Connect with us

Recaps

2

WWE Royal Rumble 2025: Jey Uso and Charlotte Flair Punch Their Tickets to WrestleMania 41

By Michael Fairman

Published

on

Photo: WWE

Now you can “Yeet” your way to WrestleMania 41, after Saturday night’s thrilling Men’s Royal Rumble which saw “Main Event” Jey Uso emerging as the shocking victor in a stacked men’s lineup that was to be once-in-a-lifetime for the WWE universe.

Over 70,000 plus strong packed Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana to witness the four card matches, which included: the Men and Women’s rumble, Cody Rhodes defending his Universal Championship in a ladder match against former-friend-turned-bitter enemy, Kevin Owens, plus the WWE Tag Team Championships were on the line when DIY (Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano) faced the former champs, the Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley). The premium live event was also streamed on Peacock.

Let’s take a look at what went down starting with the main event, the Men’s Royal Rumble. In order of how they entered were: Rey Mysterio, Penta, Chad Gable, Carmelo Hayes, Santos Escobar, Otis, Bron Breakker, Akira Tozawa (but after a sneak attack by Carmelo Hayes was replaced by You Tube star, IShowSpeed), Sheamus, Jimmy Uso, Andrade, Jacob Fatu, Ludwig Kaiser, The Miz, Joe Hendry, Roman Reigns, Drew McIntyre, Finn Bálor, Shinsuke Nakamura, Jey Uso, AJ Styles, Braun Strowman, John Cena, CM Punk, Seth Rollins, Dominik Mysterio, Sami Zayn, Damian Priest, LA Knight, and finally Logan Paul.

IT’S AN UCEY RUMBLE

Late in the men’s rumble, you had a stunning array of superstars all in the ring at the same time, and all who were considered “favorites” to win the rumble and earn their spot at a shot at a title at WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas in April. The stars aligned to have Jey Uso, Logan Paul, John Cena, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, and CM Punk all facing off with one another as the crowd went nuts!

Suddenly, Punk eliminated Rollins and Reigns over the top rope, but moments later Logan Paul would dump Punk out, igniting a sudden rage in Rollins that saw him unload on the OTC with a double Stomp and another right on the steel steps. That left,Uso, Cena (who has started his 2025 farewell tour) and Paul. Shortly thereafter, Paul was done for the night, leaving Jey and John to go at it. Eventually, it was Jey who survived all 29 other entrants and to the delight of “Yeeters” everywhere, Uso will now get his shot presumably at Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 41.

Some of the other can’t-miss moments in the men’s rumble included:

*Luchadors Rey Mysterio Jr. and Penta leading off the rumble as entrants #1 and #2

*Jacob Fatu tearing through the competitors for a hot several minutes of action

*Bron Breakker spearing IShowSpeed

*The return of AJ Styles

*TNA Champ, Joe Hendry appearing and battling in the rumble.

*Dominik Mysterio being the next man up after the thrilling Cena, Punk and Rollins entrances, naming him Mr. “Buzzkill.”

*Logan Paul jumping over from the ring to the announce table without landing his feet on the floor to avoid elimination.

Photo: WWE

ALL HAIL TO THE QUEEN

As predicted, Charlotte Flair made her triumphant return from her career-sidelining knee injury to win the 2025 Women’s Royal Rumble.

In order of 1-30 entrances, the women’s rumble shook out like this: Iyo Sky, Liv Morgan, Roxanne Perez, Lyra Valkyria, Chelsea Green, B-Fab, Ivy Nile, Zoey Stark, Lash Legend, Bianca Belair, Shayna Baszler, Bayley, Sonya Deville, Maxxine Dupri, Naomi, Jaida Parker, Piper Niven, Natalya, Jordynne Grace, Michin, Alexa Bliss, Zelina Vega, Candice LeRae, Stephanie Vaquer, Trish Stratus, Raquel Rodriguez, Charlotte Flair, Giulia, Nia Jax, and Nikki Bella.

Photo: WWE

The women’s rumble provided the pop of the night with the return of Alexa Bliss, which sent the crowd into a frenzy. Bliss was shocker, when it has been believed she was at a contract negotiation impasse with the WWE about money. However, looks like everything is all hunky-dory now! In addition to Bliss, the rumble saw the return of Hall-of-Famers, Trish Stratus and Nikki Bella. While at first, the crowd was happy to see Nikki, by the time she was doing her “push-ups in the ring schtick” their were audible boos.

Photo: WWE

At the end of the rumble, it was Charlotte and Roxanne Perez who were the last two standing. In fact, Perez broke an all-time women’s rumble record by staying in it for one hour, seven minutes and 47 seconds until Flair sent her over the top rope.

DIY vs. MOTOR CITY MACHINE GUNS WITH SURPRISE INTERFERENCE

This 2 out of 3 falls tag match for the titles was lackluster; especially after the quick pin fall for DIY in fall 1. Then, eventually after the Motor City Machine Guns evened the score 1 to 1, the whole thing fell apart when two men disguised in hoodies showed up at ringside.

Photo: WWE

The first, distracted the referee only to reveal himself to be The Street Profits, Angelo Dawkins, who attacked (with his crutch) the Motor City Machine Guns and cost them the win. However, after DIY celebrates, the Street Profits (Dawkins with Montez Ford) turn on them and attack Ciampo and Gargano.

Photo: WWE

CODY RHODES BEATS KEVIN OWENS BUT BODILY HARM WAS ALL AROUND

Following Rhodes vs Owens, where it looked like KO had received the worst beating of the two, it was revealed by WWE commentator Jackie Redmond (during the post-show), that Cody sustained a few injuries and was unable to talk to the press. What we do know in watching this ladder match is that these two veterans really put their body through some serious moves, which kept this at a fast-paced clip.

Rhodes delivered a back body drop onto the edges of a ladder and the fisherman buster delivered by Owens to Rhodes onto a ladder hit the American Nightmare’s head!  The match showcased that Cody has aggression and can take drastic measures to fight back, which could finally give Rhodes more of an edge as the champion instead of the PG version.

Photo: WWE

One question remains, Sami Zayn! He came to the aid of his best friend, Kevin Owens, after he was cut open on his head and left in a heap outside the ring. For a moment, you didn’t know whether he would turn on Cody or Owens. Is a heel turn forthcoming from Sami to join his friend Owens as true tag team threats to the championship? After all, they previously won the titles as ‘babyfaces’ back at WrestleMania 39.

Photo: WWE

So, what did you think of the 2025 Royal Rumble? Happy with the results? Disappointed with the winners? Share your thoughts and favorite moment of the night via the comment section.  But first take a look at WWE’s Top Ten Moments from the Rumble below.

2 Comments

2 Comments
oldest
newest

The correlation between this interest and soap operas is hard to find, unless the idea is that soap viewers also enjoy sweaty, scantily clad men with large muscles. On either front, the writing is absolutely wretched.

Recaps

WWE SummerSlam 2026 Night Two: Top 5 Takeaways

Published

on

By

Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns

Sunday night’s second night of WWE SummerSlam delivered one of the greatest matches of all-time, a match of the year candidate or even the decade. For those in attendance at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, watching on ESPN limited or Netflix around the world, the August 2 main event between former Shield members turned rivals, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins closed out a story 12-years in the making in a classic main event.

In fact, the second night of SummerSlam, (we previously gave our recap of night one here) was a vast improvement in the two-day event, dubbed ‘The biggest event of the summer.” Led by the incredible performances and masterful in-ring storytelling by Reigns and Rollins, who went 33 minutes in a spellbinding match-up with so many near pin falls, that whether you were watching at home or in the crowd, you would jump to your feet!

Let’s take a look at how things went down and give you our 5 top takeaways from the night on the six-match card, kicking it off with Roman Reigns defending his WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Seth Rollins.

Photo: WWE

ROMAN AND SETH WRESTLING SOULMATES HONOR THEIR BROTHERHOOD

Right from the ring entrances, Seth Rollins paid homage to the Shield, complete with the facial mask, white version of their black vests, and more. When the Shield debuted back in 2012, it was the trio of Reigns, Rollins and Dean Ambrose (now Jon Moxley, AEW) who protected a then heel-ish CM Punk.

After Rollins delivered a chair shot to Reigns in 2014, and the group split up, Seth has always had Roman’s number, defeated him, and has been inside Roman’s head for his betrayal. The main event played on that aspect of the story throughout. With each delivering their patented moves: The Stomp from Seth, and a Superman Punch from Roman. However, neither man could truly get the upper hand on the other in a main event that lasted 33 1/2 minutes, truly a gift for the fans and the longest bout of the night.

There was plenty of trash-talking between the two, which heightened the story and made the ending all the more powerful. In addition, there were throwback moves of Dean Ambrose thrown into the mix.  But then, here’s how it all came to a conclusion. When the referee got knocked out, Rollins decided to grab a chair from ringside. He was going to use the same weapon he used on Reigns 12 years back, that led to the turn against the OTC. However, Seth hesitated. Roman got back up and had Seth on the ring ropes ready to use the chair on him. Seth told him to just get it over with. Roman put the chair down. Then, they went punch for punch. After hitting a final spear, Roman pinned Seth for the win as the referee finally came to. At the end of the match, both titans were exhausted and slumped in opposite corners of the ring.

However, in the most touching moment, Roman got up and went to the middle of the ring. The OTC extended his arm and fist, just like in the days of The Shield, as a peace offering to Rollins. Next, Seth got up and went and joined Roman. The two did a fist bump as a show of respect and the story was brought to a fitting ending.

Photo: WWE

KEVIN OWENS RETURNS AFTER 17 MONTH RECOVERY FROM NECK SURGERY, BECOMES NUMBER ONE CONTENDER

Sami Zayn cannot catch a break! Just when he thought his number one contender match was between himself and Finn Bálor, think again! Before the match started, the newly reinstated SmackDown GM, Nick Aldis came out and announced that he is adding Gunther … and Kevin Owens!

When Zayn saw that his best friend (and sometimes rival) was back and healthy enough to wrestle in a fatal-four way, his jaw dropped in probably one of the most classic moments of the night. Once the bell rang, Owens came in ready to show he could still go, complete with his reverse somersaults, stunners and more. KO dominated the four-way match up, all leading to him pinning Zayn to become the number one contender to face Universal Champion, CM Punk!

During the WWE Post Show, Owens had emotional moments with commentator and former wrestler, Big E, who suffered a career-ending neck injury and surgery, Kevin explained it was just a few weeks ago, that the doctor’s finally cleared him to return to the ring. An amazing comeback story!

Photo: WWE

BARON CORBIN TAKES THE U.S. TITLE FAST

In another comeback, Baron Corbin has had many ups and down over his tenures with the WWE, and in what was Corbin’s first WWE match in nearly two years, he faced Trick Williams for the United States Championship and right hand man rapper Lil Yachty.

The match broke down when Yachty went for the “Trick Stick” (a kendo stick) and went to hit Corbin in the back with it, but that backfired. Corbin put Lil Yachty through a table, hit Williams with the title belt, before landing his signature End of Days finishing move. With plenty of shady tactics, Baron Corbin was your new U.S. Champ.

From the looks of it, Trick’s run as the titleholder was beginning to become stale. So, WWE strapped the belt quickly on heel Baron Corbin. Will it be a long reign? Stay tuned.

Photo: WWE

GREEN WITH ENVY

This victory by Chelsea Green in the women’s ladder match to decide the interim WWE Women’s Champion, was a nod to the fans. WWE actually listened to the resounding love for Green over the past year and in turn had her grab the title above the ladder and become the current champ, while Rhea Ripley is currently out with injury.

Green bested Charlotte Flair, Chelsea Green, Lash Legend, Jade Cargill, and the hometown girl Tiffany Stratton. The ring gear worn by the gals, tore down the house with Cargill paying homage to Minneapolis music legend, Prince. But even more notably, the stunning outfit worn by Flair, which paid tribute to the little girl she had befriended named Scarlett who recently died of cancer. The women turned it out for this ladder match and you could make a case for any of them to have won the belt, but in a feel-good moment, it belonged to Green.

Photo: WWE

MINNEAPOLIS’ OWN CHAD GABLE FINALLY IS A CHAMP

The second best match of the night was delivered by the Intercontinental Championship bout between Penta and the hometown boy, Chad Gable, Going into the match-up, Penta was the IC champ. However, Gable is finally getting acknowledged for the wrestler he is after his enduring run in a a mask as the heel-ish, El Grande Americano.

Gable’s three children and his wife and parents were in U.S. Bank Stadium, so if there was any time to pull the trigger in favor of Gable this was it. Penta and Gable delivered high-flying moves and solid wrestling fundamentals that wowed the crowd. Gable was working with a seeming shoulder injury throughout the match and was somehow cut open on his face.

The match came to an emotional conclusion when Penta was caught in Gabe’s patented ankle lock and taped out. That led to the tears and the emotional celebration with Chad and his family inside the ring.

Photo: WWE

While not in our top five takeaways, the other match of the night featured Danhausen (who is one of the hottest WWE superstars with the fans) and “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio in the first-ever “Human Monies on a Pole Match.”

Once again, it featured the minihausens coming out to protect their guy after much shenanigans from Dom and the Judgment Day’s J.D. McDonaugh. Danhausen and the minhausens got an assist from Joe Hendry and Dirty Dom was on the short end of the stick in this one.

You can check out the full WWE SummerSlam Sunday 2026 video highlights below. Followed by the Michael Fairman Channel’s “What’s Up? Wrestling” podcast that went live immediately following SummerSlam night two with our own post show reactions.

So, what did you think of SummerSlam night two? Did you love the Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins epic match and conclusion to the Shield storyline? What were your favorite moments of the match card? Let us know via the comment section below.

 

Continue Reading

Recaps

WWE SummerSlam 2026 Night One: Top 5 Takeaways

Published

on

By

Night night one of WWE’s SummerSlam on August 1, saw the return of “The Viper,” Randy Orton, the passing of the torch to Oba Femi, and SmackDown GM, Nick Aldis getting back into the ring after 3 years to take on “The Ring General’ Gunther. These were just a few of the major moment from the six bout match card.

Emanating from U.S. Bank stadium in Minneapolis, the match-ups had several ups and downs that either got the crowd into an electric frenzy or deadly quiet. The WWE creative was smart to kick-off night one with the Women’s World Championship match between the champion Liv Morgan and Ivo Sky, who put on a great show.

Both women brought their A -game, but Liv Morgan showed why she is the champ, while Iyo Sky remains the best overall female wrestler on the current roster. Here are our five top takeaways from Night 1 of SummerSlam:

Photo: WWE

RANDY ORTON AND CODY RHODES FEUD UP NEXT

The match between CM Punk, the current Undisputed World Heavyweight, and Cody Rhodes, the former champ, had most fans booing Rhodes and cheering for Punk. However, both men displayed some heel-ish moves throughout the bout.

When Rhodes missed a Cody Cutter and hit referee Charles Robinson instead, chaos ensued. Punk was out of the ring, so too was Robinson on the other side. Cody was in the ring laid out flat. Eventually, Randy Orton does a run-in out of nowhere and delivers the RKO to Rhodes, winks at the camera, and slinks out of the ring and runs out of the arena site unseen by Punk and Robinson.

Next, Punk rolled back in the ring and hit a third GTS on Rhodes to retain the title. In the end, there was no clean pinfall for Rhodes vs. Punk. It should be noted that Punk also missed a moonsault maneuver that looked sloppy, which has been fodder on social media.

So, what does this do for Punk and Rhodes moving forward? It leave us with Punk moving on to face new challengers for the title, and Cody and Randy Orton to walk back the start of their feud that got messed up once WWE inserted Pat McAfee into the storyline at WrestleMania 42, which the WWE Universe was a hard pass on.

Can Orton and Rhodes now have a proper feud? Will there be a double turn comig? Randy (who the crowd was cheering for) actually being the face and Cody having had it with all the shenanigans used against him, just finally giving in and turning full heel? Stay tuned.

Photo: WWE

OBA FEMI WAS PASSED THE TORCH

Femi got quite the moment after he won the third match of his trilogy against Minnesota’s own Brock Lesnar,  The Ruler beat The Beast Incarnate inside Hell in a Cell.

While there were five straight F5s in a row and Femi was taken to Suplex City, it appeared Lesnar had this under control especially after he exposed the wooden boards under the ring mat and apron. Next, Lesnar delivered a Tombstone piledriver paying homage to The Undertaker who Lesnar had defeated in two Hell in a Cells. However, the move left Femi unfazed. Suddenly, Femi was back up and shortly thereafter pinned Brock and won the math.

As he was exiting the ring, Lesnar broke character to hug Femi and called fo a mic and announced himself as the “past” and The Ruler as the “future” of WWE. Clearly, Lesnar gave the crowd in attendance and the millions around the world, his stamp of approval for Femi and passed the torched.

It should be noted we did not get Lesnar officially retiring in his home state, so he may be back. Meanwhile, Oba is clearly the WWE’s handpicked star who is having a rapid ascension to the top. Is it just a matter of time before Oba takes on Roman Reigns and wins the WWE World Heavyweight Championship from him?

Photo: WWE

NICK ALDIS CAN STILL GO

Aldis, who came out to Oasis’ “Morning Glory,” and had excellent ring gear to boot, showed that after three years out of ring action that he can still turn it out and against Gunther, no less. The crowd chanted “you still got it” during the match.

However, in the end Gunther was eventually able to put Aldis down. After the match, Aldis got to share in the moment with his young son, Donovan and is wife, Mickie James inside the ring, to celebrate Aldis’ return to the ring if even for one night.

During the Post Show on ESPN, Triple H reinstated Aldis as the SmackDown GM, and tore up Aldis’ resignation letter, so Nick was still a part of the WWE in his managerial position moving forward.

Photo: WWE

THE BELLA TWINS SHOULD HAVE STAYED RETIRED DUE TO INJURIES

As we predicted, during the trios match between the Bella Twins and Paige v. Fatal Influence with Jacy Jayne, it would be Paige tho took the pin from Jayne.  With that, the Bella Twins went back to full heel-mode, when Niki Bella who just returned after suffering from a broken ankle attached Paige.

Brie Bella could not get in to the beatdown because earlier in the match she suffered a serious shoulder injury which will now keep her out of action.  If the plan was to have an evil Bella Twins run, now that Niki is back, well that just fell apart with the ill-fated timing of Brie’s injury.

This is a case where Hall-of-Famers want to get back into the ring later in their careers and things don’t go as smooth as planned. Now it remains what the WWE will do. Obviously, Niki will feud solo with Paige.

Photo: WWE

SOLO SIKOA IS GREAT AS A BABYFACE, DON’T RUIN IT!

The actual moment of the night belongs to Solo Sikoa who got the the last laugh on the Usos. Sikoa mocked Jey Uso’s Yeet chants and moves specifically when Jey runs it back with the audience, by having Jey’s theme music play and imitating him.

Later, via Samoan Spike to Jimmy Uso, he stopped a 1D attempt while L.A. Knight hit the BTF on Jey for the victory. Jacob Fatu, who teamed wiht the Usos had the coolest entrance of the night with his werewolf mask and antics. Royce Keys who teamed with Knight and Sikoa also got to show off some of his power moves to help his team secure the win.

You can check out the full SummerSlam Saturday 2026 night one highlights below.

So, what was your top takeaway and moment from night one of SummerSlam? Favorite match? Least favorite match? Let us know via the comment section.

Continue Reading

General Hospital

GENERAL HOSPITAL: If Jason Leaves the Mob, What Will He Do Next?

Published

on

By

Steve Burton

As had been teased since Jason Morgan’s (Steve Burton) captivity by the WSB and his release on General Hospital, he is clearly having issues speaking about what happened to him, after he was dragged away from Port Charles when he took the fall for Rocco (Finn Carr) who shot WSB director Ross Cullum (Andrew Hawkes).

Now. as Jason tries to reacclimate to life back in Port Charles, he has already displayed that he wants to do better for his son, Danny (Asher Antonyzyn) and the people he loves and to show up for them.

In addition, things took a turn on the Friday, July 31 episode where after Sonny (Maurice Benard) questioned Jason if he was having an issue with Ric (Rick Hearst) working side by side with his half-brother, Jason had something to say.

Courtesy/ABC

An emotional Jason tells Sonny, “I can’t work for you anymore.” The moment left Sonny dumbfounded, and viewers won’t know the pick-up of the conversation till Monday’s August 3 episode of GH.

Could it be that this time Jason will cut ties with Sonny and the mob for good? If so, it would be the end of an era for Jason and Sonny, sort of the Batman and Robin of GH with a twist.

Previous teases from the GH co-head writing team of Chris Van Etten and Elizabeth Korte, and Burton himself on his podcast That’s Awesome ,seem to indicate there is a change coming for Jason that sends him off in a different path in his life.

However, we should learn Jason’s reasons shortly, and if Sonny can talk him back into the mob, or can just wish Jason the best and let him go. But now the question becomes, if Jason exits life as Sonny’s right hand man and henchman, what do you see him doing with his life? We do know that Jason is aware that Dr. Tristan Roberts (Dean Geyer) has tied to the WSB, since he escorted him to Port Charles via Jakarta on the plane which may be a clue.

Weigh-in below: Do you want Jason to go work for the Quartermaines and truly join the family in full? Do you see him doing something to help those in need, or do you see him going undercover with the WSB to expose some of the treacherous things they perpetrated on him and others, or do you see Jason doing something completely different with his life? If so, what? Let us know your hopes and thoughts for Jason in the comment section below.

Continue Reading

Video Du Jour

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

Recent Comments

Power Performance

Heather Tom

The Bold and the Beautiful

Airdate: 7-24-2026

Popular

2
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x