2 weeks Ago By RobertWinfree
Well everyone, this is it. The final go home show for WrestleMania on this episode of WWE Smackdown. John Cena will be here, nice of him to finally show up on the show who’s champion he’s challenging for the first time in six weeks.
So he and WWE champion Cody Rhodes will doubtless share some kind of interaction, the real question is if The Rock shows up as well or if he’s going to just remain off TV until Mania actually rolls around. I’ve enjoyed what I’ve seen of heel Cena, it’s just not been featured enough to really become compelling since the turn. The odd tricycle of Roman Reigns, CM Punk, and Seth Rollins is still kind of a mess but in the intriguing way.
It’s going to be sad watching the end of Tribal Chief Roman Reigns, hopefully his next character can be compelling as well. As for what we know about tonight, the WWE tag team titles are stuck on Smackdown before Mania so the Street Profits and Motor City Machine Guns will likely try to make a statement of their ability in protest of being left off of Mania. We’re also getting the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal, so there’s that.
We’re also getting Chelsea Green, Alba Fyre, and Piper Niven taking on Zelina Vega, Kayden Carter and Katana Chance after what was apparently a botched finish to the Green and Vega match last week. Randy Orton is still looking for a WrestleMania opponent, Jacob Fatu and LA Knight have a final chance to try and get momentum, Jade Cargill and Naomi still want to kill each other, the lucha subheading of Smackdown are reorienting after the arrival of Rey Fenix a couple of weeks ago as well. There’s a decent chance we get another Aleister Black video, Rusev is still lurking as a possible returning force, and there’s doubtless more to come from Drew McIntyre and Damian Priest as they gear up for their Street Fight at Mania.
Also Tiffany Stratton and Charlotte Flair will likely interact again, and I think I speak for most of us when I say the sooner that match gets over and done with the better. This feud has been pretty dead on arrival. But anyway that’s the preamble, so let’s see what they’ve got in store to sell us on WrestleMania this year.
We’re in Las Vegas, Nevada in the T-Mobile Arena. Commentary welcomes us to the show and we see Cody Rhodes walking in the back, the MCMG and Street Profits arrive, as does Solo Sikoa along with Tama Tonga. Tama gets jumped by La Knight and has his arm slammed violently into a car door.
Knight seems to be looking to make sure his match with Jacob Fatu is one on one. Seth Rollins heads to the ring, it looks like he’s wearing The Rock’s Final Boss vest in suit form. Seth gets a mic and plays a bit with the crowd, he’s apparently our host or he’s just wasting a ton of air time.
More stalling from Seth until a “CM Punk” chant starts so he awkwardly sits cross legged. His pants do not allow for that full range of motion in his legs. An “OTC” chant follows.
Seth wants to start by talking about CM Punk. Punk came back because of fans chanting his name for 10 years, right? Except when he came back it wasn’t a WWE ring. So did he come back for the people, or because someone wrote him a big fat check? I mean, who cares? But when Punk burned his other bridge, like every bridge, he did come back to WWE but not because people changed for him, it was because he got another big fat check.
That actually gets a “Big fat check” chant. Punk can pretend he cam back for the people but he doesn’t care about them, or WWE, he’s a liar, a fraud, a coward, and say what you will about Roman Reigns but he at least doesn’t pretend to care about the fans or WWE. And you can believe that.
Roman only cares about himself, he’s all about the limited schedule and hand picked opponents. Well Roman and Punk know nothing about sacrifice, while Seth knows all about it. The whole story between the three of them started 12 years ago with Paul Heyman believe it or not.
Heyman brought The Shield into WWE to be a shield for CM Punk. Every night Seth sacrificed to do that, and no one gave him credit because everyone in the back wanted the spotlight on Roman Reigns. Roman was going to be the next John Cena, the next cash cow, and year after year that happened while Seth lurked in the background long after Punk took his ball and went home.
For years he could hear echoes of CM Punk chants while Seth was in the ring every night sacrificing everything until everything came to a head last year when his knee was gone, his step dad at home dying of cancer, but he was there at Mania to be a shield and make sure Roman Reigns lost. Small “thank you Seth” chant at that. The story started 12 years ago, and it ends tomorrow night in the most important triple threat match in wrestling history.
Well he’s going to do what he’s done for the last 12 years, lay it all out there, sacrifice everything he has to make sure that this business moves forward in the right direction. That’s not a prediction, that’s a spoiler. Stupid laugh to close.
Well that took too long and felt way too contrived, like he was trying way too hard to ape the things he was decrying. A pale imitation of better material all the way around. Commentary then break down both of the Mania cards for us.
Yeah, we’re just wasting 3 hours here. Rey Fenix heads to the ring, they really need to chill those strobe lights for his entrance because someone’s going to have a seizure. Anyway he’s the first one out for the battle royal.
There are no commercials for the first hour apparently so we’ll get a lot of entrances for this. We also see Shinsuke Nakamura make his entrance, looks like everyone else got to run down during a little video package about Andre. Match #1: Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal Everyone starts trading right away, but Carlito is alone with R-Truth and Truth steals the apple then spits it at Miz before tossing Carlito.
Carmelo Hayes and Truth fight on the apron and Miz kicks Truth down. Karrion Kross then grabs Miz and Miz gets saved by Hayes. Fenix takes some kicks from Angel and Berto but then counters a powerbomb to eliminate Berto and Angel goes out as well.
Santos Escobar tries to ally with Fenix, not sure how that’ll go. Tyler Bate gets isolated by Kit Wilson and Elton Prince. Austin Theory and Grayson Waller take out Wilson and Prince.
Pete Dunne and Bate now go after Theory and Waller, Bate can’t elimination them and Ludwig Kaiser takes out Bate. Dunne goes after Kaiser but Kaiser holds on. Kaiser almost gets thrown out but he hangs on.
Andrade and Escobar line up, Fenix gets dropped on accident but Escobar helps him up and again looks for an alliance with him. Fenix seems amenable then tosses Escobar out of the match. Otis grabs Akira Tozawa and uses him as a weapon for a bit but Brutus Creed takes out Tozawa.
Otis then returns the favor and takes out both Creed brothers as well as himself. Kross and Fenix trade in the corner while Dragon Lee goes after Chad Gable. Andrade eliminates Waller, then Theory as well.
Everyone attacks Gable, the man was isolated with a bunch of luchadors who then eliminate him. Nakmaura eliminates Joaquin Wilde, then Kross handles Cruz del Toro. Lee eliminates Kross then Nakamura tries to take out Lee but Lee survives.
Lee charges Nakamura but Nakamura decapitates him with a knee strike then tosses him out. Dunne and Kaiser fight, they both wind up on the apron but neither is going down. Kaiser back in the ring but so is Dunne, Dunne then catches Kaiser with a triangle choke and drags Kaiser over the top rope and out of the match.
Dunne then goes after Hayes and Miz, but they hold on until Dunn breaks the fingers of Hayes only for Miz to save Hayes then Dunn eliminates Miz. Hayes then disposes of Dunne. Hayes, Andrade, Fenix, and Nakamura are the final four.
They all start fighting, Nakamura with knees then an ax kick to Fenix. Reverse Exploder to Fenix then Nakamura kicks down Andrade but misses a Kinshasa. Andrade dropkicks Nakamura off the top rope and out of the match.
Hayes kicks Fenix but Andrade and Hayes both get sent over the top but hang on. Fenix thought he had it and Hayes takes him down from behind then Fenix with a hurricanrana to Andrade then the Tiger Feint wheel kick to Hayes. Elbow to Andrade from Fenix then he lines up Hayes but El Grande Americano shows up to eliminate Fenix.
That leaves Andrade and Hayes, a very anticlimactic final two all things considered. Andrade tries The Message but Hayes counters, they trade counters and then hit a few double clotheslines. La Mistica from Hayes but Andrade with that sick spinning back elbow off the ropes to put both men down.
Both men slowly pull themselves up, Andrade calls for the 3 Amigos but Hayes blocks them and hits Black Crush, he really needs to retire that. They head up to the second rope and Hayes winds up tossing Andrade to win. OFFICIAL RESULT: Carmelo Hayes won in 15:28 Rating: 2.
5 stars Thoughts: It takes something special to make a Battle Royal stand out, and that wasn’t present here. Hayes winning was also a bit of an odd call. Miz shows up to celebrate with Hayes.
A reminder that the Hall of Fame will be tonight after Smackdown. We get a recap of Charlotte Flair’s attack on Tiffany Stratton last week. Then an excerpt of Wade Barrett’s sit down with Charlotte Flair.
It’s not very good, I don’t know if that’s from the editing or what but nothing really came across well there. Commentary runs down the card, oh we’re also getting LA Knight vs. Solo Sikoa and Tama has been taken to a “local medical facility” to get his arm looked at.
In the back Rhea Ripley walks, she’ll talk after this break. Post break here comes Rhea Ripley. She gets a mic and talks about Sunday being her 6th WrestleMania and each time has been some kind of title match but this one feels important.
She let herself get distracted by Bianca Belair and lost her title right before Mania. Now she could talk about the last few weeks and make excuses, but there’s no point dwelling on the past. Sunday she gets back what she wants and she’ll do what she has to do to regain that title.
Women’s world champion Iyo Sky shows up to crash the party next. Iyo gets a mic but before she can speak here’s Bianca Belair. Belair gets a mic and then gets booed as she says she was definitely showing up tonight.
This might be her last night on Smackdown because if she wins the title she’s moving to RAW. Naomi now crashes the party because who doesn’t love revolving door shenanigans. Naomi walks and talks, asking why Belair didn’t even try to talk to her despite Naomi constantly texting or calling her.
Does their friendship mean that little to her? Belair cuts her off and says Naomi knows what she did, and Belair already said her piece on this. Naomi again asks if Jade means this much to Belair. Tomorrow she’s finishing what she started with Jade.
Well speak of the devil here’s Jade Cargill, Jade marches down and Naomi runs away. Jade and Belair trade some words then Rhea Ripley says this isn’t about Jade, and Naomi shoves Jade into Ripley. So everything breaks down except for Iyo Sky who just stands there while the other four brawl.
Iyo shrugs then climbs up and moonsaults onto the pile of bodies on the floor. Well that was certainly a way to kill some air time but that’s all it felt like, killing time. In the back Chad Gable finds Rey Fenix and mocks him for losing, Dragon Lee comes over and insults El Grande Americano in Spanish.
Rey Mysterio shows up as well and offers a trios match later tonight with Gable and the Creed bruddas against Rey, Fenix, and Lee. The Motor City Machine Guns head to the ring. The tag team title match will be up after this break.
Post break we get confirmation of that six man tag match for later. The Street Profits now head to the ring. The Guns attack as the Profits are on the apron.
Match #2 – WWE Tag Team Title Match: (c) Street Profits (Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins) vs. Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin) 32 minutes between matches, again I find that unacceptable for a wrestling TV broadcast. Shelley and Sabin work to isolate and double team Ford to start once the match begins.
Sabin tags in but Ford fights back with strikes then a clothesline to Shelley but Sabin kicks him only to take clothesline of his own. Dawkins tags in now and starts running over Sabin. Corner work from Dawkins then Ford tags in, they want the Doomsday Blockbuster and hit it but Shelley breaks up the pin to save the match.
Shelley sends Dawkins out but gets clocked when trying to dive and we go picture in picture. Things settle a bit now, Shelley tags in as does Dawkins and they start trading strikes. Shelley goes for a 10 punch in the corner and gets it then drops Ford when he tries to get involved.
Dawkins with a Flapjack to Shelley to slow things down. Ford tags in and hits a hilo. Shelley with a jawbreaker but then Ford lands a knee strike and leaping splash for a 2 count.
Dawkins tags back in and stomps away at Shelley. Chin lock from Dawkins then he transitions to some more corner work. We come back as Ford tags in and Shelley then kicks him off and tags in Sabin.
Sabin gets to run wild, he kicks Dawkins from the apron then heads up top and hits a dropkick onto Ford. Shelley back in and he and Sabin hit the dropkick assisted Flatliner but only a 2 count. Sabin tags back in, they try the Doomsday Blockbuster but Ford slips free and kicks Shelley out of the ring then tags in Dawkins who Pounce’s Sabin into a Ford back suplex for a 2 count.
Ford back in but Sabin kicks Dawkins then Shelley with a blind tag and Ford takes the Facial combination. Double kick to Ford in the corner but Dawkins breaks up Skull and Bones. Ford with a thrust kick to Sabin and then he gets his usual dive over the ring post to wipe out everyone on the floor.
DIY then attack and get the match thrown out as they steal the title belts. OFFICIAL RESULT: No Contest in 8:32 Rating: 2 stars Thoughts: Hard to rate, this was more an angle than a match. Which is a crying shame because those teams can really go.
DIY stealing the belts is more groan inducing than actually compelling. In the back Chelsea Green talks with Nick Aldis about last week. Green has a formal complaint about the count out loss, Aldis reads the complaint then says he must rectify an injustice.
Tonight Zelina Vega gets a rematch with Green and he bans Fyre and Piper from ring side. In the back Randy Orton walks, he’ll talk after this break. Post break DIY try to escape with the titles but Aldis and security intercept them and demand them back, the Profits and Guns show up as well to complicate things.
Aldis eventually gets the titles back and says next week we get a TLC match for the titles. Still a shame they’re not on Mania but that could be a great TV match. Back to the ring here’s Randy Orton.
Randy heads to the ring and gets a mic, he reminds us that he doesn’t have an opponent for Mania 41 and for the past few days he’s been doing the local media obligations and he knows the fans are excited about Mania. His legacy has a lot to do with his longevity and he will no sit out WrestleMania, if he makes it it’ll be his 20th time competing at Mania and that means a lot to him. So he’s throwing this out there, he’ll be there Sunday in his wrestling gear and he’ll be ready to deliver to the fans and for his family, and anyone in the locker room is welcome to step up and challenge him.
He extends that offer to anyone of the fans as well, but whoever steps up will fall victim to the RKO. Another time filler segment but confirming that Randy is issuing an open challenge had to be done one way or another. We get a recap of Damian Priest and Drew McIntyre getting into things at the kickoff show earlier today.
In the back Byron talks with Priest, Priest is done with questions and sends a message to Drew. Drew, you’re not a victim. .
. not yet. This isn’t about Priest beating him in a match, and Drew isn’t ready for this fight and the world isn’t ready for the violence Priest will unleash.
He’s going to beat Drew so badly he’ll wish he was future endeavored again. Zelina Vega heads to the ring, her entrance music is really indistinguishable from the generic Smackdown house music. Anyway that match will be up after this break.
Another Aleister Black smoky video and the 4.25.25 date.
To the ring and here’s Chelsea Green. Match #3: Zelina Vega vs. Chelsea Green Vega flips out of a back suplex but Green lands a slap then hits a modified SOS for a 2 count.
The crowd like Green, Vega then with a wheelbarrow arm drag but Green lands a kick then some stomps. Vega tosses Green out of the ring, they wind up brawling out there and Green rams Vega into the barricade then gets in the ring where she begins complaining at the ref. Green charges at Vega, Vega sends her over the barricade into the time keepers area.
They both barely beat the 10 count then start trading strikes. Vega with a flurry of elbows then she hits some clotheslines. 619 from Vega is attempted but Green intercepts her with a pump kick for a 2 count.
They head up top, Green wants a superplex but Vega fights her off then hits an avalanche Code Red to win. OFFICIAL RESULT: Zelina Vega won in 3:33 Rating: 2 stars Thoughts: Well that helped right the ship from last week but the crowd just isn’t buying into Vega and despite Green being a heel the fact that she’s the only woman in the midcard showing personality means the crowd gravitates towards her. In the back LA Knight walks, he’ll take on Solo Sikoa after this break.
Post break LA Knight heads to the ring. We get a recap of Jacob Fatu laying out Knight last week before Knight gets a mic. Knight wants to talk to us, and says last week was inspirational.
Week after week those three have been sneak attacking him so he returned the favor and took out Tama earlier. Once he’s done with Solo that means he’ll get Fatu one on one tomorrow. He puts over Fatu as a monster, and then puts himself over for his work rate and the effort he’s put in over the last year.
He knows somewhere and someday Fatu will be a champion, but there’s no chance tomorrow as Fatu will eat a BFT courtesy of the man they call the mega star. That brings out Solo Sikoa. Knight attacks Solo on the entrance ramp and they start brawling.
Solo rams Knight into the ring steps and we head to break. Match #4: LA Knight vs. Solo Sikoa We come back to both men still brawling outside of the ring.
Solo rams Knight into the ring post then breaks the count of the ref and hits a release back suplex onto the apron. They head back into the ring now. Knight counters a suplex with a neckbreaker and both men are down.
Some punches from Knight but then Solo cuts him off with a Kitchen Sink knee lift. Solo with a few falling headbutts then a couple of big sit spots, but Knight counters the second one with knees coming up. Man Solo can’t buy a reaction from the crowd.
Knight starts throwing punches again then hits the ropes for a jumping clothesline and a DDT. Knight now to the second rope, but Fatu trips him down and attacks him. OFFICIAL RESULT: LA Knight won via disqualification in about 6:22 Rating: 1.
5 stars Thoughts: Angle, not a match and the post match stuff confirms that but Solo and Knight have had good in ring chemistry for a while. Post match Braun Strowman runs down to take out Solo and Fatu with a double crossbody. Nick Aldis comes down to say we’ve got a tag team match right now as we go picture in picture.
Match #4 – Tag Team Match: LA Knight and Braun Strowman vs. Jacob Fatu and Solo Sikoa Solo is able to drop Knight pretty quickly and he and Fatu begin working control stuff on Knight. Some control work from Fatu now as he isolates Knight.
Solo tags back in and lays in some strikes to Knight. Fatu tags back in and stares down Braun briefly before hitting a corner avalanche on Knight. Solo with a few cheap shots as we come back to broadcast.
Knight starts fighting back out of the heel corner and low bridges Fatu which allows him to tag in Braun. Braun with clotheslines to Fatu then a right hand for Solo and a dropkick to send Fatu out of the ring. Braun with the Express run, bless Fatu for bumping himself into the ring steps.
Back in the ring Fatu lands a superkick then a running clothesline to Braun and a DDT. Senton from Fatu gets a 2 count. Solo tags back in and keeps Braun down with some stomps.
Braun fights out of a chin lock then Solo drops him and tags in Fatu. Fatu with a neck crank on Braun but Braun fights up and hits a side slam to put both men down. Both men tag out and Knight gets to unload on Solo including a side Russian leg sweep.
Powerslam for Solo then Knight with the jump up elbow drop for a 2 count as Fatu breaks up the pin with a senton. Braun disposes of Fatu then heads out the chase him but Fatu sends him over the announce desk. Knight with a diving dropkick to Fatu.
Back in the ring Solo misses a Samoan Spike and eats Blunt Force Trauma so Knight gets the pin. OFFICIAL RESULT: LA Knight and Braun Strowman won in 7:26 Rating: 2.5 stars Thoughts: Decent stuff but the opening done in commercial was very slow.
Knight dealing with Solo to allow him and Fatu a straight up match is a nice little bit. Knight and Fatu stare down after the match. We get another snippet of a Wade Barrett interview, this time with Tiffany Stratton.
This doesn’t go a whole lot better than the other one but Tiffany is a bit more articulate than Charlotte was given the small portion of things we saw. This whole program has been kind of a mess and none of this is really convincing me otherwise. Rey Mysterio heads to the ring along with Dragon Lee as we head to break.
After the break we see that Rey Fenix has joined the faces in the ring. American Made then head to the ring. Match #5 – Trios Match: Rey Mysterio, Dragon Lee, and Rey Fenix vs.
American Made (Chad Gable, Julius Creed, and Brutus Creed Fenix and Brutus start, Fenix with some chops but Brutus has the power edge as they trade blows. Springboard headbutt from Fenix then a rolling hurricanrana for a 2 count. Lee tags in and hits a kick in the corner.
Brutus tags in Julius and they try to isolate Lee. Lee with some kicks to Julius then a knee strike and running hurricanrana to set up a dive over the top rope. Back in the ring Lee goes up top for a crossbody and Gable breaks up the pin then posts Lee.
Rey takes issue with that and chases Gable but Julius pulls him off the apron then Brutus shoves Fenix off the ropes. Gable with a German suplex to Lee, then we get a triple diving headbutt from American Made as we head picture in picture. Brutus tags in and they work to keep Lee isolated in the corner.
Lee plays face in peril for a bit, Julius tags in and sends Lee hard into a corner. Gable in now and he works a key lock, then he hits an arm drag and cheap shots Fenix. Lee starts fighting back with punches but Gable knocks him down then fires chops in the corner.
More arm work from Gable as we come back to broadcast. Julius tags in but Lee boots Gable only to run into then Brutus Ball combination and Fenix has to break up the pin. Brutus and Julius put Lee on the top rope and climb up with him but Lee trips them both into a tree of woe, Gable comes over and Lee does the same to him then hits all three men with a double stomp.
Lee crawls over towards Fenix and makes the tag. Fenix gets to run wild on Julius including the Tiger Feint wheel kick for a 2 count. Julius lands a knee to slow Fenix down then hits a belly to belly suplex.
Superkick from Fenix then he hits a double springboard arm drag then a double stomp. Kicks for Brutus then a hurricanrana to Gable. Fenix up top and drills Grable with the Amigo kick.
Lee with Operation Dragon to Julius then Fenix follows with a top rope Meteora and the 3 count. OFFICIAL RESULT: Rey Mysterio, Dragon Lee, and Rey Fenix won in 10:10 Rating: 2.5 stars Thoughts: It felt like Rey got legitimately hurt early on because he never showed back up after that first spot involving him chasing Gable around the ring.
I hope he’s OK and was just making sure nothing happened before Mania. As for the match itself, it was fine and I’ll give credit to everyone for making it work without Rey. We get a video package for Seth, Roman, and Punk again.
After this break Cody Rhodes and John Cena go face to face for the last time before Mania. Post break commentary runs down what happened tonight. WWE champion Cody Rhodes heads to the ring to a pretty big ovation.
Cody gets a mic and enjoys the crowd singing his name for a bit but before he can speak here’s John Cena to cut him off. Cena gets a mic of his own and the two men kind of jockey for position in the ring while the crowd gives Cena an earful. Eventually Cody goes to speak but Cena cuts him off, this will be Cena’s 20th Mania and 12th title match at Mania.
He knows how easy it is to get lost in the noise and voices right now, but Cody should focus on Cena. Sunday will be Cena’s last Mania, no one has ever had the guts to end their career the way Cena is and there’s no way Cody is ready to face a man who knows he’s going to die. What he’s doing is so unique that everyone thinks it’s fake, that there’s no such thing as a wrestling retirement, there’s always one more match.
Well every other wrestler is a scared insecure loser, every other wrestler needs the people to care about them, post about them, and once that’s gone they’re alone with just their sad lives. So they crawl back as a shell of themselves, well Cena has love and joy in his life, he doesn’t need a single damn one of us. His only reason for being here is to take the title away from Cody and the fans forever.
Don’t say he didn’t warn us. Last year Cena warned Cody, they got face to face privately and he warned Cody the title gets heavier and on Sunday it’ll be too heavy for Cody to hold and he’ll lose. He’ll lose because he cares about the fans.
Winners write history, not fans. One more thing for Cena to share, he knew he couldn’t beat Cody at Mania, but then in one moment Cody changed all that with what he said to The Rock. Rocky gave Cody a choice, do you want to do what the fans think is right or do you want to win? Well in that moment Cena realized Cody doesn’t stand a chance against him.
All he had to do was the one thing Cody couldn’t, show the fans that they don’t matter. All the nose from them, they’ll always make up the truth they want to believe and until you get around that you’ll never accomplish anything. Sunday Cody will have to choose, do what the fans think is right or win.
And Cody might be tough and driven, but he’s also scared and insecure. Well Sunday Cena is going to make Cody into somebody. Somebody who finally realizes that to become a winner you have sever ties with the losers in your life.
Or someone who had a chance to be a real winner and blew it. In that moment you’ll realize you’re not the captain, not the quarterback, just a kid in a mans world without the balls of the last real champion. Cody rebuts now, and gets the crowd to boo him.
Cena asks if this is what he fights for. Cody knows a graveyard of talent who’d disagree with Cena and instead he’s got to ask Cena something, and he asks if Cena knows the production peoples names. This is a different WWE for Cena.
When this was Cena’s WWE everyone was with Cena, but since that guy hasn’t been here since Elimination Chamber Cody has things to say. Cena is overrated, overbearing, has stack of dimes for a neck, is paler than Sting at Starcade, sanctimonious, and now he wants to call Cody an errand boy when Cena walked butt naked onto the Oscar stage for all the people who Cena runs errands for to laugh at. Well it’s 2025 and Cena still can’t wrestle.
That does get a bit of a “you can’t wrestle” chant. Cena calls the fans idiots which gets them singing for Cody again. They’re just like Cody, don’t know what they want.
On Sunday Cena doesn’t have to wrestle to beat Cody, he then pokes him in the eye and tries an Attitude Adjustment but Cody counters into Cross Rhodes. Cody poses over Cena with the belt. To close the show we get a recap of what just happened then a final hype job for Mania.
5.8 The final score: review Not So Good The 411 This felt like a really weak show, even by Go Home standards. The Battle Royal was what it always is, Seth Rollins cut the most generic corporatized version of that promo possible, Rey Mysterio got hurt during a match that shouldn't have happened, we got a pretty pointless revolving door promo segment for Rhea Ripley, Iyo Sky, and Bianca Belair, two snippets of sit downs with Tiffany Stratton and Charlotte Flair, and a tag team title match that did nothing but set up a TLC match for next week.
This was another 2 hour show stretched to 3 and it's starting to show. The stuff designed to hype up Mania was mixed, Seth's promo was meh, Randy's was paint by numbers but delivered well for what it was. The best stuff was Cena and Cody but that's not surprising as they've been good foils for each other on the occasions they've been able to interact at least.
I can't quite get this to Average with the Rey injury, again even for a go home show this felt like a lot of filler. legend 0 - 0.9 Torture 1 - 1.
9 Extremely Horrendous 2 - 2.9 Very Bad 3 - 3.9 Bad 4 - 4.
9 Poor 5 - 5.9 Not So Good 6 - 6.9 Average 7 - 7.
9 Good 8 - 8.9 Very Good 9 - 9.9 Amazing 10 Virtually Perfect.
