Monday Night Raw
Date: May 18, 2026
Location: First Horizon Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

It’s the last show before Saturday Night’s Main Event and that only means so much for Raw. The big story continues to be Roman Reigns dealing with the force that is Jacob Fatu, though they don’t have another match set up just yet. There is still time to add it here, but there is also the option of sending it to Turin for Clash In Italy later this month. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of last week’s brawl between Roman Reigns and Jacob Fatu, with Fatu leaving the champ laying.

Adam Pearce stops Reigns as he comes in, saying if Reigns had listened to him last week, none of that would happen. Reigns says that doesn’t matter because he’s calling Fatu out right now. Pearce wants Fatu fired but they’re cut off by Fatu coming to the arena. There were some very loud echoes in this segment for some reason.

Here is Fatu to call out Reigns but he gets the Usos instead. Jey comes out with a chair but Jimmy tries to keep the peace, as is his custom. Jimmy calls out Fatu for not thinking and costing himself last week. Fatu attacked management and now he’s about to get fired. Then what? Is Fatu going to go back to being his old self to help his family then? Jey goes after him but gets knocked down, with Fatu grabbing the Tongan Death Grip on Jimmy. Jey’s chair shot has no effect so he gets Death Gripped as well.

This brings out Reigns and the big fight is on, with Reigns even throwing in a big boot. The Superman Punch is countered into the Tongan Death Grip and the Usos have to make the save. A Superfly Splash and 1D put Fatu down and the Usos tie him in the ropes. Some Superman Punches and the spear leave Fatu out and here is Pearce. Reigns says something to him and Pearce seems ready to fire Fatu….who wants Tribal Combat. Pearce tries to calm things down but Reigns is in. No word on when that takes place but Fatu winning the title wouldn’t be the craziest thing.

Video on Judgment Day turning on Finn Balor, with JD McDonagh wanting revenge on him for turning on him after so many years. This feels a lot like a video they’ve aired between them before.

JD McDonagh vs. Finn Balor

Street fight so they go right outside with Balor whipping him into various things. The kendo sticks and chairs are brought in and McDonagh gets in a few shots of his own to take over. Balor sends him hard into the chair in the corner and it’s time for a table, only for McDonagh to suicide dive him for taking too long. They fight out into the crowd with Balor whipping him into an equipment case. McDonagh drives him right back into it as well and hits a hue moonsault off of the case as we take a break.

We come back with Balor planting McDonagh but walking into a release Rock Bottom onto the chair. A nice looking standing moonsault gives McDonagh two but Balor is back with the Sling Blade. McDonagh is knocked through the table in the corner and Balor goes up. The Coup de Grace misses though and McDonagh knees him down for two. The top rope moonsault hits Balor for two so McDonagh puts him on another table.

That takes way too long though and Balor switches places, only for Dominik Mysterio to run in and break up the Coup de Grace. A top rope superplex sends Balor through the table for two (and a roar on the kickout). Mysterio loads up the 619 but Balor switches places and McDonagh gets kicked in the face instead. Mysterio is knocked outside and it’s a Coup de Grace to a trashcan to McDonagh for the pin at 11:50.

Rating: B. This got a good bit better near the end, with McDonagh fighting hard to hang in there with the much more accomplished star. Mysterio’s interference costing McDonagh and the team in the end is pretty much par for his course these days and I’m not sure how long that can last. At the same time, I’m not sure what the endgame for Balor is supposed to be. He’s already beaten Mysterio, so what is he supposed to finish the feud for good?

We look at Seth Rollins helping the Street Profits last week but they aren’t interested.

Rollins says he has to finish things with the Vision and sometimes the best thing to do is run right at your problem. He hasn’t had a match on Raw in about nine months so we should remedy that tonight. Tonight he has been given the main event slot and he wants to face anyone on the team. He’d like it to be Bron Breakker, who says he can do it on his own, but what is Breakker? A nepo baby or everything that he is supposed to be? Tonight is Breakker’s chance to show Rollins who he really is. This was more intense than usual from Rollins and it worked.

Sol Ruca is excited to have done well in her limited time around here but Becky Lynch interrupts. Lynch doesn’t think much of Ruca’s efforts thus far and she hasn’t even faced the best. Ruca should go back to NXT, which she says she’ll do. Lynch calls her a quitter and here is Ruca in the arena.

Ruca is in the ring and gets right to the point by calling Lynch out. This brings out Lynch, who wants to know what Ruca is trying. Ruca wants to face Lynch right here tonight but gets shot down. Lynch goes into her catchphrase and Ruca is already sick of it, prompting Lynch to start over. After we hear about all of the people Lynch has dealt with already, she agrees to let Ruca face her at Saturday Night’s Main Event, with Ruca making it a title match. That’s too far for Lynch, who says Ruca hasn’t earned a shot yet (fair) so we won’t be doing that yet.

The Vision ask Paul Heyman about Saturday Night’s Main Event but Bron Breakker comes in to say make the match with Seth Rollins for tonight. Heyman says Austin Theory should do it instead so Breakker asks Theory and Logan Paul to leave. Breakker insists he can beat Rollins and while Heyman agrees, he points out that Rollins will be busy tonight and Breakker will know it in advance. Breakker approves.

Original El Grande Americano/Los Hermanos Americanos vs. El Grande Americano/Los Americanos

Tornado rules and in advance: I’m going to get these people mixed up more than once. Julio strikes away at Rayo to start ast he other four brawl on the floor. A fall away slam sends Rayo flying and it’s Grande coming in to slug it out with Original. The ankle lock has Grande in trouble but Rayo comes in for the save.

Los Americanos crotch Original against the post and we pause for some dancing. Bravo walks across some backs for a hurricanrana to Bruto but Julio is back up for a dive. Grande and Original hit dives of their own and everyone is down at ringside. Back in and Original hits Bravo with a top rope superplex for two and we take a break.

We come back with Original suplexing Los Americanos at the same time and then suplexing Grande for two. A top rope headbutt gets two on Bravo but Julio’s 450 misses. That’s enough for Grande and the Americanos to load up their masks but the other three hit stereo German suplexes. Graves: “There are no Germans in the ring Cole. We have six Mexicans!” A triple moonsault gets a triple near fall on Grande and Los Americanos but Bruto gets headbutted down. Grande’s running headbutt, with two more from Los Americanos, gets the pin at 10:38.

Rating: B-. This was another wild match, though I have no idea who the good guys were supposed to be. It’s perfectly clear in Mexico, but here things aren’t as simple. The match was a lot of fun and fairly wild, which made up for trying to figure all of that out. They need to wrap it up though, as this feud is going to start losing steam in a hurry otherwise.

Whataburger delivers to the Alpha Academy. Dang it now I want Whataburger.

We look back at the Bloodline vs. Jacob Fatu brawl earlier. Tribal Combat is set for Clash In Italy.

Video on Tribal Combat.

The Usos know what Tribal Combat is all about but here is LA Knight to interrupt. Jimmy says not now but Knight asks “or what”. Knight calls them out for doing the same things the three of them beat up the Vision for doing at Wrestlemania so what’s the difference? The Usos aren’t happy.

Ethan Page sits down with Michael Cole and brags about himself, including via a pre-written statement. Cole has to praise Page’s jawline but can’t get over Page wanting to rename the Intercontinental Title as the “Ethan Page Championship”. Cole can’t do this anymore and asks why Page acts like this. Cole praises Page’s skills but thinks his ego will cost him on Saturday. Page calls it confidence rather than ego and he’ll prove it at Saturday Night’s Main Event. To say Page is nailing it so far would be a drastic understatement. He’s slid into this role perfectly and it’s working very well.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Paige/Brie Bella vs. Judgment Day

Judgment Day, with Liv Morgan, is challenging. Paige throws Perez down to start and it’s off to Bella, who is knocked down just as fast. Rodriguez takes over and hands it back to Perez, who mocks the YES chant. That just fires Bella up and she fires off the YES Kicks, with Rodriguez breaking them up. Paige’s dive is cut off and she’s swung into the barricade as we take a break.

We come back with Bella getting the tag and cleaning house but Rodriguez cuts her off. The spinning Vader Bomb is cut off and a double powerbomb brings Rodriguez back down. Perez takes Paige out though and Bella goes up, only for Morgan to shove her off. That’s enough for the big ejection so the title is brought in. Bella cuts that off and rolls Perez up to retain at 10:14.

Rating: C. And it continues. I know Paige and Bella are set for the title match against the Irresistible Forces but they continue to drain the life out of me every time they’re on screen. It’s not like they have some big, deep history together and Bella wasn’t exactly good on her best days. Now they’re the best team in a division which is actually getting pretty good? That’s quite a lot to take and it’s not exactly working for me.

Post match the Judgment Day jump the champs but Bayley and Lyra Valkyria make the save.

LA Knight comes up to Seth Rollins and says he can do this himself tonight, but it’s going to go badly. He needs help, so have fun getting stomped out.

Penta is sick of Ethan Page wanting the Intercontinental Title all for himself. He’ll take care of Page on Saturday.

Here is Oba Femi for his open challenge…and BROCK LESNAR RUNS IN to lay him out with four straight F5’s. Well that worked. I wasn’t completely sold on Lesnar being gone, but I didn’t expect him to come back on a pretty random Raw. Nice job.

Post break Adam Pearce is livid and Paul Heyman comes in. Pearce demands to know what happened but Heyman says Lesnar is retired. Heyman pulls out a contract, already signed by Lesnar, to face Femi at Clash In Italy. Pearce seems confused but interested.

Saturday Night’s Main Event rundown.

The Street Profits are ready for the Vision because they have the vision of winning the Tag Team Titles. Angelo Dawkins is distracted though and Montez Ford tells him to go. Dawkins goes over to Seth Rollins to thank him for last week. Rollins thanks him for that and apologizes for Dawkins getting taken out. For now though, he has a match of his own.

Seth Rollins vs. Austin Theory

Rollins jumps the Vision on the floor to start and hammers on Theory inside to start fast. Back in and Rollins stays on Theory, including a buckle bomb to knock him silly. Theory fights back and manages to send the ankle into the post, which should weaken the Stomp. Paul goes after Rollins and Theory crotches Rollins on the barricade as we take a break.

We come back with Rollins chopping away and countering the rolling dropkick into a sitout powerbomb for two. Rollins knocks him down again and loads up a super Stomp, only for Paul to shove Rollins down. Theory’s Stomp gets two so Paul slips him the knuckles, with Rollins superkicking Theory instead. Now Rollins gets the knuckles, with Paul pointing them out. Rollins grabs a Pedigree for the pin instead at 12:57.

Rating: B-. This was more about keeping the story moving forward than some big match and that’s all it needed to be. The idea was that Rollins was in over his head but at the end of the day, beating Theory in a singles match isn’t that difficult. If nothing else, I do appreciate Rollins mixing it up with the Pedigree for the pin for a change. That made sense and it worked.

Post match Paul comes in for the beatdown so here is Angelo Dawkins, followed by Montez Ford, for the save. Ford hits a big flip dive and tries to talk Dawkins out of this, only for Bron Breakker to run in and give Ford a Super Spear. Rollins makes the save but Paul grabs his leg, allowing Breakker to cut him in half as well. Security comes out but Breakker drops Rollins again before finally being pulled away. Adam Pearce threatens the Vision and they leave smiling to end the show. Kind of a weak ending.

Overall Rating: B-. This was the “oh dang, we’ve got two shows in less than two weeks so we need to hurry up” week and it went pretty well. The ending wasn’t the greatest, but the matches they set up look good enough. The big appeal here was the Lesnar return though, which was a rare genuine shock and that’s a very nice feeling to have. They’re blitzing to Saturday and Italy but I’ll take a rapid fire build over nothing at all.

Results
Finn Balor b. JD McDonagh – Coup de Grace to a trashcan
El Grande Americano/Los Americanos b. Original El Grande Americano/Los Hermanos Americans – Triple headbutt to Bruto
Brie Bella/Paige b. Judgment Day – Rollup to Perez
Seth Rollins b. Austin Theory – Pedigree

 

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Battle Royal

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

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

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

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

Keri Hilson sings America The Beautiful.

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

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

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

Smackdown World Title: Edge vs. Alberto Del Rio

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cody Rhodes vs. Rey Mysterio

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Randy Orton vs. CM Punk

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

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

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

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

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

We get the Hall Of Fame Class Of 2007:

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

Oddly no highlight package this year.

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

Jerry Lawler vs. Michael Cole

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Undertaker vs. HHH

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Raw World Title: The Miz vs. John Cena

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The long highlight package wraps us up.

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

Ratings Comparison

Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan

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

Battle Royal

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

Edge vs. Alberto Del Rio

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

Cody Rhodes vs. Rey Mysterio

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

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

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

CM Punk vs. Randy Orton

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

Michael Cole vs. Jerry Lawler

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

Undertaker vs. HHH

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

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

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

Miz vs. John Cena

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

Overall Rating

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

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

 

 

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

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

Monday Night Raw
Date: February 16, 2026
Location: FedExForum, Memphis, Tennessee
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We’re less than two weeks away from the Elimination Chamber and that means it is time to continue the qualification process. Other than that, CM Punk is having some issues with Finn Balor, who is going to be challenging him for the World Title at Elimination Chamber, which happens to be in Punk’s hometown of Chicago. Let’s get to it.

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

Here are the Usos to get things going but the Vision cut them off. Logan Paul brags about selling the most valuable Pokemon card in the world last night for $16 million. Paul insults the city and Heyman asks for some footage from last week, which saw the masked man attack the team and get chased off. Cue Adam Pearce to say we can go talk about this backstage in his office but Austin Theory yells about how he was supposed to have won his qualifying match last week.

Heyman wants Bronson Reed in the Chamber and Pearce gives him a qualifying match next week but here is LA Knight to interrupt. Knight gets to the point by praying that Reed gets into the Chamber so he can kick Reed over and over. After everything Reed put him through….Paul: “You mean like the car he put you through???” Knight doesn’t want them to leave and if the Usos (oh yeah they’re still in the crowd) are interested, a six man sounds interesting. The match is official for right now.

Usos/LA Knight vs. Vision

We’re joined in progress with Paul in the corner so Knight can stomp away. A kick to the face lets Paul get away for the tag to Theory but Jimmy is right in to start on the arm. The Usos elbow Theory down for two and it’s back to Knight, who gets taken into the wrong corner. Paul drops an elbow for two and the villains take turns beating on Knight, including Reed hitting a running splash.

We take a break and come back with Reed’s backsplash getting two and Jimmy having to make a save. Another backsplash misses though and Jey comes in to clean house. Everything breaks down and Reed drives Knight through the barricade. Paul knocks Jey down for two but Jey is back with a superkick. A double superkick gets two on Paul with Reed making the save. Reed’s big dive to the floor takes out the Usos and it’s the big right hand to Jimmy. The Tsunami finishes for Reed at 12:14.

Rating: B-. This is the kind of thing that you need to do every so often to keep the Vision looking strong. The team is supposed to be a big deal and they need to beat some top names every so often. If nothing else, there is always the chance that we get the Vision going after the Tag Team Titles, which isn’t a bad idea either.

Post match Paul brags about the win but the Masked Man runs in to knock him cold with a Stomp before running through the crowd.

Adam Pearce is shown a crate, which says DELIVER TO WWE, DO NOT OPEN UNTIL 2/28/26. Pearce’s name isn’t on it so he wants it sent to Smackdown. Los Americanos pop up (with the minions listening to the crate) while the main one isn’t happy with the Original Grande Americano getting an Elimination Chamber qualifying match. Grande wants the Intercontinental Title, so Pearce gives him a chance tonight to get a title shot. That works for everyone, including the exasperated Pearce. The crate is certainly intriguing and could go in a lot of directions.

Asuka, Bayley and Nattie are ready for their qualifying match.

Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match: Asuka vs. Bayley vs. Nattie

Nattie is sent outside to start and Bayley’s basement clothesline hits Asuka, who is up before the cover. Back in and Nattie strikes away at Asuka, who kicks her in the head. Bayley’s sunset bomb into the corner sends Asuka outside, where Nattie catapults Bayley into the post and we take a break.

We come back with Bayley tying Nattie in the Tree Of Woe for the running elbow. Bayley pulls Asuka off the top for two and the three of them forearm it out from their knees. Nattie is sent outside, leaving Bayley to drop a top rope elbow for two on Asuka. Back in and Nattie powerbombs Asuka for two, setting up the Sharpshooter. Bayley breaks that up with a running knee but gets pulled into the Asuka Lock for the tap at 10:18.

Rating: C+. Asuka winning is fine as Nattie is already feeling like someone who is just kind of here as well. The Chamber is something that can have a bunch of people thrown in and while Asuka doesn’t feel like a real threat to win, she does add some credibility. As for Bayley….I have no idea where she goes from here and that isn’t a good thing.

Post match Maxxine Dupri runs in to beat down Nattie but they’re held apart.

Adam Pearce offers Oba Femi a Raw contract, which has Femi intrigued. He’d like some time to think about it, which is fine with Pearce. As Femi goes to leave, he runs into Rusev and sneering ensues.

We get a sitdown interview with Michael Cole talking to Liv Morgan but Dominik Mysterio joins in. Morgan talks about going to Wrestlemania but Stephanie Vaquer comes in as well. Vaquer rants in Spanish and Mysterio replies in Spanish as well. Vaquer seems to say that her belt is the one that matters the most and then leaves. Morgan cries and leaves with Mysterio without saying anything of note. That’s interesting, as Morgan vs. Vaquer seems to be a legitimate option.

Here is CM Punk for a chat. Apparently the office is not happy with him right now because he is jeopardizing the main event of Wrestlemania. Sports franchise can qualify for the postseason but it doesn’t mean they can skip regular season games. A few weeks ago, Finn Balor got a World Title shot and he lost, but now he has earned another shot with the beating that comes with it. Punk wants to be a fighting champion because he is the best in the world…and here is Balor to interrupt.

Cue Dominik Mysterio and the returning JD McDonagh so Punk knows he’s in trouble. Balor says it’s ok though because they’re not here for a fight. Balor talks about training with the best wrestlers around the world to be the best in the world. He showed up on Raw and beat Roman Reigns on his first night so the best in the world is staring at Punk. At Elimination Chamber, he isn’t jeopardizing the main event of Wrestlemania, because he’s making it better. Punk talks about Balor being the best in the world….or how he used to be the best.

There was no Judgment Day around him when he was wrestling around the world because Balor used to mean something. Judgment Day is dragging Balor down to their level. Mysterio has two titles that he never defends and McDongah’s head is so big he needs help getting in the ring. Fans: “BOBBLEHEAD!” Punk: “I’ll allow it.”

Punk says he’s going to do something stupid and turns his back on the team, with Balor holding the other two back. With no violence, Punk says Balor doesn’t need the two of them to prove himself. Punk walks out and throws the mic at Balor, who looks confused. This was hammering the point home pretty clear, and I could go with Balor getting a singles push as a good guy for a change.

Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky are both ready for the Elimination Chamber and are ready to keep their Women’s Tag Team Titles on the way. They want Nia Jax and Lash Legend as well. The Kabuki Warriors come in though, with Kairi Sane saying it’s over because Asuka is in the Chamber. They’ll make sure Ripley and Sky (the latter of whom still has to qualify) don’t win, with Asuka yelling about how the two of them aren’t ready for the Chamber.

El Grande Americano vs. ???

Los Americans are here with El Grande and the opponent is…Penta. Yeah that works. Penta blocks a chop to start and they chop it out until a heck of a superkick rocks Grande. A Backstabber puts him down again but they clothesline each other for a double down. We take a break and come back with Grande escaping the Penta Driver and grabbing the modified camel clutch.

That’s broken up and Grande hits a Death Valley Driver for two. Grande goes up but gets pulled into the Penta Driver for a rather near fall. The running headbutt connects for two and Rayo gets up for a distraction, meaning the dancing Bravo can offer the steel plate. Hold on though as someone pulls Bravo underneath the ring and the Original El Grande Americano comes out from underneath the ring to take out Los Americanos. The springboard Canadian Destroyer finishes Grande at 7:57.

Rating: B-. Penta was a good choice for the title shot as he’s had a history of going after the Intercontinental Title so it’s certainly not stretching thing much. On the other hand, the question is where the mask vs. mask match is going to take place between the Americanos. That very well could be a Wrestlemania match, but putting it on Elimination Chamber makes sense as well. Either way, it’s something that could go well, as it’s certainly a big story at the moment.

Post match Penta and the Original show respect. Penta leaves and the Original beats up Grande, including the Rolling Chaos Theory. Original goes for the mask but Los Americanos make the save.

Raquel Rodriguez offers to take Liv Morgan somewhere to calm her down a bit. That leaves JD McDonagh to ask what Finn Balor is doing. Dominik Mysterio is ignored as Balor and McDonagh have an intense debate (not quite an argument) about McDonagh helping, but Balor wants to do it on his own. The two of them leave and Mysterio says he still has a match tonight.

Here is AJ Lee for a chat. Last week, she became the #1 contender to the Women’s Intercontinental Title. Becky Lynch showed her that this is serious business by smashing Lee’s face into the post. Lee hasn’t had a singles match in over ten years and things looked different back then. There was one pink butterfly title to fight over and Lee made that title matter by fighting for it.

There is a women’s division before her and after her and that is her gift to everyone. She still wants to face the division of today but for now, it’s just Lynch. Lee gave her a ten year head start and Lynch still hasn’t caught up. For now, Lee is ready to move into Wrestlemania with the title. She’s ready to give Lynch a beating right now though so here is Lynch (or Becky Boo Boo as Lee calls her) to interrupt.

Lynch laughs at the idea of Lee winning a title and says it’s more about Lee getting the retirement match that she never deserved. Lee’s real gift was leaving WWE, because Lynch has spent ten years making history while Lee has been making comic books. After Elimination Chamber, Lee can dictate a new comic book (from her full body cast) about their fight and maybe that one will sell. Lee offers her the first swing but Lynch can’t bring herself to do it. She knows the game that Lee is playing and leaves, saying she doesn’t fight in Memphis. Good stuff here, as Lee can bring the intensity when she needs to.

Adam Pearce runs into the Vision, with Austin Theory yelling at Pearce for not dealing with the Masked Man. Paul Heyman wants the Masked Man stopped, but Pearce says the Masked Man is a problem for Pearce too. Bronson Reed says he’s ready to solve the problem for the team. No problem.

Video on AJ Styles…who is getting a special tribute next week. That sounds like a Hall Of Fame announcement.

Gunther, Je’Von Evans and Dominik Mysterio are ready for their qualifying match.

Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match: Je’Von Evans vs. Gunther vs. Dominik Mysterio

Non-title. Mysterio takes his time getting in so Evans goes after Gunther, who throws him down without much trouble. Mysterio tries to go after Evans, earning a heck of a glare from Gunther. Evans fires off some dropkicks but gets pulled into a Boston crab. That’s broken up by Mysterio, who gets chopped into next week by Gunther. Evans is back up but gets taken down by a chop, leaving Gunther to send Mysterio hard into the barricade.

That works so well that Gunther does it again but Evans is back up with a heck of a dive to drop Gunther. We take a break and come back with Gunther down and Mysterio putting the ring bell hammer on the steps. The 619 is loaded up but Gunther pulls Mysterio into the sleeper. That’s broken up but Evans punches Mysterio into the corner. Evans plants Mysterio but has to fight out of Gunther’s sleeper.

A hurricanrana gives Evans two so Gunther just drops him with a clothesline. The powerbomb gets two on Evans and Gunther chops Mysterio down again. Evans kicks Mysterio down and drops Gunther with a running knee for two. The sleeper to Evans is broken up but the OG Cutter is countered into said sleeper. Mysterio breaks it up with a frog splash but the 619 is dropped with a hard clothesline.

The hammer is grabbed so Gunther sleepers Mysterio, which is broken up from a sleeper by Evans. That’s broken up and Gunther grabs the hammer, but here is Dragon Lee with a bell shot to put Gunther down. Mysterio hits the 619 to Evans but misses the frog splash. The OG Cutter sends Evans to the Chamber at 14:32.

Rating: B. I liked this one a good bit, though I could have gone without the champion taking a pin. Granted they didn’t have much of another option in this match as Gunther certainly can’t take a pin here. Either way, it’s interesting to see Evans getting this kind of a chance, as he could be quite the spectacle in the Chamber, which is a big start for someone still so new.

Overall Rating: B. This is around the time where things need to get serious and that is working out pretty well. You can see some of the bigger stories coming together with the Chamber next week and Wrestlemania in about two months. This show had good action but the focus was more on the talking to back it up. I had some hope for the future after this show and that is a great thing at the right time. There’s a long way to go before Wrestlemania, but at least they’re off to a nice start from this point.

Results
Vision b. Usos/LA Knight – Tsunami to Jimmy
Asuka b. Bayley and Nattie – Asuka Lock to Bayley
Penta b. El Grande Americano – Springboard Canadian Destroyer
Je’Von Evans b. Gunther and Dominik Mysterio – OG Cutter to Mysterio

 

 

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

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Monday Night Raw
Date: January 26, 2026
Location: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We’re coming up on the Royal Rumble this weekend, though you might not have noticed it as the build for the show has only been so strong. Maybe it was due to this past weekend’s Saturday Night’s Main Event, but the show hasn’t felt overly important and is lacking some focus. Hopefully they fix that up tonight as they’re out of time. Let’s get to it.

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

Here is AJ Styles to welcome us to the show. There is a man backstage who says that is the last time he’ll get to say that and his name is Gunther. That isn’t how Styles sees it going though, because while this is going to be the year that he retires, there is a lot that he still wants to do. He wants to wrestle some people one more time and he wants to be World Champion one more time.

Gunther might be good, but he isn’t phenomenal and here is CM Punk to interrupt. Punk talks about how they have known each other for twenty years and have been everywhere from friends to rivals, but now they have respect between each other. Punk isn’t sure about Styles putting everything on the line in WWE, which Styles thinks means Punk doesn’t think he can win.

That’s not what Punk meant, but it’s a huge gamble and if it goes badly, they can never face each other in a WWE ring. Styles knows Punk isn’t trying to be disrespectful but that’s how it’s coming off, especially since Styles knows he can beat him. The challenge is thrown out for tonight, with Punk thinking they should just have it be for the title. It seems to be on.

Saturday Night’s Main Event recap.

Stephanie Vaquer/Rhea Ripley/Iyo Sky vs. Liv Morgan/Roxanne Perez/Raquel Rodriguez

That’s a stacked lineup. Perez and Sky start things off with Sky getting taken into the corner for some stomping from Morgan. Rodriguez adds a string of elbows but it’s off to Vaquer to fight back. A legdrop gets two on Morgan but it’s too early for the SVB. The Devil’s Kiss doesn’t get very far as Rodriguez makes the save and we take an early break.

We come back with Perez’s double springboard moonsault getting two on Vaquer. Back up and a shot to the face cuts Perez off, only for Morgan to pull Ripley off the apron. The distracted Ripley gets sent into the steps but Vaquer backbreakers her way out of trouble. Sky comes in (as a woman can be heard saying “excuse me”) and house is cleaned, including a hard kick to Perez. The Bullet Train sets up a butterfly backbreaker to put Perez down but Morgan is back in for a double Russian legsweep on Sky.

Oblivion doesn’t work and Sky kicks her way over to Ripley for the big tag. A Razor’s Edge sends Morgan into Perez but Riptide is broken up. Morgan hits a springboard tornado DDT to drop Ripley as everything breaks down. Vaquer escapes the Tejana Bomb and hits a big dive onto Rodriguez on the floor. That leaves Ripley to block Oblivion but Perez tags herself in. Sky missile dropkicks Perez and Riptide finishes Perez at 12:55.

Rating: B. They had a pretty action packed match here with most of the big stars in the women’s division in one match. That’s a nice way to go, with Ripley getting the win to pop the crowd. I’m not sure where it goes from here, though at least Ripley and Sky already have challengers set and Vaquer vs. Rodriguez is all but set.

We look back at Finn Balor vs. CM Punk from last week.

Balor comes up to Punk in the back and says Punk was part of the most memorable night of his career. He thanks Punk for last week, but Punk says it takes two to tango. Punk isn’t the best in the world unless he beats the best in the world and there aren’t many people left like them in WWE. Balor should think about what he wants his legacy to be. If he wants to be champion again, maybe he should ditch Judgment Day, because hanging around Dominik Mysterio isn’t helping things. If Balor wants another shot, win the Rumble and come see him in Vegas. Balor is thinking about things.

There’s a HHH version of WWE2K26.

Here is the Vision for a chat. After overcoming the booing fans, Paul Heyman says they are here to boost the star power on this show, even in this second class city. Heyman introduces everyone on the team and we go through some of the issues the Vision has been having with Adam Pearce as of late. Cue Pearce, with Heyman asking the crowd to boo him and flip him off.

Pearce apologizes and Bron Breakker’s suspension is officially lifted and he’s in the Rumble. Pearce: “What else do you need?” Heyman offers a handshake and Pearce praises him before putting the rest of the Vision in the Rumble as well (Heyman is VERY confused). As for Austin Theory, he might have won last week if not for brass knuckles so tonight, he gets to face Rey Mysterio one on one. And we’ll do that right now.

Rey Mysterio vs. Austin Theory

Penta and Dragon Lee are here with Mysterio. We’re joined in progress after a break with Theory running him over with a hard elbow to the mask. Theory knocks him down again and we hit the chinlock, with Mysterio getting up rather quickly. Mysterio fights up and sends him to the floor, where Penta and Lee have to be chased away. That lets Mysterio drop Theory again and we take a break.

We come back with Mysterio in trouble but he avoids a charge in the corner. Theory punches a springboard out of the air and Ataxia gets two. Mysterio gets in a knockdown of his own and it’s time for the seconds to get in a fight on the floor. That’s broken up but Theory gets in a Stomp for the pin at 9:12. I’m not sure but it looked like Mysterio was banged up there at the end.

Rating: C+. It wasn’t bad and I do like Theory getting some wins. If they want to get rid of his negative reputation, this is the kind of thing that he needs to do. They need to keep it up though and that’s always the tricky part. For now though, they’re at least going in the right direction. Now hopefully Mysterio isn’t actually hurt.

Post match the Vision wrecks everyone, including a big spear to Penta.

Natalya explains that she’s crushing Maxxine Dupri and implies she wants Becky Lynch’s title. I’d settle for just not having to listen to Natalya talk.

Raquel Rodriguez is screaming for Stephanie Vaquer but Bayley and Lyra Valkyria get annoyed at her for being loud. Vaquer comes in for the brawl.

Roman Reigns is back at the Royal Rumble.

Earlier today, Michael Cole had a sitdown interview with Gunther, who says there is nothing for him to gain with just beating Styles again. Now he has something to gain, as he can end Styles’ career. Styles wanted one more moment, but now the moment he’s going to give the fans is seeing him give up in his final match. He’s getting rid of all these old timers….and just how long is Cole going to keep chasing one more moment? Gunther could end him right now but he wants Cole there at the Royal Rumble to announce the end of Styles’ career. Gunther as the half charming/half menacing villain is a good way to go.

Video on CM Punk vs. AJ Styles.

Adam Pearce is happy about a phone call when Finn Balor comes in to declare for the Royal Rumble. Pearce says the Rumble is full but Balor says this isn’t over. Balor leaves and runs into Liv Morgan, who wants to know what is up with Balor and CM Punk. Last week Punk treated Balor like a participation trophy and the Judgment Day is his real family. Balor says this isn’t so straightforward.

Alpha Academy vs. Los Americanos vs. Creed Brothers vs. New Day

For a future Tag Team Title shot so Jey Uso is here while Grayson Waller is here with New Day. Bravo takes over on Kingston’s arm to start and Rayo comes in for a double shoulder. Tozawa comes in to fight back but Brutus’ Brutus Ball wipes out the pile. Otis is sent into the steps and we take an early break. We come back with Woods sending Tozawa into the corner and dropping Kingston onto him for two.

Cole can’t remember which Americano is which so Graves tells him “Rayo Red, Bravo Blue. I’m the Miss Rachel of luchadors out here.” Bravo comes in for the spinning torture rack and Cole thinks that reminds him of someone. Otis comes in to clean house, including the Caterpillar for two on Brutus. Tozawa adds a double DDT and a German suplex as the fans are starting to get pleased with this. Waller crotches Tozawa on top but Otis is back up to wreck people. Tozawa’s top rope backsplash finishes Julius at 10:42.

Rating: C. Well, we couldn’t get a top level team winning so we’ll go with the comedy goofs instead. The tag division has been flaming death for months now and this is the best they can do? The match was another mess with so many people out there that you can only get so much out of any of them. It’s an ok enough match, but my goodness how is this the best possible result?

Becky Lynch mocks Jackie Redmond’s Toronto Maple Leafs jacket and talks about Natalya attacking Mid Maxxine. The same thing happened to her with Loser Lyra but now Lynch is in the Royal Rumble so she’s going on to win. The Kabuki Warriors come in and say they’re in the Rumble, but Lynch blames Asuka for the loss at WarGames. They’ll see each other in the Rumble.

Je’Von Evans comes up to AJ Styles and says he’d love to see him on the retirement tour. Styles likes that idea but Evans doesn’t seem certain it’s happening. At least Evans seems ok after last week.

Stephanie Vaquer requests a fight with Raquel Rodriguez so Adam Pearce grants it for next week.

Royal Rumble rundown.

The Vision plans for the Royal Rumble and talk about how one of them should be their focus. Logan Paul thinks it should be Bron Breakker and the team agrees. Good talk.

Oba Femi is official for the Royal Ruble. Well that makes sense.

Raw World Title: CM Punk vs. AJ Styles

Punk is defending. Feeling out process to start and Styles has to escape a GTS attempt, with Punk having to get out of a Calf Crusher as well. Punk bails away before resetting things a bit, only to get knocked outside in a hurry. A sliding knee connects for Styles and we take a break.

We come back with Punk hitting the running knee in the corner, setting up the running bulldog. A Shining Wizard gives Punk two and he strikes away but the GTS is countered into the fireman’s carry neckbreaker. Styles takes him up top but the superplex is broken up. Punk gets the Anaconda Vice but it’s broken up pretty quickly.

Another Shining Wizard is countered into a failed Styles Clash attempt and they head outside. Punk grabs a GTS on the floor and they both make it back inside at nine. The Styles Clash connects for two and they need a breather. Back up and they strike it out until Styles hits a Pele Kick. Another Styles Clash is countered into a GTS attempt…and Finn Balor runs in to dropkick Punk for the DQ at 18:10.

Rating: B+. It was rather good and they did a nice job with the surprise ending as I was expecting Gunther instead. They had to do something like this with the ending as a title change seemed unlikely, though Styles losing here didn’t make sense either. Odds are this sets up Balor vs. Punk at the Rumble, which is a good enough match, if you ignore Punk beating him last week. Either way, very good match here, which was somehow their first singles match in over twenty years.

Balor beats Punk up with some running dropkicks against the barricade and a pair of Coup de Graces to end the show. The fans don’t care much, and that’s not overly surprising as we’ve already seen Punk vs. Balor. This wasn’t much of a reason to see it again.

Overall Rating: C. The more I think about the ending to the main event, the less I like it. The whole thing feels rushed together, which is pretty much how the whole Rumble build has felt. Maybe it was due to having two big shows in eight days or maybe it’s due to the Rumbles feeling wide open, but this Saturday’s show doesn’t feel huge. This week’s show was designed to make it feel better and while that worked to an extent, it really wasn’t a strong episode. It’s not bad and the main event is good, but dang the Rumble needed more than this.

Results
Rhea Ripley/Iyo Sky/Stephanie Vaquer b. Liv Morgan/Roxanne Perez/Raquel Rodriguez – Riptide to Perez
Austin Theory b. Rey Mysterio – Stomp
Alpha Academy b. Los Americanos, New Day and Creed Brothers – Top rope backsplash to Julius
CM Punk b. AJ Styles via DQ when Finn Balor interfered

 

 

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

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

Smackdown
Date: September 19, 2025
Location: Huntington Center, Toledo, Ohio
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

It’s the last show before this weekend’s Wrestlepalooza and that means we’re going to be seeing Brock Lesnar before he faces John Cena. That likely means some serious violence, as tends to be Lesnar’s tradition. We’ve also got Sami Zayn defending the US Title against Carmelo Hayes. Let’s get to it.

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

Michael Cole starts welcoming us to the show but is told that he needs to head to the back for a sitdown interview with Brock Lesnar. As Cole goes to the back, Lesnar comes out to interrupt though and carries Cole around the ring. Then he puts Cole inside said ring, which draws Graves in for some attempted peacekeeping. Lesnar lays him out with an F5 and then grabs the camera to shout that he’s coming for John Cena’s blood. That’s not enough though as Lesnar hits another F5 on Graves.

Post break, Graves is still pretty much destroyed and we look at the segment again.

Lesnar is walking through the back and runs into the Vision. He says he and Paul Heyman should talk, with Heyman smiling and nodding. With Lesnar gone, Nick Aldis comes in to say this isn’t the time for the Vision. He has too much going on but Heyman says he’s here to broker a peace with the Usos. Aldis says Heyman likely knows that the Usos are already in Indianapolis, so Heyman says they’ll just enjoy the show.

Michael Cole is back on commentary and is rather disturbed by the whole thing.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Charlotte/Alexa Bliss vs. Chelsea Green/Alba Fyre

Charlotte and Bliss are defending. Charlotte drops Green to start fast and everything breaks down, with Green taking Bliss into the corner. We take a break and come back with Miz having joined commentary and Bliss diving for a tag. Fyre pulls Charlotte off the apron though, only for Green to miss a charge into the post. That’s enough for the tag to Charlotte, who tries to fight back but has her moonsault broken up. Charlotte saves Bliss from a double suplex and Natural Selection finishes Green at 7:54.

Rating: C+. They didn’t have much time here when you factor out the commercial but Charlotte and Bliss are turning into some rather dominant champions. Unfortunately that becomes a problem when they don’t have many high level teams to face, but I’m liking their matches more and more. It’s something that is working well and if they can keep that up, they might be able to break the curse that these belts seem to have.

B-Fab tries to get the Street Profits on the same page but Michin needs to talk to her. The Profits talk about wanting to get the Tag Team Titles back and things seem to be good. Ford leaves so Bo Dallas comes in to talk to Dawkins. That brings Ford back to cut Dallas off, with the Wyatt Sicks coming in to take out the Profits.

R-Truth, in a neck brace, explains how to order the ESPN App to Los Garza.

Fraxiom comes to the ring for a match but the Vision jumps them from behind, with Heyman saying Fraxiom reminds him of the Usos. Fraxiom is back in with some dropkicks to the floor and some dives so Nick Aldis comes out to make the match.

Vision vs. Fraxiom

We’re joined in progress with Breakker taking Axiom to the top but getting knocked down. Breakker hits a heck of a running clothesline and it’s off to Reed for a backsplash. It’s back to Breakker to load up the Super Spear, which is cut off by Axiom’s dropkick. Frazer comes in to kick Reed down and hit a frog splash for two. A Phoenix splash misses though and Reed hits the Jagged Edge. Axiom goes up after Reed but gets shoved off, right into a Super Spear. The Tsunami finishes Frazer at 3:57.

Rating: C+. This was a good enough match for a quick destruction as Fraxiom was only able to do so much here. That’s the right idea too as the Vision has their biggest match to date tomorrow and it’s nice to give them a bit of momentum on the way there. At the same time, it’s kind of a shame to see Fraxiom falling down the ranks, as they’ve gone from being a fun team close to the titles to this in just a few months.

Post match Heyman handles the announcement but the Usos pop up from Indianapolis, saying that it’ll be a different kind of match tomorrow.

We look at WWE stars appearing on ESPN programming.

Here is Nia Jax for a chat. She insults Toledo and talks about how this division is getting on her nerves. The reality is she is the alpha of this division and mocks Tiffany Stratton’s catchphrase in a funny bit. Then you have Jade Cargill, who looks incredible until the bell rings. Jax is the alpha but here is Stratton to interrupt. Stratton is sick of Jax running her mouth and doesn’t think Cargill is a superhero, but here is Cargill to shove her way to the ring. Nick Aldis comes in to calm it down, saying it’s a triple threat for the title next week.

R-Truth explains ESPN to the Motor City Machine Guns and Rey Fenix. Then he puts his phone in a toaster.

We look at the Lesnar beatdown again.

United States Title: Carmelo Hayes vs. Sami Zayn

Zayn is defending and Miz is VERY enthusiastic about Hayes. They fight over wrist control to start until Hayes is back with a dropkick. Back up and Zayn punches him into the corner for some right hands but Hayes is right back with the Fadeaway. We take a break and come back with Hayes dropping a knee for two. Some chops against the ropes wake Zayn up and a middle rope ax handle puts Hayes down.

A tornado DDT gives Zayn two, followed by a Michinoku Driver for the same. Hayes is back up with a knee but his frog splash only hits raised knees. We take another break and come back with Hayes blocking an exploder. Instead he knocks Zayn down and hits the frog splash for two. Hayes’ First 48 gets two and the suplex cutter drops Zayn again. Zayn is right back up with a kick to the face and the Blue Thunder Bomb retains at 15:07.

Rating: B. This is exactly the point of the US Open Challenges, as you have Zayn out there giving Hayes a chance to showcase himself for a change. It helps that the match got some time rather than being rushed, making it feel like a struggle. I could go for a few months of this, and there is a good chance that’s what we’ll be getting.

Damian Priest storms into Nick Aldis’ office and wants Aleister Black next week. Kit Wilson, who was in Aldis’ office, accuses Priest of toxic masculinity. He is then thrown through a wall.

Cody Rhodes explains how to watch Wrestlepalooza.

We get the second half of the John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar history, starting with Cena becoming the biggest star in the world during Lesnar’s absence. Meanwhile, Lesnar became the UFC Heavyweight Champion and turned into an even scarier human being. Then Lesnar returned to WWE in 2012 and wrecked a bunch of people, including Cena in a long form squash at Summerslam 2014 (the first F5 had me screaming at my TV). We’ll get the last part on the Kickoff Show tomorrow.

Wrestlepalooza rundown.

We recap Cody Rhodes vs. Drew McIntyre.

Solo Sikoa talks about how Tonga Loa has been part of the team since the beginning and Sikoa let him down by not making him a champion. Loa confirms his love for Sikoa. That’s not a great sign for Sikoa’s future, as he and Loa were all alone here.

It’s time for the contract signing, with Drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes joining Nick Aldis in the ring. Before they sign, Rhodes actually brings up their time as Tag Team Champions. The thing is though, not everyone cares about that and just want to see people fight. Lately, the only kind of warrior McIntyre has been is a keyboard warrior (the fans gasp at that) and McIntyre busts out his phone to post THANK YOU CODY. McIntyre talks about how Rhodes is a company man but he’s been in Rhodes’ spot before.

What happens when Rhodes loses? He’ll be in McIntyre’s spot, talking about how things used to be. They both sign in a hurry and the brawl is on again, with McIntyre getting the better of things. He teases the Claymore through the announcers’ table but stops, because it would cost him the match tomorrow. Rhodes gets back up and they brawl even more, with McIntyre hitting a Claymore to end the show. This was a simple segment, but it did boost the match up in a rather needed way.

Overall Rating: B-. The wrestling wasn’t exactly great this week, with only Zayn vs. Hayes going that well. At the same time though, they did a nice job of getting things ready for the pay per view. Wrestlepalooza is feeling like a major show and the contract signing helped it out a bit. There is going to be some pressure on them tomorrow, but this wound up being a good enough show to get them to the big event.

Results
Charlotte/Alexa Bliss b. Chelsea Green/Alba Fyre – Natural Selection to Green
Vision b. Fraxiom – Tsunami to Frazer
Sami Zayn b. Carmelo Hayes – Blue Thunder Bomb

 

 

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Monday Night Raw
Date: June 2, 2025
Location: BOK Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee

It’s the last Raw before Money In The Bank and there are still some spots left to fill in the show’s namesake matches. At least one of those spots is going to be filled in this week and that should make for some interesting changes to Saturday. There are other things to cover before we get there though so let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of Seth Rollins qualifying for Money In The Bank last week, with some shenanigans setting up this week’s tag match.

We run down tonight’s card.

Michael Cole has lost a bet to Pat McAfee over the NBA Playoffs so Cole will be doing this show in a tank top. It happens to be a Pacers tank top (as in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s opponent) so Cole is not exactly popular this week.

Here is CM Punk to get things going. After making some NBA Finals references (and saying that if they’re on, you should be watching Raw or Smackdown instead), Punk moves on to Money In The Bank, which he has won twice. He’s looking forward to doing it for the third time because it’s time for him to get some gold. There are two names on top of that mountain, with one of them being Jey Uso.

Punk considers him a friend and if Punk comes after Uso, it’s just business. The other name on top is John Cena and it’s a bit personal there. Punk has always had Cena’s number and he might come pick the bones a bit. It’s time for Punk to become champion one more time, so he’ll see us at Money In The Bank after he qualifies tonight. Cue Sami Zayn, with Punk saying he usually hates being interrupted but he loves that song.

Punk has said that he wants to be World Champion but that’s what Zayn wants too. It just won’t be through Money In The Bank, though it still could be for Punk. Tonight, Punk has to win because he needs to be there to stop Seth Rollins from winning. If Rollins wins, everything is over for them around here. However, if Punk winds up winning the title, Zayn will be coming for it, which Punk likes too. Everything seems to be serious but ok. Punk getting back into the title picture is interesting, as it almost has to happen sooner or later. That being said, Zayn finally winning the big one could be an incredible moment.

We look back at Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez arguing last week, resulting in Kairi Sane pinning Liv Morgan.

Perez offers Morgan help tonight but Morgan says the best way to help is to stay out. Rodriguez yells at Perez as Morgan leaves. Morgan runs into Iyo Sky and promises to use Money In The Bank to take the title back. Sky says that’s not gonna happen. Morgan: “Watch me.”

Video on Stephanie Vaquer, who is officially on Raw.

Money In The Bank Qualifying Match: Liv Morgan vs. Stephanie Vaquer, Ivy Nile

Vaquer starts fast and sends Nile into the corner, setting up the Devil’s Kiss to Morgan for a nice reaction. Nile gets the same treatment but Morgan breaks it up with a dropkick. Morgan hits some running shots in the corner until Nile cuts her off. Nile German suplexes both of them at once and we take a break.

Back with Vaquer dragon screw legwhipping Nile out of the corner for two with Morgan making another save. Vaquer and Morgan slug it out until Vaquer gets her into the corner as well. Nile is back up with a Tower Of Doom and gets to trade near falls with Vaquer. Morgan gets up top for a double Codebreaker and a double near fall, followed by Oblivion to Vaquer. Nile tries and fails to steal the pin and brawls to the floor with Morgan. With Morgan sent into the steps, Vaquer grabs the SVB (double underhook backbreaker) for the win at 10:17.

Rating: B-. It’s kind of remarkable to see what Vaquer has become in so little time. She signed with the company less than a year ago, has already won two titles in NXT and feels like she belongs on the main roster. It would not surprise me to see her as champion within the next few months and that is an amazing rise. As for the match, they did well at the end, as I thought they might actually have Nile steal the win, so points for a good head fake.

Paul Heyman comes in to wish AJ Styles a happy birthday and offers him some information. Dominik Mysterio is the Intercontinental Champion and that means the title needs someone better, like Styles. That’s what Styles should focus on while leaving Money In The Bank to Seth Rollins. Styles asks if Heyman is tired because he must have thought this was going to work. He’ll get back to the Intercontinental Title later, but for now, it’s time to win Money In The Bank.

Rusev tells Sheamus to not mess with him. Sheamus has a body of granite but a neck of sand. Now stay away or he’ll snap Sheamus’ neck. Can you snap sand?

Sheamus gives the Alpha Academy and Natalya a pep talk. As for Rusev, his time outside of WWE lasted about as long as Rusev Day while Sheamus has been putting on banger after banger. If Rusev wants to prove himself, just remember that Sheamus bullies bullies.

War Raiders vs. Judgment Day

New Day is on commentary. We get some WE WANT TRUTH chants (and not for the first time tonight) as Erik gets taken into the corner for some choking to start. Erik gets beaten up in another corner but avoids a charge, allowing Ivar to come in and clean house. A handspring kick to the face even sends McDonagh to the floor and into the announcers’ table. Ivar gets slammed onto McDonagh and New Day bails from the threat of a crash.

The threat of a retaliation earns New Day an ejection and we take a break. Back with Ivar still in trouble but giving McDonagh a Tour of the Islands. Erik comes back in to clean house, including the pop up headbutt for two on Balor. Back up and Balor drops Erik but misses the Coup de Grace. Ivar’s seated senton out of the corner sets up the Bronco Buster but cue Roxanne Perez for a distraction. McDonagh breaks up the Doomsault and the Coup de Grace finishes Ivar at 11:07.

Rating: C+. You know how I keep talking about how cold this division feels? Well this was the latest example of the same issues. There is just nothing here that makes me want to see what is coming for any of the teams and these segments are feeling more and more like filler every time. It’s just not clicking and no one in the division feels even remotely important. That needs to change, but I have no idea how that is going to happen.

Becky Lynch has only been back for six weeks and Lyra Valkyria has already cost her a bunch. That’s because she has already forgotten everything Lynch has done for her, both here and in NXT.

Stephanie Vaquer speaks some Spanish but Rhea Ripley comes in (oh the fans REALLY like this one). The cheers are so loud that I can’t hear what Ripley says as she shakes Vaquer’s hand.

Here is Lyra Valkyria for a chat but she wants Becky Lynch out here to say this to her face. Cue Lynch, with Valkyria talking about how Lynch’s mind has been poisoned to believe that Valkyria couldn’t be champion. Lynch, who is backing up against the ropes, talks about how Valkyria is really the one whose mind is poisoned for thinking she can be the replacement.

The only think that Valkyria needs to learn is how to raise Lynch’s hand after Lynch beats her. Lynch goes to leaves so Valkyria challenges her for right now…but it’s not happening in Tulsa. Valkyria charges up the ramp and the brawl is on with referees breaking it up. As usual, Valkyria is trying but it’s not quite clicking.

We look at the Indiana Pacers beating the New York Knicks.

Penta is ready to win Money In The Bank.

Sami Zayn/Jey Uso vs. Bron Breakker/Bronson Reed

Zayn has his own classes and you know he can get fired up for this kind of an entrance. Paul Heyman is here with the villains as Breakker drives Uso into the corner for some shoulders to the ribs to start. Breakker runs him over and we take a break. Back with Zayn fighting out of the corner but getting crushed right back into said corner. Breakker’s jumping knee puts Zayn down again but Zayn manages a DDT on Reed.

That’s enough for the tag back to Uso, who slugs away. Breakker’s fireman’s carry gutbuster gets two on Uso but the Super Spear is cut off with a superkick. Reed misses a splash on the apron and Breakker is sent outside, with Zayn’s slingshot dive being pulled out of the air. Uso dives onto all three of them though….and here is Seth Rollins to Stomp Uso for the DQ at 9:02.

Rating: B-. The action was good, but there was pretty much no way one of these four was taking a fall in this match at this point. They have too much going on at the moment and if they’re going to lose, it will be on a much bigger stage. For now though, Reed looked good in his new role as a monster for the heel stable and the whole thing continues to feel like it has a great deal of potential.

Post match the beatdown is on and Zayn is loaded onto the announcers’ table. CM Punk makes the save with a chair.

Liv Morgan isn’t happy with Finn Balor using Roxanne Perez to win but Balor says Morgan might be jealous. Balor insists there is no plan. Morgan trusts Dominik Mysterio but Balor wants her to trust him. With Morgan gone, Balor assures Mysterio that things are good.

Kairi Sane vs. Raquel Rodriguez

Liv Morgan is here with Rodriguez. Sane tries a waistlock to start and gets spun around without much trouble. A headscissors staggers Rodriguez again but she manages to swing a charging Sane into the apron. Morgan gets in a cheap shot and Rodriguez powers Sane into the corner back inside. Sane knocks her back and tries a high crossbody but gets pulled out of the air.

That’s reversed into a DDT (as we get a botched graphic saying that the Zayn/Uso tag match is still to come) and Sane is able to start the comeback. Sane strikes away in the corner and dropkicks the knee out, setting up a basement Blockbuster. Morgan gets on the apron for a distraction so here is Iyo Sky to cut her off. Rodriguez goes after Sane and gets kicked head first into the post. The Insane Elbow gives Sane the pin at 6:04.

Rating: C+. The match was pretty much just a reason for the interference and teasing Morgan vs. Sky. The good thing is that it did give Sane another pin after the unintentionally messed up return. That Insane Elbow is still great and makes Sane feel like she could beat anyone, though right now she’s just having random matches.

Sami Zayn is in the trainer’s room when Karrion Kross comes in. Kross doesn’t like what Zayn has been doing and Zayn asks what Kross wants from him. Kross says Zayn could be a ten time World Champion if he’ll just do the right thing and be evil. The reality is Zayn is just like him, but Zayn says Kross is wrong. Kross: “I may be wrong…..but I may be right too.”

Worlds Collide rundown.

Money In The Bank rundown.

Video on Gunther, who is getting his rematch against Jey Uso next week.

Gunther comes up to Uso in the back and talks about how Uso is trying to be a great champion. The problem is Uso refuses to think with his head instead of his heart, which is the wrong way to go. Next week, Gunther is getting the title back because he has known he would do this since the title loss at Wrestlemania. Next week, the party is over. Uso doesn’t take kindly to this and says he’ll see Gunther.

Money In The Bank Qualifying Match: AJ Styles vs. CM Punk vs. El Grande Americano

Americano gets double teamed to start and is quickly sent outside. Punk and Styles are cool with each other until Punk grabs a headlock. The drop down dropkick puts Punk down and might have taken out a tooth. Americano gets back in as Punk sends Styles into the corner a few times. Styles’ springboard is broken up and Americano flip dives onto Punk. Americano knocks Zayn over the announcers’ table and we take a break.

Back with Punk hitting the top rope elbow on Styles but Americano throws Punk down. American’s high crossbody is rolled through but Styles breaks up the GTS. Styles hits a double DDT for two each so Americano tries the ankle lock on both of them. That’s broken up and the Styles Clash hits Americano with Punk making the save.

The Styles Clash to Punk is countered into a failed GTS attempt but Americano moonsaults onto both of them for two on Styles. Another moonsault misses and the GTS hits Americano…with Bron Breakker pulling the referee out. Breakker and Bronson Reed beat him down but Jey Uso and Sami Zayn run in for the save. Styles hits a big springboard dive onto the pile but the Phenomenal Forearm hits the loaded headbutt to give American the pin at 11:48.

Rating: B. I wasn’t sure which way they were going here, but they are teasing the heck out of Rollins winning the briefcase again. That is far from guaranteed from happening, but the storm clouds seem to be forming around Raw. Americano is rolling in this spot, and they’re doing the smart thing by not having him out there every week to run out his welcome. On the other hand, Styles needs to get to the Intercontinental Title feud as soon as possible, as he is the most “and he’s here too” name in WWE right now.

Post match Punk goes after Breakker and Reed but Seth Rollins runs in and keeps up the beatdown. The villains wreck the heroes and Reed drops some Tsunamis to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. Money In The Bank season is such a weird time for WWE as so much of the shows are built around getting to the ladder matches. Saturday will see all kinds of things reset at once, but it makes for some hyper focused shows and they can be a bit tedious. The good thing here is that the action was enough to carry the show, even if it feels like it was the end of the first part of a season.

Results
Stephanie Vaquer b. Liv Morgan and Ivy Nile – SVB to Nile
Judgment Day b. War Raiders – Coup de Grace to Ivar
Sami Zayn/Jey Uso b. Bronson Reed/Bron Breakker via DQ when Seth Rollins interfered
Kairi Sane b. Raquel Rodriguez – Insane Elbow
El Grande Americano b. CM Punk and AJ Styles – Loaded headbutt to Styles

 

 

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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Backlash 2025
Date: May 10, 2025
Location: Enterprise Center, St. Louis, Missouri
Commentators: Michael Cole, Wade Barrett

We are officially back on pay per view and in this case, it’s kind of an In Your House style card. This show is pretty much all about Randy Orton, the hometown hero, challenging John Cena for the Smackdown World Title. Odds are this is the last match in their very storied rivalry and that’s carrying the show. Let’s get to it.

The opening video looks at Randy Orton vs. John Cena, some of the other matches, and then Orton vs. Cena again.

US Title: LA Knight vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Damian Priest vs. Jacob Fatu

Fatu is defending and the fans are chanting for him at the start. Knight and Fatu slug it out in the corner while the other two head to the floor. Fatu is sent into the post and dropped with a neckbreaker, followed by a slingshot shoulder. A pop up powerslam takes McIntyre down but Knight has to reverse Fatu’s Samoan drop into a reverse DDT. McIntyre is back up with a trio of neckbreakers but Knight is right there to break up the Claymore.

Priest’s super hurricanrana brings Fatu down and he takes out Fatu again on the floor. The fans want tables (because of course), but have to settle for Priest hitting an Old School crossbody on McIntyre. Fatu sends Priest into the barricade and it’s time for the big McIntyre vs. Fatu slugout. The pop up Samoan drop plants McIntyre and the running Umaga Attack makes it worse.

McIntyre gets tied in the Tree of Woe but he superplexes Knight down. Fatu gets superplexed onto Knight in a Swanton and cleans house, with the fans going nuts. The BFT drops Fatu and Priest gives Knight the South Of Heaven, only to turn into a Claymore. Priest falls onto Knight for two, with McIntyre making a last second save. McIntyre sends Fatu outside and drops Knight with the Futureshock.

The Claymore does it again but Priest pulls the referee at two, giving McIntyre something else to hate him about. McIntyre and Priest fight over the barricade, but Knight avoids Fatu’s triple jump moonsault. The top rope elbow hits a standing Fatu, followed by another one to a downed Fatu for two. Priest and McIntyre brawl at the tech area, where South Of Heaven sends both of them through a bunch of tables.

With all that going on, Knight sends Fatu into various things at ringside but Solo Sikoa shows up to pull Fatu off the announcers’ table. Knight goes after Sikoa but gets jumped by the debuting Jeff Cobb, who crushes Knight against the post. Fatu is a bit confused but hits the running Umaga attack and the triple jump moonsault to retain at 17:56.

Rating: B. Hot opener here and the countdown is even more officially on to Fatu breaking free as a massive good guy star. He’s doing things that no one else can do in the ring and the crowd is responding to him. It’s one of those cases where you do not see someone doing this kind of thing very often and that works. We’re also likely coming up on Priest vs. McIntyre again, maybe in a Last Man Standing match, and that’s a fun way to go. Good, hot opener here.

Post match Fatu looks at Sikoa and Cobb but leaves on his own.

We recap Lyra Valkyria vs. Becky Lynch. Valkyria grew up idolizing Lynch and they won the Women’s Tag Team Titles together at Wrestlemania. Then they lost the titles on the following Raw, with Lynch beating her down. Valkyria is ready for revenge and is willing to put the Women’s Intercontinental Title on the line. There is another history here as Valkyria took the NXT Women’s Title from Lynch, so the win isn’t a crazy thought.

Women’s Intercontinental Title: Lyra Valkyria vs. Becky Lynch

Lynch is challenging and takes her down to start before hammering away. An armdrag has Valkyria looking a bit shaken but she’s right back with a rocking horse to have Lynch in trouble for a change. That’s switched into a surfboard, with Lynch not being able to do much. A northern lights suplex gets two on Lynch and she goes outside for a breather. Back in and Lynch takes Valkyria down and hammers away before rubbing her face into the mat.

A kick to the face in the corner gives Lynch two and she takes Valkyria outside to yell at Valkyria’s fiance. Valkyria strikes away back inside and grabs a fisherman’s buster for two. A sitout powerbomb gets the same and Valkyria takes her up top for a delayed superplex. They trade rollups for two each, with Lynch getting caught grabbing the rope. Valkyria fights back and hits a top rope Fameasser for two more.

Instead of covering, Valkyria hesitates before going up for a moonsault, allowing Lynch to get her knees up. They fight over a cross armbreaker until Lynch grabs the Manhandle Slam for two. A frustrated Lynch hammers away and goes to grab a chair. That’s taken away so she pulls a turnbuckle pad off, only to get caught with a spinning kick to the head. Valkyria hits a middle rope moonsault for two but gets sent face first into the buckle (not the exposed one).

Another Manhandle Slam gives Lynch another two but a quick Nightwing connects…and the referee is busy trying to put the turnbuckle pad back on. The very delayed cover gets two and they trade rollups, until Valkyria actually gets the upset pin at 18:45. Valkyria was touching her nose over and over on the cover so there is a good chance it’s busted.

Rating: B+. This went WAY above and beyond what I was expecting and they pretty much hit it out of the park. Valkyria hung in there with an all time legend and even beat her clean. If WWE is serious about bringing in some fresh blood, that’s exactly what they need to do. Valkyria did it here and Tiffany Stratton did it at Wrestlemania. These two beat the fire out of each other and Valkyria retains to really establish her in a big way. Nice job, and Bayley can come back to feud with Lynch sooner than later.

Post match Lynch grabs the Disarm-Her, with Valkyria grabbing her nose (commentary acknowledges it too).

We recap the Intercontinental Title match. Dominik Mysterio won the title in a four way match at Wrestlemania, also involving Penta. Since Penta didn’t get pinned, he’s getting a title shot here.

Intercontinental Title: Penta vs. Dominik Mysterio

Mysterio, in Psicosis inspired gear (well, Nicho El Millionairio), is defending and kicks him into the corner to start. A handstand doesn’t work for Mysterio as Penta kicks him down, only to be sent outside for a suicide DDT. Back in and a slingshot hilo gives Mysterio two and the fans seem to like his cockiness.

Penta fights out of a chinlock and hits a crossbody to the floor for a needed breather. A crucifix gets two on Mysterio, who grabs a quick Oblivion for two of his own. They crash out to the floor and here is Judgment Day for the distraction. Balor grabs the chair but takes WAY too long, meaning the referee can throw them all out. Penta hits the big flip dive onto Carlito and McDonagh but cue El Grande Americano to headbutt Penta off the top. The frog splash retains the title at 9:25.

Rating: C+. This was a step down from the previous two matches but it was a perfectly serviceable match which would have been fine on any given Raw. The interference should set up something for the future and it was a good way to make Mysterio look like a star. WWE pretty clearly has something planned for him and this was a rare showcase. Not a great match, but it did what it needed to do.

We recap Gunther vs. Pat McAfee. Gunther lost the World Title to Jey Uso at Wrestlemania and McAfee was rather excited. On the following Raw, Gunther yelled at commentator Michael Cole and attacked him, with McAfee stepping up for his friend. McAfee got choked out too and now we have a match to settle things, as McAfee is standing up against a bully.

Pat McAfee vs. Gunther

Michael Cole flat out says he’s not going to be impartial here, which makes sense. Gunther doesn’t seem impressed by McAfee and grabs an armbar. That’s reversed into a headlock before Gunther puts him on the apron for a pat on the head. McAfee tries to jump back over the top but trips a bit, allowing Gunther to knock him down without much trouble. Some shots to the face stagger Gunther a bit but he fires off the chops to cut McAfee right back down.

A quick kick to the back staggers Gunther but he’s back with a kick of his own. Gunther suplexes him down and grabs the sleeper, which is actually broken up. Another German suplex drops McAfee but he slips out of another one. McAfee gets in some punts for two and a pump kick into a superkick has Gunther rocked. Another kick is countered into a powerbomb though and Gunther pulls him into the Boston crab. Cole goes to ringside and tells McAfee to give up so Gunther drags him back to the center.

Some elbows to the head rock McAfee again and Gunther pulls Cole inside. That’s enough for McAfee to get in a big boot but Gunther kicks him right back down. Gunther tries a suplex but Cole grabs the foot to trip him down, giving McAfee two. That ticks Gunther off and the distraction lets McAfee get a sleeper. That’s broken up though and Gunther blasts him with a clothesline. The sleeper goes on and McAfee is in trouble but he fights up again. Gunther pulls him back down though and McAfee is out at 14:08.

Rating: B. This was about as well put together as it could have been. At the end of the day, McAfee and Cole combined aren’t going to be a threat to Gunther and there was no reason to pretend they would be. McAfee got in some punts as his big weapon and while they staggered Gunther, they didn’t put him in any serious trouble. Gunther shrugged them off, along with Cole’s interference, and then won. I was enjoying the story they were telling, but there was no way this was ending any other way without one heck of a surprise.

Post match Gunther actually shows McAfee some respect.

We recap John Cena vs. Randy Orton, which is built around the two of them being all time greats and joined at the hip for the better part of twenty years. Now it’s one more time, with the roles reversed for the first time on the big WWE stage.

Smackdown World Title: John Cena vs. Randy Orton

Cena is defending and Orton is the hometown hero. We get the Big Match Intros and we’re ready to go, with the fans entirely behind Cena. They circle each other a bit to start and Cena pokes him in the eye, only for Orton to do the same, with Cena bailing out to the floor. Back in and Orton grabs a headlock takeover to grind away on Cena. Back up and Cena gets shouldered out tot he floor, where it’s time for a walk up the aisle.

Orton throws him back in and gets punched in the corner, only to reverse it for twenty right hands of his own. The chinlock goes on but Cena reverses into one of his own, only to get belly to back suplexed down. Back up and Cena initiates the finishing sequence but the AA is countered. Orton can’t get the hanging DDT but he can mostly block the STF. Now the hanging DDT can connect but the RKO is blocked.

Cena tries the AA, which is reversed into an RKO in a sweet counter to leave them both down. Back up and an AA gives Cena two so he tries the running shoulders. Orton comes up to counter one of those with an RKO (points for finding new ways to do that thing) but the Punt misses. Another AA plants Orton but Cena misses a Punt…and the referee gets bumped. Cena hits yet another AA, though he realizes the referee is down.

That lets Cena grab the belt, which takes too long so Orton hits the RKO for a delayed two. They go outside and Orton clears off the announcers’ table. That takes too long though and the referee gets bumped again. Cena’s AA is countered though and Orton gives him an AA onto the table. Orton loads up a table (this match did not need a table) and gives Cena an AA through it as the referee is STILL down (I’m guessing because the first one didn’t go well).

The RKO connects and another referee runs in for two so Cena grabs the belt. That hits the new referee so Orton this another RKO for no cover. Cue Nick Aldis and some agents to check on the referee (unlike the one who went into the steps, who was down for about five minutes and got nothing) so Orton RKO’s everyone he can, including Aldis. The Punt is loaded up but here is R-Truth to beg Orton for mercy. Orton clears him out and Cena hits Orton low, setting up a belt shot to retain the title (as the first referee recovers after about ten minutes) at 27:56.

Rating: B. This is going to be one of the more divisive matches you’ll see in awhile. It’s an absolute insane mess of spamming finishers and a ton of ref bumps, but I haven’t laughed so much at a match in a good while. It went so over the top that it was turning into something of a farce, which made me laugh. I’m not sure how much drama there was about a title change, but I can go with these two having one last song and dance for the road.

Post match Cena says he wants competition and isn’t finding it here. He goes to leave and gets cheered, which makes him pause for a second before heading out. That’s some interesting character stuff from Cena. He’s still bitter, but he slipped back into his old self there for a second. Remember that a few weeks ago, he was saying he didn’t need to do anything but show up. Now he wants competition, because in his heart of hearts, he’s a competitor and wants to prove he’s the best, no matter what he might say.

Overall Rating: B+. This one is going to depend on your taste in the main event and I found it absolutely hysterically entertaining. The only match on the show which wasn’t rather good was Mysterio vs. Penta and even that was completely fine. For a show that had a grand total of no expectations coming in, this was a heck of an entertaining night. The fact that it was done before 10pm EST makes it even better. Pretty great show here.

Results
Jacob Fatu b. LA Knight, Drew McIntyre and Damian Priest – Triple jump moonsault to Knight
Lyra Valkyria b. Becky Lynch – Rollup
Dominik Mysterio b. Penta – Frog splash
Gunther b. Pat McAfee – Sleeper
John Cena b. Randy Orton – Belt shot

 

 

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

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Wrestlemania XXVII
Date: April 3, 2011
Location: Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia
Attendance: 71,617
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, Josh Matthews

There’s a bit more to the main event than Rock just returning. The night he returned, he cut a long promo about how things had changed, including John Cena being the top star in the company. There is real tension between the two of them and people are expecting it to boil over soon. Let’s get to it.

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

Bryan (I think you know him) is challenging and it’s almost strange to see him with short hair and clean shaven. Daniel moonsaults over the champ to start before the yet to be named YES kicks send Sheamus outside. That’s not cool with Mark Henry as he throws Sheamus back inside for more kicks from Daniel. Sheamus grabs a quick tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two but the High Cross is broken up. The champ is sent to the floor where he gets in a fight with the lumberjacks, triggering a huge brawl to throw the match out at 4:19.

Rating: D+. These two would later get to show that they have good chemistry but the four minute clock here didn’t give them time to go anywhere. It doesn’t help that the match was designed to set up something else instead of having a definitive ending. We’re not done with these two though.

Smackdown General Manager Teddy Long comes out to say let’s have a battle royal.

Pre-Show: Battle Royal

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

Curtis is a generic guy who would later be known as Fandango and I think you know the Usos. Khali throws out Reks and Hawkins in the first twenty seconds and Henry tosses Tatsu a few seconds later. The match slows down a lot and everyone brawls with everyone with no one getting close to an elimination. Jimmy Uso is hanging onto the ropes and pulls them down to eliminate Truth.

Henry dumps both Usos a few seconds later and a big group of people gets rid of Mark. Primo and Ryder go out in quick succession and Drew has to last on the apron. Chavo tries to knock McIntyre out but gets backdropped to the floor and Khali knocks out Hart-Smith. JTG is dumb enough to go up top and gets chopped out by Khali. Bryan throws Kidd out and McIntyre eliminates Trent.

Curtis tries to fight Regal, Sheamus and McIntyre at the same time for reasons that aren’t clear, earning himself an elimination. Masters chops at Drew but gets sent to the apron where he tries the Masterlock. Oh come on dude you’re smarter than that. Drew goes down and Evan tries Air Bourne, only to have Sheamus throw Evan down after the crash. DiBiase eliminates Regal and Drew kicks Ted in the face for an elimination. Bryan dumps McIntyre but gets pulled to the apron by Sheamus who kicks Bryan to the floor. Khali and Sheamus are the last two in and a clothesline gives Khali the win at 8:29.

Rating: D. This is becoming the standard operating procedure for these matches and again, it’s hard to really complain when it’s a relatively short battle royal just there as a DVD bonus. Khali winning is fine as he hadn’t done anything for years at this point so throw him a bone to make a victory over him mean a little bit more.

Keri Hilson sings America the Beautiful.

The set is a big sign saying WRESTLEMANIA and a big arch over the stage. It’s a simpler design but it works quite well.

The cylinder from last year has been replaced by an even bigger cube.

We don’t go straight to the opening video as a voiceover which sounds like a daytime game show host or a late night talk show announcer introduces “a supernova of entertainment” named The Rock. It’s pretty safe to say that Rock is still incredibly over as the fans practically worship at his feet.

Rock walks around a bit before hitting the FINALLY line about Atlanta and Wrestlemania. He wants to know if we can feel, taste and smell the electricity. I don’t think you can taste electricity but if you try you’ll certainly feel something. It’s time to do something special and have some fun. Therefore, when Rock says wrestle, the fans will say mania. After that wastes some time, Rock wants to talk about someone who is deciding which Fruity Pebbles shirt to put on tonight (if that line makes no sense, Rock had said Cena looked like a great big bowl of Fruity Pebbles because of all his shirts).

The fans chant CENA SUCKS and then switch to FRUITY PEBBLES. Rock stops for some of the People’s Water (his words) before saying yabba, which means he wants the people to say dabba. He rhymes a bit with his catchphrases (“Always defiant and standing taller than Andre the Giant!”) and says this is bigger than Christmas (“Sorry Santa but the Rock is bringing it all over Atlanta!”) before having the people join him for IF YA SMELL to wrap up this ten minute monologue, which really wasn’t funny.

The opening video is the standard operating procedure: talking about the history of the event with the major highlight clips before an assortment of stuff on the major matches. This still works so why mess with it?

Cole: “This is the fabric of Americana!” Cole, in his own plastic box, is one of the top heels in the company and is already arguing with Lawler, who he’ll be facing tonight in Lawler’s first ever Wrestlemania match.

Smackdown World Title: Alberto Del Rio vs. Edge

Alberto (who won the 2011 Royal Rumble to earn this shot) is challenging and comes out in a Rolls Royce (he was a car guy, to put it mildly) with his personal ring announcer Ricardo Rodriguez doing his introduction. Del Rio also has Brodus Clay as his bodyguard so Edge brings out Christian as backup. Feeling out process to start until Edge gets shoved into the corner but he comes out with a slap to the face.

The champ gets stomped down in the corner and they head outside with Del Rio sending Edge and his bad arm into the barricade. Back in and we hit an armbar as Del Rio starts getting ready for his cross armbreaker. The bad arm is wrapped around the middle rope as you can’t argue with Del Rio’s psychology so far. Edge avoids a charge to send Alberto outside and follows with a big over the top flip dive.

Back in and Edge heads up top, only to get armdragged back down to the mat in a big crash. A big boot and flapjack get two for the champ but a Codebreaker to the arm looks to set up the armbreaker. Edge counters into the Edge-O-Matic for two but Del Rio grabs the armbreaker a few seconds later, only to have Edge roll his feet into the ropes. Del Rio follows up with a running enziguri but Edge gets his foot on the ropes again. Rodriguez tries to break it up, triggering a brawl between Christian and Brodus.

The Edgecution (impaler DDT) looks to set up the spear but Del Rio sidesteps it and Del Rio pulls the arm into the post. Now the armbreaker goes on in the middle of the ring until Edge rolls onto him for a cover, forcing Del Rio to break it up. There’s the Edgecator (a variation on the Sharpshooter) as Christian takes Brodus out. Del Rio escapes but walks into the spear (with the bad arm to no pain from Edge) to retain Edge’s title at 11:09.

Rating: C+. Good enough match but Edge not selling the arm really hurt things. If he’s not going to sell it, why waste our time watching Del Rio try to get the submission? That’s the major problem with a heel using a submission hold: almost no top face ever taps out so the finisher isn’t all that effective.

Now for the interesting part: this would be Edge’s last match due to another neck injury and the title would be vacated. If he was leaving less than a month later, why not drop the title here and put Del Rio over as a career killer? That’s never set well with me, but it did at least give us a good moment for Edge’s last win.

Post match Edge and Christian destroy Del Rio’s car. I’m sure there will be rapid legal ramifications for their actions of course. Then again, if Matt Hardy doesn’t get arrested for burning down Jeff’s house, this is pretty tame. Also you would think Del Rio would go up there to save his car or at least try to but the crowbars Edge and Christian are holding might have something to do with it.

Tough Enough ad.

Cole brags about his Slammys and promises to win tonight.

Cody Rhodes vs. Rey Mysterio

This was an interesting story as Cody had been a narcissistic man who believed he was the best looking person on the roster. Then Mysterio hurt Cody’s face with the 619, forcing Cody to undergo facial reconstruction surgery. Cody returned and wore a mask to hide the horrible surgery scars. Then the mask came off to reveal that Cody looked fine but he still swore the scars were there. He kept wearing the mask and looked like Dr. Doom for a really interesting psychological character which should have taken him up the card.

Mysterio is Captain America this year and he starts hammering Cody’s ribs as Cody is still in the hard mask. Cody headbutts him down and goes for Rey’s knee brace, followed by the Disaster Kick (springboard kick to the face) for two. We hit a one arm camel clutch followed by an Alabama Slam for two more.

Cody slaps on a nerve hold as Cole continues to rip on Rey for not doing enough to make up for the injury. A delayed superplex (that’s a rare sight) drops Rey for two but he gets out of Cross Rhodes (a rolling cutter) and sends Cody to the floor. Rey sends him into the apron with a headscissors but dives into a wheelbarrow suplex for two. The 619 is broken up (Cole is thrilled) and Cody gets the knee brace off.

Rey gets two more off a moonsault press but Cody loses his mask. The 619 to the exposed face sets up the top rope splash but Rey puts the brakes on when Cody raises his knees. Rey puts Cody’s mask on for some headbutts, sending Cole into hysterics. The fans chant for Cody as the referee gets rid of the mask, leaving Cody to hit Rey in the head with the brace. Cross Rhodes finishes Rey at 12:01.

Rating: B. This was a lot better than I was expecting, even if you ignore Cole’s incessant heel commentary (we’ll come back to that later). Mysterio putting the mask on was a stupid move on his part but at least the right guy won. Cody was running with this character but unfortunately this was pretty much the peak as he became just Cody Rhodes again, which isn’t really interesting. Good match here though.

Snoop Dogg is here to scout talent for his upcoming tour so Teddy Long has set up some auditions. Snoop: “Let the dogs loose.” First up is William Regal who raps about being a heel. Regal: “Was that gangster enough for you?” Beth Phoenix and Great Khali sing Summer Lovin from Grease. Zack Ryder sings Friday (a big hit at this point) until Roddy Piper breaks a coconut over his head. Yoshi Tatsu sings We Will Rock You as Chris Masters does his pectoral dance to the beat. Hornswoggle comes in but Teddy says he can’t talk so Snoop leaves. After they’re gone, Hornswoggle raps as the Bellas dance.

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

Corre is Justin Gabriel/Heath Slater/Wade Barrett/Ezekiel Jackson in a spiritual successor to Nexus. They’re having some success too as Slater (a country boy) and Gabriel (a high flier) are Tag Team Champions (finally with two belts between them) and Barrett (a British brawler) is Intercontinental Champion. Jackson is a very muscular powerhouse. Show has been having issues with the team as of late, Kingston lost the title to Barrett and Corre put out Santino’s partner Vladimir Kozlov. Santino and Slater start but it’s quickly off to Show to destroy Heath. Everything breaks down and Show KO’s Slater for the pin at 1:35.

Santino dances a bit, probably thrilled with getting a Wrestlemania payday for such a quick match (really the only reason for this match to exist and there’s nothing wrong with that).

The Rock is in the back with Eve Torres and lets her feel his arm. Eve describes the weekend as magical so Rock offers to make magic with the next person that comes around the corner. As you might guess, cue Mae Young who wants the people’s strudel (guess what that means). Rock makes some old age jokes (Rock: “This is Eve. Like your childhood friends Adam and Eve.”) so Eve gives him a little spank. Rock wants anyone else to come around the corner and here’s Steve Austin. It’s serious Austin tonight and they say it’s good to see each other and say they both remember. You could feel the electricity here.

We recap CM Punk vs. Randy Orton. Punk had taken over the Nexus after they threw out Wade Barrett and targeted Orton, costing him the World Title at the 2011 Royal Rumble. This was all due to Orton costing Punk his Raw World Title back in 2009, causing Punk to promise that Orton won’t be champion again on his watch. Orton took out the New Nexus one by one (in about six weeks after Cena couldn’t do it in six months).

CM Punk vs. Randy Orton

Orton comes in with a bad right knee after Punk hit it with a wrench. Punk dives after the leg but gets punched in the face for his efforts. They head outside where Punk dives over the steps and kicks them back into the bad knee to take over. A cross body gets two back inside but Punk stops to do Orton’s pose, earning himself a backbreaker. Something like a Stunner to the leg puts Orton right back in trouble though and Punk cannonballs down on it.

Orton gets tied up in the corner for a top rope double stomp. The GTS is countered into an RKO attempt but Punk kicks him in the face for two. Punk gets crotched on the top for a superplex but it bangs up the knee again. There’s a figure four around the post (you can’t fault Punk’s strategy here) followed by something like an Indian deathlock.

Some headbutts get Orton out and an Angle Slam gets two. The Anaconda Vice (Punk’s arm trap choke) out of nowhere has Orton in trouble until he rolls on top to make Punk break it up. The elevated DDT looks to set up the Punt but the knee gives out. Punk blocks an RKO attempt and goes up top for a clothesline, only to dive right into the RKO for the pin at 14:40.

Rating: B-. Another good match here as the first hour and a half of this show have been on a roll. Punk losing here was a surprise but it gave us the sweet RKO out of nowhere for the year. Orton was starting to get into a weird place as he was the upper midcarder on call for whatever you needed him to do. Punk would be back later in the year though so he didn’t have a lot to be worried about.

Gene Okerlund is in the back with Rock and they meet John Cena’s #1 fan: Pee Wee Herman. Rock recruits him to be a man and the payoff is Gene in Cena gear. This really isn’t funny.

No Hall of Fame video this year as they just come out. The Class of 2011 includes Abdullah the Butcher (legendary hardcore wrestler), Sunny (never likely to be mentioned again in WWE after basically going crazy), the Road Warriors (long overdue), Drew Carey (he was in the 2001 Royal Rumble), Bullet Bob Armstrong (famous Georgia wrestler), Jim Duggan (with a bowtie on the 2×4) and Shawn Michaels as the headliner, getting his own entrance.

Clip from this week’s Raw of Lawler beating up Cole’s trainer Jack Swagger. Lawler tried to go after Cole and got coffee thrown in his face.

Jerry Lawler vs. Michael Cole

Austin is guest referee and this is Lawler’s chance for revenge after Cole treated him like garbage for months, including costing him a Raw World Title shot. Booker T., Josh Matthews and JR will be on commentary. As he almost always did, Cole cuts off JR’s entrance to call Lawler and Ross old and fat. Swagger does his push-ups on the ramp entrance but Austin’s music and ATV cut him off.

Cole hides in the Cole Mine (his plastic box) and warms up until Austin rings the bell. Lawler takes out Swagger and Cole (showing off a lot of tattoos) immediately starts begging off. Cole offers a handshake through the box wall but Lawler doesn’t let go. Instead he pulls Cole’s head against the wall over and over before climbing in to pull Cole out (after a beating inside the box of course).

Lawler rams Cole head first into his public speaking platform (for official announcements from the anonymous Raw General Manager). Swagger gets in a cheap shot and puts on the ankle lock. Austin doesn’t see it but he counts even slower than Bruce Hart did last year. Cole bends the ankle around the bottom rope and does a very slow motion Vader Bomb from the middle rope for two. With Lawler in trouble, Cole pulls down the strap and puts on the Ancole (yes Ancole) lock.

Lawler gets out and stomps Cole down in the corner as Austin doesn’t seem interested in intervening. Swagger throws in a towel but Austin throws it back. That’s not cool with Swagger so he gets a Stunner for his troubles. Cole slaps Austin and eats a BIG right hand from Lawler, who easily pounds Cole down. The middle rope fist drop (with the real strap lowering) gets two as Lawler pulls him up. The ankle lock makes Cole tap (Austin: “DO……..YOU…….QUIT?”) at 13:45.

Rating: D. The match was bad for the most part and Cole got in WAY too much offense but the whole thing had to end with Lawler beating him definitively. I know they can’t use the piledriver but at least we got something good enough. Maybe this shuts Cole up for the night if nothing else.

Post match a lot of beer is consumed (not by Lawler, a noted non-drinker) and Booker gets in the ring for a Spinarooni for absolutely no apparent reason. Austin gives him a Stunner for coming in uninvited. Serves that rude Booker right. The celebration continues…..and we get an e-mail from the GM, saying that the decision is reversed due to Austin overstepping his bounds so Cole wins.

I know a lot of this show is poorly remembered and this is the biggest reason why. The first two hours of this show were breezing by and then this happened. You could feel the air going out of the stadium and that’s the last thing you want to do at any point and especially halfway through.

There was no logical reason for Lawler to lose here. Cole had been built up for months and was finally going to get what was coming to him. We had the moment and then he loses to keep this whole thing going for two more months, until Lawler beat Cole in a match no one remembers. This killed what the show had going and it’s going to take a miracle to recover.

Austin Stuns Matthews for making the announcement.

Wrestlemania week video.

We recap Undertaker vs. HHH which is really just the fallout from Shawn’s retirement and HHH trying to do what his best friend couldn’t. Both guys talked about how big this was but somehow avoided talking about their first Wrestlemania match. This is another match that really doesn’t need a big explanation.

JR and King are doing commentary now.

HHH vs. Undertaker

No holds barred. HHH comes out to Metallica’s For Whom the Bell Tolls with a phalanx of soldiers and battle armor. Undertaker doesn’t quite one up him with Johnny Cash’s Ain’t No Grave but it’s close. HHH punches him into the corner to start so Undertaker throws him over the top and out to the floor. A whip into the steps has HHH in early trouble and it’s already time to load up the Spanish announcers’ table, only to have HHH spear him through the Cole Mine.

That only makes Undertaker do the sit up and power glare, followed by a jumping clothesline back inside. Old School is broken up though and it’s time to load up the announcers’ table. The chokeslam and Pedigree are broken up, the latter with a backdrop to send HHH crashing back to the floor. Dueling chants of 19-0 and 18-1 are quickly broken up by the return of the Taker Dive and both guys are down on the floor.

It’s Undertaker up first and he sets up the steps in front of the Spanish announcers’ table, only to charge into a spinebuster through it instead. Back in and Undertaker grabs a quick chokeslam for two. The Last Ride and Pedigree are both countered, followed by Undertaker charging into a spinebuster for two. This has been a war with nothing but big bombs so far. Undertaker kicks a chair away, only to walk into a Pedigree for two.

The Last Ride and Tombstone (complete with tongue out) both get two and now it’s serious. A DDT on the chair drops Undertaker and a second Pedigree is good for another near fall. The third Pedigree gets the same so HHH massacres him with the chair, including a big shot to the head. For some reason HHH doesn’t cover so Undertaker gets up. HHH: “JUST DIE!” Undertaker grabs him by the throat but there’s nothing behind it and HHH easily shoves him away.

HHH uses a Tombstone for two and people act like it’s some huge deal. This never worked for me as I’ve seen people use that on Undertaker for years and save for Kane, IT HAS NEVER WORKED ONCE! Why is this supposed to be some big, huge deal? HHH goes to get the sledgehammer but walks into Hell’s Gate and finally taps after a ridiculous minute and forty eight seconds to give Undertaker the win at 28:54.

Rating: A-. It’s really good but the last five minutes or so where they tried to turn it into theater took a lot of it down. If HHH wanted to end him that badly, why didn’t he just cover? That and the big Tombstone spot really hurt it as it stopped making sense. This was treated as one of the best matches of all time and it’s just not at that level, especially with Punk vs. Cena coming later in the year.

That’s not to say this wasn’t an awesome match because it certainly was. These guys were just hammering each other out there and it made for some really entertaining spots. The problem for me though was I never bought the Streak as being in jeopardy. I felt that with Shawn at times but it never came here. If you don’t have that drama, you’re missing a little something. It’s a step beneath both Shawn matches, but not a long step.

19-0 flashes on the screen and both guys are done. HHH slowly gets up as the trainer comes in to check on Undertaker (thankfully in silence). Undertaker gets out of the ring and falls on his face, eventually needing to be carted up the ramp.

Wrestlemania XXVII is in Miami.

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

Snooki is from Jersey Shore, a fad which has thankfully died down. Vickie Guerrero introduces Laycool because she’s still around. The bad guys jump our heroes from behind so Snooki slaps Dolph. McCool and Trish get us going and Trish takes over with chops, including one with Snooki licking her hand for good luck. An early Faithbreaker attempt is countered with a facebuster and a big Chick Kick gets two. The guys come in and Morrison knocks Ziggler to the floor for Starship Pain (split legged corkscrew moonsault). Snooki comes in with a handspring elbow into the corner followed by a splash to pin McCool at 4:16.

Rating: D. This was your lame celebrity match of the year but at least they kept it short and didn’t do anything too bad. They didn’t try to do anything too complicated or big here, even though the show really didn’t need anything else packed into this. Trish hadn’t lost a step either.

The new attendance record is announced. Notice that they said for any entertainment event, which excludes football.

We see someone watching videos jumping back and forth between wrestling legends and Miz on the Real World and his rise up the WWE card from joke to World Champion. The song playing talks about how someone isn’t stopping even if everyone hates him. This is really, really good stuff and a great middle finger to all of Miz’s detractors. The problem for Miz is the shadow of the Rock over this entire thing which no one was going to be able to shake. Cena won an Elimination Chamber to earn this shot.

Raw World Title: The Miz vs. John Cena

Cena is challenging. Miz and his crony Alex Riley walk through balloons spelling out “AWESOME!”. Cena’s big entrance involves a gospel choir and a man saying a prayer talking about how Cena is here to do good work and that he wished he had more than one life to do it. Cena might actually be booed louder than Miz. Feeling out process to start with Cena getting dropped off a shoulder but coming back with a hiptoss.

Miz takes over in the corner and whips Cena hard across the ring, setting up his running clothesline for two. A gutwrench suplex gets the same for Cena as the crowd is just silent. Miz misses the second running corner clothesline and takes the top rope Fameasser for two. The champ slowly stomps him down and a baseball slide sends Cena out to the floor. Back in and a knee lift gets two as Cena has shown no fire so far.

Cena fights back with some of his normal stuff including the Shuffle but the AA is countered into a low DDT for two more. Miz goes over and rips off a turnbuckle pad but we’re not ready for that yet. Instead Miz has to counter another AA so Cena takes him down into the STF, sending Miz crawling for the ropes. Back up and Miz sends him into the buckle, setting up the Skull Crushing Finale (full nelson faceplant) for two.

There goes the referee (of course) and Cena hits the AA (to silence, as the fans aren’t that stupid) for no count. Riley sneaks in with a metal briefcase shot to the face for two and now the fans are waking up. Now it’s Miz trying his own briefcase shot but it hits Riley by mistake, followed by one of the biggest AA’s of all time for a very close two (and the fans applaud). Miz heads outside so Cena spears him over the barricade (legitimately giving Miz a concussion)…..and that’s a double countout at 14:43.

Rating: D-. The last few minutes got better but this was AWFUL otherwise as the fans were sitting there in silence. Miz had a great build to this match but that didn’t mean he was ready for the main event of Wrestlemania. Also, A DOUBLE COUNTOUT? That’s dull on Raw and they try it here?

Never mind maybe because here’s the Rock. Before he can say anything, we get an e-mail from the GM. Rock reads the message but decides it doesn’t matter what the GM thinks. Wrestlemania isn’t ending like this so let’s keep going with No DQ. The bell rings and Cena takes a Rock Bottom, giving Miz the pin to retain about 40 seconds after the restart.

Miz goes after Rock for no logical reason so Rock lays him out and drops the People’s Elbow. A lot of posing and four minutes of highlights end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. It’s amazing how much two matches can destroy an otherwise solid show but that main event and the Lawler decision being reversed crushed this thing into the ground. Aside from those two matches, this is actually a heck of a show with nothing really bad (aside from the mixed tag which was kept short). Those two bad matches are devastating though and the ending left a REALLY bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths, which I can easily understand.

The other major issue is the Rock, who loomed over the entire thing. That opening monologue was something a 16 year old could have written and after the thing with Austin, he pretty much disappeared. The ending sets up more down the road, but that doesn’t make for a good way to close out the show. It’s not the worst show ever but those two holes are way too much to overcome.

Ratings Comparison

Edge vs. Alberto Del Rio

Original: C+

2013 Redo: C+

2015 Redo: C+

Cody Rhodes vs. Rey Mysterio

Original: B

2013 Redo: B-

2015 Redo: B

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

Original: N/A

2013 Redo: N/A

2015 Redo: N/A

CM Punk vs. Randy Orton

Original: B-

2013 Redo: B

2015 Redo: B-

Michael Cole vs. Jerry Lawler

Original: C

2013 Redo: D-

2015 Redo: D

Undertaker vs. HHH

Original: B

2013 Redo: B

2015 Redo: A-

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

Original: N/A

2013 Redo: D+

2015 Redo: D

Miz vs. John Cena

Original: C-

2013 Redo: D-

2015 Redo: D-

Overall Rating

Original: C-

2013 Redo: D

2015 Redo: C-

That HHH vs. Undertaker match really is great.

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/04/03/wrestlemania-27-not-sure-on-this-one/

And the 2013 Redo:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2013/04/05/wrestlemania-count-up-wrestlemania-xxvii-rocky-cant-save-this-one/

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

Smackdown
Date: December 6, 2024
Location: Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We’re done with Survivor Series and the big story is that Roman Reigns and his version of the Bloodline beat the new Bloodline in WarGames. Other than that, Shinsuke Nakamura is the new US Champion and we are just over a week away from Saturday Night’s Main Event. That’s going to need some more work so let’s get to it.

Here is Survivor Series if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of the Smackdown matches from Survivor Series.

Commentary recaps the three injuries in WarGames, including Bronson Reed with an ankle injury/broken foot, Tonga Loa with a torn bicep, and Jimmy Uso with a broken toe. All three are out indefinitely.

The Bloodline beats up Apollo Crews and security on the way into the arena.

Here is Cody Rhodes for a chat. Rhodes gets right to the point by talking about Kevin Owens at Saturday Night’s Main Event but American Made cuts him off. The transfer window is opening up and Nick Aldis has been talking about bringing Chad Gable to Smackdown. You have to remember that the people here in Minnesota are gullible so you have to explain things to them.

Gable wanted to be like Rhodes and he can dress like him, but there is more to it than that. The other thing Gable realizes is that Rhodes is a terrible friend, just like Otis. Rhodes is the definition of superficial because he only cares about what people think of him. That has Rhodes thinking and he brings up Gable’s time as Shorty G, but he’s looking at Stardust.

Rhodes lost last year at Wrestlemania and it made him think things could go wrong. What happens when things go wrong for Gable? That doesn’t go well for Gable, who says he would take Rhodes out if not for the suit he’s wearing. Rhodes cuts to the point and issues the challenge for tonight, but he’s got Kevin Owens on his mind, which is bad for Gable. This was a rather lengthy exchange for a match that probably didn’t need it.

Commentary confirms that the transfer portal is indeed open and wrestlers can move. No word on how long or when that might happen.

Bianca Belair and Naomi are in the back and they’re both banged up after WarGames. Naomi leaves for her match when Chelsea Green and Piper Niven come in to mock Belair for the loss in the tournament. Belair thinks Niven might have taken Jade Cargill out so the brawl is on, with Green going after Belair’s bad ribs.

Jesse Ventura is here. Yeah that works.

Women’s United States Title Tournament First Round: Tiffany Stratton vs. Elektra Lopez vs. Naomi

Lopez throws the banged up Naomi to the floor to start so Stratton, in Minnesota Vikings colors, tries a cheap shot. That doesn’t work either as Lopez drops her, followed by another knockdown to Naomi. Stratton is back up and cartwheels over Lopez, setting up a basement dropkick for two. The handspring elbow hits Lopez but Naomi is back in with a high crossbody to Stratton.

Naomi steps onto Stratton’s back in the corner but falls over the top, thankfully catching herself for a nice save. A double springboard Stunner (it only kind of works) sends the villains outside but Stratton is back up with a double stomp to crush Naomi on the apron. Back in and Lopez gets a half crab on Stratton before planting Naomi for two.

A Blue Thunder Bomb gives Lopez two on Naomi with Stratton making a last second save. Back up and they strike it out until Naomi hits the Rear View on Stratton…but here is Candice LeRae for a distraction. Lopez breaks up the split legged moonsault so Naomi settles for a layout reverse DDT. Now the moonsault hits but Stratton breaks it up, meaning the Prettiest Moonsault Ever can finish Lopez at 7:15.

Rating: B-. The fans were behind Stratton here and the three of them knew it, making the match a lot more interesting. Stratton got to be the big hometown hero here and the moonsault at the end looked great. At the same time, Lopez came off like a star and something of a wrecking machine, at least until the end.

Commentary talks about the tournament but we go to the back where the Street Profits (challenging for the Tag Team Titles tonight) have been attacked. Nick Aldis goes to deal with this and runs into the Motor City Machine Guns, who are told the match can’t happen. Johnny Gargano pops up to say DIY can take the shot, with the Guns agreeing. The match is made, but Aldis says to tell Tommaso Ciampa to not make him regret this.

Bianca Belair vs. Piper Niven

Chelsea Green is here with Niven. Belair powers her into the corner to start as Cole talks about Jell Roll. A slam attempt just hurts Belair’s bad ribs an Niven’s basement crossbody makes them even worse. The pace slows down and Belair is sent into the corner, setting up a Boss Man Slam for two. We take a break and come back with Belair fighting out of an abdominal stretch but getting crushed with some backsplashes. Belair fights up again and manages a choke but Niven flips her down again.

Another splash misses for Niven though and Belair sends her into the corner over and over. A high crossbody gives Belair two and a spear gets the same, leaving her rather frustrated. For some reason Belair tries the KOD, earning herself a scary Saito suplex. Niven charges into a spinebuster but Belair’s handspring moonsault hits knees. Back up and the Piper Driver gets a heck of a near fall so Belair takes her into the corner. Green gets pulled in before Belair somehow manages a KOD (GEEZ) onto Green for the pin at 12:17.

Rating: B. I got pulled way into this one and that they were trading big shots until the end. Belair getting to pull off the KOD with bad ribs might have been a stretch but I was almost cheering her by that point so I’ll call it a success. They got into a groove here and it was one of the better matches I’ve seen on regular Smackdown in a bit.

We look back at Shinsuke Nakamura’s return and subsequent US Title win at Survivor Series.

We look at Team Ripley winning the women’s WarGames match.

Bianca Belair is walking through the back (and passing Nick Aldis talking to Dominik Mysterio) and runs into Naomi. She’s sick of Tiffany and Candice LeRae but Byron Saxton comes in to say Piper Niven has an alibi for the Jade Cargill attack. Belair and Naomi are going to find out who did it.

Here is Shinsuke Nakamura for a chat…but LA Knight interrupts before anything can be said. Knight doesn’t think much of Nakamura as the US Champion because that title belongs to him. The challenge is on for the rematch but Nakamura just stands there. Knight says the only thing Nakamura has done to his face is spray that mist so he puts the sunglasses on (makes sense), only for Andrade to interrupt.

Knight says this is his title and Andrade can have the first shot…..but here is the Bloodline to take out Knight and Andrade. Nakamura backs away from the violence (with goo streaming out of his mouth), leaving the Bloodline to take out Andrade and Knight again. Solo Sikoa says the Bloodline isn’t done and even though they’re down two soldiers, step up and take a shot.

Anyone who steps up will get taken out because he’s tired of not being taken seriously. Sikoa is still the Tribal Chief and still the head of the table, so everyone is going to acknowledge him. It’s really nice to see the Bloodline get away from Roman Reigns and company, but dang this feels like a downgrade.

Tommaso Ciampa says Johnny Gargano getting them this title shot doesn’t fix everything. We’ll see how that goes if they win the titles.

Kevin Owens isn’t happy with having to be in Minneapolis for a sitdown interview with Michael Cole. He never wants to be in this town, especially for something with MICHAEL COLE. Owens is at the arena, so come find his car and have a chat.

Tag Team Titles: Motor City Machine Guns vs. DIY

DIY is challenging. Sabin grabs Ciampa’s arm to start and it’s off to Shelley for a running dropkick. We hit the chinlock for a bit before Ciampa is knocked outside and we take an early break. Back with Shelley hitting a jawbreaker and ducking Ciampa’s boot, which hits Gargano by mistake. The Fairy Tale Ending is blocked and Sabin comes back in with a high crossbody for two on Ciampa.

A middle rope knee/backbreaker combination into a Downward Spiral/enziguri combination gets two more on Ciampa, but he fights back up for a knockdown of his own. Ciampa tags Gargano in but then yells at and shoves him. Gargano shoves Ciampa down and tells him to get out, only to get small packaged for two. Shelley Downward Spirals Gargano into the middle buckle but Ciampa distracts the referee. Gargano goes low on Sabin and superkick Shelley. Ciampa is rather pleased (Gargano: “Well that worked!”) and Meet In The Middle gives DIY the titles back at 10:40.

Rating: B-. This might not have been a classic but the turn went well, as Gargano finally embraces the evil and has success as a result. Odds are Ciampa or DIY took out the Profits earlier as it would fit, though dang I’m not sure how well DIY fits as dastardly villains. For now though, they get the titles and have some ready made challengers, so it’s a nice start.

Post break Candice LeRae celebrates with DIY, as Tommaso Ciampa calls his family.

Michael Cole has gone to the parking lot and found Kevin Owens’ car (hint: it’s the one with Owens inside) where Owens insists that they talk here. Owens hasn’t been allowed to go into an arena since Bad Blood and laughs at the idea of Cole wanting to do an unbiased interview. Cole talks about being a big Owens supporter but Owens goes off about Roman Reigns trying to end his career. Cody Rhodes called him an egomaniac but who has THREE SETS OF PYRO for his entrance???

Cole brings up the Usos and Sami Zayn helping Reigns, sending Owens into another ran about how he doesn’t care about the Usos. He’ll cross that bridge with Zayn when they get there, but Cole doesn’t understand this because he doesn’t have friends. Cole tells Owens to look in the mirror. Owens: “Ok. I see a handsome man who is completely right.” Owens tells him to leave his rental vehicle right now and, with Cole out, an annoyed Owens drives off. As usual, Owens knows how to make the obvious sound good and Cole is good as the realistic voice.

Nick Aldis talks to Gunther, but Carmelo Hayes comes up and doesn’t approve. With Gunther gone, Hayes asks why Aldis doesn’t have time for him. If Aldis can’t find a place for him, Monday Night Melo sounds good to Hayes. Aldis says that not having to deal with Hayes sounds like something that deserves balloons and a cake. He has something planned for Hayes…and then walks off.

Cody Rhodes vs. Chad Gable

Non-title and the rest of American Made is here too. Gable grabs a waistlock to start and Rhodes has to kick him away for an early standoff. A delayed gordbuster puts Gable down but Ivy Nile cuts off a springboard attempt. Gable gets in a dragon screw legwhip and wraps the leg around the post as we take a break.

Back with Rhodes escaping the ankle lock but getting his leg dropkicked out for two. The top rope headbutt gives Gable two but the moonsault is broken up, allowing Rhodes to hit an inverted superplex to leave both of them down. Rhodes fights up and hits the powerslam, followed by the Disaster Kick. The Cody Cuter connects but the Creeds pull Gable to the floor. American Made gets ejected, allowing Rhodes to grab a rollup for two.

Gable goes back to the leg and takes Rhodes’ boot off, setting up the ankle lock. That’s broken up with a roll through and the Cody Cutter connects again. Cross Rhodes is reversed into ankle ankle lock, sending Rhodes to the ropes. Gable breaks up Cross Rhodes again and goes up top, only to miss the moonsault. Cross Rhodes finishes Gable at 12:26.

Rating: B. Gable got in more than I was expecting before being taken down here and that’s a nice way for him to go. It was a good, back and forth match with both of them working well. Gable taking out Rhodes’ leg sounds like a calling card for Kevin Owens, who knows how to go after an injury. Nice main event here, with Gable helping move Rhodes up a bit.

Post match Kevin Owens is here to stomp on the bad ankle. Referees and agents can’t keep them apart and the fight keeps going as the show ends.

Overall Rating: B+. You had two rather good matches plus some angle advancement on the way to Saturday Night’s Main Event. The Gargano turn and title change just make things feel that much more important and this was a rather engaging show. Smackdown is clicking right now and that is always nice to see. Pretty great show this week.

Results
Tiffany Stratton b. Elektra Lopez and Naomi – Prettiest Moonsault Ever to Lopez
Bianca Belair b. Piper Niven – KOD
DIY b. Motor City Machine Guns – Meet In The Middle to Sabin
Cody Rhodes b. Chad Gable – Cross Rhodes

 

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