SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
Some interesting developments in the wrestling world before we get into things:
•WWE has slowly begun to launch the next round of NXT stars on the main roster. In addition to Giulia joining the Smackdown roster, Stephanie Vaquer has been confirmed as the newest addition to Raw, while Je’Von Evans and Ethan Page also made appearances to build their matches at Worlds Collide. With no WWE draft announced for 2025 thus far, we could be seeing a more gradual process of calling up NXT wrestlers. While the draft allowed a buzzier debut for a new callup, this new story-driven method will likely be more flexible to ongoing stories and minimize call-ups floundering for months until a spot opens up for them.
•WWE momentarily stopped promoting El Hijo Del Vikingo vs. Chad Gable at Worlds Collide for the AAA Mega Championship, possibly due to public amusement that they seemingly spoiled their own upcoming title change.
•Veteran wrestlers R-Truth and Carlito announced that their contracts would not be re-upped by WWE. Across social media, reception was overwhelmingly negative. Both wrestlers’ unprecedented longevity, contribution to positive backstage culture, comedy skills, and fan support were cited.
•Going into this week, the build to Money In The Bank was in full swing, but there’s another WWE show that caught my eye recently: Worlds Collide. After decades of WWE’s famously isolationist position in the wider wrestling world, it’s interesting to see how the trademark slow-burn PPV build has weaved its way onto a show splitting screentime with multiple other promotions. Not only that, this may be the first show that’s overtly built storylines on main roster programming and NXT concurrently.
I’ve noticed a few interesting storytelling trends recently: while builds don’t necessarily feel thrown together, they definitely feel faster. Gable vs. Vikingo was confirmed after only 1-2 weeks of interactions, although it doesn’t feel rushed due to the El Grande Americano character’s relationship with luchadors. With limited TV space to devote, it seems WWE is taking the sidequest approach to Worlds Collide. Matches involving main roster wrestlers feel like plot devices to advance character rather than blowoff matches (ex: Legado Del Fantasma).
However, WWE has still taken steps to ensure that the PPV isn’t being lost in the shuffle, even bringing up NXT wrestlers to the main roster expressly to highlight their upcoming matches at Worlds Collide. And the result is a storytelling pace that feels refreshingly quick for WWE’s slow-burn style in 2025. In an age where main roster PPV matches require months of feuding before making it to the grand stage, it’s fun to see matches tossed onto the PPV faster. Not only is it a refreshing change of pace, it allows main roster wrestlers working with limited screentime to get a PPV showcase much easier.
Last week’s Smackdown had a lot to juggle, so let’s not waste any more time and jump into the recap:
BIANCA BELAIR COMES HOME
Latest Developments:
Last year, Bianca Belair won the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles with Jade Cargill. When Cargill was attacked by an unknown assailant, Naomi stepped in to take over her reign with Belair. However, Naomi betrayed Belair by admitting she attacked Cargill herself.
Belair disavowed Naomi, and challenged for the Women’s World Championship at Wrestlemania 41, where she subsequently took time off due to an injury.
Last week, in her hometown of Knoxville TN, Belair returned to a thunderous ovation. Greeting the crowd, Belair said it was great to be back before Naomi interrupted her. Naomi delusionally tried to bury the hatchet (while also admitting to breaking into Belair’s childhood home), but Belair rebuffed her and left as Jade Cargill arrived to beat down Naomi.
Analysis:
This was essentially an announcement of Belair’s upcoming feuds in the summer and fall. Belair’s exclusion from the Cargill-Naomi feud going into Wrestlemania this year felt extremely sudden, but with the adequate explanation that she was haunted by the actions of both women she considered friends.
While a clumsy explanation, Belair’s reluctance to pick either side (combined with her uneasy look at Cargill last week) lends this storyline more intrigue than a simple singles feud. It felt like a deliberate choice to have Belair return to a hometown crowd, ensuring she’d get massive pops. It doesn’t feel like WWE wants her booed anytime soon (especially not after smarks felt she was shoehorned into her Wrestlemania program), hinting that Belair’s allegiance will provide the brunt of the dramatic tension in the coming weeks. And, if that’s where they’re going, I’d be into it. Belair is at her most engaging when shedding the happy-go-lucky demeanor for a more honest tone. Her anguish seeing Cargill and Naomi fight was extremely engaging, and it feels like we’ll be seeing that side come out more.
Additional praise has to go to Naomi, who perfectly juxtaposed her former babyface persona with her new delusional heel one. While pausing and resuming this feud was jarring to me at first, seeing them pick up now really nails how much Naomi has changed, and it’s genuinely disturbing seeing her speak so unhinged (but also extremely entertaining). I wish we could have seen the alluded home invasion, which would have added some more spice to an otherwise routine back-and-forth segment, but that’s a minor nitpick.
Grade: B+
THE WOMEN’S MITB QUALIFIERS
Latest Developments:
Immediately following the above segment, Jade Cargill entered the ring and viciously attacked Naomi.
Nia Jax entered the ring as well, and a MITB qualifier was soon underway. Jax and Naomi worked together to take down Cargill, but their teamwork quickly devolved. Jax dominated the match during the closing stretch, but Naomi managed to sneak a pin on Cargill, winning the match.
With that, Naomi punched her ticket to MITB alongside Alexa Bliss, Rhea Ripley, Roxanne Perez, Giulia, and one final opponent.
Analysis:
I’ve been loving that each qualifier’s pre-match intro has been slightly different. Past weeks have had backstage promos, this one had a beatdown immediately leading into the match. It’s a small detail, but it adds texture into an otherwise routine tournament. It also played perfectly into the personalities of the wrestlers involved, portraying Jax as the smarmy powerhouse unconcerned with the vendettas of her competitors, while Cargill showed she cared more about hurting Naomi than winning the match.
The flow of the match was also very engaging, with both heels portrayed distinctly different. Jax often showboated, trying to stack both her opponents rather than going for the pin. Naomi was more cunning, taking advantage of Jax’s power to take out Cargill before sneaking a pin. The match was perfectly synced to the wrestlers’ styles, elevating it from more than a series of moves.
Naomi was a smart choice to win, as it will only increase Cargill’s rage and provide a more sneaky heel to a match currently filled with fighting spirit-style babyfaces and tweeners.
Grade: A-
ZELINA VEGA’S NEW CHALLENGER
Latest Developments:
Giulia was recently called up to Smackdown after a monster run in NXT. Soon after, Giulia punched a ticket to MITB.
Last week, Giulia cut a promo talking about her goal to have main roster gold around her waist. Backstage, Giulia ran into Women’s US Champ Zelina Vega and eyed her title.
Meanwhile, following a legitimate broken nose in her title match against Vega, an irate Chelsea Green demanded Vega be punished. Instead, Smackdown General Manager Nick Aldis set a match for Alba Fyre vs Vega that night, which Vega won with ease.
Analysis:
Of all the recent NXT callups, Giulia’s run felt earmarked for an explosive start to the main roster. And frankly, WWE has done a great job making her feel extremely formidable despite her size. Fans of joshi know that Giulia is one of the best in the game, and there’s certain wrestling character archetypes that are meant to always have gold around their waist (ex: Asuka and Gunther). Giulia is chief among them.
While Vega plays a credible babyface, there’s no denying her US title run has booked her poorly, aiming for fiery underdog but overdoing it and making her feel slightly stupid and underpowered. Despite this, Vega is an incredible bumping machine, and a hinted match against Giulia is an exciting prospect. Vega would make Giulia look like a million dollars, and Giulia with the US title would be an amazing way to legitimize it from an in-ring perspective.
However, I’m not a fan of teasing this now as it feels like a strong indicator that Giulia won’t be winning MITB. With the size of their roster, WWE doesn’t often do double champs unless they’re faction-based, so I wish they would have held off on this confrontation until after MITB to keep the suspense.
Vega’s match against Fyre feels like it was made to give Vega some more credibility, dominating the match much more than her recent title defenses and more effortlessly dodging The Secret Hervice’s interference attempts. However, with Alba Fyre’s limited singles action, Vega’s win struggled to mean much. If WWE wants to rebuild Vega up before facing Giulia, it’ll take more work against higher-level contenders.
Grade: B-
DAMIAN PRIEST MOVES ON
Latest Developments:
Drew McIntyre 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, and the two took each other out in a four-way match at Backlash for Jacob Fatu’s US title. Following a blowoff steel cage match at Saturday Night’s Main Event. Priest knocked McIntyre out with a steel chair before exiting the cage to win the match.
On social media, McIntyre announced he’d be taking a leave of absence from WWE to address injuries.
Last week, Priest cut an in-ring promo claiming he was moving on from McIntyre to a man he had unfinished business with: Jacob Fatu. Despite having no respect for The Bloodline, Priest complimented Fatu’s accomplishments and stated he’d be coming for the US title.
Fatu entered the ring, and the two squared up before Fatu’s MITB qualifier match.
Analysis:
Priest’s mic work is divisive: some find his style boring, some call it laid-back and cool. I fall somewhere in the middle, but he’s still interesting enough to hold my attention in a solo in-ring segment. His language was a little more heelish than I was expecting, but not enough to hint at a character change.
However, Priest’s insults to McIntyre did make it feel more noteworthy when he complimented Fatu, laying the groundwork for Fatu’s babyface character to be more mature than the average heel on WWE television.
My one major criticism is Priest’s overstatement of the US title’s grandeur. It’s a midcard title, butPriest made it feel more important than Cena’s world championship. And this leads into a larger problem I’ve had with WWE’s treatment of the world championship recently: it feels like it’s on its own island. During the Roman Reigns era, at least you could justify it thanks to Reigns running through the whole roster in 2021 before settling into his Lesnar-style schedule. This time around, it feels like no one’s concerned with Cena’s title except Cody Rhodes. Main event guys like Priest, McIntyre, and others squarely focusing on the US title without a clear motivation makes the world title feel irrelevant.
Grade: C+
THE MEN’S MITB QUALIFIERS
Latest Developments:
Over the past two weeks, Penta, Solo Sikoa, LA Knight and Seth Rollins all earned a spot in MITB.
Last week, Jacob Fatu faced off against Andrade and Carmelo Hayes for the next spot. In addition to Fatu’s continuing annoyance at The Bloodline interfering in his matches, Hayes faced drama of his own in his ally The Miz continually trying & failing to help him win. Before the match, Miz openly believed he was responsible for getting Hayes to his current position. Hayes tried to gently get some space, but Miz looked offended.
During the match, Andrade and Hayes called back to their acclaimed best-of-seven series last year, while Fatu used their distractions to gain the advantage. The Miz, Solo Sikoa and JC Mateo all tried to intervene at ringside, but their former enemy Jim Uso cut them off. With Fatu distracted by Sikoa, Andrade pinned Hayes to win the match and punch his spot to MITB.
Analysis:
While the Bloodline drama was well-executed this week (more on that below), it felt like there was a missed opportunity to highlight Hayes’ post-match reaction which will undoubtedly play into his interactions with The Miz. Following a few weeks of Hayes’ discontent and Miz setting up the importance of Hayes following his playbook during the MITB qualifiers, I’m surprised we didn’t get an immediate post-match reaction. Sometimes waiting a week to explore fallout mutes hype rather than build it, and it would have hit a lot harder to explore Melo and Miz’s conflict more in the moment.
Andrade winning was a safe choice. He doesn’t have much going on character-wise, but is an incredible athlete who will likely fill out some amazing group spots and not do much else. Andrade’s run still feels directionless compared to much of the midcard, and it doesn’t feel at all plausible for him to be in contention for either world title, making me believe they won’t have him win MITB. And, if that’s my immediate reaction, then he shouldn’t be in the match compared to the numerous other talents WWE has that are over enough to be plausible winners. Let Andrade go for the US title, that feels like a more comfortable ceiling.
Grade: B-
THE BLOODLINE’S FALLING APART… AGAIN
Latest Developments:
In 2025, Jacob Fatu began to unofficially take over as The New Bloodline’s leader. Their dynamic began slowly shifting, as Fatu hinted he had lost faith in Solo Sikoa. Having made enemies with US Champion LA Knight, Fatu defeated him at Wrestlemania to become the new US Champion. Sikoa took credit for Fatu’s championship gold, before an offended Fatu cut Sikoa off.
Thanks to Sikoa and The Bloodline’s big mouths, Fatu defended the US Championship in a four-way against LA Knight, Drew McIntyre and Damian Priest. Left alone with Knight, Fatu was taken aback when Sikoa arrived with his newest recruit: JEFF COBB JC MATEO! Mateo attacked Knight, allowing a confused Fatu to pin him for the win.
Sikoa introduced Mateo as the Bloodline’s newest member, taking credit for Fatu’s accomplishments before a disgruntled Fatu cut him off. Sikoa asked Fatu to tell him he loved him like the old days, which Fatu did reluctantly.
Last week, The Bloodline accidentally cost Fatu his MITB qualifier, while JC Mateo squashed R-Truth in an impromptu match to Solo Sikoa’s glee. At the end of the night, Fatu stated for the last time he didn’t want Sikoa or Mateo’s help.
Analysis:
The Bloodline is coming apart at the seams for the second time, and frankly it’s still just as interesting but for a different reason. I’m thoroughly uninterested in the fallout post-breakup, as none of the faction beyond Sikoa and Fatu have been fleshed out enough to really explore. However, the potential of a Sikoa-Fatu feud is immense, thanks to Fatu’s inimitable starpower but also Sikoa’s sneakily good comedy heel work. Having grown from the silent enforcer to the iron-fisted leader to the overeager buffoon, tracking Sikoa’s heel evolution to a leader desperately clinging to his enforcer has quietly been supremely entertaining. It’s the same arc as Roman Reigns’, however rather than being tragic, it’s cringely hilarious. Seeing Sikoa increasingly mess things up for Fatu while goofily mocking The Bloodline’s opponents is hilarious, and watching Fatu cut this idiot down to size will be an earth-shattering pop.
I appreciated JC Mateo’s quick squash, but he hasn’t been allowed enough mic opportunities to be anything more than a run-of-the-mill powerhouse. And without Fatu’s raw physical charisma, Mateo feels more generic than NJPW fans know he is.
The closing Bloodline segment seemed to hint at a turning point relatively soon for Fatu and Sikoa, as the former berated the latter with a sense of finality. I’m curious at what point we get the eventual turn. If it gets dragged out much longer, the tension runs the risk of dissipating because we’ve been teased for too long.
Grade: A
THE WYATT SICKS CONQUER THE TAG DIVISION
Latest Developments:
NXT’s favorite totally-not-dysfunctional duo was officially called up to Smackdown following Wrestlemania 41, quickly plowing through the tag division and working their way up to a title shot. Following a match against DIY, Fraxiom finally faced off against The Profits. Meanwhile, nursing their wounds, DIY rekindled their rivalry against MCMG which led to Candice LeRae rejoining the team, after their stint in NXT as “The Way”.
In the tag title match, after an insane showcase of athleticism, the long-dormant Wyatt Sicks made their return and laid out all the teams present (including DIY) to close the show.
Last week, The Street Profits cut a promo claiming to run the division. Fraxiom appeared, wanting a rematch since The Profits never beat them. MCMG crashed the party, pointing out that The Profits never beat them fairly either, and they should also get a title shot. DIY (now including LeRae) were last to join, putting down the other teams and claiming there was a conspiracy to hold DIY down.
The Wyatt Sicks appeared and laid out all the teams, standing tall as the segment closed.
Analysis:
I’m not a fan of the approach WWE seems to be taking with the tag division. The pacing of last week’s segment seemed to lay out the entire playing field so The Wyatt Sicks could show up, destroy everyone and stand over the wreckage. While this was effective in making The Wyatts feel like a huge threat, it also rendered the division somewhat useless. And frankly, after the division gave us some of the most entertaining matches and interconnected booking on Smackdown last year, reducing them all to Wyatt collateral damage feels like undoing a hot act to heat up a less engaging one.
Because, while The Wyatts have insane presence and are incredible to watch, it’s harder than I expected for me to buy them in the tag division (since the level of athleticism is so much higher). Lumis, Gacy and Rowan’s powerhouse moves just felt a little too slow to believably be threats to DIY and The Profits, although their selling and terrified reactions was enough to make up for it this week.
Right now, the endgame being telegraphed is the Wyatts “conquering the division” i.e holding tag team gold. I’m curious to see how and when that develops, and how faces and heels alike will pursue The Wyatts after putting them over as the scariest act on the roster this week.
Overall, some interesting possibilities, but an uphill road for everything to feel cohesive.
Grade: B-
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
Check out the latest episode of the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Post-show covering the latest episode of Smackdown: CLICK HERE to stream (or search “wade Keller” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)
LOS GARZAS HAVE HAD ENOUGH
Latest Developments:
In the past few months, Santos Escobar has repeatedly berated Los Garzas (Angel & Berto) for not amassing a winning record, despite his own lackluster in-ring showings. In recent months, Andrade began reminding Los Garzas that they had accomplished plenty, and Escobar’s brutal leadership was holding them both back, much to Escobar’s fury.
After repeated losses, Berto grew tired of Escobar’s verbal abuse post-match, swatting him away and leaving. Angel tried to mollify Escobar, who threatened that it would be all Berto’s fault if they all split up.
Last week, Los Garzas faced off against Je’Von Evans and Rey Fenix, while Evans’ and Fenix’s Worlds Collide opponent Ethan Page was on commentary. Page tried to confront the babyfaces, allowing Los Garzas to take advantages and score the win with an assist from Santos Escobar.
Post-match, The Wyatt Sicks cut the feed and Uncle Howdy cut a menacing promo into the camera.
Analysis:
Not much of an angle this week, other than the continued separation of Angel and Berto’s ideologies. Frankly, I’m surprised, I didn’t think WWE had enough investment in Angel and Berto to flesh out their characters individually like this. I’m pleasantly surprised how much I’m intrigued by where this narrative is going. The previous week’s in-ring segment also highlighted that fans are very much on board with this narrative, so WWE has at least a little bit of leeway if they decide to string this next story beat out.
The match itself didn’t play much into Smackdown’s feuds, instead using Los Garzas to showcase the NXT talents on Worlds Collide this week. It’s interesting to see the concurrent builds between Money In The Bank and Worlds Collide. At this point, MITB nearly sells itself so it’s nice to see WWE taking the extra time to allow NXT talents on main roster programming.
Ethan Page is a god-tier weasel, while Je’Von Evans is an athletic prodigy. Anyone that can keep up with lucha royalty like Fenix and Escobar at the age of 20 is going places. The future of WWE looks bright!
The post-match promo indicates that Los Garzas may interact with the Wyatt Sicks in future, perhaps reintegrating with the tag division on the road to Summerslam.
An exciting match if you like feats of agility, but not much build for Smackdown besides that.
Grade: C
LOGAN PAUL POLISHES JOHN CENA’S PEACEMAKER (THEIR JOKE, NOT MINE)
Latest Developments:
In February, John Cena won a title shot for Cody Rhodes’ WWE Championship at Wrestlemania by winning the Elimination Chamber. Following the match, Cena shockingly turned heel. At Wrestlemania 41, Cena defeated Cody Rhodes to win his record-breaking 17th WWE Championship. Rhodes took an absence from WWE while Cena racked up defenses against Randy Orton & R-Truth.
Cena also came into conflict with Jey Uso, degrading his work as World Champion. Following Uso’s successful defense of the World Heavyweight Championship against Logan Paul at SNME, Cena joined Paul in beating up Uso post-match. Cody Rhodes made his triumphant return, saving Uso and challenging the heels to a tag match at MITB.
Last week, Rhodes and Uso entered the ring to raucous cheers. Rhodes said he wouldn’t hesitate with Cena again, as both babyfaces vowed not to let him ruin wrestling by disrespecting the world title.
Cena appeared, calling them both John Cena wannabes, and lauding Logan Paul as the paragon of hustle, loyalty and respect with the fortune to back it up. Paul joined him, and the heels claimed that people only came to see them. Following more insults, Paul and Cena started having an off-mic disagreement. Rhodes goaded the heels into a brawl to end the show.
Analysis:
It became clear from Cena’s booking going into SNME that the TV special had one purpose only: get him booed at all costs. If you’re a geek like me who can recognize booking patterns, it came across a little transparent. But, for most people, the special did its job in making Cena look entitled, selfish, and utterly callous. Who knew all it would take was putthing him next to Logan Paul?
And frankly, this might be the best version of the Cena heel persona yet. The man so fed up with professional wrestling’s disrespect towards him, that he’s lost all respect for it in return. This Cena holds Logan Paul in higher esteem than Cody Rhodes because he’s more popular. This Cena pals around with Travis Scott rather than hustling in the locker room every week. It’s a spin on the “Hollywood sellout” persona that feels like this is where they’ve been trying to go with Cena the whole time.
However, they didn’t make Cena’s disrespect overt enough to hammer home his emotional base, and therefore he just came across as a typical self-indignant heel. But, by juxtaposing Cena and Paul against two of the most old-school over babyfaces on the roster, I find myself more engrossed with Cena’s character than I have been before.
The segment itself was routine, nothing much to write home about. Except some awful banter from the babyfaces near the segment’s close. I understand Rhodes is supposed to be slightly corny, and it works for him….. but oh my god, his little insults were eye-rollingly dumb this week.
Despite some shaky execution, a pretty good segment that got me excited to tune into MITB.
Grade: A-
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.