Tag: wwe live results

WWE NXT live results: Big interpromotional title vs. title match

Posted on by Chris Aiken

With a potential TNA invasion looming, a big interpromotional title vs. title match headlines WWE NXT tonight.

NXT Champion Oba Femi and TNA World Champion Trick Williams will clash with both of their titles on the line. It’s a winner-take-all match where the winner will leave with both belts. However, we could potentially see the TNA roster get involved in things. Last week saw the TNA talent — led by Bound for Glory title challenger Mike Santana — voice their displeasure on social media over how NXT is treating them.

Tonight’s NXT is the go-home show for No Mercy. At the PLE, Ricky Saints has a title shot scheduled against tonight’s Femi vs. Williams winner.

We’ll find out Speed Women’s Champion Sol Ruca’s No Mercy challenger tonight when Candice LeRae and Lainey Reid meet in the finals of a number one contender’s tournament.

Plus, Myles Borne and Lexis King continue their rivalry in a Lights Out match.

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

**********

After recapping last week’s Homecoming, the show begins with footage from earlier today of NXT Champion Oba Femi and TNA World Champion Trick Williams arriving to the building.

NXT is on the air from a sound stage at the Performance Center in Orlando, and in front of a live studio audience.

Lexis King slides in from stage right aboard his gimmicked throne. Fog covers his feet on the stage. Myles Borne enters and flips a switch, and the arena light go dark. Under only spotlights, Borne attacks King. The “lights out” match is underway, and the lights are indeed out.

Myles Borne vs. Lexis King in a lights out match

Both combatants are dressed in street clothes. Borne in combat pants, and King is dressed in what appeared to be a homage to his father, Brian Pillman.

The lights are dim in the sound stage, and the ring is lit by only spotlights. The match is no disqualification, and weapons come into play early on. Metal folding chairs and trash cans are used early on. Tables and the ring steps are used later on.

They brawl through a commercial break, and they brawl around ringside. King threatens to Pillmanize, but Borne fights back and sends King crashing through the barricade. The ring steps soon come into play. Back in the ring, a table is set up and a section of the ring steps. Borne also whips King with a belt.

King is setting up for a spot on the stairs when Borne counters and DDT’s King on the steps. Borne then leaps off the stairs with a Borne Again that puts King through a table. Borne then covers King for a pinfall.

Match result: Myles Borne defeated Lexis King via pinfall in a lights out match

— Robert Stone and Stevie Turner are backstage for a skit in Ava’s office. Ava is in England and on speaker phone with Stone and Turner. Stone informs her that TNA wrestlers are walking around backstage. Stone ask Ava if she invited them, but Ava soon hangs up due to bad cell service. Not before Ava tells them she has confidence in them.

— NXT North American Champion Ethan Page is walking towards the Gorilla Position on his way to the ring for the next segment, when the show comes back from a commercial break. Meanwhile, TNA talent is seen lurking backstage.

Ethan Page issues a challenge to Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr.

Page grabs a microphone after entering the ring. The audio feed is muted several times, presumably because of foul language chanted by the studio audience. Page hints at such as well.

In the audience is El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr., or is he? Page cuts a promo on him. “Wagner” stands up, and Page challenges him to a fight right now.

A referee comes to the ring and the match is on.

Ethan Page vs. “El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr.” (Tavion Heights in disguise)

“Wagner” makes quick work of Page, and “Wagner” locks in an angle lock submission hold. Page taps out for a submission.

Match result: “El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr.” defeated Ethan Page

Afterwards, “Wagner” unmasks as Tavion Heights. Page defends against Heights on Saturday at No Mercy.

— A locker room skit sets up a match later on between Jordynne Garce and Arianna Grace.

Candice LeRae vs. Lainey Reid in the WWE Speed Women’s Championship #1 Contender Tournament Final

The match was fast-paced since it was so short, which is typical of a Speed match. Both looked great going the ring before going to the finish, as they go home with under a minute remaining in the match. They trade near falls when Reid counters LeRae . Reid levels LeRae with a knees strike, and Reid scores a pinfall.

Match result: Lainey Reid defeated Candice LeRae via pinfall to win the tournament

In winning, Reid earns a title shot against Women’s North American Champion Sol Ruca on Saturday at No Mercy.

— Jaida Parkers cuts a promo on Lash Legend.

— Kale Dixon and Uriah Connors are backstage with Andre Chase when they met by NASCAR drivers (in a cross-promotional tie-in as NASCAR airs on CW along with NXT). Darkstate interrupts as a NASCAR driver asks about Joe Hendry. Say his name and he appears, and Hendry appears wearing a NASCAR driver’s suit. This skit sets up a six-man tag team match.

Jordynne Grace vs. Arianna Grace

The battle of Graces was more of a showcase for Jordynne than Arianna. Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo appears at ringside after the match to console Arianna. Just before going home, Grace fires up with a series of short-arm clotheslines. Grace then lifts Arianna into a Torture Rack, and she sends Arianna crashing to the mat with a powerbomb.

Match result: Jordynne Grace defeated Arianna Grace via pinfall.

Blake Monroe enters the sound stage after the match, and she storms the ring with a bunch of weapons. She grabs a kendo stick wrapped in pink fabric. Grace grabs a chair, and they dual with the weapons. Grace then double-legs Monroe and they brawl on the mat as referees and security runs out to break up the impromptu fight.

Robert Stone and Stevie Turner come out to declare the Grace-Monroe match at No Mercy is weapons match inside of a steel cage! Grace and Monroe celebrate the news by resuming their pull-apart brawl.

— Lainey Reid is interviewed by Kelly Kincaid. Reid vows to win the North American title on Saturday. The Fatal Influence trio confront Reid after the interview.

NXT Women’s Champ Jacy Jayne is face-to-face with Lola Vice

Jacy Jayne, with her NXT Women’s Championship belt over her shoulder, enters for an in-ring promo. Jayne cut a great promo on Lola Vice. This was great business, and it got better when Lola Vice enters to confront Jayne.

Champion and challenger go face-to-face in the ring. Vice cuts a promo on Jayne. These two play off each other really well, and this was a helluva go-home segment. Jayne finally goes over the line by bringing up Vice’s family, and Vice lays her out with a spinning back fist. Great stuff here.

— Josh Briggs is the focus of a personality profile sponsored by an insurance company.

Joe Hendry, Kale Dixon & Uriah Connors vs. Dion Lennox, Osiris Griffin & Saquon Shugars in a six-man tag team match

Hendry teams up with Chase U against Darkstate in this trios match. In the babyface corner was Andre Chase, while Darkstate’s Cutler James was in the heel corner.

The babyface trio fought from underneath early on and they shine. Before a commercial break, Dixon sails through the air with a Sasuke Special. After the break, the tide turns. Dixon is being worked over by the heels.

During the match, Mike Santana from TNA is shown arriving to the building.

They build to a hot tag, and Connors is a house of fire. The heels cut off Connors, but not before a high spot. James is ringside preying on Chase, and Connors makes a save with a tope suicida. However, that allows the heel faction to gain an advantage.

Connor is soon tossed into an assisted powerbomb, and Shugars covers Connor for a pin.

Match result: Darkstate defeated Joe Hendry & Chase U when Saquon Shugars pinned Uriah Connors.

— Ricky Saints is the focus of a video package that profiles him and his hometown of New Orleans.

— Je’Von Evans is being interviewed backstage by Kelly Kincaid. Suddenly, they are interrupted by a commotion, and the camera pans over to find Jazmyn Nyz on the ground in pain. She was apparently ambushed, and medical staff rushes in to treat her.

— Nyx is of course part of the Fatal Influence trio, but Jacy Jayne is unbothered by the attack. Jayne is backstage with Fallon Henley, and Jayne tells her that was about time to dump Nyx anyway.

NXT Champion Oba Femi vs. TNA World Champion Trick Williams in a title vs. title match

They both get a full entrance, plus in-ring introductions. Despite that and the hype and ballyhoo, this does not feel special enough for a title vs. title match. TNA talent is seen throughout the audience, as they close in on the ring.

Just before a commercial break, Mike Santana hops the barricade and joins the announce team for impromptu guest commentary.

Matt Cardona shows up in the crowd, and he gets a big pop. The match was beginning to become more of a back drop for an angle with TNA.

As Oba and Trick fight at ringside, Trick comes face-to-face with Santana. Trick slaps Santana across the face, which goads Santana into chasing Trick into the ring. Santana brawls with Trick as the referee calls for the bell.

Match result: Oba Femi defeated Trick Williams via disqualification (presumably that is the result, as there is no official word. The result could also be a no-contest. Your guess is good as mine.)

NXT talent and TNA talent pour into the ring for a massive melee. Meanwhile, Ricky Saints saunters to the ring as mayhem happens around him. Saints grabs the NXT title belt and looks at it longingly. Oba Femi rises to his feet and snatches the belt away from Saints. Femi raises the title overhead as the show goes off air.

WWE Raw live results: Wrestlepalooza fallout

Posted on by Steve Khan

Date: September 22, 2025
Location: Ford Center in Evansville, IN

The Big Takeaway —

Asuka and Rhea Ripley wrestled for the first time in almost three years, and the show’s closing angle saw Asuka turn heel on Iyo Sky. (See more below.) 

Jey Uso beat LA Knight, and a heel turn may be around the corner for Jey, too. (It could be leading to something else, but the teases are increasingly less subtle.)

As expected, WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and World Champion Seth Rollins will wrestle at Crown Jewel, while Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer will wrestle the winner of SmackDown’s triple threat title match between WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton, Jade Cargill and Nia Jax. While it ultimately doesn’t matter who the Crown Jewel Champion is, Rhodes and Rollins had a long talking segment to add some intrigue to their match.

**********

Show Recap — 

A new signature video opens the show (as it did at Wrestlepalooza), and the clips focus on the company’s more recent history. 

There was a Wrestlepalooza video recap, in which they also spliced in clips from wrestlers and personalities making the rounds on ESPN leading up to the show. 

The Vision, Stephanie Vaquer (and her father), The New Day and Grayson Waller, Bayley, and LA Knight arrived at the arena. As Knight arrived, Rusev confronted Dominik Mysterio and shoved him into some equipment boxes. 

Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett are tonight’s announcers. They announced that Cody Rhodes would face Seth Rollins for the Men’s Crown Jewel Championship in Perth, Australia. 

Cody Rhodes kicks off Raw

Rhodes showed off his inaugural Crown Jewel championship ring and said he would love to win another. 

Rollins and the Vision (minus Becky Lynch) interrupted. Rollins told his partners to remain in the aisle as he entered the ring alone. The crowd sang Rollins’ song before switching back to chants for Cody. 

Rollins said he had Crown Jewel circled on his calendar since they both walked out of SummerSlam as champions. Two of the best in the world in their primes would go one-on-one, and may the best man win. At least it should be that simple, but it wasn’t. It was deeper than that and bigger than that. 

Rollins knew what everyone (the fans, wrestlers, and “the internet”) thought about him, but he didn’t give a damn. The fans didn’t know what was good for them. (The fans chanted for CM Punk, and Rollins shut them down by saying Punk didn’t matter here because he didn’t have a championship.) Rollins wanted to know what Rhodes thought of him. 

Rhodes said Rollins has recently made some questionable choices, including aligning with Paul Heyman. But Rollins also changed his life. Rollins changed his life because Rhodes wouldn’t have known what he was capable of if not for their Hell in a Cell match. Rollins changed his career by being his shield at WrestleMania and helping him bring the world title to the Rhodes family. 

Rhodes knew it was pro wrestling 101 to run Rollins down right now to hype up their match, but Rhodes wanted to know what Rollins thought of himself. Rhodes said Rollins could be the absolute best in the business. But that version of Rollins wouldn’t be hiding behind the three Vision goons. 

Rollins pointed out his wristwatch, the one Rhodes gifted him after WrestleMania 40. Rollins hadn’t worn it until tonight. Rollins wondered if that was a real gift or a token gesture because Rhodes was fantastic about saying all the ring things about him, but only when it suited Rhodes. Rhodes undermined everything Rollins stood for. 

Rollins didn’t appreciate Rhodes going on interviews and saying he was the guy to take this business into the future. Rhodes called himself QB1, so Rollins wondered what that meant for him. Either Rhodes thought Rollins wasn’t good enough, or just not as good as him. 

Rollins said the Vision weren’t goons, they were the future of the business, and he was the tip of the spear, not Rhodes. Rhodes could be the quarterback if he wanted to, but he would be Rollins’ quarterback. It didn’t matter what Rhodes thought, because they would get the answer at Crown Jewel. This wasn’t a two-man show. Rollins stated, “I’m the alpha.” 

Rhodes reminded Rollins that they’ve had three matches, and they’ve all been one-on-one. Rhodes peered over at the Vision and asked if it would be the case again in Perth. Rhodes concluded with a question: “In the three matches that we’ve had, Seth Rollins, how many of those have you won?” 

Rhodes left the ring, and the Vision cleared a path for him to leave. 

********

Jimmy Uso met with Jey Uso backstage. (Jey had tape over stitches on his forehead.) Jimmy said their loss was trash because he knew they could beat the Brons. Jimmy went to Adam Pearce to request a rematch, only to learn that Jey was already busy tonight because he had asked for a match against Knight. 

Jey was red-hot and said they would have won if not for Knight being the referee. Jey was also pissed about Jimmy tagging with Knight last week (and losing). Jimmy asked if he was being blamed for their loss. Jey settled down (realizing he didn’t want to upset Jimmy) and said no, but he planned on beating up Knight tonight. 

******** 

Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods cut their usual ad-break promo. 

No disqualification six-man tag match: The New Day & Grayson Waller vs. The War Raiders & Penta

Woods wore a gigantic black hat a few weeks ago, so all three heels had a hat this week. They put the hats on during the break, so the babyfaces stole the hats and posed with them. The heels attacked them from behind to gain the heat. 

Kingston hit Penta with a diving leg drop off the top turnbuckle through a table outside the ring. The camera missed it because Woods blocked the cameraperson, so they immediately showed a replay. Erik brought both members of New Day by himself off the ropes, and Ivar went for a moonsault, but New Day dodged it. 

Penta avoided going through a corner table and instead suplexed Kingston through it. Waller cracked a kendo stick over Penta’s back, but Penta fought him off and hit an avalanche Canadian Destroyer for the pinfall win. 

Match result: Penta & The War Raiders defeated Grayson Waller & The New Day (10:15) 

This was pretty fun for the time they had, and the crowd was super into it. They popped huge for Penta’s finish. 

********

Dominik approached Judgment Day backstage. He wanted their help with Rusev, but Finn Bálor and JD McDonagh weren’t interested. Bálor wondered why El Grande Americano didn’t help Dom, but Dom said he was back in Mexico. Bálor claimed he was busy and began doing something on a tablet. 

Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez talked McDonagh into helping Dom. McDonagh only agreed because it would be best for Judgment Day. McDonagh said he would speak with Peace, but Dom told him he already got McDonagh a match against Rusev. McDongh (and Bálor) weren’t thrilled to hear this, but Dom was sure pleased with himself. 

********

Bayley met with Lyra Valkyria backstage. Bayley had selective memory, and Valkyria was surprised to learn that Bayley wasn’t mad at her after calling her an idiot last week. Bayley was all smiles and said she didn’t know what Valkyria was talking about. Bayley asked her to be at ringside for her match tonight. Valkyria wasn’t sure, but she eventually agreed. (Bayley wore Punk’s “AJ’s husband” jacket.) 

********

During a break, Byron Saxton asked Heyman about seemingly being Brock Lesnar’s advocate again. Heyman ignored the question and instead said Rollins would beat Rhodes at Crown Jewel. 

Heyman cut the promo on behalf of Rollins, but did so as if he was talking about Lesnar (using a lot of the lines he normally uses for Lesnar promos). Heyman said Rollins winning wasn’t a prediction or even a spoiler—it was a prophecy. 

********

Stephanie Vaquer promo 

Vaquer entered to a good reaction. Pearce congratulated her on winning the Women’s World Championship. Vaquer called this a dream come true. At times, it seemed impossible, but she worked hard for it and accomplished it. She beat one of the best in Iyo Sky and had her dad as inspiration. She pointed out her dad in the crowd.

Vaquer said this championship represented the motivation and support the fans gave her. They celebrated with her at Wrestlepalooza. She thanked them. Vaquer said her fire would keep making history, and nobody could stop her. 

Pearce told Vaquer that Tiffany Stratton was defending her title against Jade Cargill and Nia Jax in a triple threat on SmackDown, and the winner would face Vaquer at Crown Jewel. Vaquer looked forward to being there. 

Fireworks went off as Vaquer posed with her title belt. 

— Nikki Bella and Rhea Ripley approached Vaquer backstage to congratulate her. Ripley gave her a friendly reminder that she was coming for the title. 

Asuka (with Kairi Sane) confronted Vaquer. Asuka said Sky deserved to be champion, not Vaquer. Vaquer said she would fight Asuka any time she wanted. Vaquer left (with Bella). 

Ripley was tired of Asuka. Asuka told her to stay away from Sky, or else. Ripley challenged her to a match tonight, and Asuka accepted. The crowd popped for that. (The match was made official later on.) 

********

Bayley (w/Lyra Valkyria) vs. Roxanne Perez (w/Raquel Rodriguez) 

Barrett noted that Perez was tied with Knight for most matches in WWE in 2025, and they spoke about how the experience was helping Perez get better and better. (Perhaps a lesson to be learned there.)

Bayley was in control and went to the middle rope, but she distracted herself by watching Rodriguez at ringside. Perez kicked her leg out of her leg and took control ahead of a break. Rodriguez also took a cheap shot at Bayley during a break. 

Bayley fought back after a break, but Perez cut her off. Perez went for a suicide dive, but Bayley blocked it with a forearm. Perez fought her off and hit a Pop Rox outside the ring, and Bayley just barely beat the ten count. 

Rodriguez booted Bayley as Perez distracted the referee, so Valkyria attacked Rodriguez and drove her into the ring post. Perez then wiped out Valkyria with a suicide dive. 

This caused Bayley to snap into another personality, I guess, and she nailed Perez with a Bayley-to-belly, a running boot, and Rose Plant for the pinfall win. 

(Tesstitore tried to convince us that this was a violent attack, but it was really just one wrestler hitting another wrestler with their big moves for the win.) 

— Valkyria was pumped up for Bayley and gave her a hug. Bayley suddenly had no interest in Valkyria being there and shoved her down. Valkyria was shocked as Bayley screamed at her and told her to stay out of it. 

The crowd was into Bayley during the match, but they booed her in the post-match (which was the idea). 

Match result: Bayley defeated Roxanne Perez (10:46) 

********

Jimmy congratulated Rhodes on his Wrestlepalooza win. Rhodes asked how Jey was doing. Jimmy said Jey was in his own head and wouldn’t listen to him. Jimmy asked Rhodes if he would talk to him, so Rhodes agreed. 

Rhodes approached Jey after a break. Rhodes said Jimmy was worried about him. Jey said Big Jim was always tripping and told Rhodes not to worry. Rhodes said he knew what Jey felt like. There were highs and lows, wins and losses. People in their position isolate themselves, but Rhodes reminded Jey that he has his family, friends and fans. Rhodes told him, “We believe in you.” 

Jey told him not to worry. “Imma find my way back to the top, Cody.” Rhodes left, and Jey stared at him as he did. 

******** 

Rusev’s entrance happened during a break. 

Rusev vs. JD McDonagh (w/Intercontinental Champion Dominik Mysterio)

Rusev was in complete control until McDonagh kicked the steel steps into his legs. McDonagh followed with an Asai moonsault ahead of a break. McDonagh continued to shine with a few spots after a break, including a moonsault for two. 

McDonagh hit Rusev with multiple clotheslines, but couldn’t knock him down. Rusev nailed him with a body slam and Matcka Kick. Rusev applied the Accolade, and Dom hopped on the apron. Dom considered breaking it up, but was too afraid to get involved, so McDonagh taped out. 

— Rusev wouldn’t let go of the hold after the match as Dom just stood there, so Bálor ran out and gave Rusev a reverse DDT (which got a modest pop). Before Rusev could get up, Judgment Day escaped while Bálor admonished Dom. 

Match result: Rusev defeated JD McDonagh (10:12)

This match was between two heels, so the crowd wasn’t super into it, but they did get into McDonagh a bit thanks to his offence. 

********

Sky approached Asuka and Sane backstage, but Asuka didn’t want advice from someone who lost. Asuka left. Sane was in agony over all of this, but told Sky that Asuka was the reason they were there, so they had to listen to her. 

********

Jackie Redmond interviewed Knight. Redmond’s question was taking too long to get out, so Knight cut her off. Knight said Jey should be worried more about his own health. Knight was only checking on Jey’s well-being during the Wrestlepalooza match before he got speared through the table. 

Knight wasn’t trying to hurt Jey before—but he would tonight. Jey might’ve brain’ed himself on Saturday, but if he hadn’t, Knight would do it for him with a BFT. 

Jey Uso vs. LA Knight

Jey wore all black (with white sneakers) and did his full entrance. Knight did his entrance, but as he jumped down from the middle rope, Jey punched him before the match officially began. The ref called for the bell to begin. 

Jey was all over Knight until Knight cut him off with a neckbreaker. Jey avoided a baseball slide and clotheslined Knight to regain control during a break. After the break, Knight scaled the ropes to bring Jey down with a superplex. 

They traded strikes until Knight ducked one and hit a reverse DVD for two. Jey followed later with a suicide dive and superkick for two. Knight responded with a DDT and flying elbow drop for two. 

Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed ran out, so Knight attacked them both before they could enter the ring. The referee just watched this all transpire. 

Knight re-entered the ring but ran into an Uso spear. Jey followed with an Uso Splash for the pinfall win.  

— Jimmy joined Jey on stage after the match. Jimmy thought they should help Knight because he was about to be attacked by the Brons. Jey didn’t care, so he left. 

Jimmy grabbed a chair and sprinted to the ring. Jimmy invited the Brons into the ring, but Heyman talked them down, and they left. 

Match result: Jey Uso defeated LA Knight (8:36)

This was good, although I hate these distraction finishes. The referee looked like an idiot, letting things just continue normally after the Brons got involved. The match itself went at a fast pace, with the crowd into it all the way, and it felt like a fight between two guys with building animosity.

********

Becky Lynch ranted backstage while Rollins was in deep thought as he looked at his wristwatch. Lynch ranted about Rhodes, the Usos, and the fans. Lynch said the fans were thieves trying to steal the things they built. Lynch wanted to make an example. She left. (Rollins didn’t say a word.) 

********

Sky approached Ripley. Ripley, a grown adult, asked if they were allowed to be around each other. Sky wanted Ripley to cancel her match against Asuka. Ripley said she was sick of Asuka’s disrespect. Ripley hoped they could beat the respect into each other like she did with Sky. Sky said, “Fine.” 

Before Sky could leave, Ripley told her to be careful around Asuka. Sky was offended by this comment. Sky said Asuka was family and was the reason she was there. Sky said she could trust Asuka, but didn’t know if she could trust Ripley. Sky left, and Ripley was upset.  

******** 

Raw next week (7 pm ET/4 pm PT start time): 

  • Dominik Mysterio (c) vs. Rusev for the Intercontinental Championship 
  • Bayley vs. Raquel Rodriguez 
  • The Usos vs. Bron Breakker & Bronson Reed in a tornado tag match 

********

There was a video package for Los Americanos, trying to make it seem like they were a deeply rooted part of lucha libre history. Of course, they used gross-looking AI for the video. 

Maxxine Dupri asked Pearce for a match because she wanted to prove herself. Pearce told her to keep working until he finds someone. 

AJ Styles and Dragon Lee approached Pearce next. Styles said the Americanos were pissing him off and admitted to being a petty man. Dragon Lee wanted them in a tag match next week. Pearce said he would talk to them. (So he knows who they are?) Styles told Pearce not to sign any more Americanos for a while. 

******** 

Rhea Ripley vs. Asuka (w/Kairi Sane)

This was their first match since December 2022, and the announcers built this up as a PLE-level match. They went to commercial break a minute into it. 

Asuka was in control while targeting the leg, but Ripley came back with clotheslines, a thrust kick, a dropkick, and a Northern Lights suplex for two. Asuka avoided a Razor’s Edge, dropkicked her leg, and hit a sliding kick for two. Ripley responded with a boot and cannonball off the apron, leading to a second break. 

Ripley maintained control through a break and hit a superplex when they returned. They traded strikes until Asuka applied a jackknife cover for two. Ripley followed with a thrust kick, Razor’s Edge, and shining wizard for two. Asuka went for an armbar, but Ripley managed to escape. 

Ripley missed a charge and collided with the turnbuckle, and Asuka followed with a kick to the head for two. (The crowd chanted for Ripley.) Asuka knocked Ripley out of the ring and bounced her head off the table. Asuka said something to Sane before getting back in the ring. 

Ripley tried another kick, but Asuka caught her in a leg lock. Ripley tried getting to her feet, so Asuka nailed a German suplex. Asuka came off the top, but Ripley nailed her mid-air with a dropkick. (The crowd chanted, “This is awesome.”) 

Asuka shouted orders to Sane, so she reluctantly jumped on the apron with her fist clenched. Sane went for a back fist, but Ripley blocked it. Asuka went for a running hip attack, but Ripley moved, and Asuka knocked Sane off the apron by mistake. 

Ripley grabbed Asuka in a small package for the pinfall win. 

— Asuka blew mist in Ripley’s face immediately after the match. Asuka commanded Sane to attack, so she did hesitantly. They attacked Ripley until Sky quickly ran out to make the save. 

Sky settled Asuka down. Asuka was in tears, and they hugged. Asuka suddenly dropped Sky with a spinning back fist, and the crowd booed. 

Asuka commanded Sane to attack Sky. Again, Sane didn’t want to, but she did. Asuka saw Ripley getting to her feet, so she knocked her down with a spinning heel kick. Asuka held Sky as Sane (still in anguish over all of this), hit an Insane Elbow. 

The crowd booed as Asuka stood tall (while holding Sane), with Sky and Ripley laid out. 

Match result: Rhea Ripley defeated Asuka (17:15) 

This was excellent, although they relied yet again on an interference/distraction spot. Given the story being told, this was an appropriate spot for it, but it was hindered by the fact that they do this in 80% of TV matches. 

The match and the post-match were great, and they have built well to Asuka finally turning heel. Asuka and Lynch have both turned heel before to their detriment, but this one felt more purposeful. Asuka has looked awesome since returning, and her inevitable match with Sky feels like a big one. 

WWE SmackDown live results: Wrestlepalooza go-home show

Posted on by Marc Quill

The final WWE SmackDown before Wrestlepalooza, WWE’s first PLE on ESPN, will feature an interaction between WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and his next challenger Drew McIntyre.

Rhodes returned last week after a month away to save Randy Orton from a potential Claymore kick through the announce table. Tonight, Rhodes and McIntyre will have a contract signing to make their Wrestlepalooza title match officially official.

In an exclusive interview, Brock Lesnar will address his Wrestlepalooza matchup against John Cena. Last week, Lesnar delivered an F5 to R-Truth after demanding a face-to-face with Cena.

United States Champion Sami Zayn continues his open challenge series with Carmelo Hayes stepping up to the plate, much to the chagrin of his tag partner, The Miz.

A WWE Women’s Tag Team title match originally set to take place in France will come to fruition tonight as Alexa Bliss & Charlotte Flair defend against Chelsea Green & Alba Fyre.

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

**********

– We opened tonight’s SmackDown with the arrivals of Drew McIntyre, Cody Rhodes, Chelsea Green and the Secret Hervice, Carmelo Hayes, and Sami Zayn to the Huntington Center in Toledo, OH.

– Inside the arena, Michael Cole and Corey Graves welcomed us to the show as they talked about tomorrow night’s Wrestlepalooza. Cole said that Brock Lesnar wanted to do the sitdown interview right now as he left commentary. However, Lesnar made his entrance and it appeared that the interview would happen in the ring instead.

Brock Lesnar interview ahead of Wrestlepalooza

Lesnar grabbed Cole and held him over his shoulder as he made his way into the ring. Inside the ring, Lesnar continued to threaten Cole before Corey Graves entered the ring and pleaded with him to not attack Cole. He got an F5 for his troubles as the crowd chanted for John Cena. Lesnar then directly addressed the camera, yelling that he was coming for John Cena’s blood tomorrow and that it was D-Day. Lesnar paced around ringside and destroyed the Prime Hydtration station before he once again entered the ring to hit Graves with another F5. Various referees and security surrounded the ring while Lesnar yelled for Cena to come get himself some. He then left the ringside area, as the crowd jeered.

Pretty much a last gasp attempt to add fuel into this Cena/Lesnar Wrestlepalooza match that’s barely had a build. I can’t say if they succeeded on that front, though. That said, I guess we’ll have to find out tomorrow whether or not this match that has been haphazardily built will be any good at all.

**********

– We returned from the break with Cole and a few WWE road agents checking up on the fallen Graves, who was still out cold from being on the receiving end of two F5s.

– Backstage, Brock Lesnar was walking as he was confronted by Paul Heyman and The Vision’s Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed. Lesnar simply said that he and Heyman should talk before he left. SmackDown GM Nick Aldis warned The Vision to not cause anymore problems tonight, especially with the Cody Rhodes/Drew McIntyre contract signing to come. Heyman said that he and the Brons were simply here to enjoy the show.

– Back in the arena, Cole returned to the commentary table and was at a loss of words for what happened to his commentary partner. He said that in the years he’s been on commentary, he never felt as helpless as he did tonight. Cole said that if that’s what awaited John Cena tomorrow, he doesn’t know if even Cena had the answers.

WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships: Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss (c) vs. Alba Fyre & Chelsea Green

Flair and Green started off the match here with a lockup. Green took a shot at Bliss in the corner, but ate an elbow from Flair as a result. Bliss tagged herself in and went to work on Green and Fyre for a moment. The challengers took advantage after Bliss was dragged into their corner. Green connected with a dropkick, as Bliss was then slammed into the ringpost by Fyre. This took us into the break.

During the break, the Miz took over for Graves as he joined Cole on commentary.

We returned from the break with Bliss desperately trying to get the tag. She almost got the tag, but Flair was pulled from the apron by Fyre, which gave Green a chance to continue her attack on Bliss. Green taunted Flair and ended up missing on the shoulder charge to Bliss. This allowed Bliss to finally get the hot tag for Flair.

Flair teed off with chops on both Green and Fyre, before she blasted the latter with a somersault clothesline. Flair tried to set up for the FIgure-Eight, but Green provided a distraction as she ate a big boot. Fyre went for the roll up, but couldn’t get the pin. As Flair headed up top, Green grabbed at Flair’s leg, which allowed for Fyre to connect with the Swanton Bomb. Bliss broke up the pin at the last second.

A double suplex from the challengers was turned back as Bliss and Flair delivered stereo Natural Selections to Green and Fyre instead. Flair ended up getting the pin on Green to get the victory and the successful Women’s Tag Title defense.

Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss def. Chelsea Green & Alba Fyre via pinfall to retain the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships

A decent defense for the tag champs, who continue to be a popular act with fans. I’m curious now as to who steps up to Flair and Bliss.

*********

– Backstage, B-Fab tried to get The Street Profits on the same page, but was interrupted by Michin, who told B-Fab that Nick Aldis wanted to talk to them about getting a chance at Giulia and Kiana James. Montez Ford told Angelo Dawkins that he was going to talk to Nick Aldis about getting back into the tag picture, as Bo Dallas tried to get into Dawkins’ head. Ford got into Dallas’ face, but Erick Rowan attacked the Profits to leave them laying.

– We got a backstage skit with R-Truth and Los Garza telling us how to download the ESPN app in order to watch Wrestlepalooza tomorrow.

– Fraxiom were set for a match, but got attacked by Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed. Paul Heyman soon walked down the ring and did his usual introduction. He said that Fraxiom reminded him of the Usos, because both were down, out, victimized, and lying on their backs. As Heyman continued to talk, Nathan Frazer and Axiom got up on the top rope and took out the Brons with dual dropkicks. The two then unleashed a barrage of dives on Breakker and Reed to leave them staggered.

Nick Aldis appeared on stage and decided to book a tag match between Fraxiom and the Vision’s duo, which was to take place right now.

The Vision (Bron Breakker & Bronson Reed) vs. Fraxiom (Nathan Frazer & Axiom)

The match returned from break joined in progress, with Breakker working over Axiom in the corner. Axiom fended off Breakker momentarily, but got thrown overhead instead with a back drop. Breakker got a full head of speed and absolutely flattened Axiom with a lariat. Reed entered the match with a tag and continued to pummel Axiom with a senton. Breakker got the tag once more as he suplexed Axiom before pulling down the straps. He attempted a spear, but was met with a calf kick from Axiom. This allowed Frazer to get the hot tag.

Frazer had Reed staggered with a dropkick, as he soared from the top with a frog splash. Reed kicked out at two and avoided a moonsault before he dropped Frazer with the Jagged Edge. The Aussie headed up top for a Tsunami but was stopped temporarily by Axiom. Reed shoved Axiom below right into a spear from Breakker. Reed then finished Frazer off with the Tsunami.

After the match, Heyman tried to announce his men as the winners, but were interrupted by The Usos on the titantron. Jimmy and Jey were already in Indiana and said that they were going to lock things down as they welcomed The Vision to the Uso Penitentary.

The Vision def. Fraxiom via pinfall

Just a short and sweet match to give the Brons some momentum heading into their tag match with the Usos tomorrow. Bron Breakker’s spears continue to be a thing of beauty.

*********

– We got a sizzle reel for WWE’s full court press on ESPN in anticipation of tomorrow night’s Wrestlepalooza event.

Nia Jax in-ring promo

Jax asked what she was sick of, before she took a shot at the Toledo crowd. She then went on to say that she was sick of the SmackDown women’s division claiming that they were the alpha females, when she was the “true” alpha female of the division. Jax took credit for taking Tiffany Stratton out, which prevented her from showing up on the NXT Homecoming this past Tuesday. Jax then took a shot at Jade Cargill, saying that she should trade places with her, as Cargill was apparently not talented. Jax said that she was the alpha and that she’d annihilate any storm or any Tiffy time, any damn time.

This brought out the WWE Women’s Champion out for a rebuttal. Tiffany Stratton said that the people have had enough of Nia Jax being in the women’s division. She said that Cargill was not a superhero here to save the division. And since Jax and Cargill were committed to acting so delusional, Stratton said that she was here to prove that she was the one, true WWE Champion. Stratton attempted to walk down the ring to confront Jax, but was stopepd by a gaggle of referees. Jade Cargill made her way and decked a few security personnel.

Before Cargill could enter, Nick Aldis stopped things as he announced that next week on SmackDown, we’d see Stratton vs. Cargill vs. Jax in a triple threat match for the WWE Women’s Championship.

This match was reportedly set for tomorrow’s Wrestlepalooza, but postponed due to an apparent injury to Stratton, so it seems like they’re moving to have this match happen next week instead. That said, hopefully it’s the last we see these particular set of players in the women’s title picture together.

*********

– We got another R-Truth skit about the ESPN App, as he told the Motor City Machine Guns and Rey Fenix how to use it, again neglecting to mention the $30 monthly price tag of the new app.

U.S. Championship Open Challenge: Sami Zayn (c) vs. Carmelo Hayes

The action kicked off with Zayn and Hayes trading hammerlocks in a show of chain wrestling prowess. After that, Hayes used his athleticism to hit Zayn with a dropkick after a leapfrog dodge. Hayes continued to hit Zayn with blows to the back, but found himself on the receiving head of a forearm strike by the U.S. Champion. On the apron, Zayn looked like he was going for something big, but Hayes stunned him with a a guillotine leg drop as we took a break in the action.

SmackDown returned as Hayes had the upper hand on Zayn. The challenger had his foe floored with a leg drop for the near-fall. Zayn fought back with a clothesline on Hayes, as he then followed that up with an axe handle from the middle turnbuckle. Zayn dragged Hayes to the corner and teed off on him with repeated punches to the face, much to the chagrin of the Miz on commentary. Zayn then spun Hayes’ world right round with a tornado DDT, but couldn’t pick up the win there.

Zayn headed up to the top rope, but Hayes recovered and avoided the high-risk attempt. Hayes, however, couldn’t avoid Zayn’s Michinoku Driver, which got yet another near-fall. Hayes caught Zayn on the button with a big knee to the face as he headed up top for a frog splash. Zayn got his knees up at the last second, which sent Hayes scurrying to the corner and right into the crosshairs for a Helluva Kick. Hayes intercepted Zayn with a superkick as both men went down and we went to a second commercial break during this match.

We returned from break as Zayn attempted the Exploder Suplex into the corner, but Hayes managed to block it. On the apron, Zayn got dropped with a flip over the rope by Hayes, which had his wrist caught up in the middle rope. Hayes then headed up top and got the Frog Splash, but could not secure the victory. Hayes followed that up with the First 48 after successfully countering a Blue Thunder Bomb attempt by Zayn. One, two… no!

Hayes lifted Zayn up for a cutter, followed by springboard neckbreaker on the U.S. Champion. Zayn managed to avoid the Nothin’ But Net from Hayes and turned that into a Blue Thunder Bomb for the rare victory with that signature maneuver.

Sami Zayn def. Carmelo Hayes to retain the United States Championship

Another solid match for Zayn in this U.S. Open Challenge he’s run as of late. I’ve been enjoying these matches, which have become the highlight of SmackDown every week.

*********

– Kit Wilson was talking with Nick Aldis about hypermasculinity, as Damian Priest stormed in and demanded a shot at Aleister Black. Wilson got upset at Priest’s demands, calling it a case of toxic masculinity, as he ended up being thrown through the wall by an irate Priest.

– The second part in the retrospective of John Cena and Brock Lesnar’s rivalry was shown.

Wrestlepalooza on ESPN Card

  • Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena
  • AJ Lee & CM Punk vs. Becky Lynch & Seth Rollins
  • Jimmy & Jey Uso vs. The Vision (Bron Breakker & Bronson Reed)
  • Women’s World Championship: IYO SKY vs. Stephanie Vaquer
  • Undisputed WWE Championship: Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Drew McIntyre

– We got a vignette from Solo Sikoa as he showed appreciation for Tonga Loa for showing loyalty to him since day one. He said that he owed it to Tonga to be a champion, and that his loyalty would be rewarded as long as Tonga was part of his Family Tree. Tonga then said that he loved Solo to end the vignette.

Cody Rhodes/Drew McIntyre contract signing

In the ring, SmackDown GM Nick Aldis said that the main event of Wrestlepalooza would be the Undisputed WWE Championship match, of which the contract would be signed for in mere moments. Aldis then introduced the challenger, one Drew McIntyre, to the ring.

The surly Scotsman made his way to the ring and immediately took a mic. Before he could utter a word, the theme of Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes interrupted, which brought out the American Nightmare to the usual reaction of cheers from the crowd.

Once both Rhodes and McIntyre in the ring, the champion took to the mic. He said that fifteen years ago today, he and McIntyre won the Tag Team Championships, and that no one wasn’t talking about it, mainly because it wasn’t his or McIntyre’s story. It was the story of the people, and they didn’t care about the lore and wanted to see two people fight.

Rhodes listed off McIntyre’s past accolades, as he said that he was a “keyboard warrior” as of late. He urged on McIntyre to do his talking on social media because it’d be the last time he’d get one up on him. McIntyre showed his phone to Rhodes, with a post that said “Thank you, Cody.”

McIntyre responded that this match without intereference or shortcuts was what he wanted all along, before he called Rhodes a cardboard champion that was unwilling to compromise the main event of Wrestlepalooza. McIntyre said that the crowd would eventually turn on Rhodes and all he’d be left with is to say that “Drew was right”.

Rhodes fired back asking McIntyre what would happen if his legacy now was to be the man who lost the first main event of the ESPN Era. As both men signed the contract, McIntyre delivered a blindside headbut on Rhodes and attacked the champion at ringside.

As McIntyre had Rhodes at his mercy against the announce table, the Scotsman refused to hit the Claymore kick, stating that he wanted him to be at his best tomorrow at Wrestlepalooza. As McIntyre tried to walk away, Rhodes dove through the middle rope to tackle McIntyre. The two continued to fight as referees tried to separate the two. As the producers credits for Paul Levesque and Lee Fitting popped up, McIntyre popped Rhodes with a boot to the head. We ended the final SmackDown before tomorrow’s Wrestlepalooza with McIntyre taunting Rhodes, stating that it was going to be the last time he’d be sleeping with the title for a long time.

*********

A decent final segment to build up, again, another haphazardly-built feud for this first ESPN PLE where it just happened within a span of a week. That seems to be a pattern with this Wrestlepalooza card, with the exception of CM Punk/AJ Lee vs. Seth Rollins/Becky Lynch, which seems to be the best-built match out of the five matches set to take place tomorrow.

As a go-home show for Wrestlepalooza, this SmackDown was okay on that front. The Sami Zayn U.S. Open Challenge continues to be the stand out of these weekly shows, as the matches there have been excellent. Other than that, everything else just ranges from okay to mediocre, sorry to say.

WWE NXT Homecoming live results: Big returns at Full Sail University

Posted on by Chris Aiken

Tonight, WWE NXT returns to where the brand first rose to prominence.

NXT is back at Full Sail University for a Homecoming special. The card features some of NXT’s biggest names from the Black & Gold past, including stars like Rhea Ripley, Johnny Gargano, Tommaso Ciampa, Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, and Tyler Breeze.

Ripley will team with Stephanie Vaquer & Lyra Valkyria as they battle the new-era trio of Fatal Influence (Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley & Jazmyn Nyx). Valkyria is replacing Tiffany Stratton in the match due to Stratton not being medically cleared to compete.

Tonight’s show will also see DIY (Gargano & Ciampa) team up to face the reuniting duo of Trick Williams & Carmelo Hayes.

Gold will be on the line as Charlotte & Bliss defend the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles against The Culling’s Izzi Dame & Tatum Paxley. Plus, Breeze challenges Ethan Page for the NXT North American Championship.

A Grayson Waller Effect segment will see NXT Champion Oba Femi and Ricky Saints build up their title match ahead of No Mercy on September 27.

In addition to all that, WWE has announced that Finn Balor, Sami Zayn, Bianca Belair, Bobby Roode, William Regal, and more will be in the building.

**********

NXT is back on the air with a supercard this week to celebrate Homecoming, and the show returns to Full Sail.

The show begins with a retrospective video package highlighting the history of the brand, with notable moments from Full Sail.

The first talent seen in the video package is Triple H, and he also kicks off the show live in the Full Sail arena. Big pop for Triple H as he enters, and the crowd chants for him.

Triple says he can hardly tell the audience how good it feels to be home. He says NXT and Full Sail are something special. He goes on to say all of the superstars over the years are special, and he puts over the fans of NXT. What started as a whisper, they turned into a roar.

Triple H says their passion for NXT “shattered conventions” and “allowed NXT to take over” (which is an obvious play on the TakeOver specials of years past). Triple H cued the crowd to help him finish the phrase “We are N-X-T.” Triple H tells them thanks when the tones of “Sexy Boy” blare.

Shawn Michaels enters and joins Triple H in the ring. HBK is wearing a nice sports coat, but his cowboy hat looks as if it was run over beforehand in the parking lot. He used to wear a nice Stetson hat way back in the day. That might pair better with the sports coat.

Michaels tells Triple H that we know he’s been out there selling out million dollar gates with Raw and Smackdown, and he has also cut billion dollar deals. But HBK has to let Trips know that the current NXT roster is ready to knock it out of the park. Triple H puts over the current NXT. They are “lighting the world on fire.”

Triple H then suggests, “What if I want to come back?” Michaels gets in Trips’ face and says, “Then we would have a very, very big problem.”

Suddenly, the entrance of William Regal interrupts the standoff. Regal also ran NXT, much like Triple H and Michaels. Regal says there is only one way to settle this. Someone in the crowd off camera yells, “War Games!” In a funny bit, Regal remarks that was his line. Pretend you did not say that, and “take that off the edit.”

Regal then screams, “WAR GAMES!”

WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Charlotte Flair and Alexis Bliss then enter and stand beside Regal. They joke about Tripe H and Shawn arguing more than they do, as the champs are an odd couple team of sorts. Flair says, respectfully, that the women have always been in charge in NXT. The “Women’s Revolution” started right here in Full Sail.

Flair and Bliss wait out the crowd chants to list off names of women wrestlers from NXT. Bliss says the women have always been the backbone of NXT, and if they are not down with that. She has two words for ya’, and the crowd chants “Suck it!”

Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss vs. Izzi Dame & Tatum Paxley for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship

Shawn Spears and Niko Vance are in the challengers’ corner. The tag title bout goes through a commercial break. At one point, Alexa goes for Twisted Bliss. Paxley gets her knees up thanks in part to a distraction from The Culling. Paxley follows up with a roll up and her feet on the ropes for a near fall.

Paxley executes her own finisher for another near fall. Flair breaks up the pin, and Dame brawls with her. Paxlet misses a 450 and rolls through, only to eat an elbow from Bliss. Sister Abigail from Bliss, and Bliss covers Paxley for a pin. And still…

Macth result: Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss defeated Tatum Paxley & Izzi Dame to retain the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship (when Bliss pinned Paxley).

— Sol Ruca and Zaria are bickering in a backstage skit when in walks Lainey Reed, followed by Candice LeRae. They argue about who is winning the Speed tournament. The winner faces Ruca for the Speed title at No Mercy.

Shayna Baszler walks in for a cameo, and her glare makes both Reed and LeRae to leave. Baszler then urges Ruca and Zarua work out their differences.

Trick Williams & Carmelo Hayes vs. Tommaso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano

The tag match goes through a commercial break. DIY run wild before the break. Double down as the show returns from the break, and hot tags. Garagno runs wild. He and Hayes do some cool spots on the entrance ramp (which is the same height as the ring).

Tricks soon tags in and cleans house. He signals for his finisher, but Hayes makes a blind tag. Trick and Carmelo tease dissension, but they double team instead with an electric chair/springboard lariat. Ciampa soon tags in, and he gets a near fall after giving Hayes a backbreaker bomb.

Trick retrieves his TNA World title belt, and the referee takes it from him. DIY set up Trick for their finisher, but Hayes pushes Trick out of the way. DIY then double team Hayes for another near fall.

The Miz suddenly runs in at ringside. Skull Crushing Finale by Miz on Garagno, and he rolls Gargano back into the ring. Hayes leaps off the top rope with Nothing But Net. Hayes then hooks a leg and covers Gargano for a three count.

Match result: Trick Williams & Carmelo Hayes defeated Tommaso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano when Hayes pinned Gargano.

Kelly Kincaid interviews WWE United States Champion Sami Zayn. He is emotional over returning to NXT. Zayn then goes on to put over Je’Von Evans. Interrupting the interview is Josh Briggs, who barges in to cut a promo where he buries Evans. Briggs is calling Evans a bum when Evans rushed in to brawl with Briggs. Zayn stops Evans, and Zayn gives Evans a pep talk. “The sky is the limit,” Zayn tells Evans.

Ethan Page vs. Tyler Breeze for the NXT North American Championship

The title bout goes through a commercial break, much like the other matches on the show. Like the other title match on the show, the champ never felt in jeopardy of losing the strap. Breeze did get a few near falls, and the match itself was decent enough. Breeze looked good.

For the finish, Breeze was atop the turnbuckles when Page tripped him up. Breeze crotched himself on the top turnbuckle, and Page excited a draping Twisted Grin on Breeze. Page then scores a three count.

Match result: Ethan Page defeated Tyler Breeze to retain the NXT North American Championship

AAA Latin American Champion Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. is ringside after the match, and he has a stare down with Page.

— Damien Priest is backstage talking with Tavion Heights. Priest hypes up Heights. Priest then tells Heights he booked him a title match against Page for the North American title at No Mercy.

The Grayson Waller Effect with special guests Ricky Saints and Oba Femi

Waller comments that he has never been in the arena at Full Sail. Waller then introduces his guest — Ricky Saints and NXT Champion Oba Femi.

Waller asks a condescending question, and Femi answers it by cutting a promo on Saints. Femi is not impressed with Saints. Femi accuses Saints of looking past NXT to the main roster, where he can “carry Cody Rhodes’ bags.” Waller laughs uproariously.

Femi goes on to say Saints can carry any bags he wants, but Saints cannot carry the North American title. Saints responds by talking about Femi being scouted and recruited for NXT. Saints accuses Femi of being a “pampered athlete.”

Saints brings up a WWE tryout and not getting a deal, but he is here now. Saints says he will always gamble on himself, as Saints rises from his chair to cut a fiery promo on Femi. Saints vows to win the NXT title at No Mercy.

Out comes TNA World Champ Trick Williams to interrupt. Trick says Femi is holding something of his, which is the NXT title.

Waller butts in to suggest a title vs. title match next week with Trick Williams against Oba Femi. Then, the winner defends against Saints at No Mercy.

Femi concludes the segment with a promo where he vows to beat Trick for the TNA title, and he will successfully defend both against Saints at No Mercy.

— “NXT Spotlight” sponsored by an insurance company is a skit with Charlie Dempsey and Wren Sinclair, and cameos by Bobby Roode and Joe Hendry. Dempsey informs Sinclair he is going to Japan for a little while.

Roode then appears and Sinclair asks him to do the “Glorious” pose. Roode poses, complete with sound effects. Hendry then appears, and Roode tells Hendry to focus on the NXT title. Hendry shakes hands with Roode.

— Lexis King is in the ring after a commercial break. King cuts a promo proclaiming himself the “Homecoming King”, before King buries the “Black and Gold” of NXT. King then cuts a promo on Myles Borne, and King announces he and Borne meet next week in a “lights out” match.

The lights in the arena goes dark, and Finn Balor gets a full entrance. Balor, wearing street clothes, poses in a corner. King is distracted with Balor as Borne jumps King. Balor then jumps off the tope rope with a double foot stomp. Borne and Balor pose together as King sells.

— Kelly Kincaid interviews Darkstate. Montez Ford interrupts them, and he interacts with them.

— Bianca Belair in a cameo appearance is shown at watching from ringside.

Fatal Influence (Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley & Jazmyn Nyx) vs. Rhea Ripley, Stephanie Vaquer & Lyra Valkyria in a six-woman tag team match

The match goes through a commercial break. The babyface trio cleans house before the break. During the commercials, the Valkyria is cut off and worked over. The heels are in control when the show returns from the break.

Hot tag to Vaquer, and she is a house of fire. Vaquer is cut off, and the heels gang up on her. Henley gets a near fall on Vauquer.

Hot tag to Ripley, and she runs wild. Vaquer and Ripley do a stereo version of the Devil’s Kiss. The babyfaces are looking strong. NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne tries to flee, but Lola Vice blocks her path. They meet in a title match soon. Vice hits Jayne with a spinning back fist, and Ripley then executes a Rip Tide on Jayne. Ripley covers Jayne for the deciding pinfall. Afterwards, Vice celebrates with the babyfaces.

Match result: Rhea Ripley, Stephanie Vaquer & Lyra Valkyria defeated Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley & Jazmyn Nyz

— Closing the show is a backstage stare down with NXT Champ Oba Femi and TNA Champ Trick Williams. It is official. The two champs meet next Tuesday in a title vs. title match. Pretty big match for only a week’s notice.

WWE Raw live results: Wrestlepalooza go-home show

Posted on by Steve Khan

Date: September 15, 2025
Location: MassMutual Center in Springfield, MA 

The Big Takeaway —

Wrestlepalooza is Saturday. 

**********

Show Recap — 

Penta (wearing his mask but no makeup underneath), Stephanie Vaquer, El Grande Americano, and Seth Rollins, Becky Lynch, Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed were shown arriving. (It’s a little weird that they show Penta without his face paint for the sake of this gimmick of showing people arriving at the arena.) 

There was a recap of Jey Uso spearing LA Knight as Raw concluded last week. 

Back to the live show, Knight shoved Jey Uso as he arrived with Jimmy Uso. Adam Pearce and some officials quickly broke it up, and he demanded they see him in his office or their paychecks would be missing zeros. 

Despite some stars actively on the screen, the crowd was already chanting for John Cena, who is scheduled to open the show. 

Joe Tessitore and Corey Graves are tonight’s announcers.

John Cena kicks off Raw

Cena was happy to be back on Raw and in Springfield, Massachusetts. Cena informed the younger fans in the crowd that he played football up the street at Springfield College. He told the older fans he was an offensive lineman, which is why they probably didn’t know this. 

Being an OL meant you never got your name in the paper, you got your ass kicked, and you showed up the next day prepared to get your ass kicked again. Springfield College prepared him for life in WWE. 

Cena said he had friends and family in the building tonight, and he wished his niece a happy birthday because she couldn’t be here tonight. He acknowledged that there was no stage because the arena was packed. 

He enjoyed these moments with the fans and wanted to while he could, because he had a tall hill to climb. His intro called him the last real champion, but Brock Lesnar wanted to end the last real champion. 

He called Lesnar intimidating, “controversial,” and nearly invisible. Fans chanted, “F—k you, Lesnar.” 

Cena said Lesnar returned to WWE once again and again targeted him. Cena could have used his influence to turn down a match with Lesnar. Saying ‘no’ was safe, especially with only six appearances left. The crowd chanted, “Whoop his ass,” and “Thank you, Cena.”

As the fans chanted, Cena said they were the reason he said ‘yes’. He was the last real champion. He didn’t fight his battles backstage, he fought them in the ring. Being the last real champion wasn’t about holding a belt or fighting in the main event. The last real champion didn’t take their ball and go home. They fought with hustle, loyalty and respect. 

Cena admitted he was afraid of Lesnar and could fail—but he would never back down. We would take the fight to the beast because that’s what we did. On the history-making Wrestlepalooza on ESPN, it would be the final showdown between two generational titans. 

Cena didn’t care how many suplexes Lesnar had in Suplex City. He has taken Lesnar’s best shot for 20 years. His jorts were stronger than Lesnar’s jeans. On Saturday, Cena was ready for war. 

*********

Pearce met with Jey and Knight. After some arguing, Pearce agreed to Knight’s request to fight the Brons tonight, but said he needed to pick a partner. Knight looked Jey in the eye and said his partner would be Jimmy. Jey didn’t like that, but there was nothing he could do. 

Lyra Valkyria vs. Roxanne Perez (w/Raquel Rodriguez)

Rodriguez tripped Valkyria from outside the ring, so the referee tossed her from ringside. Perez applied a cradle, but the referee missed it because she was still arguing with Rodriguez. After she left, Perez yanked Valkyria off the top turnbuckle to take control. 

(The match started as soon as they returned from a break, so they were actually able to wrestle for about four minutes instead of the usual 90 seconds before going to break.) 

There were chants for both women during the break. Perez cut off Valkyria’s comeback and hit a double knee drop for two. Perez applied a crossface, but Valkyria powered to her feet and hit Nightwing for the pinfall win. 

— Rodriguez attacked Valkyria from behind after the match, and Perez gave her a Pop Rox. Bayley ran out to make the save. She wiped out Rodriguez and gave Perez a Bayley-to-belly. 

The crowd was happy to see Bayley, who was full babyface—at least at first. She suddenly had a stern demeanour as she stared at Valkyria, but she snapped out of it and turned into hugger Bayley. She smiled and excitedly hugged Tessitore, Graves, Alicia Taylor, and a bunch of fans. (So, Bayley will indeed be doing a split-personality gimmick.) 

Valkyria was nonplussed. 

Match result: Lyra Valkyria defeated Roxanne Perez (9:06)

This match was just there to get Valkyria a win after losing to Rodriguez last week and set up Bayley’s return. 

********

Pearce met with Iyo Sky and Stephanie Vaquer backstage. He made their world title match official for Wrestlepalooza. They wished each other luck. 

Asuka and Kairi Sane barged in. Asuka got in Vaquer’s face and told her she wasn’t ready for Sky. Vaquer told her to get out of her face, so Asuka told Vaquer she would face Sane tonight. Sane was surprised to hear this, but she was ready. Pearce made it official. Asuka giggled as she left, before calling for Sane to join her. (Asuka is so good in this role.) 

******** 

Knight met with Jimmy Uso. Jimmy didn’t think it was a good idea for them to team up. Knight said he could trust Jimmy after he helped him last week. Jimmy said Knight put him in a tough spot and politely declined being his partner. Knight left. 

********

They’ve removed the commercial break countdown timer, at least for this week. I wasn’t sure if they were in a commercial break or not, but I realized they were because New Day cut a promo. 

Xavier Woods and Grayson Waller wanted the Mexican Destroyer banned. Kofi Kingston said his home state should be cheering him, but he understood because his part of the state had much more money than this piss-hole city. Kingston called Pearce a tyrant and told the fans they should thank God for him. 

Penta vs. Kofi Kingston (w/Xavier Woods & Grayson Waller)

Kingston took control thanks to a distraction about a minute into the match, and they went to break. Kingston cut off Penta’s comeback attempt after the break with an SOS. They traded strikes until Penta hit an enziguri. (Woods made cracks to the fans about Shelbyville because they were in Springfield.)

Penta set up for the Canadian Destroyer, but Woods distracted the referee. Penta superkicked Waller before he could interfere and chased Woods off the apron. Penta then hit Kingston with a springboard Destroyer for the pinfall win. 

Match result: Penta defeated Kofi Kingston (7:30) 

This was an ordinary match until the finish, which looked awesome. Penta gets his win back over Kingston, who beat him three weeks ago. 

This was the second straight match with a distraction, and this is now seven straight going back to last week. 

********

Jimmy approached Jey as Jey was leaving a voicemail for someone on the phone. Jey didn’t tell him who it was. They had a disagreement after Jey told Jimmy he had to turn down Knight tonight. Jimmy said he already turned down Knight, but he also didn’t like the way Jey was bossing him around as if he had the Ula Fala around his neck. Jimmy stormed off. 

After a break, Jimmy told Knight he would be his partner tonight. Knight was glad to hear it. 

There was a clip of Jey Uso throwing out the first pitch at yesterday’s Boston Red Sox game. 

******** 

AJ Lee & CM Punk go face-to-face with Becky Lynch & Seth Rollins 

Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch entered first (Rollins’ music played first, followed by Lynch’s). Rollins took his time introducing himself and Lynch. Rollins introduced her the way he introduces himself, including calling her “Becky freakin’ Lynch.” 

AJ Lee and CM Punk entered to Lee’s music. Punk introduced himself as Lee’s husband. He didn’t plan on wasting time (like Rollins) with a long-winded introduction explaining who she was. (The fans chanted for Punk at first, so he made sure to feed them a line to get them to chant for Lee as well.) 

Punk referred to Lynch and Rollins as goofs (based on their matching leather outfits) and said they must share the same closet. They also came out to two annoying songs, but Punk gladly put Cult of Personality on the shelf so they could enter to Lee’s Let’s Light it Up (patting himself on the back). 

Rollins actually wanted to give Punk some credit because Lee was the best decision he ever made—in his personal life. (After some “Shut the f—k up” chants, the crowd chanted, “No one likes you.”) However, inserting Lee into this was something he would regret for the rest of his days. 

Lee said the regret would be Rollins’. She wouldn’t even be here if he hadn’t used his wife as a human shield. 

Lynch said nobody expected Lee to come back, and she couldn’t believe how irresponsible Punk was. She said Punk only cared about three things: himself, Rollins’ title, and AJ. 

Lynch read Lee’s book and said she might have healed mentally, but she wondered how she felt physically. Lynch asked how her neck was doing and asked how Punk would feel when she pummeled Lee’s face in. Lynch called Lee a liability, not an asset. 

Lee thanked Lynch for reading her book and said she didn’t read Lynch’s. (The crowd sang Lee’s name.) Lee admitted she didn’t know how her neck would hold up on Saturday. Lee also said she won two titles on that same neck. (Lee made a comment about Lynch looking constipated, so the fans chanted for that, too.) 

She didn’t know what she was going to do on Saturday. She’s been known to make rash decisions. She was a Puerto Rican girl from New Jersey—sometimes you had to shank a chick. Rollins liked to have a plan, but Lee warned them that they can’t plan for what they can’t predict. 

Rollins laughed at the idea that he couldn’t handle Lee. He called her a little girl. He may not be able to predict her, but he could read Punk like a book. Rollins warned Lee that Punk had a habit of leaving things when he was let down. Lee better hope to God that Punk doesn’t leave her, too. 

Lee slapped Rollins. Rollins said he wouldn’t put his hands on a lady, but knew someone who would. Lynch was not on board with this right now, so they argued. Punk and Lee looked on, amused. Lynch and Rollins argued until Lynch stormed off. 

It was all part of the plan, of course, and Punk fell for it. Punk went after Rollins, who escaped the ring. That left Lee alone, so Lynch caught her from behind and hit a Man-handle Slam. 

Punk tended to Lee as he stared down Lynch. Lynch slapped him and left with Rollins. The heels held their belts up high as Punk checked on Lee. 

********

There was a recap of Dominik Mysterio winning the AAA Mega Championship. Byron Saxton interviewed Dom and asked him about El Grande Americano. Dom responded, “Don’t worry about it, sweetheart,” and called himself the Mega Intercontinental Champion. 

The interview was cut short by a nearby commotion. New Day laid out Penta, and the War Raiders chased them off. 

El Grande Americano (Ludwig Kaiser) vs. Dragon Lee

There was a cool sequence early on where Dragon Lee used a leaping hurricanrana over the top rope to send El Grande Americano off the apron. Dragon Lee followed with a flip dive, sending both men into the announce table. 

Americano took over during a break. (He tied Dragon Lee’s mask to the rope during the break, which Kingston also did to Penta during the earlier match.) Lee hit Liger Bomb for two and a double foot stomp off the top rope for two. 

The distraction/interference streak continued because a mystery masked man attacked Lee. Americano hit a leaping blockbuster for a nearfall. 

AJ Styles marched out to even the odds. The masked man (Pete Dunne) tried to hide under the ring, but Tessitore pointed him out. Styles chucked him over the barricade. 

Styles stood by the timekeeper’s area but was attacked by a third masked person. The third person distracted the referee while masked Dunne shoved Dragon Lee off the top rope. Kaiser applied a deep submission, and Lee tapped out. 

— The three masked men did the Spider-Man meme pose outside the ring. 

Match result: El Grande Americano defeated Dragon Lee (10:12) 

Three matches on Raw, three distractions. That’s eight straight going back to last week. 

********

Valkyria approached Bayley’s locker room door but stopped upon hearing an argument. Bayley’s personalities were arguing with each other until there was a loud bang against the door. Valkyria hesitantly entered the room, and Bayley sat calmly on a sofa. Bayley told her off for entering without knocking and called her an idiot. Bayley stormed off. 

********

Rhea Ripley (who got a huge pop) approached Vaquer to wish her luck and tell her that she’d be ready for the winner. 

Stephanie Vaquer vs. Kairi Sane (w/Asuka)

The crowd was relatively quiet until Vaquer set up for Devil’s Kiss, but Sane countered it into a roll up for two. Sane followed with a DDT and went to the top, but Vaquer followed her there. A battle on the ropes led to Sane hitting a double foot stomp (the same one we saw in the last match) for two. Sane hit consecutive spinning back fists, but Vaquer came back with a headbutt and a dragon screw. 

Sane rolled outside the ring into the arms of Asuka, so Vaquer wiped them out with a dive off the top. Back in the ring, Vaquer hit Sane with Devil’s Kiss and SVB for a nice, clean pinfall win.

— Asuka hit the apron and got in Vaquer’s face, but Sky ran out to get between them before anything could happen. Sky settled Asuka down until she left. 

Sky and Vaquer faced off and shook hands ahead of their title match on Saturday. 

Match result: Stephanie Vaquer defeated Kairi Sane (11:57)

******** 

There was a video package for Breakker and Reed. 

A red-hot Asuka confronted Sky as Sane tried holding her back. Asuka wanted to ensure Sky became champion, but Sky wanted to do it on her own. Asuka continued screaming in Japanese. She seemed to agree to Sky’s request, but she was pissed. 

******* 

The announcers ran down the Wrestlepalooza card and let us know how we can watch. 

  • John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar 
  • CM Punk & AJ Lee vs. World Champion Seth Rollins & Women’s IC Champion Becky Lynch (mixed tag match) 
  • IYO SKY vs. Stephanie Vaquer for the vacant Women’s World Championship 
  • Cody Rhodes vs. Drew McIntyre for the Undisputed WWE Championship 
  • The Usos vs. Bron Breakker & Bronson Reed 

******** 

The Judgment Day met backstage. They toasted champagne to congratulate Dom on his title win. (Finn Bálor’s glass was all head, poured poorly by JD McDonagh. Bálor didn’t seem to appreciate that.) 

Bálor was still unhappy with Dom about the El Grande Americano situation. He fired up at Dom until McDonagh calmed him down. McDonagh asked Dom what Americano wanted from him. 

Dom didn’t think it was a big deal that Americano would simply want the respect of the greatest Mysterio ever. Bálor told him that he shouldn’t expect their help next time. Bálor and McDonagh left together. 

Rusev approached Dom. Rusev got in his face and told him he was the next IC champion. Rusev smiled and told him to enjoy his party. 

********

LA Knight & Jimmy Uso vs. Bron Breakker & Bronson Reed 

Knight and Jimmy worked well together early on and had control until Reed headbutting Jimmy gave the heels control during a break. The crowd chanted for Jimmy, who was cut down by a Breakker suplex. Jimmy avoided Reed’s senton and made the hot tag to Knight. 

Knight gave Breakker a neckbreaker, but turning his attention to Reed allowed Breakker to cut him off with a knee strike. Reed tagged in, but Knight avoided a Jagged Edge (DVD) and hit a reverse DDT and elbow drop. Jimmy tagged himself in and hit an Uso splash, but Breakker broke up the cover. 

Knight clotheslined Breakker out of the ring, and Jimmy hit Reed with a suicide dive. Jimmy went for another, but Reed caught him with a forearm. Knight attacked Reed and sent him back into the ring. Jimmy hit Reed with a superkick and spear. As Jimmy went to the top, Breakker ran over Knight with a leaping shoulder tackle. 

Breakker went after Jimmy, but Jimmy kicked him off the apron. The distraction allowed Reed to hit Jimmy with Jagged Edge for the pinfall win. 

— Breakker speared Jimmy after the match, so Jey ran out to make the save. Jey attacked both Brons with a chair as the fans Yeeted. 

The crowd gasped as Knight grabbed a steel chair with Jey’s back turned. Jey turned around and went face-to-face with Knight. Knight dropped the chair, and Jey offered a handshake. 

Knight shook his hand—then dropped him with a BFT (as payback for last week). 

Match result: Bronson Reed & Bron Breakker defeated Jimmy Uso & LA Knight (12:02)

WWE SmackDown live results: Brock Lesnar appears

Posted on by Marc Quill

At the end of another newsworthy week in WWE, tonight’s SmackDown airs live from Norfolk, Virginia — as Wrestlepalooza approaches next weekend.

Ahead of his match against John Cena at the new PLE, Brock Lesnar will appear on tonight’s show. Lesnar issued the challenge last Friday in Chicago after attacking Cena during his United States title match with Sami Zayn.

Zayn will be in action again, defending the title in another open challenge.

In a meeting of former champions, Randy Orton will finally get a chance to face Drew McIntyre in singles action after weeks of targeting his hated rival. The two met in a tag team bout at SummerSlam and last squared off one-on-one at July’s Saturday Night’s Main Event.

In a rematch from SummerSlam, WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton will defend against Jade Cargill. Stratton has held the gold for 250+ days.

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

**********

– As Vic Joseph introduced us to tonight’s show, shots of Randy Orton, Drew McIntyre, Tiffany Stratton, and Jade Cargill arriving to the Scope Arena were shown. We then went to inside the arena, where Joseph was joined by his NXT color commentary partner Booker T. to call tonight’s action.

– A recap of last week’s John Cena vs. Sami Zayn match being crashed by Brock Lesnar was shown.

Brock Lesnar opens SmackDown

Lesnar arrived to the arena, cowboy hat and all, as the crowd was a mix of cheers and boos for his arrival.

With mic in hand, the fans chanted “you suck” at Lesnar before he could speak, and he was soon interrupted by R-Truth, who rapped his way to the ring. Once Truth entered the ring, he asked the Norfolk crowd to make some noise before Lesnar told him to shut up.

Truth responded by saying he was going to be the first WWE superstar to say to Lesnar, “welcome back”. He said that he used to be scared of Lesnar, but not anymore. Lesnar answered by saying that he didn’t know who Truth was and he wanted him to get to the point.

Truth said that Lesnar was disrespecting John Cena, his hero and older brother for the past twenty-five years. Lesnar said he was here to look for John Cena tonight as he asked Truth for his whereabouts. Truth said he didn’t know where Cena was, but he was here to defend the honor of his “older brother”. Truth then told Lesnar that his name was “Ron Cena”.

Lesnar asked again where Cena was, as Truth again answered that he didn’t know. Truth warned Lesnar that “Super Cena” was coming for Lesnar, as he wouldn’t be running from The Beast, he’d be feeding on him. Lesnar had enough and picked Truth up for an F5, which somehow ripped his pants.

Not a very good segment to start the show, but it was mercifully short. The necessity of reverting R-Truth to his pre-Cena heel turn character randomly has hurt his standing and the build (or lack thereof due to Cena’s absence this week) towards Wrestlepalooza’s scheduled main event just isn’t grabbing my attention at all.

**********

– Backstage, Sami Zayn was talking with someone as he was happy to continue the U.S. Open Title Challenge, as he and his opponent would give the crowd a hell of a show tonight. We found out he was talking to Rey Fenix, and their match would be up next.

– We were shown shots of various WWE and AAA officials arriving to the arena in Las Vegas for Worlds Collide, which airs after SmackDown.

– A vignette from Solo Sikoa was shown, where he expressed anger about having lost his Bloodline, Ula Fala, and the United States Champonship. He vowed to take back what he lost, as it was time for others to live in the shadows of his Family Tree.

U.S. Title Open Challenge: Sami Zayn (c) vs. Rey Fenix

We started off fast with Zayn rocking Fenix with repeated arm drags. Fenix responded with an acrobatic arm drag, followed by an attempted dive to the outside. Zayn dodged out of the way, as Fenix feinted between the ropes at the last second to stop himself. We went to a break at this early point in the match.

SmackDown returned with Zayn having the upperhand as he delivered a pitch-perfect tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on Fenix for the near-fall. Zayn continued to target Fenix’s shoulders with a submission, but found himself taken out by a kick on the apron. With Zayn stunned outside the ring, Fenix soared above the ropes with a tope con hilo that took the U.S. Champion out.

Back in the ring, Fenix took off from the top rope with a frog splash on Zayn, but couldn’t get the three out of it. Zayn attempted a Blue Thunder Bomb, but Fenix countered him twice in two attempts. Fenix blasted Zayn with a superkick after another feint between the ropes. One, two… not quite. Fenix headed up top, but couldn’t connect with the moonsault, as Zayn dodged.

Zayn had Fenix in position for the Helluva Kick, but the masked star avoided and countered with a DDT, that once again wasn’t able to get him the victory. We got a second break in the action with both men down in the ring.

Our match returned from the break with Fenix once more heading up to the top rope, looking for a high-risk maneuver. Zayn cut him off at the pass and put Fenix on his shoulders. However, Fenix countered and hit an incredible double stomp from the top rope onto a seated Zayn.

Fenix leapt up for his signature moonsault and connected, but Zayn kicked out at the nick of time. In the middle of the ring, both men tried to hit a suplex, but couldn’t. Fenix was first to escape as he bounced off the ropes for a kick, but Zayn caught him for the Blue Thunder Bomb. One, two… 2.9999999!!!!!!!!

Zayn managed to catch Fenix with his Exploder Suplex in the corner and had him targeted for the Helluva Kick. Fenix recovered and hit a hurricanrana instead, but only got a near-fall out of it. Fenix continued the momentum with the Goodbye Amigo kick. He attempted his spin kick in the corner, but Zayn reversed it into another Exploder Suplex. One Helluva Kick later, and it was a succcesful title defense for Sami Zayn.

Sami Zayn def. Rey Fenix via pinfall to retain the United States Championship

That was one heck of a match to kick things off. Both Zayn and Fenix were at the top of their game and I quite enjoyed this from start to finish.

**********

– We got Earlier Today footage of B-Fab being confronted by Giulia and Kiana James. B-Fab said that she might’ve been busy as of late with the Street Profits’ drama, but she wasn’t busy now. This led to a match being made between the two, which was up next.

– A video from the Wyatt Sicks was shown, with Bo Dallas wondering where the Street Profits would go from here. He said that the Profits have failed at every turn, as Erik Rowan said that people never truly appreciate things until it’s gone. Dallas said that the Sicks weren’t the ones who sowed the seeds that sprouted horns, as he told us to follow the buzzards.

Giulia (w/ Kiana James) vs. B-Fab

As B-Fab entered the ring, James got in her face, and paid the price for it. Giulia took exception and kicked B-Fab to the outside, as she threw her around outside the ring. In the ring, James stomped away on B-Fab and teed her up for Giulia’s Arrivederci Knee. They looked like they were going to do further damage to B-Fab until Michin ran in, armed with a kendo stick. Michin struck James with the kendo stick, as she sent Giulia to a retreat.

Giulia vs. B-Fab never happened

**********

– We got remarks from Aleister Black about his win over Damian Priest on last week’s SmackDown. He said that Priest could keep fighting and he could die by that code, and that violence begat violence.

WWE Women’s Championship: Tiffany Stratton (c) vs. Jade Cargill

Cargill immediately went for a pump kick, but Stratton avoided it soundly. The challenger tried to lift up Stratton, but got met with a high dropkick. Cargill eventually got the advantage with a powerslam on Stratton, as she then followed that up with an attempted suplex. Stratton countered the suplex attempt and went for a rollup to little success. With Cargill out of the ring, Stratton vaulted over the top rope with a dive, as we went to a break in the action.

Our WWE Women’s Title match returned with Cargill hitting a fallaway slam on Stratton. She tried to go for a corner attack, but Stratton countered and eventually hit a spinebuster on Cargill. Stratton tried for a hurricanrana, but Cargill caught her and looked for a powerbomb. Stratton turned that around into a hurricanrana as she then hit a double-footed dropkick on her opponent.

Stratton headed up top and connected with the Swanton Bomb for a near-fall. Cargill recovered and hit a superkick on Stratton that sent her outside. In the ensuing mixup, Stratton attempted a baseball slide, but she got caught by Cargill, who slammed her against the apron. Back in the ring, Cargill failed to connect with a pump kick, but managed to avoid the Prettiest Moonsault Ever. She had Stratton on her shoulders and hit a modified Blue Thunder Bomb for a close near-fall.

Stratton hit a nice rollthrough into an Alabama Slam, as she looked for another Prettiest Moonsault Ever. Cargill avoided calamity and hit the Pump Kick as both women were down in the ring. Cargill and Stratton eventually recovered and mixed it up on the apron with an exchange of strikes. Cargill looked for a Spear, but Stratton dodged, which caused the challenger to hit the ringpost instead.

Stratton missed with the diving moonsault to the outside, as Cargill speared her opponent through the barricade. The match was then ruled a draw due to a double countout.

After the match, Nia Jax attacked both Cargill and Stratton and left both women laying.

Tiffany Stratton vs. Jade Cargill ended in a Double Countout

A decent match that was undercut by the draw ending and Nia Jax showing up once again, really highlighting how bare the cupboard is, when it comes to the top of the SmackDown women’s division. It’s honestly felt like the same set of players in the title picture and it’s really hurt the main event scene as it pertains for the women of SmackDown.

**********

– As Nick Aldis walked out of his office, he was accosted by Chelsea Green and Alba Fyre, who demanded a Women’s Tag Title match. Aldis proposed that the two would face the winners of Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss’s title defense on Tuesday’s NXT Homecoming.

– We got a video package ahead of Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena at Wrestlepalooza that focused on both men’s beginnings in wrestling.

– Over in Las Vegas, Rey Mysterio was interviewed about Worlds Collide, before his son Dominik rolled up and said he’d become the AAA Mega Campeon after tonight’s main event. Rey said he’d put the AAA Mega Campeon belt around Dominik’s waist if he won tonight.

– Back in Norfolk, Sami Zayn was interviewed after his successful U.S. Title defense as Carmelo Hayes called his shot to be Zayn’s next challenger. After Zayn left, The Miz showed up too late and was upset about Hayes taking up Zayn’s U.S. Open Challenge, having been seemingly outsmarted by his Melo Don’t Miz partner.

Randy Orton vs. Drew McIntyre

Both men locked up in the middle of the ring to start before McIntyre went on the attack in the corner. Orton roared back with a clothesline as he got in some shots of his own on the Scotsman with punches in the corner. He then sent McIntyre crashing to the outside with another clothesline over the rope as our main event headed to a break.

SmackDown’s main event came back from the break with McIntyre seemingly having Orton at his mercy, but he fell victim to a suplex instead. With McIntyre down in the ring, Orton targeted him with some stomps to the legs, followed by a knee drop to the face. McIntyre took a shot at Orton’s knee with a clip, followed by a stretch in the corner.

McIntyre maintained the pressure on Orton’s injured knee with a figure-four leglock cinched in tight in the middle of the ring. Orton struggled hard, but managed to turn it over to reverse the pressure of the leglock on McIntyre. In the middle of the ring, Orton dropped his foe with a belly-to-back suplex that sent McIntyre scurrying back out of the ring.

Orton slammed McIntyre against the commentary table, but got raked in the eyes, as he found himself dropped across the table with a back suplex. McIntyre once again clipped at Orton’s knees as our main event headed to one final break in the action.

We returned from the break as McIntyre slammed Orton down to the mat, with the bum knee making contact with the top rope as a result. Orton poked McIntyre in the eye to regain momentum, as he then bashed his opponent’s head across all four corners. McIntyre tried for another figure four, but Orton kicked him aside into the ring post, which sent the Scotsman out of the ring once more.

As McIntyre got himself back in the ring, Orton tried to generate momentum with a signature powerslam to fell his foe. Orton looked like he was going to hit the apron DDT, but McIntyre scurried to the announce table. This opened him up to consecutive back suplexes across the commentary table. Back in the ring, McIntyre connected with the Claymore Kick, but couldn’t capitalize. This gave Orton the opportunity to land an RKO out of nowhere. Out of the ring, McIntyre shoved Orton against the apron.

McIntyre tried to get back into the ring, but he fell victim to the apron DDT from Orton. McIntyre was in position for getting punted by Orton, but the referee got in the way. In the ensuing chaos, this gave McIntyre an opening to hit one final Claymore Kick to get the victory in our main event.

After the match, McIntyre looked like he was going to finish Orton off good with a Claymore against the commentary table, but Cody Rhodes ran in for the save, going after McIntyre right away with a flurry of offense. Rhodes hit a Cody Cutter on McIntyre as he asked for a microphone after the fighting was done. Rhodes said that the champ was back and that he’d face McIntyre at Wrestlepalooza.

**********

An okay main event for an otherwise okay episode of SmackDown. Obviously it was a nice star power-filled match and it did its job of bringing Cody Rhodes back into the mix after a month or so of filming the Street Fighter movie, setting up another Wrestlepalooza match.

The dismal opening segment got things off on a shaky note, but I did enjoy the in-ring action this week, especially with Zayn vs. Fenix in the opening bout. That made for some okay viewing for the rest of the night on this week’s SmackDown.

WWE NXT live results: Flag match, title bout, new number one contenders

Posted on by Chris Aiken

A title match, a stipulation bout, the crowning of new number one contenders, and more are part of the WWE NXT lineup for tonight.

The NXT Tag Team titles will be on the line with DarkState defending against Hank & Tank. It’s a rematch from NXT Heatwave, where Osiris Griffin & Dion Lennox became the new champions.

A rare flag match will go down as Ethan Page (representing Canada) battles Tavion Heights (representing the United States). It’s the first time WWE has presented a flag match since 2017.

New number one contenders for WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss will be decided with Fatal Influence, The Culling, and Sol Ruca & Zaria facing off in an elimination match.

At No Mercy later this month, Ruca will defend her Speed Women’s Championship against the winner of a four-woman tournament. Candice LeRae advanced last week by defeating Xia Brookside of TNA Wrestling. Tonight, Lucha Libre AAA’s Faby Apache takes on Lainey Reid.

Je’Von Evans vs. Josh Briggs is also slated for tonight. Plus, WWE will follow up on the feud between Trick Williams and DIY ahead of NXT’s return to Full Sail University next week.

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

**********

The show begins with footage from earlier today, where teams arrive set for a triple threat number one contender’s match.

NXT is then on the air in front of a live studio audience inside a sound stage at the Performance Center in Orlando.

Je’Von Evans storms to the ring to call out Josh Briggs. No introductions of ring entrances. Straight to fighting as Evans meets Briggs in the aisle. The fight is on, and it is wild from the start.

NXT General Manager Ava is also at ringside, trying her best to restore order. Good luck as Evans and Briggs brawl at ringside.

Josh Briggs vs. Je’Von Evans

Briggs tries to counter Evans early on, but Evans is on fire. Evans jumps from the floor, past the apron, and springs off the bottom rope into an Asai moonsault. Back in the ring, Evans strikes with a spinning kick and a frog splash for an early near fall.

Briggs cuts off Evans with clubbing blows, and the studio audience drowns him in boos. Bossman slams by Briggs for a two count. Briggs grounds Evans, but Evans comes back with hurricanrana, and then another after springing off the top rope. The fight spills outside as Briggs cuts off Evans.

Evans is sent face first into the announce desk. Briggs with a gozzle as he teases a chokeslam through the table. Evans escapes and sails through the ropes with a tope suicida that sends him and Briggs crashing over the desk. From there the show cuts to its first commercial break with picture-in-picture.

Briggs with heat on Evans during the break, and Briggs has Evans grounded again when the show returns from commercials. Evans fires up on Briggs, but Briggs cuts him off. Briggs goes on to taunt and slap Evans. That only serves to fire up Evans, and Evans hulks up. Evans springboards into a flying clothesline for another near fall.

Briggs gets a stunner after trying for a powerslam, and Briggs is on rubber legs. Evans boots Briggs with a field goal kick, and Briggs still kicks out at two. But Briggs is soon dropped with a kick. Evans goes coat-to-coast with a Swanton.

Evans is posted on the floor, and the tide seemingly shifts. Not for long. Briggs tries to use a chair, but the ref stops him. Evans then boots Briggs in the face. Evans then goes for a signature double springboard into what was presumably a stunner. Briggs blocks it by clubbing Evans with a loaded right hand. Briggs then covers Briggs for a three count. A replay afterwards shows Briggs use his chain necklace as a weapon to lay out Evans.

Match result: Josh Briggs defeated Je’Von Evans via pinfall

Great opener, but Evans drops another fall. Briggs did cheat to win. So, Evans will hopefully go over at some point. After such a good match, I was disappointed with Evans losing another match. Especially because Evans has another stellar performance. Maybe Briggs will get his comeuppance soon enough.

— NXT Champion Oba Femi and his next challenger, Ricky Saints, argue in Ava’s office. She then books them in a face-to-face segment for next week to air their grievances.

TNA World Champion Trick Williams enters, and he wants to know if everything they talked about is still on ahead of the DIY segment that is up next. That led into a talking segment with DIY and a surprise appearance after a commercial break.

Carmelo Hayes cameo sets up tag match with DIY

DIY — Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano — enter the sound stage to a pop. Ciampa says they feel at home in NXT, but tonight is extra special. Tonight marks ten years since he and Gargano first tagged together. Gargano also speaks, saying they have not forgotten where they came from. They are NXT for life, even if they are on Smackdown. NXT will always be home.

Ciampa says he hoped, and even kind of knew, his last match in NXT would not his last on the brand. Cue Trick Williams, who enters the sound stage to cut a promo on DIY.

Trick proclaims himself the greatest NXT superstar of all time. Trick claims that DIY is jealous because their NXT crew cannot hang with the current NXT crew. Trick is challenged by DIY to get in the ring and prove it. Trick says he will, but Trick is not alone.

Out comes Carmelo Hayes, as he returns to NXT in this surprise appearance. Hayes being there does make sense, though, and that is evident by the match this segment sets up.

Hayes gets a full entrance as he joins Trick in the ring to confront DIY. Hayes gets into the ring and look at Trick, as the Trick-Melo Gang is back together. The studio audience chants for them to “hug it out,” but Hayes instead cuts a promo on Trick.

Hayes counteracts Trick’s claim about NXT being Trick’s house. Hayes tells Trick that DIY built this house, and Hayes renovated it. Hayes goes on to accuse Trick of “squatting” in their house. Squatter chants ring out from the crowd.

Trick and Hayes bicker when they are verbally cut off by DIY. Trick-Melo Gang are then challenged to a tag match against DIY.

Natalya is front row for the next match, which features Faby Apache. Nattie and Faby collide in a match at When World Collide. Nattie being there plays into the finish of the next bout on tonight’s card.

Faby Apache vs. Lainey Reed in a Speed Championship Number One Contender’s tournament match

Both get pre-taped promos to get help get themselves over. Apache gets to shine, as she should. She is a legend. Reed still gets the win, after a distraction by Nattie at ringside. That made Faby miss a senton, and Reed delivers a running knee strike. Reed then scores a pin, and she advances in the tournament to face Candice LeRae in the tournament final.

Match result: Lainey Reed defeated Faby Apache via pinfall in a tournament semifinal

Short match of course, but good while it lasted.

— Sol Ruca & Zaria are in a somewhat silly skit with Hank & Tank. Both teams are pumped about their match later on.

— Blake Monroe is featured in a vignette where she laments her feud with Jordynne Grace. Monroe cuts a sinister promo on Grace.

Darkstate (Dion Lennox & Osiris Griffin) vs. Hank Walker & Tank Ledger for the NXT Tag Team Championship

The tag title match goes through a commercial break. Hank & Tank are on a roll as the show heads into the break. After returning from the break, Tank is being worked over by Darkstate. Hot tag to Hank, and he is running wild. Near fall for Hank after a unique flatliner.

Hank & Tank do a takeoff of the old Power & Glory finisher. Lennox takes a superplex from Hank, and Tank follows with a Swanton. Another near fall for the challengers. Hank & Tank signal for their own finisher. Darkstate members at ringside, Saquon Shugars and Cutler James, interfere to break up the attempted finisher.

Cutler James is punching Hank when he invokes the name of Joe Hendry. Of course, speak his name and he appears.

Out comes Hendry smashing through a wall like the Kool-Aid Man. James backpedals and flees. Hendry chases him into the ring, and the referee stops Hendry to scold him. Meanwhile, Lennox is rolled by Hank with an O’Connor Roll. Griffin jumps in to reverse the roll-up, and Lennox scores a pin on Hank.

Match result: Dion Lennox & Osiris Griffin defeated Hank Walker & Tank Ledger when Lennox pinned Walker.

Hank & Tank are becoming a popular tag team, and they had a decent enough match here with Darkstate. Joe Hendry being there is certainly a choice, but Darkstate has not been taken seriously anyway so the comedy works. They are still the tag champs… For now at least.

— The flag match later on tonight gets some hype in a great video package, albeit somewhat over the top.

— In a locker room skit, Lexis King is in the locker room complaining about a post from social media. In the post by “NXT Anonymous”, Ethan Page is seen scolding Myles Borne over his loss to King. Borne appears with a metal folding chair. Playing off the blinded angle, Borne shuts off the lights and attacks King with the chair. This feud must continue!

NXT North American Champion Ethan Page vs. Tavion Heights in a non-title flag match

USA and Canadian flags are on a pole in their respective corners. Lots of climbing the turnbuckles trying to fetch the flag. In between the climbing were some risky high spots. Scary spot at one point when Heights spears Page, and Page takes an ugly bump on the floor. Page seems to land on his head and neck. Heights tries to help break the fall, but the bump still looked scary.

Looked like they are killing each other at times with the gnarly bumps they took. Psychology was all based on climbing for the flags, and that turned the match into a stunt show. To set up he finish, Page takes a suplex off the top rope. Heights then climbs the ropes and grabs “Old Glory” to win the match.

Match result: Tavion Heights defeated Ethan Page after retrieving the US flag.

They worked hard and had a helluva stunt show. This appears to blow off the feud, and the right guy won.

Heights hold the American flag while he also grabs the Canadian flag off the pole. Heights drapes the Canadian flag over Page in a callback to last week. Heights gets his revenge.

Tyler Breeze suddenly appears at ringside holding his selfie stick. Breeze gets into the ring and poses over a fallen Page. This sets up a North American title match for next week, which was officially confirmed later in the show.

— Lola Vice of the focus of a great personality profile. The video package was very well done.

— In a backstage promo with Fatal Influence, NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne name drops Maybelline for some product placement with a regular sponsor.

Fallon Henley & Jazmyn Nyx vs. Izzi Dame & Tatum Paxley vs. Sol Ruca & Zaria in a triple threat number one contenders’ tag team match

This was like an old ECW three way dance, meaning on team was eliminated before the final two teams face off. Lots of action. Almost took much to call. Plethora of high spots and saves. The studio audience was hot throughout the match. This may have been more of a stunt show than the flag match, but the bumps here were at least much safer.

The triple threat goes through a commercial break before the first elimination.

Sol Ruca & Zaria are eliminated after Jazmyn Nyx pinned Zaria.

With one team eliminated, one would think the action would be less. Not the case here as the pace only quickened, and the spots came quicker.

Match result: Izzi Dame & Tatum Paxley won the triple threat after Dame pinned Paxley following a sit-out bomb.

This was an exciting, but difficult to follow at times with so many people.Triple threat matches are an overdone concept, but they did well here to have an action-packed match. The elimination aspect added something other WWE triple threat matches lack.

Rhea Ripley, Stephanie Vaquer & Tiffany Stratton return to NXT to set up trios match for Homecoming

NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne cut a promo after the match where she heeled on her partners in Fatal Influence. She blamed them for losing, and Jayne claims she was carrying them on her back. Jayne goes on to claim she is the greatest NXT women’s champ ever. In between her rants, the show cuts to a commercial break. She is still ranting after the break.

Enter Stephanie Vaquer. She confronts Jayne and Fatal Influence. Vaquer gives Jayne credit, but Vaquer boasts about holding both the NXT women’s title and the North American title at the same time. Vaquer vow to win the WWE Women’s World title to prove she is the greatest.

Jayne threatens Vaquer, and Jayne warns Vaquer she is outnumbered. Vaquer asks what time is it… It’s Tiffy Time.

Out comes WWE World Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton, who cuts a promo on Jayne. Stratton lists off her long list of accomplishments as evidence Jayne is not the greatest.

Out comes Rhea Ripley to a huge pop, and Jayne sells big. Mami is back home in NXT. Ripley cuts a promo on Jayne claiming to be the greatest. Ripley then books a match for NXT Homecoming next week, with Ripley teaming with Stratton and Vaquer against Fatal Influence.

The babyface trio of returning stars rush the ring and the heel trio powders. Fatal Influence beg off as the show goes off the air.

WWE Raw live results: AJ Lee appears

Posted on by Steve Khan

Date: September 8, 2025
Location: Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, WI 

The Big Takeaway —

AJ Lee and CM Punk will team against Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins at Wrestlepalooza because Lee wouldn’t give back Lynch’s IC title belt. The setup for the match was silly, but Lee’s return promo was worth watching. 

The rest of Raw was not. All five matches tonight had some sort of distraction or interference, and outside of maybe one match, the in-ring action didn’t exactly make up for it. 

**********

Show Recap — 

There was a video package of AJ Lee’s return on SmackDown. Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins were shown arriving at the arena in Milwaukee. Lynch was without her Intercontinental title belt after AJ Lee retrieved it. 

Tonight’s announcers are Joe Tessitore and Corey Graves. They said Wade Barrett was on vacation. Graves joked that the internet said Barrett was exiled. 

Jimmy & Jey Uso kick off Raw

Jey and Jimmy Uso entered together through the crowd to Jey’s music. The fans asked them to run it back as usual, so they did. 

Jey spoke briefly about Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed before they quickly interrupted. Breakker told Jimmy (a SmackDown wrestler) he must be lost because the Vision ran Raw. Breakker got flustered in his promo, so he suddenly snapped like he wanted to hit the ring, but Reed held him back. 

All Reed wanted was for Roman Reigns’ family to acknowledge their Tribal Thief. (The crowd sang for Reigns.) Reed said they dealt with Reigns already, and Jimmy would be next. 

Jimmy told him to watch his mouth. Jimmy made some crack comparing them to J&J Security. The Usos also made quips about Paul Heyman, calling him an orca (instead of an oracle, because he looks like a whale) and quoted Hangman Page Reigns by calling him a dumbass. 

The Usos challenged them to a tag match and were ready to do it right now. Reed said they can wait until Wrestlepalooza. 

They were suddenly interrupted by LA Knight, who attacked the Brons from behind. The Usos helped him out, but some miscommunication between Knight and Jey led to Jey getting squashed by Reed in the corner. Jimmy got rid of Reed with a superkick. Jey and Knight argued as the segment ended. 

********

They announced that Raw will start at 7 pm ET/4 pm ET next week (they did not mention anything about the following weeks). 

AJ Styles and LA Knight promos 

AJ Styles cut a promo during a break, and they tried to make it more interesting than the usual off-screen promo. Styles said he didn’t have anyone at his side for the first time in his career. He put up the Too Sweet sign before putting it down. 

He said Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson weren’t there. Michin was on SmackDown. It almost felt like someone orchestrated a way for him not to get help. He would take things out on El Grande Americano tonight so the person who didn’t want him there could feel his pain. 

After a break, Knight said he didn’t care about The Usos’ reunion or their match at Wrestlepalooza. If Jey Uso had a problem with him, they could deal with it face-to-face. Knight wanted one of the Brons in a match tonight. It could be Bronson Reed, Bron Breakker, LeBron James, Little Bronny, or Charles Bronson. He just wanted to beat the piss out of someone named Bron. 

********

AJ Styles vs. El Grande Americano (Ludwig Kaiser) 

Styles attacked Kaiser during his entrance and beat the crap out of him until the referee decided to start the match after Styles clotheslined him out of the ring. Styles continued to beat him up and seemed on the verge of a quick win, but as he set up for the Phenomenal Forearm, a second man dressed like El Grande Americano (in a track suit) ran out to grab him by the leg (while Kaiser distracted the referee). 

Kaiser took control, so it was time for commercials. Styles made his comeback when they returned and hit a rack bomb for two. Kaiser begged off as he backed into the corner. Styles fell for it, so Kaiser dropped him over the top turnbuckle and hit a blockbuster for two. 

Styles was about to go for a Styles Clash, but stopped what he was doing as the other masked man jumped on the apron. Dragon Lee ran out to take him out, and Styles gave Americano/Kaiser a Styles Clash for the pinfall win. 

The crowd certainly liked Styles, and they popped big for his win. 

Match result: AJ Styles defeated El Grande Americano (9:00) 

********

Adam Pearce informed Iyo Sky that Stephanie Vaquer couldn’t make it to Raw, so the contract signing was off. However, he still anticipated her being ready for their title match at Wrestlepalooza. Sky was relieved. Nikki Bella approached Sky and put her over, but Asuka and Kairi Sane barged in. 

Asuka told Nikki to leave. Nikki told Asuka to show some respect. Asuka laughed at that and offered to beat some respect into her tonight. Nikki accepted. 

Sane tried to apologize to Sky, but Asuka called her away. 

(Asuka is great in this role.) 

********

They claimed that the clip of AJ Lee’s return received 178 million “social views.” They aired a video package for her, highlighting her career and run as a multi-time Divas Champion. 

Lyra Valkyria vs. Raquel Rodriguez (w/Roxanne Perez)

Rodriguez took control after catching Valkyria’s flying crossbody attempt and hitting a fallaway slam. Rodriguez wrenched Valkyria back-first against the ring post before hitting consecutive corkscrew elbow drops to the back. 

Rodriguez continued to work over her back during a break, but Valkyria made a comeback with a spinning heel kick, some sort of bulldog/jawbreaker, and tornado DDT. Rodriguez followed with a rope-assisted vertical suplex for two. 

Valkyria went for a sunset flip powerbomb, but Rodriguez held onto the ropes. Valkyria hung on to Rodriguez, sat up, powered her down, hitting the powerbomb for a nearfall. (Graves put over Rodriguez’s strength here, but it was really Valkyria with the impressive showing.) 

Valkyria tried going for Nightwing but dropped Rodriguez, partially because her back was hurt and because Perez hopped on the apron (which we also saw in the last match). 

Valkyria and Rodriguez traded counters until Valkyria applied a deep cradle for two. Valkyria went to the top, but Rodriguez brought her down with a Tejana Bomb for the pinfall win. 

Match result: Raquel Rodriguez defeated Lyra Valkyria (12:41) 

This was a pretty good match despite some weak spots. The crowd seemed more into Valkyria than they had been in recent weeks or months. 

********

The War Raiders met with Penta backstage before Penta met with Pearce. Penta said everybody loved Penta when he got to WWE, but he wondered why Pearce didn’t love him. Pearce wondered what he meant, so Penta told him that his Intercontinental Champion was a pendejo. Penta wanted a title match. 

Rusev interrupted them. He reminded Pearce that his plan was for him to return, crush Sheamus, and get a title match. Penta got in his face, so Pearce made a match between the two for tonight. (They had so little planned for tonight that we’ve had two impromptu matches.)

******** 

New Day (with Grayson Waller) cut a promo during commercials, the only time they seem to talk. 

AJ Styles thanked Dragon Lee for having his back. Jimmy Uso approached them to say hi and ask where Jey was. 

Jimmy saw Jey nearby. Jey had his bag and was leaving. Jimmy said they had a play to run by helping Knight against Reed. Jey didn’t care about that. Jey didn’t appreciate what happened earlier. Helping Knight wasn’t going to help the Usos or help him get the world title back. Jey was pissed and said they should all acknowledge the Usos, or they would smash them all. Jimmy said Jey was starting to sound like Reigns. 

******** 

AJ Lee segment

AJ Lee entered to a big reaction, wearing Lynch’s Intercontinental title belt. She wanted to introduce herself to the fans who weren’t around ten years ago and explain why their millennial parents were so excited on Friday. She was your favourite wrestler’s favourite wrestler. 

She retired ten years ago because she thought she had accomplished everything she wanted in wrestling. She didn’t plan on getting in the ring again wearing jean shorts that were two sizes too small. So she went on another journey to accomplish other dreams she had in life. And she did it. 

She also went on a mental health journey. She wasn’t healthy and needed to take care of herself and get right. She went for therapy (and was happy to hear the fans cheer therapy). She took all the mental chaos and turned it into her superpower. Every day was a fight, but that fight was worth it. You are worth it. 

She felt really good for a long time. And then she watched Raw. Healing wasn’t linear. It was one thing to watch your husband face Drew McIntyre or Seth Rollins or John Cena, but it was another seeing him in there with Becky Lynch. 

AJ Lee wanted to like Lynch. They had so much in common. Lynch was a leader, a rebel, and a New York Times best-selling author. (Lee added that she did that first.) Then she saw Lynch motorboat her husband. She put her hands on him and defamed him. 

Lynch interrupted. She said this was not about AJ’s stank-ass husband. She thought everyone was insane and pointed out Lee wearing her title. Lynch informed Lee that they were nothing alike. Lynch got in a fan’s face before telling everyone was the greatest women’s wrestler of all time. 

The crowd told Lynch that she sucked, and Lynch said she’ll need to go to therapy after this. The crowd chanted, “Therapy.” Lee told her that therapy worked. 

Lee claimed she forgot she was even wearing the IC title belt. She’s been skipping around the house with it, and she slept with it. Things even got a little awkward with it this morning. Before she explained further, she noted Lynch’s black eye (hidden by Lynch’s large sunglasses). 

Lee said Lynch was the greatest of all time, so if she wanted her belt, she should come get it. 

Lynch wondered where CM Punk was and wondered what kind of man hid behind his wife. This had nothing to do with AJ Lee. She stuck her neck where it didn’t belong. Lynch called out Rollins so Lee could see what a real man and champion looked like. Rollins entered and told Lee to give back the title so they could leave this dump of a city. 

Lee offered Lynch a chance to get her belt right now so she could give her another black eye. Or, they could agree to a tag match: AJ Lee and CM Punk against Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins. 

Rollins explained that he was the champion, and he called the shots. He was going to get in the ring and get the title back for his wife. Lee thanked him for mansplaining. Rollins stepped into the ring, but Lee stepped between him and the title and got in his face.

CM Punk appeared and was about to hit Rollins with a GTS, but Rollins escaped. Rollins was pissed, so he accepted the tag match challenge for Wrestlepalooza. Lynch didn’t like that. 

Because the deal was made, Lee tossed the IC title belt out of the ring so Lynch could have it back.

(This was a very long segment. AJ Lee was great with her re-introduction promo. But it’s silly that this big tag match being made came down to who had possession of the physical IC title belt.) 

********

Bayley is still talking to herself. 

Rusev vs. Penta 

Rusev held control until Penta fought back after a break, but of course, we need a distraction, so New Day ran out with Waller. Penta wiped them out with a dive. He was about to hit another dive, but Rusev blocked it. Back in the ring, Penta caught Rusev with a Code Red for a nearfall. (Tessitore called it a Mexican Destroyer, and Graves corrected him.) 

For the third match in a row, somebody hopped on the apron. Penta kicked Xavier Woods off the apron before flying off the top rope, but Rusev caught him with a mid-air Machka kick for the pinfall win. 

Match result: Rusev defeated Penta (8:33) 

********

During a break, Vic Joseph interviewed Dominik Mysterio about his AAA Mega Championship match against El Hijo del Vikingo. The fans sang Dom’s name and cheered him as he left. 

Brock Lesnar will be on Friday’s SmackDown. 

Jimmy Uso approached LA Knight. Jimmy said they should be on the same page against the Vision. Knight wasn’t interested in anyone’s help anymore. He tried to play nice and got superkicked in the mouth instead. Knight also recalled being cost the world title by both Jey and Jimmy on separate occasions. If Jimmy wanted to help, he should stay out of it because Knight planned on doing it alone. 

******** 

Nikki Bella vs. Asuka (w/Kairi Sane)

This was a first-time ever match. There were deuling chants as the match began. 

Asuka dodged a baseball slide and hid behind Sane. Nikki shoved Sane aside (another match with a distraction), allowing Asuka to kick her in the face and take over ahead of a break. Asuka held a rest hold as the commercial counter ran down. 

Asuka hit a German suplex following the break, but Nikki avoided a missile dropkick and fought back with strikes and a springboard kick for two. Asuka hit strikes of her own, but Nikki blocked an Asuka Lock and hit an Alabama Slam for two. 

Asuka hit a roundhouse kick, spinning heel kick, and applied the Asuka Lock for the submission win after Nikki tapped out. 

Match result: Asuka defeated Nikki Bella (10:29) 

It was a pleasant surprise that Asuka won, especially because Nikki just doesn’t look that good in the ring. This was an uninteresting match, and Nikki seemed hesitant to take any strikes. 

********

Next week on Raw (7 pm ET/4 pm ET start time): 

  • AJ Lee & CM Punk go face-to-face with Becky Lynch & Seth Rollins 
  • Lyra Valkyria vs. Roxanne Perez 
  • John Cena appears 

******** 

Judgment Day met backstage. For at least the third week in a row, Finn Bálor and JD McDonagh wondered where Dom was all night. Bálor didn’t like Dom hanging out with El Grande Americano. Dom said it was a lucha thing, and they didn’t understand. Dom was upset they got tossed from ringside last week, and he stormed off. Perez left to go talk to him. 

********

Asuka confronted Nikki backstage. Asuka said she did to Nikki what Sky would do to Vaquer. Nikki, who just tapped out, acted tough and asked if she was ready for round two. They argued until Nikki shoved Asuka. 

The camera panned out to show Rhea Ripley, who magically appeared beside Nikki. Ripley asked if there was a problem, and Asuka said she had two (while pointing at them). Asuka called herself the top woman in WWE, so Ripley reminded Asuka that Sky, not her, was going for the world title. Asuka told her to zip it and left. (Sane stood there awkwardly until Asuka called her away again.) 

******** 

LA Knight vs. Bronson Reed (w/Bron Breakker)

About ten minutes into the match, Knight avoided a charge outside the ring, and Reed fell into the timekeeper’s area. Back in the ring, Reed blocked a neckbreaker, but Knight dodged a senton and hit a diving elbow drop for two. 

Knight went for a BFT, but Reed shoved him off, and Knight bumped Breakker off the apron (so four of five matches tonight had an outside party hit the apron). 

Knight stumbled back into Reed, who hit a DVD for the surprise pinfall win. The crowd seemed caught off guard by the DVD being the finish. The move is now called the “Jagged Edge,” and we know this because Tessitore screamed it repeatedly. 

— The Brons attacked Knight until Jimmy Uso ran out for the save, but Breakker cut him down with a spear. Jey ran down next, but Breakker speared him too. 

Knight attacked the Brons with a chair and ran them off. Knight helped Jimmy to his feet. 

Jey suddenly speared Knight, which got a mixed reaction. Jey told him they were even. 

Match result: Bronson Reed defeated LA Knight (11:43)

Since “beating” Seth Rollins at SNME, LA Knight has won one of his last seven matches, and that one win was by DQ in a tag match.

WWE SmackDown live results: John Cena makes his final Chicago appearance

Posted on by Marc Quill

A huge episode of SmackDown takes place in the Chicago area tonight at Allstate Arena.

With his December retirement approaching, John Cena will appear on SmackDown for the final time. It will also be the last Chicago appearance for Cena, who is coming off a victory against Logan Paul at Clash in Paris and heading toward an expected clash with Brock Lesnar at Wrestlepalooza.

A hometown appearance by CM Punk — and possibly the return of his wife AJ Lee — have been teased. The two are reportedly set to face Seth Rollins & Becky Lynch in a mixed tag match at the upcoming Wrestlepalooza PLE.

Following his United States title victory, Sami Zayn will appear tonight. Zayn has said he’s looking to start his reign off with a bang.

There will be a Women’s United States Championship match with Giulia defending her gold against Michin. Plus, rivals Damian Priest and Aleister Black meet in a singles match.

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

**********

– Over shots of Chicago, we were welcomed to the show by Michael Cole. Shots of Damian Priest, Aleister Black, Michin, Giulia (with Kiana James), as well as hometown hero CM Punk arriving to the Allstate Arena were shown.

– Inside the arena, Cole (who’ll be on SmackDown for the next two months in the place of Joe Tessitore) and Corey Graves tossed to a recap of Clash in Paris last Sunday.

John Cena kicks off SmackDown

To a loud reaction from the Chicago faithful, John Cena made his way down to the ring to open the evening. Once Cena entered the ring, he took the mic and began to address the crowd, but was interrupted by “thank you, Cena” chants. He acknowledged the chants because it meant something special to him that it came from the Chicago crowd.

Cena talked about how people told him at the start of the retirement tour to enjoy it while it lasted, but he was focused on getting his mojo back and give his absolute best. However, tonight, Cena said he was just here to take it all in. He said that tonight is what makes Chicago special, and that the crowd’s reactions were apparently enough to bring people back into WWE. The crowd chanted “AJ Lee” in response to that.

Cena said that this was the last time for him in Chicago, and the last time he’d ever be on SmackDown as he recounted his debut 23 years ago on this very show. Cena talked about the moments he had in Allstate Arena, like fighting Triple H at WrestleMania 22 or facing CM Punk at Money in the Bank 2011. Cena noted that there’s always been talk about who the greatest crowd was, but in his eyes, there was no question. The Chicago crowd let Cena experience humility, failure, and above all else, joy. He went on to thank the crowd and told them to enjoy a hell of a night tonight.

Before Cena could exit, the music of the new U.S. Champion Sami Zayn interrupted. In the ring, Zayn said that he didn’t want to interrupt Cena’s moment as the crowd booed him unexpectedly. He wanted to thank Cena on behalf of everyone in the back for what he did for us. Zayn wanted to bring things full circle, as he remembered how he debuted against Cena as the U.S. Champion. And as such, he was going to debut the Sami Zayn U.S. Open Challenge with Cena’s permission. The former U.S. Champion approved of Zayn’s proposal and tried to leave again. Zayn stopped Cena and said he wanted to pay it forward to Cena and give Cena a shot at the U.S. Championship, much like he did a decade ago.

Zayn didn’t want to do it in a month, or next week, but rather right now. “If you want some, come get some!” Zayn challenged Cena. Naturally, Cena accepted the challenge.

A solid opening segment as Cena and the Chicago crowd really got things going here, and Zayn’s appearance sets up a huge opening bout.

United States Championship: Sami Zayn (c) vs. John Cena

The match was already in progress heading out of the commercial break as Cena and Zayn locked up in the middle of the ring. Zayn threw Cena with an arm drag before he applied an arm submission for a moment. Cena responded with an arm drag of his own as he had Zayn in a headlock. Zayn attempted a springboard leapfrog, but couldn’t quite get all of it, but that gave him the upper hand on Cena. Zayn delivered a suplex on Cena and looked for another one. Cena, however, countered with a suplex on Zayn.

Zayn whipped Cena hard into the corner, which didn’t seem to please the very pro-Cena crowd in Chicago. Cena threw Zayn with a particularly hard Irish whip that sent the U.S. Champion flying into the corner. We took a break with both men down in the ring.

Our match returned with Zayn being hoisted up by Cena for an AA attempt that the U.S. Champion just barely escaped. Cena turned Zayn’s attempt at a springboard move into a successful Attitude Adjustment, but could not pick up the three. As Cena recovered, Zayn tried to hit the Exploder Suplex, but that got turned around into a Kevin Owens-style pop-up powerbomb by Cena.

Both men struggled to get up on opposite corners as Cena charged at Zayn, but missed and ended up hitting the corner. Zayn missed on a Helluva Kick and fell victim to an Angle Slam courtesy of Cena. One, two…. NO! As both men got themselves up in the middle of the ring, they began to trade strikes until they took one another down with clotheslines, which took us to a second commercial break.

During the break, Cena once again paid tribute to Kurt Angle with an Ankle Lock on Zayn, who responded with an Attitude Adjustment on Cena. Once we returned we got a replay of what happened during the break, which was interrupted by Zayn hitting the Helluva Kick on Cena. One, two… Cena kicked out at 2.9999999!!!! Zayn dragged Cena to the middle of the ring before he headed to the top rope. Cena got up and hoisted Zayn up for a GTS, but that still wasn’t enough to earn him the U.S. Championship.

In the corner, Cena sized up Zayn and beckoned him to get up, as he hit an Edge-styled Spear on his foe. Zayn still kicked out of it. Cena attempted an RKO, but Zayn countered that. He then immediately put Zayn on the top rope and looked for an avalanche AA, which he connected with. As both men were left down and out after that, the music of Brock Lesnar interrupted.

Lesnar pulled the referee out before he hit an F5 on Zayn as he entered the ring. He then put Cena on his shoulders and delivered an F5 to him. He then grabbed Cena and hit one more F5 to his foe.

Sami Zayn vs. John Cena went to a No Contest

That was a fantastic match that was unfortunately ruined by a non-finish meant to build towards a match that honestly does nothing for me at all.

**********

– We learned that John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar will happen at Wrestlepalooza, as Nick Aldis was looking to address what was going on. Carmelo Hayes walked up to Aldis and wanted a U.S. Title match, but the Miz butted in and tried to get a WWE Tag Title Match for him against the Wyatt Sicks. Aldis said he’d take it under advisement as he walked off. Hayes seemed unhappy with Miz speaking on his behalf again, as Becky Lynch was seen arriving to the arena.

Damian Priest vs. Aleister Black

Black attacked Priest as he was making his entrance as things turned into a brawl at ringside. Black struck Priest with a knee to the face that drove him over the barricade.

As we returned to SmackDown, Priest walked his way back into the ring, but got kicked in the head by Black for his troubles. Now with both men in the ring, the match began proper. After Priest missed a punch, Black took over with another kick to the noggin. Priest recovered with a surprise headbutt to Black, who answered with a modified crucifix submission.

Black took Priest down with a top-rope Meteora for the two-count, as we took an oddly-timed commercial break just a couple of minutes into this one.

The action resumed as Priest had Black stunned on the top rope and hoisted high for a Razor’s Edge. Black escaped and got the spinning elbow, followed by a running knee on Priest for a near-fall. Priest struck Black from the corner with a pair of elbows of his own, followed by a fierce clothesline. Priest maintained momentum with a barrage of elbows that left the Dutchman reeling. Old School crossbody by Priest managed to send Black rolling to the outside.

Black was then slammed with a Flatliner on the apron as Priest set aside the announcer table covering. Priest lifted Black above him and threw him with a Razor’s Edge onto the table. In the ring, Black tried to beg off Priest, but was lifted for South of Heaven, but Black created a distraction via referee, which gave him the opening for Black Mass on Priest and the victory.

Aleister Black def. Damian Priest

That was a fairly decent, hard-hitting match, and the right guy did certainly get the win in this case. This Priest vs. Black feud has been good and I honestly want to see more of it.

**********

– We got a Twisted Tea-sponsored video promo where Drew McIntyre and Randy Orton exchanged words about one another ahead of their match on next week’s SmackDown. We also learned that Brock Lesnar will be on next week’s show, and that Tiffany Stratton will defend here WWE Women’s Championship versus Jade Cargill in a SummerSlam rematch.

– Jade Cargill was shown studying tape of that aforementioned first match as Nia Jax rolled up and talked trash to her.

– Becky Lynch was told by SmackDown GM Nick Aldis that there could not be anymore issues even as he knew that CM Punk was in the building.

Women’s U.S. Championship: Giulia (c) (w/ Kiana James) vs. Michin

Giulia and Michin didn’t waste anytime as they traded quick blows to start off. Michin seemed to get the better of Giulia in the exchange, with momentum maintained in the ring by way of a well-placed dropkick. The Women’s U.S. Champion stopped that cold as she caught Michin’s baseball slide attempted and turned that into an elevated neckbreaker to the outside.

We returned from the break with Giulia battering Michin with headbutts, but was met with a pair of German Suplexes by the challenger. Michin had Giulia stunned in the corner with a running cannonball as she set up Eat Defeat. Giulia escaped and delivered the sitout driver, but she couldn’t put this one away. Michin fought back with a sitdown powerbomb for the two. Kiana James got involved on the apron and found herself flattened by a legdrop from Michin. Unfortunately for the challenger, this left her open to Giulia’s Arrivederci knee for the three and the successful title defense.

Giulia def. Michin via pinfall to retain the Women’s U.S. Championship

An alright match, but I feel there wasn’t really enough time to let this cook, so to speak.

**********

– Charlottle Flair was lamenting about her knee injury at the hands of the Secret Hervice, when Alexa Bliss and “Dr. Lilly” showed up to assure her that the “power of friendship” will heal Flair’s pain.

Seth Rollins & Becky Lynch close out SmackDown

Seth Rollins made an unannounced arrival to the Allstate Arena, as he appeared in the crowd with a microphone in his hand. Rollins said that tonight we would be all witnesses to history, because the “legend” of Chicago’s hometown hero CM Punk would die for good tonight. And to do the honors with him, Rollins introduced his “sexy, brilliant, incredible Irish wife” Becky Lynch.

Lynch stood in the ring while Rollins remained in the crowd, and the “AJ Lee” chants grew louder and louder. “How dare you chant another person’s name while I’m standing in this ring!?” admonished Lynch, who boasted about being the greatest women’s wrestler of all time, and it wasn’t just her saying it. Lynch took some digs at Chicago’s sports teams for being terrible, just like CM Punk was.

Punk himself entered to a massive reaction from his hometown crowd, which he took all in as he made his way down to the ring. Punk said to Lynch that this wasn’t about her, but rather the cowardly husband that was hiding in a skybox. Lynch remained defiant as ever, as she asked how Punk’s pride was feeling after what happened on Raw this past Monday. Punk told Lynch that she would let the crowd chant AJ Lee’s name because we were in Chicago. Punk said that he could call in a favor to Bayley or Rhea Ripley to deal with Lynch, who once again antagonized Punk with slaps to the face and mockery.

“You’re an embarrassment to the city of Chicago, and that’s saying a lot,” said Lynch. Punk answered that this was a situation that he expressedly wanted to avoid because he never put his hands on a lady. Thankfully, though, there was someone he knew that would. AJ Lee’s music played as she made her entrance to a loud, loud reaction from the hometown crowd.

AJ skipped around in her usual manner before she entered the ring to confront Lynch. AJ went after Lynch with strikes off a Lou Thesz Press. Lynch tried to escape, but got a hard slap for her troubles from AJ. Punk challenged Rollins to face him before he entered the ring and gave his wife a hug.

The championship couple of Rollins and Lynch were left retreating as SmackDown faded to black with Punk and AJ standing tall.

**********

I will say ending SmackDown with the hometown heroes getting the upper hand and a big return for AJ Lee was the right call to make. Other than that, this show fell off a bit of a cliff for me after the disappointing non-finish to Cena vs. Zayn. That isn’t to say the show was terrible, just that nothing really stood out for me after getting robbed out of a good finish in that opening contest.

WWE NXT live results: Oba Femi & Ricky Saints team up for eight-man tag

Posted on by Chris Aiken

The road to No Mercy continues on WWE NXT tonight with Oba Femi teaming up with his next challenger.

Ricky Saints defeated Josh Briggs last week to become the new number one contender to the NXT Championship. He’ll get his shot against Femi later this month at No Mercy, but first they’ll be on the same side for an eight-man tag match. It will be Femi, Saints, Hank & Tank vs. DarkState.

DarkState’s Dion Lennox & Osiris Griffin defeated Hank & Tank at Heatwave to become the new NXT Tag Team Champions. A win in this eight-man bout could help Hank & Tank earn their rematch.

NXT hosts its first Speed match tonight as Candice LeRae meets TNA’s Xia Brookside. It’s an opening-round matchup in the tournament to decide Sol Ruca’s Speed Women’s Championship challenger for No Mercy.

With both having their sights set on challenging Jacy Jayne for the NXT Women’s Championship, Lash Legend and Jaida Parker will face off one-on-one tonight.

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 at a sound stage from the Performance Center in Orlando. Participants in the eight-man tag match arrive to the building. Ricky Saints brought swagger, while Hank & Tank arrived with a rotisserie chicken. NXT Champion Oba Femi arrives to rule, while Darkstate saunters into the building.

Opening the show from inside the building is the entrance of Jaida Parker. She is over with the studio audience, as the crowd chants “Miss Parker” as she enters the ring. Following her entrance is that of Lash Legend. Those two meet in t he opening bout tonight on NXT.

Jaida Parker vs. Lash Legend

They wrestled through a commercial break. They were given a lot of time, and they worked hard. Push Jaida Parker and she would become a superstar. She has the tools in the ring and an “it” factor, but they put Legend over here.

Parker got to shine in the match despite dropping the fall, including getting near falls on Legend. Before they went home, the fight spilled outside the ring on the floor. Legend executes her Lash Extension on the floor, and Parker takes the finisher on the announce desk. Back in the ring, Legend with another Lash Extension in the ring, and Legend covers Parker for a three count.

Match result: Lash Legend defeated Jaida Parker via pinfall

This feud must continue, so they brawled after the match. Parker attacked Legend in the aisle after the bell, and Legend is sent into the barricade. Parker then delivers a hip attack, and Legend crashes through the barricade in a stunt.

— Blake Monroe is backstage when she meets up with Arianna Grace, and there is some product placement with Maybelline in a skit. Stacks is there with Grace, but he exits stage left. Jordynne Grace enters the scene and has a pull-apart with Monroe.

Evlove Woman’s Champion Kalli Armstrong rushes in to cut a promo on Grace for barging into an “ruining” another segment. Not only does Grace have a problem with Monroe, Armstrong warns Grace that she now has a problem with Armstrong too. This clearly sets up a singles bout between the two.

— An in-house commercial plugs AAA while promoting When Worlds Collide in Las Vegas.

Josh Briggs trolls and attacks Je’Von Evans

Evans is somber as he cuts a heartfelt promo about losing to championship match against Oba Femi. Josh Briggs interrupts after trolling the audience by teasing a cameo from The Undertaker. Briggs then jumps Evans after a cheap shot.

First, Evans wears his heart on his sleeve as he recounts his failure to capture the NXT title. He cannot be positive after Heat Wave. Evans appears emotional and takes a moment to collect himself. He went into excited, and he even called his sister to say he would become the youngest NXT champion. But he did not do that.

Evans apologizes to the fans for letting them down, and the studio audience responds with “NO” chants. Evans says he also let himself down. The crowd chants they love him, and Evans is appreciative of that. He continues to speak when a motorcycle is seen arriving to the building. Evans says this is not time for games.

The motorcycle is seen again, as it arrives at the building. This is all a tease for The Undertaker. The dong sounds, and the studio audience comes unglued for a huge pop.

Out comes Josh Briggs to troll everyone. He is drowned in boos but the studio audience. Briggs gets into the ring and cuts a promo on Evans, with Briggs complaining about Evans getting so many title shots only to lose. Briggs goes to say Evans should have gotten in Femi’s face and demanded a rematch. Briggs says try being himself. Being better than everybody else and not getting an opportunity. Briggs proclaims that Evans will never beat Femi.

Evans tries to respond, but Briggs hits him with a cheap shot. Big boot by Briggs, and Briggs sets up a metal folding chair in the ring. Briggs then gives Evans a chokeslam on the chair. Evans is left for dead, and these two are programmed together for a grudge match.

— Xia Brookside is the focus of a personality profile sponsored by an insurance company. She is in a match tonight.

— Hank & Tank are hyping up Oba Femi and Ricky Starks in a backstage skit.

Candice LeRae vs. Xia Brookside in a Speed Championship Number One Contenders tournament match

Being a Speed match, the action was fast-paced and quick. To set up the finish, LeRae springboards off the top rope with a tornado DDT. LeRae follows up by leaping off Brookside’s back into a senton. LeRae then jumps off the middle rope with a Lionsault, and Lerae covers Brookside for a pinfall with about 30 seconds remaining in the time limit.

Match result: Candice LeRae defeated Xia Brookside via pinfall to advance in the tournament

In winning, LeRae moves on to the semifinals to meet the winner of Faby Apache vs. Lainey Reed.

— Josh Briggs and Andre Chase are set for a singles match after a locker room skit. Chase U students basically get Chase in a match with Briggs after a confrontation.

— In another skit, Ava is in her office with tag teams from the women’s roster. She announces a number one contender’s triple threat tag match for next Tuesday.

— Darkstate is the focus of a personality profile on the faction. They cut promos as highlights hype them up. This was a good piece of business.

— TNA World Champion Trick Williams is heading to the ring before a commercial break.

DYI returns to NXT to confront Trick Williams

Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa make a surprise appearance in a cameo that builds up the “Homecoming” show in a few weeks.

Trick begins the segment by boasting about himself. He bemoans none coming out to respond after calling himself the greatest NXT superstar ever, seemingly suggesting the past NXT stars do not care about the brand anymore. Trick does not blame them, as he plans to never return when he signs a million dollar contact when called up to the main roster. Trick claims all of the NXT favorites do not love NXT anymore.

The team of DIY — Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa — enter to a huge pop. They soak it in before getting in the ring to confront Trick. Gargano insists they still love NXT, and he notes today is the 10 year anniversary of their NXT debut. Ciampa and Gargano goad Trick about them both being two-time NXT champs. Gargano also held the North American title three times, and DIY were also tag team champs.

Trick bickers with them some more until a shoving match begins. Ciampa shoves Trick, and Gargano hits Trick with a superkick. DIY then do their stereo finisher on Trick, and they celebrate their return by posing on the turnbuckles.

— In a skit from the trainer’s room, Ava comes to an agreement with Je’Von Evans. If Evans does not interfere in Josh Briggs’ match tonight, then Ava will book Evans against Briggs for next week.

— In another skit after a commercial break, Ava books a flag match between Tavion Heights and North American Champion Ethan Page. The stipulation came after Page opened his big mouth and talked his way into a gimmick match.

— Kalli Armstrong is featured in a video package ahead of her match tonight. This was good, but too bad she loses clean.

Jordynne Grace vs. Evolve Women’s Champion Kalli Armstrong in a non-title match

They had a really good match, and the audience was into it. Armstrong with a decent push on this show coming into the match, only for her to lose clean. She is the champ of another brand no less, and she still lost clean. No fault of Grace, as she is the one they have pushed for some time now. Still, whatever momentum Armstrong had is minimized by dropping the fall. Unless the NXT viewing audience does not care about wins or loses, but that seems like an existential question for another time.

The match itself went through a commercial break, and Armstrong was able to look strong at times. For the finish, Grace drops Armstrong with a back elbow. Grace then executes a scary rendition of Beast Mode, and Grace scores the clean pin on Armstrong.

Match result: Jordynne Grace defeated Kalli Armstrong via pinfall

Blake Monroe runs in after the match, and she gets into a post-match brawl with Grace. Monroe is sent crashing into the ring steps before security pours out to separate them. Monroe appears to be bleeding from the mouth after the brawl. Armstrong was unfortunately an afterthought here, but the program is Grace and Monroe in a feud.

Josh Briggs vs. Andre Chase

Briggs spoofs Undertaker during the match, which is surely building to Undertaker making an appearance to give Briggs a comeuppance of some sort.

Chase can still get over with the studio audience, even if he is more of a bit player than his previous role. He is so much better than his push would indicate. He gets a close near fall on Briggs during the match, and the crowd bought into it hook, line, and sinker.

Chase had the crowd behind him when Briggs hulks up and cuts off Chase. Briggs goozles Chase and deliver a chokeslam. Briggs then hits Chase with a high kick, and Briggs pinned Chase clean as a sheet.

After the match, Briggs gets more heat by attacking the Chase U students at ringside. Briggs sends Kale Dixon crashing into the barricade, which would have been more effective if we had not seen a similar spot several times earlier in the show. Nonetheless, Briggs also attacks Uriah Connors. Briggs chokeslams Connors on a gimmicked announce desk, and the desk implodes on impact. Briggs stand over his prey after the carnage is complete.

Match result: Josh Briggs defeated Andre Chase via pinfall

— Trick Williams is backstage cutting a promo on DIY. After they attacked him earlier tonight, Trick will not let that slide. Trick says they are not the only ones here with a history, and he will see them next week.

— Canelo vs. Crawford is hyped in a video package, which is cross-promotional marketing within the TKO family.

NXT Champion Oba Femi, Ricky Saints, Hank Walker & Tank Ledger vs. Darkstate (Dion Lennox, Osiris Griffin, Saquon Shugars & Cutler James) in an eight-man tag team match

The team of babyfaces stand tall as the show cuts to its final commercial break. Darkstate gets heat on Hank after the break, until Hank creates some separation. Hot tag to Tank, and he cleans house. Blind tag by Saints, and he runs wild with a tornado DDT. Femi makes a bling tag by smacking Saints hard on the back.

Femi and Saints argue, and they collide into each other when Shugars shoves them into each other. Saints in turn shoves Shugars into Femi, and Femi tosses Shugars on Saints. After getting back to his feet, Saints smacks Femi. Slugfest between Saints and Femi, despite them being tag partners in the match. Bling tag to Tank, after Femi and Saints go over the top rope with a Cactus Jack clothesline. They brawl their way up the ramp and exit stage left. That leaves Hank & Tank to face Darkstate — two against four.

Shugars gets sandwiched by Hank & Tank, and they are on a roll. Not for long, as Tank is posted groin-first. Hank has his eyes raked by Shugars. Darkstate gang up on Hank & Tank, but the babyfaces fight back. Nevertheless, Hank is cut off by Cutler James. After grabbing him but the throat, James asks Hank who will save him now. Hank says, “Joe Hendry.” Speak his name, and he appears.

Hendry suddenly appears on the apron to distract James and Darkstate. James then takes the combo finisher from Hank & Tank. Following the powerslam/spear combo, Hank pinned James to win the match.

Match result: Hank Walker, Tank Ledger, Oba Femi & Ricky Saints defeated Cutler James, Dion Lennox, Osiris Griffin, & Saquon Shugars when Walker pinned James

Joe Hendry celebrates with Hank & Tank after the match, with them posing together in the ring.

TO THE BACK, Saints and Femi are still brawling as security tries to separate them. The show goes off the air in the midst of the pull-apart brawl. After that cliffhanger, it would be funny if they were still brawling when the show goes on air next week.

WWE NXT live results: The fallout from Heatwave

Posted on by Chris Aiken

The fallout from Heatwave goes down on WWE NXT tonight as the brand moves toward No Mercy.

NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne already knows her next challenger with Lola Vice having won a number one contender’s match at Heatwave. Those two will meet at No Mercy next month for the title. We may already have Oba Femi’s next NXT Championship challenger too — with Ricky Saints confronting him at the end of Heatwave after Femi defeated Je’Von Evans.

Fatal Influence (Jayne, Fallon Henley & Jazmyn Nyx) will face Vice, Sol Ruca & Zaria tonight in a six-woman tag match.

It’s been confirmed that Ruca will defend her Women’s Speed Championship at No Mercy against a challenger that will be determined starting next week. That tournament will feature one representative from the WWE main roster, one from NXT, one from TNA, and one from Lucha Libre AAA.

A stipulation bout is set for tonight with Myles Borne and Lexis King clashing in a blindfold match.

Plus, Blake Monroe faces Kelani Jordan. And Wren Sinclair and a mystery partner will take on Izzi Dame & Tatum Paxley.

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

**********

Highlights from NXT Heatwave begin the show, which recaps the supercard from Sunday on the road in Lowell, MA. NXT is back tonight in Florida before a live studio audience at the sound stage from the Performance Center.

The entrance of Ricky Saints opens the show, with Saints in street clothes doing his signature entrance. Saints gets into the ring for an opening monologue.

Saints says he is here to “kick off NXT the right way — the Ricky way!” The studio audience chants for him as Saints briefly brings up Heatwave. Saints will always put his money behind Je’Von Evans, who lost on Sunday in an unsuccessful challenge for the NXT Championship. Saints then shifts to NXT Champion Oba Femi.

Saints calls out the champ, but out comes Josh Briggs instead. Briggs cuts a promo on Saints as the studio audience drowns Briggs in boos. The crowd then begins chants of “WE WANT JE’VON!” Briggs continues his promo, but he was hard to follow with the chants.

Saints responds to Briggs with a fiery retort. Likening him to the Sid character in Toy Story, Saints goes on to tell Briggs that he is not waiting in line for a title shot. Saints is the line! Briggs and Saints banter some more before NXT General Manager Ava interrupts their argument.

Ava says she knows where this is going, and she has an announcement. Since she has not heard from Evans since Sunday, she needs to find a challenger for Femi at No Mercy. So, Saints and Briggs are in a singles match tonight to determine a number one contender.

— In a skit from Sunday posted to social media, Ava is backstage talking with Blake Monroe. Kelani Jordan storms in to cut a promo on Monroe, which sets up a match tonight.

Monroe gets a full entrance before the show cuts to a commercial break. Jordan has her entrance after the match returns from the break.

Blake Monroe vs. Kelani Jordan

Jordan and Monroe previously met in a singles match three weeks ago. In that match, Monroe fled after being chased by Jordynne Grace. The match tonight played on that finish with a callback, except Monroe was unable to escape this time.

Grace walked with purpose down to the ring, and Monroe begs off. Monroe then tries to flee from Grace, but the door Monroe ran to was locked. Grace then yells at Monroe to get back into the ring. Monroe does, and Jordan airplanes her into an Olympic slam. Jordan follows up with a split-legged moonsault. Jordan then covers Monroe for a three count.

Match result: Kelani Jordan defeated Blake Monroe via pinfall

— Myles Borne is interviewed by Sarah Schreiber on his way to the ring for his match tonight. Borne is asked about his eyesight after being blinded last week by Lexis King. Borne says his vision is still blurry, but he notes tonight he is in a blindfold match. Borne then calls on the crowd to help him tonight with their energy and directions. Borne then charges to the ring like a 1980s babyface.

Myles Borne vs. Lexis King in a blindfold match

King is reluctant to put on the blindfold (or what was really a hood) at the start of the match. Once blindfolded, King fumbles around the ring. He takes a nasty bump outside the ring, and he stumbles over the ring steps. In between those spots, Borne also executes a lovely dropkick while both are wearing the hoods.

King eventually cuts off Borne, and they fumble around some more. King backs Borne into a corner, and the referee separates them. King feels his face and knows it’s the referee before he somewhat inadvertently pokes the ref in the eyes.

With the referee selling the eye poke, King smirks as he takes off his hood. King hits Borne with a low blow, and King delivers a Coronation finisher. King then covers Borne for a pin.

Match result: Lexis King defeated Myles Borne via pinfall

— Wren Sinclair is pacing backstage when Charlie Dempsey walks up. Sinclair is distraught because does not have a partner for her tag match tonight. She asks Dempsey why he is so calm. Dempsey answers and reveals he has a tag partner for Sinclair. Kendal Grey walks up and Sinclair is thrilled. Dempsey and Grey do a comedy shtick before they all head for the ring.

Kendal Grey & Wren Sinclair (with Charlie Dempsey) vs. Izzi Dame & Tatum Paxley (with Shawn Spears & Niko Vance)

While Dempsey is in the babyface corner, The Culling are in the opposing corner. Yet, they do not factor into the match itself. The skit beforehand with Dempsey does play into the match. Dempsey mentioned that Grey had a great armbar. That plays into the finish.

Grey gets an armbar on Paxley, but they are apparently not the legal participants. Meanwhile, Sinclair takes a sit-out powerbomb from Dame, and Dame pins Sinclair. Grey was busy applying the armbar, so she could not make a save.

Match result: Izzi Dame & Tatum Paxley defeated Wren Sinclair & Kendal Grey when Dame pinned Grey

— TNA World Champion Trick Williams hypes himself up in a pre-taped promo that also plugs three upcoming shows. Those shows are a “homecoming” show on September 16, NXT No Mercy on Sept. 27, and Halloween Havoc on October 25.

Ricky Saints vs. Josh Briggs in a number one contender’s match

The match went through a commercial break, and they worked hard throughout the bout. The studio audience gets hot for the match, and they get behind Saints. They really dislike Briggs.

Before a commercial break, Briggs catches Saints on a dive. Saints escapes the clutches of Briggs, and Briggs crashes into the ringpost. They go on to trade near falls after the show returns from the break.

Heated exchanges as they go home. For the finish, Saints fires up and springboards into a tornado DDT. That seems to be a new finisher for Saints, as he used in his last several matches. Saints goes on to cover Briggs for a pinfall. With the win, Saints is the number one contender for the NXT Championship.

Match result: Ricky Saints defeated Josh Briggs via pinfall.

After a commercial break, Saints is still in the ring. He is cutting a promo on NXT Champion Oba Femi when out comes Femi to confront Saints.

Saints cuts a promo on Femi with Saints implying that Femi is slipping as champ. Saints cautions that Femi cannot be the “Ruler” forever. Femi claims he sees fear in the eyes of Saints. As Femi continues his promo, the lights go dim in the sound stage.

Darkstate enters the scene, and they surround the ring. Darkstate members cut promos (and some are wearing the NXT tag team title belts) as they close in on the ring. They rush into the ring and jump Femi and Saints. The numbers are too much for Saints and Femi, and they are being beaten down. Hank & Tank run in to make a save. Hank & Tank (who lost the tag titles to Darkstate at Heatwave) help send the heels packing. This would seem to set up an eight-man tag match.

— A backstage skit sets up a singles match between Jaida Parker & Lash Legend.

— WWE Speed is the focus of a video package that explains the concept of the Speed Championships, which are coming to NXT. Ava then says Speed Champion Sol Ruca needs a number one contende, so Ava announces a tournament to decide Ruca’s next challenger. The tournament begins next Tuesday on NXT.

Participants in the Speed tournament are Candice LeRae from Smackdown, Lainey Reed from NXT, Faby Apache from AAA, and Xia Brookside from TNA. Brookside against LeRae kicks off the tournament next Tuesday.

Tyra Mae Steele (with Tavion Heights) vs. Alba Fyre (with Chelsea Green, Piper Niven & NXT North American Champion Ethan Page)

While Steele is green, they play to her strengths. Frye is also really skilled in the ring, so that greatly helps make for a good match. Steele shines at first, until she is cut off by Fyre (with help from Page and Green at ringside). Steele is distracted by the antics of Page and Green, and Fyre is able to nail a dive through the ropes.

Steele blocks Fyre’s finisher, and Steele goes on to apply an ankle lock. Page interferes by trying to help Fyre escape. Instead, Page gets his hand stomped on by Steele. Fyre goes for a superkick, only for Steele to sidestep her. Steele then rolls up Fyre for the deciding pinfall.

Match result: Tyra Mae Steele defeated Alba Fyre via pinfall

Chelsea Green attacks Steele after the match, and Heights jumps in to save Steele. Heights teases he will strike Green, who first struck Heights. Page then ambushes and blindsides Heights. Page delivers his finisher on Heights. Page goes on to drape a Canadian flag over Heights, which builds heat for a match between them.

— Hank & Tank are in Ava’s office, and they do some comedy before Ava makes an eight-man tag match official for next Tuesday. This plays off the angle shot earlier tonight.

— Sarah Screiber interviews the Fatal Influence trio. There is bickering and tension between Jayne and Nyx. Jayne remains the NXT Women’s Champion, despite dropping the TNA Knockouts title over the weekend.

Fallon Henley, Jaxmyn Nyx & Jacy Jayne vs. Lola Vice, Sol Ruca & Zaria in a six-woman tag team match

Today is apparently Ruca’s birthday, which is mentioned on commentary. The match itself goes through a commercial break. Lainey Reed is seen watching the match from a perch overlooking the ring, as she is apparently scouting Ruca (who is the current Speed champion).

Lots of action, especially during the closing moments. Hot tag to Vice, and Vice runs wild with a flurry of kicks. Hip attacks by Vice, but Vice is soon cut off after getting distracted by Jayne. High/low knee strike combo by Henley and Jayne on Vice. Ruca superkicks Henley for a save on a subsequent near fall.

As they go home, Zaira spears Jayne on the floor. Henley almost inadvertently hits Nyx. Then, Vice shoves Henley into Nyx. They bonk heads when they collide. Ruca rushes into the ring to execute a Sol Snatcher on Nyx. Vice then hits Henley with a spinning back fist, and Vice cover Henley for a pinfall.

Match result: Lola Vice, Sol Ruca & Zaria defeated Fallon Henley, Jacy Jayne & Jazmyn Nyx when Vice pinned Henley.

WWE Raw live results: Clash in Paris go-home show

Posted on by Steve Khan

Date: August 25, 2025
Location: bp pulse LIVE in Birmingham, UK 

The Big Takeaway —

LA Knight lost to Bron Breakker in the main event. Jey Uso laid out CM Punk and Knight as the show ended, with Seth Rollins looking on in amusement. Rollins defends the World Championship against Knight, Punk and Jey this Sunday at Clash in Paris. 

There will not be a match for the vacant Women’s World Championship on Sunday, but instead, Becky Lynch will defend the Women’s Intercontinental Championship against Nikki Bella. 

Raw in Paris next week begins at 2 pm ET/11 am PT. 

**********

Show Recap — 

LA Knight, Rhea Ripley, and Nikki Bella arrived at the building in Birmingham. 

There is only one level of stands in this arena, so the stage is smaller than usual, but the arena is completely packed. 

Roman Reigns opens Raw

The crowd anxiously chanted “OTC” and sang Reigns’ name before he even got to the ring. The singing continued in the same cadence as usual after his music cut. They followed with a different song and more “OTC” chants before Reigns finally spoke 10 minutes into the show. 

Reigns had big plans for tonight, for the rest of this year, and next year. But he had to be honest with himself. The fans acknowledged him, but there was something he had to acknowledge. The fans were loud as always, like old times, but Reigns was not the same guy he used to be. The fans chanted, “Yes, you are.” 

Reigns responded, “Maybe I can be.” Cody Rhodes predicted it a year and a half ago. (There was a smattering of boos upon hearing Rhodes’ name, and Reigns responded, “Interesting.”) Reigns said Seth Rollins and The Vision followed through on everything Rhodes said. They took everything from him. The crowd chanted, “F—k you, Rollins,” and Reigns felt the same way. 

Reigns didn’t have what he used to have. He didn’t have a Bloodline. After the crowd chanted, “Yeet,” Reigns said he was proud of Jey Uso. People complained about Jey being in the title match instead of him, but Jey was the one who scored the pinfall in their match. He deserved to be in the title match (instead of him). 

The Vision took his Bloodline, his wiseman, and his titles. They ran out of things to take, so they had to find something else. He was about to bring up Bronson Reed, but Paul Heyman interrupted with Reed. 

Heyman said it’s been five years since Brock Lesnar’s wiseman joined Reigns. They changed the entire industry together. Reigns was all alone now, but Heyman missed him. Heyman loved him five years ago and loved him now. 

The fans sang Reigns’ name, so Heyman instead sang Reed’s name to the same tune. He tried to lead the fans, but they sang for Reigns’ instead. Heyman said the fans disrespected him, but they weren’t tough enough to live in Manchester or rich enough to live in London. 

Heyman did not want to disrespect Reigns. But what Reigns needed was tough love. Heyman wasn’t man enough to beat the tough love into him, but Reed was. 

Reigns called Heyman a dumbass because Heyman would kiss his ass after he kicked Reed’s ass. 

Reed gave Reigns a history lesson. He said Reigns’ tribe from Samoa is civilized, but Reed’s isn’t. Reed’s tribe was exiled to Australia. Reigns’ tattoos were all paid for, but Reed’s were earned. Reed was the Samoan that Reigns’ dad and uncle warned him about, and he was about to find out why. 

Reigns responded, “Hold up, this guy’s Samoan? That means your ass belongs to me.” The crowd popped for that. Reigns invited him to the ring to return his shoes, apologize to the fans, and acknowledge him. (The fans chanted, “Give his shoes back.”) 

Reed turned him down, so Reigns left the ring. They met at the aisle and brawled into the ring. Security got between them, so Reed broke through and squished everyone in the corner. Reed went up for a Tsunami as officials tried to stop him, but Reigns popped up and gave him a Superman punch. Reigns went after Reed again outside the ring, but they were held back by security as they went to break. 

The show was 27 minutes old by the time the opening segment ended. 

*******

Like last week, Finn Bálor couldn’t find Dominik Mysterio backstage, but at that moment, he bumped into Dom speaking to El Grande Americano (Ludwig Kaiser). Bálor asked him what was up. Dom said not to worry about it and he’d join them later. 

Dragon Lee vs. JD McDonagh (w/Finn Bálor)

Bálor was tossed from ringside early in the match. The fans seemed disappointed as this was a very rare occasion where the fans actually booed the referee for tossing a heel from ringside. 

McDonagh took control as they went to break 90 seconds into the match, and Dragon Lee made his comeback the moment they returned. Dragon Lee hit a snap German suplex and poisonrana, but McDonagh hit a Spanish fly for two. Lee followed later with a great-looking Liger bomb for a nearfall. 

The Netflix feed lagged, and the action happened in slow motion. It was fixed as they got to the finish. 

Dom tried to interfere, but AJ Styles ran out to attack him and chase him off. (Corey Graves called Styles hater of the year for once again travelling overseas just to attack someone.) Dragon Lee hit Operation Dragon for the pinfall win. 

Match result: Dragon Lee defeated JD McDonagh (8:42) 

Not including NXT, this was Dragon Lee’s first win on TV since April, and his first singles win since November 2024. 

********

LA Knight interview

Jackie Redmond interviewed LA Knight. He wondered if CM Punk maybe put him through the table on purpose last week. Even if it was an accident, Punk shrugged his shoulders and left. Knight agreed with Punk that they should have worked together against Rollins, but Punk created an environment where that could no longer happen. 

Knight knew Punk was hungry, but they were all hungry. Knight would make sure everyone else went to bed hungry because he would win the title in Paris. He found it very convenient that he was the only one from the four-way that had a match tonight. Knight planned on smacking Bron Breakker back to factory settings.

******** 

There was a Rusev video package. 

Judgment Day met backstage. Raquel Rodriguez stopped an argument between Dom and Bálor. Dom said Bálor has known Styles the longest and suggested he deal with him tonight. Bálor got in Dom’s face and said he’d talk to Adam Pearce and deal with Styles. After he left, Rodriguez told Roxanne Perez to be ready for her match tonight. 

Styles vs. Bálor was made official during the next match. 

********

Penta vs. Kofi Kingston (w/Xavier Woods & Grayson Waller)

The New Day continue to wear all-black as they continue to mourn their tag title loss. Woods wore a black neck brace and had a black cane. 

Penta set up for a flip dive early in the match, but Kingston sprinted away up the aisle as they went to break. Kingston took control during the break and gave Penta a back body drop onto the announce table. It took Penta a full nine seconds to make it back to the ring. 

As Penta made his comeback, Michael Cole said it would be embarrassing if New Day lost to him for a second straight week. Graves wondered what he meant, and Cole said it was because New Day talked so much trash. 

They traded moves, which led to Penta going for a Canadian Destroyer, but Kingston countered it with a back body drop. Kingston followed with a fameasser for two. Penta botched a potential rana off the ropes, so he hit a superplex to bring Kingston down instead. 

Penta followed with a Penta driver, but Kingston kicked out. (Graves said this may have been the first time someone kicked out of this move, and reminded us that Kingston was a former world champion.) 

Penta kicked Waller in the face, and his papers went flying, before hitting Kingston and Woods with a flip dive. Penta went to the ropes for a Destroyer attempt, but was distracted by Waller (who didn’t technically do anything). 

Kingston tripped Penta off the ropes and hit Trouble in Paradise for the pinfall win. The crowd groaned at the finish. 

Match result: Kofi Kingston defeated Penta (10:21)

******** 

Iyo Sky approached Rhea Ripley backstage. She thanked her for having her back last week. She respected Ripley, but Asuka and Kairi Sane were her family. They didn’t like that Ripley got in her business, so they should probably keep their distance for a while. 

At this moment, Asuka and Sane appeared in the background and watched the rest of this transpire. Ripley understood Sky’s sentiment. Ripley was about to leave, but Sky pulled her back for a hug. The hug caused Asuka to storm off in the background. 

(I get what they’re doing, but this was overly dramatic.) 

******** 

There was a video package of Naomi’s announcement. 

Pearce informed Stephanie Vaquer that she was still the number one contender, but her match was not happening in Paris. Pearce asked her to give him a week to find her an opponent. Vaquer was disappointed she wouldn’t be wrestling in Paris, but said she’d be ready when Pearce found her opponent. 

******** 

Becky Lynch and Nikki Bella segment

Lynch entered first. Like she did on Smackdown, Lynch played babyface for a brief moment before quickly turning on the crowd. She called Birmingham a dump, just like Nikki Bella. They advertised this as Bella calling out Lynch, but Lynch didn’t plan on getting called out like a dog by anyone. 

Nikki entered. She said if Lynch wasn’t a dog, then she should stop acting like a bitch. Nikki suggested Lynch give her a title shot. 

Lynch said she wasn’t about to give out title shots, especially to broke-neck Barbie. Nikki said she kicked her ass last week. And thanks to her blazing a trail, Lynch had a page to write history on. 

Lynch credited Nikki and her better twin for blazing that trail and bringing in a new audience, but frankly, she just didn’t care. Lynch never wanted to respect Nikki—she wanted to replace her, and she’s done a pretty good job doing so. 

Nikki said Lynch was afraid to face her. Lynch was once Charlotte Flair’s little sidekick. Lynch said she was no one’s shadow. She was the greatest of all time, even Sports Illustrated thought so. Nikki didn’t care what SI thought. She cared what the people thought—the people who made Lynch. Lynch came off as desperate, and everyone could see it. 

The crowd tried chanting “Becky’s desperate,” but she cut them off. Lynch knew the fans were trying to take over. She called it classic British behaviour and wondered if 800 years of oppressing the Irish wasn’t enough for them. 

Nikki wondered if The Man lost her balls. Lynch assured her by saying, “I have balls. I have balls.” Nikki said Lynch was cheap and another c-word—a coward. Lynch thought she meant the other c-word. 

Lynch agreed to a match in Paris because she wouldn’t wrestle in Birmingham. The only good thing to come out of Birmingham died a month ago. At least Ozzy Osbourne had the sense to move to LA first. 

Nikki knew why Lynch was so mad. No matter how hard she tried, her name would never be as big as Bella. Nikki said she would win the title in Paris. 

Lynch went for a cheap shot, but Nikki decked her. Lynch bailed before Nikki could hit her finisher.

(This was one of those segments where the heel was much more entertaining than the babyface, who, in this case, just isn’t that interesting. Nikki accused Lynch of using cheap insults, but Nikki was the one who called her a bitch, insinuated she was a c-word, and accused her of not having balls. It would also be nice if they didn’t feel the need to tell us Nikki blazed a trail every chance they get.) 

********

CM Punk interview 

Redmond interviewed CM Punk. He said he didn’t put Knight through the table, but he also didn’t care that Knight fell through a table because he was a clumsy idiot. 

Punk wasn’t just hungry—he was obsessed with holding the title. It was ripped from him by Rollins. Punk warned all three of his opponents that he would cripple them if he had to and walk out of Paris as champion. He finished his promo by saying his name in the same cadence as “L.A. Knight.” 

********

There was a Sheamus video package. He said Rusev’s return was a superstar return that no one wanted or asked for. Rusev lost his love for the game. He was passionless, speaking from a darkened room, and acting like a bully. Rusev was cringe. But Sheamus noticed that Rusev had woken up in their recent battles and won back his respect. Sheamus wanted the old Rusev back, and they would have a banger in Paris. 

********

Rhea Ripley vs. Roxanne Perez (w/Raquel Rodriguez) 

The fans sang Ripley’s name in the tune of We Will Rock You. Perez got a lot in this match. A distraction by Rodriguez allowed Perez to take over with a suicide dive. She worked over Ripley’s leg during a break and spiked her with a DDT after the break. 

Another distraction allowed Perez to bring Ripley off the top with a hurricanrana. Perez followed with a double knee drop for two. Ripley followed with a Razor’s Edge and a running kick for two. Ripley knocked down Rodriguez, blocked a Pop Rox, and hit Rip-tide for the pinfall win. 

— Rodriguez attacked Ripley after the match. Ripley fought her off, but an assist by Perez allowed the heels to take her down. 

Sky ran out to make the save and sent Rodriguez out of the ring with a missile dropkick. Ripley hugged Sky as they smiled over the heels. 

Match result: Rhea Ripley defeated Roxanne Perez (10:39) 

********

Seth Rollins psyched up his buddies backstage as the fans sang his song. 

Sky checked on Ripley backstage. As soon as Ripley left, an angry Asuka confronted Sky as Sane held her back. Asuka told Sky to stop talking to Ripley. Asuka left. Sky asked Sane to trust her. A very sad Kairi Sane told Sky she was sorry, and she left. 

(I guess there was no specific reason for Ripley to get involved here, but she would’ve been close by to stand up for Sky when Asuka confronted her, but because she was off-screen, that meant she actually vanished.) 

********

AJ Styles vs. Finn Bálor

This was their fifth-ever singles match. The crowd gave a polite applause as the match began. They wrestled back and forth for a few minutes until Bálor dropkicked Styles off the apron. Styles maintained control through a break. 

Styles blocked a crossbody and hit a backbreaker, followed by a fireman’s carry neckbreaker for two. Bálor responded with a slingblade and dropkick into the corner. Styles avoided a Coup de Grace, and a series of counters led to a Styles Clash for a decisive pinfall win. 

Match result: AJ Styles defeated Finn Bálor (8:05) 

There was nothing wrong with it, but this was as standard a match between these two men as you will ever see. 

******* 

Jey Uso and Roman Reigns segment 

Jey Uso was all wound up as he met with Reigns backstage. Reigns warned him to never trust Punk. Reigns also wondered why Jey was so uptight. He told him to stop helping people. He’s helped enough. He’s helped Reigns, their family, the locker room and the company. It was time for Jey to do it for himself. It wasn’t about being one of the boys or making friends. It was about cashing in on the moments and locking in a legacy. Reigns said that was his perspective—it was up to Jey to be Jey. They shook hands. 

This was good.

********

Bayley video, Judgment Day segment

There was another Bayley video where she could hear her inner voice(s), and we, the audience, can hear it too. It started with the younger, upbeat version of Bayley talking to her, before the heel version interrupted. The two voices argued until the real Bayley told them to stop. 

Backstage, a concerned Lyra Valkyria asked Pearce if they had checked on Bayley or if there was an update on her medical state. He said he has called her, but there’s no official status. He promised an update.  

The male members of Judgment Day confronted Pearce about Styles. Dom wanted things to end with Styles. Pearce agreed, so he put Dom in a match against Styles next week on Raw in Paris for the Intercontinental champion. Dom wasn’t happy, and he referred to Pearce as Charles Xavier. 

Bálor was selling in the background after just wrestling, but he looked up and smiled when Pearce made the announcement. That was funny. 

********

Official card for Clash in Paris: 

  • Roman Reigns vs. Bronson Reed 
  • Sheamus vs. Rusev – Good Ol’ Fashioned Donnybrook Match (no DQ, no countout) 
  • John Cena vs. Logan Paul 
  • Becky Lynch (c) vs. Nikki Bella for the Women’s Intercontinental Championship 
  • Seth Rollins (c) vs. CM Punk vs. Jey Uso vs. LA Knight for the World Heavyweight Championship 

*******

As Bron Breakker walked through the back, Reigns suddenly shoved him into an equipment box. Reed tried to get involved, so Reigns knocked him down with a Superman punch. Reigns was taken away by security. Pearce told Breakker he still had a match, and Breakker wasn’t pleased.

Knight jumped in next to attack Breakker and dragged him out to the stage. 

LA Knight vs. Bron Breakker (w/Paul Heyman)

Knight continued to beat up Bron before the match began and attacked him around ringside. They entered the ring, and the match started. Despite Knight attacking Bron for a good five minutes (and after Reigns blindsided him earlier), Bron made his own comeback and took control. 

After a break, Bron gave Knight a Frankensteiner. Knight slipped out of a press slam and hit a DDT. Knight made his comeback and hit a neckbreaker. Bron cut him off and went for a running spear or tackle, but Knight booted him. With Bron standing on the top, Knight leaped to the top and brought him down with a superplex. Knight followed with a flying elbow drop. 

Rollins’ music hit, and he ran down to ringside. Knight chased him around ringside like an idiot and ran into a spear by Bron. The crowd chanted for Punk, but he did not show. 

Bron followed with a spear in the ring for the pinfall win. 

— Rollins and Bron attacked Knight, but Jey Uso made the save. Jey hit Rollins with a superkick and turned his attention to Bron, but Rollins grabbed him and hit a Pedigree. 

Punk finally entered to his music. They cut the song, but the fans sang it anyway as Punk posted Bron. Punk attacked Rollins, but Bron pulled Rollins out of the ring to safety. (The crowd chanted, “Seth’s a p—sy,” which was censored.) 

Punk helped Jey to his feet, but Knight confronted Punk. Jey tried to settle them down, but Knight brushed him off. Punk and Knight traded fists until Punk shoved Knight into Jey. 

Punk grabbed Knight for a GTS, but Knight slipped out and stumbled toward Jey, who laid him out with a superkick. Jey stood next to Punk—then laid out Punk with a superkick, too. Rollins was amused by this. 

Rollins looked on confidently as Jey Yeeted with the crowd as the show ended. 

Match result: Bron Breakker defeated LA Knight (13:45)

Knight came across so poorly here. Breakker was blinded by both Reigns and Knight, allowing Knight to have complete control of the match. Breakker came back anyway and basically won clean because Knight was too stupid to focus on the match. I don’t think Breakker should be losing, but beating Knight this close to the title match was not a good idea either, especially in this manner. 

Jey at least got to shine at the end, but I’m not sure any of this would make you feel like Rollins is losing the belt on Sunday.

WWE NXT live results: Heatwave go-home show in Philadelphia

Posted on by Chris Aiken

WWE NXT is in Philadelphia tonight for the final stop before Heatwave.

Oba Femi will defend his NXT Championship against either Je’Von Evans or Trick Williams at Sunday’s PLE in Lowell, Massachusetts. Tonight, Evans battles Williams in a number one contender’s match to determine who gets the title shot.

TNA star Masha Slamovich will be in the building to serve as the special guest referee for a six-woman tag match between Fatal Influence and The Elegance Brand. At Heatwave, Jacy Jayne is defending her NXT Women’s Championship against Slamovich and Ash By Elegance in a triple threat match.

A face-to-face with Jordynne Grace and Blake Monroe will take place in advance of their match at Heatwave.

There will also be a peace summit tonight with Chelsea Green & Ethan Page and Tyra Mae Steele & Tavion Heights.

Plus, Ricky Saints faces Jasper Troy, Joe Hendry appears, and there will be a Philadelphia Street Fight between Yoshiki Inamura and Josh Briggs. That Inamura vs. Briggs matchup is kicking things off at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

**********

NXT is on the air and on the road. Tonight the show is live from The Met in Philadelphia.

Before any introductions in the first match, Josh Briggs is attacks Yoshiki Inamura in the Gorilla Position. They brawl to their way down the aisle as the bell rings to start their street fight. Briggs’ vest is still smoking from the special effects as he continues to pummel Inamura, but Inamura would soon fight back.

Yoshiki Inamura vs. Josh Briggs in a Philadelphia Street Fight

Briggs pinned Inamura in a great opener that was a wild brawl filled with weapons and blunder. Debris litters the ring after the match is over after starting with an ambush by Briggs.

They brawl around ringside. The ring is on a stage, and they fight off the stage on the floor. Briggs suplexes Inamura on the floor. Briggs later haphazardly starts tossing metal folding chairs into the ring, and he uses them as weapons.

Inamura fights back in a few hope spots, but Briggs cut him off. Briggs slams Inamura on a chair, but Briggs misses a splash on crashes into the chair. Inamura comes back and sends Briggs crashing into a chair that Briggs himself had wedged in a corner. Inamura slams Briggs on chair, and Inamura grabs a Phillies baseball bat.

Inamura tees up with the baseball bat, but Briggs rocks him with a low pitch of the chair. The chair took out Inamura’s legs. Briggs uses the bat for a Russian leg sweep, and he stomps on the Phillies logo for added heat with the local crowd. From there, the show cuts to a commercial break. They set up a big stunt as the show returns from the break.

A section of guardrail is bridged on a collection of chairs as the show comes back from the break. Inamura takes a superplex on the guardrail, and he sells big. Kendo stick and trash cans are tossed into the ring by Briggs as the crowd chants for tables.

Briggs uses tape to tie Inamura’s arms on the top rope. Inamura is defenseless to shots from a kendo stick. Inamura hulks up and rips free. Inamura then chops a kendo stick in half as he fires up on Briggs. Inamura keeps chopping before uses “sumo strikes” to knock down Briggs. A trash can is put over the head of Briggs, and Inamura hits the trash can with the baseball bat. A bloody Briggs crumbles the trash can when Inamura bodyslams him on it. The referee put son gloves while checking on Briggs. Meanwhile, Inamura fetches a table.

Inamura leaps off the top with a splash that puts Briggs through a table set up in the ring. Briggs kicks out for a two count. More tables are set up in the ring. Briggs cuts off Inamura with a lariat loaded with a chain. Moonsault press by Briggs that drives Inamura through a table, and Briggs covers Inamura for a pinfall.

Match result: Josh Briggs defeated Yoshiki Inamura via pinfall

— Sarah Schreiber interviews TNA World Champion Trick Williams backstage in Philly. Williams brags about beating Moose on the latest TNA sueprcard. Williams then cuts a promo on NXT Champion Oba Femi ahead of their title match at Heatwave this weekend.

Ricky Saints vs. Jasper Troy

Saints pinned Troy after a pair of tornado DDTs. This was much more tame than the opener, which is not nearly a bad thing. This was also nothing to write home about until the end where they did a stunt with the ring steps. That would have more of an effect if we had not already seen blunder in the opening brawl.

They wrestled through a commercial break. In the later stages of the match, they set up a spot with the ring steps. Saints is sent crashing into the steps. Troy goes for a senton, but no water in the pool. Troy takes a bump on a section of the steps.

As they go home, Saints with a tornado DDT on the apron. Saints follows up by springboarding off the top rope into a tornado DDT in the ring. Saints then covers Troy for a three count.

Match result: Ricky Saints defeated Jasper Troy via pinfall

Jordynne Grace face-to-face with Blake Monroe

Grace comes to the ring and begins with a monologue. She talks about coming to NXT after traveling the world building her reputation. Grace figured she would have won a championship, and that has not happened yet. She knew some of her weaknesses, but she did not think a friendship would set her back.

Grace goes on to say she knew how wrestling friendships work out, but she thought this was an exception. Grace never faced exploiting her weakness like Blake Monroe did to her. She was angry, but now she has one objective. Not revenge. Grace wants Monroe to see herself for what she is. With that, out comes Monroe to interrupt Grace.

They meet face-to-face in the ring, and Monroe is flanked by several security guards. Monroe has a contract drawn up, and if Grace lays a finger on her then their match at Heatwave is off. They exchange words as they cut promos on each other.

Monroe calls Grace a reject posing as a superstar. Grace almost jumps her, but Monroe warns about the stipulation. Grace instead warns her of what she is getting at Heatwave, and Grace lays waste to a few security guards. Grace grabs her by the wrist, and Grace vows to show her what ugly really looks like.

That was a pretty good go-home segment.

Fatal Influence (Fallon Henley, Jazmyn Nyx and Jacy Jayne) vs. Elegance Brand (Heather, M and Ash by Elegance)

Masha Slamovich is the guest referee for the match, which was the subject of a skit earlier in the show that also featured The Personal Concierge. Later in the match, Slamovich ejects the Concierge from ringside.

This was a pretty good six-woman tag team match with a lot of action, and even some drama. The later stages had some close near falls. Ash is arguing with Slamovich as they set up the finish. Ash turns around to take a roaring elbow from Jayne, and Jayne then covers Ash for the deciding pinfall.

Match result: Fatal Influence defeated Elegance Brand when Jayne pinned Ash by Elegance

— Kendal Grey is backstage chatting with Charlie Dempsey, who is giving her unsolicited advice. Wren Sinclair walks up and interjects in the conversation, asking how Dempsey is giving advice to a collegiate wrestler that went 61-0. Dempsey still cannot catch a clue and Grey leaves.

The Culling then walks up, and Dempsey’s boasting somehow gets Sinclair booked in a two-on-one handicap match against The Culling.

USA/Canada Peace Treaty

This segment sets up a mixed tag team match at Heatwave. The Canadian delegation is first to enter. NXT North American Champion Ethan Page is joined by Chelsea Green and the Green Regime. Page knows how things work in Philly, and he has the table removed from the ring (in a reference to ECW). Next to enter is the US delegation of Tavion Heights and Tyra Mae Steele.

They all take seats for the summit. Page praises Heights before cutting a promo on him. Page accuses of Heights getting a big head and biting off more than he can chew. Heights did well in the Olympics, but this is pro wrestling where we do not celebrate losers like second and third place.

Heights responds by saying he is used to setting across from vets, and they counted him out until Heights sent them flying. Heights says Page is underestimating him. Heights has done the work and is blessed by the athletic gods of Mount Olympus. He is made in their image!

Green cuts off Height and calls him rude along with all Americans. Green and Page are just there to peacefully represent their country, which is full of culture and majestic mountains. They have the superior athletes as well. Steele cuts her off, saying we are in America and Philadelphia. We speak our mind. Steele tells Green to shut up. Green takes exception.

Steele says she is the first ever women’s gold medalist (from the USA). Green counters she is the greatest United States champ ever. Steele shows her gold medal and threatens Green. More bickering between the group with Heights hyping up the Philly crowd.

They all rise to their feet and yell at each other. NXT General Manager Ava then comes up announce the two sides will meet in mixed tag team match at Heatwave. The heel Canadians jump the Americans, but Heights and Steele are ready for them. Heights and Steele both apply ankle locks. Page and Green both tap as the Secret Hervice pull them both to safety.

— Myles Borne is talking backstage with Ricky Saints in Borne is approached by Lexis King. This led to an angle where King blinds Borne by spraying him in the eyes.

— Kelani Jordan and Lola Vice are talking when they are approached by Lash Legend. They mention Vice wrestling at Triplemania. They all vow to win the number one contender’s match.

— Joe Hendry makes a cameo appearance in another backstage skit. Hendry pops out of a cabinet when someone from Darkstate mentions his name. This was supposed to be comedy. Hendry himself was humorous.

Trick Williams vs. Je’Von Evans in a number one contender’s match

NXT Champ Oba Femi is watching the match from a seat overlooking the ring. Mike Santana also makes an appearance in the crowd, which plays into the finish.

They wrestled through a commercial break. Before cutting to commercial, Evans does a big dive to the outside. Evans goes to follow up with a springboard. Trick blocks Evans and shoves him backwards. Evans sails through the air and crashes on the announce desk. The desk crumbles and Evans sells big as the show goes into the break.

Trick is getting heat on Evans when the show returns from the break. Evans takes a Ric Flair bodyslam off the top. Meanwhile, Trick points at Femi like he is the WrestleMania sign.Trick then taunts and toys with Evans.

Evans fires up and makes a comeback. Evans sails through the ropes with a tope suicida. Evans follows up with a Five Star Frog Splash for a near fall. They fight on and Evans goes for a springboard cutter. Trick pop up to block the cutter. They fight on and Evans gets another near fall with a roll up.

As they go home, Trick boots Evans with a high kick. Trick then gets a near fall with a fireman’s carry slam. Trick pulls down a knee pad and measures for his finisher, but he stops in his tracks. Trick points to the crowd and spots Mike Santana looking on. Trick is distracted by Santana, and Trick takes a cutter. Evans then does a double springboard into a flying cutter on Trick. Evans scores a three count and becomes the number one contender for the NXT Championship.

Match result: Je’Von Evans defeated Trick Williams to become number one contender for the NXT title

WWE Raw live results: Naomi addresses her status

Posted on by Steve Khan

Date: August 18, 2025
Location: Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, PA 

The Big Takeaway —

Naomi is expecting a child with Jimmy Uso and relinquished her World Championship. The segment turned her into a big babyface, so we’ll see what happens when she returns. She made it clear that she’s coming back as soon as she can to recapture the title. 

Raw’s streak of inconclusive main events ended as Jey Uso beat Bron Breakker in an Extreme Rules match, which included a lot of interference. 

It wasn’t announced, but Roman Reigns appears to be facing Bronson Reed at Clash in Paris. 

Next week’s Raw in Birmingham airs at 3 pm ET/12 pm PT.

**********

Show Recap — 

Jey Uso and Naomi were shown arriving (separately) after a recap of last week’s Raw. 

The Vision opens Raw

They advertised that The Vision would appear on Raw and, in fact, the four men who are on Raw most weeks entered to kick off the show. 

Seth Rollins wore a floral-patterned shirt and pants. The fans sang his song, the heel group was cheered, and people loudly barked for Bron Breakker. 

They also cheered for Paul Heyman, who said he was God in this city (Philadelphia). The city would build him a statue, but he was far too humble to accept the credit he deserved for everything he’s done in front of and behind the camera. “Bluntly—I am the GOAT.” 

Heyman said the ring was filled with GOATs. He put over Breakker and Bronson Reed in the same manner he always does. Reed continues to carry Roman Reigns’ shoes with him, so the crowd chanted, “OTC.” Heyman put over Rollins next and said he’s beaten Reigns twice. The crowd sang his song again. 

Rollins was about to speak, but Jey Uso entered through the crowd. Jey remained in the crowd to cut his promo. (He pointed the microphone at a few young fans who all said, “Yeet.”) Jey was tired of The Vision. He called Breakker a puppy dog who would have to deal with him tonight. 

Rollins egged on Breakker by claiming Jey said things about Breakker and his family that he never actually did. Rollins claimed Jey said he was a better and stronger athlete than Breakker, and claimed Jey thought his family was stupid. I guess Breakker believed him because he wanted to go after Jey right now, but Rollins stopped him. (Jey seemed unbothered by all of this.) 

Heyman said that in a bingo hall not so far away, men used to settle their differences in the ring in a particular type of match. He was about to proclaim the match in the name of Sandman, New Jack, Rob Van Dam, Sabu, Tommy Dreamer, and The Dudley Boyz, but Jey cut him off and offered the match instead: extreme rules. 

(When Heyman said Dreamer’s name, he called him the “late, great Tommy Dreamer.” He went on to say that he knew Dreamer wasn’t dead but added, “he should be.”)

This was the usual opening segment to build to the main event, with some ECW references in Philly thrown in to make it feel different. 

********

Asuka apologized to Iyo Sky backstage for shoving her last week. Kairi Sane and Asuka offered to be at ringside for her match, but Sky politely turned them down. They were all happy and on the same page. 

IYO SKY vs. Raquel Rodriguez (w/Roxanne Perez)

Sky was about to go for a dive, but was tripped by Perez from outside the ring (with the ref distracted). Rodriguez used the distraction to boot Sky. Rodriguez took over the moment they went to break, and Sky came back the moment they returned after dodging an elbow drop. 

Sky hit a missile dropkick, and the crowd cheered when she did her pose. Sky went for a bullet train, but Rodriguez caught her and hit a Samoan drop, followed by a corkscrew elbow drop for two. Rodriguez avoided a moonsault and turned Sky inside out with a clothesline for two. 

Sky wiped out Perez with a suicide dive and went for one on Rodriguez, but Rodriguez caught her and rolled through to her feet. Rodriguez lawn-darted Sky onto the ring apron and went for a Tejana Bomb in the ring, but Sky countered out of it and hit the bullet train. Sky followed with a moonsault for the pinfall win. 

— Perez and Rodriguez attacked Sky after the match, but Rhea Ripley (not Asuka and Sane) ran out to make the save. Sky quickly joined in, and they worked together to get rid of Rodriguez. 

Match result: IYO SKY defeated Raquel Rodriguez (11:00) 

This wound up being pretty good, particularly the portion following the commercial break. 

********

Jackie Redmond interviewed LA Knight. Before he could say much, CM Punk interrupted. Punk said Redmond could leave, but Knight told her to stay. Punk thought Knight didn’t like him, but Knight said it wasn’t personal. Punk kept stepping into his business. 

Punk thought they should stay on the same page against Rollins’ crew, but Knight wasn’t interested after Punk attacked him last week. Knight was focused on walking out of Paris as the world champion. 

********

The New Day cut a generic heel promo during a break. Kofi Kingston said the 76ers were losers, and Xavier Woods said Penta owed him money for his hat. 

They aired highlights of Triplemanía and said it was the most viewed edition in history, with 4.3 million views in the first 24 hours. They did not mention that it aired on YouTube. 

Asuka and Sane approached Ripley and Sky backstage. Asuka didn’t appreciate Ripley stepping in to help Sky instead of them. Asuka and Ripley got into a shouting match until Sky yelled at them even louder to stop. Sky kept shouting as she left and could be heard off-screen as Asuka and Ripley stared at each other. Asuka left, Ripley was annoyed, and Sane looked disappointed at this turn of events. 

********

Xavier Woods (w/Kofi Kingston & Grayson Waller) vs. Penta 

The heel took control 90 seconds into the match, which meant it was time for a break. During the break, Michael Cole said Woods tracked down Petey Williams to find out how to counter Penta’s Canadian Destroyer. (Although, Cole said Woods asked Williams about his Canadian Destroyer to counter Penta’s Mexican Destroyer.) 

Penta made a comeback and wiped out Woods and Waller with a dive. Woods responded later with a reverse vertical suplex for two. The crowd was deathly silent as Penta countered Woods’ Honor Roll with a Penta Driver. 

Penta didn’t immediately go for a cover, and Woods managed to roll to the ropes. This allowed Kingston to put Woods’ foot on the bottom rope to break up the cover, so Penta wiped out Kingston and Waller with a flip dive. (I like that Waller did nothing at ringside besides get laid out by two dives.) 

Woods tried to steal a win with a small package, but Penta kicked out and hit a Canadian Destroyer for the pinfall win. 

Kingston and Waller entered the ring to go after Penta, but he bailed. 

Match result: Penta defeated Xavier Woods (9:48) 

Congrats to Penta, who moves to one win above .500 in 2025. 

********

They showed Dominik Mysterio getting pinned by El Hijo del Vikingo at Triplemanía thanks to AJ Styles. (They played loud music over the crowd’s reaction to Vikingo winning.) 

After the show, Dom called Styles an “old bat” for costing him the title and said he would beat Vikingo at Worlds Collide on September 12th. (Rey showed up to mock Dom for losing.) 

Non-title match: World Tag Team Champions Finn Bálor & JD McDonagh (w/Intercontinental Champion Dominik Mysterio) vs. Dragon Lee & Mr. Iguana

Mr. Iguana got a modest reaction. Dragon Lee was in control for a couple of minutes before tagging him in. There were light cheers when he tagged in, but Bálor immediately cut him off. The crowd sang Dom’s name as Bálor had the heat. Dragon Lee and Mr. Iguana wiped out Bálor and McDonagh with dives ahead of a break. 

This slowed down during a break. When they returned, McDonagh hit Dragon Lee with a poisonrana, but Lee quickly responded with a Liger bomb. Mr. Iguana made a hot tag, and his offence included using his puppet, “La Yesca,” which didn’t get much of a reaction. Dragon Lee tagged himself in, and McDonagh wiped out Mr. Iguana with an Asai moonsault. 

Bálor hit Dragon Lee with a slingblade, but Lee came back with a superkick. McDonagh distracted the referee as Dom grabbed Lee by the leg. This allowed Bálor to hit Lee with a dropkick and Coup de Grace for the pinfall win. 

— Judgment Day put the boots to the babyfaces post-match. Dom cleared the announce table but was attacked by Vikingo. 

Vikingo attacked McDonagh in the ring, but Dom attacked Vikingo from behind with his AAA Mega Championship belt. Judgment Day aided Dom, who hit Vikingo with a frog splash. 

Match result: Finn Bálor & JD McDonagh defeated Dragon Lee & Mr. Iguana (9:52)

Dragon Lee looked good here, but there was only so much he could do. Mr. Iguana didn’t do much, but they definitely wanted you to know he has a puppet. Neither Mr. Iguana nor Vikingo got significant reactions. That doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be used on WWE programming, but the crowd isn’t with them yet. 

*******

Redmond interviewed Becky Lynch and asked why she attacked Natalya last week. Lynch claimed we saw the best of Maxxine Durpi thanks to her, and she was only defending herself when Natalya shoved her. Lynch said Natalya has been wrestling in different promotions to prove herself, but Natalya didn’t belong in the ring with her. Lynch welcomed her back to the big time. 

*******

There was a follow-up to that Bayley interview last week. She’s talking to herself now. She has a split personality like Two-Face, and her inner voice was constantly calling her a loser. Of course, we can hear it too, which doesn’t make any sense. 

This was stupid. 

******** 

Women’s Intercontinental Championship: Becky Lynch (c) vs. Natalya (w/Maxxine Dupri & Akira Tozawa)

We got normal WWE Natalya in this match. Lynch posted Natalya, and they went to break 90 seconds into this title match. They tried to play it up like Natalya had a shoulder injury. The ref checked on her, but Lynch went after and worked over her arm through the break. 

Lynch applied an armbar when they returned. Natalya eventually fought out and hit a powerbomb. Natalya sold her arm before going for a Sharpshooter. Lynch avoided it, but Natalya hit a discus clothesline for two. 

Dupri checked on Natalya, so Lynch booted Dupri and hit Tozawa with a baseball slide as he checked on her. This led to Natalya applying a cradle, which was probably meant to get a reaction since it came off a distraction, but it didn’t. Lynch kicked out and applied a Disarmer for the submission win. 

— Lynch decked Natalya and Dupri after the match. She put Dupri on a Disarmer until Nikki Bella ran out to make the save. Nikki laid her out with a “Rack Attack 2.0.” 

Match result: Becky Lynch defeated Natalya to retain the Women’s Intercontinental Championship (7:51) 

A standard WWE match with a crowd as quiet as you’ll ever hear. 

*******

They announced a “special edition” of Stephanie McMahon’s podcast with Naomi (who Stephanie called “Trinity”) and Jimmy Uso. They aired a clip but cut away before Jimmy could make an announcement. 

Naomi is up next. 

********

Redmond tried to interview Sheamus, but they were interrupted by Rusev. The two men were about to brawl, but officials broke it up. A furious Adam Pearce said they would settle things in a good old-fashioned donnybrook. 

Vic Joseph interviewed Trick Williams during a break, but they were interrupted by Je’Von Evans. Trick left and said he’d see him tomorrow. Evans plugged the match on tomorrow’s NXT. 

Punk approached Jey Uso and offered to have his back tonight. Once again, this did not go the way Punk hoped. Jey wanted to do this on his own and was focused on Paris. They shook hands. 

******** 

Naomi’s announcement 

Naomi entered with her world championship. She was emotional and asked the fans to turn to the screen. They aired the announcement on Stephanie’s podcast. Jimmy announced they were having a baby, and the crowd popped huge. Stephanie wanted to hear it from Naomi, so Naomi confirmed she was pregnant. 

Back in the ring, Pearce congratulated Naomi and said they were all happy for her. The fans cheered. 

Naomi looked angry as she turned her attention to Pearce. She said this wasn’t her first time relinquishing a title. She handed it back the first time, but this time, “I ain’t handing you shit.” Her hormones were jumping like a disco, so she told Pearce to get to steppin’ and get out of her ring. He left. She encouraged the fans to sing the goodbye song at him, so they did. She thanked them. 

Naomi said the women in the back should be thanking one person. Some fans chanted for Jimmy Uso, and she smiled because that’s who she meant. If it wasn’t for Big Jim, she would’ve walked them all like a dog. But thanks to Big Jim and Netflix and chill, that wasn’t happening. The fans chanted, “You deserve it,” and she was happy to hear it. 

Naomi exclaimed: “On the bright side, I guess the Bloodline continues, baby!” (Some fans decided to chant, “OTC.” Some much smarter fans chanted, “Baby Uso.”) 

Naomi placed the belt down in the ring. She told the heffers in the back they had just over nine months to get ready. She would do whatever it took to get her title back, even if that meant doing it while breastfeeding her baby. She advised them to proceed with caution. 

The crowd cheered as she waved goodbye.

(This was great, and of course, turned Naomi into a big babyface.) 

********

Next week on Raw in Birmingham, UK (start time 3 pm ET/12 pm PT)

  • Rhea Ripley vs. Roxanne Perez 
  • Kofi Kingston vs. Penta 

******** 

Backstage, Judgment Day weren’t sure where Dom was, but they bumped into him while he spoke to El Grande Americano (Ludwig Kaiser). Dom told Bálor he just wanted to ensure Judgment Day always stayed on top. 

Bálor acted like he was fine with this, but was clearly caught off guard. (Bálor has been the one pulling the strings for weeks, but this was the first time he seemed like he wasn’t in control of things.) 

******** 

Extreme Rules match: Jey Uso vs. Bron Breakker (w/Paul Heyman)

Jey wore a bandana like New Jack and carried a shopping cart full of weapons to ringside. Early in the match, Jey clotheslined Bron over the top, and Bron landed right on top of the cart, which didn’t look fun. Bron stayed down for a while until blocking Jey’s dive attempt by hitting him with a steel chair. (Before this, Jey tossed chairs into the ring one at a time as the fans yelled “Yeet.”) 

Bron cut off Jey’s comeback attempt and dropped him gut-first onto the top edge of two steel chairs. Bron did his usual leaping clothesline off the apron, but used a trash can this time to send Jey over the announce desk. During a break, Jey gave Bron a back body drop through the thin piece of cardboard that covers the announce desk. 

Bron hit a Frankensteiner and went for a super spear, but Jey cut him off with a spear of his own for a nearfall. Jey hit him repeatedly with a steel chair before hitting another spear. Jey hit an Uso splash, seemingly for the win, but Bronson Reed pulled the referee out of the ring. 

Reed attacked Jey as Cole said this was all legal. You could question why Reed wasn’t out there from the beginning, but to answer that question, Knight ran out to even the odds. Rollins ran out through the crowd to attack Knight. Rollins laid out Jey with a pedigree, and Punk entered next. 

Rollins slipped in the ring to escape Punk, but wound up getting attacked by both Knight and Punk. Punk set up Rollins for a GTS, but Rollins slipped out and shoved Punk into Knight. Knight fell off the apron and crashed through a table. Punk shrugged his shoulders and chased Rollins through the crowd. 

Bron set up a table in the corner, but Jey superkicked him onto the table. Jey went to the top, but Reed shoved him off. The crowd chanted for Roman Reigns, knowing he was advertised for the show. Sure enough, as Bron set up for a super spear, Reigns’ music hit. 

Bron hesitated while he watched the stage. Reigns didn’t show, so Bron went for the spear, but Reigns appeared at ringside and cut him off with a spear. Reigns also speared Reed. 

Jey superkicked Bron onto the table and hit an Uso splash for the pinfall win. The crowd was happy. 

— As Jey posed for the crowd, Reigns told Reed he would see him in Paris. Reed was on board.

Match result: Jey Uso defeated Bron Breakker in an Extreme Rules match (20:26) 

This was basically a WWE main event match in a nutshell. Pretty good action, tons of interference, stars interrupting to their music. The crowd ate it up, and they were way, way, way more into this than anything else on the show, aside from Naomi’s announcement.

WWE SmackDown live results: Drew McIntyre addresses attack on Cody Rhodes

Posted on by Marc Quill

Following last week’s SmackDown main event, Drew McIntyre sent a message to WWE Champion Cody Rhodes by attacking him and hitting a Claymore kick through the side of the commentary table.

McIntyre will appear on tonight’s SmackDown to address his attack and perhaps stake his claim for a future title shot ahead of Clash in Paris.

Alexa Bliss takes on Piper Niven of the Secret Hervice after Bliss’s partner and co-Women’s Tag Team Champion Charlotte Flair defeated Chelsea Green last week.

“Melo Don’t Miz” will reunite tonight in tag team action as Carmelo Hayes and The Miz take on Fraxiom. Last week, Hayes was seeking a singles championship, but got roped into a tag match by Miz who had supposedly spoken to SmackDown GM Nick Aldis about it.

The Street Profits & DIY will renew their rivalry when they face off. Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa have blamed the former WWE Tag Team Champions for letting the SmackDown tag division fall into chaos after losing their titles to the Wyatt Sicks.

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

**********

– Following the WWE signature and flyover over Boston’s skyline, we got shots of Drew McIntyre arriving at the arena, as well as a recap of the damage caused by the surly Scotsman after he hit a nasty Claymore kick on Cody Rhodes through the side of the commentary table last week.

Solo Sikoa and the M.F.T.s open SmackDown

The United States Champion and his “family tree” arrived on the scene to open our show. Once Sikoa and his group entered the ring, he said that the M.F.T.s. were in the building to remind everyone that he and his group ran SmackDown. And if anyone didn’t like that? Too bad.

Last week, Sami Zayn came out and tried to show up on SmackDown, and that forced Sikoa and the M.F.T.s to show up on Raw to, in his words, “stomp his ass out”. Sikoa declared that Zayn was stomped out, alongside Jimmy Uso and Jacob Fatu. He once again challenged anyone to come out from the back to face him, but the music of Sami Zayn cut Sikoa off, and out came the man himself. Zayn walked to the ring alone and stopped on the apron, with mic in hand.

Zayn said that he was just out here to talk. He asked Sikoa if he could just talk with him. The U.S. Champion told his M.F.T.s to back off as he stood face to face with Zayn. The Montreal native said that this past Monday, if he had beaten Rusev, there was a possibility he could’ve been fighting for the World Title at Clash in Paris, and now that wasn’t going to happen thanks to Sikoa’s group. He noted how he felt furious, but after some long thoughts, Zayn noted that he was finally liberated. Zayn had been so focused on chasing the World Title that he hadn’t had time to focus on other things in WWE, and for that he wanted to actually “thank” Sikoa.

Zayn said that there was one title that he hadn’t held in WWE aside from the World Title, and that was the United States Championship. Sikoa taunted Zayn that he would never win the U.S. Title and yelled at him to get out of “his show” as he didn’t want to see him ever again. In actuality, it turned out, Zayn was now officially a member of the SmackDown roster. Sikoa took something away from Zayn, and now the Canadian was going to take the U.S. Title away from Sikoa.

As Sikoa tried to strike at Zayn, we had ourselves a skirmish. The M.F.T.s stepped in and delivered a numbers game-enhanced beatdown until Jimmy Uso ran in for the save. The M.F.T.s’ advantage was still too much until Jacob Fatu made the save. As the M.F.T.’s forces were sent to a retreat, Talla Tonga saw himself sent outside by a triple superkick from Zayn, Uso, and Fatu.

Nick Aldis stepped in and made it official that our main event tonight would be Zayn, Fatu, and Uso versus any three of the M.F.T.s in a six-man tag match.

Moving Sami Zayn to SmackDown was a good lateral move, even though it pulls him into the so-called “Bloodline Vortex” once again. That said, I think I’m ready for him to be the next U.S. Champion.

**********

– Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett welcomed us to the show as they tossed things over to Byron Saxton, who was standing by with Chelsea Green and her Secret Hervice. Green was asked, in her words, how we got here. Green claimed she could’ve been severely injured after getting a faceful of cake last week, as Piper Niven and Alba Fyre promised to “confiscate” Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss of their WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships.

Alexa Bliss (w/ Charlotte Flair) vs. Piper Niven (w/ Chelsea Green & Alba Fyre)

The ring and ringside LED displays were adorned with a King of the Hill logo, to promote the recently-released reboot of the beloved animated series.

Bliss asked for a moment prior to the match as she put her Lilly doll aside. Niven pounced on the attack with stomps on Bliss as she pointed at Lilly. Green tried to take it from outside the ring, but Charlotte backed her off. In the ring, Bliss jumped on the back of Niven and tried to apply a sleeper hold to ground her larger foe. Niven used her power to break the hold successfully as she had the physical advantage on Bliss at this point in the match. She floored Bliss with a textbook Black Hole Slam as we headed to a commercial break.

SmackDown returned with Bliss taking advantage after she avoided a Niven cannonball during the commercial break. She hit Niven with repeated running moonsaults, but those weren’t enough to secure the three count. Niven regained momentum with a headbutt, which finally allowed her to hit Bliss with the corner cannonball. Bliss avoided possible calamity by dodging the Viper Bomb. As Bliss tried to head up top, Green got on the apron to provide a distraction, but Flair stopped her. Fyre then got on the apron, but got kicked away by Bliss. In the end, Bliss got the rollup victory on Niven.

After the match, the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions found themselves on the wrong end of a three-on-two attack from Green and the Secret Hervice.

Alexa Bliss def. Piper Niven via pinfall

Kind of a nothing match, if we’re being honest. But, it’s at least nice to see Green and her stable actually look credible for once with their post-match beatdown.

**********

– Tiffany Stratton and Jade Cargill were arguing backstage as Nick Aldis tried to bring some peace to the situation. Nia Jax soon appeared, and was told by the WWE Women’s Champion to simply “bring it” if she wanted another shot at her.

Melo Don’t Miz (Carmelo Hayes & The Miz) vs. Fraxiom (Axiom & Nathan Frazer)

Axiom & Hayes started us off in this match until Miz tagged himself in, much to his partner’s annoyance. Joe Gacy of the Wyatt Sicks was shown standing in the crowd, which got Axiom’s attention. Gacy’s tag team partner Dexter Lumis was shown lurking in the crowd as well.

Axiom and Miz got themselves into a battle of flipping attacks until the former NXT Tag Champion used his speed to escape, as Frazer entered the match. Miz was flummoxed by Frazer’s speed as he decided to let Hayes handle him. Frazer flipped across the ring and caught Hayes with an enzuiguiri. Fraxiom used their high-flying double team attack to rattle Melo Don’t Miz with an all-out dive assault. We went to a break at this point.

SmackDown returned with Hayes having a resthold applied on Axiom, as he then hit a superkick on him. Axiom countered an attempted powerbomb with a hurricanrana that got a near fall. Hayes finally connected with that powerbomb, but could not put Axiom away. Hayes tried to get at Frazer, who avoided the attack. Axiom took advantage and hit a kick to the face of Hayes. Frazer got the hot tag as he made off with supersonic speed to floor Miz with a moonsault.

Frazer looked for the Phoenix Splash, but Miz rolled out of the away as he hit Frazer with a big knee. Hayes tagged in and tried for a springboard attack, but Frazer met him at the rope and hit an inverted Spanish Fly instead. Hayes somehow kicked out at two. On the top rope, Hayes tried to head up top, but Axiom stunned him with a kick. This opened Hayes up for the Spanish Fly/Phoenix Splash combo from Fraxiom. Miz broke up the count by stepping onto the back of Frazer, followed by a DDT afterwards.

On the top rope, Frazer hit Hayes with a jumping kick and looked for a jumping Spanish Fly with Axiom. However, Miz stopped Axiom with a DDT on the apron. Back on the top rope, Hayes countered Frazer with an amazing top rope cutter. As Hayes was looking for Nothin’ But Net, Miz selfishly tagged himself in and stole the win with a Skull-Crushing Finale, much to Hayes’ chagrin.

The crowd was hot for this match, and the story of Miz trying to steal the glory of Hayes is at least interesting, and presuming that this leads to a tag title match with the Wyatt Sicks, the supernatural faction will surely take advantage of Miz’s duplicity to defend their tag team gold.

Melo Don’t Miz def. Fraxiom via pinfall

**********

– Tiffany Stratton was approached by Kiana James, who offered her services of being a client of hers, which included benefits such as a custom pink World Championship. Stratton refused James’ services as she walked off. Michin then appeared and stated that she had Giulia next. James said that this was “under advisement”.

Drew McIntyre addresses his attack on Cody Rhodes

The Scotsman stepped into the ring and talked about people asking why he did what he did last week to the Undisputed WWE Championship. He asked for the clip to be played again, which brought a smile to a face. McIntyre asked us to listen closely, as he said that apparently did “not” attack Cody Rhodes. He then accosted Joe Tessitore about a medical update on Rhodes. He ranted about how that management was hiding Rhodes’ medical condition.

McIntyre said that he wasn’t mad at Rhodes, that he instead felt sorry for him because of how much he put the weight of the fans and the WWE management on his shoulders. McIntyre noted that he was once in Rhodes’ position, but he moved on afterwards. He noted that Rhodes was nothing without “his story”, as he boasted that McIntyre didn’t attack Rhodes… he was attacked instead.

McIntyre walked us through what happened and put his own spin of the events that transpired last week. He noted that he defended himself, and that while Rhodes was good at pissing people off, McIntyre said he was good at taking people out. He declared himself the “real nightmare” as he walked off.

Uninterrupted McIntyre segment here, which presumably will lead to a Clash in Paris title match, and likely to give Cody Rhodes a break while filming his Street Fighter role, or at least prepare for it.

**********

– The Street Profits were confronted by Solo Sikoa and the M.F.T.s just before their match against #DIY. As the Profits left, Sikoa asked Talla Tonga what he was looking at, as something in the distance caught the big man’s attention. We got a glimpse of who exactly Talla was looking at after the M.F.T.s walked off, and it was a faraway Erick Rowan lurking menacingly.

#DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa) (w/ Candice LeRae) vs. The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) (w/ B-Fab)

As the bell rang, Ford caught Ciampa with a dropkick, but found himself hit with a boot that sent him to the #DIY corner not long after. Gargano & Ciampa blasted Ford with a tandem of running boots into the corner.

Ford avoided a chop block from Ciampa as he then tagged Dawkins. The titanic Dawkins used his strength and speed to keep the #DIY duo cornered. Outside the ring, LeRae got herself in the way of Dawkins, which allowed Ciampa to hit him with a kick. Gargano, Ciampa, and LeRae sat on the apron and did their happy clap, which took us to the break.

The action picked up from commercial with Gargano and Dawkins down on the mat after a slam from the latter. Both men tagged in their respective partners as Ford soared with a high crossbody from the top rope on Ciampa. He countered Gargano with a Famouser, followed by a jumping neckbreaker on Ciampa. Ford leapt up with a splash on Ciampa for the near-fall.

The Profits showed great teamwork with an assisted double team back suplex on Ciampa. As Ford headed up top for the Blockbuster, B-Fab was sent to the steps by LeRae outside the ring. This created a distraction and allowed #DIY to hit their superkick-into-Fairy Tale Ending. Dawkins slid in the last second to break up the count. Ford avoided a superkick from Gargano as he sent him into Ciampa instead. While Ford was on the apron, LeRae took him out with a leaping hurricanrana, In the ring, Gargano hit Ford with his slingshot DDT, and the action turned to chaos. Outside the ring, LeRae got smashed with a knee from B-Fab, and in the end, the Profits secured victory after a high-flying frog splash from Ford on Ciampa and the three.

The Street Profits def. #DIY via pinfall

Just a fun tag match. The Street Profits are always reliable for fast-paced tag action, and pitting them against #DIY is a recipe for some exciting tag team action.

**********

– Carmelo Hayes tried to ask Nick Aldis for a singles shot at the United States Championship when the Miz once again tried to speak for his partner’s behalf. Chris Sabin of the Motor City Machine Guns taunted Hayes by asking if he was “Him” or if he was “His” (as in belonging to Miz). This led to Aldis scheduling the MCMGs versus Melo Don’t Miz for next week’s show.

– We got a recap of John Cena and Logan Paul’s encounter from last week’s show, which led to a match between the two to be booked for Clash in Paris.

– R-Truth was asked about John Cena’s recent “attitude adjustment”, to which he seemed overjoyed about. Before he could get further, Aleister Black confronted him. He wanted to know which Truth he was getting, as Truth got serious and stepped up to Black. “There he is, Mr. Killings,” said Black as he told Truth to see him next week.

– Backstage, Sami Zayn wondered if Jacob Fatu was going to be cool with them teaming up together in our main event. Fatu told Zayn to stay out of his way, as he walked off with a “yaddamean”, which confused Zayn.

Next Week on SmackDown

  • John Cena returns
  • R-Truth vs. Aleister Black
  • Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley) vs. Melo Don’t Miz (Carmelo Hayes & The Miz)

The M.F.T.s (Solo Sikoa, Tanga Loa, J.C. Mateo) (w/ Talla Tonga) vs. Sami Zayn, Jimmy Uso, Jacob Fatu

We got things going with Mateo and Uso as our legal men. Mateo backed Uso into the corner and clubbed him with strikes. Uso escaped and stunned Mateo as Zayn tagged in and tried his best to maintain momentum. Mateo used his strength to run Zayn into his corner, as Tanga Loa entered the match with a tag. Tanga threw Zayn outside and caused a distraction for Talla Tonga to kick Zayn with a big boot, which took us to the final break of the evening.

SmackDown’s main event returned from commercial with Sikoa pummeling Zayn near the M.F.T. corner. The feisty Quebecer tried to fight back, but Sikoa asserted control and brought Mateo into the match. Zayn avoided a running splash in the corner from Mateo, and looked for a tag. Sikoa punched Uso away and taunted Fatu as he continued to attack Zayn.

As Zayn was on the top rope, he roared back and hit a tornado DDT on Sikoa, which created some much-needed separation for him. Finally, Jacob Fatu was tagged in as he unleashed his wrath on Tanga Loa. Fatu struck Tanga with repeated headbutts, followed by the running hip attack. Mateo got sent over the top rope with a clothesline by Fatu, as a flying dive from Uso to the outside left him out cold. In the ring, pop-up Samoan Drop by Fatu was not enough to end the match as Tanga kicked out.

Fatu headed to the top rope as Sikoa stopped him long enough for Tanga to get the knees up on the moonsault. Sikoa tagged in and hit a diving splash on Fatu. One, two… not yet! Fatu and Sikoa traded superkicks until a double-down clothesline from the two took one another out. Zayn entered the match with a tag and a Blue Thunder Powerbomb on Sikoa. Mateo broke up the count and ate a superkick from Uso as result. Fatu superkicked Tanga before he sent Talla Tonga over the announce table with a suicide dive to the outside.

In the ring, Sikoa’s Samoan Spike was reversed into an Exploder Suplex by Zayn, followed by the Helluva Kick for the one, two, three in our SmackDown main event.

As SmackDown ended, Fatu finally showed respect to Zayn as the two embraced and celebrated with Jimmy Uso to end the night.

Sami Zayn, Jacob Fatu, and Jimmy Uso def. The M.F.T.s via pinfall

**********

A solid TV main event match that did its job of establishing Sami Zayn as a credible threat to Sikoa’s U.S. Title as well as solidify him as a top face along side Jacob Fatu. It was also rather nice to get a clean finish to the match after the last two episodes of Raw & SmackDown gave us inconclusive DQ finishes and beatdown segments to end them.

All in all, a fairly decent episode of SmackDown that did its best to fill two hours without stars like John Cena or Cody Rhodes to carry the bulk of the show. If there is a downside, I think it’s with how the WWE Women’s Championship feels kind of shuffled off to the side, as champion Tiffany Stratton only had two backstage segments and the fact that Nia Jax & Jade Cargill are being teased as challengers again does highlight how small the main event scene of the SmackDown women’s division is. Hopefully that’s something that’s to be addressed in the near future, and Bianca Belair’s return, whenever that is, should help alleviate that somewhat.