WWE Smackdown Review – 06.20.25

Live from the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids MI. Your announcers are Joe Tessitore, Wade Barrett, Byron Saxton backstage and Mark Nash doing ring intros.

Walk-ins include Randall Orton and his KotR Semifinal opponent Sami Zayn. Alexa Bliss is attempting to give her doll a donut hole, which she then eats, and her QotR Semifinal opponent Asuka (without standard facial makeup) strides into the building with confidence. Next up are Solo Sikoa and JC Mateo and then here’s Ron Killings (to a huge pop from the crowd). Los Angeles Knight heads through gorilla and starts towards the ring to presumably address his issues with the Seth Riders.

Knight talks about the Rollins crew costing him at Money in the Bank and how that set off the chain of events where they all ended up costing each other spots in KotR. They’ve gone round and round and Knight knows where it ends and he calls out Rollins for a chat. Here’s Paul Heyman instead to introduce himself. It always kills me when Heyman asks a clearly pissed off opponent of whatever crew he’s working with for permission to enter the ring to speak with them. Knight invites him in. Heyman gets the cheap MENTION THE TOWN NAME pop and the crowd chants for CM Punk. Heyman says he’s the biggest LA Knight fan in WWE so he’s warning him now to get out of Grand Rapids or something really bad is going to happen to Knight. Instead, Knight starts running down Heyman’s better qualities including being a “grifter” and “scammer” and Heyman’s a leech who sucks talent dry and then moves on. Knight says ordinarily he’d just punch Heyman but since Rollins didn’t bother to come down, he proposes himself versus Heyman in a match. Knight says he’s going to take off his vest, turn his back and give Heyman the first shot but it better be a good one or he’s going to “mollywhop your ass right out of Grand Rapids”. Well then. Heyman ducks out of the ring, and here come Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed. Breakker and Reed attack and Knight is forced into the timekeeper’s area, where he grabs a chair. Knight gets some payback with chair shots to both, as Heyman gathers them to retreat. We go to commercials.

Back live and here’s the Rollins crew in the back as Heyman re-assures them and in walks a very brave Byron Saxton. He lets Heyman know that Nick Aldis has booked Bronson Reed vs LA Knight for tonight.

Queen of the Ring Semifinal: Alexa Bliss vs Asuka

There’s not a clear heel here so we’ll see if someone works that way. The bell rings and they grapple to start. Bliss tries a shoulder tackle which Asuka shakes off. Asuka gets dumped to the mat but shakes that off and goes behind, only to eat a big back elbow from Bliss. Asuka runs Bliss over with a tackle and then sends her to the floor with a hip attack. We go to picture in picture commercials.

During PIP it’s very technical but not much is actually happening. Bliss has Asuka in an armlock until Asuka breaks out and hits a charging Bliss with an elbow and big boot. Asuka ascends and hits a second rope dropkick for two. Asuka grabs Bliss by the hair and hits a series of short sharp kicks as we’re back live.

Bliss fires up and hits two shoulder tackles and her version of the Blockbuster, and then drops Asuka with an elbow and knee strikes. Bliss hits her 360 senton for two. Asuka fires up with some strikes of her own and then drops Bliss with a German suplex and a running knee gets two. Asuka goes for her big kick but Bliss ducks it and rolls her up for two. Asuka counters a Sister Abigail attempt with a rollup for two and then hits her big roundhouse kick for another two count. Bliss ducks a top rope missile dropkick attempt by Asuka, and Bliss’s subsequent DDT gets two. Bliss ascends looking for Twisted Bliss but Asuka apparently moved and Bliss seems non-plussed and jumps down. That was entirely weird. Asuka was of course “playing possum” as called by Tessitore and she clamps an armbar on Bliss. Bliss somehow scrambles out of it but Asuka hits her with a Hangman’s Neckbreaker for another two. This has gotten wildly intense all of a sudden.

Bliss ducks an Empress Impact attempt and smacks Asuka with a right hand before putting her in the tree of woe. Bliss hits her short running dropkick and ascends again. Asuka gets her knees up on the Twisted Bliss attempt and then barely hits the Empress Impact hip attack for three. Asuka moves on to the QotR Final in Riyadh.

That finish was awkward as hell. Good for Asuka as she’s still a lot of fun to watch. Bliss has been at this a long time now and she is what she is at this point. Are they ever pulling the trigger on her and the Wyatts? She could use a story or heel turn or something. I have no idea if the ending was scripted that way but it was strange. 2.5*

Winner – Asuka (Empress Impact hip attack)

Post match Asuka comes over to tell a startled Tessitore that NOBODY IS READY FOR ASUKA.

Backstage watching a monitor are Jade Cargill (who will be in the other QotR semifinal on Monday versus Roxanne Perez), B-Fab and Michin. B-Fab compliments Asuka’s win and she and Michin wander off to talk to Nick Aldis about the women’s tag titles. Byron Saxton pops in to ask Cargill how she feels about Perez and potentially Asuka. Cargill says Perez has potential but is still trying to prove herself and that Asuka is a storm on the horizon. She’s the real storm though, and she’s not walking in to QotR to win, she’s walking in to reign. We go to commercials.

Back live with Alexa Bliss grumpily running into Chelsea Green and the Secret Hervice. Green talks shit to Bliss and here’s Charlotte Flair to remind Green that she’s going to tap her out tonight. Bliss says she doesn’t need Charlotte’s help but Charlotte says she wasn’t there to help her and storms off.

Kit Wilson of Pretty Deadly is in the ring and Aleister Black gets his ring entrance. Before this ever gets going Ron Killings jumps Wilson and rams him shoulder first into the corner post. Killings puts Wilson into the STF and Wilson immediately taps. and Killings asks for a mic. He calls out John Cena and slaps the STF back on poor Wilson as the officials charge past a bewildered Aleister Black to try to break it up. Jamie Noble seems to calm Killings down and they walk to the back past a still-bewildered Black.

We look back at GUNTHER beating Jey Uso for the World Heavyweight Championship, and then Goldberg confronting GUNTHER on Raw this past Monday. They will fight on Saturday Night’s Main Event July 12 in Atlanta. We go to commercials.

Back live with Jamie Noble still trying to calm Ron Killings down. Aleister Black wants a word regarding why Truth is getting involved with his matches and they go nose to nose before Damien Priest intervenes to tell Black that Killings is going through a lot and he’ll talk to him. Priest tells Killings he can’t keep attacking people for no reason and brings up how Truth would make Priest smile (presumably referring to Truth trying to be part of the Priest/Ripley version of Judgement Day) when Priest was angry. He promises Killings that if he handles business with John Cena tonight they’ll go downtown to celebrate. They dap it up and Priest leaves.

Cody Rhodes enters to a gigantic reaction. Tessitore insists on calling Cody “QB1”. Before Cody can begin chatting, here’s Main Event Jey Uso to YEET his way to the ring. We’re going to make an entire hour of this wrestling show with only one wrestling match as I CANNOT WAIT FOR THIS SHOW TO GO BACK TO TWO HOURS MY GOD. Jey and Cody dap it up but we have to YEET one more time. Uso tells Cody he doesn’t have to say anything, the two of them have been in the trenches fighting Uso’s family, to winning tag gold, and to finishing their stories at Wrestlemania. This Monday there’s only room for one of them though, and Jey knows Cody will bring it. After Monday night there’s one word, four letters, et cetera. Sami Zayn enters to a big pop as I’m guessing he and Orton will be happening next. Zayn says it’s great that he gets to share the ring with two great friends but of the three of them, only one has never been World Champ. Zayn didn’t have a match at Wrestlemania but he went to Vegas to be there when Uso won the title. Zayn tells Cody that after he beat Roman Reigns (miss you big dog, come back soon) at Wrestlemania Zayn was the first guy to congratulate him. Now it’s time for Zayn to finish his story. Randy Orton’s music hits and out strides the 14 time World Champion. Orton tells Cody that once again, he’ll do whatever it takes to get to John Cena at Summerslam. Orton tells Uso he respects the hell out of him and their families go way way back but if it’s him and Orton in the finals it’s going to be three letters, one move. He tells Zayn that he knows that one day soon Zayn will be World Champion but it’s not going to be at Summerslam. Cody never said a word out loud during this entire thing. We go to commercials.

King of the Ring Semifinal: Randy Orton vs Sami Zayn

Again there’s no clear heel here so we’ll see how this goes. Zayn controls with an armlock to start, and Orton reverses into a headlock. Zayn regains control and chops Orton SEVEN times before Orton bails to the floor. Orton sees Zayn charging and ducks out of the way as Zayn acrobatically flips back into the ring. Orton re-enters and bullies Zayn into the corner and as the ref tries to split them apart, Orton pokes Zayn in the eye and takes over (hooray, Orton’s going to work slightly heel!). Orton hits a couple of Euro uppercuts but Zayn returns the eye poke and runs Orton outside the ring. Orton yanks Zayn down face first to the apron and side-slams him on the announce table. Orton stops the ref count and stalks a writhing Zayn on the floor. Orton hits another side-slam on the announce table and we go to picture-in-picture commercials.

During PIP Zayn fires up and reverses an attempt by Orton to run his head into the ring steps. Zayn goes to slam Orton on the announce table but Orton waffles him with a right before they get back in the ring where Orton covers for one. Orton works Zayn over in the corner but Zayn fires back with his own corner offense. Zayn goes to whip Orton into the corner but Orton reverses and Zayn hits it hard. Orton goes into the Garvin Stomp as old farts like me nod in grim approval.

Back live with Orton clubbering Zayn. Orton whips Zayn into the ropes and charges, but Zayn springboards over him and waffles Orton with a clothesline. Zayn perches in the corner and hits a charging Orton with an elbow before coming off to hit Orton with a double sledge. Orton misses a lariat and Zayn goes for the Blue Thunder Bomb, but Orton stops it with some elbows to the head. Orton hits two lariats and ducks Zayn’s attempt at one before hitting Zayn with his snap powerslam. Orton doesn’t cover and Zayn bails to the apron. Orton hits the draping DDT and fires up for the RKO but Zayn bails to the floor to boos from the crowd. Zayn reverses Orton’s side-slam attempt and gets his own side-slam on the just-restored announce table. Poor Barrett is never going to have a working monitor. Orton misses a corner charge and goes shoulder-first into the post. Zayn lines up the Helluva Kick but Orton catches him charging and hits another snap powerslam for a LONG two count. Orton slips another Helluva Kick attempt and as Zayn staggers out, Orton goes for the RKO but Zayn reverses into the Blue Thunder Bomb for two. Zayn ducks an RKO attempt but as he charges out of the corner Orton hits it and gets the three count. Randy Orton advances to the KotR Final in Riyadh.

This turned into a physical war and while Orton can only work at a certain pace at this point, Zayn is excellent at almost everything required for stuff like this. Zayn’s offense is always credible and he’s maybe the best underdog babyface on the roster. I would have preferred to see Zayn win here but Orton versus Cody or Jey for the Final will be solid. This was good. 3.5*

Winner – Randy Orton (RKO)

Walking backstage is last year’s Queen of the Ring winner Nia Jax. We go to commercials.

Back live with Jax making her entrance. She’s not like most girls, in case you forgot. We look at the Naomi-Tiffany Stratton-Jax dust-up from last week as Jax glares at the crowd. Jax says it’s crazy that Stratton approached Jax to be under her wing because she knew what she could do for her. The thanks Jax got was Stratton betraying her and cashing in to become Women’s World Champion. Here’s Tiffany Stratton to tell Jax she’s the toxic ex Stratton just can’t get away from. Stratton tells Jax she makes excuse after excuse but maybe Stratton is just better than her? Jax says if Stratton is so much better then she should just give Jax her rematch without using a chair to Jax’s face. Stratton says it’s her lucky day because it’s official for next week, Stratton versus Jax and she’s going to have fun adding more scars to “that big old five-head of yours”. (HIGH ALERT FOR THE BURN UNIT). It’s Last Woman Standing (presumably for the title but Stratton didn’t specifically say that) and now it’s time to fight. Jax hits a charging Stratton with a sitout powerbomb and the big Hogan leg drop before grabbing the title belt and posing. Jax hits another leg drop and goes to tell Barrett and Tessitore that she’s getting her title back. Here’s Naomi with her briefcase and a ref and as she’s starting to cash in, Jax yanks Naomi to the floor. They bicker and of course this allows Stratton to dropkick Naomi off the apron onto Jax. Stratton grabs her title and poses. I’m guessing we’re going to see more of this during Last Woman Standing next week. Naomi glares at Jax as Barrett summarizes.

Tessitore tosses to a highlights package of John Cena and CM Punk. Corey Graves narrates. As with most WWE video packages, this was really good. We go to commercials as Chelsea Green makes her entrance.

Chelsea Green vs Charlotte Flair

Green is seconded by Alba Fyre and Piper Niven. I’m guessing we’re heel versus heel here as this night of odd alignment matchups rolls on. The bell rings and we’re off. Flair is distracted by Fyre and Green waffles her with a right. Green slams Charlotte into the mat three times before Charlotte gets in a chop. Green hits a knee and rifles Charlotte into the corner where she goes up and over to the apron. Flair hits a big boot on Green and then disposes of Fyre as she attempts to interfere. Flair ascends and hits a LONG cross-body for two. Flair charges and eats a back elbow, but she recovers quickly and boots Green in the head. Flair whips Green into the middle and as Green is being checked on by the ref, Fyre interferes again. Fyre drops Flair neck-first on the top rope and Green hits a Codebreaker for two. We go to commercials.

Back live with Flair slamming Green’s head into the top turnbuckle which staggers Green. Flair gets the better of a slugfest and chops Green. Flair hits a fallaway slam and nips up. Flair uses Green’s salute taunt before hitting Green with an awkward cartwheel clothesline for two. Flair tries to line up the Figure Eight but Fyre again jumps on the apron so Flair calmly big boots her to the floor. Green hits a leg lariat out of nowhere for two. Green’s frustration leads her to take off her protective mask. Flair escapes an Unprettier attempt and spears Green into oblivion for two. Flair goes for the Figure Eight again but Green rolls her up for two. Flair gets the Figure Eight on finally and Green immediately taps out.

For a sprint, this was solid. Green is one of those performers who can just take a pounding from someone and still look credible. Charlotte had her working boots on tonight and even with the sometimes-awkward gymnastics stuff, she gave Green some shine before inevitably winning. Good television match. 2.5*

Post match sees Piper Niven immediately charge in to senton Flair while she still had Green in the Figure Eight and Flair clutches her braced left knee. I think Flair might have gotten legit hurt there. Alexa Bliss charges down to wipe out both Niven and Fyre before hitting Sister Abigail on Green. Bliss extends a hand but Flair ignores it and walks past her. Damn Charlotte, she did save you from a three-on-one. So rude. Flair did appear to be gimpy but not limping and she could put weight on it, so she was probably just selling. Still, that was a scary spot.

JC Mateo is taping up when Solo Sikoa walks in. Sikoa asks what Mateo is doing and Mateo says he’s going to take out Jacob Fatu. Sikoa says no, he’s going out alone to talk to Fatu, but Mateo should be ready. We go to commercials.

Back live as Solo Sikoa makes his entrance. We watch Jacob Fatu turning on Sikoa at Money in the Bank as Sikoa calls out Fatu. Men’s US Champion Jacob Fatu makes his entrance and stares down Sikoa from the apron. Sikoa says he’s not here to fight. Sikoa says he loves Fatu and that he learned how to love and take care of his family while he was Tribal Chief. Sikoa says families fight all the time, they fight, argue and then forgive and move forward. Sikoa says no one saw the potential in Fatu except him and that nobody wanted him in WWE except Sikoa. Sikoa brought him there to change his life and let Fatu put food on the table for his family and he did it because Sikoa loves him. Sikoa says he doesn’t have anybody else, all he has is Fatu. He tells Fatu he loves him. The crowd thinks this bullshit. Fatu says he feels like Sikoa doesn’t love him, he’s been using him to gain power, to fight Sikoa’s battles, and so Sikoa could stay Tribal Chief. Solo drops his head and Fatu tells him to look at him while he’s speaking. Fatu says that since he won the US title, Sikoa is the one who’s been acting different. Fatu says maybe the problem IS the US title and he lays the belt on the mat between them. Fatu says if that’s what it is, then Sikoa should fight him for the title. Fatu hits his catchphrase as Sikoa has had enough and as Sikoa goes for the Spike, Fatu catches him. Fatu drops Sikoa with a headbutt and puts the boots to him, but JC Mateo charges in. Mateo and Fatu grapple as Sikoa clips Fatu’s knee from behind. Mateo and Sikoa work Fatu over in the corner and Big Jim Uso‘s music hits. Uso ducks a clothesline from Sikoa and then superkicks a charging Mateo. Uso superkicks Sikoa before Mateo runs him over with a lariat. Sikoa and Mateo work Uso over in the corner and they get a great camera shot between Mateo and Solo of Jacob Fatu rising in the corner. Fatu runs over Mateo with a shoulder tackle and superkicks Sikoa. Fatu wipes out Mateo again before getting the hip attack on Sikoa. Fatu stares at Uso before trying the jumping moonsault, but Sikoa rolls out of the ring to safety. Fatu grabs his title and stares at Uso as we go to commercials.

Bronson Reed vs LA Knight

Reed has Paul Heyman (holding the MITB briefcase, by the way) and Bron Breakker with him at ringside. Knight sneak attacks Breakker from the crowd before the bell and runs Reed to the floor. Reed holds a livid Breakker back from charging in. Reed gets in the ring, the bell sounds, and we’re off. Knight controls off of a slugfest but Reed whips him into a corner and charges. Reed misses and goes shoulder-first into the post and Knight goes to work with boots. Knight charges and slips a Reed Samoan drop attempt, then Knight escapes a standing Yokozuna buttdrop attempt. Knight hits a running boot to Reed’s face, and then Reed dumps Knight to the apron as he charges in. Knight blocks another Samoan Drop attempt but his reverse neckbreaker attempt is slipped by Reed. Knight slips a running senton attempt and ascends in the corner. Knight hits a second rope bulldog. Reed bails to the floor and Knight hits a baseball slide dropkick and a reverse cross body. We go to commercials.

Back live with Reed holding Knight in the superplex position and Knight trying to slug his way out of it. Knight finally knocks Reed to the mat and hits the jump up top rope elbow for two. Knight goes for BFT but Reed shrugs him off and headbutts Knight in the ear. Yowch. Reed hoists Knight up again and hits the Jagged Edge for two. Knight counters a powerbomb attempt into a DDT. Breakker leaps up on the apron and eats a right hand from Knight, and as Reed charges Knight pulls down the top rope and Reed tumbles outside. Knight runs the ropes and Breakker spears him for the immediate DQ.

Well, yeah, that finish was fully expected when they announced this so I wasn’t surprised. Still, it takes away from what was a styles clash that actually worked fairly well. Can’t give it too high of a rating though. 2*

Winner – LA Knight (Breakker run-in DQ)

Post match and Breakker spears Knight again while Reed held Knight up. Breakker holds Knight by the feet and Reed hits the Tsunami followed by another one. I notice Knight is NOT coughing up diverticulitis so he’s got that going for him but he’s still getting his ass handed to him. Reed goes up and hits a third Tsunami as Tessitore talks in hushed “he’s seriously hurt for real” tones. The Seth Riders depart as the crowd is shocked. We go to commercials.

Back live as Tessitore runs down next week’s card from Riyadh. WWE Women’s US Champion Zelina Vega will defend against Giulia. The Street Profits will defend the Men’s WWE Tag Team titles against Joe Gacy and Dexter Lumis of the Wyatt Sicks. As mentioned earlier, WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton will indeed be defending her title in a Last Woman Standing match against Nia Jax. That’s a loaded card if it is indeed their last three hour Smackdown.

Jacob Fatu tells the crowd that Nick Aldis has made a Men’s US Title match official for Night of Champions versus Solo Sikoa. Ron Killings makes his entrance as we go to commercials.

Ron “R-Truth” Killings vs Men’s WWE Champion John Cena

The match is non-title but it’s worth noting that Paul Heyman had the MITB briefcase with him. Advertisements earlier had Cena in a movie called “Heads of State” with Idris Elba on Prime that looked…dubious. Cena is playing the President of the United States! I’m making no further comments on it. Also, these two are a combined 101 years old!

Cena gets his special entrance announcement from Mark Nash as Killings glares at him. The bell rings and we’re off. Truth goes for ground and pound but Cena bails. Truth follows and nails Cena with right hands. Truth continues to hammer Cena, who bails back into the ring to escape. We go to picture in picture commercials.

During PIP there’s a mid-ring slugfest that results in two consecutive Truth shoulder tackles, a missed Cena roundhouse punch, and Truth hitting a spinning slam in a spot they’ve probably done tons of times. Truth indicates that Cena can’t see him but Cena bails before Truth can do more. Truth comes out and Cena fires up and runs Truth into the ringpost. Cena tosses Truth back in and headbutts him. Cena uses the second rope to choke Truth before the ref’s five count. Cena hits a running kick to the small of Truth’s back and then talks trash. Cena hits two shoulder tackles, Truth misses a roundhouse, and Cena hits his spinning slam (repeating the exact same sequence from two minutes ago in reverse).

Back live with Cena telling Truth he can’t see him, and hitting the Five Knuckle Shuffle. Cena wants the Attitude Adjustment but Truth slides off and hits a charging Cena with Austin’s Thesz Press and some ground and pound as Barrett thinks Truth might have a new hero. Cena bails to the floor and grabs his title belt as he’s looking to leave. Truth charges up the entrance way with the ref in tow and nails Cena with some rights. Cena waffles Truth with the title belt for the DQ.

Ugly stupid finish. I cannot believe they keep doing this stuff with Cena’s limited dates but if you want to “ruin wrestling” keep running these shitty unimaginative finishes, Hunter. A nothing-burger of a match and a waste of time just to run a post-match angle. 1*

Post match here’s CM Punk to intervene as Cena high-tails it back to the ring. Punk charges in but Cena catches him and puts the…sneakers…to Punk. Punk fires up with right hands and knocks Cena down. Punk picks up the title and as he goes to hit Cena with it, Cena kicks Punk in the nards. Cena glares at the crowd as he’s got the title belt lined up, and he wallops Punk in the head with it with a loud thud. Cena pulls out the SLIM JIM TABLE. He sets it up and waffles Punk again in the head with the belt. Cena hits Punk with the Attitude Adjustment through the table and Cena grabs a microphone. Cena laughs and sits in the corner staring at the fallen Punk. Cena says he hopes Punk is comfortable and can hear him because before he leaves in six months he’s got a lot to get off his chest as I notice there’s still like nine minutes of run-time for this show. Sigh.

Cena says he doesn’t hate Punk or even dislike him, he likes Punk more than anyone he’s ever shared a locker room with (BURN UNIT ACTIVATE). Cena says he hates the idea of Punk, the Best in the World, because he is the greatest of all time. Punk is laying in the middle of a broken table and not one medical person is checking on him but do go on, Champ. Cena says Punk is better than him at one thing, Punk is the best BULLSHITTER in the world (this was uncut on the live feed). Cena says because he cursed the show is off the rails, he’s breaking the fourth wall, and he mugs and waves at the camera. Cena says the truth is that he’s jealous of Punk conning THESE PEOPLE that he’s the best in the world. They chant for Punk, they sing for Punk, but they don’t believe “a goddamn word you have to say” because Punk changes his values as much as Cena changes his t-shirts. Cena says that Punk will step on the necks of those he needs to make him better, and then mentions “Claudio Castignoli, Nick Nemeth, and Matt Cardona” as he’s waving to the crowd. Well, we’re going to be talking about this a whole bunch today I’m guessing. The SLIM JIM TABLE logo is very prominent during all this because of course it is.

Cena says there’s nobody backstage who’s going to cut his mic because he’s Punk’s only friend. Cena questions what Punk’s Pipe Bomb has done for him and says he uses the same “FIVE MICROPHONE MOVES OF DOOM” and I am LOSING IT with this promo. Cena says Punk is no longer the voice of the voiceless, he’s a “friggin’ millionaire” despite himself. He’s not a Punk, he’s a capitalist and he’s Mr TKO because they knocked “his balls off his body”. Cena says he’s going to prove in Riyadh that he is the greatest of all time and that the crowd knows that Punk was the best in the world for seven minutes fourteen years ago. Cena says that after Night of Champions Punk will be the best in the world but it’s a very small world after all. “You’re welcome Grand Rapids” gets a HUGE pop which Cena takes in. Cena tells Punk to bring it in Riyadh because if this building in Grand Rapids is any indication, the MOOD IS STARTING TO CHANGE. At this point the ref from Cena’s match with Truth jumps back in to check on Punk and keep Cena away. Cena says he’s not going to hurt Punk anymore, he needs to rest up for the match. Cena says even the idiots know this is the greatest of all time versus the best in the world for the most prestigious title. He doesn’t need more time, he’s done and leaving. One final insult to Punk, Cena’s music plays, he poses in the corner and Tessitore and Barrett have to vamp to the end of the show.

What a mixed bag of a show. The semifinal matches were both good, particularly Orton-Zayn, but the show ended with two consecutive crappy DQ finishes. The Cena Pipe Bomb is the huge talking point coming out of this and I think as much as I haven’t enjoyed this Cena run at all up til now, at least this promo gave him some juice above and beyond just the endless “you suck” to the crowd promos he’s been cutting. The promo being so over-the-top makes me wonder about the finish in Saudi because ordinarily it used to mean whomever was standing tall like this was probably losing, but who knows how Hunter will book this. Thumbs mostly in the middle for this show but the Pipe Bomb segment will get it a lot of chatter for sure.

Thanks for reading, stay cool and hydrated out there.