WWE has officially confirmed the date for the next episode of Saturday Night’s Main Event.
SNME will be held at the Yuengling Center in Tampa, Florida on May 24. WWE is running the venue for four straight nights during Memorial Day weekend with the following events set to take place:
Saturday, May 24: WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event
Sunday, May 25: NXT Battleground 2025
Monday, May 26: WWE Raw
Tuesday, May 27: WWE NXT
WWE is partnering with the Tampa Bay Sports Commission and Vinik Sports Group for these four shows. Three and four-day combo ticket packages are going on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. Eastern time on Friday, March 14. A pre-sale will take place next Wednesday-Thursday before the general on-sale.
Information regarding when individual tickets will be available has not been announced yet.
An appearance by the newly heel John Cena has been confirmed for the SNME episode. By that time, Cena could be the Undisputed WWE Champion. He’s challenging Cody Rhodes for the title at WrestleMania 41 this April.
SNME will air live on both NBC and Peacock. This is the third episode of the show since it returned in December 2024.
NXT Battleground is happening on the same day as AEW Double or Nothing 2025. Glendale, Arizona is hosting the AEW PPV.
WWE is bringing an NXT premium live event to Savannah, Georgia this May.
It was announced today that NXT Battleground 2024 will take place from Enmarket Arena in Savannah on Sunday, May 26. The show will air live on Peacock/WWE Network.
NXT Battleground is the first of back-to-back nights at Enmarket Arena for WWE. The Monday, May 27 episode of Raw is also being held at the venue.
Combo tickets for Battleground and Raw are going on sale at 10 a.m. Eastern time on Friday, February 2. WWE noted that details for individual event tickets will be revealed at a later date.
NXT Battleground will feature the biggest Superstars from NXT in action, including NXT Champion [Ilja] Dragunov, NXT Women’s Champion Lyra Valkyria, NXT North American Champion Oba Femi, NXT Tag Team Champions Tony D’Angelo and Channing ‘Stacks’ Lorenzo, and more. Additional ticket details will be announced at a later date.
This will be NXT’s third PLE of 2024. The first, Vengeance Day, is being held in Clarksville, Tennessee on Sunday, February 4. NXT Stand & Deliver will then take place from Philadelphia during WrestleMania weekend on the afternoon of Saturday, April 6.
From a business standpoint, the most important long-term news story for both WWE and UFC is the status of rights fees for television programming when the current contracts expire.
There has been tremendous speculation, with the decline in viewership of cable television, decreased ratings for both groups and the sports networks having long-term big contracts with the major players like the NFL, NBA, Baseball, Hockey, the major college sports and NASCAR, and signs that revenue growth for television is slowing down.
Over the past week, there has become speculation of new players competing with television, such as Amazon, Twitter, Facebook and Verizon. Thus far, none of those companies have become true competition in bidding against television, but there was talk this past week of Facebook perhaps being a player who could lead to a bidding war that would increase the value of the WWE U.S. contract. Times are changing and nobody really knows the landscape.
Only days after the one-year anniversary of WWE’s most recent attempt at a brand split, SmackDown hit its lowest point since last summer with Battleground.
It wouldn’t be much of an issue if this were an outlier. Bad pay-per-views are bound to happen and there will always be excuses for them. Stipulations marred things at Battleground, dragging down both John Cena vs. Rusev and the main event. And Kevin Owens vs. AJ Styles, the match that seemed destined to be the best of the night, had a finish that couldn’t possibly have gone as planned.
But Battleground, along with the cancellation of Talking Smack as a weekly series, encapsulated what has been a bad run for SmackDown. The show has consistently decreased in quality over the last several months.
SmackDown has clearly been getting worse since at least WrestleMania, with the superstar shakeup upsetting a mix at the top of the card. But things have been slowly going downhill for most of the year even before that. After flourishing with AJ Styles as champion, the show hasn’t been the same since he lost the title.
Aiden English defeated Tye Dillinger (pre-show match)
English got the pinfall win at 9:40 with a modified full nelson slam. A perfectly fine opener. English got a chance to sing for the crowd uninterrupted before the match.
This was Dillinger’s 7th televised match on the main roster (6th singles match) since being called up, 4th against Aiden English. (First win for English.) Their last match together was on the Backlash kick-off show.
Tom Phillips said they expect a capacity crowd here in Philly.
Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods (w/Big E) defeated The Usos to become WWE Tag Team Champions
New Day wore American flag themed gear. JBL said the Usos were expecting Big E to be in the match, but New Day tried a different unit to catch them off guard.
New Day are the new champs.
Kingston tried his trust fall dive to both Usos outside the ring, but they caught him and killed him with a double powerbomb. Woods was actually the legal man and they caught him with an assisted Samoan drop with a nearfall. Wood tried a springboard elbow on the wrong Uso and was caught in mid-air with a superkick from Jimmy Uso for another nearfall.
Jimmy had Woods in a single leg crab forever but Woods got a rope break. Kingston made a tag (he was laid out the entire time previously) and hit a double footstomp for a nearfall. Jimmy caught him with a superkick and Jey hit a splash off the top for another close nearfall. “This is awesome” chants.
Kingston avoided another splash and tagged in Woods. Kingston hit a Trouble in Paradise and Woods hit a springboard elbow drop for the win. Big pop for the finish. Real good match that went 13:46.
AJ Styles was shown warming up backstage.
Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Baron Corbin via DQ
Nakamura did his full entrance and received a huge reaction.
Corbin was trash talking at the start of the match, but Nakamura just rolled his eyes and chuckled. Corbin got the heat pretty early on. Nakamura caught him in an armbar but Corbin slipped out and hit a big boot. Corbin followed by driving Nakamura into the barricade a couple of times. Crowd chanted “Corbin sucks” and he responded, “I’m doing pretty good, dummies!”
Nakamura fought out of a second bearhug and connected with kicks, dropkick and two running knee strikes for a two count. Corbin came back with a big clothesline that turned Nakamura inside out for a two count. Nakamura followed with knee strikes but Corbin reversed a Kinshasa into a Deep Six for a nearfall.
Nakamura hit a backcracker and two more leg strikes. He set up for Kinshasa but Corbin wasn’t budging. Nakamura went after him but Corbin gave him a low-blow in front of the referee for a DQ at 12:27. Afterwards, Corbin attacked Nakamura with the briefcase and hit End of Days.
Five-Way Elimination Match: Natalya defeated Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Tamina and Lana to become number one contender
Naomi is on commentary. Tamina and Lana came out separately. Phillips said this was Natalya’s 38th PPV match, putting her one behind Trish Stratus for most all-time among women wrestlers. (I checked quickly and that may not be accurate, but I could be wrong.)
Lynch eliminated Tamina first with the Disarmer, about 8 minutes into the match.
Lynch eliminated Lana about 25 seconds later with a Disarmer.
Natalya eliminated Lynch seconds later with a rollup.
Natalya won the match, last eliminating Charlotte. Natalya got her knees up on a moonsault attempt, the drove the back of Charlotte’s head into the bottom turnbuckle. This was enough to get the pinfall. Naomi offered a handshake after the match, but Natalya left.
The match was good when Natalya, Charlotte and Lynch were in there. Tamina and Lana are unspeakably bad, especially together. The crowd was displeased with the result.
Kevin Owens defeated AJ Styles to become U.S. Champion
Near the end of the match, Owens dropped Styles shoulder-first onto the ring apron and worked his shoulder over from there. Styles couldn’t get Owens up for the Styles Clash as a result, then Owens tossed him into the referee. After a back-and-forth exchange, Styles applied the Calf Crusher, but Owens countered into a crossface.
Styles countered into a crossface of his own as the referee recovered. Owens rolled Styles into a cover (with the crossface still applied) and the referee counted three. It appeared Styles’ shoulder might have been up but the referee didn’t see it and they never showed a replay. Pretty good match but another weak finish. Also, earlier in the match, Owens took control after driving Styles groin-first into the ringpost, which was somehow not a DQ even though we saw a low-blow led to a DQ earlier.
I watched the finish again. Styles’ shoulder was up before the referee was about to count, but he lowered his shoulder against the mat and they were down for the three count. If the story is that Styles’ shoulders were down, then he basically lost clean.
Backstage, the Singh brothers let Jinder Mahal know they can’t be at ringside for his match tonight. Mahal said he would win anyway.
Flag Match: John Cena defeated Rusev
Byron Saxton said Cena’s career could be lost if he loses this match.
To win the match, you have to grab your flag, carry it down the aisle and place it on the pedestal (positioned by the stage).
Cena won at 21:03.
Rusev got his flag first, just under 9 minutes into the match (part of the crowd reacted like that was the finish), but Cena caught him with a dropkick and AA. Cena also applied an STF and Rusev tapped, but there was no crowd reaction since it didn’t matter.
Cena got the American flag, then Rusev caught him with a superkick. Rusev grabbed his flag and began walking but Cena cut him off with a shoulder tackle off the apron. Cena grabbed his flag and began walking, but Rusev attacked him from behind. Rusev is bleeding from the shoulder after going into the steel steps earlier. He used the steps to knock down Cena.
They fought on the stage and Rusev hit a fallaway slam. Rusev setup two tables next to the America pedestal. They fought for another 5 hours until Rusev applied an Accolade. Cena fought out of another Accolade, put Rusev on his shoulders and gave him an AA through the tables off the pedestal. Cena put his flag in the stand for the win. Cena saluted the flag.
The Fashion X Files
The Ascension showed up and claimed responsibility for destroying their stuff. Breeze thought this was a bit of a letdown. Fandango figured out that it couldn’t have been the Ascension because they weren’t at the show last week. He was also angry they would pretend to have done something so horrible to his horse. He shoved it in their faces and they freaked out and left. The lights went out and Breezango were laid out. There was a flashlight positioned perfectly on their bodies, which allowed us to see Fandango’s body get dragged out. The crowd laughed.
Sami Zayn defeated Mike Kanellis (w/Maria Kanellis)
Mike Kanellis’ tights are now white and pink. A distraction from Maria allowed Mike to gain control. Zayn came back with a flip dive followed by a crossbody for two. Zayn hit a nice tornado DDT, but before he could hit an Exploder, Maria jumped in the ring to block it. The ref kicked her out of the ring instead of disqualifying them. Zayn hit the Exploder anyway and a Helluva kick for the win at 7:17.
Talking Smack will be hosted tonight by Renee Young and Jerry Lawler. The guests will be Natalya, Kevin Owens and the winner of the Punjabi Prison match.
Punjabi Prison match: Jinder Mahal defeated Randy Orton to retain the WWE Championship
Mahal came out first. As they referenced earlier, the Singh brothers are not with him.
Crowd chanted “Trust the process,” “Delete,” and “CM Punk” through the early portion of the match. Orton and Mahal tried and failed to get through one of the four doors on the first three attempts. Orton nailed an RKO with the fourth door open, but the Singh brothers popped out from under the ring and pulled Mahal out of the door, trapping Orton inside the ring.
Mahal began climbing the outer structure as Orton climbed out of the inner one. Orton managed to step from the inner to outer structure, placing him right next to Mahal. Orton knocked him down, but before he could climb out, the Singh brothers pulled him down.
Orton suplexed the Singh brothers, then Mahal attacked Orton with a Kendo stick. Orton fought back and attacked with a Kendo stick. Orton began climbing, but Samir Singh actually slipped through the cage and climbed up from the outside to block him. Orton punched Samir off the cage and he crashed through the announce table, which was nuts.
Orton, who is bleeding from the back and arm, gave Mahal a draping DDT. He then hit Sunil and Mahal with chair shots. Orton began climbing and fended off Sunil one more time.
Mahal’s music suddenly started and Great Khali marched out (wearing his gear). Khali climbed up a few steps and grabbed Orton by the throat. Orton passed out as Mahal climbed over and out. Mahal retains the WWE title at 27:38.
Mahal and Khali hugged and posed. Mahal let him hold up the title, too.
The main show went just about 3 hours and 10 minutes.
WWE continued adding to the Battleground card on Tuesday’s episode of SmackDown.
It was announced that there would be a fatal five-way elimination match at the pay-per-view to determine who would challenge for the SmackDown Women’s Championship at SummerSlam. Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Natalya, Tamina, and Lana will be the wrestlers involved in that match.
Whether Naomi will be defending her title at the show hasn’t been announced yet. Carmella still doesn’t have a match for the PPV either.
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Baron Corbin is also set for Battleground, which will be Nakamura’s third PPV since moving up to the main roster. Their feud was advertised to lead to a match on SmackDown this week, but Nakamura started a brawl with Corbin before it could get underway.
Battleground is WWE’s last PPV before SummerSlam and will take place at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 23rd. The updated lineup is:
WWE Champion Jinder Mahal defending against Randy Orton in a Punjabi Prison match
John Cena vs. Rusev in a flag match
United States Champion AJ Styles defending against Kevin Owens
Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch vs. Natalya vs. Tamina vs. Lana in a number one contender’s fatal five-way elimination match
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Baron Corbin
SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos defending against The New Day
AJ Styles will again be challenging for Kevin Owens’ United States Championship at Battleground.
Styles won a battle royal on SmackDown tonight by last eliminating Sami Zayn to earn the title shot. Owens tried to lay Styles out after the match, but Styles fought him off and posed with the US title to close the show.
Owens previously defended his championship against Styles at Backlash in May, with him retaining after trapping Styles’ leg in the announce table and getting him counted out. They were both then involved in the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match at the next month’s pay-per-view.
Though Styles was announced as the first entrant in the battle royal last week, there was a storyline where he had to earn his way into it tonight due to both him and Chad Gable having gotten title shots against Owens before. He defeated Gable to keep his spot in the match.
Battleground will take place at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 23rd. The updated lineup for the show is:
WWE Champion Jinder Mahal defending against Randy Orton in a Punjabi Prison match
John Cena vs. Rusev in a flag match
United States Champion Kevin Owens defending against AJ Styles
SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos defending against The New Day
John Cena wasn’t the only wrestler who returned on tonight’s episode of SmackDown.
Cena opened the Independence Day show by making his first appearance on WWE TV since WrestleMania 33. He cut a patriotic promo, then addressed his “free agency” by calling himself an all-timer instead of a part-timer and mentioning top guys on both Raw and SmackDown as potential opponents.
Cena was interrupted by Rusev, who was also making his first in-person appearance in months. He took exception to the videos that hyped Cena’s return and was mad that Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan didn’t respond to his requests for a WWE title match.
Rusev disparaged America a bit before Cena challenged him to a flag match tonight, with Rusev saying that it would happen on his terms. Daniel Bryan then confirmed on Twitter that the match was set for Battleground on July 23rd.
Cena took time off after WrestleMania to work on film projects, while Rusev had been off of TV since undergoing shoulder surgery in March. WWE dropped a storyline where Rusev was saying that he would only come to SmackDown in the roster shakeup if he got a title shot. He was cleared to return to in-ring action last month and later came back at a house show.
Jinder Mahal and Randy Orton are set to face off at another pay-per-view, and WWE is resurrecting a stipulation match for their third meeting.
It was announced on SmackDown tonight that Mahal would defend his WWE Championship against Orton in a Punjabi Prison match at Battleground. That stipulation debuted at Great American Bash 2006, where Big Show replaced The Great Khali at the last minute and wrestled The Undertaker. Khali later faced Batista in one at No Mercy 2007.
Orton came down to the ring on SmackDown and said that he wasn’t leaving until he got a rematch against Mahal. Shane McMahon then made his way out, giving Orton the match but saying that Mahal would pick the stipulation. Mahal referenced Khali being one of his idols when revealing his decision.
In addition to that, The New Day will again get a shot at the SmackDown tag titles as they challenge The Usos at Battleground. That match was announced after The Usos defeated The Hype Bros in a match where Zack Ryder & Mojo Rawley would’ve earned a title shot by winning.
The Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania will host Battleground on July 23rd.
The site of WWE’s Battleground PPV, which will be a SmackDown show, will be the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
The WWE made the announcement live during last night’s Raw show at the building.
Battleground takes place on July 23rd and will be one of two PPVs that month. The Raw brand will run on July 9th with the Bad Blood show, the day after what is expected to be UFC’s biggest event of the year, the annual International Fight Week major show.
Tickets for Battleground are available right now for a pre-sale using the code “WWEPHILLY.”
WWE’s other PPVs through SummerSlam are:
WrestleMania 33 (April 2nd at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida)
Payback (Raw PPV on April 30th at the SAP Center in San Jose, California)
Backlash (SmackDown PPV on May 21st at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois)
Extreme Rules (Raw PPV on June 4th at the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Maryland)
Money in the Bank (SmackDown PPV on June 18th at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri)
SummerSlam (August 20th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York)
After her exclusion from last Tuesday’s WWE Draft caused significant uproar online, Bayley finally made her main roster TV debut on Sunday night at WWE Battleground.
Sasha Banks previously shot down speculation that she would choose the former NXT Women’s Champion to be her mystery partner, but ultimately did team with her former NXT rival to take on WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte and partner Dana Brooke.
Bayley defeated Banks to win NXT gold at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn in one of the most well received WWE matches of last year. The two had a long feud that culminated with Bayley again defeating Banks at TakeOver: Respect in the first women’s ironman match in WWE history.
Bayley lost the title to Asuka at TakeOver: Dallas, and has been attempting to regain it since.
As NXT has grown into its own distinct brand, Bayley has grown along with it to become one of the faces of NXT, establishing a unique connection with the audience through her likability and charisma.
JBL called Bayley’s appearance a one-off on commentary, and it’s not clear when she will be permanently added to either Raw or SmackDown’s roster.
