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Cook’s WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event Review 11.1.25
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...Hey kids! Steve Cook here with you for the latest edition of WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event! It’s a big night for crowning champions (Go whichever baseball team you like!), and WWE has four huge championship matches happening tonight. Sounds like a good time to me!
Cook’s WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event Review 11.1.25
Then. Now. Forever. Together!
We’re in Salt Lake City! Cody Rhodes & Drew McIntyre are WALKING! Tiffany Stratton & Jade Cargill are WALKING! Penta is DRINKING COFFEE! Dominik Mysterio is WALKING! Rusev is WALKING! CM Punk & Jey Uso are WALKING!
We see a video package sending us back to 1985 and the origin of SNME. We see some of tonight’s competitors warming up. Obsession is bigger than any one moment! Some call it legacy, they call it Saturday!
Pyro & ballyhoo! That’s a tall screen/set. Michael Cole & Wade Barrett are our hosts.
Undisputed WWE Championship Match: Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Drew McIntyre: Just like the olden days, the match for the biggest title starts the show! Cody enters first, as is his prerogative as Champion. If he gets disqualified or counted out, he will lose his title. Lilian Garcia does the fancy introductions. Drew has Lilian introduce him as “The New American Dream”, then he touches the belt while the referee holds it up. Go-behinds exchanged, Drew with an elbow. Kitchen sink knee by Cody. Cody punches Drew in the corner, stomps him, gets hit in the throat by Drew. Chops by Drew & Cody. Cody with a standing gourdbuster, and Drew goes outside. Drew asks Cody to come outside, Cody thinks about it and opts to let Drew take the count. Drew milks it before getting in at 9. Tieup, headlock by Cody, Drew tries to shove Cody into the referee but Cody stops. Drew goes to Cody’s hair and pushes him in the corner. Drew wants Cody to punch him for a DQ. Kick to the gut by Drew. Drew punches and bites Cody in the face. Goldust uppercut by Cody, then some punches. Cody stomps Drew down in the corner, he accidentally hits the ref but no bell is called for. Drew sends Cody shoulder first into the ringpost, then tosses him into the timekeeper’s area and lets the referee count. Cody breaks the count at 8. Drew mounts and punches Cody. Drew overhead suplexes Cody for a nearfall. Drew applies an armbar, Cody fights out. Cody runs into a Polish hammer for two. Drew stomps Cody’s leg, Cody fights back out of the corner. Back body drop by Drew, cover gets two. Drew mocks Cody for a bit, then heads to the top rope. Cody meets him in the corner with punches and follows Drew up top. Superplex hits for Cody! My screen pauses! When it returns, Cody hits a powerslam on Drew. Cody hits a Disaster Kick, instead of covering he measures Drew for a Cody Cutter. Drew blocks, but Cody still hits it for a two count. Some jabs and a Bionic Elbow by Cody. Drew responds with a spinebuster that gets two. Sitout powerbomb gets two for Drew. Drew goes outside and gets the Championship belt. He gives it to Cody, Cody won’t use it so Drew hits a standing Claymore for two. We’re on the floor again and Drew tries to kick Cody through the announce table again, but Cody blocks with a kick to the gut. They go back towards the ring, but Drew knocks Cody off the apron through the announce table! That gets a nine count from the referee. Drew goes for the regular Claymore but Cody moves. Cody jams his knee trying to climb the turnbuckle and getting around the referee. The referee checks on Cody and holds Drew off. Super Cody Cutter gets two! Cody keeps selling the knee but it must not be that bad if he can do a Super Cody Cutter. Cross Rhodes is blocked by a kick by Drew. The referee is smashed into the corner by Cody & Drew. Glasgow Kiss by Drew and everyone is down. Drew gets the championship belt back in the ring and measures Cody. Cody evades and both men end up running into each other. Cody DDTs Drew on the title belt! To be fair to Cody, Drew had the belt in his hand at the time. Cody tosses the belt out of the ring, hits the Cross Rhodes and gets the three count!
Winner: Cody Rhodes (approximately 18:30 via pinfall)
Match Rating: ***3/4
Drew really tried to get Cody to cheat here, but all he could do was kinda get Cody to cheat but not really. Really good action from these guys as one would expect given their history. The one complaint I would have is it never really felt like Cody’s title was in jeopardy.
Cody celebrates while sitting on the top turnbuckle, while Drew recovers on the floor.
CM Punk is shown stretching! Cole & Barrett toss us to a video covering the issue between Tiffany Stratton & Jade Cargill.
Nick Aldis walks up to Tiffany and says he wants to make sure she’s ready for tonight’s match. Tiffany insists that she’s ready.
Some celebrities are here, including Pauly Shore & Post Malone, who I’m told is no relation to Utah Jazz legend Karl Malone.
WWE Women’s Championship Match: Tiffany Stratton (c) vs. Jade Cargill: Tiffy’s left knee is heavily taped, which is why people wonder if she should be competing or not. Jade tosses Tiffany down, which has her favoring that knee. Jade with a pump kick, then one to the knee. Chokeslam by Jade. Pumphandle reverse slam gets two for Jade. Jade beals Tiffany across the ring, but then misses in the corner. Tiffany has issues climbing the ropes, then is put in the Tree of Woe. Jade sends Tiffany to the floor, then places her on the steps. Jade misses and trips over Tiffany to hit the steps. Tiffany goes up top but Jade meets her there. Tiffany sends her down, then hits a Swanton Bomb for two. Jade fights back and hits an Eye of the Storm for two. Fallaway slam by Jade. Another one! Make it three, that gets a count of two. Sitout powerbomb gets two on Tiffany. Regular powerbomb, and another one. Jaded gets the three count, HISTORY HAS BEEN MADE IN SALT LAKE CITY!
Winner: Jade Cargill (5:33 via pinfall)
Match Rating: **
One-sided match here intended to put Jade over as a dominant force that nobody will be able to beat. Tiffany had a good run as champion but it was probably time to move onto something else as things seemed to be getting old hat. Putting Jade over like this would likely get her all sorts of praise from her bosses on a documentary.
Jade celebrates as the pyro goes off.
The cryptic WrestleMania 42 commercial airs.
Montreal will be hosting SmackDown and SNME on January 23 & 24.
Men’s Intercontinental Championship Triple Threat Match: Dominik Mysterio (c) vs. Penta vs. Rusev: Penta’s wardrobe and presentation has seen an upgrade during his time here. Blue Penta reminds me of Bluetista, not really sure why. Rusev attacks Dom right away. Penta wants some too, and they immediately chop each other. Rusev dropkicks Penta but Dom breaks up the count. Rusev blocks Dom’s rana and powerbombs him down. Gutwrench and vertical suplexes by Rusev. Fallaway slam by Rusev. Rusev tries to send Dom into the ringpost, but Dom blocks and Rusev hits it. Penta flip dives onto Rusev, then Dom tope suicidas onto Penta. Penta & Dom trade shots in the ring, leading to the headstand dropkick by Penta. Rusev breaks that count by dragging Penta outside, then taking him down. Penta sent into the barricade. Penta sent into the steps. Rusev catches Dom and drops him face first on the rebuilt announce table. Rusev looks at the IC title and says he’s coming for it. Odd. Rusev sends Dom back into the ring and chokes him on the middle rope. Rusev gets drop toe held, but catches Dom on the 619 attempt. He locks Dom in the Accolade, but Penta breaks it up. Penta backcracks Rusev for two. Kicks by Penta to Rusev. Penta vaults into a shot from Rusev. Twisting uranage gets two for Rusev. Penta is placed up top, Rusev follows and gets knocked off, so Rusev yanks Penta down to the mat. Dom pulls the old Eddie Guerrero chair gimmick on Rusev, but it’s no disqualification so Rusev uses the chair. Whoops. Penta hits the Mexican Destroyer on Dom, using Rusev as a springboard! Tornado DDT by Penta gets a two count on Rusev. Penta motions for the Destroyer, but Rusev blocks and hits an Alabama Slam. Rusev misses a kick and Penta hits his Driver for two. Penta jumps off the top rope into a Machka Kick, and Rusev locks in the Accolade! The bell rings, but the referee isn’t indicating the match is over. Turns out Dirty Dom is over at the timekeeper’s area and rang the bell. Rusev goes after Dom and bangs him off the ringpost. Rusev gets sent into the steps by Dom. The bell hammer is in the ring and Dom crawls towards it. Penta picks it up instead, and hits Rusev after Dom ducks! Dom sends Penta into the ringpost and hits Rusev with a frog splash for the three count.
Winner: Dominik Mysterio (12:23 via pinfall)
Match Rating: ***
Dom gets the job done without the help of the Judgment Day or the Americanos. Who’s gonna beat this guy? I mean, that’s a good question, right?
Jey & Jimmy Uso are in the locker room while Jey gets ready for his title match. Next, John Cena will address the subject of his final opponent!
We see a teaser of an upcoming interview John Cena did with Tom Rinaldi that will air “over the next couple of weeks”.
There will be a 16 man tournament starting on the November 10 edition of Raw, and the winner will face John Cena in his last match on December 13. Superstars from Raw, SmackDown & NXT will appear, along with maybe people not currently here.
We get a video building up the upcoming match for the World Heavyweight Championship.
World Heavyweight Championship Match: CM Punk vs. Jey Uso: Time to yeet! Post Malone getting as much screen time during these entrances as the wrestlers are. Is he gonna do a run-in? Tieup into the corner, Punk with the clean break and stare. Jey with a shove in the other corner. Punk tries to lift Jey, Jey blocks into a rollup. Arm wringer & headlock by Punk. Shoulderblock by Punk gets a one count and he goes back to the headlock. Another shoulderblock, then Jey hits a running elbow. Jey stomps the back of Punk’s head. Headlock takeover by Jey. A shoulderblock by Jey, Jey slips out of a GTS attempt and rolls outside. Back in, another tieup. Punk with forearms, a snap mare & four elbowdrops. Two count on Jey. Punk tries a neckbreaker, first one doesn’t work but the second try gets a two count. Punk tears Jey’s shirt for chopping purposes, Jey hits a Samoan drop. Punk blocks the spear and hits another neckbreaker for two. Punk with a modified crossface on Jey, Jey yeet punches out of it. Jey evades a dropkick and covers for two. Punk gets Jey up and connects with a GTS, but Jey rolls outside. Punk gets a water bottle and splashes it on Jey’s face before rolling him back in the ring. Vertical suplex by Punk gets two. Punk places Jey up top and chops him before following him up. Jey blocks the superplex and headbutts Punk down to the mat. Punk evades a top rope move, but it’s Jey with more punches. Jey sends Punk into the corner and Backs it Up. He goes for another one, Punk goes for a GTS but Jey slips out, superkicks Punk and hits a spear! Uso splash gets two! Jey goes up top again & Punk follows him. Superplex by Punk! Punk with some punches, Jey fights back and punches are exchanged. Punk with a clothesline, reverse elbow and leg lariat. High knee into the corner and a bulldog by Punk. Jey slips out of another GTS attempt and hits a superkick that knocks Punk to the floor. Jey with a tope suicida! Punk breaks the count and rolls back outside. Jey follows him out and spears him through the barricade. Punk blocks the Uso splash with his knees and hits the GTS for two! Punk goes for a piledriver, Jey blocks and hits a GTS of his own! Punk hits Jey with a spear and gets the two count. Another GTS by Punk sends Jey off the ropes and into position for another GTS, but Jey locks in a sleeper! Punk rolls out and locks in an anaconda vice! Jey reaches the ropes. Crucifix pin gets two for Jey. Kicks exchanged. Jey runs into a knee, then two more GTSs ends up getting the three count. HISTORY HAS BEEN MADE IN SALT LAKE CITY!
Winner: CM Punk (20:58 via pinfall)
Match Rating: ***1/4
Given the discourse around Jey, I wondered if this was a test of how long he could go. Pretty decent match for the most part, I was surprised everything ended cleanly but something tells me that the story with Jey embracing a darker side is going to take awhile longer.
Punk celebrates in the ring while Jey sits outside. Is Punk gonna get out of here without being attacked by somebody? Somehow, he does. So long & good night!
If you’d like to chime in with your own thoughts on tonight’s show, feel free to join your fellow 411 Maniacs down in the comment section! As the legendary Larry Csonka always said: Have fun and don’t be a dick. When I’m not here you can catch me on the social media from time to time.
