#John Bayley | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

heartsoulrocknroll · 3 days

Text

WrestleMania 40 Night Two 4/7/24

Seth Rollins (c) vs. Drew McIntyre for the World Heavyweight Championship -- Drew lands a Claymore for two in the first five seconds!!!! Drew lands a chopblock to Seth's knee, then absolutely hurls Seth with a belly to belly suplex on the floor!!! Drew takes a selfie, drives Seth's spine into the ring post, and lands another huge belly to belly on the floor!!!! Seth reverses a Futureshock DDT attempt into a Pedigree on the floor! Seth lands a curb stomp for two!!! Drew reverses a Pedigree attempt with a back drop! They trade chops, Drew lands a big boot, Seth lands a superkick, Drew lands a headbutt!!! Drew with a neckbreaker and a kip up!! Seth catches a Claymore attempt with a powerbomb, then rolls Drew through for a Pedigree, then lands a curb stomp for two! Seth misses off the top rope, Drew misses a Claymore, Seth misses a stomp, Drew lands a Futureshock DDT for two! Seth's eye is messed up from that big boot earlier. Drew goes for a GTS, but Rollins reverses into a roll up for two! Drew lands a Claymore and stacks Seth up, but Seth kicks out at 2.5! Drew goes for a powerbomb onto the announce table, but Seth escapes with elbows to the head, and curb stomps Drew's head into the table!!! Seth rolls Drew in the ring, but Drew gets right up with a Claymore out of nowhere, but Seth kicks out at two!!!! Drew lands another Claymore!!!! Cover! 1, 2, 3!!!

HELL YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DREW FINALLY GETS HIS REAL MANIA MOMENT!!!!!!!!! This match is the perfect example of how a match doesn't have to be long to be great. Fantastic back and forth, great counters, really great nearfalls. Absolutely loved the nearfall after the Claymore in the first five seconds, as well as the Claymore out of nowhere after the stomp on the announce table! Loved how Drew just couldn't be killed. Loved the finish!! Thankfully, having Punk on commentary didn't detract from the match like I feared it would. Rating: 4

Drew is clearly trying not to cry and get emotional after the match. Seth is crying and mouths to Drew that he deserves this. 🥺 What a nice moment.

Then we're back, as Drew climbs on the announce table, gets in Punk's face, and tells Punk that he is going to end his career. Punk gets up, takes off his arm brace, weakly hits Drew in the head with it, then delivers some pathetic stomps to Drew on the floor.

Priest's music hits. Oh god, help me. He comes running out with the MITB briefcase, smacks Drew in the head with it, rolls Drew in the ring, and lands a chokeslam for three. Drew's reign ends at less than 6 minutes.

I can't remember the last time I went from extremely happy to extremely pissed this quickly. I cannot believe this shit. They didn't even do enough to weaken Drew before the cash in to make him not look like an absolute chump. A few pathetic, old man stomps from Punk, a briefcase shot to the head. It's not enough. And the reward we get here is Priest, the boring, charisma vacuum, as a world champion. I could throw up.

Bobby Lashley and the Steet Profits vs. Karrion Kross and the Authors of Pain (Street Fight) -- Bubba Ray Dudley is announced as the special guest referee. Snoop Dogg is announced as a special guest commentator. Lashley lands a nice belly to belly on Kross. Montez launches himself in a flip over the ring post onto the AOP outside!! Lashley lands a spinebuster onto a chair. Kross lands a suplex and a DDT onto a chair. Kross gets in Bubba Ray's face. Lashley spears Kross. Lashley and the Profits land the headbutt to the groin off the top on Kross at Bubba Ray's instruction. Bubba Ray tells them to get the tables. They get a table and lay Kross on it too aggressively, and the table crumbles underneath him. Lmaooooo. They have to get another table. Montez goes nuts on Kross with the kendo stick!!! Lmao!!!!!! Montez lands a frog splash off the top on Kross, and Lashley pins him for three.

That wasn't a great match, but my god, it was funny. Rating: 2.5

Kayla asks Heyman what Bloodline Rules means backstage. Heyman says Bloodline Rules are whatever Roman and the Rock say they are. No DQ, no rules, one fall to an absolute finish.

AJ Styles vs. LA Knight -- Knight smashes Styles' face into the announce table. Styles with stomps to the knee and a knee breaker over his own knee. Knight lands a tornado DDT for two. Styles slams Knight's face into the turnbuckle, lands a German suplex, then smoothly transitions into a facebuster for two. Knight bites Styles' head on the top rop. Styles with fingers to the eyes to take Knight down, but Knight quickly gets back up with an avalanche German suplex for two! Styles locks in the Calf Crusher, but Knight gets to the ropes. Styles wraps the leg around the ring post, then dropkicks the knee into the post. Knight pulls up the mats on the floor outside and goes for something, but Styles reverses with a back drop on the exposed floor. Knight makes it back in the ring at 9. Styles goes for a springboard 450, but Knight gets his knees up. They trade strikes. Right hands by Knight. Styles respond with an elbow, a round kick, and a pele kick. Knight avoids a Phenomenal Forearm attempt by Styles and goes for BFT, Styles reverses and goes for Styles Clash attempt, but Knight escapes. Styles goes for the Phenomenal Forearm again, but Knight the grabs top rope to take him down and lands BFT for the pinfall.

This was a good match, because Styles can carry basically any match, and he looked great here as usual. I still don't get LA Knight, and I think having him pin Styles is terrible. I knew it was gonna go that way, but I still hate it. Btw, Snoop was losing it on commentary here. Who's idea was that? Major distraction from the match. Rating: 3.25

Logan Paul (c) vs. Kevin Owens vs. Randy Orton for the United States Championship -- Kevin drives a golf cart out onto the stage. Orton enters and Kevin gives him a ride to the ring. Lol.

Kevin and Orton with some one-upsmanship to start, taking turns slamming Logan onto the announce table and seeing who can throw him higher. Lmao. Kevin and Orton gang up on Logan inside with stomps to the arms, then to the legs. Kevin lands a senton on Logan, and Kevin and Orton fight over who will pin him. Orton goes for an RKO on Kevin, Kevin blocks it, and they go at each other with punches. Logan comes from out of nowhere with a double clothesline. Owens lands two cannon ball sentons into the corner and goes for a Swanton bomb, but Logan gets his knees up. Logan lands a Swanton of his own on Kevin, then immediately follows up with a standing splash on Orton for two. Orton and Logan trade uppercuts, Orton with a thumb to the eye. Orton with lariats and a powerslam to Kevin. Logan goes for a Buckshot lariat (shout out to Hangman), but Orton catches him with a powerslam, then lands a double draping DDT on both Logan and Kevin. Kevin with the codebreaker/back senton combo on Orton and Logan, then covers Logan for two. Kevin goes for fisherman buster or something, but it turns into more of a powerslam. Kevin with a nice moonsault off the top on Logan for two. Orton escapes a pop-up powerbomb attempt by Kevin and lands an RKO for two. Logan grabs the brass knuckles. Orton tries to take them away, but Logan gouges the eyes, nails him with the knuckles, and covers. Orton kicks out at two! Kevin tries to take the knuckles, but Logan ends up nailing Kevin with them on the apron. Orton lands an RKO on Logan, but can't follow up. Orton gets his hands on the knuckles. He hands the knuckles to the ref and sets up for Legend Killer punt!!!!!! But Logan rolls outside. Orton takes out the guy in the Prime bottle suit, and RKOs him on the announce table. Logan sends Orton into the ring post and rolls him inside. Logan misses off the top rope. Kevin comes in with a pop-up powerbomb to Logan, then a stunner to Orton for two!! Kevin goes for a pop-up powerbomb on Orton, but Orton turns it into an RKO in midair! Logan comes in from behind, throws Orton into the ring post, and lands a frog splash off the top on Kevin for the pinfall.

🙄🙄🙄 This was a good match with solid action throughout. Owens and Orton looked good here, but the involvement of the Prime Bottle and Logan retaining basically clean (aside from kind of stealing the pin off Orton's RKO) really take this down a notch. Rating: 3.25

Iyo Sky (c) vs. Bayley for the WWE Women's Championship -- LET'S GO!! Iyo goes for a topé to the outside, but Bayley stops it with a forearm, then hangs Iyo over the second rope, sending her tumbling outside. Bayley lands nice low topé to the outside!!! Dang! Bayley tries to slide under the ropes through the corner of the ring outside with a dropkick, but Iyo stops her and slams her previously injured knee into the ring post, then hangs her over the edge of the apron with a knee/leg submission hold for 5!!!! Nice!! Iyo hangs Bayley up the in corner and lands a nasty dragon screw! Iyo starts to roll Bayley up, but rolls through into a double stomp, then covers for two! Bayley throws Iyo over the barricade into the timekeeper's area outside! Iyo jumps off the barricade, but Bayley reverses and slams Iyo onto the floor! Bayley rolls Iyo inside for two! Bayley lands a nice running knee and a corner lariat. Bayley with a fireman's carry on Iyo into a slide slam for two!!! Wow! Bayley goes to the top, but Iyo stops her with a shotei! Bayley gets hung up in the ropes, and Iyo dropkicks her to the floor! Geez!!! Iyo lands a moonsault off the top to the outside!!! Back inside, Iyo lands a springboard missile dropkick, then aggressive, running double knees to the back for two!!!! Ahh!!

Bayley lands a nasty, low sunset flip bomb, driving Iyo's head into the bottom turnbuckle!!! Damn!! Small package by Bayley for two! Iyo with two ridiculously high angle German suplexes into a bridge for two!!!! Damn!! Iyo goes for a moonsault off the top, but Bayley gets her leg up to block, further damaging the knee Iyo has been targeting. Bayley comes off the top, but Iyo moves and locks in a cross face with the arm trapped! Bayley escapes and lands a corkscrew uppercut to the back, then Iyo catches her in the cross face again! Bayley gets close to the rope, but Iyo rolls her back into the middle and locks in an STF!! Bayley escapes with repeated elbows to the head and lands a Bayley to Belly for two!!!!!!!! Iyo lands a huge right hand that drops Bayley!!! Bayley slaps Iyo in the face!! Iyo comes back with a slap of her own!! Bayley tees off on Iyo! Bayley goes for a Bayley to Belly, but Iyo reverses into a roll-up for two! Iyo lands a nasty double underhook backbreaker and then lands a moonsault off the top!!!! Bayley kicks out at two!!! Wow!! Iyo lands a standing moonsault, then lands a second rope moonsault, then goes for a top rope moonsault, but Bayley moves and goes for the Rose Plant!!!! Iyo kips out of it and up to her feet!!!!! Wtf, what a moment!!! Iyo runs for something, but Bayley stops her with a lariat!! Bayley lands a high angle back suplex!!! Then an elbow drop off the top! Then the Rose Plant! Cover by Bayley!!! 1, 2, 3!!!!

I loved this match. I thought the back and forth action and counters were fantastic, the leg work by Iyo and the selling of the leg by Bayley were perfectly done, and the storytelling was excellent, despite WWE doing a minimal amount to hype this up beforehand. Bayley plays the babyface so well, and both she and Iyo can work like few others in this company. I loved that spot with Iyo springing up to her feet out of the Rose Plant, and I loved how the crowd, who was already into this, really got hyped for the finish after that. Great stuff. Great to see Bayley get this awesome WrestleMania moment! Rating: 4.25

Roman Reigns (c) vs. Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship -- Here we go. We've finally made it. Cody with a drop-down right hand, then sends Roman into the ring post. Cody takes a table out from under the ring, but Roman puts it back. Lol, good stuff. Cody sends Roman into the steps. Kendo stick shots by Roman. Cody with a Figure Four, but Roman breaks it with fingers to the eyes. Roman with stomps to Cody's knee. They make their way into the crowd. Roman goes for a suplex on a platform in the crowd, but Cody reverses into a vertical suplex of his own! Heyman is shown with grimace on his face lol.

Back in the ring, Cody goes for a disaster kick, but Roman catches him and plants him with a huge, high powerbomb. Roman lands vertical suplex for only one! Roman drives Cody's face into the rope, and yells that he will send Cody to Hollywood. "This is my company, you little bitch." Roman lands a back suplex for barely more than a one count, then locks in a kravat. Roman with a nice fisherman suplex, then repeated corner lariats, but Cody stops him with a superkick. They trade superkicks and big boots, then collide at the same time with lariats and both go down! Nice exchange there. They trade right hands. Roman runs into the corner, but Cody flips over and lands a powerslam then a disaster kick for two! Roman blocks a Cody Cutter attempt and lands a Cross Rhodes of his own for two!!! Roman says afterwards that the move sucks. Lmao, awesome.

Cody ducks a Superman punch, then lands some left jabs and a bionic elbow. Cody sees Roman laying on the floor and decides to clear off the announce table. He turns back to Roman, and Roman meets him with a low blow, then powerbombs Cody through the announce table! Roman rolls Cody inside and lands a Superman punch, but Cody kicks out at two! Romam goes for a spear, but Cody stops it with a kick and lands a Cody Cutter for two. Roman escapes a Cross Rhodes attempt with a knee to the head. Roman goes for Rock Bottom, but Cody reverses with an arm drag and lands a spear of his own for a close two!!

Cody lands one Cross Rhodes and goes for another, but Jimmy comes out of nowhere with a superkick to stop it! Roman lands a Superman punch as Jimmy holds Cody, but here comes Jey to even the odds! Jey spears Jimmy off the stage through tables!!! Oh my god!! Cody with a roll-up from behind while Roman is distracted for a close two!! Roman lands a spear for an even closer two! Omg!!

Roman locks in a guillotine, but Cody drives him into the corners repeatedly, then drives him to the outside to break the hold! Cody spears Roman through the barricade outside! Then rolls Roman inside and lands two Cross Rhodes! Cody goes for another, but this time, here is Solo with a Samoan spike to stop it! Solo drags Roman onto Cody, but Cody kicks out at two! Solo pummels Cody on the mat and yells at Roman to finish him. Roman says, "I know." Lmao. Stereo Samoan spike by Solo and spear by Roman, but Cody kicks out at 2.5!!!! Wow!!!! Close!!!!

Cena's music hits! Wtf is happening! He takes out Solo, hits an AA on Roman inside, then an AA on Solo on the announce table! Here comes the Rock! He and Cena stare each other down in the ring. The Rock lands Rock Bottom on Cena and tells him to get the fuck out of the ring. Lol.

The Shield theme hits!!!! Where is Rollins??? Rollins comes from behind in his old Shield gear, and I am going to cry, but Roman intercepts him with a Superman punch before he can do anything! Undertaker's music hits! What is this??? The lights go out and he shows up behind the Rock in his jeans and sweatshirt and toboggan! Lmao!!! Hilarious. Undertaker lands a chokeslam on the Rock! Rollins gets back up! Roman takes him out with a chair to the back!!! Poetry!!!!!!!!!! Oh my god, it's 2014 again!!! Roman turns back to Cody and goes for a spear, but Cody stops it with a kick!! Cody finally manages to land three consecutive Cross Rhodes without interference! Cover by Cody!!! 1, 2, 3!!! Wow.

This was a pretty good main event. The work in the ring between Roman and Cody was good. Much better than whatever the hell was going on in last night's main event. There were some great nearfalls. It was long, but it didn't overstay its welcome. The interference was done very well, with someone else cutting Cody off each time he was about to put Roman away with the three Cross Rhodes. The involvement of past stars to intervene on Cody's behalf to thwart the Bloodline was well done. The Undertaker's appearance was cool, but it did feel a little out of place. At least Cena has recent history with Solo and the Bloodline. Undertaker obviously has history with Roman and the Rock, but it was pre-Bloodline. Anyway, the interference on Cody's behalf wasn't overdone in my opinion. It was just enough. Their involvement allowed Cody to finally hit the three Cross Rhodes that he had been trying for the whole match, and this got him the pinfall. It was a nice passing of the torch kind of thing, and a nice way to finally take down the Bloodline. I do love that Roman is still so affected by Rollins' betrayal of the Shield that seeing Rollins in the Shield gear was his undoing in the end, as he took his eyes off of Cody at a critical moment to deal with Rollins. That was a great way to go. The match overall was about as good as it could have been. I had been becoming more convinced of the probability of a Cody win over the last few days, but I was still surprised to see it actually happen. Anyway, I liked this, but I can't bring myself to rate it any higher. Rating: 3.75

Samantha is crying as she announces Cody as the new Undisputed WWE Champion. Brandi comes in the ring and congratulates Cody. Then a bunch of guys from the locker room come out. Orton, Sami, Rollins, Kevin, Knight, etc. Cody's mom gets in the ring, and Cody hands the belt to his mom. Cody calls for Bruce Pritchard and Triple H to come out. He says he wouldn't be there if not for them. He shakes Pritchard's hand and hugs Triple H. Triple H raises Cody's hand. Sami and Orton put Cody on their shoulders. Cody goes outside the ring and shakes the announcers' hands, and hugs Michael Cole. Then Cody shakes Rollins' hand and thanks him as he leaves. Cody stands alone in the ring as the pyro goes off, then holds his title up high.

If anyone knows me, they know I was a big Cody Rhodes fan back in 2011-2012, but his "Indy Sensation" run of 2017 killed my interest. He has won me back over a little, but he certainly wouldn't have been my choice to end Roman's reign of over three and a half years. To be clear, that's not because I'm some kind of Roman Reigns fan. It's because that is a huge, career-making spot that I 100% would have given that to Gunther. But blah blah blah, it has to be a babyface, blah blah blah. I know. I get it. It is what it is. It's a nice moment for Cody. I'm not crying like everybody else, but I'm happy for him.

7 notes · View notes