World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns will take on his cousin, Jacob Fatu, at Backlash after an intense confrontation on “WWE Raw.” Fatu initially squared up to Reigns and challenged him last week, but Reigns gave him time to think about whether or not he wanted to divide their family or unite it.

After consulting with the Usos in a pre-recorded video to open the show, Reigns also closed the episode of the red brand when he came out to address Fatu and his challenge. He said he brought the title back to relevancy and now it’s the title people can acknowledge. Reigns played up to the crowd before Fatu’s music hit.

Reigns said he hoped Fatu made the right choice, but Fatu said he didn’t need a week, or even an hour to think, he meant what he said when he went out there last week. Fatu said Reigns must be in his main event bubble, but he’s had to grind for 12 years trying to make it. He said neither Reigns or The Usos called him before he was in WWE, but Solo Sikoa did.

The champion laughed it off, and asked Fatu who he thought ran the place, because it was him who gave the okay to sign off on Fatu. He said Fatu doesn’t deserve the title shot, he hasn’t earned it, and allowing Fatu to challenge him would be nepotism. Reigns barely got the last word out before Fatu jumped him and hit him with the Tongan Death Grip.

Fatu yelled that he was going to take everything from Reigns. As he walked back up the ramp, Reigns got back on the microphone and said he’d see his cousin at Backlash. Fatu spoke to the camera and said he’s not waiting, he’ll see Reigns on “Raw” next week.

Oba Femi announced a weekly open challenge after beating Grayson Waller during “WWE Raw.”

Just one week removed from declaring himself “The Ruler” of “Raw” following his win over Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 42, Femi was back in the ring wrestling Waller. 

The match didn’t last long; shortly after the bell rung, Femi quickly ensured it was ringing again, then took to the microphone and declared that he will be in the ring every week fielding challenges from whoever thinks they can step up to the plate. 

Femi beat Lesnar in less than five minutes at WrestleMania, with Lesnar leaving his gloves and boots in the ring to signify the age-old wrestling retirement tradition. Of course, wrestling retirements also come with the caveat that they aren’t always permanent. 

Femi put out the challenge after beating Lesnar to Roman Reigns after he won the World Heavyweight Championship in the main event of Sunday’s WrestleMania show. For his part, Reigns said he would be keeping an eye on Femi and whether he’s ready in the coming months. 

Joe Hendry completed his brand trifecta when he made his official debut on “WWE Raw” with a signature concert.

He started off by singing about why he chose the red brand before moving into the chorus about firing Logan Paul. The fans and Michael Cole joined in on the song while Corey Graves criticized him for singing along. An irate Paul came to the ring with Austin Theory. He screamed into the mic all the way down the ramp about how he’s unfireable. When Theory said they were winners, Hendry replied, “Joe says no!” and called them “prime time losers.” Theory told Hendry that the ring and the camera belong to them and “The Vision goes through everybody.” Hendry responded by taking him down with a clothesline and shoulder tackled Paul in the corner.

The Vision double-teamed Hendry until the Street Profits came in for the save. Angelo Dawkins sent Paul to the apron before he & Montez Ford took down Theory. Paul pulled Theory from the ring and Hendry jumped over the top rope into The Vision’s arms to take them down. He celebrated with the Street Profits. The Street Profits went after The Vision last week and have their sights set on the tag titles.

Last December, Hendry made his “SmackDown” debut and defeated The Miz in a Miracle on 34th Street Fight. Hendry was NXT Champion for 60 days until he lost to Tony D’Angelo at “NXT” Stand and Deliver.

Becky Lynch is still Women’s Intercontinental Champion after IYO SKY answered her open challenge on “WWE Raw,” but SKY’s attempts to win the title were thwarted by Asuka. Lynch came out to cut her victory promo after dethroning AJ Lee at WrestleMania 42 and said she was aware the fans wanted her to be a fighting champion, so she issued the challenge.

She didn’t want to face SKY after she came out, however, and it took “Raw” General Manager Adam Pearce to make the match official. Lynch was in control of the beginnings of the match and hit a leg drop off the second rope. SKY battled back with a missile dropkick followed by the bullet train attack, but Lynch kicked out. SKY dodged the Manhandle Slam, but Lynch intercepted SKY on the suicide dive.

SKY hit a sunset flip powerbomb to down Lynch on the outside, then countered another Manhandle Slam. She hit a big backbreaker, but Lynch kicked out. Lynch got her feet up to block an Over the Moonsault attempt and hit her Manhandle Slam, but SKY kicked out. 

The challenger took out Lynch with a moonsault on the floor, but as she got Lynch back in the ring, Asuka appeared to trip her up on the apron and threw her back in the ring. Lynch hit a final Manhandle Slam to retain, and Asuka beat down her rival in the ring. 

Later in the night, it was revealed that Asuka and SKY will go one-on-one at Backlash in Tampa on May 9. After the announcement, a video package of Asuka was shown, where she explained SKY was her greatest failure, and how she thought they’d be a family once again before SKY ruined it. Asuka said at Backlash, she’s going to teach SKY one final lesson: that she’ll never be ready for Asuka. The recently released Kairi Sane was not mentioned in the promo.

As the road to AEW Double or Nothing 2026 starts to map itself out, the April 22 episode of “AEW Dynamite” saw a lot of action that could have major implications for the weeks ahead. Darby Allin made his first defense of the AEW Men’s World Championship against Tommaso Ciampa. MJF baited Kevin Knight into getting an AEW TNT Championship match for next week, and Will Ospreay’s neck problems caught up to him as he was defeated by Mark Davis.

Despite all of that action, the TV ratings weren’t as kind to AEW as they have been in recent weeks. Wrestlenomics and The Programming Insider both confirmed that the April 22 episode of “Dynamite” averaged a total viewership of 617,000 viewers, a 13% drop from last week’s 710,000 viewers, and 14% below the trailing four week average which currently sits at 715,000 viewers. The April 22 episode of “Dynamite” was also the least watched episode of AEW’s flagship show since February 11, which averaged 604,000 viewers. As always, these figures do not include those who streamed the show live on HBO MAX.

With a drop in viewership meant a drop in the 18-49 demographic as well, with the April 22 event posting a 0.10 number. This is 17% drop from the 0.12 number posted last week, a 29% drop below the trailing four week average of 0.14, and is the lowest number posted in the demo since the March 11 episode which posted a 0.09. In the prime time cable rankings for Wednesday night, “Dynamite” would finish joint-tenth for the night, with the NBA and NHL playoffs on ESPN and TNT respectively earning the vast majority of the viewership in first and second place. However, “Dynamite” did once again have a decent showing with older audiences as the show placed seventh in the 25-54 demographic, finishing with a 0.19 number.