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Hello everyone, it’s Friday so it’s time for WWE Smackdown. Tonight is the go home show for WrestleMania, which runs tomorrow and Sunday. Somehow over the last few weeks Smackdown has turned in truly weak offerings and for some reason decided that the key talking point for WWE champion Cody Rhodes vs. his old mentor Randy Orton should be Pat McAfee talking about how WWE can’t sell tickets to WrestleMania. To that end I imagine all relevant parties will talk tonight, and rumor has it Jelly Roll will be in Cody’s corner so expect more of him. Tonight we have the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal, so be on the lookout for Royce Keys or someone similar to win. We’re also, mercifully, finally, getting the conclusion to the Wyatts Sicks and Solos’ Marginally Functional Team. All I can say is “Thank God” for small mercies. There was some talk of Giulia defending the women’s US title against Tiffany Stratton tonight, no word on if that’s actually going through though. Drew McIntyre and Jacob Fatu are still tearing into each other, Drew had the last laugh last week so we’ll see how Fatu responds tonight before their Unsanctioned Match at Mania. Sami Zayn and Trick Williams are all primed for a double turn on Mania when Sami defends his US title against Trick, Damian Priest and R-Truth have no direction as tag team champions, but at least they’re not the Wyatts or Solo’s goofs. Any number of RAW guys might show up so expect a bit of chaos in that respect. Also Danhausen will be looking for something to do at Mania. Rhea Ripley and Jade Cargill have no chemistry but are stuck together at least until the Mania match. Still no sign of the Street Profits, and Miz is still cursed so that should provide a modicum of levity if nothing else. Anyway we’ve got 3 hours to fill so let’s see what WWE has in store for us.

First a lengthy hype package for WrestleMania focused on the history of the event. It’s the usual high quality WWE stuff and has all the current talent talking about their favorite Mania moments and matches.

Joe Tessitore and Corey Graves welcome us to T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. We then see wrestlers arriving at the venue. Oh we’ll also get Bayley and Lyra Valkyria vs. Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair again. And pulling up in a truck are Pat McAfee and Randy Orton. Pat and Randy find Nick Aldis. Aldis has an agreement for Pat to sign, he’s going to read the whole thing and Randy heads to the ring while those two talk. We do see Pat sign as Randy’s music hits.

To the ring and here’s Randy for some mic time. The crowd is still mostly pro Randy. Eventually Randy gets a mic and says he admits he doesn’t need Pat McAfee. Big cheer. The truth is he wants him, mild boos. Pat is the only straight shooter in the company, he doesn’t tell Randy what Randy wants to hear but rather what he needs to hear. And now he’s back to just being himself. Positive reaction. Randy was all ready to face Drew McIntyre for the title, he and Drew aren’t good friends and he knew he could be this guy for Drew and make easy work of him. Then Cody won the title, boos for that. But now Randy is friends with Cody, he wasn’t going to turn into this guy, but then Cody gave him permission to do it. Who is Cody to give Randy permission? Randy listens to the voices when he wants to, and that cocky son of a bitch tried to give Randy permission to be himself. Most friendships are give and take, but all Cody ever did was take from Randy. Tomorrow night they’re the main event of night one. Well two years ago Cody needed a friend, a partner, someone to have his back against the Rock and Roman Reigns. Cody called Seth Rollins, never even asked Randy. Solo’s goof troupe was all over Cody and Randy then helped and got put through a table. All Cody does is take. Then Cody gifts Kevin Owens a WWE title match, Randy’s friend at the time, and then Owens turns on Cody and Randy has Cody’s back. He tried to talk sense to Owens but Owens then almost kills him with a Piledriver. Pat has done more for Randy than Cody has in half a lifetime. Pat doesn’t hurt Randy’s legacy, helping Cody was what hurt Randy’s legacy. So tomorrow Randy is fixing this, taking the 15th title back home, that gets cheers. And he’ll do it with the RKO. Nice babyface promo from the evil heel. This whole thing remains ass backwards.

In the back Pat is in his truck and Randy walks up and into the truck. Aldis is still here and Pat says everything changes for the better tomorrow then drives off.

Back to the ring here’s Solo’s squad for our first match, and we head to break. Not sure which of that group is technically going to be sitting this out because they’ve got 5 and the Wyatt’s have 4 men.

Post break it’s still unclear but Solo’s not wearing facepaint so I guess technically he’s not in the match? Anyway here come the Wyatts.

Match #1 – 8 Man Tag Team Street Fight: MFT (Tama Tonga, Solo Sikoa, Talla Tonga and JC Mateo) w/ Tanga Loa vs. Wyatt Sicks (Uncle Howdy, Erick Rowan, Dexter Lumis, and Joe Gacy) w/ Nikki Cross

Big brawl to start, this one’s going to be wild. The Wyatts get the early advantage, Talla gets attacked by Lumis, Gacy, and Rowan before Rowan boots him out of the ring. Lumis and Gacy dive onto JC and Tama then Loa trips up Rowan. Everyone’s on the floor, OK commentary says Loa is not in the match officially which is good because he sucks. Talla gets the ring steps and unloads with them including throwing them onto Rowan as we head to a break.

The crowd want tables as everyone keeps brawling around the ringside area. Lumis gets chopped but Talla. Loa, while not technically in the match, is free to get involved because this is a Street Fight so anything goes. Rowan boots JC then rams Talla into a ring post. In the ring Rowan with corner attacks to Tama and JC then a spin kick to JC. Tama hits the ropes and runs into a crossbody from Rowan. Solo with a kendo stick shot to Rowan. Gacy and Lumis attack JC, Talla then saves him. In the ring Loa holds Howdy so Solo can lay into him with the kendo stick as we rejoin broadcast. Solo and Tama look to team up on Howdy, Solo offers him the stick but Tama declines and just punches at Howdy in the corner. Lumis shows up to attack Solo, then Gacy with the handspring lariat to Tama and a reverse 3D to JC. Solo takes some tandem offense then Tama takes a monkey flip into a sort of powerbomb. JC shows up with a German suplex to Gacy and spinning back suplex to Lumis. Overhead belly to belly from JC to Lumis as well. Howdy attacks JC from behind, Talla shows up and hits Howdy with a Samoan Drop. One for Lumis as well, then Gacy takes a Samoan Drop as well. Rowan shows up and fights off a Samoan Drop then dropkicks Talla out of the ring and he follows with a suicide dive. Rowan gets a chair, more sticks, more chairs, he fills the ring with all kinds of plunder except tables. Trash can shots to Solo from Howdy and Rowan, then a can on Solo’s body and Rowan with a running Splash. That scene sends us to another break.

Tama launches Gacy into the ring steps. Rowan with stick shots to JC and bounces him off the announce table. Tama with stick shots to Howdy then he helps up Solo. JC and Loa attack Rowan with weapons. Nikki looks to get involved now but doesn’t get into any physicality. Rowan with some more weapon shots taken. Back in the ring Solo sets up a chair and rams Howdy into it then Solo sits in it and mocks Howdy. Stick shots from Solo then some chair work to Howdy in the corner. Solo wants a hip attack and it connects. Solo with some trash talk to Howdy then corner punches and he lines up another hip attack as we come back to broadcast, this time Howdy avoids him then crushes him with a chair. Howdy gets to run wild with the chair then hits Solo with a Uranage onto the chair. Nikki shows up and dives off the top rope onto Loa to keep the numbers even. Talla breaks up a Sister Abigail to Solo then Solo with a Splash but only a 2 count as Gacy shows up with a stick. Gacy and Lumis both have sticks and unload on Talla until he hits them with a double chokeslam because Talla clearly matters. Rowan with a chair shot to Talla but Talla no sells and they both tumble to the matt with Rowan grabbing his knee. Tama with a Whirling Dervish to Howdy then he lines up a Cutthroat but Solo instead hits a Samoan Spike on Howdy to pin and win.

OFFICIAL RESULT: MFT won in 14:36

Rating: 1.5 stars
Thoughts: Too long first of all, and while I appreciate them using the stipulation to their benefit I still don’t think putting that much effort behind Talla is a good idea. This also felt just lifeless for a blowoff match. Thankfully at least this stupid and pointless feud is over. Howdy eating the pin felt off though, and Solo’s tension with Tama will try to keep simmer, assuming there’s enough heat to simmer. This whole thing has largely been a bust, no one’s better off for it.

In the back R-Truth and Damian Priest walk, Truth says they’ve got a match with the New Day. It turns out Truth meant Grayson Waller not Xavier Woods, Woods got cursed and turned white. Priest is confused but they’ve got a title match tonight.

We get a video of Miz and Maryse trying to to renew their vows when Danhausen showed up, and Danhausen cursed Maryse so she wound up taking a face bump into the wedding cake.

After this break we’ll get a recap of last week when Drew McIntyre beat down Jacob Fatu.

We come back to a Royce Keys hype video. This one talks a lot about his mother dying in 2021 and how that motivates him.

After that we get a brief recap of the Drew and Fatu stuff from last week. The a cop car drives into the arena and out of it comes the Samoan Werewolf, Jacob Fatu. Fatu’s got a mic and climbs up onto the car to talk. He says Drew wants to tell the world he’s still a criminal, well we can talk about Fatu’s life all we want as he’s not afraid of it, and doesn’t live like he used to. Did Drew think putting him in cuffs would embarrass him? Come on man. That didn’t bother him one bit, even the police know he’s not the same guy. Tomorrow though, unsanctioned, that means no police, no security, no management, no armed forces or a SWAT team to stop Fatu from beating Drew’s ass. There’s no one to save Drew. So let’s get it clear, Drew tried to put Fatu back in a cell where he changed his life, but Fatu already left that in the past. The truth, Drew, is when he’s done beating you tomorrow you’ll be in his rear view mirror too. Tomorrow night Fatu will shake his dreads, and he’s going to dog walk Drew’s bitch ass yadda mean? Not the full on fieriest promo from Fatu but a pretty good one overall.

In the back Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair talk about their friendship and plan on winning gold at Mania tomorrow. Bliss wants to make sure they win tonight too. Charlotte knows the gold is the friendship they made along the way, but wants real gold. Bliss walks off.

Back to the ring here’s Damian Priest and R-Truth, their title defense will be up after this break.

Post break here come the chocolate and vanilla swirl version of New Day.

Match #2 – WWE Tag Team Title Match: (c) R-Truth and Damian Priest vs. Kofi Kingston and Grayson Waller

27 minutes between matches, not a good thing after a first hour that was painfully tepid. Priest and Waller start, some leg kicks from Waller then an elbow as he’s surprised Priest. Waller into the ropes for a bit but eventually he runs into a boot from Priest. Priest corners Waller and unloads with punches before tagging in Truth. Lie Detector and Russian leg sweep combination from Truth and Priest then Truth goes for a 10 punch but Waller yanks Truth down and saves himself. Kofi tags in, no pop, then Waller cheap shots Priest. Truth fights both men off before Waller low bridges Truth. On the floor Priest gets annoyed by that and sets to chokeslam Waller but Kofi saves Waller with a baseball slide to send us to break.

Kofi sends Truth back into the ring and stomps on him in the corner. Some corner work from Kofi as he retains control. Waller tags in and retains control with a low dropkick then he cheap shots Priest, no pop again. Truth fights back but Waller cuts him off with a low dropkick then tags Kofi back in. Kofi blocks a tag then trips up Truth and one of Truth’s shoes came off. Kofi up top and hits a leaping clothesline for a 2 count. Waller back in and he tries a suplex, Truth counters with a Small Package for 2 then Waller uppercuts Truth down. Rolling elbow from Waller then he tags in Kofi as we come back and Waller with a second rope elbow drop. Waller tags in against Kofi’s wishes and Truth avoids a double team and shoves Kofi into Waller then tags in Priest. Priest gets to run wild on both men then a lifting Flatliner to Kofi and rope walk cross body to Waller. Waller avoids the turning lariat once, but not the second time and Kofi has to save the match. Truth is in the wrong corner now asking for a tag and getting the “New Day Rocks” chants going. Kofi, accidentally tags Truth who fires up on Kofi with the Cena Moves of Doom. Priest slams Waller next to Kofi then Truth talks Priest into a Five Knuckle Shuffle spot. Sort of a 3D follows, Priest with the Flapjack part and Truth catching with more of a Flatliner than Cutter but either way it gets the 3 count.

OFFICIAL RESULT: Damian Priest and R-Truth retained the titles in 9:24

Rating: 2 stars
Thoughts: A serious lack of heat for Kofi and Waller here. The structure was fine and Truth is fun per usual. Just kind of here though, nothing beyond some time filling.

Next a recap of the Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, Pat McAfee, and Jelly Roll stuff from last week. You know, in case you missed it.

In the back Jade Cargill walks with B-Fab and Michin, God help us she’ll be talking after this break.

We come back to women’s champion Jade Cargill and flunkies heading to the ring. Jade gets a mic but before she can start talking here’s Rhea Ripley to interrupt. Oh no, B-Fab has a mic too it seems. Ripley does get her own mic and talks from the apron, she just wanted to stop Jade wasting everyone’s time. Much as she’d like to attack Jade, she’s not giving her an excuse to avoid Mania. Ripley isn’t usually very patient, and Jade’s lucky she’s not jumping her. It feels like Ripley got lost in her promo so she kind of restarts from the last paragraph. Ripley wants to embarrass Jade at Mania. B-Fab talks and says Ripley should be embarrassed. Ripley brings up Jade hiding since the Chamber, hiding behind social media, or her flunkies, or anything to just avoid a fight with Ripley. This is Jade’s last chance to say anything to Ripley face to face, and alone. Jade, who has moderate heat but nothing serious, and insults Ripley as an insecure goth cosplayer. B-Fab and Michin leave the ring so Ripley gets into it. Jade says Ripley’s rise is only because of the weak ass locker room back there. Sunday she’s going to belt Ripley’s ass. Ripley doesn’t want to be like Jade, she’s been fighting people like her her entire life. Ripley’s insecurities don’t hold her back but have raised her to being a multiple time world champion, and if Jade wants to make it quick at Mania they can but it wont go her way. Some insults follow then Jade holds up the title before leaving. There’s just no spark between these two, only mild heat for Jade and Ripley would be in a worse position if she weren’t basically perma-over at this point.

In the back Solo talks with his troops and says the Wyatts are finished because they worked as a team. Tama seems less than thrilled. Solo tells Talla to win the Andre battle royal. Then Solo will get a shot at the tag team gold back. Everyone heads out leaving Solo alone.

Back to the ring here’s Tiffany Stratton for a US title number one contender’s match. She’ll take on Jordynne Grace after this break.

Post break here comes Jordynne Grace, oh and Giulia and Kiana James are now sitting ringside.

Match #3: Tiffany Stratton vs. Jordynne Grace

26 minutes between matches, not good. They shake hands to start then tie up. Grace grabs a side headlock then Tiffany hits the ropes and tries a Sunset Flip for 1. Crucifix from Tiffany for another 1 count then both women avoid strikes and we get a stand off. Grace with a back elbow but Tiffany with some gymnastics then something that was supposed to be an offensive move but just looked awkward. Grace rams Tiffany into the corner then hits a few wrist control clotheslines. Electric Chair into a Hot Shot from Grace then a clothesline for a 2 count as we head to break.

Some knees from Grace then a clothesline. Back slap from Grace then front to back clotheslines. Tiffany fires up with a back elbow then some corner work. Really ugly suplex from Tiffany, felt like Grace expected a DDT or just horribly mistimed jumping. Some rope work from Tiffany then a bit of a hip attack for a 2 count. Tiffany with some kicks but Grace keeps calling for more. Running back elbow from Tiffany gets a 2 count. Grace with a World’s Strongest Slam then a Vader Bomb for a 2 count. Tiffany fights back with a boot, but Grace puts her on the top rope as we rejoin the broadcast. Grace climbs up looking for a superplex, she hits it the floats over trying for another suplex but Tiffany counters this into a DDT and both women are down. They start trading elbows and chops, Tiffany then lands a knee that floors Grace but Grace avoids a double stomp then tries a Powerbomb, they fight over that then Tiffany misses a head kick but lands a spinning back elbow and follows up with the low dropkick for a 2 count. Grace heats to the apron, ties up Tiffany and unloads with headbutts. Back in the ring Grace with the Kaiser Roll then a Package Sitout Powerbomb for a near fall. Grace tries a Vertebreaker but Tiffany flips free then hits a handspring Stunner. Finlay Roll from Tiffany, then a Prettiest Moonsault Ever to win.

OFFICIAL RESULT: Tiffany Stratton won in 9:02

Rating: 2.5 stars
Thoughts: Pretty straightforward stuff, these two work well together but doing this match cold and face vs. face put a pretty serious ceiling on how good it was going to be. Tiffany and Giulia might be OK, but man Smackdown has just never figured out how to present Giulia.

In the back Trick Williams walks, he’ll talk after this break because we haven’t had enough promo time tonight.

Post break here comes Trick Williams and his very over chant. Trick gets a mic and plays with the crowd a bit, then says he normally smiles and jokes but not tonight. Tonight we’re gonna talk about it. Sami Zayn crossed a line last week, then he replays Sami taking out Yachty with a Helluva Kick. Trick then says that last week Sami hit Yachty with a Helluva Kick, like we didn’t just watch that again. Last week Sami hurt his friend with a Helluva Kick and now Trick isn’t sure when Yachty is coming back. And really Sami hurt his Mania entrance. So now Trick has business with the gingerbread man and calls out Sami. That does bring out a gingerbread costumed man to Sami’s music. Trick is supposed to be upset with Sami, but looking at him now he sees Sami is upset too. Is it because there were no Sami fans in San Jose? And none in Vegas too? Oh that’s too bad. All the die hard Sami fans are in Drury Lane. This Sunday is all about Trick, his first Mania and he’ll do whatever it takes to get the US title. Sami’s voice interrupts, and he walks out onto the stage. He calls this funny, he’s glad Trick is having fun and taking his first Mania so seriously. He almost envies him having that much fun, but Sami hasn’t had a good time in a really long time it turns out. Now he’s walking into Mania as US champion but still not having a good time, and it sounds like the fans are also not having a lot of fun lately. Well that’s true but ancillary to the point he’s making about Trick. The crowd boo Sami, who still doesn’t know what he did wrong and now he doesn’t care. He does this for the ride or die Sami fans, there don’t seem to be any here based on the reaction to him. Sami says there are plenty of them at home, and they’ll be in his corner for Mania and beyond. A “shut the fuck up” chant starts briefly. Sami brings up Trick’s rise, then he tells the gingerbread man to leave so he can focus on Trick. Sami agreed with people about Trick being the future, but in the last few months all he’s shown is an entrance and catchphrase but he hasn’t proven he can actually wrestle when it matters. So now all Sami sees in Trick is a little punk rookie. A punk rookie who’s about to have his first Mania with one of the best to ever do it, and Trick is coming into this match without a plan. Trick says he is the plan, in four months he’s accomplished more than Sami has and he says Sami is crashing out and ruining water bottles back stage. He says Sami is respected, and has almost every title, and he threw that all away because Trick showed up. Trick’s the one who’s going to get the job done at Mania. Sami laughs off a silly chant being in his head, and mocks Trick’s plan being standing in a ring with a gingerbread man two days before Mania is a plan. Trick says he’s here with two gingerbread men. That gets the brawl started and they trade punches with Trick getting the better of things but Sami clotheslines him out of the ring. The gingerbread man is still in a corner and Sami looks at him then kills the mascot with a Helluva Kick, it spins the head of the costume around, but then Sami turns into a Trick Shot and Trick poses with the title. Nothing new here from either man but they’re still lining up the official double turn despite the crowd having been ahead of that for a few weeks now.

We see Cody Rhodes arrive, we’re going commercial free after this break apparently.

Post break we get a hype video for the women’s tag team title match. Seems Nikki will be there despite the ankle injury.

Back to the ring, here come Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss followed by Bayley and Lyra Valkyria for our next match.

We start with a big brawl and settle into Charlotte chopping at Lyra, the bell hasn’t even rung yet. Lyra with a running heel kick as Bliss rams Bayley into the ring steps. Nia Jax shows up to attack Lyra. Lash Legend shows up and of course everything goes haywire. The brawl continues, Lash and Jax stand tall per sadly usual stuff. Lyra takes the Death Sentence from them. What a total yawn.

We get a hype video for Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi. If one part of the build for Mania has worked it’s been Brock and Femi.

Wrestlers are filling up the ring for the Battle Royal. The only entrances we see are Royce Keys and Joe Hendry if that tells you anything.

Match #4: Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

Technically 36 minutes between matches, no bueno at all. OK, depressed Johnny Gargano is laying down on the mat which is still funny. Kit Wilson gets eliminated by tripping over sad Johnny after an earlier Danhausen curse. Chris Sabin and Nathan Frazer are on the apron, they trade kicks but no elimination until Johnny shoves Frazer down but doesn’t attack Sabin. Axiom kicks Sabin to eliminate him. Both Americanos are tossed by Talla Tonga. Ilja Dragunov, who deserved better, attacks Shiloh Hill then eliminates him. Angel and Berto are after La Parka, that’s not the original La Parka, La Parka gets eliminated by Angel and Berto. Rey Fenix disposes of Berto. Psycho Clown with some offense to Angel then he tears his mask before Royce Keys eliminates Clown. Alex Shelley helps Johnny eliminate Axiom but Fenix takes out Shelley with an Adios Amigos kick. Apollo Crews and Shinsuke Nakamura square off. Ultimately Nakamura eliminates Crews. Joe Hendry with some Fall Away Slams then the turn but Aleister Black eliminates him.

Talla takes out both members of the LWO then everyone jumps Talla. Talla of course fights them off and lands punches to everyone. Bit of a flurry of kicks from Fenix but Talla deflects one then just lumbers around before catching a jumping Fenix and chokeslamming him out of the ring to eliminate him. Matt Cardona and Angel attack Talla, everyone attacks the stiff big man including Nakamura killing him with a Kinshasa but Black then eliminates Nakamura. Ilja goes after Black but Black kicks him off the top rope to eliminate him. Akira Tozawa with a German suplex to Black, Black then kills him with a Black Mass and tosses him. That draws the ire of Otis who runs over Black and others. Otis squishes Angel and eliminates him. Johnny drops depressed again and takes a Caterpillar then Otis tosses him out. Otis blocks a Rough Rider and spikes Cardona with a powerbomb then tosses him out too.

Our final four is Otis, Black, Keys, and Talla. Black and Otis square off, some fun stuff there but Black lands a Black Mass though he can’t eliminate Otis. Keys shows up and eliminates Black. Keys and Talla stare off then Otis gets involved to run over Keys and squash Talla in the corner. The crowd is mostly behind Otis. Talla boots Otis then tosses him out and the crowd stop caring. Keys blocks a chokeslam then dodges a boot and spikes Talla with a Spinebuster and he clotheslines Talla out to win and somewhat save the crowd.

OFFICIAL RESULT: Royce Keys won in 10:07

Rating: 2 stars
Thoughts: Alright for a battle royal but short and unfortunately gave way too much shine to Talla who still isn’t good. Keys winning was predictable but the right call overall if they’re getting behind him. Ilja deserved so much better than being stuck in this match for Mania and Mania adjacent stuff.

Commentary run down the Mania cards then we get a hype package for Roman Reigns vs. CM Punk.

Next here comes WWE champion Cody Rhodes for some promo time. Let’s see how he handles the reaction because it’s going to be mixed at best. Cody, who got his physical belt back at some point during the week, gets a mic and takes a moment to figure out the reaction from the crowd. Then he asks Vegas what they want to talk about. We’re not gonna talk about the last three Mania’s and how someone might be needling him. Travis Scott, or the Final Boss, or someone who should just go home this year. Weak “go home Pat” chant that slowly does build a bit a bit. Tomorrow is simple, two men in a contest for the oldest and richest prize in the game. Cody against his mentor, the apex predator and legend killer Randy Orton. See Cody knows this comes with the territory. Randy mentioned Cody taking, which is interesting coming from a man who’s never taken responsibility in his life. Cody was there in 2009 and saw Randy burn everything down around him and in his path, wrestle for this title and lose. Randy is very good right now, on for some God forsaken reason CM Punk interrupts this. Punk gets in the ring and gets a mic of his own to talk with Cody. Cody asks Punk if they hug will Punk kick him in the balls and turn on him too. Punk plays a little coy, there’s a “yes” chant and Punk says Cody doesn’t deserve to get kicked in the balls. He’s here to give a little advice and remind Cody that Pat isn’t worth anyone’s time, then they trade compliments about their attire. Punk is wearing a suit on WWE TV for maybe the first time since Teddy Long got married on air. They talk about mutual chases and how they’ve circled each other for a long time, but now live on a Friday night they’re both champions headlining WrestleMania. We’re past Punk giving Cody advice, and if Punk was ever a teacher he isn’t now but wants to just say Cody has learned from the best including Randy but no longer. Punk doesn’t know what will happen at Mania, but he knows they’ll both be here on Monday, and Punk can only hope the fans show up on Monday for whatever happens, and Punk says he’s proud of Cody. They briefly hug then Punk goes to leave, Cody stops him and says he’s got one thing to share with Punk. Cody knows Punk is up against a guy so good they had to create terms for him, the most dominant WrestleMania main eventer in history in Roman Reigns. But Punk wasn’t born into this, he was so good that WWE came to him and let him keep his name, then even after Punk left the fans stuck with him and chanted his name. When Punk came back he could have played the hits, but instead came back better than ever like Shawn Michaels. Five years after a debilitating back injury we got the best of HBK, now Punk might be turning into Mr. WrestleMania for this generation. Cody is one of the few people who has the right to say this, thank you to Punk for everything he’s taught him and done for this, and if it means anything Dusty would be extremely proud of Punk. The two men hug, Punk has one more thing to say, he loves everyone and these titles belong to the fans as much as the men holding them and they’re here to celebrate with the people. That closes the episode.