Saturday Night’s Main Event – November 1, 2025 – Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah
Cody Rhodes pinned Drew McIntyre to retain the WWE Championship:
Rhodes being able to lose the title on a countout or disqualification was the big stipulation. McIntyre attempted to trick Rhodes into getting himself disqualified. In the end, Rhodes delivered a DDT to McIntyre on the title belt to beat him. Forcing Rhodes’ back against the wall with the stipulation should have given him a clean win. Yes, McIntyre brought the belt into the ring, which is another case of the “Scottish Warrior” being his own worst enemy. Not a bad match, but I’d had my fill of this pairing.
Jade Cargill pinned Tiffany Stratton to become the #AndNew WWE Women’s Champion:
Stratton’s injured knee was the story going into the match against the newly minted heel Jade. Stratton but up a valiant effort, but Jade dominated most of the bout, which conveyed how tough she will be to beat going forward. However, it was awkward to see Jade ignoring Stratton’s injured knee throughout the match. Jade is a worker who is limited in the ring, but if she doesn’t know how to work the leg, even a little bit, that could be a bad sign. Still, WWE utilized what brought her to the dance, namely high-impact offense.
Dominik Mysterio defeated Penta and Rusev in a Triple Threat Match to retain the Intercontinental Championship:
The question going into the match was how “Dirty Dom” would eke out another win with the odds stacked heavily against him. Having the Eddie Guerrero chair spot blow up in Dom’s face was hilarious, and the referee sold it well by just standing there as Rusev hit Dom with the chair. Rusev thought he won when the bell rang after applying the Accolade on Penta, but it was Dom who rang the bell. Rusev pummeled Dom outside the ring until the champ got back in the ring with the bell hammer. Penta stopped Dom from using the hammer, but accidentally cracked Rusev. Dom threw Penta out of the ring and beat Rusev with the Frog Splash. Despite the lucky victory, it was refreshing to see Dom win this match on his own and without help from The Judgement Day or the Americanos.
–John Cena announces 16-Man tournament to determine his final opponent:
While Cena’s opponent at Survivor Series has not been announced, the path toward his final bout on December 13th was officially revealed as the 16-Man ‘Last Time is Now’ tournament begins in Cena’s hometown-ish of Boston on November 10th. It will feature wrestlers from Raw, SmackDown, NXT, and a tease of some participants who don’t even work for WWE.
The word on the street for a few weeks has been that Gunther is slotted to win the tournament. I’m not sure if that does anything for Gunther, as he is already made. I’m always beating that “make someone new” drum. The tea leaves suggest Bron Breakker is being positioned for a main event role. If true, let him finish John Cena on his way to world title glory.
CM Punk pinned Jey Uso to win the vacant World Heavyweight Championship:
His match is a tale of two halves. There’s the match before the botched neck breaker spot and the match after the botched neck breaker spot. Mistakes happen in wrestling matches all the time. The issue here is a question of Jey Uso’s performance. Many online believe that Uso is a horrible singles wrestler. He looked so sluggish that if I didn’t know any better, I’d wonder if he slowed down the match on purpose.
The last five minutes of the match were exciting as Punk and Uso traded moves back and forth. Uso applied the same sleeper hold he used to beat Gunther at WrestleMania to win the title. Punk dusted off the Anaconda Vise to reverse the hold, and the two traded finishers until Punk hit two GTS on Uso to capture his seventh world title in WWE. Whoever decided not to have any commercials during the match deserves a raise! It was a breath of fresh air in an era of WWE where commercials are king.
The Finish:
Are you familiar with the “It’s Still Good! It’s Still Good!” Homer Simpson meme? That is how I’ve felt about Jey Uso during his run as a singles wrestler. His match on Saturday was where I finally acquiesced with a sad, “I know.” Unfortunately, the sloppy execution of moves and the slew of cringe-inducing botches are a permanent fixture of the Jey Uso experience for wrestling fans. Whatever he had as a tag team wrestler, he doesn’t have it as a singles wrestler.
Overall, the 41st edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event (SNME) was a fun enough four-match wrestling show. There was nothing on the show to write home about, but it managed to hold my interest for two hours. SNME used to be angle central, where major storylines were a fixture of the program. Today, it’s just a higher-profile version of AEW’s Battle of the Belts.
RingsideLogic.com 