Cody retained against Drew in a match that seemed a little short and disappointing. The story coming out of this is that Drew suffered a kayfabe knee injury trying to put Cody’s head through the front of the announce table with a Claymore again and missing.
I liked the show but it didn’t command my undivided attention for the entire 3:20 run time.
I’m trying to figure out why they had Lesnar beat Cena so easily.
They’ve really botched the retirement tour. The best thing they did was have him turn on Cody but his heel run was shit. Made even worse by the involvement of that rapper.
And it’s looking like we won’t see The Rock anytime soon, since he’s dropped his wrestling physique for a movie role. We’ll never see his reaction to Cena turning face again.
Wes Lee and a few other wrestlers, mostly from LFG, were released the day before Crown Jewel.
Lee is the second-longest-reigning NXT North American Champion in history, and a former two-time NXT Tag Team Champion.
He’s also one of the guys I use most in Superstar Mode in the 2K video games.
Countdown until he reappears in TNA…3…2…1…
Seth Rollins had a hell of a 48 hours.
He finally defeated Cody Rhodes in a singles match at Crown Jewel to win the Crown Jewel Championship, but injured his shoulder on a Coast to Coast Diving Headbutt. He’ll require surgery, for real this time, and that’s why Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed turned on him on RAW.
Jacob Fatu has apparently been injured as well and will be out until well into 2026.
OH, MY GOD.
We had a United States Title change on SmackDown.
The Miz answered Sami Zayn’s open challenge but was beaten up by Carmelo Hayes, rather predictably.
But then ILJA DRAGUNOV came out to make his return after a year. And he defeated Zayn to win the U.S. Title in an excellent match after a brief distraction by Solo Sikoa.
Post-match, the MFTs beat up on Dragunov, Zayn, and Rey Fenix, and were confronted again by the Wyatt Sicks.
This is Ilja’s first title on the main roster.
Ilja is so good at looking like he’s being forced through a meat grinder. His run with Gunther, for example. Good for Dragunov!
Congratulations to Vacant on winning the World Heavyweight Championship from Seth Rollins after Paul Heyman’s sudden but inevitable betrayal.
Jey Uso will now challenge CM Punk at SNME with the winner becoming the new champ.
Goddamn it, I wanted LA Knight to get that title shot.
In other news, in NXT, current North American Women’s and Women’s Speed Champion Sol Ruca is injured, and Zaria will defend the former title on her behalf at Halloween Havoc.
Hey! Welcome back!
Piper Niven has been out for a little while with injury, and there is now talk that her injury may be career-ending.
If that’s the case, it’s very unfortunate. She’s a very talented wrestler and a master of physical comedy. She’s one of my favorite women on the roster, like her partner Chelsea Green, willing to do anything to make people laugh.
I’ll miss her, and I hope she’s able to parlay this injury into a long career backstage with WWE if that’s what she wants to do. I have no doubt that she’ll be very successful in the next phase of her life.
Mike Rotunda, a.k.a. Irwin R. Shyster and father of Bo Dallas and Bray Wyatt, has been placed in hospice care.
I was too young to remember his U.S. Express run with Barry Windham, and I wasn’t quite old enough to understand the “evil tax lawyer” gimmick when he got repackaged in 1991 or so, but he was a great heel.
I don’t watch WWE as much anymore, but they show up on my news feed. This promotional pic for WM 42 knocks it the fuck out of the park.
They’re all dressed in black, but different outfits. Cody’s wearing leisurely CEO attire, Roman looks like a cartel lord, Brock is ready to ride storms, and CM Punk says fuck you all, I look good in whatever I wear. HHH owns the casino and rigs the machines, and Heyman is the Machiavellian power behind the throne. Whoever conceived this setting deserves some kind of award.
Sad to hear about Rotunda. I am old enough to remember most of his career, at least the parts that centered around WWF, AWA, and WCW. I’m also old enough to get the timelines messed up, as I was writing about remembering his Varsity Club days before his US Express days, but the US Express was earlier. Also, not too long ago, I had someone, maybe my brother, correcting me regarding whether Michael WallStreet came before IRS (he did, and I was right, but we were probably out fishing with no internet so couldn’t immediately check and eventually forgot). WallStreet and IRS made the most out of the fact that Rotunda was a pretty vanilla personality. They worked for him.
Seeing the WM poster, not that I was about to subscribe to get it anyway, but seeing Lesnar only makes me triple down on that decision. Focusing my wrestling hobby much more on the NY indie scene and hoping to spot the next big thing early.
Personally, I’m not giving WWE any more of my money until they dump Brock, stop kissing Trump’s ass, cut ties with Saudi Arabia, and turn back from the price-gouging they’ve been doing with show tickets lately. AEW puts on shows of consistent quality that are more affordable to attend and our local indies are in thick enough with them that it’s not unusual for Mox or MJF or Darby Allin to headline a show.
Exact same reasons for me. I had cut back significantly, but Brock made me completely opt out. I’ll watch matches of the very few performers I consider must see, but not anything that funds WWE. This Saturday, I get to see Shotzi Blackheart challenge our local champion, Nat Castle, for her title. Nat’s a heel in a stable, so I expect Shotzi will lose via shenanigans. Lots of shenanigans.