Wrestlemania continues tonight in Inglewood at SoFi Stadium, but after last night's card, and NXT Stand & Deliver earlier Saturday, WWE has to find a way to top itself again.
Saturday's results, with my own commentary included:
Stand & Deliver:
Three title changes out of five title matches is par for the course for NXT. I posted my predictions on Reddit, and got 5 of 7 matches correct.
NXT title: Carmelo Hayes unseated Bron Breakker to become champion. While the build-up was about respect, Hayes' hype man, Trick Williams, came back to the ring after being ejected, and interfered, but his actions had no bearing on the finish. Breakker, the son of Hall of Famer Rick Steiner, loses at Stand & Deliver for the 2nd straight year in what may be his last NXT match.
NXT women's title: Australia's Indi Hartwell won a 6-pack ladder match that, in the final analysis, was meant to write off former champion Roxanne Perez for a few more weeks as she recovers from a storyline case of anxiety and exhaustion. Hartwell's kayfabe husband, Dexter Lumis, crossed over from Raw to lend Indi a helping hand at the end of the match, a spot that's been used a few times before on the main roster, and usually by heels.
NXT men's tag team titles: Gallus is whole again, as Joe Coffey rejoined brother Mark and tag team partner Wolfgang to help them retain over the Creed Brothers and NXT's answer to the Tracksuit Mafia in Tony D'Angelo & Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo. Joe Coffey had been away since the end of September, even though his partners had returned in January.
NXT women's tag titles: Scotland's Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn defeated Fallon Henley & Kiana James to win the titles, when James' baser heel instincts got in the way, and cost her the gold. The soap opera continues on Tuesday.
NXT North American title: Wes Lee survived the challenges of Dragon Lee, Axiom, JD McDonagh, & Ilja Dragunov in a title match with international proportions, what with Lee the only American in the match.
Also:
Johnny Gargano, along with wife Candice, crossed over from Raw to defeat Grayson Waller in an unsanctioned match. Waller's storyline with Shawn Michaels will doubtlessly continue.
Chase U (Andre Chase, Duke Hudson, & Thea Hail) & Tyler Bate defeated Schism (Joe Gacy, Ava, & the Dyad (Jagger Reid & Rip Fowler, formerly the Grizzled Young Veterans)) in a 8-person mixed tag. Had the heels won, they would've gotten control of the kayfabe university, which would represent some sort of commentary on the political climate in Florida, where NXT is based, and it's corrupt governor, Ron DeSantis, and his attacks on education, race, and gender identities.
Wrestlemania:
US title: Austin Theory retained over 3-time champion John Cena. Sub Cena for Seth Rollins, and you get the same match they've had at live events. Theory needed an illegal low blow to set up the finish, in this case after a ref bump. Theory has no credibility as a champion because of this.
Smackdown women's title: Rhea Ripley, with the Judgment Day in the locker room, dethroned Charlotte Flair, and, in doing so, avenged a loss to Flair for the NXT women's title three years ago.
WWE unified tag titles: Canada's Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn put an end to the Usos' stranglehold on the tag titles, which may spell the beginning of the end for the Bloodline faction.
Also:
Rollins defeated Logan Paul, which illustrates in a nutshell the difference between Vince McMahon's booking and that of son-in-law Paul Levesque (Triple H). McMahon almost surely would've had Paul winning. Paul has now lost two WWE matches in a row.
Women's tag team champions Becky Lynch & Lita teamed with Trish Stratus to defeat Damage CTRL (Bayley, IYO SKY, & Dakota Kai) in a 6-woman match in which five countries were represented among the six competitors (US, Ireland, Canada, Japan, & New Zealand).
Rey Mysterio defeated son Dominic in a grudge match. Ripley, Dom's kayfabe girlfriend, was not at ringside, as her match followed.
The Street Profits won a 4-way tag team showcase match over Alpha Academy (Chad Gable & Otis), The Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar, formerly known as Ray Rowe & Hanson), & Braun Strowman & Ricochet.
In an unadvertised special, event "host" Michael "The Miz" Mizanin was goaded into a match with Pat McAfee by co-host Snoop Dogg. McAfee defeated Miz in a quickie with help from San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle.
Yeah, it's a tough act to follow. Check the video:
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