Jey Uso revealed as final WWE King of the Ring entrant

The King of the Ring lineup has now been finalized with Jey Uso taking the last spot in the tournament.

When the King of the Ring bracket was revealed on Raw earlier this week, there was one spot left open for a mystery entrant. WWE has now revealed Uso as that mystery competitor. He’ll face off against Bronson Reed, Sheamus, and Rusev in a first-round match on Raw this coming Monday.

Uso’s addition to the tournament comes after he lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Gunther on Raw. WWE posted a video today where general manager Adam Pearce said he was saving the open spot in King of the Ring for the loser of that Gunther match.

If Uso wins King of the Ring, he’ll earn a World Heavyweight title rematch against Gunther at SummerSlam. Uso won the belt from Gunther at WrestleMania 41 and held it for just under two months before losing it back to him.

The King & Queen of the Ring tournament finals are both taking place in Saudi Arabia at Night of Champions on June 28.

Sami Zayn has already advanced to the semifinals. Two more wrestlers will secure their semifinal spots when the tournament continues on SmackDown tonight.

Daily Update: Jey Uso, WWE LFG, Eddie Kingston

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

  • WWE cuts this past week, why and more details, lots of reaction to R-Truth and the story behind it
  • Preview of the WWE Money in the Bank and Worlds Collide shows as well as updated ticket demand for the shows as well as odds
  • New Japan Dominion and Kosei Fujita win Best of the Super Juniors in one of the year’s best matches
  • The most detailed look at the ratings of all the pro wrestling TV shows this past week including competition, segments, demo and what things on the different shows boosted the audience
  • Notes on one of the biggest Arena Mexico shows this year
  • Major arena sells out seven weeks in a row
  • Newcomers behind the scenes as WWE takes over AAA
  • Stardom PPV notes
  • Major signings for Hogan & Bischoff’s RAF company
  • Who has won the most awards in specific categories in the 45 year history of the Observer awards
  • Ratings for the past season of Dark Side of the Ring
  • Notes on wrestlers recently cut by WWE
  • AEW departures and details
  • Advance ticket sales for WWE, AEW and TNA shows
  • Lots more notes on AEW going to Arena Mexico
  • Bryan Danielson says his career highlight
  • Significance of the Phil Davis lawsuit and how it affects TKO and perhaps even WWE
  • Promotion cutting prices to increase ticket buys
  • Notes on MMA reporter Jordan Breen
  • Update on WrestleMania in Las Vegas
  • Nick Khan and Vince McMahon selling TKO stock
  • How much are analysts expecting the WWE PLE right and UFC rights to end up at and what does this mean for the stock price
  • Paul Levesque and Dwayne Johnson
  • Notes on WWE counter programming AEW
  • Bill Goldberg updates
  • How much money has Dwayne Johnson made from WWE since his return 18 months ago
  • Top YouTube viewing numbers this past week

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Tuesday Update

 WWE

AEW & Other Wrestling

WWE Raw live results: Jey Uso vs. Gunther for World title

Date: June 9, 2025
Location: PHX Arena in Phoenix, AZ 

The Big Takeaway —

Jey Uso’s reign as World Champion is over. 

CM Punk will challenge John Cena for the WWE Championship at Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia. 

Roxanne Perez advanced in the Queen of the Ring tournament, and Sami Zayn advanced in the King of the Ring tournament. The tournament will continue on SmackDown and Raw, and the finals will happen at Night of Champions. The winners earn title matches at SummerSlam. 

Bayley is back, and Nikki Bella returned to announce Evolution. Asuka returns next week.

Plus, R-Truth is officially back as Ron Killings. 

**********

Show Recap — 

Becky Lynch, Nikki Bella, Gunther, and Jey Uso (and son) were shown arriving. 

There were highlights from Worlds Collide and Money in the Bank. As usual, these packages are meant to recap what happened—and tell you how big the events were. Among the clips they made sure to include was a shot of Travis Barker and Kourtney Kardashian in the crowd at MITB. 

John Cena and CM Punk segment

Cena entered. He was introduced as the greatest of all time and the last real champion. Cena wore purple and orange to match the Phoenix Suns. (He still has Rise Above Hate and Never Give Up on his merch.) The show was ten minutes old by the time he spoke. 

Cena said “truth” was a lie. The fans wasted their energy on a sideshow comedian whose greatest achievement was pretending to be him. (The crowd chanted, “We want Truth.”) 

Cena asked if they thought those chants actually accomplished anything. The fans were all keyboard warriors and armchair activists who did not have the power to change anything. R-Truth was a gimmick they would not care about in a year. 

Cena had limited time on his farewell tour. Nineteen dates remain. They were halfway done, and the fans shouldn’t waste their voice sending him the class clown. They should spend their energy sending him real competition. He’s already beaten their best by beating Truth, Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton. 

CM Punk interrupted. Punk had a lot to get off his chest. He called it ironic that Cena, the boy scout, wanted to ruin wrestling and ruin the establishment that made him, while the punk-rock kid from Chicago was seemingly defending the establishment. Punk wanted to make it clear: he wasn’t defending the establishment. 

Punk wasn’t defending TKO or the billionaires—he was defending the people. Maybe Cena was mad that the establishment picked him while the people didn’t. The people picked Punk in 2011 to be the voice of the voiceless. 

Punk said Cena was wrong, claiming he hadn’t faced the best. Rhodes was the best they got, but Cena only won because he took cheap shots. Punk wasn’t about to kiss the ass of his “final boss,” because the people were Punk’s boss. 

It was Punk’s job to give the people what they wanted, and if they wanted the truth, they would get Ron Killings. 

It was time for Punk to teach Cena that he was only a spoke on the wheel, too. Punk recalled Cena saying he was sorry after pinning Punk at Elimination Chamber, after Seth Rollins stomped him. Cena knew what he did was wrong. He knew what he was doing was wrong. (The fans chanted, “You sold out.”) 

Punk said Cena would spend the rest of his dates apologizing to the people for his actions. The title corrupted him. Punk knew it because it did the same to him in 2012. Punk had a list of goals when he returned, but winning the title wasn’t one of them because he was afraid of what he’d become if he did. 

Everybody should want to be the champion, and only a few can accomplish it. Punk could now see he had to become a monster to defeat the monster. To people like Cena and Rollins, the belt meant power and control, but Punk thought it belonged to the people. 

Punk said Cena had 18 dates left after today, and he would leave it up to Cena to pick the date that Punk takes the belt from him. Punk challenged him to do it tonight. 

Cena said no, of course. Cena said Punk could follow him to Saudi Arabia so they could do it at Night of Champions. Punk said, “You’re on,” off-mic. 

Seth Rollins entered (with his crew) to show off his MITB briefcase, and the segment ended. 

(Punk claiming that it wasn’t his goal to win the championship until now feels like a total lie. It’s also kind of funny that he’s the one who now wants to save the title from someone else.) 

******** 

Wade Barrett is on commentary tonight instead of Pat McAfee, who has the night off. 

There was a graphic for the Queen of the Ring and King of the Ring tournaments. Cody Rhodes is among those on the men’s side, and Asuka is among those on the women’s side. There’s also a mystery person on the men’s side. The tournament finals will occur at Night of Champions. The winners earn a title match against their respective brand’s champion at SummerSlam.

********

Chad Gable cut a promo during the commercial break. He was pissed that neither he or El Grande Americano were in KOTR. 

AJ Styles vs. Chad Gable (w/The Creed Brothers)  

The opening match kicked off 31 minutes into the show, and they went to commercial 90 seconds into it. Styles overcame interference by the Creeds and multiple Gable ankle locks to hit a Styles Clash for the pinfall win. 

Match result: AJ Styles defeated Chad Gable (7:57) 

********

Backstage, Roxanne Perez suggested to Liv Morgan that they work together to ensure one of them wins. Morgan was not on board. 

Queen of the Ring first round fatal four-way: Rhea Ripley vs. Kairi Sane vs. Roxanne Perez vs. Liv Morgan

Morgan reluctantly worked together with Perez. However, as they set up for a double superplex on Sane, Ripley got underneath and hit them with a double powerbomb. Sane followed with a flying forearm on Ripley for two. 

Morgan and Perez worked together again to regain control. Morgan hit Sane with a backstabber, a move she does all the time, and Cole said it was an homage to Carlito. Ripley fired up and laid out everyone. Morgan tried to catch her off guard with an Oblivion, but Ripley caught her and hit a Rip-tide. 

Ripley had it won, but Raquel Rodriguez appeared out of nowhere to pull Ripley out of the ring and break up the cover. As Ripley and Rodriguez “brawled,” Sane wiped them out with a dive. 

Sane followed with an Insane Elbow on Morgan and seemingly had it won, but Perez caught Sane in a jackknife cover for the pinfall win. Roxanne Perez advances in the tournament. 

There are a lot of big names in this tournament, and like with Ripley here, I think we can expect to see a lot of finishes like this one to save prevent them from advancing. 

Match result: Roxanne Perez defeated Kairi Sane, Liv Morgan, and Rhea Ripley to advance in the Queen of the Ring tournament (12:52) 

********

Lynch walked through the back ahead of a break and passed by Austin Theory and Grayson Waller as they argued. 

There were more highlights from Worlds Collide, and a video package for tonight’s title main event. 

********

There was a Nikki Bella video package. 

Nikki met with Natalya and Maxxine Dupri backstage before speaking with Iyo Sky. Nikki put over Sky and how she carried herself as the champion. Sky thanked Nikki and said, “You paved the way for us.” (Another blatant lie.) 

********

Becky Lynch segment, Bayley returns

Lynch entered with her new IC title belt. She wondered where her “You deserve it” chants were. She didn’t need to hear it because she knew she deserved it. She should be out there celebrating, especially since there are so few opportunities for her to celebrate something new. She’s already won everything and is a best-selling author. Now, she is the Women’s Intercontinental Champion. 

This should be an opportunity to celebrate because this title was about opportunities. But the biggest opportunity this title ever got was Lynch winning it. She welcomed the belt to the big time and said it was now the biggest prize in the business. 

She should have been celebrating with her hot husband and beautiful child, but she wasn’t because the disingenuous bird lady Lyra Valkyria ruined everything. Valkyria raised her hand so aggressively that Lynch thought she dislocated her shoulder. Lynch claimed Valkyria tried to kill her when she attacked her after putting the belt around her waist. Lynch called out Valkyria to do it properly this time. 

Valkyria entered and walked out like an angry cartoon character. Bayley suddenly attacked Lynch from behind, and Valkyria was surprised to see her. 

Lynch bailed but bumped into Valkyria. Valkyria shoved Lynch back into the ring, but she escaped before Bayley could hit her finisher. 

********

Ron Killings / R-Truth segment 

Killings entered in the same outfit he wore at MITB. He entered through the crowd and stood on the announce table. 

Killings said: “Don’t let nobody tell you that you don’t matter. Don’t let nobody tell you that your voice doesn’t matter. They heard, they listened, they felt, and they understood. I am back—because of y’all.” 

Killings reiterated that he was back because of them and was back for them. But he was back for himself, too. “Not only did you bring Truth back, you got me.” 

They all loved R-Truth, but Truth could be too funny and forgiving. But he wasn’t. He felt different. He felt alive. He wasn’t a lie. He wasn’t a sideshow act. He wasn’t a gimmick. 

He pulled out a pair of scissors (as the announcers backed away) and cut his hair completely off. The crowd chanted, “Holy shit.” 

“The truth has set me free. I am Ron Killings. I am the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Now put some respect on my name.” 

The fans cheered as Killings walked away through the crowd. 

********

The male members of Judgment Day met backstage. Finn BĂĄlor thought it was strange that Dom was the only member in KOTR. Dom figured BĂĄlor had a shot at MITB, but that didn’t work out, so he thought BĂĄlor would be ok with him being in KOTR. JD McDonagh said Dom could win KOTR, while they could win back the tag titles. BĂĄlor was all smiles and acted like he was happy with this. 

Perez entered, and they congratulated her on the win. Morgan entered and was not in a good mood. Perez tried to claim she helped Morgan in the match by breaking up Sane’s pin. Morgan bluntly congratulated her and left. 

BĂĄlor told Dom he should speak to Morgan. Dom clearly didn’t want any part of this and scampered off for his match. BĂĄlor was amused. 

********

King of the Ring first round fatal four-way: Sami Zayn vs. Bron Breakker vs. Penta vs. Intercontinental Champion Dominik Mysterio 

It’s been a full 30 minutes since the previous match ended. After all the talking and backstage segments, they went to commercial one minute into this match.

Zayn wiped out Breakker with a dive, Penta wiped out Zayn with a dive, Dom wiped out Penta with a dive, and Breakker nailed Dom with a leaping clothesline off the apron and over the announce table. This led to a second commercial break, just 9 minutes into the match. 

Zayn hit Penta with a sunset flip powerbomb during the break for two. After the break, Penta powerbombed Dom, and Breakker hit Zayn with a Frankensteiner. (Cole continues to attribute the name of that move to McAfee.) Penta hit Breakker with a DDT, and Dom tried to steal the pin, but Breakker kicked out. 

Dom blocked Zayn’s Blue Thunder Bomb and went for three amigos, but Zayn blocked the final suplex and hit Blue Thunder for a nearfall. Penta hit Zayn with a Penta Driver, but Dom caught Penta in a schoolboy. The referee didn’t count the fall because Penta’s shoulders weren’t down (which you couldn’t really see), which sorta ruined the spot. Penta followed with a Canadian Destroyer on Dom for a nearfall. 

Breakker sprinted around the ring and cut down Penta with a spear. LA Knight suddenly appeared and hit Breakker with BFT. (Remember what I said earlier?) 

Back in the ring, Zayn gave Dom an exploder and Helluva Kick for the pinfall win. Sami Zayn advances. 

This was fun. The crowd was hot and went nuts for the closing sequence and Zayn’s win. It felt like he needed a win like this, even if this is just the first round of a tournament. The crowd was into all four guys and really into Breakker’s offence.

Match result: Sami Zayn defeated Dominik Mysterio, Bron Breakker, and Penta to advance in the King of the Ring tournament (17:05)

********

Cathy Kelley interviewed Styles. He was pissed about losing last week and didn’t appreciate being disrespected by Paul Heyman. He didn’t like how Judgment Day or Dom conducted business, either. He left to deal with them. 

Kelley approached New Day for an interview as they spoke to Waller. New Day cut their usual heel promo and didn’t have much to say. 

********

Zayn bumped into Karrion Kross during a break. Kross was happy that Zayn won on his own while taking his message to heart. Zayn had no idea what he was talking about. Kross said he used Knight’s interference to get ahead. He did what it took to win. The real Sami Zayn was a manipulator. 

Zayn said he won because he was good enough, just like he was good enough to win the world championship.  Zayn warned him to stop bothering him, because he was also good enough to handle him. 

********

There was an Asuka return video package. 

Next week on Raw: 

  • Queen of the Ring first round fatal four-way: Asuka vs. Stephanie Vaquer vs. Raquel Rodriguez vs. Ivy Nile 
  • King of the Ring first round fatal four-way: Sheamus vs. Rusev vs. Bronson Reed vs. a mystery opponent 

********

Nikki Bella segment 

Nikki was happy to be back and thanked her fans. She was here to talk about something special next month. She announced an all-woman PLE: WWE Evolution. 

She main-evented the first one, and seeing how far the division has come was incredible. She put over Ripley, Sky, Bianca Belair, Stephanie Vaquer, and Giulia. She completely butchered Vaquer’s name. 

Liv Morgan stormed out. She said if Nikki was talking about the best women in the division, she should talk about her. Morgan was the most talented woman in the division, proving it again and again. Nikki was jealous of her because she had everything Nikki didn’t. Morgan had respect, a championship, and a man. 

Nikki wondered if Dom belonged to Morgan or Perez. Nikki wanted Morgan to congratulate Perez on taking her title shot and her man. Nikki left the ring. 

Morgan said at least she was a champion, while Nikki was merely a reality show diva. 

Nikki went under the rope to return to the ring, but Morgan laid her out with an Oblivion.

(Nikki didn’t come across well here, and a lot of fans seemed to like Morgan better.) 

******** 

Cena vs. Punk was made official for the title at Night of Champions.

******** 

Jey entered along with his son, and he got his usual big reaction.  

Jey Uso (c) vs. Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship 

They went to break 75 seconds into this world championship match that’s been scheduled for a month. 

Jey went for the sleeper a couple of times in the first two minutes. Gunther escaped it, but Jey remained in control through the break. Jey hit a flying crossbody after the break for two. Jey came up nursing his midsection, selling the damage taken over the past week or so. 

Gunther booted Jey in the midsection repeatedly and ripped off his shirt to expose that his ribs were taped up. Gunther ripped up the tape while continuing to target Jey’s midsection. Jey fought back momentarily until Gunther hit him with a German suplex outside the ring. This led to a second break, 9 minutes into the match. 

After the break, Jey countered a vertical suplex with one of his own. The fans Yeeted as Jey fought back with strikes. Jey went for a running hip attack, but Gunther ducked. Gunther applied a sleeper while in the ropes, but Jey slipped out and hit a suicide dive. 

Jey couldn’t follow up, so Gunther gave him a back drop onto the barricade. Gunther tried a splash, but Jey got his knees up and followed with a spear. Jey hit an Uso splash for a nearfall. 

Jey went for a spear, but Gunther clobbered him with a clothesline. Jey reversed a powerbomb into a hurricanrana for two. Gunther hit a powerbomb for two, and a spear for two. 

Jey failed again to apply the sleeper, but countered a Gunther sleeper and hit a spear. Jey missed an Uso splash and sold his ribs before Gunther caught him in a sleeper. 

Jey fought toward the ropes, but Gunther repeatedly pulled him to the middle of the ring. It seemed like Jey was on the verge of going out, but Gunther let go and hammered away with elbows. Jey slipped out and applied the sleeper, but this time Gunther reversed into a sleeper again—right in the middle of the ring. 

Jey couldn’t fight any longer, and he went out. Some fans began screaming at the visual of Jey going out. The referee called for the bell. Gunther wins. Jey Uso’s world title reign is over. 

— Jey’s son checked on him at ringside. Gunther posed with the belt as fireworks went off. 

Match result: Gunther defeated Jey Uso to win the World Heavyweight Championship (22:06)

WWE Money in the Bank live results: Two ladder matches, Cody Rhodes & John Cena in action

Tonight’s WWE Money in the Bank from the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California, will feature two ladder matches to determine who will earn future anytime, anywhere title shots for the next year.

In the men’s match, it will be Seth Rollins vs. Solo Sikoa vs. LA Knight vs. Penta vs. Andrade vs. El Grande Americano.

The women’s match will feature Alexa Bliss vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Roxanne Perez vs. Giulia vs. Naomi vs. Stephanie Vaquer in a blend of the present vs. the future in the division.

WWE Champion John Cena teams with Logan Paul to take on Cody Rhodes & WWE World Heavyweight Champion Jey Uso. It will be Rhodes’ first match since losing the title to Cena at WrestleMania 41.

The main card is rounded out by WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion Lyra Valkyria defending against Becky Lynch. If Lynch loses, she cannot challenge Valkyria again for the title while if Lynch wins, Valkyria must acknowledge her as the better woman.

The pre-show kicks off at 5:30 PM Eastern while the main card begins at 7 PM Eastern.

**********

Countdown to Money In The Bank

-WWE was so excited about the Money In The Bank Kickoff Show, they started it 30 minutes early!

-Our panel is Micheal Cole, Pat McAffee, Big E and Wade Barrett. Cole and E have on blue and red ties respectively, Barrett went with no tie and McAffee is wearing the same clothes he’s worn for 36 hours.

-in lieu of a commercial break, the feed switched to Chelsea Green and Tiffany Stratton watching last year’s Women’s Money In The Bank Match. They thought it was pretty good.

-After a Cody and Cena recap video package, Sam Roberts and Megan Morant debated who the winners might be in the upcoming Cena/Paul vs Cody/Jey match. They threw to the panel for more analysis. Also, Barrett had taken off his jacket.

-An interview with WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion, Lyra Valkyria, aired next. Cathy Kelley mentioned her accomplishments over the year and Valkyria said that losing Becky Lynch’s friendship cast a shadow over her successes. they discussed the stipulation that if Lynch loses, she will never challenge for the Women’s Intercontinental Title again. If Lynch wins, Valkyria will be forced to “raise the bitch’s hand” as Valkyria put it. Valkyria said that she wants Lynch to feel the same embarrassment and pain that she cost Valkyria when she turned on her.

-At 6:14 pm, in the middle of Barrett’s assessment of the Lynch/Valkyria match, the first “We Want Truth!” chant of the night broke out.

-Next, after an acknowledgment of Dream Center, an LA-based charity, LA Knight himself arrived. He presented the team with a WWE Championship Belt and asked who one’s favourite wrestler was. He answered “CM Punk.” Knight offered to put Punk sideplates on the title belt for him.

-Cole, Barrett and McAffee exited to go get ready for the PLE and were replaced by Vic Joseph and Peter Rosenberg. No word on where Big E went. Byron Saxton was also getting crowd predictions. The children he spoke to picked Rhea Ripley to win the women’s Money In The Bank match and Penta or LA Knight to win on the men’s side.

-The Women’s Money In The Bank Briefcase was shown hanging over the ring in the Intuit Dome as the crowd filed in. I presume that means that match will be kicking things off when the show starts.

-Cathy Kelley filled us in on the quality of the ladders being used in tonight’s Money In The Bank matches. She threw back to Joseph and Rosenberg, who were joined by Big E. They made fun of Wade Barrett for taking off his jacket. Good times.

-Predicitons were made and the clock ticked down to the beginning of:

**********

WWE Money In The Bank 2025

Victor Solomon sang a stirring rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. The crowd was unsurprisingly, quite into it. After that, Cole ran down the card and the traditional Wrestlers entering and hanging out in the arena footage was shown.

During the intro, it was announced that this even marks 28 years to the day the Micheal Cole did his first commentary. Congrats!

Women’s Money in the Bank ladder match: Rhea Ripley vs. Stephanie Vaquer vs. Roxanne Perez vs. Naomi vs. Giulia vs. Alexa Bliss

There’s too much to say about all the participants of the MITB match this year, so while the entrances are happening, how about a quick fun fact for each?

Rhea Ripley – Has never competed in a Ladder Match. Ever. Like, not even once. Just ask her. She’ll tell you.

Stephanie Vaquer –  Held the NXT Women’s and Women’s North American Championship simultaneously. 

Roxanne Perez – NXT Female Superstar of The Year 2024.

Naomi – Blacklight artist and multiple-time Champion. 

Giulia – Her big move is a scissored armbar crossface she calls “Bianca” (no relation to Bel Air).

Alexa Bliss – Doll and early 2000’s heartthrob collector. 

There were some audio issues with the commentary team off the top, but they were back in full force for the explosion of cheers for Rhea Ripley’s entrance.

The bell rang and all six women stared each other down. Quickly, they began punching each other, leading to Vaquer, Giulia and Perez exiting the ring. Naomi introduced the first ladder and Ripley used Bliss as a weapon to take her out.

Everyone traded places and Vaquer, Giulia and Perez ran through a threeway dance until Naomi returned and introduced Perez’ face to the ladder. Bliss snuck up on her though, and laid Naomi and Perez out on a ladder for a flip senton. Giulia returned to ring and set a ladder in the corner. She sent Bliss into it but it fell over and caught her in the back. She shrugged it off as Ripley climbed back into the ring.

Ripley dropkicked Giulia into the corner and tried to set up a ladder. Naomi and Perez tried to stop her, but Ripley dispatched them quickly. Ripley tried to hit a Razor’s Edge on Perez on the ladder, but Perez managed to reverse it and then hit a springboard moonsault onto Ripley on the ladder.

Perez was the first to climb a ladder, but was pulled off by Bliss. Giulia took out Bliss, and she and Perez raced up the ladder. Ripley stirred to life first though, so Giulia and Perez formed a quick alliance and sandwiched her in a ladder, before hitting that ladder with another ladder. Ladder.

Perez and Giulia continued their partnership by stacking half a dozen ladders on Ripley on the outside. While they were doing that, Naomi set up a ladder in the ring, but Vaquer got to her before she could climb it. Vaquer hit a killer dragonscrew on Naomi that looked like it wrenched her knee out of her socket.

Bliss and Perez climbed the ladder and Naomi and Vaquer climbed a second one. Bliss bailed and powerbombed Vaquer off the ladder. She then pushed over both ladders sending everyone flying. Giulia and Perez then dropped Bliss right onto a ladder and turned on each other. That woke up Ripley who threw off the pile of ladders she was under.

Ripley grabbed Perez and threw her into the barricade before confronting Giulia in the ring. Ripley went on a tear, taking out Giulia and Naomi before setting up a ladder on the ring ropes. Ripley threw Giulia into it for good measure and set up a ladder in the ring. She set up another one creating a bridge between the turnbuckle and the ladder. Ripley tried to use it on Vaquer, who countered and dragged her up onto the ladder for some Devil’s Kiss knees.

Vaquer scrambled up the ladder and got her hands on the case, but Perez stopped her from winning the match, much to the crowd’s dismay. Bliss tried to sneak up the other side, but Perez met her at the top and sent her into Naomi. Vaquer grabbed Perez on the ladder bridge, while Naomi set up another bridge opposite to it.

Bliss, Naomi, Vaquer and Perez all climbed up and traded blows, mirroring each other. Suddenly, Bliss and Perez hit dueling Code Reds on the ladder bridges. Giulia leapt in and removed the bridges, trying to take advantage and grab the briefcase. Perez scrambled up and the two traded blows atop the ladder.

Ripley arrived and dragged Giulia off the ladder. Ripley hit a riptide on Giulia and Bliss laid out Perez with a Sister Abigail before the two shared a smile and raced to the top of the ladder. Naomi dashed their hopes by knocking over the ladder though and set herself up to climb the ladder and unhook the briefcase, becoming 2025’s Miss Money In The Bank!

Match Result: Naomi defeated Stephanie Vaquer, Roxanne Perez, Giulia, Rhea Ripley and Alexa Bliss

Wow! Great match and excellent opener. I was surprised by Naomi taking in the win, but the three “newer” talents, Giulia, Vaquer and Perez shone brightly in this match. Bliss looked like she was right in there and Ripley was awesome as always. A good precedent set for the rest of the show!

-Next, highlights were shown from WWE x AAA World’s Collide which happened earlier in the afternoon (Full results here), setting up the upcoming match between Octogon Jr and WWE Intercontinental Champion, Dominik Mysterio.

-After that, a video package recapping the feud between WWE Heavyweight Champion Jey Uso and Gunther was shown. They will face off this Monday on RAW.

WWE Intercontinental Champion Dominik Mysterio vs Octagon Jr.

A last minute addition to the card, WWE’s “Dirty” Dominik Mystario will defined his title against AAA’s Octagon Jr. For those not familiar with Octagon Jr, his father was an Octagon. Also, he’s one of the premiere Luchadores in Mexico. So this should be an excellent match up. 

Speed was the name of the game in this contest, with Mysterio and Octagon exchanging moves at a lightspeed pace early on in the match. For once, a Mysterio was the larger performer in the ring, and Mysterio sent Octagon to the mat. He then tied Octagon’s mask to the rope so that he could beat him up unimpeded.

Mysterio slowed down the pace trying to keep Octagon on his heels, but Octagon didn’t buy it and took over with an armdrag corkscrew. Mysterio followed up with some 3 Amigos, but only got one in before Octagon broke free. Mysterio hit him with a modified driver, knocking Octagon for a loop and onto the ropes.

Octagon ducked a 619 attempt and hit a swinging neckbreaker before heading up top. Liv Morgan provided a distraction and Mysterio hit a 619 and a frog splash in quick succession. 1-2-3 and Mysterio retained his title, but Octagon looked great doing it.

Match Result: Dominik Mysterio defeated Octagon jr.

Lots of fun and a perfect length for a match that was announced just hours before showtime. Octagon looked great and Mysterio gets to continue the heeling that he does so well as Intercontinental Champion.

-Backstage, Chad Gable implored the Creed Brothers to sneak a Fireball branded ladder under the ring for El Grande Americano to “find” during the Men’s Money In The Bank match. Better than a dancing Cinnamon Toast Crunch, I guess.

Women’s Intercontinental Champion Lyra Valkyria vs Becky Lynch

Lynch is doing her best to win the Big Show Award this year by flip flopping all over Valkyira. They been friends, champions, enemies, chenemies and more over the last few months. Valkyria for her part appears as confused as the rest of why Becky Lynch just doesn’t seem to want us to like her. 

Valkyria took the fight to Lynch so hard it popped the neck strap of her top and the ref had to quickly do it up while Lynch recovered on the outside. Valkyria followed her out and was throw into the steps and barricade for her trouble. This is the aggressive and brutal version of Becky Lynch and she went right for it with a Bex-ploder that got a two count. Valkyria countered with a Manhandle slam for a two-count of her own.

Lynch dropped a series of legs, wearing down Valkyria via neck offense. Lynch chopped her into the ring and Cole reminded us that Lynch is 0-5 in her last five matches, which I thought was interesting. In the ring, both women traded punches.

Valkyria picked up the pace and dropped Lynch with a modifed driver. Lynch fought back though, sending Valkyria into the corner. Fro there, Lynch landed a spiked DDT for another near fall. Lynch sent Valkyria to the corner and went up to the top turnbuckle. Valkyria joined her there and hit a superplex followed by a fisherman’s suplex for a two-count.

Valkyria tried a moonsault, but Lynch dodged it. Lynch locked in an Armbar and wrenched on Valkyria until Valkyria reversed it into a half-crab submission, forcing Lynch to grab a rope break. Valkyria splashed her out to the floor and Lynch tried to get away and recover on the Spanish announce table. Valkyria followed her, and laid her out over the barricade.

Valykyria went up on the announce table and dropped a leg on Lynch over the barricade. Tossing her back in the ring, Valkyria went up to the top turn buckle. Lynch caught her in mid air though and powerbombed her into a pin attempt.

It was here, for, some reason, the crowd started chanting “We want Truth.”

Any way, Lynch tried to get the drop on Valkyria with a Manhandle slam from the top rope, but Valkyria kicked out at two, shocking Lynch. Lynch took her to the outside and tossed Valkyria into the ring post, followed up by a Manhandle slam on the concrete. Valkyria wasn’t out though, and hit a Nightwing on Lynch onto the floor, as the ref counted. At 9, they both scrambled back into the ring.

The two traded blows and rollups and Lynch resorted to a handful of tights and somewhat unexpectedly, won the match and the WWE Women’s Intercontinental Title.

Match Result: Becky Lynch defeated Lyra Valkyria

After the match, as per the stipulation, Lynch forced Valkyria to raise her hand in victory. Lynch wouldn’t let it go though and made her do it on all four sides of the ring. She then made Valkyria put the belt on her, but Valkyria had enough and hit a German Nightwing, leaving the new champ writhing in the ring.

A really, really good match somewhat sullied, in my opinion, by the finish. Despite Valkyria winning against Lynch with the roll up, It came completely out of nowhere in this match. I blinked and almost missed it.

Men’s Money in the Bank ladder match: Seth Rollins vs. Penta vs. El Grande Americano vs. Solo Sikoa vs. Andrade vs. LA Knight

I did it for the Women, so how about some fun facts for the Men’s field as well:

Seth Rollins – Multi-Time WWE Champion, best part of Captain America: Brave New World

Penta – Holds the record for most changes of name without actually changing his name. 

El Grande Americano – Delicious. 

Solo Sikoa – Flowered necklace and loose shorts enthusiast. 

Andrade – Was once an Idolo. 

LA Knight – Yeah! Two-time WWE, yeah! United States Champion, yeah! 

After the entrances, of which there were many, everyone seemd to have eyes for Seth Rollins. Rollins got attacked and sent to the outside by Penta, Andrade and Knight, who then turned their attention to Sikoa. They did the same to him and sent him out. Americano was next, and Rollins managed to get back into the ring and take out Penta and Andrade.

Everyone was down on the outside and Americano picked up a ladder a dispersed smacks with it to everyone in the match, while the commentary team debated the merits of researching men’s nipples. I’m not kidding, that’s what they were talking about.

Any way, back in the ring, Penta had Americano in the corner and delivered some stiff chops until Rollins hit him in the stomach with a ladder. Americano threw Rollins onto a ladder in a modified flipping Razor’s Edge and set up a ladder in the ring. It was a very short ladder though, so his chances weren’t great and even less so after Siko punched him in the gut.

Knight then sent Sikoa into the ladder and laid him out with some bit shots. Sikoa fought back though and attempted a Samonan Drop on Knight onto the ladder, but Knight reversed it and knocked Sikoa out with a Knight elbow. He then climbed the same too short ladder and Penta joined him at the top.

Rollins, with a bigger ladder, climbed up and Americano went up the other side. Sikoa then set up a third ladder, which Andrade climbed up. They all battled atop their ladders of various sizes, with Penta, Rollins and Andrade falling.

Rollins dumped over Americano’s ladder and delivered a Pedigree to Penta. Sikoa and Rollins remained as the only two standing in the ring. Sikoa went for a Samoan Spike, but Rollins hit a superkick and knocked him down. Rollins set up a ladder in the corner and launched Sikoa into it with a drop toe, followed by a curb stomp.

Rollins grabbed an appropriate sized ladder and set it up in the middle of the ring. Americano climbed up after him and put an ankle lock (taught to him by Chad Gable) on Rollins atop the ladder. Andrade tried to climb up OVER Rollins and hit a Sunset bomb on Americano off the top of the ladder. Penta and Rollins flew backwards into the corner ladder.

Penta and Andrade went to the top of the ladder and Andrade offered Penta a chance to grab the briefcase, seemingly out of respect. Penta, having never seen wrestling apparently, tried to do it and Andrade immediately punched him in the stomach.

Andrade set up a ladder bridge to the corner and climbed up on top of it with Penta. He tried tho spulex Penta, but Penta blocked it and hit a Mexican Destroyer on the the ladder, wrenching Andrade’s neck. Sikoa leapt into the ring, taking out Penta and mocking him, instead of climbing the ladder. That gave Knight an opening to pull Sikoa out of the ring and into the barricade.

Knight set up a ladder bridge between the ring and barricade and then threw Sikoa into the steps. Knight climbed into the ring, but Penta met him with a Destroyer and started climbling the ladder. Americano suplexed him off the ladder and then did the same to Rollins, and then Knight, and then Andrade.

Rollins charged Americano, but the alleged luchadore dodged and send Rollins into the ladder. Americano then went under the ring and got the Official Fireball Branded Ladder that the Creed Brothers had hidden under there. Sadly, it did not shoot fireballs like I’d hoped, but Americano was able to hit everyone with it.

Americano climbed, and so did Penta. The two fought on top of the Fireball Ladder (TM) and Penta sent him packing, only to be replaced by Rollins. Americano stashed a steel plate in his mask on the outside, while Rollins and Penta fought atop the Fireball Ladder. Rollins fell, and Penta was left alone atop the ladder. Americano scrambled up another ladder, jumped onto a second ladder and then climbed up to headbutt Penta with the steel plate. Americano then went for the briefcase, but Knight pulled him off.

Rollins was left alone in the ring and climbed the Fireball Ladder while Heyman urged him on. Andrade tried to climb up as well but Rollins sent him down. Penta arrived, and Andrade pulled Rollins off. Penta and Andrade fought at the top of the ladder. Siko raced up and Andrade was forced to hang from the briefcase for a moment. Penta then climbed a different ladder, while Rollins called for backup.

Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed came out and cleaned house, taking out Americano, then Knight, then Andrade and Penta. Breakker speared Knight on the outside and Reed hit a Tsunami from the top rope on Andrade. Suddenly, Jacob Fatu and JC Mateo arrived and faced off against Breakker and Reed.

The four beasts brawled on the outside, with Mateo getting speared through the barricade by Breakker. Fatu hit a pop up Samoan Drop followed by a Suicide Dive onto Reed. Fatu put Sikoa back in the ring and set up a ladder for him. Sikoa noticed that the ladder was too short (why do they even have those?) and Fatu grabbed a proper-sized ladder, guarding it as Sikoa tried to get the briefcase.

Just as Sikoa’s hand touched it, Fatu grabbed his ankle and declared “I HATE YOU” pulling him down and superkicking him. He hit a moonsault on Sikoa, getting revenge for Sikoa making fun of him behind his back on Smackdown last night. Fatu slammed Sikoa through that bridge that Knight had set up earlier, removing him from contention and possibly being able to walk again.

Rollins grabbed another Official Fireball Ladder ™ and set it up in the middle of the ring. No one was stirring, not even a mouse. Rollins climbed the ladder and almost had it, but Knight pulled him down and hit a lariat. Knight raced up the ladder, but Rollins recoverd and through him headfirst into the Fireball Ladder and then delivered a Curb Stomp.

Rollins then climbed the ladder, grabbed the briefcase and became Mr Money In The Bank for the second time in his career.

Match Result: Seth Rollins defeated Penta, El Grande Americano, Solo Sikoa, Andrade and LA Knight

That was an absolutely exhausting match to watch, but it was really, really good! I loved the interference from Sikoa’s crew and Rollins’ crew. Rollins showed himself to be the top guy he is, Knight was stellar as always and Penta and Andrade were excellent. Americano did everything he needed to and the tension was there through the whole match. Excellent effort by all!

-Next up, WWE made it official that Wrestlemania will be returning to Las Vegas next year and offered a QR code for early ticket registration.

WWE Champion John Cena and Logan Paul vs. Cody Rhodes and WWE World Heavyweight Champion Jey Uso

John Cena is hellbent on ruining wrestling. Logan Paul is hellbent on ruining everything else. In response to their call for team names, I’d have just gone with “the worst” in lowercase letters to piss off the grammar police. Tonight they take on Yeeting-enthusiast and World Heavyweight Champion Jey Uso and his partner, guy-who-totally-returns-his-cart-to-the-designated-area at Costco, Cody Rhodes. 

After the entrances and introductions, the bell was stuck and after some discussion, Rhodes and Paul kicked things off. Paul immediately tagged in Cena who locked up with Rhodes. Quickly, Paul was tagged back in, as Cena attempted to ruin tagging.

Rhodes got Paul up in a vertical suplex and stalled him for about 30 seconds. From there, Uso asked for a tag and came in to take on Paul. Paul met him with a big right hand, knocking Uso off his feet. He followed it up with two more for good measure.

Uso came back with a pop up neckbreaker and sent the dazed Paul into the corner to yeet all over him. Paul fought back with a blockbuster though and got the first nearfall of the match. Cena then jumped in and rained punches down on Uso. Cena sent Uso into the corner and distracted the Ref so Paul could get a few shots in.

Uso reversed the next whip and sent Cena into the corner. He reached for a tag, but Paul got one first and pulled him back into the center of the ring for a gutwrench slam. Paul dragged Uso to his and Cena’s corner, isolating him from Rhodes. Rhodes paced on the ring apron (the most anxious part of the ring) while Cena delivered a lariat to Uso. Cena then bowed (or curtsied) to the crowd.

Cena slowly picked Uso apart, countering everything Uso could dig up and delivering a begrudging Five-Knuckle Shuffle. Uso popped up and put a sleeper on Cena, with Paul way to far away to make a tag. Cena backed him into the corner though, squashing him and tagging Paul before Uso could get to Rhodes.

Paul hit a big leg drop onto Uso after mugging for the crowd. Paul prevented another tag, again isolating Uso away from Rhodes. Cena tagged in and ran over to give Rhodes a cheap shot before turning back to Uso. While the Ref calmed Rhodes down, Cena and Paul double teamed Uso. Cena went for another cheap shot on Rhodes, but he saw it coming this time and blocked it, sending Cena back to Uso with a punch. Paul tagged himself back in, but Cena didn’t like it, so he tagged HIMSELF back in. The two shoved each other over who should be tagged in, giving Uso a chance to crawl over for a hot tag to Rhodes.

Rhodes jumped in and cleared out Cena and Paul. He hit a Cody Cutter on Cena and dumped Paul to the floor to receive a suicide dive. Rhodes hit Cena with a big missile dropkick, but on the bounce back Paul hit Rhodes in the face, giving Cena a chance to hit an AA and almost get a pin before Uso broke itup.

Rhodes grabbed Cena and landed a CrossRhodes. Paul went up top for a splash, but missed and hit Cena by accident. Then Uso hit a spear on Paul and everyone was laid out in the middle of the ring.

Cena and Uso got to their feet and began exchanging blows. Cena tried for an AA but got a superkick instead. Paul took Cena’s place and he and Uso exchanged punches. Rhodes came to the rescue, hammering Paul with jabs. Paul hit him in the gut before the Bionic Elbow and hit a Paulverizer. Instead of a cover though, Paul went up top, mugging to the drone cameras. That gave Rhodes and chance to superplex him while still holding the camera! Uso hit an Uso splash next and Paul released the drone.

Cena snuck in an AA on Uso and then one on Rhodes, but Rhodes kicked out. Cena took Rhodes to the outside and cleared an announce table. He cleared a second one and put Rhodes on the first one. Cena put Rhodes up for an AA, but Rhodes wiggled free in time for Uso to run across the tables and spear Cena.

Paul then hit a Moonasult from the ring onto Uso on the table, crushing them both! Cena and Rhodes crawled back into the ring, Cena with the Championship belt in hand. Cena clocked Rhodes with the belt and a masked man entered the ring and speared Cena. IT WAS R-TRUTH!!!! Truth is back!!!

He left through the crowd, leaving Cena knocked cold in the middle of the ring. Rhodes staggered up and hit a CrossRhodes on Cena to get the pin and the win for his team!

Match Result: Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso defeated Logan Paul and John Cena

WOW! HOT DAMN! That was an exciting match, but the Truth reveal at then was spectacular! I honestly stood up in my office and exclaimed “TRUTH!!!” to the no one that was in there with me. What a great ending to a really good show!! There is no other outlet or entertainment that can do a surprise like that the way Pro Wrestling can and I am here for it!

WWE SmackDown live results: Money in the Bank go-home show

One night before Money in the Bank takes place, all of the MITB participants — as well as the four wrestlers competing in the PLE’s star-studded tag team main event — will be in the building for WWE SmackDown.

Undisputed WWE Champion John Cena, World Heavyweight Champion Jey Uso, Cody Rhodes, and Logan Paul are all set to make an appearance on tonight’s show. Cena will team with Paul to face Rhodes & Uso at Money in the Bank on Saturday night.

Additionally, the men and women competing in the respective MITB ladder matches will be on the show. On the men’s side, that includes Solo Sikoa, Seth Rollins, El Grande Americano, LA Knight, Penta, and Andrade.

On the women’s side, Rhea Ripley, Roxanne Perez, Giulia, Stephanie Vaquer, Alexa Bliss, and Naomi will appear ahead of their ladder match.

Ripley, Bliss & Vaquer are teaming up tonight to face Naomi, Perez & Giulia in a six-woman tag. Plus, Knight will go one-on-one with Aleister Black.

Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

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– Joe Tessitore welcomed everyone into the show as shots of outside the Intuit Dome aired. The scene then transferred to Bakersfield, where SmackDown was happening.

– Cody Rhodes, Rhea Ripley, Alexa Bliss, Stephanie Vaquer, Naomi, Giulia, Roxanne Perez and all four members of the new Paul Heyman group were shown walking backstage, outside and everywhere in between. The Heyman group, led by Seth Rollins, made their way to the ring for the first segment.

The Paul Heyman group segment

Rollins soaked in the fans singing his song briefly after the four of them entered the ring. The crowd turning to barking in the key of Bron Breakker. “CM Punk!” chants then broke out. These people just could not make up their minds. Anyway, Rollins eventually just said “Bakersfield,” and ran through his introduction. Rollins said he will take everything at Money In The Bank and then have control over the entire industry. “OTC!” chants began. Rollins said Roman could hear them because he’s off on the island of irrelevancy.

Rollins said they were there to deliver a message – anyone who stands in their way will suffer the same fate as anyone who has already stood in their way. Rollins referenced Sami Zayn, Roman Reigns and CM Punk as people who stood in their way and noted how they are all out of commission. Rollins said Reigns has never cared about the fans while Rollins, indeed, has cared about the fans. Rollins said there is nobody who can stop him. On cue, Solo Sikoa’s music hit and Sikoa walked out with Jacob Fatu and JC Mateo.

Sikoa and his group took their time entering the ring. Sikoa asked Rollins about what he previously said and Rollins reiterated everything. Sikoa said if nobody was going to stop Rollins … well, Sikoa and his group were standing there and they could, in theory, stop them. Sikoa said Rollins had his own Bloodline going on. Sikoa asked if Bron was supposed to be Jey Uso and if Bronson Reed was Sami Zayn. Sikoa looked at Heyman and said, “Long time, no see.” Rollins stepped in and told Sikoa to choose his words carefully. Sikoa said he would win the MITB contract and all the power will be Sikoa’s.

Rollins called Breakker the future of the industry while Sikoa was not. Rollins said Reed could snap Sikoa with his fingers. Rollins said Sikoa’s family would rather stab him in the back than have his back and turned his attention to Fatu. Rollins said it looked like Fatu wanted to say something and Sikoa told Rollins to shut his mouth. Rollins then called Fatu “Solo’s bitch.” Rollins said it took a lot of guts for Sikoa to come out and talk to them. Rollins said he felt a little threatened by one Fatu in the ring, but it wasn’t Sikoa. Sikoa took off his suit jacket and Breakker stepped up. Fatu then stepped up to Breakker. Rollins then stepped to Fatu. The Heyman group left the ring and that ended the segment.

As Rollins and his group left, Jimmy Uso ran in and took out Sikoa and his group. Uso will face Mateo in the first match of the night.

This was fun. I was a little surprised the crowd didn’t side a little more with Sikoa and his boys because there really were a lot of layers attached to the fact that Sikoa led his people out there to confront a group put together by Paul Heyman. They only touched on it briefly, but it was enough to remind some of us that there are a lot of different ways a story like that could go. In the meantime, the Fatu/Breakker stare down was really well done and boy, it was kind of a trip to see Jonah and Jeff Cobb face off on the far side of the ring. We aren’t in New Japan anymore, Dorothy. Good stuff all around and a hot start to a go-home show that appears to have a hot crowd behind it. You can’t ask for much more than that.

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Jimmy Uso vs. JC Mateo

The match was joined in progress and Uso had the upper hand. Uso came off the top and hit a cross-body for a one-count. Uso came off the ropes and Mateo suplexed Uso before going to Uso’s chin and mouth. Sikoa told Uso it wasn’t too late for him to come back to Sikoa’s group. Mateo kicked Uso and slowed things down. Uso fired up, but eventually ran into a back elbow from Mateo. Mateo chopped Uso repeatedly before he ran at Uso and Uso moved, sending Mateo to the outside. Uso hit Mateo with a shoulder block through the ropes and onto the floor. Uso went to the top, but Mateo dropkicked Uso off the top and to the outside of the ring. The show then went to a commercial break.

The show returned and Uso was rallying until Mateo clotheslined Uso and landed a standing moonsault on Uso. Mateo hit a running elbow in a corner, but Uso came back with a Samoan Drop to reset the match. Uso hit a fury of strikes on Mateo, including a step-up enziguri. Uso came off the top with an Uso In The Wind, and got a two-count out of it. Uso ran at Mateo, but Mateo caught him and hit a spinning back suplex for a nice near-fall. Mateo ran at Uso, but Uso got an elbow up and followed that with a pair of super-kicks and a spear. Uso went to the top, but Sikoa hopped up on the apron. Uso and Fatu then engaged in a stare down, btu Fatu on the apron. Mateo leapt at Uso and Uso moved, so Mateo hit Fatu off the apron. Uso rolled Mateo up for the win. After the match, Fatu left on his own while Mateo yelled at Fatu.

Match result: JImmy Uso defeated JC Mateo (11:23 of TV time)

An OK television match (and that might even be sort of kind). Like it or don’t like it, it’s hard to deny that there was no real reason it should dragged on as long as it did – and through two commercial breaks, to boot. The long walk towards Fatu breaking out on his own continues, but this felt like a significant development because it was Mateo who was fired up after the match and it was the first real time we saw him show any type of emotion since showing up in WWE. Back to the match: Jimmy needed that win, so I’m glad he got it. On the other end of things, we can probably all agree that Mateo will survive even though he now has a loss on his WWE record. The showdown between Mateo and Fatu can’t come soon enough, though, because these Bloodline angles have no problem dragging out much longer than they actually should.

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– Zelina (no Vega, according to the graphic listed on the television screen) ran into Giulia backstage and told Giulia would have to pry the U.S. title from her lifeless body. Giulia said Zelina was confident and Zelina walked away while Giulia looked on.

– Fatu ran into Damian Priest backstage. Priest told Fatu he’s been where Fatu currently is and he doesn’t envy that. Priest said at some point, he’ll be coming for the U.S. title. Fatu said if Priest doesn’t take care of business, Priest will be at the back of the line like everyone else.

Zelina Vega vs. Piper Niven in a Bakersfield Brawl

Good news. Vega got her last name back in the graphic that popped up on her way to the ring. Niven threw Vega to the mat repeatedly to begin the match. Eventually, Vega grabbed a kendo stick from under the ring and worked Niven over with it. For reasons impossible to explain, Vega threw the stick to the outside of the ring and went for a pin, but Niven kicked out right away. “We want tables!” chants inevitably began. The action spilled outside and Niven caught Vega before slamming Vega’s head down on the ede of the apron. Niven followed up with a basement cross-body against the LED screen on the side of the ring. The show then went to a commercial break.

The show returned and a chain had been introduced during the break. Niven choked Vega with it before kneeing Vega into the bottom turnbuckle. Niven set up a chair and attempted to slam Vega, but Vega turned it into a DDT on the chair. Niven sold it by rolling outside, where Vega hit a moonsault on everyone, including Fyre, Green and Niven. Vega went to the top, but Niven cut her off. Vega fought back and landed a Super Code Red from the top, but Fyre pulled Vega off Niven. Green then beat down Vega as Niven came to. Niven yelled for Fyre to get a table and Green and Fyre did just that.

Niven slammed Vega on the floor as her crew set up the table inside the ring. With Vega on the table, Niven went to the second rope, but Giulia appeared and attacked Green and Fyre. Giulia hit Niven with the kendo stick and Vega powerbombed Niven through the table. That was enough to get Vega the win.

Match result: Zelina Vega defeated Piper Niven (10:44)

After the match, Giulia entered the ring and raised Vega’s hand before, wouldn’t you know it, attacking Vega. Giulia then picked up the U.S. title and stood tall over Vega.

Vega receives slightly better responses from the live crowd each week and this was no exception. Good for her on that. This was a fairly PG brawl, as one would expect, but the final sequence with Niven going through the table looked like it might leave Niven with an ache or two tomorrow morning. I like the insertion of Giulia into the Vega/Green program and we have to think this leads to Giulia eventually holding that U.S. title, which will instantly give it some much-needed credibility. My only request? Can we get to that point sooner than later? My impatience, these days, knows no bounds.

**********

– Jey Uso was shown in the locker room and Cody Rhodes came up to talk to him. Jimmy Uso walked into the frame. Jey said they’ll worry about tomorrow, tomorrow, after Cody and Jimmy asked Jey if he was OK.

– An Aleister Black vignette aired. Black recalled how LA Knight stole his victory in the MITB qualifying match. Black said he wants to take away Knight’s security and he wants things to be Knight and Black to see what’s left of Knight. Black said if Knight beats him, he will shake Knight’s hand and admit defeat.

LA Knight vs. Aleister Black

Before the match, Knight obtained a microphone and held it out as the crowd chanted his name. Knight said it was that time of the year (yeah!) and it’s Money In The Bank season (yeah!). Knight said if you do a little bit of math, this is his third year in a row being in MITB. Knight asked the crowd if they thought the third time will be a charm. Knight said he’s not satisfied with that. He ran down the other participants in the ladder match, including Seth Rollins, with whom Knight noted he hasn’t had a lot of interaction. Knight said Rollins isn’t going to burn anything down because instead, Rollins will get burned by Knight. Before long, Knight capped his minutes off with the catchphrase. Mercifully, the lights went out and Black’s music hit in an attempt to move things towards actually starting the match. Before that could happen, though, the show went to a commercial break.

The two locked up when the show returned, so maybe they just stood there and looked at each other during that two-and-a-half minute commercial break? Some mysteries might never be solved. More locking-up continued all around the ring continuously until the crowd … well, the crowd never really responded to it. Black took Knight down and worked a side head-lock. Knight came back with an elbow and a vertical suplex for a one-count. Knight went for a DDT but Black didn’t comply and instead kicked Knight in the head. Knight came back with a tough clothesline that was good enough for a two-count.

Black landed a jaw-breaker and a step-up knee for a two-count. Black followed up with a snap-suplex, which was good enough for a two-count. Black landed a series of strikes, complete with a leg-sweep. Black went for a springboard move, but Knight charged Black and both wrestlers went over the top and to the outside. The show went to another commercial break as Black and Knight sold the spill.

Back to the action and Black successfully executed the springboard moonsault on Knight inside the ring. “This is awesome!” chants broke out. Black went for Black Mass, but Knight ducked it and Knight hit his jumping neck-breaker into his modified powerslam. From there, it was the top-rope elbow attempt, but Black got a boot up. The two went back and forth with punches and kicks. Black went for the moonsault again, but Knight caught Black and hit a Burning Hammer. Black then rolled to the outside. Seth Rollins ran in and gave Knight the Stomp, which was enough to end the match.

Rollins set up for another Stomp, but Black stepped into the ring to stop Rollins. Breakker then showed up and speared the hell out of Black. Reed landed a Senton on Knight and then Breakker speared Knight.

Match result: LA Knight defeated Aleister Black via DQ (10:20)

I’m not a fan of the finish, but this was a good match while it lasted. In fact, it was one of Knight’s better television matches in recent memory and you have to think that as a thing or three to do with Black. Knight seemed fired up and Black got the best out of him because of it. I was wondering how they’d get out of the match because I couldn’t imagine Knight losing going into MITB, but it also seems too soon for Black to lie down. Insert Seth Rollins, and the result writes itself. The way the Rollins group is bulldozing everyone, it kind of feels like an NWO-lite feel and I like that. Oddly enough, that idea feels kind of/sort of fresh these days when it’s done right. And right now, Heyman and Rollins and their guys are doing it right.

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– Nick Aldis and Adam Pearce announced that next week, the King and Queen Of The Ring tournaments will begin. The winners of the tournaments will receive world title shots later at Summer Slam.

– Byron Saxton interviewed Jade Cargill backstage and Saxton asked Cargill about competing in the Queen Of The Ring tournament. Cargill noted how she is the storm and she can’t wait to tear through the Queen Of The Ring tournament. Saxton asked about Bianca Belair and Cargill was going to respond, but Charlotte walked into the frame. Charlotte told Cargill there is only one queen in WWE. Tiffany Stratton then walked in and started her march to the ring for the next segment.

– A Legado Del Fantasma vignette aired. They talked about competing at Worlds Collide. They put over their opponents in the six-man tag at Saturday’s event.

– American Made were interviewed backstage. Chad Gable said his confident was high going into his match with Vikingo at Worlds Collide. Gable said the AAA Mega Championship will come home with him. Andrade walked into the frame and spoke to Gable in Spanish. Penta then pulled up and made fun of Gable in Spanish. Gable got angry and said El Grande will put them both through a ladder tomorrow night. Aldis showed up and made a match pitting Penta & Andrade against the Creeds for later tonight.

The Tiffy Time segment

Tiffy said everyone on Saturday is going to try and pull a Tiffy from last year and reach for the stars. Stratton said everyone in the match is championship match is great, but after the match, whomever wins will have their world revolve around Tiffy. Tiffy asked everyone what time it was and the crowd shouted “Tiffy Time!” Rhea Ripley’s music hit and Ripley walked out. Ripley grabbed a mic once inside the ring and recalled how she’s never had to be in a MITB match before. Ripley said she knows what it feels like to be a champion and she misses that feeling. Stephanie Vaquer’s music hit and out, she came. As Vaquer made her entrance, introductions for the upcoming match was made. As such, Alexa Bliss’s music hit and Bliss made her entrance for the match as well. The show then went to a commercial break.

**********

Rhea Ripley, Stephanie Vaquer & Alexa Bliss vs. Naomi, Giulia & Roxanne Perez

Vaquer and Giulia started the match and the pace was fast. They traded a bunch of pin attempts and Vaquer set up for the face-planting viral move (Devil’s Kiss), but Giulia countered and planted Vaquer. Naomi tagged in and went for Devil’s Kiss on Vaquer, but Vaquer worked out of it. Things broke down and all six women brawled, highlighted by Vaquer executing the Devil’s Kiss on Naomi. After the things settled down, Naomi and Vaquer were battling in the ring with Naomi getting the best of it, complete with the other heels interfering. Perez tagged in and worked over Vaquer until Giulia tagged in a short time later. Naomi quickly tagged in, too, and lifted Vaquer, but Vaquer worked out of it and tagged in Bliss.

Bliss whipped Naomi into a corner and then pulled her down by her hair. Bliss hit a basement dropkick on Naomi and a dive on Giulia and Naomi on the outside. Perez reinserted herself and threw Bliss into the ring steps. The show then went to a commercial break. The show returned and Naomi was working over Bliss. Naomi ran at Bliss, but went face-first into a buckle. Still, Naomi lifted Bliss to stop a tag, until Bliss DDT’d Naomi and got the hot tag to Ripley. Perez also tagged in.

Ripley hit a fallaway slam on Perez and took out the rest of the wrestlers as the crowd chanted “Mami!” Ripley landed a Razor’s Edge on Perez. She followed up with a boot to the face, but Naomi broke up a pin attempt. The match broke down and Bliss hit Sister Abigail DDT on Giulia. Ripley then tried a RipTide on Perez, but Perez countered into a spike DDT and everyone was down. There was a chant from the crowd that forced the audio to be spotty. Perez tried to tag Naomi into the match, but Naomi left the match after hopping off the apron. The three babyfaces ganged up on Perez and Ripley hit RipTide on Perez for the win.

Match result: Rhea Ripley, Alexa Bliss & Stephanie Vaquer defeated Naomi, Roxanne Perez & Giulia (12:01)

The match of the night so far. Perez, especially, as acclimated really well to the main roster, despite the footsie that the bookers have played with her between NXT and the main roster. Vaquer looked good, too, and better yet, it really finally feels like Giulia has arrived in WWE. Her NXT run felt a tiny bit off in a handful of ways, but something clicked in the last couple months and this feels like The Real Giulia – or at least the one we’ve come to love from her work in Japan. The Naomi wrinkle was a fun way to get to the finish and I suspect she wins the ladder match Saturday night. In the meantime, this was a very good preview for what’s on tap for this year’s women’s MITB festivities.

**********

– Sikoa was shown talking to Mateo backstage. Mateo asked Sikoa if he trusted Fatu and Sikoa said as long Fatu follows Sikoa’s lead, everything will be OK. Sikoa said Fatu loves him and Fatu isn’t “all that smart in the head.” Sikoa said all Fatu thinks about is himself and he’s “all gas and no brains.” Sikoa said he has it all under control. As Sikoa and Mateo walked away, it was revealed that Fatu was standing right around the corner, listening to all of it.

– While the Sign Of The Night stuff unfolded, a Bo Dallas/Wyatt Sicks VHS vignette cut in and aired in lieu of it. Dallas/Howdy said he’s watched the tag division and he said they returned not for nostalgia or closure, but to rip open the wound of apathy and take what they are owed. He said the time for repentance has passed and everyone needs to accept their condemnation and they will not be forgotten. The entire SmackDown tag division was shown watching the video backstage together. Montez Ford spoke up and said he knows they are all afraid and they need for forget about the tag title for one moment and instead, need to focus on the Wyatts. Fraxiom said they need to teach the Wyatts a lesson. MCMG told #DIY they want to get their hands on the Wyatts, too. Each team left the scene on their own and left Aldis alone in the room.

Penta & Andrade vs. American Made (Julius Creed & Brutus Creed)

Penta and Andrade jumpstarted the match, landing dives on both Creeds on the outside. Andrade and Brutus started the match, but Julius ran in and Andrade took care of him, too. Andrade hit double-knees on both brothers in separate corners. Penta tagged in and took care of both Creed brothers, too. Penta did the Penta Walk, but the brothers attacked him while doing so and briefly, they took control. Penta quickly recovered and Andrade tagged in, but Julius took out Andrade’s knee. Brutus tagged in and hit a standing moonsault for a one-count. The show then went to a commercial break.

The show returned and Andrade was getting worked over by the brothers until he hit an enziguri on Julius and tagged in Penta, who who unleashed a fury of moves on Julius. With the ref distracted, Gable hopped onto the apron and tried to take Penta’s mask off until Vikingo ran in and took care of Gable. There was some chaos, but Penta hit the Mexican Destroyer on Brutus and got the win.

Match result: Andrade & Penta defeated The Creed Brothers (Julius & Brutus Creed) (7:57)

After the match, Seth Rollins’s music hit and the Heyman group came back down to ringside to face Penta and Andrade. Heyman’s group surrounded the ring and a brawl broke out between Breakker, Rollins, Reed, Penta and Andrade. The crowd booed as the heels got the best of it. Breakker landed a spear on Andrade while Reed hit a Senton on Penta. Rollins then stomped both Penta and Andrade. Reed went to the top and connected with a Tsunami on Penta. Officials ran out to help and the show went to a commercial break.

Again, I really, really, really like this Heyman group takeover stuff. That was a really nice touch to the aftermath of this match. I suspect it won’t continue without the MITB thread after this weekend, but we can appreciate it while it happens. As for the match itself, it was pretty good. I maintain that the women had the match of the night, but this had great action and the crowd was super up for Andrade and Penta, which added to the proceedings. It’s wild to me, watching Vikingo run through GCW talent only a handful of years ago, doing that 720 splash through tables near and far, grabbing a cup of coffee in AEW, and now playing a run-in role in the last match of the night on a SmackDown. This business, man. There’s nothing like it.

**********

– The show returned and Paul Heyman had a microphone and called everyone “Bakers Bitches.” Heyman said his group doesn’t fear the future because they are the future. Heyman said he didn’t understand why anyone would boo that. Heyman said Rollins already told everyone everything that would happen and all the things he said did, in fact, happen. Heyman asked if the crowd understands that Rollins and the group are “the vanguards of the destiny of WWE.” Heyman said everyone can boo all they want, but at MITB, Rollins will become Mr. Money In The Bank. Heyman said after that, whenever Rollins damn well feels like it, will propel the entire industry into a vision all of his own. Heyman said the greatest honor of his professional life will be calling Rollins the reigning, defending … and then Cody Rhodes’s music hit to cut the whole thing off.

The Cody Rhodes/Jey Uso/John Cena/Logan Paul segment

Cody stood in front of the entire Heyman group to start the segment. Rollins stepped forward. Cody stepped forward as well. Jey Uso’s music hit and Uso made his entrance through the crowd. The show went to a commercial break and when it came back, the Heyman group was out of the ring. Cody asked everyone what they wanted to talk about. Cody mentioned John Cena and the crowd launched into “Let’s go Cena/Cena sucks!” chants. Cody mentioned how seeing Cena stand next to Paul is like seeing “Michael Hayes standing next to the Hardy Boyz.” The problem with the line was that nobody reacted. At all.

Jey took the microphone and everyone yeet’d, but quickly, John Cena’s music hit and Cena made his entrance to the “John Cena sucks” singalong. Cena cut his music and soaked in the chants coming from the crowd. Cody took off his suit jacket. Cena motioned for the ring announcer to reintroduce him as the greatest of all time, as he’s done in past weeks, and Mr. Nash obliged. Out of nowhere Logan Paul showed up and attacked Cdoy and Uso. Cena hit an AA on Uso. Paul landed a Paul-verizor on Cody. Paul went to the top and hit a frog splash on Cody. Paul followed up with a frog splash on Uso.

Cena grabbed a microphone and said nobody will come to save the fans or wrestling. Cena said he’s been telling everyone for half of a year – “your dream of what WWE is will be ruined. This is your future. I take this home. He takes that to the top.” Cena was talking about the championship belts. Cena said the last real champion and the moment maker, the last future face of WWE, Logan Paul … Cena didn’t add anything to that sentence and Paul and Cena held up the respective world titles. Cena rolled Cody into the ring and hit an AA on Cody. Paul rolled Uso into the ring and Paul hit Uso with his right hand.

Cena yelled “You can’t handle the truth!” It was a play on R-Truth (let’s hope, at least). Cena noted how everyone was hypocrites for chanting for “Truth.” “We want Truth” chants kept going. Cena called everyone losers and said it was his last time in Bakersfield. Cena finished by saying winners write the history books. Again, Cena and Paul held up the respective world titles. The show ended with Uso and Cody selling pain.

Good heat for the heels going into what most of us think is a throwaway tag match Saturday night at MITB. If anything, it will probably be designed to make Jey Uso take some damage going into his world title match against Gunther on Monday, but the way this episode ended, it’s hard not to imagine Cody and Jey going over. We’ll see, I suppose. The only real disappointment of the segment was the fact that it started with Cody staring down the entire Heyman group by himself, only to have the show go to a commercial break and come back without any of the Heyman group in the ring. As Keenan Thompson would say, “What up with that?” All told, it was a fine go-home show. People who expect this to be the typical SmackDown should tune in on a random Friday in July because this usually ain’t it (as the kids would say). Tonight was chaos and fun and build and heat and action. If only they could keep that up … .

WWE Raw live results: Money in the Bank qualifying continues

Date: May 26, 2025
Location: Yuengling Center in Tampa, FL 

The Big Takeaway —

Seth Rollins and Penta qualified for the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match.

**********

Show Recap — 

There was a recap of the Raw matches and angles from Saturday Night’s Main Event. 

Jey Uso, Lyra Valkyria, Sami Zayn (signing autographs), and Finn BĂĄlor and JD McDonagh were shown arriving. 

They’ve killed the stage to allow for more fans, so there’s just a small entryway, a small video board, and a narrow aisle. 

Opening segment

Seth Rollins, Paul Heyman, Bron Breakker, and Bronson Reed entered to start the show. Breakker and Reed were dressed the same—in all-black suits with black shirts and shoes. 

Heyman called Breakker an attack dog and the badass in a bloodline of badasses. If Skynet could predict who would main event WrestleMania 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, and 50, it would tell you Bron Breakker. He called that a spoiler, not a prediction. 

The crowd chanted for CM Punk, so Heyman told them he wasn’t there tonight. The timing was perfect because it allowed Heyman to move on to Reed. He said it was because of Reed that Punk wasn’t there. He claimed WWE wouldn’t allow Reed around the top guys because they were too afraid. Reed was reckless and violent and would put everyone down. 

Heyman noted that Reed went after Rollins months ago because he was the top guy. Reed gave Rollins a bigger beating than Roman Reigns or CM Punk ever did. 

Heyman told the fans to acknowledge Rollins, so they chanted, “OTC” and “We want Roman” instead. Rollins said this was the way forward for the industry’s future—through total control, domination, and power. 

There was a “You sold out” and light “F*ck you, Rollins” chant, and they had to censor it (and Pat McAfee tried talking over it). Rollins reminded them they had just sung his song a few minutes ago, but now they questioned his integrity and chanted profanities. 

Rollins held the power and would be the champion right now if not for Zayn and Punk. However, even more powerful than being the champion was holding MITB and controlling the fate of the championships. He would win MITB and cash in whenever and wherever he wanted. Nobody could stop him, and that was true power.

(Rollins’ promo felt like retread, so his part wasn’t terribly exciting. I like Reed’s addition to this group, but I don’t like that he and Bron are dressed identically and generically like Rollins’ personal security. ) 

******** 

El Hijo del Vikingo was shown ringside. 

Money in the Bank triple threat qualifier: Chad Gable vs. Penta vs. Dragon Lee

There was an ugly and almost lethal spot early in the match. Penta tried some move that would simultaneously drop Dragon Lee backwards with a Gory Bomb, perhaps, and drop Gable forward with a facebuster, but Gable wound up landing right on his head. I mean, he really landed on his head. The referee immediately checked on Gable, who grabbed his face, but he seemed ok, and continued the match as if nothing happened. 

After a break, Dragon Lee flew out of nowhere while going for a suicide dive on Gable, but Gable dodged it, and Lee knocked Penta over the announce table. As the ref checked on them, Gable gave Vikingo a cheap shot. 

All three men traded moves, which included Dragon Lee hitting a poisonrana. Gable hit both men with a double German suplex and Penta with a moonsault for two. Gable gave Dragon Lee an overhead suplex into the turnbuckle and set up another moonsault, but Vikingo kicked him in the face. 

Dragon Lee gave Gable a double foot stomp, and Penta gave Dragon Lee a Canadian Destroyer. Penta followed with a Penta Driver on Gable for the pinfall win. (Gable was busted open by the end, perhaps because of Vikingo’s kick to the face.) 

This was a hell of a ten-minute TV match. The crowd loved it. 

Match result: Penta defeated Chad Gable and Dragon Lee to qualify for Money in the Bank (10:03) 

********

Roxanne Perez joined Judgment Day backstage and handed Dom a big platter of chicken nuggets. Perez was about to massage Dom’s sore shoulder, but they were joined by the returning Liv Morgan, who got a huge pop.

Dom tried to explain why she hadn’t really heard from him, but she cut him off. She said Raquel Rodriguez has been keeping her updated, and she was off to talk to Adam Pearce about getting a MITB qualifier. Bálor was very amused by all of this.

******** 

There was a Memorial Day video, narrated by Cody Rhodes. 

Rusev vs. Akira Tozawa (w/Maxxine Dupri) 

Rusev won in a minute via submission with the Accolade. 

— He wouldn’t let go of the hold after the bell, so Sheamus ran out. Sheamus’ new music is a big downgrade, and you couldn’t tell who was coming out when his music hit until he was shown on screen. (Rusev’s music isn’t any better.) 

Sheamus and Rusev faced off until Rusev left the ring. McAfee referenced Jim Ross by saying a potential match between these two would be a slobber knocker. McAfee shouted out JR without mentioning his name. (Michael Cole didn’t say anything.)  

The crowd was quiet for Rusev. 

Match result: Rusev defeated Akira Tozawa (0:55) 

******** 

Cathy Kelley interviewed comedians Bert Kreischer and Tom Segura about their Netflix special. Kelley referenced some negative comments Segura made about WWE in the past and admitted he was wrong. (Funny, they basically had him publicly apologize.) Kreischer got distracted because he was excited to see the War Raiders nearby. He removed his shirt and posed with them. 

******** 

Sami Zayn met with Jey Uso backstage. Zayn was tired of hearing all the talk from Rollins and co. Zayn regretted not going out to the ring to confront them. Jey told him that wouldn’t have been a good idea. Jey advised him to win the MITB briefcase, and if there was any trouble tonight, he had his back. 

******** 

Triple threat tag team match for the World Tag Team Championships: The New Day vs. The War Raiders vs. The Creed Brothers

If you aren’t already tired of multi-person matches, they gave you plenty of three-way spots. The New Day won, so the other two teams had a lot of high spots. 

New Day formed an alliance with the Creeds, which led to the finish. Ivar squished Kofi Kingston into the video ring board. Ivar went to the top, but Julius Creed flew in and knocked him off with a leaping kick, and Xavier Woods suddenly rolled up the unsuspecting Julius for the pinfall win. (Julius kicked out at three.) Julius and Brutus were upset with themselves post-match. 

Match result: The New Day defeated The Creed Brothers and The War Raiders to retain the World Tag Team Championships (9:13) 

********

Morgan and Rodriguez bumped into Iyo Sky and Kairi Sane backstage. Morgan was surprised to see them because she thought Damage CTRL was dead. Sky told them to keep walking. Morgan said she would win MITB and cash in on her. Sane cut a promo on her in Japanese and challenged her to a match tonight. Morgan accepted. 

Jey Uso and Gunther segment

Jey entered, but his promo was quickly interrupted by Gunther. Gunther congratulated him on his 15-year anniversary in WWE and winning his first title defence over Logan Paul. Gunther said Jey has already held the belt longer than he expected. 

Gunther could see that Jey wanted to be captain of the ship. There was a lot going on, and when Jey’s friends needed him, he was there, no questions asked. Those were great qualities for a human being, but terrible qualities for a champion. Gunther said he was the champion for almost a year because the only person he cared about was himself. 

Gunther didn’t think Jey had the intellect to understand how to carry himself as a great champion. When they wrestled in two weeks, Gunther would make things right. He would relieve Jey of his position, choke him out, and put the title back around his waist where it belonged. 

Jey said he was done with people saying his days as champion were numbered. Jey had friends and family. He fought for them, and they fought for him. Jey was fighting for more than what Gunther was fighting for. Jey fought for the fans’ support, and he would make Gunther tap out again in Phoenix. 

(Jey seemed flustered, so this wasn’t a good promo, but he got the crowd behind him with the last line.) 

********

There was a video clip of Cody Rhodes’ podcast with guest Brandi Rhodes. There were (sponsored) vodka products all over Rhodes’ tour bus. 

Patrick Maroon (hockey player), Waka Flocka Flame (rapper), and Titus O’Neil were shown in the crowd. 

Women’s Tag Team Champion Liv Morgan (w/Tag Champion Raquel Rodriguez) vs. Kairi Sane

A battle on the apron led to Morgan hitting a sunset flip powerbomb outside the ring. Sane fought back after a break and hit a spear. Sane continued on offence and hit a flying forearm off the top for two. 

Morgan followed with a flying Codebreaker for a nearfall. This was one of those spots that looked like a three count, so the crowd told the referee that she sucked. They traded a few moves until they clumsily fell into a cradle for a two count. 

As Rodriguez distracted the referee, Perez appeared and knocked Sane off the top. Rodriguez was upset even though Perez was just trying to help. (Also, it was impeccable timing by Perez to show up at the exact moment Raquel distracted the referee, even though it wasn’t their plan.) The referee looked around dumbly as Sane was suddenly down, and Perez was suddenly at ringside. 

Morgan looked over as Rodriguez argued with Perez. Morgan went for Oblivion, but Sane countered into a schoolboy for the pinfall win.  

This was not good, and the finish didn’t work, either. 

Match result: Kairi Sane defeated Liv Morgan (10:51)

******** 

There was a Rhea Ripley video promo about MITB. 

During a break, Vic Joseph told us that Trick Williams was the new TNA Champion and he would be on tomorrow’s NXT.  

During the break, an upset Gable told Ivy Nile to start training the Creeds again in case they get another title shot. Gable bumped into Vikingo and told him he would beat him at Worlds Collide. Vikingo was not worried. After Vikingo left, Gable turned around into a right hand by AJ Styles. Styles stood over Gable and told him that if he, or that “coffee bean,” interfered in his match again, he would put Gable through the ground.

******** 

Judgment Day met backstage. Rodriguez said Morgan would have won if not for Perez. However, Morgan was actually upset with Rodriguez. Morgan said Rodriguez was the veteran and should have known better. Morgan stormed off. (Bålor was so happy.) 

Lyra Valkyria and Becky Lynch segment  

Valkyria entered. She said she looked forward to facing someone new, but Becky Lynch grovelled and begged until she convinced those in the back to get a title rematch at MITB. Valkyria wouldn’t say no, because she’s already beaten her twice. Valkyria has never cared in the past what her opponents said about her, because once she beat them in the ring, she was the ultimate winner. 

However, she felt no satisfaction beating Lynch (at Backlash). Lynch’s ego was still through the roof, despite being outwrestled and beaten. Lynch talked like she had won the match. Now she was trying to steal an opportunity from the next person. Lynch made it personal by getting in her fiancé’s face and trying to break her arm. Valkyria would bash Lynch’s head in if she had to. 

Lynch interrupted. She said Valkyria was the one who made this personal by costing her the opportunity to qualify for MITB. Valkyria might’ve won their match, but Lynch won the night. Lynch went home with her hot husband, while Valkyria went to the hospital with her weird fiancé. Valkyria said Lynch’s husband was the only talented thing about her. (This was meant to get a pop, but it didn’t. It’s a cheap line they could do without.) 

Lynch said Valkyria was making it personal again. Lynch was the best thing to happen to Valkyria and the IC title. Valkyria said people were talking about her because she beat her. 

Lynch had an offer: if Valkyria beat her at MITB, she would never challenge her for the title again. Valkyria was fine with that because she’s beaten her twice already—and did it with her eyes closed. 

Lynch said she graciously raised Valkyria’s hand in NXT following their match after Valkyria won. Lynch wanted Valkyria to return the favour at MITB when Lynch beat her. Valkyria accepted because she had no trouble raising the hand of the winner—it’s just never been Lynch. 

******* 

Karrion Kross (and Scarlett) approached Sami Zayn. He didn’t like that Zayn was trying to earn a title match “the right way.” Zayn brushed him off. Before Zayn could leave, Kross bluntly told him, “You know you’re never going to win the title, right?” Zayn said he would deal with Kross later. Kross smirked. 

******** 

The announcers plugged two matches for Worlds Collide, and they included clips of the AAA wrestlers involved. They also ran down the MITB card.

Money in the Bank triple threat qualifier: Seth Rollins (w/Paul Heyman) vs. Sami Zayn vs. Finn Bålor 

BĂĄlor shined first ahead of a break, and it was Zayn’s turn after the break. Zayn wiped out both guys with a Sabu-inspired springboard moonsault. He pointed to the sky, and McAfee mentioned Sabu. Zayn hit BĂĄlor with a superplex, and Rollins followed with a frog splash on Zayn. (This led to a break for the second time in 10 minutes.) 

Rollins and BĂĄlor formed an alliance, but Zayn fought them off. Zayn chucked Rollins out of the ring and went for an exploder on BĂĄlor, but BĂĄlor countered into a rollup for two. Rollins hit BĂĄlor with a Pedigree, but Zayn caught Rollins in a crucifix cover for two. Rollins gave Zayn a Pedigree for two. Zayn and Rollins traded reversals until Zayn hit Blue Thunder Bomb for a nearfall. 

Rollins was frustrated and began slapping Zayn in the corner. Zayn gave him an exploder in the corner, but BĂĄlor cut off Zayn with a slingblade. BĂĄlor dropkicked both men into the corner and went for the Coup de Grâce, but they both dodged it. Rollins stomped BĂĄlor, and Zayn hit Rollins with a Helluva Kick. 

It seemed like Zayn had it won, but Bron Breakker pulled him out of the ring to break up the cover. Bron and Reed attacked Zayn until Jey Uso wiped out Reed with a dive off the barricade. Jey handed out superkicks, but after Rollins grabbed Jey, Bron speared him. Reed also crushed Zayn into the ring post. 

Dom ran in through the crowd and slid a chair into the ring. It was supposed to go to BĂĄlor, but it just went into the middle of the ring. As BĂĄlor reached for the chair, Rollins stomped BĂĄlor’s head into it for the pinfall win. (Not sure why Dom was trying to be sneaky, given there are no DQs in a triple threat.) 

— After the match, Rollins called for Reed and Bron to continue their attack. However, CM Punk’s music hit, so they went up the aisle instead. Punk slipped into the ring from behind and laid out Rollins with a GTS. Punk bailed and posed in the crowd as the show ended. 

(Just like Dom could have just interfered in front of the referee, Punk didn’t have to wait until after the match to attack Rollins.) 

Match result: Seth Rollins defeated Finn BĂĄlor and Sami Zayn to qualify for Money in the Bank (19:37)

John Cena & Logan Paul vs. Cody Rhodes & Jey Uso official for WWE Money in the Bank

A big tag team match is now confirmed for WWE Money in the Bank.

Cody Rhodes returned on Saturday Night’s Main Event to save Jey Uso from an attack by John Cena and Logan Paul. In the show’s closing moments, Rhodes issued a challenge for the upcoming PLE. Paul “Triple H” Levesque made the match official on Sunday.

WWE Money in the Bank 2025 is scheduled for Saturday, June 7, 2025, from the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California. AAA x WWE Worlds Collide will take place earlier that day at the nearby KIA Forum.

WWE Money in the Bank 2025 lineup for June 7, 2025:

  • Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Solo Sikoa vs. LA Knight vs. 4TBD
  • Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Alexa Bliss vs. Giulia vs. Roxanne Perez vs. Rhea Ripley vs. 2TBD
  • WWE Undisputed Champion John Cena & Logan Paul vs. World Heavyweight Champion Jey Uso & Cody Rhodes

WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event live results: John Cena vs. R-Truth

WWE returns to the airwaves of NBC and Peacock for its second Saturday Night’s Main Event of 2025 featuring both the past, the present and the future of WWE.

In a featured match, undisputed WWE Champion John Cena will defend against R-Truth in an angle coming out of Backlash. While the two shared the ring in 2024, this will be their first singles match since 2011.

WWE World Heavyweight Champion Jey Uso will defend against Logan Paul in their first-ever meeting. Paul is looking for his first World title run while this is Uso’s second title defense.

In a high-profile tag team match, past opponents CM Punk & Sami Zayn will team up against Seth Rollins & Bron Breakker.

Damian Priest and Drew McIntyre will battle in a steel cage match in a WrestleMania rematch.

In a match made on SmackDown, Women’s U.S. Champion Zelina Vega will defend against inaugural champion Chelsea Green.

**********

– Following the WWE signature open, the voice of Joe Tessitore welcomed us over a shot of Tampa before we went to an outside shot of the Yuengling Center and fans pouring into the arena. As we saw shots of several wrestlers arriving to the arena, we then went to the cold open for our show.

– Tessitore was then seen on stage with Jesse Ventura, as they discussed the action to come for tonight’s show, including the McIntyre vs. Priest cage match and Jey Uso vs. Logan Paul. The two then tossed things over to our commentary team of Michael Cole and Pat McAfee.

CM Punk & Sami Zayn vs. Seth Rollins & Bron Breakker

Once all four men entered the ring, the brawl began before the bell could even ring. In the ensuing scuffle, Punk and Zayn cleared the ring as the match finally kicked off when Zayn and Rollins started things off for their teams. Breakker tagged himself in and with Zayn slumped against the commentary table at ringside, he hit a powerful clothesline that sent the Canadian over the table as we headed to a break in the action.

We returned with Rollins and Breakker working over Zayn in their corner. Breakker dropped Zayn with a suplex as he then did his pushups to taunt his foe. Rollins tagged in and tried to continue the momentum, but Zayn avoided calamity and got the tag to Punk. The Chicago native went to work on Rollins as he attempted the GTS, but got countered. Punk pulled out a Code Red out of nowhere on Rollins, which got a close two-count. He then took down Rollins with a bulldog while simultaneously clotheslining an interfering Breakker.

Diving elbow drop by Punk appeared to lead to a GTS, but Breakker pulled Rollins away and caused a distraction. This opened Punk up for a Pedigree from Rollins, but Zayn broke up the count at two. Breakker tried to intervene, but Zayn threw him out and then took off with a springboard moonsault ala Sabu as we got another break.

The action continued with Rollins and Punk mixing it up in the ring as the two men attempted to hit their respective finishers, but to no avail. A double clothesline from both men took each other out as they then tagged in to their respective corners. Zayn caught Breakker napping with a springboard DDT. He appeared to have Breakker in position for a Helluva Kick, but Rollins held on to Zayn’s foot. Punk took down Rollins with a dive to the outside. After an exploder suplex, Heyman pulled at Zayn’s leg, as we then saw a returning Bronson Reed appear at ringside to take Punk out of the equation with a charge to through the barricade.

In the ensuing chaos, Breakker hit Zayn with the spear and got the win for his team.

Post-match, Breakker sized up Reed, but Rollins stepped forward and embraced Reed, apparently having recruited the massive Australian to his burgeoning alliance. Punk tried to grab at Heyman’s leg, but he found himself a victim of a Tsunami at the hands of Reed.

Seth Rollins & Bron Breakker def. Sami Zayn & CM Punk via pinfall (Breakker pinned Zayn)

A fun enough opener to the evening, but the big story is Bronson Reed aligning with Seth Rollins’ faction which should make them a formidable heel faction on Raw. That said, the crowd continually cheering for Rollins and singing his song does make that a bit of an issue, and it’s something that’s probably going to have to be addressed down the line.

**********

WWE Women’s United States Championship Match: Zelina Vega (c) vs. Chelsea Green

Green started off hot by takine down Vega with a clothesline as she then pounced on her with punches, followed by an irish whip to the turnbuckle. Vega avoided a scoop slam from Green, and took momentum with an arm drag. She missed on a 619 attempt, as the action spilled to the outside. Green grabbed Vega from the floor and dropped her with a hard powerbomb right to the outside.

Back in the ring, Green relished in having Vega down and out as she slammed her face-first on the mat for a two-count. Green continued to assert her command on the match by targeting Vega’s back, followed by a patented all-Canadian chinlock. Vega fought out of it, but got rocked by a boot to the face from Green.

Green missed on a splash as Vega dodged at the last second, which gave the Women’s U.S. Champion an opening and a second wind. Vega showing some almighty offense with a back suplex, but Green snuffed that out. An Un-Pretty-Her attempt was blocked by Vega, who then hit the 619 on Green, which appeared to have busted her nose upon impact. A distraction from Alba Fyre allowed Piper Niven to try her hand in distracting Vega, but to no avail.

In the end, Vega retained her Women’s U.S. Title with an avalanche Code Red for the three to maintain her perfect record against Chelsea Green.

Zelina Vega def. Chelsea Green via pinfall to retain the Women’s United States Championship

A fine match for sure, and the anime nerd in me really appreciated Vega’s choice of attire, which was a shoutout to the character All Might from My Hero Academia. Still, it was nice to see Vega in action on this edition of SNME.

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– Jimmy Hart and Bushwhacker Luke were shown in the crowd. The commentators discussed the CMLL/NXT Worlds Collide show, particularly a match just made for the event in two weeks: El Hijo del Vikingo versus Chad Gable.

Non-Title Match: John Cena vs. R-Truth

Cena, of course, entered to cheers despite being a heel. Truth entered to the match to Cena’s own music, as well as sporting attire that was directly a spoof of Cena’s own attire.

Cena started the match by hitting Truth from behind and went on the offensive before he ripped off Truth’s shirt. The Undisputed WWE Champion attacked Truth in the corner as he threw aside his earrings in disgust. Cena didn’t waste any time hitting his usual shoulder tackles, followed by the back drop. The Five Knuckle Shuffle made no mistake as Cena looked for an Attitude Adjustment. Truth escaped and proceeded to give Cena a taste of his own medicine. Five Knuckle Shuffle from Truth was then followed by an AA on Cena. One, two… no! Truth applied the STF on Cena, but the Champ escaped to the outside. A throw to the ringpost at ringside by Cena gave him the opportunity to retrieve his WWE Championship belt.

Cena looked to hit Truth with his WWE Title belt, but seemed to have a moment of hesitation, but that was just a distraction for a low blow, followed by the AA for the victory.

Post-match, Cena grabbed his title belt and smashed Truth with it before he walked off.

John Cena def. R-Truth

A lot like most of Cena’s heel run, this was just kinda there. Nothing overly bad, but nothing really remarkable, either. Truth doing Cena’s mannerisms and moves was cute and all, but it wasn’t really much to write home about. Even the obvious route of perhaps having Cody Rhodes return to save Truth and confront Cena wasn’t taken, but I suppose the return of the American Nightmare will be saved for a bigger occasion.

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– Backstage, Jey Uso was confronted by John Cena, who said that it’d be quite something if Logan Paul were to defeat Uso for the World Title, causing a scenario where the World Title would be in the hands of a YouTuber, while he held the WWE Title as his clock struck zero. Cena told Uso that he’d be watching his defense against Paul later tonight closely.

Steel Cage Match: Damian Priest vs. Drew McIntyre

Jesse Ventura joined Cole and McAfee at the commentary table for this next match.

McIntyre attacked Priest before he could enter the cage as he grabbed a pair of chairs from under the ring before entering the ring to get this match started. Priest responded with a couple of elbows, but McIntyre countered with a chop. Priest fought back with a Flatliner, followed by a kick to the face. A South of Heaven attempt by Priest was blocked by McIntyre. The Scotsman avoided a running splash, and took advantage by sending Priest face first into the cage twice as we went to a break in the action.

Saturday Night’s Main Event returned with McIntyre and Priest duking it out as both men were climbing the side of the cage wall. Priest blasted McIntyre with a kick, followed by the South of Heaven for an incredibly close two-count. Priest tried to climb up to the top of the cage, but McIntyre met him at the pass. McIntyre caught Priest and delivered a superplex from the side of the cage. McIntyre set Priest up for the countdown and the Claymore. One, two… Priest kicked out!

As both men got up to their feet, Priest and McIntyre exchanged strikes as it devolved into a hockey fight of sorts. Priest got the upper hand and left him stunned with his martial arts strikes. Priest avoided a Claymore and dropped his Scottish foe with a big boot. McIntyre responded by delivering a South of Heaven of his own to Priest. One, two… another Priest kickout! McIntyre eyed the chair that he brought in and proceeded to put it to great use by striking Priest with it repeatedly.

McIntyre attempted to hit the Claymore against a chair propped up in the corner, but Priest dodged at the last second. Priest placed McIntyre’s neck across the top of a chair and dropped it. Priest then delivered a South of Heaven to stun McIntyre. With the Scotsman out cold, Priest laid his head across the chair on the mat as he then grabbed the other chair. Priest then hit McIntyre with a con-chair-to, which left him unconscious long enough for Priest to just walk out of the cage to secure the victory. Jesse Ventura was apopletic on commentary on how Priest won by just walking out of the cage door, as Cole tried to cover for it.

Damian Priest def. Drew McIntyre via Cage Escape

That match was entertaining and it picked up considerably after the commercial break. Seeing Priest deliver a con-chair-to to finish this match was a good way to put an end to this match, and I chuckled at Jesse Ventura’s indignation on commentary at Priest’s exit through the door to win this match.

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– As the U.S. Express were shown in the crowd, we returned to Ventura and Tessitore discussing the events that has transpired on this evening before we got a video package for the main event of Saturday Night’s Main Event: Jey Uso vs. Logan Paul for the World Heavyweight Championship.

World Heavyweight Championship Match: Jey Uso (c) vs. Logan Paul

The match started off with a lockup in the middle of the ring until Uso dropped Paul with a shoulder block. Paul caught Uso with an elbow strike, followed by a Blockbuster on the World Champion. As Uso powdered to the outside, Paul flew to the outside with a vaulting dive press as we got a break with about ten minutes left on the night.

We returned to Uso hitting a running hip splash on a prone Paul in the corner. That was not enough to get the victory, however. Uso headed up top and looked for a splash, but Paul caught him and went for the pin. Uso was able to kick out at two. Paul hoisted Uso on his shoulder and dropped him with a forward roll. The springboard Lionsault by Paul was met by knees from Uso. A pop-up Samoan Drop by Uso only got a two as Paul kicked out once more.

Paul held on to dear life to the second turnbuckle as Uso grabbed on to him, ripping the padding away. As Uso tried for the dive, he got met by a punch from Paul. The so-called YouTube “star” tried for his imitation Buckshot Lariat, but Uso intercepted with a superkick to the face.

Uso attempted the spear, but he got sent to the exposed second turnbuckle, which allowed Paul to hit him with the hard right punch. One, two… Uso kicked out at the last second! Uso recovered and delivered a superkick, followed by the dive from the top rope. Just as Uso had the pin, John Cena pulled the referee out as he then attacked Uso.

Just then, Cody Rhodes’ theme music hit, which signalled the arrival of the American Nightmare. Rhodes, appearing for the first time since his WrestleMania loss, caught Cena with Cross Rhodes to send him to the outside. Paul tried to sneak up on Rhodes with the brass knucks, but Uso intercepted with the Spear. One Uso Splash later from Uso on Paul and that’s it, over. Jey Uso retains the World Title in the main event of Saturday Night’s Main Event.

After the match, Rhodes took the microphone and challenged Cena and Paul to a tag match at Money in the Bank in two weeks time just as the producer credits popped up to end the night.

Jey Uso def. Logan Paul via pinfall to retain the World Heavyweight Championship

The match itself wasn’t really anything to write home about, largely due to it being constrained by oddly placed commercial breaks, but the finish certainly spiced things up. Cody Rhodes’ return and subsequently setting up a potentially huge tag match for Money in the Bank did its job in making things exciting.

All in all, another fine edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event that might’ve not had any true standout matches, but we had some interesting storyline advancements with Bronson Reed joining Seth Rollins’ faction and Cody’s return.

WWE Raw live results: Jey Uso vs. Bron Breakker

One week after Bron Breakker left WWE World Heavyweight Champion Jey Uso lying, Breakker will receive a non-title match against the champion tonight on Raw.

Uso is five days away from defending his title against Logan Paul on Saturday Night’s Main Event. Paul, for his part, is also slated to make an appearance tonight.

Two women’s Money In The Bank qualifying matches will take place tonight as well. In one bout, it will be Rhea Ripley vs. Kairi Sane vs. Zoey Stark for a spot in the MITB Ladder match next month. In the other, it will be Becky Lynch vs. Natalya vs. Roxanne Perez.

Also on tap, Grayson Waller will take on Sheamus, who returned last week to defeat Waller’s running mate, Austin Theory.

Plus, in tag action, AJ Styles will team with Penta to face The Judgment Day (Finn Balor & JD McDonagh).

Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

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– Michael Cole welcomed everyone into the show as an exterior shot of Greenville, South Carolina, was shown.

– A video recap of last week’s Sami Zayn/Jey Uso/CM Punk/Paul Heyman Group developments aired.

– Rollins, Breakker, Heyman, Uso, Styles, Penta and The Judgment Day members were all shown walking in various parts of the venue and outside of it.

The Logan Paul/Gunther segment

Paul entered the ring, was given a microphone and said, “Welcome to Monday Night Raw.” Paul said it is a fact that he will beat Jey Uso on Saturday. Paul said he will be the new World Heavyweight Champion by the time next week’s Raw rolls around. Paul listed a bunch of facts – Jey Uso tapped out Gunther was one. Jey Uso is the World Heavyweight Champion was another. The crowd erupted with Yeets. Paul said Jey Uso has eyes on everyone in the company except Paul. Paul noted how he has knocked out Jey Uso three times and he will do it again on Saturday. Paul reminded everyone he will become the new Heavyweight Champion and in the middle of that, Gunther’s music hit and Gunther walked to the ring.

The crowd chanted “You tapped out!” at Gunther. Paul smiled and kind of joined in the chanting. Gunther said he assumes Paul believes he’s better than Gunther because Paul was saying he was going to beat a guy who beat Gunther. The dialogue turned to confidence and Gunther said the fans should show Paul more respect than they do. Gunther said Paul is a self-made social media megastar. The crowd booed. Gunther said if he’s honest, there are things he could learn from Paul. Gunther said he needs help with social media and marketing and the more he thinks about it, the more he believes Logan Paul as world champion would be best for business.

Paul smiled and kept repeating, “This guy knows business.” Gunther responded by saying to Paul, it’s business, but to Gunther, it’s personal. Beating Jey Uso for the World Heavyweight Championship is personal for Gunther, Gunther said, and if Paul takes that away from Gunther then Gunther will feel disrespected. Gunther said he doesn’t see heart in Paul. Gunther told Paul if Paul squares off with Gunther, all of Paul’s accolades mean nothing and Gunther will eat Paul alive. Gunther slammed down the microphone and left the ring.

As Gunther walked away, Jey Uso appeared out of nowhere and super-kicked Paul inside the ring. Uso picked up the microphone and said he’d see Paul on Saturday. Uso then said he’d see Gunther in Phoenix. Uso’s music hit to end the segment.

Paul is such a caricature these days that his promos have become less and less interesting the more he leans into being that caricature. That said, thank God for Gunther, who carried the segment, even if he gave Paul a few too many flowers for my taste – but that’s just me. The former world champ had to stick the landing because his message was running of steam, but he got there and showed really good fire to wrap things up. The notion that winning the title back from Uso because it’s personal to Gunther is a nice touch and one that makes me mildly more interested in a potential Uso/Gunther rematch and I can’t say I was all that interested in it to begin with. But Gunther kind of/sort of sold me on it here. The surprise Uso appearance leaves me thinking Paul will be involved in Uso business later in the show. Time will tell.

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– A recap of last week’s women’s tag team main event aired. Footage of Roxanne Perez signing her Raw contract earlier in the day followed that.

– Jey Uso was walking backstage and he ran into Paul Heyman, who told Uso that to betray someone, you have to stab them in the back, and as such, Heyman wanted to make sure he can’t be portrayed as betraying Uso. That in mind, Heyman told Jey Bron Breakker wasn’t looking for Jey’s title, and instead, he was looking to slow down Uso’s momentum. Heyman said if it’s Uso, Gunther or Paul, it doesn’t matter because they are all short-term. Instead, the long-term plan for a champion, Heyman said, is Seth Rollins.

The Judgment Day (Finn Balor & JD McDonagh) vs. Penta & AJ Styles

Styles and McDonagh started the match. Styles got the best of McDonagh early until McDonagh worked his way back and thwarted an attempted dropkick. Styles connected with a dropkick after that and tagged Penta into the match. Penta gave McDonagh a backbreaker. Ditto for Balor. Styles and Penta through Balor and McDonagh to the outside and connected with stereo splashes. The show then went to a commercial break for those of us who have Netflix commercials.

The show returned and McDonagh was working over Penta, complete with a snapmare and the obligatory attempt to rip the mask off Penta. Balor tagged in and went for the mask as well. McDonagh tagged back in, but Penta suplexed him. Balor cut Penta off when it initially came to a hot tag. Balor followed that up with a suplex on Penta. Ultimately, Penta got a knee to Balor’s face and hit a Slingblade before tagging in Styles as the crowd erupted.

Styles lifted Balor, but Balor raked Styles’s eyes and McDonagh tagged in. McDonagh went for a splash on Styles, but Styles moved and McDonagh hit Balor instead. Styles took advantage and slammed McDonagh for a nice near-fall. “This is awesome!” chants broke out. With McDonagh on the outside, Styles hit a reverse DDT on McDonagh and rolled McDonagh back into the ring, but Carlito interfered and ran Styles into the ring post as the referee checked on McDonagh. From there, the show went to a commercial break again.

Back to the action, Balor worked over Styles in the ring. The two clotheslined each other at the same time and the match reset. McDonagh and Penta tagged in and Penta landed a cross-body from the top on McDonagh. With McDonagh in a headstand position, Penta kicked McDonagh in the head. Penta ran at McDonagh and McDonagh hit a standing Spanish Fly. Balor tagged in and went to the top, but missed the Coup De Gras. Penta capitalized on that and hit the Sacrifice on Balor. Balor rolled up Penta for a two-count and followed that up with a Slingblade. Balor ran into a kick from Penta and Penta went to the top. McDonagh distracted the referee and Carlito cut Penta off, so things broke down between everyone at ringside.

Penta hit a Destroyer on McDonagh on the outside of the ring. Penta was leaning on the crowd barricade and El Grande Americano appeared in the crowd to headbutt Penta in the back of the head. Balor too advantage of that, rolled Penta back into the ring and hit the Coup De Gras on Penta for the win.

Match result: The Judgment Day (Finn Balor & JD McDonagh) defeated Penta & AJ Styles (17:05)

This was really pretty good. Plus, it was a pleasant surprise to see it go through two commercial breaks. For a makeshift tag match that only really existed to further the story between Penta and Americano, these four brought a lot of heart to what could have been a throwaway bout (covering SmackDown really acclimates you to “a throwaway bout” after so long these days). I can’t say I’m a huge fan of Penta taking these losses these days because he really came in on fire and still kind of/sort of remains on fire, but that fire can flame out easier and quicker than it should in WWE Land (with the exception of LA Knight), so it’d be nice to give him a win or two, even if this is all just building to him eventually unmasking Americano. Either way, this was a quality television tag team match.

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– Cathy Kelley interviewed IYO SKY in the backstage area. Kelley asked SKY about how she might be targeted for her title. SKY said she’d be ready for anyone and Becky Lynch walked into the frame. Lynch said SKY hadn’t been in there with Lynch yet and Lynch said she was going to put SKY down. Lynch’s music hit and Lynch made her way to the ring for the next match.

– Logan Paul was shown talking on his phone backstage and Seth Rollins walked up. Rollins told Paul that Jey Uso will get hurt tonight because Uso stuck his nose in Seth’s business. Seth said come Saturday, Uso won’t be 100% so the odds will be in Paul’s favor. Seth said if Paul can get past Jey Uso and Gunther, Seth will be waiting on the other side for Paul. Seth said Paul will know who to thank if he wins this weekend. Seth said they could run it back from WrestleMania a couple years ago, but this time, with the world title on the line.

Natalya vs. Roxanne Perez vs. Becky Lynch in a Money In The Bank qualifier match

Lynch convinced Perez to attack Natalya, but Lynch quickly turned on Perez, who threw Lynch to the outside. Lynch pulled Natalya out of the ring and a Lynch vs. Perez singles match broke out. Lynch attempted a Dis-Arm-Her, but Perez worked out of it and the two traded pin attempts. Perez had the upper hand and Natalya dropkicked Perez out of the ring before going to work on Lynch with a series of suplexes.

Natayla worked a Surfboard on Lynch. Natalya half-went for a Sharpshooter, but Lynch turned that into a Dis-Arm-Her. Perez reappeared and all three women exchanged offense. Natalya kicked Perez to the outside and before long all three wound up on the outside. This happened after some apparent miscommunication between Lynch and Perez and Lynch waited for Perez to get into place. Regardless. Perez stood tall as the show went to a commercial break.

Back from break, Perez had control back inside the ring, hitting a series of running elbows on both opponents. Natalya landed a discuss clothesline on both women and stacked them up for a double Sharpshooter, but Perez and Lynch kicked out of it. Perez came back with a moonsault on both Lynch and Natalya for a two-count on Natalya. Perez set up for PopRox, but Lynch countered into a Manhandle Slam. Natalya reappeared and took out Lynch and al three women were down.

Perez rolled to the outside and Lynch and Natalya traded blows inside the ring. Lynch and Natalya were struggling in a corner and Perez went to the top to German Suplex (PopRox?) both women at once. Perez covered Natalya but Lynch broke it up with a knee to Perez’s head. On their feet, Perez and Lynch traded slaps and elbows. Perez threw Lynch and went to the top, but Lynch cut off Perez. The two battled on the second rope until Natalya ran in and hit Perez with Lynch. Natalya powerbombed Lynch for a two-count. Natalya super-plexed Perez for a two-count.

Natalya locked in a Sharpshooter until Lynch bulldogged Natalya. Natalya clotheslined Lynch and went back to Perez. Natalya then worked a double Sharpshooter on Lynch and Perez at the same time. Lynch got out of it and rolled to the outside. Lynch came back and hit a Manhandle Slam on Natalya and it looked like Lynch would win, but Lyra Valkyria appeared and attacked Lynch. Perez took advantage and gave Natalya a PopRox to win the match as Becky and Lyra continued to brawl in the entranceway.

Match result: Roxanne Perez defeated Becky Lynch & Natalya to qualify for the women’s Money In The Bank ladder match (14:35)

A very good MITB qualifier match. All women worked really hard and while we don’t see Natalya on TV that much these days, she made the best of her time here. Lynch and Perez were very giving to her, too, which was a nice touch and one that reiterates how liked Natalya seems to be by all her colleagues. I like Perez going over here, even if Becky is leaning into all of the Internet Chatter about her sharing some traits with the Hulkster, among other things. Roxanne was the right choice. A new face to some viewers. She’s finally out of NXT/Main Roster purgatory. Let’s see what she can do with some proper booking attention on Monday nights. I also like the continuation of Becky and Lyra and they had a pretty nice brawl that led to the end of the match. Good stuff all around.

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– Jey Uso was shown in the locker room and Sami Zayn showed up. Zayn told Uso that he didn’t need to deal with Heyman and his group because Zayn would take care of it this weekend. Zayn and Uso shared in their secret handshake.

– Adam Pearce was talking to Alpha Academy backstage and asked Tazawa if he really wanted what he asked for. Tozawa said yes and Pearce made the match for next week – Tozawa vs. Rusev. Chad Gable walked into the frame and argued for MITB qualifying matches for himself and Ivy Nile. The New Day showed up and talked about how next week, American Made will be involved in a tag title shot. It will be a triple threat, including the War Raiders.

Sheamus vs. Grayson Waller

Waller had control early. The crowd chanted “Let’s go Sheamus!” The two grappled a bit until Waller kicked Sheamus in the leg. Sheamus blocked a hip-toss and slapped Waller to the ground. Sheamus followed up with a back-breaker and threw Waller across the ring repeatedly. Sheamus clotheslined Waller over the top rope and played to the crowd. Sheamus stepped outside and Austin Theory distracted Sheamus. Waller made the best of it and threw Sheamus into the commentary table before clotheslining Sheamus to the ground. The show then went to a commercial break.

The show returned and the crowd offered loud “Austin Theory!” chants. Inside the ring, Waller slapped, punched and chopped Sheamus, who fired up and returned all of the favors. Waller took back control with a stomp on Shaemus’s back and a rolling Flatliner for a two-count. Waller went to the second rope and jumped into a tough knee from Sheamus. That was followed up weird tilt-a-whirl half-slam? Something happened. Sheamus ran into a spinning elbow from Waller and with Sheamus on the arpon, Waller went for 10 Beats, but Sheamus wasn’t having that. Instead, Sheamus lifted Waller and dropped him from the apron on down. That, of course, led to Sheamus setting up for 10 Beats, but Waller snuck away.

Waller went to walk to the back, but Theory stopped him. As a result, Sheamus actually did execute the 10 Beats. Theory laughed and Sheamus played to the crowd. Sheamus, from there, hit the Brogue Kick and got the win. Theory, meanwhile, kept laughing outside the ring.

Match result: Sheamus defeated Grayson Waller (11:48)

The long, slow, unreasonably stretched out breakup of Grayson Waller and Austin Theory continues. Who knows if the development during this match will actually lead to anything regarding the saga between the two, but time will tell. Meanwhile, Sheamus looked great here, even if there were a couple odd, not-Sheamus-match-like moments. Sheamus has settled into this really good gatekeeper roll – a roll in which he seems both happy and comfortable, which is nice to see. Give him the Grand Slam, WWE Writers. He’s earned it. Company man. Quality matches. Happy to work, no matter the job. Give Sheamus his flowers before he decides to call it a day.

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– Michael Cole and Pat McAfee interviewed Tyrese Haliburton and it turns out, Hali is going to be a character in the WWE 2K video game. Cole and McAfee have a bet riding on the upcoming Knicks/Pacers series. Haliburton also has his own WWE merch. So, there’s that. Cole asked Hali for a prediction for Paul vs. Uso on Saturday. He said he’d love to say Paul, but his heart lies with Jey Uso.

– Kelley interviewed Gunther backstage. She asked Gunther if his gameplan was different heading into June 9. Before Gunther could answer, Seth Rollins walked in and said he was there to let Gunther know that the work Gunther did with Seth’s World Heavyweight Championship was “pretty good stuff, man.” Gunther said he heard about the “long-term plan” and said Seth was short-sighted for a visionary, which was funny. Gunther said he was the future. Rollins was annoyed and said he was there as a courtesy. Rollins said if Gunther finds that title around his waist again, he will be treated no different than anyone else and Gunther will be a target. Gunther said he couldn’t wait and in fact, he was eagerly awaiting for all of this to happen.

Rhea Ripley vs. Kairi Sane vs. Zoey Stark in a Money In The Bank Qualifier Match

Sane’s entrance now features her throwing coins into the crowd, which was kind of fun. Sane’ presentation felt far less Damage CTRL and far more NXT Kairi Sane. Either way, things got off to a hot start as the women traded a handful of moves. The opening sequence had Stark stand tall over Ripley briefly. Ripley came back and took Stark out. Sane returned to the action and went for a dropkick, but Stark cut off Sane and hurt herself. Stark was yelling in agony, holding her knee as WWE doctors checked on Stark. The show cut to a commercial while it looked as though the match might be stopped due to Stark’s injury.

The show returned and Stark was gone. Cole announced it as a one-on-one match between Ripley and Sane. Ripley slammed Sane and covered her for a two-count. Ripley stretched Sane until Sane worked out and went to the top rope. Sane leapt at Ripley, but Ripley dropkicked Sane out of midair. That was good enough to earn Ripley a two-count. Ripley set up for RipTide, but Sane worked out of it and gave Ripley a back elbow. Sane went to the top and went for the InSane Elbow, but Ripley got a boot up to counter everything.

The two reset the match and battled while on their knees. Ripley and Sane traded elbows and forearms. Sane went for a spinning elbow, but Ripley avoided it and got Sane up for the RipTide. Ripley connected with it and got the win.

Match result: Rhea Ripley defeated Kairi Sane and Zoey Stark to qualify for the women’s Money In The Bank ladder match (9:53)

How sad can it get for Zoey Stark? Her faction dissolves in front of her because her stablemates were let go. She gets a chance to at least perform in a high stakes match like this and no less than two minutes into the thing, she suffers another knee injury that looks like it’ll take her out for a significant amount of time. Here’s hoping it’s not as serious as it looked and here’s hoping for a quick recovery. As for the match itself, it was fine, though I’ll say what I said about the other MITB qualifier: I would have preferred Sane winning, if only for the freshness of it. This does make me wonder if Ripley will win the ladder match (because why put her in there if she’s not?), but there is always something to be said for star power and Ripley certainly brings star power to whatever she does. Outside of that … what’s next for Sane?

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– On next week’s Raw, Tozawa will face Rusev. Cole made the official announcement and then a Rusev vignette aired.

– The Judgment Day were shown celebrating backstage. Balor walked into the picture and introduced Roxanne Perez to the group. Balor noted how Dom said they needed more numbers a few weeks ago. Dom said they needed to talk to Liv before any decisions were made. Balor said Perez wasn’t a member, but she could provide help if they need it. Perez said she got them presents and gave Dom a box of chicken nuggets (I thought he was into tendies? Come on, Rok-C. Be better). Carlito received an apple. Raquel told Perez to leave and sternly told Balor that Liv will hear about what happened. Balor said, “I can’t wait,” while flashing that Finn Balor smile of his.

– Next week, men’s MITB qualifying matches will go down. There’s the aforementioned Tozawa vs. Rusev match. And then War Raiders vs. New Day vs. American Made for the World Tag Team Championship will also happen.

– Jey Uso’s entrance through the crowd began for the main event and when you have a match presumably cut short due to injury, boy, you better be thankful for the Jey Uso gimmick these days, WWE, because you can fill at least 10 minutes with his entrance alone if need be.

Bron Breakker vs. Jey Uso in a non-title match

Breakker had the upper hand to begin things. It was brief because Uso battled back and clotheslined Breakker over the top and to the floor. Uso followed that up with a suicide dive through the ropes. The show then went to a commercial break. The show returned and Breakker had the advantage inside the ring. Breakker ran a million miles an hour and clotheslined Uso. In a brief hope spot, Uso went to the middle rope for a splash, but Breakker caught him and slammed him for a two-count. Breakker went for a belly-to-belly suplex and Uso landed awkwardly.

Breakker pulled Uso up by his goatee. Breakker yelled at the crowd and tried to hit Uso, but Uso blocked it and landed a series of strikes on Breakker. Uso followed that up with a hip attack for a two-count. Uso knocked Breakker to the outside and went for a suicide dive, but Breakker caught Uso and ragdolled Uso into everything. Breaker then jumped from the apron and hit somewhat of a flying bulldog onto Uso onto the commentary table. The show then went to its final commercial break.

The show returned and the two were back inside the ring. Uso slapped Breakker and they traded blows. The sequence ended with a wildly high pop-up Samoan Drop from Uso onto Breaker for a nice near-fall. “This is awesome!” chants broke out. Uso went to the top but Breakker cut him off. The two battled on the second rope and ultimately, Breakker hit is jump-up Breakker-Steiner from the top. That was good enough to earn Breakker a two-count.

Breakker ran the ropes and, well, ran into a super-kick from Uso. The crowd collectively turned to somewhere as Uso struggled to get to his feet. Paul Heyman hopped onto the apron as Breakker obtained a chair from outside the ring. Uso kicked the chair out of Breakker’s hand and ran the ropes, but Heyman grabbed Uso’s foot. Uso left the ring and confronted Heyman, but wouldn’t you know it, Seth Rollins appeared and attacked Uso to end the match.

Match result: Jey Uso defeated Bron Breakker via DQ (15:56)

After the match was officially over, Rollins and Breakker put the boots to Uso inside the ring until Sami Zayn’s music hit. Zayn confronted Rollins and Breakker from the apron as the crowd chanted “CM Punk!” Punk’s music then hit and out walked Punk to join Zayn on the apron. All four wrestlers brawled inside the ring. Punk and Zayn got the better of it at first, but the heels didn’t give up. Breakker and Rollins battled Zayn in the crowd until Punk leapt off the crowd barrier and the four wrestlers brawled into the crowd. As all this was happening, Uso had his hand raised in the ring and Logan Paul appeared out of nowhere to punch Uso out. Paul, for some reason, was bleeding from the mouth. Paul smiled as the show went off the air.

This was a nice way to end what ostensibly could be considered “The SNME Go-Home Show,” with the way they went off the air. And good on WWE for that. The difference between Mondays and Fridays is so pronounced, it’s borderline shocking at this point. Raw has such an energy to it and it’s a pro wrestling show. Yeah, you’ll get a 10-15 minute promo segment, but the spotlight is so clearly on the wrestling while SmackDown feels far too much like Vince McMahon is booking it seven years ago and AEW needs to happen to course correct the state of pro wrestling. I digress. The main event was good. Breakker is settling into his top-of-the-card role nicely and Heyman is doing him all the favors he can do for a young up-and-comer. The show-closing brawl was well done and we all knew Paul would have to get his revenge on Jey to send this thing to Saturday. Overall, this was a solid episode of Raw and a good use of the two-and-a-half-hour time slot. If you didn’t like this, you don’t like the best of current WWE. When it’s good, it’s very good. When it’s not, it’s very not. On to Friday.

Uso vs. Breakker, MITB qualifiers announced for next WWE Raw

The World Heavyweight Champion will be in action in a non-title match on next week’s WWE Raw.

Jey Uso will face Bron Breakker one-on-one on the Monday, May 19 WWE Raw. The match was announced during this week’s episode following a backstage angle where Breakker attacked Uso.

It was also announced during this week’s Raw that Money in the Bank qualifying matches will begin on the Friday, May 16 SmackDown, and will continue on next week’s Raw show. No competitors for the MITB qualifiers were announced.

Two additional matches are also set for the May 19 Raw, with Sheamus facing Grayson Waller in singles competition, plus AJ Styles and Penta teaming against Finn Balor and JD McDonagh of The Judgment Day.

This week’s Raw coverage is available here. Next week’s lineup is listed below.

WWE Raw, Monday, May 19 —

  • World Heavyweight Champion Jey Uso vs. Bron Breakker in a non-title match
  • Money in the Bank qualifying matches
  • Sheamus vs. Grayson Waller
  • AJ Styles and Penta vs. Finn Balor and JD McDonagh

WWE Raw live results: IYO SKY & Rhea Ripley vs. Roxanne Perez & Giulia

Date: May 12, 2025
Location: KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, KY 

The Big Takeaway —

CM Punk and Sami Zayn will team to face Seth Rollins and Bron Breakker at Saturday Night’s Main Event. Bron laid out Jey Uso, and the two men will wrestle next week in a non-title match. 

Gunther is coming after the World Championship again and will face the winner of Jey Uso vs. Logan Paul. Gunther’s title match will happen on Raw next month. 

Rhea Ripley pinned Giulia in the tag main event, and is likely getting a title match against Iyo Sky soon. 

Money in the Bank qualifiers begin next week. 

**********

Show Recap — 

The show opened with a memorial graphic for “Sabu” Terrance Brunk. RIP.

Judgment Day, AJ Styles, Iyo Sky, and Roxanne Perez and Giulia (referred to by Michael Cole as “NXT upstarts”) were shown arriving at the arena in Louisville. 

There was a dramatic recap of last week’s main event angle. 

Opening segment 

CM Punk entered and pointed to the sky in tribute of Sabu. 

Punk was pissed off. He nursed a few injuries and hurt feelings since WrestleMania, but he couldn’t shake being pissed off. He had a lot of enemies, and number one with a bullet was himself. 

He was mad at himself because they’d been here before. It wasn’t the first time Paul Heyman stabbed him in the back. Punk liked to trust his friends, so this was on him. Heyman dropped a ladder on his head 12 years ago and left him with 13 staples in his head. 

Punk thought they had moved past that because he matured as a human being, but Heyman didn’t. Jey Uso warned him about Heyman. Heyman was who he always was. He was a fat little snake. Punk was also mad at “Temu CM Punk” Seth Rollins. Punk couldn’t wait to get his hands on Heyman’s fat neck and squeeze until his eyeballs popped. 

Heyman marched out as Punk mocked him by referring to him as The Penguin. Heyman remained near the stage as Punk warned him that his next words would be his last. 

Rollins and Bron Breakker joined Heyman on the stage. Rollins said Punk found a way to be even more egotistical. Heyman was his best friend, but Punk made his life hell on the road to Mania. Heyman believed in Punk when no one else did. Rollins believed that Punk was human excrement. Rollins said he would be champion if not for Punk. 

Punk said Rollins would never be champ as long as he was on two feet. Rollins figured out that Punk loved to play the victim and be a martyr, so he sent Bron after Punk. 

Punk tried fighting them off, but the numbers caught up to him. Sami Zayn ran out to even the odds, but Bron suplexed him easily. 

Jey Uso came out and the crowd cheered, but he got beaten up too. The heels finally backed off when both Punk and Zayn hit the ring with chairs.

(Punk was good here, but this was a fairly standard segment. The babyfaces didn’t look great getting beaten up one at a time. I also don’t know how much more I need to see Punk and Rollins trade insults.) 

******** 

Cole called the opening segment alone. After Penta and Chad Gable entered for the opening match (Gable’s entrance was during a break), Pat McAfee entered to his music to join Cole on commentary. They tried to explain that McAfee was only coming out now because he just finished getting cleared by medical, but they obviously wanted to give him a TV entrance. 

Penta vs. Chad Gable (w/Ivy Nile)

Penta tried a dive early on, but Gable knocked him out of mid-air with a headbutt—the same headbutt used by El Grande Americano, but without the loaded mask. Gable repeatedly tugged at Penta’s mask during a break for heat. 

Penta made his comeback immediately following the break, but Gable cut him off with a bridging German suplex for two. Gable flew off the top, but Penta caught him with a Codebreaker. Gable hit a moonsault for two and applied an ankle lock, but Penta immediately rolled out of it and hit a superkick for two. 

Gable taunted Penta as they stood on the ropes, but Penta shoved him off. Gable landed on his feet, but Penta followed with a great-looking Canadian Destroyer for the pinfall win. This was pretty good. 

Match result: Penta defeated Chad Gable (11:04)

******** 

There was a pre-taped promo by Roxanne Perez and Giulia. They didn’t plan on waiting around for their turn, so they were going after the two women on top. The future started tonight. 

During a break, there was a video package of John Cena’s win over Randy Orton. 

Kofi Kingston was shown taking in the Louisville Slugger Museum. 

Judgment Day met in the back. There was some silly comedy with Dom not understanding that Liv Morgan was in a different time zone. (Hopefully, this bit wasn’t a result of a real conversation that somebody had backstage.) Finn BĂĄlor assured Dom that he would take care of AJ Styles tonight. 

There was a recap of Gunther beating McAfee. They cut back to the announcers, and the fans gave McAfee a loud ovation. McAfee tried to play it humble, but Cole told him to stand up and take it in. McAfee thanked the fans before showing that he was still bruised and had popped a blood vessel in his eye. McAfee had respect for Gunther and felt Gunther now had respect for them.

******** 

Announced for Saturday Night’s Main Event: CM Punk & Sami Zayn vs. Seth Rollins & Bron Breakker. 

Zayn met with Punk backstage. Punk admitted to Zayn he was having a hard time trusting anybody. Zayn had difficulty trusting Punk at WarGames, but it worked out pretty well. They both liked to do things their own way and had similar ambitions, but they would get nowhere with Rollins and Bron standing in their way. Zayn said they could take them out together. They bumped fists. 

********

The opening match was followed by a long string of videos, backstage segments, and commercial breaks, so the show’s second match began with less than ten minutes remaining in the first hour, and they went to break again about two minutes into it. 

The New Day joined commentary to watch the next match. Cole said the winner of this match could earn a future tag title shot. 

The War Raiders vs. The Creed Brothers

Ivar made a comeback as they returned from break, but Julius hit him with a superplex, and Brutus followed with a moonsault for two. The War Raiders fought back, and Erik rammed Ivar into Julius in the corner, but Brutus broke up the cover. Brutus gave Ivar an impressive Angle Slam, but the crowd didn’t really react. Ivar tried a double handspring elbow, but the Creeds caught him out of the air and slammed him. 

Erik broke up the cover and tried to psych up Ivar, but became distracted by Xavier Woods. Kingston attacked Ivar as he went to the top, allowing the Creeds to hit Brutus Ball for the pinfall win. 

New Day ran off quite proud of themselves. 

Match result: The Creed Brothers defeated The War Raiders (10:27) 

********

Rollins assured Bron that Punk and Zayn had no idea what he was capable of. Rollins left for the evening, but whispered one final message to Bron. Bron smirked, and Rollins told him to have fun. 

Adam Pearce quickly met with Jey Uso backstage. (BĂĄlor could be seen talking to Perez in the background.) 

Cathy Kelley interviewed A-Town Down Under during a break. She asked about the elephant in the room, but Grayson Waller said they weren’t there to talk about her mom. Waller tried to get Austin Theory a rematch against Sheamus, but Theory said he already got Waller a match against Sheamus. 

They let us know that the clip of Logan Paul attacking Jey Uso got over 16 million social media views in 12 hours. 

********

Jey Uso segment

Jey entered to a big reaction. The crowd chanted “One more time,” the music was played again, and they all Yeeted again. 

Jey said there was a big target on his big back, so he wanted to get something off his big chest. Logan Paul was talking out of the side of his mouth by claiming he wasn’t championship material. Paul was ducking him and sneaking him, but at SNME, it was the two of them face-to-face. Jey called himself the “arena shaker” and said he would still be our world champion after SNME. 

Gunther interrupted. The crowd chanted, “You tapped out.” Gunther said the unimaginable came true: Jey Uso was World Heavyweight Champion. Gunther noted this was their first time together since that moment. Jey clarified that the moment was when Gunther tapped out. The crowd chanted it again. 

Gunther said he knew what it meant to be champion. Just because he understood doesn’t mean his opinion of Jey has changed. This position was not natural to Jey because he was not a natural champion. 

Gunther had news to share (that Jey already knew): the winner of the SNME title match would face Gunther next. Gunther announced that the match would be Raw on June 9th in Phoenix, Arizona. (Interesting, because they often don’t give the exact date. Could be a way to push ticket sales for that particular show.) 

Gunther really hoped that his opponent would be Jey so he could put him in his place. 

Jey fired up and said he was already in the place he should be. He ran this place and would walk out of their match just like he did at WrestleMania—as World Heavyweight Champion. Yeet. 

(Jey is very good at being Jey Uso, and I mean that as a compliment. It felt like he struggled at times leading up to his big moment, but he was great here.) 

********

Cole and McAfee paid tribute to Sabu as pictures were shown. Cole called him a legendary ECW superstar. A two-time champion who had a legendary rivalry with his friend, Taz. McAfee said they were forever grateful for Sabu’s influence. Cole sent condolences to Sabu’s family and friends. The crowd chanted, “Thank you, Sabu.” 

******** 

During a break, Erik and Ivar screamed at Pearce backstage until Kingston and Woods entered to mock them. Predictably, Pearce announced that New Day would defend their titles in a triple threat.

Jackie Redmond tried interviewing Ludwig Kaiser, but there was a nearby commotion. Jey Uso was laid out with Bron Breakker standing over him. Bron left as officials checked on Jey. Zayn and Punk joined to check on him. 

******** 

AJ Styles vs. Finn BĂĄlor (w/JD McDonagh & Carlito)

Cole referred to Styles and Bålor as former leaders of the Bullet Club. He repeatedly noted that Dom was not there with Judgment Day.

As with the other matches tonight, they went to break quickly, less than two minutes into it. 

Styles was on offence until he became distracted by McDonagh on the apron. Cole referred to this as the “first” distraction of the match. I guess he knows what’s coming. They dropped each other with a double clothesline spot, leading to a second commercial break, nine minutes into the match. 

Styles hit a superplex as they returned from break. They traded strikes until Styles caught BĂĄlor’s PelĂŠ Kick attempt and applied a calf crusher, but BĂĄlor got a rope break. BĂĄlor hit a slingblade and dropkick, but Styles avoided a Coup de Grace. Styles tried the calf crusher, but before BĂĄlor could break it, AJ hit a Styles Clash for two. 

Cole was right because Carlito hopped on the apron for our second ref distraction. Styles knocked down McDonagh, but the distraction allowed BĂĄlor to hit an elevated reverse DDT. 

Penta appeared on the barricade to take out the outside Judgment Day members. He leaped off McDonagh to hit Carlito with a Canadian Destroyer. 

Styles hit BĂĄlor with a Phenomenal forearm for the pinfall win. 

(This was good enough, but nothing you needed to see. The crowd was quiet for most of the match, but got into it as it picked up towards the end.) 

Match result: AJ Styles defeated Finn BĂĄlor (17:00) 

********

Becky Lynch made her way through the back. (Karrion Kross gave t-shirts to New Day in the background.) 

Becky Lynch promo

Lynch said she was not beaten at Backlash. Valkyria was beaten at Backlash. The fans didn’t believe her, but one of them was taken to the hospital (Lyra), while the other went to their big bus, had a shower and a glass of tequila while basking in her brilliance (Becky). 

After everything Valkyria did to her—attacking her character for weeks—Lynch brought out the best in her and gave her the best match of her career. Valkyria has never mattered more than she has now. 

She realized how much she was manipulated not only by Valkyria but also by the fans. She walked away for almost a year because the fans basically asked her to. She saw their reaction after the last time she won the world title, and if she wasn’t there to win the title, then there was no point. 

Lynch had always been for the people because she had them to thank for her career. They saw themselves in her, and they were in this together. And then something happened—she won. They couldn’t see themselves in her anymore because they were failures and hated what they could not understand. 

One of Lynch’s friends asked if she missed it while she was gone. She missed being in the ring, but she liked herself more now because she didn’t have to listen to the fans tell her what she was about. She heard the same lies from the one person she had hope for in this business. 

It all changed from here on out. “From now on, whatever you say I am, I am. So I’m selfish? Yes, I am. I’m greedy? Yes, I am. I’m cutthroat? Yes, I am.” 

All the girls in the back who were happy she was gone because they thought they were safe were finally going to find out what it feels like to be held down by The Man. 

********

There was a Rusev video package. He would rather his brothers fall by his hand than fall into the abyss. 

Akira Tozawa asked Pearce for a match against Rusev. Maxxine Dupri and Natalya had his back, but Pearce said he wasn’t cleared. Sheamus showed up and gave him respect for not backing down. 

After Alpha Academy left, Sheamus spoke to Pearce. Sheamus proposed a match against Grayson Waller. Pearce acted like this was the first he had heard of this and granted the match. Sheamus was happy. I guess some wires got crossed because they already announced this match earlier. 

******** 

Next week on Raw: 

  • Money in the Bank qualifiers 
  • AJ Styles & Penta vs. Finn BĂĄlor & JD McDonagh 
  • Sheamus vs. Grayson Waller 
  • Jey Uso vs. Bron Breakker (non-title) 

********

Women’s World Champion IYO SKY & Rhea Ripley vs. Roxanne Perez & Giulia 

(Perez and Ripley wore similar gear to the point where they looked like partners.) 

The heels were in control through a break over Sky, but Ripley made a hot tag when they returned from break. She gave Perez a Razor’s Edge and a running kick for two. Perez brought Ripley off the top with a hurricanrana for two. Giulia gave Ripley a vertical suplex before Perez hit a middle rope moonsault for two. 

Sky made the next hot tag and hit Giulia with a missile dropkick. They all traded moves until Sky hit a moonsault, but Perez broke up the cover. Ripley elevated Sky into a dropkick to take out Giulia. Sky wiped out Perez with a springboard dropkick. 

Giulia tripped Ripley off the apron before hitting Sky with an impressive avalanche butterfly suplex and brainbuster, but Ripley broke up the cover. Some more stuff happened until Ripley pushed Sky out of the way of a Perez flying crossbody, and Perez wiped out Giulia by accident. 

Ripley hit Giulia with a Rip-tide (as Sky held down Perez) for the pinfall win. 

— As Sky and Ripley posed together, Ripley took a long look at the women’s title belt. They gave each other a knowing look as the show ended. 

(This was pretty good, but somewhat messy at times. It felt like there were long periods with all four women in the ring at the same time. The crowd was oddly quiet for it despite being really into Ripley at the beginning.) 

Match result: Rhea Ripley & IYO SKY defeated Giulia & Roxanne Perez (14:00)

Jey Uso vs. Logan Paul title match official for WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event

WWE has set a date for Jey Uso and Logan Paul’s World Heavyweight Championship match.

During the broadcast for Backlash tonight, it was confirmed that Uso will defend his World Heavyweight title against Paul on the next edition of WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event. The episode is being held in Tampa, Florida on May 24 and will air live on NBC and Peacock.

Dave Meltzer first reported that the Uso vs. Paul match was expected to take place on SNME. It will be Uso’s second title defense since winning the World Heavyweight Championship from Gunther at WrestleMania 41. His first defense was a match against Seth Rollins on Raw last Monday that ended in a DQ.

Paul defeated AJ Styles at WrestleMania and has now set his sights on winning the first World Championship of his wrestling career. After Raw last Monday, an off-air angle took place where Paul dropped Uso with a punch and then bragged that he’s now knocked him out three times. He promised to take Uso’s title.

WWE has also confirmed that John Cena will appear on the May 24 Saturday Night’s Main Event episode, but his plans for the show have not been announced yet. Tampa’s Yeungling Center is hosting the event on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend.

Update on WWE’s plans for Jey Uso vs. Logan Paul title match

It’s not part of the card for Backlash this weekend, but Jey Uso vs. Logan Paul will still be happening soon.

Dave Meltzer reported in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that, as of right now, Uso vs. Paul for the World Heavyweight Championship is planned for the next episode of WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event. The show is taking place at the Yeungling Center in Tampa, Florida during Memorial Day weekend (Saturday, May 24).

The Jey Uso title match with Logan Paul is right now scheduled to be taking place on the Saturday Night’s Main Event show, which has 9,224 tickets out in Tampa and has an $83 get in price. The television set up for the building is 9,762 so it’s a lock to sell out. The advertising of the show is based around Cena, so one would think he’d wrestle, but having both Cena and Uso defend the titles seems like a lot for a television show. Especially when you don’t even do that for the PLE shows.

The build for Uso vs. Paul began last week with Paul saying his next goal in WWE is to become a World Champion. After being superkicked by Uso, Paul blindsided the champion later in the night with a knockout punch backstage. WWE then shot a post-show angle after Raw this Monday where Paul again attacked Uso.

Uso defeated Gunther at WrestleMania 41 to win the first singles World Championship of his career.

Saturday Night’s Main Event airs live on both NBC and Peacock. John Cena appearing is the only announcement that’s been made for the May 24 episode so far.

Logan Paul attacks Jey Uso in WWE Raw post-show angle

Logan Paul attacked World Heavyweight Champion Jey Uso in an angle shot after Monday’s WWE Raw went off the air.

After the Netflix portion of Monday’s Raw ended, Uso was greeting fans around ringside when Paul attacked from the audience.

Paul landed a right hand that Uso sold as a one-punch knockout, with Paul hastily retreating from the arena as Sami Zayn and CM Punk came to Uso’s aid. WWE’s chief content officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque reposted the video of the angle with the caption: “The show never ends…”

Uso defended the World Heavyweight title in the main event of Monday’s Raw against Seth Rollins in a contest that ended without a finish after Bron Breakker, Zayn, and Punk all interfered in the match.

Punk hit Rollins and Breakker with a steel chair and aligned himself with Zayn, as both have an ax to grind against the new Raw group featuring Rollins, Breakker, and Paul Heyman.

Our full report from Monday’s Raw is available here.

The post-show angle with Paul and Uso is embedded below.

Women’s IC title match official for WWE Backlash, Jey Uso vs. Logan Paul teased

The Women’s Intercontinental title will be on the line at WWE Backlash, and the World Heavyweight title appears likely to be as well.

In a match made official during Monday’s WWE Raw, Becky Lynch will challenge Lyra Valkyria for the Women’s Intercontinental Championship at Backlash in St. Louis on Saturday, May 10.

Lynch made her return to WWE at WrestleMania 41 after a hiatus of nearly a year to win the Women’s Tag Team titles with Valkyria. Valkyria had been scheduled to team with Bayley at the show, but Bayley was taken out of the match with a mystery attacker angle on the SmackDown prior.

The next night on Raw, Lynch and Valkyria lost the titles back to Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez in a WrestleMania rematch, then Lynch turned on Valkyria. On this week’s Raw, Lynch stated that there would be no drawn out whodunit, and that she had attacked Bayley.

Valkyria entered on Monday’s Raw and challenged Lynch to a fight, but Lynch begged off. Valkyria then challenged Lynch for Backlash with the title on the line, and Lynch accepted. As Valkyria exited, Lynch sneak attacked her.

Jey Uso vs. Logan Paul teased–

Another title bout may take place in St. Louis as well, with Jey Uso apparently set to defend against Logan Paul.

Paul appeared for an in-ring promo on Monday’s Raw and boasted about beating AJ Styles at WrestleMania, and said that the only thing that had eluded him in WWE was a World title. Uso entered and after a back-and-forth on the mic, laid out Paul with a superkick.

Later on Raw in a backstage segment, Paul hit Uso with a knockout punch and stood tall over the World Heavyweight Champion. The title match has yet to be made official for the May 10 show.

The updated WWE Backlash lineup following Monday’s Raw episode is below. This week’s Raw report is available here.

WWE Backlash, Saturday, May 10 —

  • Undisputed WWE Champion John Cena defends against Randy Orton
  • Women’s Intercontinental Champion Lyra Valkyria defends against Becky Lynch
  • Pat McAfee vs. Gunther