Within the span of less than 10 hours, the TKO corporation had three events under their banner, including the AAA When Worlds Collide event, the Money In The Bank pay-per-view, both held in Los Angeles, and the UFC 316 pay-per-view in Newark, New Jersey. It goes without saying that TKO is doing solid business in 2025, as they ran events literally coast-to-coast on Saturday.
Depending on your perspective, the Money in The Bank event was either exactly as you expected or perhaps slightly underwhelming with the surprise cameo at the conclusion of the show as the exception. Given the moments created by the Money in the Bank stipulation, the match itself has become a draw. The downside of that is that within the context of a three-hour broadcast, the nature of the bouts are car crash spectacles that can lead to a rather flat presentation for the rest of the card.
The MITB matches were used to open and nearly close the show, which makes sense, but in terms of the structure, the contests were somewhat clunky at times, an aspect that was probably unavoidable. For example, the women’s ladder match that opened the show was action packed and a very entertaining segment with the variety of interactions between the different competitors, but there wasn’t exactly an overall build in terms of the drama toward the finish. This match, very similar to the men’s match in the main event, had the ladder spots and the risky bumps, and somewhat of an inconsistent pace because there were some many wrestlers involved.
Naomi won the match to secure a future title shot, a decision that I have to think will eventually be incorporated into the still unresolved feud with Jade Cargill, and the involvement of Bianca Belair. To be completely honest, since she got steamrolled by Jade in their previous match, and there still hasn’t been a decisive winner of the rivalry, I’m not sure if Naomi was the best choice for the brief case, at least at this point. That’s why I’d speculate that she wouldn’t cash in the title shot until somewhere down the road when it would involve Jade, which would be fine, but she would have to be kept strong on television. Along with keeping Naomi relevant, the scenario that would include a cash-in on Jade would necessitate that Cargill became a solid champion. Considering that she still has some glaring weakness for her in-ring work, it’s not a sure thing that the potentially cash-in angle would truly materialize into a moment that would be considered a major payoff. That’s not to say that it can’t work since there’s no reason to rush any of it, but rather to point out that there’s still work to be done on both sides of the equation if that’s the intended goal.
Since there are still questions about Jade, which could affect the payoff of a potential Naomi cash-in, I would’ve guessed that either Stephanie Vaquer or Giulia would’ve won the title shot. That’s not a jab against Naomi either, but besides the storyline uncertainties, she already had a run with the championship so the argument could be made that she didn’t need a cash-in moment. On the flip side, that same moment could be more impactful or effective for either Vaquer or Giulia if it was used to set up a title win on the main roster for them.
Dominik Mysterio beat Octagon Jr. to retain the Intercontinental title in a fun five-minute sprint. As we know, this was set up earlier in the day during the AAA event, and it was a good way get some exposure for the lucha project without dedicating too much time to a venture that is still relatively unknown to most of the WWE audience. The biggest takeaway from this contest is that Dominik is continuing to evolve well in the role as a heel champion and you can see that the experience that he had in the past few years has definitely helped him as a performer.
Becky Lynch defeated Lyra Valkyria to win the Women’s IC title, and this was a really solid match. I don’t know if now was the time for Valkyria to drop the championship, but I’m assuming it was a way to set up her winning the belt back at the conclusion of the feud. The much bigger and more important point is that she looked like a legitimate star again in a match against Becky Lynch, which speaks volumes to Lynch’s ability as a performer to elevate the talent that she works with in the ring. Again, the title is almost moot in the grand scheme of things because we’ve seen titleholders fizzle out and even get released in the past after their push plateaued so the office went in a different direction. How many times has a wrestler got a brief push, had a brief title run, drop the belt, and eventually end up with a pink slip? Thankfully, Valkyria seems to be on the other end of the spectrum, as she’s organically and steadily moving up the ladder in the process to become a legitimate star, which indirectly proves how much of an asset Lynch is in terms of her ability to help make new stars.
The Men’s Money in The Bank match was a wild stunt show, and at almost 35 minutes went a little too long with a few stagnant points throughout the segment, but it was still some really entertaining stuff. Credit to Chad Gable for working twice in one night with a great match against Vikingo at the AAA event and then taking some brutal bumps in this match, including a back suplex off the ladder where he almost clipped his head on another ladder that was already on the canvas. Aside from going at least five minutes too long, this segment was probably overbooked as well, specifically when Jacob Fatu turned baby face to put Solo Sikoa through a ladder on the outside. I understand that it makes sense because of how over Fatu got over with the crowd, but it still seems a little rushed. That being said, I’m a little puzzled as to why the office decided to give Seth Rollins the brief case again, mostly because it’s literally a retread from more than a decade ago. I know the counterpoint to that might be that since over ten years have passed, Seth could get a fresh run with the briefcase, but it’s less about using the gimmick and more about the fact that Rollins simply doesn’t need the cash-in to justify or elevate him to a position of prominence on the Raw brand. Granted, his booking and character presentation over the years hasn’t always been helpful, but as far as an in-ring performer, Rollins is already an established star. Furthermore, the faction around him and his alignment with Paul Heyman is more than enough steam to put him in the conversation as a title challenger. I could be wrong, but I really think that Penta, Gable, or LA Knight would’ve been a better choice, simply because the MITB contract could’ve propelled them to the main event status where Rollins already is anyway.
The main event of Jey Uso and Cody Rhodes vs. John Cena and Logan Paul was basically a paint-by-the-numbers WWE tag team main event, and there’s nothing wrong with that. This was basic, but very effective, and that’s what counts by the time the show goes off the air. The spots were very choreographed, which took any from any type of spontaneous presentation, but given Logan Paul’s involvement and lack of experience, it still made sense to work that type of match. The moonsault to the outside through the announce table was impressive. I plan to write a specific column about the return of Ron Killings, as he cost John Cena the match, but I will say this much about it in this review, it’s very doubtful that WWE management had the foresight to work his release with the expectation that it would generate the type of reaction it did with the plan being to bring him back at this pay-per-view. Cody pinned Cena to win the match, which is a key piece of the puzzle for that storyline because now the former champion just beat Cena so it starts to set up for the eventual rematch.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
Email [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
