Tag: wwe live results

WWE SmackDown live results: King & Queen of the Ring matches in Bologna

Posted on by Marc Quill

Days removed from Clash in Italy, WWE SmackDown emanates live from Bologna this afternoon.

Cody Rhodes retained his Undisputed WWE Championship over Gunther on Sunday, but not without some controversy attached to the result, as Rhodes’ winning pin was made while Gunther’s foot was on the bottom rope.

Rhodes is set to appear on SmackDown this evening, but Gunther will certainly have a lot to say regarding the finish.

The road to Night of Champions and the King and Queen of the Ring finals continues as we’ll see two fatal four-way bouts.

For the men, Bron Breakker, Dominik Mysterio, Trick Williams, and Damian Priest will battle for a spot in the King of the Ring semis.

On the women’s side, Kiana James, Jacy Jayne, Bayley, and Raquel Rodriguez will do battle.

We’ll find out what’s next for WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley following her successful title defense over Jade Cargill. Plus, Carmelo Hayes and Ricky Saints will continue their rivalry with another match.

Today’s show is airing live on Netflix overseas starting at 2 p.m. Eastern time and will air in its regular USA Network time slot later tonight.

**********

– Following the WWE signature, we got a recap of last Sunday’s Clash in Italy PLE, specifically from the SmackDown side of things. After that, we opened with Michael Cole (filling in for Joe Tessitore) and Wade Barrett as they were interrupted by an irate Gunther ripping apart the commentary tables.

Gunther wants justice

Gunther ranted about how he was the greatest wrestler in the world and that he intentionally put his foot on the bottom rope, which invalidates Cody Rhodes’ win on Sunday. As Gunther called out Rhodes, the theme of the Undisputed WWE Champion interrupted.

Rhodes said that Gunther was right, but he wondered why a twenty year veteran acted like he never had moments where he was “big mad”. Rhodes said that sometimes, you’re the hero or the cold-blooded sausage maker, and that he knew who was which between him and Gunther as he challenged “The Ring General” to have a rematch for the title tonight. Sami Zayn interrupted not long after.

Zayn started by saying he knew how Gunther felt with all the complaining he’s doing. He again called Rhodes a “golden boy” as Gunther told him to go away. Zayn noted that he might not know what being a world champion is like, but he knew a thing or two about beating Gunther. Rhodes told Zayn to calm down, but the mouthy Canadian wouldn’t take that for an answer.

Gunther shoved Rhodes into Zayn and locked him into the sleeper. Zayn hesitated but tried to help Rhodes. The two brawled outside as Rhodes went for a suicide dive. Gunther shoved Zayn in the path of Rhodes’ dive. Gunther backed off as Zayn refused to accept Rhodes’ apology.

This Zayn/Rhodes story is one of the better things in WWE right now, and I enjoy it intersecting with the Gunther title feud. Hope they can make it interesting.

*************

– Nick Aldis admonished Gunther for what he did before the break, but Gunther said he was being disrespected, threatening to drown Aldis in lawsuits until he got what he wanted.

Queen of the Ring Fatal Four-Way Qualifier: Raquel Rodriguez vs. Jacy Jayne vs. Kiana James vs. Bayley

This match kicked off as all four women faced off in the ring. Bayley and Raquel fought it out briefly as James and Jayne tried to go after the Judgment Day’s giantess. A clothesline from Bayley took Rodriguez out of the equation, while she hit a Bayley-to-Belly on Jayne for an early near-fall. James tried to roll-up Bayley, but couldn’t get the pin.

Jayne attempted a double stack pin on Bayley and James, but the two kicked out. The action was fast and fureious in the ring as Raquel re-entered the fray with a crossbody that took everyone out as we took a commercial break.

Back from commercial as Raquel was driven shoulder-first into the steel steps by a group effort from Bayley, James, and Jayne. On the apron, Jayne took off with a diving cannonball to take out Bayley and James. Jayne threw Bayley into the ring and hit her with a neckbreaker. The throw to the ropes as Jayne stomped away on Bayley in the corner. Kick right into Bayley’s spine was followed by a Jayne senton for another near-fall. James tried to get back in the ring, but Jayne knocked her down. James recovered and had Jayne in the cornere, but she missed with the running shoulder charge. Jayne then got Bayley and James with rolling cannonball sentons. Rodriguez joined in and hit the corkscrew splash from the corner for a close two.

Raquel placed Bayley on the top rope and punched at her. Jayne pulled Raquel down and then went after Bayley herself. Frankensteiner connects as Raquel then hit a powerbomb on Bayley, throwing her right into Jayne. Double chokeslam by Raquel, but Jayne broke it up as we took another break in the action.

Back from commercial as Jayne pummelled James in the ring, but it opened her up for a knee strike from Bayley. On the top rope, Bayley hit the diving elbow on Jayne, but James broke up the count. James blocked a Bayley-to-Belly, as she then hit the Dealbreaker and a standing moonsault for a two. Outside the ring, Jayne took Giulia out, as James got the pin and used the ropes for leverage. Jayne knocked the foot off the rope as Giulia struck her down. When James recovered, she saw Giulia and yelled at her for supposedly ruining the win, but Bayley got James with the Roseplant. Rolling Encore to Bayley, but Raquel stepped in and hit the Tejana Bomb on James for the win.

After the match, James was still angry at Giulia for costing her the win, continually yelling at her and stating that she was done with Giulia. This led to Giulia snapping and attacking James for all the insults thrown at her.

Raquel Rodriguez def. Bayley, Kiana James, and Jacy Jayne via pinfall

This was a decent start to the night’s action, but the Giulia attack on Kiana should hopefully mean the beginning of righting the course, so to speak for Giulia, who many feel hasn’t gotten her fair shake on the main roster.

*************

– Sami Zayn stormed around backstage and found Johnny Gargano as he whined about Cody Rhodes some more to him. Nick Aldis appeared and warned him to stay out of Rhodes and Gunther’s business. Zayn kept whining, but Aldis said he had a very important meeting to attend to. Zayn wondered who was important enough for the meeting as Chad Gable, the former “Original” El Grande Americano appeared. Gable walked into Aldis’ office.

Royce Keys vs. Talla Tonga (w/ Solo Sikoa & Tama Tonga)

Keys stood nose-to-nose in front of Talla and got pie-faced for it. Keys responded with some strikes that barely staggered Talla. The M.F.T.s’ monster responded with a huge shoulder block. Keys attempted a powerslam, but couldn’t get Talla up as he got battered in the back. The two big men traded strikes, but Talla blasted Keys with a throat thrust that brought the powerhouse to his knees. Slam attempt was countered by Keys, as a pair of clotheslines sent Talla over the top rope, which took us to the break.

Back to SmackDown as Keys’ attempt at a slam was blocked by Talla, who dropped onto the chest of Keys. The running big boot from Talla into the corner failed to find its target, which gave Keys the opening to try and create something. Clubbing strikes from Keys rocked Talla, but not enough to ground him. Running clotheslines to no avail, as well as the slam attempt. Talla missed with a running splash into the corner, which opened him up for Keys knocking the giant off his feet with a running pounce. Finally, Keys was able to hit the powerslam on Tallla as the straps went down.

Solo Sikoa got on the apron to distract as Tama Tonga tried to instigate further. He ate a punch for his troubles at ringside. As Keys got back into the ring, he got hit with the big boot from Talla and the Talla T-Bomb for the win.

Post-match, Sikoa had Talla and Tama attack Keys until R-Truth ran in to try and make the save. The Numbers’ Game™ seemed too much as Damian Priest ran down, but not to save Keys. This left the powerhouse open for a Cutthroat from Tama, who struck with the dulled edge of an osprey.

Talla Tonga def. Royce Keys via pinfall

The Bloodline over on Raw and the M.F.T.s on SmackDown are just not grabbing my attention, and this match being more of the same when it comes to M.F.T. stuff is boring. The tease at Clash in Italy of these two factions potentially feuding is something I’m dreading and given WWE’s predilection for reheated leftovers, especially when it comes to anything Bloodline-adjacent, it’s an inevitability.

*************

– We got a vignette teasing the arrival of SmackDown’s newest arrival, Finn Balor. We’ll see him next week in a King of the Ring Fatal Four-Way where he’ll take on Jey Uso, Royce Keys, and L.A. Knight.

– Elsewhere, Damian Priest was upset about helping about someone that he doesn’t even know. Royce Keys is not someone that Priest knows, and that his priority was keeping R-Truth okay. As Priest left, the AAA Tag Team Champions, the War Raiders, appeared and said that when Priest and Truth were ready to face them, they’d be game. Truth told the Raiders that he never met either of them ever.

Rhea Ripley addresses Clash in Italy

The WWE Women’s Champion entered to a huge ovation from the Bologna crowd, fresh off of her defeat of Jade Cargill at Clash in Italy.

Ripley started by saying hello to the Bologna crowd before she talked about how she finally put the Jade Cargill chapter behind her this past Sunday. Ripley noted that she didn’t come out completely unscathed, as her knee was a little bit banged up after Clash in Italy. The Bologna crowd continued to sing their love for Ripley.

Ripley noted how Cargill came into Sunday with a gameplan to take her out, use the numbers of The Baddies against her, but at the end of the day, Cargill failed because Ripley was still the WWE Women’s Champion. As for that numbers advantage Cargill tried to play, Ripley said that she got some unexpected help in that situation as Charlotte Flair made her way down to the ring.

Flair said that she knew that Ripley didn’t ask for her help, but she had Ripley’s back because she respected her. Flair admitted after the past few weeks, she had fun teaming up with Ripley, but with the Queen of the Ring coming up in a few weeks, she knew that she was a competitor. So, for as much fun as Ripley had in teaming up with Ripley, at SummerSlam, it would be her standing in front of Ripley. That’s because Ripley still had what she wanted.

Tiffany Stratton, the WWE Women’s United States Champion interrupted things. Flair wondered if Stratton was her to apologize to her, but Stratton said she was here to call her shot for the WWE Women’s Championship. Enter Jade Cargill and fellow Baddies B-Fab and Michin.

Cargill said that since she was in the Queen of the Ring alongside Flair, she was ready to make her pay for her little sidequest on Sunday. Cargill then turned her attention to Stratton, telling her to stay out of the grown folks’ business. Cargill then said she was coming after what was her’s right now.

SmackDown’s esteemed GM, Nick Aldis cut in before Charlotte Flair said that maybe we should see her and Tiffany Stratton face off against Cargill and one of her Baddies right now. Aldis said that he never let a good idea pass her by as this match officially was made. Holla holla.

Standard setup for the Queen of the Ring fatal four-way matches involving Cargill, Flair, and Stratton happening next week. Nothing much else to say here.

*************

Charlotte Flair & Tiffany Stratton vs. Jade Cargill & Michin

Flair and Michin started off here as she got her with the rolling head-scissors before she stared down Cargill. This allowed Michin to recover and hit her with a release German suplex. Stratton tagged in and hit Michin with the running hip attack against the ropes, followed by the basement dropkick. Cargill tagged in and got Stratton with the fallaway slam, followed by the spinebuster for a near-fall.

Flair tagged in and connected with a crossbody on legal woman Michin, followed by the stepover clothesline. In the corner, Flair chopped at Michin twice before she nailed her with a big boot. Flair got Cargill and B-Fab with big boots as she hit them with a diving crossbody. This opened her up to a Michin suicide dive as we took a timeout.

Back fromt he break as Flair hit a huge back suplex on Michin to create some needed separation. Michin tried to stop Flair from making the tag to Stratton. Cargill got Flair with a cheapshot, which allowed Michin to hit the Styles Clash. One, two… Stratton broke up the count. Michin attempted a figure-four, but Flair reversed it as she sent Michin crashing into the ringpost. This allowed a hot tag from Stratton, who unleashed a back elbow on Michin and a shotgun dropkick to Cargill. Alabama Slam by Stratton to Michin as she headed up top and connected with the Swanton Bomb. One, two… Michin kicked out at two.

Pele kick from Michin allowed for the tag to Cargill, who got hit with a springboard Stunner by Stratton for the two-count. Flair and Michin took each other out, which led to Stratton and Cargill mixing it up in the ring. Cargill caught Stratton and lifted her up for the Powerbomb and the near-fall. Outside the ring, B-Fab blasted Flair with a pump-kick as Stratton got lifted up for Jaded. To no avail. On the second time around, Cargill hit Stratton with Jaded and the win.

Jade Cargill & Michin def. Charlotte Flair & Tiffany Stratton via pinfall

An alright tag match. The Cargill & Baddies faction is still doing nothing for me whatsoever, no matter how hard WWE tries with them.

*************

– Backstage, Fatal Influence attacked Paige & Brie Bella, as they interrupted a photoshoot by the WWE Women’s Tag Champions.

– A video of Cody Rhodes hanging out with contest winners at Universal Orlando’s Epic Universe was shown.

– R-Truth chatted with Royce Keys, wanting to get him to play ball with Damian Priest, or as Truth called him “D.P.”. Keys said he wasn’t willing to team up with Priest.

Ricky Saints vs. Carmelo Hayes

Saints ambushed Hayes before the bell could even ring as he attacked him in the corner before lighting his chest up with a chop. Hayes fought back and threw Saints out of the ring as he took off with the tope con hilo. In the ring, frog splash by Hayes on Saints got a near-fall. Saints wrenched Hayes’ arms and chopped him, but he got hit the springboard clothesline. A clothesline from Hayes to Saints took us to the commercial break.

We returned from the break as Saints hit Hayes with a clothesline before he kept the pressure on his foe. The running uppercut into the corner, followed by the bulldog for a near-fall from Saints. Hayes countered a Northern Lights Suplex attempt from Saints into a DDT that kept both men down. Both Saints and Hayes got to their feet and began to exchange strikes. Big Boot by Saints was met by Dirty Diana from Hayes. One, two…. 2.999999999!!!!!!! First 48 countered into a jackknife pin combination, but no three.

A bounce off the turnbuckle and the Revolution DDT by Saints on Hayes, but that wasn’t enough for the three. Powerbomb by Saints reversed into the First 48 by Hayes, but the Absolute One kicked out at two. Hayes headed up top and looked for Nothin’ But Net, as Saints used the ropes to knock his foe off balance. Out of the ring, Hayes leapt at Saints, but got hit in the gut, with the referee counting down. Hayes beat out the count as Saints argued with the referee. Hayes rolled up Saints but got only a near-fall. Hayes’ rollup was turned into a rollup by Saints, and a handful of tights got the win for Saints.

Ricky Saints def. Carmelo Hayes

I enjoy these two facing off one another and this match was another solid entry in their current duology of matches.

*************

– Trick Williams’ interview was interrupted by Bron Breakker, who stared him down. These two will be in the King of the Ring fatal four-way later on tonight.

– Chelsea Green tried to once again ask for Tiffany Stratton’s help, but got told by the Women’s U.S. Champion that she could handle it herself.

– Blake Monroe focused on Tiffany Stratton in this latest vignette heralding that she was coming soon to SmackDown (despite, again, having appeared in a brief backstage cameo two weeks ago). Monroe said that Tiffy Time was going to run into “Monroe Minutes” real soon.

Chelsea Green vs. Lash Legend (w/ Nia Jax)

Green slapped Legend in the face, as she ran out of the ring and was chased at ringside. Green slid in the ring and hit Legend with a Codebreaker. However, Legend got her with the rolling uppercut. Legend took time to play with her food as she hit the running splash on Green. Bearhug by Legend had Green ragdolled out of the ring as Nia Jax attacked with the ref focused on Legend in the ring.

In the ring, Sunset Flip by Green led to an Aloha Arn struggle, but Legend kept her balance before she absolutely tattooed Green with the big boot. Running splash by Legend was missed as Green began to try and mount a comeback., Clotheslines by Green weren’t enough to keep Legend out cold, but the top-rope-a-dope was enough to send her out of the ring. Green to the top rope and a diving crossbody onto both Jax and Legend. In the ring, Green went for another high-risk move as the missile dropkick found its target in Legend. One, two… not quite.

Un-Pretty-Her by Green, but Legend used her strength to block it and turn it into the Lash Extension for the three.

Lash Legend def. Chelsea Green via pinfall

This was decent, and the Lash Legend counter of the Un-Pretty-Her into the Lash Extension was well-executed.

*************

– We got a recap of Jacob Fatu acknowledging his Tribal Chief, Roman Reigns, on Raw this past Monday.

– Royce Keys was confronted by Solo Sikoa backstage. Sikoa said that Roman Reigns made Keys’ boy Jacob Fatu kneel like a dog, which meant Keys had nobody around. Sikoa asked if anybody checked up on him even as Keys was busting his ass. Roman Reigns didn’t. Jacob Fatu didn’t. But Solo Sikoa did. Sikoa said that they needed to get ready for war as Keyes needed to stop making it difficult, or else Sikoa would make it difficult himself.

– We got a recap of Chad Gable’s unmasking following Mask vs. Mask last Saturday in AAA. After that, AAA World Cruiserweight Champion Rey Fenix was chatting with the Fraxiom duo of Nathan Frazer & Axiom before Chad Gable showed up. Gable said that he and Fenix had an awesome match at WrestleMania, but it was under false pretenses. Gable noted that he wore the El Grande Americano mask originally as a mockery of lucha libre. Gable flew all the way from Italy and asked for Fenix’s forgiveness. Fenix said that he accepted Gable’s apology, but told him that he wasn’t the only one that he needed to ask an apology from.

– Elsewhere, Cody Rhodes was informed by Nick Aldis that he had to wait until next week for Gunther to announce the terms for the rematch for the Undisputed WWE World Title. We learned that this match would happen in two weeks in Kansas City, MO.

King of the Ring Fatal Four-Way Qualifier: Damian Priest vs. Bron Breakker vs. Trick Williams vs. Dominik Mysterio

Breakker didn’t waste time as he hit Williams with a German suplex to start. Priest then began to fight with Breakker as he got hit with a German suplex. Another German suplex to Williams by Breakker as he then flattened Priest with the super-speedy shoulder block. Outside the ring, Breakker stalked Dominik and got him with the massive shoulder tackle as we took a commercial break.

Back to our main event as Priest and Breakker stared down before they briefly worked together to hit an interfering Breakker with a superkick. With Breakker taken care of, Priest hit Dominik with a slam before he unleashed his flurry of kicks on Williams and Breakker, who both got deposited to the outside. Superkick to Dominik by Priest turned the AAA Mega Campeon inside out. Priest’s forearm was countered by Dominik, but that couldn’t keep him down for long. Breakker connected with the Frankensteiner for a pinfall, but Dominik broke it up.

Dominik tried for the Three Amigos, but Breakker reversed it into a military press World’s Strongest Slam. Williams broke up the subsequent pinfall attempt by Breakker. Williams and Breakker exchanged strikes as the U.S. Champion then hit him with the sidekick. There was one for Dominik, as he was then flattened by the clothesline. Neckbreaker to Priest by Williams, who then connected with the Book-End for a near-fall. Priest headed up top but he was met by Dominik. Williams hoisted Dominik on his shoulders as Priest got his shots in the prone Dominik. Breakker tried for another Frankensteiner, but that was blocked. Breakker and Williams briefly teamed up as they hit the double superplex and we headed to one last commercial break.

Our main event returned from the break with all four men fighting in the ring. Dominik moved out of the way of Breakker’s spear, which sent him crashing into the ringpost. Meanwhile, Dominik got taken for the Razor’s Edge ride by Priest. The cover, but Liv Morgan distracted the referee. Breakker grabbed Priest by the neck as he lifted him up and hit the uppercut on the crash to Earth. Breakker then took down Williams with a toss across the ring. Superkick by Dominik followed by the dropkick, which put him in the 619 position. Spear by Breakker on Priest, he got sent out of the ring with a Trick Shot knee from Williams. The cover on Priest, but Dominik pulled the ref out of the ring.

Breakker recovered and put Williams through the commentary table with his signature leaping apron clothesline. In the ring, Priest was dropkicked by Dominik, but he was met with a big boot. J.D. McDonagh tried to interfere, but he got dropped with South of Heaven by Priest. Dominik got choked by Priest, but Liv Morgan hit him with the low blow. 619 by Dominik, then the Frog Splash, and that’s it, over. Dominik Mysterio is on his way to the King of the Ring Semifinals…. and a date with Oba Femi.

Dominik Mysterio def. Damian Priest, Bron Breakker, and Trick Wiliams via pinfall.

*************

A good main event for an otherwise by-the-numbers edition of SmackDown. The dynamic between Dominik, Trick, Breakker, and Priest was great and it made for a fun four-man match to cap off the show.

Elsewhere, the show didn’t really seem all that exciting, and a lot of it stems from how the booking feels like it’s on autopilot right now, especially in the runup to Night of Champions. The reheated leftovers of things like the Bloodline don’t help, either.

Speaking of reheated leftovers, as good as the Sami Zayn stuff is, the same really can’t be said for Cody Rhodes vs. Gunther. The wrinkle of a title match on TV in a couple of weeks being preceded by a set of stipulations to be named by the challenger who complained of a questionable finish? That’s pretty much what the booking was for the Rhodes vs. Drew McIntyre title feud from a few months back. In which case, don’t be surprised if Gunther does win in Kansas City, but through dubious means to set up the rubber match this Summer.

All in all, not really a SmackDown to write home about. Some good stuff (the main event, Saints vs. Hayes), but everything else just feels kind of there.


WWE NXT live results: Tony D’Angelo vs. Kam Hendrix title match

Posted on by Joseph Collins

Kam Hendrix, one of the newest additions to the NXT roster, is looking to achieve the biggest win of his young career.

The NXT Championship will be on the line when Hendrix challenges Tony D’Angelo tonight. He already owns a victory over D’Angelo in tag team action, though D’Angelo did not take the fall in that match. Instead, Hendrix pinned Myles Borne after pushing his own tag partner Mason Rook out of the way, which led to issues between the two NXT newcomers.

Borne, the NXT North American Champion, has another tag match tonight, teaming with Tavion Heights against DarkState.

We’ll hear from NXT Women’s Champion Lola Vice, who promises that she’ll have a lot to say after defeating Izzi Dame last week. Also in the women’s division, Zaria clashes with Lizzy Rain.

Plus, the men’s Speed Championship is set to be defended with Lexis King vs. Romeo Moreno.

Join us for live coverage starting at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

**********

Live! From Orlando, Florida. 

Vic Joseph and Booker T were on commentary. 

The competitors in tonight’s main event were shown walking into the building to hype the Tony D’Angelo NXT title defense against Kam Hendrix. 

Zaria v. Lizzy Rain 

Zaria blocked a tornado DDT and knocked Rain to the mat with a pump kick. Zaria whipped Rain around the ring, targeting her injured back. The Women’s North American Champion Tatum Paxley came out to join the commentators in an attempt to distract Zaria. She was unfazed though, knocking Rain to the floor with a solid forearm shot. 

Back from a commercial, Rain took Zaria to the mat with a super hurricanrana. But Zaria sprang right back up and cut Rain in half with a spear. Both women exchanged forearms, and Rain ducked a charge and hit Zaria with a clothesline. Rain hit a tornado DDT off the ropes for a near fall. 

Zaria came back with a pop-up headbutt. Rain got a near fall with a victory roll. Zaria caught Rain with a knee out of the corner and a rolling lariat for another near fall. Rain fired up and caught Zaria with a cutter and then a modified DVD for a near fall. Zaria came back with a German suplex and a spear. Zaria finished off Rain with an F5. 

Match Result: Zaria pinned Rain (10:32). 

After the match, Zaria tried to beat up Rain some more, but Paxley stopped her by offering up a title match for next week. 

— Saquon Shugars attacked Dark State as they were on their way to the ring. After the break, Vic Joseph announced that the Dark State match would occur later tonight. He also hyped up Booker T as “Mr. Great American Bash” and… really? 

OTM (Bronco Nima & Lucien Price) v. The Culling (Shawn Spears & Nico Banks) (w/ Izzy Dame)

Nima and Price attacked Spears and Banks before the bell. Price and Banks had an awkward exchange that I think was supposed to end in Banks flipping over Price, but he didn’t clear him and basically planted his groin in Price’s face. They figured it out and then redid the spot. They went to the floor and Banks threw Price into the ring barricade. 

After a break, Nima suplexed Spears. Price got the tag, then dropped to the floor to suplex Banks on the apron. Price took both Spears and Price down at once. Price press-slammed Banks onto Spears. Price floored Banks with a knee for a year fall. Banks put down Price with a sharp elbow. Price shoved Spears into Banks. Nima and Price hit their finisher on Spears (kind of like a double-team Angle Slam) and got the pinfall. 

Match Result: OTM beat The Culling when Nima pinned Spears (9:27). 

This was moves with no real flow. 

— EK Prosper, Tate Wilder and Kam Hendrix chat in the locker room about their upcoming matches tonight. Well not EK Prosper, who doesn’t have a match. But he’ll get to tell his grandkids he was in the building when Kam Hendrix won the NXT Championship!  

Jackson Drake (w/ The Vanity Project) v. Tate Wilder 

Wilder took down Drake with a sling blade, and he dropped to the floor to regroup. So Wilder took all of them out at once with a cannonball off the stairs. 

CW paid a lot of bills with a long commercial break during this match. When they finally got back to it, Wilder hit Drake with a flying forearm. They fought on the ring apron. Wilder caught Drake with a gamengiri, but Drake came back with a spear to the floor. Back in the ring, Wilder avoided a 450, then hit Drake with a TKO (the move, he didn’t ask him to take a 50% pay cut) for a near fall. 

Wilder went to the top, but Drake hit the ropes and crotched Wilder. Drake went to the top, but Wilder powerbombed him out of the corner. Wilder hit a twisting splash off the top for a near fall. The members of the Vanity Project jumped on the apron, but Wilder knocked them down. He tried to take out Myka Lockwood with a rana, but she blocked it, powerbombed Wilder into the ringpost and then onto the ring apron. Back in the ring, Drake finished off Wilder with a 450 splash. 

Match Result: Drake pinned WIlder (8:35). 

— Robert Stone was interviewed by Emily Agard about the upcoming Great American Bash. Someone comes in to start yelling at him, but Jasper Troy interrupted. They got in each other’s faces, and another member of Dark State attacked Troy and soon it was complete chaos in the back.

Lola Vice Sets Up Her Next Challenger

Lola Vice came out to the ring for a promo and talked up her recent victories in NXT and AAA. She wanted to know who her next challenger was going to be. This brought out Kelani Jordan. Jordan said that she’s proved herself by going to TNA and winning the Knockouts title, but she didn’t get the same praise that Lola Vice did for going out and winning the AAA Mixed Tag Team titles. Vice wasn’t impressed with Jordan’s TNA title right, because “if you blinked, you missed it.” 

Kendal Grey came out (with Wren Sinclair, hobbling behind her) to throw her name in the ring, too. She, after all, won the Iron Survivor and pinned both Jordan and Vice. Lola Vice got sick of all the complaining, and made the match between Grey and Jordan for next week, with the winner getting the title shot at the Great American Bash. On her way out, Jordan pulled at one of Vice’s title belts, causing her to spin into Grey and hit her with an elbow. 

— In the back, Zaria F5’d Tatum Paxley into a storage cage. 

— Mason Rook and Tony D’Angelo talked trash about each other until Robert Stone intervened and made a match for Rook and Naraku for next week. If Rook wins, he “cuts the line” and gets into title contention. (This was later made a #1 Contenders Match at the end of the show.)

Romeo Moreno (w/ Noam Dar) v. Lexis King (w/ Birthright) for the NXT Speed Championship  

Since this is a Speed Championship match, the time limit is five minutes. Moreno caught King with a sunset flip, then a dropkick. Moreno hit a German suplex and a dropkick off the middle ropes for a near fall. Moreno caught King with a cradle for a near fall. King came back and caught Moreno with a diving dropkick in the corner for a near fall. King repeatedly kept trying to cover Moreno, forcing him to kick out multiple times. 

King and Moreno exchanged a series of strikes. King went for a half-crab, but he didn’t lock it in. Moreno rolled King into a vertical suplex, then caught him with a superkick. Moreno tried for a crossface, but turned it into the Rings of Saturn. King escaped and dropped to the floor. Moreno took out the other members of Birthright with a dive off the top. 

Moreno tried for a dropkick off the top, but King stepped back and, if I can be serious for a minute, locked in a half-crab. Moreno escaped and caught King with a cradle. Moreno missed a move off the top, and King finished off Moreno with The Coronation, and modified swinging neckbreaker. 

Match Result: Kingpinned Moreno to retain the Speed Championship (4:34).

— Natalya and Jadia Parker exchanged words in the back. Natalya sees right through Parker’s act. Natalya knows that she’s soft. 

Dark State (Dion Lennox & Osiris Griffin) v. Tavion Heights & Miles Borne 

Cutler James was taken out of this match in the attack earlier by Saquon Shugars. 

There were a few instances of miscommunication between Borne and Heights in the early going. But they still combined to take Lennox out with a double dropkick. Borne clotheslined Griffin to the floor. Soon all four men were on the floor. Heights tossed Lennox over his head with a belly-to-belly. 

Dark State got the heat on Borne during the commercial. Lennox and Griffin worked over Borne in their corner. Borne backdropped Lennox out of his way to make the tag to Heights. Heights hit an amazing belly to belly on Lennox, then tossed Osiris around. Lennox tripped up Heights so Griffin could give him a headbutt. Dark State finished Heights off with the Doomsday Device. 

Match Result: Dark State won via pinfall (11:02). 

This didn’t feel like eleven minutes, probably because most of it was during the break. 

Next week’s show:

  • Kendal Grey v. Kelani Jordan to crown the #1 Contender for the NXT Women’s Championship
  • Mason Rook v. Naraku (later announced to be a #1 Contenders match for the NXT Championship)
  • Tatum Paxley v. Zaria for the NXT North American Women’s Title 
  • Shiloh Hill v. Tristan Angels in the Mr. NXT Pageant 

Tony D’Angelo v. Kam Hendrix for the NXT Championship

I’m not liking Hendrix’s chances here, since they’ve already set up another opponent for D’Angelo in Mason Rook. 

Hendrix hit the Showtime Kick out of nowhere for a near fall. Hangman’s neckbreaker got another near fall. After a DDT, Hendrix got a third near fall. Naraku was shown watching in the crowd. Hendrix started firing away with forearms on D’angleo. D’Angelo caught Hendrix and dumped him like a sack of potatoes. Hendix dropped to the floor to regroup. 

When Hendrix got back in the ring, D’Angelo was all over him with clobbering forearms and clotheslines. D’Angelo tossed Hendrix with a FU. D’Angelo tossed Hendrix over his head with a belly to belly, then clotheslined Hendrix to the floor. Hendrix went to grab the title belt, but Naraku stood up and shook his head at Hendrix, who left the belt alone and headed back into the ring. 

After a commercial break, Hendrix got a near fall after a suplex while Naraku looked on. D’Angelo came back with a series of release German suplexes. D’Angelo hit a spinebuster. D’Angelo hit a modified fisherman’s suplex for a near fall. D’Angelo ran into a knee and Hendrix went for a cradle with his feet on the ropes, but the ref caught him. 

D’Angelo tossed Hendrix down with a suplex. Hendrix hit a Showtime Kick, then followed up with a sit-out powerbomb for a near fall. Hendrix and D’Angelo started exchanging strikes, but Hendrix leapt into a powerbomb from D’Angelo for a near fall. 

Hendrix snapped D’Angelo’s neck against the top rope, then crawled to the floor to get a steel chair. Mason Rook cut him off. D’Angleo backdropped Hendrix onto the announcer’s table. Back in the ring, D’Angelo hit a variation on the Sky High to get the pinfall. 

Match Result: D’Angelo pinned Hendrix to retain (10:48). 

Naraku handed D’Angelo his title belt and offered him a bow after his match. It was made official that Rook and Naraku’s match next week will crown the #1 Contenders for the NXT title. 

WWE Raw live results: Tribal Combat contract signing

Posted on by Steve Khan

Date: May 25, 2026
Location: Schottenstein Center in Columbus, OH 

The Big Takeaway —

Raw featured another contract signing, a fun Intercontinental title match, and a nonsensical show-long storyline involving Austin Theory, Seth Rollins, and The Street Profits. 

On a personal note: this report will be my final time covering a WWE show. See more below. 

**********

Show Recap —

Paul Heyman paced around the ring, awaiting his cue to start the show as the announcers plugged Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar at Clash in Italy. 

Heyman said he was there to hype a match that didn’t need to be hyped. (His speech was interrupted by chants of “Oba.”) He called this rematch the biggest in professional wrestling history, and he cut to the video screen for a pre-taped Lesnar promo. 

Lesnar congratulated Femi on his WrestleMania victory, but said that win was going to cost him. Lesnar has had his ass beat before, but nothing quite like that. It was so bad that Lesnar was done (and left his gloves in the ring). However, it wouldn’t end like that for him. Lesnar asked, “Brock Lesnar can take an ass-whooping, but can you?” He said Femi would get his ass kicked by a humbled, retired beast, and he would rule over Femi. 

Heyman said the good news was that everyone would get to see history, but the bad news was that Femi had awakened the beast. 

Femi entered and cornered Heyman. Femi said he might have awoken Lesnar, but “what do you think four F5s has awoken in Oba Femi?” Heyman was panicking, so Femi assured him he was safe. Femi wanted Heyman alive to see him retire Lesnar a second time. Heyman liked to say it was only business, but four F5s seemed pretty personal to him. 

Femi pulled out the contract and signed it on Heyman’s chest. He told Heyman to deliver a message: “Last time, I was fighting to beat him. This time, I’m fighting to kill him.” (The crowd liked Femi, but that line only got a modest reaction from them.) 

********

Roman Reigns was shown arriving earlier. It’s his birthday, so a stagehand tried handing him a mystery gift, but he chucked it aside. Jacob Fatu, Rey Mysterio (announced as the new GM of AAA), and Judgment Day also arrived. 

Intercontinental Championship match: Penta (c) vs. Je’Von Evans

Evans immediately went for a cutter, but Penta blocked it. Evans hit a hurricanrana instead, then landed on his feet after Penta tried a hurricanrana of his own. After a quick exchange of counters and a face-off, Evans joined Penta in doing his little dance. 

However, Evans nailed an unsuspecting Penta with a dropkick before hitting a leaping dive. Evans tried a springboard move back in the ring, but Penta superkicked him out of the air. Moments later, with Penta back outside the ring, Evans went for a suicide dive, but Penta used his momentum to toss him into the edge of the announce table. 

Evans fought back during a break by driving Penta over the barricade before hitting a springboard clothesline back into the ring. As Michael Cole noted, Evans was no longer smiling. He traded chops with Penta, but instead of going for another chop, Evans hit a sudden knee strike and a cutter for a nearfall. Penta responded with a backstabber for two. 

With Penta hunched over on the apron, Evans leaped over the ropes and hit a cutter onto the edge of the ring for a two count. Penta blocked another springboard move and hit a Penta driver for a nearfall. 

Penta went to the top, but Evans leaped to the top rope and hit an avalanche hurricanrana. Evans went for an OG Cutter, but Penta nailed him with a mid-air superkick. Penta went for a destroyer, but Evans countered with a knee strike. 

Evans went for the OG Cutter again, but Penta caught him with a mid-air backstabber, followed by a Canadian Destroyer for the pinfall win. 

— Penta raised Evans’ hand post-match, but a frustrated Evans pulled his hand away and left the ring. Penta celebrated with his belt. 

Match result: Penta defeated Je’Von Evans to retain the Intercontinental Championship (11:31)

An excellent TV match. Evans is ready to be a singles champion. 

******** 

Austin Theory gets a new tag team partner 

Austin Theory approached Heyman backstage. Theory was ready to hand over his tag title belt to Heyman, who wasn’t sure why. Theory said Logan Paul was hurt, so he wasn’t sure what to do with it. Heyman said Logan knew that this business wasn’t ballet. 

Heyman also put it in every contract that “The Vision” would be the ones defending the tag titles, without specifying who. Heyman said Theory could defend the titles with Bron Breakker. Heyman explained further until Theory gave him a big hug and thanked him. 

Heyman told Theory, “I did this for you because I believe in you. Because I wanted this for you.” (Probably some reality to that line.) Theory wanted to take out anyone involved in taking out Logan. Heyman was on board. 

(It’s pro wrestling logic, but it’s silly that Heyman can simply put “The Vision” in the contract, and Adam Pearce wouldn’t make him specify which members make up the team.) 

********

Joe Hendry was in the ring, I guess for a concert. He sang his Fire Logan Paul song again until Theory attacked him from behind with a steel chair. Theory hit Hendry repeatedly in the back with the chair. Theory was about to leave, but turned around to hit Hendry’s “head” against the steel post (it was done safely). Officials checked on Hendry. 

Backstage, Seth Rollins approached Angelo Dawkins. Rollins said he knew what it felt like to get screwed over by the Vision (as the Street Profits did at SNME). But they had an opportunity with Logan gone. The Vision was the weakest they’ve ever been, but they were also the most dangerous. (What?) Rollins said she’s never seen that side of Theory, and they should put the Vision out for good. 

Montez Ford approached and was not having this. Ford wasn’t interested in Rollins’ redemption story. Rollins said if he were around for their match, the Street Profits would be tag champs right now. They didn’t have to be friends when this was over; they just needed to work together to get rid of the Vision.  

Rollins knew why Ford didn’t trust him, but he was also the only one between them who was a multi-time world champion and a WrestleMania main-eventer. Ford said he never stabbed his brother in the back. Ford wanted a match against Rollins tonight, and Rollins accepted. Dawkins was annoyed. 

********

There was a video package for the El Grande Americano vs. Original El Grande Americano, Mask vs. Mask match in AAA on Saturday. 

Penta approached Evans backstage. Evans apologized for being unprofessional earlier. He called Penta a great champion, but let him know he’d be seeing him again soon. They bumped fists. 

Rey Mysterio approached Penta and congratulated him on his success. Penta congratulated him on his position in AAA, too. Penta wanted to be a fighting champion, and there was no one he would rather face than Mysterio. Rey liked the sounds of that. Penta left to go talk to Pearce. 

******** 

Raquel Rodriguez & Roxanne Perez (w/ Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan & AAA Mega Champion Dominik Mysterio) vs. Lyra Valkyria & Bayley

Bayley made a hot tag following a break, hitting Perez with a back suplex and sunset flip powerbomb into the corner. Valkyria tagged in and teamed with Bayley to hit Perez with a combo neckbreaker. 

They awkwardly made their way to the side of the ring so they could be in position for Morgan to put Perez’s leg on the bottom rope. However, the ref saw this and tossed her from ringside. Morgan protested, so Bayley attacked her. Rodriguez clotheslined Bayley, and Valkyria wiped out Rodriguez. Perez tried to use the distraction by applying a schoolboy, but Valkyria kicked out. Morgan finally left ringside. 

Bayley tagged in and went to the top rope, but Dom distracted the ref, so Rodriguez shoved Bayley off the top. Perez hit Bayley with Pop Rox, and Valkyria was supposed to break up the cover, but she was late, so Bayley kicked out of Perez’s finisher. 

Rodriguez tried powerbombing Valkyria out of the ring, but Valkyria used a leg scissors to wipe them both over the top rope. 

Dom leaped on the apron to distract the ref so Perez could use his AAA title as a weapon, but she got in a tug-of-war with Bayley. Bayley knocked Perez backward, and Perez knocked Dom off the apron by accidentally hitting him with the belt. Bayley rolled up Perez for the pinfall win. 

Match result: Bayley & Lyra Valkyria defeated Roxanne Perez & Raquel Rodriguez (10:50)

A mess of a match. Awkward-looking spots with tons of interference and distractions. Rodriguez and Valkyria, in particular, were off in this match, and the overbooked spots didn’t help. 

********

Roman Reigns met with Pearce backstage. Pearce didn’t think Jacob Fatu should be employed by WWE. Reigns understood, but he had to show the power and stroke that they (the Bloodline) had. 

Reigns didn’t actually want to go back to his old ways and didn’t realize Fatu knew he had the ace to pull by challenging him to Tribal Combat. But Fatu knew Reigns had no choice but to accept as Tribal Chief. Reigns said there had to be consequences in the contract. If Fatu lost, he had to serve Reigns. But if Fatu won, he wished Pearce luck, because they were all screwed. 

******* 

There was a Memorial Day video narrated by Cody Rhodes. 

LA Knight promo

LA Knight entered. He said it’s been a while since he’s felt this. It’s been since WrestleMania since he stood in the ring in front of everyone. He wished everyone a happy Memorial Day and thanked all of their service members. 

Knight put the Vision in his rear-view mirror at WrestleMania and stood with Jimmy and Jey Uso, but the Usos have been doing things a bit differently lately. Next week on Raw, the King and Queen of the Ring tournaments begin, and he was throwing his name in the hat. That meant he would be earning a title shot and was coming for Roman Reigns, who was the most corrupt champion he’s ever seen. 

Jimmy Uso interrupted. He said he fought side-by-side with Knight against the Vision at Mania. Knight said that was true, but now Jimmy was with Reigns, fighting three-on-one. It rubbed Knight the wrong way, and he was one of the Bloodline’s past victims. 

Jimmy understood because a lot of people had a problem with the Bloodline. They made things ugly for everyone for years. They did what they had to do, but it wasn’t like that anymore. Jimmy invited Knight to enter KOTR because if he won, he’d have a fair shot at Reigns. 

Knight heard the word “fair” and asked if Jimmy was being honest with him, or if he was even being honest with himself. Knight saw Jimmy playing third-fiddle to Reigns, behind Jey, and didn’t want to see him become Reigns’ errand boy again. 

Jimmy said Knight was lucky the Yeetman wasn’t there, because if he was, they wouldn’t be talking. Knight said that proved his point. The two of them would attack him two-on-one, and maybe Reigns would join them, just like they did to Fatu. 

Jimmy said their family business had nothing to do with Knight, so he should tread carefully, or he would become their business. 

Knight said Jimmy was the one he liked. He was ok with Jey. But he didn’t like Reigns then, and he didn’t like him now. Reigns always needed somebody’s help. If the family business became his business, he would make sure they went out of business. Knight told Jimmy to deliver that message to Reigns. 

********

Ethan Page interrupted a conversation between Pearce and Rey. Page didn’t like that Rey was trying to get an IC title match. Rusev jumped in next, wanting to know what was going on. Page said Pearce and Rey were conspiring against Rusev. Rusev believed him, so he wasn’t happy to hear this. Rey was more than happy to fight Rusev to earn an IC title match. Pearce made it official. 

******** 

90 minutes into Raw, we’ve had two matches amounting to about 22 minutes. 

Seth Rollins vs. Montez Ford

After a break, Rollins hit a superplex into a falcon arrow for two. They traded counters until Rollins hit a Pedigree for two. With Ford down, Rollins tried to talk sense into him and convince Ford that he’s changed. Ford slapped him, so Rollins hit consecutive buckle bombs. 

Rollins went for a third buckle bomb, but Ford countered and drove him out of the ring. Ford hit a running flip dive over the corner to the outside, followed by a frog splash in the ring for two. 

Ford went for a 450 splash, but Rollins dodged it and hit a curb stomp. Rollins was exhausted, but fell into a cover for the pinfall win. 

— After the match, Dawkins scampered out to the stage where Theory attacked him with a steel chair. Theory continued the attack until officials ran out. Pearce called him sick. 

Match result: Seth Rollins defeated Montez Ford (12:35)

This match was fine, but a step down from what you might expect. Unlike the Evans’ match earlier, it didn’t feel like Ford deserved a better fate here, but that seemed to be the point. 

********

Backstage, Ford was steaming and wanted an update from Pearce on Dawkins. Rollins joined in and wanted an update, too. Ford finally agreed with Rollins that there were bigger things going on and bigger fish to fry. His brother was down, and he needed them. Rollins and Ford nodded at each other before Ford went into the trainer’s room to check on Dawkins. 

Rollins told Pearce he wanted Breakker and wanted the match as soon as possible.

(Breakker wasn’t on the show tonight, and Paul is out with an injury, so it’s odd that they’re having so much trouble against one guy with a steel chair.) 

********

Clash in Italy (airing 2 pm ET/11 am PT): 

  • Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Gunther for the WWE Championship 
  • Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Jade Cargill for the WWE Women’s Championship 
  • Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar 
  • Roman Reigns (c) vs. Jacob Fatu in Tribal Combat for the World Heavyweight Championship 
  • Becky Lynch (c) vs. Sol Ruca for the Women’s Intercontinental Championship 

********

Becky Lynch interview 

Cathy Kelley interviewed Lynch backstage. Kelley said Sol Ruca was sidelined with injuries tonight, and it seemed like Lynch had the advantage for their upcoming match. 

Lynch said some people got punched in the face and became the face of the industry, while others got punched in the face and got a wake-up call that they were in over their heads. Ruca was totally outmatched. 

Some people might be impressed with her tricks and flips, but she hasn’t picked up a single pinfall victory since her debut. Ruca’s name was written in sand, but the tide was coming in. Lynch’s name was etched in stone and would be around forever. There was a difference between striving for greatness and standing across from it. Lynch welcomed her to the big time. 

******** 

Ethan Page joined commentary for this match. 

Rey Mysterio vs. Rusev

They played cat-and-mouse until Rey set up for a 619, but Rusev popped off the middle rope and clobbered him with a back elbow. Rusev was in control, but Rey came back after a break with a low seated senton and Lionsault for two. Rey tried a springboard move, but Rusev caught him and hit a spinning side slam, followed by a Machka Kick for two. 

Rusev tried chucking Rey through the ropes, but Rey countered by hitting a 619 to the gut. Rey went for a regular 619, but Rusev caught him. Rusev went for the Accolade, but Rey quickly slipped out and applied a schoolboy for the pinfall win. Page was displeased. 

Rey is now the number one contender for the IC title, setting up a potential match against Penta. 

— Rusev attacked Rey after the match, so Dragon Lee ran out to make the save. Page ran into the ring, but Dragon Lee fought him off and used a hurricanrana to drive him into Rusev. Dragon Lee wiped out Page with a flip dive while Rey hit Rusev with a 619. Dragon Lee hit Rusev with Operation Dragon and posed tall with Rey. 

Match result: Rey Mysterio defeated Rusev (9:27) 

********

An irate Pearce told Theory he’d had enough and kicked him out of the building. Theory said it wasn’t enough after what happened to the rest of the Vision. Pearce told him again that he was done for the night. Heyman settled things down and walked Theory out of the building. 

They walked past Alpha Academy as they left. Otis and Akira Tozawa weren’t impressed. Maxxine Dupri told them to cut Theory some slack. She said she’d catch up with them later, and she left. 

(Seriously, what’s stopping Ford and Rollins from ambushing Theory right now?)

******** 

Next week on Raw (airing at 2 pm ET/11 am PT): 

  • King and Queen of the Ring tournaments begin 

As Knight referenced earlier, the tournament winners earn title shots. 

********

Roman Reigns and Jacob Fatu contract signing 

This was the second contract signing with these two men in the past four weeks. 

Jacob Fatu entered first, and security filled the aisleway. Fatu signed the contract, then he chucked the leather chairs and table out of the ring at the security guards. Security swarmed into the ring, but Pearce settled them all down. 

Roman Reigns entered. He signed the contract. Reigns told Pearce and security to leave them. Pearce thought it might be smart for security to remain. Reigns said Fatu made a blood oath. He can’t touch him until Italy. Reigns told them to leave now, so they did. 

Reigns told Columbus to acknowledge him. They did. Reigns told Fatu this could have been simple. After Reigns beat him, Fatu could have acknowledged him, and they could have moved on to the next mission. 

Fatu said hell no. Fatu wasn’t like everyone else. Reigns was indeed the reason their family was living the life that they were, that their family was living on top of the mountain. Reigns elevated the family and took them to the promised land. But he could only take them so far. It was time for a change. It was time for another destination. 

Fatu smiled and asked Reigns whether he lived by the Bloodline’s code at Backlash, or if he bent the rules just to beat him. Fatu knew Reigns did what he had to do in that match, but in Tribal Combat, anything goes. Fatu would dog-walk Reigns’ bitch-ass. When Fatu took over all of this, everyone would face the consequences. 

Reigns said he was a man of his word. If Fatu won, he would be head of the table. Fatu would lead, and Reigns would follow. But if Fatu couldn’t dog-walk him, Reigns would walk him like a dog. Reigns would domesticate him. Fatu would serve him, learn from him, and, in time, Fatu would love his Tribal Chief. 

Fatu was on board with that. This was a win for him. Even if Reigns won, Fatu still had a job. Nothing changed there. But when Fatu won, everyone—including Reigns—would learn how to acknowledge him. 

They shook hands and touched foreheads to make it official.

*************** 

I won’t go into it too in-depth here, but as mentioned above, this will be my final time covering WWE. I’ve been watching WWF/WWE basically my entire life. The quality of the product has been much worse than it is now many times over the past three-plus decades, but it’s become increasingly difficult to follow this company as a whole for a long list of reasons. 

I’ve already stopped buying merchandise and attending shows. But continuing to cover the shows doesn’t feel worth the time and mental fatigue, especially with a full year of programming ahead culminating in a WrestleMania show that, as it stands now, represents much of what’s wrong with the company. There’s more to it than that, but I’ll leave it there. 

I’m (probably) not disappearing entirely from this website, for those wondering. This also isn’t me encouraging anyone to stop watching WWE. Like what you like. But I’m done with it. 

WWE NXT live results: Two title matches, Mason Rook’s in-ring debut

Posted on by Chris Aiken

Tonight on WWE NXT is a night of debuts and title matches.

Recent weeks have seen Mason Rook, Kam Hendrix, and Tristan Angels added to the NXT roster. All three are set to make their official TV in-ring debuts tonight. In tag team action, Rook & Hendrix will look to defeat NXT Champion Tony D’Angelo and North American Champion Myles Borne. A victory would likely propel Rook and Hendrix to immediate title contention.

Angels will debut in singles action against a yet-to-be-announced opponent.

A pair of championship matches have also been announced for tonight’s episode. Lizzy Rain, another NXT newcomer, aims for gold early as she challenges Tatum Paxley for the Women’s North American Championship. And the NXT Tag Team titles will be on the line with DarkState challenging Vanity Project for their belts.

Plus, Tate Wilder makes his singles debut as he attempts to overcome Keanu Carver.

Join us for live coverage starting at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

**********

NXT is back on the air in front of a live studio audience from a sound stage at the Performance Center in Orlando. Opening the show is a tag team match where the two singles champions in the men’s division team up against two newcomers making their in-ring debuts in NXT.

NXT Champion Tony D’Angelo & NXT North American Champion Myles Borne vs. Mason Rook & Cam Hendrix in a tag team match

—

The tag bout goes through a commercial break. Heat on Borne after the debuting duo work together to chop block Borne’s knee. Borne is worked over until Borne counters a double-team and dives for a hot tag. D’Angelo is a house of fire, and he gets a near fall after spearing Hendrix. D’Angelo takes a few really tough bumps from Rook, and D’Angelo crashes into the ring steps. Borne with a save by flying over the ropes with a flip dive to the floor.

Tavion Heights runs down to ambush Hendrix, with whom he has beef. Heights’ sneak attack sends Hendrix into Borne, which trips up Borne’s attempt at springing back into the ring. Borne is then distracted by Heights, who is removed from ringside by officials.

For the finish, a distracted Borne tries to slingshot into the ring. He is caught by Rook, and Borne takes an exploder suplex in a corner. Rook with a fireman’s carry into a jackhammer, and Rook goes for a cover. However, Hendrix is the legal man. He pushes Rook out of the way, and Hendrix pins Borne to win the match. As Hendrix celebrates his win, Rook glares at him like the meme where Undertaker is standing behind AJ Styles.

Match result: Mason Rook & Cam Hendrix defeated Tony D’Angelo & Myles Borne when Hendrix pinned Borne.

— Darkstate in a backstage skit talk about all being on the same page again. Dion Lennox inquires to Saquon Shugars what he meant about them needing to make a change. Shugars assures Lennox not worry about that. Foreshadowing would seem to indicate he should worry.

Confrontation with challengers and the women’s champ leads to melee

—

Kelani Jordan enters the sound stage for an promo in the ring. She would eventually be interrupted by several wrestlers including NXT Women’s Champion Lola Vice, Izzi Dame, and Kendal Grey. Wren Sinclair runs into whack Dame with a walking crutch.

Firstly, Jordan cuts a heel promo complaining about never getting a shot at the NXT Women’s Championship. Jordan boasts about being the fastest rising homegrown star. Besides making Lola Vice (the champion) tap out, and also beating Kendal Grey last weeks, Jordan claims she in better than all of the women’s wrestlers called up to the main roster.

Jordan goes on to demand a championship match before claiming to be the most underrated women on the roster.

Out comes Izzi Dame wearing ridiculously fuzzy chaps. Dame marches to the ring in her fuzzy chap, and she cuts a promo on Jordan trying to cut in line.

NXT Women’s Champion Lola Vice interrupt the confrontation to confront her two potential challengers. Vice bickers with Dame and Jordan until they are all interrupted by Kendal Grey.

Grey confronts them as Wren Sinclair sneaks in the ring from behind. Sinclairs blasts Jordan with a crutch, which ignites a melee. The heels powder as the babyfaces stand tall. While standing tall, Grey keeps eyeballing the women’s title belt as Vice raises in over her head.

Romeo Moreno vs. Tristan Angels

—

Angels wins his debut match against newcomer Moreno. They had a really good competitive match that goes through a commercial break.

Shiloh Hill watches this match from the crowd while making a spectacle of himself. Hill interacts with Moreno during the match, as they slap hands after Moreno does a big dive over the ropes to the floor.

For the finish, Angels does a curb stomp using a knee drop. Angels then covers Moreno for a three count. Angels and Hill exchange barbs after the match.

Mach result: Tristan Angels defeated Romeo Moreno via pinfall.

Angels gets a house microphone and address Shiloh Hill, who is still standing in the crowd with a sign that reads “MR. NXT”. Angles says Hill is where he belong, in the crowd with the regular people. In response, Hill cuts a promo and throws to an old photo of Angels in a goofy tuxedo. That is supposed to be burn of some sort. Hill polls the crowd on who should be Mr. NXT. Of course, they side with Hill. Angels wants Hill he will regret ruining Angel’s debut match.

NXT North American Women’s Champion Tatum Paxley vs. Lizzy Rain in a title match

—

Rain’s strong push continues, even if she drops a fall here to a reigning champion. Rain has a ton of charisma.

Zaria runs in after the match to lay out Rain before targeting Paxley. Zaria apparently has her sights on the North American title.

The title match tonight goes through a commercial break. Rain with a wrecking ball dropkick just before the show cuts to commercials, and she is rocking.

Very physical and competitive match between two babyfaces. The studio audience got into the match, as they worked really hard to have an exciting bout.

As they go home they are trading near falls and reversals. Paxley counters Rain to deliver Cemetery Drive. Paxley then covers Rain for a pinfall. And still…

Match result: NXT Women’s North American Champion Tatum Paxley defeated Lizzy Rain via pinfall to retain her title.

Paxley and Rain embrace after the match in a show of respect. They are jumped by Zaria. She hits both with a double spear, and Zaria gives both an F-5. Zaria then grabs the title belt and poses with it as the segment ends.

—

Keanu Carver vs. Tate Wilder

—

Wilder gets some offense and the time to show off some of his aerial arsenal, but he drops another fall on television in his second match on NXT in two weeks. To make matters worse, he is busted open in this match with a potato from Carver. Wilder is bleeding from underneath his eye, but he fights on.

Wilder with a tornado DDT plants Carver on the floor. After following up with a frog splash, a still-bleeding Wilder opts for another high risk move instead of going for a pin. Wilder is tripped up and crotched while trying to climb the ropes. Carver then strikes with a Monty Brown Pounce, and Carver scores a clean pinfall.

Match result: Keanu Carver defeated Tate Wilder via pinfall.

— Myka Lockwood assures Vanity Project she has their back in the tag title match later tonight when they defend against Darkstate.

— Shiloh Hill and Charlie Dempsey set up a singles match next week. Hill reminded me of a modern day Bugsy McGraw with his outfit and top hat. He bickers with Birthright, which leads to them setting up a match for next Tuesday.

Mason Rook lays out Kam Hendrix

Sarah Schreiber interviews Kam Hendrix in the ring, which follows up on Hendrix and Rook winning in their debut match earlier tonight. A boastful Hendrix talks about setting his sights on the NXT Championship when he is interrupted by Rook.

Rook cuts a promo on Hendrix, who responds with a promo on Rook. Hendrix pats Rook’s gut, and Rook responds by laying out Hendrix with an Ax Bomber. Hednrix is then send smashing into the corner taking an exploder from Rook. This angle would seem to set up a grudge match between the two.

NXT Tag Team Champions The Vanity Project (Brad Baylor & Ricky Smokes with Jackson Drake & Myka Lockwood) vs. Darkstate (Dion Lennox & Saquon Shugars with Cutler James & Osiris Griffin) in a title match

—

Darksate jumps Vanity Project during the champs’ entrance. The tag title bout goes through a commercial break, with the champs reeling as the show goes into the break. The champs turn the tide during the break. They are working over Shugars as the show returns from commercials.

The match continues. Shugars comes back to run wild after several high spots and tags. Shugars is on a roll, and Lennox soon joins in the fun. Darkstate gets a close near fall. Lennox and Shugars signal for a Doomsday Device. Smokes saves Baylor and the champs tag out, only for them both to eat clotheslines from Lennox.

Griffin and Cutler try to get in Drake’s face at ringside, but Lockwood steps in to berate Griffin and Cutler. Another close near fall for Darkstat after Shugars makes a blind tag. Lennox is unaware of the bling tag. Shugars is trying to explain himself to Lennox when Shugars is rolled up by Smokes for a three count. The champs retain, and the finish sets up more dissension in Darkstate.

Match result: NXT Tag Team Champions Brad Baylor & Ricky Smokes defeated Saquon Shugars & Dion Lennox when Smokes pinned Shugars to retain their title.

Three members of Darkstate turn on Shugars in a post-match angle. Griffin and James first attack Shugars, and Lennox then joins in to pummel him. Lennox signals for a triple powerbomb, which lead to Darkstate powerbombing Shugars on the announce booth. The desk implodes on impact, and Shugars is laid out as the show goes off the air with his former stablemates standing over him.

WWE SmackDown live results: Gunther makes his decision

Posted on by Marc Quill

Last week, Paul Heyman revealed his favor to GUNTHER was getting him an Undisputed WWE Championship match for the upcoming Clash in Italy show, but the “Ring General” refused to officially sign the contract, even as current champion Cody Rhodes dared him to fight.

Tonight, WWE is advertising a segment where Gunther will have to officially decide whether to join the SmackDown brand.

Also announced for the show, Trick Williams will return to the University of South Carolina following his win over Sami Zayn at Backlash. Jade Cargill will also address her attack on Rhea Ripley.

Full WWE SmackDown lineup for Friday, May 15, 2026:

  • Gunther decides whether to join SmackDown to challenge Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes
  • United States Champion Trick Williams returns to the University of South Carolina for a homecoming celebration
  • Jade Cargill addresses her attack on WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley
  • Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss vs.
  • Damian Priest vs. Tama Tonga
  • Carmelo Hayes vs. Ricky Saints

WWE SmackDown on Friday, May 15, is scheduled for the Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina.

Our live coverage kicks off at 8 p.m. Eastern.

*******************

– Our show kicked off with the prerequisite arrivals to the arena, including Cody Rhodes, Damian Priest & R-Truth and The M.F.T.s, Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss, and Jade Cargill’s crew. We then got a shot of hometown hero Trick Williams in the middle of the Gamecocks’ stadium as we went to a recap of last Saturday’s Backlash.

Trick Williams’ Columbia Homecoming

The night kicked off with the arrival of U.S. Champion Trick Williams to a massive hometown reaction. He was accompanied by Li’l Yachty and the Gamecocks mascot to the ring. With the “Whoop That Trick” chants loudly filling the air of the Colonial Life Arena, Williams introduced himself and said that he was back home in Columbia.

Williams said he was proud of representing WJ Keenan High School, and the University of South Carolina growing up. Williams said he remembered driving up the road to his favorite restaurant, “Kiki’s Trickin’ and Waffles”, with the chicken wings so good that you had to eat them while standing up. He recounted eating these mythical chicken wings and how they related to his now-famous “lemon-peppa steppas”.

Williams talked about his family being in the crowd as he recounted his days with the Gamecocks. So, to WJ Keenan, to U.S.C., to his mama, Williams declared himself as the star that they helped create.

The Miz rudely interrupted the celebrations, as he mocked the Gamecocks mascot and the Gingerbread Man last week. Miz said that Williams was being a joke by bringing all these costumed characters to WWE. L’il Yachty stepped up and told Miz and Kit Wilson were being disrespectful to the hometown hero, as he pointed out that this was the reason why Miz was cursed by Danhausen. Kit Wilson joined in with some “slam poetry”, as he called himself “Kit Willy”. Wilson read his supposedly-disparaging slam poetry about Williams and Yachty.

Yacht didn’t like what Wilson had to say and offered his own diss verses against him, stating that Miz and Wilson came out cocky because they had “little tiny balls”. Miz angrily shouted that they wouldn’t bring the Tiny Balls talk back as he demanded for a referee to come ou. Miz said he was going to whoop Williams’ ass in front of his mama. Wilson spoke a bit too much trash an paid for it by getting thrown out of the ring. Miz soon found himself flat on his back, and we learned that we would indeed see this match coming up after the break.

I think it’s no secret that I much prefered this over the Gingerbread Man antics of last week. Williams looked like a natural and had the hometown crowd in the palm of his hands for this opening segment. My only complaint is the “Miz has Tiny Balls” running gag is not really as funny as WWE wants us to believe.

*******************

Trick Williams vs. The Miz

We kicked things off right after the break as Miz backed Williams into the corner. A disrespectful shove from Miz was met by a harder push to the ground from the U.S. Champion. Williams fired up and blasted Miz with a flying shoulder block that sent his foe into the apron. Miz dropped William’s head over the top rope to gain the momentum as he headed up to the top rope. Miz’s dive was intercepted by a gut shot from Williams. Miz responded with a Kitchen Sink strike, followed by the running boot to a seated Williams. Miz choked at Williams across the middle rope as he then struck him with the running kick to the back of the head.

Miz held control of the match with stomps to Williams, but missed with the running boot. Williams turned that into a jumping neckbreaker on Miz, followed by the slaps in the corner and the “Whoop That” stomps. Miz got out of the way of a running boot from Williams by leaving the ring. Miz missed the sliding dropkick to the outside as Williams threw him around the barricades. Behind the referee’s back, Wilson struck Williams with a running elbow, as Miz finally connected with the rope-assisted sliding dropkick. We took a break on Miz getting in Li’l Yachty’s face at ringside.

This opening match returned from break with Miz and Williams exchanging strikes, but it was the U.S. Champion who got the best of his foe with his signature strikes. A scoop slam from Williams was followed by the stylish Book-End for a near-fall. Miz went for Williams’ eyes and almost had the Skull-Crushing Finale, but couldn’t connect. He did, meanwhile, nail the torquing DDT on Williams for the close two-count. Miz went for his kicks to a kneeling Williams, but missed on the last one as that got turned into a pin attempt. Williams dropped Miz with a flapjack as he hyped himself up. Kit Wilson pulled at the foot of Williams, as Miz eventually hit a Skull-Crushing Finale on his opponent.Williams kicked out at two as Wilson tried to distract the referee. The Miz went to grab a kendo stick, but Li’l Yachty intercepted him and stole the weapon. Yachty blasted Wilson with the kendo stick, and meanwhile in the ring, Williams finished Miz off with the Trick Shot knee.

Trick Williams def. The Miz via pinfall

Not gonna lie, I kinda enjoyed this opener. It was far from a great in-ring match, but the crowd was hot for it and giving the hometown hero Williams his moment unspoiled really added to it.

*******************

– Backstage, Carmelo Hayes was interviewed about his match against Ricky Saints later tonight, his first in a while. Hayes said that he was shooting for the U.S. Championship as he was interrupted by Ricky Saints. Hayes talked about how “this place” had a funny way of humbling people like Saints eventually. Saints continued to talk trash to Hayes as he left. “Like looking into a dirty mirror,” Hayes spoke of Saints.

– Elsewhere, after Nick Aldis chatted with Rey Fenix, Sami Zayn approached him and said that he needed to do things the right way, and that he wanted to earn a U.S. Title shot. Problem for Zayn, according to Aldis, he already had his U.S. Title rematch. Zayn angrily pointed out that he had supposedly earned his shot after all that he’s done, and it’s something that his “ride or dies” see. Aldis didn’t see it that way, stating that all he saw from Zayn as of late was nothing but “entitlement” as he left. Zayn looked like he was going to blow a gasket, but Rey Fenix returned and tried to calm him down. Zayn was delusional and didn’t think he had changed.

– Paige and Brie Bella were interviewed before their upcoming match as it was clear that the target was on their backs now more than ever. The Irresistable Forces interrupted and stated that they were going to take the WWE Women’s Tag Titles back from Paige and Brie. The Women’s Tag Champs left Nia Jax and Lash Legend hanging as they had a match to get ready for.

Brie Bella & Paige vs. Giulia & Kiana James

James and Brie opened the match for their teams, as the former showed her power off with a forceful shove. Brie avoided a boot from James and followed that with a side Russian legsweep. Paige tagged in as she and Brie showed some nice double team offense with a boot from the Brit and a bulldog from Brie. Giulia entered the match and took it to Paige with hard strikes to the chest in the corner. Giulia then hit the snap suplex and went for the cover, to no success. Paige recovered and hit a version of the Shining Wizard after a snapmare on Giulia. Paige struck Giulia with kicks across the chest, but James tripped her up on the apron. Giulia recovered and threw Paige into the ring post as we took a break in the action.

We returned as Giulia continued to take it to Paige on the top rope. Giulia had her opponent set up for a risky move, but Paige fought back and turned it into a sunset flip powerbomb. Paige struggled to get to her corner, but Brie got the hot tag. Brie went into “Brie Mode” as she blasted both James and Giulia with knee strikes on opposite ends of the ring. Brie then hit them with the Bryan Danielson kicks, followed by the Bella Buster on James. Giulia broke up the count but got thrown out for her troubles. Tag by Giulia as James hit Brie with the lungblower, followed by a Northern Lights Bomb from Giulia. Paige broke up the count. James accidentally sent a running Paige into Giulia, which took her out of the ring.

With James’ partner out of the equation, Paige finished this match off with Rampaige for the three.

Brie Bella & Paige def. Giulia & Kiana James

That was a bit rough, to say the least. The spear that Giulia took from Paige at the end did not look good at all. Not terrible by any means, but really quite evident that there wasn’t any chemistry between Brie/Paige and Giulia/Kiana.

*******************

– Women’s U.S. Champion Tiffany Stratton was interviewed about how the women’s division had strong alliances all around and where she fit in. Just then, Giulia and Kiana James bickering about their loss just now interrupted. Stratton noted that she was doing well enough alone, but Chelsea Green interrupted her. Green tried to get Stratton to be on her team, but got ignored.

Cody Rhodes wants an answer from Gunther

The Undisputed WWE Champion made his way down with the SmackDown contract of Gunther in hand, looking for an answer from his would-be Clash in Italy foe. Rhodes threw some office chairs into the ring followed by a table, looking like he was set to do an impromptu contract signing. With the tables and chairs set up in the ring, Rhodes got down to business.

“Columbia, South Carolina… what do you wanna talk about?” asked Rhodes as he talked about how he had all the formal ingredients for the contract signing, including a SmackDown contract and the Clash in Italy match contract for Gunther, and that’s what they were goind to do right now.

Out came “The Ring General”, and he angrily asked Rhodes about how much time it took to get this roster transfer, and how Rhodes made it all about himself, like a typical American. Gunther pointed out how Rhodes was supposedly complaining and crying every week and made it about himself. All Gunther wanted out of Rhodes was to be professional about it, stating that he had to ask nicely.

Rhodes responded by stating that Gunther was the one who got the drop on him and that he was the one who made the favor with Paul Heyman to get this title match. Rhodes then said “please come sign this contract, so that you’re guaranteed to get your ass kicked at Clash in Italy!”

Gunther said that Rhodes didn’t mean it when he said it, as he was unexpectedly interrupted by Royce Keys. The powerhouse made it simple… “If you won’t sign it, I will,” as Keys made his way down to the ring. Just as Keys was about to sign the contract, Gunther stopped him and got into Keys’ face. Before anything could unravel, Nick Aldis interrupted.

Aldis talked about how that contract was supposed to have Gunther’s name on it, but he overplayed his hand with is antics, so that means the Clash in Italy title shot was up in the air. This led to Aldis making the match: Royce Keys vs. Gunther with the Clash in Italy title shot up for grabs. As Gunther left to argue with Aldis, Rhodes simply told Keys the same thing he told Gunther last week: “I’m easy to find, hard to beat.”

This was a good segment, and setting up a potentially good match in Keys vs. Gunther as our main event is a nice bonus.

*******************

– Solo Sikoa gave marching orders to Tama Tonga and Talla Tonga backstage. Sikoa told Tama to take care of Damian Priest while he and Talla were going to pay Royce Keys a little visit. As Sikoa and Talla left, Shinsuke Nakamura had words for Tama, but Talla charged in and attacked him. Talla chokeslammed Nakamura onto a cargo crate as the ineffective team of backstage staff came too late to stop the carnage.

– Nick Aldis went at it with Gunther backstage, again reiterating that the big man overplayed his hands with his antics and refusal to sign the SmackDown contract. Aldis remarked that maybe Paul Heyman rubbed off on him a bit.

Carmelo Hayes vs. Ricky Saints

Saints got the upper hand with a cheap shot on Hayes as the bell rang. Hayes recovered, but missed on the first dropkick. A second attempt did hit its target as Hayes threw Saints into the corner and chopped him. Saints wrenched the arm of Hayes and went up for a little Old School action that connected. Saints was sent to the apron by Hayes and left in posititon for the springboard leg drop. The former U.S. Champion then soared over the top rope for the Fosbury Flop that left Saints down and out as we took a break.

This match returned from commercial as Hayes pushed Saints off the top rope as he got maximum hangtime on the frog splash for the two-count. Hayes attempted the First 48, but Saints blocked it and hit him with a forearm strike, followed by the high-angle driver for the two-count. Our match was inexplicably interrupted by a “preview” of a movie called Pressure while Saints applied a chinlock on Hayes.

Hayes broke free from the hold and leveled Saints with superkicks a-plenty. He then followed it up with the springboard forearm strike as he had Saints in his sights. The Dirty Diana from Hayes, but Saints kicked out at two. Saints hit Hayes with the boot to the face, followed by a rebound back suplex for the two-count. A frustrated Saints tried to lift Hayes up, but he couldn’t. A couple of stomps from Saints finally had him open for the Revolution DDT. Hayes reversed and turned it into the First 48. One, two….. 2.9999999!!!!!!!!!! Hayes struggled to get himself back up top to the top rope, but he missed the Nothin’ But Net. Saints then followed it with the Revolution DDT, but Hayes somehow kicked out at the very last second.

Saints failed to hit Roshambo, so he pushed Hayes into the turnbuckle and tried to get a dirty rope-assisted pin. Referee Charles Robinson noticed the feet of Saints on the ropes and stopped the count. Saints argued with Robinson as Hayes snuck up and rolled up Saints to get the three… with a little help from the bottom rope.

Carmelo Hayes def. Ricky Saints via pinfall

This was a solid match and a great return for Carmelo Hayes, who was sorely missed after time off from TV. I thought this was Saints’ best match to date in his short time on SmackDown, and Hayes was the perfect opponent for this one.

*******************

– Danhausen was hanging out in his “lab” as he was planning something “even bigger, better, and larger” on the horizon. Danhausen dragged a body on a stretcher with a towel draped over it and was messing about with curious intent on his computer.

Damian Priest vs. Tama Tonga

Tama went right after Priest as the bell rang, but soon found himself being pummeled in the corner with the rights. Tama got cracked with a backwards elbow from Priest. The goozle from Priest was broken by Tama, but the New York native hit him with a big boot. Tama got sent out and Priest was locking and loading for a running attack. Tama intercepted with a dive off the steps, and the sport-style replay of that last spot took us to the break.

The match returned from commercial as Priest had Tama stunned in the corner. He then attempted a Razor’s Edge. Tama turned that into a rear naked choke as Priest broke the hold by backing into the corner. Tama then got Priest with the jumping DDT for the near-fall. Priest withstood Tama’s shots, which agitated him and he launched his own strikes. Step-over shoulder block by Priest, followed by the spinning kick. Tama found himself flattened by the Flatliner of Priest. Body splash in the corner into the Broken Arrow from Priest, but that wasn’t enough for the win. Priest tried for his rebound lariat, but Tama smartly rolled out of the ring to avoid it. Priest sent Tama over the announce table with a pounce as he sent him back into the ring afterwards. Priest headed up top and kind of lost balance off the top rope, which allowed Tama to get him with the swinging neckbreaker. One, two… not quite.

Tama went for a double underhook maneuver, but Priest got ahead of that as he had him held by the throat. Tama escaped the hold, but the rebound lariat made its mark. Straps went down and so did Tama as he took a ride South of Heaven and Priest got the win.

After the match, Talla Tonga absolutely pasted Priest with a kick. Solo Sikoa got Priest with the Samoan Spike with no R-Truth or Royce Keys making the save.

Damian Priest def. Tama Tonga via pinfall

Decent match, but again, my general apathy for the M.F.T.s as a unit is quite clear, especially in this broken down form after recent releases.

*******************

– Sami Zayn was speaking about his troubles of being called to the sad-sack Johnny Gargano, who was still lying down, unmoving.

Jade Cargill speaks her mind

The former WWE Women’s Champion, flanked by her friends B-Fab and Michin, made their way down to the ring, as Wade Barrett referred to them as “Baddies”.

Once Cargill got into the ring, she started by saying that everyone acted so tough when she wasn’t in the building. So, when her music hit, everyone seemed to become more quiet. Rhea Ripley found that the hard way, and at Clash in Italy, the WWE Women’s Championship was coming home with her. Before Cargill could wrap up in her usual manner, Charlotte Flair interrupted, with mic in hand. Alexa Bliss soon followed, also with a mic in hand.

Flair said that nobody wanted to hear Cargill talk, because this was Flair Country, according to Bliss. Flair talked about how she and Cargill had been doing this dance for the last few years, but last week finally pissed her off. Bliss stated that B-Fab and Michin were there to make Cargill look good. Cargill demanded a referee to get out so that the tag match could start.

This was dire, if we’re being honest. I’m just not a fan of Cargill’s faction as a trio, when a better version of them exists in the form of Fatal Influence.

*******************

– Yet another vignette for Blake Monroe aired as the debut is still coming.

Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss vs. B-Fab & Michin

Flair got it going by lifting Michin with a toss, but couldn’t follow it up as Michin grabbed hold of the rope and got out of the ring. Once Michin got in the ring, Flair again dropped her with a takedown, but a shot to the back of the leg turned it around. Flair recovered and threw Michin in the corner as she hit her with a chop and a step-up boot to the face. Michin countered and slammed her after she grabbed her by the hair. Michin kept momentum going with a hurricanrana and a spinning kick afterwards. Flair avoided a drop kick from Michin and wrapped her leg around her foe’s head and slammed her thrice. Bliss and B-Fab entered, as the latte was shelled by a dropkick and the double knees to the back of the head. Michin’s distraction from the apron allowed B-Fab to get the advantage as she punched her repeatedly. Bliss countered with a boot and went up top for a diving attack. B-Fab caught her and slammed her face-first as we took a commercial break.

We returned from the break as Michin and B-Fab kept Bliss isolated for a moment. Michin intercepted Bliss and hoisted her on her shoulder. Too much showboating from Michin led to Bliss capitalizing with a DDT to create some separation. Flair with the hot tag as she launched herself for the crossbody on B-Fab. Flair then leveled both B-Fab and Michin with the chops to the chest. Fallaway slam by Flair to B-Fab and Michin, with the message to Jade Cargill made all the more clear. As Flair headed to the top rope, Cargill stepped to the apron, which allowed B-Fab to trip up Flair. Michin hit a missile dropkick on Flair as she and B-Fab hit a double pump-kick. Bliss broke up the count in the nick of time. B-Fab rolled up Flair for the pin, but that got turned into the Figure-Four leg lock. Michin broke the submission, but found herself clotheslined out of the ring. Bliss blindtagged as Flair delivered kicks to Michin and B-Fab. Sister Abigail DDT from Bliss, but Cargill pulled her from the pin to cause the DQ finish.

Post-match, The Baddies tried to get the jump on Flair, but found themselves waylaid by a determined Flair.

Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss def. B-Fab & Michin via Disqualification

This was a fine enough match, but I was not fond of the DQ finish. Seems like a creative crutch that gets used often in WWE as of late.

*******************

– Fatal Influence were interviewed backstage. Jacy Jayne and crew put themselves over a group that believed loyalty was a currency and that it would soon pay dividends with Fatal Influence holding all the gold in SmackDown’s women’s division.

– Backstage, Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss were licking their wounds, as the two conceded that they were going to need help to deal with Jade Cargill and her Baddies.

– A recap of Jacob Fatu destroying Roman Reigns on Raw this past Monday was shown.

– Royce Keys was preparing for his match against Gunther when Solo Sikoa approached him and again offered to help out. Sikoa said that Keys should seek his help, because what happened to Shinsuke Nakamura would happen to him if Keys wasn’t careful. Keys calmly said “I got this” and left, as Sikoa noted that Jacob Fatu said the same thing to him a while back.

Next Week on SmackDown (Lexington, KY):

  • Talla Tonga vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Saturday Night’s Main Event:

  • Intercontinental Championship: Penta (c) vs. Ethan Page
  • World Tag Team Championships: The Vision (Logan Paul & Austin Theory) (c) vs. Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins)
  • Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, & Rhea Ripley vs. The Baddies (Jade Cargill, B-Fab, & Michin)

Gunther vs. Royce Keys (Winner Faces Cody Rhodes at Clash in Italy)

The SmackDown main event began with a test of strength between these two big meaty men. Gunther pushed Keys in the corner and piefaced him, as Keys responded with a punch to the face of his opponent. Gunther backed out of the ring as Keys beckoned him to fight in the ring. Gunther stepped into the ring and again got out. Once Gunther returned to the ring, he hit Keys with a boot to the gut, followed by a chop to the chest. Side headlock by Gunther was broken by Keys, as the two traded running shoulder blocks. Keys finally took Gunther down with a shoulder block, as he took the knife-edge chops and barely reacted. Gunther took a run at the powerhouse and got dropped with the Bulldog-strength powerslam that sent his foe out of the ring. With Gunther looking for a breather at ringside,. Keys didn’t give him any time to breath with the throw into the LED barricades. Keys then threw Gunther over the announce table as we took our final commercial break.

Our main event returned from the break as Keys attempted a suplex on Gunther, who escaped two attempts and hit his foe with a chop. However, Keys turned that around for the suplex on the third try. Gunther got back on it with the knee to the gut followed by a hard chop to the chest and the near-fall. Keys was thrown out of the ring by Gunther, who took time to mock the crowd before he stepped to the apron. Gunther attempted a big boot from the apron, but Keys caught him and dropped him for three World Strongest Slams onto the announce table. Back in the ring, Gunther caught Keys with the big boot, but failed to connect on the second strike. This gave Keys a brief opening, but he got dropped with the Gunther clothesline.

Gunther tried to ascend to the top, but was sent back down to earth with a Keys superplex for a close near-fall. As the two big men shambled back to their feet, Gunther caught Keys by surprise with the sleeper as he brought him down to the ground. Solo Sikoa appeared at ringside to “motivate” Keys. Sikoa’s appearance seemed to distract Gunther, which allowed Keys to escape the hold and then level his opponent with the flying clothesline. Keys made Big E proud as he struck down Gunther with the hard lariat for the near-fall. Keys put Gunther on his shoulders, but once again found himself in the sleeper hold. Keys again fought back and freed himself from the hold. The pounce from Keys pushed Gunther into the referee, which allowed Sikoa to grab a steel chair and try to give it to Keys. An emphatic rejection by Keys unfortunately opened him up for Gunther’s clothesline and powerbomb, and that’s it, over. Gunther will face Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship at Clash in Italy.

After the match, as Gunther was taunting the camera, Cody Rhodes got the last word in with a Cross Rhodes on his Clash in Italy opponent.

Gunther def. Royce Keys via pinfall (will face Cody Rhodes at Clash in Italy)

*******************

I enjoyed that main event. It was a good “big meaty men slapping meat” contest between Keys and Gunther, and even the expected Solo Sikoa interference worked out well, too to further Keys’ story with him. Keys was fantastic here and hung well with someone as established as Gunther. I think the Rhodes vs. Gunther match at Clash in Italy will be good, so I can’t wait for that.

After a sloppy SmackDown last week weighed down by the Gingerbread Man tomfoolery, this week felt a lot better in comparison. The matches were enjoyable and there weren’t really any overly terrible segments that drew my ire compared to last week.

It was really great to see Carmelo Hayes back in the ring, and his match with Ricky Saints was the standout of the evening. Hopefully, Hayes is back in the U.S. Title picture and gets featured more regularly moving forward.

If there was anything I could call a “negative” about tonight, was, of course, the amount of ads. The promos for “Pressure: The True Story of D-Day” seemed a bit ridiculous, especially when we had one match even interrupted by a promo for the movie. It goes hand in hand with how sometimes, WWE just feels like one big commercial that’s occasionally interrupted by wrestling matches. Thankfully, that wasn’t enough to put a damper for me on this week’s shows, but it’s still an annoyance that can be understandably be too much for some viewers.

WWE Raw live results: Jacob Fatu, Roman Reigns Acknowledgement Ceremony

Posted on by Steve Khan

Date: May 11, 2026
Location: Food City Center in Knoxville, TN 

The Big Takeaway —

For the twelfth straight week, Raw did not have a main event match, but rather, ended with a non-wrestling segment. 

It was not a particularly noteworthy show, either. It ended with Jacob Fatu standing tall over a fallen Roman Reigns for the third straight week. It wasn’t enough of a beat-down to keep Reigns out of action for any length of time, as it was fairly similar to the angles we’ve seen already. Fatu also laid out the Usos. 

Elsewhere on the show, Iyo Sky said good-bye to Asuka, who appears to be gone, at least for a while. 

**********

Show Recap — 

After a Backlash recap video, wrestlers were shown arriving, and the announcers ran down tonight’s card. 

Adam Pearce approached Roman Reigns as he arrived at the arena in Knoxville. Pearce wasn’t sure Jacob Fatu deserved to even be here tonight after what he did at Backlash. Reigns wanted to know where his title (belt) was and why it wasn’t in his hand. A random stagehand ran up and handed Reigns his belt. 

Pearce reiterated that he didn’t think Fatu deserved to be here tonight, or even at all. Reigns said Pearce couldn’t fire Fatu, at least not tonight. Reigns was the one who brought him in, and he would be the one to take him out. 

******* 

The Vision segment 

Paul Heyman entered with Bron Breakker, Logan Paul and Austin Theory. Heyman talked about the devastation Breakker handed out at Backlash. Heyman said Seth Rollins claimed Breakker wasn’t ready, but it was Rollins who wasn’t. Rollins would never get a victory over any of them. Heyman expunged Rollins from the record of ever being a part of the Vision and said they would never mention his name again. 

They moved on to the Street Profits. Theory said the Street Profits needed the tag titles because they didn’t have Bianca Belair to pay the bills. 

Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins interrupted. Ford said Theory was right that Belair was busy with the baby, so somebody had to come to Raw to beat the Vision’s asses. The Street Profits wanted the titles. (Dawkins did not say anything, and Ford has done most, if not all, of the talking since they returned.) 

Paul called the Street Profits a legendary team, but they were old news, and the only notable thing Ford has done lately was organize a baby shower. Paul asked if Ford’s balls were in his red solo cup. 

Paul was tired of the talk, but was interrupted by Joe Hendry, who randomly appeared at ringside and sang his “Fire Logan Paul” song until they went to break. The opening match began during the break. 

Six-man tag team match: Bron Breakker & Tag Team Champions Logan Paul & Austin Theory vs. The Street Profits & Joe Hendry

Hendry made a hot tag and hit Paul with clotheslines and a fallaway slam before doing his little pose. Theory, not the legal man, attacked Hendry in front of the referee to give his team the advantage again. (Ford and Dawkins were out of the ring while this happened.) 

There was a boring heat segment during commercials until Hendry made a hot tag right in time for them to return from break. Ford and Dawkins knocked Breakker out of the ring before Ford wiped him out with a flip dive. Theory avoided a splash, but Ford gave him a powerslam instead for two. 

Dawkins tagged in, and the Profits set up for a double-team move, but Paul knocked Ford off the top rope. Hendry charged after Paul outside the ring, but Paul sent him into the steel steps. (That was it for Hendry in this match and post-match.) 

Breakker set up for a running spear around the ring, but Seth Rollins appeared and clotheslined Breakker. The referee somehow did not see this. Theory did see it, and it distracted him long enough for Dawkins to apply a schoolboy for the pinfall win. 

— Theory attacked Dawkins after the match, but Rollins dumped Theory out of the ring. 

Rollins helped Dawkins to his feet. However, Rollins dodged as Breakker went for a spear, and Dawkins got speared instead. Rollins superkicked Breakker out of the ring. Ford saw Dawkins down on the mat and got into a shoving match with Rollins. 

Match result: Angelo Dawkins, Montez Ford & Joe Hendry defeated Austin Theory, Logan Paul & Bron Breakker (12:20) 

********

Backstage, Pearce met with the Original El Grande Americano, Bruto Credo and Julio Credo. Pearce was trying to clarify their new identities, and the Creeds pretended not to speak English even though it’s already been established that these are the Creed Brothers. 

Liv Morgan and Dominik Mysterio interrupted. Gable Americano didn’t appreciate being interrupted. Morgan tried to dismiss him, but Americano said this was serious lucha business. Dom said he wasn’t even a real luchador, and Americano was offended. 

Pearce decided to make Dom defend his AAA Mega Championship against Americano tonight. 

As Pearce turned to leave, Angel and Berto approached him to ask for an opportunity. Pearce was more than happy to listen. 

********

Penta and Ethan Page segment 

Penta entered. He called himself a fighting champion, and if Ethan Page wanted a title match, he should say it to his face. Page entered. 

Page mocked Penta for hiding behind face paint and a mask. Page did not hide. He was all ego, Ethan Page, and he hailed from the greatest country on Earth, Canada. He pinned Penta last week, so that should make him the number one contender for the Intercontinental Championship, but Penta was probably afraid to lose to him again. 

Penta said he was not afraid and challenged Page to a match right now. Page gave Penta credit for being willing to defend the title, but Page wasn’t ready right now. 

Page said Penta didn’t understand what his title meant. The IC title was the token of excellence in WWE. Every mega star had to hold that title to prove themselves, and Page was the next mega star. The title deserved the spotlight, so Page challenged him to a match at Saturday Night’s Main Event instead. 

Penta urged Page to work hard if he wanted the title, because he was ready for war and would be ready. 

Rusev interrupted. Rusev said Page amused him. They both beat Penta last week, and it was Rusev who bounced Penta’s head off the announce desk. Page interrupted, but Rusev intimidated him, so Page let him continue. Rusev wanted a title match. 

Page claimed he talked to Pearce earlier and tried to get Rusev a title match first, but Je’Von Evans barged in and questioned why Rusev would get a title match if he couldn’t even beat him. 

Evans immediately interrupted (so he must’ve been waiting around Gorilla in case someone said his name). Evans said Page’s ugly-ass was lying because none of that happened. Evans didn’t talk to Page or Pearce, and didn’t say Rusev couldn’t beat him, even if that last part was true. 

Page shoved Evans into Rusev, which led to a brawl, and the babyfaces stood tall. During a break, Pearce made a match between Evans and Rusev (our second impromptu match so far). 

The crowd didn’t seem to care too much about any of this. 

Je’Von Evans vs. Rusev

Before the match started, Evans flew into the ring and clobbered Rusev with a running knee. The referee separated them to start the match, and Evans hit another knee strike. Rusev got the heat later by shoving Evans into the ring steps. 

Evans came back with a Whisper in the Wind, a hurricanrana, and a dropkick, but Rusev blocked his suicide dive attempt and gave him a fallaway slam onto the announce table. Another boring heat segment led to Evans making his comeback after a break, hitting a springboard clothesline for two. 

Rusev cut him off and hit a Ura-nage and Machka Kick for two. Rusev was frustrated that Evans kicked out, saying, “He’s a freaking child!” 

Evans came back with kicks, a leaping dive, and an OG Cutter for the clean pinfall win. 

Match result: Je’Von Evans defeated Rusev (12:11) 

An ok match, but a nice win for Evans. 

********

Two members of the Tennessee Volunteers football team were at ringside. 

There was a video package for the AAA Mega Championship and the Dom/Americano match tonight. 

Asuka and IYO SKY segment 

Asuka approached Iyo Sky backstage. Asuka gave her a big hug. She said he was looking for someone to take over her position, and finally, Sky was that person. She was glad it was Sky, and she was proud of her. 

Sky said they would always be family, even if they fought. Sky said, “Goodbye, Asuka-san,” and they hugged. Asuka said a few words in Japanese before kissing Sky’s forehead. Asuka left with her luggage. 

********

Paige and Brie Bella answer Judgment Day 

Brie Bella and Paige entered with their tag team title belts. They were ready for a fight, but they wondered where Judgment Day was after they made their challenge last week. 

Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez entered. Perez said she loved watching Paige and Bella on TV back when they were young and still relevant. Perez asked Brie if she remembered meeting her. Perez said Brie told her that she could carry on the Bella legacy, but she set the bar too low. 

Brie said it was Morgan who set the bar low. Brie wanted Perez to make her own legacy, not be a footnote for “the Judgment’s Day.” Brie said, “There’s someone more disappointed in you than me: your mom!” 

Rodriguez held back Perez from going after her. Rodriguez turned her attention to Paige—the girl who’s been given a million chances only to fumble each one. Rodriguez said we were all waiting for Paige’s next big scandal to hit, but they could save everyone the time by handing over the title belts right now. 

Paige and Brie attacked Judgment Day, but Morgan jumped in from behind to even the odds. Judgment Day laid out the champs. 

(This wasn’t good. This particular crowd does not seem interested in these talking segments tonight.) 

********

Jimmy Uso told Reigns that Jey was outside waiting for Fatu to talk him out of going to the ring tonight. Reigns wasn’t sure why he would do that. Jimmy thought Reigns should leave Fatu alone. 

Reigns said they made an agreement, and Fatu put his name on the contract. They were men of their word, and they were on top of the business. If Fatu couldn’t respect his own family, and there wasn’t respect from within, there wouldn’t be respect from those on the outside. Fatu had to acknowledge him. 

Jimmy still didn’t trust Fatu. Reigns said if Fatu didn’t acknowledge him, Fatu’s ass was out of here. Jimmy said he’d find Jey. 

******* 

There was a Rhea Ripley video package where she put over the importance of her time in NXT (including plenty of clips of Triple H showing her the way). 

Michael Cole said Asuka’s future was up in the air, and only time would tell.  

IYO SKY vs. Sol Ruca

They wrestled back and forth for the first few minutes until Ruca hit a springboard corkscrew dive to the outside. Sky came back with a butterfly backbreaker during a break for two. 

After the break, Sky hit an avalanche Spanish Fly for two. Ruca ducked a roundhouse kick and hit a spinning sit-out powerbomb for two. Sky came back with a missile dropkick. Sky missed a running corner meteora, so Ruca hit one of her own, but Sky came back and hit a double foot stomp for two. 

Sky went to the top, but Ruca shoved her off. Sky wrenched Ruca’s knee in the ropes, but Ruca booted her moments later. Ruca went to the top and hit a cartwheel DDT for a nearfall. That drew a modest “This is awesome” chant. Sky fought back and hit consecutive meteoras. 

Sky went for a moonsault, but Ruca got her legs up to block it. Ruca went for the Sol Snatcher, but Sky saw it coming and caught her in a crucifix cover for the pinfall win. 

Match result: IYO SKY defeated Sol Ruca (12:25)

This was a pretty good match, and a different pace than most matches on Raw. It should be fun to see what sort of match they have in a year or two. 

Sol Ruca’s finisher is not having a good run, however. She hit Morgan with the move in her debut and failed to win, failed to hit the move smoothly on Becky Lynch last week, and, within the context of this match, failed to hit the move at all and lost. She’s now winless in two Raw matches.

********

Jimmy approached Jey outside the arena. Jimmy didn’t feel good about this and thought Reigns was delusional at times. Jimmy and Jey both knew Fatu wasn’t going to acknowledge him. Jimmy said their family was stressful. Jey didn’t like hearing that and reminded him that their family was the reason they were there at all. Jimmy understood. He left to return to Reigns and wished Jey luck with Fatu. They shook hands. 

********

The Street Profits will get a tag title match against the Vision at SNME. 

Dawkins and Ford were about to be interviewed, but they were interrupted by Rollins. He said if they were serious about getting the titles off the Vision, they should talk. Ford was frustrated because he didn’t want Rollins involved. 

Dawkins wanted to hear him out, but Ford wasn’t interested. Rollins admitted he was wrong when he said they should stay out of each other’s way. Ford didn’t trust Rollins and said they didn’t need him to win the titles. Ford and Dawkins left. 

********

Backstage, Sky told Ruca that she was the future, and they would fight again one day. Ruca thanked her. 

Becky Lynch showed up, laughed at Ruca for losing to Iyo Jannetty, and said the lights must be too bright for her. 

********

Oba Femi entered and called out his next challenger, but Pearce came out to say that nobody backstage wanted to answer, so the open challenge was cancelled. The fans booed. 

Femi was pissed, so he marched backstage while calling everyone a coward. Angel and Berto were near Gorilla position in their street clothes, so Femi attacked them and dragged them to the ring. Femi demanded the referee ring the bell, so he did. 

2-on-1 handicap match: Oba Femi vs. Angel & Berto 

Femi hit multiple running corner uppercuts, tossed both guys around (tossing Angel right over the head of a hunched-over Berto) and gave Berto a Fall from Grace powerbomb for the pinfall win. 

Match result: Oba Femi defeated Berto & Angel (0:51) 

*******

JD McDonagh and Dom walked through the back as Dom made his way to the ring, but McDonagh was suddenly blinded by Finn Bálor. Bálor repeatedly shoved McDonagh into some equipment boxes. Dom was stunned. Bálor told Dom, “Looks like you’re gonna have to go out there alone, mate.” Dom said he had gold to defend, something Bálor knew nothing about. 

AAA Mega Championship match: Dominik Myserio (c) vs. Original El Grande Americano

This was the first time this title has been defended on Raw. 

There was a fun spot early in the match, where Dom monkey-flipped Gable Americano high in the air off the apron and into the top of the ring post. Dom was in control during the break, but Gable came back after the break with a superplex, Angle slam, and moonsault for a nearfall. Dom responded with a Michinoku Driver for two. Gable suplexed Dom into the corner before hitting a Dragon suplex for two. 

Rayo and Bravo Americano ran out to distract the referee and Gable. El Grande Americano (Ludwig Kaiser) hit Gable with a cheapshot, and Dom followed with a tornado DDT for a nearfall. Bruto and Julio Credo ran out to chase away Bravo and Rayo. 

Gable put Dom in an ankle lock, but Kaiser Americano leaped on the apron right in front of the referee (after he was already distracted earlier). Gable went after him and tried to rip off his mask, but that distraction allowed Dom to hit a 619 and a frog splash for the pinfall win. 

Match result: Dominik Mysterio defeated Original El Grande Americano to retain the AAA Mega Championship (9:04)

Gable looked great here, but this Americano feud needed to end weeks ago, and Gable needs to get out of this mask. 

********

Raw next week in Greensboro: 

  • Oba Femi open challenge 
  • Paige & Brie Bella (c) vs. Raquel Rodriguez & Roxanne Perez for the tag team titles 

Not sure how they can advertise an open challenge if nobody even answered it this week. 

*******

Jackie Redmond interviewed Paul and Theory backstage. Paul was still offended by Hendry’s song. Redmond asked if he meant the ‘Fire Logan Paul’ song. Paul told her to stop, “unless you want to get fired, too.” 

Paul said if he had to hear the song again, he would cut off his ears like Vincent Van Gogh. Theory told Paul to relax and told him they should go get dinner. 

Redmond tried asking Theory a question. He ignored the question and asked if she wanted a ride in their car. She said no. They left. (Maxxine Dupri was already in the back seat.) 

********

Acknowledgement Ceremony 

Roman Reigns entered with Jimmy Uso. Reigns told Knoxville to acknowledge him. They did. 

The camera cut to Fatu arriving at the arena, right on time. Jey tried pleading with him to stop as Fatu marched through the back. Jey warned him that he would only be creating problems for himself and his family. Fatu got to Gorilla, so Jey put his hands on him to stop and told him to be smart. Fatu headbutted Jey and laid him out. 

Fatu looked into the camera and told Reigns that if he wanted an acknowledgement, Reigns would have to beat it out of him. Fatu entered through the curtain and was met by Jimmy, but Fatu attacked him and laid him out, too. 

Fatu turned his attention to Reigns. Fatu entered the ring, and Reigns went right after him. Fatu fought him off and clotheslined him out of the ring. Fatu tried a dive, but Reigns hit a Superman punch. 

Reigns attacked Fatu repeatedly with a steel chair while telling Fatu to acknowledge him. Reigns went for a spear, but Fatu hit a superkick and applied the Tongan Death Grip (which did get a reaction from the crowd). Reigns fell out of the ring, so Fatu hit a suicide dive. 

Fatu tossed Reigns into the post and steel steps before clearing the announce table. Reigns tried to fight back, but Fatu cut him off and powerbombed him through the announce table. 

Fatu put Reigns in the Death Grip as officials swarmed him. Fatu let go and posed with the world title belt. 

They did the thing where they made it seem like the show was over as Fatu made his way up the ramp, but he instead sprinted back down to ringside. Jey and Jimmy were checking on Reigns, so Fatu hit a wild running hip attack, driving all three men through the barricade.

WWE Raw live results: Backlash go-home show

Posted on by Steve Khan

Date: May 4, 2026
Location: CHI Health Center in Omaha, NE 

The Big Takeaway —

Jacob Fatu laid out Roman Reigns again ahead of their world title match on Saturday. 

Oba Femi beat Otis, Ethan Page pinned Penta, and Sol Ruca is headed for a feud with Becky Lynch. 

**********

Show Recap — 

Oba Femi, Chad Gable Americano and the Creed Brothers (under their new masks), Sol Ruca, Je’Von Evans and Penta were shown arriving. The live crowd seems hot so far, as basically everyone got a big reaction, as did the graphic for tonight’s contract signing. 

Roman Reigns arrived and was on a mission. He quickly made his way to Gorilla position as Adam Pearce tried to tell him something. Reigns wasn’t listening, but Pearce finally stopped him to tell him that Jacob Fatu wasn’t there. 

Reigns turned around to find Seth Rollins, who told Reigns that he was in his way. Rollins made his way out through the stage instead, but was attacked from behind by Bron Breakker. 

Breakker press-slammed Rollins onto the edge of the barricade and was swarmed by officials to stop. Breakker shoved aside some security guards and continued his attack. 

Officials briefly stopped Breakker from doing more, but he sprinted by them and speared Rollins in the ring. (This was a better-looking Bron spear than we’ve seen lately.) Fans booed, barked and chanted, “One more time,” as Breakker walked off. 

********

Judgment Day met backstage. Liv Morgan said Stephanie Vaquer was injured, so they didn’t have to worry about her anymore. Morgan watches the show, it turns out, and she asked Roxanne Perez why Finn Bálor was in the clubhouse last week, and why she didn’t mention it. 

Perez said she didn’t mention it because she was clear to Bálor when she told him to leave and not come back. Perez was loyal to Judgment Day. 

Morgan said she knew that, but wanted Perez to promise that she wouldn’t keep any secrets from her. Perez did promise, but she was clearly just playing along. 

Finn Bálor vs. JD McDonagh (w/ AAA Mega Champion Dominik Mysterio)

Michael Cole wondered why McDonagh would align himself with Judgment Day over Bálor and questioned his loyalty. Corey Graves said loyalty doesn’t pay the bills. Indeed, it doesn’t. 

McDonagh worked over Bálor’s leg, but when Bálor mounted a comeback, he was tripped by Dom while referee Jessika Carr wasn’t watching, and McDonagh regained control. Perez marched out to ringside as they went to break. Bálor began his comeback after the break as Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez made their way to ringside, too. 

Bálor hit a back body drop, double foot stomp, and slingblade. Bálor knocked Dom off the apron, which allowed McDonagh to apply a cradle for two. McDonagh followed with a Spanish Fly for two. Bálor took a nasty landing on the Spanish Fly, landing high on his neck/upper back. 

With Carr distracted again, Dom tripped Bálor off the apron. Carr finally tossed Dom from ringside (but not the other three Judgment Day members). McDonagh went for a moonsault, but Bálor got his knees up and applied a cradle for a nearfall. 

Morgan distracted Carr next, while simultaneously tossing a hammer to Perez. With Carr still distracted, Perez nailed Bálor with the hammer (showing her loyalty to Judgment Day), and McDonagh followed with a headbutt for the pinfall win. 

Match result: JD McDonagh defeated Finn Bálor (11:44) 

I assumed they were having a rematch so they could outdo the six-minute match they had two weeks ago, but that was a stupid assumption. This match was all about the insane amount of interference to set up McDonagh getting a win. They’re now even at one win apiece. 

********

Jackie Redmond found Rollins backstage and asked if he would be ok for Backlash. Rollins said the show was in five days, so he would be fine. He told Breakker last week that if he took chances, he better be able to finish the job, but he (Rollins) wasn’t dead yet. 

El Grande Americano (Ludwig Kaiser) and his buddies were interviewed during commercials. El Grande said the Original doesn’t know what he signed up for because he doesn’t actually speak Spanish. In Mexico, El Grande might not be allowed to touch him, but here, he can do whatever he wants. (There’s a six-man tag match tonight.) 

There was a video package of Jacob Fatu using the Tongan Death Grip on Reigns last week, and the announcers tried to put over the hold as lethal. 

********

The Vision met backstage. There was some silly comedy with Breakker and Austin Theory, imitating Rollins by holding their noses and suggesting Rollins sounded like a duck. (I didn’t mind Breakker’s impression last week, but this was extra dumb.) Paul Heyman entered and asked if Rollins was still breathing. Breakker, somewhat sheepishly, said yes. 

Logan Paul said Joe Hendry wouldn’t be breathing when he got his hands on him. Paul desperately wanted a match against Hendry to put him in the hospital permanently. Heyman said no. Heyman didn’t want Paul to end up in jail, especially after what Breakker had already done tonight. Instead, Hendry would wrestle Theory. 

Intercontinental Champion Penta & Je’Von Evans vs. Rusev & Ethan Page

Early in the match, Evans wiped out Rusev with a dive before Penta gave Page a Penta Driver for a nearfall. A Rusev distraction allowed the heels to take control over Penta during a break. 

Penta did a springboard move to knock Rusev off the apron, but collapsed and struggled to make a tag despite doing a springboard seconds earlier (the springboard actually got him relatively close to Evans, so he had to drop back a bit to create more space). The extra time allowed Rusev to knock Evans off the apron. 

Evans did wind up getting the hot tag moments later, hitting Page with a jawbreaker and German suplex before wiping out Rusev with a dive again. Evans followed with a springboard clothesline for two. Page fought back briefly, but Evans nailed a Red Dot kick. Penta tagged in and hit a tornado DDT, but Rusev broke up the cover. 

Evans hit Rusev with a dive for the third time, and Rusev wound up on top of the announce table. The crowd loudly cheered as Evans went to the top, but Page shoved him off. 

Penta knocked Page outside the ring, but as Penta went for a dive off the apron, Page yanked the apron skirt to trip him. Page distracted the referee while Rusev slammed Penta onto the announce table, and Page followed with a fisherman’s suplex variation for the pinfall win. (Page’s usual finisher was countered twice earlier in the match). 

— Rusev was happy they won, and he celebrated with Page in the ring. This might have been the first time Rusev has smiled (on camera) since returning to WWE. 

Match result: Ethan Page & Rusev defeated Penta & Je’Von Evans (10:42)

A pretty good match, thanks in large part to Evans, and the crowd was into it. He felt like a breath of fresh air here. Page looked good, too, and he fits in well here. 

******* 

Sol Ruca contract signing

There was a video package for Sol Ruca before Adam Pearce introduced her to the ring. He put this over as a big moment for an NXT call-up. 

Ruca entered, and Pearce handed her the contract. Instead of just signing it, she said, “It is going to feel so damn good when I sign this and officially be a part of Monday Night Raw.” A bit of an odd thing to say, unless you know you’re about to be interrupted. 

Becky Lynch entered. She got in Pearce’s face while completely ignoring Ruca. Lynch said this was meant to be her time in the ring. She had a monumental WrestleMania win and had to fight “Iyo Jannetty” last week in an unscheduled match. She won that match despite Pearce’s meddling. 

Lynch rambled until Ruca cut her off. Ruca told Lynch that not everything was about her. Lynch thought that was funny, because “everything is about me.” 

Ruca said she knew all about Lynch’s accomplishments but didn’t realize she was exactly what people said: a rude, big-headed bitch. 

Lynch asked Ruca, “Who are you?” and Ruca responded, “I’m Sol Ruca, and if you ever interrupt me again, not only will I kick your ass, I’ll snatch your soul.” (That got a big pop.) Ruca signed the contract. 

Lynch tried a cheap shot, but Ruca dodged it, and Lynch hit Pearce by mistake. Pearce screamed at Lynch before leaving the ring. 

Lynch had her head in her hands because she couldn’t believe what she did. Because she wasn’t paying attention, it allowed Ruca to fly in and hit her with the Sol Snatcher. Unfortunately, Ruca slipped on the rope, and it took her extra time to hit the move. Ruca blew a kiss to Lynch and posed for the crowd.

(The crowd was into this, and they liked Sol Ruca, but because of the slip, they did not pop for the Sol Snatcher. In her Raw debut two weeks ago, she hit the move but failed to beat Morgan with it because Morgan rolled out of the ring. It’s not a big deal, but not a great start for her finisher.) 

*******

Redmond asked Jimmy and Jey Uso for comment on tonight’s contract signing. Jimmy said they loved Fatu, but he needed to understand how Reigns handled business. Jey wasn’t worried about how this would affect their relationship with Fatu. Jey warned him that he’s swimming in deep water now. The line has been drawn, and Fatu would find out who he was messing with at Backlash. “Good luck, little cousin.” 

********

Joe Hendry sang a song during a break, which bled into the live broadcast. He encouraged Pearce to fire Logan Paul again. An angry Paul marched out and said TKO couldn’t fire him because that would be bad business.

Joe Hendry vs. Austin Theory (w/ Logan Paul)

Theory took control thanks to a Paul distraction, Hendry made a comeback, did his pose, and Paul decked him from behind for the DQ. 

— Paul and Theory beat up Hendry until Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins ran out to make the save. Breakker broke up the party by taking out the Street Profits with suplexes. 

Breakker set up Dawkins for a spear, but Rollins attacked Breakker from behind. Rollins fired up and set up Breakker for a curb stomp. As he did, Ford sprinted towards Rollins, leaped right over him and over the ring post to wipe out the heels with a crazy flip dive. 

However, Ford’s dive distracted Rollins, and Breakker laid him out with a spear. 

The crowd was really into all of this. (I laughed at Rollins getting speared because Ford flew over his head moments prior.) 

Match result: Joe Hendry defeated Austin Theory via disqualification (3:17) 

********

Redmond interviewed Judgment Day backstage. Morgan wanted them to have all the gold. Rodriguez called out the tag champions, Brie Bella and Paige, and invited them to Raw. 

Bayley and Lyra Valkyria interrupted. Bayley said she saw them use the hammer earlier and told Judgment Day that she and Valkyria wouldn’t be that easy to get rid of. Morgan and Judgment Day brushed this off like nothing and left. 

*******

Oba Femi entered for the first Oba Femi open challenge. Akira Tozawa seemingly answered the call, entering with Otis and Maxxine Dupri. Tozawa, a trained professional wrestler, cowardly walked away in fear upon facing off with Femi in the ring. Tozawa called Otis into the ring instead. 

Oba Femi vs. Otis (w/ Maxxine Dupri & Akira Tozawa) 

This was awesome. 

Femi and Otis traded shoulder tackles, but neither man went down or even budged. They traded tackles again before Femi hit an awesome running uppercut. Femi hoisted Otis up and chucked him across the ring. 

Femi realized he may not be able to get Otis up for his powerbomb in the traditional manner, so he hoisted Otis onto the middle rope for leverage, got underneath, lifted him up and walked toward the middle of the ring to hit the Fall From Grace powerbomb for the pinfall win. The crowd ate this up.

Match result: Oba Femi defeated Otis (1:48) 

******* 

Backstage, a frustrated Rollins told a referee that he didn’t need his help. Rollins bumped into the Street Profits and Hendry. Rollins sarcastically thanked Ford for getting him speared again. 

Ford said nobody trusted Rollins after everything he did with the Vision. Rollins said he didn’t even trust himself sometimes, but they were in the same fight against the Vision, and sometimes those fights needed to come together. Rollins told Ford to stay out of his way, and Rollins would stay out of his. 

(So, he implied they should fight together, but in his next sentence, he said the opposite.) 

********

Ethan Page (now wearing a suit) cut a commercial break promo. He’s gunning for the IC title. 

IYO SKY and Asuka sit-down segment 

This was a pre-taped segment with Sky and Asuka seated across from one another. 

Sky told Asuka that she’s avoided this fight for years. Asuka was her mentor. She looked up to her and loved her. Despite everything Asuka has done to her, Sky still respected her. She never wanted this fight or for it to come to this. But Asuka has changed. The Asuka she looked up to was no longer here, so now, Sky had to fight her. 

Asuka said Sky was being disrespectful. Asuka wondered who Sky even was and called Sky her biggest disappointment. Asuka was done with Sky and would cut her out of her life for good. 

Sky responded, “I am ready for Asuka.” Asuka didn’t like that, so she sprayed mist in Sky’s face. Pearce scrambled into the ring to check on Sky, who screamed like she had just been poisoned. 

********

Redmond interviewed the Original Americano and Los Americanos Hermanos (the Creed Brothers), who were all booed when shown on camera (despite being babyfaces, I think). Original Americano said he sought out their help because they took after his friend, Chad Gable. 

Six-man tag team match: El Grande Americano, Bravo Americano & Rayo Americano vs. The Original Americano, Bruto Creedo & Julio Creedo 

After a break, everyone traded moves, and all the masked men did all their usual spots. The Creed Brothers took out El Grande and Rayo while Gable hit Bravo with a diving headbutt for the pinfall win. 

Even the announcers were having trouble keeping up with who was who, and I can’t blame them. 

Match result: El Grande Americano, Bravo Americano & Rayo Americano defeated The Original Americano, Bruto Creedo & Julio Creedo (8:34) 

********

Backlash card: 

  • John Cena appears with “history-making news” 
  • Seth Rollins vs. Bron Breakker 
  • Trick Williams (c) vs. Sami Zayn for the United States Championship 
  • The Miz & Kit Wilson vs. Danhausen & a mystery partner 
  • IYO SKY vs. Asuka 
  • Roman Reigns (c) vs. Jacob Fatu for the World Heavyweight Championship 

********

Roman Reigns and Jacob Fatu contract signing 

Pearce hosted the contract signing between Reigns and Fatu. Reigns entered to a big reaction. Pearce wanted them to sign the contract. Reigns told Omaha to acknowledge him first. They did. 

Reigns told Fatu that the fans’ reaction wasn’t just love, but the sound of respect. That respect wasn’t just from hanging out. While Fatu was grinding for twelve years, Reigns was in WWE for over twelve years. 

Reigns held the door open for Solo Sikoa. If Sikoa brought Fatu in, then Reigns was really responsible for Fatu coming in, and he would be damned if there was not respect to be had for him. 

There had to be respect, a code, an honour system among their family. There had to be a code of conduct. Fatu disrespected him with the Tongan Death Grip, something you only pull out in desperate times, like when you were at the bar at 3 am surrounded eight-to-one. You don’t do that to your own. You don’t do that to your Tribal Chief. 

Fatu scoffed upon hearing Tribal Chief. Fatu admitted he was desperate. It did feel like it was him against the world, back against the wall. He had no other choice but to take out Reigns, take the title, and take everything that came with it. 

Fatu was ready to put a chokehold on this game and squeeze every dollar out of it, the same way this company did to their family for decades. When he said ‘all gas, no brakes’, it meant no slowing down and no going back to where he came from. Fatu was desperate. He would do anything for his own household, even if that meant going through his own blood. 

Reigns scoffed at that remark. He signed the contract before continuing. Reigns said Fatu was worried about his household, but Reigns grinded here for over a decade for multiple households. Fatu worried about his 7 kids, but Reigns worried about the 170 kids that filled this family. Fatu worried about his kids’ education, but Reigns worried about higher education for all of them. 

Reigns reiterated what he said a long time ago: This was all his. This was his ring. They were the same blood in their family, but in this ring, Fatu was beneath him. 

Fatu lost it and tried the Death Grip, but Reigns fought him off. Fatu went for the hold again, but Reigns countered it again. Reigns went for a Superman punch, but Fatu caught him in the grip. 

Reigns no longer had a counter and held onto Pearce for leverage as Pearce desperately tried to get Fatu to stop. Fatu instead slammed Reigns onto the announce table. 

Fatu signed the contract, and a portion of the crowd chanted his name. Officials checked on Reigns as Fatu left the ring.

WWE Raw live results: Roman Reigns answers Jacob Fatu

Posted on by Steve Khan

Date: April 27, 2026
Location: Sames Auto Arena in Laredo, TX 

The Big Takeaway —

Roman Reigns accepted Jacob Fatu’s world title challenge for Backlash after Fatu laid him out in the main event segment. Fatu made it clear he would be seeing Reigns again next week (on the final Raw before Backlash). 

Iyo Sky lost to Becky Lynch in an impromptu Women’s Intercontinental title match thanks to interference by Asuka. Sky and Asuka will wrestle at Backlash. 

Kairi Sane was not mentioned by name on the show, but was written off with a few passing references. There were chants for Sane when Asuka attacked Sky after her match.

**********

Show Recap — 

They’ve adjusted the signature video that starts every show. Brock Lesnar is now in the “Forever” portion, while Oba Femi has been added to the “Now” portion. 

Roman Reigns & The Usos opening pre-taped promo 

I would call this a cold open, but it was preceded by a video package of last week’s events. This was similar to a few weeks ago when Raw started with a Roman Reigns pre-taped video instead of the usual in-ring segment. (Although we still got one of those.)

Reigns sat down with Jimmy and Jey Uso. He said the past was the past, and that’s where he would leave it, because they were blood and they were the only ones he could trust. He wanted their thoughts because he wasn’t sure where Jacob Fatu was coming from. 

Reigns told everyone that they had two years to climb the mountain (after he lost the title), but after all that time, it was Reigns himself who climbed the mountain and won the title—but now Fatu was trying to take it from him. 

Jimmy understood where Fatu was coming from. He understood Fatu wanting to upgrade his household, but it shouldn’t come at Reigns’ expense. Jey said Fatu was dangerous. He dismantled the MFTs one by one on SmackDown. They left Fatu on his own for a reason. If Fatu beat Reigns, he would take everything. Jey said this couldn’t all be about respect—there had to be consequences. 

Reigns said Jey was right. They weren’t giving out charity. Reigns said he would sit on this and address it later tonight. 

The three men put their hands together, and Reigns called them the first family. 

********

Seth Rollins and Bron Breakker segment 

Rollins entered to a strong reaction wearing an all-black suit. He said it was Bron Breakker’s fault that he was not currently the world champion and why he lost to Gunther at WrestleMania. Rollins took credit for Breakker having nine staples in the back of his head and called him out. 

Breakker entered with Paul Heyman. Rollins said he gave Breakker the world on a silver platter, but Breakker repaid him by taking everything away from him. Breakker was the reason Rollins had to forfeit the title, the reason he didn’t main-event WrestleMania, and the reason he lost at the show. Rollins asked Breakker how it benefited him at all. 

Breakker asked Rollins what he gave to him and Bronson Reed. It was the two of them putting out Rollins’ fires week after week and fighting his battles. Breakker and Reed had to sit in the background as Rollins started Raw every week by repeating the same thing over and over. Breakker held his nose and did a nasally impression of Rollins’ usual opening promo (which he, in fact, started this promo with). Breakker said he never needed Rollins—he only needed Heyman. 

Rollins laughed at this. Rollins said he was the world champion two years ago and wanted to fight the best in the world. He called Shawn Michaels so he could fight his best in NXT, and Michaels named Breakker. Rollins was on board. Last year, Heyman asked Rollins to take Breakker under his wing. Rollins was on board with that, too, because under his tutelage, he knew Breakker could be the biggest star in the industry. 

Rollins has seen athletes of all disciplines come in over the years, but Breakker was the most unique. He had everything to be the next big star in the industry. Everything except the most important thing. Rollins pointed at his head. 

Rollins knew what it was like being a 28-year-old young cat coming into the company, thinking the business owed him something. He knew what it was like to bet on himself and make decisions people wouldn’t be happy with. The difference between them was that Breakker tried, while Rollins succeeded. 

Rollins took chances that got him WrestleMania main events, while Breakker took chances and wound up with Austin Theory, Logan Paul, dinners on a private jet and happy endings from Heyman. Rollins told Breakker he wasn’t ready. 

Breakker said he was well on his way to becoming a main eventer with or without Rollins. He said Rollins’ body and mind couldn’t handle it anymore, and his shoulder couldn’t handle the weight of the strap. 

Breakker admitted he came up short in his world title match (against CM Punk), but he could sleep at night knowing he lost to the best in the world rather than to someone who self-proclaimed it. Breakker knew Rollins was a future WWE Hall of Famer. But he was also the very best in the world at being number two. 

Rollins responded, “That was pretty good, baby Steiner.” Rollins wondered if Breakker came up with that on his own or if he called Big Poppa Pump for his hookup. Rollins challenged Breakker to a match at Backlash to prove he was ready. Rollins told Breakker Steiner (that’s what he called him) that he wasn’t even number two in his own family.

(The show was 21 minutes old by the time this was done. They laid out their issues well enough—after weeks of physically assaulting each other—but Rollins’ promo in particular probably could have been cut in half. I know Reigns likes to start and end the shows, hence why his promo went first, but they should spread out these long talking segments.) 

********

Wrestlers were shown arriving, but Stephanie Vaquer’s introduction was interrupted when she was attacked by Raquel Rodriguez. Roxanne Perez appeared on screen to a big pop (she’s from this town), but the crowd went quiet when she crushed Vaquer with an equipment box. Liv Morgan told Vaquer, “Now this is over because this is my championship.” 

Intercontinental Championship: Penta (c) vs. Rusev 

The opening match started 29 minutes into the show. It went seven and a half minutes, and three of those were during a break. 

As Penta set up for a springboard move, Rusev was about to kick him out of the air with a Machka Kick, but Penta knew it was coming and held onto the rope a second longer to avoid it. Rusev whiffed on the kick, and Penta caught him in a schoolboy for the pinfall win. 

— Rusev was annoyed, so he attacked Penta after the match. Ethan Page, who watched the match from ringside, tried to join Rusev, but Rusev wasn’t interested. After Penta fought back, Page decked him from behind. Rusev and Page put the boots to Penta until Je’Von Evans ran out to make the save. 

Match result: Penta defeated Rusev to retain the Intercontinental Championship (7:31) 

********

There was a commercial for the Hulk Hogan Netflix documentary. This aired during the actual broadcast, not during the Netflix ad break. 

El Grande Americano cut a promo about his upcoming mask vs. mask match. In order to prepare, he wanted to challenge the biggest lucha libre star around here, so he challenged Rey Mysterio to a match tonight. The crowd cheered. 

During the break, they re-aired the Danhausen/Miz segment from SmackDown. (They aired more of this later.)

********

Becky Lynch promo 

Lynch said she finally got rid of AJ Lee and ended her horrible title reign. She put gold around the waist of somebody who deserved it and became the first person to win four different titles at WrestleMania. She’s the first three-time Women’s IC champion and has won more Mania matches than any woman in history. She claimed she was coming for Undertaker’s win record next. (This got no reaction.) 

All of that was wonderful, but what happened after the match was more important. She saw a sea of over 50,000 fans at Mania with her daughter sitting in the front row. She took her daughter up the ramp and to the back. She realized she needed to show her what a real champion was. It wasn’t about the five-star hotels or private jets or fancy tour buses, even though she indulged in all of that. It wasn’t about going to the biggest cities—it was about showing up in run-down towns like Loredo and showing up for all the common folk. 

She knew the fans wanted her to be a fighting champion and not just against a nostalgia act or an underdog. She knew they wanted something new, shiny and exciting, so she issued an open challenge. 

Iyo Sky entered, and the crowd chanted her name. Sky accepted. Lynch laughed. She said she wanted something new, shiny and exciting, and Sky was none of those things. She thought maybe Sky was accepting on Rhea Ripley’s behalf. She wanted to fight Shawn Michaels, not Marty Jannetty. After Lynch said Sky was holding Ripley back, Sky smacked her in the face. 

Lynch was about to bail, but Adam Pearce sauntered out to make the title match official. 

********

Women’s Intercontinental Championship match: Becky Lynch (c) vs. IYO SKY 

There was a passing reference to Kairi Sane during this match, though they never said her name. Michael Cole mentioned Sky and Ripley beating the Kabuki Warriors last week, and that Asuka was still pissed about it. Corey Graves said Asuka was so upset that we wouldn’t be seeing her former pupil for a long time.

Lynch blindsided Sky before the match began. Sky fought her off and tossed her around ringside, and the match began once they reentered the ring. They actually got to wrestle for a good six minutes or so before this went to break. Lynch got some offence, but Sky got the better of her and hit a powerbomb outside the ring. 

They traded submission attempts during a break until the fight spilled back outside, where Sky hit a high cross off the barricade. After the break, Lynch hit a superplex and floated over into a DDT for two. Sky countered a Man-handle, hit a great-looking superkick, and a butterfly backbreaker for two. 

Sky hit a tornado DDT and went for a moonsault, but Lynch got her feet up and hit a Man-handle Slam for a nearfall. Sky followed later with an Asai moonsault. 

As the ref (not Jessika Carr) checked on Lynch, Asuka ran down and tripped Sky off the rope. The ref had to play dumb and pretend she couldn’t see Asuka standing nearby with Sky suddenly down. 

Lynch took advantage and hit the Man-handle Slam for the pinfall win. Lynch retains. 

— Asuka attacked Sky after the match. Asuka put her in the Asuka Lock, and Sky tapped out. The crowd chanted, “We want Kairi,” as Asuka stood tall. 

Match result: Becky Lynch defeated IYO SKY to retain the Women’s Intercontinental Championship (13:22) 

This was a really good match until the finish. It was refreshing to see Lynch finally wrestle someone other than Maxxine Dupri or AJ Lee in a singles match (for the first time since August 2025). The crowd was really into Sky, who suffered her fourth straight singles loss.

********

Chad Gable Americano approached Rey Mysterio backstage. Gable asked whether he would have to watch his back when he faced El Grande Americano in their mask vs. mask match. Mysterio said no. All he wanted was for the two of them to respect lucha libre. Mysterio said something in Spanish, and Gable pretended to understand. Mysterio shook his head. 

El Grande and his two buddies showed up. El Grande spoke to Mysterio in Spanish, but Gable told him to mind his business. They yelled at each other until Mysterio cut them off and said he wasn’t choosing sides. El Grande said he’d see Mysterio in the ring, and Mysterio was ready. 

********

Byron Saxton tried interviewing the Usos, but they were cut off by LA Knight. He asked if they were sitting at the table again, with Reigns at the head of the table. Knight reminded Jey that he was world champion on his own. Jimmy had the potential to be the champion, too, but he couldn’t do that under Reigns. 

The Usos told him this was family business. Knight told them that the power they had under the Bloodline eventually corrupts, and then it would be his business. 

********

Joe Hendry concert 

Hendry said he had a big decision to make and wanted to explain it via song. He sang a song announcing that he signed with Raw. In the song’s final verse, he said he respected the OTC and wanted to fire Logan Paul. He got the crowd to sing along to “fire Logan Paul,” until Paul interrupted. 

Paul marched out with Theory and was red-hot. He called himself unfireable. Theory and Paul bragged about being champions. Hendry said he saw their match on ESPN and called them primetime losers. 

Theory shoved the microphone into Hendry’s chest, so Hendry decked him with a clothesline and tackled Paul into the corner. The Vision swarmed him, though, until Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford ran out to make the save. 

After The Street Profits cleared Paul and Theory from the ring, Hendry wiped them out with a leaping dive. Hendry’s music hit, and he posed with Dawkins and Ford. 

(Singing a song proclaiming your admiration for Roman Reigns and hatred of Logan Paul is definitely one way to get yourself endeared to a new audience. Maybe he can shoot the t-shirt gun next week.) 

********

Backstage, Grayson Waller complained to Pearce about giving everyone else opportunities. Pearce tried to warn him that Oba Femi was standing behind him, but Waller didn’t get it. Waller said Femi was overrated and only beat Lesnar at the end of his career. Waller turned around to see Femi, who told Peare to make a match. Pearce made it official. (Our third impromptu match.) 

*******

The Street Profits officially welcomed Hendry to Raw. Before he left, Ford told Hendry to switch his blue shirt now that he was on Raw. 

Rollins approached Dawkins and Ford. He was about to thank them for their help last week, but they cut him off. They said Rollins thought everything was about him, like he was something special, and they walked off. 

(I enjoyed Ford and Dawkins telling off Rollins.) 

*******

The mask match between El Grande Americano and the Original El Grande is taking place in AAA on May 30th.  

Rey Mysterio vs. El Grande Americano (w/ Bravo & Rayo Americano) 

There was a funny moment on commentary when Cole said he couldn’t wait to see what this guy looked like without his mask. Graves told him to go watch some old WCW before quickly realizing he meant El Grande, not Rey. (Graves knew what he meant.) 

After a break, Rey fought back and hit a tilt-a-whirl DDT. The ref was distracted as Rey tried to get rid of Bravo on one side of the ring, as Rayo tried placing the metal plate inside El Grande’s mask on the other. Rey gave Rayo a 619 for his trouble. 

The plate wound up in the ring, and El Grande tried to grab it for himself, but Gable Americano showed up and took it away. Rey shoved El Grande into Gable before giving El Grande a 619 and a springboard splash for the pinfall win. 

— Gable and El Grande brawled after the match until officials broke it up. 

Match result: Rey Mysterio defeated El Grande Americano (8:36)

******** 

Announced for Backlash so far: 

  • Seth Rollins vs. Bron Breakker 
  • IYO SKY vs. Asuka 

Asuka promo 

Asuka said she wasn’t done with Sky yet. She was still Sky’s senpai. All she tried to do was help Sky, but she only disappointed her. Sky was ungrateful, selfish, and her biggest failure. Sky failed Asuka and failed her family. 

Asuka said, “And now, we’re both alone, because I didn’t want another IYO.” (Another reference to Sane without saying her name.) Asuka said Sky killed her family, and now nothing would stop Asuka from destroying her. She would teach Sky one final lesson: that she would never be ready for Asuka. 

*******

Oba Femi vs. Grayson Waller 

Femi slammed Waller before hitting a running uppercut and a Fall From Grace powerbomb for the pinfall win. 

— After the match, Femi said the top champions were all tied up, and the United States Champion wasn’t accepting open challenges. Instead, Femi issued an open challenge to face him. He offered everyone a chance to step up, but warned that anyone who did so would be punished by the ruler. 

The crowd was into Femi as usual. 

Match result: Oba Femi defeated Grayson Waller (1:04)

********

Liv Morgan spoke to Roxanne Perez backstage. Morgan wanted to finish the conversation they were having before WrestleMania when Vaquer bashed their heads together. (So they had no opportunity to chat in the last three weeks outside of this show.) 

Morgan knew it must have been tough for Perez to watch everything that went down with Finn Bálor, because she knew they were close. But Morgan said they were a family, and Bálor put himself before the family. Morgan would never do that, so she would be in Perez’s corner tonight. 

Morgan asked Perez if she trusted her. Perez nodded her head, but told Morgan to go ahead without her. 

After Morgan left, Bálor slipped into the room unnoticed somehow and warned Perez that she couldn’t trust anyone in Judgment Day. Perez wondered if she could trust Bálor. She told him to leave before he got hurt. He wished her luck and left. 

Raquel Rodriguez & Roxanne Perez (w/ Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan) vs. Bayley & Lyra Valkyria 

Perez was a huge fan favourite in front of her hometown crowd, and the crowd booed whenever the babyfaces went on offence against her. Cole said she had about 30 friends and family in the crowd. 

Perez and Valkyria got hot tags after a break, but it was the babyface Valkyria who ran wild to the chorus of boos. Perez fought back and gave Bayley a Russian leg sweep as Rodriguez simultaneously hit a big boot, but Valkyria broke up the cover. 

Perez knocked Valkyria off the apron and set up Bayley for Pop Rox, but Bayley countered and hit Bayley-to-belly for two after Rodriguez broke up the cover. Valkyria tackled Rodriguez out of the ring. 

Morgan leaped on the apron, so Bayley went after her. Bayley grabbed Morgan by the hair, but Morgan jumped down to the floor to break it up, and Bayley bounced off the rope as a result. The ref didn’t call a DQ, but this was basically Bayley’s own fault. 

The distraction allowed Perez to hit a shining wizard and Pop Rox for the pinfall win to a big pop from the crowd. 

Match result: Roxanne Perez & Raquel Rodriguez defeated Bayley & Lyra Valkyria (9:20)

The match itself was just ok, but it was nice to see Perez get a big ovation and a win in her hometown in her return to the ring. 

******** 

There was a quick Sol Ruca video package. She signs her Raw contract next week. 

Main event segment 

Roman Reigns entered to a very big reaction. He said it’s been a while since he’s been in Texas, and if you couldn’t tell by watching at home, they loved him here. Everyone cheered. 

Reigns said they created this world title belt in spite of him. They made it to try to take away from his shine, but it didn’t work. There was an old saying, and it was true: the title didn’t make the man, the man made the title. That’s exactly what he did. He put the title in the main event and on night two of WrestleMania. He made the title relevant, and now, you could finally be proud of it. Now, you could finally choose to acknowledge this title. Reigns told Loredo to acknowledge him. They did. 

Jacob Fatu entered. Reigns said he gave Fatu a week to think it over and hoped he had made the right choice. Reigns hoped that Fatu would choose to unite their family and not divide. 

Fatu said he didn’t need a week, a day, or an hour to think about it. Fatu knew exactly what he wanted when he came out last week. He didn’t hesitate when he said he needed that title. 

Fatu said Reigns must be stuck in his WWE main event bubble. Reigns didn’t grind like him. Twelve years of hard work and suffering, not knowing what the next meal was going to be. While Reigns was running the Bloodline, Fatu was broke, foaming out the mouth, grinding on the front line, trying to figure out if he would get here or not. 

It wasn’t how you started, but how you finish, and it got him standing out here now in front of Reigns’ ass. When he got started in WWE, Reigns, Jimmy, and Jey didn’t call him. Solo Sikoa did. Sikoa gave him a chance. 

Reigns cut him off. Reigns said Fatu was either confused or dumber than he thought. Sikoa couldn’t even get a coffee delivered to the building if he wanted to. Reigns was the one who ran the place. 

Reigns admitted he got a little distracted because things did get hectic around here, but he did sign off on Fatu. But now Fatu was sounding like a confused fool. Fatu didn’t deserve it and hasn’t earned it. Allowing Fatu to compete against him was nepotism, and he couldn’t allow that. 

Before Reigns could continue, Fatu aggressively grabbed him by the jaw and wouldn’t let go until Reigns bonked him with the mic. Fatu put him in the Tongan Death Grip and headbutted him until he fell to the mat. Fatu warned Reigns that he would take everything from him. 

Fatu held the title before dropping it on Reigns. There was a smattering of boos for Fatu as he walked off. 

Reigns, still down on the mat, grabbed the mic and said he would see Fatu at Backlash. Before the show ended, Fatu told Reigns off-mic that he’d see his punk-ass next week.

(This was another strong segment following last week’s setup. Fatu comes across as completely different from everyone else on the show and as a title challenger. It’s tricky because he’s an easy guy to root for, but going against Reigns seems to automatically make him a heel to this audience right now. He doesn’t seem to be going full-fledged heel, he’s just out of his mind with the title within his grasp, so we’ll see how they handle it.) 

WWE NXT Revenge week two live results: Last Woman Standing

Posted on by Chris Aiken

Sol Ruca and Zaria will attempt to settle their rivalry on WWE NXT tonight.

The lineup for week two of NXT Revenge includes a Last Woman Standing match between former friends Ruca and Zaria. It’s taking place one night after Ruca made her Raw debut on the night after WrestleMania 42, where she faced Liv Morgan but lost due to an interfering Zaria.

The men’s and women’s North American titles will both be on the line tonight. In a casket match, Tatum Paxley defends her belt against Blake Monroe. Men’s champion Myles Borne is putting his championship up for grabs against Dion Lennox.

Another title match will see Lexis King and EK Prosper battle it out to determine a new men’s Speed Champion.

Plus, Joe Hendry, who is heading to the main roster with a call-up to Raw, will take on Keanu Carter.

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

**********

NXT is back in on the air in front a live studio audience from a sound stage at the Performance Center in Orlando. This is week two of “Revenge”. The show is opening with a title match.

Myles Borne vs. Dion Lennox (with Darkstate) for the NXT North American Championship

—

The Darkstate cohorts involved themselves at ringside, and they distracted Borne so that Lennox could ambush him. Lennox works over Borne through a commercial break, and the beating continues after the break. Borne takes a bump on the ring steps, and he also took a slingshot into a sit-out powerbomb from Lennox for a near fall.

Comeback by Borne, and they trade near falls. Borne is cut off, and he takes a superplex off the top rope. Lennonx goes to cover him, and Borne hulks up. Another distraction from Darkstate at ringside, which allows Lennox to block a finisher from Borne. However, Borne counters Lennox and Darkstate’s interference. Borne then uses zig zag to set up the deciding pinfall.

Good opener.

Match result: NXT North American Champion Myles Borne defeated Dion Lennox via pinfall to retain this title.

— Blake Monroe is backstage with the Vanity Project, and they give her a pep talk as she stares into the reflection in her fake title belt. She says they can go party with “baddies” they matched with on a dating app. They assure her they are a text away, and they will be across the street. Turns out they are catfished by Shiloh Hill, which we learn in another skit after a commercial break where Hill is chatting with NXT Women’s North American Champion Tatum Paxley. She was concerned about Vanity Project interfering in her match later on against Monroe. Shiloh assures her they will not interfere, and he tells her about catfishing them.

Joe Hendry vs. Keanu Carver

—

The match goes through a commercial break. Carver uses his size to his advantage in the match, but Hendry was still competitive. Hendry gets worked over, with Carver targeting Hendry’s back. Hendry makes a comeback and he does a kip up. Hendry goes for his signature pose, only to walk into a lariat.

Spinebuster by Carver and he starts pounding on Hendry from a mounted position. The referee steps in to stop the match, as he calls her the bell.

Match result: Keanu Carver defeated Joe Hendry via referee stoppage.

— Lizzy Rain is the focus of a personality profile. Her in-ring debut on NXT is next week, and persona is a heavy metal gimmick.

Lexis King (with Birthright) vs. EK Prosper in the WWE Speed Championship tournament final

—

They have an exciting match with what time they had. Birthright members Arianna Grace and Stacks interfere, which allows King to win the tournament and the title. With under two minutes remaining, the fight spills outside.

King takes a bump on the apron and floor. Prosper comes off the top with a moonsault onto a pile of bodies. Under a minute remaining, and Grace slaps Prosper across the face. Prosper then superkicks Uriah Connors and Stacks at ringside. However, that distraction allows King to recover and execute a Coronation. Three count later, and new…

Match result: Lexis King defeated EK Prosper via pinfall after outside interference to win the WWE Speed Championship.

— Following up on a earlier skit, Jackson Drake is with Vanity Project. Drake is upset he got “stood up” by the mystery date, which is a catfish situation.

— Playing off an earlier skit with Robert Stone. Saquon Shugars informs Dion Lennox and Darkstate he got them a rematch for the Men’s North American Championship. Shugars got himself booked in a title match.

Tatum Paxley vs. Blake Monroe in a casket match for the NXT Women’s North American Championship

—

As the story goes, Shiloh Hill built the casket used in the match. They brawl throughout the match. Of course, the casket is frequently used as a prop. Other props used early on in the match include a bouquet of flowers and a dollhouse. Paxley takes a bump on the dollhouse at ringside just before the show cuts to a commercial break.

The brawl continues throughout the break, and they are fighting in the ring when the show returns from the break. They fight standing in the casket and top of it. Spanish Fly off the casket to the floor in a spot where the studio audience chanted “holy s***.”

Monroe sprays Paxley with a fire extinguisher, and Paxlet takes an implant DDT on the floor. Monroe puts Paxley inside the casket and shuts the lid. Monroe thinks she won, but Paxley uses Monroe’s fake title belt to block the casket from closely completely.

Tug-o-war over the fake title belt, and Monroe appears to win that battle. Monroe reveals a loaded pillow she used earlier in the match is filled with gimmicked diamonds. Paxley executes her finisher on the pile of diamonds. Following up with a running dropkick on Monroe, and Monroe tumbles into the casket. Paxley tosses the fake title belt into the casket, and Paxley shuts the win. And still…

Match result: NXT Women’s North American Championship Tatum Paxley defeated Blake Mornoe in a casket match to retain her title.

— Jackson Drake leaves the bar with a muscular woman that he met. They hit it off and she tells him he was catfished. They then leave together.

— NXT Women’s Champion Lola Vice enters the ring for her first promo since winning the title. She puts over Jacy Jayne as the former champion. Vice then cuts a good babyface promo before being interrupted by Izzi Dame and The Culling.

Vice is wearing her newly won NXT title around her waist, and her AAA Mixed Tag Team title belt is hanging from her waist. Niko Vance and Shawn Spears circle Vice, and Vance snatches the Mixed title belt. That distracts Vice, which allows Dame to drop Vice with a high kick. Dame poses with the NXT title while standing over a fallen Vice. The theme for heels tonight are distractions often and always.

— New Speed Champion Lexis King is being interviewed alongside Birthright when he confronted by EK Prosper and Dorian Van Dux. This sets up a tag team match against two members of Birthright.

— Kendal Grey is the focus of a great “Chronicle” segment. She narrates a video package talking her upbringing and journey to becoming a wrestler. This is a pretty great personality profile.

— Lola Vice tells Robert Stone she has “the perfect person is mind” to even the score with The Culling after the ambush earlier. A sudden commotion in Stone’s office, and Ricky Saints apparently lured Shiloh Hill into the office by using Stone’s cellphone. Hill was attacked and has a shelf laying on top of him as Stone and security run into the room. This puts their next match in jeopardy. Will Hill recover?

— NXT Champion Tony D’Angelo receivers a mystery gift box while talking with Robert Stone, who tells D’Angelo that next week Stone will have better idea who is his next challenger. Keanu Carver confronts D’Angelo with a warning about “sharks” circling the champ.

Sol Ruca vs. Zaria in a last woman standing match

—

Zaria sneaks into the ring during her entrance for an ambush. Ruca fights off Zaria and Zaria is scrambling at ringside. Zaria turns the proverbial tables with a shot from a trash can. A kendo stick soon becomes involved, as does more trash cans. Zaria whips Ruca with cable wire. They do a modified hangman spot for heat.

The brawling continues back in the ring, where Ruca delivers an X-Factor. They do some spots with a kendo stick, and Zaria has to answer a ten count. They tease a powerbomb off the apron, but Zaria escapes to boot Ruca at ringside.

The studio audience chants for tables as the fight continues. Soon thereafter, they do a stunt where Ruca spears Zaria through a gimmicked wall.

They go through a commercial break with more brawling around ringside. Back from the commercial break, and they perched on the barricade. That set up a stunt where Zaria gives Ruca an F5 on the broadcast booth. The desk implodes on impact, and Ruca must answer a ten count. Ruca barely beats the count as Zaria sets up a table at ringside.

Comeback by Ruca, but she is on rubber legs. More tables are set up ringside, complete with Slim Jim logos.Two tables set side-by-side. That leads to a big spot where Ruca climbed on a perch overlooking the ring. She looks to set up a spot with Zaria laid out on the tables.

Zaria disappears from the tables by the time Ruca climbs on the perch. Zaria surprises Ruca on the perch, but Ruca is able to leapfrog a spear. Ruca then executes a Sol Snatcher on the perch. The move looked to hurt Ruca for real. They both rise to heir feet and trade punches atop the perch. Slugfest develops as they tease knocking each other off the perch.

Teetering on the edge, Zaria flails with Ruca holding on to her. Zaria begs off and pleads with Ruca. Zaria says she is sorry, and Ruca pulls her away from the edge. There is an awkward moment where they look into each other’s eyes. They cry tears and hug. Zaria’s face melts into a sinister grin, and she shoves Ruca off the perch.

Ruca takes an ugly bump off the perch on to the tables. One table broke, and Ruca hit her head on the either table. It looked brutally painful. Ruca cannot answer the ten count, and Zaria is the last woman standing.

Match result: Zaria defeated Sol Ruca in a last woman standing match.

WWE Raw live results: The night after WrestleMania 42

Posted on by Steve Khan

Date: April 20, 2026
Location: T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV 

The Big Takeaway —

Jacob Fatu is next in line for Roman Reigns’ world title. The challenge was made for Backlash, but we’ll have to wait until next week for the official announcement. 

Ethan Page and Sol Ruca officially joined Raw, and both were involved in impromptu matches. Page beat Je’Von Evans (thanks to a distraction), and Ruca lost to Liv Morgan (thanks to interference by Zaria). Joe Hendry also appears to be joining the brand, as he has a concert scheduled next week. 

The Street Profits returned, while Rhea Ripley said goodbye to Iyo Sky as she heads to SmackDown full-time. 

Read more below. 

**********

Show Recap — 

The show started with a long recap video of WrestleMania 42, which included a clip of Brock Lesnar removing his gloves and boots in the ring. Michael Cole said Lesnar “has called it a day,” and they would look back at his career tonight. 

Also announced for tonight is a tag match with Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky facing Asuka and Kairi Sane. 

Oba Femi kicks off the Raw after WrestleMania 42

Oba Femi entered wearing a suit. He received a big ovation and chants of his name. Femi stated, “The ruler has arrived.” He dropped the mic and basked in the crowd chants. 

That was that. 

********

Asuka and Sane cut a pre-taped promo on Sky and Ripley. Asuka took credit for Sky’s success and told her it didn’t have to be this way. Asuka claimed that Sky had corrupted Sane and that, along with Ripley, she would face the consequences tonight. 

WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley & IYO SKY vs. Asuka & Kairi Sane

Ripley entered to a big reaction. During a break, they showed a replay of Ripley beating Jade Cargill for the title, and Sky gave her a big hug. As the match began, there was a single male chanting, “Rhea sucks,” so everyone around him started booing him. 

Asuka distracted the referee so Sane could attack Ripley, but Ripley knocked Sane off the apron without a problem. Asuka used that distraction to kick Ripley in the head and knock her out of the ring, and Sane followed with an Insane Elbow to the outside. 

The heels had control during a break, but Ripley fought back by knocking Asuka off the apron and hitting Sane with a running kick. Sky made the hot tag and hit Asuka with strikes before hitting both opponents with a double dropkick. Sky woke up the crowd by doing her pose and hitting both opponents with running meteoras. 

Ripley gave Asuka a Razor’s Edge, and Sky followed with a missile dropkick, but Asuka kicked out at two (Sane flew in to break it up, but she was late, and Asuka kicked out). Asuka and Sane double-teamed Ripley, but Sky broke up a cover. 

Sky hit Asuka with a suicide dive (basically landing on her head again), and Ripley headbutted Sane. Ripley gave Sane a Rip-tide, and Sky followed with a moonsault for the pinfall win. 

Match result: IYO SKY & Rhea Ripley defeated Kairi Sane & Asuka (11:37)

A decent match. The crowd was pretty quiet for the actual wrestling. 

Sky picked up an expected win here after being left off of WrestleMania. 

********

Adam Pearce congratulated Penta on his win and called the ladder match incredible. He wasn’t sure how Penta could possibly follow that performance. Je’Von Evans congratulated Penta but said he planned to become the IC champion soon. Penta said the title wasn’t leaving him any time soon. Penta left. 

Pearce introduced Ethan Page to Evans as the newest member of Raw. He got a pretty good pop. Page mocked Evans for thinking he deserved another title shot. Page said he always gets what he wants, and he wanted the Intercontinental Championship. Unlike Evans, he wouldn’t need a second shot at it. 

Evans got in his face, so Pearce put them in a singles match tonight. Evans told Page nobody was taking his spot, “especially not you.” 

********

They showed a picture of CM Punk, and people booed. He’s up next. 

El Grande Americano, Bravo and Rayo cut a promo during the break. 

Royce Keys was shown in the crowd. He didn’t get much of a reaction. 

CM Punk and Cody Rhodes segment 

Punk walked through the back and onto the stage with no music. He got a mixed reaction (probably more booing). He entered the stage, and Cult of Personality hit as he made his way to the ring. Punk was booed in the ring, but there were louder chants of his name. (More people liked him than not, but the people booing were louder.)

Punk said he’s been dealing with a lot of loss the past six months or so. He was overseas in Japan and got a phone call that his friend Duke Roufus didn’t wake up that morning. Larry passed away not long after that. 

That was followed by the losses of WWE staffers Kerwin Silfies, Jim Shank, and Davey Coates. These were the people behind the scenes who made this place a well-oiled machine. (Fans gave this a big round of applause.) These people were with him so often that they considered each other family. (Punk encouraged the fans to give them an ovation, and they did.) On top of that, his friend Bo Leuders passed on April 1st. 

Punk also lost last night. All of the aforementioned losses stung a little more than losing the title did. Every week, the fans helped him heal and get through all of these losses. Being the champion gave him an anchor that kept him from slowing down or reducing himself to a puddle of tears, even when he wanted to. He thanked them for helping him process all the grief. Something told Punk they’d help him get through his loss last night. 

Punk said he wasn’t even supposed to be the heavyweight champion. He barely survived Gunther before being cashed in on by Seth Rollins. He was only champion for a few minutes, and maybe that would be enough, but he stayed ready and poured his heart and soul into this. 

Because he stayed ready, he became the number one contender after Rollins got hurt. If he didn’t stay ready, they’d be Yeeted and talking to Jey Uso right now instead. (Some people booed this because they missed Punk’s point, so Punk told them that he liked Jey Uso.) 

He doesn’t know when another opportunity would arise, but he was still smiling because he was still the best in the world. He had a dream since he was a kid, and he proved it last night by main-eventing WrestleMania. It wasn’t his night, but he wasn’t going to cry about it. He was going to stay ready, because you never knew when a title opportunity would fall out of the sky. 

Punk was about to leave, but Cody Rhodes entered. Rhodes walked out with a limp. He removed his shades to reveal a nasty black eye. He also received a mixed reaction. 

Rhodes said this wasn’t quite what he was expecting from Punk. Punk asked if he thought he would crash out after losing. Rhodes said yes. Rhodes said he knew Punk and how he handled things. Punk said he understood why Rhodes felt that way about him crashing out.

Rhodes said Punk was buttoned up, and he was glad that Vegas gave Punk his flowers. (Even though they weren’t.) Rhodes said he (Rhodes) was the one standing there looking and feeling like a loser. 

Punk asked if Rhodes thought he (Punk) should feel like a loser. Punk said Rhodes shouldn’t feel like a loser. He beat a future Hall of Famer and legend on Saturday. Fighting his old friend must have been tough. Punk fought someone he hated, which was easy. Punk enjoyed stomping on Roman Reigns’ face and stomping on his sweet pepper necklace. 

Punk said Rhodes was a winner. The crown was heavy for Rhodes, but Punk felt free right now without the title. Punk wanted Rhodes to keep defending his belt. Punk said he would be ready. He looked at Rhodes’ title belt and said you never know when a title opportunity would fall out of the sky. Rhodes responded, “Just say when.”  

(This was an obvious tease for down the road. It was a bit of an odd segment, because it was laid out as if Punk would get a big ovation. But both he and Rhodes received mixed reactions.)

********

Finn Bálor pre-taped promo 

Finn Bálor said Dominik brought out the Demon, and the Demon put down Dom. Bálor wasn’t finished with Judgment Day. Dom was the first to fall after drawing first blood. He expected this from Dom, but not from JD McDonagh. 

He remembered when McDonagh was a 12-year-old kid when he walked into the gym in Ireland. Bálor helped him grow into one of the best performers in the world. He knew McDonagh would have his back no matter what. But the moment of truth came when McDonagh chose to stick with Dom. Bálor would take out McDonagh tonight. 

Ethan Page vs. Je’Von Evans

The announcers acknowledged their NXT feud.

This went through a break after Evans hit a dive. Evans fought back late in the match and dumped Page from the ring. He went after Page near the announce table, but Rusev suddenly appeared behind the barricade. 

Rusev took a swing, but Evans ducked and punched him instead. Evans leaped at Rusev and knocked him into the barricade. This all happened in front of the referee, who did nothing. 

Back in the ring, Evans went to the ropes, but Page tripped him and hit Twisted Grin for the pinfall win. 

— Rusev attacked Evans and put him in the Accolade. Page smirked and left the ring. Penta ran out to make the save, but Page tripped him off the top rope, and Rusev followed with a Machka Kick. 

Page applauded Rusev. Rusev wasn’t interested, so Page backed off before Rusev put Penta in the Accolade. There were light chants of “Rusev sucks” as he posed with the IC title belt. 

Match result: Ethan Page defeated Je’Von Evans (9:45)

I believe this was Evans’ first pinfall loss on Raw since November, when he lost to Gunther. 

******** 

Danhausen entered during the break. He was sort of dressed like John Cena. He said he was the new GOAT after Cena passed the torch to him. He had a new list of demands: a Danhausen animated series (perhaps a nod to the new AEW animated web series), a Danhausen cereal, and his face on the side of the truck. 

Tyrese Haliburton and Funny Marco were in the crowd. Also in the crowd were Paige, Brie Bella, and Nikki Bella, who all got a nice pop. 

********

Liv Morgan segment 

Liv Morgan entered with Judgment Day. She called herself the greatest Women’s World Champion ever. She thanked her Judgment Day teammates and said she loved them. She also thanked Stephanie Vaquer for reminding her that she was the most talented woman in WWE. This was her ring, her division, her show, and her championship. If everyone thought she was messy and trouble before, just you wait—

Sol Ruca interrupted. She got a pretty good reaction. Ruca called Morgan an inspiration for her after everything she’s done over the past decade. Morgan was the top woman in the division, and Ruca congratulated her. 

Morgan said Ruca had some nerve interrupting her celebration. But since Ruca was so nice to her, Morgan would say this as nicely as she could: “You are no Liv Morgan, sweetie.” Morgan told Ruca to get out of her ring right now. 

Ruca said she wasn’t out there for a fight, but she wasn’t about to back down from one. 

Peace entered and made a match between the two of them right now. (Did he have nothing planned for tonight?) 

Non-title match: Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan (w/ Raquel Rodriguez & Roxxane Perez) vs. Sol Ruca

Ruca used her athleticism early on to catch Morgan off guard, hitting an X-factor followed by a springboard moonsault to the outside. Morgan took advantage of a distraction to hit a backstabber and take control during the break. (They didn’t show any replays and the announcers didn’t mention it, so you’d have no idea this happened if you don’t get to see the action during commercials.) 

Morgan went for three amigos, but Ruca countered with a suplex of her own. Ruca followed with strikes, a German suplex, a missile dropkick, and a running knee for two. Ruca came off the top, but Morgan caught her with a Codebreaker for two. Morgan went for Oblivion, but Ruca escaped by rolling right through onto her feet. 

Ruca followed with a superkick and a Sol Snatcher. The crowd buzzed before she did it because they saw it coming, and they popped big for the move itself. However, Morgan managed to roll out of the ring before Ruca could make a cover. Ruca did a handspring dive over the top and to the outside to wipe out the heels. 

As the ref checked on Morgan in the ring (for a very long time), Zaria ran out and shoved Ruca into the ring post. Zaria also hit a spinebuster while the ref was still checking on Morgan. The idiot ref turned around and saw Ruca down, but somehow didn’t see Zaria on the ramp. 

Ruca avoided a countout, but as soon as she slipped in the ring, Morgan hit Oblivion for the pinfall win. 

— After the match, Vaquer entered and faced off with Morgan on the ramp. 

Match result: Liv Morgan defeated Sol Ruca in a non-title match (11:54)

This was a good showcase for Ruca—until she lost. Losing to the world champion isn’t the worst thing, but the finish still sucked. The referee was distracted for an unbelievably long time. It’s also silly that Vaquer, who was completely screwed out of her title by Morgan, waited until after all the shenanigans to come out and confront her. 

********

Fabolous, Maino, Dave East, and Jim Jones were in the crowd. 

There was a big Brock Lesnar career video package. (I could be wrong, but I don’t think they ever used the word retirement all night when referring to Lesnar.)

The Vision segment

Paul Heyman entered with tag team champions Logan Paul and Austin Theory. Heyman said he had a speech prepared, but he was thrown off guard. His favourite thing about WrestleMania was expecting the unexpected. Yesterday was a moment so unexpected that it will live in his heart—and he suspects the hearts of many—for the rest of his life. 

Despite the fact that, earlier tonight, Punk kissed the asses of everyone backstage, this supposed greatest production team of all time still had his beast in the “Now” portion of the “Then, Now, and Forever” signature that starts the show. Heyman freaked out and wanted them to put Lesnar in the “Forever” portion because he would forever be the baddest man that has ever been in a WWE ring. 

Heyman did want to talk about the now. He claimed WWE was experiencing a resurgence in the tag division thanks to Paul and Theory. 

Paul tried to talk, but the crowd booed him out of the building. He said the only reason the Usos and LA Knight won at Mania was because of the ungrateful IShowSpeed. Paul was sick of these YouTubers and streamers coming into their business and doing what they do. He hated the outsiders. Nothing that happened at WrestleMania mattered because IShowSpeed left with a piece of Paul’s fist in his face, while he still left the show with Theory as the world tag team champions. 

Heyman wanted to acknowledge the favour that Gunther did for him. Heyman knew he owed him one, and whenever Gunther was ready, Heyman would repay. The best assist of the weekend belonged to the man who cut Rollins in half—Bron Breakker. 

Breakker entered. He said it was one year ago that he became the leader of the Vision in this same arena because Rollins was too weak. (I don’t know if he misspoke, because that happened in October and not in Vegas.) Breakker’s favourite part of the weekend was ruining everything for Rollins after he came this close to beating Gunther. 

Rollins’ music hit, and he attacked Breakker from behind with a chair. Paul and Theory attacked Rollins, but Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins ran out to make the save. Ford wiped them out with a dive, and the Street Profits chased the champs away through the crowd. 

Back in the ring, Breakker went for a spear, but Rollins nailed a superkick. Rollins went for a stomp, but Breakker avoided it and hit the spear anyway. Breakker screamed at Rollins before hitting another spear. Breakker stood over Rollins as the segment ended. 

(Breakker was somehow bleeding from the forehead. He was bleeding at ringside when the Profits entered, but the only thing that happened to him at that point was Rollins hitting him from behind.) 

********

McDonagh cut a pre-taped promo on Bálor. He didn’t appreciate Bálor taking cues from Punk and talking down to Judgment Day like he was the leader. Turning on Bálor was easy, and he would do it again. McDonagh would prove that the Bálor we all knew and loved was dead. 

Finn Bálor vs. JD McDonagh

Bálor attacked McDonagh during his entrance and wiped him out with a dive. Bálor attacked him through the crowd before heading back to the ring, where the match began. 

Despite all of that, McDonagh took over clean with a simple back elbow. McDonagh held control through a break, tossing him around ringside. McDonagh hit a corkscrew splash and seemed to land right on Bálor’s mouth. McDonagh checked on him before making a cover, and Bálor came up bleeding from the mouth moments later. 

Bálor hit a spinning headlock elbow drop and a slingblade, but McDonagh avoided a dropkick and hit a headbutt for two. McDonagh went for a moonsault, but Bálor got his feet up, hit a dropkick and followed with a Coup de Grace for the pinfall win. 

— Dom attacked Bálor after the match, but Bálor fought him off and hit a dropkick. Bálor went for Coup de Grace, but McDonagh pulled Dom to safety. 

Match result: Finn Bálor defeated JD McDonagh (6:14) 

********

Jackie Redmond interviewed Gunther. He said he felt great and proved every word he said about Rollins. He wanted to make it clear there was no “we” when it came to him and Heyman. Heyman simply owed him a favour. Redmond wanted to know more. Gunther said the only thing people should expect is the world title back around his waist. 

LA Knight interrupted. Knight informed Gunther that he wasn’t the only one eyeing the world title, and unlike Gunther, Knight didn’t need help to win at WrestleMania. Knight left. Gunther didn’t appreciate this. 

******* 

Next week on Raw: 

  • Becky Lynch appears 
  • Joe Hendry concert 
  • Follow-up to the main event segment 

When they announced Hendry, Corey Graves asked whose name he’d have to say to make Hendry disappear. 

*******

Ripley and Sky say goodbye 

Ripley and Sky had an emotional goodbye backstage. Ripley didn’t want it to be forever, but she told Sky to handle her business on Raw, while she went to SmackDown to be the champion. They said they loved each other and parted ways. 

As Ripley walked through the back, she walked past Morgan. Morgan said, “See you around,” and Ripley responded, “I’m looking forward to it.” Ripley left. 

********

Roman Reigns main event segment 

Reigns entered with Jimmy and Jey Uso. He told Las Vegas to acknowledge him. They did. 

Reigns said he was going to keep it simple tonight: talk about the title and the future. But then he ran into his cousins, so it made sense to discuss family business first. Reigns looked at them and said he missed this. He missed having their full trust, respect, and admiration. He missed doing business with them. 

When they were separated, people like Punk could disrespect them. Some washed rapper from the 90s (Cam’ron) ran his mouth to Jey, despite Jey changing the whole environment (with Yeeting). They belonged together. They were the power, and when they were together, they ran the business. They did it for four years straight. Reigns wasn’t asking the Usos to serve him, he was asking them to be his blood and stand with him. 

Jimmy said Reigns would always be their Tribal Chief, and they would always have his back. Jimmy and Jey held their fingers in the air. (Jey did not say anything.) Reigns was about to join them, but they were interrupted. 

Jacob Fatu entered. Reigns said it’s been a while since he saw Fatu, so he figured there were only a couple of reasons why he would be out there. Reigns said, “I must assume it’s to acknowledge me,” and Fatu quickly responded, “Nah, that ain’t it.” 

Reigns then assumed it’s because Fatu wanted the title. Fatu said he didn’t want the title—he needed the title. Fatu wasn’t out there to be the Tribal Chief, but he needed everything the Tribal Chief had. 

Fatu said, “I need the shoe deal, I need the private jets, I need that Rolex, I need more vehicles, I need a bigger house, I need to put my children in better schools, and I’ll do anything for my family—even if I gotta go through you. So at Backlash, I’m upgrading. At Backlash, I’m levelling up my household. At Backlash, you gonna know, Jacob Fatu is all gas, no brakes with it.” The crowd chanted along as he did his catchphrase. 

Reigns said he wanted all of those things for Fatu as well. Maybe Fatu could beat him, but could he handle the burden of the title? And if Fatu couldn’t beat him, “Can you handle the burden of having to acknowledge me?” Reigns warned that it was thin air at the top with little footing to stand on. 

Reigns would give Fatu a week to think about it, because he would answer him next week on Raw. Reigns left with the Usos. 

(Jacob Fatu was great here. I don’t love Reigns’ promos in general, but he was good here too, and this was a nice, simple setup for Backlash. Reigns is obviously insanely popular, but I wonder how much people will want to see the Bloodline back on top as the focus. It should work for now, as Reigns has a few new potential opponents to keep him busy this summer.) 

WWE NXT Revenge week one live results: Two championship matches

Posted on by Marc Quill

In the aftermath of Stand & Deliver, WWE NXT begins a new special event tonight.

NXT’s two-week Revenge special kicks off with a pair of title matches on tonight’s episode. Lola Vice won the NXT Women’s Championship from Jacy Jayne at Stand & Deliver in a triple threat that also included Kendal Grey. Tonight, Jayne gets her one-on-one rematch for the belt.

The men’s NXT Championship will also be on the line as Tony D’Angelo defends against Ethan Page. Stand & Deliver saw D’Angelo become the new champ by winning a fatal four-way match.

Joe Hendry, the former NXT Champion, will perform a concert addressing his title loss.

A grudge match between Jaida Parker and Kelani Jordan is also part of tonight’s lineup. Plus, former Evolve Women’s Champion Kali Armstrong makes her official NXT debut.

We’ll also get EK Prosper vs. Dorian Van Dux as NXT’s tournament to crown a new men’s Speed Champion continues.

Join us for live coverage starting at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

**********

– Following the “Then, Now, Forever” signature intro, we opened on a hype package that set the stage for tonight’s show.

Jaida Parker vs. Kelani Jordan

Parker and Jordan kicked it off with a long collar-and-elbow tie-up sequence with neither woman getting the upper hand. Jordan got the advantage by sending Parker’s head against the top rope. However, Parker recovered and hit Jordan with a boot, followed by a sliding sleeper hold. Parker kept the hold on tight as she rolled around the rin g with Jordan still trapped. Jordan finally escaped and hit Parker with a boot to the gut, but she was taken down for an armdrag. Big back body drop by Parker sent Jordan out of the ring.

Jordan swept Parker’s leg as she reached the apron. With both women out of the ring, they took each other down with a double-down on the clothesline as we took a commercial break.

As we returned from commercial, Parker was in a bad way as Jordan targeted her legs with attacks during the break. Jordan dragged Parker into near the ring post and smashed the hurt knee against it to cause maximum pain. Parker stopped the onslaught with a nice German suplex. That opening was fleeting as the pain of the knee was too much as Jordan locked in a modified STF right in the middle of the ring. Parker struggled to get to the ropes, but was pulled away just as she was about to reach it. Jordan talked trash to Parker, which seemed to be a mistake as the injured Parker tried to fight back.

Jordan hit a spinning heel kick, but missed on the running splash. Parker took advantage with a Samoan Drop followed by a flurry of running shoulder blocks. Parker connected with the Backstabber to the back of Jordan. With her foe trapped in the corner, Parker clubbed Jordan before hitting a hip drop as she was stunned across the middle turnbuckle. Outside the ring, Jordan pushed Parker against the apron before the two found their way back into the ring. Jordan connected with a nice apron cutter on Parker for a close two-count. Jordan went for a crossbody, but Parker rolled through and caught her. Jordan reversed it into a Dragon Sleeper, but Parker turned that around into a Falcon Arrow for a near-fall. The match ended as Parker ran into an exposed turnbuckle when she tried to hit the Hipnotic , which opened her up to Jordan’s split-legged moonsault for the win.

Kelani Jordan def. Jaida Parker via pinfall

This was a good opener. Some nice stuff between Parker and Jordan here, and the sequence near the end where Jordan’s dragon sleeper got turned into a Falcon Arrow by Parker was unexpectedly smooth.

**********

– Earlier Today footage saw Shiloh Hill mulling over notes on building something when Ricky Saints confronted him. Ethan Page soon had a chat with Saints, wanting his help for his NXT Title match against Tony D’Angelo. Hill was just ruminating with himself in the background as Saints to agree with Page’s proposal of letting him have a NXT Title shot if he got help to defeat D’Angelo.

– The NXT Focus was on Sol Ruca discussing her deteriorating friendship with Zaria as she recounted the events over the last year that led to their falling out. Next week, the two will face off in a Last Woman Standing Match in Week 2 of NXT Revenge.

Joe Hendry in Concert

Once Hendry got in the ring, he started by saying that he lost the NXT Championship, and it meant that he had to ask a lot of difficult questions. Was it the end of the road? Should he just quit? That’s when Hendry looked in the mirror and said “Joe says no”. With that in mind, Hendry said that it was time to lift everyone’s spirits with a Joe Hendry concert.

Hendry then began to sing a song about his recent NXT Championship struggles. Before he could continue, Keanu Carver interrrupted, much to Hendry’s dismay. Hendry then began to brawl with Carver, who withstood a guitar shot from Hendry. Carver then took down Hendry with strikes as security tried to break everyone up. Outside the ring, the security was with Hendry, as Carver hit them with a spear through the barricade.

**********

– Tony D’Angelo talked about his match against Ethan Page for the NXT Title, as he promised to smash Page’s ego to keep the title around his waist.

– Lola Vice was in her locker room when Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer dropped by for a visit. The two champions wished each other luck for their big matches this week.

Kali Armstrong vs. Skylar Raye

Raye offered a handshake, but Armstrong slapped the hand away and showed impressive strength as threw her around. Raye tried to fight back with a kick, followed by a version of the Dirty Diana. That didn’t last loong as Armstrong dropped Raye with a fierce spinebuster. Armstrong connected with a running powerslam, but Raye kicked out at two.

Raye tried to fight back again, but she got hit with a scintillating punch combo from Armstrong for another two-count. Armstrong had Raye trapped in a chinlock, but she missed with the elbow drop. Raye countered a Samoan Drop attempt from Armstrong and hit a running shoulder charge. Raye hit a tornado DDT on Armstrong, but couldn’t win it there and then. Raye headed to the top rope and looked for a high-risk maneuver. Armstrong intercepted with a punch as she then hit another running powerslam. Armstrong then finished it off with “The Kali Connection”, a move that resembled a cross between Bron Breakker’s Super Spear and The Pounce. The three and that’s this match done.

Kali Armstrong def. Skylar Raye via pinfall

An nice debut for Kali Armstrong here, and I appreciate that Skylar got her shots in and it wasn’t a complete and total squash.

**********

– Robert Stone was with Blake Monroe and The Vanity Project, as he said that Tatum Paxley agreed to defend her Women’s North American Title against Monroe, but only if she got to pick the stipuiation, much to Monroe’s dismay.

NXT Championship: Tony D’Angelo (c) vs. “All Ego” Ethan Page

Page talked smack to D’Angelo’s face as the bell rang, but the NXT Champion responded by battering him with strikes and smashing his head against the turnbuckle. D’Angelo scoop slammed Page in the middle of the ring. Page fought back with a kick to the gut as he attempted a suplex on the champion. D’Angelo tried to reverse, but he couldn’t counter the suplex from Page. Ricky Saints appeared at ringside, but he was pulled from underneath the ring. Moments later, we saw Shiloh Hill emerge under the ring, with Saints tied by the legs with a rope. Hill dragged Saints away from the ringside area.

Back to this match, Page dropped D’Angelo on with a kneebuster to the face. Outside the ring, Page hit a swinging neckbreakerr on D’Angelo as this match went to a commercial break.

This NXT Championship match returned from commercial as D’Angelo fought his way out of an Ethan Page resthold. D’Angelo headed to the top rope, but Page reversed that into a powerslam for a two-count. D’Angelo hyped himself up as Page punched at him and he got a surge of adrenaline as a result. Belly-to-belly suplex was followed by a German suplex from D’Angelo. Page got flattened by a D’Angelo spear, but he managed to kick out. D’Angelo’s Forget About It attempt was countered by Page as the two began to hit each other with hard strikes.

D’Angelo hit the Throwback on Page before connecting with Forget About It. One, two….. 2.999999999!!!!!!!!!! D’Angelo sized up Page for a chokeslam, but Page countered with a thumb to the eyes. D’Angelo got thrown into the ringpost as Page set him up on the top rope. Page looked for an avalanche powerslam and made no mistake on it. D’Angelo kicked out at two, which led to Page hitting a body splash from the top rope. Again, D’Angelo kicked out. Page rolled out of the ring and grabbed the NXT Championship from the podium. The referee tried to grab it from him but D’Angelo rolled up him up for a close kickout. Page hit the Ego’s Edge and dropped D’Angelo right on the title belt. D’Angelo somehow kicked out of this.

Outside the ring, Page rearranged the furniture at the commentary table and looked like he was going to hit a Twisted Grin on the table. D’Angelo countered and dropped him face-first onto the barricade. D’Angelo stood on the barricade and hit a spear onto the commentary table. D’Angelo rolled Page back into the ring and connected with Dead To Rights. The three and that’s it, over. Tony D’Angelo remained the NXT Champion.

Tony D’Angelo def. Ethan Page to retain the NXT Championship via pinfall

A solid match for sure, but I gotta be honest, I’m not sure if I like Tony D’Angelo’s character basically turn into “generic tough guy”. His previous gimmick had a lot of personality and fit the wild and wacky world that NXT is trying to present. The match itself was enjoyable despite that.

**********

– Ricky Starks angrily confronted Shiloh Hill for what he did to him in the previous match, promising it wasn’t over.

Myles Borne addresses Dion Lennox & Darkstate

The NXT North American Champion talked about how he pulled the Black and Gold out of Johnny Gargano at Stand & Deliver. He was going to go celebrate, but Dion Lennox hit him with a chair, which Borne saw as his moment being stolen.

Borne said that Darkstate wasn’t safe, which cued the lights going out and the group appearing amongst the crowd. Dion Lennox spoke about Darkstate’s success, and how they were on a recent slump. But, it was going to be over, and because the key was Borne’s NXT North American Title. Lennox threatened Borne.

Saquon Shugars stated that Darkstate had no leader and seemed to be upset at Lennox challenging Borne for the North American Title, claiming that Lennox cared about his own future more than Darkstate’s. Shugars tried to rush the ring, but Borne got the best of him as the rest of Darkstate pulled Shugars out of the ring, seemingly not on the same page.

**********

– We got a video from Zaria’s perspective on how her friendship with Sol Ruca broke down. Zaria said that next week, Ruca would be burning alongside the world when she’s the Last Woman Standing

WWE Speed Championship Tournament: EK Prosper vs. Dorian Van Dux

This match was contested under Speed rules, which meant a three-minute time limit for this match. We got inset remarks from Van Dux, where he stated that he was here to change the definition of destruction.

We started off fast with Prosper using his speed to get ahead of Van Dux with acrobatic dodges. Van Dux countered by throwing Prosper out of the ring as he then soared over the top rope with a dive. Van Dux hit a diving splash from the top rope for the two-count. With Van Dux out of the ring, Prosper hit a diving moonsault from the apron to get ahead of it. The action was fast as Van Dux recovered with a dropkick from the middle turnbuckle. Fast clothesline by Van Dux couldn’t put Prosper away as this match entered sudden death. Shining Wizard by Prosper on Van Dux for a near-fall. Things quickened as Van Dux struck his target hard on the jumping cutter, but couldn’t achieve double impact with the splash. With ten seconds to go, Prosper connected with the high-arching moonsault to win a shot at Lexis King for the Speed Championship.

EK Prosper def. Dorian Van Dux via pinfall

I’ll admit that I’m seeing both these guys with fresh eyes and even with that in mind, I enjoyed how quick and high-stakes this match was. Of the two, D.V.D. looked the most impressive to me and he had a good first impression as a result. Good match here.

**********

– Keanu Carver was being chastised backstage by NXT GM Robert Stone for crashing Joe Hendry’s concert earlier. Carver promised he’d destroy Hendry some more next week.

– A “NXT Chronicle” package on Kendal Grey was shown.

– Elsewhere, Tatum Paxley was asked by Robert Stone about what the stipulation will be for her match against Blake Monroe will be. It turns out the two will face in a Casket Match, as Shiloh Hill rolled in a casket that he created for Paxley.

Next Week – NXT Revenge Week 2:

  • Last Woman Standing: Zaria vs. Sol Ruca
  • NXT North American Championship: Myles Borne (c) vs. Dion Lennox
  • Joe Hendry vs. Keanu Carver
  • NXT Women’s North American Championship Casket Match: Tatum Paxley (c) vs. Blake Monroe

– Things with Darkstate seemed rough right now as Dion Lennox argued with Saquon Shugars about what happened earlier. Shugars seemed upset at Lennox prioritizing his personal glory over the group, but Lennox justified it by stating that going after Myles Borne’s North American Title was perhaps the only chance at gold that the group would get.

NXT Women’s Championship: Lola Vice (c) vs. Jacy Jayne (w/ Fatal Influence)

Vice put her dukes up as the bell rang and things started off at a more methodical pace. Vice took down Jayne as neither woman was able to establish themselves in this early stage of the match. Vice and Jayne traded arm drags as the match took on a more technical pace. Jayne got caught in an armbar from Vice, who then hit her with a hard strike to the gut. Vice targeted Jayne’s gut with kicks to the area as the challenger rolled out of the ring. Vice launched herself from the apron, but Jayne avoided calamity as Lainey Reid took the bullet for her. This allowed Jayne to flatten Vice with a running boot as we took our final commercial break.

We returned to our main event as both Jayne and Vice were recovering in the middle of the ring. Once both women were on their feet, they exchanged strikes and kicks. Vice got the best of Jayne with a snap German suplex. With Jayne stirring to her feet, Vice unleashed a flurry of furious kicks to keep the challenger flatfooted. In the corner, Jayne fell victim to two consecutive running hip strikes. Jayne turned Vice’s submission into a pinning predicament for a near-fall.

Vice kicked Jayne in the head, which sent her foe out of the ring. As Vice rolled Jayne back to the ring, Fatal Influence provided a distraction, which gave Jayne enough time to hit the knee for the near-fall. Jayne maintained momentum as she put Vice on the top rope. However, Vice turned that into a choking submission. Lainey Reid provided a distraction as Fallon Henley hit Vice with a kick to the face. With the referee still distracted, Jayne hit Vice with the spinning punch. The NXT Womens’ Champ somehow kicked out at two here.

Vice used the ropes to assist her in locking Jayne into a sleeper submission. Vice was sent into the ropes by Jayne, as Lainey Reid struck herin the face. The spinning punch from Jayne was avoided, but Vice’s backfist found its target as this matcch came to an end.

After the match, Kali Armstrong literally bulldozed through Fatal Influenced and stared down Vice. Soon, Kendal Grey and Izzi Dame appeared. Just as Zaria headed down to the ring, Sol Ruca attacked her before she could reach the ring. The Triple H/Shawn Michaels producer credits popped up and NXT Revenge Week 1 ended with Vice raising her title high.

Lola Vice def. Jacy Jayne via pinfall to retain the NXT Women’s Championship

**********

Kind of a standard main event title bout here with the babyface champion overcoming heel interference to retain the gold. The post-match stuff with Vice’s upcoming challengers confronting her was fine and it does set up an interesting road map for her title reign.

Overall, week one of NXT Revenge was alright. The matches were entertaining enough (the Speed tournament match being my standout) and I didn’t feel like my time was wasted watching this show. The set up for week two next week was done well and nothing really stuck out as being overly “bad” at all. All in all, tonight was good.

WWE Raw live results: WrestleMania 42 go-home show

Posted on by Steve Khan

Date: April 13, 2026
Location: Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, CA 

The Big Takeaway —

WrestleMania 42 is this weekend. 

**********

Show Recap — 

Raw kicked off immediately with a pre-taped Roman Reigns promo. Reigns said that when he won the Royal Rumble, he told CM Punk to enjoy his time as the World Champion, but instead, he lied and exposed himself as a hypocrite. 

The video cut to clips of Punk’s hypocritical statements. Punk claimed he brought in the Shield, even though when the angle first happened, he claimed he had nothing to do with it. Punk claimed the company treated him like garbage, even though he was champion for 400+ days. Punk claimed he didn’t surround himself with a wiseman or yes-men, even though he previously had Paul Heyman or the Straight Edge Society by his side. 

They also showed Pat McAfee’s comments about Punk taking the money to go to Saudi Arabia. Reigns said he liked McAfee, but never has a punter run his mouth to him. Nobody believed in Punk anymore because it wasn’t 2012. Reigns didn’t lie. That’s why people liked him and trusted him. Either Punk would tell the truth tonight, or Reigns would. 

(This was well done, and a good idea to start the show with this as a hook for their segment later tonight.) 

********

Wrestlers were shown arriving at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, and a video package for Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi aired. 

Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman segment 

Adam Pearce and Paul “Triple H” Lesvesque stood in the ring together. Pearce wanted to ensure the Lesnar-Femi match actually happened, so he decided they would sign their match contract separately. 

Heyman marched out and agreed with Pearce’s sentiment. We were close to WrestleMania, and nobody should get close to Lesnar. 

Lesnar entered and signed the contract. Heyman said it might as well be a Nigerian death warrant. Lesnar ripped the microphone away from Heyman and said we wouldn’t even know Femi’s name after Sunday. Heyman gave us a spoiler for the real WrestleMania main event—Lesnar would win, and Femi would lose. 

********

After all the talking to kick off the show, we were treated to a video involving the Vision. IShowSpeed was having doubts about his upcoming match. Logan Paul and Austin Theory tried to psych him up and did some in-ring training with him. Speed was full of confidence following this short training session. 

During a break, Michael Cole said WrestleMania was all about the moments, and they aired a clip of Giannis Antetokounmpo saying his favourite Mania moment was Lesnar ending Undertaker’s streak. 

There was footage of the Mania stage being built at the stadium in Las Vegas. 

Charlotte Flair (w/ Alexa Bliss) vs. Lyra Valkyria (w/ Bayley)

Flair had control throughout a break after hitting a big boot, but Valkyria came back with a middle rope leg drop onto a hunched-over Flair for two. Flair responded with a moonsault for a nearfall before Valkyria hit a fisherman’s suplex for two. 

Flair chucked Valkyria outside the ring, knocking over Bayley in the process. Back in the ring, Flair rolled up Valkyria, but Bayley tripped up Flair, and Valkyria managed to fall backward into a cover for the pinfall win. 

Flair was pissed, and the two teams got into a shoving match until the referees backed them off. 

Match result: Lyra Valkyria defeated Charlotte Flair (10:25) 

********

Cole let us know there were still tickets available for the SmackDown and Raw surrounding WrestleMania. (Both shows are also in Vegas.) 

The MFTs confronted LA Knight and the Usos backstage. Solo Sikoa couldn’t believe Jimmy and Jey were hanging out with Knight every week. Knight challenged three of them to a six-man tag match tonight so he could smack them back to factory settings. 

Penta cut a commercial break promo plugging the Intercontinental title ladder match at Mania. He planned on bringing pain, and the match would be a war. 

They plugged the Hulk Hogan Netflix documentary. (The new one, not the one from 2017.) There was only a split-second crowd reaction to this because the video was followed by Stephanie Vaquer’s entrance, but it sounded like people were booing the Hogan plug. We’ll see what the live reports indicate. 

********

Stephanie Vaquer and Liv Morgan segment 

Vaquer entered the ring for an interview with Cathy Kelley, but she was immediately attacked from behind by Liv Morgan. (Morgan still has a knot on her forehead.) Vaquer collided with Kelley, who was knocked down (perhaps Kelley’s first ever bump). 

This led to our latest pull-apart brawl, as the two women brawled until officials broke things up. With Vaquer out of the ring, Morgan grabbed a mic and said, “I knew your mother was trash, but I didn’t know she raised a little bitch.” (Enlightening stuff.) 

Vaquer stormed back into the ring to brawl again until officials broke it up again. 

(Kelley was helped to the back, and later in the show, Cole said she was checked on by trainers and would be fine.)

********

Jackie Redmond interviewed Iyo Sky backstage. Sky said she may have lost to Jade Cargill on SmackDown, but she did not regret fighting for her friend, Rhea Ripley. Sky would be rooting for Ripley at WrestleMania. 

Asuka and Kairi Sane interrupted. Asuka said Sky went into Mania as the world champion last year, but this year, she was just Ripley’s sidekick. 

Sky said she had enough of Asuka and told Sane she didn’t have to put up with this. Asuka put Sane in a match against Sky tonight (presumably because Pearce didn’t make any matches himself). 

********

Six-man tag team match: LA Knight, Jimmy Uso & Jey Uso vs. Solo Sikoa, JC Mateo & Tanga Loa (w/ Talla Tonga)

This was a short match with a commercial break, so not much happened. 

Jey went for a suicide dive, but Sikoa caught him and drove him into the announce desk. Tama Tonga showed up behind the barricade and was confronted by Sikoa and Tonga. This distracted Loa, so Knight hit him with a BFT for the pinfall win. 

Match result: KA Knight & The Usos defeated Tanga Loa, JC Mateo & Solo Sikoa (6:45) 

********

Jelly Roll’s favourite WrestleMania was The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania X8 in Toronto. There was one more of these segments later on, with a bunch of fans choosing Cody Rhodes’ win over Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40 as their favourite.

Gunther and Seth Rollins segment 

Gunther entered for a promo, but like the earlier segment with Vaquer and Morgan, he was immediately attacked from behind by Seth Rollins. Gunther bailed. 

Rollins said Gunther jumped him two weeks in a row, so tonight was his receipt, and Rollins would finish the job at Mania. Rollins said if this really was personal for Gunther, like he claimed—and not just him seeking a favour from Heyman—he should return to the ring and tell him why he wanted this match at Mania. 

Gunther grabbed a mic and got back into the ring and into Rollins’ face. Gunther said he was indeed solving Heyman’s problem, but he was also doing it with a smile on his face, because Rollins was pissing him off. Rollins strutted around like he was the best in the ring, but he wasn’t—Gunther was, and Rollins never wanted to find that out. 

When he was the world champion, Rollins didn’t seek him out. Instead, Rollins became a useful idiot for Heyman. WrestleMania was personal for him because he wanted to expose that Rollins could not lace his boots. 

They butted heads before exchanging blows. Rollins got the better of this brawl and tried to curb-stomp Gunther’s head onto the ring steps, but Gunther escaped through the crowd. 

******** 

Dominik Mysterio confronted Pearce backstage. Dom didn’t like that Rey Mysterio was getting an IC title shot, while he had to face the Demon Finn Bálor. Dom said Bálor told him the demon was dead. He also signed a contract to fight Bálor, not the demon, and wanted the match cancelled. Pearce said Rey was a Hall of Famer and was getting the IC title match he deserved—and Dom would get what he deserved, too. 

Actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Sacramento Kings player Dylan Cardwell were in the crowd. 

IYO SKY vs. Kairi Sane (w/ Asuka)

During a break, Asuka and Sky played tug-of-war with Sane until Asuka forcefully let go, and Sane collided with Sky as a result. Sane took over in the match, and Asuka took some cheap shots on Sky while the referee was distracted. Sky made her come back following the break with a missile dropkick and running corner meteora. 

Sane distracted the referee after being knocked off the top rope, allowing Asuka to shove Sky into the ring post. This made a loud thud, but Jessika Carr had to play dumb like she didn’t hear anything, even though she turned around and Sky was dead. 

Ripley ran out to her music and hit Asuka with a headbutt (which actually missed by a mile), but was attacked from behind by Jade Cargill. Sky wiped out Cargill in response. 

Sky went to the top rope, but with the referee distracted for at least the third time in the match, Asuka tripped her off, and Sane applied a small package for the pinfall win. 

Match result: Kairi Sane defeated IYO SKY (9:56)

That’s three straight singles losses for Sky, who does not have a singles win in 2026. 

This match probably would’ve been pretty good without all the outside stuff, but the outside stuff is what we’re paying for. 

*******

There was a video package for AJ Lee vs. Becky Lynch. 

Triple H and Pearce entered to Triple H’s music during a break for the next segment. 

Oba Femi segment 

Pearce called out Femi to sign the WrestleMania contract. Femi entered to a strong reaction, and he quickly signed the contract. Triple H alerted Femi to Heyman, who was suddenly standing on the stage. The crowd chanted for Femi. 

Heyman said he’s never seen someone come across as the biggest star in the industry as fast as Femi. Heyman knew when he was safe and knew when he was not, and knew Femi was a violent man. That was also the thing Heyman liked most about Femi. He was the most violent man to come to WWE since Lesnar. He was the fastest rising star since Lesnar. He was the most impressive athlete, fighter, and combat athlete— 

Heyman’s sentence was cut off by the crowd, who continued to chant loudly for Femi. Heyman informed them that it would all come to an end on WrestleMania Sunday. It would all come crashing down in Suplex City with an F5 by Lesnar. Heyman said Femi would have to rebuild his career after WrestleMania and that his door would be open. 

Femi said it was taking everything in his being not to beat Heyman pillar to post. The crowd chanted, “Beat his ass.” Femi wasn’t interested because Heyman’s physical scars would heal, but the emotional scars from his beast losing would last forever. Femi told Heyman to close his door, because the only door Femi needed was the door to WrestleMania. 

Femi said Heyman thought no one could beat Lesnar because of the past 25 years, but over the past four weeks, Femi showed that he absolutely can be beaten. It wasn’t personal for Femi, it was business. But it wasn’t business as usual because this was different. He could feel it, Heyman could feel it, and the fans could feel it. This was the end for Lesnar. 

Femi said Heyman has always been there with Lesnar as his mouthpiece, but he has never been an honest one. If Heyman were honest, he would have come out there and announced that his client was scared of him. He was the mountain that Lesnar could not climb, and he would win at WrestleMania. Femi was the one and always was. Everyone knew it, and at WrestleMania, Heyman would know it, too. 

(This was a good final segment for this match. Femi had to fight through some overwritten dialogue, but he was really good here, particularly when he got more and more fired up.) 

********

They aired Liv Morgan’s Terrible Trouble music video. 

Je’Von Evans & Dragon Lee vs. Rusev & JD McDonagh

There was an impressive spot during a break where Evans hit a frog splash with Rusev positioned more than halfway across the ring. The impressive spots continued when Dragon Lee made a hot tag. Lee leaped over the top rope and used a hurricanrana to yank McDonagh off the apron and into Rusev. 

Lee hit a snap German suplex, but McDonagh responded with a Spanish fly. Evans broke up the cover and wiped out Rusev with a dive. Lee followed moments later with a Styles Clash on McDonagh for the pinfall win. 

— Rusev attacked Lee and Evans after the match. Rey ran out to attack Rusev and went for a 619, but Rusev cut him off with a clothesline. Penta ran out next, but Rusev cut him off with a Machka Kick. Rusev laid out everyone (minus McDonagh) and put Lee in the Accolade. Rusev stood tall. 

Match result: Dragon Lee & Je’Von Evans defeated JD McDonagh & Rusev (8:13) 

Every Raw match is ten minutes or less with a commercial break in the middle, but at least the last 90 seconds of this was fun. And nobody interfered.

********

Danhausen accosted Pearce backstage. Danhausen assumed Pearce was on the phone with John Cena and wanted to talk to him. Pearce said no. The comedy here was Danhausen saying, “You can’t see me,” while Pearce was on the phone, then disappearing when Pearce turned back around. 

(Danhausen also came out in front of the live crowd during break earlier to do his usual bit.) 

Somebody in the crowd had a “We want Naomi” sign. You know why she’s out of action, right? 

******** 

Roman Reigns and CM Punk — WrestleMania 42 go-home segment

Roman Reigns entered. He told Sacramento to acknowledge him. They did. 

CM Punk’s music hit and entered through the crowd. He slapped hands with fans and really, really took his time to get to ringside. Punk stood atop the announce table and addressed Reigns’ cold-open promo. 

It sounded like a political smear campaign to Punk, and he assumed Reigns put it together himself. Punk wanted to tell his truth. The fans could be witnesses, and Reigns could be the judge. Punk wanted Reigns to tell him when he was telling lies. 

Punk made his way up the steps and started his promo while standing on the apron. Punk said he hated Reigns because he envied him. This was all he ever wanted. This was the only dream he wanted since he was a kid. He envied that it was handed to Reigns. He hated that Reigns was champion for 1,316 days because, after some self-reflection, Punk knew how hard he worked to be that great. 

In the history books, when they talk about legacy, they wouldn’t ask how, they would ask how many. Punk hated the number 1,316. He hated how many times Reigns main-evented WrestleMania. He hated that he felt this way. 

Sika was a great man, a great wrestler, a champion, and a Hall of Famer. Punk loved and respected the old-timers. He hated the fact that he invoked Reigns’ father’s name in vain, “and I sincerely apologize to you.” (Punk entered the ring and cut the rest of his promo face-to-face with Reigns.) 

Punk said there was more than one royal family in professional wrestling. He hated that he envied that he wasn’t born into a dynasty. He didn’t know what it was like having that kind of family. 

Punk was born in the backyard and back alleyways of Chicago. He was a misfit who had to find his own family. He found his own family in the streets of Sacramento. He found his family in the locker rooms of every VFW hall, dilapidated Midwest barns, bowling alleys, and abandoned churches. 

Punk found his family on the indies, then he conquered Japan. He went to England and Puerto Rico. He went around the world twice. He wasn’t born on third base with a silver spoon. He busted his ass and made pro wrestling his home, and made them his family. 

Punk hated that he felt this way, or that he had to share anything with Reigns, including his first singles match headlining WrestleMania. Just like he had gold on his shoes and around his waist tonight, on April 19th, there would be gold above his head with his blood-caked face when their match was over, and Las Vegas chanting his name. 

Reigns responded. He said that was probably the truest stuff he’s heard Punk say—until the last part. Reigns wanted to say something true, too. He hated Punk. He hated him for a long time. But the main reason was his relationship with the fans. 

Reigns hoped that when he left, the fans would miss him as much as they missed Punk for ten years. That was the truest thing Punk had, the relationship with their fanbase. No one could take that from him. On Sunday, that was Punk’s truth, but not the reality. 

The reality was that Punk’s time was up. He had months to be relevant (as the world champion), but did nothing with it. This nostalgia experiment would be done, and we would fix the mess that Punk started. They would make this place where they had it (before Punk returned)—at the very top worth every single dollar. 

On Sunday, the Tribal Chief would take over, and Punk, although with the rest of the world, would acknowledge him. 

They stared down as the show ended.

WWE SmackDown live results: Pat McAfee speaks

Posted on by Marc Quill

On last week’s SmackDown, Pat McAfee revealed himself as Randy Orton’s mystery caller as he aligned with Orton to attack Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. McAfee claimed that he wanted to restore the Attitude Era to its former glory as the reason why he chose to help Orton.

Tonight, McAfee has promised he has a “huge surprise,’ though Rhodes will certainly be looking for a bit of revenge against him as WrestleMania 42 looms closer with only a week to goo.

Also tonight, ahead of his unsanctioned match against Jacob Fatu, Drew McIntyre has promised to reveal to the world “the real” Fatu.

Royce Keys is set to officially make his debut on SmackDown tonight after last appearing in the 2026 Royal Rumble and a few Main Event matches.

On Friday afternoon, WWE also announced that Rhea Ripley will be on tonight’s show. She is set to address Jade Cargill’s attack on IYO SKY.

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

**********

– Joe Tessitore welcomed us to tonight’s show as he set the stage for WrestleMania 42 next week. We then got a recap of last week’s series of events featuring Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, and Pat McAfee. Following that, we saw Rhodes walking backstage and asking Nick Aldis where Pat McAfee is. Rhodes was told by Aldis to not go after Pat McAfee, under strict orders from above (i.e. TKO management). Jelly Roll showed up and was looking for Orton and McAfee, and was told the same thing by Aldis. Jelly then told Rhodes that this wasn’t about McAfee or himself, but twenty years of friendship between Orton and Rhodes being flushed down the toilet. Jelly encouraged Rhodes to keep his focus.

Rhea Ripley opens SmackDown

Ripley got right down to business and said that Cargill made things personal by attacking IYO SKY on Raw this past Monday. Ripley challenged Cargill to come down and fight her. Instead, IYO SKY made her way down to the ring to talk to her friend. SKY wanted to face Cargill, and said that she’d talk to Nick Aldis if she had to for this match to get made.

Mr. Aldis showed up afterwards and decided to make it official as our main event tonight.

Just a standard main event set-up segment, not really much else to say. As for the opening bits with Cody Rhodes and Jelly Roll… I get the feeling we’ll be in for a long night and road to WrestleMania soon. Stay tuned…

**********

Bayley (w/ Lyra Valkyria) vs. Alexa Bliss (w/ Charlotte Flair)

Hometown heroine Bayley got loud cheers from the San Jose crowd as the match got underway. Bayley got ahead on Bliss with a sliding elbow, as she reversed an early Sister Abigail DDT attempt from Bliss. Nobody had the upper hand early on. In the corner, Bayley missed with a running knee attack as Bliss dodged at the last second. Bliss tepped on Bayley and pounded on her head with her boot, much to the disdain of the crowd. Bliss got a little cocky and ate a clothesline from Bayley, followed by the sliding dropkick to the outside. This took us into the commercial break.

We returned from break as Bliss leveled Bayley with a dropkick, followed by the modified Natural Selection for a near-fall. Bayley recovered and connected with the sunset flip right into the middle turnbuckle on Bliss. One, two… not yet. Bliss had Bayley trapped in the corner in a tree-of-woe position, and made no mistake with the dropkick. As Bliss headed to the top rope, Bayley tried to intercept her, but to no avail. Bliss connected with the tornado DDT for another near-fall.

Bayley countered another Sister Abigail DDT attempt from Bliss with the Bayley-to-Belly. Both women recovered and hit each other with furious strikes before it turned into an exchange of pin attempts. Bliss tried to get a rope-assisted pinfall, but the referee saw it. Another sunset flip into the turnbuckle from Bayley to Bliss, as the hometown favorite headed to the top rope and connected with the diving elbow. One, two…. 2.99999999!!!!!!!!!

Bliss rolled out of the ring and tried to catch her breath with Charlotte Flair, but Bayley went right after Bliss. Lyra Valkyria got into Flair’s face and argued, this allowed Bliss to get the sneaky roll-up pin and win.

Alexa Bliss def. Bayley via pinfall

Well, it just wouldn’t be WWE if they didn’t have the hometown hero eat the pin, I suppose. Otherwise a good enough match to start us off.

**********

– Carmelo Hayes was in the medical room as Trick Williams and Li’l Yachty showed up to taunt him. Hayes promised to go after Williams if he got past Sami Zayn at WrestleMania. After Hayes left, Matt Cardona had some words for Williams, and that led to a match between the two made.

– We got a video package from Drew McIntyre where he was speaking behind bars, to talk trash about Jacob Fatu’s checkered past. McIntyre insulted Fatu for “choosing” a life of crime over providing for his family. He promised to be Fatu’s judge, jury, and executioner at WrestleMania.

– Backstage, we saw Fatu watching McIntyre’s promo as he was asked about it. Fatu said that McIntyre was going to find out something, but he was interrupted by Solo Sikoa and the M.F.T.s. Sikoa mocked Fatu for being in the same place that he got his teeth knocked out all those months ago. Sikoa said that Tama Tonga was going to step up to Fatu, though Tama seemed to not be happy about it.

– We got a video package introducing us to Royce Keys, as he talked about his own past before heading to WWE. Keys stated that he wanted to be defined by where he was going rather than where he started from. Keys’ debut was said to be coming up next.

Royce Keys vs. Berto (w/ Angel)

Berto hit Keys in the back, but it wasn’t very effective. Keys responded with a fierce clothesline that crushed Berto before he lifted him from the ground with a powerslam. With Berto stunned in the corner, Keys tried to run, but Berto made a quick escape. Outside the ring, Angel provided a distraction for Berto to push Keys into the ringpost. Back in the ring, Berto landed a nice dropkick to Keys. Berto attempted a diving crossbody, but he was caught by Keys for the fallaway slam. Keys hoisted Berto on his shoulders for the running powerslam. Angel tried to run at Keys, but got hit with a clothesline. Straps were down and Keys hit his spinebuster for the win on his SmackDown debut.

Royce Keys def. Berto via pinfall

How they’ve not really used Royce Keys (fka Powerhouse Hobbs) since his Royal Rumble debut has been baffling, to say the least. Hopefully with this official debut, they use him more moving forward because Keys is too good of a talent to be just left on the sidelines the way he’s been so far.

**********

– Pat McAfee arrived at the arena and was told by Nick Aldis about the directives of not being touched. Jelly Roll confronted McAfee and demanded to know if he told Randy Orton to RKO him. Jelly got into McAfee’s face but was told to back off by Aldis as McAfee was off to address the crowd.

– Backstage, Royce Keys was interviewed about his successful debut. Keys said he was glad to do it in front of his people. Before he could continue, Solo Sikoa confronted Keys, and said that his door was always open.

Pat McAfee addresses his actions

McAfee headed to the ring as the crowd booed him. Once McAfee entered the ring, he called San Jose a “shithole”, as he stated that he was the “hero” in this entire thing. McAfee called CM Punk a “spineless bum” that the crowd cheer for. Did we like it when Punk called McAfee “Pat MAGAFee” on Raw, he asked?

McAfee said that it was hard for him to get past that Punk was wearing WWE-licensed merchandise under his shirt, and it made him wonder that when the TKO cheque comes through, to the needy wrestling families, or the bank account titled “I’m sorry, Saudi Arabia”. McAfee called Punk a fraud, someone who was all talk, no action. McAfee put himself over as an agent of change, a man of action, someone who decided to be everyone’s hero.

McAfee said that he decided to call Ram Trucks to help fans get to WrestleMania, with 25% tickets off the Saturday show tickets from now until Monday’s Raw. This was supposedly because for us to see a once-in-a-lifetime event of Randy Orton saving this business by winning his 15th World Title. Before McAfee’s tirade could continue, the music of Cody Rhodes interrupted him, and out came the Undisputed WWE Champion.

Rhodes entered the ring and stood face-to-face with McAfee as he took a microphone to address the situation. Rhodes started by stating that he was going to go out on a limb and say that McAfee doesn’t belong here. He knows that he couldnt’ touch him, but they can get a Fanatics WWE Title and live out his WWE experience before McAfee got sent back to whoever put him here to say “thank yo, daddy.”

Rhodes pointed out that McAfee was a play wrestler because of how he didn’t know Orton wasn’t part of the Attitude Era, before talking about an old promoter by the name of Paul Boesch, who said that wrestling fans were “customers”, not marks. Rhodes talked about how the fans weren’t customers to him, but they were family. Rhodes said that McAfee had a gift, and that it was getting the entire wrestling fandom to agree on one thing: they wanted to see Randy Orton, and not Pat McAfee. “Go home, Pat,” said Rhodes.

McAfee said that he was home, as he was born to be in this business, and that Rhodes was the fakest dude on Earth. McAfee called Rhodes a cosplay champion, one that he was going to get rid of at WrestleMania, alongside with Randy Orton. He had a message for Rhodes: if Randy Orton didn’t walk out of WrestleMania as champion, we’d never see Pat McAfee ever again.

Rhodes called out McAfee for being too tired as he said that maybe we should get Gunther to put McAfee’s ass to sleep once again. As Rhodes tried to leave, McAfee talked trash to him, but before Rhodes could come to him, Randy Orton appeared on the TitanTron and said that Rhodes should come get his “boy” (i.e. Jelly Roll).

Orton dragged out Jelly Roll to the stage, as McAfee attempted a sneak attack. Rhodes turned to face McAfee, but got hit by Orton attacked him from behind. McAfee and Rhodes laid a two-on-one attack on Rhodes, but Jelly recovered and had McAfee by the throat. Orton punched Jelly Roll, as McAfee gave Orton the WWE Title. Orton struck Rhodes with the title. McAfee stole Rhodes WWE Title and had it on his shoulder.

I cannot list the many ways how much I hate this entire thing. From McAfee yelling about ticket prices and the fact that he doesn’t belong anywhere near this major main event angle being incorporated into the story, and all the worked shoot nonsense that I honestly despise. It’s getting ridiculous, and dragging Jelly Roll into this mess has turned what should’ve been a sure-fire angle with Orton and Rhodes’ sharewd history into celebrity-filled nonsense led by some schmuck on ESPN just because TKO executives are dead set on making WrestleMania 42 a must-miss event.

Then there’s the rumored direction where this is all going with a tag match with the featured players from this segment we just saw presumably happening at Backlash. It’s just leading into a ridiculous mess and I can’t think that this is going to draw new viewers to WWE as TKO might hope. Just nothing short of terrible and increasingly more embarrassing with each passing week.

**********

– Nick Aldis was chatting with a referee before The Miz and Kit Wilson showed up to complain about what happened with Dan Engler last week. There needed to be consequences for what happened with Engler. Aldis said that Kit Wilson will face Dan…. hausen in action tonight.

Jacob Fatu vs. Tama Tonga

Tama and Fatu locked up in the middle of the ring before the former was backed into a corner. Fatu withstood a shoulder block from Tama before he hit him with a throat strike. Tama tried to get ahead, but he was hit with more strikes from Fatu, as a headbutt punctuated that barrage. Fatu connected with a handstand moonsault on a downed Tama, before he launched himself through the middle ropes for a suicide dive, which took us to the commercial break.

Our match returned from commercial as Fatu and Tama traded strikes. Tama struck Fatu with two pump-up punches, but that only fired up Fatu. Tama was hit with the running splash in the corner by Fatu, followed by 10 headbutts. With Tama stunned, Fatu hit him with a running hip attack. A second hip attack was intercepted by a forearm from Tama. Underhook powerbomb by Tama got a near-fall. Pop-up Samoan Drop attempt by Fatu was countered into a sort-of rolling cutter by Tama for another near-fall.

Tama looked for the Cutthroat, but a kick from Fatu met him instead. Pop-up Samoan Drop, followed by the moonsault from the top, and Fatu got the win here.

After the match, Fatu got on the microphone until Drew McIntyre attacked him from behind. Fatu recovered with a superkick, but a Claymore Kick left him down and out. McIntyre threw Fatu out of the ring, as he then sent him head first into the steel steps. McIntyre grabbed a chair from the timekeeper as he hit Fatu across the back with it. McIntyre hoisted Fatu and planted him with the Future Shock DDT. McIntyre had handcuffs as he put them on Fatu’s left arm. He threw him into the ring post twice. McIntyre then locked had Fatu cuffed against the ring post, as he hit him with a boot against the post.

McIntyre again cuffed Fatu against the ringpost, as he pummeled him some more. Back in the ring, one final Claymore Kick from McIntyre was it.

Jacob Fatu def. Tama Tonga via pinfall

Pretty much a standard match, but the McIntyre beatdown segment afterwards was a decent way to get heat on him before next week, so there’s that.

**********

– We got another segment of R-Truth explaining how to work with the ESPN App to watch WrestleMania next week. Truth was telling this to Kit Wilson. Rhea Ripley threw B-Fab against a cargo case while this was happening, stating that she only had one more to take care of.

Sami Zayn addresses the crowd

The U.S. Champion made his way to the ring amidst a sea boos, which he stated was an “interesting reaction”. He said that maybe it was time to nip this in the bud. Zayn said that he had talked to close friends like Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton, who wanted to see some change from Zayn.

Zayn said that throughout his career, he had tried to give himself something more than just a catchphrase or a viral mment. Zayn said that the fans who cried for him, who bought his stuff, or had his back since day one, that’s who he cared about. Zayn declared that he’d never betray those people. As far as the people booing him, Zayn didn’t know why they were booing him, but he didn’t care. Zayn praised the ride or die fans who have been with him since day one, and that he’d walk out of WrestleMania as champion for them.

Trick Williams interrupted him to huge cheers from the San Jose crowd, as he was accompanied by hypeman Li’l Yachty. Once they got in the ring, Williams said that the people were tired of hearing Sami Zayn talk. Someone who was “whining like a donkey” and couldn’t get it done. Williams said that the truth was, Zayn just hated him. Williams said that whether Zayn liked it or hate it, he was going to whoop Zayn’s ass at WrestleMania, because everyone loves Trick Williams.

Zayn responded by saying that the crowd didn’t love Williams, but they did like him and had a crush on him. Here’s the thing, however, Williams could make all the jokes he could want, but he was going to be in the ring with a WrestleMania main eventer who would drag him in to deep waters. Zayn said that we’d find out at WrestleMania if Williams could walk the walk or just be nothing but talk.

Li’l Yachty hyped up Williams a bit more before Matt Cardona interrupted, as he was set to face Williams in singles action coming up next.

I think Zayn’s slow-burn heel turn is actually one of the better things of an otherwise dire SmackDown scene as of late, so his promo was good in that regard. On the other hand, I think Trick Williams can stand on his own, and that Li’l Yachty’s addition doesn’t really add to him.

**********

Trick Williams (w/ Li’l Yachty) vs. Matt Cardona

This match resumed from commercial as Williams avoided Cardona’s strikes in the corner and taunted him. Cardona got slammed on his back by Williams. With the ref’s back turned, Li’l Yachty grabbed at Cardona’s head.

Cardona avoided Williams’s jumping kick, as he then hit him with a clothesline. Cardona followed that with a missile dropkick to the jaw of Williams. With his foe out of the ring, Cardona hit the rope-assisted dropkick on Williams. Back in the ring, Cardona got tripped up by Williams while he was on the top rope, which took us to the break.

Our match continued from the break as Williams knocked Cardona down with a kick. Cardona recovered with a jawbreaker, followed by the back suplex. This gave Cardona the opportunity to mount a comeback, at least until he was floored by a punch from Williams. Cardona got back into it with a running facebuster as he lined Williams up for the Broski Boot. Cardona pulled from Chelsea Green’s playbook with an Unprettier for the two-count. Williams responded by sending Cardona’s face into the top turnbuckle, followed by a neckbreaker for the two.

Williams missed with a running splash, but Cardona failed to capitalize as he was sent over the top rope when he went for a running attack. At ringside, after he clotheslined Cardona, Zayn stared down Williams and got a shove for his troubles. As Williams got back in the ring, he challenged Zayn to fight him. When Zayn got on the apron, Li’l Yachty tripped him up. This led to Yachty eating a Helluva Kick from Zayn. In the ring, Williams avoided a roll-up pin from Cardona, as he then finished him off with the Trick Shot.

Trick Williams def. Matt Cardona via pinfall

Another match that just felt like it just happened without much purpose. I honestly couldn’t get into it much at all. Also, it’s hard to take Matt Cardona as much of a serious threat if he’s mostly just lost his matches since returning.

**********

Danhausen vs. Kit Wilson

Danhausen sized himself up to Wilson’s face, and got shoved. In response, Danhausen hit a dropkick, followed by a bridging suplex for a two-count. Wilson recovered with a kick to the gut, followed by a kick. Miz was playing to the crowd, as Danhausen slid out of the ring and posed beside him. This left Danhausen open to the flying elbow attack from Wilson. Back in the ring, Wilson battered Danhausen with repeated running elbows to the corner.

As Wilson got bounced with a jawbreaker, he rebounded and hit Danhausen with a lariat. Wilson headed up top for the elbow drop. Danhausen perked up and did the “You Are Cursed” poiint. This caused pyro to shoot out from the ringpost, which sent Wilson crashing to the ground. Miz got punched from the apron by Danhausen, who then finished Wilson off with a running kick.

After the match, Miz tried to sneak attack Danhausen, but the lights turned off. Once the lights turned back on, Danhausen ran away to the stage to escape Miz.

Danhausen def. Kit Wilson via pinfall

Well, Danhausen is probably a gimmick that isn’t to everyone’s tastes, but I kinda find him inoffensive and even entertaining at times. In this match, we did get to see some moves from Danhausen that showed that he’s more than just a meme character, so that was nice to see(hausen).

**********

– Backstage, Jade Cargill was looking for Michin to back her up against IYO SKY in her match coming up next. However, Michin was found laid out with a broken kendo stick over her. Rhea Ripley had gotten to Michin.

Next Week on SmackDown

  • Andre The Giant Battle Royal
  • Wyatt Sicks vs. M.F.T.s in a Street Fight

– IYO SKY requested that Rhea Ripley stay behind for her match with Jade Cargill now that the odds have been made even after B-Fab and Michin got taken out.

Jade Cargill vs. IYO SKY

SKY was hot to start with a dropkick to Cargill. She avoided a running splash from Cargill and hit her with a forearm. However, the WWE Women’s Champion quickly recovered with a shoulder block, as she then slammed SKY down to the ground. SKY answered with a pop-up dropkick on Cargill, but got hit with a right hand from her foe as she headed for a dive, as we took a commercial break with about seven minutes of show left.

We returned to our main event as both women were down following an armbreaker counter from SKY during the break. The former Womens’ World Heavyweight Champion connected with the dropkick from the top rope as Cargill suddenly found herself on the backfoot. SKY struck with the Bullet Train attack into the corner on Cargill. SKY tried to go up the top rope, but was caught by Cargill in an overhead press position. SKY reversed that into a sleeper that got broken out of. SKY avoided the pump kick from Cargill and turned it into a roll-up pin for the two. Blue Thunder Bomb by Cargill, but taht wasn’t enough for the win. Cargill had SKY in a chokeslam position, but that turned into a double stomp.

As Cargill rolled out of the ring, she was hit with a moonsault from the apron by SKY. With both women out of the ring, Cargill dropped SKY onto the steel steps with a wheelbarrow face slam. That was followed with the pump kick. One Jaded later, and that’s it, over.

After the match, Cargill got a chair, but Rhea Ripley ran in immediately before her WrestleMania opponent could do any damage.

Jade Cargill def. IYO SKY via pinfall

**********

An okay main event that ended a really baffling SmackDown overshadowed by the sad saga of Pat McAfee hijacking the WrestleMania main event. If Ari Emanuel, Nick Khan, and/or Paul Levesque’s idea of selling people to their biggest show of the year is having Pat McAfee trash one of the nights for being mediocre, other wrestler call McAfee’s involvement terrible, and things of that nature, then God help this company. It’s a lousy and pointless exercise and you don’t even have to be a “hater” of WWE to admit that they kinda screwed up here.

As far as the rest of the show is concerned outside of the McAfee/Rhodes/Orton/Jelly Roll stuff, everything just felt like they kinda happened. Nothing important, no big hook to get us to tune into next week. And when next week is literally the final go-home before WrestleMania 42, it’s really kind of sad. By the time April 18th and 19th roll around, it’ll be like that time The Simpsons took the “shortcut” to get to Itchy and Scratchy Land. That’s an apt descriptor for this Road to WrestleMania, at least from my view of it over these last few months.

WWE NXT live results: Stand & Deliver fallout

Posted on by Chris Aiken

With new champions at the top of each division, WWE NXT presents its Stand & Deliver fallout episode tonight.

Tony D’Angelo and Lola Vice picked up the biggest victories of their respective careers on Saturday with D’Angelo winning the NXT Championship and Vice becoming NXT Women’s Champion.

An appearance by the new Women’s champ has been confirmed for tonight, with Vice set to speak after her victory over Jacy Jayne and Kendal Grey.

A tournament to crown the new men’s Speed Champion will begin after Elio LeFleur had to vacate the title due to torn labrum ligaments in his shoulder. LeFleur, who has now undergone surgery to repair the injury, is expected to be out of action for six months.

Sol Ruca defeated Zaria in a grudge match at Stand & Deliver, and she’ll now face off against Izzi Dame tonight.

A triple threat match is also set with Keanu Carver battling Jasper Troy and Josh Briggs.

Join us for live coverage starting at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

**********

NXT is back on the air in front of a live studio audience on a sound stage at the Performance Center in Orlando. Opening the show is the entrance of the new NXT Champion Tony D’Angelo.

Billed as the first “grand slam champion” in NXT history, D’Angelo gets into the ring for an opening monologue. The studio audience chants “you deserve it” before D’Angelo begins to speak.

Tony D says some people on the audience have seen him since day. Now is not just a man, but he is the man. He has finally become NXT Champion. D’Angelo goes on to say he is the first grand slam champion in history.

D’Angelo says along the way he made a lot of decisions. Some good and bad, but he would not change any of those decisions because they made him who he is now.

Tony D says his hands have an iron grip on the title. He says no one can take it from him, and he name drops Joe Hendry. Of course, when his name is said he appears as per his gimmick.

Out comes Joe Hendry and the studio audience that just gave D’Angelo a standing ovation is now gleefully clapping along to Hendry’s theme song.

Hendry says to say his name and he appears, but without the NXT title. Hendry congratulates D’Angelo on winning the title, and says he was the better man that night. But that is only one night, and they had to deal with “those two clowns.” If not for Ricky Saints and Ethan Page, would have D’Angelo still have won the title? Or would we still all be singing “we believe”?

Interrupting them is Ethan Page, who wants a one-on-one title match. Page uses air quotes when saying if he was not peroccupied by his “best friend”, then Page claims he would have beaten Hendry to become champion. Instead we have the “knockoff Punisher” as champ.

Ricky Saints enters to interrupt his so-called friend Page. Saints says that Page attacked him first, so do not blame his shortcomings on Saints. Had Page put his ego aside, Saints claims he would be the champ.

D’Angelo interjects to tell them all to get in line. The end result will still be D’Angelo winning. With that the lights go dark inside the sound stage and out comes Darkstate. They four members of Darkstate storm the ring under a strobe lights. A huge brawl breaks up as the show cuts to its first commercial break.

Security and wrestlers from the roster pour out to trying to separate the brawlers. After a commercial break, NXT General Manager Robert Stone is angry. Before screaming “that’ not how we start a show,” Stone orders D’Angelo, Hendry, Page and Saints to put their gear on because they are teaming up in an eight-man tag team match against Darkstate at the top of the hour.

Sol Ruca vs. Izzi Dame (with The Culling)

—

Like Dennis Stamp, part of the story of the match is Dame was upset she did not get booked in a match at Stand & Deliver.

The match itself goes through a commercial break. Ruca springboards into a corkscrew tornillo splash on the outside just before the break. When the show returns from commercials, the match continues. Ruc a soon springboards into a Buckshot Lariat of sorts.

Ruca fires up before delivering a missile dropkick for a near fall. They would go on to trade near falls, with Dame leaping off the top rope for a super codebreaker.

Dame takes a spear (which is foreshadows the arrival of Zaria), and Dame powders. Ruca goes for a moonsault. She lands on her feet after Niko Vance pulls Dame to away to safety while Shawn Spears distracts the referee. Suddenly, Zaria runs in to spear Ruca on the floor. Dame rolls Ruca back into the ring. Dame then uses a Liger bomb as a finisher before pinning Ruca.

Match result: Izzi Dame defeated Sol Ruca via pinfall after outside interference by The Culling and Zaria.

After the match, Zaria yells at a fallen Dame. “I say when this is over!”

— Vanity Project is in Robert Stone’s office along with Blake Monroe. The faction presents Monroe with a replica of the Women’s North American Championship. Stone objects to this, and he books a mixed tag team match where Monroe can choose any member of The Vanity Project as her partner. Monroe picks Jackson Drake as her tag partner against Tatum Paxley and Shiloh Hill.

— Elio Lefleur, with his arm in sling, joins Dorian Van Dux and EK Prosper (formerly Eli Knight) in a locker room skit. Van Dux thanks Lefleur for the opportunity that he gave him. Prosper says not so fast, because Van Dux must first defeat him.

Keanu Carver vs. Josh Briggs vs. Jasper Troy in a triple threat match

—

This is a three-way hoss fight, and the pummel each other like unstoppable forces meeting immovable objects. The match also goes through a commercial break.

Tandem offense at times, but each man for himself most of the time. Broken up pinning attempts and thunderous strikes throughout the match.

Troy gets a close near falls on Briggs after a chokeslam. He goes for another attempted chokeslam on Briggs, but Carver rushes in with a pounce that sends Troy crashing outside the ring. Another pounce by Carver, but this time the victim is Briggs. Carver follows up with a vertical suplex into a powerslam (which looks like a modified jackhammer), and Carver pins Briggs.

Match result: Keanu Carver defeated Josh Briggs and Jasper Troy when Carver pinned Briggs.

— NXT Women’s North American Champon Tatum Paxley is backstage talking with Shiloh Hill. There is some comedy until Ricky Saints walks up to chastise them for being weird. They make fun of him, and Saints calls them freaks.

— Saints was heading to the ring, but his ring entrance comes during a commercial break. Joe Hendry gets a full entrance before the show cuts to picture-in-picture. After the break, everyone is in the ring ready for the eight-man tag booked earlier tonight by Robert Stone.

Joe Hendry, Ricky Saints, Ethan Page and NXT Champion Tony D’Angelo vs. Darkstate (Dion Lennox, Cutler James, Saquon Shugars & Osiris Griffin) in an eight-man tag team match

—

Playing on prior tension, Ricky Saints and Ethan Page bicker. They would argue a few times, which backfires for their team. Good thing the story of the match was it was thrown together impromptu, because it seems thrown together.

Both Hendry and D’Angelo get to clean house at different times during the match. Lennox cuts off D’Angelo with a spinebuster as the show cuts to a commercial break. D’Angelo has recent history with Darkstate in their recent feud, and they work him over during the break.

Hot tag during the break, and Hendry runs wild. When the show finally returns from picture-in-picture, Hendry is being worked over by Darkstate. He is fighting back when the show returns to full screen, but Hendry is soon cut off. More heat on Hendry as Darkstate work him over.

NXT Men’s North American Champion Myles Borne runs in at ringside at one point wearing a suit. Borne attacks Lennox and they brawl at ringside. The rest of Darkstate are distracted by the attack on Lennox. Hot tag to D’Angelo, the heels bump and feed for Tony D.

Parade of high spots that leads to Hendry doing a dive over the ropes to the floor onto a group. Back in the ring, D’Angelo spears Shugars. The spear is the frontrunner for most overused move of the night. Anyway, D’Angelo gives Shugars a spinebuster, but Page makes a bling tag. Page boots D’Angelo out of the way, and Page delivers a Twisted Grin (Twist of Fate) on Shugars. Page then covers Shugars for a three count.

Match result: Joe Hendry, Ricky Saints, Ethan Page and NXT Champion Tony D’Angelo defeated Darkstate when Page pinned Shugars.

After the match, D’Angelo gives Page a spinebuster to get a bit of comeuppance.

— Jaida Parker cuts a promo on Kelani Jordan. They meet next week in a match.

Lexis King (with Birthright) vs. Chazz “Starboy” Hall in a speed tournament match

—

New to the NXT audience, Chazz Hall gets an inset promo during his entrance to introduce himself. Hall talks about tearing up the West Coast indie scene since he was 11 years old. In unrelated note, Hall looks like Spike Dudley with his gear.

Hall looks good in the match. He goes for a shooting star press, and King gets his knees up to block it. King then executes The Coronation, and King pins Hall.

Match result: Lexis King defeated Chazz Hall via pinfall to advance in the speed tournament.

Shiloh Hill & NXT Women’s North American Champion Tatum Paxley vs. Blake Monroe & Jackson Drake (with NXT Tag Team Champions The Vanity Project) in a mixed tag team match

—

Paxley and Monroe have a pose-off and tug-o-war at the start over the North American belts. They are doing a take-off on the Razor Ramon-Shawn Michaels feud from 1994 with the two title belts. One being the real title and the other being a fake.

Tandem offense at times. Paxley & Hill do stereo surfboards at one point before the show cuts to a commercial break.

Heat on Hill as he is worked over until a hot tag to Paxley. She runs wild on both Monroe and Drake. Brad Baylor tries to interfere at ringside, but Paxley kicks him away. That led to Hill doing a flip dive over the ropes on Vanity Project at ringside. Meanwhile, Paxley for a 450 and rolls through when Monroe evades the splash. Paxley and Monroe each tease their finisher.

Drake jumps and gets kicked by Paxley. However, that distracts Paxley enough that Monroe ambushes her with headbutt. Monroe then executes her Glamour Shot DDT, and Monroe pins the North American champ.

Match result: Blake Monore & Jackson Drake defeated Tatum Paxley & Shiloh Hill when Monroe pinned Paxley.

— Sarah Schreiber interviews Robert Stone in his office. This led to Stone announces a two-week special called NXT Revenge. Next week it begins with a main event where Tony D’Angelo defends his NXT title against Ethan Page. Week two is headlined by Sol Ruca against Zaria in a last woman standing match. Joe Hendry will also be in concert, Kali Armstrong debuts, and a new Speed champion crowned in the next two weeks on NXT.

— Kali Armstrong (not relation to “Bullet” Bob and his sons) is featured in a personality profile.

Fatal Influence confronts Lola Vice

—

NXT Women’s Champion Lola Vice enters the sound stage for an in-ring promo celebrating her title win. She also has her AAA Mixed Tag Team title belt with her.

Vice talks about winning the title until she is interrupted by former champion Jacy Jayne. Joining Jayne is her cohorts Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid. The studio audience boos Jayne unmercifully as she cut sa promo on Vice.

Out comes Robert Stone to book a title rematch for next week. The heels then jump Vice with Reid and Henley ambushing her, but Vice fights them off. Jayne barely escapes a spinning back fist from Vice as she flees the ring. The champion stands defiantly as the show goes off the air.

WWE NXT live results: Stand & Deliver go-home show

Posted on by Chris Aiken

WWE extends its stay in New York City tonight with The Theater at Madison Square Garden hosting tonight’s episode of NXT.

Tonight is the go-home show for Stand & Deliver — and there will be a pair of number one contender’s matches to determine title bouts for the April 4 PLE. Kendal Grey and Lola Vice are facing off to determine Jacy Jayne’s NXT Women’s Championship challenger. Along with that, Los Americanos and Birth Right will meet with a Stand & Deliver Tag Team title shot against Vanity Project on the line.

TNA World Champion Mike Santana will be in the building, teaming with OTM against DarkState.

Jasper Troy and Keanu Carver will continue their rivalry in a match where Josh Briggs serves as the special guest referee.

Jaida Parker vs. Kelani Jordan is also set for the show. Plus, Women’s North American Champion Tatum Paxley will have a confrontation with Blake Monroe.

We’ll also get a follow-up on the Sol Ruca and Zaria rivalry after they were spotted brawling in NYC earlier today.

Join us for live coverage starting at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

**********

NXT is on the air from The Theater at MSG. The brand’s champions and their next challengers arrive to the building in footage from earlier today.

Live in the arena is the entrance of DarkState for the opening tag match, and their opponents — OTM — entered next. Following them was OTM’s partner, who gets a hometown reaction. Billed from The Bronx in NYC, TNA World Champion Mike Santana has a superstar entrance.

DarkState (Dion Lennox, Osiris Griffin & Saquon Shugars) vs. TNA World Champion Mike Santana & OTM (Lucien Price & Bronco Nima)

—

Santana was clearly the star of the match, and the match itself is a really good opener. The crowd was hot as well. They loved Santana.

Heat on Price as the show goes through a commercial break, which led into a hot tag where Nima ran wild after the show returns from the break. Nima gets a near fall on Griffin after a uranage slam. Santana then came in to clean house, and he was over big with the crowd.

Santana with a great sequence that included a pop-up cutter, a suicide dive sailing through the ropes on OTM at ringside. Santana follows up with a frog splash for a near fall. Santana is soon cut off until OTM jumps back into the ring for a save. Griffin and Shugars double team powerbomb gets a two count on Santana. Shugars goes on to have a great closing sequence with Santana before they all go home.

Santana catches Shugars with a DVD, and he follows with a lariat. Shugars sells big as he turns inside out taking a bump. Santana then leaps over the ropes to the floor with a swan dive on OTM. In the ring, Shugars takes OTM’s finisher. Price covers Shugars for a three count.

Match result: OTM & Mike Santana defeated Darkstate when Price. pinned Shugars

— Vic Joseph sits down with NXT North American Champion Myles Borne for an interview ahead of Stand & Deliver. This led to Johnny Gargano interrupting and cutting a helluva promo on how he has to win the title from Borne at the PLE this Saturday.

Gargano with his charisma and deliver sort of stole the segment, but Borne did very well for himself before Gargano runs in. Borne once again thanks No Quarter Catch Crew for helping him, and Borne also thanks Ethan Page for giving bringing out the edge in Borne that he needed to become champion.

Borne puts over Gargano and his achievements, and Borne really hopes that “Johnny Wrestling” shows up in the ring at Stand & Deliver.

In comes Gargano, and he sits down with a mean look on his face. Gargano cautions Borne. Careful what you ask for. Before there was Stand & Deliver, there was NXT Takeover. They called him “Johnny Takeover”, and Gargano says if that man is still inside him then Borne better pray. Gargano warns Borne he will eat him alive. But this is not personal. What is personal is the North American title.

If Gargano wins, he returns to Smackdown and gets his life back. If he loses, Gargano is unsure what happens. One thing Gargano does know is he will take Borne “into deeper waters” than Borne has seen, and Gargano will show him what it means to be a champion. For the first time in two months, Gargano will not lay down and die.

“I will stand and deliver like only I can, because I have to,” Gargano says in conclusion. “More than you know.”

— Wren Sinclair has some encouraging words for Kendal Grey

Los Americanos (Bravo Americano & Rayo Americano) vs. Birthright (Uriah Connors & Stacks with Arianna Grace, Lexis King & Charlie Dempsey) in a number contender’s tag team match

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The match goes through a commercial break. Grace gets involved in the match, which also involves some comedy spots. The match also has some intensity and plenty of action. El Grande Americano appears just before the finish to play a part in the outcome.

During the match, Shiloh Hill storms to ringside with a metal folding chair. Hill stalks Lexis King, who flees with Hill on his trail.

El Grande Americano distracts the refereee so that Bravo & Rayo came load their mask with gimmicks. Rayo headbutts Stacks off the apron, and Bravo hits Connors with a flying headbutt with the loaded mask. Bravo then covers Connors for a pinfall.

Match result: Los Americanos defeated Birthright when Bravo Americano pinned Connors to become number one contenders for the NXT Tag Team Championship

In winning, Los Americanos earns a title shot against champions Vanity Project for the NXT tag titles at Stand & Delver on Saturday. Vanity Project look on from a box seats overlooking the ring. They have a staredown with Los Americanos.

Jaida Parker vs. Kelani Jordan

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Parker shines early on until Jordan traps her in the ring skirt. Parker then takes a bump into the ring steps, and she sells her arm as the show cuts to a commercial break. Jordan is working over Parker as the show returns from the break.

Jordan continues to target the arm. She goes to springboard into a split-legged moonsault, Parker blocks her. That leads to a spot on the top rope where Jordan takes an avalanche suplex from Parker. Sit-out tree slam by Parker, and Parker cradles Jordan for a pin. Really good bout.

Match result: Jaida Parker defeated Kelani Jordan via pinfall.

— Vanity Project tries to flirt with Blake Monroe, and they offer to protect her from Tatum Paxley. Monroe recently stole the Women’s North American Championship belt from Paxley.

Contract Signing for the NXT Championship Fatal Four Way

Seating behind two tables in the ring are NXT Champion Joe Hendry, and his three challengers — Ethan Page, Ricky Saints and Tony D’Angelo. NXT General Manager Robert Stone is hosting the segment.

D’Angelo steals the show with a great promo on all three of his opponents. There is plenty of bickering, as usual with contract signing segments in WWE. Joe Hendry with a good babyface promo, but D’Angelo still outdoes them all on the microphone. D’Angelo talks about NXT being in his blood. Tony D vows to run all three over like a freight train. This leads to a wild brawl and the breaking of two tables.

D’Angelo chokeslams Saints through a table, while Page drops Hendry with a Razor’s Edge through the other table. Fisticuffs between Page and D’Angelo in a pull-apart brawl.

Jasper Troy vs. Keanu Carver with Josh Briggs as special referee

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Booked like a hoss fight, this is what Gorilla Monsoon might have dubbed as the unstoppable force meeting the immovable object. They brawl around ringside before the bell, and they tussle over Troy’s chain he brings to the ring.

Briggs lets things slide as ref, but he also gets in Carver’s face early on to threaten him as the referee in charge. Carver shoves a planted fan at ringside, and Briggs intervenes to shove Carver back. Carver then stalks Vic Joseph at the commentary booth before pointing his finger and issues a warning to Booker T. All of that walking and talking allows Troy to recover, and he gives Carver a chokeslam on the announce desk. The booth implodes. Troy follows up with a Bossman slam on Carver for a two count.

Upset over the two count, Troy shoves Briggs. He as referee responds by booting Troy with a high kick. Troy takes a Monty Brown Pounce from Carver, before Carver hoists him up to deliver a running powerslam. Carver then covers Troy, and Briggs counts the pinfall.

Match result: Keanu Carver defeated Jasper Troy via pinfall.

After the match, Carver insists that Briggs raise Carver’s arm as the winner. Briggs at first agrees, but is a swerve. Briggs instead hits Carver with a short-arm clothesline. Still wearing the zebra stripes, Briggs then exits the ring with Carver down selling in the ring.

Following a commercial break, Tatum Paxley enters the ring for a confrontation with Blake Monroe.

NXT North American Champion Tatum Paxley challenges Blake Monroe

Paxley cuts a promo that ultimately leads to her issuing an ultimatum to Monroe. Paxley wants Monroe to bring her the title in NYC, which Monroe recently stole from Paxley. Out comes Monroe holding the title belt. Monroe is soon challenged for a title match at Stand & Deliver by rightful champion, who plays on Monroe’s ego to convince her to accept the match.

Paxley warns Monroe her bad side will come out. Paxley says she can be the “goth to your glamour” or “the fire to your hell.” Paxley will allow Monroe time to think on the offer, but Paxley demands the title belt from Monroe.

They fight over the belt itself in a tug-o-war. Paxley then elbows Monroe and the fight is on. Monroe powders, and she snatches the title belt again as she flees the ring.

— Sarah Schreiber interviews Robert Stone, and they hype the card for Stand & Deliver. Stone announces that a ten-person mixed tag team match for the pre-show on Saturday. All of the members of Birthright against Eli Knight, Shiloh Hill, Wren Sinclair, and Hank & Tank. This was also set up earlier in a locker room skit with the babyfaces.

Keanu Carver storms into interrupt the interview. Carver demands a match against Josh Briggs. Stone remarks that he also spoke to Jasper Troy, and Carver screams he does not give a damn about Troy. Stone instead books a triple threat match with Carver vs. Troy vs. Briggs. Stone then hears a loud commotion off camera. Stone rushes to find Kelani Jordan was ambushing Jaida Parker. That would seem to set up a return match between the two.

— Sol Ruca and Zaria are the focus of a video package that highlights their backstory as teammates turned rivals. This hypes their match at Stand & Deliver.

— NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne is backstage with talking with her Fatal Influence cohorts — WWE Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid. Izzi Dame was eavesdropping and she interrupts to tell Jayne that she will tell her exactly what she wants. Sure. Okay.

— Hard sell for Stand & Deliver as the Vic Joseph voices over a rundown of the NXT card on Saturday.

AAA Mixed Tag Team Champion Lola Vice vs. Kendal Grey (with WWE Women’s Speed Champion Wren Sinclair) in a NXT Women’s Championship number one contender’s match

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Chain wrestling at the start, and this is good from the start. They wrestle through a commercial break. Vice delivers a hip attack in a corner, but misses a follow-up attempt. She is still able to kick Grey off the apron, and a seated senton off the apron by Vice just before the show cuts to a split-screen commercial break. Near falls during the break during picture-in-picture.

Grey fires up after the show returns from the break, and Grey goes to bar an arm for a submission hold. Vice fights to block the hold, and Vice counters to apply a sleeper. Grey escapes only to walk into a spinning back fist. Grey takes a bump out of the ring selling the back fist. On cue, out comes the Fatal Influence trio.

Jacy Jayne enters ringside flanked by Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid. The heel trio distracts Vice, which allows Grey to recover enough to fight back. Vice goes for a hip attack, but Grey moves out of the way. Vice crashes into the ring steps, and Grey rolls Vice back into the ring.

Grey climbs the turnbuckles, and she leaps off the top rope. Vice cuts her off with a superkick for a near fall. In closing moments, Grey lands a roaring elbow for a close near fall. They struggle to their feet as they rise and trade strikes. Punches and kicks. Vice does her signature series of kicks, but Grey counters by trapping Vice’s leg in an ankle lock. They go on to trade near falls.

For the finish, Vice locks in a guillotine chokehold. She cranks on it as Grey tries to roll free. Grey with a Northern Lights suplex while Vice has the guillotine locked on. The referee counts a pinfall while a ref on the floor sees Grey tap out to the submission hold.

Disputed finish as Shawn Michaels comes to help sort things out. Cliffhanger ending as the show goes off the air with no announced winner.