The latest WWE and AEW News and Results
With WWE Night of Champions in the books, we talk about the first steps on the road to SummerSlam, which is just four weeks away.
AEW’s All In is even sooner — and we’ll talk about an eventful Dynamite that raised the stakes on a couple of big matches for that show.
Thanks for listening and have a great weekend~! Click Here to Listen (sub needed)
While appearing on Stephanie McMahon’s “What’s Your Story?” podcast, Randy Orton opened up about a mental health struggle he went through that left him in a dark place.
Orton battled panic attacks during the time surrounding his back injury and subsequent double fusion surgery in 2022. For six months, Orton thought his career in the ring was over. He was left feeling overwhelmed and struggling with what his identity would be without the one thing he was good at and brought him respect.
“I started kind of like getting in my head, and this is after I met [his wife] Kim, and I had three stepsons, and I have two daughters, and I kind of got overwhelmed,” Orton said. “And I started getting, I don’t even really want to get into this, but I don’t even give a f*ck. What the hell? We all are human. Like, I was having panic attacks, and it started to become hard to fly. It started to become hard to stay in another bed. And I would be like up all night, and it was really rough. And I think it kind of came to a head when I had my spinal fusion and I was out for like a year and a half, and it was like, here’s my identity. This is who I am. This is like the one thing I know that I’m good at and I get respect for. And I can’t do it anymore.”
The ordeal brought back some of the bad habits that haunted Orton early in his career. But with help from his wife, he was able to get medical treatment to improve the situation.
“I got to like a dark place, and I started to revert back to some of my old habits. And I’ve got a wife and five kids and luckily I was able to kind of nip it in the bud quick,” Orton said. “She saw it happening and I was put on some SSRIs. It’s like an anti-depression, anti-anxiety medication. And I’ve actually been off of them for about six months and I feel like I’m myself again. But I needed them for a few years, Steph, because like — I can’t believe I’m talking about this. I just, I didn’t know if I could do this job anymore even after I came back.”
Orton spent 18 months out of action with the back injury between May 2022 and November 2023. Though it was originally feared that he would never be able to wrestle again, Orton met a great doctor who was able to perform his fusion surgery in a way where he would be able to return and be an athlete.
During the depths of his struggles, Orton was unable to sleep at night and found himself walking around his yard. But it’s now been about six months since Orton last had a panic attack.
“My head was just going — it was like playing out all the scenarios, worst case. It was trying to go to bed at night and then not being able to lay down in bed because my mind would start going and then all of a sudden I’d get like hot and I’d have to get out of bed. And then I’d be like, everyone’s sleeping in the house and I’m out walking around our yard, just taking deep breaths. And I met an amazing doctor and she gave me just pages and pages of information on how to deal with panic attacks and stuff.
“I don’t know that the medication ever worked, but it made me feel not myself. So I didn’t like the medication, but I kept taking it because I thought that, well, I need to take this because if I don’t, I’m going to have panic attacks. I was having them anyway, you know? And like honestly, it’s been, gosh, what is it? June. It’s like coming on six months since I’ve had a panic attack.”
The 45-year-old Orton was reluctant to talk about the struggles he went through — especially given the character he plays on TV — but it helped him to know that he wasn’t alone and other people were facing similar issues. He feels like he’s in a good place now.
Orton signed a new five-year contract with WWE in 2024. After his career almost ended prematurely due to injury, Orton is appreciating every moment he gets to spend in the ring — and he would even love to sign another five-year deal once this contract is up.
The full episode of “What’s Your Story?” can be watched below:
Editor’s Note: This is a live post for the international airing of WWE SmackDown on Netflix. If you do not want to be spoiled before the U.S. airing at 8 PM Eastern, you have been warned.
The final WWE SmackDown before Night of Champions takes place tonight in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with three title matches and an appearance by John Cena ahead of his WWE title defense Saturday against CM Punk.
Tiffany Stratton renews her rivalry with Nia Jax when she defends her WWE Women’s Championship in a Last Woman Standing match.
The Street Profits will look to retain their WWE Tag Team Championships when they take on the Wyatt Sicks’ Joe Gacy & Dexter Lumis.
Women’s U.S. Champion Zelina Vega will defend against Giulia who is looking for her first title run.
Plus, the King and Queen of the Ring finalists (Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, Jade Cargill and Asuka) will look to make a final impression before their matches Saturday.
Join us for our live coverage at 1 PM Eastern.
**********
– Over a live shot of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Michael Cole welcomed us to tonight’s show. We then got an elaborate pyro display inside the Kingdom Arena to kick off the night.
– Tiffany Stratton, Nia Jax, the Street Profits, Zelina Vega, Giulia, Jade Cargill, and Asuka were all shown arriving in the arena.
“The American Nightmare” arrived to a great ovation from the Riyadh crowd as he headed down to the ring to open up SmackDown. The King of the Ring crown was on a podium in the middle of the ring.
Before Rhodes could say a single word, his King of the Ring opponent, Randy Orton interrupted as the fans sang along to his theme song. Orton got himself a microphone and asked the fans if they watched Raw this past Monday and if they saw Cody Rhodes face Jey Uso. He put over the match as a potential Slammy Award candidate for “Match of the Year”. Orton then told Rhodes that he needed to be the King of the Ring, because the crown stood for redemption because he made it to the KOTR finals last year but lost to Gunther.
On the USA Network broadcast of SmackDown, a disclaimer ran stating that the Orton/Rhodes segment experienced technical issues during the initial live broadcast of this episode. The segment, as aired on USA, appeared to be shot with the ringside cameras for the portions that didn’t air on the live broadcast in the afternoon.
Orton said that the crown also stood for retribution against John Cena because what the Undisputed WWE Champion did to him in Backlash in front of his family and friends. He needed to right that wrong as well. Orton told Rhodes that everyone knew how much they respected one another, but he couldn’t let his personal feelings about Cody get in the way in the gold. He said that he would do anything and everything to make sure he’d leave Riyadh as King of the Ring.
Rhodes responded by saying he was thankful for everything that a student could want to hear from his teacher, referring to the kind remarks that Orton said about him a couple of months ago. He said he knew Orton needed to win it, but whether it’s John Cena or CM Punk, he needed to win King of the Ring more. Rhodes concluded by saying that tomorrow, “RKO” will still be the most dangerous three letters in WWE, but Orton wouldn’t be King of the Ring after all was said and done. That’s because, as Rhodes said, he’d win.
**********
– Solo Sikoa and JC Mateo were backstage, as the former gave his ally an order to make Jimmy Uso remember what it feels like to have no backup with him in his match coming up now.
Mateo used his strength to ram Uso into the corner before he blasted him with repeated strikes as the referee pulled him away. This gave Uso the time to mount a bit of a fightback, but Mateo grounded him right away. Uso kicked Mateo down to the outside and looked for a dive, but Solo Sikoa got in the way and stopped him from taking a dive as we got a break in the action.
We returned from break with Mateo catching Uso after a top rope dive and slamming him down to the math. Mateo impressed with a standing moonsault onto Uso for the near-fall. Mateo then continued to work over Uso’s back with a reverse bearhug submission. Uso escaped and took down Mateo with a corkscrew from the top rope, which created some much-needed separation for him.
Uso began his comeback with strikes a-plenty, but he couldn’t lift Mateo up for a Samoan Drop. Uso answered with a kick to the face instead, before crunching Mateo in the corner with a running hip strike. As Mateo retreated outside, he got blasted by a suicide dive from Uso. At ringside, Solo Sikoa grabbed at Uso’s leg to create a momentary distraction, which allowed Mateo to recover and put an end to things with the Tour of the Islands.
After the match, Sikoa talked with Uso and tried to curry favor with him. An offer for a hug was refused with a slap to Sikoa’s face. This led to Mateo and Sikoa beating down Uso until Jacob Fatu ran in for the save. The United States Champion caught Mateo with his pop-up Samoan Drop before he faced down Sikoa, who wisely backed out. This allowed Fatu to hit his jumping moonsault onto Mateo. Uso and Fatu faced down one another before Jimmy pushed Fatu out of the way to hit an attacking Sikoa with a superkick.
Match Result: JC Mateo def. Jimmy Uso via pinfall
All signs seem to point to Jacob Fatu losing his U.S. Championship tomorrow at Night of Champions, but the stuff with Fatu and Jimmy Uso as uneasy allies is a bit of an interesting story.
**********
– #DIY, the self-appointed leaders of the SmackDown Tag Team Division tried to rally the other teams to do something about the Wyatt Sicks. SmackDown GM Nick Aldis entered the scene and made a match for Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa against Andrade and a mystery partner.
– Giulia and Zelina Vega made separate remarks about their Women’s United States Championship match coming up next.
Vega tried to go for an early pinfall attempt but got met by some pinfall attempts from Giulia as a result. The two women exchanged kicks before Giulia took advantage with a suplex. Vega answered with a knee that sent Giulia to the outside, as she then flew off the top with a moonsault.
SmackDown returned with Vega caught in a submission by Giulia as she then got stomped onto the mat. As Vega rolled to the outside, Giullia looked to continue the punishment, but Vega threw her against the stairs and hit a running Meteora on to the prone Giulia. Inside the ring, Vega went on the attack, as she countered an attempt of the Northern Lights Bomb by Giulia. From the top rope, Vega caught Giulia with another Meteora for the near-fall.
As Vega tried to head to the top, Giulia intercepted and hit an amazing superplex. Vega recovered landed a Code Red, but Giulia rolled on the pin so that her feet touched the ropes. A missed moonsault led to consecutive Arrivederci Knees from Giulia, followed by the Northern Lights Bomb, which brought Giulia the Women’s United States Championship.
Match Result: Giulia def. Zelina Vega via pinfall to win the Women’s United States Championship
A good enough match that seemed rough in some spots, but we got the right winner in all of this as Giulia wins her first main-roster championship title. What comes next for Giulia as a champion on SmackDown should be fun to see.
**********
– The commentators made note of SmackDown heading to two hours last week before tossing to a recap of everything that went down between Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair last week.
Backstage, Charlotte was walking and met by Alexa Bliss, who proposed that they not necessarily be friends, but allies of mutual benefit.
Wade Barrett was in the ring as he prepared to interview Jade Cargill and Asuka about their Queen of the Ring finals match taking place at Night of Champions tomorrow.
Once both women were in the ring, Barrett asked Cargill about what made her so confident that she’d be able to beat Asuka tomorrow. Cargill answered by saying that when she sees Asuka, she sees an opportunity to prove why she belongs here. She said that at Summerslam, she didn’t just plan on taking the title, but taking the whole damn throne.
Asuka replied by saying that Cargill may be strong, but power isn’t everything. She said that she has skills and experience. She said that nobody was ready for Asuka. Before Cargill could provide a rebuttal, Ms. Money in the Bank, Naomi interrupted.
Naomi said that while Asuka and Cargill are fighting for Queen of the Ring, she has all the power. Naomi teased that she could cash in during the Last Woman Standing match tonight or at Night of Champions tomorrow. She said that she had the power to ruin all of Cargill’s dreams just like that. As Naomi walked down to the ring, Cargill got frustrated and pushed past Asuka to go after her. This titled Asuka the wrong way as she laid out Cargil with a kick. Naomi got on the apron and taunted Cargill.
**********
– Nick Aldis and Adam Pearce were backstage talking about their plans for the Women’s Tag Team Championship when Aleister Black interrupted them. Ron Killings stormed into the scene and was still looking for John Cena after what happened last week. Aldis said that Cena was here for CM Punk, but Killings would have none of it, as he left in search of Cena. Black soon left as well, seemingly in pursuit of Killings.
– The cmmentators recapped Los Garza winning the AAA World Tag Titles at TripleMania Regia two weeks ago.
Andrade and Ciampa started things off in this match with a lockup exchange. Andrade backed Ciampa into his team’s corner as Fenix tagged in and the two launched a salvo of double team attacks. With both #DIY members draped across the middle ropes, they got rocked by tandem kicks from Fenix and Andrade. Up top, Fenix and Andrade soared and took down Gargano and Ciampa on the outside with stereo dives.
We returned from the break with #DIY looking to take advantage against Fenix, but the speedy luchadore avoided calamity to create some needed separation. Before Andrade could get tagged in, Gargano pulled him off the apron, which opened Fenix to get blasted with a running knee to the back of the head by Ciampa.
On the top rope, Fenix fended off Ciampa and walked across the top rope to kick him square in the face. Andrade finally got the hot tag as he was a house of fire against both Gargano and Ciampa. Andrade caught Gargano’s slingshot spear and hit him with an elbow, followed by a reverse tornado DDT. One, two… not quite #DIY caught Andrade with a Shatter Machine, but couldn’t get the match done as we got yet another break in the action.
We resumed with Andrade and Gargano once again in a standoff on the top rope. Gargano tried to do a rolling powerbomb, but Andrade blocked it and hit his running knees in the corner. Double stomp by Andrade on Gargano wasn’t enough. Fenix took Ciampa out of the equation with a dive to the outside, which left Gargano and Andrade to duke it out in the ring.
Fenix recovered and tagged himself in as he hit an incredible dive/rolling German suplex on Gargano for the close two-count. Fenix lifted Gargano up for a Muscle Buster as Andrade headed up top, but Andrade got pushed off. #DIY took advantage and hit their superkick/Fairy Tale Ending combo, but Fenix kicked out at two.
Wild chaos ensued with Ciampa missing out on the knee, as Fenix hit his Black Fire Driver, followed by Andrade sealing the deal for his team with The Message and the three.
Match Result: Andrade & Rey Fenix def. #DIY via pinfall
A hot tag team match from start to finish. I was thoroughly entertained by the performances from all four competitors. Simply put, just some great tag action here.
**********
– John Cena’s recent appearance on The Late Show was shown before we got a recap of Cena’s rivalry with CM Punk, which included a clumsy edit of Punk’s pipebomb to omit Vince McMahon’s name.
– After the Punk/Cena video was done, Ron Killings showed up at ringside and stated that he was the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. He once again called out John Cena for a fight. Aleister Black appeared behind him and he floored Killings with a Black Mass kick. “I guess in a way, we’re even now, Ron,” said Black.
– Backstage, Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford were interviewed about their WWE Tag Title defense against the Wyatt Sicks coming up next.
– Aleister Black was confronted by Damian Priest backstage. Priest said that if Black was looking for payment from Ron Killings, that he do it face to face next time. Carmelo Hayes showed up and tried to warn Priest to keep his distance from Killings, but got told to back away.
Lumis and Ford started off in the ring, with the latter doing his creepy crawl, and being met with some fists from Ford in response. After an acrobatic dodge from Ford, Gacy tagged himself in and floored his foe with a running senton. Just then, the rest of the SmackDown tag team division appeared at ringside, as Gacy caught Ford with his somersault clothesline.
SmackDown returned with Ford and Lumis taking each other down with a double running splash. Both men managed to get the tag to their respective partners, with Dawkins using his surprising speed to get the momentary advantage. As Lumis ran across the ring, he got pulled away by Los Garza. #DIY attacked Dawkins at which caused a disqualification.
A mass brawl ensued with Erick Rowan entering the fray, but getting taken down by multiple superkicks from Fraxiom and the Motor City Machine Guns. Uncle Howdy entered and got Axiom with Sister Abigail. The Street Profits went wild with consecutive dives on the Wyatt Sicks and the SmackDown tag division. In the ring, Ford and Dawkins stared down Uncle Howdy, as it was clear that the Wyatt Sicks’ war with the SmackDown tag division was far from over.
Match Result: Street Profits vs. The Wyatt Sicks ended in a no contest
Honestly, not much to say about this match, as it ended in a schmozz before it could truly get going, but I did kind of enjoy the post-match chaos with all the tag teams brawling.
**********
– Jacob Fatu was confronted by Jimmy Uso, as the two talked about that their mutual assistance was just a matter of respect. Jimmy said that what Fatu did to Solo Sikoa was what he should’ve done a long time ago. The two seemed to part on somewhat of a common ground as Fatu left Jimmy alone.
Jax went after Stratton right away after the ring announcer’s introductions. She took out a turnbuckle pad cover, which gave Stratton time to recover and fight back outside of the ring. Her attempts were stopped with a steel steps strike to the ribs by Jax. The announce table was cleared aside by Jax, as she then hit a Samoan Drop across the exposed table. Stratton struggled to get back up, as we went to a break.
SmackDown returned with Stratton dropping Jax with a crossbody from the top rope. She headed up the opposite corner and hit a Swanton Bomb. Jax got herself up briefly, but she got blasted with a two-footed dropkick. Jax was able to get back up as she lifted Stratton on her shoulders and dropped her onto the exposed turnbuckle.
Stratton got herself back up on the count of eight, but she was thrown out of the ring by Jax afterwards. While Stratton writhed on the floor, Jax kept her eyes on her championship foe, tossing her into the barricade. Jax placed Stratton on a table setup at ringside as she then headed to the apron. Jax absolutely splattered Stratton with a splash through the table, but the WWE Women’s Champion was able to get up at the count of nine.
Jax pulled out two more tables from underneath the ring while Stratton once again made it back to her feet. We took another break with the two tables being set up and Stratton armed with a kendo stick. During the “break”, Jax tried to run at Stratton on the top of the stage, but she crashed onto one of the screens instead, as the fight found its way back to the ring.
The action returned with Jax hitting Stratton repeatedly with a steel chair. Stratton was dragged across the ring as Jax came down on her with the Annihilator. With a chair draped across Stratton, Jax hit yet another Annihilator. With the referee counting her down, Stratton just made it at nine, but got hit with a kendo stick by Jax. One more table was set up in the ring as Jax hoisted Stratton on her shoulders and headed up the top. Stratton escaped the attempted Samoan Drop and instead hit a powerbomb on Jax through the table. As both women were down, the referee started his count. Both Jax and Stratton made it to the count of nine.
Naomi ran down and tried to cash in, but Stratton intercepted and hit her with the Money in the Bank briefcase. Stratton took advantage and also hit Jax with the briefcase, as she then followed with a Prettiest Moonsault Ever onto both Jax and Naomi. Jax miraculously got herself up at the count of nine.
Stratton fought out of a superplex attempt through the two tables, as she instead struck Jax with the MITB briefcase once, more which sent Jax through the two tables! Jax was left knocked out cold and unable to answer the count of ten, which gave Stratton the win and the successful WWE Women’s Championship defense.
Match Result: Tiffany Stratton def. Nia Jax to retain the WWE Women’s Championship
Kind of a middling match that somewhat picked up by the end with Naomi’s attempt at a cash in and the final table spot. Other than that, nothing much to write home about. But, at least, the feud between Stratton and Jax should be done and dusted now.
**********
“Get used to it, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, this is what a winner looks like,” started off Cena. He said that CM Punk was a loser because he had been outsmarted, outmaneuvered, and outgunned, and there’s nothing that Punk can do about it.
Just then, Cena’s old “Basic Thuganomics” theme interrupted as CM Punk entered dressed as a parody of Cena, jorts, jersey, and all. “Yo, check it, this is Basic Punkanomics,” Punk talked about how he was stealing Word Life. Punk called Cena a “Temu Macklemore” with ‘Mackeless Rhythm” and that he’s buried more talent than the Undertaker.
Punk said if Cena never ate his vitamins or fixed his bald spot, he’d be a Boston mall cop. He called Cena a “fish belly white” Hulk Hogan but somehow more problematic. It should be noted that Punk was speaking this promo in rap. Punk said that in six months, Cena might be a superhero (washing his underwear for James Gunn), but he’ll always be The Marine to him.
“We all see you, and we’re looking at a washed-up bum,” said Punk, who then called Cena a leech, phony, and an ass kisser. Punk said that tomorrow, there was one more wish to make, because Cena was the Drake to Punk’s Kendrick. Punk did a mic dropped and the show ended abruptly (or at least appeared to because the producers’ credits and copyright bug never appeared on-screen).
Well, that was certainly an interesting way to end the final build for this title match, and given what Punk’s been up to since arriving in Saudi Arabia, I’m certain that this promo won’t convince his most ardent haters to start cheering for him, which is understandable. It’s honestly been hard for me to decouple any sort of past comments Punk might’ve made about Saudi Arabia’s government when it’s been kind of made a part of the story for this match based off of Cena’s previous promos. So, with that in mind, I kinda find it hard to get really invested in what was being done with this closing salvo from Punk.
Overall, a very strange SmackDown before Night of Champions, and the bizarre technical glitch that basically erased the opening Randy Orton/Cody Rhodes segment, followed by various other hangups on the production side as I watched the global Netflix feed kinda made things have a weird vibe to it.
Image: WWE
It’s big weekend for WWE with Night of Champions going down on Saturday following today’s SmackDown in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
On Friday’s Wrestling Weekly with Les Thatcher and Vic Sosa, the guys make their predictions and also look at this past week’s AEW Dynamite and how it helps shape this Wednesday’s 300th episode.
Thanks for listening and have a great weekend~!
Half of the WWE King and Queen of the Ring tournament finals are set.
Randy Orton and Asuka advanced in their respective tournaments on Friday’s WWE SmackDown to move on to the finals at Night of Champions on Saturday, June 28.
Orton advanced to the King of the Ring finals with a victory over Sami Zayn in the semifinals on Friday’s show, and will take on the winner of Cody Rhodes vs. Jey Uso in the King of the Ring finals.
Asuka defeated Alexa Bliss on Friday’s episode to advance to the Queen of the Ring finals. She awaits the winner of Jade Cargill vs. Roxanne Perez in the finals.
Both remaining semifinals matchups will take place on the Monday, June 23 WWE Raw.
The King and Queen of the Ring finals will be held at Night of Champions in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday, June 28. That event will stream live on Peacock in the US and Netflix in most of the rest of the world beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern time.
The eventual King and Queen of the Ring winners will earn a title shot at their brand’s top championship at SummerSlam set for August 2 and August 3.
John Cena’s appearance on SmackDown last week was not a happy one for the Undisputed WWE Champion as he was twice attacked by Ron Killings. Cena also had to contend with his Night of Champions opponent CM Punk having some harsh words for him.
Tonight on SmackDown, Killings gets his hands on Cena when they face off inside Van Andel Arena, in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The first two King & Queen of the Ring tournament semifinal matches will go down tonight as Randy Orton faces Sami Zayn in the men’s match and Alexa Bliss takes on the returning Asuka in the women’s match.
United States Champion Jacob Fatu was given an ultimatum by Solo Sikoa last week: pledge his love to Solo or face the consequences. We’ll see how WWE follows up on that tonight.
Women’s United States Champion Zelina Vega announced that she plans to call out Giulia after being attacked by the former NXT Women’s Champion several weeks ago.
Join us for live coverage starting at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
**********
– After a live shot of the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan, we were welcomed by shots of Randy Orton, Sami Zayn, Alexa Bliss, Asuka, plus Solo Sikoa and JC Mateo arriving to the arena. We then saw Ron “The Truth” Killings before we got LA Knight making his way down to the ring to open SmackDown proper. Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett talked about Knight’s involvement in the King of the Ring fatal-four way qualifier from Raw this past Monday.
“Let me talk to ya,” Knight started off the proceedings in his usual manner. He circled back to Money in the Bank where Seth Rollins and his faction screwed him over, something he couldn’t let slide, so he decided to pay it back by screwing one of them (Bron Breakker) out of the King of the Ring. When Rollins’ faction took out Knight last week in his King of the Ring qualifier, Knight decided to screw over the other member of the group (Bronson Reed) in response. Knight then said that there was only one way this would end: with Seth Rollins himself facing off against him right here and now.
The voice of Paul Heyman signaled the arrival of Rollins’ Wise Man to the arena. Heyman admonished the crowd for booing Rollins’ name and “screwing up the cue”, so he did the introduction again. Knight told Heyman to shut up and get to the point by asking why he was here. Heyman entered the ring and siad that there was indeed a lot of bad blood between Knight and Rollins. However, with all due respect to the Grand Rapids crowd, Heyman said that he was the “biggest” LA Knight fan in all of WWE. As such, Seth Rollins, according to Heyman, has allowed him to say that Knight needs to get the hell out of Grand Rapids, Michigan because something bad will happen to him before the end of the night.
Knight responded by saying that he’s heard Heyman make that threat before because he’s a swindler and someone who leeches on to someone “hot” to leech on their popularity. Knight said that if Heyman couldn’t bring Seth Rollins to him, then there was only one thing that they could do instead: LA Knight versus Paul Heyman right now. Knight said he was going to take his stuff off and turn his back on Heyman to give him the first shot, stating to make it count otherwise he’d make it hurt.
Heyman rolled out of the ring and said that his threat to Knight wasn’t a prediction, it was a spoiler. On cue, Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed walked down the stage and made their way to go after Knight in a two-on-one assault. Rollins’ vanguard had their way with Knight as the announce table was ripped apart in the melee. Before the two could do any more damage, Knight emerged from the timekeeper area with a steel chair and used it wisely in warding off Breakker and Reed. Heyman returned to ringside and got the two to back off for now.
********************
– Backstage, Heyman talked with Breakker and Reed, stating that they’d have everything in control. Byron Saxton showed up to inform the group that Nick Aldis has made Bronson Reed versus LA Knight official for later tonight.
Asuka and Bliss circled the ring as the bell rang before they got into a lockup. Asuka blocked a Bliss shoulder blcok, but got felled by a dropkick instead. The recently-returned Empress answered with a shoulder block of her own as she then followed with a hip attack that sent Bliss out of the ring to take us into a break in the action.
We returned with Asuka having her way with Bliss by way of a submission hold. Bliss escaped and launched into Asuka with a flip neckbreaker, followed by a senton for the two-count. Asuka recovered and answered with a flurry of strikes, followed by a snap German suplex and a knee to the face of Bliss. One, two… not enough. Bliss dodged a big kick from Asuka for the roll-up, but found herself in a roll-up of her own after a failed Sister Abigal attempt.
With Bliss still recovering, Asuka headed up top for the missile dropkick, but Bliss blocked it as she hit her signature DDT for the close near fall. Bliss went up to the top rope and had Asuka in position for Twisted Bliss, but hesitated as she dropped down. Asuka took advantage and locked in her Asuka Lock armbar hold on Bliss, who escaped in desperation by rolling towards the rope. Hangman’s neckbreaker by Asuka kept Bliss grounded momentary. Bliss intercepted an attempted running attack from Asuka and placed her in a tree-of-woe position for the dropkick. She headed up top to look for the Twisted Bliss once more, but Asuka blocked it with her knees, which stunned Bliss long enough for Asuka’s Empress Impact knee for the one, two, three. Asuka wins to earn a berth in the Queen of the Ring finals.
Asuka def. Alexa Bliss via pinfall to advance to the Queen of the Ring Finals
Solid opening bout between two talented women wrestlers. It’s great to see Asuka back in the fold and looking as good as ever in the ring, and she and Bliss had themselves a great match right here..
**********
– Backstage, Jade Cargill, B-Fab, and Michin were seen watching the previous match. B-Fab and Michin said that it was maybe time to make their own impact in the women’s tag division and headed off to talk to Nick Aldis about it. Byron Saxton then interviewed Cargill about facing Roxanne Perez on Raw next Monday and the possibility of facing Asuka in the Queen of the Ring Finals.
– Alexa Bliss was confronted by Chelsea Green and the Secret Hervice, but then soon found themselves joined by Charlotte Flair. Which led to Charlotte challenging Green to a match later tonight. Green got upset Bliss stated that she didn’t need Flair’s help, to which Flair said that she wasn’t there to help Bliss at all.
Before the match could even get started, Kit Wilson was attacked by Ron Killings in the ring. Killings locked in the STF before he took the microphone. Killings angrily demanded that John Cena get out here now to face him right now.
The usual gaggle of security officials and road agents showed up to calm Killings down, as Jamie Noble in particular got Killings to leave the ring peacefully, and the scheduled Black vs. Wilson match apparently called off on the account of Killings’ pre-match attack.
Aleister Black versus Kit Wilson never took place
**********
– We got a Papa Johns’ sponsored recap of Goldberg’s return and subsequent challenge to Gunther for Saturday Night’s Main Event.
– Jamie Noble continued to talk to Ron Killings, who was angry about John Cena not showing up. Aleister Black then confronted Killings for interrupting his match, but Damian Priest appeared to to keep the peace. As Black left, Priest called out Killings for his anger and told him to focus that rage on John Cena later tonight instead. Priest promised that he and Killings would go out for a night downtown later once Cena was taken care of.
Before Rhodes could even utter a single word, the theme of his King of the Ring semifinals opponent, Jey Uso, interrupted. Out came the “Yeet Man” himself to a loud reaction from the Grand Rapids crowd. The crowd continued to do the Yeet dance and chants as Uso made his way down to the ring. Once everything calmed down somewhat, Uso called for another encore as his theme music played once more.
After that was done with, Uso started by telling Rhodes that he didn’t even have to say anything because they’ve both been in the trenches together. From fighting one another, to fighting together as tag champions, to finishing their respective stories at WrestleMania. However, on Monday, there’s only room for one of them. Uso said he knows that Rhodes is going to bring it, and that it’s nothing personal, but it’s only business. At the end of it all, though, Uso said that there’d be only four letters, one word, uh-uh… Yeet.
As Rhodes and Uso showed respect, Sami Zayn entered the ring and joined in. As he took the microphone, Zayn said that he got to share the ring with two great friends, who are also two of the greatest that the business has to offer. He said that between the three of them standing in the ring, there was only one who wasn’t a World Champion. Zayn said he was proud of Jey Uso for winning at WrestleMania, and that he was the first one to congratulate Cody Rhodes for finishing his story at WrestleMania. With that, Zayn said he hoped Rhodes and Uso understood that it was time to finish his own story.
“Voices” rang through the Van Andel Arena, which brought out Zayn’s King of the Ring semifinal foe, Randy Orton to the ring. Orton reiterated to Rhodes what he said last week about doing whatever it takes to get to John Cena and win his 15th World Championship. He turned his attention to Uso and said while he had respect for him, it’d be “three letters and one move” if he faced off with Jey in the King of the Ring Finals. Orton then said that he meant every word that one day, Sami Zayn will be a World Champion, but SummerSlam won’t be that day. That’s because of the three most dangerous letters in sports entertainment: R-K-O. The segment ended with Cody Rhodes not even getting a chance to say a single word.
**********
The match started after the commercial break with Zayn having Orton caught in an arm submission that eventually got countered into a classic Orton resthold. After that submission exchange, Zayn cornered Orton with repeated chops that sent him out of the ring. Zayn looked like he was going for a dive to the outside, but Orton backed off, which caused Zayn to backtrack at the last second. Orton took his time to get himself back in the ring and trapped Zayn in the corner, which led to the referee breaking it up. Orton gave Zayn a poke in the eye in the scuffle.
The fight moved to the outside, with Orton nailing his trademark announce table back suplex on Zayn. Amidst the crowd’s chants of “one more time”, Orton obliged and hit another announce table back suplex on Zayn, which took us to a break mid-match.
SmackDown returned with Orton teeing off on Zayn with a punch to the head. Zayn did a springboard dodge to leap behind Orton as he then floored him with a clothesline. Zayn connected with a big elbow followed by the axe handle. Zayn’s Blue Thunder Bomb attempt was countered by Orton, who unloaded with his clotheslines, followed by a vintage scoop powerslam. Orton kept up momentum with the draped DDT on the ropes.
Orton had Zayn in his sights for an RKO, but Zayn rolled out of the ring to avoid calamity. Orton stepped out of the ring and slammed Zayn’s face against the announce table. Orton tried for yet another table back suplex, but Zayn countered and gave Orton a taste of his own medicine instead. In the ring, Zayn avoided a shoulder charge from Orton, which sent the Viper into the ringpost instead.
Zayn targeted Orton for a Helluva Kick, but got intercepted into a snap powerslam for his troubles. One, two… Zayn just barely kicked out! Orton dodged a Helluva Kick at the last second, as he looked to connect with the RKO. Zayn turned that around and turned it into a Blue Thunder Bomb. Orton just somehow kicked out at the last possible second. Zayn headed up top and missed on a dive. Orton’s first RKO was blocked, but one last attempt sealed the deal for the Viper as the pin and win put him in the King of the Ring finals.
Randy Orton def. Sami Zayn via pinfall to advance to the King of the Ring Finals
Some really good stuff from Orton and Zayn here, and there were a few moments throughout where I though Zayn would pull off the upset win. That said, while Orton’s win moves us to (likely) a showdown with Cody Rhodes at King of the Ring, what happens now with Zayn after this loss — and especially with Karrion Kross being a thorn in his side will be interesting to see. In any case, Orton vs. Zayn delivered a fantastic match.
**********
Jax started by saying that Tiffany Stratton approached her to get some guidance, and that she repaid that help by supposedly betraying her. The WWE Women’s Champion herself interrupted and called Jax the “toxic ex she couldn’t get away from”, and told her to admit that she’s so jsut so much better than her. Jax said that Stratton should prove it by facing her again without a kicking a chair in her face. Stratton said that she agreed, and that next week… she will face Jax for the WWE Women’s Title in a Last Woman Standing match. Jax and Stratton brawled for a bit, with Jax getting the better of Stratton and flooring her with a series of leg drops.
Naomi ran down to the ring and tried to cash in Money in the Bank on the fallen Stratton, but Jax pulled her out of the ring repeatedly to prevent it. Stratton recovered and kicked Naomi off the apron, which sent her crashing onto Jax. Stratton took this time to make her escape while Naomi and Jax were left laying in front of the announce table.
**********
– A video package of CM Punk and John Cena’s rivalry was shown.
Green wrestled with her face mask covering her broken nose.
The match started off with Green cheapshotting Flair and getting the advantage early on. Flair rolled over the turnbuckle and landed on her feet on the apron to create some separation between her and Green. Flair fended off Piper Niven and Alba Fyre at ringside before she headed up top with a diving fist strike on Green. With the referee distracted by Niven at ringside, this allowed Fyre to get on the apron to grab at Flair, which gave Green the opening to hit a neckbreaker on the former WWE Women’s Champion. That took us to a break in the action.
We returned with Flair attempting to mount a comeback as she fired away with chops on Green’s chest before she took her down with suplex. Flair gave Green a mocking salute before tried to set up for the Figure-Eight. Alba Fyre got on the apron to cross a distraction, as Green nailed a Rough Ryder.
Green took off her mask and looked to put Flair away with the Un-Pretty-Her, but couldn’t connect. Flair hit a Spear, but Green kicked out. In the ensuing chaos, Flair applied the Figure-Eight on Green, who tapped out.
Flair didn’t have time to celebrate as Piper Niven stormed the ring and delivered a Senton. Alba Fyre and Green joined in on the attack of Flair before Alexa Bliss made the save. Bliss hit the Sister Abigail on Green as the Secret Hervice were forced into a retreat. Bliss tried to offer a hand to Flair, but she got rebuked instead.
Charlotte Flair def. Chelsea Green via submission.
Not much to write home about in terms of this match, and its main purpose was to largely continue the weird sorta-alliance/frenemy situation that’s unfolding with Charlotte and Alexa Bliss.
**********
– JC Mateo was seen taping himself up as he asked Solo Sikoa what the plan would be for Jacob Fatu. Sikoa said that there wouldn’t be a need for anything physical as tonight would be the night Fatu “comes home”.
Solo Sikoa got into the ring and said that he was out here alone and ready to welcome Jacob Fatu with open arms, as he then called out the United States Champion so they could talk things over. Fatu entered the scene with his U.S. Title in tow and the crowd cheering him on.
Once Fatu entered the ring, he and Sikoa stared one another down. Sikoa said that he wasn’t here to fight Fatu, because he wanted it to be known that he always loved Fatu, no matter what. Sikoa said that one thing he learned about being Tribal Chief was learning to love family, even when they fight and argue. He pledged Fatu to move forward and do things together as one.
Sikoa insisted that nobody wanted Fatu here, except him. Which is why he brought him into WWE to help change his life and to put food on the table for his family. And he did all that because Sikoa claimed to love Fatu, and that he didn’t have anybody else to turn to. Sikoa said that Fatu was all he got and all he needed. Even if Fatu didn’t say those four words, Solo was willing to say those four words for everybody to hear. “I love you, Jacob,” said Sikoa.
Fatu got his chance to respond, asking if it comes down to “loving” him. Fatu said that Sikoa was using him to gain power, fight his battles, and to stay Tribal Chief. “Hell, you brought me in, so I could bring you fame? So I could bring you gold?” asked Fatu. The U.S. Champion said that Sikoa was the one who was acting different ever since Fatu won. Maybe, the problem, as Fatu said, was the U.S. Title itself. Fatu laid it down on the mat and asked Sikoa to fight him for the title.
Fatu then threatened Sikoa, stating that if he ever came his way, then he knows what’s coming. Sikoa tried to attack Fatu with the Samoan Spike, but he got caught instead. JC Mateo entered the ring and helped Sikoa take down Fatu. The two Neo-Bloodline members attacked Fatu in a two-on-one assault until Jimmy Uso attempted to make the save. Mateo and and Sikoa got the better of Jimmy until Fatu recovered and made short work of the two. Fatu and Jimmy shared a tense staredown as the former tried to hit his jumping moonsault on Sikoa, who rolled out of harm’s way.
**********
Knight snuck up on Breakker from the crowd to throw him into the ring post, which angered him greatly. Reed got Breakker to calm down as the match became officially underway.
Reed blocked an Irish whip attempt, but missed on a shoulder charge into the corner, which gave Knight the opening to stomp away on him. Reed recovered and wanted to slam Knight, but got countered into a kick to the face instead. On the apron, Knight tried to leap at Reed, but got caught. A jumping neckbreaker by Knight was subsequently countered by Reed through the use of his size.
Knight avoided a senton from Reed as he headed up top and caught him with a diving neckbreaker. Reed rolled out of the ring and blocked Knight’s baseball slide dropkick. Knight tried again for a high-risk move and connected with the dive onto Reed to the outside, which took us to a break.
We returned from break with Reed attempting a superplex on Knight from the top rope. Knight battled to break free and won out, as he shoved Reed down to the mat. Knight had him in position for his jumping leaping elbow. One, two… Reed kicked out! Knight’s BFT attempt was countered by Reed, who landed a Death Valley Driver for the near-fall.
Reed lifted Knight up and delivered a thumbs down as he looked for a powerbomb. Knight reversed that into a DDT. Breakker got on the apron but got smacked down by Knight for his troubles. Reed got sent to the outside as Knight looked for a dive… but Breakker hit a Spear on Knight to cause the DQ finish.
As Reed held Knight in position, Breakker hit his super Spear with brutal force. Reed then followed that up with consecutive Tsunamis. As referees got shooed away, Reed headed up top and hit a final devastating Tsunami on Knight. The vanguard of Seth Rollins’ faction stood tall as it appeared that Paul Heyman’s threat was quite accurate.
LA Knight def. Bron Breakker via DQ
Just a standard match, but the post-match angle does give the muscle of Seth Rollins’ as-of-yet nameless group some neeeded menace.
**********
– We learned from Jacob Fatu that he will defend the United States Championship against Solo Sikoa next Saturday at Night of Champions.
Killings started off hot by tackling Cena and forcing him to the outside as he aggressively went after the Undisputed WWE Champion at ringside. Back in the ring, Killings threw Cena into the corner with force as we headed to a picture-in-picture break. Killings performed Cena’s own shoulder tackles and then the spin-out powerbomb as seen in picture-in-picture.
SmackDown returned from picture-in-picture with Cena nailing the Five-Knuckle Shuffle on Killings. Attitude Adjustment attempted, but Killings escaped and hit a Lou Thesz Press in response. Cena rolled out of the ring and took his WWE Championship, seemingly walking out on the match. Killings tried to go after Cena, but got blasted with the WWE Title, causing a DQ.
Ron Killings def. John Cena via Disqualification
CM Punk ran down and started to scuffle with Cena. Punk attempted to hit Cena with the WWE Title, but got blasted with a kick to the groin. Cena answered with a belt shot of his own before he took the Slim Jim-branded table from underneath the ring.
Cena struck Punk with the WWE Title once more as he delivered an Attitude Adjustment through the Slim Jim table. Cena grabbed a microphone and started his own version of the Pipe Bomb promo.
Cena said that he hopes Punk can listen and digest, because before he can leave in six months with the WWE Title, there’s a lot of things he has to get off his chest. Cena said that he doesn’t hate Punk, but he hates the idea that Punk is the best in the world. Cena called himself as the Greatest of All Time, and that Punk is the “greatest bullshitter of all time”.
Cena said that he’s jealous of Punk because of how he’s conned everyone into believing in the myth that he’s the best in the world, but they don’t believe a goddamn thing he says, because Punk changes his values as much as Cena changes his shirts. Cena gave a Punk-like shoutout to Nick Nemeth, Matt Cardona, and Claudio Castagnoli. Cena accused Punk of regurgitating the same “five microphone moves of doom”, stating that Punk is no longer the “voice of the voiceless”, but a capitalist. Cena said that Punk isn’t against TKO, but he’s “Mr. TKO”.
Cena said that at Saudi Arabia, Punk is going to face some loud music in the form of the fact that it’s been Cena who’s been the greatest of all time for over 25 years. He said that Punk was “best in the world” for 7 minutes and 14 years ago. And after at Night of Champions, if Punk does prove he’s the best in the world, then it’s a small world after all. “You’re welcome, Grand Rapids,” said Cena.
Cena demanded that Punk better bring his A-Game to Night of Champions because if Grand Rapids is any indication, the mood is starting to change. Cena told Punk to rest up because at Night of Champions, it would be the Greatest of All Time versus Best in the World, and that it would The Champ would be here. “I just ripped off your own promo to make you look foolish,” Cena concluded his promo.
As iffy as the idea of using CM Punk’s history of refusing to work in Saudi Arabia as part of this build is, this Cena promo was at least a decent inversion of the Pipebomb. That said, the committment to this evil John Cena gimmick continues to face resistance from a crowd that just wants to cheer the guy regardless, so the moment he turns face is essentially just now on a ticking clock. I don’t begrudge Cena for having fun being the bad guy, but it’s quite clear that the crowd would just rather cheer him.
SmackDown this week was kind of middle of the road, with nothing really sticking out for me personally, other than the excellent Orton vs. Zayn and Asuka vs. Bliss matches, as well as Cena’s Pipebomb parody Everything else felt just kinda there, and I do wonder what the impending move to two hours in two week’s time will mean for the overall flow of the show.
Four wrestlers advanced to the semifinals round in the King and Queen of the Ring tournaments on Friday’s WWE SmackDown.
In the King of the Ring tournament, Cody Rhodes advanced with a victory over Shinsuke Nakamura, Andrade, and Damian Priest in the show-closing bout on Friday’s episode. Earlier in the show, Randy Orton advanced with a victory over LA Knight, Aleister Black, and Carmelo Hayes.
Rhodes now awaits the winner of a Jey Uso vs. Sheamus vs. Rusev vs. Bronson Reed four-way set for Monday’s Raw in the semifinals, while Orton will take on Sami Zayn on next Friday’s SmackDown in the semis.
In the Queen of the Ring bracket, Alexa Bliss advanced to the semis with a victory over Charlotte Flair, Alba Fyre, and Candice LeRae on Friday’s show, while Jade Cargill punched her ticket to the next round by defeating Nia Jax, Michin, and Piper Niven on SmackDown.
Bliss’s semifinals bout will take place on next week’s SmackDown against the winner of Asuka vs. Stephanie Vaquer vs. Raquel Rodriguez vs. Ivy Nile set for Monday’s Raw. Cargill will face Roxanne Perez in the semifinals at a later date.
Our SmackDown report for this week is available here.
Editor’s Note: This week’s show was recorded prior to the announcement Sabu had passed away.
WWE Backlash took place Saturday and Andrew Zarian breaks everything down on today’s Wrestling Observer Live.
That includes the main event featuring John Cena vs. Randy Orton, taking us back to 2004. He also discusses the standout performers, including Jacob Fatu and Lyra Valkyria.
He looks at this past week’s AEW TV shows and how they are using these smaller venues to their advantage, also giving what seems like weekly praise to the character work of Toni Storm.
Plus, thoughts on this week’s SmackDown, Mercedes Mone dropping the NJPW Strong Women’s Title,, and the best thing of the week!
Click here to listen or watch on YouTube
John Cena and Randy Orton met one last time (probably) on Saturday.
It started out relatively fine, some good back and forth, somewhat mechanical in nature but perfectly alright. The crowd was totally into hometown hero Orton even though most probably knew he wasn’t winning. Then we got the dreaded first ref bump of the match. Cena went through the new announce table that doesn’t do a good job of breaking. Another ref bump. Then Cena went through another table.
They wind back up in the ring with another ref who also gets taken out. For some reason this, somehow, causes SmackDown GM Nick Aldis and a bunch of former wrestler agents to come out and check on this one referee. Nevermind another referee was taken out earlier and was still laying on the floor, this is the referee they’re concerned about. Orton proceeded to lay everyone out one by one until it was just him and Cena. But then R-Truth came out to do the idiot shitck, he was taken out. Cena recovered just in the nick of time to low blow Orton then strike with the WWE Championship for the victory.
This was significantly better than Cena’s WrestleMania match, but geez Louise it was way too overbooked. Someone thought of doing THREE ref bumps in this match when one probably would have been fine. By the time of the third ref bump I was begging for this to end, and thankfully not long after it did. Cena clearly can’t go at the same level as other main event WWE stars so doing smoke and mirrors is fine. I would prefer he do it for the rest of the year. Just, please, do a finish that doesn’t suck.
What’s next for Cena? R-Truth. Yes, during the press conference Cena took out Truth and put him through a table. Remember when Triple H was winning the perception wars against AEW handily just a few months ago? Yeah, that seems to be running out fast.
Backlash overall was an easy show to watch, two in a half hours of mostly good wrestling padded with a lot of commercials and highlight videos and talking heads. I think there’s a happy medium between this and AEW’s five-hour twelve match format, but that’s just me.
Here’s the rest of the show:
John Cena is still Undisputed WWE Champion after escaping Backlash with a victory over his longtime rival Randy Orton.
At Saturday night’s PLE, Cena and Orton faced off one last time as part of Cena’s retirement tour. This final meeting had a different dynamic than all of their previous matches with Orton — the beloved babyface in his hometown of St. Louis — challenging Cena for gold. But a low blow and a belt shot secured the win for Cena to remain Undisputed WWE Champion.
The match lasted nearly 30 minutes and was full of finishing moves and ref bumps. Whenever Orton had the title won, the referee was knocked out and unable to count the pin in time. Orton let his frustration out at one point by RKOing SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis and other officials as they were checking on a referee. He then went to punt Cena in the head, but R-Truth — who claims Cena is his “childhood hero” — ran out to plead with Orton.
R-Truth couldn't let that happen! 😲#WWEBacklash pic.twitter.com/JSYZsrTrcQ
— WWE (@WWE) May 11, 2025
Orton dropped Truth with an RKO, but that gave Cena time to low blow Orton and strike him with the Undisputed WWE Championship belt. The referee woke up and counted the pin for Cena.
After the match, Cena got on the microphone for a quick promo:
The LAST REAL CHAMPION has left the ring.#WWEBacklash pic.twitter.com/7rMdUzfZCp
— WWE (@WWE) May 11, 2025
“Cut the damn music. I don’t need music, what I need is competition. And I sure as hell don’t need you,” he said to the fans. “Drink it in, St. Louis — because this is what the Last Real Champion looks like.”
This was the first title defense of Cena’s 17th WWE Championship reign. He is set to retire as an in-ring competitor in December of this year.
WWE Backlash heads to the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri, headlined by new WWE Champion John Cena defending against former champion and longtime rival Randy Orton.
This will be Cena’s first title defense since winning the title from Cody Rhodes at last month’s WrestleMania 41 and his first singles match against Orton since February 2017.
After winning it at WrestleMania 41, Jacob Fatu defends the United States title for the first time as he faces former champion LA Knight, Drew McIntyre and Damian Priest in a four-way.
New WWE Intercontinental Champion Dominik Mysterio defends for the second time since WrestleMania 41 as he faces Penta in a rematch from April.
WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion Lyra Valkyria defends against former partner Becky Lynch after Lynch turned on her on the Raw after WrestleMania.
Following his attack against Pat McAfee at the Raw after WrestleMania, former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Gunther takes on the announcer in his first bout since the 2024 Royal Rumble match.
The pre-show begins at 5 PM Eastern with the main card kicking off at 7 PM Eastern on Peacock (U.S.) and Netflix (everywhere else).
**********
– Michael Cole, Big E, and Wade Barrett welcomed us to the Countdown show as various wrestlers were shown arriving to the arena ahead of tonight’s show.
– An interview Barrett conducted with Randy Orton earlier in the week was teased.
– After a video package on Lyra Valkyria defending her Women’s Intercontinental Championship, Jackie Redmond was shown backstage talking about remarks that both Lynch and Valkyria gave to her ahead of their match. We then went to Byron Saxton interviewing Valkyria herself.
– NXT’s Vic Joseph joined the panel to talk about Valkyria’s career progression. The discussion turned to Penta versus Dominik Mysterio shortly after.
– The panel recapped the events that led up to Gunther facing Pat McAfee tonight. Michael Cole reiterated that he was entitled to share his opinions without having to face any reprisal. He said that McAfee would not go down without a fight, even in defeat, as he wished McAfee the best of luck in his match tonight.
– LA Knight was interviewed backstage about his chances of winning the U.S. Championship Fatal Four-Way match later tonight. Following that, a special look at the history of WWE in video games was shown.
– Peter Rosenberg and Jackie Redmond replaced Cole and Barrett on the panel as the talk turned to the card for tonight’s show. We then went to Barrett’s sitdown interview with Randy Orton.
– Orton said that the John Cena of 2025 is “selfish” when asked to describe him in one word. He then talked about the first time he met Cena in Ohio Valley Wrestling two decades ago, before he discussed how the many battles with Cena were the most fun he had in his career. Now, in Orton’s mind, he believed that Cena was being selfish because he wasn’t thinking of others with his recent change in attitude. Orton promised that if given the chance, he’d punt Cena tonight before going on a retirement run of his own that would last 5-10 years, and he’d have fun going on that run.
– The panel talked about the U.S. Championship Fatal Four Way match, which was confirmed as the opening match for the evening before the focused switched to Penta vs. Dominik Mysterio for the Intercontinental Title.
**********
– Following the U.S. Anthem being sung, we were shown footage of various wrestlers arriving at the arena before our commentary team of Michael Cole and Wade Barrett welcomed us to the show proper ahead of our opener.
The bell rang with Knight and Fatu, as well as McIntyre and Priest brawling it out in their own separate skirmishes. The U.S. Champion was sent into the turnbuckle as Knight had control early.
McIntyre was taken down by a Samoan Drop from Fatu, before he got crushed with a running corner hip charge from the U.S Champion. As Fatu went up top, McIntyre raked at the eyes and looked to hit a superplex before Knight intercepted the Scotsman and hit him with repeated stomps. Knight then headed up top to attempt to slam Fatu, but got pushed aside. McIntyre showed impressive core strength and got himself back up to throw Fatu onto Knight, but the U.S. Champion recovered and unleashed a flurry on Priest and Knight. We then got Fatu getting blasted with a BFT from Knight, who then got thrown down with South of Heaven by Priest, followed by McIntyre’s Claymore on his hated rival. Priest fell onto Fatu, but McIntyre pulled him away as the count was made.
Knight’s BFT got countered, as McIntyre nailed him with a Future Shock DDT. This led to a Claymore on Knight, and it appeared we’d have a new U.S. Champion. That was until Priest pulled the referee at the last second before he could make the three count. The two bitter rivals brawled and sent each other crashing over into the timekeepers’ area.
Fatu and Knight were left in the ring as the U.S. Champion had his challenger dead to rights for a jumping moonsault, but Knight dodged at the last minute. A set of dual elbows from Knight nearly had the match won, but Fatu kicked out at two.
In the crowd, Priest and McIntyre fought as their fight escalated to a high platform. Priest dropped McIntyre with a South of Heaven chokeslam through a pair of tables in the ensuing melee. Back at ringside, Knight continued to dominate by throwing Fatu into the ringpost once more, as he then planted him onto the announce table. Knight headed up to the top rope and looked to have Fatu done and dusted with a diving elbow, until Solo Sikoa pulled Fatu out of harm’s way. As Knight stared down Sikoa, a mystery person attacked him before the assailant stepped over the barricade.
The assailant was revealed to be Jeff Cobb, who waylaid Knight before the challenger got thrown into the ring. As Fatu recovered, he stared down Cobb and Sikoa briefly before he entered the ring to continue the attack on Knight. One hip charge and moonsault later, and Fatu made the winning pin to retain his U.S. Championship.
Post-match, Fatu continued to stare down Sikoa and Cobb and appeared to leave on his own without the two.
Jacob Fatu def. LA Knight, Drew McIntyre, and Damian Priest to retain the United States Championship (Fatu pinned Knight)
Solid opening bout with lots of big meat being slapped around and Jeff Cobb’s surprise debut spicing things up. The interactions between champion Fatu and Cobb make it clear that there’ll certainly be a feud inevitably coming between these two down the line.
**********
Lynch and Valkyria opened with a shoving contest, followed by the challenger keeping Valkyria grounded early on. Valkyria eventually recovered as we got a stalemate between these two.
Valkyria trapped Lynch in a swinging pendulum submission hold, as she then caught her in a surfboard stretch submission to maintain control against the veteran. Lynch got dropped with a dropkick from Valkyria, but she recovered to avoid a top rope attack from the Women’s IC Champion. Lynch continued to punish Valkyria to keep her grounded.
Valkyria stormed back with an impressive superplex, but Lynch kicked out in the nick of time. Lynch responded with a neckbreaker, but Valkyria kicked out. Valkyria got the better of Lynch and connected with a top rope legdrop. One, two, no! In the middle of the ring, a skirmish between champion and challenger turned into a duel of armbars that ended with Lynch seemingly having the Dis-Arm-Her locked in.
Lynch caught Valkyria with the Manhandle Slam, but the plucky Women’s I.C. champion managed to kick out at to, much to Lynch’s shock. Frustrated, Lynch headed to the timekeepers area to take a steel chair, but that was a distraction as she exposed the turnbuckle behind referee Jessika Carr’s back.
Lynch sent Valkyria into the middle turnbuckle as she hit another Manhandle Slam, but Valkyria kicked out yet again. Lynch tried to send Valkyria into the ringpost, but the referee saw it. In the ensuing scuffle, Lynch connected with Night Wing, but Lynch kicked out thanks to the referee taking too long.
After a pinfall exchange, Valkyria scored a flash rollup pin to retain. However, the Women’s I.C. Champion had no time to celebrate as Lynch snapped and locked Valkyria in the Dis-Arm-Her. The usual gaggle of former wrestlers, referees, and Adam Pearce made their way to the ring to stop Lynch’s rampage.
Lyra Valkyria def. Becky Lynch via pinfall to retain the Women’s Intercontinental Championship
A heck of a title bout that did not miss a step. Would not be against Lynch and Valkyria running back for the third time.
**********
Lots of fast-paced offence to start us off with neither Dominik or Penta getting any sort of clear advantage, at least until Penta landed a Backstabber on his opponent for a two-count. Dominik secured the advantage as he sent Penta for a ride on the ropes, which then led to an impressive suicide dive turned into a DDT at ringside. Dominik sent Penta into the ring and landed a slingshot splash for another near-fall.
Dominik continued to have the command on Penta at this stage in the match. Penta fought out of a chinlock as he connected with a slingblade on the Intercontinental Champion. With Dominik on the outside, Penta headed up top and stepped on the top of the turnbuckle post itself as he connected with a splash on his champion opponent at ringside. In the ring, Dominik caught Penta and looked to connect with the Three Amigos, but Penta fought out of it. A 619 attempt from Dominik was dodged by Penta, who then delivered a crucifix bomb pin for the near-fall.
Dominik channeled his girlfriend Liv Morgan as he hit Penta with ObLIVion, but that was not enough to get the victory. The battle spilled onto the apron with Penta landing the Mexican Destroyer piledriver right on the apron! Carlito made his way down the ring at this point as Finn Balor and JD McDonagh entered. Some miscommunication between Balor and McDonagh led to the referee catching the Judgment Day duo in the act, prompting to a kickout. Penta responded in kind with a dive over the referee to take out Carlito and McDonagh. On the apron, Balor provided a distraction as El Grande Americano (who may or may not be Chad Gable) headbutted Penta, which gave Dominik the opening to connect with the Frog Splash to retain his coveted Intercontinental Championship.
Dominik Mysterio def. Penta via pinfall to retain the Intercontinental Championship
Decent match, but having yet another match conclude with interference after the opener had a similar finish seems rather disappointing and feels more at home on a weekly WWE show rather than a PPV. That said, it’s nice to see Dominik progress as an in-ring talent, and he got some nice moves in during this match, like the suicide dive/DDT combo.
**********
Gunther started things off by pushing McAfee into the corner before the two sized each other up once more. Gunther nonchalantly threw McAfee from a headlock position as he then utilized his technical prowess to trap McAfee with an arm wrench. McAfee escaped and barely avoided a Gunther chop attempt with a dodge. McAfee answered with a headlock of his own as he got sent to the apron. McAfee responded to Gunther mocking him with an attempt at a strike (after slipping off the top rope), but got met with a clothesline from the Austrian.
McAfee tried to hit Gunther with some chops of his own, but got floored by a hard chop by Gunther. With McAfee prone in the corner, Gunther continued to punish him with his patented chops, which began to turn McAfee’s chest red. Gunther absorbed a punt kick to the back from McAfee and once again looked to have the upper hand.
McAfee hyped himself up as he tried once again to hit Gunther with chops, but he got dropped with a fierce boot to the face. Gunther taunted Cole and invited him to get into the ring to witness the brutality firsthand. McAfee recovered, but couldn’t maintain a second win as Gunther connected with a German suplex. Gunther tried to apply his sleeper hold, but McAfee attempted an escape. Another German suplex from Gunther kept McAfee’s comeback a fleeting one.
Gunther continued to play with his food as he put McAfee on the top rope and looked for an avalanche German suplex. McAfee managed to avoid that calamity, and tried for a moonsault. Gunther avoided it, and tried for a German suplex. McAfee landed on his feet and hit a series of punts on Gunther. That, however, wasn’t enough to even get a two-count as Gunther kicked out at one. McAfee and Gunther faced off in the middle of the ring and exchanged strikes until McAfee’s attempt at keeping Gunther floored was met with a powerbomb.
In the middle of the ring, McAfee was trapped in a Boston Crab by Gunther as Michael Cole got off his commentary seat and tried to will McAfee on. Gunther took notice and dragged Cole into the ring as he attempted to hit a powerbomb on the commentator. McAfee intervened with a boot, but was met with a boot from Gunther for his troubles. Cole grabbed onto Gunther’s feet as McAfee tried for a pin, but Gunther kicked out.
McAfee’s sleeper hold attempt was stopped as Gunther destroyed him with a lariat. Gunther caught McAfee with his patented sleeper hold and appeared to have it all wrapped up. McAfee struggled and tried to fight out of it, but simply could not escape as Gunther scored the victory via referee stoppage.
Post-match, Gunther appeared to give McAfee credit for his efforts in the match.
Gunther def. Pat McAfee via submission
I can’t quite put into words how I felt about this match, since this wasn’t really going to be a classic bout. In any case, this match was certainly one of the matches of all time. Gunther did the best he could and certainly played his role, and I can’t really say much about McAfee’s in-ring abilities (or lack thereof). In short, this felt like a match that lasted a bit too longer than it should’ve.
**********
As expected, Orton got a huge hometown reaction from the crowd inside the Enterprise Center, complete with the now-familiar singalong of “Voices” serenading Orton’s arrival to the ring for this main event.
Following the introductions, the bell rang as Cena and Orton locked up in the middle of the ring with a test of strength that nobody won out in. The two would then stare one another down as Cena offered a handshake, before he poked Orton in the eye. The Viper answered back with a shot of his own to Cena’s eye, which sent the WWE Champion outside to reassess the situation.
In the ring, Orton dropped Cena with a shoulder block as he then applied a headlock. Cena escaped, but got taken down with another shoulder block, which caused him to take a powder and attempt to walk out on the match. Orton ran him down and refused to let Cena escape. In the ring, Cena struck Orton with a surprise clothesline to gain control of this match. Orton fought back and caught Cena with a set of 20 punches in the corner.
Orton began to target the downed Cena with his patented stomps, followed by a knee drop to the face of the Champ. Cena reversed an Irish whip from Orton and trapped him in a sleeper hold. This led to a series of dueling sleepers from both men that ended with Orton delivering a back suplex on Cena as both men were left down and out in the ring. Cena recovered and hit his shoulder charges, spinout Protoplex, followed by the Five Knuckle Shuffle. Orton fought out of an AA attempt from Cena as he answered with a vintage powerslam. Cena countered a draped DDT attempt with a rollup, followed by the STFU locked in. Orton escaped the hold and connected with his trademark DDT to leave Cena out cold.
The Viper sized up his prey as he looked for the RKO, but Cena countered and attempted an Attitude Adjustment. Cena appeared to connect, but Orton countered it into a sort-of RKO as he was being dropped on his back. Once both men got back to their feet, we got an exchange of strikes between Orton and Cena. In the melee, Cena caught Orton with the Attitude Adjustment. One, two… Orton kicked out!
Cena tried for another AA, but Orton used the ropes to escape. Cena’s attempt at hitting the shoulder tackles was met with an RKO out of nowhere. Cena managed to roll out of harms way to avoid Orton pinning him. Orton tried to go for the Punt with Cena in position, but the Undisputed WWE Champion escaped and hit one more AA. However, Orton kicked out at 2.99999999 to keep this match going.
Cena mocked Orton’s pose and tried for a Punt of his own. Orton dodged, and looked for an RKO, but Cena pushed him right into the referee. Cena hit an AA on Orton and grabbed the WWE Championship belt from ringside. As Cena entered the ring, he got met with an RKO from Orton. One, two…. Cena kicked out! As Cena rolled out of the ring, Orton looked towards the commentary table and cleared it away with bad intentions on his mind. Cena once again pushed Orton into the referee, which sent him into the steel steps as a result.
Cena took Orton and put him on his shoulders, as he looked for an AA onto the table, but Orton escaped and turned the tables with an AA of his own to Cena. The table itself fell apart five seconds after after Cena kicked around while sprawled in pain. Orton looked around under the ring and found a table as he set it up next to the ring. Cena took advantage and once again tried the AA, but Orton escaped yet again and threw Cena with an AA through the regular table.
Inside the ring, Cena got himself up and was taken down by an RKO. As a referee ran down to make the count, Cena kicked out at two. Orton argued with the referee as Cena grabbed the WWE Championship belt. Orton hit an RKO on Cena, but there was no referee to make the count. SmackDown GM Nick Aldis and several officials ran down to the ring to survey the chaos, much to Orton’s irritation.
Orton snapped and dropped Aldis and the other officials with a barrage of RKOs, to the St. Louis crowd’s delight. Cena was again in position for a Punt, but R-Truth ran in to stop Orton at the last second. He got dropped with an RKO for his troubles. This allowed Cena to hit a low blow on Orton, followed by a shot with the title. As the referee crawled back to the ring, Cena made the pin and that’s it, over. The so-called “Last Real Champion” retains in the Backlash main event.
After the match, Cena took the microphone and had the music cut. He said that he didn’t need music, and he needed competition. Cena said that this is what the “Last Real Champion” looks like and despite the obvious set up for a surprise, the show just ended there.
John Cena def. Randy Orton via pinfall to retain the Undisputed WWE Championship
That got a bit overbooked towards the end, but it was the fun kind of overbooked, which did make the main event a decent way to end an otherwise okay show that felt like “Saturday Night Raw” at times. Of course, the main highlight of the night was the excellent Lynch/Valkyria Women’s I.C. Title match, but other than that, everything just felt like a “kinda there” moment.
It’s clear that the 5-match PLE format that the Paul Levesque-led WWE braintrust have adhered to is a double-edged sword. When the majority of the matches are solid, it elevates the show greatly. On the other hand, when the show is filled with 3-4 mediocre-to-decent matches, it ends up making the show fall a bit flat. Unfortunately, Backlash 2025 falls under that latter category.
Image: WWE
With WWE Backlash this weekend, Les Thatcher and Vic Sosa look at the scheduled matches and give their predictions on this week’s Wrestling Weekly.
Can Randy Orton end his rivalry with John Cena by becoming WWE Champion again?
The guys also look at a busy week in AEW and what lies ahead for the Beach Break edition of Dynamite next week.
Thanks for listening and have a great weekend~!
In an interview with Billboard, Randy Orton detailed how his WWE WrestleMania 41 match against Joe Hendry came to be.
Orton vs. Kevin Owens was originally scheduled for the event and had even been officially announced by WWE, but plans had to change with Owens having a neck injury requiring surgery. With that grudge match off the books, WWE pivoted to something else entirely with Orton defeating Hendry — the TNA World Champion — in a quick three-minute bout.
This was Orton’s 20th WrestleMania, and he told Billboard that was an important milestone for him. He confirmed that he pushed for Hendry to be his opponent once a replacement was needed. Orton said a couple of people in WWE were unsure about the idea, but he was able to talk them into it.
“It kind of came down to, ‘OK. We need to get Orton an opponent. Who’s it gonna be?’ And there was a very short list of guys on our own roster, but we had some new guys coming in — and it was one of those things where I needed to win, but considering we knew where I was going to be going thinking about Backlash, we needed me to look good coming out of Mania,” Orton said. “It couldn’t be one of our new guys, because when we debut a new talent into the show [we couldn’t] have him start with a loss.
“So we put our heads together and it was actually my idea [for it to be] Joe Hendry. I kept pushing for it, and a couple people were unsure, but I was able to talk everybody into it. I’m really glad that they went with him. It was perfect. It was different from anything else on the card. It was a legitimate surprise, and we were able to keep it a surprise for the most part. We got that really cool, ‘Holy s–t’ moment when his music hit, and it was great. He was great. It was actually a stress-free fun Mania for me, because I didn’t have this crazy 30 minutes balls-to-the-walls match with all this high-risk s–t. I had this cool little segment with Joe, and we didn’t have to do much to have fun out there. So I was really able to enjoy the week and just soak it all up.”
Rusev and Aleister Black were two of the in-house options that WWE had making their returns. Both returned to WWE programming after WrestleMania.
Hendry is proud of the match he had with Orton and thinks it went exactly how it should have gone. A TNA World Championship defense will take place at NXT Battleground on Sunday, May 25 with Hendry putting his title on the line against Trick Williams.
At WWE Backlash this Saturday, Orton will renew his rivalry with John Cena when he challenges Cena for the Undisputed WWE Championship. It will likely be their last time ever facing each other with Cena set to retire from the ring in December 2025.
Orton told Billboard that he hopes his hometown crowd in St. Louis brings the energy for this different dynamic of him being the babyface and Cena being the heel.
“Now, it has the potential to be completely opposite of how it used to be, and the pressure is on me as the good guy,” he said. “But I think being in the hometown [of St. Louis], him being the bad guy, it’s just really weird. There’s no way to call it — and I think the match itself will be good, but I think the energy in that arena is going to cause it to be possibly very good. It’s completely up to the energy of that St. Louis crowd. So I’m hoping they’re all ready to go.”
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Randal Keith Orton |
| Ring Name | Randy Orton |
| Nicknames | The Viper, The Apex Predator, The Legend Killer |
| Date of Birth | April 1, 1980 |
| Hometown | Knoxville, Tennessee, USA |
| Height | 6’5″ (196 cm) |
| Weight | 250 lbs (113 kg) |
| Nationality | American |
| Family | Son of “Cowboy” Bob Orton; third-generation wrestler |
Randy Orton was born into wrestling royalty. His father, “Cowboy” Bob Orton, and grandfather, Bob Orton Sr., were both professional wrestlers. Despite early warnings from his father about the toll wrestling takes, Orton pursued the sport after serving in the United States Marine Corps. He joined WWE’s developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) in 2000 and debuted on the main roster in 2002.
| Type | Date |
|---|---|
| Pro Wrestling Debut | March 18, 2000 (OVW) |
| WWE Debut | April 25, 2002 (SmackDown) |
| Championship/Title | Number of Reigns |
|---|---|
| WWE Championship | 10 |
| World Heavyweight Championship | 4 |
| Intercontinental Championship | 1 |
| United States Championship | 1 |
| WWE Tag Team Championship | 2 (with Bray Wyatt & Riddle) |
| Royal Rumble Winner | 2 (2009, 2017) |
| Money in the Bank Winner | 1 (2013) |
| Youngest World Champion in WWE history | At age 24 |
| Promotion | Years Active |
|---|---|
| Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) | 2000–2002 |
| WWE | 2002–present |
| Category | Moves |
|---|---|
| Wrestling Style | Cerebral, methodical, slow-paced powerhouse |
| Signature Moves | Rope-Hung DDT, Inverted Backbreaker, Snap Powerslam, Superplex, European Uppercut |
| Finishers | RKO (Jumping Cutter), Punt Kick |
| Theme Name | Artist |
|---|---|
| “Voices” | Rev Theory |
| Opponent | Rivalry Highlights |
|---|---|
| John Cena | Multiple WWE Title matches, long-term feud |
| Triple H | Evolution storyline, WrestleMania 25 main event |
| Edge | “Greatest Wrestling Match Ever” at Backlash 2020 |
| The Undertaker | WrestleMania 21 feud and Hell in a Cell match |
| Bray Wyatt | Betrayal storyline; WrestleMania 33 match |
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Spouse | Kim Orton (married 2015) |
| Children | 5 (including daughter Alanna from a previous marriage) |
| Military Background | Former Marine; discharged before wrestling career |
| Acting Career | WWE Studios films like 12 Rounds 2, The Condemned 2 |
| Tattoos | Known for full-arm tribal and skull sleeve |
Here are some statistics on Randy Orton at a glance:
| Attribute | Data |
|---|---|
| Ring Name | Randy Orton |
| Nicknames | The Viper, The Apex Predator, The Legend Killer |
| Height | 6’5″ (196 cm) |
| Weight | 250 lbs (113 kg) |
| Finishing Moves | RKO, Punt Kick |
| Signature Moves | Rope-Hung DDT, Snap Powerslam, Inverted Backbreaker |
| Theme Music | “Voices” by Rev Theory |
| WWE Championships | 14-time World Champion, IC Champion, US Champion, Tag Team Champion |
| Special Accolades | 2× Royal Rumble winner, MITB winner, Grand Slam Champion |
| WWE Tenure | 2002–present |
Just over a week away from his Undisputed WWE Championship match against John Cena at Backlash, Randy Orton is set to appear on tonight’s SmackDown at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa.
Orton and Cena went face-to-face last week. During that segment, Orton hit the champion with an RKO to lay him out. Their match at Backlash could be the last time the two familiar rivals ever face each other with Cena set to retire in December.
Also tonight, Aleister Black will have his first match back in WWE after not being in the company for five years. He’s facing off against The Miz, which was set up last week when Miz offered up an impromptu promo inside the ring and the lights went out, setting the scene for Black’s return. Black then hit The Miz with a Black Mass.
LA Knight vs. Damian Priest has also been confirmed for tonight. Plus, Nia Jax will make an appearance.
Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
**********
– Joe Tessitore welcomed everyone into the show. Randy Orton, Tiffany Stratton, Damian Priest, The Miz and Carmelo Hayes were shown walking backstage. Priest ran into Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu and confronted them. A yelling match ensued as LA Knight walked past them all and made his way to the ring.
Knight cut a promo in the ring and noted how he said last week that he wanted a rematch for his U.S. title. Knight voiced his displeasure for having to have a No. 1 contender’s match. Knight said the match didn’t go his way because Solo Sikoa interfered and Jacob Fatu jumped around everywhere. Knight then moved his attention to Damian Priest. On cue, Priest’s music hit and Priest made his entrance with a certain level of purpose.
Priest told Knight they didn’t have a problem and last week, everything he did was about Drew McIntyre. Priest noted how McIntyre mentioned Priest’s family and he couldn’t let McIntyre get away with that. Knight said Priest picked the wrong time to get back at McIntyre because the only reason the bell rang on his match was Priest. Priest said he saved Knight from taking a pin. Knight told Priest to not put Priest’s loss at WreslteMania on Knight. Priest responded by saying the only reason things happened the way they did is because Knight lost his title at Mania.
Knight admitted to losing and said he wants to fight his way back into the title picture and the reason he’s not champion this week is because of Priest. Priest said all of Knight’s frustrations are because of Knight. Knight reminded Priest that they don’t have a problem and if that’s the case, Priest needed to stop talking. Priest said even though their match is set for later tonight, they should just fight right now and asked Knight if that’s what he wanted. Knight, of course, said, “Yeah!” A referee ran to the ring and before the match began, the show went to a commercial break.
This was fine, if not a little rushed. Knight usually takes more time milking his catchphrases and Priest usually takes more time milking the spaces in between. On top of that, the promo ended before it was 10 minutes past the hour and I can’t recall a SmackDown going to commercial this early in the show in recent memory. Anyway, it was everything one would expect from both guys. God bless Knight. These crowds are still into him, even if the booking minds behind the scenes aren’t.
**********
The match was joined in progress with Knight on top, working Priest with a series of strikes, before Priest fought back and slammed Knight. Priest then kicked Knight in the chin and got a two-count out of it. Priest set up for Old School, but Knight pulled Priest off the top and landed a back suplex. Knight followed up with a bunch of punches and a flying clothesline. Knight added a jumping neck-breaker and a Russian Leg Sweep to all of that for a two-count.
Priest punched Knight, but Knight then slammed Priest. Knight went for an elbow drop, but Priest caught him and tried to set up a South Of Heaven. Knight worked out of it and Priest clotheslined the hell out of Knight for a near fall. Priest lifted Knight for a Razor’s Edge, but Knight got out of it and DDT’d Priest. Knight went to the second rope and hit his jump-up elbow from the top for a two-count. The show then went to a commercial break.
The show returned and “This is awesome!” chants rang through the arena. Knight set up Priest for a super-plex, but Knight stopped him and the two battled on the second rope. Eventually, Priest stepped off the rope and onto the apron and kicked Knight. Priest then lifted Knight for a Razor’s Edge inside the ring, executed it, and Knight barely kicked out before three. “LA Knight!” chants began in the crowd. Priest went for South Of Heaven, but Knight countered … only for Priest to hit a Broken Arrow.
Priest went to the top rope, but Knight leapt up and hit a mega-plex for a nice near-fall. “This is awesome!” chants kicked up again. Knight clotheslined Priest over the top and to the outside. Knight went for his dropkick through the ropes, but Priest caught Knight and hit a Flatliner off the apron. Solo Sikoa then showed up and attacked Priest and the referee called for the bell.
Match result: LA Knight fought Damian Priest to a no contest (11:03 of TV time)
Sikoa turned his attention to Knight and set up for a Samoan Spike on Knight, but Priest punched Sikoa and Knight BFT’d Sikoa. Priest and Knight stared at each other and Priest cleared off the announce desk. Knight rolled Sikoa to the outside and Priest was going to hit South Of Heaven on Sikoa, but Fatu showed up and landed a Samoan Drop on Knight onto the announce desk after taking our Priest with a dive through the ropes. Fatu then hit a hip attack on Priest into the crowd barrier. Fatu posed on the ring steps with his U.S. title and the crowd cheered.
Priest and Knight felt like they had something to prove here. It was a welcome surprise. Both guys have settled into matches that have little more than them playing their biggest hits – a Razor’s Edge here, a step-up flying elbow there – and while this match featured all those things, there was a weird sense of urgency to all of it. So much so, that you have to wonder if they were determined to prove their in-ring worth here. It was dynamic. They completely had the live crowd. And they brought a dose of intensity that we don’t often see on SmackDown anymore. A tip of the cap goes to both guys for that. The finish felt predictable – let me guess … this leads to a tag match for later in the show – but as for this, it was one of the better TV matches from both guys in a long time. Good for them.
**********
– Byron Saxton interviewed Fraxiom backstage. Frazer said they were excited and they plan on flipping the SmackDown tag division upside down. Pretty Deadly walked into the scene and Saxton left. Wilson told them the SmackDown tag division is the hungriest tag division. Prince said he enjoyed having new European blood on SmackDown and followed that up by saying opportunities on SmackDown are earned and not given. The duo said they wanted to see how good Faxiom actually was and talked to Nick Aldis as a means to book a match. Pretty Deadly’s music hit back in the arena and they made their entrance.
– Michael Bisping was shown in the crowd and he stood up to throw some punches in the air.
Wilson and Axiom began the match, but it wasn’t long before Frazer tagged in and ran the ropes awfully quickly and kicked Wilson. Frazer worked Wilson’s arm briefly and threw him into a corner, but Wilson walked out and kicked Frazer in the head. Prince tagged in and beat Frazer down. Frazer came back with an enziguri. Axiom tagged in and things broke down, complete with a repeated pair of dives onto the heels between the ropes.
Back inside the ring, Axiom went to work on Prince’s back. Axiom went to the top, but Prince caught Axiom during a cross-body attempt. Prince threw Axiom down into Wilson’s legs and Pretty Deadly posed as the show went to a commercial break about three-and-a-half minutes into the match.
The show returned and Axiom was chopping Wilson. Ultimately, Frazer received the hot tag and hit a dropkick on both Wilson and Prince. Frazer landed a springboard until a DDT and a running Shooting Star Press. The referee essentially counted to three but Prince didn’t kick out and it was an awkward moment. Prince’s mouth was quite bloody after all of this. Pretty Deadly took control back and Wilson tagged in. As such, Wilson powerbombed Frazer for a two-count. Wilson and Frazer traded elbows until Frazer placed Wilson on the top rope. Axiom hit a Spanish Fly and Frazer followed up with a Phoenix Splash for the win.
Match result: Fraxiom (Nathan Frazer & Axiom) defeated Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince & Kit Wilson) (9:29)
My heart goes out to Elton Prince’s teeth. That fella’s face came up awfully bloody after he missed the kickout spot. Jacob Fatu talks about all gas, no breaks, but damn if Nathan Frazer doesn’t live that lifestyle in the ring, too. Stuff like that is going to happen every now and then when the guy only knows one speed and it’s 150 MPH. The match itself was the standard Fraxiom fare. Lots of speed. Lots of flash. A lot of fun. I’m not complaining. And Pretty Deadly had a good outing, too, proving they can work with any style of team WWE might throw at them. Prince’s face might not approve, but this turned out well.
**********
– B-Fab and Michin were shown talking to Nick Aldis in Aldis’s office, but Chelsea Green showed up with Piper Niven and Alba Fyre. The trio was dressed in black and Green said last week’s loss was because of collusion. Niven called Green an American hero, which was funny. Aldis tried to walk away, but Green bargained with Aldis for a rematch. Instead, Aldis said Zelina Vega will face Piper Niven tonight. Aldis said if Niven wins, she’ll be the No. 1 contender for Vega’s U.S. title. Green almost fainted.
– A video package chronicling the history between John Cena and Randy Orton aired.
Jax stood in the middle of the ring and soaked in boos. She said it sounded like everyone missed her and the crowd booed louder. Jax said she was happy she was back, but while she was gone, she was at home getting refocused and she regrouped so she could come back and take what’s her’s – the WWE Women’s Championship. Tiffany Stratton’s music hit and Stratton walked out with a microphone in hand. Stratton said she wasn’t the same Stratton that Jax used to bully around. Stratton said went toe to toe with one of the greatest of all time, Charlotte Flair. Stratton said if her and Jax ever locked up again, Stratton would be Jax, too.
Jax asked if Stratton was offering a rematch. Stratton said she wouldn’t ever shy away from a fight and she would defend her title against Jax anytime, anywhere. Naomi’s music hit and Naomi walked out with a microphone. Naomi spoke in the entranceway and said it was funny to see Stratton and Jaxx fighting because she remembered when she tried to take the title from Jax, Stratton always found a way to help out Jax. Naomi questioned whether Stratton actually changed and said she didn’t; in fact, Naomi said Naomi was the only one to really change. Naomi said Jade Cargill ruined everything she has worked for, but even so, she’s not done going after gold.
Jade Cargill’s music hit and Cargill walked with purpose towards Naomi, who rolled into the ring. All four women brawled in the ring. Cargill clotheslined Naomi over the top and to the outside and Stratton disposed of Jax to the outside as well. Cargill and Stratton circled each other and Aldis walked out to make a tag team match, which, it appears, will happen later in the show.
Man, Naomi is so great in this role. That needs to be said. Now, with that said, I can’t say I’m particularly excited for another Jax/Stratton program, but it kind of/sort of feels like WWE is going with this to reset Stratton back on a reliable path after the chaotic business with Charlotte. I’m still a little baffled that Naomi and Cargill is still a thing, but perhaps it will one day lead to a hell of a blow-off match. Wade Barrett mentioned how the tag match might be the main event now, and I hope it is. Give them 20 minutes and let’s see what happens. It could be very good.
**********
– Tessitore set up highlights of last week’s Miz/Black situation. Melo was hyping up Miz backstage and told Miz he’d show everyone tonight. Miz rambled about how he deserves more respect than he receives. Miz said Black didn’t knock him out last week; he woke Miz up. Miz said Black might want to make a statement, but instead, Black will be part of Miz’s statement. At one point, it looked like Miz forgot his line, but he recovered nicely.
Miz ran at Black to start the match and nearly ran into a Black Mass, but Miz retreated. The two went back and forth until Black caught Miz as Miz went for a kick. Black placed Miz’s foot back on the canvas and Miz hit Black. Before long, Black did the springboard moonsault into his sitting position spot. Miz was on the outside and Black reached for Miz, but was distracted by Melo. Miz capitalized and slammed Black’s head into the bottom-ring LED board. The show then went to a commercial break.
The show returned and The Miz was posing as people booed. Miz went for a springboard move, but Black moved. Eventually, Miz pushed Black to the outside. Miz leapt at Black from the ring steps and landed on a knee from Black. Back in the ring, Black went to work on Miz, complete with body strikes and a springboard moonsault for a very close near-fall. Miz came back and kicked Black’s knee before hitting a DDT for a two-count.
Miz hit some Miz Kicks and Black laughed. Black followed up with a spinning elbow and a knee to the jaw of Miz. Miz came right back and went for a Skull Crushing Finale, but Black cartwheeled out of it, much to the delight of the live crowd. Black followed up with a tough knee to Miz’s face. Melo threatened to get involved and Miz rolled up Black to no avail. From there, it was Black Mass and the end.
Match result: Aleister Black defeated The Miz (9:28)
After the match, Melo and Black went face to face in the middle of the ring. Melo slowly exited the ring and walked away as Black sat in the center of the ring.
This was probably more competitive than it should have been, even if about three minutes were lost to commercials. Still, Black got in a lot of really good-looking offense while … weirdly … Miz didn’t concern himself with selling for all that long each time he took some of it. It’s almost as if Black brought some of AEW back to WWE with him. I kid. This was obviously always more about setting Black up with Melo, and that should be a very good match. In the meantime, Miz did his best to hang and he didn’t fail. Don’t get me wrong. This is a no-hate-Miz zone, but his best days are behind him. As such, kudos to him for helping reintroduce Black to the WWE fan base.
**********
– Santos Escobar was talking with Rey Fenix in the locker room. Escobar said Fenix disappointed him at WrestleMania because he lost to a clown. Escobar said Fenix blew his chance and now that Rey Mysterio is out with an injury, Escobar wants to take his place. Fenix cut Escobar off and told him to stay out of his business. Fenix said there is only one lunchador that he trusts and it’s not Escobar. Fenix said if Escobar had a problem, he’d see him in the ring later tonight.
– Dion Dawkins from the Buffalo Bills was shown in the crowd. He appeared to be very happy.
Vega had control early and stretched Niven, who eventually went for a splash and missed. From there, Vega repeatedly kicked Niven. Vega hit a knee on Niven and got a one-count out of it. Vega ran at Niven, but Niven shoulder-blocked Vega to the canvas. Vegan rolled to the outside and then rolled back inside, where Niven lifted Vega to no avail. The two struggled before Niven planted Vega face-first. Niven rammed Vega’s head into the bottom turnbuckle. With Niven in control, the show went to a commercial break.
The show returned and Niven still had control, spinning Vega around in circles. Niven lifted Vegan, but Vega countered with somewhat of a Codebreaker. Niven came right back with a slam and a running Senton for a two-count. Niven ran at Vega, but Vega moved and went to the top, where Niven slapped Vega. Niven went for a super-plex, but Vega worked out of it and hit a Meteora on Niven for a two-count. Vega tried a Code Red, but Niven stopped it and landed a side-slam.
Niven ran at Vega and Vega moved. Niven lifted Vega, but it all resulted on a DDT from Vega. From there, Vega went to the top and hit a moonsault from the top rope for a nice near-fall. Vega went for a Code Red again, but Niven wouldn’t allow it. Niven tried a powerbomb, but that turned into Vega setting up a 618 situation. Chelsea Green hopped on the apron to stop Vega and Niven ran at Vega, but Vega moved and Niven ran into Green. From there, Vega rolled up Niven for the pin.
Match result: Zelina Vega defeated Piper Niven (11:07)
This was a better match than any of Vega’s outings with Green in previous weeks. Niven worked her powerhouse offense style and Vega broke out some things we haven’t seen from her recently. This exceeded expectations and both wrestlers came out of this looking better than they did going in. Good for Vega, too, because the live crowd seemed to be behind her for the first time in a while. Here’s hoping that momentum continues because it doesn’t look like she’s going to stop working with Green and her crew any time soon.
**********
– Aldis was speaking to Sikoa and Fatu in Aldis’s office. Sikoa said that Fatu was telling everyone they better stay out of his way. Aldis said at Backlash, Fatu will defend his U.S. title against Priest and Knight. Sikoa said McIntyre is technically the No. 1 contender after last week. Aldis said Sikoa was right and because of as much, McIntyre will be added to the match and it will be a fatal four-way. Fatu said he’s all gas and no breaks and he was fine with it (in so many words). Sikoa said Aldis was trying to screw Fatu over, but Aldis told Sikoa it was actually Sikoa who was screwing over Fatu.
Orton said he knew they were already two hours into the show (by God), but “Welcome to Friday Night SmackDown!” The crowd cheered. Orton simply said “John Cena” and the crowd booed. Orton said while the world couldn’t see Cena, Orton could. Orton said it took about 20 years for everyone to realize what kind of man Cena is, but Orton knew from day one. “Cena sucks!” chants began. Orton called Cena entitled and said Cena he is the ultimate shiny new toy to be played with by the ultimate puppet master. Orton said Cena took advantage of the PG Era. Orton said Cena was willing to be a real life, walking, talking cartoon character. Meanwhile, Orton said, Orton was true to who he was.
Orton said Cena didn’t care about the boys in the back or the fans; all Cena cared about is his bottom line. Orton said Cena only cares about the new merch Cena puts out all the time because all the kids always go and grab it up. The crowd booed in response to this. Orton brought up the kids thing again and said the only thing Cena has raised is the price of his merchandise, which parents have had to work “a double to afford.” Orton said Cena has been selling his soul for 20 years.
Orton asked what happened to loyalty and respect when it comes to Cena. Orton recalled how Cena said he’d erase the Orton name from the pro wrestling business. Orton fired up and said Cena will not do that, over his “dead freakin’ body.” Orton said Cena is the latest legend that he will have to put down and he will do so at Backlash in his hometown in front of his wife, friends and family. Orton said he will punt Cena so hard in “that lego-shaped head,” that it will fly through the Gateway Arch. Orton said he will also drop Cena with an RKO and dropped the microphone and Orton’s music hit to end the segment.
The crowd couldn’t seem to figure out what it wanted to do here. So much so that it almost made me wonder if Cena was actually there, perhaps they would have landed more on Cena’s side than they would have Orton’s. Either way, this was the best it could be, considering how they only had one side of the PLE main event in the live house. Orton’s comments on Cena’s merch sparked a few thoughts in me, though. He wasn’t wrong, really, per se. But if those writers and all those executives know that they have overpriced merchandise that really does require some parents to work overtime to afford for their kids … I’m not so sure that’s a great look. Maybe it caught me at a sensitive time and I’m overreacting, but there were a lot of things off of which Orton could have played. Reminding everyone that WWE preys off its fanbase by raising merchandise prices (and, not to mention, those insane PLE ticket prices) probably wasn’t the most tactful way to go. So it goes. We march on to next Saturday.
**********
– Naomi was in her locker room and Nia Jax walked in. Jax said they need to be on the same page, so as long as whatever Naomi stays out of Jax’s way, they’ll be good. Naomi simply said, “Sure,” and walked away.
– Orton was shown walking backstage and ran into R-Truth. Truth said Orton has no chance at Backlash. Jimmy Uso stepped in and told Orton not to be too mad about Truth’s prediction. Jimmy told Truth if he keeps talking like this, Orton will kick Truth’s head off. Jimmy told Truth he needed to stop believing in Cena as Truth walked away.
Fenix got the crowd behind him before the two began the match in earnest by locking up. Escobar took Fenix down briefly, but Fenix worked his way back. The two reset the match and Fenix chopped Escobar. Escobar returned the favor and they traded chest chops back and forth until Fenix went to the ground. Escobar yelled at Fenix that they could rule the place together and Fenix responded with a tough chop to Escobar’s chest. Fenix pushed Escobar to the canvas.
Fenix set up for his double springboard arm-drag, but Escobar cut him off. Escobar ran at Fenix, but Fenix moved and Escobar spilled to the outside. Fenix followed Escobar and Escobar eventually ran Fenix into the side of the ring. Escobar returned to the ring and hit a dive through the top two ropes onto Fenix on the outside. Escobar celebrated a bit and the show went to a commercial break.
The show returned and Escobar had the upper hand, complete with a splash onto Fenix from the apron into the ring. Escobar stretched Fenix. Escobar leapt at Fenix in a corner and Fenix moved. From there, Fenix hit a wild springboard top-rope moonsault for a two-count. Fenix followed up with a spinning kick for another two-count. Fenix took a knee from Escobar, but popped right back up and kicked Escobar. Both guys were down to reset the match at about the 10-and-a-half minute mark.
Fenix jumped at Escobar, but Escobar caught Fenix and the two fought in a corner until Fenix came off the top and landed on Escobar’s knee. Escobar followed up with a double-knees in the corner. Escobar lifted Fenix, but Fenix worked his way out it and ran the top rope to kick Escobar’s head. From there, Fenix hit the top rope Meteora on Escobar and got the pinfall victory.
Match result: Rey Fenix defeated Santos Escobar (12:25)
This was pretty good. WWE has done a good job introducing Rey Fenix and Penta into the fold and Penta and Fenix have done a good job melding themselves into the WWE landscape/style. Considering how I can’t even remember the last time we saw a Santos Escobar singles match on WWE TV, it seems like others are benefiting from the Lucha Bros’ arrival as well. It’d be nice to see Fenix elevated into some type of title picture, rather than feud with a faction leader who doesn’t even really seem to have a faction these days, but patience is key. Also of note: I’m kind of finding myself falling in love with these tiny stylistic touches Fenix’s matches continue to display, a la the no-sell quick pop-up super-kick here. You see it 5,000 times on any given AEW television show; when it happens on WWE TV, you almost want to smile because it comes across as a delightful surprise.
**********
– Stratton and Cargill were talking backstage and Saxton walked in. Stratton said Jax will have to learn that Jax will have to learn that her title belongs around Stratton. Cargill said she is focusing on Naomi, but next week on SmackDown, Cargill will take on Jax in a No. 1 Contender’s match for Tiffy’s title.
– A video package recapping last week’s fantastic TLC match aired.
– Escobar was shown backstage yelling at Berto and Angel. Andrade walked into the picture and said he knows Escobar doesn’t care about Los Garza. Andrade said he doesn’t like Escobar and siad Escobar doesn’t have respect from Los Garza. Angel was taken away via Escobar, but Berto stayed behind and shared a moment with Andrade before he was whisked away by Escobar.
– Next week, John Cena will be on the show. Knight and Priest will team up to face Fatu and Sikoa. Plus, don’t forget, Cargill and Jax will wrestle to determine the No. 1 Contender for Tiffy’s title.
The heels jumpstarted the match and all four women brawled, Tiffy splitting off with Jax and Cargill splitting off with Naomi. Tiffy ran Jax into the ring steps. Jax ran Tiffy into the crowd barrier. Inside the ring, Cargill threw Naomi to the outside. Cargill ran Naomi into a ring post and rolled Naomi back into the ring. Naomi kicked Cargill in the midsection. Naomi worked Cargill’s arm and used the vaunted back-rake. Naomi kicked Cargill in the back and jawed at Cargill. Jax tagged herself in and bulldozed Cargill before knocking Tiffy off the apron. Jax mocked Cargill’s pose in the middle of the ring and the show went to its final commercial break of the night.
The show returned and Jax knocked Stratton off the apron again. Cargill lifted Jax for a bodyslam, but collapsed. Jax got up and tagged in Naomi, who beat Cargill down. Naomi tried to tag in Jax, but Cargill stopped her and planted her. Jax eventually tagged in, but Cargill kicked Jax away and tagged Tiffy into the match. Tiffy put a knee to Jax’s forehead and landed her gymnastics corner spot. Stratton countered a Samoan Drop into a pin attempt for a two-count.
Stratton went to the top, but Jax cut her off and hit a Samoan Drop. Naomi tagged herself in after Jax hit a leg drop on Stratton. Naomi and Jax argued and Naomi set up for the split-legged moonsault, but Tiffy got her knees up. Tiffy tagged in Cargill, who worked over Naomi. Cargill grabbed Naomi by the throat and chokeslammed her, but Jax broke up the pin attempt. Jax dragged Naomi to the corner and tagged in. Jax worked over Cargill, but Tiffy broke things up with a Swanton on Jax.
Naomi reinserted herself and Tiffy and Naomi brawled in a corner. Jax squashed Tiffy and Naomi and pushed them both out of the ring. Jax then hit a splash on Cargill in a corner. Jax set up for her finisher, but Cargill hopped up and hit a powerbomb on Jax, ultimately getting the pinfall victory for her team.
Match result: Tiffany Stratton & Jade Cargill defeated Nia Jax & Naomi (11:30)
After the match, the ref tried to give Tiffy her title, but Cargill intercepted it and held it for a quick second. The two then pulled at the title and Naomi attacked Cargill from behind. Naomi then held up Tiffy’s title as the babyfaces sold pain. Naomi posing ended the show.
This was a fun tag that had a lot of fire and chaos in a good way. While I could use a freshening up of programs for all four women involved, they did a good job here of making me interested in what they had going on, which can only lead to good things going forward for this viewer, at least. Cargill getting the win off a powerbomb that now seems to be a pretty routine spot for most Jax matches was mildly surprising, but then again, it is Jade Cargill, so perhaps that powerbomb is supposed to pack more punch. It also has me thinking Jax wins the No. 1 Contender’s match next week, which is a little disappointing, but we’ll see. At the end of the day, this was good work from everyone involved and a solid way to end a show that was probably a lot better than anyone thought it might be. The bar might be low these days, but the bar, don’t forget, is the bar.
