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WWE Backlash 2025: John Cena Remains Undisputed Champion Defeating Randy Orton; Are Clues Adding Up That His Heel Turn Might Be Temporary?

By Michael Fairman

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Photo: WWE

John Cena walked out of Enterprise Center in St. Louis on Saturday night, May 10, not only retaining the WWE Undisputed Heavyweight Championship, but shifting from tears to a grimace. The rollercoaster of emotions from the 17-time GOAT was on full display after the match and after WWE Backlash 2025 went off the air on Peacock. The moments were captured on video not only by the WWE, but fans around the world and those in attendance.

For ‘Backlash,’ would be Cena’s first title defense since defeating Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas, and the opportunity to face one of his oldest rivals in Randy Orton, (in “The Viper’s” hometown) one last time during his retirement tour. The match was bound to have some big time moments . Over a 25-year span the two have wrestled each other in various types of matches 94 times (including singles and tag team matches) so they know each other all too well.

While this heel version of John Cena is resorting to winning matches by outside interference (this time by R. Truth), low blows and title belt to the face moves, the WWE Universe seems conflicted. Chants of “Cena Sucks” vs. “Let’s Go Cena” ring out in arenas and stadiums everywhere. Many love finally seeing Cena as a heel, others feel it’s just is so hard to compute in their brains that this is the same guy who has granted more wishes to Make-A-Wish children with serious illnesses than anyone in history. Here are five takeaways from the five-bout card that comprised WWE Backlash 2025.

Photo: WWE

TOO MANY RUN-INS AND INTERFERENCE

While the Cena and Orton match was better than Cena vs. Rhodes at WrestleMania 41, both wrestlers were capable of doing the moves they can successfully execute at this point in their careers. The trouble came when we had a knock-the ref-out-orama when multiple refs went down, and we had the obligatory babyface of the match, in this case Orton, winning with more than a three count pinning Cena, but no ref to do the official count.

Eventually, R-Truth, who in this storyline is confused as his hero is Cena is in trouble during the match, gets into the ring and in front of Orton, who has a helpless Cena lined up for his patented Punt Kick. That opened the door for Cena to deliver a low blow and smash the championship belt over Orton’s head for the win … just as the ref came to just in time for the count.

Photo: WWE

Later, in the WWE Backlash Post-Show media scrum, R-Truth was thrown through the media table, where John was about to take questions for the first time since his heel turn, but instead he got pissed at “Ron” (R-Truth) for interrupting him, After disposing of R-Truth, Cena took off in a huff.  GRADE B-

WHEN THE RING ANNOUNCERS TEAM UP TO BRING DOWN “THE RING GENERAL”

Sports commentator and WWE on-air host, Pat McAfee stepped into the ring for a singles match for the first time in two years to take on Gunther. Previously, Gunther had choked him out, when McAfee cane to the aid of his friend and co-announce partner, the legendary Michael Cole.

Now to even the score could McAfee get retribution against one of the greatest WWE superstars on the roster, a man who has held multiple titles? Things did not look good throughout for McAfee. At one point, Cole couldn’t stand it anymore, and interfered in the match, pulling Gunther’s boot while it was near the ring rope to stop him from pinning McAfee. Throughout it was the two Davids battling the Goliath.  In the end, Gunther won, and Pat McAfee did an admirable job making us root for the underdog and the least experienced “wrestler” of the two.

The one thing that this match needed was someone to come out to help Cole and McAfee when they are in critical danger of being taken out for good by Gunther. Rumors were Bill Goldberg might show up and confront Gunther, but that did not happen, leaving us wondering where does this Gunther go from here? GRADE C

WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY “MASKED” FRIEND

Dirty Dom Mysterio has gone from fans booing him so loud you can’t hear anything else in arenas everywhere, to fans rooting for him, and this was to be his first title defense at a PLE after winning the Intercontinental title at WrestleMania 41 and it was against the popular Luchador, Penta.

Photo: WWE

Mysterio showed the moves in this bout, and in fact, this might have been the best singles match his WWE career and he seemed to out wrestle one of the greats in Penta. Later in the match his buddies from the Judgment Day show up to ringside: Finn Balor, JD McDonaugh and Carlito.

However, the official ended up throwing them all out of ringside and to the back. With the referee distracted, out of nowhere came El Grande Americano hit Penta with a plated head butt, which allowed Mysterio to take the victory. GRADE B

LYRA CAN HOLD HER OWN

Lyra Valkyria had to prove she could go toe to toe with the woman she idolized, and who turned on her, “The Man”, Becky Lynch. During the match, this jealous heel version of Lynch would appear in control and then completely lose her temper. In fact, Becky tried to humiliate Valkyria in front of Lyra’s fiancé in the crowd, Irish Wrestler LJ Cleary, who was in the front row.

Photo: WWE

The end of the match saw Valkyria continually stop Lynch’s attempt to use an exposed turnbuckle on her. As Valkyria came up with some powerhouse maneuvers on Lynch, eventually “The Man” would poke Lyra in the eye and try to roll her up for the win. However, the Women’s Intercontinental champion would come up with three count on Lynch despite not being able to use her other arm to hold Lynch down because of possible broken nose.

After the match, being a sore loser, Lynch attacked Valkyria in the ring until security had to get her off of the champ and out of the ring. GRADE B+

FATU FOR YOU

Jacob Fatu is quickly becoming an overwhelming fan favorite, especially with his Samoan Drop finisher, moonsaults and athleticism. In the fatal four-way at Backlash in which Fatu defended the U.S. Heavyweight Championship for the first time since winning at WrestleMania 41 against LA Knight, Drew McIntrye and Damian Priest, he was pretty unstoppable.

Each wrestler had their spots in one of the better matches of the night and it was the show opener. LA Knight showed why he is still so viable with his great timing and moves. Will the WWE give him another push soon, or is it too late? Meanwhile, bitter rivals Drew McIntyre and Damian Priest beat the crap out of each other, until while in the crowd, Priest delivered a South of Heaven through a table that knocked them both out of the match.

Photo: WWE

When Fatu was in trouble, Solo Sikoa showed up pulling the ref out of the ring when it looked like LA Knight had him beat. All of a sudden, Jeff Cobb shows up and is beating up the Megastar so Fatu could hit his patented moonsault to secure the victory.

Trouble is now brewing because Fatu looked completely puzzled why and how Cobb showed up and aligned himself with Sikoa, when it seemed like Jacob didn’t want any help. Is the going to be the turning point, where Fatu puts his alliance with the Bloodline 2.0 to bed and just continues to build to a main event star? We hope so.  GRADE B+

So, what did you think of WWE Backlash 2025? Are you enjoying Cena’s heel run? Do you hope he retires with the belt? Share your thoughts, and check out the Michael Fairman Channel’s latest episode of our talk show “What’s Up? Wrestling” were we shared our reactions and reviews from WWE’s latest premium live event.

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What a way to kickoff the PLE with the Fatal Four way match. Four different wrestlers that worked against each other, calling the match. That takes talent and they did a good job with some decent spots. [Fatu retains]

“The Man” goes up against Lyra. Something is off. The same issues with Charlotte and Tiffy. The two living legends are not working well with the new talent. I think the seasoned veteran ladies need to feud. And by the way, Lyra’s bird gimmick is horrible! She needs to scrap that. One way is to go heel and go with a [Lyra retains.]

Michael, what do you think of Penta? I have grown to really like him. you could see that the man is very talented. But I like his style. The way he carries himself. Kind of funny when he enters the runway and heads to the ring. He is good to the fans to. [Dirty Dom retains.]

“Slap” McAfee. Did you see how red he was from the beating he took from Goonther! Not bad for what it was. I expected more out of Pat. He needed to do more high spots to make it a little interesting. I guess there is too much on the line with all the jobs he has. Gunther finished playing with him, Michael Cole got a little involved, but Gunther wrapped it up and that was that and that was the end of Pat!

I thoroughly enjoyed the Main Event, Cena versus the hometown legend, St. Louis’s number one heel/baby face, Randy Orton. We knew Cena would retain. Old school gimmicks and a master class on calling the match and executing their spots. John Cena stole the post event presser!

General Hospital

GENERAL HOSPITAL: Sidwell Surfaces; A Twist in Britt’s Condition

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On the Thursday, June 18 episode of General Hospital, Jenz Sidwell (Carlo Rota) makes his shocking return right in Port Charles, after fleeing (thanks to Cassius) to supposedly parts unknown to escape capture for trying to kill Dr. Lucas Jones (Van Hansis).

How does he show up in town? First, Ezra (Daniel Cosgrove) gets a text from Jacinda (Paige Herschell) to meet in his hotel room. Ezra thinks the two are going to have a sexcapade so he puts champagne on ice for his favorite escort.

Suddenly, there is a knock at the door. Ezra’s excitement turns towards fear as instead of Jacinda, Sidwell is standing in front of him. Next, Sidwell blackmails Boyle telling him he has plenty of leverage he can use against him. Sidwell wants to use Ezra to help him takedown, Sonny (Maurice Benard), Lucas, Laura (Genie Francis) and Cullum.

Courtesy/ABC

ARE SIDWELL’S DAYS NUMBERED?

Meanwhile, Sonny confides in his brother, Ric (Rick Hearst). He says he knows who killed Marco an he is going to use that intel to lure Sidwell out of hiding.  Sonny also shares he is going to kill Sidwell, and handle this by himself. He gave the PCPD a chance, but they failed to nab Sidwell for good and lock him up.

Sonny also has been tracking the whereabouts of Britt (Kelly Thiebaud) and Rocco (Finn Carr) through Brick, and learned they took a flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico, and then boarded a fairy to take them somewhere off the island.

Courtesy/ABC

BRITT’S ‘SYMPTOMS’ RETURN

Turns out, Britt and Rocco are hiding out in the British Virgin Islands. Britt set up Rocco with a burner phone and a VPN on her tablet, that is not traceable. Rocco reads on the tablet about Lucas’ shooting. Britt starts to have the shakes and passes out. When she comes to, Britt won’t let Rocco call a doctor, but he uses his phone to step on the balcony and call Charlotte (Bluesy Burke) and ask for help. Charlotte looks shocked to hear from her brother as Danny (Asher Antonyzyn) looks on!

Courtesy/ABC

However, Joe (Jonathan Bennett) could be the one to put two and two together! While at General Hospital and after questioning Lucas about a syringe he found that was in someone’s possession. the toxicology report showed traces of saline solution, not actual medication. He asks Dr. Jones, why someone would inject themselves with saline? Lucas responds saline is harmless and would have no effect on someone.

So, does this mean that this entire time, Britt has been led to believe that the medication she was taking to treat her Huntington’s disease was placebo? Has Britt been lied to into believing she is dying? Is something else wrong with her instead?

Share your thoughts and theories via the comment section below, and if you are ready for Sidwell to finally get his comeuppance from Sonny! But first, watch the scenes where Sidwell comes out of hiding and blackmails Ezra Boyle.

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General Hospital

GENERAL HOSPITAL: Dante and ‘Nathan’ Have It Out, Valentin and Carly Share Passionate Moments Which May Be Their Last

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On the June 16 episode of General Hospital, the PCPD under acting police commissioner Dante Falconeri (Dominic Zamprogna) is in a bit of mess and does not go unnoticed by ADA Turner (Nazneen Contractor).

First, there is the whole Chase (Josh Swickard) defending Willow Cain (Katelyn MacMullen) over Tracy Quartermaine (Jane Elliot), who he arrested for allegedly tossing Willow in the waters next to the Quartermaine boathouse. Turner has had it with Chase’s good guy act and how he tampered with evidence in her case against Willow for shooting Drew.

Later, Dante and Justine question “Nathan” (Ryan Paevey) about Sidwell’s escape while in his custody. Turner is not buying his cover story that he was ambushed by Sidwell and his men. Once “Nathan” left the interrogation room, Turner went in on Dante about having “Nathan” on the force after seven years away, and Chase she views as a “dirty cop.”

However, Dante defends both of his officers, but Justine warned that “Nathan” and Chase’s behavior would reflect poorly on Dante as commissioner and she should really think about that. Later, Dante has a terse confrontation with “Nathan” on how he botched a prison transport and that he better watch his back as Justine is one step away from turning this over to Internal Affairs.

COP MADNESS

Next, “Nathan” apologizes for the way he handled the situation with Rocco and says he feels badly. But then in the twist, Dante said that he was grateful that “Nathan” had been there for his son in his time of need (referencing after Rocco shot Cullum and covered it up).

Then, there’s the newest police officer in the precinct, Joe Fitzpatrick (Jonathan Bennett). He may actually be on to “Nathan’s” double life when he questions him about a syringe found in Britt’s room at Bobbie’s. “Nathan” made up a story to counter Joe’s, that he was not aware that his sister was taking anything for her Huntington’s disease diagnosis. Joe called the forensic department lab wanting to know what drug was exactly in the syringe.

Courtesy/ABC

BEFORE YOU GO

At Carly’s (Laura Wright), Valentin (James Patrick Stuart) tells her that he must travel to Geneva to speak to the head of the WSB, named Z. Valentin feels it’s the only way to save Josslyn if he informs Z about Cullum (Andrew Hawkes) being a double agent. Valentin shares with Carly that he has to stop Cullum from bringing his dangerous cold fusion device online. Carly is beside herself. She doesn’t want Valentin to sacrifice himself by turning himself into the organization who has made him a fugitive in the first place. Valentin stands firm that he must meet Z in person.

Knowing that revealing himself to the WSB meant he was likely going back to prison, Valentin asked Carly if she’d get in touch with his daughter, Charlotte so he could say good-bye to her. Next, Carly and Valentin make their way to the bedroom to make love, which may be for the very last time, if Valentin is caught and put back in Steinmauer Maximum Security Prison.

Courtesy/ABC

CAUGHT BY CULLUM

At the same time while at Wydemere, Cullum is talking with one of his WSB operatives. Now, he is pondering if Valentin and Sidwell were working together all along.  Next, Cullum entertains the idea of involving the FBI to locate Britt and Rocco. He says he plans to kill them both once he knows of their whereabouts. Cullum sees the only other threat to the completion of the cold fusion project to be Anna Devane.

Cullum wants to track the location of the unidentified person who called the private clinic in France trying to get in touch with Anna, while pretending to be Kevin Collins. When the agent came back with a report, he says it emanated from a cell tower near Shoreline Road. It’s in the that moment that a light bulb goes on for Cullum! Valentin is in Port Charles and hiding at Carly’s!

So, what do you think of the PCPD cops, Chase, Joe and “Nathan?” Who should Dante fire? Do you think Valentin will go the run?Are you digging Carly and Valentin’s relationship and want it to continue, especially with Finola Hughes on her way back as Anna next month on-screen? Weigh-in via the comment section, and in case you missed it, you can check out our latest interview with Dominic Zamprogna below from his appearance on the Michael Fairman Channel, where he talks the PCPD cops, Rocco on the run, and more.

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Beyond the Gates

BEYOND THE GATES: A Tornado Hits Fairmont Crest Part 1: Eva and Martin on Seriously Injured List

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On the Thursday, June 11 episode of Beyond the Gates the highly-anticipated tornado struck the Fairmont Crest Country Club while Martin Richardson was holding a fundraiser with the most prominent citizens of Genoa City and the D.C./Maryland area attending.

Martin tells the guest that weather reports indicate a tornado warning, and as he tells them to exit the ballroom to safety, the twister strikes sending everyone into peril,. Richardson and Dupree and Abbott family members are calling out for each other as chaos ensues.

Here is who got stuck with who: Dani and Bill are stuck in an elevator and begin to get hot and bothered after trying to escape. Hayley is stuck in a closet with Kyle Abbott and they makeout, and then to pass the time she puts on some tunes and they dance.

Courtesy/CBS

THOSE IN NEED OF MEDICAL ATTENTION

Things are much more serious for Kat and Eva who winds up in a closet but a mental wall comes crashing down upon them. As Kat rails at her sister, Eva says she doesn’t feel well and begins to spit up blood. Kat is a wreck and is trying to deal with her sister’s plight, but they are trapped.

Leslie is helping Anita with her injured ankle, while Vernon goes to try to restore some power, get walkie-talkies and do what he can for everyone inside Fairmont Crest. Nicole and Smitty hear a noise and realize Andre is buried under the rubble in the ballroom. As it turns Andre’s leg was injured when a piece of metal got stuck in it. Ted gets Andre stitched up and tells him to stay put.

The Genoa City contingent can’t locate Victor Newman or Kyle Abbott, as Jack and Diane try to help others. Meanwhile, suddenly yells out that someone is under the tree. Smitty and Nicole gasps as its Martin! He is not moving in and needs medical attention. Smitty fighting back tears asks Martin to squeeze his hand if he can hear him. But there is no response.

Abby Newman worried for the whereabouts of her father, walks away just as chandelier begins to fall from the ceiling, Diane screams out to Abby to watch out. We fade to black.

Beyond the Gates delivered as they had promised, a riveting episode and one of the best soap opera tornadoes harkening back to the days of All My Children. But what did you think of part one? Martin and Eva as the two characters currently most in trouble? What about Dani and Bill getting hot and heavy and Hayley kissin on Kyle? What was your favorite part of part 1? Let us know via the comment section below.

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Video Du Jour

Jonathan Bennett joins the cast of GH as Joe Fitzpatrick. Catch the latest promo! Leave a comment.Leave A Comment

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