WWE WrestleMania 40 - Sunday - Roman vs. Cody to Finish the Story

 Punk comes out with his arm brace before the main card and a recap of night one. Steph's out with a rock remix of her theme that's actually pretty good. Steph says she's been a part of all 40 Manias, and THIS IS THE MOST SPECIAL BECAUSE IT'S THE PAUL LEVESQUE ERA! Drew gets Roddy's theme being played for him before his usual intro. This feels a lot more like Mania than night one did already. Cole plays on the weather reports last night saying it's a lot warmer tonight!

Drew started things off with a claymore for a PERFECT nearfall! Drew chucks Seth around on the floor a bunch.  Seth avoids a future shock and gets a pedigree on the floor. Back and forth mid-ring chops and forearms while Punk calls Drew Irish. Claymore turned into a powerbomb, rollover into a pedigree and the stomp gets 2.9! I like Seth not getting all of the stomp with his leg flying off early there. Super stomp avoided, claymore avoided and a future shock gets 2. Drew teases Punk over a GTS which is turned into a rollup for 2. CLAYMORE GETS 2.9! STOMP TO THE ANNOUNCE TABLE! CLAYMORE GETS ANOTHER 2.9! FINALLY ANOTHER ONE DOES IT AND DREW GETS THE TITLE! Drew talks shit and Punk takes the brace off and smacks him with it! 

DAMIAN PRIEST IS OUT! SOUTH OF HEAVEN ENDS IT AND PUNISHMENT MARTINEZ IS WWE WORLD CHAMPION! Snoop is out for the Final Testament/Street Profits/Lashley match. Bubba Ray is out to referee this match. Corey says that Ellering is debuting at WM here... um nah he literally debuted at 8. 

They start off by shattering kendo sticks on Lashley and Pat gives Sandman a shoutout. Scarlett hits B-Fab with a trash can and Tez hits a big dive. Giant spinebuster to Kross. Kross hits a Doomsday Saito and a DDT on a chair for 2. Bubba gets shit-talked and Bubba PUTS THE GLASSES ON. Dawkins does the WAZZUP BOBBY>MONTEZ>DAWKINS GET THE TABLES! Table breaks and they cane Kross and Snoop goes WHOOP THAT TRICK and Pat wisely ONLY CREDITS THAT TO TRICK WILLIAMS! Tez frog splash ends it. GET THESE MEN DOING SOMETHING PLEASE!

Slim Jim ad for LA Knight. Then LA Knight arrives in the Slim Jim car and we get an LA Knight hype video. AJ has a new generic theme. HOW DO YOU MAKE A BAD AJ STYLES THEME? AJ works the leg over before Knight just stops selling and gets a sunset flip for 2. Backdrop on the bare floor and the BFT hits for the win. HOF recap and stage presentation. Bray video. Make a Wish video. Logan Paul comes out in a Prime truck with a Prime cannon and walks to the ring with a Prime bottle dude. Sami tells Kevin it's his turn now. 

Owens has ECW theming for this tron and gear AND A GOLF CART and goes backwards to help Orton down and Randy desperately wants him to slow the fuck down. Double buckshot from Logan before a swanton onto KO and a standing frog splash to Orton gets 2. KO gets a codebreaker senton combo for 2. Brass knucks punch to Orton gets 2! Prime bottle reveal is some Paul guy who eats an RKO on the table. STUNNER TO ORTON GETS 2! POP UP POWERBOMB INTO AN RKO! Frog splash wins it for Logan! If Logan Paul wasn't a generational talent, I'd be pissed at him retaining but GODDAMN IS HE AMAZING.

Bayley gets a big intro with a new theme and THE BAYLEY BOYS! Iyo works the knee over with a dragon screw. Iyo...kinda hits a moonsault block to the floor. HIGH STACK GERMAN BY IYO! Jesus that was nasty. Diving Bayley elbow turned into a crossface by Iyo! Belly to bayley, back suplex, big elbow and the lame rose plant wins it! 

Celebrity rundown with Vanessa Hudgens in a shirt they wouldn't have to blur. Snoop does the attendance stuff. WM main event hype video has THE YOUNG BUCKS IN IT despite them being catalysts for AEW still and being the in-canon reason Punk footage will air on AEW TV. Cody comes out with an American Nightmare mask AND CHIEF BRANDI OFFICER BRANDI! Roman gets an orchestra performing his theme! 

Back elbow to start the match at 10 PM. Corey - "The methodical pace that Roman Reigns has truly popularized!" Roman throws him into the PRIME HYDRATION STATION and INTO THE WWE UNIVERSE. Walk and brawl until a powerslam gets 2 for Cody. Last ride by Roman. CROSS RHODES BY ROMAN GETS 2! POWERBOMB THROUGH THE ANNOUNCE TABLE BY ROMAN. Cody cutter gets 2. 

 

Cody avoids a uranage and hits a spear for 2. CROSS RHODES TRINITY ATTEMPT but Jimmy stops it at 1! CODY EATS A SUPERMAN PUNCH AND SPEAR FOR 2! Cody spears him through the barricade. So for 2K game booking, Cody and Roman have Move Thief turned on and Cody just hit the Barricade Finisher spear on Roman. THE TRINITY GETS TO 2 BEFORE SOLO INTERFERES! Solo spikes him for 2.5! Spear and spike hit and GET 2.9! Roman is pissed at Solo for egging him on. Roman vs. Solo will be a lot of fun. CENA IS OUT TO COUNTER SOLO!

Cena AAs him and fights with Rock for a bit. Shield theme hits for Seth, but no Mox. Rock talks shit and TAKER COMES OUT! TAKER CHOKESLAMS ROCK! Taker in Casual Male mode here for WM 40 while Rock is out looking like a high-end Colombian drug lord. Roman chairshots Seth and LANDS TWO CROSS RHODES! A THIRD HITS AND IT'S OVER - CODY HAS FINISHED THE STORY!

Samantha Irvin was overcome calling Cody the new champion. What a moment this was. Cody wants Bruce Prichard and HHH to come down because LORD KNOWS WWE HASN'T GIVEN HHH ENOUGH CREDIT OVER THE DECADES! 

Damian Priest is shining bright here - "You should be the hardest worker for your own dream - it's yours! Nobody else's!" Damian looked the part and talked the part.

WWE WrestleMania 40 - Saturday - Rock and Roman vs. Cody and Seth

 

Cole hypes up the main event before a video package with HHH's WELCOME TO WRESTLEMANIA being the new one in lace of Vince. Coco Jones sings the national before we get the annual EVERYONE LOVE HHH NOW bit. Becky is out in an insane outfit before Rhea's theme band plays her to the ring to really make this feel like 1998. Did WWE bring in Impact's production team? What's up with Samantha Irvin being all echoey? 

Cole talks about Becky having strep throat and a 102 degree fever. Becky works the arm over before an exploder into the barricade. Triangle by Becky is met with a rampage bomb. Standing Uranage hits for Becky and gets 2! Riptide hits for 2 and the fans boo Becky again badly wanting that to be the end! Superplex into a cross armbar and then the disarmer. Electric chair into a victory roll into an EC drop on the floor by Rhea! MAMI HITS A FROG SPLASH FOR 2! Rhea avoids a super manhandle slam with a riptide into the buckle and a mid-ring one to win. Good - Becky felt like this was the end.

Netflix ad. WHEN WE COME BACK!? We just had an ad! Pretty Deadly wacky comedy skit. Tons of Photoshop - not much actual comedy. Tag title ladder match time with New Catch Republic having the most boring theme ever while Woods is out in Consequences Creed gear and the Judgment Day is out looking like gimps.

Tyler does the Terry Funk ladder spin with an airplane spin on Balor too. Dunne and Bate hit stereo moonsaults off a ladder outside. New Catch Republic aren't exactly the Eliminators with their stereo offense. Truth does Cena spots on Balor and he pins Balor with an AA on the ladder. A-Town Down Under get the SD tags. Waller eats a double powerbomb through a ladder bridge.

"IT'S THE PRIME HYDRATION STATION!" Flair's Last Match needed this. AND HEYMAN WASN'T THE FOUNDER OF ECW, COLE! Woods hit a limit break elbow on a ladder bridge! Dunne finger break to Theory before a double burning hammer. White Noise off the ladder by Ciampa! JD hits the Devil Inside off a ladder on Truth! JD gets flipped off a ladder and thank God hit the second of two tables after nearly missing the first completely.

Priest and Miz fight for the Raw belts and Priest...sorta hits a South of Heaven and goes for a new ladder. TRUTH HITS AN AA TO PRIEST TO THE FLOOR! Truth wins it! This was a fun moment but wow has this been a blah first hour overall. Insane spots all for a meh match. Escobar and Dom vs. Andrade and Rey is up next. 

 Dom has La Parka-inspired gear up top and Art Barr on the bottom. Lots of not much here. Andrade gets the fakeout moonsault for 2. Wilde Thing slingshot dive! Goons help Rey and Andrade win with the frog splash. Travis Kelce and Lane helped Rey get the win here. 

Usos are out and it really feels like that match should have been an opener instead of the women's world title. vTHE GREATEST RAPPER OF ALL-TIME LIL WAYNE!? That's about on-par with THE WWE'S FAVORITE BAND IN THE WHOLE WORLD, LIMP BIZKIT! It does make Jey feel bigger tho. Jey dives on Jimmy on the floor twice. We get some slow-mo strong style impersonation Fye-Akyama shots. Jey whoops ass and Jimmy begs off and Jimmy superkicks him! Main event Jey splash and the Uso splash ends it.

bEST vs. Damage CTRL is up. CTRL gets a geisha entrance because it's WWE and the faces get...WHY THE FUCK IS NAOMI A COWGIRL!? 10 count corner punches didn't look fake enough to one person - DO THEM TO TWO PEOPLE. Sure what the fuck why not. Noami is dreadful and Bianca feels like her star has freefalled. Bianca hits a sloppy backdrop and a good Michinoku driver for 2 on Dakota. Jaded ends it. God that was terrible and I can't believe how much Bianca's star has fallen - feels like she's being set up for a tag title run with Jade to teach Jade more on the job.

Sami vs. Gunther is up to hopefully give us a good match. Sami is shown with his family. Gnther is in red and white tiny trunks that look like Dashing Cody's. Big chops back and forth to start. Blue thunder gets 2 and Gunther gets an RNC! Sami wants the helluva kick, but the shotgun dropkick and powebromb gets 2.9! ANOTHER POWERBOMB. ANOTHER KICKOUT! Gunther slaps and chops him on the mat before kicking him around. POWERBOMB RIGHT ON THE PRIME LOGO! A PAIR OF SPLASHES OFF THE TOP! Helluva kick while Gunther's up top! OH MY GOD SAMI ZAYN RIPPED OFF EL GENERICO'S TOP ROPE BRAINBUSTER! HELLUVA! DESPERATION WINS GETS IT SAMI WINS IT!

With all the ads, this feels like a really long TV show. Really nothing beyond a couple of intros makes this feel like Mania yet. OH GOD MORE SELF-CONGRATULATIONS! Glad to see Pearce on Mania, and Aldis fits in nicely. They say over 72,000 people are here - THANK YOU! WM Sunday is hyped. The main event of night one is up and boy does it not feel like a main event for this show due to how down it's been. A LONG video recaps this feud, and also Seth is there. Cody is out in his Homelander gear while Seth has a hat on his shoulder and says IT'S MAIN EVENT TIME!

Rock gets an insane warbly lightning intro and a brahma bull fire logo alongside his People's Champion title belt. Rock is out in a nice vest and workout gear - so it's a good look for the character without exposing him too much body-wise. WOAH ROCK'S IN TRUNKS!

Sluggish action to start from Seth and Roman before Roman and Cody plod it out. Rock chucks Seth around a bit before being shown-up with a go-behind. Rock walks around and does the JUST BRING IT to Cody.  Walk and brawl time with Seth and Rock doing battle at the PRIME HYDRATION STATION! "YOU KNOW THE ROCK - I DON'T FUCK AROUND!" LOL at the censorship there. THEY WALK! AND BRAWL! AND WALK AND WALK AND BRAWL!

Rock whoops that ass and the knee of Seth. Roman comes in after Rock does the bulk of the match before locking on a long half crab. I think I need to watch some of the FOUR DISC BEST OF JEFF JARRETT DVD SET to appreciate a good walk and brawl. Rock shoves Seth's back into the steps twice. Rock hits the ballshot punch and just throws himself back into the buckle for some reason. Well that was terrifying. Rock's sharpshooter has gotten better with age!

Cody and Roman are in and a Cody cutter gets 2. Frog splash gets 2 after a Superman punch to Rhodes. Cody and Seth get 2 off a superkick to Roman when Rock pulls the ref off. Cody eats a spear for 2.9!  Roman gets the guillotine on and Rock grabs the feet before Seth stomps Roman!  Rock WHIPPING HIMSELF WITH THE BELT to fuck with Mama Rhodes - love it! PEOPLE'S ELBOW BUT CODY GETS THE CUTTER!

Seth moves and ROCK EATS A SPEAR AND A STEREO SHITTY PEDIGREE GETS 2! OH MY GOD WHY IS ROCK DOING ANNOUNCE TABLE SPOTS!? Seth grabs Rock and CODY ROCK BOTTOMS ROCK THROUGH THE OTHER TABLE! ROMAN SPEAR TO SETH through a barricade!  DRIVE BY TO CODY! Rock tags out and tells Roman to GET THAT PIECE OF SHIT! CROSS RHODES and a belt shot from Rock to the back leads to a spear to Cody! Rock wants the tag and gets it and A ROCK BOTTOM HITS! PEOPLE'S ELBOW WINS IT! 

Well this was a really underwhelming show overall, but Rock was outstanding and far better than expected. The whole show was lackluster, but the main event and semi-main were good - great at points, but largely two good matches.

AEW Dynamite 4-3-24

The show starts off with Adam Copeland coming out just as Adam, no title. The mic's fucking on him and he says he grew up on the WWF and he wants to celebrate wrestling. He watched JCP, Stampede and saw Owen start his career. He worked hard to come back and he knows that his career is ending - and AEW is where he needs to end it and he saw a murderer's row of talent! He puts over Cody and Tony Khan and says everyone who started AEW should be celebrated. He says there's a reason Mercedes, Okada, Mercedes came here alongside him - and it's time to meet a man that symbolizes AEW - WILL OSPREAY! 

Ospreay vs. Hobbs is up - which is a bit odd as it's not the main event. Ospreay works as the plucky face and Hobbs is a great bully heel walking around with the suplex and then suplex tossing him on the steps. An ad for HPV meds airs. Ospreay eats a giant overhead belly to belly before an Oscutter hits. WSM is countered into a small package for 2. GIANT LARIAT BY HOBBS! Skytwister by Ospreay! Hidden Blade KOs Hobbs! This was a fantastic showcase for both guys. Hobbs is pissed after the loss and Don whispers in his ear and now it's time for Danielson too!

Archer jumps Bryan to start things off here. Archer chokes him and YESes his way through it - nice! Dropkick to the knee by Danielson after a dragon screw. Archer slams a crew guy on Danielson! Not a DQ somehow. Busaiku is avoided by Archer before CORNER DROPKICKS! Belly to belly avoidance by Danielson into an omaplata then a Lebell Lock! Danielson avoids a Blackout, but eats a rising knee after the hammer and anvil elbows! RNC out of a Blackout attempt! BUSAIKU ROCKS HIM! A second is avoided, but Danielson lands three roundhouse kicks! Busaiku hits for the win! This ruled!

LionHook are out and Hook says that he got them a match and he's keeping his eye on him. Shane Taylor Promotions cut a promo about facing them and say they'll skyrocket up the ranks beating them. Jay White shows off his new ROH six-man belt and Billy jumps him! Billy beats his ass all over. WHY IS THIS NOT OVER YET!? My capture card goes wonky and when it works it's still a slow walk and brawl. Remember a decade ago when Billy Gunn was 50, did two spots and yelled out THAT'S ALL I GOT!? Yeah that was A DECADE AGO. Bowens and Caster are shown KOed and Billy eats the post, but lands a one and only. TWO FAMOUSERS! Gunns come out and cause a DQ. Jesus. Acclaimed are out to save Billy - who decks Jay so...fuck.

Willow comes out to save the show! She cuts a great promo about loving this town and finding herself there and traveling the roads with Kris. BIG STOKE puts her over huge before Mercedes interrupts and says she'll face the winner at DON. Bucks are out with a cool camera angle for their entrance. TRENT'S MOM SUE IS IN THEIR GETUP! 

Trent gets Spider-Bret'd in the ropes before Matthew locks on a locomotion northern lights! Matthew does commentary for Excalibur to stick with it! OC kicks by the Bucks lead to them missing the EVP TRIGGER AND OC HITTING A DDT! DIVING DDT HITS FOR 2! Lazy man's INDYTAKER BY THE BEST FRIENDS! MATT ALMOST KICKS SUE AFTER SUPERKICKING EVERYONE ELSE! ORANGE PUNCH! Stacked strong zero hits for 2! OC dives on Nick! Catapult into the exposed buckle and a tights hold gets the win for the Bucks!  THREE WAY HUG IS TEASED BUT TRENT BUSAIKU KNEES OC!

Mariah May'n event time! Rosa is out for the match and Toni is here on commentary! HIP ATTACK BY MARIAH and a basement dropkick gets 2! Toni says that Taz has been training Tony and Taz points out that Tony's 60 years older.  Toni - Mariah reminds me a young Toni Storm and Thunder Rosa reminds me of an old Thunder Rosa ​​​​​​​Ouch. Tijuana Bomb wins it for Rosa!? Okay then - I guess we're getting Mariah vs. Toni Storm at Wembley. Rosa vs. Storm is official for Dynasty and we get a split screen in black and white.

THE PEOPLE ARE FOR PENTA AND THE PEOPLE ARE FOR PENTA and Alex says Penta needs gold again - AND HE'LL FACE ADAM COPELAND FOR THE TNT TITLE! Penta vs. Cope on Dynamite! Penta vs. Komander is up for Collision and THERE'S STILL A CONTRACT SIGNING for Joe vs. Swerve. Joe says he's going to scar him like he left Diddy's party too late - SO MY BROTHA, DON'T SIGN IT!  

Swerve says before he signs, he has to think about this - he dreamed about this moment and didn't think it was possible. Joe busts him up with the chain! CORNER JABS WITH THE CHAIN! Swerve leaughs and says if that's all ya got, then he's taking the title! Swerve strikes a crucifix pose after signing in his blood and eats a uranage through the table! Now that was cool and the visual of Swerve as basically Black Jesus dying for his sins here was fantastic.