WWE WRESTLEPALOOZA

Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis

BROCK LESNAR vs. JOHN CENA (8:48): The WWE added this show late to the calendar because they wanted to go head-to-head with AEW's All Out PPV. AEW moved their PPV to the afternoon in response, although both shows ended up going head-to-head from 7 PM to 8 PM Eastern. This was also the first WWE PPV on the new ESPN streaming app. The deal with Peacock ended early, which was a shame because if you were a Comcast cable customer or had Youtube TV, you didn't get to see this show for free (the ESPN app costs $30 a month but a lot of cable companies offer it for free since you're already paying for regular ESPN). Confused yet? I pay for Comcast. I have ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPN News, ESPN U, and whatever the hell else there is. I didn't get free access to this PPV, though, which was odd because Xfinity (which is Comcast) was a sponsor of this PPV. Comcast supposedly will offer free access to the ESPN streaming service eventually, probably by the end of the year. To make matters worse, a lot of people really, really hated this show. I think the big problem was that the first and last matches weren't very good, so you started watching it with a bad taste in your mouth and then ended watching the show feeling disappointed. The three matches in the middle were typical WWE fare: entertaining but nothing special. The WWE product is greatly helped these days by the sold out crowds, which make it seem like you're missing something. Why is the WWE so mediocre but still is selling out everywhere? As for this match, a person pretty close to the ring held up a sign that read: "He shouldn't be here and we all know why." Lesnar wasn't booed because he's involved in the Vince sex trafficking lawsuit, though. The only boos he got were because he's a heel and the fans want Cena to win. And, really, he wasn't even really booed that much. The giant problem, and one of the reasons a lot of people hated this show and match, was because Cena got destroyed and lost. Boy are they really fucking up this Cena retirement, aren't they? This isn't rocket science. You play the hits, you win, the crowd cheers, and you go out in glory. There was one shot of a child in a Cena t-shirt and hat in the crowd crying after Cena lost. What the hell kind of retirement is this? They're trying to humiliate him on his way out the door? I was also curious how a child is a John Cena fan. Yes, Cena has been around this year, but he was a heel most of the year. Before this year, Cena showed up maybe one or two times a year if that since leaving the WWE. How is this child a Cena fan? Did he just become one in August? I'm baffled. The entrance also had Cena come out with a whole gang of kids wearing his outfit. That was cool. Cena got beat down early. He did have a comeback where he gave Lesnar a few AA's. Then it was Suplex City. Then Lesnar gave Cena like four or five F5's and pinned him. Huh? The only thing I can think of is that they're planning on having him beat Lesnar in his retirement match. I guess? Or they just want to bring back Lesnar and have him face Cody for a title and thus Lesnar couldn't lose here. I don't know. This made little sense. Match was entertaining but felt tone deaf. **

THE VISION (BRON BREAKER & BRONSON REED) vs. THE USO'S (17:26): Since this was the first PPV on the ESPN app, they tried to do big things to make it a big show. Brock Lesnar and AJ Lee returned. The Uso's reunited as a tag team. There was a title change (Stephanie Vaquer won). The show felt kind of flat, though. Nothing was excellent. This match was entertaining but was kind of just a RAW main event. LA Knight was the special ref. He let them use chairs and tables for some reason. I think this show might've been better if the AEW show before this wasn't so awesome. It's tough going from a classic like Fletcher vs. 'Hangman' to anything on this WWE show. It's not even in the same league. **

STEPHANIE VAQUER vs. IYO SKY (19:41): Everyone online that seemed to hate or dislike this show did mention that they liked this match. Stephanie won the women's title here. Honestly? The match was fine but nothing special. Vaquer did a bunch of top rope jumps. You'd think winning the women's title would be a big deal but there's another women's title that Tiffany Stratton has. The WWE feels kind of dull these days. **

AJ LEE & CM PUNK vs. SETH ROLLINS & BECKY LYNCH (29:15): AJ Lee is fantastic. Every segment she's been in these last two weeks have been great. She's so great and obviously loving being out there that I wondered why she ever retired in the first place. Supposedly she had neck problems plus her husband, CM Punk, left the WWE and she didn't want retaliation for that. She's 38 now but looked fantastic in the ring. It also helped that she looks like she's having a blast out there. The problem with this match was that it went way too long. They stalled for like five minutes before anything even happened. The big spot had all four wrestlers on both announce tables. CM Punk had Seth on his shoulders. Becky threw AJ across one announce table to the other at Punk and the three of them crashed down on the announce table. This was entertaining and fun and probably the match I enjoyed the most on the show. **1/2

CODY RHODES vs. DREW McINTYRE (16:53): When they put Lesnar/Cena on first, I figured they'd probably have the CM Punk/AJ/Seth/Lynch match on last. Nope! I get it: this is for the WWE title. But this match had very little build. Nobody thought Drew would win. It was also kind of boring. Drew went for a kick outside the ring but missed and ended up kicking through the side of the announce table. He then hobbled around as if he broke his leg. The next PPV, which is in Perth, Australia, has Cody vs. Seth. It's not for either title, though, it's for the Crown Jewel title. That means nobody cares who wins. Great. *1/2

AEW ALL OUT

Toronto

THE OPPS (POWERHOUSE HOBBS & SAMOA JOE) vs. THE WORKHORSEMEN (ANTHONY HENRY & JD DRAKE) (5:19): This was an excellent show, perhaps the best PPV of the year. It was also 6 hours long, which meant it took me four days to watch it. The first four matches were on the pre-show, which was on TNT instead of Youtube this time. They moved this show to a 2 PM start because the WWE decided to schedule a PPV at 7 PM at the last second. It didn't bother me, and I think these fans were probably happier to go home at 8 PM instead of 1 AM. None of these pre-show matches were worth watching. The Workhorsemen are still a thing? It was short, anyway. *1/2

DANIEL GARCIA vs. KATSUYORI SHIBATA (14:49): Garcia is a heel now and has joined Moxley's Death Riders group. I guess he won't be doing his dance anymore? I guess it's something different, as Garcia has seemed to be stuck in the TNT title, B-level purgatory his whole tenure. Match was fine. It is kind of sad to see Shibata, who was once battling in the main event for the IWGP title against Okada once upon a time ago, being just a random mid-card guy now. **

HOLOGRAM & PARAGON (KYLE O'REILLY & RODERICK STRONG) vs. THE FRAT HOUSE (COLE KARTER, GRIFF GARRISON & PRESTON VANCE) (3:19): The Frat House is, exactly as the name implies, a group of grown men pretending they're drunk frat boys in college. I've only seen them on the ROH PPV's. I guess their gimmick is...something? I mean, better than nothing I suppose. This match was an epic at 3 minutes. **

HARLEY CAMERON, MINA SHIRAKAWA, QUEEN AMINATA & WILLOW NIGHTINGALE vs. MEGAN BAYNE, PENELOPE FORD & SISTERS OF SIN (JULIA HART & SKY BLUE) "TORNADO TAILGATE BRAWL" (11:28): The Frat House left their beer coolers and beer pong table by the ring so all of that was used in this street fight. Match was mildly amusing. **

ADAM COPELAND & CHRISTIAN CAGE vs. FTR (CASH WHEELER & DAX HARWOOD) (18:03): This was the first time Edge and Christian teamed together in Canada in decades. The most memorable thing in this match was when Copeland did John Cena's 'U Can't See Me' move. That got a big pop, though the announcers didn't mention Cena's name. The big spot came when Beth Phoenix, now referred to as Beth Copeland, came out at the end of the match. After Copeland and Christian won the match, Mother Wayne comes out with Nick Wayne in a wheelchair (he broke his foot) to distract them. Kip Sabian runs in and him and FTR beat up Christian then handcuff Copeland to the rope. FTR give Beth a spike piledriver. So you got the big hometown win and a cruel, continuing feud post-match beatdown. It was compelling. The match was just okay. **

EDDIE KINGSTON vs. BIG BILL (7:21): Kingston has been out since May 2024 when he broke his leg during a NJPW show. This match wasn't even set up or anything, it was just the return of Eddie Kingston. He looked like his usual self (he didn't, like, lose any weight or anything). Kingston won with his spinning backfist which actually missed. After the match, Hook showed up to stop Bryan Keith and Big Bill from beating up Kingston. *1/2

MARK BRISCOE vs. MJF "TABLES N' TACKS MATCH" (19:21): MJF was on CMLL's Anniversary show on Friday night in Mexico City. He lost to Mistico in a bloodbath (it was all Mistico's blood). So MJF (and Hechicero and Mascara Dorada) had to fly from Mexico City to Toronto to make this afternoon show on Saturday. MJF should get a medal or something, because both of his matches were super bloody and super wild. They did something really unique in this one, something you usually only see on an indie deathmatch tournament show or Big Japan or somewhere obscure: they covered the entire mat with thumbtacks and wrestled the whole match like that. Call it a 10,000 Thumbtacks Deathmatch. Before the match even really started, Mark took all four buckets of thumbtacks that were in each corner and emptied them across the ring. Both men ended up bloody. At one point, Mark had thumbtacks sticking out the back of his head. They also broke tables, including one that MJF covered with more thumbtacks. This match was nuts and super entertaining. Briscoe finally got his big AEW win. Fantastic match. ***1/2

THE DEMAND (BISHOP KAUN, RICOCHET & TOA LIONA) vs. THE HURT SYNDICATE (BOBBY LASHLEY, MVP & SHELTON BENJAMIN) (13:42): It seemed like MVP wrestled most of this match. Ricochet did an awesome run into an over the corner dive to the floor. MVP eventually got pinned. The last five minutes or so when things heated up this match was great. **1/2

MERCEDES MONE vs. RIHO (15:55): This match was pretty good but the crowd didn't much care for it (they were on their feet for the thumbtack and ladder matches). I still can't figure out why Riho only wrestles like twice a year for this company. Does she live in Japan? Does she have another job? She looked great here so there's no rust. Bryan Danielson was on commentary and mentioned that Mone is trying to break Ultimo Guerrero's record of holding more than 10 titles at one time. **1/2

KAZUCHIKA OKADA vs. KONOSUKE TAKESHITA vs. MASCARA DORADA (20:55): As soon as this started, Okada and Takeshita threw Dorada out of the ring and the crowd cheered. That was funny because Dorada was so awesome in this match that by the end the crowd was cheering for him to win. Dorada is in CMLL and he's excellent. The crowd loved all the high flying he did, and he became a star instantly to these Toronto fans. Okada was his usual, slow self, though the back and forths with him and Takeshita were pretty awesome. Good match. ***

JON MOXLEY vs. DARBY ALLIN "COFFIN MATCH" (19:19): They started the match by brawling among the crowd. Darby did a Coffin Drop off an entranceway. Darby started biting Moxley's ear and then used a screwdriver to cut his ear up even more, which got sickening groans from the crowd. Darby also used the screwdriver to rat-a-tat-tat Moxley's head, which burst and bloomed with blood. They did a bunch of spots with the two coffins out there. Darby did a running drive through the ropes and both men toppled into the open casket. PAC showed up at the end to toss Darby over the top rope onto a coffin. That eventually led Moxley to win, though later in the show, Darby put Moxley in a body bag backstage and set it on fire (yes, that really happened). Does this mean those two are going to do a fire match or something? This match wasn't great or anything, but it was a watchable spectacle. **1/2

KRIS STATLANDER vs. TONI STORM vs. JAMIE HAYTER vs. THEKLA (11:59): This match was pretty short but it was memorable because Statlander won out of nowhere, shocking everyone. Toni Storm has been the women's champ since beating Mariah May in Australia way back in February. Statlander has been in AEW for years and finally won the title for the first time. The fans have always liked her so it was cool to see her win, though she's supposed to be a heel now and probably joining the Death Riders (Wheeler Yuta keeps coming up to her to "talk"). Jamie Hayter looked awesome in this match and the crowd enjoyed seeing Thekla do her spider gimmick moves (a top rope suplex with her legs still on the ropes). **1/2

BRODIDO (BANDIDO & BRODY KING) vs. THE YOUNG BUCKS vs. JETSPEED (KEVIN KNIGHT & MIKE BAILEY) vs. THE DON CALLIS FAMILY (HECHICERO & JOSH ALEXANDER) "LADDER MATCH" (24:34): There were a ton of crazy spots in this match. They broke a bunch of tables, so this was more than just a ladder match. Probably the spot of the match was Bandido holding a ladder and doing a top rope flip with the ladder down onto Hechicero and Josh at ringside. Kevin Knight was on the ladder and everyone picked up the ladder and carried it then tossed him off and onto two ringside tables. Brody King gave Mike Bailey a sitting powerbomb onto a ladder bridge that bent but didn't break. Bailey also did a flip knee slam from a ladder onto Hechicero on a ladder bridge. I could go on and on...but this was a spot fest and a half. Brodido retained the titles in an awesome match. After the match, Jack Perry showed up to beat up The Bucks (I kind of thought they were friends in the same faction but, let's be honest, Perry has been gone since 2024 so maybe I just forget the storyline). The Bucks got the upper hand and were about to hit him with the BTE trigger when he smiled and the place went dark. There was a video of Perry digging up a grave and resuscitating Luchasaurus. Luchasaurus returned and Jurassic Express is back. Jungle Boy's music hit and they hugged. I mean...I loved Jurassic Express. Perry's matches as a heel were dull, so this is great news and this was an awesome return. ***1/2

'HANGMAN' ADAM PAGE vs. KYLE FLETCHER (38:10): This match was excellent. It reminded me of those old Naito/Ibushi matches where they were just delivering devastating moves putting the other one on their head back and forth. Page gave Fletcher a Dead Eye through a ringside table that looked horrific. Page gave Fletcher a top rope Dead Eye that looked just as gruesome. They also did the gimmick where they delivered other people's moves. Page gave Fletcher an Omega running knee. Fletcher did Ospreay's hidden blade. Fletcher gave Page a suplex on the ring bell table. This was just back and forth destructive moves in high, dramatic fashion. Really one of the best AEW PPV main events in history. The only problem was that nobody on Earth figured Fletcher was actually going to win, so the high drama wasn't at, like, an Omega/Okada level. Still, this was about as good as it gets. ***1/2