Tag: wwe results

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

Posted on by Steve Khan

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

The Big Takeaway —

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

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

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

**********

Show Recap — 

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

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

Roman Reigns opens Raw

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

*******

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

********

LA Knight interview

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

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

******** 

There was a Rusev video package. 

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

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

********

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

******** 

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

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

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

******** 

There was a video package of Naomi’s announcement. 

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

******** 

Becky Lynch and Nikki Bella segment

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

********

CM Punk interview 

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

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

********

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

********

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

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

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

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

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

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

********

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

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

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

********

AJ Styles vs. Finn Bálor

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

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

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

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

******* 

Jey Uso and Roman Reigns segment 

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

This was good.

********

Bayley video, Judgment Day segment

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

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

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

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

********

Official card for Clash in Paris: 

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

*******

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

WWE SmackDown live results: John Cena returns to Dublin

Posted on by Marc Quill

Editor’s note: This is a live post for the international airing of WWE SmackDown on Netflix. If you do not want to be spoiled before the U.S. airing at 8 p.m. Eastern, you have been warned.

WWE goes global on the road to Clash in Paris as SmackDown heads to Dublin, Ireland’s 3Arena for tonight’s episode.

Ahead of his match with Logan Paul at the August 31 PLE, John Cena will be in the house for his final Dublin appearance as an active wrestler.

The feud between WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss and Chelsea Green’s Secret Hervice continues as Flair battles Piper Niven in a singles match.

After a backstage skirmish last week, the Motor City Machine Guns go heads-up against Melo Don’t Miz (Carmelo Hayes & The Miz).

In more tag team action, The Street Profits take on two members of The MFTs.

The announced lineup is rounded out by Aleister Black vs. R-Truth.

**********

– The voice of lead commentator Joe Tessitore set up the night ahead from the Three Arena, as Logan Paul, the Street Profits, Solo Sikoa’s M.F.T.s, Charlotte Flair, and the Secret Hervice were shown arriving at the arena.

– From inside the arena, we saw Tessitore and Wade Barrett discuss the night before they announced that they were starting off SmackDown with a hometown superstar. That hometown superstar was, of course, current Women’s Intercontinental Champion, Becky Lynch.

Becky Lynch’s Irish Homecoming

Lynch entered the ring to a massive reception from the hometown Dublin crowd, who chanted her name and cheered her on.

“Look at us, lads! We’re on the telly!” Lynch started off as she talked about how this was the first-ever live televised WWE event from Dublin, Ireland. The crowd chanted “we deserve it” in response. Lynch said that she remembered coming here as a fan and how Randy Orton made eye contact with her at one of these events. She noted how that experience made her life and always dreamed of being here. Lynch said that now that this was happening, she noted that the crowd did not deserve it at all. She claimed that she petitioned to get this show cancelled.

The crowd loudly chanted for Lyra Valkyria, but Lynch protested because that since Valkyria lost against her, she’ll no longer get a chance at her Women’s Intercontinental Title. Lynch complained about the lack of media coverage she received in Ireland, because she was the hero of the Irish people. She talked about how she was immensely let down by the Dublin crowd because of their lack of appreciation as she put over her accomplishments like winning the first women’s main event of WrestleMania and being a New York Times best-selling author, and having a “very hot American husband” (Seth Rollins, to be exact). Lynch mocked the crowd’s “CM Punk” chants towards her, stating that “nobody wanted to see that old ass”.

Lynch continued to complain about getting off her jet, and Irish heroes like Katie Taylor, Barry Keoghan, and Bono. Before she could continue her tirade, the WWE Women’s Champion, Tiffany Stratton, interrupted to loud cheers from the crowd.

Stratton said that she couldn’t understand how Lynch could be ungrateful to Dublin, Ireland, and how she was on the wrong show. She talked about how Dublin understood that it was “Tiffy Time” before she told Lynch that she could either leave, or she’d make her leave.

Stratton’s old rival, Nia Jax, decided to interrupt at this time. Jax asked Stratton why she had to worry about Becky so much before she ran down the Dublin crowd. She declared that Stratton had bigger problems right now, and she was standing in front of her. Jax attacked Stratton, as Lynch joined along until Jade Cargill made the save. Cargill took out Jax with a pump kick as Lynch attempted to sneak up for an attack. Jax tried to get into the ring, but was met by a dropkick from Stratton that sent her to the outside.

Nick Aldis appeared on the ramp and announced that it’d be Lynch & Jax versus Stratton & Cargill in our main event tonight.

A hot opening segment to set up our main event match tonight, and Becky heeling it up on her hometown crowd was kind of funny.

**********

– Carmelo Hayes was walking backstage when Fraxiom talked to him. Nathan Frazer and Axiom gave credit to his efforts last week, but they noted how the Miz tried to steal his thunder last week. The Miz himself appeared and tried to stir up trouble, but Hayes seemingly had nothing but kind words for his partner as the two headed off for their match.

Melo Don’t Miz (The Miz & Carmelo Hayes) vs. Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley)

Miz and Hayes argued a bit about who’d start off until the former WWE Champion took charge. That was until Hayes tagged himself in and ended up being the one to get this going against Sabin.

Sabin and Hayes got it going with a series of lockups until Sabin took over with a pair of armdrags. Hayes dodged acrobatically over Sabin as Miz blind tagged himself into the match. The MCMGs showed great tag team acumen as they took both Hayes and Miz out to the ring. Stereo baseball slides were followed by a suicide dive by Sabin that knocked both Hayes and Miz down as we headed to a break in the action.

We resuumed with Shelley as the legal man trying to get to his corner and doing so as he tagged Sabin back into the match. The tag veteran went to work on Miz with a diving tornado DDT that only got a count of two. Sabin sized Miz up in his team’s corner as the Machine Guns rattled Miz with a modified Magic Killer. Hayes dove in at the last minute to save the match for his team.

Sabin and Shelley dropped Hayes with a double team drop kick as they looked for the Skull and Bones. Miz escaped and looked to have the Skull Crushing Finale, but Sabin reversed it. Hayes tagged in and had Sabin dead to rights for Nothin’ But Net, but Miz once again tagged in. Hayes took out Sabin with the Lungblower, but got clotheslined by Shelley to the outside.

A vulturous Miz snuck in and got the pin on Sabin for the win.

Melo Don’t Miz def. Motor City Machine Guns via pinfall

Kind of a sloppy tag match to start the show, but this story of Miz stealing Carmelo Hayes’ glory for himself and stringing him along with it is at least interesting.

**********

– Jimmy Uso was interviewed backstage about the announcement his wife Naomi made on Raw this past Monday. Sami Zayn congratulated the soon-to-be parents as he hugged Jimmy. Solo Sikoa and the M.F.T.s rolled up and said that Jimmy and Naomi’s newborn will have plenty of new family members to welcome them into the world. Jimmy gave an emphatic “no yeet” to that. Zayn then told Sikoa that he wouldn’t be facing “the underdog”, but rather, “WrestleMania main eventer” Sami Zayn when it came time for the U.S. Title to be defended.

Piper Niven (w/ Chelsea Green & Alba Fyre) vs. Charlotte Flair

Flair entered to the match without tag partner Alexa Bliss to the match, who was stated to have been not cleared to appear due to the attack from the Secret Hervice last week.

Niven slammed Flair down to the match and whipped her across to the corner. Flair got herself onto the apron and warded Niven with a boot as she then headed up top with a diving crossbody. As Flair tried to head up to the top rope again, Chelsea Green got on the apron to cause a distraction. This gave Niven the opening to hit an Abyss-style Black Hole Slam to gain the upper hand as we headed to the break.

SmackDown returned as Niven crushed Flair in the corner with a running hip attack, but couldn’t get the fall on her foe. Niven ascended to the top and looked for a Viper Bomb, but Flair dodged at the last second. The former WWE Women’s Champion then teed off on Niven with repeated chops, a clothesline, and a big boot. Flair taunted Green as she headed to the top and connected with the moonsault. One, two… not quite.

Niven escaped Flair’s Figure Eight attempt, but got felled by a Spear. That wasn’t enough for the win, however. As Flair locked in the Figure Eight, Alba Fyre created a distraction, which allowed Green to rake Flair in the eyes. In the end, Niven got the upset win on Flair with a Michinoku Driver for the duke.

Piper Niven def. Charlotte Flair via pinfall

Chelsea Green and the Secret Hervice getting the upper hand two weeks straight on the Women’s Tag Champs is a nice change of pace from them being the usual punching bags, so that’s at least nice to see.

**********

– Kiana James and Giulia were discussing business until Michin interrupted and called her shot. James said that Michin had to go through her before she could get a shot at Giulia’s Women’s United States Championship. Michin was more than happy to oblige her on that challenge.

John Cena returns to SmackDown

The star of Peacemaker made his way to the ring to a loud ovation from the Dublin crowd, who proudly sang his entrance theme. Cena ran down in his usual manner and looked like he had a spring in his step once he finally got into the ring. We got the “Never Seen 17” introduction for Cena from ring announcer Mark Nash before Cena got right down to business.

However, before Cena could even utter a word, Logan Paul interrupted and sauntered his way down to the ring. The fans chanted “f*** you Logan”, which prompted Paul to tell the crowd mockingly that they were getting muted on TV. Paul taunted the crowd and threatened to spit in each and everyone of their faces. He put himself over as allegedly “the person we came to pay to see”. Paul called Cena an “actor who knew how to wrestle”. As the crowd once again chanted “shut the f*** up”, Paul complained that their chanting would get the sound muted on TV with their cussing.

Paul put himself over as a guy who works harder than everyone at the back, and told Cena he was a corporate pawn who’d do everything he was told to do. Paul kept rambling as he asked to play a game called “Who’s the Imposter?” He asked whether the guy who stayed to be himself or the guy who went away to pretend to be someone else was the imposter. Paul yelled that this was “his house” now.

When Cena finally spoke, he called Paul an undeniable presence, tremendous athlete, and a future WWE Champion. He said those things that he believed to be true, and that it made him upset. He said that there was one term that was stuck on Paul for years: “Outsider” (or as the Dublin crowd said instead, “wanker”.) Cena called Paul a “disappointment” instead. He said that Paul was using WWE as a branding opportunity to buy another Pokemon card, as he tipped over the PRIME bottle display at ringside.

Cena blasted Paul for claiming that he “put his life on the line” for a total of 23 matches, which he found insulting. Cena talked about how he did the same, but for a total of 23 years through a multitude of live and televised events, including matches against Sheamus in 2010 in Dublin. Every time Cena stepped in the ring, whether he had 100 moves or 5 moves or 1 move, he said that he only had one question to himself: “what could he give to this business”. In Paul’s case, that question, according to Cena, was “what could he take?”

Cena then said that Logan Paul wasn’t an outsider, but he was a parasite. Cena put over deserving stars that he could’ve been facing like Dominik Mysterio, Seth Rollins, AJ Styles, The Usos, and Jacob Fatu, just to name them all. Cena said he was wasting his time entertaining Paul’s challenge, but he was a man of his word and Paul got lucky by being first in line. Cena told Paul knew about hustle, but nothing about respect.

“As for your co-habitation agreement, I read the news, homey, you’ve got plenty of legal trouble,” said Cena. The 17-time World Champion then told Paul that he’d either understand what it meant to give yourself up for this business at Clash in Paris, or Paul would get the ever-loving shite beaten out of him.

Thing’s got physical when Paul shoved at Cena, which led to him getting dropped with an Attitude Adjustment.

Cena was in his element with this promo tonight, as he certainly brought down the hammer on Paul as only he could with a classic “fine speech” takedown promo.

**********

– Jade Cargill and Tiffany Stratton discussed strategy backstage as they looked to be on a united front against Becky Lynch and Nia Jax.

– An angry Logan Paul was confronted by Drew McIntyre, who bluntly told him that he was scared of the mystique of John Cena. He said that Paul was going to make this right tonight, whatever it took.

The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) (w/ B-Fab) vs. Tonga Loa & J.C. Mateo (w/ The M.F.T.s)

It is said that the winners of this match would face Melo Don’t Miz next week on SmackDown for a shot at the Wyatt Sicks’ WWE Tag Team Championships.

The Profits had the upper hand early on as Ford dropped Loa with a standing moonsault. Mateo entered the match and took over with strikes on Ford in the corner for a bit. Ford recovered and hit the Famouser on Mateo and looked to have a dive from the apron locked and loaded. However, Loa tripped Ford up and sent him right into the outside ringpost shoulder-first, which led to a break.

Our match returned from the break with Mateo hitting Ford with a clothesline, followed by a standing moonsault of his own. Ford dodged out of the way of Mateo’s running strike as Loa got himself into the match with a tag. Ford managed to throw Loa out of the ring as Dawkins got the hot tag. The big man of the Street Profits went to work with a running shoulder block on Mateo, followed by a flapjack on Loa.

Dawkins lifted up Mateo on his shoulders, but couldn’t get the Electric Chair drop down. Loa broke up the pin after a Street Profits double team move. Ford, now the legal man, wanted to head up top for a move, but Solo Sikoa’s distraction allowed Talla Tonga to intervene. This let Mateo deliver the Tour of the Islands on Ford. That wasn’t enough to secure the win for the M.F.T.s, however.

Jimmy Uso ran up and hit Talla with a chair as they began to brawl in the crowd. While Sikoa was up on the commentary table, Sami Zayn tripped him up and hit a modified Helluva Kick. The finish saw Mateo get pinned after a a Montez Ford frog splash.

The Street Profits def. The M.F.T.s via pinfall

A decent tag match, and the crowd did come alive for Sami Zayn and Jimmy Uso running in to take out the M.F.T.s members at ringside.

**********

Aleister Black vs. R-Truth

R-Truth appeared and said that he wasn’t going to be able to make it tonight, stating that he wouldn’t make it because he ended up in Dublin, Georgia instead. However, Truth said he’d made a call to one of his good friends.

Out came Damian Priest, who was looking to get some revenge after having his jaw broken by Black three weeks ago. After a short skirmish, a vanguard of referees and security ran in to break things up. After some effort, the fight was broken up.

Aleister Black vs. R-Truth never happened

**********

Drew McIntyre demands answers regarding Cody Rhodes

While the commentary discussed Cody Rhodes’ condition, Drew McIntyre appeared and once again angrily asked about a medical update on Rhodes. McIntyre said that he had an update of his own: “Cody Rhodes is a little bitch”. He said that he did Rhodes a favor and gave him more than enough time with the Undisputed WWE Championship. While McIntyre continued to talk, Randy Orton snuck up behind him and hit an RKO out of nowhere on McIntyre.

Randy Orton’s return is certainly going to be used to set up a match with McIntyre at Clash in Paris while the title match between McIntyre and Cody Rhodes will be likely taking place at Wrestlepalooza next month.

**********

Next Week on SmackDown

  • United States Championship: Solo Sikoa (c) vs. Sami Zayn
  • Tag Team Contender’s Match: Melo Don’t Miz vs. The Street Profits
  • WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship: Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss vs. The Secret Hervice

Becky Lynch & Nia Jax vs. Tiffany Stratton & Jade Cargill

Lynch and Stratton started off with strikes in the ring before she took down Jax and Lynch with a dive to the outside. While Stratton tried to get into the ring, she was being held by the leg by Lynch as Jax hit a leg drop on her. We then went to the final break of the evening.

When SmackDown returned, Cargill and Lynch re-entered the match and faced off. Cargill unleashed a flurry of strikes on Lynch, followed by a spinebuster. Lynch tried to go up top, but was caught by Cargill, who hit a Fallaway Slam on her foe. A stunned Lynch was blasted with a superkick from Cargill, followed by a tilt-a-whirl sitout powerbomb. Lynch managed to kick out at two. Jax got the tag as she snuck up on Cargill while Lynch ran off.

Cargill avoided the Annihilator, as she turned it into a powerbomb instead. Stratton and Cargill ended up getting the victory in our main event after hitting a combination of moonsaults on the fallen Jax.

Tiffany Stratton & Jade Cargill def. Nia Jax & Becky Lynch via pinfall

– Before we ended our night truly, John Cena was seen walking out of the arena, as SmackDown GM Nick Aldis told him he had just heard from Brock Lesnar. Before we could hear what that was, Logan Paul hit Cena with his punch and ran off.

**********

A weirdly paced main event that felt very much a victim of things getting rushed. In fact, a lot of the evening felt like things were strangely timed, as if a segment might’ve ran too long. That ended up affecting the majority of the show.

All in all, a nothing-to-write-home edition of SmackDown, other than the great John Cena verbal takedown of Logan Paul, Becky Lynch’s opening promo, and Randy Orton’s return. Just nothing really stood out to me from what we got tonight.

WWE Raw live results: Naomi addresses her status

Posted on by Steve Khan

Date: August 18, 2025
Location: Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, PA 

The Big Takeaway —

Naomi is expecting a child with Jimmy Uso and relinquished her World Championship. The segment turned her into a big babyface, so we’ll see what happens when she returns. She made it clear that she’s coming back as soon as she can to recapture the title. 

Raw’s streak of inconclusive main events ended as Jey Uso beat Bron Breakker in an Extreme Rules match, which included a lot of interference. 

It wasn’t announced, but Roman Reigns appears to be facing Bronson Reed at Clash in Paris. 

Next week’s Raw in Birmingham airs at 3 pm ET/12 pm PT.

**********

Show Recap — 

Jey Uso and Naomi were shown arriving (separately) after a recap of last week’s Raw. 

The Vision opens Raw

They advertised that The Vision would appear on Raw and, in fact, the four men who are on Raw most weeks entered to kick off the show. 

Seth Rollins wore a floral-patterned shirt and pants. The fans sang his song, the heel group was cheered, and people loudly barked for Bron Breakker. 

They also cheered for Paul Heyman, who said he was God in this city (Philadelphia). The city would build him a statue, but he was far too humble to accept the credit he deserved for everything he’s done in front of and behind the camera. “Bluntly—I am the GOAT.” 

Heyman said the ring was filled with GOATs. He put over Breakker and Bronson Reed in the same manner he always does. Reed continues to carry Roman Reigns’ shoes with him, so the crowd chanted, “OTC.” Heyman put over Rollins next and said he’s beaten Reigns twice. The crowd sang his song again. 

Rollins was about to speak, but Jey Uso entered through the crowd. Jey remained in the crowd to cut his promo. (He pointed the microphone at a few young fans who all said, “Yeet.”) Jey was tired of The Vision. He called Breakker a puppy dog who would have to deal with him tonight. 

Rollins egged on Breakker by claiming Jey said things about Breakker and his family that he never actually did. Rollins claimed Jey said he was a better and stronger athlete than Breakker, and claimed Jey thought his family was stupid. I guess Breakker believed him because he wanted to go after Jey right now, but Rollins stopped him. (Jey seemed unbothered by all of this.) 

Heyman said that in a bingo hall not so far away, men used to settle their differences in the ring in a particular type of match. He was about to proclaim the match in the name of Sandman, New Jack, Rob Van Dam, Sabu, Tommy Dreamer, and The Dudley Boyz, but Jey cut him off and offered the match instead: extreme rules. 

(When Heyman said Dreamer’s name, he called him the “late, great Tommy Dreamer.” He went on to say that he knew Dreamer wasn’t dead but added, “he should be.”)

This was the usual opening segment to build to the main event, with some ECW references in Philly thrown in to make it feel different. 

********

Asuka apologized to Iyo Sky backstage for shoving her last week. Kairi Sane and Asuka offered to be at ringside for her match, but Sky politely turned them down. They were all happy and on the same page. 

IYO SKY vs. Raquel Rodriguez (w/Roxanne Perez)

Sky was about to go for a dive, but was tripped by Perez from outside the ring (with the ref distracted). Rodriguez used the distraction to boot Sky. Rodriguez took over the moment they went to break, and Sky came back the moment they returned after dodging an elbow drop. 

Sky hit a missile dropkick, and the crowd cheered when she did her pose. Sky went for a bullet train, but Rodriguez caught her and hit a Samoan drop, followed by a corkscrew elbow drop for two. Rodriguez avoided a moonsault and turned Sky inside out with a clothesline for two. 

Sky wiped out Perez with a suicide dive and went for one on Rodriguez, but Rodriguez caught her and rolled through to her feet. Rodriguez lawn-darted Sky onto the ring apron and went for a Tejana Bomb in the ring, but Sky countered out of it and hit the bullet train. Sky followed with a moonsault for the pinfall win. 

— Perez and Rodriguez attacked Sky after the match, but Rhea Ripley (not Asuka and Sane) ran out to make the save. Sky quickly joined in, and they worked together to get rid of Rodriguez. 

Match result: IYO SKY defeated Raquel Rodriguez (11:00) 

This wound up being pretty good, particularly the portion following the commercial break. 

********

Jackie Redmond interviewed LA Knight. Before he could say much, CM Punk interrupted. Punk said Redmond could leave, but Knight told her to stay. Punk thought Knight didn’t like him, but Knight said it wasn’t personal. Punk kept stepping into his business. 

Punk thought they should stay on the same page against Rollins’ crew, but Knight wasn’t interested after Punk attacked him last week. Knight was focused on walking out of Paris as the world champion. 

********

The New Day cut a generic heel promo during a break. Kofi Kingston said the 76ers were losers, and Xavier Woods said Penta owed him money for his hat. 

They aired highlights of Triplemanía and said it was the most viewed edition in history, with 4.3 million views in the first 24 hours. They did not mention that it aired on YouTube. 

Asuka and Sane approached Ripley and Sky backstage. Asuka didn’t appreciate Ripley stepping in to help Sky instead of them. Asuka and Ripley got into a shouting match until Sky yelled at them even louder to stop. Sky kept shouting as she left and could be heard off-screen as Asuka and Ripley stared at each other. Asuka left, Ripley was annoyed, and Sane looked disappointed at this turn of events. 

********

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

The heel took control 90 seconds into the match, which meant it was time for a break. During the break, Michael Cole said Woods tracked down Petey Williams to find out how to counter Penta’s Canadian Destroyer. (Although, Cole said Woods asked Williams about his Canadian Destroyer to counter Penta’s Mexican Destroyer.) 

Penta made a comeback and wiped out Woods and Waller with a dive. Woods responded later with a reverse vertical suplex for two. The crowd was deathly silent as Penta countered Woods’ Honor Roll with a Penta Driver. 

Penta didn’t immediately go for a cover, and Woods managed to roll to the ropes. This allowed Kingston to put Woods’ foot on the bottom rope to break up the cover, so Penta wiped out Kingston and Waller with a flip dive. (I like that Waller did nothing at ringside besides get laid out by two dives.) 

Woods tried to steal a win with a small package, but Penta kicked out and hit a Canadian Destroyer for the pinfall win. 

Kingston and Waller entered the ring to go after Penta, but he bailed. 

Match result: Penta defeated Xavier Woods (9:48) 

Congrats to Penta, who moves to one win above .500 in 2025. 

********

They showed Dominik Mysterio getting pinned by El Hijo del Vikingo at Triplemanía thanks to AJ Styles. (They played loud music over the crowd’s reaction to Vikingo winning.) 

After the show, Dom called Styles an “old bat” for costing him the title and said he would beat Vikingo at Worlds Collide on September 12th. (Rey showed up to mock Dom for losing.) 

Non-title match: World Tag Team Champions Finn Bálor & JD McDonagh (w/Intercontinental Champion Dominik Mysterio) vs. Dragon Lee & Mr. Iguana

Mr. Iguana got a modest reaction. Dragon Lee was in control for a couple of minutes before tagging him in. There were light cheers when he tagged in, but Bálor immediately cut him off. The crowd sang Dom’s name as Bálor had the heat. Dragon Lee and Mr. Iguana wiped out Bálor and McDonagh with dives ahead of a break. 

This slowed down during a break. When they returned, McDonagh hit Dragon Lee with a poisonrana, but Lee quickly responded with a Liger bomb. Mr. Iguana made a hot tag, and his offence included using his puppet, “La Yesca,” which didn’t get much of a reaction. Dragon Lee tagged himself in, and McDonagh wiped out Mr. Iguana with an Asai moonsault. 

Bálor hit Dragon Lee with a slingblade, but Lee came back with a superkick. McDonagh distracted the referee as Dom grabbed Lee by the leg. This allowed Bálor to hit Lee with a dropkick and Coup de Grace for the pinfall win. 

— Judgment Day put the boots to the babyfaces post-match. Dom cleared the announce table but was attacked by Vikingo. 

Vikingo attacked McDonagh in the ring, but Dom attacked Vikingo from behind with his AAA Mega Championship belt. Judgment Day aided Dom, who hit Vikingo with a frog splash. 

Match result: Finn Bálor & JD McDonagh defeated Dragon Lee & Mr. Iguana (9:52)

Dragon Lee looked good here, but there was only so much he could do. Mr. Iguana didn’t do much, but they definitely wanted you to know he has a puppet. Neither Mr. Iguana nor Vikingo got significant reactions. That doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be used on WWE programming, but the crowd isn’t with them yet. 

*******

Redmond interviewed Becky Lynch and asked why she attacked Natalya last week. Lynch claimed we saw the best of Maxxine Durpi thanks to her, and she was only defending herself when Natalya shoved her. Lynch said Natalya has been wrestling in different promotions to prove herself, but Natalya didn’t belong in the ring with her. Lynch welcomed her back to the big time. 

*******

There was a follow-up to that Bayley interview last week. She’s talking to herself now. She has a split personality like Two-Face, and her inner voice was constantly calling her a loser. Of course, we can hear it too, which doesn’t make any sense. 

This was stupid. 

******** 

Women’s Intercontinental Championship: Becky Lynch (c) vs. Natalya (w/Maxxine Dupri & Akira Tozawa)

We got normal WWE Natalya in this match. Lynch posted Natalya, and they went to break 90 seconds into this title match. They tried to play it up like Natalya had a shoulder injury. The ref checked on her, but Lynch went after and worked over her arm through the break. 

Lynch applied an armbar when they returned. Natalya eventually fought out and hit a powerbomb. Natalya sold her arm before going for a Sharpshooter. Lynch avoided it, but Natalya hit a discus clothesline for two. 

Dupri checked on Natalya, so Lynch booted Dupri and hit Tozawa with a baseball slide as he checked on her. This led to Natalya applying a cradle, which was probably meant to get a reaction since it came off a distraction, but it didn’t. Lynch kicked out and applied a Disarmer for the submission win. 

— Lynch decked Natalya and Dupri after the match. She put Dupri on a Disarmer until Nikki Bella ran out to make the save. Nikki laid her out with a “Rack Attack 2.0.” 

Match result: Becky Lynch defeated Natalya to retain the Women’s Intercontinental Championship (7:51) 

A standard WWE match with a crowd as quiet as you’ll ever hear. 

*******

They announced a “special edition” of Stephanie McMahon’s podcast with Naomi (who Stephanie called “Trinity”) and Jimmy Uso. They aired a clip but cut away before Jimmy could make an announcement. 

Naomi is up next. 

********

Redmond tried to interview Sheamus, but they were interrupted by Rusev. The two men were about to brawl, but officials broke it up. A furious Adam Pearce said they would settle things in a good old-fashioned donnybrook. 

Vic Joseph interviewed Trick Williams during a break, but they were interrupted by Je’Von Evans. Trick left and said he’d see him tomorrow. Evans plugged the match on tomorrow’s NXT. 

Punk approached Jey Uso and offered to have his back tonight. Once again, this did not go the way Punk hoped. Jey wanted to do this on his own and was focused on Paris. They shook hands. 

******** 

Naomi’s announcement 

Naomi entered with her world championship. She was emotional and asked the fans to turn to the screen. They aired the announcement on Stephanie’s podcast. Jimmy announced they were having a baby, and the crowd popped huge. Stephanie wanted to hear it from Naomi, so Naomi confirmed she was pregnant. 

Back in the ring, Pearce congratulated Naomi and said they were all happy for her. The fans cheered. 

Naomi looked angry as she turned her attention to Pearce. She said this wasn’t her first time relinquishing a title. She handed it back the first time, but this time, “I ain’t handing you shit.” Her hormones were jumping like a disco, so she told Pearce to get to steppin’ and get out of her ring. He left. She encouraged the fans to sing the goodbye song at him, so they did. She thanked them. 

Naomi said the women in the back should be thanking one person. Some fans chanted for Jimmy Uso, and she smiled because that’s who she meant. If it wasn’t for Big Jim, she would’ve walked them all like a dog. But thanks to Big Jim and Netflix and chill, that wasn’t happening. The fans chanted, “You deserve it,” and she was happy to hear it. 

Naomi exclaimed: “On the bright side, I guess the Bloodline continues, baby!” (Some fans decided to chant, “OTC.” Some much smarter fans chanted, “Baby Uso.”) 

Naomi placed the belt down in the ring. She told the heffers in the back they had just over nine months to get ready. She would do whatever it took to get her title back, even if that meant doing it while breastfeeding her baby. She advised them to proceed with caution. 

The crowd cheered as she waved goodbye.

(This was great, and of course, turned Naomi into a big babyface.) 

********

Next week on Raw in Birmingham, UK (start time 3 pm ET/12 pm PT)

  • Rhea Ripley vs. Roxanne Perez 
  • Kofi Kingston vs. Penta 

******** 

Backstage, Judgment Day weren’t sure where Dom was, but they bumped into him while he spoke to El Grande Americano (Ludwig Kaiser). Dom told Bálor he just wanted to ensure Judgment Day always stayed on top. 

Bálor acted like he was fine with this, but was clearly caught off guard. (Bálor has been the one pulling the strings for weeks, but this was the first time he seemed like he wasn’t in control of things.) 

******** 

Extreme Rules match: Jey Uso vs. Bron Breakker (w/Paul Heyman)

Jey wore a bandana like New Jack and carried a shopping cart full of weapons to ringside. Early in the match, Jey clotheslined Bron over the top, and Bron landed right on top of the cart, which didn’t look fun. Bron stayed down for a while until blocking Jey’s dive attempt by hitting him with a steel chair. (Before this, Jey tossed chairs into the ring one at a time as the fans yelled “Yeet.”) 

Bron cut off Jey’s comeback attempt and dropped him gut-first onto the top edge of two steel chairs. Bron did his usual leaping clothesline off the apron, but used a trash can this time to send Jey over the announce desk. During a break, Jey gave Bron a back body drop through the thin piece of cardboard that covers the announce desk. 

Bron hit a Frankensteiner and went for a super spear, but Jey cut him off with a spear of his own for a nearfall. Jey hit him repeatedly with a steel chair before hitting another spear. Jey hit an Uso splash, seemingly for the win, but Bronson Reed pulled the referee out of the ring. 

Reed attacked Jey as Cole said this was all legal. You could question why Reed wasn’t out there from the beginning, but to answer that question, Knight ran out to even the odds. Rollins ran out through the crowd to attack Knight. Rollins laid out Jey with a pedigree, and Punk entered next. 

Rollins slipped in the ring to escape Punk, but wound up getting attacked by both Knight and Punk. Punk set up Rollins for a GTS, but Rollins slipped out and shoved Punk into Knight. Knight fell off the apron and crashed through a table. Punk shrugged his shoulders and chased Rollins through the crowd. 

Bron set up a table in the corner, but Jey superkicked him onto the table. Jey went to the top, but Reed shoved him off. The crowd chanted for Roman Reigns, knowing he was advertised for the show. Sure enough, as Bron set up for a super spear, Reigns’ music hit. 

Bron hesitated while he watched the stage. Reigns didn’t show, so Bron went for the spear, but Reigns appeared at ringside and cut him off with a spear. Reigns also speared Reed. 

Jey superkicked Bron onto the table and hit an Uso splash for the pinfall win. The crowd was happy. 

— As Jey posed for the crowd, Reigns told Reed he would see him in Paris. Reed was on board.

Match result: Jey Uso defeated Bron Breakker in an Extreme Rules match (20:26) 

This was basically a WWE main event match in a nutshell. Pretty good action, tons of interference, stars interrupting to their music. The crowd ate it up, and they were way, way, way more into this than anything else on the show, aside from Naomi’s announcement.

WWE SmackDown live results: Drew McIntyre addresses attack on Cody Rhodes

Posted on by Marc Quill

Following last week’s SmackDown main event, Drew McIntyre sent a message to WWE Champion Cody Rhodes by attacking him and hitting a Claymore kick through the side of the commentary table.

McIntyre will appear on tonight’s SmackDown to address his attack and perhaps stake his claim for a future title shot ahead of Clash in Paris.

Alexa Bliss takes on Piper Niven of the Secret Hervice after Bliss’s partner and co-Women’s Tag Team Champion Charlotte Flair defeated Chelsea Green last week.

“Melo Don’t Miz” will reunite tonight in tag team action as Carmelo Hayes and The Miz take on Fraxiom. Last week, Hayes was seeking a singles championship, but got roped into a tag match by Miz who had supposedly spoken to SmackDown GM Nick Aldis about it.

The Street Profits & DIY will renew their rivalry when they face off. Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa have blamed the former WWE Tag Team Champions for letting the SmackDown tag division fall into chaos after losing their titles to the Wyatt Sicks.

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

**********

– Following the WWE signature and flyover over Boston’s skyline, we got shots of Drew McIntyre arriving at the arena, as well as a recap of the damage caused by the surly Scotsman after he hit a nasty Claymore kick on Cody Rhodes through the side of the commentary table last week.

Solo Sikoa and the M.F.T.s open SmackDown

The United States Champion and his “family tree” arrived on the scene to open our show. Once Sikoa and his group entered the ring, he said that the M.F.T.s. were in the building to remind everyone that he and his group ran SmackDown. And if anyone didn’t like that? Too bad.

Last week, Sami Zayn came out and tried to show up on SmackDown, and that forced Sikoa and the M.F.T.s to show up on Raw to, in his words, “stomp his ass out”. Sikoa declared that Zayn was stomped out, alongside Jimmy Uso and Jacob Fatu. He once again challenged anyone to come out from the back to face him, but the music of Sami Zayn cut Sikoa off, and out came the man himself. Zayn walked to the ring alone and stopped on the apron, with mic in hand.

Zayn said that he was just out here to talk. He asked Sikoa if he could just talk with him. The U.S. Champion told his M.F.T.s to back off as he stood face to face with Zayn. The Montreal native said that this past Monday, if he had beaten Rusev, there was a possibility he could’ve been fighting for the World Title at Clash in Paris, and now that wasn’t going to happen thanks to Sikoa’s group. He noted how he felt furious, but after some long thoughts, Zayn noted that he was finally liberated. Zayn had been so focused on chasing the World Title that he hadn’t had time to focus on other things in WWE, and for that he wanted to actually “thank” Sikoa.

Zayn said that there was one title that he hadn’t held in WWE aside from the World Title, and that was the United States Championship. Sikoa taunted Zayn that he would never win the U.S. Title and yelled at him to get out of “his show” as he didn’t want to see him ever again. In actuality, it turned out, Zayn was now officially a member of the SmackDown roster. Sikoa took something away from Zayn, and now the Canadian was going to take the U.S. Title away from Sikoa.

As Sikoa tried to strike at Zayn, we had ourselves a skirmish. The M.F.T.s stepped in and delivered a numbers game-enhanced beatdown until Jimmy Uso ran in for the save. The M.F.T.s’ advantage was still too much until Jacob Fatu made the save. As the M.F.T.’s forces were sent to a retreat, Talla Tonga saw himself sent outside by a triple superkick from Zayn, Uso, and Fatu.

Nick Aldis stepped in and made it official that our main event tonight would be Zayn, Fatu, and Uso versus any three of the M.F.T.s in a six-man tag match.

Moving Sami Zayn to SmackDown was a good lateral move, even though it pulls him into the so-called “Bloodline Vortex” once again. That said, I think I’m ready for him to be the next U.S. Champion.

**********

– Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett welcomed us to the show as they tossed things over to Byron Saxton, who was standing by with Chelsea Green and her Secret Hervice. Green was asked, in her words, how we got here. Green claimed she could’ve been severely injured after getting a faceful of cake last week, as Piper Niven and Alba Fyre promised to “confiscate” Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss of their WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships.

Alexa Bliss (w/ Charlotte Flair) vs. Piper Niven (w/ Chelsea Green & Alba Fyre)

The ring and ringside LED displays were adorned with a King of the Hill logo, to promote the recently-released reboot of the beloved animated series.

Bliss asked for a moment prior to the match as she put her Lilly doll aside. Niven pounced on the attack with stomps on Bliss as she pointed at Lilly. Green tried to take it from outside the ring, but Charlotte backed her off. In the ring, Bliss jumped on the back of Niven and tried to apply a sleeper hold to ground her larger foe. Niven used her power to break the hold successfully as she had the physical advantage on Bliss at this point in the match. She floored Bliss with a textbook Black Hole Slam as we headed to a commercial break.

SmackDown returned with Bliss taking advantage after she avoided a Niven cannonball during the commercial break. She hit Niven with repeated running moonsaults, but those weren’t enough to secure the three count. Niven regained momentum with a headbutt, which finally allowed her to hit Bliss with the corner cannonball. Bliss avoided possible calamity by dodging the Viper Bomb. As Bliss tried to head up top, Green got on the apron to provide a distraction, but Flair stopped her. Fyre then got on the apron, but got kicked away by Bliss. In the end, Bliss got the rollup victory on Niven.

After the match, the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions found themselves on the wrong end of a three-on-two attack from Green and the Secret Hervice.

Alexa Bliss def. Piper Niven via pinfall

Kind of a nothing match, if we’re being honest. But, it’s at least nice to see Green and her stable actually look credible for once with their post-match beatdown.

**********

– Tiffany Stratton and Jade Cargill were arguing backstage as Nick Aldis tried to bring some peace to the situation. Nia Jax soon appeared, and was told by the WWE Women’s Champion to simply “bring it” if she wanted another shot at her.

Melo Don’t Miz (Carmelo Hayes & The Miz) vs. Fraxiom (Axiom & Nathan Frazer)

Axiom & Hayes started us off in this match until Miz tagged himself in, much to his partner’s annoyance. Joe Gacy of the Wyatt Sicks was shown standing in the crowd, which got Axiom’s attention. Gacy’s tag team partner Dexter Lumis was shown lurking in the crowd as well.

Axiom and Miz got themselves into a battle of flipping attacks until the former NXT Tag Champion used his speed to escape, as Frazer entered the match. Miz was flummoxed by Frazer’s speed as he decided to let Hayes handle him. Frazer flipped across the ring and caught Hayes with an enzuiguiri. Fraxiom used their high-flying double team attack to rattle Melo Don’t Miz with an all-out dive assault. We went to a break at this point.

SmackDown returned with Hayes having a resthold applied on Axiom, as he then hit a superkick on him. Axiom countered an attempted powerbomb with a hurricanrana that got a near fall. Hayes finally connected with that powerbomb, but could not put Axiom away. Hayes tried to get at Frazer, who avoided the attack. Axiom took advantage and hit a kick to the face of Hayes. Frazer got the hot tag as he made off with supersonic speed to floor Miz with a moonsault.

Frazer looked for the Phoenix Splash, but Miz rolled out of the away as he hit Frazer with a big knee. Hayes tagged in and tried for a springboard attack, but Frazer met him at the rope and hit an inverted Spanish Fly instead. Hayes somehow kicked out at two. On the top rope, Hayes tried to head up top, but Axiom stunned him with a kick. This opened Hayes up for the Spanish Fly/Phoenix Splash combo from Fraxiom. Miz broke up the count by stepping onto the back of Frazer, followed by a DDT afterwards.

On the top rope, Frazer hit Hayes with a jumping kick and looked for a jumping Spanish Fly with Axiom. However, Miz stopped Axiom with a DDT on the apron. Back on the top rope, Hayes countered Frazer with an amazing top rope cutter. As Hayes was looking for Nothin’ But Net, Miz selfishly tagged himself in and stole the win with a Skull-Crushing Finale, much to Hayes’ chagrin.

The crowd was hot for this match, and the story of Miz trying to steal the glory of Hayes is at least interesting, and presuming that this leads to a tag title match with the Wyatt Sicks, the supernatural faction will surely take advantage of Miz’s duplicity to defend their tag team gold.

Melo Don’t Miz def. Fraxiom via pinfall

**********

– Tiffany Stratton was approached by Kiana James, who offered her services of being a client of hers, which included benefits such as a custom pink World Championship. Stratton refused James’ services as she walked off. Michin then appeared and stated that she had Giulia next. James said that this was “under advisement”.

Drew McIntyre addresses his attack on Cody Rhodes

The Scotsman stepped into the ring and talked about people asking why he did what he did last week to the Undisputed WWE Championship. He asked for the clip to be played again, which brought a smile to a face. McIntyre asked us to listen closely, as he said that apparently did “not” attack Cody Rhodes. He then accosted Joe Tessitore about a medical update on Rhodes. He ranted about how that management was hiding Rhodes’ medical condition.

McIntyre said that he wasn’t mad at Rhodes, that he instead felt sorry for him because of how much he put the weight of the fans and the WWE management on his shoulders. McIntyre noted that he was once in Rhodes’ position, but he moved on afterwards. He noted that Rhodes was nothing without “his story”, as he boasted that McIntyre didn’t attack Rhodes… he was attacked instead.

McIntyre walked us through what happened and put his own spin of the events that transpired last week. He noted that he defended himself, and that while Rhodes was good at pissing people off, McIntyre said he was good at taking people out. He declared himself the “real nightmare” as he walked off.

Uninterrupted McIntyre segment here, which presumably will lead to a Clash in Paris title match, and likely to give Cody Rhodes a break while filming his Street Fighter role, or at least prepare for it.

**********

– The Street Profits were confronted by Solo Sikoa and the M.F.T.s just before their match against #DIY. As the Profits left, Sikoa asked Talla Tonga what he was looking at, as something in the distance caught the big man’s attention. We got a glimpse of who exactly Talla was looking at after the M.F.T.s walked off, and it was a faraway Erick Rowan lurking menacingly.

#DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa) (w/ Candice LeRae) vs. The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) (w/ B-Fab)

As the bell rang, Ford caught Ciampa with a dropkick, but found himself hit with a boot that sent him to the #DIY corner not long after. Gargano & Ciampa blasted Ford with a tandem of running boots into the corner.

Ford avoided a chop block from Ciampa as he then tagged Dawkins. The titanic Dawkins used his strength and speed to keep the #DIY duo cornered. Outside the ring, LeRae got herself in the way of Dawkins, which allowed Ciampa to hit him with a kick. Gargano, Ciampa, and LeRae sat on the apron and did their happy clap, which took us to the break.

The action picked up from commercial with Gargano and Dawkins down on the mat after a slam from the latter. Both men tagged in their respective partners as Ford soared with a high crossbody from the top rope on Ciampa. He countered Gargano with a Famouser, followed by a jumping neckbreaker on Ciampa. Ford leapt up with a splash on Ciampa for the near-fall.

The Profits showed great teamwork with an assisted double team back suplex on Ciampa. As Ford headed up top for the Blockbuster, B-Fab was sent to the steps by LeRae outside the ring. This created a distraction and allowed #DIY to hit their superkick-into-Fairy Tale Ending. Dawkins slid in the last second to break up the count. Ford avoided a superkick from Gargano as he sent him into Ciampa instead. While Ford was on the apron, LeRae took him out with a leaping hurricanrana, In the ring, Gargano hit Ford with his slingshot DDT, and the action turned to chaos. Outside the ring, LeRae got smashed with a knee from B-Fab, and in the end, the Profits secured victory after a high-flying frog splash from Ford on Ciampa and the three.

The Street Profits def. #DIY via pinfall

Just a fun tag match. The Street Profits are always reliable for fast-paced tag action, and pitting them against #DIY is a recipe for some exciting tag team action.

**********

– Carmelo Hayes tried to ask Nick Aldis for a singles shot at the United States Championship when the Miz once again tried to speak for his partner’s behalf. Chris Sabin of the Motor City Machine Guns taunted Hayes by asking if he was “Him” or if he was “His” (as in belonging to Miz). This led to Aldis scheduling the MCMGs versus Melo Don’t Miz for next week’s show.

– We got a recap of John Cena and Logan Paul’s encounter from last week’s show, which led to a match between the two to be booked for Clash in Paris.

– R-Truth was asked about John Cena’s recent “attitude adjustment”, to which he seemed overjoyed about. Before he could get further, Aleister Black confronted him. He wanted to know which Truth he was getting, as Truth got serious and stepped up to Black. “There he is, Mr. Killings,” said Black as he told Truth to see him next week.

– Backstage, Sami Zayn wondered if Jacob Fatu was going to be cool with them teaming up together in our main event. Fatu told Zayn to stay out of his way, as he walked off with a “yaddamean”, which confused Zayn.

Next Week on SmackDown

  • John Cena returns
  • R-Truth vs. Aleister Black
  • Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley) vs. Melo Don’t Miz (Carmelo Hayes & The Miz)

The M.F.T.s (Solo Sikoa, Tanga Loa, J.C. Mateo) (w/ Talla Tonga) vs. Sami Zayn, Jimmy Uso, Jacob Fatu

We got things going with Mateo and Uso as our legal men. Mateo backed Uso into the corner and clubbed him with strikes. Uso escaped and stunned Mateo as Zayn tagged in and tried his best to maintain momentum. Mateo used his strength to run Zayn into his corner, as Tanga Loa entered the match with a tag. Tanga threw Zayn outside and caused a distraction for Talla Tonga to kick Zayn with a big boot, which took us to the final break of the evening.

SmackDown’s main event returned from commercial with Sikoa pummeling Zayn near the M.F.T. corner. The feisty Quebecer tried to fight back, but Sikoa asserted control and brought Mateo into the match. Zayn avoided a running splash in the corner from Mateo, and looked for a tag. Sikoa punched Uso away and taunted Fatu as he continued to attack Zayn.

As Zayn was on the top rope, he roared back and hit a tornado DDT on Sikoa, which created some much-needed separation for him. Finally, Jacob Fatu was tagged in as he unleashed his wrath on Tanga Loa. Fatu struck Tanga with repeated headbutts, followed by the running hip attack. Mateo got sent over the top rope with a clothesline by Fatu, as a flying dive from Uso to the outside left him out cold. In the ring, pop-up Samoan Drop by Fatu was not enough to end the match as Tanga kicked out.

Fatu headed to the top rope as Sikoa stopped him long enough for Tanga to get the knees up on the moonsault. Sikoa tagged in and hit a diving splash on Fatu. One, two… not yet! Fatu and Sikoa traded superkicks until a double-down clothesline from the two took one another out. Zayn entered the match with a tag and a Blue Thunder Powerbomb on Sikoa. Mateo broke up the count and ate a superkick from Uso as result. Fatu superkicked Tanga before he sent Talla Tonga over the announce table with a suicide dive to the outside.

In the ring, Sikoa’s Samoan Spike was reversed into an Exploder Suplex by Zayn, followed by the Helluva Kick for the one, two, three in our SmackDown main event.

As SmackDown ended, Fatu finally showed respect to Zayn as the two embraced and celebrated with Jimmy Uso to end the night.

Sami Zayn, Jacob Fatu, and Jimmy Uso def. The M.F.T.s via pinfall

**********

A solid TV main event match that did its job of establishing Sami Zayn as a credible threat to Sikoa’s U.S. Title as well as solidify him as a top face along side Jacob Fatu. It was also rather nice to get a clean finish to the match after the last two episodes of Raw & SmackDown gave us inconclusive DQ finishes and beatdown segments to end them.

All in all, a fairly decent episode of SmackDown that did its best to fill two hours without stars like John Cena or Cody Rhodes to carry the bulk of the show. If there is a downside, I think it’s with how the WWE Women’s Championship feels kind of shuffled off to the side, as champion Tiffany Stratton only had two backstage segments and the fact that Nia Jax & Jade Cargill are being teased as challengers again does highlight how small the main event scene of the SmackDown women’s division is. Hopefully that’s something that’s to be addressed in the near future, and Bianca Belair’s return, whenever that is, should help alleviate that somewhat.

WWE NXT live results: Eight-man tag team main event

Posted on by Chris Aiken

WWE NXT continues its build to Heatwave tonight — along with setting the stage for next week’s TV episode in Philadelphia.

It’s been confirmed that NXT Champion Oba Femi will defend his title against either Trick Williams or Je’Von Evans at the August 24 Heatwave PLE. Those two are set to do battle in a number one contender’s match next week, but they’ll be on the same side tonight as Femi, Williams, Evans, and TNA star Moose take on DarkState in an eight-man tag.

NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne will also be in tag action tonight, teaming up with Fallon Henley against Kelani Jordan & Lola Vice.

A grudge match is on the books for tonight with Nia Jax facing off against Lash Legend. Jax is out for revenge after Legend eliminated her from a battle royal at WWE Evolution.

Plus, TNA’s Joe Hendry will compete against Charlie Dempsey.

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

**********

NXT is on the air from a sound stage at the Performance Center in Orlando.

— Opening the show is an outdoor skit from earlier today where NXT Tag Team Champions Hank & Tank arrive at the building. They are met by NXT General Manager Ava, who orders they are not allowed to interfere tonight in Darkstate’s match. Ava has something in her eye, and the tag champs perceived that as a wink and a nod. Ava insists she is serious, and they are not to interfere. They wink back and walk away.

Lash Legend vs. Nia Jax

The match goes through a commercial break, and the live studio audience got into the match. Jax is in control much of the bout, but Legend powers out to fight back. At one point, Legend is making a comeback when Jax grabs the ring skirt. The referee turns away from them so he can get the skirting out of the ring. Behind the ref’s back, Jax pokes Legend in the eye.

The fighting soon spills outside the ring. They teased a suplex on the announce desk. Instead, Legend picks up Jax for a bodyslam, but Legend buckles and Jax splashes Legend as they crash through the announce desk. They then tease a countout, but Legend beats the count at the last second.

For the finish, they tease a superplex. Legend slips out and lifts Jax for a powerbomb. However, Legend’s legs again buckle, and Jax falls on top of her in a seated position. It looked like Legend took a very painful bump. Jax then climbed to the middle rope for a Bonsai Drop. Jax went to cover Legend for a three count.

Match result: Nia Jax defeats Lash Legend via pinfall

— Kelly Kincaid interviews Darkstate, and they take turns cutting promos.

— Chelsea Green and the Secret Hervice are backstage in a skit where they are scouting talent. They encounter Evolve Women’s Champion Kali Armstrong. Green also insults several others on the roster. There is a weird attempt at comedy with two guys dressed in wigs and makeup, and they are quickly ushered away. The skit concludes with them setting up a match between Alba Fyre and Kendal Grey.

Joe Hendry vs. Charlie Dempsey (with Wren Sinclair)

Hendry is over with the studio audience. Dempsey was able to do some nifty wrestling, but this was about pushing Hendry. Dempsey with a counter late in the match, and he uses a backslide for a near fall. Hendry counters a second attempt of the backslide. Hendry then chokeslams Dempsey with Standing Ovation, and Hendry covers him for a pinfall.

Match result: Joe Hendry defeats Charlie Dempsey via pinfall

— Before a commercial break, Josh Briggs is heading to the ring. We will “hear from him” after the break.

— But first, another skit. Lola Vica and Kelani Jordan are warming up for their tag team match later tonight. In walks Jaida Parker, who says she has money on them in the tag match. But Parker warns them both about chasing the women’s title, as that is her shot.

Josh Briggs challenges Yoshiki Inamura to a street fight

Briggs enters the sound stage for a monologue. The studio audience drowns Briggs in boos. Briggs begins to cut a promo on his former partner, Yoshiki Inamura. The crowd chants to turn off the spotlights. That causes Briggs to stumble on his promo, but he continues while the audience boos more.

Briggs says Inamura needs to learn the only way to survive in NXT is to play dirty. So, Briggs issues a challenge for next week in Philadelphia for a Philly street fight. Inamura power walks to the ring to confront Briggs and answer the challenge.

Inamura calls Briggs a “jackass” before saying he will fight is way with honor. Inamura goes on to accept the challenge for the street fight, and Inamura then jumps Briggs. They fight on the turnbuckles as security tries to separate them. Inamura knocks Briggs off the turnbuckles, and Briggs falls into the waiting arms of security at ringside. Inamura then leaps off the top rope with a high cross on the group.

— Jordynne Grace sits down with Kelly Kincaid for an interview. Grace is without the neck brace, and Kincaid asks how she is feeling about her physical journey to NXT. Grace says Blake Monroe was right in that Grace spent too much time avoiding mirrors. Grace went on to say the real battle is not with her body, but her mind. Grace talks about battling feelings of self-worth.

Grace also talks about feeling like an outsider. She shares the same weakness with Monroe, but Monroe’s is wrapped up in a “designer confidence” where she doesn’t think she is good enough. She projects that on other women. Grace says real strength does not feed on someone else’s weakness. Grace then vows to show Monroe what a champion looks like in their match at Heatwave.

— Monroe is in Ava’s office. Ava informs her of a face-to-face next week with Monroe and Grace.

— Fatal Influence are interviewed backstage by Blake Howard. He asks NXT Women’s/TNA Knockouts Champion Jacy Jayne a question, but Fallon Henley answers instead. Jayne also takes a jab at Jazmyn Nyx for getting them booked in the tag match tonight. Jayne and Henley bicker as Masha Slamovich is seen arriving at the building. Fatal Influence then heads towards the ring for their match.

— NXT Champion Oba Femi, TNA Champion Trick Williams, Je’Von Evans and Moose are in the locker room talking about their tag match later on. Hank and Tank then come into the locker room spraying what is apparently a pesticide. They are ushered out by Robert Stone. That was quite odd.

Fatal Influence (Fallon Henley & Jacy Jayne with Jazmyn Nyx) vs. Kelani Jordan & Lola Vice

Masha Slamovich is sitting in the audience as the match starts. The tag bout goes through a commercial break. Just before the show cuts to the break, the heels cut off the babyfaces. Nyx helps with a distraction.

Jordan with a hope spot when the show returns from the break, but Jordan is soon cut off. Hot tag to Lola Vice. The heels bump and feed. Vice with hip attacks and a snap suplex for a near fall. Jordan tags in and does slingshots into a springboard guillotine. Moments later, Jordan is slammed off the top rope. Jordan takes stereo strikes from Fatal Influence, albeit if one kick misses badly. Vice jumps in to break up the pin.

Jordan and Jayne run through a series of spots. Everybody gets involved, including Nyx jumping on the apron. Vice kicks Nyx, and she falls into the ring selling the kick. Vice ducks Jayne, and she hits Jayne with a spinning back fist. Jordan follows up with a split-legged moonsault, and Jordan covers the double champion for a pinfall.

Match result: Kelani Jordan & Lola Vice defeat Jacy Jayne & Fallon Henley when Jordan pins Jayne

— Ricky Saints and Jasoer Troy are featured in a video package sponsored by an insurance company. Troy vows to defeat Saints next week in Philly.

— Coming back from a commercial break, Vic Jospeh voices over a plug for bull riding on CW in some cross-promotion with PBR.

Alba Fyre (with Piper Niven) vs. Kendal Grey

NXT North American Champion Ethan Page is seen watching the match on a backstage monitor alongside fellow Canadian Chelsea Green. Page leaves and heads to the ring to watch from ringside. In the match, Fyre pins Grey after a Gory bomb. Fyre rakes Grey’s away just before they go home.

Match result: Alba Fyre defeat Kendal Grey via pinfall

— In a post-match angle, Page cuts a promo. Out comes Tavion Heights to confront Page. Heights says Grey did a good job, but she was not his pick. Height’s pick is the first woman in WWE to win an Olympic gold medal. Heights then introduces Tyra Mae Steele (Tamyra Mensah-Stock) to the audience. Steele sneaks into the ring behind the heels. Steele suplexes both Fyre and Niven. She then gives Page a suplex.

— Fatal Influence is walking to Ava’s office as Jaybe berates her teammates. Once in Ava’s office, Ava announces that Jayne will defend the TNA Knockouts title at NXT Heatwave against Masha Slamovich and Ash By Elegance in a triple threat match. The Personal Concierge of Ash by Elegance is there to cut a promo on Jayne. Ava concludes the skit by announcing a six-woman tag match with Fatal Influence against Elgance Brand next Tuesday in Philly.

— Chelsea Green and the Secret Hervice are backstage with Page. Green is stressing over the Olympians until she has an idea. They are going to sign a peace treaty between the United States and Canada. Page has connections in Parliament, so he can get it done next week in Philly.

Oba Femi, Trick Williams, Moose & Je’Von Evans vs. Darkstate (Dion Lennox, Osiris Griffin, Saquon Shugars & Cutler James) in a eight-man tag team match

Melee starts the match, but it eventually settles into a traditional eight-man tag. Wild action throughout with so many in the match. Lots of intricate sequences involving multiple people. The bout goes through a commercial break. For the finish, Darkstate wins with the Shield powerbomb.

Match result: Darkstate defeats Oba Femi, Trick Williams, Moose & Je’Von Evans via pinfall

After the match, Hank & Tank run in to brawl with Darkstate. The show goes off air with a melee in the ring.

WWE Raw live results: CM Punk appears in Quebec City

Posted on by Steve Khan

Date: August 11, 2025
Location: Centre Videotron in Quebec City, QC 

The Big Takeaway —

Raw’s main event ended in a DQ/no contest for the fourth week in a row when Seth Rollins attacked CM Punk. The result led to Adam Pearce announcing that Rollins would defend his world title at Clash in Paris in a four-way against Punk, LA Knight and Jey Uso. 

Sami Zayn might have been in the title picture, but he failed to beat Rusev after Solo Sikoa and the MFTs interrupted that match—also leading to a DQ. 

Naomi did not appear, and there was no update on her status. Iyo Sky lost to Roxanne Perez after some failed assistance from Asuka and Kairi Sane. Asuka appears to be turning sooner rather than later.

**********

Show Recap — 

There was a long, dramatic recap of last week’s Raw. 

Michael Cole informed the live and TV audience that Naomi was not medically cleared to compete and, therefore, would not be defending her title tonight. 

CM Punk and LA Knight segment

Quebec City is red-hot, and CM Punk entered to a big ovation. 

Punk said the fans made it hard for him to stay angry, but he was angry because he should be standing there representing them as champion. He wasn’t, though, because he had a Seth Rollins problem. Rollins was a visionary who couldn’t see what was right in front of his face. He was trying to be CM Punk, but was failing miserably. 

Punk climbed to the top of the mountain at SummerSlam and became the champion for the first time in 12 years “in this company.” He couldn’t help but feel he let the fans down because he wasn’t the champion anymore. However, if he was obsessed about becoming champ before, he was even more possessed now. 

Punk knew to hate the game and not the player. He’s cashed in Money in the Bank multiple times before, but boy, did he hate Rollins. Rollins pretended to be Punk and pretended to be injured so he could cash in when the time was right. Punk promised to regain the title. Rollins wouldn’t have to pretend to be injured because Punk would break his legs. 

LA Knight interrupted to a big reaction. They shook hands. Knight said Punk was robbed at SummerSlam and deserved to have his rematch. (Punk responded, “Yeah!”) However, Knight had his title match against Rollins last week, and Punk couldn’t help but get involved and get him disqualified. Wrong place, wrong time. 

Knight said he didn’t have a problem with Punk and would like to keep it that way. If Punk wanted Rollins, he should do it on his own time. Punk could get his rematch—after Knight got his. 

Punk said Knight should be thanking him. Knight wasn’t about to become champion after getting his head stomped in. Punk called himself the number one contender and told Knight to get behind him in line. 

Knight recalled Punk saying there were levels to this, and Punk was not on his level. Knight wanted a favour from Punk. Knight suggested he take the title from Rollins first, then Punk could be his first successful title defence. 

Punk called himself the best in the world. They seemed to be spinning their wheels at this point and repeating themselves when Paul Heyman interrupted with Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed (carrying two pairs of Roman Reigns’ shoes around his neck). 

Heyman spoke a couple of words in French before admitting that’s all the French he knew. The crowd yelled obscenities at him in French. Heyman advised Knight not to do any favours for Punk. 

Heyman rambled until Punk cut him off and invited the Bron-Brons into the ring. Heyman was on board and agreed: Punk and Knight against Breakker and Reed tonight. 

Knight didn’t initially accept (likely because he wanted Rollins instead), but Punk cut him off and said they accepted. Knight made it clear Punk didn’t speak for him, but he accepted. (They argued as the segment ended.) 

When it seemed like the segment was done, Breakker made his way down the aisle but was held back by Reed. Bron told Punk, “You’re 47! What are you gonna do?” and added, “You’re both 100 years old combined!” Reed and Heyman convinced Breakker to back off.

(This segment was ok. Punk and Knight are both good speakers, but their interaction felt forced. Punk’s initial promo wasn’t his best, either. After all their talking, the highlight of the segment was Breakker at the very end.) 

********

Dominik entered the Judgment Day clubhouse with El Grande Americano (Ludwig Kaiser). Raquel Rodriguez didn’t like him being there. Finn Bálor pulled Dom aside and reiterated that they didn’t really want him there. Dom said it was cool because Americano was joining him at Triplemanía. Bálor was on board because Americano could help Dom bring the AAA Mega Championship to the Judgment Day. 

The announcers plugged Triplemanía during entrances for the next match. 

AJ Styles & Dragon Lee vs. Intercontinental Champion Dominik Mysterio & El Grande Americano (Ludwig Kaiser)

Dragon Lee wiped out Americano with a dive before the match began, and they gave the babyfaces the edge until they went to break, when the heels took over. Lee made a hot tag after the break, but the heels got the advantage again. This led to a second break just nine minutes into the match. (Dom wrestled for a few moments while wearing a mask.) 

Americano ripped at Lee’s mask during a break and actually exposed a decent amount of his face. The match slowed until it was time to return from break, when Lee hit Americano with a double foot stomp. Dom yanked Styles off the apron to prevent a tag, but Styles chased him around ringside and tackled him over the barricade. 

Styles made a hot tag and hit Americano with a fireman’s carry neckbreaker, but Dom broke up a cover. Lee monkey flipped Dom into a Styles Clash, which was a cool spot. However, Americano shoved Lee off the top rope, so Styles gave him a reverse DDT. 

Americano tried placing a steel plate under his mask, but Styles hit an enziguri. The plate dropped into the hands of Dom, who put his mask on and placed the plate inside. As Styles came off the rope, Dom headbutted him, and Americano caught Styles in a schoolboy for the pinfall win. 

Match result: El Grande Americano & Intercontinental Champion Dominik Mysterio defeated AJ Styles & Dragon Lee (16:38) 

********

Earlier today, Sami Zayn (wearing a Quebec Remparts jersey) asked Adam Pearce if he had decided on a world title match at Clash in Paris. Zayn desperately wanted the match. Pearce said he couldn’t make any promises. He told Zayn to focus on Rusev, then they could talk about it. 

Sheamus entered. Pearce didn’t want him going after Rusev again. Sheamus wasn’t about to listen to Pearce, but Zayn asked him sincerely to stay out of it. Sheamus agreed, but said he would go after Rusev the second their match was over. 

*******

Iyo Sky lamented to Pearce about not getting a title match (now that Naomi is hurt). Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez showed up to mock her. Sky said she came to Quebec to fight, so she challenged Perez. Pearce made it official. 

There was a graphic highlighting some wrestlers who came out of Quebec: Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, The Quebecers, Pat Patterson, Stan Stasiak, Rick Martel, and more.

******** 

Sami Zayn vs. Rusev

They took turns posing for the Quebec fans as the match began, and you can guess the reactions. Zayn hit an Arabian press to the outside, and the crowd popped, but Rusev cut him off with a uranage. During a break, the crowd yelled obscenities at Rusev. He posed again for the crowd and got way more heat this time, the most he’s received since returning. 

Zayn made a comeback after the break and hit a tornado DDT as the fans rose to their feet. Zayn went for a Helluva Kick, but Rusev cut him off with a Machka Kick for two. Zayn avoided an Accolade and applied a schoolboy for two. Rusev avoided an exploder and hit Zayn with ten beats of the Bodhrán (to piss off Sheamus). 

Rusev stalled for too long, so Zayn hit an exploder in the corner. The camera zoomed way in on Zayn as he set up for a Helluva Kick, so you knew something was happening. 

Zayn was pulled out of the ring by Solo Sikoa’s MFTs for the disqualification. Tala Tonga booted Zayn as officials ran down to chase them away. The crowd booed this, of course. 

— The booing didn’t last long, because Sheamus appeared through the crowd and hit Rusev with a knee strike. Sheamus tossed a security guard over the announce desk. Sheamus and Rusev brawled through the crowd as the segment ended. 

During a break, Zayn got to his feet and went to the stage as the crowd chanted, “Olé.” 

(There was a funny, perhaps unplanned moment, where the security guard that Sheamus assaulted was in visible pain between Cole and Corey Graves at the announce desk.) 

Match result: Sami Zayn defeated Rusev via disqualification (9:49)

This was good enough while it lasted, thanks mostly to the crowd. They would’ve exploded if Zayn got a simple win here, but alas, they went with this finish instead. Cole mentioned that Zayn might’ve gotten closer to a title match with a win.  

********

After a break, Sikoa and his crew were kicked out of the arena. Pearce was pissed as he spoke with Nick Aldis on the phone. A referee interrupted to tell Pearce that they had separated Sheamus and Rusev. Pearce screamed at him to go make sure. 

The New Day and Grayson Waller approached Pearce next to complain about Penta. Pearce was steaming and put Xavier Woods in a match against Penta next week. 

*******

There was a video package for Bronson Reed, where he spoke about Reigns. He planned on adding to his shoe collection until Reigns acknowledged him as his Tribal Thief. 

Asuka and Kairi Sane offered to be at ringside for Sky’s upcoming match. Sky appreciated it, but she’s beaten Perez before, so she declined. They all embraced, but Asuka seemed put off slightly by Sky turning them down. 

IYO SKY vs. Roxanne Perez (w/Raquel Rodriguez)

Sky was in complete control and wiped out both Perez and Rodriguez with a suicide dive. It was weird because Perez just popped up and attacked Sky from behind to get the heat. Perhaps Sky was only supposed to hit Rodriguez on the dive, but she definitely got them both. I guess Perez knew they were going to break, and it was time to get heat. 

Sky made her comeback after the break, hitting strikes, a dropkick, enziguri, a missile dropkick, and bullet train (running double knee strike in the corner) for a nearfall. 

Perez knocked Sky off the top rope and brought her down with a hurricanrana. Perez clonked Sky with a knee drop (and you could hear the impact) for two. The referee was distracted by Rodriguez, so Perez poked Sky in the eyes and hit a shining wizard for two. Perez put Sky in a crossface, but Sky eventually slipped out and hit a backbreaker for two. 

Sky hit an Asai moonsault to take out both Perez and Rodriguez. Sky went for a moonsault in the ring, but Perez got her knees up. At least that was the plan. Sky didn’t land in position, so she landed knees-first on Perez anyway. They both stayed down. 

As Rodriguez distracted the ref again, Asuka and Sane ran down to go after Perez. Perez escaped, and Sky almost hit her friends by mistake. Perez shoved Sky into Asuka/Sane and rolled her up while holding the tights for the pinfall win. 

Sky was upset as she looked down at her friends at ringside. 

Match result: Roxanne Perez defeated IYO SKY (15:39)

This was a very good match until the clunky finish. The crowd was into Sky.

********

Jackie Redmond interviewed Jey Uso. He said it hurt him to miss Raw last week and hurt him to see what happened to Reigns. He missed Raw because he had family business to take care of. Jey put Rollins and the Brons on notice. 

Knight interrupted. He noted people thought Jey was conspicuous by his absence last week. (He claimed this is what people thought, but not him.) Knight told him that the line started behind him regarding the world title. Jey offered to put Knight at the back of the line. Jey welcomed him to Raw. 

********

Byron Saxton interviewed Penta during a break. He said Woods’ hat looked better on him, and New Day sucks. 

An upset Iyo Sky confronted Asuka in the back as Sane tried to settle them down. Sky blamed Asuka for the loss. Asuka shoved Sky and took off. Sky was shocked. Sane was upset, but she followed Asuka. 

******** 

Women’s Intercontinental Championship: Becky Lynch (c) vs. Maxxine Dupri (w/Natalya & Akira Tozawa)

Lynch mocked Dupri and told her to get out of her ring. Dupri acted like she might, but gave Lynch an arm drag. Lynch took over anyway and hit multiple suplexes, but Dupri countered a Man-handle slam into a stunner. 

Dupri applied an ankle lock, but Lynch rolled out of it. That led to Dupri doing an oddly timed cartwheel before booting Lynch in the corner. Dupri hit a flying crossbody for two. Dupri hit a spin kick, although it didn’t look good. 

They traded cradles, and Lynch tried stealing a win by grabbing the bottom rope, but the referee caught her. Lynch applied a Disarmer moments later, and Dupri quickly tapped out. 

— Lynch booted Natalya as she checked on Dupri after the match. 

Match result: Becky Lynch defeated Maxxine Dupri to retain the Women’s Intercontinental Championship (5:38)

Dupri has improved, but this was nothing. 

*******

Seth Rollins met with his crew backstage. He was in a good mood because he thought he’d have to deal with Punk and Knight tonight, but they had to deal with the Brons instead. (Not sure why they can’t go after Rollins, too. People run into each other backstage all the time.) 

Rollins figured his job was done, so he left for his personal jet. (He doesn’t hang with the Brons outside of this show because he said he would see them next week, but would see Heyman on the jet.) 

********

New Day cut a promo with Waller on the stage. Kofi Kingston claimed Quebec wasn’t really Canada, and Woods (wearing a tiny hat this week) said he would beat Penta next week. 

Bayley segment 

There was a video feature on Bayley, who seems to be having an existential crisis. I thought this was really good until the very end. 

She said she’s been doing this a long time. She wanted more but felt less. She felt nothing. She was called a role model before she ever called herself one. She wanted to be that person people looked up to. But now she was here—by herself. Everything that led up to now has gotten her nowhere. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt proud of herself. It was her own fault. 

The camera went out of focus, and she acted like she had a headache. The screen went black, and you could hear her heel cackle. 

(I think they should have aired this same feature without the last part. They want to tease a heel turn, but laid on it on too thick with that bit.) 

— Redmond interviewed Lyra Valkyria about the video. Valkyria hoped Bayley was ok. She had no idea what was going on with Bayley and said she wouldn’t have known because Bayley shut her out. Valkyria was struggling with how to react to this, but she said Bayley was the reason she couldn’t challenge for the IC title anymore. Valkyria said this wasn’t her fault, and Bayley was on her own. 

********

Stephanie Vaquer approached Sky backstage. She said, “You’re not the only one who was promised a title match.” She left. 

Rhea Ripley approached Sky next. Ripley got a huge pop. Ripley tried reasoning with Sky and asked if she could trust Asuka and Sane. Sky didn’t want to hear that and told her to stay out of it. (Ripley was being sincere and seemed upset that Sky was upset.) 

********

CM Punk & LA Knight vs. Bron Breakker & Bronson Reed (w/Paul Heyman) 

The babyfaces were in control until the Brons used a distraction to take over during a break. Knight came back after the break, but Breakker knocked him over the announce desk with a leaping clothesline off the apron to lead to the second break nine minutes into the match. (I refer to this pattern dismissively every week, but the match has been enjoyable so far with the teams doing simple heel and babyface stuff to work the crowd.) 

Knight began crawling for a hot tag as Breakker stalked around the ring to go after Punk. Punk saw it coming, so Breakker backed off, but that meant Knight couldn’t make a tag. The Brons gave Knight a Steinerizer, but Punk broke up the cover. 

Punk made the hot tag and hit Breakker with a boot, clothesline, leg lariat, vertical suplex, and lifting knee strikes. Reed was about to go after Punk, but Knight intercepted him with a baseball slide. 

Punk hit Breakker with a flying (falling) elbow drop as the crowd got to their feet. Punk called for GTS, but of course, Rollins attacked him for the DQ.  

— The heels attacked until Jey Uso entered to his music. He attacked Breakker in the aisle with a chair. Rollins bailed before Reed swatted the chair away from Jey. Jey fought him off anyway and knocked him out of the ring with the chair. Jey stood tall with Punk and Knight in the ring. 

Pearce entered. He told Rollins he would have to defend the world title at Clash in Paris against Jey Uso, Knight and Punk in a fatal four-way. Rollins was not happy. 

Punk was so happy he celebrated by shaking the ropes like Ultimate Warrior. Knight was less enthused and argued with Punk. Knight shoved Punk, so Punk tackled him. They brawled until Jey pulled Knight off Punk, so Knight gave Jey a back elbow. (Jey did not try to retaliate.) 

Punk set up Knight for GTS, but was speared by Breakker. Rollins and his crew beat up the stupid babyfaces. Breakker ran around the ring and speared Knight. Reed gave Jey a DVD and Tsunami. Rollins stomped Knight as he re-entered the ring, and stomped Jey. 

The Brons held down Punk as Rollins taunted him. Rollins stomped Punk and held his title belt up high. 

Match result: CM Punk & LA Knight defeated Bron Breakker & Bronson Reed via disqualification (16:22) 

This was the fourth Raw show in a row where the main event ended in a DQ or no contest. The last Raw show to end with a decisive winner was July 14th, when Punk won the gauntlet match. 

The babyfaces looked like idiots getting beaten up by Rollins and friends.

WWE SmackDown live results: SummerSlam fallout

Posted on by Marc Quill

At SummerSlam, Cody Rhodes reclaimed the WWE Championship in a hard-fought street fight against “the real” John Cena that saw the two men show tremendous respect for one another following the match. Rhodes is scheduled to appear tonight in Montreal’s Bell Centre to address his championship victory and potentially find out who his first title defense will be against.

Meanwhile, Cena will kick off SmackDown to not only discuss his defeat at SummerSlam, but also being attacked post-match by a returning Brock Lesnar.

Motor City Machine Guns will face Talla Tonga and JC Mateo of the MFTs in tag team action. The team of Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley were one of five teams who came up short in dethroning the Wyatt Sicks in a hotly contested TLC match at SummerSlam.

The MFTs are coming off a mixed night at SummerSlam where Solo Sikoa retained the United States title against Jacob Fatu inside a steel cage — but Fatu and Jimmy Uso left Mateo and Tonga Loa laying after.

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

**********

– SmackDown opened with a recap of the SummerSlam Sunday main event between Cody Rhodes and John Cena, as well as the Brock Lesnar return after the match.

John Cena opens SmackDown

We didn’t waste any time as John Cena opened SmackDown, with his usual babyface entrance back in full force after SummerSlam. The Montreal crowd responded with a loud cheer for Cena as he addressed the camera, telling Stu the Cameraman “let’s go to work” before he ran down to the ring, full of vigour.

Ring announcer Mark Nash did the introduction for Cena, but added that the “Last Real Champion” was here to celebrate with all the fans.

“Man, we have come a long way,” began Cena. He said for the longest time, WWE was afraid to come to Montreal because they thought the audience would hijack the show. Cena said that he wasn’t afraid of that possibility because he knew that the audience was the show. If we watched at home, we could see the crowd go and wish we were there. Cena noted that the Montreal crowd was so loud that he could barely hear himself talk.

For the crew in the back, Cena said that it could get scary if the crowd started singing. “Some performers might get scared,” but Cena said that he might’ve been afraid, but the crowd helped him through it by letting him embrace and enjoy every single second. He said that it didn’t last forever, unfortunately, as the crowd chanted “Thank you, Cena”.

He said that he’s been coming here for over two decades, and that he had shared many valuable moments in this ring, and that all he had to say was: thank you. Cena reminded the crowd that after tonight, he has 11 dates left before retirement. Cena admitted that every time a day goes by, he gets more and more afraid, and he thanked everyone for that.

Cena said that no matter how much he gave to the crowd in the little amount of time left, that it wouldn’t be enough. Cena continued by saying that he was also afraid that after he was gone and WWE moved on without him, he’d be forgotten as a result. Cena finally addressed Brock Lesnar, stating that there’d be no universe ever that he’d back down against Lesnar’s challenge.

Cena said that he’s afraid that Brock Lesnar has just gotten a “John Cena problem”, and that everyone in the locker room has also got themselves a “John Cena problem”. Cena declared that he was ready to go down guns blazing, because the last time was now. “If you want some, come get some!” challenged Cena.

The music of Logan Paul heralded the arrival of the so-called YouTube influencer to the ring. As the crowd booed, Paul said that this version of John Cena made him sick. Paul noted how he once respected Cena, but no longer as he “switched up” in his eyes.

As Paul entered the ring, Cena told him that he might’ve made the biggest mistake of his life. Paul claimed that the people didn’t know who John Cena was, and that he did WWE better than any professional wrestler. Cena responded by calling Paul the “biggest dumbass he had ever seen in his life”.

Paul called Cena a liar as he wanted to face him in a match, if Cena was in the mood for giving matches. Paul said that we would see this match in a beautiful French-speaking country… Paris, France. As Paul rambled on, Drew McIntyre snuck up on Cena and helped Paul ambush him. Cody Rhodes ran in to make the save to help Cena clear the ring of Paul and McIntyre.

Cena accepted Paul’s challenge for Clash in Paris, but it was clear that Paul and McIntyre wanted a fight. He then threw down the challenge for Paul and McIntyre to take him on and Rhodes for a tag match tonight. “The Champ is Here!” declared Cena, referring to our new Undisputed WWE Champion in the form of Cody Rhodes.

A rather interesting opening segment that seemed more centered on Cena’s final goodbye than directly addressing the Brock Lesnar/SummerSlam fallout, as well as giving us a match for Clash in Paris with Cena vs. Paul. The promo itself was back to a usual Cena babyface one, and it’s honestly good to hear it again, because Cena is a natural at these types of promos as opposed to the ones we got during his recently-wrapped heel run.

**********

– The Motor City Machine Gunes were asked backstage about their chances against Talla Tonga and J.C. Mateo of the M.F.T.s. They said that their road to the top began with this match.

– Rhodes/Cena vs. Paul/McIntyre was made official for later tonight.

The Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley) vs. Talla Tonga & J.C. Mateo (w/ Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga)

Mateo and Shelley opened the match as the two traded offense until Shelley and Sabin used a double team attack to floor Mateo and send him to the outside. Sabin took down Mateo with a five-hole suicide dive as the MCMGs did a number on Talla Tonga.

Tama Tonga got on the apron, which caused a distraction and gave Talla the time to pick Sabin off the apron and throw him into the barricade, which sent us to a break in the action.

We returned to the match as Talla had Shelley locked in a bearhug before he slammed the tag veteran to the mat. Shelley found a way to create separation as he elbowed Mateo before he got the tag on Sabin.

Sabin attempted to take down Mateo, but had to hit multiple superkicks before he did the job with a springboard DDT for a near-fall. The Machine Guns then attempted a double team on Mateo as they took Talla down from the apron. This gave Mateo time to recover and slam down Sabin. The cover, but Shelley broke it up.

A double superkick from Sabin and Shelley stunned Mateo, but Talla got involved and prevented the Skull and Bones with a boot to Shelley on the top rope. He then chokeslammed Sabin to pick up the victory for the M.F.T.s.

Talla Tonga & J.C. Mateo def. Motor City Machine Guns via pinfall

An okay match. Nothing really much to say, but does seem to set up Talla and J.C. as challengers for the Wyatt Sicks. Not sure what that will look like, but it’s at least worth keeping an eye on.

**********

After the match, Solo Sikoa got on the microphone and declared that he and his M.F.T.s were what greatness looked like. He said that we were looking at the soon-to-be WWE Tag Team Champions and the most dominant United States Champion. Sikoa said he was feeling good and ready for a fight, but the problem is that nobody was wanted to fight him. He said that this was the last place that he wanted to fight so he was ready to celebrate.

SmackDown GM Nick Aldis interrupted him and that he found someone who was also ready for a fight. That someone being a person that Sikoa knew all too well and one that Montreal knew well. Sami Zayn then entered to a raucous ovation from the hometown crowd.

Solo Sikoa vs. Sami Zayn

The match officially kicked off after a commercial break as Zayn and Sikoa stared down one another across the ring. The crowd broke out in an “ole ole ole” singalong as this was happening. Zayn and Sikoa finally locked horns in the middle of the ring as the latter forced his opponent into the corner. Sikoa tried to beg off Zayn by throwing up the Bloodline ones, but got a slap in the face for his troubles.

Zayn responded with punches in the corner before Sikoa regained control with a running shoulder block. The United States Champion chopped at Zayn in the corner before he struck with some punches of his own. Zayn escaped and once again hammered away at Sikoa in the corner. Zayn sent Sikoa to the outside with a clothesline and sized him up for a dive. He soared over the top rope with a dive that took down Sikoa, but soon found himself surrounded by the M.F.T.s by the commentary table.

In the ring, Sikoa provided a distraction, which allowed Tama Tonga to hit Zayn with a clothesline from the apron, which took us to a break in the action.

We came back from the break with Zayn connecting on a sunset flip powerbomb to Sikoa from the top rope for a close near-fall. Zayn followed that up by attempting to lift Sikoa up, but to no avail. An attempted Blue Thunder Bomb was met by a Spinning Solo from the United States Champion. One, two… Zayn just managed to kick out.

Sikoa sized Zayn up for a Samoan Spike, but Zayn got a boot up and threw him in the corner for an Exploder Suplex. Zayn locked in and looked like he was about to hit a Helluva Kick, but Tama Tonga provided the distraction. Another Exploder was followed by an attempted Helluva Kick, but J.C. Mateo this time provided a distraction. Talla Tonga got up on the apron and faced off with a defiant Zayn, but this opened him up for a superkick from Sikoa. The U.S. Champion looked to have this won with a Samoan Spike, but Zayn turned that around and got the surprise rollup pinfall win to a huge ovation from the hometown crowd. Zayn immediately rolled out of the ring to avoid an M.F.T. beatdown as Sikoa looked stunned at losing in such shocking fashion.

Sami Zayn def. Solo Sikoa via pinfall

This was a nice little match, and Sami getting the hometown hero win was a good change of pace.

**********

– We got a promo from the Wyatt Sicks. Uncle Howdy said that the Sicks would never lead us astray, and that when they spoke, they only spoke the truth. The Sicks said they woke the SmackDown tag division up to their true reality. This was clear that this was about something bigger than the Tag Titles, and that there were more lessons to be learned.

– Backstage, the Street Profits and #DIY got into an argument, with Tommasso Ciampa calling the Profits a bunch of “motherkillers” for what happened to Candice LeRae. The bickering continued until Nick Aldis interrupted. He said that the TLC match didn’t keep everyone in check, but that would start next week with #DIY vs. the Profits next week on SmackDown.

Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair’s Championship Celebration

The new WWE Women’s Tag Champions had themselves a Championship Celebration, which happened to fall on Bliss’s birthday. In the ring, was a cake that said “Congratulations Charlotte! – Alexa”, which Flair tried to pass off as a birthday gift to Bliss.

Flair said that if Bliss and her were tag partners, then Lilly the doll needed a tag partner of her own. Flair then unveiled “Charlie”, a doll that looked quite similar to Lilly. Bliss thanked Flair for the appreciation, but it wasn’t enough. Flair said that she needed something and Montreal needed something. And that something was a hug. Bliss said she didn’t know if that was necessary, but Flair beckoned her partner to give her a hug.

Chelsea Green and the Secret Hervice interrupted before we got a hug. Green said that while she was a proud Canadian, seeing the Montreal crowd cheer for Bliss and Flair made her want to turn her passport in. She dissed the Montreal Canadiens and then said that the we should be celebrating her homecoming instead.

Flair said that she had one more gift for Bliss: kicking Chelsea Green’s ass tonight. As Green tried to back away, Nick Aldis appeared with a referee who wore a bowtie. The referee was apparently a “birthday gift” for Bliss as Aldis then made Flair vs. Green official, and we’d see that match after the break.

– Backstage, Carmelo Hayes tried to pay a visit to Nick Aldis, but was met by The Miz instead. Hayes was upset that Miz ignored him for two months and he wanted to get a shot at the United Staes Championship. Miz said that he supposedly got a tag team match for him and Hayes next week. Hayes tentatively agreed and left. Nick Aldis appeared and it was clear that Miz had not spoken to to the SmackDown GM about this supposed tag match.

Charlotte Flair vs. Chelsea Green

Flair had the advantage early on as she forced Green out of the ring for the time being. Green got the upper hand in the ring with a boot to the face. Green then slammed Flair’s face on the turnbuckle, but got countered and hit with a chop to the face.

On the apron, Flair fended off Alba Fyre and Piper Niven before she took the top rope and hit a diving crossbody for the near-fall. The Secret Hervice provided a momentary distraction, that didn’t provide any sort of advantage for Green. A rollup attempt by Flair was turned into a moment of opportunity for Green as she pushed her into the middle turnbuckle. That took us into an oddly-placed ad break.

We returned to the match and we found out that the birthday cake from the birthday celebration for Bliss was placed outside the ring while the match was in progress.

Flair blased Green with chops followed by a walkover clothesline and a high-angle German suplex on the Canadian. Flair then connected with Natural Selection, but Green kicked out at two. As Flair tried to run at Green, she was met with a big boot. Flair quickly recovered and tried to head up top. Green stunned Flair and landed a superplex for the close near-fall. A flustered Green motioned to the Secret Hervice to bring the birthday cake to her, as Fyre and Niven slid it into the ring.

On the outside, Bliss took out both members of the Secret Hervice with a dive. In the ring, Green set Flair up for a Un-Pretty-Her on the cake, but Flair reversed it and delivered an Un-Pretty-Her of her own on Green instead. In the end, Flair made Green submit to the Figure Eight for the win.

Charlotte Flair def. Chelsea Green via submission

A fun little segment and an entertaining match afterwards with a funny finish to the proceedings.

**********

– Tiffany Stratton was interviewed about what was next for her. She said that she’d just keep on doing what she had been doing for the past 216 days. Jade Cargill interrupted and promised that it’d be different next time she and Stratton faced off. Stratton said that it’d be a different story, but with the same ending: her winning out. As Stratton left, Cargill was confronted by Kiana James and Giulia. Cargill said that she’d go after Giulia’s Women’s U.S. Title on her own time. Finally, Michin showed up and offered to help Cargill out against Giulia and Kiana.

– We got a video from Aleister Black, where he said that he was granted the power to use violence to stop a greater violence being committed. Black said that he is an eye for an limb and and an eye for a life kind of guy. Black took credit for giving Damian Priest a hairline fraction in his jaw following his attack on last week’s SmackDown.

– John Cena was walking backstage and was met by Ron Killings/R-Truth, who seemed happy that the “real” Cena was back. Cena played along and acted like Truth had turned heel for the past five months and only since turned back face. Cena gave Truth an appreciative pat before he walked off for our main event up next.

Cody Rhodes & John Cena vs. Logan Paul & Drew McIntyre

Rhodes and Paul started off our main event with a tie up in the middle of the ring, as Rhodes took him down with a running shoulder block. Paul responded with a standing headlock that he failed to keep on as Rhodes fought back with his signature drop down slap to the face. After a suplex, Rhodes tried to tag Cena, but Paul rolled him up and dragged the Undisputed WWE Champion back to the his corner as McIntyre tagged into the match.

McIntyre failed to get any momentum as Rhodes slammed him with a running powerslam. Meanwhile, Paul ran a distraction, which gave McIntyre the chance to blast Rhodes with the Glasgow Kiss headbutt. In the ring, McIntyre provided a distraction of his own as Paul hit Rhodes with a clothesline at ringside, which took us to the final ad break of the night with about 7 minutes to 10:00pm.

We returned to our main event with McIntyre attempting to prevent Rhodes from making the tag to Cena. Rhodes managed to create some needed separation as he avoided a shoulder charge from McIntyre, which sent the Scotsman crashing into the corner. This allowed Cena to get the hot tag as he unleashed his Five Moves of Doom on legal man Paul. The Montreal crowd was on fire as Cena delivered the Five Knuckle Shuffle, followed by the Attitude Adjustment. McIntyre made the save by breaking up the pin. McIntyre tried to target Cena for a Claymore Kick, but Rhodes intervened.

In the ring, Cena was hit by a low blow from Paul to cause the DQ finish. After the match, Paul and Cena brawled to the back while Rhodes and McIntyre continued to mix it up at ringside. The fight took a turn as McIntyre smacked Rhodes across the face with the Undisputed WWE Championship. With the Champion prone next to the edge of the commentary table, McIntyre delivered a particularly vicious Claymore Kick that managed to break the bottom of the commentary table entirely to end our night.

Cody Rhodes & John Cena def. Logan Paul & Drew McIntyre via Disqualification

**********

Kind of a hard reset of sorts, particularly with the past five months for John Cena as he abruptly turned back face. Main event was fine, and the post-match extracurriculars set up the already-announced Cena vs. Paul match and a presumed Undisputed WWE Championship match (and presumably writing Cody Rhodes off until Clash in Paris so he can film Street Fighter).

All in all, an average SmackDown at best.

WWE NXT live results: Two title matches, Nia Jax in action

Posted on by Chris Aiken

A pair of championship matches are scheduled for WWE NXT tonight.

Sol Ruca has an NXT Women’s North American Championship defense set, putting her title on the line against Tatum Paxley. It’s a title shot that Paxley earned when The Culling defeated Zaria, Ruca, Hank Walker & Tank Ledger — though Izzi Dame didn’t seem too happy about Paxley getting the shot instead of her.

Hank & Tank will be defending their NXT Tag Team title belts against the Chase U duo of Kale Dixon & Uriah Connors tonight.

After making her return to NXT last week by attacking Lash Legend, Nia Jax takes on Thea Hail.

Blake Monroe will also be in action against Kelani Jordan, Myles Borne continues his rivalry with Lexis King, and Yoshiki Inamura goes one-on-one with Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo.

Plus, the build to Heatwave continues with the PLE now less than three weeks away.

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

**********

The show opens with the entrance of Blake Monroe. Her new entrance includes a mirror. It was cool enough I think if The Narcissist had the camera shot as part of his act in 1993, he might have gotten over better.

The entrance of Kelani Jordan is next, and she rushes into the ring, and the opening match is quickly under way. Maybe they were born with it. Or maybe it was Maybelline, which is a sponsor with their brand name on the center of the mat.

Blake Monroe vs. Kelani Jordan

Jordynne Grace returns during the match wearing a neck brace. Monroe flees the ring and Jordan wins via countout.

The bout itself was rather short, but it was more of a vehicle for an angle. More on vehicles later, as Monroe would speed away in an SUV to escape Grace. Monroe with heat on Jordan early in the match. Jordan with a comeback, and she locks in a half crab. Monroe gets a rope break.

Jordan leaps off the top rope, but Monroe cuts her off with a headbutt. Running knee strike by Monroe and a near fall on Jordan. Monroe goes to follow up when the theme music for Jordynne Grace blares on the speakers.

Out comes Grace wearing a neck brace, and Grace walks straight into the ring like she is on a mission. Monroe powders, and she runs for her life. Monroe gets into the back of a waiting SUV, and the automobile speeds away. Meanwhile, the referee is counting out Monroe. After a ten count, Jordan wins the match.

Match result: Kelani Jordan defeats Blake Monroe via countout

— In a backstage skit ahead of the next bout, Andre Chase is giving Chase U students Uriah Connors and Kale Dixon a pep talk. Chase did not like their odds in the tag title match, and they did the “so you’re saying there’s a chance” bit from Dumb & Dumber.

NXT Tag Team Champions Hank Walker & Tank Ledger vs. Uriah Connors & Kale Dixon (with Andre Chase)

Hot match, even with babyfaces on both sides. Connors & Dixon get to shine some, and Dixon does a flip dive over the top rope. He misses and rolls through a leap off the top rope. Dixon is then in the crosshair of Hank & Tank. Connors pushes Dixon to take a bullet for his partner.

Hank & Tank with a high/low powerslam combo on Dixon, and Hank covers Dixon while Tank blocks Connors from breaking the count. The ref stops the count anyway, and he claims Dixon got his shoulder up. The live studio audience was not buying it, and rightly so. Not sure it that was a botch, but it certainly was a bad spot.

Hank & Tank sandwich Dixon with a double standing splash, and they follow by once again doing their combo finisher. Hank then scores a pinfall on Dixon as the referee counts to three this time.

Match result: Hank & Tank defeat Connors & Dixon to retain the NXT Tag Team titles

Suddenly, the lights in the sound stage go dark. Darkstate is running in, and they jump everyone in the ring. They lay waste to Connors and Dixon. Darkstate with triple team moves on Hank & Tank. Darkstate stand pose under strobe lights over their fallen prey.

— The Personal Concierge cuts a promo on behalf of Ash by Elegance. He delivers message to WWE NXT/TNA Knockouts Champion Jacy Jayne, with The Personal Concierge vowing that Ash will win the title Thursday on Impact.

— Myles Borne and Tavion Height chat in a backstage skit, which plays off their past in the No Quarter Catch Crew. They remain buds in this skit.

— Vic Joseph voices over a plug that advertises bull riding on CW. Professional Bull Riders (PBR) is part of TKO Group Holdings alongside WWE, hence the cross-promotional. PBR recently inked a deal to air their team series bull riding events on CW.

— Izzi Dame gives Tatum Paxley a pep talk on behalf of The Culling.

— Thea Hail gets coffee in a skit posted on social media. She cuts a promo on Nia Jax, and Hail is go wound up over Jax that she almost forgets her coffee.

Myles Borne vs. Lexis King

The match goes through a split-screen commercial break. Before picture-in-picture, Borne slingshots himself over the top rope with a plancha on King. During the commercial break, King cuts off Borne. King targets Borne’s ear, which plays on Borne’s backstory.

Borne eventually makes a comeback with Saito suplexes, and then he strikes with Borne Again (which is the name for what was formerly called the Zig Zag finisher). Borne then covers King for a three count.

Match result: Myles Borne defeats Lexis King via pinfall

— Darkstate as a group cut promos saying they are focusing on getting the tag titles. Despite being played as a serious promo, they included a crude joke for comedy. So much for taking them seriously.

Nia Jax vs. Thea Hail

The match goes through a commercial break. Jax played the monster heel and Hail was the babyface in peril. Hail fought valiantly, but Jax was merciless. Jax with a Bonsai Drop, and she sits on Hail as the referee counts three.

Match result: Nia Jax defeats Thea Hail in the in-return of Jax to NXT

Kelly Kincaid is the ring for a post-match interview. Jax snatches the microphone out of Kincaid’s hands, and she cuts a promo on Lash Legend.

Out comes Legend to confront Jax. Legend flubs a line and then rushes into the ring for a pull-apart brawl with Jax. Security and officials pour in to separate them. Good thing security was there, unlike when Darkstate runs in.

— Jordynne Grace was pacing in the office of NXT General Manager Ava. Still in a neck brace, Grace ensures she will be cleared by the time of NXT Heatwave, where Grace meets Blake Monroe in a singles match.

Moose makes surprise appearance and a melee ensues

NXT Champion Oba Femi enters the ring for a monologue. He is soon interrupted by TNA Champion Trick Williams. Trick confronts Femi in the ring and they face off while cutting promos on each other. Soon comes another interruption as Je’Von Evans joins the party. The bickering continues, but with three people instead of two.

Moose from TNA makes a surprise appearance, and he cuts a promo on Trick. Moose vows to win the TNA title from Trick. Suddenly, the lights go dark on the sound stage. Darkstate runs and a schmoz ensues and everyone brawling in the dark.

— More cross-promotion as Vic Joseph voices over a plug for the Canelo vs. Crawford boxing match that TKO is co-promoting.

— Arianna Grace and Heritage Cup Champion Stacks flirt with each other as Nia Jax and Lash Legend brawl in a backstage pull-apart.

— Wren Sinclair is in a kitchen lounge with Charlie Dempsey. She sings the Joe Hendry song, and Hendry appears. Hendry pops out of a refrigerator. The skit sets up a match between Dempsey and Hendry. Dempsey is referred to as a “sourpuss”, which Sinclair repeats for comedic effect. Dempsey storms off, and Sinclair asks Hendry to take a picture with her. 1`

Yoshiki Inamura vs. Heritage Cup Champion Stacks in a non-title match

Stacks ambushes Inamura before the bell. Stacks gets heat on Inamura. Comeback by Inamura and he runs wild. The fight spills outside the ring, where Inamura gives Stacks a stiff slap. Arianna Grace runs down to ringside and slaps Inamura across the face. The referee ejects Grace from ringside, but not before another run-in.

With the referee distracted by Grace, Josh Briggs rushed into the ring on the far side. Briggs ambushes Inamura with a big boot. Stacks then covers Inamura to win the match.

Match result: Stacks defeats Inamura via pinfall

— Vic Joseph reads a voiceover that plugs NASCAR on CW.

Tavion Heights confronts North American Champ Ethan Page and Chelsea Green appears

NXT North American Champion Ethan Page is in the ring for a monologue. Page cut a promo bragging on his victory over Santion Marella. Page then talks about the greatest Canadians, and Page puts himself at the top of the list.

Page then does the Nikolai Volkoff gimmick of singing a foreign national anthem. So, Page begins singing “O Canada” to a chorus of boos. Tavion Heights interrupts the anthem and confronts Page in the ring. Heights insults Page and challenges Page to a title match. In doing so, Heights mentions he is an Olympian.

The live studio audience chants “YES” while Page tries to dismiss Heights. Suddenly, they are interrupted by the entrance of Chelsea Green and Secret Service. Green is flanked by Piper Niven and Alba Fyre as she storms the ring and confronts Heights.

Green points out she was a United States Champion as a Canadian. Green was going to sing the Canadian anthem, but Heights interrupted that. Green insults Heights for being American, but she says even a “rude” and “ignorant American” would not hit a woman. Heights says she is right, and he decks Page instead. Green jumps into the arms of Niven for comedy. Heights then vows to find a woman that will hit Green for him.

— The Fatal Influence trio insults Kelani Jordan and Lola Vice in a backstage skit. Dual champ Jacy Jayne joins Fallon Henley in cutting promos on Vice and Jordan. In walks Jazmyn Nyx, and she hands Jayne the NXT and TNA women’s title belts. Nyx informs them all she talked Ava into booking a tag match next week, much to the chagrin of Jayne. Vice and Jordan team up next Tuesday against Jayne and Henley.

— Sol Ruca and Zaria are chatting backstage when Lash Legend and Nia Jax brawl their way into the skit. Amidst the pull-apart brawl, Ava comes in to announce Legend and Jax meet next week in a singles match.

— Ricky Saints sits down with Kelly Kincaid for an interview in a segment sponsored by an insurance company. Saints talks about Jasper Troy, which builds up a match between the two.

— Triplemania gets a plug, as does NXT live in Philadelphia.

NXT Women’s North American Champion Sol Ruca (with Zaria) vs. Tatum Paxley (with The Culling)

Ruca retains after interference by The Culling and a doll. Lash Legend and Nia Jax also continue their ongoing brawl, which led to a stunt at ringside.

The title match goes through a split-screen commercial break. Before the break, Sol Ruca does a moonsault to the floor off the top turnbuckle. In setting up the spot, Shawn Spears interferes in the match. Zaria makes a save, causing Izzi Dame to get involved by arguing with Zaria. As they huddle together to argue, Ruca leaps into the moonsault.

During the break, Paxley cuts off Ruca. Paxley works the neck after targeting Ruca with a neckbreaker. Ruca with a comeback and rally. Ruca superkicks Paxley, and Ruca delivers a Rude Awakening neckbreaker. Ruca follows up with a running knee strikes. That sends Paxley out of the ring to regroup. Paxley then cuts off Ruca with a kick.

Paxley springboards into a Whisper in the Wind for a near fall. The studio audience chants “this is awesome” in admiration of the match. Ruca and Paxley tease a superplex, only for Ruca to instead catch Paxley with a sunset bomb.

Ruca post herself when she misses a charge into a corner. Paxley with a roll-up for another near fall. Ruca counters Paxley’s finisher into a pinning combination, but Paxley kicks out. Ruca lands on her feet after flipping off the ropes, and Ruca Spears Paxley in a corner.

Ruca slips on the top rope going for a springboard. They recover from the botch and they execute an avalanche neckbreaker. Double down after Paxley gives Ruca the neckbreaker. Meanwhile, Spears tries to slip Paxley her doll (seemingly to use as a weapon). Izzi Dame chides Spears for doing so, while Paxley picks up the doll.

Nia Jax and Lash Legend brawl there way onto the sound stage, which interrupts the match. They brawl at ringside, and they crash through a gimmicked section of the barricade.

Paxley is preoccupied with her doll, which allows for Ruca to deliver the Sol Snatcher. Ruca then hooks a leg and covers Paxley for a three count.

Match result: NXT Women’s North American Champion Sol Ruca defeats Tatum Paxley to retain her title

WWE Raw live results: The aftermath from SummerSlam

Posted on by Jeff Moss

After a newsworthy weekend at WWE SummerSlam that included the return of Brock Lesnar, WWE returns with the fallout edition of Raw from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

New WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins will appear after cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase and defeating CM Punk who had just defeated Gunther to win the title. Raw GW Adam Pearce isn’t thrilled with Rollins faking his injury and will have a “stiff conversation” with the new champion.

After defeating rival Lyra Valkyria to retain the WWE Women’s Intercontinental title, Becky Lynch will be in Brooklyn to address her adoring fans.

The next chapter in the hard-hitting rivalry between Sheamus and Rusev will unfold with another match.

New WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss will be on hand after their title win this past Saturday over Roxanne Perez & Raquel Rodriguez.

Our live coverage begins at 8 PM Eastern.

**********

Here we are, friends. After a… complicated, SummerSlam, WWE is back on the air with Monday Night Raw.

Let me address the diverticulitis-riddled elephant in the room right away. This is a recap column, so I’ll be sticking to the show. There are aspects and opinions of SummerSlam that I’m sure you’ve read a whole bunch about and ones that I feel very conflicted about. But, we’re gonna leave that to the pundits tonight and try to have some fun and focus on the show and the storylines coming out of Metlife Stadium. The rest will still be there Tuesday morning.

So with that said, it’s Monday and like my sushi dinner, it’s RAW!

-The show kicked off with a SummerSlam highlight reel, bringing everyone up to speed with the all the winners and losers of the event along with the headlines the show made. Then, the traditional Wrestlers Arriving To Work montage aired, showing Alexa Bliss, Charlotte and Naomi arriving to the venue.

-Then we were kindly asked to BURN IT DOWN as the newly crowned World Heavyweight Champion, and Talking Heads-style suit enthusiast Seth Rollins his way to the ring, entourage in tow. The Oracle, Paul Heyman (at least I think that’s what he said his name was) addressed the crowd first.

Heyman bigged up Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed before slagging Roman Reigns and CM Punk as has-beens. He then introduced the reigning, defending, undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the World, Seth “Freakin'” Rollins!

Seth took the mic and said “Shame on you, Brooklyn.” He said shame on everyone who didn’t believe in him and taunted him with chants of “OTC.” He told the crowd to never doubt him again. He told the locker room, shame on them for trying to stop his cash-in and hold him back.

Rollins reminded everyone that he always has a Plan B and the only ones who knew about this one (presumably his faked injury) were his wife and his Oracle. Rollins now has “absolute power” and this is the beginning of his Vision.

Suddenly, LA Knight appeared and made his way to the ring, mic in hand. Knight congratulated Rollins on his title win and said he wasn’t looking for a fight. He just had some questions. Knight pointed out that Rollins already had the MITB briefcase, so he didn’t need to fake an injury. Knight said that the only reason Rollins faked an injury was to get out of taking a beating by him at Saturday Night’s Main Event.

So, Knight said that since he was the last one to beat Rollins, so he should be the next one to beat him. Right here, right now. Rollins declined the challenge and went to leave the ring, but suddenly it was Adam Pierce’s turn to talk.

Pierce was pretty mad that Rollins had lied to everyone about his injury, so he made the match. Tonight, on RAW, in Brooklyn, Seth Rollins will defend his World Heavyweight Title against LA Knight. The icing on the cake was that Pierce also banned Breakker and Reed from ringside.

-Backstage, the Judgement Day was walking around and ran into the LWO. Domminck Mysterio claimed that he is the king of the Lucha Libres. Dragon Lee took exception to that and challenged him to a match. Dom accepted and the LWO left, clearing the way for AJ Styles to show up. He told Dom he didn’t appreciate the tricks at SummerSlam and he’s still coming for the Intercontinental Title.

Rusev vs Sheamus

With all that out of the way, Rusev stomped his way to the ring to take on Sheamus in the latest of their series of bangers. This was a very exciting development for the former League of Nations members and the crowd alike.

Also, the cast of the Netflix show Wednesday were shown in the crowd. SYNERGY. Joe Budden was also there.

Sheamus ran straight to the ring and into the flying fists of Rusev as the match began. The two traded punches until Sheamus laid out Rusev with a big lariat. Sheamus sent Rusev over the top rope, but when he followed Rusev got the drop on him and sent him into the barrier.

Back in the ring, Rusev hit a big suplex and drove Sheamus into the mat. The two went back to punch-based strategies and hammered on each other from the mat to the top turnbuckle. Sheamus got Rusev up on his shoulders and hit a White Noise from the top turnbuckle.

During the commercial break, Rusev fought back and took control of the match, setting a sleeper on Sheamus. He followed that up with some kicks to the chest. Sheamus asked for more, seemingly nourished by Rusev’s hatred. He leapt up and hit an Irish Curse backbreaker on Rusev.

Sheamus went for a Brogue Kick, but Rusev ducked it and Sheamus kicked the ropes. Rusev bonked his head off the ringpost, sending him to the outside. Rusev went after Sheamus, but Sheamus caught him and slammed him on the announce table. Rusev responded by sending Sheamus into the steel steps. Rusev then dragged him onto the barricade, chopping Sheamus. The crowd didn’t like it, but Sheamus reversed it, and began pounding on Rusev.

Then, the referee remembered that he was supposed to be doing something and counted both men out.

Match Result: Rusev vs Sheamus went to a no-contest double countout.

After the match, the two continued brawling at ringside. Security flooded the area but as always were woefully bad at their jobs and Sheamus and Rusev continued fighting as the scene switched to pre-taped footage of the New Day back stage in some truly ridiculous hats. I mean, who wants to watch the brawl, right? Hats!!!

Any way, Grayson Waller joined them, promising to get New Day a rematch for their lost titles. He stomped over to Adam Pierce who was chatting with Penta. Pierce, in a foul mood after Waller called him “baldy”, made a match: Penta vs Grayson Waller and since that was all taped earlier, that match happened now!

Penta vs Grayson Waller

The match kicked off with Waller reluctant to engage with Penta. When they did get things going, Waller shimmied out of a waistlock and the two traded headlocks. Penta deked out Waller by slowing things down and then bursting into a headscissor that sent Waller out of the ring.

Suddenly, the Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods, The New Day, came out complete with hats. That caused enough of a distraction for Waller to take over, sending Penta onto the announce table. Corey Graves invited the New Day to join the commentary team and Kingston called out Micheal Cole for talking trash about them.

In the ring, a match was happening, and Penta got a two-count off of a rollup. Kingston said that the New Day were taking Waller under their wing. Penta took Waller under his open hand and chopped him in the corner. The New Day discussed their grieving process while Waller held Penta in a modified headlock.

Back from commercial, Waller delivered some high knees to Penta, but Penta fought back with a bulldog and backbreaker. He then stomped Waller in the corner, until Waller delivered a hard left to the face resulting in a two-count. Waller climbed the second rope to drop an elbow, but Penta dodged it and delivered a superkick. Waller came back with a high knee and the two wrapped each other up in a double lariat.

Penta hit a superkick and a big Mexican Destroyer and pinned Waller getting the victory and giving New Day one more thing to mourn.

Match Result: Penta defeated Grayson Waller

New Day climbed into the ring and Kingston got in the face of Penta. Penta sent Kingston and Woods packing, then threw Woods comically large hat at them before flying over the top rope and taking both men out.

-Next, Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair were shown taking a walk in the back, but they were interrupted by Sheamus and Rusev who were apparently still fighting. The Security team chased after them as Sheamus through Rusev into a stack of clanky pipes. Again, no one really wanted to see them brawl, so a clip from Flair’s episode of Unreal on Netflix aired instead.

-Back out front, WWE Women’s World Champion Naomi came out to address the crowd. She ran down New Jersey, saying that she assumed Brooklyn would be better. But, in fact, it’s worse. Too much trash and construction in Brooklyn for Naomi. She said the crowd deserved to move to Florida, which frankly is a pretty mean thing to say.

Naomi said that next on her list was “Stephanie Velcro” but the show then came back from commercial, cutting Naomi off entirely for a recap of the aftermath of the John Cena vs Cody Rhodes match. So we can assume that Naomi was talking about Stephanie Vaquer and I guess she wants to fight her?

-As if none of that ever happened, the show came back and Micheal Cole said that he asked Triple H and Nick Khan about when they decided to bring back Brock Lesnar. They also said that John Cena would be on Smackdown to address Lesnar’s return. Then they tee’d up the Rollins vs Knight match later to come.

Is someone asleep at the switch tonight? The last 15 minutes were complete gibberish. And I’m a man who enjoys a good amount of gibberish.

-WWE Women’s World Tag Team Champions Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss came down to the ring next to address the crowd. Flair thanked the crowd for her first “you deserve it” chant and admitted that it felt good to do something as a “we.” Bliss urged her to admit they were friends, but Flair stopped short. The two debated how many times each has bean a champion until Judgement Day’s music hit.

Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez stomped down to the ring and said no one cares about friendship because the only thing that matters is bringing gold back to Judgement Day. Roxanne said “we know we don’t get a rematch but we didn’t come down here to not take those titles back.” Flair responded by saying they could have a rematch right here, right now.

Suddenly, Ol’ Baldy, Adam Pierce came out and said that the match would start right here, right now. Which was what Flair just said, but glad to have confirmation.

WWE Women’s World Tag Team Champions Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss vs Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez

Now, according to my little countdown in the corner of the Netflix screen, the introductions were done and the match started during a commercial break. The bell rang with a minute left in the countdown, with Bliss and Rodriguez facing off to get things started.

Back from commercial, Bliss was on Rodriguez’ back and was quickly thrown off. She dragged Bliss to the corner and tagged in Perez. A much more even match, Bliss and Perez fought in and out of the corners with Bliss delivering a headscissors to Perez before tagging in Flair.

Flair knocked Perez back to her corner where Rodriguez tagged in. She sent Flair to the mat with a shoulder and bounced her head off the top turnbuckle. Rodriguez isolated Flair in the corner and tagged in Perez. Flair dodged her and Rodriguez held Flair’s ankle so Perez could dive between the ropes and send her to the outside.

Back in the ring, Perez stomped a proverbial mudhole in Flair before tagging in Rodriguez. Flair fought back, tagging in Bliss. The two delivered stereo bulldogs and Bliss and Rodriguez fought with Bliss sending the taller woman to the floor. She tried a cannonball, but Rodriguez caught her and slammed Bliss on the barricade.

Into commercial, in a Diva’s Era throwback, Rodriguez held Bliss’ hair and forced Flair to watch as she beat her up. Perez tagged in and choked Bliss with the ring rope. Bliss tried to get a tag to Flair, but Perez cut her off. Rodriguez and Perez took turns throwing Bliss around and Rodriguez snuck an elbow to Flair’s head in the corner.

Back from commercial, Bliss tried again to get the hot tag to Flair, but Rodriguez cut her off. Bliss hit a DDT and finally got the Tag, bringing Flair in off the top rope to take out Perez and Rodriguez. Flair hit a lariat on Rodriguez and used Perez as a weapon, throwing her at her prone partner.

Flair went up for a moonsault and landed it on both, but only got a two count on Rodriguez. Perez caused a distraction so Rodriguez could deliver a big boot to Flair. Perez charged Flair in the corner, but Flair was able to dodge and send Perez into the turnbuckle. They both climbed to the top rope and Perez hit a hurricanrana. Rodriguez tagged in for a hurricane elbow but Bliss broke up the count.

Flair sent Perez out and hit a big boot to send Rodriguez out of the ring too. Bliss tagged in and intercepted Perez for a Sister Abigail. Perez went down and Bliss got the pin, retaining the titles for her and Flair.

Match Result: Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair defeated Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez

-Backstage, IYO SKY and the Kabuki Warriors were hanging out, doing stuff they do, when IYO was approached by Rhea Ripley. Ripley said that she knows IYO asked for a one-on-one rematch against Naomi. Rhea said that she wants IYO to win so that she can beat her for the title. IYO grabbed her arm and lovingly said that she was never going to beat her. The two smiled and that was it.

WWE Intercontinental Champion Dominik Mysterio vs Dragon Lee

Mysterio came down to the ring and the show went to commercial.

Back from break, Micheal Cole said that next year’s SummerSlam in Minneapolis is sure to be “fire” which aged me about 7 years.

Then, Backstage, Bayley went looking for Lyra Valkyria. Bayley tried to apologize for costing her the Intercontinental title at SummerSlam. Valkyria said that Bayle should just stay the hell ouf her life.

Then, the bell rang and the match was on. Lee wasted no time in sending Mysterio to the outside, dragging him back in and pummeling him in the corner. Lee chopped him in the corner, but Mysterio racked Lee’s throat on the ropes, sending him outside.

Mysterio chopped Lee against the ring apron (the choppiest part of the ring!) and sent him back in. Mysterio called for a 619, but Lee dropped out and laid some quick kicks into Mysterio’s face. Mysterio then hit a DDT on the ring apron (the DDT-est part of the ring) as the show went to commercial.

During the break, Mysterio mugged for the crowd and threw punches at Lee on the mat. He then tried to tie the ribbons from Lee’s mask to the bottom rope. His real father never taught him how to tie knots though, so Mysterio abandoned the effort for a headlock instead. Lee fought back, but Mysterio hit a Michinoku Driver as the break ended.

Lee fought back, hitting a dragon kick in the corner. Lee removed his elbow pad to try for a cover, but only got a two-count. Mysterio tried walking the ropes, but Lee countered with a sit-out powerbomb. Mysterio set Lee on the top rope, but slipped, giving Lee the chance to stomp him.

Suddenly, Grande Americano appeared. Then, ANOTHER Grande Americano appeared. Then a THIRD Grande Americano. That was enough of a distraction for Mysterio to get a shot from behind in on Lee and pick up the pin and victory.

Match Result: Dominik Mysterio defeated Dragon Lee

After the match, AJ Styles came out to beat up Mysterio, but Mysterio bolted and Lee and Styles shook hands in the ring, exchanging “can you believe that guy?” looks.

-Backstage, Sami Zayn was interviewed about his match against Karrion Cross at SummerSlam. Zayn rejected a steel pipe in the match, but admitted wanting to use it. In the end though, it’s just not who he is. Zayn wants to be a world champion and he wants to do it right.

Suddenly, Sheamus and Rusev appeared, still brawling and still not being stopped by security. Zayn got caught up in the middle, but WWE said who cares? and switched to footage of Becky Lynch entering the building.

I know that this is supposed to be a funny running bit with Sheamus and Rusev, but really all it’s doing is showing that WWE has terrible security. Also, wouldn’t we, the viewers, be interested in the never ending brawl? Just sayin’.

-Back from break and an inconsequential interview by Byron Saxon of the Judgement Day, Method Man was shown in the audience. This was by far the high part of the episode for me. Dave East was also there along with Da’Vinchii and Adam Blackstone. I am not cool enough to know who the last two are, but they looked nice.

-Becky Lynch’s music hit and the Women’s Intercontinental Champion made her way to the ring in the track suit version of her husband’s suit. Lynch grabbed a mic and said that she plans on being champion for a very long time, much to Lyra Valkyria’s dismay. Suddenly, the music of one Nikki Bella hit and the Hall of Famer made her way to the ring.

Bella said that she was able to take a step away from WWE because stars like Lynch could hold things together. But Lynch became a disappointment to Bella. She’s not the leader she had hoped Lynch would grow into. The two traded jabs about their IMDB listings, with Lynch mocking Bella for having her role cut from Happy Gilmore 2. Now streaming on Netflix. SYNERGY.

Bella called Lynch a liar just like her husband and said she sees right through her. Lynch turned that around into a shot about Bella and John Cena’s failed relationship, which was quite clever if I do say so. Bella said that this isn’t Lynch’s era, so she should put the Intercontinental title on the line in a match against her.

Lynch said that the reason she and Bella never went one on one was– and then she sucker punched her in the face and ran for the ring.

-Backstage, Byron Saxon interviewed Women’s World Champion, Naomi. He asked her how she feels about her SummerSlam win, and she said “great.” She also mentioned that next week on RAW, she would defend against IYO SKY. Stephanie Vaquer wandered by and said that she would beat Naomi or SKY in Paris. Even though no one asked her.

-Next in BREAKING NEWS, Cole announced that GUNTHER would be out of action indefinitely because of a nose injury suffered at SummerSlam.

Also, that Cody Rhodes would be on Smackdown this Friday. Which is good, because that’s kinda his job.

Also, Also, as a result of the never ending brawl, Rusev and Sami Zayn will go one-on-one. I guess Zayn blamed Rusev more than Sheamus.

-Back from break, Backy Lynch was confronted backstage by Natalya. She was real mad about the way Lynch treated Bella and challenged her to a match. Lynch accepted, but not to face Natalya. She said that Maxxine Dupri, who was also there, could have the match and then walked away.

WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins vs LA Knight

Alicia Taylor gave everyone their official intros and the Main Event of the evening was on. Knight laid out Rollins with a right hand off the bell and stomped him into the corner. Rollins swung back and Knight caught him with a suplex followed by a neckbreaker.

Rollins charged Knight who sent him over the top rope to the outside. Rollins staggered away, using Heyman as a human shield to lure Knight outside. Knight slid through the ring and bounced Rollins head off the announce table. Rollins responded by sending Knight into the barricade, hitting a big stomp to the back of Knights head.

Off to commercial, and in the ring Rollins stomped Knight and called for Heyman to hand him the belt. Rollins posed with it and then whipped Knight into the turnbuckles. Knight tried to climb out, but Rollins caught him and sent his face back into the turnbuckle. Rollins hung up Knight with the second rope as the show ticked back out of break.

Rollins chopped Knight in the corner, but that seemed to ignite his second wind and Knight fought back and backdropped Rollins in the middle of the ring. Rollins tried going up top,but Knight raced up there too and hit a superplex for a two count.

The two got to their feet and traded punches until Knight laid out Rollins with a lariat followed by a side Russian leg sweep and a neckbreaker. It wasn’t enough to put Rollins down though and he hit a jawbreaker. Knight didn’t get phased though and hit a powerslam and an elbow.

Rollins tried a buckle bomb, but Knight reversed it into a Death Valley Driver. The two men lay in the ring, exhausted. Knight got to his feet first, looking to put Rollins away. Rollins played possum and tried. a curb stomp and a pedigree, but missed both allowing Knight to hit a DDT.

Knight hit his top rope elbow and Rollins bailed out of the ring. Knight sent him into the announce table with a baseball slide. He bounced Rollins’ head off the table and went to pick him up, but Rollins headbutted Knight right in the junk with a low blow. He then tossed Knight into the post and punched him repeatedly before tearing up some of the ringside padding.

Rollins sent Knight into the ringpost again for good measure then dragged him over to the exposed concrete, setting him up for a stomp. But out of the crowd came a wild CM Punk who jumped Rollins and started pounding on him. The ref signalled a DQ and Rollins tried to leave, but Punk followed until Bron Breakker showed up and speared him. Bronson Reed arrived and took out Knight in the ring.

Match Result: LA Knight defeated Seth Rollins via DQ

Breakker speared Knight for good measure and Rollins hit a stomp on Punk, leaving them lying. Reed, Breakker and Rollins exited the ring while Paul Heyman jawed at ringside. The credits appeared and the show seemed over when suddenly…

Roman Reigns’ music hit and the OTC came down and cleaned house, taking out Breakker and Reed. Rollins stood in the ring as Reigns stalked towards him, but bailed as soon as he hit the ring. Breakker tried to get Reigns from behind, but he was intercepted, leaving Reigns open to attack from Reed and a stomp from Rollins.

The three men gave the same treatment to Reigns that they did Knight and Punk, ending with a definitive spear from Breakker and Tsunami from Reed from TWO corners. Adam Pierce hit the ring with various producers (presumably because security was still chasing Rusev and Sheamus around) to break up the beatdown.

The show ended with Rollins and crew standing tall.

Well, that was weird. Not necessarily bad, but definitely a weird show. Maybe I’m just not used to the way WWE produces weekly TV any more, but it felt so fractured. Interviews in the middle of match intros in the middle of commercials. Recaps in the middle of promos in the middle of recaps. It felt like a lot. That said, the action in the ring was fun and most of the stories continued logically from SummerSlam. We’ll get the rest on Friday on Smackdown, so look forward to that.

Thanks for hanging out!

WWE SummerSlam night two live results: John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes street fight

Posted on by Steve Khan

Date: August 3, 2025
Location: MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ 

**********

Show Recap — 

COUNTDOWN SHOW —

The Women’s World Championship triple threat match will open SummerSlam (in three hours).

They showed a few wrestlers arriving. Iyo Sky and Naomi both used carts to get around because the stadium is so big. 

There were highlights from night one, and the announcers discussed some of it before running down the card for today. 

I’m not going to recap everything the panellists say, but notably, Wade Barrett was openly skeptical of John Cena’s sudden change in behaviour on SmackDown. Big E was skeptical too, but played it more down the middle.

Naomi told Cathy Kelley she would not lose tonight. She recalled losing her title to Natalya eight years ago at SummerSlam and said she would be damned if it happened again.

There’s been a fair amount of repeat content on the pre-show from yesterday, including video packages and Peter Rosenberg doing the walk-through from Gorilla to the stage. Two hours to go. 

There was an entertaining Becky Lynch sit-down interview with Michael Cole. She doubled down on blaming the fans for her heel turn. She blamed Lyra Valkyria for costing them the tag titles and ruining her momentum. Valkyria had to learn a lesson. When your dog pees on the floor, you rub their face in it. (Cole made sure to say he doesn’t do this to his dog.) She noted the list that called her the greatest women’s wrestler ever, and stated she was “the greatest woman ever.” 

Kelley interviewed Angelo Dawkins (wearing a Ken Griffey Jr. shirt) and Montez Ford (wearing a black cowboy hat). They were all business and focused on winning tonight. Ford mentioned this was the first PLE match for the Street Profits in 16 months.

Byron Saxton handed out (sponsored) breath mints to fans. One hour to go. 

Megan Morant and Sam Roberts interviewed Dominik Mysterio. Morant asked about AJ Styles beating him on Raw, and Dom responded by asking her who she ever beat. Dom was offended by their questions, so he blew them off and left. 

They plugged AAA Triplemanía XXXIII with Vikingo vs. Dom vs. Dragon Lee vs. El Grande Americano (Ludwig Kaiser). 

In previewing Dom’s match tonight, they said Styles has not held a title in WWE since 2021. 

Rosenberg interviewed some fans about their experience at the show last night. One fan was happy when CM Punk won the title, but sad that he lost. Funny enough, he was sad because Punk finally won the title after being “gone for ten years.”

The panel spent the final few minutes previewing tonight’s card. 

Tigirlily Gold sang God Bless America as we transitioned from the preshow to the main show. 

SUMMERSLAM 2025 NIGHT TWO —

Solo Sikoa and his crew (MFT), Jacob Fatu, Lyra Valkyria, Becky Lynch, and Cody Rhodes were shown arriving. Lynch received a big reaction, and Rhodes received a big mixed reaction. 

The show intro was once again narrated by Druski. It’s 82 degrees Fahrenheit as the show starts, about 5 degrees warmer than yesterday. 

Paul “Triple H” Levesque entered the ring to his music (he was already at ringside, so it wasn’t a full entrance). He told the audience they were part of the biggest SummerSlam in history. He asked them if they were ready, and they responded in the affirmative. 

Michael Cole and Wade Barrett are the announcers again. 

********

Naomi’s entrance included her father, Shawn McCray, performing her theme on guitar as she entered. 

The opening match kicked off at 6:16 pm ET. 

Triple Threat Match for the Women’s World Championship: Naomi (c) vs. IYO SKY vs. Rhea Ripley

Naomi left the ring as the match started, thinking she could let the other two battle it out, but they went after her instead. Their teamwork came to an end quickly when Ripley accidentally booted Sky. Naomi took out both women with a flying crossbody. 

Naomi was in complete control of both women (one at a time as they took turns falling out of the ring). Ripley fought back, and Sky hit Naomi with a springboard dropkick. Sky hit Naomi with a 619, and Ripley hit a German suplex. 

Ripley and Sky finally went toe-to-toe, and Ripley got the better of it initially until Sky countered a Rip-tide into a small package for two. Sky hit a poinsonrana, but Naomi broke up the cover. Ripley hit Sky with a Razor’s Edge and powerbomb, but Naomi broke up the cover again. 

Ripley attacked Naomi on the outside until Sky wiped them out with an Asai moonsault. With her opponents down in the corners, Sky hit repeated running knee strikes. 

Sky set up for a moonsault, but Ripley stopped her. Naomi knocked Ripley off the ropes and hit a split-legged moonsault. Sky tried to break up the cover with a moonsault, but Naomi moved and Sky hit Ripley with the move instead. They traded moves until Ripley hit Naomi with a Rip-tide, but Sky (who was out of sight) broke up the cover. 

Ripley wiped out Naomi with a cannonball off the apron. Sky caught Ripley and powerbombed her onto Naomi on the outside. Sky went to the top, but Ripley cut her off and eventually hit an avalanche Rip-tide. 

Ripley had it won, but Naomi jumped in and caught her in a schoolboy while holding the tights for the pinfall win. 

Match result: Naomi defeated Rhea Ripley and IYO SKY to retain the Women’s World Championship (16:24)

This was a pretty fun match, though nothing outstanding. The story was that Ripley had the match won multiple times, but came up short once again. 

******** 

Tyrese  Haliburton (who was booed), Nick Hogan, and Michelle McCool were shown in the crowd. 

To honour the anniversary of the first TLC match, the Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von) and the Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff) were shown in the crowd. Cole mentioned their upcoming match at TNA Bound for Glory.

******** 

Six-way TLC Match for the Tag Team Championships: The Wyatt Sicks (Dexter Lumis & Joe Gacy) (c) vs. The Street Profits vs. DIY vs. Motor City Machine Guns vs. Rey Fénix & Andrade vs. Fraxiom

This was insane. 

There was a spot early where the Street Profits tried to give Gacy a backdrop onto a ladder, but he went sideways, missed the ladder and fell out of the ring. They grabbed him and did the spot properly, which delighted the crowd (and the Dudleys). 

The crowd gasped when Fénix leaped on the shoulders of Andrade and tried to grab the belts that way, but the Street Profits cut them off. Fénix and Andrade gave them the three amigos, and the crowd chanted for Eddie Guerrero. 

Tommaso Ciampa tried to throw Montez Ford into a corner table, but Ford did his crazy dive over the ring corner onto a group of guys. Johnny Gargano put Gacy through a table with a DDT off the ropes, and Dexter Lumis did a splash to put Ford through a table. 

Fénix did a crazy top rope frog splash to put Nathan Frazer through a table outside the ring. Angelo Dawkins wanted to do it too, but Axiom cut him off. Axiom put Dawkins (and himself) through outside tables with a Spanish fly off the top—one of the craziest spots you’ll see in WWE. The crowd went nuts. 

Candice LeRae tried to climb the ladder, but she was taken out by B-Fab. Nikki Cross gave B-Fab a backdrop off the middle of the ladder. 

LeRae went back to the ladder as Gargano held it steady. Ford shoved Gargano into the ladder, and it tipped over, causing LeRae to crash through a ladder bridge outside the ring. Another insane bump. 

Refs checked on LeRae, and Gargano gave her a thumbs up before turning his attention back to the ring. (More officials ran out to check on her.) 

Erick Rowan, not a legal competitor, attacked Ford and Dawkins, but they fought him off with chairs and put him through a corner table with a double tackle. 

Ciampa grabbed the harness holding the belts, but MCMG yanked the ladder away. With Ciampa holding on helplessly, Frazer tried a spear off the ladder, but Ciampa managed to do a sit-up to avoid it, and Frazer crashed and burned. 

Moments later, a few teams scrambled up separate ladders to grab the belts, but Uncle Howdy/Bo Dallas knocked everybody down. That included knocking DIY through tables set up outside the ring. 

Dallas (not a legal competitor either) climbed the ladder, but Fénix cut him off. Andrade followed by giving Dallas a sunset flip powerbomb onto a ladder bridge. Fénix climbed the ladder, but Lumis and Gacy took him out with their double team finisher. 

With everyone down, Gacy grabbed the belts as Lumis guarded the ladder. The Wyatt Sicks retain the titles. 

Match result: The Wyatt Sicks (Dexter Lumis & Joe Gacy) defeated The Street Profits, DIY, Motor City Machine Guns, Rey Fénix & Andrade and Fraxiom to retain the WWE Tag Team Championships (16:03)

This was a crazy match, worth going out of your way to watch. The only negative was the ending, because the crowd did not want the Wyatts to win, so that felt sorta flat after all the insanity. 

********

They showed Triple H at the White House with Donald Trump. They did not show the live crowd’s reaction. 

They replayed Seth Rollins cashing in his MITB briefcase on CM Punk, and showed the reaction from different international broadcast teams. 

******** 

There was a video package for this match set to ‘Greed’ by Royale Lynn. 

Becky Lynch has new entrance music. 

No Disqualification, No Countout Match for the Women’s Intercontinental Championship: Becky Lynch (c) vs. Lyra Valkyria

Lynch grabbed a kendo stick but was stunned upon seeing Valkyria present a crowbar. Valkyria smashed the kendo stick out of Lynch’s hand and tried to kill her with the crowbar, but Lynch avoided it and yelled at Valkyria for trying to kill her. 

Valkyria went right back on offence and tossed Lynch around ringside. There was an unintentionally funny spot where Valkyria tried tossing Lynch into the barricade, but instead shoved her into an unsuspecting cameraman. The cameraman acted like nothing happened and sheepishly walked to the other side of the barricade. 

Valkyria set up a table, and the crowd didn’t even care because we just saw a bunch of tables in the last match (and they don’t seem to care about Valkyria). Lynch grabbed her from behind by wrapping a chain around Valkyria’s mouth. 

Lynch shoved her into the steel steps and attacked her repeatedly with a kendo stick. The bored crowd began entertaining themselves. Lynch used the kendo stick like a golf club (to reference her role in ‘Happy Gilmore 2’). 

Lynch continued the beatdown, using a steel chair and a toolbox. Lynch ziptied Valkyria’s hands together and attacked her with a wrench. (Valkyria had to pretend she couldn’t prevent this from happening.) 

Valkyria kicked out of a cover despite her hands being tied together. Lynch followed with exploder suplexes. Lynch trapped Valkyria over the ring post and attacked her repeatedly with the kendo stick. 

Valkyria blocked Lynch’s next move and hit a belly-to-belly suplex. Her hands were still trapped, so the landing looked no fun. Valkyria fought back with kicks and a leaping dropkick off some chairs. Valkyria even managed to hit a middle rope moonsault with her hands tied for two. 

For whatever reason, at no point did the referee think to help Valkyria out of these zip ties. Valkyria untied a turnbuckle cover, but Lynch drove her into the ring post. 

Valkyria disappeared under the ring, and when Lynch went after her, Valkyria sprayed her with a fire extinguisher. Valkyria tried using the extinguisher handle to break the zip ties and eventually got them off. 

With her hands finally free, Valkyria attacked Lynch with a kendo stick until it broke. Valkyria dropkicked a chair into Lynch’s face and hit a Nightwing off the second step of the ringsteps. 

Valkyria tried a charge in the corner, but Lynch moved, and Valkyria crashed into the exposed buckle. Lynch followed with a Man-handle Slam onto two chairs for a close nearfall. 

Lynch trapped Valkyria in a chair and drove her into the announce table and ring post. With Valkyria still trapped in the chair, Lynch leaped off the table and stomped the chair. That looked and sounded great.

Lynch was about to kill Valkyria with the crowbar, but Bayley suddenly appeared to stop her. Lynch reasoned with Bayley and tried talking her into hitting Valkyria. Bayley wouldn’t do it, so Lynch tried to attack her with the steel chain, but Bayley attacked her instead. Lynch avoided a charge, and Bayley flew into the crowd. 

Lynch tried using a table to get to her feet, but Valkyria flew out of nowhere and drove her through the table with a diving leg drop. 

As they traded counters in the ring, Bayley tried to punch Lynch with the chain, but Lynch ducked and Bayley clocked Valkyria instead. Lynch followed with a Man-handle Slam for the pinfall win, and mercifully, it was over. 

Lynch retains, and Valkyria can no longer challenge for the IC title belt as long as she’s champion. 

Match result: Becky Lynch defeated Lyra Valkyria to retain the Women’s Intercontinental Championship (25:06)

It was a mistake to put this on right after the TLC match, but they also tried to do too much. I was enjoying it for the first half or so, but it just kept going, and the stuff with the zip ties ultimately hampered the match. It was designed to get people behind Valkyria, but it didn’t work. It may not have worked even if they did go before TLC. 

And now it’s time for a cage match.

******** 

Jelly Roll, Metro Boomin, Tigirlily Gold, and Russell Wilson were in the crowd. 

Steel Cage Match for the United States Championship: Solo Sikoa (c) vs. Jacob Fatu

You could win this match by pinfall, submission, or escaping the cage. 

Cole tried to put over Sikoa by saying he hasn’t been pinned since losing to Roman Reigns in January. He’s had four singles matches since then, two of which ended in a no contest. In fact, Sikoa had four wins in fifteen matches so far this year. 

Sikoa had the early edge, using the cage as a weapon. Fatu fought back, and when Sikoa tried driving him into the cage again, Fatu no-sold it. Fatu hit a running hip attack, and consecutive moonsaults—but only for a nearfall. 

Sikoa’s MFT crew ran out and surrounded ringside, but Jimmy Uso ran out to fend them off. However, Tala Tonga drove him into the cage and over the announce desk. 

Fatu could have escaped the cage, but he told the referee to lock the door because it was all gas time. Fatu turned around, and Sikoa hit him with a Samoan spike for a nearfall. 

They followed zip ties in the previous match with handcuffs in this one. Tala Tonga handcuffed Fatu to the top part of the cage. JC Mateo opened the door, and Sikoa tried to crawl out, but Fatu ripped himself free of the handcuffs and stopped Sikoa from escaping. 

Fatu smashed the door into Mateo, but Tala smashed the door into Fatu. Sikoa slipped out of the ring and fell to the floor to win the match. Sikoa retains. 

— After the match and after Sikoa and Tala made their way to the ramp, Jimmy attacked Mateo, while Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa were trapped in the ring with Fatu. 

Fatu beat them up and climbed to the top of the cage. He went to the very top and laid out both men with a moonsault. He absolutely obliterated Tonga Loa in particular on the landing. 

Match result: Solo Sikoa defeated Jacob Fatu to retain the United States Championship (12:38) 

This was a boring cage match with too much interference and a lazy finish. 

******** 

Psycho Clown and Mr. Iguana were in the crowd. 

In the last two matches, they’ve had the champion enter first. 

They noted it’s been 20 years since the custody over Dom match between Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio. Styles entered in a Chevy low-rider as a tribute to Eddie, and he wore Latino Heat-inspired gear.

Intercontinental Championship: Dominik Mysterio (c) vs. AJ Styles

There were duelling chants through the early portion of the match. The sun had set, so fans decided to wave their cellphone flashlights. 

Dom was in control until Styles hit a tornado DDT. Styles held control until Dom ducked a Phenomenal forearm and hit a Michinoku Driver. Dom tried three amigos, but Styles countered the last suplex into a brainbuster. 

Styles went for a frog splash, but Dom got his knees up. Dom hit a 619 and went for a frog splash (sort of), but Styles caught him and applied a calf crusher until Dom got a rope break. 

Dom removed a turnbuckle pad (which Valkyria did earlier) to distract the referee. As the ref fixed the buckle, Dom grabbed a chair to do an Eddie spot. 

Dom smashed the mat and fell down. But the ref was still distracted, so Styles wrapped the chair around his head and acted like he was dying. The crowd enjoyed all this, and I’ll always get a kick out of the Eddie spots. (Although, Styles would not have won the title if the ref disqualified Dom.) 

The match simply continued because the ref didn’t know who was or wasn’t guilty. Styles applied a calf crusher, but Dom’s boot slipped off in the process (as Eddie’s did at WrestleMania XX). When they showed replays later, it was clear that Dom loosened his boot on purpose. 

The ref almost got bumped, so while he was still distracted, Dom hit Styles with the boot. Dom followed with a frog splash for the pinfall win.

Match result: Dominik Mysterio defeated AJ Styles to retain the Intercontinental Championship (10:41) 

While nothing amazing, this was a fun match and a breath of fresh air after the last two matches. 

********

WWE “icon” Stephanie McMahon announced an audience of 60,651 tonight (7,000 more than last night). The total for both shows was 113,722. 

******** 

Rhodes entered first, and his entrance started with words from Dusty Rhodes (with yellow polka dots displayed on the tron). It may have been an AI version of Dusty’s voice (which is not the first time they would have used AI, sadly). 

Rhodes rose through the stage and his regular entrance music hit. Rhodes wore a gold version of his goofy skull mask, and he removed it fairly quickly. Fireworks went off as Rhodes, dressed in blue, white and red, entered. 

Cena entered second. The tron was initially all-black as it had been during his heel run, but it turned colourful as he entered the stage. Cena also happened to be wearing a blue, white and red t-shirt. Cena acted like his usual babyface self, and fans cheered. 

Rhodes received a heavy mixed reaction during his in-ring introduction, with the boos seeming to outweigh the cheers. 

Cena was roundly cheered, and he couldn’t help but smirk when Alicia Taylor announced him as the greatest of all time.

Street Fight for the Undisputed WWE Championship: John Cena (c) vs. Cody Rhodes

They hugged as the match began, then kicked things off by trading punches. The fight quickly went to the outside, and there were boos when Rhodes slammed Cena into the steps. 

Cena recovered and approached Tyrese Haliburton. Cena gave him the ‘you can’t see me’ gesture and stole one of his crutches to use on Rhodes. (The crowd hates Haliburton.) Rhodes fought back and slammed Cena onto the steel steps, which were now in the ring. 

With Rhodes outside the ring, Cena grabbed the steps and threw them at Rhodes. Cena did this before to Bray Wyatt, and it nailed Bray right in the face (with Bray protecting himself). However, the steps appeared to catch Rhodes lower, and he sold his arm. (He continued and seemed ok.)

Some fans tried to sing Rhodes’ name, but it didn’t really pick up. Cena and Rhodes grabbed chairs, but Rhodes managed to hit Cena with it first. Cena did his usual comeback as the crowd went nuts. Cena hit a five knuckle shuffle, but Rhodes avoided an AA. 

Rhodes followed with clotheslines, jabs, and a bionic elbow as the crowd booed. One fan had the audacity to chant, “Same old sh-t,” at Rhodes, seconds after Cena did the five moves of doom. 

Rhodes hit a Cody Cutter for two, and Cena followed with an AA for two. There were light chants of “You can’t wrestle,” and “Yes, he can,” and I had no idea who they were directed at. Rhodes hit a Disaster Kick and another Cody Cutter for two counts. Cena hit an electric chair drop for two. 

Rhodes hit a piledriver for two, and some fans chanted, “You can’t do that.” Rhodes seemed unsure of how to proceed after that, and the hesitation allowed Cena to hit an AA. Rhodes hit a sit-out powerbomb for two, and Cena quickly applied an STF until Rhodes escaped. 

Rhodes sent Cena over the barricade before Cena bonked Rhodes with the microphone. Cena followed with a Code Red on the outside. 

Cena hoisted Rhodes on his shoulders and put him through the unbreakable announce desk with an AA. Cena struggled to get Rhodes in the ring, and the extra time allowed Rhodes to kick out. 

Cena missed a charge in the corner, and Rhodes hit Cross Rhodes for a nearfall. Cena knocked Rhodes off the ropes and followed with a diving leg drop and AA for a close nearfall. 

Cena set up a table in the ring and went for an AA, but Rhodes tipped over the table and countered with a DDT for two. Rhodes set up a table in the corner, but they both managed to avoid it—so we’ll get to this later. 

Beyond the 20-minute mark, they found themselves fighting in the crowd. Cena grabbed a steel bike rack, but Rhodes suplexed him onto it. 

The brawl continued, and they disappeared under the big stage. The camera focused on the elevator platform that Rhodes used during his entrance. Smoke rose through the opening, and Cena emerged with Rhodes on his shoulders. Cena then dumped Rhodes onto the ramp with an AA. 

Cena hoisted Rhodes on his shoulders and carried him all the way to the ring. Barrett noted how difficult this must be so long into a match. Indeed, Cena was exhausted, so Rhodes drove him through the corner table and hit a Cross Rhodes for a nearfall. 

Rhodes bonked Cena on the head (softly) with a steel chair. Rhodes unscrewed a corner turnbuckle, causing the bottom rope to loosen. Rhodes used the metal turnbuckle rod as a weapon (although he really hit Cena with the padding). 

The crowd booed, and Rhodes showed regret on his face. Cena got to his feet, and Rhodes hit him with the turnbuckle again. Cena avoided Rhodes’ third attempt and hit a drop toe hold. Cena applied an STF, using the bottom rope to choke Rhodes, but Rhodes escaped. 

Rhodes avoided an AA and hit consecutive Cross Rhodes. The crowd was exasperated because they could feel the end coming. Rhodes hit his finisher one more time—but Cena kicked out. The crowd popped and chanted, “Super Cena.” 

Rhodes grabbed the title belt and went to use it as a weapon, but Cena ducked and hit consecutive AAs. Cena grabbed Rhodes and hit an AA off the middle rope—but Rhodes kicked out. 

Cena set up another table in the ring, but Rhodes blocked the avalanche AA attempt. Rhodes instead hit an avalanche Cody Cutter (or something resembling a cutter) through the table. 

Rhodes gave Cena a salute and hit one final Cross Rhodes for the pinfall win. 

(The fans probably would have exploded if Cena won, but they weren’t necessarily booing the result.) 

— Cena handed Rhodes the title belt and hugged him. Cena said something to an emotional Rhodes. A big-ass fireworks display went off as Rhodes stood alone with the belt. Rhodes embraced Cena again and raised his hand for the crowd. 

Rhodes left, and the fans chanted for Cena, who remained in the ring. Before he could leave…

Brock Lesnar entered. The crowd lost it. 

Lesnar entered slowly, wearing a cowboy hat, jeans, and a t-shirt with his logo. 

Lesnar removed his cowboy hat, hit the ring, and nailed Cena with a huge F5. Lesnar was pumped. 

Lesnar grabbed his cowboy hat as the show ended. (Not sure where Rhodes disappeared to.)

Match result: Cody Rhodes defeated John Cena to win the Undisputed WWE Championship (37:43) 

This was a genuinely enjoyable street fight, and the best Cena has looked in forever. He’s been in entertaining no-rules matches before, and this was up there with those. The drama around Cena’s final run certainly helped. It did go too long, but this was likely Cena’s last title match, so I’m sure they wanted to leave no doubt who the winner was in the end. 

However, none of that really matters because of how the show ended. A mixed bag of a SummerSlam could have ended on a high note, but instead came crashing furiously down to earth.

WWE SummerSlam night one live results: CM Punk vs. Gunther, Jelly Roll in-ring debut

Posted on by Steve Khan

Date: August 2, 2025
Location: MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ

**********

Show Recap — 

COUNTDOWN SHOW —

The countdown show is three hours long. Follow here for periodic updates, followed by the live SummerSlam recap tonight and tomorrow. 

Michael Cole confirmed that the men’s world title match between Gunther and CM Punk will main event night one of SummerSlam.

The opener will be Roman Reigns and Jey Uso against Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed. 

Tiffany Stratton did a quick interview with Byron Saxton. She admitted to being nervous because nobody had Jade Cargill’s star power or potential (shouldn’t Stratton think that about herself?), but she still planned on walking out as champion tonight. 

Sam Roberts interviewed Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez. They dismissed Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss as opponents, and confidently stated they would retain their tag titles tonight. 

They killed time by interviewing fans outside the stadium. Two hours to go. 

They aired part one of a Jelly Roll interview with Jackie Redmond. He was a huge fan and really wanted to be a part of this period of wrestling (given its current popularity). He wasn’t there to take someone else’s spot. They also focused heavily on his weight-loss journey. (So far, this Jelly Roll interview is the most anyone has been focused on.) 

Another celebrity, comedian Druski, joined the panel. He spoke more about his own projects than he did about SummerSlam.

Saxton interviewed some fans dressed as wrestlers and had them do impressions. It was so embarrassing, I had to mute it. 

They aired the clip of Triple H doing his water gimmick at the White House. 

Joe Tessitore put over WWE: Unreal and claimed it was widely acclaimed (by whom?). Tessitore interviewed Triple H, whom he called the series’ central pillar.

Big E put over the series as well, while admitting the idea of it was polarizing among fans. 

Cathy Kelley interviewed Sami Zayn. Zayn was angry. He saw posters around the building for all the big championship matches, which made him angry that he was instead fighting Karrion Kross to prove himself. He congratulated Kross on making him angry. Zayn would end this tonight, “one way or another.”

Big E and Redmond plugged Kross’ biography, coming out soon. 

There was a long SummerSlam stats video, which somehow included the number of times Jelly Roll’s album has been streamed. One hour to go. 

There was a video package on celebrities getting involved at WWE shows. 

They aired part two of Redmond’s interview with Jelly Roll. It included footage of him training at the PC and being put over by Undertaker. He spoke about tonight’s match, and Redmond wished him luck.

If that wasn’t enough, they aired clips (for a second time) of Jelly Roll on Stephanie McMahon’s podcast. Stephanie joined the panel to talk about him more. His goal was to be under 300 lbs for tonight’s match, and she announced he weighed in earlier at 299. 

They spoke more about other celebrities and how much they want to be part of WWE now. 

There were clips from Unreal.

After a break, the panel spoke about Jelly Roll again. 

The panel spoke about the rest of the card as the pre-show came to a close. 

SUMMERSLAM 2025 NIGHT ONE —

The footage of wrestlers arriving now has a sponsor attached to it. Drew McIntyre, Logan Paul, Randy Orton, Jelly Roll, Gunther, and CM Punk were shown arriving. 

The SummerSlam intro video was narrated by comedian Druski.

Several wide shots showed how packed MetLife Stadium is. It’s 77 degrees Fahrenheit and partly cloudy. 

Cardi B, the host of SummerSlam, entered the ring and she hyped up the crowd (while seemingly reading off cue cards or a teleprompter at ringside). 

******** 

Jey Uso entered first at 6:09 pm. He entered through the crowd and stated, “Damn, I’m tired!” as he hit ringside. Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed entered to a new remixed version of their two themes. 

The opening bell rang at 6:20 pm.

Roman Reigns & Jey Uso vs. Bron Breakker & Bronson Reed (w/Paul Heyman)

Jey and Reign quickly sent the heels from the ring. Jey suggested they play his music again so the crowd could Yeet. Reigns was on board, so they did it. The heels took the opportunity to yank Reigns from the ring, so Jey wiped out every with a dive off the top. 

Reed shoved Reigns into the steel steps while Jey hammered away at Breakker, but Breakker ran him over with a sprinting clothesline and the heels quickly took over. As Reigns was about to get back to his feet outside the ring, Breakker ran him over with a chaotic leaping tackle. 

There was a funny bit where Breakker held Jey in a rest hold while mock-singing Reigns’ name and singing, “You should have stayed in bed!” 

Breakker tried his leaping dive off the apron, but Jey dodged it, and Breakker collided with the announce table. Jey was about to make a hot tag, but Reed pulled Reigns off the apron while Breakker tackled Jey. 

Jey gave Reed a DDT and made the hot tag to Reigns, who hit Breakker with clotheslines. With both heels outside the ring, Reigns did a big Undertaker dive to the outside. Reigns almost landed on his head, but he managed to rotate and avoid catastrophe. 

Reigns hit Breakker with a Superman punch in the ring, but Reed had made a blind tag, and he ran over Reigns. Jey made his own blind tag and ran wild on Reed until Reed cut him off with a clothesline and DVD for two. 

With both babyfaces outside the ring, Reed nailed them with a suicide dive. Reed also took a nasty-looking fall on this one, but he was fine. Breakker decked Jey over the announce table. The heels gave Jey a Steinerizer (with Breakker leaping off the top) for two. 

Breakker began running around the ring, but Reigns cut him off with a Superman punch and speared him through the barricade. (It’s a tired spot, but it looked good.) 

Reed set up Jey for a Tsunami, but Reigns knocked him down with a Superman punch. Reigns and Jey hit Reed with a 1-D, but Breakker broke up the cover. 

Breakker taunted the crowd, put his straps back on before taking them right off. (The crowd popped for that.) Breakker went to spear Jey, but Reigns shoved Jey out of the way and ate the spear instead. 

Jey superkicked Breakker and speared Reed. Jey then hit Reed with an Uso splash for the pinfall win. The crowd popped for the win. 

(The announcers put over the fact that Reigns sacrificed himself for Jey, not something he would have done in the past.)

Match result: Jey Uso & Roman Reigns defeated Bronson Reed & Bron Breakker (21:05) 

This was a perfectly good opener. Reigns’ matches have a certain pattern, and this was no different, but it was at least nice to see some new blood in there—namely, Bron Breakker. Perhaps Bron should have won, but he looked good in the match, and they’ll obviously go back to this soon. 

********

Druski, Breland, and Fat Joe (who got a nice reaction) were shown in the crowd. 

A brand sponsor was also shown in the crowd, and Cole’s ad read was muted on my Netflix broadcast. (The ad reads are usually muted on my feed.)  

********

The show is almost an hour old, and there’s been just one 20-minute match. The second match began at 6:56 pm. 

Charlotte entered first, but remained on the stage for Bliss so they could enter together (to Bliss’ music). 

There were stats shown for Rodriguez and Perez, and even that graphic had a sponsor attached.

Women’s Tag Team Championships: Raquel Rodriguez & Roxanne Perez (c) vs. Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss 

The heels had the heat on Charlotte almost right away. Bliss made a hot tag and went for Sister Abigail, but Perez raked her eyes. Perez missed a springboard moonsault, but Rodriguez tagged herself in. 

Bliss dropped Perez with a DDT and went for Twisted Bliss, even though Perez was not the legal woman. Perez “got her knees up,” but Bliss missed anyway and landed on Perez’s feet instead. None of it mattered because Perez wasn’t legal, so Rodriguez decked her with a clothesline. 

Charlotte made a hot tag and did her best to fire up the quiet crowd. She hit both opponents with a flying crossbody and followed with chops on Rodriguez. She placed Rodriguez and Perez next to each other and hit a moonsault on both women before covering Rodriguez for two. Charlotte tried to put Rodriguez in a Figure Eight, but Perez hit her with a springboard moonsault. 

Bliss jumped in and tried to deck Rodriguez, but Rodriguez moved, and Bliss clobbered Charlotte by mistake. The heels got rid of Bliss before Rodriguez hit Charlotte with a Tejana Bomb. Perez followed with Pop Rox, but Bliss just barely broke up the cover. 

Bliss set up Perez for Sister Abigail. Charlotte looked like she wanted to boot Bliss for revenge, but she booted Rodriguez instead so that she couldn’t interfere. 

Bliss hit Perez with the Sister Abigail DDT for the pinfall win. 

Charlotte embraced Bliss after the match, and they posed with their new title belts as fireworks went off. 

Match result: Alexa Bliss & Charlotte Flair defeated Roxanne Perez & Raquel Rodriguez to win the Women’s Tag Team Championships (13:35)

This match was ok. The crowd didn’t care early on, but they got into it as it picked up toward the end and popped big for the title change. 

********

There was a backstage segment to plug their pizza sponsorship. New Day (and Grayson Waller), Alpha Academy, and LWO argued over who should get the last slice of pizza until Nikki Bella entered with three full boxes. 

******** 

This match did not get a video package (which is fine). 

Sami Zayn vs. Karrion Kross (w/Scarlett)

About five minutes in, Zayn kicked out of a Saito suplex, so Kross turned to Scarlett for assistance. Scarlett handed Kross a lead pipe and distracted the referee, but Zayn ducked a pipe shot and hit a Blue Thunder Bomb for a nearfall. 

A frustrated Zayn repeatedly booted Kross in the ropes, and the referee had to force him off. 

Scarlett offered the pipe to Zayn as the ref checked on Kross. Zayn grabbed the pipe and considered using it, but he tossed it out of the ring (which was actually booed). 

Kross tried a sudden schoolboy, but Zayn kicked out and hit an exploder in the corner. Zayn followed with a Helluva Kick for the decisive win. 

Zayn smiled as he made his way up the ramp. 

Match result: Sami Zayn defeated Karrion Kross (8:11)

This was a basic match that was really just about the closing sequence. I think the crowd was expecting a more interesting result, but ultimately, Zayn did what he said he would do and beat Kross straight-up (which was the correct result). 

********

Cole announced an attendance of 53,161. 

Cole honoured Hulk Hogan once more and spoke about his success at SummerSlam. Nick Hogan was shown in the crowd as Hulk’s music played. 

******** 

Psycho Clown and Mr. Iguana were shown in the crowd. 

There was a clip of Jade Cargill meeting some fans backstage and giving them upgraded seats. This was also a sponsored segment. 

******** 

Cargill’s gear were the colours of the Jamaican flag. Both women were cheered during introductions, and they made sure to show Cardi B applauding Cargill. 

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

Cargill had the early edge until Stratton bumped her off the paron and hit a suicide dive. Stratton followed with a great-looking senton bomb in the ring. (It looked like she would land on her head, but rotated just in time to hit the move.) 

Cargill blocked Stratton’s handspring elbow and followed with a boot and spinning slam for two. They traded moves, which led to Stratton hitting a falcon arrow. Stratton hit a handspring elbow and an Alabama Slam. Stratton tried a moonsault, but Cargill got her boots up. 

Cargill hit Jaded and seemed to have the title won, but when she rolled into the cover, Stratton’s foot happened to touch the rope for a rope break. Cargill hit a chokeslam and took Stratton to the corner. 

Cargill set up for a Jaded off the middle rope, but Stratton countered into an avalanche hurricanrana of sorts. Stratton followed with the PME for the pinfall win. Stratton wins clean. 

Match result: Tiffany Stratton defeated Jade Cargill to retain the WWE Women’s Championship (7:05)

A surprising result. There were some clunky spots, but this was better than expected, and the crowd was into it. 

******* 

There was a trailer for The Smashing Machine. 

Tineke Younger, Cardi B, and Stephanie McMahon were in the crowd. (Cole referred to Stephanie as “legendary,” and I believe they called her that on the pre-show as well.) 

******** 

Bunnie XO, Jelly Roll’s wife, was in the crowd. Cole read some stats about her Spotify audience. 

As mentioned on the pre-show, they said Jelly Roll weighed in at 299 lbs (his goal was to be under 300 lbs for this match).

Randy Orton & Jelly Roll vs. Drew McIntyre & Logan Paul 

Paul took a cheap shot at Jelly Roll before the match. Orton was going to start the match, but as the bell rang, Jelly Roll tagged himself in to get revenge. 

Paul tried and failed to suplex Jelly Roll, so Jelly gave him a scoop slam instead. Jelly followed with an elbow drop, so a surprised Paul tagged out. 

McIntyre smacked Jelly in the back of the head. Instead of tagging out, Jelly was hyped up by Orton. Jelly got in McIntyre’s face. McIntyre told him that today was the day the music dies.

Jelly hit a few jabs until McIntyre dropped him with a headbutt. Paul tagged in and hammered away at Jelly Roll as the crowd chanted, “F—k you, Logan,” (which was censored). 

The heels beat up Jelly as the crowd chanted, “We want Randy.” Jelly chucked McIntyre out of the ring and made the hot tag to Orton, who hit McIntyre with a powerslam and a draping DDT. Orton set up for an RKO, but Paul pulled McIntyre to safety. 

Orton went outside and gave McIntyre a back suplex onto the announce table. Orton did it to Paul as well, but that distraction allowed McIntyre to hit Orton with a Claymore Kick. Paul attacked Jelly from behind and punched him (with his titanium-plated hand). Jelly didn’t exactly take it flush. 

McIntyre placed Jelly Roll on the announce table as Paul went to the top rope. Paul raised cans of his energy drink before hitting Jelly Roll with a spectacular splash off the rope and through the announce table. The crowd chanted, “Holy sh-t,” as officials checked on Jelly Roll. 

The heels worked over Orton in the ring as the crowd seemed distracted. Officials helped Jelly to his feet and helped him make his way toward the ramp. (The fans cheered when Jelly got to his feet, but they also seemed distracted by something else, to the point where McIntyre banged the top of the ring post to get them focused.) 

With Orton down, Jelly Roll shunned the officials and made his way back to the apron. Jelly made a hot tag and gave Paul a chokeslam. He also gave McIntyre a Bossman slam. The fans—who were all on their feet since Paul’s splash—were definitely into it here, and they cheered as Jelly brought Paul off the top with a powerslam for two. 

McIntyre hit Jelly with a Claymore Kick, and Orton gave McIntyre an RKO. However, Paul chucked Orton into the ring post and hit Jelly with a frog splash for the pinfall win. 

Match result: Logan Paul & Drew McIntyre defeated Jelly Roll & Randy Orton (17:04)

I wouldn’t call this a good match, but it was laid out well, and they accomplished what they wanted. 

On the pre-show, they really focused hard on Jelly Roll and celebrity appearances in general. Indeed, Orton and McIntyre felt like secondary players here. Paul is a regular now, so it did make sense for him to get the pin, and his splash through the table was incredible. 

********

They showed Triple H at the White House with Donald Trump. 

They ran down tomorrow’s card, which has a cage match, TLC match, street fight and no-DQ match. 

******** 

Punk wore the colours of the Chicago flag. 

World Heavyweight Championship: Gunther (c) vs. CM Punk

They wrestled back and forth for a few minutes until Gunther dropped Punk with a single chop. Punk got back on offence and targeted Gunther’s left arm. 

Punk went to the top, but Gunther chopped the back of his leg. Punk was helpless upside down in the ropes as Gunther hit several more chops. Gunther followed with more chops, knees to the mid-section, and abdominal stretch. Punk countered out of the stretch and went for a GTS. A series of counters led to Gunther hitting a big boot. 

Gunther beat down Punk for a while until he began fighting back, but Gunther cut him off. (Gunther had a bloody mark on his chest from Punk’s chops.) 

There was a messy spot where Punk seemed to be going for an atomic drop, but Gunther landed as if it was a spinebuster. It didn’t matter because Gunther put Punk in a single-leg crab. Punk countered into an attempt at a Sharpshooter, but Gunther got a rope break. 

(They stalled for a moment here as the ref checked on Punk, perhaps giving him time to recoup.) 

Punk fought back and hit a clothesline, but Gunther didn’t budge. Punk knocked him down with a leg lariat instead. Punk, also bleeding from the chest, went for a running knee, but Gunther caught him and hit a powerbomb for two. 

They traded submission attempts until Gunther hit consecutive chops, but Punk came back with a Russian leg sweep, running knee and bulldog for two. Punk went to the top, but Gunther slammed him off it and followed with a splash off the top for two. 

Gunther clotheslined an exhausted Punk, waited for him to return to his feet, and hit another one. Punk suddenly got Gunther in position for GTS, but Gunther slipped out and hit a powerbomb. Gunther hit a running dropkick and powerbomb for a nearfall. 

The match continued at a slow pace as Gunther continued his deliberate beatdown of Punk. Gunther posed atop the announce table until Punk tripped him from behind. Punk was too tired to follow up and sat against the ring to catch his breath. 

The camera focused on Punk as a distraction, because Gunther reemerged from behind the announce desk and his face was covered in blood. (His face or nose supposedly smashed off the desk to cause this.) 

Gunther begged off from Punk, who hit a clothesline and diving elbow drop. Punk went for GTS, but Gunther slipped out again and applied a sleeper. 

Punk slipped out and hit a GTS. Gunther was dazed but remained on his feet. Punk grabbed him and hit the GTS again for the pinfall win. 

CM Punk is the World Champion. 

The referee handed the world title belt to an emotional Punk. 

Match result: CM Punk defeated Gunther to win the World Heavyweight Championship (30:18) 

— Punk looked around the crowd before finally holding the belt up high. Seth Rollins’ music hit, the crowd popped, and Punk’s expression changed. 

Rollins walked out on crutches with Heyman by his side. Rollins issued a warning to Punk and acted like he was about to leave. However, Rollins ditched his crutches and removed his knee brace. 

Rollins ran down with his briefcase and a referee. Punk attacked Rollins as soon as he entered the ring, but Rollins fought him off and hit him in the head repeatedly with the briefcase. 

Rollins cashed in his contract. 

World Heavyweight Championship: CM Punk (c) vs. Seth Rollins (w/Paul Heyman) 

Rollins immediately stomped Punk for the pinfall win. 

CM Punk is no longer the World Champion. 

Rollins celebrated with Heyman, Breakker, and Reed as fireworks went off. Rollins sat cross-legged while holding the belt and snickering at Punk. 

Match result: Seth Rollins defeated CM Punk to win the World Heavyweight Championship (0:12)

The main event was good, but not great. It was unnecessarily long, but they probably wanted Punk looking as exhausted as possible for the cash-in. 

Night one was an average show at best (to be generous), the type of show you’d be able to skim through pretty quickly. There was about 90 minutes of wrestling on this three-and-a-half-hour show, and a third of that was the main event.

WWE SmackDown live results: SummerSlam go-home show

Posted on by Marc Quill

The final WWE SmackDown before this weekend’s two-night SummerSlam goes down tonight in Newark, New Jersey. A pair of title matches are scheduled for the episode, as well as a confrontation between SummerSlam opponents John Cena and Cody Rhodes.

Cena and Rhodes will meet in a street fight this Sunday for the Undisputed WWE Championship. The last time both men were in the same ring, Rhodes laid out Cena and forced him to sign the contract for their title bout.

Last week, Rhodes challenged Cena to bring “the real” version of himself at SummerSlam for the street fight. Cena will undoubtedly bring his response to that challenge tonight.

Also set for this evening is Giulia defending her Women’s United States title against former champ Zelina Vega in her first title defense. Giulia’s new “business partner” in Kiana James could factor into how this match plays out.

Damian Priest finally gets his chance to take down Aleister Black in singles action after weeks of being vexed by his new rival. Black took exception to Priest sticking up for Ron Killings and has taken out his frustrations on the former World Champion.

Los Garza will also defend their AAA Tag Team titles on tonight’s show in an open challenge. Plus, Jimmy Uso faces off against the debuting Talla Tonga.

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

**********

– Over shots of Newark, New Jersey and the Prudential Center, Joe Tessitore welcomed us to the shwo. He pointed out the steel cage hanging above the ring. Jimmy Uso, The M.F.T.s, Aleister Black, and Damian Priest were shown arriving at the arena.

John Cena and Cody Rhodes face off before SummerSlam

The Undisputed WWE Champion arrived to the ring in his usual, understated manner, dressed in New York Jets-themed “The Last Time is Now” gear. The crowd serenaded Cena with “Let’s Go Cena / Cena Sucks” chants before he instructed ring announcer Mark Nash to give him an appropriately bombastic intro.

Before Cena could even say a single word, the entrance theme of his SummerSlam foe, Cody Rhodes, interrupted. The American Nightmare made his way down to the ring to address Cena face to face.

The crowd filled the air with an eclectic mix of chants as the SummerSlam opponents stood in the ring. Cena started by saying that he told Rhodes that he was exhausted, and that a match at SummerSlam would be too difficult for him. He said that Rhodes forced him into one of the most dangerous matches in WWE. He only had one thing to say to Rhodes “Thank you”, because that was the boot in the ass he needed. Cena said that for 25 years, he had forged a legacy of respect and hard work. And that five months ago, he flushed that into the toilet for “shock TV”. He said that the people on his team (The Rock and Travis Scott) left him alone in the aftermath, which made him try to pretend something he was not. Cena said that he wanted to take the WWE Championship home not to ruin wrestling, but so that the fans wouldn’t forget about him.

Cena said he was so hung up about how we all saw him tomorrow, that it made him blind to how stupid he was acting today. Cena said that Rhodes did what a good friend should do, by forcing him to face it and forcing him into a fight. Cena said that the Street Fight at SummerSlam was going to get him back to who he really was. According to the Undisputed WWE Champion, August 1st, 2025, was the day that John Cena truly came back to WWE.

Cena said that he didn’t know who’d leave SummerSlam with the title, but the fans would leave as the winners, because we’d finally see John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes in a battle between the best. He told Rhodes that if he wanted some, to come get some. He said that on Sunday, the only platinum rapper showing up to whip Cody’s ass was him. “The Champ is Here!” Cena concluded.

Rhodes asked for two cans of beer to be given to him before he simply told Cena “welcome back”. The two men popped open the cold ones and shared a toast. Rhodes left Cena in the ring, so that the Champ could take in the cheers from the crowd as this segment ended.

Well, this was certainly an interesting segment, to say the least. But, this seemed like a hard reset for Cena to be a face for the latter half of his retirement run. It also seemed like they brushed aside whatever partnership with Travis Scott was developing. Whether or not it leads to a Cody Rhodes heel turn as a result remains to be seen, but it does adds intrigue to the SummerSlam main event, assuming we don’t get swerved one more time to end the night.

**********

– Tessitore and Wade Barrett tossed to footage of a Jelly Roll training session earlier today where Logan Paul and Drew McIntyre made their presence clear by attacking Jelly.

– PJ Byrne, the lead actor from the new USA Network series The Rainmaker (which, sadly, has nothing to do with Kazuchika Okada) was shown in the crowd.

Women’s United States Championship Match: Giulia (c) (w/ Kiana James) vs. Zelina Vega

Vega and Giulia began with a tie-up before coming at a stalemate and a faceoff. The two attempted to trade strikes, but Giulia won out with a one-handed STO slam for an early pinfall attempt. Giulia continued the punishment on Vega with a mix of elbow strikes and chops, followed by a stalling suplex. Vega managed to kick out at two afterwards as she then left Giulia on the apron with a flip. She sent the Women’s United States Champion to the outside, as she then connected with a diving Meteora to the outside, which took us to a commercial break halfway through.

We returned to action with Giulia slamming Vega down face first with a wheelbarrow faceplant. She then locked in some sort of modfied Camel Clutch on Vega, who then countered it into a roll-up pin that Giulia kicked out of. Giulla regained momentum with a vicious stomp, but couldn’t capitalize after getting kicked in the corner by Vega.

Vega launched into her comeback as she delivered a saito suplex on the champion, followed by the running Meteora to the corner. Giulia avoided a dropkick and lifted Vega onto the top turnbuckle. Giulia looked to deliver a superplex, but Vega wriggled herself free and delivered an avalanche German suplex onto the Women’s U.S. Champion instead. One, two… Giulia managed to kick out at two.

Once again, Giulia put Vega up on the top turnbuckle and hit a series of headbutts to stun her foe. With Vega dazed, Giulia hit an avalanche butterfly suplex, followed by the Arrivederci Knee, and the Northern Lights Bomb. Vega somehow kicked out at 2.99999999 to somehow survive that salvo of Giulia’s signature moves.

Giulia looked for another Northern Lights Bomb, but Vega rolled her up for a close near-fall. Backstabber by Vega gave the challenger an opening she needed. Vega ascended to the top for the moonsault, but Giulia blocked it and pulled up Vega to finish this title defense with an emphatic Northern Lights Bomb.

A solid opener and a great title defense for Giulia. What’s not great, is that this was Giulia’s first match in over a month. She is a great talent who certainly deserves to be showcased more and I will say that tonight’s match was a good start. Now it falls on WWE to book Giulia more consistently so that she gets a chance to show up and show out like she did tonight.

Giulia def. Zelina Vega via pinfall to retain the Women’s United States Championship

**********

– Solo Sikoa and the M.F.T.s were interviewed, where we learned that he apparently asked for the steel cage to be above the ring tonight. Sikoa denied those claims as he talked about Talla Tonga’s debut tonight against Jimmy Uso and how it was about sending a message.

AAA Tag Team Championships: Los Garza (Angel & Berto) (c) vs. Mr. Iguana & Psycho Clown

Before the match, Santos Escobar addressed the crowd as he demanded the crowd to show respect to the AAA World Tag Team Champions, Los Garza. He chatised the crowd for not showing the respect deserved, as he then challenged any tag team in the back to face Angel and Berto for the AAA Titles.

Mr. Iguana (alongside La Yesca) and Psycho Clown were revealed to be the mystery opponents for Los Garza.

Psycho Clown and Angel started things off for their respective teams. Angel fell victim to a hurricanrana from Psycho, followed by a springboard crossbody. The masked clown looked good as he handled both Garzas easily early on. He ripped off his mask to reveal another one underneath, as he hit a popup forearm on Angel.

Berto got the blind tag, which allowed him to take advantage by tripping up Psycho as he tried for a springboard move. The AAA World Tag Champions began to work over on Psycho in their corner as the fans chanted for Mr. Iguana. Angel and Berto hit a double team kick on a prone Psycho as the former locked in a resthold to keep his foe grounded.

Psycho fought back with a kick to the face of Angel, which gave him some separation and time to get the tag to Mr. Iguana. The eclectic lizard floored Berto with a helicopter spin as he introduced La Yesca into proceedings. He delivered the Iguanarana on Berto as he then slammede Angel with a crucifix pin for the near fall. Angel and Berto caught Mr. Iguana as he tried for a dive to the outside and sent him right into Psycho Clown. Mr. Iguana was brought back into the ring and left at the mercy of Los Garza on the top rope. They dropped him with a super MTY from the top rope. Iguana managed to kick out at two as he tagged in Psycho Clown.

Psycho tried for a crossbody but got blocked, as they then landed the MTY to retain their AAA World Tag Team gold.

Los Garza def. Psycho Clown & Mr. Iguana via pinfall to retain the AAA World Tag Team Championships

It was an entertaining tag match, yes, but having the AAA-aligned talent lose on their WWE TV debut will certainly not help shake the notions that the WWE/AAA deal is a one-sided partnership more than anything else.

**********

– Logan Paul and Drew McIntyre were asked backstage about their attack on Jelly Roll earlier today, but the two said they’d explain why they did what they did later tonight.

– A video package setting the stage for the massive six-team TLC Match for the WWE Tag Team Titles at SummerSlam was shown.

Aleister Black vs. Damian Priest

Priest and Black locked horns in the middle of the ring to start as the latter took advantage with an attempted hammerlock. Priest escaped and withstood a kick to the thigh from Black. The Dutch brawler tried for another kick, but he got met with Priest’s own onslaught of kicks, which sent him to the outside. Priest leapt off the steel stepst to drop Black with a clothesline. On the apron, Priest tried for a kick, but he missed and got jettisoned to ringside, as Black then took off with a dive over the ropes. With Black in the driver’s seat, we took a break in the action.

SmackDown returned as Priest attempted to fight back, but he got felled by a knee to the face from Black. The cover from Black, but Priest kicked out. Black taunted Priest, who hyped himself back up and roared back with elbow strikes, a slam, and an Old School crossbody. Priest sized up Black and rocked him with a running clothesline as Black managed to kick out at two.

Priest tried for the Razor’s Edge, but Black escaped the attempt. A kick from Priest sent Black to the ringside area. Priest had a full head of steam and ran for a charging attack, but he was intercepted with a knee to the face from Black. As Black headed up top for a moonsault, Priest avoided calamity and pounced him over the announce table. Priest cleared away the commentary table, but got a faceful of chair from Black, which ended this match in a disqualification.

After the match, Black was far from done as he smashed the chair over the back of Priest. He then struck Priest in the face with the chair, which left him stunned against the steel steps. Black slammed Priest’s head against the steel steps repeatedly as he delivered one Black Mass kick to leave his rival down and out.

Damian Priest def. Aleister Black via disqualification

That match was shaping up to be a good one until the DQ finish, but I will say it was a decent way to get some heat on Black with the post-match attack. That said, it does feel odd that despite being the catalyst for Black’s heel turn, Ron Killings/R-Truth has essentially become persona non grata as it relates to this story, which raises the question of whether or not Truth feels any important at all after being brought back.

**********

– Backstage, Tiffany Stratton was confronted by her SummerSlam opponent, Jade Cargill. The two traded barbs ahead of their match tomorrow, as Cargill promised to finish what she started now that there’d be no distractions or cash-ins to worry about.

Talla Tonga (w/ Solo Sikoa) vs. Jimmy Uso

Uso started right way by trying to chop down Talla in the corner. On the top rope, Uso tried for a dive, but he got dropped by a punch from Talla, who took over the match with a hard clothesline that felled his opponent. Talla delivered a leg drop with those massive tree trunk legs of his onto Uso, as Sikoa trash talked Uso from the outside. Talla had the clear upper hand on Uso, up until he got sent over the top rope and onto the apron. Uso flew through the ropes and temporarily stunned Talla with a suicide dive, which took us to the break.

We returned with Talla in the driver’s seat as he attacked Uso in the corner. Talla took pleasure in mocking Uso for a bit before Jimmy tried to get momentum back. Talla withstood the storm and once again had Uso at his mercy in the corner with strikes. Uso avoided a running charge from Talla and left him momentarily dazed with a kick. An attempted Samoan drop from Uso failed as Talla was too strong for it. Uso headed up top and got grabbed by the throat by Talla. Chokeslam attempt was reversed by Uso, as he nailed a series of superkicks. Solo Sikoa got on the apron and got a kick for his troubles as Uso then delivered a spear on to Talla.

Uso headed up top and looked for the splash, but Talla caught him and hit a chokeslam for the one, two, three and the victory in his debut match.

After the match, Sikoa summoned J.C. Mateo and Tama Tonga to continue the punishment on Jimmy Uso as the United States Champion called for the steel cage to be lowered. Jacob Fatu ran down and entered the ring before the cage lowered completely. Sikoa made a run for it, as did Talla Tonga. This left Mateo and Tama to be picked apart, pillar to post, coast to coast by Fatu. With Mateo and Tama prone on opposite corners, Fatu laid them out with running hip charges and leaping moonsaults.

Talla Tonga def. Jimmy Uso

I can say that Talla Tonga did not look bad in his debut, and Jimmy Uso tried his best to make him look good for his debut. The post-match extracurriculars with Jacob Fatu laying waste to two-fourths of the M.F.T.s was a fun bit of business.

**********

SummerSlam Saturday Card

  • Gunther vs. CM Punk (World Heavyweight Championship)
  • Raquel Rodriguez & Roxanne Perez vs. Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss (Women’s Tag Team Championship)
  • Roman Reigns & Jey Uso vs. Bron Breakker & Bronson Reed
  • Randy Orton & Jelly Roll vs. Logan Paul & Drew McIntyre
  • Tiffany Stratton vs. Jade Cargill (WWE Women’s Championship)
  • Sami Zayn vs. Karrion Kross

SummerSlam Sunday Card

  • Street Fight: John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes (Undisputed WWE Champipnship)
  • Dominik Mysterio vs. AJ Styles (Intercontinental Championship)
  • Steel Cage Match: Solo Sikoa vs. Jacob Fatu (United States Championship)
  • No DQ, No Countout: Becky Lynch vs. Lyra Valkyria (Women’s Intercontinental Championship)
  • Triple Threat: Naomi vs. IYO SKY vs. Rhea Ripley (Women’s World Heavyweight Championship)
  • Tables Ladders & Chairs Match: The Wyatt Sicks (c) vs. #DIY vs. Fenix/Andrade vs. Motor CIty Machine Guns vs. Fraxiom vs. The Street Profits (WWE Tag Team Championships)

– Alexa Bliss & Charlotte Flair were interviewed about their tag match tomorrow. Flair said that Bliss has had her back and been there for her, even if she’s been annoying. The two traded barbs with one another before they walked off.

Logan Paul & Drew McIntyre close out SmackDown

The two men who will face Randy Orton and Jelly Roll tomorrow night at SummerSlam made their way down to the ring to deliver some final remarks before their match.

Paul said that he and McIntyre were trying their best to defend WWE from outsiders, and that we didn’t understand what it took to compete at SummerSlam, which according to Paul, Jelly Roll thought was a “hotdog eating contest”. Paul said that he was tired of outsiders thinking they could step into WWE and compete, which Jelly Roll was in his eyes. He called Jelly a “country star, not a superstar”, and that he does not belong in WWE.

McIntyre said that whatever happens tomorrow will be on Randy Orton’s conscience. He said that he had God on speed dial, because when Drew McIntyre prays, bad things happened. Before Paul and McIntyre could continue, Jelly Roll arrived to the arena , and he wasn’t alone… as Randy Orton accompanied him. The two made their way down to the ring as Nick Aldis tried to stop the two from getting to the ring, but to no avail.

Once Orton and Jelly got to the ring, they began throwing hands with Paul and McIntyre. A vanguard of security officials ran down to the ring to get this fight to stop, to little success. McIntyre and Paul were sent outside as more officials got everybody finally separated. In the ring, Orton calmed himself down, as he turned to Jelly and hyped him up. Orton delivered an RKO on two of the security officials as the last of the trio got dropped by a Jelly Roll chokeslam. Orton and Jelly stood tall in the ring and jawjacked with Paul and McIntyre as we closed out the final SmackDown before SummerSlam.

**********

That was a decent way to end the night with the Jelly/Orton vs. Paul/McIntyre stuff, but I probably would’ve prefered if Cena and Cody’s segment from the beginning was the final one to send us home before SummerSlam, since the hook of whether or not Cena’s change of heart was legit would’ve at least made an interesting cliffhanger to leave us on before Sunday.

All in all, this was an okay go-home SmackDown before SummerSlam. The matches we got ranged from good (Priest vs. Black) to great (Giulia vs. Vega), and it did an admirable job to sell fans on the two-night event that’s coming this weekend.

WWE NXT live results: Santino Marella challenges for North American title

Posted on by Chris Aiken

On NXT tonight, Santino Marella has a chance to win his first WWE gold in 13 years.

The 51-year-old Marella is challenging Ethan Page for the NXT North American Championship on tonight’s show. It’s a match that was set up last week when Marella confronted Page, who had just introduced a Canadian flag-inspired design for the North American title belt. Marella said the title deserves to be held by someone with dignity, honor, class, and pride.

Marella is currently an on-screen authority figure in TNA Wrestling with the title of Director of Authority.

A couple of women’s division matches have also been announced for tonight with Lash Legend vs. Fallon Henley and Jaida Parker vs. Jazmyn Nyx scheduled to take place. Legend and Parker are both angling for a title shot against NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne, who now also holds the TNA Knockouts Championship as well.

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

**********

The show opens on a somber note with a ten-bell salute to Hulk Hogan, while members of the NXT roster stand in the ring and at ringside. A music video tribute to Hogan follows the ten-bell salute. After that is an early commercial break.

Back from the break, a recap highlights the previous episode of NXT, which sets the stage for tonight’s card. Opening the show is a women’s match.

Jaida Parker vs. Jazmyn Nyx (with Fallon Henley and TNA Knockouts & NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne)

Parker pinned Nyx after a running hip attack. Nyx got some offense, but Parker made an impressive comeback. The result was a coordinated push of Parker to set her up to challenge Jayne in a title match. The match itself was largely good as Parker looked strong.

Jaida Parker defeated Jazmyn Nyx

— Je’Von Evans passes by The High Ryze at the start of a backstage skit, and Evans clowns on them. Evans then meets Chase U on Evans’ way to the ring for a monologue. Andre Chase is telling Kale Dixon and Uriah Connor to essentially take the bulls by the horns. That would lead into a later skit with Hank & Tank.

Confrontation sets up Wes Lee vs. Je’Von Evans for later tonight

Evans begins with a monologue, where he begins by talking about getting advice from Undertaker last week. Evans is going after the biggest dog in the yard.

Out comes TNA World Heavyweight Champion Trick Williams in jeans that sparkle bright. The biggest dog has arrived, and he offers advice not to tug on Superman’s cape or try Trick Williams. That leads to Evans saying he was not talking about Trick when he calling out the biggest dog in the yard. Instead, Evans was talking about NXT Champion Oba Femi.

High Ryze soon interrupts to interject in the conversation. Playing off the skit from earlier, Wes Lee is flanked by Tyson Dupont and Tyriek Igwe. Lee has Trick’s back, and Lee cuts a promo on Evans. There is some bickering back and forth before Evans responds by decking Lee. Outnumbered, Evans is jumped by High Ryze and Trick. This sets up a singles match tonight with Lee against Evans. Lee and company stand over a prone Evans.

— In a comedy skit, Uriah Connors and Kal Dixon have chairs in hand outside the locker room of NXT Tag Team Champions Hank & Tank. They intend to rush in and attack Hank & Tank, and they barge in. Instead of an assault, there is a comedy where Hank says all they had to do was ask. In comes Andre Chase, who is apologetic as he did not mean for his students to attack with chairs. This all was mildly funny, but more importantly, it sets up a tag title match for next Tuesday on NXT.

Charlie Dempsey vs. Tavion Heights

Heights pinned Dempsey after a belly-to-belly suplex. In winning, Heights can now leave No Quarter Catch Crew.

The match goes through a commercial break, and it was very good as well. Wren Sinclair was again at ringside, and she teased tossing in a the towel once more. She ultimately didn’t, and Heights made a comeback after Dempsey is working a leg.

Double down as the show cut to commercial. After the break, Dempsey targets the leg. Heights’ leg is smashed in the ring steps. Dempsey then goes to work with a half crab. Heights eventually hulks up into a comeback. He fights back and gets a near fall with a small package. Moments later, Heights counters Dempsey to execute a belly-to-belly suplex. Heights then covers Dempsey for a pinfall. Heights in now free to leave No Quarter Catch Crew.

Tavion Heights defeated Charlie Dempsey

— Trick William instructs High Ryze to finish off Je’Von Evans. In exchange, High Ryze wants Trick to use his pull to get them a tag team title match. Up walks Santino Marella, who chides Trick for thinking he was pull. Marella is the stroke in TNA. But do not worry about that, Marella says as he takes off his TNA badge. Tonight, Marella is a WWE superstar looking to win the NXT North American title. Marella also does his gimmick where he mispronounces the name of Ethan Page.

— Blake Monroe is heading to the ring for a monologue.

Blake Monroe promo turns to chaos

Monroe first cuts a promo on Booker T for mispronouncing her name last week. Monroe then shifts to cutting a promo on Jordynne Grace.

Monroe shows a picture on the big screen of Grace working as an extra, with Monroe chiding Grace’s appearance. Monroe then shows a recent picture, and she makes a crack at Grace about needing a gym membership instead of a title match.

Monroe then insists she herself is championship material. Monroe shows photos of her modeling days.

Lola Vice interrupts Monroe’s monologue, and Vice cuts a promo on Monroe. Vice talks about representing WWE in AAA and dancing with Nikki Bella at Evolution, instead of talking selfies in the locker room (which is a dig at Monroe).

Out next to interrupt the interruption is Jaida Parker. She cut a great promo about not chasing clout, she is chasing the championship.

Jordynne Grace’s music blares, but out comes Kelani Jordan instead. Not the “Jordan” you were expecting, Jordan says with a smirk. Jordan also says to expect the unexpected in WWE. Jordan hen proceeds to cut a promo on Monroe. Jordan basically challenges Monroe to a match.

Monroe accepts the challenge by threatening to put Jordan in a “local medical facility” next week. Monroe headbutts Jordan, which ignites a huge brawl. Vice and Jordan send Monroe and Parker packing, and Monroe begs off by hugging Parker, who shoves Monroe away.

— In a backstage skit with The Culling, Shawn Spears informs Tatum Paxley she has a title match next week against NXT North American Champion Sol Ruca. The Culling will be in Paxley’s corner to ensure she wins the title.

Lash Legend vs. Fallon Henley (with Jazmyn Nyx and Jacy Jayne)

Much of the match is overshadowed by a main roster run-in, as Nia Jax attacks Legend. When he fight spills outside the ring. Nyx tries to interfere, but Legend knocks her down with a punch. Legend also thwarts interference from Jayne, as Legend drops Jayne with a pump kick. Suddenly, Jax ran in to attack Legend from behind.

At a random point during the match, an image of Joe Hendry flashes across the screen. This would also happen in a later match on the card.

A stunned Legend is then rolled into the ring, where Henley executes a Rocker Dropper (famouser). Henley then covers Legend for a three count.

Fallon Henley defeated Lash Legend after interference by Nia Jax

In a post-match attack, Jax furthers her assault on Legend. Jax does a Bonsai Drop on Legend after the match.

— Josh Briggs and Yoshiki Inamura get into an argument backstage, and they were separated. Stacks chimes in and gets slapped by Inamura. This sets up a match for next week with Inamura against Stacks.

Je’Von Evans vs. Wes Lee (with High Ryze)

TNA Champion Trick Williams is ringside for guest commentary.

They wrestle through a commercial break, and they had a great match. Big dive by Lee over the ropes to the floor before the commercial break, which leaves the babyface in peril. The high-flying action continues after the show returns from the break, and the bacyface fights back.

In the highlight of the match, Evans goes coast-to-coast with a flying dropkick as Lee is tied in a tree-of-woe. Great near fall when Evans delivers a frog splash on Lee. The finish came soon after as they go home.

Interference by Tyson Dupont and Tyriek Igwe, but they are thwarted after a dive by Evans. Lee hits his finisher, but Evans gets a toe on the middle rope to break the hold. The idea allows Lee to save some face as he hooked Evans leg too much, which causes it to make contact with the rope. Regardless, the hold is broken.

For the finish, Evans delivers two cutters. The last cutter includes a double springboard off the ropes. Evans then covers Lee for a pinfall. Best match on the show by far.

Je’Von Evans defeated Wes Lee via pinfall

— Vic Joseph sits down with Myles Borne, who tells his emotional story of overcoming serious health conditions as a baby. Borne addresses Lexis King, accusing him of stirring the pot. Borne showcases his positive mental attitude as he describes his battles as a child on a ventilator, where he lost 90% of his hearing. Borne talks about how he could read lips to help understand people. Borne then dismisses King and tries to block him out.

— In a corresponding skit after a commercial break, Lexis King cuts a promo in Ava’s office. King again accuses Borne of faking his deafness. This sets up a match between Kind and Borne for next week on NXT.

— The Fatal Influence trio bicker in a TMZ-style interview. Suddenly, Nia Jax hijacks the interview to cut a promo on Lash Legend. Jax says Legend does not measure up.

NXT North American Champion Ethan Page vs. Santino Marella

Marella with a series of near falls at the start of the match, but Page escapes. The match also includes another mysterious video clip of Joe Hendry.

Heat spot as Page works over Marella. Fighting back, Marella does an airplane spin. Double down from there, and both are seemingly out. They rise and Marella counters Page’s finisher. Marella tries to rally, but he is dropped by a kick.

Page off the top rope with an attempted splash, but Marella gets his knees up. Comeback by Marella and he is firing up. Plancha by Marella, and he rolls Page back into the ring. Out comes The Cobra, but Page uses the referee to shield him. The ref is shoved aside. With the ref’s back turned, Page pokes Marella in the eye. Page then delivers a Twisted Grin, and Page covers Marella for a three count.

Ethan Page defeated Santino Marella to retain the North American title via pinfall.

— Closing the show is a skit with Tony D’Angelo seated at a restaurant. The cliffhanger is Tony D is seemingly being attacked when the show goes off air.

WWE Raw live results: SummerSlam go-home show

Posted on by Steve Khan

Date: July 28, 2025
Location: Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, MI 

The Big Takeaway —

Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed laid out Roman Reigns and Jey Uso in the final segment. 

**********

Show Recap — 

Raw started as SmackDown did, with a tribute to Hulk Hogan. Wrestlers and others were on the stage as the fans cheered for Hogan. Nick Hogan and Eric Bischoff were among those on stage. Paul “Triple H” Levesque said a few words, and they aired a Hogan video package after a ten-bell salute.

Oddly, Triple H was not actually there. More strange than that, they just re-aired what he said on SmackDown as a voiceover as everyone else stood on stage. 

Fans cheered the video. Only a few wrestlers applauded along with them. 

********

Hulk Hogan career highlights aired during a commercial break. 

Opening segment 

Jey Uso entered to his customary reaction. He was about to run it back and play his music again, but Paul Heyman interrupted. 

Heyman said he was not out there to disrespect “Main Event” Jey Uso, who was, in fact, in tonight’s main event. Heyman wanted to talk about family. Heyman was about to enter the ring, but after seeing the look on Jey’s face, he scampered back to the aisle. 

Heyman couldn’t believe Jey accepted Roman Reigns’ invite to be his partner against Bronson Reed and Bron Breakker. Heyman knew Jey loved his family, but he told him that family would always let him down and get him in trouble. That wasn’t a prediction, that was a prophecy. (The crowd chanted, “OTC.”) 

Heyman informed Jey that Santa Claus wasn’t the one who left presents. His mother lied. The crowd booed, so Heyman said their mothers all lied, too—except for the Jewish ones. (“My tribe knows better,” he said.) 

Rikishi may have told Jey that he wanted him to be more iconic than him. But his father lied, too. When Reigns named the next in line for Tribal Chief, he picked Solo Sikoa, not Jey Uso. That didn’t work out so well. Now, Reigns might tell Jey he wants Jey to be as big as him, but Reigns was lying too. 

Heyman was simply telling this to Jey because he loved him. He loved Jey just like family. Heyman yelled, “Yeet,” and dropped the mic. 

Jey responded: family was the reason he was out there. Jey would pull up for his family every single time. The bloodline still ran deep in his veins. Heyman was being disrespectful by talking about the things Jey could do without Reigns. Jey already did those things. He went out on his own and won the world title to prove to himself that he could. Jey wondered where Heyman’s family even was. 

Jey said Heyman screwed Reigns at WrestleMania, while his boys screwed him out of a world title shot. Whatever happened to them at SummerSlam was on Heyman’s ass.

Since he wasn’t able to earlier, Jey had them play his music again so the crowd could Yeet.

(It was good to give Jey his own talking segment here with Heyman so he doesn’t feel so secondary to Reigns in this program.) 

******** 

Six-person mixed tag team match: AJ Styles, Asuka & Kairi Sane vs. Women’s Tag Team Champions Raquel Rodriguez & Roxanne Perez & Intercontinental Champion Dominik Mysterio 

The babyfaces were in control until Dom pulled Perez to safety, causing Sane to collide with the bottom turnbuckle, in full view of the referee. The ref turned her attention to a pissed-off Styles, and that distraction allowed Rodriguez to boot Sane while outside the ring. (This happened in the ref’s peripheral vision.) 

There were duelling chants of “AJ Styles” and “Dirty Dom” during a break. Sane speared Perez, but she couldn’t make a tag because Rodriguez yanked Asuka off the apron. (It was meant to be a surprise, but you could see Rodriguez run over.) Sane couldn’t tag Styles either, because Dom blatantly entered the ring and decked Styles. This all happened in front of the ref. 

Styles finally got the hot tag, and he ran wild on Dom to the crowd’s delight. Styles set up for a Phenomenal forearm, but Perez stepped in front of Dom to stop it. Asuka and Sane assisted in taking out Perez. Styles assisted Sane in hitting a big dive to wipe out Rodriguez. 

Styles finished off Dom with a Phenomenal forearm for the pinfall win. 

Match result: AJ Styles, Asuka & Kairi Sane defeated Intercontinental Champion Dominik Mysterio and Women’s Tag Team Champions Raquel Rodriguez & Roxanne Perez (10:42)

This match was really all about the last minute or so. The crowd was into Styles, so it came across well enough despite not being much of a match. 

********

Jackie Redmond congratulated Sheamus on his win over Rusev. He quoted Big E by saying it was an example of big, meaty men slapping meat. That got a laugh out of the crowd. Speaking of Big E, Sheamus’ interview was interrupted by Grayson Waller, flanked by The New Day. 

Waller talked tough and said the greatest tag team of all-time had his back. An argument between the two led to a match being made. Waller turned around to realize that New Day had vanished and suddenly did not have his back. 

********

Detroit Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs and UFC fighter Jamahal Hill were in the crowd. 

Sheamus vs. Grayson Waller

Sheamus had it won and set up for a Brogue Kick, but had to stop upon seeing Rusev hit the apron. Sheamus knocked him down, but Waller caught him in a schoolboy for two. Sheamus popped up and hit a Brogue Kick for the easy win. 

— Rusev attacked Sheamus with a shillelagh and applied an Accolade as some fans chanted, “We want Lana.” Rusev held the submission for a while until officials finally got him to let go. 

Match result: Sheamus defeated Grayson Waller (4:09) 

*******

Redmond interviewed Naomi about her upcoming title defence against Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky. Naomi said she could bring the brutality like Ripley, and fly like Iyo Sky. Everyone in the division was passive-aggressive, but she was aggressive-aggressive, and tonight’s tag match would be a cautionary tale. She did her goofy evil laugh and warned everyone to proceed with caution. 

Byron Saxton interviewed New Day during a break. 

******** 

They aired some words on Hulk Hogan from Logan Paul, AJ Styles, Jim Duggan, Jimmy Hart, Natalya, Jey Uso, The Miz, and Cody Rhodes. Rhodes said Hogan was the first ‘superstar,’ and the wrestling business no longer has its Babe Ruth. 

Michael Cole announced that net proceeds from Hogan’s merchandise sales would be donated to his family. 

********

Heyman told Bronson Reed that Jey Uso thinks they’re just a group without a leader. Bron Breakker stepped in and said they have a leader now. Breakker told Reed to take out Jey with a Tsunami, and they could take control of WWE starting tonight. Reed was on board. After Reed left, Breakker told Heyman that he had a plan. 

Lyra Valkyria segment

Valkyria entered. She did a little twirl to show off her shoes, which she called “Becky stompers.” This got no reaction. She then misspoke and said she would be standing there in two weeks—then corrected herself to say one week—as Women’s Intercontinental Champion. 

She acknowledged that maybe she would fail and wouldn’t be standing there at all, because Lynch would have to beat her into the ground to walk out as champion. Valkyria knew Lynch didn’t like to play by the rules, which was the reason she won the title in the first place. 

Valkyria was happy to play it Lynch’s way. Valkyria was not playing into Lynch’s hand, because she knew exactly what Lynch was capable of. But Lynch didn’t know what Valkyria was capable of. Valkyria was prepared to go to a place she had never gone before. 

Lynch’s music hit, and Valkyria turned her attention to the stage. Nobody entered, so Valkyria quickly realized what was going on (Lynch was behind her, outside the ring). Valkyria ran and hit a baseball slide to Lynch. Lynch had a kendo stick, but Valkyria fought her off with it until Lynch bailed.

******** 

Sami Zayn and Karrion Kross segment 

Sami Zayn did a sit-down interview with Corey Graves. Zayn wanted to be done with Karrion Kross. Kross was getting in the way of achieving his goal, which was to be the world champion. 

Kross and Scarlett interrupted, and Kross took Graves’ seat. Kross said he had every intention of attacking Zayn with a steel rod, but he realized Zayn wouldn’t make it to SummerSlam if he did. Everybody Kross has dealt with so far has wound up showing their true colours, except for Zayn, and that was starting to piss him off. When Kross beat him at SummerSlam, he wanted to hear Zayn say, “Kross told the truth.” Then they could go their separate ways. Kross said Zayn was no better than him. 

Zayn said he wasn’t sure what Kross wanted. If Kross did win, Zayn was willing to say whatever he wanted. But Zayn wanted Kross to know he was wrong about him—and maybe Kross was wrong about himself. Zayn said he would beat Kross at SummerSlam, and wanted to hear Kross say he was wrong. 

********

Bayley interview

Redmond interviewed a downtrodden Bayley. She said she lost her chance at the IC title and tag titles, did not wrestle at WrestleMania, and wouldn’t have a match at SummerSlam. She was at a loss for words. She left. 

******** 

SummerSlam will begin each day at 6 pm ET/3 pm ET. The countdown show is 3 hours long. 

Cole announced a sold-out crowd tonight of 14,703. 

Eight-woman tag team match: Women’s World Champion Naomi, Chelsea Green, Piper Niven & Alba Fyre vs. Rhea Ripley, IYO SKY, Stephanie Vaquer & Nikki Bella 

It’s been 30 minutes since the Sheamus match ended, and that match went 4 minutes. 

Nikki was in control until Fyre made a blind tag and hit her with a superkick. This led to a break and, of course, Nikki made a hot tag to Sky moments after they returned. 

Sky was cut off after a distraction from Naomi, and the heels took over again. Niven and Green took turns hitting moves on Sky, so Vaquer and Nikki broke up a pinfall attempt. Ripley tried to get involved, but Naomi shoved her into the steel steps. 

Vaquer got a hot tag, and she laid out all four opponents. With all four laid out against each turnbuckle, Vaquer handed out running knee strikes to everyone except Naomi. Naomi managed to block it, but Vaquer caught her with a dragon screw instead. The crowd got louder when Vaquer hit Green with Devil’s Kiss. 

Nikki gave Fyre a Bella Buster. She stared down Naomi, who was about to enter the ring. Naomi had enough, so she grabbed her belt and began leaving, but Sky intercepted her and chucked her in the ring. Nikki and Sky laid out Naomi. Nikki and Sky did Sky’s pose. Niven laid out Nikki and Sky with a double clothesline, and did Sky’s pose too. That got a pop. 

Ripley gave Niven a Rip-tide. Green slapped Ripley, so Ripley got in her face until Green backed into Vaquer, who hit an SVB for the pinfall win. 

Match result: Stephanie Vaquer, Rhea Ripley, IYO SKY & Nikki Bella defeated Chelsea Green, Piper Niven, Alba Fyre & Women’s World Champion Naomi (14:36)

This was ok. Ripley did give Niven her finisher, but she otherwise did surprisingly little in the match. Perhaps saving her for the weekend. 

********

Judgment Day were not in a good mood backstage after the earlier loss, but Finn Bálor cheered them up by pointing out all their gold despite Liv Morgan not being there. Dom asked him if he wanted them at ringside, but Bálor told them to chill backstage. 

Perez handed Dom a new Nintendo Switch and suggested he play WWE 2K25 (they already have it playing on the big TV and PS5 behind them). Rodriguez was annoyed and reminded Dom that Morgan also liked to play that game. 

******** 

Backstage, Sky told Ripley that she has never beaten her and never will. Ripley said, ‘we’ll see.’ 

World Tag Team Championship match: Finn Bálor & JD McDonagh vs. Joaquin Wilde & Cruz Del Toro

Wilde hit a big dive before a break, but Judgment Day took control during the break. Del Toro made a lukewarm tag and woke up the crowd by hitting McDonagh with an impressive coast-to-coast missile dropkick. Wilde and Del Toro followed with suicide dives.

Wilde hit Bálor with a moonsault, and Del Toro followed with a Phoenix splash, but McDonagh broke up the cover. 

El Grande Americano (Ludwig Kaiser) ran out and hit the apron to distract Del Toro, but Dragon Lee ran out and they brawled to the back. Bálor used the distraction to put Del Toro in a small package for two. Del Toro superkicked Bálor and kicked McDonagh off the apron. Wilde took out McDonagh with a crazy flip dive off the top. 

Del Toro went to the top, but was tripped by a different masked man (dressed like Chad Gable). I have no idea how the ref didn’t see this. 

The masked man ran off, and Bálor hit Del Toro with a Coup de Grâce for the pinfall win. Judgment Day retain. 

Match result: Finn Bálor & JD McDonagh defeated Joaquin Wilde & Cruz Del Toro to retain the World Tag Team Championships (10:55)

Credit to LWO for getting the crowd into this even though nobody would’ve thought they could win. The fans were also into the shenanigans at the end. 

********

Gunther and CM Punk segment 

Gunther entered wearing an all-black suit, black t-shirt and his gold title belt. The crowd chanted for Punk. 

Gunther called last week a clean victory for him because he went toe-to-toe on the microphone with supposedly the best talker in the world, CM Punk. Gunther told him to his face what would happen at SummerSlam and left the ‘voice of the voiceless’ speechless. He made Punk understand that he does not deserve to call himself the best in the world and will never be a world champion. Most of all, he made Punk shut the hell up. 

Punk entered to a big reaction. Punk said he wasn’t speechless last week, he was dumbfounded. Not by what Gunther said, however. While standing across the ring from someone as great as Gunther, it dawned on him that he doesn’t want to be World Heavyweight Champion: “I need to be World Heavyweight Champion.” 

Punk fired up and said he needed to be champion like he needed air in his lungs, and like he needed a heart to pump blood through his veins. He needed to be a champion like the Red Wings needed a 12th Stanley Cup. 

He didn’t smoke or drink or do drugs, but he understood addiction. This place was his addition. He needed to raise the title over his head as a ‘thank you’ to the fans who chanted his name for over ten years (while he was gone). 

Punk said he doesn’t ‘deserve’ to call himself the best in the world; he earned that right. He also earned the right to be arrogant about it. Gunther was as arrogant as him, but he couldn’t back it up. Punk left a pile of bodies behind him, including Hall of Famers and legends that Gunther could only dream of. 

Gunther tried to tell him to shut up, but Punk cut him off. Punk responded, “There’s levels to this, kid.” Punk would teach him at SummerSlam that he was not on his level. Punk planned on leaving Saturday as the champion. At least Gunther would know what it was like to share the ring with the one and only, best in the world, CM Punk.

(It was a little cliché, but this was a strong promo by Punk.) 

******* 

The announcers ran down the SummerSlam card. Sunday is overloaded with gimmick matches: a cage match, a TLC match, a street fight and a no-DQ match. (Plus a triple threat, which is technically no-DQ.)

Jey Uso vs. Bronson Reed (w/Paul Heyman) 

Reed fended off some early offence and had complete control. Literally the moment they returned from a break, Jey avoided a senton and came back with right hands, a superkick, and a suicide dive. 

Bron Breakker sprinted out down the aisle and speared Jey for the DQ. The crowd chanted, “OTC.” 

— The heels attacked Jey until Roman Reigns entered to his music. Reigns knocked Breakker out of the ring but couldn’t get Reed up for a Samoan drop. Reigns avoided his charge, and Reed went shoulder-first into the ring post. Reigns helped Jey to his feet. Jey superkicked Breakker off the apron, and Reigns gave Reed a Superman punch. 

Reigns and Jey stepped out of the ring and went for running spears, but Breakker cut Reigns down with a spear while Reed knocked down Jey with a body block. (Because both things were happening simultaneously, it was easy to miss Breakker cutting down Reigns with a spear.) 

Breakker speared Jey in the ring, and Reed followed with a Tsunami. Breakker noticed Reigns getting to his feet, so he flew off the apron and clotheslined Reigns over the announce desk. Breakker tossed Reigns into the ring, and Reed hit him with a Tsunami. 

Breakker stood above a fallen Reigns and told him everything around here was his now. The ring, the ropes, the cameraman, the fatasses in the arena—they were all his. 

Reigns and Jey found themselves near the part of the barricade that always breaks, so Breakker ran around the ring and speared them both through it. (This was followed by a funny bit where Reed removed Reigns’ sneakers and happily announced, “These belong to me now!”) 

Breakker and Reed (holding Reigns’ shoes) stood tall with Heyman in the ring as the show ended. 

Match result: Jey Uso defeated Bronson Reed via disqualification (7:09)

The match was an obvious waste of time, but the go-home angle was what they needed to do with this team, with the emphasis on Bron Breakker. 

WWE SmackDown live results: Hulk Hogan tribute

Posted on by Marc Quill

With SummerSlam fast approaching, Cody Rhodes will appear tonight on WWE SmackDown inside Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. He’ll continue the build to his upcoming Undisputed WWE Championship street fight against John Cena ahead of the August 2-3 PLE.

Rhodes made the match official during a contract signing last week after it turned into a brawl with Cena, who tried to back out of the SummerSlam match until Rhodes retaliated and put Cena through a table to send a message.

The Wyatt Sicks’ Dexter Lumis and Joe Gacy will have their first defense of the WWE Tag Team titles against Andrade and Rey Fenix, who won a fatal four-way bout on last week’s SmackDown to earn a shot on tonight’s show.

Alexa Bliss will be in action to take on Roxanne Perez, ahead of her and Charlotte Flair teaming up to take on Perez and Raquel Rodriguez for the Women’s Tag Team titles at SummerSlam. Last week, Bliss helped her partner Flair pick up the win against Rodriguez in singles action.

Randy Orton, Jelly Roll, Drew McIntyre, and Logan Paul are all scheduled for tonight’s show in advance of their tag match at SummerSlam.

WWE has also announced that tonight’s SmackDown will pay tribute to the late Hulk Hogan, who passed away yesterday at the age of 71. Several legends are expected to be in attendance.

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

**********

Following the WWE signature open, we went inside to the Rocket Arena to see the entire SmackDown locker room stood on the stage, with a memorial graphic for Hulk Hogan. Paul “Triple H ” Levesque talked about Hogan’s legacy as he then asked for a ten-bell salute in Hogan’s memory. We then got a video tribute for Hogan’s career.

– Once we got back from the break, Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett briefly talked about Hogan some more before being interrupted by Logan Paul.

Logan Paul hosts live edition of Impaulsive TV

The so-called “Maverick” opened things with his Impaulsive TV set inside the ring. He asked why the Cleveland fans weren’t chanting for their hometown hero. Paul said that Cleveland did raise him, but it didn’t make him. In fact, he supposedly “made” Cleveland. Paul said that he and the crowd inside the Rocket Arena had nothing in common, because while he made it out, he didn’t. Paul talked about how tonight was about giving back to the community, by way of holding a special live edition of his Impaulsive TV show. Paul disparaged Jelly Roll for a bit before the man himself interrupted him.

Jelly said that the only thing Paul inspired was “little asshole kids filming themselves to be assholes”. He noted that Cleveland did not like Paul at all, as the Impaulsive TV host got him to shut up. Paul put himself and Drew McIntyre over as two of the most impressive stars in WWE right now. He asked Jelly Roll just who the hell he thinks he is. Jelly responded that he was the guy that was going to put Paul in a bodybag and ship him back to West Lake.

Jelly called Paul a “silver spoon kid” as he said that he was getting in the ring not just for himself, but for those who had been ever picked on by high school jocks. Jelly talked about how he was a WWE fan for his entire life, and how the company represented him and “every single one of us”. Jelly discussed how his story has inspired millions of millions of people as he called Paul “soft as Charmin” and a “Prime-peddling punk-ass bitch.”

Drew McIntyre entered the ring as he and Paul outnumbered Jelly Roll. At this point, Jelly said that he didn’t come alone as Randy Orton walked down the ramp to even the odds. Once Orton entered the ring, we got a fight right off the bat. McIntyre got the upper hand on Orton with a rake to the eye as he went after Jelly Roll. In the ring, McIntyre asked Paul to go after Jelly. Orton pulled McIntyre out of the ring, which allowed Jelly to fight back with elbows and a shoulder block.

Paul kicked Jelly in the midsection as he loaded up his fist for his signature punch. Jelly recovered and delivered a Black Hole Slam, which sent Paul scurrying.

I’ve been clear in the past about how how this feud wasn’t working for me at all, but I have to give some credit to Jelly Roll, as his work at the Performance Center has seemingly paid off. Other than that, the tag match at SummerSlam is still something I’m not looking forward to very much.

**********

– We got a video from Andrade & Rey Fenix discussing their chances against The Wyatt Sicks in their WWE Tag Team Championship match tonight.

Alexa Bliss (w/ Charlotte Flair) vs. Roxanne Perez (w/ Raquel Rodriguez)

Bliss went for consecutive early roll-ups on Perez,, to no avail. Perez slammed Bliss’s head down on the mat to gain a momentary advantage as she then slapped Bliss in the face. That seemed to anger Bliss, who threw Perez in the corner as the action spilled outside. Bliss dove onto Perez on the outside, as Charlotte Flair and Raquel Rodriguez stared one another down to take us to the break.

We returned with Bliss mounting a comeback on Perez as she unleashed her flurry of offense, topped off by a dropkick on the button. She blasted Perez with her flipping neckbreaker and lined up for the Sister Abigail DDT. Perez raked Bliss in the eye, which allowed Rodriguez to interfere with a strike to Bliss. Perez headed up top for the moonsault and connected. The cover, but Bliss kicked out as Flair threw Rodriguez over the timekeepers’ area.

Rodriguez recovered and kicked Flair in the face outside the ring. Bliss had Perez dead to rights with the Twisted Bliss, but she leapt outside to take out Rodriguez instead. As Bliss tried to enter the ring, Perez rolled her up and did the classic heel trick of holding the ropes for leverage to pick up the sneaky win.

Roxanne Perez def. Alexa Bliss via pinfall

A fine match and the cheating victory by Roxanne does make the “series” even between the SummerSlam opponents in singles action ahead of next week’s Women’s Tag Team Championship match.

**********

– After Cathy Kelley interviewed Jade Cargill, Chelsea Green appeared and talked trash about Cargill. Unbeknownst to Green, Cargill was behind her and attacked her as she dragged her to the ring and we got an impromptu match.

Jade Cargill vs. Chelsea Green

The match began before the break with Cargill hitting her pump kick on Green. As we resumed SmackDown, Cargill continued her dominance with splashes in the corner, followed by a one-handed chokeslam. On the apron, Alba Fyre provided a momentary distraction, which allowed Green to hit a jumping neckbreaker for a near-fall.

Green tried to deliver the Un-Pretty-Her, but Cargill reversed and finished this short match off with Jaded.

After the match, the Secret Her-vice pounced with the attack on Cargill until WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton ran in to make the save. The two SummerSlam opponents cleared the ring of Alba Fyre and Piper Niven in short order. We then got a tense staredown between Cargill and Stratton, as the latter held the WWE Women’s Title in her hands momentarily.

A short one, and likely meant to set up a tag match for Cargill and Stratton versus the Secret Her-vice next week on the go-home-to-SummerSlam edition of SmackDown.

Jade Cargill def. Chelsea Green via pinfall

**********

– Backstage, Charlotte Flair attempted to give words of encouragement to Alexa Bliss after her match. She stated that they could become true friends if they won the WWE Women’s Tag Titles at SummerSlam.

Cody Rhodes addresses SummerSlam and John Cena

With a new track jacket and the crowd’s cheers, Cody Rhodes walked down to the ring. He started by talking about how Hulk Hogan’s death elicited complicated emotions, but that his contributions to WWE and sports entertainment could not be ignored.

Rhodes shifted gears by discussing the violence that was to come at the Street Fight at SummerSlam. He said that doing the right thing sometimes don’t look like the right think and that what he did to John Cena last week was just a taste of what’s to come. Rhodes said that he didn’t want to the John Cena who is counting the days before he left, but he wanted to fight the “real” John Cena. That’s because Rhodes wanted to fight the very best to prove that he can be the very best. He dared Cena to come to his last SummerSlam like it is his first. Rhodes wanted all the “hustle, loyalty, and respect” so he and Cena could beat it out of each other.

The reason Rhodes wanted to fight against the “real” John Cena was because he wanted to know if that story that he was on was real, and that the only person who had the answer to that question was Cena himself. “I’ll see you next week,” said Rhodes to conclude his promo.

Just your standard Cody Rhodes promo to sell the SummerSlam match against John Cena, but he at least delivers these promos well and it helps build excitement ahead of next week.

**********

– Jacob Fatu addressed last week’s events that involved Solo Sikoa’s attempted frame-up of him. Fatu warned Sikoa that he was going to dogwalk his ass at SummerSlam inside the steel cage. The Miz walked up behind Fatu and claimed that he was the “main character” and he got himself a match against Fatu cleared tonight. Miz brazenly slapped Fatu across the face before he walked off.

– Aleister Black and Damian Priest traded barbs about one another in a video promo ahead of their showdown on next week’s SmackDown.

The Miz vs. Jacob Fatu

Fatu rocked Miz with his running spinning elbow as he lived up to his boast prior to this match and began to indeed “dogwalk” Miz early on. Miz avoided a running hip charge from Fatu, but couldn’t avoid a strike that left him stunned in the corner. Before Fatu could continue his charge, Solo Sikoa and his M.F.T.s walked down in unison, which allowed Miz to take charge with a blow to Fatu’s knees. Miz then jettisoned Fatu into the ring post, which sent him outside the ring. The M.F.T.s looked on at their fallen rival as we headed to a break in the action.

SmackDown returned from the break with Fatu fighting back against Miz, flooring him with a clothesline followed by the running senton. In the corner, Fatu teed off on Miz with repeated headbutts. Fatu knocked Miz out with the hip attack as the M.F.T.s pulled Miz out of the ring. This prompted Fatu to respond with a dive to the outside, which took out nearly the entire group.

In the ring, Fatu finished Miz off with the pop-up Samoan Drop. However, the Samoan Werewolf did not have any time for a celebration, as he got immediately ambushed by the M.F.T.s. Jimmy Uso evened the odds as he emerged with a steel chair. He cleared past Tama Tonga and J.C. Mateo with the chair. However, Tala Tonga withstood Uso’s attack and took him down. Fatu recovered and managed to fend off the M.F.T.s one by one, which left Sikoa alone in the ring and prone in the corner.

Fatu trapped Sikoa with a chair wrapped around his neck and looked to deliver a vicious hip attack, but Tala Tonga entered the fray and floored Fatu with a clothesline. Chokeslam by Tonga, was soon followed by Sikoa delivering the Samoan Spike to Fatu. The M.F.T.s stood tall in the ring as the United States Champion trashtalked his SummerSlam foe.

It was nice to see the Miz back in action for this match, and I think it was imperative for Sikoa and the M.F.T.s. to get their heat back since last week, they were the ones on the receiving end of the humiliation from Fatu and Jimmy Uso.

Jacob Fatu def. The Miz

**********

– The Street Profits and #DIY had a disagreement backstage, as Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa said they had a plan for the Wyatt Sicks later on in our main event.

– Backstage, Zelina Vega confronted Giulia until Kiana James appeared as the Women’s United States Champion’s “official representation”. We learned that Giulia would be defending her U.S. Championship next week against Vega.

SummerSlam Saturday Card

  • Gunther vs. CM Punk (World Heavyweight Championship)
  • Raquel Rodriguez & Roxanne Perez vs. Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss (Women’s Tag Team Championship)
  • Roman Reigns & Jey Uso vs. Bron Breakker & Bronson Reed
  • Tiffany Stratton vs. Jade Cargill (WWE Women’s Championship)
  • Sami Zayn vs. Karrion Kross

SummerSlam Sunday Card

  • Street Fight: John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes (Undisputed WWE Champipnship)
  • Dominik Mysterio vs. AJ Styles (Intercontinental Championship)
  • Steel Cage Match: Solo Sikoa vs. Jacob Fatu (United States Championship)
  • No DQ, No Countout: Becky Lynch vs. Lyra Valkyria (Women’s Intercontinental Championship)
  • Triple Threat: Naomi vs. IYO SKY vs. Rhea Ripley (Women’s World Heavyweight Championship)

WWE Tag Team Championship Match: The Wyatt Sicks (Joe Gacy & Dexter Lumis) vs. Andrade & Rey Fenix

Fenix started off on the offense against Gacy as he and Andrade looked to be in chemistry early on. The two had Gacy and Lumis draped across the middle rope as they hit the double team kick barrage on the champs.

Andrade went right away for the Three Amigos, as things picked up immensely with Lumis pulling Fenix off the top rope. This allowed Gacy to hit his signature handspring-into-lariat against Fenix, which took us to the final commercial break of the evening.

We returned to our main event with Fenix connecting on a superkick against Lumis, who was the legal man for the Wyatt Sicks. Andrade got the hot tag as he was a house of fire against both Lumis and Gacy. He nailed Gacy in the corner with the running Meteora, but that only got the two. Andrade looked for The Message, but Gacy reversed, as Lumis tagged in and got his helping of a double team attack on Andrade. Fenix tried to interject, but he got thrown aside.

Andrade countered the assisted powerbomb of the Wyatt Sicks with double knees. Fenix leapt to the outside to eliminate Lumis at ringside. This allowed Andrade to deliver The Message on Gacy. One, two…. Nikki Cross pulled the referee out of the ring to cause the disqualification.

Erick Rowan entered the ring and began to lay waste to Andrade. Fraxiom and The Motor City Machine Guns tried to interject, but also got waylaid by the massive Rowan. The two teams recovered as the fight continued to break down,. The Street Profits joined the fray and took out Rowan. #DIY walked down the ramp with SmackDown GM Nick Aldis in tow.

In the ring, the Street Profits took turns in taking flight to eliminate everyone outside the ring.

Nick Aldis addressed the situation as he declared that at SummerSlam, the entire SmackDown tag team division will compete in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match. We ended the night in total bedlam with everyone brawling in and out of the ring as referees and security officials failed to contain the chaos caused by SmackDown’s tag division.

Rey Fenix & Andrade def. The Wyatt Sicks via Disqualification

**********

A wild, wild ending to our main event for the night, with an equally-chaotic match being set up for SummerSlam in the process. The SmackDown tag division shined with their TLC match on an episode of SmackDown a few months back, so them getting PLE time to run it back (with the added element of the Wyatt Sicks thrown in) should make for an entertaining bout.

Overall, a strange SmackDown that seemed to be more about setting the stage for the go-home show next week than anything else, on top of the Hulk Hogan tribute at the beginning that made for an unusual night of wrestling action.