Squash Match Wrestling!

Tag: CM Punk

  • 3/3/25 Raw Rundown

    We received a card that was chock-full of title fight’s on last night’s episode of Monday Night Raw with one ending in a surprise twist.

    Image credit: thesportster.com

    Punk Out For Blood

    CM Punk kicked off the show by dropping one of his infamous pipe bombs on the likes of The Rock, John Cena, and Seth “Freakin” Rollins.

    Naturally, this promo was a banger. That’s just what we expect from CM Punk at this point. However, what came out of it all was even better than the promo itself.

    While Punk massacred his victims on the mic, he was interrupted by Seth Rollins after mentioning Rollins’ wife, Becky Lynch. They brawled for a while and even again later on in the show. It was later announced that CM Punk and Seth will be maineventing next week’s episode of Raw inside a steel cage at Madison Square Garden.

    I have a couple of predictions for this match. First of all, Seth has to win this one, but I don’t think he’ll do it cleanly. My prediction is that Roman Reigns will return and attempt to put Rollins down for what he did at the Royal Rumble. However, I believe he will spear CM Punk inadvertently, giving Rollins the victory and setting up a triple-threat match at WrestleMania.

    I’m super excited about this feud and match. All three of these guys are top 5 in the business both in the ring and on the mic. Not to mention the history that each of them has with one another. I can totally see this stealing the night one main event away from Gunther and Jey Uso.

    What’s With Judgement Day?

    For weeks now, the members of Judgement Day, primarily Dirty Dom and Pinn Balor, have been at each other’s throats about adding this new member to the group. Personally, I’m on Finn’s side. They don’t need a new member, they need to break up, or at least drop Finn Balor. All they do is lose matches even with a numbers advantage. The entire group looks weak. They get beat up seemingly every single week by whoever the flavor of the night baby-face happens to be.

    Tonight it was Bron Breakker, and as you can imagine, that didn’t go too well for Judgement Day. They seem to be setting up a feud for the IC title with Balor, but hopefully, this happens before WrestleMania. We all know how this is going to end already, and this would be such a waste of Bron Breakker’s time. Many fans were hoping to see a match between him and AJ Styles for the title, but it seems that they are going the Logan Paul route with Styles for Mania.

    Somehow, Karrion Kross is now involved too. I have liked Kross’ recent work with Sami Zayn, but it never seems to lead anywhere big. I feel like Sami would’ve had a brutal match with KO regardless of had Kross been in his ear or not. Hopefully, they can find a way to tie him in effectively this time.

    Gunther Backs Up His Smack Talk

    For the past two weeks, Gunther has had a micro feud going on between himself and The Alpha Babes, formerly The Alpha Academy. Last week he decimated Tozawa on the mic and in the ring, but tonight was Otis’ turn.

    Gunther delivered daggers toward Otis, essentially body-shaming him the entire time. It was mean. Schoolyard bully levels of mean. For as awful as it was to watch a crowd favorite get fat-shamed on live television, I think that this feud is benefiting everyone.

    Every week Gunther becomes more and more of an unlikeable scumbag that people love to hate. Meanwhile, The Alpha Babes aren’t getting absolutely squashed by the World Champion either. They have had pretty entertaining matches. Gunther would defeat Otis and choke him out after the match ended as he did to Tozawa last week. Jey Uso made the save but also ended up unconscious after it all.

    Later in the night, Jey Uso delivered an emotional promo, talking about how everyone doubting him has him doubting himself as well. He said it was time to lock in as he left the building shirtless into the frigid Buffalo weather.

    I have faith in this feud. We have seen Jey Uso vs Gunther a number of times already so it doesn’t seem as interesting to online fans as WWE had hoped. You can’t tell me the arena isn’t going to explode when Uso wins the title though. This isn’t a feud for IWC fans, it’s for the people in attendance. The people who pay money to go to the shows. This match is meant to be a heartwarming WrestleMania moment about an underdog who finally gets the job done. Just sit back and enjoy it.

    Back-To-Back Wins for Valkyria

    This was the second week in a row that Women’s IC Champion Lyra Valkyria defended and retained her title. It’s nice to see her getting the championship treatment she deserves after however many days of not winning a match.

    This match was pretty good. Nothing eye-popping, but it was a good first bout between her and Ivy Nile. I see them coming back to this feud at some point down the line, maybe even for WrestleMania.

    Kaiser’s Time Killer

    Mid way through the show Ludwig Kaiser graced the audience with his annoying presence to deliver the same promo he gives every time he is handed a microphone. “I am Ludwig Kaiser and I am the best wrestler in the business,” was basically the gist of it.

    Thankfully he was interrupted by Penta, one of the fastest-rising stars that Monday Night Raw has on its stacked roster. I love Penta, but I’ve seen that he has been getting hate online for spamming his catchphrase a little too much.

    First of all, I don’t think he is overusing it. The crowd loves it. If it were getting no reaction each time that’s one thing, but he has the entire arena behind him every single time.

    Second of all, the guy just achieved his lifelong dream. You can tell how much he loves being a WWE superstar every time he steps foot into that ring, whether it’s for a match or not. Let him have his fun.

    The Quest Continues

    We finally have some answers as to where my guy Chad Gable has been the past few weeks. If you don’t recall, he went on an “epic quest” to familiarize himself with the “dark arts” of Lucha Libre. When I first saw this, I thought it was hilarious, but I am glad to see he will be returning soon.

    As to what was in the box, it has got to be a luchador mask right?

    Raw Is War In The Tag Team Division

    The second of our three title matches tonight was between the War Raiders and American Made for the World Tag Team Championships. This match started with no hype at all. Neither of the two teams got any form of reaction from the crowd during their entrances or as the match started. However, this quickly changed as the match went on. We had awesome high-flying action from both teams that you wouldn’t expect from such big dudes. Ivar attempted a moonsault, Brutus Creed hit a 450 splash, and Julius Creed hit a damn shooting star press from out of nowhere!

    This was an awesome showcase for the tag teams of Raw that have been struggling compared to their Smackdown counterparts. If it weren’t for what came next, this would’ve been the match of the night.

    Triple H Takes “Predictable” Allegations Seriously

    To the surprise of absolutely everyone on planet Earth, Iyo Sky defeated Rhea Ripley for the Women’s World Championship in the main event of the show. She will go on to defend her newly won title against Bianca Belair at WrestleMania.

    I can’t put into words how spectacular this match was. For a match that everyone ” already knew the results of,” it was suspenseful from start to finish. The acrobatic style of Iyo Sky and the brutality of Rhea Ripley worked so well when paired against each other.

    I have one serious question though that nobody seems to be asking. Why didn’t Iyo get disqualified when Bianca put her hands on Rhea? I mean, they clearly weren’t just arguing. Bianca shoved Rhea multiple times to the point where Jessica Carr left the ring to split them up. Doesn’t that typically call for a DQ? In my book it does, and it kinda killed the match for me from that point going forward.

    Even with the shock ending, I still didn’t believe it should have ended like that. I felt that Rhea was screwed out of her title in a way and that Iyo Sky defeated her uncleanly.

    I do forsee Rhea Ripley getting inserted into this match at WrestleMania somehow. We have already seen Bianca Belair and Iyo Sky go head-to-head for a world championship. We haven’t seen Bianca and Rhea face off yet however, and to most fans that was the money match. I’d put money on it that this ends up a triple-threat match.

  • PLE Play-By-Play: Elimination Chamber 2025

    Elimination Chamber 2025 was one of the most groundbreaking premium live events I have ever seen. It’s safe to say we are officially on the road to WrestleMania.

    Photo credit: WWE

    Mystery Solved

    The mystery of who attacked Jade Cargill all those months ago had been eating at WWE fans since the attack and on Saturday we finally got our answer.

    As the Women’s Elimination Chamber match kicked off the show, a returning Jade Cargill made her way to the ring before the referees could lock the cage shut. She entered the structure and raised a fist toward Liv Morgan before quickly diverting to Naomi, brutally attacking her and leaving her incapacitated after slamming her head between the chamber doors. Naomi was deemed unfit to compete and henceforth eliminated from the match.

    I’ve got only four words for everyone…I told ya so! I mean, plenty of people saw this coming, but there was still the chance that it could’ve been Bianca. I went into depth on this topic in last week’s Raw Rundown, basically stating that Naomi had the motivation to attack Jade, she was the first to show up at the scene of the crime, was quick to blame Raquel and Liv, and seemed a bit off mentally the night she lost her tag titles.

    Bianca Belair heads to Wr-EST-leMania!

    The final result of the women’s chamber match was the EST of WWE punching her ticket to WrestleMania. My prediction over on X was that Alexa Bliss would win the chamber, but I really had no basis as to why I thought this. Neither Rhea Ripley nor Iyo Sky has any kind of feud going on with any of the match’s participants so it was more of a gut-feeling kind of thing.

    The match itself was spectacular. We had tons of violent spots inside the sinister structure. Heads bashing off of glass, bodies crashing onto the floor, faces rubbing against steel chains, and who could forget the whipping that Liv Morgan took from Bianca Belair? It sounded brutal.

    Although I did love the match in ring, my only complaint is that it didn’t set up any feuds for WrestleMania besides Naomi vs Jade and Bianca vs Rhea/Iyo. Liv Morgan looked like a million bucks, but what’s next for her? Bayley and Roxanne Perez barely had any action against each other, not even one of them eliminating the other. And that’s an ongoing feud! Alexa Bliss was the crowd favorite from the second she exited her pod, but even she still seemed directionless afterward.

    Tiffy and Trishy Get The W in Toronto

    I both love and hate using the phrase “nothing burger” to describe a match. For as fun as it is to say, it sucks having to use it to describe what was an otherwise solid match.

    In ring, sure, it was pretty good. Trish Stratus took some crazy shots from Nia Jax, getting swung around like a garden hose, but overall it just felt like a time filler. You can’t tell me that this match didn’t feel like something that you would see on any old episode of Friday Night Smackdown.

    I guess Trish Stratus did a good job elevating Tiffany Stratton before the biggest match of her career at Mania, but I think a title defense against Trish and an appearance from The Queen afterward would’ve done the job much better.

    Absolute Carnage

    Sami Zayn vs Kevin Owens in an unsanctioned match was almost everything that I wanted it to be. In my mind, this is a match-of-the-year contender. That’s two in a row from KO as well because his match at Royal Rumble was also one of my favorites.

    These two did everything that they advertised to one another. We had double table breakages, hockey sticks, barbed-wire coated steel chairs, and more. I am just nitpicking at this point, but the only thing this match was missing for me was some blood. Like I said in my Smackdown Summary, I don’t always need blood to really get into a match. In fact, I’d rather them skip out on it most of the time. However, this match was different. Sami and Kevin practically killed each other. You’re telling me that a barbed-wire steel chair didn’t cause any bleeding at all? Not even on accident?

    Aside from my minor complaint, this match was perfect. It was exactly what their story needed. I can’t say much more than that.

    The Viper Strikes Back

    The second of many big returns on the night was Randy Orton, who came back to save Sami Zayn from a package piledriver onto the concrete floor. As a massive Randy Orton fan, I was praying that Randy would make his comeback tonight. After he skipped out at the rumble, I knew it had to be here in Toronto.

    Randy is back and out for blood. He stormed down to the ring and delivered RKOs to everyone he could get his hands on. I feel bad for all of those poor security guards who tried to get in Randy’s way. I will also never forgive them for taking away a punt kick to Kevin Owens from us. I have a feeling we will see one sometime in the near future. It’s only fair. One banned move for another.

    Either way, I am glad we have Randy back, and this will definitely be the Mania match for both him and KO. My only question now is will we see Sami Zayn on the WrestleMania card, or will he be put on the shelf until later on?

    The Men’s Chamber

    We all received the result that we needed from this year’s men’s Elimination Chamber match. John Cena will head to his final WrestleMania to main event against Cody Rhodes for a chance at his 17th world championship.

    First, let me just say that the finish of this match was so poetic. Who better to have dook it out for the Mania main event than John Cena and CM Punk? They have so much rich history together. The sight of them embracing in the ring before fighting, and Cena screaming “I’m sorry” as Punk faded out of consciousness was pure cinema.

    The complaint that I had about the women’s match does not stand true for this one at all. We received a couple of Mania feuds from this match, including Damien Priest vs Drew McIntyre, and CM Punk vs Seth Rollins vs (probably) Roman Reigns. The only one I am unsure about is Logan Paul, but you can stick him against anyone and it’ll be an attraction. That’s why I said unsure and not worried!

    What I am worried about though is the future of Drew McIntyre. He looked super weak tonight, losing to yet another roll-up from Damien Priest. Why do they keep doing this to Drew? After the year he just had it doesn’t make any sense to me. They seriously have nothing better for him at the show of shows than a one-off feud with Damien Priest? I was excited for Bloodline bounty hunter Drew. He was supposed to come for Roman Reigns, Jey Uso, Jacob Fatu, Solo Sikoa, or anybody other than Damien Priest.

    I can’t say I am excited for this match at all. The way Damien Priest has been booked lately is comparable to the likes of Cody Rhodes. He looks invincible. Nothing can stop him. He never loses clean. If I had to guess, Priest will probably beat the Scottish Warrior with a roll-up after kicking out of five claymores. I’m calling it now.

    The Sellout of The Century

    There are no words to describe what happened in the main event of the show other than legendary. This moment will never be forgotten. The John Cena heel turn was one of the most unpredictable story points in the history of professional wrestling. It officially feels like WrestleMania season is upon us.

    The segment started out with what I thought would be just another cheese-ball promo from perpetual good-guy Cody Rhodes. I knew in the back of my mind he would never accept The Rock’s offer. I just had hoped he would so Cena would have a heel opponent for WrestleMania (oh how the tables turned). Dropping an F-bomb uncensored was not on my bingo card, however.

    And then it happened, the moment that will go down in history. The Rock signals to John Cena as he hugs it out with the WWE Champion to deliver the low blow and end a 20-year babyface run. It was evil. It was truly diabolical. It was lemon-scented. Nobody in the crowd, on commentary, or the beaten and bloodied Cody Rhodes could believe their eyes.

    For as perfect as this segment was, I have one complaint. Why did Travis Scott have to be involved in this at all? What did he add? What did he bring to the table? It wasn’t like iShowSpeed’s rumble appearance that was meaningless and designed for clicks online. This was a massive moment that will forever be stained by a clout-chasing Travis Scott. If he wanted to be involved with WWE so badly, why not just have him perform one of his crappy songs? I thought that’s what he was advertised for. Get him off of our screens. He didn’t deserve to be a part of this.