7 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE Raw (11 May - Results & Review)

It really is funny that...if WWE wants to produce a good episode of Raw, sometimes all they need to do is deliver on the basics: Produce good matches and a hot angle or 2 and you’ve got a successful program.

Monday's Raw managed to pull this off quite well, providing a platform for dual (recent) NXT call-ups, reintroducing a popular act to the tag title picture, saying goodbye to a popular wrestler, and closing the show with a chaotic brawl that could have scanned as yet another in a long line of ringside mayhem but somehow stood out from the others.

Oba Femi and Sol Ruca are clearly 2 wrestlers who WWE believes have a bright future in the company. They received spotlights during the December Saturday Night’s Main Event episode when John Cena had his final match. On Monday, both had standout moments, though in different ways inside the ring.

Jacob Fatu has been on the ascendance since WrestleMania 42, being positioned as a chief rival to his cousin Roman Reigns. The 'Tribal Chief' has given him a lot during this feud, but he upped it Monday night, with Fatu outright dominating the core of The Bloodline in a way fans haven’t seen in a very long time. If the crowd noise was any indication, the moves are paying off.

Raw still had its hiccups, but this was an enjoyable evening overall.

Let’s get to it…

Downs…

4. They DO Know There’s A Camera, Right?

WWE’s hidden camera rules will always be confusing. Can the wrestlers actually see or realize that there's a camera 2 feet from their faces, or is it just a window into their lives for the audience? On Monday night, Jimmy Uso chatted with Roman Reigns about the 'Tribal Chief’s' decision to allow Jacob Fatu to come to Raw to acknowledge him.

Jimmy said he understood and left to find Jey, who was waiting in the parking lot.

When Jimmy got to Jey, he proceeded to tell his brother that he thought that sometimes the OTC is “delusional”, taking swipes at Reigns right in front of the camera and contradicting what he told Roman moments earlier. The brothers discussed family for a bit before the segment ended.

3. Bad Line Reading

A big part of successful booking in wrestling involves hiding the negatives and accentuating the positives.

Knowing that, it begs the question why WWE decided to do a promo segment between Women’s Tag-Team Champions Brie Bella and Paige and the Judgment Day? Even with some decent lines, the delivery from all 4 came across like a middle school play practice: It was wooden, forced and rehearsed.

Roxanne Perez had the best line, recalling how she met Brie when she was much younger and how she told Perez that she would carry on the Bella legacy, and Roxy was insulted that Brie “set the bar so low for me.”

Raquel Rodriguez took a swipe at Paige by vaguely referencing her various scandals, which led to a short brawl. Liv Morgan tipped the scales in favor of the Judgment Day, and all 3 women stood tall with the titles.

This was mercifully short, but it still was painful to hear. To be clear, almost anytime a performer is obviously reciting lines rather than actually feeling and believing them, they’re going to sound stilted and robotic, which does nothing for anyone.

2. Vision Promo Time Is Still Death

When Seth Rollins led The Vision, his weekly sermons to open Raw were unbearable and set the tone for lackluster episodes.

Unfortunately, even without Rollins, The Vision is still polluting the airwaves. Instead, by giving mic time to Austin Theory and Logan Paul. After Paul Heyman spent a couple minutes telling everyone how Bron Breakker had expunged Seth from the group’s memory and would not bother them any longer (spoiler: Rollins would of course attack Bron minutes later during the 6-man tag), Theory got to prattle for a minute.

Theory and Paul took a couple swipes at Montez Ford by saying his wife Bianca Belair (who is from Knoxville, the host city for Raw) is better than him. That’s an odd choice, because the implication was that Bianca is a bigger star, which is actually true, and Montez wasn’t offended.

The entire promo segment really went nowhere. Ford’s turn on the mic was okay, but not great. Everything built to the climax of Joe Hendry showing up at ringside with a guitar to sing “Fire Logan Paul” and encourage fans to sing along again. Thankfully, they cut to commercial and that was it.

Dismal stuff here.

1. Impromptu City

Another week, another episode of Raw that went to air without a complete card to fill out the 2-and-a-half-hour program. Thank God that wrestlers had arguments backstage and in the ring to prompt Raw GM Adam Pearce to book matches on the fly, else we might have had to give a mic to 'Green Shirt Guy' and let him fill 15 minutes.

As always, impromptu matches on their own are not negative, and sometimes the matches themselves end up being great. However, WWE’s insistence on scripting that at least 2 matches a week are booked during the course of the show is beyond lazy. This week, it was Rusev vs. Je’Von Evans and Dominik Mysterio vs. 'Original' El Grande Americano, both matches that were made in back-to-back segments.

The Mysterio/Americano match was the bigger offender here, because it was an impromptu match booked for the AAA Mega Championship, the first time the title was defended on Raw. That means there was no promotion ahead of time for this history-making bout; but in pure WWE fashion, they just happened to have a video package about the history of the Mega Championship ready to go, and pre-packaged video highlights of Dominik talking about his reign as champion and Americano pledging to win the title.

Even if you were to believe and accept the internal logic of an impromptu title bout, it fell apart when you saw the well-produced vignettes air less than an hour later.

The worst part is that they could sidestep this by sending a social media update about the title match in the afternoon, then airing the backstage segment with an “earlier today” tag to explain the post. Literally 3 minutes of work would address the concern and cut this trope down significantly.

Ups…

7. Praise For The Profits

In the realm of 6-man tag matches, the show-opening bout between The Vision vs. The Street Profits and Joe Hendry won’t even chart as one of the best trios matches of the past month.

Seeing The Profits back in action on television was such a welcome sight that it deserves some good vibes though. Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins haven’t had a televised match in 7 months and haven’t competed on Raw in 3 years, so they felt like a new, fresh act taking on The Vision. Ford remains an explosive, dynamic athlete with eye-catching aerial attacks too.

The match itself was fine for what it was, setting up The Profits for a tag title match with Logan Paul and Austin Theory, while clearly Seth Rollins isn’t finished with Bron Breakker despite Paul Heyman’s insistence to the contrary.

6. IC Title Scene Still Firing

Penta’s reign as Intercontinental Champion remains one of the better parts of Raw these days, and that’s in no small part due to the contenders circling the title.

Called out by Penta, Ethan Page was perfectly d***ish in his response to the IC Champ, insulting him for wearing a mask and hiding his face whilst proclaiming he came from the greatest country on the planet: Canada. Page went on to suggest that Penta might be afraid to lose to him again. He challenged Penta for Saturday Night’s Main Event, but Rusev interrupted before the champ could respond.

Rusev was delightful here, telling fellow heel Page “you amuse me” and then bantering with 'All Ego' while trying to get his point across that he deserved a title match first. Page threw Je’Von Evans under the bus, which drew the newcomer out and triggered a brawl that set up the impromptu match against Rusev.

Evans and Rusev had a perfectly fine match, with the 'Bulgarian Brute' issuing some quality trash-talk as he battered Je’Von (“You’ve got nothing!” “He’s just a child!”). Ultimately, Evans overcame Rusev and finished him with an OG Cutter for the clean win.

5. Farewell (For Now), Asuka

In the 48 hours since Asuka created a flurry of speculation about her status following her loss to IYO SKY at Backlash, the story has evolved a considerable amount.

Regardless of what the final, true version is, it’s clear that Asuka is leaving WWE for an extended period, with the company itself saying her future “is up in the air” on Raw.

Monday, IYO and Asuka met backstage and hugged, with the 'Empress Of Tomorrow' telling her former rival that she was looking for someone to take over her position, and SKY finally became that person by making her proud. After another hug, Asuka grabbed her suitcase and left the arena.

Although her future is unclear, WWE was wise to give Asuka something of a send-off for now, writing her off with an endorsement of IYO rather than just disappearing from television after Backlash. Simple and smart.

4. A Good Showcase For Sol

Ready or not, NXT callups often face challenges on the main roster, performing in front of a much larger crowd for a much larger television audience. It’s a situation where some sink and some swim, but sometimes you have to take that step to see if a wrestler is going to make it as a WWE superstar.

Sol Ruca had shown a lot of promise during her NXT run, but there is the question over how she will fare in the moments between her flashy offence, when she’s forced to the mat or has to carry different parts of a match without a high spot to lean on.

Monday night, Ruca had an excellent dance partner in IYO SKY. They wrestled a solid match that mixed some mat wrestling with high-flying acrobatics. Sol showcased her gymnastics-based offense against one of the best wrestlers on the roster, who was equally up to the task. There were a few moments of hesitation, but by and large this was a really good showcase for Ruca.

IYO kept the match moving forward, allowing Sol to climb back into it with her unique repertoire until she got overzealous and went for a Sol Snatcher, only for SKY to evade and grab a crucifix pin for the victory.

If you view this as a learning experience for Ruca – and as her in-ring introduction to WWE fans – then you have to rate it as a success.

3. Oba Books His Own Match

After Oba Femi demolished Otis last week in the first Oba Femi 'Open Challenge', the question lingering over Raw was, “How do you top that in week 2?”

The answer: Have no-one step up to accept the challenge.

Raw GM Adam Pearce interrupted Femi’s challenge to inform him that nobody was willing to answer the call, so he would have to cancel it. Oba didn’t accept that and charged into the back, where he found Los Garza hanging out. Femi attacked them and carried/dragged them to the ring, then demanded that the referee ring the bell.

Oba hit a series of running uppercuts and tossed both men like sacks of wet concrete before finishing Berto off with a Fall From Grace, all as fans chanted his name. Once again, it was near-perfect execution from beginning to end.

We’ve already hit the point of the Oba push where jobbers are too wary to put their names on the line against Femi because they know they have no chance. Whether they have to start offering an incentive to get people to accept or bigger names start stepping up, it’s going to be fun to see how they continue to elevate this angle.

2. A ‘Mega’ Success

No matter how exasperating the entire phony masked luchadores angle is, the fact remains that all 6 men are really good professional wrestlers, so when they’re actually allowed to perform without silly hijinks their matches are pretty damn good.

Witness 'Original' El Grande Americano vs. Dominik Mysterio for the AAA Mega Championship. This ran the serious risk of trivializing AAA’s main title by bogging it down with a bunch of foolishness involving the Americanos saga.

Instead, OG and Mysterio had time to wrestle a pretty nice little match, with American targeting the arm initially before they went into a blitz offense. Dominik missed a 619, allowing Americano to hit an Angle Slam and moonsault. Mysterio came back with a top rope armdrag and Michinoku Driver, before El Grande nailed a belly-to-belly throw into the turnbuckle, followed by a Dragon Suplex.

That’s when the run-ins started, with Rayo, Bravo and El Grande Americano at ringside until Julio and Bruto ran down to chase Los Americanos off. OG understandably went after his rival’s mask, but he found himself in perfect position for Dominik to land a 619 and finish him with a frog splash.

Whilst this story has largely been a dud on WWE television, they managed to weave it into the Mega Championship match without overdoing it, and even making the run-ins and rivalry fit the story of the match.

1. Fatu Flattens The Bloodline

When Backlash ended on Saturday, Jacob Fatu might have lost the World Heavyweight Championship match but he was the one standing tall over Roman Reigns.

Monday night, he continued his battle against Roman and The Usos by refusing to acknowledge the 'Tribal Chief', telling Reigns that he would have to beat it out of him. Roman certainly tried, using a chair repeatedly to beat Fatu down, but Jacob countered a spear with a thrust kick and proceeded to batter the 'OTC' with his bare hands.

Fatu dominated Roman, halting a Superman Punch attempt with a Tongan Death Grip, followed by a powerbomb through the announce desk. Officials finally separated them, but Jacob would charge back to the ringside area to drive Roman, Jimmy and Jey through the barricade to close out Raw.

WWE has leaned heavily on chaotic brawls for the past few months to carry way too many feuds, making them almost a cliché or trope that serves as a booking crutch rather than a meaningful story beat.

However, Fatu has long been billed as a chaos agent himself, and Roman (and even Jey way back in 2024) has warned against the dangers that Jacob presents. In that light, Fatu triggering wild brawls that tear up the ringside area not only fits the story, it pays off warnings that have been issued and brings them to fruition.

In the process, you have an entire arena chanting Fatu’s name for decimating Reigns - just moments after they were acknowledging the 'Tribal Chief'. Whether the 'Samoan Werewolf' can truly be a main-event star is an open question, but you can’t debate they have put in the work here to sell him as a legit threat and an exciting character at the top of the card.