Plus, what will Triple H have to say on WWE SmackDown from Tulsa?
The idea of a season premiere for WWE programming has always struck us as a funny one. Does something have a season if it runs 52 weeks a year with no breaks except very occasionally when a show falls on, say, Christmas? We’d say no, but WWE disagrees, and it is says tonight is the season premiere of SmackDown, then by golly it is.
One good thing about giving an episode that name is that it tends to load it up, and such is the case with tonight’s edition. We haven’t seen the Tribal Chief and holder of the company’s two biggest titles, Roman Reigns, in quite some time. But he’ll be on hand tonight in Tulsa.
Recent events suggest that he’s needed. The Bloodline is in rougher shape than it’s been in for some time, with Solo Sikoa the only dependable blood relative he has left. Jey Uso has left for Raw and turned face, and while Jimmy Uso has attempted to work his way back into the group’s good graces, he and Sikoa lost to John Cena and LA Knight at Fastlane. Reigns won’t be pleased about that, for starters, and there are rumblings that he might look to take care of Cena personally at Crown Jewel.
Did we mention that Cena is being advertised for SmackDown tonight as well? That could certainly be significant.
On top of that, The Game, Triple H, will be making an appearance in Tulsa too. We have no idea what he has in store, but considering he’s the man making the plans behind the scenes, a special announcement of some sort is definitely possible.
Or maybe he just wants to gloat about NXT this week, who knows?
In any case, the WWE SmackDown season premiere figures to be one worth watching. Check it out on FOX, beginning at 8 p.m. ET.
WWE programming is enjoyable again. Vince McMahon is reportedly leaving creative alone. That’s probably not a coincidence.
I don’t know about you, but I have been having a lot of fun watching WWE’s product lately.
The stories make sense, the stars are over, the matches are great, and the fans are invested. You can’t really ask for much more. Heck even Fastlane, a pay-per-view I don’t think I have ever cared about, was actually good this year.
But it somehow also feels weird. I don’t remember the last time I enjoyed Vince McMahon’s vision of wrestling to this extent. In all honesty, it could be decades. Has McMahon re-conjured the magic of his prior booking days?
Am I going to have to praise McMahon’s booking after years of having a great disdain for it? The mere thought of it gives me anxiety.
But that changed when Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp posted this Monday on X.
We're going to have some significant updates on the rumors that Vince McMahon is back out of WWE creative, with Triple H & co handling most everything.
Regarding Vince McMahon, one WWE higher up told us: "I think you can take a look at the show — Johnny Gargano is back after his return was nixed. Tegan Nox is on the show. Dragon Lee is all over the program. Carlito is finally factored in after being under contract for months.… pic.twitter.com/8PQa8bfVpm
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) October 9, 2023
And just like that, my anxiety quickly washed away. That’s because it finally dawned on me that I apparently wasn’t even watching a McMahon production.
It was widely reported earlier in the year that once McMahon returned to power within WWE, he went right back to being hands on with the television product again despite it improving exponentially during his nine-month “retirement.”
McMahon was never really looking to slow down before his forced exit in 2022, so it was natural to assume he was still plugging away like he has for the last 40 years. But reportedly, that is not the case, and I could not be happier.
I don’t think I am alone when I say that I am not a fan of McMahon’s booking, especially in recent years. Based on what a slew of people that worked behind the scenes have said on the record in interviews, podcasts, etc., McMahon doesn’t necessarily foster an environment for creativity. He more or less fosters an environment where people come up with ideas that merely satisfy the musings of the boss over the paying audience.
Bottom line: What McMahon wanted, he got. He is the boss, after all, and he has that right. However, it routinely flew in the face of the fans’ enjoyment of the product.
You could make the case that McMahon’s style didn’t really hurt business. The company still boasted multiple billion-dollar television contracts and the brand was as strong as ever. With that said, I don’t think it was a coincidence that WWE began to break all sorts of financial records AFTER McMahon “retired.”
I don’t think it was a coincidence that the fans’ anticipation heading into this year’s WrestleMania — the first that did not involve McMahon in the creative process — was as high as it has been in decades.
I also don’t think it is a coincidence that my enjoyment of WWE’s product is at such a high level when McMahon reportedly has very little influence over it.
But one question still remains: If McMahon truly has removed himself from WWE’s creative process, will he actually stay away and truly ride off into the sunset of an objectively tremendous career as the greatest wrestling promoter of all time?
I have watched professional wrestling long enough to know that you can never say never. One thing I do know: I’ll be OK if I don’t have to watch a McMahon-led wrestling program ever again.
If you are enjoying WWE programming in recent months, it’s apparently Paul “Triple H” Levesque and not Vince McMahon you should thank.
Speculation has surrounded the direction of WWE creative since Vince McMahon stepped away and Paul “Triple H” Levesque took over in 2022, only for McMahon to return in early 2023 and start influencing WWE programming again. Now, however, it appears that The Game is back in control, and people are pleased with it.
PWInsider reported Monday that people believe Vince McMahon is no longer involved in creative and that Endeavor has “knighted” Triple H as the man in charge.
Fightful Select (subscription required but recommended), adding details to the story, expounded on the thought of Triple H controlling creative while McMahon steps back and the feeling behind it within the WW locker room.
The report notes how Triple H’s creative direction has caused a significant boost in optimism within the company since the Sept. 25 episode of WWE Raw compared to the prior eight months, lifting talent morale from an all-time low at the start of 2022. Wrestlers and staff have supposedly not been explicitly told that Vince McMahon is no longer involved, and most understand that he had been making changes since returning.
McMahon has not attended creative meetings, but instead has been making changes to the show remotely and submitting them prior to the show, with the most notable instance being the Raw after WrestleMania 39.
One WWE talent told Fightful Select that most of WWE’s roster said they felt a sense of relief when McMahon retired, both morally and creatively.
Fightful Select was told by a WWE higher-up to look at Johnny Gargano’s return, Tegan Nox’s presence on the show, Dragon Lee’s appearance, Carlito’s comeback, Bronson Reed’s winning streak, and Cameron Grimes’s return as evidence of Triple H’s influence.
However, there remains a sense of “I’ll believe it when I see it” regarding McMahon being out of creative for good.
Shows have felt different compared to ones with McMahon’s reported influence. WWE is featuring different talents and giving larger main event spotlights to other championships than the world titles, which are always main eventing premium live events or receiving the primary focus of Raw and SmackDown.
Endeavor’s takeover of WWE becoming official coincides with the changes, but that might not mean anything. Either way, Triple H’s fingerprints are seemingly more apparent than ever, prompting the question of whether this will become a permanent change.
Finishing moves come and go in WWE, but these 20 are the best we’ve ever seen.
There’s something undeniably thrilling about the best WWE finishers. Just the anticipation for an especially great finishing move is a lot of fun, the palpable feeling that ripples through the crowd when a match is about to reach its dramatic conclusion.
And those occasions where a wrestler unexpectedly kicks out of a top finisher — provided they don’t happen too often — produce some of the loudest crowd reactions in the business.
Thanks to its position as the No. 1 pro wrestling company in the world for decades (even during times it didn’t want to admit it), WWE has seen more than its fair share of amazing finishing moves. But we wanted to dive in and find the ones that were truly the best, the crème de la crème of match-ending maneuvers.
To do that, we consulted a number of lists of this type that are already out there, including the WWE’s own rankings of the 50 best finishing moves of all time. Like our list of the top WWE PPVs ever, that makes this list pseudo-crowdsourced and not just our own opinions — though we slid some up or down where we felt it was warranted.
So what makes a truly great finishing move? The answer varies from fan to fan, but we considered the following:
Recognizability/cultural impact – Is a finisher so famous that even casual or non-wrestling fans know what it is or who does it?
Believability – If pro wrestling wasn’t scripted, does the move look like it would really end a fight?
Uniqueness – Does the move stand out on its own, or does a certain performer elevate it by adding more atmosphere to it?
Sellability – Does it offer the person on the receiving end the opportunity to play it up even more?
Legacy – Has it passed the test of time, even if others don’t use it as a finisher?
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s dive in and check out what we found to be a bit of a consensus on the 20 best WWE finishers of all time, starting at 20 and working down to No. 1.
And neither of the top two U.S. wrestling promotions were blameless in it.
It felt like we were making real progress, didn’t it?
When WWE produced its all-women’s pay-per-view in 2018 and followed it up by putting a women’s match in the main event of WrestleMania in 2019, it genuinely felt like wrestling fans were on the precipice of a new era, with women’s wrestling barreling down a road that would lead it to standing on equal footing with its male counterpart.
It really felt like we had come a long way from the days of #GiveDivasAChance, when fans took to social media to protest against the lack of time WWE’s women’s roster was receiving on television. Back in those days, women were barely featured, and when they were, it typically left a lot to be desired.
But by 2019, WWE’s women had their own pay-per-view and headlined WrestleMania. Brighter days were seemingly ahead.
But alas, in 2023 there is a new hashtag: #WWEWomenDeserveBetter.
This comes after the highly-anticipated encounter between Becky Lynch and Trish Stratus was reportedly removed from SummerSlam due to a lack of time, which is just an all-around horrible excuse if it is true (Editor’s note: Paul “Triple H” Levesque claimed in the post-SummerSlam press conference that nothing was “cut” from the show, but that may be a matter of semantics).
There was also the notable absence of Rhea Ripley. You might know her. She’s only the WWE World Women’s champion, and she was not shy about expressing some frustration on social media.
It also comes after the supposed progress that was made during the previous decade and even into the current one, as we saw Sasha Banks (now Mercedes Moné) and Bianca Belair — two Black women — headline night one of WrestleMania in 2021.
On top of that, some of WWE’s biggest stars, regardless of where someone may fall along the gender spectrum, identify as women. Ripley, for example, is among the company’s best merchandise sellers.
It is easy to lay blame on Vince McMahon, who once had Stratus get down on her hands and knees and bark like a dog on national television. Oh, and he used company funds to pay hush money to women who accused him of misconduct. He’s being subpoenaed for it. It’s a whole thing.
You could also lay blame on Levesque, as the issues with WWE’s women’s division were being pointed out well before McMahon and his new mustache returned to power earlier this year.
Things aren’t much better for WWE’s main competition in the marketplace, All Elite Wrestling, which featured only one women’s match on the grand showcase of professional wrestling that was Forbidden Door.
And yes, I watched the 200th episode of Dynamite, which featured Hikaru Shida defeating Toni Storm for the women’s world title in the main event. However, that was again the ONLY women’s match on the entire show.
Two hundred episodes of women’s wrestling summed up in one (very entertaining) match.
Behind the scenes in AEW, things look even more bleak. Last week, multiple members of the roster banded together on social media to discredit veteran independent wrestler LuFisto after she essentially called the women’s locker room a toxic work environment.
The AEW talent coming together to shoot down LuFisto’s version of events means very little to me, as it seemed like a coordinated effort. Here are just three examples:
We have an incredible women’s division that all look out for and support each other. I’ve never seen it be anything other than a safe space for a bunch of kick ass women that all want to see each other and all of @aew shine to their full potential. Women hating women is a real…
The narrative going around is very disheartening considering someone says they want the best for women’s wrestling but buries it in a number of tweets.. I will say being in this company close to a year, my favourite part is being with the girls in the lockerroom. They uplift,…
Nothing says a healthy work environment like a group of wrestlers coming together to dunk on someone for speaking on their personal experience.
It’s funny, because I don’t recall a coordinated effort to come together when the promotion’s top male stars literally fought each other moments after a pay-per-view. But I suppose an independent wrestler that will never work for the promotion on a full-time basis is an easier target than the executive vice presidents.
Also, what if both things were true? I know that doesn’t fly on social media where things are often simplified to one thing or another. But in reality, nuance exists.
The AEW women’s locker room could be a generally good place to work. That does not mean LuFisto enjoyed her experience. Totally disregarding LuFisto’s personal experience as nothing more than salacious allegations is counterproductive to everyone involved.
By the way, LuFisto has since deleted her Twitter due to the backlash she received for merely speaking about her experience.
Even if you don’t believe a word of what LuFisto alleged is happening behind the scenes, there is no denying that on the screen, AEW has real issues with how it presents its women’s division.
No amount of coordinated social media efforts can hide that. All you have to do is watch AEW TV and you’ll see the glaring issues. You can also look online and see reports of AEW’s own talent lamenting at how they are being presented. Then you have Saraya, who is actively campaigning for the promotion to put more than one women’s match on All In at Wembley Stadium.
Well. It’s a big show, gonna be a longer one too. Putting my opinion about me to the side and thinking of the division as a whole. I think the women deserve an opportunity and with ample time we could have multiple matches and really utilize the weeks between now and until then… https://t.co/FhNGS9LZyd
That should not be a huge ask. That should not be a tall order. WWE, which obviously has its own set of issues regarding its women’s division, produced two women’s matches at SummerSlam, and you can make the case that there should have been at least four.
Yet Saraya, who at only 30 years old is one of the more seasoned vets in AEW, has to go on social media and tell fans that she is hoping for more than one.
Unfortunately, this is not a problem that is unique to professional wrestling. Heck, it’s not even unique to sports. It is merely one aspect of how women are viewed in our society as a whole.
When it comes specifically to WWE and AEW, however, there are no excuses. WWE produces five hours of main roster television on a weekly basis, and seven hours total if you count NXT. That should be plenty of time to flesh out some stories and happenings in the women’s division.
Somehow, there is never enough time.
The lack of time was a prominent excuse for why AEW didn’t feature more women on television back when the promotion only had two hours of Dynamite every Wednesday. But that number has since ballooned to five hours since Rampage debuted in 2021 and Collision came to be in June of 2023.
And yet, there is somehow not enough time.
This is not for a lack of talent. If anything, there are more talented female wrestlers now than there has ever been. And there are so many different types. The industry is not just filled with fitness models-turned-wrestlers.
Sure, you have your former fitness models, but you also have former mixed martial artists, former basketball players, former track stars, and the lifers who have spent years starving on the independent circuit. Arguably the most popular woman in AEW is a dentist.
Despite all of that, the last week did nothing to help the progress women’s professional wrestling has seen in the last decade. Between WWE leaving some of its top stars off one of its marquee shows, and the myriad of issues simmering in AEW’s women’s division, this past week was a harsh reminder of how far women in this industry still have to go.
Cody Rhodes and Triple H have yet to discuss the infamous moment from AEW Double or Nothing 2019.
Cody Rhodes‘ most famous non-wrestling moment is still resonating today.
At Double or Nothing 2019, when AEW was in its infancy, Rhodes famously bashed a makeshift version of Triple H‘s throne with a sledgehammer before his match against Dustin Rhodes. It was, at the time, the clearest, most obvious sign of AEW trying to make a statement in the packed pro wrestling landscape. The moment went viral and continues to live on.
At the red carpet premiere of his documentary, “American Nightmare: Becoming Cody Rhodes,” Fightful asked the 2022 Men’s Royal Rumble winner if he and Triple H discussed his throne-smashing moment since returning to WWE, as well as the “Being the Elite” episode where Rhodes parodied the Game.
“So we have never spoke about the throne smash, and I’m even further concerned that one day, Hunter is gonna watch the Exorcism of Cody Rhodes and be like, ‘Wait, I was the bad guy?’ Even though Frankie Kazarian did a really great job, and we kind of made him look really cool. He was kind of Terminator-like in how he did it, but yeah, he’s never asked me. He’s one of those….I feel like he’s unsuspecting. You’ll think he doesn’t read your interviews or whatnot, and then one day he’ll be like, ‘I read this thing you said.’ Oh no. He’s very organized about that.”
For over a year, WWE has had Rhodes back, so it’s interesting that he and Triple H haven’t discussed any of this, although they might have more important things to do between Triple H’s creative role with WWE and Rhodes’ busy in-ring schedule and other outside obligations.
Both men will forever be connected by the famous moment in recent pro wrestling lore, for better or worse. Maybe one day at Rhodes’ WWE Hall of Fame speech, we will finally hear it brought up between the two, making for good, awkward comedy.
Other big happenings on Raw included Raquel Rodriguez finding a new tag team partner and Matt Riddle aiding Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn.
HERSHEY, Pa. — As a fan in Section D of the Giant Center said in realization at the end of WWE Raw on Monday night, “We never got to do the whoa.”
He was talking about a certain part of Cody Rhodes‘ entrance theme, “Kingdom,” and if you’ve been watching WWE programming any time over the past year, you know the cue. It comes right after the line “Out the curtain, lights go up I’m home.”
The fans in attendance did get to see Rhodes, who was shown on screen to both open and close the show. He also made it to the ring once in-between, but his music didn’t play because WWE was trying to make it look like he shouldn’t have been out there.
That’s what happens when you get jumped by Brock Lesnar while entering the arena, which is exactly what happened Monday night. Lesnar gave Rhodes a hellacious backstage beating, concentrating on Cody’s left arm and mocking him for wanting to fight at Night of Champions.
Lesnar came to the ring about halfway through Raw, claiming that Rhodes wouldn’t be able to make this weekend’s premium live event and laying out an open challenge to anyone who would step up. Instead, Rhodes came out, arm in a sling, and attempted to thrown down with Lesnar right there.
Let’s call that a tactical error for the American Nightmare, who ended up taking even more damage to his left arm after being locked in a kimura by Lesnar. The idea was that Rhodes’ arm was broken.
But that wasn’t the last word, because the night’s main event, which saw Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and Matt Riddle defeat Imperium, ended about four minutes prior to 11 p.m. ET. It felt like something would happen, and that something was Triple H visiting Rhodes in the locker room and trying to convince him that Night of Champions was out.
Rhodes refused and said he’d fight Lesnar anyway. So there’s a built-in excuse for WWE to have Cody lose and continue the feud (to SummerSlam, perhaps). It was an unconventional but not illogical way to end the final live show before a premium live event, but we’ll have to wait until Saturday to see if it all plays out in satisfactory fashion.
Read on for a rundown of everything that happened Monday night.
WWE Raw results from Hershey:
As noted above, Lesnar attacked Rhodes in the back, smashing his left arm between a beer keg and a metal rolldown door
Paul Heyman took to the microphone to claim no responsibility for what just happened but suggested that was just a taste of what would happen to Rhodes at Night of Champions
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn said they were feeling pretty good about their upcoming title defense at Night of Champions, but there was also business to attend to tonight … and that business found them, with Imperium surrounding the ring, but Matt Riddle arrived to help run them off and become their partner for the main event
Adam Pearce refused to confirm or deny to Byron Saxton that Rhodes suffered a broken arm
Bronson Reed def. Ricochet by pinfall
Apollo Crews got his interview crashed by Dominik Mysterio, who ended up talking his way into a match, and Rhea Ripley, who warned Natalya she would end her career at Night of Champions
Part 3 of Corey Graves’ interview with Seth Rollins aired, including Rollins saying he loves Roman Reigns but doesn’t like Roman Reigns
Finn Balor had some fighting words for his opponent tonight, Shinsuke Nakamura
Zoey Stark def. Candice LeRae by pinfall, despite some ringside encouragement from Nikki Cross
Mustafa Ali was more serious than he has been recently, discussing the opportunity he has coming up this weekend … until Lesnar walked by him on his way to the ring, telling Ali to get a life as he passed
Barging by Adam Pearce and other officials, Rhodes made his ill-advised attempt to confront Lesnar in the ring, which ended with him in even more pain
A promo vignette was aired to promote Indus Sher
Alpha Academy def. Viking Raiders by pinfall
Finn Balor def. Shinsuke Nakamura by pinfall thanks to some assistance from Damian Priest
Raquel Rodriguez def. Sonya Deville by pinfall, then got saved from a two-on-one post-match beating by Shotzi
Trish Stratus proposed a “no touch policy” for her contract signing with Becky Lynch, but Pearce declined …
… but Stratus and Lynch mostly just trade insults during their contract signing anyway
Pearce gives someone a phone call to update them on the Rhodes situation
Rodriguez offers Shotzi a chance to be her tag team partner to try back the women’s tag team titles
Dominik Mysterio def. Apollo Crews by pinfall, with the usual assist from Rhea Ripley
The final segment of the Graves-Rollins interview aired, focused largely on Seth discussing why he wants to win the World Heavyweight Championship so badly
Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and Matt Riddle def. Imperium by pinfall
Triple H tried to talk Rhodes out of competing at Night of Champions, but to no avail
After the show went off the air, Imperium attempted to come back for some revenge on Owens, Zayn and Riddle, but that backfired as Ludwig Kaiser ended up going through a table.
Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker and Kurt Angle are among the WWE superstars with multiple matches on this list.
Rankings of the best anything are always tricky, definitely subjective, and absolutely a lot of fun. When it comes to the best WWE matches of all time, however, there’s also another factor: There’s just so many of them.
Consider lists of the best movie or TV series. Yes, there are a ton of each over the years. But in any given year, there are maybe dozens of movies to consider, and great TV shows tend to last for several years, even in the modern streaming age.
WWE goes nonstop every tear, putting matches on Raw and SmackDown weekly and holding bigger premium live event cards monthly. That’s hundreds of new matches annually, and while some are unquestionably more significant than others, each one is a separate performance with its own unique context.
Just narrowing that list of potential candidates down could be a Herculean effort, but we found a way to reduce the work and make the resulting list pseudo-scientific at the same time. We came up with a formula that incorporates both Cagematch ratings and the Wrestling Observer’s star ratings to give each of the greatest WWE matches ever their own score.
The end product has a satisfying cross-section in terms of both types of matches and chronology, as it includes bouts from 1994 up through this year. Certain names appear multiple times — you’d expect nothing less from the likes of Shawn Michaels, for instance — but there’s also nice variety in terms of who made the cut overall.
And while we certainly have our own opinions about where certain matches should fall in the top 20, we decided to let the rankings remain where the numbers said they should fall. After all, debating lists like this is part of what makes being a pro wrestling fan so much fun. Where possible, we’ve included the full video of the match so you can relive them as you go.
Without further ado, here are the best WWE matches of all time, working from 20 up to No. 1.
AEW looks like it has a huge hit on its hands with All In London, but it needs other moves it’s making to be equally successful.
It’s been more than four years since All Elite Wrestling was born, and the company has already managed to accomplish quite a bit.
It’s a got lucrative national television deal and has garnered a dedicated and loyal fan base, so much so that the promotion has already sold 50,000 tickets for All In, which is set to take place in one of the most famous venues in the world, Wembley Stadium.
AEW CEO, GM, and Head of Creative Tony Khan said the event has already generated a gate of £5.2 million, which according to his tweet, is $6.5 million. It’s already shaping up to be one of the biggest wrestling shows of the year and no matches have even been announced.
I can count the number of promotions in the world even capable of selling that many tickets on one hand, let alone in such a historic venue like Wembley Stadium. AEW is firmly one of those promotions.
Khan took a victory lap on Twitter, and deservedly so. Selling that many tickets is to be celebrated, as something like this was deemed impossible just five years ago.
However, this coming summer presents a new set of challenges for the young promotion.
Before one ticket stub is scanned at Wembley in August, AEW must first deal with the return of its most notable star, CM Punk.
In case you missed it, Punk has been on an extended hiatus from the company since last September after excoriating multiple members of the roster during a press conference (after winning the world title, mind you), which forced him to have to physically fend off said wrestlers — namely Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks, who also happen to be EVPs in the company — who went looking for him after the presser.
And the timing couldn’t have been worse, as WWE was finding its footing creatively under Paul “Triple H” Levesque in the beginning of what we thought was the post-Vince McMahon era.
It’s been eight months since that occurred, and it’ll be nine before Punk is reportedly set to return to AEW on June 17. Eight days later, the promotion will host its second annual inter-promotional pay-per-view, Forbidden Door.
Because of this, it’s imperative that Khan and the other decision-makers in the promotion smooth out any tension that may still exist between the two sides, as the company can ill-afford a sequel to All Out.
Regardless of whose side you choose in the matter, AEW was the ultimate loser. Why? Because it lost the services of Punk for a nearly a year. And according to Khan himself, “no one wrestler has ever come in and made a bigger plus-delta financial difference in the history” of AEW.
Punk’s star power aside, it is also important because June 17 is expected to be the debut of another wrestling AEW television program reportedly called Collision. And because the wounds of last year’s All Out are still open for some, AEW is reportedly considering splitting the rosters between Dynamite and its newest program.
I feel like such a move is unnecessary, but if AEW deems it to be so, then it has to be done right. Don’t resort to the lazy storytelling tactics of WWE and just have wrestlers pop up on other brands just for the sake of it. Give each show its own identity, unlike WWE where the signature colors of Raw (red!) and SmackDown (blue!) are the only real differences between them.
If all goes according to plan, AEW should have a smashing success on their hands with All In at Wembley Stadium not just financially, but creatively as well.
With McMahon suspected to be back behind the controls behind the controls of creative in WWE, and the expected dip in quality that brings with it, AEW has a real opportunity this summer to flex its muscle and showcase its resiliency from a rather turbulent 2022.
Also on tonight’s card are Jimmy Uso vs. Matt Riddle and Shinsuke Nakamura on Miz TV.
Part of the Raw roster for May 8 and beyond is set. The rest of it will fall into place on tonight’s episode from Forth Worth, Texas.
Thanks to Night One of the 2023 WWE Draft, Raw has 24 wrestlers on its roster, including Cody Rhodes, Becky Lynch and all of Imperium. But the other half of the WWE talent pool remains ready to be selected on Night Two, which just so happens to be tonight.
One of the big names yet to be chosen is Brock Lesnar. Not only is he generally not involved in the draft, getting to be a free agent who floats between brands, he’s also in the middle of a program with Rhodes. You’d think WWE would send them to the same brand, but it’s certainly not guaranteed since Lesnar and Rhodes will do battle at Backlash and the new rosters take effect on the following Raw.
(Note: Lesnar ended up as a free agent after all, see below.)
Two people who already know they’re going to be on Monday nights going forward are Shinsuke Nakamura and The Miz. Conveniently, we’ll see them interact tonight, as the King of Strong Style will be a guest on the A-Lister’s latest Miz TV segment.
There’s also an intriguing singles match that WWE announced this afternoon. Jimmy Uso still doesn’t know where he and Jey will be plying their trade, as The Usos are in tonight’s draft pool. But while the brothers are undoubtedly still stinging from their championship rematch loss to Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn — not to mention their failure in a bout they dedicated to the Tribal Chief — Jimmy won’t have time to reflect tonight as he’s up against Matt Riddle.
Triple H comes out to welcome everyone to Raw and to Night Two of the WWE Draft; oh, and Brock Lesnar isn’t eligible to be drafted after all, having renegotiated his status as a free agent earlier today
“If he’s upset with me now, he’s really not going to like this one.” Paul Heyman says The Usos’ draft fate is TBD, but while addressing the “jokes” in the Raw locker room, he says the word “freakin'” a few too many times and accidentally summons Seth Rollins, who issues his own spoiler about winning the World Heavyweight Championship at Night of Champions; that brings out Solo Sikoa, who will face Rollins later tonight
Adam Pearce asks Cody Rhodes not to start up any chaos with Brock Lesnar but gets no promises
Bayley and Dakota Kai def. Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez by pinfall
Booker T (Raw) and wife Sharmell (SmackDown) head out to deliver the next round of draft picks
“Good luck with that.” Pearce makes the same plea to Brock Lesnar that he made to Cody, but well …
Braun Strowman and Ricochet def. Alpha Academy by pinfall
The Bad Bunny-Damian Priest hype video is played again
Shawn Michaels and Adam Pearce are out to announce the next round of WWE Draft picks, but Brock Lesnar decides he wants to head to the ring now, Pearce sends out a phalanx of security guards, and Rhodes tries to get him a piece of Brock and ends up getting trapped by all the guards instead
Matt Riddle is excited that he got drafted to the same show as the tag team champions so they can hang out all the time, but Kevin Owens is not as psyched about that
Matt Riddle def. Jimmy Uso by pinfall
Eric Bischoff (Raw) and Rob Van Dam (SmackDown) head out to make the next round of WWE Draft picks
Jey Uso asks why Sikoa wasn’t at ringside for Jimmy’s match, and Heyman says Solo needs to stay concentrated on his assignment tonight
Shinsuke Nakamura joins The Miz for Miz TV, and the A-Lister ends up eating a Kinshasa, as you might expect
Omos def. local talent in a quick squash match
Road Dogg and Molly Holly are next to introduce the Round 5 WWE Draft picks
The Judgment Day is happy to be staying together on Raw, and delivers messages to Zelina Vega and Bad Bunny in multiple languages, but the LWO responds with a rousing speech from Rey Mysterio
Damian Priest, Dominik Mysterio and Rhea Ripley def. Rey Mysterio, Santos Escobar and Zelina Vega when Priest pins Rey Mysterio after a South of Heaven
Rhodes admits Lesnar is in his head but says that while Brock usually gets what he wants, he won’t on Saturday
Bianca Belair says it doesn’t matter what show she’s on as long as she can represent, and Damage CTRL comes by to tell her that IYO SKY will beat her at Backlash, to which Belair accuses Bayley and Dakota Kai of holding SKY back
Teddy Long (Raw) and JBL (SmackDown) are out to deliver the sixth and final round of draft picks
Xavier Woods say The New Day will inject a little more energy back into Monday nights
