RHR Weekly Review (Week after WrestleMania)

This is a bit behind, but the week after WrestleMania was interesting and brought back some of that exciting old feel of past Raw after Manias, but expanded. So here are some things from the WWE last week. There is no AEW review, but we will return to the regular review this weekend.

Monday Night Raw 4/21/2025

John Cena’s opening of the show was good, making the ring announcer introduce him differently. The promo was awesome, ending with an RKO out of nowhere when Orton surprised Cena and seemed to be the next challenger for the last real champion.

The women’s tag titles switched hands back to Liv and Raquel, defeating Becky Lynch & Lyra Valkyria, where Lynch finally turned on Valkyria, hopefully setting up a student vs. teacher feud soon. A Raw after WrestleMania isn’t one until there’s a surprise return, and we got it with Rusev! Rusev returned and attacked the Alpha Academy when they challenged the New Day. It’s nice to see the Redeemer back on TV, and I can’t wait to see what’s next for him.

Iyo Sky came out and gave a good promo where the fans are behind her as champion when NXT women’s champion Stephanie Vaquer challenged Sky to a match. The match was incredible, perhaps a PPV/PLE level match that ended with interference from Giulia and Roxanne Perez when Rhea Ripley came to clear the ring and face down Iyo Sky, but the match with Sky and Vaquer was a promising sign of the future in this division.

Jey Uso celebrated with the fans, and later, Sami Zayn came out to support his fellow Uce. I thought Sami was going to stab Jey in the back, but it didn’t happen. Jimmy Uso came out, and they all celebrated Jey as the new world heavyweight champion.

Gunther coming to ringside to berate Michael Cole as the crowd screamed “You tapped out” pissed the Ring General off where he tried to put Cole in a sleeper when Pat McAfee attempted to save his friend, only for Gunther to put McAfee in the sleeper hold where refs and other officials pried Gunther off while helping McAfee to the back. If this leads to a potential match, then I’m ok with it, especially if it gives McAfee a break on commentary.

The main confrontation occurred when Seth Rollins and Paul Heyman came out to a crazed crowd chanting for him, Punk, and Reigns. Rollins began to talk when CM Punk came out. Rollins and Punk start a fight when Punk attempts to get his hands on Heyman, only for Rollins to sneak attack Punk and hit the stomp.

Then, Heyman begins to give a new introduction for Rollins when Roman Reigns’ music hits and attacks Rollins, then Reigns hits Heyman with the Superman punch, setting up for the spear when… Out of nowhere comes Bron Breakker, who speared Reigns and aligned with Rollins and Heyman, taking out Punk, followed by a charged-up spear to Reigns through the barrier, as Raw ends with Heyman, Rollins, and Breakker standing tall with this new alliance coming to form.

NXT 4/22/2025

Ricky Saints’ opening the show was good; it’s just nice to see him being appropriately showcased. Lexis King is coming out, challenging Saints to a cup vs. title match before his Heritage Cup match against a returning Noam Dar! I’m happy to see Dar back in action. He looked good as he defeated King to become the new Heritage champion, while Lexis King looked foolish.

The ruler Oba Femi’s segment was good especially when a pissed off Trick Williams came to confront the champion wanting a one on one match, when somebody said his name because Joe Hendry appeared and the crowd loses it. Hendry calls out Trick before addressing Femi when the Ruler tells Hendry not to make the same mistake as Moose did when Williams steps in and the fight starts dumping Williams out, leaving Femi and Hendry having a stare down.

The main event between Stephanie Vaquer and Roxanne Perez for the NXT women’s title was another good one. Vaquer is fantastic, and Perez will be heading to the main roster soon (finally). However, La Primera won and retained her title when Giulia hit the stage, and she could be the challenger for the NXT women’s championship.

Friday Night Smackdown 4/25/2025

SmackDown started exactly how Raw did as John Cena came out and did the same thing on Monday, but before he could start, Randy Orton’s music hit to confront Cena. Cena’s promo was excellent as they set up a match between the two legends at Backlash in St. Louis when Cena tried to attack Orton this time. Only for Orton to hit another RKO, laying out the last real champion holding the title high.

The Tiffany Stratton and Jade Cargill were a surprise, I did not expect this interaction right now, but looking into the future main event women’s scene between the two beautiful women was nice. The match was all right, certainly has potential to be a main event, but Naomi attacking Jade was a good sign that the feud is not over, thankfully, and Stratton being struck by a returning Nia Jax means that Jax is going to challenge Tiffy for the championship next.

Chelsea Green faced Zelina Vega for the women’s United States title; Green has been a fun champion, better than the women’s Intercontinental champion. But we got a big upset as Vega pins Green to become the new women’s US champion for a good moment for Vega, who has been gaining momentum for months.

The Miz had an in-ring segment for a surprise return on Smackdown, which, like Rusev, wasn’t a big surprise but a good one. Aleister Black returned with the amazing theme song and attacked Miz with Black Mass. Hopefully, Black can get a run similar to his time in NXT this time, not AEW.

Solo Sikoa and the new US champion, Jacob Fatu, came out, and the crowd was all for Fatu. Sikoa tried to take all the credit when Fatu cut him off, only for LA Knight to come out demanding a rematch. Drew McIntyre inserted himself in the US title picture, which looks amazing between Fatu, Knight, McIntyre, and potentially Sikoa.

McIntyre and Knight’s match would have stolen the show without the main event. It was a good match that ended in chaos as Damian Priest attacked McIntyre, only for Fatu to come in and clean house, standing tall as champion. There will be some killer matches as Fatu defends the US title.

Now for the main event of Friday night, the triple threat ladder match for the WWE tag team title that stole the show and maybe the week in WWE, proving that this match should have been on one of the nights for WrestleMania 41. While it was another multi-team ladder match, this was fun and not so much a car wreck. MCMG and the Profits showed up here.

There is nothing against DIY, which is a steady team every time, but this match highlights MCMG and the profits that often get overlooked. Dawkins doing the spear off the ladder a la Edge at WrestleMania 17 was insane. Still, the Profits retaining the title ending this insane match and week, leaving me wondering who is the next to challenge the Street Profits for the tag titles that seemed to be better showcased on Smackdown so far this year.