World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns Accepts Jacob Fatu’s Challenge For WWE Backlash 2026

Published: 1 hour ago by Liam | Last Updated: 1 hour ago by Liam

Liam has been reporting & analyzing wrestling news for over eight years, and is currently the Managing Editor at WrestleTalk.com. Immersed in wrestling for 18 years, he has over 11,000 published articles in addition to leading and overseeing WrestleTalk.com's coverage.

World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns has accepted the challenge from Jacob Fatu for a title match at WWE Backlash 2026.

Last week’s Raw after WrestleMania 42 saw new World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns head to the ring with the Usos to celebrate his title win against CM Punk.

However, they were interrupted by Jacob Fatu who said he wanted a title shot at Backlash, with Reigns replying that he’d have an answer in a week’s time.

Tonight, Reigns delivered that answer.

Reigns said ultimately that he’d hoped Fatu had reconsidered the challenge, but Fatu confirmed that wasn’t the case.

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As Reigns continued to try to convince Fatu against fighting him for the title, Fatu attacked Reigns with the Tongan Death Grip.

After Fatu left Reigns down in the ring and walked back up the ramp, Reigns managed to crawl over to the microphone and said he’ll see Fatu at WWE Backlash on May 9, confirming he’s accepted the challenge and the match is official.

Fatu also said he’ll see Reigns on next week’s episode of Raw, so they will both be appearing on that show on Monday, May 4 as well.

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Also confirmed for Backlash as of tonight are Seth Rollins vs Bron Breakker, and IYO SKY vs Asuka.

Will The World Title Change Hands At WWE Backlash?

With Roman Reigns having won the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania, it seems very unlikely he’ll lose the title as soon as three weeks later at Backlash.

Having said that, WWE has made a concerted effort to keep Jacob Fatu strong since his debut, so it’ll be interesting to see if the company goes to any effort to protect him in a loss as opposed to Reigns just beating him decisively.

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The Usos could play a part and their allegiances may be tested come Backlash, as they could either help Reigns retain or even turn against him.

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