This show featured two of the worst segments of TV, outside of AEW, all year. Jey Uso confronted the man who beat his brother bloody last week and he just chatted with him. He asked him if he had a mother and what they talked about. That is not a joke, he said that. I am sorry, but if someone beat my brother bloody and the police were not involved, I would punch that guy the first time I saw him. Instead, Jey has a therapy session with Gunther. Dumb.
Then there was Tony Hinchcliffe. How this guy became famous, I do not know. His jokes were 50-70 years old. They were jokes that Lawler told during the Attitude Era and they were old then. And Tony had no delivery. He spoke in a monotone and has a nasal quality. He was so obnoxious that it was hard to cover The New Day vs. The War Raiders, which turned out to be fine since they had a cheap finish in mind.
The recommendation is to skip the Jey segment and the tag title match, but everything else was good. The angle to end the show was great.
Must-see moments:
Dominik Mysterio vs. Penta
A good match that could have been longer. After the previous two segments, the show needed something good and this delivered.
Who will walk out of #WrestleMania with the #ICTitle?! pic.twitter.com/NEJesKHQ42
— WWE (@WWE) April 8, 2025
Paul Heyman interview
Excellent angle. They have another cliffhanger with Paul owing Rollins now. Paul did not promise anything to Rollins, so we will see where they go with this. Effective way to end the show.
ANOTHER FAVOR?!#WWERawpic.twitter.com/qrrl55QahC
— WWE (@WWE) April 8, 2025
Quick Results:
- Lyra Valkyria defeated Bayley
- El Gran Americano and American Made defeated The LWO
- The New Day defeated The War Raiders by DQ
- Penta defeated Dominik Mysterio
Chronological recap:
They were in the Twin cities, deep in the former AWA country. Gunther came in looking smug and nerdy in his suit. He looked pleased to be there after beating Jimmy Uso bloody last week.
Several other wrestlers did the backstage walk gimmick, the biggest one, literally and figurately, was Paul Heyman. Normally a Smackdown exclusive, Paul is here tonight to further his role for WrestleMania.
WWE aired a long recap of last week’s Women’s Title match. It made more sense here than it did last week. I am not a fan of three-way matches, and this one has been so obvious from the start and not in an effective way, that I am not looking forward to it.
Adam Pearce was in-ring to explain the ramifications of the Women’s Title match. Iyo was out first and what was she wearing? It was not wrestling gear, and it was not any kind of attire you would wear out of the ring. It was weird. Like pieces of other outfits that she threw together.
Bianca came out looking very heelish and the crowd began to turn on her. Rhea came out and Adam announced her as a member of Judgement Day. Um, who is going to tell him?
Pearce said he was wrong last week. He expected the women to act professionally and of course they did not. He announced the three-way. Ugh. Bianca complained about Rhea being added to the match. She had a great point. Bianca gets chastised for not doing her job as a referee, but Rhea does whatever she wants and gets added to the match. Bianca is not wrong.
Rhea tried to ask Bianca if she thought she feared her, but Bianca told her to shut up. That was great.
They pushed Iyo away…again. Then Iyo dropkicked them. The same thing they have done week after week after week. It is old.
It is time, folks. The weekly Judgement Day middle school dress rehearsal. Why do these people still hang out?
Lyra Valkyria vs. Bayley – Intercontinental Title
Lyra came out to a modest pop. They are trying to get that “whoo” from her music over. Maybe some character development? The matches are good, but after all these months they have done next to nothing with her character wise.
The match got the in-ring introductions making it feel special. Alicia Taylor is not good at this, but it is a nice touch to do for title matches.
They opened with a lot of grappling. It was not the best-looking stuff, but it did look like they were in a struggle rather than doing the floor routine.
Lyra did a cool submission that Pat called an “Irish Swing.” I am not sure what the actual name is, but it looked great. She also hit a great looking missile dropkick to the outside.
Valkyria has won me over. Finally! Finally, someone moved out of the way of one of those stupid dives. Bayley went splat on the floor. It was great.
Michael Cole called a powerbomb the Nightwing. He even doubled down on it. That is not her finisher. That was not a Nightwing.
Lyra managed to reverse a superplex attempt into an attempted powerbomb, but Bayley fought out and delivered a bucklebomb, which looked dangerous.
Bayley had Lyra in a Lion Tamer, but she let her go and Lyra rolled her up for the win.
Winner: Lyra Valkyria
They did some “comedy” in the back with Alpha Academy and American Made. Some guy was there too. He has a show on Netflix. No, I do not care what his name is.
Cathy was then in the crowd with Ludwig Kaiser. Where is Jackie Redmond? Kaiser said he deserved a Mania match. He said if he did not get one, there would be repercussions.
Finally, Jackie Redmond did an interview. Unfortunately, it was with AJ Styles. He said he gets to embarrass Logan like AJ has embarrassed himself with this promo.
The charisma vacuum known as Karrion Kross showed up for no reason whatsoever. He needs to retire.
The LWO vs. American Made
The Creeds are wrestling with the Lucha Libre legend El Gran Americano!
The luchadores did some convoluted lucha stuff. Then dives. Everyone was in the ring like this was an AEW show. Confusing, pointless, boring.
The crowd started a “He is Gable, no he’s not” chant. The most entertaining part of the match so far.
There were a number of cool lucha spots, but in-between was rough and boring. Ivy Nile loaded El Gran’s mask, and he used it for the win. The right finish, but El Gran deserves better than to be wrestling these jobbers.
Winner: American Made
WWE aired an extended recap of Gunther beating Jimmy Uso bloody.
Jackie Redmond was back in the crowd with Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez. She asked them about the Gauntlet match on Smackdown. The winner will face them at WrestleMania. Liv asked about the other teams in the Gauntlet. She was so annoying here in a great way. She is the best female heel in wrestling. Liv tried to get in a plug for Dominik, but they hilariously cut away from her. That was funny.
Gunther came out looking like he just stole your girlfriend. The shot from the Drone behind him made him look like a giant. A reverse of the old Andre the Giant shot from below.
Gunther stood on the announce table and mocked the crowd. Jey Uso’s music interrupted Gunther. He came out in the crowd dressed all in black. Jey did not do any of the normal Yeet business. Of course, the juvenile commentator had to make his stupid jokes.
Jey took an hour getting to the ring. Gunther smirked the whole time. Then he got into the ring and knocked the mic away but stood there like a goof. This guy beat Jey’s brother bloody last week and he decides to come out and cut a promo on him. He asked Gunther if he had a mother. What was this?
Jey just talked and talked and talked. Jimmy is in the hospital. So again, Gunther puts Jimmy in the hospital and this guy comes out to cut a promo on him? Is he a coward? Is that what we are meant to get from this segment?
After sitting there talking to the man who beat his brother into oblivion, expressing his feelings towards Gunther, he ends the promo by saying he is not afraid of Gunther anymore. I do not know what they were going for, but this was horrible. At one point, a fan yelled “kill him!” Instead, Jey tried to bore Gunther to death. Just stupid.
A recap of Smackdown aired with Punk announcing Heyman would be in his corner.
Tony Hinchcliffe joined Cole and McAfee at ringside. He pulled out some Jerry Lawler jokes and delivered them in a dull monotone.
The New Day vs. The War Raiders – Tag Team Titles
I do not know why this Tony guy is famous. Besides the monotone, he has a nasally quality to his voice. It is a great combo. Is his gimmick to deliver jokes without any charisma?
Having the unfunny comedian doing commentary took me completely out of the match. The guy is making jokes from Henny Youngman’s book.
“If kids are bad at Christmas they get coal, if they are really bad, they get Michael Cole.”
He said Cole’s hair is on the road to WrestleMania. What does that even mean? I tried watching this match, but this guy was so annoying I had a tough time paying attention.
After having to deal with the commentary, they had a cheap finish. The New Day brought a chair into the ring, but Ivar got the chair and used it in front of the referee.
Winner: The New Day by DQ
The New Day beat down The War Raiders after the match. It went on forever with no one coming out. Finally, they threatened to break Eric’s neck and officials decided it was time to come out.
A fabulous Cody Rhodes video aired set to “Last of my kind” by Shaboozey.
Penta vs. Dominik Mysterio
A portion of the crowd started a “Let’s go Dom!” chant. That came out of nowhere. Immediately after, the rest of the crowd chanted that he sucks.
Dom hit the Mexican Destroyer on Penta and then a 619 for a near fall. Great spot.
Moments later, Penta hit the sacrifice arm breaker and the Penta Drive for the win.
Winner: Penta
The Judgement Day beat up Penta after the match. Bron Breakker ran out and beat up everyone including Penta. Finn Balor attacked Bron from behind and narrowly avoided a spear.
American Made came out with Gable insulting the crowd and pretending he is not El Gran Americano. Paul Heyman suddenly came out behind them and gave them a hilarious look. Disgust was written all over his face.
Paul said he will always be loyal to Roman Reigns. He said he is also loyal to Punk. Seth interrupted wearing his bathrobe and bell bottom jeans. That is tame compared to what he usually wears.
Rollins asked Paul whose side he was on. Seth said Roman does not care about Paul. He describes Heyman as Roman’s housekeeper. Seth pointed out that Roman left Paul to fend for himself with Solo and crew. Good point.
Seth Rollins continued by saying CM Punk was not there for Paul either. He did not save Paul from the Bloodline. Seth said that Punk only teamed with Roman because he wanted something out of it. Seth said Paul should just remove himself from the match. Then he threatened to take Paul out of the match himself.
Seth began pushing and slapping Paul. Finally, Paul told him not to put his hands on him. Rollins pushed Paul into the corner and Punk came running out. They had a wild brawl at ringside. Punk had Rollins setup for a stomp, but Seth moved. He then hit his own stomp on Punk leaving Paul alone in the ring. He then went to stomp Paul, but held up and said Paul now owes him a favor.
