WWE Now: Roman Reigns is ready to SMASH ‘em all at WrestleMania | Raw Recap
72 min
•Mar 24, 20262 months agoSummary
This WWE Now Raw Recap episode analyzes the road to WrestleMania 42, focusing on Roman Reigns' dominant return to form against CM Punk, Oba Femi's impressive emergence as a legitimate threat to Brock Lesnar, and the personal escalation between Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley. The hosts discuss how key storylines like the Bloodline's resurgence and Paul Heyman's complex maneuvering are shaping the WrestleMania landscape.
Insights
- Roman Reigns' 'smash them all' mentality represents a full-circle moment for the Bloodline narrative, with Jey Uso awakening the dormant aggression that defined the faction's early dominance
- Oba Femi's rapid ascension and fan reception (90%+ crowd support) suggests a generational talent comparable to Brock Lesnar's 2002 debut, with the psychological edge of showing zero doubt against an established legend
- Paul Heyman's apparent losses (Oba beating Brock, Vision losing via DQ) may be strategic positioning rather than setbacks, maintaining leverage across multiple WrestleMania storylines
- The women's division has raised the competitive bar so significantly that returning veterans like AJ Lee face pressure to prove relevance in a modern era they helped create
- CM Punk's button-pushing strategy against the Bloodline demonstrates how emotional investment can be weaponized, though it may backfire against Roman's calculated brutality
Trends
Legacy-driven narratives in wrestling increasingly rely on full-circle storytelling that rewards long-term audience investment and historical continuityEmerging talent evaluation now emphasizes psychological composure and eye contact confidence as indicators of main event readiness, not just physical attributesMulti-layered heel management (Paul Heyman) is evolving toward invisible wins where apparent losses serve larger strategic objectives across multiple feudsWomen's wrestling has created a competitive escalation trap where returning legends must prove they belong in a division they helped elevateCurse-based supernatural storytelling (Dan House) is being used as a comedic but effective tool to explain match outcomes and build character mystiqueWrestleMania positioning now requires emotional authenticity and personal stakes rather than just title implications to drive premium live event interestTag team championship dynamics are being deprioritized in favor of individual championship pursuits, suggesting a shift in how WWE values team wrestling at the main event level
Topics
Roman Reigns vs CM Punk WrestleMania feud dynamicsBloodline faction resurgence and storytelling continuityOba Femi's main roster debut and Brock Lesnar matchupPaul Heyman's multi-layered strategic positioningWomen's Intercontinental Championship: Becky Lynch vs AJ LeeLiv Morgan vs Rhea Ripley Women's World Championship escalationJey Uso emotional investment and character developmentWrestleMania 42 card construction and match implicationsTag team championship direction and Usos' prioritiesCM Punk's psychological warfare tacticsSupernatural storytelling with Dan House curse angleWomen's division competitive bar and legacy talent integrationSeth Rollins incarceration angle and WrestleMania opponent uncertaintyOba Femi fan reception and crowd psychologyMadison Square Garden Raw implications for WrestleMania build
Companies
People
Steph McMahon
Primary host of What's Your Story? and WWE Now Raw Recap, leading analysis of WrestleMania storylines
Megan Morant
Co-host providing analysis and perspective on women's division and WrestleMania card development
Big E
Guest analyst providing professional wrestling perspective on Oba Femi, Roman Reigns, and WrestleMania implications
Roman Reigns
Main focus of episode discussion; demonstrated dominant return to form against CM Punk with shield powerbomb through ...
CM Punk
Feuding with Roman Reigns; using psychological manipulation and button-pushing tactics to provoke Bloodline
Oba Femi
Emerging talent facing Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 42; demonstrated physical dominance and psychological composure
Brock Lesnar
Established main event talent facing Oba Femi; showing visible respect and concern for unprecedented opponent
Paul Heyman
Strategic manager orchestrating complex multi-layered plans across Brock Lesnar, The Judgment Day, and other clients
Jey Uso
Bloodline member demonstrating emotional investment and awakening Roman Reigns with 'smash them all' call
Becky Lynch
Women's Intercontinental Champion challenging AJ Lee at WrestleMania; demonstrated serious promo intensity
AJ Lee
Returning legend challenging for Women's Intercontinental Championship; facing pressure to prove relevance in modern era
Liv Morgan
Women's World Champion feuding with Rhea Ripley; demonstrated determination and willingness to escalate physicality
Rhea Ripley
Challenging Liv Morgan for Women's World Championship; facing determined opponent with personal investment
Seth Rollins
Arrested by Boston police after confrontation with Paul Heyman; WrestleMania opponent still uncertain
Dan House
Supernatural character placing curses on opponents; curse angle used to explain match outcomes and build mystique
Quotes
"Smash them all. That's what they said. That's this moment right here."
Steph McMahon•Early segment discussing Jey Uso awakening Roman Reigns
"We took Roman and what he did with the bloodline for granted. What we got with the bloodline is the type of storytelling that is once in multiple generations."
Steph McMahon•Mid-episode reflection on Bloodline legacy
"I don't see that. And maybe it's something he's dealing with internally that we don't see. But this man has handled this stage with so much aplomb, with so much grace."
Big E•Discussing Oba Femi's psychological composure against Brock Lesnar
"AJ Lee mastered the Divas era and I murdered it."
Becky Lynch•Women's Intercontinental Championship promo segment
"The curse is real. I mean, you can laugh, you can giggle, you can tee he all those things. We've seen the results."
Big E•Discussion of Dan House curse angle implications
Full Transcript
Ready to launch your business? Get started with the commerce platform made for entrepreneurs. Shopify is specially designed to help you start, run and grow your business with easy customizable themes that let you build your brand, marketing tools that get your products out there, integrated shipping solutions that actually save you time, from startups to scale-ups, online, in-person and on-the-go. Shopify is made for entrepreneurs like you. Sign up for your $1 a month trial at Shopify.com. Roman Reigns and CM Punk get physical. On the road to WrestleMania, Paul Heyman has what has to be one of the worst nights in his professional life. I think we know where we're going with the Women's Intercontinental Championship for WrestleMania and so much more. This is the raw recap on WWE now at WWE and Fanatics original production. Wow, you know it's WrestleMania season, not just because that sign is above our head, Megan. Look at that sign. But because we meet on another Monday night, trying to figure out where to begin with so much going on in the world of the WWE on this road to WrestleMania. But like we do so often, I vote that we start where we ended, with Roman Reigns and CM Punk. As soon as he hit that spear, it was like music to your ears, music to all of our ears, but you stood up and expressed an emotion. I haven't seen you express towards Roman Reigns in a long time. I felt it immediately. You know, I mean, I am- You sprung out of your chair. I cannot tell you how I felt when Jay started yelling, because Jay is the- Crash out Jay is the hero of all of this, the hero that I didn't know that we needed. When Crash out Jay is yelling to Roman Reigns because Jimmy has been, well, he's been trying to play both sides of the fence quite frankly. He's really been the voice of reason for Jay. The voice of reason for everybody, but it's like, bro, listen, I'm gonna tell you how the Roberts do business, okay? When you start talking about other Roberts members, and then you start telling me how to handle people that talk about other Roberts members, it's not gonna work out. When you have LA night going, hey, you know, I don't know, Jay, you shouldn't be talking like Roman. Hey, first of all, don't tell me how to act ever. And second of all, get my cousin's name out your mouth. I'm Crash out Jay Uso right now, okay? This is where I'm feeling- And Jimmy has been trying to somehow maintain these friendships and relationships that they have. All the while, the family is being threatened because here's what happened, and here is why you're right. I didn't know if you noticed that or not, but you're right. I had an out-of-body experience. We were sitting in the other room. The second the spear connected, I was like, oh, it's- You became a different person. Because we're back, because we're back, and we've needed to be back for so long. Because here's what happened somewhere along the way, and I don't know if it was towards the end of Roman Reigns' title run or if it was right after Roman Reigns' title run. I don't know if it was when a new bloodline came out, and now we're fighting over Oolopholas. I don't know if it's when Roman started defending the title less and people started to say, oh, maybe it's time for somebody new. How long can you keep the title on Roman Reigns? I don't know exactly when it happened, but at some point they forgot. At some point, everyone forgot. And you know what happened? This is true. This happens with fans. This has happened with everybody. Not we. They took Roman and what he did with the bloodline for granted. What we got with the bloodline is the type of storytelling that is- I mean, forget about once in a generation, once in multiple generations. It was one of the most special periods of time that I've ever been a wrestling fan to watch this story play out. It was. And this ain't shilling. You could go back years and listen to the way I talked about it when it was really happening. I'm obsessed and you know this. Yeah, the backstage bloodline segments, they were everything. Listen. And it went on for over two years. It went on for four years. Okay. And it should have gone on even longer because instead of coming off the bloodline and going, there's Roman Reigns, any time he blesses us with his presence, we remember what that guy did. We remember the story that guy and that guy's family told. And anytime the Usos are on the screen, we remember what they did and the story that they told and what they did for the Tag Team division and the fact that they brought the WWE Tag Team Championship to the main event of WrestleMania. And anytime Solo Sokoa is on screen, we remember what he did. And we remember how he became the threat. We remember how he beat John Cena with multiple Samoan spikes. When Sami Zayn is on our screen. When Sami Zayn? Absolutely when Sami Zayn. I will immediately brought back to Montreal. Go to Montreal. Go to the bloodline trial. Go to Royal Rumble. Go to everything before that when everybody just thought it was fun and a joke, but it just elevated and elevated and elevated. Go back to all of it because everything counts. Okay. And I feel like people have these short-term memories and I'm turning on Smackdown and Tomatanga is going, oh Solo, you're starting to sound like Roman. I wish people sounded like Roman Reigns. Anybody ever came to me and said, Sami's starting to sound like Roman. Good. I go, you know, will you marry me? That's the greatest compliment I've ever heard in my entire life. The tribal chief. Yeah, that's exactly who everybody should pray to God that they sound like. Okay. Especially in wrestling. And they're in the ring. And there have been all these words going back and forth and CM Punk. And this is what he does. Pushing buttons every week and pushing buttons every week and pushing buttons every week and there's nobody. But listen, before I was a Bloodline fan, I was a CM Punk fan. I was there in 2011. I was there before 2011. The CM Punk was very amused and has been amused by the fact that Jey Uso is crashing out. Of course he is being. And Jey Uso has steam coming out of his ears. He's pacing back and forth and CM Punk has eaten it up. And Jimmy's trying to calm him down. And it's all going, it's just an emotional outpouring. And now Roman Reigns shows up and Roman Reigns tells him to go. But it was when Roman told him to go and then Jey went after Punk anyway and then Roman had to take down Punk and it was disorganized. Right? And it was when Jey looked at Roman and said, you know what to do. Smash them all. Smash them all. That's what they said. That's this moment right here. You know what to do. Jimmy is trying to get him to stop because Jimmy has had this built in from the beginning of the bloodline. Jimmy doesn't like this tension. Jimmy doesn't like this fighting. Jimmy's a get a long guy. You know what I mean? I'm going to go in the ring. I'm going to do my business. I'm going to be one of the best to ever do it. But I don't need all this conflict in my life. Jey is all emotion. That was what made Jey a world champion. That's what got Jey popular. And that's where Jey is right now. That's what had arenas running it back. 1000%. Pure and utter emotion, whether it's negative, whether it's positive, whether it's love, whether it's anger, emotion. And you love that about Jey. That's the connection. You feel. Yes, exactly. And when Jey is telling Roman Reigns, you know what to do. Smash them all. That's the beginning of the bloodline. That's going way back. That's the lesson that Roman was teaching Jey Uso from the very beginning of this thing. And that's all it took in an instant. Roman Reigns. Woke up from this slumber. Yes. Jey woke up this hibernating bear. Roman said, that's right. Why is there an argument about who should and shouldn't be champion? Why is there an argument about who should and shouldn't be in the main event? And who is bringing who to the main event? And who's young boy? And who should be respecting who? Roman went right back to that guy that this is his ring. This is his camera. Those are his seats. It's his show. Smash them all. It goes back to like, that's when you start going all the way back. There's a WrestleMania 37 when we're stacking them. To 2020. Smash them all. And that's what Roman did. What are we playing games here? Who's proving to who? Oh, I'm in your head. No, I'm in your head. No, forget it. Smash them all and leave. They literally put it on a T-shirt. Yes. Beginning of the bloodline when Paul Heyman first showed up and it was like, what makes Roman different? He says he's going to smash them all. And then he spends the next three and a half years smashing them all. And so the fact that Roman did that, and then in a very brief period of time, I mean, he gave us a Roman Reigns history lesson because he started with that spear. That's the smash them all spear that's going back to the beginning of the bloodline. That's every that's Roman's move, the spear. Practically takes CM Punk out of his shoes. But then to me, this history lesson really clicks in when they're on the outside of the ring. And Roman Reigns picks CM Punk in that power bomb. That power bomb that was first used by Roman Reigns to protect CM Punk. The shield showed up in WWE to protect CM Punk. The shield mastered that power bomb, the position that Roman was in. Which when the other shield members would be on the side and it would be that triple power bomb that put somebody through a table. And they did it to defend CM Punk. And CM Punk, I don't know if he's forgotten or I don't know if this is part of some master plan that he thinks that he has. But now finally after, you know, over a decade, the chickens come home to roost. And Roman goes, no, this is the guy that I am now. This is the guy. This thing that we did for you. No, no, no, no, no. Now I do it to you. And he gave CM Punk a single, not a triple, a single shield power bomb through that table. And just picked him right up by his shirt to remind him who he is. I absolutely loved this with Roman because we've talked a lot since Roman's been back. How it's always the nuances with Roman, right? His ability to tell a story with his face. The aura, if you will, the cinema when it comes to Roman Reigns. But cinema. Cinema. That's it. Cinema. But we haven't seen the smash of Roman Reigns in a long time. Because he hasn't had to, right? Because it's like, we know. Yes. But then tonight, not only do we get the aura, not only do we have the cinema, not only do we have all of the feelings that come with Roman Reigns, because he's been back for a little while now, quickly, the switch turns, the spear hits, and we're back. Yeah. Because all of a sudden it's like, we go from like, oh, well, he hit me this week. So I guess I'm in control and then he hit me that week. So I guess, and it's like, no, no, no, no, no. I'm in control because I'm going to leave you in a position where you can't walk out of here. That's what puts me in control. Don't test me. And Punk was laughing about it. I don't know if CM Punk thinks that he's the Joker. If he's got this maniacal death wish, where he thinks the further that Roman Reigns goes, the easier it's going to be for CM Punk to beat Roman Reigns. Yeah, I think the opposite. A hundred. I couldn't agree with you more. Big surprise, Megan. I couldn't agree with you more. I mean, I think the more you mess with Roman, the more you get Roman to go to the place he went to tonight, the more trouble you're in. I mean, we saw it for four years. That's what I was about to ask you. You said you hadn't seen Roman Reigns in this state in a long time. When would you say it was the last time you saw him in this state? Probably before WrestleMania 40. And what was he doing before WrestleMania 40? Was he was he losing very often? Never. That's right. Never. Was he never losing? Never. And everybody thought they had this like, there's so many people. Oh no, I got this plan. Oh, you got a plan? You got a plan against Roman? Oh, you got a plan? Oh, okay. No, no, no. I'm going to play. I'm going to play 3D chess. Oh, you are? Oh, okay. 3D chess. It is crazy because we do forget how significant Roman in the bloodline and you know, generational, you said, you know, once in several generations, something like this will happen. It was so much to the point where I was standing with you on the floor at WrestleMania 40. And as Romans making his entrance, we look at each other and I go, I don't, I don't know if I'm ready. Me, you and Lars from Rancid all sitting there going, we're not ready. I'm not ready for this to end. I'm not. I'm not ready for this to end. I mean, Cody's got to finish the story, but I'm not ready for this to end. No. And I've been sitting there and I think that that's what it was. I think that that's why I got out of my chair tonight. I think that that's why I approached the television like I was watching the Super Bowl. You know what I mean? I think that like I had money on the, I approached that television like I had money on this game. It's like me and March Madness. Yes. You know. Yes. For, to all accounts. Yes. But like, I think it's because I hadn't, when it was, it was that, it was almost Pavlovian. Jay saying, you know what you have to do. And he calling by his government name too, which I'm not going to say because it may be disrespectful to the tribal chief, but Jay is family. Jay can call him by his government name, but he called him by his government name. And he said, you know what you have to do? Government name. Smash him. Smash him all. And Jimmy knew, but Jimmy didn't want to go there. Jimmy doesn't want to awaken that giant. Jimmy sees, you know, Jimmy is, is able to keep those emotions in check. Cooler heads prevail. Cooler headed Jimmy. So which you always need a cool head of family member. You need that. Always. But to the point where Jimmy's saying, let's go worry about the tag team championships. And Jay said, he doesn't care about the tag title. I don't care about tag titles right now, which is crazy because he has to defend them against the vision and WrestleMania is right around the corner. I mean, it's real good news for the vision. I guess so. Vision's got to hope that this keeps on going forever. Okay. You know what Jimmy said? I don't know about what punk said. Like keep his mind on this, on what's going on over there because it looks good. But I mean that level of, of honesty, you know what I mean? Like you don't hear that in wrestling promos. You don't hear that in WWE. They're like, oh no, you got to, you got to respect that this and you got to, there are rules that you play by and everything. And it's like, no, not when it's raw emotion, not when it's pure and utter emotion. So CM Punk comes out at the beginning of this thing. And he's met by Jimmy Uso in gorilla position. And Jimmy says, hey man, watch what you say. My brother's on the war path. And the music to CM Punk's ears. It's exactly what he wants to hear. CM Punk took that as an invitation to push buttons. Yeah. Fantastic. Oh, good. Great. Good. I had a plan going out there, but now it's a totally different plan. Now, I, oh, that's fantastic. Wonderful. I'm glad you guys stuck around for this in that case. I love getting under Jey Uso's skin. Especially, and that's, I mean, it's a little bullying. Punk doesn't care. No, he doesn't. You know, he doesn't. They're bigger, they're bigger fish to fry. He says, nobody, nobody in this Samoan family can do it by themselves. Roman can't do it by his, himself. The cousins can't do it by themselves. Nobody can. He said, he said, none of the Samoans have approached him. Even after Roman said, you all have to do what you all have to do. He said, zero doughnut. He said that it wasn't being called old to bother him last week. It was who was calling him old. Yeah. He's proud of being old. Yeah. That's right. I thought of you because I was like, you're pretty proud to be bald. So in a way you and punk. Some people say it's a glow up. The Bellas did say that to you. Okay. So exactly what you got to say now. You're proud of it. Well, I was after that. She said that you're proud. I was after that. You're proud. Punk's proud to be old. You're proud to be bald. I'd be, you'd be proud to be bald too if you had my hairline. If the Bellas told me that I got a glow up, I would be like, yeah, you know what? Change all. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Exactly. Take it. I've been told I look brawlic now, but it's neither here nor there. That's not what we're talking about. But you're right. I also, you know, like see a punk, I don't, I don't use any of the beard dye. No, just for men for you. Not for me. See a punk accused Roman Reigns of using it. I don't think that's true. And he had some, he had some grays popping out tonight. Well, Roman, they look good. They look good. He's Zaddy's. You know what I mean? The stressful time of the year, you know? So why not for not, not when you're smashing them, not when you're smashing them all. No stress. But he says it's not being called old as who called him old. He's not going to be disrespected by his young boy. He said, and again, throwing that young boy around like it's like, let's pump the brakes on that. Easy, easy. He knows what he's doing though. And then he starts getting into the cousins every day. That's what draws Jay out. He says, this guy couldn't beat me. That guy couldn't beat me. Jey Uso couldn't beat me one on one. I'm sure it helped that Jimmy had mentioned Jay right before he came out there. Now Jay comes out and Jay's ready to fight punk right now. You want to do this right now? We'll do this right now. We'll do this right now. Jimmy says, let's focus on tag titles. That's when Jay utters the thing about the tag titles. He doesn't care about them right now. Jay's talking about how punk keeps running his mouth. He's still running his mouth about our family. And he is. You can't let people talk about your family like this. You can't let people talk about your family like this. He's still running his mouth about our family. I mean, Jay is ready to snap. Yeah, and CM Punk's a fighting champion. So he throws the belt down and he says, all right, let's go. I'm a fighting champion. Your cousin's not even here. I mean, first of all, he knew Roman was there. Second of all, CM Punk was not getting ready to wrestle anybody. He was playing his mind games. He was playing his CM Punk games. Roman Reigns comes out. And right when his entrance music hits, CM Punk is doing these little finger dances. Lock Roman Reigns. Not taking any of it seriously at all. At all. No. I mean, laughing as Jay is going through it. As Roman is furious, CM Punk is giggling. Look what I did. Look what I've done. In complete control at this point. He thinks. I mean, listen, if getting my ass beat was my goal, I could also be in complete control of the situation. I think I could pull that off myself. You're right. You know, I don't know where I'd take it from there, but I think I could get it done. So he calls out. So Roman Reigns finally comes out. And that's when he tells the Usos, get out of here, beat it. Respectfully. Respect. I'm going to say this as respectfully as I can. Get out of my ring. Take your brother with you. Oh. That's when Jay's like, nah. Ah. And goes after Punk and the whole thing goes down. But I mean, you know, I'm an everything counts guy. Yeah, of course. It's my phrase. You know, I love, I love going deep into all this. All right. So where are we going? Just the idea of taking it back to where we started this conversation. That when the bloodline started, it was Jay Usos versus Roman Reigns. It was Jay Usos not appreciating what Roman Reigns was doing. And Roman Reigns through a series of matches where he beat Jay and was not kind in the way that he beat Jay. I think trying to draw the best out of Jay. I think that there were a lot of people, especially going up to that summer slam. We have a poster of somewhere in here where Roman and Jay headlined the thing. There were a lot of people that said this bloodline story was just as much a Jay Usos story as it was a Roman Reigns story. And we talked about that a lot last year when Jay Usos had his World Heavyweight title match. 100%. But the fact that you can go and say at the beginning of the bloodline, it was Jay that was trying to shake Roman out of whatever fog he was in. So Jay thought. It was Roman trying to awaken Jay. And tonight it was Jay awakening Roman. Here we are all these years later. And Jay is going, remember where we started? C'mon, c'mon. Everything counts. Jay's the one who's now going Roman. Remember where we started. Let's go back. And Roman said, Jay, you're 100% right. Boom. Boom. Ah. I mean, I adored it clearly. It was great. Full circle. So much history there. So much history. But I'll tell you, speaking of the bloodline, you know, who just had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad night. Was it Paul Heyman? It was Paul Heyman. But at the same time, Paul Heyman was laughing the same way punk was, ultimately. I mean, if you look at this, did Paul Heyman have a good night on paper? Maybe no. But the results of everything seem to kind of work in his favor. It's interesting how Paul Heyman always has the ability to do that. It really does. It really does. Because if we look at this, right, we start Monday Night Raw tonight with a promo from the Beast Brock Lesnar. And Paul Heyman looked like a million bucks compared to last week. He looked like a different human being. We talk about glow ups, wherever he went in the last week. I don't know. I got to go there. That's right. Yeah. And he comes out with his pinstripes. Obviously we know he's wearing a Yankees tie. He's in Boston. He knows where he is. He knows exactly what he's doing. But I do have to say, I love when Heyman wears the pinstripes, just in general. That's right. It's a good look on him. I mean, that's why the Yankees did it. Mm-hmm. You know, best looking uniform and baseball. But anyways, I mean, he's made a full turnaround. Transformation from last week. I mean, eyes are not puffed up. He's tanned, slicked, rested. Rejuvenated. Rejuvenated. And Heyman is in there with Brock Lesnar. And he's talking about the Brock Lesnar being the true main event of WrestleMania. And he starts talking about how the only reason that Oba, who he refers to as being very overhyped, the only reason that overhyped Oba Femi, was able to do what he did to Brock Lesnar last week was because Brock had to go after like 20 masked men. Mm-hmm. And as well was distracted by Seth Rollins. He also said that Oba is just a part of the WWE hype machine. Yes. Yes. Yeah, he mentioned a lot of names. Tons of names. Monday night raw. He went through. These are the names he said on television. Goldberg. Mm-hmm. Braun Strowman. Dean Ambrose. Lashley. AJ Styles. John Cena. He said all those names on television. And all those names have gone down to the beast Brock Lesnar. And he's saying Oba's no different. He's just going to get added to that elephant graveyard of absolute legends that were destroyed by Brock Lesnar until that music hits. And man, I mean, we knew the audience was on Oba's side. And we knew that as a fan base, we're very excited for the fact that Oba Femi is finally here. But like, I mean, I don't know that I've ever seen anybody so quickly. I mean, we interviewed him three months ago. Yeah, in December. In December, he was still an NXT superstar. And we sat there going, I, gee, I wonder when he'll get to the main roster. That was only three months ago. And now he's going into WrestleMania. And when you look at this and you look at this Brock Lesnar match and the way it's been built as one of the big WrestleMania matches, it doesn't feel like, oh, this rookie is getting a shot. Not at all. It feels like he's half of the equation of what's making this a huge match. Yeah. And also the reaction to Oba as soon as Brock gets in there and everybody's chanting Oba's name. When Oba's music hits, there's a new little wrinkle. Okay. The drums play and there's this, this, this pregnant pause. And it builds anticipation. And then all of a sudden that you see Oba, the lights flash, and then he starts doing the walk. It could not be more perfect. The walk. I'm doing the walk. This is good radio. Oh, it's so good. I mean, it really is. Everybody in Boston was doing it. Children, all agents. Adults. Yes. Yeah. Everybody's doing the Oba walk. Isn't it amazing that he does, I mean, this is a ridiculous walk for anybody besides Oba Femi. And he makes adults feel comfortable doing it. Of course. Like as a grown man. I would 100%, if I had been in the TD Bank Center tonight, I would have been doing the Oba walk. When the music hits, you have to. You have to. I mean, we'll probably be in Madison Square Garden next week. If he's there, I'll be doing the Oba walk. I'll be doing it. You have to. There's no question. You have to. It's contagious. You feel invincible. And that's an Oba. And maybe the reason you feel invincible is because you're looking at the person who's doing this thing. And it's Oba Femi, who now, I mean, walks to the ring after being challenged to basically say, okay, no Seth Rollins, no mask men. If you're so great, do it again. I feel like if I got Brock Lesnar up for a powerbomb and slammed him down, I'd probably retire. You know what I mean? I go, no. I mean, you saw what he did to all those mask men. Right. I don't know if any of all of them are still with us. I don't think they are. Most of them not. Yeah, I'd be done. I'd be done. But they go face to face again. No distractions. Brock Lesnar picks up Oba Femi in that F5 and you could see, man, Brock's legs getting shaky. Brock struggling to get him up. Oba escaping it. And Oba clothes lining Brock Lesnar over the top rope, eliminating every excuse that Paul Heyman had just created. I mean, three minutes before Oba was in there. It was insane. Again, the, you talked about Aura before the Aura, the vibes radiating off of that ring when these two are in it. Unbelievable. Yes. And for me, it was the moment that happened right after Oba threw Brock out of the ring. Which was what? And it was the look that Brock Lesnar was giving Oba Femi. Like what? Yeah. Yeah. There it is. There it is. Yes. Yeah. Like what, what is this? It's almost like this moment of realization for Brock. And this is a Brock Lesnar. We're looking at this look right now on the YouTube, if you're watching along with us. And it's this look of Brock Lesnar. He's been wrestling since 2002. That's a look of like, what is this? Brock Lesnar debuted in the WWE in 2002. He was already an NCAA champion. So he had seen everything the NCAA has to offer. He went in and he had his run in 02. He leaves WWE, he becomes UFC heavyweight champion. He has a run with the UFC championship, which means he sees everything the UFC has to offer. I mean, all the Frank Muir up and down the card comes back into WWE in, I think around 2012-ish, maybe. And sees everybody the WWE has to offer then. You know, sees the John Cena's and the Triple H's and the Undertakers and everybody that Paul Heyman mentioned tonight and more. And still now, in mid-2026, is looking up at the ring going, what is that? And I don't think Brock's seen anything like that ever. That's, yes. Yes. And Brock has, I mean, seen more than anybody. What is the, Brock's the guy, Brock's the guy you look at going like that's not a person. Yeah. And tonight when he was thrown over the ring by, over the top rope by Oba Femi, you're thinking back to all those names that Paul Heyman listed off and Brock's realizing, I don't know if Oba's one of those guys. I haven't seen anything like this before. So nuts. Oba's different. So nuts. Before we get to the rest of Paul Heyman's night, I do want to tell you that we got some new t-shirts available. Oh, let's go. I want you to see these t-shirts. First of all, Roman Reigns has a whole new line of shirts out. The OTC is back. The newest Roman Reigns apparel has officially dropped on WWE Shop and Fanatics, featuring fresh designs fit for the head of the table. You can rep our Tribal Chief with bold championship worthy gear built for true fans. Look, it's WrestleMania season. You want to roll into WrestleMania or WrestleMania parties or wherever you're going to watch this show roll in with this new Roman gear. So people know you're ready for the crowning of the Tribal Chief. I mean, speaking of WrestleMania, while you get ready for WrestleMania 42, you could do it with the latest apparel and merchandise that's also available now on WWE Shop and Fanatics from event ready tees to must have collectibles. All of it brings the energy of the grandest stage wherever you go. Jackets, jerseys, hats, whatever you need. It's all available now on WWE Shop and Fanatics. And I feel like as we as we go down the road of what a terrible night or complicated night, I should say layered, layered night Paul Heyman had, we should bring in our guest today tonight, whenever you're watching this to raw recap. Our beloved Big E is here to help us analyze everything that went on tonight. Monday Night Raw, E, how are you? I am swell. I am swell. How are you? Oh, we're great. We're great. I mean, we've been sitting here. We've been talking about Roman Reigns. We've been talking about Smash them all. We've been talking about Jay bringing back those bloodline vibes and E, if anybody, you know how much I love these bloodline vibes that I do. I do know that about you. But you know, in many ways, I wonder is, is Jay passed that as someone who has now been a world champion? Is this a regression at all? No, no, no, no, no. And this is why sometimes you got to come back and smash them all. There is no regression. The bloodline is peak. There is no regression. I can't imagine. They say, is it a regression to go back to the bloodline? Maybe the greatest thing that's ever happened. No, there is no regression. This is when one family dominated the sport. The entire sport was run by one family. OK. That. Well, here's my argument. Like CM Punk is someone who is very much a lone wolf says, I'm doing this on my own, is saying you can't do this on your own. You, your family always has, there's always someone trailing. There's always a group to worry about. And now they're kind of proving his point. Not kind of. They are proving his point. And that Roman Reigns, when Roman is asked to stand on his own, just be Roman. No Paul Heyman. No bloodline. Is he going to do it? I'm not. Roman obviously can, but but the reliance on the twins, on the cousins, on the family members. That is, I want to see Roman Reigns and CM Punk. I want to see that man versus that other man. I don't want to see any other. I want to see those two. If you're at the top of your game, if you're the man you claim to be, if you're, if you're the one who we all acknowledge as one of the greatest to ever do it. I want to see Roman stand on his own two feet. God forbid, huh? First of all, wait, let me ask you this. First of all, he puts food on your table. Okay. So a little more respect. Did he have any help putting CM Punk through the announce table? Did Roman have any help putting CM Punk through the announce table? You could argue that there were distractions. There were cousins distracting. You could argue that. Listen, first of all, it was CM Punk that drew the cousins out tonight. Okay. CM Punk is the one that drew them out. He did it on purpose. He's pushing buttons. He's very good at it. And he did it on purpose. Second of all, even if he, even if that is the, his point, well, gee, aren't you kind of making his point with, with, with your cousins out here? CM Punk can have his point and Roman will have the world heavyweight title. And then we'll call it a day. Okay. And then CM Punk can tell the world about his point. But I was right though, right? Good. Okay. When you don't have the world heavyweight title, nobody cares if you were right. Oh, okay. All right. So all right, that you make a point as far as being a world champion, but if we're talking about legacy, legacy is not just about how many world titles you've had, but it's also about how, how strong you are on the mic. It's about your ability to stand on your, on your own. I think, I think if Roman can't do this without the cousins, without the bloodline, I'm not saying his, his legacy takes a hit. I'm saying maybe we start to question it because a lot of CM Punk, okay, you could argue a lot of his, the summer of punk, that was a lot of Paul Heyman, the 400 plus day world title run from over a decade ago. Paul Heyman was there for that. But much of punk's career, he stood on his own two feet. And I think that's a lot of what his argument is, is look, I'm calling out Roman, you claim to be the greatest to ever do it. You claimed to deserve to be on the Mount Rushmore. I want to see you mono and mono. And until we see that, that's, that's what I was looking forward to. And that's what I, that's what I want to see. I hope at some point on this road to WrestleMania at one of these Raw's, we don't get any shenanigans, no BS. We get these two gentlemen, these two Titans standing face to face. Leave all the cousins. Look, we know there's 30, 40, 50 cousins. Leave them all in the back. That's what I would like to see as a fan. Well, let me tell you, what if Roman Reigns had the title, but his cousins had pancakes at ringside? Then would that be okay? Oh. Sam, you came out swinging today. I know, I'm sorry. You really? Oh. I took it personally. I feel like a lot of this, we were several time zones away from each other. And I feel like if the proximity was different, I feel like the tenor of this conversation would also be different. You know what? I feel like I'm going to be, have to be your Jameus, though. I did, I did tell Megan before you got on that if at one point my goal was to have my ass beat, then I would be able to accomplish that goal. And I think I've proven that. You did. I think I have. Yes. I think I have proven that. I think I have proven that. Well, we're talking about, I didn't mean it. I didn't mean it. And I didn't mean it. I didn't mean it. Mm-hmm. Well, we're talking about the bloodline though. We were talking about Paul Heyman. And Paul Haven, not having the greatest night in the world, but just a moment ago, we were talking about Oba Femi and Brock Lesnar. First of all, before we move on from Oba, I mean, I got it here. I got it here. Come on out. How you're feeling about the idea of not only just the idea of this match, of seeing Oba and Brock at WrestleMania, but what Oba has done the last two weeks on Monday Night Raw. I mean, Biggie, you're a known Oba feminist. You have to be. Huge. You got to be. You've got to be bugging right now. Massive Oba feminist. I almost soiled my couch last week. When I saw the ease in which this man, Oba Femi, powerbomb Brock Lesnar, and then to see what he just did on Raw again, I am telling you this, this WrestleMania, this match is for me. It is for me. And I will say, man, not, not just the ease in which Oba handles Brock, you see those two face to face. Looking at the tail of the tape and see Oba's a little bit taller, a little bit heavier, just the way he moves. But one of the things that really stuck out for me is the reception. The fan reception has really kind of blown me away. I thought for me, a win for Oba, as far as having the people in the palm of his hands, would be a 50 50 split reaction. I thought, you know, if you asked me two months prior, if Oba, if it was half Oba and half Brock, I'm like, man, that's amazing for Oba. It might be 90 10 or more for Oba, the way that fans have taken to him. I love the crowd shots of the little kids of the other fans doing the Oba bounce to the ring. I love it. And in a very short amount of time, this man has gotten very over with this crowd. I love what Oba brings to the table. And more than anything, I spent a lot of time when Oba comes to the ring and he's about to face Brock. It's not just I'm looking at his eyes. I'm looking at a lot of things, but I'm looking at his eyes. I'm seeing if there is even an iota of doubt, of fear of this moment is too big for me. I'm in the ring with one of the greatest to ever do it. And I don't see that. And maybe it's something he's dealing with internally that we don't see. But this man has handled this stage with so much aplomb, with so much grace for me. There are a lot of matches that we're going to be excited about on the build to WrestleMania, on this road to WrestleMania. But for me, it's hard not to put this up there, man. I can't wait to see what these two do. And it's really going to be, it's the biggest test of Oba's career bar none. Obviously, he's been in the ring with Cody Rhodes, our current world champion face of the company. But there is no one on this planet quite like Brock Lesnar. And I'm really excited to see if Oba can get it done. Because look, power bombing, Brock, closing him out of the ring, those are all important things. But if he doesn't get it done at WrestleMania, it's kind of all for naught. That's true. It's a great point though, about his eyes and about the way he looks at Brock and the way he looks just looking at the audience. You know, Oba talked about going back to Saturday Night's main event, this being his time and owning this moment. I feel like ever since he came back to NXT and kind of during his second title run as NXT champion, like something, it was a storyline that there was something different about Oba. But I feel like something actually was different about Oba, like something clicked in that was different for Oba. Because when you say, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, this is my time. I refuse to accept otherwise. And I'm going to take from anybody who says it's theirs. You're now three months in being given the ultimate test of whether or not you actually believe that, whether or not that's actually true by saying, okay, okay, well, take it from that guy then. And to your point, E, you're 100% right that it looks like he's not only, to your points, not only does it look like he's 100% there and completely willing in a very real way to live up to this moment and to take the moment from Brock. But also, when you talk about that 90-10 split, what to me is remarkable is not only is that right, but it's 0% silent. Yes. Meaning it's like, it's not like 90, 10, and then 20% of the fans going like, oh, I don't know these guys, but this is kind of fun. It's like 90% of the audience total, if not more, is behind this dude. And I love that you say it, looking at his eyes too, because it's, you know, saying it's like fake until you make it. When you're looking at a guy like Brock Lesnar, if you have any ounce of doubt in your eyes, that will certainly show. And when you look deep into Oba Femi's eyes, there's none of that, not even an ounce at all. And with Brock Lesnar, I think that's saying a lot. It really is. And I think also with Brock, you can tell when he respects someone he's in the ring with and when he doesn't. And there are guys, a lot of great talent that he's been in the ring with. And you could see he, and I think Brock is one of those guys where if he doesn't respect you, that's bad news for you. A lot of times, you know, guys are like, hey, if they, if they're overlooked, they have a chance in this match. I think Brock's one of those guys where if he respects you, he is, I don't know. I'm not saying it's nerves, but I think that gives Oba a bit of an edge because Brock isn't, isn't seeing someone that he can just run over. He is like, okay, I see a more calculating Brock in that. Usually he picks someone up for an F5. That's it. It's over. You get off the ground, your feet are off the ground and you are done. Not with Oba. Not. It's a different animal. And I don't think Brock has really been in the ring and in quite some time with anyone like Oba. I don't know if we've seen anyone quite like Oba to be his size, to move the way he does. He's got really an arsenal too. He really has, as the kids say, he has a bag. The dude really has a bag of great weapons to pull from in his arsenal. And I think at WrestleMania, he's really going to show out. And if you haven't had the pleasure of seeing him wrestle in NXT and he's not just a big dude who is an athlete, he puts on some really stellar, stellar matches. And you pointed to his time in NXT. I think oftentimes when you're a younger talent and you feel like you're on the cusp and people are getting behind you, you could have argued that Oba could have been called up a year ago. And I would have said, yeah, call him up. But I think sometimes that extra time to marinate, to work on your craft, to really hone your skills. I don't know if a year ago if Oba was in this position, I don't know if he's ready for Brock. And in fact, I'd say there's all the athletic ability and everything could be there, but it really is the mental. It is knowing I have all the skills. I have the craft. It's all there. And it's tested over time. I've had title matches after title matches after title matches. So I think for a lot of young talent, I understand the desire to get up, to go on the road, to be on the main roster. But I think that extra bit of seasoning for Oba being NXT champion, being North American champion, I think it really helped him get to this point where he's so poised when he's in the ring with Brock. Yeah. And I think that extra marination in NXT is something that you also saw with Bronbreaker. And I think it's something you also saw with Trick Williams. Trick for sure. That I feel like is effective. And pure point about not seeing somebody like this before to me, and I said this to you last week, Megan, I think the last time we saw anybody even remotely like Oba Femi was in 2002 and that guy was Brock Lesnar. So it's ironic seeing this all come together, but we were talking about that being step one of a difficult, of a complicated night for Paul Heyman. Of course, step two came right after that, even though Paul Heyman wasn't at ringside because he was tending to Brock Lesnar. We saw the vision come out for their non-title match against the Usos. I mean, lots of complications, Austin Theory, presumably by mistake, rips a turnbuckle cover off at one point in the match. All kinds of chicanery. Jey Uso ends up going down on the exposed turnbuckle. Logan Paul ends up getting the brass knuckles on. LA Knight ends up coming to ringside, taking the brass knuckles from Logan Paul, throwing them to Jey Uso, and Jey Uso in full crash out J mode does not care, cannot be bothered to do it with any kind of secrecy. Just right in front of the referee's face says, okay, puts on the brass knuckles and boom, uses them. The Usos lose, I mean, yeah, the Usos lose by disqualification, but Paul Heyman has a couple of clients that end up getting knocked out with a pair of brass knuckles. It's a tough time for Paul. It really is, like to have the vision falling apart with injuries and now with the results of what happened on Raw, with what's going on with Brock as well. And he had to know, look, you can talk about a lot of things. Don't bring up, Roo. Don't bring up. Don't bring up. They're a lovely child. That's, you're across the line that you can't touch that line at all. You know, I'm so intrigued to see because I felt like the pieces were coming together for Seth Rollins against Braun Breaker or Bronson Reed. But with those two out, I really don't know where the puzzle pieces come together for Seth at WrestleMania. We know Seth Rollins is going to be there. I would be shocked if Seth Rollins doesn't have a WrestleMania match, but now it's hard to see with who, where that goes. Obviously, you know, he's got to worry about, I don't know if someone's going to bail. I'm out. You know, Betty got plenty of money. Hopefully she'll be there for him. So he's got that to worry about as well. But, you know, it's an interesting time, but, you know, it's also interesting. We saw no other masked men. We saw Seth Rollins stand on his own two feet like some other shield, former shield members seem to do. But we saw Seth out there alone. But yes, Paul Heyman is, he's in very rough way. And the Paul Heyman we saw last week, that man, his eyes bloodshot. It's, it's, it's a mess. It's a real mess. But you know, I mean, again, going back to CM Punk at the end of Monday Night Raw, laughing, even though he was shield, power bombed, solo shield, power bombed through a commentary table, I would say between, if I'm sitting there going like, who would I rather leave raw looking like Roman Reigns destroying CM Punk or Paul Heyman being taken out, I'm sorry, Seth Rollins being taken out in handcuffs by Boston's finest. I probably go Roman Reigns, but, but Paul Heyman seemed to have this master plan saying, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, we're gonna settle this like men, WWE isn't big enough for the both of us. I know you don't think so, but calls out Seth Rollins. Seth Rollins finally comes out and look at him. I mean, Paul Heyman, you know, clearly was searching what's going to be the thing. What's going to be the thing? As, as, as Seth Rollins is peacefully and cooperatively being led out by the police out of the arena. And he kept taking jabs too. He says you're gonna go to jail. He says you're gonna get divorced. Yeah, because your wife is gonna sleep with everyone while you're in jail. I mean, and then we're gonna have to get child protective services involved. And then your child is gonna be put up for adoption and I am going to adopt your daughter, and Seth Rollins be lines to the ring. Yeah, I mean, I don't blame him for a second. He had to. You can't be, you can't be offended by that, by that pancakes reference that I made with the type of hostility that we've seen on Monday night, raw tonight. Lord, it was very tame of the pain. He's very tame compared to, compared to what happened. But look, Paul, Paul knows what he's doing. Paul knows exactly what he's doing. He is a mastermind, but at the end of the day, ultimately, someone else has to line up in that ring against Seth Rollins. And that's what I'm trying to figure out is what, what this master plan is. We already know it's Brock and an oba. So we know it's not Brock. Is there someone else out there? Is it Logan that steps up is, or do we see a returning Bronn Breaker? I mean, that look, if Bronn Breaker is able to come back in time, I'm, I'm also, I'm soiling my couch again. I'm gonna need to put plastic down on that couch because it's just going to be perpetually soiled. But that's, that's what I'm trying to figure out is what the end game is for Paul Haiman, because it's clear he has a plan and Paul always has a plan. There's a plan A, B and C, and he's someone who is, I think the, the best politician probably in the history of our industry. And, and there are levels that we as performers know that fans don't even know. There, there's so many levels of intricacies when it comes to Paul Haiman. But clearly he has gotten under Seth's skin and he knows how to do that very expertly. Well, one thing that you always say is that everything counts. And I don't want to forget about last week when Seth Rollins was the one who stepped up, I mean, with a million other masked men, uh, when Paul Haiman and Brock Lesnar were in the ring. Well, it was Seth Rollins and then FAFO, FAF5, Brock Lesnar comes out, Obafemi appears. And I couldn't help but notice that Seth Rollins had this reaction that he was in control of the entire thing. He wasn't emotional whatsoever. And then later he puts on social media, a post referencing Obafemi. I don't know what's going to happen, but I just don't want to forget that detail. Why don't think Seth's going to get himself involved in that. I don't think he'll get himself involved in that match. But I think he was part of it. But I think it's part of what Seth is up to. Yes. I don't know exactly what Seth is up to. I mean, right now it's, it's in jail, but, but he was up to something. I mean, he, well, I think here's the thing. When you look at everything that happened to Paul Haiman tonight, I think he's been, he's in control again. I don't know if he was last week, but I think that, that all of everything that happened to him is shaped to make him look like he's losing when in reality, I think he's invisibly winning, right? Because if you look at the Oba and Brock thing, we've still got multiple more weeks to go until WrestleMania. And I don't think that, that while we may go, Oba's never dealt with somebody who, who, who looks and feels and fights like Brock Lesnar. He's also never been on the, on the, on the other side of Paul Haiman. I think if you look at the tag team match and you look at the fact that the vision went down, the real outcome of that is because of the way the match ended. The vision of a title match. They have a title match at Madison Square Garden next week. And yeah, he got punched in the face by Seth Rollins, but ultimately he got Seth Rollins locked up, which is everything that he wanted to do. So I think that, I think that there does have to be something. I mean, you know, on one end, you have the vision with a tag team title match on Madison Square Garden, Raw next week. On the other end, you had Jey Uso, who in the last segment of the show said he doesn't care about the tag titles right now. So Paul Haiman has everyone right where he wants that. Should, yeah. And should the vision get the tag team championship at Madison Square Garden, Raw next week, then they have leverage. And what does that say for what they're, what they're doing at WrestleMania now? What's the tag team that goes to WrestleMania? I don't know. And that's a great question. But you know, one of the things I was thinking about is, so I think Paul does his best work with opponents that he has history with. You know, there's so much he knows about Seth Rollins. There is so much history with punk. But one of the things I find intriguing is we don't really know a ton about Oba's backstory. There aren't past entanglements. He's coming in fresh. So I don't know if that same mind game playing is something that's really going to work against Oba Femi. There's no history from 15, 20 years ago. There's no friendships that have lasted a lifetime for Paul Haiman to pull these strings at. So I think a lot of Paul's puppetry, a lot of his game playing is going to work with a lot of the roster. I think it can work with Seth Rollins. It clearly worked with Seth Rollins. It can work with the Usos. It can work with so many members of the roster, but with Oba Femi's there's none of that. So I don't know exactly how Brock gets the advantage there, but I do agree with you in the fact that Paul has a plan. We don't know what it is. It's hard for me to really figure out how he comes out of this hole right now, because it feels like he's down at least, you know, he's 0-2 right now on the Oba Brock stuff, on the vision stuff, you know, although the vision has their title match. But it's been a bit of a rough road for Paul, but he has a few more weeks to have this plan unravel. So I'm intrigued to see how that all goes. Well, I've got to tell you, we actually have some huge news. This is for the WWE Universe. Your favorite WWE podcasts are recording live at Fanatics Fest NYC this July 16th through the 19th at the Javits Center. That's right. You can catch live episodes of Six Feet Under with The Undertaker. What do you want to talk about with Cody Rhodes? Impulsive with Logan Paul and of course, WWE now with Megan and myself. And that's not all. WWE Superstars will be in the building all weekend signing autographs, taking photos, making surprise appearances. Tickets are now on sale at FanaticsFest.com. So grab yours today and we will see you there. Now, that's July 16th through the 19th. You got to be there for it. Even sooner than that is April 16th through the 20th. That's less than a month away now. And that's WWE World, WWE World returning to Las Vegas. This April 16th through the 20th. And it's the can't miss destination during WrestleMania week. Of course, WWE World brings the WWE Universe closer than ever to the superstars, legends, and iconic moments that define the WWE with immersive exhibits, exclusive merchandise and experiences that you won't find anywhere else. You can see superstars like Drew McIntyre, Liv Morgan, Jey Uso, Dominic Mysterio, Tiffany Stratton, and many, many more, and even more appearances that are still to come. Tickets are now on sale at WWEWorld.com. And you can save 10% with promo code WWENow10. I highly suggest that you take advantage of it. Now, E, you were just talking about opponents that have real history. We were talking about members of Seth Rollins family, and this fits both those things. The graphic is out. I just saw it on Triple H's Instagram. That means it's official. It is official. WWE Women's Intercontinental Championship on the line. Becky Lynch challenges AJ Lee at WrestleMania 42. Becky Lynch gets her rematch. And listen, I will tell you the one thing that I found compelling. One, just one. The only one singular thing that I found compelling about what Becky said. I'm on Tonight Raw tonight. Most of the other stuff was gibberish. But she did say that WrestleMania is her show. And as somebody that likes to know, you know, my little facts and figures, historically, she is not lying. WrestleMania is a show where Becky has made history multiple, multiple times for multiple reasons. And it is also the show that was kind of AJ Lee's last hurrah in the WWE. You know, there was the one more Raw match after it, you know, 10 plus years ago, and then that was it for AJ Lee. So I wonder, I wonder if AJ Lee is fully aware of how bright those lights get at WrestleMania in a Becky Lynch match. I have to tell you, I was sitting back in my chair watching Becky with this Oh, Becky with this promo. And I could not wait to get on the mic with both of you because both of you haters. No, you two haters have had so much to say about Becky. And it's going to be hard to say anything negative about her today. But I just have to call you out because Becky did take a break, a 10 month break. And it was because you people, you people, you guys didn't appreciate her. I saw it. People like you, Sam Roberts, we're calling her Becky Hogan. Becky Hogan, we interviewed her and you even brought it up. Becky Hogan, you did. I brought it up because it was worthwhile to bring up. Didn't appreciate it. That doesn't mean I was saying it. I brought it up because it was an appropriate question. I'm, I do a great job. You know, you talked about earlier in the show, Roman reminding people of what he's capable of. I thought tonight on the mic, Becky Lynch, all the doubters, all the haters, she reminded them all exactly why she is the man. And I could not be more excited for this match. You're not wrong. I just wish you would make it more palatable. Do you align with, with Megan Morant and her take behind this promo? I, to a degree, look, I, first of all, I am someone who has never taken anything away from Becky, her place in history, her ability on the microphone, her ability in the ring. I, I am someone who just tries to have a, a balanced look at some of the things that come out of her mouth. And sometimes they're a little ridiculous. Sometimes they are not moored in fact. They are not rooted in truth. But I think Becky did have a great night. I will say one of the things I think, I think your point, Sam, about AJ, her swan song, essentially was WrestleMania a decade ago. And I saw a point, you know, speaking of eyes again, I saw an AJ who I think was gotten to a little bit. I think someone who thought about the stage, who thought about this moment. And, and, and I agree, Megan, like I think that a Becky Lynch WrestleMania match, there is a certain, and WrestleMania obviously has, has a certain grandeur of its own, but it's elevated with Becky. It feels like more of a spectacle. It has more, more pressure on it. She has had some, some classics at WrestleMania. She's had some incredible, incredible matches at WrestleMania. And, and I think for AJ, I still wonder how much, okay, you're coming in as champion, but do you worry about, look, look, also the landscape of the women's division is so different in that when she was having WrestleMania matches a decade ago, they weren't necessary. The women weren't getting the grand stage. They weren't getting the opportunities to be out there for 20, 30 minutes to have these grand entrances to really allow people to sink their teeth into it. There wasn't an intercontinental title. No. The title didn't exist. It wasn't a thing. And now the bar is so high for women's wrestling. That's what I wonder with AJ is, I wonder if she believes within herself. Yeah, I got it. Not only, like I was putting on great matches in my heyday, but now that the women's division has accelerated so much, can I live up to the bar of those incredible Becky Lynch matches? Can I beat Becky when she's at her best, when she's at her most crafty, when she's at her most thoughtful as far as all the ways she can take advantage of AJ? So I think there's a lot of excitement for this match. I think there's a lot of pressure on AJ as well. We already know who Becky Lynch is in this era. We already know what she can do. She's done it time and time again. And look, AJ has the people in her palm. She has so much love and so much excitement for her return. But this is a big deal. If you don't live up to that standard, when lose or draw, people are expecting this match to be as good as so many of the great women's matches we've seen over the last several years. So I saw, and I'm not saying it's doubt, but I saw a little bit within AJ of, am I as good as I know I, as I think I am, am I worthy of this stage? So I'm really intrigued to see if she can really deliver at WrestleMania. Like I know she can. To me, she seemed a little bit apprehensive. And you know, I love to have fun. And as we all know, I'm a Becky Lynch apologist. I love everything that she's been doing. But I do think tonight, things got more serious with Becky Lynch. And it is the time of year. It is WrestleMania. We know how significant WrestleMania is to everybody on the roster, but especially to Becky Lynch and the history that she's made there. Now she has an opportunity to make more history with the intercontinental title, a title that really she's done so much for. I think it's inarguable that she's been the greatest women's intercontinental champion. And now she can defend it. I mean, I have to defend it. She's going to, to try and get that title back off of AJ Lee. I know what you wanted to see. You're really trying to be professional. You wanted to say she's going to win it. Well, I think I have actually convinced myself that Becky never lost the title because I just defend her so much. So every now and then I have a flip up. But in all seriousness, I do think something changed within Becky tonight. And while the vlogs are fun and her tweeting in all caps has been hilarious. Not really. I think tonight things got serious. Yeah. And I think too. Well, look, I think we also should mention the fact that hopefully AJ remembers, as I remember you seeing, that she has beaten Becky Lynch in a tag team match, in a war games match and in a PLE singles match. So this isn't completely foreign territory. But there was, you know, I said, I would give Becky Lynch credit for the one thing. I have to give her credit for another line. When Becky Lynch sat into the microphone, AJ Lee mastered the Divas era and I murdered it. I went, whew. I mean, again, as the children would say, bars. I mean, this was, it was like, yeah. And, and, and to go to the apprehension that you were just talking about, Megan, to go to that look in the eyes that you were talking about Biggie. I mean, that line might kind of sum it up. It's like, do you really think I know you, I know you think that you're the best of your generation. It'd be hard to argue that AJ Lee wasn't. But do you really think you're the best of this one as well? And if you are, can you prove it against Becky Lynch at WrestleMania? It's, it's a great point. Although it's a great bar, but sometimes when you peel back the truth behind the bar, the bar can can fall apart a little bit. I would say AJ, I think is hugely responsible for the Divas era giving way to this current era. I think without her, I'm not sure. I'm sure it eventually happens. The speed in which it happens. I don't think it is, you know, it happens at a different time a little bit later. I would also argue that there are a lot of other very talented women. We look at the four horse women who will break down that barrier. But ultimately the point I think that that we should focus on is can you go in this era? Is this your era as well? And I think that's a question that's been asked of Nikki Bella as well with a lot of the women who had their heyday a decade ago who are still in WWE or who are coming back to WWE. Because we talk time and time again about how the stakes have been raised so much with this women's division. But ultimately it's not a question of your era against my era. It'll be in April, mid April in Las Vegas. Who is the better woman? So, you know, it's a great line and Becky is one of the best to ever do it male or female on the mic. But ultimately, like when talking season, this is we're in talking season right now. It's a line that you sometimes in football where we're just talking and that's where we're at right now. But at some point very soon in a few weeks talking season will be over and it'll be go time. Well, talking season might be over for Liv Morgan and Stephanie of the Care. Because I mean that got personal. I can't believe how quickly that got personal. Like I can't believe how quickly I became fully invested in that story. Yeah, it was all that sit down interview where Liv Morgan cried. Yeah, between the two of them. And now you're getting to the point where it's like we had a segment on Monday Night Raw that Stephanie of the Care wasn't even involved with. This was Liv Morgan coming to the ring with Dominic Mysterio, which she had the great privilege of getting to do tonight. And Stephanie of the Care not only interrupting it, but that brawl breaking out. And it was quick, but it was impactful. That brawl breaking out that ends up with the two of them in the entryway fighting, getting thrown into the big screen in gorilla position, brawling in gorilla position. I mean, a major, major spectacle, but I think it all goes to how big that women's world championship match has become and how quickly that that's happened. Yeah, I spent some time over the weekend actually going back and watching the WWE documentary that was done on Liv Morgan. And it followed her journey when she was with the Riot squad and then kind of going off on her own. And being just moments away from walking out of the curtain at gorilla and finding out that her match was no longer happening and Liv really had to scratch and claw to get to this point. And I think it did a really nice job of illustrating, you know, all of that history. And it's like, you see Liv Morgan right now on our TV screen. And it's almost hard to believe that she was in that situation before because she has come so, so far. But her journey always had those sink or swim moments, right? Where like, that's one of the things about coming in with WWE. Yes, she had access to the best trainers. Yes, she had access to the best facilities. But also, if you sink, you're not getting out. That's right. Not at all. I think a lot of people have made the mistake of kind of getting lost in the veneer of Liv Morgan, of the Dominic Mysterio, of the the cackle, red carpets, all those things. Put all those things to the side. This is one of the most determined individuals in our industry. This is a woman who puts the work in, who will spend time when she's not on the road, who will be in that ring training time and time again. She's dealt with injuries, multiple injuries. She's pushed through so much. She was not when she came up on the main roster. She was not a focal point by any means when she was with the riot squad, not a focal point by any means. She is someone who had to learn, who had to kind of, in many ways, do it on her own, who had to put in the extra work on her own to get there. And I feel like you see that now. And when I watch Raw, I saw a woman, the way she clawed at Stephanie, the way she was there to make a statement, her aggression. Like this Liv Morgan, I think now that's what we're seeing. And that's what I love seeing is we're not talking about her relationship. We're not talking about all the things that don't matter. When we wipe all that away, we see a very determined woman. And look, I think the world of Stephanie as a talent, but she is, she's going to have to bring all of her grit, not just her technical ability, not just her skills, not just her, her, in all those things are great. She's going to have to bring those. But ultimately, Stephanie is going to have to be gritty. She is going to have to dig deep. She might have to gouge out an eyeball because I'll tell you, I think Liv is willing and ready to do that. I think Stephanie needs to be able to look herself in the mirror and understand like where, where is my line? What line is it that I am unwilling to cross and find out who you are very early before you go into this match with Liv Morgan? Understand what you're willing to go to, what depths you're willing to dig down inside of yourself to go to to beat Liv. Because I think we're going to see a vicious, a nasty, a malicious, a determined Liv Morgan, come WrestleMania time. I think that's 100% right. I'm glad that you're here to add analysis because I need your opinion on this. We all know, I mean, you brought up Dominic Mysterio. We all know what happened to Dominic Mysterio in the Intercontinental title. He lost it due to a curse that was placed on him by Dan House. And this week, we saw that curse rear its ugly head when it resulted in Grayson Waller, who was cursed last week at the hands of Kovie Kingston. He pushed him away. Of course, Grayson Waller losing to Javon Evans. Do you to the curse that Dan House and- I forgot about the curse. But yeah, that's why he lost. I thought it was the, I thought it was the, the, the super cutter. The OG cutter. No, and this time it was the curse. Do you, E, in your professional opinion, are you worried about I show speed? I show speed was cursed earlier tonight by Dan House and because he would not give Dan House and his login. Dan House and I actually, I think had a pretty good idea, which was give me your login and we could kind of do a co type of thing. And I show speed turned him down resulting in a curse. We've seen how ugly this can get, how bad it can get. Are you concerned for, for I show speed safety? Yes, gravely, gravely. Um, the curse is real. I mean, you can, you can laugh, you can giggle, you can tee he all those things. We've seen the results and, and you, you ran down many of them. I think speed, if he shows up next week, I think he should be, he should be surrounded by security. I think he should have a, a like a bubble boy kind of suit. Smart. I would have a lot of protective devices around me, just in case. But, uh, yeah, I would be worried about speed as, as you should. Dan housing, uh, you know, people had certain things. There was a certain discussions online when he debuted. And I feel like those very quickly changed when we saw him on raw. We saw the way he's been utilized on TV lately. I think Dan housing is someone I would not mess with, whether it's a raw or Smackdown, uh, the curse is real. I don't mess around with curses or spirits or ghouls. I take all that serious hoodoo voodoo, all the above. Yeah, I take them very seriously. So if I'm speed, I'm probably getting a vial of holy water around, around my neck. And maybe, maybe some garlic and a steak just in case. I don't know if Dan housing is an actual vampire, but it just, it couldn't hurt just be prepared. You forgot. Original, uh, americano also was cursed. Yeah. Yeah. Grande, original. Don't forget there was Rio and Bravo. They were paying out back there too. Wait, I mean, they, that would be part of the curse. I would imagine. Yeah. Yeah. He was cursed and he lost. So yeah, that's, uh, the evidence is the evidence is clear. So you're saying like, if you were Candace LaRae, you wouldn't even try to get the $20 back that he took from her at Smackdown. Remember he was, he was offering to help Johnny. He asked for $20 and he disappeared. That $20 is gone. It's gone. Don't worry about it. Don't, don't harass him about it. It's a gift, early birthday gift. That's it. Yeah. That's it. That's pretty smart. Well, Piggy, uh, uh, we truly value your professional opinion here. So, uh, we appreciate you being a part of WWE now, Raw Recap, uh, once again, I cannot wait until next week. It's a Madison square garden, raw on the road to WrestleMania. It can't get any bigger. We will be here to recap all of it. Make sure you're subscribed. Make sure you're hitting like, leaving comments. And we'll see you next week here on WWE now, Raw Recap.