WWE Raw (3/3/25)

 

WWE Raw

Keybank Center

Buffalo, NY

March 3, 2025

Commentators: Michael Cole and Pat McAfee

Ring Announcer: Alicia Taylor

Well the mood just shifted in the world of wrestling. 48 hours after the most shocking heel turn of the century, WWE Raw comes to you from Buffalo, New York. Elimination Chamber gave us the number 1 contender to the Women's World Championship in Bianca Belair and the number one contender to Cody Rhodes in John Cena......more on that in a minute. Tiffany Stratton and Trish Stratus defeated Nia Jax and Candace Larae to finally clear a path for Tiffany vs Charlotte Flair at Wrestlemania. Finally Kevin Owens destroyed Sami Zayn and the returning Randy Orton has KO in his sights, most likely at Wrestlemania. As for tonight, Rhea Ripley defends the World Women's Championship against Iyo Sky with the winner facing Bianca Belair at Wrestlemania. Let's get to it.

We begin with the obligatory recap of Elimination Chamber including the shocking heel turn of none other than John Cena and the attack of Naomi by Jade Cargill. A downtrodden Michael Cole is still in shock as McAfee tells us the obvious, Cena sold his soul for the record breaking 17th world championship. Rhea Ripley arrives alone to the arena with Iyo Sky and Dakota Kai arriving as well. We're shown Diamond Mi.....American Made training because we got the Women's Intercontinental Championship match with Lira Valkyria against Ivy Nile and The War Raiders defending the World Tag Team Championships against The Creed Brothers. But first....here comes a pissed off CM Punk. Cole says he got screwed at the Elimination Chamber by Seth Rollins and Punk shoves the dude holding a microphone away. He then rips the announce table cover off and dumps over the Prime Station, which no one's ever used before....ever. He says let's start this show off with a bang. He says this is gonna be fun for him, but not for them. He's got gonna get Raw canceled off Netflix and considering his past pipe bombs, this is gonna be good. He says this is a state of the union address and people have been talking about how he's exhausted all his chances to go to Wrestlemania. He says its time to discuss his enemies which means EVERYONE. He wants a name from the crowd and everyone throws names out. McAfee says The Rock and Cole says John Cena. Punk says "The Rock, the final boss. Listen up Dwayne, you bald fraud! You think because you're on the board of directors that you're immune from criticism? You don't know who you're dealing with." He calls himself the best in the world, middle aged and crazy. He said he marched through hell to get to where he was while The Rock just waltzed in and stole other people's opportunities because he thinks he's bigger than everyone. Punk says he'd love to say it to Rock's face but he's not here to do his bullshit. Punk says Rock only pretends to care about the business and Punk has never had to stoop to wear a fake title and proclaim himself the people's champion. Punk says he doesn't deserve it, he earns it. He says he's never been desperate to sell his soul and that brings him to John Cena. Punk says they can all see through John and he stole Punk's Wrestlemania main event. Punk "Hustle, loyalty and respect for 20 plus years and now everybody sees what I've known all along. You've been selling these people and all these kids BULLSHIT!" Punk says he never gave up in the Elimination Chamber and Cena gave up on himself. Punk says he's going to get both of the "bald frauds" and Cena will make a wish Punk never got his hands on him. Punk says "And now the man of the hour, my little brother Seth Rollins." Punk says to Becky Lynch to come get her man because if he does, he'll put him in a wheelchair.  Right on cue....BURN IT DOWNNNNNN.

Seth Rollins walks out and Punk makes a mad dash to cut him off. They brawl at the entrance way and here comes the referees and Suit Brigade (Petey Williams, Shane Helms, Jason Jordan) to pull them apart. The crowd wants to see them fight and Punk breaks free. They brawl some more all the way to ringside. Adam Pearce comes out with security guards to pull them apart but they get knocked down as well. They brawl into the ring and out of the ring, spilling into the crowd as well. It takes about 20 people to separate them including refs, security, Suit Brigade and Pearce. They spill into the announce area and McAfee screams "HOLY SHIT COLE!" The crowd chants "This is awesome!" as Punk grabs one of the announce chairs. Rollins breaks free and they go again much to the crowd's delight. Rollins chucks some Prime bottles at Punk as Cole says this is the damndest thing he's ever seen. We cut to commercial....and that's how you open Raw. You could genuinely feel Punk's anger and Rollins wasn't about to let him bring his wife into it. This is gonna be epic when the time comes.

Back from commercial, we're shown more Elimination Chamber highlights including the Cena heel turn which made mainstream media. Then we're shown Rollins and Punk got into it again before needing to be separated again. We're then shown a highlight of last week's Women's Tag Title Match where Raquel Rodriguez and Liv Morgan defeated Bianca and Naomi to win the straps due to Dominik Mysterio. Judgment Day is backstage as Carlito picks up an apple. Dom Mysterio asks Finn Balor if he's cool and Finn says yes. Liv shows off her real scar from getting whipped by Bianca at EC and tells Raquel to keep her eye on the Intercontinental Championship match later. Liv asks if Finn is okay and he says he's okay....but Liv lost on Saturday night and Dom & Carlito got embarrassed by Bron Breakker last week. Dom says Finn had a chair and still backed down from Bron. Dom says they need another member (that's a diss on the injured JD McDonough. Finn says they don't need a new member but he'll deal with Breakker tonight. He leaves and Dom asks Liv what happened with Jade Cargill the other night. Liv says she doesn't know and she's staying out of it because she said she had nothing to do with it.

Alpha Academy is in the ring ready for the Otis vs Gunther showdown. Gunther walks out with a microphone. Gunther says before he embarrasses Otis he says he knows Otis is strong as an ox. People call Otis a freak of nature but he just calls him a freak. Gunther says Otis is no different than Jey Uso, a people pleaser who makes a clown out of himself to entertain a degenerate audience. Otis doesn't belong in Gunther's sacred ring and the crowd doesn't cheer Otis because they like him, they pity him. Gunther says he looked in the mirror and saw the World Heavyweight Championship belt around his waist while Otis couldn't even find a belt that fits. Gunther says Otis could have been great if he had self respect and Gunther will teach it to him now.

Match 1

Otis (with Maxxine Dupree and Akira Tozawa) vs Gunther

Non-title here and Gunther cheap shots him with a big boot to start. Gunther sheds the belt and stomps away at Otis before taunting the irate crowd. Cole says don't count out Otis as he was a tremendous amateur wrestler and Otis fights back with right hands. Otis pummels Gunther in the corner but Gunther kicks him, locking in a headlock. Gunther shoulderblocks Otis who no sells it. Otis hits two consecutive big boots to send Otis threw the ropes to the outside. Gunther slaps Otis from inside the ring and Otis starts getting mad. Otis pulls Gunther out and hits a fallaway slam on the floor as we got to break. Back from commercial, Gunther has a headlock on Otis inside the ring. Gunther taunts him and calls him a freak. Gunther punches away at Otis and kicks him in the head. Gunther covers for 1...2....no. Otis gets up and counters a chinlock with a back suplex. Gunther chops Otis and Otis no sells it. Otis takes a third and fourth chop and rips his shirt off. Gunther is totally confused as they trade chops in the center. Otis headbutts Gunther into the corner and drops him with a clothesline. Otis splashes him in the corner and hits a scoop slam. Otis splashes Gunther in the corner and drops him with a back elbow smash. Otis powerslams Gunther and then does the caterpillar. He covers for 1...2..no. Otis goes for the Vader Bomb but misses and Gunther hits the dropkick. Otis backdrops Gunther and they clothesline each other. Gunther hits Otis with another big boot and hits a big lariat. He covers for 1...2..nooooo. Gunther is pissed and finally hits the powerbomb. He covers for 1...2...3 to win the match. Good hoss fight and showing by Otis to have Gunther on the run a bit. Good to show Gunther is human and can still take a pounding.

Time of match: 9:41

Winner: Gunther by pinfall

Post-match, Gunther locks in a sleeper on Otis and Akira Tozawa jumps on his back. Gunther throws Akira off and powerbombs him on top of Otis. Here comes Jey Uso for the real save. Gunther cuts him off but Jey takes him down with a spear to chase him off. Jey holds up the title belt and the crowd chants. Uh oh....here comes A-Town Down Under for the beatdown. Grayson Waller and Austin Theory beat down Jey but Jey rallies with a superkick and a spear to dispatch them. Gunther then locks in a sleeper from behind to leave Jey laying. Gunther poses over the fallen Jey, holding up the title belt.

We get a Rhea vs Iyo vignette, hype for Lira Valkyria vs Ivy Nile then take more looks at Elimination Chamber reactions. Cathy Kelley is AJ Styles and wants her opinion on John Cena's heel turn. AJ says "Wow, I didn't see that coming." Karrion Kross hugs him from behind and says its not that surprising if you think about it. Kross stirs the pot by asking about Logan Paul and AJ says he's not John Cena, the Universe needs a reminder of who he is. He's gonna call out Paul next week on Raw in Madison Square Garden. AJ tells him to get lost as Kross says "That was easy." Kross lost Ellering and the Authors of Pain so being AJ's lackey or "devil on his shoulder" might be fun. On to the next match.

Match 2

Ivy Nile vs Lira Valkyria for the Women's Intercontinental Championship

We get a clip of Valkyria successfully defending her IC title against Dakota Kai last week only to get jumped by Ivy Nile. Bell's gone and Lira wastes no time, dropping Nile with a dropkick. Lira kicks Ivy and goes to work with knees to the face. Lira hiptosses Ivy and covers for a one count. Cole says this is their first meeting since NXT years ago as Ivy drops Lira with a clothesline. Ivy pounds away at Lira and whips her into the corner. Lira cartwheels away and sweeps the leg to drop Ivy. Lira hits northern lights for 1...2...no. Lira dropkicks Ivy through the ropes and goes up to the top rope. Ivy grabs the leg and dragon screws off the second rope. Ivy isolates the left leg as we go to break. Back from commercial, Ivy has a half crab on Lira. Ivy rams the knee into the mat twice but Lira rolls her up for a two count. Lira does a backslide for another two count and backs her into the corner. Ivy gets a boot to the face although Ivy rolls through a crossbody and stands up with Lira in her arms. Lira rolls out of the powerslam and hits a gut wrench bomb, but her knee gives out. Lira shakes it off with some clotheslines and an enziguiri. Ivy counters a torando ddt with a suplex and covers for 1..2....no. Lira rolls through a scoop slam with a cradle for 1...2...no. Lira catches Ivy with a swinging neckbreaker and goes for the Nightwing only for the leg to give out again. Ivy hits a double axehandle to the back and an atomic drop. Ivy hits a sitout powerbomb for 1...2....no. Ivy locks in the ankle lock and Lira sells it like crazy, but she makes it to the ropes. Lira hits a sunset flip for 1....2...no. Ivy hits a german suplex but misses a big boot in the corner. Lira hits an Orton style backbreaker and hits the Nightwing. She covers for 1..2...3 to win the match. Damn good effort by both girls as Ivy isolated the leg and Lira sold the daylights out of it, but still did enough to retain. There needs to be a big feud to give the title some legitimacy but this was a damn good match at least.

Time of match: 9:32

Winner: Valkyria by pinfall (still IC Champion)

We get a plug for WWE Evolve and a recap of the Rollins/Punk brawl from earlier. Rollins is trying to leave but Cathy Kelley gets in his face to ask him what happened. Seth with eagle vision spots Punk from a mile away and sprints toward him. In the words of Dick Stockton "AND THERE THEY GO AGAIN!!!"  They get separated again with Adam Pearce directing traffic. Punk says he gonna kill Rollins as we go to break. Back from break Rollins is with Pearce one one one and says this is the easiest job of Adam's life. He's gonna do what he did to Roman Reigns and make sure Punk doesn't make it to Wrestlemania. Rollins says "Its him or me, that's a hill I'll die on." Pearce says "You want to finish it? Finish it....next week in Madison Square Garden inside a steel cage." Rollins smiles and Pearce says get out of here and he doesn't want to see Rollins' face until next week. Pearce tells security to not let Rollins off his bus the rest of the night. 

We cut to a highlight of Ludwig Kaiser attacking Penta last month and then winning a triple threat match last week against Penta and Pete Dunne. Inside the ring, Ludwig Kaiser is here for a conference. He wants the fans' gratitude and the fans jeer. Kaiser says he took away Penta's attention that he himself deserved for a long, long time. Kaiser "Boo all you want, you know damn well Ludwig Kaiser is a future world champion!" That would have been interesting to see a babyface Kaiser in Germany against Gunther but oh well. Kaiser says he and Penta still have unfinished business. He says what Cena did to Cody Rhodes is nothing compared to what Kaiser will do to Penta. He goes on to say Penta claims to not know fear but he's going to fear him. Here comes Penta for the rebuttal....in the form of a hurracarana to the suit clad Kaiser. Penta sucks the line, hits a superkick and hits a slingblade. Penta head scissors Kaiser over the top rope to the floor and hits a springboard clothesline. Penta hits the hilo to the floor to leave Kaiser laying. Potential MSG match next week? Maybe.

We cut to Cathy Kelley now with Bianca Belair. She asks what happened with Jade and Naomi and Bianca refuses to answer out of respect. Bianca says she feels guilty for that but proud that she won the Chamber match. She hypes up both Iyo and Rhea but she's going to beat the winner at Wrestlemania. Before we go to break, we hype up tomorrow night's NXT featuring Chelsea Green & Piper Niven in action as well as The Hardy Boyz. Next up, the Creed Brothers will face the War Raiders. Back from break we see the international calls from Germany, Korea and France on the Cena heel turn.

For some reason we cut to Chad Gable in "Mexico" looking for ways to beat luchadors at lucha libre. Chad asks random people if they know someone in a picture then meets a random dude in a park. The dude says "You must become lucha." Chad says he'll do anything and the stranger hands him a box. Chad pays for it and the stranger says he now has power beyond his understanding. This is going to be epic or incredibly stupid, no in between. We get a recap package of the Creeds and Raiders before the next match.

Match 3

The Creed Brothers (Julius and Brutus) with Ivy Nile vs The War Raiders (Erik and Ivar) for the World Tag Team Championships

Ivar's birthday was the day before and Cole asked what he wanted. Ivar answered he wanted to eat the Creed brothers alive....yikes. Cole brings up Pat McAfee's social media blitz the last 48 hours and Pat says "I love America, sue me." Well said. Bell's gone and Erik starts with Julius and they tie up, with Cole saying both these teams were NXT tag champs. Julius ducks the line but Erik is shoved. Erik shoves him back and they roll around before Brutus tags in. They double team him in the corner with double boots in the corner. Julius "How'd you like that, huh?" as he tags in Brutus. Erik scoops slams Brutus and tags in Ivar. Ivar drops Brutus with a line and threatens Julius. Brutus uses the distraction to clothesline Ivar from behind and tag in Julius. The Creeds hit a double clothesline on Ivar that goes nowhere and Ivar does a handspring double back elbow....Tajiri would be proud. Ivar tags in Erik and he whips Ivar into Julius. Erik drops him with a shoulderblock and Ivar scoop slams Brutus. Erik scoop slams Ivar on top of Brutus and Erik tags Ivar back in legally. Julius is whipped into the corner and Ivar catches him with a big right hand. Ivar goes to the second rope and Julius dropkicks Ivar ass over tea kettle to the floor....woof! Brutus tags in and sends Ivar into the ring steps. Julius tells the camera they're winning the titles for Gable as we go to break. Back from commercial the Creeds hit a double delayed vertical suplex to Ivar. Brutus covers for 1....2..no. Ivar fights his way out of the corner and hits a sit down on Brutus. Julius tags in but is kicked off, Erik getting the hot tag. Erik cleans house of both brothers and hits a t-bone taz plex on Julius. Erik hits a dropkick on Julius and caters to the crowd, hitting a knee to the face of Julius. Ivar tags in and Erik throws Julius to him, Ivar hitting a running powerslam. Ivar covers for 1....2...no. Erik tags back in but Julius rolls out of the powerbomb attempt. Julius catches Erik with a high knee and tosses Ivar into the ring post. Julius hits an overhead belly to belly suplex and tags in Brutus. Julius hits an Angle Slam and Brutus somewhat botches the 450 splash off the top rope but still covers for 1...2....no. Brutus pounds away on Erik and tags Julius back in. Julius runs into a back elbow but sets up Erik on the second rope. Erik punches him off and Ivar makes a blind tag. Julius kicks Ivar off the apron and hits a superplex on Erik. Brutus misses the moonsault off the top rope and Ivar gets in. Ivar misses a top rope moonsault of his own and Julius hits a shooting star press on him. He covers for 1....2..noooooo. McAfee says he thought Billy Kidman was here for a second. Julius eats a boot to the head and Erik tags back in. Julius ducks a line and hits an Oklahoma Slam. Brutus tags in for the Brutus Ball but Erik rolls out of it. Erik shitcans Julius where he's splashed by Ivar outside. Erik tags Ivar in and they execute a War Machine on Brutus. Ivar covers for 1...2....3 to win the match. Good match with some highspots by some unlikely people. Good to see the tag straps defended with a good showing by both teams. The Creed Brothers' time will come eventually. As for now, the Raiders hold up the belts to the camera.

Time of match: 11:42

Winners: War Raiders by pinfall (still World Tag Team Champions)

We cut to Cole and McAfee who finally talk about something else from Elimination Chamber besides the Cena heel turn. We're shown the Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens war with Owens winning, setting up a Randy Orton return. Orton hits the rKo on Owens and it looks like it'll be those two at Wrestlemania.

We cut to a vignette with Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde saying New Day beat them down last week but didn't take their hearts or spirit. Dragon Lee says the New Day didn't get the job done, the LWO is stronger than ever. Rey Mysterio walks in and says New Day got too cocky, they didn't finish the job. Rey says him and Dragon are going to crush the New Day in a tornado tag match next week. Rey says he's proud of the LWO and says "New...Day Sucks." Dragon Lee joins in and we got another match for MSG next week. More hype for Rhea vs Iyo before we go to break.

Back from break Finn Balor is in the ring with WWE Intercontinental Champion Bron Breakker out in the crowd. Finn says the only reason he's still champ is because Judgment Day allowed it. Jackie Redmond is with Bron and Breakker says the only reason he's still champ is he's a doggggg, ruff! Breakker says he embarrassed all of the Judgment Day and Finn says he's untouchable in the ring. He says he can take the title from Breakker any time he likes. Finn says Breakker is hiding behind Jackie and when they get in the ring, he'll put the "dog" down. Those are fighting words in Breakker's country and he heads to the ring. Breakker is intercepted by Carlito and Bron sends him over the barricade. Here's Dom Mysterio who eats an overhead belly to belly suplex on the floor. Finn looks nervous in the ring but he hits a slingblade on Bron. He rallies with right hands and a chest stomp before taunting the irate crowd. Breakker recovers to hit a gorilla press slam and tear his t-shirt off. Dom pulls Balor out of the ring and Breakker spears Carlito out of his shoes instead. Cole asks why the Judgment Day is continuing to provoke Bron Breakker before going back to the Cena heel turn.

Before we go to break, we go to highlights of the heel turn including a cool montage of all the babyface things Cena has ever done in between the Cody beat down. They also show Travis Scott legit punching Cody in the face. 47 days from now it'll be Cena vs Rhodes in the main event. Cole says he spoke to Cody early today and he didn't have much to say then, but he'll address the world this Friday on Smackdown. Back from break Alpha Academy thanks Jey Uso for having his back and leaves. Cathy Kelley asks if he's thrown off his game. Jey says this is the wrong time to be going through it mentally because every week he's being told he can't do it. He says his back is to the wall and can't breathe, but Gunther told him he'd put him through 10 weeks of hell. Jey says at Wrestlemania he's crashing out and Gunther woke up a sleeping beast....yeet! Jey walks outside shirtless in Buffalo in March, which is a choice. In all seriousness, they're kind of rehashing the Sami/Gunther match last year only without the Rocky 3 twist. Before the main event, we get a graphic that Rhea Ripley has never beaten Iyo Sky....interesting. Bianca Belair makes her way to ring side for the main event, here we go.

Match 4

Iyo Sky vs Rhea Ripley for the World Women's Championship

Cole says Ripley has been nearly unstoppable for the past 3 years as another graphic shows Iyo's two victories over Rhea in NXT. Bell rings and Rhea powers her around in a reverse bearhug to start. Iyo gets dropped with a shoulder tackle and a dropkick, Rhea covering for 1...2...no. Iyo tries to roll up Rhea but Rhea chops her away. Iyo tries another takedown before ducking under a line. Iyo hits a victory roll for a two count then kicks Rhea in the head. Rhea moves out of the way of a 619 attempt and drags Sky out of the ring. Rhea slings Iyo head first into the apron twice then hits a suplex on the floor as we go to break. Back from break Rhea hits a top rope missile dropkick and covers for 1...2...no. Iyo then hits a modified backstabber and goes to the top rope. Iyo hits a top rope dropkick but misses the bullet train. Rhea hits two lariats and a side kick but Iyo rolls through a faceplant and hits a double stomp to the ribs. Iyo covers for 1...2...no. They slug it out in the center of the ring and Rhea clobbers her with a big right hand. Rhea misses a roundhouse kick and faceplants Iyo, covering for 1...2...no. Rhea looks concerned as Cole speculates that reality is kicking in that Rhea can't beat her. The Prism Trap is blocked and Rhea's suplex off the apron is blocked as well. Iyo snaps Rhea's arm off the apron but Rhea hits a massive boot that spins Iyo in a 360. Rhea covers for 1...2...no. Rhea goes for Riptide but Iyo counters with a tornado DDT. Iyo hits the bullet train in the corner and hits the In-Sane elbow, covering for 1...2...no. Iyo then locks in the Asuka Lock as its apparent this one's for her Damage Control compadres. Rhea hangs on to dump Iyo off the buckle, but Sky hits the bullet train anyway. Iyo calls for the Over The Moonsault but Rhea forearms her in the back. Rhea hits a top rope back suplex and covers for 1...2...nooooo. Rhea can't believe it and shouts "What do I have to do???" Rhea locks in the Prism Lock but Iyo flips Rhea into the ring post and to the outside. Iyo hits a sunset flip power bomb through the ropes into the barricade. Back inside Iyo hits Over The Moonsault on the back of Ripley, rolls her over and covers for 1....2..nooooo, Rhea got the foot on the rope. Ripley bails to the outside and crawls toward Bianca. Iyo hits a suicide dive onto Rhea and goes for the Asai Moonsault but Rhea electric chairs Iyo off the apron first then the announce table. Bianca claps for both women as referee Jessika Carr starts the count. Cole points out a count-out gives the title back to Rhea as she slides inside the ring. Bianca claps for Iyo as Sky just barely gets back in the ring. Rhea stares a hole in Bianca and goes outside to taunt her for some idiotic reason. Rhea says Bianca is scared of her and Bianca tells her to get back in the ring. Rhea shoves Bianca down and goes to get back in the ring. Bianca grabs her and shoves her against the apron....but Carr doesn't call for the bell. What? Rhea shoves her away and Bianca shoves her back. Carr gets out of the ring and says this is a title match, stop this madness. Bianca walks away with her hands up as Rhea shouts at her from a distance. Back inside Rhea says Bianca's gonna pay for this and drags Iyo to the top rope. She shouts "See you at Mania, Bianca" but Iyo counters the Riptide with a top rope frankensteiner. Iyo then hits Over The Moonsault and covers for 1..2...3...to win the match! Holy Schmidt.....when was the last time the World Champion of either gender dropped the title on the road to Wrestlemania? Iyo is the new World Women's Champion and Bianca claps for her. Cole and McAfee correctly point out that Rhea's ego cost her by worrying about Bianca. The highlight shows the fans going nuts for Iyo as Cole says she won it 47 nights away. That was a damn good match with a shocking ending. This situation just got very interesting and we might get a triple threat.

Time of match: 18:39

Winner: Iyo Sky by pinfall

After the match Iyo gives heart signs to the fans as Rhea calls herself stupid for allowing this to happen. We go off air with Iyo Sky standing tall. What a show that was. We started with a pipe bomb from CM Punk and a hell of a brawl with Seth Rollins. We had a serviceable Gunther/Otis match, a serviceable women's IC title match, a fun tag team title match and a shocking world title change. Next week at MSG is going to be interesting with LWO against New Day, AJ Styles calling out Logan Paul and Rollins and Punk in a steel cage. The road to Wrestlemania got a little more interesting with Iyo's win and Punk going berserk. Just going to have to tune in to find out what happens next. Rhea Ripley might be turning heel again since she went after Bianca for no reason but Naomi/Jade Cargill is also hanging over Bianca's head. The next show after this is tomorrow night's NXT. I'll see you there.

WWE 2025 Elimination Chamber (3/1/25)

2025 Elimination Chamber

The Skydome

Toronto, Canada

March 1, 2025

Commentators: Wade Barrett, Pat McAfee and Michael Cole

Ring Announcer: Alicia Taylor

The road to Wrestlemania takes an interesting turn as tonight's the night we find out who faces Cody Rhodes at Wrestlemania 41. So what's been going on lately? Well the Men's Elimination Chamber match is self explanatory. John Cena is the odds on favorite to win since he wants one last main event before he retires this year. Standing in his way is his long time rival CM Punk who also wants to main event Wrestlemania for the first time in his career (despite being the WWE Champion in 2012). Damian Priest and Drew McIntyre have been at each other's throats and each wants to get back in the main event picture. Seth Rollins not only despises just about everyone in the match, he was the one who had Cody's back at Wrestlemania last year, he wants a crack at him this year. The wild card is Logan Paul who could bring millions of social media views to Wrestlemania if he wins. In other matches, Cody Rhodes dispatched Kevin Owens in a ladder match at the Royal Rumble and Kevin took his frustrations out on long time friend Sami Zayn. Even throughout Kevin's heel turn in the fall, Sami remained in his corner. Not anymore! Tonight they fight in an "unsanctioned match" which is just mumbo jumbo for no disqualification. The women's chamber match will determine who faces Rhea Ripley at Wrestlemania. The contestants are her rival Liv Morgan who she defeated for the title back at the first Raw on Netflix. Naomi and Bianca Belair have formed a pretty nifty tag team with Jade Cargill out with a storyline injury but they'll be opponents here. Alexa Bliss made her return at the Royal Rumble and wants to make the big comeback with a win tonight. Bayley lost the WWE Women's Championship to Nia Jax and was never able to get it back. If she can't beat Nia, maybe she can beat Ripley. The wild card is Roxanne Perez, the former NXT Women's Champion. She could sneak into the main event of Wrestlemania to face the "eradicator". The final match is a standard women's tag team match with the "divas" Trish Stratus and WWE Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton against former champion Nia Jax and her sidekick Candace Larae. It was definitely a Canadian thing going on with Trish, Sami and KO taking center stage for sure. Let's get right to it.

Michael Cole welcomes us saying Wrestlemania 6 and 18 were held in this arena. He hypes up The Rock and Cody Rhodes' confrontation. We're shown Kevin Owens arriving to the arena in a Bret Hart jacket while stealing some wrenches for the match later. Sami Zayn arrives as well as Damian Priest and Seth Rollins. Logan Paul is chillin with some people as Drew McIntyre also arrives. CM Punk arrives and Cole says our first match will be the Women's Elimination Chamber. We're shown an introductionary vignette starting with John Cena's interview at the Royal Rumble saying he's always done what's best for business. What is best for business is he main events Wrestlemania, by winning Elimination Chamber. The sad part is The Rock is rehashing the original Vince McMahon and Steve Austin storyline from 1998 where Vince wanted Austin to be his "corporate" champion. Cole welcomes us with Pat McAfee and Wade Barrett and McAfee goes on a rant saying Canada is a terrible country that booed their national anthem. Get used to that tonight....and I can't blame him.

Match 1

Liv Morgan vs Naomi vs Bianca Belair vs Bayley vs Roxanne Perez vs Alexa Bliss in an Elimination Chamber Match

Winner faces Rhea Ripley (or Iyo Sky) at Wrestlemania and no sense going over the rules since everyone knows them by now. Liv Morgan starts with Naomi as Cole says Liv beat Iyo to qualify for this match. Liv taunts Bianca with her women's tag title belt and walks in a circle taunting everyone in the pods. Bell's gone.....and Jade Cargill's theme hits. Liv Morgan looks absolutely terrified as Jade runs into the ring before the cage was closed. Jade then....beats the living daylights out of Naomi. WHAT? It was implied that Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez was the one who put Jade out of action but apparently it was Naomi? Bianca kicks and screams in the pod because she can't get out as Jad rams Naomi into the side of the chamber. Jade heaves her into Bayley's pod as McAfee & Barrett thinks Naomi attacked her. Jade hits a pump kick on Naomi directly into Bianca's pod. The crowd starts a "welcome back" chant as Naomi tries to crawl away, only for Jade to close the door on Naomi's head. Wade "Jade Cargill came for her pound of flesh". Jade storms off angry as the stretcher comes out for Naomi. Liv in the ring says "I told ya so" and starts taunting Bianca. Bianca pounds on her pod as NAOMI is declared eliminated by Alicia Taylor over the house mic. The crowd taunts Naomi with a "Na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye" chant before the countdown begins.

Bianca Belair is released and she runs right to the door to check on Naomi, getting attacked from behind by Liv Morgan. Liv rams her into Alexa's pod then Bayley's pod. Liv throws Bianca into the ring and Bianca rallies with a forearm. Bianca shoulderblocks Liv in the corner and punches away, but is pushed off the top rope by Liv. Cole on commentary says it might be Naomi that attacked Jade months ago. Bianca misses the handspring moonsault and Liv hits a shining wizard, covering for 1...2...no. Liv throws Bianca face first into the mat twice before kicking her in the ribs. Liv taunts the irate crowd and clobbers Bianca in the corner. A charge in another corner eats boot and Bianca follows with a spinebuster. Bianca hits the handstand moonsault for 1...2...no. Cole says the crowd is still in shock and McAfee can't help but say they're lousy.

The countdown begins and Roxanne Perez is released next. Perez hits a headscissors and goes nuts on both Liv & Bianca. She avalanches both women in opposite corners and rolls to the middle of the ring. Roxanne misses a charge but recovers to hit a top rope frankensteiner to Bianca then faceplants Liv. Roxanne covers for 1...2..no. Roxanne goes for another frankensteiner outside but Bianca catches her in mid-air. Roxanne blocks the powerbomb by climbing the chamber but again Bianca catches her in mid-air. Roxanne then counters another powerbomb with a russian leg sweep into the chamber. Roxanne ties Bianca's hair into the chamber and Liv dropkicks Roxanne out of nowhere. Liv throws Roxanne into the ring and covers for a deuce. Liv hits a running knee and both women duck each other's moves before dropping each other with a double clothesline. Cole asks Barrett how long it took him to realize how dangerous the match is in his Chamber match and he said 10 seconds.

The countdown begins and Bayley is released. Roxanne cuts her off but Bayley rams her into the pod, destroying it in the process. Bayley dribbles Roxeanne's head off the pod window then Liv into the chamber. Liv's elbow is bleeding as Bayley hits a Bayley-To-Belly against the chamber on Roxanne. Bayley spots her old rival Bianca in the ring and they go at it. Bayley reverses a go-behind to throw Bianca out by the hair, hitting her with a forearm. The crowd chants for Bayley as she catches Bianca with a knee to the jaw. Bayley hits a sunset bomb on Belair and covers for 1...2...no. Bayley heaves Liv out of the ring and sets up Bianca in the center. Bayley goes upstairs and drops a big elbow. She covers for 1...2...no.  Bayley goes up top again but Roxanne from out of nowhere powerbombs her onto the steel. Roxanne goes upstairs and hits a frog splash on Bayley inside the ring. She covers for 1...2...no! Roxanne screams and Liv hits a codebreaker on her. Liv covers for a deuce as the countdown begins.

A smiling Alexa Bliss is released and she very slowly makes her way to the ring, stalking Liv Morgan. Alexa throws her down by the air and punches away at her. Roxanne pulls her off and Alexa catches her with a back elbow smash. Alexa takes her down and clubs away at her with some stiff shots before delivering a jawbreaker to Liv. Alexa hits a dropkick on Liv but Bayley rolls her up for 1....2..no. Alexa drops Bayley witha  right hand and jumps on Bayley's back. Alexa hits a rolling neckbreaker and covers for 1....2...no. Alexa slaps Bayley and hits double knees to the stomach. Roxanne then heaves Bliss outside then into the chamber. Roxanne calls herself the prodigy but Alexa hits a backbreaker. Wade "You cannot be cocky with veterans like Alexa." Alexa flies off the top rope but jumps into Bayley and Bianca who slam her down. Bayley hits a modified stunner on Bianca and dives on both her and Bliss. Liv heaves Bayley into an open pod twice. Bayley hits what looks like a New Delhi Devasator on Liv but Roxanne rolls up Bayley inside the ring for 1...2...no. Roxanne hits a head scissors and turns it into a Crippler Crossface. Bayley rolls outside with Roxanne still holding on until Perez breaks it. Perez then hits a modified stunner through the ropes then goes for the second rope moonsault. Bayley gets her knees up but Roxanne blocks the Rose Plant. Roxanne is dumped onto the chamber outside but Liv from out of nowhere hits ObLivion on Bayley. Liv covers for 1....2...3 to eliminate BAYLEY.

Liv runs for her life from Bianca who climbs to the top of a pod. She klicks away at Bianca who joins her up there. Liv rams Bianca's head off the pop and tries to pulls her off by the hair. Bianca uses her hair as a whip that knocks Liv to the floor. Pat "YEE-IKESSSS". Bianca flies off the top hits all three remaining women with a crossbody. Liv has a legitimate welt from the whip as Bianca covers both Roxanne and Liv for two counts. Bianca shoulderblocks Alexa in the corner and goes for a superplex, but Liv and Roxanne team up for the powerbomb plex. Liv screams "I HATE YOUUU" and goes for ObLivion on Bianca but jumps into a superkick from Roxanne. Roxanne throws Belair into the ring and goes for Pop Rox, but Bianca heaves her into Liv. Liv executes a code breaker to drop Roxanne and Alexa hits Twisted Bliss from off the top rope. She covers Roxanne for 1...2....3 to eliminate ROXANNE PEREZ.

Down to three and Alexa sits cross-legged in the center of the ring with the other two in opposite corners. Alexa drops Liv and punches away at Bianca. Bianca goes for the KOD on Alexa but she hits a frankensteiner on Liz instead. Alexa drops Bianca with a drop toe hold and stands on her until Liv clubs her off. Liv then hits 3 Amigos on Bianca and does the Eddie Guerrero pose. Liv hits a shining wizard on Bianca and calls for the 619. She gets intercepted by Bliss who goes for Sister Abigail but Liv pushes her away. Liv rolls out of the KOD attempt by Bianca although Bianca rolls her up for a two count. Liv kicks her off right into Alexa for the Sister Abigail attempt. Alexa hits it but Liv jacknife pins Alexa for 1....2....3 to eliminate ALEXA BLISS.

Liv waives bye to Alexa and pulls Bianca into the center of the ring. Liv covers for 1...2....no. Liv rams Bianca into the chamber by the hair multiple times and back in the ring, Liv covers for 1..2...no. The crowd starts a small EST chant as Liv hits a codebreaker. Bianca no sells it and spears Liv, covering for 1...2..no. Bianca goes for a powerbomb outside but Liv blocks it. Bianca then rams Liv's head off the pod then the cage, finishing with a powerbomb inside the ring. Cole says Liv had nothing left as Bianca goes for the 450 splash. Liv gets her knees up and goes for the ObLivion. Instead Bianca ducks it and goes for the KOD. Liv rolls out of it and hits another codebreaker. She goes for Oblivion again but this time Bianca slides through it, hitting the KOD. Bianca covers for 1..2....3 to win the match. Damn good effort by Liv to take all that punishment the whole match and Alexa for her first big time match in years. Cole runs down the whole match including the Jade Cargill run-in and yet Bianca wins anyway. People have wanted Bianca vs Ripley for years and it looks like we're headed in that direction.

Time of match: 29:16

Winner: Bianca Belair

Bianca celebrates after the match as we go to the replays. Then Rhea Ripley appears behind her at the entrance and stares her down. Then Iyo Sky walks out and stares them both down. Monday night on Raw will decide who faces Bianca as we go to break. Back from commercial we get a plug for WWE Evolve this coming Wednesday, the newest WWE show which will be the Double-A show compared to NXT being Triple-A. We're shown a highlight of 2006 Unforgiven in Toronto where Trish Stratus defeated Lita for the WWE Women's Championship. 18 years later she'll team with Tiffany Stratton against Nia Jax and Candace Larae. After the recap vignette, its showtime.

Match 2

Trish Stratus and Tiffany Stratton vs WWE Women's Champion Nia Jax and Candace Larae

The hometown hero Trish teams with Tiffany in a generational tag team for the ages. Trish was the Tiffany of 25 years ago and she's backing up Tiffany against the monster Nia. Wade "Trish, what the hell are you thinking putting your body on the line here?" Cole says this is the first time Trish's children have ever seen her compete live. Damn we're old. Bell;s gone and Trish starts with Candace. Trish hits a Thesz Press and punches away at Candace. Trish ducks a line from an interfering Nia who runs into a Tiffany punch. Tiffany and Trish hit a double dropkick to send Nia flying as Trish hits a neckbreaker on Candace. Trish covers for 1...2...no. Cole says Trish has never lost a tag match in Canada as Tiffany tags in. Nia pulls Trish outside and decks her but Tiffany comes off the apron with a Supergirl punch. Larae hits a baseball slide on Tiffany as Cole points out Trish eliminated Canadace from the Royal Rumble. Larae sends Tiffany into the steel steps then throws her inside. Candace rams Tiffany into the corner and tags in Nia. Candace whips Tiffany and Nia botches a senton as her ass never left the turnbuckle but Tiffany dropped down anyway. Nia mocks Trish and throws Tiffany down, saying "You're not shit without me." A small "you can't wrestle" chant starts as Nia sits on Tiffany on the second rope. Nia gets in a chinlock as Cole says Nia eliminated 9 women in the Rumble including Trish. Nia avalanches Tiffany in the corner and goes for the banzai drop. Pat "This is the worst place to be in the history of wrestling". Personally I'd rather be under Nia than Yokozuna, just ask Dan Dubiel. Tiffany pulls Nia off the rope and tags in Trish. Trish rallies with right hands as McAfee says "That's Stratusfying". Trish chops away in the corner and then hits the Chick Kick. Trish hits a tornado DDT and covers for 1....no. Candace gets in and Trish hits a spinebuster on her. Trish goes for the Stratusfaction but Nia counters with a back suplex. Nia covers for 1....2..no. Nia grabs Trish by the hair and mock chants "USA, USA" McAfee "I'm okay with it." Nia does a Chyna bearhug and throws Trish down much to the crowd's chagrin. Nia tells Tiffany to kiss her buttocks and lifts Trish up in a stretch muffler. Nia rams Trish's head against the buckle as Candace hits a dropkick. Candace covers for 1...2...no. Candace rams Trish face first as we get a replay of the double team attack. Candace goes for the arm-bar and Trish tries to escape, but is thrown back down by Larae. She covers for 1...2...no. Candace hits a snap suplex and covers for 1...2..no. Candace drags Trish to her corner and Nia tags in. Nia hits the Umaga bump in the corner and delivers a stinkface to Trish. She took a few of those from Rikishi back in the day. Candace tags in to stand on Trish in the corner but Trish rallies with forearms. Candace backs Trish in the corner and then knocks Tiffany off the other apron. Trish and Candace pull each other down by the hair. Tiffanyt gets the hot tag and she unloads on Candace with clotheslines and a shoulderblock. Trish hits a handspring back elbow in the corner before knocking Nia off the apron. Candace rolls through a cradle but Tiffany executes the Alabama slam. Tiffany then hits a spinebuster on Nia before delivering a double dropkick. She covers Candace for 1....2....no. Tiffany goes for the moonsault and damn near breaks her neck when she's pushed off by Candace. Candace makes the tag and Jax tags back in. Nia hits a big leg drop and covers for a deuce. Tiffany pushes Nia into Candace and hits a back suplex on the big lady. Trish gets the tag but runs into a back elbow by Candace. Candace gets caught in the Stratusphere but Nia breaks up the pinfall attempt. Nia clotheslines Tiffany down and tags back in legally. Nia throws Trish in the corner and goes to the second rope, but Trish counters with a kick. Trish hits the Stratusfaction from the top rope and covers for 1...2.....no, Trish moves out of the way as Candace hits a moonsault on Nia by accident. Tiffany tags in who dumps Candace on the apron. Tiffany hits the moonsault on Nia and covers for 1...2...3 to win the match. Better than I thought it was gonna be and Tiffany gets some momentum heading into her Wrestlemania showdown against Charlotte Flair. 

Time of match: 11:40

Winners: Tiffany and Trish by pinfall

Back from commercial break, Michael Cole tells us WWE will be back in Australia sometime this year and then gives our Wrestlemania itinerary. Smackdown will be Friday April 18th, NXT Stand & Deliver will be Saturday afternoon the 19th with Wrestlemania 41 in Las Vegas Saturday and Sunday night with Raw on Monday the 21st. The rapper Travis Scott enters the arena as we get a plug of the Elimination Chamber merch stand. After more advertisements, Damian Priest and Drew McIntyre are shown preparing as Seth Rollins takes of his wedding band. Uh oh, don't tell Becky Lynch that. We're shown Cody Rhodes in shirt and tie contemplating tonight's decision. Then we go to another vignette showing how The Rock has taken the company into the stratosphere and he's the "Final Boss." After this, our attendance is 38,493....which is nowhere near Wrestlemania 6 of over 60,000 legit. FINALLY, we get to our next match. Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn in the "Unsanctioned match." We're shown a backstory of them betraying each other over the years with KO doing the honors this time. Alicia Taylor says WWE is not legally responsible for anything that happens in this match. There are no rules and the ref is only here to count to three or declare a submission. Here we go.

Match 3

Sami Zayn vs Kevin Owens

Long story short, KO was mad Sami didn't interfere in the ladder match at Royal Rumble so he injured Sami's neck. Sami vowed revenge and here we are. Sami enters looking mad and determined which is a far cry to his usual demeanor. Michael Cole says KO and Sami met at an indy show in 2002 and brings up Ring of Honor's El Generico vs Kevin Steen. As the bell rings, Cole mentions how two years ago these two main evented Wrestlemania and put the first crack in the Bloodline's armor, and now here they are bitter enemies. Despite both men being Canadian, the crowd is absolutely dead to start. There is a cool spotlight shown in the ring which is a nod to the old territorial "Lights Out" matches. They slug it out to start with Sami getting the upper hand. KO recovers and drops Sami with a back elbow smash. KO drops Sami ribs first on the top rope and hits a running senton. Sami heaves KO into the ring post outside but KO chops him. Sami sends him into another ring post and grabs a chair from underneath the ring. He then starts heaving multiple chairs into the ring. KO grabs one and hits Sami in the back with it first. KO continues to crack Sami with the chair as Cole says the referee can't do anything about it. KO swings and misses, hitting himself in the head on the ricochet. Sami then takes over with the chair on the back of KO. Sami cracks KO in the back again and KO bails outside. Sami cracks him outside as well and throws him back inside. Sami stacks chairs on KO's chest and goes outside. He grabs a hockey stick which does get a pop from the crowd. He waffles the chairs with the hockey stick and KO bails outside again. The crowd starts a small Sami chant as he grabs a table much to the crowd's delight. KO grabs Sami and heaves him into the ring post before grabbing the hockey stick. Kevin chokes Sami with the stick and bites the top of his head as Cole almost gags. Cole "This guy is NUTS!" KO grabs another table and stacks it on the other table. Sami grabs the stick and checks KO over the barricade into the crowd. They brawl up some steps as KO chokes Sami with some security tape. Sami rallies with right hands and grabs a trash can. Sami waffles KO with the trash can as Pat says "HE JUST HIT KEVIN OWENS IN THE HEAD WITH DOMINIK MYSTERIO!" Barrett "Completely unnecessary but very funny, man." Sami puts the trash can on his head and Cole says Owens is grouchy. Ha! Sami stalks KO into a watering station and hits the Blue Thunder Bomb through the table set up. Sami  hits another Blue Thunder Bomb through another table as Barrett calls Sami unhinged. Sami throws Kevin down and hits him in the head with a trash can lid. Sami keeps whacking him back toward the ring but KO whacks Sami with the ring bell to stun him. KO clobbers him with the trash can lid a few times then hits him with one of the announce team's TV monitor. KO rolls Sami into the ring and goes up to the top rope. Sami cuts him off and goes for the fisherman buster, but KO slides under him and shoves him off the top rope through the stacked tables. Cole says Sami is clutching his neck while Barrett says good that he's not paralyzed. Back inside, KO hits a brainbuster on a chair and covers for 1....2...no. KO kicks Sami in the face and goes for the pop up bomb, but Sami turns it around into a Taz Plex. KO doesn't sell it and instead charges only to get Tax plexed right onto a chair. Cole "KEVIN OWENS MAY BE DEAD!"  Sami goes for the Helluva Kick but KO pulls referee Rod Zapata in the way. Zapata is out cold and KO hits the stunner on Zayn, but there's no ref to count. Charles Robinson sprints to the ring and counts 1...2...no. KO decks Robinson with a lariat as McAfee asks what's wrong with Owens. Referee Ryan Tran hits the ring and checks on Charles as we got to the replays of the refs getting wiped out. KO goes to the floor and gets another table as Sami continues to sell the neck. Barrett says he's been there and its not going to work. KO waffles Sami in the head with a chair as Cole tells Sami to give it up. Owens sets up Sami on the table with a chair on top but Sami pops up and throws the chair at KO. His facial expression is priceless and Sami smacks him in the face. Sami goes for the superplex but KO counters with a fisherman's buster through the table. Wade "Get this match over with!" KO covers for 1......2.....no. Cole "Sami I am begging you to just stay down!" Petey Williams of the Suit Brigade hits the ring and tells KO that Sami's had enough. KO props up Sami in the corner and says its all his fault. He runs to the other corner but Sami from out of nowhere hits the Helluva Kick. Sami covers for 1....2...no. Cole "And this massacre continues." Sami then goes under the ring and pulls out a chair wrapped in barbed wire. Cole "OH JESUS!" Barrett "Who the hell set THAT up under the ring?" Sami stalks Owens with the chair, kicks him and waffles him in the back with it twice. Sami sets the chair up and hits a drop toe hold on it with KO rolling around grabbing his face. Sami sets the chair up on two others and hits the blue thunder bomb on it. Sami covers for 1..2....noooooo. KO staggers to the corner but counters the Helluva Kick with a pop up powerbomb. Sami then bails to the floor grabbing his neck and KO grabs another chair. He wraps it around Sami's neck and sends him into the ring post. He sends him into another ring post as Cole screams "KEVIN ENOUGH!" KO hits a powerbomb on the ring apron and Cole shouts "YOU SICK BASTARD!" The rest of the Suit Brigade shows up and tells Kevin its over, but Owens hits another powerbomb against the side of the ring. KO throws Sami inside as Barrett calls him sub-human scum. KO covers for 1...2....3 to win the match. That was a war and the commentary team throwing professionalism out the window made it seem like classic JR and King from the 90's/00's. Forget holds, forget workrate, that was a FIGHT. Owens gets the last word with Sami to pretty much end this feud.

Time of match: 27:34

Winner: Owens by pinfall

After the match the stretcher comes out for Sami with security telling Owens to beat it. Owens beats up the security guards and pulls the protective mat off the floor. Owens drags Sami out of the ring and goes for the package piledriver on the floor....until Voices hits. Sure enough, out comes Randy Orton for the save. Owens stands in the center of the ring as the crowd sings Voices. Orton sheds his vest and runs in to beat the crap out of Owens. Randy hits the RKO and grabs the chair, standing over KO's fallen body. Randy throws the chair out and loads up the punt for the first time in years. Just as Orton is about to deliver the punt, he's intercepted by the Suit Brigade. KO makes a hasty retreat and Orton hits the rKO on members of the security team. Randy stares at the Wrestlemania sign to signify where this feud is going before posing for the crowd.

Back from commercial the announcers give their regards to Sami Zayn and hypes up Stephanie McMahon's talk show on ESPN+ coming up with Pat McAfee. We're shown Logan Paul getting ready for the chamber match with CM Punk on his way to the ring. The chamber is lowered and its go time.

Match 4

Logan Paul vs Damian Priest vs CM Punk vs John Cena vs Seth Rollins vs Drew McIntyre in an Elimination Chamber Match

Logan Paul enters the arena waiving the American flag which was GENIUS heel heat. Rollins and McIntyre are going to start as Barrett brings up how everyone but Cena had to qualify for the match. Bell's gone and McIntyre stares at Rollins to start. McIntyre goes for the claymore early and misses and Rollins misses the curb stomp as well. Rollins punches McIntyre in the corner and bites his forehead. McIntyre slams Rollins on the chamber steel outside of the ring. He rams Rollins back first into the cage then rakes his face against it. CM Punk from the pod says to McIntyre to stay alive so he can get him some. Rollins rams McIntyre's head against Punk's pod as Punk screams harder. Back inside Rollins hits a flying knee and a kick, covering for 1...2..no. Logan Paul draws on his pod with a marker as McIntyre hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, covering for a two count. McIntyre backdrops Rollins on the steel and kicks him in the chest. McIntyre ribs the turnbuckle pad off and slingshots him into it. The countdown begins as McIntyre sits in front of Punk.

Damian Priest enters and stares down McIntyre. They chop it out in the middle of the ring amd Priest hits a discuss punch. Priest splashes Rollins in the corner and flatlines McIntyre. Priest hits a Razor's Edge on Rollins on top of McIntyre. Priest runs into a Glasgow Kiss from Drew and he calls for the claymore. Rollins cuts him off with a superkick and avoids South of Heaven from Priest. Rollins superkicks Priest but runs into a spinebuster by Drew. McIntyre powerbombs Rollins on top of Priest and covers Seth for 1...2...no. Logan Paul draws something on the pod causing the crowd to chant "Fuck you Logan". McIntyre is tied into the tree of woe and Rollins goes for a superplex. McIntyre holds on to Rollins for a german suplex as the countdown begins.

Logan Paul is next and he hits a springboard crossbody on McIntyre for 1...2..no. Logan hits a standing moonsault on Priest for 1..2...no. Paul hits some boxing jabs on Rollins and a 3 handled credenza on him. He covers for 1...2...no. Paul taunts the crowd but Priest catches him with a bellringer. Priest clotheslines Paul over the top rope to the steel floor then rams him into the pod. Priest knees Paul against the cage but McIntyre attacks from behind. Priest walks the top rope and hits a frankensteiner on McIntyre. Paul hits a big right hand and a gut wrench suplex on Priest then gets back in the ring. Paul sets up Rollins but runs into a superkick. Rollins covers for 1...2...no. The countdown begins with Rollins eyeballing the two remaining guys in the pods.

John Cena is next and he shoulderblocks Rollins twice. Cena hits the FU on Priest and the back suplex on Paul. Cena hits the FU on Rollins and calls for the 5 knuckle shuffle. Cena hits it on Logan Paul and hits the FU next. McIntyre from out of nowhere hits the Claymore kick on Cena. Before he can cover, Priest hits a crucifix for 1...2....3 to eliminate DREW MCINTYRE. Cole says he was too fixated on Cena to worry about Priest, which doesn't make sense since he was about to pin Cena. Drew pulls a sore loser and hits the Claymore on Priest. Drew leaves as Logan Paul heads to the top rope. Logan then climbs on Punk's pod and hits a frog splash on Priest. He covers for 1...2....3 to eliminate DAMIAN PRIEST. Paul stares down Punk as the countdown starts.

CM Punk is the final entrant and he says "You know its me, open the fucking door" to the ref. He and Paul trade blows before Punk suplexes Logan on the floor. Punk hits a running knee to Paul and rams him into the pod. Punk rams Paul into the cage and starts to climb it, pointing at the Wrestlemania sign. Punk then eyeballs his old rival Cena as the crowd pops for the two legends. Punk and Cena both say they're going to Wrestlemania as Rollins hits a kick to Punk from out of nowhere. Rollins rallies with right hands and Cena pulls him off. Rollins shoves Cena and Cena says "Ohhh, what?" Rollins "He's mine! Go back and film more movies, stay out of this!" Rollins goes to attack Punk again but Cena again pulls him off. Rollins responds with a kick and a pedigree attempt. Cena goes for the FU but Rollins rolls out of it. They play "Yay, boo" with Cena getting the yays (try imagining that 10 years ago). Paul comes out of nowhere and double clotheslines both men down. Logan goes for the slingshot clothesline but Punk rolls out of it and slaps him in the face. Punk goes for the GTS and hits it, covering for the 1...2....3 to eliminate LOGAN PAUL.

Down to three, Punk taunts Paul by doing a grave digging motion. Punk and Cena eyeball each other again but Rollins stares at Punk. Cole says the three men left have 26 world championships between them. Punk says the other two will go to sleep while the crowd chants "Let's go Cena, CM Punk" like its 2012 again. Punk and Cena stand side by side and Rollins fights them both off until the numbers game catches up. Cena holds Rollins and Punk hits a Hart Attack, nice touch. Cena and Punk stare each other down as Rollins rolls way. Punk "Now we can get down." Cena extends a hand and Punk hugs him instead. They trade blows and the crowd yays both of them. Cena drops Punk with a shoulderblock but Punk rolls through the back suplex with a headlock takeover. Punk hits the running knee in the corner but Cena hits the back suplex. Cena calls for the 5 knuckle shuffle and goes "you can't see me" but Punk tries to kick him. Cena catches the leg and spins him around for the STFU, but Punk rolls out of it. Cena runs right into the GTS attempt, but rolls out of it. He applies the STFU in the center of the ring. Punk sells for awhile then locks in the anaconda vice. Cena rolls him on his back for 1...2....no. Punk goes up to the top rope and hits an axehandle smash on Rollins outside. Punk goes back to the top and tries a crossbody, but Cena rolls through it. Cena hits the FU and covers Punk for 1...2...noooooo. Cena goes up to the top but Rollins crotches him. Rollins powerbombs Cena into the side of the cage then rams him through one of the empty pods. Rollins stalks Punk inside the ring but walks into an inside cradle for 1...2...no. Rollins recovers by countering the GTS with the pedigree. He covers for 1..2...nooooo. Rollins goes for the pedigree on the steel floor but Punk backdrops Seth into the ring.  Punk looks to the Wrestlemania sign for power and goes back to the top rope. Seth climbs the rope and goes for the superplex but Punk drops him. Punk hit the flying elbow drop and calls for the GTS. Rollins rolls out of it and buckle bombs Punk in the corner. He hits the curb stomp and covers for 1...2...nooooo. Rollins pounds the mat in frustration and goes up to the top. Cena intercepts Rollins and goes for the FU, but Rollins wiggles free....right into the GTS. Rollins staggers into and FU by Cena and Punk covers for 1..2...3 to eliminate SETH ROLLINS.

Down to Cena and Punk, Cole says Rollins had Cena dead to rights when he threw him into the pod, but his bloodlust against Punk cost him. Cena and Punk stare each other down with dueling chants like its thirteen years ago. Punk then hits the GTS out of nowhere and covers for 1.....2...nooooo. Cena's turn as he hits the FU and covers for 1.....2.....noooooo. McAfee "Nein, nein, nein, nein, nein!" Punk kicks Cena down but Rollins hits the curb stomp on Punk out of nowhere. Cena drags Punk into the ring and locks in the STFU. Punk fades and the ref calls for the bell....Cena wins it. John Bradshaw Layfield used to call him "Big Match John" because he always seemed to win the big match, and Cena just did once again. It'll be Cena vs Rhodes at Wrestlemania in a hell of a match.

Time of match: 32:40

Winner: John Cena

Cena thanks the fans in the ring but Cody Rhodes' music hits. Guess its time for "the decision". Cena sits on the rope to let Cody in and stands in the corner. Cena "They know its you and me at Wrestlemania, we're gonna throw down for the championship." They shake hands....and The Rock's music hits. Nevermind...its rapper Travis Scott. He's holding the Muhammad Ali title and NOW The Rock comes out to his Hollywood theme. The Rock and Travis get in the ring with Scott sizing Cody up. Cena and Scott stand off to the side together and The Rock grabs Cody by the head and says "Cody Rhodes, the moment has arrived." He says he'll open arms for Cody to embrace him as his brother and Cody as his champion. He wants his mind and soul...NO! He NEEDS his soul and if he says yes, the American nightmare will live forever. If the answer is no, the dream dies tonight....again. Cody "I want it all, Rock. My soul no longer belongs to me. And you know why? Because I gave my soul to this ring and these people a long time ago. Hey Rock, GO FUCK YOURSELF!" The crowd LOVED that and Rock's expression is cold. Cena hypes up Cody to the crowd as Rock stands there motionless. Rock then backs up and looks at Cena. Cena laughs at Rock and Cody extends his hand. Cena takes it and hugs Cody as the crowd cheers. Rock suddenly makes a slit throat motion and nods to Cena. Wait...what? John then boots Cody in the gonads meaning...OH YES....JOHN CENA HAS TURNED HEEL FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 22 YEARS! Cole "What the...." Rock, Cena and Scott stare at Cody until Cena steals Cody's watch. He punches Cody with it as McAfee says The Rock always has a plan. Cena punches him with it a second time and unloads with right hands. Cena grabs the mic and cracks Cody in the head with it. Cena then grabs the WWE Championship and clobbers Cody with it too. Rock looks out at the crowd as Cena stares at the crowd with a scowl, holding up the WWE title. Cody is busted wide open and Cena hits him a second time with the belt. Cole "Somebody stop this! John you want to go out like THIS?" Cena rips Cody's shirt off and chokes him with it. Cole "After everything he's accomplished in his career, he's gotta stoop to this shit? You gotta be kidding me!" Hell yeah Cole. Scott and Cena hold Cody only Scott grabs Cody and pulls him up, with Cena having to push him back down in a subtle hint to Scott to stop what he's doing. Scott then punches Cody for real as The Rock whips Cody with his weight belt. Cena stands on Cody's head and poses with The Rock with Scott behind them against the ropes. Cole shouts to Cena "What are you doing? There are millions of children that look up to you." Rock whips Cody with the weight belt one more time and Cena throws the WWE Championship down at him. Cena leaves the ring to a chorus of boos as Rock and Scott leave as well. Michael Cole himself gets in to check on Cody as the three heels stand at the entrance and stare at Cody to end the show.

Holy shit that was awesome. You had betrayals out of nowhere, you had cursing, you had blood.....this was a show for the ages. People are already comparing it to Bash at The Beach 96 with John Cena in the Hulk Hogan role. The sky is the limit for this feud as its going to be heel Cena vs Cody at Wrestlemania with The Rock in his corner. Only question is will Cody have help like he did last year? Joe Tessitore after the show said the signs were there at the Royal Rumble press conference when he said he did everything the right way his whole career but demanded to be in the Elimination Chamber. It also makes sense, John Cena wants to be the GOAT with a record 17 world championships and The Rock most likely promised to take him there. Also Jade Cargill is back and Naomi is in deep doo-doo. Bianca will go to Wrestlemania but what's her situation going to be like? Rhea Ripley vs Bianca has been a dream match for years but Jade Cargill vs Bianca seems to be on the table for some reason. KO vs Randy Orton seems Wrestlemania bound with Sami dispatched and Tiffany vs Charlotte is all clear now that Nia Jax and Candace has been dispatched. Either way the road to Wrestlemania just got interesting. The next show after this is tomorrow night's Raw. I'll see you there.

WWE Bad Blood 2024 (10/5/24)

WWE Bad Blood

State Farm Arena

Atlanta, GA

October 5, 2024

Commentators: Michael Cole and Corey Graves

Ring Announcer: Samantha Irvin

Its the return of Roman Reigns to active duty as he teams with WWE Champion Cody Rhodes to take on his cousins Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu. The story to this one is pretty simple. After Cody Rhodes defeated Roman at Wrestlemania, Roman disappeared. In his absence, Solo Sikoa assumed the role of "tribal chief" and took out both Jimmy Uso and Paul Heyman with his new squad of Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa and Jacob Fatu. At Summerslam, Roman Reigns made his first appearance since Wrestlemania to help Cody defeat Solo and announce the real tribal chief was back. Now Cody and Roman battle the Bloodline tonight. Also, we got Hell in A Cell with Drew McIntyre and CM Punk. At the Royal Rumble Drew McIntyre injured CM Punk's shoulder (in real life it was an accident) and put him out for six months. McIntyre bragged about it and Punk cost him not only the World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestlemania but a failed Cash-In after Drew won Money In The Bank. McIntyre won the first match at Summerslam with Seth Rollins the guest referee, CM Punk took the rematch in a strap match at Bash in Berlin. This final battle for bragging rights should be epic. Also the big rematch from Summerslam with Bayley taking on WWE Women's Champion Nia Jax. Finally the Terror Twins/Judgment Day feud continues with two singles matches. Liv Morgan puts the Women's World Heavyweight Championship on the line against Rhea Ripley while Finn Balor goes one on one with Damian Priest. Also Triple H has a big announcement....yay.

We open the show with Samantha Irvin introducing our hosts, Jade Cargill, Bianca Belair and Naomi. Social media pointed out how there hadn't been a black singles winner in over a year so HHH responded by having these three as our hosts. Naturally people were upset that they weren't wrestling. The trio stand in the ring and tell us up first is Hell in a Cell. During the entrances we see a shot of Goldberg and his son Gage in the crowd. Next to him is Atlanta rapper Killer Mike....yeah.

Match 1

Drew McIntyre vs CM Punk in a Hell in a Cell Match

As mentioned in the intro, this is the rubber match. McIntyre won at Summerslam, Punk won in Berlin. Cole before the match says it was 27 years ago tonight that the first Bad Blood took place featuring Hell in A Cell. Drew McIntyre also made his debut 15 years ago the day before at 2009 Hell In A Cell. McIntyre tweeted earlier in the day that he match would be mutually assured destruction. Bell's gone and they stare at each other in the corner to start before walking slowly to the center of the ring. They slug it out before Drew punches Punk in the corner. They trade corner punches before Drew block a kick and heaves Punk in the other corner. Drew chops Punk then throws him through the ropes to the outside. Cole says that Punk has gotten to McIntyre so bad that even Drew's wife says she's not as important as revenge on Punk. Punk goes back first into the Cell but they both fail to ram heads into the Cell. They slug it out on the floor before Punk whips Drew into the cell. Punk shoulderblocks Drew twice before ramming the back of Drew's head into the cell twice as well. Punk goes under the ring for a table as the crowd cheers. He grabs a chair too but Drew takes it and hits Punk in the back with it. Cole gets a shot at Dave Meltzer by saying this won't be a 5 star wrestling classic....of course, its not in AEW or Japan. Drew throws Punk into the steel steps and stands on him to a chorus of boos. Drew grabs a toolbox and empties it in the ring. He swings and misses with a wrench and Punk punches Drew down before driving the wrench into the forehead of Drew. Cole says Shawn Michaels vs Triple H was 47 minutes long in 2004 (don't remind me). Back inside McIntyre boots Punk in the forehead and goes to set up the table but he rips the legs of it by accident. He goes to hit punk with the broken legs but gets booted in the mid-section. Punk drops Drew throat first into the table and chokes him with the broken table legs. Punk rams Drew back first into the table legs still attached twice as the crowd chants "One more time". Drew has noticeable back bruises and blocks Punk's attempt to ram the legs into his eyes. Outside the ring Punk goes for the GTS but Drew grabs the cell to block it. Drew hits a Claymore Kick on the outside and torpedoes Punk face first into the cell. Punk is busted wide open and Drew cracks an evil grin. Drew grabs the steel steps and rams Punk in the head with them then rams CM's head into them. Drew stomps on Punk's head and says he's going to end his career and his wife will leave him. McIntyre grabs a wrench and rams it into Punk's open wound. McIntyre goes outside and grabs another table from under the ring. Drew punches Punk in the head and stares at the blood on his hand as Cole says he's a psychopath. Punk hits the running knee in the corner but McIntyre dumps him on the apron. Punk goes to the top rope and hits an axehandle smash. Punk grabs a wrench and goes back to the top but McIntyre catches him on the way down. Drew hits a Taz-plex and sits in the corner just staring at Punk. He nips up and calls for the Claymore Kick but Punk rolls out of the ring. Punk waffles Drew with the toolbox itself and Drew is now bleeding like crazy. Punk cracks Drew in the face again and goes up to the top with the box. Punk smashes  Drew with the box as Drew's face is a mess. Punk hits three running knees in the corner and the bulldog. Punk calls for the GTS but Drew rolls out of it. Punk then counters a backslide with another GTS attempt, hitting this one. Unfortunately for Punk, Drew rolled out of the ring. Punk laughs as he throws Drew back in the ring. Punk rolls in and Drew hits the Claymore before covering for 1...2...nooooo. Quick strike by McIntyre almost worked. Drew calls for another Claymore but misses it. Punk goes for a modified sharpshooter but Drew grabs a wrench. Drew hits Punk with the wrench to break the hold then rams it into Punk's face. Punk and Drew slug it out in the center of the ring as Drew goes for Future Shock. Punk blocks it and goes for another GTS but Drew rolls out of it. Drew chops Punk but gets kicked in the head. McIntyre rolls to the apron and Punk hits another running knee. Drew then suplexes Punk from the apron through the table below. Drew goes for the ring steps as Graves says Punk isn't moving and he's concerned. Drew doesn't even have the strength to put the ring steps in the ring to show how brutal this match as been. Drew finally gets the steps in the ring as Punk is rolled into the ring. Punk hits the GTS out of nowhere and covers for 1..2.....noooooo. Cole "Somebody win this damn match and end this brutality." Graves "Both of them are flirting with career threatening injuries." Drew hits White Noise on the steps on Punk and covers for 1..2....noooooo. Drew counters a tilt-a-whirl with the anaconda vice as Drew grabs a wrench. Punk grabs the wrench away and pummels Drew with it. Drew begs off as Punk screams "You're gonna beg?" Drew then hits a low blow and grabs a black sack....you know what that means! Referee Shawn Bennett goes to wipe the blood off McIntyre's face with a white towel but Drew shoves it away. Drew dumps the bag.....of beads on Punk. Ahhhhhhahahaha, what a troll move. Drew finally wipes himself off with a white towel and goes for the Claymore. Punk moves and Drew lands back first on the side of the ring steps...ow. Punk wraps a metal chain around his left leg and grabs a handful of beads. Punk rams the beads in Drew's mouth and hits the GTS. Punk covers for 1....2....3 to end the war. Punk's prediction of Drew begging came true as Graves says the ring looks like a crime scene. This was never supposed to be a wrestling match, this was a a brutal war and it delivered on that. Punk wins the war as Bennett has to hold Punk up to raise his hand. Cole "Tonight the second city saint is the second city devil" as Punk symbolically slams the door on his way out, collapsing in the aisle. Great match and feud ender, hats off to both guys.

Time of match: 31:24

Winner: Punk by pinfall

Adam Pearce and Gregory Helms rush the ring to tend to McIntyre after the match as the EMT's tend to Punk sitting on the ground. McIntyre stares at Punk in agony as Punk rips the mask off his face, standing up with Pearce's help. Punk poses on the ramp victorious as we cut to commercial of the Firefly Funhouse for WWE2K24....damn I miss Bray. Back from break Cole says Kurt Angle won Gold here in the 1996 Olympics. Then we get a graphic for Nia Jax vs Bayley up next. How the hell do you top HIAC? They're going to try. 

Before the match, Samantha Irvin introduces WWE Hall of Famers Jacqueline who looks as great as ever, Lilian Garcia who hasn't aged a day in 20 years, and Booker T. Then we go over to Cathy Kelley in the VIP Suite. There's a party going on with the hosts along with WWE Intercontinental Champion Jey Uso, Diamond Dallas Paige, Tully Blanchard, X-Pac and Mickie James in the background. Jade wants to see Rhea vs Liv while Naomi wants to see Nia vs Bayley. Onto the next match.

Match 2

Bayley vs Nia Jax for the WWE Women's Championship

After Bayley defeated Iyo Sky at Wrestlemania to become the Women's Champion, Nia Jax was pushed as a monster heel. Nia won Queen of The Ring in Saudi Arabia to earn the title shot at Summerslam. Nia then beat Bayley to become the new women's champion. Since then, she's employed the MITB winner Tiffany Stratton and Pretty Deadly as stooges. With Bayley's unlikely allies up in the VIP Suite, she's kind of on her own against the monster. Bayley rushes Nia at the bell and they slug it out. Nia shoulderblocks Bayley in the corner and throws her to the otherside. Nia hits an avalanche in the corner and another splash. Nia takes Bayley's head off with a clotheslines and covers for 1...2....no. Nia locks in a chinlock then slaps at Bayley. Nia hits another corner splash then the running ass bump. Nia hits another bulldozer and slaps Bayley around. Nia locks in a bearhug before Bayley rolls out of it for a sunset flip for 1...2..no. Nia rolls on top and applies a single leg crab as Corey says this is unlike her to go for a submission. Nia splashes Bayley against the ropes then goes for a modified camel clutch. Bayley gets to her feet then goes and up and over, sliding under Nia. Nia charges but Bayley sends her through the ropes to the outside. Nia slides in only to eat a leg drop. Bayley runs off the ropes but Nia slides outside the ring. Bayley hits a baseball slide and punches away on her. Bayley rolls Nia inside and covers for 1...2...no. Bayley snaps Nia off the second rope and hits a suicide dive through the second rope. Problem is she damn near missed and Nia had to bend down to take some of it. Back inside Nia lands a headbutt and rams Bayley onto the top rope before landing another avalanche. Nia lands another ass bump and goes for the banzai drop. Bayley punches away at Nia and they totally botch a hurracarana. Nia took the powerbomb bump and Bayley took the hurracarana bump anyway....whoops! Nia hits a belly to belly suplex and covers for 1...2...no. Nia throws Bayley on the top rope and goes for another ass bump, but misses. Bayley hits a running knee and goes for the sunset flip but Nia just sits down on her. That was too close to the ropes for Bayley to try that. Bayley drops a few elbows and limps around as she sells her right leg. Bayley hits the top rope elbow and covers for 1....2..no. Both roll outside and Bayley moves, Nia crashing into the steel steps on a charge. Bayley hits an elbow drop off the ring steps but Bayley has to get back in the ring to break up the count. Nia punches Bayley down then powerbombs her onto the steel steps. Nia slings her into the barricade as we go back inside. Nia poses for the irate crowd and totally botches a samoan drop. She covers anyway for 1...2...no, this is getting ugly. Nia goes for the banzai drop but Bayley pulls her off. Nia drops Bayley with a back elbow smash but Bayley counters with a samoan drop of her own. Bayley covers for 1...2..no. Nia press slams Bayley off into referee Jessika Carr. Carr goes to get up but Bayley kicks Nia in the head, Nia landing ontop of Jessika. Bayley hits a pop up stunner and a rose plant but Carr is down. Here comes Tiffany Stratton with the Money In The Bank briefcase and she waffles Bayley with it. Tiffany pulls up Carr but Nia sits up, staring a hole in Tiffany. Tiffany says she wasn't going to cash in as Bayley from behind avalanches Nia into Tiffany in the corner. Bayley rolls up Nia for 1...2....no. Nia misses a splash in the corner and goes up to the tope rope. Tiffany tosses Bayley the briefcase as distraction and Bayley throws it back at her. This allows Nia to deliver a second rope Samoan drop. Nia pulls Bayley in the corner, hits the banzai drop and covers for 1..2....3 to win the match. Bad, bad match but at least its over. Nia wins the feud with Bayley as Tiffany still lurks in the shadows.

Time of match: 14:17

Winner: Nia Jax by pinfall (Still WWE Women's Champion)

We cut to commercial which is hype for Summerslam 2025. Its going to be two nights at Met Life Stadium with Cardi B calling Bianca. We then cut to outside the arena with Xavier Woods shilling Dragonball Sparking Zero video game. Up next is Damian Priest against Finn Balor but before that, Samantha shouts out more hall-of-famers. X-Pac, Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson stand up and say hi. Onto the next match.

Match 3

Finn Balor vs Damian Priest

In case you missed it, both Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest got screwed over by Judgment Day and now its singles action. Bell's gone and they stare down in the center of the ring. Balor slaps his chest to start and Priest levels him with a forearm. Priest slams Balor in the corner and puts the boots to him. Priest hits a flapjack and hits a super kick. Balor rolls to the apron, shoulderblocks Priest and kicks at him. Balor chokes Priest on the top rope but Damian kicks Balor off the apron. Outside the ring, Finn hits a slingblade on the floor and rolls inside. Damian rolls inside and Finn stomps a mudhole in him before posing for the irate crowd. Balor locks in a sleeperhold then gouges the eyes. Balor pounds away with elbows and locks in a chin lock. Priest powers out of it as Graves says Balor never recovered mentally after relinquishing the Universal Championship. Priest charges but each boot but Finn jumps off the top right into a live round, Priest punched him for real by accident and hurt his hand. Balor counters a tilt-a-whirl with a Russian leg sweep and covers for 1....2...no. Balor kicks away at Priest then poses for the crowd again. Balor goes for the abdominal stretch before Priest hiptosses out of it. Priest unloads with right hands and a discuss punch. Priest hits a broken arrow and covers for 1...2...no. Priest misses a big forearm and Balor hits a slingblade. Priest hits two spin kicks and a clothesline before covering for 1...2...no. Priest hits a bellringer and kicks Balor in the chest twice. Finn hits a Pele Kick and chops Damian in the corner. Balor takes down Priest twice then stomps him on the chest. Priest blocks the third attempt and hits the Razor's Edge. Priest covers for 1...2...no. Outside the ring Priest sends Balor into the announce table. Priest hits a Razor's Edge on the ring apron and slides back in. Balor begs off as Priest pulls the singlet straps down. Here comes Carlito to distract the ref and JD McDonough to snap Priest off the top rope. Balor dropkicks Priest into the corner and Damian drops. Balor goes up to the top rope and hits Coup De Gras. He covers for 1...2....no. McDonough and Carlito can't believe it as the crowd chants Yeet. Carlito distracts the ref again as JD tosses Balor a chair. Priest kicks the chair into Finn's face and knocks Carlito off the apron. He backdrops McDonough on top of Carlito on the floor and goes for the South of Heaven. Balor victory rolls out of it for 1...2...no. Balor counters a powerslam with Eye of The Hurricane. Balor hits the Coup De Gras to Priest's back not once but twice. Balor jumps off the top a third time right into South of Heaven. Priest covers for 1...2....3 to win the match. Pretty good match but naturally we had to have the run ins. Priest says this won't bring back the World Heavyweight Championship but it had to feel good to win.

Time of match: 12:48

Winner: Priest by pinfall

We get a vignette for Survivor Series in British Columbia on November 30th before Cole shills some merch. We show Triple H in gorilla position as he's supposed to be up next then a graphic for Monday's Raw where Jey Uso puts the IC title on the line against Xavier Woods. Sheamus vs Pete Dunne in a "Good old fashioned Donnybrook" match and Sami Zayn challenges Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship. Here comes Triple H for a conference with some kind of podium in the ring. The podium has Crown Jewel written on it so this must be related to that. HHH opens by saying 30 years ago he was Terra Ryzing WCW...ha. Our attendance is 16,092 and 60th sellout of the year. Triple H says the next history making event will be four weeks from now at Crown Jewel. The catch is neither world title will be on the line, but the world champions will face each other. The winners will be the Crown Jewel Champion. HHH unveils a Crown Jewel belt with 50 karat diamonds and then World Heavyweight Champion Gunther walks out. Gunther gets in the ring and says Bad Blood wouldn't be anything without the World Heavyweight Champion. Gunther says he won King of The Ring in Saudi Arabia and HHH handed him the trophy, now HHH will do the same with the new belt. Gunther hypes up his match against Sami Zayn this Monday on Raw and tells Triple H that Sami isn't cut out to be top guy. Gunther says he's a future legend and wants to shout out the legends today. The crowd chants for Goldberg and right on cue, Gunther points him out in the front row. Gunther says Goldberg was NOT his childhood hero, he was a one trick pony. Gunther says he's busting balls but has a message for Gage Goldberg. He hopes Bill is a better father than he is a wrestler. Goldberg stands up, rips his hat off and hops the guardrail. Cole tells Graves to get the hell out of the way. Gunther says he's got 3 minutes, let's go. Security pushes Goldberg back until the Suit Brigade of Adam Pearce, Jamie Noble and others show up. Suddenly Sami Zayn himself rushes the ring and beats down Gunther. Zayn hits a plancha as the suit brigade grab Zami allowing Gunther to hit a big boot. Zayn chases him to the back. To sum up this entire segment, Champion vs Champion at Crown Jewel for a Saudi title, Zayn vs Gunther tomorrow night. HHH raises Goldberg's hand as his old theme plays as we move on. 

The Royal Rumble will be February 1, 2025 at Lucas Oil Stadium. The first time ever the Rumble will not be in January. Up next is World Women's Champion Liv Morgan defending against Rhea Ripley with Dom Mysterio locked in a shark cage. Before the next match, Samantha Irvin shouts out DDP, Mickie James and Scott Steiner. Cathy Kelley is up in the VIP section where Metro says Cody Rhodes is an Atlanta legend and to handle his business. Chelsea Green walks in and everyone is grossed out. Piper Niven can stay but Chelsea's gotta go. This is in reference to last night's Smackdown where Mia Yim defeated Chelsea in a dumpster match. Then we get a vignette of Dom Mysterios riding around with Liv Morgan in a low rider before they make their entrance in the low rider.

Match 4

Rhea Ripley vs Liv Morgan (with Dom Mysterio) for the World Women's Championship

Cole brings up Tommy Rich and Mad Dog Buzz Sawyer in the Last Battle of Atlanta with Paul Ellering locked in a cage before the match starts. Cole mentions how Rhea never actually lost the championship as Cole brings up Triple H had to be in a cage as well. Rhea shills Dirty Dom toilet paper which is actually ingenious. Cole "I'd love to see all the ways WWE fans would use that toilet paper." Graves "Do you have any idea the pandora's box that would open? Have you SEEN our fans?" Graves then says "This is cruel and unusual. He can't hang up a poster of Rhea and dig himself out with a spoon like he did the last time he was locked up." Rhea grabs a mic before the match starts and says "One more thing, Dom. You're afraid of heights? Raise him up!" Cole is loving it as the bell finally rings. Rhea attacks at the bell and throws Liv down before hitting a dropkick. Rhea heaves Liv across the ring and stomps on her foot. Rhea drops Morgan with a clothesline and hits a fallaway slam. Liv bails to the outside and rams Rhea into the steel steps. Liv misses a chick kick and Rhea electric chair drops Liv into the ring apron. Rhea throws her back inside as Graves say this is unfair. Rhea baseball slides Liv and sends her into the barricade. Liv is thrown inside as Corey says Rhea needs to move on from Dom. Buddy Mathews is comin for you Graves. Liv snaps Rhea's leg off the second rope and goes to work on the left knee. Dom is sitting down inside the cage as he looks legit terrified. Liv kicks away at Rhea inside the ring and hits a dropkick to the knee. Liv's charge eats elbow but rolls into a half crab. Rhea grabs Liv's head and rams it into the ring to escape. Rhea rallies with clotheslines and a northern lights suplex for 1...2...no. Graves "Poor Dom, he's white as a ghost." They slug it out in the ring before Liv rams Rhea's knee into the apron. Graves "That shark cage might be worse than prison. At least Dom got 3 hots and a cot in prison." Liv continues to ram Rhea's knee against the ring post as the crowd chants "Dom you suck!" Liv heaves Rhea against the barricade twice and she spin kicks Ripley. Liv hits a sunset flip bomb into the barricade and throws Rhea inside.  Liv does a DX crotch chop and hits a codebreaker from the second rope. Liv covers for 1...2...no.  Rhea counters Ob-Liv-ion and smiles at her. Ripley hits a knee to the stomach then goes for Riptide. Liv rolls out of it and hits a crucifix bomb (!!!) for 1....2...no. Graves says that move is called the "Home Wrecker". Liv looks up at Dom as Cole says they have three things in common "Shoes, movies and nuggets". Liv slams Rhea and says "That's my man, you're nothing." Liv slaps Rhea and does the Eddie Guerrero shimmy before going for the 3 Amigos. She hits two but Rhea blocks the third. Rhea hits a Razor's Edge as somehow Dom gets the shark cage open. Cole asks if he learned that in prison with Rhea on the top rope. She taunts Dom with  YEET and hits the frogsplash. She covers for 1...2..no, Liv rolled out of it. Rhea hits the Prism Lock but Liv makes it to the outside. Cole "Yeah he got the door open but its like escaping from Alcatraz, where's he gonna go?" Chyna jumped to the floor back in 1998 so its possible he can too. Rhea outside taunts Dom and throws Liv into both sides of the barricade. Rhea stomps on the derriere of Liv and hits Riptide on the floor. Dom somehow falls out of the cage but is hanging by his foot that's chained to the cage. Two security guards show up and Graves asks "Who are these derelicts?" Rhea spanks Dom and goes back inside and tells the referee to give her one minute to handle unfinished business. Referee Dan Engler says she deserves that...ha! Even the ref doesn't like Dom. Graves "Caught on camera, you crooked fool!" Rhea goes under the ring and grabs a singapore cane as Cole is enjoying this. Rhea looks at the camera and says "Happy birthday to me" (her birthday is coming up on the 11th) before busting Dom with the cane. Rhea unloads on Dom when someone bashes Rhea from behind that's unseen due to the camera angle. We get another shot and its RAQUEL RODRIGUEZ! Liv Morgan's former partner that's been on the shelf due to MCAS is back. The bell rings and Raquel hits a powerbomb to lay out Ripley. Raquel picks up Liv and frees Dom. Corey "Ain't love grand!" Bad match but they finally threw a monkey wrench in Rhea's revenge plan. Liv can't hang with Rhea one on one, but Raquel can. Having Raquel and Dom as stooges makes Liv more tougher to beat. Not to mention these are all women that Ripley terrorized when she was a Judgment Day heel. Rhea is going to need backup of her own but who'd want to come to HER aid after all she did to people?

Time of match: 14:34

Winner: Ripley by DQ (Liv retains)

Cue a vignette for Ford Field and a music video saying "Coming soon." Oh...its the Motor City Machine Guns, Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin. They were known mostly for their Ring of Honor and TNA runs, now they're coming to WWE. We then get our upcoming holiday live schedule, December 26 in Jacksonville Florida. December 27 is a double shot with Raw guys in Pittsburgh, PA and Smackdown coming from Tampa, Florida. December 28 has a double shot with one crew in Baltimore and another in Orlando. December 29 one crew in Chicago and the other in Miami. December 30 is a double shot with Raw in Houston while Smackdown guys were in Detroit. That's a little too Vince for my taste to have a five day stretch with 9 shows but hey, it'll give them reps. Then we get a Crown Jewel vignette for Saturday November 2nd. Then we get our PLE schedule with Survivor Series on November 30th in Vancouver, Saturday Night's Main Event December 14 at the Nassau Coliseum, the Royal Rumble on Feb 1st at Lucas Oil Stadium, Wrestlemania 41 April 19th and 20th in Las Vegas and Summerslam 2025 August 2nd and 3rd at Metlife Stadium. Not a fan of two nights for Summerslam but oh well. After a vignette for the main event, let's get to it.

Match 5

Jacob Fatu & Solo Sikoa vs Roman Reigns and WWE Champion Cody Rhodes

Long story short...after Cody beat Roman at Wrestlemania, Roman disappeared and Solo Sikoa took over the Bloodline. He had Paul Heyman and Jimmy Uso dispatched by new members Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa, the sons of Haku. Then the son of Tonga Kid, Jacob Fatu also joined Solo. At Summerslam, Reigns returned to cost Solo his title match against Cody but is now without backup. Cody told Roman this would happen but he's doing the right thing to help him out against the Bloodline.  Roman says after this is over, he's coming after the title again. Solo and Jacob enter together without the Tongans who won the Triple Threat Ladder match last night but got beat up in the process. The Arkansas Pine Bluff Marching Band plays Cody Rhodes' theme as he enters which stems from them going viral weeks earlier for doing it during a game. Roman has his own orchestra play his theme as Cole brings up Ole Anderson turning on Dusty Rhodes in the Omni in 1980 and wonders if Roman will do the same. He also says this is the first match where Roman hasn't walked into it as a champion in over four years and hasn't wrestled in six months. Solo holds up the Ulafala as Roman facepalms. Bell's gone and Roman and Cody argue who's gonna start as Cole brings up Battleground 2013 when it was Cody and Dustin Rhodes against Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins of The Shield with Dusty in the corner of Cody. Cody starts with Jacob and Cody starts with a headlock. A shoulderblock goes nowhere and Jacob says to run it. Cody does an uppercut and a disaster kick but Jacob is barely fazed. Cody ducks the superkick and Solo gets in to tongue lash Jacob. Roman steps in to even the odds as the crowd chants "OTC". The crowd chants "Fuck you Solo" as Roman puts his hand to his ear. Jacob tags out to Solo and Cody says hold up. Cody slowly turns his head to Roman and Roman shrugs. Roman reaches for the tag and Cody tags him in. Roman and Solo circle and Roman unloads with right hands. Solo kicks him in the head and lands a headbutt before taunting the irate crowd. Roman gets the upperhand with 10 corner punches and an elbow smash. Roman clotheslines Solo over the top rope to the floor as Jacob gets in the ring despite no legal tag. They circle but Solo from behind clotheslines Roman down. Solo chokes Roman on the second rope as the crowd chants "You can't wrestle". What? Solo hits the ass bump in the corner to Roman before tagging out to Jacob. Fatu hits the same ass bump his uncle Umaga made famous as he taunts Roman. Jacob shoulderblocks Roman in the corner and says Solo is the tribal chief. Jacob eats ringpost on a charge and Roman throws him through the ropes to the outside. Cody gets the hot tag who punches away at Fatu before hitting a forearm. Cody hits the powerslam and Dusty Punches followed by the Cody cutter. Cody goes for Cross Rhodes but Solo distracts, allowing Jacob to hit the samoan drop. Jacob tags Solo and throws Cody outside, where Solo does a Rock Bottom onto the apron. Jacob and Solo double team Cody as Cole says if Solo pins Roman, he's the tribal chief. Graves asks if Jacob Fatu were to pin Cody, imagine HIM as champion. Solo and Jacob hit the wishbone but Cody tries to fight back with right hands. Jacob hits a spinning back elbow and tells Solo he loves him. Jacob bites the hand of Cody to prevent a tag as Cole calls him a scary man. Jacob locks in a nerve hold as the crowd chants "We want Roman". Cody fights out of it but Jacob tags out to Solo who pounds on Cody in the corner. Solo whips Fatu into Cody and Solo hits the as bump as well. Jacob tags in to cover for 1...2..no. Jacob tags in Solo but gets thrown out of the ring by Cody. Cody kicks Solo away and jumps for the tag....oh no, Roman hops down to avoid the tag. No wait! Jacob pulled him off....nevermind. Jacob rams Roman's head into the steel steps as Solo back inside clotheslines Cody. Solo covers for 1....2...no. Graves says Jacob may be a destructo in the ring but is very intelligent out of it. Jacob tags in to pummel Cody in the corner and powerslams him. Jacob goes to the top rope for the swanton but Cody gets the knees up. Roman is ready for the tag and Cody finally makes it there. Solo tags in and Roman cleans house with clotheslines to Solo. Roman hits a splash in the corner and a big boot. Roman punches him 10 times and locks in for the Superman Punch. Solo counters the punch by grabbing the arm and goes for a Samoan Spike. Reigns counters with a crucifix for 1.....2...no. Roman hits the Superman punch and covers for two as Roman caters to the crowd. Roman calls for the spear but Jacob stops him. Roman uppercuts Solo but runs into a double superkick. Fatu hits a moonsault and Solo hits a top rope splash. Solo covers for 1...2..no, Cody breaks it up. Jacob throws Cody outside and follows him out. Jacob is sent into the steel steps and Cody prepares the announce table. Jacob kicks Cody in the face but Rhodes moves, allowing Jacob to crash through the barricade. Jacob goes nuts as Cole says he's alive. Graves "Alive??? The sonovabitch is throwing chairs!" Cody rams Jacob's face first into a chair and shouts "go down!" Cody hits the Cross Rhodes on the floor and Jacob gets up almost immediately. Cody kicks Fatu twice to send him on the announce table. Cody goes to the top rope, salutes Reigns and splashes Jacob through the table. Down to Roman and Solo the crowd chants "This is awesome". Roman and Solo play "Yay boo punchathon" until Roman drops him with the Superman Punch. Roman calls for another spear but here come the Tongans. Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa distract Roman allowing Solo to hit a spear of his own. Solo covers for 1..2....nooooo. The crowd chants "YEET" as Corey tries to tell Cole that his monitor went out but someone just hopped the guardrail out of the corner of his eye. Solo taunts Roman as he notices someone in a hoodie standing behind the Tongans...gee, who could THAT be? Sure enough the hoodie dude superkicks both Tongans revealing himself to be Jimmy Uso, who hadn't been seen in six months. Cole "JIMMY USO IS BACK!" Solo turns around into a spear and Reigns covers for 1..2...3 to win the match. Damn good match even if it took a while to get to the good part.

Time of match: 25:43

Winners: Reigns and Cody by pinfall

After the match Jimmy gets in to acknowledge Roman and they hug it out. Jimmy holds up Roman's hand in victory and Roman turns to Cody Rhodes holding the WWE Championship. Roman stares at the belt and Cody and says let's go to Jimmy. Roman and Jimmy go to leave as the Tongans mug Cody. Jimmy "You gave him your word, Uce." Roman and Jimmy run back in and clean house of the Bloodline. The Tongans and Solo retreat as Roman picks up the WWE Championship belt. Roman hands the belt to Cody......IF YA SMELLLLLLLLL hits and the crowd explodes. Here comes The Rock still holding the Muhammad Ali belt standing at the entrance. Well this just got interesting, who does HE go after or side with? Cody, Jimmy and Roman stand in the ring staring at him. He counts 1,2,3 with his hands and says cut before leaving. He DID pin Cody at Wrestlemania Night 1 so him going after Cody is definitely in play as we sign off. Fans have been speculating what Wargames was going to be for months and it does appear that it might just be Roman, The Rock, Cody and The Usos against Solo, The Tongans, Jacob Fatu and a possible wild card.....or The Rock himself and have Sami Zayn come back for one night as the honorary Uce on Team Roman. Either way the story continues.

Bottom line was this was a 2 match card with three others thrown in there to fill it out. Not that Priest vs Balor was bad or the women's matches didn't deserve to be there, but this was Drew/Punk and Bloodline/Roman & Cody. 5 match cards really take away the hard work the rest of the roster does, but it shows you that you have to be special to get on there. Nia Jax is starting to bully Tiffany Stratton more and Liv now has more backup against Rhea Ripley. We got some business to take care of before we set off for Saudi Arabia in four weeks. This Monday's Raw is at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis. I'll see you there.