Ringside Weekly Review (3/24 to 3/28/2025)

It has been a while since my last review. I’ve just been watching everything for what feels like a bit of a slow build-up to Wrestlemania, which seemed to pick up last week. I have tried to come up with different ways to do this, but I decided to keep it short and sweet, changing the name from the RHR weekly review to the obvious and more straightforward Ringside weekly review. So here are some takeaways from last week’s shows from WWE and AEW.

Monday Night Raw 3/24/2025

The reunion of the Usos was a cool thing for that Scotland crowd to take on and defeat A-Town Down Under; doing it like nothing happened is a nitpick, but it certainly something to give the build-up to Jey’s title against Gunther at Wrestlemania, especially after that pretty solid slap Jimmy gave Gunther in the hallway.

The John Cena and Cody Rhodes in-ring confrontation has been good but had some energy last week. Now, it can be quickly assumed that Cena has been outmaneuvering Rhodes so far, but that only means Rhodes is going to have a big moment soon, with Mania being a few weeks away. Either way, so far, so good when it comes to this huge main event, at least until Friday night.

Lyra Valkyria and her women’s intercontinental title run have not been the best. Hopefully, a match against a main event name like Bayley or perhaps Becky Lynch can turn this around, but it’s sort of a rough start to Valkyria’s first title reign.

However, the main event for the IC title between Bron Breakker and Penta was great. Although the match ended with a disqualification from Judgement Day, it makes the IC title all the more exciting and enjoyable when you add Finn Balor and Dominik Mysterio, along with the Judgement Day drama that grows each week.

WWE NXT 3/25/2025

Last week’s NXT was to show how good Stephanie Vaquer is and will be going forward in WWE. Vaquer defending both the women’s North American and women’s NXT championships on the show was fantastic. The rematch against Fallon Henley for the NXT Women’s North American title was a good match. Still, Vaquer was retaining the title, and the main event against Jaida Parker for the NXT championship was a good match (Which made male fans happy for obvious reasons, as always, sorry, I’m human), but it was remainder that Parker is the main event player who needs more reps. Jordynne Grace challenging Vaquer for the women’s championship is going to be an excellent match and feud, only strengthening the case that the best women’s division in wrestling is in NXT, hands down.

The Ricky Saints (Why not Starks) and Shawn Spears sit-down interview was good; that should be a good match for the men’s North American title, of course, but it is just another self-inflicted gunshot wound for AEW with this happening in NXT instead of dynamite or collision.

AEW Dynamite 3/26/2025

Speaking of AEW, last week’s episode of Dynamite was about the same, which is fine considering the lead-up to Dynasty this upcoming weekend. Again, I’m a tad behind, but it’s nice to see Kenny Omega back in the ring doing these open international champion challenges. It’s at least something to spark some interest that has been missing for a little while. The potential three-way match between Omega, Ricochet, and newest signing Speedball Mike Bailey is precisely what the AEW faithful like to see, so hopefully this gives AEW some momentum going into spring/summer with Double or Nothing VI and the big All-In Texas show.

Megan Bayne continues to be a big deal with getting a win over Toni Storm in a tag match. It certainly feels like Bayne could be the next AEW women’s champion as early as Dynasty, which is potentially a good thing. Still, I don’t completely understand why this could not have been Kris Statlander or Kamille. Still, Bayne can be a difference maker, and her striking look and presentation don’t hurt either, making her a potential bright spot for this women’s division that needs something.

And finally, the Swerve and Moxley in-ring segment was okay; I am sorry that Jon Moxley has completely lost the plot and is an immediate turn-off, especially with this Temu; Roman Reigns’ knockoff title reign he’s having has just not been good at all, which sucks but is the truth. Hopefully, Swerve saves AEW and us from this awfulness, defeating Moxley and becoming champion, which hopefully leads to Moxley and the Death Riders being no more, as well as a much-needed and very extended Vacation for Moxley, who is doing more harm than good at this point for AEW.

Friday Night Smackdown 3/28/2025

From the o2 in London was Friday Night Smackdown, which was probably the best way to end the week in wrestling.  Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton’s confrontation was exciting. I hope we get this match very soon. Drew McIntyre comes out and challenges Orton to a match. This match could easily become a championship match someday. Still, McIntyre’s win over Orton was precisely what was needed for him to succeed in his match against Damian Priest at WrestleMania.

Charlotte Flair’s win over Michin was all right, as the build to her match against Tiffany Stratton continues to be a bit flat, although the side-by-side interview from the previous week was good. Meanwhile, Naomi’s heel turn has been solid, and hopefully, she gets a chance to shine down the road, such as winning the women’s United States championship away from Chelsea Green or winning Money in the Bank.

The Street Profits vs. Pretty Deadly was an okay match. The Profits being champions is fine, and Pretty Deadly is a solid team. However, the attempt to make tag team wrestling a thing on Friday nights continues to be a work in progress, but I have some hope.

Jacob Fatu interfering in the US title match with LA Knight & Braun Strowman was one of the highlights of the show. Hopefully, this leads to him getting a title opportunity, where he can secure some gold to keep his massive wave of momentum going into 2025.

Now we get to the highly anticipated contract signing between Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and CM Punk for their match at Wrestlemania. The crowd made this segment so much more exciting, especially for Punk, who finds out from Paul Heyman that his dream will come true by being in the main event of Wrestlemania. Finally, Punk getting emotional hit a little differently, to be honest.

Rollins ultimately coming unglued at this happening was good; him being Punk’s biggest hater just works, especially in this feud. Reigns was on fire this whole segment, but Punk dropped the bomb that his being in the main event of Wrestlemania wasn’t the favor wise man Paul Heyman owes Punk ending the show in a shock and adding some more spice to what is going to happen in this star-powered triple threat match at Wrestlemania.