SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
Some interesting developments in the wrestling world before we get into things:
•WrestleMania 42 has been moved from New Orleans, to a rumored new home of Las Vegas. Given the history of WWE and its new corporate sibling UFC in Sin City, this move makes sense to continue cementing Vegas as the home of all things combat sports.
•New Orleans will instead host Money In The Bank in fall 2026. Interestingly, the event has been moved later into the WWE calendar, taking place after Summerslam and now opening the fall season of WWE. This feels like a good move to differentiate the MITB briefcase from other title tournaments including the Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber, and King Of The Ring (assuming that one makes a return), as well as juicing up creative possibilities in the fall and winter, which have largely been derided as the WWE’s “cooldown season” before the build to WrestleMania begins in the new year.
•Multiple AAA roster members have been confirmed for NXT x AAA: Worlds Collide, including El Hijo Del Vikingo, Laredo Kid, Psycho Clown, Octagon Jr, and others. This provides hints at who WWE sees the most crossover potential with, following Vikingo’s spotlight at WrestleMania 41. WWE prematurely announced Chad Gable vs. Vikingo for the AAA Mega Championship (which is currently held by Alberto Del Rio). The spirit of AAA’s poor business decisions lives on, folks.
•Following Zoey Stark’s knee injury last week, Stark confirmed she will be out of action for the rest of 2025. PWTorch wishes her a speedy recovery.
•The newest installment of WWE’s revamped Saturday Night’s Main Event is officially in the rear view mirror. And, frankly, it came away as a mixed bag. On the positive side, the TV special finally lived up to its name, with massive blowoff feuds and wrestler returns galore. Previous installments of SNME have struggled to find their place in WWE’s expanded PPV schedule. With Paul Levesque’s penchant of slower-built stories, SNME always felt like the odd man out. It felt like an obligation, borne from an attempt to milk the WWE fanbase’s growing appetite for more live events.
This time around, everything felt consequential. Even the supposed throwaway matches made the most of their time and delivered a few memorable moments (some by accident, courtesy of Chelsea Green’s broken nose). With huge returns from Bronson Reed and Cody Rhodes, and some main event challenges laid out for Money In The Bank, SNME felt like more than a typical episode of Raw or Smackdown, while its retro style made it also feel wholly unique from the more visually plain PLEs. And that’s a perfectly nice place for it to live.
So what all happened in the last week going into Smackdown this Friday? Sit back, relax, and let’s get into it:
JOHN CENA LETS YOU KNOW HE’S THE BAD GUY
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.
R-Truth for years has been a fan of Cena’s, even proclaiming him his “childhood hero.” At Backlash, Truth tried intervening to spare Cena from being hurt, but inadvertently insulted Cena and got an AA for his troubles.
Last week, Truth was interviewed by Wade Barrett, insisting the real John Cena would not have acted so heartlessly. He claimed he didn’t want to hurt his hero, but if that’s what it took to bring the real Cena back, he wouldn’t hesitate. Shortly after, a match between the two was made official for Saturday Night’s Main Event, where Cena brutally and quickly dispatched Truth.
Soon after, Cena 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.
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.
Following years of R-Truth’s running joke of Cena being his hero, WWE actually plausibly built Truth into a viable contender in a few weeks. Cena’s impetus for attacking him was a little flimsy, but it did the job (albeit in a hilariously awkward manner during a near-silent press conference. Seriously, it’s painfully stilted seeing Cena just stand there with no reaction).
Truth had great babyface fire walking into the match, which was paced perfectly. It wasn’t quite a squash, allowing Truth to prove to WWE that he’s still got it, but Cena was portrayed as the domineering heel perfectly and crushed Truth after a few quick hits. All in all, a satisfying payoff to a long-running meme turned legitimate dream match.
The post-match beatdown is where things fell apart. While Cena’s beef with Uso came out of nowhere, it at least felt earned thanks to playing on internet criticisms of Uso’s subpar in-ring work. Pairing Cena with Logan Paul is where things get shaky. You could tie this into Cena’s “ruin wrestling” character, but it’s hard to tell what his character’s intentions are thanks to vague promos that haven’t explained his motivation. How meta are we supposed to get? Is Cena ruining wrestling by teaming up with Paul (in kayfabe, an egotistical yet talented heel?)? Is he finding camaraderie with Paul since they’re both heels? More than usual, Cena’s character felt thinly-defined, and thus the alliance with Paul felt like it existed solely to get him booed in the short term.
Rhodes’ tag team challenge also felt slightly out of nowhere. After taking his gold, Rhodes’ return challenge felt a little tame and wasn’t focused on his own title belt, which made it feel disconnected from their feud earlier this year. The ensuing match should be gangbusters with a molten-hot crowd, but the storytelling coming out of SNME felt a little shakier than it should have.
Grade: C+
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.
At Wrestlemania 41, the two engaged in a brutally hard-hitting street fight that ended with McIntyre snagging the win. In the aftermath, both men began targeting Jacob Fatu’s US Championship, but were distracted by each other during a four-way match for the title at Backlash, allowing Fatu to retain.
Tired of the two sabotaging each other, Priest challenged McIntyre to one last match, to end things once and for all: a steel cage match at Saturday Night’s Main Event. Following a pair of final promos, the two engaged in a violent bloody war at the TV special. Following plenty of callbacks, 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.
Analysis:
On the go-home show, McIntyre and Priest cut a pair of sensational promos that sold the audience on a feud-ender immediately. As sluggish as this feud was in the early stages, looking back it hasn’t been going for that long. Empirically, jumping to a steel cage after only four months (one of which involved two other competitors) of feuding should feel rushed. Massive credit to both Priest and McIntyre for being able to convincingly portray not just hatred but a sense of frustration and weariness at their rivals.
The match itself was well paced, a welcome respite from the slower-paced aura-heavy matches on SNME. It felt like an old episode of Georgia Championship Wrestling, seeing two behemoths try and kill each other in a cage, but this time with the gravitas of a modern WWE build. Priest proved himself a sneaky great hardcore wrestler, and walked out of the event looking like a main-event powerhouse.
In addition, the go-home show hammered home the titular theme of the cage match: McIntyre’s delusion that Priest had been responsible for his misfortune rather than his own anger. The match itself was bloody and violent, but the ending thematically laid the groundwork for McIntyre’s next step. Priest let go of the rivalry, he walked out of the cage and moved on. McIntyre was unable to do so, and was left lying in the wreckage of the feud he refused to move on from. It perfectly symoblized his heel run in the last year: a man so unwilling to let go of the past that he’s unable to build any victories in the present. While a bit hokey, the ending fit the feud’s theme perfectly.
Well, aside from Jesse Ventura complaining about the finish on commentary. I get that exiting the cage is kind of cheap as a way to win, but come on Jesse, stick to the script. His commentary really undid the moment during the special, and highlights the importance of commentators being a part of the story rather than simply offering their opinions on it. Not a fan.
Grade: B+
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
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THE BLOODLINE’S FAMILY DRAMA
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 botched interference, 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, Fatu made it clear he didn’t trust Mateo despite Sikoa goofily pleading him otherwise. While wary, Fatu & Mateo were forced to work together to defeat Rey Fenix and Jimmy Uso in a tag match, which they did despite some uneven teamwork.
Analysis:
First off, I loved the subtle booking in this week’s tag team match. Sikoa won his qualifier to MITB against Jimmy Uso and Rey Fenix, and now his two lackeys had to defeat them in a tag match. Essentially, signaling that Fatu and Mateo were forced to clean up Sikoa’s collateral damage. It’s subtle, but it lays the groundwork for Fatu’s eventual betrayal, by sowing his discontent at doing Sikoa’s dirty work rather than defending the US Championship. Simple booking, but it plants the idea in people’s head.
Last week’s promo wasn’t one of Fatu’s best. His unhinged down-to-earth style makes the more WWE-style melodramatic promos feel a bit unnatural in the mouth. It was competent, but I found myself going back to Jey Uso during the “Honorary Uce” arc, and his delivery came off so much more raw and passionate compared to Fatu’s delivery. The segment was saved by Sikoa, who’s found a new light now that he’s allowed to act like more of a buffoon. The eventual moment when Fatu tires of his posturing will get a huge pop, and launch Fatu into the stratosphere. In the meantime, I’m curious to see what new turns WWE will take in the Bloodline’s new story arc to keep it feeling different from past incarnations .There’s only so many variations of familial distrust to explore before it gets old. But, as of now, I’m cautiously optimistic.
Grade: B-
THE MEN’S MITB QUALIFIERS
Latest Developments:
Over the past two weeks, Penta, Solo Sikoa and Seth Rollins all earned a spot in MITB.
Last week, LA Knight faced off against Shinsuke Nakamura and Aleister Black for the next spot. Knight cut a promo vowing to win the briefcase in his home city of Los Angeles, and eventually won the match to earn his spot.
Analysis:
Knight winning was a good move, as the MITB playing field was skewing heel heavy up until last week. Not much more to say, except that Knight’s stock has been pretty much bulletproof since his second US title run, and even if he doesn’t win he’ll add some old-school star power to proceedings. Knight’s appearances in the last two MITB ladder matches led to some of the biggest pops of the night (hell, the guy out-cheered prime Jey Uso).
However, I’m confused as to why Aleister Black took a loss. Despite not being pinned (that honor went to resident jobber-to-the-stars Shinsuke Nakamura), Black didn’t look especially strong throughout the match, leaning more on his technical wrestling and getting tossed around by the other two for much of the match. It felt like a conscious effort to make Black look more vulnerable, which isn’t what his character needs right now. I wasn’t a huge fan of that.
Grade: C-
CARMELO HAYES IS TIRED OF THE MIZ
Latest Developments:
Several weeks ago, The Miz stormed the ring with his lackey Carmelo Hayes, complaining that he didn’t make the Wrestlemania 41 card. Suddenly, the lights dimmed and a figure rose from the shadows. It’s Aleister Black! Making his return to WWE, the spooky one slowly walked into the ring, nailing Miz with a kick and sitting in the ring to thunderous applause.
The following week, Black and The Miz faced off in-ring, in a match Black cleanly won. Post-match, Black and Hayes squared up. Black dispatched Hayes in short order thanks to Miz’s failed interference, standing tall to end the segment.
The following week, a more determined Hayes was noticeably annoyed with Miz’s hype attempts, which amplified when Miz’s failed interference cost him against Black yet again. Last week, Miz gleefully told Hayes he would win in his MITB qualifier, but only if he did as Miz said. Hayes half-heartedly thanked him.
Analysis:
So it looks like we’re planting seeds of Melo Don’t Miz breaking up, or at the very least having inner turmoil. With MITB qualifiers around the corner, last week’s segment did a great job painting the inevitable loss as a seminal moment in the Melo-Miz partnership. Regardless of what happened, WWE did a good job setting up Hayes’ continued annoyances against the Miz, which will lay the groundwork for their future interactions.
I’m not a huge fan of this duo, but WWE is at least putting in the effort to make their emotional discord feel built-up. And tying it into the MITB qualifiers is a cool way to add some gravitas into a tourney build that can often feel thrown together for the sake of establishing the PPV’s participants. It’s not often that an act’s story is amplified with a loss, so using this as a plot device for Melo Don’t Miz is a smart move to differentiate it from other tag teams on the Smackdown roster.
Grade: B
THE WOMEN’S MITB QUALIFIERS
Latest Developments:
Alexa Bliss won her qualifier for the Women’s MITB match several weeks ago. Meanwhile, Charlotte Flair crashed out and threw a tantrum at the WWE audience after getting booed and losing her match against Tiffany Stratton at Wrestlemania 41. After stalking out of the arena, Flair was stopped by a bemused bliss, who claimed they should talk.
Last week, Bliss and Stratton met face-to-face in the ring. The two were cordial, until Flair crashed the party and vowed to reclaim the championship from Stratton. Stratton brushed them both off and left.
Later that night, Flair lost her MITB qualifier to Giulia, with Zelina Vega also being involved.
Analysis:
I loved the opening promo. It’s not often anymore we have a babyface being confronted by multiple potential opponents out of the blue, for the women’s division. It’s a promo rhythm that only works if you’ve got multiple wrestlers getting specifically unique reactions. And, for the first time, WWE really has that in the women’s division. Seeing the relationship between all three wrestlers was fascinating, laying the groundwork for a more interconnected division than years past (which largely focused on insulated singles feuds or otherwise locked-off narratives).
The ensuing qualifier match this week didn’t have much of a build behind it, instead serving as the impetus for multiple other stories. And I don’t mind that. Flair’s loss builds into her continued heel turn (and will likely induce rage against Bliss who won her own qualifier), Vega’s loss led directly into her Women’s US title match (more on that below). And that cleared the field for new call-up Giulia to win the match and earn a shot at MITB.
Since I only cover Smackdown, I haven’t spoken much about Giulia thus far. But her hard-hitting style feels like the next evolution of the WWE main-event epic match style for WWE’s women, and her natural presence already feels epic, even compared to other main-event level talent. If WWE continues booking Giulia’s raw strikes as a formidable threat (a la Gunther), then she’ll have a long future on WWE’s main roster.
Grade: A-
CHELSEA GREEN vs. ZELINA VEGA
Latest Developments:
Immediately following her MITB qualifying loss last week, Women’s US Champ Zelina Vega was mocked by Chelsea Green. Vega responded by attacking her, and a US title match between the two was set up for Saturday Night’s Main Event, which Vega won to retain her title.
Analysis:
I wasn’t a fan of this booking, or the ensuing match. First off, while Green getting a rematch makes sense on paper, setting a title match directly after Vega ate a clean loss immediately didn’t make her look strong. If anything, Vega looked dumb in that moment, falling for a trap match after selling weariness and injuries. All-around, it felt like thrown-together booking to get a women’s match on SNME.
And I could have forgiven that if the match itself wasn’t slow, plodding and felt unfinished. Both women never felt like they got out of first gear, and combined with a few botched moves that left Green’s nose busted, this entire segment felt like a wash. I hope Vega gets the chance to lean more into her natural charisma moving forward. Despite her natural underdog qualities, it feels like WWE tipped the scales a little too far and she came across slightly pathetic last week.
Grade: D
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, Escobar had another pep talk talking up LDF’s recently announced match at Worlds Collide. But Berto became quickly fed up and left, leaving Angel to try convincing Escobar to give Berto some space to calm down.
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.
Additionally, this was one of the first times Worlds Collide was explicitly mentioned on main roster programming. Outside of Gable vs. Vikingo, I’m curious to see if much storyline crossover will make its way to that show or if it’ll function more as a series of exhibition matches with the express purposes of getting the AAA roster over with worldwide audiences that may not know them.
Given that LDF is rumored to be working with Dragon Lee (a babyface on Raw) I’m led to believe it’s more than the latter. In any case, it’s cool to see lucha libre alums like Legado Del Fantasma get that spotlight in advance of their own storyline.
Grade: B+
FRAXIOM vs. MCMG….. WITH SOME SURPRISE GUESTS
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.
Last week, The Street Profits spoke in-ring about their acclaimed TLC match and joked about having “a leg up” on the competition, insisting their dominance is inevitable.
Fraxiom interrupted, respectfully challenging the Profits, and a title eliminator match was made that night, which Fraxiom won in a major upset earning them 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..
Analysis:
So, a lot to get through here. Let’s start with Candice LeRae rejoining DIY. I love this move. Not only does it continue LeRae’s amazing heel work and give her more screentime than just playing lackey in the women’s division, fans of Black & Gold NXT remember that real-life couple Gargano and LeRae’s amazing heel chemistry. Seeing a similar version play out on the main roster should be sensational to watch. I loved that DIY and MCMG continued their rivalry off the fallout of DIY’s loss last week. It felt natural for both teams given their history, and advanced the wider tag division’s stories as a whole.
Regarding the tag title match, it’s almost a shame the Wyatt Sicks cut proceedings short, as Fraxiom was putting on an absolute barn burner against The Profits (who played situational heel wonderfully as the wily veterans outfoxing the new blood). The theme of Fraxiom’s journey up until now was their natural talent being inhibited by their lack of experience against main roster talent. This was put on full display, as the athleticism that won them earlier matches were picked apart by The Profits. It was non-verbal booking done impeccably.
And then we get to the Wyatt Sicks. Given that they seemed to attack faces and heels alike upon their return, this makes me think that WWE plans to pivot them to a more outwardly hostile faction rather than the “noble occult group taking down those who disrespect family”. While that gimmick would undoubtedly have been entertaining, it required booking that it seems WWE wasn’t able to commit to, thus making the group feel weak. This more heelish angle automatically made them seem like a threat again. Given their lackluster run last year, it’ll take me a while to buy into the act fully, but this return was a decent start.
Grade: B
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