WWE Saturday Night's Main Event
Tampa, FL - May 2025
CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, the WWE Universal Champion was John Cena, the World Heavyweight Champion was Jey Uso, the Intercontinental Champions were Dominik Mysterio and Lyra Valkyria, the United States Champions were Zelina Vega and Jacob Fatu, the World Tag Team Champions were The New Day (Woods and Kingston), the WWE Tag Team Champions were The Street Profits, and the Women's Tag Team Champions were Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez of the Judgment Day. Tiffany Stratton was the Women's WWE Champion on SmackDown, while on Raw, IYO SKY held the Women's World Championship.
Saturday Night's Main Event kicked off with some videos showing the arrival of several of the night's participants and then an introduction featuring Jesse "The Body" Ventura sporting what appeared to be a hat like the ones people wore when Malcolm X came out in theaters 30 years ago.
The opening contest saw Seth Rollins and Bron Breakker take on CM Punk and Sami Zayn, both sporting Palestinian flag-themed ring tights. Punk was over huge with the Tampa crowd. Breakker hit an awesome flying clothesline from the ring apron onto Zayn, sending him over the announce table, which was a hot start to the match that then led to one of what seemed like a commercial break every 3-4 minutes on this show. Punk hit a Code Red at one point, which amazed the crowd and the commentators (and Paul Heyman on the outside). I'm not sure I'd seen him hit that move before myself. The heels scored the win with help from Bronson Reed, who made an unexpected return by putting Punk through the barricade, which distracted Zayn and allowed Breaker to get the W with the spear. After the match, Reed teased a face-off with Breakker (which led to a "Holy Shit" chant), but ended up getting hugged by Rollins, revealing that he was now in alliance with them despite having history with Seth. Reed then hit a splash onto Punk. This was a good opener and an entertaining start to the night. (3/5)
Next up - Zelina Vega defending the Women's United States Championship against Chelsea Green. I expected Green to move onto a feud with Tiffany Stratton after dropping the title to Vega, but I guess they wanted to extend this feud before getting to that. Green's new President-inspired gimmick is a great use of her talents as she has become one of the more consistently entertaining talents on the women's roster. In ring, she's not necessarily anything special, but she's competent enough. Vega got the silent treatment from the Tampa crowd, which isn't surprising. Her attire comes across as Temu Sasha Banks/Mercedes Mone. There was some awkwardness at one point when Vega botched a 619, but it didn't detract too much from what was a decent contest (though it did break Green's nose). Remember when a powerbomb on the arena floor would not only be a legitimate match ender, but actually used to write off wrestlers for months at a time? In this match we got one within the first 2 minutes and it didn't lead to anything at all. The AEW haters who love to criticize the company for its "gymnastic routines" and "spotfests" should take note that AEW does not have a monopoly on this sort of thing. (2/5)
John Cena vs. R-Truth was the next match, but was definitely played more like an "angle." I was not a fan of R-Truth coming out to Cena's entrance song and in Cena's gear. It wasn't clever or funny and it didn't really make all that much sense to me. Sure, R-Truth was/is a John Cena superfan, but he's also a former multi-time singles and tag team champion with his own well-known theme song. Just came across as a Eugene bit to me. The "match" was what it was and ended when Cena struck Truth with a kick to the groin and then an AA. By my estimation, Cena is now 0-3 in singles matches in terms of actually delivering anything good. It's also worth noting that the crowd was somehow split 50/50. I'm guessing that Cena really hates that because he has really worked hard to not give the crowd any reason to cheer him, including putting on unremarkable matches that end in supremely screwy, cheap fashion. Its hard to "rate" this match because it was clearly meant to be more of an angle than an actual competitive contest, but even with that purpose, this wasn't particularly good. (2/5)
Damien Priest vs. Drew McIntyre in a cage match followed. This was a weird one (and not only because it was ruined by some really poorly-placed commercial breaks). McIntyre was clearly the fan favorite with this crowd but he also wrestled like it, hitting Priest with a nifty South of Heaven. Priest, meanwhile, came across a bit heelish with his use of the chair and the way he won the match by slowly walking out of the door after delivering a Con-Chair-To. It may have been met to be "badass," but it wasn't at all heroic the way one would expect a babyface to be. I'm not sure if the plan is to move Priest into a heel position, but Ventura's commentary certainly seemed to indicate that too. Of course, it seems like Ventura has limited knowledge of any of the current storylines or wrestlers and is there to "call it the way he sees it" rather than to necessarily "sell" the story. The live crowd seemed to be into this match, though it felt disjointed to me as a viewer because of the commercial breaks. Still, the action we did get was very good - hard-hitting, the right amount of violence for a modern WWE cage match, and heated from beginning to end with an intriguing finish. (3/5)
Main event time - Jey Uso vs. Logan Paul. This was worked as a "sprint" as there was only about 15 minutes left of TV time when it started. The speed at which this was worked was impressive and kept the crowd into it from beginning to end. Jey's superkicks were on target. Paul continues to make things look easier with his athleticism and natural swagger. John Cena attempted to screw Uso out of the title which led to the return of Cody Rhodes, who came out to an absolutely MASSIVE response and hit Cena with the Cross Rhodes. In all the pandemonium, Uso managed to hit Paul with his frog splash to retain the championship. I'd love to see these guys work again as they had noticeably strong chemistry. Cody Rhodes' post-match promo was also a great way to sell Money in the Bank as it seems we will be seeing the two sides face each other in a tag team match. (3/5)
While no match was necessarily "great" and the amount of commercial breaks was annoying, this was better paced and more fun than your average SmackDown or RAW episode. Plus, with the returns of Reed and Cody Rhodes, this felt like a show worth watching if you're at all a fan of the current WWE product. Its Kwang Score of 2.6-out-of-5 may seem a little low, but this was a breezy and enjoyable show to get through, adequately star-studded and wrestled in front of a crowd that was super into it.
FINAL RATING - Watch It...With Remote in Hand
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