Posted on 4/15/125 by Bob Magee
Show Recap —
Jey Uso, Penta (facing Finn Bálor tonight), Judgment Day, CM
Punk, Seth Rollins, and Paul Heyman were shown arriving.
Gunther interview
There was a Jey/Gunther video package before Gunther
entered. The announcers acted surprised because Michael Cole
was meant to interview him later tonight. Cole left the
table to join Gunther in the ring.
The crowd booed Gunther as he spoke. He was in a bad mood
over Jey and called him full of crap. The crowd Yeeted,
which just upset Gunther even more. Gunther called himself
the greatest gift this company ever received. He had been a
champion for 80% of his time in the company and was the
greatest World Heavyweight Champion of all time. He refused
to let somebody like Jey ruin that for him.
Gunther wanted Jey to enter their match with more confidence
than ever because it wouldn’t matter. Gunther would put him
down for the fourth consecutive time. Gunther said he did
not lose control when he beat up Jimmy Uso. He was in full
control when he wiped Jimmy’s blood on himself, and he loved
it. Jey should pray to the lord that he was in control,
because if he wasn’t, he would have drowned them both in
Jimmy’s blood.
Gunther looked forward to calling his mother and telling her
how much he enjoyed beating the living hell out of Jey Uso
and walking out of WrestleMania as the champion. He dropped
the mic and stormed off.
This was an effective promo.
********
There was a Bianca Belair video promo. She admitted that Iyo
Sky and Rhea Riply had brought out a different side of her,
but that wasn’t a bad thing. She has been through a lot, but
she was still the best. She won the Chamber and has never
been beaten at WrestleMania. There was nothing they could do
to stop her from winning the title at Mania.
Cole announced a sold-out crowd of 14,158.
Bayley (w/Women’s Intercontinental Lyra Valkyria) defeated
Tag Team Champion Liv Morgan (w/Tag Team Champion Raquel
Rodriguez) (12:54)
The opening match kicked off at 8:19 pm.
Morgan tried three amigos outside the ring, but Bayley
blocked the third one. Morgan managed to stomp Bayley’s hand
on the steel steps and hit a vertical suplex off the steps.
Morgan controlled through a break, thanks in part to a cheap
shot by Rodriguez. Things really slowed down as Morgan
applied a rest hold before they came back from break.
Bayley hit a knee strike after a break, but Morgan avoided a
sunset flip bomb and drove her into the turnbuckle instead.
Morgan countered Bayley a couple of times before Bayley hit
a knee strike and sunset flip buckle bomb for two. Morgan
hit a Codebreaker on the apron, followed by a dropkick off
the apron for a two count in the ring.
Morgan tried something off the ropes, but Bayley caught her
with a stunner, followed by a Bayley-to-belly. Bayley
seemingly had it won, but Rodriguez put Morgan’s foot on the
rope to break up the cover. At least she tried to. Morgan’s
foot fell off.
Valkyria went after Rodriguez, but Rodriguez booted her, so
Bayley gave her a stunner in the ropes. As the ref got rid
of Rodriguez, Morgan hit a backstabber. Morgan tried an
Oblivion, but Valkyria held Bayley from behind in the ropes,
which caused Morgan to fall backward. Bayley followed with a
jackknife cover for the pinfall win.
They messed up the rope break spot, but the actual finish
was clever, and it obviously made sense for Bayley to win.
The crowd popped big for the finish.
Match result: Bayley defeated Liv Morgan
********
Paul Heyman was shown awaiting the arrival of Roman Reigns.
There was a Rhea Ripley video promo. She didn’t appreciate
Belair making her look like the bad guy. She told Sky to
cherish every moment with the title while she could. Belair
would find out what it felt like when Ripley was the bad
guy, and she would walk out as champion at WrestleMania.
Rey Mysterio (w/LWO) defeated Julius Creed (w/American Made)
(10:19)
A ref distraction led to Chad Gable dropping Rey on the top
rope. LWO returned the favour by crotching Julius. The ref
saw both teams standing on the apron, so he tossed everyone
to the back.
Julius had control during a break, and like in the opening
match, he held a rest hold before they came back from break.
Right on time, Rey made his comeback following the break.
Rey sent Julius out of the ring with a hurricanrana. Rey
went for a sliding splash, but Julius caught him, held him
up high and walked up the steps to the apron. Julius tried a
charge, but Rey dodged it, and Julius went shoulder-first
into the post. Rey hit a hurricanrana off the ropes,
followed by ten punches in the corner and a DDT for two.
El Grande Americano ran out and leaped onto the apron. Rey
tried to rip his mask off, so Julius put Rey in a cradle for
two. Rey shoved Julius into Americano, knocking him off the
apron. Rey followed with a 619 and springboard splash for
the pinfall win.
The crowd popped big for the finish again. This isn’t a
complaint, but it was the second straight match with a
babyface outsmarting the heels.
— After the match, El Grande Americano, now with a loaded
mask, hit Rey with a running headbutt. LWO tried to make the
save, but Americano laid them all out by himself (with a
slight assist from Julius) using the loaded mask. He landed
a diving headbutt on Rey and stood tall.
Match result: Rey Mysterio defeated Julius Creed
********
The War Raiders cut a pre-taped promo on New Day.
Jackie Redmond interviewed New Day in the back (as Xavier
Woods played Clash of Clans). Kofi Kingston said Erik and
Ivar might want war, but New Day have been dealing with war
from the locker room for months. When New Day won their
titles back, the fans would have no choice but to say Thank
God for the New Day.
There was a video package of Undertaker beating Triple H in
Hell in a Cell with Shawn Michaels as referee at
WrestleMania 28.
AJ Styles defeated Karrion Kross (w/Scarlett) (9:46)
This was Kross’ first televised match since he, AOP, and The
Miz beat the Wyatt Sicks back in September. Cole said Kross
had tights made by the same person who made tights for
Styles and deliberately had similar ones made.
Kross quickly took control of Styles, thanks in part to a
cheap shot by Scarlett. For the third match in a row, the
two wrestlers sat in a rest hold as the ad break came to an
end. Styles did not immediately make a comeback following
the break, as Kross hit a DVD for two.
Styles began fighting back by kicking Kross’ leg. Kross
tripped and played it like he was hurt “for real,” but he
was faking, and Styles fell for it. Kross was mocking
Styles’ injury from months ago. That pissed off Styles who
fired back until Kross dropped him with a DDT.
Kross tried a clothesline from behind, but Styles ducked it
and hit a fireman’s carry neckbreaker. Styles followed with
a Phenomenal forearm for the pinfall win.
— Logan Paul entered the stage post-match. He said the
people of Sacramento weren’t cool enough to live in Los
Angeles and weren’t smart enough to live in San Francisco.
He complimented Styles’ win and said they would “cook” at
WrestleMania. He wanted to show everyone why they would make
money at Mania, so he aired a video package of himself.
Styles called him a smartass and told him to get in the ring
so they could start Mania early. Kross tried a sneak attack,
but Styles saw it coming. He fought them both off and gave
Kross a reverse DDT.
However, Paul nailed Styles with his loaded fist and laid
him out with Paulverizer.
Match result: AJ Styles defeated Karrion Kross
********
Heyman is still waiting for Reigns.
Gable cut a promo on the stage during a break. He was upset
about being screwed out of a Mania spot again, but was happy
to see an up-and-comer like El Grande Americano get an
opportunity to cement his legacy as the greatest luchador of
all time.
Jey Uso segment
Jey Uso, wearing all black (with white sneakers), entered to
a big reaction. The crowd chanted “One more time” when his
music cut, so he had them play it again for a moment.
He cut a promo while standing on the announce table. He
shouted out his mom, who was somewhere in the crowd. He said
people were wondering where his mind was at, and wondered if
he was crashing out. He was crashing out, but he was locked
in. Listening to Gunther made him realize that Gunther was
afraid. Afraid that Jey would whip his ass in front of
60,000 people for the world title. Jey told Gunther he would
get him on Saturday. They played his music, and that was
that.
********
Cathy Kelley tried interviewing Bron Breakker, but he was
immediately attacked by Judgment Day. Bálor chucked him into
some equipment boxes before officials intervened.
Finn Bálor defeated Penta via disqualification (11:34)
They wrestled in a tag match a couple of weeks ago, but this
was a first-time-ever singles match.
Penta knocked Bálor off the apron during his entrance and
followed with a flip dive. The match began moments later
when they entered the ring. Penta was in control early on as
a result until Bálor hit a basement dropkick. Bálor did a
“too sweet” hand gesture before driving Penta onto the apron
ahead of a break.
They technically broke the rest hold streak from the
previous three matches. Bálor did use a rest hold during the
break, but Penta broke it during the break instead of as
they returned. Bálor hit a superplex as they returned from
break for two. Penta fought back and hit a backstabber for
two.
Penta hit a slingblade, but Bálor followed right away with a
slingblade of his own. Penta avoided a running dropkick and
hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Penta snapped Bálor’s arm,
but Bálor countered a Penta driver into a roll-up for two.
Penta followed with kicks but became distracted by Carlito
and Dominik appearing at ringside.
Bálor used the distraction to apply a schoolboy for two.
Bálor followed with a dropkick, but before he could set up
for Coup de Grace, Bron Breakker entered (to his music).
Carlito was in the same position at the bottom of the ramp
as last week, so he ran away before Bron could kill him.
Bron instead attacked Bálor for the DQ.
Carlito and Dom attacked Bron, but he actually hit them both
with a double spear. Bron tried to spear Penta, but Penta
fought him off and wiped out everyone (minus Bálor) with a
dive.
Match result: Finn Bálor defeated Penta via disqualification
*******
There was an Iyo Sky video promo (in Japanese). She said
Ripley and Belair kept pushing her aside, but they were
forgetting that she was the whole reason they were fighting
in the first place. Sky was done being ignored and
forgotten. She has beaten them before and would do it again.
After WrestleMania, they will never forget the name of Iyo
Sky, Women’s World Champion.
The announcers ran down the cards for WrestleMania nights
one and two.
********
CM Punk sat down next to Heyman, who still awaited the
arrival of Roman Reigns. Punk was amused and said he’s never
seen Heyman so stressed. Reigns happened to arrive in a GMC
SUV at this moment, as Punk put his arm around Heyman.
Reigns stormed off, and Heyman tried to follow.
Main event segment with Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, CM Punk
and Paul Heyman
Roman Reigns entered, and Heyman followed. Heyman tried
handing a mic to Reigns as usual, but Reigns charged past
him to grab a different one. Heyman appeared dismayed as
Reigns told Sacramento to acknowledge him. They did.
Reigns said the world can hear the people love and
acknowledge him. The world could see that they would never
betray him. But not everyone was like them. Some people
would betray him. Heyman stared directly at Reigns as he
spoke, while Reigns looked past him.
Reigns finally turned his attention to Heyman and asked how
he could betray him. The crowd chanted, “You f—cked up”
(which they tried to censor). The crowd booed Heyman (after
cheering him earlier when he was shown arriving). Heyman
said it was not a betrayal; he paid back a favour that he
owed.
Reigns was confused. You normally pay back a favour
yourself, but the only person getting screwed in his
scenario was him. Reigns would never ask for a favour. You
take what you want. Reigns never asked anyone to join him at
War Games. He never asked for this, so he wondered why he
had to pay the tab for Heyman’s dumbass favour.
Seth Rollins interrupted. (He wore a black leather cargo
vest with oversized black tactical pants and boots.) Rollins
said Reigns was finally starting to put the pieces together
after all these years. Reigns was just missing one piece,
but it was too late for him.
Rollins still wanted to end him at WrestleMania because it
was still the right thing to do. Rollins called this the
most important triple threat match in the history of this
industry because the winner would define the future of the
industry. That person could not be Reigns because if the
industry was filled with people who only showed up when it
was convenient and wanted everyone else to do the dirty
work, it would die. If the industry was filled with people
like CM Punk, who pick up their ball and go home only to
come back and leech off others’ success, it would die.
Rollins didn’t want the business to die—and it wouldn’t if
it were filled with people like him. People who sacrificed
and would always do what was best for business. There could
only be one, and it had to be Rollins.
The piece that Reigns hadn’t yet figured out was that
favours didn’t happen by chance; they were a choice. Rollins
chose not to put Heyman in the hospital last week, and now
Heyman could choose to pay that favour back to him. But
Heyman was a scumbag and Rollins expected nothing from him.
Heyman chose to be in Punk’s corner. It wasn’t just a
betrayal. Heyman was choosing, and Reigns had to figure out
why he was choosing Punk over him.
Reigns said Rollins was right. Heyman made his choice.
Reigns made his choice, too. Reigns decked Rollins and
shoved him into the ring post. Heyman was delighted by this,
and he acknowledged Reigns. However, Reigns pie-faced Heyman
and shoved him to the mat.
CM Punk ran out and attacked Reigns, knocking him out of the
ring. Punk checked on Heyman, but turned around into a spear
by Reigns.
Rollins hit Reigns in the back with a steel chair (the same
way he did when he broke up The Shield). Rollins and his
large boots handed out curb stomps to both Reigns and Punk.
Heyman looked on in fear as Rollins stood tall, chair in
hand.