Welcome to WrestlingInc.'s review of "WWE Saturday Night's Main Event," as the third edition of the revamped series featured the return of former Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes! Not surprisingly, a lot of the WINC staff's opinions on "SNME" this weekend are related to Rhodes his comeback to oppose John Cena, Cena's own match against R-Truth, and the upcoming Money in the Bank tag match pitting Rhodes and World Heavyweight Champion Jey Uso against Cena and Logan Paul but we are going to hit the entire show!
If you just need to know what happened, feel free to check out our "SNME" results page. If you want to know our opinions on everything that went down, from Bronson Reed's comeback to Zelina Vega's first title defense to Damian Priest's dramatic walk out of a cage, here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 5/24/25 episode of "WWE SaturdayNight's MainEvent."
A "Big" Bronson Reed return at "Saturday Night's Main Event wasn't on my network special bingo card, and him joining up with Seth Rollins, Bron Breakker, and Paul Heyman's faction certainly wasn't on there either. However, it's that completely unexpected aspect of things that really made me love the opening of this show. I was hopeful there would be some kind of return, but all I really expected was Cody Rhodes at the end of the night, so opening with a completely unexpected return was a really good move on WWE's part, in my opinion, and it helped me get into the show that I initially wasn't too excited for.
Reed has been out of action since getting injured at Survivor Series: WarGames back in November. He required surgery for a broken foot, which happened in December, and for some reason, probably due to the fact I'm a writer and not a doctor, I thought he would be out for awhile longer. He's been relatively quiet on social media (or at least I haven't seen anything), so Reed wasn't even on my radar for a possible return. I wasn't exactly a fan of WWE's camerawork when he appeared in the shot on the outside of the ring, plain as day, before running CM Punk through the barricade, but that's a bit of a nitpick.
I certainly didn't expect him to be embraced by Rollins, who told Breakker to step off after he tried to square up with Reed, because the pair have such a history. It was Reed who took Rollins out with numerous Tsunamis that put Rollins out for a bit. When Rollins came back, he cost Reed a Last Monster Standing match against Braun Strowman, and the pair feuded from there.The pair only had two matches, with the last occurring on November 18, an episode of "WWE Raw," which would have been right when Reed got involved with the Bloodline and WarGames. It was Reed who got the victory over Rollins, so one would think "The Visionary" wouldn't take too kindly to his return.
That's the intriguing part, however. Instead of it not making sense, it's just more interesting since Reed hasn't been on WWE programming. Rollins is likely to explain what's going on, on "Raw" on Monday in what I predict will open the show. Reed is also an interesting addition to the faction. Breakker is a big guy, but Reed is areally big guy and is the monster factor that Rollins was likely looking for. I didn't think there would be much interesting coming out of "Saturday Night's Main Event," but I am very happy to be wrong. I'm glad Reed is back, and hopefully he's stronger than ever.
Written byDaisyRuth
Don't get me wrong, I'm glad this match was added at the last minute (I was dreading a two-hour "SNME" broadcast with four matches) and it's actually been built up enough on "SmackDown" to justify some sort of blow-off. But the fact that Vega and Green have history doesn't change the feeling that this match was tacked onto an otherwise all-male show, and it's kind of insane that WWE actually took the opportunity to improve on a mediocre card, then chose to add a Vega title defense.
In a vaccuum, I want to see more women's midcard title matches on shows like this, but the fact of the matter is that not only does Vega's title reign (and the title belt in general) not have a ton of heat right now, but it was Vega's first defense after winning the belt from Green a month ago. There may have been build to the match, but there was no doubt about its outcome. Green and Vega did a fine job in the ring I actually thought their match largely exceeded my expectations. But the crowd very predictably was not into it, and the women's wrestling was over promptly after the second match of the night. I'm not appalled by the unfairness of it all so much as by the lack of vision from a booking perspective. You're announcing Evolution 2 tonight, an all-woman PLE you don't want to, I don't know, showcase your women's roster? More than one match would be ideal but if that's not doable, maybe a bigger match? A world title match? Something you could have been booking toward this entire time? Tiffany Stratton vs.Naomi, IYO SKY vs. Natalya, Charlotte Flair vs.Alexa Bliss no? You could do like a gauntlet match or a trios tag, get more women on camera no? Just an obvious women's US title defense, huh? Okay then.
Even taking things like morality and representation out of the picture, this is just a huge missed business opportunity that also, as it happened, failed to improve the "SNME" card by any meaningful degree. It almost makes you think WWE didn't want the women's division outshining the rest of this thoroughly pedestrian lineup.
Written byMiles Schneiderman
To be honest, I'm still struggling to take a side on this match. While Priest and McIntyre are absolutely fantastic performers, absolutely, it felt odd to put them in yet another match after their widely successful WrestleMania 41 clash. It felt even more odd to try and end their feud at "Saturday Night's Main Event," which we've known from past criticisms of mine is typically nothing more than a weekly show wrapped in the skin of a premium live event. Even throughout the match's narrative arc, I was confused as to whether I loved the chemistry Priest and McIntyre have, or if I hated the fact that Priest was willing to hit McIntyre with a Con-Chair-To, but wasn't willing to pin him to truly, as WWE posited, end their rivalry.
I think that I hate how this match did not live up to the narrative expectation it was positioned to have. It was positioned to be the final, climatic, spectacular ending to Priest and McIntyre's saga, and it just...wasn't.
The Steel Cage match stipulation has never been my favorite. I've always been a Hell in a Cell girl; the sheer reason being that I have never been a fan of how wrestlers can just decide that they're done and walk out of the cage to win the match. Of course, this fits for cowardly heels, and, typically, there's going to be a wrestler to pull their fleeing opponent in, often in spectacular fashion. Steel Cage matches are fine, given that they don't end by someone walking out like nothing happened.
Damian Priest walked out like nothing happened.
While this match finish would have been just a dumb decision for any other feud, this simply cannot be how Priest and McIntyre's feud ends. You cannot tell me that Priest and McIntyre's feud can end symbolized by Priest's straight-up refusal to pin McIntyre in favor of walking out of the cage just like that after two WrestleMania's worth of animosities, and so many other great matches behind them. Initially, I was so willing to write this off as Priest taking the high road, until I realized he nailed McIntyre with a Con-Chair-To. That's not babyface behavior. I haven't the slightest clue why, if this match was truly supposed to be the end of Priest and McIntyre's feud, Priest would just walk out without a pin.
"They're setting up for Priest and McIntyre 3!" I hear you shouting. I don't like that either! This feud was too big for a Steel Cage, yes, but it also feels too small to host an entire trilogy. This is nowhere near McIntyre and Punk's feud, in terms of intensity. It's not even anywhere near McIntyre and Rollins' feud. What has Priest done to gain enough of McIntyre's ire to justify three matches?
With McIntyre rumored to be on the shelf, I don't know just when the McIntyre and Priest feud will end. All I'm saying is, it can't end here.
Written by Angeline Phu
For a brief while during "Saturday Night's Main Event" it looked as though John Cena was going to be wasting one of his few dates before retirement on a four-minute match of less than 10 moves against R-Truth.
Nothing changed about that match in particular, it was still a monumental waste of a segment. But at the very least he delivered on his promise to be on the periphery of Jey Uso's World title match against Logan Paul; Cena had said Paul, a YouTuber, winning the title certainly sounded like something that could ruin wrestling. And he set out with that goal in mind to try and prevent Uso from retaining the title. Up until this point, Paul and Uso had wrestled a really serviceable if very short match although personally the idea of Paul's "Titanium-loaded fist" is stupid at the very best. But it was cruising to be a very flat close to the show and needed something to breathe new life into it.
I'll be honest, at first when Cena came out and looked to be handing Paul the world title a part of me was getting ready to die. But just as the necrosis was creeping in, I guess you could say there was a surge of adrenaline in the soul (seeing myself out, don't worry) when Cody Rhodes' music hit and he finally made his return. Thus allowing Uso to retain his title, Cena to grimace like Peacemaker when asked if he knows Batman, and Money in the Bank to get a reasonably exciting tag match. All in all, the ending provided a momentary heart attack and very quick resuscitation, and it might be delirium talking but it turned out to give the show what felt like a good ending.
Written byMaxEverett
John Cena's match against R-Truth should have been more interesting and exciting than it was and I found it really disappointing. Truth really deserved better, not just because he was fighting his "childhood hero," but because he really did try to do what he could without having Cena on the shows to work off of leading in to "Saturday Night's Main Event." WWE appeared to show their hand with how lame this was going to be, as they didn't even bother to have Cena put the Undisputed WWE Championship on the line against Truth. While of course, we didn't think he was likely to win the match, nevertheless the title, it would have made more sense.
I initially had the match written down as something I hated for this article because I felt as though it was a waste of a Cena retirement tour date. I haven't been keeping track of how many he has left, but they're dwindling down. This victory over R-Truth off a low blow seemed like a waste of Cena's time, and ours as fans, and heck, even Truth's, but at the end of the night, it was really only R-Truth who had his time wasted. Cena was seen in a backstage segment running down World Heavyweight Champion Jey Uso, the man who eliminated him from the Royal Rumble. "The Last Real Champion" came out to attack Uso during his main event match with Logan Paul, and good lord, did he ever give me a scare when I realized the referee wasn't in the ring. I thought I'd be hating on something entirely different, and I was concerned Cena was going to help Paul win the title. Thankfully, a returning Cody Rhodes saved us (and Uso) and challenged Paul and Cena to a tag team match against himself and the World Heavyweight Champion at Money in the Bank.
Which, I have to say, I already hate, despite it not happening yet. Cena teaming with Paul is absolutely something I did not need on his retirement tour, and sounds like another wasted date to me if we're not working to get Cena and Rhodes at SummerSlam to get the belt off Cena to start his redemption tour before his official retirement. Wrapping up Uso in this also feels strange, as he's staring down GUNTHER once again, as "The RingGeneral" challenged him to a WrestleMania rematch on the "WWE Raw" after Money in the Bank. He's going to be tied up in this bout, and GUNTHER may very well look like an afterthought when his character isn't exactly doing so hot off a Mania loss followed by a match with a commentator. While I'm glad Rhodes is back, I don't like this direction in the slightest. Cena's entire heel turn continues to be one big flop, but things will hopefully turn around with "The American Nightmare" back on the scene.
Written byDaisyRuth
One of my biggest criticisms for "Saturday Night's Main Event" is that the show feels like anything but a main event. Often, SNME is filled with matches that do absolutely nothing for the overall landscape of the division, and in a medium where every match counts for the ever-evolving storylines of the division, to have a throwaway broadcast feels like a counterintuitive move at best and a complete waste of time and resources at worst. Like, when was the last time you actually cared about the results of an episode of "SNME" since its revival? I'll wait.
Going into Saturday's special, I was a bit worried I'd be back in the building again, dedicating a section of this opinion piece to beg WWE to just add a little a smidgen, even of seasoning to their SNME card and results. We needed something to keep us coming back to this program, because even if it is just a WWE response to "AEW Collision," we need a reason to watch this over Collision during any given week.
We got our reason.
This is the first episode of WWE's revived "SNME" that I actually felt compelled about. I actually walked out of this two-hour weekend excursion feeling excited for the future. I'm even more impressed that they managed to instill that feeling within me with only four matches on the card. I don't mean to glaze WWE this should be the standard for the industry benchmark of professional wrestling broadcasting but after an 100% flop rate in the "SNME" department thus far, I'm rejoicing.
The first big-impact moment of the night came when the team of Bron Breakker and Seth Rollins overcame the forces of CM Punk and Sami Zayn. Just by itself, that match finish would have been super important, since Breakker and Rollins are such a new team if they flopped, it would spell doom for Rollins' new stable. They came out with the win tonight, andwhen you add the return of "Big" Bronson Reed to the mix? This match's finish will absolutely change the landscape of "Raw," with Reed's return itself bringing a lot of eyes and expectations to future "SNME" installations.
WWE pulled out all the stops with their second surprise of the night. Cody Rhodes' return to WWE programming was the capstone for Saturday's special. Rhodes, who has been absent from WWE since his loss to John Cena at WrestleMania 41, returned with new adrenaline in his soul and a bit too much bleach in his hair, and his presence will undoubtedly shape the rest of Cena's farewell tour. We already have the first example of his impact in a match announced for Money in the Bank, where a marquee tag match involving Logan Paul, Cena, Rhodes, and Jey Uso is already in the officialization process.
This is how you make people care. Not all SNME episodes have to be this dramatic, but give us something to hold on to. Give us a reason to care.
Written by Angeline Phu
