Smackdown
Date: May 8, 2026
Location: VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Joe Tessitore, Wade Barrett

It’s the night before Backlash and that should mean a pretty big Smackdown. WWE has turned the shows before the pay per views into a big preview, which is quite the use of three hours. Hopefully it’s quality to go with quantity this year, though it’s hard to make that work with such a long show. Let’s get to it.

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

In Memory Of Ted Turner. That’s a nice touch.

We open with a long recap of Jacob Fatu vs. Roman Reigns.

Here is Fatu for a chat. Tomorrow, he’s taking the title from Roman Reigns. Since they were kids, everyone has seen Reigns as the future and Fatu as nothing. Everyone has had it in for him but it’s been to protect Reigns. This brings out the Usos to interrupt, who say they aren’t out there to change Fatu’s mind. Jimmy understands that Fatu needs this, but what happens if he loses? Has he ever thought about that?

Jey doesn’t believe Fatu thinks like that but Jey has been there. Tomorrow night, Fatu’s family will be there to see him lose, and his wife and children will have to acknowledge the Tribal Chief. That doesn’t work for Fatu, because this isn’t just a main event. This is about his family because they are going to see him win the title. Oh and if the Usos try to interfere, he’ll burn this whole place down. I don’t think he’s going to win, but Fatu has sold me on him being a threat to Reigns.

We look at Gunther attacking Cody Rhodes last week.

Nick Aldis doesn’t like what Gunther has done, but here is Ricky Saints to interrupt. Matt Cardona comes in and doesn’t like Saints so they’re set for tonight.

Post break, Nick Aldis shakes Jacob Fatu’s hand and Fatu seems ready to leave in peace. As he’s leaving, Fatu runs into Royce Keys, who gives him a pep talk about winning the title. With Fatu gone, Keys runs into Solo Sikoa, who says Keys was in the wrong place at the wrong time last week. Sikoa needs an answer from Keys soon.

Women’s US Title: Tiffany Stratton vs. Kiana James

James, with Giulia, is challenging. We get a video from Chelsea Green, who is bedridden (in a lot of pink of course) and can’t be at the show tonight. James grabs a headlock to start but Stratton is right back with a clothesline. Stratton gets caught in the ropes though and a kick to the head knocks her down. The leg gets wrapped around the post and Stratton is in trouble and we take a break.

We come back with James grabbing a rather logical half crab, sending Stratton over to the ropes. The leg is fine enough to hit the handspring elbow in the corner and a handspring Stunner connects. A basement dropkick gives Stratton two but James sends her into the corner for a handspring (popular in this match) kick to the head. James misses a charge into the post though and Giulia gets on the apron, meaning the referee doesn’t see James grabbing a rollup for two. Stratton knocks Giulia down and hits a Regal Roll into the Prettiest Moonsault Ever to retain at 8:04.

Rating: C+. Oddly enough, Giulia gets my attention the most here as she feels like she is just falling lower and lower every single week. Hopefully they have something for her going forward as this hasn’t worked thus far. As for the people in the match, this felt like a way for Stratton to get a win over a challenger who didn’t feel like the biggest threat.

We go to the funeral for the Gingerbread Man (oh boy) where Sami Zayn asks Nick Aldis how he is letting this happen. Aldis says everyone needs some closure and Zayn is close to losing his mind when R-Truth comes up with a flower for him. R-Truth can see the resemblance between Zayn and Gingerbread Man, who talked about Zayn all the time. Zayn is ready to burst, mainly due to how ridiculous this whole thing is. To be fair, he has a point.

Video on Fatal Influence.

Rhea Ripley, Charlotte and Alexa Bliss are ready to take out Fatal Influence, but Charlotte and Ripley get into it all over again. Bliss has to calm them down, again.

R-Truth is sad about the Gingerbread Man but Damian Priest is more annoyed at Talla Tonga. R-Truth will be out there with him, but Priest wants him to stay in the back due to his shoulder injury. That’s good enough for R-Truth.

Talla Tonga vs. Damian Priest

Solo Sikoa is here with Tonga, who gets jumped by Priest to start fast. Tonga is knocked out to the floor but Priest’s spinning kick is sent into the post. Priest gets slammed onto the announcers’ table and we take a break. We come back with Tonga missing an elbow, allowing Priest to slug away.

Priest avoids a kick into the ropes and now the spinning kick to the face connects. After taking out Sikoa, the top rope clothesline gives Priest two but here is Tama Tonga for a distraction. Talla hits the discus lariat for two and here is R-Truth to even things up a bit. Priest sends Sikoa into Tama but gets dropped by Talla, who hits a chokeslam for the pin at 9:16.

Rating: B-. This was a big man fight and it seems like Priest and R-Truth are having some issues. That makes sense as the team never felt like it was supposed to be anything long term. At the same time, the MFT’s aren’t exactly doing well either, though it seems like we’ll be seeing a title match between the two sides sooner or later.

Post match the beatdown is teased but Royce Keys comes out to stare the MFT’s down, though he doesn’t get physical.

We recap Danhausen getting beaten down last week.

Danhausen is sitting at a table trying to find a partner when Miz and Kit Wilson interrupt. They’re not worried about the match because Danhausen doesn’t have any friends. Wilson holds up a mirror, saying the only person who would team with Danhausen is Danhausen. This gives Danhausen an idea, even though he goes the wrong way at first. I’m terrified.

Paul Heyman goes into Nick Aldis’ office.

We look at the Gingerbread Man being at various famous moments over the years.

Nick Aldis gives Paul Heyman a contract. Gunther comes in and Heyman hands him the contract, with Aldis welcoming Gunther to the Smackdown roster. They’re interrupted by Cody Rhodes coming to the ring, with Heyman saying he’ll handle this.

Here is Cody Rhodes for a chat. Rhodes wants to talk about Gunther but gets Heyman instead. Heyman has a solution in the form of the contract but Rhodes is ready to fight right now. That’s not going to work for Heyman, who makes it clear that this contract is the favor he owes Gunther (that’s interesting and nice job of wrapping up the point).

Heyman says he’s a fan of Rhodes and gets in the ring, saying that the title shot is for…Clash In Italy (later this month). By handing Rhodes the contract, Heyman’s part is done as Rhodes has to get Gunther to sign it himself. Rhodes stops him though and asks if he’s doing this because he’s out of options. Heyman says he’s not the one who’s out of options, because “sooner or later they all need the Wise Man.”

Heyman leaves and here is Gunther, who jumps Rhodes but gets knocked to the floor. Rhodes rants about how he doesn’t sweat Gunther because Rhodes is easy to find and hart to beat. Now that is a heck of a tease from Heyman, though Rhodes kind of forgetting that Heyman has the Vision with a healthy Bron Breakker is kind of odd.

Tama Tonga and Solo Sikoa argue about Royce Keys, with Tonga saying he’s going to go deal with Keys on his own. Sikoa won’t let Talla Tonga go too, because Tama needs to deal with this.

Matt Cardona vs. Ricky Saints

Cardona backs him into the corner to start and hits a running shoulder to annoy Saints again. A running forearm in the corner and a flapjack have Saints down again and he goes to the floor to kick the barricade. We take a break and come back with Saints in control but Cardona making a quick comeback. The Reboot gets two but Saints hits a spinning Downward Spiral for the same. Cardona is right back with Radio Silence as the fans seem to be thrilled that a fan is being ejected. Saints pops up with a tornado DDT into Roshambo to finish Cardona at 8:36.

Rating: C+. This was pretty much booking 101 as Saints lost a competitive match in his debut last week but came back to win here over an established name. Saints should be fine going forward as a midcard hand and this showed he can hang in there just fine. Cardona is pretty much resigned to his fate at this point, which is kind of a shame but he had to know what he was signing up to do.

Sami Zayn is still at the funeral and ranting about how he’s losing everything…to Johnny Gargano, who is still laying there in shock. Rey Fenix comes in and Zayn can’t believe he’s here.

Brie Bella and Paige are almost crushed by a falling piece of the set and Danhausen runs by. And we move on.

Blake Monroe is still on her way here.

Here are Brie Bella and Paige for a chat. Bella talks about how there are a lot of teams coming for the titles so bring it on. Paige has heard them referred to as a retirement tour but they’ve never been better. This brings out Fatal Influence, who say the champs should be worried about them. They’re about to have all the gold but here are the Irresistible Forces to say this isn’t NXT. The fans chant for Trick Williams, with Lash Legend laughing it off. The Forces lay the champs out while Fatal Influence stares on. This brings out Rhea Ripley, who stares at Legend on her way to the ring.

The Gingerbread Man was at other classic moments.

Fatal Influence vs. Rhea Ripley/Charlotte/Alexa Bliss

Henley and Bliss start things off with Henley dodging her and getting in a little dance. Bliss knees her in the face and does her own dance, which seems more popular. Bliss’ knee drop and flipping splash get two but Henley takes her into the corner. Jayne comes in for a boot choke and Reid mocks Bliss, who rolls over and brings in Ripley to start wrecking people. The flip dive off the apron connects and we take a break.

We come back with Reid hitting a neckbreaker on Ripley, who is back with that cool kick from the mat. Charlotte gets the tag and comes in to fire off the chops. The Flair Flip in the corner lets Charlotte hit a double high crossbody and Natural Selection gets two on Jayne. Bliss comes back in but walks into a superkick, as does Charlotte. Cue Jade Cargill to pull Ripley off the apron, allowing Cargill to hit the Rolling Encore to pin Bliss at 9:56.

Rating: B-. This was a good match, with the six person formula working as it usually does. You don’t get enough six person tags, as it worked rather well, allowing multiple combinations to keep things fresh. Cargill being back is good, but I don’t really need to see her going after Ripley again, at least not immediately. At the same time, Fatal Influence, with Jayne in particular, have hit the ground running on the main roster and that is rather impressive as that’s not something everyone can do.

Post match Cargill glares Fatal Influence away. Cargill goes after Bliss but Charlotte gets back in, only to be beaten down by Michin and B-Fab. Ripley tries to make a save and is beaten down as well.

Royce Keys is on his way to the ring but runs into the Usos. They talk about their history together and warn him to stay away from the MFT’s, or risk catching the eyes of Roman Reigns.

Gingerbread Man, classic moments, again. Do you get the joke yet?

Tama Tonga vs. Royce Keys

Solo Sikoa and Talla Tonga are here with Tama, despite what Sikoa said earlier. Tama hammers away to start and gets caught in a running powerslam. Keys punches him down in the corner but Tama slips out of a suplex and goes after the leg. Tama knocks him to the floor but a slide is countered into a World’s Strongest Slam onto the apron. A missed charge sends Keys into the steps though and we take a break.

We come back with the two of them slugging it out until Tama grabs a rolling neckbreaker for two. Keys gets up to fire off some clotheslines, meaning the straps can come down. Another powerslam gets another two but Tama’s reverse DDT gets the same. The comeback is on almost immediately and Tama is clotheslined outside, where Sikoa tells Talla to let Tama figure it out. Back in and the USB (Ultimate Spinebuster) finishes Tama at 7:53.

Rating: C+. This was about Keys getting to beat a name and it worked out well enough, though Keys still needs some more ring time to really polish things up (using the same running powerslam twice in a seven minute match isn’t a good idea). At least Keys keeps winning and, for now at least, he isn’t joining the MFT’s. The team needs some new recruits, though I’m not sure if Keys is the right choice.

Danhausen goes to his laboratory, where he has some chemicals, a microwave, and a cloning machine. This would be in the “well of course he does” category.

Shinsuke Nakamura comes up to Tama Tonga and asks if he’s still an MFT. Talla Tonga comes in to warn Nakamura about talking this brother. We’re still doing this?

Backlash rundown.

Trick Williams runs into Nick Aldis, who is letting the funeral have the rest of the broadcast.

It’s time for the funeral, with the casket and a choir in the ring as Trick Williams comes out to join them. Williams pours out a drink for the Gingerbread Man and hopes he can get through this. He speaks a song (with the choir joining in) about how the Gingerbread Man was destroyed and asking if someone can tell him why.

We get a package on the life of the Gingerbread Man, including him signing with the University Of South Carolina to play football, climbing a mountain, going to various national landmarks with Williams and Lil Yachty and participating in a dunk contest. Sami Zayn comes out to say this is ridiculous and asks if he’s losing his mind for this to go on so long. Closing Smackdown used to mean something and he asks why Williams spent this much money on one idea.

Zayn gets in the ring to yell at Williams about how he’s been doing this for twenty years and isn’t leaving. Zayn decks Williams and shouts about how the title is his life. Then the Gingerbread Man gets out of the casket and it’s Lil Yachty, who beats Zayn down with a kendo stick. The Trick Shot lays Zayn out to end the show.

So Zayn was right yes? Williams spent all this time and money for the sake of knowing that Zayn would interrupt (fair) and get beaten down for fifteen seconds to end the show? That’s quite a bit of effort and resources spent for not much of a payoff. And Aldis and everyone else hates Zayn enough to go with this? This feels like something from the Vince McMahon era and that’s not a good thing to see.

Overall Rating: C. It was a good enough show for the most part, but dang I didn’t care for that ending segment. The whole thing went on way too long and the lack of a big Smackdown match at Backlash made this a bit less than thrilling. Rhodes vs. Gunther being set up (pretty much) for Clash In Italy is fine, but it doesn’t make for the best build to Backlash. Fatal Influence continues to feel like a big deal and Heyman teasing Rhodes needing him in the future is interesting, but this show didn’t really have a big moment to go out on, which hurt things a lot.

Results
Tiffany Stratton b. Kiana James – Prettiest Moonsault Ever
Talla Tonga b. Damian Priest – Chokeslam
Ricky Saints b. Matt Cardona – Roshambo
Fatal Influence b. Rhea Ripley/Charlotte/Alexa Bliss – Rolling Encore to Bliss
Royce Keys b. Tama Tonga – USB

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

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

NXT
Date: May 5, 2026
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Booker T.

We don’t exactly have a big show coming up around here but we do have a bunch of people showing up in a hurry. Last week was one debut after another and that could make for some interesting changes. Hopefully we can find something for them to do though they’re all getting their feet wet. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening recap.

Tony D’Angelo says he isn’t waiting and charges at Tavion Heights for a quickly broken up brawl.

Jaida Parker vs. Kali Armstrong

They shove each other around to start, followed by an exchange of grappling. Parker gets a chinlock before sending Armstrong outside. That means a ram to send Armstrong into the apron and then being sent back inside. A double clothesline leaves both of them down and we take a break.

We come back with Armstrong sending her into the corner and stopping for some pushups. Armstrong drives in some knees and fires off the shoulders in the corner. The mocking of the high steps just wakes Parker up though and she hits the Tear Drop in the corner. Armstrong snaps off a powerslam to cut that off and the Kali Connection (running shoulder) finishes Parker at 9:57.

Rating: C+. This was about presenting Armstrong as a threat and it worked out rather well. At the same time, it’s a bit annoying to see Parker lose again. She’s turning into the latest star who gets start and stop pushes without getting anywhere. Hopefully that isn’t the case, as she has far too much potential otherwise.

Tony D’Angelo comes in to yell at Robert Stone, saying he wants Tavion Heights tonight. Sure.

Video on Jackson Drake vs. Jasper Troy.

Birthright is not happy with what happened last week. Fit Finlay comes in to say they’re not doing well and William Regal, by phone, says he’s sent Charlie Dempsey back to the Snake Pit before they have a six man tag next week. The team sounds more ready.

We look at not Evil debuting last week. Not Evil says that was a proclamation to Tony D’Angelo and they will battle for the NXT Title. His name is Naraku and he debuts next week.

Jasper Troy vs. Jackson Drake

The rest of the Vanity Project are here with Drake. Troy fires off some shoulders in the corner to start but gets caught with a jumping enziguri. The Project offers a distraction and Drake hits a top rope Meteora and we take a break. We come back with Drake grabbing a tornado DDT but Troy nips up and gives him a chokeslam. Troy goes outside to yell at the Project though and here is Myka Lockwood to slam him on the floor. Back in and Drake’s 450 connects for the pin at 7:18.

Rating: C+. I for one am shocked that a Shawn Michaels run promotion would have a muscular female woman as a heater for a young, disrespectful team. That being said, sure why not, as it’s an idea that has worked before and it can work again. The Project needed one more person and this is better than some big silent brooding man as the enforcer.

We look back at Tristan Angel’s debut last week. Angels talks about being better than a bunch of people on the roster.

We get a Rhea Ripley Origins video.

Here is Zaria for a chat. She says it feels different around here and for the first time, there is no one holding her back in the women’s division. Now she has a clear path to the Women’s North American Title. That title is what finally woke her up but here is Tatum Paxley to interrupt. Paxley knows how the title came between Zaria and Sol Ruca but that has nothing to do with her.

Cue Lizzy Rain to say she was the talk of the town last week and it’s time to add some heavy metal to the title. Cue Nikkita Lyons, who takes credit for fans caring about Rain. Paxley will fight everyone and the brawl is on with Zaria standing tall. If Zaria is the challenger then fine, but this just made me even less interested in Rain and Lyons.

The Vanity Project meets Evolve’s Romeo Moreno, who isn’t impressed with them. Noam Dar returns and wants to fight Jackson Drake next week. Myka Lockwood shows up to scare Dar a bit but the match seems set. With the Project gone, Moreno says he is a huge Dar fan.

Kam Hendrix jumps Tony D’Angelo.

Post break Robert Stone grabs a headset and shakes up the card because D’Angelo can’t wrestle at the moment.

Mr. Iguana/Lola Vice vs. Culling

The former’s AAA Mixed Tag Team Titles aren’t on the line and it’s Izzi Dame/Niko Vance for the Culling. The men start things off, with Iguana being shoved into the ropes. The dead iguana pose has Vance confused but he picks Iguana up in a Gory Stretch. That’s broken up as Vice tags herself in, allowing Dame to come in and kick Iguana in the head. Dame hits a running shoulder in the corner but Vice chops away and grabs a springboard armdrag. Everything breaks down and the Culling are taken down with back to back seated sentons

We take a break and come back with Vance dropping a headbutt for two. A heck of a discus right hand puts Iguana down again and a tilt-a-whirl faceplant gets two. Iguana manages a tornado DDT though and the women come back in as everything breaks down again. Vice’s running hip attack in the corner gets two on Dame and a spinning kick to the head knocks her silly. Vance breaks up the count but Iguana and Vice grab stereo triangle chokes. Both of them are broken up pretty quickly and Dame’s running knee finishes Vice at 11:30.

Rating: B-. Iguana and Vice are a mostly silly team but they still feel important enough that beating them still means something. What matters is that Dame is now primed to get the next title shot and that should work. Dame is a big, strong star who can give Vice a good challenge. That’s how it should have gone and it’s a nice story to set up.

Tavion Heights still wants to fight Tony D’Angelo and Robert Stone comes in to say the match is tonight’s main event. Stone goes over to Zaria, who wants the Women’s North American Title. She’s not happy about being in a tag match next week, but Stone says that’s what she has to do if she wants a title shot.

Jaida Parker is livid about her loss. Nattie comes in to say Parker has gone soft. End of segment.

Hank & Tank vs. Darkstate

The rest of Darkstate is here with…uh, Darkstate. James elbows Hank in the face to start and it’s off to Tank to grind away on a headlock. Griffin comes in and gets caught in the wrong corner but comes right back with a delayed vertical suplex. A running bulldog out of the corner gets Tank out of trouble as everything breaks down. Darkstate knocks them down on the floor and Dion Lennox grabs a chair, which Saquon Shuggars takes away. The argument ensues and we take a break.

We come back with Tank fighting out of a chinlock but getting caught with a gutbuster. Griffin sends him back into the corner but Tank escapes a gutwrench and brings Hank in to clean house. A double tackle gets two on James, who is back with a spinning backbreaker. The Vader Bomb gets two, with Hank having to make the save. Hank is slammed on the floor and the diving Tank is pulled out of the air for the same result. Back in and an assisted spinning powerbomb finishes Hank at 12:00.

Rating: B-. Oddly enough this wound up being a pretty hot match, with Darkstate finally getting a win to stop their losing streak for the time being. The fact that Lennox wasn’t involved with the result isn’t the best sign for his future, but the team needed to be shaken up. Hank & Tank continue to exist and that’s about as much as I can think of them most of the time.

Kelani Jordan mocks Lola Vice and says she’s coming for the title too. Kendal Grey comes in to say she’s coming after Jordan, who isn’t worried.

Commentary…has tech issues and we can’t hear anything they say. A production worker comes in to try to fix it and we go to a video instead.

New correspondent Emily Agard gets to meet Keanu Carver on her first assignment. He doesn’t want to talk so they put the camera down…which films them anyway. Carver says he’s here to get paid and comments don’t help him take care of people counting on him. He’s told Robert Stone to give him a chance or cut him. Carver knows they’re still filming him so she can ask one last question on the record.

Agard asks about Carver knowing the symbol of war given to Tony D’Angelo last week. Carver says he played college football…but he paid attention in class too. Carver: “The thing about me that y’all don’t know is that I’m smart as s*** for real.” Well that’s a different way to present someone. I like it though, as Carver has been presented as this big brute but having a brain with that kind of force is interesting.

Hey the audio is better.

Backlash rundown.

Shiloh Hill is walking around in the dark and he’s happy about beating Ricky Saints last week. He also finds Tristan Angels to be a bit ridiculous and hopes he’s allergic to sheep.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

Tavion Heights vs. Tony D’Angelo

Non-title. Heights wrestles him down to start and they trade waistlocks. A fireman’s carry faceplant drops D’Angelo and he realizes the amateur stuff isn’t going to work here. Instead D’Angelo hits a John Cena Throwback for two but gets driven into the corner for a beating. Heights throws him down with a suplex but D’Angelo is up for a shove off the top as we take a break.

We come back with D’Angelo fighting out of a chinlock, only for Heights to gutwrench suplex him for two. A pretty impressive top rope splash gives Heights two…and makes D’Angelo Hulk Up. Some German suplexes put Heights down but his capture suplex gets two more. Forget About It gives D’Angelo two of his own and they forearm it out. A spear drops puts Heights down again but he’s back up with his spinning belly to belly. Cue Kam Hendrix for a distraction so Heights beats him up, with Myles Borne running in to give Hendrix a running flip dive. They brawl off and D’Angelo chokeslams Heights for the pin at 10:22.

Rating: B-. They got rolling near the end here and were trading one big shot after another. The Hendrix and Bourne stuff didn’t really help, but D’Angelo gets to beat someone on the way to his next big challenger. That could be a few people, though Naraku seems likely. Heights still feels like he has potential, but this came off more as him just being someone for D’Angelo to beat.

Post match respect is shown but the big guy from last week runs in again and lays them both out. He introduces himself as Mason Rook and says he has arrived.

Overall Rating: B. This was the follow up to last week’s show with all of the people debuting and this week seemed to be more about them pairing off and getting settled into their new spots. That’s good to see and it’s something that has to happen around here, as it’s the nature of NXT. The wrestling was more good than bad and the show accomplished enough so I’ll call it a good show.

Results
Kali Armstrong b. Jaida Parker – Kali Connection
Jackson Drake b. Jasper Troy – 450
Culling b. Mr. Iguana/Lola Vice – Running knee to Vice
Darkstate b. Hank & Tank – Assisted spinning powerbomb to Hank
Tony D’Angelo b. Tavion Heights – Chokeslam

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

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Smackdown
Date: May 1, 2026
Location: BOK Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Commentators: Joe Tessitore, Wade Barrett

We’re just over a week away from Backlash and there are some spots that need to be addressed on the card. In this case we need a challenger for Cody Rhodes, who didn’t have much to say last week. Other than that, Jacob Fatu seems to have moved over to Raw but wrecked the MFT’s on the way out. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a look at Jacob Fatu vs. Roman Reigns being set up for Backlash, with Fatu laying Reigns out with a Tongan Death Grip on Raw.

Here is Cody Rhodes to get things going. Earlier today, Rhodes met with the medical team and he is officially cleared for action. So what is next for him on Smackdown? Cue Ricky Saints of all people, who does a rather fired up entrance and says he’s great and suave and handsome and everything your mom wishes you were. This is Friday Night SAINTS so Rhodes asks what the difference is between the last time Saints stepped up to him? Saints suggests he’s ready to take the title and the match seems ready. Rhodes says he’s easy to find but hard to beat.

We look back at Fatal Influence making their debut last week.

Charlotte and Alexa Bliss are asked about Fatal Influence’s numbers’ advantage. Rhea Ripley pops in and says she’s here if they need her. Charlotte doesn’t seem impressed however, as three is a crowd.

Jacy Jayne vs. Charlotte

The rest of Fatal Influence and Alexa Bliss are here too. Before the match, Jayne says this is her chance to show what Fatal Influence brings to Smackdown and there is no one to do that to than a legend like Charlotte. Jayne mocks the strut to start but gets taken into the corner. A forearm to the back of the head puts Charlotte down and Jayne snaps off a running hurricanrana.

That earns her the rolling figure four necklock slams and Charlotte kicks her in the head in the corner. Bliss scares Jayne on the floor and we take a break. We come back with Charlotte fighting out of a chinlock and firing off the chops. The flipping clothesline puts Jayne down again and the moonsault gets two. Jayne fights up but gets booted in the face. The Figure Eight goes on but the seconds get in a fight on the floor. Charlotte goes to intervene, allowing Jayne to hit the Rolling Encore (discus forearm) for the pin at 10:04.

Rating: B-. What matters here is that Jayne won. That’s the whole thing, as if she lost, any momentum she had was gone right out of the blocks. Charlotte is someone who can lose for months and be perfectly fine so it’s not like there is any damage done here. Jayne is the new star around and this is a massive win for her, so well done on what happened.

Post match the beatdown is on and Rhea Ripley runs in for the save, leaving her in a staredown with Charlotte.

Paige and Brie Bella are ready to defend their titles against anyone, including the Irresistible Forces tonight.

R-Truth and Damian Priest meet Fraxiom (R-Truth thinks one of them is an Americano), with Priest thinking that R-Truth has given them a title shot tonight. Priest is ready….and Frazer cuts Axiom off before he can say something, saying they’re looking forward to it too. Fraxiom leaves, and R-Truth isn’t happy because they weren’t talking about title shots. He was giving them tax advice, which has Priest even more confused than usual.

Miz and Kit Wilson leave Looney Tunes style trap for Danhausen offering “free human monies” in a briefcase. They hide and Danhausen comes up, gets $40,000 out, and leaves. Miz and Wilson go to the briefcase, which sprays them with powder. Yeah that figures.

Tag Team Titles: Damian Priest/R-Truth vs. Fraxiom

Fraxiom is challenging. R-Truth backs Axiom into the corner to start but gets taken down with a springboard armdrag. Priest and Frazer come in, with Axiom adding a hurricanrana. The champs are sent to the floor where they back off before the dives can launch and we take a break.

We come back with R-Truth hitting a Stundog Millionaire, allowing the tag off to Priest to clean house. The running shoulders in the corner let R-Truth come back in but he gets low bridged out to the floor. Frazer hits the big running flip dive and a missile dropkick connects, only for Priest to throw Axiom into the cover for the save. The Razor’s Edge to Axiom retains the titles at 9:39.

Rating: B-. This was pretty good, as Fraxiom can wrestle that fast paced style with anyone right now but they ran into a monster like Priest. R-Truth is best known for his goofiness but he can wrestle a perfectly competent match. The champs are still waiting for a big time challenger, though they’re fine at the moment having matches like this one.

Post match the MFT’s run in and wreck both teams. Post break, Solo Sikoa and Talla Tonga are still in the ring, with Solo Sikoa showing a clip of Jacob Fatu wrecking the team last week. Sikoa rants about Fatu taking out his family and when Fatu gets here tonight, he’s a dead man walking.

Cue the Usos to interrupt and talk about Fatu using the Tongan Death Grip. That’s a sacred move that is passed down and Roman Reigns isn’t accepting that, so Sikoa and company need to wait their turn. The Usos are telling instead of asking, so Sikoa has Talla wreck them. Sikoa says Reigns isn’t his Tribal Chief and Fatu is a dead man.

Cody Rhodes runs into Sami Zayn, who didn’t like being called sarcastic and condescending. Zayn asks if this was because he called Rhodes “Golden Boy”. They’re the last real good guys and they’re the same. Rhodes says a lot of that is true, but they’re not the same. Rhodes leaves Zayn shocked.

We get a clip of Jalen Brunson (NBA star) talking about his love of Roman Reigns.

Danhausen uncurses Brunson’s New York Knicks but keeps the curse on ESPN pundit Stephen A. Smith.

Cody Rhodes vs. Ricky Saints

Non-title. Saints snaps off some armdrags to start and Rhodes needs to pause a bit. They head outside with Saints hitting something like an apron 619 and we take an early break. We come back with Rhodes getting out of a neck crank but getting pulled down with a neckbreaker. Rhodes is back up with a powerslam but Saints slips out and hits something like Sister Abigail for two. A springboard tornado DDT gives Saints two more but Rhodes reverses the Roshambo (running Dominator) into Cross Rhodes for the pin at 8:56.

Rating: B-. They got going near the end, though again I’m not sure about having Saints lose his first main roster match. It’s nice to have him around and there’s no shame in having him lose to Rhodes, but it’s a bit weird to have him take a loss like this so early. At least he did pretty well in his start though and that’s good to see.

Post match Gunther runs in and sleepers Rhodes out. Gunther holds up the title and I guess Rhodes has his random challenger.

Here is Danhausen, in the Hausenmobile, to say he’s using the $400 he found to buy t-shirts for the fans. This brings out the Miz, who says Danhausen has indeed cursed him. So yes, he will indeed be Danhausen’s mentor. They go to shake hands, but here is Kit Wilson to interrupt, saying Miz is supposed to mentor him. Miz says Danhausen has become a big deal on his own so Wilson and Danhausen both offer their hands. Eventually he shakes Danhausen’s hand and the curse is loaded up…but Miz jumps Danhausen and the beatdown is on.

Blake Monroe is in a bathtub and says she’ll be here soon.

Royce Keys vs. Angel

Keys sends him outside to start, where Berto is waiting to check on things. Berto’s distraction…doesn’t really do much for Angel, as Keys puts him on top for a super spinning powerslam. The spinebuster finishes Angel at 1:43.

Tiffany Stratton says it’s her birthday so the open challenge is on for next week. Chelsea Green comes in to reveal she’s healed but Kiana James and Giulia come in to say they want the shot. Stratton is fine with that and gives the shot to….James next week instead.

Jacob Fatu congratulates Royce Keys for his win. They’ve known each other for a very long time and Keys gives him a pep talk about remembering what it’s like to take what you want. Fatu appreciates that and leaves but Talla Tonga runs in to jump Keys. Fatu comes back to help with the fight but gets taken out by the MFT’s.

Here is Sami Zayn, with a big gingerbread man next to him. He loves it here in Tulsa and talks about being a big Bob Dylan (the University of Tulsa has a big Dylan collection), but what happened when Dylan went electric? The fans turned on him, just like they’ve turned on Zayn. He really doesn’t get why but he knows his ride or die fans are here tonight.

It’s ok though, because he can deal with bad reactions, but not disrespect, like he received from Trick Williams. Zayn calls Williams someone who can wear a costume and say catchphrases, but he doesn’t understand the idea of actually doing the hard work. He looks at the gingerbread man and sees nothing but disrespect. Zayn teases punching the gingerbread man (which is just a suit) and stops himself, only to knock it down and hammer away. Williams runs in for the save…and gives the X injury sign for the gingerbread man.

We look back at Paige and Brie Bella winning the Women’s Tag Team Titles at Wrestlemania.

The Irresistible Forces are going to win the titles back because they’re prepared this time.

Trick Williams leaves the trainer’s room and says no one messes with the gingerbread man. Sami Zayn is getting his title rematch at Backlash but Zayn is messing with Williams’ money. If the gingerbread man isn’t ok, Zayn is getting a beating. When Williams wants something, he gets it. Williams: “Ask the legend herself. When Trick Williams wants it, he gets that a**.” Then he’s told that the gingerbread man didn’t make it through. I get that it’s meant to be silly, but is that the best way to present Williams?

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Brie Bella/Paige vs. Irresistible Forces

The Forces are challenging. Legend throws Paige down to start and hammers away before dragging her into the corner. Jax comes in and gets knocked down, allowing the tag off to Bella. It actually isn’t instant destruction for Bella, who is distracted by Legend so Jax can get in a cheap shot.

We take a break and come back with Jax missing a charge into the post. Bella hurricanranas Legend and brings Paige back in to kick Legend in the face. The rapid fire knees in the ropes hit Legend, followed by a Paige Turner into a Bella Buster. Jax makes the save and loads up the Annihilator but Paige breaks it up, allowing Bella to steal the pin at 7:49.

Rating: C. Keeping the Paige/Bella matches short is a good idea and that was on display here. They’re fine for the nice pop from the crowd but there isn’t much beyond that. I get that they’re just filling in for the Bellas as a team and that’s not Paige’s fault, but it’s still not something that I want to see long term.

The gingerbread man has died, so we get an In Memorium graphic.

Here’s what’s coming next week, including the gingerbread man’s funeral. They’re getting really close to running this into the ground.

Sami Zayn complains about the funeral to Nick Aldis, who confirms the US Title match at Backlash. Danhausen comes in to mention being attacked, so Aldis says it can be Danhausen vs. Miz/Wilson at Backlash, if Danhausen can find a partner. Danhausen: “That’s work!”

Usos vs. MFT’s

Jey strikes away at Talla to start and gets knocked down just as fast. Sikoa comes in and gets enziguried, allowing Jimmy to get the tag. Jimmy dives right into Spinning Solo though and the running Umaga Attack sends us to a break. We come back with Sikoa choking Jimmy on the ropes, with Talla adding a clothesline. The neck crank goes on, quickly followed by a Samoan drop for two.

Jimmy avoids some charges though and it’s a big jumping tag to bring Jey back in. A superkick and spear hit Sikoa, with Talla making the save. That earns him a double clothesline out to the floor, where Talla sends Jimmy into the steps. The announcers’ table is loaded up…and here is Jacob Fatu to jump Talla for the DQ at 10:38.

Rating: C+. With so much going on involving the family in one way or another, the DQ almost had to come somewhere in there. That’s good enough, as Fatu is the biggest single name involved with the whole thing here. It’s nice to see a story cross over between the two shows, as it really is making Fatu feel like a more important star.

Post match Fatu hits Talla with the steps and grabs the Tongan Death Grip on Sikoa. Talla gets Death Gripped as well, followed by a Samoan drop through the table. Fatu gets back inside for a staredown with the Usos but walks past them and hits his catchphrase to end the show instead.

Overall Rating: B-. This was a show which was good enough on its own but it would have been that much better with the extra hour cut out here or there. I do like some of the pieces they’re putting together around here though and that’s better than what they were doing before Wrestlemania. It’s far from a great show, but it set some things up for the next few weeks and had good enough action so I’ll call it a fine week.

Results
Jacy Jayne b. Charlotte – Rolling Encore
Damian Priest/R-Truth b. Fraxiom – Razor’s Edge to Axiom
Cody Rhodes b. Ricky Saints – Cross Rhodes
Royce Keys b. Angel – Spinebuster
Paige/Brie Bella b. Irresistible Forces – Rollup to Jax
MFT’s b. Usos via DQ when Jacob Fatu 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:

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

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

Here is Wrestlemania if you need a recap.

We open with the traditional long Wrestlemania recap.

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

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

Iyo Sky/Rhea Ripley vs. Kabuki Warriors

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ethan Page vs. Je’Von Evans

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

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

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

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

Paige and the Bella Twins are here.

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

Sol Ruca vs. Liv Morgan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Finn Balor vs. JD McDonagh

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here is Night One if you need a recap.

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

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

Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Club WWE ad.

We run down the remaining card.

US Title: Sami Zayn vs. Trick Williams

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

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

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

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

Dominik Mysterio vs. Finn Balor

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We look at the Brock Lesnar retirement again.

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

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

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

Raw World Title: CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dominik Mysterio vs. Finn Balor

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overall Thoughts

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MFT’s vs. Wyatt Sicks

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We look at Drew McIntyre attacking Jacob Fatu last week.

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

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

We look at the Wrestlemania set reveal.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tiffany Stratton vs. Jordynne Grace

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Charlotte/Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley/Lyra Valkyria

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

Post match the Forces lay everyone out.

Video on Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi.

Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wrestlemania rundown.

Video on CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wrestlemania XLI Night Two
Date: April 20, 2025
Location: Allegiant Stadium, Paradise, Nevada
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee, Wade Barrett
Star Spangled Banner: Ava Max

It’s the second night of the show and in this case it’s going to be a bit of an odd card. The big main event is Cody Rhodes defending the Smackdown World Title against the now evil John Cena, which sounds good on paper but it might wind up being quite the mess. Other than that, we have a triple threat for the Raw Women’s Title which sounds promising. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is a recap of last night’s show, followed by a preview for tonight. This is rather generic by Wrestlemania standards.

Here is Stephanie McMahon to get things going. She talks about Wrestlemania IX happening when she was 16 years old and now she’s here with her 16 year old daughter. Anyway welcome to the show.

Raw Women’s Title: Iyo Sky vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Bianca Belair

Sky is defending. Belair won the Elimination Chamber but Ripley stole the contract and signed it herself (as contracts in wrestling are weird) but Belair was guest referee. It ended in a double DQ so here’s the triple threat. Belair has a double dutch team and a bunch of young girls, which feels like it has to be a charity thing (cool). Ripley gets a ridiculous reaction and is definitely the crowd favorite.

Sky breaks up their staredown to start because she’s tired of being an afterthought. A nice hurricanrana takes Ripley down but she’s right back up with a dropkick to send Ripley outside. That gives us Belair vs. Ripley, with Belair sending her into the corner to hammer away. Sky is back in with a double Blockbuster and Ripley is sent outside,, allowing Belair to roll some suplexes.

Ripley breaks up Belair’s handspring but Belair catches a diving Sky and swings her into the barricade. Back in and Belair has to save Sky from the Prism Trap so they go to the corner for a kind of backwards Tower of Doom. Sky is back up to drop Ripley but gets caught with Belair’s 450. Ripley makes the save and grabs the Riptide for two on Belair and she’s shocked at the kickout. Sky reverses a Riptide into a DDT and puts Ripley on top. Ripley’s super Riptide is countered into a headscissors but Over The Moonsault hits raised boots.

The KOD hits Sky but Ripley makes the save, leaving everyone down. Belair yells at Ripley and gets knocked outside as a result. Sky tries a super poisonrana to Ripley but gets reversed into an Alabama Slam onto the post. Belair can’t hit the KOD but she can whip Ripley with her hair (YEOWCH). Now the KOD connects but Sky comes in with Over The Moonsault for the pin to retain at 14:24.

Rating: A-. This was outstanding, as they basically went out there and did everything they could think of trying, albeit with the match making sense and going until one of them stole the pin. You had a case where all three could have won and it made for an incredible opener. This is one of the Wrestlemania classics and it was great stuff all around. Check this out if you get the chance.

We recap Drew McIntyre vs. Damian Priest. McIntyre won the World Title last year at Wrestlemania but Priest took it from him via Money In The Bank. McIntyre has blamed Priest for all of his problems, which Priest doesn’t like. They’ve brawled multiple times, with McIntyre’s eye being injured and Priest getting dropped head first onto the steps. Now it’s time for a street fight.

Drew McIntyre vs. Damian Priest

Street fight.  McIntyre looks like a half Celtic Warrior/half Terminator, while Priest is played to the ring by the guitarist from Slayer. They waste no time in brawling out to the floor and Priest gets the better of things. Priest throws the steps at McIntyre’s head and loads up the table, which takes too long and allows McIntyre to fight back. Another steps shot drops Priest for a change and McIntyre hits him in the side of the head with a chair.

Two more tables are set up next to each other at ringside and McIntyre seems way too pleased. Priest fights back but gets knocked out to the floor, with McIntyre hitting a big running flip dive. The Claymore is cut off with a thrown chair, which McIntyre somehow blocks and hits a Claymore for two. McIntyre wraps the chair around Priest’s neck but Priest fights back again.

That earns him a spinebuster and a table is set up in the ring. That’s broken up so the steps are brought in, with Priest getting Futureshocked onto the steps for two. Priest gets back up and tries Old School, only to take too much time and get knocked off the top and through the tables at ringside. Priest is mostly done so McIntyre puts his head against a chair in the corner. The big Claymore sends Priest’s head into the chair for the pin at 13:57.

Rating: B. The opener was about all kinds of action while this was all about violence and carnage. They beat the heck out of each other with McIntyre getting the better of things for the most part. It was a match between two people who hated each other and wanted to hurt each other in as many ways as they could. Good stuff here, though I could have gone for more offense from Priest.

We recap Bron Breakker defending the Intercontinental Title. Judgment Day, in this case Finn Balor and Dominik Mysterio (who are having issues of their own) are coming for the title, with Penta getting in on things as well. Since it’s Wrestlemania, it’s four way time.

Intercontinental Title: Bron Breakker vs. Penta vs. Dominik Mysterio vs. Finn Balor

Breakker is defending and goes after Mysterio to start but gets sent outside instead (where Carlito is lurking around too). Penta sends Judgment Day to the floor and hits the big running flip dive. Breakker runs Penta over though and then hits a World’s Strongest Slam. The gorilla press powerslam drops Balor and a Super Spear gets two on Mysterio with Balor making the save.

Breakker is not pleased with Balor’s actions so Penta throws Mysterio and Balor into the corner for the double slingshot dropkick. Breakker doesn’t like that and takes out Judgment Day, only to spear the post by mistake. Mysterio is back up and goes after Breakker, who suplexes Mysterio and Balor at the same time. Breakker’s super Frankensteiner gets two on Balor but he’s able to knock Breakker outside. Mysterio dropkicks Balor in the back and tries a 619, earning himself quite the beating from Balor.

Penta Penta Drivers Balor for two with Breakker making the save. Breakker and Penta trade shots to the face but Carlito low bridges Breakker to the floor. Carlito makes another save after a Mexican Destroyer to Mysterio and goes after Penta, only to get speared through the announcers’ table. Back in and we hit the parade of knockdown, including a Super Spear to Penta but Balor dropkicks Breakker into the corner. The Coup de Grace connects…but Mysterio hits the frog splash to steal the pin on Balor for the title at 10:31.

Rating: B-. This was a way to get the title off of the unstoppable Breakker and dang if they didn’t have a great way out of it. Mysterio is the best choice of the three challengers as the fans are into what he’s doing and it’s easy to see why. He’s a great choice of someone in over his head but making it work out so well. Another rather entertaining match, with Breakker looking safe and getting to move up and Mysterio getting his big moment.

Mysterio celebrates like nuts, even leaving the ring and then running back down the ramp to do it again.

Video on Randy Orton’s Wrestlemania history. Orton was set for a big grudge match with Kevin Owens but Owens needs neck surgery, leaving Orton with no opponent. It’s open challenge time and for once, that’s the best option they had.

Randy Orton vs. ???

Orton (in gear reminiscent of what he wore in his debut) calls out anyone and…TNA World Champion (this is non-title of course) Joe Hendry of all people accepts. I didn’t see this coming at the time and it’s a heck of a surprise. The fans go rather nuts for him and we cut to Orton with a look on his face saying “ok, this guy has something”.

Hendry wrestles him down to start and hits a running shoulder on a slightly surprised Orton. The fans get behind Hendry, who tries the Standing Ovation. Orton is NOT pleased and pokes him in the eye, followed by the snap powerslam. Hendry is right back with the fall away slam and does his spinning pose…right into the RKO for the pin at 3:11.

Rating: C+. This wasn’t a great match or anything, but they were stuck in a rough situation here and did the best they could. Hendry was literally a fill in for Owens and had no issue with Orton. It was a cool surprise and the fans were into Hendry so this went about as well as it could have gone. I’ll take this over some thrown together grudge match as it’s certainly more memorable.

Post match Orton helps him up and of course gives him another RKO. Orton does Hendry’s spin into his own pose and gives Hendry a friendly slap on the chest.

We recap Logan Paul vs. AJ Styles. This gets a rather intense build, with the focus being on Styles being a career wrestler who pulled himself up while Paul showed up as a superstar. Therefore, it’s time to fight with a natural issue between them. As usual, sometimes it’s better to keep it simple.

Logan Paul vs. AJ Styles

Paul has a drone filming his entrance, which then flies around the stadium until he catches it back in the ring. That’s certainly different. Paul powers him into the corner to start and grabs a headlock. That’s broken up so Styles gives him a running shoulder into a dropkick. Paul knocks him outside but Styles catches him in the ring skirt (ala Fit Finlay) and chops away.

Styles whips him into the barricade but Paul manages some rams into the post. The drone starts shooting the match as Paul sends him back inside for the frog splash. The Overbomb (Big Show’s Alley Oop) gets two, with Styles having to grab the rope. Styles is back up with some right hands so Paul moonsaults him out of the corner for two. Paul fires off some European uppercuts and poses (makes sense for him), allowing Styles to fight back.

The Styles Clash is broken up though and Paul hits a great looking Lionsault (with some distance on it) for two. Styles catches him in the corner but the Styles Clash is blocked. Instead Paul sends him into the corner and hits a Buckshot Lariat for two. Paul’s big right hand is countered into a torture rack bomb for two.

Paul knocks him back down and hits a Styles Clash, only for Styles to roll into one of his own. They’re both down though so here is one of Paul’s goons with the brass knuckles. Karrion Kross pops up to cut the knuckles off though and Styles sends the good flying. Kross puts the knuckles down but Styles throws them away and decks Kross before going back inside. Back in and Paul hits the big right hand and grabs the Paulverizer for the pin at 17:32.

Rating: B. As usual, Paul gets to show what he can do on the big stage and does it rather well. Styles is someone who can work with any opponent and make them better, which is a big part of why he stayed around at such a high level for so long. This was pretty much exactly what you would expect and it wound up going well. Paul gets a big win and Styles looks fine in defeat. It works fine.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Raquel Rodriguez/Liv Morgan vs. Lyra Valkyria/???

Valkyria and someone are challenging after Bayley was attacked yesterday. The mystery partner is…Becky Lynch, who has been gone since May. Morgan and Lynch start things off but let’s go with Rodriguez instead. Lynch decks Rodriguez but goes after Morgan instead. Valkyria comes in for the springboard wristdrag and the fans certainly seem to approve

Back in and Morgan shoves Valkyria off the top, right into a boot from Rodriguez for two. Morgan comes back in and stomps away in the corner before rolling some suplexes. That means an Eddie Guerrero dance before she knocks Lynch off the apron and covers Valkyria for two. Rodriguez’s slingshot Jackhammer gets two but she misses an elbow drop. An enziguri hits Morgan, who goes outside and pulls Lynch out to the floor.

Lynch comes in to clean a bit of house but she’s sent outside, leaving Rodriguez to give Valkyria a Tour Of The Islands. Valkyria fights up and makes the real tag off to Lynch and the pace picks way back up. Rodriguez has to save Morgan from a cross armbreaker so Lynch low bridges Rodriguez to the floor. Oblivion hits Lynch with Valkyria making the save. Valkyria takes out Rodriguez and it’s the Manhandle Slam to pin Morgan for the titles at 8:39.

Rating: B-. Lynch coming back was a nice surprise, though I think you’re seeing where this is going (mainly because it was a year ago). They would drop the titles back to Morgan and Rodriguez the next night on Raw and of course Lynch attacked Bayley. It was still a nice return, with Lynch showing up after a rather long absence, as she always makes things better. The action was good too, which isn’t a surprise as Morgan and Rodriguez work well together.

Here is Steve Austin on his four wheeler and yes he rams into the barricade, knocking a woman down in the process (cue Nick Khan to check on the woman and probably give here whatever she wants). Austin announces the attendance of 63,226 but thinks that’s low so he demands a recount. He starts counting the fans (complete with WHAT) and gets to about twenty before announcing that it’s a two night total of 124,693 (which would eventually be revealed to be good for about SIXTY SIX MILLION DOLLARS in ticket sales). Also, note that Austin literally just got a reaction for counting. That’s talent.

We recap John Cena challenging Cody Rhodes for the Smackdown World Title. Cena is on his retirement tour and won the title shot by winning the Elimination Chamber. Then the Rock showed up to offer Cody Rhodes a spot on the team (in exchange for his soul). Rhodes turned him down…but Cena didn’t, as he was now evil for the first time in over twenty years and now has the Rock behind him on the way towards getting his 17th World Title. Rhodes will be fighting for WWE, which actually works as the fans do NOT like Cena, who is claiming that he doesn’t need the fans and their abuse.

Smackdown World Title: Cody Rhodes vs. John Cena

Rhodes has a bunch of motorcycle/motocross drivers on the stage for his entrance. After the Big Match Intros, Rhodes grabs a headlock and then shoulders Cena to the floor, leaving Cena less than thrilled. Back in and a hammerlock sends Cena to the ropes again so he goes outside for another breather. A headscissors puts Cena down again but he’s back up with a headlock this time.

Rhodes isn’t having that and drives him into the corner, where Cena comes back with a right hand to put Rhodes down. Cena stomps away and catapults Rhodes throat first into the bottom rope. A clothesline drops Rhodes again and we hit the chinlock. Rhodes fights up and gets taken right back down with a side slam for two. Some ax handles rock Rhodes again and Cena pokes the eyes to cut him off again.

A tornado DDT gives Cena two and some flying shoulders have Rhodes in more trouble. Rhodes gets up from the Shuffle though and it’s a powerslam into the Cody Cutter for a quick two. The AA out of nowhere gives Cena two and he can’t help but laugh. Cena takes him up top for a super AA and another near fall. That leaves Cena to go up top but he dives into a powerbomb for two. The Cody Cutter gets two but it’s another AA into the STF. Cena tries to pull him into the middle, only for Rhodes to kick Cena into the referee.

Cross Rhodes connects for no cover so Cena ribs a turnbuckle pad off. Rhodes is sent into the buckle twice in a row and there’s the fourth AA for two more. Cue Travis Scott (with a replica Hardcore Title, because that was a thing for him) who comes to the stage….and is finally off of it almost a minute later.

After nearly two minutes, Scott is on the apron as the match has just entirely stopped for this entrance. Rhodes is distracted by Scott but grabs Cross Rhodes, only for Scott to pull the referee. Scott FINALLY gets inside for the staredown with Rhodes, who gives him Cross Rhodes. Cena’s belt shot is blocked so Rhodes teases one of his own, but Cena begs off. Since Rhodes hesitates, Cena kicks him low and hits Rhodes with the belt for the pin and the title at 25:04.

Rating: D+. So this is a weird one, as they had a slow paced match (which was fine) for the most part, which then picked up near the end and felt more like a big main event fight. The problem though is the Scott stuff, which was a mixture of bad and unwanted. I’m still not sure why Cena and Scott were supposed to be friends but it was tied to the Rock, who wasn’t there. At the same time you have Rhodes looking like a moron while Cena got to look that much smarter. This wasn’t a great match, though it was fine enough until everything fell apart at the end.

Post match Cena gets his 17th title and Scott comes back in for the big celebration. Rhodes staggers away to end the show. No Rock, which would be the case for…the rest of Cena’s in-ring career, because the whole thing got dropped, leaving the story with nowhere to go. You know, because that’s a good thing for the biggest story in wrestling.

Overall Rating: B-. There were good matches during the show, with the opener being a classic, but the main event really didn’t work out so well (ok that’s an understatement). If you can get away from the main event, the show is that much better, but dang it drags things down. It’s far from a great show, but the opener and things like Hendry’s surprise appearance and Mysterio winning the title are enough to carry it.

Overall Overall Rating: B. As has been the case with every year since Wrestlemania went to two nights, there is a heck of a one night show in there but there is so much dragging it back down. On the positive sides though, you have the great set and production, some solid matches and Punk finally getting a Wrestlemania main event. I did like the show, but stretching the whole thing to about seven hours, even over two days, is still a long sit. The good here is very good, though you might want to stop it when the Rhodes and Cena recap begins.

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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Wrestlemania XL Night One
Date: April 6, 2024
Location: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 72,543
Commentators: Pat McAfee, Corey Graves, Michael Cole
National Anthem: Coco Jones

It’s hard to believe that a show this big was over a year ago and things still feel so hot. This is one of the things WWE does best, with a big milestone event and a huge main event which has big ties to night two. They’re in another NFL stadium and the fans are going to be hot all night, or at least they will be in theory. Let’s get to it.

Note that I was in the stadium for this show, sitting in the upper deck with the entrance on my right. It was VERY cold after the sun went down and that had a big impact on the fans all night.

We get the debut of the new “Then, Now And Forever” opening, which looked awesome then and now.

The opening video looks at the city of Philadelphia and features rapper Meek Mill. The focus is on the big tag team main event, with Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins teaming up to face Roman Reigns and the Rock, with the stipulations for Rhodes vs. Reigns on the line. The rest of the matches get a look, but they’re all paling in comparison to the big tag match.

Cole says that it’s 52 degrees but feels like 48. That would drop fast.

Coco Jones sings the National Anthem, ending a longstanding tradition of America The Beautiful.

Here is HHH for the big opening. He wastes no time in welcoming us to the show and we’re ready to go.

We recap Becky Lynch vs. Rhea Ripley for the latter’s Raw Women’s Title. The video looks at some passages from Lynch’s book, which talk about how important this is to her and how it is all she wants to do. Lynch got the shot by winning the Elimination Chamber and it’s pretty much a dream match, with Lynch being one of the only people close to Ripley’s level.

Raw Women’s Title: Rhea Ripley vs. Becky Lynch

Ripley is defending and gets played to the ring by Motionless In White in an outstanding entrance. She keeps singing the song even as she walks down the ramp to make it feel even more special. Commentary points out that Lynch has been sick with strep throat all week, which isn’t likely going to go well. Ripley shoves her down to start but Lynch avoids a charge into the corner.

Back up and Ripley muscles her over with a northern lights suplex for two, followed by a regular suplex for the same. Ripley kicks her down and goes up for an Eddie Guerrero frog splash but takes too long, allowing Lynch to armdrag her down (nice counter). Lynch strikes away and hits a tornado DDT for two, followed by a springboard kick out of the corner.

The middle rope Fameasser in the ropes sends Ripley outside, setting up a suplex into the barricade. Back in and another Fameasser gets two so Ripley fireman’s carry slams her down. One heck of a knee to the face gives Ripley two but she gets caught in a cross armbreaker. Three powerbombs finally break it up to give Ripley two and some screaming ensues.

Ripley hammers away but a charge into the post makes Ripley’s arm even worse. The arm is fine enough to grab the Prism Trap and it Ripley even pulls her into a bodyscissors for a unique twist (and crank). Somehow Lynch gets out and manages to counter Riptide into a Manhandle Slam for two. Back up and the Riptide out of nowhere gives Ripley two of her own, with the kickout leaving her angry.

Ripley goes up again and gets crotched back down again, setting up the Disarm-Her. That’s reversed into an electric chair and they fall over the top, with Ripley somehow sticking the landing. An electric chair drop onto the floor knocks Lynch silly, followed by a frog splash for two back inside. McAfee is LOSING IT on the kickout, asking why Lynch would kick out from all this while having a 102 degree fever. They both go up with Lynch’s super Manhandle Slam being broken up. Ripley punches her in the face, hits a Riptide onto the buckle (ow) and adds a regular version for the pin to retain at 17:08.

Rating: B. This was indeed a dream match and Lynch is always a threat to win a big fight, but Ripley getting this kind of a win was the right move. Ripley was on absolute fire at this point, having held the title for a year. It never quite got into that higher gear, but as someone who has had more than 30 (diagnosed) cases of strep throat, I can move than live with Lynch not being up to her normal level.

Pretty Deadly previews the six team ladder match for the Tag Team Titles. Wilson: “New Catch Republic.” Prince: “That’s a team?” They aren’t fans of most of the teams, but really hate the New Day. They even mock Xavier Woods’ trombone skills!

DIY vs. New Catch Republic vs. Awesome Truth vs. Judgment Day vs. A-Town Down Under vs. New Day

Judgment Day is defending and both the Raw and Smackdown titles are hanging above the ring, meaning two different teams can win them for a split. The Republic doesn’t get their own graphics at first, coming out with the Awesome Truth stuff appearing on the Titantron. There are twelve people in this so it’s going to be total insanity for a long time. A bunch of people brawl to the floor and the rest join them as it’s a big mess to start.

A-Town Down Under both grab ladders and go for an early climb but get caught, with a bunch of people going up and getting pulled right back down. New Day puts a ladder up between the belts and knocks the other ladders over, only to get pulled down by Judgment Day. A ladder to the head puts Ciampa down but Bate puts Balor in a torture rack…while Balor is holding a ladder at the same time. The ladder is eventually dropped, just like Balor onto another ladder in the corner.

For some reason Bate and Dunne climb a ladder on the floor, setting up stereo moonsaults onto piles of people. There is a big ladder bridged between the announcers’ table and the ring as Priest tries to go up. Miz cuts that off and gets beaten down for his efforts…as R-Truth wants a tag. The fans get into it and Priest’s look of “what am I doing here” is great.

Naturally Miz tags him in for the John Cena sequence, with the AA…pinning Balor. Priest comes back in to break it up and is taken out just as fast, but R-Truth wants Gargano (who he thinks is Shawn Michaels because reasons) to tune up the band. You do that at Wrestlemania, so it’s a superkick into Ciampa’s Fairy Tale Ending (close enough to the Pedigree) to drop Priest. Awesome Truth and DIY agree to get a set of titles each but A-Town Down Under break it up…and win the Smackdown Tag Team Titles at 7:30.

The Republic is right there to powerbomb Waller, still holding a title, through the bridged ladder to likely get rid of him, at least for a bit. DIY takes out the Republic and some others, with Bate being sent through the Prime Hydration Station. Since it’s Philadelphia (and wrestling in 2024), we need tables to go with the ladders. Ciampa is put on a bridged ladder (rather than a table) for a rope walk elbow from Woods.

New Day both goes up the ladder, with Kingston doing a big trust fall dive to take out the pile in a smart move. Theory is there to cut Woods off though, with the Republic having to cut him off. Gargano hits the One Final Beat over the top to send Dunne through a table on the floor for a nasty crash.

Not to be outdone, Ciampa hits a super Air Raid Crash off the latter to knock Bate silly. R-Truth is all alone but here is JD McDonagh, who wants to be in the Judgment Day, to make the save (because this match needs ANOTHER person). Kingston makes the save with a chair though and McDonagh is stuck on the ladder, which is tipped over for a pretty scary bump over the top through some tables.

Priest gives Kingston a Razor’s Edge onto a chair and goes up, with Miz making the save. Miz gets chokeshoved off the ladder and Priest grabs a fresh ladder, only to be taken out by R-Truth. That’s enough for R-Truth to get the Raw Tag Team Titles and finally wrap things up at 17:23.

Rating: B-. Total stunt show match and that’s a fine way to go, though dang there were a lot of people involved in this thing and it hurt the match. I’m really not a fan of splitting up the titles again, but at least we did get a fun moment with the Awesome Truth win. This was the “get a bunch of people on the show” match and the ladders…well they’re pretty much a Wrestlemania tradition these days. Fun match, but total insanity.

We get an ad for the Bray Wyatt documentary so the Fireflies are out in a nice moment.

Cole talks about the weather again, complete with the graphics, which is such a weird thing to see.

We recap Santos Escobar/Dominik Mysterio vs. Rey Mysterio/Andrade, which started with Escobar turning on Rey and injuring his knee. Dominik was added for the family touch and…well it was going to be Dragon Lee but then he got attacked last night so Andrade is there to make it a tag match. In other words, it’s a total mess of a story but we get the tag match anyway.

Dominik Mysterio/Santos Escobar vs. Rey Mysterio/Andrade

The rest of Legado del Fantasma and the LWO are here too. Escobar wastes no time in hitting a knee as Cole talks about how the wind is picking up, which is where the cold really started being a problem. It’s quickly off to Dominik, who gets hit in the face by Andrade. The spinning back elbow (better than the Judas Effect) connects and it’s off to Rey for a headscissors. Escobar puts Rey on his shoulders in an electric chair and they both dive onto the floor to take the villains out.

Back in and Rey tries to whip Dominik ala last year, but this time Dominik saves himself from the pain. Escobar comes back in with a middle rope legdrop, setting up a backbreaker/slingshot hilo combination for two. Another backbreaker keeps Rey in trouble but he gets a boot up in the corner to stop a charging Escobar. That’s enough for the tag off to Andrade so house can be quickly cleaned.

The running knees hit Dominik in the corner and the double jump moonsault gets two. It’s already back to Rey for the 619 to Escobar, leaving Andrade to moonsault onto Dominik. A super hurricanrana gives Escobar two so Elektra Lopez gets on the apron, only to be taken out by Zelina Vega.

The other seconds get involved, with Joaquin Wilde hitting his huge slingshot dive. Back in and Escobar sends Rey shoulder first into the post before telling Dominik to get a chair. Cue two rather muscular men in Rey masks (McAfee seems to recognize them) to break it up though, allowing Rey and Andrade to take out the villains. Rey’s top rope splash finishes Escobar at 11:02.

Rating: C+. This was another “get a bunch of people on the show” match and the video before the match didn’t make it feel any less complicated. Seeing the Mysterios fighting again after their far better match last year was a weird way to go and it was only so good of a match in the first place. Just do Rey vs. Escobar in their big grudge match.

On a personal note: I met Escobar at the Rocky Balboa statue the next day. Nice guy.

Post match the masked men unmask as Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson, former Philadelphia Eagles for a heck of a reaction.

We recap Jimmy Uso vs. Jey Uso, which is a look at how they have been brothers their whole life, having only been born nine minutes apart. They have shared everything over the years, from birthdays to family members to the main event of Wrestlemania. Then Roman Reigns caused them to split up (over and over), with Jey becoming more of a singles star.

Jey even challenged Reigns for the WWE Championship at Summerslam but Jimmy cost him the match and the title. Then they waited about eight months before the match because….I have no idea really, but in theory it’s so they can have this match at Wrestlemania. Ignore that it killed the feud’s momentum.

Jimmy Uso vs. Jey Uso

Lil Wayne (billed as the “greatest rapper of all time”) does part of Jey’s entrance. Jey isn’t wasting time and dives onto Jimmy during his entrance to start fast. A clothesline sends Jimmy outside for a suicide dive, followed by a high crossbody back inside. Jimmy grabs a pop up Samoan drop (doesn’t quite make it work), followed by the running Umaga attack in the corner.

Jey goes up but gets knocked out of the air, allowing Jimmy to start firing off the superkicks. Four or five leave Jey down and Jimmy goes up top, only to have to roll through the Superfly Splash. Jey’s superkick hits somewhere in the shoulder area, meaning it’s time for the YEET/NO YEET slugout.

They alternate the same sequence of strikes before trading superkicks (with Jey telling him to “GIVE ME THAT S***!”). Jey slowly superkicks him down, despite not seemingly wanting to do so. Jimmy apologizes and seems to offer a reunion, only to superkick Jey down. The Superfly Splash gets two on Jey but he’s back up with a spear. Now the Superfly Splash finishes Jimmy at 11:05.

Rating: D. Yeah this really was as bad and dull as it was seen as being. This was about eleven minutes of the two of them throwing superkicks and doing the same move to each other. I like the idea of having the brothers getting to fight at Wrestlemania and it’s a story that was set up, but they waited eight months to let the heat die off. This was a pretty cold match and then they just did the same moves until Jey won. Terribly boring stuff here and one of the worst matches you’ll see at Wrestlemania.

We recap Bianca Belair/Naomi/Jade Cargill vs. Damage CTRL. After Damage CTRL injured Belair, she realized she needed help so she got some friends. This is Belair’s first match since debuting at the Royal Rumble, making this more of a showcase for her than anything else.

Damage CTRL vs. Naomi/Bianca Belair/Jade Cargill

Damage CTRL comes to the ring with a bunch of geisha women dancing with fans. The other three rise up on a platform though and then step over onto the ramp, looking like superheroes (that was great). Naomi and Asuka start things off but Naomi has to kick Sane down as well. A splits splash in the corner gets two but Sane knocks Naomi outside, setting up an Insane Elbow to a standing Naomi on the floor.

Back in and Asuka and Sane double team her down, only for Naomi to hit a heck of a kick to the head in the corner. The tag brings in Belair to clean house, including a moonsault over a charging Kai in the corner so she can hammer on all three at once. A handspring moonsault gives Belair a triple near fall but Kai breaks up the tag attempt. Asuka’s running knee gets two but Belair flips out of a double suplex and dives over to Cargill.

That’s good for a heck of a reaction and Cargill gets to clean house. Cargill pulls Sane out of the air and throws her down, setting up a splash to Kai in the corner. Everything breaks down and Asuka mists Sane by mistake. The hair whip hits Asuka with a skin curdling sound, leaving Cargill to grab Kai (and walk her around the ring) for Jaded and the pin at 8:04.

Rating: C. This was little more than a countdown until Cargill got in at the end to do her big finisher. That’s quite the way to debut someone (at least outside of the Royal Rumble) and Cargill absolutely felt like a star. The problem is it wasn’t much of a match, as they only had so much time with so many people involved. Either way, it was all about Cargill and nothing more, which worked fairly well.

Post match the winners all get to pose for a nice moment.

We recap Gunther defending the Intercontinental Title vs. Sami Zayn. Gunther has rewritten all of the title’s records Gunther talks about the title’s history and all of the greatness that it has seen, but the legacy ends with him. Zayn wants to win a big singles match on his own and has been trained by Chad Gable, resulting in something of a Rocky III story as Zayn is scared of losing everything he has if he loses again. Gable talked him into training even harder though and we’re ready to go.

Zayn talks to his wife and son in the back, with his son saying he can do it. Zayn asks his wife to stay in the back with his son because he doesn’t want them to see the violence. With that done, Zayn runs into Gable, who wants Zayn out there on his own for his big moment. Zayn walks to the ring….and runs into Kevin Owens, who hugs him and tells him to go do it.

Intercontinental Title: Gunther vs. Sami Zayn

Gunther is defending and backs him into the corner to start. Zayn switches places and hammers away, with some of the chops staggering Gunther. A springboard doesn’t work so well though as Gunther German suplexes him out of the air. One heck of a chop and a boot to the head rock Zayn again but he keeps getting up and coming back. Gunther puts him on the top for a chop and then stands on Zayn’s face, which always looks painful.

More chopping has Zayn in trouble as Zayn’s wife is shown in the front row. Zayn is back up with a running shot of his own for a much needed breather. The chops rock Zayn again but Zayn PUNCHES HIM IN THE FACE to take over. Some half and half suplexes have Gunther rocked but he hits his big clothesline for two. Zayn is back up with his running up the corner tornado DDT so it’s time to load up the Helluva Kick.

Gunther pulls that into the sleeper so Zayn goes towards the ropes, which is countered with a suplex. A charge into the corner is cut off and Gunther gets suplexed, only to come out of the corner with the dropkick. One heck of a powerbomb gives Gunther two and he can’t believe the kickout. Gunther hits his own Helluva Kick, only to have Zayn hit one of his own (to the shoulder) for two.

Another big clothesline into a double powerbomb gets two and the fans are WAY into this. Gunther glares down at Zayn’s wife and then stomps on his head, leaving Zayn looking shaken. Zayn gets planted again and there’s another powerbomb to make it worse. Back to back top rope splashes crush Zayn….but he fights his way up and Helluva Kicks Gunther on top. The brainbuster onto the buckle connects (commentary JUMPS up in the background for a great visual) and a pair of Helluva Kicks FINALLY finish Gunther to make Zayn champion at 15:32.

Rating: A-. I knew where this was going and they pulled me into this match all over again. It really did feel like a Rocky story, as Zayn was in over his head with someone so much bigger and stronger, but Zayn was never going to give up and took it to Gunther until he won. It was an excellent story and I got way into this whole thing. Gunther losing isn’t going to hurt him after the most dominant reign ever and now he can move up to the next level. Awesome match with what felt like a Wrestlemania Moment.

Various wrestlers talk about the importance of Wrestlemania. There are a bunch of highlights from over the years and wrestlers talk about what it means to them. I have no idea what the point of this way other than “Hey, this thing that you’re watching is awesome isn’t it?”.

We look back at Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson getting involved earlier.

Cole has another weather report! It supposedly feels like 45 degrees and…there’s no way it was that warm.

Raw General Manager Adam Pearce and Smackdown General Manager Nick Aldis are here to say thank you to the 72,543 fans.

Various celebrities are here.

Wrestlemania Sunday rundown.

We hit the long recap on Seth Rollins/Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns/The Rock. Back in February, the Rock came back and teased facing Reigns at Wrestlemania, with Rhodes seemingly stepping aside. This led to a big fan movement to get Rhodes (the Royal Rumble winner) back in the match, with Rhodes saying he wanted to face Reigns. They argued over their families’ legacies, with Rock joining forces with his cousin as part of the Bloodline.

Rollins (the World Heavyweight Champion, who is also defending on Sunday) offered to be on Rhodes’ side to take out the Bloodline once and for all. The tag match was set, with some special stipulations: if Rollins/Rhodes win, Reigns vs. Rhodes is a clean match with no Bloodline. If Rock/Reigns lose though, the match is Bloodline Rules, where anything goes. Rock wasn’t done though and even insulted Rhodes’ mother to make it extra personal. He also busted Rhodes open but that’s not as bad as messing with his mom.

The Rock/Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes/Seth Rollins

If the villains win, Rhodes vs. Reigns is Bloodline Rules but if the good guys wins, the Bloodline is barred from ringside. Naturally the Rock has his own title (which he got last night) and comes out in a flaming Brahma Bull symbol, because this has to take its sweet time. So after the Big Match Intros, we’re ready to go over TWENTY SIX MINUTES after the recaps and entrances started.

They all stare at each other for over a minute to start until Reigns and Rollins start things off. We get more stalling as Reigns looks at the singing crowd. They finally lock up over two and a half minutes after the bell, with Reigns grabbing a headlock. Reigns knocks him down so Rollins starts running the ropes, setting up a kick to the ribs to slow Reigns a bit. Rhodes comes in to work on Reigns’ arm but gets clotheslined in the corner for his efforts. Some forearms don’t get Rhodes very far and it’s a standoff.

Rollins comes in off a blind tag and we get a big two on one staredown with Reigns. Rock (slowly, like everything else) comes in to shove Rollins down as McAfee sounds like he’s getting antsy about the slow pace. Rollins hits Rock in the face and it’s time for the fans to sing again. Some right hands put Rollins down and a clothesline does it again so Rock wants Rhodes.

That’s exactly what he gets for a lockup before Rhodes wins a slugout. Everything breaks down for a four way staredown and the big brawl is on. Rollins spits Prime into Rock’s face as Rhodes and Reigns fight up the aisle. Rock fights back and tells the referee that if he counts, he’s fired (nice little way to get around the countout). Rollins and Rock fight into the crowd with Rollins sending him into various hard objects.

Reigns and Rhodes fight over a suplex on the stage as Rollins is sent into a trashcan. Some water to the face seems to wake Rollins up a bit and everyone comes back to ringside. Reigns gets in a cheap shot on Rollins to knock him off the apron, with Rollins coming up favoring his knee. They actually get back inside, with Rock starting in on the knee, including wrapping it around the post.

Reigns grabs a half crab but Rollins fights out, only for Reigns to knock Rhodes outside. That means there’s no one for Rollins to tag so he clotheslines Reigns outside and follows him, only to get whipped into the steps. Back in and Reigns hits some corner clotheslines, allowing him to strike the Bloodline pose for a bit. The Superman Punch is countered into a neckbreaker but Rock is right there with a low blow.

The referee even goes over to Rhodes with an apology, which is unique if nothing else. Granted it makes you wonder why Rock hasn’t ordered the referee to say “Rollins can’t continue, Bloodline wins”, but maybe I’m thinking too much into this. The jumping enziguri gets Rollins out of trouble but Reigns pulls Rhodes off the apron to break up the tag. Rock gets the Sharpshooter so Rhodes comes in with a slap to break it up.

Rollins manages to hit the Stomp and crawls over for the needed tag. Rhodes Disaster Kick and Cody Cutters Reigns for two but Reigns is back with a Superman Punch. The spear is countered into a sunset flip for two and a top rope Cody Cutter…is more a top rope headbutt, with Rollins tagging himself in for a frog splash and a near fall. Heyman tells Rollins “I hate your d*** song” to make it personal as Rollins gets up. Well that’s a bit extreme.

Some superkicks put Reigns down but Rock cuts Rollins off, leaving Reigns to spear Rhodes for two. The guillotine goes on to put Rhodes in more trouble, with Rollins making the save with another stomp. Rock whips out the bloody weight belt and yells at Mama Rhodes, who yells back with quite the fire in her voice. Rhodes knocks the belt away from Rock but walks into a spinebuster. The People’s Elbow is countered into a Cody Cutter (thanks for diving into it Rock) but Reigns is back in with a Superman Punch.

The spear….hits the Rock though and stereo Pedigrees drop the Bloodline for a double near fall (Heyman’s panicked face in the background was great). Back up and they fight to the floor, where Rock spits water on Rhodes and loads up the announcers’ table. Rollins breaks up the Rock Bottom through the table though and Rhodes gives Rock a Rock Bottom through the other one instead.

One heck of a spear puts Rollins through the barricade and everyone is down. Rock and Rhodes get back inside, but Reigns cheap shots Rhodes from the floor. Back in and Reigns slugs it out with Rhodes for the BOO/YAY until a pair of Cross Rhodes drops Reigns. The third is broken up with a weightlifting belt to the back and Reigns hits the spear. The Rock Bottom and People’s Elbow finish Rhodes (Cole declares him “screwed”) at 44:32.

Rating: C+. This is almost fascinating in a way, as it’s not a bad match, but it’s almost the length of the first three matches on the card combined. You could have EASILY cut off about twenty minutes of this and gotten the same thing, but everything was just taking its sweet time out there. I can go with the Empire Strikes Back style ending as the villains get to stand tall and our hero looks dead to rites, but dang man this was just far too long. The fact that the match was taking place in front of a freezing stadium and so many of the fans just wanted to go home and warm up made it even worse.

The villains pose and the heroes realize they’re in big trouble tomorrow.

A long highlight package wraps us up.

Overall Rating: B-. For what was supposed to be the first half of the biggest show of the year, this really didn’t stand out that much. Lynch vs. Ripley felt big but never got to that next level, Zayn vs. Gunther was genuinely great and the main event was WAY too long. The other four matches on the show ranged from forgettable to bad, and that doesn’t make for much of a four plus hour show. It’s not awful or bad, but I was expecting a bit more than what we got here.

Ratings Comparison

Rhea Ripley vs. Becky Lynch

Original: B
Redo: B

Tag Team Ladder Match

Original: C+
Redo: B-

Dominik Mysterio/Santos Escobar vs. Andrade/Rey Mysterio

Original: C+
Redo: C+

Jimmy Uso vs. Jey Uso

Original: D
Redo: D

Damage CTRL vs. Jade Cargill/Naomi/Bianca Belair

Original: C+
Redo: C

Sami Zayn vs. Gunther

Original: A-
Redo: A-

The Rock/Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes/Seth Rollins

Original: C+
Redo: C+

Overall Rating

Original: B-
Redo: B-

That’s almost the same, or at least close enough, up and down the card, which doesn’t happen very often.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @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 XXXIX Night One
Date: April 1, 2023
Location: SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, California
Attendance: 67,303
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves
America The Beautiful: Becky G

I’ve been curious to get back to this show as it was rather well received last year, leading me to wonder just how well it holds up. The main event of the first night is the Usos defending the Tag Team Titles against Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens, which is still hard to believe in multiple ways. Other than that, we have Rhea Ripley challenging Charlotte for the Smackdown Women’s Title. Let’s get to it.

The set is a classic one, looking like the stage at the Academy Awards.

Becky G sings America The Beautiful.

The opening video features Kevin Hart, who threatens the voiceover guy with a big boot and legdrop. Hart is here to tell us a story about something that happened once upon a time in Hollywood. This sends us to a Wrestlemania greatest hits package before we look at the Wrestlemania trailers, which really weren’t close to the level of the originals in 2005. Hart asks the pyro budget to wrap it up.

Here are the hosts (in the ring rather than doing a full entrance in a smart time saver), the Miz and Snoop Dogg, to get things going. Miz talks about how they have a lot in common: they’re both musicians (Miz was in Wrestlemania: The Musical) and they’re both in a bunch of movies, plus Snoop is a WWE Golden Champ. Snoop: “So we’re the same?” Snoop says it’s more about the champions in the audience tonight, sending Miz into a preview of the card. We’re ready to fire it up so let’s get going.

US Title: Austin Theory vs. John Cena

Theory, defending, has one of my favorite entrance styles as the camera is shooting from the entrance, allowing you to look at the sea of humanity in front of him. It’s been awesome for years and it still is here. Cena on the other hand gets a video of his Make-A-Wish work (which is as cool as it gets) and has a bunch of Make-A-Wish kids with him for the big feel good moment. The entrance is rather strong, though maybe not as strong as that bald spot Cena is sporting.

Feeling out process to start with Theory grabbing a headlock and getting powered off without much effort. Cena goes after the arm and takes Theory down with a headlock takeover as the fans aren’t sure about this one. Back up and Cena powers him into the corner so Theory gets creative with a bite of the ear of all things. As I try to figure out if Theory was alive for Tyson vs. Holyfield II, Theory jumps Cena from behind and hits a suplex for two.

Theory takes a bit too long to follow up though and Cena snaps off a suplex of his own. The rolling Blockbuster cuts Cena right back down for two and we hit the posing for a bit. Theory’s rolling dropkick gets the same as the fans aren’t quite into these covers yet. More posing sets up Theory knocking him down again but a big stomp is blocked. The AA is countered into a DDT to give Theory two more and the frustration is on again.

Theory misses a charge into the corner and they slug it out until Theory grabs a sleeper. That’s broken up with a ram into the buckle and Cena initiates the finishing sequence. The AA is blocked again with a grab of the ropes and the referee gets bumped. Cena grabs the STF for the tap, which the referee doesn’t see. Theory gets in a low blow and A Town Down retains the title at 11:21.

Rating: C. It takes some guts to have Cena come out with the Make-A-Wish kids and then have him lose. As for the rest of the match, it was rather basic and felt like Cena was just playing the greatest hits. I get that Cena wasn’t able to be his old self, but it was getting close to “shell of his former self” territory. It was an attempt to give Theory a rub, but that didn’t quite click here as it felt like Theory was beating someone out there for one more match rather than a returning star.

Street Profits vs. Ricochet/Braun Strowman vs. Alpha Academy vs. Viking Raiders

This is dubbed a Showcase Match, which is pretty much flat out saying “they’re here to be on the card”. I kind of like the honesty there. Titus O’Neil is on commentary for no adequately explored reason. The Raiders have Valhalla (or Sarah Logan according to Titus) in their corner. Ricochet and Gable start things off and thank goodness they aren’t having four in the ring at once.

Ricochet’s hurricanrana attempt is countered into a quickly broken ankle lock so Ricochet sweeps the legs, only to get pulled into a backslide for one. Gable gets sent into the corner for the tag from Otis, who runs Ricochet over without much effort (Titus: “Big sweaty Otis!”). It’s right back to Gable, who mocks Strowman, allowing Ricochet to jump over Gable and make the tag.

All eight get in (you knew it was coming) and the big brawl is on. The Vikings clear the ring and the springboard clothesline/German suplex combination drops Ricochet. Ragnarok hits Ford but let’s stop to pose instead of covering. Strowman is back up to run both of them over, only to have Gable come back in for the rolling Chaos Theory. Gable goes up for a Swan Dive but Dawkins tags himself in, only to miss a dive. Ivar comes in and misses the moonsault as Dawkins moves (not that it would have connected anyway).

That leaves Strowman to hit a top rope splash for two on Strowman, with almost everyone else making the save. Otis World’s Strongest Slams Strowman but Ford is back in to clean some house. A bunch of people go to the corner and that is indeed a Tower Of Doom, with Ricochet diving onto them for the real crash. Strowman is up for the Strowman Express until Dawkins BLASTS HIM with a shoulder to pop the heck out of Titus. Ricochet is up with a springboard shooting star onto Dawkins but the shooting star press inside hits raised knees. Ford’s frog splash to Ricochet’s back (onto Dawkins’ knees) is enough for the pin at 8:29.

Rating: B. The term showcase makes sense here as that is what it felt like we saw. This was eight people getting the chance to have fun and it felt like something you would have seen on an independent show. That block on Strowman and Ricochet’s shooting star were both great, though the Profits were the most established team coming into this and giving them the win makes sense. I’m not usually wild on the people being stacked onto the card, but I’ll take it over a battle royal.

Video on Brock Lesnar vs. Omos, which takes place tomorrow.

We recap Seth Rollins vs. Logan Paul. Rollins is a star and Paul eliminated him from the Royal Rumble. To make it worse, Paul has knocked cost Rollins the US Title and knocked him out with his loaded right hand, leaving Rollins a little worried.

The UpUpDownDown crew simulates Rollins vs. Paul in WWE2K23, with Rollins having a 58% chance to win.

Seth Rollins vs. Logan Paul

Paul ziplines in, which is cool enough, but it doesn’t have much in the way of lasting power. Rollins has quite the entrance, as a conductor leads the crowd to sing his song. There is also a walking bottle of Prime, which can’t end well. Rollins grabs a headlock to start and talks to Paul a bit before being shoved away. They pick the pace up a bit with Rollins hitting a running shoulder but it’s way too early for the Stomp.

Back up and Paul throws him over the top (just like he did at the Royal Rumble, hence Paul saying “that’s twice”). Rollins isn’t happy with that and comes back in to hammer away until Paul snaps his throat across the top. Back in and Paul starts slugging away before avoiding a charge in the corner. A springboard crossbody into a standing moonsault gives Paul two and we hit something like a seated octopus. They strike it out while laying on the mat until Paul busts out a nice gutwrench suplex.

Commentary isn’t sure if they should be shocked that Paul is this good as he jumps from the mat to the top for a moonsault (geez) which only hits mat. The fans greatly approve of something (seemingly in the crowd) as Rollins makes the comeback and sends him over the top to even the score a bit. Three straight suicide dives connect for Rollins so Paul crawls away, only for Rollins to Stomp his hand on the steps.

Back in and the Pedigree is countered into an exchange of rollups for two each. Paul pops up and hits the big right hand but the pain means it’s a VERY delayed near fall. Rollins is back up with a sitout powerbomb for two and the Stomp is loaded up….but the bottle of Prime makes the save. It’s KSI (Paul’s business partner), whose distraction lets Paul post Rollins for the big knockdown. The announcers’ table is cleared off but KSI spends too much time filming, allowing Rollins to pull him in the way of Paul’s splash off the post through the table.

Back in and the Pedigree gets two in a heck of a kickout, leaving them both down. The frustrated Rollins hits an elbow to the back of the head but the Stomp is pulled out of the air. Paul busts out a GTS of all things before dropping a nice frog splash for two. With Rollins down in the corner, Paul goes up and tries a Coast To Coast, only to dive into a superkick. The Stomp finishes for Rollins at 16:14.

Rating: B+. These guys tore the house down with some awesome stuff as Paul continues to be an absolute freak of nature out there. He absolutely should not be this good with so little experience but here he is, having a heck of a match with a top WWE star on the biggest stage of them all. I had a great time watching this and you could feel the energy going up over and over throughout. Great match.

We recap Damage CTRL vs. Becky Lynch/Trish Stratus/Lita. Damage CTRL took out Lynch so she brought in Lita of all people to team with her and take the Women’s Tag Team Titles. Lita and Lynch, with an assist from Stratus, actually won the titles so now it’s time for a big grudge match.

Damage CTRL vs. Lita/Trish Stratus/Becky Lynch

Damage CTRL gets a normal entrance while the other three get a movie trailer/comic book style entrance, which is indeed rather cool and fitting for the show. For some reason they come into the stadium in black and white and….well it’s cool but I’m not sure I get the theme here. We get the big staredown to start and the fight is on before the bell. Damage CTRL is cleared out to the floor so Lynch baseball slides into Kai.

Back in and we officially start with Lynch’s early Manhandle Slam attempt being broken up. Sky offers a distraction so Kai can kick Lynch in the head, meaning the villains can take over in the corner. Some knees in the corner give Sky two, followed by a heck of a springboard missile dropkick for the same. A double wheelbarrow suplex/neckbreaker combination gives Bayley two, followed by Kai’s kick to the face for two more.

Lynch manages to send Bayley outside and drop Kai but Bayley pulls Stratus down to break up the tag attempt. Kai is finally knocked down though and the tag brings in Lita for a kind of awkward looking headscissors. Another headscissors sends Sky face first into the corner, setting up a faceplant for two. Lita goes up but Kai offers a cheap shot to put her down as the villains take over again.

Triple kicks drop Lita again before Sky bends the neck around the rope and screams menacingly. Lita manages to DDT her way out of trouble and brings Trish back in to chop away at Kai in the corner. A neckbreaker gives Stratus two but the Stratusphere is broken up. Everything breaks down and an assisted Stratusphere sends Kai off the top and down onto Sky/Bayley.

Back in and we get a rather awful looking Poetry In Motion to Kai, setting up the Disarm-Her from Lynch. Bayley breaks that up and takes Stratus down before pulling Kai over to the right corner in a move heels should use more often. The Rose Plant and Manhandle Slam are broken up but Bayley’s second Rose Plant connects with Lita having to make the save. Stratus comes back in and everything breaks down with everyone but Sky crashing out to the floor.

Sky moonsaults onto the pile and everyone is down at once. All six of them get back in and we have the three on three slugout, much to the fans’ delight. Lita hits Sky with a Twist of Fate and the Chick Kick drops Kai. The Litasault connects on Kai and Sky, leaving Lynch to hit a super Manhandle Slam for the pin at 14:38.

Rating: C-. This wasn’t very good as it felt long and then went another five minutes. Lita can’t really move all that well anymore (a lot of that will have to do with her neck problems) and it was getting tough to watch her out there. Everything else was ok at best and this really needed to be about five or more minutes shorter. Not an awful match, but slow and fairly dull to watch at times.

Video on Bianca Belair vs. Asuka for the former’s Raw Women’s Title on Night Two.

We recap Dominik Mysterio vs. Rey Mysterio. Dominik has been corrupted by Rhea Ripley and the Judgment Day and has gone full evil. This saw him torment his dad for months before finally getting Rey’s attention by going after his own mother. Now Rey is ready to teach his son, who was arrested for invading Rey’s house and now brags about his time (all of a few hours) in jail, a lesson.

Bad Bunny is on Spanish commentary.

Rey Mysterio vs. Dominik Mysterio

Following a long video showing him being transported from prison (including a shot of Auschwitz (as in the German concentration camp, which WWE had to apologize for using), Dominik is out first and comes to the ring in the back of a police van, where he has to be unshackled (with a lucha mask, which has Michael Cole WAY too incensed). Yeah that’s not going to be topped. Rey is driven to the ring in a low rider (with Eddie Guerrero music) by Snoop Dogg and yeah Dominik wasn’t topped.

Dominik, in gear close to Rey’s Halloween Havoc 1997 attire, locks up to start and gets absolutely nowhere with it. They go to the mat with Dominik taking him down, only to be sent out to the floor. Back in and Rey snaps off a running hurricanrana, meaning Dominik needs a breather. That’s fine with Rey, who headscissors him into the corner, where a whipping ensues. Dominik bails to the floor again, where he grabs a drink from his sister and throws it into her face.

Rey goes over to cut said sister off, allowing Dominik to catapult him into the post. That’s too far even for Graves, who can’t bring himself to defend Dominik on this one. The abdominal stretch goes on back inside before Dominik drops him down, meaning more trash talk can ensue. He yells at his mother enough that she slaps him in the face, allowing Rey to start the comeback.

Back in and Rey starts the comeback, including the springboard spinning crossbody. The Eddie Dance looks to set up Three Amigos but here is Judgment Day as Dominik drives him into the corner. Rey gets a running start but gets flipped over Dominik, sending him face first into the bottom turnbuckle for a VERY hard crash. After the referee makes sure Rey’s face isn’t broken, Dominik tries Three Amigos but Rey slips out of the third.

The 619 connects, only to have the Judgment Day offer a distraction so Dominik can take Rey down again. Rey is sent outside so Judgment Day surrounds him, only for the LWO to come in for the save. Back in and Dominik’s 619 sets up a frog splash for two, meaning frustration is setting in. Dominik unhooks the turnbuckle pad but the referee sees him, allowing Dominik to grab a chain instead. Bad Bunny breaks that up though and it’s a 619 into the frog splash to give Rey the pin at 14:31.

Rating: B. This is a weird one as I remembered absolutely loving it the first time but instead this was just good. The spanking in the corner spot was great and it was by far the biggest match Dominik has had. The big thing here was the Mysterio Family overcome Judgment Day and the evils of Dominik, which is about as feel good of a feeling as you can have.

It told a story and the action was good, making it feel very Wrestlemania worthy. Having the LWO there to cut off Judgment Day and Bad Bunny there to even things out again were nice additions as well. Good stuff overall, though maybe not the classic I remember it being originally.

You should visit Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rico tourism bureau really recommends it.

We recap Rhea Ripley challenging Charlotte for the Smackdown Women’s Title. Ripley is the new monster of the division but Charlotte beat her before. This is a very different Ripley though and she wants the title, but also to avenge her loss to Charlotte at Wrestlemania XXXVI.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Charlotte vs. Rhea Ripley

Ripley is challenging. They take their time to start before Ripley runs her over. Back up and Charlotte knocks her out to the floor for a change, with Ripley looking a bit scared. She gets back inside where Charlotte is sent to the apron, only to come back with a big boot. A high crossbody gives Charlotte two but Ripley drops her face first onto the top turnbuckle. Ripley’s bodyscissors slows things down a bit, followed by the chops to keep Charlotte in trouble.

Charlotte is back up with some chops up against the ropes but Ripley snaps off a German suplex for two. Another comeback lets Charlotte drop her on the turnbuckle and hit some clotheslines, followed by the big chops to really stagger Ripley. Back up and Ripley rolls through a high crossbody and tries Riptide, only to get countered into a heck of a DDT for a near fall. Stereo big boots leave them both down for a minute before it’s time to slug it out. Ripley sends her into the knee but Charlotte snaps off a t-bone suplex.

Charlotte takes too long going up though and it’s a release German superplex for two, leaving Ripley shaken up. The breather lets Charlotte go after the knee and Natural Selection gets two. They go outside, where Charlotte misses a charge into the steps, allowing Ripley to grab a belly to back faceplant for two. Riptide is countered into a German suplex to put Ripley down but she’s back up with a German suplex to put Charlotte down on her face (that was almost really bad as Charlotte barely rotated enough).

Charlotte is fine enough to hit a heck of a big boot for tow more but the Figure Four is blocked again. A staggered Ripley rolls to the apron, where Charlotte hits another big boot. The moonsault to the floor actually connects but Ripley blocks the Figure Four again. The spear misses and a quick Riptide gets two, leaving Ripley absolutely stunned (you don’t see that every day). With the covers not working, Ripley grabs the Prism Trap, which looks even more impressive with someone as tall as Charlotte.

The rope is reached and Ripley almost runs into the referee, allowing Charlotte to come back with a spear for two of her own. Another big boot (Charlotte likes those) drops Ripley and the Figure Four finally goes on but the rope is grabbed in about half a second. They go up top, where Ripley drops her face first onto the post. That sets up a super Riptide to knock Charlotte good and silly for the pin and the title at 23:34.

Rating: A. I gave this a B+ last year and I completely shortchanged the whole thing. These two beat the living daylights out of each other and it felt like an absolute war with Ripley being crowned as the new queen. This is the match that Ripley needed to win and WWE got it absolutely right with the victory coming in a war. It was time for something new in the division and that was Ripley, who had to beat Charlotte to get there after what happened three years ago. Outstanding match here and an instant classic.

Video on Gunther defending the Intercontinental Title against Drew McIntyre and Sheamus on Night Two.

Austin Theory says he showed John Cena. Do you believe in him now?

Miz and Snoop Dogg announce tonight’s attendance: 80,497. Snoop says the only thing that would be better than that would be if Miz had a match tonight and Miz agrees. He put out an open challenge, but no one responded. Everyone knows that he is the toughest man here and we hit the catchphrase….which is cut off by Pat McAfee.

Cole stands up and Graves looks crushed all over again. McAfee says high to the beautiful people and greets Snoop before saying no one heard about this open challenge. He’s wearing his Wrestlemania tank top and the challenge is on. Miz would love to do it but he’s just the host of Wrestlemania so he can’t make the match. McAfee mocks Miz’s testicular fortitude so Snoop decides he can make the match. Miz tells Snoop to do this instead. Snoop: “I don’t do this. I rap.” And the bell rings.

Pat McAfee vs. Miz

McAfee slugs away to start and catches a charging Miz with a spinebuster. Miz goes up top but McAfee goes up with him and then backflips away. A superkick (and a nice one) knocks a diving Miz out of the air so Miz is ready to walk. For reasons of celebrity involvement, Miz shoves NFL tight end George Kittle, who jumps the barricade (security around here is awful) and clotheslines Miz. That lets McAfee go up onto the post and flip dive down onto Miz for the big crash. Back in and McAfee hits the Punt for the pin at 3:25.

Rating: C. This was the goofy fun that they knew it would be as Miz continues to be the perfect choice for the goof who can be beaten down and come back again later no matter what. McAfee is a nice celebrity guest star as he can more than handle himself in a short match and the fans seemed to like him. Good, easy fun here.

Wrestlemania XL is in Philadelphia.

Night Two rundown.

We recap the Usos defending the Tag Team Titles against Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens. Zayn had been part of the Bloodline but they eventually turned on him, leaving Zayn to turn to his long time, on again/off again partner Owens, who did not trust Zayn. There was one too many beatdowns though, and Owens finally reformed the team with Zayn to set up the title match, as they have to bring the Bloodline down one way or another. The other aspect of this is Jey Uso, who seemed to trust Zayn before getting stabbed in the back as well. Zayn still seems to believe in Jey, which adds a bit of a twist to the whole thing.

Tag Team Titles: Usos vs. Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens

The Usos are defending and are played to the ring by Lil Uzi Vert. Owens and Zayn are so fired up and you can feel every bit of it. After the Big Match Intros, Zayn seems ready to start with Jimmy but Jey comes in instead. Jey shoulders Zayn down but he comes back with right hands for a change. Jimmy low bridges Zayn to the floor though as the villains start taking over.

A suplex to the floor and a boot to the face keep Zayn in trouble, with Jey adding a Stinger Splash for two. Zayn finally manages to send the champs outside though and it’s Owens coming in to clean house. A big flip dive to the floor drops the Usos and a frog splash from the apron/top rope each gets two on Jimmy. Back in and Jey hits a pop up neckbreaker to cut Owens off though and we slow back down.

Owens fights back and tries a Swanton, only to hit raised knees. Jimmy adds a quick Superfly Splash for two and the near fall has Jimmy confused. Some superkicks put Jimmy into the corner though and it’s a Cannonball to Jimmy, with Zayn brainbustering Jey on the apron. The Swanton gives Owens two and Zayn adds his own Superfly Splash for two more. Cole references El Generico for the OLE chants but Jey cuts things off with a superkick.

A high quantity of superkicks get two on Zayn, with Owens having to make a save. Another superkick gets two but this time Zayn kicks out himself. Owens tries to come in sans tag but gets spinebustered through the announcers’ table for his efforts. Back in and the 1D gets two on Zayn, with Cole (and the fans) LOSING IT over the kickout. The livid Jey shouts at Zayn in the corner, slapping away while saying they were brothers.

Jey hits a Helluva Kick but Zayn grabs an exploder suplex into the corner. The tag brings in Owens for powerbombs a plenty, setting up a Helluva Kick from Zayn to Jimmy. The Stunner gets two on Jey and everyone is down. They all pull themselves up and the fight is on again, meaning more and more superkicks.

The Usos’ superkicks are superer though and Owens is down while Zayn is knocked to the floor. The double Superfly Splashes get two and the Usos are stunned. Zayn breaks up the super 1D though and Owens superplexes Jimmy, allowing the tag to Zayn for the Helluva Kick to Jey. Another Helluva Kick to Jey, a Stunner to Jimmy and a third Helluva Kick to Jey FINALLY give us new champions at 24:07.

Rating: B+. This was all about the emotion, as Owens and Zayn had such a long story to not only win the titles, but they headlined Wrestlemania (two in a row for Owens) to do so. That is one of those “who would have believed it” stories and my goodness the payoff was worth the wait. If nothing else, the fact that neither of them had won a Tag Team Title in WWE until now is almost hard to fathom. The match itself was rather good too and they nailed the finish as it had to be Zayn pining Jey, but even the Young Bucks would tell them to tone down the superkicks here. Heck of a main event though.

A big celebration and the highlight package take us out for the night.

Overall Rating: A-. There were eight matches on here (one of which was the impromptu celebrity match) and five of them were very good to excellent. That is getting into all time territory and if the other two matches (Cena/Theory and the six woman tag) could have held up even a bit more, it’s one of the best shows ever. For now, I’ll more than go with what they gave us, including an excellent Ripley vs. Charlotte match.

The biggest thing here though was how grand everything felt. From the stadium to the set to the crowd to the action, it felt like the biggest show in the world and that is what sets Wrestlemania apart. There is nothing like it in wrestling and this one blew a bunch of its predecessors out of the water. I liked it a lot on the first viewing and the repeat might have been even better. Definitely worth a look if you haven’t seen it before or even since the original airing.

Ratings Comparison

John Cena vs. Austin Theory

Original: C
Redo: C

Street Profits vs. Alpha Academy vs. Ricochet/Braun Strowman vs. Viking Raiders

Original: B
Redo: B

Logan Paul vs. Seth Rollins

Original: B+
Redo: B+

Damage CTRL vs. Becky Lynch/Trish Stratus/Lita

Original: C-
Redo: C-

Rey Mysterio vs. Dominik Mysterio

Original: A-
Redo: B

Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte

Original: B+
Redo: A

Pat McAfee vs. Miz

Original: C
Redo: C

Usos vs. Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn

Original: A-
Redo: B+

Overall Rating

Original: B+
Redo: A-

Pretty close all around but it’s better than a B+ overall.

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