Tag: wwe live results

WWE SmackDown live results: Money in the Bank qualifiers begin

Posted on by Steve Khan

Date: May 16, 2025
Location: First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro, NC

**********

Show Recap — 

Tiffany Stratton and Nia Jax were shown arriving. 

There was a Backlash recap video focusing on the SmackDown matches. 

Opening segment 

Solo Sikoa, Jeff Cobb, and Jacob Fatu entered to kick off SmackDown. They entered to Sikoa’s music and tron. The crowd chanted for Fatu and booed when Sikoa spoke. 

Sikoa said Roman Reigns losing the title at WrestleMania ruined everything and he was here to take it all back. It would start with Sikoa winning Money in the Bank and bringing the title back where it belonged. 

Fatu grabbed the mic from Sikoa. He already told us he was bringing the U.S. title to the family and would step up to anyone who got in their way. Fatu went to do his catchphrase, but Sikoa interrupted him and mocked him in the process. Sikoa wanted to help Fatu, and the title on his shoulder was proof that Sikoa loved Fatu. 

Sikoa wanted to hear Fatu say, “I love you, Solo.” Fatu said it, but not in his usual inflection. Sikoa wanted to hear him say it the way he used to say it. He yanked Fatu by the shoulder to grab his attention, which Fatu didn’t appreciate. 

LA Knight’s music hit. They turned their attention to the stage, but Knight appeared from the crowd. He briefly attacked Cobb, but bailed through the crowd before they could kill him. 

(They kept referring to Jeff Cobb as “J.C.” during this segment. Sikoa said it repeatedly, and Joe Tessitore called him that, too.) 

********

There was a segment backstage with Michin and B-Fab, along with Chelsea Green and her crew. Basically, Green wasn’t happy to learn that the outside parties wouldn’t be at ringside for their triple threat match. Alexa Bliss appeared to wish them luck, and she entered for the opening match. Green threatened to put tariffs on everyone. 

Money in the Bank triple threat qualifying match: Alexa Bliss vs. Michin vs. Chelsea Green

Early on, Bliss and Michin repeatedly and easily disposed of Green from the ring. They tried double baseball slide dropkicks and Bliss’ connected, but Green was already down by the time Michin tried hers. Bliss and Mchin were way too proud of themselves, and the time spent celebrating allowed Green to wipe them out with a dive. That led to a break two minutes in. 

Green worked over Bliss during a break until Michin dropped her with consecutive German suplexes and a sit-out powerbomb. Michin twerked before hitting both women with a cannonball in the corner. There was a somewhat convoluted triple-down spot that led to a light “This is awesome” chant. 

Michin hit Green with Eat Defeat, but Bliss broke up the cover. Bliss hit Michin with Twisted Bliss, but Green yanked Bliss out of the ring. Green hit Michin with Unprettier, so Bliss returned the favour by yanking Michin out of the ring. 

Bliss hit Green with Sister Abigail for the pinfall win, which, so far, easily got the biggest pop of the night. 

Tessitore called this an outstanding match. It wasn’t. 

Match result: Alexa Bliss defeated Chelsea Green and Michin (9:01)

******** 

Axiom & Nathan Frazer vs. Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa

Fraxiom hit a series of dives early on, and one of them sent Ciampa into some fans in the front row. However, Gargano pulled the ropes down on Axiom as he went for a springboard move, and DIY took over from there. That led to a break three minutes into the match. 

Believe it or not, the heels maintained control during a break, but Frazer made a hot tag and a comeback as soon as they returned. He hit Gragno with a standing shooting star for two. Gargano avoided a Phoenix splash and hit Frazer out of mid-air with a superkick. DIY hit Frazer with a double-team finisher, but Axiom broke up the cover. Ciampa hit Frazer with Project Ciampa for a nearfall. 

Frazer hit Gargano with a superplex, and Axiom superkicked Gargano as Frazer hit a brainbuster, but Ciampa broke up the cover with a running knee strike on Axiom. The crowd got really into this sequence and chanted, “This is awesome.” 

Ciampa ripped at Axiom’s mask until Frazer took him out. Axiom then caught Gargano in a cradle for the pinfall win. 

— DIY attacked the babyfaces post-match until the Motor City Machine Guns made the save. Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin raised Fraxiom’s hands. 

This was fun, and the finish left enough for a potential rematch. 

Match result: Fraxiom defeated DIY (11:19) 

********

Jax was shown warming up. Naomi could be seen lurking in the background. 

The Street Profits congratulated Fraxiom on their win. Montez Ford let them know they earned a tag title match next week. Fraxiom looked forward to it. Angelo Dawkins warned them that they were 100%, and they hoped Fraxiom were too. (Frazer was pumped for the match, while Axiom tried to keep him focused.) 

********

R-Truth sit-down interview 

Wade Barrett sat down with Truth for a sit-down interview earlier today. Barrett asked about John Cena giving him an AA through a table at the press conference. 

Truth said he was under constant pressure—career, family, friends, and bills. But regardless of all that, you could always depend on John Cena. Truth kept spouting Cena’s catchphrases as real-life advice, including “Never give up.” 

Barrett told him he was crazy. Barrett said Truth saved Cena from losing the title, and Cena repaid him by putting him through a table. Truth said that wasn’t the real John at the press conference. Truth didn’t want to fight John, but he would beat him to his senses if he had to. 

The match was set for Saturday Night’s Main Event: John Cena vs. R-Truth. (Non-title, presumably.) 

Truth knew it seemed impossible, but his hero told him to never give up, and he lived by three words: hustle, loyalty and respect. Barrett wished him luck. 

(I hate Dumb R-Truth, so I thought this was dumb and a waste of a John Cena match.) 

********

Damian Priest challenged Drew McIntyre to a cage match. Priest said the hospital would have to identify McIntyre by his dental records. 

Aleister Black vs. Carmelo Hayes (w/The Miz)

Miz pulled Hayes from safety as Black tried a dive. Black looked around like an idiot, acting like he didn’t know where his opponent went, so Hayes wiped him out with a flip dive to take over as they went to break. 

(There appears to be a group of young fans who know that chanting, “This is awesome,” is a thing at wrestling shows, because they randomly started doing it as Hayes had the heat during the break.) 

Black made a comeback as soon as they returned from break and eventually hit a bridging German suplex for two. A Miz distraction allowed Hayes to get back on offence for a couple of two counts. 

Black shoved Hayes into Miz, knocking him off the apron. They did some stuff until Miz attacked Black for the DQ. Stupid. 

— Black dropped Miz with his kick post-match, but Hayes decked Black and laid him out with a diving leg drop. 

Don’t watch this. 

Match result: Aleister Black defeated Carmelo Hayes via disqualification (10:28) 

********

Backstage, Bliss told Byron Saxton she wanted to be the first woman to win MITB twice. She left Saxton to approach Charlotte Flair. Bliss wanted to be friends with Flair and noted that Flair took her under her wing in NXT, but Flair claimed she did not remember that. 

Giulia left Nick Aldis’ office, and Aldis introduced her as the newest member of the SmackDown roster. (Fans cheered.) Aldis invited Flair into her office to discuss MITB. Before she did, Flair told Bliss to stay out of her way because he didn’t need her.

******** 

There was a video package for Stratton vs. Jax tonight. 

Drew McIntyre promo

McIntyre entered to a mixed reaction. It seemed more positive than negative. 

McIntyre addressed Priest’s promo. He said Priest claimed he was in the McIntyre vortex. McIntyre has been stuck in this vortex for over a year, and being stuck there was the only reason Priest was relevant. McIntyre said he beat Priest “clean” in a street fight. Priest was obsessed and jealous. 

McIntyre was everything Priest ever wanted to be, but McIntyre was better in every single way, and he would’ve been a grand slam champion if not for Priest. Priest was trying to take out the competition. That’s why he chokeslammed him off a platform and onto the concrete. 

McIntyre accepted the cage match (for SNME). McIntyre guaranteed that only one man would walk out of the cage, while the other would leave on a stretcher. (Notably, McIntyre didn’t guarantee who would be leaving on a stretcher.) 

As McIntyre left, he crossed paths with Solo Sikoa and crew as Sikoa entered for his match. 

This was a typically good McIntyre promo for a feud that should be over. 

********

The announcers ran down the card for SNME: 

  • Cage match: Drew McIntyre vs. Damian Priest 
  • John Cena vs. R-Truth (non-title) 
  • CM Punk & Sami Zayn vs. Seth Rollins vs. Bron Breakker 
  • Jey Uso vs. Logan Paul for the World Heavyweight Championship 

******** 

Jeff Cobb accompanied Sikoa to ringside and was officially referred to as JC Mateo. 

Money in the Bank triple threat qualifying match: Solo Sikoa (w/JC Mateo & US Champion Jacob Fatu) vs. Jimmy Uso vs. Rey Fénix

Sikoa wanted to form an alliance with Jimmy Uso, but, of course, he did not comply. Fénix wiped out Uso and Sikoa with a flying crossbody outside the ring, but Sikoa caught him moments later with a Spinning Solo in the ring. Even though that’s his finisher, he did not go for a cover. Instead, Sikoa gave Jimmy a Spinning Solo on the announce table, likely knowing it was time to head to commercial break. 

After a boring heat segment during a break (Sikoa stalking over both guys), things were meant to pick up when they returned, but there was a big mix-up. Fénix waited forever as Sikoa held him up for a Jimmy dive. Jimmy finally went for the dive, but Fénix ducked. Jimmy caught him in a roll-up, but the referee simply did not count. The crowd chanted for tables. 

Twelve minutes into the match, Fatu decided to get involved, but Jimmy superkicked him off the apron. Sikoa gave Jimmy the spike, but Fénix hit Sikoa with a rope-walk punt. Fénix knocked “JC” off the apron, but the distraction allowed Sikoa to hit Fénix with the spike for the pinfall win. 

This was no good. 

— LA Knight attacked the heels post-match. He held a chair as they surrounded him on the announce table. Aldis entered and made a match between Knight and “JC” right now. 

Match result: Solo Sikoa defeated Rey Fénix and Jimmy Uso (13:05)

******** 

LA Knight vs. JC Mateo (w/Sola Sikoa & US Champion Jacob Fatu)

Making his WWE in-ring debut, Jeff Cobb/JC Mateo wrestled in black jeans, black dress shoes, and a black t-shirt. 

This went through a break as the fans watched silently. Knight did not make his comeback immediately after the break. Instead, JC cut him off with an overhead suplex. 

Knight fought out of a long bear hug spot as the Toronto Maple Leafs went up 2-0 against the Florida Panthers and finally made his comeback, but JC responded with a spinning back suplex and a standing moonsault for two. 

Knight took out Sikoa and Fatu with a dive off the middle rope, but JC caught him with Tour of the Islands for the pinfall win. 

Boy, did this ever feel like time-filler. It’s not his fault, but this wasn’t a particularly interesting debut for Cobb, even if he won. 

Match result: JC Mateo defeated LA Knight (15:21) 

********

Angel Garza met with Santos Escobar backstage. Escobar urged him to find Berto and bring him home. Escobar wanted loyalty from Angel. 

Shinsuke Nakamura cut a pre-taped promo on LA Knight and Aleister Black. 

Next week on SmackDown: 

  • MITB triple threat qualifier: Aleister Black vs. LA Knight vs. Shinsuke Nakamura 
  • MITB triple threat qualifier: Charlotte Flair vs. Giulia vs. Zelina Vega 
  • The Street Profits vs. Fraxiom for the Tag Team Championships 

********

Jade Cargill warned Tiffany Straatton that she would win her MITB qualifying match and face the winner of tonight’s title match. Stratton said Cargill would never be good enough to cash in on her. 

WWE Women’s Championship: Tiffany Stratton vs. Nia Jax

Early in the match, Jax used a hip attack to drive Stratton’s head into the ring post. It was a good spot, and even Tessitore, who often sounds on the verge of sleep, really sold it big. This led to commercial break two minutes into the match. 

Stratton tried fighting back during the break, but Jax hit a middle rope Samoan drop for two. After the break, Jax tried a hip attack again, but Stratton moved, and Jax collided with the ring post. Jax shoved her over the barricade, but Stratton leaped off the barricade and hit a hurricanrana into the post. Stratton followed with a flying crossbody for two. Jax responded with a pop-up Samoan drop and senton for two. 

Stratton hit a back handspring elbow and a spinebuster for two. The crowd chanted for Stratton as Jax hit her with consecutive powerbombs. Jax did not pin her for some reason, but instead hit a running leg drop for two. Jax went for an avalanche body slam, but Stratton countered into a powerslam. 

Naomi entered with a chair to her music, about ten minutes in. Cargill entered to her music and chased Naomi through the crowd. 

Jax missed a tackle and went shoulder-first into the ringpost. Stratton followed with a PME for a close nearfall. The announcers freaked out and said Jax was the first to kick out of Stratton’s finisher. 

Stratton went back to the top, but Jax shoved her off and hit a Samoan drop onto the announce table (which didn’t break). 

Jax went for the Annihilator, but Stratton slipped underneath for a powerbomb attempt. Stratton couldn’t hit the move, and Jax fell on top of her for the Annihilator, but Stratton just barely got a rope break. (This wasn’t a perfect-looking spot, but it looked brutal, which made for a great nearfall.) 

Jax was pissed because she thought she had it won, so she left the ring and grabbed the title belt. Jax gave the belt back to the referee to distract him and grabbed a chair instead. As the ref put the belt away, Stratton dropkicked the chair right into Jax’s face. It was a stiff chair shot, and Jax’s head bled immediately. 

Stratton followed with PME for the pinfall win, and the crowd popped. 

This was pretty good, with lots of nearfalls and an exciting closing sequence. Hopefully, Jax is ok from the dropkick. 

Match result: Tiffany Stratton defeated Nia Jax to retain the WWE Women’s Championship (13:47)

WWE NXT live results: Joe Hendry-Trick Williams contract signing

Posted on by Chris Aiken

WWE NXT tonight continues on the road to its next PLE, which is Battleground on May 25.

Joe Hendry and Trick Williams are set to clash for the TNA World Championship at Battleground. Both champion and challenger meet tonight on NXT for a contract signing.

Henry and Williams are also scheduled to compete in a tag match at TNA Under Siege on May 23 where Hendry & Elijah (the former Elias) take on Williams & Frankie Kazarian.

Myles Borne of No Quarter Catch Crew is the next challenger for NXT Champion Oba Femi. Tonight, Femi will face No Quarter Catch Crew’s Charlie Dempsey in non-title action.

Plus, Tony D’Angelo vs. Wes Lee is official for tonight.

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

**********

Opening the show is Myles Borne and No Quarter Catch Crew. Borne enters the sound stage at the Performance Center for an in-ring promo. Borne is flanked by Charlie Dempsey, Tavion Heights and Wren Sinclair.

Borne is morphing from a development wrestler into a superstar before our very eyes. Borne first talks about shocking the world by winning the battle royal last week, thus earning a title shot at the NXT Championship.

Borne shifts his monologue to address something “we have been dancing around for awhile now.” Borne says he is partially deaf, which affects the way he talks. Last week, Borne heard the crowd so crazy when he won the battle royal. Borne does not “want be to known as the deaf kid.” He wants to be judges for his “ability, not his disability.”

“That is what everyone with a disability wants to be judged by,” says Borne.

Borne goes on to admit he is the underdog at Battleground against Oba Femi for the NXT title.

“I am facing a dominant champion, but I am fighting for all the kids out there who are struggling, fighting their own fight,” says Borne. “To prove that you too can achieve success.”

Borne vows to shock the world again at Battleground against Femi. Borne says he might be hard of hearing, but he will hear is name announced as the new NXT champion.

Ethan Page interrupts the promo, since no monologue in NXT can hardly go uninterrupted. Page says “enough with all the sentimental crap” as Page also accuses Borne of “pandering to these basic civilians.”

Page gets in the ring saying Borne won the battle royal on a fluke. Page then offers to talk slow so Borne can read his lips, while Page tells Borne he cannot beat Femi. Page says he is not on Femi’s level. Page then challenges Borne to put the number one contender status on the line in match tonight.

Charlie Dempsey chimes in as he tries convincing Borne to accept the challenge from Page, and Borne agrees to the match. Out comes NXT General Manager Ava, who makes the match official for tonight. She says that match is scheduled for later, as Dempsey’s match against Femi is scheduled for right now.

NXT Champion Oba Femi defeated Charlie Dempsey (with No Quarter Catch Crew) in a non-title match

Femi pinned Dempsey with Fall From Grace. The match itself begins just before the show cuts to its first commercial break. They wrestle through picture-in-picture.

Dempsey is getting ragdolled until he targets an arm. He works Femi’s arm, and Dempsey gets a near fall after a German suplex. Dempsey then applies a short arm scissors, but Femi powers out with a feat of strength.

Comeback by Femi as he mows down Dempsey with a series of uppercuts. Femi tosses Dempsey around the ring before delivering the Fall From Grace (pop-up powerbomb). Femi then covers Dempsey for a pinfall.

Backstage in a skit, Karmen Pertrovic and Thea Heal are walking and talking when they come across a distraught Tatum Paxley. She is freaking out about Gigi Dolan leaving her, although that name is never mentioned. Paxley warns the new friends they will only be betrayed.

Ethan Page is confronted backstage by NXT North American Champion Ricky Saints. Page is warming up for his match later on, and Saints remarks that Page loves “raining on people’s parade.” Page admits to getting pleasure in stealing people’s moment. Page then insults Saints before leaving.

Wes Lee (with Tyson Dupont & Tyriek Igwe) defeated Tony D’Angelo

Lee pinned D’Angelo, after “The Don” was distracted by a pre-taped video from Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo.

The match goes through a commercial break. Just before cutting away to picture-in-picture, Lee takes a hip toss over the ropes into the waiting arms of Dupont and Igwe. “The Don” then jumps off the apron with a high cross on all three.

Few rest holds during the break, as Lee sails through the ropes with a tope suicida. Lee gets in D’Angelo’s face to taunt him about Stacks. Lee screams that D’Angelo will lose The Family. That fires up D’Angelo.

On the floor, they do a spot where “The Don” clotheslines Dupont & Igwe. Lee tries to steal a pin, but “The Don” kicks out. Lee bumps and feeds for D’Angelo. Near falls for D’Angelo after a powerslam.

Lee counters D’Angelo finisher with a hurricanrana. D’Angelo then counters Lee’s finisher, as “The Don” blocks a Cardiac Kick with a spear. Lee was almost dumped on his head. At that point, Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo appears on a video screen.

Stacks is at Adrianna Rizzo’s safe house. A distracted D’Angelo is then hit with a Cardiac Kick from Lee, and Lee hooks a leg while covering D’Angelo for a three count.

As Lee is announced as the winner of the match, the pre-tape with Stacks continues to play on the video screen. Stacks vows to pay Rizzo a visit. D’Angelo rushes out of the ring and exits the sound stage.

For the second consecutive week, OTM is featured in a vignette sponsored by an insurance company.

NXT Women’s Champion Stephanie Vaquer is headed to the ring. Vaquer is cutting a promo in English and Spanish when she is interrupted by two members of Fatal Influence — Fallon Henley and Jacy Jayne.

Henley cuts a promo on Vaquer, and Jayne chimes in with a snide remark. Tension between Jayne and Henley as they bicker.

Out comes Jordynne Grace, and she gets in the ring to confront everyone else. There is some bickering and quick promos. Not sure what this accomplished as it just ended, but it somehow sets up a tag match for tonight’s main event.

Charlie Dempsey is backstage on rubber legs. Myles Borne tells Tavion Heights and Wren Sinclair they should take Dempsey to the trainers’ room. Borne then says he will go “take care of business.”

Cameos from LFG as Undertaker is backstage with Bubba Ray Dudley. They are with Tyra Mae Steele and Zena Sterling from LFG. This leads to a confrontation with Izzi Dame, Nikkita Lyons, Lola Vice and Lash Legend.

Tony D’Angelo orders a camera operator to follow him as they get into a SUV. They speed off, presumably heading to save Rizzo.

Myles Borne defeated Ethan Page in a number one contender’s match

Borne pinned Page clean to retain his status as number one contender.

They wrestle a methodical match through a commercial break, and they are given plenty of time. Borne not only looks similar to Randy Orton, they have the most Randy Orton kind of match they can have without Randy Orton himself.

As they go home, Page counters a Olympic slam (which they established earlier in the match as one of Borne’s big moves). Borne in turn counters Page’s finisher, and Borne delivers a standing dropkick. Borne then flips over to cradle Page’s leg for the deciding pinfall.

In a promo posted to social media, Sean Legacy politely challenges Je’Von Evans to a singles match.

Evans and Ashante “Thee” Adonis then have words in a locker room skit. Ricky Saints overhears Adonis say he can “smoke” Evans, and Saints offers to grant the winner a North American title match at Battleground. That match between Evans and Adonis is later made official for next Tuesday.

Tony D’Angelo arrives at the safe house, and he gets out of the SUV along with the camera operator. “The Don” tells the driver to go get the rest of the boys. D’Angelo is approaching the house when he is jumped by Stacks. “The Don” is hit in the legs with a crowbar, and Stacks pummels him. Stacks vows to finish the D’Angelo family for good at Battleground.

Thea Hail defeated Tatum Paxley via disqualification

Paxley is disqualified for a blatant eye poke. Hail had Paxley locked in an armbar when Paxley goes for an eye poke. The referee stops the match, but a crazed Paxley keeps going for the eye. Paxley is pulled off of Hail by a group of referees.

Kelani Jordan and Zaria argue in a locker room skit, which sets up a return match between them for next Tuesday. Sol Ruca offers the winner a shot at the NXT Women’s North American Championship in a title match at Battleground.

TNA Champion Joe Hendry and Trick Williams meet with Ava in a conference room for a contract signing which is very tame for a contract signing gimmick in WWE. Ava first puts over the history and importance of the TNA Championship.

They exchange words and both stand up, presumably to fight. Ava threatens to call security if they do not sit down. They sit, and they proceed to cut promos on each other.

Hendry cuts a heckuva promo putting over TNA, while Trick proclaims himself “Hollywood”. Trick vows to the Hendry’s fame, his TNA title and his brand. Trick then signs the contract. Hendry cuts a final promo on Trick, and Hendry signs the contract.

Josh Briggs and Shawn Spears set up a singles match between them in a locker room skit. Briggs is talking with NXT Tag Team Champions Hank & Tank when Briggs is confronted by Spears.

In another skit, Chase U’s Kale Dixon and Uriah Connors convince Ava they need booked in a tag match. Ava agrees, and she books them in their NXT debut tag match against OTM.

Along with the matches set up for next Tuesday is a live concert from Joe Hendry, along with a rap performance by Trick Williams.

NXT Women’s Champion Stephanie Vaquer & Jordynne Grace defeated Fatal Influence (Fallon Henley & Jacy Jayne)

Grace pinned Jayne after Beast Mode. While good in the ring, the tag bout was not exactly a captivating main event in storyline. They set it up with a convoluted angle earlier on the show, but the wrestlers made do with what they had, and they worked hard to have a good match.

Before the final commercial break of the show, the heels are in control after a few high spots. Jayne does a somersault senton off the apron. Henley follows up with a springboard off the middle rope into a high cross on the floor.

The heels work over Vaquer throughout the break, building heat as the show returns from picture-in-picture. Hot tag to Grace, and cleans house. They build to a spot where Grace takes a bullet for Vaquer, when the heels go for a high/low combo on the champ. Grace takes stereo knee strikes, but she kicks out for a near fall.

Vaquer is down as she sells on the floor. Meanwhile, Grace is being double-teamed in the ring. Grace make her own save, and Grace fights off both heels. Beast Mode finisher on Jayne, and Grace covers her for a pinfall.

Cut away to backstage where Ethan Page has apparently ambushed Ricky Saints. Cut back to the sound stage as Grace and Vaquer pose.

Next week is the go-home show ahead of Battleground.

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

Posted on by Steve Khan

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

The Big Takeaway —

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

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

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

Money in the Bank qualifiers begin next week. 

**********

Show Recap — 

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

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

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

Opening segment 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

******** 

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

Penta vs. Chad Gable (w/Ivy Nile)

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

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

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

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

******** 

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

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

Kofi Kingston was shown taking in the Louisville Slugger Museum. 

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

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

******** 

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

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

********

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

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

The War Raiders vs. The Creed Brothers

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

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

New Day ran off quite proud of themselves. 

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

********

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

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

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

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

********

Jey Uso segment

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

********

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

******** 

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

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

******** 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

********

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

Becky Lynch promo

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

********

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

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

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

******** 

Next week on Raw: 

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

********

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

WWE SmackDown live results: Backlash go-home show

Posted on by Colin McGuire

One night before John Cena steps up for the first defense of his 17th World title reign, the Undisputed WWE Champion will return to SmackDown tonight.

Cena is set to renew his rivalry with Randy Orton at Backlash on Saturday. Orton appeared on last week’s SmackDown episode and cut a promo on Cena, who did not make an appearance. Tonight, we’ll get Cena’s final words before facing Orton.

Also tonight, Solo Sikoa will team with Jacob Fatu to face the duo of LA Knight & Damian Priest. Knight and Priest will be two of the participants in a fatal four-way for Fatu’s United States title at Backlash. The fourth competitor will be Drew McIntyre.

Jade Cargill and Nia Jax will square off to determine the number one contender to Tiffany Stratton’s WWE Women’s Championship. Cargill teamed with Stratton last week to defeat Jax and her partner Naomi.

Plus, Aleister Black is set for action against Carmelo Hayes.

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

**********

– The show opened with Damian Priest walking towards the ring. Byron Saxton interrupted his walk and asked him about the Backlash Fatal Four-way. Priest was talking and LA Knight walked up and Knight told Priest that anyone who gets in the way of him and his U.S. title will receive backlash tomorrow night. Priest said he was concerned that Knight wouldn’t have his back in the opening tag match. Knight said if Priest has his back, he’ll have Priest’s back and Knight told someone to hit his music. Knight then made his entrance for the first match.

LA Knight & Damian Priest vs. Jacob Fatu & Solo Sikoa

Priest and Knight argued about who was going to start the match and Sikoa attacked both of them. Priest ended up officially starting the match for his team. Priest bounced back from the initial attack and took Sikoa down before posing in Fatu’s face. Priest successfully executed Old School on Sikoa and fired up the crowd. Priest went for a clothesline, but Sikoa rolled to the outside. Priest then hit a double axe-handle on Sikoa and jawed at Fatu, who was taken out by Knight’s dropkick through the ropes. With the heels down, Priest and Knight bickered as the show went to its first commercial break.

The show returned and Sikoa was working Priest’s neck back inside the ring. Priest struggled to get the tag to Knight, but Sikoa knocked Knight off the apron once Priest got free. Sikoa capitalized with a Samoan Drop and a two-count. Fatu tagged in and landed a running Senton. Fatu headbutted Priest and followed that up with a hip attack. Sikoa tagged back in and soaked up boos. Sikoa got a running start, but Priest fired out of the corner with a kick to Sikoa’s head. Knight and Fatu tagged into the match.

Knight had the upper hand and hit his spots, including a jumping neck-breaker and a leaping elbow. Knight set up for the jump-up elbow, but Priest tagged himself in and clotheslined the hell out of Fatu. Priest set up for South Of Heaven and Knight tagged himself in. Sikoa took advantage of the babyfaces arguing … until Knight landed the BFT on Sikoa for the win.

Match result: LA Knight & Damian Priest defeated Jacob Fatu & Solo Sikoa (10:07)

After the match, Knight and Priest threw punches at each other until Fatu broke it up and attacked both babyfaces, ramming them into ring posts and hitting hip attacks. Fatu held up his U.S. title as the crowd cheered … until Drew McIntyre showed up and Claymore Kicked Fatu. McIntyre then held up the U.S. title.

I liked the disruption to the cookie-cutter approach SmackDown has been taking to open its shows. They had a match, a commercial break and a post-match beatdown all within the first 20 minutes whereas we’ve been seeing far too many 20-plus-minute promos to begin Friday nights. Hopping directly into a match was a welcome change of pace. I’m also glad they got this match out of the way early because … well … it didn’t feel like a lot of thought was put into that booking, considering the last few weeks. Anyway, the match was fine. Standard. Inoffensive. Pick any of those words and you wouldn’t be wrong. The “babyfaces arguing for the sake of creating tension” is a tired trick – and especially in WWE – so the Knight/Priest stuff only annoyed me. Perhaps I’m just grumpy. And finally, while Sikoa taking the loss was the expected outcome, do we see him play a part in Saturday’s four-way finish that separates him from Fatu? The crowds love to cheer Jacob. Why not pull the trigger on an official turn?

**********

– R-Truth was standing outside with a “Let’s Go Cena!” sign. Jimmy Uso walked up and told Truth that Cena sucks. Jimmy Yeeted and walked away as Truth kept chanting for Cena.

– McIntyre was walking backstage and Saxton rushed over to talk to him. McIntyre said the U.S. title match should be a one-on-one match between him and Fatu. McIntyre noted how Knight shouldn’t be in the match because he lost at WrestleMania. McIntyre questioned why Priest is in the match, too, because Priest lost at Mania, too. McIntyre said he wants to take the title off Fatu to become a Grand Slam Champion. McIntyre mocked Fatu’s “All gas and no breaks” catchphrase and said he’d be the next U.S. champion.

– The Secret Hervice and Chelsea Green were shown in Nick Aldis’s office and they were mourning losing the Women’s U.S. title. Zelina Vega and Aldis walked in. Green said Vega has no girlfriends, so Vega challenged Green and Niven to a tag match. Vega said she’d bring one of her girlfriends. The show went to a commercial break after Green and the Hervice’s entrance.

– An Aleister Black vignette aired. Black said he buried his former WWE character and what he found six feet under wasn’t death – it was the truth. Black said he came back because he is the consequences the company needs. Black said he’s more than a man who whispers in shadows. Black said it’s bigger than good vs. evil because he’s there to confront everyone mentally and physically. Black said he hasn’t figured Carmelo Hayes out yet and the vignette ended.

– Vega made her entrance for the next match first and then pointed to the entranceway to introduce … Alexa Bliss.

Alexa Bliss & Zelina Vega vs. Chelsea Green & Piper Niven

Niven and Vega started the match and Niven got the best of Vega. Green tagged in and went for a splash, but Vega moved. Vega then went to work on Green, setting up Vega (and Niven) for a dual 619. Vega landed it and got a two-count out of it. Vega teased tagging Bliss into the match, but Green attacked Vega. As a result of all that, the heels got the upper hand and Green tagged in Niven, who put Vega down. The heels saluted the crowd(?) and the show went to a commercial break.

The show returned and Vega was crawling towards Bliss, but Niven cut off Vega. Niven lifted Vega, but Vega countered with a DDT and alas, Bliss received the hot tag. Green tagged in, too, and Bliss worked over Green with a series of strikes and even a dragon-screw leg-whip. Bliss landed a Blockbuster on Green for a two-count. Bliss ran into an elbow and Green climbed to the top, but Bliss cut off Green and dropkicked Green. Bliss hit Twisted Bliss on Green, but Niven broke up a pin attempt. Vega landed a Code Red on Niven. Bliss followed that up with a Sister Abagail DDT on Green for the win.

Match result: Zelina Vega & Alexa Bliss defeated Chelsea Green & Piper Niven (8:19)

I’m a little lost on returning Bliss like this (other than the obligatory home state factor). Isn’t the plan for her to work with the Wyatt Sicks? Why waste her return on a throwaway tag match with an ice cold secondary women’s champion … on WWE’s worst weekly television program? I hope there’s a plan for her moving forward. That aside, this was a fine match and it was nice to see Bliss get her greatest hits in. Green and Niven did a really good job putting both Vega and Bliss over and while Vega took the bulk of the match, Bliss hit a nice stride as everything went to the finish. Here’s hoping something big is on the horizon for Bliss, who always packs a punch when she returns.

**********

– Rey Fenix ran into Santos Escobar backstage and Fenix reminded Escobar that he beat him last week. Escobar said he had something to say and Los Garza attacked Fenix, running him into road cases. Andrade showed up and showed concern for Fenix.

– An SUV pulled up to the arena and Charlotte Flair stepped out of it.

– A video package on John Cena and Randy Orton’s history aired.

The Charlotte Flair segment

Charlotte told Dayton that their queen has arrived and some people cheered. Charlotte said she had the greatest match in WrestleMania history and recalled how she was out for two years, but still took Tiffy to her limit. A photo of Tiffy at Mania was shown on the big screen. Charlotte said she was there to announce her path to the WWE Women’s Championship. People booed and Charlotte acted petulant, saying she’s the GOAT of women’s wrestling. Charlotte said if the crowd continued to be disrespectful, she would leave Dayton and never come back. The crowd booed heartily. Charlotte threw the microphone down and left the ring. As Charlotte left, Jade Cargill’s music hit and Cargill made her entrance. Charlotte stood in the entranceway and the two engaged in a stare down.

Cargill got a microphone once she stepped into the ring and told Charlotte to head to the back of line because Charlotte had her chance. I’m not sure if this was scripted because Cargill kept talking over her theme music, so either production got it wrong or Cargill took a chance.

I like this approach for Charlotte. She’s a better heel than she is a babyface anyway, and the story of her playing into the boos each week could have her positioned as the next Dominik Mysterio, heat-wise. Plus, the segments don’t need to be long. Come out. Throw a fit. Soak in the reactions. Storm off. Maybe they’re finally going to get it right with her after all?

**********

– Charlotte and Aldis were walking and talking backstage. Aldis told Charlotte to be a leader, not leave and not throw a temper tantrum. Charlotte got back to her SUV to, in fact, leave, and Alexa Bliss stood there. Bliss told Charlotte that they should chat.

Jade Cargill vs. Nia Jax

Before the match began, Tiffany Stratton’s music hit and Tiffy walked out to ringside. Stratton sat next to the commentary table, but she did not sit in on commentary. Cargill and Jax locked up to begin the match. Jax jawed at Tiffy and then turned her attention back to Cargill, taking Cargill down repeatedly. Jax mocked Cargill’s pose. Eventually, as the crowd chanted, “You can’t wrestle!” Cargill hit a flying shoulder tackle, which took Jax down. Jax bounced back and hit a Samoan Drop on Cargill before landing a leg drop for a two-count. The show then went to a commercial break.

Back from break, Jax went to sit on Cargill, but Cargill moved. Cargill lifted Jax and delivered a Samoan Drop on Jax. Cargill suplexed Jax and landed a super-kick – plus a spinebuster – for a two-count. Cargill went for a boot, but Jax countered into a powerbomb. Jax stood on the second rope, but Cargill cut her off and pressed Jax to the mat. Cargil climbed to the top and landed a frog splash for a nice near-fall. Cargill tried to set up for Jaded, but Jax threw Cargill across the ring. Cargill came right back with a running kick to Jax’s head.

Out of nowhere, Naomi appeared and attacked Stratton. Cargill saw Naomi and took her attention away from Jax. As a result, Jax attacked Cargill, hit her finish and won the match.

Match result: Nia Jax defeated Jade Cargill to become the No. 1 Contender for the WWE Women’s Championship (10:03)

This was pretty good. Cargill really has improved her in-ring work and it shows in little ways – the way she fires up, the commitment to selling, etc. – and as such, these two worked hard to put on a good television match. I tend to wonder how this Naomi/Cargill program will eventually be blown off. Does it involve Bianca Belair? A Hell In A Cell? At this point, with the rinse/repeat stagnation in which they appear to be, it’s going to have to be something big. I’m not saying their feud isn’t working; I’m just saying it’ll be interesting to see how it all plays out. In the meantime, this was a nice offering from Jax and Cargill, even if I can’t say I’m thrilled to see another Cargill/Stratton match/program.

**********

– The Street Profits were walking backstage and ran into Michin and B-Fab. The women told the Profits that they look banged up, but they still look good. Montez Ford said something brief and the Profits continued their walk to the ring.

– A Becky Lynch vignette aired.

The Street Profits segment

Ford and Dawkins walked out with various parts of their body taped up, selling the impact of the TLC match a couple weeks ago. Ford said the Profits have been the talk of the town and they put on the greatest TLC match of all time a couple weeks ago. Ford said, “That’s right, the guerrilla fears us.” Ford said what happened is what will always happen, and it’s that the Street Profits will come out on top. Fraxiom’s music hit and they walked out with microphones. Nathan Frazer said it feels good to be on Friday Night SmackDown.

Frazer said the Profits could be the best tag team in the game right now. Fraxiom stepped into the ring and said Frazer Shawn Michales told them to take any opportunity they get. Axiom spoke up and said the tag titles would look great on Fraxiom. Dawkins said Fraxiom has one only two matches and he was wonder if they really think they deserve a title shot. Ford yelled about Fraxiom wanting a title shot. Aldis walked out, so you know what that means: Aldis booked a match between Fraxiom and the Profits right now. A referee showed up and the show went to a commercial break.

The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) vs. Fraxiom (Nathan Frazer & Axiom)

The match was joined in progress and Frazer had the upper hand, working over Dawkins. The action spilled outside and Dawkins ran Frazer into the corner of the commentary table. Axiom checked on Frazer and rolled Frazer back into the ring to beat the count. Ford tagged in and hit a splash on Frazer while selling rib pain. Ford kicked the back of Frazer and tagged in Dawkins, who landed a splash on Frazer for a two-count. Dawkins hit his spinning splash on Frazer in a corner for a two-count. Eventualy, Frazer fired up and kicked Dawkins before tagging Axiom into the match. Fraxiom executed an array of their quick moves, complete with dives to the outside. Frazer and Axiom fired up the crowd and the show went to a commercial break.

The show returned and Frazer and Dawkins were both down in the middle of the ring. Axiom and Ford tagged in and Ford landed a bunch of clotheslines on Axiom. Ford hit a back suplex and continued to sell rib pain before launching into a standing moonsault for a two-count. Axiom kicked Ford and Frazer tagged in. Frazer rolled up Ford quickly, but then ran into a kick to the head from Ford. Ford was perched on the top rope and Frazer went to the top with him. Dawkins tagged himself in and put Frazer on his shoulders. From there, they hit the super-duper Blockbuster on Frazer, but Axiom broke up the pin attempt.

“This is awesome!” chants broke out. Ford went to the top, but jumped into a kick from Axiom. Dawkins then kicked Axiom. The match broke down and Frazer ran into a punch from Dawkins. With Dawkins on the top rope, Axiom hit a Spanish Fly and Frazer followed it up with a Phoenix Splash. At the very last tenth of a second, Ford broke up the pin attempt while attacking Axiom and all four men were down to reset the match.

Dawkins ran into a Golden Ratio from Axiom on the outside of the ring. Ford, meanwhile, went to the top rope inside the ring and missed a frog splash. Fraxiom connected with the Catapulta Infernal and that was enough to get them the win with Axiom pinning Ford.

Match result: Fraxiom (Nathan Frazer & Axiom) defeated The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) in a non-title match (13:25 of TV time)

After the match, the teams shook hands inside the ring and they all raised their arms together.

Fantastic stuff all around. I’m even sort of annoyed that I missed the first few minutes because the match started during a commercial break. The Profits told a great story, selling the pain from their TLC match a couple weeks ago and giving them an out for losing to the main roster rookies. Speaking of those main roster rookies, I can’t recall a better tag team debut run for a team in recent WWE memory. Motor City Machine Guns made a splash by winning the tag titles on their debut night, but the live crowds never seemed to buy into them. Fraxiom, however, seem to connect with the live crowds and their flashy, quick, aggressive offense is striking a chord. Run this back on a PLE with five more minutes and a title change and I’ll bet you 5,000 MJF Coins that it’s one of the best WWE matches of 2025.

**********

– Tiffy was looking for people backstage and ran into Jax and Tiffy said she’d save a spot at the loser’s table for Jax and it will be right next to Charlotte Flair.

– A video package on Gunther vs. Pat McAfee aired.

– The Miz was talking to Melo backstage and told him it’s all about him and showing everyone that Melo is the 10th Wonder Of The World. Miz said Melo will run the plays exactly as Miz designed them. Miz kept asking Melo, “Who’s Him?” Melo responded in kind. Miz yelled a lot. Miz and Melo made their entrance for the next match.

Carmelo Hayes vs. Aleister Black

The bell rang and the two stood in their respective corners. About 20 seconds into it, they locked up and traded hold attempts. Melo went for a springboard splash, but Black moved and the two stared at each other for a few seconds. Black kicked Melo and Melo wound up on the outside. Black followed up with a moonsault onto the floor. Black returned to the ring to break the count and ran at Melo, but missed and found himself hung up on the crowd barrier. Melo then dropkicked Black over the barrier and posed as the show went to a commercial break.

The show returned and Black kicked Melo right in the face. Black followed up with a leaping knee, which took Melo down. The two were out on the canvas and the match reset. Back on their feet, the two traded blows. Black eventually got the best of it and hit a springboard moonsault from the second rope for a two-count. The two traded a handful of moves until Black slowed it back down with a Brainbuster. Miz hopped up on the apron and Black went over to him. Melo ran at Black, but Black moved and Melo hit Miz. Black then rolled up Melo for the win. After the match, Black hit Black Mass on Miz and sat in the entranceway.

Match result: Aleister Black defeated Carmelo Hayes (9:14)

This was as good as expected, but if we’re being honest, I was secretly hoping it would be better than expected. Between the finish and the post-match, it’s hard to think Miz, Melo and Black are now moving on from all this, so maybe we’ll soon get a 15-minute TV classic in the vein of the work Melo did with Andrade last year. Melo was great in selling the viciousness of Black’s strikes and Black was much smoother than he was last week against Miz. I like this slight shift in attitude for the Black character. Like he said in the vignette earlier, he’s not all smoke and mirrors and he’s not just a guy who speaks in riddles anymore. He feels like a real fighter now more than ever before. It’s subtle, but it’s needed.

**********

– Sikoa and Fatu were shown talking in a dark area backstage. Sikoa said they need a plan for Backlash and Fatu flipped out. He ended by calming down and saying he’s all gas and no breaks. He asked Sikoa if he knew what he meant and Sikoa said he did. Fatu walked away.

– Fraxiom ran into MCMG backstage and MCMG said it will eventually be Fraxiom vs. MCMG, but wouldn’t you know it – #DIY showed up and attacked both teams. Ciampa and Gargano focused more on Fraxiom and lectured them before storming off into the ether.

Rey Fenix & Andrade vs. Los Garza (Berto & Angel)

Fenix started the match and Los Garza put the boots to him. Berto became the legal man went to work on Fenix, complete with a dropkick for a two-count. Berto lifted Fenix, but Fenix knee’d his way out of it and tagged in Andrade. Angel tagged himself in and Berto knocked Fenix and Andrade to the outside. Berto and Angel went to the top and hit dueling moonsaults on Andrade and Fenix on the ringside floor. The show then went to a commercial break.

The show returned and Berto was working Andrade in the ring. Andrade eventually ducked a couple kicks and hit a Poison-Rana. Both guys were down and Andrade got the hot tag to Fenix. Angel tagged in as well and Fenix took care of both heels as Escobar looked annoyed. Angel lifted Fenix and kicked him in the chest. Things broke down and all four wrestlers executed moves on each other and all four were down in the middle of the ring. “This is awesome!” chants began. Angel and Fenix traded chops on their knees. Angel had Fenix in a corner and Berto tagged in to hit a moonsault on Fenix before Andrade broke up the pin attempt.

With Berto in a corner, Fenix hit a spinning animal kick. Escobar hopped onto the apron and distracted the ref as Berto had Fenix pinned. Fenix kicked out eventually and we were back to having all four wrestlers involved in the action. Andrade hit a back spinning elbow on Angel while Fenix landed the Adios Amigo on Berto. Fenix landed a splash on Angel outside the ring as Andrade hit The Message on Berto for the win.

Match result: Andrade & Rey Fenix defeated Los Garza (Angel & Berto) (10:23)

After the match, Escobar entered the ring and scolded Berto, who slapped Escobar’s hand away from his chest. Berto left the ring and Angel looked confused. Berto stormed off to the back and Angel remained in the ring with Escobar.

It’s about time to split up Legado Del Fantasma, don’t we think? Elektra Lopez is out of the company. Los Garza keeps having solid tag team matches, but the faction is as cold as anything else on the show (which, to be fair, is a lot these days when it comes to SmackDown). Escobar, Berto and Angel are all very talented, but outside of these throwaway tag team matches that Berto and Angel are almost guaranteed to lose, they don’t have a lot behind them. As for this match, the four wrestlers delivered well enough, even if it was a bit odd to see Fenix team with someone not named Penta. Everybody worked hard, though, and there are many worse ways to fill 10-and-a-half-minutes on a show like this.

**********

– The commentary team ran down the card for Saturday’s Backlash show.

The John Cena segment

Cena made his entrance to a mixed response. The “Let’s go Cena/Cena sucks!” chants were loud. Cena called in Ring Announcer Nash to do the introduction bit he’s been doing. Someone threw a Michelob Ultra bottle into the ring and Cena actually picked it up while stopping Nash from speaking. Cena threw the bottle out of the ring and told Nash to keep going. Nash completed his introduction and the crowd cheered as much as they booed. Cena snarled.

Cena said, “Tomorrow, your childhood dies.” He added that the reason they are reduced to throwing empty bottles of beer is because they know how important Backlash is. Cena noted how Randy Orton wasn’t there and Orton was smart for not being there. Cena said Orton is preparing for the biggest moment of his career. Cena said he first wrestled Orton 25 years ago and since then, they have shared almost 100 appearances together. Cena said they are the two names that define what it is to have “Ruthless Aggression.” Cena said if you are of a certain age, you either cheer Cena or Orton and the crowd cheered loudly for Cena.

Cena said at Backlash, it will be Cena vs. Orton for the final time. He reiterated that everyone’s childhood will die at Backlash. Cena said he will prove three things – life isn’t fair, winners write the history books and Randy Orton is a liar. Cena said the person Orton has been lying the most to has been himself. Cena brought up the Hustle, Loyalty and Respect stuff. Cena said Orton has used his stardom and connections to keep him from doing hard work. Cena said Orton is the GOAT of wasting his potential. Cena said Cena is the GOAT because “I am hustle.”

Cena called out Orton for cashing a check and called Orton lazy in clever way that included being a piece of furniture. Cena said Orton is over-celebrated and over-paid. Cena said Orton is the GOAT at doing the bare minimum. Cena said Cena is the GOAT because “I am loyalty.” Cena mocked Orton for reminding everyone that he’s a third-generation superstar. Cena said the only thing Orton has ever done in life is ride Cena’s coattails. Cena said at Backlash, Orton will kill the legend of Randy Orton. Cena said Orton will be “just like his 2006 drug test – a failure.” Cena said Orton is the GOAT at making a mockery of what a WWE superstar shoudl be. Cena said Cena is the GOAT because “I am respect.”

Cena said Saturday is a historic moment for WWE and he held up his belt saying he is what the last world champion looks like. Someone in a Randy Orton hoodie ran into the ring, but Cena gave him an AA. The Real Randy Orton then appeared and RKO’d Cena. Cena stood tall as the crowd cheered loudly for him. Orton picked up Cena’s belt and kissed it. Orton then held it high as his music played. The show ended with Orton looking to the crowd and holding up the title while standing on the second rope.

Cena felt rushed, but damn it if he didn’t memorize a ton of lines for this thing. Kudos to him for that. Turns out being a Hollywood superstar really can help certain aspects of your pro wrestling career. I wasn’t expecting much from this segment and I didn’t get much. It’s Cena ridiculing the fans, whining about everyone around him and giving his now-signature pouty face. It might have been novel when it started a couple months ago, but this is so one-note, it’s almost hard to watch. There’s no way Orton takes the strap off him at Backlash, but I’m already so over this Cena bit that I would actually be happy if they somehow decide to go with Orton in his hometown. Overall, this served as a fine-enough go-home show for Backlash, which is a below-mid PLE, so it doesn’t say much. Either way, below-mid knows below-mid. And I can attest to that.

WWE NXT live results: Battleground challengers decided

Posted on by Chris Aiken

Title challengers for Battleground will be decided tonight on WWE NXT.

Jordynne Grace vs. Giulia headlines tonight’s card in a number one contender’s match. The winner earns a shot against NXT Women’s Champion Stephanie Vaquer later this month at Battleground.

A number one contender’s battle royal is also set for tonight. The winner challenges Oba Femi for the NXT Championship on Sunday, May 25 at the Battleground PLE in Tampa, FL.

TNA Champion Joe Hendry is back in NXT for a six-man tag match. Hendry teams with NXT Tag Team Champions Hank & Tank against DarkState. The match was set up last week when DarkState attacked Hendry.

Kelani Jordan has her sights on challenging NXT Women’s North American Champion Sol Ruca, and she’ll attempt to move one step closer to making that a reality when she faces Ruca’s tag partner Zaria.

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

**********

The show begins with footage of wrestlers arriving at the building that houses the Performance Center in Orlando, where NXT is filmed before a live studio audience.

Arriving is Jordynne Grace and Giulia, ahead of their number one contender’s match. Also arriving are male wrestlers in the scheduled battle royal. A group from NXT is met by wrestlers from LFG and TNA.

Opening the show is a trios match.

DarkState (Dion Lennox, Osiris Griffin & Cutler James with Saquon Shugars) defeated TNA Champion Joe Hendry & NXT Tag Team Champions Hank Walker & Tank Ledger in a six-man tag team match

Cutter James pinned Tank Ledger to win the match, after interference at ringside by Trick Williams and Shugars. Trick brawls with Hendry to further their feud. Likewise, the finish in this trios match seems to set up DarkSate getting a title shot, since the tag champs dropped a fall to the heel faction.

Hendry poses with Hank & Tank before the match starts as part of their entrance, and they also strike a pose during the match as well. Smart booking to partner an over Hendry with a team looking to get over.

Whatever mystique DarkState had since their unique debut is fleeting fast the more they wrestle on television. They are now just another faction in NXT, albeit with a good push.

Hendry joins Hank & Tank in cleaning house before the show cuts to its first commercial break. The babyface trio strikes a pose as the show cuts to picture-in-picture. Momentum shifts, and the heels are working over Hank as the show returns from the break.

Hot tag and Tank runs wild, and he gets a near fall. Bedlam erupts and everyone gets involved. Melee with all six, when Shugars interferes at ringside. Shugars posts Hank, and Hank sells it the rest of the match.

Hendry is signaling for a finisher when Trick Williams runs down and trips Hendry. Trick and Hendry brawl their way off stage, which leaves Tank alone in the ring against DarkState. Triple powerbomb on Tank, and Cutter James hooks a leg to cover Tank for the pinfall.

Thea Hail is talking with Karmen Petrovic in a locker room skit when Jaida Parker eavesdrops on them. Parker chimes in and cuts a promo on Petrovic, which sets up a singles match between the two.

Shiloh Hill and Chris Island from LFG are seen warming up for the battle royal. Meanwhile, Timothy Thatcher (making his return to NXT television) and Sean Legacy are also warming up as they represent Evolve in the battle royal later tonight.

Kelani Jordan vs. Zaria (with NXT Women’s North American Champion Sol Ruca)

Zaria pinned Jordan to win after a stunt where Zaria speared Jordan through a section of the barricade.

The match goes through a commercial break with picture-in-picture. Jordan as a babyface in peril fought from underneath. She makes a comeback on Zaria, and they trade near falls.

Jordan gets a near fall with a tornado DDT. Jordan leaps to the top rope like Rob Van Dam by jumping from the mat all the way to the top rope. Jordan then goes for a 450. No water in the pool, but she rolls through. Zaria then cuts off Jordan with a spear.

Near falls continue in the closing moments. Jordan does an Asai moonsault. She overshoots Zaria, but Zaria sells it nonetheless. At ringside, Zaria shoves Jordan towards the barricade. Jordan is inadvertently saved by Ruca, but Zaria still spears Jordan through a gimmicked section of the barricade. Ruca acts shocked at the stunt, but Ruca cheers on Zaria as she gives Jordan the F6 finisher. Zaria then scores a pinfall.

Tony D’Angelo and Wes Lee exchange tense words in a locker room skit, which sets up a singles match between the two for next week on NXT. That bout is later made official for next Tuesday.

Trick Williams gets a full entrance before the show cuts to a commercial break. The battle royal is “next” on the show, but first another skit.

Lola Vice talks with NXT Women’s Champion Stephanie Vaquer in a skit, and Giulia interrupts with a word of warning to the champ.

Ethan Page gets a full entrance for the battle royal.

In a surprise, “The Drifter” is back in NXT as a returning troubadour. Elias is back in WWE, although he is now billed as “Elijah” from TNA. Of course, Elijah has his guitar. The arena lights dim and a spotlight shines on Elijah as he performs a song on his way to the ring. Big pop for Elijah, and the studio audience chants “welcome home” as the troubadour himself does his catchphrase. In the form of a question: “Who wants to walk with Elijah?”

Ethan Page confronts Elijah as the bell sounds to start the battle royal.

Myles Borne wins a 25-man battle royal to become number one contender for the NXT Championship

Borne out of nowhere becomes the number one contender with the upset win, as Borne last eliminates Ethan Page and Shawn Spears en route to winning the battle royal.

The battle royal ran through two split-screen commercial breaks. An inter-promotional gimmick match, participants are from TNA and three WWE brands — NXT, LFG and Evolve. It was indie-rific at times and over-booked, but the battle royal has lots of action.

Joe Hendry gets an entrance with his theme song during the middle of the match, as Hendry confronts Trick Williams. Distracted by the entrance of Hendry, Trick is then eliminated by Elijah. Trick and Hendry then have a pull-apart brawl.

Shawn Spears eliminates Elijah, leaving five men in the ring. Je’Von Evans and Sean Legacy get to shine in a series of high spots and sequences between the two. Legacy is then eliminated by Evans, with some help from a low-bridge courtesy of Ethan Page.

Final four is all NXT. Comes down to Page, Evans, Spears, and Myles Borne, as they run through a series of entertaining spots. Borne shows fire as he gets to shine in the closing minutes. Borne then takes a springboard cutter from Evans. On a second springboard attempt, Evans goes for a double cutter on both Page and Spears. Instead, they eliminate Evans by tossing him out of the ring.

Page and Spears make a pact to team up on Borne, but Page immediately double-crosses Spears. Holding on to the top rope, Spears tries to skin the cat. Meanwhile, Borne dropkicks Page, and Page goes sailing over the ropes. On his way down, Page catches Spears with a cutter on the floor. Borne is the last man standing in the ring, and Borne wins the battle royal to become the number one contender.

No Quarter Catch Crew storms the ring to celebrate with Borne after his win. Tavion Heights rushes in to hug Borne, with Wren Sinclair in tow. Charlie Dempsey is dragging up the rear, as Dempsey looks less than thrilled with Borne getting the spotlight.

Sarah Schreiber is interviewing Jordynne Grace when they are interrupted by Izzi Dame. Lash Legend also arrives to interrupt Dame. When she becomes the number one contender, Grace will see them on the other side. Whatever that means.

Jaida Parker defeated Karmen Petrovic

Parker pinned Petrovic after a running knee strike. Setting up the finish, Petrovic misses a kick. Parker then lands the knee strike, and she covers Petrovic for a clean pinfall.

Parker jumps Petrovic after the match, and Parker signals for her signature hip attack. Thea Hail runs down to take a bullet for Pertrovic. Hail takes the hip attack from Parker, which sets up a match between Parker and Hail.

TNA Champion Joe Hendry is in NXT General Manager Ava’s office, where she announces Hendry is defending the TNA Championship in a title match against Trick Williams at Battleground. Ava notes this is the first time the TNA world title is on the line at a WWE PLE. Ava also announces a contract signing for next Tuesday on NXT.

A vignette featuring OTM is part of a promotional tie-in with an insurance company. Bronco Nima and Lucien Price cut a promo within a music video.

Wes Lee is on a phone call as Lee is flanked by Tyson Dupont and Tyriek Igwe. Lee apparently has a match booked, and he is thrilled with the news. Remarking to Dupont and Igwe, Lee borrows from Ted DiBiase’s catchphrase. “Every man has a price,” Lee says with a smirk.

Josh Briggs and Yoshiki Inamura talk as part of a backstage skit. Inamura apologizes to Briggs for failing him, and Inamura informs Briggs he is heading back to Japan. Inamura gives Briggs his vest, and says “goodbye my friend.”

As Inamura leaves, up walks Brooks Jensen and The Culling. Jensen is a former tag partner of Briggs, and Jensen makes a sarcastic remark about being there before in this same position. Jensen blames Briggs for being the problem.

Charlie Dempsey, as leader of No Quarter Catch Crew, tells the group he needs their help to get ready for his match at Battleground against NXT Champion Oba Femi. Myles Borne, who actually became number one contender earlier in the show, takes exception to Dempsey claiming the title match. Insisting Borne won for the good of the group, Dempsey also insists he himself gets the title shot.

In walks Femi, and he congratulates Borne. Dempsey chimes in to again insist he will face Femi in the title match. Borne says the match is his, but he basically calls out Dempsey in front of Femi. This sets up Dempsey against Femi in a non-title match for next Tuesday on NXT.

Jordynne Grace defeated Giulia in a number one contender’s match

Grace pinned Giulia to win what was a really good bout. Clean finish and a strong match to determine the number one contender to Stephanie Vaquer, who came out after the match with her NXT title belt for a stare down with Grace.

Giulia and Grace start the bout with a safe version of Frye- Takayama, before they settle into a match. Grace and Giulia work well together, and they have a good match.

They wrestle through a commercial break, with Giulia giving Grace a neckbreaker on the floor just before the show cuts to its last break.

They trade near falls on the home stretch. Grace executes a delayed vertical suplex off the middle rope. Grace holds on, rolls through, and she powers up to deliver a jackhammer. Giulia kicks out at two and a half. Moments later, Giulia spikes Grace with a DDT. Giulia with a pump handle into a Norther Lights driver for another near fall.

They counter each other several times as they go home. Overhead suplex by Grace, only for Giulia to hulk up. Fighting spirit exchange before Grace delivers Beast Mode. Grace then hooks a leg to cover Giulia for the deciding pinfall. Grace is now the number one contender for the NXT women’s title.

NXT Women’s Stephanie Vaquer enters the ring after the match. The show ends with a staredown between Vaquer and Grace.

WWE Raw live results: Backlash go-home show

Posted on by Steve Khan

Date: May 5th, 2025
Location: CHI Health Center in Omaha, NE

The Big Takeaway —

Jey Uso had an impromptu world title defence against Seth Rollins. Both men got close nearfalls, and Rollins finally seemed to have it won thanks to Bron Breakker, but they were foiled by CM Punk.

**********

Show Recap — 

Following a recap of last week’s show-long storyline, Iyo Sky, Roxanne Perez, Alpha Academy, Rusev, and Gunther were shown arriving at the arena in Omaha. 

Jey Uso and Paul Heyman segment 

Jey Uso entered through the crowd to kick off Raw. Pat McAfee got on the table to Yeet, and Cole told him that’s what got them in trouble with Gunther in the first place. 

Cole spoke about Jey, who told him that he’s busier than he’s ever been but is loving every moment. After Jey hit the ring, the crowd wanted an encore, so as is the new pattern, Jey started his music again and Yeeted some more. 

Jey immediately called out Logan Paul, but he got Paul Heyman instead. Heyman said he wasn’t there to disrespect Jey Uso, but he dragged himself to Omaha because he had something to say to the world champion. 

Jey told him he had a lot of balls to come out here after doing what he just did to his family. Jey said he warned Roman Reigns and CM Punk about Heyman. Heyman said somebody should’ve warned him about Punk. Nobody lived through what Heyman has lived through. (The crowd loudly chanted for Punk.) 

Heyman said Punk put him in a position guaranteed to sabotage his relationship with Reigns. (The crowd chanted, “OTC” next.) Heyman knew Punk way back when Reigns was still playing football, but Reigns should have known he wouldn’t tell Punk any of his secrets. Heyman stood by Reigns’ side for years, even after he got beat by Cody Rhodes after getting distracted by Seth Rollins. 

Reigns disappeared to lick his wounds and left him alone with the new Bloodline, who put him through a table. Reigns only returned to get his Ula Fala, not to avenge him. All Heyman wanted to do was help his friend main event WrestleMania. Heyman went on a crazy rant, saying people always blamed him, but he was right. The crowd called Heyman an asshole. 

Jey quipped, “Are you ok?” and the crowd laughed. Jey wanted to know what any of this had to do with him. 

Heyman said Jey won the title, and the title was all about power and control. Jey didn’t know how to yield that power and control. The title wasn’t about putting on his best performance every night. While Jey might want to be champion, Rollins had to be champion. Rollins had to have the power and control. Bron Breakker was stage one of their plan, and stage two was the title. 

Heyman wanted to allow Jey to sign his own death warrant and pick the night he lost the title because Rollins was officially challenging him to a title match. Rollins deserved to be the number one contender after beating Punk and Reigns. Rollins could beat Jey any time, any place. 

Jey fired up and made the match for tonight as the crowd popped.

******** 

Heyman approached Rollins and Breakker in the back. Heyman said Jey fell for it. (Heyman acted frightened in the ring when Jey made the match, but he was delighted here.) Rollins was happy and said, “I told you so.” 

After Rollins left, Heyman asked Breakker if he understood the significance of tonight’s match, to which he responded, “I think so.” Heyman explained it to the meathead. 

Heyman put over how dangerous Jey was when he was prepared. He made Gunther tap out, but was now focused on Logan Paul. Rollins was a sniper who had Jey in his sights. The keys would be in their kingdom when the referee handed the world title belt to Rollins. 

The match was made official for tonight: Jey defends the world title against Rollins. (The first men’s world title match on Raw in seven months.) 

******** 

Penta vs. JD McDonagh (w/Finn Bálor & Carlito)

Penta won despite tons of interference. 

They went to break after McDonagh gave Penta a DVD onto the ring apron. Penta fought back after the break and hit a slingblade for two, and a backbreaker for two. 

Bálor distracted the referee while Carlito tried to interfere, but Penta shoved him off and sent McDonagh to the outside before wiping out both men with a diving crossbody. Bálor attacked Penta himself, but the ref saw it and tossed him and Carlito from ringside. Bálor tried to apologize, to no avail. 

Chad Gable interfered next while the referee was still distracted, but Penta wiped him out with a flip dive. McDonagh used the distraction to hit a jawbreaker, but Penta avoided a moonsault and hit a Canadian Destroyer for the pinfall win. (I’m glad he won with the Destroyer.) The crowd popped for the win. 

Match result: Penta defeated JD McDonagh (10:55) 

********

Last week, Grayson Waller was excited to announce he was requesting a singles match this week. However, he complained to Adam Pearce backstage after learning who his opponent was. 

Austin Theory showed up, and Waller acted like he never wanted a singles match in the first place. Waller told Pearce that Theory should do the match instead. Theory was happy to do it, so Pearce accepted. Theory asked Waller who his opponent was, but Waller said it was a surprise. 

******** 

Cathy Kelley interviewed Karrion Kross (with Scarlett) during a break. There wasn’t much to it. Kross got a decent reaction and made a reference to his “killer” nickname. 

Anthony Smith was shown ringside. 

Sheamus vs. Austin Theory (w/Grayson Waller)

Theory was not happy with Waller after learning his opponent was the returning Sheamus. The crowd was happy to see him. 

Sheamus was in control until Theory took over during the break after hitting a draping neckbreaker off the apron. Theory avoided ten beats of the Bodhrán and slingshotted back into the ring, but right into a Sheamus knee strike. 

Theory hit a rolling blockbuster, but Sheamus responded with an avalanche White Noise. Sheamus hit ten fourteen beats of the Bodhrán as the crowd loudly chanted along, followed by a Brogue Kick for the pinfall win. 

Match result: Sheamus defeated Austin Theory (9:39) 

********

A new match was announced for Backlash: Dominik Mysterio defends the Intercontinental Championship against Penta. 

McDonagh approached Judgment Day backstage. He was pissed and wondered why Gable got involved earlier. 

AJ Styles, who just lost to Logan Paul, entered and said he was coming for the Intercontinental title after Backlash. (Styles misspoke when trying to say, “Intercontinental,” so he had to redo the line.) Styles left. 

Dom wasn’t happy with this and asked Bálor to talk to Styles since they had a history. Bálor acted annoyed that he had to clean up Dom’s mess again, but he was just screwing with Dom. Bálor smiled and said he would take care of it. 

********

The New Day approached Gable backstage. Kofi Kingston said it was awful what just happened to Gable. Xavier Woods said American Made should start seeing more opportunities (instead of the War Raiders). They were all on the same page. 

Becky Lynch barged through them and made her way to the stage. 

Becky Lynch and Lyra Valkyria segment 

Lynch entered. She was confused over why the fans treated her like the bad guy, because she was the victim. When she returned at WrestleMania, everyone lost their minds. A woman in the crowd cried tears of joy. Nobody cared where Bayley was because she was garbage. 

Lynch took out the garbage, and now everyone was mad that she did. That’s not how you react when someone takes out the garbage; you thank them for it. She also took out the recycling (referring to Lyra Valkyria). Valkyria was less offensive than regular garbage, but she was still garbage. What was garbage about Valkyria was her attitude. She didn’t have a dream or a title if not for Lynch. She wouldn’t even have her fiancé if not for her. 

Valkyria interrupted. She called Lynch the queen of recycling because she’s been recycling the same moves and tired old act for years. Valkyria didn’t care about that. She had a problem with Lynch claiming any credit for her success. 

Valkyria said Lynch went on holiday, and everyone else got better. Valkyria made history. Not only that, she’s already defended the belt more times than Lynch has shown up for work this year. Valkyria said Lynch had no intention of taking anyone else to the top with her. 

Lynch said Valkyria was right that everyone had the best year of their career while she was gone, but that was because she wasn’t around to compare themselves to. It wasn’t Lynch’s job to help anybody. It was her job to beat everybody, and she was the greatest to ever do it. That wasn’t just her talking—Sports Illustrated called her the best to ever do it. 

Valkyria said Lynch must hate it that she was the first-ever Women’s Intercontinental Champion. Valkyria said Lynch better enjoy second place. 

Lynch tried a cheap shot, but Valkyria saw it coming and tackled her. They brawled until officials pulled Valkyria away, but she broke through and laid out Lynch with Nightwing. 

(Lynch was good here, and this was a decent enough exchange. However, Valkyria’s promo sounded like something that could have been written for anybody to say.) 

********

Perez cut a very generic heel promo during a break. 

Non-title match: Women’s World Champion IYO SKY vs. Roxanne Perez

Sky went for a dive, but Perez slipped back into the ring and kicked her leg out of her leg. Perez followed with a dive of her own. Perez took too much time looking around, so Sky wiped her out with a suicide dive. Sky set up for a springboard move, but Perez knocked her down and targeted her leg again. 

Perez targeted Sky’s leg through a break, but Sky hit an arm drag off the second rope as they returned from break. Sky fired up the crowd after hitting a missile dropkick, but she couldn’t follow up because of her knee. Perez tried to take advantage, but Sky hit a double foot stomp. Sky hit a German suplex and rolled through for another, but Perez countered with a back suplex. Sky responded with a backbreaker. 

Perez avoided a moonsault, and Sky sold her injured leg upon landing. Perez followed with a double knee drop for two. They traded cradles for a series of two counts until Sky captured her in one final cradle for the pinfall win. 

— Perez shook Sky’s hand after the match, but it was a swerve. Giulia decked Sky from behind, and Perez joined the assault. They double-teamed her as the crowd chanted for Rhea Ripley, but as the announcers noted, Ripley is in Australia. Giulia and Perez stood tall. 

Match result: IYO SKY defeated Roxanne Perez (10:08) 

********

Pearce met with the War Raiders backstage during a break, which led to an argument involving the Raiders, Gable and The New Day. Pearce put the War Raiders in a match with the Creed Brothers, with the winner getting the next shot at New Day. 

Everyone left, and as Gable was about to leave, Pearce said, “Hey, Americano.” Gable turned around to acknowledge him, but immediately realized his mistake. They both chuckled. Pearce wished Gable a happy Cinco de Mayo, and Gable said, “Gracious.”

The crowd got a kick out of this. It’s too bad this was during a break. 

******** 

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

Rusev hit a spinning heel kick ahead of an early break. Otis had some offence during the break, but Rusev sent him out of the ring with a dropkick as they returned. Rusev went after Otis, but Otis easily suplexed him over the announce desk. 

Rusev ducked a strike by Otis, causing Otis to slam his arm against the ring post. Otis ducked a kick, causing Rusev to kick the ring post. They found their way back in the ring, and Otis went for a corner charge, but Rusev hit a superkick. Rusev responded with an Accolade, and Otis tapped out. 

— Rusev wouldn’t let go of the hold after the match, but did once Tozawa hit the ring. Tozawa challenged him to a fight right now, but Rusev couldn’t be bothered, so he left. Of course, as Tozawa checked on Otis, Rusev ran back down to attack them. 

Rusev powerbombed Tozawa onto Otis before putting Otis in the Accolade again until officials broke it up. (Natalya ran down to check on Dupri.) 

Rusev looked good in the post-match.

Match result: Rusev defeated Otis (6:27) 

********

Pat McAfee and Gunther segment 

Pearce called McAfee and Gunther to the ring and told them to keep it professional until Saturday. 

Gunther informed McAfee he wouldn’t do anything to him tonight because he didn’t want to spoil Saturday. And, unlike McAfee and Cole, he was a professional. The crowd chanted, “You tapped out,” so Gunther told them to shut up. 

McAfee called Cole a GOAT. People cheered and chanted for Cole. (This is still so weird to me.) McAfee said Cole has dedicated his time to this company for 28 years straight, minus just three days. Cole earned the right to have an opinion, yet it bothered Gunher so much that it caused him to attack a 60-year-old man. 

McAfee said it was appropriate that they were in Omaha, Nebraska. Being in Nebraska made him think of the Cornhuskers. It made him think of steak, because nobody beats this town’s meat. It made him think of the annual College Baseball World Series held in this town. This city was a symbol of dreams coming true. 

McAfee thought he and Gunther had things in common, despite being from different places. They grew up with the same dream, wanting to be in this industry. They spent hours watching wrestling in front of the television, knowing this was what they were meant to do. 

Gunther has been in the business for 20 years. He was a champion for 80% of his time here. But he’s become jaded. It was just a job to him now. But McAfee was jacked up every time he stepped into an arena. McAfee thought about 11-year-old him, dreaming about getting in the ring to let assholes like Gunther know that he doesn’t like what they’re about. 

McAfee thought about Gunther at this current stage, as opposed to his Waltering around stage, and he’s become too comfortable. He didn’t want it anymore. It happened with Sami Zayn and with Jey Uso. McAfee would show everyone that Gunther has gone soft. 

Gunther asked if McAfee enjoyed his daughter’s 2nd birthday last week. It must have been special. Saturday was a special day for Gunther, and McAfee just got him in the mood for it. 

It was Gunther’s first match since Mania, and he would show up sharper and more focused than ever. Gunther would beat him up and maul him. He would drive McAfee’s head into the mat and choke him out. Only the grace of God would be able to lift his arms off McAfee’s throat. 

Gunther threw down the mic and marched to the back. 

******** 

There was a video for John Cena vs. Randy Orton. They let us know that their last singles match was back in 2017. 

Next week on Raw: 

  • Finn Bálor vs. AJ Styles 
  • The War Raiders vs. The Creed Brothers 
  • IYO SKY & Rhea Ripley vs. Roxanne Perez & Giulia

********

World Heavyweight Championship: Jey Uso vs. Seth Rollins (w/Paul Heyman & Bron Breakker)

Jey wrestled in black pants and white sneakers. He switched to black after Gunther attacked Jimmy, but I think he’s safe to go back to more colourful attire. Black is more serious, but also looks too generic. 

Jey hit with a suicide dive early on. Rollins fell over the announce table and came up bleeding from the back of his head. Jey was in control during a break until Rollins dropped him face-first into the middle turnbuckle. 

They knocked each other down with a duel crossbody attempts, before Jey fired back with strikes, a Samoan Drop, and a running hip attack for two. Rollins followed with a suicide dive, but Jey caught him with a mid-air superkick moments later for a nearfall. Both guys were down, so the crowd chanted, “This is awesome.” 

Rollins hit a buckle bomb but missed a frog splash. Jey went for a spear, but Rollins countered that into a Pedigree for two. (A clever spot, since we know Rollins has done this to Reigns before.) Jey avoided a stomp and applied a sleeper. (The crowd was into the sleeper since that’s how he beat Gunther.) Rollins slipped out of it, but Jey hit a spear for a very close nearfall. 

Jey knocked Rollins off the top, and Rollins accidentally-on-purpose bumped into the referee. Breakker tried to interfere with the ref distracted, but Jey kicked him off. With Jey recuperating, Rollins hit a superplex into a falcon arrow, followed by a curb stomp for a nearfall. 

As Rollins spoke with Breakker, Sami Zayn entered to his music to take out Breakker. 

Jey superkicked Rollins, hit a spear and an Uso splash. Everyone thought that was it, but Rollins kicked out. 

Zayn rallied the crowd and fired up Jey, but Breakker speared Zayn. As Jey checked on Zayn, Breakker speared him too (Heyman distracted the ref). 

Rollins hit a curb stomp and seemed to have the title won, but CM Punk entered to his music, and the crowd exploded. Punk attacked Breakker and Rollins with a chair. (The referee didn’t officially call an end to the match. He just waved his arms in frustration and left the ring, like in WWF Raw the video game.) 

— Punk attacked Rollins repeatedly with the chair until he escaped. The show ended with Punk standing tall as Zayn checked on Jey. 

(This was a fun match and the final moments were really well laid out, with some convincing nearfalls on both sides. Jey’s two best singles matches have now been against Seth Rollins. The other was back at the end of 2023 when Rollins was world champion.) 

Match result: Jey Uso vs. Seth Rollins ended in a no contest or disqualification (approx. 19:20)

WWE SmackDown live results: Aleister Black’s in-ring return

Posted on by Colin McGuire

Just over a week away from his Undisputed WWE Championship match against John Cena at Backlash, Randy Orton is set to appear on tonight’s SmackDown at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa.

Orton and Cena went face-to-face last week. During that segment, Orton hit the champion with an RKO to lay him out. Their match at Backlash could be the last time the two familiar rivals ever face each other with Cena set to retire in December.

Also tonight, Aleister Black will have his first match back in WWE after not being in the company for five years. He’s facing off against The Miz, which was set up last week when Miz offered up an impromptu promo inside the ring and the lights went out, setting the scene for Black’s return. Black then hit The Miz with a Black Mass.

LA Knight vs. Damian Priest has also been confirmed for tonight. Plus, Nia Jax will make an appearance.

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

**********

– Joe Tessitore welcomed everyone into the show. Randy Orton, Tiffany Stratton, Damian Priest, The Miz and Carmelo Hayes were shown walking backstage. Priest ran into Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu and confronted them. A yelling match ensued as LA Knight walked past them all and made his way to the ring.

The LA Knight/Damian Priest segment

Knight cut a promo in the ring and noted how he said last week that he wanted a rematch for his U.S. title. Knight voiced his displeasure for having to have a No. 1 contender’s match. Knight said the match didn’t go his way because Solo Sikoa interfered and Jacob Fatu jumped around everywhere. Knight then moved his attention to Damian Priest. On cue, Priest’s music hit and Priest made his entrance with a certain level of purpose.

Priest told Knight they didn’t have a problem and last week, everything he did was about Drew McIntyre. Priest noted how McIntyre mentioned Priest’s family and he couldn’t let McIntyre get away with that. Knight said Priest picked the wrong time to get back at McIntyre because the only reason the bell rang on his match was Priest. Priest said he saved Knight from taking a pin. Knight told Priest to not put Priest’s loss at WreslteMania on Knight. Priest responded by saying the only reason things happened the way they did is because Knight lost his title at Mania.

Knight admitted to losing and said he wants to fight his way back into the title picture and the reason he’s not champion this week is because of Priest. Priest said all of Knight’s frustrations are because of Knight. Knight reminded Priest that they don’t have a problem and if that’s the case, Priest needed to stop talking. Priest said even though their match is set for later tonight, they should just fight right now and asked Knight if that’s what he wanted. Knight, of course, said, “Yeah!” A referee ran to the ring and before the match began, the show went to a commercial break.

This was fine, if not a little rushed. Knight usually takes more time milking his catchphrases and Priest usually takes more time milking the spaces in between. On top of that, the promo ended before it was 10 minutes past the hour and I can’t recall a SmackDown going to commercial this early in the show in recent memory. Anyway, it was everything one would expect from both guys. God bless Knight. These crowds are still into him, even if the booking minds behind the scenes aren’t.

**********

LA Knight vs. Damian Priest

The match was joined in progress with Knight on top, working Priest with a series of strikes, before Priest fought back and slammed Knight. Priest then kicked Knight in the chin and got a two-count out of it. Priest set up for Old School, but Knight pulled Priest off the top and landed a back suplex. Knight followed up with a bunch of punches and a flying clothesline. Knight added a jumping neck-breaker and a Russian Leg Sweep to all of that for a two-count.

Priest punched Knight, but Knight then slammed Priest. Knight went for an elbow drop, but Priest caught him and tried to set up a South Of Heaven. Knight worked out of it and Priest clotheslined the hell out of Knight for a near fall. Priest lifted Knight for a Razor’s Edge, but Knight got out of it and DDT’d Priest. Knight went to the second rope and hit his jump-up elbow from the top for a two-count. The show then went to a commercial break.

The show returned and “This is awesome!” chants rang through the arena. Knight set up Priest for a super-plex, but Knight stopped him and the two battled on the second rope. Eventually, Priest stepped off the rope and onto the apron and kicked Knight. Priest then lifted Knight for a Razor’s Edge inside the ring, executed it, and Knight barely kicked out before three. “LA Knight!” chants began in the crowd. Priest went for South Of Heaven, but Knight countered … only for Priest to hit a Broken Arrow.

Priest went to the top rope, but Knight leapt up and hit a mega-plex for a nice near-fall. “This is awesome!” chants kicked up again. Knight clotheslined Priest over the top and to the outside. Knight went for his dropkick through the ropes, but Priest caught Knight and hit a Flatliner off the apron. Solo Sikoa then showed up and attacked Priest and the referee called for the bell.

Match result: LA Knight fought Damian Priest to a no contest (11:03 of TV time)

Sikoa turned his attention to Knight and set up for a Samoan Spike on Knight, but Priest punched Sikoa and Knight BFT’d Sikoa. Priest and Knight stared at each other and Priest cleared off the announce desk. Knight rolled Sikoa to the outside and Priest was going to hit South Of Heaven on Sikoa, but Fatu showed up and landed a Samoan Drop on Knight onto the announce desk after taking our Priest with a dive through the ropes. Fatu then hit a hip attack on Priest into the crowd barrier. Fatu posed on the ring steps with his U.S. title and the crowd cheered.

Priest and Knight felt like they had something to prove here. It was a welcome surprise. Both guys have settled into matches that have little more than them playing their biggest hits – a Razor’s Edge here, a step-up flying elbow there – and while this match featured all those things, there was a weird sense of urgency to all of it. So much so, that you have to wonder if they were determined to prove their in-ring worth here. It was dynamic. They completely had the live crowd. And they brought a dose of intensity that we don’t often see on SmackDown anymore. A tip of the cap goes to both guys for that. The finish felt predictable – let me guess … this leads to a tag match for later in the show – but as for this, it was one of the better TV matches from both guys in a long time. Good for them.

**********

– Byron Saxton interviewed Fraxiom backstage. Frazer said they were excited and they plan on flipping the SmackDown tag division upside down. Pretty Deadly walked into the scene and Saxton left. Wilson told them the SmackDown tag division is the hungriest tag division. Prince said he enjoyed having new European blood on SmackDown and followed that up by saying opportunities on SmackDown are earned and not given. The duo said they wanted to see how good Faxiom actually was and talked to Nick Aldis as a means to book a match. Pretty Deadly’s music hit back in the arena and they made their entrance.

– Michael Bisping was shown in the crowd and he stood up to throw some punches in the air.

Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince & Kit Wilson) vs. Fraxiom (Nathan Frazer & Axiom)

Wilson and Axiom began the match, but it wasn’t long before Frazer tagged in and ran the ropes awfully quickly and kicked Wilson. Frazer worked Wilson’s arm briefly and threw him into a corner, but Wilson walked out and kicked Frazer in the head. Prince tagged in and beat Frazer down. Frazer came back with an enziguri. Axiom tagged in and things broke down, complete with a repeated pair of dives onto the heels between the ropes.

Back inside the ring, Axiom went to work on Prince’s back. Axiom went to the top, but Prince caught Axiom during a cross-body attempt. Prince threw Axiom down into Wilson’s legs and Pretty Deadly posed as the show went to a commercial break about three-and-a-half minutes into the match.

The show returned and Axiom was chopping Wilson. Ultimately, Frazer received the hot tag and hit a dropkick on both Wilson and Prince. Frazer landed a springboard until a DDT and a running Shooting Star Press. The referee essentially counted to three but Prince didn’t kick out and it was an awkward moment. Prince’s mouth was quite bloody after all of this. Pretty Deadly took control back and Wilson tagged in. As such, Wilson powerbombed Frazer for a two-count. Wilson and Frazer traded elbows until Frazer placed Wilson on the top rope. Axiom hit a Spanish Fly and Frazer followed up with a Phoenix Splash for the win.

Match result: Fraxiom (Nathan Frazer & Axiom) defeated Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince & Kit Wilson) (9:29)

My heart goes out to Elton Prince’s teeth. That fella’s face came up awfully bloody after he missed the kickout spot. Jacob Fatu talks about all gas, no breaks, but damn if Nathan Frazer doesn’t live that lifestyle in the ring, too. Stuff like that is going to happen every now and then when the guy only knows one speed and it’s 150 MPH. The match itself was the standard Fraxiom fare. Lots of speed. Lots of flash. A lot of fun. I’m not complaining. And Pretty Deadly had a good outing, too, proving they can work with any style of team WWE might throw at them. Prince’s face might not approve, but this turned out well.

**********

– B-Fab and Michin were shown talking to Nick Aldis in Aldis’s office, but Chelsea Green showed up with Piper Niven and Alba Fyre. The trio was dressed in black and Green said last week’s loss was because of collusion. Niven called Green an American hero, which was funny. Aldis tried to walk away, but Green bargained with Aldis for a rematch. Instead, Aldis said Zelina Vega will face Piper Niven tonight. Aldis said if Niven wins, she’ll be the No. 1 contender for Vega’s U.S. title. Green almost fainted.

– A video package chronicling the history between John Cena and Randy Orton aired.

The Nia Jax/Tiffany Stratton/Naomi/Jade Cargill segment

Jax stood in the middle of the ring and soaked in boos. She said it sounded like everyone missed her and the crowd booed louder. Jax said she was happy she was back, but while she was gone, she was at home getting refocused and she regrouped so she could come back and take what’s her’s – the WWE Women’s Championship. Tiffany Stratton’s music hit and Stratton walked out with a microphone in hand. Stratton said she wasn’t the same Stratton that Jax used to bully around. Stratton said went toe to toe with one of the greatest of all time, Charlotte Flair. Stratton said if her and Jax ever locked up again, Stratton would be Jax, too.

Jax asked if Stratton was offering a rematch. Stratton said she wouldn’t ever shy away from a fight and she would defend her title against Jax anytime, anywhere. Naomi’s music hit and Naomi walked out with a microphone. Naomi spoke in the entranceway and said it was funny to see Stratton and Jaxx fighting because she remembered when she tried to take the title from Jax, Stratton always found a way to help out Jax. Naomi questioned whether Stratton actually changed and said she didn’t; in fact, Naomi said Naomi was the only one to really change. Naomi said Jade Cargill ruined everything she has worked for, but even so, she’s not done going after gold.

Jade Cargill’s music hit and Cargill walked with purpose towards Naomi, who rolled into the ring. All four women brawled in the ring. Cargill clotheslined Naomi over the top and to the outside and Stratton disposed of Jax to the outside as well. Cargill and Stratton circled each other and Aldis walked out to make a tag team match, which, it appears, will happen later in the show.

Man, Naomi is so great in this role. That needs to be said. Now, with that said, I can’t say I’m particularly excited for another Jax/Stratton program, but it kind of/sort of feels like WWE is going with this to reset Stratton back on a reliable path after the chaotic business with Charlotte. I’m still a little baffled that Naomi and Cargill is still a thing, but perhaps it will one day lead to a hell of a blow-off match. Wade Barrett mentioned how the tag match might be the main event now, and I hope it is. Give them 20 minutes and let’s see what happens. It could be very good.

**********

– Tessitore set up highlights of last week’s Miz/Black situation. Melo was hyping up Miz backstage and told Miz he’d show everyone tonight. Miz rambled about how he deserves more respect than he receives. Miz said Black didn’t knock him out last week; he woke Miz up. Miz said Black might want to make a statement, but instead, Black will be part of Miz’s statement. At one point, it looked like Miz forgot his line, but he recovered nicely.

Aleister Black vs. The Miz

Miz ran at Black to start the match and nearly ran into a Black Mass, but Miz retreated. The two went back and forth until Black caught Miz as Miz went for a kick. Black placed Miz’s foot back on the canvas and Miz hit Black. Before long, Black did the springboard moonsault into his sitting position spot. Miz was on the outside and Black reached for Miz, but was distracted by Melo. Miz capitalized and slammed Black’s head into the bottom-ring LED board. The show then went to a commercial break.

The show returned and The Miz was posing as people booed. Miz went for a springboard move, but Black moved. Eventually, Miz pushed Black to the outside. Miz leapt at Black from the ring steps and landed on a knee from Black. Back in the ring, Black went to work on Miz, complete with body strikes and a springboard moonsault for a very close near-fall. Miz came back and kicked Black’s knee before hitting a DDT for a two-count.

Miz hit some Miz Kicks and Black laughed. Black followed up with a spinning elbow and a knee to the jaw of Miz. Miz came right back and went for a Skull Crushing Finale, but Black cartwheeled out of it, much to the delight of the live crowd. Black followed up with a tough knee to Miz’s face. Melo threatened to get involved and Miz rolled up Black to no avail. From there, it was Black Mass and the end.

Match result: Aleister Black defeated The Miz (9:28)

After the match, Melo and Black went face to face in the middle of the ring. Melo slowly exited the ring and walked away as Black sat in the center of the ring.

This was probably more competitive than it should have been, even if about three minutes were lost to commercials. Still, Black got in a lot of really good-looking offense while … weirdly … Miz didn’t concern himself with selling for all that long each time he took some of it. It’s almost as if Black brought some of AEW back to WWE with him. I kid. This was obviously always more about setting Black up with Melo, and that should be a very good match. In the meantime, Miz did his best to hang and he didn’t fail. Don’t get me wrong. This is a no-hate-Miz zone, but his best days are behind him. As such, kudos to him for helping reintroduce Black to the WWE fan base.

**********

– Santos Escobar was talking with Rey Fenix in the locker room. Escobar said Fenix disappointed him at WrestleMania because he lost to a clown. Escobar said Fenix blew his chance and now that Rey Mysterio is out with an injury, Escobar wants to take his place. Fenix cut Escobar off and told him to stay out of his business. Fenix said there is only one lunchador that he trusts and it’s not Escobar. Fenix said if Escobar had a problem, he’d see him in the ring later tonight.

– Dion Dawkins from the Buffalo Bills was shown in the crowd. He appeared to be very happy.

Zelina Vega vs. Piper Niven

Vega had control early and stretched Niven, who eventually went for a splash and missed. From there, Vega repeatedly kicked Niven. Vega hit a knee on Niven and got a one-count out of it. Vega ran at Niven, but Niven shoulder-blocked Vega to the canvas. Vegan rolled to the outside and then rolled back inside, where Niven lifted Vega to no avail. The two struggled before Niven planted Vega face-first. Niven rammed Vega’s head into the bottom turnbuckle. With Niven in control, the show went to a commercial break.

The show returned and Niven still had control, spinning Vega around in circles. Niven lifted Vegan, but Vega countered with somewhat of a Codebreaker. Niven came right back with a slam and a running Senton for a two-count. Niven ran at Vega, but Vega moved and went to the top, where Niven slapped Vega. Niven went for a super-plex, but Vega worked out of it and hit a Meteora on Niven for a two-count. Vega tried a Code Red, but Niven stopped it and landed a side-slam.

Niven ran at Vega and Vega moved. Niven lifted Vega, but it all resulted on a DDT from Vega. From there, Vega went to the top and hit a moonsault from the top rope for a nice near-fall. Vega went for a Code Red again, but Niven wouldn’t allow it. Niven tried a powerbomb, but that turned into Vega setting up a 618 situation. Chelsea Green hopped on the apron to stop Vega and Niven ran at Vega, but Vega moved and Niven ran into Green. From there, Vega rolled up Niven for the pin.

Match result: Zelina Vega defeated Piper Niven (11:07)

This was a better match than any of Vega’s outings with Green in previous weeks. Niven worked her powerhouse offense style and Vega broke out some things we haven’t seen from her recently. This exceeded expectations and both wrestlers came out of this looking better than they did going in. Good for Vega, too, because the live crowd seemed to be behind her for the first time in a while. Here’s hoping that momentum continues because it doesn’t look like she’s going to stop working with Green and her crew any time soon.

**********

– Aldis was speaking to Sikoa and Fatu in Aldis’s office. Sikoa said that Fatu was telling everyone they better stay out of his way. Aldis said at Backlash, Fatu will defend his U.S. title against Priest and Knight. Sikoa said McIntyre is technically the No. 1 contender after last week. Aldis said Sikoa was right and because of as much, McIntyre will be added to the match and it will be a fatal four-way. Fatu said he’s all gas and no breaks and he was fine with it (in so many words). Sikoa said Aldis was trying to screw Fatu over, but Aldis told Sikoa it was actually Sikoa who was screwing over Fatu.

The Randy Orton segment

Orton said he knew they were already two hours into the show (by God), but “Welcome to Friday Night SmackDown!” The crowd cheered. Orton simply said “John Cena” and the crowd booed. Orton said while the world couldn’t see Cena, Orton could. Orton said it took about 20 years for everyone to realize what kind of man Cena is, but Orton knew from day one. “Cena sucks!” chants began. Orton called Cena entitled and said Cena he is the ultimate shiny new toy to be played with by the ultimate puppet master. Orton said Cena took advantage of the PG Era. Orton said Cena was willing to be a real life, walking, talking cartoon character. Meanwhile, Orton said, Orton was true to who he was.

Orton said Cena didn’t care about the boys in the back or the fans; all Cena cared about is his bottom line. Orton said Cena only cares about the new merch Cena puts out all the time because all the kids always go and grab it up. The crowd booed in response to this. Orton brought up the kids thing again and said the only thing Cena has raised is the price of his merchandise, which parents have had to work “a double to afford.” Orton said Cena has been selling his soul for 20 years.

Orton asked what happened to loyalty and respect when it comes to Cena. Orton recalled how Cena said he’d erase the Orton name from the pro wrestling business. Orton fired up and said Cena will not do that, over his “dead freakin’ body.” Orton said Cena is the latest legend that he will have to put down and he will do so at Backlash in his hometown in front of his wife, friends and family. Orton said he will punt Cena so hard in “that lego-shaped head,” that it will fly through the Gateway Arch. Orton said he will also drop Cena with an RKO and dropped the microphone and Orton’s music hit to end the segment.

The crowd couldn’t seem to figure out what it wanted to do here. So much so that it almost made me wonder if Cena was actually there, perhaps they would have landed more on Cena’s side than they would have Orton’s. Either way, this was the best it could be, considering how they only had one side of the PLE main event in the live house. Orton’s comments on Cena’s merch sparked a few thoughts in me, though. He wasn’t wrong, really, per se. But if those writers and all those executives know that they have overpriced merchandise that really does require some parents to work overtime to afford for their kids … I’m not so sure that’s a great look. Maybe it caught me at a sensitive time and I’m overreacting, but there were a lot of things off of which Orton could have played. Reminding everyone that WWE preys off its fanbase by raising merchandise prices (and, not to mention, those insane PLE ticket prices) probably wasn’t the most tactful way to go. So it goes. We march on to next Saturday.

**********

– Naomi was in her locker room and Nia Jax walked in. Jax said they need to be on the same page, so as long as whatever Naomi stays out of Jax’s way, they’ll be good. Naomi simply said, “Sure,” and walked away.

– Orton was shown walking backstage and ran into R-Truth. Truth said Orton has no chance at Backlash. Jimmy Uso stepped in and told Orton not to be too mad about Truth’s prediction. Jimmy told Truth if he keeps talking like this, Orton will kick Truth’s head off. Jimmy told Truth he needed to stop believing in Cena as Truth walked away.

Santos Escobar vs. Rey Fenix

Fenix got the crowd behind him before the two began the match in earnest by locking up. Escobar took Fenix down briefly, but Fenix worked his way back. The two reset the match and Fenix chopped Escobar. Escobar returned the favor and they traded chest chops back and forth until Fenix went to the ground. Escobar yelled at Fenix that they could rule the place together and Fenix responded with a tough chop to Escobar’s chest. Fenix pushed Escobar to the canvas.

Fenix set up for his double springboard arm-drag, but Escobar cut him off. Escobar ran at Fenix, but Fenix moved and Escobar spilled to the outside. Fenix followed Escobar and Escobar eventually ran Fenix into the side of the ring. Escobar returned to the ring and hit a dive through the top two ropes onto Fenix on the outside. Escobar celebrated a bit and the show went to a commercial break.

The show returned and Escobar had the upper hand, complete with a splash onto Fenix from the apron into the ring. Escobar stretched Fenix. Escobar leapt at Fenix in a corner and Fenix moved. From there, Fenix hit a wild springboard top-rope moonsault for a two-count. Fenix followed up with a spinning kick for another two-count. Fenix took a knee from Escobar, but popped right back up and kicked Escobar. Both guys were down to reset the match at about the 10-and-a-half minute mark.

Fenix jumped at Escobar, but Escobar caught Fenix and the two fought in a corner until Fenix came off the top and landed on Escobar’s knee. Escobar followed up with a double-knees in the corner. Escobar lifted Fenix, but Fenix worked his way out it and ran the top rope to kick Escobar’s head. From there, Fenix hit the top rope Meteora on Escobar and got the pinfall victory.

Match result: Rey Fenix defeated Santos Escobar (12:25)

This was pretty good. WWE has done a good job introducing Rey Fenix and Penta into the fold and Penta and Fenix have done a good job melding themselves into the WWE landscape/style. Considering how I can’t even remember the last time we saw a Santos Escobar singles match on WWE TV, it seems like others are benefiting from the Lucha Bros’ arrival as well. It’d be nice to see Fenix elevated into some type of title picture, rather than feud with a faction leader who doesn’t even really seem to have a faction these days, but patience is key. Also of note: I’m kind of finding myself falling in love with these tiny stylistic touches Fenix’s matches continue to display, a la the no-sell quick pop-up super-kick here. You see it 5,000 times on any given AEW television show; when it happens on WWE TV, you almost want to smile because it comes across as a delightful surprise.

**********

– Stratton and Cargill were talking backstage and Saxton walked in. Stratton said Jax will have to learn that Jax will have to learn that her title belongs around Stratton. Cargill said she is focusing on Naomi, but next week on SmackDown, Cargill will take on Jax in a No. 1 Contender’s match for Tiffy’s title.

– A video package recapping last week’s fantastic TLC match aired.

– Escobar was shown backstage yelling at Berto and Angel. Andrade walked into the picture and said he knows Escobar doesn’t care about Los Garza. Andrade said he doesn’t like Escobar and siad Escobar doesn’t have respect from Los Garza. Angel was taken away via Escobar, but Berto stayed behind and shared a moment with Andrade before he was whisked away by Escobar.

– Next week, John Cena will be on the show. Knight and Priest will team up to face Fatu and Sikoa. Plus, don’t forget, Cargill and Jax will wrestle to determine the No. 1 Contender for Tiffy’s title.

Tiffany Stratton & Jade Cargill vs. Naomi & Nia Jax

The heels jumpstarted the match and all four women brawled, Tiffy splitting off with Jax and Cargill splitting off with Naomi. Tiffy ran Jax into the ring steps. Jax ran Tiffy into the crowd barrier. Inside the ring, Cargill threw Naomi to the outside. Cargill ran Naomi into a ring post and rolled Naomi back into the ring. Naomi kicked Cargill in the midsection. Naomi worked Cargill’s arm and used the vaunted back-rake. Naomi kicked Cargill in the back and jawed at Cargill. Jax tagged herself in and bulldozed Cargill before knocking Tiffy off the apron. Jax mocked Cargill’s pose in the middle of the ring and the show went to its final commercial break of the night.

The show returned and Jax knocked Stratton off the apron again. Cargill lifted Jax for a bodyslam, but collapsed. Jax got up and tagged in Naomi, who beat Cargill down. Naomi tried to tag in Jax, but Cargill stopped her and planted her. Jax eventually tagged in, but Cargill kicked Jax away and tagged Tiffy into the match. Tiffy put a knee to Jax’s forehead and landed her gymnastics corner spot. Stratton countered a Samoan Drop into a pin attempt for a two-count.

Stratton went to the top, but Jax cut her off and hit a Samoan Drop. Naomi tagged herself in after Jax hit a leg drop on Stratton. Naomi and Jax argued and Naomi set up for the split-legged moonsault, but Tiffy got her knees up. Tiffy tagged in Cargill, who worked over Naomi. Cargill grabbed Naomi by the throat and chokeslammed her, but Jax broke up the pin attempt. Jax dragged Naomi to the corner and tagged in. Jax worked over Cargill, but Tiffy broke things up with a Swanton on Jax.

Naomi reinserted herself and Tiffy and Naomi brawled in a corner. Jax squashed Tiffy and Naomi and pushed them both out of the ring. Jax then hit a splash on Cargill in a corner. Jax set up for her finisher, but Cargill hopped up and hit a powerbomb on Jax, ultimately getting the pinfall victory for her team.

Match result: Tiffany Stratton & Jade Cargill defeated Nia Jax & Naomi (11:30)

After the match, the ref tried to give Tiffy her title, but Cargill intercepted it and held it for a quick second. The two then pulled at the title and Naomi attacked Cargill from behind. Naomi then held up Tiffy’s title as the babyfaces sold pain. Naomi posing ended the show.

This was a fun tag that had a lot of fire and chaos in a good way. While I could use a freshening up of programs for all four women involved, they did a good job here of making me interested in what they had going on, which can only lead to good things going forward for this viewer, at least. Cargill getting the win off a powerbomb that now seems to be a pretty routine spot for most Jax matches was mildly surprising, but then again, it is Jade Cargill, so perhaps that powerbomb is supposed to pack more punch. It also has me thinking Jax wins the No. 1 Contender’s match next week, which is a little disappointing, but we’ll see. At the end of the day, this was good work from everyone involved and a solid way to end a show that was probably a lot better than anyone thought it might be. The bar might be low these days, but the bar, don’t forget, is the bar.


WWE NXT live results: Joe Hendry appears, IYO SKY in action

Posted on by Chris Aiken

Tonight’s NXT episode is set to feature special appearances by TNA World Champion Joe Hendry and WWE Women’s Champion IYO SKY.

Invited to the show by Shawn Michaels, Hendry will be on NXT to address the ending of TNA’s Rebellion pay-per-view. Hendry retained his TNA World Championship against Frankie Kazarian and Ethan Page in the main event but was then attacked by Trick Williams.

SKY is looking for revenge after being targeted by Giulia and Roxanne Perez on Raw in back-to-back weeks. It will be SKY & Jordynne Grace vs. Giulia & Perez tonight.

A couple of titles are scheduled to be defended on the episode. North American Champion Ricky Saints has a defense against Lexis King, while new NXT Tag Team Champions Hank & Tank will put their belts on the line against Josh Briggs & Yoshiki Inamura.

Plus, Tony D’Angelo and Channing Lorenzo will have a confrontation after Stacks’ recent betrayal.

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

**********

The episode begins with a video package recapping the story so far in feud between Joe Hendry and Trick Williams.

Opening the show are commentators Vic Joseph, Corey Graves and Booker T from a sound stage at the Performance Center in Orlando in front of a live studio audience.

Joseph speaks the name of TNA Champion Joe Hendry, and he appears. Such is his gimmick. Tonight, Hendry enters the sound stage wearing his WrestleMania-branded t-shirt. The live studio audience responds accordingly, as they wave their arms in unison to the beat of Hendry’s theme song.

Hendry enters the ring for a monologue. He plays to the crowd and mentions wrestling Randy Orton at WrestleMania, and then Hendry days later defended the TNA Championship. That is where Trick Williams attacked Hendry in a cliffhanger ending to the TNA Rebellion pay-per-view.

Hendry cuts a promo on Trick, and Hendry gets the crowd to chant “we believe” in him. Hendry figures that Trick knew Oba Femi was not going to give him a shot at the NXT Championship, so Hendry says that Trick is instead trying to get a shot at the TNA Championship. Hendry then calls out Trick.

Before Trick came enter, the lights so out on the sound stage. The DarkState faction appears, and they jump Hendry. They powerbomb Hendry and leave him laying in the ring as they stand over Hendry.

The show cuts away to a skit from earlier today, where WWE Women’s World Champion IYO SKY is in the office of NXT General Manager Ava. She booked SKY in a tag team match, and Ava asks if SKY found a tag partner. Not yet, but in walks Jordynne Grace to volunteer. SKY accepts the offer, so her and Grace will team up later on.

NXT North American Champion Ricky Saints and Lexis King prepare for their title match, which is “next” after a commercial break.

What was actually next after the break is a quick recap from last Tuesday night when Liv Morgan & Raquel Gonzalez defended the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship against Gigi Dolan & Tatum Paxley. That recap led into a skit from the NXT lounge.

Karmen Petrovic was talking with Dolan & Paxley when they are interrupted by Ashante “Thee” Adonis. He basically tells her to ditch the two losers because Adonis got her booked in a title match tonight. Petrovic takes exception at him calling them losers, and she also says she in not ready for a title match tonight. Adonis responds by saying she better get ready because “we” have a title match.

NXT North American Champion Ricky Saints defeated Lexis King to retain his title

Saints pinned King clean after a Roshambo. It was a good match with lots of action. The match goes through commercial break.

King jumps Saints before the bell rings to start the match. Saints soon counters King, and Saints goes on to pose atop the barricade as the show cuts to commercial.

When the show returns from the break, King gets a near fall after a Swanton Bomb. More near falls for King, until Saints attempts a comeback. King goes for his finisher, but Saints counters him. Saints spikes King with a tornado DDT, and Saints executes his finisher. Saints then covers King for a pinfall. And still…

“NXT Spotlight” sponsored by an insurance company features a vignette where Shawn Spears addresses The Culling.

Tony D’Angelo makes his first appearance in front of the studio audience since Stacks turned on him at Stand & Deliver. D’Angelo begins his monologue by saying we can all relate to betrayal. Still, “The Don” did not expect it at Stand & Deliver.

D’Angelo expected a man-to-man conversation, but not the betrayal. The Don talks about when he stuck up for Stacks when they were kids. D’Angelo insists that Stacks always had his eyes on being the boss of The Family. D’Angelo then talks about the times Stacks stepped up, so he was rewarded with being the Underboss. Yet at the same time, Stacks was impulsive. D’Angelo had to step in to show why he was still “The Don” of the The Family.

The Don says Stacks waited until the world was watching to stab him in the back. D’Angelo says Stacks will pay for his sins. The Don also mentions that Luca Crusifino is missing and Adrianna Rizzo remains in hiding.

A bunch of security enters the ringside area as the Titantron shows a pre-taped promo from Stacks. He is on bridge somewhere, which is a callback a usual meeting place for The Family. Stacks cuts a promo on D’Angelo, with Stacks saying he is tired of taking orders. Stacks also says D’Angelo has grown soft, and Stacks accuses The Don letting The Family get pushed around by groups like DarkState.

Stacks wants to become the new Don of the Family. He knows D’Angelo better than anyone, and Stacks knows that D’Angelo is losing power. Stacks questions whether D’Angelo can trust his own Family.

The security detail turns out to be henchmen for Stacks. D’Angelo cleans house on the henchmen, as what appears to be other mobster look on from the apron. They do not help D’Angelo, but he does not need any as he easily suplexes a henchman over the top rope. End Scene.

In a backstage skit, Meta-Four splits up as they all agree to go their separate ways. Oro Mensah, Jakara Jackson, Lash Legend and Noam Dar all hug and then depart as singles wrestlers. Not the only break-up on this episode, but the only amicable break-up of the night.

NXT Women’s North American Champion Sol Ruca (with Zaria) defeated Karmen Petrovic (with Ashante “Thee” Adonis)

Ruca pinned Petrovic clean after a Sol Snatcher. After the match, Petrovic breaks up with Adonis. She turns on him as he is barking at her about why she lost. Petrovic heard enough. When Adonis grabs her arm, Petrovic lays out Adonis with a roundhouse kick. Adonis is dazed as the studio audience chants “one more time.”

Before the next commercial break, a clip plugs a cameo appearance by Trick Williams on the CW’s All American television series.

Trick Williams enters the sound stage to address the audience. Tricks name drops Joe Hendry, but he does not appear. Trick says Hendry should be glad DarkState got to him before Trick got to Hendry. Trick says even “those punks know” that Hendry does not belong here.

Trick responds to anyone thinking he “crashed out” last Tuesday. Trick then talks about his run-in at Rebellion. He also plugs his acting appearance on All American. I remember All American when Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon hosted the show, but that is story of another time.

Trick says he and Hendry are not on the same level. Trick is Hollywood, while Hendry is “local talent” in NXT. Trick wants his title back, and he wants to challenge Oba Femi.

Ava interrupted Trick and scolds him for his recent actions. Trick says he realized after Sunday (at Rebellion) that he is bigger than NXT. He refers himself as the “biggest superstar” in NXT, along with the biggest star in TNA.

While Ava agrees to give Trick another chance at a title shot, that will come in a 25-man battle royal next Tuesday on NXT to determine a number one contender. The winner of the battle royal will face Femi at Battleground for the NXT title. A battle royal? How original.

Roxanne Perez and Giulia talk ahead of their tag match later on against IYO SKY and Jordynne Grace.

Kelly Kincaid interviews NXT Champion Oba Femi, who vows to retain the title at Battleground. The interview is interrupted by a cameo from The Undertaker. He tells Femi that NXT is Femis’ yard now, but Undertaker warns him that some guys from LFG will be coming for Femi soon. In walks Shiloh Hill, Anthony Luke and Jasper Troy from LFG. Femi says he looks forward to the challenge, and he shakes hands with Undertaker.

NXT Team Champions Hank Walker & Tank Ledger defeated Josh Briggs & Yoshiki Inamura to retain their titles

Hank Walker pins Josh Briggs, and the champs retain. Rough and tumble match from the start. It was fun. The tag bout also goes through a commercial break.

After the break, Briggs & Inamura work over Hank. The match builds to a hot tag, and Tank is a house of fire. Soon thereafter, Hank is sent crashing into the ring steps at ringside. That leaves Tank at a two-on-one disadvantage.

Tank takes a chokeslam and a lariat from Briggs, and Inamura follows up with a splash off the top rope. Hank jumps into the ring to break up the subsequent pinning attempt. Moments later, Tank is again being double-teamed. Hank goes to make another save when he is scooped up by Inamura. He spins Hank around to complete the scoop slam, but Inamura inadvertently swings Hank’s feet into Briggs.

For the finish itself, Hank & Tank double-team Briggs with spear/powerslam combination. Hank then covers Briggs for the deciding pinfall, and the tag champs retain their titles. Inamura pleads his case to Briggs after the match, trying to explain the mishap.

DarkState cuts a promo that was posted on social media.

Chase University is back in a skit with Andre Chase welcoming students back to class. Chase proclaims today is a “new semester” for Chase U. Kale Dixon and Uriah Conners show up late for class, and a goody two shoes tries to call them out for being late. Chase cuts a promo on them and curses at them.

In a locker room skit, Kelani Jordan challenges Sol Ruca to a North American title match next week. Ruca is about to accept when Zaria cuts them off to tell Jordan she is not getting a title shot next Tuesday. Zaria tells Jordan she must go through Zaria to get a shot at Ruca. “Fine,” says Jordan.

Hank & Tank interact with Joe Hendry in the trainer’s room. They all three to the “honk, honk” hand gesture. This skit sets up Hendry teaming with Hank & Tank against DarkState in a six-man tag match next Tuesday on NXT.

WWE Women’s World Champion IYO SKY & Jordynne Grace defeated Roxanne Perez & Giulia

SKY pinned Perez to win the match. Really good tag match with a lot of action. Some storytelling within the match, but this was mostly just fun.

The tag bout begins with a melee at ringside. They all soon get in the ring. SKY and Grace get to shine early on. Eventually, Grace is cut off. She is being double-teamed when Grace suplexes both Perez and Giulia at the same time.

Hot tag to SKY for a missile dropkick. Grace and SKY work well as a team, until they are cut off. Grace has SKY on her shoulders when they are tripped up. As the show cuts to its final commercial break (which is picture-in-picture), SKY and Grace are in peril as they sell big.

Heat on SKY during the split-screen break, and the show returns with SKY in trouble. Hot tag to Grace, and she runs wild cleaning house. Perez with a save with a high cross. Everybody is down selling when SKY gets to her feet and hulks up.

Perez with a Super Frankensteiner on SKY. Giulia and Perez look to finish SKY, but Grace jumps in for a save. Grace and Giulia began to brawl on the floor at ringside. In the ring, Perez and SKY exchange a series of great near falls.

For the finish, SKY counters Pop Rocks with a backflip. SKY then kicks Perez and follows up with a moonsault press. SKY then covers Perez for a pinfall.

The show ends with a skit where Ava is talking with NXT Women’s Champion Stephanie Vaquer, and Ava announces a number one contender’s match for next Tuesday. Jordynne Grace and Giulia meet next week in a singles match, and the winner gets a title shot against Vaquer at Battleground.

WWE Raw live results: Seth Rollins, Paul Heyman & Bron Breakker appear

Posted on by Steve Khan

Date: April 28, 2025
Location: T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, MO 

The Big Takeaway —

Another talk-heavy Raw was built around Seth Rollins making an offer to Sami Zayn. You can guess how that turned out. 

Plus, Becky Lynch explained herself, and will get a shot at Lyra Valkyria’s IC title at Backlash. Pat McAfee has himself a match at Backlash against Gunther, and Logan Paul is next in line for Jey Uso. 

**********

Show Recap — 

Nick Aldis, Rhea Ripley, Roxanne Perez, American Made, Stephanie Vaquer, and Logan Paul arrived at the arena. Aldis is filling in tonight for his rival GM, Adam Pearce, which is allowed for some reason. Ripley got a big reaction as you’d expect, but Vaquer also got a pretty good reaction. 

Michael Cole informed us that Pearce suspended Gunther indefinitely. Pat McAfee couldn’t wait to address Gunther later tonight. 

There was a recap of last week’s closing angle. 

Seth Rollins, Bron Breakker, and Paul Heyman segment

Rollins’ music hit, and the crowd popped. They cheered as all three men hit the ring. They sang Rollins’ song and sang along with his catchphrase. 

He said he knew there were people who still wanted to cheer for CM Punk. That actually brought a lot of booing until a small number of people chanted for Punk. That seemed to catch them a bit off guard. Rollins mentioned Roman Reigns next, and he was cheered. 

Rollins said the fans were looking at the future of the industry. The future wasn’t Punk, Reigns, John Cena, Jey Uso, or Cody Rhodes. The future, alongside Heyman and Breakker, ran through Seth Rollins. (There was also a lot of barking for Breakker.) 

Sami Zayn interrupted. Zayn said they’ve been friends a long time and wanted to tell him to his face that this was a lot of crap. Rollins had talked all that trash about Punk and Reigns for years, while noting that the only thing they had in common was Heyman. Zayn wondered how Rollins was any different. 

Zayn used to think Rollins really did hate those two men, but maybe he was just jealous. Maybe he just wanted to be in the position they were in. Zayn called it hypocritical for Rollins to think he had to be at the centre of the industry and compared it to the Bloodline. 

Rollins said this was nothing like the Bloodline, but Zayn said it was just like the Bloodline, because Rollins had his wise man on one side and his little dog on the other. Zayn warned Breakker to stop looking at him, or else he’d get his head kicked in. They got face-to-face until Rollins calmed things down. 

Rollins said this was the future, and Zayn could be with them or against them. That wasn’t meant to be a threat, but if he stood in their way, he was a target. Rollins didn’t want that for Zayn. He offered to have Heyman pull some strings and get Zayn moved off of Raw so he didn’t get caught in the crossfire. Rollins earnestly told him to think about it because they would need an answer by the end of the night.

(They’re a heel group, but the crowd certainly didn’t treat them like that. The only heelish thing about Rollins so far is that he doesn’t like two babyfaces, Punk and Reigns, but we already knew that.) 

******** 

Ripley entered ahead of break, Perez entered during the break. 

Rhea Ripley vs. Roxanne Perez

This was their second match ever, with the first happening in NXT in 2022. 

They played cat and mouse early until Perez chucked her ring jacket at Ripley’s face and chop-blocked her. Perez maintained control by working the leg, but Ripley caught her flying crossbody attempt and hit a fallaway slam. Some children chanted, “This is awesome,” a couple of minutes into the match after not much happened. 

Perez regained control during a break and kept targeting the leg. Ripley fought back while selling her leg and hit a Razor’s Edge and a sliding knee for two. 

Giulia walked out to distract Ripley while Perez cradled her for two. Perez followed with a double knee drop for two. Ripley went after Giulia, who was just standing there, and Perez tried to use the distraction, but Ripley fought her off. 

Ripley went for Rip-tide, but Guilia chop-blocked her from behind for the DQ. Cole wondered what they were trying to accomplish. 

Iyo Sky ran out to a big reaction to make the save, repaying the favour from last week. The heels outnumbered Sky, but Ripley came back in to chase them off. 

Match result: Rhea Ripley defeated Roxanne Perez via disqualification (11:49) 

*******

Judgment Day segment 

Finn Bálor excitedly welcomed JD McDonagh back (and acted like they hadn’t seen each other since the moment their segment ended last week). As they caught up, Liv Morgan interrupted to ask if everything was cool and wondered why they weren’t getting ready for their match. 

Bálor was surprised to learn he had a match tonight. McDonagh thought Morgan had already told him that they had a match against the War Raiders. Morgan wasn’t sure Bálor would like hearing that since it wasn’t a title match. Bálor was happy to have the match, but wanted them to keep him in the loop next time. 

********

Jackie Redmond interviewed A-Town Down Under during the break. Austin Theory put over the Kansas City Chiefs, while Grayson Waller congratulated the Philadelphia Eagles on beating the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. Waller informed them that he had a singles match next week. Theory was surprised and upset to learn this. 

Logan Paul / Jey Uso segment 

Paul wondered why he was getting booed after beating AJ Styles at WrestleMania. He called the fans victims of circumstance because they were from Kansas City. They didn’t know what greatness looked like. They were so stupid to think a true legend would look like their current world champion, Jey Uso. Paul said he’s done everything there is to do in the industry except win a world title. 

Jey Uso interrupted. Jey said he wasn’t about to hand over the world title he worked 15 years to get to some punk-ass YouTuber. Watching Gunther beat his brother to a bloody pulp lit a fire under him that was never going out. “This title is not given, it’s earned—and it’s mine.” If Paul wanted it, Jey invited him to take it. 

Paul mocked his Yeeting and said he sounded stupid. Paul planned on taking the title, while Jey would crash out, screw up and lose it faster than he lost the Intercontinental Championship. 

Jey laid him out with a superkick, and the crowd popped. 

Jey was good here, and he got a superstar reaction. 

********

New Day joined commentary for the next match. Cole liked Xavier Woods’ haircut because it was the same as Alicia Taylor’s. Woods said he had the hairstyle way before she did. 

The War Raiders vs. Finn Bálor & JD McDonagh (w/Carlito) 

Woods said we were only impressed by Ivar’s offence because he was “fat.” Kingston tried to say he was big-boned, but Woods made sure to call him fat repeatedly. Woods said Bálor had a lot of abs, while Ivar was ab-sent. Cole said he should’ve been in the roast. (The last bit happened during a break.) 

Ivar made a comeback after a break, as Woods continued to make cracks about his weight. Woods was impressed by his moonsault, though. Ivar went for the moonsault but took too long while looking over at New Day, so Bálor moved out of the way. 

McDonagh tagged in and wiped out the Raiders with an Asai moonsault. McDonagh followed with a moonsault in the ring, but Erik broke up the cover. Ivar hit a double handspring elbow as Woods continued to mock him. Kingston said he can easily do that move. 

Ivar grabbed Bálor and chucked him into New Day at ringside as they continued to talk trash. Woods actually caught Bálor, so Ivar tackled them all to the ground. 

Carlito tried to distract the referee to help his team, but Penta suddenly appeared and dropped McDonagh off the top rope (as payback for last week). Erik and Ivar followed with War Machine for the pinfall win. 

Match result: The War Raiders defeated JD McDonagh & Finn Bálor (10:34) 

********

Otis met with Zayn backstage, but left after Heyman entered. Heyman said he and Zayn were OG Bloodline. Zayn said that might be true, but Heyman blew that all up after what he did. 

Heyman said Rollins viewed himself as the vanguard of the industry’s future, and Breakker was his dog at the gate. Breakker was demanding a match with Zayn, and they couldn’t say no to that because Bron was the key to their plans. However, Rollins held Zayn in such reverence that if he accepted a trade to SmackDown, he would get a pass. 

Heyman already spoke to Aldis. If Zayn accepted Rollins’ offer, he would face the winner of John Cena vs. Randy Orton for the title. Heyman urged him to think about his future and his family. He said Zayn could live in the future or die with the past. (Zayn seemed to be taking this under consideration.) 

********

Jeff Passan and Ryan Blaney were in the crowd. 

There was a video package of Becky Lynch’s turn last week. They added a ton of fake booing that did not happen.  

Becky Lynch / Lyra Valkyria segment 

Lynch entered to a mixed reaction. She said Bayley was tragically taken out of her WrestleMania match, but there wouldn’t be any murder mystery or weeks-long who did it. She examined the footage and found the culprit — “It was me! I did it!” 

Lynch was amused with herself until people booed. She told them not to act like she was the bad guy. Bayley has attacked her nonstop since 2019. Bayley never apologized to her. 

Lynch said Bayley forgot what this industry was all about. She begged for people to like her while she wore everyone else’s shirts and danced to their songs. Bayley wondered why she wasn’t a bigger star, but she saw a bigger star when Lynch walked out at WrestleMania. 

Lynch moved on to Lyra Valkyria. She said the friend of her enemy was her enemy. Valkyria would not be in this business if not for her. Lynch had high hopes for Valkyria, but Lynch watched at home while she cozied up to the woman she’s been fighting for six years. Lynch called her a loser for tagging with Bayley. 

Valkyria interrupted. She said many women in the back warned her about Lynch. Bayley was the first. Valkyria didn’t want to believe them. She was caught up in the fairytale dream of winning the tag titles with Lynch at Mania. 

It took Valkyria too long to realize it, but after three consecutive Man-handle slams last week, she realized who Lynch was—and now she would pay for it. Valkyria entered the ring, but Lynch bailed. (Some fans were giving Valkyria the What treatment, but she got them on her side by asking if they wanted to see a fight.) 

Valkyria tried to egg on Lynch by reminding her that she beat her the last time they wrestled. Lynch said she would only wrestle when it mattered, and Kansas City didn’t matter. Valkyria wasn’t surprised, so she suggested Backlash. Valkyria also put her title on the line because she knew Lynch wouldn’t accept otherwise. 

Lynch said she would make the title matter, just like she made Valkyria matter. Valkyria told her to shut up. Valkyria made herself matter. She would be a better person than Lynch, and she was already a better wrestler. 

Lynch started ranting, so Valkyria attacked her, but Lynch bailed through the crowd. It seemed like the segment was wrapping up with Valkyria posing on the stage, but Lynch dropped her from behind. 

********

Aldis met with Penta backstage. Aldis didn’t appreciate Penta getting involved in the match earlier. Aldis let him off with a warning because he didn’t want to fine him. Aldis let him know he would be wrestling McDonagh next week. (Why weren’t the heels admonished for interfering last week?) 

Chad Gable (with Ivy Nile) mocked Penta for dropping the ball at Mania. Gable said his favourite part was watching his useless brother Fénix lose to El Grande Americano. Penta dropped him with a kick and told him not to mess with the Lucha Bros. 

********

There was a Rusev video package. He left WWE and fell into the abyss. He fixed himself while he was there. He realized he should no longer fight for a woman for a flag. He was free to crush people, not because he was told to, but because he wanted to. 

Non-title match: NXT Women’s Champion Stephanie Vaquer vs. Ivy Nile (w/Chad Gable) 

Vaquer hit Devil’s Kiss to the delight of the crowd. Nile blocked it earlier, which the crowd didn’t appreciate. After a break, Vaquer did it again. Vaquer hit a Meteora in the corner, but Gable put Nile’s feet on the rope. 

Vaquer confronted Gable, but Nile dropped her with a German suplex outside the ring. Nile hit another one in the ring for two. Nile went to the top, but Vaquer hit her with headbutts before hitting a superplex for a nearfall. The crowd chanted, “This is awesome.” 

Nile countered Vaquer’s finisher with a uranage for two. Vaquer trapped Nile in the ropes and hit a superkick. Vaquer followed with a dragon screw and SVB for the pinfall win. 

This was a pretty good TV match. The crowd liked Vaquer. 

Match result: Stephanie Vaquer defeated Ivy Nile (9:33)

******** 

Aldis met with AJ Styles until they were interrupted by Liv Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez, and Dominik Mysterio. Morgan apologized in advance for tanking the ratings because she needed time off to film a big Hollywood movie. Aldis granted her the time off and said it was already taken care of. 

Dom wanted time off, too. Aldis wondered why, and Dom said he was the IC champ and he could do what he wanted. Aldis said no. Being the champion meant working more often. 

Dom suggested he find a retirement home for Styles and wondered if he broke his hip, like his deadbeat dad did. Styles said no, but offered to break something else. Judgment Day left, while Dom held up his belt so Styles could see it. Styles had an idea, and Aldis already knew what it was. 

******** 

Karrion Kross met with Zayn. Kross said Zayn had a big decision to make and hoped he made the right one. (Kross wore his hair like Zayn. He did not get the big reaction he got last week.)

********

Pat McAfee promo 

McAfee cut a promo while standing on the announce table. McAfee said a lot of people have forgotten who the hell he was. He’s had such a successful career on the microphone that even he has forgotten who he is. He looked in the mirror and realized he was still that dog that was born in the East Hills of Pittsburgh to a truck driver who lived paycheck to paycheck to paycheck. 

He was not handed a lot in this life, but he was blessed to have a lot of friends. He went from being a bum to being someone known in every city in the country. He wasn’t better-looking than most folks, but he had things he hoped people remembered him by. 

When he was six feet under, he hoped people would speak about how hard he worked. He received a lot and gave back a lot. He gave millions of dollars back to his community. To children’s hospitals across the country, military foundations, homeless shelters, and LGBTQ communities. 

He wanted people to say he left the world better than when he entered it. Most of all, he wanted people to say he was a loyal motherf—ker. (This was censored.) 

There was one man who was with him from the beginning, the greatest of all time, Michael Cole. People chanted for Cole. McAfee had no other option than to protect his boy when that Austrian asshole attacked him. McAfee dropped an f-bomb again when addressing Gunther. He called out “SmackDown’s version of Adam Pearce.” 

Aldis entered. Aldis said Pearce might like chaos to reign supreme, but he wasn’t in charge tonight. Aldis told him to be professional. McAfee wanted Aldis to lift Gunther’s ban so he could fight him ASAP. Aldis said no. The two of them were too valuable as assets to the company. 

Aldis had a proposal: a sanctioned contest inside the ring. (I assume that’s what McAfee was asking for in the first place.) Aldis proposed a singles match at Backlash. McAfee accepted and threw down the mic. 

********

Jey Uso met with Zayn. Jey knew he would make the best decision for himself. Zayn thanked him and they hugged. 

The camera stayed on Jey for a while until Logan Paul punched him out. 

******** 

There was a quick segment with Sky and Ripley. Ripley wanted Sky to know she didn’t need her help, and Sky quipped, “Looked like you did.” (Sky will be on tomorrow’s NXT.)

Next week on Raw: 

  • Rusev vs. Otis 
  • Penta vs. JD McDonagh 

********

Seth Rollins / Sami Zayn segment 

Rollins entered alone and called out Zayn. Rollins tried to reason with him. Zayn may not like Heyman and Breakker, but Rollins and Zayn were friends. Zayn celebrated with Jey last week because they were friends. 

Rollins said nobody was better suited to lead them into the future than him. It hurt that Zayn didn’t believe in him. The business tore friendships apart. They’ve both experienced that. He wondered how many true friends they could still count on. Zayn was one of Rollins’ true friends. Rollins turned to Zayn for advice when his baby girl was born. 

Rollins wanted to return the favour by giving Zayn advice that would save his life: Take the way out. Take whatever Heyman offered him. If Zayn didn’t believe in him, bad things would happen, and Rollins didn’t want that. 

Zayn said he was sorry if he had hurt him as a friend. Everything he said about them was true. They were real friends outside of the business, as were their kids. However, Zayn knew Rollins was playing games with what he said in the ring. 

Zayn admitted that Rollins was better than he was at doing that. Rollins knew what card to play because Zayn confided in him over the years about the one thing that nagged at him. The one thing he wanted was the WWE Championship, and now Rollins was dangling that in front of him. Zayn was never one to run away. 

Zayn said Rollins talked about hurt feelings, but Zayn wouldn’t just stand there while his friend threatened him. He didn’t care if he was a target because he’s been a target many times before. But Zayn wouldn’t dare be blackmailed or threatened. 

Zayn fired up and insisted that he would become a world champion one day, but it would not be due to a favour; it would be because he did it the right way. Zayn said, “So buddy, as a friend, I respect you. I love you. But this is me telling you to go to hell.” 

Rollins hung his head as Bron’s music hit. Bron entered in his gear, and I guess we’re having a match. 

Sami Zayn vs. Bron Breakker (w/Seth Rollins & Paul Heyman)

Zayn wrestled in jeans. They went to break after Bron hit a leaping clothesline off the apron and over the announce table. Zayn fought back just in time as they returned from break and hit a sunset flip powerbomb off the ropes for two. Zayn followed with a tornado DDT for two. 

Bron came back with a Frankensteiner, but Zayn blocked a spear and hit an exploder in the corner. The crowd cheered as Zayn set up for a Helluva kick, but Bron cut him off with a spear. 

Rollins watched stoically from ringside the entire match. Rollins nodded at Bron, who hit Zayn with another spear. Rollins told Zayn to take the deal, but Zayn told him to go to hell. Zayn pulled himself to his feet but ate a third spear. 

Zayn fell out of the ring, and the referee called for EMTs. As they checked on Zayn, Bron ran around the ring and killed him with a fourth spear. Jamie Noble tried to plead with Bron, but Bron told him to back off. 

Bron tossed Zayn back in the ring, but the ref covered Zayn and called off the match. (Fans kept chanting, “One more time.”) 

— Rollins told Bron that tonight was his first lesson. Zayn made his bed, and now he had to sleep in it. Rollins stomped Zayn. Rollins, Heyman, and Breakker stood tall as the show ended.

This was meant to push Rollins more as a heel, but of course, the fans sang his song. The crowd did cheer for Zayn during the match, but it looks like it’ll take a lot more to turn them completely against Rollins and his group. They might want to start by changing his music. 

Match result: Bron Breakker defeated Sami Zayn via referee stoppage (12:33)

WWE SmackDown live results: Tag Team title TLC match, John Cena appears

Posted on by Colin McGuire

New Undisputed WWE Champion John Cena is set to appear on tonight’s WrestleMania fallout edition of SmackDown in Fort Worth, Texas.

Cena defeated Cody Rhodes in the WrestleMania 41 night two main event to win the title. Since then, Cena showed up on Monday’s Raw after WrestleMania, where he was the victim of an RKO from Randy Orton.

Also tonight, the WWE Tag Team titles will be on the line in a TLC match as The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) defend their titles against DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa) and Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley). All three teams have held the titles in recent months and the match was made official last week after Gargano & Ciampa interfered in a title match between the Profits and Machine Guns.

The Women’s United States Championship will be on the line tonight as well as Chelsea Green is set to defend her belt against Zelina Vega. The two met last Friday with Vega coming away with a pinfall victory.

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

**********

– Joe Tessitore welcomed everyone into the show while shots of Texas aired. Participants in the upcoming tag title TLC match were shown walking backstage. Ditto for Jacob Fatu and Tiffany Stratton. A video package recapping WrestleMania week was then shown. After that, John Cena’s music hit inside the arena and Cena made his entrance.

The John Cena/Randy Orton segment

This felt a tiny bit more focused than Cena’s work with Cody, but it’s still so much of the same to me. The fans are abusive, manipulative. It’s an untenable relationship. Blah. And blah. It’s so repetitive now that in some ways, I’m almost finding more entertainment in it because it’s so over the top, it’s kind of/sort of funny. Orton was better than Cody in that Orton at least initially tried to talk sense into Cena rather than browbeat him for beating him up previously. Plus, Orton is better at chuckling at things in a real way as when Cody smirks, he just looks unintentionally smug. But the two showed good fire by the time it all wrapped up (no one told me the first half hour this week was commercial free?!). The family stuff was mildly fun and I suspect Orton’s family will play a role in the match at Backlash, even if it only leads to heartbreak. The segment overstayed its welcome to this viewer, but this was a step forward for Cena.

Cena held up his title to cheers from the live crowd. He then did the same bit he did on Monday, calling ring announcer Mark Nash into the ring, giving him a piece of paper to read and telling him to read it while the crowd went nuts with “Let’s go Cena/Cena sucks!” chants. Nash said he apologized for being disrespectful and reintroduced Cena as the Greatest Of All Time, among other things, and as Nash yelled Cena’s name, most of the crowd cheered with approval.

As soon as Cena raised the microphone to speak, Randy Orton’s music played and Orton walked out through the entranceway. Orton milked the entrance for all it was worth and was given a microphone once inside the ring. “Randy!” chants broke out. The crowd was hot for both wrestlers. Orton said in a couple months, it will be 25 years to the day he and Cena first shook hands. Orton said he’s known Cena for 25 years and up until a few months ago, Cena had never changed. Orton recalled how Hustle, Loyalty and Respect was Cena’s mantra for every day of his life.

Orton said there is a void in Cena and he had been thinking about all the fans and kids that looked up to Cena for so long. Orton said Cena generations and generations of kids looked up to Cena and that should mean something to Cena. Orton referenced Cena’s history with the Make A Wish Foundation. Orton said Cena couldn’t tell him that all those children were just a number and as such, Orton has figured out how to fill Cena’s void: Cena needs to have kids.

Orton said Cena needs to become a father and grow up because it will make Cena a better human being. Cena smirked and slowly responded with a dire, “How dare you?” Cena asked Orton how he could parent-shame him in front of the whole world. Cena, “Congratulations, Randy Orton. You have children and you love them. Good for you.” Cena said the real reason he doesn’t have kids is because he’s spent the last 25 years “raising yours,” which meant the crowd. Cena said the real truth is that for the last 25 years, he has been a better parent to everyone’s children than the parents ever could be. Cena pointed out how a six year old in the crowd gave him the finger and called it classy, which was funny.

Cena said he had been policing brats like that kid for a quarter of a century. Cena told the kid to never bring a knife to a gunfight. Cena followed that up with “I bet your loser dad didn’t teach you that one.” Orton interjected and said the fans are the reason Cena is in the ring and the reason Cena made it to Hollywood. Orton said without the WWE Universe, there would be no WWE and the fans are the biggest reason Cena is still around. Orton said he’s made a lot of mistakes throughout his career, but he can go in the locker room and hold his head up high because he gets respect from his peers. Orton said he’s “here to stay” while Cena is “just a guest.”

Cena said he used to believe Orton’s perspective in that without the fans there would be no WWE. He said he used to think everyone won together, but wasn’t everyone; it was only Cena who won. Cena referenced the “Let’s Go Cena/Cena sucks” chant and the crowd, on cue, launched into another round of it. Cena called everyone hypocrites. Cena said once they get tired of Cena, they can put their energy into any other superstar, but if the roles are reversed, he’s labeled an outcast. Because of all this, Cena said his relationship with the fans is not functional. Cena said fans are manipulating the truth and called out someone else in the crowd for dressing like Jack Black. Cena said he is labeled as an outcast and guest for simply trying to do something different.

Orton responded by saying he was so stupid for thinking he could go out there and Cena would listen to what Orton had to say. Orton noted how he is part of one of wrestling’s royal families. Orton said wrestling will provide for him and his family until he’s six feet in the ground. As Orton went on, Cena told Orton to “Shut your mouth.” Cena said Orton doesn’t understand – Cena has already won 17 while Orton has won 14, but after Cena takes his belt home with him, Orton will be forever frozen at 14. Cena called Orton a babbling moron. Cena said he is going to erase three generations of Orton’s family. Orton got heated and demanded Cena put his title on the line “right here, right now.”

Cena held up his title and smugly said, “No.” Cena said like so many times like he’s done over the last 25 years, Cena is doing it to save Orton’s ass. Cena said, however, there should be a match, but it shouldn’t happen tonight. Cena said it should happen at Backlash because Backlash is in St. Louis and Orton is from St. Louis and Orton can spend the whole day with his family before the match. Cena said he will need Randy Orton at his best and at Backlash, when Orton fails, Orton will have no excuses. Cena told everyone to look at Cena because that’s what the last real champion looks like.

Cena held the title and said that was as close as Orton would ever get to the title and threw the title at Orton. Cena then stomped Orton out and lined up to hit Orton with the belt, but Orton ducked and gave Cena an RKO. Loud “Randy!”chants broke out. Orton grabbed the title and held it over his head while posing on the second rope. Orton’s music hit to end the segment and it was already half past the show’s first hour.

**********

– A video package on Fraxiom aired.

Fraxiom (Nathan Frazer & Axiom) vs. Los Garzas (Berto & Angel)

Boy, Fraxiom is so good and I’m happy they got a chance to shine on the big stage like this. Because of how long the first segment went, I was a bit worried they’d get their time cut, but eight-and-a-half minutes was probably about right. Frazer is just so fast and Axiom is so innovative when it comes to incorporating this stuff into the WWE style. Actually, they both are. Anyway, this instantly made the SmackDown tag division better/more interesting and while the bar was low, Fraxiom’s debut was the kick in the pants the division needed. Now if only that TLC match later on delivers … .

Axiom started the match with Berto and hit a dropkick before Frazer tagged in and kicked Berto in the head. Angel entered the match and instantly found himself on the outside of the ring. Fazer and Axiom hit dual dives on the heels before Axiom followed those up with a moonsault onto Berto and Angel on the outside of the ring. Back inside the ring, Axiom tagged in and worked a headlock on Berto. Axiom ran the ropes and Angel held up the ropes so Axiom fell through them and to the floor. The show then went to a commercial break as Angel ripped off his pants.

The show returned and Berto was working over Axiom until Axiom kicked Angel and got the hot tag to Frazer, who showed his speed on the ropes and hit an elbow and Slingblade on Berto. Frazer followed up with a running moonsault for a two-count. Berto kicked Frazer and tagged in Angel, who kicked Frazer as he attempted a springboard moonsault from the second rope. Berto tagged in and Los Garza want to the second rope to hit their finisher. Axiom broke up Los Garza’s pin attempt. “This is awesome!” chants began.

Axiom tagged in and traded blows with Angel. Angel went to the top, but Axiom cut him off. Frazer tagged himself in and Axiom hit a Spanish Fly off the top while Frazer followed it up with a Phoenix Splash to get his team the win.

Match Result: Fraxiom defeated Los Garzas (8:25)

The Tiffany Stratton/Jade Cargill segment

Cargill came off a bit as a heel here, so I wonder if a full turn is imminent. I always thought she was better as a heel in AEW than she was a babyface, so I can’t complain. Meanwhile, this felt rushed (thanks, Cena), and it kind of/sort of feels like they are trying to re-create what happened on Monday between Stephanie Vaquer and IYO SKY. To that, I say … we’ll see … .

Stratton made her entrance in her wrestling gear. Stratton started by asking the crowd what time it was and everyone loudly yelled “Tiffy tiime!” Stratton said she went toe-to-toe with one of the greatest of all time, Charlotte Flair. Stratton said in the end, she prevailed and she’s still the WWE Women’s Champion. Stratton said she was always told she was the next Charlotte Flair, but that was wrong because there is only one Tiffany Stratton. Jade Cargill’s music then hit and Cargill walked out in her wrestling gear, microphone in hand.

Cargill said she was there to give credit where it was due. Cargill said Tiffy’s match with Charlotte created a bigger target on Tiffy’s back. Since her business is over with Naomi, Cargill said she has nothing but time and Cargill said it was time for everyone to see how she got to WWE to become a champion. Cargill told Tiffy that just because she beat Charlotte, she’s not the best. In order to be the best, Cargill said Tiffy had to beat Cargill. Tiffy said that’s fine and she’d wrestle Cargill now if that’s what she wanted. A referee ran down and the match looked like it was going to start as the show went to a commercial break.

WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton vs. Jade Cargill

Umpf. This was a rough match. Wade Barrett had a point – I’m not sure I’ve ever seen Tiffy stumble on a Prettiest Moonsault Ever attempt, even dating back to NXT. I’m sure I’ve missed a lot along the way, so that means little to nothing, but it was jarring to see, for me at least. While I liked the grit of the match, things just seemed so out of sorts at times that I began to feel bad for the wrestlers. Cue the questions on if Cargill can stay afloat in singles WWE waters. As for the Jax return … meh. I can’t say I’m inspired by another Jax/Stratton program. If this was the beginning of a Jax/Naomi alliance, however, you have my attention.

Well, it turned out, they stood there (just staring at each other?) for a long commercial break before starting the match. The show returned and the bell rang. The two worked a slow pace to start things out and Tiffy extended her hand for a handshake. Cargill went for it, but Tiffy used it to whip Cargill into the ropes. After what appeared to be a tiny miscommunication, Cargill landed a backbreaker. Cargill ran at Tiffy and Tiffy tripped Cargill into the ropes. Tiffy followed that with a hip attack, but Cargill came right back with a spinebuster for a two count.

Cargill slammed Tiffy again in a weird spot, but it was only good enough for a one-and-a-half count. Tiffy hit a spinebuster of her own for a two-count. Tiffy hit her gymnastic-springboard splash in a corner for a two-count. Tiffy executed a second one for another two-count. Tiffy looked frustrated as the show went to a commercial break.

The show returned and Tiffy hit a rolling Senton. Tiffy went for a Prettiest Moonsault Ever, but she stumbled and Cargill moved. Cargill caught Tiffy after that and hit a powerbomb for a near-fall that woke up the crowd. Cargill went for a splash, but Tiffy moved and went for the gymanstics routine, but Cargill caught her. It didn’t matter because Tiffy came back with a basement dropkick for a nice near-fall. Tiffy went to the top, but Cargill cut her off and landed a super-plex from the second rope. Both wrestlers were down.

Tiffy rolled to the apron and Naomi ran out to attack Cargill to end the match. Naomi ran Cargill into the ring post repeatedly. Tiffy returned to the ring and Naomi rolled out of the ring. Nia Jax then attacked Stratton from behind and ragdolled Tiffy. Jax landed a leg drop on Tiffy and the crowd wanted another one. Instead, Jax dragged Tiffy to a corner and hit the A-Nia-Lator on Stratton. Jax held up the title to end the segment.

Match Result: WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton and Jade Cargill wrestled to a no contest [10:12]

The Jacob Fatu/LA Knight/Drew McIntyre segment

Will this match later on be where one, Mr. Black makes his triumphant return to WWE? We’ll see. As for this segment, I prefer Drew vs. Fatu if only because it’s so much fresher than Fatu vs. Knight. The verbal jabs here were fun, if not a little kids gloves-ish. Knight and McIntyre can go a lot harder on the mic and they just opted not to here for whatever reason. My only hope is that Fatu doesn’t just drop the U.S. belt in his first defense out of the gate, whenever that comes.

Fatu made his entrance with Solo Sikoa. Fatu wore the U.S. title around his neck and received a hell of a reaction from the live crowd. Fatu soaked in “Fatu!” chants. Sikoa asked the crowd to show love and respect for their new United States Champion, Jacob Fatu. Sikoa said everyone saw what he already at WrestleMania – that Jacob Fatu is the future of the company. Sikoa said nobody in his family wanted Fatu in WWE except for Sikoa.

Sikoa said everyone thought Fatu was too much of a risk, but Sikoa was the only reason Fatu was there and he was a champion. Fatu glared at Sikoa. Sikoa ranted and Fatu grabbed the microphone from Sikoa. The crowd cheered. Fatu told Sikoa to not get it twisted because he told Sikoa he would win the U.S. title. Fatu said he told Sikoa the U.S. title was coming home to the family and he’d do it with or without Sikoa. Fatu said that’s exactly what he did and he told Texas to look at their new U.S. champ. Fatu said he knows that the title makes him a menace to society and at the end of the day, Sikoa better “get in where he fit in.” Fatu said he’s all gas and no breaks and LA Knight’s music hit.

Knight walked out with a microphone. Knight said at Mania, Fatu ate a BFT. Knight recalled how Fatu grabbed the rope to get out of a pin attempt and capitalized on the opportunity and beat Knight in the middle of the ring. Knight said everyone told him he had a hell of a match at WrestleMania. Knight said he didn’t care about that, because he wanted his rematch, and he wanted it right now. Drew McIntyre’s music then hit and McIntyre made his entrance.

McIntyre stood in the entranceway with a microphone and said it wasn’t always easy being Drew McIntyre. McIntyre that much like Texas he has “some big guns.” McIntyre said at Mania, he beat Damian Priest in one of the most violent matches in Mania history. McIntyre looked into the camera and thanked Priest for allowed him to embarrass him in front of Priest’s family. McIntyre said the next plan was to challenge Cena for his world title, but Orton jumped the line. McIntyre wondered if it was Nepo Wrestling Entertainment.

McIntyre said he wants to fight the baddest dog in the yard, Jacob Fatu, as he stepped onto the apron. Knight mocked McIntyre speaking and McIntyre said Knight always has jokes, but the only joke around here was Knight’s last title run. Knight said he’d say McIntyre’s last title run was a joke, but he couldn’t remember it. Knight said if McIntyre thinks he deserves a title shot, McIntyre should step into the ring and show Knight. Nick Aldis walked out and told everyone to put on their tights in the back and later tonight, Knight will face McIntyre to determine the next No. 1 contender for the U.S. Championship.

**********

– Zelina Vega ran into Byron Saxton backstage and Saxton said Vega could become the new Women’s U.S. Champion tonight. Vega said tonight, she’s speechless because she’s wanted this for so long. Vega said in Texas, you go big or go home and she’ll leave with the U.S. title around her waist.

WWE Women’s U.S. Champion Chelsea Green defends against Zelina Vega

That’s a surprise. A double-edged one, too. I like Green’s act a lot and thought she brought a lot to the women’s secondary SmackDown belt. I also tend to like Vega and I don’t think she gets a fair shake from these live crowds who sit on their hands whenever she appears. It’s all so odd if it’s true that the first match that resulted in a count-out wasn’t supposed to end in a count-count. If that doesn’t happen, does that mean Vega never gets this title? Either way, this was a nice surprise and I’m looking forward to Green being in chase/brat mode because that’s what she does best.

Green ran at Vega to start the match, but Vega ultimately took control early. Vega was on the apron and Green dropkicked her off the apron to the outside. Fyre threw Vega into the LED board and Niven followed that up with a Senton on the outside while Green distracted the referee. Green posed on the second rope and the show went to a commercial break.

The show returned and the two were battling on the top rope. The sequence ended with a German Suplex from Vega to Green off the middle rope. Vega clotheslined Green repeatedly before hitting a spinning back elbow. Vega went to the second rope and landed a Meteora for a two-count. Fyre hopped onto the apron and Vega hit Fyre. Vega turned her attention back with Green with a Backstabber and set up for a 619, but Niven tripped Vega. The referee then kicked Niven and Fyre out of ringside and to the back. Green tried to take advantage of Vega’s attention being elsewhere, but Vega countered with a Code Red and got the win.

Match Result: Zelina Vega defeated Chelsea Green to win the WWE Women’s United States Championship (7:15)

– Melo was shown backstage with the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal winning trophy. He was with The Miz, who said he sacrificed himself for Melo because he has a vision for Melo. Miz then presented Melo with a chain that had Andrade’s head on it. Melo said the chain represents the chip that is on his shoulder. Melo said he’s larger than life and is the 10th wonder of the world. Melo said he is Him. Miz said he Melo inspired him and because of that, he is going to make his moment in the ring.

The Miz/Aleister Black segment

If this was how Black was going to be reintroduced, there wasn’t much else you could ask for here. It was a Miz segment and it was predictable on every level because of that. I’m happy to see Black back. I’d be lying if I said I don’t wonder about how both he and Rusev will fare in their return from what I guess was the depths of whatever their definition of hell was in AEW. I put little stock in rumors and rumblings and all that, so I’m willing to think that maybe they both simply just weren’t good fits in AEW’s structural approach and we can all move on. If these returns to WWE don’t work, though, and neither wrestler gets over to the degree they might seem to think they should be over, my eyebrow will be raised.

Miz stood in the ring coming out of commercial and he said since 2007, he’s been an integral part of WrestleMania, but this year, he had no match or no mention. He reminded everyone how he main-evented Maina once and beat John Cena, which is something Cody Rhodes couldn’t even do. Miz noted how he’s been there for 20 years. He asked what he has to do – wear a lucha mask and call himself Rey? Miz referenced how Randy Orton needed an opponent but instead, Joe Hendry got the opportunity.

Miz reminded everyone that he is the A-Lister and the most must-see superstar of all time. The lights went out and we saw candles lit near the entrance. Lo and behold, rising up from the floor was Aleister Black, who looked in great shape and made his entrance. Black executed his former WWE entrance to a T, beat for beat. “Welcome back!” chants broke out. Black looked around and soaked in the cheers. Miz walked towards Black and Black hit Black Mass on Miz. Black then sat down next to Miz to end the segment.

**********

– Saxton interviewed Bianca Belair backstage and brought up how Belair broke a couple fingers. Belair said even though things didn’t go her way, she was very proud of their match at Mania. Belair said it won’t be the last time she sees Rhea Ripley because Ripley inserted herself into a match she didn’t deserve. Belair said when she returns, she will have some business she will need to address.

– Naomi was shown walking backstage and she ran into Jax, who told Naomi to stay out of her way when it comes to Tiffy and Tiffy’s title. Naomi said she will as long as Jax proceeds with caution.

Drew McIntyre vs. LA Knight

This was fun while it lasted, but I fear that the U.S. title picture is becoming the tag team title picture on SmackDown, what with all these different storylines overlapping. So, to get this straight, LA Knight, Drew McIntyre and Damian Priest are involved in wanting Jacob Fatu’s U.S. title – but that’s only because McIntyre and Priest’s blood feud spilled into this section of the program … and perhaps Solo Sikoa is one Friday away from putting his name in the hat as well? Too many cooks, maybe? Too many cooks. Still, this match was fine while it lasted. I wasn’t anticipating a clean winner and I did not get a clean winner. At some point, SmackDown is going to need to be more creative; I just don’t know when that some point is going to come.

The two locked up to start the match and McIntyre slammed Knight before posing. The pace was slow. Knight came back, took McIntyre down and posed as well. Knight worked a side head-lock until McIntyre shot him off and took Knight down with a clothesline. Knight responded with a back suplex and the two traded chops after that. McIntyre was thrown outside and Knight followed him. McIntyre rolled back into the ring and Knight tried to follow, but McIntyre shoulder-blocked Knight off the apron and into the crowd barrier.

Knight rolled back into the ring and McIntyre pounded on Knight before hitting a Brainbuster for a two-count. McIntyre kicked Knight in the midsection as Knight tried to avoid McIntyre in a corner. McIntyre chopped Knight. Knight chopped McIntyre and then McIntyre stomped on Knight repeatedly. McIntyre taunted Knight and set up for a vertical suplex, but Knight blocked it. McIntyre still came away from things with the upper hand as he beat Knight down … until Knight suplexed McIntyre out of nowhere to reset the match.

Knight hit a leaping clothesline and a Russian Leg Sweep after firing up. Knight followed that up with a jumping neck-breaker for a two-count. McIntyre landed a Glasglow Kiss and set up for a Future Shock DDT, but Knight countered and it ended up with Knight’s second-rope leaping elbow for a two-count. Knight went for a BFT, but McIntyre worked out of it and got to the outside, where Knight hit a dropkick through the ropes. Knight repeatedly slammed McIntyre’s head on the announce desk.

Knight rolled McIntyre back into the ring and the referee was tending to McIntyre as Solo Sikoa appeared out of nowhere gave the Samoan Spike to Knight. Sikoa rolled Knight into the ring and McIntyre set up for a Claymore Kick, but Damian Priest showed up and pulled McIntyre out of the ring. Priest attacked McIntyre and hit a South Of Heaven on McIntyre through the announce desk. Priest tried to leave and ran into Knight, who jawed at Priest. Jacob Fatu came out of nowhere and wiped both Knight and Priest out with a splash.

Fatu rolled Priest and Knight into the ring and landed a hip attack on Knight. Fatu followed that up with a jump-up moonsault on Knight and a hip attack on Priest. Fatu gave Priest the jump-up moonsault treatment as well. “Fatu!” chants filled the building and Fatu held his title high to end the segment.

Match Result: Drew McIntyre defeated LA Knight via DQ (9:25)

– John Cena was shown walking backstage and ran into R-Truth, who said if Cena ever needed him, Cena could give him a call. Jimmy Uso walked into the frame and Truth told Jimmy he still wants to be like Cena when he grows up. Jimmy said Truth is already grown up, though. There was no real need for this.

– Next week, Aleister Black will face The Miz. That was the only match advertised. From there, we went to the introductions for the TLC match.

WWE Tag Team Champions The Street Profits vs. #DIY vs. Motor City Machine Guns in a TLC title match

This was really, really good. Look. It’s not a Ladder War. It’s not GCW. It’s not even AEW. It was the traditional WWE TLC match with the spots you expect to look for, but these guys executed those spots (save for Dawkins’s spear off the ladder, which was definitely not as good-looking as Edge’s from a million years ago) well and they even added some new wrinkles to the WWE TLC cannon. It’s all to say, these six guys worked safe and hard and they should be applauded for that. Would I have rather seen this match on the Maina card than, say, AJ Styles vs. Logan Paul? As a matter of fact, I would. Everyone went out there with something to prove and they proved it (ish). Two standouts were Ciampa, who volunteered to take the worst of the punishment, and Tessitore, who put over this match like he was actually calling a WrestleMania bout. Good, hard work all around and if “The SmackDown After WrestleMania” is a thing (like the commentary team referenced many times throughout the night), this was a solid way to end the festivities.

Ciampa and Gargano had the upper hand to start things and they grabbed a ladder, but MCMG dropkicked the ladder into #DIY. MCMG pounded on the Profits until #DIY broke it up. A minute-and-a-half into the match, MCMG started pointed at the titles. Sabin went for a five-hole dive on Gargano, but Gargano held up a chair and Sabin wound up diving into a chair. Dawkins inserted himself and ran Gargano’s head into the ring post. Dawkins was the first to set up a ladder in the middle of the ring, but Sabin hopped on Dawkins’s back. Shelley helped and hit a Dragon Screw Leg Whip on Dawkins’s leg to get him off the ladder.

MCMG went to work on #DIY and Shelley teased climbing the ladder until Ford popped up. Dawkins returned to theh ring and got the ladder out of the way to land 360 splashes on MCMG. Sabin then knocked Dawkins off the top rope and MCMG went to work on Dawkins. Sabin grabbed a chair and Shelley hit a basement dropkick to the head of Dawkins with the chair assist. Sabin followed that with a missile dropkick on Ford from the top – with the chair assist as well. Shelley sold arm pain in a way that made it look like he may have well had some serious arm pain.

Ciampa and Gargano rammed the ladder into Dawkins’s head before Ford hit a dive over the ring post onto all the teams. Ford put another ladder in the ring and Ciampa and Gargano cut Ford off. Gargano came off one ladder and hit a twisted Flatline on Ford, ladder to ladder. Ciampa looked like he was going to win the match, but Dawkins showed up and pulled Ciampa off the ladder. The titles were swinging and Dawkins slammed Gargano from high on the ladder.

Ciampa climbed the ladder and Sabin cut Ciampa off, but Dawkins pushed the ladder over. Shelley returned to the action, so he turns out he was OK, which was good. A chair was placed around Shelley’s neck and Gargano swung a chair into the chair around Shelley’s neck. Gargano suplexed Sabin onto a chair and #DIY worked over Dawkins with chairs. Dawkins came back and hit a twisted double-arm DDT on Gargano onto two chairs. The Profits fired up and grabbed a table from the outside. Ciampa was on Dawkins’s shoulders and Ford landed a running Blockbuster from the inside onto the outside and all six men were down.

“This is awesome!” chants broke out. Ford grabbed a fan’s prosthetic leg and beat Gargano with it. Ford draped a ladder outside the ring, but Ciampa ran Ford into it. The action slowed down briefly as furniture was set up all around the ring. Dawkins was sprawled out on a table. Sabin hit a splash onto Dawkins while on the table from the top on the outside. Ford set Ciampa up on a table and flipped himself onto Ciampa through a table on the outside. Again, “This is awesome!” chants began to emanate from the crowd.

Ford super-kicked Ciampa on the apron as the two fought. Ciampa returned the favor. Ciampa then hit White Noise on Ford through the ladder that was draped on the outside of the ring. Inside the ring, Gargano climbed the ladder, but was cut off via Shelley. Sabin and Gargano fought on the apron. Sabin and Shelley hit Skull and Bones on Gargano through a table on the outside of the ring. More “This is awesome!” chants broke out.

Back inside the ring, Ciampa fired himself up to climb up the ladder. Ciampa got to the top and it looked like he could have taken the titles, but MCMG removed the ladder from Ciampa, who hung from the belt holder. Dawkins got on top of a ladder and a table was placed below Ciampa. Dawkins speared Ciampa from the top of the ladder through a table. It wasn’t the cleanest spear ever. Shelley and Sabin took their time to set up a ladder and Gargano showed up to throw a chair at the head of Shelley.

Gargano climbed the ladder, but Sabin met him at the top. The two traded blows at the top of the ladder. Sabin knocked Gargano off the top but out of nowhere, Ford leapt onto the ladder and knocked Sabin down. Just when it looked like Ford would win Gargano pulled him down. Then, just when it looked like Gargano would win, Sabin showed up. Ford, Gargano and Sabin battled at the top of the ladder in a wild spot. Ford got the best of them all and unhooked the belts for the win.

Tez and Dawkins posed on top of the ladder after the match before replays aired. The Profits celebrated in the ring and got the crowd to celebrate with them. The Profits went out into the crowd and celebrated with them as the show ended.

Match Result: WWE Tag Team Champions The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) defeated #DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa) and Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) in a TLC match to retain (22:52)

WWE NXT live results: Stand & Deliver fallout in Las Vegas

Posted on by Chris Aiken

WWE has one more event in Las Vegas before WrestleMania week officially wraps up.

NXT is taking place live from the Fontainebleau Hotel tonight. Along with the fallout from Stand & Deliver, the episode is set to feature three title matches. The NXT Women’s Championship, WWE Women’s Tag Team titles, and Heritage Cup will be on the line.

Stephanie Vaquer and Roxanne Perez will meet one-on-one for the first time ever. After Vaquer successfully defended her title at Stand & Deliver, Perez confronted her and issued an NXT Women’s Championship challenge. Perez and Giulia then beat down Vaquer and IYO SKY on Raw last night until Rhea Ripley put a stop to their attack.

Gigi Dolin & Tatum Paxley won a fatal four-way elimination match at Stand & Deliver to earn a WWE Women’s Tag Team title shot tonight. They’re getting their match tonight against Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez, who won the belts back from Becky Lynch & Lyra Valkyria on Raw.

Plus, Lexis King will defend the Heritage Cup against a mystery opponent after magicians Penn & Teller made the trophy disappear.

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

**********

NXT is on the air from what is billed as a five-star hotel that is called Fountainbleau Las Vegas. The show begins with a recap from Stand & Deliver.

WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriquez defeated Gigi Dolan & Tatum Paxley to retain their titles

Morgan pinned Dolan to win the match and retain the tag titles. Dolan & Paxley earned the title bout after winning a four-way elimination tag team match on the pre-show for Stand & Deliver, only for Dolan & Paxley to lose here. Good opener, though. Subtle tease of trouble for Dolan & Paxley as teammates.

Paxley does a quebrada off the apron just before the show cuts the first commercial break. The challengers are standing tall when the show heads to commercial, but the champions are in control again when the show returns from the break.

Heat on Paxley, as the champs work her over. Liv with the Three Amigo suplexes and an Eddy Guerrero shimmy for Dirty Dom. Hot tag to Dolan, and she is a house of fire. Near fall for Dolan, but a moment later she and her partner Paxley nearly collide into each other. They stop short, only to get mowed down by a double lariat.

Paxley counters Gonzalez for a near fall, and then Dolan knocks down Gonzalez with a senton. Paxley follows up with a 450 splash. Liv breaks up the subsequent pinning attempt. The fight continues, but not for long.

Bling tag by the champs. Gonzalez powerbombs Dolan, and Liv follows up with her Oblivion finisher. Liv then covers Dolan for a three count. And still…

Penn & Teller cameo alongside Lexis King, who still has not gotten back his Heritage Cup trophy. In order for Penn & Teller to magically make the trophy reappear, King must agree that magic is real. King must also agree to defend the trophy tonight on NXT. King agrees, so Penn & Teller use a box gimmick to make the trophy reappear. King grabs his coveted trophy and clutches it to his chest. He is then informed his challenger tonight is a mystery opponent.

NXT North American Champion Ricky Saints is seen walking around backstage with his title belt on his shoulder. Saints is headed to the Gorilla Position for a monologue that is advertised as up next.

When the show returns from the break, clips highlight No Quarter Catch Crew at the Bloodsport show over the weekend.

Myles Borne of the Catch Crew then in a backstage skit agrees to team up with Je’Von Evans, which sets up a tag match tonight against Darkstate.

North American Champ Ricky Saints enters the ring for his monologue. Saints plays to the crowd and he talks about successfully defending the title against Ethan Page over the weekend.

Heritage Cup Champion Lexis King interrupts Saints, because in NXT no monologue can go uninterrupted. King and Saints cut promos on each other. This all leads to King challenging Saints to a title match for next Tuesday on NXT. King even agrees to put the Heritage Cup trophy on the line in a title vs. trophy match. Saints agrees to the challenge, but King first must retain against a mystery opponent.

The returning Noam Dar is the mystery surprise, as he returns looking to regain the Heritage Cup. The most decorated Heritage Cup champ, Dar, is back to take his crown.

Noam Dar defeated Heritage Cup Champion Lexis King to win the title

Dar pinned King after a back elbow strike, and Dar wins the trophy for the fourth time. This time in one fall no less. Dar was rather dominate, and he ran circles around King. Dar looked elated to be back.

Not sure where this leaves the title match with Saints for next week, except things are getting rather convoluted.

Sarah Screiber interviews Roxanne Perez, and Perez cuts a promo on NXT Women’s Champion Stephanie Vaquer. Perez vows to become champ for the third time.

Thea Hail defeated Fallon Henley (with Jacy Jayne & Jazmyn Nyz)

Hail submitted Henley with an armbar to win the match, which was rather short. Henley is great, but this was about getting Hail over and planting seeds of dissension in the Fatal Influence trio. Namely, Jayne accidentally costing Henley the match.

Henley has Hail in a full nelson when Jayne goes to kick Hail, but Hail ducks. Jayne boots Henley, who takes a bump into the ring steps. Henley sells big, as Hail rolls Henley back into the ring. Hail knocks down both Nyz and Jayne. then Hail applies her version of a Kimura lock. Henley taps out, and Hail wins via submission.

NXT Champion Oba Femi gets a full entrance with him wearing street clothes. Femi poses with his title belt before beginning a monologue.

Femi talks about retaining his title at Stand & Deliver in a triple threat match against Trick Williams and Je’Von Evans. Femi talks about doubting Evans, but Femi puts over Evans as a future star. Trick Williams on the other hand, Femi will not put him over. Instead, Femi cuts a promo on Trick.

Out comes Trick to confront Femi. Trick still wants his title back. They are soon interrupted by a surprise inter-promotional appearance.

TNA Champion Joe Hendry enters the scene. Hendry cuts a promo on Trick, and Trick responds with a promo on Hendry. This led to Hendry saying he as the TNA champ has business with the NXT champ. The two champs double team Trick.

Hendry and Femi pummel Trick, and they toss him out of the ring. Hendry and Femi then face off in a champion against champion showdown.

A pre-taped skit from the desert is a cinematic scene where Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo is met by Luca Crusifino.

WWE Tag Team Champs Liv Morgan & Raquel Gonzalez have words with Sol Ruca and Zaria in a backstage skit.

Trick Williams is freaking out backstage, and he is wrecking the place. The television feed cuts out amid the mayhem.

Dion Lennox & Osiris Griffin (with Darkstate) defeated Myles Borne & Je’Von Evans

This was a way to get Darkstate over, with limited success. Griffin pinned Borne to win the match, while Griffin is still nursing a hand injury suffered at Stand & Deliver. He is assisted with a double team powerbomb on Borne for the finish.

No Quarter Catch Crew are seen watching the match from the ramp, as their charge dropped the fall.

Yoshiki Inamura thanks NXT GM Ava for her support, as Inamura is sit to return to NOAH shortly. Inamura is upset he almost won the tag titles. In walks Josh Briggs, and Inamura gets so emotional that Ava books a return tag title match for them. After Ava leaves, Inamura reveals to Briggs his ploy was an old trick.

The pre-taped skit with The Family continues, as Tony D’Angelo comes to a hotel to meet with Adrianna Rizzo. They chat about the recent development with Stacks turning on “The Don” himself. This is very much soap opera. Maybe Granny can review it on the Bryan & Vinny Show. D’Angelo wants Rizzo to hide out until this all bows over.

Ricky Saints is interviewed by Sarah Screiber in a backstage area. Saints is confronted by Ethan Page, which is a distraction. Lexis King ambushes Saints with a sneak attacks. King blames Saints for losing the Heritage Cup trophy, but King is still challenging Saints for the North American title in a match set for next week.

NXT Champion Stephanie Vaquer defeated Roxanne Perez to retain her title

Vaquer pinned Perez clean after the STB finisher. They had a really good match. Perez should be headed to the main roster, as she is long overdue. In a cliffhanger ending, Jordynne Grace and Giulia are seen glaring at Vaquer as the show fades to black.

WWE Raw live results: The Raw after WrestleMania 41

Posted on by Steve Khan

Date: April 21, 2025
Location: T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV 

The Big Takeaway —

Bron Breakker joined Seth Rollins and Paul Heyman, Randy Orton laid out John Cena, Becky Lynch turned heel on Lyra Valkyria, Rusev returned, Stephanie Vaquer wrestled IYO SKY, and Gunther tried to kill the announcers. 

There was plenty to chew on, but the show was also almost three hours long, about 20 minutes longer than usual, and featured just three matches that totalled 34 minutes.

**********

Show Recap — 

There was a 4-minute video package recapping the “wonderful” WrestleMania weekend. It included a questionable headline from ESPN stating that the event added to “Las Vegas’ rise as a premier sports city.” 

Paul Heyman and Seth Rollins arrived at T-Mobile Arena together. As did Lyra Valkyria and Becky Lynch, who will defend their newly won tag titles against Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez tonight. Judgment Day arrived together, minus Finn Bálor, with new Intercontinental Champion Dominik Mysterio leading the way. Jey Uso was shown, too, and he received a big pop. 

John Cena segment 

Serious-face John Cena entered, and a huge fireworks display went off as he posed with his Undisputed WWE Championship. Cena called ring announcer Mark Shunock into the ring. (Alicia Taylor has the night off.) Cena handed Shunock a piece of paper. Shunock was told that his introduction was deemed disrespectful, so he read a new introduction off the paper. 

Cena said winners write history, and the fans were not worthy. They bullied him on Friday, but now that he had gold and they cheered, he was not suddenly going to forgive them. That’s not how a functional relationship works. Cena told the fans to go to hell. They all owed him an apology, but they lacked the courage to give it. 

He called tonight’s show the sacred ticket because this is the night they get to hijack the show, but they’ve gone soft. The crowd chanted, “We aren’t sorry.” Cena called them the sorriest lowlifes he’s ever seen. (Cena said they were chanting, “We aren’t sorry,” but it sure sounded like, “We are sorry.”) 

The crowd called him an assh*le while he told them that they don’t mean anything to him. He wasn’t impressed with their chant because they’ve called him so much worse over 25 years, and he never cracked.

They didn’t mean anything to him. The only thing that mattered was the number on the screen. “36 dates.” 36 dates and he was gone. (That number began in the new year.) That number was now down to 27 dates after this weekend’s shows. That wasn’t the number of matches he had left, only appearances. 

They thought he couldn’t wrestle, but he didn’t even have to. When that number reached zero, the professional wrestling timeline stopped cold. He knew that the show would continue. But the title held by Bruno Sammartino, Roman Reigns, CM Punk, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, and Steve Austin came home with him. 

He was the last real champion in WWE. Winning the belt was the hardest part, but the rest would be easy. The best they had to save themselves was Cody Rhodes. A few people booed, and Cena called them heartless bastards. They put him on their shoulders a year ago, but they went back and forth between booing him and cheering him all weekend. That’s what was wrong with them. 

That’s also why Rhodes was outshone, outwrestled, and destroyed. The truth was that no one in WWE with the strength, speed, wisdom, or ruthless aggression of John Cena. Unlike them, Cena had a heart, so he wanted to do something nice. He invited the fans to pull out their cameras for a five-second pose so they could take a picture of the last real champion. 

Randy Orton appeared from behind and laid out Cena with an RKO.

(Cena received a mixed reaction here. It was probably more booing than cheering. Not that it really matters.) 

******** 

Shown in the crowd were Gabriel Iglesias, Rana Daggubati, and guys from Pat McAfee’s show. 

Also in the crowd were Tatum Paxley and Gigi Dolin. They face the winners of this match on tomorrow’s NXT. 

Lynch and Valkyria entered together to Lynch’s music. 

Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez defeated Becky Lynch & Women’s Intercontinental Champion Lyra Valkyria to win the Women’s Tag Team Championships (11:57) 

The heels beat up Valkyria throughout an early commercial break, and Lynch made the hot tag as soon as they returned. Morgan caught her with a Codebreaker, but Lynch blocked Oblivion and hit the Man-handle Slam. This won the match last night, but Rodriguez broke up the cover this time. 

Lynch and Valkyria tried a double superplex on Rodriguez, but Morgan brought Lynch down with a powerbomb before Rodriguez gave Valkyria a powerbomb off the middle rope for a nearfall. Everyone was down, so the crowd chanted, “This is awesome.” 

Valkyria hit a tornado DDT and a Nightwing, but Morgan put Rodriguez’s foot on the bottom rope. Lynch and Morgan brawled on the outside before Valkyria dropped Morgan with a baseball slide. Rodriguez smashed Valkyria with a big boot for a near fall. 

Rodriguez powerbombed Morgan onto Valkyria, but Valkyria dumped Rodriguez from the ring. Valkyria blocked Morgan’s Oblivion and set up for Nightwing. Rodriguez grabbed Valkyria to block her from doing it, and Lynch tried making the save, but Rodriguez shoved her aside. 

Valkyria knocked Rodriguez off the apron anyway, but Morgan caught her with Oblivion for the pinfall win. 

(The story towards the end of the match was that Valkyria was really fighting both women off on her own, and Lynch was thwarted each time she tried to help.) 

Morgan and Rodriguez are 4-time champs, and they will defend the belts on NXT tomorrow against Dolin and Paxley. 

— Lynch turned on Valkyria after the match. She hugged her before dropping her with a clothesline. Lynch was livid at Valkyria and attacked her a second time. Valkyria was so shocked she didn’t even defend herself. 

Lynch returned to the ring to drop her with consecutive Man-handle slams. The crowd chanted, “One more time,” and Lynch did it again. That was probably a dumb idea because, of course, people cheered.

******** 

New Day walked through the back and stopped for a moment upon seeing Karrion Kross. 

During a break, Chad Gable entered with American Made for a quick promo. He said Rey Mysterio faked an injury and put over El Grande Americano. 

They showed the “fact” of the night: WrestleMania 41 was the most socially viewed WrestleMania of all-time, generating 1.1 billion social views across all social platforms. 

******** 

The New Day segment / Rusev returns 

New Day entered. Xavier Woods told us to get on our knees and thank God for the New Day. Kofi Kingston said there was no team, alive or dead, who were better than them. 

Alpha Academy interrupted. Maxxine Dupri reminded us that Alpha Academy beat New Day in 60 seconds the last time they wrestled. She told New Day to put the titles on the line tonight. Woods said no. Dupri asked if the minute men were scared. That was enough to convince New Day, because Kingston accepted. 

A referee ran out, and the teams got ready, but the lights went out. 

Rusev entered to a new theme song. New Day bailed as Rusev hit the ring. Rusev laid out Otis and Tozawa. Otis tried firing up, but Rusev dropped him with a thrust kick and put him in an Accolade.

(Rusev got a good reaction and some “Rusev Day” chants.) 

******** 

Judgment Day celebrated in the back with their titles. Finn Bálor entered and got in Dominik’s face. Morgan immediately tried to settle him down. Bálor smiled and said, What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Bálor said he would be with Dom tonight. After some Carlito comedy, Bálor took a good look at Dom’s IC title belt. 

During a break, they aired the closing moments of Iyo Sky’s successful title defence. 

Survivor Series 2025 was announced for Petco Park in San Diego. 

******** 

IYO SKY segment

Sky entered to a good reaction. She called last night the best night of her career. She was over the moon because she beat the best there is—and that meant she was the best there is. (The crowd chanted, “You deserve it.”) Rhea Ripley and Bianca Belair tried to forget her, but now nobody would forget her. She was the genius of the sky, and she was the Women’s World Champion. 

Stephanie Vaquer entered. Vaquer congratulated Sky. Vaquer introduced herself as the NXT Women’s Champion, and the crowd chanted, “La Primera.” Vaquer called Sky amazing and wanted to show her respect. Vaquer wanted to fight the best of the best. Sky said if she wanted to fight, then she accepts. 

Sky suggested they do the match right now. People cheered, but they loudly booed when Adam Pearce entered. He asked if the fans wanted the match. They cheered louder this time, so he made it official for right now.

Women’s World Champion IYO SKY defeated NXT Women’s Champion Stephanie Vaquer via disqualification in a non-title match (13:59) 

I believe this was a first-time-ever match. 

Sky got the better of an early exchange after hitting a suicide dive, but Vaquer followed with a dive off the barricade before they went to break. Vaquer had control through the break, but Sky came back after the break and hit a missile dropkick. 

Vaquer avoided a moonsault and hit a deep dragon screw and a running meteroa for two. Sky avoided Vaquer’s finisher and hit a double foot stomp for two. The crowd popped as Vaquer hit Devil’s Kiss (leg scissors head stomps) for two. The crowd chanted, “One more time,” which seemed to amuse Vaquer. 

They traded counters until Vaquer applied a cradle for two, and Sky followed with a backbreaker for two. Sky hit a German suplex, but before she could follow up, Vaquer hit her with a German. They went to the top, and Sky hit a Spanish fly. 

Sky set up for a running dropkick, but Roxanne Perez decked her for the DQ. (She was a little late getting in, so Sky had to run in place and wait for her.) 

— The crowd booed and booed some more when Giulia entered to attack Vaquer. The heels did their thing until Rhea Ripley ran out to make the save. 

Ripley (who has a black eye) got rid of Perez before having a face-off with Giulia. They circled each other until Giulia left the ring. Giulia left with Perez. 

Ripley handed Sky her world title belt and backed out of the ring. 

(This match was quite good until the finish. It built as it went, but of course, it was cut off by the DQ. The crowd liked both women, and they were into it. It was sorta refreshing to see two good wrestlers just having a good match for the hell of it on Raw.) 

Match result: IYO SKY defeated Stephanie Vaquer via disqualification 

******** 

McAfee announced a crowd of 19,262 during a break. 

Jey Uso celebration

This opened with a terrific Jey Uso video package set to “Chant” by Macklemore and Tones and I. 

Jey entered to a big reaction with his newly won World Heavyweight Championship. He also wore gold accessories to go along with his gold title belt. The crowd wasted no time in chanting, “You deserve it.” They also chanted, “One more time,” so Jey had the music played again, and they all Yeeted. 

Jey opened with: “The World Heavyweight Champion is now in your city.” He continued, “I’m here. I’m here now. I’ve been wanting it since I was a kid. I’m here now.” It was a long, hard road. The road wasn’t easy. He gave it all he had to beat Gunther at Mania, “and I made him tap.” The crowd chanted, “He tapped out.” 

Jey was grateful, so he would show up every day and put the work in like he always had. He told them to say, “Yeet,” if they were happy to see him as champion, so they did. 

Sami Zayn entered. Zayn hugged Jey. The fans chanted, “Sami Uso.” 

Zayn said it was hard being away for the past 8 weeks or so while Jey was going through everything with Gunther. Missing WrestleMania this year was hard. Neither of them did well being on the sidelines, and to be honest, Zayn almost didn’t come to Vegas at all. 

But Zayn had to come because he had to make sure he was the first one to stand in the ring and tell Jey how proud he was of him. Jey was his brother, and he deserved it. Every single person knew that Jey deserved it. (Everyone cheered.) 

Zayn didn’t want to get all sentimental on the Raw after Mania because it was time to celebrate, so he told them to hit Jey’s music. They posed on the corners and Yeeted along with the fans. 

Zayn got off the ropes early and stood behind Jey. The fans assumed Zayn was about to turn on Jey because we’ve seen so many turns lately, but Zayn just hugged him instead. 

Jimmy Uso entered next, and they all did their special handshake. Jimmy and Sami raised Jey’s hand, and they played Jey’s music again. They Yeeted for a while longer and left the ring together.

(This was a nice segment for Jey, even if it did go a little long.) 

******** 

Metro Boomin, Chelsea Gray & Kiah Stokes, and Chase Briscoe were in the crowd. 

AJ Styles and Karrion Kross backstage segment 

Jackie Redmond interviewed AJ Styles. He called his loss to Logan Paul a tough pill to swallow, but he was moving on and planned on bouncing back. 

Karrion Kross and Scarlett were interrupted. (Kross got a pretty good reaction.) Kross wasn’t happy about this. Kross called Styles the best of them, so his loss just legitimized Paul. 

Styles said he didn’t want to go back to being the guy he was a year ago because he hated that guy. Beating Paul with the brass knuckles would’ve been a meaningless victory. He didn’t want Kross to bring him down with him, and told Kross to deal with it himself. 

********

During a break, A-Town Down tried cutting a promo, but they were cut off by the War Raiders. Erik and Ivar were pissed at New Day for stealing the titles, but reminded them that Raw was War. 

Gunther segment 

Gunther marched out next as the break came to an end. The fans chanted, “You tapped out.” Gunther got in Michael Cole’s face and knocked off his headset. McAfee tried to interject, but Gunther shoved him down. 

Gunther put Cole in a sleeper, but unfortunately, McAfee made the save. McAfee hit Gunther with a forearm, and the crowd cheered. Officials ran down to get between them as McAfee backed off. McAfee made the mistake of turning his back, so Gunther put him in a sleeper. 

Officials desperately tried to stop Gunther, who held this sleeper for a long time. The fans chanted, “F*ck you, Gunther,” and he eventually let go. Some referees followed Gunther to the back. 

I assumed McAfee would be out for a while because of this, but he actually got to his feet. He sold it really hard as he was checked by officials. (Some of McAfee’s friends jumped the railing and I think they were actually blocked by security until they were allowed to join Pat.) 

The camera stayed on McAfee through a commercial, and they followed him up the ramp. He kept stumbling over, but eventually made his way to the back. After the break, officials followed as he made his way to the trainer’s room. 

Cole, who feared he suffered a broken nose, told Pearce that he needed to do something about this. Cole said the announcers shouldn’t be afraid to give their opinions or have fun. 

Pearce said he would take care of it, but first told Cole to take the rest of the night off. Cole said no. He wouldn’t allow a bully to stop him from calling the Raw after Mania. 

Cole returned to ringside as the crowd loudly cheered Cole and sang his name. 

(Joe Tessitore was at the desk to fill in for McAfee.) 

This was well done, and it helps that they haven’t gotten the announcers, particularly Cole, involved in something like this in a while (in WWE). 

******** 

Cole called the next match while periodically coughing to sell the sleeper. 

Dominik Mysterio (w/Finn Bálor & Carlito) defeated Penta to retain the Intercontinental Championship (8:01) 

Dom had control through a break, but Penta came back after the break and hit a Canadian destroyer. Bálor tried to encourage Dom, but Penta wiped out Bálor with a hurricanrana off the apron. 

As Carlito distracted the referee, the returning JD McDonagh shoved Penta off the top rope. Dom hit Penta with a 619 and a frog splash for the pinfall win. 

— Morgan and Rodriguez joined the rest of Judgment Day in celebration on the ramp. Bálor seemed surprised to see McDonagh but reluctantly celebrated along with them. 

Penta has one win in his last six matches. 

Match result: Dominik Mysterio defeated Penta 

******** 

CM Punk was shown backstage earlier in the show. 

Seth Rollins & Paul Heyman segment 

Rollins and Heyman entered to Rollins’ usual music, so of course, the fans sang along. 

Rollins stood still in the ring for a while as the fans settled down. They didn’t seem to know what to do with themselves while Rollins just stood there, so there was a smattering of chants for Punk and Roman Reigns, followed by, “F*ck you, Heyman” chants. 

Rollins said he took a wise man from Reigns and stole Punk’s best friend. He was the winner of the WrestleMania main event. 

Punk stormed out (to his music). Punk attacked Rollins and got the better of their brawl. Punk grabbed Heyman, but Rollins grabbed Punk from behind and poked his eyes before hitting a curb stomp.  

Heyman said they would conclude WrestleMania 41 weekend by propelling the news all the way to WrestleMania 42. “There is a new reigning, defending, undisputed, number one top star in this entire industry. Ladies and gentleman: Seth freakin’ Rollins.” 

Rollins posed, and it seemed like the show was over because they already showed the trademark graphic, but Roman Reigns entered (to his music). (Rollins dumped Punk from the ring.) 

Reigns hit the ring and speared Rollins before punching Heyman. 

Reigns was about to spear Heyman, but Bron Breakker suddenly speared Reigns. Rollins acted surprised, but it was a swerve. Punk got back in the ring, and Breakker speared Punk. Rollins laughed and embraced Bron. 

Breakker set up for a spear outside the ring, but Reigns punched him. Bron instead ran around the ring and speared Reigns through the barricade. 

Bron held down Reigns and forced him to watch as Rollins stomped Punk again before stomping Reigns. 

Rollins, Breakker, and Heyman stood tall as the show ended.

(They really needed to elevate someone to the top scene, so it was good to see Bron join this act. Hopefully, it doesn’t take two years for him to usurp Rollins.) 

WWE SmackDown live results: WrestleMania go-home show

Posted on by Colin McGuire

Cody Rhodes and John Cena will come face-to-face on the final SmackDown before WrestleMania 41.

Ahead of their Undisputed WWE Championship match, the two have been trading barbs since Cena turned against Rhodes at Elimination Chamber. Tonight will mark the final promo opportunity for both before their Sunday night main event..

Also tonight, Tiffany Stratton and Charlotte Flair will be the subject of two sit-down interviews. They are set to wrestle for the WWE Women’s Championship on night one of WrestleMania.

The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) are defending their WWE Tag Team titles against Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) tonight. A six-woman tag bout is also set with Chelsea Green, Piper Niven & Alba Fyre taking on Zelina Vega, Kayden Carter & Katana Chance.

Plus, the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal will take place on SmackDown as well.

Tonight’s show is being held at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Our live coverage begins at 8 p.m. Eastern time — with the first hour of SmackDown airing commercial-free on USA Network.

**********

– Joe Tessitore welcomed everyone into the show as shots of Las Vegas aired. Cody Rhodes, the Motor City Machine Guns, The Street Profits, Solo Sikoa, and Tama Tonga were shown backstage. LA Knight appeared out of nowhere and slammed Tonga’s arm into a car door.

– Seth Rollins’s music hit and Rollins walked out for the first segment.

The Seth Rollins segment

… Because all I wanted for my birthday was watching Seth Rollins cosplay as CM Punk with a promo that didn’t quite hit as hard as everyone hoped it would. Don’t get me wrong. Rollins was good here and his efforts were appreciated, but I simply can’t buy into these “the most important triple threat in the history of wrestling” superlatives. Maybe you can, and if you can, that’s great. I’m jealous. I’d love for this match and this story to grip my attention – and I’ve even tried to play along at various spots in its development – but I can’t get there. I hope they have something bombastic planned for how it all plays out Saturday night. Until then, this just felt like a rehashing of things we’ve all heard Rollins say multiple times already. The AEW reference got him a few cheap gasps from the live crowd, but anyone who’s been paying attention to Rollins both on and off TV has heard all of this before. On to tomorrow.

Rollins stood in the middle of the ring holding a microphone as the crowd sang his song. Rollins welcomed everyone to “Friday Night Rollins,” which doesn’t quite work as well as “Monday Night Rollins,” but so it goes. “CM Punk!” chants began and Rollins sat cross-legged in the middle of the ring, a la Punk. “OTC!” chants broke out. Rollins took the SmackDown cube off the microphone and said he wanted to start by talking about Punk.

Rollins said the reason Punk came back to wrestling was because everyone chanted his name for 10 years. Rollins said when Punk came back to the ring, “it wasn’t a WWE ring.” Rollins asked if Punk came back because everyone chanted his name or if someone else “wrote a big, fat check.” Rollins noted how Punk burned that bridge and came back to WWE and asked again if it was because the fans chanted Punk’s name. Rollins said no because Punk came back to WWE because WWE wrote him a “big, fat check,” and the crowd chanted “Big fat check!” Rollins said, “Tell me when I’m telling lies.”

Rollins called Punk a liar, a fraud and a coward. Rollins said say what you will about Roman Reigns, but Reigns doesn’t even pretend to care about the fans whereas Punk claims to care about the fans. Rollins said Reigns only cares about Reigns and Reigns is in the Reigns business. The crowd did the sing-songy “Roman, Roman Reigns!” bit. Rollins said Reigns knows nothing about sacrifice while Rollins knows everything about sacrifice. Rollins said the story between he, Reigns and Punk started 12 years ago and it started with Paul Heyman.

Rollins said Heyman brought Reigns, Rollins and Dean Ambrose into WWE to be a Shield for CM Punk. Rollins said every single night, he sacrificed everything he had in the ring to be that shield. Rollins said he didn’t get credit for that because everyone in the back wanted all the cameras on Reigns. Rollins said everyone said Reigns would be the next cash cow for WWE, he would be the “next John Cena.” Rollins said Punk took his ball and went home and Rollins heard some Punk chants while Rollins was making every show and sacrificing everything he had every night.

Rollins said it all came to a head last year at WrestleMania, when his knee was shredded and his stepdad was dying of cancer. Still, Rollins said he made it to Mania last year to be a shield to make sure Roman Reigns lost. “Thank you Seth!” chants broke out and the crowd sang Rollins’s song. Rollins said the story started 12 years ago and it will end tomorrow night “in the most important triple threat match in the history of this industry.” Rollins promised everybody he will lay everything on the line to make sure the business moves forward in the right direction. Rollins ended by saying, “That’s not a prediction; that’s a spoiler.”

**********

– Rey Fenix received a televised entrance for the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal. A video package on Andre then aired. When the show came back to the ring, Nakamura received a televised entrance as well.

Andre The Giant memorial battle royal

There really isn’t much to say about this because you can take every single Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal ever, say whatever there is to say about that, cut, paste, and use it right here. I was pleasantly surprised to see Melo and Andrade work as the final two left because I loved that best-of-seven series they had (save for whatever the ending to it was supposed to be). Melo going over makes sense, though I’d really love to see the creative minds come up with something meaningful for Andrade to do after Mania. Considering the Gable/Fenix stuff … does this mean Fenix plays a role in Americano’s match vs. Mysterio this weekend? We shall see.

Carlito and R-Truth had a fun bit where Truth took a bite out of Carlito’s apple. Truth then eliminated Carlito and threw his apple at him. The Miz then eliminated Truth as a means to help Melo. Karrion Kross attacked Miz and Melo stepped in to break it up. Los Garza went to work on Fenix, but that led to Fenix eliminating both Berto and Angel. Santos Escobar looked angry about the whole thing. Grayson Waller and Austin Theory eliminated both members of Pretty Deadly.

Kaiser eliminated Tyler Bate with a shotgun dropkick to Bate’s midsection. As a result, Pete Dunne went to work on Kaiser. Santos Escobar proposed working with Fenix to eliminate Andrade, but instead, Fenix eliminated Escobar. The Creed Brothers eliminated Tozawa and Otis then clotheslined the Creed Brothers over the top to dispose of them. Otis was then eliminated. Otis attacked the Creeds outside of the ring. Andrade threw Waller to the floor. Andrade did the same to Theory. Andrade and Chad Gable had a moment and all the luchadores in the match attacked Gable and Fenix eliminated him.

Fenix and Kross exchanged chops and Dragon Lee eliminated Kross, which got some boos, considering how it’s Kross’s hometown (and people seem to like that guy these days). Lee ran into a knee from Nakamura and Nakamura eliminated Lee. Kaiser and Dunne fought on the apron and both safely returned to the ring before Dunne eliminated Kaiser. Miz and Melo were on the apron and Dunne did the finger spot on Melo. Miz saved Melo, but Dunne eliminated Miz.

The final five were Fenix, Dunne, Melo, Nakamura and Andrade. Melo eliminated Dunne and the final four stared at each other. They then brawled. Nakamura fired up, but missed a running knee. From there, Andrade dropkicked Nakamura off the top rope and out of the match. Melo and Andrade fought on the middle rope and Fenix tried to eliminate both of them to no avail. Melo then attacked Fenix. Fenix ran at Melo, but Melo placed Fenix on the apron. Fenix walked the ropes, but El Grande Americano appeared out of nowhere and eliminated Fenix.

The final two were Andrade and Melo. Tessitore referenced their seven-match series. Melo and Andrade countered each other’s moves and landed some clotheslines on each other. Andrade hit his spinning back elbow and both guys were down at about the 15 minute mark. Andrade set up for Three Amigos, but Melo blocked it and hit a cutter. The two battled on the second rope and Melo got the best of it, sending Andrade over the top for the win. The Miz came back to ringside to celebrate with Melo.

Match Result: Carmelo Hayes won the Andre The Giant memorial battle royal (15:30)

**********

– Wade Barrett interviewed Charlotte and asked why she thinks things got so ugly between her and Stratton. Charlotte took her time to respond and said she doesn’t love it and both she and Tiffy have chips on their shoulders. Now, though, people are invested in the Charlotte/Tiffy match and what matters most to Charlotte is that people now want to see Tiffy and Charlotte go at it. Charlotte said at the end of the day, that’s what the business is about. This was all they showed and I’m not sure if that means we’ll see more later or they just edited the hell out of the sit-down.

– Tama Tonga has been taken to a “local medical facility” after Knight’s attack in the parking lot earlier.

– Rhea Ripley was shown walking backstage and with about 10 minutes before the top of the hour, the show went to a commercial break, which I thought was not the plan? You stiffed us on 10 minutes, WWE. Keep your promises.

The Rhea Ripley/IYO SKY/Bianca Belair/Naomi/Jade Cargill segment

This was fun. Naomi is doing fantastic work as this unhinged friend scorned. I maintain that she plays a role in helping Belair win the title this weekend and then aligns with a heel Bianca Belair (first defense for Belair being … of course … Jade Cargill). Ripley is such a star, it’s great to watch her become more and more comfortable in that role. SKY, meanwhile, has played her role in this program perfectly along the way. I could be in the minority, but even if we all agree that this doesn’t need to be a triple threat and the money match was actually Ripley/Belair, SKY has made the most of her part. As she just sort of stood around while everyone brawled here, I couldn’t help but chuckle. I liked this segment a bit. Fast-moving. Wavering in and out of intensity. This was good.

Ripley took in a bunch of cheers once in the ring. She said this will be her sixth WrestleMania and each time, she’s walked into some sort of championship match. That said, this year’s is probably the most important to her, she argued. Ripley noted how she lost her women’s title before Mania and let Bianca Belair get the best of her. Ripley said she could make excuses and complain, but there’s no point in talking about the past. Ripley said she will do what she has to do to get back what she wants – that Women’s World Championship. Ripley said she will walk out of Mania a three-time champ. IYO SKY’s music hit and SKY made her entrance.

SKY went to talk and Bianca Belair’s music hit. Belair made her entrance. Belair entered the ring and started talking, but the crowd booed her. Belair asked SKY and Ripley if they really thought she wouldn’t show up. The boos got louder. Belair said tonight might be her last time on SmackDown for a while because at Mania, she will walk out as champion. Naomi’s music hit and Naomi stepped into the entranceway. Naomi confronted Belair about not talking to her. Naomi said she’s been calling and texting Belair, but she’s heard nothing in return. Naomi asked if their friendship means so little to Belair. Naomi said she wanted to handle things in private, but … and then Belair and Naomi talked over each other.

Naomi entered the ring and Belair said they weren’t going to do this right now. Naomi said tomorrow, she will finish what she started with Jade Cargill. On cue, Cargill’s music hit and Cargill walked to the ring with purpose. Cargill entered the ring and yelled at Belair off-mic. Naomi rolled out of the ring. Ripley stepped in and said it wasn’t about Cargill, but Naomi returned to the ring and everyone except SKY brawled. SKY just sort of stood there while the crowd chanted “IYO!” SKY then went to the top and landed an Over The Moonsault onto everyone in the floor to end the segment.

**********

– Rey Fenix was shown backstage and Chad Gable walked up and made fun of him for losing the battle royal. Dragon Lee walked in and told Gabe to shut up. Rey Mysterio showed up and told Gable Americano will learn some real lucha libre at WrestleMania. Mysterio challenged Gable and the Creeds to a six-man tag later in the show.

WWE World Tag Team Champions The Street Profits vs. Motor City Machine Guns

What a stupid finish. The Profits, #DIY, MCMG … they all deserve better. Not only did they not make it on to the actual Mania card, but they were straddled with this waste of time. The action was good while it lasted, and I actually thought the pace was picking up nicely as the teams were finally starting to get the crowd behind them, but it was all for nothing. If there was ever a scenario for a justified multi-person tag match for the biggest PPV, it was the SmackDown tag division. Instead, nobody gets anything. It’s a shame.

MCMG jumpstarted the match as the Profits were posing during their entrance. When the match officially started, Shelley and Sabin worked a series of double-team moves on Ford until Ford powered out of everything and clotheslined Shelley and Sabin separately. Dawkins tagged in and landed his spinning splash on Sabin before tagging in Ford, who hit the assisted Blockbuster on Sabin, but Shelley broke up the pin attempt. Shelley went to fly, but Dawkins punched Shelley in the teeth. The show then went to a commercial break.

The show returned and Shelley tagged in Sabin, who fired up and took out both Profits, complete with a running apron kick to Dawkins. Sabin then hit a missile dropkick onto Ford. Shelley tagged in and worked a pair of double-team moves, including a dropkick Flatliner combo. Dawkins tagged in and threw Sabin, who was the legal man, for a two-count. Ford quickly tagged in and went to the top, but MCMG worked him over with a series of tandem moves again. Shelley went to the top, but Dawkins broke things up. Ford then hit a super-kick on Sabin and landed a dive on everyone over a ring post. #DIY then showed up and interfered, ending the match. Gargano and Ciampa got hold of the tag titles, stole them, and walked to the back.

Match Results: Street Profits vs. Motor City Machine Guns went to a no contest (8:35)

**********

– Nick Aldis ran into Chelsea Green and the Secret Hervice. Green’s ladies served Aldis with papers, which addressed last week’s count-out loss. Aldis made a Green vs. Vega match for later with the Hervice barred from ringside.

– Ciampa and Gargano were shown trying to leave the arena with the tag titles, but Aldis stepped in and stopped them. The Profits showed up. Everybody shouted at each other. Aldis took the titles away from Ciampa and Gargano and Aldis made the match for SmackDown next week – a TLC match for the tag titles between the three teams.

The Randy Orton segment

Good fire from Orton. Short and sweet, which isn’t common for Randy Orton segments in the year 2025. The open challenge is probably the best way to go, but I was still holding out hope for an Aldis vs. Orton showdown. Either way, who you got? Rusev? Black? Mariah May? The speculation should be fun over the next 48 hours.

Orton reminded everyone that he doesn’t have an opponent for WrestleMania 41. Orton said he’s been around town all week and there is an excitement about WrestleMania everywhere. Orton referenced his dad being in the first Mania and said there’s no way in hell he will sit out this year’s Mania. Orton noted how this would be the 20th time he would compete at a WrestleMania. Orton said he will show up on Sunday, boots tied, baby oil on his skin, and he will be ready to deliver for the WWE Universe. He said he’ll do it for the fans, himself and the boys in the back.

Orton said if anyone wants to test their meddle, he dares them to step up. Orton said if anyone on the strip owns a pair of wrestling boots, he challenges them to step up. Orton said whomever it will be will fall victim to the three most dangerous letters in wrestling: R.K.O. Orton’s music hit to end the segment.

**********

– Footage from the McIntyre/Priest brawl at the Mania kickoff show aired.

– Byron Saxton interviewed Priest and Priest cut Saxton off, saying he wanted to send a message to McIntyre. Priest said McIntyre is not a victim – not yet. Priest said Drew isn’t ready for their fight this weekend. Priest said he will beat Drew so bad, “he will wish he was future-endeavored again.” Priest said he will bury McIntyre on Sunday.

WWE Women’s U.S. Champion vs. Zelina Vega in a non-title match

I’m glad they made this a one-on-one match instead of what had earlier been advertised as a six-woman tag and the pinfall victory caught me by surprise. So, all of that was good. The thing that bugs me is that this must mean Green won’t be featured on Mania at all (there have been rumors of a segment featuring her, but …). Chelsea Green deserves a WrestleMania moment. We can all agree on that, right? There would be lots of options for a mystery/impromptu opponent. Why not set aside some time for her? She’s earned it. Anyway, I suspect this means we’ll get Vega vs. Green for the women’s U.S. title sooner than later. This match was sort of meaningless outside of the fun the Vega and Green had with the count out situation from last week.

Green ran at Vega to jumpstart the match and kept up her offense in the early part of the match. Vega eventually kicked Green in the face, but Green came right back and landed a series of strikes on Vega before saluting the crowd. The action spilled outside and and Green sent Vega into the crowd barrier. Green instantly scolded the referee for counting her out, which was funny. Green ran at Vega and Vega backdropped Green into the timekeeper’s area. The women nearly missed the 10 count again and rolled into the ring at the same time to break it.

The two traded blows and the crowd cheered Green, booed Vega. Eventually, Vega fired up and took control, setting up for the 619, but Vega instead ran into a kick from Green, which earned Green a two-count. Green placed Vega on the top rope, but Vega fought back and hit a super Code Red from the top rope for a surprising win. Turns out, it was a non-title match, so … .

Match Result: Zelina Vega defeated Chelsea Green in a non-title match (3:34)

**********

– LA Knight made his entrance and started his promo by saying, “Let me talk to ya!” Knight said what happened last week was inspiration. This was why he attacked Tonga earlier. He now plans to take out Solo Sikoa so he can’t interfere at Mania this weekend in his match against Jacob Fatu. Knight said he walked into WWE and turned the world upside down. Knight said Fatu hasn’t seen anything like him and his U.S. title is the title of titles. Knight said someday, somewhere, Fatu will be a champion in WWE, but at Mania, Fatu will eat a BFT courtesy of LA Knight. Sikoa’s music then hit for the next match.

WWE U.S. Champion LA Knight vs. Solo Sikoa

I was a little disappointed this ended up being nothing more than a conduit to set up a tag match. Weirdly, I was kind of/sort of into the idea that Knight would take out Sikoa and Tonga before Mania so he could be assured there will be no interference for his bout against Fatu if only because it added a tiny wrinkle to Knight and Fatu’s story. Either way, this was all right for what it was. Knight and Sikoa aren’t lighting the world on fire with their in-ring work, so this served its purpose.

Knight jumpstarted the match and attacked Sikoa as he made his entrance. Sikoa fought back and ran Knight into the ring steps. The show then went to a commercial break. The show returned and Sikoa was working over Knight on the outside of the ring, complete with a suplex onto the apron. Back inside the ring, Sikoa lifted Knight, but Knight countered with a neck-breaker. Knight ran the ropes and Sikoa hit a knee to Knight’s midsection. Sikoa followed that up with a headbutt to Knight’s midsection.

Knight came off the middle rope, but Knight got the knees up to telegraph Sikoa. Knight fired up and landed a DDT. Knight went to the second rope, but Jacob Fatu showed up out of nowhere and attacked Knight. Braun Strowman’s music hit and Strowman hit the ring with a double cross-body on Sikoa and Fatu. Knight and Strowman cleared the ring. Nick Aldis walked out and made a tag team match on the spot – Knight and Strowman vs. Fatu and Sikoa.

Match Result: WWE U.S. Champion LA Knight defeated Solo Sikoa via DQ (6:55)

**********

LA Knight & Braun Strowman vs. Solo Sikoa & Jacob Fatu

So much of this felt like it was lost to the picture-in-picture break – on top of that, the whole idea of a tag match here between these people felt useless in terms of heating anything up – but this got Strowman on the SmackDown before WrestleMania, at least. I continue to wonder if pairing Sikoa with Cody coming out of last year’s Mania was nothing more than a test to see how effective Cody can be in making a star out of nowhere. Considering how Sikoa isn’t on this year’s Mania card … perhaps the answer to that question isn’t all that flattering for either Cody or Solo. Either way, here we are. I just thank the wrestling gods that Kevin Owens wasn’t replaced with Solo Sikoa when it comes to what Randy Orton is doing this weekend … I hope?

The match started during a picture-in-picture and Fatu was working over Strowman as the show returned from break. Sikoa tagged in and kicked Strowman before he went into a head-lock. Fatu tagged in and kicked Strowman in the head and went to a modified chin-lock until Strowman lifted Faty and slammed Fatu. Knight received the hot tag and Sikoa tagged in as well. Knight went to the middle rope and hit his pop-up elbow from the top. Fatu broke up a pin attempt.

Strowman threw Fatu to the outside and went for the Strowman Express, but Fatu threw Strowman over the commentary table. Back inside the ring, Knight hit a BFT on Sikoa and got the win for his team.

Match Result: LA Knight & Braun Strowman defeated Solo Sikoa & Jacob Fatu (7:50)

**********

– A clip of the Wade Barrett/Tiffany Stratton sit-down interview aried. Barrett asked Stratton how and why her interview with Charlotte went off the rails. Stratton said she felt bullied and during the split-screen interview earlier this year, she wondered if she was up for the challenge. Tiffy said she gave Charlotte a taste of her own medicine and Charlotte doesn’t have to life Tiffy, but she has to respect her. Barrett asked Tiffy what will happen if Tiffy Time ends at Mania. Tiffy said that won’t happen and she’s aware it’s going to be a fight and she’s going to stand up to Charlotte, a bully. Tiffy said she will walk out of Mania as champion.

Rey Fenix, Rey Mysterio & Dragon Lee vs. Brutus Creed, Julius Creed & Chad Gable

Oh, no. Mysterio went down before the mid-match break and we didn’t see him again. Not on the apron. Not involved in the action. Not anything. Then, to see how Fenix and Lee went directly to him on the outside of the ring after the match ended … let’s hope Mysterio still get his Mania spot (if not, it better be El Generico who steps in for him, but I digress). The match had some good action and innovation in a very basic WWE way, and as such, it was fine for what it was. I just hope Mysterio walked away from it feeling OK.

Fenix and Brutus started the match. They traded offense and Fenix hit a leaping elbow until he tagged in Dragon Lee, who dropkicked Brutus. Julius tagged in shortly thereafter. Lee worked over Julius and sent him to the outside, where Lee landed a dive. Back inside the ring, Lee hit a cross-body on Julius, but Chad Gable broke up the pin attempt. Rey Mysterio entered the ring and chased Gable around the ring. American Made ran over everyone and the three heels hit flying headbutts from the top rope on Lee at the same time. The show went to a commercial break after that.

Back from the break, Dragon Lee was taking punishment from American Made, complete with a Brutus Ball. Lee was perched on the top, but all three heels ended up hanging by their legs on the top rope. Lee hit a double stomp on all three of them. Fenix received the hot tag from Lee and hit a spinning kick on Julius. Fenix’s run was cut off via a Julius knee to the stomach. Julius followed that up with a belly to belly suplex. Julius ran into a super-kick from Fenix and things broke down as Fenix took out all of American Made.

Fenix went to the top and walked the top rope to kick Gable in the head. Lee landed Operation Dragon on Julius. Fenix followed that up with a Meteora from the top for the victory. Almost immediately after the bell rang, Fenix and Lee checked on Mysterio, who had been out of the match for a while and seemingly had a trainer checking on him.

Match Result: Rey Fenix, Rey Mysterio & Dragon Lee defeated Brutus Creed, Julius Creed & Chad Gable (10:11)

**********

The Cody Rhodes/John Cena segment

The tension here was fabulous, even if that tension came from the fans and not necessarily from the wrestlers. It was clear that Cody (and/or the WWE writers) were prepared for crowds to turn on Cody and this was the first time during the build to Mania that it was so pronounced. Because of all this, Cody had some good rounds left in the chamber to fire and he landed those parting shots as good as he ever has or ever could. This was a nice go-home segment for the weekend’s biggest match. They left nothing on the table. My only problem: Wait … what’s up with The Rock?

Cody made his entrance first and received a mixed reaction from the fans. When it appeared Cody was going to talk, Cena’s music hit and the crowd kind of/sort of erupted. Loud “John Cena sucks!” chants broke out in tune with Cena’s music. Cena did the pouty face entrance thing. The crowd was up for all of it. “Let’s go Cena/Cena sucks!” chants broke out and the crowd was hotter than they had been all night. Cody went to speak and Cena said, “Shut your mouth, kid.”

Cena said it will be his 20th Mania and 12th title match. Cena said Sunday will be the last time he ever competes in a WrestleMania ring. Cena said nobody has ever had the courage to end a career the way he is ending his career. Cena said what he is doing is so unprecedented, people don’t believe it. Cena said there is no such thing as a wrestling retirement because wrestlers are all scared, insecure losers. Cena said the second wrestlers get away from wrestling, they’re left with themselves and they come crawling back a shell of themselves. As such, Cena said he doesn’t need a single, damn one of the fans.

Cena said the only reason he wants Cody’s title is that he wants to take it away from Cody and all the fans forever. Cena said he didn’t tell Cody, “Good job, champ” at last year’s Mania and he will lose at this year’s Mania because Cody cares too much about the fans. Cena said he was out there to share one more thing before their match – when he won the Elimination Chamber, he knew it’d be impossible to beat Cody at Mania. In one moment, Cena said, Cody changed that with what he said to The Rock. Cena said he realized at Chamber that Cody doesn’t stand a chance. Cena said he will prove to the fans that they don’t matter.

Cena constantly used “them” and said Cody could accomplish anything he wants in life if he didn’t listen to “them,” but Cody is too weak too do that. Cena asked Cody if he’s going to “do what he thinks is right,” or does he win. Cena called Cody scared, insecure and naive. Cena said on Sunday, he will make Cody “someday who finally realizes that to become a winner, you have to sever ties with all the losers in your life.” Cena said Cody will realize he’s not the captain or quarterback; instead, he’s a kid in a man’s world who doesn’t have the balls of the last real champion.

Cody started to talk and the fans drowned him out with boos. Cody tried again and they booed louder. Cena said, “This is what you fight for?” Cody started up again and the crowd got louder. Cody asked Cena if he knew the guy who usually hands Cena a microphone. Cody said it’s a different WWE and Cena is overrated, overbearing and out of touch and out of time and Cena’s face is melting wax. Cody said Cena is “paler than Sting at Starrcade 97” and wow. Cody said it’s 2025 and Cena “still can’t wrestle.” The crowd loved all of this.

“You can’t wrestle!” chants broke out. The crowd went into the sing-songy Cody Rhodes chant. Cena called the crowd idiots. Cena said the fans are just like Cody – they don’t know what they want. Cena said on Sunday, he won’t have to wrestle and hit (patted?) Cody on the head. Cena lifted Cody, but Cody worked out of it and landed a CrossRhodes on Cena. Cody held up his title, again to mixed reactions from the live crowd, and pointed at the Mania sign. Cody’s music hit and Cody walked to the back. The show ended as the commentary crew ran down the Mania card and then Cody held his title in the air by the LED screens in the entranceway.

WWE Raw live results: WrestleMania 41 go-home show

Posted on by Steve Khan

Date: April 14, 2025
Location:  Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, CA 

The Big Takeaway —

Seth Rollins stood tall to end the final Raw before WrestleMania 41.

**********

Show Recap — 

Jey Uso, Penta (facing Finn Bálor tonight), Judgment Day, CM Punk, Seth Rollins, and Paul Heyman were shown arriving. 

Gunther interview 

There was a Jey/Gunther video package before Gunther entered. The announcers acted surprised because Michael Cole was meant to interview him later tonight. Cole left the table to join Gunther in the ring. 

The crowd booed Gunther as he spoke. He was in a bad mood over Jey and called him full of crap. The crowd Yeeted, which just upset Gunther even more. Gunther called himself the greatest gift this company ever received. He had been a champion for 80% of his time in the company and was the greatest World Heavyweight Champion of all time. He refused to let somebody like Jey ruin that for him. 

Gunther wanted Jey to enter their match with more confidence than ever because it wouldn’t matter. Gunther would put him down for the fourth consecutive time. Gunther said he did not lose control when he beat up Jimmy Uso. He was in full control when he wiped Jimmy’s blood on himself, and he loved it. Jey should pray to the lord that he was in control, because if he wasn’t, he would have drowned them both in Jimmy’s blood. 

Gunther looked forward to calling his mother and telling her how much he enjoyed beating the living hell out of Jey Uso and walking out of WrestleMania as the champion. He dropped the mic and stormed off. 

This was an effective promo.

******** 

There was a Bianca Belair video promo. She admitted that Iyo Sky and Rhea Riply had brought out a different side of her, but that wasn’t a bad thing. She has been through a lot, but she was still the best. She won the Chamber and has never been beaten at WrestleMania. There was nothing they could do to stop her from winning the title at Mania. 

Cole announced a sold-out crowd of 14,158. 

Bayley (w/Women’s Intercontinental Lyra Valkyria) defeated Tag Team Champion Liv Morgan (w/Tag Team Champion Raquel Rodriguez) (12:54)

The opening match kicked off at 8:19 pm. 

Morgan tried three amigos outside the ring, but Bayley blocked the third one. Morgan managed to stomp Bayley’s hand on the steel steps and hit a vertical suplex off the steps. Morgan controlled through a break, thanks in part to a cheap shot by Rodriguez. Things really slowed down as Morgan applied a rest hold before they came back from break. 

Bayley hit a knee strike after a break, but Morgan avoided a sunset flip bomb and drove her into the turnbuckle instead. Morgan countered Bayley a couple of times before Bayley hit a knee strike and sunset flip buckle bomb for two. Morgan hit a Codebreaker on the apron, followed by a dropkick off the apron for a two count in the ring. 

Morgan tried something off the ropes, but Bayley caught her with a stunner, followed by a Bayley-to-belly. Bayley seemingly had it won, but Rodriguez put Morgan’s foot on the rope to break up the cover. At least she tried to. Morgan’s foot fell off. 

Valkyria went after Rodriguez, but Rodriguez booted her, so Bayley gave her a stunner in the ropes. As the ref got rid of Rodriguez, Morgan hit a backstabber. Morgan tried an Oblivion, but Valkyria held Bayley from behind in the ropes, which caused Morgan to fall backward. Bayley followed with a jackknife cover for the pinfall win. 

They messed up the rope break spot, but the actual finish was clever, and it obviously made sense for Bayley to win. The crowd popped big for the finish. 

Match result: Bayley defeated Liv Morgan 

******** 

Paul Heyman was shown awaiting the arrival of Roman Reigns. 

There was a Rhea Ripley video promo. She didn’t appreciate Belair making her look like the bad guy. She told Sky to cherish every moment with the title while she could. Belair would find out what it felt like when Ripley was the bad guy, and she would walk out as champion at WrestleMania. 

Rey Mysterio (w/LWO) defeated Julius Creed (w/American Made) (10:19) 

A ref distraction led to Chad Gable dropping Rey on the top rope. LWO returned the favour by crotching Julius. The ref saw both teams standing on the apron, so he tossed everyone to the back. 

Julius had control during a break, and like in the opening match, he held a rest hold before they came back from break. Right on time, Rey made his comeback following the break. 

Rey sent Julius out of the ring with a hurricanrana. Rey went for a sliding splash, but Julius caught him, held him up high and walked up the steps to the apron. Julius tried a charge, but Rey dodged it, and Julius went shoulder-first into the post. Rey hit a hurricanrana off the ropes, followed by ten punches in the corner and a DDT for two. 

El Grande Americano ran out and leaped onto the apron. Rey tried to rip his mask off, so Julius put Rey in a cradle for two. Rey shoved Julius into Americano, knocking him off the apron. Rey followed with a 619 and springboard splash for the pinfall win. 

The crowd popped big for the finish again. This isn’t a complaint, but it was the second straight match with a babyface outsmarting the heels. 

— After the match, El Grande Americano, now with a loaded mask, hit Rey with a running headbutt. LWO tried to make the save, but Americano laid them all out by himself (with a slight assist from Julius) using the loaded mask. He landed a diving headbutt on Rey and stood tall. 

Match result: Rey Mysterio defeated Julius Creed 

******** 

The War Raiders cut a pre-taped promo on New Day. 

Jackie Redmond interviewed New Day in the back (as Xavier Woods played Clash of Clans). Kofi Kingston said Erik and Ivar might want war, but New Day have been dealing with war from the locker room for months. When New Day won their titles back, the fans would have no choice but to say Thank God for the New Day. 

There was a video package of Undertaker beating Triple H in Hell in a Cell with Shawn Michaels as referee at WrestleMania 28. 

AJ Styles defeated Karrion Kross (w/Scarlett) (9:46) 

This was Kross’ first televised match since he, AOP, and The Miz beat the Wyatt Sicks back in September. Cole said Kross had tights made by the same person who made tights for Styles and deliberately had similar ones made. 

Kross quickly took control of Styles, thanks in part to a cheap shot by Scarlett. For the third match in a row, the two wrestlers sat in a rest hold as the ad break came to an end. Styles did not immediately make a comeback following the break, as Kross hit a DVD for two. 

Styles began fighting back by kicking Kross’ leg. Kross tripped and played it like he was hurt “for real,” but he was faking, and Styles fell for it. Kross was mocking Styles’ injury from months ago. That pissed off Styles who fired back until Kross dropped him with a DDT. 

Kross tried a clothesline from behind, but Styles ducked it and hit a fireman’s carry neckbreaker. Styles followed with a Phenomenal forearm for the pinfall win. 

— Logan Paul entered the stage post-match. He said the people of Sacramento weren’t cool enough to live in Los Angeles and weren’t smart enough to live in San Francisco. He complimented Styles’ win and said they would “cook” at WrestleMania. He wanted to show everyone why they would make money at Mania, so he aired a video package of himself. 

Styles called him a smartass and told him to get in the ring so they could start Mania early. Kross tried a sneak attack, but Styles saw it coming. He fought them both off and gave Kross a reverse DDT. 

However, Paul nailed Styles with his loaded fist and laid him out with Paulverizer. 

Match result: AJ Styles defeated Karrion Kross 

********

Heyman is still waiting for Reigns. 

Gable cut a promo on the stage during a break. He was upset about being screwed out of a Mania spot again, but was happy to see an up-and-comer like El Grande Americano get an opportunity to cement his legacy as the greatest luchador of all time. 

Jey Uso segment

Jey Uso, wearing all black (with white sneakers), entered to a big reaction. The crowd chanted “One more time” when his music cut, so he had them play it again for a moment. 

He cut a promo while standing on the announce table. He shouted out his mom, who was somewhere in the crowd. He said people were wondering where his mind was at, and wondered if he was crashing out. He was crashing out, but he was locked in. Listening to Gunther made him realize that Gunther was afraid. Afraid that Jey would whip his ass in front of 60,000 people for the world title. Jey told Gunther he would get him on Saturday. They played his music, and that was that. 

********

Cathy Kelley tried interviewing Bron Breakker, but he was immediately attacked by Judgment Day. Bálor chucked him into some equipment boxes before officials intervened. 

Finn Bálor defeated Penta via disqualification (11:34)

They wrestled in a tag match a couple of weeks ago, but this was a first-time-ever singles match. 

Penta knocked Bálor off the apron during his entrance and followed with a flip dive. The match began moments later when they entered the ring. Penta was in control early on as a result until Bálor hit a basement dropkick. Bálor did a “too sweet” hand gesture before driving Penta onto the apron ahead of a break. 

They technically broke the rest hold streak from the previous three matches. Bálor did use a rest hold during the break, but Penta broke it during the break instead of as they returned. Bálor hit a superplex as they returned from break for two. Penta fought back and hit a backstabber for two. 

Penta hit a slingblade, but Bálor followed right away with a slingblade of his own. Penta avoided a running dropkick and hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Penta snapped Bálor’s arm, but Bálor countered a Penta driver into a roll-up for two. Penta followed with kicks but became distracted by Carlito and Dominik appearing at ringside. 

Bálor used the distraction to apply a schoolboy for two. Bálor followed with a dropkick, but before he could set up for Coup de Grace, Bron Breakker entered (to his music). 

Carlito was in the same position at the bottom of the ramp as last week, so he ran away before Bron could kill him. Bron instead attacked Bálor for the DQ. 

Carlito and Dom attacked Bron, but he actually hit them both with a double spear. Bron tried to spear Penta, but Penta fought him off and wiped out everyone (minus Bálor) with a dive. 

Match result: Finn Bálor defeated Penta via disqualification 

*******

There was an Iyo Sky video promo (in Japanese). She said Ripley and Belair kept pushing her aside, but they were forgetting that she was the whole reason they were fighting in the first place. Sky was done being ignored and forgotten. She has beaten them before and would do it again. After WrestleMania, they will never forget the name of Iyo Sky, Women’s World Champion. 

The announcers ran down the cards for WrestleMania nights one and two. 

******** 

CM Punk sat down next to Heyman, who still awaited the arrival of Roman Reigns. Punk was amused and said he’s never seen Heyman so stressed. Reigns happened to arrive in a GMC SUV at this moment, as Punk put his arm around Heyman. Reigns stormed off, and Heyman tried to follow. 

Main event segment with Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, CM Punk and Paul Heyman

Roman Reigns entered, and Heyman followed. Heyman tried handing a mic to Reigns as usual, but Reigns charged past him to grab a different one. Heyman appeared dismayed as Reigns told Sacramento to acknowledge him. They did. 

Reigns said the world can hear the people love and acknowledge him. The world could see that they would never betray him. But not everyone was like them. Some people would betray him. Heyman stared directly at Reigns as he spoke, while Reigns looked past him. 

Reigns finally turned his attention to Heyman and asked how he could betray him. The crowd chanted, “You f—cked up” (which they tried to censor). The crowd booed Heyman (after cheering him earlier when he was shown arriving). Heyman said it was not a betrayal; he paid back a favour that he owed. 

Reigns was confused. You normally pay back a favour yourself, but the only person getting screwed in his scenario was him. Reigns would never ask for a favour. You take what you want. Reigns never asked anyone to join him at War Games. He never asked for this, so he wondered why he had to pay the tab for Heyman’s dumbass favour. 

Seth Rollins interrupted. (He wore a black leather cargo vest with oversized black tactical pants and boots.) Rollins said Reigns was finally starting to put the pieces together after all these years. Reigns was just missing one piece, but it was too late for him. 

Rollins still wanted to end him at WrestleMania because it was still the right thing to do. Rollins called this the most important triple threat match in the history of this industry because the winner would define the future of the industry. That person could not be Reigns because if the industry was filled with people who only showed up when it was convenient and wanted everyone else to do the dirty work, it would die. If the industry was filled with people like CM Punk, who pick up their ball and go home only to come back and leech off others’ success, it would die. 

Rollins didn’t want the business to die—and it wouldn’t if it were filled with people like him. People who sacrificed and would always do what was best for business. There could only be one, and it had to be Rollins. 

The piece that Reigns hadn’t yet figured out was that favours didn’t happen by chance; they were a choice. Rollins chose not to put Heyman in the hospital last week, and now Heyman could choose to pay that favour back to him. But Heyman was a scumbag and Rollins expected nothing from him. Heyman chose to be in Punk’s corner. It wasn’t just a betrayal. Heyman was choosing, and Reigns had to figure out why he was choosing Punk over him. 

Reigns said Rollins was right. Heyman made his choice. Reigns made his choice, too. Reigns decked Rollins and shoved him into the ring post. Heyman was delighted by this, and he acknowledged Reigns. However, Reigns pie-faced Heyman and shoved him to the mat. 

CM Punk ran out and attacked Reigns, knocking him out of the ring. Punk checked on Heyman, but turned around into a spear by Reigns. 

Rollins hit Reigns in the back with a steel chair (the same way he did when he broke up The Shield). Rollins and his large boots handed out curb stomps to both Reigns and Punk. Heyman looked on in fear as Rollins stood tall, chair in hand.

WWE NXT live results: DarkState debuts

Posted on by Chris Aiken

A new faction is set to make their official in-ring debut on WWE NXT tonight.

DarkState will have their first televised match, taking on Oba Femi, Trick Williams & Je’Von Evans in a six-man tag. The group consists of Dion Lennox, Saquon Shugars, Osiris Griffin & Cutler James, but we don’t know which three will be competing tonight. They have been wreaking havoc across NXT since debuting at Vengeance Day.

NXT Stand & Deliver is now less than two weeks away — and Femi, Williams, and Evans will be facing off in a triple threat match for the NXT Championship at the WrestleMania weekend event. We’ll see if they’re able to get on the same page for this six-man tag.

A match between Jordynne Grace and Jaida Parker is also set for tonight. The result could help determine who challenges NXT Women’s Champion Stephanie Vaquer at Stand & Deliver. After being crowned a double champion, Vaquer decided to relinquish the NXT Women’s North American title. But that decision came with the condition that Vaquer would be able to choose her NXT Women’s Championship challenger for Stand & Deliver.

The next Women’s North American Champion will be crowned in a ladder match at Stand & Deliver. Zaria and Kelani Jordan have already earned their spots, and qualifying should continue tonight.

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

**********

NXT is on the air from a sound stage at the Performance Center in Orlando. My local CW affiliate joined the show already in progress by several seconds as NXT Women’s Champion Stephanie Vaquer is being interviewed backstage. She then heads towards the entrance ramp.

Jaida Parker vs. Jordynne Grace ended in a no contest (or maybe a disqualification)

NXT Women’s Champion Stephanie Vaquer is at ringside for guest commentary. The winner of this match challenges Vaquer for the title at Stand & Deliver, except Vaquer got involved in the match from ringside. Giulia also returned in a post-match angle to attack the champion.

The referee throws the match out when Vaquer gets physically involved at ringside, or at least I assume the ref did. It could have been a disqualification. Who knows, because we never got any official word. I miss when commentators said, “Let’s get the official word.” Then, the ring announcers would tell us the end result or lack thereof. This was more like a lack thereof.

Good opener up to that point, if somewhat scary at times on some wild bumps. They wrestled through a split-screen commercial break. Grace almost crashed and burned while doing a dive through the ropes just before the finish. That led into Vaquer getting involved in a melee.

Vaquer was likely supposed to get hit as collateral damage on Grace’s tope suicida, but Grace takes a spill instead. So, Grace sort of shoves Parker into Vaquer. The champ looks to hit Parker, but Vaquer instead clotheslines Grace. From there, the match descends into a brawl while the ref calls for the bell. So, Grace might have won via disqualification, unless the proceeding melee deems it being ruled a no contest. Your guess is as good as mine.

Out comes Giulia to help Vaquer clean house, and then they face-off. Giulia headbutts Vaquer, and Giulia delivers a Northern Lights bomb. Giulia then poses with the title belt while standing over the reigning champion, who is laid out in the ring.

Following up on a similar cliffhanger from last week, the previous episode ended with Ethan Page laying out Ricky Saints, who has just won his first title in WWE when he captured the NXT North American Championship.

Hank & Tank are backstage chatting when they are approached by the tag team known as Swipe Right. This skit plays into Swipe Right wrestling in the next match on tonight’s card.

NXT Tag Team Champions Fraxiom (Nathan Frazier & Axiom) defeated Swipe Right (Brad Baylor & Ricky Smokes) in non-title match

Vic Joseph on commentary called it “a statement win.” The win by Fraxiom could also be called an enhancement match. However, this was far from a squash match. Swipe Right got their stuff in, and they had a competitive match at times. For the finish, Spanish Fly by Axiom on Smokes, and Frazier follows up with a Phoenix Splash. Frazier then covers Smokes for the pinfall.

Fatal Influence is backstage. Fallon Henley and Jacy Jayne are arguing over who gets to face Sol Ruca. Jazmyn Nyx cuts off her Fatal Influence partners to say she is facing Ruca tonight.

Sol Ruca (with Zaria) defeated Jazmyn Nyx (with Jacy Jayne & Fallon Henley) in a NXT Women’s North American Championship qualifying match

Ruca pinned Nyz after a Sol Snatcher in an okay match. In winning, Ruca qualifies for the ladder match at Stand & Deliver for the Women’s North American title. A subplot in this bout tonight was Fatal Influence leaving Nyz out to dry with no help.

Je’Von Evans cuts a promo on NXT Champion Oba Femi and Trick Williams.

Giulia is stopped while leaving the building for a TMZ-style interview. She wants for title rematch at Stand & Deliver against Vaquer.

Brooks Jensen & Niko Vance defeated Hank Walker & Tank Ledger

Vance pinned Walker to win the match. Yet another loss for Hank & Tank, as their losing streak continues. On commentary, it was phrased as they are still trying “to find their way.”

Hank & Tank got a lot of offense in the match, and they were a house of fire at times. Even moments before the finish, Hank was running wild. Tank is thrown into the barricade at ringside, and Hank was double-teamed in the ring. The led into the finish.

Out comes new NXT North American Champion Ricky Saints for a monologue. While Saints gets a full entrance and some promo time, he tries to calling out Ethan Page. Instead, out comes Lexis King to interrupt the segment. More interruptions follow because no in-ring promo in NXT can go without an interruption. It must be some kind of rule. Thou must interrupt.

So King interrupts first, followed by Eddy Thorpe. Wes Lee soon joins the talking segment after another interruption. Saints says this is not the place to figure this out when Saints is suddenly ambushed by Ethan Page. Saints takes a Twist of Fate from Page.

Page, Lee, Thorpe and King all have a tug-o-war over the NXT title match. All four then start brawling among themselves. Lee does a flip dive to the outside on a pile of bodies, and Lee is set for a match up next. Yet, Lee was time to recover, because before his match is a skit and a backstage interview.

NXT Women’s Champion Stephanie Vaquer informs NXT GM Ava that she made up her made. Vaquer wants to fight “all of them” at Stand & Deliver. That would seem to set up fatal four-way for the women’s title at Stand & Deliver. Lazy booking in my opinion, but the match will probably be great. Men’s title match is also a multi-person match. Very lazy booking, but let us hope they have a plan.

Wes Lee (with Tyson Dupont and Tyriek Igwe) defeated Yoshiki Inamura (with Josh Briggs)

Lee pinned Inamura after a Cardiac Kick. Inamura was in control in the closing moments. He did an airplane spin body slam, and Inamura went to climb the ropes. Igwe interferes by jumping on the apron and grabbing the top rope. Briggs comes in for the save by pulling Igwe off the apron, but it was too late. A shaken top rope causes Inamura to lose his balance, and he takes a bump into the ring. Cardiac Kick by Lee, and he covers Inamura for a pinfall.

NXT Champion Oba Femi cuts a promo on DarkState.

Izzi Dame (with The Culling) defeated Wren Sinclair (with No Quarter Catch Crew) in a NXT Women’s North American Championship qualifying match

Dame pinned Sinclair after a sit-out powerbomb. Weakest match on the show so far, as it was not particularly good. With her win, Dame qualifies for the ladder match at Stand & Deliver.

NXT Champion Oba Femi, Trick Williams & Je’Von Evans vs. DarkState (Dion Lennox, Saquon Shugars & Cutler James) in a six-man tag team match

Freebird rules for DarkState, as we did not know which three of the four would wrestle in this trios match until it starts. At least they still have that aura, because for me whatever aura they had is gone with this bout. They are just another group of wrestlers on the show, albeit with gear that matches.

The trios match itself goes through a commercial break. The heel trio gets heat on Evans, as they work him over. They built to Evans making a hot tag, with Femi shoving Trick’s hand out of the way so Femi could tag in. Femi was cleaning house when he sends Shugars crashing into Trick. With that and the shove of the hand earlier, Trick had enough. He gets into the ring to argue with Femi.

Evans yells at Trick and Femi to pay attention. Femi inadvertently tags Evans, so he is now legal. Meanwhile, Femi and Trick start to brawl with a slugfest. Cactus clothesline sends both Femi and Trick over the ropes and out to the floor.

Evans leaps high off the top rope with a frog splash on James for a near fall. While referees pour out to ringside to separate Femi and Trick, DarkState gangs up on Evans in the ring. Triple power bomb by DarkState, and Shugars covers Evans for the deciding pinfall.

The show ends with Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo on the Titantron speaking on behalf of the D’Angelo Family, and Stacks challenges DarkState to fight in the parking lot next Tuesday.