We learned last Friday that CM Punk’s “dream” to be the main event of WrestleMania—the basis of his entire arch since returning–was finally realized during the contract signing segment that made official the triple threat match involving Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, respectively. Punk made it clear that the main event power move was not the ‘favor’ he is owed after helping Paul Heyman help Roman and the fam.
Punk, instead, left the ‘favor’ storyline open before we faded to black, and that was likely because SmackDown would be in Chicago this week–Punk’s most riotous “cult of personality” cult members—where the Windy City native enjoys his greatest pops that have greatly influenced the “Windy City” native’s lore within professional wrestling after years of WWE live events being high jacked by the city.
Aside from WrestleMania storylines, SmackDown was also highly anticipated for the debut of Rey Fenix—the other half of the Lucha Bro tag team that includes Penta. Rey was in a situation with his AEW contact where time was added due to injury, and they would not release both brothers simultaneously—this led to Penta debuting on RAW’s inaugural NETFLIX episode.
Hey Punk… Do Us A Favor
It was as hot a crowd as could have been predicted, and the “Second City” shouted to the rooftop when Punk’s music hit. They did not let up when Punk took over camera duties from ‘Rico,’ the cameraman, though his “Blair Witch Project” production prowess was not appreciated by ‘at home’ viewers.
His promo mostly celebrated his news last week, but the crowd popped even louder when Paul Heyman made his way ringside. He thanked Punk and said ‘he belonged’ in the main event of Mania. But Paul was in the ring to ask yet another favor. “I have, if you’ll indulge me, one more favor to ask of you,” Paul said with some trepidation. “Please tell me the favor that I owe you right now,” prompting a huge pop from the crowd, eager to know like the rest of us.
Paul claimed that Roman was on his way and unhappy that the ‘favor’ had been lorded over him. Punk said the favor wasn’t Roman’s business but that he would only tell him to his face while revealing it to Paul directly. He told Paul to ‘let him know when the “Big Chief” is ready for the face-to-face’ before walking out of the ring.
On the Record
Bryon attempted to get some answers from Heyman mid-show, but his journalistic abilities were no match for Paul. But he did manage to get an ‘official statement’ from the Tribal Chief:
“Ladies and gentlemen, I’m saying this for the record, CM Punk, I’m saying this for the record: no matter what the favor is, my answer is yes,” Paul proclaimed into the camera as Roman’s black SUV pulled up behind him…or so he thought. Paul verbally welcomed Roman when Seth stepped out of the vehicle, laughing, and then said to Paul, “Oh, you were expecting the other ‘Shield’ guy.” Seth told Paul he had dug himself into a hole with this whole ‘favor thing’ but then admitted that the favor could affect “Monday Night Rollins” himself. So, he demanded that Paul let Seth know when the powwow would begin.
Main Event Segment
When Roman finally made it to TV, it did not take long for him to realize he was in CM Punk country. Roman claimed Punk would not be in WWE if it weren’t for him, but he also took credit for Punk getting into the ‘main event’ of Mania. The crowd was ruthless and did not give Roman an inch until a surprising “OTC” chant broke out and a Roman smile along with it.
Still, in enemy territory, Roman invited Punk out—an invitation Seth Rollins took for himself. The crowd was hot for Seth as well, but Punk had yet to make his entrance. Rollins’s promo was delivered in an overly dramatic tone, but the crowd was done and started chanting, “What’s the favor.” Seth admitted he was wondering the same thing as Chi-Town fandom.
Roman called Seth untrustworthy, harking back to the ‘Shield turn’ that has remained the crux of their relationship.
Punk finally made his way out, and the crowd went nuts. They quieted as he began, showing that Punk had the entire audience in his hands. He reminisced about when Paul left the company and his private conversations with Punk, Big Show, and RVD. Punk said he regretted making it about him back then, but even then, Paul knew Punk would not need him to end up as a ‘Mania main eventer.’
That is when Punk finally revealed his favor as he called for “The Wiseman” to be in his corner against Rollins and Paul’s Tribal Chief, Roman.
Reigns laughed it off, telling Punk that Paul loved him before ordering Paul to ‘let this desperate fool down easy.’ But Paul, red-eyed, was clearly conflicted. Roman asked if Paul was crying before giving him ‘one last chance’ to turn down Punk’s request—going as far as to ‘remind’ Paul that he took him in and made him relevant.
Roman’s face turned a light shade of desperation as Paul acknowledged that he could not turn down Punk’s request. Roman snapped, cornering Paul, and that is when Punk took his shot by blindsiding Roman while Rollins was on his knees laughing. Rollins and Punk faced off, but all eyes were on a clearly emotional Roman—the most vulnerable he has looked since Rollins turned on the brotherhood.
The show ended with Punk giving the ‘go to sleep’ taunt into the camera while Paul writhed in agony, screaming ‘no.’
A New Rey Of Lucha Light Rises Like A Fenix
It was the last remaining piece of the Lucha puzzle as Rey Fenix debuted tonight after waiting out the remainder of his AEW contract on the sidelines, while Penta has debuted to great success. His opponent is one-half of the NXT tag team champions Nathan Frazer. The Seth Rollins-trained wrestler, Frazer, was also making his main roster debut in singles action after his tag partner Axiom wrestled heavyweight champion Gunther a few weeks ago on RAW in a fantastic and competitive match.
Unfortunately, Frazer botched early in the match with a ‘tope suicida’ that was shorted after he saw his foot caught on the top rope. Rey was able to get the crowd back into it after delivering his spinning dive off the top turnbuckle to the outside on Frazer. Rey landed his patented “Goodbye Amigo Kick,” which has long been a staple of his highlight reel.
Rey unsurprisingly picked up the win after hitting a superkick into a ‘Mexican Muscle Buster’ for the win. He was given a post-fight interview similar to the one Penta received after his debut.
“Gracias Chicago,” Fenix exclaimed before admitting to having a lot of ‘history’ in the city known to have a significant Mexican/Latin/Hispanic demographic. Rey continued to deliver a passionate promo before saying what he had been waiting to say for a long time: “I am a WWE animal!”
In the back, Legado Del Fantasma’s leader, Santos Escobar, was watching Rey’s debut along with his faction by his side. Escobar told them that he needed to see in LDF what he saw tonight in Fenix. That comment prompted Humberto Carrillo to step up and vowed to beat Fenix, to which Escobar claimed he would speak to GM Aldis and set up the match.
Fatu, Tonga, Solo Splitting Up?
We have seen a sort of power struggle between Fatu and Solo since they suffered the demoralizing loss at Survivor Series: Wargames. The feud might have popped off by now had it not been for Fatu’s singular focus on winning the U.S. title and the gigantic thorn that has been Brawn Strowman. Tonight, both Fatu and Tama Tonga were in solo action.
LA Knight vs. Tama Tonga
Knight defeated Tonga in a non-title match, which was not that competitive either. Solo was ringside but did not attempt to interfere in the final sequence of the match despite Tonga clearly headed for defeat. Solo did try to get his hands on Knight post-match, but it was to no avail, as the champ escaped with the clean win (and without the post-match beatdown).
Jacob Fatu vs. Braun Strowman—Last Man Standing Match
They got two different commercial breaks and still delivered in a big way. Strowman has been in several of these kinds of feuds where he is forced to get physical throughout the arena, but this felt special. For the first time, Strowman felt like he finally found someone who could ‘out monster’ even him.
Strowman and Fatu hit each other with everything but the kitchen sink, including a super-plex from the top of the industrial speakers and onto the set of tables. The crowd went crazy, and fan reactions were perfectly captured. While the match was great, the production and presentation really hit the mark.
Fatu beat Strowman again and is now the number one contender for LA Knight’s U.S. title—a match destined for Mania.
Charlotte Flair And Tiffany Stratton Deliver Real Heat?
The “Number one Nepo baby” Charlotte Flair and champion Tiffany Stratton took off the gloves tonight. In what has been a mostly ‘on paper’ program, these two women dug deep into cutting each other down with personal barbs. The fans were not on Tiffy’s side as much as they were super against Flair.
Tiffany called Charlotte a nepo baby while Flair cut off Stratton’s promo to poke fun at her ‘squeaky voice.’ You would think that Stratton pointing out Flair’s 3-0 record in marriage would have given her the win, but Flair’s promo and combined performance were designed to throw Stratton off and make her look bad. Sure, it is the wrestler’s job to ‘get over’ on their opponent, but Flair did things meant to bury Tiff’s entire segment as opposed to using her actual promo.
“You’re gonna be just like you are outside the ring, alone,” Stratton said, referencing Flair’s most recent public divorce to wrestler Andrade. It was a low blow, but not to be outdone, Charolette claimed that Tiffy’s husband, RAW superstar Ludwig Kaiser, has been in her DMs as the champ exited the ring towards ‘Gorilla.’
Naomi vs. B-Fab On Smackdown… Jade vs. Naomi At WrestleMania
Jade Cargill attacked Naomi on her way ringside for a singles match with B-Fab. Naomi has taken pre-match beatings galore as of late, so she recovered and continued with the match. The ref rang the bell with Naomi at a disadvantage, but her new violent tendencies were enough to reverse momentum.
Naomi picked up the win and grabbed the mic to call out Jade. Jade jumped in the ring and delivered a “big boot” as security ran in to break up the brawl. Jade threw out several staffers before GM Aldis announced that Jade and Naomi would go one-on-one at WrestleMania.
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