Review: WWE Saturday Night's Main Event (7-12-2025)

• Live from Atlanta! One more trip around the Georgia sun for “Bill” Goldberg, plus more!

• Joe Tessitore insists “everyone is buzzing about” this event and I just don’t think they were, really! Truthfully I kind of feel like the WWE bubble is showing signs of bursting a bit! They’ll always draw, always make money, they’re not going to have to start hosting Raw on Netflix at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center or anything. And maybe I’m wrong, and it doesn’t really matter anyway.

  • Jesse “The Body” Ventura is here with Tessitore again. They pitch it to Michael Cole and Wade Barrett.

Matches

• Drew McIntyre vs Randy Orton: Jelly Roll’s WWE TV facial expressions are incredible. He has (1) needs to shit and (2) worried he needs to shit. He’s in Orton’s corner and Logan Paul is in McIntyre’s. Cole insists to me that in 2020, Orton and McIntyre had “an unbelievable rivalry,” which I’d actually kinda forgotten about, mainly because it was 2020, but they did do good work together then now that I am remembering it.

  • McIntyre targets the back early, slamming Orton on the commentary desk before the commercial and then staying on it, going into Monologue Wrestling which, combined with chops, makes Orton’s back stop hurting. Emotional man, really. Orton slams McIntyre on the desk now! And then again. And then again. Vintage DDT! It’s Vintage!! Paul keeps causing vital distractions, Orton eats a Claymore but gets a foot on the bottom rope.

  • Paul and Roll get into it. Listen, I’m not trying to hate on the man’s physique when I say this, it’s truly not about “making fun of that,” but I am a dude, I have been some degree of fat myself since I was about 10, and I know what I’m about to say is true. Jelly Roll has the shoving form of a fat kid who’s so angry he’s about to cry.

  • McIntyre monologues at Jelly Roll. Drew’s one of these new era WWE guys, spearheaded by Roman Reigns, who really seem afraid that absolutely nobody in the audience has the sense to add 1 and 1 and come up with 2. Anyway, McIntyre turns around into an RKO. Typical half-assed SNME match of the new age. **

    • Post-match, Logan Paul decks Orton with his devastating boxing punch power. Paul’s boxing ability is more accurately represented when he gets put on his ass by Roll. Roll is another very dramatic man, he’s always clutching his chest in respect to people. Hahahaha McIntyre just sailed in and Claymored the shit out of him while Roll was checking on Orton. Big fella sold that well, give him his due. Orton is distraught!

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• Solo Sikoa vs Jimmy Uso: For Solo’s U.S. title. Cole says this is Uso’s first-ever one-on-one title match in WWE. Barrett can’t believe it and says that Jimmy is “under-appreciated” and “underrated,” and I guess we’re just saying anything now. Jimmy Uso is going to rightly go into the WWE Hall of Fame with his brother, and that is the exact way to rate and appreciate him.

  • Another typical 2025 SNME match. Basically a sampler. The first episode being this way, when you could reason they were trying to hook new/lapsed fans by giving them a taste of various people, was understandable. Since then it just feels empty and borderline pointless as as series, other than a TV deal that makes money, which is good for the company to add more to its accounts but functionally means nothing for anyone who isn’t getting any of that money, like me. For me, it’s just 86 commercial-less minutes of mediocrity.

  • This ends up going mostly nowhere, as Jimmy has some control and Taller Tonga helps Solo steal the win to retain, then they all beat Jimmy up. *½

    • Jacob Fatu returns and runs into a 1-on-4 situaish. Taller Tonga has no presence, no vibe, and I do not buy him as a tough guy threat to Jacob at all. He also can’t sell a punch for beans. Of all the warm bodies Solo Sikoa has been surrounded by, this guy is the most “just a warm body” of the lot.

• LA Knight vs Seth Rollins: I know what happens, so let’s not fart around talking about the totally fine match that happens up until then. Nothing wrong with it, all going about how you expect until Rollins blows his knee out. After conferring with the referee and a trainer, Rollins pulls himself up in the corner to feed into a BFT and the Knight win.

  • Obviously, that sucks. A lot of people hoped it was a work, and it appears to not be. It’s also not really the sort of thing WWE does anymore, like, unless it was just “ow i’m hurt NO I’M NOT!” in that exact moment. But they wouldn’t really do that to bring him back later in the show to cash in or whatever. And Rollins getting up to give Knight the win tells me he knew that it was something potentially quite serious, too, that he’s gonna be gone a while. The man knows knee injuries, unfortunately.

  • If it were me, I’d turn Punk and put him with Heyman and the mercs. Punk is always an easy turn either way, and I feel like his reputation has taken a major hit lately, and also that he’s getting a little dull as a babyface. And you can do a lot worse for a desperation call than going with one of the best to ever hold a mic, someone who can flip that “heel” switch easily.

• Goldberg vs Gunther: For Gunther’s world heavyweight title. He’s out first because this company does not respect tradition. In my day, it did not respect Goldberg. Things change. Goldberg has Doug Dellinger, Ernest “The Cat” Miller, Josh Barnett, Chuck Zito, Son Goldberg, and Another Guy I Don’t Know. Dellinger knocks the door, Goldberg headbutts the door, and then the old man staggers out and makes the long walk. Charles Robinson is the referee, too. He was the third man in the ring when Goldberg beat Hogan at the Georgia Dome.

  • The opening lock-up sees Goldberg looking pretty feeble and uncoordinated at the age of 58. He looks strong, and I’m sure he is in a picking up bits of metal way, but the athleticism and coordination is long gone.

  • Gunther lands one of his chops, but Goldberg no-sells it and smiles. Another one doesn’t hit square. Goldberg puts what’s left of his hips into a couple clotheslines. I’m not saying any of this to be negative, by the way; this is part of the story of what this match is. He is physically diminished at 58. It matters.

  • Goldberg misses a spear outside and destroys that spot by the timekeeper. To a break! And back with Gunther working on the old man’s knee. Goldberg’s only move is to punch Gunther in the head until Gunther lets go. They get up and trade shots, Gunther’s vicious chops vs Goldberg’s heavy right hands, until Goldberg’s leg gives out on him.

  • On one good leg, Goldberg does what he can to fight Gunther. Gunther dodges a spear and Charles Robinson eats it. Robinson is taking some great bumps lately, 61 damn years old himself. What a legend.

  • Gunther going after the knee even more, removing the support from it, using that as a weapon, walking around outside with it and taunting Bill’s son Gage Goldberg. Gunther shoves him and the kid hops the rail. He’s a big lad these days, a real athlete himself, he looks pretty natural with that jump to ringside. Gunther goes back in when security intervenes and Goldberg puts what he’s got left into the spear! Jackhammer! No referee, and Goldberg rolls off with the bad knee, anyway. There is a referee in time, but the pin is delayed and Gunther kicks at two.

  • Goldberg clearly has nothing left physically. He knows it. You see it on his face. That was the chance, and it didn’t happen. He’s gonna try, but you see he knows it’s over. Gunther grabs the sleephold, Goldberg is fighting but he can’t escape. Gunther retains.

  • I’ve seen better old man matches, better old gunslinger stuff in wrestling, but this was good! Goldberg was fantastic, I thought, and I’ll talk about that a bit more below. ***¼

Other Stuff

• Backstage, Paul and McIntyre scream with Nick Aldis and Adam Pearce. Later, Cathy Kelley catches up with Orton and Roll, and she calls him “Jelly,” like Schiavone in AEW calling Rosa and Hobbs “Thunder” and “Powerhouse.” Orton wants to take responsibility for putting Roll in harm’s way. “They think I’m soft. I’m not, Randy.” lmao. Orton challenges the other two for The SummerSlam. Fuck this shit. “RKRoll.” No. Leave me alone.

• Iyo Sky is here! Rhea Ripley is here! Evolution 2! Ripley has a nice … blouse? Jade Cargill is here! Naomi drills her from behind and just goes bonkshit throwing crazy person right hands. FUCK I love Naomi! I feel like years of her career were wasted being nice and bubbly when she’s so unbelievably great at being a combination dangerous/pesky heel. Oh MAN, Cargill just blitzed her ass with a running forearm at ringside, then threw her over the table. This shit rocks. Officials have to pull them apart, both showing real fire ahead of their big grudge match, which I am now more excited about than ever.

  • Aldis pops in to assign a special guest referee to “maintain order” in their Evolution match. It’s Bianca Belair! YEAH, BUT WHOSE SIDE IS SHE ON? Big pop for Bianca’s music, and I don’t mean this as a thing against Bianca or her stardom, but I feel like a solid 20 percent of that pop is just that her music beats so much ass and does so immediately. Maybe best theme in WWE for years now.

• !!!!!!!!! ?????????? THE BIG MAN IS BACK!!!

• Diamond Dallas Page is also here. Later, we see the Steiner Brothers. Scott looks mildly interested in being here.

• Blake Monroe shows up in the crowd, as does Jacy Jayne. The big two!

Three Stars of the Show

1. Goldberg: He was really excellent in the all-around performance, working, with some subtlety, as a 58-year-old man who just doesn’t truly have it anymore, but is trying with all that’s left in him. It was personal on multiple levels; Gunther had insulted his family, insulted his pride, and also in that Rocky Balboa way, you got the feeling he just had to scratch that itch and get out what had been left bubbling in his system.

2. Naomi and Jade Cargill: One of the better and more spirited little brawls of that sort that I can remember seeing, and there are a lot of those now. Naomi in particular is just deranged with that stuff now, it rules, but Jade looked more physically badass in those couple moments than any of her wrestling moves make her seem during a normal match.

3. Doug Dellinger: Bill, it’s time.

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