Opinion

News From Cook’s Corner 6.8.20: One Last Mop-Up

Hi, hello & welcome to News From Cook’s Corner!

Published

4 years ago

June 8, 2020

Steve Cook

Hi, hello & welcome to News From Cook’s Corner!

We’ve got a little bit of a different look this week. WWE & AEW have stories that kind of tie into each other and are all about what’s going on here in the United States. We also need to pay tribute to one of the biggest internet wrestling writers from back in the day. So it’s one of those columns that doesn’t have a lot of different stories, but is still jam-packed with the content you’d expect.

I’d like to do something less serious, maybe even a little normal, next week. But I’m realistic.

WWE News

We all knew it was coming, right?

Last week around this time, the police brutality & racial injustice protests had just begun. Folks were beginning to hop on the bandwagon and recognizing that black lives did, in fact, matter. Even wrestlers you wouldn’t necessarily expect that from were acknowledging the moment.

It was only a matter of time before somebody upset the apple cart. Somebody was going to put themselves out there and be that pro wrestler to tell everybody that they were wrong. Somebody was going to stand up for the folks that don’t believe that excessive police violence towards a certain segment of the population is a bad thing. Surely, somebody would let us know that violently putting down peaceful protesters was the right thing to do. As long as it was ordered by the President, of course.

That somebody was Jaxson Ryker. One of the Forgotten Sons, formerly known as Gunner in TNA & Phil Shatter on the indy circuit. It’s saying something when “Gunner” is your best ring name, but that’s where we’re at here. Ryker took some time on Monday to tweet out how thankful he was for the President. Personally, I couldn’t say I was thankful for that guy without bursting out laughing. I know there are folks that disagree with me. If they want to express that opinion, we do live in America, and at least for now, most of us are allowed to express our opinions.

Unless we’re peacefully protesting somewhere that the President wants to go. Then we get tear gassed and moved out of the way for a publicity stunt designed to appeal to the religious right.

Oftentimes in life it’s not about what you say & do, it’s the moment that you choose to say & do things. Ryker chose the very moment that his President was tear gassing peaceful protesters standing against racial injustice & police brutality so he could walk to a church and hold a Bible upside down as a moment to pump his guy up and ask God to bless America. That’s where Jaxson Ryker’s head is at.

Given that backdrop, you can understand how this led to a lot of negative feedback from fans & his fellow wrestlers. Oh, and of course his previous social media posting were looked through because that always happens in these situations, and of course somebody found Ryker bitching and moaning about how blacks had it good now compared to the movie “12 Years A Slave” and they should all be thankful. Like I said last week about the Clutch Adams situation, I find that aspect of these situations a bit unseemly, but it does make it perfectly clear why Ryker supports his President so much.

Some of you were even calling for Ryker’s firing, which I can only assume means you temporarily forgot who he was working for. Linda McMahon runs a pro-Trump super PAC. The idea that Vince would fire somebody for publicly supporting his good buddy Donald? How does Vince’s theme song go? No chance, no chance in hell? Yeah, that sums that up.

I remember back when writing about politics in a wrestling column was a little bit of a stretch most of the time. Outside of your typical jingoistic storylines to capitalize off of a war, you didn’t see wrestling & politics cross paths too much. Even Jesse Ventura becoming Governor of Minnesota didn’t really meld the two together, though it did make a lot of people realize that the same skillset could make one successful at both.

It all changed the moment Linda McMahon decided she wanted to run for office. That made the WWE company political, no matter how much people wanted to say Linda’s endeavors were different from the rest of the McMahon family business. Linda’s involvement in the Trump Administration & Vince’s funding her cause, not to mention Trump’s previous involvement with WWE, marries the two parties together. WWE can tweet their own black screen with a message like every corporation is doing these days, but we know where their interest is.

Black Lives Matter…as long as WWE can make some money off of them.

To be fair, Vince feels the same way about white lives. If he can’t make some money off of you at some point, he doesn’t care. He does care about many of the people that have worked for him in the past…because they made him money. Money is Vince’s lifeforce. It doesn’t make him especially unique, but it helps you understand how he operates. Supporting the idea of black lives mattering is good for business right now. But so is supporting his buddy Donald, and quite a few of Donald’s followers are wrestling fans.

From where I sit, the most likely endgame is WWE strongly discouraging their independent contractors from making political posts on social media. That won’t make people happy. Ryker might run into some issues the next time he steps into a WWE locker room. There might be some potatos served up the next time he’s in the ring. Honestly, WWE should just go ahead and fire the guy anyway, he usually just stands outside while the two other Sons do the actual wrestling.

Will they? Nah. Trump’s kid put Ryker over on Twitter. Can’t anger the boss. It’s going to be a situation to keep an eye on, for sure.

AEW News

WWE might be afraid to act against their own talent, but Tony Khan has no fear of acting against people that don’t work for him. After Linda Hogan made some remarks on Twitter about how it was all “afro Americans” involved in the looting that took place during the protests, Khan replied saying that she was joining her (ex) husband on the list of people banned from attending an AEW event. This came as news to most of us, and Khan explained to Dave Meltzer that it was due to the racist comments Hogan made on that infamous sex tape with Mrs. Bubba the Love Sponge.

“What he said on the tape, long before George Floyd, I’ve told people I can’t work with Hulk Hogan…How can I look my Black friends, football players, employees in the face or myself in the mirror after the things he said and has never given an adequate apology for. He can’t blame what he said on tape on the dangers of social media.”

I have zero issue with this. To be honest, if I was starting up a new wrestling company I wouldn’t want Hulk Hogan anywhere near it. Even putting aside the racist remarks and the disgust many wrestling fans feel towards Hogan that reduces his value to a wrestling company to nearly zero…we saw what happened when TNA signed him, right? That got them nowhere except on the long road to financial ruin, which didn’t end until Dixie Carter finally sold the company.

However, it does raise some important questions. A couple of high profile wrestlers working for AEW have tweeted and liked things that have raised some eyebrows. Mike Tyson is affiliated with AEW, and that’s going to be brought up whenever these topics of morality come up, even if Iron Mike did his time and we all love him now. Heck, we saw what happened with Clutch Adams getting booked.

I’m just saying it’s a slippery slope kind of thing. I have no problem with the Hulkster being banned from AEW, but Tony’s going to have to be consistent on this. If he isn’t, we’ll let him know about it. Even if we all love AEW and are obviously on the payroll.

This may be a bad idea.

My original plan for paying tribute to Internet Wrestling Community legend Chris “Hyatte” Gaudreau, who passed away this past Thursday at the age of 50, was to write a nice little tribute at the end of the column. I wrote one up Saturday night. It wasn’t my best work but it probably would have sufficed for the subject matter and filled enough column space to be worthwhile.

Then I came to the following realization: The Chris Hyatte that I read back in the 2000s would have thought that was a load of shit. Flowery tribute articles are definitely appropriate for honorable men like my dear friend Larry Csonka, but not for a degenerate like Hyatte was back in the day.

No, the best way to pay tribute to Hyatte is by ripping his gimmick off lock stock & barrel just like he accused everybody else of doing to him. We’re going to Mop-Up NXT TakeOver: In Your House. And through the course of it, I can talk about what Hyatte meant to the world of Internet wrestling writing and how there hasn’t been anybody like him since.

And, as I may end up proving here, why there shouldn’t be anybody like him now. Oh, God, it would not go well here in 2020.

The NXT TakeOver: In Your House Mop-Up

– Todd Pettengill introduces us to the very first NXT TakeOver: In Your House. Still has the voice for it. The look? Well, let’s just say Todd looks like every washed up announcer out there.

– So expect AEW to steal him away next week.

– We then cut to some band singing some song. Code Orange. “Underneath”. Never heard of it, and I doubt I’ll ever hear it again after tonight.

– Anyway, Hyatte was the first writer I read on 411wrestling.com back in the day. Back in the black & green days! If I had more stroke over there I’d get Ashish to bring it back. Actually, if I had more stroke over there I’d get Ashish to drop me off at 5th & Walnut.

– See, Hyatte never ran out of racial jokes. Me…well, I don’t even know what I was going for there. You’d think I’d be better at that being from Kentucky, right? It was a taxi thing. Do people even take those anymore? Am I dating myself here? HELLO IS THIS ON?

– We hear Mauro Ranallo welcome us to the show. Hyatte had quite the tiff with Tony Schiavone back in the day, and I’m sure Hyatte in his prime riffing on Mauro would send our boy into self-isolation for a few weeks. Hyatte wasn’t shy about picking on people he knew had issues, so it’s a good thing they didn’t cross paths.

– Speaking of people I’d like to cross paths with, here’s Shotzi Blackheart! Shotzi’s teaming with Tegan Nox & Mia Yim to take on Dakota Kai, Candice LeRae & Raquel Gonzalez. Ol’ Chris never seemed to have much time for ladies’ matches back in the day except for talking about how much he wanted to have sex with them.

– To be fair, that could have summed up most of the WWF’s fanbase back in the day.

– And a lot of it now. And it’s not like I have much room to talk considering the whole Hot 100 thing I used to do. Hyatte had an IWF 100 one time, you can guess what IWF stood for.

– Gotta tell you, the students in the crowd starting the “This is Awesome” chant before the first match even starts doesn’t give me a lot of optimism for their reaction to the rest of the show.

– Kai & Nox have some great chemistry together. I’d like to get some chemistry going with Shotzi. Hyatte had a reputation for thirsty comments about Divas, that’s why I’m going on about Shotzi here. Total tribute stuff, nothing to do with my actual thirst.

– OK, I think they believed it.

– Time for a dive section! Nox gets the edge for degree of difficulty, but I think LeRae had the best overall.

– Shotzi gets worked over for awhile by the heels. Not to be confused with the AEW Heels, the North Carolina Tar Heels or the heels Sean Shannon wears on the weekends.

– Does anybody reading this remember that name? Hyatte done broke her.

– Mia gets the hot tag. Tom Phillips’ call of “Soul Food” is more racist in anything I’ve said so far in this tribute to Hyatte. Maybe he was a fan?

– Mia & Candice battle back into the In Your House set, which is a nice change of pace from the set for every other NXT show ever.

– Kai wins with the Shiniest Wizard, which I think is another racial joke. Damn Mauro & Tom stealing my heat. Good match.

– Regal’s voice over for the ice cream commercial is a nice attempt, but you aren’t replacing Lord Al Hayes.

– Sale on wwe.com. BUY YOUR BELTS NERDS!

– I haven’t really been feeling this Finn Balor/Damian Priest feud at all. They were trying to sell me on Balor being better than ever on the pre-show, but much like anything else Sam Roberts says, I wasn’t buying it.

– Hyatte would have had some fun when Balor had the Pride t-shirts a few years back. Probably would have had all types of comments about Balor’s sexuality. Like I said, he was from a different era. An era where making fun of homosexuals was acceptable on places other than right-wing message boards & Fox News. I’m happy we’ve moved on from that aspect of the old days.

– One of Priest’s biggest influences is Scott Hall? Jeez, that won’t end well.

– Priest hits some big blows and a big rest hold. I hit the toilet. Yes, those breaks were mentioned in Mop-Ups too. I’ll spare you the graphic detail some of those had.

– Priest even does the that’s it hand motion Razor used to do and a Razor’s Edge? Starting to remember why I tuned the dude out after awhile.

– Mauro puts over his own pronunciation of Pele. Gonna send me back to the toilet here in a minute.

– Razor’s Edge to the ring apron gets 2 because what else would it get? 1?

– Priest does throw some good kicks though, I’ll give him that.

– He tries to Razor Edge Balor on the ring steps, but Balor slips out and punches Priest onto them. Doesn’t look fun. Two coup de graces end it.

– Tom says Balor showed respect to Priest by hitting him with his finisher twice. Why would Balor show respect to a guy that attacked him from behind? One of those wrestling things I’ll never get.

– Adam Cole tells us what ICOPRO is all about. Greg DeMarco just ran out and bought 8 cases. 4 cases of ICOPRO, 4 cases of Adam Cole’s sweat. It’s kind of weird.

– So are Keith Lee & Mia Yim dating in real life? I try to avoid all of these wrestling relationship rumors and do a pretty good job of it usually. They look like a good couple though.

– Doesn’t surprise me that Johnny Gargano would live in the NXT In Your House set.

– Keith Lee letting us know that Black Lives Matter. I think Hyatte would go along with that due to a fear of Keith Lee.

– OK, the double bell ringing is definitely a thing. People were telling me about this before I turned it on.

– Lee catches a Gargano dive, catches a cannonball, but can’t follow up on either. He finally does get some offense and Gargano wants to go back in the house. Is he waiting for Candice to open the door? Cute but made no sense.

– Lee has a bad eye & hand for this match. Johnny begins taking advantage of it eventually because that’s what it takes to make Gargano beating Lee up seem believable.

– While this is going on I’m trying to figure out when to make a Scott Keith joke. Are there no Canadians on this show? Well, that’s racist.

– Lee finally makes a comeback. Gargano fires back though and locks an armbar on a standing Lee. JOINT MANIPULATION.

– Pretty good back & forth match, but I can’t see it playing well with Hyatte’s skill set. He was better at stuff that wasn’t a basic rasslin’ match.

– Now a Pounce through the Plexiglas? That’s pretty cool. Too bad it broke the forcefield around the ring and now everybody will get the corona.

– Candice & Mia come out to CATFIGHT! CATFIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!

– Gargano with the key to the eye and the One Final Beat DDT, but that only gets two. Welp, he’s screwed now.

– They were going for some of that over-acting but the camera couldn’t really pick it up. Probably for the best.

– Keith Lee ends it with the BBC. Well, ya know.

– Johnny Gargano has a worse record at NXT TakeOver than Scooter has with the ladies. HAHAHAHAHA I KNEW I’D GET ONE IN THERE.

– No, I got nothing against SK, that was a Hyatte thing. A Hyatte column without an SK joke or 5 wasn’t really a Hyatte column.

– Look at Shotzi put away that ice cream sammich. Yeah that’ll send my mind places.

– So Cole vs. Dream isn’t going on last? Spoiler Alert: Adam Cole wins.

– It’s a Backlot Brawl. I really don’t see Adam Cole as a truck guy. This thing’s already stretching believability.

– Dream in the Lambo is a little more like it, except NXT guys can’t be making that much.

– Dream thinks he’s Chris Jericho with that leather jacket & baseball bat.

– The Kerry Von Erich backslide & Oklahoma roll don’t end the match, shockingly.

– Cole wants to leave, and shockingly that doesn’t happen. Didn’t Dream attack a car not too long ago, or are we all forgetting about recent transgressions? I KNOW NOBODY’S ASKING TRIPLE H ABOUT THEM IN PRESS CONFERENCES BECAUSE THE IWC IS YELLOW! YELLOW, I TELL YA!

– An Uber driver pulls up.

– Cole disappears for a minute, but re-emerges with a fire extinguisher. Phillips points out it’s shades of Shawn Michaels at a previous In Your House. Dude has those random historical reference sometimes. I respect it.

– Ah, there’s that over-acting I was hoping for.

– Dream dives right into a super kick. I think Shawn did one of those at a previous In Your House event.

– Cole dives right into a super kick because anything Dream does, Cole can do better.

– Dream sets up a elbow drop, but here comes Roddy Strong & Bobby Fish. Doesn’t stop Dream from pushing Cole onto a windshield. Strong & Fish beat Dream down and start throwing chairs into the ring like Terry Funk asked them to.

– Here’s “the tortured artist” Dexter Loomis to hit Strong & Fish with chairs. He sends them into a trunk & drives off. There’s a PornHub video I have no interest in seeing.

– Hyatte might have. I really don’t know.

– Mauro calls the Dream Valley Driver the Panama Sunrise, because he had no idea who was supposed to be getting hurt there, I guess.

-Purple Rainmaker gets a nearfall. Then Dream wants to do the speech, gets low blowed, and there’s the Panama Sunrise on the chairs for the…three count? I was expecting one or two more, but that’s cool.

– No more title shots for Dream. As for Cole, I expect him to be NXT champion whenever they close the thing down.

– Todd hypes the main event & the NXT merchandise. Apparently there isn’t a 1-900 number.

– Shawn, Hunter & Road Dogg are working the AOL chat. None of them look a day under 62.

– Karrion Kross & Tommaso Ciampa are next.

– I assume Hyatte would have found himself a Scarlett impostor at some point. Definitely his type, especially when she’s rocking the blonde hair.

– Speaking of imposters, that Tammy imposter from back in the day has to be more sane than Tammy these days, right? Talk about a piece of work.

– Kross takes the early advantage. Ciampa actually does get some offense. Quite a bit, actually. Until Kross bounces his head and neck off the apron. That didn’t look fun.

– After that it’s complete squash city. Which is what it should have been. Kross is the new star.

– Ciampa got one last flurry. Unlike Mark Madden’s mother, he wouldn’t go down easily.

– Madden’s still a douche. Hyatte was 100% right on that one.

– Ciampa got choked out like Pat Patterson choking on…ok, Pat’s cool, I’m not with Hyatte there.

– Robert Stone looks creepy. Renee Young wearing a Simpsons shirt like it’s a throwback.

– The NXT Women’s Championship goes on last. Hyatte wouldn’t have been able to figure that out, though there would have been enough blonde hair & breasts to keep him interested on some level.

– I will say that Charlotte’s robe game keeps getting better.

– The thing I forgot when telling you who to bet on for this show: WWE loves doing big title changes in triple threats. I have no idea why, but it goes back to at least WrestleMania XX. Hell, if Vince Jr. was booking in ’63 he would have shoehorned Antonio Rocca into Sammartino vs. Rogers.

– Rhea does a forward roll onto the floor and gets tossed into the barricade. That should put her down for awhile so Charlotte & Io can do some stuff.

– Charlotte rocking that Boston Crab on Io. Flexible.

– Rhea looks like a woman possessed with that contact lens. I dig it.

– Yikes, that double spear.

– These ladies brought it here. We’ve seen some disappointing women’s triple threat main events, this wasn’t one of them.

– Although that random strike Charlotte threw at Io while running by wasn’t the best. Throwing Io into the house was cool though.

– Io came back. Climbed to the top of the house & hit a cross-body onto Charlotte & Rhea. Good catch too.

– Rhea almost gets the win over Charlotte with a second-rope Rip Tide, but Io breaks it up. Rhea locks in the Prism Trap and Charlotte breaks it up with a kendo stick. Spear, Figure 4 into a Figure 8, but Io hits the moonsault on Rhea and gets the three count!

– So Charlotte loses the title without getting beat. Hell, she had Rhea in her submission hold still during the pin, which was a legal pin up until two weeks ago when they did basically the same finish in the Cruiserweight Tournament.

-Not the most inventive thing of all time. Still a fun little match though.

– Look at all those streamers! We fade out.

Well…..

Eh, I dunno. Maybe it was a bad idea. Or maybe it was the best way to prove that there was only one Hyatte and we aren’t replacing him.

Join us next week, when I’ll probably have to write about somebody else dying because 2020 is definitely one of those years.

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

Related Topics:AEW Featured Featured Big In Your House Io Shirai Jaxson Ryker Karrion Kross NXT 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

2 weeks 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

3 weeks 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!