Tag: wwe results

WWE NXT live results: Blake Monroe open challenge

Posted on by Jeff Moss

Tonight’s WWE NXT features the fallout from Deadline and the start of the road to New Year’s Evil.

Je’Von Evans and Kendal Grey earned title shots with their Iron Survivor Challenge victories at Deadline this past weekend. On the first NXT episode of 2026, they’ll challenge NXT Champion Oba Femi and NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne for their respective gold.

Blake Monroe won’t have to wait that long for her next Women’s North American Championship defense. She’s putting her title on the line tonight in an open challenge.

In another women’s division match, Kelani Jordan and Jordynne Grace will continue their rivalry after coming up short in the Iron Survivor Challenge.

Hank & Tank return to NXT following a stint in Japan that saw them win and lose the GHC Tag Team titles for Pro Wrestling NOAH. Plus, we’ll get the NXT debut of WWE LFG season two winner Shiloh Hill.

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

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It’s past Deadline, so I guess this episode is… late? Or something? Anyways, NXT is on the air with open challenges! New champions! A guy named Shiloh! And to kick it all off the new 2x NXT Champion Oba Femi!

-Femi danced his way to the ring to kick off the show, fresh off his crowd appearance on Monday Night Raw. Femi began a speech about the nature of power, how it never begs and stands still, etc. He gave respect to Ricky Saints and said that his reclaiming of the NXT Title was the will of the universe. Next, he mentioned Cody Rhodes, who Femi will face in a non title match at Saturday Night’s Main Event. He said that Rhodes will get him in all his glory.

Suddenly, Ricky Saints music hit and the man himself dejectedly sauntered to the ring, mic in hand. Saints said that he is man enough to admit that Femi was better man at Deadline. Saints said that there was a moment when he thought his chance to be NXT Champion had passed. But then he remembered that he is Ricky Saints and that he wants a rematch for the title.

Continuing the promo parade, Je’Von Evans’ music hit and the Young OG came out to interrupt. He reminded everyone that he won the Iron Survivor Challenge and has a title shot coming at New Years Evil. But why should he wait? He challenged Femi to a match tonight.

Saints asked “what’s the rush?” Evans said that he’s no longer “the future” he’s the “now” and no one is touching him right now. Saints agreed and said that Evans could go first. Then Femi got upset, wondering why these “beltless” guys were dictating terms.

Femi said that he’s not afraid of Evans, because he’s never beaten Femi. He then gave him the title shot for tonight!

-After a break, Tatum Paxley cut a promo about her loss to Izzi Dame at Deadline. She said that she has nothing left to lose, but Dame does. She then held up action figures of Shawn Spears and Niko Vance. Paxley laughed on her way off camera.

Kelani Jordan vs Jordynne Grace

Jordan and Grace have had a long history of battling not just in NXT, but over the TNA Knockouts Championship as well. At Deadline, they pretty much cost each other the match and started a Sheamus/Rusev fight in the back. No word on when that fight actually ended, but they are here tonight to go one-on-one in the actual ring.

Grace and Jordan started brawling before Grace even made it to the ring. Grace dropped Jordan with a serise of scoop slams and a Michinoku driver. Jordan fought back and delivered a big boot to Grace off of a suplex attempt.

Grace sent Jordan into the corner but missed the Grace Under Pressure, giving Jordon an opening to start working Grace’s leg. She dropped a bunch of elbows on it then hung Grace up on the ropes. Jordan joined her on the apron where they traded shots.

Grace tried to suplex Jordanoff the apron, but had it blocked. They went back and forth until Grace went to drop a knee and Jordan moved, causing Grace to slam her kneecap against the apron (the knee-est part of the ring!).

Back in the ring, Jordan went back to working the knee, wrapping Grace’s leg around the ring post and stretched it both ways. Then she went for a cover, but Grace kicked out at two while Booker T talked about absolutely nothing. Honestly, never have I heard a man take soe many words to say so little.

Anyway, Jordan stomped the knee and hung Grace up in the tree of woe in the corner. Grace pulled her off the turnbuckle by the hair though and the two traded forearms in the ring.

Grace went for a stretch muffler, but Jordan got out of it, slamming Grace’s head to the mat and sliding out of the ring. Grace followed and Jordan chop-blocked her knee. She then bounced Grace’s head off the steel steps and went under the ring for a chair.

She swung, but Grace moved and she hit the stairs with the chair. Grace used that to jump back into the ring with Jordan. She locked on a leg hold, but Jordan wouldn’t tap. Grace threw a few short arm clotheslines and Jordan whiffed on a kick.

On the outside, Grace managed to hit a Grace Under Presssure and grabbed a chair. Jordan then drove Grace through the barricade. Dragging her back into the ring, Jordan went up and nailed a 450 splash to get the pin and the victory.

Match Result: Kelani Jordan defeated Jordynne Grace

-After a break, the women of NXT were shown warming up(?) in the back. Jordynne Grace was lamenting her loss to Kelani Jordan. She was told by Thea Hale to buck up, she’s Jordynne Grace after all.

-Blake Monroe made her way to the ring next for her Women’s North American Title Open Challenge. She grabbed a mic and said that the women of NXT see her as a role model and with the Holidays coming up, she feels like giving back. She then asked to see who will be answering the challenge.

Literally all the women of NXT came out and Monroe started calling for Ava. Suddenly Thea Hale arrived and jumped Monroe from behind. She pinned her quickly and celebrated, but oops! The Open Challenge had never started. Whomp-Whomp. #LOL

-Shilo Hill was interviewed about his upcoming debut singles match and he used a lot of $10 words to say he’s ready. Then he put in a mouthguard and left.

Shiloh HiIl vs Lexis King

King was already in the ring as we came back from break, but Hill, winner of LFG Season 2, got a big entrance. King tried to jump him during his opening pose, but Hill saw it coming. The bell rang and Hill started throwing King around the ring.

King sent Hill into ther corner for a dropkick and slowed the pace down, chopping and punching Hill. King got cocky though and played a little too much to the crowd. Hill charged out of the corner and he and King collided in stereo clotheslines.

Hill began to hulk up, which to him means removing his mouth guard? Anyway, King hit a superkick, but Hill no-sold it as if he loved the pain. He put King up for a Whisper To The Beast cutter and that was it. Hill gets the victory and King’s transformation into CJ Parker is almost complete.

Match Result: Shiloh Hill defeated Lexis King

-After the break, Oba Femi was interviewed in the back about his upcoming title defense against Je’Von Evans. Femi said that he has learned to expect the unexpected and he hopes Cody Rhodes is watching because he’s going to see what Femi can do. He promised to break Rhodes at Saturday Night’s Main Event and to break Evans tonight.

-Ethan Page then made his way to the ring. Page said that he came to NXT to ask the hard questions and do things Old School, body by body. He ran down other wrestlers using social media to try and gain clout. Page then said that John Cena will be forgotten in a week after his retirement, leaving a space for someone with a “huge ego” (aka Page).

Page said that he is 1 of 1 and the most important guy in WWE. Suddenly the lights went out and the same footage of Tony D’Angelo that was shown at Deadline aired. When the lights came up, a very sad-looking D’Angelo picked up Page in the ring and smashed him to the mat.

-After a break, GM Ava called the participants of the men’s Iron Survivor match to her office. She is going to give them a fatal four way #1 Contender’s match because they were all tied. Suddenly, Ethan PAge burst in complaining about Tony D’angelo. Then it was over.

Sol Ruca vs Wren Sinclair

Ruca was in the Iron Survivor Challenge at Deadline with Sinclair’s best friend (and eventuial winner of the match) Kendal Grey, who accompanied Sinclair to the ring. Ruca came out alone, but she is facing Bayley at Saturday Night’s Main Event, so she’s got that going for her.

The bell rang and they locled up with Rucal sending Sinclair to the corner. Sinclair shook off Ruca and her attempts at a waist lock and sent her into the ropes. Sinclair tried to roll Ruca up, but only got a teo count.

Ruca landed an X-Factor for a two count of her own when Zaria appeared in the crowd. Ruca looked at her forlornly, and Sinclair tried to steal one with a rollup. Rucak kicked out, but Sinclair hit a big bulldog and turned her attention to Ruca’s previously injured knee.

As Zaria watched, Ruca hit a back elbow and missile dropkick. Sinclair got her with a butterfly suplex though. Ruca turned it back around with a backstabber and Soul Snatcher to get the pin and victory.

Match Result: Sol Ruca defeated Wren Sinclair

-After the match, Ruca exited through the crowd to try and catch up with Zaria. Fatal Influence’s music hit and NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne, NXT Women’s Speed Champion Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid made their way to the ring.

Kendal Grey and Sinclair were still in the ring and Jayne started in on the Evolve Women’s Champion, Grey. She told her that it’s never going to get better for her so she should enjoy these moments of crowd support. Jayne said that Grey’s 15 minutes of fame are going to be up when they meet at New Years Evil.

Jayne said that 2025 was the year of Jacy Jayne. She held the NXT and TNA women’s titled at the same time and everyone realized this year that she is a rock star and the glue that holds NXT together. Grey doesn’t stand a chance.

Grey responded by saying that she understands she’s the rookie, the up-and-comer and has a lot to learn. But no one (even her) expected her to win the Iron Survivor challenge. She has shown that she can rise to the occasion and Jayne shouldn’t underestimate her. Becuase this underdog bites back.

Reid and Sinclair jawed a bit and Henley sucker punched Grey and the beatdown was on. The damned numbers game got to Sinclair and Wren with Fatal Influence beating up both until the segment came to a close.

-Next, Hank and Tank appeared in kimonos, back from their trip to Japan. Their return was cut short when OTM showed up and said they should have stayed in Japan. So, as you do, Hank and Tank challenged them to a match next week.

-After a break, Blake Monroe barrelled into GM Ava’s office. She blamed Ava for the fiasco that was her open challenge. Monroe declared “no more open challenges ever.” Ava said that was fine becuase she is going to defend her North American Title against Thea Hale next week.

-The scene shifted and Sol Ruca finally tracked down Zaria in the parking lot. Ruca invited Zaria to Saturday Night’s Main Even and they hugged and made up.

NXT Championship Match: Oba Femi (c) vs Je’Von Evans

Evans cashed in his title shot from the Iron Survivor Challenge to get this match tonight instead of at New Years Evil. Ricky Saints was there and agreed to hold onto his rematch with Femi and step aside so Evans could take his shot first. Femi for his part shrugged his shoulders and said “sure, whatever” but in a way much more menacing way.

Just let me say, I cannot wait for the day when Oba Femi has to dance his way down a 200ft Wrestlemania ramp.

The two locked up off the top with Femi driving Evans into the corner. Evans hit a superkick out of the corner into a cutter, trying to steal one, but Femi blocked it. Evans hit a surprise knee and actually got a 2.5 count out of it.

That fired Femi up though and he started chopping the much, much, much smaller Evans. Femi sent Evans off the ropes and Evans turned it into an insiguri for another two count. Evans’ strategy was clearly leveraging his explosive bounciness.

Femi picked Evans up in a stalling backbreaker and folded Evans in half. He put on a face lock and Evans started throwing elbows. He hit a dropkick that sent Femi out of the ring. Evans followed and went for a springboard, but Femi caught his ankle and threw him at the ground. Femi threw Evans at the ring apron, but Evans jumped up and turned it into a spingboard.

Femi caught him and slammed him against the ring. Femi dropped Evans face-first on the ring apron (the faciest part of the ring!) and climbed back in.

Femi threw a big lariat and stomped Evans in the center of the ring. Femi slammed Evans knee into the mat and stalked over to him for more stomping. The he did a little ab workout after suplexing Evans, who looked like he had the wind knocked out of him.

Evans and Femi traded punches until Femi grabbed Evans for another backbreaker. Femi set Evans up for a powerbomb, but Evans crumpled to the mat. Evans tried swinging from his knees, but Femi just knocked him back down.

Femi pciked up Evans who used his legs to send him out of the ring. Evans followed and Femi looked to powerbomb him through the table. Evans reversed it and Femi backed off and charged. Evans dodged and Femi went flying across the Announce table.

Both made it back to the ring to break the count, but Evans was waiting for Femi with two frog splashes for a 2.75 count. Evans started taking shots into Femi’s gut and hit a spinning kick to send him out of the ring. Evans dove after him and landed it, tossing Femi back into the ring. He went for a springboard, but Femi caught him with forearm on the way down.

Evans hit a quick cutter, but Femi kicked out. Femi came back with a huge shot, but this time Evans kicked out at two. Femi threw Evans across the ring and Evans came back with another two cutters and a pin 1-2- and Ricky Saints pulled the ref out of the ring!

Evans ate a big lariat from Femi in the ring who hit the Fall From Grace on Evans to get the win and retain the NXT Title.

Match Result: Oba Femi defeated Je’Von Evans

WWE Raw live results: Gunther speaks ahead of John Cena’s final match

Posted on by Steve Khan

Date: December 8, 2025
Location: T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, MO 

The Big Takeaway —

Gunther wants to make John Cena give up, The Usos are back in the tag division (and have a date with The New Day next week), and Raquel Rodriguez is next in line for Stephanie Vaquer’s world title. 

Logan Paul beat LA Knight with help from the masked man before The Vision seemingly wrote Knight off television. Bron Breakker had another message for CM Punk. 

**********

Show Recap — 

Raw started with a video package highlighting the John Cena tournament, culminating with Gunther beating LA Knight in the finals on Friday. 

Gunther kicks off Monday Night Raw

Gunther entered wearing all black and was roundly booed. The boos turned into chants for John Cena as Gunther egged them on. 

Gunther said he would be the final opponent for the greatest sports entertainer of all time, but Cena would be facing the greatest professional wrestler of all time. 

Gunther called Cena the man who never gave up. But beating Cena wasn’t enough. He would break Cena’s spirit, bully him, drop him on his head, wrap his arms around his neck, and squeeze until the last bits of hustle, loyalty, and respect left his body. 

There was only one way out, and Cena would do the one thing he said he never would: give up. 

Gunther dropped the mic and left. 

********

Rey Mysterio, Lyra Valkyria & Bayley, AJ Styles & Dragon Lee, Stephanie Vaquer, and Iyo Sky & Rhea Ripley were shown arriving earlier today. 

Oba Femi was shown in the front row with his NXT Championship belt, and they plugged his (non-title) match against Cody Rhodes on Saturday Night’s Main Event. 

Iyo Sky (w/ Rhea Ripley) vs. Tag Team Champion Kairi Sane (w/ Asuka)

Sky was about to go for a dive, but Asuka leaped on the apron to block it (as Sane distracted the referee). Sky went after Asuka, but Asuka dropped the rope, and Sky spilled out of the ring. Ripley confronted Asuka, and Sane used the distraction to knock down Sky with a leaping forearm off the apron. (There was another distraction spot during the break, and Ripley decided not to do anything about it this time.) 

Sky fought back when they returned from break and hit a springboard missile dropkick and corner meteroa for two. Sky set up for a moonsault, but Sane quickly went up to block it and followed with a double foot stomp for two (as Sky held herself upside down in the corner).  

Sane tried a back drop on the apron, but Sky landed on her feet. Sane didn’t notice, so Sky gave her a German suplex on the apron. Sky followed with an Asai moonsault. 

Sky set up for her moonsault in the ring again, but yet another Sane distraction allowed Asuka to interfere again, this time by knocking Sky off the top rope. Ripley had enough and dumped Asuka into the timekeeper’s area. 

Sane failed to take advantage of the distraction, and Sky hit a moonsault for the pinfall win. Sane leaped into Ripley’s arms to celebrate. 

Match result: Iyo Sky defeated Kairi Sane (11:34) 

A perfectly good TV match, and the crowd was into Sky (and Ripley).

******** 

Logan Paul approached the rest of the Vision backstage. He asked if they didn’t see Rey Mysterio smack him in the face last week. Bronson Reed said he didn’t like it. Bron Breakker seemed unperturbed. Logan wanted something to be done about it. The Brons stood up and said they would handle it tonight. Logan was glad. 

Logan pulled Paul Heyman aside and said he wanted the situation handled tonight. Heyman assured him that, for the first time in his life, he had backup. Logan was cool with that, but wanted them to know he was their backup if needed. Heyman was happy to hear that, but handed him brass knuckles, just in case. 

(Normally, it’s stupid when these stablemates seemingly don’t speak to each other when they’re not on the show, but it’s believable that the Brons don’t talk to Logan in their free time.) 

******** 

Mysterio walked through the back and walked by Adam Pearce, who was off to the side, arguing with The New Day. 

There was a Cena video package about the ‘you can’t see me’ hand gesture. 

There was a War Raiders video package. 

********

Rey Mysterio / Logan Paul / LA Knight segment 

Mysterio made his way to the ring (presumably to face Finn Bálor) but was decked from behind by Logan Paul. Mysterio fought him off and set up for 619, but was attacked from behind by the masked man. The man superkicked Mysterio and hit a curb stomp before being chased away through the crowd by security. 

Mysterio slowly got to his feet, but Logan knocked him out with the brass knuckles. 

LA Knight ran out to his music, and Logan bailed. Knight said he would have an aneurysm if the masked man really was Seth Rollins. Knight wanted to stomp his head in. Knight said he thought the Vision couldn’t suck anymore, but then Logan joined them. 

Knight was pissed off, and it didn’t help watching Logan attack a legend like Mysterio. Knight said Logan would pay, not on Friday or Saturday, but tonight in KC. Knight said “Yeah” over and over as the fans sang along. 

The crowd was really into Knight here. Knight vs. Paul was made official after a break. 

******** 

The announcers congratulated Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson on being nominated for a Golden Globe for best male actor. 

Je’Von Evan was shown in the crowd. Evans and Leon Slater will face AJ Styles and Dragon Lee on SNME. 

World Tag Team Championships: AJ Styles & Dragon Lee vs. The War Raiders

Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods, and Grayson Waller watched the match at ringside. 

Erik and Ivar blocked early dive attempts by Styles and Dragon Lee. Erik drove Dragon into the barricade, and Ivar squished Styles into the side of the ring ahead of a break. 

They worked over Styles until Dragon Lee got a hot tag and ran wild after a break. With Erik hanging upside down in the ropes (holding himself up), Dragon Lee hit a double foot stomp—a spot we saw in the opening match. (It’s ok to repeat spots, but not that one.) 

There was an ill-advised spot where Dragon Lee hoisted Ivar up on his shoulders for something, but he collapsed. The crowd cheered as Lee hoisted Ivar up again on his shoulders. He stumbled again, and Ivar tried to make up for it by pretending to counter. Dragon Lee tried it a third time and hit an accidental DVD that didn’t look like much. (The crowd was very forgiving.) 

Lee continued to fight off both men on his own until Ivar powerslammed him outside the ring. Ivar followed with a moonsault, but Styles just barely broke up the cover. Erik got a two count on Styles with a knee strike. 

Moments later, Styles used a hurricanrana to bring Ivar off the top rope, and Ivar collided with Erik on the way down. Dragon Lee wiped out Erik with a dive, and Styles hit Ivar with a Phenomenal Forearm for the pinfall win. 

(This wasn’t the smoothest match you’ll ever see. It certainly wasn’t boring.) 

Match result: AJ Styles & Dragon Lee defeated The War Raiders to retain the World Tag Team Championships (11:22)

The New Day and Waller approached Styles and Lee in the ring when Jey Uso’s music hit. The Usos entered together, and they ran the music back as the other men in the ring patiently waited. 

Jimmy Uso had a big announcement: The Usos were back in the tag division. They’ve been getting hit hard the past few months. They lost at WarGames and Wrestlepalooza. Jey lost his world title and lost in the Cena tournament. Jimmy saw his brother crashing out and knew he had to do something. He called Jey in the middle of the night and asked him what they would do about it. 

Jey said they would get back to us. They would block the noise, body them all, and put the tag team on notice. The best damn tag team was now in your city. “We need gold. We need gold, Uce.” 

The Usos meant no disrespect to the current champs, but said Styles and Lee didn’t know the Usos. But the New Day did. The Usos got in the faces of Kingston and Woods and compared their rivalry to Ali vs. Frazier and The Rock vs. Stone Cold. (This confrontation might’ve meant more if New Day weren’t ice cold.) 

The Usos turned their attention to Styles and Lee until New Day tried to attack them from behind. The Usos decked Kingston and Woods. (Waller bailed.) 

The Usos faced off with Styles and Lee as the segment ended. 

********

There was a Cena video package on his feud with The Rock. 

SNME card (start time 8 pm ET / 5 pm PT): 

  • John Cena vs. Gunther — Cena’s retirement match 
  • Bayley vs. Sol Ruca 
  • World Tag Team Champions AJ Styles & Dragon Lee vs. Je’Von Evans & Leon Slater (non-title) 
  • WWE Champion Cody Rhodes vs. NXT Champion Oba Femi (non-title) 

********

Stephanie Vaquer segment 

Jackie Redmond interviewed Stephanie Vaquer in the ring, although Vaquer quickly took the mic to speak on her own. Vaquer said she wanted to face everyone. She didn’t talk much, but she spoke with her actions. She was the best—and not because of Devil’s Kiss. 

Vaquer said Nikki Bella was a legend, but the women’s division was different than what it was 15 years ago. They had Ripley, Bayley, Natalya, Iyo Sky, and they were all amazing. Vaquer asked Bella if she knew who was on top. 

Bella interrupted. Bella called herself a legend, a Hall of Famer and a celebrity, and she was not done with Vaquer. Bella demanded a rematch. 

Raquel Rodriguez suddenly hopped the apron, effortlessly yanked Bella off the apron, and lawn darted her into the ring post. (That was a great spot, but Rodriguez didn’t get much of a reaction.) 

Rodriguez confronted Vaquer. She told her to name the time and place so she could kick her ass and take the title. 

******** 

Byron Saxton interviewed Ivy Nile during a break, and she appeared with the Creed Brothers. Nile has an IC title shot against Maxxine Dupri next week. Nile didn’t care that Natayla, her old friend, was training Dupri. She said Dupri would drop the ball just like the KC Chiefs did yesterday (the crowd booed). 

(Nile hasn’t wrestled on Raw since June, and her last televised win was over a year ago.) 

******** 

The Judgment Day met backstage. Bálor was happy he had an easy night after Mysterio got laid out. 

Morgan was surprised that Rodriguez didn’t run her plan by her. Rodriguez said she didn’t realize she needed to. Morgan played it down and said it was cool. She wanted to see Rodriguez become world champion. Rodriguez was content and left to talk with Pearce. 

Morgan turned her attention to Roxanne Perez and said they could be the next tag team champions. 

********

Sol Ruca was shown in the crowd. It’s been almost 30 minutes since the previous match ended.

Lyra Valkyria (w/ Bayley) vs. Roxanne Perez (w/ Liv Morgan)

Morgan distracted the referee so Perez could rake Valkyria’s eyes as she set up for her finisher. Bayley knocked Morgan down, so Perez kicked Bayley down. 

Perez countered a roll-up attempt and shoved Valkyria into the ropes. Morgan was still down on the apron, but alert enough to kick Valkyria in the face (and the ref just simply wasn’t watching). 

Perez took advantage of the interference and hit Pop Rox for the pinfall win. 

Match result: Roxanne Perez defeated Lyra Valkyria (10:15) 

They were having a nice match until the finishing interference sequence, which looked pretty bad. We also saw tons of interference in the first match, but the heel happened to win this time. 

********

Kingston and Woods cut a promo during commercials. Kingston mocked Jey for losing his smile, and Woods said they would bury the Usos under their own penitentiary next week. 

There were clips from a John Cena interview. He spoke about the ‘you can’t wrestle’ chants. They were spawned from him winning matches with the same five moves every night. He seemed to take it to heart and decided to do more stuff. Over time, he worked with the likes of Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens and AJ Styles to teach him stuff and do better. He didn’t resist the audience’s chants; he used them to get better. (Full interview is on WWE.com.) 

They aired the Dupri/Natalya training video again. Or maybe it was a new one. Joe Tessitore said he was impressed with Dupri’s level of training based on this dimly lit video. 

******** 

LA Knight vs. Logan Paul (w/ Paul Heyman)

Logan gave Knight a cheap shot as he entered the ring, and the ref decided this was a good time to start the match. Knight fought back anyway and cleared the announce table before bouncing Logan’s head off of it repeatedly. Knight was in control until Logan hit a Zig-Zag for two. 

Logan maintained control through a break and hit an alley-oop facebuster when they returned. Knight fought back with a leaping clothesline, Russian leg sweep, and neckbreaker for two. 

Breakker and Reed marched out as Knight set up on the top rope. Logan used the distraction to knock Knight off the top and hit a clunky-looking flying crossbody for two. Knight countered a gut-wrench slam and hit a reverse DDT, followed by a flying elbow drop. 

Knight knocked Breakker off the apron, but was knocked down instead by Reed. The referee eventually figured out what happened and ejected the Brons from ringside, but they didn’t immediately leave. 

Knight attacked Logan by the announce desk as the referee tried getting rid of the Brons. The distraction allowed the masked man to fly in and give Knight a curb stomp on the announce desk. 

Logan followed with a frog splash in the ring for the pinfall win. 

— The Brons attacked Knight after the match. Breakker speared Knight, and Reed hit consecutive Tsunamis. 

Match result: Logan Paul defeated LA Knight (12:44) 

Officials and medical staff rolled Knight out of the ring as the Vision stood tall. 

Heyman grabbed a mic and started his promo as they went to a commercial break. (Heyman told a stagehand that he would still be talking when they returned, and he was.) 

Heyman put over his guys before stating that Bron Breakker would beat CM Punk for the world title on the anniversary of Raw’s debut on Netflix. The crowd chanted for Punk. 

Breakker grabbed the mic. He wondered where Punk was. He wasn’t wondering where Punk was physically—he wondered where the CM Punk was. He didn’t buy this new, nice guy CM Punk. All of a sudden, Punk returned and was the nicest guy ever. He followed the rules and took pictures with the young talent just to post them on social media for people to see what a nice guy he was. 

Breakker repeated a joke we’ve heard before, saying Punk preached about being straight edge, but still looked like the biggest crackhead anyone has ever seen. 

Breakker didn’t want to face the nice guy because he could beat that guy easily. He wanted the old Punk. The guy from 2011-2013. The guy who walked the halls as a feared man. The guy who beat The Rock. (Punk never beat The Rock.) The guy who held the world title for over 400 days. The guy who was one of the greatest wrestlers to lace up a pair of boots. 

Breakker was on his hands and knees, begging for the old Punk. He wanted to beat the greatest superstar ever to lace up a pair of boots. Otherwise, he would destroy Punk and send him to the hospital. He would break Punk, take his championship, and while he was at it, take his wife, too. 

Breakker wanted to keep it simple for Punk: it would be spear, one-two-three. Spear, one-two-three. Spear, one-two-three. Spear, one-two-three. 

A camera showed Knight in the back getting to his feet, so Logan and Reed ran back to deal with him. Knight fought them off and punched a security guard, too. It was all too much for Knight, so Reed slammed him through a table. 

Reed and Logan were about to leave, but Knight wouldn’t stay down. They slammed Knight into a car and placed him on the roof. Reed climbed atop some stacked-up equipment boxes and gave him a Tsunami onto the roof of the car. Pearce appeared with officials and screamed for medics as the show ended.

WWE SmackDown live results: Last Time is Now tournament finals

Posted on by Marc Quill

The Last Time is Now tournament reaches its conclusion on tonight’s WWE SmackDown when LA Knight and Gunther square off with the winner to be John Cena’s final opponent next Saturday in Washington, DC.

Knight defeated Jey Uso on Raw this past Monday while Gunther got the win over Solo Sikoa that same night to earn a spot in the finals.

WWE Champion Cody Rhodes will make an appearance and outline what’s next for him after the WarGames match at Survivor Series.

WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill will be in action against Alba Fyre of The Secret Hervice while Alexa Bliss faces Kairi Sane.

Ilja Dragunov will continue his WWE United States Championship open challenge series.

A Solo Sikoa appearance to address last Friday’s SmackDown will round out the broadcast which kicks off at 8 PM Eastern.

**********

– The show opened up with a recap of Survivor Series: WarGames from last Saturday and everything that unfolded on that night. Following that, we got the requisite shots of Alexa Bliss & Charlotte Flair, the Kabuki Warriors, LA Knight, Gunther arriving at the arena.

– Drew McIntyre was shown arriving at the arena as Nick Aldis confronted him for still being suspended despite Survivor Series. After a tense argument, McIntyre was about to leave before he got jumped in his car by an irate Cody Rhodes. Security pulled him away as McIntyre got away in his car. Rhodes then stormed towards the Gorilla position.

Cody Rhodes kicks off SmackDown

The Undisputed WWE Champion didn’t waste any time getting himself in the ring as he asked Mr. Aldis to reinstate Drew McIntyre as the Scotsman broke an unwritten rule by invading his tour bus a couple of weeks back. Rhodes called McIntyre WWE’s “resident cockroach” as he talked about how he was going to go after McIntyre as he might’ve not been able to beat him, but he might’ve broken him. Rhodes said that at the end of it all, he was going to do what everyone wants to do to a cockroach: stomp him out.

A very fiery start to SmackDown. Cody Rhodes’ anger-filled promos are always a highlight, but hopefully, if we do get another title match between he and McIntyre, things take a twist and we have Drew actually winning the title.

**********

– #DIY were discussing amongst themselves about their plans as Carmelo Hayes walked past them and told Tommaso Ciampa that he had next.

– A video promo from Damian Priest aired as he addressed what was Aleister Black’s fate to come, stating that if Black got to bring in his family in the form of his wife Zelina, it’s only fair that Priest brought in his family. Priest revealed Rhea Ripley was backing him up, and that the Terror Twins would face off against Black and Zelina next week.

U.S. Title Open Challenge: Ilja Dragunov (c) vs. Carmelo Hayes

The match got off to a quick start as Hayes and Dragunov got into a tense collar and elbow tieup battle. Dragunov eventually went on the attack with a chop, but was countered with a set of chops from Hayes in response. Dragunov got back momentum with a hard boot to the face to Hayes. The challenger tried to knock Dragunov off the apron, but he was again flattened with a boot square on the face.

On the top rope, Hayes was stunned, which opened him up for yet another big boot from Dragunov, which sent him crashing down to the outside, apparently tweaking his knee upon landing. This took us into the mid-match break.

The match returned from commercial with Hayes escaping a submission by Dragunov, but he eventually found himself trapped in the U.S. Champion’s German suplex barrage. On the third German suplex attempt, Dragunov battered Hayes with hard elbows, but couldn’t connect with the subsequent move afterwards. The two competitors engaged in a duel of strikes, as Hayes avoided the Constantine Special and hit Dragunov with a springboard clothesline. Hayes followed that up with a tilt-a-whirl facebuster that got a near-fall.

As the crowd got loud, Hayes attempted the First 48, but was caught and dropped on his back by Dragunov. Hayes blocked the H-Bomb by getting his knees up, as a quick roll-up on Dragunov wasn’t enough. Dragunov kicked Hayes in the side of his head and then hit a standing uranage on his challenger.

Dragunov headed up to the top rope, but was sent to the outside by a running kick from Hayes. As the U.S. Champion got on the apron, Hayes dropped him with a DDT on the hardest part of the ring. Hayes headed up to the top rope, but Tommaso Ciampa attacked him while the referee was tending to Dragunov. This led to the U.S. Champion hitting the Torpedo Moscow, followed by the H-Bomb for the victory.

After the replay, Dragunov was shown reacting in anger at Ciampa’s unwanted assist in the win.

Ilja Dragunov def. Carmelo Hayes via pinfall

Another fantastic match and it did its job in getting people to root for Melo Hayes in finally winning the big one. Ciampa ruining things like the heel that he is should make things interesting, and I believe the time will come soon for Hayes if the story being told tonight is any indicator.

**********

– Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss were interviewed about WarGames this past Saturday. They talked about how it made their bond stronger, but that it was time to get back to the business of regaining their Women’s Tag Titles, and it would begin tonight when Bliss is up against Kairi Sane.

– A hype package for the Last Time is Now tournament was shown.

– Cathy Kelley interviewed LA Knight about his match against Gunther for later tonight. Knight said that he doesn’t care about the opponents he faced in the past, and that the one thing that matters is beating John Cena to cement his legacy. Knight talked about how Gunther was standing in his way, and he was going to give him a fight tonight, because Gunther was going to get dropped on his head later tonight like all the rest.

Kairi Sane (w/ Asuka) vs. Alexa Bliss (w/ Charlotte Flair)

The two locked horns to start off before Sane went on the attack in the corner with stomps to Bliss. As Sane tried to run at her foe, she was deposited onto the apron by Bliss. The two eventually exchanged pinfall attempts as Sane mocked Bliss. She paid for that with a hard punch from Bliss, followed by a flipping senton onto a downed Sane.

Outside the ring, Sane tried to walk off, Charlotte Flair stopped her, which allowed for Asuka to trip up Bliss on the apron. Sane then slammed Bliss against the barricade as we took a break in the action.

We returned from the break with Bliss and Sane fighting it out on the top rope. A headbutt from Sane put Bliss in a tough position, and one-half of the Women’s Tag Champions took advantage with a double stomp onto a prone Bliss for the near-fall. Sane attempted a Sliding D, but ended up whiffing after Bliss dodged at the very last second.

Bliss mounted her comeback with a flurry of strikes, followed by a modified Natural Selection. As Asuka got on the apron, Charlotte Flair tripped her up and took her down with a big boot. Back in the ring, Sane had Bliss in position for the Insane Elbow, but she was caught into the Sister Abigail DDT for the one, two, three.

After the match, Lash Legend and Nia Jax attacked Bliss and Flair, making short work of them. As they turned their attention on a fallen Sane, Asuka tried to fight back, but got dropped by Jax. Sane got involved, but ended up being taken down by this duo.

Alexa Bliss def. Kairi Sane

I did enjoy this match a bit, and the intensifying women’s tag title picture is kind of making things a bit interesting. Not much to complain about here.

**********

– Cody Rhodes met with Nick Aldis as the two walked into the latter’s office, the two were met by NXT Champion Ricky Saints and Oba Femi. It was revealed that the winner of tomorrow’s NXT Title match between Femi and Saints at NXT Deadline would face Rhodes next week at Saturday Night’s Main Event

Jade Cargill vs. Alba Fyre (w/ Chelsea Green)

Green got on the apron at the start of the match, which gave Fyre the opening to hit Cargill with a dropkick. Fyre managed to hit Cargill with a boot to the face, as Green gave her a slap to the face while Fyre had the referee distracted.

Outside the ring, Kiana James got Green’s attention, with Giulia standing behind her. The former Women’s U.S. Champion attacked Green, while back in the ring, Cargill hit her signature pump kick on an unaware Fyre. This match came to an end courtesy to a Jaded from Cargill and the three.

Jade Cargill def. Alba Fyre

That was a bit rough, and the fact remains that outside of maybe Tiffany Stratton, there really isn’t any compelling challengers for Cargill to face in the WWE Women’s Championship sphere. Hoping that changes at some point.

**********

– Both members of Fraxiom were talking to Nick Aldis about wanting another shot at #DIY. At that moment, an angry Ilja Dragunov was upset at the integrity of his Open Challenge being ruined by Tommaso Ciampa’s actions earlier. This led to Dragunov wanting to face Ciampa for the U.S. Title next week, which Aldis obliged. Dragunov was confronted by Tama Tonga and the rest of the M.F.T.s at the end of this exchange.

– As Jade Cargill walked backstage, she tried to trash talk a passing-by B-Fab before Michin had some words for her. Cargill said that she’d speak with Nick Aldis if Michin really wanted a shot at her, stating that if she stepped up, she’d get stepped on.

The M.F.T.s call out The Wyatt Sicks

Solo Sikoa and company marched down to the ring, ready to talk about their win against Sami Zayn’s team last week on SmackDown, as well as the Wyatt Sicks’ attack afterwards.

Sikoa said that he told everyone in that he and the M.F.T.s were going to handle the Sami Zayn problem as they “took his ass out”. He talked about how they can finally move forward now that Zayn was done and dusted, which brought Sikoa to the Wyatt Sicks.

Sikoa talked about how Uncle Howdy was watching him and his family, but he was doing the same to Howdy and the Wyatts. He introduced himself and his group, since he didn’t get a chance to do so to Howdy. Sikoa said that the Wyatts held something that belonged to them: the WWE Tag Team Championships, and that his family was going to hurt the Wyatts in the process.

Sikoa said that everything that was “his’ (Bray Wyatt’s), that was given to Howdy, it was going to soon be his and he was going to show the world that Howdy didn’t deserve the Wyatt name. That was all because all he needed to do was… “Bo-lieve”.

Immediately after Sikoa’s promo, we got a Wyatt Sicks video interruption, which brought the group into the ring. As the Wyatts stood on the apron, Uncle Howdy faced off with Sikoa. The M.F.T.s joined in and things eventually broke down into a full-blown brawl between the Wyatts and the M.F.T.s.

In the ring, after everyone was cleared out, Talla Tonga and Erick Rowan were the ones left standing as the two giants faced off. Rowan got the best of Talla as the Wyatts and the M.F.T.s stared one another down.

I haven’t been too hot on this M.F.T.s/Wyatt Sicks feud, but this skirmish was decent, at the very least. Sikoa invoking Bray Wyatt’s memory for heat and calling back to Bo Dallas to get at Howdy was a fine way to add some needed fuel to the fire, but in all honesty, this is no Wyatt Family vs. The Shield, that’s for sure.

**********

– Bayley walked into Nick Aldis’ office and found out that she was going to face Sol Ruca next week at Saturday Night’s Main Event.

– Cathy Kelley interviewed Gunther about his match with LA Knight in our main event. He said that he was going to beat LA Knight and then John Cena at Saturday Night’s Main Event. Gunther talked about how this tournament was a foregone conclusion as he told Cena to watch and pay attention to not only him beating LA Knight, but how he’d do so.

– Aleister Black shared remarks via video about Damian Priest. He declared he might be everyone’s enemy, but he’d give everyone straight. Zelina talked about how the Terror Twins was just a ploy by Rhea Ripley to leave Priest in a lonely and stat state that he found it.

Next Week on SmackDown

  • Mixed Tag Match: The Terror Twins (Damian Priest & Rhea Ripley) vs. Aleister Black & Zelina
  • U.S. Title Match: Ilja Dragunov (c) vs. Tommaso Ciampa
  • Alexa Bliss vs. Lash Legend

Last Time is Now Tournament Final: LA Knight vs. Gunther

Gunther facewashed Knight disrespectfully at the start of the match, which fired Knight up as he went on the attack early. Gunther went for his powerbomb, but Knight escaped that attempt. Knight tried for the BFT early, but Gunther countered it. The Austrian was sent out of the ring by Knight, who then struck with a baseball slide as we took a picture-in-picture break early.

Our main event resumed as Gunther flattened Knight with a hard clothesline. In the corner, Gunther pummelled his foe with repeated kicks, but Knight fought out of it and managed to ground his foe. Knight went for his jumping elbow and just missed after Gunther rolled out of harm’s way. Gunther threw Knight hard into the corner, which left his back reeling. Gunther held Knight by the wrist and chopped him hard on the chest repeatedly. Knight avoided the last chop and caught Gunther by surprise with a jumping clothesline, followed by the jumping neckbreaker.

Knight went for another BFT, but Gunther avoided it. After an O’Connor Roll pin by Knight, Gunther turned that into a sleeper hold that was quickly escaped out of. Knight hoisted Gunther on his shoulder and delivered an Attitude Adjustment, followed by a Burning Hammer for a close near-fall. We took one last picture-in-picture commercial break at this point.

This match returned to full-screen action as Knight and Gunther got into a duel of chops. Knight got the better of Gunther as he backed him into the corner with stomps, followed by a running knee to his prone foe. Gunther caught Knight in a sleeper hold, but got thrown for the back suplex instead. On the top rope, Knight couldn’t connect iwth his elbow and got dropped by a shotgun dropkick from Gunther instead.

Knight countered Gunther’s powerbomb into a DDT as he then headed up top and connected with his signature Megastar Elbow. One, two… NO! As Gunther stumbled to his feet, Knight tried again to hit the BFT, but that was countered. Gunther turned that attempt into a German suplex and continued his relentless attack on Knight’s neck with a vicious lariat. Gunther ascended to the top rope, but was intercepted by Knight who was going for a superplex. Gunther pushed him down and connected with the big splash. He then went to the other corner and hit another diving splash for the near-fall.

Gunther lifted Knight up for the powerbomb, but could not put his foe away. Knight struggled to his feet and Gunther attempted to apply his sleeper hold. Knight turned that into a BFT, but Gunther used his leg to get on the bottom rope in the nick of time. Gunther battered the back of Knight’s neck with elbows as he then applied his trademark sleeper hold tight. Knight fought out of it briefly, but the elbows to the back of his head put him out of it. Gunther then applied a cravate submission that Knight eventually tapped out to.

Gunther def. LA Knight via submission to win the Last Time is Now Tournament

**********

That was a good main event match, but the predictability of Gunther winning and tapping out does put a damper on things. If we’re being honest, this tournament hasn’t really felt all that special, despite how much WWE tried to do so, which sums up a lot about John Cena’s final year as a whole.

Aside from that, this was another above-average SmackDown, though it does speak volumes that having various Raw talents all over the show to give us this kind of show is an indictment how the SmackDown talent by itself isn’t really done any favors by dull booking.


WWE NXT live results: Deadline go-home show

Posted on by Chris Aiken

With two weeks of Gold Rush now over, WWE NXT is back tonight with its Deadline go-home show.

An eight-man tag team match headlines tonight’s card with Je’Von Evans, Myles Borne, Leon Slater & Joe Hendry taking on DarkState. The bout features all five of the men’s Iron Survivor Challenge competitors, with Evans, Borne, Slater, Hendry, and Dion Lennox set to face off at Saturday’s PLE.

The women’s Iron Survivor participants — Kelani Jordan, Sol Ruca, Jordynne Grace, Lola Vice, and Kendal Grey — will meet for a summit in advance of their upcoming match. The Iron Survivor bouts at Deadline will determine future challengers for the NXT Championship and NXT Women’s Championship.

Jacy Jayne is the NXT Women’s Champion once again after winning the belt from Tatum Paxley at Gold Rush. The Culling will address their betrayal of Paxley tonight.

Plus, Tavion Heights vs. Josh Briggs is set to take place on the episode. Join us for live coverage starting at 8 p.m. Eastern.

**********

NXT is on the air from a sound stage at the Performance Center in Orlando with a live studio audience. Vic Joseph is commentary as usual, but Booker T is not on the show this week. Instead, Corey Graves is back on NXT for tonight’s episode.

In the ring is NXT General Manger Ava, and she is joined by the participants of the Women’s Iron Survivor Challenge. Sol Ruca, Jordynne Grace, Kelani Jordan, Lola Vice and WWE Evolve Women’s Champion Kendal Grey are in the ring for a summit of sorts.

All five participants gets to speak, but they are soon interrupted by the Fatal Influence trio. Before the interruption, each of the five cuts a promo of some kind. Sol Ruca speaks first, and she mentions Ethan Page putting her over in a recent promo. Ruca then talks her trials this year, but there is an easy path back to a championship. That is winning at Deadline and going on to win the women’s title.

Jordynne Grace interjects to say no one can stand in her way. Lola Vice says John Cena all picked her for a reason. Kendal Grey says she is the only women in the ring with a title. Kelani Jordan cuts a promo and is booed more than anyone else in the ring.

Fatal Influence interrupts the summit, with NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne cutting a promo flanked by Women’s Speed Champion Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid. Jayne says she cannot wait to see which loser she faces after Deadline. Jayne then singles them all out to cut promos on all of them. In the ring, Jordan insults Grace by calling her a “meat head”, which ignites a brawl.

Cut away from the melee to footage for earlier today with Joe Hendry talking with Thea Hail backstage. In walks Stacks and Arianna Grace. Hail and Grace exchange words, which sets up a match between the two that is up next.

But first, Ava wants to talk with Fatal Influence. Ava books them in a trio match later on against three of the women they interrupted earlier tonight.

Thea Hail (with Joe Hendry) vs. Arianna Grace (with Stacks)

—

They had a fun match for an NXT show, although it was short. Hendry gets involved to counteract Stacks, and Hendry chokeslams Stacks on the ring apron. Hail then applies a Kimura lock, and Grace taps out.

Match result: Thea Hail defeated Arianna Grace via submission.

— A skit from earlier this week in the parking lot, Andre Chase apologizes to OTM after the Chase U students almost run over OTM with a Tesla. OTM says next time it’s on sight, and Chase cuts a promo on the students. This sets up a tag match for later on tonight.

Josh Briggs vs. Tavion Heights

—

They had a really good match in what is continuation of their feud. They picked up where they left off by brawling before the bell. They trade near falls before the fight spills outside again, where Heights sends Briggs crashing through a gimmicked section of the barricade.

After a commercial break the match continues with Briggs getting another near fall. Briggs gets heat on Heights, but Heights eventually makes a fiery comeback. When they collide together, Briggs rips off the chain he was wearing as a necklace. The referee grabs the chain and goes to toss it out of the ring. With the ref distracted with the chain, he is late to see Heights covering Briggs after a belly-to-belly. With the ref late to count, Briggs has time to get his foot on the rope.

For the finish, Briggs lands a big boot. He follows with a Stan Hansen lariat, and Briggs covers Heights for a three count.

Match result: Josh Briggs defeated Tavion Heights via pinfall.

— The Culling faction is headed to the ring for a promo. After a commercial, they are in the ring for a promo from Izzi Dame. The reception for my local CW affiliate is in and out like a fiddler’s elbow, so Dame’s promo was a bit jumbled for me. She is basically cutting a promo on Tatum Paxley, which addresses Dame turning on Paxley on a previous episode. That turn cost Paxley the NXT Women’s Championship. Dame and Paxley are booked in a grudge match at Deadline.

Paxley interrupts the macabre promo on the Titantron. A dejected Paxley is sad and seemingly in tears over the turn. Dame calls her out to come to the ring unless she is scared to face her. Paxlet admits she is scared and does not know what to do without Dame in her corner.

— Sol Ruca apologizes to Zaria for not being in her corner, with Ruca saying she needed some space. Zaria is not buying it, and says she will not be in Ruca’s corner tonight. They are in the locker room with others, which led to Wren Sinclair volunteering to be in Ruca’s corner. Zaria seems displeased with that development.

— After a commercial break and hype video that explains the Iron Survivor Challenge at Deadline, up next is the trios match made earlier tonight.

Fatal Influence (NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne, WWE Women’s Speed Champion Fallon Henley & Lainey Reid) vs. WWE Evolve Women’s Champion Kendal Grey, Lola Vice and Sol Ruca (with Wren Sinclair) in a six-woman tag team match

—

The match goes through a commercial break. The heel trio is in control as the show goes into the break. When the show returns from the break they build to a hot tag. Vice runs wild after tagging in. For the finish, Ruca executes a Sol Snatcher on Jayne. Ruca then covers the women’s champ to win the match.

Match result: Sol Ruca, Kendal Grey & Lola Vice defeated Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley & Lainey Reid when Ruca pinned Jayne.

In a post-match angle, Zaria runs in out of nowhere to spear Grey. The bayface team was on the floor celebrating when Zaria came running in for the sneak attack on Grey. Ruca shoves Zaria, and they argue as Vice steps in between them.

OTM (Bronco Nima & Lucien Price) vs. Chase U (Kale Dixon & Uriah Connors with Andre Chase)

—

This match was set up with the parking lot skit shown earlier in the show. Babyfaces shine in the early stages of the tag bout, which led to stereo dives. Both teams have improved greatly in the ring, and both teams have far more stage presence. Dixon & Connors especially show a ton of fire. Too bad they lost clean. They are running wild ahead of the finish, but Nima & Price catch them on dives to cut off the babyface duo. For the finish, OTM execute their assisted spinebuster on Connors.

Match result: OTM defeated Chase U when Lucien Price pinned Uriah Connors.

— In a skit from the parking lot, NXT North American Champion Ethan Page is in his car. Ava is outside the car talking with Page when Mr. Iguana scares Page with La Yesca. Page freaks out at the sight of the stuffed lizard. Mr. Iguana then commits grand theft auto in front of Ava and a national wide television audience, as he steals Page’s car.

— Shiloh Hill is featured in another weird personality profile. He tells a story of getting lost on a snowmobile trip as a youth, and he took shelter. He rejoiced in being one with the earth, and he marks out for wolves. He then shifts to talking about his Undertaker being his coach on LFG. Hill concludes by rushing off to get some bleach. Not sure what the heck to think of this vignette.

— This has been a weak go-home show so far, albeit with good matches. Next up is the main event, which is far from exciting. Nevertheless, there is a stipulation. If the babyface team wins, the wrestler that scores the win gets his choice of when to enter the Iron Survivor. On the other hand, Dion Lennox gets to choose if the heel team wins.

Je’Von Evans, Joe Hendry, Leon Slater & Myles Borne vs. Darkstate (Cutler James, Dion Lennox, Osiris Griffin & Saquon Shugars) in an eight-man tag team match

—

This was pretty good eight-man tag, although it did not have the feel of a main event. Nonetheless, they all worked hard. The match goes through a commercial break. Wild brawl as the show cuts to commercials. After the break, hot tag brings in Joe Hendry.

Lot of wild action down the stretch. Evans does some impressive high spots, including flying over the announce desk. The babyfaces get several near falls. Setting up the finish, Slater does a 450 splash on Griffin. Borne tags in and somewhat steals the pin after executing a Borne Again (Zig-Zag). Borne then covers Griffin for the deciding pinfall. Therefore, Borne gets to determine when he enters the Iron Survivor. There is tension among the babyfaces over Borne getting the pin.

Match result: Myles Borne, Je’Von Evans, Leon Slater & Joe Hendry defeated Darksate when Borne pinned Griffin.

— Closing the show is a contract signing with NXT Champion Ricky Saints and Oba Femi, which builds towards their title match at Deadline. They cut quick promos on each other in this backstage segment. While this closed the show, Ava announces the NXT men’s title match will open the card at Deadline for the first time in NXT history. Despite that announcement, this remains a weak go-home show. However, the wrestling itself was decent enough.

WWE Raw live results: Survivor Series fallout

Posted on by Joseph Collins

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WWE Raw is at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona tonight for the fallout from Survivor Series: WarGames.

The main event of Saturday’s PLE saw a mysterious figure help the team of Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed, Logan Paul, Drew McIntyre & Brock Lesnar defeat CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, Roman Reigns & The Usos. We’ll see if we officially find out the mystery man’s identity tonight — and we’ll also find out what the fallout is of Breakker pinning World Heavyweight Champion Punk.

On the women’s side, AJ Lee tapped out Becky Lynch to secure the WarGames win for Lee, Rhea Ripley, IYO SKY, Alexa Bliss & Charlotte Flair. Lynch is claiming that she did not actually submit and will be boycotting Raw until all of the supposed injustices against her have been corrected.

A World Tag Team title match is also part of tonight’s lineup with AJ Styles & Dragon Lee defending against The New Day.

In addition to that, we’ll get another step closer to finding out the identity of John Cena’s final opponent. The Last Time is Now Tournament continues with both semifinal matches — Gunther vs. Solo Sikoa and Jey Uso vs. LA Knight — taking place tonight.

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

**********

Live from Glendale, Arizona. Wade Barrett and Joe Tessitore started the show in the crowd surrounded by fans. “It’s like the energy from Survivor Series followed is here!” Boy, I hope not. Tessitore kicked it to a recap of Survivor Series. 

Paul Heyman escorted the Vision through the backstage area. Solo Sikoa walked around the parking lot. Dragon Lee and AJ Styles walked around backstage. The Judgement Day also walked around the parking lot, meting up with Dominic Mysterio & Liv Morgan in a low rider.  So much walking! It’s World Walking Entertainment! 

Iyo Sky & Rhea Ripley Opening Promo. 

Poor Iyo can’t do her head-pointing taunt without aggravating her injured shoulder. So she opts for jumping around the ring and waving to the crowd. Ripley welcomed the crowd to “Monday Night Rh-yo.” I mean I guess that’s how to spell that. Ripley gloated about winning the war at War Games Saturday. But, the fight isn’t over because the Kabuki Warriors betrayed her “best friend Iyo,” and Ripley wants the Women’s Tag Team Championships as revenge. 

While Iyo and Rhea want the tag champs, the former champs Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss come out instead. Bliss wanted Rhea to “pump the breaks” on going after the tag team titles, since Charlotte and Alexa are still owed a rematch for the tag team titles. Rhea invited Charlotte and Alexa to get to the back of the line because they already lost to the Warriors, and of course this leads to Alexa challenging Rhea & Iyo for tonight. Iyo accepts. Joe Tessitore said “didn’t see that coming.” Really? 

— Cut to the back, where Adam Pearce made the women’s tag match official for tonight. Ivy Nile demanded a title shot with Maxxine Dupri, and Pearce will make that match for later, once Maxxine is done training with Natalya. Pearce turned around to find Bron Breakker and Paul Heyman. They pled ignorance as to the identity of the masked man that interfered in War Games. Paul would rather discuss the implications of Breakker pinning the World Champion in War Games. To be continued…

— After a video package on the CM Punk/John Cena feud, Tessitore casually dropped that CM Punk is not cleared to wrestle after War Games. 

Jey Uso v. LA Knight in the Semifinals of The Last Time Is Now Tournament

This match had great heat. The crowd “Yeah’d!” when Knight landed a punch and “Yeet’d!” when Uso landed a punch. After Uso hit a dive onto the floor, the match went to a commercial. 

Uso fought his way out of a superplex attempt, and both guys exchanged punches before tumbling to the floor. The referee started to counted them out, and the crowd counted along with the ref. They made it to the apron, and Uso sent Knight into the ring with a gamengiri. Knight hit a Burning Hammer (called by Barrett!) for a near fall. 

Uso hit a spear, but Knight kicked out at two. There was a crazy drone camera shot of the match that was really cool. Uso went to the top, and Knight popped up, slipped, then popped back up to superplex Uso from the top for a near fall.  Uso escaped Knight’s finisher with a rollup attempt, then hit a spear, a superplex and a splash. Uso went for the cover, but did that cover where he laid on his back. Knight rolled Uso up in a crucifix and got the pinfall. Knights moves to the finals to face Solo Sikoa or Gunther. 

Match Result: LA Knight defeated Jey Uso by pinfall to advance to the finals of The Last Time is Now Tournament (9:39) .

After the match, Jey sat in the corner and looked despondent. The crowd gave him polite applause for his hard fought match. Uso dropped to the floor and started banging his head against the commentator desk before flipping out like Bret Hart at the 1997 Survivor Series, tossing around the Prime Energy Drink stand and flipping over some ringside stairs. 

— Bailey and Lyra Valkyria asked Adam Pearce about getting into the tag title scene. Pearce kind of blew them off, wanting to see the results of the match later tonight. Asuka and Kari Sane came along to blame Bailey for their loss at War Games (since she didn’t team with them). Bailey called them idiots.

The Judgement Day Promo & The Return of Liv Morgan

The Judgement Day came out without Liv Morgan, at first. Dominik Mysterio proclaims himself the greatest Mysterio of all time, the greatest luchador of all time, and the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time by virtue of his win over John Cena. Dom then brought out Liv Morgan. All of this was getting babyface heat. 

Liv is happy to be back and missed everybody in the Judgement. But Live is here to right the ship with the Judgement Day, who have been losing titles (close up on Finn Balor looking disappointed in himself). The Judgement Day are back to run Monday Night Raw and take back everything that belongs to them. Liv slapped, then hugged Dom.

— A video aired of Natalya and Maxxine Dupri sparring. 

— Adam Pearce asked one of the referees IN FRONT OF A CAMERA MAN AND THE ENTIRE RAW AUDIENCE to discretely poke around and see if he can find out if Seth Rollins is faking his injury again. Or, maybe find out the identity of the masked man who interfered at Survivor Series. Because no one will talk to “the boss.”

Dragon Lee & AJ Styles v. The New Day (w/ Grayson Waller) for the World Tag Team Championship

The New Day jumped AJ Styles before the bell and double-teamed him liberally. Dragon Lee got the tag and took Kofi Kingston down with a step up rana. Lee then jumped over the ropes and snagged Xavier Woods with a rana, sending him to the floor as well. 

After a break, AJ Styles got the hot tag (the heat was during the commercial), but he soon fell victim to a double team from the New Day. Woods held Styles open for a legdrop from Kingston for a near fall. Woods went for the Boom Drop, but Styles countered it into a sunset flip for a near fall. Styles locked in the Calf Crusher, but Woods made the save. 

Kofi got a near fall with a roll up while  holding the tights. Styles sent Kingston into a sitout powerbomb from Lee for a near fall. Lee and Kingston had a weird collision in the middle of the ring. Woods hit Styles with a superkick, then hung Lee up in the corner. Kofi then dove in with a dropkick on Lee for a near fall. 

Lee hit Kingston with a back elbow. Styles hung up Kingston in the ropes, and Lee jumped off the top with a double stomp. This sent Kofi into the waiting arms of AJ, in perfect position for a Styles Clash. Lee hit Woods with a dive on the floor, Styles hit the Styles Clash on Kofi, and Styles got the pinfall. 

Match Result: AJ Styles & Dragon Lee retained the tag team titles by pinfall when Styles pinned Kingston (9:03) 

— Jackie Redmond interviewed Stephanie Vaquer. Vaquer said her victory showed that if you betray Vaquer, you get burned. Just as Vaquer wondered who would be coming next for her championship, Liv Morgan appeared to remind Stephanie that she is back. 

The Vision & Bron Breakker Get Promo Time.

Paul Heyman lead the Vision out to the ring. Heyman took the mic and started giving shout outs to every member of the Saturday’s winning team in the War Games main event. Heyman praised Logan Paul for how he will fit into Heyman’s vision of the future. And then Heyman makes the big announcement: on January 5th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, the first anniversary of Raw on Netflix, CM Punk will defend and lose the world title to Bron Breakker. 

Breakker took the mic and he’s a little bit upset. He’s not upset about Bat-Man interfering in War Games and trying to steal his moment, or being in Arizona. But no, he was disappointed that it was so easy to beat CM Punk, who is nothing but a “soft a$$ b!tch.” Punk is no different than any veteran who is living off of past accomplishments. Punk is no different than Seth Rollins, who was holding everyone else down. Also, Punk should be worried about how his wife is a bigger star than he is. 

Bron promised a different kind of fight. Bron pivoted to Punk trying to break his neck in the War Games and now he’s really mad. Breakker said he’s coming for every good memory these fans of CM Punk. Breakker recalled Punk big-timing him backstage at WrestleMania, asking if Bron “can cut a promo with the big dogs now.” “Well, la-di-da, consider the promo cut!” Punk will be looking up in the lights on January 5th and realize he’s not even close to the Bad A$$ Bron Breakker, the real best in the world. 

THAT WAS A MONEY PROMO. This was easily the best thing on the show. It had shoot vibes and Breakker did a great job of being “out of control” at the end of the promo. Breakker stormed off without the rest of the Vision, leaving them in awe, applauding, in the middle of the ring.

— Jackie Redmond won’t leave Jey Uso while he’s trying to leave, annoying him with questions about the Masked Man and Bron Breakker being the number one contender. He finally said that the titles look best on Roman Reigns shoulders and left.

Gunther v. Solo Sikoa in the Semifinals of The Last Time Is Now Tournament

Barrett suggested on commentary that beating John Cena in his last match would be the equivalent of ending the Undertaker’s WrestleMania streak. It’s weird it was face/face in one semi-final, and heel/heel in the other. This does not start out with the crowd heat of the other semi-final. Gunther worked a headlock before he and Solo exchanged shoulder blocks. 

Sikoa finally put Gunther down on the mat with a shoulder block. Gunther responded with a big boot that sent Sikoa down to the floor and sent the show into a commercial. 

During the commercial, Talla Tonga tripped up Gunther while he was trying to get back in the ring, allowing Sikoa to get control with a nerve hold. Sikoa sent Gunther into the turnbuckles hard, and both guys were on the mat selling. The ref checked on both of them to see if they could conintue. 

They did continue, and Gunther started chopping away at Sikoa. Gunther blocked a bodyslam attempt. He tried to slam Sikoa. Gunther couldn’t hold him and fell backwards, allowing Sikoa a near fall. Sikoa went to the top rope. Gunther hit Sikoa with a chop, then superplexed Sikoa and both men were down again. 

Both guys got to the feet and started exchanging chops and strikes. Gunther hit a boot, Sikoa hit a superkick but neither guy went down. Finally, Sikoa hit a spike to the throat and both guys were down again. 

After a second commercial, Sikoa hit Gunther with a hip attack in the corner. Sikoa charged for a second one, but Gunther bounced out with a clothesline. Sikoa backdropped out of a powerbomb attempt, but Gunther hit a second clothesline for a near fall.

 Gunther went for the powerbomb again, but Sikoa countered with a Samoan drop for a near fall. Sikoa telegraphed going for the spike again, and Gunther countered with a flurry of chops. Gunther backed Sikoa into the corner and hit more chops, but walked into a uranagi. Sikoa came off the top with a splash for a near fall and now the crowd was really into the match. 

Sikoa went for the spike again, but Gunther spun behind him and locked in a sleeper. Sikoa made it to the corner to force a break, but Gunther dropped down a gave him a German suplex. Talla Tonga lured Gunther to the floor, and Tonga hit him with a boot. The Samonas went to double team, Gunther, but Gunther got out of it and smashed Sikoa’s hand against the ring apron. 

Back in the ring, the ref was still involved with Talla Tonga. Seeing the ref distracted, Gunther gave Sikoa a kick to the giblets. Gunther dropped Sikoa with a powerbomb and the ref turned around to count the pinfall. Started out slow but built really well. Probably the best match on the show.

Match Result: Gunther advanced to the finals of The Last Time is Now Tournament, pinning Solo Sikoa (18:31). 

After the match, LA Knight came out to talk trash to Gunther. Gunther v. LA Knight in the finals this Friday on Smackdown.

— In the back, Adam Pearce’s spy didn’t find out anything. AJ Styles came along and informed Pearce that Seth Rollins was seen running around without his arm in a sling. Which Pearce had already heard. Styles wants to defend the titles against the War Raiders next week, and Pearce made the match official. 

Next Week on Raw: 

  • The winner of The Last Time is Now Tournament! 
  • AJ Styles & Dragon Lee v. The War Raiders 
  • Rey Mysterio v. Finn Balor 

— Jackie Redmond interviewed Rey Mysterio, who called his son Dom a b@st@rd. Rey hasn’t ruled out a challenge to Dom’s Intercontinental Championship. Logan Paul came along to disabuse Rey of that notion, since the IC title belongs to the Vision. Paul promised to to retire Rey, Rey slapped him, and a gaggle of suits came ran in to pull them apart. 

Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss v. Rhea Ripley & Iyo Sky

The match started and almost immediately went to a commercial, but not before Charlotte “accidentally” booted Ripley to the floor. After the break, Ripley had Bliss locked in her submission hold. Bliss escaped, but Ripley “accidentally” collided with Flair and sent her to the floor. Sky hit Bliss with a flapjack. 

Ripley and Flair each got tags and squared off. The crowd was into this, chanting for Ripley. Ripley got a go-behind, but Charlotte escaped with an elbow. They started exchanging forearms, and Flair went to chops to get the advantage. Ripley ducked a chop and caught Flair with a headbutt. Flair sent Ripley into the turnbuckles, but Ripley caught Flair with a kick and both women were down. 

After another commercial, Flair sent Ripley to the floor. Iyo caught Ripley with a meteora. Ripley tried to powerbomb Flair, but over-rotated and they both fell down. Ripley picked her up again and gave her a crucifix powerbomb, and Sky followed up with a top rope dropkick. 

Ripley went for a Riptide, but Flair countered with a DDT. Bliss got the tag and hit another DDT for a near fall. Bliss went for Twisted Bliss, but Ripley got her knees up. Flair and Sky got tags, and Flair put Sky down with a boot and hit Natural Selection. Bliss followed up with Sister Abigail, but Ripley broke up the pin attempt. 

Bliss went after Ripley with forearms. Bliss tried for the Sister Abigail, but Ripley escaped and hit a headbutt. Ripley hit the Riptide, and Sky followed up with a moonsault, but Flair broke up the pin attempt. 

With everyone down, the Kabuki Warriors ran and attacked Charlotte Flair, dumping her to the floor. The Warriors then sent Ripley into a ringpost to send her to the floor. No winner was ever announced. 

Match Result: No-Contest? (14:30) 

Lyra Valkyria and Bailey ran in to attack the tag champs. Then the women from Judgement Day ran in and attacked everyone. Valkyria was about to dive off of a table, but Liv Morgan yanked her down. Back in the ring, Raquel Rodriquez gave Asuka the Tahani Bomb, and Roxanne Perez hit Bailey with the Pop Rocks. Rodriquez and Perez grabbed the tag team title belts. Perez tried to hand a belt to Liv Morgan, but Morgan insisted Perez keep the belt.  The Judgement Day stood tall to end the show. 

Bron Breakker’s promo was pretty awesome, but the rest of this was a pretty paint-by-numbers Raw. Certainly not the “great show” that was promised.

WWE Survivor Series live results: Two WarGames matches

Posted on by Steve Khan

Date: November 29, 2025
Location: Petco Park in San Diego, CA

**********

Show Recap — 

COUNTDOWN SHOW 

“War Pigs” by Black Sabbath played as Joe Tessitore welcomed us to the pre-show at Petco Park in San Diego. He’s joined by Big E and Wade Barrett. 

The heel women’s team (referred to as Team Asuka) arrived together, as did Team Rhea. Paul “Triple H” Levesque, not wrestling tonight, was also shown arriving. 

Different personalities ran down tonight’s card. Peter Rosenberg referred to Dominik Mysterio, 28, as “the kid.” 

Big E flat-out mentioned that there are online rumours that there is jockeying among the men’s babyface team to determine who would enter last.

Michael Cole showed up to the panel, and the fans (and Tessitore) reacted to him like he was the John Cena of announcing.

There was a Cena video package and an interview Megan Morant did with Stephanie McMahon. She told the story of discovering that Cena could rap and suggesting he do it as part of his act. She really put him over strong. Cole called Cena the greatest of all time and added, “I don’t care what anyone says.” 

Cathy Kelley interviewed Stephanie Vaquer. She said she had no mercy and she would show Nikki Bella what a real champion was. Bella spoke to Jackie Redmond. Bella said she would embarrass Vaquer, and Vaquer would respect her.

There was a sit-down interview with Becky Lynch. She’s going hard on the idea that she was screwed out of the IC title, and she referred to Cole as “Misleading Michael.” 

They cut back to Cole live, and he made fun of Barrett for suddenly having very grey hair. 

Tessitore mentioned Lynch’s recent social media posts, where she posts in all-caps and uses a lot of alliteration and stated, “She’s taking some cues from somebody.”

Author Mark Kriegel interviewed Dominik Mysterio. Dom said he had issues with Cena that he didn’t know about, but admitted that Cena helped him a lot when he was getting started in WWE. Dom said he didn’t need Cena now and called himself quite possibly the face of WWE. 

There was a video showing how mainstream WWE is now. 

Rosenberg interviewed Levesque backstage. Levesque admitted the structure of a baseball stadium is difficult to work with, and wrestlers will actually be coming out of the dugout (which sounds cool, actually). He spoke about Cena and said it was surreal seeing the end of his career.

CM Punk interview 

Kelley interviewed CM Punk live backstage. She asked him about all the egos in his match and said she noticed him pacing around earlier. Punk knew you would be dealing with egos when you were on top of the mountain. 

He was happy to team with a friend, Cody Rhodes. He didn’t see eye to eye with Roman Reigns, but he loved his cousins. It’s everyone across from them who had to worry. Punk was a dangerous man inside a cage. Drew McIntyre and Brock Lesnar already knew that, and the others would find out tonight.

Roman Reigns interview 

Redmond interviewed Reigns (pre-taped). Reigns said he was the young guy ten years ago trying to knock Lesnar off the top, but now the young guys were coming for what he had. 

Reigns said his place at the head of the table was cemented, so if Rhodes and Punk wanted to win, they would listen to him. There was a role for everyone on his team, and they should all play it. 

********

Tessitore explained the rules of WarGames. Somebody needs to tell Tessitore he doesn’t need to yell into his microphone. 

SD Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove, who happens to be from the town, spoke to Redmond. He put over Rey Mysterio and John Cena, but intimated that he would be cheering for Dom tonight. 

Tessitore loudly introduced Rey Mysterio, who put over Cena, too. 

They ran down the top ten Survivor Series moments: 

10) End of the Alliance
9) Rhea Ripley getting revenge on Liv Morgan
8) Brock Lesnar vs. AJ Styles
7) Debuts over the years of Undertaker, The Rock, Kurt Angle, and The Shield (they did their best not to show Dean Ambrose/Jon Moxley)
6) Randy Orton returns in 2023
5) Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair title vs. title
4) Mega Powers unite
3) Iyo Sky diving off the top of the cage
2) John Cena & The Rock team vs. R-Truth & The Miz
1) CM Punk returns in 2023

San Diego’s Cassie B sang God Bless America as the pre-show concluded. 

**********

SURVIVOR SERIES 2025 MAIN SHOW

Michael Cole welcomed us to Petco Park in San Diego, with an expected sold-out crowd of over 45,000. Cole and Wade Barrett are tonight’s announcers. 

The “superstar arrivals” segment had a sponsor attached to it. Show arriving at Petco: Team Asuka, Team Rhea, Nikki Bella, Stephanie Vaquer, and Dominik Mysterio (wearing a suit).

The intro aired, fireworks went off, and a siren rang as the WarGames cage lowered. 

For the fourth year in a row, the women’s WarGames match opens Survivor Series.

Women’s WarGames match: Rhea Ripley, IYO SKY, AJ Lee, Alexa Bliss & Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka, Kairi Sane, Nix Jax, Lash Legend & Becky Lynch

There’s a small stage where wrestlers will enter. Levesque said earlier that they would enter through the dugout, so if it is the dugout, you can’t really see it because screens cover it. 

There are no shark cages at the stage to house the wrestlers, unlike in past years. I’m guessing there’s a story there. 

Charlotte wore colourful gear inspired by a 7-year-old fan battling DMG, a form of brain cancer. Charlotte greeted the young fan at ringside before heading to the ring. 

Charlotte and Asuka started. They wrestled normally for five minutes until Iyo Sky entered to join Charlotte. 

Sky entered with a trash can lid with her name on it. Asuka avoided a lid shot, but Sky hit a dropkick anyway. Sky tried a double jump springboard move (off the two ropes closest to each other), but she slipped off the rope, so she hit a shoulder tackle instead. The fans didn’t care and were super into Sky, who nailed Asuka with the lid. 

Becky Lynch entered next with a kendo stick and immediately attacked Sky with it. Charlotte got in Lynch’s face, and Lynch tried to play friendly, but they wound up exchanging right hands. 

Alexa Bliss joined to give her team the advantage again, and she worked as a team with Charlotte to take down Lynch and Asuka. 

The babyfaces stood tall, waiting as Kairi Sane entered next with a metal chain. The heel Sane beat up Charlotte and Bliss by herself while Sky was busy with Asuka. 

Sane saved Asuka by hitting Sky in the midsection with the trash can lid. Cole said Sky was almost decapitated from that shot to the midsection.

AJ Lee stormed out next as Lynch tried to keep the door shut to block her from entering. Lee climbed the cage to enter the ring instead. The crowd chanted for her as she wiped out Asuka and Sane with a flying crossbody off the top rope. 

Lee tossed Lynch around the ring and into the cage. Lee also fended off Sane until facing off with Asuka. They circled each other as Barrett called it a dream match. We didn’t get to see it because Lynch attacked Lee from behind.

The babyfaces took control again, thanks to having the advantage, as Nia Jax entered next to even the odds. The heel Jax beat up Charlotte and Bliss by herself. She also fended off Sky and Lee. Sky was making her way to the top of the cage, but Jax grabbed her and hit a powerbomb. 

The heels stomped the babyfaces until Rhea Ripley entered. Ripley wore a Terrifier-inspired mask (to protect her injured nose) and gear, and she entered with kendo sticks and trash cans. Ripley also got fireworks. 

Ripley beat up the heels alone before helping Sky to her feet. Ripley placed Sane in a standing Cloverleaf while Sane was trapped inside a trash can. Sky ran the ropes repeatedly before hitting a running dropkick into the trash can. Jax knocked down Ripley and Sky, but Bliss took down Jax with a DDT. 

Lash Legend entered last to even the odds for the heels. The match ‘officially’ began about 32:30 into it. The heel Lash beat up Charlotte and Bliss by herself. 

Ripley faced off with Lash, and they exchanged strikes. Lash eventually got the better of their exchange, hitting a powerbomb and big boot for two. Ripley tried a Rip-tide, but Jax intervened.  

Lynch gave Lee a Man-handle Slam, but Sky broke up the cover by crunching her with a moonsault. Lash and Jax press-slammed Sky and launched her into her teammates. Sane gave Sky an Asuka-assisted Insane Elbow (called “the Kabuki special”), but Ripley broke up the cover. 

Asuka tried misting Ripley, but Charlotte saved Ripley (her old rival), and Lash got misted instead. Ripley and Charlotte gave Jax a double vertical suplex, and Bliss followed with Twisted Bliss. (She did not go for a cover because this was not the planned finish.) 

Sky went to the top of the cage and wanted a trash can. Lee was too short to hand it to her, so Ripley hoisted her up, and Sky was able to grab it. 

Sky placed the trash can over her body and hit a spectacular senton bomb onto her opponents. (Sky could’ve injured her leg the way she landed, but she appeared fine.) 

Lynch was the only heel who avoided the move, but was now alone against the babyfaces. Charlotte brought Lynch down from the cage, Bliss punched her, Ripley hit Rip-tide, and Lee applied Black Widow for the submission win. 

Fireworks went off as the babyfaces celebrated together. 

Match result: AJ Lee, Rhea Ripley, IYO SKY, Alexa Bliss & Charlotte Flair defeated Becky Lynch, Nia Jax, Lash Legend, Asuka & Kairi Sane (40:51)

This was a pretty ordinary match, WarGames or not. The first 30+ minutes were dull, and it didn’t pick up that match once everyone was in. Sky did some cool stuff as usual, but that was about it. 

It really didn’t help that the babyfaces had the advantage all match. I know it’s predictable and maybe tiresome to have the heels with the advantage every single time, but that’s the bed you make when you feel the need to have two of these matches every year.

******** 

The sun has set in San Diego, so we’re under the lights now at Petco. 

Lil Yachty, Adriel Favela, Andy Ruiz, and Jeremiah Estrada (Padres pitcher) were in the crowd.

John Cena’s final PPV match is up next. 

********

Cena’s second-last match will be against Dominik Mysterio. Cena first wrestled Rey Mysterio 23 years ago on SmackDown in 2002, when Dom was five years old. 

Intercontinental Championship: John Cena (c) vs. Dominik Mysterio (w/ Raquel Rodriguez & Roxanne Perez) 

Dom entered first with Rodriguez and Perez. They cut his music so the fans could chant for Cena. (The fans chanted at first, got quiet, then realized they should be chanting still, so they started again before Cena’s music hit.) 

Cena entered and embraced fans along the length of the stage before sprinting to the ring. The chants chanted “Thank you, Cena.” Alicia Taylor introduced Cena as the greatest of all time. Chad Patton is the referee.

Very early in the match, Dom distracted Patton while Perez tripped Cena as he came off the ropes. Dom booted Cena in the corner before pulling Patton aside again for Rodriguez to give Cena a cheap shot. Dom hit three amigos for two. 

Cena recovered, so Dom scampered outside the ring. Cena went after him, but Dom hid behind Rodriguez and Perez. Dom used their distraction to jump Cena and take over again. Dom bounced Cena’s face off the announce table and the side of the ring. 

Dom tried a hurricanrana off the barricade, but like Penta on Raw, Dom landed awkwardly on his shoulder. (Although, unlike Penta, Dom did not successfully hit the move, so it looked like a botch.) 

It was all part of the plan, and it led to a great spot. Dom sold his shoulder as medical staff checked on him. With the referee distracted, Rodriguez hit Cena in the ring with a Tejana Bomb, and Perez hit Pop Rox. (Great spot for those two.) 

Dom suddenly recovered and bounced in the ring. He hit Cena with a 619 and a frog splash, but Patton refused to count the pin because he figured out what happened. Patton tossed Rodriguez and Perez from ringside. 

Cena hit Dom with shoulder tackles, a side slam, and five knuckle shuffle. Dom avoided an AA, but Cena applied an STFU until Dom got a rope break. 

Dom unzipped his boot. Cena grabbed him by the boot, but it slipped off, so Dom was able to drop him onto the middle rope to hit a 619 and a frog splash for a nearfall. 

Dom took too long to follow up, so Cena planted him with an AA for a nearfall. The crowd chanted, “This is awesome.” 

Cena went for shoulder tackles again, but Dom ducked, and Cena knocked down Patton. Cena applied an STFU, but Finn Bálor and JD McDonagh ran out to attack Cena. 

McDonagh went for a moonsault, but Cena got his knees up and dodged Bálor’s Coup de Grace. Cena then hoisted both men on his shoulders and hit an impressive double AA. 

Dom grabbed the IC title belt and tried using it as a weapon, but Cena ducked it and hit another AA. 

Cena called for a referee, but the returning Liv Morgan ran out instead. Morgan acted happy to see Dom, but then slapped him across the head. 

It was another swerve. Morgan hugged Cena before kicking him in the nuts. Morgan hit Cena with the title belt, and Dom hit a 619 and a frog splash for the pinfall win. 

Dom and Morgan celebrated together. 

Fireworks went off as Dom held Morgan up in one arm, and both his title belts (IC title and AAA Mega title) in the other. That was a great visual. 

— Cena soaked in the crowd reaction before leaving up the aisle. He saluted the camera and said, “Thank you so much. That’s all.” 

Match result: Dominik Mysterio defeated John Cena to win the Intercontinental Championship (16:49)

This wasn’t exactly a classic match, but it was a fun spectacle and the crowd was into it. At least until Cena lost. Dom is an emerging star, so it was more productive that he won, and he used every trick in the book to do so. I think people will feel better about this result if Cena goes on to win his final match (which he should). 

********

Women’s World Championship: Stephanie Vaquer (c) vs. Nikki Bella

Vaquer wore black and silver and was all business. Bella tried a cheap shot as the bell rang, but Vaquer came right back with a dropkick and proceeded to beat her up. However, Vaquer missed a knee drop on the apron, and Bella took over. 

Bella had control as the crowd watched silently, but they woke up momentarily when Bella set up for Devil’s Kiss. Vaquer countered and hit a back suplex. Vaquer went for Devil’s Kiss, but Bella rolled to the apron to the crowd’s dismay. 

Vaquer hit headbutts, strikes and a snap suplex for two, and an SVB (backbreaker) for two. Vaquer avoided Bella’s “Rack Attack 2.0” and hit a corner meteora. Bella pulled her down from the ropes and hit a Disaster Kick, followed by the “Rack Attack 2.0” for two after Vaquer got her foot on the rope. 

With Bella leaning against the apron, Vaquer hit a knee drop (the one she missed earlier) and hit Devil’s Kiss on top of the reinforced announce table. 

(Barrett stated, “You had the best view in the house, Michael Cole,” and Cole responded, “I’m not saying anything.”) 

Vaquer slid Bella back in the ring, hit Devil’s Kiss again, and followed with an impressive corkscrew splash for the pinfall win. 

Match result: Stephanie Vaquer defeated Nikki Bella to retain the Women’s World Championship (12:23)

A standard match with very little heat. Their positioning on the card didn’t help, but Bella also hasn’t won a match since July. She has one singles win since returning, and that was against Chelsea Green. 

********

Gabriel Luna (wearing a Bret Hart t-shirt), Cassie B, Jesús Ortiz Paz, and Danielle Fishel (wearing a Vader t-shirt) were in the crowd. Fishel got the biggest pop of any celebrity. 

They announced a crowd of 46,016, a record for Survivor Series. 

(If you watch these PLEs on the Netflix international feed, there are long stretches of what seems like awkward silence. It’s happening because on the international feed, the announcers are muted while they do ad reads, and because there are so many damn ads, there is a lot of random silence.) 

******** 

About 20 minutes elapsed between the end of the last match and the start of this one. Almost 25 minutes if you go bell to bell. 

Men’s WarGames match: WWE Champion Cody Rhodes, World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk, Roman Reigns, Jey Uso & Jimmy Uso vs. Brock Lesnar, Drew McIntyre, Logan Paul, Bron Breakker & Bronson Reed 

CM Punk and Bron Breakker started. As AJ Lee did earlier, Punk entered by climbing the cage. 

They wrestled back and forth for five minutes until Drew McIntyre entered. (Breakker had the early edge, but Punk took over in time for McIntyre to enter.) 

Punk and McIntyre traded fists before Punk fought off both men, but McIntyre dropped him with a Claymore Kick. A handful of fans gasped when McIntyre rubbed Punk’s face against the steel cage (as if he was getting jabbed by a fork). 

Punk emerged bleeding from the forehead moments later, and Cole said he wasn’t sure how that happened. It was obviously his face being rubbed against metal. 

The crowd was quiet as the heels worked over Punk until Cody Rhodes entered. They literally repeated a spot from the women’s match. McIntyre held the door shut so Rhodes couldn’t enter, so Rhodes climbed the cage and hit McIntyre with a flying crossbody. (Off the top of the cage, instead of the top rope.) The crowd got more into it after that. 

Punk walked up behind Rhodes, but Rhodes clocked him with a back elbow, not realizing who it was. Punk and Rhodes got on the same page and gave McIntyre a Hart Attack. 

They also gave Breakker a Doomsday Device, and he landed right on the back of his head and neck. That looked brutal, and Barrett freaked out. (The camera didn’t focus on it, but doctors checked on Breakker and he continued the match.) 

Logan Paul entered next and brought steel chairs into the ring. He helped his team gain the advantage until Jimmy Uso entered next, bringing a table into the ring with him. Jimmy shined for a moment until McIntyre cut him off with a Claymore. 

The heels maintained control as Bronson Reed entered next. Reed planted Punk, Jimmy, and Rhodes with Tsunamis. Jimmy fired back later with superkicks, but Reed dropped him with a body block. 

The babyfaces still have two guys left, but everyone knew it was Jey Uso’s turn next. They Yeeted as the timer counted down, and Jey entered. Jey handed out superkicks, helped Jimmy to his feet, and they handed out superkicks before giving Logan a 1-D. 

Jey called for an encore, so they played his music again mid-match as he posed atop the cage. (This felt out of place for a match that’s meant to have a lot of heat.) 

Jey’s music was cut off by Brock Lesnar’s. He entered with Paul Heyman. Cole said this was the first time since 2004 that Lesnar wrestled in a match with any teammates. 

Lesnar handed out suplexes and F5s to Punk, Rhodes, Jimmy and Jey. 

Roman Reigns entered last. He took his time getting to the ring as fireworks went off. Lesnar was anxious, so he left the ring to greet Reigns in the aisle. (They said you would forfeit the match if someone leaves the ring, but that didn’t count here because it hadn’t officially started.) 

Reigns attacked Lesnar with Superman punches, but Lesnar ducked one and put him through the announce table with an F5. 

Lesnar brought Reigns into the ring and hit another F5, but Rhodes broke up the cover. Punk gave Lesnar a GTS, and Rhodes hit a Cross Rhodes, but Logan broke up the cover with a frog splash. 

Heyman handed Logan brass knuckles (which he could’ve just brought in himself if he wanted). Logan knocked out Punk and Jimmy, but Reigns dropped him with a spear. 

Reigns put on the brass knuckles and used them on Reed and McIntyre. Breakker faced off with Reigns, but Reigns speared him. 

Lesnar got Jey up in F5 position, but Reigns speared him, sending both men through a corner table. Breakker speared Jey and Rhodes. Punk fended off Breakker and gave Logan a GTS, but Breakker broke up the cover. 

A mystery man wearing all black (including a black hood and face mask) climbed the cage and attacked Punk with a superkick. The masked man also hit a curb stomp, and the crowd popped. Barrett said it couldn’t have been Seth Rollins, given his recent shoulder injury. 

The masked man quickly left, and Breakker speared Punk for the pinfall win. 

The heels posed together in the aisle as fireworks went off. (Lesnar had a huge smile on his face.) 

— The camera focused on the dejected babyfaces in the ring. Reigns saw Punk and Rhodes on the mat, so he helped Punk to his feet. Punk was on the same page as Reigns, and they bumped fists. 

It seemed like Reigns considered helping Rhodes, but Rhodes got to his feet on his own. They got into each other’s faces, and Reigns walked away without a peace offering. 

Reigns looked back at Rhodes and told him this was the last time they would team together, and that was that. (Punk began to leave, too, and the final shot was of him looking back at Rhodes. They didn’t show it, but that left Rhodes in the other ring alone.) 

Match result: Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed, Logan Paul, Drew McIntyre & Brock Lesnar defeated CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, Roman Reigns, Jey Uso & Jimmy Uso (39:24) 

While it was a bit more entertaining than the women’s one, this was still a fairly standard match, and it felt pretty pointless inside WarGames. There’s a certain routine with these matches that’s difficult to shake, especially when it’s a lot of the same talent every year (for the women and men). They may want to bench this concept for a while until they have a good reason to use it. 

It’s telling that a show with two WarGames matches (and John Cena’s second-last match) wound up being quite dull. They’ve long been resting on their hot streak when putting these shows together, and it’s about time they snap out of it.

WWE SmackDown live results: Survivor Series go-home show

Posted on by Marc Quill

On the eve of Saturday’s Survivor Series from San Diego, CA, tonight’s WWE SmackDown will feature a traditional five-on-five Survivor Series elimination match.

The bout will see Solo Sikoa’s MFTs against a team led by Sami Zayn that features the Motor City Machine Guns, Rey Fenix, and Shinsuke Nakamura as a weeks-long feud comes to a head.

The Last Time is Now tournament begins its final approach to completion with Jey Uso vs. Rusev, and LA Knight against a mystery opponent filling in for Sheamus, who had to withdraw from the tournament due to injury. The winners advance to the semifinals.

Also expected tonight is an advantage match for Saturday’s women’s WarGames match with representatives from both teams set to face off.

**********

– Our show opened this week with a recap of the developments for the Womens’ WarGames match on last week’s SmackDown, which included AJ Lee joining Rhea Ripley’s team and Becky Lynch joining Nia Jax’s team.

– After the recap, we saw Asuka and Charlotte Flair walking backstage ahead of their WarGames advantage match later tonight. LA Knight was approached by Cathy Kelley about how Sheamus has been taken out of the Last Time is Now Tournament due to injury, with a mystery opponent to replace him. Knight was a bit miffed that he didn’t get a bye, stating that this tournament was starting to piss him off. Knight said he was planning to take out his frustrations on his mystery opponent.

Last Time is Now Tournament Quarterfinals: Rusev vs. Jey Uso

Rusev went on the attack on Uso immediately as the bell rang as he stomped away on his foe in the corner. He then connected with a suplex for an early pin attempt that Uso kicked out of. Uso tried to fight back, but Rusev caught him and slammed him down on the mat as we went to a break in the action.

Our match returned from commercial as Rusev had Uso trapped in a bearhug. The 2025 Royal Rumble winner struggled to break free from the hold, but did so eventually. Uso then began punching away at Rusev, finishing off with his signature Yeet punch. Uso attempted a Samoan Drop, but could not get Rusev up on his shoulders. The Bulgarian tried to apply the Accolade, but Uso fought out of it and forced his opponent to the outside. He then floored Rusev with a suicide dive through the ropes.

Back in the ring, Uso was finally able to hit the Samoan Drop on Rusev for a near-fall. Uso then targeted Rusev for a Spear. However, Rusev somehow kicked out at the count of one after Uso’s Spear. As Jey tried to head up top, he was intercepted by a Machka Kick from Rusev upon landing. One, two… not quite!

Rusev signalled that it was “game over” as he then put Uso in the Accolade submission hold. After a brief struggle, Uso was able to make it to the bottom rope to break the Accolade up. Rusev put Uso up on his shoulders and mocked John Cena as he looked like he was about to deliver an Attitude Adjustment. This gave Uso enough time to escape and then take out Rusev with a Spear, followed by the Uso Splash for the pin and win.

Jey Uso def. Rusev via pinfall to advance to the Last Time is Now Tournament Semifinals

It was your typical Jey Uso match. And given how divisive Jey can be as a wrestler, it’s interesting to see what the reaction will be if Jey were to be Cena’s final opponent.

**********

– Backstage, The Miz was complaining to Nick Aldis about the Last TIme is Now Tournament when R-Truth walked in. Truth was once again talking about his balls being in the running for Cena’s mystery opponent. In the midst of this, Miz sneakily stole one of the balls from Aldis, which led to him being the mystery opponent for LA Knight later on tonight.

– Damian Priest was interviewed about Aleister Black’s remarks about how his “code” was broken. Priest said that Black didn’t accomplish that, and the only thing that was accomplished by Black and Zelina was pissing him off. Zelina interrupted and told Priest that Black was thinking of bigger goals, but if Priest wanted more punishment, Black will be happy to oblige. After Zelina left, Rhea Ripley caught up with her old friend as she and Priest had a friendly chat.

Chelsea Green’s Women’s U.S. Championship Celebration

The new Women’s United States Champion was accompanied by Alba Fyre to the ring as they headed out to celebrate Green’s big win a few weeks back against Giulia. The ring was festooned with the Canadian, American, and Mexican flags, signifying Green’s Canadian heritage, her Women’s U.S. Championship, and the AAA Mixed Tag Titles, respectively.

“Welcome, patriots,” Green started her remarks, as she said that she was proud to be our first and fourth two-time “most dangerous Women’s U.S. Champion”. Green said that it was an honor to serve as the greatest Women’s Champion not only in WWE history or American history, but in the history of the continent of the North Americas. She said that it was now time to kick off this celebration with a “very, very expensive” display of pyrotechnics in her name.

However, no pyro was to be found as the WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill stormed down to the ring. Once Cargill entered the ring, she hit Alba Fyre with a pump kick before she turned her attention to Green and planted her with Jaded. Once Cargill left, the very expensive pyro went off while Green sulked in the ring.

An entertaining segment for sure, but not sure what this means with regards to Giulia’s standing on the SmackDown women’s roster if she’s not even going to get a rematch and we’re just moving right to Jade Cargill targeting Chelsea.

**********

– Backstage, Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair, along with teammates Rhea Ripley, IYO SKY were discussing plans ahead of Flair’s WarGames advantage match versus Asuka later tonight. AJ Lee appeared and stated that she’d make sure that her team would win WarGames tomorrow night.

– Jade Cargill was interviewed about her attack on Chelsea Green moments ago, declaring that it was a statement made to the entire SmackDown women’s locker room, and that if anyone had a problem with it, they could step up and get stepped on too. As Cargill walked off, B-Fab stared her down and said nothing. Michin then walked up to B-Fab and declared that she might have to step up to keep Cargill’s out of control attitude in check.

Last Time is Now Tournament Quarterfinals: LA Knight vs. The Miz

Knight went on the offensive early as he punched away at Miz before he took him down with a hard clothesline. With his foe stunned in the corner, Knight stomped on him and looked like he was about to drill him with an attack in the corner. Miz retreated and got sneaky in taking the advantage of the match. Knight got hit with a knee to the face by Miz, as he was then hit with a big leg to the back of the head across the middle rope.

Miz’s advantage was stalled by a swinging neckbreaker, but he got it back by throwing him across the barricade outside the ring, followed by a big boot, which was the cue for a break in the action.

This matchup continued from the break with Miz applying a resthold on Knight, which was quickly broken up. The two exchanged sleeper hold attempts until Knight planted Miz with a back suplex, which left both men struggling to get back up. Knight got up first and blasted Miz with punches, before he dropped him with a neckbreaker for the near-fall. Miz got a boot up on Knight and tried to go up top, but he was intercepted for the superplex and another near-fall.

Knight tried to go for the BFT, but Miz rolled him up for a pin attempt. He was then planted head first by a DDT for a near-fall. Knight countered a Skull-Crushing Finale attempt into an inverted DDT. Knight headed up top and tried to hit his signature leg drop, but he was caught by Miz into the Skull-Crushing Finale. One, two… Knight just able to kick out at two!

Miz decided to “pay homage” to John Cena by locking in the STF on Knight, who broke the hold by reaching the bottom rope. Knight looked like he was going to go for an STF of his own, but Miz retreated to the apron. With the referee distracted briefly, Miz poked Knight in the eye and had the rope-assisted roll-up pin on him. However, veteran ref Charles Robinson saw Miz cheating and stopped the count. Miz yelled at Robinson, which opened him up for Knight’s BFT and a swift defeat.

LA Knight def. The Miz to advance to the Last Time is Now Tournament Semifinals

A rather mediocre match, and in all honesty, this Last Time is Now Tournament has been largely a disappointment, which seems to be the unfortunate par for the course with regards to John Cena’s retirement year.

**********

– Becky Lynch chatted with her WarGames team and boasted about her 100% success rate when it came to WarGames. She said that when the door close, it’d be up to her. Nia Jax interrupted and said that it wasn’t about Becky, and that it was up to Asuka to gain the advantage for her WarGames team. Asuka said that the last time Charlotte Flair faced her, she was out for a year, which made her confident about her chances in the WarGames advantage match.

– Cathy Kelley was with U.S. Champion Ilja Dragunov, who was asked about Tama Tonga’s challenges. Dragunov said that if Tama wanted a shot at the U.S. Title, he was right here. Before Dragunov could go further, Tommasso Ciampa rudely interrupted him. He talked about how he took Axiom’s mask, and he was going to take the U.S. Title from Dragunov next. The U.S. Champion said Ciampa made a good point and he was going to think about it as he called his rival a “jackass” before walking off.

WarGames Advantage Match: Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair

Flair and Asuka engaged in a chain wrestling duel to start off with neither woman able to gain a clear advantage so far. Flair took over as she kicked Asuka on the apron with a hard boot to the face. Asuka answered in kind with a boot to Flair’s face as we took a break in the action.

The match continued from commercial as Flair did her dodge over the top rope and then took off with the crossbody on Asuka for the two. Asuka responded with a flurry of strikes, but was hit hard in the face by a boot from Flair as she took a run at her. That, however, wasn’t enough to end the match.

Asuka and Flair exchanged strikes and chops, as the latter gained the upper hand in the battle of chops. Flair then did her somersault into a clothesline to keep Asuka grounded. She then headed up to the top rope and connected with a moonsault to Asuka for a near-fall. Flair connected with a German suplex on Asuka, but found herself taken out by a German suplex from her foe. A sliding knee by Asuka to Flair managed to turn the momentum briefly.

Jumping knee strike by Asuka to Flair was transitioned into an armbar submission. However, Flair used her strength to lift Asuka up into a sitdown powerbomb for yet another near-fall. Following this, Asuka rolled to the outside as a skirmish broke out in front of the announce table. Asuka disappeared from behind announce table and tried to catch Flair with the blue mist. Flair dodged it just in time, as Asuka ended up misting Berkeley the timekeeper instead.

Back in the ring, Asuka countered Flair’s Figure-Eight into an Asuka Lock submission. Flair rolled through and escaped the hold as she then finished Asuka off with her Natural Selection finishing maneuver to secure the advantage for her WarGames team.

Charlotte Flair def. Asuka

This was a great match and probably the best of the night on this week’s SmackDown. It’s also hard to believe that this is the first women’s match on Raw or SmackDown since the 11/17 edition of Raw. In any case, this was solid stuff.

**********

Survivor Series: WarGames final card

  • Intercontinental Championship: John Cena (c) vs. Dominik Mysterio
  • Women’s WarGames: Rhea Ripley, IYO SKY, Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, and AJ Lee vs. Asuka, Kairi Sane, Nia Jax, Lash Legend, and Becky Lynch
  • Women’s World Championship: Stephanie Vaquer (c) vs. Nikki Bella
  • Men’s WarGames: Cody Rhodes, Roman Reigns, The Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso), and CM Punk vs. The Vision (Bron Breakker & Bronson Reed), Drew McIntyre, Logan Paul, and Brock Lesnar

Traditional 5-on-5 Survivor Series Elimination Match: The M.F.T.s (Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa, J.C. Mateo, and Talla Tonga) vs. Sami Zayn, Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley), Rey Fenix, and Shinsuke Nakamura

It was stated that this main event match would be presented commercial-free by Michael Cole before the match started.

This massive main event kicked off with Sabin and Sikoa as the legal men for their teams. Sikoa hit Sabin with a hard lariat before he punched him repeatedly. This gave the M.F.Ts the early edge as Sabin was dragged over to their corner by Sikoa. Loa was tagged in as he continued the attack on Sabin, up until Shelley was tagged in and he was floored by a tag maneuver from the MCMGs. Loa escaped his fate and tagged in Mateo, who found himself chopped down to size before Zayn entered the match for his team.

Mateo used his power to slam Zayn down for the early pin attempt, as he then hit a nice standing moonsault on his opponent. Tama entered the match and provided a distraction to the ref, which allowed Sikoa and Talla to get in a cheap shot on Zayn. The M.F.T.s continued to play the game of isolation on Zayn, which kept him away from his teammates.

Zayn leapfrogged over Sikoa and hit him with a clothesline. This gave Zayn the opening to tag Nakamura into the match. Nakamura hit Loa with a hard knee to the ribs, but he was dropped from behind by Mateo. Nakamura turned that around as he hit his signature sliding German suplex on Mateo. Sikoa broke up the pin as Zayn intercepted him. Things then began to break down between the two teams, as Sabin and Shelley teamed up to throw Talla over the top rope. The Motor City Machine Guns worked in tandem to take Talla down with a dive to the outside. Zayn and Fenix then teamed up to take out Tama and Loa with dives of their own.

Back in the ring, the Motor City Machine Guns scored the first elimination with a nice tandem pin combination to take Mateo out of the match. (JC Mateo eliminated via Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin pinfall) Tanga stepped in for his team and found himself on the receiving end of stereo superkicks from Shelley and Sabin. Nakamura was tagged in as he blasted Tama with an enzuigiri. Nakamura had Tama in sight for the Kinsasha, but Sikoa’s distraction was enough to give Tama the opportunity to hit the not-so-hidden blade of the Cutthroat to eliminate Nakamura. (Shinsuke Nakamura eliminated via Tama Tonga pinfall)

With both teams now down to four men, Tama and Loa joined forces to go on the offensive against legal man Rey Fenix, but couldn’t eliminate him even after a spinebuster. Fenix found himself on Loa’s shoulders, but he turned that into a rollup pin, which got the three and the elimination. (Tonga Loa eliminated via Rey Fenix pinfall) Talla Tonga made an impact right away as he crushed Fenix with a running charge.

Talla threw Fenix down with a pair of scoop slams as Sikoa then tagged himself into the match. Sikoa went for the Samoan Spike, but Fenix avoided it and Sabin entered the match with a tag. Sikoa hit a fierce uppercut on Sabin, and tried for a Samoan Drop. Shelley blind tagged himself in as he and Sabin hit Sikoa with stereo superkicks. As Shelley headed up top to set up Skull and Bones, Tama shoved him down to the outside, as Talla then made the tag and chokeslammed Shelley across the apron for the elimination. (Alex Shelley eliminated via Talla Tonga pinfall)

Sabin tried to go for a crossbody on Talla, but he was caught, and his sunset flip was countered into a hard clothesline by Talla, which earned him an elimination and a 3-2 advantage for the M.F.T.s. (Chris Sabin eliminated via Talla Tonga pinfall)

Fenix entered the match and mounted a bit of offense on Talla. He hit his feint kick on Talla and Sikoa as Tama tagged into the match. Fenix’s attempt of Goodbye Amigo was initially countered by Tama, but the Tongan was turned inside out by a hurricanrana. Fenix then leapt from the top rope to take out Sikoa and Talla outside. Back in the ring, Tama caught Fenix with the Cutthroat to get the eliminating pin, which left Zayn all alone for his team. (Rey Fenix eliminated via Tama Tonga pinfall)

Zayn was left by himself as he went after Talla right away. A huge uppercut from Talla snuffed out the attack as the gargantuan continued his attack on Zayn. Sikoa tagged in and was thrown into the corner for a running hip strike on the stunned Zayn. Tama Tonga was next to enter as he blasted Zayn with two running splashes. At that moment, Zayn woke up and hit Tama with a surprise Helluva Kick to earn the quick elimination. (Tama Tonga eliminated via Sami Zayn pinfall)

Talla didn’t let Zayn get a moment to breathe as he stomped away on him and then threw him into the ringpost. Talla left Zayn stunned right in front of the timekeepers’ area, and looked like he was about take Zayn’s head off. The Canadian avoided the boot from Talla, which sent him flying over into the timekeepers’ area. Zayn rolled himself back into the ring, which led to Talla being eliminated via countout. (Talla Tonga eliminated via countout)

Sikoa entered right away and hit consecutive Spinning Solos on a weakened Zayn for the close near-fall. The M.F.T.s’ leader headed up top and hit a big splash on Zayn, who once again kicked out. Sikoa propped Zayn up to the top rope and looked like he was going to hit an avalanche Samoan Drop, but that was turned into a sunset flip powerbomb by Zayn. One, two… NO! Zayn hyped himself up as he and Sikoa exchanged blows in the middle of the ring. Sikoa gained the upper hand with a headbutt to Zayn.

Zayn intercepted Sikoa’s running hip attack with an exploder suplex as he then had him in sight for the Helluva Kick. Sikoa reversed that into a superkick, but couldn’t land the Samoan Spike as Zayn rolled him up for the pin. Following that exchanged, Sikoa hit the Spike on Zayn to gain the victory.

The M.F.T.s def. Team Sami Zayn via pinfall (Solo Sikoa is Sole Survivor)

Sikoa celebrated his win, but found himself interrupted by the Wyatt Sicks’ blackout. Once the lights came back on, Sikoa found himself surrounded by the Sicks on the apron. Just as the producer credits popped up, Uncle Howdy snuck up on Sikoa and delivered Sister Abigail to him to end the show.

**********

Kind of a weak go-home to Survivor Series for SmackDown, which is a bit of a letdown after last week’s actually-great show. The Flair vs. Asuka match was the standout of the evening, and the M.F.T.s/Team Sami match was at least decent, though really nothing much to write home about. There wasn’t a U.S. Title Open Challenge either to keep things engaging (though, in fairness, this episode was taped last week after the live episode from last week).

Everything else seemed really dull, which is becoming a problem with regards to the Road Dogg-helmed SmackDown. It’s a problem that doesn’t really seem to be getting any better, unfortunately.

WWE Raw live results: Survivor Series WarGames go-home show

Posted on by Steve Khan

Date: November 24, 2025
Location: Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, OK 

The Big Takeaway —

Penta was injured very early in his Last Time is Now tournament match and was unable to continue. Solo Sikoa advanced as a result, and he will face Gunther in a semifinal match. 

The heel men’s team will have the advantage in their WarGames match on Saturday. The men’s team brawled to build their match. The women’s team brawled to build their match. 

**********

Show Recap — 

Ozzy Osbourne’s “War Pigs” welcomed us to Raw in Oklahoma City as they displayed footage of the WarGames cages being built at Petco Park in San Diego for Saturday’s Survivor Series. 

The Vision (with Logan Paul and Drew McIntyre), Penta, Carmelo Hayes, and Becky Lynch were shown arriving at Paycom Center. 

Roman Reigns kicks off Monday Night Raw

Reigns entered and was greeted with chants of “OTC,” so he greeted them with, “OKC. Acknowledge me.” They did. That’s all he could say before Cody Rhodes interrupted. 

Rhodes did his full entrance, and it was 8:14 pm by the time they got going. Rhodes wanted to acknowledge that Reigns was a man of his word, but the last time Reigns gave him his word, it was for a match. This time, it was for war. Rhodes wondered what was in it for Reigns. 

Reigns said he’s been involved in this war, whereas Rhodes was just joining now. Reigns said they didn’t know each other well, but they did know something about each other, and that’s that they didn’t play around when it came to family. Half of this team was his family. He’s been invested in The Usos for a long time, and he was there to see that investment through. 

Rhodes was content with that and stated, “Welcome to my team,” before offering a handshake. Reigns didn’t shake his hand, and they were interrupted by CM Punk. 

Punk looked directly in Reigns’ face before starting with his usual line. He then said, “OKC. Acknowledge us.” Punk admitted he was stealing Reigns’ best stuff, but it was for good reason. This was an all-star WarGames. 

Punk didn’t need Reigns’ word because he saved his life at last year’s event. Reigns quickly said Punk ruined his life just four months later. Punk knew that gave Reigns a reason to stab him in the back, but Punk wasn’t worried because that meant Reigns would be stabbing his own family in the back. 

Punk sarcastically stated that Reigns would never be mean to his own family, or put them between a “rock” and a hard place. 

Rhodes tried to settle things down, but Punk asked Rhodes why he referred to them as his (Rhodes’) team. Punk reminded him that this was his show. Reigns quipped that Punk and Rhodes should just whip ‘em out now and start measuring. 

Reigns didn’t care whose team it was. He hated Paul Heyman and hated The Vision. Punk could count on the fact that Reigns hated them more than he hated him. 

Reigns left the ring, but not before stating that the title belt would look better on his shoulder. Punk asked which of them they were referring to. Reigns answered off-mic by saying they could figure it out themselves. 

(Punk was good here, but I’m not sure how much intrigue this really added to WarGames. If Punk and Rhodes are concerned with who the team leader is, they may be the only ones.)

********

The Vision met backstage. Heyman wanted Drew McIntyre to behave tonight. He was only allowed on Raw because Heyman picked him for the advantage match—which is now a tag team match. 

Logan Paul suggested they pick Brock Lesnar to be McIntyre’s partner tonight. Heyman said that wasn’t a good idea and warned Logan not to utter his name. Logan did so anyway, and Heyman said Lesnar was coming to Raw to go after Reigns. 

Logan suggested that Bron Breakker or Bronson Reed team with McIntyre, but Heyman said it would be him. This was not what Logan wanted, but he made it seem he was on board. 

******** 

The Last Time is Now tournament quarterfinal: Gunther vs. Carmelo Hayes

Gunther held control through a break and cut off Hayes’ comeback when they returned. There was a smattering of chants for Hayes as Gunther looked into the camera and questioned why he even had to face Hayes. 

Hayes ducked a chop, which was easy given their height difference. Gunther cut him off again and went for a powerbomb, but Hayes countered into a DDT. This led to a second commercial break, and Gunther took over quickly again. 

Hayes ducked another chop on the apron, and Gunther’s arm hit the ring post. Hayes tried a slingshot DDT onto the apron, but they basically fell straight to the outside. Hayes followed with a flip dive and backdropped Gunther into the timekeeper’s area. 

Gunther wasn’t about to let Hayes attempt a count-out win, so he dumped Hayes into the timekeeper’s area next. Hayes quickly reemerged on top of the barricade and dropped Gunther with a leaping DDT before scampering back in the ring. 

Hayes almost won by count-out, but Gunther slipped back in just in time. The crowd really got into it here, remembering that Hayes won by count-out on SmackDown. 

Hayes went for Nothing But Net, but Gunther dodged it and clobbered him with a clothesline and powerbomb for a nearfall. Gunther applied a sleeper, but Hayes fought to his feet. It wasn’t enough, and Gunther dropped him with another powerbomb for the pinfall win. 

Match result: Gunther defeated Carmelo Hayes to advance in The Last Time is Now tournament (17:20)

The first part was kind of dull, but this wound up being pretty good, particularly once they returned from the last break. 

********

Jey and Jimmy Uso approached Reigns, Rhodes, and Punk. Jey said they should be focusing on what was actually important tonight, and that was the advantage match. Jimmy and Jey said they were on the same page and their partners could count on them. Yeet. 

After the Usos left, Reigns asked Punk and Rhodes who the team leader was. He told them to fix this, and he left. (It’s possible he was just egging them on, but it seemed like, suddenly, he sincerely wanted them to pick a team leader.) 

******** 

Dominik Mysterio segment 

Dom entered. He was booed. He said he would embarrass John Cena in his hometown. He would take back his Intercontinental Championship, and he would continue to be the greatest Mysterio of all time. Dom said it didn’t matter if the fans cheered for Cena or not, because he wasn’t even here tonight. 

Cena’s music hit, and the crowd exploded. It was a swerve. A long time passed with no Cena. Finally, a little person dressed as Cena entered. (Along with a little person dressed as Stu the cameraman.) He had trouble leaping into the ring like Cena, so he ran around and entered using the steps. 

Dom talked to him like he was the real John Cena and threatened to drop him at Survivor Series. The fake Cena called him the worst Mysterio of all time. Dom was caught off guard and whispered something in his ear. The fake Cena told Dom that if he wouldn’t fight him tonight, he could come get some at Survivor Series. 

Dom booted fake Cena to the ground and hit him with a five knuckle shuffle, 619 and a frog splash. 

Rey Mysterio ran out to his music, so Dom bailed. Rey checked on the guy as Dom left up the aisle, where he was greeted by his Judgment Day teammates. 

(This angle was a mistake. Dom was getting plenty of heat before they did any of the stuff with the Cena impersonator, and the crowd quickly died when he came out, like they were disappointed to be watching this on their modern WWE product. It probably doesn’t help that, deep down, the fans like Dom and didn’t want him doing this even as a heel.) 

********

Rey Mysterio vs. JD McDonagh (w/ Finn Bálor) 

McDonagh applied an abdominal stretch during the break, and Bálor held his arm back for leverage from outside the ring. The referee caught him, but instead of kicking him out, just yelled at him. Rey made his comeback and went for a 619, but McDonagh caught him with a Spanish Fly for two. Rey responded with a Code Red for two. 

Rey went for a 619 but was tripped by Bálor, who was still out there because of the stupid referee. Rey went after Bálor as the ref yelled at him some more. McDonagh tried a cheap shot, but Rey dropped him into Bálor, knocking him off the apron. Rey followed with a 619 and a springboard splash for the pinfall win. 

Bálor tried attacking Rey after the match, but Rey avoided and left the ring. 

Match result: Rey Mysterio defeated JD McDonagh (12:44) 

******** 

Timothée Chalamet will be a guest on Rhodes’ podcast. 

Raquel Rodriguez spoke to Adam Pearce backstage. She was pissed that Nikki Bella got involved in her title match, and was now getting a title match herself. Pearce, who made the title match, claimed that he agreed with Rodriguez. He promised that she would be in the title mix after Survivor Series. She was content with this. 

New Day and Grayson Waller approached Pearce next, and I had to double-check that this wasn’t happening in a commercial break. Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston were being annoying, so he told them to shut up. He let them know that AJ Styles and Dragon Lee wanted to defend their tag titles against New Day next week. 

Woods and Kingston were initially upset because they assumed it would be anyone but them in the title match, but they were surprised and happy upon learning it was them. They left. Waller put a wig on Pearce’s head before leaving too. Pearce screamed at him to get out. 

********

Brock Lesnar arrived and entered a room with Heyman. 

Women’s WarGames segment 

Becky Lynch entered and was joined by Nia Jax, Lash Legend, Asuka and Kairi Sane. Lynch called last week’s result an injustice, and she had the best lawyers in the world working to overturn it. She was advised not to talk about it, but did want to say that she followed the rules, unlike Maxxine Dupri and referee Jessika Carr. The result would be overturned, and the company would be better off. 

The company would also be better off when she got rid of AJ Lee once and for all. Lee made a mistake by coming back to cost her the IC title, but the biggest mistake she’ll ever make is entering WarGames with her. 

Lynch admitted she had her differences with her teammates. She put her arms around Asuka, who wasn’t thrilled with this. Lynch called Jax very powerful. Not powerful like her, but powerful enough to break her face. Jax was the only person ever to damage her face, but at least she didn’t need a mask like Rhea Ripley. Lynch called Legend her new friend and a fine specimen of a woman whom Lynch would make into a star. 

Ripley, Iyo Sky, Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, and AJ Lee all entered the stage individually to their music before walking down to the ring together. 

Lee said the old her would have run to the ring and torn Lynch’s face off, but therapy worked. Lee knew Lynch was just feeling insecure and afraid. Lee didn’t need to run her mouth to lift herself up, because she knew who the hell she was. She didn’t need to bark like an angry chihuahua. She doesn’t bark—she bites. 

Lee said Lynch poured gasoline on the fire, and now she was locking herself in a cage with her. Lee would be free to do whatever she wanted, and she wasn’t alone in wanting to see Lynch get knocked off her pedestal. 

Lee asked Ripley if she agreed. Ripley took the mic and smashed it into Jax’s face. That led to a brawl, and the babyfaces stood tall. Sky wiped out a few heels with a moonsault as Lynch backed up the aisle with a look of regret on her face.  

******** 

The Last Time is Now tournament quarterfinal: Solo Sikoa (w/ Talla Tonga) vs. Penta

Penta was injured. 

Sikoa chucked Penta over the barricade and into the crowd, but he reemerged on the barricade and brought Sikoa down with a hurricanrana. 

Penta landed right on his shoulder, and medical staff checked on him throughout a planned commercial break. When they returned from break, the referee called for the bell, and it was announced that Penta could no longer compete. Sikoa was announced the winner. 

Penta slammed his hand against the barricade in frustration as he was followed to the back by medical staff. 

Sikoa advances and will face Gunther in the semifinals. 

Match result: Solo Sikoa defeated Penta via medical stoppage to advance in The Last Time is Now tournament (4:20)

******** 

Backstage, Pearce told Maxxine Dupri that more women have called him about taking the belt off her than any title he can remember. Pearce advised her to focus and work hard. Dupri said she would. She wanted to be the type of champion people could be proud of. She told Pearce she wanted to call Natalya, and Pearce left.  

Ivy Nile accosted Dupri and told her the title was hers. After Nile left, Dupri turned around and bumped into Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez. Perez said she could take the title any time. Pearce got between them, so Perez left with Rodriguez. Pearce told Dupri she might want to call Natalya now. 

********

There was a good Stephanie Vaquer pre-taped promo. Vaquer said Nikki Bella was clever, but she wasn’t as smart as she thought. Vaquer knew all about Bella’s history, but Bella didn’t know about hers. If Bella were as smart as she pretended to be, she would know who she was messing with. Vaquer stated, “Are you sure you want to get in the ring with me?” 

Survivor Series begins at 7 pm ET. The pre-show is at 5 pm ET. 

Survivor Series card: 

  • Stephanie Vaquer (c) vs. Nikki Bella for the Women’s World Championship 
  • John Cena (c) vs. Dominik Mysterio for the Intercontinental Championship 
  • Women’s WarGames: Rhea Ripley, IYO SKY, Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss & AJ Lee vs. Becky Lynch, Nia Jax, Lash Legend, Asuka & Kairi Sane 
  • Men’s WarGames: Cody Rhodes, CM Punk, Roman Reigns, Jey Uso & Jimmy Uso vs. Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed, Logan Paul, Drew McIntyre & Brock Lesnar 

********

Men’s WarGames advantage match: Jimmy Uso & Jey Uso vs. Drew McIntyre & Logan Paul

As has been the pattern, not much happened before they went to break about 80 seconds into the match. The heels worked over Jey Uso, and Logan knocked Jimmy off the apron before he could make a hot tag. McIntyre chucked Jey over the announce desk, leading to a second break. (McIntyre posed, so Jimmy chucked a Prime bottle at him.) 

Logan and McIntyre held up Jey in a delayed vertical suplex, and they flexed with opposite arms while doing so. Jey booted McIntyre and finally made the hot tag to Jimmy, who hit Logan with an enzuguri before superkicking McIntyre off the apron. Jimmy hit some sort of dive off the top for two, and Logan responded with a blockbuster for two. 

Jimmy ducked a punch and followed with a superkick, spear and an Uso splash, but McIntyre broke up the cover. Jey and McIntyre brawled outside the ring as Bron and Bronson entered to check on Logan. 

Punk and Rhodes ran out next to take out the Brons. As everyone brawled, Jey wiped them out with a big dive. Jimmy was too busy celebrating, so Logan caught him in a schoolboy for the pinfall win. 

The heels gain the WarGames advantage thanks to a win in a mostly nothing match. 

— Punk immediately attacked Logan, and the brawl continued. Reigns entered (to his music) and greeted Bron and Bronson in the aisle with Superman punches. Reigns went to the ring and handed out Superman punches to Paul and McIntyre, too. 

The babyfaces stood tall, and the trademark graphic aired to make you think the show was over, but you knew it wasn’t if you were paying attention. 

Lesnar entered with Heyman. Fireworks went off for Lesnar as he did his little pose, and he actually tripped and fell backwards. It would have been an embarrassing moment for some, but he popped right up laughing at himself. 

Lesnar marched down to the ring and joined his new teammates on the apron. The two teams faced off one final time and brawled as the show came to a predictable close. 

Match result: Logan Paul & Drew McIntyre defeated The Usos to earn the advantage in WarGames (17:02) 

WWE SmackDown live results: Last Time is Now first round concludes

Posted on by Marc Quill

The Last Time is Now tournament to find John Cena’s final opponent rolls on as part of tonight’s WWE SmackDown from Denver, Colorado.

In the final two first-round bouts, Carmelo Hayes battles The Vision’s Bronson Reed while Penta takes on Finn Balor. The winner of Hayes vs. Reed will move on to face Gunther on this Monday’s Raw while Solo Sikoa awaits the winner of Penta vs. Balor at a date to be announced.

We’ll also find out how WWE plans to move forward with Sheamus having to withdraw from the tournament due to injury.

On their website, WWE is hyping fallout from this past Monday’s show-ending brawl on Raw that included Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar, CM Punk and the other combatants for the men’s WarGames match at Survivor Series.

The final members for the women’s WarGames match at next weekend’s Survivor Series will also be confirmed tonight.

After weeks of back and forth conflict, DIY and Fraxiom finally get to settle their score in tag team action.

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

**********

– Over a live shot of the University of Colorado stadium and the school’s football mascot posing, we’re welcomed to the show by the voice of Michael Cole. We then see the requisite shots of Penta, Finn Balor, as well as Alexa Bliss & Charlotte Flair arriving. This then segued into a recap of the goings-on in the men’s WarGames and the new additions to the match happening next week.

The Vision open SmackDown

After the recap, we saw the three members of The Vision’s WarGames team: Logan Paul, Bronson Reed, and Bron Breakker. They were accompanied by Paul Heyman, who started with his usual opening spiel. He then said that at WarGames, five of the crowd’s heroes would be locked inside a double cage where Breakker would “take a bite out of every one of their asses”. They’d be also locked in a double cage where they’d be Tsunami’d over and over again by the “Original Tribal Thief”, Bronson Reed. These five superstars would learn that you’d need an evil and violent strategy to win WarGames, which led to Heyman giving the mic to Logan Paul.

Before Paul could get far, he was interrupted by The Usos, Jimmy and Jey. With a mic in hand, Jey said that nobody wanted to hear what Paul wanted to say. Heyman interjected by saying that Jey pissed off Logan, as well as stating that he created The Bloodline was to make sure that nobody would have to live on the streets. Heyman also pointed out that the one thing he taught them in The Bloodline was the numbers game as he counted the Vision members in the ring.

Jimmy noted that they weren’t showing up to this fight alone, as the sounds of Cody Rhodes’ theme heralded the seeming arrival of the Undisputed WWE Champion. However, he never showed up as the Titantron cut to Drew McIntyre emerging from Rhodes’ bus, leaving behind the champion beaten down. The Usos ran down to check on him.

An okay start to the show, with the McIntyre bus attack on Rhodes, but I’m thinking that this feud is getting a bit stale seeing as while McIntyre gets the upper hand in the attacks, he just ends up losing when it matters, which doesn’t help his standing at all. It kinda feels like they’re going through the motions.

**********

U.S. Title Open Challenge: Ilja Dragunov (c) vs. J.D. McDonagh

Dragunov and McDonagh locked up to kick off the match as their standoff reached the corner. After McDonagh chopped at Dragunov, he was met with a hard boot to the face by the U.S. Champion. Dragunov knocked McDonagh loopy with an enzuigiri to the head but couldn’t connect with a suplex as he was chopped in the chest against the ropes. McDonagh gained the upper hand by throwing the champion hard into the middle rope, which sent him outside as we took a break at this early juncture of the match.

Live action resumed as McDonagh pummeled away at Dragunov with hard strikes to the face, as well as the Kawada-styled kicks. Dragunov answered with chops to McDanagh, followed by the Constantine Special, as both men struggled to get themselves back up. Once McDonagh and Dragunov got back up, they traded strikes until the U.S. Champion connected with a set of German suplexes that kept McDonagh down and out. Dragunov smashed the back of McDonagh’s head with repeated elbow strikes as he then nailed a nice suplex.

As Dragunov tried for another Constantine Special, McDonagh turned that into a standing Spanish Fly for the near-fall. McDonagh escaped a suplex as he then sent himself and Dragunov out of the ring with a nasty-looking suplex as the match headed into its second commercial break.

The match continued from the break as Dragunov nailed a superplex on McDonagh. Upon impact, McDonagh grabbed at Dragunov’s hair and countered into a brainbuster for an incredibly close near-fall. McDonagh headed to the top rope and missed on a moonsault, which opened him up to a big boot from Dragunov, followed by the standing uranage. Dragunov’s attempt at Torpedo Moscow was intercepted by a running knee from the Irishman, and the challenger took advantage with an incredible moonsault. One, two…. NO!

As both men got themselves up, Dragunov connected with the Torpedo Moscow after absorbing a headbutt from McDonagh. One powerbomb and H-Bomb later, and Dragunov picked up the victory in this hard-fought battle.

Ilja Dragunov def. J.D. McDonagh via pinfall to retain the United States Championship

These U.S. Title Open Challenge matches have remained the highlight of SmackDown for consecutive weeks now and this one was no exception. McDonagh and Dragunov battered the heck out of each other and we got a fantastic match out of it. Incredible way to kick things off in terms of in-ring action.

**********

– After a recap of Charlotte Flair deciding to join the WarGames skirmish on Raw, we saw Flair and Alexa Bliss walking to an unmarked door. The door opened to reveal Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY inside as Bliss left Flair to have a chat with Ripley to work out whatever issues they may have. SKY left soon after as Ripley and Flair stared down one another, presumably getting ready to have that chat.

– Nick Aldis wasn’t able to give an update on Cody Rhodes after what happened as he confronted The Vision about it. Mr. Aldis told Paul Heyman that Drew McIntyre was still persona non grata even after being named to The Vision’s WarGames team. Heyman said that he’d respect Aldis’s request as McIntyre was apparently not at the building after what happened earlier.

– We got more clips of the University of Colorado’s football team as it was mentioned that Bill Goldberg’s son, Gage Goldberg, was a player for the Buffaloes.

– Backstage, Ilja Dragunov was walking, licking his wounds after his U.S. Title match as Tama Tonga silently stared him down before walking off. Tommasso Ciampa then confronted Dragunov and told the champion that he was lucky that he and Johnny Gargano were busy with Fraxiom, because he’d be holding the title instead. Dragunov rebutted by calling Ciampa a “jackass”.

Last Time Is Now Tournament First Round Qualifier: Carmelo Hayes (w/ Paul Heyman) vs. Bronson Reed

Michael Cole gave his condolences to legendary commentator Bob Caudle at the start of the match.

In the ring, Reed easily took down Hayes with a fierce running chop, as he continued the attack in the corner. Reed taunted Hayes, followed by another hard running chop and a headbutt on his downed foe. Reed attempted a powerbomb, but Hayes turned that into a powerbomb for a two-count. Hayes maintained the attack with a springboard DDT, followed by a dropkick to the outside. The Vision’s Logan Paul and Bron Breakker ran out from the back as we took a break in the action.

We returned from the break as Reed applied a resthold on Hayes, having gained the upper hand during the commercial break. Hayes fought out of the hold, but got dropped with a back suplex by Reed for the two-count. Reed tried for another back suplex, but Hayes landed on his feet. As Breakker created a distraction, Paul pulled at Hayes’ feet to give his fellow Vision member an assist. Hayes avoided a senton from Reed and rolled him up for the near-fall.

Hayes stunned Reed with a running knee, followed by the flying clothesline. With Reed trapped in between the middle rope, he was blasted by a leg drop by Hayes. A DDT on to the hardest part of the ring by Hayes was followed by a frog splash on the gargantuan Reed for a near-fall. Hayes’ First 48 was countered into a World’s Strongest Slam, followed by the senton. Reed headed up top for the Tsunami, but Hayes rolled out at the last minute to avoid calamity.

Hayes hit Reed with the First 48 as he then leapt at the three members of The Vision at ringside. Back in the ring, Hayes leapt from the top rope and hit a nice DDT, but that wasn’t enough to pick up the victory. Hayes went up top once again, but missed Nothin’ But Net, as he instead was cracked with a hard lariat by Reed.

Outside the ring, Breakker was setting up Hayes for the super spear, but the Usos interrupted and fought with Breakker and Paul. With the referee still distracted, Cody Rhodes emerged from the crowd and hit Reed with a Cross Rhodes that left him out cold. The referee began his count as Reed struggled to get himself back up. Reed was ultimately unable to reach the ring by the count of ten, which gave Hayes the victory.

After the match, Rhodes took the microphone and said that he no longer wants to be done with Drew McIntyre because of what he did. Rhodes called out each member of The Vision, as he then turned his attention to Paul Heyman, stating that he’ll beat his guys (“you build them and I’ll beat them!”) Rhodes then said that WarGames was his birthright and that he’d see Heyman at San Diego.

Carmelo Hayes def. Bronson Reed via countout

This was an good match and a good showing for Hayes. The inevitable WarGames-adjacent events helped keep things exciting, and did their job of setting up Hayes vs. Gunther on Raw this coming Monday.

**********

– Chelsea Green was fretting about her championship celebration, as she confided with Alba Fyre that maybe she shouldn’t be holding this celebration. As Green called herself the “Greatest Women’s Champion Ever”, Jade Cargill confronted her and took exception to that bold claim.

– Sami Zayn was with Rey Fenix, The Motor City Machine Guns, and Shinsuke Nakamura and had remarks ahead of the big five-man elimination tag match against The M.F.T.s next week on SmackDown. Zayn said that his team was an international assembly of the best wrestlers as he put Fenix, the MCMGs, and Nakamura over.

#DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommasso Ciampa) vs. Fraxiom (Nathan Frazer & Axiom)

Fraxiom started off fast as they stunned both Gargano and Ciampa with their fast-paced tandem offense. At ringside, both #DIY members were left shelled by consecutive dives to the outside by Fraxiom. Back in the ring, Frazer hit a splash on Ciampa, but Gargano broke up the pin as he then took out Axiom of the equation. Gargano was now the legal man and continued the attack on Frazer, who countered a back suplex by landing on his feet. Ciampa pulled Frazer out and threw him against the steps, as he and Gargano did their self-pats on the back. We took a break at this point in time.

The match returned from break as Frazer sped things up as only he could with a running moonsault on Gargano for the near-fall. Frazer made the climb to the top rope with Gargano stunned, but he missed on the splash. This opened him up to a Shatter Machine from #DIY for an incredibly close near-fall. Frazer had his knees clipped by Ciampa, but he was able to make the tag to Axiom. A dive from the top from the masked star was met by a hard knee to the face from Ciampa, as #DIY connected with a nice double team move. Frazer managed to break the pin up with a splash.

On the top rope, Axiom connected with an avalanche Spanish Fly, while Frazer flew from the top to take out Ciampa. In the ensuing fracas, Candice LeRae got on the apron and took off Axiom’s mask, which allowed Gargano to get in a sneaky victory for #DIY.

#DIY def. Fraxiom via pinfall

Some solid tag team action to keep up the excellent in-ring action we’ve had so far tonight. If there’s one good thing about the rumored return to three hours for SmackDown, it should be the added focus on the tag division to fill the time, and they deserve that bigger spotlight.

**********

– We got a video of Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley’s conversation, where it simply boiled down to the two acknowledging that they could trust one another for WarGames.

Last Time Is Now Tournament First Round Qualifier: Finn Balor vs. Penta

Balor tried to attack Penta as he was still posturing in the ring, but was cut off at the pass instead as the match got underway here. Balor attacked Penta in the corner, but was met with a hurricanrana, followed by the elevated dropkick in the corner by the fearless masked man.

Penta slammed Balor with a slingblade, as he hit a nice dive over the top rope on his foe to take us into the commercial break.

After the break, we returned on Penta landing a crossbody on Balor as both men tried to get themselves back up on their feet. Balor got to his feet first and teed away on Penta in the corner with a series of punches. However, Penta started to gained some steam with repeated clotheslines, then the superkick on a prone Balor against the middle turnbuckle. Penta tried to hit the Penta Driver, but Balor turned that into a Final Cut for the two-count.

Balor kicked away at Penta, but got a pair of hard chops for his troubles. Penta then hit a modified Muscle Buster on Balor for the close two. Penta pulled at Balor’s arm with his signature armbreaker, but he got rolled up for the near fall. Balor hit the Slingblade, then the shotgun dropkick, which was the final setup for the Coup de Grace. Penta escaped and connected with a variation on his Penta Driver. One, two…. NO!

Balor pushed Penta into the corner, but he found himself in the crosshairs for the Mexican Destroyer as Penta picked up the victory to advance in the Last Time is Now Tournament.

Penta def. Finn Balor via pinfall

A great match to cap off the in-ring action on tonight’s SmackDown, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the matches on tonight’s show. Penta and Balor work together so well, which made this match a fun one.

**********

– Cole and Graves ran down the remaining spots for the Last Time is Now tournament as they mentioned Sheamus’s shoulder injury, which forced him out of the tournament, revealing that a mystery opponent will face LA Knight in the LTiN quarterfinals in place of the injured Sheamus.

Women’s WarGames Match face off

The team of Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, IYO SKY, and Rhea Ripley were out as a united front ahead of next week’s Survivor Series: WarGames.

Ripley had the microphone first and said that she could hear what the Denver crowd was chanting for. She said at MSG, the Kabuki Warriors, Nia Jax, and Lash Legend didn’t realize how united they were at that moment in time, and when going into war, she wanted to make sure she’d be going to war with the right people. Ripley pointed out her best friend IYO SKY, someone who would keep fighting even if they went down swinging. Ripley then turned her attention to Bliss and Flair, people who weren’t the best of friends with her, but they could trust people. However, that was only four people, as she introduced the fifth member of their WarGames teams: AJ Lee.

As AJ made her entrance, the heel women attacked Rhea’s team in the ring. Becky Lynch ambushed AJ as she was making her way to the ring. The battle was heating up in the ring, as the heel WarGames team had the upper hand in the ensuing skirmish. The Levesque & Fitting producer credits were up as the heel WarGames team stood tall.

**********

Kind of a standard WarGames setup ending for a surprisingly great SmackDown, but I suppose they had to get that out of the way, even if the setup of adding Lynch and AJ into the mix seemed a bit forced. Even with that, I was pleasantly surprised at how good the in-ring action was this week, which carried a lot of the show this week.

The U.S. Open Challenge, as usual, stood out the most, but the other matches on the night were enjoyable in their own right, which helped make this episode a lot better than previous weeks. However, the big downside that does put a damper on things was how the SmackDown women’s division seemed to be sidelined, especially in favor of the WarGames build.

Jade Cargill, the current Women’s Champion, only got a fifteen-second cameo, and the planned Chelsea Green segment (which likely would’ve involved Giulia crashing the party) got bumped off the show altogether. On top of all that, there was no women’s match on the show. That is a huge disappointment and does not shake off the notion of how poorly booked the SmackDown women’s division is as a whole. This is an issue that’s been a nagging one and something that the women’s WarGames build cannot hide.

WWE NXT live results: Gold Rush week one

Posted on by Chris Aiken

A two-week special event kicks off on WWE NXT tonight with the start of Gold Rush 2025.

Following last night’s Raw at Madison Square Garden, WWE is still in New York City for NXT Gold Rush. The show is taking place at The Theater at MSG and is branded as an event that will feature representatives from NXT, Evolve, TNA, and Lucha Libre AAA.

There will be a rematch for the NXT Women’s Championship as Tatum Paxley defends her title against former champ Jacy Jayne. Along with that, the Women’s North American Championship will be up for grabs in a bout between Blake Monroe and Sol Ruca.

In the opening match, Chelsea Green & Ethan Page defend their AAA Mixed Tag Team titles against Thea Hail & Joe Hendry.

Je’Von Evans — fresh off his loss to Gunther on Raw — will team up with TNA star Leon Slater for a title challenge against NXT Tag Team Champions DarkState.

Plus, NXT Champion Ricky Saints will meet face-to-face with Oba Femi.

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

**********

NXT Gold Rush is on the air from The Theater at MSG with a raucous crowd in attendance. They pop big for the entrance of mixed tag team Joe Hendry and Thea Hail. They challenge tonight for the AAA Mixed Tag Team titles in the opening match. The champions enter next.

Joe Hendry & Thea Hail vs. Ethan Page & Chelsea Green for the AAA Mixed Tag Team Championship

—

From the start, the crowd was hot. The babyfaces shine before a commercial break. Before the show cuts to the break, Hendry and Hail do some double team moves and a stereo pose. Page cuts off Hendry as the show is in picture-in-picture, and Page is working over Hendry as the show returns from the break. Alba Fyre interferes, which allows Page to derail a hope spot.

Comeback by Hendry, who does a hurricanrana and a fallaway slam before hitting his signature pose. In turn, Hail with a trust fall off the top rope to the outside. Hail and Page run through some spots in the ring, and Hail gets a near fall. Page jumps in to break up the pin, and Hail superkicks him for his trouble.

Fyre interferes again, which allows Green to attempt an Unprettier. Hail counters to catch Green with an armbar. Hail with a Kimura lock as Page shoves Hendry backwards on Hail. She releases the hold, and Green delivers an Unprettier. Green then covers Hail for a three count. And still…

Match result: AAA Mixed Tag Team Champions Ethan Page & Chelsea Green defeated Joe Hendry & Thea Hail to retain their titles.

— Lola Vice and Jordynne Grace are in a locker room for a skit where TNA Knockouts Champion Kelani Jordan barges in to bicker with them. This is designed to build up Grace against Jordan in a title match set for next week on NXT.

— John Cena is featured in a plug for his final match at Saturday Night’s Main Event.

— NXT General Manager Ava announces an Iron Survivor match for NXT Deadline, and Cena will decide all of the competitors for both men’s and women’s Iron Survivor.

— Rapper Lil’ Yachty is shown on camera sitting at ringside in the front row.

— Sarach Schreiber interviews Tavion Heights in a spot overlooking The Theater. Heights is asked about making big moves, and Heights says it was a wild ride. Heights also mentions growing pains of moving from collegiate wrestling to the pros. Heights gets a cheap pop mentioning NYC, and Heights says he needs to focus. Heights is hyped, and he also mentions Cena picking the participants in the Iron Survivor. As Heights vows to to become the Iron Survivor, he is ambushed by Josh Briggs. They have a pull-apart brawl.

— Sol Ruca once again insists to Zaria that she is ready to regain her title in the championship match tonight, and Ruca insists she must regain the title on her own.

— NASCAR driver Jesse Love is shown in attendance in NYC in what one can assume is a promotional tie-in with the CW.

Blake Monroe vs. Sol Ruca for the NXT Women’s North American Championship

—

Monroe works a knee as she targets the brace on Ruca’s left leg. Double down before a commercial break, as they both deliver a lariat to each other on the floor. Monroe is back to working the knee when the show returns from the break. Ruca soon begins a comeback. Monroe briefly dashes the hope spot, by Monroe nonetheless fires up. Missile dropkick off the middle rope from Ruca. She then does kip up with one leg, and Ruca gets a two count on Monroe.

Double down in the ring, and Monroe rolls outside. Ruca runs and jumps over the ropes to springboard off the middle turnbuckle into a quebrada. Back in the ring, Monroe cuts off Ruca. Monroe then applies a half crab, which she had applied earlier in the match as well.

To further targeted the knee with the brace, which was coming loose. Monroe tries rips the brace off Ruca’s knee. Ruca went to superkick, but her leg gave out. Monroe applies another submission hold as Zaria screams at the timekeeper to ring the bell.

Zaria grabs a white towel, and the crowd gasps. Zaria hesitates and teases throwing in the towel before ultimately doing so. Zaria throws in the towel, and Monroe is awarded the match. And still…

Match result: NXT Women’s North American Champion Blake Monroe defeated Sol Ruca when Zaria threw in the towel.

— The Fatal Influence trio cut promos in a backstage skit where they vow to win all the gold the next two weeks at Gold Rush.

— Footage from after NXT went off the air in Orlando shows Oba Femi confronting NXT Champion Ricky Saints. Another clip shows Femi, the former champion, confronting Saints at a NXT spot show in Chicago. The new champ is then seen headed to the ring for a confrontation with the former champ.

Saints and Femi set up title match for NXT Deadline

—

Saints is dressed in street clothes with the title belt slung over his shoulder. Femi towers to the ring in jeans with no shirt. Femi also has his fist tapes for some reason. They face off in the ring and cut promos on each other. That led to Saints giving Femi a rematch for the title at Deadline.

Trick Williams interrupts them to cut a promo of his own. However, Williams is ambushed by Myles Borne, who lays out Williams. Borne cuts a quick promo saying payback is a bitch. Borne then vows to become the Iron Survivor, ensuring he sees the champ at New Year’s Evil.

Borne jumping Trick leads to a match between them next week on part two of Gold Rush. That match-up is made official later in the show.

— After a commercial break, Ava is scolding Borne in a backstage skit.

— In a page from TNA Impact of old, it was TO THE BACK! Josh Briggs and Tavion Heights are still brawling backstage.

Je’Von Evans & TNA X-Division Champion Leon Slater vs. Darkstate (Osiris Griffin & Dion Lennox with Saquon Shugars and Cutler James) for the NXT Tag Team Championship

—

The match goes through a commercial break. Before the break, Evans gets a near fall soon after he leaps over Griffin onto the announce desk. Slater & Evans with double teams moves, followed by stereo planchas. The babyfaces are standing tall as the show cuts to commercials.

Darkstate are in control as the show returns from the break. Evans is worked over, although he tries to fight back. Evans with superkicks to create separation, and Evans tags out. Hot tag to Slater, who is on fire and runs wild. Slater with a two count after a high cross.

Slater & Evans with more tandem moves, and they are on a roll. Slater runs corner to corner to leap outside with a corkscrew plancha. Shugars tries to interfere, but Evans kicks him away. Evans then leaps off the top rope with a frog splash for another near fall.

Evans is shoved off the turnbuckles by Lenno, which left Slater alone against Darkstate. Slater takes a double powerbomb, and Lennox goes for a cover. Evans breaks up the pin with a springboard body press, but in doing so he lands on his tag partner. Slater is again alone against Darkstate. Slater falls victim to a Doomsday Device, and Griffin covers Slater for a pinfall. And still…

Match result: Darkstate defeated Je’Von Evans & Leom Slater when Osiris Griffin pinned Slater.

— Evolve Women’s Champion Kendal Grey and Wren Sinclair talk in a backstage skit. They hype Grey’s title match for next week, but they bring up the invasion of TNA.

— John Cena is again featured in a hype video plugging his final match at SNME.

— A photo shows a basketball player from Michigan State holding a title belt after winning the Champions Classic game in MSG, which was head up with the NXT when the show went on the air.

— Shiloh Hill is the subject of a personality profile sponsored by an insurance company. Hill is the season two winner of LFG. Hill’s gimmick plays on him being an athlete and a nerd. He also talks about playing football while attending Stanford University.

— Sean Legacy is featured in a vignette.

— Zaria and Sol Ruca argue over Zaria turning in the towel earlier on.

Jacy Jayne (with Fatal Influence) vs. Tatum Paxley (with The Culling) for the NXT Women’s Championship

—

The match goes through a commercial break. Paxley was getting to shine before the break, after thwarting interference by Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid. Paxley takes out Henley and Reid with a quebrada off the apron.

Jayne cuts off Paxley during the break, and Paxley is getting worked over over as the show returns from the break. Jayne gets a two count. She also uses a Frankensteiner, only to eat a superkick from Paxley.

Double down in the closing minutes of the match. They square off again in a exchange of fighting spirit. Paxley lands a bicycle kick on Jayne for a near fall.

Jayne with a running cannonball to set up Jayne climbing the ropes. That led to an avalanche twsiting neckbreaker off the top. Paxley held out to deliver a sit-out powerbomb as well. Jayne somehow kicked out for a close near fall.

From ringside, Izzi Dame tries to slide a metal folding chair to Paxley, but Paxley tosses back in Dame’s direction. Moments later, Paxley thwarts interference by Fatal Influence. Jayne then strikes with a running soccer kick off the apron.

Back in the ring, Jayne lands her Roaring Encore (roaring elbow). Paxley kicks out at two and half for a very close near fall. At ringside, Reid snatches the title belt from it’s pedestal. Dame waylays Reid with a lariat. Dame then slides the title belt into the ring, presumably for Paxley to use as a weapon. Jayne intercepts the belt, and teases a belt shot. The referee sees Jayne with the belt, and he takes it from her. O’Connor roll by Paxley for a two count down the home stretch.

In dramatic fashion, Shawn Spears and Niko Vance of The Culling block Paxley’s way as she tries to get back into the ring. Dame then comes out of nowhere with a big boot to Paxley. Dame then rolls Paxley into the ring for a waiting Jayne. Roaring Encore by Jayne, and she pinned Paxley to regain the title. And new…

Match result: Jacy Jayne defeated NXT Women’s Champion Tatum Paxley to win the title.

After the match, Jayne poses with the title alongside Fatal Influence. Meanwhile, Dame and The Culling stand over a fallen Paxley as the show goes off air.

WWE Raw live results: John Cena’s final Raw

Posted on by Steve Khan

Date: November 17, 2025
Location: Madison Square Garden in New York City 

The Big Takeaway —

John Cena was victorious in a six-man tag match in his supposed final Raw match ever. There was no post-match angle, but Cena will be defending his Intercontinental Championship at Survivor Series in a rematch against Dominik Mysterio. (Read more below.) 

Gunther and Solo Sikoa advanced in the Last Time is Now tournament with wins over Je’Von Evans and Dolph Ziggler, respectively. 

AJ Lee returned and cost Becky Lynch the Women’s Intercontinental Championship to Maxxine Dupri. 

The main event angle saw Brock Lesnar return to join The Vision’s team at WarGames, while Roman Reigns returned to join the team of CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso. 

**********

Show Recap — 

Becky Lynch, The Vision (with Logan Paul and Drew McIntyre), Solo Sikoa & Talla Tonga, and Gunther arrived at Madison Square Garden. Lynch complained to a staff member that her picture wasn’t on the hallway walls alongside other wrestlers. She stuck a photo of herself over a CM Punk poster. 

It’s a packed house, so the stage just consists of a relatively small screen. 

John Cena kicks off Raw for the final time

Cena entered to a massive ovation. Chants of his name, “Thank you, Cena,” and loud applause. His gear was in the colours of the New York Yankees, and he carried his newly won Intercontinental Championship title belt. 

Alicia Taylor introduced him as “the greatest of all time” and called this his last Monday Night Raw appearance in Madison Square Garden. More chants of “Thank you, Cena.” 

Cena welcomed the enthusiasm. He said New York City makes and breaks careers. And now, at the end of his career, he looked around and saw people as far as the eye could see. He thanked them. 

Madison Square Garden allowed him to step on the stage in these hallowed halls for 23 years. There was some extra enthusiasm in the air because it was the last time they could talk together—at MSG and on Raw. It was a bittersweet moment for some, but a very important one to him. 

Dominik Mysterio interrupted (carrying the AAA Mega Championship). He was booed as he spoke. Dom said Cena was handed a title shot last week, just as he was handed everything else. Dom fought for everything he had. He wanted an IC title rematch. 

Cena was up for it and polled the crowd. They cheered, but Dom said no. Dom said they already did it Cena’s way. Cena had management and his hometown by his side, so now they would do it Dom’s way. The crowd loudly chanted, “Shut the f—k up.” 

Dom wanted the match in his hometown of San Diego at Survivor Series. Cena had no problem with that, so he accepted (and made sure to mention it was on ESPN). 

Cena did have a problem: he told the fans he would have his final Raw match tonight. Cena offered Dom a non-title match and a chance to make history. Cena asked, “Do you feel lucky, punk?” 

Finn Bálor and JD McDonagh entered. Dom said Cena wouldn’t be getting his last match, but a beating instead. 

Judgment Day attacked Cena until Sheamus ran out to make the save, but Judgment Day overwhelmed him, too. 

Dominik Mysterio ran out next and immediately attacked his son. Mysterio, Sheamus and Cena cleared the ring. Cena made a six-man match and called out a referee. 

A referee ran out and called for the bell to start the match—which led to commercial break. 

Six-man tag team match: Intercontinental Champion John Cena, Sheamus & Rey Mysterio vs. Finn Bálor, JD McDonagh & Dominik Mysterio

During the break, Judgment Day tried to bail as the match began, but the babyfaces went after them. Sheamus gave Dom a Claudio big swing during the break, but Judgment Day used a double-team to get the heat as they returned from break. 

Rey got a hot tag and ran wild as Wade Barrett mentioned this was his first match in seven months. Rey went for a 619 but was tripped by Dom from outside. Rey gave Dom a dropkick, but Bálor attacked Rey from behind, allowing Judgment Day to take over ahead of another break. 

The first 10 minutes of Cena’s final Raw match included 6 minutes of commercials. 

During the break, fans chanted, “Who’s your daddy?” right on time for Dom to give Rey the three amigos (the last suplex was a brainbuster). Rey fought back and fought off a double-team by Bálor and McDonagh.

Cena made the much-anticipated hot tag and hit McDonagh with shoulder tackles, a side slam, and five knuckle shuffle. McDonagh landed on his feet off an AA attempt and followed with a headbutt. 

Everyone traded moves, which left Cena alone in the ring. McDonagh hit Cena with a moonsault, Bálor hit a Coup de Grace, and Dom hit a frog splash. The heels covered Cena, but Rey and Sheamus leaped in to break it up. 

Sheamus, Rey and Cena each grabbed members of Judgment Day and hit ten beats of the Bodhrán (Rey did it to his own son). With the heels down, Cena, Rey and Sheamus all did the five knuckle shuffle. 

Rey gave Bálor and McDonagh a double 619, Sheamus gave Bálor a Brogue Kick, and Cena hit McDonagh with an AA for the pinfall win.

The crowd went nuts as Sheamus and Rey hugged Cena. The babyfaces left together and posed on the stage. 

Cena looked into the camera and stated, “Monday Night Raw. That’s all she wrote. Love you. Thank you.” 

Match result: Intercontinental Champion John Cena, Sheamus & Rey Mysterio defeated JD McDonagh, Finn Bálor & Dominik Mysterio (14:42) 

********

Nick Aldis met with Adam Pearce. Pearce wasn’t surprised to see Drew McIntyre game the system on SmackDown. Paul Heyman sauntered in and could tell they were heated. Heyman said what he did was within the rules and regulations (Aldis and Pearce didn’t disagree). 

Heyman said if they were pissed about him picking McIntyre, they should see who he picked next. Heyman handed them a clipboard, and they were not happy to see the name. 

*******

Jackie Redmond introduced Andrew Schulz during a break. Fans weren’t thrilled to see him. Schulz introduced injured New York Giants running back Cam Skattebo (who was also at UFC on Saturday). Skattebo wore a New York Rangers Matt Rempe jersey. 

Schulz referred to Dom as a bitch, but Dom and Judgment Day were still at ringside, so Dom got in his face. Skattebo stood up for Schulz and shoved Dom to the ground. Bálor, McDonagh, and Dom attacked Schulz, Skattebo, and other members of the NY Giants until it was broken up. 

After the break, Eric Andre, Ashley Cooke, and members of the Philadelphia Eagles (they were booed) were shown at ringside, as were the Giants whom we saw moments ago. 

********

Stephanie Vaquer and Nikki Bella segment 

Redmond was in the ring to interview Stephanie Vaquer, but Nikki Bella attacked Vaquer from behind during her entrance. Bella said she didn’t come back to be Vaquer’s sidekick. She returned to take back her division. She told Vaquer she would be giving her a shot at the Women’s title, and Vaquer would bow down to the woman who changed this entire industry. Bella posed with the belt. 

(This was a fairly standard angle, but Vaquer had to stay down selling for way too long after Bella’s attack. All Bella did was shove Vaquer once into the video screen.) 

********

Asuka and Kairi Sane approached Bayley and Lyra Valkyria backstage. Asuka said she was feeling kind. They needed five people for WarGames, so she would forgive Bayley for the past if she teamed with her. Bayley laughed maniacally at the idea, considering everything they had done to her. She said no. Asuka and Sane left. 

Valkyria was proud of Bayley for that. She wanted a high five, but Bayley was suddenly in no mood and asked Valkyria if she was five years old (for offering a high five). Bayley walked away while saying, “Let’s go, you idiot.” 

********

The Last Time Is Now Tournament Round One: Solo Sikoa (w/ Talla Tonga) vs. Dolph Ziggler 

Dolph Ziggler was the mystery opponent, and he received a big pop and chants of “Welcome back.” Ziggler started with his usual offence: a dropkick, Stinger splash, neckbreaker, and an elbow drop. Ziggler hit a flying elbow drop moments later for just a one count. 

Sikoa took control during a break and hit a Samoan drop when they returned. Ziggler fought back with a leaping DDT and Fameasser for two. Sikoa responded with a Spinning Solo for two. 

Ziggler ducked a spike and applied a schoolboy for two. Ziggler followed with a Zig-Zag for a close nearfall. The fans went nuts for that and told the ref that he sucked. 

Ziggler tuned up the band for a superkick, but Sikoa blocked it. Ziggler managed to hit a superkick anyway, but Sikoa shoved him off and hit a Samoan spike for the pinfall win. 

Match result: Solo Sikoa defeated Dolph Ziggler to advance in The Last Time is Now Tournament (8:53) 

A returning mid-carder who was never taken seriously as a world champion wasn’t the most exciting mystery participant, but it came across well enough thanks to these fans giving him the biggest reaction he was going to get anywhere. 

********

There was a quick video package for Je’Von Evans. 

New Day did their usual commercial break promo alongside Grayson Waller, who wore a Tyrese Haliburton jersey for heat. 

Lil Yachty, Aljamain Sterling, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Stephanie McMahon & Elyse Dudzinski were shown in the crowd. 

Alexa Bliss promo and WarGames angle 

Alexa Bliss entered. She said she hasn’t heard back from Charlotte Flair all weekend. Since Charlotte wasn’t responding, Bliss looked into the camera to address her instead. Bliss knew Charlotte was upset they lost the tag titles, but they could get those back. It would be harder to get back trust. 

Everyone warned her not to trust Charlotte, but she ignored them because she knew who Charlotte was on the inside. But maybe now Charlotte was proving her wrong. Bliss got her ass beat simply because Charlotte didn’t like Rhea Ripley. Charlotte wasn’t there when Bliss needed her best friend. (Bliss was getting ‘What’ chants, but she did a great job dealing with it by incorporating it into her promo.) 

She was interrupted by Asuka, Sane, Nia Jax, and Lash Legend. Jax, as Bliss’ former friend, said she understood why Charlotte left her. The heels surrounded Bliss on the apron, but Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky ran out to join her. 

Ripley and Sky brawled with Asuka and Sane outside the ring, but that left Bliss alone in the ring for Jax and Legend. 

Charlotte ran out with a kendo stick and attacked Jax and Legend until they left the ring. Charlotte helped Bliss to her feet and hugged her. Ripley and Sky were in the other corner of the ring, and upon seeing them hug, Sky quickly hugged Ripley in response. The crowd laughed at the amusing visual, and Charlotte broke out laughing, too. 

********

Women’s Intercontinental Championship match: Becky Lynch (c) vs. Maxxine Dupri

Jessika Carr was the referee. Lynch wasn’t happy with this because she blamed Carr for her previous losses. Lynch got in Dupri’s face during her introduction, and she aggressively handed Carr the title belt. 

Lynch was still arguing with Carr as Carr called for the match to start, so Dupri booted Lynch for a quick nearfall. Lynch took over quickly by knocking Dupri off the top rope, and they went to break 90 seconds into this title match. 

Dupri fought back as soon as they returned from break with clotheslines and a roundhouse kick for two. Dupri hit a fisherman’s suplex, dropped her straps, and hit (missed) a leg drop for two. Lynch booted Dupri’s arm and tried targeting it, but Dupri fought back again. Lynch lifted her out of the corner and hit a powerbomb. 

Lynch tried applying an arm bar, but Dupri bridged out of it. She countered it a second time and applied a cradle for two. Dupri applied an ankle lock and grapevined the legs to avoid a rope break. Lynch still managed to slip out of it, and she kicked Dupri in the arm again. Lynch hit a Man-handle Slam right next to the ropes, so Dupri got a predictable rope break. 

Lynch got in Carr’s face and poked her in the chest. Carr knocked her hand down and told her to get back to the match. 

Lynch chucked Dupri out of the ring and, as Carr checked on Dupri, Lynch tried to expose the top turnbuckle. 

AJ Lee then skipped out to her music, which distracted Lynch, so Dupri caught her with a flying crossbody for the pinfall win. Dupri is the new Women’s Intercontinental Champion. 

Dupri sprinted out of the ring and embraced AJ. Fireworks went off as Dupri posed with her new title belt. Lynch was pissed. 

Match result: Maxxine Dupri defeated Becky Lynch to win the Women’s Intercontinental Championship (9:50)

This match was not good. They tried to manufacture a moment while also getting heat behind a Lynch/AJ Lee singles match. But now Maxxine Dupri is the IC champion. The crowd was not really into Dupri here, and they only popped for the finish. Perhaps they will get behind her more now, but she won’t improve fast enough, and fans can see she isn’t ready. 

********

Byron Saxton interviewed Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez during a break. The most notable thing here was Perez correctly complaining that Bella was getting a title shot despite Perez beating her twice in a row. 

Brandon Marshall, Chuck Zito, and Gabriel Iglesias were in the crowd.  

The Last Time Is Now Tournament Round One: Je’Von Evans vs. Gunther

Gunther dismissively patted Evans on the head, so Evans smacked him. Evans chopped Gunther and countered a few spots until Gunther simply booted him to take over. 

Gunther maintained control through a commercial break, and there was a “Y2J” chant as he did. 

Evans countered a powerbomb into a hurricanrana. It might’ve been a nice nearfall, but the referee stopped counting because Gunther’s shoulders weren’t flush against the mat. Evans followed with a somersault kick, and the crowd started to get into him. He tried a suicide dive, but Gunther caught him and chucked him hard into the side of the ring. 

During a break, Gunther tried a German suplex, but Evans landed on his feet. Gunther cut him off again, this time with a dropkick. Evans countered him again, this time into a sunset flip cradle for two as they returned from break. 

They traded strikes until Evans tried springing off the ropes, but Gunther booted him. Evans countered Gunther once again, this time into a cutter, and he hit a dive over the top rope. Evans followed with a great-looking frog splash for two. (The crowd is fully into this now.) 

Gunther hit an uppercut to the back of Evans’ neck as he came off the top. Gunther followed with a suplex and powerbomb, but Evans kicked out. Gunther applied a sleeper, and Evans tried fighting through it, but Gunther cinched it in, and Evans tapped out. 

— Gunther left the ring, and you could hear the crowd starting to give Evans an ovation, but they cut to the back. 

Match result: Gunther defeated Je’Von Evans to advance in The Last Time is Now Tournament (15:04)

This was really good. Evans and the match would’ve benefited from an extra minute or two, but Evans still came across great. Unlike the previous match, the crowd really got into the underdog as it went along, and it seemed like the fans were ready to give him a big ovation despite the loss. 

*******

Backstage, Dupri (with AJ Lee) told Redmond that this title win meant everything because all the hard work paid off. She beat one of the best of all time, and that meant she finally belonged here. It was all thanks to AJ Lee. 

AJ said the credit belonged to Dupri. AJ hated a bully and just wanted to put Lynch in her place. Otis and Akira Tozawa showed up to celebrate with Dupri, and they left together. 

Redmond asked AJ if she was sticking around. AJ said she initially came back to help her husband, but Lynch lit a fire under her, so we’ll see. Ripley approached AJ and asked if they could chat. AJ left with Ripley. The fans cheered. 

*******

Somebody named Gangster Granny was shown ringside during a break.

Main event WarGames angle 

Paul Heyman, Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed, and Logan Paul entered together. Drew McIntyre entered separately to join them. Heyman said he walked with the Samoan Swat Team & The Freebirds, with the Dangerous Alliance, and with The Bloodline to the ring for WarGames, but this was the greatest assembly of talent for WarGames ever. 

CM Punk interrupted to his music. He waited ringside as Jey and Jimmy Uso entered to Jey’s music through the crowd. They all waited for Cody Rhodes to come out next to his music. (Rhodes stood side-by-side with Punk and went for a fist bump, but Punk legitimately didn’t see it, so Rhodes forcibly bumped his fist so it didn’t look like he got left hanging.) The babyfaces cleared the ring, and Punk dropped Paul with a bulldog. 

Brock Lesnar entered. Punk went after him, but Lesnar laid him out with a couple of suplexes. Rhodes went after Lesnar, but Lesnar laid him out with suplexes, too. Lesnar stood tall, and they displayed the trademark graphic to fake that the show was over, but it wasn’t. 

Roman Reigns entered and faced off with Lesnar. Lesnar tried to attack, but Reigns ducked a clothesline and knocked Lesnar out of the ring with a Superman punch. 

Security stepped in front of Reigns, so Reed attacked Reigns from behind. Reed went for a Tsunami, but Reigns popped up and gave Reed a Superman punch. 

“NYPD” appeared at ringside as Punk choked out Paul with a kendo stick. NYPD and security tried settling things down, but Reigns speared Reed through the barricade as the show abruptly ended at 10:25 pm ET.

WWE SmackDown live results: The Last Time is Now tournament continues

Posted on by Marc Quill

The Last Time is Now tournament continues tonight on WWE SmackDown from MVP Arena in Albany, New York.

The show will feature two first-round matchups, including one between two former World Champions Jey Uso and The Miz. The other pits LA Knight against a yet-to-be-revealed mystery opponent.

The winners will progress further in the bracketless tournament that will determine John Cena’s last-ever opponent for next month’s December 13 edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event.

After a confrontation, new WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill will take on B-Fab in a non-title bout.

Sami Zayn will also be on the show as he has a message for Solo Sikoa after last week — when he attempted to get at Sikoa and the MFTs but was unable to. In storyline, Zayn was not medically cleared in storyline. We’ll see if tonight’s message has something to do with a Zayn return.

Plus, Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY are in the house as the WarGames build continues.

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

**********

– We opened SmackDown on a recap of what happened last week with Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss, along with the Kabuki Warriors and the new alliance of Nia Jax and Lash Legend. The chaos involving these groups led to WarGames being declared by IYO SKY and the returning Rhea Ripley.

Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY kick off SmackDown

The dynamic tandem made their way to the ring to the loud ovation from the fans in Albany. Once the two got into the ring, Rhea Ripley addressed how things have devolved into chaos since she was gone due to her broken nose. Ripley mentioned that the Kabuki Warriors think they’re untouchable because they’re the Women’s Tag Team Champions, and that Lash Legend & Nia Jax similarly though they were untouchable because of their added numbers. Ripley said that the numbers game meant that Jax & Legend were also making a lot of enemies, as SKY mentioned that there’d be nowhere to hide in WarGames. Ripley then introduced their two partners for the Match Beyond in two weeks: Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss.

Bliss started that if Jax & Legend wanted to get dirty, that was fine by her. If the Kabuki Warriors wanted a fight, they’re on, too. Flair interrupted by saying that she couldn’t pretend to do this anymore, as she told Ripley that she couldn’t trust her as she was a “snake”. It’s something that she couldn’t look past even with a common enemy. Flair called Bliss her friend, but she couldn’t go through with this WarGames match, as she walked out.

Interesting start, which is definitely meant to give the babyface team at Survivor Series a bit of adversity heading into next week.

**********

– Michael Cole and Corey Graves teed up the action ahead for tonight, including WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill vs. B-Fab, plus LA Knight vs. a mystery opponent in the Last Time is Now tournament.

The Last Time is Now Tournament First-Round Match: Jey Uso vs. The Miz

Miz and Uso locked horns to start us off before the latter struck with a clubbing blow to the back of his foe. Uso answered back with strikes to the face, but found himself down on the mat with a knee driven to the gut by Miz. In the corner, Miz went for his signature clothesline, but Uso countered that into a backslide pin for a two-count.

Uso escaped an early Skull-Crushing Finale attempt as he then clotheslined Miz to the outside. He then took off with a suicide dive, wich was the cue for a break in the action.

As we returned from commercial, Miz had the advantage as he dropped Uso face first on his knees from the corner, followed by a spike DDT that wasn’t enough to pick up the win. Miz then kicked repeatedly at Uso’s chest, but failed to hit the last kick as the former World Champion turned that into a neckbreaker for a near-fall. As Miz scurried into the corner, he avoided a running hip strike from Uso. He then decided to do a spoof of John Cena’s shoulder charges, Protoplex and the Five-Knuckle Shuffle.

Uso recovered and superkicked Miz, as he then tried to lift him up on his shoulders. Miz wriggled free and delivered the Skull-Crushing Finale. One, two…. NO! Miz lifted Uso up on the top turnbuckle as he tried for an avalanche Skull-Crushing Finale. Uso escaped and hit some sort of drop from the top instead. This led into the Spear, and the Uso Splash for the three and the victory.

Jey Uso def. The Miz via pinfall to advance in The Last Time is Now Tournament

A decent match, though I was surprised this went down cleanly without any sort of WarGames-adjacent shenanigans. It was certainly better than Uso’s last singles match at Saturday Night’s Main Event a few weeks back.

**********

– As Nick Aldis was meeting with Ilja Dragunov, they were interrupted by an incensed Tommasso Ciampa, who stood with Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae. Ciampa was upset at being snubbed by Dragunov once again. The U.S. Champion explained that he only gives opportunities to those who are honorable and deserve a shot at the title, and he’s found one such individual. Mr. Aldis left this scene and was met by Paul Heyman and Bronson Reed of The Vision, who wanted to chat wit him.

– We got a video of John Cena talking about how he became a wrestler. This was a tease for an interview with Cena conducted by Tom Rinaldi that will be released soon.

– Back with Nick Aldis, who requested for security to come to his office. Paul Heyman mentioned that he had an agreement regarding WarGames, stating that he was free to pick anyone across all brands. Aldis reiterated that as he asked Heyman and Reed to leave. Cody Rhodes showed up and explained that he showed up because his friends were held to the fire by The Vision and that he’d be willing to put himself through the fire next. This led to a major match being made tonight: Cody Rhodes vs. Bronson Reed for the WWE Championship.

U.S. Title Open Challenge: Ilja Dragunov (c) vs. Axiom

We started hot right away as Dragunov and Axiom were engaged in a chain wrestling duel. The U.S. Champion missed on a chop as Axiom rolled underneath, which seemed to impress Dragunov a fair bit. Axiom followed with a headlock takeover, but was felled by a running shoulder block from Dragunov afterwards. Dragunov went for a back elbow, but Axiom dodged it and hit a dropkick that sent him out of the ring.

As Axiom tried to go to the top rope, Dragunov intercepted him and left him sat on the top rope. After a brief skirmish, Dragunov headbutted Axiom down to the mat, as he then followed that with a senton for the near-fall. We then went to a picture-in-picture break at this point.

SmackDown returned to full-screen action as Dragunov connected with a German suplex. Axiom escaped and caught his championship foe with a release Northern Lights suplex. As both men got themselves back up, Axiom blasted Dragunov in the face with a strike, as he then leapt from the top rope with a shotgun missile dropkick for the two-count. Axiom took shots at the chest of Dragunov, who responded with a hard boot to the face.

Dragunov’s attempt at a Constantine Special was reversed into an armbar by Axiom. The U.S. Champion used his strength to break free of the hold with a deadlift powerbomb. Axiom got ahead of an attempted H-Bomb and turned that into an incredible leaping springboard DDT for the close near-fall. With Dragunov stunned in the corner, Axiom lifted him up the top rope and was looking for an avalanche Spanish Fly. Dragunov tried to fight back, but could not prevent the Spanish Fly from the top.

Axiom had Dragunov locked for the Golden Ratio, but he was intercepted by a fierce Torpedo Moscow. An H-Bomb from the U.S. Champion put an end to this Open Challenge and brought victory for Ilja Dragunov.

After the match, Dragunov showed respect for Axiom’s effort in this one as he shook the challenger’s hand.

Ilja Dragunov def. Axiom via pinfall to retain the United States Championship

Another solid U.S. Title Open Challenge match. Dragunov has been just on a tear since his return with fantastic matches one after the other, and this week’s match was no exception. Axiom was a perfect challenger for Dragunov and looked great even in defeat.

**********

– During the commercial break, we saw Tommasso Ciampa brutally attacking Axiom before Nathan Frazer chased him off.

Sami Zayn addresses The M.F.T.s

The former U.S. Champion was out as he made his way to the ring and began by greeting the Albany crowd.

Zayn said that since he came to SmackDown, there were some extremely high highs and extremely low lows. He talked about how he beat Solo Sikoa for the U.S. Title and that he did some incredible things, like facing John Cena in his last-ever SmackDown ever. Zayn mentioned that the last four weeks have been incredibly rough on him as he wasn’t medically cleared yet. He was forced to watch Sikoa and the M.F.T.s attack his friends and people that he respected. And now, that will end tonight, as Zayn challenged Sikoa to face him right now.

On cue, Sikoa walked to the ring, surrounded by his motley crew. Sikoa talked about how he knew the real Sami Zayn: someone who was a pathetic, a liar, and selfish. He claimed that Zayn didn’t care about the people in the back or the people in Albany. That was in contrast to Sikoa, who said that he cared about his “family” and their loyalty to him. Sikoa told Zayn that he knew nothing about loyalty or love of his family. Sikoa threatned to do harm Zayn as he was “still wounded”. He motioned for the M.F.T.s to approach Zayn in the ring.

Sikoa stopped them from going on the attack as he wanted Zayn to be 100% and medically cleared, because he was coming for him. Zayn answered that he was medically cleared and that if Sikoa wanted to do something about it, he’d do something about it right now. Zayn then burst Sikoa’s balloon by stating that he wasn’t here alone. Just then, Shinsuke Nakamura, the Motor City Machine Guns, and Rey Fenix evened the odds as they helped Zayn clear the ring of the M.F.T.s.

Bless Zayn for trying to generate interest into this feud, but it’s still kind of doing nothing for me even with that. This Bloodline retread just is not clicking for me at all, I’m sorry to say.

**********

– Cody Rhodes was approached by Jey Uso, who wished him luck for his Undisputed WWE Title match later on tonight. Jimmy Uso then showed up and told both Rhodes and brother Jey that he spoke with CM Punk, who officially put Jimmy on their WarGames team for Survivor Series.

– Backstage, Nick Aldis declared that in two weeks we’d see the M.F.T.s take on the team of Sami Zayn, the Motor City Machine Guns, Rey Fenix, and Shinsuke Nakamura in a 5-on-5 Traditional Survivor Series match. The Wyatt Sicks’ VHS glitches were shown as Solo Sikoa and Mr. Aldis left.

The Last Time is Now Tournament First-Round Match: LA Knight vs. Zack Ryder

Ryder was revealed as Knight’s mystery opponent moments before this match got underway. He got a great reaction from the crowd.

As the bell rang, Ryder went for an early school boy roll-up pin, but that was clearly not enough this early into the match. Knight countered a Rough Ryder attempt, but was sent out of the ring, which was the cue to take us into the commercial break.

We resumed the match from the break with Knight getting sent hard into the corner by Ryder. This was met in kind with a nice back body drop from Knight shortly after. Knight avoided a clothesline from Ryder, as he then unleahsed a flurry of punches, followed by the neckbreaker for the near-fall. Knight continued on the offensive, but a reversal on a scoop slam led to Ryder picking up some momentum. As Knight was left down and out in the corner, this left him open to Ryder’s Broski Boot for a close near-fall.

Knight countered an attempt at an Unprettier from Ryder into a reverse DDT. The elbow from the top was avoided by Ryder, who turned that into the Rough Ryder on his foe. One, two… Knight was able to kick out at two. Knight’s BFT was countered into a roll-up pin, by Ryder, as he headed up to the top rope. Ryder’s attempt at a standing legdrop was turned into a powerbomb by Knight, who then soundly finished off Ryder with the BFT for the three.

LA Knight def. Zack Ryder via pinfall to advance in The Last Time is Now Tournament

Zack Ryder was a nice surprise, and it was at least nice to see LA Knight back in the winning column here for this match.

**********

– As Rhea Ripley, IYO SKY, and Alexa Bliss were discussing what to do with Charlotte Flair walking ou on them, they were ambushed by the Kabuki Warriors, Nia Jax, and Lash Legend. The Jamie Noble-led vanguard of security officials got them to back off after the ambush.

Jade Cargill vs. B-Fab

B-Fab escaped an early chokeslam attempt by Cargill, as she then hit her with a dropkick and repeated elbows in the corner. B-Fab’s attempt at a pump kick was met by a fierce elbow to the face from Cargill, who followed that up with a fallaway slam. Cargill managed to connect with the chokeslam on B-Fab. This was followed by the powerbomb on her foe. Not satisfied with just one powerbomb, Cargill then dropped her with one more powerbomb, then the Jaded for the dominant victory.

After the match, Michin ran in to check up on B-Fab, which caught Cargill’s attention. The WWE Women’s Champion shoved her down afterwards.

Jade Cargill def. B-Fab via pinfall

Just kind of there in terms of being a match, and with how barebones the SmackDown’s women’s division is, that’s not a good sign. Not saying that B-Fab should be having competitive matches with the WWE Women’s World Champion, but sub-three minute matches are not the way to do it.

**********

– Nick Aldis revealed two more The Last Time is Now tournament matchups: Carmelo Hayes vs. Bronson Reed and Penta vs. Finn Balor, with these match set for next week’s SmackDown.

Next Week on SmackDown:

  • The Last Time is Now Tournament: Carmelo Hayes vs. Bronson Reed
  • The Last Time is Now Tournament: Penta vs. Finn Balor
  • Fraxiom (Axiom & Nathan Frazer) vs. #DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommasso Ciampa)

– We got remarks from Aleister Black, with Damian Priest once again being the subject of discussion for him. Black said that they forced Priest to break his code, and now he had greater things in mind, namely those who hold championships on SmackDown.

Undisputed WWE Championship: Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Bronson Reed (w/ Paul Heyman)

The main event started off fast and furious as Rhodes went on the attack against Reed. A running thump from the Aussie put an end to that flurry as he maintained the assault on ringside with another running thump.

Our main event returned from the break as Rhodes nailed Reed with the Disaster Kick. This fired up the Undisputed WWE Champion as he attempted to blast Reed with the Dusty elbow strikes. Reed countered that into Jagged Edge, but he missed on the Tsunami. This left Reed open for a Cody Cutter for the close near-fall. As Reed scurried outside to the ring, Rhodes went for a suicide dive, but Reed intercepted him with an elbow.

Outside the ring, Reed had Rhodes in sight for an avalanche run, but he was met at the pass by the Undisputed WWE Champion. Things broke down once Bron Breakker and Logan Paul ran in to attack Rhodes as this match ended in a DQ.

The Usos ran in for the save as they cleared the ring of Paul and Breakker. Jimmy and Jey dropped Paul with a 1D, as they then grabbed a table from underneath the ring. Drew McIntyre showed up, despite being suspended. Nick Aldis confronted Paul Heyman about this outside the ring, as the heels got the upper hand in the ring. The Levesque & Fitting credits saw us off once more with The Vision standing united in the ring.

Cody Rhodes def. Bronson Reed via DQ to retain the Undisputed WWE Championship

**********

An okay ending to an otherwise better-than-average SmackDown once again carried hard by the U.S. Open Challenge. WarGames is at least setting up quite nicely, and presumably Roman Reigns will fill out the babyface team in the coming weeks. Perhaps, even John Cena.

Other than that, when I say that this show was decent, it is, of course, in comparison to the previous weeks of rather milquetoast episodes. The M.F.T.s storyline continues to just be kind of there, but I am enjoying everything surrounding the U.S. Title and the Ciampa/Dragunov feud that’s been building in the background of it. At the end of the day, a decent show is certainly better than a forgettably bad one.

WWE NXT live results: Last Man Standing title match

Posted on by Chris Aiken

A big title match headlines WWE NXT tonight with Ricky Saints set to defend against Trick Williams.

In a rematch from Halloween Havoc, Saints and Williams will face off with the NXT Championship on the line. This time, the matchup will have a Last Man Standing stipulation. Saints retained in their first meeting — but Williams has refused to accept his loss and has kept his rivalry with Saints alive.

Another title match will go down on the episode with men’s WWE Speed Champion El Grande Americano battling Jasper Troy, who earned the title shot by winning a number one contender’s tournament.

We’ll hear from NXT Women’s Champion Tatum Paxley, who has continued to be a target of former champ Jacy Jayne and Fatal Attraction.

Plus, Tavion Heights will be in action against Josh Briggs.

Tonight’s show will finish setting the stage for NXT Gold Rush 2025, a two-week special that begins next week. Join us for live coverage starting at 8 p.m. Eastern.

**********

Opening the show is a tribute to the Unites States military for Veterans Day.

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

Hype for the last man standing title match later from the commentary duo of Vic Joseph and Booker T.

Kicking off the show in the sound stage is the entrance of The Culling. NXT Women’s Champion Tatum Paxley is joined by Izzi Dame, alomg with Shawn Spears and Niko Vance. They get in the ring for community theater, which sets up a women’s title match for Gold Rush.

Paxley defends at Gold Rush against Jacy Jayne in a blow-off to their feud. Jayne talks Paxley into a title match, much to the chagrin of Izzi Dame.

Before Jayne and Fatal Influence come out to interrupt Paxley and company, Paxley was giddy and excited as heck to be the champ. Paxley says she still gets goosebumps. Paxley’s mood takes a turn, as she gets upset with herself about last week. She should have listened to Dame.

Dame helps to lift Paxley’s spirits. Dame goes on to tell Paxley they want her to remain the goofy and dancing champion they have come to love, but only if she stops handing out random opportunities. Paxley admits to the flaw, and says she will do better. She then marks out for spinning the wheel in a comedy bit. Paxely is soon interrupted by the Fatal Influence trio.

Jacy Jayne is flanked by Lainey Reid and Fallon Henley. Jayne tries being empathetic with Paxley, as Jayen also tries to paint her as a fighting champion. Jayne was trying to talk Paxley into another title bout. Dame comes again trying to talk sense into Paxley, as they just talked about something like this moments ago. Paxley tells Dame she will be more careful… after New York. The match is on for Gold Rush.

El Grande Americano vs. Jasper Troy for the WWE Speed Championship

While Troy is getting a monster push, I would still consider the result an upset. Troy goes over clean, and he wins the Speed title from El Grande Americano. In the final minute of the match, Americano is handed a foreign object by his luchador henchmen, and he puts it in his singlet. He then drops in plain sight of the referee. Troy then batters him and executes a Bossman slam, followed by a pinfall.

Match result: Jasper Troy defeated El Grande Americano to win the WWE Speed Championship.

— Thea Hail is backstage for a skit with Joe Hendry, who is in her corner tonight for a match that is up next after a commercial break.

— After the break is another skit. Sean Legacy is chatting with NXT General Manager Ava. In walks Sol Ruca and Zaria. Although Zaria cautions her on coming back so soon after her supposed injury, Ruca wants a title match at Gold Rush.

Thea Hail (with Joe Hendry) vs. Alba Fyre (with Chelsea Green and Ethan Page)

The bout goes through a commercial break. Hail is down selling as the show cuts to a break, after Fyre hit her with a tope suicida. Green distracted Hail at ringside to set up the spot. Fyre works over Hail, but Hail makes a comeback after the break.

Green gets involved again as Hail is going to the top rope. Hail fights her off. Page soon jumps on the apron to interfere. That leads to a spot where Green inadvertently slaps Page, after Joe Hendry posts Page.

Fyre gets a near fall on Page after a superkick, and Fyre goes for her Gory Bomb finisher. Hail counters into a Code Red, and she pins Fyre to win the match.

Match result: Thea Hail defeated Alba Fyre via pinfall.

— NXT Women’s Champion Tatum Paxley is in the trainer’s room for a skit with NXT Champion Ricky Saints. The Culling usher Paxlet away, and there some foreshadowing with Saints.

— “NXT Spotlight” with NXT Women’s North American Champion Blake Monroe is a skit with Monroe interviewing herself. This was ridiculous. Monroe is talking with her dark side, and her dark side will be there with her at Gold Rush.

— Sarch Schreiber interviews Jordynne Grace, and Grace cuts a great promo vowing to win the TNA Knockouts title at Gold Rush over Kelani Jordan.

— Je’Von Evans is in the ring for a monologue in front of the studio audience. Moments ago, Evans was on the phone with TNA X-Division Champion Leon Slater. Evans says he will put Legacy on the video screen for this promo. Slater then links up via video chat with Evans, as Evans announces they will challenge Darkstate for the NXT Tag Team Championship at Gold Rush.

With Legacy still on the screen, the lights go dark in the sound stage. Out comes the four members of Darkstate. They surround the ring looking to ambush Evans, who stands his ground. Evans calls them foolish, as Slater was not the UK on video. Slater is there in Orlando, and he runs down to join Evans in going two-on-four against Darkstate. Nonetheless, the two babyfaces run wild on Darkstate. Slater and Evans both do dive over the ropes to the floor. This angle was silly, but at least they put the babyfaces over strong.

— Trick Williams gives TNA Knockouts Champion Kelani Jordan a pep talk, while Jordan says she is picking Williams to win tonight.

— Fallon Henley (with Jacy Jayne & Lainey Reid) vs. Skylar Raye in the first round of the WWE Speed Championship Tournament.

Henley won after catching Raye with a Rocker Dropper. Raye got a video package before the match, as they put over he being the LFG winner. Henley still beat her convincingly.

Match result: Fallon Henley defeated Skylar Raye via pinfall to advance in the tournament.

Tavion Heights vs. Josh Briggs

Briggs strikes as the bell sounds, and Heights eats a big boot. Briggs shows a ton of fire, even as Heights tries to fire up. Briggs hammers Heights as the show goes through a commercial break.

Briggs with a cheap shot to cut off a Heights rally. Nevertheless, Heights soon makes a comeback and executes a belly-to-belly suplex to pin Briggs for a three count.

Match result: Tavion Heights defeated Josh Briggs via pinfall.

— Ava warns Myles Borne about interfering in the main event, and she even begs him. Wren Sinclair and Evolve Women’s Champion Kendal Grey are also with Ava. Up walks Lainey Reid, who slaps Grey across the face. They have a pull-apart brawl, as this seems to set up a natural match-up.

Ricky Saints vs. Trick Williams in a last man standing match for the NXT Championship

Weapons are used early on, as the match begins with a tightrope spot playing off a kendo stick. Metal folding chairs are soon used, along with metal trash cans. The ring steps are also used as a prop.

Saints ribs are taped, and Trick targets them with shots from the trash can. Saints is also dropped on a trash can, and he crushes it on impact. Trick is in control as he taunts Saints and the audience.

Trick ties Saints in the ropes, leaving Saints defenseless for a shots from a kendo stick. However, the ropes are too tight, and Saints cannot stayed tied up. He sells big anyway. Saints goes on to feed his back from a chair shot. Saints sells big like Trick caught him on the head with the chair shot.

Taunting Saints, Trick goes to hit Saints with a trash can lid. Saints blocks it and whacks Trick with the trash can lid instead. Trick takes several shots from the lid before falling outside the ring. The show cuts to a commercial break with Trick on rubber legs.

During the break, Saints is trapped in the ring skirt with a trash can over his head. Trick hits him repeatedly with the kendo stick while ads play throughout picture-in-picture.

On the floor outside ring, Trick measures for a running knee lift. Saints sidesteps him, and Trick goes crashing through a gimmicked section of the barricade.

Double down before they both square off again in the ring. Saints peppers Trick with shots from the kendo stick. Saints with receipts from earlier in the match. Trick was bleeding from the side of his head at this point.

Saints calls from a chair, only to have the it kicked back into his face. Nonetheless, Saints gives Trick several chair shots. Austin-Rock chair shot spot. Trick still answers the count by getting to his feet before the ten count. Spear by Saints, and Trick is again barely able to beat the count. But Trick does, as he gets to his feet.

Saints is sent crashing outside on a pile of debris. Trick picks up the steps and hits Saints with the metal prop. Saints still answers the count, only for Trick to land his leaping knee strike. Saints somehow manages to break the count.

Saints is placed under the steps as Trick tries to hold him down. Saints escapes and shoves Trick off the steps. Saints goes charging towards Trick, only for Trick to sidestep him. Saints crashes through a gimmicked wall. Saints answers the count, and comes back on fire.

They brawl through the crowd in attendance. Trick stand atop the barricade as he taunts the crowd. Saints out of nowhere flew in with spear, and they take a bump on the announce desk. The desk explodes into pieces beneath them. It was a helluva stunt. Saints appears to be bleeding from the mouth.

The bloody combatants both trying rising to their feet. Saints gets to his feet, and he shoves down Trick to win the match. Trick could not answer the ten count. Saints is the last man standing, thus retaining the title.

Match result: NXT Champion Ricky Saint defeated Trick Williams in a last man standing match to retain his title.

— As the show is going off the air, the cliffhanger is the entrance of Oba Femi. He returns.

WWE Raw live results: John Cena’s last Boston appearance

Posted on by Steve Khan

Date: November 10, 2025
Location: TD Garden in Boston, MA 

The Big Takeaway —

John Cena won the Intercontinental Championship for the first time in his career by beating Dominik Mysterio. 

In the Last Time is Now tournament, Sheamus and Rusev advanced in their matches. The tournament continues next week with Gunther returning to face Je’Von Evans, and Solo Sikoa will face a mystery opponent. 

Asuka and Kairi Sane beat Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss to win the tag titles—with help from Nia Jax and Lash Legend. The post-match angle set up a Women’s WarGames match, and an angle earlier in the show set up the beginnings of a Men’s WarGames match. 

Plus, Nikki Bella turned heel on Stephanie Vaquer.

**********

Show Recap — 

Shinsuke Nakamura, Damian Priest (selling a damaged left eye), Asuka & Kairi Sane, and Stephanie Vaquer & Nikki Bella arrived at TD Garden in Boston. 

In addition to the usual establishing shot of the city, they aired footage of West Newbury, Massachusetts, as fans chanted for John Cena. 

John Cena kicks off Raw

The crowd continued chanting for Cena, but they were instead greeted with Paul “Triple H” Levesque, already in the ring. His music played for a while as he soaked up his own crowd reaction. He waited a full minute after the ring announcer said his name before he began speaking. 

He said everyone had an opinion, and there weren’t many agreements. Everyone had an opinion on who the greatest of all time was. You can measure it by in-ring performance, charisma, ability to tear down your opponent on the mic, etc. It was all subjective. However, Levesque was in the position to see it from all sides (he began getting ‘What’ chants here), and he knew that tonight, we’d all be able to agree on one thing. 

From an objective measure, there was one person at the top of that list. As a box office attraction, someone who gave it all in the ring, ruthless on the mic, and did it all with a smile on his face because he loved the business and wanted to see it elevated to the highest level possible. He was the single greatest asset the business has ever seen. He was, without a doubt, the greatest of all time. (Imagine that being a great asset to a company is the reason you’re considered the greatest wrestler ever.) 

Finally, Levesque introduced John Cena. 

Cena entered to a huge reaction, and he shook Levesque’s hand. Fans chanted, “Thank you, Cena.” Cena has been asked a lot about who he wanted to face. But only one person asked him what he wanted to do with this exercise. (He pointed at Levesque.) 

Cena’s goal was to leave the business better than he found it. To pay back all the opportunities that the company gave him, and that the fans were gracious enough to put up with. The Last Time is Now tournament would determine who could retire John Cena, and that started tonight. 

Cena also had an announcement about December 13th at Saturday Night’s Main Event. It would close one chapter, but it would open an opportunity. It would be an opportunity for main roster wrestlers to host exhibition matches against the best from NXT. (That’s what he wants?) That night would close one chapter but would pave the road ahead.

Cena didn’t make the schedule, but he did want to come to Boston one last time. It meant everything to be in TD Garden again and feel the atmosphere, surrounded by family and friends. 

Dominik Mysterio interrupted. He was booed and greeted with obscenities. Dom confronted Levesque and wanted to know what he would do about last week, when he was interrupted by a deadbeat. Dom was the one who should be interrupting old men. 

Cena interrupted and welcomed him to Boston. Dom said this wasn’t about him and told Cena to go to the corner—or else he’d put him down. Cena reminded Dom of who he was. 

Cena said Dom might have a chance on any other night, but tonight, Cena felt invincible. If Dom wanted to pick a fight, Cena promised that he would lose. However, Cena respected Dom’s father, so he offered Dom a chance to leave. 

Dom was amused because he wasn’t even at his peak yet, but was already better than Cena in his prime. Dom said he would’ve whooped Cena in any era. (The fans told Dom that he f—cked up.) 

Levesque interjected to make an announcement: Dom would defend his Intercontinental Championship right now against Cena (who, fortunately, is always dressed in his gear). The crowd went nuts.

(It’s always nice to see Cena at this point, but this was an odd segment until Dom came out. Cena’s SNME announcement aside, Levesque’s opening promo felt out of place, and it couldn’t have been more obvious that he wanted to be the one to make the announcement that would obviously get a big pop.)

Intercontinental Championship match: Dominik Mysterio (c) vs. John Cena

Cena’s final match in his hometown started during a commercial break. They did the in-ring introductions during the break, and Dom attacked Cena when they were done, so the referee started the match. 

Cena had the better of it until Dom tossed him into the ring post. Dom countered an AA and hit a DDT. Dom hit a slingshot senton, but Cena got his knees up on another attempt as they returned from a second break (two breaks before the match was ten minutes old). 

Cena did his usual comeback and five knuckle shuffle. Dom slipped out of the AA again and shoved Cena shoulder-first into the ring post. Dom exposed the metal turnbuckle to distract the referee while he grabbed a steel chair. Dom tried the Eddie Guerrero trick of faking a chair shot and tossing the chair to Cena, but Cena dropped the chair and lay down on the mat. The crowd chanted for Eddie while Cena winked at Dom. 

Cena hoisted Dom up for the AA again, but they bumped the referee. Cena applied an STF, and Dom tapped out. Cena, who has been doing this for more than 20 years, leaped to his feet to celebrate as if it was over, but there was no referee. 

Dom tried a belt shot, but Cena ducked it and hit an AA. A new referee ran out to make the cover, but Dom kicked out. The fans were on their feet. 

Dom tripped Cena on the ropes and hit a 619, followed by a frog splash. However, Cena rolled through and hit an emphatic AA for the pinfall win. The crowd exploded. 

Cena celebrated with the Intercontinental title, a belt he has now won for the first time. Cena is now a grand slam champion. He thanked Boston and said the champ was here. 

Match result: John Cena defeated Dominik Mysterio to win the Intercontinental Championship (13:30)

******** 

During a break, Byron Saxton interviewed LA Knight, who is in the Cena tournament. Knight congratulated Cena, but he never cared about having a ‘dream match’ with anyone. But now Cena had something he wanted. Knight kept going, and his promo was actually cut off mid-sentence as they returned from break. 

Babyface members of the roster greeted Cena backstage and congratulated him. Rey Mysterio shook his hand, and the crowd cheered. They popped even bigger when Cena bumped into Cody Rhodes. They shook hands. 

********

There was a Veterans Day video. 

A SmackDown clip showed that Aleister Black was to blame for Priest having a bad eye.

The Last Time Is Now Tournament Round One: Damian Priest vs. Rusev

The crowd came right down for this match, and they were dead silent for Rusev getting the heat on Priest during a break. Priest eventually came back with kicks and a crossbody off the ropes, but Rusev targeted his eye (as he did earlier). Rusev raked Priest’s eye and hit a Matchka Kick for the pinfall win. 

Match result: Rusev defeated Damian Priest (8:51) 

Extraordinarily dull match and weak finish. 

*******

AJ Styles and Dragon Lee met with Adam Pearce backstage. Dragon Lee suggested their team name be Dragones Con Estilo (Dragons with Style), but Styles didn’t like that. Styles said they’d work on it. 

Maxxine Dupri approached Pearce. He asked her if she was ready for Becky Lynch. She said yes… and no. She knew she could train forever, but there was nothing that would make her feel “ready.” She wanted the match. Pearce made it official for Madison Square Garden next week. 

Pearce left, and Lynch appeared out of thin air to punch Dupri in the face. Lynch told Dupri she didn’t stand a chance. 

********

CM Punk segment

Punk entered, and he made his way to the ring as they went to break. During the break, Punk went to the announce table and saw they had some action figures of Dusty Rhodes, John Cena, Hulk Hogan, and Logan Paul. Punk put down the Paul figurine and put Dusty to stand over him. 

Punk was pissed off and wasn’t about to wait for a douchebag to interrupt him. Punk was calling him out. Punk was in Boston, and he was dressed for a street fight. He knew Logan Paul was a piece of garbage, but didn’t quite know how big a piece of garbage he was. Punk said Paul wasn’t about to get a title shot, but Punk would still fight him. Paul had his eyes on Punk’s belt, but Punk would put his boot up Paul’s broccoli-headed millennial ass. 

Paul sauntered out and remained on the stage. He wondered why Punk was so mad, and Punk told him to stop wasting time. Paul told Punk that he once got punched by the greatest boxer of all time, Floyd Mayweather, but that was nothing compared to getting flattened by Bronson Reed last week. After dropping  Seth “deadweight” Rollins, The Vision would crack anyone who didn’t conform to them. Paul didn’t want to get cracked every week. 

Paul thought he knew it all, but after getting hit with that Tsunami, his eyes were opened to a whole new vision. Paul Heyman, Reed, and Bron Breakker entered to join Logan. 

Heyman led his men to the ring as he called Punk the single most unlikable person in the world. Punk had no friends. His friends didn’t betray him; he betrayed his friendships. Punk was a miserable, rotten bastard, and he couldn’t be more unlikable unless his name was AJ Lee. 

Punk said Lee would leave the four of them in a pool of their own piss and blood. She wasn’t there, so Punk would do it instead. He invited them to the ring. 

Jey Uso joined Punk in the ring from the crowd (without his music). They were still outnumbered, so Cody Rhodes ran out to his music to even the odds. 

The two sides brawled as Punk grabbed Heyman by the shirt. Logan saved Heyman, but Punk chucked him into the barricade. Reed wound up alone in the ring, so the babyfaces took shots at him before tossing him from the ring. 

The heels bailed as the babyfaces stood tall in the ring (with the fans loudly singing Rhodes’ name). 

********

Women’s World Championship match: Stephanie Vaquer (c) (w/ Nikki Bella) vs. Raquel Rodriguez (w/ Roxanne Perez)

Vaquer set up for Devil’s Kiss early on, but Rodriguez blocked it, hoisted Vaquer up on her shoulders in an electric chair drop position and dropped her face-first on the turnbuckle. 

As with the opening match, the crowd was dead quiet for the heel’s heat during the break. A smattering of applause greeted Vaquer’s comeback. She tried SVB, but like last week, Rodriguez was too damn big. Vaquer tried a tornado DDT, but Rodriguez blocked that too and transitioned into a vertical suplex, followed by a big boot for two. 

Vaquer tried a running corner meteora (for the second time), but Rodriguez blocked that too and hit a powerbomb for two. Vaquer caught Rodriguez in a submission between the ropes, and the ref checked on Rodriguez after she let go. Perez tried to attack Vaquer, but Nikki tossed her into the barricade. 

Vaquer tried a flying crossbody, but Rodriguez caught her and hit a fallaway slam. Vaquer dodged an elbow drop and hit Devil’s Kiss, a thrust kick, and a corkscrew moonsault for the pinfall win. 

— Nikki turned heel after the match. 

Perez tried to attack Vaquer, so Nikki made the save. She stood tall with Vaquer before nailing her with the world title belt. The crowd booed her. 

Nikki posed with the belt. She also ripped off her red top that read “Fearless,” to reveal a black top that also read “Fearless.” 

Match result: Stephanie Vaquer defeated Raquel Rodriguez to retain the Women’s World Championship (10:38)

The match itself was pretty good despite the crowd. I thought they might wait until Perez got a title shot before doing this turn. Perez has two wins over Nikki in recent weeks, so we’ll see how she plays into this, if at all. 

********

Men’s WarGames announcement 

Pearce approached Punk, Rhodes and Jey backstage. Punk said he was pissed. He had a team and wanted Heyman to get a team because he was tired of the ‘games.’ Pearce asked Punk if he meant what he was thinking. Punk yelled, “Regal!” and William Regal suddenly appeared (to a nice pop). He yelled, “War Games!” and people cheered. 

******** 

The Last Time Is Now Tournament Round One: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Sheamus

Sheamus was mostly in control through a break, in between some offence by Nakamura. After the break, Nakamura hit a superplex for two. Sheamus no-sold some kicks and hit ten beats of the Bodhrán. Sheamus went for a Brogue Kick, but Nakamura cut him off with a slingblade. 

Nakamura came off the top, but Sheamus hit a lifting knee strike for two after Nakamura grabbed the bottom rope. Sheamus went for an avalanche White Noise, but Nakamura blocked it and hit a powerbomb for two. Nakamura hit an enziguri, but Sheamus came right back with a Brogue Kick for the pinfall win. 

— Nakamura hugged Sheamus after the match and raised his hand. 

Match result: Sheamus defeated Shinsuke Nakamura (10:52) 

This was a nice TV match that didn’t follow the usual pattern. The crowd was more into it than the previous two, and they popped for Sheamus’ win. 

******** 

The Last Time Is Now Tournament continues next week with: 

  • Je’Von Evans vs. Gunther 
  • Solo Sikoa vs. mystery opponent 

Yes, they did the mystery gimmick again. 

Also next week on Raw at Madison Square Garden in New York City: 

  • Becky Lynch (c) vs. Maxxine Dupri for the Women’s IC title 
  • John Cena appears 

********

Women’s Tag Team Championship match: Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss (c) vs. Asuka & Kairi Sane 

They followed the usual pattern here with the heels getting the heat over Bliss ahead of an early break. Charlotte was previously getting the better of her opponents, but Asuka and Sane outsmarted Bliss to take control. 

Bliss hit both opponents with a double DDT as soon as they returned from break. Charlotte made the hot tag and hit a double flying crossbody. Charlotte hit each of them with a fallaway slam, and with Asuka and Sane lying next to each other, Charlotte hit a moonsault on both for a two count (on Asuka). 

Bliss hit Sane with a Natural Selection, but Asuka blocked Charlotte’s attempt and applied an Asuka Lock. Charlotte got out of it and went for a tag, but Sane yanked Bliss off the apron. Asuka hit Charlotte with a knee strike and applied an arm bar, but Charlotte countered into a Walls of Jericho. Asuka countered that into a cradle for two, followed by a kick to the head. 

Charlotte responded with a big boot and Figure Four. Sane tried to break it up with an Insane Elbow, but Bliss caught her and hit Sister Abigail. (Bliss’ Sister Abigail got the only significant crowd reaction all match.) 

Charlotte had Asuka in a Figure Eight, but as the referee was distracted, Nia Jax and Lash Legend broke up the submission. Bliss confronted Jax and Legend, so Sane shoved her into the announce desk. 

Asuka attacked Charlotte from behind and held her in position so Sane could hit the Insane Elbow for the pinfall win. New champs. 

— Bliss chased Asuka and Sane out of the ring. Bliss stood up to Legend and Jax, but they laid her out. Asuka and Sane returned to the ring and joined the attack. 

Iyo Sky ran out to her music. She dropped the rope on Legend to get her out of the ring, and laid out Asuka and Sane with a double springboard dropkick. Sky went after Jax, but Legend absolutely clobbered Sky with a forearm. 

The five heels continued the beat down until Rhea Ripley ran out next (wearing a face mask to cover her broken nose). Ripley attempted to clear the ring, but Jax punched her. However, the babyfaces now had the edge, so they got rid of Jax after Charlotte booted her right in the face. Sane was alone in the ring, so Ripley gave her a Razor’s Edge over the top rope and into the other heels. 

Ripley grabbed a mic and yelled, “War Games!”

Match result: Asuka & Kairi Sane defeated Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss to win the Women’s World Championships (10:12)

The crowd didn’t seem that into this match, either. It seemed like they were waiting for the finish, but they didn’t even pop for the title change. Perhaps the Jax and Legend run-in didn’t help. They did cheer for people running out to their music, though. 

WWE SmackDown live results: Saturday Night’s Main Event fallout

Posted on by Marc Quill

Tonight’s WWE SmackDown will emanate live from Greenville, South Carolina.

WWE Champion Cody Rhodes retained his title over Drew McIntyre at last weekend’s Saturday Night’s Main Event after using the title belt as a weapon. The answer as to what is next for Rhodes will be answered tonight.

Jade Cargill will celebrate on tonight’s show after she defeated Tiffany Stratton last Saturday to capture the WWE Women’s Championship.

Chelsea Green will get a chance to protect her record as the longest-reigning WWE Women’s United States Champion tonight as she challenges current champion Giulia for the title.

Men’s United States Champion Ilya Dragunov will host another open challenge as his young title run continues.

In a clash of former Women’s Champions, Charlotte Flair will battle Nia Jax, who fell to Flair’s tag team partner Alexa Bliss last Friday.

After a backstage skirmish, Rey Fenix goes one-on-one with Talla Tonga.

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

**********

– Our show kicked off with a recap of last week’s Saturday Night’s Main Event, specifically as it pertained to Cody Rhodes retaining his Undisputed WWE Championship over Drew McIntyre. This segued right into our opening segment with the aforementioned Rhodes.

Cody Rhodes kicks off SmackDown

The champion arrived in his usual grand manner, pyrotechnics and all, to the cheers of the crowd in Greenville. As Rhodes entered the ring and took a microphone, he opened by asking what the crowd wanted to talk about. He said that we could talk about what happened at SNME last week, stating that Drew McIntyre was the one who introduced the Undisputed WWE Title as a weapon during the match. Rhodes responded that his reluctance to pull the trigger has cost him time to time, something that McIntyre obviously had no issue with. That said, Rhodes called McIntyre the most “self-sabotaging athlete” in this business, which meant that the Scotsman was now fully well behind him.

Rhodes said that he wanted to do something different tonight, with that something different being sitting in the crowd with the fans to decide who’d be next for the Undisputed WWE Championship. That’s when the music of Aleister Black interrupted. Black arrived to the ring with Zelina (nee Vega) and had something to say.

Black talked about how he set Damian Priest on fire as he confronted Rhodes in the ring, showing the issue being the “size” of the Undisputed WWE Title. As Rhodes tried to step up to Black, Zelina slapped him in the face. This brought out Nick Aldis to make it official for tonight: Cody Rhodes vs. Aleister Black as the main event on SmackDown.

This is something thankfully different to kick off SmackDown, and a Black vs. Cody main event is something that is a bit fresh, so I’m at least interested to see where this goes.

**********

– Michael Cole and Corey Graves teed up the rest of tonight’s show as we saw Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss, as well as new WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill arriving to the arena. We then cut to U.S. Champion Ilja Dragunov making his entrance, but not before he was confronted by Tama Tonga of the M.F.T.s.

U.S. Title Open Challenge: Ilja Dragunov (c) vs. Johnny Gargano

As Dragunov’s challenger stepped out, Tommasso Ciampa walked out and was indignant about being rejected last week and being called a “jackass” by the U.S. Championship last week. He demanded that the bell be rung on this match. Once Ciampa entered the ring, Dragunov said that he accepted the challenge… but from Johnny Gargano.

The match kicked off as Ciampa provided a bit of a distraction to Dragunov, which allowed Gargano to strike early against the champion. Gargano attempted a superkick, but Dragunov caught it and hit a set of German suplexes consecutively. Dragunov then battered the back of Gargano’s neck with elbow strikes before he delivered a suplex as we headed to a break in the action here.

Our match returned from commercial as Dragunov blasted Gargano with an uppercut to the face. The challenger matched the effort with an uppercut of his own, but the Constantine Special by Dragunov connected right on the button. With Gargano stunned in the corner, he was open for a big boot from Dragunov, followed by a diving knee for the near-fall.

Gargano used the ropes to get himself back to his feet as he stopped Dragunov’s dive from the top with a kick to the gut. Another kick by Gargano was then immediately followed by a Poison Rana for a near-fall for the challenger. Gargano lifted Dragunov up to the top rope, but the U.S. Champion lit his chest up with chops, followed by an elevated headbutt. Dragunov leapt off the top rope with a senton, but that wasn’t enough to put Gargano away.

With Gargano dazed in the middle of the ring, Dragunov attempted the H-Bomb, but was countered with a boot to the face. Gargano, however, couldn’t escape Dragunov’s standing uranage. Another attempt at a Constantine Special was thwarted by Candice LeRae at ringside as the referee was distracted. This opened Dragunov up for a tornado DDT to the outside by Gargano, followed by One Final Beat. Dragunov somehow kicked out of that at two.

Gargano tried for a dive from the apron, but was stopped by a kick from Dragunov. The U.S. Champion lifted him up from the middle rope for a superplex, as one final H-Bomb put an end to this 19th U.S. Title defense in Dragunov’s favour.

Ilja Dragunov def. Johnny Gargano via pinfall to retain the United States Championship

Another fantastic U.S. Title match that felt somewhat short, especially compared to other Open Challenge matches we’ve had before. That said, Dragunov continues to be a highlight of these shows since his return and he certainly brought out the best in Gargano, who got a chance to dig into some of that NXT magic for this one.

**********

– As Nick Aldis was discussing something with a referee, Sami Zayn once again tried to ask to have Rey Fenix’s back against Talla Tonga later tonight. Aldis rejected Zayn’s request, as he was not medically cleared. Zayn warned that he wasn’t able to watch for longer as the M.F.T.s ran roughshod over everyone. Once Zayn left, R-Truth appeared and asked Aldis if he could be in the tournament for John Cena’s final opponent. In Truth’s words, he said he was putting “his balls” in Aldis’ hands. After the SmackDown GM told Truth he was already in the Cena tournament, Truth said that he didn’t want his balls in Aldis’ hands anyway.

– We got a recap of Jade Cargill’s Saturday Night’s Main Event victory over Tiffany Stratton, which made her the new WWE Women’s Champion.

– Backstage, a defeated Johnny Gargano talked about his loss to Tommasso Ciampa. The Fraxiom duo of Nathan Frazer & Axiom showed up to rub a little salt in the wounds, particularly towards Ciampa for being rejected two weeks in a row by Dragunov.

Jade Cargill celebrates her WWE Women’s Title win

Once Cargill got into the ring, she made it short and sweet. What happened to Tiffany Stratton would happen to anyone else in the SmackDown’s women’s locker room. That’s because Cargill was “that bitch”.

As Cargill left and made her way to the ramp, she was interrupted by Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss, who were entering for our next match. Cargill took time to taunt Flair briefly, which got enough of Flair’s attention that she tried to confront Cargill. Bliss got her tag partner to focus herself on her upcoming match against Nia Jax before anything physical could happen, however.

Pretty much just a short promo from Cargill that didn’t really need to go on for long, which does neatly help get around any sort of perceived limitations promo-wise from Cargill.

**********

– Backstage, Chelsea Green was getting herself hyped up for her Women’s U.S. Championship match against Giulia later tonight. That’s when Michin & B-Fab showed up to talk trash to her. As Green was boasting about being the greatest women’s champion on SmackDown, Jade Cargill appeared behind her. Green backed off and took her leave. B-Fab had a confrontation with the new WWE Women’s Champion afterwards, which led to a match between the two to be set for next week.

Nia Jax vs. Charlotte Flair (w/ Alexa Bliss)

The match got underway as Flair and Jax locked up in the middle of the ring. Jax used her strength to push Flair aside, as she then weathered a shoulder tackle from her foe. Jax facewashed Flair with a hand, but got taken down with a Lou Thesz Press. Jax shrugged that off and pushed Flair into the corner. Flair answered with a dropkick, followed by a headscissors takedown as she played to the crowd afterwards.

Back in the corner, Flair chopped at Jax, but got thrown into the corner, which led to her getting crushed and an ad break halfway through this one.

We returned from commercial as Flair attempted to fight back with a boot from the apron. She then went up to for the diving crossbody that landed on Jax. Flair fired away with chops to the chest of Jax, then the running clothesline to ground her gargantuan foe. Flair headed to the top rope and connected with the moonsault. One, two… no! Flair attempted to lock in the Figure-Eight, but Jax responded with a sitdown powerbomb that wasn’t enough to put this one away.

Jax dragged Flair near the corner as she looked for the Annihilator. Flair escaped, but found herself on Jax’s shoulders for a move of some kind. That, however, was countered as Jax fell victim to a diving elbow from the apron. Jax’s attempt at a Samoan Drop was countered into a Tornado DDT for the near-fall. Outside the ring, Lash Legend attacked Alexa Bliss and put her in a sleeper hold. This caused enough of a distraction as Jax won this with the Annhilator.

Post-match, it was clear that Legend was now aligned with Jax.

Nia Jax def. Charlotte Flair via pinfall

The match was not my cup of tea, but the partnership between Lash Legend & Nia Jax is at least somewhat interesting to partially freshen up SmackDown’s women’s division. Hopefully something’s cooking on that front.

**********

– A video package for the tournament to decide John Cena’s final opponent at the December 13th Saturday Night’s Main Event aired, narrated by the man himself. Afterwards, a video from Nick Aldis revealed the two matches that have been drawn so far: The Miz vs. Jey Uso and LA Knight vs. a surprise opponent.

– Backstage, Nia Jax and Lash Legend were interviewed about their new partnership. Jax called Lash her friend, something that she knew from their encounters on NXT. Lash said that this was only the beginning.

Women’s United States Championship: Giulia (c) (w/ Kiana James) vs. Chelsea Green (w/ Alba Fyre)

Green’s AAA Mixed Tag Team Champion partner, Ethan Page, was in the crowd and congratulated her as she made her way to the ringside area.

Green started off with a hard slap to Giulia’s face. She got a headbutt for her troubles, followed by a vertical suplex. Giulia caught Green with a knee to the face, but that wasn’t enough for the victory. Green got Biel thrown into the corner by Giulia, as she then found herself trapped across the ropes, and a knee to the face.

Kiana James got involved with a slap to the face to the stunned Green, which got her a superkick to the face by Alba Fyre. In the midst of this chaos, Green snuck in a roll-up pin with feet on the ropes to pick up the win and the Women’s U.S. Championship.

Chelsea Green def. Giulia via pinfall to win the Women’s United States Championship

This was not good, sorry to say. While I’m glad Chelsea got the win, and the result was certainly shocking, this certainly needed a bit more time to cook, and I’m not sure if people will be up for Giulia losing her title in only her third defense in the manner that she did here. It does highlight that there are underlying problems with how weak SmackDown’s women’s division is even with the new champions we’ve got, something that needs to be fixed.

**********

– The M.F.T.s plotted backstage ahead of Talla Tonga’s match with Rey Fenix. Solo Sikoa wanted to see Talla crush Fenix in their match. As the M.F.T.s left, we saw the Wyatt Sicks emerge from the shadows, as they kept a watchful eye on Sikoa’s group.

– As Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss were recovering from their tough night, Asuka — disguised as a doctor — spat her blue mist in both their faces before she and Kairi Sane made their escape.

Talla Tonga (w/ The M.F.T.s) vs. Rey Fenix

The Motor City Machine Guns & Shinsuke Nakamura snuck up behind the M.F.T.s and attacked them, which evened the odds for Fenix.

Once the match started, Fenix hit a feint between the ropes as he went after Talla’s legs with kicks to the back of his legs. Talla fought back by throwing Fenix down with a standing flapjack. With Fenix on the apron, Talla kicked him down, which sent Fenix crashing into the apron. Outside the ring, Talla threw Fenix into the barricade as we got a break in the action.

We returned from commercial as Fenix’s attempt at a springboard was met by Talla easily pushing him aside, to the amusement of Solo Sikoa at ringside. Talla clotheslined Fenix and began to pummel him in the corner with hard elbow strikes. Fenix created some separatation by avoiding a running attack from Talla, which allowed him to hit a feint kick to the big man’s face.

Fenix’s attempt at a sunset flip was stopped by Talla, who nailed his foe with a huge uppercut. As Fenix recovered on the apron, he avoided the big boot from Talla. He hit the Goodbye, Amigo kick on a stunned Tallaw as he then took off from the top rope with a crossbody for the near-fall. Fenix blasted Talla with a superkick to his kneeling foe. He tried to go for a dive, but Talla caught him for a chokeslam for the victory.

After the match, Sikoa tried to get Talla to chokeslam Fenix again, but Sami Zayn ran down with a chair in hand. Sikoa and Talla backed off.

Talla Tonga def. Rey Fenix

I honestly did not enjoy this match, but that might be largely due to me not really vibing this whole rebooted M.F.T.s. storyline, but I did somewhat appreciate the David vs. Goliath story that was attempted here. Other than that, not really much to write home about.

Next Week on SmackDown

  • Jade Cargill vs. B-Fab
  • Last Time is Now Tournament Rd. 1: The Miz vs. Jey Uso
  • Last Time is Now Tournament Rd. 1: LA Knight vs. ???

– The Miz was interviewed about his match with Jey Uso last week, as well as what he did to Carmelo Hayes last week. In Miz’s eyes, that was a reminder of what he was capable of. He said that he made Hayes relevant and that once he beats Jey Uso next week, he will be the one to end John Cena’s career.

Cody Rhodes vs. Aleister Black (w/ Zelina)

The two sized one another up and got into a chain wrestling battle to start off, with neither Black nor Rhodes having the upper hand early on. Shortly after, Rhodes lifted Black up for a standing suplex throw. He attempted his signature dropdown uppercut, but Black caught him with an armbar. Rhodes went for the Disaster Kick, but was met by a kick from Black instead, which took us to the final break of the evening.

SmackDown’s main event returned as Rhodes avoided a kick from Black and attempted the roll-up pin. Black responded with a boot to the face and another quick cover. In the corner, Black attacked Rhodes with chops and a kick to the chest, as he then hit him with the knee in the gut. Rhodes fought back with a running clothesline, followed by a successful Disaster Kick and the near-fall. Rhodes sized up Black for the Cross Rhodes, but Black countered and hit a fierce kick to the face for the two-count.

Black attempted a back suplex, but had that countered by Rhodes, who answered right back with the Cody Cutter for yet another near-fall. As Black got himself up, Rhodes tried for the Dusty-style strikes, but was met with a knee and a jackknife suplex from his foe. Black went for the Black Mass, but tried for the Cross Rhodes. That attempt was reversed as the two traded kicks that took each other out. Just as Black and Rhodes were recovering, Drew McIntyre appeared and hit the referee with a Claymore Kick.

Things descended into chaos as Black and McIntyre tried attack Rhodes with a two-on-one assault. Damian Priest ran down as a brawl broke out between everyone. Nick Aldis appeared after all this and announced that McIntyre was suspended indefinitely. The Levesque & Fitting producer credits appeared as McIntyre shouted repeatedly at Aldis that, quote, “his back was against the wall”.

Cody Rhodes vs. Aleister Black went to a No Contest

**********

It was an alright main event, and I suspect McIntyre’s “suspension” is to cover for him filming the Highlander reboot. That said, it does leave a hole in SmackDown’s world title scene, especially as it relates to who could Cody Rhodes face next while McIntyre is off TV.

The show itself, however, was not something I enjoyed watching. If 2025 has shown us anything, it’s just how much the bloom is off the rose with regards to Triple H’s booking post-Vince. SmackDown as a weekly show is a prime example of that. I enjoy the U.S. Title Open Challenges, yes, but everything else is either just there or not at all entertaining, sorry to say.