Tag: wwe results

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

Posted on by Marc Quill

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

**********

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

Gunther wants justice

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Talla Tonga def. Royce Keys via pinfall

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

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

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

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

Rhea Ripley addresses Clash in Italy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Charlotte Flair & Tiffany Stratton vs. Jade Cargill & Michin

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ricky Saints vs. Carmelo Hayes

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

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

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

Ricky Saints def. Carmelo Hayes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lash Legend def. Chelsea Green via pinfall

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

Posted on by Joseph Collins

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

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

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

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

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

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

**********

Live! From Orlando, Florida. 

Vic Joseph and Booker T were on commentary. 

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

Zaria v. Lizzy Rain 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This was moves with no real flow. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lola Vice Sets Up Her Next Challenger

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Next week’s show:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

WWE SmackDown live results: The Miz vs. Axiom in Barcelona

Posted on by Marc Quill

WWE SmackDown is live from Olimpic Arena in Barcelona, Spain today.

Just one match is official for the show. WWE has announced that The Miz will face Axiom in singles competition.

WWE’s Summer European Tour kicked off in Liverpool on Thursday. After tonight’s SmackDown, WWE will be in Turin, Italy for two straight nights, first for Clash in Italy on Sunday, May 31, then for WWE Raw on Monday, June 1.

On Tuesday, WWE runs a live event in Strasbourg, France before heading to Lisbon, Portugal on Wednesday and Madrid, Spain on Thursday. Next week’s SmackDown will take place from Bologna, Italy on Friday, June 5.

After next week’s SmackDown in Bologna, WWE heads to Rome on Saturday, June 6 and Florence, Italy on Sunday, June 7 before closing out the Summer European Tour with the June 8 edition of WWE Raw in Paris, France.

Our live coverage kicks off at 2 p.m. Eastern time.

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

– After the round of wrestler arrivals, we went straight to the arena as Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett introduced themselves, as well as the Spanish team of Miguel Perez and Alvaro Carrera. We then went to a recap of the six-woman tag match from last Saturday Night’s Main Event

Jade Cargill and the Baddies kick off SmackDown

The challenger WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley this Sunday at the Clash in Italy made her way to the ring, flanked by Michin and B-Fab.

As soon as Cargill got into the ring, she soaked all in as the crowd jeered. Cargill said she didn’t ask for permission and that she did what she wanted. B-Fab said that Cargill woild beat Ripley on Sunday and that the future wasn’t coming… the future was now.

The music of Rhea Ripley interrupted the proceedings, and out came the WWE Women’s Champion to a huge ovation. Ripley stepped inside despite being outnumbered three-to-one by Cargill and her Baddies and faced them down.

Ripley said that Cargill was out here every week throwing around her dominance, acting like her successes wasn’t from using people to make herself look better. Ripley pointed out that Cargill forgot one very important detail: when it came to them facing one-on-one, Ripley had her number. She beat Cargill at WrestleMania and she’d do it again this Sunday in Italy.

Cargill responded by stating that Ripley sounded stupid for saying that, claiming that the champion thought the division revolved around her. She called Ripley “weak” for wanting to work with women who didn’t even like her. That was the cue for Charlotte Flair to make her way down to the ring. Of course, Alexa Bliss wasn’t too far behind. The former Women’s Tag Champions made their way down ot the ring with mics in hand.

Flair said that Cargill was out here talking like a Hall of Famer. She respected Cargill, but she thought she got confused with her own successes. Bliss added by stating that Cargill and her crew had the egos of a legend, but they have the resumes of rookies. Bliss warned Cargill that she might end up being embarrassed before Clash in Italy.

Naturally, this brought out Nick Aldis to set up the Bliss vs. Cargill match as he called for a referee. This match would begin after the break.

An alright opening gambit, but this Rhea/Cargill and Baddies/Charlexa story is honestly not moving me one bit.

**********

Jade Cargill vs. Alexa Bliss

This opening match got underway after the commercial with Bliss going right after Cargill with strikes. Bliss leapt onto the back of Cargill, but got thrown aside. After she headed out of the ring, Bliss toyed with Cargill to get under her skin. She once again went after Cargill with strikes, but got thrown into the corner. The running splash was missed by Cargill as she headed up top. However, Cargill caught her and dropped her for a backbreaker. In the corner, Bliss hit Cargill with a boot to the face, but she was lifted overhead for a press drop down to the mat.

On the apron, Bliss tried to leap at Cargill, but she was caught once more and thrown to the barricade for a powerbomb, as we took a break with Cargill in complete control.

Back from commercial as Cargill continued to punish Bliss on the outside, with Charlotte and Rhea Ripley forced to look on. Cargill dropped Bliss onto the apron, but she took too long on a second attempt, which allowed Bliss to hit where with a dropkick. Bliss avoided a running attack from Cargill, which sent her barrelling into the steel steps. Back in the ring, Bliss mounted her comeback with the strikes to the face, followed by the dropkick. The double knees to the back of Cargill’s neck was followed by the flipping senton and the modified Natural Selection. Cargill managed to kick out at two, however.

Bliss set up Cargill for the Sister Abigail DDT, but that was countered. The Baddies and Charlotte and Rhea brawled to the back in the midst of all this. Back in the ring, Bliss headed up top and whiffed on Twisted Bliss after Cargill got the knees up. The pump kick, followed by Jaded got the three for Cargill.

After the match, Cargill grabbed a chair from under the ring and looked to do more damage to Bliss with another Jaded onto the chair. Charlotte and Rhea ran out a bit too late as a satisfied Cargill taunted her Clash in Italy opponent.

Jade Cargill def. Alexa Bliss via pinfall

Just an okay match between Cargill and Bliss. Like i said at the top of things, I am not feeling this feud, so a lot of my reactions to this will be colored by that. The actual match itself on Sunday should be decent, at the very least.

**********

– Cody Rhodes was interviewed backstage about his upcoming match against Gunther on sunday, but Sami Zayn interrupted. Rhodes said he had nothing to say to Zayn, who demanded an apology. Zayn said that Rhodes asked for that fight last week and he stated that Rhodes stuck a “knife in his back” with the Crosss Rhodes. The Undisputed WWE Champion was not gonna have any of it as he got mad at Zayn’s refusal to help him when Gunther was choking the life out of him.

Zayn tried to justify his lack of actions because it was the right thing to do, because Rhodes needed to learn a lesson. Rhodes responded, stating that maybe he was when he was done with Gunther, he’d teach Zayn a lesson of his own.

– Elsewhere, Danhausen was told by Nick Aldis that his science equipment was stuck in customs, but the ever-fascinating Danhausen decided to take matters into his own hands. While The Miz barged in to argue with Aldis, Danhausen was seen futzing around with some equipment in the background.

Axiom vs. The Miz

Axiom kept Miz grounded with some chain wrestling to start. The lights briefly went out before turning back on, presumably due to Danhausen’s experiments. Miz mocked Axiom’s agility and paid for it as he was hit with a nice drop kick. Miz decided to run out, but Nathan Frazer stopped him. Back in the ring, Miz tripped up Axiom as we took an oddly-timed break in the action.

We returned from commercial as Miz and Axiom were down and out. The masked Spaniard kipped up and hit Miz with a snap German suplex for the two-count. Axiom headed to the top as he avoided Miz’s attack. The Skull-Crushing Finale was countered, but Miz got Axiom with the DDT for the near-fall. The “It” Kicks were blocked by Axiom, who hit the Dragon Screw. Now Axiom got some kicks of his own on Miz. Flying crossbody only got the two.

Miz had Axiom in the corner as he hit the signature clothesline, but missed with the splash. Axiom turned it into a Crossface, but Miz tried for the cover attempt. Miz did not miss with the powerbomb as he headed to the top. The lights went out yet again, which allowed Axiom to hit the avalanche Spanish Fly followed by the Golden Ratio to pick up the duke in Spain.

Axiom def. The Miz via pinfall

This was a good match and it was nice to see Axiom get the win in front of his home country.

***********

– Sami Zayn continued to lament his plight to Johnny Gargano as Matt Cardona approached him. Cardona called out Zayn for acting out of line as the Canadian continued to whine about being disrespected. This led to a potential match being set up between the two.

– As Charlotte Flair was checking up on Alexa Bliss, Rhea Ripley met with her and said that she’d take care of Jade Cargill on Sunday. Flair warned that if Ripley couldn’t get the job done, she’d deal with Cargill herself, because she had a receipt coming.

Damian Priest & Royce Keys vs. Tama & Talla Tonga

Talla and Priest started off this match. Talla withstood Priest’s blows and threw him into the MFT corner. Tama tagged in, but Priest fought out of his predicament as Royce tagged in. Keys dropped Tama and hit a nice powerslam on his foe. A big powerhouse pounce sent Tama out of the ring. Talla entered the fray but found himself taken out of the ring by a double team effort from Keys and Priest as we took a break.

We returned from commercial as Talla had Keys trapped in a resthold. Keys powered out of the submission, but he was still isolated successfully by the MFT duo. Keys created separation with a sitdown powerbomb on Tama as Priest tagged in. Priest unleashed kicks on Tama and Talla, then nailing the two with running splashes on opposite corners. Tama got dropped by a with a Flatliner while Talla was jettisoned out of the ring.

Things broke down as Keys sent Talla put with a clothesline. Samoan Spike by Solo Sikoa with the back turned as R-Trurh ran in to even the odds. Things became chaotic on the outside as the T-Bomb by Talla on Priest got the win for the Tongas.

Talla and Tama Tonga def. Royce Keys and Damian Priest via pinfall

This feud is honestly boring and this match really added to how apathetic I am about another MFT feud.

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

– Chelsea Green tried to talk to Tiffany Stratton, who still wasn’t too receptive over her friendship just yet.

Sami Zayn vs. Matt Cardona

Zayn wrenched at Cardona’s arm as things took a methodical pace to start with neither man on top. Zayn with the arm drag on Cardona with the match still in the early feeling-out process. Cardona threw Zayn out of the ring and immediately took him down with the sliding dropkick to the outside. In the ring, Zayn got the upper hand with a series of rights to the face of his foe. The chops to the chest from Zayn as cardona turned it around with some strikes of his own. Cardona sent Zayn retreating with a missile dropkick as we took a commercial break.

Our match returned from the break as Zayn applied a chinlock on Cardona that would make Davey Boy Smith proud. Cardona got out of the hold and dropped Zayn with a facebuster. In the corner, Cardona knocked Zayn down with a punch, which led to the Broski Boot. Zayn stumbled to his feet, but he avoided the Rough Ryder. Cardona did get Zayn with the double-underhook powerbomb for the near-fall. Cardona countered a Zayn suplex into a neckbreaker, but his Rough Ryder was turned into a powerbomb from the Montreal native. Zayn went for the Helluva Kick, but Cardona finally nailed the Rough Ryder on the third try. Zayn got his foot on the ropes to avoid defeat.

Cardona put Zayn on the top turnbuckle and looked for a high-risk maneuver. However, Zayn pushed him down… Exploder Suplex into the corner, was soon followed by the Helluva Kick and the pinfall win.

Sami Zayn def. Matt Cardona via pinfall

This was a good match, and the current Zayn character is interesting. I did find it a bit odd that he won clean here instead of doing some sort of heelish things to continue that story.

***********

– Nick Aldis was seen talking to Gunther, urging him to keep things civlized when he meets Cody Rhodes later tonight. Gunther said he agrees, but suggested the next time WWE went to Spain, they’d go to Madrid instead (referencing the infamous Barcelona/Real Madrid football rivalry)

Trick Williams speaks

Trick Williams, accompanied by the Trick Stick-wileding Li’l Yachty, arrived to huge cheers from the Barcelona crowd.

Yachty introduced himself as the man with the money, the connections, and who makes it happen. He said that today was the beginning of the Trick Williams campaign. Williams took the mic and said that he was the man holding down the brand for quite some time. The crowd continued to cheer for Williams as the U.S. Champion talked about how he took out The Miz and Carmelo Hayes in the past two weeks. Williams called his shot for King of the Ring, stating that it was only right to declare himself right here in Barcelona, a place that knew a thing or two about royalty.

Carmelo Hayes interrupted Williams and said that his old rival may have been the King of the Entrance and King of the Microphone, but King of the Ring? Not quite. Hayes said once he took care of Ricky Saints, he was going to finish what he started with Wiliams last week.

Williams responded by stating that if Hayes could grow an inch for every excuse he made, he’d be left with no choice but to acknowledge that Trick Williams was better than him. Ricky Saints interrupted and said that Williams thought he’d get the upper and on him last week, but he was going to take care of Williams once he dealt with Hayes.

Saints talked some more trash and got slapped down by Williams for his troubles.

**********

Carmelo Hayes vs. Ricky Saints

This match was joined in progress during the break as Hayes hit Saints with a dropkick after a roll over. Hayes kept momentum going with his reverse legdrop on a prone Saints. A lariat from Saints stopped Hayes’ momentum cold as he took over in the corner with the stomps. Hayes recovered and hit a pair of chops on Saints, followed by the running forearm into the corner. Hayes kept the heat up with the punches in the corner, followed by an attempted springboard attack. Hayes was shoved out of the ring by Saints, who threw him into the barricades as he struck a pose in the ring and we took a timeout.

This match continued from commercial as Saints was still in control. Hayes was put on the top rope as Saints looked for a superplex. Hayes shoved Saints to the mat and lookes for the frog splash. Knees up by Saints, followed by the Northern Lights suplex for the near-fall. Hayes recovered and got the leaping DDT on Saints. Both men back to their feet as they exchanged strikes. Hayes connected with the trademark springboard clothesline. That was soon followed by Dirty Diana for the near-fall. Hayes was hit by the reverse DDT from Saints for the near-fall. Saints got sent out of the ring and hit with Hayes’ Fosbury Flop. Hayes then got on the barricade and hit Saints with the clothesline. However, this match ended with a double countout.

Post-match, Saints attacked Hayes from behind, but the ambush was turned aside as Hayes superkicked Saints and delivered First 48.

Carmelo Hayes vs. Ricky Saints ended in a Double Countout

I quite liked this match, and the double countout was honestly a good call. Not really much to complain about here, just a solid match between two really good workers.

**********

– We got a vignette from Blake Monroe that took a direct shot at Rhea Ripley. She said that that she was coming soon… despite the fact we saw her last week in a brief backstage cameo.

Nia Jax vs. Chelsea Green

Jax threw Green across the ring to start, but the wily Canadian soon got the advantage as she sent Jax out of the ring and took her down with a suicide dive, which was our cue for a commercial break.

We returned from commercial as Green’s Rough Ryder attempt was turned into a Jax powerbomb. Jax’s missed legdrop allowed for Green to get a momentary respite with the jumping neckbreaker. That was followed by the Rough Ryder for the close near-fall. Lash Legend tried to get involved, but she got kicked aside. However, that allowed for Nia Jax to hit Green with the Samoan Drop. Was it time for the Annihilator? No, as Tiffany Stratton’s music hit and she ended up hitting Jax with the Women’s US Title in the chaos. Green took advantage and got the pin and win.

Chelsea Green def Nia Jax via pinfall

Not really much of a match and more to advance the kinda-sorta alliance between Green and Stratton, so there’s that.

***********

Cody Rhodes and Gunther’s Final Face-Off

The Undisputed WWE Champion and his Clash in Italy foe made their way down for this final faceoff ahead of their match on Sunday in Turin.

Gunther said he wasn’t here to engage with any of the fans, but he wanted to talk to Rhodes. Gunther said that Rhodes made it all about himself, and that he was a product of the American society that birthed him. Gunther pointed out that Rhodes nickname was fitting as a descriptor of the declining American society. Gunther said his mission was to protect the sacred sport of wrestling from people like Rhodes. He called Rhodes a mark for himself.

Rhodes responded by saying that Gunther didn’t want the responsibility of being a champion and all that it implied. He pointed out Paul Heyman and what he told him to intimidate him. Rhodes said that the world title was addictive and that Gunther was as sick as he was. At Clash in Italy, Rhodes said that Gunther was going to get this close to the title, but we were all going to find out that he just wasnt going to be good enough. “Easy to find, hard to beat,” said Rhodes.

Gunther asked if Rhodes thought he was a liar. He boasted about how he beat Goldberg, John Cena, and AJ Styles. He promised to choke Rhodes out and take the title with him.

Producer credits are up, as well as hype for WWE’s America 250 special, which airs on USA tonight after SmackDown, and we’re out.

***********

I really have to say that this Clash in Italy show feels really weakly built, and that’s largely on the anemic booking WWE has been partaking in as of late. Nothing on the card grabs my interest and tonight’s go-home show kind of did a poor job in building Sunday’s show.

The WWE Title match doesn’t really feel that intriguing, and unless Gunther pulls off the upset, not sure if a likely Cody Rhodes title retention will move the needle. That being said, the closing promo tonight was an admirable effort to add some spice to this match. Gunther, I felt particularly did well to twist the knife against Cody, who came off as a bit more defensive in his response. Whether or not that will be enough to add a little intrigue on Sunday will be a wait-and-see.

Elsewhere, I do like the Hayes/Saints/Williams dynamic in the U.S. Title picture and a lot of that comes down to the strengths of Hayes and Williams, who are very charismatic and talented in the ring, to the point that they carry a lot of the interactions here.

All in all, kind of a poor final show before Clash in Italy. It’s clear WWE didn’t put their best foot forward here for the go-home show.

WWE Raw live results: Tribal Combat contract signing

Posted on by Steve Khan

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

The Big Takeaway —

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

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

**********

Show Recap —

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

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

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

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

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

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

********

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

******** 

Austin Theory gets a new tag team partner 

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

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

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

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

********

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

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

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

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

********

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

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

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

******** 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

********

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

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

******* 

There was a Memorial Day video narrated by Cody Rhodes. 

LA Knight promo

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

********

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

******** 

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

Seth Rollins vs. Montez Ford

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

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

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

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

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

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

********

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

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

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

********

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

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

********

Becky Lynch interview 

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

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

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

******** 

Ethan Page joined commentary for this match. 

Rey Mysterio vs. Rusev

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

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

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

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

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

********

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

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

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

******** 

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

  • King and Queen of the Ring tournaments begin 

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

********

Roman Reigns and Jacob Fatu contract signing 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

They shook hands and touched foreheads to make it official.

*************** 

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

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

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

WWE SmackDown live results: Tiffany Stratton US title open challenge

Posted on by Marc Quill

The road to Clash in Italy rolls through Lexington, Kentucky, on tonight’s WWE SmackDown with a week to go until the event in Turin, Italy.

A confrontation between WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and impending title challenger Gunther is being promised after Rhodes took out the “Ring General” last week.

WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley will open the show by answering Jade Cargill’s challenge for a rematch at next weekend’s PLE.

Reigning WWE Women’s United States Champion Tiffany Stratton will hold an open challenge.

After defeating Ricky Saints last week in his return, former WWE United States Champion Carmelo Hayes will share some thoughts on reigning champion Trick Williams and his running mate, Lil’ Yachty.

Drew McIntyre will return on the show in his first appearance since losing to Jacob Fatu at WrestleMania 42.

The only match announced thus far features Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Talla Tonga.

**********

Rhea Ripley kicks off SmackDown

The reigning WWE Women’s Champion got our night going as she made her way to the ring. We got a recap of Jade Cargill’s return from two weeks ago and how the former champion and her Baddies put a beating on Ripley, Charlotte Flair, and Alexa Bliss.

“Welcme to Friday Night Mami”, Ripley opened in her usual manner. She talked about how she had one week off and everyone missed her. All Jade Cargill and her crew did was manage to piss Ripley off. She said that if Cargill wanted it so badly, she’d beat her again at Clash in Italy for the WWE Women’s Championship. As Ripley raised her belt high, her uneasy allies Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss interrupted.

Flair said that she appreciated Ripley wanting to defend her title, but she and Charlexa had their six-woman tag match tomorrow night at Saturday Night’s Main Event to look forward to. Flair wondered where Ripley was last week when Cargill and her Baddies laid her and Bliss out. Ripley said that she went home to see her family. Ripley got mad at Flair’s accusations, stating that Bliss got the most of the brunt and that if Flair couldn’t have the back of her own partner, how can she count of Flair’s help.

Fatal Influence, the trio making waves on SmackDown as of late, interrupted the proceedings. Jacy Jayne said that her group was making an impact and that Ripley, Bliss and Flair were at each other’s throats since Fatal Influence arrived. Flair didn’t have time for this as she offered any two of Fatal Influence to face her and Bliss in tag team action later tonight.

This was a good opener to establish the situation of “can they co-exist” with Ripley and Bliss/Flair.

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

– Backstage, Alexa Bliss gave the bad news to Charlotte Flair that she wasn’t going to team up with her tonight against Fatal Influence. Instead, Flair will have to team up with Rhea Ripley, because Bliss wants the two to get their acts together and stop bickering already.

Talla Tonga vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Talla used his strength to push Nakamura away to start off, but the King of Strong Style briefly dodged a strike from the big man. Talla took over with a clubbing strike to the chest as he then stomped at his smaller foe in the corner. Talla threw Nakamura hard into the opposite corner, which left him down and out. That was followed by a scoop slam to the mat. Just as Talla charged into the corner, Nakamura dodged and began trying to hit him with kicks to the chest. As Talla staggered back against the ropes, Nakamura clotheslined him out of the ring.

That advantage was all but fleeting, as Nakamura got taken out and thrown into the barricade as we took a commercial timeout.

As we returned from commercial, Nakamura was slammed again by Talla. A chokeslam attempt by Talla was turned into a triangle choke by Nakamura, who transitioned it into a guillotine choke. Nakamura escaped the grasp of Talla as he battered him with a strike to the back of the big man’s knee. Nakamura again avoided a running attack from Talla, which left his foe trapped in the corner. On a kneeling Talla, Nakamura connected with the Scorpio Rising kick for the near-fall. Nakamura had Talla lined up for Kinshasa, but Solo SIkoa got on the apron to create enough of a distraction. This led to a running powerslam and a chokeslam by Talla for the three.

After the match, Sikoa and Talla looked like they were gonna finish Nakamura off, but Tama Tonga interrupted. After some hesitation, Tama hit Nakamura with the dulled, not-so-hidden blade of the Cutthroat. Just as Sikoa was going to hit the Samoan Spike, Damian Priest ran down with a chair in hand. The M.F.T.s backed off.

Talla Tonga def. Shinsuke Nakamura via pinfall

I can’t say that I’m excited about the M.F.T. drama being a continued thing, but this match was okay. I’m not fully on board on the Talla Tonga train.

**********

– As Nick Aldis was chatting with Charles Robinson, the lights flickered briefly. Aldis told Robinson to look into it. Cody Rhodes interrupted and wondered when Gunther was coming. Aldis said that he was going to make sure that the Clash in Italy contract would be signed. Sami walked into the room and offered to help Rhodes against Gunther. “Thanks, but no thanks,” said Rhodes as he left the room.

A very petulant Zayn whined about how Cody Rhodes always going to get what he wants, unaware that Rhodes was standing behind him. This led to a match between Zayn and Rhodes to be made for later tonight.

– The M.F.T.s were in conversation backstage, as Tama Tonga said the reason everyone was coming to get them, was that everyone thinks they’re weak. He said that Sikoa had to face Damian Priest on his own, for the sake of “The Family”.

WWE Women’s U.S. Title Open Challenge: Tiffany Stratton (c) vs. Lash Legend

Nia Jax and Lash Legend came out, and had some words to say, as we learned that Legend was going to face Stratton for the Open Challenge.

Legend shoved down Stratton as the bell rang, and she used her size to effortlessly throw Stratton around. Another Biel throw was turned into a somersault dodge by Stratton, but Legend’s running shoulder tackle knocked her down afterwards. Stratton got back on it with a dropkick that sent her rolling out of the ring. That was followed by a vaulting press over the ropes onto Legend. An apron chokeslam by Legend left Stratton out cold as Chelsea Geen ran down to look after Stratton. That was our cue to take a break in the action.

Our match continued from the commercial break as Stratton was still under siege against the offense of Legend. In the corner, Legend attempted a move from the corner, but Stratton countered it into an Aloha Arn Sunset Flip pin attempt. Legend kicked out and then applied a resthold on Stratton. A jawbreaker from the Women’s U.S. Champ broke the hold. Legend ran right into the corner post, which allowed Stratton to hit another jawbreaker, followed by an athletic springboard stunner for the near-fall. Legend attempted a powerbomb, but Stratton countered that by sending her into the corner. Stratton went for her cartwheel Alabama Slam, but Legend caught that into a powerbomb for a close near-fall.

Legend went for the Lash Extension, but Stratton reversed it into a crucifix. Chelsea Green pushed Nia Jax into the corner, as Legend grabbed a hold of her from the ring. Stratton snuck up and got the rollup pin to retain the Women’s U.S. Title.

Tiffany Stratton def. Lash Legend via pinfall to retain the WWE Women’s U.S. Championship

That was not at all a good match. Both Stratton and Legend seemed like they were moving in molasses for the bulk of it. The only interesting aspect was Chelsea Green giving Stratton unwanted help to advance their story.

**********

– Nick Aldis was told of the power issues as he was directed to an unmarked room. In the room, we saw Danhausen was gain trying to reanimate the corpse from last week. Aldis told Danhausen to stop messing around, as the lights went out.

– Elsewhere, The Miz & Kit Wilson were interviewed, as Miz insisted that there was no curse. He complained about the Cleveland Cavaliers being cursed by Danhausen as Fraxiom rolled up. This led to a tag match between Wilson and Miz versus Fraxiom to be made for next week in Barcelona.

Trick Williams enters the scene

The United States Champion, flanked by his good friend Li’l Yachty, walked down to the ring with the crowd’s adulation for him as big as ever.

Williams and Yachty talked about what they did last week before Carmelo Hayes walked down to interrupt his old friend. The former U.S. Champion talked about how both he and Williams knew that this day was going to come. Hayes talked about how if it weren’t for Williams, he would’ve still be the U.S. Champion. However, Hayes wasn’t here to discredit Williams’ achievements as of late. But, Hayes pointed out how there’s a difference between holding a championship and carrying it. He discussed how he won the crowd over with his blood, sweat, and tears. That’s why Hayes wanted Williams to do the right thing and give the crowd what they want: Trick Williams vs. Carmelo Hayes for the United States Championship.

Yachty responded, stating that Williams had a schedule to keep, but Hayes butted in. He said that he and Williams go way back and that the old Trick Williams would never let anyone tell him what to do. Then again, Williams must be used to playing second fiddle.

Williams pointed out that we would indeed see him face Hayes right here and right now.

I enjoyed this segment. It played off of Hayes and Williams’ history and was a great way to get this match going.

**********

Trick Williams vs. Carmelo Hayes

This match kicked off after the commercial break. Williams had the early advantage with a shoulder block and a scoop slam. Hayes got back on his feet and used his agility to dodge the U.S. Champion. In the corner, Hayes chopped at the chest of Williams, which forced his foe to scurry to another corner. That didn’t leave him any peace from the chops. Williams blocked Hayes’ last chop and then delivered a hard slap that left him down and out.

Hard Irish whip by Williams was followed by the spinning kick to the face of Hayes. Standing suplex from Williams kept momentum firmly in the U.S. Champion’s side. Williams dropped Hayes throat-first onto the top rope as he sized him up for a side kick. Hayes avoided it and sent Williams over the top rope. He made a run for the ropes and looked for a big diving attack, but Li’l Yachty got in the way to protect Williams, which halted Hayes’ advance in the ring. This led to a break in the action.

Williams had Hayes in a resthold as we returned from break. The former U.S. Champ broke the hold and began to fight back. Williams and Hayes traded blows until the former hit a jumping neckbreaker as he then kipped up to his feet. Meanwhile, Ricky Saints appeared at ringside in the midst of this. Hayes recovered and hit the springboard clothesline and then followed it with Dirty Diana for a close two-count. Saints yelled at Hayes to focus on the match. Williams hit a pop-up uppercut on Hayes, but got hit with a series of superkicks from his opponent. Williams roared back with his spinning kick for the near-fall. Williams targeted Hayes for the Trick Shot, but was intercepted with First 48. One, two….. 2.99999!!!!!!!!! Hayes took notice and headed up top, perhaps looking for Nothin’ But Net. Ricky Saints provided a distraction, which didn’t seem to sit well with Williams. Saints argued with the referee as Hayes rolled up Williams to no avail. Hayes punched Saints off the apron, but that opened him up to Williams’ Trick Shot as he ended up looking up at the lights at the end of it all.

Trick Williams def. Carmelo Hayes via pinfall

That was a really good match, and I do like this U.S. Title picture opening up with Hayes and Saints being a key part of it. Hope to see more of this in the coming weeks.

**********

– Ricky Saints was badmouthing Carmelo Hayes backstage, but he got socked in the jaw for his troubles. Hayes warned Saints to stay away from his business.

– A recap of Brock Lesnar’s return on Raw was shown.

Charlotte Flair & Rhea Ripley vs. Fallon Henley & Lainey Reid

Flair and Henley started off this tag match, as the latter kicked it off hot with the head scissor takedown. Flair dragged Henley to her corner as Ripley blindtagged. Reid entered the match for Fatal Influence and had Ripley trapped in the corner for a bit. A leap from the middle rope was turned from a crossbody to a fallaway slam by Ripley. Flair tagged herself in by patting Ripley on the head. Outside the ring, Reid and Henley isolated Flair as Fatal Influence was in control as we headed to commercial.

We returned from the break with Flair trying to fend off Reid and Henley with chops. However, Reid’s well-placed superkicked folded Flair up like an accordion. Irish whip to the corner was turned into a leap over the corner by Flair. A boot for Henley, but Jacy Jayne tripped up Flair while Reid distracted the referee. Henley kept Flair grounded with a chinlock, but that got broken up. Flair attempted to reach out to Ripley as she used elbow strikes to create some distance. However, Henley prevented it. Henley was thrown out of the ring, which seemingly gave Flair the opening to tag, but Reid stopped it with a clip of the leg. Flair hit a neckbreaker on Reid, which finally gave Ripley the hot tag.

Ripley ran through Reid and Henley with a superkick in the corner, followed by a German suplex on the latter. Capoeira kick by Ripley led to the Razor’s Edge and the Shining Wizard to Reid. Henley broke the count, but Flair took her out, and then Jayne with a dive to the corner.

In the corner, Flair took the superkick from Reid, as Ripley hoisted her up for Riptide. Meanwhile, Flair blindtagged into the match and finished off Reid with Natural Selection.

Post-match, Jade Cargill and the Baddies attacked Charlexa and Ripley, as Fatal Influence joined in the attack. In the ring, Cargill took out Ripley with Jaded.

Charlotte Flair & Rhea Ripley def. Fatal Influence via pinfall

This was an alright match, but not really feeling Jade Cargill in the title picture at the moment.

**********

– Jade Cargill and the Baddies bragged about their handiwork as they also took shots at Fatal Influence in the process. Cargill promised to take her WWE Women’s Title back at Clash in Italy.

Damian Priest vs. Solo Sikoa

Priest went after Sikoa right away by taking him out as he reached the apron. The leap from stairs and a takedown from Priest, who then followed that with a hard throw to the steel steps. In the ring, Sikoa bounced back with a throat strike to Priest. However, fought back witha jumping elbow strike. On the apron, Priest was distracted by Talla Tonga, which allowed Sikoa to grab him for the scoop slam into the ring as we took a break in the action.

We returned from the break as Priest and Sikoa dueled on the top rope with trading strikes. A bell clap from Priest stunned Sikoa long enough for the superplex. Priest rose to his feet and began battering Sikoa with his strikes of the punch and kick variety. That was followed by leaping shoulder charges onto Sikoa into the corner, followed by a Broken Arrow for the near-fall. Priest charged his elbow up, as Tama Tonga created a distraction while the ref was focused on Sikoa. Talla Tonga struck Priest, who stumbled into Sikoa’s Spinning Solo. Priest kicked out and then hit Sikoa with the rebound lariat. Tama Tonga again got on the apron but got dropped to the ground. Talla Tonga got on the apron and got teed up for the kicks, but Sikoa intercepted Priest with the Samoan Spike for the win.

The M.F.T.s tried to attack Priest some more, but Royce Keys ran down and took out Talla and Tama Tonga. He sized up Sikoa to fight him, but Sikoa backed up. A delirious Priest grabbed Keys by the throat, thinking he was a threat.

Solo Sikoa def. Damian Priest via pinfall

This match was alright, I supposed. The finish being more M.F.T. interference stuff and the Sikoa/Tama tension being really wishy-washy didn’t help matters either.

*********

Saturday Night’s Main Event (5/23/26) Card:

  • World Tag Team Championship: Logan Paul & Austin Theory (c) vs. The Street Profits
  • Intercontinental Championship: Penta (c) vs. “All Ego” Ethan Page
  • Becky Lynch vs. Sol Ruca
  • Rhea Ripley, Charlotte Flair, & Alexa Bliss vs. The Baddies (Jade Cargill, B-Fab, & Michin)
  • WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship: Paige & Brie Bella vs. The Irresistable Forces (Nia Jax & Lash Legend)

– Chelsea Green ran into Blake Monroe, who remarked that she saw Green and that now she wish that she didn’t. After Monroe left, Nia Jax literally ran into Green as payback for earlier. The crack team of road agents got Jax and Legend to back off, with the damage already done to Green.

– Royce Keys was still angry about being grabbed by the throat, stating that R-Truth called him to help Damian Priest out. Priest seemed angry as he didn’t ask for Keys’ help and that for all he knew, he could be working for the M.F.T.s. Keys responded, flatly stating that if it was an issue that Priest wants, then it may very well be an issue he’s going to get if he’s not careful.

Cody Rhodes vs. Sami Zayn

Zayn offered a handshake to Rhodes, who accepted as our main event got underway. Armdrag by Zayn was followed by another handshake, but Rhodes seemed annoyed by it. Rhodes slid under a Zayn dropkick as he then hit him with the drop-down uppercut. Standing suplex was followed by Rhodes now offering a handshake of his own. Zayn refused it as the two traded chops to the chest in the corner. Zayn ran Rhodes and got hit with the powerslam. Rhodes tried to go for maybe a Cody Cutter, but Zayn tripped him up as we took our final commercial break of the evening.

Our main event returned from the break as Zayn tried to lift Rhodes up for a suplex, but he found himself taking a ride for a Rhodes suplex instead. Rhodes hit Zayn with the Dusty punches, followed by the Cody Cutter for the near-fall as the champ favored his hurt leg. Rhodes set Zayn up for Cross Rhodes, but that was reversed as he got sent over the top rope onto the apron. Rhodes then was sent crashing over the announce table by a Zayn charging attack. By the closest of margins, Rhodes made it before the count of ten on one leg. Zayn smelled blood and had Rhodes lined up for the Helluva Kick, but struck out on the swing. Rhodes hit the “Super” Cody Cutter off the corner, but Zayn just managed to kick out a two.

Zayn rolled up Rhodes but couldn’t get the win. The Blue Thunder Bomb from Zayn had similar results. Zayn went after Rhodes’ damaged leg and applied the Figure Four leglock right in the centre of the ring. Rhodes fought through the pain and managed to reverse it to put the pressure on Zayn’s knee. A rope break managed to force Rhodes to release the hold. As both Zayn and Rhodes got back to their feet, the two exchanged strikes until a Disaster Kick knocked Zayn loopy. As Rhodes had Zayn at his mercy, Gunther snuck up and applied the sleeper hold. However, Zayn completely missed the Helluva Kick That opened him up for Cross Rhodes and the win.

Post match, the mecurial Austrian put Rhodes to sleep as Zayn just left.

Cody Rhodes def. Sami Zayn via pinfall

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

A good main event to a middle of the road edition of SmackDown. The Gunther/Rhodes feud is good stuff and is probably one of the only good things about SmackDown as of late, which has felt just kind of there.

I will say that the U.S. Title scene is at least heating up and I do like Trick Williams, Carmelo Hayes, and Ricky Saints. It’s a lot more preferrable to the Gingerbread Man antics of the last few weeks. It’s something I’ll be keeping an eye on in the coming weeks.

Not so good was the M.F.T.s stuff because I’m still not a fan of it, especially with the group whittled down to just three guys. I dunno, I’m just not a fan.

All in all, just an okay show with nothing really exciting to write home about, but thankfully nothing really awful to complain about.

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

Posted on by Chris Aiken

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

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

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

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

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

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

**********

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

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

—

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

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

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

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

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

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

—

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

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

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

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

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

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

Romeo Moreno vs. Tristan Angels

—

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

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

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

Mach result: Tristan Angels defeated Romeo Moreno via pinfall.

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

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

—

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

—

Keanu Carver vs. Tate Wilder

—

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

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

Match result: Keanu Carver defeated Tate Wilder via pinfall.

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

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

Mason Rook lays out Kam Hendrix

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

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

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

—

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

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

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

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

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

WWE Raw live results: Roman Reigns segment, Women’s Tag title match

Posted on by Joseph Collins

WWE Raw is live tonight from the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Four segments are advertised ahead of time for the show. World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns will be live to address Jacob Fatu’s attack from last week. The Women’s Tag titles will also be on the line as Brie Bella and Paige defend against Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez, who will have Liv Morgan in their corner.

Oba Femi’s open challenge will also continue this week and a six-person tag match is also scheduled.

The full lineup for the show is below:

  • Roman Reigns appears live
  • WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Brie Bella & Paige defend against The Judgment Day (Roxanne Perez & Raquel Rodriguez) w/Liv Morgan
  • El Grande Americano & Los Americanos (Bravo & Rayo Americano) vs. The Original Grande Americano & Los Americanos Hermanos (Brutus & Julius Creed) in a six-person tornado match
  • Oba Femi’s open challenge continues

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

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

LIVE! from Greensboro, North Carolina. 

Corey Graves & Michael Cole were on commentary for Season 34, Episode 20, of Monday Night Raw. 

— Last week, Roman Reigns demanded acknowledgment, but Jacob Fatu was somewhat less than willing to oblige. 

— The OTC arrived and demanded a few minutes from Adam Pearce to confront Jacob Fatu. But Pearce was all set to fire him tonight. Their conversation was interrupted by Jacob Fatu’s music playing in the arena! 

Jacob Fatu Calls Out the OTC

Fatu wasted no time calling out Roman Reigns, but it was the Usos who answered the challenge. Jey brought a chair to the ring, but Jimmy brought a mic to try and talk some sense into Fatu. Jimmy laid it out for Jacob: Fatu lost at Backlash and he had to acknowledge the Tribal Chief. Instead, he attacked management and is about to be fired. Jey had enough of the talking and tried to go after Fatu with the chair, but Fatu handled both Usos easily. He absorbed a solid chair shot from Jey and put both Usos down with the Tongan Death Grip. 

Roman’s music hit, and he came out with the title belt and walked faster than usual (but still slower than everyone else) Fatu and Reigns stared each other down. It wasn’t long before Roman and Fatu were exchanging blows, and while Roman got the edge momentarily, he too fell victim to the Tongan Death Grip. Jey freed Roman with a spear to Fatu, Jimmy came off the top with a splash, and the Usos combined for about 80% of a 1D. 

The Usos tied up Fatu in the ropes, and Reigns laid into him with a Superman Punch. The Usos fired off a pair of superkicks. The Usos freed Fatu and Roman leveled him with one last spear. 

The Tribal Chief and the Usos left, and Adam Pearce entered the arena. Reigns told Pearche he could fire Fatu, but before he could, Jacob Fatu shouted “Roman! Tribal combat!” Pearce tried to wave Reigns off, but of course Roman accepted the challenge. 

“Tribal Combat” sounds like a no holds barred match where the loser has to “acknowledge” the winner as their Tribal Cheif.

— Seth Rollins, Oba Femi, and the Judgment Day were shown walking around backstage. 

JD McDonough v. Finn Bálor in a Street Fight 

This is the 3rd match between Bálor and McDonough, with both guys each holding a victory. Not a minute into the match, and kendo sticks and chairs are all over the ring. Bálor tripped up McDonough and he did a header into the turnbuckle. Bálor followed that up by sending McDonough headfirst into a chair. Bálor went to the floor to get a table, but McDonough came through the ropes with a tope to cut off Bálor. 

McDonough took the fight into the crowd, and Bálor whipped McDonough into an equipment case. McDonough came back and sent the back of Bálor’s head into the case a couple of times. McDonough devilered a moonsault from the first row of the lower bowl, and both guys were down. Perfect time to take a commercial break! 

After a three minute break, the match was back in the ring and McDonough was down. Bálor beat him with the chair like he owed him money. McDonough came back and gave Bálor an uranage on the chair and a moonsault. McDonough tried to whip Bálor into a table that had been propped up in a corner. But Bálor countered with a slingblade, and then sent McDonough through the table with a shotgun dropkick. 

Bálor went for the Coupe de Grâce, but McDonough avoided it and hit a Busaiku Knee. McDonough hit a powerbomb for two. McDonough hit a moonsault for another near fall. 

The crowd chanted “JD sucks” while he set up another table in the ring, then put Bálor on top of it. Bálor recovered and crotched McDonough, then put him on the table. Bálor went to the top, but Dominik Mysterio ran in to interfere. This allowed McDonough to superplex Bálor through the table. But Bálor kicked out at two! 

The crowd chanted “Dom! You suck!” While the ref cleared the ring of the table and Dominik threw some aluminum trash cans into the ring. Mysterio and McDonough beat on Bálor with the cans. McDonough held Bálor in place for a 619 from Dominik , but Bálor reversed it, and McDonough ate the 619. Bálor stuffed McDonough in a trash can, hit him with a shotgun dropkick, and then finished the job with the Coupe de Grâce. 

Match Result: Finn Bálor pinned JD McDonough (14:16). 

— Cathy Kelly interviewed Seth Rollins in the back. Rollins knows he’s a marked man with no allies, but he has to put an end to The Vision. Rollins hasn’t a match on Raw in 9 months, but Adam Pearce has given him the main event tonight. And Rollins will take on any member of The Vision. “One of them, two of them, three of them, all of them!” (So they’ll be really dumb if all four of them don’t come out). But Rollins directly challenged Bron Breakker, accusing him of being a “nepo baby” who can’t get the job done. 

— Byron Saxton (I’m legit shocked he’s still around) interviewed Sol Ruca, and she’s very positive despite her 0-2 record. She’s only been in the business for four years, after all. Becky Lynch came out to talk some trash, and thinks that having  no wins in her first two matches means it’s time to go back to NXT. And so she does… to head out to the arena.

Sol Ruca Calls Out Becky Lynch

Sol’s music hit and she came out to the ring. Ruca wasn’t interested in dealing with Lynch backstage, and called her out. Lynch obliged, and Ruca challenged her to a match right here in Greensboro. 

Becky would love to do this in Greensboro, North Carolina, and even though she’s the best women’s wrestler (and it’s not just her saying it, a lot of people are saying it), she doesn’t want to send another young person out of the business. But, if Ruca really wants a match, she can have one at Saturday Night’s Main Event. 

Ruca is fine with that, and she’ll not only snatch Lynch’s soul, she’ll snatch the Women’s Intercontinental title. But, Lynch didn’t agree to put the title on the line. 

— Bron Breakker wanted to accept Rollins’ challenge, but Paul Heyman convinced him it would be better for Austin Theory to take the main event against Rollins later tonight. 

El Grande Americano & Los Americanos (Bravo & Rayo Americano) vs. The Original Grande Americano & Los Americanos Hermanos (Brutus & Julius Creed) in a Tornado Tag Match

No tags, so everyone is in and out of the ring. Bravo and Rayo crotched The Original Americano against the ring post. Julio came off the top with a dive on the Bravo and Rayo. After Original took everyone out with a moonsault, he superplexed Rayo off the top for a near fall. 

The Original Americano — can I just call him Chad Gable?— took it to all three of his opponents, suplexing Bravo and Rayo at the same time. Gable then suplexed the phony Americano into the turnbuckles for a near fall. Julius hit a moonsault and Gable hit a headbutt off the top on Rayo for a near fall. Julius missed a 450 splash. The new El Grande Americano and his troops all loaded up their masks, but they soon fell victim to triple German suplexes and triple moonsaults. 

Rayo took out Julius with a poisoned rana. On the floor, El Grande Americano took out Gable. Brutus (I think) fell victim to a top rope rana, a top rope headbutt, and then a charging headbutt (who a loaded mask) to get the pinfall. 

Match Result: El Grande Americano, Bravo, and Rayo won when Americano pinned one of the Creeds (10:43). 

Confusing, but good action. 

— Jacob Fatu v. Roman Reigns in a Tribal Combat match is confirmed for Clash in Italy. 

— Cathy Kelly interviewed The Usos to help set the stakes for the match, but LA Knight interrupted to point out that Knight fought with The Usos to deal with The Vision, but how is what the Usos and Roman are doing any different than what the Vision does? They walked away because LA Knight has a point. 

Ethan Page Sits Down with Michael Cole 

Michael Cole sat down backstage with Ethan Page. Page immediately provided Cole with a list of questions he wanted asked.

“Do you know how long I’ve been doing this?” Cole asked.  (Honestly, I’m shocked every time I think about it.)

Page kept handing Cole pre-written questions that were complimentary toward himself and derogatory toward Penta. Cole got fed up with Page trying to control the interview and told him that his ego would get in the way of beating Penta for the Intercontinental Championship.

Roxanne Perez & Raquel Rodriguez (w/ Liv Morgan) v. Paige & Brie Bella for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship 

The winners will face Nia Jax and Lash Legend at Saturday Night’s Main Event. Paige tossed Perez around by the hair to start. Bella fell victim to a tackle from Rodriguez. Perez slapped Bella and did a mocking “Yes!” chant. Paige and Bella hit some “Yes! Kicks” on their opponents, but Paige missed a dive on the floor heading into a break.   

After the break, The Judgment Day crew were working over Paige in the corner. Page managed to dump Rodriguez to the floor, kick free from Perez, and then get the tag to Brie. 

Brie hit some clotheslines on Perez. They did a convoluted spot where she gave Rodriguez a hangman’s neckbreaker (which looked bad because of the eye difference between the two), which caused Rodriguez to give Perez a DDT. 

Liv Morgan tried to distract the ref, but this didn’t work as the champs combined to powerbomb Rodriguez out of the corner. Perez hit a knee to the back on Bella. Bella got her knees up on a Lionsault attempt. Bella went to the top, but Morgan pushed her down. But the referee saw Morgan’s interference and sent her to the back. 

Rodriguez passed one of the tag belts to Perez. She took a wild swing at Bella, who ducked and rolled up Perez for the pinfall. 

Match Result: Paige & Brie Bella retained when Brie Bella pinned Perez (10:06).

After the match, Morgan clotheslined the tag champs from behind. The Judgment Day held the 3-on-2 advantage for a minute, but Lyra Valkyria and Bailey ran in to make the save. Bayley dropped Morgan with a Bayley-to-Belly suplex. Valkyria took out Perez and Rodriguez with a dropkick. 

— Seth Rollins was standing around in the parking lot, and LA Knight happened by to let Rollins know he would not be helping him later tonight. 

— Penta responded to Ethan Page’s comments from earlier. They meet this Saturday on Saturday Night’s Main Event, live on Peacock! 

Oba Femi Open Challenge

While Oba Femi was posing in the ring with the lights down, Brock Lesar returned and jumped Oba from behind! Brock hit four straight F5s. The crowd obviously lost it. I guess the rumors of Brock’s retirement were greatly exaggerated. (Just kidding —nobody bought that.) 

Brock left Oba laying in the ring. 

— Adam Pearce was demanding answers in the back. He went to Paul Heyman. Pearce filed retirement paperwork any everything! Heyman handed Pearce a contract signed by “Brock Legnar” for a rematch with Oba Femi for Clash in Italy. 

Clash in Italy feels like it’s shaping up to be a fairly loaded card. 

Not a loaded card? Saturday Night’s Main Event:

  • The Street Profits v. The Vision for the World Tag Team Titles
  • Becky Lynch v. Sol Ruca (non-title)
  • Petna v. Ethan Page for the Intercontinental Title.
  • Paige & Brie Bella v. The Irresistible Forces
  • Rhea Ripley, Alexa Bliss, Charlotte Flair v. Michin, Jade Cagrill & B-Fab

— Cathy Kelly interviewed The Street Profits heading into their tag title match this Saturday. They want the smoke and the tag team titles. Angelo Dawkins saw Seth Rollins getting ready for his match. While Montez Ford still wanted nothing to do with Rollins, Dawkins appreciated Rollins’ help last week and went to thank him. Rollins was still kind of a jerk to Dawkins. I hope they’re not really teasing dissention between Dawkins and Ford now, after all these years.

Seth Rollins v. Austin Theory (w/ Logan Paul)

Rollins hit both Paul and Theory with a dive while they were taunting him on the floor. Rollins and Theory fought around the ring for a bit while the crowd sang “Fire Logan Paul!” 

Back in the ring, Rollins sent Theory into the corner with a Buckle Bomb. Rollins sent Theory to the floor with a boot. Standing on the apron, Rollins tried to kick Theory (who was on the floor), but Theory caught him and smashed his ankle into the ring post. Theory then sandwiched the ankle against the ring steps to further damage the ankle. 

Theory worked over Rollin’s leg in the ring. Paul yanked Rollins to the floor, and he landed on his already-injured foot. Theory crotched him on the ringside barricade, then hit him with a rolling forearm. 

After a commercial, Theory was working over Rollins’ ankle in the ring. Rollins came back with a Falcon Arrow. Rollins came back so strong it ruined the picture for a minute. He hit a series of clotheslines on Theory, but ate a back elbow. Theory went for a rolling rana, but Rollins countered with a sit-out powerbomb for two. 

Rollins tried for The Stomp, but his legs were too messed up. He tried for a Pedigree, but Theory blocked that. A sit-out powerbomb out of a torture rack got Theory a near fall, and he immediately transitioned into a half-crab.

Rollins was down, and Theory went for a stomp… but Rollins caught him with a clothesline. Rollins climbed to the middle rope, but while Theory had the ref’s attention, Logan Paul shoved Rollins down. Theory then stomped Rollins, but that only got two. 

Frustrated, Theory pounded away at Rollins. Logan Paul slipped Theory the brass knuckles. Paul distracted the ref, but Rollins came back with a superkick. Rollins went for the brass knuckles, but the ref caught Rollins and took them away. 

Theory tried for a rollup on the distracted Rollins, but he reversed it into a Pedigree and got the pinfall. 

Match Result: Seth Rollins pinned Austin Theory (12:53). 

Paul jumped Rollins after the match. Angelo Dawkins ran in to even the odds, but he got eaten up by the tag champs. Montez Ford ran in to save Dawkins, taking out both Paul and Theory with a over the ringpost dive. 

Back in the ring, Ford chastised his partner. Bron Breakker ran in to hit a spear on Dawkins, but Ford pushed his partner out of the way and took the bullet. Breakker took out Dawkins with a gut buster. Seth Rollins went after Breakker, but Paul tripped him up from the outside and he got speared as well. 

The Vision then took it to Rollins three on one. Paul and Theory spread out Rollins on the lower half of the ring steps so Breakker could smash him with the other half, but Adam Pearce and his gaggle of geeks ran in to put a stop to the carnage. Breakker hit Rollins with another spear before the Vision walked off. 

Final Thoughts:

There was some good action in the opener and the main event, and a big shock angle with Brock’s return. The Italy show feels loaded as Cody/Gunther, Roman/Jacob, and Brock/Oba (although that last match isn’t yet offical) are three big main events.

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

Posted on by Steve Khan

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

The Big Takeaway —

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

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

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

**********

Show Recap — 

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

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

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

******* 

The Vision segment 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

********

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

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

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

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

********

Penta and Ethan Page segment 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Je’Von Evans vs. Rusev

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

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

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

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

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

An ok match, but a nice win for Evans. 

********

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

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

Asuka and IYO SKY segment 

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

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

********

Paige and Brie Bella answer Judgment Day 

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

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

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

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

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

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

********

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

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

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

******* 

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

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

IYO SKY vs. Sol Ruca

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

********

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

********

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

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

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

********

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

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

********

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

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

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

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

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

*******

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

********

Raw next week in Greensboro: 

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

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

*******

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

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

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

********

Acknowledgement Ceremony 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

WWE SmackDown live results: Backlash go-home show

Posted on by Marc Quill

On last week’s SmackDown, GUNTHER invaded and attacked Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes by putting him in a sleeper following a match before taking the Undisputed WWE Title and raising it, signalling he wanted a shot at Rhodes’ title.

Tonight, GUNTHER is set to appear to address his actions last week, though Rhodes will surely be around to offer up a rebuttal of his own.

With Jacob Fatu getting ready to face Roman Reigns tomorrow night for the World Heavyweight Championship at Backlash, what will he have to say tonight after he put Reigns through a table with a Tongan Death Grip during a contract signing on Raw?

Fatal Influence get their first big test as a unit when they take on Rhea Ripley, Charlotte Flair, and Alexa Bliss in six-woman tag team action tonight. Jacy Jayne and company have made life miserable for their opponents in recent weeks and look to continue their torrid pace since making their SmackDown debuts.

Our live coverage begins at 8pm ET.

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

– The show began with a dedication to Ted Turner, who passed away at the age of 87 earlier this week.

– Following the signature, we got the arrivals for Rhea Ripley, Fatal Influence, Solo Sikoa and Talla Tonga, Damian Priest, as well as the mourners for the Gingerbread Man’s funeral (which literally was shown minutes after the Ted Turner dedication, go figure) We then got a recap of Jacob Fatu and Roman Reigns’ road to tomorrow’s World Heavyweight Title match at Backlash.

Jacob Fatu prepares for Backlash

The challenger for Roman Reigns’ World Title made his way down to the ring to get ready to address the crowd 24 hours before Backlash.

Fatu said that tomorrow night at Backlash, he wasn’t fighting Roman Reigns for the title, he was taking the World Title. He recounted that since he and Reigns were young, all everyone’s seen in Reigns was the future. Meanwhile, nobody saw anything in Fatu. Fatu said that people wanted him to fall back and fall in line, which he refused to do. He stated that everyone was trying to protect Reigns when they were doing this.

Fatu talked about how when Reigns was born, he was born with opportunity. Meanwhile, Fatu was born with doubt. At this point, Jimmy and Jey Uso interrupted Fatu’s promo.

Once the Usos got to the ring, Jimmy took the mic and said that he and Jey weren’t out to change Fatu’s mind. He said that part of him was rooting for Fatu, but the other part of him was looking out for Fatu. Jimmy talked about how the win was important for Fatu, but he didn’t think what would happen if he lost to Reigns tomorrow. Jey interjected and said that what was going to happen tomorrow instead was that the Tribal Chief was going to beat Fatu’s ass. That wouldn’t even be the worst part, according to Jey. That worst part was going to be the breakdown that Reigns would inflict on him afterwards. The Usos said that Fatu’s family would have to watch tomorrow as Fatu would have no choice but to acknowledge the OTC, Roman Reigns.

Fatu answered by saying that he wasn’t losing tomorrow. He pointed out how Jey never beat Roman, and how there would be no losing or acknowledging anything. To Fatu, this was more than just a main event, it was for his family. The only thing that Fatu’s family would be seeing tomorrow was him becoming the new WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Fatu said he was ready to put it all on the line, but he wondered if Reigns was ready to die for it. He concluded by declaring that he was all gas and no breaks, yaddiahmean.

Before Fatu left, he warned the Usos not to get involved, otherwise he was going to burn the whole family tree down.

I liked this promo from Fatu, even if the Bloodline drama has kinda worn thin for me. Some nice fire ahead of his match tomorrow and got me believing he could beat Reigns at Backlash.

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

– After a recap of GUNTHER’S attack on Cody Rhodes, SmackDown GM Nick Aldis was interviewed. Aldis pointed out that GUNTHER’s actions were unacceptable and he’d speak with him about it. Ricky Saints interrupted and complained that he was stuck fighting “QB4” after mixing up with the QB1. Matt Cardona appeared and said he was gong to teach Saints a lesson in respect later tonight.

– Jacob Fatu was wished the best of luck by Mr. Aldis as he met with Royce Keys, who motivated Fatu to take everything tomorrow night at Backlash. After Fatu left, he was confronted by Solo Sikoa. Keys threatened Sikoa for what he did last week. Sikoa brushed it off as Keys being in the wrong place at the wrong time and offered a place for him with what’s left of the M.F.T.s

WWE Women’s U.S. Championship Match: Tiffany Stratton (c) vs. Kiana James (w/ Giulia)

James and Stratton traded side headlocks until the champion hit a takeover. She then got James with the stepover clothesline. Stratton tried to knock James off the apron, but she missed and ended up being tripped up. James then targeted Stratton’s left leg by slamming it across the ring post twice as we took a timeout.

We returned from the break as James had a single leg crab locked in on Stratton, but the rope break forced her to let go of the hold. With the ref’s back turned, Giulia refused to attack Stratton, as the she and James had a disgareement afterwards. Back in the ring, Stratton fought back with strikes, followed by a springboard stunner and a dropkick for the near-fall. James responded with a cartwheel kick to the corner, then the Death Valley Driver for another near-fall. A flustered James punched Stratton a few times before she threw her in the corner. James drove her shoulder into Stratton’s chest twqce, but missed on the third. Giulia got on the apron and created a distraction, but this was just as James countered a rolling senton into a pinfall attempt. Stratton escaped and punched Giulia off the apron before she finished James off with the rolling senton and the Prettiest Moonsault Ever to retain the Women’s U.S. Title.

Tiffany Stratton def. Kiana James to retain the Women’s U.S. Championship

This was a good match and I felt Stratton and James really had some nice chemistry here. The angle with Giulia and James’ split was also being built well here.

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

– Backstage at the “funeral” of the Gingerbread Man, Sami Zayn was flustered at what was going on as Nick Aldis warned him to stay within his lane. R-Truth snuck up behind Truth and said that the Gingerbread Man apparently talked about Zayn all the time and he didn’t want Zayn to cry.

– Rhea Ripley, Alexa Bliss, and Charlotte Flair were interviewed about their six-woman tag match against Fatal Influence later tonight. Ripley said that Fatal Influence wanted to make an impression, they made the wrong one. Flair tried to snipe at Ripley, but Bliss played peacekeeper by getting the two to be on the same page.

– Elsewhere, Damian Priest was getting ready for his match against Talla Tonga as R-Truth talked to him about Sami Zayn’s funeral. Truth wanted to help out, but Priest talked about how he knew the game that the M.F.T.s played and he wanted Truth to stay back. Truth reluctantly agreed with Priest’s request.

Damian Priest vs. Talla Tonga (w/ Solo Sikoa)

Priest went after Talla right away as the bell rang, as he managed to send him out of the ring in the process. Priest tried to leap from the apron, but Talla blocked it. That didn’t seem to create any separation as Priest kept the attack going even with Sikoa’s distractions. Priest tried to go for his spinning kick, but Talla grabbed him mid-kick and threw him into the ringpost. Talla hit Priest with an uppercut as he then lifted him and slammed him across the commentary table as we took a commercial break.

We returned to our match as Priest tried to fight from underneath with a kick. He avoided Talla and kept the barrage of kicks to stun him. Priest broke free out of Talla’s chokeslam with a bell clap, followed by the spinning kick. This caused Talla to stagger back out of the ring to take a breather. Priest kept the attack going with a leap from the steel steps to Talla. He then kicked Sikoa before he headed back to the ring. Up top and Priest took down Talla with a diving clothesline for the near-fall.

Priest pulled down the straps to signal he meant business as he sized Talla up for South of Heaven. Tama Tonga walked down to cause a distraction as Solo Sikoa attacked Priest behined the ref’s back. Discus lariat by Talla wasn’t enough to pick up the win. As Sikoa and Tonga had a staredown, R-Truth ran down to even the odds. Talla attacked Priest and then threw him back to the ring to finish the match with a chokeslam.

After the match, the M.F.T.s surrounded Damian Priest before Royce Keys ran down to make the save. The M.F.T.s backed off, seemingly on the orders of Sikoa, who was trying to recruit Keys.

Talla Tonga def. Damian Priest via pinfall

Kind of a whatever match. Might just be general fatigue with all things Bloodline-adjacent doing me in. Not even the added Royce Keys drama is enough to keep me interested here. WWE cut half of the M.F.T.s so a lot of it just seems like really wasted potential and not really worth the trouble.

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

– Backstage, Danhausen was trying to find a tag partner for his match against The Miz and Kit Wilson tomorrow night. Wilson said that Danhausen was too toxic to even have anyone teaming up with him. Danhausen said that he had friends like Papa Shango and “Bob, the Gatorade Guy”. Wilson pointed a mirror in Danhausen’s direction and said the only one who was going to team up with him was himself. This seemed to excite Danhausen as he just zoomed all around afterwards.

– A “clip” of Gingerbread Man being at WWE events of the past was shown before we saw Nick Aldis and Paul Heyman meeting. The latter was handed a contract as GUNTHER walked in. Aldis stated what GUNTHER did last week was unacceptable, but he was happy to have him aboard on SmackDown. Meanwhile, Cody Rhodes was just about to make his way down to the ring. This seemed to upset GUNTHER, who handed the SmackDown contract back to Aldis, stating he wasn’t going to do business like this.

Cody Rhodes addresses the GUNTHER incident

the Undisputed WWE Champion walked down with a purpose as he raised the Undisputed WWE Championship high in the ring before he addressed the Jacksonville crowd.

“So, Jacksonville, what do you wanna talk about?” Rhodes started off before he talked about how GUNTHER put him to sleep last week and that was a sign that he wanted a shot at the title. With that in mind, GUNTHER was called out by Rhodes. Paul Heyman interrupted with the contract in his hand. Before Heyman said anything concise, Rhodes said that both him and GUNTHER were in Jacksonville and they were ready to rumble.

Heyman interrupted as he walked down to the ring and was the bearer of bad news for Rhodes. The contract for the title match between Rhodes and GUNTHER wasn’t for Jacksonville or the U.S. This fight would be in a few weeks at Clash in Italy. Heyman revealed the favour to GUNTHER was getting this title match set up. Before Heyman could leave, Rhodes butted in and talked about how Brock Lesnar retired on Heyman, Roman Reigns and CM Punk both ditched him. Was it because Heyman was running out of options? Heyman stated that sooner or later, they’d all need The Wiseman.

GUNTHER snuck up once again and tried to put Rhodes in the sleeper, but was foiled twice as he was forced out of the ring. Rhodes shouted at GUNTHER that he didn’t sweat him and it didn’t matter if GUNTHER beat John Cena, Goldberg, and AJ Styles. He’d refuse to back down from him. Rhodes again reiterated that he had the high ground and that he was easy to find, but hard to beat.

I will say this GUNTHER/Cody Rhodes feud has my interest and if it’s something that lasts past Clash in Italy, I’m all for it.

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

– The M.F.T.s argued amongst themselves as Tama Tonga didn’t seem too happy with being embarrased by Royce Keys, despite Solo Sikoa’s attempts to recruit him. He was going to deal with Keys himself.

Ricky Saints vs. Matt Cardona

Cardona backed Saints off into the corner, but got slapped in the face for his troubles. Saints hit Cardona with a shoulder block as he struck his trademark pose afterwards. Cardona responded by battering Saints in the corner. Saints managed to turn it around and then took his turns attacking Cardona in the corner, but he got dropped with a flapjack from his foe. Saints dodged the Broski Boot by exiting the ring, but he didn’t get far as Cardona shelled him with a rope-assisted dropkick as we took a break in the action.

This match returned from commercial with Cardona starting to heat up. He had Saints propped in the lower corner for the successful Broski Boot and a two-count. The fans were chanting “goodbye” during this, likely due to some commotion in the crowd and somebody getting kicked out. Cardona attempted an Unprettier, but Saints countered that into his modified version of a rolling cutter for the near-fall. Saints rolled out of the ring to avoid Cardona’s Rough Ryder. As he got back in the ring, Saints fell victim to the Rough Ryder, but that wasn’t enough to get the win. Saints recovered and hit the Revolution DDT, then finished it off with the Roshambo.

Ricky Saints def. Matt Cardona via pinfall

This was decent between Cardona and Saints. Nothing really to write home about, but in terms of putting Saints over, job well done on that, at least.

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

– Sami Zayn was still at the wake for the Gingerbread Man as he was chatting with Johnny Gargano, who was still lying down. Zayn was upset at Rey Fenix as he saw this entire thing as a thinly-veiled shot at him. Zayn walked off angrily.

– Another teaser for Blake Monroe’s arrival was shown, with no clear date for her debut still set.

Paige and Brie Bella hold court

The WWE Women’s Tag Champions made their way down to the ring, ready to speak their piece for the Jacksonville crowd.

Brie Bella started off tby saying that there were a lot of teams in WWE that wanted to prove that they could beat them, but as the Irresistable Forces found out last week, she and Paige were tough to beat. Paige addressed the Judgment Day’s remarks that she and Brie were a nostalgia tour, stating that she and Brie were the best they’ve ever been. They were ready to show their stuff to Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez, any time and nay place.

Fatal Influence interjected, as Jacy Jayne declared that the Judgment Day shouldn’t be the ones that Paige and Brie should worry about. Jayne bragged about how they took out Paige and Brie two weeks ago, and that Fatal Influence was ready to take over.

The Irresistable Forces walked down to interrupt, calling Fatal Influence the meme girls, and warning them to walk back to the line. They then attacked Paige and Brie Bella and laid them out in short order. Rhea Ripley made her way down for the six-woman tag match and shared a staredown with Lash Legend and Nia Jax.

Kind of a “meh” segment, and I’m not sure about running back yet another Irresistable Forces/Paige & Brie tag title match so soon after last week. Does highlight how bare the women’s tag division is despite what Brie Bella said in her promo.

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

– We got more of Gingerbread Man “present” at past WWE events, through the “magic” of (likely) AI-generated art.

Fatal Influence (Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley, Lainey Reid) vs. Rhea Ripley, Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss

Bliss and Henley started things off for their respective teams. Henley slammed Bliss down head-first, but got slapped and kicked in response. Bliss mocked Henley’s taunt afterwards as she drove her knees to the back of her opponent. This was followed by the double-knees and the senton. Bliss took a shot at Reid, but that allowed Henley to take advantage as Fatal Influence began to exert their will on Bliss in their corner. Ripley tagged in and blasted Lainey Reid with a kick, followed by a dropkick. Fallaway Slam by Ripley was followed by the missile dropkick on Reid. She then took out Jayne and Henley with a rolling cannonball of the apron as we took a break.

Our match returned from commercial as Reid was working over Ripley in the middle of the ring. Ripley tried to reach out for a tag, but Reid dragged back her into a half-nelson slam of sorts. Ripley recovered and hit Reid with a spinning kick, which allowed her to tag in Flair. The former WWE Women’s Champion lit up Reid and Jayne with chops, followed by a walkover clothesline. Flair warded of Henley and Jayne before she took off the top rope for a double crossbody on Reid and Jayne. Double Natural Selection on the Fatal Influence duo did not get the win. Bliss tagged in and looked to hit a tandem move, but couldn’t. Rolling Encore was turned into a Sister Abigail attempt by Bliss, but that wasn’t to be. With Ripley on the apron, Jade Cargill emerged to pull her off the apron, which allowed a Rolling Encore from Jayne to pick up the win in six-woman tag team action.

After the match, Cargill stepped into the ring as Fatal Influence took their exit. Cargill looked at the fallen Bliss and trash talked her as Flair slid into the ring. Michin and B-Fab attacked Flair before Ripley ran in for the save. She took care of Michin and B-Fab, but a pump kick from Cargill snuffed that out. The not-quite Baddies stood tall in the aftermath.

Fatal Influence def. Alexa Bliss, Charlotte Flair, and Rhea Ripley via pinfall

Not gonna lie, I kinda don’t like Fatal Influence’s big six-woman tag win being overshadowed Cargill’s Great Value version of The Baddies from AEW. The lack of crowd reaction to their post-match beatdown speaks volumes on how cold this heel trio is, especially when compared to the infinitely more over and superior Fatal Influence.

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

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

Tama hit Keys with a dropkick, but that didn’t seem to have any effect as Keys hit him with a powerslam afterwards. Keys punched at Tama in the corner as he tried for a suplex. Tama escaped and hit Keys in the back of his leg to gain the advantage. Tama found himself on the receiving end of an overhead suplex from Keys. Tama countered with a Flatliner as Keys rolled out of the ring. Even with the refere distracted, Sikoa and Talla refused to attack. Tama attempted a baseball slide, but Keys caught him for a World’s Strongest Slam onto the apron. Tama avoided calamity when he dodged Keys running at him, which caused the powerhouse to eat the stairs instead in the collision, as we took a break.

We returned from commercial as Keys and Tama traded blows. Tama got the better of Keys with a running splash, followed by the spinning neckbreaker for a two-count. Keys turned it around as he dodged a Tama Tonga splash and roared back with clotheslines and a running pounce. Down came the straps as Keys barreled into Tama across two corners, followed by a powerslam for the two-count. Keys hoisted Tama up, but he was reversed into an inverted DDT for a near-fall of his own. Keys withstood Tama’s kicks as he sent his foe over the top rope with a clothesline. Keys squared up with Sikoa and Talla outside the ring, but the M.F.T.s didn’t do anything. As Keys got back into the ring, Tama attempted a dive from the top rope, but he was caught in the “Ultimate Spinebuster” from Keys as he then ate the loss afterwards following the three-count.

Royce Keys def. Tama Tonga via pinfall

I enjoyed this one. For as much as I hate the M.F.T. stuff, I do like that Keys is being featured a lot more often now after months of inexplicably being benched. I’ve always liked his in-ring style and it’s nice to see him in action.

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

– Backstage, Danhausen was seen messing around with some vials and science-y things as his crate began to light up. Danhausen stated that his partner, whoever it was, would be ready for the tag match against The Miz and Kit Wilson at Backlash.

– Backstage, Tama Tonga was licking his wounds as Shinsuke Nakamura stated he was disappointed at him for being M.F.T. still. Talla Tonga showed up and threatened Nakamura, who wasn’t fazed by the big man.

Backlash 2026 Card

  • World Heavyweight Championship: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Jacob Fatu
  • John Cena’s “History-Making News”
  • IYO SKY vs. Asuka
  • Seth “Freakin'” Rollins vs. Bron Breakker
  • Danhausen and a Mystery Partner vs. The Miz & Kit Wilson
  • WWE U.S. Championship: Trick Williams (c) vs. Sami Zayn

– A mournful Trick Williams was met by Nick Aldis, who told him that everything requested was in place and that the rest of the broadcast was his.

The Gingerbread Man’s Funeral

This segment opened with the ring set up with the coffin containing the “body” of the Gingerbread Man and a black mat as Trick WIlliams made his way to the ring, with milk and chalice in hand. Williams took a sip from the chalice before he poured out the milk as he got into the ring. Williams took the mic as he asked for the music to be cut. He said that we’d have to bear with him as we’d have to get through this.

Williams then sang a “tribute” for the Gingerbread Man, with a choir backing him up. We then went to a video memorial for the Gingerbread Man, that was largely made up of AI-generated images of our cookie-based friend. After the video, Williams asked for a moment of silence in honor of his friend. This was rudely interrupted by Sami Zayn, who was incredibly upset over what was going down. Zayn was mad that this entire thing was allowed to go on all night. He said that closing out an episode of SmackDown used to mean something, and that television time used to mean something. Zayn continued to be incredulous at the money spent by Williams over all this, as he insulted the singers, the coffin and flowers.

Zayn said that Williams was making a joke out of him, something that he’d never do himself , because he had too much respect. Zayn called himself a “working class hero” who represented his ride or die fans until the end. Zayn got into the ring and reminded Williams of who he was as he boasted about how he still stood twenty years in the game. However, Williams got into Zayn’s head and made him angry. Now, it was personal. It wasn’t just about taking the U.S. Championship at Backlash, it was about disrespecting and exposing him tomorrow night. Zayn feigned leaving as he took a cheapshot at Williams. Zayn grabbed the U.S. Title and raised it over his head as the Gingerbread Man suddenly woke up and removed his mask to reveal Li’l Yachty. Zayn took a cane shot from Yachty as Williams then finished it off with a Trickshot knee.

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

Where do I even begin? That this whole nonsense with the “funeral” was the final go-home moment before the PPV was nothing short of ridiculous. I’m sure it was funny for some people, but this wasn’t the case for me. What began as a genuinely interesting U.S. Title feud pretty much veered into weird New Generation-style nonsense. Bless Trick Williams for trying to make it work, but it’s just impossible to turn utter crap like this into gold. Same with Sami Zayn trying his darndest to do his delusional heel shtick. He’s trying, but the material he’s been given is not up to par.

And speaking of utter crap, there was a very obvious use of generative AI throughout these segments, from the posters of the Gingerbread Man to the video “tribute” that was in the final segment. I’m sorry, that’s just inexcusable, especially in the wake of the remarks by TKO President Mark Shapiro stating that WWE has been using AI in various capacities. WWE’s video production crew used to be regarded as the best in the game, but I find that reputation slowly sinking as the “cheaper” alternatives are being considered oh so willingly. That the worldwide leader in sports entertainment is diving headfirst into AI “slop” is not a good sign at all and it was something that really couldn’t escape my thoughts as I saw this segment.

Lastly, I used to praise the SmackDown U.S. Title scene as being the shining beacon amidst the sea of awfulness, but even that seems to be no longer the case. With this Williams/Zayn/Gingerbread stuff taking up so much real estate, it’s meant standouts like Carmelo Hayes and Ilja Dragunov have been left in the dust, when they should still be prominent fixtures of the division. Like, what happened with the story of Dragunov needing to build himself back up after taking tough losses? As SmackDown is set to move into two hours in July, I suspect the problem to get even worse.

As far as the rest of SmackDown is concerned, I am enjoying Fatal Influence looking dominant in the early going, and Cody Rhodes vs. GUNTHER is a fresh matchup that both men badly needed after mediocre recent feuds. Overall, this episode was pretty much a “meh” way to lead into Backlash, and the focus on the Gingerbread Man shenanigans didn’t help either.

WWE Raw live results: Backlash go-home show

Posted on by Steve Khan

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

The Big Takeaway —

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

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

**********

Show Recap — 

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

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

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

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

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

********

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

********

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

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

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

********

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

******* 

Sol Ruca contract signing

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

*******

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

********

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

********

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

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

*******

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

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

This was awesome. 

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

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

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

******* 

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

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

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

********

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

IYO SKY and Asuka sit-down segment 

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

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

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

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

********

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

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

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

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

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

********

Backlash card: 

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

********

Roman Reigns and Jacob Fatu contract signing 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

WWE SmackDown live results: Charlotte Flair vs. Jacy Jayne

Posted on by Marc Quill

SmackDown newcomers Fatal Influence left their mark in their debut last week when they laid waste to Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss, as well as Brie Bella and Paige during their women’s Tag Title match. Later that evening, the group led by Jacy Jayne would do the same to WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley.

Tonight, Charlotte Flair looks to get a measure of revenge when she takes on Jayne in one-on-one action.

Set to make their debut this week on SmackDown is Ricky Saints. The former NXT Champion looks to bring the revolution tonight that’s led him to some successes in his WWE tenure.

Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes will kick off tonight’s show. Last week, he declared to any challenger that he was “easy to find, but hard to beat”.

Tonight’s episode of WWE SmackDown is set for the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

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

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

– Our show opened with a recap of Raw this past Monday and the situation between Jacob Fatu and Roman Reigns that led to a World Heavyweight Championship match at Backlash to be made. Following the recap, we got our usual rigmorole of wrestler arrivals, including Charlotte Flair, Jacy Jayne, and Sami Zayn.

Cody Rhodes opens SmackDown

The Undisputed WWE Champion made his way down to the ring, his left eye looking somewhat better than it did in the wake of WrestleMania 42 and to a warmer reception than in recent weeks.

“Tulsa, Oklahoma, what do you wanna talk about?” started Rhodes in his usual fashion. He said that it’s always nice to get new information, namely if he was medically cleared for action. Rhodes spoke with WWE Medical officials and SmackDown GM Nick Aldis and got news that he was cleared to compete. Which begets the question: “What’s next for Cody Rhodes on SmackDown?”

At that point, an old friend interrupted in the form of Ricky Saints, who was making his SmackDown debut. Saints arrived to a middling reaction from the Tulsa crowd. As soon as he got to the ring, Saints said that the crowd booed what they didn’t understand as he introduced himself. Saints declared himself as the “hottest, fliest SmackDown free agent” standing in front of Rhodes.

Saints talked about he and Rhodes were no strangers with one another, but that there was a change in the air. It was a revolution and there was only one man leading that: Ricky Saints himself. He welcomed everyone to “Friday Night Saints”.

Rhodes got back on the mic and said that he was glad to have Saints here, but it was a bold move to do it now. He asked Saints what the difference between now and the last time he stepped up to him. Saints responded by pointing out Rhodes’ recent wounds and hyped up his achievements as a former NXT Champion and a NXT North American champion. Saints said that he stood in the background of Rhodes’ own achievements to the detriment of his own benefit. Saints said he was ready to relieve Rhodes of his duties.

Rhodes officially issued the chalenge to Ricky Saints to face him tonight. Saints accepted and said that he was here to change who this show was about. Rhodes concluded by repeating what he said last week: “easy to find, hard to beat.”

I liked this opening segment and immediately putting newcomer Ricky Saints with a familiar foe in Cody Rhodes is a good way to establish him on SmackDown.

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

– Backstage, Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss were interviewed about the Fatal Influence situation. Rhea Ripley appeared and said that she tried to take on Fatal Influence alone, but got overwhelemed. She pointed out how she was willing to put her differences with Charlotte aside to take on Fatal Influence. Flair refused, stating that “three is kind of a crowd”. Bliss remarked that Flair was just about to make a “dramatic entrance”.

Charlotte Flair (w/ Alexa Bliss) vs. Jacy Jayne (w/ Fallon Henley & Lainey Reid)

As Jayne made her entrance, she had something to say. Jayne noted that last week was just a taste of what Fatal Influence will do to SmackDown. Jayne declared that she and Fatal Influence were going to take out the legends one by one, starting with Charlotte Flair.

This match kicked off with a lock-up that got broken up by the ref in the corner. Jayne answered with a kick to the gut, but Flair hit her with a running shoulder block in response. Flair got clubbed in the back after a leap from the turnbuckle as Jayne worked her over in the corner. Jayne hit a hurricanrana, but got sent face-first into the middle turnbuckle. Flair then did three successive head scissors on the ground to keep Jayne down.

Flair attempted a Figure-Eight, but Jayne escaped to the outside, as Bliss snuck up behind her. Jayne flinched in fear and we took a break.

Back to the match as Flair broke free of Jayne’s resthold, but was left stunned in the corner. However, that was for naught as Flair recovered and hit a back suplex on Jayne. The former WWE Women’s Champion got her second wind and shelled Jayne with chops, followed by the stepover clothesline. Flair got herself up to the top rope and hit a high crossbody. Jayne rolled it over to a near-fall to nearly win. Flair blasted Jayne with a big boot and had her in the drop zone for the signature moonsault. One, two… Jayne managed to kick out at two.

Jayne hit her with a chop block, followed by a big running knee to the jaw of Flair for a close two. Another big boot by Flair to block the Rolling Encore. Figure-Eight Leg Lock by Flair, but Fallon Henley broke it up behind the referee’s back. Reid dropped Alexa Bliss on the outside, as Jayne hit a distracted Flair with Rolling Encore for the win.

Post-match saw Fatal Influence continue their attack on Flair and Bliss until Rhea Ripley ran down with payback on her mind. Ripley kicked fended off the trio as Jayne escaped a Riptide attempt by nearly shoving Ripley into Flair.

Jacy Jayne def. Charlotte Flair via pinfall

This was a good match and the chicanery-filled finish is at least consistent with regards to Jacy Jayne and Fatal Influence’s methods of winning.

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

– WWE Women’s Tag Champions Paige and Brie Bella were interviewed about Fatal Influence. Brie talked about how they were impressed by the trio, but sooner or later they were going to have to face Brie and Paige. They then turned their attention to Nia Jax and Lash Legend, who they’ll defend their Women’s Tag Title against later tonight.

– Earlier Today footage set up Damian Priest & R-Truth defending their WWE Tag Titles against Fraxiom, that was apparently borne out of a misunderstanding because Truth was telling Nathan Frazer and Axiom about filing their taxes, but Priest assumed that a challenge was being made.

– We got some backstage antics with Danhausen and The Miz & Kit Wilson. The latter two were trying to spring a trap for Danhausen with “free human monies”, but it didn’t work. Danhausen got the money without incident, and the trap instead backfired on Miz and Kit Wilson after Danhausen left.

WWE Tag Team Championships: R-Truth & Damian Priest vs. Fraxiom (Nathan Frazer & Axiom)

Truth and Axiom kicked it off here as the former took down his foe with a shoulder charge. Axiom quickly picked up speed with a dropklck and a tag to Frazer, but nothing more as Truth tagged in Priest. Frazer got ahead of it with a slide underneath priest, followed by the kick. The tag to Axiom, who got rocked with a elbow from Priest. Razor’s Edge countered as Fraxiom looked to hit a stereo dive on the champs. Truth and Priest wisely walked away as we took a break.

We returned from commercial as Truth hit Axiom with a suplex-into-a-Stunner. Priest entered the match and proceeded to tee off on Axiom and Frazer on opposite corners. Priest hit Axiom with the roaring lariat, but Frazer acrobatically countered the South of Heaven afterwards. Truth tagged in and unleashed the John Cena Five Moves of Doom on Frazer, ending with the Five-Knuckle Shuffle. Axiom pulled Priest down from the apron as Frazer nearly had it won by rollup. As Truth was deposited over the top rope, Fraxiom proceeded to hit the tag champs with a barrage of dives to the outside.

Back in the ring, Fraxom hit a double team dropkick (a “Catapult Inferno”, according to commentary), but Priest broke up the count before he dragged Truth to his corner for the tag. With Priest as the legal man, he hit Frazer with South of Heaven, followed by the Razor’s Edge for the three to retain the WWE Tag Titles.

After the match, the M.F.T.s launched an attack on everyone as Talla Tonga laid waste to everyone.

Damian Priest & R-Truth def. Fraxiom via pinfall to retain the WWE Tag Team Championships

This was an okay tag match, but I’m really not too keen on the Bloodline D-Team going after the tag titles again as teased in the post-match segment. The M.F.T.s just don’t interest me.

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

Solo Sikoa speaks

After the break, Solo Sikoa addressed the events of last week as he stated that Jacob Fatu made a big mistake by demolishing the M.F.T.s on SmackDown just seven days ago. Even though Jacob took out Sikoa’s army, he took out his family. Sikoa said that the reason why the rest of the M.F.T.s weren’t standing was because of what Fatu did. That’s why when Jacob arrived to the arena, he’d be a dead man according to Sikoa.

The Usos interrupted Sikoa’s diatribe and confronted the last two M.F.T members in the ring. Jimmy declared that the M.F.T.s weren’t the only one who had a problem with Jacob Fatu. He and Jey had a problem with Jacob for putting his hands on their Tribal Chief, and doing so with the sacred Tongan Death Grip. Jey said that whatever plans that Sikoa had for Jacob, they’d have to wait until Roman Reigns got their hands on him. They weren’t asking Sikoa, they were telling him.

Sikoa said that they didn’t have time for this as Talla Tonga took out both Jimmy and Jey with ease. Sikoa then told the fallen Usos that Roman Reigns wasn’t his Tribal Chief, and that Jacob was still a dead man.

I don’t think I have to go on a stretch about how much I really don’t care about the retread for Bloodline drama, and the fact that it seemed like the Usos regressed character wise because of it isn’t helping. Jimmy and Jey were their own men a little over a year ago, but now they’re back being nothing more but Roman Reigns’ flunkies like it’s 2021 all over again. This “absolute cinema” just doesn’t do it for me, especially in rehehated leftovers form, and highlights the creative laziness plaguing WWE. Though whether that’s influenced by AI as rumored is up to your interpretation.

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

– Just as Cody Rhodes was getting ready to face Ricky Saints, Sami Zayn confronted him and seeemed taken aback by being called “sarcastic” by Rhodes last week. Zayn tried to suggest that he and Rhodes were friends. Rhodes didn’t see it that way, stating that he and Zayn were not the same.

Cody Rhodes vs. Ricky Saints

Saints got ahead early with shoulder blocks on Rhodes, followed by a pair of armdrags as he struck a confident taunt in the middle of the ring. Rhodes responded with a suplex attempt, but Saints escaped. Saints leapt on the apron to escape, but he got socked in the face by Rhodes. Back in the ring, Saints clotheslined Rhodes out of the ring to take us into the commercial break.

We returned from the break as Saints had Rhodes in a headlock, but couldn’t keep it on for long as “QB1” escaped. Saints got back on top of it with a neckbreaker, followed by a knee to the face of Rhodes. Saints dragged Rhodes’ face across the rope before he walked the ropes for a little Old School action at the champ’s expense. Saints took a bit too long to showboat as Rhodes hit the snap powerslam, followed by a Disaster Kick and the Cody Cutter. Rhodes attempted a running powerslam, but got countered into a swinging neckbreaker by Saints for the close two.

Saints attempted a roll-up, but couldn’t put the match away. He then hit the Revolution DDT on Rhodes for yet another close near-fall. Saints then lifted up Rhodes for Rochambeau, but Cody reversed it into Cross Rhodes for the victory.

After the match, Gunther snuck up and put the sleeper on Rhodes as referees tried to pull him off. He took the Undisputed WWE Title and raised it before leaving.

Cody Rhodes def. Ricky Saints via pinfall

A solid debut for Saints, but I’m very interested in Gunther as Rhodes’ next challenger, because my goodness in heaven, he needed something to do other than being pigeonholed as “the retirement guy”. I don’t know if the big man will actually be the champ, but Gunther’s booking post-John Cena retirement (or lack thereof) has been really dire so I’m just happy he’s getting this shot at the title like what should’ve happened a while ago, y’know?

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

Danhausen drops by

The incomparable Danhausen arrived in his “Hausen-Mobile”, as he gave out merchandise that he bought with the money that he had taken earlier. Danhausen’s fun was interrupted by the arrival of The Miz.

Miz said that ever since Danhausen arrived, all sorts of bad things has happened to him. He said that he had come to a realization that he was cursed. That’s why he was going to do the thing that he never thought he was going to do: be the Danhausen’s mentor. Before anything could formally happen, Kit Wilson interrupted and said that Miz was making a mistake.

Miz told Wilson to shut up because Danhausen gone above and beyond. Wilson was aploplectic and wanted Miz to shake his hand instead. After some indecision, Miz shook Danhausen’s hand, and said that there was only one thing left to do… he hit Danhausen from behind and revealing that this was a ruse. Miz and Wilson proceeded to beat down Danhausen, with a Skull-Crushing Finale and the Men Cry Too elbow.

Apparently Danhausen has no friends backstage given that nobody helped him fight off Miz and Wilson. Okay, then…

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

– A vignette for Blake Monroe was shown, promising her arrival to SmackDown in the near future.

Royce Keys vs. Angel (w/ Berto)

Angel threw his jacket in Keys’ face, but that did him little good as he was deposited out of the ring by the powerhouse. As Angel got back into the ring, he tried to avoid Keys’ clothesline, but not to any sort of success. Berto tried to get invovved, but got hobbled knocked from the apron by Keys. Angel went for a leap, but Keys caught him and took him up to the top rope for an avalanche powerslam. Keys then finished Angel off in short order with the spinebuster.

Royce Keys def. Angel via pinfall

A rather short match that showed off Keys’ power off well, especially with that avalanche powerslam. This was fine.

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

– Tiffany Stratton’s interview was crashed by Chelsea Green, Giulia, and Kiana James. This led to a Women’s U.S. Title match between Stratton and James to be made for next week.

– Royce Keys gave Jacob Fatu a pep talk backstage, before Talla Tonga and Solo Sikoa struck and laid the two out. Th e Jamie Noble-led road agents and officials checked up on Keys and Fatu.

Sami Zayn speaks

With the Gingerbread Man in the ring, Sami Zayn made his way to speak to the Tulsa crowd.

Once Zayn got into the ring, he asked if we were having fun. He said that he loved being in Tulsa, and he loved Bob Dylan. Zayn talked about the day Dylan picked up an electric guitar and how the people booed him for it, stating that he could relate to that. Zayn didn’t know why what he did to get the hatred from the crowd. But, that didn’t matter for Zayn, because his “Ride or Dies” were here in the building.

Zayn talked about how he couldn’t deal with the disrespect from Trick Williams. He pointed out that the Gingerbread Man represented Williams more than it did Zayn, because of Williams being a “shell of a person”. Zayn said that when he looked at the Gingerbread Man, he saw Trick Williams not taking him seriously, and as pure disrespect. Zayn said that every time he looked at the Gingerbread Man as he kicked the Gingerbread Man in the middle of the ring. The mannequin was torn apart by Zayn before Trick Williams ran in to fight with Zayn.

Williams struck Zayn with fists and had him set up for the Trick Shot. Zayn rolled out of harm’s way. He then threw up an “X” for the Gingerbread Man mannequin as it was getting checked up on.

An… odd segment, with Zayn attacking a mannequin and Williams making the save for said mannequin. I thought the story of Zayn’s heel turn was going swimmingly in recent weeks, but things kinda went off the rails here, and not in a good way. “Oof”, is all I have to say about what we just saw.

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

– Trick Williams was asked about the status of the Gingerbread Man backstage. Zayn crossed the line with his action and that he’s got a lot to answer for. Williams said that Zayn will face him for the U.S. Title at Backlash. A doctor said that the Gingerbread Man didn’t make it.

WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship: Paige & Brie Bella (c) vs. The Irresistable Forces (Nia Jax & Lash Legend)

Legend threw Paige around easily to start off, as she then struck her with a hard strike to the face after a Nia Jax distraction. Big splash by Lash on Paige got an early near-fall. Jax tagged in and continued the punishment on Paige until a jawbreaker allowed Paige to tag in Brie Bella. Jax got struck down with knees to the gut, followed by the “Brie Mode Knee”. Brie got on the apron and was held by the leg by Legend, which allowed Jax to knock Brie down to the floor as we took a break.

This Arby’s-sponsored match returned as Brie tried to tag in Paige. Legend intercepted, but got thrown for a hurricanrana by Brie. Paige finally re-entered the match on the hot tag and floored Legend with a kick to the face. On the apron, Paige battered Legend with kicks to the chest. On the top rope, Paige went for a dive, but Legend caught her. Brie blind tagged as Legend was hit with the Paige Turner. Bella Buster by Brie couldn’t secure the win as Nia Jax broke up the count.

Jax tagged in and had Brie in the Annhilator drop zone, but Paige clipped her legs, as Brie got the flash pin for the three.

Brie Bella & Paige def. The Irresistable Forces via pinfall to retain the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship

A bit rough around the edges. Not a lot of chemistry between the two teams and this match suffered as a result.

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

– Inexplicably, an In Memoriam for the Gingerbread Man was shown.

Next Week on SmackDown

  • We’ll hear from Gunther
  • Alexa Bliss, Charlotte Flair, Rhea Ripley vs. Fatal Influence (Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley, Lainey Reid)
  • Funeral for The Gingerbread Man
  • WWE Women’s United States Championship: Tiffany Stratton (c) vs. Kiana James

– Nick Aldis made two matches for Backlash: Sami Zayn vs. Trick Williams in a U.S. Title rematch, and Danhausen facing The Miz & Kit Wilson, but only if Danhausen can find a partner.

The Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso) vs. The M.F.T.s (Solo Sikoa & Talla Tonga)

Jey went after Talla immediately with a superkick and a strike to the jaw, but that did nothing as he got taken down by the giant. Big elbow drop by Talla as Sikoa tagged in and kept the attack on Jey. Sikoa got hit with an enzuigiri by Jey, as Jimmy tagged in and worked over his foe with a chop. A dive from a top by Jimmy was intercepted with the Spinning Solo by Sikoa. Running hip attack to the corner by Sikoa as we took a break.

Our main event returned as Jimmy Uso was down and out at ringside after Talla ran into him just before the break ended. Back inside the ring, Sikoa tagged in and and kept the assault on Jimmy locked. Talla clotheslined Jimmy behind the referee’s back as he next entered the match with a stomp and a legdrop. Jimmy escaped the grip of Talla, but was dropped with a Samoan Drop. Talla attacked Jey on the apron as Sikoa tagged in and lined up his Samoan Spike. Jimmy broke free from Talla and sent Sikoa out of the ring.

Talla wiped himself out by running into the post after Jimmy dodged. With Jey recovered, he got the hot tag and dove onto Talla outside before doing the same to Sikoa back in the ring. Jey delivered a combo of rights to Sikoa and reversed the Spinning Solo with a Spear. The count, but Talla made the save. Jimmy joined in as the two hit double superkicks and a clothesline to take Talla out of the ring. Jimmy tried for a dive, but that was blocked by Talla. Both Usos were thrown about at ringside by Talla, who began to rearrange the furniture. Meanwhile, Jacob Fatu joined in and attacked Talla to cause the disqualification.

Post-match, Fatu took out Talla with the steel steps as he confronted Sikoa inside the ring. Sikoa tried to beg off, but he got the brunt of the Tongan Death Grip. Talla interjected and and looked like he was going to chokeslam Fatu through the table, but he too ate a Tongan Death Grip, followed by a Samoan Drop through the table!

Fatu stepped back in the ring and faced off with Jimmy and Jey. He walked past the Usos with disrespect, making it clear he wasn’t ready to make peace with them. Fatu ended the night by stating that he was going to dogwalk Roman Reigns’ ass at Backlash.

The M.F.T.s def. The Usos via Disqualification

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

The main event was fine, and the Bloodline stuff doesn’t move me in the slightest, but I did like that Samoan Drop through the table. That was a good way to end a strange and uneven show.

The stuff with Fatal Influence and Ricky Saints I enjoyed a lot, as well as Gunther being Cody Rhodes’ next challenger for the Undisputed WWE Title. Those were great, and I’m interested in where those stories go.

What did lose me was the tomfoolery with the Gingerbread Man, Trick Williams, and Sami Zayn. It’s one thing if it was only Zayn going crazy over the Gingerbread Man namecalling and snapping over that, but it crossed over into ridiculous territory the moment when Trick Williams himself was also treating “Gingy” as an actual person.

Now, you may ask why this tilted me when something like the antics of Danhausen and The Miz entertains me. Well, the difference there is that story with Danhausen and the Miz is meant to just be a relatively comedic one. Whereas, the Zayn/Williams feud is supposed to be a bitter rivalry with delusional jerk Zayn losing his grip in reality as Williams becomes more popular. That’s why silly stuff like what we saw tonight with the Gingerbread Man just doesn’t really work at all.

Then you have the Bloodline retread. I understand it’s unavoidable given Roman Reigns being the champ and his challenger being a member of the family, but it’s really not something that’ll move the needle, especially with WWE’s booking being a bit dull as of late.

All in all, Backlash’s build isn’t as insane of a disaster as the WrestleMania 42 build was, but at the same time, I find it hard to actually want to check it out next week if I was someone being convinced to give WWE a try.

WWE Raw live results: Roman Reigns answers Jacob Fatu

Posted on by Steve Khan

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

The Big Takeaway —

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

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

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

**********

Show Recap — 

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

Roman Reigns & The Usos opening pre-taped promo 

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

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

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

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

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

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

********

Seth Rollins and Bron Breakker segment 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

********

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

Intercontinental Championship: Penta (c) vs. Rusev 

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

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

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

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

********

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

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

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

********

Becky Lynch promo 

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

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

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

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

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

********

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

********

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

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

********

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

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

********

Joe Hendry concert 

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

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

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

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

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

********

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

*******

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

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

(I enjoyed Ford and Dawkins telling off Rollins.) 

*******

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

******** 

Announced for Backlash so far: 

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

Asuka promo 

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

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

*******

Oba Femi vs. Grayson Waller 

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

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

The crowd was into Femi as usual. 

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

********

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

******** 

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

Main event segment 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

WWE SmackDown live results: The fallout from WrestleMania 42

Posted on by Marc Quill

WWE WrestleMania 42 has come and gone, and tonight WWE SmackDown moves forward as it emanates live from Fort Worth, TX’s Dickies Arena.

After challenging Roman Reigns for the WWE World Heavyweight title on Raw, Jacob Fatu will make an appearance as he awaits Reigns’ answer this Monday.

New WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley will be in the house to celebrate after wresting the title from Jade Cargill last Sunday.

There will be another celebration as new WWE United States Champion Trick Williams will be on hand as will his running mate, rapper Lil Yachty.

Paige returns to SmackDown for the first time in nearly 10 years as she and Brie Bella celebrate their WWE Women’s Tag Team title win last Saturday.

After earning the title shot last Friday, former WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton will challenge reigning Women’s U.S. Champion Giulia for the gold tonight.

Our live coverage kicks off at 8 pm Eastern.

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

– Our night began with a recap of what went down last weekend at WrestleMania 42. Following that lengthy opener, we went to a live shot of Cody Rhodes arriving to the arena in a Ram truck in a similar manner to Pat McAfee and Randy Orton. Also seen making their arrivals was the new WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley, as well as new U.S. Champion Trick Williams. Li’l Yachty and the Gingerbread Man were seen with Williams. As they got off the arena, Danhausen drove up in his coffinmobile as Trick’s entourage left.

Jacob Fatu kicks off SmackDown

Fatu made his way down to the ring just days after having challenged new World Heavyweight Championship Roman Reigns for a match at Backlash.

He started off by stating that he told Reigns that he wanted him, and that he needed the World Title. Then Reigns looked at Fatu in the eye and said “you’re not ready”. The truth is, however, Reigns was right in that assessment. Because what Reigns told Fatu has been something he’s heard all his life from his friends and family. But, to break it all down and to keep it 100, Reigns might say Fatu’s not ready, so he should step in the ring to prove it. The Usos interrupted as Jimmy and Jey Uso walked down to address Fatu.

Jimmy took the mic and said that he heard what Fatu had to say on Monday about how Fatu wanted to level up for his family. Jimmy told Fatu that he should not go after Roman Reigns’ title and instead go for Cody Rhodes. He said that Fatu should join the “Family” and run things with them. Jey

Jey said that if Fatu wanted respect from Roman, he better get ready to look him in the eye and get ready for war, because Reigns was going to bring it. That’s when The M.F.T.s interrupted things.

Solo Sikoa said that the Usos were lying to him. Sikoa took credit for bringing Fatu into WWE two years ago. The M.F.T.s entered the ring as Sikoa continued to insist Fatu to not listen to Jimmy and Jey. Sikoa said that Fatu wasn’t going to beat Reigns along, and that he was going to need an army in the form of the M.F.T.s. Tama Tonga aggressively took the microphone from Sikoa and asked him why they were wasting their time with this. Tama called Fatu a “lost cause”, stating that he couldn’t even beat Sikoa.

For his troubles, Tama got superkicked by Fatu, who told Sikoa that the only one who should be talking to is Roman Reigns. Fatu then issued the challenge to Sikoa to face him later tonight.

If you’re not a fan of more Bloodline drama unfolding, then this opening segment is certainly not for you. I found it just kind of there and a means to an end to set up our likely main event

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

Women’s United States Championship: Giulia (c) (w/ Kiana James) vs. Tiffany Stratton

Stratton avoided Giulia’s attacks on opposite corners before she hit her with a clothesline. Giulia responded with a jumping rollup pin for a near-fall. We got a series of dueling pinfalls between champion and challenger for a bit before Giulia caught Stratton’s cartwheel and connected with a neckbreaker.

Stratton got the rolling senton, but couldn’t get the Prettiest Moonsault Ever as Giulia trapped her in a tree-of-woe position before hitting the dropkick to the head. Giulia then got Stratton with an elevated neckbreaker from the apron to the outside as we took a commercial timeout.

We returned from commercial as Stratton was starting to mount her comeback. She connected with the springboard cartwheel Stunner for a close near-fall. Stratton tried to go up to the top rope, but Giulia intercepted her and turned it into an avalanche butterfly suplex. One, two…. Stratton just managed to kick out. Giulia headbutted Stratton and tried for a slam, but got reversed. Stratton looked for a running attack, but Kiana James grabbed her leg. Giulia ran at Stratton, but she moved out of the way Giulia ended up hitting James instead.

Stratton looked for another Prettiest Moonsault Ever, but Giulia caught her in a modified Rings of Saturn submission hold. Stratton countered it into a pinfall attempt that Giulia kicked out of. Giulia recovered and blasted Stratton with the Arrivederci knee. She set her up for the Northern Lights Bomb, but Stratton reversed it into a rough-looking Alabama Slam. She then finished Giulia off with a Prettiest Moonsault Ever to pick up the win and the Women’s U.S. Title.

Tiffany Stratton def. Giulia to win the Women’s United States Championship

That was an alright match between Stratton and Giulia. It was odd that these two were left out of the WrestleMania card and they put together a good match here. I will say that Giulia’s second Women’s U.S. Title reign was much like her first, a whole lot of nothing that led nowhere.

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

– A pretaped vignette of Danhausen visiting The Miz’s mansion was shown. Danhausen got into the pool, much to the Miz’s annoyance, and it looks we’re going to get more of these skits tonight.

– We returned as Tiffany Stratton was interviewed after her Women’s U.S. Title win. Stratton said that this felt amazing to be on the top again. She was no longer the runner up after winning gold, and that she was ready to show that WWE was running on “Tiffy Time”. New WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Brie Bella and Paige made their way to the ring after this.

Paige and Brie Bella celebrate their Women’s Tag Title win

Once the new champs entered the ring, Brie said that it felt incredible to stand in the ring to be a champion. She noted that while it was a shame she couldn’t win it alongside her sister Nikki, she was more than happy to take the gold alongside a good friend like Paige. Brie then welcomed her back to WWE.

Paige spoke next and talked about how hectic a week she just had. When Brie gave her the call to tag with her at WrestleMania, Paige said that she was more than happy to answer. Paige noted that it was a rough road to get back here, but she was so happy to be back home. She and Brie stood against the best competitors in the world, but SmackDown was still Paige’s house. Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss showed up to interrupt proceedings.

Flair started by saying that she could speak for her and Bliss in welcoming Paige back, but the returnee had something that belonged to them. Flair and Bliss had been working for so long to get back, so Flair suggested that if Paige wanted to prove she was the best, she and Brie would defend the Women’s Tag Titles against her and Bliss. The Women’s Tag Champions accepted the challenge and this match would take place after the commercial break.

WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship: Paige & Brie Bella (c) vs. Alexa Bliss & Charlotte Flair

This match began during the commercial and we joined the action in progress after the break.

Bliss hit Brie with a dropkick as she tagged in Flair, who chopped away at Brie’s chest. She then hit a fallaway slam before kipping up to her feet. In the corner, Flair blasted Brie with a kick to the jaw, but missed with an attack to the knee. This gave Brie an opening for a tag, however, before we could get a tag, Jacy Jayne from NXT pulled down Paige from the apron as the rest of Fatal Influence — Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid ran in and laid waste to everyone.

Paige & Brie Bella vs. Alexa Bliss & Charlotte Flair ended in a No Contest

Not so much of a match here as it was to introduce Fatal Influence into the Smackdown roster, and it’s giving a much needed infusion of talent to the women’s roster of SmackDown, which is something that I’ve made a point to discuss on more than one occasion. This is a good piece of business.

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

– We got a vignette for Royce Keys that focused on how much he was an inspiration to his hometown of East Pala Alto, CA.

Cody Rhodes talks WrestleMania 42 fallout

The Undisputed WWE Champion, sporting one heck of a shiner after taking Randy Orton’s punt kick, walked down to the ring battered, bruised, but certainly not broken.

As Rhodes got into the ring, he took in the reaction from the Fort Worth crowd before asking them what they wanted to talk about. Rhodes wanted to talk about he walked out of WrestleMania, even though he was beaten down. It was a decision he made to walk up the ramp to show that he always got back up. Rhodes wanted to send the message that even though he wouldn’t be medically cleared, and that he’d get stitches on the back of his head… he wanted to send it to Randy Orton. Rhodes wanted to send the message that even though Orton gave him his best shot — the punt to the head — he was still standing.

He wanted to send the message to a “sarcastic and condescending” Sami Zayn as well, who said that nothing ever went wrong for Rhodes. That’s why he showed up in all-gold attire at WrestleMania, because he wanted to show that he was gold, his family was gold, and every fan of his was gold. Most especially, he wanted to send a message to those outside forces that kept trying to get involved in his business: they’re 0-3, so send your best or count your money and mind your damn business.

Rhodes concluded by throwing the gauntlet as he pointed that if anyone wanted a shot at him, whether they were from NXT or Raw or SmackDown. He was easy to find, but even harder to beat.

Just a standard Cody Rhodes promo to get things going post-WrestleMania. This almost felt like a bit of a soft reset of sorts, in a way. The Pat McAfee-centered storyline that plagued Rhodes vs. Orton seems to be a thing of the past now, especially since it’s been reported that McAfee himself (and Jelly Roll) was not a fan of how things going down, and with good reason.

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

WWE Tag Team Championship Match: R-Truth & Damian Priest (c) vs. The M.F.T.s (Tama Tonga & J.C. Mateo) (w/ Tanga Loa)

Truth and Tama got things going in this tag match. The two traded strikes, but Tama got the upper hand here. He hit Truth with a dropkick and mocked him with his “version” of the Five-Knuckle Shuffle. Truth dodged and tagged Priest into the match. Priest unleashed his flurry of offense on both Tama and Mateo in the M.F.T. corner. Mateo responded by providing a distraction on Priest, which gave Tama the opening to clothesline him out of the ring. At ringside, Tanga Loa flattened Priest with a clothesline as we took a break in the action.

We returned from break as Mateo and Tama were shelling Priest with a double team assault. Mateo threw Priest into his corner, but the big man began to fight back. Tama went down with a clubbing blow, as Priest then swung for the fences like Aaron Judge with the massive lariat on Mateo. The hot tag from Truth as he hit the John Cena Moves of Doom on Mateo, ending with the Five Knuckle Shuffle. Tanga Loa distracted the referee as Tama ran in and hit Truth with his spinning neckbreaker behind the back. Priest broke up the count as he blind tagged into the match. He and Truth hit the “Rise Up” tag finisher on Mateo for the three and the tag title retention.

Damian Priest & R-Truth def. The M.F.T.s to retain the WWE Tag Team Championships

Kind of an okay match. The Truth and Priest team continues to entertain, but this just felt like a match that was kinda there.

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

– The second part of Danhausen’s visit to The Miz’s house was shown.

Trick Williams & Li’l Yachty’s U.S. Title Celebration

The new U.S. Champion was flanked by Li’l Yachty and the Gingerbread Man as the trio made their way to the ring to celebrate a successful WrestleMania. The ring was festooned with balloons, banners, and some champagne for celebration.

Williams stated to Yachty that the people were excited to celebrate the new United States Champion. He talked about how Yachty was there, and even the Gingerbread Man was there. The people weren’t there to gamble, but for three words: “Whoop That Trick”.

Yachty talked about how the WrestleMania promo tour was over, but he was still here, because he was here to stay. Yachty called himself “The Prophecy” as he stated that there would be no more U.S. Title Open Challenges for the foreseeable future. Williams concluded by talking about how if you wanted the U.S. Champion, you find Trick Willaims.

Just as Williams was celebrating, the Gingerbread Man hit him from behind with the cane. He removed his mask to reveal Sami Zayn. “A man-sized batch of walking cinnamon,” as Joe Tessitore called him, Zayn assaulted both Yachty and Williams before he finished the U.S. Champion with a Helluva Kick.

This was a nice segment, and the silly Gingerbread Man stuff had a point to it with Zayn using it to trick Trick. Nice work all around.

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

– Solo Sikoa once again tried to recruit Royce Keys to his side after a backstage interview.

Danhausen vs. The Miz (w/ Kit Wilson)

Danhausen entered to the ring aboard his “coffinmobile”.

Outside the ring, Kit Wilson took the Slammy Award off the hood of Danhausen’s rided. He then caused a distraction to allow Miz to hit Danhausen from behind. The American Gladiators reboot hostg stomped on Danhausen as he and Wilson shared a moment. Danhausen did an Undertaker sit-up and then cursed Miz and Wilson, which caused pyro to shoot out to blind the two. This gave Danhausen the opportunity to roll-up Miz for the win.

After the match, Miz tried to chase after Danhausen, but he ran into a blinded Wilson, which allowed Danhausen to escape in his coffinmobile.

Danhausen def. The Miz via pinfall

Just some silly fun here. It’s not much in the way of actual wrestling, but it’s harmless comedic fun as Danhausen continues to be one of the more entertaining parts of WWE as of late, even through the rough stretches en route to WrestleMania 42.

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

– A vignette for Blake Monroe was shown, stating that she’d be joining the SmackDown roster soon.

Rhea Ripley celebrates her WrestleMania moment

The new WWE Women’s Champion entered to a huge ovation from the Fort Worth crowd after her WrestleMania 42 victory this past weekend.

As the crowd chanted for her, Ripley stated, “your Mami is finally champion again.” Ripley talked about how at WrestleMania, the grandest stage of them all, Jade Cargill proved to her that she could actually go. But now, it was Ripley’s time to prove that the WWE Women’s Champion is a fighting champion. Ripley noted that she knew there were women in the back that wanted a shot at her, and now she was ready to take on all comers.

The music of SmackDown’s new additions, Fatal Influence, signalled the arrival of the trio led by Jacy Jayne. They walked down to the ring to massive boos from the crowd as Jayne said she’d be the first one to give Ripley credit for her win at WrestleMania, but she couldn’t talk over the crowd booing. Jayne said that the people should be giving credit to herself, Fallon Henley, and Lainey Reid for taking out everyone’s favorite legends like they did earlier tonight.

Ripley responded by stating that Fatal Influence should stop while they’re ahead. Reid and Henley tried to get their words in, but Ripley said that she was used to the number games being against her, but that didn’t matter as she gestured at her WWE Women’s Title. She challenged Fatal Inlfuence to fight her right now.

SmackDown GM Nick Aldis said that Jacy Jayne will face the new WWE Women’s Champion right here and right now… or at least after this commercial break.

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

Rhea Ripley vs. Jacy Jayne (w/ Lainey Reid & Fallon Henley)

Jayne and Ripley sized each other up before engaging in a chain wrestling battle. Ripley attempted a scoop slam, but Jayne turned that into a standing headlock. She kept the hold on for a bit before Ripley literally threw Jayne out of it. A shoulder block from Ripley kept the newcomer to SmackDown on her toes as Jayne talked over strategy with Reid and Henley. That pep-talk seemed to work as Jayne got Ripley with a running hurricanrana. Ripley responded with a headbutt that sent Jayne out of the ring. Ripley caught Jayne’s leg after a kick fromthe apron as she slammed her face-first.

Reid and Henley got in Ripley’s face, which allowed Jayne to recover with the running kick across the apron to Ripley as we took a timeout.

We returned to live action as Jayne maintained command of the match with a running neckbreaker on Ripley for the near-fall. Ripley got back on top of things with a rising kick as she hit Jayne with consecutive clotheslines, a kick, then a running dropkick. Ripley raised Jayne up for the Razor’s Edge, but she managed to escape from it. Ripley went for the forearm, but was hit with the pump knee to the face by Jayne for another near-fall.

Jayne missed with the discus elbow, as Ripley got her with the big boot on the button. Ripley headed to the top rope, but Jayne used the ropes to trip her foe up. This allowed Jayne to get in position for an attempted superplex, but Ripley escaped and hit the Cheeky Nando’s kick, as she tried for an electric chair move. Jayne reversed into a roll-up for the near-fall. Ripley hit back with the Razor’s Edge followed by the Shining Wizard for a close two.

Ripley attempted a Prism Trap, but Jayne countered it. Ripley headbutted Jayne and looked like she was going to hit the Riptide. Fatal Influence got involved to cause the DQ finish. After the match, Jayne, Reid, and Henley laid out the WWE Women’s Champion with a three-on-one-attack.

Rhea Ripley def. Jacy Jayne via Disqualification

I know the DQ finish was going to wrinkle a few feathers, but I thought it was deployed perfectly here, especially as the aim was to put over the new arrivals to SmackDown as a serious threat. I think Fatal Influence was used to great effect here and got put over easily as a new heel force on the roster.

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

– After a recap of Roman Reigns and Jacob Fatu’s Raw confrontation, we got a backstage segment with Fatu stating to the Usos that he didn’t need their help against the likely involvement of The M.F.T.s in our main event.

– Backstage, Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss were stewing over being laid out by Fatal Influence earlier. Rhea Ripley appeared and asked if there was a problem. Flair was defensive and said she was going to go take care of Jacy Jayne next week, unlike “some” people, directing that towards Ripley.

– A Retrospective on Brock Lesnar was shown.

– Ricky Saints was teased to be making his debut on SmackDown next week as an official part of the blue brand’s roster.

Solo Sikoa (w/ The M.F.T.s) vs. Jacob Fatu

Fatu and Sikoa locked horns in the middle of the ring to start as the former backed the latter into the corner. A cheap kick to the gut by Sikoa led to a headlock, but Fatu got out of it and withstood two running shoulder blocks before he hit Sikoa in the throat with a strike. Fatu hit repeated headbutts on Sikoa, but got sent face-first into the turnbuckle, which allowed Sikoa to hit back with some punches of his own.

Sikoa taunted Fatu, but paid for it with a running forearm, followed by the spinning takedown. As Fatu tried to run, J.C. Mateo snagged his leg, as the M.F.T.s struck on the outside with the referee distracted. Meanwhile, The Usos appeared on the ramp, much to Fatu’s protestations. This gave Sikoa an opportunity to strike with a clothesline on Fatu as we took our last commercial break.

Our main event returned as Fatu began to try and mount a comeback. Sikoa caught Fatu’s running attack and turned that into a release German suplex for a near-fall. Sikoa tried to strike at Fatu, but got met wtih bigger attacks from his foe, which culminated in a series of rights and a clothesline to the face. Fatu then hit a clothesline in the corner on Sikoa, as he then got ten consecutive headbutts on his stunned foe. This left Sikoa at the mercy of Fatu’s running hip attack. Tama Tonga tried to distract Fatu, but Sikoa failed to hit the Samoan Spike, as a superkick took him out.

Fatu headed to the top rope, but J.C. Mateo pushed him off the perch with the referee distracted. Sikoa rolled up Fatu, but couldn’t get the win. Fatu took out the M.F.T interference outside with one suicide dive, as Sikoa used this opening to hit the Spinning Solo. Diving splash from the top, but Fatu kicked out of Sikoa’s best shot. Sikoa looke dfor the Samoan Spike, but Fatu responded with a superkick, followed by the pop-up Samoan Drop. One Mighty Moonsault later, and it was a victory for Fatu.

Post-match, Mateo, Tanga, and Tama attacked Fatu, which prompted the Usos to run it. However, it seemed like Fatu didn’t need the help as he took it to the remnants of the M.F.T.s Fatu wrapped the steel chairs around the necks of Tama and Mateo, as he hit the running hip attack on the both of them. Outside the ring, Tanga Loa ate a suicide dive. Fatu rearranged the furniture and got on the barrier to hit a diving splash through the announce table on Tanga.

The show ended with Fatu staring down the Usos, who only stood on the apron. Fatu said that he’d see Roman Reigns on Raw this coming Monday.

Jacob Fatu def. Solo Sikoa via pinfall

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

That was a perfectly fine main event, and it did its job of establishing Jacob Fatu as a credible threat for Roman Reigns as the World Heavyweight Champion.

Meanwhile, this post-WrestleMania SmackDown fell kind of flat for me, even with moments I liked such as Fatal Influence’s debut and Danhausen’s antics. It just felt like a show that really didn’t seem like an important aftermath to WrestleMania, and not helped by the absences of certain players such as Randy Orton or Jade Cargill.

Moreover, I think a lot of why I couldn’t really get into tonight’s show was the news of WWE doing its annual spring releases just before SmackDown went on the air. Among those released were the entire Wyatt Sicks faction, as well as Aleister Black and Kairi Sane — all of whom were just on WWE programming in various storylines. It’s hard to really get excited about a show on a night when the company running the show you’ve covered decided it’d be a good idea for these cost-cutting cuts that do nobody any favours.

I don’t think I have to explain how losing a job sucks and that making jokes about it, no matter how you feel about the company that fired them is kind of terrible. At the end of the day, it comes down to corporate greed by the decisionmakers within WWE and TKO, and every year, it’s just a painful reminder.

I hope everyone that was released today find the feet elsewhere in the wide world of wrestling, because it’s a great big world out there now, and the sky is certainly the limit for everyone.

WWE NXT Revenge week two live results: Last Woman Standing

Posted on by Chris Aiken

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

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

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

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

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

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

**********

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

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

—

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

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

Good opener.

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

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

Joe Hendry vs. Keanu Carver

—

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

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

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

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

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

—

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

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

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

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

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

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

—

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sol Ruca vs. Zaria in a last woman standing match

—

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

WWE Raw live results: The night after WrestleMania 42

Posted on by Steve Khan

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

The Big Takeaway —

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

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

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

Read more below. 

**********

Show Recap — 

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

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

Oba Femi kicks off the Raw after WrestleMania 42

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

That was that. 

********

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

********

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

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

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

********

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

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

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

CM Punk and Cody Rhodes segment 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

********

Finn Bálor pre-taped promo 

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

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

Ethan Page vs. Je’Von Evans

The announcers acknowledged their NXT feud.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

******** 

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

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

********

Liv Morgan segment 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

********

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

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

The Vision segment

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

********

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

Finn Bálor vs. JD McDonagh

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

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

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

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

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

********

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

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

******* 

Next week on Raw: 

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

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

*******

Ripley and Sky say goodbye 

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

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

********

Roman Reigns main event segment 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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