WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event 07/12/25 Review – TJR Wrestling

Entertainment

It’s WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event with Goldberg’s final match taking place against Gunther, Randy Orton facing Drew McIntyre, and more.

This is the third Saturday Night’s Main Event show of the year and the fourth one since the SNME shows returned late last year. It is on NBC and Peacock for those of you in the US. In Canada, I get a Detroit NBC channel, but I’m watching on WWE’s YouTube channel because that’s where they put it for non-US fans.

I didn’t watch it live because I was reviewing the six-hour AEW All In Texas PPV that ended about halfway through this show. I’m writing this on Sunday morning.

From the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, this is Saturday Night’s Main Event. Follow me on Twitter/X @johnreport. Let’s get to it.

The classic Saturday Night’s Main Event song played as Joe Tessitore welcomed us to the show. Some pre-show walking was shown of Seth Rollins with his group, LA Knight (yeah), Drew McIntyre with Logan Paul, Randy Orton with Jelly Roll, Solo Sikoa with his group, Jimmy Uso, and Gunther. Bill Goldberg was son talking to his son Gage before the show as well.

There was a vintage Saturday Night’s Main Event opening video package showing old clips and mixing in the stars of today. It ended with Goldberg telling Gunther that he is next.

Joe Tessitore and Jesse “The Body” Ventura were on the stage talking about the show. Ventura said that Goldberg has to battle his age, so he has to win quick and early. Ventura claimed that the longer the match goes, the advantage goes to Gunther. Ventura said that he knows Randy Orton’s father, so Drew McIntyre is in for a war.

The commentary team was Michael Cole and Wade Barrett, which is a good team that I enjoy listening to. Lilian Garcia was the ring announcer.

Randy Orton made his entrance and he got a good, huge pop. Orton was joined by the popular singer Jelly Roll, who aligned with Orton on SmackDown. The crowd was singing Randy’s “Voices” song on his way to the ring. The Atlanta crowd did a good job of singing Orton’s song and Jelly joined in on the singing too.

Drew McIntyre was next and he was joined by Logan Paul, who had the incident with Jelly Roll on SmackDown. They showed what happened on SmackDown with Randy Orton defending Jelly Roll against Paul, which led to Drew McIntyre’s cheap attack on Orton. Paul trashed Jelly’s music set after.

Randy Orton (w/Jelly Roll) vs. Drew McIntyre (w/Logan Paul)

They had the classic red, white and blue ropes while the referee was in a light blue shirt. There was “The Naked Gun” written in the ring as the sponsor to promote the upcoming movie. Orton punched Drew a few times and Orton clotheslined Drew over the top to the floor. Orton tried to slam Drew on the commentary, but Drew avoided that and Drew gave Orton two belly-to-back slams onto the commentary table.

(Commercial)

They were back in the ring where Drew sent Orton hard into the turnbuckle. Orton came back with two clotheslines. Orton wanted a powerslam, Drew held onto the apron and Drew hit the Glasgow Kiss headbutt. Drew went up top, he jumped off, Orton avoided it and Orton hit a powerslam. Drew left the ring, so Orton gave Drew a belly-to-back slam onto the commentary. Orton slammed Drew on the table three times in a row. Orton was distracted by Paul on the floor, so Drew hit him with a thrust to the throat. Orton kicked Drew on the apron and Orton hit a vintage draping DDT. The crowd came alive, Paul went on the apron to distract and Drew hit a Claymore Kick for just two because Orton was by the ropes and Orton got his foot on the bottom rope. Jelly Roll got in Logan Paul’s face, so Paul shoved Jelly three times. Jelly pushed Paul back to knock Paul on his ass. Drew yelled at Jelly getting involved and told Jelly to come into the ring to fight him. Drew picked up Orton and Orton hit an RKO outta nowhere for the pinfall win after 8 minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Randy Orton

Analysis: **3/4 The match was okay, but this was about furthering the angle started on SmackDown. Logan Paul got involved with Jelly Roll, so Drew McIntyre was distracted by that and Randy Orton capitalized to get the win. A simple storyline that worked.

After the match, Logan Paul went into the ring and punched Orton in the jaw. We know Paul has a good punch, so Orton sold it well. Paul punched Orton while he was down. Jelly Roll went into the ring and knocked Paul down. Paul tried to punch Jelly, but Jelly nailed Paul with a punch that looked good! Nice job, Jelly. Paul bumped to the floor. Jelly checked on Orton, so Drew hit Jelly with a Claymore Kick! Drew said if you step into his ring, you become a target. The SmackDown GM Nick Aldis and Raw GM Adam Pearce showed up to yell at Drew for his actions. The WWE Officials checked on Jelly in the ring. Orton said he was sorry and he was upset about it.

Analysis: I thought they executed it really well. We know it’s going to lead to a SummerSlam tag team match. Paul did a great job as the antagonist. Jelly didn’t want to get physically involved, but Paul pissed him off, so Jelly did what he had to do and came to Orton’s aid when he needed it. That led right into Drew hitting the cheap shot Claymore Kick when Jelly wasn’t looking. They booked it perfectly, I thought.

(Commercial)

There was a recap of the chaos before the break. Orton was shown helping Jelly to the back.

Drew McIntyre and Logan Paul were backstage getting yelled at by GMs Nick Aldis and Adam Pearce. The idea is that Jelly was a guest in WWE, yet Drew and Logan attacked him.

The Women’s World Champion Iyo Sky was shown at ringside. They also showed Rhea Ripley, who will face Sky at Evolution on Sunday night.

Jade Cargill was shown sitting in the crowd as the Queen of the Ring. She’s against Naomi at Evolution, and there’s Naomi in the crowd!! Proceed with caution as Naomi attacked Jade with punches and they went over the barricade. Naomi jumped on Jade’s back, but Jade broke free and Jade hit Naomi with a forearm. There were security and WWE Officials at ringside. Jade threw Naomi over the commentary table. Naomi jumped off the table to tackle Jade, and Naomi punched her a few times.

Nick Aldis did a promo saying that he had a feeling that they couldn’t wait until tomorrow night. Nick said he was going to tell them in his office, but here it is. Nick announced the special guest referee for the Naomi-Jade match…it’s Bianca Belair making her return! The fans popped huge Belair walking out to ringside. Belair has been out of action for a few months due to having broken fingers. We could see Belair had some tape on a finger on her left hand.

Analysis: That’s a good call putting Bianca Belair in there as the special guest referee due to her history with Jade and Naomi. I like that. It also gets Belair on the show even though she’s unable to wrestle due to injury.

They showed former WCW Head of Security Doug Dellinger at ringside to support Goldberg. The WWE Hall of Famer Diamond Dallas Page was at the ringside, and he got a huge pop as usual.

A video package showcased some Goldberg highlights from his WCW run, when he was undefeated and went on to become WCW World Champion. That was in Atlanta at the Georgia Dome in 1998.

Jimmy Uso made his entrance for singles action.

A commercial aired for the Evolution PLE featuring women’s only matches on July 13th.

(Commercial)

United States Championship: Solo Sikoa (w/JC Mateo, Tala Tonga & Tonga Loa) vs. Jimmy Uso

It’s a matchup between brothers, as the younger brother, Solo, defends his first US Title against the older brother, Jimmy. Cole said it was Jimmy’s first singles match for a shot at a singles title in WWE. Jimmy worked over Solo with punches and Jimmy sent Solo out of the ring. Jimmy hit a suicide dive on the floor, which led to Jimmy hitting the barricade. Back in the ring, Jimmy punched Solo. Jimmy jumped off the top, Solo caught him and Solo hit a Spinning Solo for just a one count. Solo punched Jimmy when he tried a leaping move. Solo distracted the referee, so Tala nailed Jimmy with a clothesline on the floor.

(Commercial)

Jimmy and Solo battled on the apron, where Solo shoved Jimmy into the apron. Jimmy superkicked Solo while they were on the apron. Jimmy gave Solo a German Suplex on the apron. That’s not a move that Jimmy does often, but it looked good. Jimmy jumped off the top and did a cross body block on Solo for a two count. Jimmy hit a running hip attack on Solo against the turnbuckle. Jimmy went up top and hit an Uso Splash for just two. That’s a finishing move for Jimmy, but Solo was able to get out of it. Solo tackled Jimmy into the turnbuckle and Solo hit a Spinning Solo. Solo wanted the Samoan Spike, Jimmy avoided it and Jimmy hit two superkicks in a row. Solo rolled out of the ring, so Jimmy went up to and Jimmy hit a corkscrew plancha on Jimmy, JC and Loa. Tala tried a kick, Jimmy avoided it and Jimmy hit a superkick. Jimmy kicked Tala as well. Solo did a ROLLUP OF DEATH~! and Tala put his boot on Solo’s butt for leverage. The referee never saw the cheating. The match went about 11 minutes.

Winner by pinfall: Solo Sikoa

Analysis: ***1/4 It was a pretty good match for the time given. Jimmy looked impressive here, and I liked their chemistry. It was no surprise that Solo found a way to win thanks to some help. Solo is going to be the kind of heel US Champion that wins matches because of his help at ringside.

After the match, Tala Tonga went into the ring and hit Jimmy with a big boot to the face. Solo’s guys held Jimmy, so Solo hit a Samoan Spike to knock Jimmy down.

Jacob Fatu made his way down to the ring after the MFT’s put him through a table eight days earlier. Fatu went into the ring with kicks for JC and Loa. Fatu hit running hip attacks on JC and Loa as well. Tala got in the ring to face off with Fatu, who hit some punches, but Tala hit a boot to the head. Tala charged, so Fatu sent him out of the ring. Fatu hit a suicide dive to take out three guys on the floor. The fans came alive for Fatu and cheered for him.

Analysis: I wonder how long it will be until Jey Uso gets involved in this to help brother Jimmy. I know Jimmy is on SmackDown and Jey is on Raw, but I think it’s time for The Usos to work together again. I like that Fatu and Jimmy are on the same page, but I think it’s only a matter of time until Jey gets involved in this. Anyway, there should be more Solo-Jacob matches in the weeks and months ahead.

There was another video package showing when Goldberg joined WWE in 2003 and had a one year run that saw him win the World Heavyweight Title. Goldberg came back over a decade later, leading to more matches and he was a two-time Universal Champion.

(Commercial)

There was a recap of the Randy Orton-Jelly Roll situation earlier in the night.

Randy Orton and Jelly Roll were interviewed by Cathy Kelley. Orton apologized for putting his buddy Jelly in harm’s way. Jelly said it’s okay because he’s a grown man and they have gravely underestimated him. Jelly said he wants to face both of them anywhere, any time. Orton said he has a word for them: SummerSlam. Orton said it can be RK-Roll at SummerSlam. They shook hands.

Analysis: That was simple enough. Jelly Roll said he wanted to get in the ring, Orton suggested SummerSlam and the tag team match is on.

The legendary WWE Hall of Famers, Rick & Scott Steiner, were at ringside watching the show. They are one of my favorite tag teams ever. Rick is Bron Breakker’s dad, and Scott is his uncle. Scott’s oldest son also has a WWE NIL deal.

Seth Rollins made his entrance with “The Oracle” Paul Heyman, who held Seth’s Money in the Bank briefcase. The fans sang Seth’s song as usual. LA Knight got a big ovation for his entrance as usual.

Seth Rollins (w/Paul Heyman) vs. LA Knight

Knight hit an elbow to knock down a running Rollins. Knight went for a suplex, but he was selling a rib injury from previous attacks. Rollins charged at Knight, who hit a back body drop over the top rope to the floor. Knight hit a running kick to knock Rollins down on the floor. Knight rammed Seth’s head onto the hood of the commentary table several times. Knight jumped off the table and hit a clothesline on Rollins on the floor.

(Commercial)

Rollins was in control with a rib-breaker onto the knee. Rollins went up top and hit a Frog Splash for a two count. Knight avoided The Stomp and Knight hit a clothesline. Knight hit a neckbreaker, followed by a DDT. Knight jumped off the top rope with an elbow drop for a two count. Knight worked over Rollins with kicks, along with a running knee to the head. Knight went for BFT, but Rollins shoved him off. Rollins hit a shoulder tackle to the ribs. Rollins went up, so Knight punched him to stop him there. Rollins knocked Knight down, then Knight jumped up and Rollins slipped under Knight, leading to a Buckle Bomb into the turnbuckle. Rollins went for The Stomp, Knight avoided it and Rollins hit a superkick. Rollins hit a springboard senton and Rollins hit a springboard moonsault, but when Rollins landed, he tweaked his right knee. The referee, Jessika Carr, talked to Rollins while Heyman talked to Rollins as well. The ringside doctor checked on Rollins as well. Rollins talked to the doctor, who left the ring. Rollins got back up, Knight kicked Rollins in the ribs and Knight hit the BFT (Blount Force Trauma) for the pinfall win after 12 minutes.

Winner by pinfall: LA Knight

Analysis: **3/4 The injury suffered by Rollins changed this match. They were on their way to something good when Rollins got hurt and Knight got the win. We found out later in the night that Seth Rollins has a legitimate right knee injury. The original booking was for Rollins to win the match, but since he was hurt, they changed it, and Knight won with the BFT. There is also serious concern that Seth’s injury may be serious.

There was a replay of Seth’s moonsault, he landed and grabbed his right knee. It wasn’t shown on camera, but fans posted online that Rollins was helped to the backstage area because his knee injury is legit.

Analysis: I feel terrible for Seth Rollins, who I feel is one of the best performers in WWE and has been for over a decade. Sadly, injuries happen. This will lead WWE to have to pivot with Seth’s MITB briefcase. If he needs surgery for something like a torn ACL and misses 8-10 months, they could have him hold onto MITB and cash in when he comes back, but they could just take the briefcase off him. Also, this obviously hurts the heel group that Rollins leads.

A video package aired to show how the Gunther-Goldberg match was set up for tonight’s main event.

There was a commercial for WWE Survivor Series in San Diego on November 29th. Tickets are on sale now. It won’t be cheap!

(Commercial)

They showed American Ninja Warrior host Akbar Gbajabiamila at ringside. Blake Monroe from NXT was also at ringside. The NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne was also at ringside.

The announcers did a rundown of the women-only Evolution PLE on Sunday, July 13th. I am looking forward to it and will review it live, most likely. I didn’t have time to do a preview for it.

It’s official for SummerSlam on August 2 & 3: Randy Orton & Jelly Roll vs. Drew McIntyre & Logan Paul.

They showed rapper 2 Chainz at ringside.

Gunther made his entrance first as the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. The fans booed him as usual.

Bill Goldberg made his walk from the backstage area with Doug Dellinger knocking on the door. Goldberg’s son Gage was walking with him along with Ernest “The Cat” Miller, Josh Barnett and some other friends of Goldberg. Bill hugged all of them.

The fans popped huge for Goldberg as he made his entrance, walking through the pyro by the entrance. The 58-year-old Goldberg looked to be in great shape as he made his way to the ring to face a man who is 20 years younger than him. They went to break when Goldberg got to the ring.

Analysis: I am not a huge Bill Goldberg fan in terms of his entire run, but I enjoyed the early days of Goldberg in WCW in 1997 and 1998, especially. It is one of the coolest entrances in pro wrestling history, in my opinion.

(Commercial)

The show returned with Lilian Garcia doing the in-ring introductions for the match. The great Charles Robinson is the referee. Goldberg was introduced as being from Atlanta and they popped big for the WWE Hall of Famer while chanting his name. The World Champion Gunther was booed.

World Heavyweight Championship: Gunther vs. Bill Goldberg

The fans were chanting for Goldberg. They locked up and Goldberg shoved Gunther down. Gunther chopped Goldberg a few times in the chest, so Goldberg laughed about it. Goldberg nailed the champion with a clothesline. Goldberg worked over Gunther with elbows and knees. Goldberg hit another clothesline. Gunther came back with a clothesline. Gunther went up top, so Goldberg slammed him off the top in the spot that Ric Flair loved to do. Goldberg wanted a Spear, so Gunther bailed to the floor. Goldberg went after Gunther on the floor. Goldberg sent Gunther into the barricade, but Gunther avoided it and Goldberg hit a Spear into the barricade because Gunther moved. Good spot going into the break.

(Commercial)

Gunther was in control as he worked over Goldberg’s left knee. Goldberg had a knee brace on his left knee. Goldberg fought back with punches. Gunther and Goldberg exchanged open hand chops, so Gunther kicked Goldberg in the left knee to knock him down. Gunther hit Goldberg with some strikes, but Goldberg came back with a spinebuster. Gunther chopped Goldberg in the chest a few times, and Goldberg came back with elbow smashes to the head. Gunther kicked Goldberg in the ribs, Gunther tried a Powerbomb, and Goldberg hit a back body drop to get out of it. Goldberg went for a Spear, Gunther moved and referee Charles Robinson got hit with the Spear! Ouch! Poor Charles. Gunther was back up and he kicked Goldberg’s left knee again. Gunther took off Goldberg’s left knee brace. Gunther used the knee brace to hit Goldberg in the left knee. Gunther hit Goldberg in the back of the head with the knee brace. Gunther left the ring and taunted Goldberg’s adult son Gage, who is a college football player. Gunther told Gage to sit down and Gunther shoved Gage. Gage jumped over the barricade, but security held Gage back. When Gunther got back in the ring, Goldberg hit a Spear! The fans popped huge for that. Cole wondered if Goldberg had a Jackhammer left and Goldberg connected with the Jackhammer. It wasn’t pretty, but it was close enough. Referee Shawn Bennett went into the ring. Goldberg was slow to cover as he lay on top of Gunther and got a two count. The fans totally bought into that as a false finish. Goldberg was selling the knee injury again, so Gunther grabbed him in a sleeper hold while putting his legs around Goldberg’s waist in a body scissors. Gunther kept the sleeper on, Goldberg was fading, the referee checked his hand, the hand dropped and that was it. Gunther wins by submission. It went 14 minutes.

Winner by submission: Gunther

Analysis: ***1/4 They had a good match that was better than a lot of people probably thought it would be. I had faith that it would be solid because of how good Gunther is. Doing a slow-paced match helps Goldberg. Goldberg wasn’t known for having good matches and he didn’t have a lot of matches over 10 minutes. They had a physical match where Goldberg took everything Gunther had, but Gunther was relentless and wore the old man down.

Gunther left with the World Heavyweight Championship while Goldberg was down on the mat.

(Commercial)

Goldberg was in the ring surrounded by friends and family while Michael Cole said that tonight is all about Bill. Goldberg said he doesn’t think he’s ever lost in Atlanta, so he apologizes for going out a little subpar. Goldberg said he had over a hundred friends and family who came in from all over the world, and he can’t thank them all enough. Goldberg said that the fans in Atlanta have been wonderful, he loves them and he couldn’t have done it without them. At that point, the show ended right at 10 p.m. ET.

Analysis: Good speech. Too bad there wasn’t more time. Too bad WWE didn’t post more of it on social media. They only posted the final 39 seconds.

===

Three Stars of the Show

  1. Gunther and Goldberg
  2. Randy Orton, Drew McIntyre, Jelly Roll and Logan Paul
  3. Seth Rollins because I feel bad for him suffering a knee injury.

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Final Thoughts on WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event

I’ll rate this show a 7.25 out of 10.

I thought it was a good show. These SNME specials don’t have long matches or great matches, but they do advance stories. They progressed some stories well, like everything involved in Orton/Jelly against Drew/Paul at SummerSlam, and every one of those guys played their roles perfectly. They set up a SummerSlam match with a celebrity based on two nights of interactions, and I think it went well.

The Seth Rollins injury is very sad to see. We know he’s had major knee surgery in the past, about a decade ago, and he could be headed that way again. No injury is good, but Seth is obviously a major player in WWE, has a new stable on Raw and the Money in the Bank briefcase, so now plans are going to change. It all depends on the severity of the injury, too. I wish Seth the best.

Goldberg’s match with Gunther was pretty good, considering it was Goldberg’s first match in three years, and he is a 58-year-old man in his final match. A lot of Goldberg matches were shorter than this, too, so kudos to Goldberg for hanging in there. I felt bad for Goldberg when the show ended, as he was giving his speech in the ring. This could have been a PLE match and the final match could have been more special that way, but doing it on SNME did feel like a big deal too. I’m just saying they could have timed it a bit better since NBC cut Goldberg off when he was speaking. Anyway, congrats to Goldberg on a great career.

===

Thanks for reading. You can contact me using any of the methods below.

John Canton

Email: mrjohncanton@gmail.com

Twitter/X: @johnreport




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