Wrestlemania XL Night Two
Date: April 7, 2024
Location: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 60,203
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee, Corey Graves
God Bless American: The War And Treaty

And now, the night after. This is the second half of the event, which features Cody Rhodes challenging Roman Reigns for the WWE Title despite his back being firmly against the wall. Other than that, a banged up Seth Rollins is defending the World Heavyweight Title against Drew McIntyre, plus a not that hot midcard. Let’s get to it.

I was in the stadium for this show, sitting in the upper deck with the entrance on my right.

The opening video looks at Night One before shifting to Meek Mill talking about how if you don’t finish your story, someone else will finish it for you. The rest of the card gets a bit of a look of its own.

The War And Treaty sing God Bless America.

Here is Stephanie McMahon to get things going. She’s glad it’s a bit warmer today (preach it) and calls this the first show of the Paul Levesque Era. With that out of the way, let’s get things going.

Raw World Title: Drew McIntyre vs. Seth Rollins

Rollins, banged up after last night, is defending and CM Punk is on commentary. McIntyre is played to the ring by a pipe and drums band while Rollins is led out by a group of Mummers (People in very insane costumes, playing instruments. I wasn’t familiar with them but a guy next to me said it was about as Philadelphia of an entrance as you could get.). McIntyre hits a Claymore at the bell for a near fall five seconds in as we’re starting fast.

Rollins immediately rolls outside as he’s in trouble early. A belly to belly drops Rollins and McIntyre grabs someone’s phone for a quick picture. McIntyre stops to yell at Punk though and gets Pedigreed on the floor, with Rollins coming up holding his knee (banged up last night). Back in and a Stomp gets two on McIntyre and they both pull themselves up, exhausted by their three and a half minutes of action thus far.

They slug it out with McIntyre getting the better of things and nipping up. The Claymore is countered into a powerbomb though and the Pedigree connects again. A top rope stomp misses but so does the Claymore. Rollins misses the regular Stomp and gets Futureshocked for two. McIntyre mocks the GTS pose to annoy Punk but the GTS is countered into a small package for two.

Another Claymore hits Rollins for two and McIntyre is stunned. They go outside where Rollins slips out of a powerbomb attempt and hits a basement superkick. Rollins hits a Stomp on the table and they head back inside, where McIntyre hits another Claymore for another two. Punk wants to see another GTS but it’s another Claymore to give McIntyre the pin and the title at 10:34.

Rating: B-. This was more out of the old Lesnar style and that works a lot better when you haven’t see it over and over again. McIntyre getting more and more frustrated before finally getting the pin was a great story as he had been going nuts for so long that he had to win something. This worked well and it was a big opener, even if some of the near falls were a bit nuts at times.

Post match an emotional Rollins leaves and gets something of a look of respect from McIntyre. He kisses his wife and then goes back to Punk, mocking him as you might expect. As you also might expect, Punk trips McIntyre down and hits with the arm brace….and it’s Money In The Bank time.

Raw World Title: Damian Priest vs. Drew McIntyre

Priest is challenging and wins the title with South Of Heaven at 9 seconds, sending McIntyre further into insanity and furthering the feud of the year with CM Punk.

Judgment Day comes out for the big celebration in a nice moment. Punk mockingly applauds McIntyre to make it even better.

Street Profits/Bobby Lashley vs. Final Testament

Street fight, Bubba Ray Dudley is guest referee and Snoop Dogg is on commentary. B-Fab is here with the good guys while Paul Ellering and Scarlett are here with the Testament. Graves says that this is Ellering’s first appearance at Wrestlemania. I guess he’s forgotten Wrestlemania VIII as well. Lashley and the Profits waste no time in knocking them outside and it’s already time for a table, which Dogg seems to like.

The AOP come back and take out the Profits before being on Lashley with kendo sticks. Kross gives Lashley a neckbreaker onto an open chair for two, with Dawkins making the save. Ford goes up but gets knocked out of the air and it’s the Super Collider to the Profits. B-Fab tries to make the save but gets taken out by Scarlett, with the two of them crashing through a table. Lashley fights up and starts the comeback, with Dawkins hitting a big tackle on the floor to drop the AOP.

Some chair shots to Kross set up Lashley’s spinebuster onto the chair but the AOP is back in. The Doomsday Saito suplex drops Lashley and a DDT through a chair gets two. Kross yells at Bubba, who puts the glasses on, leaving Lashley to hit a spear. Bubba orders a What’s Up on Kross and it’s table time, but the table breaks in advance. Another table is brought in as Kross is beaten with a kendo stick (Dogg: “WHOOP HIM! WHOOP HIM!”). A frog splash through the table finishes Kross at 8:32.

Rating: C. Yeah this was fine, but it was nothing you wouldn’t see on Smackdown. The AOP felt like monsters but it didn’t exactly take much to knock them out. At the same time, Kross is supposed to be the big bad and Lashley beat him up without much trouble. This felt like a way to have a street fight with tables in Philadelphia and that doesn’t get you very far. As usual, Snoop Dogg felt like he was having the time of his life on commentary and clearly loves wrestling.

We look at last night’s main event, with Cody Rhodes getting pinned to make tonight’s main event Bloodline Rules.

Paul Heyman is asked what Bloodline Rules mean. He cites the WWE rule book before saying it’s whatever Roman Reigns wants them to be.

LA Knight arrived in a fast Slim Jim car.

We recap LA Knight vs. AJ Styles. Knight is the crowd favorite and seems to be on his way to stardom but Styles doesn’t like him, to the point of costing him the Elimination Chamber. Styles said he wanted to humble Knight, who said they should fight at Wrestlemania. Game on, with Styles attacking Knight with a chair. Knight showed up at Styles’ house and got arrested to make it more personal.

AJ Styles vs. LA Knight

During his entrance, Knight gives the keys to his Slim Jim car to a sweepstakes winner, who seems to be….not overly excited. Styles charges to the ring and gets punched in the face to start fast. They go to the floor where Styles is rammed into the announcers’ table but he starts in on the leg.

A DDT on the leg keeps Knight down but he fights up with a Russian legsweep. Knight hits a tornado DDT and tries a superplex, only to get reversed into the belly to back faceplant. Styles goes up so Knight jumps the corner and hits a release German superplex. The Calf Crusher goes back to Knight’s bad leg and Knight goes straight over to the ropes.

The leg is wrapped around the post so Knight pulls him face first into said post. It’s time to peel back the mats but Styles knocks him onto the concrete. Back in and the springboard 450 hits Styles’ raised knees but the BFT is countered into a failed Styles Clash attempt. Another springboard is broken up and Knight hits the BFT for the win at 12:24.

Rating: B-. This wasn’t a great match or really anything close, but it did what it needed to do: give Knight a clean win on a big stage. Knight is the definition of someone who needs to win something to validate his popularity and while this wasn’t quite that win, it was the biggest victory of his career. As usual, Styles can work well with anyone and he made Knight look like a star here.

We get the Hall Of Fame video package from Friday.

The Hall Of Fame class is presented:

US Express (in Bray Wyatt shirts, after a Wyatt tribute at the ceremony)
Bull Nakano
Thunderbolt Patterson
Lia Maivia
Muhammad Ali
Paul Heyman (to the ECW theme and carrying the WWE Title, receiving by far the biggest reaction)

We recap Logan Paul defending the US Title against Randy Orton and Kevin Owens. Paul is a huge star and the other two are sick of him. Orton wants to give him an RKO and Owens was sick of hearing about Paul being a star, including after losing to him at the Royal Rumble.

US Title: Logan Paul vs. Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens

Paul, defending, comes to the ring in a Prime truck and he has a guy in a Prime bottle costume, which cannot end well. Owens comes to the ring and runs into Sami Zayn in a reversal from their meeting last night. Paul bails to the floor to start and tells the other two to start, which doesn’t happen as they would rather go after Paul. The challengers take turns sending Paul into various things, with Owens getting to drop him onto the announcers’ table in something of a tribute to Orton.

That’s not good enough though as Orton shows him how to do it a bit better before they get back inside. Paul sends Owens into Orton to try to start some strife, only for the two of them to beat him up again. They even get in some stereo stomps before Owens hits a backsplash. The two of them both cover Paul though and now it’s clear that things aren’t going to work. Owens blocks an RKO attempt and they know where this is going to go. The brawl is on but Paul knocks both of them down to take over.

Paul even mocks Orton’s pose to be a real villain before sending Owens into the buckle a few times. That’s broken up though as Owen superkicks Paul into the corner but the Swanton hits raised knees. Paul Swantons Owens and rolls into a regular splash for two on Orton in a rather athletic display. Orton actually loses a slugout with Paul but he rakes the eyes and sends Paul outside. Back up and Owens gets clotheslined into a powerslam, allowing Orton to pop his chest a bit (the fans approve).

Paul comes back in and gets powerslammed as well and there’s a double hanging DDT to put Owens and Paul down. Owens snaps off some superkicks though and a Codebreaker to Orton/Backstabber to Paul gets two. They all go to the corner and Paul makes the mistake of trying a superplex on Owens, who reverses into something like a super Jackhammer. A moonsault gives Owens two but Orton is back in with an RKO for the same (that’s not something you see kicked out of very often).

Back in and Paul knocks Orton silly with the brass knuckles for two and the kickout leaves Paul stunned. Owens tries to come in and gets knuckled as well. Paul yells at Orton and gets an RKO for his efforts but Orton is too banged up to cover. Now Orton gets the brass knuckles but hands them to the referee, only for the guy in the Prime bottle to pull Paul outside. It’s….IShowSpeed, one of Paul’s cronies/a popular streamer, who shoves Orton in a really bad idea.

The suit is pulled off and an RKO onto the announcers’ table leaves Speed out cold. Paul uses the breather to miss a frog splash and gets caught with a pop up powerbomb. Owens Stunners Orton for two so he tries another pop up powerbomb, which is countered into an RKO in a sweet reversal. Paul sends Orton outside though and hits a frog splash to pin Owens and retain at 17:39.

Rating: B. This was better than I remember it as they had a good story of the wrestlers fighting each other and treating Paul like an afterthought but Paul got smart and stole the win in the end. Paul continues to come off like a star and someone who keeps surprising people, which is what he did here. It was a good match for everyone and Paul gets a win on the big stage, which will only help him.

We recap Bayley challenging Iyo Sky for the Smackdown Women’s Title. Bayley had started Damage CTRL and the team had success but then they started to move past her. Eventually Iyo Sky won the title and Bayley won the Royal Rumble. One day the Japanese members mocked her in Japanese, but Bayley revealed she knew what they were saying and the match was on. Sky promised to show that she was the real star of the team while Bayley wasn’t sure if they were ever friends in the first place.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Iyo Sky vs. Bayley

Bayley is challenging and is carried to the ring as part of her weird pyramid theme. They start fast with Bayley knocking her outside and shrugging off a shot to the face. A suicide dive hits Sky on the floor, with Bayley coming up favoring her leg a bit. The leg is fine enough to hit a baseball slide to drop Sky again but the dropkick under the ropes misses. Instead Sky wraps the leg around the post and cranks on said leg as we have a target.

Back in and a dragon screw legwhip takes Bayley down again so the fans start singing about Bayley. The power is enough to make her send Sky into the timekeeper’s area, only for her to dive out and right into a Bayley To Belly on the floor. Back in and a spinning side slam (kind of like Victoria) gives Bayley two and she goes up. Sky catches her up top, with Bayley’s leg getting tied in the ropes, followed by a crash to the floor.

A great moonsault hits Bayley on the outside but she’s able to hit a sunset bomb into the corner back inside. Some German suplexes give Sky two each but Over The Moonsault hits a raised knee (as in the already injured one). Bayley, with one good leg, manages to get up top and tries the elbow, only to get pulled into the crossface. That’s broken up in a hurry but Bayley’s basement clothesline is countered into another crossface.

With that not working, Sky switches into a more logical STF, which is broken up as well. Another Bayley To Belly gets two but Bayley spends too much time yelling and gets hit in the face. A backbreaker sets up Over The Moonsault for a near fall, followed by some more moonsaults. The big one misses but Bayley can’t hit the Roseplant. Instead Bayley hits a heck of a clothesline and a suplex sets up the top rope elbow. The Roseplant gives Bayley the pin and the title at 14:22.

Rating: B+. This turned into a heck of a match with Bayley working hard to overcome the injury and show that she was able to beat the star in Sky. That’s the kind of match you do not often see and it worked well here, with Bayley showing that she still has it. As usual, Sky is as smooth as it gets in the ring and looked awesome, but this needed to be Bayley’s win and that’s exactly what she got.

Here is Snoop Dogg, with the Philadelphia Eagles cheerleaders and mascot, to announce the attendance of 72,755. The two night attendance is 145,298, with Snoop saying 145,420 for the joke which is mostly ignored.

We recap Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns for the WWE Title. Reigns beat Rhodes last year in a huge upset, sending Rhodes on a path to get back to the title match and Finish The Story. Now though, the Rock is back and Rhodes is up against the entire Bloodline, meaning, as Cole put it last night, “Cody Is Screwed”.

Reigns isn’t giving it up without a fight though, as he has been champion for three and a half years. This gets the big music video treatment as we look at Rhodes fighting to get to the top after all of this adversity in his quest to finish the story. Of note, the theme here is Rhodes is back after a long hiatus, including photos of him with the Young Bucks, Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega.

Smackdown World Title: Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns

Reigns, with Paul Heyman, is defending under Bloodline Rules, meaning anything goes. The entrances are of course epic, with Rhodes coming out with his wife Brandi amid a ton of pyro and rising through the stage. Not to be outdone, Reigns has a full orchestra playing him to the ring, which is treatment worthy of a champion. We get the Big Match Intros and Samantha Irvin manages to make this feel all the more incredible.

They stare each other down to start and Rhodes goes for the leg but lets it go for another standoff. We get some more circling as they clearly have a lot of time here. Rhodes hits a right hand and knocks Reigns to the floor as things pick up fast. It’s already time for a table but Reigns cuts him off and puts it back. Rhodes sends him into the steps but Reigns is back up with a kendo stick to start the beating.

That’s taken away though and Rhodes comes back with a quick bulldog. Rhodes gets smart by grabbing a Figure Four, which is quickly broken up with a rake to the eyes. They go outside again and, after a trip through the Prime station, it’s time to fight into the crowd. Reigns takes him onto a platform and tells people to move so he can throw him. That takes too long as well and Rhodes reverses it into a suplex of his own.

Back in and Reigns hits a heck of a powerbomb to drop Rhodes again and we get a double breather. Reigns is back up with a suplex and starts getting cocky, setting up a cravate. A PerfectPlex gives Reigns two but Rhodes is back up with some kicks to the face. They clothesline each other down as we’re nearly fifteen minutes in without things getting too crazy. They slug it out and the Disaster Kick gives Rhodes two (and Heyman a big scared reaction).

Back up and Reigns hits his own Cross Rhodes for two, resulting in Reigns looking like he says something in the vein of “I knew that wouldn’t work”. Rhodes fights up and fires off the jabs but they go outside, where Reigns sends him through the announcers’ table. Back in and a Superman Punch connects for two as the fans are getting a lot more into this stuff. Rhodes pops up with a Cody Cutter for two and a spear gets the same to even the stolen finishers score.

Cross Rhodes connects and the fans get up…as Jimmy Uso runs in (they made it over 20 minutes before getting there) for a superkick. The Superman Punch connects but here is Jey Uso to even the score. The Usos brawl on the ramp and Jey spears Jimmy off of said ramp through some tables. Rhodes grabs a rollup for two but gets speared down for the save. The fans are surprisingly way more into this than I would have expected as you have to know the Rock is on the way.

They go outside again and this time Rhodes spears him through the barricade for the big crash. Back in and two Cross Rhodes connect but here is Solo Sikoa with the Samoan Spike to cut Rhodes off for two. A spear/Samoan Spike combination only gets two and heeeeeere’s John Cena to a ROAR. Cena clears Sikoa out but here is the Rock to go after him (Cena’s look of “oh here we go” is good). A Rock Bottom takes Cena out in a hurry but the Shield music starts up.

Cue Seth Rollins in Shield gear but Reigns cuts him off with a Superman Punch. Rock yells at Mama Rhodes and loads up the weight belt…..and a gong strikes. The lights go out and the Undertaker is here to chokeslam Rock. As great as that was, my goodness what I would have given for the glass to shatter at Wrestlemania one more time.

Reigns gets back up and grabs a chair, but hits Rollins instead. The broken concentration lets Rhodes hit three Cross Rhodes for the pin (with Cole saying FINISH THE STORY in time with the count) and the title at 33:25. Samantha Irvin clearly fighting back tears as she announces the win makes it that much better.

Rating: B. This is a hard one to grade as the entire point of this was to crown Rhodes as the new champion and they got that covered. Given the build, there wasn’t much of anything else that could have been done without killing Rhodes off as a top guy. They had a big match feel and it felt like Rhodes assembled the Avengers to take out the unstoppable force. The build throughout worked too, as Rhodes couldn’t pin him with the single or the double Cross Rhodes but finally did it with the triple.

It did exactly what it needed to do and was a good enough match on the way there. Much like Daniel Bryan winning the title ten years earlier, the ending was the only thing that mattered and everything else was pretty much gravy. Good main event here though, and it did the big goal of ending Reigns’ all time title reign.

One other thing: I watched this show next to a family, including someone who got to come to the show as his high school graduation present. He talked about how this was so much better than anything he could have imagined and the only thing that he didn’t get to see was the Undertaker, his all time favorite wrestler. The gong went off and he started crying over how happy he was at the whole thing. That’s the kind of special reaction you do not get in many things and I love it when you get to see wrestling make it happen.

A bunch of wrestlers come out to celebrate with Rhodes as we get the big crowning of Rhodes as champion. Rhodes even hands the title to his mom as his family gets in the ring. Rhodes gets the mic and asks for Bruce Prichard and HHH to come out here, because it wouldn’t be happening without them. Both come out and HHH holds up Rhodes arm as it’s time to lift Rhodes up on Sami Zayn and Randy Orton’s shoulders. Rhodes goes out and hugs Michael Cole before shaking Rollins’ hand in a nice moment. The ring clears out and Rhodes gets to pose a lot before leaving to end the show.

We get the long highlight package to really wrap us up.

Overall Rating: B+. I liked this one better than Night One overall, with only the six man street fight feeling a bit beneath the standard. The show was built entirely around the main event and that worked well, with Bayley vs. Sky and the US Title match being nice moments. We also had the big title changes to start the show and it made for a good event. As usual though, the whole thing is about a feel good moment and that’s all it needed to be. WWE knows how to do these big milestone Wrestlemanias and they did it again here, as the new era feels like it is officially under way.

Ratings Comparison

Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre

Original: B-
Redo: B-

Drew McIntyre vs. Damian Priest

Original: N/A
Redo: N/A

Final Testament vs. Bobby Lashley/Street Profits

Original: C
Redo: C

AJ Styles vs. LA Knight

Original: B-
Redo: B-

Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens vs. Logan Paul

Original: C+
Redo: B

Bayley vs. Iyo Sky

Original: B
Redo: B+

Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns

Original: B+
Redo: B

Overall Rating

Original: B+
Redo: B+

Yeah I underrated that triple threat match as it was a lot more fun than that. Still though, pretty solid show all around.

 

 

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

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Wrestlemania XXXVIII Night Two
Date: April 3, 2022
Location: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas
Attendance: 78,453
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves, Jimmy Smith
America The Beautiful: Jesse James Decker

It’s the second half of the show and WWE has a lot to live up to after the first night. This half is built around the unification match for the WWE and Universal Titles as Brock Lesnar faces Roman Reigns in the BIGGEST WRESTLEMANIA MATCH EVER (THIS YEAR!). Other than that, Pat McAfee is facing Austin Theory in a match that has gotten a lot of TV time. Let’s get to it.

I was in the stadium for this show, sitting in the third deck with the stage on my right.

Jesse James Decker performs America The Beautiful.

Video on Night One.

Mark Walhberg talks about how the sequel is almost never quite as good as the original, but it might be tonight. This is going to be all about the emotions and it’s not edge of your seat, but out of your seat. Points for doing a separate video instead of the same one again.

Here is HHH to get things going. He gets his full entrance and poses on every corner…before being handed a pair of boots. With the boots in the ring, he thanks the fans and welcomes us to Wrestlemania as pyro goes off. HHH goes over to hug his family (including Stephanie McMahon, his children and others) and leaves to the side of the ramp. This would be his retirement due to his heart issues and you can probably imagine he was going to have at least one more big match.

Gable Steveson is here again.

Raw Tag Team Titles: RKBro vs. Alpha Academy vs. Street Profits

RKBro is defending and these teams have been fighting over the titles for weeks, with only the Profits not winning them at some point. Otis cleans house to start before all six get in for the big brawl. With the ring clearing out, Ford hits the big running flip dive to the floor, followed by Gable moonsaulting onto almost everyone. Back in and Otis splashes Riddle but slaps him around instead of covering.

Gable comes in to work on Riddle’s leg but Riddle fights up. Ford is back in and gets over to Dawkins for the tag so house can be cleaned. Otis splashes Dawkins and Riddle but misses a charge into the corner. Riddle Bro To Sleeps Dawkins and Orton comes in to clean house. The Academy is dropped onto the announcers’ table but Otis is back up to take out everyone else. Gable is back up with a Steiner Bulldog for two on Ford but Dawkins breaks up a Vader Bomb.

The Profits hit a Doomsday Blockbuster on Gable before knocking Riddle outside. Dawkins blocks the RKO and hits a spinebuster on Orton before flip diving onto Otis. Ford loads up a frog splash….but Riddle springboards to the top to RKO him back down in an awesome spot. Not to be outdone, Gable goes up but Orton pulls him out of the air into the RKO to retain at 11:32.

Rating: B-. This was the usual wild triple threat match that would have felt fine on a big time house show. Watching Riddle and Orton hit one RKO after another is always fun as they really did have it down to a science. While it was entertaining, I couldn’t have told you this opened the show to save my life as it had absolutely no staying power.

Post match the Profits and RKO are ready to share a drink. Hold on though as they want Gable Steveson to join them. Steveson gets in, but Gable knocks the cup out of his hand. Orton and Riddle look stunned (Orton’s face is hilarious) as Steveson takes his shirt off. Gable demands respect as the ring clears out. Gable even has some advice for Steveson: SHHHHHHHHHHUSH! That earns him an overhead belly to belly and now the toasting can ensue.

Bobby Lashley vs. Omos

No MVP here despite him being Lashley’s manager. Omos powers him down to start and then drives Lashley face first into a knee. Lashley tries to power out of a head vice but gets clotheslined down instead. Omos hits a charge in the corner (or close to it, as he somehow missed a running splash) but Lashley starts hammering away. The Hurt Lock is blocked though and Omos clotheslines him down.

Lashley manages to catch him on the ropes and goes up, only to be pulled out of the air for a fireman’s carry slam. Back up and Lashley charges into a bearhug, which is driven hard into the corner. The bearhug goes on again but Lashley fights out again and slugs away. Somehow Lashley manages a suplex (egads) and a spear to the back sets up the regular version to finish Omos at 6:36.

Rating: C-. This was the spectacle match of the show and it was only so good. There are only so many things that Omos can do in the ring and Lashley made it work as well as it could. Not a good match but they did keep it short and it didn’t get too insane. The suplex worked as a big spot too so it could have been worse, as weak as it was.

We recap Johnny Knoxville vs. Sami Zayn. Knoxville was in the Royal Rumble to do publicity for his new Jackass movie and Zayn freaked out, sending him into an obsessive feud to destroy Knoxville once and for all. Then Knoxville fought back by having Zayn’s phone number flown on a banner above Los Angeles, resulting in Zayn receiving 60,000+ texts. The solution: an anything goes match.

Sami Zayn vs. Johnny Knoxville

Anything goes and Zayn kicks him in the face at the bell to start fast. They head outside with Zayn sending him into the barricade right in front of the Jackass crew. The crew goes after him, allowing Knoxville to come up with a fire extinguisher blast for a breather. Back in and Zayn busts out the cookie sheet to take over before switching over to a crutch. With that broken over Knoxville’s back, it’s time to bring in a table (of course).

Zayn goes for another table….and gets his hand caught in a mouse trap. It seems that there is a table covered in them (because reasons of Knoxville) and the delay lets Knoxville bang some trashcan lids around Zayn’s head. Knoxville sets up the table in the corner but gets suplexed through it instead. The helluva Kick is loaded up but Knoxville whips out an airhorn to cut it off.

Cue part of the Jackass crew, with a guy described as a party boy dancing and stripping (Cole: “It’s Naked Mideon 2.0!”). Zayn takes him out and Knoxville uses the distraction to grab a rollup for two. With the party boy kicked underneath the ring, Wee Man (he’s short) pops out and beats Zayn up, including a slam back inside (the place goes NUTS for that). Knoxville’s tornado DDT gets two as commentary is losing it over this whole thing.

Wee Man pulls out a machine with a boot attached and designed to kick someone low. Instead Zayn kicks him in the face and sends him outside before going up top. That’s fine with Knoxville, who whips out a remote control to spray pyro from the corner Zayn is standing on. With Zayn down in the corner, there’s a bowling ball between the legs and then the boot machine kicks him low again.

Knoxville whips out a tazer (sure) so Zayn runs….right into a giant hand that slaps him in the face. Back in and Zayn grabs a suplex before going up again. This time, Knoxville tongs him low and sends Zayn flying through the mousetrap table. Now the Jackass crew pulls out a giant mousetrap (just go with it) and Knoxville tazes Zayn onto it, with the trap springing for the pin (ignore Zayn’s shoulders being on the trap and not the mat) at 14:33.

Rating: B-. This is the definition of “it wasn’t for me”, but the stadium was going NUTS for the whole thing and they embraced everything insane about the whole thing. It was a total stunt show instead of a match (which is what it needed to be) and Zayn got wrecked by one stunt after another. I never need to see it again, but for a one off, it was goofy fun. Less than three weeks later, Zayn would need something to make him feel better after all this, so he started talking to the Bloodline. Not bad for a next step.

Here’s part of Drew McIntyre beating Happy Corbin last night and then cutting the ring ropes.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Sasha Banks/Naomi vs. Carmella/Queen Zelina vs. Liv Morgan/Rhea Ripley vs. Natalya/Shayna Baszler

One fall and Carmella/Vega are defending. Banks and Naomi ride out in a rather expensive looking car while Liv and Rhea have something of a Catwoman/Donnie Darko theme. Ripley starts and no one wants to fight her until Banks comes in for the staredown. Banks gets powered down but comes back up with an armbar that doesn’t last long. Riptide is blocked and Banks realizes she needs to think twice here.

Naomi comes in but everything breaks down with most of the, going outside. Banks and Morgan both hit dives before going back inside for a staredown. Back to back Codebreakers rock Morgan and Oblivion makes it worse, only to have Natalya take Morgan down. Baszler comes in and stomps on Morgan’s leg as things slow back down. The leg cranking ensues before Carmella comes in to send Morgan into the corner.

Everything breaks down again with Carmella hurricanranaing Ripley off the top. Naomi and Banks hit double Eat Defeat on Morgan and go up, only to have it broken up. That means stereo Towers of Doom, with Morgan and Ripley handling the powerbombs. Everyone is down for a bit until Riptide into a backstabber gives Ripley two on Naomi.

Morgan breaks up Baszler’s cover on Naomi and gets faceplanted for her efforts. A Hart Attack is broken up and Carmella takes Naomi down for some near falls. Banks is back in with a frog splash to Carmella but Vega breaks up the Crossface. The Meteora from the apron hits Vega and Naomi kicks Carmella in the head. A wheelbarrow slam/Codebreaker combination hits Carmella to give Banks the pin and the titles at 10:50.

Rating: C. It wasn’t exactly great and as usual, there were so many people here that it might as well have been a free for all. The wrestling was only so good and the titles feeling so completely unimportant doesn’t help. These feel like thrown together teams fighting over the titles and that doesn’t quite make it feel Wrestlemania worthy. If these titles are supposed to mean something, stop having makeshift teams fighting over them. At least you now have a steady pair of hands in Naomi and Banks to hold them, as they should be fine for a long time to come.

We look back at Miz and Logan Paul beating the Mysterios and then breaking up because Paul wanted to leave as a good guy.

We recap Edge vs. AJ Styles. Edge wanted a special opponent so Styles accepted, only for Edge to go full villain and Conchairto him. Now Styles is back and wanting revenge.

AJ Styles vs. Edge

Styles is bleeding from the side of his face, apparently having hit himself on the set on the way in. Since it’s Wrestlemania, Edge rises up onto a throne surrounded by fire. They stare at each other to start until Styles starts knocking him away. The dropkick looks to set up the Calf Crusher but Edge is straight over to the ropes. Back up and Edge is sent outside, with Styles ramming him head first into the steps to make things more violent.

The springboard 450 hits raised knees back inside, with Edge holding his knee in something that rarely happens off of that counter. Edge’s knee is fine enough for the posing before he kicks away at Styles. The abdominal stretch goes on but Styles goes after the knee to break it up. A shoulder breaker cuts Styles down again though and they’re down long enough that we can look at some of the giant graphics for the match around the stadium.

Back up and Styles misses a hard charge into the corner and they’re both down again. Edge hits a Codebreaker onto the bad arm and it’s time to crank on both arms at once. Styles can’t Pele his way out of trouble as Edge pulls him into an STF, which he switches into a Crossface (sounds like a Samoa Joe fan). That’s broken up with a quick rope break and we slow down again.

Edge misses a spear and Styles grabs a slingshot DDT for the double knockdown (again). Styles goes up top but gets caught by Edge. That doesn’t work either, as Styles slips out and kicks the bad knee, setting up a torture rack spun into a powerbomb for two more. Edge is back up but charges into a German suplex to put them both down again. They slug it out until Styles manages a Pele Kick but the Calf Crusher is blocked again.

The Crossface has Styles in big trouble until he rolls his way to freedom. The Edge-O-Matic gives Edge two and a slingshot powerbomb gets the same. They both take their time getting up and head to the corner, where Styles superplexes him down onto the apron (ouch). Back in and the springboard 450 hits Edge’s back for two. The Phenomenal Forearm and spear both miss so Styles hits the Styles Clash for a rather near fall. Styles loads up the Phenomenal Forearm….but Damien Priest (US Champion at the time) is here to offer him a distraction. The delay lets Edge spear Styles out of the air for the pin at 24:26.

Rating: B. This was a good, hard hitting match that felt like it belonged on the big stage, but the double downs got a bit repetitive as they probably burned off five minutes of just laying on the mat. The distraction finish was a bit annoying as well as it just cut everything else off, but it certainly seemed to set up something for the future. Either way, best match of the night so far.

Tonight’s attendance: 78,354.

Byron Saxton replaces Pat McAfee, who has to get ready for his match with Austin Theory.

Brawling Brutes vs. New Day

Butch is here with the Brutes. New Day has Big E. inspired gear, even down to the singlets, for a nice touch. Butch loses his mind on the floor before the bell and the brawl is on inside. The bell rings and Kofi hits Trouble In Paradise on Holland. Sheamus pulls Kofi outside though, leaving Woods to make a save. Back in and Kofi seems to leave a top rope shot to the face a bit short as Woods takes the straps down.

A running Downward Spiral hits Holland but Sheamus Brogue Kicks Kofi on the floor. Back in and Woods superkicks Holland (he’s taking a beating here)…but Sheamus Brogue Kicks Woods silly. Northern Grit finishes Woods at 1:42. So Big E.’s career might have been ended and his team loses in less than two minutes at Wrestlemania. This place isn’t nice to New Day (as they lost to the League Of Nations here in 2016 as well).

We look back at Cody Rhodes returning and facing Seth Rollins. These recaps might as well have a big sign saying FILLER. Or PEACOCK COMMERCIALS.

The Hall of Fame class is honored again, with only Undertaker coming out in person. Undertaker comes out, waves, and that’s it. I’m not sure why this needed to happen two nights in a row and the way it happened again made me think it was going to be an angle but…yeah nothing, even after it goes on for a good while.

We recap Pat McAfee vs. Austin Theory. McAfee talks about everything he has accomplished from the NFL to his talk show, but he has always been a fan who wanted to wrestle. He even trained to wrestle with Rip Rogers before he came to WWE so he has a background. Vince McMahon was a guest on the Pat McAfee Show and offered McAfee a chance for a match. This wound up being against Theory, who has tormented him ever since, with McAfee chasing after him and annoying McMahon in the process.

Austin Theory vs. Pat McAfee

Vince McMahon personally introduces Theory (as a future Universal Champion). McAfee on the other hand has the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders with him in an appropriate entrance. Some right hands have Theory in trouble early but he goes to McAfee’s throat to cut him down. A jumping back elbow has Theory down again as the fans are rather into McAfee. There’s a hurricanrana for two but Theory plants him and smiles down at Vince.

McAfee manages a quick suplex for a breather and Theory heads out to the apron. They head outside and McAfee grabs a headset to say hi to his parents before pouring ice over Theory. Back in and a heck of a Swanton misses for McAfee so Theory grabs a belly to back slam for two.

Theory goes up but McAfee catches him on top, only to be shoved off. That’s fine with McAfee, who does a pretty sweet moonsault to land on his feet. A jump up to the top (that was cool) sets up a top rope superplex (McAfee shouldn’t be this good this soon) for a delayed two on Theory. Back up and Theory gets in a shot and tries A Town Down, which is countered into a rollup to give McAfee the pin at 9:43.

Rating: B. This was a heck of a celebrity match as McAfee got to show off his athleticism (that jump to the top into the superplex was very good). McAfee is one of those guys who seems to just “get” wrestling and that is one of the most valuable things anyone can have. McAfee had to win after the build to the match and it was good stuff, as McAfee can talk and actually back it up.

Post match McAfee celebrates and Vince is ticked. Vince is so ticked….that he takes his jacket off (the place is VERY interested). The shirt comes off and Vince gets in the ring (Cole: “WHY IS THERE A REFEREE IN THE RING???”). It seems that we’re doing this but Theory jumps McAfee from behind. Let’s ring that bell.

Vince McMahon vs. Pat McAfee

McMahon clotheslines him at the bell and then does it again, earning a YOU STILL GOT IT chant. The stall is on but McAfee Colts Up but McMahon distracts the referee, allowing Theory to crotch McAfee against the post. With McAfee down, McMahon gets a Dallas Cowboys football and punts it into McAfee’s stomach for the pin at 3:44.

Rating: D-. So that’s how the crowd gets killed after being on fire from the McAfee match. One might think it would have been a better idea to put Theory over if they wanted to go this way, but seeing McMahon in the ring for (probably) one last time is a special moment. That being said, this wasn’t a match for the most part and the ending was awful, but what else were you expecting?

Post match Vince and Theory hug and Vince seems a big scared by Theory’s music playing. Then the glass shatters and Vince has a better reason to be afraid. Steve Austin comes out, beats up Theory, gives McMahon the all time worst Stunner (as Vince falls down both before and after) and drinks beer (good thing it was ready in case he made a surprise appearance) with McAfee. Then he Stuns McAfee, who probably could not be more thrilled.

We look at Bianca Belair’s marching band entrance before she won the Raw Women’s Title.

Wrestlemania XXXIX is in Los Angeles.

We recap Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns in a World Title unification match. Reigns has been Universal Champion for a year and a Lesnar has held the title for about five minutes. Now they’re unifying them because Reigns vs. Lesnar must headline at least one major event every year until the end of time.

Universal Title/WWE Title: Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar

Winner take all and Paul Heyman is here with Reigns (the Usos come to the ring with him but head to the back before the match). Heyman and Lesnar handle the intros (Lesnar has done that a time or two) before the latter takes off his gloves to start the match. Reigns hammers away and drives him into the corner a few times without much trouble. Three straight suplexes have Reigns in trouble and a clothesline puts him on the floor. Heyman offers a distraction though (Heyman: “I’ve always loved you. It was Roman’s idea!”) and Reigns hits a spear through the barricade.

Back in and Reigns hits another spear for two and a pair of Superman Punches drop Lesnar again. Lesnar is right back up with five German suplexes but the F5 is countered into a Superman Punch. Another spear is countered into the F5 to give Lesnar two of his own as they’re firmly in their signature formula here. Another F5 is countered and Reigns drives Lesnar into the referee in the corner.

A low blow and belt shot give Reigns two and Reigns spears him from behind (ala Lashley about two and a half hours ago, which commentary does note) for the same. Reigns tries another spear but lands in the Kimura, sending Reigns to the ropes this time. Reigns can be heard telling Heyman that his shoulder is “out”, only to spear Lesnar down for the pin at 12:17 (Heyman looked stunned on the pin).

Rating: C+. Yes the action was probably better than that but I’m so completely done with caring about these two having their same match over and over. WWE treated these two as the biggest stars in the company for so long that this is the only way they can finish Wrestlemania. That doesn’t make it interesting though, as Lesnar didn’t feel like a threat and they did the same match they have done almost every time after their first. But hey, at least the ultra dominant Reigns is now even more ultra dominant right? To be fair that wound up working, but finding a better way there would have been appreciated.

Reigns celebrates and a lot of pyro ends the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This was a weird one as there are good things about the show, but a lot of it feels like they were trying to fill in time. Too many of the matches came off as things that they needed to do rather than things they wanted to do and it made things a lot less interesting than the previous night. The good stuff is good and it had some moments (one more time for Austin and McMahon, the Knoxville/Zayn stuff and the title unification) but it felt like a pale comparison to Night One, which isn’t something to brag about whatsoever. Not a bad show at all, but you might want to pick and choose.

Overall Overall Rating: B. The show overall is good, but more of the good comes from Night One, which had the action to go with the moments. If they wanted to balance it out a lot more, moving Cody’s return to the other night would have helped, as outside of the main event, the second night didn’t have the deepest lineup. It’s a rather good Wrestlemania overall, but man it feels like an eternity has passed in the last year. Night One is definitely worth a watch though, as it feels like a Wrestlemania. Balance it out a bit and cut down on Night Two (or give us one really long night) and it’s that much better, but this did work.

 

Ratings Comparison

RKBro vs. Street Profits vs. Alpha Academy

Original: B-
Redo: B-

Omos vs. Bobby Lashley

Original: D+
Redo: C-

Johnny Knoxville vs. Sami Zayn

Original: C+
Redo: B-

Sasha Banks/Naomi vs. Natalya/Shayna Baszler vs. Carmella/Queen Zelina vs. Liv Morgan/Rhea Ripley

Original: D+
Redo: C

AJ Styles vs. Edge

Original: B-
Redo: B

New Day vs. Brawling Brutes

Original: N/A
Redo: N/A

Pat McAfee vs. Austin Theory

Original: C+
Redo: B

Vince McMahon vs. Pat McAfee

Original: D+
Redo: D-

Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar

Original: C+
Redo: C+

Overall Rating

Original: C
Redo: B-

Overall Overall Rating

Original: B-
Redo: B

So the second night was mostly better across the board and then the overall overall rating is barely up? That’s a weird one, but this show was a better sit after a year away so maybe it does have some staying power.

Wrestlemania XXXVII Night One
Date: April 10, 2021
Location: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida
Attendance: 25,675
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Samoa Joe, Byron Saxton
America the Beautiful: Bebe Rexha

Here we have an interesting one, as it’s the first show in a LONG time with fans. While this wouldn’t be a permanent change, it was more than a big deal as it felt like an actual Wrestlemania after the previous year’s…whatever you want to call that at the Performance Center. We’re still doing the two night thing and that should make for a big difference. Let’s get to it.

Just like last year, the theme is pirate related, as we’re in the home of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This means a big WWE themed pirate ship, which looks incredible. WWE knows how to do this stuff and it pretty much never fails.

Here is Vince McMahon on the stage, with a bunch of the roster behind him, to talk about how the wrestlers have worked to get us through the pandemic. There has been something missing though and that is all of the people. McMahon thanks the fans and welcomes us to Wrestlemania. That’s a nice moment and it makes things feel that much bigger.

Bebe Rexha, and her guitar player, perform America The Beautiful.

The opening video talks about how the company is back in business after a very long wait. This is going to be a high seas, high stakes adventure and it’s going to be bigger than the history of history. Hold on though as the Jack Sparrow impersonator from last year comes in to say that line was rotten so we’ll go back to where we were last year.

The video switches into a Pirates Of The Caribbean style look at various stars, followed by a more standard opening video. Sparrow: “Now how’s that for a cold open?” The other voice wants a big finish though, meaning we get the big WELCOME TO WRESTLEMANIA voice. Points for creativity and a bit of humor at least.

Commentary welcomes us to the show…and for the first time ever, we have a WEATHER DELAY. The fans bust out the ponchos as commentary tries to fill in time by talking about the announced opener of Drew McIntyre challenging Bobby Lashley for the Raw World Title.

Thankfully WWE gets smart and lets its wrestlers talk to fill in some time. Shane McMahon is ready to take Braun Strowman out but he doesn’t have a problem with him. Yeah he suggested Strowman was stupid, but think of the things he can do when they’re in a cage tonight.

MVP and Bobby Lashley come in to say this will be the crowning moment of the Almighty Era. It’s all over for Drew McIntyre, who is going to lose his dignity, his consciousness, and the match. McIntyre comes in to tell MVP to keep talking but say it to his face. Mother Nature can’t save Lashley because McIntyre will fight him back here if he has to. Everything is broken up and McIntyre is a bit shaken up, saying he needs to be out there in front of the fans because he’s waited for such a long time for this to happen. McIntyre really doesn’t seem smooth at talking off the top of his head.

The Kickoff Show panel chats a bit with JBL hyping this up as much as he can.

New Day is ready for AJ Styles and Omos because they’re fighting champions. Are Omos and Styles even a registered tag team? New Day knows there are bigger people out there and they really don’t care. Big E. comes in to sing the team’s praises and my goodness this man missed his calling as a preacher. Woods: “I AM DELIVERED!”

Commentary laughs about the rain delay and Cole tries to dub it Wrestlerania, which goes over as well as most of his jokes.

Braun Strowman is ready to prove that bullies do not win as he gives Shane McMahon the beating of his life. Not a bad promo here.

The Kickoff Show panel praise Vince McMahon’s opening of the show. This feels like filler as they try to find someone else to interview, which is fine.

Kevin Owens, naturally in the KO Mania V shirt, talks about meeting Sami Zayn back in 2002 and seeing the passion in him. They’ve wrestled each other around the world, literally doing this hundreds of times. People told them that they wouldn’t make it to the show and now they’re doing it again at Wrestlemania. They’ve been through all kinds of things and now he’s going to Stun someone. If Logan Paul, who is going to be at the match, has something to say about that, he’ll be in the ring. Good stuff here, as Owens can talk and was handed a microphone to do just that.

Cole and Joe are now in ponchos (Saxton’s microphone has died) and now they have about five minutes before the show can start up.

Bianca Belair isn’t scared of Sasha Banks because she’s ready to prove herself. The best thing though is that the fans will be there to see it. You could tell this was off the top of her head and she did fine.

Seth Rollins can’t remember Kevin Patrick’s name (“It’s Mike right?”) and doesn’t like being asked about “Zazaro” swinging him a record number of times. He doesn’t get the disrespect but he’s ready to show why he’s the new Mr. Wrestlemania. Rollins wraps it up and dubs him “Kevin-Mike”. Rollins: “Can we hyphenate?”

Miz and John Morrison are ready for the scumbags that are Damian Priest and Bad Bunny. Priest can never be as moist as Johnny Drip Drip. Miz hypes up the show as being the biggest in the world but I’m trying to get over the Drip Drip thing.

The Kickoff Show says the announcement has been made and the fans are coming back in.

We get a video on Bobby Lashley vs. Drew McIntyre for the Raw World Title. Miz cashed in the Money In The Bank briefcase on McIntyre but Lashley beat him a few days later. McIntyre has been on a roll lately but wants to get the title back because he wants his moment in front of fans after beating Brock Lesnar in an empty Performance Center last year. Fair enough. Of note: you can hear some of the production audio leaking over the video, which is always interesting.

Commentary fills in a bit more time as the fans get back to their seats.

Here are Titus O’Neil (this year’s Warrior Award recipient) and Hulk Hogan, this year’s hosts. They hype things up and the fans don’t seem thrilled to see Hogan. We’re kicking it off with the Raw World Title match and thankfully Hogan doesn’t make any major blunders.

Of note: absolutely none of the delay stuff is on Netflix, which goes from the opening video to O’Neil and Hogan’s entrances. This is better than Peacock’s version, which was cut into two parts and all messed up. I’ll call it progress, even with less content.

In what I’m guessing is another issue with the editing, here’s the Lashley vs. McIntyre video again.

Raw World Title: Bobby Lashley vs. Drew McIntyre

Lashley, with MVP, is defending. They fight over a lockup and trade knockdowns off some shoulders. With that going even, they hit each other in the face with Lashley getting the better of things. McIntyre’s clothesline puts Lashley on the floor, where he rams McIntyre into the barricade to take over again. A neckbreaker gives Lashley two and he shrugs off McIntyre’s attempt to go after the arm.

McIntyre fights up with the clothesline comeback, followed by the overhead belly to belly. A northern lights suplex gives McIntyre one but Lashley is back with the spinning faceplant. McIntyre charges into a spinebuster for two more and Lashley is getting mad. The Hurt Lock attempt is broken up though and McIntyre sends him into the corner for the reverse Alabama Slam. McIntyre loads up a superplex but gets knocked into the Tree Of Woe. As is his custom, McIntyre sits up for the belly to belly superplex to send Lashley crashing.

The Claymore is countered into the spinebuster…and McIntyre nips up. McIntyre is back with three straight Futureshocks for two and McIntyre seems to know he’s in trouble. The threat of the Claymore sends Lashley outside so McIntyre hits the big no hands flip dive take out both Lashley and MVP.

Back in and McIntyre dives into a Downward Spiral but the Hurt Lock is blocked. Another spinebuster is countered into the Kimura of all things, with Lashley making the rope. The Glasgow Kiss looks to set up the Claymore but MVP yells at McIntyre, allowing Lashley to get out of the way. Now the Hurt Lock goes on and McIntyre can’t even use the corner to roll out. McIntyre passes out at 18:50.

Rating: B. This was exactly what it should have been with two big strong guys beating the fire out of each other. You don’t get that kind of a fight very often and it worked rather well, with Lashley getting a genuinely impressive win. McIntyre didn’t so much get beaten as much as he got caught, though Lashley was looking awesome here, even in defeat. Rather good opener.

Titus O’Neil and the NWO are in the back when Bayley interrupts. She knows they’re the hosts of Wrestlemania and she hosts her own show. She does the Too Sweet deal but no one will do it back to her. X-Pac says he’s a big fan and does it, with Hall pretty clearly having no idea who Bayley is but doing it anyway. The rest walk away. You know this was a blast for Bayley.

Women’s Tag Team Turmoil

For a Women’s Tag Team Title shot on Night Two. Naomi/Lana are in at #1 and Billie Kay/Carmella are in at #2. Even commentary admits that Carmella and Kay are thrown together but Graves would rather just look at Carmella. Naomi takes Carmella down to start and Lana is in for a bulldog and some dancing back up. Lana gets sent into the wrong corner but fights out in a hurry, allowing Naomi to come in and clean house. The springboard kick to the face lets Lana tag herself in and…complete miss on…something commentary didn’t even recognize. A double X Factor plants Carmella but Kay makes the save. Kay rolls Naomi up and Carmella’s assist gets the pin at 2:21.

The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott/Liv Morgan in this case) is in at #3 and Riott starts cleaning house. Morgan gets sent into the wrong corner but fights out rather easily, allowing the tag back to Riott. A backbreaker into a top rope backsplash (crushing Kay between Riott and Morgan’s knees) gives Riott the pin at 4:58.

Carmella isn’t happy and superkicks Morgan (who shoves Riott out of the way) as Dana Brooke and Mandy Rose are in at #4 (with the camera hiding Rose slipping on the ramp). Rose starts fast with a running knee and a Blockbustr for two on Riott, with Morgan making the save. Brooke’s running flipping neckbreaker gets two more but Riott rolls Rose up for two. The Riott Kick connects and Morgan comes back in as everything breaks down. Riott is sent outside and it’s a superplex into Brooke’s Swanton for the…not pin on Morgan as she reverses into a small package to pin Brooke at 9:18.

Even the ring announcer gets the elimination announcement wrong and has to issue a correction. Natalya and Tamina are in at #5 and things slow down. Natalya powerbombs Morgan for two and Tamina grabs a fireman’s carry. That’s escaped as Morgan makes it into the corner and grabs a Codebreaker, allowing Riott’s top rope backsplash to connect for two. Morgan comes back in and charges into Tamina’s superkick. That means a Hart Attack (right after commentary brought up Natalya not wanting to live off of her family’s name) into the Superfly Splash to give Tamina the final pin at 14:06.

Rating: D+. What am I supposed to get out of this? The tag division was basically non-existent at this point with a bunch of thrown together teams just like this. Natalya and Tamina aren’t interesting on their own so having them together isn’t going to make it much better. There was about one regular team in here and that’s not enough to carry a five team match.

Seth Rollins vs. Cesaro

This is over Rollins mocking Cesaro for never winning anything on his own, while Rollins is a big success. They were playing up something like a Rollins political campaign, which didn’t exactly work but a lot of people have tried it over the years. Cesaro charges at him with the uppercut to start but a pair of early Swing attempts are blocked. Rollins grabs a buckle bomb for two and we slow way back down.

A superplex floated into the regular version gives Rollins two more and frustration is setting in. Back up and they strike it out with Cesaro getting the better of things but the Swing is countered again. Rollins kicks him in the headbutt misses the Stomp, allowing Cesaro to get the Swing. Cesaro tries the Sharpshooter, sending Rollins over to the ropes. An uppercut misses in the corner though and Cesaro’s arm is banged up.

Rollins knocks him down again and hits a corkscrew top rope splash for two. Cesaro hits a quick Neutralizer for two, only to get caught in the Pedigree for the same. Rollins yells about surviving the Swing and hits him in the back of the neck, followed by a kick to the back of the head. Cesaro isn’t having this and hits an uppercut into the UFO (because that’s something a human can do). A 23 revolution Swing sets up the Neutralizer to finish Rollins at 11:34.

Rating: B. This was about Cesaro showing that he could do this on the big stage and it worked rather well. It’s something that fans had been wanting to see for a long time and it lead to Cesaro’s World Title shot in the main event of Backlash. They set up the Swing as being the big deal to make Rollins eat his words. In other words, build up the story and then pay it off with the good guy winning. Nice stuff.

We look at Jey Uso winning the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal and Robert Roode/Dolph Ziggler retaining the Smackdown Tag Team Titles last night.

Roode and Ziggler brag about their success but think Omos and AJ Styles are going to take out the New Day.

Raw Tag Team Titles: AJ Styles/Omos vs. New Day

New Day is defending. Kingston can’t get an SOS on Styles to start but can escape an attempt at the Calf Crusher. Styles gets knocked into the corner and it’s time for some trombone inspired dancing. A blind tag brings in Woods for an elbow and a near fall so we hit the chinlock (Woods: “AJ! YOU ARE NOT A TAG TEAM WRESTLER! WE ARE EFFECTIVELY CUTTING THE RING IN HALF!”).

The unicorn Stampede has Styles down in the corner and Woods grabs a headlock but has to drag Styles away from the corner. It’s back to Kingston to continue the game of “keep the giant out of here”, including a middle rope double stomp to Styles. An enziguri misses and Kingston is back in with a springboard splash to the back.

Styles gets in a quick shot though and it’s off to Omos, who doesn’t seem pleased with Woods. The kicks to the leg and a dropkick are shrugged off and Kingston is knocked down as well. Some running elbows in the corner set up a backbreaker to Woods and Kingston is swatted away as well. A Phenomenal Forearm off Omos’ shoulders drops Woods and it’s a chokebomb finishes Kingston for the titles at 9:49.

Rating: C. This was a weird one as it was mostly Styles getting beaten up with the champs trying to avoid getting massacred by Omos. That’s a formula that has been done before (the Horsemen basically did the same thing against Kevin Sullivan and the Giant at Bash At The Beach 1996) and it still works. Omos and Styles don’t need to be this all time team, but they were good enough as a way to make Omos look like an unstoppable force.

We recap Shane McMahon vs. Braun Strowman. McMahon has decided to bully Strowman vs. being stupid (making it brains vs. brawn) but then kept running instead of fighting (including faking a knee injury). The result if a cage match and McMahon can’t run anymore.

Jerry Lawler is on commentary.

Shane McMahon vs. Braun Strowman

Inside of a cage (somehow the first non-Cell cage match since Wrestlemania II). McMahon won’t let the door open so here are Elias and Jaxson Ryker (McMahon’s cronies) to chair Strowman down. Strowman is sent inside and McMahon starts chairing away, only for Strowman to take the chair away. A shot to Strowman’s knee cuts him off again but it’s still not good enough to keep Strowman down.

Strowman threatens McMahon with GETTING THESE HANDS but some quick strikes slow Strowman again. McMahon tries to climb out and grabs a metal sheet off the top of the cage. Some shots to the back and another to the head get one on Strowman, who launches McMahon off the cover. McMahon gets launched into the cage a few times and a splash crushes him against the steel again.

The running powerslam is broken up though and a spinning DDT drops Strowman. A Coast To Coast hits Strowman in the ribs for two so Ryker and Elias try to help McMahon climb out. Strowman knocks the two of them off the side of the cage, sending McMahon crashing down. McMahon goes back up and finds a well placed toolbox to knock Strowman off.

That lets McMahon climb down…but Strowman rips the cage open and pulls him back inside for another beating. They both go back up top and stand on top of the cage, with Strowman just throwing McMahon back down. It’s time for vengeance though as Strowman goes back inside, yells at him, and hits the running powerslam for the pin at 11:27.

Rating: C. I’m not sure what to make of this, as Strowman wrecked McMahon the second he got his hands on him, as he should have. At the same time, it wasn’t exactly a great cage match, as it didn’t really come off as something that belonged at Wrestlemania. Maybe Extreme Rules, but not here. Good enough, but nothing special save for McMahon’s big crash.

Here’s some pyro. No idea why, but here it is.

Commentary talks about the Hall Of Fame but Bayley interrupts to call Michael Cole an idiot. She throws us to the package on the 2020 Hall Of Fame class, who didn’t get to have a special induction due to the pandemic.

Here’s the Class Of 2020:

John Bradshaw Layfield (yeah fine)
William Shatner (sure why not)
Bella Twins (moving on)
Jushin Thunder Liger (yep)
Titus O’Neil (Warrior Award, and they might as well rename it after him for all the stuff he does)
British Bulldog (perfectly acceptable)
New World Order (Hogan/Hall/Nash/X-Pac (yes X-Pac) only and….yeah again can’t argue that)

Batista was supposed to be in this class too but it was postponed due to the pandemic. He wasn’t mentioned here.

Wrestlemania XXXVIII is coming to Dallas (close enough), as announced by Steve Austin. Like he’d have anything to do at that Wrestlemania.

Booker T. joins commentary.

Miz/John Morrison vs. Bad Bunny/Damian Priest

Cue a bunch of bunnies to the ring, which brings out Miz and Morrison for their Bad Bunny diss track, Hey Hey Hop Hop (which is far catchier than it should be). This sends us to the video package, which is basically “Bad Bunny is a celebrity, Miz and Morrison don’t like him, Priest stands up for Bunny, tag match is on”. Bunny comes in on a semi truck for quite the visual.

Morrison backs away from Priest to start so it’s off to Miz vs. Bunny instead. Bunny gets in a right hand to the jaw and Miz realizes he’s in trouble. Another punch sends Miz in to the cornere, where Morrison declares it luck. Miz gets serious and drives him into the corner to take over. Back up and Bunny reverses a hiptoss into an armdrag and Miz is sent outside. Bunny’s la majistral gets two and he stops to dance a bit.

Miz slows things down and sends him face first into the ropes but Bunny snaps off a very spinning headscissors, with Priest getting VERY fired up on the apron. Morrison comes in and gets sent into the corner for a running elbow but the second is cut off. Miz gets in a cheap shot from the apron and Bunny is in trouble for a change. A sunset flip doesn’t get Bunny out of trouble as Miz kicks him in the face for another knockdown.

Bunny gets knocked outside and Morrison even busts out a Spinarooni in front of Booker T. Back in and Priest gets drawn into the ring so the double bunny stomping can ensue. Bunny manages to kick Morrison outside though and it’s a tornado DDT, allowing the tag off to Priest to clean house. The kicks set up South Of Heaven to Miz with Morrison making the save.

Stereo head claps and Falcon Arrows get two each and the villains head outside, with Bunny hitting the big dive onto both of them. Back in and Priest’s Cross Rhodes is countered into the Skull Crushing Finale with Bunny having to make the save. Bunny grabs a Canadian Destroyer to Morrison on the floor, setting up a Doomsday crossbody to give Bunny the pin on Miz at 15:14.

Rating: B-. This is a weird one to look at, as it’s ALL about Bunny, who had some pretty good athleticism and can do the big spots well enough. The match did go on a bit too long and that dragged it down a bit, though it gave the fans what they wanted. Bunny was one of the better celebrity wrestlers and Priest was there to do the heavy lifting. Good enough stuff, but it needed to be a few minutes shorter.

We look back at Lashley beating McIntyre earlier tonight.

We run down the Wrestlemania Sunday card.

We recap Sasha Banks defending the Smackdown Women’s Title against Bianca Belair. This was set up as Belair won the Royal Rumble but Banks wasn’t impressed, setting up their title match.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Bianca Belair vs. Sasha Banks

Belair is challenging. They stare at each other to start and then lock up with Banks shoving her down, only for Belair to pop back up. That means more shoving until Belair pulls a leapfrog out of the air. Belair backflips out of a sunset flip attempt and does her dance, allowing Banks to strike back. A wheelbarrow rollup is countered into a double chickenwing, which Banks reverses into a roll out to the floor.

Banks sends her from the apron into the post to set up a suicide dive…but Belair pulls a suicide dive out of the air. Belair gorilla presses her and walks up the steps for a toss back inside. That has Banks realizing this is different and pulls Belair down, only to get dropped with a running shoulder. A slam, with some squats thrown in, has Banks more in trouble but she gets smart by grabbing the hair. That lets Banks hit a running knee for two before she hammers away on the mat.

The chinlock doesn’t last long as Belair fights up and powers her to the apron. Banks tries to jump back inside and gets caught in a spinebuster so they head outside. That lets Banks grab the hair but Belair uses it to pull her into the steps. Banks’ running knees only hit the barricade and Belair heads back inside. A double slingshot suplex (with Belair having to muscle her up as only she can) puts Banks down and Belair starts running her over to pick up the pace.

Belair hits a running shooting star press to the back, followed by a double chickenwing faceplant. The 450 hits raised knees though and Banks knees her in the face, only to charge into a double powerbomb for two. The third powerbomb is countered into a faceplant and they’re both down again. Banks gets creative with a tornado DDT out of the corner and into a springboard to plant Belair for two more. A frog splash gets two and Banks sends her outside for a ram into the steps.

Back in and Banks ties Belair’s hair around Belair’s arm (ouch), followed by the Bank Statement. Somehow Belair gets over to the ropes so Banks goes up, only to miss a top rope double stomp. Belair’s 450 connects this time and the kickout has her screaming in shock. They fight over the hair and Banks gets in the whip, which sounds like a freaking rifle going off. Again, I know it’s been covered, but that’s from someone’s HAIR. How is that even possible? Anyway the KOD gives Belair the pin and the title at 17:17, with Cole screwing up and saying it’s a kickout before going into celebration mode.

Rating: B+. This turned into a fight and it felt like it belonged in the main event spot. The biggest thing here is that Belair elevated herself, which is something that had to happen. While the Four Horsewomen had done some great things, at some point you need a new generation to follow them. People like Belair were at the top of that list and this was the moment where she arrived. That hair whip spot was insane and Belair won clean, so you can’t ask for much more than that, even with Cole screwing up.

Belair celebrates to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. It’s a good show with some weak spots, though nothing really stood out as a classic/must see moment. The catch with this one was that it was all about getting to be in front of live fans, which really is a big deal after being cooped up in the Thunderdome for so many months. It’s not exactly a must see show, but there’s nothing overly terrible and it has enough good to carry things through.

Ratings Comparison

Drew McIntyre vs. Bobby Lashley

Original: B-
2022 Redo: B
2026 Redo: B

Tag Team Turmoil

Original: D
2022 Redo: D
2026 Redo: D+

Cesaro vs. Seth Rollins

Original: C+
2022 Redo: B-
2026 Redo: B

AJ Styles/Omos vs. New Day

Original: C+
2022 Redo: C
2026 Redo: C

Braun Strowman vs. Shane McMahon

Original: D
2022 Redo: D
2026 Redo: C

Miz/John Morrison vs. Bad Bunny/Damian Priest

Original: C
2022 Redo: B
2026 Redo: B-

Bianca Belair vs. Sasha Banks

Original: B
2022 Redo: B
2026 Redo: B+

Overall Rating

Original: B-
2022 Redo: B-
2026 Redo: B-

 

 

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

Wrestlemania XXXV
Date: April 7, 2019
Location: MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey
Attendance: 82,265
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Renee Young, Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips
America the Beautiful: Yolanda Adams

We’re back to this show after a year away and I’m not sure what to think about this one. I wasn’t in the stadium for this one and for once that is making me remember the show a little bit better. This whole thing is centered around a few matches, as Wrestlemania always tends to be. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Cruiserweight Title: Buddy Murphy vs. Tony Nese

Murphy is defending and this is during Nese’s (who won a tournament to get here) not so great face run. First good thing: there are a bunch of people in their seats already so the place doesn’t look ridiculous. Murphy misses a running knee at the bell so Nese hammers away in the corner and tells the fans that this is his Wrestlemania moment. A cartwheel off the apron lets Nese hit him in the jaw but Murphy grabs a fireman’s carry drop onto the corner (Colt Cabana’s Chicago Skyline) as we take a break.

Back with Murphy holding a chinlock but getting suplexed into the corner to cut things off. Some running elbows to the face rock Murphy and the Lionsault, with Murphy hanging in the ropes, gets two. Nese catches him on the ropes with a palm strike, only to get pulled into a Cheeky Nandos kick. A powerbomb into a spinning faceplant gives Murphy two as we get the “still filing in line” from commentary. Murphy’s Law is countered and Nese hits a reverse hurricanrana to put them both down again.

Murphy wins a strike off but Nese is right back with a sunset driver for his own near fall as the fans are finally getting into this. The running Nese doesn’t get to launch so Nese hits the Fosbury Flop instead. Back in and the 450 gets two in a surprising near fall. The jumping knee connects out of nowhere and Murphy’s Law gets two as Nese gets a foot on the rope. Ever the villain, Murphy tries his own running Nese, which is cut off by a superkick. The real running Nese finishes Murphy at 10:44.

Rating: C. The 205 Live guys had several matches that would blow this one away but at least they had a nice moment in the end with the fans getting into things. Nese as a face didn’t exactly click but beating Murphy felt like a bit deal. It’s a nice mini feel good moment to start what is going to be a long night.

Kickoff Show: Wrestlemania Women’s Battle Royal

Zelina Vega, Kairi Sane, Ember Moon, Liv Morgan, Sarah Logan, Ruby Riott, Mandy Rose, Carmella, Maria Kanellis, Asuka, Sonya Deville, Candice LeRae, Naomi, Nikki Cross, Lana, Dana Brooke, Mickie James

Only Naomi and Asuka get entrances. Nikki goes nuts to start and it’s a big brawl, as a battle royal should be. Maria is out in a hurry and Asuka knocks out Candice and Nikki back to back. Ember and Naomi trade hurricanranas until the former hits a quick springboard Eclipse on Lana. Another Eclipse gets rid of Naomi and there’s the real version to Mandy. Ember goes up again but Lana (the one in the designated Captain Marvel attire) shoves her out.

Sane hits an Alabama Slam on Lana and goes up like a schnook, only to get shoved to the apron by Logan. Even the bigger schnook, Logan doesn’t eliminate her but rather joins the rest of the Riott Squad to go after Lana. The elimination doesn’t take long but Sane drops Logan. The Insane Elbow connects, only t have the Squad get together and eliminate Sane without much trouble. An assisted flipping Stunner rocks Vega but AGAIN Logan doesn’t get the elimination.

Instead the Squad goes after Asuka and again they don’t eliminate her. Brooke gets to fight off all three of them and manages a slow motion Thesz press on Morgan. Riott goes after Brooke and gets tossed, with Morgan following her out. Brooke’s handspring elbow hits Vega’s knees though and the running knees in the corner make it worse. Rose and Deville get rid of Vega and Brooke, meaning we can get a big hug.

We’re down to Rose, Deville, Asuka, James, Logan and Carmella, the latter of whom seems to be on the floor because that’s something you have to have in battle royals these days. James hurricanranas Rose to the apron and superkicks her out, only to get dropped by Deville. Asuka beats up Logan and Deville at once but she manages to toss Deville. Logan gets rid of Asuka but, say it with me, Carmella is still in and superkicks Logan out for the win at 10:33.

Rating: D. Holy sweet goodness I can’t stand that finish and yet we seem to get it in every few battle royals (including last year’s women’s battle royal). I know Carmella getting the win is for the sake of the New York fans but egads this feels like a waste of a match, which tends to be the case with so many of these pre-show battle royals. In other words: more of the same stuff that wasn’t good in the first place.

Kickoff Show: Raw Tag Team Titles: Revival vs. Curt Hawkins/Zack Ryder

Revival is defending and picked the match because they thought it would be an easy win. See, Hawkins hasn’t won a match in two and a half years so of course he gets a Wrestlemania title shot (you have to keep the New York crowd happy you see). Dawson shoves Hawkins down to start and then pats him on the cheek in the corner. We get a recap of the Edgeheads as Dawson headlocks Hawkins down.

Ryder comes in as we hear about how the show in “the shadow of New York”, which is acknowledged as New Jersey, likely for one of the only times tonight. A middle rope missile dropkick puts Wilder down but Dawson low bridges him out to the floor. Something close to a top rope Demolition Decapitator gets two and the armbar goes on. Dawson comes back in and rips at the face before working on his own armbar.

That’s enough of that so Wilder grabs another armbar (he’s up 2-1 on Dawson) to keep Ryder down. Ryder fights up again but neckbreakers his way out of a double suplex. With Hawkins being distracted, the champs cheat to set up a hard clothesline for two more. The assisted legdrop gives Wilder two and we hit the chinlock as this keeps going. Ryder finally suplexes his way to freedom and there’s the hot tag to Hawkins.

House is cleaned until it’s a double clothesline to put Hawkins and Dawson down at the same time. The middle rope Rough Ryder hits Dawson but Ryder and Wilder crash out to the floor. Wilder saves Dawson at two and tornado DDTs Ryder on the floor. A brainbuster drops Hawkins outside as well and they’re all down for a bit. Back in and Hawkins is dead but manages a small package for the pin and the titles at 13:20. Hawkins slowly realizing that not only is the match over but that they won is kind of awesome.

Rating: D+. This went on too long but the ending was fine after setting everything up for so long with the losing streak. Hawkins and Ryder are a likable team so it’s not like them winning the titles is a bad idea. Besides, WWE has already taken away anything that the Revival could offer (and yet it would still get worse) so the loss doesn’t do a ton of damage to them anyway.

Kickoff Show: Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

Otis, Karl Anderson, Andrade, Gran Metalik, Chad Gable, Heath Slater, Bo Dallas, Colin Jost Jeff Hardy, No Way Jose, Lince Dorado, Bobby Roode, Konnor, Tyler Breeze, Viktor, Luke Harper, Ali, Apollo Crews, Michael Che, Titus O’Neil, Tucker, Braun Strowman, Shelton Benjamin, Jinder Mahal, Matt Hardy, Curtis Axel, Rhyno, Luke Gallows, EC3, Kalisto

So the big deal here is Jost and Che are from Saturday Night Live and Strowman doesn’t like them. The two of them bail to the floor and hide under the ring as Axel is out in about ten seconds. Dorado takes a SCARY bump to the floor with Breeze, EC3 and Benjamin following him out. There goes Dallas as well but it’s time for a staredown with Strowman and Harper.

That’s broken up in a hurry and Titus gets rid of Slater. As expected, Titus is out a few seconds later off a missed charge and Ali gets rid of Jose. Ascension sends Strowman shoulder first into the post for a crash to the floor (through the ropes so no elimination). Anderson isn’t so lucky as he gets tossed and the Hardys do the same to Rhyno. Roode and Metalik are out next as the ring is starting to empty a bit.

Andrade tosses Kalisto onto Metalik but Gable rolls Andrade with German suplexes. Since it’s Gable though, Andrade throws him out in a hurry, leaving Otis to hit a double Caterpillar on the Ascension. They’re both out as well but Strowman is back in to get rid of Gallows, Tucker and Otis in a row. There goes Mahal as Harper tries to suplex Ali over the top. With Ali hanging upside down, Strowman kicks Harper out, nearly dropping Ali on his head in a very near miss.

We’re down to Strowman, Andrade, Matt, Jeff and Crews in the ring with Che and Jost still underneath the ring. Andrade and Crews go to the apron and Andrade tries a hurricanrana for no intelligent reason in a double elimination. Strowman puts the Hardys on the apron in the battle of North Carolina as Che and Jost get back inside. They can’t get rid of Strowman, who dumps the Hardys and is ready for the destruction.

Jost grabs a mic though and says this doesn’t need to end in violence. He presents his personal therapist, whose breathing exercises earn him a chokeslam. Che tries to eliminate himself but Strowman punches himself out instead. Strowman misses a charge and almost gets eliminated but powers through it and tosses Jost for the win at 10:27.

Rating: D+. Yeah it’s stupid and the SNL guys added nothing to the whole thing but Strowman won in the end and there were some nice spots (granted they went with some scary ones) throughout. It isn’t anything better or worse than your usual “get them all in there” battle royal and it could have been worse. That’s high praise for something like this anymore.

And with that Smackdown length Kickoff Show out of the way, we can get on with the real show. Isn’t modern WWE great?

Yolanda Adams sings America the Beautiful and we get the big helicopter flyover.

The opening video, complete with a WWE Presents, features the wrestlers talking about how Shakespeare said all the world’s a stage. Tonight, this is their stage and they are the players. We get the classic moments of course because this show is built around history. They do a good job of starting this slowly and then building it up into a big feeling. As usual, WWE’s promo videos are nothing short of incredible and somehow they manage to get better a lot of the time. That being said, wrestlers calling themselves storytellers doesn’t sound right.

Maybe it’s how many times I’ve heard the song on highlight packages since then, but that Love Runs Out theme song is really catchy.

Here’s Alexa Bliss, the host for the evening, to open things up. Bliss talks about how this show needs a goddess and if she snaps her fingers, she can make a Wrestlemania moment. A snap of her fingers produces Hulk Hogan, who is happy to be back here in the Silverdome. That gets a chuckle so then he calls it the MetLife Center in a joke that doesn’t go over as well. Hogan and Bliss pose together in a cute moment.

Hold on though as Paul Heyman storms out and says we’re doing the Universal Title match RIGHT NOW. The faster Lesnar wins, the faster he can go to Las Vegas where he is ULTIMATELY appreciated.

Raw World Title: Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins

Rollins is defending after winning the Royal Rumble and gets a big BEAST SLAYER intro. At least BURN IT DOWN gets a big reaction so they’re doing something right. Lesnar jumps him before the bell and knees Rollins off the apron. An F5 plants Rollins on the floor and a hard whip into the barricade makes it even worse. Rollins gets tossed over the announcers’ table as the beating is on in a big way. That’s not enough for Lesnar so he throws Rollins over another table before throwing Rollins inside.

Heyman and Lesnar talk the angry trash but it’s back to the floor before the opening bell. Cole: “Seth Rollins never had a chance!” And there’s your usual WWE line that gives away the ending. Brock throws Rollins over the announcers’ table for a third time and then through the cover of the announcers’ table. They go back in for the opening bell and there’s the first German suplex. Lesnar: “SUPLEX CITY B******!” Give him his t-shirt money.

The second suplex sends him flying again as Cole brings up the Wrestlemania XXXI cash-in. The F5 is countered though and Rollins gets in a low blow. That means a low superkick and three straight Stomps make Rollins champion at 2:30. It was an exciting start and the whole thing from Lesnar’s first attack ran about 7:00. They had to get the title onto Rollins here (though more importantly off of Lesnar) and this was certainly a memorable way to do it. Certainly more so than when they did it again in a longer form four and a half months later.

AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton

This is your “here are two big names without much else to do” match. Orton eliminated him from the Elimination Chamber and they got in an argument about who built Smackdown. Orton’s big CGI snakes really don’t look great but those things are hit and miss for everyone. AJ headlocks him to start and is promptly driven into the corner. A very early threat of an RKO sends AJ bailing to the corner and it’s another standoff.

Orton pokes him in the eye and hits a dropkick to take over, including a boot across the eye to make it even worse. AJ gets in his own dropkick though as they’re pretty even in the early minutes. With Orton taking a breather on the floor, AJ scores with the slingshot forearm, only to get knocked off the apron and hard into the barricade. Back in and the chinlock goes on as the fans start chanting something I can’t understand.

That’s broken up so AJ hits the sliding forearm, setting up the fireman’s carry backbreaker for two. An early Styles Clash attempt is countered into a powerslam to give Orton his own near fall as the slow pace continues. The Calf Crusher attempt is countered without much trouble but the second attempt is slapped on in the middle of the ring. Not that the fans are exactly interested but AJ did get it on. That’s broken up in a hurry so AJ heads to the apron for the Phenomenal Forearm.

Orton jumps up to RKO him out of the air (as he had done last week) but AJ holds back, leaving Orton to crash. The springboard 450 gets two but Orton is right back with the backbreaker. Orton’s rather good looking top rope superplex has AJ crashing down for two and an uppercut gets a crazy loud pop (that had to be for something else). The hanging DDT gets no reaction but Orton walking around does, as I’m almost scared to imagine what had the fans’ attention.

AJ hits an enziguri to block the RKO, only to walk into it on the second attempt. That’s only good for two as well and Orton is shocked. With nothing else working, Orton loads up a super RKO, which is escaped without a lot of effort. A Pele sends Orton to the floor and the Phenomenal Forearm knock him even sillier. Back in and Orton still can’t hit the RKO, meaning it’s another Phenomenal Forearm to give AJ the pin at 16:12.

Rating: C-. Things got a bit better by the end but it never got going at any intense level. These two are capable of a lot but it was rather slow paced for the most part and when the match is going that long, it can get pretty tiresome in a hurry. It’s not bad in any sense but it wasn’t exciting and you know these two could do a lot better. That makes it more frustrating than anything else, as I kept waiting for them to get going and they never really did.

Here’s Lacey Evans to continue doing her thing of walking around, smiling, and then walking back.

Smackdown Tag Team Titles: Usos vs. Rusev/Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bar vs. Ricochet/Aleister Black

The Usos are defending and it’s one fall to a finish. There is something so awesome about seeing the look on Ricochet’s face as he walks onto the stage. You can see what it means to him and there is no faking that kind of a feeling. This also marks Ricochet and Black’s third shot at different titles this week, after Raw and NXT title shots earlier in the week. Jimmy and Black start things off with a feeling out process until Sheamus tags himself in to face Black.

The armbar doesn’t last long as Rusev tags Sheamus and runs Black over. Nakamura comes in for a kick to the back but the rapid fire tags continue, with Jimmy coming in to Samoa drop Black. Nakamura kicks Jimmy into a tag to Ricochet, who does a very spinny headscissors on Cesaro. Since it’s just a headscissors though, Cesaro uppercuts Ricochet down and starts swinging him, as Sheamus forearms everyone else.

After a nearly 40 second swing (geez), the Sharpshooter goes on in the middle of the ring. Black makes the save and strikes away, setting up a springboard moonsault for two on Rusev. Nakamura is back in with some running knees to Black, meaning Ricochet has to make a save of his own. That earns him a swinging Rock Bottom from Rusev and it’s time for the nine man Tower of Doom. Just to show off, Ricochet flips out and lands safely in the corner, setting up the 630 for two on Sheamus. We hit the parade of kicks to the face with the Usos superkicking Sheamus down. The Double Us retains the titles at 10:05.

Rating: B. This was almost all action from bell to bell and that’s all you can do with a match like this one. Let them do whatever they want and get in spot after spot for a little while. They didn’t overstay their welcome either, as this match got in the right amount of time. Good stuff here and one of the more entertaining things all night so far.

Hall of Fame recap. Thankfully Bret being attacked isn’t mentioned whatsoever.

Here’s the class being presented in the stadium:

Honky Tonk Man (How was he not in yet?)

Harlem Heat (Perfectly fine.)

Torrie Wilson (The new low benchmark.)

Brutus Beefcake (Again, how was he not in yet?)

Hart Foundation (Should have been earlier so Neidhart could be there but long overdue as well.)

Sue Aitchison (Warrior Award.)

D-Generation X (I’m sure they had to twist their arms to get here. Deserved of course.)

We recap Miz vs. Shane McMahon. Somehow Shane won the World Cup despite not being in the tournament and Miz, the man he replaced in the finals, was jealous. Miz’s dad thought they should team together so they won the Tag Team Titles. The reign didn’t last long though and they split up, with Shane turning on Miz. Tonight, it’s Falls Count Anywhere. This was in the middle of Shane’s RIDICULOUS run near the top of Smackdown where he was all over the show and beating main eventers, including that Tag Team Title win. Of course he gets a big Wrestlemania match, because that’s what makes sense for such a star.

Shane McMahon vs. The Miz

Falls Count Anywhere, but hang on as Shane needs to hear his introduction three times in a row. With that out of the way, Shane bails to the floor at the bell so the chase is on, with Shane hitting his horrible punches. In a smart move, Shane grabs Miz’s dad (in the front row) and again, the chase goes badly for Miz as Shane hammers away. They head outside again with Shane loading up the announcers’ table.

A monitor shot to the head puts Miz on the table but Miz’s dad blocks the big elbow. Shane gets down so Miz’s dad gets inside for the showdown, with Miz’s dad doing the pose that launched a subplot on the upcoming season of Miz and Mrs. Shane takes him into the corner and stomps away, drawing Miz back in for the beating. They fight to to the floor with Shane falling over the barricade but hold on as Miz wants someone to check on his dad.

With the medics doing their job, Miz dives over the barricade to take Shane down again. They fight over towards one of the big pillars that holds up the canopy over the ring but Shane fights out of the Skull Crushing Finale. Instead Shane grabs a DDT for two but Miz kicks him down off the stage. Shane is sent knee first into a barricade and Miz beats on him with a chair to blow off some more steam.

They wreck announcers’ row with Miz throwing him over every chair he can find, plus throwing some chairs around. Shane gets sent through a table for two, followed by a monitor shot to knock him over a barricade and onto the top of a well placed golf cart. That gives Miz a delayed two so he punches Shane up towards a production tower. A Skull Crushing Finale onto the platform gets two, because he’s Shane and Miz is just a former World Champion.

Shane fights back (of course) and climbs up to the top of the tower. Miz pursues so Shane begs off, even dropping to one knee. That earns him some left hands to the head and Miz superplexes him all the way down (after asking if Shane is ready) onto a crash pad. Worry not though as Shane lands on top for the pin at 15:25.

Rating: D-. I knew the ending was coming here and I still shake my head at the ending. Shane is the boss’ son but my goodness how hard can you push him? The worst part is that it is only going to get worse as the summer goes on, but this was a punch to the gut as Shane wins AGAIN, meaning he isn’t going away anytime soon. The superplex was a nice idea but showing the landing on the pad (which just happened to be there) took away all of the impact that it had. That is, whatever was left before Shane won of course.

Paige joins commentary.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: IIconics vs. Beth Phoenix/Natalya vs. Nia Jax/Tamina vs. Sasha Banks/Bayley

Banks and Bayley are defending and it’s one fall to a finish. Bret Hart is here with Beth and Natalya (who really feel like fill ins for Trish Stratus/Lita), though he doesn’t go beyond the stage. Tamina shoves Bayley down to start and superkicks Natalya for a bonus. Everything breaks down in a hurry with Nia being sent outside for a ram into the steps. Back in and Peyton rolls Sasha up for two and it’s a double kick to put drop Sasha again.

The Hardys’ Spin Cycle gets two on Banks but she’s right back with a backslide for the same. It’s back to Bayley for a sliding clothesline for two on Beth but Billie tags herself in. The IIconics take over on Beth, who is right back with a suplex to both of them at once. Natalya comes in for two but Bayley makes a fast save. The champs get in a fight with Beth and Natalya and it’s a Bank Statement to Phoenix. That’s broken up but the Glam Slam is countered into a rollup into the corner.

Natalya drops Sasha onto Bayley and they get the always fairly dumb looking double Sharpshooter treatment. This time it’s Tamina making the save and Nia comes back in to wreck everyone else. The IIconics get crushed with stereo Samoan drops but Beth shoves Nia off the top to break up a splash. Sasha takes Beth down as well and Bayley drops the top rope elbow, followed by Banks’ frog splash. The Tower of Doom is broken up so Beth hits a super Glam Slam on Bayley, with Kay making a blind tag. With Beth sent outside, Kay steals the pin and the titles at 10:47.

Rating: D. This went on too long and wasn’t all that interesting in the first place. The titles were brand new at this point and they already seemed pretty worthless, which would be proven over the next year. The fallout here is more interesting than the match itself, as you Nia would go away for about a year with double ACL surgery and Sasha (allegedly) threw a fit over losing and took the summer off.

The pilots from the Kickoff Show flyover are in the crowd. That’s always cool.

We recap Kofi Kingston vs. Daniel Bryan for the Smackdown World Title. Kofi replaced the injured Ali in the Elimination Chamber and got down to the final two. That set up one of the most dramatic things that WWE has ever done, as Kofi got inches away from winning the title and the fans ate it up. It was clear that Kofi had to get the title at Wrestlemania or he never would, which sent Kofi and New Day into a crusade to finally get the title shot that had eluded him for eleven years.

After jumping through all kinds of hoops set by Vince McMahon, it took New Day winning a gauntlet match to get the shot, with their longtime rivals the Usos stepping aside in a great show of respect for Kofi. At the same time, Bryan said that Kofi was a B+ player in an awesome role reversal from his legendary run five years earlier.

The match was finally set and it was a heck of a story, as Kofi had put in so many years of building credibility to get here and was finally cashing in. This wasn’t JBL jumping up to the main event scene, as Kofi had pretty much won every title other than the World Title. That’s not a big jump, but it was hard to believe that they would actually pull the trigger here. In other words, this was EXCELLENT and would have headlined any other year.

Smackdown World Title: Kofi Kingston vs. Daniel Bryan

Kofi is challenging and has New Day in his corner, while Bryan has Rowan. Big E. has a gift for Kofi and promises it for after the match. I had forgotten how nice of a touch Bryan’s eco-friendly belt really was. They stare each other down to start and the fans are behind Kofi, which is almost hard to fathom until you realize that Bryan might be a better heel than face. Kofi’s headlock doesn’t get anywhere so they fight over a backslide. Bryan monkey flips him so Kofi lands on his feet, setting up a dropkick to the floor.

The big dive takes Bryan down again and the roster is behind Kofi in the back. Things slow down a bit as Bryan needs a breather with Rowan. Back in and Bryan uppercuts him a few times to set up the surfboard, which always looks awesome. That’s broken up in a hurry as usual, allowing Kofi to kick away in the corner. Bryan’s moonsault into the running clothesline is countered into something resembling the standing double stomp (almost a Thesz press as Kofi can’t hit it properly) for two.

Kofi’s jumping clothesline works a bit better and the Boom Drop connects. Bryan heads outside again so Kofi tries a springboard dive, which lands ribs first on the announcers’ table. You don’t have to ask Bryan twice to go after the ribs like that so he drops Kofi ribs first across the top rope. The ribs get sent into the corner and it’s off to a waistlock, which works a lot better this time around. Kofi fights up and elbows in the corner but a very quick Trouble in Paradise is countered into a Boston crab.

Bryan’s belly to back superplex is broken up with elbows to the face and Kofi hits a top rope splash to the back for two. They slug it out but Trouble in Paradise is countered again, only to countered into a small package to give Kofi two more. Kofi’s crossbody is rolled through though and Bryan pulls him into a failed LeBell Lock attempt so they’re both down for a second. The running knee is countered into the SOS but Bryan reverses into the LeBell Lock, with Bryan letting go for some more elbows to the ribs.

Kofi finally gets his foot on the rope and you can hear the sigh of relief. Bryan YES Kicks at the ribs even more but Kofi fires up and tells Bryan to kick him even harder. As Bryan backs away, Kofi throws his own kicks and busts out a reverse suplex for two. They head outside again so Rowan can go after New Day, earning himself Trouble in Paradise. The Midnight Hour on the floor takes care of Rowan and Kofi blocks Bryan’s suicide dive.

Back in and Bryan hits the running knee…..for two and a big pop on the kickout. Bryan has had it and unloads with stomps to the head to set up the LeBell Lock. Kofi breaks out again and blasts Bryan with forearms to the face with more aggression than you usually see from him. Bryan won’t let go of the wrist so Kofi stomps him right back, knocking Bryan silly. Trouble in Paradise gives Kofi the clean pin and the title at 23:45.

Rating: A. That is the definition of the Wrestlemania moment and it holds up to perfection a year later. The fans completely bought into the idea of Kofi fighting through everything and winning the title in the end and that’s all it should have been. Kofi is the kind of guy who has been around forever and built up so much good will that when he finally went after the title, everyone was on his side. That made for a special moment and it was amazing throughout as it’s something that I never thought I would see, but here it is. That’s a great thing to see as rare as it can be.

On top of that, this was an awesome match with both guys giving it everything they had. The story here was perfect with Kofi not being the wrestler Bryan was but knowing that this was his one shot and giving everything he had to achieve his dream when he could. The fans believed in him and there was no way he could lose in this spot. Outstanding stuff and if not for the historic main event, this would have headlined in a landslide. Watch this again and smile a lot.

Post match Woods and Big E. pull out the classic WWE Championship and hand it to Kofi for the first time (Kofi kneeling in the ring and waiting to have it presented to him is a great visual). The pyro goes off and Kofi’s sons get in the ring to celebrate with him and one of them holds up the title, which is almost bigger than he is. We’re not done yet though as Big E. brings in the present from earlier. It’s the first New Day shirt featuring Kofi as champion and his kids get to hold them up for a perfect visual. Woods: “THEY SAID WE COULDN’T MAKE IT! WE MADE IT TO THE TOP!” Outstanding.

Che and Jost are banged up so Bliss introduces them to Dr. Scott Hall and Dr. Kevin Nash. Ok then.

Booker T. is the next guest commentator.

US Title: Samoa Joe vs. Rey Mysterio

Mysterio is challenging and this year’s comic gear is…..well Mysterio appropriately enough. Now how did he never do that one before? Joe kicks him in the face but Rey is right back with the springboard hurricanrana. The 619 connects but Joe pulls him out of the air into the Koquina Clutch and Rey is out at 1:00, which may have something to do with Rey injuring his ankle on Monday. Booker being annoyed at wasting all the time on prep work is good for a chuckle.

Sneak peak of Batista’s new movie Stuber.

We recap Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre. Reigns returned from leukemia after a four month absence and he needs a first victim. Drew has run through the rest of the Shield as a bonus. This is your likely layup result of the show and that’s fine.

Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre

Drew gets played to the ring by the New York Bagpipe Band. They trade shots to the face to start so Reigns snaps off a Samoan drop for an early two. McIntyre is right back with a spinebuster into a jackknife cover for two of his own. The Glasgow Kiss knocks Reigns down again and McIntyre throws him into the corner for two. The chinlock/armbar goes on until Reigns powers out and knocks him to the floor. Reigns’ running kick to the face is blocked though and McIntyre suplexes him down.

Back in and the reverse Alabama slam gives McIntyre two so he takes Reigns up top. That earns him a crotching, only to have Drew pull himself up from the Tree of Woe to send Reigns flying with a belly to belly superplex. Reasons of general heelishness cause McIntyre to slap him in the face, meaning the comeback is on. McIntyre gets knocked outside again for the Samoan drop on the floor, followed by the Superman Punch back inside. The spear finishes McIntyre at 10:06.

Rating: D. The fans didn’t care and why should they have? As usual, it was clear that Reigns was going to win and that happens far too often at Wrestlemania. It’s amazing that Reigns got to come back here but it’s Reigns, who almost always wins, winning again in a match where the ending was obvious throughout. Nothing to see here, and the fans were silent throughout.

Post match Reigns gets to pose in a rather emotional moment.

Here’s Elias for his self described greatest performance ever. He’s on screen playing drums, with a second Elias joining him on piano and the real thing in the ring playing guitar. They jam for a bit and guitar Elias says the other two deserve a standing ovation. Elias teases more members of the band and gets in his catchphrase before loading up the song….but here’s a SPECIAL BULLETIN on Babe Ruth calling his shot in the 1932 World Series.

Cue John Cena in Dr. of Thuganomics gear and the fans seem rather pleased. Cena raps about how he’s about to turn heel and how bad his own movies are. WWE doesn’t stand for Walk With Elias because it really means Wasted Wrestling Experiment. We get a nuts joke, followed by the FU to leave Elias laying. They have history together so this was as good as you were going to get. This was funny for a change if nothing else and that’s a cool Wrestlemania feeling.

We recap Batista vs. HHH. Back at Smackdown 1000, Batista had mentioned that HHH never beat him but laughed it off. Then in February, Ric Flair was having a 70^th birthday celebration but Batista attacked him, while asking HHH if he had his attention. This set up the match, with Batista demanding that HHH give him what he wanted (over and over and over). HHH has put up his career just in case the ending was in the slightest bit of doubt.

Shawn Michaels is guest commentator.

Batista vs. HHH

No holds barred with HHH’s career on the line. Batista goes out to glare at Shawn but here’s HHH, riding in a Mad Max style cart because of course he is. Batista drives him straight into the corner to start so HHH is back with some right hands to the face. A backdrop sends Batista outside but he throws HHH over the announcers’ table in a crash. HHH is right back up with a ram into the barricade and busts out a chain to whip Batista over the back.

The chain is pulled into Batista’s mouth (Shawn: “That’s not going to help his movie career.”) and HHH whips him into the steps. To ramp up the pain, HHH busts out some pliers to bend Batista’s fingers around a bit. HHH isn’t done with the toolbox so he grabs some needle nose pliers and ribs Batista’s nose ring out. To be fair, that thing looked horrible. Cole: “HHH just ripped a nose ring out of the nose of Batista.” So the nose ring in his ear is still intact.

Batista’s nose is good enough to drop HHH onto the announcers’ table and then he does it again onto a different one. A chair to the back sets up the shoulders in the corner for two as things have slowed way down. Batista slams him down for two more and let’s go outside again. The steps are set on the table and another table is cleared off as this is taking quite a long time for one big spot.

The huge Batista Bomb through the table is countered with a backdrop onto (not through) the other table and they’re both down again. HHH gets up, spinebusters him through the table, and we get another breather. HHH pulls out the sledgehammer but it’s a spear to cut him down for two. This time it’s HHH knocking the sledgehammer away from Batista, earning himself a spinebuster in the process. The Batista Bomb, which makes HHH drop the sledgehammer again, connects for two.

With nothing else working, Batista brings in the steps but goes up top for some reason. That reason would be so HHH can powerbomb him onto the steps, setting up a Pedigree for two (Because this MUST KEEP GOING!). They’re both down again so here’s Flair to slip HHH the sledgehammer. HHH gets up and uses the steps as a launchpad to hammer Batista in the head. Since that’s not enough to pin him (or KILL HIM as it probably should have), Batista pops up to take the Pedigree for the pin at 25:45.

Rating: D. Why does HHH do this? They could have had the same match with at least ten minutes chopped off but for some reason we needed to get HHH’s latest big epic match, no matter how much people aren’t interested in seeing it. This was terrible with Batista looking like a shell of his glory days (fair enough) and the match going WAY longer than it should have. Horrible match, and did you expect anything else given this style of match’s history?

The B Team model Daniel Bryan WWE Champion shirts but here’s Ron Simmons for the joke.

JBL is your next guest commentator.

Baron Corbin vs. Kurt Angle

This is Angle’s retirement match as he can barely get in the ring without injuring himself these days and needs to limp away for good. Corbin is here because we all did something horrible in a past life. Angle goes after him to start but gets knocked into the corner to put him in early trouble. Corbin takes it to the corner and pounds away before mocking Angle’s family a bit. A missed middle rope ax handle sends Corbin throat first into the rope so Angle snaps off some suplexes for two.

Angle walks into a big boot but is fine enough to grab a quickly broken ankle lock. Deep Six gives Corbin two more but he misses a charge, allowing the Angle Slam to connect for two. The straps come down and the ankle lock goes on until Corbin rolls him into the corner for the break. Corbin throws in a You Can’t See Me so Angle punches him into more rolling German suplexes. The moonsault misses though and the End of Days finishes Kurt’s career at 5:59.

Rating: D. Angle does seem fine with putting Corbin over on the way out but this was another step in the seemingly eternal nonsense that was/is the Corbin push. It’s a lot to take and while I can live with Angle going out on his back, it’s a lot to take because Corbin really is going way above his pay grade every time he’s in a match like this.

Post match Angle thanks the fans and asks for one more YOU SUCK chant for the road.

Intercontinental Title: Bobby Lashley vs. Finn Balor

Lashley, with Lio Rush, is defending and they’ve traded the title, so tonight it’s the Demon to make the match feel big. Balor gets a special entrance by coming down off a raised platform, though it’s not as creepy as his NXT entrances. Lashley has very bright green contacts in for some reason. Some early dropkicks put Lashley on the floor and Balor takes him out with a dive for a bonus.

A hard drive into the apron cuts Balor off though and there’s a suplex to make it worse. Lashley clotheslines him hard to the floor but a Sling Blade gets Balor out of trouble. Rush’s distraction lets Lashley hit a HARD spear through the ropes though and a regular one gets two back inside. Balor fights out of a powerbomb and hits one of his own, setting up the Coup de Grace for the pin and the title at 4:01.

Rating: C. The match was entertaining enough for something that was going so fast but at the same time, the booking still doesn’t make a ton of sense. Balor has already shown that he can beat Lashley so now he needs to bring up the powers to win? And the extraordinary thing was just a powerbomb? I’m glad to see the Demon again but this wasn’t exactly the most logical thing in the world.

Here’s Alexa Bliss to announce the attendance record of 82,265. Cue R-Truth and Carmella for the Wrestlemania Dance Break (Remember those?).

We recap the main event of Raw Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey and Smackdown Women’s Champion Charlotte defending against Becky Lynch in a winner take all match. Rousey is the unstoppable force, Charlotte is Charlotte and Becky is here because she’s the hottest name in wrestling at the moment and won the Royal Rumble. Tonight the winner leaves with both titles and it’s the biggest women’s match in history.

Raw Women’s Title/Smackdown Women’s Title: Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch

Lynch is challenging both. In a nod to her father and the Four Horsemen, Charlotte lance in a helicopter outside and walks into the stadium. Already inside, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts play Rousey to the ring. There is something so cool about watching Becky walk down the ramp in a wide shot as Cole talks about how she has started a movement. I’m not sure if that is the right term but it looked awesome. The bell rings and even a year later I still can’t believe this happened. The women’s division was a joke just a few years ago and now it’s the biggest match of the year. That’s hard to believe and it’s very cool.

They stare at each other for a good bit to start until Becky goes after Rousey’s arm. Rousey kicks her to the floor without much trouble and that means a Samoan drop into the barricade. Charlotte follows and takes Piper’s Pit but pops right back up for a fall away slam to send Rousey into the barricade for a change. That sets up the required Charlotte vs. Becky fight with Becky getting the better of things but can’t get the Figure Four, allowing Rousey to come and hammer away.

Charlotte breaks up an armbar attempt but gets pulled into a triangle choke over the ropes. Becky hits a running dropkick though and Rousey falls HARD onto the floor in a nasty crash. That leaves Charlotte to knee Becky in the head as the fans get behind Becky in a big way. Charlotte’s moonsault hits knees and Becky gets the Disarm-Her but Rousey make the save in a hurry. A double Natural Selection gives Charlotte two each and it’s Becky going outside this time.

For some reason Charlotte tries to slug it out with Rousey, earning herself a knee to the head. Charlotte pulls her into a Boston crab, drawing Becky in for her own save. Becky and Charlotte slug it out again until Charlotte is sent to the apron. Charlotte gets caught up top with a super Bexploder for two but Rousey drops both of them with a high crossbody for a double near fall. The double armbar goes on so Becky and Charlotte powerbomb her for the break. It took three attempts but they finally got out.

Everyone is down for a bit until Becky hits a Rock Bottom for two on Charlotte. Rousey goes after Becky and gets pulled straight into the Disarm-Her so she uses the ropes to power up in the corner. That’s fine with Becky, who puts it on again in the corner until Charlotte boots her in the face. Charlotte’s super Spanish Fly gets two but she might have banged up her knee. Rousey’s knee is banged up as well so Charlotte stomps away and grabs the Figure Four around the post.

After sending Becky into the barricade, Charlotte grabs the Figure Eight but Becky dives in off the top for another save. Just because, let’s bring in a table but Charlotte decks Becky for taking too long to set it up. Rousey shoves Charlotte off the top and turns the table over because she doesn’t need it. A double spear takes down Becky and Rousey so Charlotte sets up the table in the corner.

Charlotte sends Rousey face first into the table and spears Becky for two more. Back up and Charlotte gets hiptossed through the table, leaving Becky and Rousey to have the slugout we’ve been waiting for. They throw some serious hands but Piper’s Pit is countered into a crucifix (with Rousey’s shoulder a good six inches off the mat in a bad botch) to give Becky both titles at 21:28.

Rating: B. I don’t know if it’s because I didn’t watch it in one sitting this time around but I liked the match a good bit better on a second viewing. These three beat each other up and while Becky winning was the presumed finish, it wasn’t entirely a lock given who she was in there against. It was a heck of a fight and the three of them all came out looking great. This is much more historic than good, but it’s really rather good and that’s always a positive way to go out.

Rousey is ticked as Becky celebrates to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. The positives are better than the negatives but not by much. There are some flat out bad matches on here but they are overcome by some great feelings with the faces winning all of the big matches for a change. That felt like an old school style as for the first time in what felt like forever, they didn’t cut the fans off for the sake of dragging things out until later. For once it felt like a season finale and that’s what Wrestlemania should be when it gets the chance. Good show, but it could have been a lot better.

How you ask? CUT THE SHOW DOWN! Look at how long this show is and tell me that it’s well put together. There is no need for a sixteen match card, especially with some of the matches that feel tacked on. All three Tag Team Title matches feel like they’re here for the sake of being here and some of the matches just need to be shortened. Either that or find a way to get people to the ring faster. I know it seems simple but how much of these shows are spent on ring entrances alone? Just find a way to shorten things, please.

Overall there are more good things than bad, but this isn’t a show that you need to watch in one sitting. As soon as you get to the point where the show is five hours plus an episode of Smackdown before it starts (and a Smackdown with more wrestling than usual at that), you’re hitting a firm ceiling of how much you can enjoy this. I know you can’t cut out big chunks, but find a way to get this under six hours. Do that and it’s a lot better, but that has been the case for years now and it keeps getting longer. Either way, at least we had enough nice stuff on here, but don’t watch it all at once.

Ratings Comparison

Tony Nese vs. Buddy Murphy

Original: C+

Redo: C

Women’s Battle Royal

Original: D

Redo: D

Revival vs. Zack Ryder/Curt Hawkins

Original: C

Redo: D+

Men’s Battle Royal

Original: D

Redo: D+

Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins

Original: N/A

Redo: N/A

AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton

Original: B-

Redo: C-

Usos vs. Shinsuke Nakamura/Rusev vs. The Bar vs. Aleister Black/Ricochet

Original: C+

Redo: B

Shane McMahon vs. The Miz

Original: C-

Redo: D-

Boss N Hug Connection vs. Natalya/Beth Phoenix vs. IIconics vs. Nia Jax/Tamina

Original: D

Redo: D

Kofi Kingston vs. Daniel Bryan

Original: A-

Redo: A

Samoa Joe vs. Rey Mysterio

Original: N/A

Redo: N/A

Drew McIntyre vs. Roman Reigns

Original: C-

Redo: D

Batista vs. HHH

Original: D+

Redo: D

Baron Corbin vs. Kurt Angle

Original: F

Redo: D

Finn Balor vs. Bobby Lashley

Original: C

Redo: C

Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte

Original: B

Redo: B

Overall Rating

Original: B-

Redo: C+

About the same all around, but some of those earlier ones are a good bit off. Still though, too long, despite some of the very good parts.

Here’s the original review if you’re interested:

https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/04/08/wrestlemania-xxxv-so-much-for-no-happy-endings/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

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

WWE Vault Grab Bag IV
Commentators: Marc Lowrance, Gorilla Monsoon, Jesse Ventura, Abraham Washington, Byron Saxton, Brett DiBiase, Matt Martlaro, Jim Ross, Chris Russo

This has become one of my favorite things to do lately as I’ll be looking at a totally random collection of matches from the WWE (or possibly WCW) Vault YouTube channels. You never know what they’re going to drop and it could be something even I’ve never seen before. We’ll be looking at another eleven matches here so let’s get to it.

From WCCW in Dallas, Texas, February 26, 1983.

Von Erichs vs. Freebirds

Lumberjack match. Hayes bails to the floor to start, which isn’t the most logical way to go in this kind of a match. Kerry and Gordy start things off and trade some fists until it’s quickly off to Hayes for the strutting. Hayes sends him into the buckle but gets punched down for two, meaning it’s off to David vs. Gordy.

David takes over rather quickly and hands it off to Kevin for the nice barefoot dropkick but Gordy sends him into the corner. Roberts comes in to choke on the rope and a pull of the trunks keeps David in trouble. A knee drop gets two and it’s back to Gordy to drive him into the corner. David gets a foot up to cut him off and it’s back to Kerry for the big hot comeback.

A snapmare into a knee drop has Gordy rocked but Roberts is right back in. Kerry gets dropped into a hammerlock and Hayes snaps the arm over the top rope. Hayes gets two off a hammerlock backbreaker and Kerry is sent outside where the lumberjacks…throw him back in without getting violent. Kerry manages the tag off to David and everything breaks down. Kerry and Roberts fight to the floor, leaving Hayes to come off the ropes with an ax handle. Kevin breaks up the cover though and David pins Gordy at 11:41.

Rating: B-. As usual, the match itself was only ok, but what mattered the most here was the crowd’s reaction. Make no mistake about it: nothing came close to getting this much heat in wrestling at this point, which is why WCCW is so fondly remembered to this day. It was the hottest feud in wrestling and that was the case for a very long time. Not great, but very entertaining.

Post match the Freebirds are ticked off before leaving. The Von Erichs thank the fans and want the World Title.

From Evansville, Indiana, February 3, 1998 in a dark match before Raw.

One Man Gang vs. Flanagan

The Gang gets quite the nostalgia pop and is a good bit slimmer than he was back in the day. Gang jumps him to start and chokes with a jacket before hammering away in the corner. Flanagan (Flash Flanagan, a longtime OVW star) comes back with a missile dropkick for one and some clotheslines, only to charge into a side slam. Gang splashes him in the corner but Flanagan is back with the usual assortment of strikes. Flanagan charges into a boot in the corner though and a huge clothesline puts him down again. The 747 finishes Flanagan off at 6:10.

Rating: C-. Oddly enough, the Gang didn’t look terrible here. He was out there doing his thing and looked decent doing it. The match wasn’t particularly good of course as Gang wasn’t great on his best day, but this was far from Earthquake’s disaster of an out of nowhere dark match. The other interesting thing is that Gang was only thirty seven here. It absolutely would not have been insane for him to still be going for a few more years so this was definitely worth a shot.

From New York City, New York, September 23, 1985.

Andre The Giant vs. King Kong Bundy

Yes this is the Colossal Jostle, which is a takeoff of Colossal Tussle, which was the planned name for the show that would eventually be dubbed Wrestlemania. Lou Albano and Jimmy Hart are here too. Andre powers him into the corner for the choke to start, with Bundy bailing out to the floor. Back in and Bundy hammers away in the corner but gets dropped with a quick headbutt. Bundy kicks him in the chest and boots him out to the floor for a change. Back in and Andre grabs an armbar and cranks away. Then he cranks some more.

Then they go to the mat with the cranking continues. We’ve been in this same hold for over three minutes now and there is just nothing happening. Wait, they turned over and rolled into the middle of the ring. Bundy FINALLY gets out of it after about four minutes and is headbutted outside for a heck of a bump. Back in and Andre wins a slugout before…well they might be loading up a tango. Bundy knocks him into the corner for more choking on the ropes but Andre cuts off a charge with a raised boot. Andre sits on Bundy’s chest but Big John Studd runs in for the DQ at 13:52.

Rating: D. Oh sweet goodness no. This was one of those matches where they were trying at the start and they could have done better if it was, say, eight minutes shorter. Having Andre work on the arm for almost a third of the match was quite the choice and it was hardly worth watching. They started fast and it was fun for a few minutes, but then reality set in and it got bad in a hurry.

Post match Andre rolls outside and grabs a chair, which he breaks over a table and chases the monsters off. Given that a ticked off Andre was a terrifying sight, I can’t blame them.

From WWC in Caguas, Puerto Rico, August 6, 1993.

Madusa vs. Luna Vachon

I believe that’s the date, as these two fought a few times in Puerto Rico around this time. They go to the mat to start with Vachon working on a hammerlock but getting reversed into a headscissors. That’s broken up and they head outside, with Madusa being sent (a long way) over the barricade.

Back in and Madusa grabs a slam but gets pulled into a nerve hold to put her back down. Madusa fights up and slaps her in the face a few times, setting up a chinlock. Vachon reverses into one of her own but that’s broken up as well, with Madusa grabbing a superplex for two. Back up and the missile dropkick misses for Madusa, allowing Vachon to get the quick pin at 7:30.

Rating: C-. Not exactly great stuff here, but women’s wrestling in 1993 was a very different universe. You could see the talent in there though and they were absolutely trying. It would have been nice to see things had they done this years later, but for now it’s certainly an interesting look at a rather different wrestling universe.

From New York City, New York, July 7, 2017.

US Title: AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens

Styles is challenging at a house show. Owens stalls a lot before the bell and we’re clipped to more stalling, though the bell singes to have rang. The threat of a wristlock sends Owens bailing to the floor, with Styles following him out. Back in and Owens hammers away but his ram into the corner is blocked. Styles sends him into the buckle instead and they go outside, with Owens being sent crashing down.

Back in and the Phenomenal Forearm misses, allowing Owens to score with the superkick. Some right hands in the corner let Owens load up the Cannonball but Styles rolls outside, leaving Owens to chill on the top rope instead. A clothesline gives Owens two and we hit the chinlock.

We’re clipped to Styles getting pulled back down into the chinlock but he fights up again. A jumping enziguri puts Owens down as well and Styles hits the seated forearm. The belly to back faceplant gives Styles two but Owens bails from the threat of the Styles Clash. Instead Styles goes with the fireman’s carry backbreaker for two and they’re both down again. Another superkick gives Owens two but the Swanton hits raised knees. The Styles Clash gives Styles two and the Phenomenal Forearm connects to give Styles the pin and the title at 13:04 shown.

Rating: B. It’s no surprise that these two had solid chemistry together, but it’s also fascinating to see something like this happen at a house show. That really wasn’t the case most of the time but as usual, the Garden was just different. They had a good match, and Styles winning the title (even though he wouldn’t hold it long) is an easy way to go as Styles can make just about anything work.

Styles gets to celebrate for a long time and spends some time with the fans on the way out for a good moment.

From FCW in 2010/11. This is a bit different as it’s a look back at an entire rivalry with a few matches.

 

Queen Of FCW/Divas Title: AJ Lee vs. Naomi Knight

From FCW TV, August 29, 2010. Winner take all and that would be the FCW Divas Title, not the main roster version. There are a bunch of Divas watching at ringside too. Lee shoulders her down to start but runs into the Rear View. A backslide with the splits gives Naomi two as commentary is having WAY too much fun looking at these two. Lee flips her over and hits a running knee for two but Naomi blocks a headscissors on the floor. They crash out to the floor and slug it out until it’s a double countout at 2:31.

AJ Lee vs. Naomi Knight

From FCW TV, September 29, 2010 and a non-title lumberjill match. Naomi grabs a headlock to start but gets kicked to the floor, where she is rather aggressively thrown back inside. Lee grabs the chinlock but Naomi sends her outside, where the lumberjills throw her back inside as well. Washington: “That kind of turns me on.” Sweet goodness this guy is insufferable. Back in and a Rear View drops Lee again but she’s right back with a tornado DDT for two. Lee goes up but gets leg lariated out of the air to give Naomi the pin at 3:23.

Rating: C. Not much to see here, but this was a VERY different time for women’s wrestling. These two weren’t exactly given much time (as we’re at less than six minutes over two matches) and while it seems there is a story, it definitely feels like FCW saying “here’s a women’s match”. You need a bit more than that, though this was on the higher level of women’s wrestling at this point.

Divas Title: Naomi Knight vs. AJ Lee

From FCW TV, January 23, 2011 and Naomi is defending. Lee takes over to start and sends Naomi outside. Back in and Lee grabs a chinlock but Naomi fights up without much trouble. A spinning kick to the head gives Naomi two but a slingshot rollup is broken up. Lee knees her in the face for two, followed by the yet to be named Black Widow. That’s reversed into a backbreaker for two more but Lee is back up with a standing Sliced Bread #2 for the pin and title at 5:04.

Rating: C. This got a bit more time and that did help, but there is still only so much to get from this kind of a match. At least they were able to fit in a bit more with Lee evening the series. They’re also getting the chance to showcase their talents more each time and that was a great thing to see, as it was basically a preview of the coming years.

Divas Title: Naomi Knight vs. AJ Lee

From FCW TV, March 13, 2011 and Lee is defending. Lee takes her down into an early Fujiwara armbar. The Rear View connects but Naomi misses a big crossbody into the ropes for a heck of a crash. Lee is right back on the arm but Naomi kicks her down again. Naomi fires off more kicks, only to get kicked down out of the corner. The standing Sliced Bread #2 finishes for Lee at 1:34. Well that was pretty definitive.

From Portland, Maine, July 21, 1992. This is a dark match from a TV taping (they taped shows for different series that day), including the first ever WWF ladder match between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels.

Undertaker/Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair/Berzerker

Holy Lethal Lottery match! Paul Bearer, Mr. Perfect and Mr. Fuji are here too and this actually aired on a German WWF show later in the year (plus on a Randy Savage Unreleased DVD). We get the big staredown to start until Savage (the WWF Champion) grabs the mic for an OH YEAH. Savage and Flair start things off as we’re over two minutes in with no contact yet.

Flair does the hand slap and then slicks back his hair, meaning it’s finally time to lock up with about two and a half minutes burned off. Savage’s headlock is quickly reversed but he’s right back with a hammerlock. Flair bails to the rope so Savage slaps him in the face to make it more serious. Another slap has Flair down on one knee, with Perfect not exactly happy with any of this.

Flair does a rare leapfrog before getting dropped with a clothesline, meaning it’s off to Undertaker. The forearms and chops in the corner have as much effect as you would expect so Undertaker hits a gorilla press (and seems to stumble a bit as he slams Flair down). It’s off to Berzerker, who gets choked into the corner but knocks Undertaker outside. That’s fine with Undertaker of course, who sends Berzerler’s hands into the steps for some rather hilarious staggering selling.

Back in and Savage’s top rope ax handle gets two but Berzerker tosses him into the corner to take over. Flair comes in for a running chop and we hit the chinlock. Savage is tossed outside for a cheap shot from Perfect and Berzerker gets to toss him outside as well. The ring mats are pulled up and Savage gets caught underneath them for a bit of a weird spot. Back in and Savage gets tied up in the ropes but gets out and crawls over to Undertaker for the big tag. We don’t waste time as it’s a Tombstone to Berzerker, a clothesline to Flair and the big elbow to pin Berzerker at 13:37.

Rating: B-. Oh of course this was fun. There was pretty much no way that they weren’t going to have a good time out there, as it was the always effective idea of combining two feuds into one. I had a good time with this and it’s the kind of rarely seen match that is worth looking at all these years later. Come on. Savage and Berzerker? Undertaker and Flair? What’s not to like?

From Hartford, Connecticut, August 27, 1986, a dark match from a Wrestling Challenge taping.

Hulk Hogan/Junkyard Dog vs. Paul Orndorff/Adrian Adonis

Bobby Heenan, Jimmy Hart and Bob Orton are here too as Lord Alfred Hayes is ring announcer, which oddly works. Orndorff charges at Hogan and hammers away to start but Hogan fights back with right hands of his own. Hogan clears the ring of all the villains, both the legal and illegal ones, before hitting a jumping knee of all things to Orndorff. They fight out the floor with Hogan hammering away even more, followed by Dog coming in for right hands of his own.

The all fours headbutts have the villains down again and the crowd is going insane for all of this. There’s a bunch of trash thrown in and we settle down to Dog vs. Adonis (which thankfully allows Orndorff to fix his trunks, which were riding up). Dog wastes no time in sending Adonis outside, where Orton gets in a cheap shot to take over. Hogan isn’t having that but gets choked by some kind of a belt to put him down again. Back in and Dog headbutts Adonis, who flips around in quite the bump.

A double clothesline drops Adonis again but he’s able to come back with the sleeper. With Dog down, Orndorff adds a top rope fist drop and draws Hogan in like a moron. The chinlock goes on but Dog fights up and a double right hand puts both of them down again. Adonis is right there to cut off the tag though and a jumping elbow hits Dog. That doesn’t do much good though as Dog is up for the tag to Hogan a few seconds later, meaning right hands can come flying. Everything breaks down and Hart’s interference doesn’t work. Instead it’s the big leg to finish Adonis at 9:18.

Rating: B-. More entertaining stuff here, with Hogan of course being over like free beer in a frat house. You could pretty much put anyone with him and have them feel like a huge star, with the Dog already being a big deal on his own. That’s a pretty good situation to have and it worked again here. At the same time, Orndorff was absolutely white hot at this point and the best villain going, with Adonis being more than able to hang in there with anyone. Fun match.

Post match, a lot of posing ensues.

From the NXT pilot at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida, December 7, 2011.

Cody Rhodes/Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus/Daniel Bryan

Rhodes is the Intercontinental Champion and says tonight they have defied time because this is tomorrow’s superstars today. This makes you wonder what happens if tomorrow never comes, so what about the current champions? Rhodes asks the people if they know who he is, because he may be the ugly duckling of the Legacy but he is the future of the WWE. He’s ready to define Daniel Bryan but here is Bryan (with banged up ribs and his Money In The Bank briefcase) to cut him off.

With Rhodes’ future wife Eden Stiles out of the way, we’re ready to go. Rhodes shoulders Bryan down to start but gets kicked in the chest for his efforts. That earns Bryan an elbow to the bad ribs, allowing McIntyre to come in and stay on those ribs. Sheamus comes in and gets knocked into the corner by McIntyre. That doesn’t last long as McIntyre is knocked to the apron for the ten forearms. Rhodes is sent outside as well and Bryan adds a running knee from the apron.

We take a break and come back with Bryan giving McIntyre a dragon screw legwhip but McIntyre goes to the ropes to save himself. Back in and Rhodes goes after the ribs, only to get pulled into a surfboard. Rhodes gets rolled up for two and rolls outside, going all the way into the crowd. Sheamus comes in and unloads with forearms to Rhodes’ back, followed by a forearm to knock Rhodes out of the air. McIntyre gets a blind tag and boots Sheamus in the face for two as we take another break.

We come back with Rhodes’ front chancery setting up McIntyre’s suplex for two on Sheamus. It’s back to Rhodes to stomp away in the corner as JR says that Rhodes has the X factor and will be WWE Champion one day. Fair enough actually. Sheamus picks Rhodes up for a toss and it’s back to Bryan to back up the pace, including the running dropkick in the corner. The Swan Dive misses though and Bryan is sent outside for a drop onto the barricade.

Bryan is thrown back in for an abdominal stretch from Rhodes, which includes an elbow to the ribs. McIntyre’s gutbuster gets two and the abdominal stretch goes on again. This time it’s broken up with a hiptoss and they hit stereo crossbodies. Bryan slides through McIntyre’s legs and it’s back to Sheamus for the powerhouse comeback. The Irish Curse gets two on McIntyre with Rhodes making the save as everything breaks down. The Brogue Kick finishes McIntyre at 25:27.

Rating: B. The time helped here as they were able to tell a lot more of a story, which is always appreciated. At the same time, this is a situation where you have four talented wrestlers who were given the chance of showcasing their skills, which was a big deal on this kind of a show. I got into this one and it was indeed worth a look.

Overall Rating: C+. This started slowly but ended well and that made things good enough. The good thing here is that there was a wide variety of matches, which granted is always the high point of these things. It’s another great mixture of what you can see from the Vault and I had fun with it again, which hopefully continues for a very long time.

 

 

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: February 27, 2026
Location: KFC Yum Center, Louisville, Kentucky
Commentators: Wade Barrett, Joe Tessitore

It’s the night before Elimination Chamber and the show’s namesake matches are finally set. This week’s Raw saw the final two qualifying matches and that means we can get to the last bit of the buildup. Other than that, the Women’s Tag Team Titles are on the line so let’s get to it.

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

Jey Uso has been attacked and is being taken away in an ambulance (that’s how they get around him qualifying when he wasn’t supposed to). Jimmy Uso says he’ll find out who did it, though Trick Williams says that’s one down. While it doesn’t seem that he’s saying he attacked Jey, Je’Von Evans doesn’t like it.

We cut to Drew McIntyre in the arena, saying he didn’t do it. Cody Rhodes, on a split screen, doesn’t like it so here are Nick Aldis and security to get rid of McIntyre. Rhodes comes in to say let’s fight right here and right now, but McIntyre says no because it’s no benefit to him.

Rhodes shouts that McIntyre is “disengaging” and that he has run away his entire title reign but here is Randy Orton to interrupt. Orton wants to be in the main event of Wrestlemania, which draws out Williams to interrupt as well. He brags about getting mentioned by Bruno Mars and says that since we’re in the KFC arena, he can add something to the menu.

Cue Evans, who says he’s here to beat Orton’s record as youngest World Champion. Now it’s LA Knight interrupting, saying everyone here, including McIntyre, belongs to him. Williams: “WHOOP THAT TRICK!” Knight thinks that’s a good idea and the brawl is on, with the two of them fighting to the back and an RKO dropping Evens. Orton and Rhodes stare each other down but don’t get physical.

Tiffany Stratton is ready to win the Elimination Chamber but Asuka, with Kairi Sane, interrupts. Stratton is ready for Asuka and the match seems likely.

Solo Sikoa vs. Uncle Howdy

They lock up to start and Sikoa shoves him out of the corner. A slugout doesn’t go anywhere so they head outside, with Sikoa’s Samoan Spike hitting the post by mistake. Howdy sends him into the timekeeper’s area but stops to look at the lantern. Sikoa gets in a knockdown of his own and we take a break.

We come back with a Samoan drop getting two on Howdy and the nerve hold going on. Spinning Solo and a Superfly Splash give Sikoa two more as the fans are behind Howdy. Sikoa loads up his own Sister Abigail but gets the Mandible Claw as a result. That’s broken up with the Samoan Spike but the hand is too banged up. Sikoa charges into Sister Abigail for the pin at 10:51.

Rating: C+. This was another step in a long feud between the two families and that’s an interesting enough way to go. As has been the case, this fits Sikoa far better than the big boss of the top heel stable and it’s making things a lot easier. Howdy winning clean is a surprise, but it’s probably his biggest win on the main roster, which is nice to see.

Post match Howdy gets the lantern back and of course the MFTs jump him to take it back. The Wyatts come in just too late for the save.

Nick Aldis has Drew McIntyre leave when the Vision (all three healthy members) comes in. Paul Heyman is here to volunteer Logan Paul to take Jey Uso’s place in the Chamber. Aldis finds this all very convenient but he’ll make some calls.

Video on the Women’s Tag Team Title match.

Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky are ready for tonight but then they’re ready for Ripley to win the Chamber tomorrow night. Jade Cargill comes in to say Ripley is on her own tomorrow night.

Jacob Fatu comes up to Nick Aldis and accuses Drew McIntyre of taking out Jey Uso. Fatu wants in the Chamber, but Aldis doesn’t say yes.

Video on Damian Priest’s time in NXT and how it helped him get ready for the main roster.

Jelly Roll is here.

Asuka vs. Tiffany Stratton

Chelsea Green is on commentary but hang on, as Asuka says she’s resting before the Chamber so Kairi Sane can do this instead.

Kairi Sane vs. Tiffany Stratton

Chelsea Green is still on commentary as the switch didn’t make her wheel off. Stratton flips away from her to start and hits a hip attack, only to get distracted by Asuka. Sane rams Stratton into the buckle and we take a break. We come back with Stratton flipping into an Alabama Slam for two but Sane breaks up the Prettiest Moonsault Ever.

Sane’s top rope double stomp gets two but Stratton is back with a running basement dropkick. They go to the apron where Sane hits a quick DDT, only for Stratton to break up the Insane Elbow. Sane is sent flying onto Alba Fyre before missing Stratton and knocking Green into her wheelchair. Back in and the Prettiest Moonsault Ever finishes Sane at 10:21.

Rating: B-. The Green stuff was funny as usual, as she knows exactly how to do what she’s been up to lately. I’m expecting her to cost Stratton the Chamber tomorrow and that could set up a nice showdown. Sane as Asuka’s servant is still fun and it makes perfect sense for Asuka to have Sane to her dirty work here.

Nick Aldis finds the Vision in his office and Logan Paul is indeed in the Chamber…if he wins his qualifying match…against Jacob Fatu. Paul Heyman isn’t happy but Logan says he can do it.

Miz vs. Oba Femi

Miz says they don’t have to fight but Femi takes the mic from him and says get your own. Miz talks about being in developmental in this very city but not listening to the locker room leaders. Now he wants to be Femi’s Undertaker. Femi: “You do look like a dead man to me.”

Miz can get the fans chanting OBA, which they do, though Femi says that means he can do it on his own (not exactly). The fight is on and Femi knocks him out of the air but misses a charge into the corner. The Fall From Grace finishes at 4:48, though the physical part of the match was barely a minute.

Rating: C-. Ok so not much of a match, but Femi did just squash a former multiple time WWE Champion in short order. That’s how you make Femi feel even more like a monster and this was a total destruction. You don’t see someone brought in like this very often and it’s working well thus far, though those last two words are the key.

Carmelo Hayes still wants Ilja Dragunov to take up the US Open Challenge but Dragunov is in a suit. Hayes tells him to take the shot before someone beats him to it.

US Title: Carmelo Hayes vs. ???

Hayes is defending against…Matt Cardona. Feeling out process to start with Hayes ducking a clothesline but running into a dropkick. Cardona grabs a headlock before ducking a dropkick from Hayes for a change. Some choking has Hayes in more trouble as this is a more aggressive Cardona than usual. Hayes knocks him to the floor but misses a dive into the announcers’ table as we take a break.

We come back with Cardona’s running boot in the corner connecting and a knee to the face putting Hayes on the floor. Back in and Hayes catches him in the ropes for the Fadeaway and a springboard clothesline drops Cardona again. La Mistica gets two on Cardona, who is right back with a tiger bomb for the same. The Rough Ryder is countered into a superkick for two but the second Rough Ryder gives Cardona two of his own. Hayes hits a quick First 48 to retain at 11:51.

Rating: B-. Cardona continues his return to WWE and is still doing about the same thing. By that I mean pretty much nothing important other than being a slightly more serious than usual star, which isn’t much of an upgrade over his Zack Ryder days. Hayes adds another title defense to his reign, which is fine, but it feels like another day of waiting before we have the big match with Dragunov.

Post match respect is shown.

The tag teams look at the crate and R-Truth teaches them how to use the ESPN app. Johnny Gargano is wheeled in but Candice LeRae has to get to the ring for her match. Kit Wilson comes in and calls the guys toxic, which they find hilarious.

Jordynne Grace vs. Candice LeRae

Johnny Gargano, actually on his feet, is here with LeRae. Well at least he is before the break. Grace takes her down to start fast but gets enziguried for an early two. The chinlock doesn’t last long and they fight over a rollup for a bunch of ones. Grace catches her up top with a delayed vertical superplex but the Grace Driver is blocked. Gargano is at least sitting up now but goes to leave, which is enough of a distraction for Grace to grab a pumphandle suplex for the pin at 3:47.

Rating: C+. Well at least they’re finally doing something with Gargano, who is starting to cause all kinds of issues for LeRae. It’s certainly something different and hopefully leads to something better, as he hasn’t exactly been doing much in recent weeks. Grace doesn’t have much going on either, though at least she won.

Raquel Rodriguez thinks Judgment Day could get both Women’s Title shots at Wrestlemania but Jade Cargill comes in to cut her off. They bicker a bit and here are Michin and B Fab to threaten Cargill again. Can she please just wreck both of them already and get this over with?

We look at AJ Styles’ tribute from Raw, capped off by his Hall Of Fame announcement.

Cody Rhodes says he hopes it’s Jacob Fatu in the Chamber and walks off to see Sami Zayn. They shake hands and nothing is said. Zayn goes over to Fatu and asks how Jey Uso is doing. Apparently not too well, which has Zayn thinking Fatu might have done it. Fatu threatens violence and doesn’t like this, but Zayn goes on a rant about how he might have done it. That’s shot down as well, with Zayn telling Fatu to go win and then get upset about everything.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Irresistible Forces vs. Rhea Ripley/Iyo Sky

Ripley and Sky are defending and Legend blocks Sky’s early sunset flip attempt. Ripley comes in and gets kneed down but hands it back to Sky, who dropkicks Jax. The champs are cut off on the floor though and swung into the barricade as we take a break. We come back with Legend kicking Sky down for two, followed by Jax’s cheap shot getting the same. Sky comes back up with a kick to the head and it’s back to Ripley to strike away at Jax.

A missile dropkick gives Ripley two and Sky and Legend send each other into things on the floor. Ripley breaks up the Annihilator and powerbombs Jax out of the corner for two. Jax is sent outside for a cannonball off the apron as we take a break. We come back with Jax’s headbutt dropping Ripley and a Samoan drop putting her onto the announcers’ table.

Back in and Legend’s chokeslam sets up a middle rope legdrop to give Jax two but she misses a charge into the post. Sky comes back in to kick away at both Forces but legend launches her at Jax for…I don’t actually know, though it did put Jax down. The Bullet Train hits Legend and Over The Moonsault gets two, with Jax making the save. An Annihilator gets two on Sky with Ripley making the save. Back in and Riptide drops Jax but Ripley’s back is hurt, allowing Legend to hit the Lash Extension for the pin and the titles at 18:16.

Rating: B. This got pretty awesome at the end and that was cool to see, with Legend getting the big moment of pinning Ripley for a title. I do like this a lot better with Ripley on her way to a big singles match tomorrow, as there is little reason to have a tag champion in that kind of a match. Legend and Jax as monster champions could do well as they’ve been a nice pairing thus far. Good match here with the right result.

Charlotte and Alexa Bliss are not happy with the title change and Charlotte eats ice cream to get over Bliss possibly going to Wrestlemania without her. Giulia and Kiana James come in to mock them but Jade Cargill shows up to wish them all some sarcastic good luck.

Solo Sikoa and the MFTs want Nick Aldis to do something about the Wyatt Sicks. Aldis saw Sikoa lose clean, so it’s time to find some new #1 contenders to the Tag Team Titles, which we’ll find next week. Works for Sikoa.

The Irresistible Forces are very happy with their win and Cathy Kelly is NOT invited to their title party.

We get the opening to Elimination Chamber, which does indeed focus on Chicago and CM Punk. He’s used to the sides closing in, which is why he isn’t bothered by the Chamber.

Randy Orton runs into Aleister Black and Zelina. Black thinks the Black Mass woke him up but Orton promises to find him after the Chamber. That’s just what Black wants.

Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match: Logan Paul vs. Jacob Fatu

The rest of the Vision is here with Paul, who fires off a running elbow in the corner to start fast. Some clotheslines and a backsplash have Paul in trouble though and Fatu fires off headbutts in the corner. A running splash in the corner puts Paul down again and Fatu scores with a suicide dive as we take a break.

We come back with Fatu’s splash hitting the post but Paul misses a frog splash. A superkick and handspring moonsault give Fatu two but his Swanton hits raised knees. Paul is back with a Blockbuster and a Lionsault which overshoots Fatu for two. The Paulverizer is blocked though and Fatu hits the running Umaga Attack in the corner. Heyman gets up for a distraction, which lets Paul hit Fatu low. The big right hand and frog splash get two and Heyman can’t believe the kickout.

Cue the Masked Man to go after Austin Theory but Paul decks him and steals the mask to reveal…just some guy. Even commentary says they’ve never seen him before as security takes him away. Back in and Fatu hits the pop up Samoan drop but cue Drew McIntyre to knock him into a rollup to give Paul the pin at 11:21.

Rating: B. This was another wild one with all kinds of shenanigans as they had to find a fast way out of Jey Uso getting the spot. Paul getting the spot over Bronson Reed (who seems to have been the original planned winner) is just swapping in one member of the team for another, which is a perfect way to go. The Masked Man (apparently played by Seth Rollins (among others) student Don Furio) definitely feels like it’s going to continue, which is probably for the best as they need some time to figure all of this out.

Overall Rating: B-. The last two matches boosted it up a lot, but the middle hour definitely felt like a section that would have been cut from a two hour show. They had a lot to cover this week and most of it worked, but those US Open Challenges are starting to run out of steam. The good overpowers the bad here, though everything is going to change next week with only time before Wrestlemania.

Results
Uncle Howdy b. Solo Sikoa – Sister Abigail
Tiffany Stratton b. Kairi Sane – Prettiest Moonsault Ever
Oba Femi b. The Miz – Fall From Grace
Carmelo Hayes b. Matt Cardona – First 48
Jordynne Grace b. Candice LeRae – Pumphandle suplex
Irresistible Forces b. Rhea Ripley/Iyo Sky – Lash Extension to Ripley
Logan Paul b. Jacob Fatu – Rollup

 

 

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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Monday Night Raw
Date: February 23, 2026
Location: State Farm Arena, Atlanta, Georgia
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

It’s the last Raw before Elimination Chamber and that means it’s time for the last round of qualifying matches. There is a spot left for both Chambers, but we have some other things here as well. AJ Lee and Becky Lynch should both be here, plus CM Punk and Finn Balor as well. Let’s get to it.

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

Cole and Graves are in the ring to welcome us to the show, which will feature a tribute to AJ Styles. This brings Gunther out to say this is a disgrace so the two of them can get on commentary and praise him instead. He lists off the people he has retired but here is Adam Pearce, with security, to get rid of him. Gunther says he’ll leave, but he’s going to be here for the disgrace that is a tribute to Styles. Cue Dragon Lee to jump Gunther, which is quickly broken up. Gunther yells at Pearce in the back but Lee jumps him again. That’s broken up again, with Pearce saying it’s not Gunther’s night, but here is Cody Rhodes to walk past them.

Rhodes is in the ring for a chat, but here is the Vision to cut him off before he gets too far. Austin Theory doesn’t like this town and is embarrassed to be from Atlanta. Logan Paul threatens to take over Smackdown and kick Rhodes off of it, with the Vision starting to take over tonight. Bronson Reed is going to qualify for the Elimination Chamber, but Rhodes thinks someone will have something to say about that. Cue Jey Uso for his match.

Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match: Original El Grande Americano vs. Jey Uso vs. Bronson Reed

American and Uso hammer away on Reed to start, with Uso throwing in a dance as well. A jumping enziguri catches Reed but he cuts off Uso’s dive. Americano moonsaults onto the other two of them and Reed is sent into the barricade as we take a break. We come back with Reed coming back in and fireman’s carrying both of them at once, because that’s a thing that can be done so easily.

With Americano down, Reed grabs a neck crank on Uso, who fights up and drops Reed. One heck of a diving headbutt gets two on Uso with Reed making the save. Americano hits a German suplex on Reed….who comes up touching his arm. We take another break and come back with the medics checking on Reed, who looks devastated.

Uso hits a suicide dive on Americano and the referee is right there to tell them both something (likely that Reed isn’t coming back in). Uso shoves Americano off the top but the Superfly Splash hits raised knees. The ankle lock is broken up though and it’s a spear into the Superfly Splash to give Uso the pin at 15:32.

Rating: B-. This was a weird one, as Reed being eliminated took away a big part of the match. I’m curious if Reed was originally planned to end and they had to call an audible. Either way, the match went fine and Uso winning is a totally acceptable choice as putting a former World Champion in the Chamber is a good thing. Hopefully Reed is ok, but that didn’t look good.

We look at AJ Styles’ debut in 2016.

CM Punk arrives with NASCAR driver Tyler Reddick.

Here is the still sad looking Liv Morgan, with Dominik Mysterio, to announce her Wrestlemania pick. We look back at last week’s interview with Stephanie Vaquer, now with subtitles, as Vaquer said that Morgan has sacrificed nothing in her time in WWE and has to hide behind a man to have success. She’s nothing without Judgment Day and Vaquer would destroy her (ah that makes more sense, as there was no translation last week).

Back in the arena, Mysterio introduces the potential Wrestlemania opponents, including Vaquer and Jade Cargill. Morgan says she’s made her pick for Wrestlemania, but she wants to address what Vaquer said last week. The things Vaquer said really hurt her and she didn’t know what Vaquer went through to get here. She didn’t know Vaquer’s story but now she needs to focus on her own. With that being said…and Morgan knocks Vaquer out with a microphone, seemingly making her pick. Oblivion drops Vaquer as well.

Je’Von Evans is happy with his win last week but stops to meet someone named Offset. The New Day comes in to say tonight should be a tribute to Xavier Woods and they have invited Offset here for years. Offset thinks New Day sucks and a match between Kofi Kingston and Evans is made for tonight.

We look at AJ Styles winning the World Title in 2017.

The Good Brothers are here for the Styles celebration.

Maxxine Dupri vs. Nattie

Dupri starts fast and knees her out to the floor, followed by a kick to the head. A crossbody off the barricade lets Dupri take the straps down but Nattie posts her hard. Nattie hammers on her but gets pulled away and the referee stops it, with Nattie winning, at 1:39.

Raquel Rodriguez is ready to win tonight. JD McDonagh clears the air with Finn Balor, saying he just wants Balor to be the World Champion. Balor says brothers fight and it’s water under the bridge, but he has to do it alone at Elimination Chamber. That seems cool with McDonagh, but Dominik Mysterio says he doesn’t want to do this on his own. Next week, he wants help against Penta. Balor says he’s been focusing on himself lately because he was on his own when the team was hurt. Maybe Mysterio needs to grow up like that.

Video on Oba Femi.

The crate is sent to Raw again with Adam Pearce telling the delivery person to head to Chicago, where the GM’s will open it at Elimination Chamber. Rusev comes up, but Oba Femi interrupts. Rusev says Femi talks too much for a rookie and a match seems ready, but Pearce says another time and place.

Here are Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar for a chat. Heyman says that traditionally at Wrestlemania, there were two main events: the title match, and the Undertaker’s Streak. Lesnar is the man who took one of those away when he conquered the Undertaker, so now the only dead man is the man who faces Lesnar at Wrestlemania. Heyman doesn’t know who it’s going to be, because no one is crazy enough to face Lesnar.

We see a list of the appearances Lesnar is going to make on the Road To Wrestlemania (tonight plus five more shows, all on Raw) and if anyone wants to take a chance, they can make their decision at any of those shows. No one has the guts to do it, but the chance is there. They didn’t tease anyone in particular either so it’s pretty wide open.

Becky Lynch talks about how she has changed the wrestling world and her cover of WWE2K is a lot better than AJ Lee’s husband. Lee isn’t even going to be the best AJ to retire this year.

Je’Von Evans vs. Kofi Kingston

Offset is here to offset Xavier Woods and Grayson Waller. Feeling out process to start with Kingston talking a lot of trash and getting superkicked as a result. Kingston runs away from the threat of Evans but comes back in to send Evans crashing out to the floor. We take a break and come back with Evans striking away.

A springboard spinning kick to the back of the head (ouch) hits Kingston for two so Evans tries a VERY high moonsault, only to hurt his leg on the landing. The SOS gives Kingston two and Evans’ leg is fine enough for a handspring kick. One heck of a no hands dive drops Kingston on the floor but Waller cheap shots Evans. Back in and a Fameasser gives Kingston two and Offset goes after Waller. The OG Cutter gives Evans the pin at 10:22.

Rating: B-. Putting Evans in there against a veteran like Kingston is only going to make him better, as Kingston wrestles a similar enough style and can show him exactly where to go. It’s a case of learning on the job and Evans is going to get something out of this. Nice match too, with Evans getting some momentum on the way to the Chamber.

Various wrestlers praise AJ Styles.

TNA’s Frankie Kazarian is here and runs into Abyss (in full gear). They’ll have a walk together.

A serious Finn Balor talks about how he wants to prove that he’s the best in the world. At Elimination Chamber, he’s going to disrupt the Wrestlemania main event. I have no reason to believe that Balor has a real chance of winning the title, but they’re giving this one heck of a try and I’ll take that.

Here is CM Punk for a chat. He’s here to celebrate AJ Styles so he’s going to try to be brief to give Styles as much time as he can. Punk says it’s great to be alive on a Monday night in Atlanta, but what if he doesn’t get to say that again? Finn Balor wants a title shot and broke up Punk vs. Styles in Toronto. People have been asking Punk what he’s doing and the answer is the best that he can.

He’s following the examples of the legends he’s shared a locker room with and that’s the best he can do. He doesn’t like dealing in what if’s, but what if Roman Reigns was here tonight. Reigns will be here next week, but Punk doesn’t have to deal in what ifs. He doesn’t have to ask what if he’s in the main event of Wrestlemania because that’s what he is, just like being the World Heavyweight Champion.

Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match: Iyo Sky vs. Kairi Sane vs. Raquel Rodriguez

Rodriguez kicks Sane down to start and throws Sky into the corner, only for Sane to come back in for a choke. That’s broken up but Sky and Sane get together to double team Rodriguez into the corner. Sky and Sane realize it’s a bit weird that they’re teaming together but send Rodriguez outside.

Rodriguez is back in with a double fall away slam before going outside with Sane. Sky Asai moonsaults onto the two of them and we take a break. We come back with Sky planting Sane and dropkicking Rodriguez through the ropes. Sky springboard missile dropkicks Sane down but gets Pounced by Rodriguez. A clothesline gives Rodriguez two on Sane but Sky breaks up the Tejana Bomb.

Sky’s suicide dive connects with Rodriguez and Sane’s top rope elbow puts Rodriguez down again. Back in and Sane gets two off a backslide to Sky, who gives her a butterfly backbreaker. Over The Moonsault connects but Rodriguez breaks up the cover. Rodriguez comes back in and gets dropkicked into the corner, where the Bullet Train connects. A top rope diving DDT plants Rodriguez but Sane breaks up Over The Moonsault. The Insane Elbow misses though and the Tejana Bomb finishes for Rodriguez at 10:57.

Rating: B-. Another perfectly acceptable match here, though I’m glad we’re done with all of the triple threats. We got another “opponent steals the chance to win” here and that has gotten more than a bit tiresome. That being said, Rodriguez adds a bit of a different style to the Chamber and that’s a good thing to have for the match.

Elimination Chamber rundown.

We get a tribute video to AJ Styles….and it’s set to Higher by Creed. Yep that’s the highlight of the night by about ten miles.

Here is Styles (who bumps into a piece of equipment on the way through the entrance) for his big celebration. Styles gets to hit his poses and says he was going to wear a suit, but the last time he did that, he beat up Cody Rhodes so no suit. He grew up 45 minutes from here in Gainesville, Georgia and he fell in love with wrestling. He wrestled in Gainesville, he wrestled in the Asylum in Nashville, the Tokyo Dome in Japan and under the bright lights of Wrestlemania.

When he was in Japan, he met some Good Brothers named Gallows and Anderson who taught him how to have fun in wrestling. He’s done just about everything in wrestling but he hasn’t been a full time father. You’ve heard this before, but he’s missed birthdays, anniversaries, games and more. His biggest flex is having the best wife in the world (in the front row). She never held him back and she kept the family together while he watched them grow up on Facetime. He thanks some more people here with her (I’m guessing his kids) before moving on to losing to Gunther at the Royal Rumble.

No it didn’t go the way he wanted it to, but he got to go out ten years after he debuted at the same show. He didn’t leave his gloves in the ring, but at the end of the day, he’s a man of his word and all he has are his words. Styles takes off his jacket and lays them in the ring before saying he wanted to leave his gloves here at home in Atlanta. That’s exactly what he does and here is the locker room, including some Smackdown stars, to applaud.

And then a gong sounds, with Biker Taker coming out. Undertaker says he and Styles have unfinished business (the fans like this and Styles is a bit surprised). And for the big surprise: Styles is going into the Hall Of Fame. Well that’s certainly deserved and Styles looked surprised so well done. And no interference for a nice bonus.

In memory of Kerwin Silfies.

Overall Rating: B. I liked this one well enough, as it feels like they’ve done a good job of setting up the pay per view. That was the point of this show and they did a nice job, with Punk vs. Balor feeling more interesting. The Chambers are filled in as well, meaning we can get away from the qualifying matches. The ending segment was good and felt important, so at least they didn’t do anything too crazy. Nice show here.

Results
Jey Uso b. Original El Grande Americano and Bronson Reed – Superfly Splash to Americano
Nattie b. Maxxine Dupri via referee stoppage
Je’Von Evans b. Kofi Kingston – OG Cutter
Raquel Rodriguez b. Kairi Sane and Iyo Sky – Tejana Bomb to Sane

 

 

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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AJ Styles In WCW
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tony Schiavone, Scott Hudson

Yeah this happened and it makes sense given that Styles is finally retired. He was around long enough that he was actually part of the final days of WCW. It really didn’t last long, but there is something to be said about seeing such an early part of his career. If nothing else, maybe we can see just how far he came later on. Let’s get to it.

From Thunder, February 14, 2001.

AJ Styles/Air Paris vs. Knoble And Karagias

The winners move on to a six way match at Superbrawl. Knoble drives Styles into the corner to start as we talk about Styles being 23 years old and only three years into his career. They battle over wrist control until Styles moonsaults over him and grabs a hiptoss. Everything breaks down and Styles and Paris clear the ring in a hurry.

Paris gets backdropped over the top onto the two of them before coming in to face Karagias. A short powerbomb gives Paris two and it’s back to Styles to trip Karagias down for a running corkscrew splash. Styles gets dropped to the floor by a cheap shot though and Knoble sends him into the barricade to take over. Karagias comes in with a powerslam for two and a bridging northern lights suplex gets the same.

A surfboard dragon sleeper has to be broken up so Styles and Karagias hit stereo crossbodies. Styles gets in a powerbomb and brings Paris back in for something like a Burning Hammer to Knoble. Everything breaks down and Karagias hits a big springboard dive to the floor.

Paris gets caught in a Doomsday Device…but Knoble and Karagias fight over who gets the pin. Styles comes in for the save but gets knocked down. Paris and Knoble crash out to the floor, leaving Karagias to 450 Styles for two, with Paris making the save. Styles’ springboard shooting star to the floor hits Paris by mistake, meaning it’s a springboard dropkick/powerbomb combination to finish Styles at 12:20.

Rating: B-. It was a fun start for the team and you can see Styles showcasing the skills that he obviously has. On the other hand you have Paris, who is best remembered as Styles’ partner but it was far from bad in his own right. As a result you had a bunch of guys getting a chance to showcase themselves and it worked out pretty well, especially for one of the last Thunders.

From Thunder, February 21, 2001.

AJ Styles/Air Paris vs. Boogie Knights

Wright uppercuts Paris down to start and stomps away in the corner. A spinwheel kick allows Disqo (it was a 2000 thing) to come in for a facebuster. Styles comes in and avoids Wright’s charge in the corner but gets knocked down again. That means dancing can ensue (shocking I know) but it’s already back to Paris to slug away. Disqo goes after the leg to take over as we talk about WCW’s impending new owners (cue ominous music).

Paris tries to fight back but gets caught with a Doomsday missile dropkick. Styles pulls him out of the way of a charge though and then gets the tag. A running tornado DDT plants Disqo and it’s back to Paris, who knees Disqo to the floor. Styles hits a top rope double dropkick to take both of them down, followed by Paris’ springboard high crossbody. Back in and Styles hits his own high crossbody to pin Disqo in an upset at 6:59.

Rating: C. Yeah the Boogie Knights were hardly a great team but they had some success so it means a bit more for Styles and Paris to beat them. That’s something you need to have every so often and this was a quick enough match to give the new guys some establishment. I don’t expect it to go much further, but at least it’s something.

From Monday Nitro, March 5, 2001.

Cruiserweight Tag Team Title Tournament First Round: Air Raid vs. Elix Skipper/Kid Romeo

Yeah this was a thing and given that the company was out of business in less than a month, they didn’t last long. Romeo (a dancer, because that was REALLY popular in 2001, though he’s closer to a stripper) is a mystery partner. Styles gets chopped up against the ropes but sends Romeo outside. A charge is cut off though and Styles is dropped onto the announcers’ table, setting up a big dive from Skipper.

Back in and Styles’ faceplant gets two on Romeo, followed by a running flipping splash for two. Paris comes in and is quickly knocked down, meaning it’s already back to Styles. Everything breaks down and Skipper hits a top rope Asai moonsault onto Paris and Romeo. Styles is taken out with a dive as Chavo Guerrero comes out to watch.

Skipper dropkicks Paris off the apron into a scoop brainbuster to give Romeo the pin at 5:22. Romeo and Skipper would go on to win the titles, with the company going out of business eight days later (and they would lose them on the last show, with Rey Mysterio and Billy Kidman winning, and reportedly keeping, the belts).

Rating: C+. It was nice to see the team getting a spot on Nitro, albeit in a show that is pretty much completely forgotten. This was such a strange time for WCW, and wrestling in general for that matter, but it’s better than nothing for the team. They were getting some exposure on a big stage, even in defeat, and Styles was making it work.

From Thunder, March 19, 2001 (the last episode).

Air Raid vs. Jung Dragons

Yang wrestles Styles down to start and suplexes him into the corner for a big crash. A double Stunner over the top rope drops Styles and Paris before Styles reverses Hayashi into the (debuting and yet to be named) Styles Clash for two. Paris comes in and gets taken down with a standing hurricanrana before Yang comes in to clean house. A comeback is cut off with a powerbomb out of the corner. That’s enough for Hayashi and Styles to come back in, with Styles getting dropped with a kick to the head.

Everything breaks down and Styles gets dropkicked out of the air but he’s able to shove Yang outside. We get a really obvious edit as Styles loads up what looks like a super Styles Clash but instead we look at the crowd. As we come back, Styles’ is on the mat holding his back (after no sound on the landing) and Paris hitting a clothesline on Hayashi. A double powerbomb drops Hayashi for two, with Yang making the save. Hayashi grabs a chinlock and kind of reverse bulldogs Styles for the pin at 8:09.

Rating: B-. So that’s how the run ends and…yeah it’s not much different than the rest of the team’s run. It was cool to see the Clash, which was at least a different kind of move. The Dragons were an underrated team in their own right and of course they never came close to the Tag Team Titles because, well, that’s WCW for you.

Overall Rating: C+. This is basically a big footnote in Styles’ career, as he would go on to TNA and become a huge star (by their standards at least) just over a year after WCW went out of business. At this point, he wasn’t getting to showcase his talents very well, but then again, what were you expecting in the last month and a half of a dying promotion’s life? It would have been nice to see Styles get a singles match (he only had one, a dark singles match against Paris) but he had enough of those later on. For now, this was a nice look back at a pretty much forgotten time.

 

 

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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Royal Rumble 2026
Date: January 31, 2026
Location: Riyadh Season Stadium At KAFD, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Commentators: Wade Barrett,

We’re overseas for the show and that means it’s time for the Road To Wrestlemania to begin. I’m not sure what that is going to mean this year as the Rumbles are not feeling quite as important as years past. In addition though, Sami Zayn is challenging for the World Title and AJ Styles is facing Gunther in what might be Styles’ retirement match. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is narrated by HHH and talks about how people can move up the ladder in one night. This is a decision and it means going to Wrestlemania.

Women’s Royal Rumble

90 second intervals, Charlotte is in at #1 and, surprise, Alexa Bliss is in at #2. They start tentatively until Bliss teases Sister Abigail. With that out of the way, the two of them pose together until Kiana James is in at #3. James gets double teamed down, including a spike DDT, and it’s Nia Jax in at #4. Jax wrecks both of them and James adds a double splash for some yelling. Ivy Nile is in at #5 and gets to suplex some people but can’t pick Jax up.

Lola Vice is in at #6 and kicks away, followed by the running hip attack in the corner. Jax cuts that off and does her own hip shake but everyone goes after Jax on the ropes. Candice LeRae is in at #7 and tornado DDTs Charlotte before helping Jax. The pile breaks up and it’s Jordynne Grace in at #8. Grace tosses Vice, Nile and LeRae in a hurry but gets taken into the corner by Jax. The Stinkface is on before Jax goes after Charlotte and Bliss. The two of them put Jax on the apron and Charlotte boots Jax out but Bliss is pulled out too. Bliss is distraught and Becky Lynch is in at #9.

Charlotte and Lynch slug it out and Charlotte’s missed big boot almost gets her eliminated. They fight to the floor (not eliminated) but get back inside as Sol Ruca is in at #10. That gives us Charlotte, James, Grace, Lynch and Ruca. A springboard double clothesline drops Charlotte and Lynch, with the latter getting up for a standoff. Roxanne Perez is in at #11 and gets to clean some house before slapping it out with Lynch. Maxxine Dupri is in at #12 and gets to kick away, even taking the straps down. A step up Fameasser hits James but Dupri stops to glare at the entrance…..and then Natalya is in at #13.

Natalya and Dupri strike it out until Lynch tosses Dupri, only to get eliminated by Natalya in something of an upset. Liv Morgan is in at #14 and hits a quick Oblivion. Things slow down a bit and it’s Lash Legend in at #15 for her own house cleaning. At least she gets in a point to the sign and actually tosses Grace. Zelina Vega is in at #16 and picks up the pace a bit, only to get dropped by Legend.

Raquel Rodriguez is in at #17, meaning all three women in the Judgment Day are now active. James is sent to the apron, with Perez and Morgan offering a distraction. Rodriguez adds a big boot for the elimination but the trio saves Charlotte for some reason. Chelsea Green is in at #18 and tries to team up with the Judgment Day. Alba Fyre (not an entrant) runs in for the save and is quickly clotheslined out. That leaves Green to get dropped on the top rope and Giulia is in at #19.

Green is sent over the top but lands on Fyre’s back, allowing Fyre to crawl her to safety. Iyo Sky is in at #20, giving us Charlotte, Ruca, Perez, Natalya, Morgan, Legend, Vega, Rodriguez, Green, Giulia and Sky. Asuka is in at #21 and takes her sweet time getting inside before teaming with Giulia to go after Sky. That doesn’t work as Asuka kicks Giulia by mistake and it’s Rhea Ripley in at #22.

Giulia gets rid of Vega and Ripley knocks out Green (and Fyre, again) before blocking Pop Rox. Perez is tossed with a Razor’s Edge and Bayley is in at #23. She trips Ruca up on the apron but Ruca does a handstand and then pulls herself up by the feet in a nice save. Bayley and Charlotte chop it out until NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne is in at #24. Jayne gets in more wrecking than most and Morgan eliminates Natalya. Nikki Bella is in at #25 to quite the reaction, with Cole explaining that she’s a part of pop culture.

Lyra Valkyria is in at #26 and kicks Morgan in the head before helping Bayley get rid of Giulia. Kelani Jordan (NXT) is in at #27 and hits a quick phoenix splash. Kairi Sane is in at #28 as the ring is WAY too full. Asuka has to grab Sane’s arms to save herself (with some painful looking contorting) but Sky knocks Sane into Asuka for the elimination. Sky knocks Sane out as well and it’s Brie Bella in at #29.

The kicks are fired off and Daniel Bryan is once again the most popular star in WWE. Tiffany Stratton is in at #30, giving us Charlotte, Ruca, Morgan, Legend, Nikki, Brie, Jayne, Jordan, Legend, Sky, Ripley, Stratton, Bayley, Rodriguez and Valkyria (I think). The Bellas send Rodriguez into the corner and we get a staredown with Bayley and Valkyria. Double hurricanranas get rid of Valkyria and Bayley to get us down to twelve. Jayne kicks Jordan out but gets caught with the Sol Snatcher so Ruca can dump her out as well.

Legend dumps both Bellas at once, with the fans NOT being pleased. Charlotte and Legend chop it out on the apron and Legend boots her out for quite the upset. We’re down to Sky, Ripley, Rodriguez, Morgan, Legend, Stratton and Ruca. Legend and Sky both go over but wind up on the apron, where Sky grabs a leglock of all things. One heck of a boot to the face gets rid of Sky and we’re down to six.

Ripley stares Legend down and they get in a slugout, with Legend actually kicking her to the mat. Rodriguez gets up for the staredown with Legend and knocks her into the ropes, where Ripley gets the big elimination (with Legend getting a huge pop). Rodriguez hits a SCARY Tejana Bomb to send Ripley onto the apron (cringe) for the elimination and Morgan dumps Rodriguez in quite the mean move.

We’re down to Stratton, Ruca and Morgan with Stratton hitting Morgan with the Prettiest Moonsault Ever. Morgan pops up to try Oblivion but Ruca gives them both a Sol Snatcher. They all crash over the top but manage a triple skinning the cat (cool) and land on the apron. The Sol Snatcher doesn’t work for Ruca and she’s out, followed by an Oblivion to give Morgan the win at 1:06:13.

Rating: B. This started really boring and then picked WAY up around Jordynne Grace’s entry. It got a lot better with a lot of hard work (albeit with some laying around, as is always the case) and I like Morgan getting the win. At some point you have to go there as she’s finished in second place time after time. Legend got the Diesel style run of smashing through a lot of people and that’s a very bright sign for her future. I was into this way more than I expected to be by the end so it was a nice job all around.

Post match the referee has to remind Morgan to point at the sign….and dang that looks like a lot of empty seats. I’m hoping that’s just a trick of the light or something because otherwise, dang that’s terrible.

We recap AJ Styles vs. Gunther. The idea is Styles is planning to retire this year, but Gunther cheated him out of a recent win. Therefore, Styles is putting his career on the line here against the man who has finished off Goldberg and John Cena in the last year.

AJ Styles vs. Gunther

Styles grabs a headlock to start and that goes absolutely nowhere. Some shots to the leg don’t slow Gunther down as he grabs his own headlock to grind away. A big boot puts Styles on the floor and Gunther sends him hard into the announcers’ table. Styles’ looks to be cut open and more chops have him in more trouble.

The Pele Kick puts Gunther down though and Styles’ fireman’s carry backbreaker gets two. One heck of a clothesline cuts Styles off again for two and Gunther blocks a Calf Crusher. The powerbomb gets two but Styles is back with the Calf Crusher in the middle of the ring. This time it’s countered with the sleeper but Styles reverses into one of his own. Gunther gets out to the floor and that means the slingshot forearm to put him down again.

Back in and the springboard 450 sets up the Styles Clash for two and Styles is stunned. They get back up and Gunther kicks him low, setting up the powerbomb for two. Gunther chops the living daylights out of him in the corner and Styles even goes down, only to pull himself up. Styles strikes away but gets pulled into the sleeper. He fights up and gets close…until he’s out and Gunther wins at 24:04.

Rating: B. Well, it’s interesting to see Gunther actually make someone retire, as the previous two instances were both him pinning someone who had already announced they were done anyway. It’s another case of Gunther calling his shot and then doing it, which is a good way to go, though I’m not sure what is next for him. You can only retire so many people before it needs to get you somewhere, and I don’t know where that goes. At least Gunther feels like a big villain though, and Styles got to go out with a good enough match.

Post match Styles gets the big sendoff of respect. He teases taking the gloves off but puts them back on for the pose instead.

Smackdown World Title: Drew McIntyre vs. Sami Zayn

McIntyre is defending and catches an early kick to the ribs. That means Zayn is shoved down and slowly stomped but manages to send McIntyre outside. The dive connects but Zayn bangs up his back, meaning McIntyre has an opening. Back in and McIntyre slowly starts working on the back, including taking Zayn up top.

That lets Zayn hit a sunset bomb to take McIntyre down but he can’t hit the Blue Thunder Bomb. Said Blue Thunder Bomb connects for two a few seconds later and McIntyre misses the Claymore. The super Air Raid Crash gets two so McIntyre grabs three straight Futureshocks for two.

Back up and Zayn misses a desperation Helluva Kick and gets Claymored for two more. The Helluva Kick does connect for a rather near fall, mainly due to the back giving out. They head outside with McIntyre dropping him onto the announcers’ table to wear the back out even more. Back in and Zayn somehow pulls himself up for a Helluva Kick, only to walk into a Claymore. One more Claymore retains the title at 16:09.

Rating: C+. I really wasn’t feeling this one as even Zayn’s hope spots didn’t feel huge. They just kind of came and went without much going on. The Helluva Kick got a decent near fall, but then McIntyre just beat him clean. I’m not saying Zayn should have won the title here, but I was hoping for something closer to Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy from 2008 rather than…this. It’s not a terrible match, though it certainly wasn’t living up to the hype.

Earlier today, Paul Heyman yelled at Adam Pearce for Bron Breakker being #2 in the Royal Rumble.

Men’s Royal Rumble

90 second intervals and Oba Femi is in at #1 and Bron Breakker is in at #2. Hold on though as a hooded man jumps Breakker and gives him a Stomp on the floor. Breakker is sent inside and clotheslined out in about three seconds as the hooded man leaves. Solo Sikoa is in at #3 and Femi jumps him to start fast. The running uppercut connects in the corner but Femi is sent shoulder first into the post.

Rey Mysterio is in at #4 and can’t give Sikoa an early 619. Instead Femi boots Sikoa down with Mysterio crashing as well and Rusev is in at #5. Some dropkicks stagger Femi but Mysterio cuts him off. Femi knocks Rusev out and shrugs off a 619 before knocking Mysterio out. Matt Cardona is in at #6 and is out just as fast. Damian Priest is in at #7 and hits a running shoulder, only for Femi to knock him down. A superkick puts Femi into the corner, where he pulls Priest out of the air. Some spinning kicks rock Femi and a clothesline puts him down as Je’Von Evans is in at #8.

Evans’ OG Cutter is blocked by Femi but he’s back to kick Priest down. Mr. Iguana is in at #9 and takes Evans down, including some shots from the stuffed iguana. An enziguri just annoys Femi and Priest chokeslams Iguana and the iguana. Trick Williams is in at #10, giving us Femi, Priest, Evans, Iguana and Williams, the latter of whom eliminated Iguana/iguana.

The four in the ring pair off and it’s Cody Rhodes in at #11. House is quickly cleaned, including the Cody Cutter, and El Grande Americano is in at #12. The loaded mask takes Evans down….and the ORIGINAL El Grande Americano is in at #13. They do the staredown with Original tossing out the replacement and Williams dumping the Original. Rhodes gets rid of Williams and POWERHOUSE HOBBS…..whose name graphic changes to ROYCE KEYS is in at #14.

Keys gets rid of Priest almost immediately tosses Priest out for quite the debut. Austin Theory is in at #15 and starts slugging away, with Bronson Reed in at #16 to give him some backup. Ilja Dragunov is in at #17 and goes after Rhodes without getting very far. La Parka of all people is in at #18 and Cole reveals the result of a match he’s in which hasn’t aired yet so thanks for the spoiler. Dragon Lee is in at #19 and adds another body to the rapidly filling ring.

With nothing else going on, Logan Paul is in at #20, giving us Femi, Evans, Rhodes, Keys, Theory, Reed, Dragunov, Parka, Lee and Paul. The Vision gets together to toss Keys, Lee and Parka until LA Knight is in at #21. The Vision jumps him but Knight manages to get rid of Theory, followed by a BFT and clothesline to eliminate Reed. Brock Lesnar, with Paul Heyman, is in at #22 and it’s Suplex City time. Femi is the only one left standing…and Miz is in at #23.

More suplexes abound and Dragunov is out, leaving us with Femi vs. Lesnar again. They stare at each other some more until Rey Fenix is in at #24. Lesnar suplexes Femi and tosses Fenix before telling Femi to bring it again. Femi goes after Paul and gets tossed by Lesnar (no shame there), leaving Paul to get suplexed. Jey Uso is in at #25…and Rhodes and Knight toss Lesnar out. Huh. Uso comes in, hits a superkick, runs it back, and gets cut off by Roman Reigns being in at #26.

That means Uso tries to run it back AGAIN, thankfully earning himself a punch to the face. Reigns fires off the Superman Punches and spears Miz, followed by the elimination. Rhodes and Reigns have their big staredown and Jacob Fatu is in at #27. Rhodes teases a dive but gets punched in the face and beaten up on the floor before both of them get inside. Fatu gets punched down and Reigns/Uso give Rhodes a 1D.

Penta is in at #28 and kicks at Fatu but gets powerslammed by Knight. Rhodes Disaster Kicks Knight out and it’s Randy Orton in at #29. The snap powerslam hits Uso and the fans sing Orton’s song. The double hanging DDT drops Penta and Uso, followed by an RKO to Paul and Penta. The clock ticks down and it’s Gunther in at #30 to annoy the crowd all over again, though he does at least limp to the ring. That gives us a final grouping of Evans, Rhodes, Paul, Uso, Reigns, Fatu, Penta, Orton and Gunther.

Evans kicks away at Orton and dives into the RKO for the elimination. Penta does his handstand in the corner and gets tossed out by Gunther. That earns Gunther an RKO and it’s time for Rhodes and Orton to double team him. The Cody Cutter accidentally hits Orton so Rhodes is set over the top….and Drew McIntyre runs in to Claymore him out. Fatu is tossed but Uso spears Reigns down.

The elimination is reversed though and Uso is out, leaving us with Reigns, Orton, Paul and Gunther. Reigns dumps Paul and Gunther dumps Orton to get us down to two. Reigns backdrops Gunther to the apron but he blocks the Superman Punch and comes back in for the sleeper. That’s broken up and it’s a spear to send Reigns to Wrestlemania at

Rating: B-. It was ok, but they didn’t exactly stick the landing. There was some good stuff in the beginning with Femi looking dominant and then some big names coming in, but once Lesnar got eliminated, it felt like the top stars were just tossed one after another without much going on. I liked some of the surprises (Knight, the other Americano, Keys) though and they teased some interesting stuff. The problem here really came down to no one being a favorite and Reigns getting the win almost in a “well, let’s just go with him” way. Not a terrible Rumble, but a decent sized letdown in the end.

Reigns celebrates for awhile to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This felt like the “play it safe” Rumble, with the World Title match not meaning much, Gunther doing his same old (but good) stuff and Reigns getting back towards the main event scene. I do rather like Morgan winning though, as she has more than earned her spot at or near the top of the division. This wasn’t the worst Rumble by far, but it didn’t have anything you really need to see either. Hopefully they have something better for Wrestlemania though, because this level isn’t quite good enough for the biggest show of the year.

Results
Liv Morgan won the Women’s Royal Rumble last eliminating Tiffany Stratton
Gunther b. AJ Styles – Sleeper
Drew McIntyre b. Sami Zayn – Claymore
Roman Reigns won the Men’s Royal Rumble last eliminating Gunther

 

 

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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It’s that time of year again and…I’m really not sure how. This has been one of the most under the radar builds to the Royal Rumble that I can ever remember, as there is just not much in the way of hype. Neither Rumble really feels like it has a heavy favorite, which is odd as there is a pretty stacked field on the men’s side. That doesn’t mean the show will be bad, but it means they’re fighting an uphill battle. Let’s get to it.

Smackdown World Title: Drew McIntyre(c) vs. Sami Zayn

This is an interesting way to start as it could go either way. Normally this would feel like the token title defense for the champion at the Royal Rumble, where titles rarely (but occasionally) change hands. However, we’re over in Saudi Arabia this year and that means we could be in for a surprise with Zayn. Throw in his all time horrible record against McIntyre and this has all of the makings.

That being said, I’m just not sure I can picture them actually going with the title change here. It would fee like something of a rush, as Zayn hasn’t been built up for that kind of a major title win. I’ll go with Zayn winning the match but not the title, likely through some kind of a DQ etc. Either that or McIntyre pins him and gets quite the heel reaction. I can’t picture Zayn winning the title, but we’ll say he does win the match without becoming champion.

Gunther vs. AJ Styles

Here we have what might be the hardest match to call on the whole show. The idea here is simple: Styles is putting his career on the line and Gunther has a history of ending legends’ careers. Gunther already cheated to beat Styles in a recent match and now we get to see what happens when he has to do it again with some bigger stakes. This is a situation that could go either way and that’s interesting.

Unfortunately I think I’ll take the safe route and say that Styles rides off into the sunset here. While I would like to see Styles get his big retirement year, there is something to be said about Gunther cutting his legs off and wrapping things up early instead. That’s so different than what we saw with John Cena last year and it could be a lot of fun to see Gunther take someone’s career away from them rather than wrapping up their career after they had announced their retirement. I would love to see Styles win, and he might, but I’ll go with Gunther here.

Women’s Royal Rumble

And here we reach the point of “I have no idea”. Both of the Rumbles are wide open this year and that makes for an interesting situation. We could be in for something out of nowhere or it could be one of the relatively safe picks. At the same time, there is always the chance of someone returning as a surprise entrant, as there are only 17 names confirmed as of the day before the show. That’s a lot of options and I’m not sure where to go.

That being said, the other day someone suggested a name and it’s sounding more and more like a possibility: the returning Bianca Belair. She’s been out of action since last year’s WrestleMania (over nine months ago) but the good thing is she’s a big enough star that she could be dropped right back into this spot. While that would be similar to what Charlotte did last year, I’m not sure what better option there really is right now.

Men’s Royal Rumble

We’ll wrap it up here and once again, heck if I know who to pick with this one. There are 18 entrants confirmed for this one and while you can write off a lot of them, none of the remaining options really feels like a surefire winner. That makes for a bit of a confusing match, but at the same time it’s what makes the Rumble feel that much more important. So who wins?

While there are options like Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar, Cody Rhodes and (the likely) returning Chris Jericho, I’ll go with what feels like a safe pick and say Bron Breakker. He got the big title shot against CM Punk earlier this year and came up just short, so there is something to be said about giving him the big win at WrestleMania to really crown him as the next big thing. That might be what we are seeing, but I have pretty much no confidence in this one.

Overall Thoughts

This is a show that really could go either way and that’s making me nervous. You really could go in a bunch of different directions and that opens up options, but it makes me wonder just how bad those choices could be. Since there is no runaway option for either Rumble, it could make for what feels like a dumb result. Hopefully they make it work, because the build to this show certainly hasn’t felt great.

 

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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