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One huge update this week I wanted to take some time for: WWE has announced the acquisition of AAA, formerly one of the big two wrestling promotions in Mexico. WWE announced a partnership with AAA over a year ago, but little came from it before today. Details are fuzzy, beyond the return of the “Worlds Collide” NXT PPV series, this time branded as NXT x AAA.
WWE fan or not, this purchase feels like a net-negative to professional wrestling. Competition breeds excellence, and monopolization hurts consumers first and foremost. No matter how much you prefer one promotion over the other, professional wrestling becoming more and more homogenized stifles new ideas or performers from developing organically.
At least now we can guess the endgame behind those random JBL indie appearances in 2024. AAA, in recent months, began running a storyline of JBL becoming a kayfabe investor of the company, and now I guess he’ll be a figurehead owner. He also called Mexico a third-world country…. oh joy. This doesn’t bode well for other companies recently featuring JBL, like TNA or GCW, but I digress.
OK, rant over, also WrestleMania 41 is in the books! Despite the hiccups in the build-up, WWE dug deep and gave us a decently enjoyable spectacle down in Sin City. For the first time in a good few years, there was a real sense of possibility following the two-night event. While the ending of Roman’s reign felt like the closing of a chapter, the title scene following this weekend feels like the beginning of a new one.
With Mania in the rearview mirror, I think we can all admit that the hype level felt more mixed than in 2024. But, frankly, I think it was always destined to be. There was no climax of a multi-year story this year. There was no grand coronation, no earth-shattering twists. But it feels like many wrestlers will find themselves in a drastically different spot come this Friday, and that’s incredibly exciting.
Tonight’s episode of Smackdown has the potential to feel like an old-school PPV fallout episode, dedicated to exploring new pair-ups only possible thanks to the WrestleMania-sized grenade that exploded on the roster over the weekend. There’s a lot to get through, so let’s not waste more time. For brevity’s sake, I’m only covering the matches that had a substantial part of their build on Smackdown.
JOHN CENA HAS RUINED PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING
Latest Developments:
Several months ago, Cody Rhodes turned down an offer to ally himself with The Rock. Later, John Cena won a title shot for Rhodes’ WWE Championship at WrestleMania by winning the Elimination Chamber. Following the match, Cena shockingly turned heel and joined The Rock.
Over the next weeks, Cena angrily berated the fans for hating him throughout the years while he bled for them every day. He vowed to deny the fans and “ruin professional wrestling” at every opportunity, refusing to change his patented attire or mannerisms, and instead claimed he would win the WWE Championship because no one else deserved it after all his sacrifices.
At WrestleMania 41, Cena wrestled a slower and methodical style, jawing at the audience, eventually defeating Rhodes with interference from Travis Scott after Rhodes refused to hit Cena with the belt.
Analysis:
In theory, the concept of getting heat by blue-balling an audience is a pretty familiar one. But centering a WrestleMania main event around that style would always be a risky move, as it induces a level of discontent in an audience where they’re usually trained to cheer the loudest and be invested in the drama. In other words, it’s the opposite emotional arc than a usual WrestleMania main event.
And that may have been the reason this main event left little to no impression. Conceptually, I like the idea of Cena’s heel character, but he hasn’t been around often enough to really settle into a wrestling style and as a result the match felt overly plodding and unimaginative. It felt like an old Nick Bockwinkel match, and after the rush of Night 2’s fast paced spotfests, it wound up cooling the crowd more than I expected.
Combined with The Rock never showing up (which makes little sense, given they’ve barely acknowledged him since Cena turned) and Travis Scott’s interference being laughably over-the-top slow, and the entire thing felt like a cobbled-together build resulting in a meh match. I left with more questions than answers, and Rhodes’ babyface character finally crossed the line into goober territory with his refusal to hit Cena with the belt. Rhodes has always been able to tap into that Hogan-esque fire, where he does heelish things mid-match but the crowd loves it as payback for others cheating against him. To so pointedly refuse out of “honor” felt a little too contrived.
At the end of the day, no one was talking about Cena’s historic 17th world title win, and that’s a disservice to me. Heel character aside, that fact getting lost in the shuffle of the event is a missed opportunity.
With no Rhodes on the docket for Smackdown, we’re likely looking at a Cena reign of terror for a few months, which could actually be a refreshing change of pace on Smackdown as challengers step up to the old legend. Like a redux of the critically-acclaimed US Open Challenge series from 2015.
All in all, a muddled main event that left me apathetic but excited for future possibilities.
Grade: C-
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
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TIFFANY STRATTON CAN’T ESCAPE CHARLOTTE FLAIR
Latest Developments:
Following her return from injury, Charlotte Flair won the women’s Royal Rumble and called out WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton. After some back-and-forth, the two were confirmed for a title match at WrestleMania. Over the next few weeks, the two constantly brawled throughout the ring.
Flair returned to the ring for a tune-up match against B-Fab, where she cockily brutalized her more than necessary. Flair egotistically kept steamrolling Stratton, including a particular worked-shoot feud that went off-script when referencing Flair’s divorce and Stratton’s real-life partner Ludwig Kaiser.
Following a few other altercations, the two women faced off at WrestleMania 41. Following a messy, brutal fight, Flair played heel wonderfully to Stratton’s struggling rookie babyface, using her experience in submissions to tie up the NXT callup numerous times.
However, following a moonsault, Stratton pinned the Queen to retain her WWE Women’s Championship.
Analysis:
Well, Flair continues her streak of saving a lackluster build with a kickass workrate classic. While the two admittedly lost the crowd for parts due to the submission-heavy mat work, the story of the cocky legend toying with the rookie until they eventually succumbed to the rookie’s tenacity was done very well.
Flair played heel wonderfully, while Stratton didn’t look out of her depth on a massive stage. The match felt messy, but in a realistic way that highlighted the hidden benefits of the work-shoot uncertainty & intrigue the two built out of their now-infamous derailed promo. I appreciated that both wrestlers were barely able to stand by the end. The mauling ofcertain body parts all felt cohesive, and built beautifully into the story of Stratton failing to use Flair’s moves against her thanks to her inexperience, but succeeding using the finisher she invented from scratch. It wasn’t quite enough to blow the crowd away, but it told a decent story and wasn’t too overlong.
Did both wrestlers really have to be dressed identically, though? I genuinely couldn’t tell who was who if I couldn’t see their faces.
Moving forward, interestingly, neither woman feels especially set up for success. Stratton’s babyface momentum got kind of swallowed up in the feud’s messiness, and while she still has the title around her waist, all her mic deficiencies were put on full-display. To be charitable, WWE has a lot of possibilities on where to go with Stratton, but it’ll be an uphill battle to make her seem like a world champion for a few months.
As for Flair, it feels like the internet’s dissatisfaction with her booking is destined to be an anchor for her in the main event. With the influx of new talent in the women’s division, Flair doesn’t stand out the way she once did, and her booking hasn’t given her anything substantial beyond “I am the best.”. With a few midcard titles floating in the mix, there’s at least much more possibility for Flair outside the main event, but it’ll be interesting to see what character modifications WWE makes to her character in the meantime.
Grade: B+
THE ROAST OF PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING
Latest Developments:
Comic Tony Hinchcliffe hosted a roast of the WWE roster featuring many talent following WrestleMania 41. Although not filmed for the public, the transcripts were leaked and caused quite a stir.
Analysis:
Not the PPV itself, but I had to say: this sounded terrible.
I know jokes are always less funny on paper, but…. yeesh. And before you think I’m just being sensitive to edgy jokes, I wasn’t offended as a POC, I was offended as a person with a sense of humor.
This just sounded like people being rude to each other and airing grievances, and saying “it’s a joke, it’s a joke” to avoid consequences.
WWE, if you’re gonna insist on bringing in Rogansphere comics, at least pick a funny one like Andrew Schulz.
Grade: F-
NAOMI vs. JADE CARGILL
Latest Developments:
Following her return from injury at the Elimination Chamber, Jade Cargill viciously attacked her former ally Naomi, leaving mutual friend Bianca Belair stunned.
The following week, Belair begged Naomi to say that she was innocent. But Naomi admitted to the crime, claiming she did it for herself and Belair to be champions together. Cargill arrived, laying out Naomi multiple times over the next few weeks.
Naomi cut a promo, believing she did the right thing attacking Cargill, unable to understand why everyone called her the bad guy. After all, she was the one who had known Belair for years, and she deserved to be champion. Last week, following yet another brawl, a furious Nick Aldis had enough of the chaos and confirmed the two would have a match at WrestleMania.
At WrestleMania 41, the two women put on a classic brawl, with Cargill serving as the aggressor with multiple power-moves and Naomi squirming away thanks to her more tactical offense. After a brief back-and-forth, Cargill dispatched Naomi and basked in the crowd’s admiration.
Analysis:
This match wound up being exactly what it needed to be: a filler brawler match with an effectively-built grudge feud between two rising talents. I commend WWE for going the extra mile to really highlight the wrestler’s in-ring disparities rather than simply going for the Goldberg-esque win for Cargill. Turning her into a human battering ram that made mistakes due to her rage adds a dimension to her brawler-style babyface and gives her an Achilles heel. It’s little touches like that that elevate in-ring work beyond simple squashes.
Naomi sold her ass off for Cargill, and managed to get a few star-making moments of her own. Naomi’s work in the past year as a violently unhinged heel has been the best of her career, and her in-ring work is miles above her first tenure.While this was Cargill’s night, Naomi could quite easily be slotted into the world championship scene as a conniving heel. She just plays “casually insane” so so well.
The only drawback was the match’s all-gas no-brakes pacing combined with a quiet crowd, that made a fairly quick match feel slow and monotonous in the middle stretch.
Moving forward, both wrestlers feel primed to re-enter the main event scene, although neither current champ has a pre-existing feud with them. My guess is either the WWE draft shakes up the roster and places one of them into title contention, while perhaps also feuding with a returning Belair (fresh off being re-introduced into the singles division herself).
Grade: A
DREW MCINTYRE vs. DAMIAN PRIEST
Latest Developments:
Drew McIntyre recently developed a rivalry against Damian Priest following Priest eliminating him from both the Royal Rumble and the Elimination Chamber, and pointing out the logical flaws in his quests for revenge over the last year. McIntyre began targeting Priest as the man who benefited most from his downfall and personal vendettas over the past year.
Over the past few weeks, McIntyre and Priest continued attacking each other at every opportunity, and eventually began to interfere in each other’s matches. Following an injury scare, both competitors were cleared and McIntyre challenged Priest to a Street Fight at WrestleMania.
The injured Priest returned, as a violent brawl broke out to end the segment. At WrestleMania 41, the two engaged in a brutally hard-hitting street fight that ended with McIntyre snagging the win.
Analysis:
I talked last week about how midcard feuds have an opportunity to spice up programming by experimenting with tone (getting a little more violent or comedic, etc.). And by god, these two delivered. In modern PG-era WWE, it’s harder to really sell the violence of professional wrestling. Priest and McIntyre found a way, with blood-curdling spots that actively made me wince.
For a match with little build, the dynamic played into both wrestlers quite well. Priest’s weakness was his constant underestimation of McIntyre’s rage, while McIntyre often got too enamored with showing off and paid the price. It’s basic storytelling, but it provided a believable backdrop that subliminally felt like the curtain call for the current incarnations of both their characters.
Following his title reign this year, Priest has cemented himself in the main event scene, but losing this feud felt like it left him with an axe to grind, which could be a different dynamic for him moving forward. For much of 2024, Priest was the wronged one fighting for what’s right, so seeing him attack with vengeance is something new.
McIntyre, meanwhile, has been on the best run of his career but there’s only so many petty grudge feuds a Scotsman can pull off before it gets old. This feud felt like the culmination of McIntyre’s journey, with moments explicitly acknowledging that his own hatred was the cause of his misfortune. With a Mania win under his belt, this could be a perfect segue to transition McIntyre into an underdog run that could put him back in title contention.
Grade: A-
RANDY ORTON TAKES ON TWO WORLD CHAMPS
Latest Developments:
After witnessing Cody Rhodes team with longtime enemy Roman Reigns, Kevin Owens turned heel and called out Rhodes for being a hypocrite. During a lengthy feud with Rhodes, mutual friend Randy Orton found himself the victim of a brutal beatdown from Owens, writing him off television.
At Elimination Chamber, Orton made his return and violently beat down Owens as revenge, with a WrestleMania match later being made official. However,two weeks ago, Owens revealed he needed neck surgery, and the match would be cancelled. Over the next few days, Orton continued campaigning for a match at WrestleMania, eventually showing up for an open challenge.
The challenger was…… TNA world champion Joe Hendry! To a thunderous ovation, Hendry faced off against Orton in a quick match before getting squashed.
On Raw the following night, Orton interrupted his old rival John Cena’s victory speech with an RKO, wanting a shot at the title.
Analysis:
So, the Hendry match was a great pop, a great way to highlight a future WWE talent (let’s not kid ourselves here) and was genuinely unexpected. However, there’s a profound dislike I have of it because it clearly portrayed TNA as less-than. Sure, they may be smaller, but having your world champion get punked out in under five minutes to Randy Orton isn’t a great look.
Many defend this choice because Hendry did so on NXT, but I write this column as a fan first. And this felt like a choice that didn’t need to be made. Plus, WWE could have used this moment to spotlight a member of their roster or debut a new wrestler. Something that they could follow up on and build a feud out of on TV, rather than Hendry (who seems to be relegated to NXT like the rest of TNA).
However, I did like that Orton seems to be Cena’s first title defense. Babyface Orton vs. heel Cena is a fresh dynamic, and the two have plenty of history to draw from as career rivals. Orton hasn’t lost a step in the ring, which should make for a great one-PPV feud.
Grade: C
TABLES AND LADDERS AND CHAIRS, OH MY!
Latest Developments:
Following months of anarchy and intertwined in the Smackdown tag team division, Nick Aldis straightened things out by granting The Street Profits their long-awaited title shot against then-champs DIY, who had retained their titles against MCMG multiple times with the help of Pretty Deadly.
The following week, after a hard-fought battle, The Street Profits reclaimed the WWE Tag Team Championships. The Profits’ celebratory speech was interrupted by Pretty Deadly, who called their shot for the titles next (which they won in a hard fought contender’s match). Backstage, Pretty Deadly refused DIY’s offer to help them cheat, mirroring Pretty Deadly’s original toxic relationship with DIY treating them poorly while dangling a title shot over them. MCMG watched from the sidelines, laughing at DIY’s comeuppance.
Pretty Deadly lost their title match, allowing DIY and MCMG to fight it out last week to be the next #1 contender. Despite DIY’s violent offense, MCMG won and became the new #1 contenders, causing DIY’s downward spiral to sink even further.
On the go-home episode of Smackdown, DIY interfered in MCMG’s title shot. In return, an enraged Nick Aldis announced a TLC match between the Profits, MCMG & DIY for tonight.
Analysis:
I already made my thoughts clear on Smackdown’s tag team division being left off the card last week, and the underwhelming tag team match for Raw’s tag titles at WrestleMania 41 definitely proved me right. A stipulation-based match would have been a great way to space out the one-on-one matches on the card, and the division certainly deserved it for anchoring the Smackdown midcard.
The go-home show didn’t feature much of note, with DIY’s interference in the title match occurring before either team could really kick into high gear. As a result, it felt more like an angle disguised as a match. For the go-home episode of Smackdown, explicitly setting a big-name match for post-PPV was an odd choice, but it didn’t distract much so I can’t complain.
This week’s TLC match will be an emphatic statement for the division to cement their legacy against the great tag-team TLCs of the past. If they can do so, we could be off to the races for tag team faction wars in 2025. I’ve made no secret that, despite colling off in the last month and some of the players being removed to service less interesting feuds, the Smackdown tag team scene is my favorite booking across WWE for its interconnected backstories.
Grade: A
CHELSEA GREEN vs. ZELINA VEGA
Latest Developments:
Over the past few weeks, Zelina Vega has been a thorn in the side of Women’s US Champion Chelsea Green and her stable, The Secret Hervice. However, Green always escaped unscathed thanks to her goons Piper Niven and Alba Fyre running interference on her opponent.
Last week, Green was scheduled to face Vega, and was seen banging on the door of the injured Secret Hervice (fresh off the above gauntlet match). Forced to take on Vega alone, Green got into an argument with ringside officials and accidentally lost the match by countout.
Analysis:
No one does comedy like Chelsea Green. This was Ruthless Aggression-style funny, playing with the rules of professional wrestling to mine comedy. With in-ring work not always being emphasized, its always hilarious when WWE remembers that outlandish characters can be stifled by the rules of being in an actual sport (in kayfabe).
And no one executes buffoonery like Chelsea, who’s proven herself as a sleeper MVP for the women’s division, allowing any opponent she faces to get themselves over simply by being such an entertaining antagonistic force.
In a great bit of character continuity, I like the overarching narrative of Green being unsure of herself without her goon squad. With Vega now holding a pin over the champ, we’ll likely get a title rematch filled with shenanigans in the near future. If Green remains solo, there might be potential for a title change that doesn’t undo Green’s momentum as a lower-card heel.
Grade: A+
TEN MINUTES OF L.A. KNIGHT GETTING BEAT UP
Latest Developments:
In 2025, Jacob Fatu began to unofficially take over as The New Bloodline’s leader following the loss of confidence of Solo Sikoa. Their dynamic began slowly shifting, with Fatu asserting his presence in the group’s promos.
After losing a #1 contender’s match for the U.S. Title thanks to Solo Sikoa’s botched interference, a vengeful Fatu hinted he had lost faith in Sikoa. While Knight continued racking up wins against The Bloodline, Fatu defeated Braun Strowman in a Last Man Standing match to earn a title shot at WrestleMania 41 against Knight.
Last week, The Bloodline interrupted Randy Orton before L.A. Knight came to the rescue. Knight and Orton faced off against Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga, and won handily. Post-match Fatu appeared, laying out the babyfaces and held the title as the show closed.
At WrestleMania 41, Fatu steamrolled Knight in the early goings, but Knight rallied with supreme babyface fire to give the Samoan werewolf a tougher battle than he had ever faced. However, through sheer force of will, Fatu won and became the new US Champion.
Analysis:
Knight is one of those wrestlers who drastically does better when he has the right dance partner. While often not the smoothest in the ring, Knight’s rougher brawling style worked perfectly against Fatu’s big-man power moves, and his underdog fire shined brighter than ever. Each nearfall was genuinely tense, as Fatu kept brutalizing Knight until he had no choice but to give into the pressure. It was the story of a warrior going down swinging, and a great end to Knight’s title reign.
We’re on the Fatu train now, ladies and gentlemen! Notably, Fatu won without any notable interference, which suggests he’ll slowly be phased away from Solo Sikoa and The Bloodline. Frankly, I’m fine with that. Outside of the eventual singles feud between them, there’s not much else for The Bloodline to do. Sikoa’s role was to be the antagonist for Reigns and Fatu to overcome, which he’s played to perfection.
The most fun part about hotshotting Fatu to champion in his first year, is the number of dream matches possible on the WWE roster. Even more so than Knight, the US title has the potential to become a chance for the midcard to show out under Fatu. Anyone can play situational babyface well against a Samoan monster.
Grade: A
A WISEMAN SCORNED
Latest Developments:
Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins reunited their long hatred for each other at WrestleMania 40, where Reigns’ hatred of Rollins cost him the WWE Championship. In the aftermath, Rollins and CM Punk engaged in a lengthy feud while Reigns dealt with The New Bloodline.
Last year, at Survivor Series: Wargames, Punk joined Reigns’ team as a favor to mutual friend Paul Heyman. In return, Punk said Heyman owed him a mysterious favor. At the Royal Rumble, Punk eliminated Reigns and Rollins. In the following weeks, the three set a triple threat for WrestleMania 41.
Eventually, Punk revealed the favor to be Heyman staying in his corner at WrestleMania, much to Reigns’s dismay, and the two began drifting apart thanks to Heyman’s supposed “betrayal”. At WrestleMania 41, after a story-heavy match with numerous callbacks, Heyman turned on Punk for his manipulative tactics and Reigns for his selfishness, joining with Rollins to form a new stable. On Raw the next night, Bron Breakker also joined them.
Analysis:
A phenomenal conclusion to a three-way dance with over ten years of backstory. The match itself, against all odds, felt worthy of being a main event despite the little stakes. The callbacks to The Shield (which were built up by Rollins in the preceding weeks beautifully) were plentiful, as well as Heyman’s relationships with all three men.
Heavy on “aura” and staredowns, this was a match that had the potential to drag but luckily the crowd was molten-hot and elevated every moment. The match’s third act began to get lost in its own story as the repeated betrayals and fake-outs began to blend together. A lot of moments felt forced leading up to Heyman’s turn, as the performers tried a little too hard to mine tension out of moments that didn’t really deserve it. But Heyman’s superb dramatic timing sold the final moments beautifully, and the surreal moment of Reigns standing apart from the Wiseman helped effectively sell the moment.
As witnessed on Raw the next night, Rollins & Heyman will likely be the next main-event heels for 2025 while Punk and Reigns take time off. With Breakker by their side, this new faction feels reminiscent of Evolution with Rollins as the HHH-analogue (fitting given the years of history between them).
Could the feud and match have benefitted from being slimmed down? Sure. But all three wrestlers managed to execute the final match with enough badassery that it all felt worth it.
Grade: B
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