Smackdown
Date: September 26, 2025
Location: Kia Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Booker T.

We’re done with Wrestlepalooza and things have kind of reset, with Cody Rhodes retaining the Smackdown World Title over Drew McIntyre. Normally that would mean a new challenger emerging but instead we have Crown Jewel and champion vs. champion coming up for the next few weeks. Other than that, the Women’s Title is on the line in a three way so let’s get to it.

Here is Wrestlepalooza if you need a recap.

Long Wrestlepalooza recap, including a shot from the post show of Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins having a staredown.

Here is Paul Heyman for a chat. He has a lot to talk about and paraphrases a “secondary champion” by asking what we want to talk about. The fans cut him off with an OTC chant but Heyman points out that Reigns was stretchered out of Paris by Bronson Reed. Maybe we should talk about Bron Breakker, who will be the star of the next ten years? Or maybe the conspiracy theories about Brock Lesnar? Either way, here is Cody Rhodes to interrupt.

Rhodes apologizes for calling Heyman a goon last week, so he wants to hear about Brock Lesnar. We look at a still of Heyman introducing Lesnar at Wrestlepalooza and Rhodes suggests that it wasn’t a one night thing. Is he talking to the Oracle, a wiseman, or an advocate? Heyman: “You’re talking to the GOAT.” The reality is that Lesnar is going to put everyone in danger but here is the Vision.

Rhodes says it’s about time they met, because he knows what it’s like to be the son of a legend. He grew up the son of a booker and was around all kinds of people in wrestling but he always knew where their loyalties lied. Where do Heyman’s loyalties lie though? No one knows, but they aren’t with Breakker. The fight is teased and Rhodes takes his watch off but the numbers get the better of him in a hurry. The beatdown is on until Randy Orton runs in for the save. That’s a heck of a tag match whenever they get around to it, along with the eventual Rhodes vs. Orton title match.

The Street Profits talk about how they have issues at times but the goal is always the same.

Street Profits vs. Carmelo Hayes/The Miz

For a future Tag Team Title shot. Miz rolls Ford up a few times to start and it’s off to Hayes, who gets his own rollup for two. Everything breaks down in a hurry and the Profits clear the ring but Hayes dropkicks Dawkins on the floor. We take a break and come back with Miz DDTing Ford for two and Hayes knocks Dawkins off the apron in a smart move.

Ford slips out of a belly to back suplex but Miz is right there to pull Dawkins down. The First 48 connects and Hayes loads up Nothing But Net, only for Miz to tag himself in. The argument is on, allowing the tag off to Dawkins. A Sky High into the frog splash gives Ford the pin at 9:28 (with Hayes glaring at Miz rather than making the save).

Rating: C+. Good enough match, with the Profits seemingly getting back on the same page. The question now is whether or not that is maintained at the title match, as the Wyatts are the reason for their strife in the first place. At the same time, Miz and Hayes are still having issues, which has been the case since they got together in the first place.

The Wyatt Sicks come out for the staredown.

Jade Cargill is tired of Tiffany Stratton and Nia Jax so she’s ready to become champion. Stephanie Vaquer comes in and Cargill says she’s coming for her at Crown Jewel.

Giulia/Kiana James vs. Michin/B-Fab

B-Fab forearms at James to start and gets two off a basement clothesline. Giulia comes in for a running dropkick and sends B-Fab down hard, only for B-Fab to hit a running dropkick. Michin comes in and everything breaks down with the fight heading outside. Michin’s dropkick off the announcers’ table hits Giulia and we take a break.

We come back with James kicking B-Fan in the face so Giulia can hit a missile dropkick for two. B-Fab fights out of trouble though and it’s off to Michin to take over. Everything breaks down and Michin hits Eat Defeat on James. Giulia comes back in with the running knee though, followed by the northern lights bomb for the pin at 10:14.

Rating: C. Michin and B-Fab haven’t felt like viable challengers to Giulia so there wasn’t much of a reason to believe that they were going to win here. James was fine as backup for Giulia, who needs to string together a few wins. There are only so many challengers for the title, but Michin and B-Fab need to move on already as it doesn’t feel like they’re any kind of a threat to Giulia.

Sol Ruca and Zaria (from NXT) come in to ask Charlotte and Alexa Bliss for a Women’s Tag Team Title shot. Charlotte says you can’t just wave your hand and get a title shot, which Zaria finds funny. Bliss tells them to go prove themselves, with Charlotte liking the assertiveness.

Video on the Crown Jewel Title matches.

Here is Drew McIntyre, in a walking boot, for a chat. McIntyre talks about his history in Orlando, including returning to WWE in 2017 and winning his second WWE Title. He should be here with the title but Cody Rhodes was one step ahead. The referee cost him the title because it should have been a disqualification. Do the referees work for WWE or for Rhodes? Cue Nick Aldis to interrupt who says McIntyre shouldn’t make excuses because he’s better than that. That boot didn’t come from the WWE medical team but McIntyre calls himself a champion without a championship.

Cue Jacob Fatu and this should be interesting. Fatu takes the mic from McIntyre and tells him to shut up and stop b*******. McIntyre asks who Fatu thinks he is so Fatu hits his catchphrase. A Glasgow Kiss staggers Fatu, who is right back with a superkick and a shot with McIntyre’s medical boot. Yeah Fatu getting elevated like this is a good sign and he seems ready for the spot.

Stephanie Vaquer comes in to see Tiffany Stratton, saying they might face off at Crown Jewel. Stratton respects Vaquer, but will put her in the ground if they meet.

Rey Fenix and Sami Zayn are good after last week and Fenix is looking forward to finding out who is next for the US Open Challenge.

Solo Sikoa praises JC Mateo, who says he loves Sikoa.

US Title: Sami Zayn vs. ???

Zayn is defending against…NXT’s Je’Von Evans (a young and talented high flier). As luck would have it, Evans’ opponent at tomorrow’s NXT No Mercy, Josh Briggs, is here too. They trade armdrags to start and Evans takes him into the corner for a chop. A top rope hurricanrana takes Zayn down but he cuts a dive off with a running clothesline.

We take a break and come back with Evans hitting a heck of a dive to take Zayn out on the floor. A spinning kick to the face gives Evans two so Zayn fights back and goes up. That’s fine with Evans, who runs up the corner for a super hurricanrana and another near fall. The springboard spinning splash misses for Evans but he misses a Helluva Kick. Evans’ top rope cutter connects for two but he misses a charge, allowing Zayn to hit the Helluva Kick. The Blue Thunder Bomb retains the title at 10:17.

Rating: B. This was a heck of a showcase for Evans, who went out there and gave it everything he had, even in defeat. Evans started off rough in his career but he has turned into a rather entertaining star as he’s figured a lot of what he needs to do. It was a fast paced match and Zayn had to wait for the opening to catch him, which made for a good story. Heck of a match here.

Chelsea Green offers Nia Jax in the Secret Hervice but Jax rips up the offer. Jax runs into Stephanie Vaquer and threatens her.

Kit Wilson complains to Damian Priest about his toxic, patriarchal attitude last week. Priest lunges at him and Wilson falls down. Priest: “B****** be tripping huh?” Aleister Black comes up from behind and kicks Priest in the head, followed by some mockery.

Women’s Title: Tiffany Stratton vs. Nia Jax vs. Jade Cargill

Stratton is defending and gets knocked down to start, leaving Jax to shrug off Cargill’s running shoulder. Stratton dropkicks them both down and we take a break. We come back with Stratton’s suicide dive getting caught in the ropes so Cargill sends her back inside. Jax runs both of them over but gets caught on to. Cargill chokes Stratton but gets legdropped by Jax, leaving Stratton to hit a Swanton for two.

We take another break and come back again with a double superplex dropping Jax to leave everyone down. Stratton gives Cargill a Regal Roll and the Prettiest Moonsault Ever hits Jax, with Cargill making a save. Jaded hits Stratton so Jax pulls the referee out at two. Jax busts Cargill open so Cargill gives her a Samoan drop on the steps (geez).

We pause for the referee to try to close the cut on Cargill’s head but Cargill comes back in for the Eye of the Storm on Jax, with Stratton making the (late) save. Stratton covers and the referee just stops counting at two, with Jax clearly yelling at her as a result. Stratton pops up and hits The Prettiest Moonsault Ever on Jax to retain the title at 13:55.

Rating: C+. That botched kickout sequence at the end was terrible and brought things down a good bit. I’m assuming Cargill was supposed to make the save, but at least Stratton was smart enough to get up and hit the finish to get out of there. Either way, Stratton gets the two out of the way for the time being and can move on to the…well really the far less important match but it’s what we’re getting anyway.

Post match Stephanie Vaquer comes out for the staredown with Stratton to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. I cannot bring myself to get into this Crown Jewel stuff as it feels so unimportant. I know it’s treated as a big deal at the time, but the whole thing is then basically ignored for eleven months. Why should I care about it if WWE doesn’t? That was one of the big focal points of this show, though the Zayn vs. Evans match was a lot of fun. It’s definitely not a bad show, but I’m really looking forward to moving on past the champion vs. champion stuff as it feels like such an unimportant side trip.

Results
Street Profits b. Carmelo Hayes/The Miz – Frog splash to Miz
Giulia/Kiana James b. Michin/B-Fab – Northern lights bomb to Michin
Sami Zayn b. Je’Von Evans – Blue Thunder Bomb
Tiffany Stratton b. Nia Jax and Jade Cargill – Prettiest Moonsault Ever to Jax

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Vision vs. Fraxiom

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

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

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

We look at WWE stars appearing on ESPN programming.

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

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

We look at the Lesnar beatdown again.

United States Title: Carmelo Hayes vs. Sami Zayn

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

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

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

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

Cody Rhodes explains how to watch Wrestlepalooza.

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

Wrestlepalooza rundown.

We recap Cody Rhodes vs. Drew McIntyre.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Smackdown
Date: September 12, 2025
Location: Scope Arena, Norfolk, Virginia
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Booker T.

We’re just over a week away from Wrestlepalooza and that makes it’s time to have Brock Lesnar around. With John Cena not here, it’s time to see who else Lesnar can smash, with Sami Zayn being a possibility. Other than that, Randy Orton is facing Drew McIntyre in what should be a good one. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a long recap of John Cena vs. Sami Zayn last week, with Brock Lesnar interrupting to take them both out.

Here is Lesnar to get things going and the fans aren’t wild on seeing him. Lesnar gets a mic but here is R-Truth of all people to interrupt. Lesnar tells him to shut up but R-Truth wants to be the first star to welcome him back. That makes Lesnar smile, but R-Truth makes the mistake of saying he used to be scared of him. Lesnar isn’t sure who R-Truth is so R-Truth says that John Cena is his older brother.

Lesnar: “How old are you and what is your name?” The reality is Lesnar is here to find Cena, but if R-Truth doesn’t know where Cena is, why is he here? R-Truth is here to defend his older brother, because his name is Ron Cena. He’s here to stop the disrespect from Lesnar, because Cena went nuts this year.

Super Cena is coming for Lesnar and he is filled with hustle, loyalty, respect, and tears from the kid he made cry a few months ago. Lesnar confirms R-Truth’s identity (with R-Truth getting confused for a bit) but points out that he’s missing a tooth. The F5 lays R-Truth out and Lesnar splits his pants in the process. Lesnar finds it funny and points out that he’s wearing blue underwear.

Sami Zayn is happy to restart the US Open challenge and he’s glad that someone is his first challenger. And it’s Rey Fenix. Ok then.

Solo Sikoa talks about the sacrifices he made to win the US Title, including attacking his own flesh and blood. Just to prove what? Sikoa snaps as he talks about losing the title but calms down to say he’s lost everything. Change is going to happen sooner than later and he’s going to get everything back.

US Title: Sami Zayn vs. Rey Fenix

Zayn is defending. An armdrag takes Fenix down to start but he’s back up with the rather bouncy armdrag. Zayn is sent outside and a tease of something like a 619 has him backing up as we take a break. We come back with Zayn hitting a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker but Fenix sends him outside. The big running corkscrew dive takes Zayn down and a high crossbody drops him for two back inside.

Back up and the Blue Thunder Bomb is countered into a hurricanrana, followed by a superkick to give Fenix two. Fenix misses a great looking moonsault but Zayn misses the Helluva Kick. A rolling DDT gives Fenix a VERY close two and we take another break. We come back again with Fenix slipping out of a fireman’s carry on the top.

Fenix kicks him down and hits the moonsault for two but backflips into a Blue Thunder Bomb to give Zayn his own near fall. The exploder sends Fenix into the corner but he’s back with a hurricanrana for (a slow) two. Fenix misses a springboard kick in the corner and gets explodered. Now the Helluva Kick can retain the title at 15:49.

Rating: B+. This was definitely in the vein of the John Cena US Open Challenge, as Fenix is someone talented with nothing to do but he gets a chance to let it all hang out here. Fenix was trying everything he could here and it was pretty easily his best match in WWE. If this is what we’ll be seeing from Zayn every week, we’ll be in for a great time.

B-Fab was interrupted by Giulia and Kiana James and cattiness ensued.

The Wyatt Sicks talk about the cracks in the Street Profits, who can either split up or be destroyed. So where do the Profits go from here? Follow the buzzards.

Giulia vs. B-Fab

Non-title. Giulia jumps her before the bell to start and sends B-Fab into the barricade. Back in and Kiana James stomps on B-Fab, allowing Giulia to hit the big knee. Michin runs in for the save. No match.

Aleister Black says Damien Priest can either keep fighting or give up.

Women’s Title: Jade Cargill vs. Tiffany Stratton

Stratton is defending and hits a dropkick to cut off a charging Cargill. Back up and Cargill snaps off a powerslam. Back up and Stratton sends her to the floor for a dive and we take a break. We come back with Stratton hitting a clothesline but having to hurricanrana her way out of a powerbomb. Stratton’s handspring elbow connects in the corner and a basement dropkick drops Cargill again.

A Swanton hits Cargill for two and she is sent outside, where Stratton’s baseball slide is cut off. Back in and Stratton hits a Regal Roll but the Prettiest Moonsault Ever is cut off. A Blue Thunder Bomb out of the corner gets two so Cargill seems to kiss her on the cheek. The ensuing rollup is countered into a rollup to give Stratton two and she hits an Alabama Slam.

Stratton’s Prettiest Moonsault Ever misses again and Cargill blasts her with a pump kick. They slug it out on the steps and Cargill misses a charge into the post, allowing Stratton to hit another basement dropkick. The moonsault to the floor misses though and Cargill tackles her through the barricade for the double countout at 11:10.

Rating: C+. It was better than their Summerslam match, but you could see that they were missing some stuff here and there. The double countout is designed to set up a rematch and I’ve heard worse ideas, as these two do have some chemistry together. The problem is they’re still both relatively inexperienced at this level (especially Cargill) and that’s creating some issues in their matches. Still though, not a bad idea for an ending, as the pay per view rematch should be better.

Post match Nia Jax runs in and takes them both out. That probably sets up a triple threat title match, because that’s what we do around here.

Nick Aldis is cut off by Chelsea Green and Alba Fyre, who want their title shot. Green thinks Charlotte is being protected and threats are made, with Aldis giving them the next Women’s Tag Team Title shot after NXT Homecoming next week. Aldis goes to leave but Miz comes in, only to be told that Carmelo Hayes has already talked to him about an opportunity. No specifics are given, but Miz is pleased.

We get a long and rather detailed look at John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar, including training footage of their early days in OVW. They worked their way up through the ranks and had their own style but it was clear that they were going to be big deals. Lesnar would become the star first, while Cena took more time but wound up being a much longer term star as Lesnar was only around for about two years. They finally got together on the main roster and had a few matches but then Lesnar left due to the schedule. The night Lesnar left, Cena won his first title. Part two next week. As usual, WWE does these things incredibly well.

Rey Mysterio hypes up Worlds Collide but Dominik Mysterio interrupts, promising to win the Mega Title. Rey isn’t convinced but Dominik says how about Rey puts the title around his waist when he wins. Rey: “IF you win.” Finn Balor comes in and tells Dominik to prove himself by winning alone. Dominik isn’t sure.

Sami Zayn praises Rey Fenix but Carmelo Hayes comes in to say he’s got next. Works for Zayn, who tells him to not miss. Hayes is happy but Miz comes in and asks what that was. Apparently Hayes talked to Aldis about a title opportunity, meaning for the US Title. Miz freaks out and says he’s trying to guide him to the Tag Team Titles, but Hayes wants some trust.

Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton

Orton takes him into the corner for some right hands to start but seems to tweak his ankle coming back down. A clothesline puts McIntyre on the floor and we take a break. We come back with Orton favoring his knee but being able to hit a suplex anyway. Orton drops a knee but hurts himself in the process, allowing McIntyre to hit a chop block. The Figure Four stays on the leg but Orton turns it over and they head outside.

McIntyre goes to the eyes to cut Orton off though and drops him onto the announcers’ table. Another chop block cuts Orton down again and we take another break. We come back with McIntyre staying on the leg and taking him up the aisle to keep up the beating. Back in and Orton pokes him in the eye (the ensuing shrug is funny) but gets dropped without much trouble. The Figure Four is loaded up again but this time Orton kicks him into the post for the block.

Orton’s powerslam gets two and the fans are wanting an RKO. They head outside with Orton getting in the drop onto the announcers’ table but McIntyre manages a Claymore. Ont he way back in, Orton hits the RKO but McIntyre rolls outside. Back in and the hanging DDT connects and Orton loads up the Punt, with the referee cutting him off. Orton tries it anyway but hurts the knee, allowing McIntyre to shove him towards (but not into) the referee. The Claymore finishes Orton at 17:40.

Rating: B. This was a pay per view level match and it’s great to see McIntyre get a win in a pretty high profile match. McIntyre is pretty clearly next in line for Cody Rhodes and this was a good warmup match to get him there. Orton losing to anyone is a big deal so it’s nice to see this work out so well.

Post match McIntyre loads up the Claymore against the announcers’ table but Cody Rhodes is back. Rhodes beats McIntyre down and says he’ll see him at Wrestlepalooza. Dang that show is stacked.

Overall Rating: B+. I can go for a show that is built around the wrestling side of things and that is exactly what we got here. The focus was on the in-ring side of things, with the opener being rather awesome and the main event being pay per view worthy. The women’s match was good enough and the backstage segments in the middle made for some nice filler segments. Rather good show here, as you don’t get a pair of TV matches that good very often.

Results
Sami Zayn b. Rey Fenix – Helluva Kick
Tiffany Stratton vs. Jade Cargill went to a double countout
Drew McIntyre b. Randy Orton – Claymore

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

Smackdown
Date: September 5, 2025
Location: Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Illinois
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We’re back from Europe after Clash In Paris and the main story here is something from Raw. In this case that’s because hometown legend CM Punk has all but said he’ll be here, while suggesting that he might be bringing a certain family member with him. John Cena is here too, and that might make for some big moments with just over two weeks to go before Wrestlepalooza. Let’s get to it.

Here is Clash In Paris if you need a recap.

We open with a long Clash In Paris recap.

Here is John Cena to get things going and the fans are happy to see him. Cena says he’s glad to hear that because he’s been trying to give it everything he has on this farewell tour. He’s out there with nothing planned and tonight he’s here to just take it in. Cena isn’t used to the most positive receptions around here but these people are special. Their chants can bring people back to WWE but this is Cena’s final time in Chicago and on Smackdown (oh that’s big).

This place is important for him though because he started his WWE career right here. This place is special though, because for Cena it is the greatest crowd WWE has. Cena thanks the fans but here is Sami Zayn to interrupt. The fans don’t seem happy to see him but Zayn is here to thank Cena for everything he’s done. Zayn reminds Cena that he debuted against Cena in a US Open Challenge and here he is as the US Champion. Therefore, with Cena’s permission, he wants to bring back the US Open Challenge.

Works for Cena, who goes to leave, but Zayn stops him. If this is Cena’s last night on Smackdown, he wants to repay the favor and give Cena a shot at the US Title. Again, works for Cena. This was a more emotional moment for Cena and you could tell it was meaning something to him. Zayn’s part was a nice call back and bonus as well.

US Title: John Cena vs. Sami Zayn

Cena is challenging. We’re joined in progress with Cena working on the arm but Zayn is right back with an armbar of his own. Cena’s armbar is broken up and Zayn springboards over him, only to get suplexed back down. One heck of a whip into the corner has Zayn in trouble and we take a break.

We come back with Cena hitting the AA for two and blocking the exploder into the corner. A pop up powerbomb gives Cena two (nice nod to Kevin Owens) but he misses a charge into the post. The Helluva Kick misses and Cena hits an Angle Slam (Cole completely misses the point but Graves catches it) for two.

We take another break and come back with Zayn hitting the exploder into the Helluva Kick for two and they’re both down. Zayn misses a charge in the corner and walks into a GTS of all things for two more. A spear of all things gives Cena two (Cole AGAIN misses the point, saying that was a nod to Roman Reigns, with Graves suggesting it was a certain Canadian) and the fans, in on the idea, want an RKO. Instead it’s a super AA and they’re both down again….and here’s Brock Lesnar. The referee is pulled out and we’ll call it a no contest at 21:30.

Rating: B+. They were rocking near the end and I think we can accept the interference ending as a way to keep either from taking a loss. Cena just going nuts and doing a big tribute to a bunch of his old opponents (he used an ankle lock during a break) was a lot of fun. Zayn wasn’t exactly popular here, but it was still a heck of a match as they were both feeling it.

Post match it’s an F5 apiece as the fans aren’t pleased. Lesnar gives Cena another F5, puts his hat back on, and leaves.

Post break, Lesnar says he’ll see Cena at Wrestlepalooza and the match is on.

And with that, we’re over 50 minutes into the show. Not a bad start.

Carmelo Hayes and Miz talk to a busy Nick Aldis about a Tag Team Title match. He’ll consider it and hurries off.

Becky Lynch arrives.

Video on Aleister Black vs. Damian Priest.

Damian Priest vs. Aleister Black

Black jumps him from behind during the entrance and sends Priest over the barricade before the bell. We take a break and come back with a limping Priest trying to get inside but Black kicks him down. Black sends him inside and the bell rings, with Priest falling down off a big swing. Black gets in something like an Octopus hold, followed by a middle rope Meteora and we take a break.

We come back with Black getting crotched on top but he elbows Priest in the head for two more. Priest fights up and slugs away, including some hard kicks to the chest. The Old School crossbody connects and Black Downward Spirals him onto the apron, followed by a Razor’s Edge onto the announcers’ table. They get back in and Black begs off but grabs the referee to block South Of Heaven. A quick Black Mass finishes for Black at 9:37.

Rating: B-. Priest is more than protected in the loss and that’s fine, as he’ll have a reason to come back for revenge later. It’s a good way for Black to look superior, though Priest is going to need to crank up the violence. That could make for a good Smackdown main event down the line, especially with some special stipulations.

Video on Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

Tiffany Stratton is ready to shut Jade Cargill up next week.

Cargill is ready as well but Nia Jax interrupts. Cargill says get out of her way or catch these hands tonight.

Nick Aldis comes in to see a rather enthusiastic Becky Lynch. CM Punk is here and they can’t have anything going wrong here, but Lynch says it’ll be fine.

Women’s United States Title: Giulia vs. Michin

Giulia, with Kiana James, is defending. They slug it out to start and James gets on the apron, which doesn’t make much of a difference. Giulia misses a charge to the floor but comes back with a neckbreaker outside and we take a break. We come back with Giulia snapping off a German suplex, only for Michin to hit her own. Michin whips her into the corner for the cannonball but Giulia’s sitout driver gets two more. Michin fights up but has to hurricanrana driver James. The distraction lets Michin hit the running knee to retain at 7:35.

Rating: C+. It’s nice to see Giulia actually get in the ring, though she’s going to need a much bigger opponent than Michin. This didn’t feel like it was supposed to be some big title defense or anything close, so maybe someone new can come after the title soon. Giulia and James are a fine enough combination, with James mainly there as the standard talking distraction.

We look at Chelsea Green and Alba Fyre attacking Charlotte last week.

Charlotte is upset over her knee but Alexa Bliss, with a stethoscope comes in, saying the power of friendship will heal her pain. Charlotte talks to Lily and realizes she might be losing it.

Here is Seth Rollins, in the crowd, for a chat. He’s ready to kill the legend of CM Punk and introduces Becky Lynch, through the entrance, to make it happen. Lynch DOES NOT like the Chicago crowd and runs down their local sports teams (minus the Bears, as Rollins is a fan). Cue CM Punk to interrupt (yeah they like him), with Rollins waving with a big grin on his face in a funny bit.

Lynch thinks Punk should be embarrassed but he has nothing to be embarrassed about. Punk is tired of Rollins hiding behind everyone and Lynch asks how his jaw is feeling. The fans chant for AJ LEE and Lynch tries to cut them off but Punk says they can chant her name. Punk says he could snap his fingers and have one of his sisters (who raises her hand) take Lynch out. Or he could call Bayley or Rhea Ripley and have them do it.

Lynch slaps him over and over (Rollins dances over this) and Punk goes to the floor. This is the kind of situation he wanted to avoid, because he would never put his hands on a lady. Thankfully he knows someone who will and LET’S LIGHT IT UP. Lynch and Rollins panic as AJ skips to the ring, takes a quick lap, and gets inside as the fans are losing it. The brawl is on and Lynch drops her, followed by a big slap. Lynch and Rollins bail as Punk hugs AJ to end the show.

The pop for AJ’s return was massive as they weren’t exactly subtle that she was coming back. It helps that she doesn’t have to be some kind of all generational talent but rather just able to do what she did before. She’s only 38 so it’s not like this is someone twenty years passed their prime. This worked well and it has me interested in the mixed tag.

Overall Rating: B+. Despite having a 21 minute opening match, this wasn’t a wrestling heavy show. Instead, this was built around the very lengthy (yet great) opening segment/match/fallout and the big closing. That sets up two major matches at Wrestlepalooza and that’s what it needed to be. They didn’t bother with anything close to subtlety here, as it was two huge segments, a big match, and two midcard matches to pad it out. Heck of a show here, with the big stuff nailing it on both sides.

Results
John Cena vs. Sami Zayn went to a no contest when Brock Lesnar interfered
Aleister Black b. Damian Priest – Black Mass
Giulia b. Michin – Running knee

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

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Smackdown
Date: September 19, 2008
Location: Sommet Center, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Tazz, Jim Ross

The big story coming out of last week is Jeff Hardy becoming the new #1 contender and getting a shot at HHH and the World Title at No Mercy. Other than that, Big Show is now in league with Vickie Guerrero and going after Undertaker, which sounds like it could lead to minutes of entertainment. Hopefully the rest of the show can pick up the pace a bit, though you never know what you’ll see around here. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening recap looks at Jeff Hardy becoming the #1 contender but getting laid out by Vladimir Kozlov.

Opening sequence.

Divas Title: Michelle McCool vs. Maryse

McCool is defending. Maryse grabs a headlock to start and then runs McCool over with a shoulder. Back up and McCool trips her down for a basement dropkick and then mocks the Maryse pose. Maryse manages to snap the throat across the top but a sunset flip dives McCool two. A hair takedown lets Maryse grab a camel clutch but JR isn’t happy with how much posing Maryse does in the process. McCool is back up with a dropkick into a running flipping neckbreaker. The Wings Of Love retains the title.

Rating: C. This was another good example of the issues the women were having at the time. They were clearly trying to get better in the ring (and it was starting to work) but they had the same issues as before, with the focus often being on their looks and the revealing gear. It’s still a work in progress, but you can tell they’re making serious progress.

Big Show is in Vickie Guerrero’s office when Eve comes in. Eve asks Vickie about Undertaker possibly being here tonight but Vickie doesn’t want to hear it. Eve goes on to mention that she’s been training, with the other two laughing at her. Show has her sit down and shows her why the first question is totally irrelevant. This leads to a video on Show beating Undertaker down at Unforgiven, which I guess he had cued up for anyone who was coming in.

Ryan Braddock vs. Festus

Jesse and Festus are doing the movers deal. Festus misses a charge into the corner to start and Braddock hammers away before grabbing an early chinlock. That’s broken up and Festus unloads on him, including the fireman’s carry flapjack. That’s enough for Jesse to throw in the packing supplies, which draws the DQ.

Post break, Festus is packed up and moved out. The fans either don’t get it or don’t care. Or both.

Vickie Guerrero wants Undertaker to show up so she can make him apologize. And we see the same video of the Unforgiven beatdown. Reminding us that it’s still Big Show vs. Undertaker really isn’t helping.

Shelton Benjamin praises himself and doesn’t think much of R-Truth being in prison.

Shelton Benjamin vs. R-Truth

Non-title. Benjamin backs him into the corner to start but R-Truth is back out with the spinning forearm. The referee doesn’t like R-Truth stomping away in the corner and Benjamin is able to snap off a suplex, which Tazz certainly appreciates. The crossface shots to the face set up a backbreaker and we hit the reverse chinlock. That’s broken up so Benjamin forearms away even more, setting up the reverse chinlock again. R-Truth fights up so Benjamin tries a German suplex, which is reversed into a cradle to give R-Truth the pin.

Rating: C+. R-Truth is still new so having him get right into the US Title picture is certainly a big deal. I’m not sold on the idea of him winning the title just yet and having him pin the champion isn’t great to see, but at least it’s someone getting a push. Now just follow through with what they’re doing in one way or another.

Post match Hurricane Helms (out of action for a year and a half) pops up in a bubble to say the price of gold just went down. Ok then.

Here is Jeff Hardy for a chat before his match. He’s been here for about ten years (thankfully throwing in “on and off”) and it hasn’t been perfect. Last week, HHH said that Hardy had never won the big one and now he realizes that HHH was trying to motivate him. Congratulations Game because it absolutely worked, and now he’s reaching for the title instead of the brass ring. As for Vladimir Kozlov…and never mind because cue Brian Kendrick and Ezekiel Jackson, with the former mentioning that last week’s four way wasn’t the best way to show off his abilities. Kendrick references Hardy’s drug use and we’re ready to go.

Jeff Hardy vs. The Brian Kendrick

Ezekiel Jackson is here with Kendrick, who gets hammered down in the corner to start. Kendrick comes back with a clothesline to the floor and we take a break. We come back with Kendrick working on a half crab, which is broken up rather quickly. Hardy fights back and hits the slingshot dropkick in the corner. Kendrick kicks him in the face and Jackson offers a distraction to break up the Whisper In The Wind. Kendrick loads up the Kendrick but Hardy reverses into a backslide for the fast pin.

Rating: B-. Kendrick continues to be such an oddball (in a good way) and he’s rather fun to see when he gets in the ring. It’s also good to see someone getting a fresh chance and his team with Jackson works well. At the same time, Hardy is on the way to getting a World Title match so he’s going to be racking up some wins in the next few weeks.

Post match Hardy goes to leave and gets kicked down by Vladimir Kozlov.

Big Show comes into Vickie Guerrero’s office and says Undertaker is here. We get a POV shot of someone we can’t see coming into the office but Vickie orders them onto their knees for an apology. A voice that sounds like Undertaker’s apologizes but she wants him to kiss her feet. And yeah it’s Chavo Guerrero in a bad Undertaker costume. And we see the video AGAIN.

It’s time for the return of Carlito’s Cabana, with Primo as the guest. After a quick microphone issue, Primo says it was easy to get a win last week. They’re ready to win the Tag Team Titles but get into an argument over whose show it happens to be. Cue Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins (Hurricane Helms pops in to mock Hawkins and Ryder) to mock the two of them, but Primo and Carlito issue the challenge for the title match tonight.

After confirming that Hawkins and Ryder aren’t Canadian, they confirm the title match for next week. Carlito needs someone to come clear the set off, so here are Jesse and Festus to clean house (and beat up the champs). The moving stuff is annoying, but Helms getting to be snarky has me intrigued.

Maria is sketching something when Brie Bella comes in. They talk about Maria making her gear, with Brie asking for an exact matching version, just in case it gets broken. Victoria and Natalya come in and say they’ve figured Brie out: she’s having an affair with Hornswoggle underneath the ring! A tag match is set for next week.

Great Khali vs. Scotty Goldman

Goldman mocks Khali’s speech pattern and even has a Runjin Singh puppet. Chops, a clothesline, and the tree slam finish Goldman fast.

Raw Rebound.

Chavo Guerrero throws La Familia out so he can watch the Big Show/Undertaker video by himself. So why do we have to see it for a fourth time? This time though the video breaks up and Undertaker appears on the screen. Then he appears behind Chavo and chokes him. Well his arm does at least.

HHH vs. MVP

Non-title. Feeling out process to start with MVP posing a bit too much, earning himself a crotch chop. MVP charges into a right hand into the corner and then charges into a drop toehold. HHH headlocks him down and grinds away to keep MVP rather frustrated we take a break.

We come back with MVP working on the arm by cranking on an armbar. A hammerlock with some knees to the arm keep HHH down, followed by a DDT on the arm for two. HHH fights up and hits a neckbreaker but MVP goes right back to the arm. That’s enough for MVP to go up, where he dives right into the Pedigree to give HHH the pin.

Rating: C+. Perfectly fine match here with HHH getting a win over someone with some credibility. It was a lot of work on the arm before they cranked it up a bit and it worked well enough. Much like Hardy earlier, there was no reason to believe HHH was losing but again in this case, that’s not a bad thing.

Post match Vladimir Kozlov comes out to wreck HHH to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. This show lost me with the Undertaker/Big Show video airing over and over with the only important thing being Undertaker choking Chavo Guerrero. The rest of the show was the usual stuff as we’re well on the way to No Mercy and Hardy vs. HHH should be good. The Big Show vs. Undertaker stuff being driven into the ground was a bad idea though and it took away from a lot of the rest of the show.

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

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Smackdown
Date: August 29, 2025
Location: LDLC Arena, Lyon, France
Commentators: Michael Cole, Wade Barrett

We’re taped from France this week as the company is in the country for Sunday’s Clash In Paris event. That means this is going to be one of the big TV shows before we get to the pay per view and in this case, we have Solo Sikoa defending the US Title against Sami Zayn. John Cena is here too so things should be interesting. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of last week’s Logan Paul/John Cena showdown to further set up their Clash In Paris match. Paul then knocks Cena out to end the show, following a Brock Lesnar tease.

Paul arrive and walks from his car into the arena for a chat. After bringing up Cena calling him a parasite last week, Paul insists on sticking with English even though he’s in France. Paul lists off a bunch of stats about his money and how much he brings to the company (“YOU’RE WELCOME TKO!”). This place is becoming the WW-ME and Cena represents the past. Paul starts yelling at the fans in French and insults Cena as well, which brings out Cena to interrupt.

Cena gets right to the point: the fans are the ones who decide what kind of career Paul has. While Cena likes the idea of Paul taking WWE to new heights, he doesn’t think Paul is willing to put in the effort. Paul wants to talk about being a disrupter, but Cena was doing that twenty years ago. His brass knuckles even said WORD LIFE and he shook up all kinds of things. He even wore jorts! Cena talks about how Paul wasn’t on a list of influential influencers so he’s here to save his career.

After they take turns speaking French, Cena says that Paul is just a gimmick and goes to the floor as he talks about respect. Cena says respect is saying something bad to a fan because you’re having a bad day but then seeing them later and saying you’re sorry (which he does to a young fan). Paul tells Cena to wrap this up, but Cena says that Paul “asked for this match s*** head.” Cena says that wrestling is going to ruin Paul to wrap it up. The fact that we wasted six months on the awful heel run is astounding.

The Street Profits and B-Fab are ready to become #1 contenders again but Bo Dallas (looking and sounding incredibly like Bray Wyatt) comes in to interrupt. Dallas says the Wyatt Sicks are a family and when the Profits come for the titles, they’ll find out if the two of them are really brothers. Minor spoilers aside, I do like Dallas being himself for some promos, as it could actually allow the team to make some more sense.

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

Green (substituting for an out of action Piper Niven) and Fyre are challenging but they jump Charlotte in the aisle before the match. We take a break and come back with a change having been made.

Alexa Bliss vs. Chelsea Green

Bliss charges at her to start and hammers away but gets distracted by Fyre. Back in and Green hits her in the face and yells a lot, earning a slap right back from Bliss. Green sends her into the corner and chokes on the rope, followed by a big boot. Bliss sends her outside but goes after Fyre again, allowing Green to get in a shot of her own as we take a break. We come back with Green dropkicking her out to the floor but getting sent into the barricade for her efforts.

They get back in with Bliss winning an exchange of forearms but Sister Abigail is countered with something like a Zig Zag. Back up and Bliss knocks off the top but has to deal with Fyre. Twisted Bliss doesn’t work and neither does Sister Abigail, leaving Bliss to roll her up for the pin at 8:43.

Rating: C+. Not bad here with Bliss having to fight against the odds without her partner around. I’m assuming they switched things up here due to Niven not being around and not wanting to burn off the match, which is understandable enough. Bliss getting a win on her own is good, though it would be nice to see Green not lose so often.

Post match Fyre and Green jump Bliss again until Charlotte limps out to make the save. The bad knee is taken out though and Green/Fyre stand tall.

Sami Zayn feels confident about the main event and wants to become US Champion in France.

Cody and Brandi Rhodes have had another daughter. Well that’s great.

Aleister Black asks what Damian Priest thought would happen. Black plans to show how misguided Priest really is. He’ll be the one kneeling on Priest’s chest, saying I WARNED YOU.

Priest says he knows Black wants to be like him but he just isn’t. He’s going to teach Black to run from someone like him and enjoy the beating Black receives. Priest even throws it back to commentary.

Michin vs. Kiana James

Giulia is here with James, who swings the briefcase at Michin and gets rolled up for the pin at 7 seconds.

Post match Giulia jumps Michin and sends her into the steps.

Here is Drew McIntyre for a chat. McIntyre goes around ringside to ask for an update on Cody Rhodes, thinking Michael Cole would know it because he’s “always kissing Cody Rhodes’ a**.” With no update available, McIntyre tells Randy Orton to get out here so the fans can sing his song. Cue Orton, and they do sing. McIntyre isn’t sure why Orton attacked him last week, but hopefully it wasn’t out of loyalty to Rhodes.

The reality is that Rhodes doesn’t have real friends and he’s always out for himself. Rhodes probably checked on Orton during his two year recovery from back surgery because he was gathering intel. Orton says he’ll give that some thought, but he dropped McIntyre last week because he doesn’t think much of McIntyre. That earns him a Glasgow Kiss and the fight is on, with Orton hitting a hanging DDT. Security and agents come in for the save so Orton takes them (including Hurricane Helms) out with RKO’s, allowing McIntyre to escape. Good enough stuff here, as the Rhodes vs. Orton seeds continue to be planted.

Carmelo Hayes and Miz still aren’t exactly on the same page but Miz gives him a pep talk. Bo Dallas pops in to say there is a difference between perception and reality, asking if Hayes can handle that. Hayes tells him not to write a reality check his mouth can’t cash.

Nick Aldis yells at Randy Orton, who gives Aldis a bottle of whiskey. R-Truth comes in, mistakes Aldis for someone else, and leaves.

Carmelo Hayes/The Miz vs. Street Profits

For the Clash In Paris Tag Team Title shot. Ford takes over on Miz to start and it’s off to Dawkins for a double back elbow. Dawkins hits the running spinning corner splashes but Miz grabs a foot. Hayes gets in the Fadeaway for two and we take a break. We come back with Dawkins planting Hayes and the double tag bringing in Ford and Miz.

House is quickly cleaned and a standing moonsault gets two on Miz. Back up and Miz hits a DDT for two on Ford but the Skull Crushing Finale is blocked. Hayes tags himself back in and hits a frog splash for two on Ford as things slow back down. Cue the Wyatt Sicks for a distraction to Miz, who gets knocked to the floor. The Revelation finishes Hayes at 9:07.

Rating: B-. I’m a bit surprised at the result here as Hayes and Miz have been on something of a winning streak, though the Profits feel like a bigger threat to the titles. The Wyatts are at least doing something different and they might be going after Miz and Hayes in the coming weeks. That’s better than what we’ve been getting so this was at least somewhat encouraging.

Jade Cargill surprises Tiffany Stratton in the back and reveals that she is Stratton’s next #1 contender. Cargill promises to show that they were never on the same level.

Solo Sikoa is ready to take out Sami Zayn.

Clash In Paris rundown.

US Title: Sami Zayn vs. Solo Sikoa

Sikoa, with the MFT’s, is defending. Zayn throws him to the floor to start and does his flip back into the ring as we take a break. We come back with Sikoa hitting the running Umaga Attack for two but Zayn is right back with a clothesline to the floor. The big running flip dive connects but the MFT’s cut Zayn off outside. Spinning Solo gets two and the MFT’s jump Zayn again, so here are Jacob Fatu and Jimmy Uso to go after them. The Blue Thunder Bomb gives Zayn two as most of the others brawl to the floor.

The threat of a Helluva Kick sends Sikoa outside, where he plants Zayn on the announcers’ table as we take a break. We come back with Zayn missing something off the top and getting caught in the Samoan Drop. The Superfly Splash gives Sikoa two but the Samoan Spike misses. Zayn suplexes him into the corner, only to charge into a superkick. Another Spike misses though and Zayn hits a pair of Helluva Kicks for the pin and the title at 13:27.

Rating: B-. Points for the big title change here, as that’s not something I was expecting. Zayn getting the win and the title is a nice moment for him and a good way to give him something to do before he can move on to the World Title scene. Sikoa will have multiple options to go after and Zayn’s challengers will be lined up, so this was a nice way to go.

Zayn celebrates to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. Good enough show here, with the focus being split between the pay per view and the regular stuff around here. That’s a nice mixture to have, as it lets WWE look a bit towards the future beyond this Sunday. The big promo exchanged worked well and the main event was a fun surprise. Now just follow it up after this with a strong showing on Sunday and the build towards….Wrestlepalooza, because that’s really what it’s called.

Results
Alexa Bliss b. Chelsea Green – Rollup
Michin b. Kiana James – Rollup
Street Profits b. Miz/Carmelo Hayes – Revelation to Hayes
Sami Zayn b. Solo Sikoa – Helluva Kick

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

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Smackdown
Date: August 22, 2025
Location: 3Arena, Dublin, Ireland
Commentators: Wade Barrett, Joe Tessitore

We’re just over a week away from Clash In Paris so the company is already over to Europe. The big appeal of this week’s show is John Cena making another appearance as he is on his way to facing Logan Paul next weekend. Other than that, Brock Lesnar is looking and we might be seeing that in less than a month. Let’s get to it.

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

Commentary welcomes us to the show and introduces hometown star Becky Lynch (the introduction loses a lot with the terrible music). Lynch is very fired up to be here and the fans tell her that she deserves it. She came to a live event here when she was younger and Randy Orton made eye contact with her. Now that they’re here for TV…..the people don’t deserve it.

Lynch is AGHAST at the lack of media coverage she has received and as a result, she is let down by everyone here. Lynch lists off her accomplishments, including having a VERY hot American husband. That brings up the CM PUNK chants so Lynch complains about a bunch of celebrities getting more attention than her, including a boxer, who can fight but “CAN SHE CUT A PROMO???”.

Cue Tiffany Stratton to interrupt, saying she can’t believe how ungrateful Lynch is to DUBLIN, IRELAND. Stratton threatens to make her leave and here is Nia Jax to go after Stratton, with Jade Cargill running in for the save. Cargill stares Lynch to the floor and Nick Aldis comes in to make the tag match main event. Putting Stratton and Cargill in there with Lynch is a good thing, and they managed to get the fans against Lynch, which is a heck of a trick.

Fraxiom tells Carmelo Hayes that the Miz is a schemer, which brings Miz up to protest. Hayes defends Miz and the team’s awesomeness is declared.

Carmelo Hayes/The Miz vs. Motor City Machine Guns

Hayes takes Sabin down to start but Sabin snaps off some armdrags. Shelley comes in and sends Miz outside for the for the big dives as we take a break. We come back with Shelley kicking him away and diving over for the tag to Sabin. Miz breaks up Skull And Bones and Hayes hits a Codebreaker on Sabin. Shelley clotheslines Hayes to the floor and it’s a slingshot dive, only for Miz to steal the pin on Sabin at 8:18.

Rating: C+. Take a team, give them some kind of a bond and have them win matches. That’s the trick to making a team feel important and it’s working here. Miz and Hayes are a team of two guys who needed something to do and this is a simple story and it’s working. Don’t make this more complicated than it needs to be.

Jimmy Uso (the birthday boy) is very happy that he’s going to be a father. Sami Zayn comes in for the big congratulations but Solo Sikoa and the MFTs interrupt. Sikoa says they can name the baby after Uncle Solo, but Zayn says Sikoa needs to worry about holding onto his title. The bad guys leave.

Charlotte vs. Piper Niven

Chelsea Green and Alba Fyre are here too but there is no Alexa Bliss. Niven sends her into the corner to start but Charlotte flips over to the apron. A crossbody takes Niven down, only for Green to offer a distraction. Niven crushes Charlotte for two and we take a break. We come back with Charlotte firing off the chops for a needed breather. Niven is dropped so Charlotte can hit the moonsault for two, followed by a spear for two. The Figure Eight goes on but Fyre distracts the referee, allowing Green to rake the eyes. That’s enough for the hold to be broken and the Piper Driver finishes Charlotte at 8:24.

Rating: C+. Nice enough match here, with the story being that Charlotte was fighting without her friend and partner, meaning the numbers game cut her off. That’s something that works well and this will probably set up the Women’s Tag Team Title match. The match didn’t have much time to work, but Green being a thorn in Charlotte’s side is a good way to go.

Michin interrupts Kiana James and Giulia, asking for a title match. James says Michin will have to go through her first, which is fine with Michin.

Wrestlepalooza is coming.

Here is John Cena to a hero’s welcome. After the big special introduction, here is Logan Paul to cut him off before Cena can say a word. Paul doesn’t think anything of Cena, who is just a fake. How is Paul seen as the outsider? He’s been doing this for four years while Cena is a corporate shill who will do whatever the company tells him.

Paul asks who is the impostor: the one who risks his life at every PLE, or the guy who has been doing the same five moves for twenty years? Cena admits that Paul is a presence and a tremendous athlete, along with being a future Wrestlemania main eventer, but he is stuck on the term “outsider”. Paul is not an outsider, but rather a disappointment. Cena talks about how he and WWE embraced Paul, who comes in here and tries to sell us Prime. And now, Paul is bragging about putting his life on the line for 23 matches?

Cena has been doing this for twenty three YEARS, including all kinds of times when there were no cameras around. It doesn’t matter how many moves he has, but rather how much he can give to the fans. The reality is Paul is a parasite and Cena lists off some names he could be dealing with, but he’s facing Paul instead. Paul knows a lot about hustle, but he knows nothing about loyalty and respect. He better bring his a game to Paris, or Cena will “beat the ever loving s*** out of you.” Paul knocks the hat off and is promptly dropped with the AA. Cena was bringing the straight fire here and it was great.

Tiffany Stratton and Jade Cargill agree to work together tonight, but Cargill is coming for the title after.

Logan Paul runs into Drew McIntyre, who praises Paul’s abilities.

Street Profits vs. MFT’s

Loa runs Dawkins over to start so it’s off to Ford for a dropkick. Ford is taken into the corner but fights out of the corner rather quickly, only to be pulled outside. A hard posting cuts Ford down and we take an early break. We come back with Ford sending Loa crashing outside, allowing the needed tag off to Dawkins. Everything breaks down and Ford knees Mateo in the face so Talla Tonga tries to get involved. Cue Jimmy Uso to chair Talla in the back and Sami Zayn to cut off Solo Sikoa. Back in and Dawkins’ spinebuster to Mateo sets up Ford’s frog splash for the pin at 9:57.

Rating: B-. Remember earlier when I said Miz and Hayes were a pair of guys who were put together and getting somewhere because they won matches? Well the Profits are the same kind of thing but as a regular, long term team. That’s something that works well and the Profits vs. Miz and Hayes for a title shot would make sense.

Aleister Black vs. Ron Killings

Hold on though as Killings pops up on screen and says he won’t be here because he flew to Dublin, Georgia. Instead, someone else is here in his place. Cue Damian Priest to return and attack Black, with security having to break it up. No match.

Commentary doesn’t have an update on Cody Rhodes but here is Drew McIntyre to interrupt. The update is that Rhodes is a little b**** and the next time they fight, McIntyre is taking that title. Rhodes has no friends….but Randy Orton is here with an RKO to lay McIntyre out.

Nia Jax and Becky Lynch argue a bit but seem to be ok.

Here’s what’s coming next week, including Miz/Hayes vs. the Street Profits in a #1 contenders match. See? Makes sense.

Becky Lynch/Nia Jax vs. Tiffany Stratton/Jade Cargill

Stratton slugs away at Lynch to start and knocks her outside for the big flip dive off the top. Back in and Lynch grabs Stratton’s leg so Jax can drop a leg as we take a break. We come back with Stratton making the tag to Cargill, who gets to face Lynch. Cargill gets to clean house, including a spinning torture rack powerbomb for two. Jax comes in off a blind tag but Cargill powerbombs her out of the corner. The Prettiest Moonsault Ever and Cargill’s top rope splash finish at 6:33.

Rating: C+. This didn’t have the time to go anywhere and it barely broke the threshold to get a rating. Again, the point here was to have Stratton and Cargill in there with the biggest female star in WWE history and they kept Lynch protected at the same time. Jax losing is the way to go here, as it’s not like she’s doing anything.

Nick Aldis tells John Cena that he just heard from Brock Lesnar….and Logan Paul knocks Cena cold to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. The Cena promo was the big highlight of the show and the matches were good enough to back it up. They teased Lesnar again at the end, but the story that kept my attention was the tag team stuff. I love seeing something that you can logically follow rather than all of the material based on swerves or guessing. Nice show here, and they’re getting ready for the next big events.

Results
The Miz/Carmelo Hayes b. Motor City Machine Guns – Codebreaker to Sabin
Piper Niven b. Charlotte – Piper Driver
Street Profits b. MFT’s – Frog splash to Mateo
Jade Cargill/Tiffany Stratton b. Nia Jax/Becky Lynch – Top rope splash to Jax

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

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Smackdown
Date: August 15, 2025
Location: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Commentators: Wade Barrett, Joe Tessitore

We’re coming up on Clash In Paris and the big news from last week is that John Cena will be facing Logan Paul in just over two weeks. That should make for a fun battle of promos on the way there, especially here in Cena’s hometown. In addition, the issues between Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu continue and I’m sure we’ll hear more about it this week. Let’s get to it.

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

Here are Solo Sikoa and the MFT’s to get things going. Sikoa makes it clear that they run Smackdown and if you don’t like it….well too bad! Last week, Sami Zayn showed up and attacked them, which is why he got a beating on Raw. The same thing happened to Jimmy Uso and Jacob Fatu, so if anyone wants to come out here and do something about it…and here is Zayn to interrupt. Zayn says he’s here to talk because he wants to win the Royal Rumble.

If he had beaten Rusev on Raw, that could have been in the cards. Then the team attacked him and he wants to say thank you. Aside from the World Title, the one title he has never won around here is the US Title. Sikoa says that isn’t changing anytime soon so go back to Raw. Zayn laughs that off, because he is officially on Smackdown. The fight is on, with the MFT’s beating Zayn down until Jimmy Uso and Jacob Fatu run in for the save. Nick Aldis wastes no time in coming out to make the six man main event. If Zayn is going to keep popping up around here, they might as well just officially move him over.

Chelsea Green and the Secret Hervice are not happy with last week’s caking, because it was VERY DANGEROUS.

Alexa Bliss vs. Piper Niven

Charlotte, Alba Fyre and Chelsea Green are all here too. Bliss makes the mistake of holding up the Lily doll and gets jumped from behind to start. That’s reversed into a sleeper but Niven powers out of it and hits a nice Boss Man Slam to plant Bliss. We take a break and come back with Bliss hitting her running Blockbuster for two. Niven sends her into the corner for the Cannonball though, only to miss the Vader Bomb. Bliss grabs a DDT, only for interference to break up Twisted Bliss. Not that it matters though as Bliss rolls Niven up for the pin at 7:37.

Rating: C+. This was a power vs. speed match with Bliss getting out of the way enough to make Niven miss. That worked rather well, though that swinging Boss Man Slam was the highlight of the whole thing. Niven knows how to be a force when she gets the chance and Bliss made her look good here, even in defeat.

Post match the beatdown is on, with Charlotte getting taken out too. Bliss gets crushed by Niven’s Vader Bomb to leave her laying.

Jade Cargill and Tiffany Stratton argue until Nia Jax interrupts. Stratton isn’t scared of either of them and tells them to bring it, because the outcome will be the same.

The Miz/Carmelo Hayes vs. Fraxiom

Miz and Axiom start things off but hang on as the Wyatt Sicks pop up in the crowd to watch. They lock up and fight over a test of strength until Miz takes him down for a quickly broken top wristlock. Frazer comes in and runs the ropes rather quickly, leaving Miz rather frustrated. It’s off to Hayes, who is taken into the corner as everything breaks down. Fraxiom hit stereo dives and we take an early break.

We come back with Hayes planting Axiom for two but he’s right back up for the tag off to Frazer. Some kicks to the head put the villains down and a springboard reverse Spanish Fly gets two on Hayes. The super Spanish Fly plants Hayes into the Phoenix splash but Miz steps up for a tornado DDT to Axiom and the save (and a nice one at that). Back up and Frazer tries a superplex but gets reversed into a cutter, leaving Hayes rather fired up. Hayes goes up but Miz runs in with the Skull Crushing Finale and the pin at 12:17.

Rating: B. These guys got going here and it was fun to watch the four of them going out there and go nuts. I could go for Miz and Hayes being around more often, but it already seems like we’re on the way to them having issues (again). At the same time, Fraxiom felt like they were going to be a big deal and yet here they are and it’s not going well. Maybe that changes, but they might have already hit their peak.

We look back at Drew McIntyre attacking Cody Rhodes last week.

Kiana James comes up to Tiffany Stratton in the back and suggests that Giulia wants a title shot. Stratton isn’t impressed but Michin comes in to say she’s coming for Giulia anyway.

Here is Drew McIntyre for a chat. We see the attack on Cody Rhodes last week but McIntyre makes it clear that he did not attack him. There is no medical update on Rhodes and it might be due to to WWE not wanting to admit that the golden boy is damaged. Five years ago, McIntyre was Rhodes but he knows that the fans will forget him.

Now he wants the title because of the paycheck it brings. The reality is that Rhodes attacked him and McIntyre goes outside to recap what happened. Rhodes even cleared off the announcers’ table. Why else was he going to do that? Was he going to “fashion me a fine cuisine?” McIntyre says if he’s provoked, he’s the real nightmare. Good stuff here, with McIntyre delivering as he can do so well.

The Street Profits and B-Fab are ready for DIY but Solo Sikoa and the MFT’s interrupt. Sikoa says they’re coming for the titles but Montez Ford says the Profits are coming for the smoke. Talla Tonga is distracted by something and a large bunny is behind them.

Street Profits vs. DIY

B-Fab and Candice LeRae are here too. Ford dropkicks Ciampa to start but gets taken into the wrong corner so Gargano can hit a running knee. That doesn’t last long as it’s off to Dawkins who runs DIY over without much trouble. DIY cuts that off and does their back patting as we take a break.

We come back with Dawkins knocking Gargano down, allowing Ford to come in to clean house. An assisted German suplex gets two on Ciampa and the Doomsday Blockbuster is loaded up, only for LeRae to take B-Fab out on the floor. The Fairy Tale Ending gets two and the Profits are sent outside, where Gargano gets caught with an uppercut. The referee goes to check on him but the distraction lets LeRae hurricanrana Ford off the apron. One Final Beat gets two on Ford but Dawkins breaks up Meet In The Middle. Ford knees Ciampa and a spinebuster into the frog splash gives Ford the pin at 9:25.

Rating: B. This got nuts by the end and I was wondering who was going to win. The tag division getting out there and working in matches where they’re given the chance to do something is a lot of fun and it’s making things a bit more interesting. Throw in LeRae finally getting to do something and it’s that much better.

Carmelo Hayes and the Miz are in the back with the Motor City Machine Guns, who think Miz is manipulating Hayes. An argument ensues and Aldis makes a tag match for next week.

We look back at John Cena and Logan Paul’s argument last week, setting up their match at Clash In Paris.

R-Truth is glad to have his childhood hero John Cena back but Aleister Black doesn’t like it. They go face to face and R-Truth is suddenly a lot more serious (showing the difference between himself and Ron Killings).

Sami Zayn and Jimmy Uso say it’s like old times, but Jacob Fatu doesn’t know anything about Zayn and doesn’t seem to want to.

MFT’s vs. Jimmy Uso/Jacob Fatu/Sami Zayn

Mateo and Uso start things off with Uso striking away, including a jumping enziguri. Zayn comes in and gets knocked into the corner before being tossed outside. Talla gets in a big boot and we take an early break. We come back with Sikoa unloading on Zayn but Mateo misses a charge into the corner. Sikoa is right there to cut off the tag attempt but Zayn manages a tornado DDT.

That’s enough for the tag off to Fatu and the ten headbutts in the corner have Loa in trouble. Uso’s big dive over the top takes Mateo out but Loa gets his knees up to cut off Fatu’s Swanton. Sikoa drops a Superfly Splash for two and it’s back to Zayn as everything breaks down. The Blue Thunder Bomb gets two and Fatu hits a heck of a suicide dive onto Talla. Back in and Zayn exploders Sikoa into the corner for the Helluva Kick and the pin at 11:02.

Rating: B. That was about the only way this match could end and that’s not a bad thing. They had set up the idea of Zayn coming after Sikoa and now he’s gotten a pin to set up the title match. Throw in Fatu getting to throw himself at a variety of people and it was a fun way to go. It might not have done anything overly complicated, but it was what it should have been.

Overall Rating: B+. This turned into a heck of a show, with a bunch of nice action, logical stories being moved forward and more than enough things to keep me interested. I’m sure at least a little of this will move on to Clash In Paris (Sikoa vs. Zayn is a likely candidate) and the show flew by, which is always a nice feeling. Pretty great show here and one of the better Smackdowns I’ve seen in a good while.

Results
Alexa Bliss b. Piper Niven – Rollup
The Miz/Carmelo Hayes b. Fraxiom – Skull Crushing Finale to Frazer
Street Profits b. DIY – Frog splash to Ciampa
Sami Zayn/Jimmy Uso/Jacob Fatu b. MFT’s – Helluva Kick to Sikoa

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

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Smackdown
Date: September 12, 2008
Location: Bradley Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Commentators: Tazz, Jim Ross

We’re done with Unforgiven and HHH is still the World Champion, being the only champion to survive the Championship Scramble. It’s clear that Jeff Hardy is coming for the title though and that should make for a big story to close out the year. The other big story saw Big Show attacking Undertaker on Vickie Guerrero’s behalf, which can’t go well. Let’s get to it.

Here is Unforgiven if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of the Championship Scramble.

Opening sequence.

Here is HHH to get things going. HHH says we need to see Unforgiven, even if it’s buying the DVD (and not just because he gets good residuals). He recaps the big events on the show, including Rey Mysterio’s crazy mohawk. Only one man walked in as champion and walked out as champion (aside from Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase I guess) and that was him. It was a difficult match but he found a way with one second left.

Cue Jeff Hardy to interrupt and say that HHH is awesome. The locker room, including Hardy, respects him because he’s a legend. HHH says he respects Hardy for being an individual who is always reaching for the brass ring, but he is just one step away. Hardy says maybe that’s true, or maybe he never had the right people, like the Kliq or DX or the family.

HHH doesn’t like that and brings up Jeff’s brother Matt. Yeah Jeff might be great, but Matt is the one who is a champion. Since they’ve been apart, Jeff hasn’t been able to keep his other activities from letting him get what he wants the most out of life. Tonight, Jeff is in a #1 contenders match for a shot at No Mercy and HHH hopes he wins so Jeff can prove him right.

Maryse/Natalya/Victoria vs. Maria/Michelle McCool/Brie Bella

McCool headlocks Natalya to start with McCool taking her into the corner so Maria can come in for la majistral. Bella starts in on the arm but Natalya drops her with a kind of step up backdrop. Maryse pounds on Bella on the mat and sends her outside, where Brie goes under the ring as usual. Back in and Brie gets a quick rollup for the pin on Victoria.

Rating: C-. The under the ring deal is fine, but it only has so much impact when Bella had only been in the ring for about a minute. Other than that, it’s easy to see why McCool was presented as a star, as she definitely has the athleticism and the look. The problem is they’re still in that weird period where the wrestling is being presented as serious (as it was here) but the Titantron videos are still showing off their appearances. It kind of has to be one or the other and that’s missing thus far.

R-Truth vs. Chavo Guerrero

Bam Neely is here with Guerrero. Truth takes him down with a hammerlock to start but gets kicked in the face for his efforts. Guerrero’s crossface chickenwing is broken up though and Truth hits a powerslam into a pump kick. Three Amigos connect and Guerrero loads up the frog splash. Truth cuts him off…and Neely shoves Truth down for the DQ.

Rating: C. They didn’t have time to do much here, though Neely getting involved was hardly a good way to go. As usual, Neely is about as uninteresting of a bodyguard as you can have as he’s someone who is just there and that doesn’t offer much in the way of value. Hopefully this isn’t part of a long feud for Truth either, as Guerrero isn’t the most thrilling opponent.

Post match Guerrero yells at Neely for the loss and gets shoved down. Truth drops both of them.

Shelton Benjamin hits on Eve Torres in the back when HHH interrupts. Torres leaves and, after opining about Torres being attractive, he says he doesn’t think Benjamin needs to be in the four way for the #1 contendership. Otherwise, Jeff Hardy is already coming for the title, but Benjamin says he’s reaching for a gold title, not a brass ring.

Festus vs. Kenny Dykstra

Jesse is here with Festus and they’re dressed as movers because Smackdown is moving to MyNetworkTV. Before the match, Dykstra brags about his potential and promises to take the garbage men out to the dumpster. He decks Festus before the bell and knocks Jesse down as well, only for Jesse to get in a show of his own.

Then Jesse rings the bell and Festus’ mauling begins. A fireman’s carry flapjack hits Dykstra…and Jesse and Festus hog tie him with duct tape. They put him on the moving cart and wrap him in plastic wrap to wheel him off. And that’s that, as the opening bell wasn’t official, so this was either not a match or a no contest due to kidnapping.

We recap Big Show getting yelled at by Vickie Guerrero at Unforgiven and then attacking Undertaker, seemingly on her behalf.

Here is Vickie Guerrero for an explanation. She talks about how Undertaker threatened to destroy her, but here she is. A lot of that is due to the Big Show, who comes out to shake her hand. Show talks about how Undertaker doesn’t follow the rules and how he needs to learn who is in charge. That’s when Show began to realize the benefits of a power alliance between himself and Vickie. She wants to be in charge and he wants to be WWE Champion and they’ll be working towards those goals. There isn’t much of a way around the fact that it’s still going to be Undertaker vs. Show again.

Vladimir Kozlov vs. Scotty Goldman/Funaki

Total dominance, with a pair of headbutts finishing Funaki in less than a minute.

Post match Kozlov says give him competition or he’ll find it himself.

Ezekiel Jackson is reading WWE Magazine when HHH comes in. They have a staredown until The Brian Kendrick comes in to ask if anything is wrong. HHH talks about the four way and says that he was wanting Kendrick to win. Of all the losers in the Championship Scramble, Kendrick was the biggest.

Colons vs. Zack Ryder/Curt Hawkins

Non-title and this is the Colons debut as a team. Carlito unloads on Hawkins in the corner before Primo tags himself in for a springboard dropkick. A powerbomb drops Carlito onto Ryder for two but Hawkins offers a distraction, meaning the Rough Ryder can connect. The chinlock, with a knee in Carlito’s back, goes on, with Ryder going major evil by using the hair to pull him back down.

Another chinlock doesn’t last as long but Hawkins is right there with a clothesline. The Hennig necksnap sets up a third chinlock but Carlito fights up. This time it’s actually enough for the tag off to Primo to clean house. Everything breaks down and a quick Backstabber gives Carlito the upset pin.

Rating: C+. As usual, I’m not wild on seeing champions lose clean, though it’s a fast way to boost up a new team. At the same time, it’s not like there are a bunch of teams going for the titles at the moment so throw them out there as fast as they can. It the match worked well enough, which shouldn’t be a surprise as the Colons have been teaming together for years.

HHH runs into MVP in the back and isn’t sure why he’s in the four way. The other three make sense but….MVP?

Classics On Demand: Flair vs. Race at Starrcade 1983.

MVP vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Jeff Hardy vs. The Brian Kendrick

Non-title and the winner gets a shot at HHH at No Mercy. Kendrick rolls outside to start, leaving Benjamin and Hardy to exchange rollups for two each. MVP breaks that up and stomps away at Hardy in the corner until Kendrick runs in to try and steal a pin. That earns him a trip back to the floor, leaving MVP to facebuster Benjamin. A quick Whisper In The Wind gives Hardy two and we take a break.

We come back with MVP chinlocking Benjamin until Kendrick makes the save. Kendrick camel clutches Benjamin as Ezekiel Jackson sends Hardy into the barricade. That’s broken up as well so MVP is back in for a basement dropkick to Benjamin. Hardy is sent back outside, leaving Benjamin to German suplex MVP for two. Benjamin clears Hardy and Kendrick out again, leaving them to fight on the floor while he gets a triangle choke on MVP.

That’s broken up as Hardy gets back in and drops Benjamin for two but the Swanton misses. Kendrick and MVP double team Hardy, which works as well as you would expect as MVP drops Kendrick with a clothesline. Back up and Hardy hits the Whisper In The Wind for two on MVP but Benjamin makes the save. Paydirt drops MVP again but Kendrick hits the Kendrick. Hardy Swantons in to break it up though and pins Kendrick for the win.

Rating: B. The result was the only one that made sense as Hardy has been treated as the next big thing, and certainly the next big challenger, so he should be getting the shot at HHH. The match was the usual fast paced fight with a lot of near falls and saved. It got a good deal of time though, which has me wondering how Hardy would get there, which worked for a main event.

Post match Hardy celebrates but Vladimir Kozlov comes in to lay him out to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. The main event was the big focus of the show and they did the right thing, with Hardy being the only one of the four who made sense. Unfortunately the other big story was the Show/Vickie deal, which is making me dread the next few weeks. Hardy going after the title is absolutely the biggest story taking place and the fans are more than into it, but the show needs something else beyond just that.

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

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Smackdown
Date: September 30, 1999
Location: Richmond Coliseum, Richmond, Virginia
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole

We’re coming off an all time Raw segment with This Is Your Life Rock, which is not likely to mean much around here. Instead, we’re likely going to be hearing more about the British Bulldog costing the Rock his WWF Title shot and then attacking champion HHH. That should be enough for the big story as we’re coming up on No Mercy as well. Let’s get to it.

Here is Monday Night Raw if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Chris Jericho vs. Road Dogg

Billy Gunn is here with the Dogg and Mr. Hughes is here with Jericho. The bell rings and they brawl into the crowd as the Hollys join commentary. Dogg sends him back to ringside for a whip into the steps and hammers away inside. The referee doesn’t like the violence and gets tossed to the floor, which is enough for Dogg to get disqualified.

Post match Gunn throws in a table and Dogg tries to put Jericho through it (as payback for an attack a few weeks ago). The Hollys jump him from behind though and Dogg gets put through the table again.

Vince McMahon isn’t happy with HHH and fines him $25,000 for his actions on Raw. In addition, he’s going to defend the WWF Title against the British Bulldog TONIGHT. Oh and The Rock will be the guest referee.

Here is Mankind (in the Rock N Sock Connection jacket) for a chat. He talks about This Is Your Life Rock and thanks the DOZENS AND DOZENS of fans for making it work. There is one person who messed it up by taking something that didn’t belong to him though, so Val Venis needs to get out here.

Cue Venis, who says hurry up because he has two beautiful women in the back and it isn’t his birthday. Mankind: “Val, I know what you’ve got in your pants and I want it.” Actually he needs it, which has Venis rather confused. Mankind is willing to turn his back so just whip it out and give it to him. Cole: “This is your life Mick Foley!” Venis says he doesn’t swing that way so Mankind describes it (Cole: “MICK THIS IS NETWORK TV!”) and says put it in his hand or he’ll put it in Venis’ mouth.

Venis didn’t know Mankind was like this but he doesn’t putt from that side of the green. Mankind has no idea what that means, but we see the GTV segment of Venis taking Mr. Rocko out of the trash and putting it in his pants. Venis realizes he got caught but says it was a joke for all the boys in the back. Mankind says neither he nor the Rock appreciates that and he goes for Venis’ pants. Venis bails and offers to go get the sock for him (thankfully acknowledging that he’s changed his pants since Monday). Mankind is a bizarre man but he can somehow make this stuff work.

HHH and Chyna are looking for Vince McMahon. During the break they find Vince and Shane, with HHH saying Vince is trying to find ways to screw him every week. HHH will find new ways around it ever week too.

The Rock thinks this show has turned into Let’s Make A Deal and Vince McMahon is Monty Hall. He’s fine with being the guest referee tonight and be completely unbiased because HHH can put his nose….oh you know by now.

Edge and Christian vs. New Brood

Gangrel is here with the New Brood and this is the first match in the Terri Runnels Invitational Tournament. Cue Terri Runnels to join commentary as Lawler thinks this should be called the Ryder Cup, which takes some time for Cole to get. The camera stays on Terri and Lawler for a bit as Terri explains the tournament: it’s really a best of five series for her managerial services and $100,000.

Jeff knocks Christian down and it’s off to Matt for a suplex into the Swanton for two (that’s so weird to see). Christian and Matt collide for a double down and Edge comes in to clean house. The Downward Spiral drops Matt for two as Lawler tries to say the tournament’s name without sounding dirty. Matt is knocked outside and a Doomsday suplex gives Christian the pin on Jeff to go up 1-0.

Rating: B-. They didn’t have much time here but these guys work well together every time. It’s so interesting to see their early days as they’re figuring things out and Gangrel is little more than window dressing for the Hardys. Things would get a lot better and you can see the fire in all of their eyes, which is making for a promising future.

The British Bulldog is ready for the main event and wants Rock to stay out of his way.

Mankind explains the Mr. Rocko/Val Venis situation but Rock isn’t sure who Rocko or Venis are. Mankind promises to figure this out to keep the Connection alive, with Rock telling him to go do it.

European Title: Big Show vs. D’Lo Brown

Brown is defending and Droz/Prince Albert are on commentary. Show throws him down and hits a suplex as Droz is complaining about “the bookers in the back” holding himself and Albert back. Brown fights up and hits a top rope clothesline to actually drop Show. The Low Down gets two as Albert gets up to watch from ringside. Droz distracts Brown as Albert goes up and dropkicks Show for the DQ.

Post match Brown gets beaten down again until Mark Henry runs in to chase Droz off. Brown leaves Henry again, with Henry saying they need to talk. With Brown gone, Henry talks about various addictions and says he has one of them. The reality is he’s a sex addict and it’s not a joke. He’s lost friends, family, his fiance, and a lot of money as a result of this. Now his mom has to see this, along with the people who know him. Henry starts crying and talks about how he can’t stop thinking about sex. It’s time to get some professional help and he walks off. Well that’s just depressing.

Stephanie McMahon and Test look through bridal magazines. Well Test wants to watch the game but he’s there too.

X-Pac/Kane vs. Acolytes vs. Dudley Boyz

Elimination tag for the #1 contendership and Bubba Ray has stolen the Rock’s Rock N Sock Connection jacket. We cut to the back where Stevie Richards shows Mankind about the stolen jacket before cutting back to Kane beating up D-Von. Bradshaw comes in for a boot to Kane’s mask but Kane hits a running DDT.

X-Pac comes in and gets taken down with a fall away slam, only to spin kick Faarooq in the face. The Acolytes double team X-Pac…and that’s a DQ. X-Pac kicks Bubba down and it’s off to Kane for the top rope clothesline on D-Von. Everything breaks down and it’s a Bronco Buster to Bubba, followed by the chokeslam to pin D-Von.

Rating: C. This didn’t have time to do much and, as usual, there was a lot going on in a single match. You had the stolen jacket, the referees being all aggressive, the stuff in the back, and the match itself. That’s all crammed into about five minutes and that’s not much time to get that much going. As usual, it would be better to just slow things down a bit, but that’s not how this era worked.

During the break, Mankind asks Bubba Ray about the jacket and tells him to come get it. He calls Mankind a freak and leaves, with Mankind not being pleased. Granted he doesn’t do anything about it, but he isn’t happy.

Here are Jeff Jarrett and Miss Kitty to say that the match with Chyna is going to be the Good Housekeeping match. That means he’s going to get to beat Chyna up with any household item he can find. Jarrett is ready to demonstrate to any woman around and calls out Cindy Margolis (who he attacked a few weeks ago), who is sitting in the crowd. He challenges Margolis and fellow actress Heather Kozar (on the upcoming UPN show Shasta McNasty) to a handicap match but here are all the women that Jarrett has attacked.

Jarrett challenges all of them and Miss Kitty doesn’t think this is a great idea. Jarrett beats up Fabulous Moolah and Mae Young but here is Chyna to make the save. The women proceed to beat the fire out of Jarrett with brooms, frying pans and everything else they can find, eventually chasing him to the back (that is so, so Memphis). Moolah and Mae jump Lawler, whose face is hilarious as he tries to get away.

Mankind admits to Rock that he misplaced the jacket, which has Rock annoyed but he’ll wear a Versace shirt instead. Mankind: “Don’t wear Versace! Don’t wear Versace!”

We actually talk to the head of security, with interviewer Terry Taylor saying this is an odd choice. He’s not happy with Steve Blackman attacking him, and then Blackman attacks him again. Yep, kind of obvious there.

Here is Mankind to call out Bubba Ray Dudley to give him the jacket back so here are the Dudleys…and I guess this is a match.

Mankind vs. Bubba Ray Dudley

I think? D-Von was in at the bell but then drops out as Val Venis is here with Mr. Rocko. Stevie Richards (dressed as Dude Love) comes in with a Stevie Kick to Bubba, who takes the jacket back. Mankind says he wants Rocko back so Venis gets in the ring (I’m assuming the match is over).

Venis says that he owes a lot of his career to Mankind doing the things he has done, like flying off of a Cell. Therefore, he’ll give Venis Rocko back, but he wants Mankind to close his eyes first. Then he grabs a testicular claw to take Mankind down. Stevie Richards comes in for a failed save and the Dudleys beat both of them up and DESTROY THE JACKET. Venis keeps cranking on Mankind and leaves him laying as the Dudleys leave. As usual, this worked because while the jacket is stupid, it means something to Mankind and that makes it matter.

WWF Title: HHH vs. British Bulldog

HHH is defending and The Rock is guest referee. Rock jumps Bulldog before HHH comes out so HHH is fine with stomping away on Bulldog on the floor. The bell rings and HHH covers, but Rock is looking at the crowd. HHH yells so Bulldog hits him low (Rock doesn’t care) and we see Steve Austin watching in the back. They fight to the floor as Rock jumps in on commentary.

Bulldog drops HHH on the ramp and they get back inside (Rock too) where the powerslam is countered. The Pedigree connects but Rock applauds rather than cover. Rock gives HHH the Rock Bottom and gets back on commentary. Bulldog covers and Rock counts two before saying it doesn’t matter if he counts three. Rock hits them both with the belt and stomps away before laying them out. This includes a People’s Elbow with Rock sliding across the mat without leaving his feet, which WWE hyped up as amazing and….not really? Rock leaves with the title and HHH is confused.

Rating: C. I’m not sure what to say about a match like this as it wasn’t about the match itself (obviously) and was more of a chance for Rock to play to the crowd. It worked well in that sense, but otherwise it was just five minutes of waiting for it to end, which is pretty much what happened. Not bad, but also barely a match.

We go to the back where Rock jumps HHH but gets jumped by the Bulldog, leaving HHH with the belt. Then Austin is waiting in HHH’s locker room and jumps him to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This was a special ninety minute episode for the sake of the Shasta McNasty (it didn’t last) pilot so they were a bit rushed. That being said, you still got a funny bit with Mankind and Venis, plus Edge and Christian vs. the Hardys. As was often the case around this time, things were moving very fast, but the show was still entertaining. Now it’s on to No Mercy, with some of the bigger matches already set, so things are looking in the right direction.

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