WWE Saturday Night's Main Event XLV 7/18/2026

WWE Saturday Night's Main Event XLV 7/18/2026

The last SNME is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2026/05/wwe-saturday-nights-main-event-xliv.html

Pre-show Thoughts: The card for this is super weak. This would be a weak line-up even for a Raw or an SD, yet alone a special show like this. The last SNME was weak too. There's no excuse for it. It's just sadly what WWE has been doing all year long - squeezing the fans and doing the bare minimum. I'm happy we are getting an extra show, but what's the harm in getting some other big names on here? 

This show is going up against AEW Collision. 

Countdown to SNME:

Trick Williams vs Laredo Kid

Random isn't even the word for this one, but good for Laredo Kid. I'm interested to see how this goes.

Trick grabs the crowd on Kid's mask and throws it in the crowd. Kid pushes Trick and Trick shoves him down. Trick shoulders Kid over. Kid hits leg kicks on Trick and is shoved down. Kid top rope dropkicks Trick. Kid hits corner spears and pulls Trick's leg around the 2nd rope.

Trick spinning roundhouse kicks Kid. Trick punches Kid in the corner and gets a 2 count on him. Trick deadlift suplexes him. Trick hits mounted corner punches. Trick is swept and goes face first into the top buckle. Kid flying forearms Trick and superkicks him.

Kid bottom rope corkscrew moonsaults Trick then does it off the 2nd rope for 2. Kid trips him into a half-crab. Trick boots him away and Kid PK's him. Trick jumping neckbreakers him. Trick hits punches and leg lariats him. Trick flapjacks him. 

Trick stomps on him. Trick slams him. Kid rolls him up for 2. Trick is pulled over the top rope. Kid dropkicks Trick through the ropes. Kid swantons off the post outside. Kid misses a top rope corkscrew moonsault. Trick hits a trick shot and pins him.

Thoughts: It wasn't anything special. Kid was pretty slow here and there was too much downtime during the match.

Oba Femi talks to Stephanie McMahon in the crowd. Oba says his last match against Brock didn't go in his favor. He says he's miles above Brock in the mental game and says he lives in his head. Oba says Brock has been hiding and running. He says the tides are changing. Oba says he's not locked in there with Brock at Summerslam, Brock is locked in there with him. 

Main show: 

We are in NYC at Madison Square Garden. Michael Cole and Wade Barrett are on commentary.

We get a video on MSG to start. 

We see various wrestlers arrive. 

Stephanie McMahon and Jose Tessitore talk at the podium. Steph says she's excited to be here. Steph says she doesn't know what will happen but it will be good. 

WWE Women's Tag Team Title Match - Brie Bella & Paige (c) vs. Fatal Influence (Fallon Henley & Lainey Reid) 

Jacy Jayne is with Fatal Influence.

Paige sends Fallon out then Reid pounds on Paige. Paige thesz presses Reid and hits mounted punches. Reid takes a double kick and a double codebreaker. Brie dropkicks Reid then Reid forearms her down. Brie knees her in the face. Paige flying knees Fallon then Fallon takes a double bulldog. Paige is dropped throat first onto the top rope into a german. 

Reid legdrops Paige. Paige takes shots in the corner. Reid chinlocks Paige and Paige jawbreakers her. Paige's head is banged off the buckles. Brie gets in and hits a double lariat. Brie lariats Fallon then russian legsweeps her. 

Brie hits chest kicks on Fallon. Brie high kicks Fallon then running knees her and Reid. Brie top rope dropkicks Fallon. Paige puts a yes lock on Fallon and Fallon ropebreaks. Fallon swinging facebusters Paige. 

Paige knees Fallon over the 2nd rope. Jacy gets on the apron and Paige nails her. Fallon double throat thrusts Paige. Fallon sliding germans Paige. Brie sends Fallon into the rails and Reid misses a top rope moonsault.

Paige slaps Fallon and throws her out. Reid rolls up Paige for 2. Reid punches Paige. Paige high kicks Reid. Jacy gets on the apron and Fallon flying lariats Paige. Reid is sent into the post. Paige backrolls Reid for 2 when Jacy Jayne blatantly interferes. Jacy pushes Reid over onto Paige and Reid pins her.

Thoughts: The finish sucked as there was no way the ref didn't see that one. It was right in front of her. It went okay otherwise though and beat my expectations. It really wasn't that bad at all. Paige's team losing is kind of random but their random was random in general.

Sami Zayn is interviewed. He says he is trying to choose his words carefully. He doesn't want to call himself a victim but says everything that has happened since he won the title has been egregious. He says Cody and Punk just had to ask to get in the Summerslam main and he had to bang his head off the ceiling. He says he then had to beg Nick Aldis to get this. Gunther comes in and tells Sami to stay out of his way and not to ruin Summerslam for him. 

Trick Williams is in the crowd. 

The Judgment Day talk in the back but we can't hear it. They are then interviewed. JD says Danhausen is the curses. He says he will rid judgment Day and WWE of Dan. He says there's no more games.

No Disqualifiation Match - JD McDonagh vs. Danhausen

Dan comes out in his car and has a stuffed cat toy in a cage on his car. Dan is wearing Knicks colors.

Dan goes to curse JD and JD slides out. Dom distracts Dan and JD hits Dan from behind. JD chops Dan and foot chokes him. Dan is sent into the rails and post. Dan's head is banged off the commentary table by JD and Dom many times. 

JD suplexes Dan. JD 2nd rope elbow drops Dan for 2. Dom wipes his shoes with Danhausen's Knicks jersey. Dan is sent into the buckles twice and goes down.

Dan hits JD with chops and mounted corner punches. JD sweeps Dan on the top rope then brainbusters him for 2. JD misses a top rope moonsault. Dan puts his Knicks jersey on. JD slaps Dan and Dan no sells it. Dan hits punches and atomic drops him. Dan running lariats him. Dan overhead suplexes Dom. 

Dan running back elbows JD. JD rolls up Dan for 2. Dan cutters JD off a suplex attempt for 2. Dom hits Dan from behind and stomps him. Dan is double teamed. JD headbutts Dan while Dom holds him. Dan's jersey is ripped up and ripped off.

Dom does the "get the tables" line to JD. Dan walks to the back. A table is pulled out and Minihausen's appear. JD takes a hurricanrana from one of them then the midgets crossbody them. Dom and JD are pounded on by the mini's. A mini is sent into the rails and another is sent into the steps. Dan then puts his stuffed cat toy into his cloning machine. 

JD elbow drops a mini. Dan's cloning machine makes sounds and shoots off sparks. Karl Anthony Towns of the Knicks then appears out of the box. Karl gets in the ring with Dan. Dan curses the heels. Karl chokeslams JD then chokeslams Dom through a table (with his sunglasses on). Karl curses JD and Dan reverse ddt's JD. Dan pins JD.

Thoughts: It had a lot of shenanigans as expected. Dan didn't really impress here and this was really all about the big spots with the Minihausen's and Karl Anthony Towns coming out. It had some entertainment to it but it could have been better.

Towns, The Minihausen's and Dan pose together. 

Lyra Valkyria is interviewed in the back. She says her and Bayley wrestled for the tag titles last time in this building. She says she wanted to make it to the top and be proud of how she did it. She says now, here we are. She says she can't stop thinking of how she might have been if Bay was who she needed her to be. She says Bay will be out of her head forever after tonight.

Bayley is interviewed in the back. She says she thought Lyra was different but she's the different one. She says she's been making history for a decade and will end Lyra before she gets started.

Bayley vs. Lyra Valkyria

Bay backs up Lyra in the corner and slaps her. Bay pounds on Lyra and Lyra throws her down. Bay takes her down and pounds on her. They go out. Bay bridging suplexes her on the floor. Bay busts open Lyra's nose with a forearm. The ref checks on Lyra and they fight on the floor.

Lyra hits gut shots on Bay and Lyra's head is banged off the apron. Bay is pulled into the ropes. Lyra bangs Bay's head off the mat. Lyra hits corner spears. Lyra is thrown into the corner and sends herself over the top. 

Bay low topes Lyra. Lyra hiptosses Bay. Lyra knee drops her. Lyra boots Bay out of the corner. Lyra stands on Bay's head on the bottom rope. Bay hits forearms on Lyra then Bay back body drops her. Bay goes up and over and rolls up Lyra for 2. Bay crabs her. 

Bay stunners Lyra over the 2nd rope. Bay takes a neckbreaker over the top rope. Lyra kicks Bay over the 2nd rope. Lyra top rope legdrops her on the back of the neck over the 2nd rope. Bay and Lyra hit each other. Bay blocks a spin kick and backdrops Lyra. Bay sunset bombs her into the buckles. Bay crossfaces her.

Bay is sent into the top rope throat first. Lyra throws Bay over her back and bulldog chokes her. Bay is out and Lyra wins.

Thoughts: It was rough early on, likely due to Lyra busting her nose open. It wasn't that good and it should have been better than it was.

Lyra kicks Bay out of the ring after. Bay is pushed into the post and Lyra bulldog chokes her on the floor. 
Lyra AA's Bay on the bottom part of the steps.   

CM Punk and Cody Rhodes are interviewed. Cody says him and Punk will co-exist and he wants Punk to have no excuses when he beats him for his 4th title. Punk says it's not personal, just business. Punk says they have to make sure it's a 1v1 match so none of them have excuses. Cody asks who goes out first and Punk says he will go out with him. Cody then comes out. 

Cody Rhodes and CM Punk vs Sami Zayn and Gunther

Sami and Gunther get added to the Summerslam title match between Cody and Punk if they win here. 

Punk hits Sami before he fully enters and the fight starts. All 4 men fight. Sami takes a top rope double axe handle from Cody. Cody knees Sami in the gut. Punk top rope double axe handle's Sami's arm. Punk is double teamed in the corner and sent out with a chop. Gun backdrops Punk on the timekeeper's rail.

Sami hits mounted shots on Punk then punches him in the corner. Punk top rope crossbodies Sami. Cody and Gun tag in. Cody hits punches and powerslams him. Cody hits a disaster kick. Cody punches Sami and bionic elbow's him. Cody cody cutter's Gun. Cody topes Sami outside. 

Cody walks up the ropes and cody cutter's Gun for 2. Sami rolls up Cody for 2 then blue thunders him for 2. Sami misses a helluva kick. Punk top rope diving lariats Sami then swinging neckbreakers him. Punk step up knees Sami then bulldogs him. Punk top rope elbow drops Sami for 2. 

Punk does an anaconda vice on Sami while Cody figure four's Gun. Gun eye rakes Punk to break it up. Sami punches Cody then exploders Punk in the corner. Sami helluva kick's Punk. Cody hits a cross rhodes on Sami. Gun rainmakers Cody. Punk hits a GTS on Gun and all 4 men are down.

Punk is pushed into Cody and Gun grounded sleepers Punk. Cody hits a cross rhodes on Gunther for 2. Sami hits mounted shots on Punk and Cody. Punk hits a GTS on Sami. Gun takes punches from both opponents. Cody springboards on Punk when Gun pushes Punk into Cody. Gun facekicks Cody.

Gun hits Cody with the title. Gun powerbombs Cody and another ref has to run down. Nick Aldis pulls the ref out on the count. Nick then hits Gun with the title belt. Punk hits a GTS on Gun and drags Cody onto Gun. Nick brings the original ref in and Cody pins Gun.

Thoughts: It was an okay match with a surprise ending. Work wise, they didn't go all out or do anything crazy. They kept a good pace though and kept it interesting. Nick officially attacking Gun for sure means they will fight at Summerslam. They didn't play up any kind of friction between these teams internally much.

Cody gives Punk the belt after and they hug. Punk puts the title on his shoulder and slaps Cody with it in the process on accident. 

Stephanie McMahon and Joe Tessitore talk. They then run down the Summerslam card so far.

Oba Femi is in the crowd. 

Jalen Brunson and Roman Reigns come out together. Roman says this is where greatness acknowledges greatness and says NYC is the home of WWE. Roman says there's only one tribal chief and one captain. Roman says every champ in WWE needs a title, so he made some moves. He gives Jalen a title belt. Roman says he deserved it and earned it. Roman says, "acknowledge us". 

Seth Rollins' music hits. Tyrese Hailburton, an Indiana Pacers player, comes out with a chair. Seth then attacks Roman from behind. Seth is given the chair and he superkicks Roman. Seth says this is his world and he doesn't acknowledge a thing. He says this is the end for Roman. Seth goes to stomp Roman's head into a chair and Jalen gets in the way. Roman superman punches Seth then spears him. Seth then leaves with Tyrese. 

Jalen then has the NBA Larry O'Brien trophy brought in. Roman holds up the NBA trophy and Jalen holds up the WWE Title. Fireworks then shoots off.

Thoughts: This was really more of a localized thing for the New York market. I get it but if you aren't from NYC, you are going to wonder why you care. And Seth came off poorly as he was the heel this time around, he sneak attacked Roman and lost the fight.

Overall thoughts: Trick/Laredo Kid wasn't that good. The Women's Tag Title match wasn't bad outside of the finish. JD/Danhausen was all entertainment. It could have been better. Bayley/Lyra wasn't that good. The main was fine, just nothing super memorable. I doubt anyone outside of New York really cared about the final segment. I'd give this a 4 out of 10 overall. The wrestling didn't really deliver, the card was weak and they really tried to give away as little as possible here. If you told me this a WWE Main Event on Ion show from the early 2010's, I'd believe you. This was below average.