Posted on 4/14/126 by Bob Magee
Show Recap —
Raw kicked off immediately with a pre-taped Roman Reigns
promo. Reigns said that when he won the Royal Rumble, he
told CM Punk to enjoy his time as the World Champion, but
instead, he lied and exposed himself as a hypocrite.
The video cut to clips of Punk’s hypocritical statements.
Punk claimed he brought in the Shield, even though when the
angle first happened, he claimed he had nothing to do with
it. Punk claimed the company treated him like garbage, even
though he was champion for 400+ days. Punk claimed he didn’t
surround himself with a wiseman or yes-men, even though he
previously had Paul Heyman or the Straight Edge Society by
his side.
They also showed Pat McAfee’s comments about Punk taking the
money to go to Saudi Arabia. Reigns said he liked McAfee,
but never has a punter run his mouth to him. Nobody believed
in Punk anymore because it wasn’t 2012. Reigns didn’t lie.
That’s why people liked him and trusted him. Either Punk
would tell the truth tonight, or Reigns would.
(This was well done, and a good idea to start the show with
this as a hook for their segment later tonight.)
********
Wrestlers were shown arriving at the Golden 1 Center in
Sacramento, and a video package for Brock Lesnar vs. Oba
Femi aired.
Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman segment
Adam Pearce and Paul “Triple H” Lesvesque stood in the ring
together. Pearce wanted to ensure the Lesnar-Femi match
actually happened, so he decided they would sign their match
contract separately.
Heyman marched out and agreed with Pearce’s sentiment. We
were close to WrestleMania, and nobody should get close to
Lesnar.
Lesnar entered and signed the contract. Heyman said it might
as well be a Nigerian death warrant. Lesnar ripped the
microphone away from Heyman and said we wouldn’t even know
Femi’s name after Sunday. Heyman gave us a spoiler for the
real WrestleMania main event—Lesnar would win, and Femi
would lose.
********
After all the talking to kick off the show, we were treated
to a video involving the Vision. IShowSpeed was having
doubts about his upcoming match. Logan Paul and Austin
Theory tried to psych him up and did some in-ring training
with him. Speed was full of confidence following this short
training session.
During a break, Michael Cole said WrestleMania was all about
the moments, and they aired a clip of Giannis Antetokounmpo
saying his favourite Mania moment was Lesnar ending
Undertaker’s streak.
There was footage of the Mania stage being built at the
stadium in Las Vegas.
Charlotte Flair (w/ Alexa Bliss) vs. Lyra Valkyria (w/
Bayley)
Flair had control throughout a break after hitting a big
boot, but Valkyria came back with a middle rope leg drop
onto a hunched-over Flair for two. Flair responded with a
moonsault for a nearfall before Valkyria hit a fisherman’s
suplex for two.
Flair chucked Valkyria outside the ring, knocking over
Bayley in the process. Back in the ring, Flair rolled up
Valkyria, but Bayley tripped up Flair, and Valkyria managed
to fall backward into a cover for the pinfall win.
Flair was pissed, and the two teams got into a shoving match
until the referees backed them off.
Match result: Lyra Valkyria defeated Charlotte Flair (10:25)
********
Cole let us know there were still tickets available for the
SmackDown and Raw surrounding WrestleMania. (Both shows are
also in Vegas.)
The MFTs confronted LA Knight and the Usos backstage. Solo
Sikoa couldn’t believe Jimmy and Jey were hanging out with
Knight every week. Knight challenged three of them to a six-
man tag match tonight so he could smack them back to factory
settings.
Penta cut a commercial break promo plugging the
Intercontinental title ladder match at Mania. He planned on
bringing pain, and the match would be a war.
They plugged the Hulk Hogan Netflix documentary. (The new
one, not the one from 2017.) There was only a split-second
crowd reaction to this because the video was followed by
Stephanie Vaquer’s entrance, but it sounded like people were
booing the Hogan plug. We’ll see what the live reports
indicate.
********
Stephanie Vaquer and Liv Morgan segment
Vaquer entered the ring for an interview with Cathy Kelley,
but she was immediately attacked from behind by Liv Morgan.
(Morgan still has a knot on her forehead.) Vaquer collided
with Kelley, who was knocked down (perhaps Kelley’s first
ever bump).
This led to our latest pull-apart brawl, as the two women
brawled until officials broke things up. With Vaquer out of
the ring, Morgan grabbed a mic and said, “I knew your mother
was trash, but I didn’t know she raised a little bitch.”
(Enlightening stuff.)
Vaquer stormed back into the ring to brawl again until
officials broke it up again.
(Kelley was helped to the back, and later in the show, Cole
said she was checked on by trainers and would be fine.)
********
Jackie Redmond interviewed Iyo Sky backstage. Sky said she
may have lost to Jade Cargill on SmackDown, but she did not
regret fighting for her friend, Rhea Ripley. Sky would be
rooting for Ripley at WrestleMania.
Asuka and Kairi Sane interrupted. Asuka said Sky went into
Mania as the world champion last year, but this year, she
was just Ripley’s sidekick.
Sky said she had enough of Asuka and told Sane she didn’t
have to put up with this. Asuka put Sane in a match against
Sky tonight (presumably because Pearce didn’t make any
matches himself).
********
Six-man tag team match: LA Knight, Jimmy Uso & Jey Uso vs.
Solo Sikoa, JC Mateo & Tanga Loa (w/ Talla Tonga)
This was a short match with a commercial break, so not much
happened.
Jey went for a suicide dive, but Sikoa caught him and drove
him into the announce desk. Tama Tonga showed up behind the
barricade and was confronted by Sikoa and Tonga. This
distracted Loa, so Knight hit him with a BFT for the pinfall
win.
Match result: KA Knight & The Usos defeated Tanga Loa, JC
Mateo & Solo Sikoa (6:45)
********
Jelly Roll’s favourite WrestleMania was The Rock vs. Hulk
Hogan at WrestleMania X8 in Toronto. There was one more of
these segments later on, with a bunch of fans choosing Cody
Rhodes’ win over Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40 as their
favourite.
Gunther and Seth Rollins segment
Gunther entered for a promo, but like the earlier segment
with Vaquer and Morgan, he was immediately attacked from
behind by Seth Rollins. Gunther bailed.
Rollins said Gunther jumped him two weeks in a row, so
tonight was his receipt, and Rollins would finish the job at
Mania. Rollins said if this really was personal for Gunther,
like he claimed—and not just him seeking a favour from
Heyman—he should return to the ring and tell him why he
wanted this match at Mania.
Gunther grabbed a mic and got back into the ring and into
Rollins’ face. Gunther said he was indeed solving Heyman’s
problem, but he was also doing it with a smile on his face,
because Rollins was pissing him off. Rollins strutted around
like he was the best in the ring, but he wasn’t—Gunther was,
and Rollins never wanted to find that out.
When he was the world champion, Rollins didn’t seek him out.
Instead, Rollins became a useful idiot for Heyman.
WrestleMania was personal for him because he wanted to
expose that Rollins could not lace his boots.
They butted heads before exchanging blows. Rollins got the
better of this brawl and tried to curb-stomp Gunther’s head
onto the ring steps, but Gunther escaped through the crowd.
********
Dominik Mysterio confronted Pearce backstage. Dom didn’t
like that Rey Mysterio was getting an IC title shot, while
he had to face the Demon Finn Bálor. Dom said Bálor told him
the demon was dead. He also signed a contract to fight
Bálor, not the demon, and wanted the match cancelled. Pearce
said Rey was a Hall of Famer and was getting the IC title
match he deserved—and Dom would get what he deserved, too.
Actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Sacramento Kings player
Dylan Cardwell were in the crowd.
IYO SKY vs. Kairi Sane (w/ Asuka)
During a break, Asuka and Sky played tug-of-war with Sane
until Asuka forcefully let go, and Sane collided with Sky as
a result. Sane took over in the match, and Asuka took some
cheap shots on Sky while the referee was distracted. Sky
made her come back following the break with a missile
dropkick and running corner meteora.
Sane distracted the referee after being knocked off the top
rope, allowing Asuka to shove Sky into the ring post. This
made a loud thud, but Jessika Carr had to play dumb like she
didn’t hear anything, even though she turned around and Sky
was dead.
Ripley ran out to her music and hit Asuka with a headbutt
(which actually missed by a mile), but was attacked from
behind by Jade Cargill. Sky wiped out Cargill in response.
Sky went to the top rope, but with the referee distracted
for at least the third time in the match, Asuka tripped her
off, and Sane applied a small package for the pinfall win.
Match result: Kairi Sane defeated IYO SKY (9:56)
That’s three straight singles losses for Sky, who does not
have a singles win in 2026.
This match probably would’ve been pretty good without all
the outside stuff, but the outside stuff is what we’re
paying for.
*******
There was a video package for AJ Lee vs. Becky Lynch.
Triple H and Pearce entered to Triple H’s music during a
break for the next segment.
Oba Femi segment
Pearce called out Femi to sign the WrestleMania contract.
Femi entered to a strong reaction, and he quickly signed the
contract. Triple H alerted Femi to Heyman, who was suddenly
standing on the stage. The crowd chanted for Femi.
Heyman said he’s never seen someone come across as the
biggest star in the industry as fast as Femi. Heyman knew
when he was safe and knew when he was not, and knew Femi was
a violent man. That was also the thing Heyman liked most
about Femi. He was the most violent man to come to WWE since
Lesnar. He was the fastest rising star since Lesnar. He was
the most impressive athlete, fighter, and combat athlete—
Heyman’s sentence was cut off by the crowd, who continued to
chant loudly for Femi. Heyman informed them that it would
all come to an end on WrestleMania Sunday. It would all come
crashing down in Suplex City with an F5 by Lesnar. Heyman
said Femi would have to rebuild his career after
WrestleMania and that his door would be open.
Femi said it was taking everything in his being not to beat
Heyman pillar to post. The crowd chanted, “Beat his ass.”
Femi wasn’t interested because Heyman’s physical scars would
heal, but the emotional scars from his beast losing would
last forever. Femi told Heyman to close his door, because
the only door Femi needed was the door to WrestleMania.
Femi said Heyman thought no one could beat Lesnar because of
the past 25 years, but over the past four weeks, Femi showed
that he absolutely can be beaten. It wasn’t personal for
Femi, it was business. But it wasn’t business as usual
because this was different. He could feel it, Heyman could
feel it, and the fans could feel it. This was the end for
Lesnar.
Femi said Heyman has always been there with Lesnar as his
mouthpiece, but he has never been an honest one. If Heyman
were honest, he would have come out there and announced that
his client was scared of him. He was the mountain that
Lesnar could not climb, and he would win at WrestleMania.
Femi was the one and always was. Everyone knew it, and at
WrestleMania, Heyman would know it, too.
(This was a good final segment for this match. Femi had to
fight through some overwritten dialogue, but he was really
good here, particularly when he got more and more fired up.)
********
They aired Liv Morgan’s Terrible Trouble music video.
Je’Von Evans & Dragon Lee vs. Rusev & JD McDonagh
There was an impressive spot during a break where Evans hit
a frog splash with Rusev positioned more than halfway across
the ring. The impressive spots continued when Dragon Lee
made a hot tag. Lee leaped over the top rope and used a
hurricanrana to yank McDonagh off the apron and into Rusev.
Lee hit a snap German suplex, but McDonagh responded with a
Spanish fly. Evans broke up the cover and wiped out Rusev
with a dive. Lee followed moments later with a Styles Clash
on McDonagh for the pinfall win.
— Rusev attacked Lee and Evans after the match. Rey ran out
to attack Rusev and went for a 619, but Rusev cut him off
with a clothesline. Penta ran out next, but Rusev cut him
off with a Machka Kick. Rusev laid out everyone (minus
McDonagh) and put Lee in the Accolade. Rusev stood tall.
Match result: Dragon Lee & Je’Von Evans defeated JD McDonagh
& Rusev (8:13)
Every Raw match is ten minutes or less with a commercial
break in the middle, but at least the last 90 seconds of
this was fun. And nobody interfered.
********
Danhausen accosted Pearce backstage. Danhausen assumed
Pearce was on the phone with John Cena and wanted to talk to
him. Pearce said no. The comedy here was Danhausen saying,
“You can’t see me,” while Pearce was on the phone, then
disappearing when Pearce turned back around.
(Danhausen also came out in front of the live crowd during
break earlier to do his usual bit.)
Somebody in the crowd had a “We want Naomi” sign. You know
why she’s out of action, right?
********
Roman Reigns and CM Punk — WrestleMania 42 go-home segment
Roman Reigns entered. He told Sacramento to acknowledge him.
They did.
CM Punk’s music hit and entered through the crowd. He
slapped hands with fans and really, really took his time to
get to ringside. Punk stood atop the announce table and
addressed Reigns’ cold-open promo.
It sounded like a political smear campaign to Punk, and he
assumed Reigns put it together himself. Punk wanted to tell
his truth. The fans could be witnesses, and Reigns could be
the judge. Punk wanted Reigns to tell him when he was
telling lies.
Punk made his way up the steps and started his promo while
standing on the apron. Punk said he hated Reigns because he
envied him. This was all he ever wanted. This was the only
dream he wanted since he was a kid. He envied that it was
handed to Reigns. He hated that Reigns was champion for
1,316 days because, after some self-reflection, Punk knew
how hard he worked to be that great.
In the history books, when they talk about legacy, they
wouldn’t ask how, they would ask how many. Punk hated the
number 1,316. He hated how many times Reigns main-evented
WrestleMania. He hated that he felt this way.
Sika was a great man, a great wrestler, a champion, and a
Hall of Famer. Punk loved and respected the old-timers. He
hated the fact that he invoked Reigns’ father’s name in
vain, “and I sincerely apologize to you.” (Punk entered the
ring and cut the rest of his promo face-to-face with
Reigns.)
Punk said there was more than one royal family in
professional wrestling. He hated that he envied that he
wasn’t born into a dynasty. He didn’t know what it was like
having that kind of family.
Punk was born in the backyard and back alleyways of Chicago.
He was a misfit who had to find his own family. He found his
own family in the streets of Sacramento. He found his family
in the locker rooms of every VFW hall, dilapidated Midwest
barns, bowling alleys, and abandoned churches.
Punk found his family on the indies, then he conquered
Japan. He went to England and Puerto Rico. He went around
the world twice. He wasn’t born on third base with a silver
spoon. He busted his ass and made pro wrestling his home,
and made them his family.
Punk hated that he felt this way, or that he had to share
anything with Reigns, including his first singles match
headlining WrestleMania. Just like he had gold on his shoes
and around his waist tonight, on April 19th, there would be
gold above his head with his blood-caked face when their
match was over, and Las Vegas chanting his name.
Reigns responded. He said that was probably the truest stuff
he’s heard Punk say—until the last part. Reigns wanted to
say something true, too. He hated Punk. He hated him for a
long time. But the main reason was his relationship with the
fans.
Reigns hoped that when he left, the fans would miss him as
much as they missed Punk for ten years. That was the truest
thing Punk had, the relationship with their fanbase. No one
could take that from him. On Sunday, that was Punk’s truth,
but not the reality.
The reality was that Punk’s time was up. He had months to be
relevant (as the world champion), but did nothing with it.
This nostalgia experiment would be done, and we would fix
the mess that Punk started. They would make this place where
they had it (before Punk returned)—at the very top worth
every single dollar.
On Sunday, the Tribal Chief would take over, and Punk,
although with the rest of the world, would acknowledge him.
They stared down as the show ended.