WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event results, grades: CM Punk beats Jey Uso, Jade Cargill dethrones Tiffany Stratton

A second top turnbuckle sequence went in Punk’s favor, as he hit a superplex on Uso, but began to favor his lower back. Both men staggered to their feet and began to unload on one another in the center of the ring.

After winning the exchange, Punk launched into his signature offense — running high knee, bulldog and GTS setup. Uso fought out before getting hit with the GTS for a second time in the match, instead countering with a superkick. The blow sent Punk outside the ring and Uso launched himself through the ropes at Punk.

Punk broke the referee’s count but rolled back outside the ring. Uso then followed suit, rolling out of the ring and spearing Punk through the barricade and into the timekeeper’s area. Uso rolled Punk back into the ring and lined up an Uso Splash. Punk got his knees up and immediately hit a GTS for a near-fall.

Punk tried to follow up with a piledriver before both men traded finishers. Uso hit Punk with a GTS and Punk hit Uso with a spear. Both men got to their feet once again, exhausted, and Punk hit a GTS. As Punk went for a second, Uso escaped and locked in a sleeper hold. Punk was able to roll through and lock in the Anaconda Vice. Uso forced a break wby grabbing the rope

The finishing sequence came quickly as Uso landed several superkicks before Punk countered a spear with a knee and then two GTS finishers to secure the win

CM Punk def. Jey Uso in 20:57 to win the vacant World Heavyweight Championship.

The crowd traded “Let’s go Uso” and “CM Punk” chants as a fairly standard early match playbook unfolded from both men. Punk would be the first to gain significant control, scoring a pair of near-falls with a methodical pace before a sudden Samoan Drop from Uso.

Uso’s momentum would be quickly halted as Punk countered a spear attempt and slowed things down again. Another brief counter from Uso was fought out of by Punk, who bridged out of a pin and hit a GTS. Punk couldn’t capitalize with a pin because Uso fell out of the ring.

The tide would finally turn in Uso’s favor as he fought out of a superplex attempt and began to unload on Punk, culminating in a spead and Uso Splash for a near-fall on Punk.

Jey Uso made his popular “YEET and repeat” entrance, which doesn’t necessarily fit the character that Uso has portrayed in recent weeks, but the fans love it.

CM Punk got his typical reaction when “Cult of Personality” hit at the Delta Center.

After Lillian Garcia introduced the stars and the bell rang, both men felt out the crowd and engaged in a tense staredown before a collar-and-elbow tie up. Neither man was able to build anything noteworthy early on, with Punk attempting a GTS and both men trading pins that were kicked out of at just one.

WWE teased a John Cena sitdown with Tom Rinaldi that will air over the next few weeks, confirming that he would not wrestle again after Saturday Night’s Main Event next month in Washington D.C.

Afterward, it was revealed that a 16-man tournament would take place to determine Cena’s final opponent. In the pre-taped announcement, Cena said he wanted to give people the same opportunity he had two decades ago to step up and make a name for themselves.

Perhaps the most intriguing comment came as Cena said maybe people who “don’t even work here” would be part of it.

Mysterio teased a 619 on Rusev, but the Bulgarian Brute caught his legs and locked in an Accolade submission. Penta came to the rescue with a superkick and then went on the offensive against Rusev. Rusev again was able to power his way back into a dominant position after Penta’s brief onslaught.

Rusev attempted to set up a high-risk maneuver to Penta but couldn’t pull it off. Penta fought him off and then fell from the top turnbuckle, selling a leg injury. With the referee distracted, Mysterio tried the Eddie Guerrero chair trick on Rusev, but there are no DQs in a triple threat match.

Penta launched into high gear with an impressive Mexican Destroyer on Mysterio, using Rusev as a springboard and taking the fight to Rusev. Penta scored a near-fall with a Penta Driver before Rusev again gained control. Rusev hit an Alabama Slam, Machka Kick and then locked in the Accolade on Penta. As Penta was fading, the bell rang early, with Mysterio being revealed as the culprit.

A furious Rusev went after Mysterio but got shoved into the steel steps. Mysterio made his way back into the ring and was going to use the ring hammer as a weapon but Penta grabbed it first. Penta went to hit Mysterio with it, but the champion ducked out of the way and allowed Penta to hit Rusev. Mysterio then drove Penta into the ringpost and hit a frog splash on Rusev for the win.

Dominik Mysterio def. Rusev and Penta in 12:23 to retain the WWE Intercontinental Championship.

Rusev launched into an attack on Mysterio before the bell even rang and he and Penta traded beatdowns of the champion to open the action. Rusev, clearly the most powerful competitor in the match, dominated the early stages against the cruiserweights.

The pace picked up a bit as Penta and Mysterio both landed dives and briefly battled one another. Penta scored a near-fall before Rusev yanked him out of the ring and began to brutalize both of his rivals all around the ringside area.

Rusev then touched the Intercontinental Championship. Bad news if you’re superstitious!

Penta got an overwhelming reception from the Salt Lake City crowd as he made his entrance. Rusev followed to a muted reaction and Mysterio rounded things out. If we’re crowning champions for pop, Penta is the winner here.

We have two matches left and roughly an hour of airtime — this match has some real potential to steal the show.

Cargill had Stratton set up on the steel steps outside the ring, but Stratton escaped and caused Cargill to go face-first into the steps with a drop-toe hold. Stratton scored a near-fall after a Swanton back in the ring.

Stratton’s momentum was halted as she was unable to string together more offense because of her knee. Recovered, Cargill launched into a flurry, hitting three consecutive fallaway slams and a sit-down powerbomb for a pair of near-falls. After Stratton kicked out the second time, Cargill hit two more sit-down powerbombs and Jaded to pick up the win and secure her first singles championship in WWE.

Jade Cargill def. Tiffany Stratton in 5:32 to win the WWE Women’s Championship.

Jade Cargill was first to make her entrance — it screams top-of-the-card star — followed by the champion in Tiffany Stratton.

Once the bell rang, Cargill — the new heel — targeted Stratton’s storyline-injured knee before hitting a massive chokeslam. Cargill picked up the first near-fall of the match before the one-minute mark. Despite a brief opening for Stratton, Cargill continued her punishment of Stratton inside and outside the ring.

The Uncrowned Horsemen think so — Three of the four of us thing it’s Jade Cargill’s moment, with Robert Jackman being the only holdout.

Before the next match, Nick Aldis spoke backstage with WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton to discuss her knee injury. Stratton shrugged him off and walked to the ring.

WWE has really sold this Stratton knee injury in this build.

As Rhodes barely made it back into the ring, he regained momentum and went for an avalanche Cody Cutter. He was forced to halt to not hit the referee again and sold a knee injury. Rhodes hit the avalanche Cody Cutter and then chaos ensued after the subsequent near fall.

Rhodes and McIntyre battled to the turnbuckle and McIntyre shoved Rhodes into the referee, knocking him out. Both men fought to a stalemate, twice, with McIntyre introducing the title again. With the referee knocked out, Rhodes hit a DDT on McIntyre onto the championship belt and followed it up with a CrossRhodes for the win

Cody Rhodes def. Drew McIntyre in 18:32 to retain the Undisputed WWE Championship.

McIntyre stayed on the offensive, landing high-impact move after high-impact move and following up with near-falls. McIntyre began to show signs of frustration with each kick out from Rhodes.

With both men on the top turnbuckle, Rhodes fought back against McIntyre, eventually superplexing him and leaving both men in a heap on the mat. Rhodes’ string of high-impact moves continued as he landed a tornado Cody Cutter and Bionic Elbow, but McIntyre showed his quickness and power with an immediate spinebuster and near-fall of his own.

McIntyre then rolled out of the ring to grab the Undisputed WWE Championship. Rhodes took the belt and was tempted to use it. As Rhodes tossed it to the referee, McIntyre hit a quick Claymore for another near-fall. The fight spilled outside twice, the latter when Rhodes got sent from the apron through the announce table, setting up a dramatic near-count out.

The back and forth nature of the match continued before we again saw the main angle of this match rear its head again. As Rhodes repeatedly beat down McIntyre in the corner the official grabbed him away and Rhodes shoved him, again teasing a DQ. McIntyre used this brief moment to seize control and send Rhodes outside the ring, trying to win via countout.

Once the bell rang, Rhodes acted as the aggressor, chasing after McIntyre. The Scottish challenger evaded him initially before Rhodes was able to get some offense in — including an impressive stalled suplex on the much-larger McIntyre.

McIntyre retreated outside of the ring and taunted Rhodes, begging him to come outside the ring to goad him into a countout, which would result in the title changing hands. When McIntyre went back into the ring, he nearly baited Rhodes into hitting the referee and getting disqualified.

With every match on the card for a title, someone has to kick it off, so why not QB1? Cody Rhodes vs. Drew McIntyre opens up the action.

As a reminder, Rhodes forfeited his champion’s advantage last night in the closing segment of SmackDown.

Halloween is over, but WWE is leaning into creepy SZN with a Stranger Things-style intro for SNME. It also helps that CM Punk was rocking a Michael Myers t-shirt in the pre-taped arena entrances.

Yes, yes, I know I am BAD at this predicting thing, but there’s still time in 2025!

Predictions

• World Heavyweight Championship match (vacant): CM Punk (Dansby) vs. Jey Uso (Jackman, Riggs, Sulla-Heffinger)

• Undisputed WWE Championship match: Cody Rhodes (Dansby, Jackman, Sulla-Heffinger) vs. Drew McIntyre (Riggs)

• WWE Women’s Championship match: Tiffany Stratton (Jackman) vs. Jade Cargill (Dansby, Riggs, Sulla-Heffinger)

• Intercontinental Championship match: Dominik Mysterio (Jackman, Riggs, Sulla-Heffinger) vs. Penta (Dansby) vs. Rusev

2025 standings

• Anthony Sulla-Heffinger: 55-35

Here’s the full rundown for tonight’s action on Peacock: