I’d be lying if I were to say that up until this edition of “Raw,” I hadn’t gotten a little bit tired of the segments between Roman Reigns and Jacob Fatu that have mostly been brawls. It made the storyline between the two men feel a little bit stale for me, especially because I didn’t really expect it to extend beyond WWE Backlash, but my interest was certainly renewed after their opening segment.

To start with, I actually really liked that this was the first thing that happened on this show. Reigns and Fatu’s segments have been pushed towards the end of the last couple editions of “Raw,” so right off the bat, this already did something a little different with its placement on the card.

Fatu may not have ultimately been the man to come out on top during this brawl, but that doesn’t mean he came off looking weak by any means at all. WWE actually played things really smart here by having Reigns and The Usos need to tangle up Fatu in the ropes and land two Superman Punches and two double superkicks just to subdue him. It kept Fatu strong while still allowing Reigns and The Usos to come out on top, which they desperately needed considering that Fatu has gotten the better of Reigns on three occasions as of writing.

With all being said and done, this was the refresh and renewed interest that this storyline needed in my eyes, and was a nice way to set the tone for the rest of the show.

Written by Olivia Quinlan