This weekend was not about highlight chasing or empty spectacle. It was about pressure. Across SmackDown, AAA, and the wider fallout from Raw, the themes stayed consistent. Control being tested. Authority being challenged. Futures being quietly decided while the calendar runs out.

For these show reviews, you are getting a true blend of MrTeshk and Darrion’s perspectives. Where one leans into structure and long-game intent, the other pushes on consequence, tone, and whether the moment actually lands. The result is not consensus for the sake of it. It is contrast that sharpens the read.

SmackDown tightened screws instead of offering release, leaning into discomfort around Cody Rhodes and authority rather than clean answers. AAA closed its year with confidence and chaos, reminding everyone that lucha libre hits hardest when it commits fully to its own logic. Raw’s shadow hangs over all of it, especially with Gunther standing tall in Cena’s wake and the chessboard for 2026 starting to look very real.

Nothing this weekend felt accidental. Some things landed cleaner than others, but every show moved pieces with intent. This is the stretch where eras shift quietly, before the noise catches up.

Settle in. This is a week about direction, not comfort.

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December 19, 2025
From the GIANT Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania (Taped)

SmackDown this week was not about moments. It was about pressure.

Pressure on authority. Pressure on identity. Pressure on how far a top champion can push before the system pushes back. With the calendar winding down and January looming, this episode felt like WWE deliberately tightening screws rather than delivering release.

The taped format dulled crowd energy and surprise, but the intent behind the show was clear. This was an episode about control, and by the end of the night, it was obvious that control is slipping.

Cody Rhodes Tests the Limits of Power
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The backbone of this SmackDown was Cody Rhodes, presented in a way that felt increasingly uncomfortable by design.

Footage of Cody invading Drew McIntyre’s home framed the night, forcing Nick Aldis into damage control mode. Aldis condemned the behavior publicly, but the explanation was legally clean and morally messy. It did not happen at a WWE event, so it falls outside company jurisdiction.

The solution was severe. Once Drew issues a public apology, Cody is forbidden from touching him. One punch. One shove. One mistake. The WWE Championship is stripped.

When Cody came to the ring, he did not back down. He laughed off Drew’s claims of an unsafe work environment, mocked the idea that this business has ever been safe, and leaned fully into his own mythology. The tweet that changed the game. The man carrying the company. The champion who believes he is the law.

Aldis pushed back. Cody pushed harder. The implication that Aldis works for him crossed a line that felt intentional. Commentary did not soften it. Wade Barrett called it exactly what it looked like.

Cody Rhodes is becoming something else.

Whether this is a calculated slow burn or a dangerous tonal gamble remains to be seen. What is undeniable is that the tension felt real, and the crowd knew they were watching a champion flirting with consequences.

Women’s Tag Division Grows Teeth
⭐️⭐️⭐️

Lash Legend and Nia Jax defeating the Kabuki Warriors was not about match quality. It was about positioning.

Asuka and Kairi Sane worked from underneath while Jax and Legend leaned into power and inevitability. Jax pinning Kairi with the Annihilator sent a clear message, and the post match arrival of Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss reinforced just how crowded this division has become.

This is quietly one of SmackDown’s strongest arcs right now. Multiple credible teams. Real star power. Clear collision paths. WWE has depth here, and it finally feels intentional.

Damian Priest and Aleister Black Spiral Further
⭐️⭐️⭐️

Priest opened the show paying respect to John Cena before Zelina Vega interrupted and Aleister Black attacked from behind. What followed was violent, physical, and relentless. Table spots. Backstage ambushes. A Black Mass into a garage door.

The execution was strong. The issue is fatigue.

This feud has already hit its emotional peak, and without a clear escalation or stipulation, it risks bleeding into repetition. The violence works, but it needs a finish that matters.

Giulia Continues Her March
⭐️⭐️⭐️

Giulia made quick work of Alba Fyre in a match designed to communicate one thing. Chelsea Green is next.

There was no wasted motion here. Hard strikes. Control. Decisive finish. The crowd never fully locked in, but the presentation did its job. Giulia is not being framed as flashy. She is being framed as inevitable.

Dragunov and Hayes Belong Here
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ilja Dragunov and Carmelo Hayes defeating DIY was the cleanest pure wrestling match of the night.

The urgency was there. The execution was tight. The chemistry between Hayes and Dragunov continues to translate seamlessly to the main roster. DIY brought experience. Hayes and Dragunov brought momentum.

The looming presence of Tama Tonga watching from the shadows added another layer to the United States Title picture. The question is no longer whether Hayes can hang. It is whether WWE is ready to fully commit.

Main Event Chaos Without Resolution
⭐️⭐️⭐️½

The Wyatt Sicks versus the MFTs never truly found second gear as a match, but the chaos that followed justified the finish.

Bodies flew. Alliances collided. The visual spectacle carried the segment. Talla Tonga’s dive, Erick Rowan weaponizing Nikki Cross, and the sheer mass involved made the brawl feel monstrous.

This feud has heat. It just needs an endgame before it overstays its welcome.

Three Stars of the Night ⭐️⭐️⭐️

🌟 Cody Rhodes
🌟 Carmelo Hayes
🌟 Ilja Dragunov

Top 5 Most Impressive

⭐️ Cody Rhodes
⭐️ Carmelo Hayes
⭐️ Ilja Dragunov
⭐️ Lash Legend and Nia Jax
⭐️ Giulia

The 3 Misses

❌ Cody’s authority angle must pay off cleanly or risk backlash
❌ Priest versus Black feels creatively stalled
❌ Wyatt Sicks feud needs a defined finish

Final Thoughts
⭐️⭐️⭐️

This SmackDown was not comfortable, and it was not designed to be.

It was about pressure without release. Control without certainty. Cody Rhodes daring the system to stop him. A roster quietly stacking tension across multiple divisions. Violence replacing answers in the closing moments.

Not every episode needs fireworks. Some episodes exist to make you uneasy.

This one succeeded at exactly that.

Score: 6.5 / 10

SmackDown did not give you comfort this week.
It gave you consequences.

“Lucha Libre Is Not the Sideshow Anymore”
From Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
Saturday, December 20, 2025

AAA in Guadalajara always feels like stepping into organized chaos, and Guerra de Titanes 2025 was the perfect year end example of why that is both a compliment and a warning label.

From the opening package, the message was loud and intentional. Everything changes. Lucha libre is the main event now.

And the show wrestled like it believed it.

This card delivered the full AAA spectrum. A couple matches that absolutely ruled. A couple decisions that made you blink. Celebrity energy. Factions forming mid show. Comedy and violence sharing the same oxygen. When AAA hits, it hits in a way no other promotion can replicate.

The English commentary team added a big fight presentation layer, and the crowd stayed locked in because the show never dipped into filler territory. This felt like a statement.

4 Way Tag Team Madness
La Parka & Octagón Jr. def. Mr. Iguana & Niño Hamburguesa, Cruz Del Toro & Joaquin Wilde, Bravo Americano & Rayo Americano
⭐️⭐️⭐️¼

This match was a blender. Everyone got thrown in, somebody hit puree, and the audience just held on.

Cruz and Wilde brought smoother pacing, Parka and Octagón Jr. brought classic AAA flair, and Iguana plus Hamburguesa were pure chaos merchants. Helicopter headscissors, rope walking moonsaults, and comedy beats that somehow still built real heat.

The finishing stretch was dive after dive and save after save, but it landed clean when Parka and Octagón stacked big moves to steal the win.

La Parka dancing with a kid afterward was pure AAA. A wholesome moment that still felt part of the show’s heartbeat.

AAA Latin American Championship
El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. (c) def. Ethan Page
⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a match with a strong idea and a slightly messy execution, but it still accomplished the goal.

Ethan Page is a perfect AAA villain. Mask twisting, referee manipulation, foreign object energy. The fake title change moment popped hard, the restart restored order, and Wagner finishing decisively kept the belt feeling important.

It did feel like the match sprinted through chapters. A little more time would have helped it breathe. Still, Page looked dangerous, Wagner looked legit, and the crowd got the satisfaction of cheating being punished.

Carnival of Carnage
Psycho Circus & Pagano def. The Wyatt Sicks
⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was not a workrate match. This was spectacle.

Backstage carnival brawling, tables, weapons, comedy whiplash, horror beats, and random run ins. The kind of segment where reality takes a break and AAA logic takes the wheel.

Some of it landed hard. Some of it felt held together by duct tape and adrenaline. The Wyatt Sicks looked dominant during their advantage stretch, then everything flipped once Pagano returned and the match detonated into peak AAA chaos.

Psycho Clown ripping off his own face is a sentence that only makes sense here, and the table finish landed like the end of a car crash you could not look away from.

Your mileage will vary. That is AAA.

AAA World Cruiserweight Championship
Laredo Kid (c) def. Je’Von Evans & Jack Cartwheel
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️¼

This was the match of the night. Full stop.

Cartwheel and Evans wrestle like gravity is optional, and Laredo Kid anchored the chaos like a champion who knows exactly when to let things get wild and when to pull them back into focus.

Every sequence felt clip worthy. The near falls escalated perfectly. The creativity never turned sloppy. The finish was the kind of lucha invention that makes you rewind immediately.

This was cruiserweight wrestling as a future facing product, not nostalgia.

If someone asks what to watch from this show, it is this.

Women’s Trios Match
Faby Apache, Natalya & Lola Vice def. Flammer, La Hiedra & Maravilla
⭐️⭐️⭐️

A strong, efficient trios match that never felt like filler.

Natalya brought structure, Faby brought edge, and Lola Vice continues to stand out because her intensity pops on an AAA card. Las Toxicas controlled early, the hot tag lifted the crowd, and the closing stretch stayed busy without becoming noise.

Not a classic, but purposeful, and it kept the women’s division feeling like part of the show’s spine.

Vikingo vs. Dragon Lee
El Hijo del Vikingo def. Dragon Lee, with help from Omos
⭐️⭐️⭐️½

They were cooking.

This match had real heat, hard strikes, sharp counters, and stretches where it felt like it could steal the entire event. Dragon Lee wrestled like pride was on the line. Vikingo wrestled like the future was already his.

Then came the finish. Ref bump. Chaos. Outside involvement. AAA logic.

Omos showing up changed the tone instantly, and the elevated powerbomb spot hit like a wrecking ball. The faction reveal afterward felt intentional, but it needs clarity quickly or it risks feeling random.

Bell to bell, this ruled more often than it frustrated. It just deserved a cleaner ending.

Main Event
Rey Mysterio & Rey Fénix def. Dominik Mysterio & El Grande Americano
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was pure catharsis.

Dirty Dom finally got real nuclear heat by standing across from his legendary father in this environment. The match was built around chasing the one moment the crowd needed. The 619 hunt, near misses, mask ripping, and obnoxious heel energy all worked together.

Then it clicked.

Penta’s involvement added gasoline, Fénix brought the fireworks, and when Rey finally hit the 619 the building exploded. That is lucha hero math, and AAA nailed it.

Greatest hits energy, but still earned, and it sent the crowd home happy exactly as a main event should.

Top 5 Most Impressive

⭐️ Laredo Kid, Je’Von Evans, Jack Cartwheel
⭐️ Hijo del Vikingo
⭐️ Rey Mysterio
⭐️ Psycho Circus & Pagano
⭐️ La Parka & Octagón Jr.

The 3 Misses

❌ Ethan Page finish got too busy before the restart
❌ Omos involvement needs fast clarification
❌ A few matches could have used more time to breathe

Three Stars of the Show

🌟 Laredo Kid
🌟 Hijo del Vikingo
🌟 Rey Mysterio

Final Thoughts

AAA closed 2025 with a show that felt like a mission statement.

It was confident, loud, and unapologetically AAA. The card balanced chaos with clarity more often than not, showcased the next generation, and closed with a legacy soaked main event that delivered maximum crowd satisfaction.

If the message was that lucha libre is the main event, this show did not just say it.

It proved it.

Score: 8 / 10

Raw tonight feels like one of those episodes where WWE is quietly asking you to forget the last 18 months and buy in again, because Austin Theory is suddenly standing in the hottest story on the show after living in lower-card limbo for what felt like forever. The WarGames mystery man reveal was not some shiny new debut, it was Theory under the mask the whole time, using Seth Rollins’ move, moving like a man with a plan, and leaving Paul Heyman, Bron Breakker, and Bronson Reed looking like they got played in their own movie.

That is the hook, and it is a good one. Theory being “The Vision’s” secret weapon raises the only question that matters: is he actually their new recruit, or is he a sleeper agent tied to the injured Rollins? If Raw leans into paranoia, mistrust, and consequences, Theory can finally become what WWE has always wanted him to be, which is a real main-event problem, not a guy who just wears potential like a costume.

CM Punk also has every reason to be furious, because Theory being the reveal means Punk got screwed by someone he probably did not even consider a threat, which is exactly how you make a grudge feel personal. Punk does not need to yell about it for ten minutes either. One icy promo, one stare, one promise, and suddenly Theory is not “getting a push,” he is standing in front of the world heavyweight champion with a target on his chest.

Then you zoom out, and you can see what WWE is trying to do heading into 2026: stack January like it is a premium live event every week and force the audience to pick a side between the present and the future. January 5 is the loudest example, with CM Punk defending the World Heavyweight Title against Bron Breakker, a match that basically asks, “Is WWE doing a youth movement for real, or just teasing it?” If Breakker wins, it screams new era. If Punk wins, it tells you WWE still wants star power and stability heading into WrestleMania season.

Raw has the pieces to carry the balance into 2026, but it has to commit to three things.

First, the top story needs clarity and payoff. Theory cannot be a mystery box forever. If he is with The Vision, make the initiation brutal and public. If he is against them, make the betrayal sting and cost someone something real.

Second, the women’s side needs consistent momentum, not just chaos. Rhea Ripley versus Asuka is a big-time match on paper, and the Kabuki Warriors angle can absolutely hit, but it only matters if the division is allowed to breathe with clean stakes, clear enemies, and finishes that move the story forward.

Third, January needs to feel connected, not just stacked. PLE-caliber cards are great, but weekly TV still lives and dies by the through-lines. Punk versus Breakker, Becky chasing the Women’s Intercontinental Title, and the tag division all need one shared ingredient: consequence that carries week to week.

Raw can absolutely enter 2026 hot, but it cannot be hot just because the match list looks pretty. It has to be hot because every win changes someone’s life, every loss changes someone’s behavior, and every “big moment” actually means something two weeks later.

The Drop? If WWE wants 2026 to feel like a new era, then Austin Theory cannot just be a twist. He has to be a turning point. Tonight is where Raw either proves it is building a real long game, or it proves it is only rearranging the pieces and hoping we forget who was stuck on the bottom of the board.

This week was not about comfort. It was about direction. WWE and AAA both leaned into momentum, pressure, and succession. Legends passed weight. New players stepped into it. Chaos was not accidental. It was purposeful. Here are the moments that defined the week across RAW, NXT, SmackDown, and AAA.

👑 Men’s Wrestler of the Week: Gunther
Gunther walked into the first RAW after John Cena’s final match and owned the fallout. He did not explain. He did not apologize. He simply reminded everyone that he made Cena tap out. The heat was real, sustained, and earned. This was not about stealing a moment. This was about inheriting the consequences of ending a legend. Gunther feels like the final boss of the next era, and the crowd reaction confirmed it.

🏆 Match of the Week: Laredo Kid vs Je’Von Evans vs Jack Cartwheel, AAA Cruiserweight Title
This was the future in motion. Fast, fearless, creative, and controlled. Laredo Kid anchored the chaos like a true champion while Evans and Cartwheel wrestled like gravity was optional. Every sequence felt clip ready, and the finish demanded a rewind. If anyone asks what modern lucha looks like at its best, this is the answer.

🎤 Promo of the Week: CM Punk Sends a Message to Bron Breakker
No interruptions. No theatrics. Just intent. Punk reframed January 5 as a legitimacy fight, not just a title defense. Calm, sharp, and personal, this was a veteran reminding everyone why words still matter. Top level promo work that elevated the feud instantly.

🧨 Angle of the Week: The Vision Reveals Austin Theory
The masked attacker mystery paid off the right way. Austin Theory stepping out with a new look and a new edge felt intentional, not rushed. Logan Paul standing tall, Theory revealed, and Punk speared to close the show made one thing clear. The Vision is still expanding, and they are not done reshaping RAW.

🚀 Rising Star of the Week: Leon Slater
Leon Slater winning the NXT number one contender match was a genuine surprise, and the right one. Speed, confidence, and fearlessness carried him through chaos, and the staredown with Oba Femi felt earned. Power versus speed. Certainty versus opportunity. New Year’s Evil just got more interesting.

🎭 Character Moment of the Week: Cody Rhodes Pushes Authority on SmackDown
Cody laughing off restrictions, mocking safety, and subtly implying Nick Aldis works for him was deeply uncomfortable in the best way. This did not feel heroic. It felt intentional. A champion flirting with consequences, and a company daring the audience to question him.

🔥 AAA Moment of the Week: Rey Mysterio and Rey Fénix Close Guerra de Titanes
Pure catharsis. Dirty Dom soaking nuclear heat, the slow build to the 619, and the explosion when it finally landed. This was lucha hero math executed perfectly. Legacy, chaos, and joy all colliding in one closing moment that sent the crowd home fulfilled.

☀️ Straight Shoot Summary
Best In Ring: AAA Cruiserweight Championship triple threat
Most Important Heat: Gunther owning Cena’s shadow
Most Dangerous Faction: The Vision
Brand with the Clearest Future: NXT
Best Crowd Payoff: Rey Mysterio and Rey Fénix in Guadalajara

Final Word:
This week was about succession. WWE positioned its villains, tested its heroes, and let the next generation touch the flame. AAA reminded everyone that when lucha libre commits, it hits differently. Not every show peaked. But every board piece moved. And that is how eras change.

Be Good People🤘
mr.teshk

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