WWE Vault Grab Bag V
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, Lord Alfred Hayes, David Crockett, Jim Ross

It’s time to dip back into the randomness that is the WWE Vault (and various other WWE Youtube channels) as there is a lot of stuff I’d like to see. Today we’re going to look at some more random entries, which could be a mixture of matches and/or segments. Either way, they should be from all over the place so let’s get to it.

From a WWE house show in Jonesboro, Arkansas, August 26, 2017.

John Cena vs. Samoa Joe

From what I can find, this is only one of two matches they ever had in WWE, with the other one coming the previous night. Joe powers him down to start and Cena starts bouncing a lot. A headlock slows Cena down again before running the ropes, with Cena hitting a shoulder. Cena’s headlock doesn’t work very well as Joe backs him into the corner for the quick shot to the face.

Joe sends him outside and then kicks him down back inside, meaning we get what looks like a Hulk Hogan pose of all things. A quick AA attempt is blocked and Joe’s enziguri gets two, meaning it’s time to get frustrated. Joe puts him down again for two more and knocks Cena into the corner, leaving Joe to walk around for a bit. Cena avoids a charge in the corner, only to get elbowed in the face.

Joe misses the backsplash though and Cena starts the usual comeback. The AA is countered with a grab of the rope and the referee gets knocked outside. Cena gets the STF for the unseen tap and of course lets go, allowing Joe to get in a low blow. Joe grabs a chair but Cena ducks and hits the AA for the clean pin at 10:00.

Rating: C+. This was more of a “whoa that match happened” and that’s not a bad way to go. It’s one of the appeals of a house show as a few fans got to see the match, even if it was rather basic. That’s all it needed to be and while I could have gone with a far bigger stage, I’ll take getting to see them have a decent match.

From a WWF house show in Long Island, New York, October 24, 1997.

Tag Team Titles: D-Generation X vs. Legion Of Doom

LOD is defending and Michaels tells a fan to suck it as Animal shoves HHH into the corner to start. Animal powers both of them down at the same time as Chyna is not pleased on the floor. We settle back down to Hawk slamming Michaels, who bails outside, with HHH and Chyna massaging the back of his tights. Back in and Michaels bails straight to the floor, only to get gorilla pressed by in by Animal, where Hawk clotheslines him right back to the floor for a big pratfall.

We settle down a bit with Animal grabbing a headlock and grinding Michaels down again as it’s all LOD thus far. The bearhug goes on but Michaels gets out and hands it off to HHH, who gets bearhugged as well. That’s broken up a bit faster and it’s a high/low to take over on Animal. HHH knocks Animal into the corner and Michaels comes back in with a sleeper. A belly to back suplex puts Michaels down but he makes the tag at the same time, allowing HHH to come in for a sleeper of his own.

It’s already back to Michaels for a front facelock but he accidentally ax handles a cheating HHH. The tag brings Hawk back in and the fans certainly seem to approve. Everything breaks down and Michaels gets in a belt shot to Hawk for the pin and the titles at 13:01. And hang on as here’s another referee to say what happened so no title change, as it’s a DQ instead. Actually the brawl keeps going and NOW it’s a DQ. Ok then.

Rating: B-. This was a fun match and that’s all I can ask for with a match like this one. What mattered the most here was that they had two teams who were both working hard and it felt like a big match. You don’t get that kind of thing very often and it was better than I was expecting. Michaels and HHH were a good team in their own right and the LOD had so much experience that they could do this kind of match so easily. I’d call this a nice surprise and it actually lived up to some of its hype.

Post match Chyna gets in and jumps Hawk, leaving DX to have to break up a Doomsday Device. Michaels chairs Animal but Hawk takes it away and sends Michaels running to wrap it up. Somehow DX wins on a DQ, presumably because the LOD beat them up too much. You know, instead of the belt shot which was called.

From a WWE house show in Leeds, England, November 8, 2021.

Walter vs. Cesaro

That would of course be Gunther before the name change. Cesaro backs him up against the ropes to start and gets shoved away. Walter misses the big chop and it’s off to a test of strength, with Walter actually getting the better of things. Cesaro’s headlock takeover puts Walter down for a change and grinds away for a little while. Back up and they trade the shoulders, with Cesaro’s jumping version working a bit better.

A shot to the throat puts Cesaro down though and we lower the pace. The double arm crank goes on, with Walter knocking him down to cut off an escape bid. The chinlock has Cesaro in more trouble and this one stays on for a good while. Cesaro fights up and knocks Walter down, so naturally the fans want the Swing. That’s not happening so they strike it out instead until Walter hits the dropkick.

The powerbomb gets two and it’s off to the sleeper to put Cesaro down. That’s broken up in a hurry though and Cesar scores with Swiss Death. Now the Swing goes on and Cesaro follows with the Sharpshooter, sending Walter over to the rope. The springboard uppercut is blocked though and Walter kicks him in the face. A whip into the post sets up a German suplex into the top rope splash to give Walter the pin at 14:27.

Rating: B. This started slowly and the chinlock in the middle hurt it a bit, but this wound up being quite the hard fought match. That’s what the match needed to be as you kind of know what you’re getting when you have Cesaro vs. Walter. Cesaro wasn’t about to go over the up and coming monster, but they had a good fight here and that’s what it was supposed to be.

From a WWE house show in Dublin, Ireland, June 18, 2005.

Smackdown World Title: John Cena vs. John Bradshaw Layfield vs. Kurt Angle

Cena is defending and a certain Steve Austin is guest referee. This is also a rare outdoor match and it’s a cool visual with various buildings and trees in the background. JBL yells about being a former champion before the match and shadow boxes/kicks while Angle makes his entrance. We’re clipped to Angle elbowing Cena as JBL is down on the floor. A backdrop sends Angle outside so JBL is in to boot Cena in the face.

We’re clipped a few times to Cena fighting out of JBL’s sleeper but a big boot drops him again. We’re clipped again to Cena superplexing JBL and making the comeback. Cena initiates the finishing sequence and hits the FU for two on Angle. We’re clipped again to JBL countering the ankle lock and sending Angle outside. Cena loads up the finishing sequence on JBL but Angle is back in with an accidental belt shot to Austin.

Angle is kicked outside and the Clothesline From JBL drops Cena, with another referee running in to count two. Cena kicks a chair into JBL’s face so Angle grabs the chair, only to get cut off with a Stunner. Austin pokes JBL’s eye into the AA to retain the title at about 5:00 shown. I’m not going to rate it due to the cuts but it felt like a house show match with Austin there to spice it up a bit.

Post match Austin and Cena celebrate.

From WCW Saturday Night, May 14, 1994.

WCW World Title: Ricky Steamboat vs. Ric Flair

For the vacant title after they went to a draw at Spring Stampede. They go to the mat to start and Steamboat grabs an armbar, with Flair having to escape. Steamboat reverses a headlock into a hammerlock but Flair is back with the half crab. That’s broken up as well and Steamboat grabs a gorilla press to send Flair to the apron, where a suplex brings him back inside.

Cue Colonel Robert Parker with a briefcase full of money as Flair is sent outside again. Back in and Steamboat drops him with a shoulder but runs into a right hand to the ribs. Flair knocks him into the corner and slowly hammers away as we take a break. We come back with Flair sending him outside and then back inside for some near falls. Steamboat can’t armdrag his way out of an armbar but he can chop the skin off of Flair’s chest.

An atomic drop out of the corner gets Flair out of trouble and he grabs a chinlock. Yes he puts his feet on the ropes and no that shouldn’t be a surprise whatsoever. Back up and they chop it out again with Steamboat getting the better of things, allowing Flair to be rocked even more than usual. Steamboat’s dropkick misses though, as does Flair’s big elbow drop. Flair is back with a poke to the eye and Steamboat needs a breather on the floor. Back in and a sunset flip gives Steamboat two but he charges into a boot in the corner.

As usual Flair goes up top and as usual he gets caught and superplexed for two. Flair plants him down for a breather though and we slow the pace a bit. A poke to the eye lets Flair grab a sleeper, with Flair even on Steamboat’s back. That’s finally broken up and Steamboat chops away again as we take another break.

We come back again with Steamboat winning another chop off (it works, so keep going back to it) but getting his dive punched out of the air. Back in and Flair misses a knee drop, allowing Steamboat to wrap the knee around the post. The Figure Four has Flair in trouble, with Heenan screaming how to break out. Flair finally makes the rope (now what Heenan said to do but it did work) so Steamboat is right back on the leg. Steamboat chops him so much that Flair falls down for two and we take a third break.

We come back again with Steamboat missing something off the top and they’re both down again. Steamboat comes up favoring his own knee, allowing Flair to grab a delayed vertical suplex. His own leg is hurt as well though and it’s another double down. Flair is up and on Steamboat’s leg, with the Figure Four going on. The ropes makes it even worse, but the referee finally catches Flair to break it up. Steamboat knocks him back down but Flair is still up first, only to get caught with a chop. A gorilla press brings him crashing down but they’re back up with another collision.

Steamboat’s sleeper is countered into a belly to back suplex so he goes up again, with Steamboat top rope superplexing him for a crash. A big chop off the top gives Steamboat two and he tries the high crossbody but hits both Flair and the referee. Back up and they trade rollups for two each as they’re somehow still moving at a high speed about 45 minutes into the match. Steamboat tries a leapfrog but seems to get headbutted low, giving Flair the pin and the title at 47:06. Parker never got involved at all.

Rating: A-. There’s a reason these two wrestled each other so many times for the better part of twenty years. Sweet goodness this was amazing stuff with both guys staying crisp throughout and a sense that the match really could have ended multiple times. It’s just high level, technically incredible wrestling between two guys who could do this stuff in their sleep. It says a lot when this is pretty firmly on the low end of their series, as it’s an instant classic with only the kind of sudden ending holding it back. Definitely check this out, plus pretty much anything else they’ve done, ever.

From a WWF house show in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, January 16, 1989.

WWF Title: Randy Savage vs. Bad News Brown

Savage, with Elizabeth, is defending in a Harlem Street Fight and they’re both in street clothes. Brown jumps him on the way in and they’re quickly outside with Savage striking away. A headbutt cuts Savage off though and a chair is thrown inside so Brown can use it to choke. Brown takes him back outside but punches the post, allowing Savage to ax handle him back inside.

Savage takes off his weightlifting belt and blasts Brown in the ribs. Brown is back up with another chair shot and sends Savage crashing over the barricade. A table (remember, this is 1989) is set up in the corner but Savage sends Brown into said table. There’s no referee as Brown hits the Ghetto Blaster for no count. A slam gets the same result so brown yells at the referee, allowing Savage to grab a backslide to retain (with the count from a second referee) at 6:49.

Rating: B. This didn’t last long and no it wasn’t as smooth as the kinds of street fights etc. that you would see in the future, but these guys beat the fire out of each other and it felt like a fight. The big thing here was that Brown basically beat him up and then got caught in the end. There was absolutely something to Brown, who was WAY ahead of his time and could have been incredible about ten years later. Still though, good stuff here, with Savage being more than capable of doing this kind of thing.

Post match Brown kicks Savage outside and then ties the original referee up in the Tree Of Woe. Brown easily takes Savage down into the corner but Savage is back up with a running ax handle. Some other wrestlers come in to break it up, or at least they do after a few misfires.

From WCW Worldwide, May 14, 1988.

NWA United States Tag Team Titles: Midnight Express vs. Fantastics

The Express, with Jim Cornette, is defending and after their usual pre-match hugs, we’re ready to go. Fulton and Lane start things off with Fulton knocking him down without much trouble. A running shoulder drops Lane again and it’s time for the champs to regroup. Lane wrestles him down and quickly gets a hammerlock, which works so well that he does it again.

We take a break and come back with Lane getting double hiptossed, allowing Rogers to work on an armbar. Rogers sends Lane outside so it’s off to Eaton for a change. Eaton gets in a standing chinlock but charges into a headscissors. Lane teases coming off the top for the save but Fulton shakes the ropes to bring him down and then chills on the top in a great spot.

We take another break and come back with Lane on the floor before coming back inside to headlock Fulton. That’s broken up and it’s back to Rogers to work on Lane’s leg. That earns him an enziguri though and Eaton comes back in, only to get taken down as well. Eaton is knocked to the floor and sent into the post as the Midnights are all discombobulated. Back in and Eaton takes over on Fulton, who comes off the middle rope with a kind of hip attack for two.

A hurricanrana takes Eaton down again and we take another break. We come back with Eaton getting in a shot to the throat, followed by Lane’s karate kick to the chest. The hammerlock goes on and the fans get behind Rogers, with Cornette losing his mind on the floor as only he can. Rogers gets sent into the wrong corner again, with Lane grabbing a Russian legsweep for two more.

We take another break and come back again with Eaton working on the arm. Rogers fights up and brings Fulton back in, only for the Midnights to pull him down into a seated abdominal stretch. Fulton’s throat is pulled across the top rope and an elbow gives Lane two. We take yet another break and come back with the bleeding Fulton getting neckbreakered for two. Eaton goes up top and drops the elbow for two more, followed by Lane kicking away in the corner.

The referee stops to check on Fulton’s cut but Rogers bets him not to stop the match. Fulton grabs Anderson’s leg to beg as well so Lane kicks Fulton in the face. Cornette is up on the apron to demand the match be stopped…and Rogers missile dropkicks Eaton into a rollup to give Fulton the pin and the titles at 36:48.

Rating: A. This has been called the greatest tag match to ever air on television in the United States and….yeah it’s kind of hard to argue. The Midnights were as good of an in-ring team as you could get at this point (if not ever) and the Fantastics could go move for move with them. There is nothing in here remotely bad or even less than good, as everyone is working hard and looks incredibly crisp. Throw in that Eaton hat a 100+ degree fever and was so sick that Cornette was asking him if they needed to cancel the match and it’s even better. Absolutely check this out as it’s a tag team wrestling clinic.

From a WWE house show in New York City, New York, December 26, 2017.

Intercontinental Title: Roman Reigns vs. John Cena

Reigns is defending and I guess this works if it’s all you’ve got. They fight over a lockup to start as the fans are split, as usual in a big cena match. Reigns backs him up against the ropes so Cena grabs a headlock as they’re taking their time to start. That’s switched into a chinlock as Reigns can’t get very far early on. Back up and they go to a test of strength, with Reigns powering him out to the floor. Cena gets back in and is pretty easily knocked down, followed by a headbutt back outside.

We hit…I’m really not sure as it’s a one camera shoot and the fans are in the way but Cena takes over on the floor. Back in and the AA attempt is broken up but Cena grabs a tornado DDT. Reigns fights back with some big right hands and Cena’s comeback is cut off with the corner clotheslines. A big boot drops Cena again but he’s right back with the usual finishing sequence. The AA is countered into a sunset flip to give Reigns two, as does the Samoan drop.

The Superman Punch is pulled into the STF, only for Cena to let go to pull him back to the middle. Now the Superman Punch gets two, as does the AA, with the fans losing their minds on these near falls. Cena goes up but dives into a sitout powerbomb to leave them both down. Back up and they slug it out until Cena tries the AA again. That’s escaped though and the spear retains Reigns’ title at 17:59.

Rating: B. They had the big fight feel going here and that’s what it needed to be. This was the main event with the biggest star of the previous generation coming back to go after one of the biggest stars of today. That’s a main event level match and Cena knows how to bring it as well as anyone else. Good stuff here, especially for a house show with a red hot crowd.

From a WWE house show in Lafayette, Louisiana, March 10, 2024.

Kevin Owens/Becky Lynch vs. Grayson Waller/Nia Jax

Ok then. Waller’s running shoulder can’t get anywhere with Owens and a stomp on the foot doesn’t do much better. For some reason Waller shoves him in the face before handing it off to Jax. A shove actually puts Owens down and it’s off to Lynch for a high crossbody. Lynch kicks her way out of the corner and hits a Diamond Dust for two. The Disarm-Her is blocked so Lynch dropkicks her out to the floor instead.

Waller gets ping ponged between the two of them and a double suplex puts him down again. Jax is back in to run Lynch over though, setting up a reverse Stinkface in the ropes. The regular version makes it even worse as Lynch is gagging. Owens even gives her some water to wake her back up. Lynch fights out of the corner but Waller is right there to cut off the tag.

A Samoan drop gives Jax two and she can’t believe the kickout. Jax’s charge hits the post though and it’s off to Owens to beat up Waller. The backsplash gives Owens two but the Stunner is blocked. Jax forearms Owens into a rollup for two but misses a charge. Lynch Stunners Jax and Owens does the same to Waller, setting up the Manhandle Slam for the pin at 9:44.

Rating: C+. This was the definition of a fun house show match and that’s always nice to see. They didn’t do anything too complicated here and it was all about giving the fans something unique. Owens and Lynch worked well together and they beat up some annoying villains. What else do you want?

From Over The Limit 2012.

Raw World Title: CM Punk vs. Daniel Bryan

Punk is defending. Feeling out process to start with neither being able to get anywhere on the ropes. Instead Bryan grabs a headlock and hits a running shoulder, only to get hiptossed down. Punk takes him into the corner and starts in on the leg, including some cranking on the mat. Back up Bryan is able to flip over him out of the corner but the leg is kicked out again.

An Indian Deathlock is broken up as Bryan forearms him in the head, only for Punk to come back with a curb stomp. Bryan gets sent crashing out to the floor but drives Punk back first into the barricade. Punk is draped ribs first across the barricade and we hit the seated abdominal stretch back inside (with commentary reminding us that Kane recently injured Punk’s ribs).

Bryan switches into a surfboard with a dragon sleeper, followed by a heck of a running knee to the back. The Swan Dive gives Bryan two but Punk gets up for a double collision. Punk leg lariats him and hits the swinging neckbreaker as the comeback is on. A backdrop sends Bryan outside and the knee is banged up again. The suicide dive connects but Bryan is able to dropkick him out of the air.

One heck of a kick to the head gives Bryan two so he goes up, only to get crotched. A springboard clothesline gives Punk two and they go into a pinfall reversal sequence. Bryan can’t get the LeBell Lock but he can get kicked in the head for two. The top rope elbow connects but Punk’s knees are banged up again. Bryan gets the LeBell Lock in the middle of the ring, only for Punk to stack him up for the pin at 24:14. Punk taps a second after the pin but it is clearly after.

Rating: A-. This was every bit of the technical masterpiece that you would expect, with the hard strikes and some high flying thrown in. Punk winning clean is a bit of a surprise and thankfully they didn’t do anything screwy by having him tap at the same time. Naturally this didn’t headline the show because it wasn’t…let’s see here…John Cena vs. Johnny Ace. No wonder Punk had a chip on his shoulder.

From a WWF TV taping in Lowell, Massachusetts, August 18, 1993.

Mr. Hughes/Giant Gonzalez vs. Mr. Perfect/Randy Savage

This is the biggest “well ok” match I’ve seen in a bit and Harvey Wippleman is with the villains. Savage gets an interesting introduction with Mike McGuirk telling the fans to “give it all you got” for him. Hughes shoves the rather popular Perfect into the corner to start and then easily punches him down.

It’s off to Gonzalez, who looks even weirder than usual slowly hammering on Perfect. Hughes is back in and gives up the tag to Savage (who could pass for a Captain America knockoff), who is choked down by Gonzalez. A clothesline drops Savage again and it’s back to Hughes to miss a charge into the corner. Perfect comes back in to slug away, including a backdrop. Savage adds a top rope ax handle and Perfect gets a small package for the pin at 7:10.

Rating: C. The weird thing is this match actually made me feel bad for Gonzalez. There is only so much he could do against people literally a foot and a half shorter than him and that became quite the problem. Savage and Perfect couldn’t do much more than punch him, leaving Hughes as the only one they could do anything against. It’s not good, but it certainly had the spectacle.

From a WWE house show in Sydney, Australia, March 3, 2006.

Smackdown World Title: Mark Henry vs. Randy Orton vs. Kurt Angle vs. Undertaker

Angle is challenging. Orton bails to the floor to start, where some women are VERY excited to see him. We’re clipped to Orton back inside, with Undertaker hammering away. Orton bails outside so Angle rolls Undertaker up for two, earning himself a shot to the face. Henry comes back inside to choke Undertaker, as does Henry’s manager Daivari. Angle ankle locks Orton over the barricade, sending him into the crowd.

The other two join them, with Undertaker popping Orton with some right hands, sending him onto a woman who certainly does not seem to mind. Back in and Undertaker chinlocks Angle until Orton rather slowly rolls in for the save. Henry comes in to beat up Undertaker but Orton has to save him from the ankle lock. Undertaker is back up to stomp on Orton, who breaks up Old School.

A superplex puts Undertaker down for two and we’re clipped to Orton breaking up a superplex to Angle. The RKO is blocked but the Angle Slam hits Undertaker instead. We’re clipped again to Undertaker sitting up and chokeslamming Orton for two with Henry making a save. The Angle Slam finishes Orton to retain the title at about 9:00 shown. I won’t rate it due to the clips but what we saw looked good.

Post match Undertaker goes after Orton but has to beat up an invading JBL.

As has been the case with many shows over the years, we’ll wrap it up with a small package. This one features a collection of Mortis dark matches in WWE.

Velocity dark match, August 16, 2003.

Mortis vs. Austin Aries

Or “Austin Arius”, who is billed from St. Louis, where the match happens to be taking place. Aries strikes away to start but misses a high crossbody, allowing Mortis to strike away in the corner. A reverse Walls Of Jericho sends Aries over to the ropes and he gets some boots up in the corner. Aries is back with a discus forearm and a clothesline out to the floor. The slingshot dive misses but Aries is right back up for a missile dropkick. A sitout Dominator finishes Aries at 3:38.

Rating: C. I’m kind of surprised Aries didn’t get a closer look, as he was aggressive here and had some good looking high flying. You could tell he had the athleticism and balance that let him move around rather well. On the other and you have Mortis, who certainly looked cool and could have been fine enough without the Mortal Kombat stuff.

Velocity dark match, August 23, 2004.

Mortis vs. Truth Martini

Mortis punches him down to start but misses a springboard legdrop. Martini’s springboard spinning legdrop misses as well, allowing Mortis to hit a superkick. Back up and Mortis sends him into the corner for a middle rope Boston crab before sending Martini into the post. The crossarm choke goes on and a suplex drops Martini again. A tornado DDT gives Martini two of his own but he gets caught in an electric chair faceplant for the pin at 4:37.

Rating: C-. Ah now this was more like it, as there was nothing to Mortis here other than the look. Mortis does look cool, but his offense was “do a move, stand there, do another move, stand there again”, and so forth. That only works for so long and made a four and a half minute match feel a heck of a lot longer.

Velocity dark match, August 30, 2004.

Mortis/Funaki vs. Jack Bull/Mike Knox

Mortis strikes away at Bull to start so it’s off to Funaki, who gets beaten down by Knox. Bull comes back in to strike away. A reverse tornado DDT gets Funaki out of trouble and it’s back to Mortis. Everything breaks down and Mortis finishes Knox with a lifting Downward Spiral at 4:32.

Rating: C. Again, there’s just not much to say about these matches. Mortis is creepy looking but is teaming with the eternally likable Funaki against a pair of big bald guys. There was nothing to the match and Mortis certainly didn’t stand out, which is kind of the point of the whole thing.

Velocity dark match, October 25, 2003.

Mortis vs. John Walters

This is joined in progress for some reason with Walters flipping over him and hitting a clothesline for two. Walters’ neck crank doesn’t last long as Mortis is back up with a corner clothesline and a middle rope bulldog out of the corner. The superkick gets two and a sitout Alabama slam finishes Walters at 3:07.

Rating: C. Much like the previous matches, there’s something to the idea of this weird looking guy who does unique moves, but the whole Mortis deal was played so slowly. It was like Chris Kanyon was thinking “ok so I’m Mortis now” rather than getting into doing anything. This was another weak match and I’m not surprised WWE didn’t do anything with Mortis as a result.

Overall Rating: A-. The Mortis matches aren’t great, but they’re about the only things close to weak in this set. When you have the Flair vs. Steamboat match, that incredible Midnights/Fantastics match and the rather awesome Punk vs. Bryan match, almost anything else is going to be fine. I got lucky this time with a great set of matches and some actual rarities, which made for a rather fun (albeit crazy long) viewing. Check out those three matches for sure though, as they’re all worth your time.

 

 

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Monday Night Raw
Date: April 20, 2026
Location: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We’re done with Wrestlemania and that means it is time to have a big fallout show. That’s what we’ll be covering this week and I’m curious to see where the whole thing goes, as there are a lot of doors to cover. One of the biggest around here is that Roman Reigns beat CM Punk to win the Raw World Title. Let’s get to it.

Here is Wrestlemania if you need a recap.

We open with the traditional long Wrestlemania recap.

Here is Oba Femi, who soaks in a lot of cheers. He says The Ruler Has Arrived and drops the mic to hit his pose. That’s all he needed to say, because his actions yesterday spoke for him. It worked for Roman Reigns nine years ago and it worked for Femi here.

Asuka says it didn’t have to be this way with Iyo Sky. Now it’s time for revenge, with Kairi Sane not looking happy about any of this.

Iyo Sky/Rhea Ripley vs. Kabuki Warriors

Sane and Sky go to the mat to start with Sane pulling her down by the hair. A headscissors takes Sky down and Sane goes over to Asuka to make sure she approves. Sky is back up with a butterfly backbreaker and it’s Ripley coming in to drop Sky onto Sane for two. Asuka comes in for the big strike off but Ripley’s handstand kick to the head get two more. A cheap shot cuts Ripley off though and Sane hits a great looking Insane Elbow to take her out on the floor.

We take a break and come back with Ripley still in trouble. That’s broken up as Ripley fights back and brings Sky back in. Sky kicks away, with Sane knocking Asuka down by mistake. Sky gives them a double dropkick and hits some running Bullet Train Attacks in the corners. A kick to the head gets two on Asuka and Ripley gives her the Razor’s Edge. Sky adds a missile dropkick for two and it’s Riptide to Sane. Over The Moonsault gives Ripley the pin at 11:33.

Rating: B. These teams work well together and it’s nice to see the new champion getting a win, even if it’s in a tag match. The Warriors can go off to do something else, though they might be splitting soon anyway. Sky is going to be coming after Ripley and the title one way or another and it might be soon, which is a good thing.

Post match Asuka yells at the mostly out of it Sane.

Adam Pearce congratulates Penta on his win last night. Je’Von Evans comes in and wants a title shot. Penta seems interested and leaves. Ethan Page, the former NXT champion, debuts as Raw’s newest star and doesn’t think much of Evans. Pearce makes the match for tonight.

Here’s a rather serious looking CM Pun for a chat. He talks about how he lost his MMA trainer and dog Larry in a short span. Then it felt like every few weeks, someone behind the scenes in WWE was passing away. Those are the real heroes and the kind of people who make this place runs. Then Punk lost the title and it took away the anchor that kept him from falling apart over all his losses.

It’s not quite the same, but he knows the people will help him get through it again. He was never supposed to be champion again but he won it for three minutes, which was quite the cherry on the sundae. After that, he could have gone home to eat donuts and spend time with his hot wife. But then he stayed ready and got a #1 contendership match. If he wasn’t ready, you would be talking to Jey Uso right now. The thing is, he’s still the best in the world and he proved it last night. He gave it everything he had but it wasn’t his night. He’s not going home because you never know when a title match could fall out of the sky.

Cue Cody Rhodes to interrupt, with quite the limp and one heck of a black eye, to interrupt. Punk asks if he went over his time but Rhodes says no because this is Raw. Rhodes says this wasn’t what he expected, with Punk asking if Rhodes expected him to freak out. Rhodes: “….yeah.” Punk: “That’s fair.”

Rhodes brings up the idea of feeling like a loser and Punk seems to think Rhodes is saying that Punk should feel like one too. Punk praises Rhodes for what he did on Saturday with his win. The path for Rhodes is to keep being champion while Punk just has to stay ready because you never know when a championship opportunity is going to fall out of the sky (he says with some long looks at Rhodes’ title). Punk leaves and Rhodes says “just say when”, which makes Punk smile. That very well could be Wrestlemania next year, or maybe Summerslam, but it’s going to be a big one.

Finn Balor says Dominik Mysterio brought it at Wrestlemania but the Demon put him down. He’s not done with the Judgment Day though, including JD McDonagh. Balor remembers McDonagh coming to his gym as a kid and now McDonagh has chosen Mysterio. Now it’s time to take him out.

Ethan Page vs. Je’Von Evans

Evans starts fast but Page cuts him off without a ton of trouble. Page clotheslines him down and we’re already in the chinlock. Back up and Evans hits a dropkick, followed by the bouncing hurricanrana to send Page outside. The big no hands die follows and Evans chills with the fans as we take a break.

We come back with Evans (still wearing his shirt for some reason) hitting another dive but getting placed on the top. Page slams him back down and pulls him into a powerslam for two. Evans loses his shirt to reveal a bunch of medical tape and they head outside, with Evans hitting a superkick. Cue Rusev to go after Evans for a distraction, allowing Page to break up the OG Cutter. The Twisted Grin (Twist Of Fate) finishes for Page at 9:45.

Rating: C+. That’s a good way to go, as you give Evans an out to escape the loss while also having Page win his debut and actually having Rusev on the show. I’ll take some actual feuds and stories in this part of the card and Page diving right into the title picture is a good sign for him. I like this debut, as there was nothing else for Page to do in NXT.

Post match Rusev stays on Evans but Penta runs in for the save. Page knocks Penta off the top though and Rusev grabs the Accolade…and the title.

Paige and the Bella Twins are here.

Here is Judgment Day for a chat. Liv Morgan says the YOU DESERVE IT chants are the smartest things these people have said all day because she is the greatest of all time. She thanks the Judgment Day for being her rock and promises to be even more trouble than she ever was before. This brings out Sol Ruca (Ruca: “Hey Liv.”) to say Morgan has been an inspiration to her for years. She knows Morgan is the top woman in the division but Ruca is coming for her. Morgan doesn’t sound scared and a fight is teased, with Adam Pearce bringing out a referee to start it right now.

Sol Ruca vs. Liv Morgan

Non-title and we’re joined in progress with Ruca flipping out of a headscissors. A dropkick sends Morgan into the corner but she knocks Ruca out to the apron. Back in and Ruca fires off some forearms but Morgan takes her right back down. The front facelock goes on for a bit until Ruca fights out and rolls into an X Factor. Ruca sends her outside for a middle rope moonsault and we take a break.

We come back with the two of them slugging it out and Ruca getting the better of things. A middle rope dropkick sets up a running knee to give Ruca two but she dives into a Codebreaker. Ruca escapes the Oblivion and kicks Morgan in the head, setting up the Sol Snatcher, which sends Morgan rolling out to the floor. Ruca’s dive takes out all three of the women at ringside…and here is Ruca’s NXT enemy Zaria to take her out. Back in and oblivion finishes for Morgan at 11:43.

Rating: C+. I’m not sure what to think here, as Ruca is ready for the main roster, but having her lose in her debut match is kind of a strange choice. At the same time, you don’t want the new champion to lose so soon either. This was the best case scenario if they had to have the match so I’ll go with it, even if it might not be Ruca’s best starting option.

Post match here is Stephanie Vaquer for the staredown with Morgan.

We get a video on Brock Lesnar’s career, set to I Stand Alone of all things. This feels like the big retirement tribute, though I’m sure there will be more.

Here is the Vision, with Paul Heyman talking about how much the opening of this show changed him. Earlier today he heard CM Punk praising the production staff, but Brock Lesnar is still in the NOW section of the opening of the show. It is time for him to move to the FOREVER, because that is where he belongs. Heyman had some fire in this one, as you can tell he cares about Lesnar.

As for the now, you have the Vision as the reigning Tag Team Titles and are leading a renaissance of tag team wrestling around here. Logan Paul takes the mic and gets drowned out by the crowd. He blames IShowSpeed for their loss at Wrestlemania but says Speed left Wrestlemania with a piece of fist in his face. Just like they left Wrestlemania with the titles.

Heyman says he’s ready to talk to Gunther about repayment at any time, but the real MVP of Wrestlemania is this man right here: the returning Bron Breakker. Heyman is glad to have him back but Breakker says that it’s ironic that he came the leader of the team one year ago in this very building. Breakker loved taking the win from Rollins at Wrestlemania and hopes Rollins is watching tonight, because he’s going to make Rollins…and here is Rollins with a chair from behind.

Cue the Street Profits of all people (Cole: “REALLY?”) for the save and the brawl takes the Vision into the crowd. Rollins cuts Breakker off with a superkick and Breakker is busted open. He’s fine enough to avoid the Stomp and hit a Super Spear. Breakker screams at Rollins for causing all of this himself and another Super Spear knocks Rollins cold. I can definitely go for the Profits in this spot, as they’ve had nothing to do for months. Let them have a fresh start and it might go well for them. It’s a ready made title feud and that’s a good start. Rollins vs. Breakker has been ready for months so this didn’t change much for them.

JD McDonagh says he and Finn Balor were supposed to be family but Balor has changed. What about the guy who stood behind Balor for twenty years?

Finn Balor vs. JD McDonagh

Balor jumps him before the bell and beats McDonagh into the crowd. The beating goes back to ringside and they get in for the opening bell. McDonagh manages to avoid the Coup de Grace though and we take an early break with Balor in trouble. We come back with Balor missing his shotgun dropkick and getting dropped with the big headbutt. McDonagh’s moonsault hits raised knees and now the dropkick connects. The Coup de Grace finishes for Balor at 6:15.

Rating: C. This was pretty much a formality, as Balor wasn’t about to lose the night after his big win at Wrestlemania. I’m not sure how much longer he’s going to go after the Judgment Day, but Balor actually winning some matches is good to see. He needs to finish the team off and move on, which is what seems to be happening.

Post match Dominik Mysterio runs in to go after Balor but gets knocked into the corner. McDonagh gets Mysterio out of there.

Gunther says there is nothing with he and Paul Heyman. All that matters is getting his World Title back, but LA Knight comes in to say he didn’t need help winning at Wrestlemania. You mean other than his partners?

Here’s what’s coming next week, including the debuting Joe Hendry, who is now full time on Raw.

Rhea Ripley and Iyo officially split up because Ripley has to go be on Smackdown. Sky leaves and Ripley walks past Liv Morgan, who says enjoy Smackdown. Ripley says she’s looking forward to it.

Roman Reigns arrives and does the big long walk through the back. He meets the Usos at the Gorilla Position and invites them out with him.

After a break, here are Reigns and the Usos for a chat. Reigns said that he was going to keep things simple by talking about the title and the future, but then he ran into his cousins. He misses how things went when they worked together and did business as a family. Jey Uso has some rapper mocking him, but he’s the man who changed everything. We stop for the YEET chant before Reigns talks about how they ran things when they were together. He’s not asking them to serve him, but to be his blood and stand with him.

Jimmy says he speaks for his brothers when he says they’re the ones and the Usos do the pose. Reigns loads up his own pose…and it’s Jacob Fatu interrupting. Reigns says Fatu must be here to acknowledge him. That’s not right, so Reigns says it must be that Fatu wants the title. Fatu doesn’t want it, because he needs it. He doesn’t want to be the Tribal Chief but he needs everything that the Tribal Chief has. He needs the shoe deal, he needs the private jets, he needs the Rolex and to put his kinds in better schools.

At Backlash, he’s leveling up his household and Reigns will now Fatu is all gas and no brakes. Reigns isn’t sure about this because he doesn’t know if Fatu is ready if he wins. He’ll get back to him next week. This was good stuff, as they could hand pick anyone to come after Reigns first and Fatu fits that mold. He’s a different kind of opponent and Reigns is going to have to fight back, which he knows how to do. Throw in the Usos and it should be interesting.

Overall Rating: B. This is one of the annual shows where the wrestling isn’t the point. This show is all about dealing with what happened over the last two days and seeing where we go from here. There were a few directions taken and some new names debuted/were announced. They did what they needed to do here while also taking a bit of a deep breath. Good show here, with the regular stuff starting again next week.

Results
Iyo Sky/Rhea Ripley b. Kabuki Warriors – Over The Moonsault to Sane
Ethan Page b. Je’Von Evans – Twisted Grin
Liv Morgan b. Sol Ruca – Oblivion
Finn Balor b. JD McDonagh – Coup de Grace

 

 

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 XLII Night Two
Date: April 19, 2026
Location: Allegiant Stadium, Paradise, Nevada
Commentators: Wade Barrett, Michael Cole

We’re back in the stadium and this half of the lineup has some promise we have the main event of Roman Reigns challenging CM Punk for the Raw World Title, plus Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar in a heck of a hoss fight. Other than that, there is the almost traditional Wrestlemania ladder match so let’s get to it.

Here is Night One if you need a recap.

The opening video is mostly a sequel to last night, with Lin-Manuel Miranda talking about how the memories and moments are still coming but you haven’t seen anything yet.

Here is host John Cena to get things going. He basically says yesterday was big and tonight will be too so let’s start with something huge.

Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar

Yeah this qualifies and Paul Heyman is here with Lesnar. They fight over a lockup to start and neither can get anywhere early on, leaving Lesnar a bit unsure about this. Lesnar goes with the amateur stuff by driving Femi into the corner for the shoulders, with Femi easily shoving him away. Lesnar’s clotheslines don’t really work and Femi clotheslines him out to the floor. Heyman gives Lesnar a “WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT” look and Lesnar throws the steps to blow off some steam.

Femi reaches out for him and gets his throat snapped across the middle rope to let Lesnar take over. Femi gets posted a few times, followed by a ram into the steps and they head back inside. The German suplexes start rolling but Femi fires off some elbows in the corner. The F5 connects but Femi pops up for a chokeslam. The Fall From Grace finishes Lesnar at 4:44.

Rating: B+. The wrestling might not have been perfect, but my goodness that is as great of a big stage debut as you could have gotten. Lesnar made Femi look like a million bucks out there, as Femi took everything Lesnar had, got up and finished him with one Fall From Grace. Absolutely excellent here and Femi looked outstanding. Also, points to Heyman, whose facials and mannerisms boosted it up that much more.

Post match Lesnar stays down through the replays and Femi going all the way up the ramp and to the stage. That’s the kind of little thing that makes it that much bigger. Lesnar sits up, looks at the fans for a bit, and takes off his gloves and boots (while crying). Heyman gets in the ring and gives Lesnar a very emotional hug, with Heyman (also crying) raising Lesnar’s hand. The fans give him a big THANK YOU BROCK chant as he poses on the ropes, showing more emotion than he did in his entire career. Assuming this is it, that couldn’t have gone much better.

Intercontinental Title: Rusev vs. Je’Von Evans vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Dragon Lee vs. Penta vs. JD McDonagh

Penta is defending in a ladder match and gets a special entrance talking about how he’ll beat anyone. Then he puts on a big helmet (apparently Shao Kahn from Mortal Kombat). McDonagh jumps Lee before the bell and we start fast with the luchadors (all in red for a nice touch) clearing the ring. Rusev pulls Mysterio to the floor and sends him into the steps, leaving Lee and Penta to dropkick a ladder into Rusev, who doesn’t seem to mind. A ladder is bridged between the apron and the announcers’ table and McDonagh hits Penta with the ladder on the floor.

Evans hits a great looking dive out to the floor, leaving Mysterio to miss the 619 to Lee. Instead Lee hits him with a superkick as Rusev gets back in to clear the ring with the ladder. Penta bulldogs Rusev down and Evans is there to cut McDonagh off atop the ladder. The ladder is turned over and McDonagh lands in the ring as Evans goes flying off screen. Thankfully Evans is back in with a springboard clothesline to cut McDonagh off, leaving Lee to get caught inside a ladder.

That’s fine with Mysterio, who gives the ladder a 619 to clear the ring. The climb is cut off and Mysterio is tied up in the ladder with Lee getting to clear the ring for a change. Rusev is there to cut him off as well and Evans is slammed onto a bridged ladder. Lee throws Mysterio at Rusev to knock him off the apron and through the ladder bridged at ringside. Back in and Mysterio goes up top to cut Lee off, only to have Lee pull him into a Styles Clash.

That lets Lee go up but McDonagh plants him with a Spanish Fly off the ladder. McDonagh climbs but Penta is there with a Mexican Destroyer onto another bridged ladder. Evans is up to go after the title but Rusev is there to cut him off and send him crashing outside. Rusev climbs but Evans dives in with an OG Cutter to bring Rusev off the ladder and everyone is down again. Penta climbs up and retains at 15:10.

Rating: B. That ending was a bit of a letdown as nothing was topping that cutter from Evans. It felt like they were building towards Evans getting the big moment but Penta just won instead. Penta retaining is perfectly fine, but dang they could have had a heck of a great moment with Evans getting the big moment. All that being said, heck of a match here.

We look back at Lesnar’s loss and seeming retirement. Commentary gives Lesnar a big thank you.

We look at the ending of last night’s main event. Are you sure that’s a good idea?

Club WWE ad.

We run down the remaining card.

US Title: Sami Zayn vs. Trick Williams

Williams, with Lil Yachty is challenging and the train of his jacket stretches out for almost the entire length of the ramp in a great visual. Zayn starts slugging away and knocks Williams outside, only for Williams to drop him with the spinning kick. The Trick Kick is blocked and Williams gives him a jumping neckbreaker. The Trick Shot is countered into a Blue Thunder Bomb for two and Zayn starts kicking away in the corner.

Zayn posts him and drops him hard onto the floor as they’re just leaning into the double turn (if it hasn’t already happened). A Helluva Kick against the barricade gets a near countout and Zayn is ticked at Williams for surviving. The Helluva Kick is loaded up but Yachty gets in a cheap shot. The Trick Shot gets a VERY close two but a second misses, allowing Zayn to roll him up for two. Zayn suplexes him into the corner, only to charge into the Trick Shot for the pin and the title at 7:03.

Rating: B-. That’s how it should have gone as Williams has looked like the biggest star in the world as of late and Zayn has been a made man for the better part of ever. This was a heck of a way to make Williams feel like a star and he already looks the part. I could have gone with it going a bit longer, but the pieces are there for Williams to be a huge deal.

Post match Williams celebrates with his parents in a nice touch.

Dominik Mysterio vs. Finn Balor

Street fight, which was added earlier today. Mysterio comes out on a throne, with a bunch of luchadors carrying their king. That’s rather awesome, though Balor is back as the Demon and has a heart on the stage in front of him to make it even better. Balor hammers away to start and knocks Mysterio outside without too much trouble. It’s already time for the weapons but the table takes too long, allowing Mysterio to get in a shot. Mysterio sets up some chairs inside but gets dropped onto them for his efforts.

A superkick drops Balor though and the 619 into the frog splash gets…one, leaving Mysterio shaken up. Balor knocks him down but misses the Coup de grace, allowing Mysterio to hit him with a chair for two. Mysterio takes too much time to load up the table as well but Balor charges into a superkick and gets thrown through it (with the table exploding).

A chair to the back sets up a 619 with the chair around Balor’s neck. The frog splash gets two so Mysterio gets another table, which again takes too long (Cole: “Uh oh, Demon’s up.”). A bunch of chair shots knock Mysterio silly and the Coup de Grace through the table finishes Mysterio at 10:26.

Rating: B-. That’s about all it should have been, even though I did think it would have been amazing to see Mysterio get the huge upset here. At the same time, Mysterio is someone who can take all kinds of losses and bounce back so it isn’t like this is going to hurt him. If nothing else, it’s nice to see Balor win a big match for a change.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Rhea Ripley vs. Jade Cargill

Ripley, in white for a very big change of pace, is challenging. Cargill slams her down to start but Ripley is right back up to knock her outside. That’s fine with Cargill, who sends her into the barricade to take over again. Back in and Ripley tells her to bring it and smiles a lot, earning herself a chinlock. Ripley pops up with the handstand kick to the head but Cargill knocks her down again.

Ripley reverses Jaded into a victory roll for two but here are Cargill’s lackeys for a distraction. The beatdown is on outside but Iyo Sky runs in to cut them off. Sky Asai moonsaults onto them (avoiding Cargill’s pump kick in the process). The Riptide is escaped but so is Jaded, allowing Riptide to give Ripley the pin and the title at 10:07.

Rating: B-. I wasn’t sure which way this was going to go but if it sets up Sky vs. Ripley in another singles feud, I’m all for it. Ripley has been needing something to do for awhile now and this certainly fits the description. This wasn’t the biggest match coming into it but they had a good power match which went by the book and it worked well enough.

We look at the Brock Lesnar retirement again.

Here is John Cena to announce tonight’s attendance: 55,255, for a two night total of 106,072. Cena says this concludes his hosting duties, but here are Miz and Kit Wilson who want their Wrestlemania moment. This brings out Danhausen, who has a group of mini Hausens and drives down in the Danhausenmobile. Danhausen introduces himself to Cena (he’s a big fanhausen) but Miz cuts them off again.

He still wants his moment but Danhausen sicks one of the minis on Wilson, who punches him low. Danhausen: “DOGPILE!” Miz is knocked to the floor and carried out by the minis, leaving Danhausen to hit a Shuffle. A mini explosion goes off and Danhausen, uh, escapes. Cena cracks up and says retired life is great. With that, it’s on to the main event. This was hilarious as Danhausen is so goofy but it works.

We recap CM Punk defending the Raw World Title against Roman Reigns. Punk has been champion and hates Reigns, who won the Royal Rumble. They have talked quite a bit of trash to each other and now it’s time to fight, with Punk saying he’s jealous of Reigns’ success and Reigns saying Punk is a fake.

Raw World Title: CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns

Punk is defending. Reigns gets played live to the ring with drums, a piano and live single. Punk on the other hand gets a big montage and walks through the back to his old Ring Of Honor theme. He walks onto the stage in silence and does IT’S CLOBBERIN TIME to start Cult Of Personality. As a bonus, Punk has a jacket with names of three WWE employees who passed away recently, plus Larry and a Harley Race crown on the back.

The bell rings and they stare at each other to start for the early trash talking. Punk’s headlock doesn’t get him very far as Reigns is right back with the Samoan drop. They go outside with Punk being sent into various things and Reigns goes inside to break the count. Punk gets thrown over the barricade and sits down, with Reigns going after him and getting punched down. A clothesline off the barricade drops Reigns but he sends Punk into the announcers’ table to cut him off again.

Back in and Reigns tells Punk to call him a b**** again because this ain’t promo day. Reigns punches him down again but Punk gets in a few shots of his own. The high crossbody lets Punk hammer away, followed by the running knee in the corner. It’s way too early for the GTS though and Reigns scores with the Superman Punch for two. The spear is loaded up but Punk cuts it off with a running knee and they head outside with Punk hammering away on the announcers’ table.

The elbow takes forever to load up though and Reigns gets up to cut him off. Punk gets tied in the Tree Of Woe as he’s hanging over the apron. That lets Reigns fire off Superman Punches and hit him with the steps to really bust him open. The announcers’ table is loaded up and Punk gets powerbombed through as he is gushing blood. Back in and the spear is countered into a GTS out of nowhere for two. Another GTS is countered into the spear for a rather near fall and Reigns says it’s time to go to sleep. Punk escapes and hits his own Superman Punch for two…so he grabs the ulafala.

Punk calls for the spear, which is of course countered into a guillotine. Punk swings around for two and grabs the Anaconda Vice, which is reversed into another guillotine. That’s reversed into a failed Sharpshooter attempt, which is reversed back into the guillotine, with Punk flipping over for two. They get up and talk more trash before slugging it out. Punk headbutts Reigns and knocks himself half silly but distracts the referee, followed by a low blow.

Another GTS connects for two so Punk lays him on the announcers’ table. After taking his sweet time, Punk drops the elbow and they’re both mostly dead. Punk takes what’s left of Reigns back inside for another GTS but Reigns bounces off the ropes onto Punk’s shoulders…but Punk collapses. Back up and the spear drops Punk, who bounces back up to his knees. Another spear gives Reigns the pin and the title at 33:43.

Rating: A. This was a near masterpiece as they beat the fire out of each other and I wasn’t sure who was going to win until the finish. That’s a great sign and it turned into a war between two people who were trying to beat the other no matter what. I love the clean finish too, as it looks like Reigns is the better man, which he should be. It’s a case of Punk’s body ultimately giving out on him and Reigns finally beat him. Great stuff and an instant classic.

Overall Rating: A-. I’m not sure what they put in the dinner after last night but this was a polar opposite of what we got on Saturday. This was outstanding stuff and even the worst match on the card was perfectly fine. You don’t get this kind of a show very often and WWE absolutely brought it here, with the main event being an instant classic. I had a blast with this show and it’s one of the better shows I’ve seen in a long time. In addition to the main event, they made some stars with Williams and Femi, so the future even looks bright. Heck of a show.

Overall Overall Rating: B. I’m kind of in awe over how much better Night Two was than Night One, as it might as well have been two different companies. There are good parts to Night One, but the second night just blew it away in ever aspect. Overall it’s rather good, but if you mix the two nights together, it’s an all timer. Sunday saved the weekend for WWE though, as it’s just not even close in quality between the two. Check out the main event for sure, but skip most of the first night.

Results
Oba Femi b. Brock Lesnar – Fall From Grace
Penta b. Je’Von Evans, Rey Mysterio, Rusev, JD McDonagh and Dragon Lee – Penta pulled down the title
Trick Williams b. Sami Zayn – Trick Shot
Finn Balor b. Dominik Mysterio – Coup de Grace through a table
Rhea Ripley b. Jade Cargill – Riptide
Roman Reigns b. CM Punk – Spear

 

 

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

Well with that out of the way (because I’m absolutely writing this after Night One wrapped up and certainly not a few days in advance of course), we’re on to Night Two, which has the bigger and better main event, plus a rather interesting battle of the monsters. This show looks a lot better on paper, but that’s not how good wrestling is made. I’m hopeful going in so let’s get to it.

Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar

We’ll start big here as this is an absolute showdown between a couple of monsters who have been teasing their big fight for about a month now. Lesnar issued and open challenge for Wrestlemania and Femi is trying his luck. That should be more than enough to make things interesting, but Femi has run through him a few times now and it has me wondering what we might be seeing.

At the end of the day, as hard as it might be to believe, I don’t see a reason to have Femi lose here so we’ll say Femi gets the huge win. Lesnar seems to be wrapping up his career (he’s 48 so it isn’t going to be much longer anyway) and having him lose to some up and coming stars like Femi on the way out is a good way to go. Lesnar is more than a made man so a loss isn’t going to hurt him (never has before) so yeah, Femi gets the big win.

Intercontinental Title: Penta(c) vs. Rusev vs. Je’Von Evans vs. Dragon Lee vs. JD McDonagh vs. Rey Mysterio

It’s Wrestlemania so of course we’re seeing a big multi person mess of a ladder match. As usual, the best thing to do here is just eliminate a few names who aren’t leaving with the title. Therefore, Rusev, Lee and McDonagh are gone, as there’s pretty much no chance they’re winning here. That leaves us with the other three options and that’s not as easy as it should be.

Of the three remaining options, I think I’ll go with Penta to retain. He’s doing well enough as champion and save for Mysterio getting a title win that he absolutely does not need (a possibility), I don’t see anyone but Evans being a serious threat to win the title. Evans winning is absolutely in the cards, but I think they might wait for a bigger moment. Penta wins, with Evans as a legitimate second option.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Jade Cargill(c) vs. Rhea Ripley

Now here we have a match that has my interest, as I’m really not sure where it’s going to go. On one hand you have Ripley as one of the biggest stars women’s wrestling has ever seen, but at the same time you have Cargill, who shouldn’t be losing very often. You also have the Iyo Sky factor, as this whole thing seems primed for her to turn on Ripley and cost her the title. This really could go either way, but it’s only so interesting of a match in the first place.

I’ll go with Cargill to retain, though I’m not sure about Sky turning on her. It’s almost so much of a simple story that I don’t know if I can see it happening. Both Ripley and Cargill need the win, but Ripley can take a loss better than Cargill here. Cargill beating someone on Ripley’s level would help her a bit, as getting to brag doing doing her cocky pin on Ripley would be a big deal. Cargill wins, but it’s probably the least confident I am in anything all weekend.

Dominik Mysterio vs. Finn Balor

Here we have a straight up grudge match as they were partners in Judgment Day for the better part of ever and then Mysterio turned on Balor who wanted to do things the right way. As a result, Mysterio and company turned on him to set up this match. That’s enough to get going here, but Balor is also bringing back the Demon to make things all the more intense.

As much as it would seem to make sense to have Balor win here, I’ll take Mysterio to win. We’ve seen that one of the best things Mysterio can do is brag about his upset wins and this would be pretty high up on the list. Mysterio is someone who could very well wind up in the World Title picture someday and Balor has way too much of a history of choking in big matches. I’ll go with Mysterio to win in a heck of an upset, though again I’m far from sure about it.

US Title: Sami Zayn(c) vs. Trick Williams

This is another match where I’m not sure what is going to happen as it feels like we’re in for a big turn, or maybe even two of them. Zayn seems to be changing over to the side of evil (or at least the side of the middle) while Williams is already one of the most popular stars on the Smackdown roster. Zayn basically won the title to guarantee he’s on the show, but Williams wants to be a big star going forward.

I want to say that Williams wins the title here and becomes a hero, but there might be something bigger in having Zayn cheat to keep Williams from winning the title here and getting it later. I think that’s what we’ll go with here, as Zayn embraces more of the dark side to keep things going the right way, while Williams eventually becomes the cool hero that the fans want him to be.

Raw World Title: CM Punk(c) vs. Roman Reigns

This is the match that interests me the most and it makes sense that it’s the last match taking place over the whole weekend. Punk is the older champion who is trying to hang on against the former champion who wants the top spot back. That is more than enough to carry the feud but dang their promos have been great throughout. This is a match that feels like a tossup and I’ll absolutely take that in a Wrestlemania main event.

As possible as it seems that Reigns gets the title back here, I really don’t see the point in giving him the win. Therefore, I’ll take Punk to retain, with next to no idea who comes after the title next. The best thing I can say here is that this feels like a Wrestlemania main event, which is a lot more than you can say about some of them over the years. I don’t know where this is going and that’s a good feeling to have for a match of this magnitude.

Overall Thoughts

This is a show where the big parts are looking rather good, but the rest is quite a bit weaker. Hopefully there are a few strong surprises in there, though Lesnar vs. Femi and the main event should be enough to carry things. The potential is certainly there, but it’s going to need more than that to pull it off. That very well may be the case, but it’s no guarantee.

 

 

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

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Smackdown
Date: April 17, 2026
Location: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Corey Graves, Joe Tessitore

Well, it’s a day before Wrestlemania and I’m not sure how much can be done to help the show. The big story continues to be Randy Orton with Pat McAfee vs. Cody Rhodes and…what are they supposed to do to make that work? This show is almost always light on wrestling and heavy on talking, but we do at least have the Andre Battle Royal. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a variety of wrestlers (and Jelly Roll) talking about various big Wrestlemania moments that meant the most to them over the years. This was good stuff and could have been on the Wrestlemania broadcast.

Randy Orton and Pat McAfee arrive, with Nick Aldis showing up with a contract for McAfee. He has to look at it before he signs it…and then signs it anyway. Orton is off to say something while Aldis can park McAfee’s truck.

Here is Orton for a chat. Orton gets to the point: he doesn’t need McAfee around but he wants him there. McAfee is the one who tells him what he needs to hear, which is how we got here. Orton talks about how he was ready to face Drew McIntyre for the title but then Rhodes became champion.

Then Rhodes told Orton to be himself and WHO DOES RHODES THINK HE IS TO SAY THAT??? Rhodes does nothing but take, like needing Seth Rollins at Wrestlemania XL, which got Orton put through a table. Then he gave Kevin Owens a title shot and Orton got attacked again. Now Orton is going to take something with an RKO.

Orton and McAfee leave, with Nick Aldis left holding the contract. That could be interesting.

MFT’s vs. Wyatt Sicks

Street fight so it’s a big brawl to start (of course) with the Wyatts clearing the ring early on. Rowan teases a dive but gets pulled outside, where Talla gets in a shot of his own. Talla grabs the steps and wrecks Gacy and Lumis before tossing them right at Rowan’s head (that always looks great).

We take a break and come back with Howdy getting stomped down in the corner until Gacy is back in for the save. Lumis nips up for a legdrop but Mateo is back in to start wrecking people. Talla does the same until Rowan is there to knock him outside. Rowan’s big dive connects and let’s get the weapons. The Wyatts clean house again and we take another break.

We come back again with Howdy cleaning house with a chair, with Sikoa being release Rock Bottomed onto said chair. Nikki Cross hits a dive of her own but Talla breaks up the Sister Abigail. A Superfly Splash gives Sikoa two but Gacy and Lumis are back in for the save. Rowan and Talla crash to the floor, with Rowan coming up holding his knee. Tama loads up the Cutthroat but Sikoa quickly Spikes Howdy for the pin at 14:36.

Rating: B. That ending seems designed to sew some tension in the MFT’s, which isn’t exactly a surprise. The MFT’s winning is a bit of a surprise but there is a good chance that this somehow isn’t over yet. That makes for some interesting options, though Tama splitting off is an intriguing concept.

R-Truth and Damian Priest are still confused over who is running around cursing people. It might be New Day, Asuka or Grayson Waller. It turns out they have a title defense tonight, which is news to Priest.

Earlier this week, Miz and Maryse were renewing their wedding vows, with Kit Wilson officiating…when Danhausen popped in. Danhausen says he’s ring bearer and maid of honor and maid of honor before cursing Maryse. This causes her to get hit in the face with some cake.

Video on Royce Keys losing his mother to an overdose and she never saw her kids getting to do what they loved. He wants to make her proud. This is quite the emotional video and that’s a good thing. Now let Keys do some more stuff in the ring.

We look at Drew McIntyre attacking Jacob Fatu last week.

A police car drives into the arena and it’s Fatu driving. Yeah he used to be a criminal but he’s changed his life. No he didn’t mind being put in handcuffs last week because he’s not that person anymore. Tomorrow it’s unsanctioned so there is no one to save McIntyre this time. McIntyre wants to put him back in the jail cell but that’s in the rear view. After Wrestlemania, McIntyre is in his rear view mirror too because tomorrow, it’s a beating.

Alexa Bliss and Charlotte want to win the titles tomorrow but they want to win tonight too. Charlotte wants the title more than friendship, which doesn’t seem to surprise Bliss.

We look at the Wrestlemania set reveal.

Tag Team Titles: R-Truth/Damian Priest vs. Grayson Waller/Kofi Kingston

R-Truth and Priest are defending in quite the random match. I’m going to assume R-Truth mentioned this in his talk earlier but….yeah it’s kind of easy to get lost listening to him. Waller slugs away at Priest to start and gets kicked in the face for his efforts. Priest sends him flying into the corner and hammers away before handing it off to R-Truth. Waller manages to knock R-Truth down but runs into Priest, with Kingston making a quick save.

We take a break and come back with R-Truth still in trouble but the illegal Waller’s cover not counting. Kingston isn’t happy with Waller and gets sent into him, allowing the tag back to Priest. House is quickly cleaned…and R-Truth gets on the apron for the tag from Kingston. R-Truth initiates John Cena’s finishing sequence and the champs hit stereo Shuffles. An elevated Little Jimmy retains the titles at 9:25.

Rating: C+. This is the kind of match that fits in perfectly on this show as it’s not like there was any doubt about the titles changing, but R-Truth and Priest got to do their thing. There were some stakes to the match and it was fine enough all things considered. If nothing else, it was nice to see the match get some extra time, which it probably wouldn’t have gotten on a regular Smackdown.

Video on Cody Rhodes vs. Pat McAfee from last week, with Randy Orton attacking Jelly Roll.

Here is Jade Cargill, with Michin and B-Fab, for a chat. Well she would be but here is Rhea Ripley to interrupt instead. Ripley could lay Cargill out right now but she doesn’t want Cargill to have any excuses at Wrestlemania. She accuses Cargill of hiding in any way she could find so this is Cargill’s last chance to say something to Ripley alone.

Cargill mocks the idea of being scared of some cosplaying goth girl. Ripley has had her way around here because of the weak locker room. If Ripley keeps talking, Cargill will make it quick at Wrestlemania. Ripley laughs off the idea that she wants to be like Cargill and says her insecurities are the reason she is the woman she is today. They go face to face and Cargill walks away.

Solo Sikoa says they won as a team and now Talla Tonga needs to win the Andre. Now though, it’s time to get the Tag Team Titles back. That’s what Tama Tonga wanted, but he doesn’t seem thrilled.

Tiffany Stratton vs. Jordynne Grace

For a Women’s US Title shot and I had forgotten Grace was on the main roster. Giulia and Kiana James are at ringside and we get a handshake before we’re ready to go. Stratton gets an early rollup for two and they’re right back up for a standoff. Grace sends her into the ropes, with Stratton flipping away with ease. Grace goes strong with an electric chair drop onto the rope and a clothesline for two.

We take a break and come back with Stratton reversing a suplex into a DDT to leave them both down. Grace can’t hit a powerbomb but Stratton can elbow her in the face, setting up a basement dropkick for two. Back up and Grace ties her in the ropes for some rapid fire headbutts, followed by a package powerbomb for two more. Stratton is back with a handspring Stunner into the Prettiest Moonsault Ever for the pin at 8:05.

Rating: C+. I was a bit surprised by the match as I had thought Stratton already was the #1 contender given how much she’s been around Giulia as of late. If nothing else it’s nice to see someone wanting to be the champion, which still doesn’t have much of a history. This was a perfectly decent match, though DANG Grace has felt like nothing in WWE.

Here is Trick Williams for a chat. He’s not happy with Sami Zayn, who went too far last week by going after Lil Yachty. Zayn hurt his friend last week and that hurt something much bigger: it hurt Williams’ Wrestlemania entrance! Williams wants Zayn out here right now…but he gets a gingerbread man instead, with Williams having quite the laugh. Williams thinks Zayn’s friends might be on Drury Lane but here is Zayn to interrupt.

Zayn says he’s not having a good time with this and hasn’t in a long time. What exactly did he do wrong? He doesn’t know and he doesn’t care, because this is for the ride or die Zayn fans. Those people will be in his corner at Wrestlemania and beyond…but can this Gingerbread Man get away? Zayn says that Williams has talked a lot but hasn’t shown Zayn anything in the ring. All Zayn sees is a little punk rookie about to walk into his first Wrestlemania with one of the best ever.

Williams says he is the plan and that he sees two gingerbread men. The fight is on with Zayn Helluva Kicking the Gingerbread Man but getting taken down by Williams, who holds up the title. They’ve basically done the double turn now and that’s what it should be. Williams is on fire right now so go with him.

Video on the four way Women’s Tag Team Title match, with the Bellas saying Nikki is still hurt. Bayley/Lyra Valkyria and the Irresistible Forces are ready, sans injuries.

Charlotte/Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley/Lyra Valkyria

They start fast…and the Irresistible Forces run in for the DQ at 30 seconds. As dumb as that might have been, it’s not like the match needs any more build.

Post match the Forces lay everyone out.

Video on Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi.

Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal

Royce Keys, Axiom, Psycho Clown, Zack Ryder, Ilja Dragunov, Shinsuke Nakamura, Johnny Gargano, Joe Hendry, Rey Fenix, Berto, Angel, La Parka, Otis, Kit Wilson, Original El Grande Americano, Alex Shelley, Aleister Black, Shiloh Hill, Chris Sabin, Nathan Frazer, Talla Tonga, El Grande Americano, Apollo Crews, Akira Tozawa, Cruz del Toro, Joaquin Wilde

It’s a brawl to start with Gargano laying on the mat…where Wilson trips over him to eliminate himself. Eh I chuckled, but then again I like Wilson. Frazer and Sabin brawl to the apron and Gargano gets rid of Frazer, with Sabin following. Talla dumps both Americanos and it’s Hill vs. Dragunov in the middle.

Dragunov kicks Hill out and Los Garza get rid of Parka. Fenix gets rid of Berto and Psycho Clown goes, uh, psycho, only to get clotheslined out by Keys. Gargano slingshot DDTs Axiom out and runs into Shelley on the apron. Fenix kicks Shelley out and Nakamura does the same to Crews. Hendry stops to pose and gets dumped by Black (that’s a natural feud). Talla tosses del Toro and Wilde with ease and it’s time for everyone to go after the giant.

Talla shrugs that off and chokeslams Fenix onto the apron for an elimination. A bunch of strikes drop Talla but Black throws Nakamura out. Black kicks Dragunov out as well and Black Mass is enough to eliminate Tozawa. Otis runs Black over and tosses Angel as Gargano drops to the mat again.

That’s an easy elimination for Otis and Cardona gets the same treatment. We’re down to Otis, Talla, Black and Keys, with Black kicking Otis down in a hurry. Keys throws Black out so Otis runs the other two over. Talla kicks Otis in the face though and we’re down to Talla vs. Keys. The spinebuster plants Talla and Keys wins at 10:01.

Rating: B-. Ok then. I said do something with him and while the track record for winners is hit and miss for these things, that is certainly a notable win. The rest of the match went by quickly enough and it was the kind of match that gets people around Wrestlemania. I was looking forward to this and that’s a nice feeling, as it means we’re at the biggest time of the year and with the right winner.

Wrestlemania rundown.

Video on CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns.

Here is Cody Rhodes for the big final speech. We’re not going to talk about the last three Wrestlemanias and the theory that someone is needling him. Tomorrow is simple: it’s two men having a match for the most important prize in this business. Earlier tonight, Orton was out here talking about Rhodes always taking things. That’s interesting as Orton has never taken responsibility for anything.

As good as wrestling has become…and here is CM Punk to interrupt. Rhodes: “Champ to champ and friend to friend, if I shake your hands and we hug right now, are you going to turn on me and kick me in the balls too?” They take some shots at each others’ formal wear due to the Hall Of Fame ceremony tonight, with Punk saying he hasn’t been in a suit on WWE TV since Teddy Long’s wedding.

Punk says he isn’t Rhodes’ teacher now but on Monday, the two of them will be there and he wants the fans to be there too. Go get it done tomorrow and have some fun. Punk goes to leave but Rhodes says hang on. This Sunday, Punk is up against someone who is so good they’ve had to invent names for him.

Punk wasn’t born into this like Reigns and Rhodes were but Punk came here because WWE wanted him. Now Punk is back and better than ever and making a case to be the new Mr. Wrestlemania. Rhodes thanks him for everything he’s done and Dusty would be proud of Punk (that has Rhodes near tears). Punk thanks him and they go into the crowd to celebrate with the people.

We get what looks like the opening video to Wrestlemania, as narrated by Lin Manuel Miranda. It’s about being there for the moments and how one day, you’ll tell your kids about where you were this weekend when more moments take place and more memories are made. Great stuff here, as WWE knows how to turn up the nostalgia.

Overall Rating: C+. This is one of the most unique shows of the year every single year and you know what you’re getting with it. The wrestling is usually a few midcard matches to go along with the battle royal and a lot of talking about Wrestlemania. That’s exactly what we got here and the show was completely acceptable for what it was supposed to be. It’s little more than a big Wrestlemania preshow and tomorrow the real stuff starts. In other words, this was the Wrestlemania Week Smackdown.

Results
MFT’s b. Wyatt Sicks – Samoan Spike to Howdy
R-Truth/Damian Priest b. Kofi Kingston/Grayson Waller – Elevated Little Jimmy to Waller
Tiffany Stratton b. Jordynne Grace – Prettiest Moonsault Ever
Charlotte/Alexa Bliss b. Bayley/Lyra Valkyria via DQ when the Irresistible Forces interfered
Royce Keys won the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal last eliminating Talla Tonga

 

 

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 XLI Night One
Date: April 19, 2025
Location: Allegiant Stadium, Paradise, Nevada
Attendance: 58,538
Commentators: Michael Cole, Wade Barrett, Pat McAfee
God Bless America: Jelly Roll

It’s kind of hard to fathom that we’re a whole year removed from this show but here we are again. The show is in (or near) Las Vegas and as usual it’s a double night spectacle, with the first main event seeing Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins vs. CM Punk in a rare non-title match. Gunther vs. Jey Uso will handle the title match aspect so let’s get to it.

The opening video looks at the influence of Wrestlemania and how many people talk about wrestling. HHH narrates about these legendary stories, but sometimes they’re true.

Here is HHH to welcome us to the show and let us know we are being seen worldwide.

A DJ and some dancers are here.

Raw World Title: Jey Uso vs. Gunther

Uso is challenging after winning the Royal Rumble. We get some people waving YEET flags on the ramp and the Las Vegas Raiderettes as Uso comes into the stadium with tens of thousands of people doing the YEET dance. There is a great shot from just over Uso’s shoulder showing what he’s seeing and my goodness it’s always cool to see this kind of thing happening because of one person.

After they Big Match Intros, they take their time to start until Gunther powers him into the corner. That earns Gunther a heck of a shot to the face to send him outside. Back in and Gunther takes him down with a headlock takeover, which doesn’t last long either. The threat of an enziguri sends Gunther outside again and we slow back down. Gunther gets back in and Uso grabs a slam before going up, where Gunther chops his soul out to the floor.

The slow chopping ensues but Uso hits a quick spear for two. Gunther is back up to try a powerbomb, which is countered into a Samoan drop. Uso goes up again and gets superplexed down, setting up the powerbomb for two. That leaves Gunther more than a bit surprised and Uso spears his way out of trouble again. The Superfly Splash gives Uso two so Gunther teases walking out.

It’s enough of a distraction for Gunther to get in a belt shot and the top rope splash for two. NOW Gunther is getting serious and we hit the sleeper. Somehow Uso makes the rope and Gunther is just mad. Uso is down in the corner so Gunther chops him anyway, which has Uso laughing (must be a family thing).

More chops don’t keep Uso down as he comes back with a headbutt. Uso has to counter a sleeper into a German suplex but Gunther is right back with the big dropkick. Another powerbomb is countered into one from Uso though and he drops Gunther with a spear. Back to back to back Superfly Splashes set up a sleeper and Gunther actually taps (and quickly too) to make Uso champion at 16:20.

Rating: B. This turned into a heck of a match with Uso throwing everything back at Gunther and beating him at his own game. At the same time, I couldn’t believe that Uso actually won the title but that is exactly what happened. They made a new big star with a clean submission in the middle of the ring. Good opener here but an awesome moment which had to happen after the way Uso was built up in the previous weeks.

Post match Jimmy Uso is the first person out to celebrate with Jey and they leave through the crowd.

We recap the War Raiders defending the Raw Tag Team Titles against the New Day. After New Day had some issues, Big E. tried to get them back on the right track but they turned him down, with New Day’s heel turned earning them a full on shunning from the crowd. This included their FAMILIES, as everyone hated them over their actions, down to Kofi Kingston’s mother walking out on him. They got a title shot anyway so here we go.

Raw Tag Team Titles: New Day vs. War Raiders

New Day is challenging and jump the champs tost art fast. Erik doesn’t care for being punched in the face and rams Kingston into Woods. That’s enough to send New Day outside, where Erik slams Ivar onto the two of them. Ivar crushes both of them against the ring video board and it’s back to Erik vs. Woods inside.

A belly to back suplex/top rope splash combination gets two on Woods but he’s able to cut off Erik’s dive. Kingston adds a top rope backsplash to Erik and we settle down to Kingston hammering away. Woods’ top rope double stomp hits Erik in the ropes but Erik fights out of the corner. It’s back to Ivar to clean house, including sitting on Kingston’s chest out of the corner. Kingston comes back with a spinning kick to the head but Ivar runs Kingston over without much trouble.

The Honor Roll connects for Woods and the Daybreak is loaded up. Erik cuts that one off and Erik kicks Kingston in the face. The Doomsault hits Kingston so Woods makes the save with the Limit Break Elbow. Another Honor Roll is broken up though and Erik hits a heck of a running knee. The springboard clothesline/German suplex combination is broken up though and the Daybreak finishes Ivar for the pin (with Kingston holding the leg) and the titles at 9:17.

Rating: B-. This was better than I remembered, though that might be due to not having to watch a dull build up to the match. The tag division was just nothing and unfortunately there wasn’t much of a reason to care. The big heel turn came from the turn on Big E., but that was several months ago. You can only get so far after that much time and it didn’t help that Big E. had no involvement. It’s a rare case where the time has helped a lot and that’s a nice relief.

Post match New Day runs out before they get destroyed again.

We recap Jade Cargill vs. Naomi. Last fall, someone attacked Cargill and put her out of actions for months. She came back at Elimination Chamber and it wound out that it was Naomi. Cargill was ready to wreck Naomi, while Bianca Belair was rather upset by everything Naomi did too. Now, as expected, it’s time for revenge.

Naomi vs. Jade Cargill

We get a celebrity cameo as….a meteorologist from the Weather Channel says we have a perfect storm in Las Vegas. From Muhammad Ali to this people. Cargill powers her into the corner to start and gets in a slam off the top. Naomi gets in a shot to the eyes though and snaps the throat across the ropes. A ram into the steps has Cargill staggered, with Naomi hitting a Blockbuster onto the floor.

Back in and Naomi grabs a chinlock while cranking on the arm as well. Cargill gets up and tosses her into the corner for a splash but charges into a raised boot. Naomi tries another Blockbuster but gets pulled out of the air into a Jackhammer, because that’s something a human can do.

Naomi fights back and goes up again but gets caught again. This time Naomi is able to bulldog Cargill off the top though and a split legged moonsault gives Cargill two. Jaded is reversed into a rollup and Cargill powers out of the Rings Of Saturn. Cargill pulls her into an electric chair and spins it into a powerbomb, followed by Jaded for the pin at 9:25.

Rating: B-. There were some sloppy moments in there, but Cargill looked like an absolute star. The power game she has is off the charts and she looks like a Greek statue come to life. Naomi was in over her head here with the power and athleticism, as the experience wasn’t enough to carry her. Nice stuff here, as Cargill felt like a monster in a great way.

We recap LA Knight vs. Jacob Fatu. Knight is the very popular US Champion and Fatu is the new smashing machine. I don’t know Knight’s chances.

US Title: LA Knight vs. Jacob Fatu

Fatu is challenging and Knight rides onto the stage in a rather expensive looking card. Knight grabs a neckbreaker for two but Fatu grabs a backbreaker to take over. The pace slows down a lot with Fatu hammering away, only to be knocked outside. Knight’s dropkick through the ropes connects but Fatu suplexes him out of the air for two back inside. The running backsplash hits raised knees though and Knight hits a standing top rope elbow for two.

Fatu runs him right back over and goes up, with Knight breaking up the moonsault. That lets Knight grab a top rope flipping German superplex for the big crash as Fatu is actually reeling. Naturally he shrugs that off and huts the running Umaga Attack in the corner, followed by a Swanton for two more. The triple jump moonsault is loaded up but Knight grabs him out of the air with the BFT (and nailed it) for the rather near fall. Knight is stunned and goes up, only to get Samoan dropped down. A pair of moonsaults makes Fatu champion at 10:40.

Rating: B-. That BFT alone made this one pretty memorable as the timing required to make that work was outstanding. At the same time, it made a lot more sense to have Fatu win here as he’s the kind of monster who had to win something at some point. It came after a good enough match too, with Fatu getting through to the next level, which Knight needs to do again.

We recap El Grande Americano vs. Rey Fenix. Americano is basically mocking the idea of lucha libre and Mysterio doesn’t like it so it’s time to stand up for the sport’s heritage. Chad Gable has been accused of being Americano but insists it is NOT him. Then Mysterio got hurt and he’s replaced by Rey Fenix. This needs more Mike Tenay’s Lucha Libre And The Mexican Luchadors.

El Grande Americano vs. Rey Fenix

Americano gets the sepia tone entrance ala the old newsreels about his career and is played in by a mariachi band. Hold on though as Americano goes outside and gets into it with AAA’s El Hijo de Vikingo, who kicks him in the head. Americano gets back inside for the opening bell and a hurricanrana for two.

They fight over a test of strength and go to the mat for a double bridge up. Fenix’s super hurricanrana sets up a missile dropkick to put Americano on the floor, meaning the big dive can follow. As commentary continues to bicker about whether it’s Americano or Gable, he suplexes Fenix for two but gets kicked in the face for his efforts. Back up and Americano LAUNCHES him into the corner with an overhead belly to belly for the huge crash.

A moonsault backsplash (commentary tries to figure out the degrees) hits Fenix for two more and Americano goes after the mask. That earns him a hurricanrana and the mask is loaded up. Fenix tries a springboard kick and hitsthe metal in the mask to leave him injured. The ankle lock goes on but Fenix rolls his way out. That means a springboard headbutt hits Americano but with Gable getting knocked out. A loaded Swan Dive finishes Fenix at 7:57.

Rating: C+. This was more about getting Americano on the show but it would have made a lot more sense against Mysterio. At the same time, this was about as good of an option as they had as a substitute, with Fenix being able to fly around so well. Americano had to win as he was still a pretty new idea and the goofiness was still working rather well.

Post match Vikingo checks on Fenix.

We look at the WWE Bought AAA announcement from earlier.

Here is Shawn Michaels to announce the attendance: 61,467. The number being written on the card in big numbers is rather amusing.

We see some celebrities, including UFC CEO Dana White for the second time.

We recap Charlotte challenging Tiffany Stratton for the Smackdown Women’s Title. Charlotte won the Royal Rumble and Stratton is rather cocky and believes she deserves everything she has. Charlotte also has her usual “I’m awesome” going and they’ve been rather nasty to each other in recent weeks.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Tiffany Stratton vs. Charlotte

Charlotte is challenging. Stratton has a rather cool entrance where she appears as three different kinds of Barbies in big pink boxes and walks out of the middle one. Charlotte charges at her to start and they go to the mat to slug it out. The fight goes outside with Charlotte still in control but Stratton gets in a shot to take over.

Back in and the Flair Flip is broken up with a running elbow and a double stomp takes Charlotte out of the corner for two. They head outside with Charlotte dropping her onto the barricade and then the apron as things slow down. Charlotte takes her back inside for what would become the Devi’s Kiss, followed by the rolling figure four neck lock rolling slams. The Liontamer goes on until Stratton reverses into a rollup for two.

Some handspring elbows connect for Stratton in the corner but Charlotte gets in a neck snap across the top rope. Stratton knocks her back down but the moonsault hits knees. Instead Stratton hits a basement dropkick for two and we pause for a double breather. A big boot gives Charlotte two and they chop it out with Stratton winning the exchange of strikes. Stratton misses a charge in the ropes though and Charlotte kicks her down.

Natural Selection is blocked though and Charlotte hits a nice sitout powerbomb for two. Stratton catches her up top and hits a spinebuster for two and they’re both down again. A high crossbody hits Charlotte but she’s able to knee Stratton outside. The moonsault to the floor is broken up though and Charlotte’s recently repaired knee is banged up. Stratton kicks away at the leg so Charlotte kicks away at the head for two.

Charlotte wraps Stratton’s knee around the post and crashes down onto it in the corner. The Figure Four goes on but Stratton gets smart by hammering on the bad knee to escape. Stratton’s Prettiest Moonsault Ever hits raised knees so the banged up Charlotte gets two and they’re both down again. Charlotte goes up and knocks her off the top, setting up a super Natural Selection for two. Another Figure Eight attempt is blocked and Charlotte misses a charge into the corner. An Alabama Slam sends Charlotte into the corner and the Prettiest Moonsault Ever retains the title at 19:12.

Rating: B. They accomplished the big goal here by having Stratton win over the most successful star in women’s wrestling history. Stratton was a star but needed something like this to really make her feel like a bigger name. She’s a big part of the new generation of women’s wrestling and Charlotte put her over, which happened to come after quite the athletic display. They worked well enough together and the result was the right call.

We look at the Hall Of Fame induction ceremony.

Here is the class:

Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin from Wrestlemania XIII (doesn’t get much better than that)
Natural Disasters (they needed a tag team)
Michelle McCool (you knew it was coming)
HHH (that’s a top level headliner)

That’s about as much of a mixed bag as you can get but I do like the smaller number. Lex Luger was also in the class but apparently suffered a fall the morning of the show and couldn’t be there.

Iyo Sky was on the Goodyear Blimp over Las Vegas.

We recap Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins vs. CM Punk. Reigns and Rollins have a long history due to the Shield and subsequent betrayals, while Punk is here because he hates both of them. The match has been made, with the caveat that Punk is FINALLY a Wrestlemania main eventer. As a bonus, Paul Heyman is in Punk’s corner to pay back the favor owed to Punk for being on Reigns’ team at Survivor Series. They also had a big fight at the Royal Rumble and then Reigns cost Punk a cage match against Rollins.

Seth Rollins vs. CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns

Rollins has a flamethrower, Reigns has white shoes and Punk has Heyman. Advantage: Reigns. Punk also gets a special video on his career, showing his rise from OVW to ECW to Raw and all the way to the main event. Tonight is his night and his main event. Yeah that’s well deserved after it was such a big deal to him. And of course Punk is played to the ring because we need to stretch this out even longer.

The bell rings and Punk heads outside to chat with Heyman, leaving Reigns to go after Rollins. Punk gets back in and Reigns clotheslines both of them, including one to send Punk outside. Reigns gets posted and suicide dived, with Rollins sending him into the steps. Punk and Rollins go into the crowd with Punk firing off some chair shots to take over. That’s broken up with a metal stand to the ribs and a trashcan to Punk’s head but he suplexes Rollins onto a trashcan.

They head back towards ringside, where Reigns dives over the barricade to take them both out. Reigns loads up the announcers’ table (Heyman is worried) but instead takes Punk back inside for a Samoan drop. Punk fights back and cuts Reigns off, which brings Punk quite the smile. Punk’s running knees in the corner set up a DDT/neckbreaker combination to drop both of them.

The top rope elbow hits Rollins but he’s able to catch Punk on top. Reigns breaks that up and gets Rollins on his shoulder, setting up Punk as Hawk in a Doomsday Device. Reigns and Punk slug it out with Punk getting the Anaconda Vice. Rollins dives in with a suicide dive to make the save and even covers Reigns for two. Back up and Rollins hits a buckle bomb to both of them but Punk tries the GTS.

That’s broken up by Reigns’ spear but Rollins reverses another into a Pedigree (they LOVE that spot). A Stomp connects but Rollins stops to get rid of Punk, allowing Reigns to kick out. Rollins’ phoenix splash misses Reigns so he spears Rollins down. A quick GTS gives Punk two on Reigns as Heyman is looking frustrated. Rollins is back in with a Pedigree for two on Punk, allowing him to yell at Reigns about how useless Reigns is without him. Rollins goes outside and the other announcers’ table is loaded up.

Rollins teases the DoubleBomb but Reigns punches him in the face and powerbombs Punk through the table. Rollins is powerbombed through the other but the spear to Rollins is only good for two. Reigns yells at Heyman about the favor and then grabs a guillotine choke on Punk, even jumping up onto him. That’s reversed into the Anaconda Vice but Rollins is in with a Sharpshooter to Punk. Reigns breaks that up with the guillotine, which is broken up for a GTS to Rollins. Heyman is now sitting on the steps as only Punk can get up.

Another GTS hits Rollins but Reigns spears Punk, only to get Stomped by Rollins to leave everyone down. That’s enough for Heyman to grab a chair, but he isn’t sure if he should give it to Punk or Reigns. He slides it to Punk and gets in the ring (and you can see it coming from here).

The chair shot is loaded up and it’s a low blow to Punk, leaving Reigns smiling (those are some amazingly white teeth). Heyman offers Reigns the chair so he can go after Punk but points Reigns at Rollins. Reigns loads up the chair and of course Heyman hits him low as well, revealing his real allegiance. Rollins gets the chair and blasts Reigns in the back (there’s your call back), setting up a Stomp for the pin at 32:41.

Rating: B+. This went on for a good while but once they started trading finishes, it got rather good. The question became how Heyman would get involved, but at the same time the action they had was rather good. It was a grudge match built around the idea of Heyman making his choice in the end, with everyone hating each other and wanting to beat the living daylights out of each other on the way there. I’m not sure if it’s a classic Wrestlemania main event, but dang it wound up working.

Overall Rating: B. I did like it and it feels like a big show, though I’m not sure if it felt all the way up to a Wrestlemania level show. The main event was rather great and most of the rest of the show worked, though the Americano vs. Fenix match could have probably been dropped. For a first half of the biggest show of the year it’s good enough, but it needed that one great match to put it up to the next level.

 

 

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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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Monday Night Raw
Date: April 13, 2026
Location: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, California
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

It’s a special show this week with the final Raw before this weekend’s Wrestlemania. That means we are not likely in for much in the way of the wrestling, but we should be getting a lot when it comes to hyping up matches. If nothing else, it should be the last big push between Roman Reigns and CM Punk. Let’s get to it.

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

Roman Reigns joins us to start and talks about how the fans trust him more than CM Punk because he’s real with them. We see some of Punk’s recent actions and what Pat McAfee has said about him. Reigns is giving Punk one more chance to tell the truth tonight. This was approved by Roman Reigns. Odd ending but ok.

We look at the Brock Lesnar/Oba Femi contract signing brawl from last week.

Adam Pearce is in the ring with HHH to open the show and says tonight, Lesnar and Femi will sign their contract separately. This brings out Paul Heyman, who says no one will get close to Lesnar during Wrestlemania fight week. Lesnar comes to the ring and signs, with a tip of his hat to Pearce. Heyman goes to talk about Femi, but Lesnar takes the mic and says no one will know Femi’s name after Wrestlemania. Heyman says there will be a winner and a loser and the winner will be Lesnar.

We look at the setup for the Wrestlemania six man tag.

The Vision is training with IShowSpeed, who is worried due to the whole “I’m not a wrestler” issue. They tell him that it doesn’t matter so he gets in the ring with the vision and what appears to be Dante Chen and Edris Enofe. Speed hits a nice high crossbody and a rather aggressive Boston crab before declaring himself ready.

Charlotte vs. Lyra Valkyria

Their partners are here too. Valkyria takes her down into a headlock to start but Charlotte reverses, only for Valkyria to slip away. Charlotte nips up and Valkyria drops her with a spinwheel kick, much to Bayley’s approval. A whip into the corner sends Charlotte to the apron and Valkyria kicks her to the floor. The dive misses though and Charlotte hits a big boot as we take a break.

We come back with Valkyria hitting a top rope ax kick for two but her moonsault hits knees. Charlotte’s moonsault connects for two but Natural Selection is blocked. Something like a fisherman’s buster gives Valkyria two so Charlotte throws her onto Bayley. Back in and Charlotte tries a rollup but Bayley trips her down to give Valkyria the pin at 10:24.

Rating: C+. This was another basic preview for the four (or maybe three) way at Wrestlemania. That’s not a bad way to go as Valkyria getting a pin on Charlotte is one way to change the titles. These random matches are about all you can do with the match set up and the match was completely acceptable.

Post match we get a staredown but it doesn’t get physical.

LA Knight and the Usos are ready for Wrestlemania but here are Solo Sikoa and the MFT’s to interrupt. Sikoa insults Knight and calls him an embarrassment, so Knight wants a six man tag against any of the MFT’s tonight.

We look at a clip from the Hulk Hogan documentary, focusing on the original NWO turn.

Here is Stephanie Vaquer for a chat…and Liv Morgan pops up from behind to shove her into Cathy Kelly. Agents break them up and Morgan calls her a little b****. Vaquer charges in and the brawl is on again before they’re separated again, leaving Morgan screaming a lot.

Video on Rhea Ripley vs. Jade Cargill, including Iyo Sky being taken out.

Sky is in the back when the Kabuki Warriors come up. Asuka calls Sky Ripley’s sidekick but Sky tries to tell Sane that she doesn’t have to listen to this. That’s cut off and Asuka makes Sky vs. Sane for tonight. Asuka calls Sane a good girl and they leave together.

Usos/LA Knight vs. MFT’s

Jimmy knocks Mateo into the corner to start and it’s off to Jey for a running forearm. Jey clotheslines Mateo to the floor for a big dive and we take a rather early break. We come back with Sikoa knocking Jimmy to the floor but Jey fights his way out of trouble. Knight comes in to clean house and Mateo is sent outside. Knight drops Loa but Mateo makes the save as everything breaks down. Jey low bridges Sikoa to the floor, where Sikoa sends him over the announcers’ table. Cue Tama Tonga (not here earlier) for a staredown with Sikoa, who isn’t pleased with him. During the distraction, Knight gives Loa the BFT for the pin at 6:48.

Rating: C+. This was another fine match, though I’m not sure why they needed a break in a match that doesn’t even last seven minutes. The good thing is Knight and the Usos have some momentum heading into Wrestlemania. Yeah it’s just a celebrity match, but at least it’s something a bit unique rather than the same multi team/man stuff we get elsewhere.

We look at Pat McAfee and Cody Rhodes’ segment from Smackdown. This resulted in Randy Orton beating up Jelly Roll.

Here is Gunther for a chat…and never mind as Seth Rollins runs in to knock Gunther outside. Rollins heard Gunther say it was personal between them last week and he wants to know why. He offers Gunther a chance to get in the ring and explain (which makes you wonder why he beat Gunther up in the first place) so Gunther grabs a mic.

Gunther goes face to face with Rollins and says it has ticked him off to hear Rollins talk about how he was the best in the world. When Gunther was World Champion and going for the best competition in the world, Rollins became Paul Heyman’s servant. Gunther says it’s personal to him because he wants to prove he’s the best in the world. The fight is on with Rollins knocking him to the floor but Gunther avoids a Stomp on the steps and bails into the crowd. That is a rather basic explanation from Gunther but it’s something that makes perfect sense for him.

We get a video narrated by John Cena advertising Club WWE (which has been shown in graphics for the last few weeks), which is a way to get fans exclusive access to various things. No word on how much it costs but I’ve heard worse ideas.

We see some smoke with red lights flashing over it and….yeah the Demon is officially back to face Dominik Mysterio.

Dominik Mysterio isn’t happy with Adam Pearce for letting this happen but he didn’t sign to face the Demon so the match has to be canceled. That won’t happen, and Pearce doesn’t care for Dominik talking about his father like he’s a loser. Pearce tells him to go look in the mirror because he’ll get what he deserves.

Iyo Sky vs. Kairi Sane

Sane takes her down and pounds away, followed by a running shoulder in the corner. A nice looking top rope forearm and we hit the chinlock. Sky fights up and flips out of a headscissors before taking Sane outside. The moonsault off the barricade drops Sane again and we take a break.

We come back with Sky’s missile dropkick connecting to send Sane into the corner. Over The Moonsault is broken up so they both go up top, with Sky being knocked into the ropes. Sane is knocked down so cue Asuka to send Sky into the post. This brings out Rhea Ripley (Asuka rolls up her sleeves) for the brawl but Jade Cargill runs in to jump Ripley from behind. Sane dives onto Cargill but Asuka breaks up Over The Moonsault again. Sane’s rollup gets the pin at 9:57.

Rating: B. This wound up being a match with a big angle and I got into what we were seeing. The Asuka vs. Ripley brawl didn’t last long but it made perfect sense for all of the run-ins. That’s a nice way to build up a few stories at once and it happened to come with a rather good match as well.

Video on AJ Lee vs. Becky Lynch.

Here are Adam Pearce and HHH for the signing with Oba Femi. Cue Femi, who signs the contract without saying a word. Paul Heyman pops up on stage to say he has never seen someone be perceived as the best around as fast as Femi. Heyman says Femi is the most violent person to come into WWE since Brock Lesnar so the fans chant for OBA.

This annoys Heyman again, but he says that everything comes crashing down for Lesnar at Wrestlemania. Don’t worry though, because Heyman’s door will always be open to him after Wrestlemania. The fans want Femi to beat Heyman up, but Femi says those scars will heal. The emotional beating after he beats Lesnar though? That never goes away. There are twenty five years of history that Lesnar can’t be beaten but Femi has four weeks of evidence that he can. It’s time to end the Beast and everyone can feel it.

Heyman has been Lesnar’s mouthpiece but he has never been an honest one. If Heyman was honest, he would have come out here and said that Lesnar was scared. Femi is the mountain that Lesnar cannot climb and the Beast is being slayed at Wrestlemania. Femi’s delivery isn’t perfect (granted he doesn’t have much experience) but I believed what he was saying and it sounded like he did too, which is a big part.

We get a Liv Morgan music video for a song called Trouble. This is certainly different, but it’s basically just an excuse to have Morgan dancing on TV in various outfits.

Je’Von Evans/Dragon Lee vs. JD McDonagh/Rusev

McDonagh stomps Lee down in the corner to start and hits a hard clothesline. Evans gets knocked off the apron and it’s off to Rusev to keep Lee in trouble. That’s broken up and it’s off to Evans to make the comeback. Rusev gets low bridged to the floor but McDonagh Asai moonsaults onto Lee. Evans dives onto him but gets fall away slammed onto the announcers’ table.

We take a break and come back with Lee’s running hurricanrana to send McDonagh into Rusev. McDonagh is able to catch him with a running Spanish fly so Evans is back with a flipping kick to the head. The huge dive over the top takes Rusev out, leaving Lee to roll McDonagh up for two. The Styles Clash puts McDonagh away at 8:13.

Rating: B-. This was a fast paced tag match with Rusev playing a good monster. That’s something the ladder match has been needing, as it has felt very thrown together. Giving it a bit of attention is a good idea and hopefully they can deliver on Sunday. The problem is that it’s still a bit thrown together, but this was the best build it has gotten thus far.

Post match Rusev wrecks the winners, as is his custom. Rey Mysterio runs in for the save attempt but gets taken out. Cue Penta but Rusev clears the ring again, including taking out McDonagh. Rusev grabs the Accolade on Lee and cranks way back.

Wrestlemania rundown.

Danhausen interrupts Adam Pearce and wants to talk to John Cena on the phone. Cena isn’t on the phone, though Danhausen hopes that he can see him at Wrestlemania. And then Danhausen disappears.

Here is Roman Reigns for the big closing segment. Reigns takes his time to set up the catchphrase but here is CM Punk, in the crowd, to cut him off. Punk takes his own sweet time to get to ringside, where he gets on the announcers’ table. Punk talks about watching the cold open and says stop him when he’s telling lies. Reigns says they won’t need these mics but Punk says this he hates Reigns because he envies him.

This is all Punk has ever wanted and he is jealous that it was handed to Reigns. He hates that Reigns was champion for so long, because he knows how hard Reigns worked to do that. Punk says the legacy is about how many and he hates how many times Reigns has main evented Wrestlemania. He hates that he feels this way before shifting over to Sika (Reigns’ father).

The reality is that Sika was a champion and a great man and a Hall Of Famer. Punk respects the old timers and he apologizes for invoking Sika’s name in vain. He hates that there is more than one royal family in wrestling and he hates that he wasn’t born into a dynasty. Punk doesn’t know what it’s like to have that kind of family. He grew up on the streets of Chicago and had to find his family.

Those people were found in barns, bowling alleys, abandoned churches and VFW halls. Punk conquered the indies and then he went to Japan and England and he made wrestling his home and family. Punk hates that he feels this way and he hates that he has to share his first singles Wrestlemania main event with Reigns. Tell him when he’s telling lies. He has gold on his shoes and gold around his waist, and on Sunday night after their fight, the gold will be around his head because he’ll still be Heavyweight Champion of the World. Tell him when he’s telling lies (Reigns has just stared at him during this whole thing).

Reigns says that’s probably the truest stuff he’s ever heard Punk say, except for the ending. The truth is he’s hated Punk for a long time, but that’s because of the relationship Punk has with the fans. He hopes that they chant for him when he leaves. No one can take away the connection he has with the fans and that’s his truth. The reality is that the time is up because on Sunday it’s not “AND STILL”, because it’s “AND NEW”.

The nostalgia act is through and on Sunday we fix this mess that Punk has made. On Sunday, the Tribal Chief takes over again and you, and everyone else, will acknowledge him. The staredown ends the show. Reigns didn’t get to say much but he didn’t really need to. This was a money promo and felt like a Wrestlemania go home speech from Punk, who showed some rare vulnerability. There have been some problems with this Wrestlemania build but this hasn’t been one of them.

Overall Rating: B. The wrestling wasn’t much here but that’s almost always the case with five days to go until Wrestlemania. This show was mainly focused on talking and the stuff we got worked well, with Punk’s speech and Femi’s response to Heyman going strong. I want to see their matches over the weekend as the Raw half of the shows are looking good. They mostly stuck the landing here, though the weekend is what really matters.

Results
Lyra Valkyria b. Charlotte – Rollup
Usos/LA Knight b. MFT’s – BFT to Loa
Kairi Sane b. Iyo Sky – Rollup
Je’Von Evans/Dragon Lee b. JD McDonagh/Rusev – Styles Clash to McDonagh

 

 

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

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

Monday Night Raw
Date: April 6, 2026
Location: Toyota Center, Houston, Texas
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We’re less than two weeks away from Wrestlemania and that means everything has to come together. The good thing is that the Raw side of things has been the better of the two shows and that means we could be in for a nice night. If nothing else, we might be getting some more things set for the pay per view. Let’s get to it.

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

Here is a ticked off CM Punk to get things going. Punk sits down in the middle of the ring as we get some dueling chants from the fans. Punk talks about this being a wrestling town and he has some history of his own here. This is Paul Boesch territory and Houston Wrestling. He loves to hear about the old timers and you can’t help but compare yourself to them. Sometimes he dreams and asks what Harley Race would do.

The important things happen when we’re awake though (he gets up) and it’s good to be alive on a Monday night in Houston. The thing is, Roman Reigns isn’t here tonight. Punk recaps his issues with Punk over the last two weeks. Punk gets out on the apron and talks about how Reigns hates him. That’s a good thing, because he won’t trade his authenticity for approval. Not vying for the approval of losers is what prevents him from being one of them. The fans chant for Reigns but Punk says he’s the one who is here. Punk: “And I’m an old man!”

Punk takes off his jacket and stands on the announcers’ table and talks about how this company sent Reigns to Jimmy Fallon. Reigns is there because he’s safe and boring and you know he’s not going to lose it. On the other hand, Punk is someone who could say anything. He can film TV shows and movies and never miss a show but Reigns uses it as a crutch to be gone and then Punk gets booed when he shows up. Reigns puffs his chest around in the back like he’s the Rock, a Hollywood superstar. Punk: “I’m sorry. WAS a Hollywood superstar.”

After that gasp is over, Punk talks about how Reigns got a job because his father was a wrestler because he sucked at football. He calls Reigns a nepo baby who ate dog food for a weird old man. That old man treated Punk like a dog for years but Punk had FU money and walked away. That’s why everyone hates him: they can’t control him. You can’t blackball him and he can blow up his own bridge because he knows how to swim.

He’s not done though because PAT MCAFEE thinks he can come here and get in Punk’s business. Call that agent of his that shoehorned him into the show and tell him to LOWER THE TICKET PRICES. McAfee isn’t coming here and telling him to put people in seats. Lower the ticket prices so everyone in Houston (and their families) can come to Las Vegas and see him take Reigns out. This was Punk in his element as he felt like he was venting, with the part about the ticket prices not being something I was expecting to hear.

We recap IShowSpeed’s issues with LA Knight, who showed up on Speed’s stream and beat him up last week.

Speed is in the back and runs into Danhausen, who will remove the curse in exchange for Speed’s mansion. Adam Pearce shows up and Danhausen disappears. Pearce suggests that Speed go home before it gets worse but the Vision show up and have Speed come to the arena with them.

Austin Theory vs. LA Knight

Logan Paul IShowSpeed are here with Theory, who sends Knight into the ropes to start. Back up and Knight knocks him outside for a change but Theory is back with a ram into the buckle. That earns him another trip to the floor, where Knight clotheslines him into the timekeeper’s area as we take a break.

We come back with Knight grabbing a neckbreaker and hammering away, followed by a Russian legsweep. Another neckbreaker gives Knight two but Theory hits a shot to the face into a Blockbuster. Knight shrugs that off and takes him outside for the rams into the announcers’ table. With Theory back inside, Paul shoves Speed into Knight, who gives chase up the aisle. Cue the Usos to cut Speed off so Speed jumps over Knight, who catches him back inside. Paul’s save doesn’t work but Theory rolls Knight up, with trunks, for the pin at 9:43.

Rating: C. This was a case where the match was mainly a backdrop for everything else going on, which isn’t the worst thing. At the same time, it’s also a case where a DQ would have made a lot more sense. Knight didn’t need to take a fall like this and there was so much else going on that you could have saved a bit of a headache without the pin.

Post match Knight isn’t overly happy but he has an idea for how to even things up a bit: a six man tag at Wrestlemania. Adam Pearce pops up to say he told Speed to go home because the match is official. Yeah that was obvious and it’s not a bad thing to go with what makes sense.

Commentary introduces a video on Pat McAfee’s actions on Smackdown, with Michael Cole having to calm himself down.

CM Punk talks about his favorite Wrestlemania memory: being an extra at Wrestlemania XXII, which he thinks about every time he comes to work.

Finn Balor vs. JD McDonagh

Hold on though as Dominik Mysterio jumps Balor from behind and even mocks Balor’s pose. Balor fights back and goes after McDonagh but Mysterio gets in a belt shot with the AAA Mega Title. McDonagh brings in a chair and Mysterio beats Balor down so he can do the sign point. No match.

We get a video on AJ Lee, including a lot of her time before her hiatus.

Lee sits down with Michael Cole and says she is nervous about her first Wrestlemania in eleven years…and here is Becky Lynch to interrupt. Lynch calls Cole the worst interviewer and commentator in WWE so Cole leaves, telling Lee good luck. Lynch talks about seeing Lee at Wrestlemania XXXI and getting a fake hug but then Lee left the next day. Lee tells her to keep underestimating what Lee can do and cuts her off when Lynch doesn’t like this

The reality is Lynch is a big star but she walked through the doors that Lee opened. This company called her for ten years and the fans never forgot her. When Lynch goes home and asks her daughter who her favorite wrestler is, her daughter will say it’s AJ Lee. See you at Wrestlemania. Lee leaves and Lynch is livid. Keeping Lynch angry and annoyed is a good thing and Lee getting the chance to back up her words should be fun.

Bayley vs. Lash Legend

Lyra Valkyria and Nia Jax are here too. Bayley is knocked outside to start and can’t make much of a comeback before it happens again. We take a break and come back with Bayley knocking her out of the ropes but seeming to have a bad arm. Legend swings her into a backbreaker for two but misses a boot in the ropes. Bayley’s running dropkick sends Legend into the corner, where a knee to the face connects as well.

The middle rope elbow to the back gives Bayley two but Jax interferes, triggering a brawl with Valkyria. Cue Charlotte and Alexa Bliss, with Charlotte hitting Jax with her jacket for some reason. Bayley dives onto all of them and goes up, where Legend tries a superplex. Valkyria breaks that up though and Bayley falls on top for the pin (with Valkyria holding Legend’s foot) for the pin at 8:32.

Rating: C+. Much like the opener, I wouldn’t have had someone get a fall here, but at least it was a challenger pinning a champion, which could be a much bigger deal at Wrestlemania. The interference made sense, though Charlotte’s thing with her jacket was kind of weird. At least the Bellas weren’t involved, which kept things a bit better than they would have been otherwise.

We recap Gunther attacking Seth Rollins last week.

Various celebrities, including Mark Henry, are here.

We look at the trailer for Netflix’s documentary on Hulk Hogan. That could be fascinating or stupid. I’m leaning towards stupid.

Here is Seth Rollins for a chat. Rollins talks about being gone for six months and he’s so glad to be back so he wants to hear the fans singing his song. He’s BACK and in less than two weeks, he faces Gunther at Wrestlemania. Rollins isn’t sure how we got here because he didn’t think he and Gunther had any issues.

The only option is that Gunther must have entered into some kind of agreement with Paul Heyman. Rollins is back and has two goals: get his title back and kill the Vision. They’ve already got some Samoans to deal with and that won’t end well. He also put Brock Lesnar on a silver platter for Oba Femi and yes, Femi is the future.

As for Gunther, if he wants to be in league with Heyman, it has become personal for Rollins. Cue Gunther to try a sleeper but Rollins reverses into one of his own. Gunther slips out and the fight is on, with Rollins kicking him to the floor for the suicide dive. Gunther tosses him away again but security quickly breaks it up. That lets Gunther get in a cheap shot before he leaves.

In the back, Gunther runs into Heyman, who says he doesn’t know why Gunther did what he did last week. As far as Heyman knows, there’s nothing personal between Gunther and Rollins, so Heyman owes Gunther a big thank you. Gunther says it is personal between Rollins and Heyman, so it is personal to Gunther for some different reasons (which he doesn’t reveal). He shakes Heyman’s hand but pulls him in to say Heyman owes him more than he knows. Intriguing.

We look back at Roxanne Perez saving Liv Morgan from Stephanie Vaquer last week.

Vaquer says Morgan’s hair dye must have gotten to her brain if she thinks middle school insults are going to be enough. Morgan is trying to solve her daddy issues with Dominik Mysterio, who is trying to deal with not being as good as his own dad. Vaquer wants to inspire girls but while Morgan says it’s on sight, the truth is she’ll never see it coming.

Penta/Dragon Lee/Je’Von Evans vs. Los Americanos

Bravo and Lee trade some flips and posing to start before it’s off to Rayo for a running headbutt. The dancing lets Evans come in for a springboard hurricanrana as Kofi Kingston is watching from behind. Americano comes in to counter a headscissors into a kind of reverse powerbomb, allowing all three Americanos to pose. That’s broken up and they’re sent to the floor for a set of dives. Back in and Penta and company do the Penta strut as we take a break.

We come back with Penta hitting a double DDT and bringing in Lee before diving onto Americano. Bravo has to save Rayo from a Styles Clash and everything breaks down with a parade of knockdowns. Lee Styles Clashes Bravo but Americano is in for the save. A bunch of superkicks set up Penta’s Mexican Destroyer on the apron. That leaves Evans to hit the OG Cutter to Bravo for the pin at 7:45.

Rating: B-. It was an entertaining match with a bunch of people flying around and going nuts for a short amount of time, which will always work. The ladder match at Wrestlemania still feels a bit out of nowhere, but if very well could just be a big “let’s all do a bunch of high spots”, which should work out well. Then again Evans might break every bone in his body, as he seems likely to do quite often.

Post match Rey Mysterio is back (and Je’Von Evans is completely starstruck) to praise Penta for everything he has done. The ladder match has the potential to be great…and he’s going to be in it too. Penta shakes his hand and says let’s make history.

We look at Cody Rhodes’ promo from Smackdown.

We look at the Wrestlemania six man tag being set up earlier. IShowSpeed realizing he’s in big trouble is still funny.

Video on Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar.

We get a video from Asuka, who talks about how Iyo Sky abandoned her and tried to steal Kairi Sane away from her too. Asuka was here to pave the way for them and made sacrifices to make everything better. It was all out of love, but she loved Sky too much. Then Sky rebelled, and it’s time for Asuka to get revenge, including one more lesson in the ring.

Iyo Sky/Rhea Ripley vs. Michin/B-Fab

Jade Cargill is here too. Ripley takes B-Fab down to start and brings Michin in for a big boot. Michin is sent outside but B-Fab is up with a pump kick. A spinning DDT gives B-Fab two and we hit the chinlock. Ripley fights out without much trouble and brings Sky back in to clean house. A double missile dropkick hits Michin and B-Fab and Sky’s suicide dive takes them out again. We take a break and come back with Sky in trouble and Ripley being drawn in off a distraction. Cargill sends Ripley into the steps but Sky sends Michin into the post. That leaves B-Fab to get rolled up for the pin at 7:27.

Rating: C+. The ending came out of nowhere but there is little reason to believe that Michin and B-Fab could win here anyway. The two of them exist to be cannon fodder for Cargill and that’s pretty much all they were here. Ripley and Sky were only ever in so much trouble here and the match wasn’t in the biggest doubt.

Post match the big beatdown is on, with Michin getting a kendo stick. Ripley tries to make the save but gets kicked in the face. Michin and B-Fab hold Ripley back in the corner, leaving Cargill to beat up Sky.

Finn Balor says he taught Dominik Mysterio how to play dirty but play time is over. There’s another side of him that he thought he had buried forever, but Mysterio awakened it. But now it’s back and coming for Mysterio at Wrestlemania. Oh dear.

Dominik Mysterio is nervous about what that means but the rest of Judgment Day tries to calm him down. Mysterio has an idea and leaves wit JD McDonagh. Liv Morgan (in a Wrestlemania XV shirt) talks to Roxanne Perez and thanks her for last week. She knows Finn Balor brought Perez onto the team…and here is Stephanie Vaquer to jump Morgan from behind.

Here are HHH and Adam Pearce to oversee the contract signing between Brock Lesnar and Oba Femi. Paul Heyman interrupts though and handles Lesnar’s introduction, as only he can. Femi comes out as well and Lesnar jumps him on the way into the ring. Femi is right back to ram Lesnar into the post though and they go through the table, with security running in to break it up. Lesnar throws a chair at Femi and security has a lot of work to do to keep them apart as the show ends.

Overall Rating: B-. We are officially in the “Wrestlemania is pretty much set so we’re not going to do much to shake it up” period and that means we might not be in for much great stuff. They added a bit more to the show though and nothing was overly bad. Raw continues to be light years ahead of Smackdown at the moment and while this show wasn’t must see TV, it advanced enough things on the way to Wrestlemania. That’s all it needed to do and it did so well enough.

Results
Austin Theory b. LA Knight – Rollup
Bayley b. Lash Legend – Top rope splash with Lyra Valkyria holding the foot
Penta/Dragon Lee/Je’Von Evans b. Los Americanos – OG Cutter to Bravo
Iyo Sky/Rhea Ripley b. Michin/B-Fab – Rollup to B-Fab

 

 

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 XXIX
Date: April 7, 2013
Location: MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey
Attendance: 80,676
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, John Bradshaw Layfield

With those matches out of the way, the only name left is the Undertaker, who will be facing CM Punk in a match that might have been better had it been for the title. This time it’s personal though, as Paul Bearer had recently passed away, leaving Punk to mock his memory and steal the urn one last time. Let’s get to it.

Pre-Show: Intercontinental Title: Wade Barrett vs. The Miz

Barrett is defending and Miz is now a good guy who uses the Figure Four. Miz gets sent to the apron to start but slides in for a sunset flip for two. A hard kick to the ribs drops Miz but he’s still able to get his boot up to stop Wade’s running boot. The Reality Check (backbreaker/neckbreaker combo) gets two on the champ, followed by Winds of Change (spinning Boss Man Slam) from Barrett for the same. Barrett’s Bull Hammer (hard elbow to the head) is countered with the Figure Four, sending Wade into the ropes. Not that it matters as Miz sweeps the leg and puts the hold on again for the tap out and the title at 4:05.

Rating: D+. Really quick and nothing match here to fire the crowd up before the real show comes on. Barrett and Miz were both in tailspins at this point and the title was in an even worse place with meaningless title changes like this one. To give you an idea of what this meant, Barrett would get the title back the next night on Raw.

The opening video is narrated by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who talks about the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, which leveled huge portions of New Jersey. In the face of all that adversity though, New Jersey stood tall and is still alive today. Everywhere from New York to New Jersey, the people are unbreakable and unstoppable.

The New Jersey National Guard waves American flags.

We get the standard awesome Wrestlemania opening video, again focusing on the Wrestlemania Moment. The Streak actually gets the primary focus here with the other two main events going after. A great line here: “The storied past is only rivaled by the promise of a glorious future.”

We’re back in the company’s home area, hence the theme song called Coming Home.

The set is one of their most detailed ever with the Brooklyn Bridge and Empire State Building over the entrance and the Statue of Liberty over the canopy above the ring.

Sheamus/Randy Orton/Big Show vs. Shield

Shield (Dean Ambrose/Roman Reigns/Seth Rollins. I’ll spare you a description of each.) comes through the crowd as is their custom. Show hasn’t been considered the most trustworthy partner so the question is whether or not the team will implode. Sheamus and Reigns get things going with Roman taking over in the corner and stopping a charge with an elbow.

It’s off to Orton to slam Rollins’ head into the mat and then stomp on his face. Some right hands in the corner and a slingshot suplex get two on Rollins and it’s back to Sheamus. Notice the lack of tagging in Big Show. Ambrose comes in and gets powered down by Sheamus as well, only to have Show tag himself in for a series of rapid fire (well as rapid fire as Show can reach) chops in the corner.

Shield starts going with what brought them to the dance with the fast tags, setting up the top rope knee to Show’s head for two. Dean has lost his shirt as he comes in to stomp Show down, followed by some knees to the head to give Rollins two. Reigns puts on a chinlock (he’s the only member of the team who could make that work) until Show easily throws him down and makes the tag off to Sheamus.

That means Rollins loses his shirt as well for the ten forearms to the chest. Not to be outdone, Ambrose replaces Sheamus and takes a string of forearms of his own. Reigns breaks up the top rope battering ram though as Orton and Show have been taken down off camera. Orton gets triple teamed and it’s a triple stomp on Sheamus back inside.

Show comes back in with a spear to break up the TripleBomb. Sheamus crawls over to tag Show but Orton tags himself in instead to clean house, including catching a springboarding Rollins in the RKO. Reigns comes in with a spear for the pin at 10:34 with Big Show just watching the pin go down.

Rating: C+. Nice opener here as Shield looked good and are clearly the future. Show turning on his partners doesn’t do anything for me as it happens at least twice a year. Orton and Sheamus were great choices to put in on the team as they can take a loss with no damage and are just good enough that you could see them pulling it off. Shield would have far better matches but that wasn’t the point here.

Post match Show knocks his partners out.

Music video on Rock vs. Cena. Haven’t we already paid for the match at this point? We really don’t need to have it hyped again. The theme here is Rock’s legacy vs. Cena’s redemption.

Ryback vs. Mark Henry

Ryback has been in a free fall since losing his undefeated streak and needs a win to get his momentum back. Henry hasn’t meant much in awhile but is still strong enough to be a threat to anyone. They slug it out to start with Henry as the strong crowd favorite despite being the heel. New York fans are smart you see. Henry runs him over and grabs a powerslam for one.

A “Sexual Chocolate” chant begins and Henry clotheslines him out to the floor before bringing Ryback inside again for some shots to the back. The bearhug doesn’t last long as Henry throws him outside again, only to put the bearhug on again. Just in case Ryback didn’t learn his lesson the first time. Ryback makes his quick comeback with the Meathook clothesline but Henry grabs the rope to break up the Shellshock. The weight makes Ryback collapse and Henry falls on him for the pin at 8:03.

Rating: D. What the heck was that? They’ve set Ryback up as needing a win and they have him lose here? The only answer would be a losing streak to set up a heel turn, because WWE thinks the best way to get someone over as a heel is to have them lose all their matches first. Really weird decision here but WWE had a lot of those.

Post match Ryback hits the Shell Shock. Henry would lose a World Title shot the next night and Ryback would indeed turn heel, leading a series of pay per view title shots. Why they didn’t have Ryback win here, then have Henry answer an open challenge for the title the next night and then let Ryback have his title series as the bigger threat. Instead they did everything backwards because they do a lot of stupid things.

The announcers play with their new toys with JBL making sure to beat up Rey Mysterio.

The WWE is partnering with the Special Olympics.

Some Special Olympians are here with Stephanie McMahon and Chris Christie.

Tag Team Titles: HELL NO vs. Dolph Ziggler/Big E. Langston

HELL NO (Daniel Bryan/Kane) is defending. Langston is Ziggler’s new bodyguard and an awesome powerhouse. The bell rings and Ziggler kisses AJ (Now with him. As Lawler put it, AJ has been on more manhunts than the FBI.) and walks into a kick to the head from Bryan for two in a nice callback. Ziggler bails to the floor and eats a suicide dive followed by the YES kicks. That’s finally enough to send Ziggler over for the tag and Bryan does the same for the power vs. power match.

Langston throws Kane into the corner and powers out of a chokeslam before running Kane over ala Vader. It’s off to Ziggler who misses a splash in the corner and overshoots the Fameasser. Everything breaks down as Langston breaks up a cover, leaving Ziggler to hit the Zig Zag on Kane for two. AJ throws in the Money in the Bank briefcase, only to have Dolph walk into a chokeslam. Bryan adds the top rope headbutt to retain the titles at 6:17.

Rating: C-. Just a step above a Raw match here which is becoming a problem on this show. Things picked up a lot near the end but what are you going to get out of a six minute match? Bryan and Kane were becoming something special and Ziggler would win the World Heavyweight Championship the next night.

WWE works with Make-A-Wish.

Fandango vs. Chris Jericho

Fandango is a dancer (formerly known as Johnny Curtis) making his in ring debut here. It had been teased a few times before but he had declined due to someone pronouncing his name wrong (seriously). Jericho was chosen because he kept messing the name up (“Fan-Danny Devito? Fan-B-I-N-G-O-and Bingo was his name-o!”). Fandango comes out with a bunch of dancers before going to ringside with his main dance partner.

Jericho takes him down to start and pounds away with a very early Codebreaker putting Fandango outside for a big dive. Fandango is staggered but finally comes back with an enziguri to take over. JBL is really not pleased with Fandango posing so much because JBL is far too uncultured to understand the power of dance. A chinlock just seems to re-energize Jericho as he comes back with an enziguri of his own, only to be sent into the post.

Now we get Fandango’s real control as he drops his top rope legdrop for two. Yeah they really just had his finisher get two in his debut. Does that mean it’s still his finisher? Jericho breaks up a second legdrop attempt but the Walls are countered into a small package for the pin at 9:18.

Rating: C. That’s one of the biggest upsets in Wrestlemania history and it really shouldn’t be that big of a surprise given that Jericho was only around to put people over at this point. The extra time helped a bit but everyone knew that a dancing gimmick was only going to go so far, though it did lead to the INSANE rise of Fandangoing (a dance done to the tune of Fandango’s music) that was the hottest thing in the company for about a week, starting the next night.

Clip of the pre-show match.

Another Rock vs. Cena video with fans quoting Rock’s catchphrases. This is the kind of stuff that really needed to be cut for the sake of more match time.

Here’s a montage of Wrestlemania moments set to music from the Rocky movies, leading to P. Diddy coming out for the musical medley. At least it’s shorter than Kid Rock.

We recap Alberto Del Rio vs. Jack Swagger. Del Rio has turned face and won the World Heavyweight Title back in January. Swagger then adopted a new gimmick as the disciple of Zeb Colter (formerly known as Uncle Zebekiah about eighteen years ago), a man who accused ever non-white person of sneaking across the border and being here illegally. The match is a huge culture clash with Swagger wanting to win the title and get rid of Del Rio while Del Rio is standing up for what he believes America is all about. Swagger won the Elimination Chamber to earn this shot.

World Heavyweight Title: Jack Swagger vs. Alberto Del Rio

Swagger is challenging and doesn’t even get an entrance. Did I mention that he had been arrested for DUI and marijuana possession about six weeks before this match? Before the match, Colter rips on New York for being a bunch of people who can’t speak English. Swagger recently broke Ricardo Rodriguez’s ankle but Ricardo limps out here. I had hoped they would get Ricardo deported and then have him make his big return here instead but it’s not that big of a deal.

Swagger bails to the floor to start so Alberto drops him with two boots through the ropes. Back in and a Colter distraction lets Swagger run him over and put on a very quickly broken chinlock. A Vader bomb gets a close two on the champ and Jack drives in some weak shoulders to the ribs. Alberto fires off some clotheslines and even stomps on Colter’s hand, only to have Swagger slam him down to break up the armbreaker attempt.

Swagger finally gets to the point by taking out the leg to set up the Patriot (ankle) Lock. Del Rio easily kicks him away and pounds in forearms to the back, followed by a Backstabber for two. Neither guy can get their submission so Jack settles for a layout powerbomb for two more.

The Patriot Lock goes on but Del Rio takes him down and counters into the armbreaker, only to have Swagger kick the arms away and grab the ankle again. Del Rio gets to the ropes and comes back with the corner enziguri (thankfully limping into it) but has to save Ricardo from Colter. Swagger gets in a few cheap shots but Del Rio grabs the armbreaker back inside for the tap out at 10:30.

Rating: B-. Again the time hurt this but the submission trading with all the counters was really fun stuff. They would have an I Quit match the next month which sounds good on paper, until you realize that Del Rio just beat him by submission here. Del Rio was a good face but for some reason they turned him right back in June. On the other hand, Swagger was dead in the water the second he got arrested which made the match more academic. There were rumors that he was going to win until the arrest, which really does show how much one mistake can screw you up.

WWE supports the National Guard, in case you haven’t been told how awesome the company is in the last half hour.

We recap CM Punk vs. Undertaker, which is mostly about the urn and Paul Bearer’s legacy. Undertaker had been paying tribute to him but Punk interrupted to say that Bearer was lucky enough to not see Undertaker lose his Wrestlemania perfection. Punk spent weeks disrespecting Bearer’s memory with manager Paul Heyman even dressing up like Bearer as a distraction so Punk could beat Undertaker down. Undertaker swore that even if the Streak ended, Punk wouldn’t live to tell about it.

CM Punk vs. Undertaker

Living Colour plays Punk to the ring and Heyman still has the urn. No druids this year but the stage is so close to the fans that you can see hands reaching through the shadows and smoke to try and touch Undertaker. Punk spends the entrance tossing the urn in the air like a ball. Undertaker stalks him into the corner and gets slapped in the face as Punk is trying to win any way he can, including by DQ.

The chokeslam is broken up by a kick to the head so Undertaker takes him to the floor and throws Punk over the timekeeper’s barricade. It’s time to load up the announcers’ table but Undertaker throws him back inside. Old School is broken up as well and Punk actually does his own Old School for a new idea.

Punk starts working on the arm to set up for the Anaconda Vice before throwing him outside for a top rope ax handle. Back in and we hit the chinlock as Heyman talks trash from the floor. Punk makes the eternal mistake of trying the same move twice and crotches himself going for Old School. Heyman breaks up the Taker Dive and Punk gets two off a springboard clothesline.

The Macho Elbow gets the same and Heyman holds up the urn. A quick chokeslam gets two for Undertaker but the big boot is blocked by a leg lariat. They head outside with Punk escaping a Last Ride and kicking Undertaker onto the table. The Macho Elbow doesn’t break the table which had to feel horrible on Punk’s hip and knee. Undertaker beats the count at nine and a half and Punk is shocked. He’s shocked enough that Undertaker grabs Hell’s Gate, only to have Punk roll over into the Anaconda Vice.

In the spot of the match, Undertaker does the situp and stares into Punk’s eyes as the hold is still on. Punk’s confidence is shattered as he looks completely terrified with his best move getting him nowhere. A chokeslam is countered into a bad GTS but Undertaker shrugs it off (to be fair it really didn’t connect) and grabs a Tombstone for two on a hot near fall. They slug it out and there goes the referee.

Punk tries his running knee in the corner but gets countered into the Last Ride. Before he’s dropped, Heyman throws in the urn for a shot to the head and a very close two (done much better with HHH and the sledgehammer at Wrestlemania XVII). The GTS is countered into the Tombstone which is countered into the GTS which is countered into the Tombstone to make it 21-0 at 22:08.

Rating: B+. I liked this better on a second viewing as when I watched live, I never bought the Streak as being in jeopardy. They tried to make the Vice a big deal but at the end of the day, Undertaker does not tap out. Period. Why should I buy this particular submission as having a chance? The urn to the head was a good near fall though and had me closer to thinking it was over than anything in the HHH match two years earlier. Very good match but it never hit the level of the HHH and Shawn editions.

Undertaker poses a lot and retrieves the urn one more time.

Ad for the new Mick Foley DVD.

Here’s a video on Cena wanting his redemption tonight after losing a year ago. This makes over ten minutes spent on these things.

Sports commentator Michelle Beadle is here.

We recap HHH vs. Lesnar II. They fought at Summerslam 2012 with Lesnar making HHH tap out. HHH teased retiring as a result (again taking the focus off Lesnar as the last shot of the show was HHH standing in the ring alone) and after no one bought it, Lesnar attacked Vince and Shawn to set up the rematch here. To make it even more intense, it’s no holds barred with HHH’s career on the line. (which was announced with the same intensity as last year’s Cell match). Just in case you had any doubt that HHH was winning here you see.

At the end of the day though, everyone knew this was all about HHH getting his redemption over Lesnar because Lesnar is the latest monster trying to stop HHH’s precious legacy, even though Lesnar is anything but just another monster. Unfortunately that’s how Lesnar was billed and it made this feud even less interesting. The first match was fine, but this was the least interesting rematch in a long time.

HHH vs. Brock Lesnar

Shawn and Heyman are here as seconds and remember it’s no holds barred. HHH sends him to the floor to start and whips Brock hard into the barricade. You know, the same Brock who destroyed Cena when they fought about a year ago? Well HHH is beating him up a minute into the match. The fans are silent but it’s in awe of the awesomeness I’m sure.

HHH knocks a chair out of Lesnar’s hands but Heyman is smart enough to grab the chair before HHH can get it. A whip into the steps has no effect on Brock as he belly to bellys HHH on the floor (now that’s more like it). HHH gets suplexed through the announcers’ table and Brock is in Beast Mode. Brock throws him onto the pieces of the table and a single glare at Shawn sends him SPRINTING away. Yeah because a Hall of Famer and one of the best ever just isn’t good enough to stand up to Brock the way HHH did.

Back in and a series of suplexes gets a series of two counts. Brock goes after Shawn on the floor but the distraction lets HHH get in a clothesline to put Lesnar in the timekeeper’s area. That goes nowhere though as Brock Germans him again and elbows Shawn in the face. You don’t mess with HHH’s life partner though and he plants Brock with a spinebuster. The Pedigree is countered into an F5 but Shawn comes in for a superkick, only to take the F5 instead.

HHH grabs a quick Pedigree for two but the sledgehammer shot is countered with an F5 for another two. They go outside again with HHH going into the steps, which are then sent inside for more fun. Brock hits him with the steps for two and tells HHH to retire, igniting HHH’s comeback. Cole: “A little flame in the game!” The Kimura (Brock’s arm lock) has HHH in trouble but he breaks it up as the fans want to see a broken arm.

Brock gets it on for the fourth time in a row with his legs wrapped around HHH’s waist, only to get powered into a spinebuster for the break. HHH is MANLY you see. A low blow keeps Brock down and HHH wraps his arm around the post. He crushes Brock’s arm with a chair for good measure and there’s a Kimura from HHH. So he’s a submission guy too. Heyman tries to come in for the save but Shawn superkicks him down. See, Heyman isn’t some big monster that would scare Shawn.

Thankfully Brock doesn’t tap as he lifts HHH up and slams him onto the steps. HHH grabs the hold again so Brock counters it the same way. It worked so well that they do it AGAIN, but since HHH is so smart he counters into a DDT onto the steps. The sledgehammer to the head and a Pedigree onto the steps ends Brock at 23:58.

Rating: B-. This was HHH’s big thank you for putting Lesnar over last year, because a win over HHH means SO much at this point. Let’s recap: HHH is able to beat Brock in a slugout, knows how to do UFC submissions, isn’t a coward like Shawn (that Hall of Fame World Champion), can survive suplexes and F5’s and isn’t hurt by things like Kimuras.

HHH looked like a god here and it was so ridiculous for a long majority of the match. The fans’ silence was so telling as they just did not want to see HHH get his big moment, no matter how much HHH demanded that he get it. Oh and they had ANOTHER match the next month too, stretching their feud to a year. At least HHH was nice enough to put Lesnar over there, because he couldn’t do it here at the show people remember most.

Hall of Fame video, with a STACKED lineup.

Here’s the Class of 2013: Mick Foley, Booker T. (probably the lowest level wrestler in the class), Trish Stratus, Bob Backlund, Donald Trump (booed here but he’s been at five Wrestlemanias now) and the headliner: Bruno Sammartino (so long overdue it’s unreal). If there’s ever been a better class, I’ve yet to see it.

Wrestlemania XXX is in New Orleans.

The new attendance record is announced.

No recap of the main event but I think you get the idea by now.

WWE World Title: John Cena vs. The Rock

Rock is defending. Cena is booed out of the building even worse than he was last year, which I didn’t think was possible. After the big match intros, Cena runs him over with a shoulder to start. Rock nails one of his own and it’s a standoff. They circle each other for a bit as the fans are restless, leaving Cole to explain Rock’s history.

Rock takes over with some right hands and a kick to the face but Cena grabs a belly to belly. A chinlock keeps the match slow until Rock reverses into a sleeper. Cena counters with another suplex and stomps down as JBL actually says Rock and Cena compete in movies. A release fisherman’s suplex gets two on the champ and good grief do something interesting already.

Rock comes back with right hands before ducking a shoulder. The STF is broken up but now some weak shoulders have Rock in trouble. Well they’re certainly doing something now. A much better Sharpshooter has Cena in trouble but he rolls away and hits the ProtoBomb. The Shuffle misses so Cena settles for the STF, only to have Rock reverse into a rollup for two.

Cena catapults him into the corner and now the Shuffle connects. The AA is broken up and Rock plants him with the spinebuster, only to have the People’s Elbow countered into another STF. Rock rolls onto his side and separates Cena’s hands for the break in a good power display. Back up and a Rock Bottom out of nowhere gets two. There’s an AA for two with almost no one buying the near fall.

Rock avoids the top rope Fameasser and scores with the spinebuster into the Elbow for two more. Just like last year, Rock goes up for a cross body but gets caught in the AA, only to slip out and hit the Rock Bottom. Instead of covering though he tries the Shuffle, allowing Cena to hit another AA for two. Cena wins a slugout and Rock Bottoms Rock (BIG reaction for that) but the kickout stuns him all over again.

Just like last year (again), Cena tries the Elbow but is ready for Rock, only to take too much time setting up the AA and getting countered into the Rock Bottom for two. They counter each others’ finishers about five times in a row (with little energy on any of them) until Rock plants him with a DDT. Another Rock Bottom is countered into another AA to give Cena the title back at 24:00.

Rating: B-. While it’s still entertaining, there was almost no emotion in this. It felt like both guys were just going through the motions to get to the obvious ending and that’s not good. As we’ve seen over the years, there are ways to have an entertaining match with an obvious ending but that’s not what happened here. Instead this was a bunch of finishing moves over and over after about ten minutes of nothing to start. It’s still a good enough match, but they really needed more intensity here. At least look like you’re giving it everything you have even if you really aren’t.

One last thing of note: at some point, Rock ripped his abdominal muscle and suffered a hernia. Reports vary about when it happened (ranging from in the opening to the first AA to the final AA) but it’s a major reason why Rock hasn’t had a match since. This is WAY too dangerous for him to be doing when he’s needed on movie sets and it will probably keep him out of the ring for good, save for maybe one more farewell match.

They shake hands post match and say something to each other than the cameras can’t pick up. Cena leaves Rock in the ring to pose until Rock comes up to the stage to raise Cena’s hand and end the show.

Overall Rating: C. In a word, this show was just there. There’s good stuff on it but nothing feels like it matters. Instead we have a bunch of good to decent matches with the crowd (and remember a good chunk of it is a New York crowd) not caring. The last two matches are especially bad about this as they were rematches that people didn’t want to see. The HHH vs. Lesnar rematch was even worse about this as there was no need to have a rematch other than to make HHH look good. Rock vs. Cena wasn’t as bad about that but it also wasn’t as entertaining of a match.

Undertaker vs. Punk is definitely the best match of the show due to the good story behind it and the execution helps even more. I still didn’t believe that Punk was a real threat to the streak but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t entertaining. Punk got in a lot more offense than I was expecting and had some near falls to make it good. There was no way Undertaker was going out in his tribute to Bearer though.

The rest of the card is where the show falls apart. There’s some watchable stuff but so much of it feels like it belongs on Raw. None of the first five matches break eleven minutes and I really didn’t have much interest in seeing Chris Jericho lose to a newcomer, even if it was one of the biggest upsets ever. The first half of this show had the problem of not feeling like a Wrestlemania, which is one of the worst things that can happen. The second half is a huge improvement, but nowhere near enough to make this required viewing.

Ratings Comparison

The Miz vs. Wade Barrett

Original: D+

2014 Redo: C

2015 Redo: D+

Shield vs. Randy Orton/Sheamus/Big Show

Original: B-

2014 Redo: C+

2015 Redo: C+

Ryback vs. Mark Henry

Original: D

2014 Redo: D

2015 Redo: D

Dolph Ziggler/Big E. Langston vs. HELL NO

Original: C

2014 Redo: D+

2015 Redo: C-

Fandango vs. Chris Jericho

Original: D

2014 Redo: C

2015 Redo: C

Jack Swagger vs. Alberto Del Rio

Original: C+

2014 Redo: C+

2015 Redo: B-

Undertaker vs. CM Punk

Original: B

2014 Redo: B

2015 Redo: B+

HHH vs. Brock Lesnar

Original: B+

2014 Redo: B

2015 Redo: B-

John Cena vs. The Rock

Original: C+

2014 Redo: B-

2015 Redo: B-

Overall Rating

Original: B-

2014 Redo: B

2015 Redo: C

There’s good stuff in there but it’s swimming with an anchor.

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2013/04/07/wrestlemania-xxix-and-so-it-ends/

And the 2014 Redo:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2014/04/05/wrestlemania-count-up-wrestlemania-xxix-redo-twice-in-a-lifetime/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the WWE Grab Bag (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/03/23/new-paperback-kbs-grab-bag/

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

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