WWE WrestleMania 40 - Night Two

By Steve Ward

WWE once again emanated from Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA for Night Two of WrestleMania 40. This evening proved to be a more entertaining spectacle with the increase in star power and championship bouts as Night One felt like more of a glorified kick off show with the exception of a stellar main event. Tonight’s card featured seven matches with five titles contested leading up to Cody Rhodes getting another opportunity to “finish his story” in an attempt to take the Universal Championship from Roman Reigns under Bloodline Rules.

WWE World Heavyweight Championship

Seth Rollins (c) vs. Drew McIntyre

Winner: Drew McIntyre via pinfall

McIntyre earned his shot at Rollins’ championship as a result of his victory in the Elimination Chamber. Seth “Freakin” Rollins would face an uphill battle after the punishment he undertook on Night One in the main event, and it showed as he entered the match covered in Kinesio tape. Seth Rollins demonstrated impressive resiliency throughout the match as he withstood several Claymore Kicks until the final two were simply too much for him to withstand.

Following the match, McIntyre decided to gloat in the face of CM Punk who was the guest commentator for the match. Punk took exception and swiped Drew’s feet out from under him as he stood on the announce table over him. Punk then removed the brace from his arm and beat McIntyre down as the music of The Judgement Day echoed throughout the stadium. Damian Priest sprinted to the ring with his Money In The Bank briefcase and leveled McIntyre with it before telling the referee that he would be cashing in his title opportunity.

WWE World Heavyweight Championship

Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Damian Priest

Winner: Damian Priest via pinfall

Damian Priest promptly executed the South of Heaven to steal the World Heavyweight Championship from McIntyre.

Philadelphia Street Fight

The Final Testament (Karrion Kross & Authors of Pain) w/ Scarlett & Paul Ellering vs. Bobby Lashley & The Street Profits w/ B-Fab

Special Guest Referee: Bubba Ray Dudley

Winners: Bobby Lashley & The Street Profits

Following the destruction of several kendo sticks, chairs, and tables, this match saw its conclusion as Lashley and The Street Profits isolated Kross and laid him out across yet another table. Montez Ford then climbed to the top turnbuckle and leapt onto Kross putting him through the table and cinching the victory for his team.

AJ Styles vs. LA Knight\

Winner: LA Knight via pinfall

AJ Styles blamed LA Knight for costing him the Universal Heavyweight Championship when they were engaged in a triple threat match with Roman Reigns several months back. Tempers finally boiled over in the Elimination Chamber match as Styles assaulted Knight with a steel chair leading them into a bitter rivalry that culminated tonight on the Showcase of the Immortals. AJ Styles appeared to have LA Knight in dire straits for much of the match, however, his attempts at a springboard 450, Phenomenal Forearm, and Styles Clash were all denied before Knight finally countered with the BFT (Blunt Force Trauma) to seal his first WrestleMania victory.

United States Championship Match

Logan Paul (c) vs. Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens

Winner: Logan Paul via pinfall

Orton and Owens initially stood unified against Paul until he had been thoroughly beaten down and the match devolved into chaos. In the final moments of the match, Orton hit the RKO on Kevin Owens as a counter to the Pop-Up Powerbomb. Paul then got the jump on Orton and tossed him out of the ring allowing him to capitalize on a downed Owens with an impressive frog splash to put the final exclamation on his successful title defense.

WWE Women’s Championship

Iyo Sky (c) vs. Bayley

Winner: Bayley via pinfall

After Bayley won the Women’s Royal Rumble match back in January, her Damage Ctrl stablemates unceremoniously ousted her from the group with a vicious beat down setting up tonight’s showdown of former best friends. Bayley was limited the entire match by what appeared to be a legitimate knee injury but still prevailed in the end with a massive top rope elbow drop followed by the Rose Plant to crown her as the new WWE Women’s Champion.

WWE Undisputed Universal Championship

Roman Reigns (c) w/ Paul Heyman vs. Cody Rhodes

Winner: Cody Rhodes via pinfall

Tonight’s match was contested under Bloodline Rules (meaning there would be no disqualifications, no count outs, etc.) as a result of Rhodes and Rollins losing the main event of WrestleMania Night One to Roman Reigns and The Rock. The big question tonight would be whether Cody Rhodes, the cover Superstar for the WWE 2K24 video game, would “finish his story” as predicted or would Roman Reigns continue his historic title reign. The match initially got off to an uneventful start, but business began to pick up as Jimmy Uso came to Reigns’ aid at the first sign of peril, but he was neutralized by his twin brother Jey. Next, Solo Sikoa helped Roman take down Rhodes again. This time John Cena came to Rhodes rescue only to have his momentum disrupted promptly by The Rock who delivered the Rock Bottom to the 16-time world champion.

Then the music of The Shield shocked the WWE Universe as a broken Seth Rollins entered the ring in his old Shield attire only to be the recipient of a brutal chair shot to the back. Next, the shocker of the match occurred as the lights went out and the unmistakable bell tolled throughout Lincoln Financial Field. As the lights returned, The Rock found himself face to face with The Undertaker who choke slammed “The Final Boss” before the lights once again went out. As the lights came back up, The Undertaker was gone, and The Rock was incapacitated on the floor outside of the ring. Shortly thereafter, Rhodes delivered three consecutive Cross Rhodes to conquer The Tribal Chief and finish his story on the grandest stage of them all.

WWE Royal Rumble 2024

By Steve Ward

The WWE kicked off the road to Wrestlemania this evening as the Royal Rumble emanated from Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. This evening’s event featured a men’s and women’s Royal Rumble match, as well as, a Fatal Four Way Match for the Undisputed Universal Championship as Roman Reigns put his 1,245 day title reign on the line against AJ Styles, Randy Orton, and LA Knight.

Women’s Royal Rumble Match

Winner: Bayley

Order of entry:

Natalya

Naomi

Bayley

Candice LeRae

Jordynne Grace

Indi Hartwell

Asuka

Ivy Nile

Katana Chance

Bianca Belair

Kairi Sane

Tegan Nox

Kayden Carter

Chelsea Green

Piper Niven

Xia Li

Zelina Vega

Maxxine Dupri

Nia Jax

Shotzi

Becky Lynch

Alba Fyre

Shayna Baszler

Valhalla

Michin

Zoey Stark

Roxanne Perez

Jade Cargill

Tiffany Stratton

Liv Morgan

Final Three: Jade Cargill, Bayley, Liv Morgan (Tiffany Stratton and Bianca Belair were simultaneously eliminated off the apron by Bayley)

In the final moments, all three women battled on the ring apron. First, Morgan shockingly tossed Cargill off the apron. Next, Bayley, ever the opportunist, kicked Liv’s legs out from under her for the elimination and to punch her ticket to Lincoln Financial Field for Wrestlemania.

Undisputed Universal Championship Fatal Four Way Match

Roman Reigns (c) w/ Paul Heyman vs. AJ Styles vs. Randy Orton vs. LA Knight

Winner: Roman Reigns via pinfall

Several weeks ago on Smackdown, Styles, Knight, and Orton competed in a Triple Threat Match to determine Reigns’ opponent for tonight’s event, however, The Bloodline ensured that no winner was determined. As a result of their actions, Smackdown general manager Nick Aldis declared that all three men would compete against Reigns tonight. In the closing moments, Reigns appeared to be in dire straits after a barrage of chair shots from AJ Styles and a massive elbow drop from LA Knight. Knight then attempted the BFT but Reigns countered and propelled him into the ropes where Styles was preparing to deliver a Phenomenal Forearm. Styles was knocked off the ropes and Reigns took advantage by executing a body crumbling spear to secure the pinfall and retain his title.

WWE United States Championship 

Logan Paul (c) vs. Kevin Owens

Winner: Logan Paul via disqualification

In the closing moments of the contest, Grayson Waller and Austin Theory made their way to ringside. Theory proceeded to slip brass knuckles to Logan Paul, however, Kevin Owens ripped them off his hand before he could be struck and turned around to use them on Paul. As Owens went for the pinfall, the referee saw the brass knuckles on Owens’ hand and disqualified him.

Men’s Royal Rumble Match

Winner: Cody Rhodes

Order of entry:

Jey Uso

Jimmy Uso

Grayson Waller

Andrade

Carmelo Hayes

Shinsuke Nakamura

Santos Escobar

Karrion Kross

Dominik Mysterio

Carlito

Bobby Lashley

Ludwig Kaiser

Austin Theory

Finn Balor

Cody Rhodes

Bronson Reed

Kofi Kingston

Gunther

Ivar

Bron Breakker

Omos w/ MVP

Pat McAfee

JD McDonagh

R-Truth

The Miz

Damian Priest

CM Punk

Ricochet

Drew McIntyre

Sami Zayn

Final Four: Drew McIntyre, CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, and Gunther

In the closing moments of the match, Punk surprised McIntyre near the ropes and hoisted him up on his shoulders and dumped him out of the ring. Next, Rhodes dragged Gunther by his head and pulled him over the top rope leaving Punk and Rhodes. Punk then attempted the Go To Sleep, however, Rhodes escaped and tossed Punk out to win for the second year in a row.

Following the match, Rhodes directed his attention to the skybox, where Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman were seated, and pointed at The Tribal Chief setting up a rematch of their encounter from last year’s Showcase of the Immortals.

WWE Summerslam 2020

By Steve Ward                                                                                                                                              

As we approach the end of month six of the “Quarantine Era,” WWE Summerslam emanated this evening from their new temporary home - the WWE Thunderdome (can you say copyright infringement?). The introduction of this new venue came from the boss himself, Mr. McMahon, this past Friday night on Smackdown. For those who are unaware, the Thunderdome is actually the Amway Center in Orlando, the normal home of the Orlando Magic, with large video screens lining the arena seats with the faces of fans watching from home on their webcams - if I’m being honest, I appreciate the effort and it is nice to see a show held in an arena, however, it also reminds me of a ‘90s sci-fi movie set in a dystopian future. Nonetheless, the show which held the tag line “You won’t see it coming” featured a card of seven matches with five titles defended.

Smackdown Women’s Championship Asuka vs. Bayley (c) Winner: Bayley via pinfall

Over the past two weeks, Asuka found herself earning an opportunity at not only one, but both, of the top women’s titles in WWE. First, she defeated Bayley recently on RAW to earn a shot against Sasha Banks for the RAW Women’s Title and then a women’s battle royal on Smackdown to also earn an opportunity at Bayley’s Smackdown Women’s Title. Asuka clearly controlled the tempo of this entire bout, however, the number’s game proved to be the deciding factor. In the closing moments, Bayley was in dire straits hung up on the ropes as Asuka propelled herself at her. At the last second, Banks pushed Bayley out of the way and took the shot for her. This opened the opportunity for Bayley to roll up a distracted Asuka for the pinfall.

RAW Tag Team Championship The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) (c) vs. Andrade & Angel Garza w/ Zelina Vega Winners: The Street Profits via pinfall

Late in the contest Vega climbed to the ring apron to attract the attention of the referee as Ford was propelled into the ropes by Angel Garza knocking her to the floor. This prompted Andrade to attend to Vega leaving his partner high and dry. Garza was overwhelmed by The Street Profits with Ford ascending to the top rope for an impressive splash that solidified their victory.

Loser Leaves WWE Match Mandy Rose vs. Sonya Deville Winner: Mandy Rose via pinfall

The months of drama between the former Fire & Desire cohorts finally culminated this evening in a Loser Leaves WWE No Disqualification Match. Sadly, the most entertaining part of this match was Mandy Rose’s futile effort to flip a table upright after opening the legs. This bout reached it’s merciful conclusion as Rose drove a running knee into the cranium of Deville allowing her to secure the pinfall victory and sending Deville packing - could she appear in AEW in 90 days???

Street Fight Dominik Mysterio w/ Rey Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins w/ Buddy Murphy Winner: Seth Rollins via pinfall

Over the past few months we’ve witnessed the unfolding of an ugly rivalry between Rey Mysterio and Seth Rollins that not only saw Rey “lose his eye” at Extreme Rules but also have his son Dominik drawn into the fold. Following a vicious kendo stick beating at the hands of Rollins and Murphy recently on RAW, this bout came to fruition and also marked the in-ring debut of the young Mysterio. Dominik Mysterio made a solid showing in his debut WWE match including the execution of a frog splash early in the contest, however, it wasn’t enough to overcome the Monday Night Messiah. In the final moments of the bout, another window of opportunity opened for Dominik as Rollins and Murphy became preoccupied with Rey and handcuffed him to the ropes. Dominik proceeded to take down Rollins and scaled to the top turnbuckle for another frog splash attempt. This time Dominik was met with a pair of knees to the midsection followed by a curb stomp that sealed the victory for Rollins.

RAW Women’s Championship Asuka vs. Sasha Banks (c) w/ Bayley Winner: Asuka via submission

After losing her bid at championship gold earlier in the evening, Asuka made her way back out to the ring to square off with Sasha Banks. As we approached the conclusion of this match it appeared the number’s game would again be the determining factor in the contest as Bayley this time saved Banks from Asuka. Banks proceeded to cinch in the Bank Statement, however, Asuka was able to roll through and reverse it into the Asuka Lock for the submission victory.

WWE Championship Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Randy Orton Winner: Drew McIntyre via pinfall

Following weeks of revisiting his “Legend Killer” persona with attacks on Christian, The Big Show, Ric Flair, and Shawn Michaels, Randy Orton found himself in the position for a shot at his 14th World Championship against the man who dethroned Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania, Drew McIntyre. This hard-hitting contest ended in rather shocking fashion. McIntyre couldn’t land the Claymore Kick, then Orton’s attempt at an RKO was thwarted only to see McIntyre win with an underwhelming backslide pin to retain the title.

WWE Universal Championship Falls Count Anywhere Match Braun Strowman (c) vs. “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt Winner: “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt via pinfall

Following the Swamp Fight at Extreme Rules last month, we saw the reemergence of The Fiend and the darker side of Braun Strowman. After weeks of mind games between the two, we arrived to a Falls Count Anywhere Match for the Universal Championship tonight. Braun attempted to pull out an additional stop to put away Wyatt ass he used a box cutter to remove a portion of the ring canvas and padding to expose the wood planks, however, it backfired as he was met with the Sister Abigail as Wyatt regained the title. After the end of the match, Roman Reigns emerged from out of nowhere to lay waste to both Wyatt and Strowman after several months out of action declaring that he was the true owner of the title.

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WWE Extreme Rules 2020

By Steve Ward

The latest pay-per-view installment of the “Quarantine Era” aired live from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida as we were presented with Extreme Rules…correction…The Horror Show at Extreme Rules. Yes, you read that correctly…the WWE decided to rename the event by prefacing the normal Extreme Rules moniker with “The Horror Show.” While I understand this is likely tied to the main event where Bray Wyatt challenged Braun Strowman for the Universal Championship, this name certainly could open WWE up to some ridicule. For instance, if this show doesn’t deliver, well, it will be considered a “horror show” - just not for the reason WWE intended. After last night’s Impact Wrestling Slammiversary show saw the debuts/returns of Gallows & Anderson, Eric Young, EC3, Heath Slater, Alex Shelley, and Chris Sabin, WWE had a lot to live up to in the eyes of the less than casual fan. Tonight’s show featured six matches and was headlined with the aforementioned Wyatt Swamp Fight between Bray Wyatt and Universal Champion Braun Strowman.

Smackdown Tag Team Championship Tables Match

Cesaro & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston) (c)

Winners: Cesaro & Shinsuke Nakamura

An ongoing feud between these teams culminated this evening in a Tables Match for the Smackdown Tag Team Championship. Following a rather pedestrian match, the ending came in spectacular fashion. Two tables were stacked on top of each other outside the ring as Cesaro found himself jockeying for position with Kofi on the top turnbuckle. As it appeared that Kofi was going to escape disaster, Nakamura met them on the ring apron and delivered a brutal kick to Kingston’s back. This allowed Cesaro to power bomb Kofi through both tables solidifying their victory.

Smackdown Women’s Championship

Nikki Cross vs. Bayley (c)

Winner: Bayley via pinfall

Riding the heels of a 282 day stretch as the Smackdown Women’s champion (and currently half of the Smackdown Women’s Tag Team Champions with Sasha Banks), Bayley put the title on the line against the underrated Nikki Cross this evening. Bayley was in dire straits late in the bout after she received a neck breaker to the arena floor. After the women returned to the ring, Banks handed her Boss ring off to Bayley who viciously punched Cross in the stomach and followed it up with a face plant to retain her title.

MVP was scheduled to challenge Apollo Crews for the United States Championship, however, Crews failed a “pre-match physical.” The announce team cited this was from an injury sustained a month ago at the hands of MVP’s cohort Bobby Lashley, however, one has to wonder if perhaps he entered the venue with a fever or other Coronavirus symptoms. Nonetheless, MVP proceeded to walk down to the ring, pick up the newly designed United States Championship, and proclaim himself the new champion by forfeit.

Eye for an Eye Match

Rey Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins
Winner: Seth Rollins

This had to be one of the most ridiculous stipulations I’ve ever heard of…at least when Abdullah the Butcher was “electrocuted” at the conclusion of the infamous Chamber of Horrors Match in WCW back in the early ‘90s, they made it appear somewhat realistic albeit comedic at the same time. Anyway, Rollins pressed Mysterio’s face into the corner of a ring stair allegedly inflicting an eye injury a few weeks back. That coupled with the ongoing inclusion of Rey’s son Dominic being targeted by the Monday Night Messiah, we have arrived at this match. The announce team actually said the winner would be declared by removing one of his opponent’s eyes - really??? This match was one of the worst I’ve ever seen. The two men spent the majority of the bout trying to puncture out the other’s eyes with various tools, pens, and edges of ring stairs. The conclusion finally came after Rollins pressed Mysterio’s eye into the edge of a ring stair until after the referee put it, it was hanging out. Following this I personally hope the rumors are true that Rey’s contract is up because it would be nice to see such a legendary competitor used in a promotion like AEW where his talent would be respected and he would be utilized as something more than a sideshow attraction.

RAW Women’s Championship

Asuka (c) w/ Kairi Sane vs. Sasha Banks w/ Bayley

Winner: No contest

In what was looking to be a nice recovery to the preceeding shit show of a match, a very competitive title bout ended in ludicrous fashion. As Banks stood with a title belt in hand poised to strike Asuka when she returned to her feet, Asuka sprung up and spewed the green mist - the only problem was Banks ducked and left the referee to receive the full brunt of it in his face. Bayley then proceeded to remove the referee’s shirt and put it on herself. After Banks took down Asuka and covered her, Bayley counted the pinfall and Sasha stole the title proclaiming herself champion.

WWE Championship

Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler

Winner: Drew McIntyre via pinfall

Ziggler found himself in this match after he promptly confronted the champ following his trade to RAW along with Bobby Roode for AJ Styles. Ziggler told McIntyre that he was owed a match based on their extensive history and that he would keep the stipulation for the contest a secret until the night of Extreme Rules. Before the bell rang, Ziggler announced that the match would be contested under extreme rules…for him only. Ziggler also stated that if McIntyre were disqualified or counted out, he would also relinquish the title. Ziggler put forth a solid effort despite the fact he stacked the deck against McIntyre, however, the defending champ took everything he had and finally closed the contest with a brutal Claymore kick to successfully retain his title.

Universal Championship Wyatt Swamp Fight

Bray Wyatt vs. Braun Strowman (c)

Winner: Bray Wyatt???

After Wyatt’s attempts to awaken Strowman’s dark side from his early days as a member of the Wyatt family to no avail, Bray revived his original cult leader persona in the fashion of Waylon Mercy. This set the stage for another cinematic pay per view main event in the form of a Wyatt Swamp Fight. Sadly, this did not come anywhere close to reaching the bar established by the Undertaker vs. AJ Styles clash at Wrestlemania - in fact it was just plain bad. The conclusion found Wyatt and Strowman fighting on a pier as Braun kicked Bray into the water thinking the fight was over. Next, a hand emerged from the water, grabbed Strowman by the throat, and dragged him into the swampy abyss. After the two struggled for a few moments, the face of The Fiend emerged from the water as the broadcast ended. Apparently, there was no winner - at least not in the traditional sense.

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