5 TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS WEEK IN WWE

- Rob Crowther, Editor In Chief

It most certainly was an interesting week in the realm of the WWE, starting at the Mecca at Madison Square Garden and ending at NXT’s marquee event, Stand & Deliver, in St. Louis. Here are some of my biggest takeaways from this week in WWE….

The Pat McAfee reveal is a bit of a head scratcher. For weeks Randy Orton has been on the phone with a mystery cohort, much speculated to be a McMahon, member of Legacy, or a former member of the infamous Evolution faction. Not only was the reveal a bit lackluster, but the execution in itself was odd. McAfee is suddenly just walking into the ring during a segment between Cody Rhodes and Orton, wearing shades and an RKO shirt. McAfee low blows Rhodes and goes on to cut a promo referencing the Attitude Era, SmackDown’s low rating, the lack of WrestleMania ticket sales, and more. All the while Orton is pummeling Rhodes. I’ve been critical of McAfee as of late, particularly with his Gunther feud, but regardless the guy can get it done in the ring. Other than both men being punters of sorts….(shout out Muscle Man Malcolm) I just don’t see the connection here. Heel McAfee didn’t really resonate or add anything of substance to the already established Rhodes Vs. Orton feud. This opening segment as well as the seemingly impromptu damage control esque promo from Rhodes at the end of the night really have me scratching my head. This feels like a hat on a hat, and hopefully something we can get away from before the bell rings at the main event of WrestleMania.

Rhea Ripley defeated Michin in a great match on SmackDown. Michin looked very strong against arguably one of the best wrestlers on the planet in Mami. Rhea is attacked post match by Jade Cargill, Michin, and B-Fab, but we are very pleased to see Iyo come to the aid of Ripley. Great to see these two in the ring together again, but I have to ask, where does this leave arguably THE best women’s wrestler of 2025 in Iyo heading into WrestleMania??

CM Punk gets the best of Roman Reigns in a less talk, more action show down to end the night on Monday Night Raw. Punk looks strong here, even powerbombing Roman through a table. The time for talk may be over, and I expect Roman to get his proverbial pound of flesh before we get to Vegas. 

The Usos kick off Monday Night Raw with new theme music and a modified entrance. Jey runs its back, but mostly stays away from the ever popular “Yeets!” The legendary tag team seems to be moving away from this for whatever reason, and also end up losing the tag team championships due to outside interference and involvement from Speed and LA Knight. The Vision win the gold heading into WrestleMania and seem to be keeping Speed close by. 

NXT Stand & Deliver was a strong pro wrestling show in St. Louis which saw newly crowned champions in Lola Vice and Tony D’Angelo. The former black and yellow brand is definitely in a major transition stage as I see Jacy Jayne, and perhaps Joe Hendry moving up to the main roster in the coming months. Also, where does Johnny Gargano go from here?

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