Hello everybody and welcome to the final episode
of Finishes and Factions The Smackdown for Season
1. This week we are in Las Vegas at the T -Mobile
Arena and this week was action packed from the
start as we saw LA Knight get in a sneak attack
on tamatonga in the car park as we see all the
rest of the superstars arriving in las vegas
um so yeah la knight attacks tamatonga as him
and solo sakoa get out of a black SUV um and
tamatonga gets his hand smashed in a car door
by la knight and you can and la knight just disappears
out the side door and runs for the hills yeah
um we move from there after we finish our selection
of bts for who's here and who's not here and
what's going to be happening throughout the course
this episode uh into a Seth Rollins in -ring
promo Which came out in him in a very strangely
designed suit very much had Ed Hardy thrown up
all over it And you know what I could probably
guess that it was an Ed Hardy suit and Didn't
take much much of a an eye to pick out that Ed
Hardy design and and as he comes into the ring
he receives his microphone he stands in the middle
of the ring and just holds it up in the air while
the crowd sit back and sing his theme music and
then obviously we start with a good old CM Punk
chant which we get every time we see either Seth
Rollins or Raymond Raines because that second
city saint is definitely the people's choice
When I say the people's choice, he's my choice.
When it comes to this triple threat situation
we have at the end of night one of WrestleMania.
So, as the crowd are chanting CM Punk, Seth Rollins
takes up a very CM Punk style position, sat in
the middle of the ring with his legs crossed
and a microphone. It's the wrong place for a
pipe bomb, but it definitely feels like a pipe
bomb. The crowd start chanting OTC at which Seth
Rollins says we'll get to the original tribal
chief in a minute but CM Punk is the man I want
to talk about first and while we're talking about
CM Punk let's talk about the fact that he came
back to the wrestling universe after 10 long
years. But he stands here and he tells everyone
that he came back to wrestling for the WWE fans
the WWE Universe but that's bollocks because
he went to AEW first and He came back because
they offered him a nice big back check And then
he burned all his bridges like he did and always
does that and comes back WWE for another big
back check Now, Punk likes to pretend that he
came back because of the universe, but he doesn't
care about them. He's a liar. He's a fraud and
a coward in the opinion of Seth Rollins. He then
moves on to say about Mr. OTC. He says he doesn't
even pretend to care about you guys. He doesn't
pretend to care about WWE. OTC only cares about
one thing, and that is the OTC. He says that
you know Romans only here to get his hand -picked
opponents in his big flashy locker room and his
private jet and his big tour bus that he gets
he says he knows nothing about sacrifice and
Neither the CM Punk according to Seth Rollins
But Seth according to Seth Rollins says that
he knows an awful lot about sacrifice He said
this whole story started 12 years ago with Paul
Heyman when he bought the shield into WWE to
be the shield for CM Punk. And obviously the
members of the shield was Seth Rollins, Roman
Reigns and Dean Ambrose who we now know as John
Moxley from AEW. And yeah, they were bought in
to be CM Punk's shield in his feud against The
Undertaker. And every single night Seth Rollins
went out and gave it everything he had gave it
everything he'd got but he did even get the thank
you that he deserved because everyone backstage
was all concerned about Roman Reigns. Even after
Punk had taken his ball, boxed off home and gone
away and we had the slight echoes you know it
was still Seth that was in the ring every night
you know trying to do the same thing he even
comes back to you know when it comes to sacrifice
he says at WrestleMania last year when he you
know he helped Cody win that championship with
his knee hanging by a thread. His stepdad was
sat at home dying of cancer and he was there
to be a shield to make sure that Roman lost that
title. He said but after all of this he said
the story ends tomorrow night in the main event
of the first night of WrestleMania in one of
the most important triple threat matches in the
history of professional wrestling and once again
Seth Rollins says he's going to lay it all on
the line like he's done for the last 12 years
to make sure this industry moves forward in the
right direction and he then goes on to say that's
not spoiler that's a pipe bomb which is an interesting
one considering what he's been what he's everyone's
been saying but that does lead me quite nicely
into the next little section so we are now given
the rundown from this year's WrestleMania for
both Saturday and Sunday. So the Saturday we
have the main event which is CM Punk, Roman Reigns
and Seth Rollins in that triple threat match.
We then got, we've got Jade Cargill and Naomi.
New Day take on the War Raiders for the WWE Tag
Team titles. We have El Grande, Americano. versus
Rey Mysterio. LA Knight is facing Jacob Fatu
for the United States Championship. Tiffany Stratton
and Charlotte Flair go one -on -one for Tiffy's
women's title and we will see Jey Uso versus
the ring general Gunther for the world heavyweight
title as well. That leads us on to WrestleMania
Sunday Which is main evented by Cody Rhodes and
John Cena for John Cena's last WrestleMania appearance
in ring and As this is the last sex one of the
last major pay -per -view stops in his retirement
tour We also are treated to Bailey and Lyra Valkyria
versus Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez for their
women's tag titles. We have Damian Priest going
up against Drew McIntyre in a Sin City street
fight. The Intercontinental Championship is being
defended in a fatal four way. That is Bronbreaker,
Finn Balor, Dom Mysterio and Penta. Logan Paul
and the phenomenal AJ Styles will go one on one.
We then have Bianca Belair, Io Sky and Rhea Ripley
taking on, well, facing each other in a triple
threat match for Io Sky's women's title. And
then, like I said, we've got Cody and Cena finishing
off the night. And within that, we have, as well,
normally done on a WrestleMania pre -show the
Andre the Giant Battle Royale. Now this time
was done on Smackdown this week and that is our
next match and it is definitely an interesting
one so we will jump straight into that. So next
we have the Andre the Giant Battle Royale. Now
as we've been told several times Andre was the
first ever Hall of Fame inductee. Every year
they have this match not only in his memory to
memorize his legacy but to also give a current
superstar the opportunity to get a push to something
very, very similar. Now, this year we have 30
superstars. Some of them are reasonably sized
names, some of them are names that have been
with the company for a while, and some of them
are just names that need a boost. I will give
you a run through of the 30 entrants to the 2025
Andre the Giant Battle Royale. So we have Ray
Phoenix, The Miz, Shinsuke Nakamura, Carmelo
Hayes, Ludwig Kaiser, Andrade, Karrion Cross,
Chad Gable, Brutus and Julius Creed, Otis, Kira
Tozawa, Elton Prince and Kit Wilson are pretty
deadly Santos Escobar, Angel and Berto of Los
Garza R -Truth, Carlito, Dragon Lee, Grayson
Waller and Austin Deary of A -Town Down Under
The team of Pete Down and Tyler Bates and Cruz
del Toro and Joachim Wild Now this one started
off pretty much I thought as a bit of a bit of
a joke to be fair because while 28 of these superstars
get into whatever it is they need to be doing
Carlito decides to pop out an apple in the middle
of it in the middle of the ring go for his signature
apple and our truth decides to take it off him
and eat it which I thought was bloody hilarious
to the point that truth then eliminates Carlito
by throwing him over the rope first and to add
insult to injury in pure truth style throws his
upper line. At which point Miz kicks our truth
off the apron to save Carmelo Hayes. Carrion
Cross starts on the Miz but Hayes saves him and
together they both throw Carrion Cross over the
top rope but he does manage to save himself and
is therefore not eliminated at this point. We
then see Ray Phoenix Take Berto over the top
rope with a hurricanrana and then Angelova with
an uppercut which means that Ray Phoenix has
basically eliminated Los Garza single -handedly.
Brayson Waller and Austin Theory team up together
to throw out both members of Pretty Deadly so
that would be Elton Prince and Kit Wilson. Ludwig
Kaiser himself eliminated Tyler Bates and then
saves himself after being like the soles of his
feet being just inches, inches from the floor.
The next bit, it was a little bit strange. You've
got Rey Fenix in the middle of the ring with
Santos Escobar telling him, ooh, you're amazing.
I love you. I think you're brilliant. You're
a great lucha wrestler. I can't wait to recruit
you. Ray Phoenix is like yeah yeah cool whatever
and as Santos Escobar takes two steps forwards
Ray Phoenix takes two up behind him grabs hold
of him and launches him straight over that top
rope. Brutus Creed was the one to take out Akira
Tozawa in this year's Andre the Giant 25 Bat
Royale but as Brutus throws Akira Tozawa out
Otis lines up Brutus and Julius and manages to
take them out with a double clothesline but also
having a little too much gas in that tank. This
time it was Otis that was all gas and no brakes
and eliminated himself at the same time as he
went over with Julius and Brutus to decrease
a yet a final member. We then have Andrade throwing
Atown Down Under out. There was a little bit
of a thing with those two in the ring and Andrade
decided he'd had enough and dispatched both of
them, which, you know, fair play. You can't throw
a stick at that one. We then have the Luchers
ganging up on Chad Gables, which I did not see
coming, but I really did enjoy because there
was a fair few of them that were just taking
out. taking him down with some of these with
ease to be fair with these these high flying
moves and to the point that eventually Ray Phoenix
decided it's time for Chad Gable to disappear
and out of the ring Chad Gable went. Shinsuke
Nakamura then has a little bit of a moment with
him taking out Wakim Wild while Carrion Cross
takes out Cruz del Toro telling him that Ferengah
Stereo is just using him. Carrion Cross then
turns around and slaps Dragon Lee and Dragon
Lee eliminates Carrion Cross and Shinsuke Nakamura
decides that Dragon Lee has run his time and
drumps him out of the ring. So Pete Dunne tosses
out Ludwig Kaiser. Ludwig Kaiser grabs his hair
and takes him out with like a triangle hold like
look with Kaiser pretty much has Pete Dunne in
this triangle and yeah tries to pull him out
with that one does not quite work Pete Dunne
sent Carmelo Hayes in the midst to the outside
of the the ring and was pulling actually trying
to manipulate Carmelo Hayes' fingers so he can
possibly just take a step back and eliminate
himself but they manage to push him off and Pete
Dunne comes running back with a kick but Carmelo
Hayes gets saved and the Miz takes one for his
tag team partner and hits the floor with Pete
Dunne eliminating him and then Carmelo Hayes
eliminating Pete Dunne shortly afterwards as
a revenge for that one which means our last four
oh and we are down to the last four sorry of
Andrade Shinsuke Nakamura, Rey Fenix and Carmelo
Hayes. Shinsuke Nakamura takes out Hayes and
Andrade. There is a nice little section going
off. Andrade eliminates what he believes to be
Shinsuke Nakamura and Rey Fenix pushes Carmelo
Hayes and Andrade to the apron. But Melo don't
miss, manages to get back in and leaves Andrade
lying on the apron. Now Rey Fenix sends Rey Fenix
into the ropes and pops him up into the air where
Rey Fenix returned a beautiful Hurricane Rana
to Andrade where he then follows that up with
a head kick to Carmelo Hayes after using the
ropes to save himself. Rey Fenix then goes for
the goodbye amigo springboard. But we have a
surprise. This year. El Grande Americano, who
has a match against Rey Mysterio at WrestleMania
this year, pulls down the top rope and watches
Rey Fenix fall off and onto the floor. Well,
he doesn't fall off and on. He has a bit of help.
He's dragged onto the floor. So El Grande Americano
eliminates Rey Fenix. So we are then left with
Carmelo Hayes. And Andrade. Now these guys in
2024 had a seven match series for the number
one contender for the US title. If you have not
had an opportunity to watch that series, go back
and do it. It's incredible. As was the ending
of this match. It was a counter into counter
into counter into counter setting and it was
phenomenal. It's 17 ,000 plus in the T -Mobile
Arena. We're loving it. And it finishes with
Carmelo Hayes hitting Andrade with a beautiful
cutter from the second turnbuckle. And then Carmelo
Hayes flipping Andrade over the top. So off the
second rope. So they were both stood on the second
rope, trying to like hold onto each other. And
Carmelo Hayes drops back down onto the floor
and just flips. and dry day over to win the 2025
Entree of the Giant Battle Royale. Carmelo Hayes
was not a name I expected to win this and it
really was an incredible opportunity for the
young superstar who I personally believe has
been doing really really well and you know is
worthy of the push that he hopefully is going
to get from this win. After watching Carmelo
Hayes and The Miz celebrate Carmelo Hayes win,
we are shown a Hall of Fame VT. Now I'm not gonna
go too much into this one because Adam did an
entire bonus episode on this which was released
yesterday. It was released a little bit earlier
today, but it's taken me a few days to record
this. So yeah, it's a... It's already out and
you can hear that live on the finishes and factions
Spotify and YouTube Yeah, so we got a VT of the
April 2012 having a cell match between Triple
H and Undertaker with HBK as a special guest
referee That is because Sean Michaels is inducting
Triple H into the Hall of Fame this year We then
get a little snippet of what happened between
Charlotte Flair and Tiffany Stratton after her
match last week when Charlotte had been sent
home and Wade Barrett was saving Tiffy from a
bit of an ass kicking that she did not need.
We then get told that Wade Barrett got the opportunity
to interview both of these superstars during
the week. And we then go move into that interview
where he simply asked Charlotte Flair, why did
things get so ugly between you and how did things
get so ugly between you? At which point Charlotte
Flair decides that she's gonna break down everything
for us and let us know a little bit what's going
on. She says she doesn't love it because it's
one of those things where... they've moved past
it but she's got a chip on her shoulder and she
thinks deep down Tiffy's got one on hers too
but now so many people are invested in this match
and that's all that matters is that people tune
in to watch Tiffy and Charlotte on the biggest
stage of them all and with people being this
invested in the business is about about that
and sometimes it's insensitive and that's how
you get tough skin and make it you know sometimes
you just have to have to just take what you're
given and and work with it, and I think those
two women definitely did a good opportunity of
doing that over the last few weeks, especially
with some of the cheap shots. Both of them are
taken towards each other. We are then informed
that after LA Knight's little sneak attack on
Tama Tonga, that he has been taken to a local
medical facility for some x -rays, which is always
fun. Personally, I hate going for x -rays. I've
had enough of them over the last few years with
different bits and pieces. And yeah, the x -ray
is the worst part about it. Once you get out
of triage, it is just quiet. Talking about quiet
though, one thing we did not have is quietness
with this episode at SmackDown because we rolled
straight into a WWE shop VT. Showing us all the
amazing things that you could have the opportunity
to buy if you are at WrestleMania weekend this
week in Las Vegas. Well, we move on from Tamatanga
in the WWE shop to Mommy. Rhea Ripley makes her
way to the ring and she's come out here to basically
discuss her match with EO Sky Bianca Bella. She
says that this Sunday at WrestleMania will be
her sixth WrestleMania and each time she's been
in a championship match but this one is the most
important to her because she let herself get
distracted by Bianca Belair and she lost her
title to Io just before WrestleMania. She could,
she isn't going to talk about the last few weeks
but there is no point talking about the past
anymore and Sunday she gets back what she wants
and she's going to do what she has to do to get
it. At which point We you know, we hear that
Rhea Ripley says that she's walking out of WrestleMania
this year your three -time women's world champion
Here Sky comes busting out with that championship
over her shoulder kind of like nope. This is
man bitch I'm having this and I'm gonna hold
on to it She and before Io can even say a word
to Ria about what Ria has said Bianca Belair
music hits and out comes Bianca Belair. Now this
woman gets booed so hard. It's unreal Like I
have no idea how Bianca managed to generate this
kind of heat But she has managed to get herself
some incredible incredible heat with this one
and it's actually Really really strange As if
anyone in this process should have that much
heat, it should be Rhea for pushing her way into
Bianca versus Io for the title. But I've digressed
slightly and we're gonna nip back into course.
So Bianca Bella says that she, do you think the
two of you could come out here and say my name
and I wouldn't show up? Because tonight she's
here and as it might be her last time on SmackDown,
she's gonna be walking away with that championship
at WrestleMania 41. So. We then get a little
bit of a surprise the equation where Naomi decides
that she's gonna make an appearance on Smackdown
and she's coming out here to talk to Bianca because
Bianca keeps ignoring it now personally I can
understand why Bianca keeps ignoring her, you
know Jade attacked her friend Naomi attacked
her friend her tag partner Jade Cargill you put
her out they then went off and won the tag titles
Jade, sorry Naomi stepped in with Bianca, Bea,
Bellaire while they had the tag titles and took
Jade's place and carried on and they had a fantastic
run up until they lost them to Naomi, not to
Naomi, a fantastic run until they lost them to
Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez. So Naomi comes
out and says, hey Bea, you know, so you finally
decided to come to Smackdown and you've not even
tried to talk to me. I've been trying to get
hold of you. I've left you voicemails, I've left
you text messages, I've left you. Facebook messages
and left you everything. You know, all sorts.
But what happened to our friendship? Now, I wanted
to do this in private, but we're gonna do it
here. Bianca's like, no, no, no, no, we're doing
this right now at all. I'm out here trying to
talk about a title match and you're out here
trying to talk about when we go in for drinks.
I don't think so somehow. Naomi asks about why
Bianca cares so much about Jade and that, you
know, Jade wasn't really there for her like Naomi
was and tomorrow Naomi's gonna finish what she
started. Now, I do not think that is gonna go
the way that Naomi thinks it is gonna go. I'm
not gonna lie to you, I think Jade Cargill has
got Naomi's number, especially after Elimination
Chamber, where Jade Cargill returned, beat the
living crap out of her, and disappeared herself.
Cargill's had some good matches, and I don't
think Naomi's got too much of a chance. I also
think with the fact that Jade Cargill has been
out for so long without injury, they are going
to give her this win to give that push that she
would have originally had if she wasn't injured.
But hell of a storyline that the Smackdown writers
have pulled out here and yeah, I love this one
so far. So after Naomi puts Jade Cargill's name
in her mouth, we get to see Jade Cargill. It's
a bit like the female version of Joe Hendry.
Say her name and she appears. As Jade Cargill
comes running out and Jade is asking Bianca about
protecting Naomi and Rhea says, look, it ain't
about her. And it's about what is going off in
this championship match. And Naomi comes back
in. Cheap shots Jade Cargill and off it goes
Jade, Naomi are fighting Rhea and Bianca are
fighting They're all on the outside and Io climbs
to that top turnbuckle where she is so confident
and takes out everyone with a moonsault except
for Jade Cargill Which was phenomenal to be fair
like I am really looking forward to watching
this match and I'm really looking forward to
being able to get to sit here with Adam to discuss
WrestleMania night one and WrestleMania night
two with him. Some of you guys would have noticed
that some of the episodes recently have either
been one or the other. And for a little while
they're gonna continue being that way and that
is purely for the fact that we've both got work
commitments. We've had Easter on the same weekend
as WrestleMania and it's just made life very,
very difficult for both of us. We have therefore
realized that next year we are both taking holiday
from work so we can get this done. lot faster.
But this is our first WrestleMania weekend on
Finishes and Factions and we are still learning
how to back this up and get this one going. So
without further ado let's move on. So our next
section we see Rey Fenix backstage with Chad
Gable an American maid come in to talk about
how good El Grande Americano is. When Dragon
Lee kind of comes in and says to shut up about
luchadors and Chad Gable says well don't talk
to me about WrestleMania. And obviously this
year Chad Gable does not have a match at WrestleMania
but El Grande Americano does. Sort of going on
and Rey comes in saying that pretty much there's
gonna be a lesson taught. There's three of them
and there's three members of LWO and three members
of American made there so. Why don't they have
a six man tag match later on this evening? Which
American may kind of laugh at them and LWO walk
off to talk to Nick Aldis. So it's an interesting
situation there when we see that match come in
a little bit later in the evening. So now we
move on to our second match of the night. This
one is for the tag team championship. And it
is the Motor City Machine Guns versus Street
Profits. Now before we get into the actual match
itself, we get a little recap of Street Profits
winning their titles off DIY in Barcelona of
the European Tour. We get a little WWE World
VT. And it is confirmed that later on in the
evening, we are going to get that six -man tag
match between American Maid with Chad Gable and
LWO. So, we've already got Motor City Machine
Gun in the ring and as street profits are coming
down, Motor City Machine Guns waste absolutely
no time making their way up the ramp to meet
them. And there is a double team on Montez Ford
for a two count after they all eventually get
into the ring. There is a big, big sort of beat
down on the outside. these two or these four
guys these two teams they get into it pretty
pretty heavily to be fair um they say as they
first get back into the ring there is the double
team and the two count from motor sick machine
guns um they try another double team not necessarily
skull and bones but montez ford takes them both
out um and ends up basically afterwards retaking
out chris saban then end up with Angelo Dawkins
with a spinning shoulder tackle onto Chris Saban
and then Street Profits double team Chris Saban
with a blockbuster doomsday device for the two
count which is saved by Alex Shelley as he goes
for basically he goes to go flight Through the
rings through the ropes onto the outside where
Angela Dawkins is and Dawkins slaps the lips
straight off his face as he gets to the ropes
Literally, like he's just about to take off Dawkins
just slaps him So hard with an open -handed fist.
It was Beautiful. We then get Chris Shelley hitting
a hurricane Rana onto Muslim test Ford and he
ends up then going over the top ropes and taking
out his teammate Angela Dawkins on the outside
and then once Montez Ford comes back into the
ring Chris Shelley gets a missile dropkick on
him for a two count Street Profits hit a double
team suplex for a two count and then Motor City
Machine Guns hit their facial and then they double
team Well with a kick and an attempted skull
and bones, which Angela Dawkins disrupts And
Montez Ford goes for a suicide dive over the
top rope taking out everyone which was pretty
sweet did wipe out his own teammate but also
got the two members of Motor City machine guns
at the same time and At this point we get a little
intro what I say little interruption Johnny Gargano
and Tomasa Ciampa decide that they are running
in and making an interference on this one by
beating up all four members in the ring and then
running off with the Street Profits titles which
I think was well I mean, it got them an awful,
awful lot of heat, which is quite funny. And
I would like to thank Van Dyke, who follows the
Finishes and Factions podcast on TikTok, for
commenting on one of our videos this week, saying
that I indeed look a little bit like Tomasa Ciampa.
I will take that compliment. Thank you very much.
And shortly after this, we see Nick Aldis. backstage
on the phone. He's obviously just been told about
what has, you know, he's not just been told,
he's just seen what's gone on. He's trying to
make sure that he gets those titles back so street
profits don't cause an issue, at which point
Chelsea Green comes in and says she wants to
serve a formal complaint about last week and
hopes it's going to be rectified, at which point
Nick Aldis says, yeah, that's fine. I'll rectify
it. The six -woman tag match is supposed to be
part of? Forget it. Chelsea green you are gonna
go one -on -one again this week with as Alina
Vega and well Because it's a singles match. It's
a one -on -one match and you won't be needing
the secret her this So they won't be at ringside
and Chelsea green is first She is not happy at
all and to be fair and you Blame her. She's not
been able to do too much about what is going
on without without the secret hervice we have
then shown a nice little summer slam vt summer
slam this year is two nights at the met life
stays stadium in new jersey new york and uh yeah
it's going to be an interesting one two nights
of summer slam like this is going to be huge
um at which point We then see DIY backstage with
those tag team titles they have just stolen out
of the middle of the Smackdown arena from Street
Profits and they run into Nick Aldis who basically
says give them back hand them over you are not
the champions at which point Street Profits come
flying in behind Nick Aldis and they're pissed
they want their belts back like what the fuck
basically that you know Nick Aldis is pissed
and he says there's no easy way or hard way he
says there's an easy way or there's a hard way
DIY hand them back as to which they do and he
says next week these belts are going to be hung
above the ring and we are having a tables ladders
and chairs match so street profits and DIY are
going to be in this one. I'm kind of hoping they're
going to put Motor City Machine Guns in there
too and possibly we could end up with a TLC match
that has the entire Smackdown tag division in
there and with them all having an equal opportunity
to take on or to get their hands on these titles
which will definitely be an interesting perspective
I think. Our next piece of business on this week's
episode of Finishes and Factions does SmackDown.
We have Randy Orton in the ring. Now, Randy Orton
is not in his ring gear. He is in his casual
stuff. I'm sure he's probably got his ring gear
on underneath just in case. But he comes out
basically saying he doesn't have an opponent
at WrestleMania due to Kevin Owens injuries.
In the last few days, him and his wife, they've
been exploring around Las Vegas. They've been
to the WWE world. They've met hundreds of thousands
of WWE superstars, not hundreds of thousands,
sorry, hundreds, up to thousands of WWE Universe
members that have approached them for photos
and for photographs. They've been to merch signings.
They've done all sorts. And he says, but his
dad was in the first WrestleMania. You know 20
years later he debuted at WrestleMania at Madison
Square Gardens and there is no way he is sitting
out on this year's WrestleMania because if he
competes at this year's WrestleMania this will
be the 20th time that Randy Orton has competed
at WrestleMania and that means so much to him.
So Randy Orton offers an open invitation to a
match on Sunday he says he will have just the
right amount of baby oil on his skin And he's
not doing it for himself. He's doing it for the
WWE Universe and the boys in the back and anyone
can challenge but they will meet those three
most prominent letters in sports on entertainment,
BRKO. Which I mean, an open challenge to face
Randy Orton at WrestleMania is indeed himself
incredible. Now we put a post up on the TikTok
about this a couple of days ago asking you know
what they thought or what you guys thought when
this went live. Obviously I'm recording this
a little bit later due to work schedule and stuff
like that. A lot of people said that they wanted
to see like a few different wrestlers. come out
and meet Randy Alton at WrestleMania. And there
were a few names dropped and I'm not gonna go
through those now because if you want to see
those, you can find us on TikTok. It is at Bin
and Fact podcast. It's the Finishes and Factions
podcast. So you can stop by there, drop us a
follow, keep up with the content. Now we're popping
in that direction and you can get. direct contact
with both myself and Adam as well if there's
any questions or things that you'd like to throw
towards us. We then move into a recap of Drew
McIntyre and Damian Priest throwing hands on
the kickoff show today and then Byron Saxton
is with Damian Priest backstage and he says you
know this situation has reached a boiling point
and Damian Priest is like I'm fed up of answering
questions about WrestleMania I just want to let
Drew know that because you didn't show up tonight
that the world is not ready for the level of
violence that is going to come in this WrestleMania
match. Obviously, that is referring to the fact
that Drew McIntyre and Damian Priest have a Sin
City Street Fight at WrestleMania, which is going
to be absolutely incredible. You can find that
one on the Sunday WrestleMania night. to um and
in our finishes and factions coverage of wrestlemania
when we release those so you know we've had we've
seen a lot of people you know we've seen a lot
of promos and we've had some interesting matches
so far and now that leads us into match three
of this evening which is Zelina Vega versus the
current women's united states champion Chelsea
green Now as we were told earlier the secret
herbis were not going to be allowed at ringside
for this match Which very much annoyed Chelsea
green and I can fully appreciate why she is so
annoyed You know, these guys have basically been
saving her ass the last few weeks every time
she's got into a match and had an issue the secret
herbis have been there to to protect her and
and sort keep us safe and this time it's not
going to happen. So before we get into this match
we are shown what I believe is an Alistair Black
VT. It gives us the date of 4 25 25 which is
the American way of writing April 25th 2025.
So whatever is happening with that VT will be
happening next week on the Smackdown after WrestleMania,
which I mean, if we're getting Aleister Black
back on the Smackdown after WrestleMania, that
is going to be absolutely incredible. Considering
as well that the Wyatt six are on Smackdown and
we've not seen anything from them for a long,
long time. we could end up seeing Alistair Black
put together something to go up against the Wyatt
six which could be really really cool. It'd be
really interesting to see what they do here.
Get back into this Selena Vega Chelsea Green
match and like last week Chelsea Green throws
her veil at her and tries to get the cheap shot
in to start off with but it does not work this
time. But Chelsea Green does end up taking Selena
Vega down to the ground with a slam for a two
count. We then see Zelina Vega pull an arm drag
on Chelsea Green with a kick back and takes her
down again. Zelina Vega then throws Chelsea Green
out of the ring and Chelsea Green throws Zelina
Vega into the barrier at timekeeping. after Zelina
Vega has gone out to continue her assault on
Chelsea Green. Chelsea Green then ends up running
at Zelina Vega who is just picking herself up
from the throwing into the barrier of timekeeper
and Chelsea Green runs straight through her and
she ends up going through the barricade into
timekeeping itself. Both women manage to get
back into the ring on a nine count to avoid the
same issue we had last week where Chelsea Green
was counted out and Zelina Vega got the win on
that one. Zelina Vega ends up setting Chelsea
Green up for a 619 but Chelsea Green reverses
it and pulls off a two count. and then we see
a little like a few moments later Chelsea Green
puts Zelina Vega up on the top turnbuckle and
Zelina Vega manages to pull off a super code
red for the three count meaning for the second
week in a row Zelina Vega has beaten Chelsea
Green I think this is going to be pushing her
into a point where we could end up seeing Zelina
Vega challenging for that women's United States
title very soon. I personally would like to see
Zelina Vega win this not because I'm a massive
Zelina Vega fan, it's more I'm very bored of
Chelsea Green. But I know Adam would also like
to see Zelina Vega win this because he is a massive
Zelina Vega fan. which is fair enough I just
haven't seen enough of her at the moment to be
able to to get one in that position as well.
So our next match of the evening is LA Knight
versus Solo Sikoa. So LA Knight tells us before
Solo comes out that last week you know gave him
inspiration so you know These three guys like
to work on sneak attacks, so this week he decided
to do one himself and he's taken Tama Tonga out
already tonight. Tonight is going to be Solo
Sacoa's turn because that way it means tomorrow
night it is just LA Knight versus Jacob Fatu.
And he stands here, he says, I get it. He's a
monster. And with that, he has the same energy
that turned the world upside down. And he's going
to use that same energy to turn the world upside
down. Now he's a two times United States title
holder. And he said, you ain't seen anything
like LA Knight. He says, when Jake and Fatu grabbed
my title last week, he said, it could be cliche.
He could say, you know, it's the closest you're
ever going to get to holding my title. Because
I ain't stupid. Because I know someday you're
going to be a champ. He said, and tonight the
guarantee is tonight's solo is going to eat a
BFT. And tomorrow night. Jacob's gonna be getting
his serving of that BFT that blunt force trauma
and So LA night again same as the last couple
of matches because they've been really good storylines
runs out to get hold in his hand of runs out
of the ring to get to solo on his entrance and
There's been kind of starts some business there,
but so much of color has the upper hand at this
point as he ends up throwing LA Knight into the
steel steps not just once but twice. Now we're
told again that Tamatanga is currently getting
x -rays and it kind of basically looks like Solo
Sacoa is going to be softening up LA Knight for
Jacob Fartu tomorrow when they meet for that
US title match at WrestleMania. And most of this
match is Solo all over LA Knight. You know, solo
gets a two count on LA Knight. During this section,
LA Knight hits solo with a neck breaker. His
solo went for a suplex. Basically, a solo went
to suplex LA Knight and LA Knight reversed it
with a neck breaker. You know, there was a double
Samoan headbutt to the ribs. It was basically
solo Sokoa just headbutting LA Knight in the
ribs twice. We know, we're told that. you know
a Samoan headbutt is very very hurtful you know
very painful and it hurts a lot in LA Knight
sells it's really really really well um it was
just as we see LA Knight climb the top rope Jacob
Fatu comes flying in and dropping him straight
off and the match is called off straight away
um the referee's like nope I'm done match is
over no contest And it's either no contest or
disqualification either way There's no contest
actually either way, you know both men of Jacob
Fatu and solo Sakura at this point giving la
night a bit of a beatdown at which point we We
see the big sob Braun Strowman come running out
from the back. Obviously, he's going to want
a piece. Him and Jacob Partoo have got some history.
Him and Solos of Coa have got some history. LA
Knight and Braun Strowman seem to be doing really
well together, like when they've had to have
matches together recently. So it has, you know,
him running out and coming down is incredible.
And as he comes out, he hits a double crossbody
on on both. Solo Sacoa and Jacob Fatou who are
waiting for him and then LA Knight drops Jacob
Fatou again shortly afterwards and as they are
deciding that they're gonna have won a hell of
a beatdown Nick Aldis comes to the top of the
entry round and says means that Jacob Fatou doesn't
want to wait and the rest of you can't keep your
hands off each other we are gonna have a tag
match. Yes, Nick Aldis, ladies and gentlemen,
came out here and played the Teddy Long card.
We're going to settle this in a tag team match
at which we have LA Knight and Braun Strowman
taking on the Samoan werewolf, Jacob Foiteux
and Solo Sikoa. So Jacob. And LA Knight start
this one with Knight taking Solo off the apron
and throwing Jacob out of the ring. Ags in Braun
Strowman who ends up clear in health, sending
Fatu out with a missile dropkick who then bounces
very savagely off the announce table. Braun Strowman
then runs the Strowman Express knocking Solo
Sikoa into the ring. Solo basically looked like
he was like oh crap I'm in the wrong position
I shouldn't be here. and kind of just jumped
up onto the apron out the way like whoops I'm
not here and he ran round and threw Jacob Fatu
into the steel steps before throwing him back
into the ring. Jacob Fatu gets a two count on
Braun Strowman after Fatu had thrown him into
those steel steps. into the ring and then Solo
Sokoa decides he is going to lock in a choke
hold on Braun Strowman. Now Braun breaks out
of this one but does take quite a savage open
palm slap from Solo Sokoa. Jacob Fatu's a cheeky
little bastard for this one because he grabs
Braun Strowman's beard and Braun Strowman picks
him up and drops him with a sit -down side slam.
Now if you're gonna grab a man's beard that is
disrespectful as... fits. Like that is not nice
man. But LA Knight drops Solo Sakawa with a reverse
space buster and pushes Jacob Fatu off the apron
back into the announce table. ends up hitting
a leaping elbow on Solo Sokoa and Jacob Fatu
saves the count at two and Braun Strowman drops
Jacob Fatu back out of the ring as a thank you
very much. I've seen your face again and I don't
want to see it for a few minutes. We then get
LA Knight sending Fatu over the announce table
for a third time or the baseball slide basically
a baseball slides into him sends him flying back
into the announce table uh solo sakoa goes for
a samoan spike but la night counters that with
a blunt force trauma for the three count which
means la night and braun stroman take down the
team of jacob fatu and solo sakoa but will la
night be standing tall the same point against
his match at WrestleMania tomorrow against Jacob
Fatu. We will find out then. We then go into
the other half of the Wade Barrett interview
from earlier with a snippet of a conversation
between him and Tiffy Stratton. And he basically
asked what happened in the side -by -side interview
a few weeks back. At which point Tiffy Stratton
says she felt bullied and she almost gave up
what you know almost walked away But she used
the feelings that she had there to go back to
the drawing board and come back more prepared
And she played Charlotte Flair at her own game
and now she has to respect Tiffy, you know, see
if he says she won't lose at WrestleMania She's
gonna stand up to a bully and she'll be leaving
WrestleMania as champion. I mean We're not massive
fans of Charlotte Flair on the podcast the fact
that they brought her back to win the Rumble,
I think was a slap in the face to a lot of other
superstars who could have used that push in a
lot better manner without allowing Charlotte
Flair to have yet another unneeded WrestleMania
moment. But we do not book at the WWE and our
opinions are not valid on that one. We just get
to sit and enjoy the product they give to us.
I just personally feel that Tiffy could have
done a lot. more with an easier opponent. Charlotte
Flair's not, she's a big name to scalpel, I suppose,
if that's the way it's gonna go. I'm kind of
hoping it is. I really don't want to see another
Charlotte Flair title ring. But yeah, no, I think
other superstars could probably have made a slightly
more interesting match. where the story build
up with the promos and stuff like that has been
phenomenal. I'm just not sure the match is going
to give us what we what we feel we should be
getting as WWE fans. But talking about matches,
we now lead ourselves in to the next one, the
last match of the evening, which is the six man
tag match. So we have Rey Fenix with Rey Mysterio
and Dragon Lee and then we've got The members
of American made which is Julius Creed and Brutus
Creed with Chad Gable So we are informed before
this match. This is the 11th Smackdown in Las
Vegas and Las Vegas has hosted nine PLEs including
WrestleMania 9. So those were WrestleMania 9,
which was 1993. The 1996 In Your House 9 international
incident. 2005 No Way Out. 2006 at a Saturday
night main event. 2008's No Way Out. 2016's Money
in the Bank in the T -Mobile Arena where Dean
Ambrose cashed in and won on the same night.
2018 Elimination Chamber, the 2021 SummerSlam,
which was the first WWE event to be held in the
Allegiant Stadium. And then this year's WrestleMania,
which is the WrestleMania 41. So that's definitely
a long long list of PLEs and there's some incredible
ones there now talking about incredible this
match I feel wasn't as incredible as it could
have been But it was half decent and it starts
off with Ray Phoenix and Brutus with Ray Phoenix
hitting a hurricanrana for a two count We then
get to see Dragon Lee get a two count on Brutus
and then a Hurricanrana and a suicide dive to
the outside. He also hits a cross body from the
top rope on Chad Gable and saves the gets a count
at two as well. Chad Gable runs from Rey Mysterio
and Runs him as Rey Mysterio follows runs him
straight through the Creed brothers who take
him out on the side Chad Gable gets a very nice
German suplex on Dragon Lee and then we get the
the flying headbutts from all three Chad Gable
and the two Creed brothers Off the turnbuckle.
I mean, yeah the the flying headbutts from the
three corners was actually a really nice spot
We then had the Brutus ball on Dragon Lee, which
Ray Phoenix saved the two count from. Dragon
Lee set all three hanging up in the corner. So
Chad Gable and the two Creed brothers hanging
in the corner and double stumps, all three of
them off that top turnbuckle really was a very,
very nice piece of work to watch. We see Ray
Phoenix get a two count on Julius Creed and he
locks in a choke hold and rolls him up for another
two count. Julius Creed hits Ray Phoenix with
a gut shot and a suplex at which Ray Phoenix
pulls out a springboard arm drag into a stepping
stone hurricanrana on Chad Gable. Now the idea
of watching Ray Phoenix run across Both Creed
brothers to hit a hurricane Rana on Chad Gable
Was really really nice to watch and I really
enjoyed it. It was really really interesting
piece of of wrestling to watch Ray Phoenix then
hits the goodbye amigos kick on Chad Gable and
Dragon Lee hits operation dragon and Ray Phoenix
finishes it off with a meteora for the three
count which means that the LWO members and Ray
Phoenix win that one, which I mean, I really
like this match. It's the Libra Lucha Libra style
is really, really entertaining to watch. And
it is one of those where like it's just high
flying and breathtaking all at the same time.
Now, unfortunately, At some point in this match
Rey Mysterio looked like he got injured because
we have seen on social media since that he was
actually carried out of the arena by medical
staff very quickly. So let's just hope that injury
is not too horrific and does not hold too much
of an issue with his match. against El Grande
Mercano on WrestleMania. We then go into a recap
VT of the whole Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, CM
Punk storyline which recaps, you know, that the
end of that will be the main event of WrestleMania
night one. From that point we will find out Where
that goes and I will be covering that one with
Adam in our finishes and fractions breaks down
WrestleMania episodes who will be out very very
soon So after that recap we then have the undisputed
WWE champion come to the road Cody Rhodes and
as Cody takes the microphone in the ring and
he's just about to do his thing of Las Vegas
what are we going to talk about as the microphone
touches the breath coming from his lips we hear
John Cena's music and he comes out before Cody
can even say anything and makes his way down
to the ring now as Cody goes to talk John Cena
comes out with shut your mouth kid You know don't
need to hear this he goes. This is my 20th WrestleMania
And my 12th title match at WrestleMania he knows
better than anyone that you can get lost in the
voices and The only voice you should be listening
to is the one looking directly in the eye now
Cena cuts some incredible promos I don't care
if you don't like his in ring ability him with
a microphone is ruthless. We've seen him destroy
so many superstars with words over the years.
He's done Roman Reigns. He's done the Miz. You
know, he did Dean Ambrose. You know, he's done
so many people with the microphone over the years
and he's doing Cody Weekend, Wee Calcutt at this
point. Up to now and especially up to now where
Cody's had the physical edge on him. But yeah,
Cena's definitely got the microphone edge. He
goes on to say Sunday is the last time he'll
be in a WrestleMania ring and no other wrestler
has retired in the way he has. And there is no
way you can face a man who knows he's done. And
what he's doing is nuts and the WWE thinks it's
fake and thinks there's always one more match.
One more match, he said, and that's not a wrestling
retirement. It goes and that's because the others
that do it are just insecure losers who need
the funds because when they're not wrestling
they don't have anything else. You know they
come back as a shell of the people person they
were and because they need the recognition of
the WWE Universe because I've got everything
I need I don't need them. So the only reason
he is here is to take the title from Cody and
from the WWE Universe forever as the last real
champion. And It was one of those who goes last
year when you won the title when he was it was
being raised and and Every day you get to hold
it. It gets heavier You said and Sunday is the
day you'll lose it because you care about the
WWE Universe And they don't write history winners
do so he came here out tonight because he wanted
to share one more thing with him before Sunday
when he won When John Cena won the Elimination
Chamber, he knew it'd be hard to beat him at
WrestleMania, and he changed all of that when
Cody said what he said to The Rock. So The Rock
gave him a chance to win and give him a choice
to win or do what they think is right. And he
chose to do what he thought was right. Winning
is one of those. And that's when he knew that
Sunday night, Cody does not stand a chance to
retain that title and he's going to prove to
them that and all he has to do is prove to the
WWE Universe that they don't matter. You know
on Sunday to beat John Cena Cody Rhodes has a
choice to do what the WWE Universe thinks is
right or win. And Cody Rhodes doesn't need a
tattoo or a suit to be someone because on Sunday
he's going to make him someone. Someone that
knows how to be a winner and to be a winner you
can't hang with losers. or he's gonna make him
someone who had the chance to be a winner and
blew it. And he says, you ain't the quarterback
kid, you ain't the captain, you're a kid in a
man's world who doesn't have the balls of the
last real champion. And Cody Rhodes says that
John Cena's always got something to say and this
crowd knows how they feel about you. And John
Cena says, is this who you fight for? Poor excuse
of a crowd. Is this what matters to you? And
Cody Rhodes said that in London, John Cena said
he didn't bury talent. Well, Cody can name a
whole graveyard of people whose careers he buried.
And then Cody gets a little bit personal. He
says, John, do you know the name of the guy who
gave you the microphone? Would you know the name
of the guy who follows you down with the camera?
But no because it's a different WWE's when you
were here last and you haven't been here since
elimination chamber Says you call me underwhelming.
I think you're overrated. You're overbearing.
Yeah at a touch Says your face is like melted
wax your paler than sting at Starrcade 97 and
now you run around naked on stage for the guys
you ran errands for we're in 2025 now John and
you still wrestle You know and then at which
point John Cena listens Cody Road the fans in
the in the stadium are just singing Cody Cody
rules John Cena calls them an idiot and a Cena
Cody Rhodes hits Cena and Cena goes for the attitude
adjustment which Cody reverses into a crossroads
and finishes the episode with Cena laying on
his ass in the ring and Cody standing above him
with his title we're told by commentary that
the war of words is done this will be finished
on Sunday evening and talking about finished
ladies and gentlemen that brings me to the end
of the last episode of finishes and factions
the smackdown for season one the next episode
will be the first episode of season two Thank
you so much for bearing with us over the last
couple of months. It has been incredible and
we appreciate all of you for doing so. So just
remember, ladies and gentlemen, you've just got
to follow the buzzards. See you for WrestleMania.
Peace out.