Recaps
WWE Backlash 2025: John Cena Remains Undisputed Champion Defeating Randy Orton; Are Clues Adding Up That His Heel Turn Might Be Temporary?
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.
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!
Dancing with the Stars
DANCING WITH THE STARS: A Shocking Elimination on Grammy Night Leaves Ballroom Silenced
In what could only be the stunner of this season of Dancing with the Stars, the Tuesday night, November 1o episode saw one of the heavy favorites Jenna Dewan and pro partner Val Chmerkovskiy eliminated right before next week’s all-important semi-finals for the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy.
Week 9 was Grammy night, where the contestants performed routines related to the Grammy Awards with songs that have either won or been nominated for the music industry’s highest prize.
After each couple performed their usual routine, they had to dance a second time vs, another couple doing the same dance style. Only Harry Shum Jr. and Jenna Johnson earned immunity from having to participate in it.

Photo: ABC
THE RESULTS
When all was said and done during the results portion of the show; the following couples were deemed safe and will dance another day: Shum Jr. and Johnson, Amber Glenn and Pasha Pashkov, Ezra Frech and Daniella Karagach, Maura Higgins and Mark Ballas, and Connor Wood and Rylee Arnold.
That left former Y&R actress Tatyana Ali (ex-Roxanne) and Jan Ravnik and Dewan and Chmerkovskiy in the bottom two. It was then revealed that Jenna and Val would be going home. The ballroom fell silent and Dewan said her “thank you’s “in the most gracious way about her dance journey.
Dewan is a dancer, having worked professionally with the likes of Janet Jackson (who also popped up in a special message to her former back-up dancer in the episode) while currently being an actress, and appearing as a series regular on The Rookie. Chmerkovskiy has been controversial figure all season especially after being suspended one week after comments made towards judge Carrie Ann Inaba.
BREAKING THEIR SILENCE
This begs the question: did America want the couple gone, because they had an unfair advantage with Dewan’s dance prowess, or did the show want the couple booted off too?
Later, Jenna and Val broke their silence on the elimination to Extra. Chmerkovskiy shared “It’s’ definitely a sad result. I thought we had a great season.” Dewan admitted, “I know this was a particularly tough week for a lot of the online noise … but I know that we went out there and had the best time of our life.”
Val is married to pro dancer, Jenna Johnson, who remained in the top slot on the leaderboard during the competition with Harry Shum Jr. However, she also had a bad week breaking her nose in rehearsal!
Dancing With the Stars airs on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET and next day on Hulu.
So were you happy, or sad to see Jenna and Val voted off of Dancing with the Stars? Of the remaining couples who do you hope make it from the semi-finals to the finals and hoists the Mirrorball Trophy? Weigh-in via the comment section.
Recaps
‘The Bold and the Beautiful’s’ Heather Tom Delivers the ‘Power Performance of the Week’

Six-time Daytime Emmy winner, Heather Tom, while not taking the gold at the recent Daytime Emmys for Lead Actress, which would have been a record-breaking victory for an actress; should be prepared that in 2027, she has to be near to a lock take that award home!
In the last few months Michael Fairman TV has named her weekly performances as Power Performance of the Week, and for the week of November 2-6, she has done it again!
How did she earn the honors? Well, quite simply, this version of Katie Logan that is being written and portrayed beautifully, has given the character infused live, a backbone, a woman so tired of being put-upon and wronged, that she is firing back in such major ways that her own family doesn’t recognize her behavior.

Photo: JPI
KATIE AND BROOKE HAVE A SEISMIC SHOWDOWN
Longtime viewers of The Bold and the Beautiful can make a very compelling case that the behavior is justified. Then, on the November 4 episode, Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang) and Katie have another major confrontation. Katie is irate that Brooke phoned Bill Spencer (Don Diamont) in an effort to help Bill get through to her to back off the way she is destroying Forrester Creations, in what appears to be Katie’s poaching of the design team, and her ramped up vendetta against Brooke.
However, let’s not forget, Brooke and their sister, Donna (Jennifer Gareis) disowned Katie from the family just a few months ago too! Now in this showdown, Katie rips into Brooke after Brooke attempts to reason with her. Brooke even pulls out the “Stormy” card, reminding viewers that Katie has Storm’s heart. She snipes, “Do you really think he’d be proud of you right now?”
In that moment, Katie chokes up and is struck by that statement, but defends her actions and says Storm would be proud of her. Brooke goes in on if Storm would approve of the way she has gone about building her Logan fashion house design team, which to many seem like cutthroat tactics, Brooke even tells her “Bill is worried.”
Katie snaps after that comment and begins to show her disgust and emotional wounds from how Brooke slept with Bill years ago, especially when she goes in on the the text message Brooke sent to Bill and the use of a stallion emoji. Brooke claims it meant nothing, but Katie shuts her down and shuts her up! Reminding her sister, how she destroyed everything.

Photo: JPI
KATIE NEVER FORGOT HOW BROOKE SLEPT WITH BILL
Brooke reminds Katie that she had postpartum depression at the time, and she “pushed” her and Bill together. Katie begins to cry, “How could you not know something was profoundly wrong?”
Katie says while she was suffering, Brooke was off in Aspen having sex with Bill. She says of her sister, “You take what you want, and it doesn’t matter who gets hurt and whose life gets destroyed.” She then snipes what was her sister’s excuse the second time?
Then, in the masterful moment in the performance, as sister Donna walks into the showdown, Katie warns Brooke to not EVER talk to her again about morality, or ever accuse her of stealing anything from her, when “You are the master!”
BROOKE’S PAST WILL ALWAYS BE THROWN IN HER FACE
Next, Katie throws down the line Stephanie Forrester called Brooke all the years of their feud, “You are just a slut from the valley.” She punctuated it to both her sister, “We all know she’d sell her soul for a little male attention.'”
Katie tells Brooke she will never apologize to Bill, adding, “And I will never forgive you for this. I am so done with you, and if you’re going to stand next to her (aimed at Donna), then I am done with you too.” As the scene came to its conclusion, Katie told Brooke and Katie to, “stay away from me, stay away from my family, and stay away from Bill.”
Throughout all the scenes, Heather Tom displayed why she is one of the fiercest actresses in daytime drama. This storyline has afforded Tom the opportunity to show all of Katie’s inner rage built over years as she finally lets it out on those who wronged her. For anyone who has been made to feel the weaker sibling in a family, Tom is showing the cause and effect of what can happen to someone after years of feeling put down.
For all the reasons stated above, Michael Fairman TV names Heather Tom our selection for Power Performance of the Week. You can check out part of Heather’s emotional turn in the video clip below.
Now let us know, do you agree with our pick of Heather Tom for the Power Performance of the Week? What do you think about how Katie is being written in this storyline? Do you think Heather has secured the Lead Actress Emmy in 2027? Weigh-in via the comment section.
Recaps
WWE Crown Jewel 2026: Top 4 Takeaways

Coming into this weekend’s WWE Crown Jewel from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, many feared it was dangerous move given the unrest inside the country and the recent bombings at the airport. The concern and welfare for the WWE superstars and those behind the scenes that did travel to the Middle East was of utmost concerns to longtime fans.
Luckily, the WWE put on their latest PLE on Saturday, November 7 and got out of the country in time, before a missile strike hit on Sunday, November 8.
Crown Jewel 2026 featured a showstopping main event between Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn, the long-awaited punt kick by Cody Rhodes to the head of Randy Orton, a Money in the Bank cash-in, and new Men’s Tag Team champs.
Let’s take a look at what went down and give you our top 4 takeaways on the four match card that was streamed on ESPN Unlimited.

Photo: WWE
A TRUE UCE
In Riyadh, Sami Zayn was the hometown favorite even though he is the heel. Zayn is of Syrian-decent, and he delivered probably his best in-ring performance of his career facing the Tribal Chief, the OTC, Roman Reigns, with many in the attendance also lifting their ones to the sky.
The Crown Jewel matches as is tradition feature champion vs. champion of Raw and Smackdown. While no title is on the line, the Crown Jewel winners receive a magnificent belt and a ring.
It should be mentioned, once again, that there is no one better right in the ring right now, who can deliver their character and tell a story better than Roman Reigns. Everything he does in the moment moves the in-ring story forward.
At Crown Jewel, it took everything the Tribal Chief had to defeat the WWE champion Sami Zayn, who just refused to go down until Reigns finally hit yet one more spear. Throughout the match, Zayn even copied the OTC’s signature moves, Superman Punch and all!
In the end, and after all the back and forth, Reigns was able to secure the pin. But, it was the aftermath that had everyone talking. Zayn refused to leave the ring before getting an acknowledgement from the OTC. He demanded a handshake. But to everyone’s surprise, Reigns did him one better and gave Sami a hug.
The pièce de résistance came when Reigns called Zayn a true “Uce.” This harkened back to the original Bloodline storyline when Sami was called an “Honorary Uce” because he was not a real brother or cousin. With this decision by Reigns, could that mean that Zayn might be called upon to help the Bloodline fight the 946 at War Games? More to come.

Photo: WWE
CODY PUNTS, BUT IN THE END DOES IT MATTER?
As they say in the song “Cell Block Tango” from the musical Chicago, “He had it coming!” Randy Orton finally got the highly-awaited punk kick to the head in the Last Man Standing Match with Cody Rhodes, which served as the end of the trilogy to their botched feud.
In what can only be deemed as a lackluster opening bout between these two megastars, it felt slow and plodding. The crowd in Riyadh was firmly behind Orton, while they often booed Rhodes. The question was, how far would Rhodes go in the match? Would he completely snap and turn heel?
After failed ten counts to win inside and outside the ring and the arena floor by both men, Rhodes countered an attempted RKO into two back-to-back Cross Rhodes. The second nicked Orton’s head on the steel steps that Rhodes brought in earlier. Orton was bleeding. Next, Cody make referee Charles Robinson stop the count, so he could set up the punt to the head, this time with no hesitation.
Cody struck Orton and knocked out The Viper to end the match. The most interesting moment occurred as Cody walked from the ring up the ramp and the cameras showed a well-played moment by Rhodes. In it, he played the conflict of the realization of what he just stooped to, but how he sort of liked it. Many are hoping a heel turn is just a moment away, but is it?
However in the post show, Rhodes said that this feud with Randy took all the joy he once had for pro wrestling, and because of it he wants to do something light and fun. So, he asked Rey Mysterio to led him lead Team USA against Team Mexico at Survivor Series. The answer should come this week. A disappointing match and confusion to where Cody and Randy go next reign supreme!

Photo: WWE
TIFFY TIME UNWANTED
This went down as we had predicted on our What’s Up? Wrestling Crown Jewel Prediction Show. Chelsea Green just can’t catch a break for too long and now she is betrayed by her “bestie” with a Money in the Bank briefcase to the head after getting one up on Liv Morgan.
Throughout the Morgan vs. Green Women’s champion vs. champion match-up, Liv continued to berate and talk down to Green. At one point during the match, Liv’s Judgment Day stablemates Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez showed up at ringside, and Morgan told them to shoo! She said she can handle Chelsea all by herself, but that proved costly. Green was able to roll up Morgan for the victory.
Triple H enters the ring and gives Green the Crown Jewel belt and ring. Next, Chelsea addressed the crowd expressing, “Thirteen years I was overlooked, and we did it, baby.”
Suddenly, Liv Morgan attacks her. Even more suddenly, Tiffany Stratton’s music hits and she comes out making it look like she is going to cash in on Morgan. The Judgment Day gals save Liv, but then Tiffany hits her friend Chelsea in the head with the briefcase. She tells the ref that she is cashing in on Chelsea Green.
Tiffany does her patented moonsault finisher and that’s all she wrote. Tiffany is the new WWE Women’s champion and for good measure she takes Green’s just won Crown Jewel belt and ring and reveals it’s “Tiffy Time.” The problem with this finish is you could see it coming a mile away.

Photo: WWE
LOST THE VISION
Current beloved babyfaces, Je’Von Evans and Penta added tag team titles to their waists after defeating Vision members: Bron Breakker and Austin Theory.
The match had plenty of interference, in particular from The Vision’s Bronson Reed who wound up getting payback from Oba Femi when he showed up to take him out leveling the playing field.
In the end, Penta delivered a Mexican Destroyer while Evans finished the match with an OG Cutter. Now, Evans won his first title in more than 1,0000 days. The final shot at the ring ramp of Femi raising the arms of Evans and Penta in victory showcased the future of the WWE.
With this lost, it stands to reason, Bron Breakker has to “break” away from the Vision and go off on his own. He’s too good and can be utilized back in the singles title pictures. This faction has been plagued with injuries since day one. It’s time to let the likes of Logan Paul (when he is set to return from injury) and Breakker go back to being on the upper card.
OVERALL GRADES
CROWN JEWEL 2026: C+
BEST MATCH: Reigns vs. Zayn: A
WORST MATCH: Rhodes vs. Orton C-
Check out the Crown Jewel 2026 video highlights below, followed by the What’s Up? Wrestling’s Post Show.
Now let us know: What did you think of Crown Jewel 2026? What was your favorite match? Favorite WWE Superstar in it? Least favorite match? Overall grade? Tell us in the comment section.
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