Wrestlemania 40

The build.

Wrestlemania 40 comes to you from Philadelphia.

The announcers (analysts rotate throughout the broadcast) Michael Cole (8th PPV) Corey Graves (10th) Wade Barrett (10th) Steve Regal (29th)

Music from the Rocky catalog plays for all the highlight packages, because of Philadelphia, and because of Rocky III and the Hulk Hogan/Eye of the Tiger of It All, and because a million years ago I decided when I did my last WM, the closing package would be black and white stills to "The Final Bell"  The opening montage will be all the Brother v Brother matches from WM 10, 20, 30 leading to images from the builds for tonights matches, and the end package will be still images from the prior 39 Manias, going backward from tonight all the way through to 1985, so when the final notes are played from the Conti song, a black and white shot of a smiling Steamboat, holding the WWF Title belt aloft is shown.

Additionally, throughout the night are packages of wrestlers stepping alone into one of those immersive theaters to watch "this is your life" clips where they can see themselves from childhood all the way to their first WM appearance.  It's likely an emotional night from Philadelphia - Summer Slam is going to be a much more wrestling focused, stripped down show - this is the blow out.

Dark: Dragon Lee d. Je'von Evans

          Bron Steiner d. Sheamus

          The Culture (Hayes/Williams) d. Axion/Frazer

          Dark Ride Title: Cedric Alexander (w/Culture) d. Ilja Dragunov

 The 19th Dark Ride Champ is Cedric Alexander, the Mania telecast begins with Alexander/Hayes/Williams standing triumphantly on the turnbuckles

The opening highlight package includes clips from the Brother v Brother matches from 10, 20, 30:

-Owen v Bret

-Shawn v Razor

-Eddy v. Chavo

-Shawn v Hunter

-Claudio v Danielson

-Nemeth v Sheamus

-Brock v. Swagger

1. TRIPLE CROWN (Styles/Mysterio w/Nakamura) d. UNION OF CROWNS (Dunne/Bate)

-Styles gets the fall on Bate; Triple Crown is a pretty flexible box, I could see guys moving in and out, as anyone with a TC is eligible under this conceit - there's a Main Event Mafia possibility here, if Zayn and Rey are ever part of a heel faction, this is the mechanism for that.

2. MILLION DOLLAR RETIREMENT MATCH: PRINCE DEVITT d. LOGAN PAUL (w/McAfee)

-Devitt gets the fall, McAfee tries to sneak off with the briefcase, it's partially open and leaking money, McDonaugh appears, taking him out on the ramp, securing the briefcase, still leaking money, Devitt and McDonaugh are reunited and all is right with the world.  There's cash all over the place, roadies sweep it into corners

3. STREET PROFITS d. YOUNG MONEY (Killings/Kingston w/Woods)

-Woods turns here, joining the Profits, who are also turning, as this started as an all babyface matchup.  The Woods/Profits act becomes more serious - I'd like to get Kingston in a babyface tag act with Orton, give them a run, have Orton turn on him setting up the last stretch of both guys WWF careers.

Here come the lumberjacks - the idea is 40 total, given that its WM 40, all in pairs who have some sort of connection with each other; whether on TV or through social media, ideally all 40 have chosen sides, half are with the Rock (the new ownership, new booking direction, etc..) half with Knight (Hunter's side, keeping WWF stuck in the most shlocky parts of its past).  It's possible not all 40 guys are available here (Batista is the biggest stretch).  They all get introductions, it's a long spot, it's WM 40 after all.  

HBK/HHH-M

Windham/Rotundo

Rick/Scott

Undertaker/Kane

Cena/Batista

Bubba/DVon

Waltman/Road Dogg

Helms/Rhyno

Chavo/Carlito

Angle/Haas

RVD/Sabu

Sheamus/Barrett

Booker/Bradshaw

Fit/Regal

Arn/Tully

Raven/Dreamer

Crews/Bernard

DiBiase/DiBiase Jr.

Foley/Snow

Natty/Bret

4. LEGENDS LUMBERJACK MATCH: THE ROCK d. LA KNIGHT

-This is really just fan service; the lumberjacks break down, of course, and start to brawl - eventually, Knight's ridiculous act pushes a step too far and the guys who had been on his side now change their minds, there's a ref bump, Hunter winds up aiding the Rock, Shawn superkicks Knight to get his revenge, as many guys who can do some approximation of a finishing move lay Knight out postmatch - then the guys find the money and hand it to fans in a supersized IRL Andre at WM spot. All the money is now gone - we get a giant dose of nostalgia without it coming at the finish of the main event (everyone liked the finish of IRL 40 more than I did).

5. NO HOLDS BARRED: DEFIANCE (Priest/Dom/Ripley) d. RANDY ORTON/ANDRADE/BECKY LYNCH

-Reed returns and he and Priest wipe out Orton, the finish comes when Andrade inadvertently chairshots Lynch, Ripley gets the fall.  Black sprints to the ring, his match is supposed to be next, he's out of his mind with concern, he's furious at Andrade - eventually they all go to the back.  The set up next step is Black/Andrade, Andrade returned because of what Reed did to Flair and now he has, albeit accidentally, injured Lynch - and then that is designed to set up the Flair/Lynch breakup as they align, understandably with their husbands in the next chapter of their forever on again/off again friendship.  Now, as it turns out, Flair/Andrade are already IRL divorced and Lynch still doesn't have a return date.  Back to this show - Black's match against Escobar is supposed to go next, but there's shuffling around and the women's tag title match is moved up. 

6. WOMENS TAG TITLES: BIANCA BELAIR/BAYLEY d. NAOMI/DAKOTA KAI

-The babyfaces keep, Belair gets the fall.  Quick, painless.

7. SANTOS ESCOBAR (w/Twisted Sun Gods) d. TYLER BLACK

-Black is distracted, he goes under, and then as quickly as possible runs back to the back - Lynch is going to be gone long enough (maybe really, really long enough) that the severity of what's happened to her can be emphasized by his essentially giving away this match.  I think this might serve as the impetus to put Black back with Langston, either as "Langston pulls Black from darkness" or "Langston gives Black the grit he needs to push harder".  

8. DREW McINTYRE (w/Union of Crowns) d. ROMAN REIGNS (Special Guest Referee: Chad Gable)

-Its the blowoff to the feud - McIntyre goes over, there's more juice left in his ability to have good wrestling matches, in this heel/heel program, it's Drew who establishes himself as the man; he/Dunne/Bate pose, it's time for In Memorium.

In Memorium

Bray Wyatt

Terry Funk

Iron Sheik

Superstar Billy Graham

Billy White Wolf

Adrian Street

Bushwacker Butch

Droz

Killer Khan

Virgil

Butcher Vachon

Ole Anderson

9. IC TITLE: LADDER MATCH: JIMMY USO d. JEY USO

-Given the Brother v. Brother theme we've done every decade at Mania, every version of this card for the past couple of years had an Usos ladder match for the IC, with a slight pause given how bad their IRL match was at 40.  Roman runs in on behalf of Jey, we get the return of Solo, he comes out of the crowd to help Jimmy - bumps all around - Jimmy climbs the ladder, takes the belt, the crowd yeets (Jimmy got the Yeet gimmick) and there's a new IC Champ, the 86th IC Champ in history.

10. WOMENS TITLE: IYO SKY d. ASUKA/KAIRI SANE

-There's also a new women's champ, the 18th modern women's WWF Champ - this is the blow off for this feud and really a turning of the page, Asuka has been the ace of the division for years, really her entire run with the promotion, but Sky beat her at last year's Mania and now pins her here, taking the title and establishing that she's the best women's wrestler in WWF.  

11. TAG TITLES: SAMI ZAYN/KEVIN STEEN d. KINGS OF WRESTLING (Gargano/Ciampa)

-It's my ideal final Mania tag title match; Steen and Zayn reunited the year prior, won the belts at the Rumble and now vanquish the challenge from their former stablemates.  

12. WWF TITLE: WALTER (w/Heyman) d. CODY RHODES

-The 66th WWF Champion is Walter.  Nearly 2 years ago, the plan to have Walter win the title at 40 was created, albeit, initially Brock was the penciled in opponent.  Here, Walter and Heyman enter the ring to the ECW theme, Heyman wearing the old duster.  Rhodes fights from underneath, Walter attacking that knee that was injured by the masked man a couple weeks prior.  Codys been the champion for a year - but still feels like the underdog throughout the match, and eventually, succumbs.  

Postmatch handshake, Cody leaves the ring - and with his back turned as he's walking away, the masked man emerges from under the ring, two glass light tubes, he cracks Cody's knee again - he drops like a shot - medical emerges to aid Cody as the masked man, with one light tube, enters the ring - he and Walter nose to nose - Heyman intercedes - theres a moment.....and then Heyman and the masked man hug.  They hug, I tells you, they hug.

Heyman pulls off his mask.

CM Punk.

Punk unzips his black coat, revealing an old school Paul Heyman Guy t shirt - Punk has shockingly joined Heyman, the three men pose for the Philadelphia fans as Wrestlemania 40 comes to a close.

I've got a post ready to go for May, for June - then I'll build to Summer Slam, WWF 150, the final PPV for the Counterfactual, in July.  

The Final Bell

One black and white image from each WM, working backwards.  

40-The Punk unmasking

39-The Zayn/Steen reconciliation hug

38-Cody waving the Bullet Club flag at the top of the ladder

37-Zayn, bleeding through the El Generico mask, on top of the Cell

36-Lynch submitting to Banks in the Montreal Match

35-Kurt Angle held aloft by Shoot Nation after his final match

34-Nakamura with the Bomaye on Lesnar

33-Claudio/Pac swinging ladders onto Steen/Generico

32-The Bullet Club formation

31-Kenta with the Go 2 Sleep on Danielson

30-AJ Lee shaking hands with Natty Neidhart before the first women's PPV match

29-Punk throwing in the towel to end the Danielson/Lesnar match while Bruno and Steamboat look on

28-Danielson kicking Jericho's head in.

27-The huge Underground celebration in the ring, Punk laying on the ground at Bret's feet

26-Bret and Shawn nose to nose before each man's final match

25-Steamboat chopping Punk

24-Edge standing over a fallen Jericho

23-Undertaker tombstoning Michaels, Austin as the referee

22-Cactus sending Van Dam through a flaming table

21-Eddy/Dean/Benoit with their hands raised together as the confetti falls

20-Jericho throwing Christian off the Cell

19-Lesnar shooting star press

18-Hennig submitting to Angle

17-Austin stunner on Regal

16-Carnage from the first TLC match

15-Edge/Christian and Trish turning on the Hardys, joining the Clique

14-Shamrock and Austin bleeding in the Octagon

13-Austin double middle finger to Bret

12-Michaels/Diesel/Razor with the Clique handsign

11-Michaels submitting to Bret in the sharpshooter

10-Owen celebrating with the WWF Title 

9-Michaels/Razor/Diesel brawl with Bret/Owen/Savage

8-Bret and Flair nose to nose

7-Savage in mid air, dropping an elbow on Hennig

6-Bret waving the Canadian flag in Toronto

5-The Brainbusters and Rockers all bleeding

4-Dynamite screaming at Steamboat

3-Hogan dropping a leg on Piper

2-The 4 members of the Hart Foundation all holding title belts, standing on the turnbuckles

1-Ricky Steamboat holding aloft the WWF Title

One show left.  But some other stuff to come beginning next month with...an alternative AEW history.

The Road to Wrestlemania 40

The Rumble

Wrestlemania 40 is next month in Philadelphia.  Brother v. Brother, Sister v. Sister.  

Here's the card.

WWF TITLE: CODY RHODES v. WALTER (w/Heyman)

IC TITLE: LADDER MATCH: JEY USO v. JIMMY USO

WWF TAG TITLES: KEVIN STEEN/SAMI ZAYN v. KINGS OF WRESTLING (JOHNNY GARGANO/TOMMASO CIAMPA)

WOMENS TITLE: TRIPLE THREAT MATCH: ASUKA v. IYO SKY V. KAIRI SANE

WOMENS TAG TITLES: BIANCA/BELAIR/BAYLEY v. NAOMI/DAKOTA KAI

ROMAN REIGNS v. DREW McINTYRE (Special Guest Referee-Chad Gable)

MILLION DOLLAR LEAVES TOWN MATCH: PRINCE DEVITT v. LOGAN PAUL (w/McAfee)

TYLER BLACK v. SANTOS ESCOBAR (w/Twisted Sun Gods)

LEGENDS LUMBERJACK MATCH: THE ROCK v. LA KNIGHT

No DQ: WINNER GETS DEFIANCE NAME: RANDY ORTON/ANDRADE/BECKY LYNCH v. DEFIANCE (DAMIEN PRIEST/DOM MYSTERIO/RHEA RIPLEY) 

TRIPLE CROWN (AJ STYLES/REY MYSTERIO w/Nakamura) v. UNION OF CROWNS (PETE DUNNE/TYLER BATE)

STREET PROFITS (ANGELO DAWKINS/MONTEZ FORD) v. YOUNG MONEY (KINGSTON/KILLINGS)

1. Rhodes v. Walter

-Funny thing happened on the way to Brother v. Brother...the reason to put Walter/Lesnar together in the first place a year and a half ago now was to get to that match here, but something happened, who can recall really?  

-So, the build here is Immovable Object v. Irresistible Force; Walter has been headed to this point for years, nearly unbeaten since signing his deal, 2 time Dark Ride Champ, Tag Champ and now, he's the last man standing in the Dangerous Alliance, he's gone over Roman, and its his time.

-Cody has not lost a singles match in his return - won the IC, only gave it up because of injury, won the WWF Title, holding it now for a year, won the Triple Crown, even has control over the Bullet Club name - hell, he even won the AEW Title from Punk, that was the barely subtextual storyline for the Rumble.  Who voices all of that is Heyman - Cody is on a nearly unprecedented run - but yet - Walter.

-Heyman thanking Cody for getting rid of Punk once and for all.

-All babyface build, Heyman going back to Philly is part of the discussion, Walter doesn't talk very much (he will).  The big angle happens at the go home RAW - there's a face to face between Walter and Cody thats booked in the main event slot, Cody has his hydraulic lift entrance - and he gets attacked like Tonya Harding, kneecapped with a glass tube by a figure all in black - there's chaos - Walter and Heyman and a million security/backstage personnel descend on Cody, there's a blood capsule for a pool of blood shot.  Chaos.

-Throughout the rest of the week, there is doubt about the status of the main event, that doubt is satisfied in the main event spot for Fight Night when Cody sends in a video, he says if he has to come on one leg, he will defend his title against Walter at Mania.

2. Jey v Jimmy

-Each decade, at WM 10, 20, 30, WWF has the same Brother v Brother theme and the IC Title has always been decided in a ladder match - at 10, it was former stablemates Shawn and Razor, at 20, it was cousins Eddy and Chavo, at 30 it was former stablemates Nemeth and Sheamus - and here, its actual brothers, Jey defending against Jimmy.

-As Roman not selecting them when he created his stable was the impetus for the Usos split, that Roman interfered on Jey's behalf to aid him in taking the IC from McIntyre at the Rumble is the primary talking point.  Roman is in the angle, he apologizes to Jey, part of the build with Jey/McIntyre was Drew saying Roman had impressed upon him that Jey was the weak link - Roman makes clear that was a lie.  Roman says he made a mistake not selecting Jey and he apologizes (is Roman on the square, is it manipulation - fair to interpret either motive, but crucially, Roman doesn't run down Jimmy)

-Jimmy feels betrayed by any embrace of Roman - the Usos arent just a tag team that split up, they are twin brothers, 4 time WWF Tag Champs, Yeet (Jimmy gets the Yeet gimmick, he's the babyface, and after Jimmy wins that big Elimination Chamber at the Rumble, that starts to build momentum) they have been together every step of their lives and Roman tore that apart - and now, Jey is cool with him?  

-We get a tag as part of the build, Jey/Roman v Drew/Jimmy - Jimmy's the only babyface there, Drew eventually loses on a countout, he attacks Roman on the outside when Drew is the legal man, Jey aids Roman in fighting him off - Jimmy also pulls Drew back and goes nose to nose with him, we're left with the painful distance between the two brothers only able to be traversed with use of a ladder on the biggest stage of them all.

3. Steen/Zayn v. Gargano/Ciampa

-Ex stablemates collide at Brother v Brother Mania; as discussed in a spoiler in the Rumble write up, the night after the Rumble, Zayn and Steen are set to reform GDI with the Kings of Wrestling - but KoW turns on them.  

-The bitterness is evident - when Steen/Zayn split from Claudio/Pac, Gargano and Ciampa, as the GDI representatives in Dark Ride (or whatever it was called then) felt like they had to pick a side - they went in opposite directions leading to a bitter feud between the two of them - leading to multiple injuries, Ciampa broke his neck - they blame Steen specifically for costing them years from their careers.

-Even after the attack, Steen attempts a form of apology - Zayn won't let him, fuck those guys - climate change isn't Steen's fault, inflation isn't Steen's fault, and Ciampa breaking his neck isn't Steen's fault - if they want to go, then we go.

-They split singles matches in the lead up, full on 50/50; workrate expectations are off the charts for the blowoff match for the belts at WM

4. Asuka v Sky v. Sane

-Asuka and Sky were tag partners years before coming to WWF, aligned in the ring and out; with Sane, they formed an alliance in WWF - as much behind the scenes as in the ring; Asuka turned on Sky, leading to their long feud that seemingly ended a year ago when Sky beat Asuka at Mania -- but Asuka subsequently brought Sane back from Japan, used her aid to win the belt from Rousey - Sky viewed that as a betrayal and the twists and turns lead us here - it's one fall to a finish, and another big time workrate match at WM 40

5. Belair/Bayley v. Naomi/Kai

-Naomi and Kai have really been organizational depth as opposed to featured PPV upper card workers, but here we are - they build a sister v. sister storyline, Naomi going to her longtime friends Belair and Bayley to see if she and Kai could get a title shot, they do - and it starts off as all babyface, but Naomi and Kai eventually just turn on the champs in the build

Those are the title matches - the Dark Ride title will be contested in the pre show, Dragunov defending against the newest member of the Culture, Cedric Alexander.

6. Reigns v. McIntyre

-More ex stablemate collision; Romans stable blew up when Roman lost the title a year ago, Lashley got fired from the stable and never returned to the promotion, Gable turned face and McIntyre (those three brawled during the Gable/Roman Summer Slam match) started his own heel faction with Dunne and Bate and won the IC - losing it to Jey when Roman aided Jey.  

-Real bitterness from both these guys about the breakup, about all the chatter afterward, who gets credit for the Roman stable succeeding, who takes the blame for the breakup - who will be the man going forward.  We find out at Mania.

7. Devitt v. Paul

-Paul retired Cena and ran Edge out of the promotion; following Devitt's losing his feud with Cody, including a stip that he can never wrestle for the WWF Title again, Paul set his sights on ending his WWF career as well.  Paul beat him at the Rumble and so we raise the stakes - if Devitt wins, he gets a million dollars (some combo of cash and bitcoin and NFTs and stock in Paul's energy drink and whatever - its all placed in some sort of very expensive designer bag that will be at ringside.  And if Paul wins - Devitt leaves WWF.  

8. Rock v. Knight

-This starts of course, with Barry Windham.

-Windham lost to Steamboat in the first main event and he will return as a guest at 40, Knight clowns that announcement, if Windham were any good, Knight would be doing one of his old moves better than he ever did.

-That brings out Shawn. The last time we saw Shawn in storyline, Knight superkicked him and tossed him through a plate glass window.  Shawn is hot at the disrespect to Windham, Knight says Shawn can get it too - if he wants to come to the ring and eat a superkick - Shawn attempts to do that - stopped by Hunter.

-Hunter says Shawns medical is clear, he is not fighting again, not wrestling again, Hunter will not let him.  Shawn says he knows - but maybe there's someone who might be able to put Knight in his place.

-That person turns out to be the Rock.  And here's where the simmering "big changes coming, the McMahons are gone, WWF is merging with UFC, who knows what the future holds" element that was set up by Linda after last year's Mania comes into play.  Rock will be on the board of the new WWF, essentially Hunter's boss - Hunter and Rock have never gotten along, and that friction is evident here, and Hunter now gets heated at Shawn for bringing Rock into it.

-The result is a legends match is set up, Rock v. Knight, with Shawn obviously supporting the Rock - and Hunter now supporting Knight (its really anti-Rock, as opposed to "I love LA Knight" - but some element of this is Hunter is what's happening today - and the Rock is both upholding yesterday ('cause Knight's a cosplayer) but also tomorrow (because of the coming merger and some level of creative shift...now, that's really a proxy for the end of the Counterfactual, but that gets us into a really meta place).

-And what that allows us to do is bring back 40 (well, 38, 'cause Shawn/HHH are 2) former wrestlers, ideally all in pairs, with one of the pair supporting Knight and one supporting Rock (like, Rick Steiner sends a video saying he's pro Rock and Scott Steiner sends one saying he's pro Knight, that sort of thing). At WWF 100, we brought back basically every wrestler who was ever on one of the prior 99 PPVs who could come back - at WWF 150, we are not doing that, it's really a small stripped down show - the big show is here, so this is the equivalent of that, 40 (because its WM 40) wrestlers from the past (ideally all former champions if we can swing it) and the divide allows us both to keep that Brother v. Brother storyline and do a lumberjack stip.  

9. Black v. Escobar

-Last singles match on the card, Black's a babyface, Escobar the head of a heel stable, Black beats the other guys in singles matches, the stable beats him down, it's what you expect.

10. Orton/Andrade/Lynch v. Priest/Dom/Ripley

-Almost 2 years ago now, Priest struck first, killing Orton before the inevitable (if history is a guide) happened and Orton killed him (Orton eats his tag partners).  Orton was gone a year, they are 1-1 in this feud and this is for the stable name

-Ripley quit the Horsewomen, joined Defiance, they killed Lynch/Flair, with Reed wiping out Flair in a way to egregious that Andrade quit AEW to return to WWF and get his revenge - he did and now he and Lynch, who returned at the Rumble to help Orton, join together.  Andrade cults multiple "you hit a woman, you are a coward" promos, Reed is down with injury at his hand,  but he is still fueled by vengeance.

11. Street Profits v. Young Money

-The Profits have a Mania slot, they want to pay respect to those who paved the way, they tell Kingston they want he and Killings to reunite for one night; Killings thinks he and Kingston have been a team all along.  At some point, the switch flips and Killings cuts a "maybe I know whats going on but as a defense mechanism I push away knowledge of the dying embers of my career" serious promo - he is largely just a backstage presence and Kingston largely is a twitch streamer, this might be their final WM and they are gonna dig deep against the Profits

12. Styles/Rey v. Dunne/Bate

-Styles/Nakamura are Triple Crown, they added Rey in the build to the Rumble and Rey slides in here against the rest of McIntyre's stable.  

Wrestlemania 40.  Philadelphia.  Brother v. Brother.  Sister v. Sister.  Coming in April

Every WWF Title Holder

Through Royal Rumble 2024, 218 wrestlers have held WWF gold, there's a lumberjack match at WM40,  the gimmick is that its all former belt holders, 40 in total, 'cause its WM 40, and ideally all have a relationship that is being split up because they are on opposite sides of the lumberjack program (so, Scott supports one wrestler, Rick the other, that kind of a thing - the goal is 20 of those couples, to both get a lot of old wrestlers on the card, given the historical importance of the show, and also to further the Brother v Brother theme.

That led me to make this list.  It's every belt holder in order of number of belts won.  The mens/womens primary title has with it dates won/lost; all the other titles are just dates one.  I do a lot of Freedbird Rules when it comes to tags, for obvious reasons related to the form of the Counterfactual, so it could be if I thought about it a little longer, I'd come up with another worker who deserves a share of a tag, or take away a shared tag from someone.  I'm not planning on doing that.  Here's the list, through Rumble 2024, 218 belt holders.

1. Shawn Michaels  10 Titles-Triple Crown

-2 Time WWF Champ, SSeries '94-WM 11, WM 12-SSeries '96

-5 Time IC Champ, SSeries '92, RRumble '93, SSlam '95, SSlam '02, SSlam '09

-3 Time Tag Champ SSlam '89 (Marty) WM 19 (HHH-M) SSeries '07 (HHH-M)

2. Bret Hart              7 Titles-Triple Crown

-3 Time WWF Champ, WM 8-WM 10, WM 11-WM 12, SSeries '96-WM 13

-2 Time IC Champ, WM 4, RRumble '90

-2 Time Tag Champ, WM 2 (Davey, Neidhart) SSeries '94 (Neidhart)

3. AJ Styles                7 Titles-Triple Crown

-2 Time WWF Champ, WM 32-SSlam '17, WM 35-WM 35

-3 Time IC Champ, RRumble '16, RRumble '20, WM 39

-2 Time Tag Champ SSlam '18 (T.Black) SSlam '23 (Nakamura)

4. Owen Hart            6 Titles-Triple Crown

-3 Time WWF Champ, WM 10-SSeries '94, SSeries '97-SSlam '98, RRumble '99-WM 15

-2 Time IC Champ, SSeries '92, RRumble '95

-Tag Champ, RRumble '97 (Bulldog)

5. Rey Mysterio        6 Titles-Triple Crown

-2 Time WWF Champ, SSlam '05-SSlam '06, SSlam '07-RRumble '08

-2Time IC Champ, RRumble '03, WM 25

-2 Time Tag Champ, SSlam '04 (RVD), SSeries '19 (Steen)

6. Randy Orton         6 Titles

-IC Champ WM 23

-5 Time Tag Champ, WM 21 (Cena) RRumble '11 (DiBiase Jr) RRumble '12 (Cody) SSeries '12 (Cody/Bernard) WM 37 (Priest/Crews)

7. Eddy Guerrero      5 Titles-Triple Crown

-2 Time WWF Champ, SSlam '03-RRumble '04, WM 21-SSlam '05

-2 Time IC Champ, WM 16, WM 20

-Tag Champ SSlam '02 (Benoit)

8. Brock Lesnar        5 Titles-Triple Crown

-2 Time WWF Champ, WM 29-SSlam '13, RRumble '15-SSlam '15

-IC Champ RRumble '17

-2 Time Tag Champ WM 35 (Angle/Benjamin) RRumble '23 (Walter)

9. Chris Jericho         5 Titles-Triple Crown

-WWF Champ, SSeries '08-SSlam '10

-3 Time IC Champ, SSeries '99, SSlam '00, SSlam '04

-Tag Champ, RRumble '02 (Storm)

10. Edge                      5 Titles-Triple Crown

-WWF Champ, SSlam '10-WM 27

-IC Champ, RRumble '05

-3 Time Tag Champ, SSlam '00 (Christian) RRumble '09 (Christian) RRumble '20 (Nitro)

11. Shinsuke Nakamura     5 Titles-Triple Crown (Grand Slam)

-WWF Champ RRumble '18-WM 35

-IC Champ, WM 34, SSeries '21

-Tag Champ SSlam '23 (Styles)

-Dark Ride Champ Aug '16

12. Shelton Benjamin        5 Titles

-WWF Champ, RRumble '08-WM 24

-4 Time Tag RRumble '03 (Haas) RRumble '04 (Haas) SSeries '04 (Angle) SSeries '19 (Angle/Lesnar)

13. Jey Uso                         5 Titles

-IC Champ RRumble '24

-4 Time Tag Champ WM 32 (Jimmy/Roman) SSlam '17 (Jimmy/Roman) SSlam '21 (Jimmy) WM 38 (Jimmy)

14. Mr. Fuji                      5 Titles

-5 Time Tag Champ, June, '72 (T.Tanaka) Sep '73 (T.Tanaka) Dec '77 (T.Tanaka) Oct '81 (Saito) July '82 (Saito)

14. Tony Garea                 5 Titles

-5 Time Tag Champ, May '73 (Calhoun) Nov '73 (Ho) Nov '78 (Zbyszko) Nov '80 (Martel) July '81 (Martel)

16. Chris Benoit                4 Titles-Triple Crown

-2 Time WWF Champ, WM 16-WM 17, WM 20-WM 21

-IC Champ, SSeries '05

-Tag Champ, SSlam '02 (Guerrero)

16. Cactus Jack                4 Titles-Triple Crown

-2 Time WWF Champ, SSlam '98-RRumble '99, WM 15-WM 16

-IC Champ SSeries '96

-Tag Champ RRumble '98 (Funk)

18. Kurt Angle                  4 Titles

-2 Time WWF Champ,  WM 17-July '03, RRumble '04-WM 20

-2 Time Tag Champ SSeries '04 (Benjamin) WM '19 (Lesnar/Benjamin)

18. Bob Backlund            4 Titles

-2 Time WWF Champ, Feb '78-Nov '79, Dec '79-Dec '83

-2 Time Tag Champ, Aug '80 (Morales) RRumble '95 (Bulldog)

20. Steve Austin                4 Titles-Triple Crown

-WWF Champ, WM 13-SSeries '97

-2 Time IC Champ, SSlam '98, WM 17

-Tag Champ RRumble '96 (Dustin)

20. Nick Nemeth               4 Titles-Triple Crown

-WWF Champ, WM 27-RRumble '12

-2 Time IC Champ SSlam '98, WM 28

-Tag Champ SSlam '09 (Swagger)

20. Pedro Morales            4 Titles-Triple Crown

-WWF Champ, Feb '71-Dec '73

-2 Time IC Champ, Dec '80, Jan '81

-Tag Champ, Aug '80

23. Sami Zayn/El Generico     4 Titles-Triple Crown

-WWF Champ, SSeries '21-WM 38

-IC Champ WM 32

-2 Time Tag Champ, RRumble '17 (Steen) RRumble '24 (Steen)

23. Tyler Black                 4 Titles-Triple Crown

-WWF Champ, WM 35-SSeries '20

-IC Champ SSlam '23

-2 Time Tag WM 29 (Ambrose/Langston) SSlam '18 (Styles)

23. Cody Rhodes              4 Titles-Triple Crown

-WWF Champ, WM 39-

-IC Champ WM 38

-2 Time Tag Champ, RRumble '12 (Orton) SSeries '12 (Orton/Bernard)

23. Claudio Castagnoli      4 Titles-Triple Crown

-WWF Champ, WM 30-RRumble '15

-IC Champ, RRumble '21

-2 Time Tag Champ, SSlam '16 (Pac) WM 33 (Pac)

27. Kevin Steen                 4 Titles

-WWF Champ, SSlam '15-Feb '16

-3 Time Tag Champ RRumble '17 (Zayn) SSeries '19 (Rey) RRumble '24 (Zayn)

27. Roman Reigns            4 Titles

-WWF Champ WM 38-WM 39

-3 Time Tag Champ, WM 32 (Usos) SSlam '17 (Usos) SSeries '21 (Gable/Lashley)

27. British Bulldog           4 Titles

-WWF Champ SSlam '91-SSeries '91

-3 Time Tag Champ WM 2 (Bret/Anvil) RRumble '95 (Backlund) RRumble '97 (Owen)

30. Ricochet                      4 Titles

-WWF Champ SSeries '20-RRumble '21 

-2 Time IC Champ WM 35, WM 39

-Dark Ride Champ Apr '18

31. Sheamus                      4 Titles

-2 Time IC Champ, WM 27, RRumble '14

-2 Time Tag Champ, SSlam '15 (Barrett) SSeries '18 (McIntyre/Miz)

31. Rob Van Dam              4 Titles

-2 Time IC Champ, RRumble '02, SSeries '02

-2 Time Tag Champ SSlam '04 (Rey) SSeries '06 (Sabu)

33. Jimmy Uso                    4 Titles

-4 Time Tag Champ WM 32 (Jey/Roman) SSlam '17 (Jey/Roman) SSlam '21 (Jey) WM 38 (Jey)

33. Kingston                        4 Titles

-4 Time Tag Champ WM 26 (Killings) WM 28 (Killings) SSeries '15 (Woods/Langston) SSeries '20 (Woods/Langston)

33. Chief Jay Strongbow    4 Titles

-4 Time Tag Champ May '72 (King) Dec '76 (White Wolf) June '82 (Jules) Oct '82 (Jules)

36. CM Punk                        3 Titles

-3 Time WWF Champ  SSeries '06-same show, WM 24-SSeries '08, WM 27-same show

36. Asuka                              3 Titles

-3 Time Womens Champ  WM 34-WM 35, WM 36-SSlam '20, SSlam '23-

36. Bryan Danielson           3 Titles

-3 Time WWF Champ, RRumble '12-WM 29, SSlam '13-WM 30, RRumble '21-WM 37

36. Sasha Banks                  3 Titles

-3 Time Womens Champ, WM 32-SSlam '16, RRumble '17-WM 33, SSlam '20-WM 37

40. Charlotte Flair              3 Titles

-2 Time Womens Champ, SSeries '15-WM 32, SSlam '16-RRumble '17

- Womens Tag Champ, WM 39 (Lynch)

40. Ric Flair                        3 Titles

-2 Time WWF Champ, SSeries '91-WM 8, SSlam '06-SSeries '06

-Tag Champ WM 20 (Batista)

42. Randy Savage               3 Titles

-WWF Champ, SSeries '88-SSeries '89

-2 Time IC Champ, WM 2, RRumble '92

43. Samoa Joe                     3 Titles

-WWF Champ, SSlam '17-RRumble '18

-2 Time Dark Ride Champ  June '16, Jan '17

44. Dean Ambrose               3 Titles

-2 Time IC Champ, SSlam '13, SSeries '15

-Tag Champ WM 29

44. Razor Ramon                3 Titles

-2 Time IC Champ, WM 9, WM 10

-Tag Champ SSeries '95 (Diesel)

44. Roddy Piper                  3 Titles

-2 Time IC Champ, WM, SSeries '91

-Tag Champ RRumble '90 (Jake)

47. Prince Devitt                   3 Titles

-2 Time IC Champ, SSlam '18, SSlam '22

-Dark Ride Champ Feb '21

48. Drew McIntyre              3 Titles

-IC Champ SSeries '23

-2 Time Tag Champ SSeries '18 (McIntyre/Miz) SSeries '22 (Lashley/Gable)

48. The Rock                        3 Titles

-IC Champ WM 28

-2 Time Tag Champ SSeries '97 (DLo) SSlam '98 (DLo/Henry)

48. HHH-M                          3 Titles

-IC Champ WM 22

-2 Time Tag Champ, WM 19 (HBK) SSeries '07 (HBK)

48. Tito Santana                  3 Titles

-IC Champ Feb '84

-2 Time Tag Champ Oct '79 (Putski) WM (Beefcake)

52. Langston                         3 Titles

-3 Time Tag Champ, WM 29 (Black/Ambrose) SSeries '15 (Kingston/Woods) SSeries '20 (Kingston/Woods)

52. Matt Hardy                     3 Titles

-3 Time Tag Champ, WM 15 (Jeff) WM 16 (Jeff) WM 33 (Jeff)

52. Jeff Hardy                       3 Titles

-3 Time Tag Champ, WM 15 (Matt) WM 16 (Matt) WM 33 (Matt)

52. Wade Barrett                  3 Titles

-3 Time Tag Champ, WM 27 (Gabriel) RRumble '13 (Ryback/Riley) SSlam '15 (Sheamus)

52. Afa                                   3 Titles

-3 Time Tag Champ, Apr '80 (Sika) Sep '80 (Sika) Mar '83 (Sika)

52. Sika                                   3 Titles

-3 Time Tag Champ, Apr '80 (Afa) Sep '80 (Afa) Mar '83 (Afa)

52. Toru Tanaka                     3 Titles

-3 Time Tag Champ  June '72 (Fuji) Sep '73 (Fuji) Dec '77 (Fuji)

59. Walter                                3 Titles

-Tag Champ RRumble '23 (Brock)

-2 Time Dark Ride Champ Apr '19, Apr '21

60. Bruno Sammartino          2 Titles

-2 Time WWF Champ, May '63-Jan '71, Dec '73-Apr '77

60. Ricky Steamboat              2 Titles

-2 Time WWF Champ, Feb '85-WM 2, WM 3-WM 4

60. Dynamite Kid                    2 Titles

-2 Time WWF Champ, WM 2-WM 3, WM 4-SSeries '88

60. Ronda Rousey                    2 Titles

-2 Time WWF Champ, WM 38-SSeries 22, WM 39-SSlam '23

64. Mr. Perfect                          2 Titles

- WWF Champ SSeries '89-SSlam '91

-IC Champ RRumble '89

65. Becky Lynch                       2 Titles

-Womens Champ, WM 33-WM 34

-Womens Tag Champ WM 39 (Flair)

65. Bianca Belair                       2 Titles

-Womens Champ   SSeries '22-WM 39

-Womens Tag Champ SSeries '23 (Bayley)

65. Bayley                                  2 Titles

-Womens Champ SSlam '19-SSeries '19  

-Womens Tag Champ SSeries '23 (Belair)

65. Booker T                              2 Titles

-WWF Champ WM 23-SSlam '07

-Tag Champ SSeries '05 (Bradshaw)

65. Iron Sheik                           2 Titles

-WWF Champ Dec '83-Jan '84

-Tag Champ Feb '85 (Nikolai)

70. Tajiri                                    2 Titles

-2 Time IC Champ  SSlam '01, SSlam '03

70. Don Muraco                        2 Titles

-2 Time IC Champ, June '81, Jan '83

72. Rick Rude                            2 Titles

-IC Champ WM 5

-Tag Champ WM 7 (Marty)

72. Ted DiBiase                         2 Titles

-IC Champ SSeries '89

-Tag Champ RRumble '92 (Rotundo)

72. Johnny Nitro                       2 Titles

-IC Champ, SSlam '10

-Tag Champ  RRumble '20 (Edge)

72. Chavo Guerrero Jr.            2 Titles

-IC Champ, SSeries '03

-Tag Champ WM 23 (Carlito)

72. Shane Helms                        2 Titles

-IC Champ, SSeries '06

-Tag Champ RRumble '05 (Rhyno)

72. Taz                                       2 Titles

-IC Champ SSeries '01

-Tag Champ RRumble '01 (Raven)

78. Angel Garza                        2 Titles

-IC Champ WM 36

-Tag Champ Dark Ride '19

79. Chad Gable                         2 Titles

-2 Time Tag Champ SSeries '21 (Reigns/Lashley), SSeries '22 (McIntyre/Lashley)

79. Professor Woods                 2 Titles

-2 Time Tag Champ SSeries '15 (Langston/Kingston) SSeries '20 (Langston/Kingston)

79. Bobby Lashley                    2 Titles

-2 Time Tag Champ SSeries '21 (Reigns/Gable), SSeries '22 (McIntyre/Gable)

79. Pac/Neville                          2 Titles

-2 Time Tag Champ SSlam '16 (Claudio) WM 33 (Claudio)

79. Christian                             2 Titles

-2 Time Tag Champ SSlam '00, (Edge) RRumble '09 (Edge)

79. Hawk                                   2 Titles

-2 Time Tag Champ SSeries '90 (Animal) SSlam '97 (Animal)

79. Animal                                 2 Titles

 -2 Time Tag Champ SSeries '90 (Hawk) SSlam '97 (Hawk)  

79. Bubba Ray Dudley            2 Titles

-2 Time Tag Champ  SSeries '99 (DVon) WM 17 (DVon)

79. DVon Dudley                       2 Titles

-2 Time Tag Champ  SSeries '99 (DVon) WM 17 (DVon)

79. Billy Gunn                          2 Titles

-2 Time Tag Champ WM 10 (Bart) WM 14 (Dogg)

79. Bart Gunn                           2 Titles

-2 Time Tag Champ WM 10 (Billy) SSlam '96 (Mero)

79. John Cena                            2 Titles

-2 Time Tag Champ WM 21 (Orton) WM 24 (Batista)

79. Leviathan Batista                2 Titles

-2 Time Tag Champ WM 20 (Flair) WM 24 (Cena)

79. Marty Jannetty                    2 Titles

-2 Time Tag Champ SSlam '89 (HBK) WM 5 (Rude)

79. Jacques Rougeau                 2 Titles

-2 Time Tag Champ SSeries '87 (Ray) RRumble '94 (Jacques)

79. Rick Martel                          2 Titles

-2 Time Tag Champ Nov '80 (Garea) July '81 (Garea)

79. Jim Neidhart                        2 Titles

-2 Time Tag Champ WM 2 (Bret/Davey) SSeries '94 (Bret)

79. Mike Rotundo                       2 Titles

-2 Time Tag Champ Jan '85 (Windham) RRumble '92 (DiBiase)

79. Charlie Haas                          2 Titles

-2 Time Tag Champ RRumble '03 (Benjamin) RRumble '04 (Benjamin)

79. DLo Brown                            2 Titles

-2 Time Tag Champ SSeries '97 (Rock) SSlam '98 (Rock/Henry)

79. Truth Killings                        2 Titles

-2 Time Tag Champ WM 26 (Kingston) WM 28 (Kingston)

79. Paul                                        2 Titles

-2 Time Tag Champ WM 22 (Kane/Undertaker) WM 25 (Kane)

79. Kane                                        2 Titles

-2 Time Tag Champ WM 22 (Paul/Undertaker) WM 25 (Paul)

79. Dominic DeNucci                   2 Titles

-2 Time Tag Champ May '75 (Rivera/Barrett) Mar '78 (Bravo)

79. Jules Strongbow                    2 Titles

-2 Time Tag Champ  June '82 (Jay) Oct '82 (Jay)

79. Mr. Saito                                 2 Titles

-2 Time Tag Champ Oct '81 (Fuji) Jul '82 (Fuji)

79. Johnny Valiant                      2 Titles

-2 Time Tag Champ May '74 (Jimmy) Mar '79 (Jerry)

106. Ilja Dragunov                        2 Titles

-2 Time Dark Ride Apr '23, Nov '23

One Title

Mens/Womens Champs: Rhea Ripley, Shayna Baszler, Natty Neidhart, Matt Riddle, Hulk Hogan, Buddy Rogers, Antonio Inoki, Billy Graham, Ivan Koloff, Stan Stasiak, Paige

IC Champs: Logan Paul, Aleister Black, Rusev, Fit Finlay, Luke Harper, Greg Valentine, Vader, MVP, Ken Patera, Pat Patterson, Steve Regal, Bray Wyatt, Ken Shamrock, Al Snow, Matt Sydal, Sean Waltman

Tag Champs: Apollo Crews, Montez Ford, Angelo Dawkins, Miz, Jack Swagger, Rick Steiner, Scott Steiner, Sabu, Undertaker, Barry Windham, Dash Wilder, Scott Dawson, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Sandman, Tarzan Tyler, Nikolai Volkoff, Pat Tanaka, Akio Sato, Jimmy Valiant, Jerry Valiant, Billy White Wolf, Yukon Eric, Yukon Pierre, Larry Zybyszko, Baron Sciuluna, Adrian Adonis, Tony Atlas, Rocky Johnson, GHB Bradshaw, Giant Bernard, Brutus Beefcake, Pat Barrett, Rhyno, Dustin Rhodes, Dino Bravo, Diesel, Blackjack Lanza, Blackjack Windham, Haystacks Calhoun, Jake Roberts, Ray Rougeau, Pierre Rougeau, Road Dogg, Lance Cade, Ryback, Raven, Carlito, Louis Cerdan, Victor Rivera, Mark Henry, Ted DiBiase Jr, Tommy Dreamer, Executioner 1, Executioner 2, Terry Funk, Alex Riley, Justin Gabriel, Luke Graham, Lance Cade, Karl Gotch, Rene Goulet, Dean Ho, Curtis Iaukea, Moondog Rex, Moondog Spot, Moondog King, Sonny King, Lance Storm, Lex Luger, Marc Mero, Dick Murdoch, Trevor Murdoch, Tony Parisi, Ivan Putski, Damien Priest, 

Dark Ride Champs: Johnny Gargano, Tommaso Ciampa, Dragon Lee, Bronn Steiner, Adam Cole, Kushida, Roderick Strong, Kenta

Royal Rumble 2024

The build

The 35th Annual Royal Rumble comes live from Tampa.  It is the 148th PPV in WWF history.

(Dark: Rey Mysterio d. Dragon Lee

           Gargano/Ciampa d. Alexander/Tozawa (Tozawa injures ankle, Alexander helps him from ring)

           Dark Ride Title: Ilja Dragunov d. Nathan Frazer)

The announcers (the color commentators rotate) Cole (7th PPV) Graves (9th) Barrett (9th) Regal (28th)

The show starts with a long clip package of Royal Rumble History

'89...the very first match, Demolition going over the Powers of Pain....Hogan slamming Andre....the Brainbusters keeping over the Rockers....Hennig taking the IC from Bret....Savage dropping the elbow on DiBiase...

'90...the Rougeau Brothers brawling...HBK turning his back on Marty costing the Rockers their tag belts...Bret taking the IC from Ted....Savage brutally attacking Hennig to close the show...

'91..Undertaker tombstoning Dusty...Shawn superkicks Marty...the Road Warriors going nose to nose on the ramp with Demolition...Savage sticking Hennig with the WWF Fork, over and over again...

'92...long chain sequence with Shawn and Owen....Savage drops the elbow on a bloody Piper....Flair submits Davey Boy....

'93...Razor's Edge on Savage...Perfect Plex on Flair....Shawn superkicking Owen...

'94....Owen driving the WWF Fork in Savage's head...Waltman turning on Razor, allowing the Michaels win...Undertaker chokeslamming Bret through the Spanish announce table....

'95....Backlund submitting Neidhart to win the tag belts...Owen DDTs Razor on the concrete outside...Michaels hits Diesel with a TV monitor

'96...Austin with the Stunner on Razor to win the tag belts...Vaderbomb onto Michaels....Bret rolls through an Owen pinfall attempt to pin his brother...

'97...Austin brawling with Vader...Funk hitting Cactus with a moonsault wrapped in barbed wire...Pillman cracking both Bret and Shawn over the heads with the WWF Title...

'98..Michaels hitting Taker with multiple superkicks...Funk and Cactus, covered in blood, holding the tag belts...Mike Tyson walking down the ramp...Vader submitting to Shamrock...Owen has Austin in the sharpshooter, blood coming down his face...

'99...Edge/Christian/Matt/Jeff celebrating together...Rock Bottom on Waltman...a violent headbutt spot with Owen and Cactus...

'00...Angle submits the Bulldog...Angle submits Waltman....the Dudleys set a table on fire...RJericho submits HHH...Cactus and Taz brawl...

'01...Raven/Taz/the Dudleys and Justin Credible all standing over the Hardys...Angle Slam on the Rock...Hunter Pedigrees Waltman on the ramp...Regal holding the ropes as he pins Austin...Benoit submits Jericho...

'02...Edge and Christian wiping out HHH...Stunner on DDP...RVD frogsplash on Taz...Angle submits Flair...

'03..Crazy TLC spots with Hardys/Dudleys/Edge and Christian...Brock with 3 F5s on Jericho...Shelton pins Benoit....Rey with the pinfall on RVD...Angle submits Michaels....Brock destroying Angle....

'04...Christian gets the fall on Matt...Cactus hitting Brock with the barbed wire bat...Angle rolling Eddy up...

'05..Christian gets Flair in the Figure Four...Edge gets the fall on Jericho...Benoit submits Michaels..

'06...Matt and Edge, bleeding in the empty arena match...CM Punk, in his first WWF appearance, comes out of the front row to hit London with the Pepsi Plunge...Michaels superkicks Angle...Fit pins Benoit...Ricky Steamboat fighting off Hunter's heel stable...

'07...Crazy glass table spots with RVD/Sabu v. Sandman/Dreamer...Edge spears Matt dead on the ramp...

'08...Pepsi Plunge on Jeff Hardy...Edge turning on Jericho....Shelton pinning Rey to win the WWF Title...

'09..Orton RKO's Van Dam...Christian takes off the Blood Dragon mask, revealing he and Edge are the tag team champs...The Messiah Shawn Michaels superkicks Jericho

'10...Bret Hart Appreciation Night...the future Presidents of the United States, Linda and Vince, sitting in the front row next to Bret...Bret preventing Nitro from interfering in the IC match...Nitro superkicking him on the ramp...Christian fighting Punk in the cage..Edge spears Maria while Punk is handcuffed to the cage

'11...Regal lowblows Punk...Mysterio pins Danielson...Edge and Punk go nose to nose...

'12...WWE 100...scores of veterans from PPV past shown streaming into the building...Cena pins Punk...Rock Bottom on Barrett on the ramp...Cattle Mutilation on Nemeth gives Danielson the WWF Title...Punk and Danielson shaking hands...

'13...Nemeth pinning Claudio...El Generico jumping from the video wall...Jericho pins Punk...Lesnar F5ing Danielson...

'14...the Shield keeping the tag belts over the Wyatts...Punk submitting to Danielson and leaving town, his first Rumble in a decade is tonight...

'15...Steve Austin coming to the ring...Paige pins Natty to win the Womens Title...The Shield in a garbage match against Bubbay Ray Dudley and DDP...Kenta attacks Claudio...save by Danielson...

'16...Roman wiping out Hunter...Charlotte pins Becky...the unmasking of Pac...Generico buckle bomb on Jericho...AJ Styles walking down the ramp, a shocking debut...the big Bullet Club formation, Anderson/Gallows/Nakamura/Devitt/Styles taking over the WWF to close the show

'17...Becky joins the Bullet Club, laying out Charlotte and Sasha...the Shield explodes, Ambrose/Black/Langston firing blows at each other...Brock F5s Rusev...big tag spot, Steen/Generico battling Claudio and Pac....

'18...Andrade, under the mask, and Adam Cole falling off a ladder...FTR, as the Revival, beating American Alpha...Generico getting the fall on Rey...Usos and FTR going noses to noses...Nakamura pinning Tyler Black to become WWF Champion...

'19...Rousey laying in stiff shots on Lynch...Iyo and Sane in a fast paced spot...Kurt Angle getting a fall on Kingston...Devitt pinning Pete Dunne...Danielson swinging chairshots at Samoa Joe...Styles with the flying forearm to beat Lesnar...Black standing above Ambrose, Dean leaving the territory...Nakamura and Kenta in the middle of the ring...

'20...Iyo and Sane again battling...Andrade, under the mask, pinning Claudio....McIntyre brawling with Roman...Lesnar F5ing Riddle...Banks/Bayley/Charlotte/Lynch in a wild brawl around the arena...Aleister Black holding the IC belt over Ricochet...Danielson and Steen laying out Styles....Tyler Black pinning Joe and Nakamura...

'21...Roman kills Jeff Hardy...Edge over Christian in a No DQ match...Banks getting the fall on Bayley...Claudio taking the IC title over Styles...Riddle/Rey/Steen/Zayn in a four way....Danielson submits Ricochet...

'22...Edge facing off with Rey...Styles Clash on Ricochet...Roman pins Langston to take the tag belts and force the New Day to disband...Ripley pins Belair to keep the belt...Nakamura/Black/Devitt/Styles brawling up the ramp...the Holy Roman Empire laying out both Steen and Zayn...

'23...Logan Paul sends Edge out of the promotion...Asuka/Iyo in a street fight...Cody pins Gable..Walter and Lesnar holding the tag belts aloft....Roman pinfall on Black....

There's a shot of Andrade and Reed, in separate rooms, guards out front of their doors, ensuring they do not get out (ensuring Andrade doesn't kill Reed for attacking Charlotte)

1. IC #1 CONTENDER: ELIMINATION CHAMBER: JIMMY USO d. LA KNIGHT/SANTOS ESCOBAR/BRON STEINER/DOMINIC MYSTERIO/JD MCDONAGH

-Lot of space between dark matches and this one to get the chamber in place

-Biggest singles win of Uso's career - he will go to Wrestlemania 40 to challenge for the IC.

-Uso is one of the first two wrestlers in the ring, lets say with McDonagh.

-Steiner is 5th, he comes in and runs wild, kills everyone, the spot ends with his spearing Dom through a chamber, it knocks out both of them.  Dom's underneath, so the fall is counted on him, Knight is the 6th man in, he comes in, pulls Steiner away, Steiner totally dead, Knight does the Peoples Elbow on him, gets the fall.  

-Last 3 are Uso/Escobar/Knight - Jimmy goes over both of them to win the match.

2. FALLS COUNT ANYWHERE: RANDY ORTON d. DAMIEN PRIEST (w/Ripley)

-This match never gets to the ring, allowing for the chamber to get torn down, they fight everywhere else, Ripley is the only member of Defiance who can aid Priest (Dom's dead, Reeds locked up) she does - until the return of Becky Lynch - Lynch takes Ripley out allowing for Orton to get a fall, maybe an RKO through a merch table.

3. LOGAN PAUL (wMcAfee) d. PRINCE DEVITT

-Devitt is left wondering what is future is here - he loses his feud to Rhodes, he can never fight for the WWF Title again, Paul comes right at him - and then beats him clean here.  Has Devitt reaches the end of his run?

4. KAIRI SANE d. LIV MORGAN (Special Guest Referee: Iyo Sky)

-Sky won her long feud with Asuka, Asuka then took the title from Rousey after training from Sane - Sane was special guest referee in Asuka keeping the belt over Sky and tension related to those things has caused a break in their friendship - Sky teases she's going to screw Sane over here, but eventually counts the fall.  Sky and Sane get into a shoving match postmatch.

5. CARMELO HAYES (w/Williams) d. RICOCHET (w/Alexander)

-This is the write off for Ricochet - Hayes gets him clean - Hayes and Williams with a postmatch beatdown (Alexander took some sort of bump during the match so it takes him a moment to save...)  But Alexander doesn't save - he turns on Ricochet, he joins the Culture, Tozawa got injured in the dark match so he can't help - its the farewell for Ricochet.

6. WOMENS TAG TITLES: BELAIR/BAYLEY d. HORSEWOMEN (Stratton/Baszler)

-Belair and Bayley keep the belts here, Baszler going under.

7. UNSANCTIONED: ANDRADE d. BRONSON REED

-There's a light change, this is officially where intermission begins - a non WWF referee is brought in - this is not a wrestling match, it's a fight, it should not look like they are cooperating with each other more than they have to so spots can get in, double juice - eventually there's a ref stoppage when Reed can no longer continue.  

Taped package featuring Wrestlemanias 10, 20, 30...the theme for all 3 being Brother v Brother...they then show shots of Philadelphia, with the chyron that it is the City of Brotherly Love...Love is then scratched out...it's Wrestlemania 40, coming in April from Philadelphia.

8. WOMENS TITLE: ASUKA d. JORDYNN GRACE

-Asuka clean.  

9. #1 CONTENDER: WALTER (w/Heyman) d. ROMAN REIGNS

-A match long in the making, really sense Reigns' first title defense when Walter saved Lesnar postmatch.  Main event style, long, nearfalls - and Walter gets him.  Walter will go to Wrestlemania to challenge the winner of Cody/Punk.

10. IC: JEY USO d. DREW McINTYRE 

-The 85th Intercontinental Champion is Jey Uso.  There's some booking here, there's a ref bump, then Roman runs in and lays Drew out with the punch.  Jey is shocked - Roman's forming his heel group, not selecting the Usos blew up their whole family - but Roman's desire for revenge against McIntyre, Roman's losing his shot at the WWF Title in the prior match - he takes out that frustration here - McIntyre kicks out here, the ref recovers, it's a long count - but Drew kicks out - but a couple of minutes later, Jey gets the fall and the win.  Roman gets the IC belt from the timekeepers table, comes to the ring, hands it to Jey and raises his hand - Jey Usos is IC Champ...and then on the ramp emerges Jimmy and we see that it has become clear - at Wrestlemania 40, we will see Jey v. Jimmy for the IC Title.

11. TAG TITLES: SAMI ZAYN/KEVIN STEEN (w/ Gargano/Ciampa) d. TRIPLE CROWN (Styles/Nakamura w/ Mysterio) 

-Its the big workrate match for the night, long, nearfalls, Steen pins Nakamura - postmatch, its handshakes - including between Steen and Rey, burying their old feud - Zayn/Steen/Gargano/Ciampa hit the buckles postmatch - the following night, RAW builds to the GDI reformation - but when Gargano and Ciampa are handed the t-shirts, they turn on Zayn and Steen, destroying both guys.

12. WWF TITLE: CODY RHODES d. CM PUNK

-Your big main event - Punk's first WWF match in a decade.  

-Cody goes over clean, postmatch he takes the bag in which we all know the AEW Title is located, although we do not see it - Cody opens the bag, holds the title belt, again, we do not see it, we just see the big sack in which it is held - and Cody throws down the sack, with, presumably, the AEW Title - Cody holds the WWF Title aloft - its the inverse of the Punk spot from Survivor Series '06 and the primacy of WWF has been declared at Royal Rumble 2024!

Post show is that 10-20-30 Mania package from earlier, it ends however with the title card:

Wrestlemania 40

Philadelphia.  

Brother vs. Brother

Sister vs. Sister.

There's a really meta thing happening with the finish of the main event.

As you know, I'm wrapping up - not unlike the way a wrestler (Ricochet in this show) wraps up.  And in the way (Ricochet, in this show) might wrap up, on his back, putting the promotion over, this is my doing that.  

If I'm watching this show at home - I'm rooting for Punk and the idea that the AEW Title gets thrown away by Cody Rhodes is super aggravating for me. Booo.  Booooooooooooo.   

But - for WWF, for this story - with Roman setting up the lens through which to view Punk's throwing the WWF belt down in '06 as an existential harm to WWF, the ability to square that circle was irresistible.  So - as the promotion heads to the big anniversary shows and then its new future - putting this period on that story from the past is whats best for business, even though, it's not what's best for me. I go out on my back, as is the time honored tradition. 

Back next month to start the built to 40.