Smackdown
Date: May 29, 2026
Location: Olimpic Arena, Barcelona, Spain
Commentators: Joe Tessitore, Wade Barrett

We’re overseas this week for this Sunday’s Clash In Italy show and we might as well stop here for a breather. The pay per view is mostly set up as Gunther is ready to challenge Cody Rhodes for the World Title. We should be getting some last minute pushes towards Sunday here so let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We look at Jade Cargill beating Rhea Ripley in a six woman tag on Saturday Night’s Main Event.

Here are Cargill and her goons for a chat. B-Fab and Michin tell the fans to shut up as they boo Cargill rather loudly. They know Cargill is going to win the title back on Sunday because the future is now. Cue Ripley to interrupt and yeah the fans seem to like her. Ripley says she’s beaten Cargill before and she can do it again, with Cargill looking up at the true champion. Cargill isn’t impressed but here are Charlotte and Alexa Bliss to interrupt. They don’t think much of Cargill either so Cargill insults Bliss, who says she’s dealt with bigger and better stars than her. Nick Aldis, get the referee, now.

Jade Cargill vs. Alexa Bliss

Their friends are at ringside. Cargill powers her out to the floor to start but Bliss is back in to hammer away. Bliss’ high crossbody is pulled out of the air though and a gorilla press drop has her in more trouble. They go outside and Bliss is powerbombed onto the barricade as we take a break.

We come back with Cargill elbowing her out to the floor and getting to pose on the apron. Bliss is able to hit a dropkick into the barricade and a flipping backsplash connects back inside. Sister Abigail is broken up and the other four brawl to the back. A DDT plants Cargill but Twisted Bliss hits her raised ankles. Jaded finishes Bliss at 9:33.

Rating: C+. This was the simple “villains beats up the champion’s friends before fighting the champion” and that’s something that has worked for the better part of ever. Cargill gets to smash through a big name on her way to the major title match. This was a perfectly acceptable match and that’s a good start to the show.

Post match Cargill grabs a chair and gives Bliss another Jaded onto said chair. Ripley and Charlotte run in to clear Cargill off.

We look at Cody Rhodes beating Sami Zayn last week despite Gunther’s interference. Gunther laid Rhodes out to end the show with Zayn walking away.

Rhodes is interrupted by Zayn and has nothing to say to him. Zayn wants an apology and says he helped Rhodes with Gunther last week but then Rhodes stabbed him in the back. Rhodes doesn’t remember it that way but Zayn thinks Rhodes could learn a lesson. After Rhodes deals with Gunther, he can teach Zayn a lesson too. Zayn vs. Rhodes could definitely headline a pay per view and they might be building in that direction.

Nick Aldis wants Danhausen to appear in front of the crowd, as he’s paid to do. Danhausen agrees and goes off, only to be replaced by Miz. As Danhausen is seen loading stuff into what appears to be his laboratory, Miz complains about Kit Wilson not being here. Aldis doesn’t want to hear it and says Miz’s match is next.

The Miz vs. Axiom

Miz is still getting his gear on as he comes to the ring and Axiom (with Nathan Frazer) gets the big home country welcome. Axiom takes him down by the arm to start and the lights flicker a bit, which can’t be a great sign. A middle rope armdrag has Miz in more trouble and he charges into a dropkick. Frazer cuts off Miz’s escape attempt but Miz gets in a cheap shot as we take a break.

We come back with Axiom nipping up and knocking Miz down for two as the fans are WAY into him, as expected. A DDT gives Miz two but the YES Kicks are countered, with Axiom hitting a big kick of his own. Axiom’s high crossbody gets two but the Golden Ratio misses. Miz powers out of a crossface and hits a slingshot powerbomb before going up for some reason. The lights flicker again and it’s a Spanish Fly to plant Miz. The Golden Ratio gives Axiom the pin at 9:16.

Rating: B-. It’s always nice to see someone get what is probably one of the most important wins of his career. Getting to be out there in front of his home country, likely with some family and friends out there, is a great thing for Axiom and he had a good match in the process. Axiom beating Miz is hardly a stretch, even with the electrical issues.

R-Truth is still injured but has gotten Damian Priest a tag partner for tonight. That would be Royce Keys, who will team up with Priest against the MFT’s. Priest doesn’t buy it and doesn’t trust Keys but R-Truth gets smart, asking if either of them are scared. Since they’re not, there’s no reason for them not to team up. Priest chases after R-Truth, mainly out of confusion.

Sami Zayn vents to Candice LeRae, but it’s actually to Johnny Gargano, who still isn’t moving. LeRae storms off and Matt Cardona comes in to try and talk some sense into Zayn. That’s not cool with Zayn and a match is set. They need to pay off the Gargano thing already as it’s been long enough.

Charlotte leaves Alexa Bliss in the trainers’ room and runs into Rhea Ripley, who better take care of Cargill. If she doesn’t, Charlotte will.

Damian Priest/Royce Keys vs. MFT’s

Solo Sikoa is here with the MFT’s. Talla slugs away at Priest to start and it’s off to Tama, who can’t do much against Keys. A running splash crushes Tama in the corner and there’s the powerslam. Tama gets shouldered out to the floor, leaving Keys and Priest to knock Talla outside as well.

We take a break and come back with Tama cutting off a tag attempt but Keys gets in a spinebuster. Priest comes in to clean house, including the running elbows in the corner. The lifting Downward Spiral plants Tama and a top rope clothesline gives Priest two. Sikoa gets in a cheap shot from the floor though, drawing out R-Truth. That’s fine with Sikoa, who goes after the bad arm. Keys goes over for the save but the distraction lets Talla chokeslam Priest for the pin at 9:05.

Rating: C+. The issues between R-Truth and Priest continue and they are likely to result in the titles changing hands sooner than later. At the same time, Keys continues to have issues with the MFT’s and it seems like Priest isn’t happy about it. That could go in a few ways and that is a nice situation to have.

Miz complains to Nick Aldis about the lights and goes in to see Danhausen’s laboratory. This earns him a blast from a fire extinguisher, sending Miz running. Aldis goes to look underneath the sheet, but Danhausen warns him to not do that. Oh dear.

Video on Roman Reigns vs. Jacob Fatu.

Clash In Italy rundown.

Chelsea Green comes up to see Tiffany Stratton (they happen to be dressed alike) and has an idea for their entrance tonight. Stratton says it was just a one time thing last week so she’s passing. Green looks hurt.

Video on the battle of El Grande Americanos, mask vs. mask, on Saturday. That should be a great one.

Sami Zayn vs. Matt Cardona

Cardona’s wristlock doesn’t get him very far to start and we get an early standoff. Zayn is sent outside for a dropkick between the ropes but he’s fine enough to hit a suplex on the way back inside. Cardona scores with a missile dropkick though and we take a break. We come back with Zayn grabbing a chinlock, which doesn’t last long. A faceplant drops Zayn and the Broski Boot connects.

The Rough Ryder is countered so Cardona hits a nasty tiger driver for two more. Another Rough Ryder is countered into a big sitout powerbomb to give Zayn two. Zayn’s Helluva Kick misses though and now the Rough Ryder connects for two, with Zayn getting a foot on the rope. Cardona charges into an exploder though and the Helluva Kick finishes him off at 10:16.

Rating: B-. Cardona is someone who can lose all the time and be just fine, which is about all he does right now anyway. Zayn needed a win to boost himself back up as well, as he hasn’t been doing much in the way of winning lately. They had a good match too and that shouldn’t be a surprise given two veterans being in the ring.

Video on King and Queen Of The Ring, with qualifying matches starting next week.

We look at a new documentary called WWE: Made In America. Oh geez.

Nick Aldis asks Gunther to keep things civilized with Cody Rhodes tonight. Gunther doesn’t like the implication that he would do anything else, but he’ll do it anyway, even in a place like Barcelona.

Here is Trick Williams, with Lil Yachty, for a chat. Williams brags about his success since he came up to the main roster (fair) and now it means he should come for the King Of The Ring. This brings out Carmelo Hayes, who says Williams can be the king of the microphone and entrances, but the ring is Hayes’ place.

Williams thinks Hayes is being melo-dramatic because he’s just not as good as Williams is. If only Ricky Saints hadn’t interfered last week, their match would have been different you see. This brings out Saints, who doesn’t like that suggestion and is ready to beat Hayes and move on to Williams. That earns him a slap from Williams and the scheduled match is on. Odds are a triple threat is coming here one day.

Ricky Saints vs. Carmelo Hayes

Saints chops away to start and knocks him up against the ropes, only to get splashed in the corner. Hayes gets in some right hands of his own but gets sent outside. Saints sends him into the barricade a few times and we take a break. We come back with Hayes shoving him off the top but a frog splash hits raised knees.

A northern lights suplex gives Saints two but Hayes hits him in the face. Dirty Diana gets two on Saints, who is right back with a spinning Downward Spiral for two of his own. Hayes knocks him outside for the big running flip dive, only to get sent to the apron. The brawl continues and it’s a double countout at 11:11.

Rating: B-. That ending is more about keeping both of them active in the title picture and that’s a fine way to go. They’ve got something going here with the three way feud for the title and it’s a nice way of bringing up a few people at once. It’s fun to see the former stars of NXT getting to do this up on the main roster and it’s working thus far.

Post match Hayes lays him out with the First 48.

Video on Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi.

The Irresistible Forces threaten Tiffany Stratton.

Blake Monroe writes in her diary about some of the women in the Smackdown locker room. Rhea Ripley is sad and Monroe is going to have to make things better.

Nia Jax vs. Chelsea Green

Lash Legend is here with Jax. Green avoids a charge to start and sends her outside for a suicide dive as we take a break less than a minute in. We come back with Green in trouble and Jax grabbing a chinlock. Green fights out and goes after the knee, only to Rough Ryde her way into a powerbomb for two.

A Zig Zag gives Green two of her own and a missed charge sends Jax shoulder first into the post. Now the Rough Ryder can connect for two but Legend’s distraction lets Jax get in a Samoan drop. Cue Tiffany Stratton’s music so Jax sends Legend after her, only for Stratton to come through the crowd and hit Jax with the belt. Green steals the pin at 6:28.

Rating: C. This was more about Stratton coming in for the assist at the end and not much more. Granted that’s a good way to go, as Stratton and Green could do some nice stuff together. Green has been needing something to do for a long time now and this could wind up being the thing that finally lets her go over to the good side, as the fans seem to want.

Post match Stratton declines a hug. Give it time though, as Green as a face is such a layup.

Here is Cody Rhodes to wrap things up. We pause for the fans to sing Kingdom and Rhodes does his catchphrase in Spanish but here is Gunther to interrupt. Gunther says Rhodes is the perfect choice to represent America because the American Dream is crumbling. When he was growing up, Gunther was told that if he worked hard, he could achieve anything.

On the other hand you have Rhodes, who only had to make some phone calls. That just makes Rhodes an entitled brat. Gunther sees the fans’ approval as unnecessary while Rhodes is just a mark for himself. Rhodes calls Gunther a liar because he doesn’t believe Gunther doesn’t want the attention that comes with being WWE Champion. If Gunther didn’t care, he would be talking to a 330lb version of Gunther at an indy show, rather than one of the best in the world.

Paul Heyman has said that being champion is addictive and Gunther wants to find out. The only thing he’ll find though is the worst thing a pure wrestler can learn: he’s not good enough. Gunther talks about everyone he has beaten and all of the promises that he has kept. Now he promises to choke Rhodes out and take the title with him. This was good stuff, with both of them standing there and explaining their side of things in an intense way. It’s a hard sell for the title match and that’s what they were needing.

Overall Rating: B-. The crowd helped a lot here, but there were some rather good parts of this show. The ending was probably the highlight, with Gunther and Rhodes making their match feel like a big deal. You also have the tease of Green going good, which is one of the best things that could happen to the women’s division. Finally they did a nice job setting up Clash In Italy and I’ll take that as a way to spend a Friday night in front of a red hot crowd.

Results
Jade Cargill b. Alexa Bliss – Jaded
Axiom b. The Miz – Golden Ratio
MFT’s b. Damian Priest/Royce Keys – Chokeslam to Priest
Sami Zayn b. Matt Cardona – Helluva Kick
Ricky Saints vs. Carmelo Hayes went to a double countout
Chelsea Green b. Nia Jax – Belt shot

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

NWA-TNA Weekly PPV #27
Date: January 8, 2003
Location: Tennessee State Fairgrounds, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Don West

They actually made it to another year. That’s hard to fathom after some of the insanity that has taken place around here, including last….well year now. In that case, that was because the Road Warriors of all people debuted, but that wasn’t how things wrapped up. No no, we’re also getting a David Flair Era around here, because of course we are. Let’s get to it.

Naturally the opening video is about Vince Russo, who most people hate, but he has his own set of followers. And yes, we have a stable war people. And and, to the shock of no one, the main star on the other side is Jeff Jarrett. There’s something about the Road Warriors and David Flair too, but the real story is that Russo got to use an ax to destroy the set. Because that’s what a real man would do.

Opening sequence.

Mike Tenay is in the ring to start, along with Jerry Lynn, Ron Killings and America’s Most Wanted. Apparently the NWA takes Vince Russo’s actions very seriously so we have the past, present and future here. The past includes longtime promoter Eddie Marlin (and Jeff Jarrett’s grandfather) Sara Lee and Corsica Joe. The future is in the form of Chris Santel and Chris Vaughn, who have worked their way up from the independents to being “staff” here (shockingly, neither ever did anything in wrestling).

Finally you have the present in the ring, including…well Tenay actually. Tenay talks about how Russo was around Tenay and Bobby Heenan, saying he could make anyone a wrestler. He wants the fans to write in and help win the war against Russo. Unless I’m forgetting it, have we ever gotten a reason WHY Russo is here? Or is he just showing up? Couldn’t like, the company do something to stop him?

Anyway here are Russo and company through the crowd, with Russo saying he has friends in high places, which is why he gets to come around every week. Russo insults Tenay and says he’s here to save this business because it is at an all time low (always a great thing to say about the promotion you’re in). He blames people like Tenay for screwing things up and says the ratings were at an all time high when he was on top.

Russo yells at the four wrestlers in the ring, including saying that “African American rappers are a dime a dozen pal and half of them suck anyway” and making what sounds like a gay joke about Chris Harris. He complains about the new people and legends at ringside but Lee gets in the ring to flip him off. The brawl is on, with Jeff Jarrett and the Road Warriors running in for the save. Sports Entertainment Xtreme retreats to their dressing room, which is absolutely a thing and there is absolutely a reason the TNA guys don’t go in there. I’m not sure what that reason is but oh well.

David Young/Tony Mamaluke vs. EZ Money/Kid Kash

Young and Mamaluke jump them from behind to start and that gets them absolutely nowhere. Kash gives Young the always good looking slingshot hurricanrana and it’s a double backdrop to Mamaluke. The old Rockers’ double leg flip doesn’t quite work so it’s a double gutbuster to put Mamaluke down again instead. A spinwheel kick gives Money two and a running Blockbuster gets the same.

It’s back to Kash for an assisted tornado DDT but Young comes back in for a nice spear. A Whisper In The Wind gives Kash a quick two but Mamaluke drops him with a clothesline. That means a bearhug from Young, who absolutely does not look like your traditional bearhugger. Mamaluke comes in for one of his own and that’s just sad looking. Kash easily powers over to Money for the tag and house is cleaned, leaving Kash and Mamaluke to…both miss missile dropkicks at the same time.

Money superkicks Young and hits a frog splash for two as Mamaluke makes the save. Mamaluke sends Money outside, only for Money to try a slingshot lariat. That’s countered into…well I think it was a spinebuster but it’s more like an awkward slam. Young picks him up and hits a regular spinebuster for the pin at 7:43.

Rating: C+. There wasn’t much to this but it felt like a way to have a bunch of people doing stuff to warm up the crowd. Well reheat the crowd after they had everything going on at the beginning to grind them down. Unfortunately this felt like it was just filler, as tends to be the case with the opening matches in recent weeks. Not bad at all, but just kind of there.

Post match Christopher Daniels, Low Ki and Elix Skipper run in for the big beatdown. Skipper praises the three of them as the best part of SEX but here is Jeff Jarrett to run in and clear the ring. Jarrett wants to face all of them one on one and tells them to get Vince Russo out here.

Bob Armstrong wants the locker room to stand up for the war against Russo. Jerry Lynn and Ron Killings are both in. Armstrong gets a phone call and tells someone that he needs them here now.

X-Division Title: Sonny Siaki vs. Jason Cross

Siaki, with Desire, is defending. They go with the grappling to start and trade some early rollups. The near falls lead us to a standoff and Cross offers a handshake, earning him a right hand into the corner. Cross leg lariats him out to the apron and then out to the floor, where a corkscrew dive connects. Desire offers a distraction though and gets kicked down, allowing Siaki to drop him throat first on the top rope.

An overhead belly to belly sends Cross crashing into the corner but he comes back with a spinning kick to the face. That’s enough for Siaki to crash outside again, where a big dive connects. Siaki is right back up with a swing into the steps and they head back inside. Cross swings into a DDT to put Siaki down but he’s right back up with a pumphandle sitout piledriver for two, as Cross grabs the rope. The referee gets bumped (of course) and Cross is back up with Crossfire. Desire crotches him against the post though and Siaki gets a small package to retain at 8:13.

Rating: C+. This was similar to the opener, in that they were doing some entertaining stuff and the Crossfire looked good, but of course they had to do something screwy. Cross is a pretty generic high flier so he’s fine as a choice to build up as a one off title challenger. Siaki was quite a good heel when he was getting all cocky and obsessed with himself, but why do that when you can have him be obsessed with being on Russo’s team?

Post match Bob Armstrong comes out to say not so fast but Vince Russo comes in to say the people are here to see SEX. Cross is in no condition to restart the match, as the SEX beats him down. Russo mocks Bob by pointing out that his son Brian works would rather be with Russo than his father (because we’re redoing the Ric/David Flair thing) but here are Ron Killings and Jerry Lynn. Ring the bell.

Ron Killings/Jerry Lynn vs. BG James/Don Harris

Killings hits a big dive onto Harris to start, leaving the other two to crash out to the floor. A chair shot leaves both of them down as Harris and Killings go into the crowd. Harris’ chair doesn’t do much to Killings as Lynn comes back with a spinning crossbody to James. The slightly busted open James is taken down again with a middle rope Stratusfaction.

Harris is back to pull Lynn down from the apron and we’re back into a regular match. It’s off to Harris with a big boot and a double back elbow puts Lynn down again. Lynn manages to reverse a double suplex into a double DDT, allowing the tag off to Killings. House is quickly cleaned, with Killings trying a 450, but landing knees first on James’ ribs. Cue….freaking Mike Sanders of all people to jump Killings for the DQ at 6:30.

Rating: C. A good chunk of this match was spent in the brawl before we got into things, because why wrestle when you can not wrestle? Especially in a thrown together tag match like this one. The ending is hardly a surprise, as Sanders might have been only about two years removed from being in WCW…but it’s MIKE SANDERS. He wasn’t that interesting in the first place but here he is as we get anyone who was around in any fashion before.

Post match the big beatdown is on as Vince Russo looks on approvingly from the crowd.

Mike Tenay sat down with Percy Pringle, who talked about his history in wrestling and how he worked through the territories and managed a bunch of talented stars. Tenay asks if Pringle prefers professional wrestling or sports entertainment and he won’t really give an answer. As for managing someone here…yeah he’s not answering that either.

Tag Team Titles: America’s Most Wanted vs. Disciples Of The New Church

The Disciples, with James Mitchell and Belladonna, are defending. AMW jumps them to start fast and, naturally, the brawl heads outside. They’re all sent into various things, with the ring mat being peeled back and Harris being suplexed onto the concrete. Slash chokes him with a camera cable and hammers away before actually bothering to get back inside. A spinning Razor’s Edge toss gets two on Storm and it’s off to Lee for a big boot.

Harris’ throat is snapped across the top rope and a comeback bid is cut off with a DDT. A double clothesline gets two on Storm and we hit the chinlock. Storm fights up and hits an enziguri, which sends Lee into the referee. There’s no one to see the tag so the beating continues, with Storm managing to double DDT his way out of a double suplex (he must have been watching the previous match).

Harris gets the tag and cleans house, even with Slash accidentally throwing powder into Lee’s face. A spear gives Harris two and he grabs a Sharpshooter, with Mitchell coming in with a cheap shot to break it up. Storm cleans house but gets spinebustered for a quick two. Harris reverses Lee’s Tombstone into one of his own so Slash wedges a chair in the corner. Storm is catapulted into said chair for two but Harris is back up for the Death Sentence onto the chair to get the titles back at 14:17.

Rating: C+. Another wild match here, which kind of takes away the impact that this one had. AMW getting the titles back is a fine way to go as they’re clearly the top team in the promotion. The Disciples were fine as monsters to build up and then beat right back, as having them do this in a wild brawl is a good way to go. Just stop having all of the matches be like this or it doesn’t quite work as well.

Bob Armstrong is too busy to talk.

Curt Hennig vs. David Flair

This is an ax handle on a pole match, because of course it is. Hennig mocks Flair before the match and says he knows Flair doesn’t have what it takes. Flair charges at him and gets beaten up but manages to catch Hennig going for the handle. A Hennig necksnap drops Hennig and Flair stomps away. Flair’s attempt to get the handle is countered with an electric chair and Hennig shoves down one of the staff members and gets the handle to win at 2:38.

Post match Hennig beats up Flair, who comes back with something in a sack to knock Hennig silly. Hennig gets up and chases Flair off.

Goldilocks tries to interview Flair, who walks right past her. Desire comes out of the locker room and takes issue with Goldilocks talking to her boys. There’s a new woman in town (notice the camera panning to Desire’s chest) and she jumps Goldilocks to start the brawl. Cue Athena (I think) to brawl with Desire, which is broken up.

Commentary does their big preview of next week but Mike Sanders runs in to scream at Tenay about his disrespect of Vince Russo.

Jeff Jarrett vs. Christopher Daniels

Non-title and the first of three matches for Jarrett. Daniels is catapulted to the floor to start but comes back in with a leg lariat. Jarrett gets choked in the corner but tries a quick Figure Four, which is reversed in record time. That’s broken up with a rope break so Daniels goes with an enziguri for two instead. Some rams into the buckle wake Jarrett up and he slugs away before getting a boot up in the corner. The Stroke finishes Daniels at 4:38.

Rating: C+. They didn’t have much time here and that made for kind of a rushed match. At the same time, it’s nice to have Daniels getting some ring time against a bigger name. Daniels hasn’t gotten much of a chance to showcase himself thus far and it’s a good sign to see him facing the World Champion, even in a losing effort.

Jeff Jarrett vs. Elix Skipper

Still non-title and Skipper jumps him from behind to start fast. Skipper takes it outside for a toss over the barricade, where Jarrett hits him in the head with a chair. Back in and Skipper grabs a sleeper for a good while until Jarrett fights up. The comeback is on but Daniels gets up on the apron, only to clothesline Skipper by mistake. Jarrett clears Daniels out and pins Skipper at 6:10 (10:59 total).

Rating: C. They had a bit more time but a good chunk of the match was spent brawling in the crowd and on a sleeper. Skipper was someone who could do some insanely athletic things in the ring but he wasn’t really getting the chance to showcase that here. At least he lost to an error though, so it certainly could have been worse.

Jeff Jarrett vs. Low Ki

Last match and last non-title. Ki screams into Jarrett’s face to start and gives him some facewashes. A triangle choke gives Ki two and he grabs the chinlock. Jarrett fights out and sends him outside for a toss over the announcers’ table. Ki fights back and slingshots into a dragon sleeper back inside to put Jarrett in trouble again.

Jarrett gets in the ropes for the break but Ki kicks the leg to to block the Figure Four. Daniels and Skipper come back out and get knocked to the floor so Ki fires off even more kicks. For some reason Daniels gets on the apron again, allowing Jarrett to hit Ki low and hit the Stroke but Skipper comes in for the DQ at 7:51 (18:58 total).

Rating: C+. Is it just me or did Daniels look like the biggest loser in this whole thing? He got pinned clean in the first match, he caused Skipper to get pinned and his mistake almost had Low Ki lose as well. That’s not the greatest presentation of one person and hopefully he gets to redeem himself. Ki looked like a killer here, but that only matters so much when Jarrett keeps popping up like a monster. You know, as usual.

Post match the big beatdown is on until the Road Warriors make the save. AJ Styles runs in to beat up the Warriors and SEX joins in for the beating. Styles leaves on his own though and seems to be more anti-Jarrett than pro-Russo. Jarrett is put on a table but Dusty Rhodes runs in for the save to end the show.

Overall Rating: D. The wrestling was ok for the most part with nothing that really stood out. What did stand out was how Russo is instantly the most important person on the show, along with Jarrett as a distant second. You have Russo as this big tough guy and everyone hates him but no one can touch him because he’s so awesome and manly. The show isn’t fun, mainly because everything is flying around for no particular reason other than making Russo look good. There’s an idea of getting heat, but you also run into the chances of ruining the show, which is pretty much what they’ve done with Russo.

Results
David Young/Tony Mamaluke b. EZ Money/Kid Kash – Spinebuster to Money
Sonny Siaki b. Jason Cross – Small package
Ron Killings/Jerry Lynn b. BG James/Don Harris via DQ when Mike Sanders interfered
America’s Most Wanted b. Disciples Of The New Church – Death Sentence to Slash
Curt Hennig b. David Flair – Hennig pulled down the ax handle
Jeff Jarrett b. Christopher Daniels – Stroke
Jeff Jarrett b. Elix Skipper – Flying clothesline
Jeff Jarrett b. Low Ki via DQ when Elix Skipper interfered

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Ring Of Honor
Date: May 28, 2026
Location: WJCT Studios, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

We’re done with Supercard Of Honor and now we’re probably past the fallout as well. That means we could be in for more of the norm around here, which means a bit of a slower pace. I’m not sure how well that’s going to go week to week, but the wrestling being as good as it usually is should help. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Athena is rather proud of her win at Double Or Nothing and warned everyone this was going to happen.

Opening sequence.

AEW National Title: Mark Davis vs. Adam Priest

Davis is defending and Priest shoulders away to start, which really doesn’t work so well. A hard whip sends Priest crashing out to the floor and Davis beats him up against the barricade. Back in and Davis fires off some corner clotheslines before knocking him outside for a crash into the barricade. Priest gets smart by pulling Davis’ hand into the post, allowing him to go after said hand back inside.

The double arm crank goes on but Davis fights out and takes him up top. A diving tornado DDT plants Davis and Priest gets the cross armbreaker. That’s reversed with a sitout powerbomb and they’re both down again. Priest goes to the hand to escape a sleeper attempt and takes out the leg, setting up a quick STF. Davis makes the rope and hits a big clothesline from the apron. Back in and another clothesline sets up the piledriver to retain the title at 11:40.

Rating: B. It was a random match with a challenger who had no chance of winning the title, but they had a heck of a match here. Priest was fighting against the monster every chance he could and knocked him down a few times, making this a lot more entertaining than I was expecting. Davis has been on a roll in recent months and it is rather fun to see.

Anthony Ogogo vs. Darian Bengston

The rest of Shane Taylor Promotions are here with Ogogo. Bengston grabs an armbar to start and gets thrown down rather quickly. A knee lift staggers Ogogo and Bengston bails out to the floor, where he seems to annoy the Promotions. Back in and Bengston decides to try swinging, which isn’t a good idea against a former Olympic boxer. A powerslam gives Ogogo two but Bengston gets in a quick shot, setting up a Whisper In The Wind for two of his own. Something like a Rings Of Saturn is reversed into a spinning slam to give Ogogo two so he knocks Bengston out for the win at 6:09.

Rating: C-. I would assume this was Bengston getting a tryout, as it was much more about him than anything Ogogo was doing. Bengston did well enough in his chance, though he needs someone better than Ogogo across the ring from him. Ogogo’s matches are pretty much “do basic stuff, get frustrated, punch opponent for win”. That isn’t interesting and a big reason Ogogo has never taken off in any way.

Mance Warner wants the Pure Rules Title. Sure. He’s getting a shot at Lee Moriarty next week, though it is at least just a Proving Ground match.

Viva Van vs. Rachael Ellering

Pure Rules. Blanchard takes her down by the arm to start but Van reverses into an armbar of her own. Van’s Fujiwara armbar is broken up and Ellering has another armbar. Back up and Van flips forward into a pose but gets sent to the apron. Ellering knocks her down again, setting up a backsplash for two.

The double arm crank has Van using her first rope break and something like a Tequila Sunrise has Ellering getting to the rope as well. Ellering escapes an electric chair out of the corner and gets two off a running elbow. The Boss Woman Slam is countered into a spinning backfist and Van’s bridging electric chair suplex gets the pin at 7:16.

Rating: C. This was a good example of a match that didn’t need to have Pure Rules and they didn’t add much of anything. Van is at least getting somewhere around here and just having her win some matches is a way to shake off some of her bad reputation. She has a long way to go, but at least she’s not losing over and over.

Angelico vs. Oro

Oro charges at him with a running spinwheel kick in the corner to start. Angelico strikes away to come back but gets dropped again. Something like a Downward Spiral out of the ropes gives Oro two but Angelico’s lifting Downward Spiral gets two more. Oro hits a kind of Pele off his shoulder, only for Oro to pull him into a leglock for the tap at 5:07.

Rating: C+. I get that Angelico has talent and he can make others look good, but it’s really hard to get interested in his matches. He’s been established as someone who is not going to do anything beyond put other stars over and that doesn’t help on shows that are just match after match most of the time. Angelico certainly has talent, but he’s been doing the same thing for what feels like forever in Ring Of Honor.

Athena sits down with Caprice Coleman, who praises her quite a bit to start. She talks about how she started her reign as this innocent girl but then she realized how great she was and became what she is now. Now she has become the person people think of when they think of Ring Of Honor and she doesn’t want to be disappointed with her career. You should watch her and when someone better comes along, they’ll get the title, but that isn’t happen.

Maya World vs. Trish Adora

World flips over her to start and snaps off a running hurricanrana. World goes up and gets chopped down to the floor, followed by the double arm crank back inside. That’s broken up and World kicks her in the head, only to get butterfly suplexed for two. A Sling Blade and springboard moonsault give World two of her own and Adora goes outside.

That works rather well as World charges into a pump kick, meaning Adora can hit a brainbuster for two back inside. World’s springboard back elbow gets two but she walks into a spinning backbreaker for a double down. The German suplex drops World, who is right back with a small package for the pin at 8:32.

Rating: C+. Adora wrestles a rather unique style and you can see some wrestlers having to adjust. That was the case here and it wound up being a good enough match. World is still someone who could be put back into the title picture sooner than later, even if it doesn’t have to be another shot at Athena.

Stori Denali vs. Brooke Havok

Mark Sterling is here with Denali, who mocks Havok’s lack of size. Havok gets sent hard into the corner and booted down, setting up Snake Eyes. Another knockdown has Havok in more trouble and Denali boot chokes her in the corner. Havok connects with a few kicks to the leg but gets sent flying. The chokeslam finishes for Denali at 4:03.

Rating: C. At some point, Denali has to get in the ring on her own like this and learn how to have matches. That’s why you put her in something short like this and she was….well she was a giant squashing someone. The match was just what you would expect, and while Denali is a long term project, at least she’s getting started.

Queen Aminata is back next week.

Frat House vs. Dalton Castle/Outrunners

Non-title Proving Ground match. Karter knocks Magnum into the corner to start and the House starts taking turns firing off the chops. Floyd (wearing the belt) comes in off a blind tag to clean house but the House takes him into the corner. Karter steps onto Magnum for a low blow in the Tree Of Woe but Magnum kicks Garrison down. The tag brings in Castle to clean house (again) but the Bang A Rang is broken up. The Mega Powers Elbow is broken up as well, only for the second attempt to connect for the pin on Garrison at 5:38.

Rating: C. It certainly does help to have a regular team coming after the champions as it gives you the change that they could pull off the upset. At the same time, it was nice to see Castle and the Outrunners getting a win shortly into their title reign. They still need some opponents, but we can get to that soon enough.

Post match the Lethal Twist runs in to beat the champions down. The Twist brags about their uniqueness and abilities and seem to want the titles. For now though, they’re just getting a match.

Lethal Twist vs. Il Cartello Grillo

Christian kicks Seal to the floor at the bell and it’s off to Johnson for a basement running forearm. Seal manages a suplex though and it’s off to Grillo, who gets caught with a Helluva Kick. The Twist takes turns striking away at Grillo in the corner, with Christian adding a moonsault to the floor to take out Impala. Lethal’s Figure Four, plus Christian’s springboard 450, make Grillo tap at 3:25.

Rating: C+. If you’re going to have the Twist, who are already an established team, jump the champs, you don’t need to have them win a short match as well. We got the point after seeing them jump the champs and then it was just another match. Let the angle stand instead of doing something else to make the fans forget about it.

From last week in Mexico City.

Ring Of Honor World Title: Volador Jr. vs. Bandido

Bandido is defending. Stereo flips give us an early standoff so Bandido sends him outside for an early suicide dive. Volador fights up back inside and knocks Bandido outside for a dive of his own. Back in and Bandido runs the ropes to get in his finger gun pose. Volador knocks him back down and yells a bit, meaning it’s time to stomp Bandido down in the corner.

More posing ensues but Bandido gets up a boot to cut off the charge. A spinning high crossbody sends Volador outside for the big running flip dive as Bandido gets to take over again. Volador snaps off a running hurricanrana from the apron and the referee is rather concerned. Bandido is fine enough to block a hurricanrana and swing him into the barricade.

Back in and Volador powerbombs him out of the air for two more but Bandido counters a charge into a flipping faceplant. Bandido powerbombs him down for two more but gets backdropped out to the floor. The slingshot hurricanrana connects for Volador but Bandido sends him over the barricade for a running flip dive. Another hurricanrana brings Bandido crashing off of the barricade and they go back inside, where Volador’s frog splash gets two.

A Code Red gives Volador another near fall but he walks into a pop up cutter to leave them both down. Back up and Bandido’s German suplex out of the corner sets up a shooting star press for two more. The X Knee into the 21 Plex gives Bandido two, as does Volador’s running Canadian Destroyer. Volador takes too long to go up and it’s a reverse super fall away slam (with Volador landing on his face). The 21 Plex retains the title at 21:17.

Rating: B+. This was definitely a different style from Ring Of Honor and they had a rather entertaining match, which was quite the treat to see. Bandido can adjust to any style and he certainly knows what to do here. Volador is a big enough star to come after the title and worked well here, with Bandido actually defending the title more than once for a change.

TV Title: Dezmond Xavier vs. AR Fox

Fox is defending and Xavier seems honored to be in there with him. They fight over wrist control to start with Fox taking over. Xavier works on the arm and a rollup sends Fox bailing out to the floor. We pause for Fox to look at the title and then go back inside, where Xavier sends him right back outside. The suicide dive sends Fox crashing into the barricade, followed by a slingshot hilo for two back inside.

Xavier ties up the leg for a bit until he knocks Fox into the corner for an enziguri. Fox hits his own enziguri and clotheslines away in the corner. A basement cutter gives Fox two so Xavier hits him in the face. The Cardiac Kick gets two more but Fox is back with a DDT into the springboard tornado DDT into a spinning suplex for two of his own. Xavier kicks him back down but slips on the top and crotches himself. Lo Mein Pain and the 450 retain the title at 12:29.

Rating: B-. This was another good match from Fox, even with Xavier dominating for a big chunk. You can bring in challengers like Xavier for the TV Title as it’s kind of the random match championship. Xavier, a member of a trio, wasn’t likely to win the title here but letting him fly around with Fox for a bit was a fun way to go.

Respect is shown to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. The last two matches were good but, say it with me, this was far too long. There were so many things that could have been cut off to get this down to a more manageable length. As usual, there are so many matches that a lot of them are forgotten so quickly. Hopefully they get the time issues under control, because dang this show could be so much better if it got things down to an hour a week or so. Just focus a bit more and trim some time off and it’s that much better.

Results
Mark Davis b. Adam Priest – Piledriver
Anthony Ogogo b. Darian Bengston via knockout
Viva Van b. Rachael Ellering – Bridging electric chair suplex
Angelico b. Oro – Leglock
Maya World b. Trish Adora – Small package
Stori Denali b. Brooke Havok – Chokeslam
Dalton Castle/Outrunners b. Frat House – Mega Powers Elbow/ax handle combination to Garrison
Lethal Twist b. Il Cartello Grillo – Figure Four to Grillo
Bandido b. Volador Jr. – 21 Plex
AR Fox b. Dezmond Xavier – 450

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Impact Wrestling
Date: May 28, 2026
Location: Sacramento Memorial Auditorium, Sacramento, California
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt

The slow build towards Slammiversary continues and we have a few things starting to come together for the show. Some of them you can probably either guess from here or should be able to figure out in the coming weeks. That should make for an important enough few hours this week so let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Men’s Champions Challenge

Champions: Mustafa Ali, Bear Bronson, Cedric Alexander, Brian Myers, Mike Santana
Challengers: Frankie Kazarian, Leon Slater, Eric Young, Elijah, KC Navarro

If one of the challengers pins a champion, they get a future title shot, though Young has said he won’t change from his current World Title shot. Shouldn’t he just get two titl….oh geez no don’t put that idea out there. Elijah grabs Myers’ arm to start and hits Old School as we take an early break. We come back with Santana working on Elijah’s arm but missing a flipping legdrop.

They get up for a standoff but Young comes in to jump Santana from behind. It’s already off to Kazarian, who is dropkicked down but pokes Santana in the eye. Santana elbows Elijah in the face and it’s Ali tagging himself in to take over. Everything breaks down (even commentary says they knew it was coming) and Elijah chokeslams Ali onto the apron. Slater hits a huge flip dive to wipe out the pile and we take a break.

We come back again with Elijah fighting out of Bronson’s headlock and sending him outside. Santana gets the tag and cleans house with the rolling Buck Fifty hitting Young. Another rolling Buck Fifty drops Kazarian and it’s Ali coming in for his rolling neckbreaker. That has Santana and Ali arguing so Navarro dropkicks both of them. A spinning DDT gets two on Ali, who drop toeholds Navarro and hands it back to Bronson to hammer away.

Bronson tosses Navarro for two and Ali tags himself back in, much to Bronson’s annoyance. That’s enough for Slater to get back in with a spinwheel kick for two. Everything breaks down again and Ali misses a charge. Slater’s Swanton 450 gets two, with Alisha Edwards putting the foot on the rope. Bronson throws Ali a belt but the referee takes it away. Slater hits a superkick and Navarro’s Blessing In Disguise pins Ali at 20:47.

Rating: B-. There were a lot of people in this thing but they made it work well. The good thing about something like this is you have multiple options for who can get the fall over whom and that opens things up rather well. It’s not something you can do very often but for a once in a while concept, it does exactly what it needs to do.

Arianna Grace complains about being thrown into a Knockouts Title match on short notice and losing as a result. Therefore, it’s time for Stacks to beat up Santino Marella. And no, she won’t visit when Marella is in a nursing home.

The Righteous invite the Broken Hardys to the Wicked Garden. Sweet goodness I cannot wait to get done with this stuff.

Tessa Blanchard vs. Harley Hudson

Blanchard shoves her down to start but gets hit with a running boot. An apron legdrop hits Blanchard again but she’s fine enough to kick Hudson out to the floor. Hudson’s knee is banged up so Blanchard drops it onto the ground for quite the crash. Back in and a DDT to the knee sets up a leglock, followed by a rather painful looking double underhook crank.

A running knee has Hudson in more trouble but she comes back with some rapid fire right hands. Hudson gets her up for a one legged fall away slam and a hip attack gets two. Blanchard gets sent into the buckle but comes back with a Codebreaker out of the corner for two. An Air Raid Crash onto the knee gives Hudson two of her own but Blanchard goes for the knee again. The Buzzsaw finishes Hudson at 8:09.

Rating: B-. At some point you need to throw these newer, unproven stars out there and see what they can do. That’s what they were trying with Hudson here and that’s not a bad idea. She held her own well enough, though she’s not going to have Blanchard out there every week. At least Hudson has had one good match of her own though and now we get to see where she can go from here.

The Personal Concierge interrupts Lei Ying Lee and tells her not to screw this up for the Elegance Brand tonight.

Santino Marella vs. Stacks

Arianna Grace is here too as Marella takes Stacks down by the leg. A front facelock lets Marella grab an armbar and Stacks needs to bail out to the floor. Back in and Marella snaps off some armdrags but his running splash hits raised knees. Marella needs a time out and gets punched in the bad ribs for his efforts. The beating doesn’t last long so Marella loads up the Cobra. Grace takes it away though and Stacks gets a rollup pin at 5:39.

Rating: C. At least it wasn’t long, as there was no reason for it to be anything beyond this. There isn’t much to having Stacks beat Marella the wrestler, but having him beat Marella the father could go a bit better. I’m sure the story won’t be over here, but they did get this right enough.

Post match Grace yells at Marella and slaps him but he grabs her arm. Stacks jumps him but Indi Hartwell makes the save and wants a mixed tag right now. Daria Rae comes out to say no because Stacks won fair and square. We can do it next week though. At least she didn’t say the catchphrase.

AJ Francis yells at someone for not having paperwork for him. It needs to be there by tomorrow at the latest.

Eddie Edwards vs. Fabian Aichner

Alisha Edwards is here with Eddie. Aichner starts fast with a springboard spinning crossbody and they go outside, where Aichner hits a heck of a clothesline. Alisha offers a distraction though and a release gordbuster drops Aichner back inside. A rather hard whip sends Aichner into the corner for two but he’s back with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker.

Aichner’s brainbuster gets two but Eddie catches him on top for the backpack Stunner. Eddie tosses him outside, where Alisha grabs a kendo stick. That’s enough for an ejection so Eddie goes up, with Aichner butterfly superplexing him down. Cue the rest of the System so Aichner dives onto all of them, setting up a springboard tornado DDT. A bulldog choke goes on but the System runs in for the DQ at 7:33.

Rating: B-. First and foremost: this was already better than everything Aichner did on his own in WWE. The whole rich Italian guy never got off the ground and just having him be a tough, athletic guy (whose nickname seems to be the Gladiator) is quite a step up. That’s a good start and while I would have had him beat Eddie here, at least Aichner didn’t lose.

Women’s Champions Challenge

Champions: Lei Ying Lee, M By Elegance, Heather By Elegance
Challengers: Elayna Black, Xia Brookside, Mara Sade

Keith Jardine and the rest of the Elegance Brand are here too and this has the same “win for a title shot” rules. Lee and Brookside start things off but Brookside tags out, because that’s what we do in tag matches these days. Sade comes in and, after a handshake, trades standing switches with Lee. Sade takes her down into a quickly broken armbar and they get up for a standoff.

It’s off to M, who kicks Sade down and brings in Heather, who is taken down for Black’s basement dropkick. Brookside does her own blind tag and gets two on Heather, followed by a running dropkick to send her into the corner. Heather switches up and stomps away, allowing M to go Coast To Coast for two. Everything breaks down and Sade hits a slingshot dive onto the Brand and we take a break.

We come back with Sade crushing Heather in the corner and dropping a knee for two. Heather catches her up top though and gets in a quick Codebreaker, allowing M to come back in. A step up backsplash to the back hits Sade for two and M flips Heather onto her for two more. The double arm crank has Sade in more trouble but she’s back up with a springboard spinning double crossbody.

It’s off to Brookside vs. Lee, with the latter grabbing a suplex for two. The Warrior’s Way gives Lee two but Black makes the save. Everything breaks down and Mr. Elegance tries to interfere, earning himself a heel hook from Jardine. The Concierge is stalked to the back but Mr. Elegance gets in a quick distraction, allowing Brookside to plant Lee with Darkside for the pin at 16:00.

Rating: B-. This was a smaller version of the men’s match but it made sense to have Brookside beat Lee to get the title shot. That is a story that has been set up in advance and the result was little more than a formality. There’s nothing wrong with that and it makes perfect sense. It was also nice to have fewer people involved here, as it kept things that much less chaotic.

Overall Rating: B. This is something that TNA has done a few times now, with the idea working perfectly well. It’s a way to advance some storylines without having to burn through a bunch of matches. I liked this show rather well and that is usually the case when they pull this out. It’s a simple idea that TNA made feel important and it got them ready for a new batch of stuff, so this was rather efficient all around.

Results
Men’s Challengers b. Men’s Champions – Blessing In Disguise to Ali
Tessa Blanchard b. Harley Hudson – Buzzsaw
Stacks b. Santino Marella – Rollup
Fabian Aichner b. Eddie Edwards via DQ when the System interfered
Women’s Challengers b. Women’s Champions – Darkside to Lee

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Collision
Date: May 27, 2026
Location: Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Taz

It’s the third of three hours this week as we’re still coming off of Double Or Nothing. This time around we have a pretty big main event in the form of a street fight between Kris Statlander and Hikaru Shida. Other than that, it’s likely your usual Collision, but at half the size. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

We open with Mark Davis throwing Jack Perry (who Davis just beat in the Dynamite main event) out of the ring. Don Callis threatens Will Ospreay, who is Davis’ second round opponent. With that out of the way, Callis insults Konosuke Takeshita, who was never anything compared to Kyle Fletcher.

Cue Fletcher, who gets a big hug from Fletcher and brags about being back from a serious injury so soon. He’s a genetic freak and officially medically cleared to return to the ring. He wanted to get back to cut away the dead weight of the Don Callis Family, which means Takeshita himself. Cue Takeshita…and the Conglomeration, to quickly clear the ring. Takeshita is glad to have his title back and wants Fletcher, who seems interested.

Will Ospreay is fired up for a six man. Marina Shafir and Jon Moxley are cool with Ospreay, but Pac isn’t so thrilled.

Death Riders/Will Ospreay vs. Rascalz

Xavier snaps off some headscissors to take Ospreay down to start but gets kicked in the chest. The annoyed Pac comes in to cravate Xavier but it’s off to Wentz, who is chopped back into the corner. The Rascalz fight back and hit the dives to the floor as we take a break.

We come back with Ospreay hitting a double handspring Pele kick, allowing the tag back to Pac. House is quickly cleaned and Reed is suplexed into the corner for two. The Riders hit the running clotheslines in the corner and Pac and Ospreay hit stereo running clip dives. Back in and Reed ducks Moxley’s clothesline and hits a jumping cutter. Ospreay and Pac are back in to beat on the Rascalz, setting up a triple submission for the tap (Ospreay making Reed tap to the cross armbreaker is what seems to count) at 10:22.

Rating: B-. The ending was never really in doubt but at least it wasn’t a straight up squash. Instead this was more the Death Riders reining the Rascalz in like fish and eventually catching them in some holds. That’s a fine way to go, even if it continues to make the Rascalz look that much less important week after week.

The Opps say that even though things haven’t been going well, the mission doesn’t change. That being said, Samoa Joe is stepping away for a few months for another movie/TV role. Sweet goodness just disband the team already if the lineup keeps changing this often.

Video on Kris Statlander vs. Hikaru Shida, with both of them talking about how sick they are of each other.

Lena Kross and Megan Bayne have laid out Tay Melo and Anna Jay.

Andrade El Idolo vs. Ace Austin

Andrade’s headlock is broken up to start so he snaps off a hurricanrana. Austin sends him into the ropes for the pose and we take a break. We come back with Andrade knocking Austin down and Andrade poses with a woman on the floor. Said woman is pulled over the barricade for a better picture, allowing Austin to get in a shot of his own.

A standing legdrop hits Andrade, who is sat on top for a running anklescissors. The Death Valley Driver gives Austin two but Andrade knocks him into the corner. The running knees miss for Andrade though and Austin is back with a springboard kick to the face. Andrade isn’t having that and hits the spinning elbow, followed by the DM for the pin at 8:09.

Rating: B-. It’s another good performance from Austin, who loses while looking impressive in the process. I know that’s AEW’s standard practice but it would be nice to see him win something over a more impressive name for once. Or just not lose for a change, though I can’t really imagine either happening anytime soon.

Kris Statlander vs. Hikaru Shida

Anything goes street fight. They slug it out to start and Statlander kicks her out to the floor. Statlander grabs a chair but takes too long, allowing Shida to sit it on the top rope. They go outside together with Statlander being sent into the barricade for a hard beating. That just earns Shida a hard powerbomb onto the floor and they go up towards the entrance. Make that into the back, with the fans not approving. Shida suplexes her onto a piece of barricade and we take a break.

We come back with Statlander superplexing her onto a pile of chairs and a chair/kendo stick duel breaking out. Statlander’s moonsault hits chairs and Shida nails a top rope Meteora for two. Shida hits a Falcon Arrow, with Statlander nipping up to escape in a cool moment. Statlander fires a chair at her head and it’s time to set up a table on one side of the floor and chairs on the other.

Shida is Death Valley Drivered onto the open chairs but Statlander can’t bring herself to swinging some light tubes. Instead Shida kicks her down and breaks the tubes over her back, cutting Statlander open. They fight to the apron, where Statlander hits a Tombstone to put Shida through the table. Cue Harley Cameron to cheer Statlander on, with Staturday Night Fever finishing Shida at 15:56.

Rating: C+. Well they did indeed have a street fight because they were in Philadelphia, making it a requirement. Ignore that it was their first singles match against each other but you have to keep the ECW fans happy. This was more violence for the sake of violence, with the light tubes doing their usual job of dimming any interest I had in the thing.

Overall Rating: B-. This was a totally fine Collision, even if it came a good bit later than the usual show. The main event felt enough like a main event to warrant that spot, even if we have another hour for the “real” main event on Saturday. It’s not the best feeling to have a three hour block so soon after a five hour pay per view, but it’s both not AEW’s fault and the action was good enough.

Results
Death Riders b. Rascalz – Cross armbreaker to Reed
Andrade El Idolo b. Ace Austin – DM
Kris Statlander b. Hikaru Shida – Staturday Night Fever

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Dynamite
Date: May 27, 2026
Location: Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Taz, Excalibur, Tony Schiavone

We’re done with Double Or Nothing and MJF got the World Title back from Darby Allin. That’s the big story, but it wasn’t the last part of the show. After the title change, Kevin Knight came to the ring and attacked Allin, turning evil in the process. Other than that, we are about a month away from Double Or Nothing and we need some Owen Hart Cup finalists. Odds are we’re get closer to those this week, especially since we have another hour of Collision after this show. Let’s get to it.

Here is Double Or Nothing if you need a recap.

Back at Double Or Nothing, Will Ospreay was happy with his win and ran into Kenny Omega. They get to the point, with Omega asking why Ospreay is hanging out with the Death Riders. Omega said Ospreay could have trained with him if he wanted the World Title, but Ospreay points out that Omega is barely ever here.

That leaves Omega without much of a defense but as a friend, he wants Ospreay to watch out for the Death Riders. Ospreay doesn’t seem offended but here is Jon Moxley to say that’s good advice. Moxley gives Ospreay a bag of ice and says the truck is outside. With Moxley gone, Omega says Ospreay can call anytime and they seem to part as friends.

Here is Kevin Knight for a chat. He knows everyone wants to know why he attacked Darby Allin. The answer is because Allin let them all down and even though they’re in Philadelphia, he’s not trusting the process. Knight was the last person to beat MJF but he didn’t get a title shot.

Instead Knight was sitting on the bench even though he isn’t a bench player. He wasn’t wasting any time because he should be in the main event. This brings out Mike Bailey (in a less than nice jacket) who thinks Knight can turn around and apologize. Knight ignores the handshake and lays Bailey out. That’s a smart move.

Ricochet, with the Demand, isn’t worried about Chris Jericho tonight, even if everyone else is banned from ringside.

Chris Jericho vs. Ricochet

Everyone is banned from ringside. I take it that doesn’t involve commentary or the production crew but I guess that’s implied. Ricochet starts fast and kicks him into the corner but Jericho is up with a backdrop to the floor. Jericho hits a dive and loads up the announcers’ table for the Walls on said table. With that broken up, Ricochet sweeps the leg off the apron and starts going after the leg as we take a break.

We come back with Jericho hitting a Death Valley Driver on the apron and they’re both down on the floor. They get back inside where Jericho tries the Lionsault but has to switch to a springboard back elbow as Ricochet gets up. The threat of the Judas Effect sends Ricochet back outside and he snapmares Jericho over the top. The suicide dive and running flip dive connect, as does a springboard Phoenix splash to give Ricochet two back inside.

Jericho is right back up with another Walls but Ricochet goes after the banged up knee to escape. Ricochet uses the referee as a distraction and hits Jericho low but misses the 630. Jericho’s Codebreaker gets two and there’s the Judas Effect into a not so clean Lionsault to pin Ricochet at 13:57.

Rating: B. This was the kind of match that Jericho needed as they didn’t do any shenanigans and he won clean (well, mostly clean as the Lionsault landed on Ricochet’s face) in the end. That’s how this should have gone and it wound up being a good TV match. Jericho can still go in the ring when he has to, but the situation has to be set up right, as it was here.

Post match Jericho celebrates but Tommaso Ciampa runs in to jump him from behind. The running knee leaves Jericho laying.

Andrade El Idolo wants the world Title because he’s that awesome and better than MJF.

Orange Cassidy vs. Lio Rush vs. Brian Cage vs. Rush

For the sake of simplicity, Lio Rush is “Lio” and Rush is “Rush”. Cage sends Lio outside to start and Cassidy is tossed as well, leaving the power guys to go at it. Rush cuts off a charge with a shot to the face but they knock each other down, allowing Cassidy and Lio to come in and get two each.

Lio starts running the ropes to confuse Cassidy before sending him to the apron. A handspring kick to the head knocks Cassidy outside but Cage pulls a suicide dive out of the air. Back in and Rush hits the Tranquilo pose as we take a break. We come back with Cassidy dropping his top rope elbow on Cage, who muscles him up with an apron superplex. Lio is dropped with a Falcon Arrow for two more but Cassidy manages a Stundog Millionaire to send Cage outside.

The diving tornado DDT plants Cage again but here is Lance Archer to cut Cassidy off. Cue the returning Jake Doyle to go after Cassidy, with Roderick Strong running in for the save. The teams brawl off, with Cassidy being carried to the back. Lio hits a quick springboard Stunner on Rush but misses the Final Hour. Rush sends him into the barricade and chokes a bit, setting up the Bull’s Horns for the win at 12:10.

Rating: B-. It was little more than a showcase match and that’s how it was described. Thankfully once two of them left, Rush didn’t waste time in running through Lio, which is how this should have ended. It was a good enough match with Cassidy doing his thing and Cage and Rush beating each other up. If nothing else, Rush beating someone with some actual status is nice to see.

MJF runs into Kevin Knight and thanks him for the beatdown on Sunday. Knight says he’s coming for the World Title, which doesn’t sit well with MJF. Kyle Fletcher comes in to stare Knight down and Don Callis likes what he sees.

Video on Mark Briscoe, including some cool old Briscoe Brothers footage.

The Brawling Birds aren’t happy with Jamie Hayter losing on Sunday but Alex Windsor is ready for whomever she is facing in the Women’s Owen Hart Cup.

Here is MJF for some bragging. He’s rather pleased with being a three time World Champion by the time he’s thirty years old and they will talk about him for years to come. The banner and confetti fall but here is Mark Briscoe to interrupt. He calls MJF a stranger in a strange place here in Philadelphia, almost like he’s a penguin.

Briscoe accuses MJF of thinking he’s above everyone else, but Briscoe beat him not too long ago. So he wants a title shot and asks if MJF is going to man up. That’s a firm “no” because this is a business and Briscoe isn’t business. MJF goes to leave but gets cut off by Rush, who wants the title as well. MJF says no to tonight but actually agrees for next week. That sounds shenanigansy.

Jack Perry is on his bus and uses the loudspeaker to say he’s ready for Mark Davis. Then he does a Rocky training montage.

Men’s Owen Hart Tournament First Round: Claudio Castagnoli vs. Brody King

They fight over a lockup to start and neither can get anywhere so they stare at each other a bit more. A big running clothesline sends Castagnoli outside where King chops away and we take a break. We come back with the two of them slugging it out and hitting stereo clotheslines.

They forearm it out with Castagnoli getting the better of things but King knocks him into the corner. A forearm knocks Castagnoli into the corner for the cannonball but he’s able to cut off a suicide dive. The Neutralizer is cut off so Castagnoli uppercuts away. Swiss Death is shrugged off though and King’s big clothesline finishes at 12:02.

Rating: B-. This was about two big guys beating the fire out of each other and that’s exactly what you knew it would be the second the match was announced. I do like King advancing as there is no reason to pretend that Castagnoli is going to make a serious run in the tournament. He’s there for one purpose and he served that purpose right here.

Here are Adam Copeland and Christian Cage for a chat after winning the Tag Team Titles at Double Or Nothing. Cage loads up his catchphrase and says it wasn’t that bad, because he didn’t bang of the fans’ mothers. Ok maybe he did. Either way, FTR was the top team but not the tippy top team. Copeland is so happy that he’s bringing back the FIVE SECOND POSE!

Cage points out that there is no such thing as flash photography again, but Copeland whips out a bag of disposable cameras, which he stocked up on 25 years ago just in case. Cage is STUNNED (that’s one of the funniest facial reactions I’ve seen in a good while) as Copeland hands them out and explains the concept but the Dogs attack them to break up the pose. The beatdown is on and Cage’s bad arm is injured again. The Dogs do their own pose and promise to win the titles.

Swerve Strickland is happy with his first round win and is ready to take out Brody King in the second round.

Tay Melo/Anna Jay vs. Ava Everett/Allie Katch

After an insert promo from Lena Kross and Megan Bayne about how they aren’t impressed by Melo and Jay, we’re ready to go. Katch is sent into the corner and hit with some running shots to the face to start. Everett comes in and gets kicked down as well, setting up a Gory Bomb into Melo’s knee for the pin at 1:13. Total squash.

Mike Bailey wants to face Kevin Knight.

Men’s Owen Hart Tournament First Round: Mark Davis vs. Jack Perry

Non-title and Davis jumps him to start fast so the beating can ensue. Back up and Perry takes Davis’ eye patch and sends him outside for the suicide dives. There’s the running flip dive as well and we take a break with Davis in trouble. We come back with King fighting back and sending him hard into the barricade.

Perry can’t piledrive him on the apron but can knock him put him on the ropes for a hurricanrana. Back in and top rope moonsault gets two, followed by a step up backsplash for two more on Davis. Perry sends him outside and hits a sliding wheelbarrow bulldog but Davis is fine enough to hit a suplex onto the apron.

We take another break and come back with Perry having lost his shoes but being able to hit a top rope DDT. They trade rollups for two each and Perry hits his own piledriver for two. The Snare Trap goes on until Davis makes the rope and is up with a huge clothesline. They go up top and Davis knocks him into a super piledriver for the pin at 17:25.

Rating: B+. These guys beat the fire out of each other and it was fun to see Davis getting another win. If nothing else, it’s good to see a champion get a pin rather than losing right out of the blocks. Perry is going to be fine and he lost to that big of a move so it’s not like it’s some quick upset.

Overall Rating: B+. They had a good followup to the pay per view here with enough action and storyline advancement to make for a fun show. MJF having to deal with a bunch of people makes sense, and it seems like we’re well on the way to Ospreay getting the big title win in England. Good stuff here and I could go for seeing what they’re setting up for the summer.

Results
Chris Jericho b. Ricochet – Lionsault
Rush b. Orange Cassidy, Brian Cage and Lio Rush – Bull’s Horns to Lio
Brody King b. Claudio Castagnoli – Clothesline
Tay Melo/Anna Jay b. Ava Everett/Allie Katch – Gory Bomb into a knee to Everett
Mark Davis b. Jack Perry – Super piledriver

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Looking at the hottest feud in wrestling today, which is a main event in one place and a joke in another.

https://www.smarkdownsblog.com/el-grande-americano-aaa-wwe

Evolve
Date: May 27, 2026
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Blake Howard, Peter Rosenberg

Last week saw another new face show up as Elijah Holyfield made his debut. That’s quite the impressive looking start and now we get to see where it goes from here. Names have a tendency to start picking up in a hurry on this show and that could be the case again with Holyfield. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Aaron Rourke previews tonight’s show, including a big announcement from Timothy Thatcher and Harlem Lewis vs. Braxton Cole. Rourke is ready for Tristan Angels too.

Opening sequence.

Harlem Lewis vs. Braxton Cole

Lewis jumps him during his entrance to start fast and the bell rings. The beating doesn’t last long though as Lewis misses a charge into the corner and gets neckbreakered for two. Cole stomps him down in the corner, followed by a backbreaker for two more. It’s time to work on Lewis’ arm, including Cole sitting on it and grabbing something like a Fujiwara armbar. That’s broken up and Lewis strikes away, setting up a release German suplex. They fight to the floor and Cole hits him with a chair for the DQ at 4:54.

Rating: C+. This felt like a preview for a bigger match later, hopefully with Lewis getting to go nuts on Cole in a rather violent way. The match only had so much of a chance to get going, but it wasn’t supposed to be the final showdown, which is a fine way to go. Lewis getting angrier is a good thing for him and the rematch should be a step up.

Post match the beating continues but the security comes out to carry Lewis away.

Tate Wilder comes in to see Timothy Thatcher, who announces that Wilder is officially on NXT full time. Wilder talks about his time on Evolve and how happy he has been around here. What a wild ride. Thatcher still has a big announcement for later tonight.

Chazz Hall talks about how he plays the air guitar but becomes the Denim Dragon when the straps come down. He’s ready to be a star.

Sloane Jacobs/Nikkita Lyons vs. Laynie Luck/Wendy Choo

Lyons works on Luck’s arm to start so Luck flips up for a standoff. A slam puts Luck down and Jacobs comes in for a legdrop. The double elbow gets two on Luck, who rolls away for a kick to Lyons’ face. It’s off to Choo for a running boot in the corner before Luck comes back in to strike away. Lyons gets crotched in the corner and the villains are knocked down on the floor as we take a break.

We come back with Luck being catapulted throat first into the bottom rope. Jacobs plants Luck for two and pulls her out of the corner for two more. Luck hurricanranas and enziguris out of the corner and it’s back to Choo to clean house. A hammerlock lariat puts Jacobs down and a high crossbody gives Choo two. Back up and Jacobs sends her face first into the corner a few times, with a German suplex dropping Choo again. Luck is back in for the save but Jacobs kicks Choo down and dumps Luck, allowing her to pin Choo at 7:17.

Rating: C+. That’s a good way to set up the next title match and it is something that has worked for the better part of ever in wrestling. Jacobs is still relatively new around here so she’s off to a good start in getting into the title picture. Rather efficient match here and that’s a fine way to go.

Post match Jacobs brags about the win and thanks Lyons as well. They hug, with Lyons rolling her eyes.

Elijah Holyfield is in Timothy Thatcher’s office, with Thatcher welcoming him to the roster. Thatcher says Holyfield has to put in the work, with Holyfield saying line them up and he’ll knock them down. Works for Thatcher, who says the first match is next week. With Holyfield gone, Thatcher makes Succession III for June 24. Kam Hendrix and Harley Riggins come in to demand Romeo Moreno, with Thatcher making Moreno vs. Riggins for next week.

Video on PJ Vasa.

It’s Gal is in the VIP area.

Evolve Title: Aaron Rourke vs. Tristan Angels

Rourke is defending and, after the Big Match Intros, grinds away on a headlock. That’s broken up and Angels knocks him down into a chinlock. Rourke isn’t having that either and hits some running boots in the corner, followed by a missile dropkick for two. The flipping chop connects in the corner but Angels knocks him back down for two more.

Rourke is back with a quickly broken half crab as Angels knocks him into the corner. That’s shrugged off as Angels is sent outside for a Meteora from the apron so Gal starts the cheerleading. Rourke tells Gal to get out and gets dropkicked by Angels as we take a break. We come back with the two of them holding hands and trading some hard strikes.

Rourke gets the better of things with some clotheslines, including a cartwheel version. The Molly Go Round misses so Rourke goes after the leg again. A kick to the head sends Rourke to the apron, where Angels superplexes him back inside for another near fall. Back in and Rourke goes right back to the leg, this time with a Figure Four into a Figure Eight. Angels makes the rope so Rourke grabs a backslide and flips onto Angels to retain at 11:18.

Rating: B-. This was another nice title showcase from Rourke, but it never quite got to that next level. Rourke was on offense more than I would have expected as well, though Angels doesn’t have the longest track record around here anyway. It was a good enough main event though, especially with Succession in less than a month.

Post match the Mog Squad comes in to go after Rourke but the ID stars run in for the save to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. Another fine show here, even with the focus already shifting over to next month’s Succession III. You can probably guess a lot of the card from here and that’s not a bad thing this far out. Hopefully they build it up well, and they certainly have time to make that work. It’s not some all time must see show, but it was more about previewing things for later.

Results
Harlem Lewis b. Braxton Cole via DQ when Cole used a chair
Sloane Jacobs/Nikkita Lyons b. Wendy Choo/Laynie Luck – Spinning kick to Choo
Aaron Rourke b. Tristan Angels – Flipping backslide

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

NXT
Date: May 26, 2026
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Booker T.

It’s title night again as we have the Women’s Title on the line. Lola Vice is set to defend the title against Izzi Dame in what could be a rather engaging showdown. Other than that, NXT Champion Tony D’Angelo has a bunch of people coming after him and that isn’t likely to end well. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Kelani Jordan vs. Wren Sinclair

Non-title and Kendal Grey is here with Sinclair, who gets jumped before the bell. Sinclair wants to go and the bell rings as the fans give her a belated HAPPY BIRTHDAY chant. A dropkick puts Jordan down and a snap suplex puts her into the corner. Jordan boots her in the face to limited avail so Sinclair slaps on a Fujiwara armbar. Jordan fights up and sends her into the corner, where Sinclair gets in a posting. Back in and Sinclair sends her into the ropes but the bad knee gives out, though she’s able to send Jordan outside as we take a break.

We come back with Jordan staying on the leg, including a weird standing Figure Four variation. A half crab in the ropes has Sinclair in more trouble but she fights up with strikes and a suplex. Jordan goes right back to the knee but misses the One Of A Kind. The knee gives out again though and we hit the STF, followed by a Haas Of Pain to make Sinclair tap at 11:21.

Rating: C+. This was a simple story as Sinclair is trying to get back to the ring too soon and Jordan is evil enough to cut her off. It’s a good way to make Jordan feel that much meaner and Sinclair’s comebacks were timed well enough. It also could set up Grey to go after Jordan, which would be a nice fight for both of them.

Tatum Paxley and Lizzy Rain are in the back talking about last week when Shiloh Hill comes in. Tristan Angels interrupts as well and complains about Hill’s petition to become the new Mr. NXT. Angels: “PAPA SHANGO?” He hopes Charlie Dempsey stretches some sense into him tonight.

Here is Darkstate (now with a red X through one of the faces in their logo) for a chat. They brag about their success in other sports, but Saquon Shuggars was just an independent wrestler. They all complain about Shuggars, while the fans sound like they’re having a dueling chant about Shuggars of their own. Lennox says there is no Darkstate without them and now they’re coming after everyone again with their sights on the titles.

Wren Sinclair gets her knee looked at and Lola Vice comes in to check on her. Kali Armstrong comes in to mock them and says she’ll be watching the title match.

Speed Title Tournament First Round: Sean Legacy vs. Dorian Van Dux

Dux starts fast and knocks him outside for a big dive, followed by a posting. Legacy fights back but misses a springboard 450, allowing Dux to knock him down again. Dux goes up but gets hurricanranaed down, followed by a dropkick to knock him out of the air. A kick staggers Legacy but he’s up with a super Spanish Fly to leave them both down as time expires at 3:00.

Rating: C+. As usual, it was fun while it lasted but you can only get so far with a match that only lasts three minutes. Dux is an impressive looking guy who can fly and do the power stuff while Legacy continues to feel like he has potential but rarely actually wins anything. That’s only going to get him so far and he’s just kind of there at the moment.

Post match respect is shown.

Nattie is pleased with Layla Diggs for standing up to Jaida Parker and will be in her corner tonight.

Jaida Parker vs. Layla Diggs

Nattie is here with Diggs, who takes Parker down to start and does a quick dance. Back up and Parker knocks her down without much effort but the Tear Drop misses in the corner. Diggs is right back with an armbar and knocks Parker down again. The moonsault (and Diggs has a great looking one) misses though and Hipnotique connects for Parker. Deja Vu finishes for Parker at 4:03.

Rating: C. Diggs getting some more ring time is good, though she got beaten up pretty easily here which might not be the best sign for her future. What matters the most is that she’s getting in the ring though and hopefully that continues. Parker winning is a good thing too, as she’s certainly someone who could be a breakout star if she gets on a roll.

Birthright isn’t worried about the Speed Title tournament but Fraxiom comes in to mock them a bit.

Video on Tony D’Angelo, who is ready for all comers.

Here is D’Angelo for a chat. There are a lot of people around here going for the title and next week he gets to face Kam Hendrix. D’Angelo is ready for him but for now, he wants Naraku out here face to face. Cue Naraku, who says he’s here to keep D’Angelo’s title safe. D’Angelo isn’t buying that but Naraku says he wants D’Angelo to be champion so they can go to war. Cue Hendrix, who says D’Angelo is running into a buzzsaw next week. D’Angelo says that Hendrix sees the title as a stepping stone to fame and it doesn’t go that easily. Naraku clears Hendrix out.

Tavion Heights and Myles Borne argue a bit over last week, with Heights saying he’ll calm down. Darkstate jumps both of them and leaves them laying.

The Vanity Project runs into Tate Wilder, who is recovering from a motorcycle accident. Wilder is fine enough to challenge Jackson Drake for next week and it seems to be on.

Speed Title Tournament First Round: Nathan Frazer vs. Romeo Moreno

This is the de facto final after the previous match ended in a draw. The fans welcome Frazer back as he runs the ropes rather quickly to start. A running kick connects but Moreno is back with a headlock. That’s broken up so Moreno goes to the rope, where Frazer catches him with a springboard reverse Spanish Fly.

Frazer superkicks him out of the air but Moreno catches him on top with a German superplex. A double knockdown leaves them with a double breather and Moreno sends him outside. Back in and Frazer catches him in a superplex but Moreno rolls him into a small package for the win at 2:58. They certainly had the speed part right and Moreno is getting a chance to do something, which he has needed.

Izzi Dame and Nico Vance are warming up but Shawn Spears is nowhere to be found.

Clash In Italy rundown.

Robert Stone is happy Mason Rook attacked Kam Hendrix but the reality is Hendrix got the win and gets the title shot. Naraku comes in and says Rook needs to stay out of the title match.

OTM comes out for their match but Shawn Spears jumps them with a chair. So much for that.

The women’s locker room clears out to watch the main event. Kali Armstrong says she is going to be watching both titles. Thea Hail says that’s not so easy but Armstrong isn’t impressed.

Shiloh Hill is going over his voters data and thinks he needs more Aussies. Zaria isn’t interested but here is Izzy Rain to jump her from behind.

Charlie Dempsey vs. Shiloh Hill

The rest of Birthright is here with Dempsey, who gets slammed to start. Hill hits a running shoulder and goes after the arm, which doesn’t get him very far. A top rope clothesline and running clothesline put Dempsey on the floor and we take a break. We come back with Dempsey taking him down and working on the arm.

The cross armbreaker is countered into a powerbomb but Dempsey gets in a knockdown of his own for a double breather. Hill is up with an inverted standing moonsault and they knock each other down again. Dempsey tries a butterfly suplex but Hill suplexes him backwards for the pin out of nowhere at 8:44.

Rating: C+. This was a surprise as Hill beat the wrestler with some wrestling. That’s not something that a lot of people get to do and it worked well for him. The idea behind Hill is that he has quite a few surprises up his sleeves and it’s oddly succeeding. I could go for seeing where he can go, and Dempsey getting frustrated by him is a fine way to go as well.

Post match Tristan Angels is here to announce that in two weeks, it’s the Mr. NXT pageant. Oh boy.

Izzi Dame yells at Shawn Spears, who apologizes for the attack on the night of her title match.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

Women’s Title: Lola Vice vs. Izzi Dame

Vice is defending and gets powered into the corner to start, with Dame hitting a rather forceful clothesline. Vice fights back and grabs a rollup into a crossface, which is broken up rather quickly. A running seated senton off the apron hits Dame but Shawn Spears grabs Vice’s boot. The distraction lets Dame hit a Backstabber but here is OTM to go after the Culling.

We take a break and come back with Vice kicking away, setting up a running hip attack in the corner. Dame pops up with a boot to the face and they go to the apron, where Vice is sent into the post a few times. Vice tries to pull her into a cross armbreaker but gets reversed into a Liontamer.

That’s broken up and Vice superkicks her down but the referee gets bumped. They forearm it out with Vice getting the better of things and the spinning back fist gets a very delayed near fall. Dame grabs the title and throws it to Vice, with a big boot sending it into her face. A powerbomb is loaded up but Vice reverses into a guillotine. With that broken up, Vice hits another spinning back fist to retain at 10:56.

Rating: B. This was a good though not great main event, with Dame feeling like a good challenger for Vice to conquer. Dame is big and strong enough to look like a threat and someone who could hurt Vice, which is exactly how she should have been. Nice enough stuff here, as the challengers are lining up for Vice.

Darkstate leaves the arena and promises more chaos next week. As they go, Saquon Shuggars is shown standing on a wall, watching them leave to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This show felt more about getting us ready for the next big show, whenever that takes place. You can see the bigger title matches and feuds coming together and we should be seeing some of them taking place in the coming weeks. It’s interesting to see where we go from here, with this being more of a preview than anything else. Good enough show, with bigger stuff on the horizon.

Results
Kelani Jordan b. Wren Sinclair – Haas Of Pain
Dorian Van Dux vs. Sean Legacy went to a time limit draw
Jaida Parker b. Layla Diggs – Deja Vu
Romeo Moreno b. Nathan Frazer – Small package
Shiloh Hill b. Charlie Dempsey – Bridging suplex
Lola Vice b. Izzi Dame – Spinning back fist

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Monday Night Raw
Date: May 25, 2026
Location: Schottenstein Center, Columbus, Ohio
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

It’s the last Raw before Clash In Italy and the show is looking pretty solid. That’s all you need for the most part going into a pay per view and this week is likely going to be about building things up for Sunday. Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar II is officially set and that should be more than enough. Let’s get to it.

Here is Saturday Night’s Main Event if you need a recap.

Here is a serious Paul Heyman to get things going. He gets right to the point and says he is here to hype up the biggest rematch in history but is cut off by an OBA chant. Heyman says Oba Femi is going to be conquered by Brock Lesnar, which sends us to a video from Lesnar, who says he had never been beaten up like that. He isn’t about to let it end like that. We know Lesnar can take a beating, but can Femi? It’s time for Femi to take a beating from a retired Beast.

Back in the arena, Heyman says it’s time for Femi to be destroyed, which brings out Femi. He gets right in Heyman’s face and asks what this has awoken in him. What did four F5’s awaken in Femi himself? As Heyman cowers in fear, Femi says Heyman has to live to tell the tale of what happens when Femi retires Lesnar for the second time. Femi pulls out the contract and signs it on Heyman’s chest. The message for Lesnar is that last time, Femi was fighting to beat him. This time, Femi is fighting to kill him. Yeah this worked, as Femi feels like an absolute monster and the other one is Lesnar. What more do you need?

Saturday Night’s Main Event recap.

Intercontinental Title: Je’Von Evans vs. Penta

Penta is defending and has to block an early OG Cutter attempt. Penta’s hurricanrana is blocked and they show some respect but Evans snaps off a hurricanrana to the floor. The big no hands dive connects to drop Penta again but he’s fine enough to hit a superkick back inside. The slingshot dropkick in the corner gets two, only for Evans to come back with a kick to the head to send Penta outside again. Evans’ dive is sent HARD into the announcers’ table though and we take a break.

We come back with Penta still in trouble but he knocks Evans back, meaning it’s time to chop it out. Penta plants him down for two but the Mexican Destroyer is countered into a superkick. The OG Cutter onto the apron connects, though it’s not quite a clean landing as they both go to the floor. Back in and Penta kicks out but they both need a breather. The Penta Driver gets a close two so Penta goes up, only to dive into a superkick. The OG Cutter connects so Evans goes up again but dives into a Backstabber. That’s enough for the Mexican Destroyer to retain at 12:28.

Rating: B+. This was awesome as they were letting it all hang out in there with two of them beating the living daylights out of each other. Evans continues to feel like he is more than capable of hanging in there at this level and that is great to see. Penta’s reign gets to continue and this was a heck of a fight. I wasn’t sure if Penta was going to retain by the end so they were absolutely doing a lot right.

Post match Penta raises Evans’ hand but a frustrated Evans leaves.

Logan Paul has suffered a torn tricep and is going to be out for months. Uh oh.

Austin Theory tries to hand Paul Heyman his Tag Team Title but Heyman asks why he would do that. The contracts say the Vision are the champions so Theory is now partners with Bron Breakker. Theory gives him a VERY enthusiastic hug and Heyman’s eyes bug out as only they can. Heyman suggests that Theory needs to do something tonight and Theory should know what that means.

Post break Joe Hendry is in the ring to sing about how we need to fire Logan Paul. Cue Austin Theory to beat the fire out of Hendry with a chair.

Seth Rollins comes up to Angelo Dawkins and says he stayed out of the Street Profits’ way and he’s sorry for what happened on Saturday. Rollins saw what happened right out there and Theory has never been like that. They need to unite to take out the Vision but here is Montez Ford to say nothing good happens when Rollins is involved.

Rollins says they don’t have to like each other but they need to work together to get rid of the Vision. He understands what it means to not trust someone and brings up his own successes. Ford says that he’s also never stabbed his brother in the back. The challenge is on for tonight and Ford accepts as Dawkins is annoyed.

Video on El Grande American vs. Original El Grande Americano, with Rey Mysterio hyping up the importance of a mask vs. mask match.

Penta comes up to Je’Von Evans, who immediately apologizes for what happened out there because that was unprofessional. Penta understands and Evans says he’s coming for that title again, which works for Penta as well. Evans leaves in peace and Rey Mysterio comes up to talk to Penta. They chat for a bit and Penta offers to give him a title shot. Works for Mysterio of course.

Judgment Day vs. Bayley/Lyra Valkyria

Rodriguez and Perez jump them before the bell but Bayley and Valkyria fight back. Valkyria and Perez are in the ring to start, with Perez getting knocked down. Bayley comes in and fires off the shoulders in the corner for some fast tags and alternating shots to the head. A double crossbody gets Rodriguez out of trouble and she elbows Valkyria over and over in the corner.

The referee yells at Rodriguez so Perez gets in a stomp to the arm. Rodriguez’s spinning Vader Bomb connects and we take a break. We come back with Rodriguez being sent out to the floor and Perez getting kicked away. Bayley gets the tag and hits a quick dive to the floor, followed by a middle rope elbow to Rodriguez’s back for two. Liv Morgan trips Valkyria up and gets ejected, as well as decked by Bayley.

Rodriguez runs Bayley over but Bayley is back up top. Dominik Mysterio offers a distraction though and Perez gets Pop Rox, with Valkyria having to make a save. Valkyria hurricanranas Rodriguez out to the floor but seems to hurt her knee on the apron. Mysterio sends the title inside and it’s a tug of war with Bayley and Perez. Bayley lets go and the belt hits Mysterio, allowing Bayley to get a rollup to pin Perez at 10:08.

Rating: B-. This got wild at the end and it’s a good sign that Bayley and Valkyria got a win for a change. At the same time, the Judgment Day’s issues continue, though they’ve had issues since they got together in the first place. Hopefully Valkyria’s knee is ok as that was quite the nasty landing.

We look back at Jacob Fatu vs. Roman Reigns, with Fatu challenging Reigns to Tribal Combat last week and Reigns accepting.

Adam Pearce talks to Reigns, saying Fatu should be fired. Reigns gets it and says he had to accept Tribal Combat because he is the Tribal Chief. He wants guarantees that if he wins, Fatu will serve him or be fired. If Reigns loses, “we’re all screwed”.

Commentary thanks the veterans for Memorial Day and we get the customary video for the holiday. That’s a nice tradition to continue.

Here is LA Knight for a chat. He hasn’t been here in a bit but first of all, he wishes everyone a happy Memorial Day and thanks the military for their service. Now he’s done with the Vision though and he’s ready to do something new. Next week is the start of the King Of The Ring tournament and Knight wants in, because he’s aiming for Roman Reigns. That has him wondering about the Usos, because they’re with the most corrupt World Champion ever

This brings out Jimmy Uso, who says he and Jey did what they had to do with Reigns. He’s completely cool with Knight trying to be King Of The Ring and if Knight wins, he gets a fair title shot at Reigns. Knight is interested in the word “fair” because he’s seen what the Usos have tried to do to Jacob Fatu.

He doesn’t want Jimmy to become Reigns’ errand boy but Jimmy calls him off, saying if Knight keeps this up, his family will become Knight’s business. Jimmy goes to leave but Knight stops him, saying Jimmy is the one of the family he likes. Knight has never cared for Reigns and if things start going badly, he’ll put the family out of business. I can absolutely go for Knight getting into the title picture.

Adam Pearce likes the idea of Rey Mysterio getting the Intercontinental Title shot but Ethan Page comes in to say he doesn’t like this. Page wants his rematch, which Pearce says has to be earned. Page asks how Mysterio earned a rematch, which doesn’t sit well with Mysterio or Pearce. Rusev comes in to ask what is going on, with Page giving his version. Mysterio asks to face Rusev for a title shot tonight. Works for Rusev, who threatens to “bangaranged” Mysterio. That just leaves everyone confused.

Seth Rollins vs. Montez Ford

Ford backs him into the corner to start but Rollins shoves him away. Rollins knocks him to the floor for a suicide dive but they collide back inside. We take a break and come back with Ford going up top, where Rollins superplexes him into a Falcon Arrow for the near fall. They go to a pinfall reversal sequence until Rollins gets the better of an exchange of superkicks.

Ford puts him in a torture rack but Rollins flips to his feet and grabs a Pedigree for two more. Rollins yells at him a lot and hits a pair of buckle bombs but the third is reversed into a hurricanrana to the floor. Ford hits his big running flip dive, only to miss a 450 back inside. The Stomp gives Rollins the pin at 12:36.

Rating: B. These two had a rather good match, which shouldn’t be a surprise. Ford can do anything athletically in the ring and Rollins is right there to match him most of the time. It was cool to see Ford getting the chance to showcase what he can do on his own, and the singles run still doesn’t feel completely out of the question.

Post match Angelo Dawkins is knocked through the entrance and gets chaired down by Austin Theory. This includes a Conchairto, with the camera showing about eight inches between the chair and Dawkins’ head (oh that was terrible). And they actually SHOW IT AGAIN during the post break replay!

Post break Ford is trying to find out about Dawkins when Rollins comes up. Ford says Rollins is right, because he does need someone. They can go after the Vision. Ford goes in to check on Dawkins and Rollins says he wants Bron Breakker soon. Adam Pearce is off to talk to Paul Heyman.

Clash In Italy rundown.

Becky Lynch is very pleased with facing Sol Ruca in a rematch and says that there’s a difference between flips and tricks and greatness. Welcome to the big time.

Rey Mysterio vs. Rusev

For an Intercontinental Title shot and Ethan Page is on commentary. Mysterio avoids a charge to start and sends Rusev outside, which just annoys him. Back in and Rusev shrugs off a right hand so Mysterio runs. The chase almost lets Mysterio set up the 619, which is cut off with an elbow to the face. Rusev gets knocked outside again for a sunset bomb into the barricade. The running hurricanrana from the apron is pulled out of the air though and Rusev swings him into the barricade.

We take a break and come back with Mysterio hitting a top rope seated senton. A running headscissors sends Rusev into the corner, where Mysterio hammers away. The running seated senton sets up a Lionsault for two but Rusev pulls a springboard out of the air. The Machka Kick gets two but Mysterio gives him a 619 to the stomach. A regular 619 is countered so Rusev tries the Accolade, which is reversed into a rollup to give Mysterio the pin at 9:31.

Rating: B-. Mysterio is someone who is somehow underrated, as he debuted thirty seven years ago and is still having perfectly good matches. After the amount of knee injuries he has had over the years and how well he can still move, it’s rather remarkable to see. Rusev is little more than a midcard monster to be slayed over and over, but at least he’s getting in the ring rather than sitting at home for months on end.

Post match Rusev jumps Mysterio but Dragon Lee runs in for the save. Page comes in and gets beaten up as well, with Lee giving him a big running flip dive. Mysterio 619s Rusev into Operation Dragon so the luchadors can clear the ring.

Adam Pearce throws Austin Theory out but Theory doesn’t like it. Paul Heyman sucks up to Pearce but they walk away and Heyman rolls his eyes. They pass the Alpha Academy, which makes Maxxine Dupri leave in a hurry. Remember that Theory and Dupri have been seen in the background of various backstage segments for weeks.

Video on Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar.

Adam Pearce is in the ring for the contract signing between Jacob Fatu and Roman Reigns. Fatu comes out first and signs (Anyone else find it weird that a family affair with rules that likely date back a long time requires a formal WWE contract?) before throwing the set around. This brings out Reigns, who signs, and gets a HAPPY BIRTHDAY chant from the fans.

Reigns tells Pearce and company to leave and says it’s fine because Fatu knows he signed a blood oath. With everyone but Fatu gone, Reigns says his catchphrase, which is all Fatu ever had to do. Fatu had to acknowledge him and they could have moved on. Fatu says that would make him like everyone else in here and that isn’t happening. When Reigns talks about honoring and respecting him, it’s about living by the Bloodline’s code. Did Reigns do that at Backlash, or did he bend the rules to win?

Reigns says that if Fatu wins on Sunday, he’s the new Tribal Chief, but if Fatu can’t dog walk him, Reigns is going to domesticate him. If Fatu can’t beat him, Fatu will serve him and in time, Fatu will love his Tribal Chief. Fatu says it looks like a win for him then, because he has a job either way. But when Fatu wins, Reigns and everyone else will learn how to acknowledge him. They shake hands and touch heads to end the show. I’m not sure who is winning this and that’s how a big match should go most of the time.

Overall Rating: B+. This was a rather awesome Raw with the fairly useless Saturday Night’s Main Event out of the way. That allowed them to focus on Clash In Italy, which has two big matches from Raw leading the way. I want to see both of them, even if they’re rematches, as the idea is to have everyone just go nuts on each other. They covered Logan Paul’s injury perfectly well as switching Bron Breakker in is fine given the circumstances so there isn’t much to complain about here. Solid show and one of the better Raw’s in a good bit.

Results
Penta b. Je’Von Evans – Mexican Destroyer
Bayley/Lyra Valkyria b. Judgment Day – Rollup to Perez
Seth Rollins b. Montez Ford – Stomp
Rey Mysterio b. Rusev – Rollup

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