This Week In WWE Review (12/5/25 – 18/5/25)

Main Event Set Up

CM Punk says he cannot shake being pissed off, but he is most annoyed at himself. He has been here before, stabbed in the back by Paul Heyman. Punk thought they moved past Heyman’s last betrayal, but Paul is still a fat snake. Punk tells Heyman he knows how this will end, he will choke him out and pop his eyes out of his head.

Out comes Paul Heyman, Seth Rollins and Bron Breakker. “You’re just a song kid” says Punk. Rollins says Punk finds new ways to be more egotistical and selfish. He made Heyman’s life hell on the road to Wrestlemania. Seth Rollins is pissed that Punk cost him his title match. Punk refuses to let Rollins be a champion whilst he has 2 feet. Rollins has figured Punk out, he loves to play the victim, so he sends Bron Breakker to victimise him.

Breakker & Rollins beat down CM Punk, out comes Sami Zayn and Jey Uso to help in the fight. Rollins’ group back away. This was a hot start to the show. Punk’s promo was captivating as usual. This later leads to a match announcement for Saturday Night’s Main Event, Punk & Sami vs Rollins & Breakker.

Run it Back

In a rematch from Penta’s WWE debut a couple months ago, Penta once again defeats Chad Gable on Raw. It was not as good as their first encounter but that was a special moment since it was a debut. This was still a very enjoyable match. Gable catching Penta mid-springboard into a stalling German Suplex was an awesome feat of strength. Penta countering a diving headbutt with a codebreaker was cool. I liked how both men were able to find more counters since they have wrestled before.

The Mexican Destroyer from the top rope came out of no where and got the win. I like how they’re making that move the finisher, it should be a match ender.

BC-4L

Former Bullet Club leaders cross paths once again as AJ Styles defeats Finn Balor. Two of WWE’s best wrestlers going head to head yields expected good results. They have such great chemistry together. Styles countering a Pele kick into the calf crusher was slick moves. Styles locks in another Calf Crusher, but he dead lifts Finn Balor into a Styles Clash out of nowhere. That could be the spot of the night.

Plenty of Judgment Day interference but it makes sense, Penta comes out to even the odds. Styles hits the Phenomenal Forearm to get the win.

The Man

Becky says she was not beaten on Saturday, Lyra was. Whilst she got to go to her bus and bask in her brilliance, Valkyria had a trip to the hospital. Becky takes credit for how important Lyra Valkyria has become and how relevant she is.

Lynch says she has been manipulated by Lyra and the fans. She had to step away because of the crowds complaining about her winning championships. She thought her connection with the fans was real but they turned on her and try tell lies on who Becky is. Lynch says that she will be what they claim she is. Selfish, greedy and cutthroat. The women’s locker room is in danger now that The Man is back to be the best.

Becky Lynch has been reminding us since her return that she is truly one of the best to ever do it. Not just as a worker, but her promo work is in God mode. Her delivery has such passion and authenticity to it that has been missing from the women’s division. Lyra Valkyria has benefitted from being around her, but she has ways to go still to be anything like The Man.

Run The World

The Raw Women’s Division has been popping off since we saw NXT stars appear to cause some chaos. They have been a highlight on every show and that theme continues this week. Iyo Sky and rival Rhea Ripley teamed up to defeat Roxanne Perez and Giulia. Watching Iyo and Giulia mix it up in a WWE ring was awesome to watch. Perez and Giulia are showing great chemistry as a team, working in unison to beat down Mami.

If only commentary were more familiar with the NXT gals the moment when Giulia hit her Northern Lights Bomb finisher would have had more impact. After a great match, Rhea finishes off Giulia with the Riptide.

As both women celebrate together, Rhea looks at the world championship and loses her smile. She wants that more than she wants to be friends with Iyo, as she should. Mami heel turn inbound? Maybe. It was a fantastic match to end the show.

The Old Day

Man this New Day heel run has been massively underwhelming thus far. This continues here as they are on commentary for War Raiders vs American Made. Their presence on commentary provided nothing of substance, just irritating and overbearing heel mic work. Not in an entertaining Bobby Heenan or Chris Jericho way, in an annoying way. The New Day do suck, but not just in a kayfabe way at this point.

The match itself was pretty solid, but the fans were not too interested and New Day’s antics were far too distracting.

Predictable

Jey Uso comes out to big Yeets. He says that he will shut Logan up in their match at SNME and remain champion. He is interrupted by Gunther! Unexpected.

Gunther understands the pressure Jey is under, but his opinion on Jey has not changed. He says that Jey is not a natural champion like him. Gunther reveals that in a months time on Raw June 9th, he will face the winner of Jey vs Logan for the Heavyweight title. He promises to return the title to its rightful place. Jey says the title is in its rightful place, with Jey who runs the place now.

I don’t like when WWE set up an opponent’s next feud before finishing the one they’re in. Now it is clear Jey will defeat Logan Paul and have a rematch with Gunther. That result was likely, but now suspense cannot be suspended.

Borne For This

I knew nothing about Myles Borne and the fact he is deaf has never been mentioned during the time I have watched NXT, so I didn’t know. I just thought he spoke funny. However, I am not going to judge him any differently, because he wouldn’t want that. His words.

Myles Borne comes out and cuts a heartfelt promo about rising above his disability (he is deaf) and becoming a NXT title contender. He is interrupted by Ethan Page who mockingly speaks slowly so that Borne can read his lips. The fans cleverly chant “Myles can’t hear you” which is a fun bit. Charlie Dempsey convinces Borne to accept this, seeing the opportunity to prove his doubters wrong, including him. The match is made official.

The segment was solid, Myles Borne is pretty over now and that is nice to see. I still stand by what I said, he needs a mouthpiece. He is hot now and I can see a space for him on the main roster, but he will have a permanent ceiling as a midcarder if he is left to cut his own promos. There is no shame in that. That is why legends like Umaga, Bobby Lashley and Brock Lesnar thrived with a mouthpiece.

The Ruler

Oba Femi defeats Charlie Dempsey in a good opening match. Dempsey wears down Oba with his technical wrestling style but the NXT champion powers his way back into the match. Femi deadlifts Charlie from an arm triangle up and over him into an electric chair drop. That was crazy power. A fall from grace gets the win for Oba Femi.

Signed

The contract signing between Trick Williams and Joe Hendry is pre-recorded backstage and done privately which I thought was an interesting decision. I actually think it is a dumb decision, the crowd work in a contract signing is part of the spectacle.

This segment was fine and both Hendry & Williams put in a great performance with the words they said and their facial expressions. Trick Williams played the overconfident egomaniac well, whilst Hendry reminded him just how quick it can all fall apart for Trick with no road to gold.

This could have been better, but it did what it needed to do. TNA World Championship felt special here.

Poor Production

Wes Lee defeated Tony D’Angelo in a fine but pretty flat match. They told the story of D’Angelo being mentally preoccupied with his family business, but Wes’ constant mocking fired Tony up in the final third. Unfortunately for The Don, a distraction from Channing Lorenzo cost him the match. “Stacks” appears on the Tron for a few seconds, outside of Rizzo’s safehouse. D’Angelo gets dropped by the cardiac kick and pinned, whilst Lorenzo continues to cut his promo against his former friend. Ring announcer and Wes Lee’s music is literally playing over his words. Lorenzo says some stuff and then prepares to go pay Rizzo a visit.

The match itself was basic and a little underwhelming, but the production here by WWE was shockingly shoddy. Wes Lee’s victory is undermined because a promo is playing over it from a feud that has heat, unlike him currently. Then Lorenzo is undermined because his promo is dubbed over by Wes Lee’s win, making this dramatic moment have very little weight.

This was all so rushed, commentary were not able to appropriately address everything and the segment suffered. D’Angelo, Wes and Lorenzo all looked weak coming out of this.

What a weird segment

Stephanie Vaquer comes out to talk about Jordynne Grace but she is interrupted by Fatal Influence, who are down a member. I wonder where Jazmyn Nyx is, she hasn’t been released. Anyways, they cut an awkward promo where they keep interrupting and talking over each other, to show signs if dissension. It just made it difficult to understand what point they were trying to get across. Apparently the point is that they don’t see Vaquer’s title run going much longer?

Jordynne Grace comes out and says she is here to protect her investment of being the next women’s champion at Battleground. She and Vaquer bicker, then Grace just leaves after promising Vaquer will be 100% in Tampa for Battleground. I thought this was setting up a tag match. I mean, it did, but you wouldn’t know because it was never mentioned. This segment on its own was kinda bad. Why are Fatal Influence here? Fallon Henley couldn’t even win back the North American Championship and since then we have barely seen her compete here in NXT. She has little to no heat.

Not sure what the point of this was, unless they’re planning on rocketing Fatal Influence to the main event scene in NXT. There are many other women I would prefer to see before that.

Weak Booking

Myles Borne successfully defended his title shot against Ethan Page. First of all, the current challenger for the NXT Championship got a JOBBER ENTRANCE whilst Ethan Page got a second on-screen entrance. Why couldn’t Borne get the entrance? He is being presented like a nobody.

The match was solid, but it did no favours for either man. This should have been a match to establish Borne as a legitimate contender for Oba Femi and not just a fluke. I think Ethan Page could have taken a clean loss here without being too damaged. Borne landed a dropkick and secured a jack knife pin to get a somewhat flukey victory. It did not feel like a showing for him. Borne did not get much offence in at all.

Myles Borne still just looks like another guy and this was an opportunity to make him more than that. He has no chance of defeating Oba Femi, but now I question if he even has a chance of benefitting from it.

Another <5 minute Miss

Thea Hail vs Tatum Paxley was set up because Paxley is struggling with the loss of her closest allies Gigi Dolin and Shotzi. I actually like that she is trying to make the best of the situation, turning what must be a stressful situation into a part of her character.

The match wasn’t great. They didn’t have much time but what we got wasn’t very interesting other than Paxley having a crash out moment. Thea locks in a kimura, so Paxley uses an eye gouge to try and break free. Then the referee just disqualifies her immediately! I’m sorry, what? Where was the 5 count? It was an illegal move but it is not an immediate disqualification right? Heels have been doing this shit for decades and they get a small telling off.

They have been putting on these short women’s matches for a few weeks now and none of them have been any good or beneficial for anyone involved. I guess this helps get Paxley over as an unhinged lunatic, but the ruling of the match was poor.

Myles Borne Won’t Let His Disability Define Him (C+ Grade)

Oba Femi defeats Charlie Dempsey (B Grade)

Wes Lee defeats Tony D’Angelo (C Grade)

Fatal Influence Stir Drama Between Vaquer & Grace (C- Grade)

Myles Borne defeats Ethan Page (C+ Grade)

Thea Hail defeats Tatum Paxley by DQ (D+ Grade)

Trick Williams & Joe Hendry Contract Signing (C+ Grade)

Jordynne Grace & Stephanie Vaquer defeat Fatal Influence (B+ Grade)

Butting Heads

Solo Sikoa introduces JC to the crowd and lays out his plan to bring all the gold back to the family, beginning with the Money in the Bank briefcase. He starts trying to use Jacob Fatu’s catchphrases but the US champion takes the microphone from him. Fatu does his catchphrases but Solo cuts him off. He says everyone knows what Fatu is about now, but he remembers when Fatu used to be known for saying something else. Solo asks Fatu to say it. Fatu says “I love you, Solo,” Solo is not satisfied and wants Fatu to say it louder and prouder.

Solo shoves Fatu around waiting for an answer, but before the tensions rise further, LA Knight is out to attack JC and run away.

We’ll talk about the Jeff Cobb situation later. I really liked this segment. The slow build between Solo and Fatu has been great so far and it could be the best story in WWE this year. I look forward to see who Fatu’s next challenger will. We saw him sizing up Andrade backstage which I think would be an amazing feud, as well as a face to face with Drew McIntyre.

Hot Tag Action

The Smackdown tag division is now a regular weekly highlight thanks to the depth of quality it has. This week was more of the same thanks to a great match between DIY and Fraxiom. It was a shaky start, a few botches and sloppy moments looked awkward and almost killed the crowd for this match. However, both 4 men are talented enough to win back the crowd with a crazy hot finish.

The Superkick x Fairytale Ending near fall. Nathan Frazer kicking out of Project Ciampa. A Superkick x Brainbuster near fall. Ciampa breaking a pin with the holy grail of running knee strikes. Axiom’s innovative counters into pinfalls, eventually winning him the match. The final 5 minutes was awesome. I would rate it higher if the start was stronger.

DIY attack Fraxiom after their loss, bringing out the Motor City Machine Guns to make the save.

Never Meet Your Heroes

Wade Barrett sits down with R-Truth for a private interview backstage to talk about Backlash. After the show, John Cena assaulted Truth at the Press Conference. R-Truth is John Cena’s biggest fan and the only man who has remained positive about Cena in recent months.

Truth speaks about how tough life can be, but he could always believe in John Cena. He always preached Never Give Up, Hustle Loyalty Respect and You’re Time is Now. He is a beacon of light. Wade Barrett tries break through to Truth and realise how awful Cena is treating him. Truth says that this man is not John Cena, the John Cena he knows would never do and say the things he has over the past few months. He reaffirms that Cena is the greatest of all time, but if Truth needs to beat some sense into him then that is what he will do. The match is confirmed for Saturday Night’s Main Event. John Cena vs R-Truth for the WWE Championship.

I really enjoyed this. I liked R-Truth’s loyalty to his hero and not seeing him as the same man that has been trying to destroy wrestling. The story here is great and there is a lot to work with. Do I think that R-Truth should be challenging for the WWE Championship? Not really, I think that is a bit wild, but the story is strong enough that I don’t think it matters too much. R-Truth is very over too. I doubt how good this match can be but it should be a bit of fun at least.

Melo Don’t Miz

Aleister Black defeats Carmelo Hayes again but this time by DQ. I think this match was better than their first encounter but the score is the same thanks to the screwy finish. I don’t mind the finish, Black shouldn’t be losing yet and Hayes shouldn’t take too many L’s.

After a competitive match, The Miz rushes the ring and attacks Black before he can hit Black Mass. Black drops Miz with it instead, so Melo assaults Black after the match. Good heel work, good action. All good.

Intrigue

Some interesting developments in Smackdown’s women’s division. Alexa Bliss is reaching out to Flair to try and help her, but the Queen is refusing the help and riding her ego. Meanwhile, Giulia has been signed to Smackdown now which is very interesting. I am shocked they didn’t keep her around on Raw but I am happy to see Giulia officially part of the main roster.

Intrigue

Drew McIntyre says the he has been trying to get rid of Damian Priest for months. He says Priest is obsessed with him and he is jealous. Drew is better than him in every single way and Priest is trying to take out the competition. McIntyre believes Priest is willing to kill him after Backlash where he chokeslammed him 15 foot off a platform through tables.

They will be meet inside a Steel Cage next week at SNME and one of them will be leaving on a stretcher.

A simple, solid but effective Drew McIntyre promo segment. Their match should be awesome and hopefully this is the end for their feud.

Tiffy O’Clock

Can we finally start putting some respect on Nia’s name as a more than capable performer? It helps that she and Tiffany Stratton have amazing chemistry together. Stratton retained her WWE Women’s Championship against Nia in a great main event that stole the show.

The match was well wrestled and quite physical, the women gradually won the crowd over and got them invested. Tiffy reversing a top rop scoop slam into some type of driver was awesome. Then Naomi comes out wielding a chair but she is ran off by Jade Cargill for a brawl through the crowd. Then, Nia kicks out of the Prettiest Moonsault Ever which has never happened apparently.

All of a sudden, a predictable match became up in the air. Nia managed to hit her Annihilator finisher and Stratton just managed to reach a rope in a great near fall. Nia tries to use a chair, Tiffy dropkicks it and busts Nia open the hard way, hitting one more PME to win the match.

Props to Nia, her face looked messed up after that dropkick. A great main event match to cap off a mostly enjoyable Smackdown show.

Creative Frustrations

Why are WWE and Triple H so insistent on ignoring how over Chelsea Green is? She has been the most organically over star they have on the women’s division. They have been absolutely wasting her talents for far too long. She rose to being the first US champion which was great, but her reign was poorly booked and ended prematurely. I was okay with it, because I assumed that she would be a shoe-in for Money in the Bank. She didn’t even qualify! What are we doing here? This is the most frustrated creative decision in the HHH regime personally. I am at a loss why Green isn’t being pushed to the moon.

Alexa Bliss defeats Chelsea Green and Michin to qualify for the match. It was the right result, Alexa should have won and advanced. Green should have been in a different qualifying match and won it. The match itself was pretty good, although Michin was exposed a little as being a weaker performer than Bliss and Green.

Fall of the Fenix

I cannot comprehend WWE not putting Rey Fenix in the Money in the Bank ladder match. If there was ever a star perfect for a match stipulation, it was him. Absolutely bonkers. Solo Sikoa defeated Jimmy Uso and Rey Fenix to qualify the match. Understandable that Solo would qualify, but like earlier I think Rey should have been in a different qualifier and won.

The match itself was, well, a rough watch. I don’t think these guys had much chemistry together. The match had little flow, poorly paced and seemed like a bunch of moves being thrown in any order. Solo Sikoa was clotheslined out of the ring and he was outside for way too long selling. Charles Robinson making a rare refereeing error, not paying attention to Rey’s pinfall attempt on Solo. That whole sequence was awkward and botchy. Rey Fenix clearly did not connect with his Adios Amigos tightrope kick. It seemed everyone was off their game today.

It wasn’t all bad. Solo catching Rey mid-air with a Spinning Solo was cool. Jimmy Superkicking Rey in mid-air was cool too. There were some entertaining moments, but it didn’t save this poor match.

JC Mateo

An impromptu match between LA Knight and JC Mateo is set up after LA Knight keeps attacking him and his group throughout the night.

Now, I actually do not mind JC Mateo as a ring name. I think it is fine, it sounds like a wrestlers name but Jeff Cobb sounds much better. What is confusing and detrimental though, is debuting a new star at a PPV to make them feel like a big deal, then immediately changing their name less than a week later. It is quite a drastic name change too. Jeff Cobb to JC Mateo. Why wouldn’t they just introduce him as JC Mateo from his debut?

Also, why is he wrestling his debut match in street clothes? I know it was an impromptu match, but it does absolutely no favours that he looks like shit when people are already reacting poorly to the name change. They had no issue calling him Jeff Cobb initially. A baffling booking decision, but that isn’t even my biggest complaint.

JC Mateo vs LA Knight was brutally boring. This did not have to be 15 minutes long. I kid you not, there is waist lock rest hold that lasts for over a minute. I haven’t seen time wasting rest hold spot that long for quite some time. Another match that lacked any real flow. JC slowly recycled the same 5 moves over and over whilst Knight struggled to maintain life in the match. This should have been 5 minutes shorter. JC should have looked better, been presented better and honestly, wrestled better.

Incredibly disappointing segment.

Not Again

Oh my god we’re getting LA Knight vs Shinsuke Nakamura AGAIN. I don’t care that Aleister Black is involved so it is technically different. I am beyond sick of seeing these two wrestle each other.

Solo Sikoa & Jacob Fatu Tensions Build (B+ Grade)

Alexa Bliss defeats Chelsea Green & Michin (B Grade)

Fraxiom defeats DIY (B+ Grade)

Wade Barrett Sits Down With R-Truth (B Grade)

Aleister Black defeats Carmelo Hayes by DQ (B Grade)

Drew McIntyre Promises to Destroy Damian Priest (B Grade)

Raw

Sheamus vs Grayson Waller

AJ Styles & Penta vs The Judgement Day

Jey Uso vs Bron Breakker

NXT

Shawn Spears vs Josh Briggs

Zaria vs Kelani Jordan

Ashante Adonis vs Sean Legacy vs Je’Von Evans

OTM vs Chase U

Smackdown

Shinsuke Nakamura vs LA Knight vs Aleister Black, MITB Qualifier

Zelina Vega vs Charlotte Flair vs Giulia, MITB Qualifier

The Street Profits (c) vs Fraxiom, WWE Tag Team Championships

Confirmed SNME Card

John Cena (c) vs R-Truth, Undisputed WWE Championship

Jey Uso (c) vs Logan Paul, World Heavyweight Championship

Drew McIntyre vs Damian Priest, Steel Cage

CM Punk & Sami Zayn vs Bron Breakker & Seth Rollins

Confirmed NXT Battleground Card

Joe Hendry (c) vs Trick Williams, TNA World Championship

Stephanie Vaquer (c) vs Jordynne Grace, NXT Women’s Championship

Oba Femi (c) vs Myles Borne, NXT Championship

Tony D’Angelo vs Channing Lorenzo

Sol Ruca vs ???, North American Championship