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Tag: Drew McIntyre

  • 3/28/25 Smackdown Summary

    Friday Night Smackdown stopped in London, England this week to deliver a solid show.

    Image credit: WWE

    Cody Welcomes London to the Show

    Smackdown started with the WWE Champion making his way to the ring and was greeted by a choir of English WWE fans.

    Randy Orton came out to meet Cody and gave Cody some emotional words of encouragement. He told Cody that he was the reason that the WWE is as successful as it is today and that he was extremely proud of the superstar and the man he has become. You could see Cody holding back tears as Orton delivered his message.

    This however wasn’t the only thing Orton was out for. He let Cody know that he will be coming for his title after Cody defeats Cena at WrestleMania.

    The two were then met by Drew McIntyre. Drew came out to remind everyone that he was once again right like he is about everything. This time, he was referring to John Cena.

    He then declared that after WrestleMania, he would be coming for Cody’s title.

    This portion of the segment set up a match between Orton and McIntyre for later on in the night, which we will get to later on.

    This is the Drew McIntyre that I have been waiting to see since his Hell ina Cell match at Bad Blood. Drew should be competing for world titles, especially at WrestleMania. However, I understand that sometimes it’s just not in the cards for some people.

    Drew needs to beat Damien Priest at WrestleMania so that all of this hype doesn’t go to waste.

    Pretty Deadly vs The Street Profits

    The first match of the night was between Pretty Deadly and the Street Profits for the WWE Tag Team Championships.

    Before we get into the match, let me just say that Mark Nash, who was introduced before this match, did an awesome job all night. He has a real “pro-sports” vibe to his voice that I enjoyed.

    Although Pretty Deadly lost this contest, they had the backing of their hometown crowd the entire time. It was nice to see them get the love they deserve. I still think that they will win these titles in some kind of multi-team match at WrestleMania.

    The Secret Hervice vs Carter and Chance.

    Chelsea Green’s new faction, the Secret Hervice, defeated Kayden Carter and Katana Chance in a tag team match.

    This match was set up in a backstage segment that took place earlier in the night that also involved Zelina Vega.

    After the Hervice beat the partying duo, they proceeded to beat them down in the ring. Vega came out to make the save. She fended off Alba Fyre and Piper Niven for a bit, but eventually succumbed to the numbers game.

    It is looking more and more like Vega versus Green is the plan for WrestleMania. I’m not super excited about this match, but it’s better than another street fight against Michin I suppose. Smackdown needs more mid-carders in the women’s division.

    LA Knight vs Braun Strowman

    LA Knight and Braun Strowman had their match for the United States Championship after Strowman became the number one contender in last week’s episode.

    He defeated Jacob Fatu to qualify via disqualification. Strowman and Knight may have forgotten, but Fatu certainly didn’t. He attacked both of the two competitors shortly after the match began, and it ended in a disqualification.

    Tensions between Solo Sikoa and his enforcer grew after the match. Solo pressed Fatu about going out on his own to wreak havoc. However, Fatu clapped back by saying he could do what he wanted and he would bring the US title back to the Bloodline with or without Solo’s help.

    I have a number of questions surrounding Jacob Fatu, Solo Sikoa, LA Knight, and the United States Championship for WrestleMania.

    For one, What is the plan with Fatu for mania? We know he will find his way onto the card somewhere. But will that be against Solo or LA Knight?

    If it ends up being Solo vs Jacob, what is the plan for the US title? LA Knight currently doesn’t have a feud going into WrestleMania. They seem to have been building toward Jacob Fatu, but it seems that that won’t be the match we get.

    I am already predicting a ladder match for the tag team title and wouldn’t want to see another one on this year’s card. However, that would be the easiest way to get Smackdown’s mid-carders onto the show.

    Guys like Carmelo Hayes and Braun Strowman have been getting plenty of big matches and TV time, so I believe that they should make it onto the show somewhere. I just don’t know where else to put them other than a feudless ladder match.

    Naomi’s Video Package

    Naomi was featured in an emotional video package calling out Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill while giving us a sneak peek into her new heel persona.

    She showed old photos of her and Bianca while stating that she was always there for Bianca since the very beginning while Jade wasn’t. Naomi was tired of being the third wheel. She had always done the right thing throughout her career. She attacked Jade because she knew it was what she needed to do.

    This promo was awesome. Naomi’s character work lately has been some of her best since returning to the WWE. This could be enough to cement herself as a perennial main-eventer going forward.

    I am a big fan of these “justified heels” that Triple H has been cooking up lately. Guys like Kevin Owens and Drew McIntyre fall into this category as well and have been some of my favorite characters to watch since their heel turns.

    Michin vs Charlotte Flair

    You know it’s a good night when you get to see Michin lose. It’s a doubly good night when you get to see her get beat up by Naomi before the match even begins.

    Naomi attacked both Michin and B-Fab before Charlotte even made her entrance. Jade Cargill appeared to make the save.

    Of course, this match wasn’t called off though. Michin stayed to fight the Queen even after taking her beatdown. She wound up losing to the figure-eight leg lock.

    After the match, we saw Tiffany Stratton being interviewed backstage. She responded strongly to Charlotte’s onslaught from last week.

    Tiffy admitted that Flair made her look like a rookie, but she used that to her advantage. At the end of the day, if Tiffy loses to Flair it’s no big deal. She is a rookie facing the best the industry has ever seen. She is young and her career will recover. Charlotte on the other hand will never be able to live it down.

    I thought this was a solid recovery form last week, even if it still felt like she was reading from a script.

    Legends Clash

    Randy Orton and Drew McIntyre faced off toward the end of the show in a slow and methodical match. Typical Randy Orton.

    Drew would get the win off of a distraction from Kevin Owens.

    Afterward, Owens and Orton would duke it out outside of the ring, and we got yet another punt kick tease before Kevin made his escape.

    Distraction or not, this is a big win for Drew. He needed this momentum heading into WrestleMania. I can’t remember the last time Drew was in a singles match on Smackdown that didn’t end in him losing to a rollup from a Bloodline member.

    Big Jim vs The Miz

    Jimmy Uso defeated The Miz easily in the final match of the night.

    This match was short and predictable but did its job. That being to give Jimmy Uso some momentum heading into his match against Gunther on Monday.

    I am not quite sure what exactly, but I feel like we will get a big story advancement for Gunther versus Jey Uso from this match on Raw.

    Priest Attacks McIntyre

    As Drew McIntyre prepared to head off to the pub to celebrate his victory, he was attacked in the parking lot by Damien Priest.

    Drew had been getting the one-up on Priest in recent weeks, but tonight was Priest’s night. The brawl led the two to fight on top of a car. Damien Priest gauged Drew’s eyes and put him through a windshield with a South of Heaven choke slam.

    I know I clowned on this feud a while ago, but I have really come around to it. I do think that this match needs a stipulation though. A street fight between these two at WrestleMania would go hard.

    The Contract Signing

    This segment was very interesting. It answered one of the biggest questions heading into WrestleMania, but also left us with another one that is just as big. Let’s get right into it.

    Roman Reigns made his entrance and was greeted by an electric crowd. They sang his name so loud that even Paul Heyman joined in!

    Next, Seth Rollins made his way to the ring. He reminisced on the past that he and Roman have, especially in that building. Seth said that he and Roman are the reason that the business is in the position that it is today, but Roman disagreed.

    Roman said that there “is no we.” He has done everything over the past 10 years on his own while Seth sat second fiddle.

    CM Punk finally made his entrance and was greeted with a karaoke party. London sang his song as he stormed to the ring to sign the contract. Before he would sign it though, he spent a minute searching through its pages.

    This is where we got one of our questions answered. Paul Heyman confirmed that the triple-threat will be main eventing night one of WrestleMania.

    Punk got emotional as Seth crashed out and Roman asked for a thank you. His life-long dream was finally coming true.

    Sarcastically, Punk thanked his tribal chief for letting him main event but confirmed to us that this was not his favor from Paul as the show faded to black.

    Wow. Just wow. What a way to end the show. I have a few predictions as to what the favor might be, and one of them I hope isn’t the case.

    First, I think it could be Paul Heyman rejoining CM Punk after WrestleMania. If you recall, Roman Reigns had promised Paul that he wouldn’t harm CM Punk after Survivor Series. This promise was broken when he attacked Punk after the steel cage match on Raw a few weeks ago. Heyman could be upset with Roman and end up leaving him.

    Secondly, and the one I hope isn’t the case, the favor could be to be added to the WWE Championship match against Cody Rhodes and John Cena.

    I don’t want this at all. I get that he has historic entanglements with both of these guys, but there are so many multi-man matches on the card already. We don’t need or want another one, do we?

    CM Punk needs no excuse to go after either of these guys following mania regardless of who walks out the champ. Come back to it later. A one-on-one feud between Cena and Punk one final time would be so much more fun to watch.

  • 3/21/25 Smackdown Summary

    Since Backlash in France last year, the European members of the WWE Universe have been hyping up the electricity that an Italian crowd would bring. Tonight that fire was on full display in Bologna.

    Image credit: WWE, Fox Sports

    Adding to the Mania Card

    Randy Orton kicked off the show with a bang by simply existing. The Italian crowd really brought it, screaming his song at the top of their lungs. It gave me goosebumps just watching. You can tell that it had the same effect on Randy as he took his time with his entrance and took it all in.

    Before Randy could speak a word into the microphone, Kevin Owens’ music hit. He interrupted Randy and said something unexpected. Kevin was here to apologize.

    He said that the piledriver he gave Randy was something that he regretted and that if anyone should understand regretting a decision made in anger it would be Randy.

    Randy wasn’t having it, however. He said that that piledriver brought back the voices, and the voices were telling him to kick Kevin Owens’ head off at WrestleMania.

    Priest and Uso vs Nakamura and McIntyre

    A tag team match between the teams of Damien Priest and Jimmy Uso versus Shinsuke Nakamura and Drew McIntyre was the first in-ring showcase of the night.

    The action began before the bell would ever ring as Damien Priest attacked Drew McIntyre during his entrance.

    Priest and Uso would win this match, getting the pinfall on Shinsuke Nakamura. Drew McIntyre would walk away looking the strongest, however. He beat down Damien Priest badly after the match was over to the point where Priest could barely move.

    Drew had the crowd’s support throughout this match. Bologna loved him. Let me just say that out of all of the chants we hear from these European crowds, Drew’s has to be one of my favorites. They were loud for him the whole time.

    I agree with the Bologna crowd. I am a huge McIntyre fan. I am gaining more and more support for his feud with Priest every single week. Drew has to win this match at WrestleMania though. If he walks out of Vegas a loser I honestly don’t know what can be next for him.

    Tiffany Stratton and Charlotte Flair Interview

    In the next segment of the show, we got to see an interview between WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton and Royal Rumble winner Charlotte Flair.

    The 14-time Women’s Champion destroyed Tiffany in this segment. She made Stratton look like the newcomer that she is. Tiffany looked and sounded incredibly nervous whenever it was her turn to respond to Charlotte’s daggers.

    You could tell that Tiffany was reading from her script at times. Whenever Charlotte would respond with something of her own (like the true professional she is) Stratton would resort back to whatever she was saying before she was interrupted.

    For as good as Tiffy is, to me this showed that she can’t yet hang with someone of The Queen’s caliber. The WWE Women’s Champion was embarrassed tonight.

    Kaiju Fight

    Jacob Fatu and Braun Strowman had yet another match on Friday Night Smackdown. This time, the winner was named the number one contender to LA Knight’s United States Championship.

    Braun Strowman won this contest via disqualification. He had Fatu seemingly beaten but was attacked by Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga before he could land the pinfall.

    LA Knight came out to save Strowman from the vicious attack.

    After the match, we got a backstage look at the conversation between Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu. Fatu was pissed. He was wondering the same thing we all were. Why would Solo purposefully ruin His chances at the US title?

    I think Solo is jealous of Fatu’s success. This feud could boil up in the next few weeks and lead to a match at WrestleMania. Both of these guys deserve a spot on the card. What better way to fit them in than head-to-head against each other?

    Piper Niven vs Zelina Vega

    Zelina Vega made her in-ring Smackdown debut in a loss against Piper Niven.

    This match was boring from start to finish. Vega debuted with brand-new music and the Bologna crowd was not loud for her (or Niven) at all. I felt kind of bad honestly.

    However, this match didn’t deserve loud pops. Nothing exciting happened, like, at all. It was way too long as well. There were several near falls at which I groaned because I wanted to move on to whatever came next.

    I was pleasantly surprised that they gave Piper the win. They let Alba Fyre and Chelsea Greene assist in her win which I was fine with. It made Chelsea’s faction look a lot stronger than I thought they would be. It would’ve been a shame to add a new member just to lose anyway.

    Jade Cargill vs Liv Morgan

    Jade Cargill had her first singles match since August of last year tonight against Liv Morgan. A match that spawned from their altercation last week during Jade’s interview with Cathy Kelley.

    Jade started off the match dominating Liv to the point where Liv and Raquel tried to retreat. Jade grabbed Liv by the hair and dragged her back to the ring.

    From that point forward Liv started to show some offense. She would end up winning the match after taking advantage of interference from Naomi, who hit Jade over the head with Liv’s title belt. I beatdown from Naomi to Jade then ensued after the match.

    I honestly thought that Jade Cargill should’ve won this match. As of now, Liv Morgan unfortunately doesn’t have a story lined up for Mania and might end up missing the show entirely. She could’ve taken a loss here and not have gotten completely buried.

    As for Naomi, this was her first real appearance as a heel. She looked nasty, absolutely destroying Jade Cargill. She looks like a real threat going forward for the women’s division as a whole after this feud is over. Smackdown could really use more big heels in the women’s division other than Nia Jax.

    Celebration Cut Short

    The brand-new WWE Tag Team Champions made their way to the ring to celebrate last week’s win over DIY. They debuted with new entrance music as well. The Bologna crowd was all for Tez and Dawkins, and that showed in what went down next.

    Lagado Del Fantasma interrupted them demanding a match for the titles. Pretty Deadly came out next, reminding everyone that they were next in line. However, The Profits would give the match to Lagado, and defeat them in what was, in my opinion, the match of the night.

    Smackdown’s tag team division has come such a long way from just a few months ago. I remember seeing complaints online about Triple H not knowing how to book tag teams. Those people are awfully quiet now, huh? As long as they don’t look over at Raw’s division anyway…

    Punk, Reigns, and Rollins

    The main event of the show was the segment that everyone had been waiting weeks for. That was the promo between CM Punk, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins to set up a triple-threat match at WrestleMania.

    Roman made his way to the ring first with his wise man, Paul Heyman. For the first time since losing his title to Cody at WM 40, he said his infamous line “acknowledge me.”

    He was swiftly met by Seth Rollins who gave a quick rundown of their beef throughout their time in WWE. They came into the business together, became stars together, betrayed each other, and grew to become even bigger stars simultaneously, crossing paths only every so often. There is no Seth Rollins without Roman Reigns, and there is no Roman Reigns without Seth Rollins.

    CM Punk came out to interrupt the two former S.H.I.E.L.D. brothers. He reminded them that neither of them would exist without him either.

    CM Punk also dropped a hint about the favor that Paul Heyman still owes him, although we are yet to find out what that might be.

    Finally, Punk thanked Paul for bringing the Tribal Chief right to him. Roman turned to glare at Paul in confusion, and Punk attacked him from behind.

    A brawl ensued in which each man attacked one another and called their shot for WrestleMania. We got camera shots of each of them pointing toward the ever-looming WrestleMania sign all but confirming our hopes of a triple-threat match at the show of shows.

    Personally, I was disappointed with this segment. It did what it needed to do by setting up the match, but I expected more mic work between three of the industry’s best promo cutters.

    WrestleMania is still weeks away, however, and I am sure there will be plenty of time between now and then to get some awesome mic battles.

  • 3/14/25 Smackdown Summary

    The first night of WWE’s Road to WrestleMania European Tour was as electric as we expected, which elevated the show to new heights.

    Kicking Things Off With a YEAH!

    The newly crowned United States Champion LA Knight kicked off the show last night with a promo to get the crowd going and was interrupted by a desperate Jimmy Uso. Jimmy said he feels that his window to WrestleMania closing and asked Knight for a title shot.

    Before he could accept Jimmy’s offer, Knight was interrupted by Solo Sikoa and the new Bloodline, who came out saying that if anyone deserved a title shot, it was Jacob Fatu. A brawl began and Braun Strowman joined in the chaos shortly after, which prompted GM Nick Aldis to declare a three-on-three tag team match to start the night.

    This match was one that could’ve appeared on any episode of Smackdown. What made it special was the Barcelona crowd. They were on fire, which would stay true until the very end of the show.

    The Babyface team came out victorious, but another brawl ensued after the final bell rang between Strowman and Fatu, elevating their feud further. Jacob Fatu walked out of this looking stronger than anyone.

    Jade Cargill is Interrupted by Liv and Raquel

    The next segment of the show was an interview with Jade Cargill in which we finally found out her side of the story as to what happened with Naomi. As she faded into a state of unconsciousness, she saw Naomi running from the scene of the crime. She said that physically, she is fine. She is more hurt emotionally than anything.

    As for why she didn’t tell anyone until weeks later, I’m not exactly sure we got our answer. Liv Morgan was wondering the same thing. She and Raquel interrupted the segment to set up a match between her and Jade next week.

    I tell you what, Liv Morgan is an amazing heel (if you couldn’t already tell from the year she just had). She plays one of the most easily hateable and annoying characters in the WWE today. Especially with that laugh of hers. You know the one. I said to my girlfriend after the segment,

    “Liv Morgan is such a b*tch and I love it.”

    B-Fab vs The Queen

    Charlotte Flair had her first singles match in over a year last night against B-Fab, which she predictably won. In the match, she showed little to no signs of ring rust. She looked to be a bit careful with her injured knee at times, but otherwise, she looked WrestleMania-ready. She even got fireworks for her entrance.

    After the match, Charlotte refused to let B-Fab out of the figure 8 leg-lock. This prompted Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton to rush down to the ring to make the save, and an awesome brawl ensued for a while afterward.

    I feel like this feud has the same problem as Jey Uso vs Gunther at the moment. Like why is Tiffy saving B-Fab? They have no relation to one another at all. I think this would’ve been more effective if Charlotte had taken on Trish Stratus tonight, who has an actual connection to Tiffany.

    Miz TV: Featuring Cody Rhodes

    Miz TV kicked off the way it usually does. With the Miz bashing his guest from every angle he can before he even makes it to the ring.

    There was a short interruption before the WWE Champion made it to the ring however, and that was the brawl from the previous segment leaking over into this one. For me, this didn’t add much more to the show or feud than the previous segment did. I just wanted to hear from Cody at this point.

    Unfortunately, I didn’t get to hear very much from Cody tonight. He made his way to the ring, beat up The Miz, and called out the absent John Cena for the third show in a row.

    I think that they have been showing Cody too much since the Cena heel turn, to the point where the crowd has seemingly turned their backs on Cody Rhodes. The John Cena chants were loud. Very loud. People want to see and hear from him more than anything. Showing Cody each week without Cena unintentionally putting Cena more over than ever. Unless this is what WWE is going for.

    Damien Priest vs Shinsuke Nakamura

    Damien Priest defeated Shinsuke Nakamura via disqualification in a singles match tonight. I gotta say, I knew Priest wasn’t walking away from this with an L on his record, but it was nice to see Shinsuke getting some TV time. Since losing his US title (last week) he has already had the same amount of matches as he did in his title reign.

    I said on my radio show a few nights ago that I feared for Shinsuke’s career if WWE couldn’t find a way to use him after dropping the title. Although nothing crazy came out of this match, more TV time alone is doing him and his new auraless character a favor.

    Drew McIntyre attacked Damien Priest late in the match to give him the disqualification win. We saw in a video package earlier in the show what Drew’s motivations for targeting Priest are. Thank god we got this too because without it, I had honestly forgotten how involved with Drew’s previous year that Damien Priest was.

    Priest capitalized on Drew at WrestleMania, Drew was screwed over in a title match against Priest in his home country, Priest was a part of Drew’s terrible Money In The Bank cash-in, Damien eliminated him from the rumble, and now he got the best of Drew in Elimination Chamber as well.

    While I still can’t say I think this is the right thing to do with Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania, at least it is starting to make a little bit more sense now.

    A New Challenger for Chelsea Green

    We got a backstage segment setting up a feud between Chelsea Green and Zelina Vega for the Women’s United States Championship.

    I couldn’t be more happy about this. I am not sure that this will be the feud for WrestleMania, but anything is better than Michin at this point. I hate Michin so much, dude…

    Randy Orton vs Carmelo Hayes

    As Charlotte Flair did earlier in the night, Randy Orton made his in-ring return with a one-on-one match against Carmelo Hayes.

    This match was absolutely awesome and probably my favorite match of the night. As expected, Randy Orton walked out of this looking like the high caliber superstar that we all know he is. But I have to say, Carmelo Hayes earned his flowers tonight. I think he deserves a spot at WrestleMania this year. He has been one of the most consistent superstars getting TV time on Smackdown since his main roster debut.

    The finish to this match was sick as well. Randy pretending that Melo got the best of him, acting dizzy for a second while Hayes prepared to finish him off just to hit him with an RKO from out of nowhere was super cool. We even got another punt kick tease at the end of the match.

    Hometown Hero Makes His Main-Roster Debut

    One-half of the NXT Tag Team Champions, Axiom, made his Smackdown debut tonight in his home country of Spain against none other than Gunther, who was set on embracing the hometown hero in front of everyone.

    This was a nice surprise. I don’t watch NXT as consistently as I do Raw or Smackdown, but I knew that this guy was super talented. Everyone in the crowd knew who he was, and he put on an absolute show. I can’t wait to see what he can do when he finally gets his call-up.

    A Shakeup in the Chaotic Tag Team Division

    After four long years, The Street Profits have finally reclaimed tag team gold. This match was spectacular and definitely earned its main event spot.

    This was a well-deserved title change. I knew that The Profitd would reclaim the titles eventually, but not quite yet. My original prediction was that DIY would drop them to Pretty Deadly next week and that Tez and Dawkins would win them at WrestleMania.

    For as big of a moment as this was, I think a victory for The Profits would have been much bigger if it were at WrestleMania. I think we can all see a five-team ladder match for the tag titles coming for Mania. I would have liked to see them win there rather than defending them heading into it.

    This division is so hectic right now that I don’t see their reign lasting too long. And honestly, that’s the way it should be. We don’t need another drawn-out Uso-like reign with these titles. They should be passed around every few months to keep this division competitive and fresh.

  • 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.