WWE Night of Champions 2025: Suck a Blood Money Covered Dick

[C.S.]

Ladies and gentlemen...

TALLA TONGA

(As generic as it is, I honestly like it more than the unpronounceable hard to spell Hikuleo.)

[El-P]

Hikuleo is actually super easy to pronounce. For French people.

(imagine debuting on a Bloodmoney show)

[flyonthewall2983]

I love the bodysuits the women wear. They’re awfully comfy with fetish aesthetics these days.

[sek69]

6 hours ago, C.S. said:

Ladies and gentlemen...

TALLA TONGA

(As generic as it is, I honestly like it more than the unpronounceable hard to spell Hikuleo.)

Apparently they are going to spell it "Tala Tonga",  I guess Talla was too on the nose for the 6'8 guy. Still better than Hikuleo. Fits better with his brothers' names this way. 

Also I guess people are mad about Fatu losing, but Solo needed a win and it took 3 other people helping so it's not like Jacob got made to look like a geek or anything.

 

.....and yes, Jade is just absolute trash in the ring. I get WWE wants to get something out of their investment since after Cody she was the first big AEW star to jump but it's just not working. If they try a title run with her I'm almost certain at this point it's going to get rejected by the fans.

[Robert S]

12 hours ago, El-P said:

There's nothing fancy about Celsius. At 0°, water turns into ice. At 100°, water boils and turns into vapor. IT MAKES SENSE ! Fahrenheit is like temperatures booked by Vince Russo ! "Bro, water becomes ice at 32 degrees." Why the fuck 32 ??? "Nobody expects it. It's a swerve, bro."

The temperature in the day actually doesn't matter as much. It's the night that does. (no AC here)

Ok, off to watching CMLL.

this

I am able to do approx. conversions from pounds to kg (divide by 2 and round down a little), from feet to m (divide by 3 and round down a little) and from miles to km (times 5 divide by 8 - or if I need rough estimation is good enough, times 2 divide by 3) in my head, but I will never be able to convert from Fahrenheit to Celsius without using digital assistance. There should be a section in the Geneva Conventions about the the use of non-SI units.

[The Thread Killer]

Firstly, @Dav'oh I hope your toothache gets better soon, brother.  I hate nagging pain.  I'd rather deal with severe pain that will at least go away at some point, rather than a dull, continuous, incessant pain that just won't go away...especially if it keeps you awake at night.  I was recently diagnosed with a really weird condition called "CPPD" which is basically a form of rheumatoid arthritis, but it mimics the symptoms of gout (but it isn't gout.) It's caused by this heart condition that I have been dealing with...basically my heart isn't working well enough to circulate blood throughout my extremities. The upshot is that I can pretty much ignore the discomfort during the day...but at night when I lie down and try to sleep, my knees and especially ankles and feet start throbbing with a dull, continuous pain.  It's not agonizing, but it's just enough to keep me awake and it NEVER STOPS. It's extremely uncomfortable and I definitely am very empathetic towards anybody who is dealing with any medical condition that won't stop hurting and is preventing you from sleeping.  It's not my teeth that are hurting, but I still feel your pain. I hope you can get the problem fixed soon.

Secondly, those of you like @El-P and @C.S. who have been dealing with severe heat recently also have my heartfelt sympathy, as well.  People always think that it's cold here in Canada, but believe you me, it has been hotter than hell here recently.  Last week, we had 4-5 days where (once you factored in the severe humidity) it was actually well over 40 degrees Celsius/100 degrees Fahrenheit.  It was insane.  It was so hot and humid you could barely breathe when you went outside, and it felt like it was never going to end. Thank goodness I live in an air conditioned basement apartment.  I hope you guys can find a way to remain cool. As far as those of you arguing the Metric/Imperial system...I am old enough that I was actually taught both in school.  But all I have to say, is that the Metric system is the tool of the devil, my car gets 40 rods to the hogshead, and that's the way I likes it. (Simpsons joke.)

Anyhow...I ended up watching Night of Champions with a couple of friends yesterday.  I didn't care for it, for a variety of reasons.  I have actually enjoyed the WWE product more than pretty much everybody around here lately, but crap is crap...and there was a lot of crap on this show.

I'm going to say up front...I just don't care about the whole Saudi Arabia thing, and I couldn't really care less about the political opinions of any of the people in TKO/WWE, whether they be executives or the "talent" themselves.  Feel free to think that my apathy makes me a bad person. It is what it is. Those of you who know me, know that I worked for most of my career in Social Services.  From the start of my career, I cared a lot, about a lot of things. I went to protests. I marched. I gave money to causes. I voted for the most left of the left wing politicians of the day. But 20+ years of working in Social Services slowly but surely drained me of pretty much all of my activism. Having to deal with the government and government agencies, corruption and outright incompetence on a daily basis did an excellent job of turning me from a weepy lefty into a bitter, jaded Libertarian. I own that.  I totally get that people love to get all outraged about politics nowadays, and talk about fascism, and everybody is Hitler, and the fall of democracy, and World War III (the war, not the WCW PPV) is going to happen next week, and we're all going to die, etc.  I just don't have the energy for that kind of outrage in me anymore. I have to be honest, whenever I see somebody raging about that kind of stuff, I'm always mildly surprised.  Like: "Wow, that person cares a LOT." I used to care a lot.  But sadly...now? Not so much.

At this point, I am pretty much of the opinion that all celebrities are morons, for the most part. I really don't care what they think about anything, and I don't need them telling me what they think, or trying to tell me what I should think. And of all celebrities, professional athletes generally seem to be dumber than even actors and musicians. And lets be honest...the majority of them just want money and fame, probably in that order. I wasn't one little bit surprised that CM Punk went to Saudi Arabia.  It's an established fact that WWE talent makes more money for going to Saudi on top of their guaranteed contracts.  I remember LA Knight saying in a recent interview that he made more money for his match with Roman Reigns at Crown Jewel a couple years ago, than he ever had for any other match in his entire career.  Shawn Michaels similarly said that when the Saudis coaxed him out of retirement for that truly awful match with he and Triple H against Kane and The Undertaker, they basically offered him more money for that one match than he had made in an entire year.  So yeah...news flash, Pro Wrestlers are greedy, and have no scruples, and will do anything for money. I guess that's disappointing, but it's hardly surprising.  I am of the firm belief that you only consumed entertainment that was created by morally pure people, you'd probably have a whole lot of spare time on your hands with nothing to do. I understand why some people might feel passionate hatred about WWE running shows in Saudi Arabia, but I'm personally just past all that.  I still have causes I get quite riled up about, but they tend to be things that hit closer to home, or that I can actually do something about. I guess I used up most of my rage in the late 80's/early 90's.

So with that caveat, here's what I thought of Night of Champions 2025:

-> I wasn't expecting a whole lot from Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton and that's pretty much what I got. I get that Orton is older and has physical limitations now (and if we're being honest, he wasn't exactly a mat technician to begin with) but I was kind of hoping Cody would be able to drag something approaching a good match out of him. Orton seemed game enough, and he seems engaged during this latest run...but this match just seemed plodding and unexciting to me.  It struck me that in a weird way, this match kind of reminded me of the Main Event from Wrestlemania this year.  Cody was dealing with another physically limited veteran in that match as well, and the match was similarly underwhelming.  I'm not saying Cody isn't good, because he is...but I am saying I am not sure he has the ability to work around a limited opponent.  Hell, if we're doing the whole comparison thing, I enjoyed the Backlash match between Orton and Cena more than I enjoyed this, and that certainly shouldn't be the case. Also, I thought it was a creative misstep to have both Cody and Orton announcing before this match even happened that if they won, they would be challenging Cena (or Punk) at Summerslam. To me, it looked like a foregone conclusion that we were getting a Wrestlemania rematch at Summerslam, and that's not a good thing.  Does anybody honestly want to see that?

-> I think Rhea Ripley is one of the Top 5 talents in all of Pro Wrestling right now.  Not just of Women's talent either, I'm talking overall.  She's awesome, but quite frankly, this match seemed somewhat beneath her.  Did anybody honestly think she was going to lose a match to Raquel Rodriguez? I know the announcers made a big deal about how the two of them have traded wins and loses throughout their careers, and rehashed their rivalry in NXT and all that, but lets be honest, Rhea has so surpassed Rodriguez at this point.  Rhea is the best Women's Wrestler in WWE, and Rodriguez is basically Liv Morgan's bodyguard.  Adding a Street Fight stipulation was probably an attempt to make the match more interesting, but WWE plunder matches are so formulaic at this point, who honestly cares.  One of my friends was joking with me before the match started: "Hey, do you think there might be some Kendo Sticks under the ring for no reason?"  The other thing is...I assume that the reason the Saudis insist on the Women wearing bodysuits from the neck down, is to minimize their sexuality?  Maybe I'm a pervert or a bad person, but doesn't having women come out and have a street fight in what looks like BDSM inspired, skin tight bodysuits kind of mitigate the whole point of covering them up to begin with?  The whole thing is just weird, to me.  Anyhow, this whole thing was just...there.  Pretty much a waste of time. Oh yeah...and poor Roxanne Perez had to go to all of the trouble of putting on one of those stupid bodysuits...just to do a run-in! 

-> I could not have possibly cared less about the Sami Zayn vs. Karrion Kross match.  Kross is a pretty good promo and a passable ring worker at his best.  I guess this match was about as good as you're going to get out of him, but that's really not saying much.  The whole stupid angle with Zayn and Kross feels like it's been going on forever. it doesn't seem to be going anywhere, and it's honestly beneath Sami Zayn.  He's a solid, upper/mid card guy.  Kross isn't.  Just like the previous match, this felt technically passable, but otherwise pointless, and worse, the result was a foregone conclusion.

-> I was disappointed by the Solo vs. Jacob Fatu match. I don't really care that Fatu lost the United States Championship.  That's probably the least prestigious men's championship in WWE, and it tends to bounce around a lot.  Unless WWE creative have totally lost the plot, they have to have bigger and better things planned for Jacob Fatu, because that dude is money. I assume that Tama Tonga is on his way back at some point, which gives Solo a stable consisting of himself, JC Mateo, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa, and Tala Tonga.  That's a whole lot of mediocre in one stable.  Anyhow, maybe it was just me, but there seemed to be a whole lot of standing around in this match.  What action there was, seemed (I know I said this earlier) slow, plodding, and not particularly compelling.  Maybe it was because of the heat?

And I really, really hate the whole "dialogue" thing WWE has been doing more and more over the past few years.  It started with "I'm sorry...I love you" and it just keeps getting more melodramatic. I could have lived a long, happy life without having to see Solo slap on a rear chinlock and then explain to Fatu that this was all because Jacob didn't love him enough.  And it's not like he did it just once, either.  That dude was reciting Shakespearean soliloquies in there.  So stupid.  

-> I'm with @sek69 when it comes to Jade Cargill. The time has come to accept the fact that this woman is just...not good.  She had her entire AEW run.  She had all the time training at the WWE performance center. She's had a fair amount of ring time on the main WWE roster, and it seems she just doesn't get it.  She looked bad at Wrestlemania, but I was willing to lay some of that on Naomi. But during the Queen of the Ring qualifiers, she also looked lost in the ring...uncoordinated, flat-footed, and generally inept when she had to execute anything other than the most basic power moves. It doesn't help that WWE has a ridiculously talented Women's roster right now, and it just keeps getting better and better.  I really question the decision to give Cargill a Women's Title shot at Summerslam, because it's pretty much guaranteed that she's going to screw it up.  We could have had Asuka vs. Iyo Sky (or Tiffany, I guess) but instead we're going to have to watch Jade stumble around in there, looking lost. And I don't even get what the point of that promo after the match was, either.  I assumed (especially coming out of the Naomi feud) that Cargill is supposed to be a babyface, but that sure sounded like a heel promo to me? Speaking of Naomi...she has the MITB briefcase.  Cargill won Queen of the Ring.  Whoever is booking the Women's Division right now is making some very weird decisions lately.

-> Which brings us to "The Main Event." I guess technically, this was probably the best match on the show...but that's damning it with the faintest possible praise. Between the Main Event at Backlash this year, and now this match...I have to wonder if some of the guys who worked for TNA that are now WWE agents, like Abyss, Petey Williams and Bobby Roode are helping lay out Cena's matches.  Because his title defenses are really starting to remind me of when Jeff Jarrett was the NWA World Heavyweight Champion, back in the day.  The match will be slow, basic, and build to a certain point...and then let the inevitable run-ins begin!  It's becoming pretty obvious to me that WWE knows Cena is so far past it, they have no choice but to compensate for his failings with a bunch of smoke and mirrors.  This match was a lot like the Orton match, it that it was the very definition of "just okay."  It wasn't actively bad, but it certainly wasn't good.  It was just...there. And then there were a bunch of stupid, pointless run-ins (complete with theme music) designed to pop the crowd and distract from the fact the match wasn't exactly setting the world on fire.  I was especially amused by the fact that ostensibly, Penta was coming to the ring to make a save...but that didn't stop him from doing his goofy little strut/dance down the ramp, which of course slowed him down to a comical degree.  Also, why would you go to all of the trouble to fly Rollins, Breakker and Reed all the way to Saudi Arabia...only to have them perform an essentially pointless run-in? Look at it this way...Sami Zayn, Penta and LA Knight have all been feuding with Rollins and his guys.  Are you telling me they couldn't have run a 6 Man Tag on this show of Zayn, Penta & Knight vs. Rollins, Breakker and Reed...instead of Zayn vs. Kross, or even that stupid Street Fight?

The other major issue here for me as a fan, is that I hate this stupid story they are trying to tell with John Cena. His initial heel turn certainly was well done and was surprising, but it's been pretty much botched since that point.  Firstly, it's pretty obvious that once the novelty wore off, the fans don't want to boo Cena (ironically.) They know he's leaving, he has what...15 appearances left, according to WWE? At worst, he's getting 50/50 reactions from the fans, and it some cases it's more positive than negative.  I don't think the fans want to boo this guy on his way out.  This company has been cramming the dude down the fans throats for years, it should be no surprise that they are finally cheering him when they know he's leaving and they aren't going to see him anymore.  Especially since WWE keep going on about how he's the Greatest of all Time.  On top of that, Cena was never what I considered a great worker, but he was somewhat smart, in that he worked within his limitations.  But now? The guy is SO broken down.  He's slow, he's stooped over, and his ridiculous over-reliance on the "Attitude Adjustment" is bordering on comical.  I know people like to go on about his "5 Moves of Doom" but Cena is so limited now. I can't wait until they get the title off him, and as I said...I am definitely NOT looking forward to Rhodes/Cena II.

Thanks to all the shenanigans, I don't think Punk necessarily comes out of this match looking any worse off (from a character standpoint, not a real life PR standpoint.) I guess they are reigniting the never ending feud between Punk and Rollins, so maybe they are going to cross paths again at Summerslam, based on this match?  Or maybe Punk goes after Gunter finally?  I don't know.

-> Bottom line is. as I said earlier...you're not going to find anybody here at PWO who has been more willing to give WWE a chance (from a creative standpoint) than me.  I liked Wrestlemania Night 2, I didn't hate Backlash, I enjoyed Money in the Bank for what it was.  And I have actually been watching the TV since the move to Netflix (although getting through Smackdown has been a chore, so thank goodness they go to 2 hours this week.)  But no matter how you slice it, even if like me, you choose to ignore all the Saudi stuff...this was objectively still not a good show, not at all.  There was not one match I would recommend.  The creative was questionable. I hope they have something good planned for Summerslam, not more of this kind of crap.

 

[sek69]

6 hours ago, The Thread Killer said:

The time has come to accept the fact that this woman is just...not good.  She had her entire AEW run.  She had all the time training at the WWE performance center. She's had a fair amount of ring time on the main WWE roster, and it seems she just doesn't get it. 

Is it me or does it seem like she's getting noticeably worse as she goes? Was AEW that much better at hiding her shortcomings, because she went from someone who looked green but with the possibility of becoming something to looking like she had to relearn how to walk properly. I know they did the angle with Naomi partially to cover for a real injury (and also allegedly because Shayna Bazler wanted to beat her ass), is that possibly the reason she's deteriorated so fast?

[DMJ]

^ Great review, ThreadKiller. I agreed with so much of it.

- I actually thought the street fight was the best match on the show and exceeded expectations. The powerbomb spot through the "lid" of the announce table in the timekeeper's area was something I'm not sure I've seen before and the "Super Riptide" off the table was a solid finish. With WWE streetfights/hardcore matches, they're so formulaic, "soft," and feature so many of the same spots that I applaud any fresh wrinkle. I liked the physicality and thought they were, by far, the two hardest-working performers the whole night. 

- This Bloodline shit is so, so lame. I mean, its nWo-at-its-lamest level at this point with a new "secret family member" popping up to screw over a babyface every other month. Am I crazy or was Tala Tonga's debut the exact same as Solo's, Tonga Loa's (or the other one'?), Jacob Fatu's, and JC Mateo's?

I know that's the point. I get it. But its lazy. And there's also something called the rule of 3s. This is, by my count, the 4th or 5th guy that has debuted this exact same way. Is it any wonder that none of them are over except Jacob Fatu? I know Solo Sikoa has some fans here (somehow), but he's mid at best. Fatu and Solo had the worst match of the night. For a guy whose tagline is "All Gas - No Brakes," that match had quite a few breaks where nothing was going on and Solo's incessant talking did nothing to add any drama. Throw in that dogshit finish and it was irredeemable.  

- But what about Cargill/Asuka, you ask? Wasn't that the worst match? No...because Asuka is Asuka. I thought her offense looked great and it was at least interesting to watch her try to carry Cargill through something resembling a high-stakes tournament final with a runtime under 10 minutes. Asuka can still go and I hope somebody backstage was paying attention because the crowd was still into her act. No surprise there: her strikes and kicks look nasty and her creepy dancing and character work is still magnetic and engaging in a way that you can't just manufacture with a cool lightshow-enhanced entrance. But I fear the WWE sees her like they see Alexa Bliss, worthy of only the occasional "re-heating" despite the fact that the audience still vocally treats them as the top-of-the-division stars they once were. 

Cargill might still be decent one day, but I'm not sure when or if that happens. It took awhile, but Nia Jax got alright. Nikki Bella eventually became pretty decent. Sometimes I think there's a "light switch" moment and she hasn't had it yet. Coincidentally, according to Wikipedia, it was Mark Henry who "discovered" her and Mark Henry sucked for a long, long time before he had that "light switch" moment. Cargill has been trained by some very good people, before AEW, during AEW, and now in the WWE, but she continues to look and move awkwardly. I think its mental...which is why it may never happen. I can see her quitting before we ever see her "get it."

- As far as the main event goes, I must sound like a broken record but, at this point, I don't care if Cena's performances are meant to be "meta" and "bad on purpose" as a way to generate heat with the "smart" audience (by being formulaic, by Cena doing everything in slo-mo, by mostly consisting of non-stop finisher spamming, etc.) or if this is actually John Cena trying his best and he just can't go anymore, the end result is the same: bad matches. The booking of the final minutes of this were terrible, especially in light of already doing a very obvious rerun finish for the Fatu/Solo stinker a half hour earlier. 

[The Thread Killer]

10 hours ago, sek69 said:

Is it me or does it seem like she's getting noticeably worse as she goes? Was AEW that much better at hiding her shortcomings, because she went from someone who looked green but with the possibility of becoming something to looking like she had to relearn how to walk properly. I know they did the angle with Naomi partially to cover for a real injury (and also allegedly because Shayna Bazler wanted to beat her ass), is that possibly the reason she's deteriorated so fast?

Good question.  I really don't know if Jade Cargill is getting worse, or if we are finally being exposed to the "real" Jade Cargill.

My theory is that she had trainers/agents/producers in AEW like Billy Gunn, Dean Malenko, Jerry Lynn and especially Dustin Rhodes (who apparently does a lot of work with the Women's division in AEW) giving her actual good advice and pointers, regarding how to play to her strengths and hide her weaknesses.  But I can't remember seeing a match she was involved in during her time in AEW that was more than just power moves.  Then she jumps to WWE, where we know they pretty much expect you to work their style, not your own...and they put a lot more restrictions on you regarding what kind of high impact moves you can and can't do.

I won't even get into the debate regarding which way of producing the talent is better, but suffice it to say, I don't think the jump to WWE and being shoe-horned into WWE style did Jade Cargill any favors at all.  There is an argument to be made that letting her basically be a female version of Goldberg was the best scenario for her as a talent, however in my opinion there is an equally valid argument to be made that WWE had every right to expect more out of Jade than quick, power squash matches, especially if they are paying her a bunch of money and are giving her a big push.  It was logical of them to expect her to improve at some point, but like you said...not only has she not improved, she actually seems to be getting worse!

Her whole WWE run has been kind of bizarre and a bit surreal. They make a big brouhaha about signing her, but then they obviously ran her through some drills and figured out she wasn't as good as they were hoping she was...so they delay debuting her for ages. I assume they put her through some sort of emergency training boot camp at the WWE PC, but basically when she finally does debut, they hide her in that team with Bianca Belair. They finally end that deal, and give her a big match at Wrestlemania which was...yeah.  I have a ton of respect for Roxanne Perez, so when I saw that gawd awful match Jade Cargill had with Perez in the Queen of the Ring Semifinals, I was almost amazed at how bad Cargill looked.  And poor Asuka did her best, but...damn.  If you can't have good matches with Perez and Asuka, then I don't care how impressive your ab muscles are or how ripped you are.

Add to all that the rumors and rumblings about her having a bad attitude backstage, like the argument with Shayna Bazler you alluded to...it all adds up to bad news. Cargill is now in the spotlight on her own, and blaming botches or bad matches on her opponents is only going to get her so far. It's one thing to be boring or not get good reactions from the fans.  But with Cargill, she just looks totally lost in there...uncoordinated and frequently out of position. You have to wonder how long they are going to allow that kind of stuff to happen. But based on the results on Saturday, it seems they are full steam ahead with her push.  Maybe they are taking the "sink or swim" attitude with her.  But if I was Jade Cargill, I'd be worried.  TKO is the least sentimental company I know...if they decide that she can't deliver a decent return on the time and money they have invested in her, we all know they won't hesitate to show her the door.

[The Thread Killer]

4 hours ago, DMJ said:

This is, by my count, the 4th or 5th guy that has debuted this exact same way.

Agreed.  Two things I have learned about Polynesian culture from the "New Bloodline."

Firstly, if you are from any Polynesian island, that automatically means you're related.

Secondly, if you are a Polynesian person, your wardrobe must include black sweat pants and a black hoodie, which you must put on before you sneak up on somebody...because apparently pretty much everybody does that. 

[Robert S]

2 hours ago, The Thread Killer said:

Agreed.  Two things I have learned about Polynesian culture from the "New Bloodline."

Firstly, if you are from any Polynesian island, that automatically means you're related.

(...)

Which is funny because aren't the "Polynesians" actually really tribal (pun intended)? I mean the story going around why it took forever for Samoa Joe to get a chance in WWE was because he was NOT an Anoa'i and the Anoa'i family was actively pushing against Samoans not related to them.