By Don Murphy, ProWrestling.net Contributor (@DonThePredictor)
WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event
July 12, 2025, in Atlanta, Georgia, at State Farm Arena
Simulcast live on NBC and Peacock
[Hour One] Then…Now…Forever…Together opened the show as Joe Tessitore welcomed viewers. An overhead shot of Atlanta and the arena aired. Seth Rollins, Paul Heyman, Bronson Reed, and Bron Breakker were shown arriving. Separately, LA Knight, Drew McIntyre, Logan Paul, Randy Orton, Jelly Roll, Solo Sikoa, his MFTS, Jimmy Uso, Gunther, and Goldberg were shown arriving and walking around backstage…
The nostalgic Saturday Night’s Main Event opening aired with classic clips…
A video package previewing Gunther vs. Goldberg aired…
Pyro shot off as Tessitore was joined at the Gene Okerlund position by Jesse “The Body” Ventura. They spoke about Goldberg vs. Gunther. Ventura called Tessitore “Mean Joe” and said that Goldberg has to battle his age and win quick. He said the longer the match goes, it favors Gunther. Regarding Randy Orton vs. Drew McIntyre, Ventura said that he teamed up with Randy’s father, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, and McIntyre better be in for a war. Tessitore then threw it to Michael Cole and Wade Barrett at ringside…
1. Randy Orton (w/Jelly Roll) vs. Drew McIntyre (w/Logan Paul). The announcers threw to footage from last night’s Smackdown involving all four. The mat has The Naked Gun logo on it. I was a fan of the original movies, but I think I’ll pass. McIntyre took the early lead until Orton reversed and landed the ten punches in the corner. The action spilled to the floor. McIntyre gave Orton two back suplexes on the announce table….[C]
Orton fought back until McIntyre threw him into the turnbuckles. Orton was selling his past back issues. Orton no-sold McIntyre’s chops and made the hot babyface comeback. On the outside Orton landed three back suplexes of his own on the announce table. Orton was distracted by Paul allowing McIntyre to go to the throat.
Orton retaliated with his classic draping DDT. Orton started setting up for the RKO but Paul jumped on the apron. Orton chased him off the apron but walked right into a Claymore kick. McIntyre went for the pin but Orton got his foot on the bottom rope.
Jelly Roll and Logan Paul shoved each other at ringside. Jelly Roll shoved Paul to the ground. McIntyre jawed at Jelly Roll and walked right into an RKO from Orton for the win.
Randy Orton defeated Drew McIntyre in about 8:26.
After the match, Paul attacked Orton. Jelly Roll took his sweet time but eventually pulled Paul off of Orton. Paul and Jelly Roll went face-to-face. Jelly Roll blocked a punch from Paul and landed one of his own. As Jelly Roll tended to Orton, McIntyre blasted him with a Claymore kick. McIntyre screamed that this is what happens when you step into his ring and that Jelly Roll is now a target. WWE officials, including both general managers (Adam Pearce and Nick Aldis) ushered the heels out….[C]
Don’s Take: A nice and tight match to officially set up what I assume will be a tag team match at SummerSlam. I’m curious to see how the NY/NJ diehards take to Jelly Roll but Orton and McIntyre can more than make up for any limitations. And we know from the past that Paul can give a credible performance.
An ad for WWE 2K25 aired…
The announcers voiced over the replay of the ending of the Orton and McIntyre match….
Backstage, McIntyre and Paul argued with Pearce and Aldis….
Women’s World Champion Iyo Sky and Rhea Ripley were shown seated at ringside separately. Jade Cargill was also shown and was then attacked by Naomi. The two brawled. Officials, security and referees ran out to break it up. Smackdown General Manager, Nick Aldis was also on the scene. Cargill sent Naomi over the announce table. Naomi dove onto the pile from the announce table.
Aldis took the mic and said he had a feeling this would happen and introduced the special guest referee for their match at Evolution…Bianca Belair.
Don’s Take: Interesting add to the match but….didn’t Belair say she doesn’t know how to referee?
Former WCW Head of Security, Doug Dellinger, was shown at ringside. Cole mentioned that Dellinger used to walk Goldberg to the ring…
Don’s Take: Wow! There’s a blast from the last and he looks like he’s hardly aged.
Diamond Dallas Page was also shown at ringside…
Cole spoke about an interview that Goldberg did with CBS where he talked about all of his injuries but felt that he had one more match left in him…
A Goldberg video package aired….
Jimmy Uso made his way to the ring….[C]
2. Solo Sikoa (w/Tonga Loa, JC Mateo, Talla Tonga) vs. Jimmy Uso for the U.S. Championship. The events from last night’s Smackdown were shown. Uso started on the attack. Uso sent Sikoa to the floor and dove onto him. Back in the ring, Uso went for a dive off the top rope, but Sioka caught him in what looked like a Rock Bottom for a near fall. Sikoa knocked Uso to the floor and distracted the referee so that Tall Tonga could clothesline Uso….[C]
The two battled on the apron. Sikoa shoved Uso into the post and Uso responded with a super kick. Uso delivered a German suplex to Sikoa on the ring apron. Uso hit a cross body for a near fall. Uso hit the hip slam in the corner followed by an Uso splash for a near fall. Uso went for the spear but Sikoa hit him with a kick followed by a spinning Solo. Sikoa missed a Samoan Spike attempt and ate a super kick.
Sikoa rolled to the floor allowing Uso to dive from the top rope onto him, Tonga Loa and Mateo on the floor. The fans must have chanted “Holy S—!” because the NBC audio went out. Talla Tonga missed a big boot and ate a super kick and a punt kick. The distraction allowed Sikoa to roll up Uso for the pin while Talla Tonga planted his foot on Sikoa’s background for extra support away from the referee’s sight.
Solo Sikoa defeated Jimmy Uso in 10:49 to retain the U.S. Championship.
After the match, Sikoa and the MFTs continued the attack on Uso. Loa, Mateo, and Talla Tonga held Uso up, and Sikoa delivered the Samoan Spike. Jacob Fatu ran out and cleared the ring of Mateo and Loa. He then squared off with Talla Tonga and ate a big boot. Tonga missed a charge, and Fatu sent him over the top rope. Fatu then dove onto Tonga and Sikoa on the floor.
Don’s Take: Despite the cheap finish and the outcome never being in question, this was a good match. Uso has been defined down and really didn’t need to be protected, but the crowd still gave him a good reception. They have a potential top babyface in Fatu, as the crowd popped big when he came out.
Cole spoke about how Goldberg lost his father-in-law a couple of weeks ago and how his town was impacted by the Texas floods. That somehow was the segue for a video package on Goldberg’s WWE debut….[C]
[Hour Two] A video recapped the events from earlier tonight between Randy Orton, Jelly Roll, Logan Paul, and Drew McIntyre….
Cathy Kelley was backstage with Randy Orton and Jelly Roll. Kelley wanted a word, but Orton apologized to Jelly Roll for putting him in harm’s way. Jelly Roll said he was a grown man and wanted revenge on Paul and McIntyre. Orton told Kelley he did have a word, and that word was “SummerSlam”…
A brief video on the Steiner Brothers was shown. Rick and Scott Steiner were shown at ringside…
3. Seth Rollins (w/Paul Heyman) vs. LA Knight. The two started off evenly and then went to the floor where Knight gained the advantage by bouncing Rollins’ head off the announce table. Knight hit Rollins with a clothesline….[C]
Rollins had Knight trapped in a leg scissors. The two traded blows and Rollins delivered knees to Knight’s gut followed by a frog splash for a near fall. Knight made the hot babyface comeback. Knight delivered a top rope elbow for a near fall, Knight stomped Rollins in the corner. Knight went for the BFT but Rollins escaped to the floor. Rollins shoulder blocked Knight’s mid-section and went to the top rope but was knocked down. Knight went for a super plex but Rollins blocked it and delivered a buckle bomb.
Rollins went for the stomp but Knight blocked it. He tried to pick Rollins up but his mid-section gave out. Rollins delivered a kick to the face followed by a springboard senton. Rollins then went for a moonsault but landed on his knee awkwardly. Rollins consulted with Heyman, the referee and the ringside doctor for a few moments. Rollins managed to pull himself up and walked right into the BFT by Knight for the pinfall.
LA Knight defeated Seth Rollins in about 11:38.
Knight quickly left the ring and headed for the back…
Don’s Take: Oh boy…that appeared to be legit as the match stopped for a couple minutes until Rollins managed to get himself up to take the BFT. Here’s hoping for the best as they’d need to rework a major storyline if Rollins is out for an extended period of time, especially as the Money in the Bank holder.
A video package aired to set up the Goldberg-Gunther match….[C]
A Survivor Series War Games ad aired…
Akbar Gbajabiamila from American Ninja Warrior was seen seated at ringside followed by NXT’s Blake Monroe and NXT Women’s Champion Jacy Jayne…
The announcers ran down the Evolution lineup….
Jelly Roll and Randy Orton vs. Drew McIntyre and Logan Paul was made official for SummerSlam….
Rapper 2 Chainz was shown seated at ringside…
World Heavyweight Champion Gunther made his way to the ring followed by the classic Goldberg entrance. In a nice touch, Doug Dellinger walked Goldberg from his dressing room to the entrance way. And randomly, Ernest “The Cat” Miller and actor Chuck Zito were backstage as part of Goldberg’s entourage. Goldberg hugged his son before he headed to the ring….[C]
Lilian Garcia delivered the introductions for the main event….
4. Gunther vs. Goldberg for the World Heavyweight Championship. The crowd chanted “Goldberg.” The two locked up and Goldberg shoved Gunther down and followed up with a shoulder block. Goldberg no-sold Gunther’s chops. Goldberg hit a clothesline and strikes in the corner. Goldberg hit a second clothesline.
Gunther briefly gained the advantage and went to the top rope. Goldberg slammed him off. Goldberg went for the spear but Gunther escaped to the floor. Goldberg followed Gunther to the floor and continued the attack. Goldberg went for the spear on the floor and crashed through the barricade….[C]
Gunther worked over Goldberg’s previously injured knee. The two exchanged chops before Gunther went back to the knee. Goldberg hit a spinebuster on Gunther. Goldberg delivered body shots in the corners followed by a series of elbows. Gunther went for a power bomb but Goldberg countered with a back body drop. Goldberg went for the spear but Gunther moved out of the way and referee Charles Robinson ate the spear.
Gunther worked on Goldberg’s knee and ripped off his knee brace. Gunther attacked Goldberg’s knee with the brace. Gunther taunted Goldberg’s son and shoved him. The camera went blurry so the shot wasn’t clear. Goldberg’s son hopped the barricade and was stopped by security.
Gunther re-entered the ring and was met with a spear by Goldberg followed by the jackhammer. Goldberg favored his knee as referee Shawn Bennett ran out. Goldberg covered Gunther and Gunther kicked out at two. Goldberg tried to stand up but his knee gave out. Gunther locked in the sleeper. Goldberg had a couple of hope spots but eventually passed out.
Gunther defeated Goldberg in 15:20 to retain the World Heavyweight Championship.
Gunther left the ring with the title… [C]
After the break, Goldberg was in the ring with Michael Cole surrounded by family and friends. Goldberg said he had never lost in Atlanta and apologized that his last match was subpar. He thanked his family, friends, and the fans, saying he couldn’t have done it without them. The credits rolled and the show ended abruptly during the promo…
Don’s Take: Whew. The way they hyped this during the night had me convinced that Goldberg was going to win, which would have been a huge misstep. This was fine and probably one of the longer Goldberg matches you’ll see. I enjoyed the storytelling throughout the night and during the match about Goldberg having to battle through injuries. Gunther came off as a smart champion by targeting the knee with the ability to overcome Goldberg’s primary moves. I assume the remainder of Goldberg’s promo will surface on social media and potentially on Monday’s Raw.
This was one of the better Saturday Night’s Main Events since the show relaunched. Interestingly, we only saw Jesse Ventura once during the opening. I’m guessing his last stint on commentary made leadership realize that his better days were behind him in that role. I also did a quick scan of coverage and it looks like Seth Rollins’ injury was legit. Depending on how much time he’s out, this will cause a massive shakeup to one of the main event storylines. The first question to be answered…what becomes of the Money In the Bank briefcase if Rollins is out for an extended period of time.
That’s all for me for now. Dot Net Members (including our Patreon patrons) can check out Jason Powell’s audio review of this show. I hope everyone is enjoying this huge wrestling weekend. I’ll be by sometime tomorrow with my WWE Evolution predictions. Until then!
To me, this event was really hard to watch. The number of ads, quickly departing action to ad breaks, all the typical WWE filler, the quick cut at the end of the hour missing out on Goldberg’s promo after the longest match of his career…
After watching AEW all day it was like stopping at McDonald’s for a McDouble after a seven-course meal at a two Michelin Star restaurant.
Typical AEW sicko. The softest fan base in wrestling
That’s rich coming from the guy who lost his shit over another person used Brian as a name in this comment section. And you’re the same guy who accused me of being biased against NXT after I gave them no misses in a Hit List, threw a fit when I pointed that out, and said he was finished with this website. Hey, welcome back!
Journalist. lol. What a hypocrite. What happened to the results of the polls of the AEW tv shows? You still post the results of the WWE shows. No bias though. Good night Meltzer Jr
You’re the one reading my work, nitwit. As I always point out, it’s the most tribal fans are the first to throw out the bias claims. You should exchange notes with Angry Mike, who accuses me of being biased against AEW. Anyway, I’ve already explained that when there’s not enough votes and it’s obvious that there’s the usual 12 F votes from disingenuous morons, then I don’t run the results in Dot Net Daily. But you can click on those polls whenever you want to admire your F votes if it makes you feel better about yourself. I’m guessing you could use that based on your negativity, as well as your irrational weirdness over someone using the same name as you in a pro wrestling comment section.
The real Brian checking in. This troll Brian can’t handle being called out
Call yourself what you want. You’re still an asshole
I do enjoy laughing and mocking your comments but you truly are the softest person on this website.
That’s not what your mother said bitch
Brian out bitches
They tried to make this feel big time but after aews classic show today, WWE came up short.
Rollins injury may be a blessing because his group hasn’t worked so far
AEW’s classic 9 hour snore fest that only appeals to the mentally and socially incontinent?
Some people like wrestling, others like out of shape drunks slamming each other on beds of nails.
What in the retarded fuck are you talking about? Easily the best show of the day yesterday.
Sorry there wasn’t a drunk plumber and a bitch tits cowboy doing stupid shit like hanging each other with chains or doing spots of a fucking bed of nails that was under the ring for no good reason to keep your moronic ass entertained.
So long douchebag to you and your shitty website. I should have just stayed away but I was trying to give it a second chance. But whatever
Yeah, you really showed great effort by coming back and acting like a tribal asshole again. See ya.
Pass the popcorn. Shizz gettin’ good!
It would suck if Rollins is out for a while, BUT I think it can work with the MITB briefcase. Imagine the surprise when his music hits after an extended absence following a title match. The MITB does not have to be involved from now until the time it is used.
Dude by the time his music hit, he’d conducted the crowd to sing along, sucked up the adulation as a heel shouldn’t do, consulted with the wise man, (still the greatest man in all of wrestling), removed his stupid coat, cashed in the briefcase…..
The champ whoever they may be has already arrived at next weeks destination
Just rock up most days for the comments. Never lets me down, the drama is on point, no countless highlights of what happened in last weeks reviews, and the only ads are for podcasts, which I adore.
Kudos to all of the staff, I honestly prefer the reviews and the comments over Netflix
Awaiting the comment about the 15 AEW diehards who vote every WWE show an “F”
Jason will never admit it. He’s a full fledged shill and his site has turned to complete shit at this point. There’s no attempt at hiding the pathetic bias anymore.
So why are you here? Take your negativity and go away.
July 11 Smackdown: 8
July 7 Raw: 2
July 4 Smackdown: 8
June 30 Raw: 8
June 27 Smackdown: 8
I could go on, but it’s clearly not 15 for every show. I don’t like tribalism on either side. Ask Angry Mike.
Totally agree!
I don’t care for AEWs style (i prefer my wrestling to be less stabby) but some people do, and that’s ok. I don’t like blatant “this is the worst thing ever” on one side and “this is the only real wrestling” on the other side.
What makes me laugh is the fans are tribal but the wrestlers think we’re idiots for it
It looked like Rollins was favoring that leg prior to that bad landing.
I bet the Oracle didn’t see that coming! (Rimshot!)
As another poster said, maybe for the best, as far as breaking up the group. Heyman and Rollins were good, but I am factioned out. Rollins’ crew looks like Solo’s crew. Nobody stands out.
Maybe retire the Heyman character for a bit, as well. The Oracle is kind of dumb, didn’t need rebranding.
Someone wins the MITB briefcase, but the wrinkle is, it is on the line during every match that person wrestles. So the chance of that person cashing it in diminishes, so they better cash it in quick.
Thank god Gunther won. Hope Seth gets better.
Ooh, that’s a much more interesting approach to the MITB briefcase.
It’s being reported in some places that it’s a story line worked injury ( I really don’t know myself) I know J.P. on post wrestling said last Thursday that he was told they were going to do that… I imagine if that’s the case it would be to screw CM Punk at some point but I don’t know. The telling thing here is that if he were legit hurt you’re not going to wait two days to see hoe serious it is , you think they would’ve brought him to the ER right away considering he’s one of their superstars.
I said in my members’ audio review that night that my guard was up based on a few things I saw while watching it play out, though I’ll continue to concede that it could be wishful thinking. I’ll talk more about that today on the Boom podcast that will be available for everyone.