Wrestling Ratings- WWE Royal Rumble 2026

 

Location- Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Venue- Riyadh Season Stadium, King Abdullah Financial District

Commentary- Michael Cole & Wade Barrett

Women’s Royal Rumble Match

Winner- Liv Morgan

Rating- 7/10

AJ Styles VS Gunther- If AJ Loses, He Must Retire

Winner- Gunther

Rating- 8/10

Sami Zayn VS Drew McIntyre (Champion)- WWE Undisputed Championship

Winner- Drew McIntyre 

Rating-6/10

Men’s Royal Rumble Match

Winner- Roman Reigns 

Rating- 5/10

Overall Thoughts- Sami VS Drew really picked up towards the end. Loved the trash talking from Drew, the hard slaps across the face, and a clearly exhausted Sami fighting back. I never believed Sami had a real shot at winning the belt, because we’re too close to Wrestlemania, so maybe there’s a chance they’re saving Zayn’s big moment for Vegas. Still, a solid match, and I’m glad they’re giving Drew a real sustained run as champion. 

Styles VS Gunther is my pick for the best match at the Rumble. AJ emptied the tank. Styles threw everything he had at Gunther to keep his career alive, but The Ring General was just too much for him. Too relentless, too nasty, and too physical. AJ tried to make that one last push to win, but Gunther shut down all of his comeback attempts.

Gunther is reaching a point, where he doesn’t necessarily need a world title. Goldberg, Cena, and now Styles. Gunther has retired a number of big legends, but sometimes I get the feeling Gunther’s character is becoming a bit too comical and hokey. Staying in the realm of “Legend Killers,” Randy Orton was far more sadistic and mean-spirited, when he bullied and went up against Mick Foley and other veteran wrestlers, who were either retired or still active. A really good match, and AJ strikes me as one of those guys, who’ll be serious about staying retired.

The women had the better Royal Rumble match. The best friends forever stuff between Alexa Bliss and Charlotte was good for a few laughs. The comedy spots were well-placed, and the overall match had a better flow to it. The women’s Rumble did an excellent job of pushing and showcasing the women from NXT and new, or newer faces on the main roster, including Lash Legend, Jacy Jayne, Lola Vice, Sol Ruca, and Giulia. Also, Liv finally winning the big one works as a feel good story.

The Men’s Royal Rumble wasn’t terrible, but it was painfully obvious Reigns was winning this one. Cody winning three years in a row would’ve been overkill. Yes, the Rumble had numerous main event or main event ready guys. But looking at the landscape for WWE’s world title picture across Raw and Smackdown, Reigns was really the only guy, who made sense to win the whole thing.

If I had to pick out a few positives from the Men’s Rumble, I’d have to go with Oba Femi and Je’Von Evans. Femi made a strong impression with a dominant run before his elimination. Evans showed off his endurance. He had a number of impressive high spots, and Evans’ close calls for escaping eliminations really worked.   

Show Highlights-

-Liv Morgan wins Women’s Royal Rumble 

-Brie Bella returns during Women’s Royal Rumble

-Tiffany Stratton returns as the 30th entrant in the Rumble

-Gunther retires AJ Styles, Styles seemingly puts an end to his in-ring career during post-match farewell 

-Drew McIntyre retains WWE Undisputed Championship

-Mysterious hooded man attacks Bron Breakker before entering the Rumble, Breakker is instantly eliminated by Oba Femi

-Royce Keys/Powerhouse Hobbs debuts in Men’s Royal Rumble match

-Roman Reigns wins Men’s Royal Rumble

Overall Rating- 6/10

Wrestling Ratings- WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event- December 13, 2025

 

Location- Washington, D.C.

Venue- Capital One Arena 

Hosts- Stephanie McMahon & Joe Tessitore

Commentary- Michael Cole & Wade Barrett

Cody Rhodes (Undisputed WWE Champion) VS Oba Femi (NXT Champion)- Champion VS Champion

Winner Via Disqualification- Oba Femi

Rating- 7/10

Sol Ruca (With Zaria) VS Bayley (With Lyra Valkyria)

Winner- Sol Ruca

Rating- 7/10

AJ Styles & Dragon Lee VS Je’Von Evans & Leon Slater

Winners- AJ Styles & Dragon Lee

Rating- 6/10

John Cena VS Gunther

Winner- Gunther

Rating- 9/10

Overall Thoughts- Oba Femi VS Cody Rhodes was a solid opener. I never believed Femi had a chance of winning, but Cody did a great job of selling Oba’s offense. In the end, Femi proved he’s more than capable of holding his own against the top guy in the company, and that still counts as another huge notch on his belt. 

Drew McIntyre’s interference to end the match was the right call. We’re talking about a match, where both guys couldn’t afford to lose clean. Cody is the top babyface, so you might as well go ahead and put Oba in one of the Wrestlemania main events, if the plan was for Cody to lose. Drew interferes, pours more gasoline on his feud with Cody, and Oba is upset, because there’s a chance he could’ve won.

Sol Ruca and Bayley had a strong competitive match. Lots of good back and forth action in this one. Sol squeaked out a win over a big name in the women’s division, and Bayley walks away without any real damage. She almost had Sol, but SOMEONE from NXT had to pick up a clean win. No champions or titles were involved, so this match was the perfect scenario for Sol to defeat Bayley. 

I really wish the tag team match could’ve gone longer. The fast paced action from AJ, Dragon Lee, Leon Slater, and Evans was fantastic, but I still believe this match needed more time to breathe and develop. Although, I understand why they felt the need to rush things. The match before John Cena’s retirement match is a tricky spot to be in. I’m guessing the powers that be didn’t want to take any chances on a deflated or burnt out crowd. 

John Cena rides off into the sunset! The match started out at a slow and methodical pace, favoring Gunther’s style, until Cena could find an opening to start his comeback. Considering the fact that this was Cena’s big farewell, I was expecting the match to have a more epic feel to it, but Cena’s swan song was still a strong send-off. 

John truly emptied his tank, throwing everything he had left at Gunther, but it still wasn’t enough. Gunther, the persistent and brutal villain, was just too much for him to overcome in the end. The Ring General squashed all of Cena’s spirited offensive bursts. But what’s important for me is, Cena was genuinely having fun in the ring, soaking it all in, and you can really see it with the setup for the Five Knuckle Shuffle. 

Cena tapping out to end his career? I’m fine with it. The look of relief on Cena’s face, complete with the slow and soft tap out, when Gunther had him in the sleeper hold, works for a memorable moment. Yeah, I know “NEVER GIVE UP!” is one of Cena’s bigger taglines, but John didn’t have anything left to give. Gunther relentlessly beat the crap out of him. John left it all in the ring, one last time before he walks away. 

Gunther was the perfect opponent for Cena. He’s a dastardly heel and a strong character. Gunther always comes off as someone, who’s genuinely unlikable. He’s a bully and a condescending dick, with a pompous superiority complex. Also, Gunther really needed a strong win after tapping out to Jey Uso at Wrestlemania, and the world title loss to CM Punk at Summerslam.

The post match celebration and the video package was a nice touch. It’s a fitting end for Cena to quietly walk off into the sunset. He doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy, who would want a lot of hoopla with lots of pyro during a long and drawn out ceremony.

Punk and Cody giving Cena their world titles was a cool moment, but it’s hard to ignore the boos and the heckling for Triple H. I couldn’t get into Cena’s heel run. It was too forced, and they didn’t have enough time to get it right. Sure, Cena selling his soul to The Rock at Elimination Chamber was a shocking moment. But Rock completely disappearing just killed whatever they might’ve had planned in the long run. 

John Cena of all people turning heel is a monumental occurrence. It’s the kind of storyline that needs to be fleshed out, because one year with limited dates is not enough time to stuff, or compress a run that lasted twenty plus years. Too many fine details, and the idea of John Cena possibly ending his career as a bad guy just doesn’t work. 

Show Highlights-

Oba Femi holds his own against Cody Rhodes

Sol Ruca defeats Bayley

R-Truth and Joe Hendry beat up and embarrass The Miz

John Cena delivers one final salute and thanks the fans for years of support 

Overall Show Rating- 8/10

Wrestling Ratings- WWE Wrestlepalooza (2025)

Location- Indianapolis, Indiana

Venue- Gainbridge Fieldhouse

Commentators- Michael Cole, Pat McAfee, & Wade Barrett

John Cena VS Brock Lesnar

Winner- Brock Lesnar

Rating- 3/10

The Vision (Bronson Reed & Bron Breakker) VS The Usos- Special Guest Referee- LA Knight

Winners- The Vision

Rating- 5/10

Vacant Women’s World Championship- Iyo Sky VS Stephanie Vaquer

Winner & New Women’s World Champion- Stephanie Vaquer

Rating- 9/10

CM Punk & AJ Lee VS Seth Rollins & Becky Lynch

Winners- CM Punk & AJ Lee

Rating- 8/10

Undisputed WWE Championship- Cody Rhodes (Champion) VS Drew McIntyre

Winner- Cody Rhodes

Rating- 5/10

Overall Thoughts- We’re in the final stages of Cena’s retirement run….and they open the show with a glorified squash match? I just don’t understand it. They pushed Cena VS Lesnar as the marquee matchup, and this is what they decided to do? But I should’ve known something wasn’t right, when they decided to start off the show with this one.

Cena’s farewell tour was finally going in the right direction, after they abandoned that weird heel turn that just wasn’t working out at all. They were aiming for a callback to the Summerslam 2014 (Michael Cole mentioned it on commentary) match. I get that, but the big difference is, when Brock Lesnar demolished Cena in that match, it was genuinely shocking to see John Cena suffer through a decisive beating. He was manhandled, but this was just disappointing. 

It’s to the point, where you can count Cena’s remaining dates on one hand now. Lesnar has more than enough accolades under his belt at this point, and he’s Brock Freaking Lesnar! I just don’t see the need, or a sense of urgency to make him look invincible, so they can build up momentum for whatever WWE is planning to do with Brock going forward. 

A lot of questions for Paul Heyman introducing Lesnar. Was this just a one-off thing for The Beast and his advocate? Or, is Heyman working on another favor with Lesnar? Survivor Series is coming up, so maybe there’s a chance Lesnar fills the role of a mercenary for The Vision somewhere down the line, as Heyman’s secret weapon.

The tag match between The Vision and The Usos was starting to heat up, but Jey’s freak accident with the chair undoubtedly derailed the final stages of the match. LA Knight stayed true to his character as the special guest ref. Using Knight as the ref was probably the best option to go with. He’s still involved in the storyline, and Knight refusing to raise Reed’s hand was a nice touch.

AJ Lee is back! There’s no denying the match was put together and structured in a way that would benefit Lee, but I still had a blast with this one. No real signs of ring rust on AJ, the entire match was a lot of fun, and the comedy spots were hilarious. Also, Becky Lynch deserves a lot of credit for the build leading up to the match. She was fantastic, playing the annoying and pushy jerk, and the promos with Punk were pretty good. 

Iyo Sky VS Stephanie Vaquer easily takes the top spot for the best match. Sky has a seemingly endless gas tank, and she did a great job of selling the knee injury. A strong match with lots of action, while Sky and Vaquer struggled to get the upper hand on each other, complete with the right winner. Vaquer needed this more than Iyo. Stephanie’s triumphant crowning moment on the main roster was incredible, and Iyo was the right opponent. 

Drew lost again! Cody VS Drew wasn’t bad, but for a world title main event, the match severely lacked any kind of drama or believable tense moments. I never believed Cody was in any real danger of losing the title, and what’s next for Drew? Sure, McIntyre is someone, who will always have the credibility to work main event feuds as a heel, but he lost another big match here. You have to believe Drew is starting at the bottom of the ladder again, and it’ll probably be a long time before he gets anywhere near the top.

Was Wrestlepalooza a bad PLE? No, but with all the hoopla behind WWE’s big debut on ESPN, it’s safe to say Wrestlepalooza didn’t live up to the hype. Triple H’s introduction, a really good opening video package (with LOTS of pyro), and Pat McAffe joined commentary for a while. WWE obviously wanted Wrestlepalooza to be a big deal, but it’s a painfully average show. 

Wrestlepalooza would’ve been a forgettable PLE without the mixed tag and Iyo VS Stephanie. The rest of the card? I just couldn’t shake the feeling that certain matches could’ve happened on Raw or Smackdown. Crown Jewel: Perth is right around the corner. Hopefully Australia is an upgrade over this, because Wrestlepalooza was mostly a big disappointment.

Show Highlights-

-AJ Lee returns to the ring, submits Becky Lynch for the win

-The Undertaker announces Stephanie McMahon is the first inductee for 2026 WWE Hall Of Fame

-Stephanie Vaquer wins Women’s World Championship

-Cody Rhodes retains against Drew McIntyre

Rating- 5/10

Coming Attractions- The Killer’s Game (2024)

 

Director- J.J. Perry 

Cast- Dave Bautista, Terry Crews, Sofia Boutella, Ben Kingsley, Drew McIntyre, Pom Klementieff, Lee Hoon, Marko Zaror, Daniel Bernhardt, Lucy Cork, Raffaello Degruttola, Shaina West, Scott Adkins

Release Date- September 13, 2024

The wrestling fan in me is pumped to see Drew McIntyre and Dave Bautista squaring off against each other!

Dave Bautista is a consistent actor. Whether it’s a leading or supporting role, I honestly can’t remember one truly awful film from him over the years after he got his big break in Guardians Of The Galaxy.

The assassin having a moral awakening, and deciding that it’s time to get out of the life is a cliched and overused storyline. The Killer’s Game makes an attempt to put a comedic spin on things, with Joe realizing he has to fight back.

A solid cast, and the trailer shows a promising mix of brutal hard hitting action and playful humor. One day I’ll have to read the novel the movie is based on, because it’s always interesting to see what changes are made, or how far the powers that be will go with tie-ins and staying true to the source material.