Opinion

WWE Week In Revew: September 2-8, 2018

Published

6 years ago

September 10, 2018

We’re coming into the homestretch for Hell in a Cell! A shocking title change took place on RAW, the Shield found themselves dealing with a lot more than the new faction of Strowman, Ziggler, and McIntyre, Bobby Lashley found meditation not to his liking, Charlotte and Becky’s feud gets nasty, Naomi has a new ally, and Almas and Vega learn a painful lesson about keeping their noses out of other people’s feuds. So let’s check out what’s going on this week!

RAW

Shield Vs Everyone: Strowman and his new friends were very proud of themselves for what the did to the Shield, calling last week’s beatdown ‘justice’. Unfortunately, the Hounds didn’t agree with their definition of ‘Justice’. Unfortunately, Corbin insisted on being a stick in the mud and tried to keep the warring factions apart. When that failed, he had the Shield arrested.

After Strowman had beaten Balor in the main event, he and his new buddies were preparing to possibly put Balor on the shelf for a long when the police van showed back up. To no one’s surprise, the Shield came out, having made bail, but before the fun could finally start, the Shield was jumped by the entire heel locker room. The Shield fought valiantly, but the numbers caught up to them and all three were left laid out. Safe to say, if the Hounds had been out for blood this week, they’ll be out of more than that next week.

RAW Women’s Division: After three years, the Bella Twins were in action against the Riott Squad in an incredible match that reminds us all why the Bellas were so dominate for so long. There were a lot of rough spots, and plenty of blame to go around on both sides, but the ladies all did a great job with the Bellas pulling out the victory. Welcome back, Nikki and Brie!

On the Women’s Title front, Alexa Bliss attempted to gain some momentum by taking on Nattie Neidhart. Alexa showed that she’d learned some submission moves of her own, making Nattie tap out to an armbar. When Ronda went to check on her friend, Alexa attempted to get the jump on the Women’s champion, only to be reminded that Ronda Rousey didn’t got undefeated for years by being easy to get a jump on and sent the former champ scurrying away to the safety of her lackeys.

In the third women’s match of the evening, Dana Brooke of Titus Worldwide teamed up with Ember Moon against the Boss-Hug Connection. Dana was accompanied by Titus and Apollo, who were bickering with each other and trying to give her advice. Their efforts resulted in Dana being pinned by Sasha, much to her chagrin. When both men tried to apologize, Dana snapped, saying that she was done with both of them, before leaving. Looks like Titus Worldwide has an opening for number cruncher.

RAW Tag Team Championship: It was announced by WWE on Monday that the B-Team will defend their RAW tag team titles against the Revival on RAW. This came a week after the Revival’s spectacular victory over the B-Team last week. Unfortunately, the Revival’s well-earned match didn’t happen due to Ziggler and McIntyre attacking them and deciding that they wanted the tag titles, despite doing nothing to earn them. Despite a valiant effort, the B-Team’s luck ran out and Ziggler and McIntyre are the new RAW Tag Team Champions. In a post match interview, the B-Team was still in shock over their loss, but vowed to invoke their rematch clause.

Constable Corbin: Corbin decided to be a stick in the mud and tried to stop the Shield and Strowman, McIntyre, and Ziggler from fighting. His solution, have the Shield arrested, didn’t go over very well. Corbin was also called out by Finn Balor, which caused Corbin to book himself against Balor for the evening’s main event, eventually, that was changed to Strowman vs Balor.

Undertaker vs Triple H: In a perfect world, and my dreams, the appearance of Shawn Michaels on Monday Night RAW would’ve been to answer Seth Rollins’ Open Challenge. However, that was not to be. Mr. WrestleMania was here to promote the Undertaker/Triple H match at the Super Show Down Under, and to pimp his new shirt. To no one’s surprise, HBK picked his best friend, Triple H to win. Then, we got a real surprise when, for the first time in over a year, the Undertaker was on Monday Night RAW. The Demon of Death Valley reminded HBK that he’d taken both HBK and Triple H on and beaten them both, including taking HBK’s career.

Bobby Rood and Chad Gable vs The Ascension: In a truly random, yet awesome move, Bobby Roode and Chad Gable formed a tag team and face the Ascension, who were not impressed. The match was pretty good, Gable and Roode worked together quite seamlessly, pulling out a victory over the Ascension and celebrating in the ring.

Elias: Elias’ new gig seems to be opening for the Women’s Division. However, he’s at least got a fans in Alexa Bliss.

Authors of Pain vs Jobbers: Authors of Pain showed up this week with a new manager: Drake Maverick, General Manager of 205 Live, and they were facing a hapless pair of jobbers, who didn’t really stand a chance.

Bobby Lashley: Corbin’s abuse of power had implications for Lashley this week. After his dominate performance over the Ascension last week, Lashley was called in for a performance review and told that he had anger management problems. In order to ‘help’ him, he was ordered to a meditation session with Jinder Mahal. It was clear before anything happened that Lashley thought the whole thing was BS, but he was a good sport an played along, right up until he was attacked from behind by Kevin Owens. After a great deal of back and forth that also involved Mahal and Singh, Lashley was laid out with a pop up powerbomb. Have a feeling Owens is going to regret that.

SmackDown Live

WWE Championship: Everyone has a breaking point, and AJ Styles has reached his. Samoa Joe’s disturbing mind games continued this week. He continued to taunt Styles and his family, and this time, Styles SNAPPED. He attacked Joe and beat his opponent rather severely before referees and GM Paige were able to convince him to leave. Joe seems to have gotten under AJ’s skin, but has he poked the bear one time too many?

WWE United States Championship: Nakamura wasn’t in action this week, presumably still claiming that he doesn’t have to defend the title since he’s the ruler of Nakamerica.

SmackDown Women’s Division: Charlotte and Becky’s feud hit social media on Monday. The two exchanged some harsh tweets, Charlotte accepted Becky’s challenge, vowing to make her former friend tap out. Becky’s reply was to say that Charlotte was doing the smart thing by running her mouth while she could. On Tuesday, the former friends would have a video face to face confrontation. The war of words was brutal and nasty. Neither woman pulled any punches and it’s clear that each woman is convinced that she’s in the right and that the other is to blame for the end of their friendship.

Naomi, on the other hand, finally got some backup in her feud against the IIconics, and it’s not who you would expect. The Queen of Glow took on Peyton Royce again this week, and made sure to take steps to keep Billie Kay out of the match. Naomi’s foresight paid off with a victory over Peyton Royce, but didn’t help her when the enraged IIconics attacked her. Naomi was saved by the returning Asuka, who helped her fend off the IIconics and sent them running.

As for former Women’s Champion, Carmella, she finally had a confrontation with R-Truth. It turns out, Truth had a different motive for tracking her down, they’re going to be partners in this year’s Mixed Match Challenge, so in the spirit of partnership, Carmella accompanied him to the ring for his match with Miz.

SmackDown Tag Team Championship: This was week two of the Tag Team Tournament and this week it was the Usos vs Sanity vs Team Rusev with the winner facing the Bar to decide who faces New Day for the SmackDown Tag Team Titles. The match was fantastic and the ending was a genuine shock: Team Rusev pulls out the victory

Miz and Daniel Bryan: On Tuesday, Miz and Maryse did an empty arena promo, daring Brie Bella and Daniel Bryan to come punch them in the face. Not surprisingly, Brie and Daniel were less than impressed with this, stating that the whole thing proved what cowards Miz and Maryse were since they did the promo when they knew the Bryans were in the building. However, they quickly had more pressing issues than Miz and Maryse, namely, Andrade Almas wanting a rematch. This week’s match was every bit was great as last week, with Bryan pulling out an actual victory, while Brie got some payback on Zelina Vega. They then found themselves being mocked again by Miz and Maryse, who claimed to have rented out an Italian restaurant for a date night. Brie and Daniel suddenly get an urge for some Italian and leave…still in their ring gear.

No sooner had they left, than Miz and Maryse miraculously show up, ready to face Brie and Daniel, then claim that they left because they were afraid of the It Couple, rather than the other way around. Before they can leave, Paige informed them that Miz had a match, with whomever wanted a crack at him. Miz insulted Paige and stated that he wasn’t ready and that she needed to be a good GM instead of a bad one. Paige told them that they were free to leave, but that they would also be out of their jobs.

While sulking about that, Miz ran into an old friend, R-Truth, who was still hunting for Carmella. Truth mistook Maryse for Carmella, which led to Miz challenging Truth to a match.

Before their match, Miz would take another shot at Bryan and Brie, scolding Bryan for bringing his family into the feud and said that whatever happened would be Bryan’s fault.

The match was really good, Miz and Truth worked seamlessly together, and Miz took some pot shots at Carmella. Truth would get the victory after Bryan’s music distracted Miz enough for Truth to get the roll up victory. Not satisfied with watching the Miz get beat, Bryan runs to the ring and punches Miz in the face while Brie works on getting her hands on Maryse. Before any real damage can be done, Almas and Vega run in, still angry over the earlier match. Unfortunately for them, they get a painful lesson about minding your own business when Bryan and Brie lock them into Yes!Locks while the Mizanins look on. Miz rushed to the ring, but stopped so suddenly, he fell on his butt when Bryan stood up. Daniel and Brie were the ones left standing, Hell in a Cell could be a different story.

Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton: Last week, Jeff Hardy announced that he wanted to take his feud with Randy Orton into the terrifying confines of Hell in a Cell. Randy, along with the rest of us, had been stunned by this announcement. This week, Randy seems to have gotten over his shock, in fact, he seemed to relish what he can do to Hardy inside Hell in a Cell, promising that what he’s going to do will be ‘sickening’.

205 Live

WWE Cruiserweight Championship: For the last couple of weeks, Drew Gulak has been demanding a rematch against Cedric Alexander and has been denied by GM Drake Maverick. This week, Alexander seemed to have made it known to Maverick that he was going to call Gulak out again and Maverick wasn’t happy about it. However, given the circumstances and the respect he had for Alexander, he won’t stop him, unless things get out of hand.

Alexander went to the ring and cut a promo, stating that he’d been champion for five months and between Buddy Murphy and Drew Gulak, he’s had a lot to deal with. Turning his attention to Gulak, Alexander tells the Philly Fury that if he has any integrity, he’ll come out so that they can finish this. Not surprisingly, Gulak didn’t come out, what was surprising is who answered: TJP!

The inaugural Cruiserweight champion pointed that Alexander calling out Gulak is pointless because Gulak is an opportunist. TJP, on the other hand, is impatient and he wants his title back. He claims that the front plate was made for him and that his next trading card will be a picture of him making Alexander tap out. So, on that note, we’ve got a match!

Alexander vs TJP was AMAZING! I have no really good words to describe it besides amazing. This match could easily be on a big PPV card. Alexander would pull out the win, but he and TJP made each other look like big money players. As TJP sort of predicted, Gulak waited until after the match to come out. He’s dressed for wrestling and announces that, big shock, he’s ready to accept Alexander’s challenge. Of course, Gulak being Gulak, he let Jack Gallagher do the dirty work on Alexander before slapping on the Gu-Lock.

Mustafa Ali: It turns out that Mustafa Ali hasn’t been cleared to return just yet, his appearance last week was because he was done with Hideo Itami’s reign of terror. Maverick repeated that Ali would not be competing again until Maverick was convinced that he was healthy enough to do so. Ali’s ribbing about Maverick’s AoP gear probably didn’t make Maverick very happy either. Time will tell when the Heart of 205 will be back in action, but Itami has been put on notice.

Gran Metalik vs Tony Nese: The neverending feud between the Lucha House Party and the Party Crashers continued this week, but it seems that Buddy Murphy and Kalisto had the night off. This time, Gran Metalik and Tony Nese locked up one-on-one without their respective team members at ringside. This match was wonderful, crazy, and amazing. These two worked together VERY well and put on a show-stealer of a match. Gran Metalik would pull out the win, but the score is secondary to the great match.

Buddy Murphy: Murphy took over Tony Nese’s interview, due to Nese having to run out to the ring. He’s got a lot on his mind with getting a Cruiserweight Title shot at the Super Show in Melbourne, and he’s determined to not let Cedric Alexander slip through his fingers again.

Noam Dar vs Brian Kelly: After vanquishing his TJP demon, Noam Dar may have a new rival to deal with: Lio Rush! The Man of the Hour, sporting a new haircut, made an appearance during the Supernova’s match against Brian Kelly and sat in on commentary. Rush said that he’d been slightly impressed by Dar as a wrestler and wanted to see the Scottish Super Nova up close. He also figured that Dar was a fan of his, which is doubtful. Dar and Kelly had a great match up, but Dar pulled out the win, much to Rush’s approval. Time will tell what will develop between the Man of the Hour and the Super Nova, I’m already excited about the match up.

NXT

NXT Championship: Tommaso Ciampa again addressed the NXT Universe by video and answered the burning question: Why hasn’t he been at NXT, defending his NXT Championship? It’s not because he’s afraid of getting his ass kicked by Johnny Gargano, or being questioned about the Aleister Black situation, no, it’s because he’s got no #1 Contender to play with. He’s also doing this because he’s tired of people’s expectations. He’s not a voice or a leader, he’s a predator and it’s time people saw that and follow him for what he is.

NXT North American Championship: We got a look at what happened after last week’s epic Champions vs Champions match between the Undisputed Era and Ricochet and Pete Dunne. Ricochet and Dunne were not happy with each other and each blamed the other for their losing effort. Each man wants the other’s title. In an effort to keep the peace, Regal comes out and announces a huge Champion vs Champion match in two weeks! One man could walk out a double champion, but where does that leave former NA Champ, Adam Cole?

NXT Women’s Division: Women’s Champion, Kairi Sane was in action tonight for the first time since winning the NXT Women’s Championship from Shayna Baszler at TakeOver. She took on the very talented Trish Adora in one-on-one action. While Adora managed to get in some offense, there was no stopping the Pirate Princess who put away her opponent with the InSane Elbow. As Sane was celebrating, she was attacked by former champion, Baszler, who made a lot bad pirate puns while informing Sane that she was invoking her rematch clause. Sane fought back and sent the Queen of Spades scrambling away.

NXT Tag Team Division: Undisputed Era wasn’t in action tonight but they were certainly on the minds of the War Raiders, who warned the Tag Champs that they can only run so much before the Raiders catch up to them and take those tag belts.

The long-awaited (I guess) debut of the Forgotten Sons happened this week, too, they took on the Street Profits in a really great match that reminded us of why Blake was one half of an amazing tag team with 205’s Buddy Murphy. This was a really great back and forth match that could’ve been anyone’s game, until two masked men stole Ford’s lucky (??) Black Solo Cup. The bandits were revealed to be The Mighty, but the distraction had bigger implications, it gave FS the opening to turn the tide and take the victory. Given Blake’s history and the performance they put on tonight, it’s safe to say that War Machine isn’t the only ones Undisputed Era needs to worry about.

Aleister Black Mystery: Regal’s investigation into the attack on Aleister Black continued this week. In the hot seat was Heavy Machinery, and Lars Sullivan. Otis was super nervous and ended up confessing to breaking the toilet last week due coffee giving him a pretty nasty sounding case of the runs. Regal, who somehow managed to keep a straight face during all of this, assures Otis that they aren’t in trouble for the toilet. He simply wanted to thank them for the footage they’d given him and wanted to know if they’d seen anything else. The boys come back with one little detail: Ciampa was hiding in the bushes, but that’s it.

Regal’s interview with Lars Sullivan, on the other hand, wasn’t quite as amusing. Sullivan again denied doing anything to Black and stated that if he had, everyone would’ve known about it. EC3 certainly learned that one the hard way.

Speaking of the One Percenter, he’s still out after the ass kicking Sullivan gave him last week and not cleared to wrestle, but Raul Mendoza, who suffered his own, less understandable, beatdown is cleared and will try and get some revenge on Mendoza next week. God help him.

Kona Reeves vs Kassius Ohno: There’s not much to say about this match. Ohno managed to get two offensive moves in before lights out. Afterwards, Ohno got on the mic, bemoaning the fact that he went from being all the buzz to being an afterthought. Well, that’s going to change. He’s going to create his own buzz by buzzkilling everyone else until he gets where he wants to be.

Johnny Gargano vs Veleveteen Dream: As if Johnny Wrestling wasn’t having enough trouble with his confidence crisis, but Velveteen Dream seems determined to to rub his face in it. The Experience came to the ring wearing a ‘Johnny Failure’ t-shirt and a ‘Who am I’ armband.

Needless to say, this match was AMAZING! Dream’s gimmick sometimes overshadows his talent, but it was out in full display in this match. Gargano was amazing as always, and the story was interesting and a test to see how Gargano would do NOT feuding with Ciampa. As far as that goes, it was pretty successful. Gargano’s dark side reared its head a few times, especially when he tied Dream into the ropes and superkicked him. The normally pro-Gargano crowd was actually torn throughout the match and that move may have cost Gargano some support. Unfortunately, Gargano’s desire to not lose the respect of his fans costs him as a distraction by a fan causes him to run into a Death Valley Driver and gives Dream the victory.

Afterwards, Gargano sat in the ring and contemplated how far he’s fallen. Even though the crowd cheers for them and his big fan at ringside is crying, he leaves without a word. Johnny Wrestling’s search for himself continues.

Overall Comments: Whew! That was quite a week for WWE! The build for Hell in a Cell continues and the cards for Evolution and the Super Show continue to take shape. Even though every WWE show was pretty good this week, there were a few things I had an issue with.

The total absence of the Shield. The fact that the top three guys on RAW were gone for almost the entire episode irritated me greatly
HBK and Taker: Okay, I’m a big fan of both of these guys, but it seems odd to me that HBK and Taker were given such a long segment and the top three guys on RAW weren’t there. If the price for having legends on is literally keeping the Universal Champ and IC Champ off TV, I’d rather have the current talent, and I’m saying that as a fan of HBK and Taker.
The Dana Brooke Thing: Okay, I’ll be the first to admit that Dana Brooke isn’t the best wrestler in the world, but her sudden departure from Titus Worldwide makes no sense and seems to sudden, much like the sudden coziness between her and Apollo. No, they aren’t Main Event Players, but at least give us a build for all of this.
The Revival/B-Team Issue: The Shield fangirl in me is pretty excited about where this seems to be going, but let’s not overlook the fact that the Revival and the B-Team got a dirty deal in this. A really promising feud just got short-circuited and it wasn’t necessary. Their feud with Ambrose and Rollins didn’t need them to be Tag Team Champions going into Hell in a Cell. Hopefully, things will be put right down the road, but I’m not happy with how WWE did this.

(Yes, I’m aware that all my issues are with RAW this week).

Final Thoughts: Overall, this was a really good week overall and the build for Hell in a Cell has been excellent, but there was some shoddy storytelling and that needs to be fixed.

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!

Related Topics:205 Live AJ Styles Braun Strowman Featured Monday Night Raw NXT Roman Reigns Smackdown Live WWE

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Opinion

Greg DeMarco’s Top 5: The Final Opponent For John Cena In WWE

It’s obvious that John Cena is nearing the end of his legendary career, and he’s suggested ending it at WrestleMania 41. Who should be his final opponent?

Published

5 days ago

April 11, 2024

Greg DeMarco

John Cena Last Match Randy Orton WWE WrestleMania 41

It’s obvious that John Cena is nearing the end of his legendary career, and he’s suggested ending it at WrestleMania 41. Who should be his final opponent?

John Cena recently appeared on the Pat McAfee Show, the Monday after his surprise (but mostly expected) WrestleMania 40 appearance during Cody Rhodes’ win over Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Championship. During that appearance, he confirmed what many expect, that he is nearly done with his in-ring career. But Cena even tossed out the idea of a time-frame, detailing that his acting schedule will likely take him through Christmas, and maybe Hollywood could “pump the brakes” to allow for one final run.

That run could easily begin at the Royal Rumble with a surprise entrance (or entering himself via TV appearances as part of the build), with a tease for his 17th world title win before finally settling in on his final match.

Fantasy booking and storytelling aside, the goal here is the final match–more specifically the final opponent. With a John Cena, you’ve got a ton of options. As such, it’s hard to narrow it down to 5, and one of your favorites is likely missing–be warned!

Greg DeMarco’s Top 5: The Final Opponent For John Cena In WWE

Honorable Mentions:

The Miz – A feud with John Cena gave The Mix a WrestleMania 27 main event–and a WrestleMania main event victory on top of it. Miz has been receiving more love than ever lately, and a match with John Cena would not be misplaced. Maybe he can use their WrestleMania 33 contest (and Cena’s personal aftermath) as fodder for it, too.
AJ Styles – The man who once made it popular to “BEAT UP JOHN CENA” is also nearing the end of his run, and could be the one candidate on this list that could realistically give us a double-retirement match. He would also be the guy who retired both The Undertaker and John Cena (and would probably end up being the guy who lost in both).
The Rock or Cody Rhodes – Both great options, but you have to figure their dance card for WrestleMania 41 is already full, potentially standing across the ring from one another. Either is an amazing option (including “Thrice In A Lifetime”), but I just don’t think it’s in the cards.
Trick Williams – Potentially a surprising addition to the Honorable Mentions, but the comparisons are there in terms of in-ring style/ability, promo skills, and the interplay they had in NXT (remember, it was Cena who is credited with encouraging Trick to not be afraid to go for it himself despite his relationship with Carmelo Hayes).

5. CM Punk

The fifth spot on this list was nearly interchangeable between several of the honorable mention names, but it really came down to Punk and Seth Rollins for me (with a hint of AJ Styles). The 2011 feud between CM Punk and John Cena was legendary, and is a moment that will forever be seen by me as the one that truly cemented CM Punk as a member of the growing list of all-time greats in WWE.

Punk is uniquely qualified for this match as he would make it mean more than a showboat for John Cena’s career and final match. It’s entirely believable that CM Punk would want to put John Cena’s career into the ground, and WWE has the video archive to support it.

Despite being #5, this could actually be a dark-horse for the match we get, and I can’t see anyone reasonably being upset about that.

4. Roman Reigns

John Cena and Roman Reigns have had two separate legendary programs. the first saw Cena, at times, embarrass Roman in promo exchanges in a feud that took place in the “pre-Tribal Chief” era. The second is more fresh and likely more memorable, as John Cena put Roman Reigns over in a football stadium in Las Vegas at SummerSlam (although it might be more remembered for the return of Brock Lesnar).

Reigns, a legend himself at his point (he’s featured alongside Steve Austin at the top of the “Forever” portion of the Then/Now/Forever/Together video that recently debuted) would provide a pairing akin to The Undertaker serving as Shawn Michaels’ retirement opponent at WrestleMania 26 9notice I didn’t say “final opponent). The end of Roman’s 1316 day world title reign has brought about a new appreciation for Reigns, which would further enhance this pairing at WrestleMania 41.

3. Bron Breakker

Bron Breakker is the picture-perfect definition of a juggernaut in WWE, a fast rising star who almost seems like a lock to main event WrestleMania one day (you never know–Seth Rollins JUST got his first WrestleMania main event last weekend). Breakker recently said farewell NXT as the natural in-ring competitor makes a transition to full-time main roster competition.

Breakker also fits the category of who “needs it.” Bring the man to retire John Cena would be quite the feather in the cap of Breakker’s early career, and would give him a moment that would be relived for generations to come. The only question mark is WWE “trusting” Breakker with this moment, as a sudden change of character could mean that Cena’s final match wouldn’t be seen or discussed as much. Breakker, to me, has given no reason for anyone to suspect that might happen, regardless of any controversies his father and uncle have been linked to.

2. R-Truth

Despite being 5-years older than John Cena, and making his in-ring debut in the same year (1999), R-Truth’s childhood hero hanging up the boots will undoubtedly be a hard-hitting moment for the man who has basically become the WWE Mascot. Truth emulating Cena in his matches, and of course the RawAfterMania moment with Cena, Truth, and The Miz hitting a Fifteen Knuckle Shuffle (thank you, Michael Cole) on The Judgment Day makes this a near can’t miss final match for both John Cena and the WWE Universe.

R-Truth himself is equally deserving of this match, as it would be a reward for all of his years in the ring as part of a career that seems age defying while proving that age is not only a number, but also a number that can be ignored (see Child Hero, John Cena).

While a rematch of their 2011 WWE Capital Punishment main event is an unlikely WrestleMania 41 match-up, it’s one I believe everyone would love to see.

1. Randy Orton

I mean, is there anyone more perfect? John Cena and Randy were inseparably linked for a good portion of their careers, and have shared the ring more times than Big Show has turned babyface/heel. Both are far into legendary status at this point, and Orton specifically is obviously focused on enjoying this stage of his career.

But Orton is still delivering great performances inside the ring, too.

Randy Orton vs John Cena was an exciting proposition many years ago, became a punchline for WWE booking a few years ago, but is now coming full circle as the perfect match-up to end the amazing career of John Cena. It has my vote, and should have yours, too.

Even if R-Truth would be the most fun option.

What say you? Who is the best candidate to stand across the ring from John Cena in his final WWE match, potentially at WrestleMania 41? Who did I leave out?

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!

Opinion

Greg DeMarco’s WrestleMania 40 Saturday Results & Review

It’s the Granddaddy Of ‘Em All, WrestleMania! Night 1 of WrestleMania XL and Greg DeMarco has your results and review!

Published

1 week ago

April 8, 2024

Greg DeMarco

It’s the Granddaddy Of ‘Em All, WrestleMania! Night 1 of WrestleMania XL and Greg DeMarco has your results and review!

It all comes down to this–at least for the first night! A loaded card in front of a packed house, and I’d expect everyone to deliver one hell of a performance.

Women’s World Championship – Becky Lynch vs. Rhea Ripley (champion)

Greg’s pre-show prediction: Rhea Ripley retains

In my opinion, this match should be the main event of Night 1, but The Rock is back and that was going to take precedence (even if I disagree). Becky won this title shot at the Elimination Chamber, even though they were already building the feud before that event in Perth. Ripley herself main evented that event in a stadium, defeating Nia Jax.

It was revealed during her entrance that this is Becky Lynch’s “Flu Game,” as she has temperatures as high as 102 degrees throughout the week.
Rhea Ripley enters to a life performance of her entrance theme, which you can tell she dug.
Prime logo is center ring, just the black outline with “Prime” in the middle, and it is not at all bothersome. I can’t believe people made such a big deal out of bitching about that.
The stage looks dope, not at all “too small” as some had said. The whole environment looks great, honestly.
Rhea Ripley has been dealing with a wrist injury. She said on the Pat McAfee Show she didn’t expect to work with the wrist brace on tonight, but there it is.
Corey Graves points out that Becky’s training was likely impacted by her illness, and Pat McAfee scoffs at him for stating the obvious. I hope that isn’t what we get all night.
Commentary notes that is is 52 degrees and windy in the stadium, and I am reminded of Nick Khan’s comments about moving an outdoor WrestleMania to late April in the future, if they don’t get an indoor building (he did say “2026” when talking about that, which likely means the 2025 venue is indeed set).
Rhea’s Prism Trap is a fell of a submission finisher. Add in the body lock the way she did, and it’s even more impressive.
I just noticed the “Prime” turnbuckle pads and it’s…weird. I just didn’t expect it and can’t think of the last time we didn’t have the WWE/WWF logo on the buckles outside of Black and Gold NXT. WrestleMania 2?
I am also noticing that Dude Wipes seems to have sponsored the ring posts. Kudos to WWE (and the wrestling industry behind them) for being so damn desirable to sponsors!
That combo to get into the Riptide was fantastic–and the kickout was even better.
During the DisarmHer you can clearly see the commentary position, and Michael Cole is legit reclined all the way back. Love it–Cole is living his best life.
Rhea’s Riptide into the buckle before the proper Riptide was pretty sweet as well. Made Becky look insanely strong in defeat.

Winner via pinfall AND STILL your Women’s World Champion: Rhea Ripley

Hell of an opener, and if you didn’t know Becky was sick, you wouldn’t have known. Props to them both. That would have satisfied as a main event, but can now go down as one of the best openers in WrestleMania history.

Ladder Match for the Raw Tag Team Championships and Smackdown Tag Team Championships – DIY (Tommaso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano) vs. Awesome Truth (The Miz & R-Truth) vs. New Catch Republic (Pete Dunne & Tyler Bate) vs. A Town Down Under (Austin Theory & Grayson Waller) vs. The New Day (Xavier Woods & Kofi Kingston) vs. The Judgment Day (Finn Balor & Damian Priest, Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions)

Greg’s pre-show prediction: Awesome Truth (Raw titles) and A-Town Down Under (SmackDown)

As many expected, the belts are hanging separately, meaning we are most likely splitting the tag titles here. Triple H and company have put some serious work into building up the tag team divisions of both brands, and even though I expect the two winners to not be actual “teams,” but either way I actually like the way they didn’t make a big deal out of splitting the titles up, they’re just doing it. They have been defended separately since being unified, albeit rarely.

R-Truth makes a joke about DIY being DX and that’s now taken off. I love it.
The Miz is very under appreciated. Can literally do anything.
Someone is struggling with the “Titan Tron” videos tonight.
Not gonna lie, I am the biggest Pat McAfee fan, but he’s actually quite annoying right now.
Sign of the night: SANTA DESERVED IT.
Lots of green in this match, half of the teams wearing their “WrestleMania Green” gear.
Also, loving the Consequences Creed gear for Woods.
God Bless Finn Balor for taking that Airplane Spin into the ladder.
205 combined years of experience in this match. That’s an average of 17 years (Waller has the least with 7, Balor and Miz are tied for the most with 23).
“Dunne Mountain?!?!” Thank you Michael Cole for fixing that.
HOT TAG TO R-TRUTH!
Poor Finn Balor, not he takes the AA to the ladder after John Cena’s Five Moves Of Doom
R-TRUTH WITH THE PIN!
Hilarious.
A-Town Down Under gets the SmackDown tag titles!
And Grayson gets tossed through a ladder, still holding a title!
The match does continue until the Raw tag titles are also retrieved.
If Theory also got the Raw tag titles down, I will laugh my ass off.
Birminghammer is a fantastic name for a tandem (somewhat) Burning Hammer.
Tornado DDT through a table!
Air Raid Crash from the ladder!
And we still have more tables set-up.
JD McDonagh trying to get Finn–who has taken a beating–to get the Raw tag titles.
McDonagh through the tables!
PERFECTLY placed Razor’s Edge onto that chair.
Dude, that ladder is trashed. (And very unsafe.)
AA sends Damian outside!
I think everyone wants R-Truth to get this. EVERYONE.
YES!

Winners via belt retrieval, AND NEW:

SmackDown Tag Team Champions – Grayson Waller & Austin Theory
Raw Tag Team Champions – R-Truth & The Miz

Really good Ladder Match, but it’s hard to have a bad one. The tag team titles are split and it was really well done. It made perfect sense to do it that way, not make a big deal out of it and just let it happen. I am excited to see both teams win–not because I picked both, but because I think one team (Waller/Theory) have amazing futures and the other (Miz/Truth) will be a lot of fun, even if their run will probably be short lived.

Santos Escobar (with Legado Del Fantasma members Angel, Humberto, & Elektra Lopez) & Dominik Mysterio vs. Rey Mysterio & Andrade (with The LWO members Carlito, Joaquin Wilde, Cruz Del Toro, & Zelina Vega

Greg’s pre-show prediction: Dominik and Santos win, giving Dominik “revenge” for his loss at WrestleMania 39.

Look, this match doesn’t make a lick of sense–Dominik shows up two weeks ago and finds his way into another WrestleMania match with Rey? Definitely shoehorned. But Dominik is outstanding, so if this gets him on the card, I’ll take it.

More green in this match, and I am here for it.
Innovative Double Cross Body by Rey & Andrade.
Dominik showing experience beyond his years, making sure the ref sees his tag with Santos.
At this moment, I am wondering who turns–Carlito or Andrade. Gotta assume it’s one of them.
Three matches in and I don’t even notice the Primo logo in the center of the ring or on the turnbuckle pads.
Santos Escobar trying to unmask Rey Mysterio, as if we don’t all have Google.
Corey Graves making a great point about Rey taking some responsibility for the issues in his life, and Michael Cole immediately dismissing it.
It’s so hard to do a really good Dragon Screw Leg Whip, and Andrade (along with Dominik and Santos) just pulled off two to perfection.
Camera shot of Rey’s cross body shows the heaters above the ring. Good–keep ’em warm!
This could have easily been an 8-man tag team match. Maybe we get that Monday on Raw (which can also be where the turn happens, making my prediction here likely wrong).
Joaquin Wilde gets to do his NXT spot at WrestleMania, and that’s probably more important than officially being in the match.
Two masked men–definitely the Kelce Brothers–are here.
My bad, it was Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson. Good call, honestly. Great pop for them, too.
Looking at the reply, Dominik sold that ringpost spot like a champ.

Winners via pinfall (Rey on Santos): Rey Mysterio & Andrade

Fun tag team match that served its purpose. Needed? Maybe not, as I really wanted to get Liv Morgan vs. Nia Jax onto this card. But when you can get Rey & Dominik on the card, everyone will be happy. and of course the Jason Kelce & Lane Johnson appearances.

Brother vs Brother: Jey Uso vs. Jimmy Uso

Greg’s pre-show prediction: Jimmy Uso follows in the footsteps of Owen Hart and Matt Hardy and beats the “more talented brother.”

They’ve wanted this match all their lives–and the preview video was insane. Very well done.

Jey in the WrestleMania whites tonight.
And we get a hot start to the match!
“Big Brother Jimmy” is always a fun thing to hear.
More Dude Wipes sponsorship on this one–you have to wonder if having Dude Wipes on the posts for the opener was in error.
Superkicks. Lots of Superkicks.
Very enjoyable YEET/NO chants from the crowd.
Jey just kicking the hell out of Jimmy, including a Jumping Super Kick.
This has “Fight Without Honor” feels from old school ROH, where the winners have respect after. We will definitely see these guys together again.
Jimmy apologizing to Jey. Crowd is not buying it.
Of course it was BS, and Jimmy gains the advantage.
SPEAR. USO SPLASH. DONE.

Winner, via pinfall: Jey Uso

Jey breaks the babyface curse by beating his heel brother. Thought we might get an embrace between them, instead we faded out. A good match that was more about the story than the in-ring action. I can see some feeling like this hasn’t “lived up to expectations” because of the high expectations you’d have for an Usos match. Their best work will always be as a team, but I know this is a lifelong dream come true for both.

As for all the Superkicks, I mean….it’s an Usos match.

Six-Woman Tag Team Match – Damage CTRL (Dakota Kai, Asuka, & Kairi Sane) vs. Naomi, Bianca Belair, & Jade Cargill

Greg’s pre-show prediction: Bianca, Naomi, & Jade win when Jade scores the pin (probably on Kairi, who always seems to eat the fall)

This match is all about getting Bianca Belair on the card (she had to be), and Jade Cargill’s debut. It also got Damage CTRL on the card, which they truly deserve–even if it is to lose.

Respectfully, Dakota Kai. (Good thing the ring and surrounding area is heated)
Not gonna lie, Jade looks nervous. But this is a six-woman tag, and her portion is likely highly choreographed. Gonna be all good.
As I watch and enjoy the match (but am not typing much lol), this seems like a match where we’re all just waiting for Jade to come in and win.
No one has told Jade about the tag ropes yet, apparently.
And now Jade is in, and Damage CTRL makes her look like a million bucks.
Dakota Kai nicely gets herself into position for the finish, and Jade gets her WrestleMania win.

Winners via pinfall (Jade on Dakota): Jade Cargill, Naomi, & Bianca Belair

We knew what this one was about going into it, and that’s what it should have been. Jade still ain’t ready. I know it might be an “ego hit” for her to go to NXT, but she needs it. If Giulia can go to NXT, so can Jade.

Intercontinental Championship – Sami Zayn vs. GUNTHER (champion)

Greg’s pre-show prediction: Sami Zayn pulls off the major upset and is the one to dethrone Gunther

Gunther has had a stranglehold on the Intercontinental Championship, defending it like crazy in 2023 but slowing that down here in 2024. It’s not fair to say he’s outgrown the title, but that might actually be the case. It’ll be really interesting to see what happens with Imperium leading up to the draft, and at the WWE Draft itself.

Sami Zayn was the perfect wrestler to have their journey form backstage to the ring followed by the cameras. From his family to Chad Gable to Kevin Owens, it was all so perfect–maybe too perfect? (Not in that someone will screw him, but in that it might be too heavily foreshadowing his win?)
Gunther looked oddly nervous standing on that stage.
You know, the Intercontinental Championship is basically a third world title at this point. And we could see the end of a legendary reign. I think this deserved the Samantha Irvin In-Ring Introductions (aka “Japan Style”) treatment.
Gunther is smiling confidently now, we’re good.
Crowd is ON FIRE for these guys (and evenly split with their chants for each guy).
This is the 21st time the Intercontinental championship is defended at WrestleMania, and it makes you wonder what in the hell they were thinking for the other 11.
Looks like Dude Wipes is back on the ringpost!
Hell of a nearfall, followed up by a Helluva Kick from Gunthcr, and one from Sami!
That finish….AMAZING.

Winner via pinfall, AND NEW Intercontinental Champion: Sami Zayn

The athletes… the moments… the storytelling… professional wrestling is such a beautiful business. Sami Zayn’s win over Gunther was everything I had hoped it would be when I picked Sami to win. Absolutely beautiful.

Cody Rhodes & World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins vs. The Rock & Undisputed WWE Champion Roman Reigns

Greg’s pre-show prediction: Seth & Cody get the win after tons of interference and surprise appearances, making Roman vs Cody on Sunday a match where The Bloodline is banned from ringside.

So much involved in this one. As you know, If Rock & Roman win, Sunday’s WWE Championship match will be held under Bloodline Roles. If Seth & Cody win, then that mach will see ZERO Bloodline involvement. Personally, if Cody is winning the title, I’d rather it be straight up. But I wouldn’t be at all surprised if I am wrong.

Honestly, after the introductions, I realized I was just watching!
This was very much Steve Austin vs The Rock inspired, with them fighting all over the stadium, and pushing the envelope.
I loved The Rock basically neutering the referee–normally I hate that, but here it works.
That finish and the condition of Rollins both lay perfectly into night 2, I would imagine.

Winners via Rock pinfall on Rhodes: The Rock & Roman Reigns

Per rule, Sunday’s main event will now be Bloodline Rules. And given that, my prediction of Roman retaining might be harder to pull off. This was a good return for The Rock, and perfectly played into the whole story. Job well done.

Greg DeMarco’s Overall Thoughts for WWE WrestleMania XL, Saturday (Night 1)

in a vacuum, this was highly enjoyable show. Night 2 might end up being legendary if both Bayley and Rhodes win, and it could overshadow Night 1. But the scene was fantastic, production was top notch as always, and the fans went home having enjoyed one for the ages. The Triple H Era s well underway, and will likely kick into a higher gear with Night 2.

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!