WrestleMania 42 completely shattered the WWE hierarchy. Now the dust is settling and the new era is officially being tested. Saturday night at the Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Roman Reigns successfully retained his Raw World Heavyweight Championship against Jacob Fatu at WWE Backlash 2026. Fatu looked unstoppable for weeks. He spent the last month absolutely dominating Reigns on Monday Night Raw. But the title didn’t change hands. Reigns walked out with the gold.
The sheer violence of this main event paid off the heavy championship stakes heading into the night. Fatu threw everything at the champion. Reigns just absorbed it and fired back.
We also saw a massive return in the opening bout. Bron Breakker stepped into the ring for the first time since his brutal injury sidelined him in February. He didn’t just wrestle Seth Rollins. He destroyed him. Breakker secured the pinfall victory to kick off the premium live event. You can look at the final match results to see just how completely WWE is backing this renewed upper-card push. Breakker is clearly positioned to be a massive problem for the Raw locker room this summer.
Down the card, the crowd was heavily invested in Sami Zayn. Zayn was hunting for gold, but Trick Williams shut that down. Williams defeated Zayn to retain his SmackDown United States Championship. Zayn walked away empty-handed despite deafening crowd support. Over in the women’s division, Iyo Sky picked up a massive singles victory over Asuka. The entire event ran smoothly following the official build-up to the broadcast.
How Jacob Fatu’s Defeat Rewrites the Summer Booking Strategy
This changes the entire trajectory of Monday Night Raw. Fatu losing his first major championship opportunity stalls his meteoric rise dead in its tracks. He spent weeks looking like the guaranteed next champion after Reigns took the belt from CM Punk at WrestleMania 42. Now Fatu has to cycle back into the contender pool. At the exact same time, Bron Breakker’s dominant win over a protected veteran like Seth Rollins immediately inserts him into the main event conversation. Breakker is healthy and holding a major pay-per-view win. Over on SmackDown, Sami Zayn’s failure to capture the United States Championship leaves him without a clear path forward, cementing Trick Williams as the undisputed anchor of the midcard.