This Week In WWE Review (23/6/25 – 29/6/25)

Corey graves

I am glad to have Corey Graves on Raw, even if it is only temporary. I think he is a solid colour commentator and he works well with Michael Cole. However, he is even better at play by play and I think it would be awesome if WWE give him more opportunities to do that.

A Vision Layed Out

The Show opens with Mr Money in the Bank Seth Rollins and his followers. He is receiving mixed signals so he asks the fans what they want. They chant for CM Punk. Exactly, one minute they chant for Punk, the next they chant for OTC, then they bark for Breakker, then sing for Rollins. The fans have no idea what they want so Rollins doesn’t care about their opinions. He will tell them what is good for them. Seth says the things the fans want are because of him. Roman Reigns, CM Punk, Cody Rhodes are all here because of him. He was the first World Heavyweight champion and NXT champion. Rollins calls himself the past, the present and the future of the WWE.

Every revolution faces opposition. Seth will deal with opposition diplomatically, until they force his hand. That is what has happened to LA Knight. He got 3 tsunami’s and in a few minutes time, Bron Breakker will deliver justice against another thorn, Penta. Seth Rollins knows a lot of people think they have what it takes to be at the top, but they are all running a race for second place. He points at the MITB case and calls it the Endgame. Rollins waits for his music, but out comes Penta ready for the opening match.

It is a predictably great promo by Seth Rollins. He does some good crowd work as well as laying the foundations for their future plans. I liked how he refers to himself and the briefcase as the endgame. I also loved how he uses the fans flip-flop mindset against them. Rollins cashing in and becoming world champion is inevitable, it is just a matter of when.

Zero Fear

Bron Breakker defeated Penta in approx 15 minutes in the first match of the show. The match has already begun after the break and it is a very dominant performance by Bron here. He is on offence for the most part, but even when Penta fires back he struggles to keep Breakker down for long. The first couple of minutes was a little awkward but they found a rhythm eventually.

Bron focuses his offence on the mid-section of Penta, which makes sense, weakening him for his spear. I love all of the little details in this match. Bron has beaten him before so he is overconfident, talking trash. However, we can also hear Heyman on the outside trying to give Bron advice and pointers to keep him in the game and not take Penta lightly. I will never not be surprised by Breakker’s speed and agility. He hits an impressive roll-through jumping knee all the way up to the top rope. At one point, he hits a Frankensteiner which Michael Cole credits Pat McAfee on calling? Dude, that has been called a Frankensteiner before YOU were doing commentary.

This match was awesome and the finish was even better. They go back and forth, Breakker meets Penta mid-springboard with a spear to win. Great closing spot.

You’re Last

Wow. I didn’t expect to love this.

Michael Cole sits down with Goldberg for a pre-recorded interview. Goldberg took his family to an event as a bystander, a fan. He was shocked by the lack of respect that Gunther showed him, embarrassing him in front of his family and his adopted home of Atlanta.

Goldberg doesn’t care if he has one foot in the grave, he will not like Gunther get away with it. He was already thinking about a retirement match, Gunther came around at a good time.

“Michael, I am going to beat the FUCK out of Gunther.” That line was cold.

Michael Cole confirms this is indeed Goldberg’s retirement match, however it is an interesting dilemma if he walks out with the title. (I sure hope that doesn’t happen).

Queen of the Ring

Our QOTR semi final saw Jade Cargill defeat Roxanne Perez in a predictable result.

This was a David vs Goliath scenario but reversed, where David is the asshole. Perez uses her quickness and ring IQ to roll out and escape Jade, landing cheap shots whenever she can. Jade is dominant until Roxanne kicks her knee into the steel steps. You can hear a fan shout over and call one of the women “baby girl” which made me lose my appetite. Thanks for that, creep.

Back from break, Perez is wearing Jade down but powerhouse fights back. She shows great strength to catch Perez mid dive with a fallaway slam. I appreciate the work Jade is doing, she worked very hard and she was selling the knee pretty well. There is a funny part in this match when Jade just licks Perez’s face? I don’t know why but it made me laugh. Perez makes a nice comeback towards the end but the result was never in doubt. Jade hits a powerbomb then a Jaded to win. Unfortunately the finish was a little awkward, I’m not sure if the referee was supposed to count a pin or Jade was struggling to bring Roxanne up for the finish.

Solid match, Jade continues to improve and I never feel disappointed when I watch her. Asuka vs Jade will be an incredibly interesting contest. I hope Asuka wins but it will probably be Jade.

The Mad General

WWE Heavyweight champion Gunther comes out and he is not a happy fella. He has heard what Goldberg had to say. Last week was supposed to be a celebration, but it was ruined. Gunther did some thinking about what it means to be next. Usually it means spear, jackhammer and 1-2-3. Goldberg is the most destructive man of his generation, but it not 1999 anymore. Now, Gunther is the guy, he is the best wrestler in this company. He got cheers for that.

There is nothing that Goldberg can say that will change Gunther’s opinion. He says a 58 year old one trick pony who cannot lace his boots. Gunther apologises to Goldberg’s wife and son for what he is going to do for the man that used to be Goldberg. He will embarrass Goldberg again because it is responsibility to make sure the legacy and myth of Goldberg dies. Another loud cheer from the crowd.

Well, I guess Gunther is the face here. This was short, impactful and intense. One of the best promos I have heard from him in a while.

It’s About Time, again!

Bloody hell they have booked a world tag title match for next week. They are giving the tag division some screen time on Raw again!

It would be nice for some tag team representation at WWE Night of Champions but this is a start.

Another Chapter

A long time rivalry renewed as Becky Lynch and Bayley clash once more, this time over the IC title. I believe this is the first time we have seen face Bayley vs heel Becky in a singles match. I might be wrong though. Two of the best women’s wrestlers in WWE history, so yeah, this was good. I am liking this new ‘slighted face’ side of Bayley, because although she is the hero she has a lot of aggression.

These two know each other incredibly well so there is a lot of counters and reversals, I liked how even this match was because it should be. Becky drops Bayley arm first on the top rope to take control into the break, the arm that Becky injured before Wrestlemania.

Bayley makes her comeback, we get more fluid counters, reversals and near falls by both women towards the finish. Bayley even used the Manhandle slam on Becky but the champ rolled out. She baits Becky out of the ring and cleverly tries to bury her under chairs and such to win by count out. Lyra Valkyria is out to help Bayley out of the match. Becky tries to bait Lyra into hitting her but it doesn’t work, initially. After a fun chaotic brawl out of the ring, Bayley has Becky set up for the elbow drop but Lyra attacks Becky causing a DQ.

I don’t mind the result, I think it would make sense but it was done horribly. Lyra Valkyria looks like an asshole here, a stupid one at that. Becky didn’t really look that smart because it felt less her doing and more Lyra’s idiocy. I would have liked it more if Bayley dropped Lyra for her actions. An excellent match, a bad finish.

Fighting words

We rarely hear Raquel Rodriguez talk so that was nice. She calls out Rhea Ripley to fight her and that is all she needs to say. Raquel and Rhea brawl, weapons are involved and so is Roxanne Perez who helps her Judgement Day ally. Raquel bombs Rhea through a table to come out on top.

This was to set up their now announced Street Fight at the WWE Night of Champions. This was simple but effective. A lot of fun. Their match should be good.

Friends become foes

A battle between arguably two of the most over wrestlers in the WWE. Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso wrestle to see who meets Randy Orton in the King of the Ring finals.

These 2 get a lot of time, this went just over 20 minutes to tell the story. This starts slow between two friends trying to get the better of each other, it is evenly contested as they dodge each other’s big moves. We have some nice storyline call backs in this one. Cody Rhodes uses the kimura lock, even Michael Cole mentions how he beat Brock Lesnar with that move. Jey uses the sleeper that he stole from Gunther.

Both men continue to prove they know each other very well, pulling out counters. In the final moments of the match, both men shed the respect away and are throwing everything they have to win the match. Jey even hits a Crossroads but it only gets a 2. The finishing sequence was awesome. Jey hits the spear and goes for the splash, but Cody meets him and hits a super RKO. One Crossroads later and Cody advances.

I probably should have watched this one live, I think the ad breaks really disrupted the flow of the match for me so it was hard to remain invested. There are some real important chunks of this match that I think were cut out. However, this was a great main event match. Full of hype, great action and a fiery hot crowd.

Match Cancelled

Dominik Mysterio vs AJ Styles for WWE Night of Champions is cancelled. Apparently Dominik Mysterio is injured, though I imagine it is a storyline injury and not a legit one. Is it because of Liv Morgan’s injury? Or is it because Dominik doesn’t want to go to Saudi Arabia at this time? Who knows. It is a shame the match is no longer going ahead, but it will happen down the line eventually

Same Complaint

No Iyo Sky on this show at all. I know plans were probably cancelled and changed, but they couldn’t have done anything for her? Not even just a small backstage angle? Total disrespect to your world champion. You have 3 HOURS of TV time, how can you not make room for the best female wrestler in your company?

Whoop That Briggs

The show opens with a TNA world title match between Trick Williams and Josh Briggs. I was disappointed to see Yoshiki Inamura pass on this opportunity to his partner. Trick is usually the big man in his matches so it is nice to see a change here, Briggs being the more physically imposing wrestler in this match. He is able to no-sell some of Trick’s offence early on. Both men exchange big offence, it is quite physical.

The match follows a simple formula, I think the result was never really in doubt but that didn’t harm the action too much. I think Trick has improved a lot in the ring, his character work is great but his ring work still needs some fine tuning. Some of his offence could be tighter, especially a leaping knee from the top rope that was no where near on target, but sold as if it was.

There was a great sequence in this match where Trick flipped out of a chokeslam, then Briggs flipped out of a powerbomb and hit the chokeslam for a great near fall. Trick nearly fucked the spot by dropping Briggs, but he recovered well and it came off great. Briggs risks it all with a moonsault, but he misses and we see the Trick Shot for the win.

After the match, we see the return of Joe Hendry in NXT who takes out Trick ahead of their match at Slammiversary. A very good match to start the show. One of the better matches we have seen in NXT for a while, especially from the men’s division.

No Freedom

Tavion Heights fights Je’Von Evans, hoping to win his freedom from No Quarter Catch Crew if he can score a big victory here. Tavion is wearing a protective mask after a “training accident” that may or may not have been intentional by NQCC’s leader Charlie Dempsey.

This is a wrestler vs high flyer match. Tavion tries to ground Evans the best he can and wear him down with holds whilst Je’Von, well, gets bouncy. There is a lot of technical mat wrestling to start and I didn’t mind it, Tavion was doing well to keep it interesting and not just doing rest holds. Evans eventually fights back, and gets the win with a flashy tornillo crossbody splash to win. The finish was cool. The match was a good one, Tavion got some time to shine on his own which was nice to see. I hope to see more from him. Je’Von continues to be incredibly entertaining and ridiculously over.

Jasper Troy drops Je’Von after the match, probably setting up a match for Great American Bash.

Welcome Back

Ricky Saints wins his comeback match against Ashante Thee Adonis. It was fine, a serviceable match and a solid way to bring Ricky back in a victorious way. I don’t really care much for Ashante. I’m actually surprised he has lasted in WWE this long. He has been in WWE for 6 years and has shown no growth as a wrestler or a character. Totally vanilla.

The interesting thing here was Ethan Page appearing on the Tron to mock Ricky Saints, but the feed was laggy. What appeared to be technical issues was actually a trap. Page attacks Saints and hits his own Rochambeau finisher on him. I thought that was a creative way to do a run-in. Don’t know if I have seen that before.

Get Him OFF

Broken record here, not a very new opinion to have but I am getting soooo sick of listening to Booker T’s commentary. He contributes nothing to NXT. Even his adlibs with Trick Williams are getting out of hand and annoying. I don’t mind the entrance, but hearing him just make noises like a toddler during his promos sucks.

He spends the whole show popping himself and popping the boys and that is about it. I would much prefer if they gave this gig to Vic Joseph and Corey Graves as a duo.

Unfortunate

Noam Dar has vacated the NXT Heritage Cup due to injury again. This is so devastating. He just came back from a long injury only a couple months ago. He wrestled once to win the cup back and now he is on the shelf again.

I fear that this could be the end of Dar in WWE. The suits might see him as a liability now and axe him in the next round of roster cuts.

DarkState

Look, I am sorry but I cannot help ragging on this shit. I mean, when they mishandle a group like this so badly what can I say?

This team has zero aura or intensity now, they are just another team. After not hearing or seeing them prominently featured, we get a pre-record from them talking about how they shouldn’t be forgotten. They are cooking up something big, just you wait. I assume they are the mystery assailants of Hank & Tank later in the show in a throwaway segment.

They wouldn’t have to remind us who they are if they were actually booked credibly. The more I see of DarkState, the less I buy into them as a threat now. Also, Cutler James does not fit this group at all. His promo delivery and cadence is such a contrast to the rest of them. He stands out but not in a good way.

Saquon Shugars continues to be the charismatic hype man that I love. I want to stress that I don’t hate these guys, but they have been booked like shit.

New Challenger, or Not?

Oba Femi talks about his success as NXT champion, he sits at top of the division but he is not getting comfortable and sitting easy. Oba is the ruler and he craves a fight. He calls out anyone to step up to the ruler. He is ready.

Out comes Yoshiki Inamura. Commentary big this up as a surprise, though he did reference going for the NXT title last week. Inamura says he came here to chase glory, but he had to go to Japan to realise what he missed. He was ready to leave NXT for his home, but he missed NXT and his partner Briggs. He loves NXT, the culture and the fans. Inamura wants to repay the fans by becoming NXT champion. Inamura wants bigger, and Oba is bigger.

Oba Femi understands being a stranger in a new place. NXT has become his kingdom. He sees the warrior spirit inside Inamura and Oba will drop him like everybody else. Inamura says he is ready.

Jasper Troy rushes in and runs over Inamura before staring down Oba Femi.

Hmm. I thought this was all fine, but I did not like Jasper Troy running in and dropping Inamura so easily. Is this how to present a new challenger? I don’t think so. Troy has had his establishing moment, I am ready for him to earn his place in NXT by having some feuds and developing himself some more. I don’t really want to see Troy vs Oba again already. A fresh matchup sounds good, but now it looks like we are not getting exactly that.

New Champ

So we have to find a new Heritage cup champion and what do you know, Lucas Crucifino has managed to score Tony D’Angelo a match against his former right hand man for the vacant championship. “Stacks” still claims that Crucifino is working for him too. Considering how quiet the crowd have been for the promos, I am surprised how hot they are for this match. There are even duelling chants for either man.

Heritage cup rules so we have rounds. Round 1 is a complete brawl and the referee has to separate them when the bell rings. Round 2 is a brawl too, Tony hits a spear and picks up the first fall, ending the round quickly. We come back from break at the end of round 3 and Stacks has been in control or most of it. Round 4, Stacks grabs a small package early on and levels the score up 1-1.

Luca Crucifino appears at the start of round 5 and he begs Tony to trust him. Tony fights back but again an “accidental strike” from Luca costs Tony the match. I put that in quotes because you can see Luca blowing the spot by looking to make sure Tony was in position for the shot. After the match, Tony punches Luca and says “I don’t trust you, and I don’t trust you either” pointing at Stacks. Duh, why would you trust Stacks?

The action was actually pretty solid, but I hate this booking. This story is just so tedious and going on and on and on and on and on. I am afraid that we have reached to limit for this whole gimmick. I think everyone would benefit from a repackage and a character change at this point.

Lacking Glamour

No Blake Monroe? Not even a pre-record or a video package? She has been in NXT for 3 weeks and we are already writing her off TV for a week? What a way to kill a hot new star’s momentum.

Baffling decision. I understand that she is coming in at an inopportune time with a lot of pre-existing stories already cooking. If that is the case, then just don’t introduce her yet? Or, bring her out at Evolution to debut? I don’t know, anything other than this! She came out to speak for 2 minutes 1 week, then she got beaten down at her contract signing and now she is AWOL. Wow. Captivating stuff…

Trick Williams (c) defeats Josh Briggs, TNA World Championship (B+ Grade)

Je’Von Evans defeats Tavion Heights (B Grade)

Ricky Saints defeats Ashante Thee Adonis (C Grade)

Yoshiki Inamura steps up to Oba Femi (C Grade)

Channing Lorenzo defeats Tony D’Angelo, Heritage Cup (C Grade)

Jordynne Grace defeats Jaida Parker, Izzi Dame & Lash Legend, Women’s Contender (A- Grade)

The Presentation

Wow. I have never seen Smackdown on such a grand scale. Smackdown is being held in the stadium. Probably the largest attendance for a Smackdown ever. The screen, the crowd. THE CROWD. They were so loud and reactive.

Cody Rhodes & Randy Orton got serenaded by the fans and it was awesome. Criticise the Saudi deal all you want, but the fans are reliably great for these shows.

Beautiful Madness

Giulia defeats Zelina Vega to win the US championship. Great booking decision, the title has been Stone Cold since Chelsea Green lost it and Giulia is a popular rising star who can make it relevant again.

I was still experiencing technical difficulties watching this so I’ll be kind. This was for the most part fine, though there were some sloppy moments from Vega.

They both worked hard though and Giulia is talented enough to bring the quality of the match up.

Black & Gold

Wow. DIY vs Andrade & Rey Fenix was an absolute show stealer. It felt like for one time only, we got a revival of the Black & Gold NXT.

First of all, DIY are crazy over in Saudi Arabia. I think they like the black & Gold Era of NXT because Aleister Black got a huge reaction in a backstage segment.

Some great moments in this match. DIY pulling out a Shatter Machine, shout out FTR. Gargano’s great selling of a knee injury that actually impacted the match. Andrade & Gargano running back spots from their NXT rivalry. This was awesome indeed.

Andrade and Gargano did mess up a moonsault spot but it didn’t detract from this too much.

Dr of Punkanomics

John Cena comes out to close the show. He says he is what a winner looks like and calls CM Punk a loser. Punk is out of tricks and Cena is a genius. Night of Champions is a formality.

We hear Cena’s Dr of Thuganomics play. Out comes CM Punk dressed as his own version of the character. He has knucks on that read “drug free”. I absolutely love this. I’m going to give you the rough transcript.

Yo check it. This is basic Punkanomics.

Don’t adjust your television set, your eyes are just right. This clown plagiarised my pipe bomb so now Im stealing word life.

And you had to rip me off to cut your best promo just to distract from the fact we see you move in slow mo.

Remember when he used to rap. Yeah, you deserve all of the criticism. You were like a Macklemore with Mackle-less rhythm.

And he said im a problem he called me a player hater. Pft, let’s he honest, John Cena has buried more talent than the Undertaker.

That’s why hes the champ and lost all of his respect. But hey John I get it, I’d retire too if this place rehired my ex.

If you never said your prayers, ate your vitamins and fixed your bald spot, you’d never be a pro wrestler. You’d be a Boston mall cop.

But hey, he gets good movie roles that much is a fact. But then we saw Batista act and realise John ain’t all that.

Same shirt same hat man your persona straight tragic. You’re like a fish bellied white Hulk Hogan but somehow more problematic.

Yo, when it comes to best in the world, im your vessel. Because millions chant my name and for you they chant you can’t wrestle.

Get it in while you can, in 6 months he will be gone and I’ll still be here having fun. He won’t have time for you little people anymore, hell be busy washing underwear for James Gunn.

He’s a Superhero now, he works for DC. But none matter how hard you try, you will still always be the marine to me.

And thats straight to dvd, better find a ps3 i now understand you can’t see me.

That’s a hell of a catchphrase John, but now its all done. Now we all see you and we’re looking at a washed up bum.
14 years ago today I dropped a legendary pipe bomb and you tried to make it all about you because thats what you do John.

You’re a leech, you’re a phony, you’re a fraud you’re an ass kiss. 17 time world champion but never been in my class bitch.

Before you go John, there’s one more wish to make. Tomorrow, you’re gonna lose to Kendrick cos bitch, you’re my Drake.

CM Punk mockingly taunts like Cena in the crowd to end the show.

This was awesome, so much fun to watch. Punk stumbled over some of his lines, he isnt a natural rapper but he is a natural at throwing shade for sure. Punk critiques Cena as a wrestler, an actor, a rapper and most importantly a human being. He draws comparisons between Cena and Hogan as well as Drake which is hilarious.

I was unsure how Punk could appropriately comeback from a Cena Pipebomb, and this was certainly a great way to do it.

The Production

Well, we didnt get off to a good start did we? The show started with a Cody Rhodes & Randy Orton promo, but Orton managed to say 2 sentences before technical issues brought down the feed. The broadcast was down for HALF AN HOUR. Seriously. We missed the entire opening promo and probably more.

Production issues plagued this entire show, the video quality dropped constantly. Commentary were interrupted by an advert playing over the DIY tag match, Michael Cole joked about requiring a cue for ads.

Sometimes, technical issues happen and cannot be helped. This was a massive blow to the show and ruined the first hour of the show.

Big Jim’s Big Loss

JC Mateo defeats Jimmy Uso. The match was okay, very basic stuff and I pretty much called the entire match as it was happening. It was a bit dull though, they ran through everything you would expect to see.

There were some clunky moments, Mateo is still struggling to adapt to the WWE style which is crazy because he was SO GOOD in Japan. I don’t know why he is having bad matches.

After the match, Solo offered Jimmy a hug and to come back to his side but Jimmy slaps him. Jacob Fatu runs out and saves Jimmy from a beat down, then Jimmy saves Fatu from a Solo sneak attack. Fine story progression.

Filler

Wade Barrett interviews Jade Cargill and Asuka ahead of their match in the Queen of the Ring finals. This added absolutely nothing to the match. Jade dropped a generic promo about how she is coming for the title and the throne. Asuka did her usual shtick. Asuka is crazy over here in Saudi Arabia which was cool to see.

Naomi comes out and brags about having the briefcase and teases cashing in later tonight. She and Jade fight a little, then Asuka kicks Jade around and stands tall.

Yeah, complete filler this. Jade vs Asuka was not developed at all, this was about Naomi teasing a cash in but they didn’t have to dedicate a segment to do that. The fans were chanting “STFU” and I agree.

Poor Booking

Street Profits retained their titles against the Wyatt Sicks thanks to being attacked by DIY and Los Garza.

The match itself was fine, had some solid moments but Dexter Lumis keeps forgetting when he is the legal man. However, the weak screwy finish was predictable before the match even started. We saw DIY rally the troops earlier and warn the other tag teams that the Wyatts cannot win the titles.

Then, a few minutes into the match, all of the teams came out and made it clear that they were going to get involved. The DQ was caused to prevent the title change. The teams then all worked together to take the Wyatts out, then the Street Profits took the teams out to stand tall. Uncle Howdy stands and laughs at them.

WHY CAN’T WWE JUST BOOK BRAY WYATT RELATES CONTENT WELL FOR GODSAKE. This was not fun to watch, I would have bought into it more if the teams used weapons or something to really try and destroy them. But no, we got an average match with a bad finish and a generic post-match shmoz angle that is starting to get old in this tag division it has been used so frequently.

And Still

Tiffany Stratton retains her women’s Championship against Nia Jax. It was fine but I found myself being incredibly disappointed considering how good their matches usually are.

The booking was really weird. This was an extended squash for the most part, Nia gave Tiffy a total asskicking. I think in the entire match Stratton put Nia through 3 tables and hit her finisher, but that is the only offence she landed. She looked tough, but I think Nia looked weak.

Naomi teased a cash in but it didnt go through. Stratton used the MITB briefcase to her advantage to knock both Naomi and Nia out.

I think this was fine, serviceable match but it should have been better. A lot of boring standing around and counting.

Cody Rhodes & Seth Rollins Segment (No Grade)

JC Mateo defeats Jimmy Uso (C- Grade)

Giulia defeats Zelina Vega (c), US Championship (C Grade)

Jade Cargill & Asuka Interview (D+ Grade)

Andrade & Rey Fenix defeat DIY (A- Grade)

Street Profits (c) defeats Wyatt Sicks by DQ, WWE Tag Titles (D+ Grade)

Cody Rhodes defeats Randy Orton, WWE KOTR Final (B+ Grade)

This was a good match, with great storytelling. Rhodes and Orton were equals, both having their time controlling the match and hitting all their big moves but not getting the 3. Cody came in much more aggressively, targeting Orton’s famously injured back to give him a better shot at winning. Rhodes played the role of the “heel” in this match which was quite refreshing, although he wasn’t really being that heelish.

The most interesting part though is Randy Orton, who was willing to do whatever it took to win. He pulled out all the stops, he debated using his trusted punt kick but he took too long to decide and he missed the kick. Randy brought in a chair to distract the referee so he could exposed a turnbuckle but it backfired, Cody sent Randy into it and hit a second Crossroads to win.

Cody winning felt pretty predictable, but I didnt hate it. Orton looked PISSED on the outside. I think the match was solid but they can definitely take this to another level. This felt like a standard WWE big time match but hopefully this was the first chapter in what could be the long awaited Orton heel turn on Cody.

Rhea Ripley defeats Raquel Rodriguez, Street Fight (B- Grade)

This was a fun street fight, though I question why a personal feud with no weapons starts with a lock up. They told a solid story of Rhea unusually being the smaller and weaker opponent and she had to adjust her gameplan accordingly. They did a creative spot where Raquel powerbombed Rhea into the timekeeper area through the lid of the announce table. Can’t say I recall seeing that before.

Roxanne Perez did a brief run in to help Raquel but it barely added anything to the match, I don’t really see the point of this being there. They could have done a lot more with it than what they did. Rhea finished the match off with a Super Riptide from a table platform on the top rope. Cool finish, fun match. One of the better matches we have seen from Raquel in quite some time.

Sami Zayn defeats Karrion Kross (C Grade)

This was fine. Ill be the first to admit that I forgot that Karrion Kross isn’t always fun to watch in the ring. I dont mind that he wrestles slow, but I think they could have done a better job telling the story in the ring. This was about Kross trying to prove Zayn is a liar by beating him into submission. I think if he told the story of trying to push Sami into being evil again it would have been more enjoyable.

This was essentially a TV match, which I won’t be too harsh on since there was last minute changes to the card. This was fine. Michael Cole was off his game here. He did not put over Kross at all as a threat at all.

Solo Sikoa defeats Jacob Fatu (c), US Championship (C+ Grade)

Solo Sikoa finally wins a title on the main roster in controversial fashion. Fatu and Solo wrestled an emotional match that started slow but built up towards the end. Fatu wrestled his ass off. He pulled out a Fosbury Flop which was NUTS. We saw a run in from JC Mateo as expected, but we also saw the return of Tonga Loa but that was not enough to keep Fatu down.

Jacob fought back into the match and hit the moonsault but a debut ruined the happy. The unnamed brother of Tonga Loa & Tama Tonga (known in New Japan as Hikuleo) chokeslammed Fatu as the referee was distracted. Solo hits the spike and wins.

This was solid, I was hoping for better but this is the first chapter of what will probably be a year long story between Solo and Fatu. Solo Sikoa has rebuilt a new Samoan Faction.

Jade Cargill defeats Asuka, WWE QOTR Final (C Grade)

I’m trying not to let my desire to see Asuka vs Iyo Sky weigh in on my feelings about this. I do wish Asuka won, but I understand the booking decision.

This was another fine Jade Cargill match, she continues to be okay. Asuka wrestled a great match trying to hide her weaknesses the best she could. I didnt like how the Asuka targeted the leg and it never really matter. Jade didn’t sell it much, she was kipping up and hitting her big moves with no problem.

This was one of the more fluid matches Jade has wrestled with few signs of awkwardness. A bit awkward how over Asuka was and the crowd did not react to Jade winning at all. Even when she delivered a generic face promo afterwards, they just did not care.

Asuka winning would have been to right call to me, even if it meant Naomi did a run in.

John Cena (c) defeats CM Punk, WWE Championship (B+ Grade)

A usual overbooked heel John Cena main event. I loved this though, probably more than the average person. We got a great match for the first half, both men played the classics and even played each others classics. Absolutely loved seeing Punk pull out AJ Lee’s Black Widow. John Cena emptied his arsenal, hit 3 AAs and he still couldnt get the job done. That is when he resorted to trying to cheat.

Cena goes to use the world title, but he gets second thoughts after listening to the crowd and he actually drops the belt. They continue their match until of course there is a referee bump. That brings out Seth Rollins and his crew to be beat up CM Punk and prepare to cash in. Bron & Bronson botch putting CM Punk through the announce table, it looked awkward. Rollins gestures for Charles Robinson to run down the ramp but he gets decked by Cena. Cena pounced him like crazy. We get more glimpses of baby face John Cena as he and Punk fight off Rollins and his gang and ruined their plans. After the chaos, the two men hug, Cena goes for a low blow but Punk intercepted it. Seth Rollins returns to attack Punk and stomp him, Cena throws him out and pins Punk to retain.

I thought the referee was able to slide in there very quickly, it felt like he was watching and waiting, which meant surely he saw what happened and Punk should have won by DQ. Nevertheless, I thought this was really fun and a great watch. Yes it was chaotic and overbooked, but it all made sense with the stories they are telling. I dont understand everyone’s fixation on every match being cleanly wrestled and finished when that simply does not fit the narrative.

This is the best match of John Cena’s retirement tour so far and its not even close.

Raw

New Day (c) vs Judgement Day, World Tag Championships

Sheamus vs Rusev

NXT

Yoshiki Inamura vs Jasper Troy, Number 1 Contender

Wes Lee vs Joe Hendry

Myles Borne vs Lexis King

Smackdown

???