Can anyone stop John Cena?: Night of Champions Recap

Summary

Raw Recap with Sam Roberts & Megan Morant

Episode: "Can Anyone Stop John Cena? – Night of Champions Recap"

Date: June 29, 2025
Podcast: WWE x Fanatics Podcasts

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Overview

This episode dives into the fallout from WWE Night of Champions, focusing on the blockbuster main event between John Cena and CM Punk—14 years after their legendary Money in the Bank match. Sam Roberts and Megan Morant break down the event's biggest shocks, swerve-heavy storytelling, and historic title shifts, while analyzing what’s next for WWE's biggest names. The episode pulses with energy, genuine surprise, and deep fandom, making it a must-listen for anyone passionate about contemporary pro wrestling.

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Main Event Deep Dive: John Cena vs. CM Punk

Theme: Unpredictable storytelling, layered callbacks, and the chaos of modern WWE main events.

Match Build & Significance

• 14 Years in the Making: "14 years removed from their classic match at Money in the Bank 2011, CM Punk and John Cena are in the ring." (A, 01:16)
• Fan Anticipation: "Fans had clamored for this since word first got out that John Cena was coming back for a year and Punk returned."
• Callback City: Both men adopted elements of their past personas—Cena with a pipe bomb promo, Punk as the “Doctor of Punkonomics.”
• Atmosphere: The Saudi crowd brought electric, international energy, hyping up every moment. (B, 02:34)

Act-by-Act Match Breakdown

Act 1 & 2:

• CM Punk kicks out of three AAs (Attitude Adjustments), the third with a dramatic power-up spot. (A, 03:42)
• Cena picks up the title belt but resists using it—teasing a potential disqualification and nodding to his current ruthless persona. (A, 04:59)
• "John Cena not using the title—enough of a story element to go, that can lead to the finish, and we've got it." (A, 05:02)

Interference & Pandemonium:

• Seth Rollins (Money in the Bank holder), Paul Heyman, Bronson Reed, and Bron Breaker invade, aiming to disrupt and possibly cash in.
• "As he did, he flew, the whole group of them flew halfway around the world... to cash in the briefcase or to screw CM Punk." (A, 06:19)
• Cena inadvertently takes out the referee, Punk hits the GTS, but can't secure a pin. (A, 07:21)
• Penta and Sami Zayn hit the ring to brawl with Rollins and the goons, blending a chaotic nexus of rivalries.

Referee Antics:

• Charles Robinson sprints down but gets "shoulder checked out of nowhere" by Cena—“Charles Robinson must have flown 25ft. I felt like he went halfway across the room.” (A, 11:41)
• "He's not a young pup, and he still looks like it." (B, 12:04)

Act 3 – The Emotional Core:

• Cena and Punk clear the ring and share a handshake-hug, only for Cena to attempt a betrayal with a low blow. Punk is ready and counters.
• “Just when you think… And he goes for the low blow. Punk catches him. Punk's a smart man because he's like, look, I'm ready to be cool, but I know you're not that cool.” (A, 18:19)
• Rollins returns, chaos resumes, and Cena capitalizes on the disorder to steal the pin, retaining.
• "Cena steals the pin, walks away one more time saying, you guys settle whatever it is that you guys want to settle. I'm leaving with this." (A, 19:16)

Aftermath:

• Cena stands tall, making it clear nothing distracts him from his goal of retiring as champion.
• SummerSlam title shot will now go to the King of the Ring winner.
• Debates over whether Punk deserves a rematch after being robbed by chaos.
  • "He had the match won… he could have counted to 17 million.” (A, 21:30)

Notable Quote:

• Megan: “He’s not allowing us to [cheer]. And it is in moments like the pipe bomb or when he stops Seth from being able to cash in, that we go, ‘Oh, there it is again.’” (B, 14:50)

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Key Storyline Developments & Hot Takes

Seth Rollins’ Money in the Bank Fiasco

• Seth thinks he controls the room; instead, his many enemies (Punk, Penta, Sami) ensure he’s constantly thwarted.
  • “Seth has been running around explaining exactly what he wants to do, and now everyone's on high alert.” (A, 23:34)

King and Queen of the Ring

1. Jade Cargill’s Star-Making Performance

• Beat Asuka in her best singles match yet—both looked “like comic book characters come to life.” (A, 29:01)
• Set up for SummerSlam vs. Tiffany Stratton, with Naomi lurking via Money in the Bank.
• Megan: "I don't want to say it's a passing of the torch… but for Jade to have her moment over somebody like Asuka… it just shows, the depths of the women's division." (B, 31:18)

2. Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton – The King is Crowned

• Crowd erupts for both, especially Orton.
• The finish: Cody reverses an Orton attack into the exposed turnbuckle (exposed by Orton himself), then scores with Crossroads for the win.
  • “Cody reversing a move and Randy getting sent into the buckle that Randy exposed... it might be ironic.” (A, 39:27)
• Banter about sportsmanship and “villainy,” with Megan questioning if Cody is edging towards being a bad guy for such tactics.
• Cody now faces Cena at SummerSlam.

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Other Major Matches & Segments

United States Championship – Solo Sikoa vs. Jacob Fatu

• High-impact, wild brawl with Solo reverting to his “enforcer” persona. (A, 57:46)
• Tongan interference: Tangaloa returns; a third giant Tonga brother appears.
• Bloodline drama escalates: Sam draws brilliant family tree/history.
  • “All of a sudden, you start getting the feeling of, oh, oh, something’s going on here.” (A, 61:05)
• Solo walks out as champion, Jacob Fatu left alone, hinting at further Bloodline faction warfare.

Rhea Ripley vs. Raquel Rodriguez – Street Fight

• Brutal, no-disqualification battle showcasing Raquel’s “Big Mommy Cool” power and Rhea’s unbreakable champion mentality.
• “There was one moment… she just destroyed Rhea Ripley with this clothesline.” (A, 46:02)
• Roxanne Perez interference adds storyline layers.
• Rhea’s path clearly steered toward reclaiming the Women’s World Title.

Sami Zayn vs. Karrion Kross

• Sami’s momentum surges after a hard-fought victory, resisting Kross’s mind games.
• “It almost feels like these mind games are not going to impact Sami Zayn.” (B, 55:14)
• Sami’s focus is now on a world title chase.

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |------------|---------| | 01:16 | Cena vs. Punk 14 Years Later – Main Event Build | | 03:42 | Punk Kicks Out of 3 AAs; Title Belt Tease | | 05:26 | Seth Rollins, Money in the Bank Interference Chaos | | 11:41 | Charles Robinson’s Long Memorable Sprint | | 13:37 | Cena vs. Rollins Dynamic, Audience Conflicted Cheers | | 18:19 | Cena-Punk Emotional Handshake & Betrayal Tease | | 21:30 | Punk “Had the Match Won” Debate | | 29:01 | Jade Cargill vs. Asuka - Queen of the Ring Final | | 35:07 | Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton - King of the Ring Final | | 57:46 | Solo Sikoa vs. Jacob Fatu - US Championship | | 46:02 | Raquel Rodriguez vs. Rhea Ripley - Street Fight | | 52:54 | Karrion Kross vs. Sami Zayn - Mind Games vs. Focus |

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Sam (on the Night of Champions main event):
  "This was what this match was. It was the story of more." (A, 05:26)

• Megan (on crowd energy):
  "The crowd in Saudi—They were electric throughout the show." (B, 02:34)

• Sam (on the chaos of Seth’s attempted cash-in):
  "He was so confident in the plan. He had hand gestures… not thinking about the fact that everybody’s mad at him." (A, 10:45)

• On Charles Robinson sprinting:
  "Charles Robinson must have flown 25ft. I felt like he went halfway across the room." (A, 11:41)

• On Jade Cargill: "Jade Cargill literally looked like an action figure. Like a storm. Yes, like storm." (A, 29:01)

• On Cody vs. Randy Orton:
  "Do you think Randy can be happy with the way he picked up this victory?"
  "A hundred percent." (B, 37:08 / A, 37:11)

• On Team Dynamics and The Bloodline:
  "Solo went from, like you said, not having a lot of people around him at that table, to walking out and having loyalty around him… It’s a bloodline 2.0. 2.0." (A, 65:16)

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Takeaways & Forward-Looking Threads

• Cena's Reign: Despite overwhelming adversity and fan longing for closure, John Cena remains champion—but for how much longer?
• Money in the Bank Intrigue: Seth Rollins’ broad spectrum of enemies keeps title matches unpredictable.
• Women’s Division: Led by Jade Cargill, Tiffany Stratton, Naomi, and Rhea Ripley, WWE’s women’s roster is more dynamic (and potentially volatile) than ever.
• Bloodline Revival: With Solo Sikoa orchestrating, the revamped Bloodline expands and reasserts dominance, hinting at future wars.
• Sami Zayn’s Focus: Unfazed by mind games, Sami’s laser-focused on championship gold.

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Overall Vibe

• Deep, lore-driven wrestling commentary;
• Banter alternates between analytical and tongue-in-cheek;
• Tone blends genuine fandom, storytelling expertise, and comedic riffing.

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Miss an episode? No worries—listen for instant recaps, exclusive backstage notes, and keep an eye out for more post-show breakdowns, especially after the next big Monday Night Raw.

Transcript

[A]

David. Yes. Have you ever noticed that the way we use our phones is ironic? Phones are for connection, but we look at them more than we look at each other. That's ironic. Griffin, it's like rain on your wedding day. Listen. That's ironic. So U.S. cellular created U.S. mode to help us reconnect, you and I. That's right. A phone company wanting people to use their phones, less ironic. A phone company wanting people to use their phones, less ironic. But let's find US again with US mode from US Cellular. Visit uscellular.com built for us to get started. What are the other things that are ironic? We have a new United States Champion. We have a King of the Ring. We have a Queen of the Ring. And John Cena is one day closer to his of retiring as WWE Champion. This is the Night of Champions recap. A WWE and Fanatics original production. Oh, Megan Morant. We did it. We went through it. We went through it together. We are coming to you right after seeing Night of Champions, the emotional journey that we just went through in that main event. 14 years removed from their classic match at Money in the Bank 2011, CM Punk and John Cena are in the ring. A match that fans were asking for since word first got out that that. That John Cena was coming back for a year. They said, we can't believe our luck. This happens to be a year that CM Punk has returned to the wwe. We could actually see this match again. And Megan, if you could give a hundred people a hundred chances to write out exactly how this match was going to end, I don't think they would have had it.

[B]

100 people would have it Wrong.

[A]

Wrong.

[B]

I did not expect anything that we saw.

[A]

I mean, when, like, so much of it, there was so many things you might have expected. Like one or two of the things. Yes, but not all. We got all the things.

[B]

I mean, Penta was out there. We have a lot to dove into with this. I mean, who's that?

[A]

Yeah. This is music.

[B]

The main event completely tore the house down. And it was the crowd in Saudi.

[A]

The Roberts house. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

[B]

The crowd in Saudi. They were electric throughout the show, the.

[A]

Whole night, by the way. They were also electric on smackdown. And I mean, they were the kickoff. Kickoff. They were amazing, by the way.

[B]

I love these kickoffs, especially the international ones.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Because it really gives you a feel for what the energy is like in whatever country WWE's in and, like, what you can expect.

[A]

Like, you start to get more excited to be like, okay, so that's kind of A taste of what the crowd is going to be like.

[B]

Are they going to react to CM Punk? Are they going to boo it?

[A]

Exactly right. So, I mean, we have this match, you know, and it really is, you know, 14 years removed from that original story of CM Punk watching John Cena be the guy, as all he's trying to do is prove to the world and the powers that be that he is the one who should be the guy. He's the one that should be main eventing. And here we are all these years later, and that question no longer remains about CM Punk. But it's. I mean, it's an entirely new story that is foundationally based on. On that first one. I mean, and you could see that from the fact that we have John Cena on the way there cutting a pipe bomb. We have CM Punk becoming the doctor of Punkonomics on the way there, and then we finally get this match in the ring, and CM Punk is cross legged in the center of it, and John Cena comes out, and it's one of those things where until the bell rings, you're kind of wondering, what is this actually gonna look like? And I felt like, you know, they did such a good job of building the anticipation for it, and you understood the story going in, but what is the match itself gonna look like? And the Act 1 and the Act 2 were terrific. To the point where you're going, like, where. Where is this all going? You know, whether it was like CM Punk kicking out of three AAs. The third one being with the power up, you know what I mean? The splash roll through Cena, power up on the shoulders, aa. And that was the third one that CM Punk kicks out of. You have John Cena, which we should talk about at some point, not using the title.

[B]

Yeah, he picks it up and it's like, oh, no, here we go again.

[A]

And by the way, by the way, John Cena not using the title. Enough of a story element to go. That can lead to the finish, and we've got it.

[B]

Yeah, that's what I thought.

[A]

We weren't even in Act 3.

[B]

Oh, you're going to get disqualified. John Cena doesn't care if he's going to get disqualified. Not this John Cena. What does John Cena do? He. Exactly. There was another moment in the match I said, oh, it's going to be the low blow and then it's going to be over. No, we still had more. More to go.

[A]

That's. This was what this match was. It was the story of more. And it's really interesting because you go back to 2011 and money in the bank and all the pieces of the puzzle that came together at the end of that match told this, like, really fascinating story in here, was the same. I think we talked about this at Money in the Bank. We said the thing about Money in the bank, and especially about Seth Rollins winning the briefcase, is that he throws an asterisk now into every discussion about a championship match, every time we talk about this person's facing this person for either the World Heavyweight or the WWE Championship, you now get to jump into the conversation with. But Seth has the briefcase. And.

[B]

And it's not just Seth.

[A]

No.

[B]

Because Seth comes with Paul Heyman. Seth comes with Bron Breaker. Seth comes with Bronson Reed.

[A]

As he did, he flew, the whole group of them flew halfway around the world to get to here to, I.

[B]

Think, cash in the briefcase or to screw CM Punk.

[A]

While he didn't seem thrilled, Seth Rollins, no. He didn't seem, you know, over the moon for it. And it's interesting because John Cena said, I know Seth Rollins isn't gonna cash in on me. Cause he wants me to retire with the brief, with the.

[B]

With the title so he can be the only.

[A]

The only champion.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And then Seth was like, it's funny you should say that because you're actually totally wrong. He comes out, but you're right, he's ready to cash in on Punk. And I think it was almost like John Cena was an afterthought.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Like, he's like, oh, but. But Cena coming in and like, all of a sudden. So Seth comes in, referee is down inadvertently. John Cena takes out the referee with the shoulder bump.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

But the referee is down. Cena didn't do it on purpose. Punk hits to go to sleep.

[B]

Has him, has the match.

[A]

One has seen it down for 17.

[B]

Yeah. No referee there to count.

[A]

He beat him like six times. He lay on top of him the whole time. That's when Seth comes in. And you know that CM Punk could have won that match because Seth Rollins entrance was, you know, nine minutes long. He's walking down. That's a long ramp.

[B]

Very long ramp. And we're going to talk about that a little bit.

[A]

Just ask Charles Robinson.

[B]

Right. Well, then Charles Robinson comes running down.

[A]

Well, well. So Rollins sends the Goons in, right?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And the goons, Bronson Reed and Braun Breaker, they start having a little trouble with CM Punk at first. But then eventually the numbers game catches up. CM Punk is 3/4 of the way into this Intense match anyway, and. And they start to get a handle on him until. Who is this? Penta comes out. Yeah, Penta comes to the ring to make the save. And you remember on Raw, they were specifically saying, do not get involved in our business anymore. Bron Breaker beat Penta and said, we are done with you. Right? And Penta looked at him and he went, no, no, no. I remember I was watching Rock going, why would he just. He just flatting out. He's flat out saying, no.

[B]

What did he think Pento was going to say? Okay, you're right.

[A]

He did beat him.

[B]

All right, he beat him. Done.

[A]

Now, I thought he was done. He's not done.

[B]

No, not Penta.

[A]

No, no, absolutely not. So Penta comes out, then Sami Zayn comes out. Cause Sami Zayn was feeling all big.

[B]

Big chested, especially after his win against Carrion Cross.

[A]

He beat Karrion Kross, feeling good about himself. Now, Sammy, what's not to love about Sami Zayn? I could be carrying Cross. Let me go out there and help Panther beat up Brom Breaker for a while. I. For me, if I beat Karrion Cross, I'd be at the nearest Chili's in Riyadh. I don't know if they have Chili's, but if there is one, that's where I would be, you know what I mean? Getting some crispers or something. But that's what they call them. But Sammy stuck around and said, no, let me show the world how much.

[B]

More the crispers can wait. I'm going to go show everybody what else I can do.

[A]

Which is a surprise to me because I've never said the crispers can wait. In my entire life. I've never even thought that. I've never felt it.

[B]

Sammy is.

[A]

There's one thing that can't wait. It's the crispers.

[B]

I mean, Sammy has much stronger willpower than you do.

[A]

That. I will give you that. I will say that that is 100% accurate. But so Sammy's out there now. He's taking. And as Sammy's out there, I love. I love a story with consequences. And I love this idea that Seth, in his mission to kind of control everything in a relatively short period of time, has done nothing but make enemies, right? And these enemies. This is not a WWE that you can just walk into and say, okay, I'm in charge now, and kind of take over the way Seth might have thought it was. Because everybody's like, no, even if you beat me, I'm coming back. And I'm coming back and I'm coming back. And also, like Penta, Sami Zayn, these are people with willpower for days. So now Seth, thinking that he could just come out and kind of control things, has to deal with everybody that he's dealt with. And just when it's time to cash in the briefcase, right, Seth is now in there, takes out CM Punk. And it's just so funny with Seth because he had this plan, and he was so confident in the plan. He had hand gestures, right? Just made a little hand gesture now.

[B]

And now the goons go. Hand gesture. Here comes the briefcase. I mean, he doesn't even need words to communicate with his group, but he's.

[A]

Not thinking about the fact that everybody's mad at him. So there are just hundreds of obstacles. There's endless obstacles from people that are ruining all the stuff that he's setting up with his hand gestures. So he hand gestures, and apparently Charles Robin Robinson is ready for it. And he's like, man, they love my meme. They love. They love how quick I could run. At WrestleMania a few years back, do.

[B]

You think when they were setting up the set in Riyadh, they were like, let's make this ramp extra long just in case Charles Robinson.

[A]

In case Charlie. In case Seth Rollins has a trick up his sleeve, and his. And his trick is old Chuck Robinson.

[B]

And we need Charles. We got to give him some room to run.

[A]

Well, I mean, look, it's one of the great wrestling memes.

[B]

My favorite.

[A]

You love seeing Charles run the best. So to see it live, okay. Before it ends the way it ended.

[B]

I mean, we were in your house screaming, there's the man.

[A]

It's the man. It's happening. We're doing it. Charles Robinson is running down, and then, I mean, John Cena just shoulder checks him out of nowhere. And Charles Robinson must have flown 25ft. I mean, in my mind's eye, I've only seen it once. In my mind's eye. I felt like he went halfway across the room.

[B]

He's not a young pup.

[A]

No.

[B]

And he still looks like it.

[A]

He looks fantastic.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Oh, I don't know if he looks fantastic now after what he went through tonight.

[B]

No, no, no.

[A]

But as he's running down, I'm like, this guy's gonna tear a quad or something. He's going to do some damage or he's at least going to trip and give us a tightest slide under the ring. You know, I just. I just don't think this is a good idea. But as he's making. I said he's going to make it. He's going to make it. And here's John Cena to just completely knock him on his. You know what? Charles Robinson is now down. Seth doesn't understand. And I tell you, to me, Seth.

[B]

Forgot the hand motion.

[A]

He was like, I don't have a hand motion for this. Man down. Man down. He's like, I don't understand how this could all be happening.

[B]

Yeah, he's gonna have to go back to the drawing board to figure that one out.

[A]

But I think that. And it's weird because it's almost like Seth took for granted. Like, bad guys stick together, villains will stick together against the good guys. And John Cena's like, have you not been paying attention to what I'm doing? I want to take this belt home with me. I. I'm here till the new year.

[B]

And I can't take this belt. If you cash in and take it.

[A]

If you take the belt by pinning Punk, what's coming home with me? It's June. It's not even July yet.

[B]

Yeah, he's got.

[A]

He's got six months. He's got another half a year that he's trying to hold on to this thing. So he takes out Seth Rollins. And did you hear. And I'm sure you felt. What did you feel in your heart when you saw John Cena go after the evil Cena, Seth Rollins, when Johnson.

[B]

I was cheering for Cena, of course.

[A]

Right. And it takes you back because, by the way, we saw that beautiful video package voiced by Corey Graves, explaining the history versus Yang. But guess what? Seth Rollins and John Cena have an incredibly deep history. Seth Rollins's knee at one point spread John Cena's nose all the way across his face. You go back to SummerSlam years and years ago, and you got Seth Rollins all in white in a mission against John Cena. I mean, Seth and John Cena have their own history together. And the fact that we saw John Cena in this period of his career where he's hell bent on ruining wrestling, being the savior against Seth Rollins. And for a moment, I feel like us. Cause I felt the same way you did. People in the audience, we all go, this is what we've been waiting for. All we want to do is cheer John Cena. And that's why when he cuts a pipe bomb and it's cool, we go, okay, we can cheer, right? We can cheer, right. All we want to do for this last year is cheer John Cena, but.

[B]

He'S not allowing us to. And it is in Moments like the pipe bomb. It's in moments like when he stops Seth from being able to cash in that we go, oh, there it is again.

[A]

There it is. He's in there.

[B]

There it is. But it is ironic. It's like Cena wants to ruin wrestling. Seth claims to be the future of the industry, wants to save the industry. And we cheered for ruining wrestling.

[A]

Wow. Here's the thing. Seth Rollins, you know a lot of, like, evil dictators throughout history.

[B]

He thinks he's saving wrestling, but he's not, right.

[A]

Dictators throughout history, they go, well, no, I need to be in charge so I can save this country. But they're saving it in their own image. Seth wants to believes the future of wrestling is the future that he's crafted in his own image. There are people like Penta and Sami Zayn and CM Punk and apparently John Cena that go, no. And I think for John Cena, too, it's like, I don't care about the future of wrestling, except it's not now. Like, pull this nonsense in January, okay?

[B]

When I'm done.

[A]

When I'm done. Because now this is mine. And I had said, I truly think Seth Rollins is going to go after the WWE Undisputed Championship with this briefcase. I had said that before that you're on the record, so I wasn't. Especially with CM Punk going after it, I wasn't totally surprised. But also the idea that Seth thought that, like, John Cena would just be like, yeah, go ahead and take out Punk is, like, ridiculous. So then after John Cena thinks he's got Seth Rollins taken care of, and we feel that rush come up to our chest, the joy that we have for Cena, and he goes to shake CM Punk's hand.

[B]

Well, and then it's almost like, oh, no.

[A]

CM Punk goes to shake his hand.

[B]

It's almost like this resetting moment in the ring. It's like, okay, now it's back.

[A]

Everything's cleared out.

[B]

Everything's cleared out. Now. We have Punk, we have Cena.

[A]

The best in the world versus the.

[B]

Greatest of all time, the history. It's been 12 years. They're six and six. Right, right. And I'm still sort of wondering, how the heck does this thing end?

[A]

Right? Are we just gonna. Cause by the way, I feel like a jey USO entrance. Let's run this thing back. Let's start from the very beginning. That's fine with me.

[B]

Well, and it was like you mentioned it, like, earlier right here on the show, it's like, we didn't know what we were going to get. And the moment they make their entrances, what is this going to look like? We have a great show. We have Pentile, we have Sammy out. We have Seth out there. And now we're back to the beginning, and I'm still wondering, where do we go, right?

[A]

And we see CM Punk go for the handshake. John Cena is thinking about it, and then he returns the handshake, and I'm sitting there going, in any other circumstance, you can't trust John Cena. Yeah, but he didn't hit Punk with the belt. He took out Seth Rollins. I'm going, is this the moment? Right? Because we're all waiting for that moment. Is this the moment that we've been waiting for? And they embrace. CM Punk and John Cena hug. And then instead of, John Cena's not looking at the Rock. John Cena's looking at us. He's looking at us the way he looked at the Rock. And that stone cold marine face is back from chin to forehead on John Cena. And you go, oh, no, not again. Just when you think. And he. And he. And he backs away. He goes for the low blow. Punk catches him. Punk's a smart man because he's like, look, I'm ready to be cool, but I know you're not that cool. I think is what Punk's philosophy was. Like, if you want to be cool, we could be cool, but it seems like you're not that cool.

[B]

Punk has him scouted. Punk knows he was ready for.

[A]

He's been around the block. He was ready for it. He doesn't let it happen to him. But that's when Rollins comes back, takes out Punk with the briefcase, stops Punk, Cena throws Rollins out of the way, goes for the COVID All of a sudden, this original referee, Charles Robinson, is still. I mean, I don't know, Angler. Hey, Dan Engler got up. He must have looked over at Charles Robinson going, what happened? I mean, can you imagine being unconscious throughout all of this? He's just like, there's Seth over there. Sami Zayn and Penta and Bron Breaker are somewhere in the Iowa.

[B]

Paul Heyman's around.

[A]

Paul. What? Paul, I didn't even see you on the flight. What happened? Well, anyway, let me jump in here. 1, 2, 3. Cena steals the pin, walks away one more time saying, you guys settle whatever it is that you guys want to settle. I'm leaving with this. And he wouldn't even let them cut the ple feed until he got the opportunity to Raise that title over his head to let everybody know that regardless of what's happening in there with Punk and Seth and Bronson and Braun and Sammy and Penta and whoever else. And Dan Angler and Charles Robinson and Michael Cole and Wade Barrett. The international announce table, that got shattered. All that. Who cares, you guys? I still got the title.

[B]

You guys have quite the mess to clean up over here. But what matters is that I am still the champion.

[A]

I'm the champion, and I'm leaving with the title. Nothing will distract John Cena from this goal. And if there was anything that could distract him, it would have been everything that we saw to end Night of Champions.

[B]

Yeah. And we also learned at Night of Champions that Cena will be facing the winner of the King of. King of the ring.

[A]

That's right.

[B]

We didn't know heading into it.

[A]

Yeah. They hadn't said specifically, but I guess because Randy and Cody were both smackdown Superstars and John Cena, technically with the undisputed WWE Championship, that's the smackdown title that we're sticking with the brands and that that match they announced would be for a shot at the undisputed WWE Championship at SummerSlam. Now, who knows? Do you think CM Punk has reason to say. I mean, look, Randy Orton could say it. Cody Roy, like, it doesn't feel like rematches are just getting handed out. When it comes to John Cena, do you think CM Punk has reason to believe that he should get one?

[B]

Yes, I do. I mean, I don't think we're going to see it, but, I mean, you could certainly make the case. Right. He had the match one. We saw it. Dan Engler was out of the ring. He could have counted to 17. Yeah, I mean.

[A]

I mean, by the time he was out of the ring, he could account to 17 million. He was out there forever.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Just snoozing.

[B]

I mean, with all of the interference, with everybody who got involved. Yes, there's certainly a case. Do I think it's going to happen? No.

[A]

Dan Engler and Charles Robinson banned from ringside.

[B]

That's going to be the stipulation.

[A]

I would be. I would be. I got a good agent. I'd make sure that it happens.

[B]

Yeah, that has to be in writing. Otherwise. But now it's like Seth comes out there. He obviously, he wants a championship. He has the money in the bank briefcase. He wants to control the industry. He wants to be at the center of the wwe, but he can't get the championship. So he says, I'm going to screw CM Punk. Is that what this is about. I mean, we.

[A]

No, no, no.

[B]

Tonight we know the history.

[A]

No, and don't let him. And don't let him say that either, because he would say that to be like. No, no, no, it's fine. What? I. That's what I wanted to happen. No way.

[B]

I just wanted. I wasn't going to catch it.

[A]

Yes, yes, he was. I'm just checking this for me. Failed cash in.

[B]

Fail.

[A]

Okay, not like fail cash in in the sense that, like, oh, you blew it, but fail cash in in the sense that you were gonna cash it in and now you're not.

[B]

Because you think about you still got the briefcase. Yeah, but you think about the animosity between Punk and Seth Rollins. And like, Seth didn't even care about anything along the road to WrestleMania except making sure that CM Punk wasn't in the main event. Yeah, yeah, he didn't care about himself, but.

[A]

No, but I. He's. His goals are bigger now with this group.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

His goals are. And they've made it clear. Paul Heyman made it clear that in a real way, that the champion is the top guy the champion had. There is a power, a corporate power that goes along with that title, and that's what Seth Rollins is after. Now, to your point. I think he wanted to pin CM Punk when he cashed in to make. Because he doesn't like CM Punk. I think that's why he was going after CM Punk. So you're not wrong. But I think his intention was to cash.

[B]

But in the Sam Robert scorebook, this is a one for failed cash in.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Yes. Not a briefcase losing. Fail cash in. But a fail cash in nonetheless. And it goes also to the point of, you know, they say you should work in silence. Let the results speak for themselves. I think Seth Rollins has been running around explaining exactly what he wants to do and why he wants to do it. And now everyone's on high alert.

[B]

I mean, that's why you have penta flying all the way to Riyadh. Yeah, he didn't have a match. Why else was he going to get.

[A]

On Sammy Zane skipping dinner? Yeah, because he knows. Everybody knows. So it'll be interesting to see if that costs Seth Rollins as far as CM Punk Punk goes. The road to Night of Champions was amazing. Seeing CM Punk come out on smackdown as the doctor of Punkinomics. And I do want to tell you, and this is. This is how you know a promo segment is successful. The entire CM Punk Punk Life collection is available at WWE Shop. Did you know this? The entire the the entire Punk Life collection with the shirts and everything. It's all like 90s throwback.

[B]

It's awesome.

[A]

It's all. If you want to be the doctor of Punkinomics, get over to WWE Shop. You can grab. Of course, I mean, they got Cena merch, too, but now you can get that whole collection from CM Punk. And I love a collection like that because it's not just like fun merch, but it's also like a piece of that moment.

[B]

Where were you when?

[A]

Exactly. Exactly. And you can kind of celebrate it. They also have the. The new WWE Complex official collab. It's live on WWE Shop and Fanatics. Some of your favorite legends are represented there. Stone Cold Steve Austin, Eddie Guerrero, super cool T shirts put together by the folks at WWE and by the folks at Complex up now at WWE Shop and Fanatics. So you can get all that stuff right now if you go over there.

[B]

Before we put a pin on CM Punk and John Cena.

[A]

John Cena put a pin on CM Punk.

[B]

That's right. But before we put a pin on the main event of Night of Champions, the this was a highly anticipated match since Cena announced that he's coming back to WWE and he's going on his retirement tour. Everybody was talking about, when are we going to get the Punk Cena match? Did it deliver for you?

[A]

For me, yes. Because I love story. I'm a story guy. I love the idea that, like, so what I don't necessarily love is too much of let's celebrate the past. I like the past being used to bring us forward. And the idea that this match was full of current story that is going to be paid off going forward. That's the type of stuff that I love. The fact that it was full of consequences to actions, you know, that like, to me, when we see consequences to actions, it almost rewards me as a fan for watching and following the story.

[B]

Because everything counts.

[A]

Because everything counts. So that. So yeah, for me, it 100% delivered. And a match of this magnitude, the CM Punk John Cena match, it would attract this much energy. Now would I love to see another one. Yes.

[B]

Who wouldn't?

[A]

But I. I not only do I think it delivered, I also love that on the way there, we got the pipe bomb, we got the. The. The Punk life, you know, rap promo. So there's. So we have a package there.

[B]

Yeah. And you know, you bring up. You don't like as much living in the past and you like things moving forward. As a relatively newer WWE fan, I love revisiting These iconic moments in his. In WWE history.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Like the pipe bomb, like the Punk nomics. I mean, it's. I think throughout Cena's entire retirement tour, we've gotten the chance to look back on how he became this angry John Cena that we're seeing right now.

[A]

Right. And I've enjoyed that while moving forward into like, yeah, this has relevance today. Absolutely. And speak. You hear that? That's not just a Toyota truck. That's the sound of no crowds, no alerts, no distractions, and no telling what you'll find next. You know, like a detour. So why would you ever take a tour and you could take a detour. Toyota trucks. Speaking of relevance today and moving forward, we have a king and queen of the ring. We had Jade Cargill and Oscar. And of course on Monday, Tuesday, we had Jade Cargill. On the Raw recap podcast, she was confident talking about this. Not only was she confident, but she did have that realization. If you go back and watch that interview, she talks like about getting goosebumps thinking about the sort of bigger picture of what this was when it comes to the full career story of Jade Cargill and going to SummerSlam and I. And I feel like we got that in her comments after the match. You know what I mean? When she was kind of being emotional and vulnerable in this moment, I felt as though this final match in the Queen of the Ring tournament was Jade's. I think it was her best singles match that she's had in wwe.

[B]

I would agree with that.

[A]

And I think that that Asuka, first of all, also, they both look like comic book characters come to life. You know, I mean, I mean, Jade Cargill literally looked like an action figure. Like a storm. Yes, like storm. You know what I mean? Like, she just, it just looked like. And Oscar too. Like both of them just not only in the way they look, but the way they carry themselves, the way they compete. There's a larger than life aspect to both of these people and I would love to see more Jade Cargill Oscar matches, but I think Oscar was a great test. Not just in terms of you have to beat somebody good to be the queen of the ring, but to say, what does it look like when Jade Cargill has a one on one match with one of the top women that the WWE has ever had. And I think that that was really the value of this match tonight. And seeing Jade not only hang, but win this match effectively, execute the finish and then go forward, it's like, yeah, this, this is a Jade Cargill that is getting to the point where she should be in these big championship matches. And that's exactly what happens now at MetLife Stadium.

[B]

And I mean, evolutions right around the corner. We've been talking on this show a lot about the women's division and the depth of it. And I think when you have a match like Asuka and Jade Cargill. Asuka, a woman who's a Hall of Famer, going to be a Hall of Famer easily. No question about it. And then Jade Cargill, someone that all of us were wondering, you know, when is Jade Cargill going to come to wwe? When is she going to sign with wwe? We get that moment at the Royal Rumble, and we're just waiting for Jade's.

[A]

Moment for Jade when she executes on the potential.

[B]

Correct.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And it felt like during the tournament, we were trending towards this, and it delivered tonight in a big way against Oscar. And I don't want to say it's like a passing of the torch moment, because I don't think it is that. I don't think it's like Oscar's, you know, one of the. Oh, she is one of the OGs, but I don't think it's a moment like here.

[A]

She's not done.

[B]

Exactly. She's not done. But I think for Jade to have her moment over somebody like Oscar.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

It just shows, Right. The depths of. Of the women's division.

[A]

Absolutely. And the fact that now you go forward. Right. And if this was pressure, and like Jade Cargill said, she believes pressure makes diamonds. If this was pressure. Jade now goes to SummerSlam. And it's really interesting because a year ago, I would say more or less, Tiffany Stratton was in this position where it's like, there's a lot of potential there. Let's see what happens when she's on a bigger stage. All right, let's put her on a bigger stage. All right, let's put her on a bigger stage. And now here she is, the reigning defending WWE Women's World Champion beats Nia Jax in that insane street fight on smackdown.

[B]

That was nuts.

[A]

And now it looks as though that's going to be the match at SummerSlam, right? Tiffany Stratton and Jade Cargill, I would think, which you talk about depth in the women's division, all of a sudden, like a year ago, two years ago, you would have had you got all these different names and all these different names are still in wwe. All these, your Becky Lynch's, your Bailey's, your Alexa Blisses, your Charlottes, your Rhea Ripley's your Bianca. Like, everybody is still there. But now look who's potentially going into SummerSlam for the women's world title. It's Tiffany Stratton and Jade Cargill, which talk about the depth but also the growth and the acceleration of that growth in the women's division.

[B]

I mean, Tiffany Stratton is someone who's been doing this for four years, right?

[A]

And Jade Cargill said, you know, on, on when we had her on Raw, recap, her first match was on tv. You know what I mean? So it's like, it's like you're seeing both of these women as like in these insane athletic specimens who have this connection with the audience who immediately, they're those. These are the superstars that if you're flipping channels, you stop when you see him.

[B]

It's undeniable.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I mean, I even. You see Tiffany Stratton in the crowd watching the Queen of the Ring finals. She's a star.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yes. Now look, what's Tiffany doing?

[A]

One of these women, though, who've been in WWE for longer than. Than Jade or Tiffany, who may not love the idea that, okay, we're talking about the growth of the division and these new people that are going to be in this main event scene has a briefcase.

[B]

That's Naomi. But Naomi, and I've said this before, is doing the best work of her career. And she blows me away because every time she has an opportunity, she levels up. Last night on smackdown, she comes out to issue a warning to everybody to proceed with caution. And I think it may have been one of the best promos she's ever cut. She's amazing leveling up. I love to see it. And, and that is really what's going to bring everybody up a notch.

[A]

And it, of course, instantly makes you go. And that's why I said presumably Tiffany versus Jade, because I think even more than Seth with the briefcase, the fact that Jade is the queen and Naomi has the briefcase. We're going, Naomi could cash in before SummerSlam to take us to Jade versus Naomi. She could cash in after SummerSlam. She could cash in at SummerSlam. It goes right back to. That's what, that's why the briefcase is so much fun for us. Because as we're sitting here wildly speculating, you can't talk about a title match without talking about that briefcase.

[B]

Oh, and I mean, you think about Naomi with the briefcase. She has her issues with Jade. That happened a long time ago. And you talk about long form storytelling. Right. Bianca also, I mean, it's not like her. And her and Jade were just wonderful at the end of it. It's not like her and Naomi have picked up and remained friends. So don't forget about that either.

[A]

And how about this for the big three this year?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Bianca wins the elimination chamber. You've got Naomi winning Money in the bank. And you've got Jade winning Queen of the Ring. Big Three is not just a name. Wild, huh? That is absolutely wild. Then over on the men's side, the King of the ring. We actually. This is again, you talking about these matches that you're waiting to see. We got the match. Cody Rhodes versus Randy Orton. It completely delivered. Fans are going crazy for both Cody and Randy.

[B]

I love Ran. I mean, I love Randy all the time. But there's something so special about when Randy Orton's music hits in front of an international crowd.

[A]

Yeah. And the fans know his, like, the words of his music better than he knows the words of his own music.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

It's amazing.

[B]

They just go, could shut the music off and the whole crowd can sing the song.

[A]

And then the minute you think they're like kind of done singing, as the verse starts to trail off, the chorus kicks back in and they all come back. It's great. It's great. But I thought it was a great match. We got RKO kickouts, we got Crossroads kickouts. Do you think Randy Orton regrets hesitating on the punt? Because he hesitated on the punt. He didn't not go for it. Because he did end up going for it and he missed it. But he hesitated on the punt. And it was almost reminiscent of the Kevin Owens match where he decided not to take out Cody's leg. Randy didn't make the same decision. He said, you know what, I am going to go for the pump. But because he hesitated, it gave Cody enough time to move. You would imagine that match wouldn't have lasted a ton longer if he had connected with it. You think he's going to regret not punting Cody Rhodes head off his shoulders?

[B]

I do. Especially after the way that Cody defeated Randy. I think Randy is going to have major regrets.

[A]

Well, yeah, there's not just that, but also he'll probably regret taking the turnbuckle pad off the turnbuckle.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, do you think Cody can be happy with the way he picked up this victory?

[A]

Yeah, a hundred percent.

[B]

You think he's. He's okay with that?

[A]

Just a percent.

[B]

I mean, Randy's his friend.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah. But Randy's the one who exposed the buckle.

[B]

Yeah, but Randy is the Viper Yeah. And he doesn't try the American Nightmare. Yeah. But Randy never doesn't try to be this angel good guy hero. Cody does. And then all of a sudden, he's thrown his best friend into the exposed turnbuckle.

[A]

The reason they were positioned there was because Randy was trying to put Cody into the buckle. You're saying Cody should be unhappy, should not have reversed the move.

[B]

I'm just saying hear me out here, okay? So Cody Rhodes.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Was too good of a guy.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

To use the championship.

[A]

Correct.

[B]

Against John Cena, which by WrestleMania, which.

[A]

By the way, cost him the championship.

[B]

Exactly. He was too good of a guy to do it. Now, this is John Cena. This is the man who's trying to ruin wrestling. This is the man who, six weeks before WrestleMania, he delivered a low blow to Cody standing over him with the Rock. And he's okay with, you know, backing out and not using the title on him, but when it comes to his friend, Randy Orton will just throw him into an exposed turnbuckle.

[A]

Number one. Even if this argument had any merit whatsoever, which it does not. Even if it did, Cody maybe learned from the John Cena experience because he lost the title in that situation. So maybe he learned.

[B]

Randy's not trying to be any.

[A]

Secondly, Cody did not pick up the buckle and hit Randy with it. Cody reversed a move and sent Randy into the buckle that Randy himself exposed. So if there's a stationary object, that is part of the regular news to the point where Charles Robinson, who had no idea if he was confused by this. Wait till I tell you what's happening three hours later, Chuck. But Charles Robinson, there was a minute. If you look at the replay, he looks at the buckle like, huh? He had no idea it was exposed. Cody reversing a move and Randy getting sent into the buckle that Randy exposed. I think it might be ironic. There's an irony to it, but has nothing to do with Cody Rhodes and then Cody hitting that crossroads after it.

[B]

And you feel good about it. You feel good? You feel?

[A]

I feel. How do I feel.

[B]

Yeah. How do you feel?

[A]

Fabulous. I feel great. Cody's getting a world title match.

[B]

I am sad that Randy would do. I'm sad that Cody would do something like that to his friend.

[A]

Do what?

[B]

Throw his friend into an exposed turnbuckle.

[A]

What was he going to do? Twist his body and move it into a buckle that wasn't exposed?

[B]

It's the king of the ring. He wouldn't use the title against bad guy evil villain John Cena because he didn't. No, no.

[A]

No, because there's.

[B]

Okay, all right, Sam, just keep telling me why Becky lynch was wrong. It's fine.

[A]

Becky lynch wasn't even there. What are you talking about? Becky Lynch?

[B]

I think that it was. It was. It was tough to watch Cody do this to his friend. That's all.

[A]

What does this have to do Becky?

[B]

You mean Becky's right. Randy's right.

[A]

You know, I don't know what's going on with you.

[B]

I don't know what's going on with you.

[A]

The buckle was there.

[B]

You're just okay with Cody throwing his friend into the buckle?

[A]

Yeah, I mean, it's part of the ring. I mean, that'd be like being like, oh, he threw him into the ropes. Like this is what you do.

[B]

But it was exposed.

[A]

Who exposed it?

[B]

Randy.

[A]

What are we talking about?

[B]

Because Randy, I mean, he's not, you know, Randy is the Viper and he never tries to act like something he's not.

[A]

He was willing to do it at the punt.

[B]

Yes. Because Cody's his friend and Randy had feelings.

[A]

But then he was trying to punt.

[B]

Him anyway because it didn't work. And he had to. He had to resort to what he had to do. He removes the COVID from the turnbuckle.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And Cody uses it against him.

[A]

Your Honor, I'd like this stricken from the record. The attorney is talking nonsense.

[B]

Well, I'm glad that you feel good about the way Cody won.

[A]

Feel great about the way Cody won. I'm glad he won the match in.

[B]

A completely fair way.

[A]

100%.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

He didn't expose the turnbuckle.

[B]

No, he didn't.

[A]

It wasn't a moment of desperate. It's not like he like had Randy and was like, Let me think about this. Should I really send him into the Buckle? Okay. It was just a normal. It was in. Within normal movement of the match.

[B]

Well, I'm, I'm. I think differently of you knowing what you would do to your friends.

[A]

Well, luckily you don't have to worry about that.

[B]

We're not friends.

[A]

But he does. Randy, Randy was. He was feeling some type of way in the aisle. Way.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Cody thanked him. Randy didn't feel like he was in the mood for thanking. Maybe he was thinking like, you, how could you do that? Imagine if Randy, how could you do that to me? Cody be like, what are you talking about? You did that. Whatever. But Cody then said he's going to SummerSlam and he's going to get the ball back. QB1 captain Cody Rhodes going to SummerSlam to get the title back. Okay. Based on how you view Cody Rhodes now, would you say John Cena's chances against him are lessened?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Because Cody showed us a side of him today. I think he learned that maybe he should have taken that title.

[A]

He's got to win these matches and.

[B]

Used it against John Cena.

[A]

And it goes back to what I was saying about Seth Rollins, about maybe working in silence that John Cena said, this is what you have to do and this is why you lost.

[B]

Cody's like, okay, look, I get Cody needed the victory. Right? Like he even said it on smackdown. He said, randy, I know you need this win, but I need it just a little bit more. You're a 15 time world champion.

[A]

You think Cody's on a path to being a villain?

[B]

I don't want to see it.

[A]

I didn't ask that.

[B]

Could be.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

Could be.

[A]

You might be a bad person after all.

[B]

I mean, good guys don't throw their friends into turnbuckles that are exposed.

[A]

Yeah. I mean, contextually you're all over the map, like, no, they shouldn't do that. But if they're in a wrestling match that might end up happening, especially if their friend is the one who exposed it. You need to add context to some of these statements because technically I get where you're coming from, but also you didn't contextualize. They're in a match in which the buckle has been exposed by the other guy.

[B]

I understand Cody Rhodes did what he had to do, but based on his actions before and him not using the title against John Cena at WrestleMania, I'm just going to say I raised an eyebrow when I saw what he did to Randy in order to pick up.

[A]

The victory people's eyebrow final boss. Oh, well, listen, if you want to cherish these moments for whatever reason, you know, I think we presented multiple reasons why these were both great moments. These will. The King and Queen of the Ring winners will be immortalized into Tops now trading cards, of course. Ahead of Night of Champions tops put out this limited edition John Cena poster card. The Night of Champions poster card went out, by the way. You can still get that card until Sunday if you're watching this. As soon as it comes out. Sunday, June 29, 12pm Eastern. The night of Champions poster card stays available until on Tops Now. Tops now will be immortalizing Knight of Champions King and Queen of the Ring winners. And the fans who order these base cards, they may also of course received the serial numbered parallels that we talk about. I mean, these are amazingly collectible cards that only exist For a very limited amount of time, couple days, they print what is ordered and then these cards are gone forever. So if you want to get these moments and cherish them, then do stay tuned to this podcast, to the Raw recap podcast, because on the Tuesday edition or, you know, late Monday night, we're gonna be showing off all the tops now Night of Champions cards. The info, maybe we'll even have the images of the cards. Who's to say? But we very well might. And of course, stay locked in to at Topps on social and sign up for notifications on tops.com to find out when all these cards are available, what cards are available, and how long they're going to be available for. I'll tell you two people who are not friends, Raquel Rodriguez and Rhea Ripley. I see you rocking the Raquel Rodriguez fanatics WWE shop shirt there.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, cool.

[A]

This back on Big Mommy Cool is insane. Yeah, her back, Jack, it's jacked.

[B]

And I think sometimes, maybe it's because we haven't gotten to see Raquel. She was off our screens for a while, right. She's been back with the Judgment Day. She's tagging with Liv Morgan. They're the tag team champions. But I think sometimes we forget how much of a force she is.

[A]

I think that's fair. I think that, yeah, there's almost, I.

[B]

Mean, I forgetting because her jacked back is on my T shirt that I'm wearing right now.

[A]

If I was wearing that shirt, I'd remember, too.

[B]

But we were quickly reminded.

[A]

Oh, very much so. And I think that too, in her relationship with Liv, I mean, she's, she's so caring of Liv Morgan historically, that you do almost forget how absolutely ruthless and why they call her Big Mommy Cool. Because Big Daddy Cool Diesel was one of, I mean, the most powerful forces in the wwe, especially in the new generation. I mean, before it was the Cane spot and the Royal Rumble that was eliminating everybody. It was the Diesel spot. Diesel was the one that would just go in there, eliminate everybody in the Royal Rumble. The, the WWE was running on Diesel power. Now we got Raquel Rodriguez in there making examples of people, and I think you're 100% right. There was one moment in the, in the beginning of the match where she just, like, just destroyed Rhea Ripley with this clothesline. Just knocked her, tying her up, hitting her with the, with the kendo stick while she was tied up in the ropes. I, I, I love this and I love to, I felt like Raquel then made Ria amp up her level of aggression, you know, ripping off the belt, hitting her with the studded end of that leather belt. And I mean, it was, it was, it was ruthless. It was one of those matches where you don't go, why was this a street fight? You go, yeah, that's exactly what this should have been.

[B]

It totally makes sense. I loved the spot when the top of the announce desk was removed and then they did the table and it just cracks.

[A]

That sound that it made that crack, it was really, really great. Interesting moment. Roxanne Perez comes out.

[B]

Yeah. And I mean, there's no disqualifications in a street fight. So you had to be thinking before Roxanne Perez is, we think, in the judgment day. Is that official? Is she officially a member or.

[A]

Unless she's just a friend of Finn Balors. Maybe she had. Maybe she's just a friend of the group.

[B]

Are you going to say Dominic Mysterio?

[A]

I mean, I don't know. I mean, they could be friends. Dominic's a real friendly guy.

[B]

Yeah. I think she's closer to Finn Balor at this current moment. I mean, who knows? Friendships can take a lot of twists and turns, but you have to think, you know, the judgment day always seems to have some tricks up their sleeves. But yes, Raquel and Roxanne haven't exactly seen eye to eye on a lot of things.

[A]

But there was something on Raw where they were simpatico.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Raquel put her arm around Roxanne at one point. Like, it seemed like it was like, okay, they're on the same page. And I mean, yeah, this run in tonight, it didn't strike me as Raquel going, oh, I didn't expect that. Oh, what are you doing here?

[B]

She wasn't surprised to see Roxanne.

[A]

Almost like it was planned.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So, yeah. And I'd imagine Liv Morgan probably watching at home, probably has a couple questions, but. But who knows? I mean, it's important to have friends.

[B]

Especially when you're going up against Rhea Ripley.

[A]

Now, it wasn't enough. Rhea Ripley still able to get the victory. And I thought not only did Raquel bring out that aggressive streak in Rio Ripley, it almost felt like in this match, like the beginning of it was Raquel going, I have to remind the world what a bad ass I am. And then the second half, or maybe even just the fourth quarter, was Rhea Ripley going, oh, geez, I can't lose this match. Like, I don't. Rhea is an interesting one because she's so incredible and garners such a reaction from fans and has such a presence in the ring and is so good at what she does that if she's not at the top of the division, I don't know who she is. And I wonder if she knows who she is if she's not at the top of the division.

[B]

It's been a. A while now, right. Has held the title.

[A]

And. And. And there was a. Yeah. I mean, yeah, there was a part. Yes. Since. Since EO won.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. Before WrestleMania, there was a part of me that was wondering, you know, as I could see Roxanne Raquel winning this match, especially after Roxanne Perez jumped in. And then I start thinking, like, well, what is. What. What of Rhea Ripley after that? Regardless of if there's interference, regardless. Like, how does. Psychologically, how does this even work? But the fact that Ria came back, won the match, I mean, that. That. That riptide off the table that was perched on the top rope, I mean, just the. The sheer balance. I couldn't stand on that table that was perched on the rope, and Rhea Ripley was not only able to stand on it, but actually lift and flip somebody the size of Raquel Rodriguez while on the table and then send her crash into the ground to get the w. You know, I think we talk about the fact that. That Jade Cargill is going to SummerSlam to get a championship match. I've got to believe that the Women's World Championship on RAW has got to be what Rhea Ripley's looking at. Right?

[B]

Yeah, she was talking about it. I think it was on the Countdown show today. She refer to the title as her baby, and she'll do whatever it takes to get that title back. I mean, I think everybody in the women's division had to be watching that, especially Iyo sky, the world champion right now. And they had to be shaken in.

[A]

Their boots because it really did look like when she won that match, it was like, oh, yeah, it's time for her to be back at the top of this division.

[B]

Yeah. And I think Ria, there was a while where kind of on the road to WrestleMania, it felt like she was really fueled by her emotions.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Like, she just was so shocked that she had lost the title.

[A]

And coming off guy. So coming off of the live story. Yes, it was pure emotion. And then she finally gets that monkey off her back. And now this IYO story where she's like, her feelings are hurt that she's not the champion.

[B]

Yeah. It almost was like Iyo caught Rhea sleeping and all of us sleeping, too, because nobody expected Iyo to win the championship.

[A]

This who's the champion. This one right here. This one right here.

[B]

Doing the sky point to our heads. Ah, but yeah, Ria, it's. It's time for mommy to get that title back.

[A]

Yeah, I can't wait to see it. We talked about Sami Zayn coming out in the main event and the confidence that he had going in. We finally saw something that a lot of fans have been waiting for, I would say. I don't know, since. I don't know, maybe like a podcast that came out around Wrestlemania. I don't know what happened there, but Sami Zay versus carrying Cross. Carrying cross back on a pleasure. The carrying Cross entrance, it's the best. Scarlet with him.

[B]

The black and white.

[A]

The. The fallen prey. Yeah, the whole thing. And then. And then Sami Zayn and the connection that he has with that audience in Riyadh, just such so great. Just watching that match get into the ring first and foremost and then seeing Cross because, I mean, he worked hard to make this happen. Not just like, in terms of garnering attention from fans on the Internet and. And week after week, if you watch WWE main event, getting attention from fans on main event, but even with Sami Zayn, like, working him and working him and working him until Sami Zayn reached a breaking point. And I think the point was, you know, for a match between Karrion Kross and Sami Zayn to exist. And that's a ple match, and that's what we got at Night of Champions. Carrying almost doing his own commentary throughout the match as the devil that, you know, try just beating Sami Zayn down. And. And as is the case with most carrying cross matches, he got the majority of the offense in and just saying. Admit it, Sammy. Admit you're a liar. Admit you're a liar, Sammy, at the very end, after just receiving a beating, finding the one spot that he needed, getting that one heartbeat, that one burst of blood in his chest that he needed to give him just enough adrenaline to chase down carrying cross. And when Carrion was least expecting it, drop cross with that haluva kick. Get the victory. Do you think that in this situation, Karrion Kross wanted to be right more than he wanted to win?

[B]

I do.

[A]

And I think that that's what happened.

[B]

I think Karrion Kross has been so in on the mind games, they've almost distracted, right?

[A]

It's like, because the mind games now need to be set aside. Cause the mind games led us to where they were supposed to lead us.

[B]

And now you have to win the match.

[A]

Yeah. Beat that guy down until he can't get up for three seconds.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I think that. Yeah. And yeah, it'll be interesting to see where carrying Cross goes after this.

[B]

Yeah. And you know, for Sammy and where he's at right now.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Version of Sami Zayn, he's so focused and zeroed in on becoming a world champion.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

It almost feels like these mind games are not going to impact Sami Zayn.

[A]

No, that's a good point because he's.

[B]

Locked in this way. I mean, maybe Sami Zayn have a year and a half ago, two years ago, but this Sami Zayn mind games aren't getting.

[A]

Anyway. That's true. There have been times where at. The Sami Zayn character has been lost and he's been vocal about trying to figure out who he is and where he's going, but that's not the case right now.

[B]

No.

[A]

He knows where he's fully focused, and.

[B]

He'S focused on the world championship.

[A]

To the point.

[B]

World championship.

[A]

Right. To the point. That should Seth Rollins effectively cash in that briefcase anytime soon, we all know exactly who's going to be knocking on Seth's door.

[B]

Yeah. It's Sami Zane.

[A]

He's right there and he's almost waiting for it. And you wonder if that's part of what this is. Sami Zayn realizing that, yeah, I'm going to zero in on Rollins because there's a good chance he's going to be champion soon, and I want to get that from him.

[B]

I am interested to see where Cross goes, though.

[A]

Very interested. Because you can't. You can't still play mind games with Sami Zayn. He beat you. There's a lot of people that you can mess with.

[B]

He did play mind games with the new day, and. And. And they've completely changed their tune.

[A]

And champions, there's a whole, like, slew of stars that, if you really put the pieces together, were deeply affected by Carrying Cross. Whether they beat him or not. Coming off of the Carrying Cross stories, they were. Those characters were all completely different.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So we'll see if that continues. And then, of course, finally. Finally.

[B]

We had some disagreements on this show, Sam, but I think one thing that we can both agree on is that the match for the United States Championship between Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu was.

[A]

A hit in this building. It was highly anticipated.

[B]

Yes. I mean, I texted you yesterday. I mean, I would. I love this so much because I would run through a wall for Jacob Fatu. His music hits and, like, I want to do that shake thing that he does. Right. Like, he just Gets me amped. Like, I stomp in my feet and I'm ready to run through a wall.

[A]

You want to dog walk someone's ass?

[B]

Yes. Yes, I do. Yada mean, I do know.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

But then Solo makes me laugh so much.

[A]

Like, if Solo, like, made one of his jokes and then hit you on the shoulder, you'd be like, yeah, go with Solo. All gas, no brains. You nailed him.

[B]

Solo Solo. Facial expressions, it's the best.

[A]

But then you talk about an aggressive streak. I feel like, especially in the beginning of this match, Solo went back into enforcer mode. Solo went back to that guy who put 16 spikes into John Cena's neck.

[B]

Yeah. And you brought it up. I mean, I kind of forgot how long it's been since I've seen Solo out of his velvet suit.

[A]

Yeah, but he's been sitting there because Solo hasn't dawned those fight shorts.

[B]

No.

[A]

In quite some time, he's been on Smackdown in his velvet blazers doing a lot of this yip yapping. And you forgot that, like, Solo used to do no talking whatsoever and all of his communication was done through action. But lately it's been not as much action at all. And mostly talking on Smackdown. And so to see him, it's like you almost forget that. Like, you think because we see so much action from Jacob Fatu that Jacob's gonna get in there and just run.

[B]

Him over and dog walk his ass.

[A]

That's right. That's exactly what you think. But then you remember why Solo's in the position that he was in to begin with. Why Solo had such an important part of the bloodline, why when Roman Reigns was in charge of the bloodline, there was a whole portion of us that were going like, no, Solo's the next guy.

[B]

Even Roman settle at one point.

[A]

That's exactly right. And when he said it, it wasn't like, you kidding me? Goofy Solo? Because Goofy Solo wasn't Goofy Solo.

[B]

No, it was Dangerous Solo. Yes, I do like that. As we see Dangerous Solo, as we see Solo in the ring, more of that enforcer. He still had a couple moments of Goofy Solo.

[A]

Well, of course. And by the way, the minute he slips into Goofy Solo when he gets caught mocking Jacob Fatu, when he puts his arms out and he's like mocking the Jacob Fatu, the Samoan shuffle, as it were, he got caught in a German suplex for his troubles. Jacob was like, no, I'm not here to play. I'm not here to play around. Of course, that's when first we get J.C. mateo, come out. Solo takes Jacob, takes care of it. But then the infamous Tangaloa Tangaloa makes his return. A hooded figure comes out. And Tangaloa got quite a reaction, I found, from the audience when they realized it was Tongaloa. The Internet loves Tangaloa. And also it is one of those guys that, like, we haven't seen Tagaloa in a very long time.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And you almost wondered, like, will we see him again?

[B]

Yeah. And I think you brought this up. Maybe it was on Not Sam. It was. You know, at one point when we would see Solo in his office, he would have so many people behind him, Right?

[A]

Yes.

[B]

He had Tonga Loa. He had Tama Tonga. He had Jacob thought too. And now all of a sudden, it's Solo and it's just J.C. mateo.

[A]

Yes, yes, exactly right.

[B]

Going to battle.

[A]

And you almost go like. And. And. And to me, I. I think. I think that's why people were like, oh, I don't know about this Solo guy. Because there's a lot of people on the Internet who are, by the way, all of them are wrong. And if you're watching or listening to this right now and you are like, oh, yeah, I don't know if Solo's. You're wrong. Solo's goated big time. But the fact that in one night, because you're right, you're watching the bloodline kind of disintegrate around him. You're watching Tamatonga and Tongaloa disappear, and.

[B]

You'Re almost thinking, well, maybe the new bloodline just didn't work.

[A]

Right, exactly right. Exactly right. You're watching Jacob Fatou split off, and you're like, jacob Fatu, that's the star.

[B]

Yeah. That's why he's the only one who survived. He's the spin off that new bloodline. Dead right.

[A]

And then JC Mateo shows up and you're like, I guess I get right. But it's just Solo and JC that's not a faction, that's a tag team. But boom, out comes Tongaloa. And all of a sudden you start getting the feeling of, oh, oh, something's going on here. Referees down. This time it wasn't Charles Robinson. It was a rough night for referees.

[B]

They're gonna have to have a closed door meeting.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Like, I don't know, the referees, get them in a room.

[A]

Maybe they should wear helmets.

[B]

You want the referees?

[A]

I think they should. I mean, look, if we lost three referees in one night. Yeah, I want them wearing helmets.

[B]

Six matches, That's.

[A]

That's a lot of referees. I want. Yeah, they should probably be wearing helmets. But then all of a sudden, Jacob goes for the pin. Referee is. He's taking care of Tongaloa. He's taking care of jc. Solo's down, goes for the pin. He's going to get it. And look who it is. The third Tongan brother. The brother of Tama Tonga and Tongaloa who wasn't announced by name. But we all know those of us that have been working, watching wrestling from around the world and wrestling from Japan. We've seen him before and a lot of us wildly speculating upon when he may make his way into the wwe, when we may see him on WWE tv. What we saw him. Thing you didn't know about Toma Tonga and Tongaloa is they have a seven foot brother.

[B]

He's massive.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And do you think Jacob Fatu at all sort of overlooked Solo because Solo is the one who brought Jacob to wwe.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Everybody knew about Jacob, but there was a lot of red flags and Jacob can't come to wwe. Solo's the one that got Jacob into wwe. Solo's the one that established this new bloodline. Solo is the one who has, it seems like a. A phone book of bloodline members can.

[A]

Call all the tongues. Are you. This is what you're trying to say, Megan? Yes, you, Solo? Is that what you're trying to say?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I mean, oh my God.

[B]

Did he look past the fact that there's people out there? Solo can just make a phone call.

[A]

I mean, maybe. And maybe we don't understand, like that's the thing about the bloodline is especially because, you know, these relationships that are really close friendships become family and extend the bloodline further, which you could say, well, that doesn't count. Wow. The whole bloodline, I mean, that's how the bloodline is built on the Anawai and Maivia family making an oath together. And thus the bloodline expands off of both those family trees. So within that bloodline, you know, sure. You know, the, the. The Tonga kid was the father of.

[B]

Jacob Fatu, but the Tonga kid's not Tongan.

[A]

He's not Tonkin. He's Samoan. It's great. Good to point out the Tonga kids partner in a tag team called the Islanders was Haku. Haku's children are Tama Tonga. Tongaloa and their third brother.

[B]

So Tonga kid, who's Samoan partners with an actual Tongan.

[A]

Correct. To form the Islanders and thus the bloodlines are connected now because, you know, you don't. There are. I mean, there are People who are just put together as a tag team. And then there are groups that are like, no, no. Like, we. We are a team. And that's what the islanders was. So that's why they all fit in. But I thought the image was very, very strong. First of all, I don't think people thought Solo Soko was going to beat Jacob Fatu.

[B]

No, I don't think anybody did.

[A]

He's the United States champion. He beat Jacob Fatu. Okay? And he walks out with Jacob Fatu alone in the ring. And all of a sudden, when we had put the bloodline past it, we said the blood, bloodline. I saw some article come out. They said bloodline 2.0 was like NWO 2000.

[B]

Oh, okay.

[A]

And NWO 2000 was not pretty. Silver and black. Terrible.

[B]

Do you think these people are reprinting to that tomorrow? Is that going to be hot off the press tomorrow? Bloodline 2.0 is back.

[A]

Well, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I think they're going to have to issue a correction.

[B]

They might.

[A]

Because now all of a sudden, you look at this thing and It's a bloodline 2.0. 2.0. Because you look in Solo went from, like you said, which I was pointing out, like, not having a lot of people around him at that table, to walking out and having loyalty around him, having Tongaloa, the infamous around him, having J.C. mateo around him, having the third of the Tonkin brothers around him. And as he's walking out with the United States championship, he talks about how before he was giving, before he was giving, now he's taking. That's what he said. Now I'm here to take. And Jacob Fatu has found himself in a spot where it's like, I had the opportunity. He probably didn't realize Solo Sikoa had a plan. You know, he saw, okay, the bloodline, this new bloodline is falling apart. We've lost the Tongans. Solo is nuts. He lost the ula fala, and I'm kind of carrying all the weight here, and Solo is disregarding me. I think he felt some kind of way when Solo brought in JC Mateo and said, who's this guy? We didn't.

[B]

He's not my family, and I don't.

[A]

Trust him, and I don't know him. And you didn't come to me about this. And Solo was like, well, but Solo's.

[B]

The one who's like, well, I'm calling the shots. I brought you in.

[A]

That's right. That's exactly right.

[B]

And I'm in charge. I don't have to answer to you.

[A]

Right. And now here we are. We saw interaction between Jimmy USO and Jacob Fatu on smackdown, and you start going like, are we looking at another bloodline war?

[B]

I hope so.

[A]

You do, right?

[B]

I do. Me too. I really do.

[A]

I'm not ready to let go.

[B]

No, of course not. And especially because, like everybody who says that solo.

[A]

Solo rules.

[B]

He's the best. The range of solo sikoa, unbelievable. The fact that he can have me laughing and then all of a sudden be like, oh, my gosh, this guy is a total badass. All within a span of 15 seconds is amazing.

[A]

He's a total badass. And also he's. He's the brain behind all this.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And you believe it?

[B]

Of course.

[A]

And he's the United States Champion. Well, look, I had a great time. Night of Champions super fun, great time. Breaking it down with you, Megan Morant. If you're not already, make sure you're subscribed to the recap WWE recap podcast, the Raw recap podcast feed, wherever you get your podcast audio, Apple, Spotify. I would do both if I were you. Just to make sure. Make sure that if you're watching on the WWE's YouTube channel, you're leaving comments, you're hitting like, we appreciate all of it. We will be back right after Monday Night Raw to break it all down once again here on what is today the Night of Champions recap, which is a WWE and Fanatics original production.