ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Day for Jacob Fatu! | Raw Recap

Summary

WWE Now: ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Day for Jacob Fatu! | Raw Recap – June 1, 2026

Hosts: Sam Roberts & Meghan Morant
Main Theme: Recapping a momentous Raw in Italy—focusing on the fallout from Clash, the main event between Seth Rollins and Bron Breakker, Jacob Fatu’s “Acknowledgement Day” with The Bloodline, and the kickoff of both the 2026 King and Queen of the Ring tournaments.

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Episode Overview

Sam and Meghan break down an explosive Monday Night Raw that aired live from Italy. The discussion centers on the consequences of the Clash in Italy, especially the seismic “Acknowledgement Day” moment for Jacob Fatu, The Bloodline’s factional dynamics, major main event developments, and the heated start of the King and Queen of the Ring tournaments. Lively banter brings out deep analysis, wrestling lore, and genuine excitement over the state of WWE’s current roster.

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Main Event Fallout: Seth Rollins vs. Bron Breakker

[02:54–08:49]

• Raw’s main event featured Seth Rollins vs. Bron Breakker, a match described as “fantastic” with historic storytelling and heavy stakes.

• Meghan celebrated Paul Heyman going through the barricade:

  "I was so happy... I was so happy for Seth. I was so happy that, you know, we saw the interaction when... Seth got completely distracted by Paul Heyman... and Heyman goes through the barricade. It was beautiful." (03:23, Meghan)

• Sam analyzed the significance of the “Freebird Rule” making Bron Breakker Tag Team Champion due to Logan Paul’s injury, creating a chain reaction in the story:

  “If Logan Paul were not injured, Bron Breakker wouldn't have had that belt at ringside, and therefore Seth Rollins wouldn’t have been able to get it and block himself with it like Bret Hart did to Goldberg.” (06:13, Sam)

• Montez Ford and Austin Theory also interfered, underscoring the deep interconnectedness of the Vision faction storylines.

• Rollins demonstrated poise and veteran savvy:

  “He came correct. Like, he came with his mind, right? Where it’s like, okay, this isn't gonna be an angry Seth.” (09:49, Sam)

• The match’s outcome is described as poetic, with Rollins outsmarting everyone, and Breakker left questioning his own readiness:

  "Do you think it went through Bron Breaker's head? What if Seth is right? I'm not ready?" (13:44, Sam)

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Memorable Moment

[12:03]

“This is the happiest I've been, I think, since Paul Heyman went through the table at Madison Square Garden. I love a big Paul Heyman bump.” – Meghan
“Paul Heyman doesn’t go down too often, but when he does, it counts.” – Sam

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Bloodline Ascendant: Jacob Fatu’s ACKNOWLEDGEMENT DAY

[22:01–34:37]

• Roman Reigns kicked off Raw in celebratory mood, cheered raucously by the Italian crowd for “Acknowledgement Day.”

  “There’s birthday, there’s Christmas Day, there’s WrestleMania Day, but acknowledgment day trumps them all.” (22:10, Sam)

• Jey Uso’s unique position as both mentor and challenger discussed:

  “There is a thing going on with Jay USO right now... Sometimes when you got a little bit of a shaky upbringing, you’re either repeating your parents’ behavior, or doing everything you can to change.” (22:55, Sam)

• Jacob Fatu entered, humbled by Clash’s loss, and directly acknowledged Roman as Tribal Chief.

  “Last night I was beat by my tribal chief. And that's where you're going, oh my gosh, he's going to do it. He's going to say it... I'm acknowledging that guy, not that guy.” (29:30, Sam)

• The ceremony was heartfelt—Jacob dropping to one knee, Roman embracing him, and Roman declaring:

  “You don’t understand this right now, Jacob, but I love you.” (32:08, Roman recounted by Sam)

• The panel reflects on iconic Bloodline imagery, the group standing united—"No wise man, no honorary oozes, except for yours truly," jokes Sam.

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Memorable Moment

[33:03]

“He puts his one up and he walks off with Roman reigns and the USO's... We're so back. The bloodline is back.” – Sam
“Has never been stronger.” – Meghan

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State of the WWE Roster: Mobility, Competition, and the Youth Movement

[14:25–18:13]

• WWE’s current “crowded but movable” roster is celebrated.

• Sam contrasts WWE's merit-based advancement with WCW’s "old boys' network" of the past:

  “WWE is crowded like that now, but it's mobile... It's just a matter of putting yourself in the right spot to move as everything is moving with you.” (17:47, Sam)

• Meghan notes: “It's pretty hard to move through.” (18:05), and the hosts appreciate the competitive environment that pushes both veterans and newcomers.

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King & Queen of the Ring Tournaments Launch

[40:02–48:55]

King of the Ring

• Bracketology is already wild after surprise outcomes in the opening fatal four-ways.

• Oba Femi’s dominance is highlighted:

  “Oba Femi showed up on one. He walked into the ring, he took all three of them out, and then he finished his entrance.” (41:05, Sam)

• Oba, fresh off a war with Brock Lesnar, overcomes Solo Sikoa, Carmelo Hayes, and Penta. Meghan notes the drama of the match and Oba’s star power.

• Sam anticipates possible SummerSlam main events with names like Rollins, Breakker, Trick Williams, and Jay Uso all in the bracket.

Queen of the Ring

• The women’s bracket is equally stacked:

  “It's interesting because they couldn't be more polar opposites, but I look at Obafemi and I go, how could anybody possibly beat Obafemi in this tournament. ...I kind of feel the same way about Iyo Sky.” (46:57, Sam)

• Jade Cargill and Charlotte Flair’s rivalry is spotlighted, with Meghan noting backstage politicking from Lyra Valkyria and others.

• Liv Morgan’s ambition to “win it all” despite already being world champ sparks discussions on ambition and clarity.

---

Memorable Tournament Quotes

[42:51]

“But right now he's going to win the King of the Ring tournament. And when you hear a guy like Obafemi say that, the way Obafemi said it, it's hard to argue.” – Sam

[48:21]

“Well. She's slick. Lyra Valkyria. ...Becky's pretty slick. Oh, she and Becky. Becky has been known to be slick.” – Meghan & Sam

---

Additional WWE & Fanatics News

[38:32–39:25]

• Major announcements for Fanatics Fest in NYC (July 16–19, 2026), including appearances by AJ Styles, Trick Williams, Oba Femi, and The Undertaker.
• Sam’s classic WWE fashion talk: “Sun’s out, guns out.”
• Special merchandise drops for new shirts and Tank Tops, for diehard collectors.

---

Standout Segments & Quotes

On The Power of Storytelling

[55:08–58:05]

“What made...Mask versus Mask, Grande Americano versus Grande Americano so good to me was it was one of those matches...everything got tied up. The whole story played itself out. Every single story beat that we had played on the way to this thing was a part of it.” – Sam

On Fan Reactions and Culture

[54:50]

“We love a love story. Low key. Like, some people don't want to admit it. ...You love it for the love story. Everybody loves it for the love story.” – Sam

---

Notable Timestamps

• 02:54–08:49: Main Event breakdown: Seth Rollins vs. Bron Breakker
• 22:01–34:37: The Bloodline and Jacob Fatu’s Acknowledgement Day
• 40:02–48:55: Complete King & Queen of the Ring round-one analysis
• 55:08–58:05: Professional wrestling as story and emotion: Mask vs. Mask match at Clash in Italy

---

Tone & Energy

The hosts are genuinely excited, blending deep wrestling analysis with playful banter and inside jokes. They reference historic angles, draw parallels between characters’ journeys, and celebrate the emotional intensity that makes WWE “cinema.” Meghan serves as the energetic cheerleader and insight-provider, while Sam blends historian and hype-man, both thriving on the fan energy pouring out of Raw in Italy.

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Takeaways

• Raw in Italy was a defining post-PPV episode, with old scores settled, new rivalries formed, and seismic shifts within factions—most notably Jacob Fatu’s formal acknowledgment and alignment with the Bloodline.
• Seth Rollins’ victory over Bron Breakker showcased the depth of WWE’s current storytelling, while The Bloodline’s unity sent shockwaves through the roster.
• The 2026 King & Queen of the Ring tournaments have already set up must-watch scenarios and showcase the vibrant depth of today’s roster.
• WWE’s “youth movement” and overall competition level have arguably never been higher, keeping the landscape unpredictable and exhilarating.

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“This is why we love professional wrestling.” – Sam (53:59)

WWE's blend of athleticism, drama, and evolving storylines is on full display, and fans—old and new—are along for the ride.

---

End of summary. For full coverage, check out the next WWE Now episode for follow-up on Jacob Fatu, Bloodline dynamics, and more tournament fallout!

Transcript

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[Sam Roberts]

goes through a barricade in the main event of Monday Night Raw. It is acknowledgment day. So what did Jacob Fatu do? We start the King of the Ring tournament, we start the Queen of the Ring tournament and so much more. This is the Raw recap on WWE now at WWE and Fanatics. Original Production. Oh yeah, yeah yeah yeah yeah. Coming right off right off of the clash in Italy. Monday Night Raw, still in Italy. Still clashes. Here we are on the Raw recap. Meghan Morant. Let's start where we often do, where

[Meghan Morant]

we ended the main event on Monday Night Raw. What a main event it was.

[Sam Roberts]

Oh, it was fantastic.

[Meghan Morant]

You know, I have to say, when Seth Rollins was down outside of the ring, I sort of bit my tongue a little bit and said, here we go again. Bron Breakker is lining up for the spear, but instead it was Paul Heyman threw the barricade. And I was just so happy.

[Sam Roberts]

I mean, whenever you were. Yes, you're this mean. Paul would be so dismayed to hear you say that.

[Meghan Morant]

I was thrilled.

[Sam Roberts]

You were thrilled. You loved seeing that.

[Meghan Morant]

I was so happy for Seth. I was so happy that, you know, we saw the interaction when, when, When Seth got completely distracted by Paul Heyman. The vitriol, the hate, the history, all of it. And Heyman goes through the barricade. It was beautiful.

[Sam Roberts]

You know, what was the lesson, I think, of that match? It's that, like, if you watched Seth Rollins, I thought multiple times he was gonna lose his cool. And he always liked, stayed in control. He was actually very Paul Heyman. Like, something happened, a switch was made. And maybe it was because, like, at the end of the match, Corey Graves on commentary said that Seth Rollins can leave the Vision behind him. Do you think that this was the definitive win for Seth? Like, is there, is there more to prove for him or has he gotten his revenge and now can he move on from the Vision?

[Meghan Morant]

Well, I mean, Austin Theory got involved, but so did Montez Ford. So he didn't beat the Vision by himself.

[Sam Roberts]

Why? That cancels each other out.

[Meghan Morant]

It does.

[Sam Roberts]

You know, I. I mean, if anything, he figured out how to find things to combat each member of the Vision, including Paul Heyman himself. And it's really interesting. Like, I was thinking about this, like, the Vision is in a cursed scenario right now. Not. Not a Dan housing curse, not one of these, but like just a cursed thing where you. Where you got Bronson Reed out. You have Logan Paul out.

[Meghan Morant]

Yes.

[Sam Roberts]

And because, I mean, wait till you hear this, right? Because Logan Paul is out. Braun Breaker became a tag team champion. Free Bird Rule. It's way. There is a precedent for it in professional wrestling. The New Day exercised it. Demolition exercised it. The Free Bird Rule is a thing.

[Meghan Morant]

Sure. And Paul Heyman's ability to always put the Vision in the contract was crafty. I got to hand it to him.

[Sam Roberts]

It was crafty. And if anybody understands the history of Professional wrestling. It's Paul Heyman. I honestly, when I saw, as a, As a. As a wrestling historian and traditionalist, I wasn't mad at it.

[Meghan Morant]

You said that works.

[Sam Roberts]

I said that's. I saw because I love demolition. New day. You know, Free Birds, who the rule is named after. If there's three, you never know which two you're going to be facing. And so maybe we didn't know there was a Free Bird rule this whole time, but there had been. However, follow me with this. Right?

[Meghan Morant]

All right.

[Sam Roberts]

Because of that rule, because of what Paul Heyman did in his contract, Bron Breaker was named a tag team champion because Logan Paul was out. Braun Breaker has a tag team championship belt. Why did Braun Breaker lose the match to Seth Rollins tonight?

[Meghan Morant]

Because he did a spear right into that tag team championship belt.

[Sam Roberts]

So realistically, if Logan Paul had never been out with injury, Braun Breaker would not have had the tag team championship belt, and therefore Seth Rollins wouldn't have had to use it or wouldn't have had it to use is what I mean to say. And so the. So. So like Braun Breaker crashing into that is symbolic of the fact that the vision has had to stop and start and restart and reform over and over again. Like it's that ripple effect, right. That you don't realize when one person goes down, it has all these effects. It impacts the whole fraction off of it, and you have no idea until. And I'm. I would imagine there are still plenty of people who don't look at that as a direct result. But as soon as I saw it, I said there's something. And maybe I'm just in a poetic space right now because of the beautiful storytelling in that mask versus mask match. But I see the little pieces of story everywhere. And the fact is that if Logan Paul were not injured, Bron Breaker wouldn't have had that belt at ringside, and therefore Seth Rollins wouldn't have been able to get it and block himself with it like Bret Hart did to Goldberg. And then Braun Breaker would not have hit the spear into that belt. He would have hit it right into the ribs of Seth Rollins and Braun Breaker would have won that match.

[Meghan Morant]

Yeah, we're sitting here having an entirely different conversation.

[Sam Roberts]

Yes. Now, unfortunately, Paul Heyman is still in some kind of Italian medical facility. Good luck, you know. Good, good. Best of luck. I hope he speaks the language, but, you know, but Braun Breaker might have won. The fact is he didn't. There were so many things going on. Right. Like, so you brought up Montez Ford, first of all, the matches was incredible.

[Meghan Morant]

It was fantastic.

[Sam Roberts]

Just Seth and Bron Breaker for the first 75% of that match. Getting the crowd to chant this is awesome in Italian. Not this is awesome in Italian, but this is awesome in quotes. And they did it in Italian. This is awesome in Italian. Just. Does it doesn't ring the same way?

[Meghan Morant]

It was great this morning seeing that we were going to get this match in the main event.

[Sam Roberts]

Amazing.

[Meghan Morant]

Yeah. I was like, you know, the crowd in Italy has been electric since WWE touched down there. And then to me, it also felt a little poetic because they were in Europe when Bron Breaker took Seth Rollins out. And it was one of those moments where I was like, wow. I knew at some point we would get Rollins against Breaker, but I didn't think we would get it that day at lunchtime. And so today to have the match a daytime Raw, it was. All the dots were connecting.

[Sam Roberts]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. Daytime Raws are. Are catastrophically changing for the vision, historically speaking.

[Meghan Morant]

So I'm glad you thought of that too.

[Sam Roberts]

I did. As at the end of the mouth, it's like, oh, my God. Like, his. Braun Breaker was sitting next to, like, with his back up to the apron, just sitting on the floor, hopeless. Like, I can't believe this happened. What do we do now? That's exactly what I was thinking that I remember, except it was even earlier, so I don't remember exactly where it was, but it was a. It was a international Raw for sure. Cause it was. I think it ended at like, whatever it was, whatever time it was. And. And seeing Seth get laid out by Braun Breaker. And here we are, however many, however long later, a year later, and Braun Breaker is now just sitting there going, and maybe look, there's so many things at play here. Okay, so let's go through it. So like I said, 75% of the match, incredible. I mean, the whole match was incredible, but you know what I'm saying, It's one on one for a while. Then here comes Austin Theory. And Seth, like I said earlier, just came prepared. He came correct. Like, he came with his mind, right? Where it's like, okay, I'm not gonna. This isn't gonna be an angry Seth.

[Meghan Morant]

He wasn't getting overly emotional.

[Sam Roberts]

No, exactly. Right.

[Meghan Morant]

All the emotions were in check.

[Sam Roberts]

Right. And then Austin Theory gets flipped into the ring, then thrown out of the ring, and it was right in front of the referee. But since Austin Theory didn't actually get a chance to put his hands on Seth Rollins, no dq, referee gets distracted. Austin Theory actually does Interfere. Paul Heyman at one point got Brombreaker's foot up on the rope, which is becoming an epidemic. These feet and these ropes, it's too much. So, so then Montez Ford comes out to take care of Austin theory.

[Meghan Morant]

And it was a moment for me where I said, wow, look what Seth can do against the Vision when he has backup, because that's really been his Achilles heel when dealing with the Vision.

[Sam Roberts]

Yeah, he has no friends. And the crowd went nuts when Montez Ford was the one that showed up. Montez Ford then gets speared by Braun Breaker. And it occurs to me Ford was right, Monte. And I don't know. You know what I mean? It's never helping. Seth Rollins always comes with a cost. And maybe it's worth the price of admission to. To get revenge on what they did to Dawkins. Maybe he and Seth had come to an understanding after the match that they had. I don't know what goes on in Montez Ford's head right now, but clearly he was right that as much as it was great to see him have Seth's back, it did cost him physically, you know. So then when, when. When it gets back to one on one and you've got Paul Heyman putting Bron Breaker's foot on the rope, all of a sudden Seth Rollins looks at Hayman and he starts. He starts going to the outside. And I thought, I thought he was going to wail on him.

[Meghan Morant]

Yeah, this is where I said, no, Seth, don't do this again. Don't do this again. We know how much you hate Heyman. We know that this is more about Paul Heyman than it is about Bron Breaker.

[Sam Roberts]

And maybe Seth knew that too, because his Braun Breaker is turning around the ring. See, Seth looks, moves, and then boom. Braun Breaker spears Paul Haven through the barricade and Heyman goes down. And I mean, and it's true, you were gleeful when you saw this.

[Meghan Morant]

I was. I mean, this is the happiest I've been, I think, since Paul Heyman went through the table at Madison Square Garden. I love a big Paul Heyman bump.

[Sam Roberts]

You liked when Paul Heyman, when they put him through the table. High level energy bloodline. Put him through the table.

[Meghan Morant]

It's great.

[Sam Roberts]

You could, because Paul Heyman doesn't go down too often, but when he does, it counts.

[Meghan Morant]

Yeah, it's always a big one.

[Sam Roberts]

Oh, and you remember how bad he looks after Rollins stomped him. I can't imagine how worse for wears he's going to be after going through that Italian barricade.

[Meghan Morant]

I'm wishing all of the medical facilities that have to deal with Paul Heyman good luck.

[Sam Roberts]

And look at even there. Breaker realizing, like, what. What do I. What am I doing? I'm outsmarted. You know, I'm. I'm. He's done it. He's done it. Seth then grabbing the belt at this point to protect the ribs. And you could see even. Even Seth still, like, kind of gripping the ribs towards the end of the match. Cause it still hurts. You get shot with a bulletproof vest on, I would imagine you're not going to die, but it still hurts. You still get knocked down, right? And that happened to Seth Rollins. But Braun goes out Stomp. 1, 2, 3. Seth wins. Gives Montez Ford the look like, yeah, we were in this one together. Montez says, yep, yes, we were. Braun breakers on the outside of the ring. Bron Breakker is looking despondent. Do you think it went through Bron Breaker's head? What if Seth is right? I'm not ready. Because that's what I was sitting there going, like, when a guy tells you you're not ready, and then that guy's the guy that puts you in your place, it has to go through your head like, oh, no, what am I

[Meghan Morant]

going to say now?

[Sam Roberts]

Yeah, how do I even. Even if. Even if I don't believe it, even if I still say, no, no, no, I am ready. What if I'm not?

[Meghan Morant]

It didn't look like it, right?

[Sam Roberts]

Well, why didn't you beat Seth then?

[Meghan Morant]

If you were so ready, how come

[Sam Roberts]

you speared your own adorable oracle? I was trying. I was like, he's not a manager. He's not an advocate.

[Meghan Morant]

And not only that, but then spear Seth with the championship, protecting the ribs, Right? Why you didn't have the awareness to

[Sam Roberts]

notice your oracle through the guard, through the guardrail, and then you jumped in the ring and you speared yourself into a big, shiny gold belt. Are you ready?

[Meghan Morant]

Seth looked like the veteran tonight.

[Sam Roberts]

Very much so. Like, everything was very plotted out. Like, there were all these plans. Seth saw all the plans coming, even when theory showed up. And the first thing Seth did was throw him right into the ring and then hit him right out. Like, it was like, yep, I knew that was going to happen. I knew that was going to happen. I knew Hayman was going to get involved. I knew you were going to respond when Haymon got involved. I know that you guys were going to try to get me all upset. I knew that you were going to try to spear me. Like, he knew all of this was going to happen. And look, there is a big difference, right? Like, like WWE is all about the youth movement right now. There's all these New Superstars. There's your Braum breakers and your Austin theories. There's your Oba Femi's, there's your, your, your Trick Williams and your Javon Evans and all these guys. And they are so incredible. Soul Ruka, of course, women's division as well.

[Meghan Morant]

Yeah.

[Sam Roberts]

And they're so incredible. But there is something that comes with experience. There is an intangible that comes with experience, of familiarity that comes with the room that you're in, and that allows

[Meghan Morant]

you to put Paul Heyman in the position to get speared by Bron Breaker.

[Sam Roberts]

And maybe there's no substitute for that. And that may be something that Paul Heyman overlooks in his hubris, the idea that, you know, Paul Heyman wants to be the person. Look, maybe, maybe I'm just shooting spitballs here. Maybe. Ever since 2002, Paul Heyman is obsessed with finding another Brock Lesnar.

[Meghan Morant]

I don't blame him. It's turned out pretty good.

[Sam Roberts]

It turned out pretty good. Somebody who, maybe the, that experience factor doesn't apply to. But you know why it turned out so well? Because there's only the one. Everybody's different. That's not to say you're not going to find more legends, more world champions, more intangibles, more anything. But like, the reality is not only does experience count for something, but WWE I don't think has ever been this competitive when it comes to spots, especially when you're talking about people that are multi generational at this point, that the, this isn't an instance of the new guard coming in and the old guard saying, okay, yeah, you got it. This is like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. We just got here. We've been working all these years to get here. You're not going to come in and within three years on the main roster take our spots. That's not happening. And I think you're seeing that from across the board. And I think Bron Breaker got introduced to that in a, in a, in a hard way on Monday Night Raw.

[Meghan Morant]

I mean, heck, people are lining up outside of Adam Pierce's door complaining. We saw La Knight looking for his spot tonight, and it's not just him, it's Breaker, it's Rollins. It's. It's crowded. It's crowded WWE right now.

[Sam Roberts]

Yeah, it's interesting because it's crowded, but it's movable. Yes, there have Been times where it's been crowded, but it's just felt like you hear all these stories like about people who were in WCW at the, at the, at the height of wcw and they said it felt like the old boys network because they just knew they're not getting past the top guys. The top guys aren't moving. And, and that's when you get younger guys showing up in the wwe because it becomes the land of opportunity. WWE is crowded like that now, but it's mobile.

[Meghan Morant]

Yes.

[Sam Roberts]

It's like spots are moving.

[Meghan Morant]

Those things can be true. At the same time, it is crowded. But. But there's constant move can be the land of opportunity.

[Sam Roberts]

It still is because there's constant movement. It's just a matter of putting yourself in the right spot to move as everything is moving with you. I mean, look at the fact that Bron Breaker is main eventing Monday Night Raw and we're not batting an eye. We're not sitting there going like, ooh, it's a big spot from Braun Breaker. We're going, no, Braun Breaker's wrestling. He should be main eventing Monday Night Raw.

[Meghan Morant]

I tell you what though, while it is movable, it's, it's pretty hard to move through.

[Sam Roberts]

But that's be. That's because of the guys that are there.

[Meghan Morant]

That's right.

[Sam Roberts]

And because it's like no. And it, and it's not a matter of, you know, kind of the, the old school way of, of politicking and doing this and that. It's. It's simply who's the best, who's delivering the goods, you know, and that's the environment that everybody's in. And when you're in an environment where it's merit based, you're going to see that kind of fight for, for that spot. And I want to talk about La Knight.

[Meghan Morant]

All right, let's do it.

[Sam Roberts]

Because La Knight is, well, he's obsessed with the bloodline, but we should get into the bloodline. Before we do, I do want to tell you that the comeback style that you've been waiting for, a new page T shirt. Wow, it's here. Add this must have tea to your collection and show your love for one of WWE's most iconic Superstars. I love this shirt. Available now at WWE Shop and Fanatics. And Megan, you've been waiting for it. You've been waiting to see me show up in one of these. I've been gearing up for the summer. How am I doing that? With the latest WWE tanks? It's giving tank top sun's out. Guns out. Okay. Available now at WWE Shop and Fanatics. Rep your favorite Superstar all season long. Look at that one. They have a. A a tank that's dedicated to the SummerSlam 1997 event t shirt. How do I know that? I was in the audience for it at the Meadowlands 97 Brett vs Undertaker. It was unbelievable. I got the version with sleeves, however, you don't even have to cut them off anymore.

[Meghan Morant]

How about that?

[Sam Roberts]

Tanks are available now at WWE Shop and Fanatics. What a time to be alive now.

[Meghan Morant]

I can't wait till you roll up to work in a tank.

[Sam Roberts]

Oh, every time. I mean, that's me. I work in tank tops. What can I tell you? That's. That's it just screams Sam Roberts.

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[Sam Roberts]

Roman Reigns showed up at the top of Monday Night Raw.

[Meghan Morant]

Yeah, he did.

[Sam Roberts]

With the USO's feeling really, really good. You know why?

[Meghan Morant]

Because it's acknowledgement day. Sam.

[Sam Roberts]

There's no better day than acknowledgement day. I mean, there's birthday, there's Christmas day, there's Wrestlemania day, but acknowledgement day trumps them all. Look at this Roman. This Roman Reigns who's just sitting there waking up in a great mood. Can you imagine waking up on a Monday? You ever get a case of the moondies when you just wake up and you're all sullen? Not Roman. You know why?

[Meghan Morant]

Because it's acknowledgement day.

[Sam Roberts]

Because this Monday of all Mondays is acknowledgement day. And Jimmy is happy for acknowledgement day and Jay is very happy for acknowledgment day.

[Meghan Morant]

Jay was happy because it, he's been there before.

[Sam Roberts]

There is a thing going on with Jay USO right now. You know what I mean? Where it's like you are either, you know, sometimes when you got a little bit of a shaky upbringing, you either repeat your parents behavior or you do everything you can to change them. I think Jay, when it comes to the bloodline might be a repeat your parents behavior type of guy. You know, I think that Jake, there are parallels that I draw to the journey that Jay went on six years ago and or, you know, five and a half and the journey that Jacob is on right now. And I think the fact that Jay is not looking at Jacob and going, hey man, I've been there. And instead is going, come on, Jacob. Come on, Jacob.

[Meghan Morant]

Loading.

[Sam Roberts]

I mean, yeah. And smiling. I mean, happy about it.

[Meghan Morant]

I mean, when the entire crowd in Italy was chanting Roman, Roman reigns. Roman, Roman reigns. Jay's up there with a big old smile on his face and he's doing the same thing. He was pumped for acknowledgment day.

[Sam Roberts]

He was. But maybe it's because Jay is going, hey, look like you need to understand, like here's the thing about Jay uso. I'm right there. Roman even brought it up tonight. Like I've been world Heavyweight champion. I've held that belt. You haven't. Like there are. This isn't, this isn't five and a half years ago. I'm in a different spot. I deserve a little bit of respect. And I mean, you've seen him posting all kinds of crazy stuff on Instagram. He doesn't like levels of disrespect.

[Meghan Morant]

He does not. But he sees it all, every single one.

[Sam Roberts]

He's the, he's a former world heavyweight champion. Everything that he said he could do. He's done. Main event. Jey. USO is not a nickname anymore, so I get it. But Roman showed up, by the way, Italy was thrilled to see their tribal chief.

[Meghan Morant]

I mean, when Roman flashed that million dollar smile to Italy, oh, how could you not be?

[Sam Roberts]

I wish I was in Italy.

[Meghan Morant]

I know you do.

[Sam Roberts]

I would have liked to see it in person. It looked amazing. But I mean, like, when you have to wait for minutes for everybody to quiet down so you can ask them to acknowledge you. Like, I'm sitting there going like, okay, like, like Roman's being very patient, like, just accepting all of his praise. But what's he doing? He's going to wait until it quiets down and then he's just going to say, acknowledge me. Like he's being acknowledged right now.

[Meghan Morant]

And then he's going to have to

[Sam Roberts]

wait again for the acknowledgment.

[Meghan Morant]

Yes.

[Sam Roberts]

Because the acknowledgments can take a little bit of time. But I said, I said, way to go, Italy. Way to make your tribal chief feel at home. He was smiling. He's having a great time.

[Meghan Morant]

They were happy to have him back.

[Sam Roberts]

And when the tribal chief is happy, I'm happy.

[Meghan Morant]

We all are, right? We all eat good.

[Sam Roberts]

We all eat good. Today was a big meal day. Although you know what? Roman Reigns has very happy to receive the praise that he gets, but he's getting back into that spot where he doesn't like the criticism. He doesn't like the yip yip, yipping. You know, he doesn't like people bringing up his name in a way that's less than dutiful.

[Meghan Morant]

Well, because you see where he's taking this business, right?

[Sam Roberts]

You talking to me? I don't see anybody else around here. You talking to me?

[Meghan Morant]

I'm talking to you.

[Sam Roberts]

Yeah. Yeah. If anybody has seen what Roman has done, it's me. It's documented, okay? I'm the documentarian of what Roman has done. I have every move that he's made. I've gone on full monologues about the guy steps into a room and I've got a 30 minute emergency podcast. Yeah, yeah, I've noticed it. And it's amazing. And he deserves it. He deserves every bit of it.

[Meghan Morant]

Listen, I'm not gonna argue with you about that.

[Sam Roberts]

I know you won't. I know you won't. I know you respect your tribal chief and acknowledge your tribal chief.

[Meghan Morant]

I do.

[Sam Roberts]

And then. But Jay grabs the mic and is like, man, his first day is already late. And it's like, you know, Somebody wrote into my Not Sam podcast and they said, is it. Is it too mean for me to say that Jay is starting to give me middle management vibes? Oh. And I went, I never thought of that. Because it's not. But. But the type of middle management that like, takes on the power that the boss has because the boss has kind of put him in a position. Like the type of middle management that's like the boss has said, you're my guy. Go do whatever you need to do. And then that guy just like acts as if he has the same power

[Meghan Morant]

in his muscles, but it.

[Sam Roberts]

But the, like, his muscles are the same size that the boss's muscles are,

[Meghan Morant]

but they're not because he's not the boss. I mean, Jay tonight was taking a victory lap on Jacob, but it wasn't Jay that was even remotely involved in the victory over Jacob.

[Sam Roberts]

Right, right, right. So, I mean, it's just. It's just. It's just a lot to see. Right?

[Meghan Morant]

Because I like how he goes from crash out Jay to flexing on him.

[Sam Roberts]

Jay, he's emotional.

[Meghan Morant]

It's a great.

[Sam Roberts]

He just, he's just. Because he's in an honest place. I love that Jay's just in an honest place. He's just going to be himself now because he's done it all.

[Meghan Morant]

He has.

[Sam Roberts]

He's ridden this wave with the bloodline. He's the one guy who's quit and had to do it on his own. He made it to the main event. He won the Royal Rumble. He won the world heavyweight title at WrestleMania. Like, he doesn't. In my mind, Jey Uso doesn't have anything to prove. And the fact that there are still critics of Jey uso, that seems very off to me because it's like, this is the guy who's done it all. Regardless of how or why or when or whatever, he's done it. He's done the impossible. He's done things that you would never win. When the USO's showed up in board shorts and neon face paint, you weren't going like, there he is. That's the guy. And Jay did it. So at this point, it's like, you shouldn't be letting things bother you.

[Meghan Morant]

And Jacob hasn't done that yet.

[Sam Roberts]

And that probably gets under Jacob's skin because he had the opportunity and he wasn't able to do it because he was in there with the tribal chief Roman reigns. And Jacob comes out and he's dressed in all black, you know, and he

[Meghan Morant]

has a totally different demeanor.

[Sam Roberts]

He does Not a lot of Samoan shimmying.

[Meghan Morant]

It was, like, pretty ambivalent. Right. Like, he knew what was ahead of him. He was accepting of it, but he wasn't happy about it.

[Sam Roberts]

No, it was almost like first day. Like, it. Like. Like when you get to a new school and you gotta be the toughest guy. You know what I mean?

[Meghan Morant]

You know, you wouldn't know anything about that, but I. I know what you mean.

[Sam Roberts]

What, you would go show up and just be the toughest person?

[Meghan Morant]

Of course. Not you, though?

[Sam Roberts]

No, not me.

[Meghan Morant]

No.

[Sam Roberts]

No. I wouldn't have made it in those Chicago schools. No, but you.

[Meghan Morant]

I would be like, yeah, faster than all of you. You know, we talked about. We talked about this.

[Sam Roberts]

No, that's not the point. I can run faster than you.

[Meghan Morant]

That's right. What are you gonna say?

[Sam Roberts]

Yeah, I don't have that. I don't have any of those skills, unfortunately.

[Meghan Morant]

Tough.

[Sam Roberts]

I'd show up and be like, I know more about wrestling than any of you.

[Meghan Morant]

Yeah, give me your shoes. You'd be like, okay, all right, here's

[Sam Roberts]

my shoes, Mom, I need a new pair of shoes again. My socks are muddy. So. No, that's. That's not inaccurate. So Jacob shows up and he gets right in Jay's face right away. Right in Jay's face. And Roman goes, jacob, I'm over here. And Jacob is cool. Jacob is calm. Jacob says, last night I was beat by my tribal chief. And that's where you're going. Oh, my gosh. He's going to do it. He's going to say it. And then he's going to say, but, But. But Jay's punk ass didn't do it. I was like, good for you, Jacob. Make sure they know. Make sure they know. I'm acknowledging that guy, not that guy. Okay?

[Meghan Morant]

He's got nothing to do with it.

[Sam Roberts]

Yeah, his punk ass didn't have nothing to do with it. Good for you, Jacob. And then he did it, and then he sat there and he said, so, Roman, I acknowledge you. And he got down on one knee and he put up the hands of acknowledgment. And Roman, you know, embraced him. Clasp class. I mean, I never. This is literally the image that I was sitting there going, this is why I'm so mixed up on this tribal combat thing, because I cannot see Jacob serving Roman. Acknowledging Roman. And yet here we are.

[Meghan Morant]

But the Samoan werewolf was neutered. As Michael Cole so eloquently said last night that.

[Sam Roberts]

That he did say it. I don't think he said neutered he said domesticated.

[Meghan Morant]

No, I think it was neutered.

[Sam Roberts]

I don't think it was neutered. That feels like domesticated. It was some.

[Meghan Morant]

We're gonna have to have both check on this.

[Sam Roberts]

Okay. We're sitting in the booth, they're saying it was both neutered and domesticated.

[Meghan Morant]

Look at that. We're both right. Wow.

[Sam Roberts]

Michael Cole with the loose lips, huh? Michael Cole must have an insurance policy or something. If I was. If I was Jacob Fatu, I'd say maybe I was, but not by your punk ass, Michael Cole. That's what I would say if I was Jacob. But I'm not Jacob Fatu, so I won't say it.

[Meghan Morant]

Good for Michael Cole. Right? He's probably exhaling big now. Good thing Sam Roberts isn't after he

[Sam Roberts]

was Jacob Fatou for said just Sam. Okay. He won't say it then. Yeah, but he did. He knelt down. And then Roman said to Jacob, he said, you don't understand this right now, Jacob, but I love you. And I was like, oh, oh, oh.

[Meghan Morant]

And I'm thinking about how Clash ended. I'm thinking about solo. I'm thinking about mft.

[Sam Roberts]

I mean, you can go back as far as you want. You can go back to the beginning of this whole thing. He told that to Jay. He told it to Jay in 2020. I love you, Jay. That's why I'm doing this.

[Meghan Morant]

He said it last night during the match. I didn't need any of you. I'm doing this because I love you.

[Sam Roberts]

But guess what? Who in that family is in a worse position because of what Roman did?

[Meghan Morant]

No one.

[Sam Roberts]

No one.

[Meghan Morant]

No one.

[Sam Roberts]

No one. Maybe Roman's right. And Jacob and I'm sitting there, right? And this whole time there's this level of tension because the bloodline is all in the ring together. And. And you got Roman and you got Jay on one side and Jimmy on the other side. And they got their ones up and Jacob goes behind him and I go, oh, is he going to take out the USO's? Is he going to take out somebody?

[Meghan Morant]

Take out Jay?

[Sam Roberts]

Yeah. And he puts his one up and he puts his one up and he walks off with Roman reigns and the USO's. And I'm go, look. And I'm looking at this and I'm looking at Roman and I'm looking at the USO's and I'm looking at Jacob and I go, we're so back. The bloodline is back.

[Meghan Morant]

Has never been stronger.

[Sam Roberts]

No. And also it's all blood.

[Meghan Morant]

Yes.

[Sam Roberts]

No wise man, no honorary oozes, except for yours truly.

[Meghan Morant]

Oh, I don't know.

[Sam Roberts]

You know. No, but it's just. But I'm pretty much, you know, you

[Meghan Morant]

weren't in Italy tonight, so.

[Sam Roberts]

No, but they needed me to represent back here. You were literally in the room, so that's really not something you could take away from me.

[Meghan Morant]

Okay.

[Sam Roberts]

Did he. Was it said or was it not said that I was the real honorary use by somebody who had the authority to say it?

[Meghan Morant]

Jacob Fatu said it, but he's not the tribal chief, as we know.

[Sam Roberts]

No, but it's ooze. It's not. You know what I mean? He could still say. Yeah, he could still. It's Jacob. He could still say that.

[Meghan Morant]

Anyways, the bloodline is stronger than.

[Sam Roberts]

No matter how jealous you are. Yes.

[Meghan Morant]

That is saying a lot. That's a strong statement.

[Sam Roberts]

That's what they say. Say bloodline red or Megan Morant, jealousy green. They say, you know.

[Meghan Morant]

Now, no one has ever said that.

[Sam Roberts]

Well, I can think of one person who said it. Me, just now.

[Meghan Morant]

The people who matter.

[Sam Roberts]

No, I can't think of anyone.

[Meghan Morant]

No one.

[Sam Roberts]

No, no, no. No one. But Jacob falls in line and the four of them walk off together. And I've got to tell you, I don't know how long this dynamic is going to last, but I love it. I'm thrilled about it. I can't. I can't tell you. And then there's a part of me

[Meghan Morant]

thinking as they were walking up the ramp that this is going to be the best thing to ever happen to Jacob Fatu.

[Sam Roberts]

It's possible. And then you flipped out.

[Meghan Morant]

I did.

[Sam Roberts]

When they showed the video of Roman

[Meghan Morant]

and Cody, I did flip out because I did not see it. I had not. No.

[Sam Roberts]

Yeah.

[Meghan Morant]

I didn't see it because we were doing the show. Of course.

[Sam Roberts]

Of course.

[Meghan Morant]

You know, everybody's algorithms are different. And so. So anyways, I did not see this. I did see the backstage interaction between Charlotte and Jade. Saw that multiple times, but didn't see the Cody and Roman one staring each

[Sam Roberts]

other down because Roman also, on his way out of Clash in Italy, said something to the effect of F QB1, you know, and so it's all. It's all still there.

[Meghan Morant]

Well, and then Roman was telling Jay, listen, you've held this one, the world heavyweight championship, but you haven't held that one.

[Sam Roberts]

You haven't held the other one.

[Meghan Morant]

Go get the other one. Go. Go win king of the ring tournament.

[Sam Roberts]

Yeah.

[Meghan Morant]

And go get that other one.

[Sam Roberts]

And then he said, jimmy, I need you with me. Jay needs to do this on his own.

[Meghan Morant]

And that's so wild, because Jay is the one. I mean, Cody is the one who brought Jay back to wwe.

[Sam Roberts]

Yes.

[Meghan Morant]

He brought him to Monday Night Raw.

[Sam Roberts]

Yes.

[Meghan Morant]

So much history.

[Sam Roberts]

There's so much history. But, like, what's interesting about that, you're right, Is that, like, not only is that the case, but also Jay is just in such a different spot that if you said to him, you remember quitting the bloodline, you remember having to go to Raw, you remember, he'd go like, what are you talking about that for? Like, he wouldn't even.

[Meghan Morant]

It's not really relevant right now. Yeah, yeah, he didn't.

[Sam Roberts]

It's not even a discussion.

[Meghan Morant]

No.

[Sam Roberts]

Yeah, it's. It's remarkable. And then, of course, you also had La Knight, who. This guy is bloodline paranoid.

[Meghan Morant]

Yeah. He's saying that Adam Pierce is playing favorites, bro.

[Sam Roberts]

Anna Pierce is in charge of a business here. Okay? Like, if you had Roman Reigns on your roster, I'd. You'd. You play favorites.

[Meghan Morant]

Yeah. Because he puts food on tables. Yeah.

[Sam Roberts]

The whole roster's table.

[Meghan Morant]

Also, by the way, I'm really happy for that guy who's officially been promoted to title guy for Roman Reigns.

[Sam Roberts]

Belt boy?

[Meghan Morant]

Belt boy?

[Sam Roberts]

You talking about belt boy?

[Meghan Morant]

Yes.

[Sam Roberts]

He got a trip to Italy out of the deal. I mean, you know.

[Meghan Morant]

Yeah.

[Sam Roberts]

Is that. I got to get that going? Something like that. You know what I mean? Where it's like, you get. You got so much stroke that you get them to pay to send your dude to Italy because you don't want to carry the title all the way to Italy, So the company has to pay to send your title boy to Italy so that he could go through customs with the belt.

[Meghan Morant]

That's when you will truly be honorarius.

[Sam Roberts]

That's how much. That's how far I got to go.

[Meghan Morant]

And that happens for you?

[Sam Roberts]

Yeah. It would just hold my microphone or something for me. My earbuds. I do. I want to start. Maybe I give him to Alex. Maybe Alex could do that for me. Every time I walk into the podcast studio, Alex just hands me my earbuds.

[Meghan Morant]

Because you're the podcast.

[Sam Roberts]

No, I don't have that kind of respect. He won't do it. You won't do it. I gotta find another. Okay. He said, money. He's Dan House. And he said, I'll do it for human monies. By the way, shout out to Danhausen, nice little video package about him and the influence that he's had on the new York Knicks.

[Meghan Morant]

Yes. The NBA finals.

[Sam Roberts]

Going into the NBA finals on Wednesday. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Meghan Morant]

Hope Wemby doesn't get cursed.

[Sam Roberts]

Do you? He's cursed. He's. He's as good as cursed. Danhausen is bleeding blue and orange. Okay? Danhausen is a Knicks guy.

[Meghan Morant]

You see how big Wemby is.

[Sam Roberts]

Curses don't. What would that have to do with.

[Meghan Morant]

I'm just saying he's a big dude.

[Sam Roberts]

Yeah. I mean, but Danhausen has a lot of cursing ability.

[Meghan Morant]

Okay.

[Sam Roberts]

You know, I mean, you could be as big as you want. You'd be Al Gigante. Danhausen could still curse you. Dude's like eight feet tall. Big deal. It's a Danhausen curse. You think because the guy's tall, he can't get cursed?

[Meghan Morant]

I was just saying I hope he doesn't get cursed.

[Sam Roberts]

Well, good luck with that. Were you a Spurs fan?

[Meghan Morant]

I don't know. I just. I just like the product. I would like it to go seven games. Okay. Can I just.

[Sam Roberts]

Four. Nick.

[Meghan Morant]

Four. Four.

[Sam Roberts]

Fanatics Fest, by the way, is coming.

[Meghan Morant]

I don't have a dog in the fight.

[Sam Roberts]

Oh. The number one sports fan festival, Fanatics Fest returns to the Javits center in New York City from July 16th through the 19th, 2026. It is a must attend event for WWE fans. You're going to be able to meet your favorite superstars and enjoy surprise appearances all weekend long. New superstars, by the way, just added for Fanatics Fest include Oba Femi.

[Meghan Morant]

Who?

[Sam Roberts]

AJ Styles, Trick Williams. Trick and the Undertaker.

[Meghan Morant]

Oh.

[Sam Roberts]

Gotta go meet him and say hey. Good job on that Master's master.

[Meghan Morant]

How about that?

[Sam Roberts]

Additional photo and autograph tickets for all WWE Superstars have been added. Tickets will sell out, so go get yours today. Fanatics Fest general admission and photo opportunity tickets are on sale now@fanatics fest.com.

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[Sam Roberts]

Another pina colada.

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[Sam Roberts]

Fantastic.

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[Sam Roberts]

You're hired and you're hired.

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[Sam Roberts]

Shopify.com setup we did get to start the King and Queen of the ring tournaments tonight on Raw.

[Meghan Morant]

Did you sleep last night filling out your bracket?

[Sam Roberts]

Oh, yeah. My Bracketology is. Well, my bracket's already busted.

[Meghan Morant]

Well, because when I saw that these were fatal four way matches and I saw that Obafemi was in one against Penta, Carmelo Hayes and Sol, after the way that clash ended, yeah, I had a. Had a lot of intrigue for this match because I was like, how can, how can Oba lose? But what, what Solo's involvement. But then at the same time, you have the intercontinental champion in Penta and Carmelo Hayes has been on a heater.

[Sam Roberts]

Absolutely. And also It's a fatal 4W, which means you don't even need to beat Oba.

[Meghan Morant]

Oba doesn't have to be pinned.

[Sam Roberts]

You just need to get him distracted for three seconds to pin somebody else.

[Meghan Morant]

Yeah. And it looked like for a while there when Oba and Solo were outside of the ring, that Carmelo Hayes and Penta were like, all right, who's getting pinned?

[Sam Roberts]

But I'll tell you right now, for Melo, for Solo, for Penta, I think the worst thing that could have happened to them is Brock Lesnar beating Obafemi because Obafemi showed up on one. I mean, he walked into the ring, he took all three of them out, and then he finished his entrance.

[Meghan Morant]

Carmelo Hayes goes after him immediately while the music is still playing, I go, wow, the ball's on Melo. Good for him.

[Sam Roberts]

Good for Melo.

[Meghan Morant]

And Opa's like, get out of the way, get out of the way. Let me hit my pose.

[Sam Roberts]

Right.

[Meghan Morant]

And now we can.

[Sam Roberts]

Now let's get back to business. Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, and they tried and you know, against anybody else, those fatal four way rules would have absolutely benefited Solo soa, and they did for a period of time with, with Talatonga being out there. But like, Talatanga wasn't even enough to stop Obafemi on this, on this absolute war path. I mean, in what other context, who other than an angry Oba Femi could get Solo, Sikoa, Carmelo Hayes and Penta to be working together? At one point, the three of them were working together to just try to stop Obafemi.

[Meghan Morant]

They had no other option.

[Sam Roberts]

No.

[Meghan Morant]

No other. And they realized that pretty quickly into the match.

[Sam Roberts]

Yes. Yes. So Obafemi wins this match.

[Meghan Morant]

And the way he lifted up the seven footer Talatonga and drop him on

[Sam Roberts]

the table and then dives back into the ring, picks up Solo like he's nothing. And Solo's a big boy.

[Meghan Morant]

Big.

[Sam Roberts]

And he. And then he picks him up, powerbombs him. One, two, three. Oba beats Solo. Oba advances into the final four and

[Meghan Morant]

this is less than 24 hours removed from.

[Sam Roberts]

Yeah, his arm was still taped up. Yeah, yes, absolutely. And he said, you know, he and Brock are one and one. That, that, that, that, that, that path will at some point cross again. But right now he's going to win the King of the Ring tournament. And when you, when you hear a guy like Obafemi say that, the way Obafemi said it, it's hard to argue.

[Meghan Morant]

Well, he's like, Brock wanted to know how I would respond to a beat down. Brock wanted to know how I would respond to 7F fives. This is how I respond by winning, by dominating and advancing in the King of the Ring tournament.

[Sam Roberts]

And like you look at this and I'm looking at the field and, and you know, the winner, the finals of this tournament happen at Night of Champions. The winner goes to SummerSlam for a championship match. And there are a few people in this bracket that I would love to see going to SummerSlam for a championship match. But, but, but you can't even get ahead of yourself that way, you know. So I think, I think next week is when we're going to get Seth Rollins, Javon Evans, Tala Tonga and Ricky Saints in a fatal four way. And I mean Seth Rollins is coming off of a huge amount of momentum, but again, he doesn't even have to be in the ring. It's a fatal four way. You know, Tala Tonga is impossible to beat, but you got like Ricky Saints and Javon Evans who we were talking about the mobility of the roster, we were talking about young guys looking for the opportunity. Finding a way to win in this King of the Ring tournament is what's going to guarantee you to skip the entire line to get ahead of the full pack and just do it. Now listen, you got one on one matches after these fatal four ways, which means somebody in this fatal four way, Dominic Mysterio, Braun Breaker, Trick Williams or Damien Priest is going to have to fight Obafemi in order to get into these King of the Ring finals. Right? And I think that like Dominik Mysterio is in a real interesting spot right now because we saw what was going on with the Judgment Day backstage, you know, and it feels like the Judgment Day doesn't have that sort of momentum. It feels like the Judgment Day needs that jumpstart.

[Meghan Morant]

Although did the idea of Queen Liv Morgan and King Dominic Mysterio titillate your juices?

[Sam Roberts]

Oh, it wet my beak a little bit. I don't know if it titillated My juices, but it wet my beak, I'll tell you that right now. Yeah, I would love to see it. Of course, I would love to see it, but it's a pack feel. You got Braun Breaker. Who needs this after this loss to Seth Rollins, you have Trick Williams, who. It's like he showed up with the United States Championship and instantly declared himself.

[Meghan Morant]

I imagine Lil Yachty would be by his side as well.

[Sam Roberts]

Of course. Boat's gonna be there.

[Meghan Morant]

Boat.

[Sam Roberts]

And then Damian Priest is another one who I think right now, former World Heavyweight Champion.

[Meghan Morant]

Come on.

[Sam Roberts]

And needs to get back into that World Heavyweight Championship conversation. And I think is the type of guy that would love to be paired up against Obafemi to show. To show him what he can do.

[Meghan Morant]

One Razor's Edge and he could find himself there.

[Sam Roberts]

I don't know how you. Razor's Edge, Obafemi.

[Meghan Morant]

Be a sight to see.

[Sam Roberts]

Yeah, absolutely. And then you have Jay uso, La Knight, Royce Keys and Finn Balor.

[Meghan Morant]

It's going to be real interesting to see this Fatal Four way with Jay USO and La Knight, especially given that dynamic.

[Sam Roberts]

And you wonder if La Knight is going to. Is going to be as smart as Seth Rollins was tonight or if he's gonna be so focused on Jay USO that he forgets that he's gotta deal with Royce Keys and Finn Balor. Because Royce Keys was tweeting. Royce Keys's Twitter fingers were out because Roman Reigns mentioned Royce Keys. His name. Royce Keys is like that. I mean, that's. I mean, honestly, it is great news for somebody like Royce Keys. That's like, just to be in that conversation is a good, good thing.

[Meghan Morant]

Of course it is. And then of course, you have Finn Balor coming off of the past couple months that he's had, reminding everybody exactly who Finn Balor is.

[Sam Roberts]

But think of any of these people in a championship match at SummerSlam, right? Oba Femi, Seth Rollins, Javon Evans. I mean, you know, Jay USO is on a specific mission. La Knight, who wants to make sure this all stops. Royce Keys, Finn Balor, you know, I mean, Braum Breaker needs all of Oba Femi. Those are all amazing SummerSlam main events. And then you also had the Queen of the Ring tournament starting tonight, where we got Roxanne Perez, Iyo, Sky Julia making that hometown appearance.

[Meghan Morant]

Oh, Italy was pumped to see Julia loved it.

[Sam Roberts]

And Lash Legend. And I mean, you know, it's interesting because they couldn't be more polar opposites, but I look at Obafemi and I go, how could anybody Possibly beat Obafemi in this tournament. This feels like it's his. I kind of feel the same way about Iyo sky, which you would never categorize Obafemi and EO sky together, but it's kind of how I feel about IO.

[Meghan Morant]

Yes, but the. The only way I'd contradict you is Jade Cargill. She's on the other side of the

[Sam Roberts]

bracket with Sol Ruka, Lyra Valkyria, and Charlotte Flair. Who? Those two have problems again. I feel like the Cargill Flair twosome in that Fatal Four way is similar to LA Knight and Jay uso, where maybe it brings out the best in them. Maybe they cancel each other out. You know, I mean, who knows? Saul Ruka could go double champ on this.

[Meghan Morant]

She could. But then Lyra Valkyria, she's already politicking Backstage Less than 24 hours after she has the opportunity to now go after the Intercontinental title because we know when she lost to Becky, as long as Becky held that title, Lyra could never challenge for the Women's Intercontinental title. Well, guess what? Becky doesn't hold the title anymore.

[Sam Roberts]

Well, she probably. Lyra's probably trying to get a match quick before Becky worms her way into a rematch and cheats to get the title back.

[Meghan Morant]

Smart, smart by Lyra. She's learning.

[Sam Roberts]

Well. She's slick. Lyra Valkyria.

[Meghan Morant]

Becky's pretty slick.

[Sam Roberts]

Oh, she and Becky. Becky has been known to be slick. It'll be Keanu James, JC Jane, Raquel Rodriguez, or Bailey that faces EO sky. The two that. Wow. I don't know, man. Any of them would be amazing, right? I think Raquel, obviously, the judgment day is looking for a win, but, like, I think J.C. jane versus EOS guy would be amazing just because of what J.C. jane has been doing since she got to the main roster. But Bailey vs. Eos guy feels like the match I want to see and

[Meghan Morant]

all of the history there. With toxic.

[Sam Roberts]

No, with damage.

[Meghan Morant]

Damage control.

[Sam Roberts]

Damage control. Yeah. No, I get. They're confusing, but, yeah, yeah. I mean, damage is toxic, so it is. But, yeah, all that fatal influence. There's a lot. There's a lot. I know, but I think, yeah, Bailey versus IO sky in a king of the Ring match. That would take me back to, like. Like, 93 when it was Bret Hart and Mr. Perfect who had, like, all this history. But there's just something about it being a King of the Ring or Queen of the Ring match that makes it, like, that much bigger, you know? And then I guess next week is when we'll get Liv Morgan, already.

[Meghan Morant]

She's already gotten her head sized for the crown.

[Sam Roberts]

That's smart. Becky Lynch.

[Meghan Morant]

She also has got to figure out how to read a room.

[Sam Roberts]

Who live.

[Meghan Morant]

Yeah, that was tough.

[Sam Roberts]

I was tough. It was tough. It was not the time. Alexa Bliss and Chelsea Green, a lot of people also. I mean, the big feedback that I read from this tournament was like, why on earth would the World Champion be in a tournament where the prize is a shot at the World Championship? But I also thought Liv kind of clarified that on. On. On the Post show, which is she wants everything, you know, and it makes sense that she wouldn't know how to read a room because it's like, nobody else is doing that. But Liv's like, well, I want Rhea's belt, too.

[Meghan Morant]

I want the cham, I want the queen.

[Sam Roberts]

And Liv probably feels confident in a match against Rhea Ripley.

[Meghan Morant]

And then, speaking of politicking, we saw Maxine Dupree backstage fighting for another opportunity. Right. She wants to be in this tournament.

[Sam Roberts]

And.

[Meghan Morant]

And again, we talked about the men's division, how crowded it is, but the women's, you could say the same thing.

[Sam Roberts]

Absolutely. And Otis over there trying to control who she's friends with and who she's not friends with.

[Meghan Morant]

Was he being a hater?

[Sam Roberts]

Kind of. Kind of.

[Meghan Morant]

Or was he just being protective?

[Sam Roberts]

No.

[Meghan Morant]

Hater. You got hater vibes from that?

[Sam Roberts]

I got hater vibes from it because sometimes when, like, like, you have a friend who's a girl who's hot. I was going to say it, but she starts, you know, hanging out with somebody else because it's a. It's. It's a tough one. It's a tough one, but you got to be a little more strategic than being like, hey, that. Hey, babe. Hey, babe. He's bad news. You know, honestly, if Otis came up to me and said, hey, babe, Megan. Megan, she's bad news, babe. I'd be like, oh, podcast is over, Otis.

[Meghan Morant]

That's all it would take.

[Sam Roberts]

He's very convinced that's all it would take.

[Meghan Morant]

You'd kick me to the curb just like that.

[Sam Roberts]

You know what it is? He's so endearing when he says that. Hey, babe. You don't think, like, if he said that to you, you'd be like, oh, my God, yeah, of course. Whatever you say, I want to be your friend. Like, it's very endearing. Yeah.

[Meghan Morant]

He's such a good guy.

[Sam Roberts]

He is so lovable, and he's very lovable. And he's best friends with Tazawa, and he's Also lovable. And it's like, well, you know, he's not going to lead you astray, I don't think.

[Meghan Morant]

But Maxine wasn't having it.

[Sam Roberts]

No, she wasn't. There's something cooking there. I love. Whatever. Whatever I. You talk about intriguing. Whatever's cooking between Austin Theory and Maxine Dupree right now. I want to know more. I'm a soap opera guy.

[Meghan Morant]

It looked like things were cooking backstage. They were in a heated exchange tonight. Yeah.

[Sam Roberts]

Oh, in the background there.

[Meghan Morant]

Saw it.

[Sam Roberts]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, and then last week, she was running off with them.

[Meghan Morant]

People are starting to notice now.

[Sam Roberts]

I mean, you can't not notice it.

[Meghan Morant]

It's everywhere.

[Sam Roberts]

It's one of those things where they're, like, eventually going to be like, hey, we've been hanging out. And it's like, yeah, we know.

[Meghan Morant]

We all know.

[Sam Roberts]

We know. Everybody knows. Everybody knows. Everybody's been talking about it. Yeah, I. I'm. I'm.

[Meghan Morant]

I'm like, we're just waiting for the hard launch, you know?

[Sam Roberts]

I'm like, yeah, yeah, no more soft launch.

[Meghan Morant]

Come on.

[Sam Roberts]

I want the hard lunch. Hard launch. Are you shipping?

[Meghan Morant]

I think so.

[Sam Roberts]

Austin Theory and Maxine.

[Meghan Morant]

Yeah, I think so.

[Sam Roberts]

I think so, too.

[Meghan Morant]

I think so.

[Sam Roberts]

Yeah, I think so.

[Meghan Morant]

I think that's exactly what I'm doing.

[Sam Roberts]

Tops now, by the way, captures major milestones and viral moments from the biggest events. Maybe the hard launch of Austin Theory and Maxine Dupree will get a Tops Now. This past weekend was a huge one. Oh, I got to get this in. The wwe. And Tops is commemorating. Wait till you hear this. No. With a Grande Americano card, look for rare short print image variations. And from Clash in Italy, Tops to celebrating Soul Ruca's Women's Intercontinental title win, look for Soul's first Tops now autograph card. Oh, I gotta get both those. Those are both great moments. As always, make sure you're following at Tops on Social and sign up for notifications on tops.com for the big moment cards from the WWE. I love that everybody got the opportunity to get another look at Noche de Los Grandes. I cannot believe. I mean, I can believe based on how good it was, but, like, the level of conversation this being a wrestling Monday, getting. You know how long I got on the radio on Sirius today? Do you know it was an hour and a half that I was talking about Noche de Los Grandes.

[Meghan Morant]

And you could have done to.

[Sam Roberts]

Easily could have done to. Just callers calling in nonstop. Just everybody. I mean, it's. It's one of these moments that is completely brought wrestling fans together. It's one of these things that every. I mean, every. I haven't heard one person that even said, oh, I just kind of liked it. Everybody was like, this is it. This is why we love professional wrestling.

[Meghan Morant]

We're all swept up in the emotion, the feelings of all of it.

[Sam Roberts]

I mean, look at that Port Mexico.

[Meghan Morant]

That's right. Andrea Bazarte, El Grande Americano.

[Sam Roberts]

And it's so real.

[Meghan Morant]

My favorite part of the entire match.

[Sam Roberts]

Yeah.

[Meghan Morant]

Was when El Grande Americano was beating original El Grande Americano with the rope in front of Andrea. She was cheering.

[Sam Roberts]

Oh, yeah.

[Meghan Morant]

Cheering on the love of her life. Romance is in the air. And us wrestling fans, we love a love story.

[Sam Roberts]

We love a love story. Low key. Like some people don't want to admit it. No, I like it for the moves. I like it for the work rate. I like. No, you don't. You love it for the love story. Everybody loves it for the love story. It goes macho and Liz, Dominic and Liv. Morgan Grande and Andrea.

[Meghan Morant]

Grande and Andrea are pretty high up.

[Sam Roberts]

For me, it might be tied for three. I'm being 100% honest. That might all be in the top place. Maybe it's recency bias. But yeah, I mean, I was, I was. I wrapped up in this whole thing. But what made. I mean, Mask versus Mask, Grande Americano versus Grande Americano so good to me was it was one of those matches. I could go so far as to compare it to WrestleMania 40.

[Meghan Morant]

Wow.

[Sam Roberts]

I know, I know. Jaws are on the ground in there. People are. Philly.

[Meghan Morant]

When Cody finishes the story.

[Sam Roberts]

Yes, yes, yes.

[Meghan Morant]

I'm. I'm honestly right there with you.

[Sam Roberts]

Because it was one of these matches where within, over the course of the match, everything got tied up. The whole story played itself out. Every single story beat that we had played on the way to this thing was a part of it. It was all. Whether it was Pimpinella ripping the mask off or Andrea coming out with the ticket. The comedian, the blind comedian hitting him with the walking stick. Everything, everything from, from. From Los Hermanos Americanos to Rayo and Bravo, like, all of it, everything that had been a part of this story was all encapsulated. And it was like it was the perfect. You know, I say everything counts all the time. It was the perfect example of a match where everything counts. Every. There was a reason to pay attention to everything that was going on. Cause it all showed itself. And then in the end, good triumphs over evil, as it always should. And you got this moment of respect from the audience that just rained down on these two grand days as Grande Americano original took his mask off, of course, revealed himself to be Chad Gable. JBL was shocked. Most of us not shocked. Let's Chad Gable. Yeah. Thank you, Bradshaw. Yes, it is.

[Meghan Morant]

And then the commentary was excellent, excellent, excellent. So good.

[Sam Roberts]

Between JBL graves, Ray Mysterio, Rey Mysterio. Yeah. So good. But like just one of the classic mask versus mask matches. A story that started so ridiculous, that ended in such a real serious good versus evil love hate war story. It was just absolute cinema.

[Meghan Morant]

And you mentioned how it started. So ridiculous. I don't think anybody, anybody could have imagined when the El Grande Americano character was debuted that it would lead to such an emotional finale that you'd sit

[Sam Roberts]

there and go, I, I, I, I would sit here and compare it to one of the greatest WrestleMania main events of all time.

[Meghan Morant]

And it's not a stretch. No, not at all.

[Sam Roberts]

Unbelievable. Unbelievable. So if for some reason you didn't watch it on Saturday, if you didn't watch it on Netflix, if you're just sitting there going, oh, you know that thing that the entire wrestling world is talking about, Let me sit there with my fingers in my ears and my eyes glued shut. I refuse to watch it. Stop being stubborn. It's on the WWE's YouTube channel. Go you what? The whole card was amazing. War Raiders winning the Tag Team championship. The Kingo winning the Latin American Championship. Ray Phoenix winning the Cruiserweight championship. But then to, to cap it all off, and from the very top, mariachi bands. And the entrances, the entrances, the bands, the, the, the. Everything. And then, and then, oh, original Grande Americano. Not waiting for the bell to begin and hitting Grande with a guitar to start the thing. It was like, you son of a. Masks were torn, blood was shed, flesh was ripped. And in the end, Chad Gable looked at Grande Americano and said, I will always be the original Grande Americano, but from now on, you are the only Grande Americano. And it was like, what a story, man. What a story. So check it out if you haven't. It's so, so good.

[Meghan Morant]

It was so good. I just wish we could do it all again.

[Sam Roberts]

Unbelievable. So we will do it all again. Not that, but Raw recap. Of course. Next week, we're going to have our next Fatal Four. Way in the King of the Ring tournament, in the Queen of the Ring tournament. I think we're going to see how Jacob, Fatu and the USO's are coexisting. How La Knight is doing and so much more. Make sure that you're subscribed across all audio platforms. Make sure you're leaving comments and hitting like on YouTube. And we'll see you next week for Raw recap here on wwe. Now it.