the weapon from her sleeve, threw it to Perez in full view of the referee, and Perez ran to the other side while, again, in full view of the referee. It’s been years of finishes like this when it comes to Judgment Day, always a screwy finish that insults the intelligence of everyone involved. It’s sickeningly boring. And McDonagh won, which means we are now probably doomed to a third edition of the match we never asked for at the very least.
Written by Max Everett
Loved: Sol Ruca heads toward Intercontinental title match
When Sol Ruca told Becky Lynch that she found out that Lynch is exactly who people say she is during their segment tonight, my first thought was, “Yes, good, people often say that Lynch is eager to help put talent over” and I absolutely love that for Ruca. She debuted in a big way a couple weeks ago, even in a loss to Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan, and it would be nice to see her go over Lynch and win the Women’s Intercontinental Championship so early into her main roster run.
After General Manager Adam Pearce introduced Ruca, following a short and sweet video package about all her accomplishments in “WWE NXT,” as well as her incredible Royal Rumble performance this year, and after Ruca had her “Raw” contract in hand, Lynch’s music hit. She said she had the timeslot for a celebration for herself, which Ruca immediately shut down. Sure, she’s not the strongest on the mic just yet, especially up against a powerhouse like Lynch, but she’s making a valiant effort and it really shows.
She said everyone thinks, and now she knows, that Lynch is a “rude, big-headed b****” and “it’s not just me saying it,” which was a nice touch. Lynch went to deck her one, but accidentally hit Pearce instead of Ruca. I also liked that aspect. Since Pearce is already beyond fed up with Lynch, this is only going to work more in Ruca’s favor, and I’m sure he’s just going to hand her a title match. I don’t know if she’ll win it off her first try, but I’m more than willing to watch a few matches between these two women.
At the end of the segment, Ruca went to hit her Sol Snatcher. She slipped a little on the ropes, but I didn’t even mind that. She recovered really well and hit the move, which is always going to look off if the camera angle isn’t just right, and moved on. That’s something I actually really like about Ruca — she’s incredible in the ring, but when she slips up in promos or slips on the ropes, she just recovers so well and you don’t see it in her face at all. She commits to everything and tries hard, and I’m just such a fan of hers. She got a great crowd reaction tonight up against Lynch, and I think WWE should pull the trigger and give her the title.
Written by Daisy Ruth
Hated: Simply unacceptable
I’m not going to take up too much of your time here, because my argument is pretty simple: It’s unacceptable to run an episode of wrestling television in 2026 without a women’s match, and whenever I see it, I am going to call it out.
Now, did the women of “WWE Raw” do stuff on the show? Yes. Sol Ruca got into it with Becky Lynch, the women of The Judgment Day (which is basically a female stable with some honorary male members at this point) got to hang around ringside and featured in multiple backstage segments, and there was a cinematic sit-down between Asuka and IYO SKY. So I am not arguing that women were ignored on the program.
That said, this is wrestling, and these women are wrestlers. They should get to wrestle, and on two-plus hours of wrestling programming, there should be AT LEAST one women’s match. Not just because equality is a good thing but because (cover your eyes now, snowflakes) women like SKY, Roxanne Perez, Lyra Valkyria and Bayley are better wrestlers than Joe Hendry, Austin Theory, and any of the six white men who put on luchador masks tonight. So yeah, I would rather see them get TV matches, not just because they’re women, but because they rule. Parking all of them on the bench for even one week should be considered criminal behavior — or at the very least, it doesn’t make for a good wrestling show.
Written by Miles Schneiderman
Loved: A stellar tag team match
For a tag team match that I didn’t really care that much about or wasn’t particularly looking forward to going into it, Ethan Page, Rusev, Je’Von Evans, and Penta really captured my attention by putting on one of my two favorite things to come out of this edition of “Raw” (with the other being Sol Ruca’s confrontation with Becky Lynch).
From start to finish, the action throughout this contest kept me engaged with its fast pacing, high flying nature, and the talent of all four men who were involved in it. I found that it somehow just kept getting better with everything that all four men did, and was really fun to watch play out. I appreciated that there was actually some story behind this match rather than being some random tag match, as it worked to help add to my interest in everything.
Having Page be the one to pin Penta was a great move, as it sets up Page to be a legitimate threat to Penta’s Intercontinental Championship should WWE choose to have a title match between the pair down the line. It’s a simple way for WWE to give Page a reason for why he should challenge without having to do too much, and makes him look good as someone who is still newer to many fans and the “Raw” roster. I also didn’t mind Rusev cheating by sending Penta crashing into the announce desk, as it fits in line with Page and Rusev’s heel characters to make for a fairly compelling ending to a fantastic match.
Written by Olivia Quinlan
Hated: Lack of direction for Oba Femi
While Oba Femi looked impressive as heck during his match in the “Oba Femi Open Challenge” against Otis tonight, throwing his fellow big man around like it was nothing and even somehow getting him up for the Fall From Grace, I can’t help but question where the heck WWE is going with Femi. This open challenge would have made sense ahead of his WWE WrestleMania 42 match against Brock Lesnar, to prove a point before taking on “The Beast Incarnate,” but right now, it just feels directionless.
And that’s something that Femi kind of almost admitted to in his promo last week, when he noted that there were others already tied up in the top title scene. While I’m all for saying the quiet part out loud to at least acknowledge it, and I’m certainly all for Femi being on TV every week, I just can’t help but dislike it. I guess tonight we at least got Otis in the ring with “The Ruler” instead of Akira Tozawa, but it’s hard to imagine where we go from here.
There are plenty of other mid-card stars from both brands who would have been effective opponents for Femi (Damian Priest comes to mind immediately, for whatever reason), but I guess squash matches are what creative is trying to accomplish here. I’m just wondering how many guys Femi has to run through, and how long that’s actually sustainable before it starts getting ridiculous, before someone like a Priest or LA Knight steps up to him. His win streak going from Lesnar, to Otis, to whoever else, like a Tozawa, seems a bit silly.
I guess I should be happy that at the very least, Femi beat Lesnar and I’m not currently worried about what he’s going to do now coming off after a big loss like that. The Oba Femi Open Challenge to me right now is a big shrug and “I guess it could always be worse,” and I just want more for this mega star, and I’m sure a lot of fans agree.
Written by Daisy Ruth
Loved: Jacob Fatu and Roman Reigns get personal
Contract signings almost always go the same way: talk a little, someone signs the contract, more trash talk, things get physical. Occasionally it’s a brawl, sometimes it’s some fisticuffs, and sometimes someone goes through a table. During the signing for Roman Reigns and Jacob Fatu, I expected at least one. I got more than that.
What stood out the most (well, besides Reigns gasping for breath and slobbering when the show went off the air) was the promos. The “OTC” is great on the mic, especially when he’s gaslighting a family member. Fatu is good on the mic too. Reigns was furious with Fatu for using the Tongan Death Grip. He explained to Fatu that you only use it when you’re desperate and never on your family. Fatu said that he feels like it’s just him on his own and his back is against the wall. He promised to beat Reigns and put “this game in a chokehold and squeeze out every dollar and every cent just the way this company has been doing our family for decades.”
Reigns retorted that he’s been “grinding for over a decade for multiple households. You’re worried about seven kids? I’m worried about 170 kids that fill our family. You’re worried about education? I’m worried about generation after generation of higher education because I can do that. This company wants to do business with me.” It was an intriguing way to blend real life family dynamics into a storyline that’s stretched over years and through multiple family members. Fatu is desperate to prove himself and to earn a title that he thinks he needs to have equal power.
Fatu locked in the Tongan Death Grip again and Reigns was the desperate one. He was struggling to breathe and wildly grabbing at Adam Pearce for help. Fatu put Reigns through a table that didn’t break and he went sliding off. Fans weren’t chanting for their Tribal Chief that they acknowledged earlier in the segment, but for Fatu. Fatu did something that’s hard to do with Reigns by making him look weakened — and more importantly, beatable.
Written by Samantha Schipman
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