Wrestlemania XXVII
Date: April 3, 2011
Location: Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia
Attendance: 71,617
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, Josh Matthews
America The Beautiful: Keri Hilson
Host: The Rock

So the big story here is the return of the Rock, who is back for the first time in a good many years and serving as the show’s host. That is already bleeding into the main event, which features John Cena challenging the Miz for the Raw World Title. Other than that, we have the worst Wrestlemania match of all time so let’s get to it.

Pre-Show: US Title: Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan

Bryan is challenging in a lumberjack match and I think you know where this is going. Also, this wasn’t your traditional pre-show match, but rather a DVD extra. Sheamus starts fast and knocks him into the corner but Bryan gets in the moonsault into the running clothesline. Bryan fires off the kicks to the chest and Sheamus is sent outside, with Mark Henry throwing him back inside.

Back in and Sheamus hits a hard clothesline before knocking Bryan outside. Bryan is sent back inside and we hit a crossface chickenwing of all things. The comeback is cut off with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two but Bryan slips out of the High Cross. Sheamus is low bridged to the floor and the lumberjacks have to be dispatched. The big brawl is on and the referee throws it out at 4:19.

Rating: C+. This was pretty clearly designed to set up the pretty obvious Wrestlemania battle royal, which is something that happens almost every year. At the same time, that doesn’t exactly make the people in the match feel overly important, which isn’t a great way to go. I like that the title is involved in some way, but dang this wasn’t the best use of the US Title.

Post match the brawl is on and here is Teddy Long to…well dance a bit, and then make the battle royal

Battle Royal

Daniel Bryan, Sheamus, Yoshi Tatsu, Evan Bourne, Ted DiBiase, Drew McIntyre, William Regal, Tyler Reks, Curt Hawkins, R-Truth, Zack Ryder, Chavo Guerrero, Jey Uso, Great Khali, Jimmy Uso, David Hart Smith, JTG, Trent Beretta, Tyson Kidd, Johnny Curtis, Chris Masters, Mark Henry, Primo

Non-title. Sheamus isn’t even in the ring to start and Khali throws out Reks and Hawkins in a hurry. Tatsu is out and things slow down a bit as the brawling on the ropes ensues. Khali chops Masters down in the middle of the ring and R-Truth is low bridged out. Henry gets rid of the Usos so a bunch of people get together to toss him. Khali tosses Primo and Ryder is out after him. McIntyre and Guerrero go to the apron with McIntyre eliminating him and Hart Smith being chopped out after him.

JTG gets the same treatment and Sheamus kicks Khali down, which doesn’t seem that smart. Bryan eliminates Kidd and McIntyre does the same to Beretta. Curtis is gone as well and for some reason Masters grabs the Masterlock on the apron. Naturally he’s knocked out and it’s Bourne hitting Air Bourne on McIntyre. Regal unloads on DiBiase but misses a charge and gets eliminated. McIntyre kicks DiBiase out and gets thrown out by Bryan. That leaves Bryan, Sheamus and Khali, with the non-Khali guys going to the apron. Sheamus knocks Bryan out and goes after Khali, who clotheslines him out for the win at 8:28.

Rating: D+. As you can guess, this is the “get everyone on the show” match and that’s not a bad thing. Unfortunately it was a mostly bad match, with the string of people being eliminated that almost always happens in these things. Khali winning is fine, but the US Title being used to set up this less than important match isn’t a great sign of where the title was at this point.

Keri Hilson sings America The Beautiful.

Here’s the Rock to get things going, naturally with a big over the top introduction. This is a pretty big deal as he hasn’t really don anything important in WWE since around 2004. Rock hits his catchphrases and says we’re making history with all kinds of things tonight. He has the fans say MANIA when he says WRESTLE and then mocks John Cena with the Fruity Pebbles stuff.

Then he pauses for a bit and has some of the people’s water as this is not exactly going well. He has the fans get involved with a YABBA DABBA chant then hits some rhymes about how big this show is going to be. It’s bigger than Christmas, though there’s no offense to Santa. The big catchphrase wraps everything up after….pretty much nothing.

The opening video mostly looks at the history of Wrestlemania and hypes up the Rock’s return, plus the biggest matches.

Smackdown World Title: Edge vs. Alberto Del Rio

Del Rio is challenging (after winning the Royal Rumble) and has Ricardo Rodriguez doing his custom entrance, as usual, plus bodyguard Brodus Clay. Edge has Christian with him to even things out a bit so there are quite a few people here. There is also a giant cube that comes down over the ring and plays Edge’s logo (plus I’m assuming others later throughout the night, otherwise it’s kind of odd).

They lock up into the corner to start before Del Rio starts in on the (previously injured) arm. A backdrop sends Del Rio outside for the big crash but he sends Edge arm first into the barricade. Back in and we hit the armbar before Del Rio bends the arm around the rope. Another armbar is broken up and Del Rio misses a charge, sending him crashing out to the floor. Del Rio is fine enough to grab a super armdrag for two, followed by some basic right hands to the head.

Edge manages a spinwheel kick to leave them both down until Edge is able to grab the flapjack. The Edge-O-Matic gets two but Del Rio manages to get the cross armbreaker. Edge is right into the ropes and goes up, where it’s a jumping enziguri to bring him down for two. Clay and Cage get into it on the floor, with Edge grabbing a rollup for two of his own. The spear doesn’t work and Clay sends the bad arm into the post. The cross armbreaker goes on again but Edge switches into the Edgecator as Christian tornado DDTs Clay on the floor. Del Rio goes to the arm for the escape but Edge spears him down to retain at 11:08.

Rating: C+. It’s a fine enough way to go, though Del Rio winning the Royal Rumble and then just losing the title match feels like quite the downgrade. Edge was doing well enough but it felt like a setup for a tag match, which is kind of a weird way to go for the Wrestlemania World Title match. It’s not bad, but felt more like a big Smackdown main event and that’s about all.

Post match Edge and Christian destroy Del Rio’s Rolls Royce. Del Rio cries a lot and the Canadians celebrate as Cole wants them arrested. Then Edge would retire eight days later and vacate the title, because that’s the right way to go rather than putting Del Rio over here.

Cole taunts Lawler before their match later tonight. Oh….can we just not?

Cody Rhodes vs. Rey Mysterio

Rhodes is in his Dr. Doom phase here, as Mysterio injured his Dashing face and left him with emotional scars after the facial surgery. This was an outstanding character run for Rhodes and the first time I saw the star power and potential in him. Mysterio’s awesome superhero outfit this year is Captain America, sending Cole into a big rant (as usual around this time). Mysterio strikes away to start and hits a quick top rope hurricanrana.

Rhodes headbutts him down though and puts Mysterio in the ropes for a running headbutt. A running kick to the head sets up the one armed camel clutch but Mysterio is back up with something like a Black Widow. That’s reversed into a Hardcore Holly kick to the rather low stomach, followed by the Alabama Slam for two. Rhodes peels up Mysterio’s tights to expose the knee brace (how Rhodes was injured in the first place) before grabbing a nerve hold.

Mysterio fights up and sends him outside for a dropkick through the ropes. Rhodes is sent into the apron, followed by the top rope seated senton back inside. A wheelbarrow suplex drops Mysterio again but he’s right back with a headscissors. The 619 is blocked though and a catapult sends Mysterio throat first into the ropes.

Mysterio is back up with a 619 and pulls Rhodes’ mask off, which he puts on over his own mask. Some running headbutts put Rhodes down and a top rope headbutt gets two. The mask is removed so the referee takes it away, leaving Rhodes to hit Mysterio with his own knee brace (which was taken off somewhere in there). Cross Rhodes finishes Mysterio at 11:58.

Rating: B. These guys worked well together, and I still love the Dr. Doom period for Rhodes. It might not have had the longest legs, but this was the big win that he was needing. This felt like Rhodes getting his revenge and winning one of his biggest matches to date, which I’ll certainly take from both of them. Good stuff here and a nice way to have some hope for Rhodes’ future.

Big Show/Kane/Kofi Kingston/Santino Marella vs. Corre

Kingston is replacing an injured Vladimir Kozlov, who was taken out by the Corre. Marella goes after Slater to start but gets taken down, allowing Show and Kane to come in and clean house. Everything breaks down and we get the parade of knockdowns, including a great looking Trouble In Paradise to Barrett. The Cobra and WMD finish Slater at 1:33. Just a “get these people on the show” match.

The Rock meets Eve Torres and lets her feel his arm. Rock talks about the magic of Wrestlemania and offers to create magic with whomever comes around the corner next. It’s Mae Young, who wants the People’s Strudel. Rock makes some jokes about Young being old and Eve escorts her out (with Mae pinching Rock as she leaves). Rock says it couldn’t have been anyone else….and Steve Austin pops in. The fans get quiet as they know this one is important and they seem to show some respect while saying they remember each other at Wrestlemania. Austin coming in was pretty obvious but these two together is always special.

We recap Randy Orton vs. CM Punk. Orton was challenging for the World Title when Punk and his New Nexus interfered to cost him. As it turns out, Punk was mad at Orton for costing him the World Title TWO YEARS EARLIER and was finally getting around to going for revenge. Orton was fine with getting violent and we’re ready to go.

Randy Orton vs. CM Punk

New Nexus is barred from ringside. Punk goes for Orton’s injured (at Punk’s hands) knee to start but Orton knocks him outside. A dropkick to the steps knocks them into Orton’s knee though and Punk takes over, with a high crossbody getting two back inside. Punk gets cocky and hits a kind of Stunner onto the knee out of the corner, followed by a drop down onto the knee for two.

A top rope double stomp knocks Orton out of the Tree Of Woe for two but the GTS is countered. The RKO is countered as well though as Punk kicks him in the face for two. Punk gets caught up top though and it’s a superplex to bring him back down. Punk is fine enough to wrap the bad knee around the post, followed by the Hartbreaker for a bonus. Back in and Punk ties up the leg again and starts ripping at the bandage, only for Orton to punch him in the face for the break.

Orton starts the comeback but Punk goes right back to the leg and grabs the Anaconda Vice. They finally roll over to the ropes for the break and Punk heads to the apron, where Punk sends him into the post. The hanging DDT drops Punk and Orton gets all angry, only for the leg to give out on the Punt attempt. A desperation RKO attempt is shoved away so Punk tries a springboard…and dives into the RKO (that looked AWESOME) for the pin at 14:45.

Rating: B. This was a perfectly acceptable match with Punk working on the leg for a long time but getting a bit too cocky and walking (or diving) into the RKO. The ending looked outstanding, as Orton’s Wrestlemania RKO’s tend to do, and it came at the end of a good match. Sometimes you need a match between two good hands with some time and that was the situation here. Nice job.

Gene Okerlund is with the Rock and praises him for going well so far. Rock says John Cena’s #1 fan is here and….it’s Peewee Herman. Rock insults him and the payoff is Okerlund in Cena gear. This is as funny as you would expect.

We get the Hall Of Fame Class Of 2007:

Abdullah The Butcher (makes sense in Atlanta)
Sunny (yeah about that….)
The Road Warriors (nonsense that they weren’t in already)
Drew Carey (sure why not)
Bob Armstrong (perfectly fine in Georgia)
Jim Duggan (yes his 2×4 has a bowtie)
Shawn Michaels (eh he’s ok)

Oddly no highlight package this year.

We recap Jerry Lawler taking out Jack Swagger and going after Michael Cole, who threw a drink in his face to make Lawler hate him even more.

Jerry Lawler vs. Michael Cole

Let’s get this over with. Booker T. and Jim Ross come out to join commentary, Jack Swagger is with Cole and Steve Austin is guest referee. Cole has been a full on heel for months now and has tormented Lawler for a good while, including costing Lawler the WWE Title. Therefore, it’s time for revenge. Ross comes to the ring but Cole cuts his entrance off to talk about how Ross and Lawler are overrated and over the hill.

Cole says this is his first Wrestlemania match too and after he gets rid of Lawler, Ross will be back to making bad barbecue sauce and Cole will be the new Mr. Wrestlemania. Austin rides out on his ATV and almost runs Swagger down, as only Austin could get away with doing. After the entrances alone take the better part of ever (including Cole hiding in his Cole Mine), we’re FINALLY ready to go. Lawler jumps Swagger to start and sends him into the barricade before going after Cole in the Cole Mine.

Cole immediately begs off and apologizes, with Lawler accepting a handshake. Lawler then pulls the arm through the hole, with Cole’s face getting stuck against the wall in an actually funny moment. Lawler climbs into the box and pounds on Cole before throwing him inside. Swagger gets in a cheap shot and Cole baseball slides Lawler down. The ankle lock has Lawler tapping on the floor, and we begin the meat of the match: Cole badly working on Lawler’s ankle.

Cole tries to stand on the ankle while leaning on the ropes but can only get his toes to reach it. A punt to the ankle is a bit better but Cole can’t get a Vader Bomb to work. Instead he does a bottom rope version for two as JR can’t believe it was a near fall. Cole takes the straps down and puts on the ankle lock but Lawler kicks him away. Lawler stomps him in the corner so Swagger throws in the towel, which Austin doesn’t seem to like.

Austin towels himself off and throws it back before giving Swagger a Stunner. Cole begs Austin for mercy but Lawler punches Cole down and hits the dropkick. The middle rope punch connects but Lawler pulls him up and grabs the ankle lock. Cole taps and Austin makes VERY certain that he’s giving up, slowly asking a few times before FINALLY calling for the bell at a mind numbing 13:48.

Post match beer is consumed, with Booker T. getting in for a Spinarooni and getting Stunned as well. Everyone is happy…..and we get an email from the Anonymous Raw General Manager. Since the Raw GM has authority over Wrestlemania, the GM says that Austin overstepped his bounds and Cole wins by DQ. Josh Matthews, who read the email, gets a Stunner of his own. A ticked off Austin rids away on his ATV and Lawler joins JR on commentary.

Rating: -F. Hokey smoke it’s worse than I remember. This is, without a doubt, the worst Wrestlemania match of all time. Where do you even start? Well first of all, the match ran the better part of thirty minutes when you add in the before and after. This should have been “Swagger distracts Lawler, Cole gets in some shots, Lawler Hulks Up, punches, dropkick, piledriver (if Cole would take it) or a flying fist drop, Lawler wins in about four minutes and we celebrate.

Instead, it’s Cole working on the ankle (which is a weird enough thing to do) in a “funny” way for far too long as the joke is run into the ground. That’s in addition to Lawler already tapping on the floor (fair enough as it’s to someone like Swagger, but it didn’t need to be there at all) and making him look like a loser right out of the blocks. The match itself is abysmal, but somehow that’s nowhere close to the biggest problem.

At the end of the day, all of those problems can be weakened a bit with Lawler getting the win in his first Wrestlemania match and wrapping up the Cole arc for good. That wouldn’t be a good way to go, but it would have at least been something position. BUT WAIT! Why do that when we can have Cole not only win, but win again at the next pay per view before Lawler FINALLY got his revenge at the end of May by beating Cole in about three minutes.

But why do that when you can kill the crowd instead? That stupid email sound going off guaranteed that things were about to go from bad to worse and there was no way around it. You could practically see Vince McMahon in an otherwise silent Gorilla Position cackling about how “THAT’S GOOD S*** PAL!” while everyone around him realizes that this was the dumbest thing they could have done. This was the dumbest finish to a Wrestlemania match ever and it’s in the running for worst finish to any match anywhere in history.

We look at Wrestlemania Week. All the charity stuff they do is cool.

We recap Undertaker vs. HHH. Undertaker beat Shawn Michaels last year and ended his career, so HHH is out for revenge and to end the Streak. That’s about all you need here, plus a Johnny Cash song of course.

Undertaker vs. HHH

No Holds Barred. HHH gets the big entrance behind a wall of shields and has Metallica’s For Whom The Bell Tolls, while Undertaker goes with Johnny Cash’s Ain’t No Grave. The bell rings and HHH pounds him into the corner, only to be thrown over the top for the early crash out to the floor. Undertaker sends him into the steps and then loads up the announcers’ table.

That takes too long so HHH spears him through the Cole Mine and goes back inside, where Undertaker comes back in for the slugout. The jumping clothesline drops HHH but Old School is broken up. They crash out to the floor and Undertaker is whipped into the barricade to bust it (and him) up a bit. HHH loads up the announcers’ table this time but the Pedigree is countered into a backdrop onto the floor. The slow stand up allows Undertaker to hit the big dive and they’re both down for a bit.

Undertaker loads up something onto the steps but gets spinebustered through the other announcers’ table instead. Back in and Undertaker hits a quick chokeslam for two but HHH rams him into the corner. For some reason HHH hammers down right hands and gets caught in the Last Ride. Thankfully he knows what will happen because Undertaker did it to him about ten years ago and slips out.

Another spinebuster gives HHH two and it’s time for the chair. One heck of a chair shots to the back has HHH in trouble, only for him to come back with a sudden Pedigree for two more. For some reason HHH tries to rain down right hands in the corner AGAIN, this time getting caught in the Last Ride for two and leaving Undertaker ticked off in the process. The Tombstone, complete with tongue, gets two and Undertaker grabs the chair.

Another Tombstone onto the chair is broken up and HHH hits a DDT onto the chair to leave them both down. They very slowly pull themselves up and it’s another Pedigree for another near fall. Another Pedigree gets another two and they’re both down again. Back up and HHH hits eight straight chair shots to the back but doesn’t cover, seemingly out of exhaustion. Or dramatic intensity.

Somehow Undertaker gets back up and it’s a chair to the head to knock him back down. That’s only good for a two so HHH hits his own Tombstone for two. This is treated like the biggest kickout ever and…yeah I still don’t buy it. I remember watching this live and actually saying out loud “you’re not Kane, that won’t work” and not being surprised at all by the kickout. With nothing else working, HHH grabs the sledgehammer but gets pulled into Hell’s Gate. The hold stays on for a good while and HHH drops the hammer before wearily tapping out at 29:24.

Rating: B+. Here’s the thing: it might not have the drama of the Michaels matches (it doesn’t) and it might not have the action of the Michaels matches (it doesn’t) but it’s still a heck of a fight. They didn’t bother with the wrestling side of things here and instead just beat the living daylights out of each other.

The problem here though is that despite everything that Undertaker went through, I never really bought the Streak being in jeopardy. It was more “how much is he going to survive” rather than “how much can he survive” and that brings it down a notch. Still though, it’s quite the fight and set up the much better rematch the following year.

Post match HHH is able to get out on his own and Undertaker slowly follows…but falls down on the way out of the ring. A golf cart has to come out and take Undertaker to the back, which is quite the exit for the winner while HHH walks out. Undertaker wouldn’t be back until January to set up the rematch.

John Morrison/Trish Stratus/Snooki vs. Dolph Ziggler/Laycool

Vickie Guerrero is here with the villains. While it isn’t mentioned anywhere here, this is the result of Snooki gust appearing on Raw and arguing with Guerrero, who helped Laycool beat Stratus that night. Snooki helped Stratus fight and the men were added shortly thereafter, setting this up.

It’s a brawl before the bell with Ziggler and Morrison having to break it up, with Ziggler earning a slap from Snooki. Stratus chops at McCool to start but she’s right back with a knockdown. The Faithbreaker is countered into a faceplant and Stratus slugs away some more. The Stratusphere is blocked and they crash to the floor, where Stratus has to cut off an invading Layla.

Stratus hits a Chick Kick on McCool and Morrison knocks Ziggler outside, setting up the Starship Pain to the floor. Snooki comes in for a handspring elbow and cartwheels over for a falling splash and the pin on McCool at 3:17. Snooki might have been in the ring for thirty seconds, which I believe is about thirty seconds more than Layla was legal.

Rating: D+. This was designed to have Snooki and WWE appear on various Hollywood shows and TMZ. That’s all it was going to be and while Snooki seemed to be putting in the effort, it wasn’t exactly much to see. Then again they were only out there for a few minutes so it couldn’t get that bad. Just not something that held much interest outside of the celebrity involvement, which is acceptable enough.

Tonight’s entertainment record for the building: 71,617. This is about 9,000 lower than a college football game, which isn’t entertainment and WWE isn’t a sport, at least for the sake of their record this time around.

We recap the Raw World Title match, which is one of the better videos WWE has ever done. Miz is standing with his back to the camera watching a bunch of monitors, showing videos jumping between clips of classic main eventers and Miz’s slow rise up WWE. Eventually he won the World Title (hi Miz Girl) and we see his face, with the song kicking in to say that he can’t stop now and you can keep hating him.

Miz talks about how you can hate him for what he is, which he’d rather be over something he isn’t. Like him or not, he’s the face of the WWE and he’s not stopping. Here’s the thing: no, Miz isn’t an all time star in the ring. No, he isn’t the best heel ever. No, he doesn’t feel like he belongs in the main event of Wrestlemania. The problem with that? He made it here, after starting with the wrestling equivalent of American Idol.

Miz put in the work and got SO MUCH FURTHER than anyone would have ever believed possible. That deserves all kinds of praise and while he’s a third wheel here, he’s defending the World Title in the main event of Wrestlemania. Not bad for a guy who wasn’t a wrestler or whatever the insults are about him this week.

Raw World Title: The Miz vs. John Cena

Miz, with Alex Riley, is defending and Cena got his shot by winning the Elimination Chamber. As a bonus, Miz and Riley walk through a series of balloons that spell out AWESOME and you can tell Miz is fired up. Cena’s Wrestlemania entrance is being sung out by a gospel choir, complete with a prayer over clips of Cena growing up and eventually becoming the huge star.

After the Big Match Intros, Cena shoves him down and grabs a hiptoss before we calm down a bit. Miz is able to knock him into the corner and stomp away, followed by the running corner clothesline. Cena grabs a gutwrench suplex and the top rope Fameasser for two each, only to miss a charge into the corner. Miz kicks him down for two and avoids the flying shoulder to send Cena outside.

Back in and Cena fires off the shoulders, which actually connect this time, followed by the Shuffle. It’s too early for the AA though and Miz’s short DDT gets two. A turnbuckle pad is pulled off so the referee replaces it, meaning a Cena small package doesn’t get a count. The pad is still not on but Cena blocks a ram into the buckle and grabs the STF. Miz makes the rope so Riley sends Cena into the buckle, setting up the Skull Crushing Finale for two.

The referee gets bumped, just before Cena hits the AA, meaning there’s still no count. Riley comes in with a briefcase (he has a briefcase) shot to give Miz two so Miz grabs the briefcase, only to hit Riley by mistake. They go outside and Cena clotheslines Miz over the barricade. That’s not enough as Cena tackles Miz over another barricade, with Miz’s head bouncing off the concrete (yes he had a concussion and no he doesn’t remember anything about the match). They’re both down and it’s a double countout at 14:40.

The fans are not pleased but here is the Rock…who is cut off by an email from the Raw General Manager. JR and Lawler both offer to read the email but Rock has them sit down. Rock reads the email, which starts with “I think” but Rock doesn’t seem to care. As the host of this show, Rock is restarting this match, No DQ (Lawler should be ticked off as Rock didn’t get involved earlier but we can just add that to the dumb things about that mess). The bell rings, Cena throws Miz back inside, Rock gives Cena a Rock Bottom, Miz retains at 19:40 total.

Rating: D-. And no. They were trying with some of the shenanigans to get Miz in there, but it was a stupid finish, despite the legitimate concussion. Have Miz get disqualified for cheating or something, but come up with something a bit better than this. The ending didn’t help either, as having Rock just come out and restart the match came out of nowhere, though I guess it’s better than the GM overturning a match. Miz was trying but the chemistry wasn’t there and the ending was awful, so there was only so much they could do, which didn’t wind up working.

Post match Miz is clearly somewhere over Pluto but Rock goes in to beat him up anyway. The spinebuster sets up the People’s Elbow and Rock celebrates to end the show. Cena wouldn’t be happy and the next night, Rock vs. Cena would be set up for a year later, which they actually stuck to, much to my shock, and yeah the build was incredible, despite a not so great start.

The long highlight package wraps us up.

Overall Rating: C-. There are parts of this show that work, with Mysterio vs. Rhodes, Punk vs. Orton and of course the HHH vs. Undertaker match, but that’s not enough to overcome the gaping holes that are the main event and Lawler vs. Cole. Rock didn’t do much here, save for the stuff at the end and that’s not exactly enough. The show isn’t the worst Wrestlemania ever, but it has two really big problems and those are enough to bring it down. Just watch some selected matches here and move on, because it’s not a great Wrestlemania.

Ratings Comparison

Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan

Original: N/A
2013 Redo: N/A
2015 Redo: N/A
2026 Redo: C+

Battle Royal

Original: N/A
2013 Redo: N/A
2015 Redo: N/A
2026 Redo: D+

Edge vs. Alberto Del Rio

Original: C+
2013 Redo: C+
2015 Redo: C+
2026 Redo: C+

Cody Rhodes vs. Rey Mysterio

Original: B
2013 Redo: B-
2015 Redo: B
2026 Redo: B

Corre vs. Kane/Santino Marella/Kofi Kingston/Big Show

Original: N/A
2013 Redo: N/A
2015 Redo: N/A
2026 Red: N/A

CM Punk vs. Randy Orton

Original: B-
2013 Redo: B
2015 Redo: B-
2026 Redo: B

Michael Cole vs. Jerry Lawler

Original: C
2013 Redo: D-
2015 Redo: D
2026 Redo: -F

Undertaker vs. HHH

Original: B
2013 Redo: B
2015 Redo: A-
2025 Redo: B+

Snooki/Trish Stratus/John Morrison vs. Dolph Ziggler/Laycool

Original: N/A
2013 Redo: D+
2015 Redo: D
2026 Redo: D+

Miz vs. John Cena

Original: C-
2013 Redo: D-
2015 Redo: D-
2026 Redo: D-

Overall Rating

Original: C-
2013 Redo: D
2015 Redo: C-
2026 Redo: C-

Yeah pretty much the same as last time, which is a rarity.

 

 

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

My favorite TNA match ever…and some other stuff.

 

https://411mania.com/wrestling/halls-tna-lockdown-2005-review/

Wrestlemania XXVI
Date: March 28, 2010
Location: University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona
Attendance: 72,219
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, Matt Striker
America The Beautiful: Fantasia

So last year at Wrestlemania XXV, Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker had one of the best matches ever. That means it’s time for a rematch, with Michaels career on the line. That is more than big enough for a special match, to the point where it makes John Cena vs. Batista for the WWE Title feel that less important. Let’s get to it.

Pre-Show: Battle Royal

Mark Henry, Shad Gaspard, JTG, Goldust, Yoshi Tatsu, Santino Marella, Primo, Kung Fu Naki, Slam Master J., Jimmy Wang Yang, Chris Masters, Vladimir Kozlov, Great Khali, Finlay, William Regal, Luke Gallows, Carlito, Tyler Reks, Zack Ryder, Lance Archer, Mike Knox, Caylen Croft, Trent Beretta, Tyson Kidd, David Hart-Smith, Chavo Guerrero

Prime is out within seconds, followed by Beretta and Croft at the same time. Henry launches Chavo out but then gets tossed by Khali. A bunch of people get together to toss Khali before Cryme Tyme gets rid of Gallows. Then Shad tosses JTG because that’s how battle royals work. Regal and Finlay slug it out for old times’ sake before everyone breaks off for fights of their own.

Masters keeps putting people in the Masterlock and is eliminated for not being that bright. Kozlov eliminates Kidd and Hart-Smith before being tossed out as well. Funaki, Goldust, Regal and Shad are out in a row, with Reks following them. Santino starts using the Cobra and thankfully is tossed out by Finlay.

Archer gets rid of Yang and is quickly dropkicked out by Tatsu (Striker continues to try and get “The Poison Fist Of The Pacific Rim” over as a nickname for Tatsu. This is because Striker is really annoying.). Knox gets to clean house for a bit but cue Hornswoggle for a distraction, allowing Finlay to get in a shillelagh shot. The Tadpole Splash hits Knox and Finlay tosses Carlito. Ryder eliminates Finlay and Knox at the same time, leaving Tatsu to kick Ryder out at 8:43.

Rating: C. It’s a battle royal to get a bunch of people on the show. They didn’t waste time here and it gave the fans something to see during the pre-show, which is about all you can ask for here. Tatsu was someone who seemed like he was ready to move forward more than once but it just never came together. It’s not like this was some big win but he was as good of a winner as you could have had.

Fantasia sings America The Beautiful. Not well but she does sing it.

The opening video talks about what it means to be at Wrestlemania and how important it is to be here. This is the big chance and the stars will seize it.

The set has something of an ancient pyramid theme with another over the ring, both of which look cool. If nothing else, I’ve always liked I Made It.

Tag Team Titles: ShoMiz vs. R-Truth/John Morrison

ShoMiz is defending and there isn’t much of a story here, save for Truth and Morrison winning a triple threat match to get the title shot. Miz and Morrison start things off with Morrison getting the better of things. Truth comes in with a top rope legdrop for two into a WHAT’S UP. It’s off to Show, who sends Truth flying with a fall away slam. What looks to be a Vader Bomb is broken up via a Morrison kick to the head, followed by Morrison’s knee to Miz’s head. Show breaks up Starship Pain though, leaving Truth’s dive to Show to fail miserably. Back in and Show KO Punches Morrison for the pin to retain at 3:25.

Rating: C-. Not much to this one and it really would have been better off as a pre-show match. They didn’t even get four minutes and there is only so much you can do with the amount of time you might get on a regular TV show. ShoMiz was a fairly forgettable team and while it was nice to have the titles on the card, it’s not like this was anything remotely memorable.

Video on Wrestlemania Week, which always looks cool.

Randy Orton vs. Ted DiBiase vs. Cody Rhodes

Legacy implodes as Orton has had it with the two of them screwing up and turned on them, setting up this for some revenge. DiBiase and Rhodes go after him to start and it doesn’t go well early on. Orton gets smart by dividing and conquering but walks into a dropkick from DiBiase. The double teaming is on with both of them taking turns to punch Orton while the other holds him back. There’s a double suplex to put Orton down but he fights out of the corner (the fans approve).

The comeback doesn’t last long though as DiBiase hits a clothesline, setting up a High/Low to put Orton down again. Rhodes snaps off an Alabama Slam for two and the save from DiBiase means it’s time for the young hooligans to fight. Orton fights up and sends DiBiase to the floor, followed by a snap powerslam back inside. There’s the backbreaker to Rhodes but DiBiase pulls Orton outside. Rhodes’ dive only hits DiBiase so Orton hits the double hanging DDT. With DiBiase down on the floor, Orton Punts Rhodes and then RKO’s an invading DiBiase for the pin at 9:02.

Rating: C+. There wasn’t much in the way of drama here once DiBiase and Rhodes got in their offense. Orton looked like he was toying with them at the end, which was part of the reason why he was turning into a popular star all over again. This was about Orton smashing through his former lackeys and showing them who the real star was, which he did in quite the destruction by the end.

Vickie Guerrero and company are ready for their ten woman tag. Jillian Hall comes in for a song and whole thing turns into a Slim Jim commercial, with Santino Marella having a bite to change Jillian. First she’s Mae Young, then Gene Okerlund (yes in the same dress) and finally Melina. Wacky….I guess you could call it fun? This isn’t on the Network due to the music.

Money In The Bank

Christian, Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, Jack Swagger, Evan Bourne, Kane, Kofi Kingston, Matt Hardy, MVP, Shelton Benjamin

This is the last Wrestlemania MITB match before it would go on to get its own show this same year. It’s the usual melee to start with almost everyone going outside. The first ladder is sent inside about thirty seconds in but a bunch of people stop to go after McIntyre rather than climbing. Almost everyone tries to go up but gets stopped, with Kane chokeslamming Bourne over the top for a crash onto more people.

Swagger and Hardy get trapped behind a ladder in the corner and Christian monkey flips Kingston into the ladder onto them. Ziggler breaks it up and makes the climb but MVP pulls him right back down. Kingston hammers on Kane in the corner, earning himself a powerbomb onto a ladder. Benjamin goes up this time so it’s Swagger spearing him with another ladder to break it up.

Swagger gets caught under a ladder so Hardy and Christian hit him with a ladder each. One of the ladders is bridged into another, with Bourne kicking Christian off the bridged version. Air Bourne hits Christian and Bourne goes up, only to be cut off by Hardy. Swagger cuts Hardy off though and shoves him onto the bridged ladder for the huge crash. Shelton and MVP go up but come crashing down, leaving everyone on the floor for a bit.

Kane goes up but has to cut off Ziggler, including a chokeslam onto the ladder. With Kane distracted, Kofi comes back in to kick him in the head but the only ladder available is broken. Kofi gets crazy creative by using the pieces like stilts and jumping up the rungs, only to have McIntyre make the save.

McIntyre goes up but Hardy shoves the ladder over for the big crotching on top. It’s Matt going up this time until Christian is there as well but they both have to knock Kane down. That’s not enough for Christian, who hits the reverse DDT off the ladder to plant Matt again. Christian goes up again, only to have Swagger make the save and pull the case down for the win at 13:29.

Rating: B-. It was a wild match as usual but there is only so much you can do with ten people in a match trying to get in as much time as possible. The stilts spot was very unique and stood out more than anything else, though the rest was little more than the usual big spots and crashes. Swagger winning is a surprise, but WWE was trying something new and that’s often a good idea.

We look back at last night’s Hall Of Fame ceremony.

The Class of 2010 is introduced:

Stu Hart (represented by eight relatives)
Wendi Richter (seems very happy to be there)
Mad Dog Vachon (sadly in a wheelchair)
Antonio Inoki (not the strongest reaction)
Bob Uecker (nice reception)
Gorgeous George (represented by his former wife)
Ted DiBiase (by far the strongest reaction)

Sweet goodness that Hall of Fame theme is always awesome.

We recap HHH vs. Sheamus. After debuting on Raw and winning the WWE Title within a few weeks, Sheamus was knocked out of the Elimination Chamber by HHH, costing him the title. Sheamus then went on to talk about how much he loved watching HHH while growing up. Then Sheamus laid him out, which HHH liked because it’s what he did when he went after the Ultimate Warrior in 1996 (and yes they explained how badly it went). That plus a need for revenge makes for a Wrestlemania match.

HHH vs. Sheamus

HHH’s entrance goes on for a good while, as you might have expected. Sheamus drives him into the corner to start but HHH hits him in the face. It’s way too early for the Pedigree though as Sheamus bails out to the floor. Back in and a suplex drops Sheamus again, setting up the knee drop for one.

HHH goes old school (shocking I know) as we hit the Figure Four, with Sheamus going straight to the ropes. The fight goes outside with HHH being whipped into the steps, followed by the (yet to be named) Irish Curse back inside. An ax handle to the head cuts HHH off again and Sheamus grabs the armbar.

We’ll make that a chinlock but HHH suplexes his way to freedom, sending Striker into a FAR too long….whatever you call what he does. HHH grabs a DDT and they’re both down, followed by the expected slugout. There’s the running knee into the facebuster for two and a neckbreaker drops Sheamus for the same.

The yet to be named Brogue Kick misses so HHH tries the Pedigree, only to be reversed into the Brogue Kick for two. The fans are rather behind HHH, who fights out of the High Cross (Razor’s Edge) and gets two more off a spinebuster. Sheamus rolls out to the apron and manages another Brogue Kick…but takes too long and gets Pedigreed out of nowhere for the pin at 11:47.

Rating: B-. This is the type of match that will work almost every single time as you had two big strong guys beating the fire out of each other until the ending. That’s the kind of brawl that both of them know how to do (though Sheamus would get WAY better later on) and it worked here. That being said, Sheamus is the up and comer and loses to HHH, which seems to be a bit counterproductive, but this would hardly be the first time that happened.

We recap CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio. After Mysterio cost Punk a spot in Money In The Bank, Punk scared the heck out of Mysterio’s daughter Aliyah. They then traded various attacks before Punk creepily sang Happy Birthday to Aliyah, which was too far. Now it’s time for their fight, with Mysterio having to join the Straight Edge Society if he loses.

CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio

Punk has the Straight Edge Society (Luke Gallows and Serena) with him and talks about how these 70,000 people here are going to drink or try pills to make their problems go away. He can be their savior and lead them to a better place because he chooses to be drug free and better than everyone here. Mysterio is one of the Na’vi from Avatar, which isn’t quite the same as the superhero gear he tends to use.

Gallows offers an early distraction and Punk gets to stomp away in the corner before tying Mysterio in the Tree of Woe. A missed charge results in a crotching against the post though and they head to the floor…where Punk drops him face first onto the steps. Back in and Punk hammers away for two and we’re already in the chinlock. Mysterio fights out like he’s a top star who was in a chinlock and hits the springboard seated senton.

Punk snaps off a powerslam for two before hitting one heck of a kick to the head for the same. Four more near falls have Punk rather frustrated until Mysterio is up with a springboard moonsault DDT for two of his own. Mysterio’s frog splash misses to give Punk two more, meaning it’s time for even more frustration. Back up and Mysterio loads him up for the 619 but has to take out the Society. Not that it matters as the 619 into the springboard splash finishes Punk at 6:30.

Rating: C+. Another match that was good but they didn’t have the time to do very much. It had the stakes and they work well together, but there is only so much they can do when they have less than seven minutes. It makes perfect sense to have the loudmouth holier than thou heel get what’s coming to him and who better to do that than one of the resident superheroes?

We recap Bret Hart vs. Vince McMahon. Hart returned after thirteen years of bitterness after the Montreal Screwjob and of course Vince McMahon couldn’t let it to. Hart wanted to fight Vince at Wrestlemania but got turned down, only to have his leg broken in a car wreck in the parking lot. Then Vince agreed to fight him….and then Hart revealed he was gold bricking, because that’s just what Hart does.

Vince McMahon vs. Bret Hart

No Holds Barred. Hold on though as Vince grabs a mic and says he’s hired a bunch of lumberjacks, in the form of various members of the Hart Family. As a bonus, Bret’s brother Bruce can be guest referee! Bret isn’t overly shocked and says what’s done is done. If there is one thing about the Harts though, it’s that they got paid up front and the money is already in the bank.

If there is one thing he’s learned from the Montreal Screwjob, it’s there’s nothing better than a good double cross. The Harts, including Bret, are united, and tonight is the night that Bret screws Vince. The bell rings and Bret punches him down and chokes in the corner, with Vince bailing to the floor. That means the Harts can make it even worse, including a slap from Natalya (Striker: “Best luck in your future endeavors Natalya.”).

The Hart Dynasty hits a top rope Hart Attack to the floor and it’s time to throw Vince back inside. Bret works on the leg, which sends Vince outside again. This time he comes back in with tire iron but Bret knocks it away again and takes it away. Bret hammers away with the tire iron…and then does it some more…and more, to the point where unless Bret has the strength of a two year old, Vince should be in a coma.

The Sharpshooter is teased but Bret lets it go so he can use the tire iron again. Some low blows have Vince down again and let’s get a chair in there too. Bret sits down and then hits some hard chair shots to Vince’s back. The chair is bent up so Bret finally (and I do mean finally) grabs the Sharpshooter for the win at 11:08.

Rating: C. Ok so I’ve called this an A+ before because I love what they did with Vince being absolutely destroyed and not getting in a single bit of offense. This was never supposed to be anything but a massacre until the Sharpshooter…but my goodness how long did they go with the tire iron/chair shots? The thing here is that this is really only a match in name only so I’m not going to call it bad, but Bret couldn’t have mixed it up with some different stuff other than hitting him over and over with the same stuff?

A big Hart celebration ensues.

Wrestlemania XXVII is coming to Atlanta, Georgia.

Official attendance: 72,219.

We recap Chris Jericho vs. Edge for the Smackdown World Title. They were partners last year but Edge tore his Achilles. Edge came back at the Royal Rumble (at #29 in a great surprise) and won, setting up his title shot here. For some reason the build for this match involved Edge saying “spear” over and over until it lost all meaning.

Smackdown World Title: Edge vs. Chris Jericho

Jericho is defending. They start slowly with Jericho grabbing a headlock (Jericho: “Ask him!”) but Edge is right back with some running shoulders. Jericho is back with some stompings in the corner before sending Edge outside. That’s good for a long count before Edge comes back in and gets chinlocked. Jericho slowly stomps and slaps away, which takes long enough that Edge manages to send him shoulder first into the post.

A running shoulder sends Jericho into the announcers’ table and there’s a clothesline off the apron. They head back inside and hopefully pick up the energy a bit here. Back in and Edge gets two off a super gordbuster, followed by a middle rope sunset flip for the same. Jericho goes simple by kicking him in the head but the Codebreaker is blocked. The spear is countered into a quick Walls but Edge slips out.

The Lionsault misses and Edge is right back up with the Edge O Matic for two. Jericho’s enziguri gets two more but so does the Impaler as things slow back down a bit. Jericho mixes things up a bit with a middle rope forearm to the back of the head (Edge was nice enough to look over his shoulder before Jericho jumped), only to have his own spear cut off by a big boot.

The real spear is countered into a Codebreaker for a rather delayed two. Jericho starts going after the ankle before switching to the Walls. We’ll make that a half Walls to stay on the bad ankle but the rope is grabbed. Edge’s rollup for two is also grabbed and they crash out to the floor for a breather. The frustrated Jericho grabs the belt and the referee gets distracted, allowing Jericho’s belt shot to get two. The Codebreaker to a limping Edge retains the title at 15:47.

Rating: B. This was good but it never hit that next level and it made things kind of disappointing. Edge only teased the spear once and never got a big near fall. I was expecting something a lot more epic than we got here and that just didn’t happen. There were some shenanigans due to the belt shot but this needed to be more intense and violent given what Edge was saying coming in.

Post match Jericho goes after Edge again but Edge hits a spear off the announcers’ table and through the barricade as the feud must continue.

We look at the pre-show battle royal.

Alicia Fox/Laycool/Maryse/Vickie Guerrero vs. Beth Phoenix/Eve Torres/Gail Kim/Kelly Kelly/Mickie James

Get the women on the show special. Vickie bumps Gail to start and turns around to pose, only to run into Phoenix. The non-Vickie team takes turns beating on Vickie in the corner, who asks if Kelly knows who she is. That earns Vickie a kick to the ribs with McCool making the save. Everything breaks down and we hit the parade of finishers, leaving Vickie crying in the corner as Beth comes up behind her. McCool makes another save and the Hog Splash (Cole’s name) finishes Kelly at 3:29.

Rating: D. Oh what else were you expecting here? A bunch of the people barely did anything, there were a bunch of Vickie fat jokes, Lawler drooled over most of them and Striker continues to try to make everything sound like the most important moment ever because it gets people paying attention to him. Terrible match and little more than a way for Vickie to keep her heat.

We recap John Cena challenging Batista for the Raw World Title. Cena got the title back in the Elimination Chamber but Vince McMahon allowed Batista an immediate title shot. Now it’s time for the fair rematch, with Batista talking about being tired of Cena being the star when they got big at the same time. You can pretty much ignore all of those details though and just go with “It’s John Cena vs. Batista for the WWE Title at Wrestlemania.”

Raw World Title: Batista vs. John Cena

Batista is defending and Cena’s big entrance is from the United States Air Force Honor Guard Drill Team. We get the Big Match Intros before they fight over a lockup. Batista grabs a headlock before running Cena over, only to have Cena come back with a headlock of his own. That’s broken up and Batista sends him hard into the corner for the running clothesline to the back of the head.

Some cranking on the neck has Cena down but he manages a release suplex (that didn’t look great) and the bulldog connects for two. It’s way too early for the AA though as Batista reverses into a DDT for two of his own. A chinlock with a bodyscissors keeps Cena down for a bit, only to have him power up and start slugging away. Batista sticks with what has been working by grabbing a neckbreaker for two more.

The front chancery keeps Cena in trouble until he powers up again. The STF goes on out of nowhere but Batista grabs the rope like a bad villain should. Batista is fine enough to hit a spear for two before loading Cena up top. The superplex attempt is blocked and Cena hits a super Five Knuckle Shuffle of all things.

Batista gets back up and hits his namesake Bomb for two, giving us a great shocked face. Back up Cena counters another Batista Bomb into the AA (toss variation) for two, leaving them both down. Cena goes up but dives into a spinebuster (how Batista injured Cena’s neck a few years ago), only to have the Batista Bomb reversed into the STF (with Cena giving him a LONG talk) for the tap at 13:29.

Rating: B. It’s good and they were getting to the big stuff but I was expecting longer than just shy of fourteen minutes. Cena getting the title back is the right way to go for him though as he can put someone else over rather soon. Batista was not quite what he used to be but these two instantly make for an epic feel. Not a classic match, though they didn’t do anything wrong with the setup and finish going rather well.

Cena poses with a guy in a WE HATE CENA shirt for a funny moment.

We recap Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker. Shawn lost to him the previous year before, leaving Shawn obsessed with having to get the win. It is so big that Shawn is willing to put his career on the line against the Streak, saying he doesn’t have a career if he can’t beat the Undertaker. Not that it matters as this feels absolutely huge and you know it’s going to go well.

Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels

No DQ. The entrances are absolutely epic and you know that you’re about to see something special. They also take their sweet time getting to the ring and it builds up even more, with Shawn staring at Undertaker the entire way to the ring. Undertaker charges at him to start but Shawn is right there with the chops. Shawn gets flipped into the corner, setting up Snake Eyes into the big boot.

Old School connects but Undertaker comes up limping a bit. The chokeslam is loaded up but the knee gives out, with Shawn wisely kicking away at the leg. The Tombstone is broken up as well so Shawn starts in on the shoulder, which is a bit of an odd choice given UNDERTAKER IS LIMPING.

Undertaker slips out but has to block a quick superkick attempt as things reset a bit. The logic kicks in as Shawn starts going after the knee in the corner but Undertaker clotheslines him to the floor. The Taker Dive is loaded up but Shawn comes back in to take out the knee in a rather smart move. It’s too early for the Figure Four and they head outside, where Shawn is rammed back first into the post. The apron legdrop connects but Shawn goes after the leg again to take over.

Now the Figure Four goes on until Undertaker sits up. Shawn: “No.” And Undertaker goes back down. Well that was polite of him. Undertaker turns it over so Shawn wisely lets go and they take a breather. Back up and they strike it out until Undertaker grabs a quick chokeslam for two. The Tombstone is escaped again though and Shawn grabs the ankle lock, complete with a grapevine.

Undertaker finally uses the good leg to kick his way to freedom so Shawn sends him outside. A springboard spinning crossbody is pulled out of the air so Undertaker hit the Tombstone on the floor to knock Shawn silly. Medics come out to check on Shawn but Undertaker isn’t having that and throws him back inside for two, meaning frustration is setting in. This might have more of an impact if MATT STRIKER WOULD SHUT UP for once, but instead he needs to keep shouting what he thinks sound like highlight reel worthy lines.

The Last Ride is loaded up but Undertaker’s knee gives out and they crash down, with Shawn getting two off a faceplant. Shawn’s top rope elbow only hits raised knees, which have Undertaker in even more pain. Hell’s Gate goes on but Shawn flips over into a rollup for two. Shawn hits a quick Sweet Chin Music out of nowhere for two but another attempt is countered into a heck of a Last Ride for two more.

They go outside and it’s time to load up the announcers’ table. That takes too long though and it’s a superkick to knock Undertaker onto the table instead. In something that couldn’t possibly go wrong, Shawn goes up and moonsaults down onto Undertaker, mostly hitting his feet/lower legs, which does tie into everything so far. Shawn realizes he has a chance and throws Undertaker inside and hits a clean Sweet Chin Music (that has to be the fourth or fifth) for two, with Cole telegraphing the kickout by screaming that Streak was over.

Another superkick is countered into a chokeslam but Undertaker can barely move, let alone cover. Instead it’s a Tombstone (with tongue) for two and we get another stunned face. Shawn can’t get up so Undertaker loads up the throat slit….but stops. Undertaker tells him to stay down as Shawn pulls himself up and then slaps Undertaker in the face, admitting that he can’t do it and basically telling Undertaker to finish him off. The jumping Tombstone does just that at 24:00.

Rating: A+. What do you want me to say here? This is an absolute masterpiece and one of the best matches either of them have ever had if not their best ever. The leg stuff played a role throughout until Shawn gave it everything he had but just couldn’t do it in the end. It told an amazing story with some great action, including multiple near falls where you could buy it being over. It’s better than I remember it being and one of the best main events in Wrestlemania history.

Undertaker needs the ropes to get to his feet and Shawn finally gets up. Undertaker says something to him we can’t see and they hug before Undertaker leaves him alone in the ring. Shawn gets to soak in the THANK YOU SHAWN chants before doing the long walk up the ramp. Shawn: “I’m gonna drive my kids crazy in three weeks!” He looks back again and walks off to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This is a weird show as there isn’t much that is Wrestlemania worthy. Edge vs. Jericho is just good, Money in the Bank is its usual ok self, HHH vs. Sheamus is a slightly above average power brawl and Batista vs. Cena wasn’t even fifteen minutes long. Those are the high points though, as the rest of the show is pretty much mediocre/forgettable to bad. That doesn’t make for a great Wrestlemania, but this show is usually pretty well remembered.

That’s because of the main event and my goodness does it deserve the praise it receives. I’ve seen it a few times now and it pulled me in again with how epic of a showdown they were having here. It felt like a Wrestlemania main event match and you do not get those very often. That match alone makes this Wrestlemania worth seeing, though I would definitely recommend fast forwarding a good bit of the midcard, as it was quite the miss in multiple places.

Ratings Comparison

Battle Royal

Original: N/A
2013 Redo: N/A
2015 Redo: D+
2024 Redo: C

Awesome Truth vs. ShoMiz

Original: D
2013 Redo: D+
2015 Redo: D
2024 Redo: C-

Randy Orton vs. Ted DiBiase vs. Cody Rhodes

Original: D+
2013 Redo: C
2015 Redo: C
2024 Redo: C+

Christian vs. Matt Hardy vs. Kane vs. Jack Swagger vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. MVP vs. Evan Bourne

Original: B
2013 Redo: C+
2015 Redo: C+
2024 Redo: B-

HHH vs. Sheamus

Original: B-
2013 Redo: C+
2015 Redo: C+
2024 Redo: B-

CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio

Original: B-
2013 Redo: C
2015 Redo: C
2024 Redo: C+

Mr. McMahon vs. Bret Hart

Original: A+
2013 Redo: A+
2015 Redo: A
2024 Redo: C

Edge vs. Chris Jericho

Original: A-
2013 Redo: B
2015 Redo: B-
2024 Redo: B

Beth Phoenix/Kevin Kelly/Mickie James/Gail Kim/Eve Torres vs. Vickie Guerrero/Alicia Fox/Laycool/Maryse

Original: F
2013 Redo: D
2015 Redo: D
2024 Redo: D

John Cena vs. Batista

Original: A
2013 Redo: B+
2015 Redo: B+
2024 Redo: B

Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels

Original: A+
2013 Redo: A+
2015 Redo: A
2024 Redo: A+

Overall Rating

Original: A
2013 Redo: B+
2015 Redo: A-
2024 Redo: B-

That’s quite a drop for the overall rating but some of the lower matches just don’t hold up as well.

 

 

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AAA On FOX
Date: April 4, 2026
Location: Show Center Complex, Monterrey, Mexico
Commentators: John Bradshaw Layfield, Corey Graves, Rey Mysterio

We’re finally done with Rey de Reyes and it’s time to start doing something new around here. In this case that means we have some title matches coming up, including new Rey de Reyes El Grande Americano challenging Dominik Mysterio for the Mega Title. That should be enough to carry things for a bit, but hopefully there is some more to keep things interesting. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a long Rey de Reyes recap.

Tokyo Bad Boys vs. Lince Dorado/El Mesias/Mecha Wolf

The Boys are Nobu, Takuma and Kento. Dorado offers Nobu a handshake to start and kicks him in the ribs but Nobu is back with a dropkick. The other Boys get in some slaps from the apron and it’s off to Wolf vs. Takuma. Wolf tries to pick up the pace but gets kicked down, with Takuma being rather fired up.

It’s off to Mesias, with JBL sounding rather pleased on commentary. Some triple teaming slows Mesias down and it’s a triple dropkick to make it worse. That’s shrugged off and Mesias clears the ring in a hurry before it’s Kento getting back inside. Mesias and Wolf hit some clotheslines in the corner, setting up Mesias’ powerslam for two. Wolf suplexes him into a kind of snap Jackhammer (commentary isn’t sure what to call it either) for two more.

Dorado gets in on the near falls with a Backstabber before Mesias hits a sliding lariat for another two. A kick to the face just seems to annoy Kento though and he enziguris Mesias to escape. Nobu is back in to strike away and Takuma adds a missile dropkick to put Mesias outside. Back up and Nobu gets double gorilla pressed onto Mesias, followed by a dive and top rope moonsault onto the other two.

The fans approve of the Boys, including Nobu suplexing Mesias for two more. Mesias is back with a double spear and a powerbomb to Takuma but Kento gets in a clothesline. Dorado hits a double Golden Rewind and a big flipping dive, leaving Mesias to Downward Spiral Takuma for the pin at 11:12.

Rating: B. Mesias was like a big statue who happened to be able to move a bit, though he looked so much different than anyone else out there that it made up for his mobility issues. The other guys were flying all over the place, with the Boys showing off some great speed and athleticism. This was all about getting in as much stuff as they could and it worked better than I would have bet on. Good stuff.

Earlier this week, Nathan Frazer was trying to learn Spanish to come to the show. Axiom came in and it turns out they’re on different teams tonight. They seem cool with it though.

Reina de Reinas: Sussy Love vs. Flammer

Flammer is defending and, after the Big Match Intros, throws her down with ease. Love cuts off a kick so Flammer hits her in the face in a change of pace. Flammer gets tied in the ropes so Love hits a quick springboard elbow. With Flammer on the floor, Love tries to pull her back in by the hair, which doesn’t quite work as Flammer gets in a neck snap. Back in and Flammer grabs a camel clutch but Love is back up with some crossbodies. A German suplex connects for Love and a middle rope moonsault gets two. Flammer is right back with a Codebreaker though and a running dropkick against the ropes retains the title at 4:08.

Rating: C+. They only had so much time here and while I was expecting Love to potentially steal the title right before Flammer’s big celebration, that wasn’t exactly the case. Instead this was Flammer shutting Love down and winning in pretty dominant fashion. Love wasn’t bad, but that wasn’t the point of a match like this one.

Video on Penta agreeing to defend the Intercontinental Title against El Hijo del Vikingo.

Penta talks about all of the changes that have taken place over the last year, which have mainly centered around WWE buying AAA. He loves being a part of the rise of a Mexican wrestling company but would love to see his brother win some gold of his own. The only way to pay the fans back for believing in him is to defend the Intercontinental Title in Mexico and he’s ready to do it against Vikingo. Catchphrases ensue.

Nathan Frazer/Charlie Dempsey/Tristan Angels vs. Elio LeFleur/Dorian Van Dux/Axiom

Angels and Dux (pronounced Dukes) are from Evolve and this is UK vs. Europe. Dempsey and Axiom start things off with Axiom taking him down to work on the arms. That’s reversed into quite the variety of arm cranking from Dempsey, who gets reversed into an Octopus. Dempsey makes the rope so Axiom grabs a suplex to send it off to Frazer for the big partner showdown.

We don’t actually get the fight as Angels tags himself in and gets taken down by Dux’s hurricanrana. LeFleur dives in to take Angels down again but Frazer flips over him in the corner. Frazer and LeFleur trade some flips until Frazer scores with a dropkick. Angels comes in for a suplex and stomps LeFleur out of the corner. Dempsey comes in for two off a wheelbarrow suplex but LeFleur pulls Frazer out of the air with a neckbreaker (nicely done).

A rolling tag brings in the rather muscular Dux to clean house, with a cutter getting two on Angels. Dempsey butterfly superplexes Dux for two, with LeFleur’s diving splash making the save. NOW we get the Fraxiom battle, with Frazer hitting a superkick, only for Axiom to superkick his moonsault out of the air.

Frazer kicks him down again and goes up, where Axiom is waiting with a super Spanish Fly. Angels makes the save and everything breaks down with a parade of knockdowns to leave everyone down. Dux throws Axiom over the top onto Frazer and Dempsey, leaving LeFleur to give Angels a headscissors driver for the pin at 11:54.

Rating: B+. Take two teams, let them go nuts for about twelve minutes. That’s exactly as this was advertised and then it wound up going well. I had a great time with this, which went all over the place and even gave us the teased Fraxiom fight. What matters the most is having everyone get in some stuff and show off, which is what we got here. I want to see more of the people I hadn’t seen much before and that’s a rather nice bonus to the entertaining action.

Flammer promises a big celebration next week to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. It was a total throwaway show with pretty much nothing going on as far as plot points, but dang it was fun with the action we got instead. This was all about the two six man tags, with Flammer’s match being entertaining as well. It’s absolutely not a show that you need to see, but dang it’s a fun sit for under an hour.

Results
Lince Dorado/El Mesias/Mecha Wolf b. Tokyo Bad Boys – Downward Spiral to Takuma
Flammer b. Sussy Love – Running dropkick against the ropes
Elio LeFleur/Dorian Van Dux/Axiom b. Nathan Frazer/Charlie Dempsey/Tristan Angels – Headscissor driver to Angels

 

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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Stand & Deliver 2026
Date: April 4, 2026
Location: The Factory At The District, St. Louis, Missouri
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Booker T.

It’s the biggest NXT show of the year and this time around it’s on the road, outside of Orlando. For a bit of a twist, this year’s show is also not taking place over Wrestlemania Weekend, which should give it a bit more focus. There are a few multi challenger title matches taking place this year so let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Birthright vs. Hank & Tank/Shiloh Hill/EK Prosper/Wren Sinclair

The brawl is on before the bell and Connors is powered into the corner to officially get things going. Tank picks Stacks up and throws him over the top onto the pile at ringside for the big crash. Dempsey comes in to uppercut away on Hank and the rest of the team takes out the other good guys. Hank fights out of that and brings Sinclair in to chop away at Grace. Dempsey has to break up the Final Wrench and the women hit stereo faceplants.

Prosper (the new name for Eli Knight) comes in to clean house but Grace’s distraction causes him to get shoved out to the floor. Sinclair chops away at Dempsey and gives him a suplex as everything breaks down again, with commentary having no clue who is legal. Prosper hits a crazy double springboard moonsault onto the floor, leaving Hank & Tank to crush Dempsey. Hill’s pop up neckbreaker gets the pin at 6:33.

Rating: C+. This was exactly what it needed to be, as they didn’t overstay their welcome but still had a fast paced match to start the night. No one really had time to stand out but Prosper did well in the time he had. The match was a nice little bonus that didn’t hurt anything, which is all you need from a Kickoff Show match.

Here is Shawn Michaels to introduce Sexyy Red as the show’s host.

The opening video looks at St. Louis as the gateway to the west. It turns into a regular look at the card and we’re ready to go.

We recap the Women’s Title match. Jacy Jayne needed a challenger but Kendal Grey and Lola Vice went to a double finish so it’s a triple threat. I’ll take that over Jayne interfering to set up a triple threat like a moron.

Women’s Title: Lola Vice vs. Kendal Grey vs. Jacy Jayne

Jayne, with Fatal Influence, is defending and Wren Sinclair is here with Grey. Jayne shoves both of them to start but gets sent outside, leaving the other two to grapple. Back in and Jayne rolls them both up for two each with Grey being knocked outside. Everyone gets back inside and it’s a double dropkick to put Vice and Jayne back inside. Jayne pulls Grey outside and sends her into the steps.

Vice hits Jayne with a running seated senton off the apron and takes Jayne back inside. A distraction lets Jayne get in a kick to the back and a backbreaker gets two. Grey is back in so Jayne sends both of them into the corner for a cannonball and Vice is sent outside. Jayne gives Grey a facebuster into a clothesline for two but Vice tries to come back in. That earns her a neckbreaker over the rope to put her outside again, leaving Jayne to kick Grey back down.

Back in and something like a Tower Of Doom doesn’t quite work and it’s Vice up to strike away at Grey. The running hip attacks hit Grey and Jayne but Grey is back with a German suplexes to Grace. The straps come down and Grey snaps off the German suplexes, only for Jayne to knee her down for two more.

Vice drops Jayne for two but gets sent outside, leaving Grey to ankle lock Jayne (as the screen goes black over and over). Back in and the strikes are on with Grey putting Jayne down, only to have Vice put the foot on the rope. Fatal Influence offers a distraction so Sinclair chases them off, leaving Vice to choke Grey, who flips over. With that broken up, Jayne hits a hard shot to knock Grey outside. That allows Vice to hit the spinning backfist to take out Jayne for the pin and the title at 16:16.

Rating: B. This got rolling near the end as they didn’t stop with the intensity and energy. Vice almost had to win here as she had come close so many times without actually getting over the finish line. Grey’s time will come and Jayne very well may be on her way up to the main roster, so this was the right way to go all around.

Evolve’s Kali Armstrong (a powerhouse) is coming to NXT.

Tag Team Titles: Los Americanos vs. Vanity Project

The Project, with Jackson Drake, is defending and El Grande Americano is here with Los Americanos. Bravo armdrags Smokes down to start and fires off some right hands. Rayo tags himself in and Smokes gets crotched on the post. It’s off to Baylor, who gets taken down for some double knees to the ribs.

Bravo is back in to hammer away in the corner but Smokes’ distraction lets Baylor take over for the first time. That doesn’t last long as Bravo escapes for the tag to Rayo, whose top rope moonsault gets two on Baylor. Smokes gets a blind tag though and hits a spear for two of his own, only for Rayo to hit a sunset bomb. Baylor is right back in with a brainbuster onto the knee for two.

That doesn’t last long and it’s Bravo getting the tag for a high crossbody. The spinning torture rack is broken up so Bravo suplexes both of them at once. A spinning hangman’s neckbreaker gets two and Rayo comes in for a Michinoku Driver/dropkick combination. Smokes cuts him off though and the Super Swipe (assisted swinging Rock Bottom) gets two on Rayo. It’s time to go after the mask but Rayo snaps off an X Plex for two. Americano lets Bravo load up the mask but the Project cuts him off with an assisted DDT for a rather near fall.

Smokes unloads Bravo’s mask though and knees Rayo outside. That doesn’t last long as it’s a super hurricanrana into a frog splash for a rather close two and everything breaks down again. Bop and Bang puts Smokes down and the Bigger End hits Baylor. Americano cuts off an interfering Drake on the floor but Baylor hits a flipping dive. Drake gets in a cheap shot to Bravo though and it’s a top rope double stomp/reverse DDT combination to retain at 13:28.

Rating: B-. This wound up being a lot more entertaining than I was expecting, with the Project being able to hang with a more experienced team. The Americano stuff is still such over the top goofiness that it wound up working. I wasn’t buying a title change, but at least they had a good time on the way there.

We look back at the Kickoff Show match.

Shiloh Hill and Tatum Paxley are happy over their recent success. Sexyy Red comes in and Paxley is excited, but Ricky Saints comes in and isn’t impressed.

We recap Zaria vs. Sol Ruca. They were partners but Ruca wound up having a lot more success, despite trying to help Zaria. This led to jealousy and Zaria turned on her, setting up this match, even though the issue continues to be “Zaria never wins anything”.

Zaria vs. Sol Ruca

Ruca charges in to jump Zaria and start fast. A basement superkick puts Zaria down but she sends Ruca throat first into the rope. Ruca is sent outside, where she’s able to kick Zaria to the floor. Zaria is right back up with a fireman’s carry drop onto the steps, followed by a backdrop back inside. A superkick knocks Zaria out of the air but she’s right back with a fall away slam for two.

Zaria’s curb stomp gets two but Ruca escapes a choke in the corner. A super hurricanrana sends Zaria flying and they slug it out with Ruca getting the better of things, including some elbows to the face. Ruca’s middle rope dropkick hits Zaria and a clothesline lets them crash out to the floor. Back in and the Sol Snatcher is broken up with a superkick but they go outside onto the steel ramp.

Ruca escapes a chokeslam and Sol Snatches Zaria onto the steel. Zaria gets up so Ruca hits a second Sol Snatcher for two back inside. Another springboard earns Ruca a spear and Zaria grabs the F5 for two more. We pause for a potential reunion but Zaria headbutts her a bunch of times. The fireman’s carry is taken to the middle rope but Ruca hits a super X Factor into another Sol Snatcher for the pin at 13:08.

Rating: B. It was a good fight and Ruca pinned her clean, which is another devastating loss for Zaria. As was the case coming into this, she just hadn’t won anything and that’s not a good sign. I’m not sure what is left for her around here, though Ruca can move up to either the title picture or just on to the main roster. They had a good match, though I’m not sure on the result.

Lola vice is happy with her win and there is going to be a celebration on NXT. Sexyy Red comes in for some dancing.

North American Title: Johnny Gargano vs. Myles Borne

Gargano, with Candice LeRae, is challenging. The idea is Gargano is in a horrible rut so he’s back here in an attempt to recapture his old success. The bigger Borne shoves him down to start and works on an early armbar. A running shoulder puts Gargano down and he just lays there (as he’s been doing on Smackdown) but it’s a ruse to hit a dropkick to send Borne outside.

Borne tries to get back inside, where a fired up Gargano clotheslines him outside. An Angle Slam into the post cuts Gargano off and Borne whips him hard into the corner back inside. A powerslam gives Borne two and he bends Gargano’s spine over the knee. Back up and Gargano is able to avoid a charge into the post, setting up the slingshot spear for two. Gargano’s cranking on the arm is broken up though and Borne hammers away with right hands in the corner.

That’s reversed into the Cheeky Nandos kick and a sunset bomb gives Gargano two. Naturally Gargano hits the suicide dive but Borne gives him a super powerslam for two back inside. A dropkick and German suplex rock Gargano, who charges into a Death Valley Driver onto the knee. That sends Gargano out to the ramp, where Borne catches him with a diving clothesline.

Gargano is right back with a DDT and One Final Beat but Borne counters the Gargano Escape into Borne Again for two. Borne’s Boston Crab attempt is countered into a rollup for two and LeRae gets in a cheap shot. The Gargano Escape has the bad arm in trouble but he crawls over to the rope. Another One Final Beat is blocked though and it’s a slingshot Borne Again into Borne Again to retain the title at 14:34.

Rating: B. This was a way to give Borne some more credibility and it worked fine. Borne had to beat a former NXT Champion and main roster star, which he did in a big way. It was nice to have the old Gargano back, even for one night, and I’m not sure where he’s going on Smackdown. Borne gets to move on to his next challenger though, which is what he should be doing.

Post match respect seems to be shown but Dion Lennox runs in to chair Borne down.

Sol Ruca says that was her hardest match yet and now she’s coming after the gold. Izzi Dame comes in to say not so fast and a match seems to be set.

We recap the Women’s North American Title match. Tatum Paxley finally finished the feud with Izzi Dame but Blake Monroe, the former champion, stole the title to set up this fight.

Women’s North American Title: Blake Monroe vs. Tatum Paxley

Monroe is challenging despite coming in with the belt itself. Paxley jumps her to start and hits a knee to the face, followed by a Gory Stretch into a painful looking stretch. That’s broken up and Monroe takes her down to hammer away for a change. Paxley sends her into the corner for a running crossbody to the ribs but Monroe catches her on the top. The anklescissors brings Paxley crashing down, with her shoulder getting banged up in the process.

Naturally Monroe is right on the shoulder, though she makes sure to shove Paxley around a bit as well. A Crossface has Paxley in more trouble but she’s able to get up for a jumping enziguri. Paxley hits a German suplex into another enziguri, followed by a flipping Fameasser for two. A superkick drops Monroe but Paxley can’t immediately follow up. Instead they kick away at each other from the mat, with Paxley getting the better of things

Paxley puts her on top for a superplex rolled into a suplex but Monroe is right back up. Another suplex cuts Monroe off so she heads to the apron, where she grabs a sunset bomb to Paxley. The comeback is cut off again though and Monroe gets in a belt shot for a rather near fall. Paxley is sent into an exposed turnbuckle and a DDT gives Monroe two. Monroe is shocked but Paxley is right back with the Cemetery Drive for the retaining pin at 13:20.

Rating: B-. Paxley was coming off like a superhero here and it was fun to see her getting to do that for a change. I’m not sure how long she’s going to be on this sort of a roll, but you can’t argue how well it’s going at the moment. The division needs some fresh stars so why not see how far it can go? It’s not like there are several better options at the moment.

Saquon Shuggars isn’t happy with Dion Lennox getting another shot, but things calm down a bit as Lennox has a plan for all of them.

Video on Josh Briggs vs. Keanu Carver vs. Jasper Troy before their triple threat on Tuesday.

Here’s what’s coming on next week’s show.

Tatum Paxley celebrates with her friends. The Vanity Project comes up and doesn’t get it, but Blake Monroe wants to talk to them. They seem to get that.

We recap Joe Hendry defending the NXT Title in a four way. Ricky Saints and Ethan Page are reluctant partners who want the title back, while Tony D’Angelo wants his first title reign. Go.

NXT Title: Joe Hendry vs. Ricky Saints vs. Ethan Page vs. Tony D’Angelo

Hendry is defending and it’s one fall to a finish. After the Big Match Intros, Hendry and D’Angelo clear out the villains to start but they’re right back up. Hendry gets to clean house and drops Page onto D’Angelo for a big crash. The delayed suplex gets two on Saints but Page is back in with a big boot to Hendry.

With D’Angelo on the floor, Page and Saints start double teaming Hendry, meaning we get some double posing. A double suplex drops Hendry again but page and Saints argue over the cover. They get back together to put D’Angelo on the floor again and it’s a TKO to Hendry, with Page and Saints getting a double near fall. Page and Saints try a PowerPlex to Hendry but Page’s top rope splash hits Saints (Page: “SORRY!”).

D’Angelo is back in with a spear but gets knocked back down, leaving all four needing a breather. D’Angelo’s spinebuster drops Hendry but Page and Saints are back up to plant D’Angelo on the floor. That just lets Hendry hit a big dive onto the two of them but the Standing Ovation is broken up back inside. Hendry gets to clean house with fall away slams but D’Angelo is back in with suplexes of his own.

D’Angelo spears Hendry down twice in a row but Saints grabs a chair and takes over. Page doesn’t like this though and the alliance finally breaks down, with Page putting him through the cover of the announcers’ table. D’Angelo spears both of them off the steps and through the table (with the candy flying). Back in and D’Angelo spears Hendry, setting up the spinebuster for the pin and the title at 16:03.

Rating: B. Another fast paced match here, with what was the most logical ending. I’m really not sure I can imagine Hendry staying in NXT that much longer as putting him on the main roster is hardly the craziest idea. If nothing else, it gives the fans someone new to cheer for, while D’Angelo gets his chance to run as a big star. Saints and Page were always going to turn on each other and this was a good enough way to make it happen. Solid main event here, though it never got to that higher level.

D’Angelo celebrates to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. This was kind of a toned down version of the old Takeovers, with a bunch of good stuff and nothing resembling a bad match. While it didn’t have anything great like you would get in the Takeover days, it felt like a big night and I liked what we got out of the whole thing. This is basically the season finale for NXT and we’ll pick things up again on Tuesday with some fresh blood on top, which could mean some new names on the main roster. That’s what happens in a place like NXT and maybe this was setting up for the future. Or maybe it was just a pretty awesome show.

Results
Hank & Tank/Shiloh Hill/EK Prosper/Wren Sinclair b. Birthright – Belly to back neckbreaker to Dempsey
Lola Vice b. Kendal Grey and Jacy Jayne – Spinning backfist to Jayne
Vanity Project b. Los Americanos – Top rope double stomp/reverse DDT combination to Bravo
Sol Ruca b. Zaria – Sol Snatcher
Myles Borne b. Johnny Gargano – Borne Again
Tatum Paxley b. Blake Monroe – Cemetery Drive
Tony D’Angelo b. Joe Hendry, Ricky Saints and Ethan Page – Spinebuster to Hendry

 

 

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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This is a bit of a change to the usual schedule as the show has been moved from its traditional Wrestlemania Weekend spot, which in a way does put more focus on the show. It’s now the biggest wrestling show of the weekend and it gets its of day for a change of pace. The card is still the most important of the year for NXT so hopefully they make it work. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Hank & Tank/Shiloh Hill/EK Prosper/Wren Sinclair vs. Birthright

Prosper is the new name for Eli Knight because wrestling is weird. This is a rare pre-show match featuring a stable which isn’t exactly feeling like the biggest deal but the other side is quite the mixed grouping. For a match that isn’t likely to get much time and mainly be little more than a way to warm up the audience, it should be a fun way to go and that’s all it needs to be.

Since it’s just a Kickoff Show match, I’ll take the good guys to win here, as it is the kind of win that can wake the fans up a bit and watch an annoying heel group take a loss. At the same time, Birthright isn’t exactly doing well thus far, but it kind of fits well with the people on the team. Maybe they’ll win to give them the tiniest bit of momentum, but I’ll go with the heroes to win here.

Tag Team Titles: Vanity Project(c) vs. Los Americanos

This is one of those ideas that makes all the sense in the world and it should be a nice, basic storytelling device. The Project is a team with very little status in NXT, to the point where they literally fell into some wins. That is something that needs to be developed, even if it is a couple of clueless guys who manage to pull off some upsets. Hence how we’ve gotten here.

Los Americanos are here to make the champs look good, which they will do as the Project retains. It’s a simple idea and something that could go rather well, albeit after a fun match. Los Americanos are a joke everyone gets but they can still do well enough in the ring to make this work. Either way, they’re losing to the Project here, as WWE seems to see a lot in the inept champs.

Women’s North American Title: Tatum Paxley(c) vs. Blake Monroe

I’m already not sure which way to go here, as this one really could go either way. Monroe is a former champion but really doesn’t seem to have gotten very far. She’s ok at what she does, but there isn’t much that really makes her stand out. Winning the title back could help that, but I’m not sure what she is supposed to do then. At the same time you have Paxley, who has turned into something of a breakout star.

I’ll go with Paxley to retain here, though I’m not how sure I am about the pick. Ultimately, Paxley feels like she has the bigger upside as she is just now breaking out on her own. Monroe comes off more like someone who is pretty much exactly what you’ll get out of her no matter what, which doesn’t leave much in the way of development. Paxley winning makes more sense, though it’s far from a guarantee.

North American Title: Myles Borne(c) vs. Johnny Gargano

This is your Special Guest Star match of the show and there are far worse choices. Borne has really blossomed in the last few months and become one of the more reliable midcard hands in NXT. At the same time, he’s still relatively new as champion and there aren’t many better ways to boost him up than by having him defend the title against the most successful (or at least most prolific) champion in history.

I don’t see any reason to expect a title change here, though there is always the chance that Gargano gets the belt back to boost him up a bit. At the same time, that would be a heck of a demotion for him, even if he hasn’t felt like the biggest star on Smackdown. Borne could get a lot out of the win though and we’ll go with him doing just that, as he should given how well things have been going for him in recent months.

Sol Ruca vs. Zaria

Here we have the classic “they were friends and partners but one got jealous” feud, which is something that has worked for years in wrestling and will work well enough for these two. Ultimately though, the problem comes down to one issue: Zaria has never really won anything. Ruca feels like she is on the verge of becoming a much bigger star, but that doesn’t leave much for Zaria to do. That’s where this match comes in.

Unless WWE is just cutting bait on Zaria, she has every reason in the world to win here. Ruca has already won titles and appeared on the main roster. She is more than ready to move on to something bigger. On the other hand you have Zaria, who needs to win SOMETHING and there is no reason to wait on it here. Zaria absolutely needs this one more and I think she’ll get it.

Women’s Title: Jacy Jayne(c) vs. Kendal Grey vs. Lola Vice

Now we get into the complicated stuff as I could see this one going any way. On one hand you have Vice, who has been built up as a big deal time after time but lost every shot. Then you have Grey, who is pretty clearly in line to become a top star in the division before moving up to do the same thing on the main roster. Finally you have Jayne, who has overcome the odds time after time. So where does that leave us?

While my first instinct is to say that Jayne wins here and shocks the audience again, I think I’ll actually take Vice here. At some point, she needs to actually win a singles title and I’ll go with her finally getting some (non AAA Mixed) gold. It’s the match that I’m the least confident in on the entire card, but Vice needs his one more than the other two. Grey will have her time, but it isn’t going to come here.

NXT Title: Joe Hendry(c) vs. Ricky Saints vs. Ethan Page vs. Tony D’Angelo

Finally we have this one, which in a way feels like a souped up triple threat rather than a four way. Saints and Page are basically functioning as a team, though it feels more like a matter of time before they stab each other in the back. Granted that doesn’t mean they’re going to split up for good, but thinking of them as one person makes things a bit less complicated. It just doesn’t really make me any more sure about who is leaving with the title.

I can’t imagine Saints or Page leaving (as much as I could go for Page regaining the title), so that leaves us with two options. D’Angelo has been hunting for the title and it’s pretty much the only thing that he hasn’t won in NXT. That being said, I just can’t imagine Hendry losing the title here, so I’ll take Hendry to retain, likely pinning Page or Saints, and having a singles showdown with D’Angelo later. I could absolutely see D’Angelo winning here, but I’ll officially say Hendry retains.

Overall Thoughts

This show has the potential to be quite the success, though there isn’t a match on the card that feels must see. The good thing is that it very well could be a case of the sum of its parts being better than the individual pieces, and we could be in for a solid night. It’s an experiment which could go rather well and I’m curious to see what NXT can do with this kind of a chance to shine on its own.

 

 

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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Smackdown
Date: April 3, 2026
Location: Enterprise Center, St. Louis, Missouri
Commentators: Wade Barrett, Joe Tessitore

We could be in for a big one here, as we are in Randy Orton’s hometown and Orton has teased what we’ll be finding out who has been calling him lately. That opens up a bunch of options, but hopefully it gets the fans to actually boo him. Unfortunately, the whole “it’s Orton’s hometown” might make that difficult. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of Stephanie McMahon slapping Cody Rhodes on Raw, warning him that he needs to wake up before Randy Orton knocks him into tomorrow.

Here is Orton to quite the hometown reception. After picking something off the microphone, Orton talks about how this is his hometown, but he’s not doing it for everyone here. He’s doing this for the six people right here in the front row, meaning his family. At Wrestlemania, Orton is winning his fifteenth World Title and bringing it back to St. Louis while Rhodes loses empty handed.

Rhodes gave him permission to listen to the voices and now Rhodes has no idea what is waiting for him. Orton saw him at the Garden with Stephanie McMahon on Raw and McMahon was absolutely right about what this is going to mean. Cue Rhodes for the fight and beats Orton down in the corner….but Pat McAfee comes in and kicks him low. Yes that McAfee.

The big beatdown is on, with Orton beating on Rhodes with a chair while McAfee insults the St. Louis sports teams. McAfee talks about how he said he felt WWE passed him by but Orton called him to talk about how things should be. The reality is that McAfee is sick of modern wrestling and watching 5’5 guys have an Iron Man match while RANDY ORTON is available.

There are tickets still available for Wrestlemania while Orton is on the card and we’re coming off the lowest rated Smackdown in a long time. Rhodes is leading this company in the wrong direction and at Wrestlemania, Orton is going to save it. The beating continues with McAfee confirming that he’s been the one on the phone and the villains leave as Nick Aldis and company come in.

We see them going back through the gorilla position as Rhodes is helped up. I have absolutely no idea how this is seen as their best option, as the idea is McAfee is standing up for the good old days? As in the McAfee who has been the biggest WWE cheerleader imaginable? It doesn’t make much sense and the fans really weren’t booing Orton at all (shocking in his hometown) so I have no idea what this accomplished.

Post break Orton and McAfee leave in McAfee’s truck (which is of course a Dodge Ram, which is the big logo in the middle of the ring).

Rhea Ripley vs. Michin

B-Fab is here with Michin. Ripley powers her into the corner to start and here is Jade Cargill as Ripley hits a fall away slam. Michin’s German suplex takes Ripley down and Michin hammers away as we take a break. We come back with Ripley still in trouble but she fights up with some clotheslines. The belly to back faceplant sets up a basement dropkick and a not great Razor’s Edge. The running knee gives Ripley two but Michin is back with a poisonrana. A sitout powerbomb gives Michin two but Ripley knocks her down again. The Prism Trap finishes Michin at 9:15.

Rating: C. This was WAY too much offense from Michin, as the win didn’t make Ripley feel like a big star ready to come after Cargill but rather made her look a lot weaker. At the end of the day, Michin and B-Fab have been made to look rather ineffective in recent months and Ripley should be running through either of them. I’m not sure what they were thinking here and Ripley’s finisher did look good, but this wasn’t the right way to go.

Post match the villains are in for the beatdown but Iyo Sky runs in for the save as the numbers even up a bit.

Matt Cardona is getting his wrist looked at when Aleister Black and Zelina come in. Black suggests that Cardona deserved this and a match is set for tonight.

Solo Sikoa says Uncle Howdy wants to fight for the lantern tonight but Sikoa isn’t letting the lantern out of his sight. So who is stepping up? Tama Tonga asks why they’re fighting for the lantern when it’s so much of a problem. Sikoa tells him to go face Howdy and don’t screw this up.

Rhea Ripley is glad to have Iyo Sky here because she needed backup and they are bloody unstoppable.

Tama Tonga vs. Uncle Howdy

Howdy pounds him into the corner to start but Tonga is back with some right hands and headbutts in the ropes. We take a break and come back with Tonga mocking Howdy but diving into the Mandible Claw. That’s broken up and here comes Sikoa, which is enough of a distraction for Sister Abigail to finish Tonga at 7:15.

Rating: C+. There was barely any time here and the point of the match was to further the issues between Tonga and Sikoa more than anything else. At the same time, this feud has been going on for a long time now so it’s time to wrap it up already. I’d rather they do something like this than have a huge showdown at Wrestlemania, though that might still be happening.

Post match Sikoa and Tonga argue over the lantern but Howdy gets it back.

Kit Wilson is complaining about his bad luck to Miz, who insists there is no curse. They run into R-Truth, who is insisting on how water in the hot tub in the new Judgment Day clubhouse. Wilson and Miz don’t like him because he keeps getting lucky despite never taking anything seriously. They want him to take one thing seriously….and Truth accepts their challenge for a Tag Team Title shot tonight. Granted they didn’t ask, but they’ll take it. Miz/Wilson: “Master, inspire, zone-in.”

So we…wait. Master, inspire, zone-in. In today’s “I’m an idiot”, I never before realized that spelled MIZ.

Jacob Fatu is ready for Drew McIntyre. Yes he has a criminal past, but he’s ready to get violent at Wrestlemania.

Sami Zayn talks to Nick Aldis and is ready for the US Title celebration…but Trick Williams’ music kicks him off.

Here is Williams, along with rapper Lil Yachty. Williams talks about how he brought out his own star power because he’s ready to take out the ginger at Wrestlemania. He doesn’t want any ginger ale, ginger tea or ginger snaps. For now, he wants Zayn’s pyro (which Zayn was so happy about), which goes off, but comes complete with Zayn interrupting

Zayn thinks Williams is getting a bit too excited and that he’s never been about the over the top reactions. At Wrestlemania, he’s going to humble Williams’ a**. Zayn: “I think ginger snap is pretty upset.” Williams says he’s the reason Zayn won the US Title, which brings out Carmelo Hayes to interrupt. Hayes says he and Williams have a long history and they’ll deal with that later. Zayn did something last week that Hayes didn’t like and Hayes isn’t letting Zayn get into the endzone after Hayes did the work.

The fans here want Melo instead of Zayn and he wants his rematch. Zayn says he thinks the world of Hayes, but the Wrestlemania match is set. They’ll just have to do this after Wrestlemania. Williams: “AWW COME ON GINGER ALE!” Zayn says he thinks he had Hayes beat last week but we’ll never know because Williams got involved.

The reality is Zayn has called out a bunch of people for taking advantage of things. Hayes tells Zayn to do the right thing so Zayn eventually agrees to the rematch tonight. Works for Hayes, who leaves. Williams says “Ginger Snap” could have said that a long time ago so Zayn clotheslines him to the floor. Williams continues to have so much charisma and comes off as such a star.

Solo Sikoa yells at Tama Tonga about losing the lantern but Tonga wants the team to get back to getting all the titles. Sikoa agrees and says they should finish the Wyatts and then get back to business. Tonga agrees and they seem good.

Aleister Black vs. Matt Cardona

Zelina is here with Black, who gets armdragged down. That banged up Cardona’s bad arm though and he can’t hit a backdrop. Black goes after the arm and takes over, including a legsweep to knock Cardona off the apron. We take a break and come back with Cardona fighting back, but Black escapes a double underhook….something. A neckbreaker drops Black and the Reboot gives Cardona two. Cardona manages a double underhook powerbomb for two but Black goes after the arm again. Black Mass takes Cardona out at 9:51.

Rating: C+. You’re only going to get so far with Black against an injured Cardona, as Black is treated like a much bigger star most of the time. If nothing else, Black Mass is something that can wipe out anyone and it looked good again here. I’m not sure how far Cardona is going on Smackdown but he’s fine enough in this role.

Bayley and Lyra Valkyria don’t think Charlotte and Alexa Bliss are real friends as they haven’t been through the same issues.

R-Truth talks to Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae, who are ready to get back to normal at Stand & Deliver. The two of them leave and Damian Priest comes in to ask why R-Truth gave a random team their first title defense. R-Truth: “They’re cursed!” And he thinks Asuka did it! Priest points out that Asuka is on Raw, but R-Truth says it was the little girl with the facepaint running around. Priest: “….you mean Danhausen???” Anyway, R-Truth thinks it should be an easy title defense and Priest eventually gives in.

Drew McIntyre talks about how he had everything ready for him but then Jacob Fatu ruined it all. Fatu is just a filthy convict and he’s only here because of his family. You can’t outrun your past and next week, McIntyre is showing everyone who Fatu really is.

Charlotte/Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley/Lyra Valkyria

Valkyria takes Charlotte down to start fast but Charlotte sends her into the corner. Bliss comes in with a less than smooth tornado DDT and we take an early break. We come back with Valkyria still in trouble. A crossbody gets her out of trouble and it’s back to Bayley to take over on Charlotte.

Bayley knees her in the head and Valkyria helps knock Charlotte off the top. The top rope elbow gives Bayley two on Charlotte and it’s back to Valkyrie, who dives into the Figure Eight. Bayley breaks that up and Valkyria pulls Bliss out of the air. Nightwing is broken up though and Bliss tries the Sister Abigail. That’s blocked as well so Bliss hits her running Blockbuster to pin Valkyria at 10:30.

Rating: B-. This got better near the end and I’ll take this over another big run in and everything falling apart. The story makes sense for the titles and the division at the moment, though the title match has the potential to be quite the mess. Bayley and Valkyria still feel like underdogs, but hopefully they can do something other than just take the fall at Wrestlemania.

Post match the Irresistible Forces run in to beat down both teams.

Miz and Kit Wilson are ready for their match and Miz insists that there is no curse. Danhausen pops in with his jar of teeth, saying he’ll be at ringside with them tonight. Wilson calls him a spooky little goblin and toxic. Danhausen says he can come to the ring with them and uncurse them, which has Wilson interested. Miz isn’t having this but Danhausen disappears.

Tag Team Titles: Miz/Kit Wilson vs. Damian Priest/R-Truth

Miz and Wilson are challenging. R-Truth takes over on Wilson to start so it’s off to Miz, who gets caught in the Cena finishing sequence. Miz breaks that up and sends him outside for a running elbow from Wilson as we take a break. We come back with R-Truth escaping a Skull Crushing Finale attempt and handing it off to Priest. Everything breaks down and Priest drops Wilson on the floor.

Back in and Miz and R-Truth clothesline each other…and here is Danhausen. He gets on the apron to offer Miz a tag but Miz isn’t doing this. R-Truth however will dive over to tag Danhausen in (Priest is lost watching this) so Miz glares at him…and the referee gets cursed by mistake. Miz loads up the Skull Crushing Finale on Miz but the lights go out and Danhausen escapes. Miz hits the Skull Crushing Finale on R-Truth but the referee suffers a crippling injury at two. South Of Heaven pins Miz (with the referee using his good arm to count) at 9:47.

Rating: B-. This was a case where the match itself was nothing special or even notable, but it was a lot of fun because they rolled with the joke. The Curse thing is working well and while it might not last very long (though it could), they’re getting a lot of value out of the thing. Hopefully Miz and Wilson interact with him some more, because it’s working rather well thus far.

Post match here is Cody Rhodes to take out Kit Wilson and yell about how he got dressed up to find out who Randy Orton has been talking to. It was Pat McAfee, which would be like the Third Man being Disco Inferno instead of Hulk Hogan. McAfee is a stoner, grifter and Logan Paul without muscles and he has a receipt coming and can kiss Rhodes’ a**. If you don’t like that, fire him. It sure worked out for you the last time.

He needs to be a bad guy to beat Orton but he doesn’t know if he can do that anymore. Rhodes talks about every record WWE has been setting with him on top. Yes he was wrestling Roman Reigns and John Cena but they were wrestling him too. Now the voices are talking to him, but you don’t want to hear what they’re saying. Rhodes was showing fire here but this whole story is just spiraling right now and it might need to be reset hard before Wrestlemania.

We look at Roman Reigns and CM Punk on Raw.

Wrestlemania rundown.

Classic Wrestlemania Moment: Kevin Owens vs. Steve Austin. Yeah that qualifies.

US Title: Sami Zayn vs. Carmelo Hayes

Zayn is defending and Trick Williams/Lil Yachty are at ringside. Hayes blocks an early leapfrog attempt and hits a dropkick, followed by some chops in the corner. Zayn fights up and hits a clothesline, only for Hayes to hit a springboard clothesline of his own. The Fadeaway connects for Hayes and the running flip dive to the floor takes Zayn out. Hayes comes up holding his leg though and we take a break.

We come back with Hayes’ leg banged up and Zayn hammering away in the corner. Hayes is able to get in a knockdown of his own but the First 48 is blocked. Zayn exploders him into the corner but charges into a superkick. A top rope splash gives Hayes two, only for Zayn to reverse into a rollup for two of his own. The Blue Thunder Bomb is countered and Hayes goes up, where he misses Nothing But Net. The referee checks on the bad leg…but Zayn fires off the Helluva Kick for the pin to retain at 10:55.

Rating: B-. That ending feels like a step towards Zayn going evil, which wouldn’t be the biggest surprise. He wants to go to Wrestlemania no matter what and that’s what he seems to be doing after that win. The match worked out well enough, though I’m hoping Hayes finds a way onto Wrestlemania somewhere.

Post match Yachty gets in to promise that Williams will win. Williams jumps Zayn and lays him out with the Trick Shot. The villains pose to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. This is a situation where the overall rating could have been just about anything and it would have been appropriate. The thing here is there are two sides to this show: the Orton/Rhodes/McAfee stuff and everything else. For the most part, the “everything else” wasn’t exactly thrilling, but it was ok. The US Title stuff has my attention and R-Truth/Danhausen were rather funny. While some of the matches were just ok (or misguided in the opener), they were acceptable enough to a bit closer to Wrestlemania. It’s not great, but it’s ok enough.

The problem though is the show doesn’t end there. I have absolutely no idea what WWE was expecting out of the McAfee reveal/segment, but it just did not work. Orton has been cheered since the beginning of this story and…well why wouldn’t he be? Rhodes told him to go all aggressive and evil and that’s exactly what Orton has done. Orton is easy to cheer and while Rhodes has his fans, it’s really hard to get more excited about Rhodes right now. We’ve covered him as champion for a long time now and Orton would feel fresh.

Unfortunately that brings us to the issue of how we’re getting here. Unless there is some wacky double turn coming, the match at Wrestlemania could be an absolute circus. I really do not know what they are going for here and unfortunately I’m not sure I can believe WWE knows either. This was the kind of train wreck segment that really seemed to go opposite how WWE was hoping and I have no idea how to get around that situation. Not a great show overall, but the opening segment and the rest of the show are on different planets.

Results
Rhea Ripley b. Michin – Prism Trap
Uncle Howdy b. Tama Tonga – Mandible Claw
Aleister Black b. Matt Cardona – Black Mass
Charlotte/Alexa Bliss b. Bayley/Lyra Valkyria – Running Blockbuster to Valkyria
Damian Priest/R-Truth b. Kit Wilson/Miz – South Of Heaven to Miz
Sami Zayn b. Carmelo Hayes – Helluva Kick

 

 

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: April 2, 2026
Location: Canada Life Center, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness, Excalibur

It’s a rare Thursday night show and it would be nice to see this show be treated as something special for a change. There are some big names set for the card and I could go for seeing some of those stars in action for the week. That includes an open challenge for the TBS Title so let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

Jon Moxley vs. Anthony Bowens

Non-title Eliminator match. Moxley shoves him in the face to start so Bowens is right back up to fire off some right hands. Forearms and elbows have Moxley in more trouble but he slugs away against the ropes. A spinning faceplant drops Moxley though and Bowens clotheslines him to the floor. They go to the mat for some grappling and then trade right hands in the corner.

Bowens follows him to the floor, where Moxley takes it into the crowd with Bowens sending him into a wall. We take a break and come back with Moxley working on the arm, apparently after Bowens was sent into…something metal during the break. Bowens gets up for a superkick and they’re both down for a breather. A top rope superplex drops Moxley and Bowens grabs a spinning DDT out of the corner for two more.

Moxley manages a cross armbreaker, which Bowens escapes pretty quickly. They go outside again, where Bowens’ chair shots only hit various metal objects. Back in and Bowens drops him with a trio of discus forearms…but Moxley snatches him into a bulldog choke. Bowens is in trouble so Moxley throws him into the Death Rider for the pin at 14:58.

Rating: B-. Good enough opener here, though I had a bit of a problem buying Bowens hanging in there for fifteen minutes against Moxley. It’s not some totally ridiculous result, but it felt like Moxley could have put him away faster. Either way, there’s a good chance this will tie into Bowens wanting to join the Opps, which would at least be something to do.

Post match Will Ospreay runs in to Hidden Blade Moxley. Ospreay grabs a chair but the Death Riders run in to get Moxley out. Ospreay says Moxley usually has Claudio Castagnoli do his dirty work but at Forbidden Door, Moxley did it himself. They’ll be facing off at Dynasty, but Ospreay wants the Continental Title on the line so no one is allowed at ringside and he gets twenty minutes to do all the damage he can. Moxley doesn’t really answer…but Tony Khan makes it official via Tony Schiavone.

The Don Callis Family is ready for a tag match, even though Kyle Fletcher is injured. Kazuchika Okada says the replacement will be better than Konosuke Takeshita anyway.

Megan Bayne/Lena Kross vs. Kristara/Ava Lawless

Non-title. Bayne throws Kristara down without much trouble and adds an overhead belly to belly suplex. The champs hit stereo fall away slams and some running boots in the corner rock Lawless. For some reason Kristara fights back so it’s Divine Intervention to finish her at 2:28. Total squash.

Jon Moxley, with the Death Riders, isn’t surprised by Will Ospreay’s actions and Ospreay should expect no mercy. Ospreay is going to beat himself.

The Hurt Syndicate is back and they could use another member. All that matters is they’re back in business. Yeah I could go for them being back.

TBS Title: Willow Nightingale vs. ???

Nightingale is defending against…Hikaru Shida, who hasn’t wrestled here since November 2024. Feeling out process to start with Nightingale running her over but getting dropped by a shoulder. A running knee in the corner hits Nightingale and we hit the one armed camel clutch. That’s broken up and Nightingale runs her over with a Pounce and then drops Shida again on the floor.

We take a break and come back with Shida knocking her off the apron before setting up a chair. A running charge off of said chair connects and Shida throws her back inside for a top rope Meteora. Nightingale grabs a Death Valley Driver for two but misses the moonsault, allowing Shida to hit a pair of running knees for two each. A backslide out of nowhere retains the title at 9:35.

Rating: B-. The match was completely decent, with Shida being back as a nice surprise. With Toni Storm gone, the division is going to need some fresh blood and this might be the right way to go. Shida is someone with quite the resume in AEW so why not see what she can do in the spot? Nightingale gets a nice win of her own and her singles run continues to go rather well.

Post match Shida pulls out her kendo stick and teases swinging but everything is cool.

FTR vs. Mo Jabari/London Lightning

Non-title. Harwood drives Lightning into the corner to start and takes him down. Some chops and a clothesline have Lightning in trouble and he gets sent to the apron. A slingshot shoulder drops Harwood though and Jabari comes in. That’s fine with Wheeler, who takes Jabari into the corner for some clubberin. Jabari actually fights his way out and kicks both of them down, allowing the tag to Lightning. He tries to cover Harwood, who kicks out immediately and grabs the Shatter Machine to pin Jabari at 2:50.

Post match Christian Cage and Adam Copeland show up with chairs in hand to take out security and get inside for the brawl. The Impaler hits Wheeler but Stokely breaks up the Conchairto. One of the security guards takes it instead, which seems rather mean.

The Brawling Birds and Mina Shirakawa are happy with their win on Dynamite but Jamie Hayter wants Thekla at Dynasty. Shirakawa wants quite the beating.

Juice Robinson vs. Tommaso Ciampa

They trade headlocks to start until Robinson grabs a quick atomic drop. Another atomic drop lets Robinson send him face first into the buckle over and over, followed by the left hands. Ciampa heads to the floor and pulls Robinson face first into the apron to take over. Robinson is right back up with a slingshot dive but Ciampa sends him into the announcers’ table as we take a break.

We come back with Robinson getting fired up and winning an exchange of headbutts. A spinebuster drops Ciampa and Robinson strikes him down in the corner. Ciampa is able to send him to the apron for a running knee to the floor and they crash into the barricade. Back in and Robinson scores with a Cannonball into something like a Jackhammer for two.

Ciampa slips out of a powerbomb though and gets in a low blow, setting up the Willow’s Bell for two more. Robinson fights out of the corner and grabs a powerbomb (a nice one too) for two of his own. The forward DDT is blocked though and Ciampa hits a pair of running knees to the head for the pin at 13:56.

Rating: B. Ciampa’s hot run in AEW continues as he is getting to show what he can do in the ring, especially against good opponents. Robinson is someone who can work well and he’s playing it a bit more serious since his return, which made for a good match here. Now just find something bigger for Ciampa to do to capitalize on this streak.

Isiah Kassidy says he’s forced to change due to Marq Quen being injured. He wants an opportunity.

Darby Allin is ready for Andrade El Idolo when Brody King and Jack Perry come in. King and Perry talk about their history with Allin but they agree to team with him to face the Don Callis Family on Dynamite. Perry seems obsessed with Allin setting him on fire. Dude of all the dumb things Allin has done, that’s the one that sticks with you?

Don Callis Family vs. Rascalz

Andrade El Idolo/Mark Davis for the Family and Myron Reed is the odd Rascal out. The Family jumps them on the floor before the bell, much to Don Callis’, on commentary, happiness. The Rascalz are send inside, where they score with some dropkicks, setting up stereo suicide dives. Xavier and Davis get inside for the opening bell and some double teaming, including a Motor City Machine Guns Dream Sequence, has Davis in trouble.

Andrade gets in a cheap shot though and Davis adds a backsplash to take over. Andrade comes in and gets knocked outside, where he elbows Xavier’s dive out of the air. We pause for Andrade to take a photo with a fan and take a break. We come back with Andrade grabbing a chinlock as commentary talks about how the team is vicious and delicious. Come on, leave Norton and Bagwell out of this.

Andrade sends him into the corner but charges into a superkick, allowing Wentz to come back in and strike away. A bunch of kicks to the face set up a spinning high crossbody for two. Wentz blocks the piledriver and gets two off a hurricanrana. Everything breaks down and the Hot Fire Flame hits raised knees. Andrade takes out Xavier on the floor and it’s the piledriver to knock Wentz silly. The DM gives Andrade the pin at 10:48.

Rating: B-. The Rascalz seem to be a team who exists to make others look good in defeat, which isn’t the worst thing to see. At the same time, the Family team only means so much as the group is thrown into all kinds of pairings. It isn’t like there is a regular two man team, though Davis and that piledriver looked rather good.

Post match the Family leaves and here are more of the team to jump the Rascalz. Myron Reed comes in for the save and hits a big running flip dive. Apparently Kazuchika Okada was in for the beatdown to prove that he’s a better friend to Kyle Fletcher than Konosuke Takeshita. This company is WAY too obsessed with friendship angles.

Dogs/Death Riders vs. Conglomeration/Mistico/Kevin Knight

Tornado tag with Clark Connors/David Finlay/Claudio Castagnoli/Wheeler Yuta for the former team. The villains jump them on the floor to start fast until Castagnoli throws Mistico inside to start the real match. Mistico slips out of a gorilla press and grabs a rather spinning wristdrag. The Dogs pull Mistico outside but Cassidy cuts off a dive, allowing Knight to hit a big dive of his own.

Back in and the Dogs drop Knight and Cassidy, leaving Mistico to get double teamed by the Riders. Mistico manages a running hurricanrana to send Castagnoli outside, leaving Knight to frog splash Yuta for two. We take a break and come back with Cassidy in trouble in the corner but he manages to take them all out. The Dogs are back in but a suplex is countered into a Stundog Millionaire. Strong is back in to help clean house and Mistico adds a top rope hurricanrana to Castagnoli.

Mistico’s springboard hurricanrana hits Yuta and we hit the parade of knockdowns until Knight’s springboard clothesline gets two on Castagnoli. Finlay Dominators Knight into a spear from Connors but Strong is back in for the save. A triple Stronghold goes on but Castagnoli breaks up two of them.

The boots to the face don’t break up Strong’s though, as he comes up with chops instead. Most of the people head outside and Yuta hits a running knee to Knight. Mistico sunset bombs Castagnoli for two but he’s back up for the Swing. The Fastball Special misses and Mistico gets Castagnoli in La Mistica. Knight hits the UFO Splash to pin Yuta at 15:05.

Rating: B. This was completely insane throughout with all action and that made for a fun match. At the same time, I’m not sure why this needed to be tornado rules other than AEW thought it would be more entertaining that way. I’m also not sure why the Dogs need to lose again, though at least it was Yuta taking the fall here instead of one of them. What else is Yuta supposed to be there for anyway?

Overall Rating: B. The best thing about this show is it felt more like an episode of Dynamite, which is a good sign given the special time slot. There is no reason to make this show feel normal and they did a nice job of putting bigger names and stars out there this week. It would be nice to continue that when Collision is back in its regular spot, but I’ll take it for one week at least.

Results
Jon Moxley b. Anthony Bowens – Death Rider
Megan Bayne/Lena Kross b. Kristara/Ava Lawless – Divine Intervention to Lawless
Willow Nightingale b. Hikaru Shida – Backslide
FTR b. Mo Jabari/London Lightning – Shatter Machine to Jabari
Tommaso Ciampa b. Juice Robinson – Running knee
Don Callis Family b. Rascalz – DM to Wentz
Conglomeration/Kevin Knight/Mistico b. Dogs/Death Riders – UFO Splash to Yuta

 

 

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: April 2, 2026
Location: Alario Center, Westwego, Louisiana
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt

We’re coming off of Sacrifice, which was kind of incomplete. The World Title match lasted about a minute and a half due to Steve Maclin suffering an injury, resulting in the match being stopped. Eddie Edwards seems likely in line for the World Title shot at Rebellion, which is just over a week away. Let’s get to it.

Here is Sacrifice if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Here is Mike Santana to get things going. He was in the ring with a tough man named Steve Maclin at Sacrifice and Santana dropped him. As Santana was growing up, his father told him to be a man of his word. He’s lived his life like that, which is why he left Sacrifice as World Champion. Now it’s Rebellion and Eddie Edwards, with the match officially ready to go. He’s told Edwards time after time that he lives his life with his back to the wall and at Rebellion, Edwards is getting the best in the world.

Cue Edwards and Cedric Alexander, with the former promising that at Rebellion, TNA will be run by the System. Santana is ready to fight now, but Alexander says not so fast. Alexander says he’s going to win the X-Division Title at Rebellion, which brings out Leon Slater. He says it won’t be so easy to win the title, but Alexander says the System is winning all of the gold.

This brings out Order 4, with Mustafa Ali saying he’s going to win the International Title at Rebellion. Cue Trey Miguel, who wants Ali to look at him when he’s talking. Miguel wants Ali to be a man and fight so he can get dropped. Ali: “Like what happened to Jada Stone?” Santana issues the challenge for the fight but here is Moose to wreck some of Order 4. Santino Marella comes in to make the eight man tag, albeit without getting any of the names right. Nice job of putting a bunch of feuds into one match.

Order 4/The System vs. Trey Miguel/Moose/Mike Santana/Leon Slater

Moose and Ali start but Moose wants Alexander instead. Alexander is dropped in a hurry so it’s off to Santana, who armdrags Edwards a few times. Slater comes in to offer Slater a step up for a backsplash to Edwards but it’s off to Alexander, who takes over in the corner. A basement dropkick gets two on Slater so it’s off to Ali, with Slater getting back up. Miguel comes in for a sliding DDT to drop Ali on the floor, followed by a top rope Meteora for two of his own. Zero gets the tag though and drops Miguel without much trouble as we take a break.

We come back with Miguel hitting a clothesline to put Ali down. Zero comes back in for a German suplex though and Miguel is cut off again. Edwards clotheslines Miguel in the corner and feeds him into Alexander’s Michinoku Driver for two. Miguel finally comes up with a moonsault to Alexander and Ali can’t stop the tag off to Santana. House is quickly cleaned and Santana’s top rope splash gets two with Ali making the save. Everything breaks down and Zero hits a dive onto the pile.

Ali tries one of his own to Moose but gets powerbombed onto the apron, meaning it’s time for Moose and Zero to slug it out. Moose takes him down with a superplex but gets 450ed by Ali. Slater hits the Swanton 450 but walks into the Lumbar Check. Santana clears the ring, including of the Great Hands, and hits a rolling Buck Fifty to Alexander. Edwards is right back in there with the Boston Knee Party to pin Santana at 15:33.

Rating: B+. This was a good example of a simple idea that wound up working very well. They hit a groove here and I was loving everything they were doing. You advanced a bunch of matches at the same time and the ending was exactly what it should have been. Heck of an opener here and this did exactly what it should have done.

Daria Rae yells at Santino Marella about how he can never follow structure. Does he know who attacked Nic Nemeth at Sacrifice? She was late because she was at a board meeting about Marella’s future, because he’s on thin ice. She’s also made a main event tonight: Arianna Grace vs. Xia Brookside, with the winner facing Lei Ying Lee at Rebellion. Now get out of her office. Marella points out that it’s his office but she doesn’t care. I like Rae in general, but this “shut up, I’m talking” deal is horrible.

We look at Ricky Sosa’s signing being announced at Sacrifice.

After the signing, some wrestlers welcomed him to the company. Eric Young interrupted to say that he’s the gatekeeper around here and now Sosa’s hard work begins. Sosa doesn’t seem impressed.

Here are the Hardys, who are rather banged up after Sacrifice. Matt says Sacrifice was a revelation because the Righteous betrayed them. They could have been a great team together but Dutch attacked him and rammed his head into the wall over and over, leaving him bleeding. Jeff says that wasn’t a sacrifice because it was a mistake. It’s time for apocalyptic consequences, but here are the Righteous to interrupt.

Dutch says that the Hardys were the offering, but Matt offers to give them a beating right now. The Righteous talk about how they had money and gave it away to stay in the game. The Hardys still want to fight, which Vincent thinks is a great idea…but not tonight. They’ll do it next week, with Dutch saying it has to be Hardy style: meaning extreme. Jeff says we’ll make it a tables match. This was pretty disjointed, as I don’t think I quite got why the Righteous attacked Matt. It felt more like “you say one thing, they say another, announce the title match”.

Victoria Crawford is coming to the ring with Tessa Blanchard but gets cut off by the White Rabbit.

Arianna grace and Stacks interrupt Mike Santana and mock him for his loss. Santana is ready to fight but Grace tells him to take notes on the main event. Santana: “They don’t even work here. I don’t understand.”

Tessa Blanchard vs. Jody Threat

Bunkhouse match so they’re both in street clothes (though I’m not sure which streets feature clothing like that). Threat jumps her at the entrance and the brawl is on fast, with Threat demanding the bell ring. Blanchard is down so Threat goes to grab an anvil case, which takes too long. That’s enough for Blanchard to fight back and load up a table, which takes too long as well. Threat manages to drop Blanchard onto the apron and we take a break.

We come back with Threat missing a charge into an open chair but Blanchard misses a bullrope shot. Instead she ties Threat up for a Cheeky Nandos kick but dropkicks Threat’s head into a chair and the cowbell. Somehow Threat pops right back up and gets in a shot in the corner before trying to crush Blanchard’s head in the anvil case.

A stomp doesn’t work and Blanchard takes off her own belt and whips away. That’s not good enough so she takes the referee’s belt and ties it around Threat’s neck. Threat is able to fight up with Pop Shove It but Blanchard holds on with the belt and chokes her out for the win at 13:23. Ignore Blanchard being on the floor to choke and commentary saying that the match had to end in the ring.

Rating: C+. They were trying and Blanchard went nuts with that belt, but Threat only got so far. I’m still not sure I see her appeal, but with the women’s division losing some names, she might be one of the best options they have. At the same time, Blanchard continues to look like an absolute star, which is great to see.

Ryan Nemeth wants to know who attacked Nic Nemeth and is looking for revenge. BDE comes in, with Ryan accusing him of attacking Nic. That’s not the case, but BDE is willing to fight again. Frankie Kazarian comes in and thinks BDE did it too, so here is Elijah to even things up. A tag match seems likely.

Tessa Blanchard gets distracted by the White Rabbit and follows it. To Be Continued.

AJ Francis vs. Home Town Man

Man chops at him to start but has to slap his way out of the Down Payment. A running clothesline puts Francis on the floor and the suicide dive connects. Back in and Francis falls on top of him during a slam attempt, allowing Francis to steal the Saints jersey. Francis throws it to Hannifan (a noted Eagles fan), who mocks Francis’ lack of Super Bowl wins. Man Hulks Up and manages the slam for two but Francis gives him a spear. The Down Payment finishes Man at 3:46.

Rating: C. This was kind of a weird one as it wasn’t a squash but Man’s big deal was Hulking Up for a slam before getting pinned. Francis has gotten better at being a monster though, as he is figuring out how to use his size in a better way. He’s kind of found his groove around here and that is rather nice to see.

Post match Francis reveals that he was the man who attacked Nic Nemeth. Two years ago, he debuted and beat Joe Hendry, just like he’s beaten all of the heroes. Nemeth likes to steal the show but he really just steals opportunities. He never wanted to play for the Saints, but here is Ryan Nemeth to scare him off. Francis challenges Ryan for Rebellion because he’s the best big man in the business. That business? Money, money money.

Xia Brookside is ready and Lei Ying Lee comes in with a video from her dad, wishing her luck tonight. It’s her birthright to become champion.

Rebellion rundown.

One Man Gang is here again.

Knockouts Title: Arianna Grace vs. Xia Brookside

Brookside, with Lei Ying Lee, is challenging while Stacks is here with Grace. They fight over arm control to start until Brookside snaps off some armdrags. A dropkick puts Grace on the floor and we take an early break. We come back with Brookside hitting the running knees in the corner for two. Grace elbows herdown and Stacks hands her the Cobra, only for Brookside to grab a tornado DDT for two, with Stacks breaking up the cover.

Lee goes after Stacks but gets decked by Grace. Lee gets sent into the steps so Brookside dives onto Lee and sends her into the steps as well. A tornado DDT drops Stacks as well and it’s back inside, where the women fight over the Cobra. Grace is shoved into Stacks for two but gets caught grabbing the title. A Codebreaker gives Brookside two so Grace goes up, with Stacks offering ANOTHER distraction. Lee dives onto Stacks but Grace gets in a belt shot. A TKO onto the knee retains the title at 11:50.

Rating: C. Well that was….a lot. There were multiple times here where I was wondering how in the world we didn’t get a countout or a DQ and that’s not a great way to go. The match was certainly not dull, but it had me wondering why the referee even needed to be there until the ending. At least Lee didn’t turn on Brookside, which was certainly a way they could have gone.

Post match Mike Santana comes in to break up a post match beatdown. Spin The Block drops Stacks but Eddie Edwards is in the crowd to call out Santana. Edwards says Santana is all about his ego but Santana says that’s tough talk from someone on the other side of the guardrail. That’s a no, because Edwards has already beaten him tonight and the next time he’ll do it is in Cleveland. They’re both ready for Rebellion, with Santana threatening to use his size 12 shoe on Edwards. The two things I took from this: Edwards isn’t a great talker and I wear a bigger shoe than Santana.

Tessa Blanchard (now in different clothes than the last time we saw her) is in a big house. James Mitchell is behind her and welcomes her….to the Undead Realm.

Overall Rating: B-. The opener was great and pushed a lot towards the pay per view but the rest of the show was kind of hit or miss. They don’t have much time to set up Rebellion and some of the injuries and changes caused them to have to make some last minute changes. Rebellion is only looking so good, but they could get one more big push next week. Not a great show, but the opener did a lot of good.

Results
Order 4/The System b. Moose/Mike Santana/Leon Slater/Trey Miguel – Boston Knee Party to Santana
Tessa Blanchard b. Jody Threat – Choke with a belt
AJ Francis b. Home Town Man – Down Payment
Arianna Grace b. Xia Brookside – TKO facebuster

 

 

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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Evolve
Date: April 1, 2026
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Peter Rosenberg, Blake Howard

We’re in for an interesting week here as there are some fresh names around making their debuts. That’s what you have to do on a show that regularly involves sending names up the ladder to other shows. Other than that, we’re coming up on the Gauntlet Eliminator match for the vacant Women’s Title. Let’s get to it.

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

Evolve Champion Aaron Rourke recaps the Women’s Title situation, plus the new upcoming stars. Rourke is even willing to let the winner of the match between the new stars be his first challenger. Well that’s nice of him.

Opening sequence.

It’s Gal vs. Dorian Van Dux

Before the match, It’s Gal talks about how the newcomers need to realize he’s the best in the gym but Van Dux (who is rather muscular, is formerly known as Mike Vecchio and is pronounced Van Dukes) interrupts. They shake hands and Dux forearms him to the floor as fellow newcomers Tristan Angels and Romeo Moreno are in the VIP section. Gal gets back in for the opening bell and drives Dux into the corner for some quick forearms.

Dux slugs away to come back but gets dropped throat first across the top rope. Gal’s discus clothesline gets two and a fireman’s carry gutbuster drops Dux again. Some choking pushups have the referee yelling at Gal, who comes back with a Blue Thunder Bomb for two more. Dux avoids a charge in the corner though and hits a springboard elbow to drop Gal for a change. A suplex out of the corner gives Dux two and Gal’s German suplex doesn’t do much. Dux hits a hard clothesline and a spinning gutwrench sitout powerbomb finishes Gal at 5:18.

Rating: C+. This was about getting Dux over as a new star and it worked well enough. Beating a goof like Gal means something and Dux’s power and athleticism worked. I remember seeing Dux over last year’s Wrestlemania Weekend and being impressed so it’s nice to see him getting a chance on the bigger stage. He has a long way to go, but at least he’s starting off well.

Zena Sterling begs Timothy Thatcher for a spot in the gauntlet match as she’s done everything right. Thatcher says she needs to win a few more matches and then they can talk. Sterling grabs a chair and beats on the walls.

Tate Wilder is looking for Kam Hendrix and Harley Riggins and is ready to hunt them down tonight.

We meet three of the new signees: CJ Valor (formerly Jimmy House), Chazz “Starboy” Hall (Starboy Charlie) and Santi Rivera (Jariel Rivera). Valor is ready for his impressions to bleed into this match and his coaches at the Rhodes Wrestling Academy taught him to just keep steppin.

Rivera is feeling good tonight and he’ll feel better when he gets the title shot next week. He’s wrestled in New England and he’s ready to be the next Evolve Champion. Hall (the fans seem to know him) talks about wrestling on the independents for twelve years, including in GCW (there’s a name you don’t expect to hear on a WWE show), West Coast Pro and in Noah.

CJ Valor vs. Santi Rivera vs. Chazz Hall

Valor and Rivera brawl into the corner to start with Hall breaking it up. Hall is sent outside and Rivera knocks Valor away with an elbow but gets caught with Hall’s kicks. A powerbomb doesn’t work for Valor, who plants Hall for two instead. Rivera slams Hall onto Valor but Hall knocks Rivera down. The standing corkscrew moonsault gives Hall two on Valor but Valor sends him outside. Rivera picks Valor up for a Doomsday Blockbuster, only to get knocked down as well.

We take a break with everyone down and come back with Rivera Sling Blading Valor for two. Hall grabs an assisted Sliced Bread out of the corner to Rivera before kicking Valor in the head. Hall’s wheelbarrow bulldog is countered into a suplex but Valor knocks Rivera down for two more. An enziguri hits Rivera by mistake and Hall follows it up with a double Pele for another near fall.

Valor is back up with a heck of a spear to Hall (ignore that he was aiming for Rivera), followed by most of a cross armbreaker to Rivera. Hall breaks it up with a running shooting star press for two and sends Rivera outside. That means a space flying tiger drop to Rivera, followed by a shooting star press to give Hall the pin on Valor at 10:06.

Rating: B-. This was about introducing a bunch of people at once and that makes it a bit of a trick to pull off. Hall was the speed guy here and that worked well enough, though the overalls and small stature aren’t the best combination. Hopefully he fixes that up a bit, as he was certainly smooth enough in the air. Valor is more of a generic power wrestler, while Rivera showed off some nice personality. In other words, we’ll have to see where they all go, but it was a decent enough start.

Post match Hall says this is almost a surprise. He wants to thank Aaron Rourke for the opportunity, but he’s coming for the title because he’s the Denim Dragon.

Tate Wilder is still on the hunt and finds Luca Crusifino, who doesn’t like this negative energy. Crusifino thinks they need to focus their energy into the ring, say in a tag match. Wilder realizes he needs all of the help he can get so he’ll take it. Crusifino lays down on an anvil case and chills.

Mike Cunningham explains Main Man Energy. Basically it’s “I’m awesome and you should be too”. This actually works for him.

Next week: the women’s ID prospects debut. Cool.

Wendy Choo vs. Laynie Luck vs. PJ Vasa vs. Kali Armstrong vs. Nikkita Lyons

One fall to a finish for the final spot in the gauntlet match for the vacant Women’s Title. Vasa cleans house to start but everyone gets together to go after her. Lyons and Armstrong go after each other but get pulled apart as Vasa returns. Vasa crushes Lyons in the corner and catches Luck, only to get dropkicked down by Armstrong. Luck’s rollup out of the corner gets two on Armstrong but it’s Lyons’ turn to wreck everyone.

Luck is back up with a headscissors to Lyons but gets pulled outside by Armstrong. They knock each other down and it’s Choo going up for a huge dive onto everyone else. We take a break and come back with Vasa getting back in to drop Armstrong and Lyons in a Tower Of Doom. Luck reverses a powerbomb with a hurricanrana though and Choo comes off the top to nail Vasa as well. Choo cleans house for a change and Lyons helps her with a double Sliced Bread.

A double DDT drops Luck and Lyons, followed by Choo’s hammerlock lariat getting two on Armstrong. Back up and Armstrong’s powerslam is countered into a small package for two more. Lyons is back in for a tiger bomb to Armstrong, with Luck rolling Lyons up for two. Vasa is up as well, only to get knocked outside by Lyons, who gets Backstabbered by Choo.

Armstrong runs the corner to dive onto Choo and Vasa on the floor, leaving Lyons to miss a Vader Bomb. The Kali Connection sends Lyons outside so Choo grabs the Dirt Nap on Armstrong. That’s broken up and Armstrong powerslams Choo, followed by the Kali Connection. Luck makes the save this time but gets Samoan dropped by Vasa. The Issue gives Vasa the pin on Choo at 9:44.

Rating: C+. This was similar to the triple threat with pretty much nonstop action, but there was only so much of a chance for anyone to stand out with so much going on. This did have the advantage of having people we knew, though Vasa still isn’t overly interesting. Maybe she’ll get molded into a better monster, but I’m not thrilled with the idea of her becoming the next champion.

Overall Rating: B-. They had a really tricky task this week, as the big idea was to introduce new stars. The good thing is they pulled it off pretty well, with Van Dux looking like a star and Hall already being put in the title picture, at least for a week. The main event was fine enough as well and has title implications, so they pretty much accomplished all of their goals here. Not bad for a show with so many fresh faces.

Results
Dorian Van Dux b. It’s Gal – Spinning gutwrench sitout powerbomb
Chazz Hall b. CJ Valor and Santi Rivera – Shooting star press to Valor
PJ Vasa b. Laynie Luck, Nikkita Lyons, Kali Armstrong and Wendy Choo – The Issue to Choo

 

 

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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