This Week In WWE Review (07/7/25 – 13/7/25)

Empire Strikes First

The show opens with Seth Rollins and his gang. Rollins asks Paul Heyman for the microphone, but Bron Breakker takes the mic instead. Rollins looks on in shock, him and Paul Heyman bicker a little bit about this but we can’t hear what they say.

Bron Breakker says that he will be the face of the WWE for the next 2 decades. He has his own vision for WWE and that is a WWE without of Sami Zayn. He lists all the things he hates about Sami Zayn, before promising that tonight he will maul Sami Zayn and give him a long overdue retirement.

Seth Rollins gets the mic back “you good, Breakker?” Now Bronson Reed has something to say and Seth is happy to oblige. Bronson calls Bron a tough act to follow, but so is he. Reed reminds us that he destroyed Seth with 6 tsunamis and earned his respect out of sheer dominance. He is part of Seth’s vision and he will get the respect he deserves. Bronson says Jey Uso “yeet man” does not respect him. Tonight, he will Tsunami the respect into Jey.

Rollins has the mic again, but he hands it over to Paul to finish things off. Heyman does his shtick and says tonight the empire strikes back. Actually, the empire strikes first. First Sami Zayn, then Jey Uso and then Penta. He says Roman Reigns doesn’t have the balls to come back and face them. The OTC is MIA and so will everybody else. Seth Rollins has the mic back, he says a catchphrase and that is it.

This was a fun segment. I liked Bron Breakker going for the mic himself. They have already planted seeds that Bron is unable to be controlled fully and whilst Seth likes it now, it might bite him in the ass in the long run. I also liked Seth Rollins having a minimal feature here, but still feeling very important on camera. He comes across as a strong leader which he should.

I love these guys

I am loving the Judgement Day. Roxanne Perez made a shrine in honour of Liv Morgan, Raquel complains that Liv is still alive and will be back soon. Finn Balor being happier than ever that Liv is gone but pretending to show remorse, whilst in awe at all the titles they now have. Dominik Mysterio receiving a get well soon cake by AJ Styles, and the phenomenal one is hiding in the corner always watching.

I genuinely think that this faction might be considered in the top 10 of all time in WWE history.

Pirate Princess Wins again

Kairi Sane continues to build momentum ever since she returned from injury with another victory, this time against Roxanne Perez. I have never seen anyone be able to make Perez look tall but Kairi managed to achieve that.

This started off really rough. I’m not sure if this was a lack of chemistry, or if Kairi is still struggling from ring rust, but the opening few minutes saw a lot of sloppy offence from both women. A headscissors done by Kairi, then it took an eternity for Perez to do the flip over to sell the move. It looked bad and amateurish.

However, after the break the ladies found a rhythm and did some good work. A springboard moonsault by Perez looked particularly rough, almost landing on Kairi’s face. Raquel saves Perez from the Insane Elbow, so Kairi hit a huge diving crossbody to take her out. Sane countered Pop Rox with a backslide to win.

Raquel & Perez continue the assault, but here comes Asuka to make the save! The Kabuki Warriors reunite and it is later revealed that these two will be part of the women’s tag four way at Evolution. Nice.

Woof Woof

Bron Breakker defeated a wounded Sami Zayn in a short but great little match. Sami was attacked during his entrance by Karrion Kross. His ribs were already hurt, but now they are fucked.

This match goes just over 5 minutes. Breakker is like a cat playing with a mouse, toying with his prey. Sami shows a lot of heart, but this was an extended squash. Bron trash talks Sami whilst destroying him. Zayn managed a small comeback, but the injuries are too much for him to handle. Bron spears Sami in middair, he runs around the ring and spears Sami again. Then, he runs the ropes and annihilates Zayn with a third spear for an easy win.

A great squash to put over the heart of Sami Zayn and the destructive nature of Bron Breakker.

Final words

The IC champion Becky Lynch comes out for a promo. She doesn’t understand how two losers get a title shot at Evolution. She understands that she is the best female wrestler that ever lived and the hottest woman on the planet. but she beat Bayley and Lyra. Neither of them deserve a shot. She should have chose her own opponent like Tiffany Stratton and Iyo Sky did.

She thinks this is a ruse to take the title from her. Out comes Bayley and she goes to speak, but Lyra Valkyria comes out too. Lyra barges past Bayley and asks what Becky is talking about. She calls Becky a lunatic and she thinks it is time to take back her title. Bayley confronts and believes she should be the champion if it wasn’t for Lyra. They bicker over lack of communication. Bayley says she doesn’t need friends, she needs a championship.

Becky laughs about another friendship ruined by Bayley and stirs the pot. Lyra says that Becky attacked Bayley and contacted her for a Wrestlemania match. Becky continues to stir the drama. Lyra says that Bayley is just as bad as Becky for caring more about titles than friends. Lyra says she has to rescue the IC title from 2 massive disappointments.

Bayley says she saw Lyra win the title and she has supported her on her rise. She also watched Lyra lose the title and raise Becky’s hand like a bitch. Lyra swings for Bayley but misses and hits Becky. Lyra takes out both women and poses.

This was a fun segment and a return to form for Lyra as a character. I liked all the story nuances that has been developing, even if I thought the Bayley/Lyra stuff was rushed. This is sure to be a stellar match.

Hype

Fantastic video package to build more hype for Iyo Sky vs Rhea Ripley at Evolution. They covered their long history dating back to the Mae Young Classic and how Rhea has never beaten Iyo before. I never knew that.

Danke!

El Grande Americano defeats Dragon Lee in a legendary clash between two of the best luchadores in WWE. Jokes aside, watching Ludwig Kaiser wrestle a somewhat flashier, more agile style is incredible. He does some impressive headscissors and lucha libre chain wrestling.

This was a good match. Dragon Lee is a great wrestler and he deserves more screentime. I do feel for the guy. I think he has been hindered by being labelled as the future of Lucha Libre by Rey Mysterio. What should be an endorsement has put a lot of pressure for him to be as good as Rey was, which I don’t think anyone can.

EGA did a great blockbuster with theatrics for a near fall which I liked very much. He hits the running headbutt for the victory, with a loaded mask.

I like how American Made are unhappy with this El Grande Americano impersonator. I am glad they are developing this story more that just Chad being a fun heel.

Plan B

The Seth Rollins vs Penta main event match being the best match on the show? Who would have guessed?!

Penta starts the match hot and takes the fight to Rollins. He is dominant for the first few minutes, but back from break it is all Seth Rollins. He did some fun heel work like using Penta’s mask to wipe the swear off his brow, and stealing Penta’s taunt before a frog splash. Seth Rollins is so good. I know that isn’t news but he really is. His in ring work is perfected and his selling is spot on. He shows great strength catching Penta awkwardly and powering him up for a gut buster.

Penta has adjusted to the WWE style really well. Whilst a few others have struggled, including his brother Rey Fenix, he is found a groove and he is flourishing from an in-ring perspective. He hits the Penta Driver for a great near fall on Rollins. Seth escapes the Sacrifice, counters a Destroyer with a buckle bomb but Penta hits the Mexican Destroyer anyways! Great spot. Rollins lands a low blow headbutt, then a stomp to win. Rollins tells Heyman to make the calle, presumably to his buddies for a post-match beatdown. However, LA Knight drops Seth with a BFT and runs away, allowing Penta to escape a mauling.

Really fun main event match. I personally think Penta would have benefitted from a cheap victory over Seth thanks to an LA Knight run-in. Penta has suffered a lot of losses recently and Seth can eat a cheap loss and recover with ease. That is just personal preference though and I am not weighing that in on my opinion of the match.

Not Buying It

I’ll admit more than the average fan that Nikki Bella is actually deserving of having a place at Evolution. She was part of a dark time for women in WWE and she did some good work. She has improved a lot over the years as a wrestler and she deserves to be featured on the card.

However, I do not buy this babyface version of Nikki Bella they are pushing. She always thrived as a heel, she is easy to dislike and her good gal promos never feel genuine. Her mini pre-record promo about the Bella Army, being fearless and all that was mega cringe.

I am happy for her to be back, but she should be doing what she is best at. Being a bitchy heel.

Could Have been better

Jey Uso defeated Bronson Reed by DQ in a 3 minute match. Uso starts off hot but Bronson begins the beat down pretty early on. Jey fights back, but Reed launches one of the commentary chairs at Jey to cause a DQ finish. Afterwards, Reed delivers a pair of Tsunamis to squish Jey who now needs medical help. Sami Zayn was put out indefinitely after his assault earlier, and now Jey looks like he is at risk of injury too.

From a storyline perspective, this made sense, but I wasn’t a huge fan of the execution. They could have worked a bit longer and considering LA Knight returned from 3 Tsunamis after 1 week, surely he should have went for a complete onslaught here?

It wasn’t bad, but it could have been pieced together better.

gunthaaa

World Heavyweight champion Gunther comes out for another promo to talk about his opponent, Goldberg. He looks more serious tonight than previously.

He says he has been verbally abusing Goldberg for the last 2 weeks and nothing has happened to him. Gunther can only assume that Goldberg is afraid of him and the pressure. Suddenly, he is interrupted by the revving of an engine. Goldberg arrives in a Ford Mustang (I think, I don’t know cars.)

Goldberg does his long walk from the back to the ring to confront Gunther. He slaps the microphone down and wants to fight now. Gunther throws a punch, Goldberg counters and punches him. He goes for a spear but Gunther escapes. Goldberg shouts 5 days at Gunther as the crowd chants for Goldberg.

This was fine, but it didn’t really do anything for me or this story. It was just a reason to have Goldberg appear and build a bit more hype for their match at the weekend.

Run The Gauntlet

The show starts with Ricky Saints taking on Vanity Project in a gauntlet match. If Saints wins, he gets his North American title shot against Ethan Page AND he can choose the match stipulation. Saints faces Brad Baylor first, it is pretty standard work. Saints starts strong, Baylor takes control but Ricky fights back. He hits a tornado DDT to pin him.

Next is Ricky Smokes. Ricky vs Ricky. Saints does a brutal suplex from the apron to the floor. Smokes comes back and gets heat on Saints, until ‘The Revolution’ makes his comeback. Saints hits an atomic drop and does an creative bridging pin to get the pin over Smokes. Finally, the EVOLVE champion Jackson Drake. It is clear that Drake is the superior wrestler of Vanity Project. his work is tight, stiff and he sells well. He does some great technical wrestling to wear down Saints. I liked him doing a superkick but not doing the leg slap. The move looked more brutal that way. Saints hits the Rochambeau and wins the match. The result was obvious, but the match was a good one.

Ethan Page is on commentary for this and he does a fantastic job putting over the 3 EVOLVE stars as well as building up his rivalry with Ricky Saints. He is a fantastic guest commentator. Ricky Saints reveals their match will be Falls Count Anywhere.

Glamournauts

An ongoing story throughout the night is Jordynne Grace and Blake Monroe preparing for their tag match. Grace is working out in the gym, but she gets a call from Grace who has other plans for their training regime. She sends a car to pick her up.

Later, Blake is ready to treat her “muscle muffin” to a relaxing makeover day. They hit the spa, Grace rips off the sleeves of her dressing gown. They get a little pamper before talking shop. Monroe wants Grace to take the title off Jacy Jayne whatever it takes. They bond a little bit here as Blake wants Grace to be at her best.

I am not going to rate this, but I thought this was a fun way to show some chemistry between Grace and Monroe. I am looking forward to seeing Blake Monroe’s in-ring debut in WWE.

NQCC 4 Lyfe

Charlie Dempsey defeats his fellow No Quarter Catch Crew member Tavion Heights, to keep him as a part of the group. First, I liked how they entered together as a team even though they are opponents. That was a nice touch you rarely see in wrestling.

This was another impressive showing for Tavion, proving that he can hang in the ring with his mentor and even outwrestle on occasion. Dempsey at one point removes Tavion’s protective mask which just hypes up his protégé even more. There was a brutal moment when Dempsey trapped Tavion’s leg in the steel steps and mercilessly stomps him out. Now the technician tortures the weakened leg of Heights with various submissions.

Tavion shows great heart and refuses to quit, but fellow member Wren Sinclair throws in the towel afraid of Tavion being injured. A good match with some great storytelling.

Is He ready?

Yoshiki Inamura and Josh Briggs come out for a promo. It was nice to see a montage of supportive messages from fellow Japanese stars like Iyo Sky, NOAH’s Naomichi Marufuji and even The Great Muta! Oba Femi comes out too for a final exchange of words.

Inamura tells Oba that he proved he is ready for Oba and he calls him his greatest challenge. He has support all over the world and that will fuel him to succeed. At the PLE he will fight with honour and become the new NXT champion.

Oba respects the support Yoshiki has, but they will be picking up the pieces when he wins. This Saturday, Yoshiki will be proved to not be worthy enough to take the title. Josh Briggs takes the mic and says Inamura is being modest. He beat Jasper Troy easier than Oba Femi. Briggs says Yoshiki is going to beat his ass. He is a man of honour, but Briggs is not. He is a man of mayhem and he will make sure that whatever happens to make Yoshiki champion.

Oba warns him that this is not his fight and tells him to back off. Briggs and Oba brawl, Femi comes out on top but Yoshiki drops Oba with a slam.

I liked this a lot. Yoshiki wants this to be respectful, but Josh Briggs is willing to get involved and make sure his friend wins. An extra layer on this match that I didn’t expect.

Not That Interesting

Joe Hendry and Mike Santana, representing TNA, defeats High Ryze. It is always a pleasure to see Hendry, Santana is awesome too. I think this match suffered from predictability. High Ryze are not strong enough wrestlers yet to compete when they are clearly about to lose. I never bite on anything that they did.

High Ryze’s offence was super basic, which isn’t necessarily a terrible thing but it didn’t provide much excitement.

Team TNA have a hot start, High Ryze get heat on them, Team TNA fight back and win. Simple formula, but it wasn’t much fun to watch.

Wes Lee and Trick Williams do a post match attack to get their heat back ahead of Trick Williams vs Joe Hendry at TNA Slammiversary.

Too Short To be much

Kelani Jordan defeats Lainey Reid in about 4 minutes. Reid targets the leg a lot and dominates a chunk of this match. Jordan eventually sends Lainey into the corner to find space to make her comeback. She lands the split-legged moonsault.

This was fine, not much time for them to do much but they worked pretty hard. Lainey is pretty new but she is showing good wrestling ability. Kelani Jordan displayed some good selling in this match. I like people actually making targeted offence mean something.

Final Battle

Tony D’Angelo sits down with Luca Crusifino, Channing Lorenzo and a returning Adriana Rizzo. She called this final sit-down to deal with the dramas.

Rizzo saw everyone lose focus on what they accomplished in NXT. D’Angelo and Stacks formed a legacy in NXT. The Family thrived, but they destroyed it all. Rizzo talks about each man’s insecurities and broken trust which led to the family demise. She has talked to Ava and has booked a triple threat for next week. She calls this the final battle as the Family is concerned.

Stacks thinks this is a set up. D’Angelo laughs at the accusation then mocks Luca for his idea for going alone. Lorenzo says he is bigger than all of them. Luca says he needs to step away from them both to make a name for himself. D’Angelo is done with this whole thing. Everyone leaves.

I just do not care anymore.

Huh?

Jasper Troy is done with Je’Von Evans and he demands to be added into the NXT title match. Je’Von comes out with ribs taped. He has been attacked by Jasper twice during the show but he still shows heart and wants to fight Troy. Security separate them.

I think Troy looks a bit silly asking for a title shot when he doesn’t really deserve it. I’ve liked all of the attacks, but I don’t see why he can say he is done with Evans when they haven’t even wrestled yet.

I think NXT are pushing this guy way too hard. It is going to backfire.

This was a basic tag match with zero heat. I want to like The Culling. Niko Vance isn’t great but I really like Spears and Izzi Dame. However, the Culling just eat losses on a regular basis so it is hard to care. The in-ring action was decent when Spears was involved, but I didn’t like anything else. Props to Tank working with a cut above his eye I guess.

One thing I liked here was Vance pouncing Tank which wiped out Booker T. I wish that would have removed him from commentary.

Evolution Summit

The show ends with General Manager Ava doing an Evolution Summit. She talks about the first Evolution and how amazing it would be to be a part of it. She hypes up the show, casually mentioning Nikki Bella main eventing but not saying who her opponent was. It was Ronda Rousey, lol.

Ava hypes up the event and then reveals the participants of the Women’s Battle Royal, with the chance of a title shot at Clash in Paris. Jaida Parker, Lola Vice, Kelani Jordan, Lash Legend, Izzi Dame and Tatum Paxley will represent NXT.

She is interrupted by Fatal Influence. Jacy Jayne thinks that she is being underappreciated and feels disrespected. The women’s division is only about her. Jordynne Grace comes out as the fans chant “muscle muffin”. She hypes up the event and how she will take the women’s title from her. Lash Legend comes out and talks about how she will win the Battle Royal. Stephanie Vaquer returns to NXT! She talks about how she will win the Battle Royal. Natalya and Maxxine Dupri come out and talk about winning the battle royal. A bunch of women all come out. Ivy Nile, US champion Giulia, Zelina Vega etc. Jaida Parker talks about winning the battle royal. We get a mass women’s brawl to close the show.

I have seen these types of segments so many times that unless they do it in an interesting way, I don’t really care. It was nice to see Stephanie return. Why didn’t Giulia get a huge return feature? Probably a fun way to end the show for the live crowd, but I thought it was a bit flat.

Ricky Saints defeats Vanity Project, Gauntlet Contender Match (B Grade)

Charlie Dempsey defeats Tavion Heights (B Grade)

Joe Hendry & Mike Santana defeat High Ryze (C Grade)

Yoshiki Inamura is Ready For Oba Femi (B Grade)

Kelani Jordan defeats Lainey Reid (C Grade)

The Family Will Have a Final Battle (D+ Grade)

Je’Von Gets Revenge on Jasper Troy (D Grade)

Hank & Tank (c) defeat The Culling, Tag Championships (C- Grade)

The Evolution Summit (C Grade)

Everybody sayin’

The show opens with one of WWE’s hottest stars, LA Knight. “Lemme talk to ya!” He talks about predictions and spoilers, both coming out of Paul Heyman’s mouth a lot. He talks about the power Paul Heyman has and how desperate Seth Rollins is. Knight calls Rollins washed, needing to form a goon group. Bronson & Bron tried to injury him on Seth’s orders because he cannot do it himself. He hypes up their match at SNME. Knight wants to take Seth’s dignity, he wants justice and he wants to hurt him.

He says that Rollins is getting his ass kicked and that is a fact. YEAH! Out comes Paul Heyman mocks LA Knight fans. As Seth Rollins’ oracle, he can see into the future for his group. He sees a future for them leading the WWE, but he sees no future for LA Knight at all.

Heyman is interrupted by US champion Solo Sikoa & his MFTs. Solo Sikoa says a lot as changed since Paul left the family. No more Bloodline, no more Tribal Chief and no more Wiseman. Solo advises Paul leaves right now before he gets put through a table again. Heyman quite happily runs through the crowd. Solo addresses LA Knight and brags about being the US champion. He beat the man who beat Knight at Wrestlemania and says Jacob Fatu is gone. Solo says Knight can leave the ring or be removed from it. Knight teases leaving, but the fans won’t let him so he offers them on for a fight. Knight is circled by 4 men, Jimmy Uso comes to make the save. Solo demands Tala Tonga retreat. Nick Aldis sets up a tag match tonight.

The LA Knight stuff was great as expected. The Paul Heyman stuff was solid as expected. I lost all interest as soon as Solo Sikoa + co came out. Not through any fault of their own, but oh my god I AM SICK OF WATCHING LA KNIGHT FEUD WITH THESE GUYS. Do we not have anything else that we can do for these fellas? I don’t want to see anymore versions of LA Knight vs Solo Sikoa.

Also Nick Aldis mentioned Solo Sikoa defending his title against Jimmy Uso “tomorrow night”. When did that happen? I don’t remember that ever being announced, but it was spoken about like it was already booked.

They’re here, and they’re champions

The Wyatt Sicks right the wrong from a few weeks ago and walk out of Tennessee as the new tag champions. Dexter Lumis and Joe Gacy defeating the Street Profits. These guys got plenty of time to work a story which I am glad to see.

The Wyatts start off trying to intimidate the champions, but the Profits show their fearless determination. A beaten up Montez Ford drops Lumis with a sunset powerbomb from the top and finally manages a tag to Angelo Dawkins. Dawkins has a fun flurry, but the Wyatts retake control after a handspring lariat from Gacy.

The Wyatts deliver a lot of punishment to the Street Profits but the champs show a lot of heart, being able to fight back and kick out of almost everything thrown at them. Montez Ford has the match potentially won after a frog splash, but Erick Rowan pulls him out of the ring. Angelo Dawkins pounces Rowan over the barricade! Gacy & Lumis hit their suplex + sit-out powerbomb combo for the win. Great moment for the Wyatt Sicks, well deserved.

This was a good match. A slow build but it progressed to a fun ending. I liked how valiant the Profits were, plus they were screwed a little by Erick Rowan so a rematch is not out of the books.

winning in bliss

The opening match of the night is a 4-way match between 4 of the 8 women involved in the women’s tag title match at Evolution. Alexa Bliss, Roxanne Perez, Sol Ruca and Kairi Sane all compete with their respective partners at ringside.

First, some positives. I continue to really enjoy the on-screen chemistry between Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair. Flair was actually enjoyable to watch on the outside with her reactions to spots and her half-arsed support for her frenemy Bliss. Also, Sol Ruca debuting on Smackdown is cool! She had a nice showing here, having the spot of the match with a Fosbury Flop to the outside. I love her Sol Snatcher finisher so much. Bliss countering the Insane Elbow by getting the feet up looked awesome too

Negatives, this unfortunately lacked heat so the crowd didn’t react to much. Also, this suffered the usual issue of the women just moving from move setup to move setup with little story or natural fluidity. We saw some more awkward moments from Kairi, she really fucked up the finish by not taking Alexa’s finish properly. I love Kairi, but I am worried that this is becoming a regular occurrence.

The match was okay, but considering the talent involved I cannot help but think this should and could have been better. Kairi’s poor performance dragged this down, Roxanne felt off her game a bit here too. Alexa was the only woman the fans cared about.

Jelly Roll

Look, Jelly Roll seems like a lovely guy and I watched his testimony about fentanyl and it was great. Unfortunately, his music is complete trash. It is part of this horrible new wave of “sad boi pop country” that is killing the genre. Jelly Roll, Hardy and those alike. They are producing bland, unauthentic slop that needs to hurry up and stop being such a fad.

Luckily for me, his live performance here was cut pretty short after only a couple of minutes by a returning Logan Paul. Logan is now a babyface in my eyes.

So, the rest of the segment. Logan Paul says that people are here to see real superstars, not listen to music “by people who have tattoos of their children but do not have custody of them.” Holy shit Logan let bro cool off. Paul says Jelly does not belong in a WWE ring and calls it disgusting when celebrities/influencers enter “our industry” and leeching off “our success”. He calls Jelly Roll a disgusting clout chaser. Logan puts himself over and then asks why Jelly is even here. Logan goes to reveal that his podcast has signed a deal with the WWE but Jelly Roll interrupts. He says no one cares about his podcast in his hometown Nashville.

We hear Randy Orton come out full of RAGE about Logan Paul’s disrespect. I have literally never seen Orton look so mad. He glazes Jelly Roll as one of the biggest names in music, then calls Logan the outsider here. Orton calls Logan an entitled, whiny little bitch. He starts ranting about how everyone breaks their back to try and make Logan Paul look as good as they can. He stops short though as Drew McIntyre runs in with a Claymore for Orton. Security drag McIntyre away, Logan Paul continues the beat down so Jelly Roll throws Logan across the ring. Jelly Roll and Randy Orton stand tall. Logan Paul destroys the band equipment on the stage.

I have a lot of conflicting feelings. First, I thought Logan’s promo here was phenomenal, the best one he has dropped in a long time. He does a great job using the complaints used against him, redirecting them at Jelly Roll. I also cannot deny how hot the crowd was for this segment. It helps that Jelly is in his hometown of course, I am not sure how well this translates outside of that, but either way the crowd reacted louder for this than anything else.

I don’t have any problem with using celebrities in matches. Wrestling fans forget that using celebrities is a foundation of WWE’s success, Mr T headlined the first Wrestlemania after all. Despite that, I am very concerned about how this is going to work. How much crossover is there between Jelly Roll fans and wrestling fans? Does he have to be called Jelly Roll? Seriously, what a terribly ridiculous name to hear the announcers call. Imagine if he was just a wrestler called Jelly Roll. That wouldn’t work for anyone. Sure it would work in a low budget indie fed somewhere but not in the WWE.

This would have came off a lot better if Randy Orton came out angry more about the fact that Logan Paul is being a hypocrite, rather than surprisingly being a Jelly Roll mega fan. Oh well. I guess McIntyre & Logan vs Orton & Jelly Rolls is probably a Summerslam match. I personally don’t see the appeal here. This is coming off a little desperate to use a celebrity and boost ticket sales. It’s giving special guest host of Raw era style.

Very, very weird segment. I didn’t like it, but Logan did well.

Trash Booking

R-Truth vs Aleister Black is scheduled, a feud that has been bubbling over the past couple of weeks ever since Truth attacked Black’s opponent before the match started.

This is an even back and forth for a couple of minutes. R-Truth grabs a chair but Black stops him from using it. Black goes to use the chair, referee stops him, Truth rolls Black up for a win in 2 minutes. Aleister Black is pissed and follows Truth backstage.

Black nearly catches up to Truth but Damian Priest gets involved and tells Black to move on and forget it. Black agrees, then takes out Priest with kicks and his Black Mass finisher.

Awful, terrible stuff. I hated this more than I hate Jelly Roll.

Trishy & Tiffy Time To Talk

Wade Barrett interviews both Trish Stratus and the women’s champion Tiffany Stratton in the ring. Barrett asks why Stratton chose Stratus. She talks about all of the stars she has beaten, why wouldn’t she choose one of the greatest of all time. Once Tiffy wins, maybe she will be the GOAT.

Barrett asks how Trish feels about the pressure. Stratus says that she will win on Sunday and remain the GOAT and Tiffy will be empty handed. Stratton will allow her to relive her glory days, but times have changed, it is called Evolution for a reason.

Tiffany knows how good Trish is, she has seen her “VHS tapes”. Trish asks if Tiffy learned about VHS tapes on TikTok. She also says that she built the division and she continues to fight for the division. Stratus says she will be an 8 time women’s champion.

Naomi comes out to remind them of her power, but she is attacked by Jade from behind for a pull apart brawl.

This wasn’t great. It was just here and didn’t improve or enhance anything. The babyface version of Tiffany is starting to grow stale already, her mic performances are getting weaker and weaker. Trish sounded completely out of her comfort zone, as if she has never done this before. The VHS line was good, but the TikTok line was a bit cringe.

I think this match has been poorly built. It has no build at all in fact. Somehow, both major women’s title matches have been built and hyped the least out of everything on the card. Jade and Naomi brawl was fine.

Boooooooring

What has been an atrocious episode of Smackdown ends in a fittingly bad main event. The work was dull and one note. LA Knight is over but he could not carry this match. A boring beatdown, then a flukey win for the good guys.

Solo Sikoa continues to look like a pretty weak US champion. We get another post-match beatdown by Bron & Bronson which is starting to get a little old now. JC Mateo continues to be uninteresting as a wrestler in WWE. LA Knight is stuck in the Solo Sikoa vortex AGAIN.

The booking of these weekly shows just feel so repetitive now. Nothing on this show felt impactful, meaningful or worthwhile. This was a slog to watch and it is only 2 hours long. Raw was easier to sit through than this!

No Aura

WWE have a very serious Smackdown problem right now. I have been very critical of the show for weeks, but this is the worst I have seen Smackdown in probably years.

Carmelo Hayes, Chelsea Green, Cody Rhodes, Jacob Fatu, John Cena, Giulia, The Miz, Santos Escobar. Just a selection of the great talent that Smackdown have that were not featured AT ALL on this show. Already a significant lack of star power not booking any of these.

Andrade, Motor City Machine Guns, Damian Priest, DIY, Fraxiom, Rey Fenix. All barely featured on screen when if they were given significant match time, they could absolutely conjure an enjoyable match for the fans to watch.

Then we have Drew McIntyre, Randy Orton & Aleister Black. Arguably WWE’s best main event guy, a legend and a man with main event potential. All 3 of them are shackled with horrible creative decisions right now. I am surprised Drew McIntyre is still in WWE to be honest. He has been reliably one of the greatest performers in WWE for the majority of the last 5 years, and he has not been given his dues. No one wants to see McIntyre & Logan vs Orton & Jelly Roll. I am confident about that. Black is one of Triple H’s boys so I am baffled as to why he has been made to look so weak and foolish since his return.

This Smackdown was lacking in star power, and the stars they did use barely got any screen time at all. Smackdown feels unfocused, poorly written, poorly produced and lifeless. They need to fix this like, yesterday.

Solo Sikoa & His MFTs interrupts LA Knight & Paul Heyman (C+ Grade)

Alexa Bliss defeats Kairi Sane, Roxanne Perez & Sol Ruca (C Grade)

The Wyatt Sicks defeat Street Profits (c), WWE Tag Championships (B- Grade)

Jelly Roll’s Concert Interrupted By Logan Paul (D Grade)

R-Truth defeats Aleister Black (F Grade)

Trish Stratus & Tiffany Stratton Interview (D+ Grade)

Je’Von Evans defeats Jasper Troy (B Grade)

Sol Ruca (c) defeats Izzi Dame, North American Championship (B Grade)

Ethan Page (c) defeats Ricky Saints, Falls Count Anywhere for NA Championship (A Grade)

TNA World Championship Contract Signing (C+ Grade)

Overall, I would give NXT Great American Bash a B+ Grade.

Randy Orton defeats Drew McIntyre (C+ Grade)

Solo Sikoa (c) defeats Jimmy Uso, US Championship (C Grade)

LA Knight defeats Seth Rollins (B Grade)

Becky Lynch (c) defeats Bayley & Lyra Valkyria, IC Championship (A Grade)

Jacy Jayne (c) defeats Jordynne Grace, NXT Women’s Championship (B Grade)

Judgement Day (c) defeats Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss, Kabuki Warriors & Za-Ruca, Tag Championships (A- Grade)

Tiffany Stratton (c) defeats Trish Stratus, WWE Women’s Championship (B Grade)

Jade Cargill defeats Naomi, No Holds Barred (B+ Grade)

Stephanie Vaquer wins Contender Battle Royal (C+ Grade)

Raw

Heavyweight Championship Contender Gauntlet

NXT

Tony D’Angelo vs Luca Crusifino vs Channing Lorenzo

LFG Season 2 Coaches To Appear

Trick Williams, Joe Hendry & Mike Santana vs DarkState

Smackdown

Cody Rhodes & John Cena Under One Roof