SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
Some interesting developments in the wrestling world before we get into things:
•Following a match with Kairi Sane on Raw, WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Liv Morgan suffered a dislocated shoulder. Early reports claim Morgan will require surgery, and be out for an extended length of time. Morgan had quietly been built as the centerpiece of Raw’s women’s division, and her injury will likely shift multiple planned matches for Evolution.
•At AAA’s thrice-yearly premiere event Triplemania Regia III, Los Garzas (Angel and Berto) defeated Nueva Generacion Dinamita to become the AAA World Tag Team Championships. The Garzas’ ongoing conflict with Santos Escobar has largely been downplayed in their AAA excursions, so it will be interesting to see how Los Garzas’ recent success will play into Escobar’s approval on main roster programming. As of yet, no AAA belts have appeared on WWE television (although they have been acknowledged).
•Following his legitimate release, R-Truth returned to WWE during MITB and it was revealed he had signed a new short-term contract. Many theorized that Truth’s release was a work, but multiple sources including the wrestler’s son verified the release and return were legitimate.
•Despite making no television appearances since 2024, Omos recently announced he has signed a new multi-year deal with WWE. Despite their lack of interest in him, Omos has consistently shown in-ring skills far beyond the standards of most big men in the past, and we look forward to hopefully seeing him on screens again soon.
Last week’s episode of Smackdown felt extremely atypical for WWE. Casting away their recent penchant for slow-burn narratives and skippable weekly programming, Smackdown instead raced through qualifiers for King Of The Ring, and managed to put together not only a satisfying tourney with only a week to spare, but left the majority of the roster’s individual narratives advancing either through a win or a loss. Despite the abbreviated schedule, the booking felt airtight and actually provided a fairly even playing field going into the semifinals this week. For the men’s division, we’ve got four babyfaces in the semifinals, a dynamic far outside the comfort zone of Triple H’s booking philosophy.
But while programming may have come out better, this rushed pace signals an acknowledgement towards the extremely packed calendar in the next few months, with three PPVs (or specials) in the next three weeks. Despite the extended TV time of Smackdown, building towards three different PPVs is a tall order. WWE’s been semi-successful so far, avoiding obvious logical gaps like “why does this person only want to fight at Evolution? Why not Night Of Champions? Isn’t that sooner?” by making each event feel distinct. Cena’s heel turn has played up the Saudi Arabia supershow style of Night Of Champions, evoking the boxing supercards of old and de-emphasizing grudge matches. SNME of course, is now tied to Goldberg’s retirement match (which makes sense to be there since it’s his home city), and Evolution is the women’s only PPV, which makes it the kayfabe best home for any woman who wants a match to prove they’re the best of the division.
That may seem like a weird nitpick, but when you notice those holes in a story, you never unsee them. So it’s good to see WWE trying at least somewhat to make each PPV’s card feel authentically built. It’ll also be interesting to see if any feuds thread throughout multiple PPVs in this cycle. For example, a match at Night Of Champions leading to a grudge rematch at SNME. While that could be an interesting way to fill out a card, the Triple H era of five-match cards make this possibility far less exciting. No one wants a card filled with rematches.
But enough conjecture: last week’s Smackdown wove many of the brand’s midcard storylines into KOTR and QOTR qualifiers, making the format of this week’s column slightly different. Who’s advancing to the finals, and who’ll be left finding other paths to the gold? Let’s review:
KOTR QUALIFIERS #1 (ALEISTER BLACK vs. RANDY ORTON vs. CARMELO HAYES vs. LA KNIGHT)
Latest Developments:
Aleister Black made his return to WWE targeting The Miz and his lackey Carmelo Hayes. Thanks to Miz, Hayes was unable to get a conclusive win over Black. Several weeks ago, LA Knight punched his ticket to MITB by winning a three-way match also involving Black.
En route to MITB, LA Knight faced Black in a tune-up match. Black cut a promo before the match, vowing to reclaim what he had lost to Knight, but also planning to admit defeat gracefully if necessary. As predicted, Knight managed to seal the win, but only due to DQ when Seth Rollins intervened.
Post-match, Rollins tried laying out Knight to increase his chances at MITB. Black tried to defend Knight but was also laid out.
Last week, Orton and Knight were among the babyfaces who confronted John Cena, vowing to win KOTR and reclaim the WWE Championship. Later, Orton, Knight, Black and Hayes faced off in a KOTR qualifier. Knight took control for the match’s early stages, while Hayes focused on taking out Black. Eventually, Rollins’ goons attempted to interfere by taking out Knight, allowing Orton to RKO an overconfident Hayes for the win.
Analysis:
WWE managed to cram in decent motivation for each of the four competitors in the past few weeks, whether through a brief vignette or playing off feuds in the past few months. Thus, each wrestler had a throughline that ultimately led to the match’s outcome. Hayes focused too much on Black which led to him not accounting for Orton, Orton played the tactical game in an effort to get back to Cena, Knight was ultimately taken out due to his secondary beef with Rollins, and Black…. Well, he was kinda just there, but his general jiujitsu-influenced style was a brilliant base for the more old-school brawling style of some of the other competitors.
Moving forward, it looks like we’re moving to Knight vs. Rollins. While I’m normally not a huge fan of interference, WWE’s inclusion of Knight as one of the babyfaces confronting John Cena in the show’s opening segment (we’ll discuss that below) positioned him as a major force, and the interference kept him clean in defeat. Knight feuding with Raw’s top heel could be a great way to revitalize him after a year fighting for midcard titles, and they’ve done a great job authentically orbiting the two around each other and playing into Rollins’ vindictiveness as a catalyst for him to get involved in Knight’s business.
Meanwhile, Hayes continues to take losses, but at least each one feels like it plays into his character’s growing anger and determination at his lack of main roster success. WWE has enough fuel to launch a solo heel turn for the ages, but they run the risk of lowering Hayes’ stock in the meantime too much for audiences to care. Black caught the short end of the stick, but WWE at least planted the seeds for a babyface turn by having him stand alongside Knight in the build to MITB and establish himself as wanting to win KOTR strictly for the glory. Black’s ominous character lends itself well to a serious babyface rather than an ominous heel (where he comes off a bit self-serious compared to the swaggier heels more commonplace nowadays), and a slow-burn turn could do wonders to give his early WWE run some more juice.
Orton winning is a reliable choice. While I doubt he’ll ultimately win the tournament (thanks to already having a feud with Cena that didn’t leave much to revisit), his main event status raises the stock of the tournament as a whole. With Night Of Champions heading into Saudi, Orton will likely make an appearance due to his stardom, so him reaching the finals could be in store.
Grade: A-
JOHN CENA ADDRESSES HIS ENEMIES
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.
Following this, R-Truth was legitimately released from WWE to negative reception.
Cena also came into conflict with Jey Uso, degrading his work as World Champion. Following Uso’s match with Logan Paul, Cena allied with Paul against Uso and the returning Rhodes in a tag match, where the heels lost after R-Truth returned and cost Cena the win.
Last week, Cena led a town hall claiming he had a plan for his retirement run, ready to pay the audience back for denying him for their false visions of pro wrestling. Pro wrestling never respected him, so he’s done respecting it by choosing to ally with Paul and force CM Punk into hypocrisy.
Rhodes confronted Cena, claiming that his so-called plan never accounted for Rhodes pinning him at MITB. Orton and Knight joined the party, each vowing to win KOTR and bring the WWE championship back where it belonged. Cena had enough and walked off, when Ron “R-Truth” Killings blindsided him with a beatdown. Post-segment, Cena was animatedly yelling at General Manager Nick Aldis, while a blowoff match with Killings was scheduled for next week,
Analysis:
This segment immediately solved the biggest problem with the Cena heel turn: no one seemed to care that Cena was planning to desecrate the lineage of the WWE Championship beyond his immediate feud. By having a parade of babyfaces confront him, Cena immediately felt like a bigger threat and his self-satisfied attempts to dismantle wrestling and its heroes felt more serious from watching the hatred across Rhodes, Orton, and Knight’s faces.
It was also interesting to see that Cena had made enemies in multiple different ways: Rhodes based on principle, Orton off their long history and grudges, Knight simply for the glory, and Killings due to his idol turning evil. Intentional or not, each babyface had a built-in story based off different parts of Cena’s in-ring legacy, and as such each feud is colored with a different tone and feels unique. Killings being first and foremost is interesting, as he was the only competitor to dispense with words and put Cena on the backfoot (side note, Truth’s more vicious edge in his return has been so exciting to watch after years of comedy).
Even backdoor mentions to Rollins and CM Punk make Cena feel like the end boss of the main eventers, seeing him narrowly escape each contender until the year’s end should prove supremely entertaining. The nuts and bolts of the storytelling finally feel somewhat cohesive, beyond vague heel tactics to thumb his nose at the crowd. There’s a crowd investment now that fuels each promo, elevating it considerably. I look forward to the chase.
Grade: A-
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
Check out the latest episode of the Wade Keller Podcast weekly Tuesday Flagship episode with guest cohost Jason Powell: CLICK HERE to stream (or search “wade Keller” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)
I HATE YOU SOLO!!!
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.
Meanwhile, Solo Sikoa introduced Mateo as the Bloodline’s newest member, despite Fatu not trusting him. Sikoa attempted to force Fatu into being obedient, which Fatu hesitantly complied with. Sikoa continued to disregard Fatu, insulting him in secret. Unbeknownst to him, Fatu was within earshot.
During the match, Sikoa was saved by Fatu mid-match, who cleared a path for him to obtain the briefcase. But suddenly, Fatu grabbed Sikoa’s leg, bellowed “I HATE YOU SOLO!!!” and viciously beat him down before leaving. Last week, Fatu cut a babyface promo vowing no one would take credit for his work again, before Sikoa appeared on the tron allowing him one last chance to apologize next week.
Analysis:
A bit of a filler week here, building to a major confrontation next week. Fatu got a solo moment in the ring, cutting his first real babyface promo. But frankly, it felt like this was intended to simply test the waters of crowd reactions. There wasn’t much said, with bigger moments likely planned for next week’s confrontation.
Sikoa’s slow inclusion of buffoonery into his act over the past few months has been an all-timer character evolution. Graduating from a self-serious enforcer to a buffoon gone mad with power was a tricky tightrope to walk on, but Sikoa made it work and carved out a great niche for himself. A lot of people can playthe brutish enforcer, but less have Sikoa’s comic timing down.
With Hikuleo making rounds on Main Event in the past few weeks (after nearly a year since his initial signing, Jesus Christ), my money’s on a new Bloodline member being introduced next week at the confrontation. Hikuleo is greener than much of the rest of the family, but his New Japan work was extremely engaging at the end of his tenure. I’m curious to see how his persona stacks up to the other Bloodline members, and how WWE will make attempts to differentiate him from the pack.
Grade: C
QOTR QUALIFIERS #1 (JADE CARGILL vs. MICHIN vs. NIA JAX vs. PIPER NIVEN)
Latest Developments:
In the first QOTR qualifier of the night, Jade Cargill, Michin, Nia Jax and Piper Niven faced off for a shot at the crown. With a battle of the hosses, the women began the match by brawling across the arena. Cargill took the brunt of the punishment, with the other three wrestlers frequently teaming up against her. However, Cargill managed to take advantage, seize an opening and win the match.
Analysis:
Little touches like this still highlight the disrespect the women’s division gets in comparison to the men’s division. While both KOTR qualifiers last week got a narrative throughline or a pre-match promo highlighting a participant’s motive, and built its entrants based off prior history, this match felt like the only thought was “put all the hosses together”. And yes, of course that makes an interesting match. The brawling was fast-paced and entertaining, and the wrestlers all put in a clinic. Jax in particular shined, strutting about egotistically and providing some well-received heel heat. But none of the women were able to build a cohesive match psychology beyond keeping Cargill looking strong for the eventual win.
With Jax confronting Tiffany Stratton directly after, it looks like she’s in line for a filler feud despite their rivalry wrapping up months ago. That could have happened with or without this tournament. And Michin/Piper Niven likewise don’t feel like any meaningful story beats occurred that they can build off in future. An empty match that got Cargill to the main event, and that’s it. A good segment overall, but a missed opportunity.
Grade: B-
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 the two jaw-jacked.
Later, Vega faced off in a Street Fight against Niven. The Secret Hervice tried intervening, but Giula fought them off for Vega to get the win. Post-match, Giulia turned heel on Vega, laying her out and holding the Women’s US Championship.
Last week, an irate Vega demanded a confrontation with Giulia, scheduled for next week.
Analysis:
Another slightly filler week, setting the stage for a confrontation next week. Vega showed promise in her brief backstage segment, opening up the fiery babyface well where she excels rather than the perpetually hurt puppy dog she’s been portrayed as throughout her US title run.
However, I don’t have high hopes for next week’s segment to highlight Vega’s skills. Vega excels when she has an immovable object to rail against (like The Secret Hervice), while Giulia’s viciousness seems destined to push Vega back into the vulnerability that feels too overdone and makes her look overly weak. Additionally, while certainly improving, Giulia’s promo skills are still basic in English, which won’t allow Vega the back-and-forth rhythm she needs to look the most capable. Vega’s wit and comebacks feel a bit muted when her opponent can’t respond quickly, as the pacing then drags. The style has to be changed up, which doesn’t benefit Vega.
Right now, this feud feels like it’s heading for a squash, given how dominant Giulia’s been since debuting on Smackdown. While that’ll certainly elevate Giulia, Vega may be left out in the cold.
Grade: C-
LEGADO DEL FANTASMA FINDS PEACE (AND TAG TEAM GOLD)
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. 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 prepared for their six-man match at Worlds Collide, and for once seemed to be bonding rather than arguing. At the PPV, the three used their teamwork and lucha experience to beat El Hijo De Dr. Wagner Jr, Pagano, and Psycho Clown. The following week, at Triplemania Regia III, Los Garzas continued shedding their losing streak by capturing the AAA World Tag Team championship.
Analysis:
This was a weird one for me. I’m unsure how to grade this segment, as it is highly dependent on how much we’re supposed to treat AAA’s storylines as canon to WWE. I know they now exist in one universe, but it was so jarring to see LDF seemingly getting along perfectly fine after weeks of hammering home that Escobar’s abuse had driven them apart.
I’m curious to see how this development impacts WWE main roster narratives. After all, it’s a lot harder to sell a storyline about being angry at failure, when the supposed failures are tag team champions. In any case, it’ll be interesting to see AAA belts more frequently on WWE programming, and if they’ll be integrated into a narrative they’ll likely be treated with some level of reverence. In any case, that adds a little meta-intrigue to a clumsily built story in the Smackdown midcard. Regardless, I hope this ends with an emphasis rather than a whisper. Escobar’s storylines since his heel turn have all petered out, and he hasn’t had many highlight-worthy moments as a result. It feels like a waste for a wrestler of his talent.
Grade: C
LUMIS & GACY vs. MOTOR CITY MACHINE GUNS
Latest Developments:
After a lengthy hiatus, the long-dormant Wyatt Sicks made their return and laid out all the major teams in the Smackdown tag division.
The following week, The Street Profits cut a promo claiming to run the division. One by one, the other teams (Fraxiom, MCMG, DIY) appeared to cause trouble, before The Wyatt Sicks appeared and laid out all the teams, standing tall as the segment closed.
The Profits suggested an alliance to team up against the Wyatts. Fraxiom and MCMG agreed, but DIY hesitated. Last week, Nick Aldis selected MCMG to be the first to take on the Wyatts, but they were dominated quickly by Dexter Lumis & Joe Gacy.
Analysis:
I wasn’t a big fan of this booking. After a deliberate segment last week suggesting a team-up to combat the Wyatt Sicks, Aldis essentially forcing Motor City Machine Guns to fight them solo felt like a backwards choice. If anything, solo matches like these should have happened BEFORE the big decision to team up. The beauty in the potential of this storyline is seeing these wildly different teams coexist and integrate with each other. Sending them out one by one doesn’t feel nearly as logical, given The Wyatt Sicks made their return dominating multiple teams at once. Of course MCMG wouldn’t be able to do it themselves.
Additionally, The Wyatt Sicks don’t have the in-ring acumen to get over as a heel end boss. Lumis and Gacy looked slow and clunky, especially against the most experience tag team on the roster. If WWE wanted to build them up as foreboding and unstoppable, limit them to beatdowns and run-ins. They just don’t feel plausible in simple tags as this all-encompassing threat.
Strange booking that highlighted all the weaknesses of this narrative idea, and none of the strengths (not to mention the tag match got barely any time).
Grade: D
QOTR QUALIFIERS #2 (CANDICE LERAE vs. ALBA FYRE vs. CANDICE LERAE vs. CHARLOTTE FLAIR)
Latest Developments:
Over the past few weeks following her loss at Wrestlemania 41 to Tiffany Stratton, Charlotte Flair has been slowly unravelling due to audiences rejecting her, resulting in several angry tirades where she stormed out of the venue and angrily railed at the fans. Several times, a bemused Bliss offered to talk with Flair, who skeptically agreed.
In a hilarious backstage segment, Chelsea Green video called in poolside to notify Nick Aldis that her QOTR match needed to be postponed. Aldis instead gifted her slot to stablemate Alba Fyre, much to The Secret Hervice’s indignance.
In the match itself, Charlotte Flair easily dominated proceedings, locking Fyre in a submission, but Alexa Bliss swooped in and managed to get Candice LeRae pinned for the win just before Fyre tapped. Bliss got the win, to Flair’s fury.
Analysis:
The match itself was easily the best qualifier of the night, with each participant tactically exposing weakness and trying to aim for their most attainable path to victory. LeRae went for brutality, Bliss was quieter and picked her spots, Flair tried to submit (a nice character touch for her newer heel persona’s want to assert dominance) and Fyre was simply the pin taker but even that made sense thanks to the backstage segment establishing she had little time to prepare. Segments like those are what elevate in-ring action into storytelling, by giving the extraneous warm body a reason to be that role in the match.
Bliss sneaking the pin will further Flair’s descent into madness, while continuing her tenuous interactions with Bliss (the motive of which have still not been explained). And, stepping outside of the narrative, Bliss advancing to the semifinals is an amazing choice due to her immense popularity and merchandise numbers. After an iffy few months following her return and absence following Wrestlemania, using the tournament as a way to re-elevate Bliss to a title contender was such a good choice.
Grade: A+
KOTR QUALIFIERS #2 (CODY RHODES vs. ANDRADE vs. DAMIAN PRIEST vs. SHINSUKE NAKAMURA)
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.
Rhodes returned to aid Jey Uso in fighting Cena and Logan Paul, winning the match by pinning Cena after R-Truth’s interference. Last week, Cena led a town hall claiming he had a plan for his retirement run, ready to pay the audience back for denying him for their false visions of pro wrestling. Pro wrestling never respected him, so he’s done respecting it. Rhodes confronted Cena, claiming that his so-called plan never accounted for Rhodes pinning him at MITB.
Later that night, Rhodes competed against Priest, Nakamura, and Andrade in the second KOTR qualifier of the night, eventually winning the match to close the show.
Analysis:
The weaker of the two men’s qualifiers last week, simply because it felt like it was Rhodes’ match to lose. With Andrade and Nakamura having little going on narratively, the odds of both of them were miniscule. Priest, the other bonafide main eventer, had been brewing a rivalry with Jacob Fatu over the past few weeks and WWE’s storytelling style tends to not have people concurrently chasing two championships (Liv Morgan being the exception). Thus, much of the match’s psychology felt a bit forced and tried to portray the four competitors as being on more of an even playing field than they should have been in kayfabe.
On the positive side, Rhodes’ narrative throughout last week was supremely engaging. His standoff with Cena felt electric, with his natural corniness bouncing off well against Cena’s smug self-interest. Against the wrong opponent, Rhodes comes across hokey (for those of you that never saw his run in AEW, google “Cody Rhodes solves racism” and thank me later), but it flowed beautifully here. I’ve been loving Smackdown’s newest penchant for establishing the main event in the opening promo. It allows the weekly shows to build to something naturally, not only helping retain viewers but giving the three hours a sense of escalation and mitigating audiences getting bored.
I’m curious to see if Rhodes wins, as it’s clear WWE eventually wants to see him build his way back up to John Cena. But we’re still halfway through the year, which leaves a lot of meat on the bone for other feuds while Rhodes builds up further. And unlike Wrestlemania 40, ending Cena’s title reign isn’t linked to Rhodes’ story, so WWE isn’t locked into him as the endgame this time. He’s a made man, which actually allows a little more suspense. They could go a different way and be forgiven.
Grade: B-
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.