WWE Saturday Night's Main Event results, grades, analysis: Cody Rhodes returns, John Cena smashes R-Truth

Yahoo

25-05-2025

Cody Rhodes made his surprise return at Saturday Night's Main Event, his first appearance since losing the Undisputed WWE Championship to John Cena at WrestleMania 41. (WWE/WWE via Getty Images)
WWE's revival run of the iconic Saturday Night's Main Event show continued this weekend at the Yuengling Center in Tampa, Florida. The 39th installment of the event — and third since WWE brought it back in December 2024 — featured five matches, including John Cena's latest stop in his retirement tour.
The first surprise of the night came early as Bronson Reed made his return from injury to join the Seth Rollins, Bron Breakker and Paul Heyman faction. Reed took out CM Punk in his first action since suffering a broken ankle in the War Games match at Survivor Series last November.
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After being added to the Saturday Night's Main Event card on Friday's episode of "SmackDown," Zelina Vega retained her Women's United States Championship against Chelsea Green, seemingly ending the latter's presence in that title picture.
Cena, who retained his Undisputed WWE Championship earlier this month at WWE Backlash 2025 with the help of R-Truth, faced off against his unintentional benefactor in a non-title match. The match was brief, but entertaining, delivering exactly what was needed from it with the Cena victory.
The latest chapter in the ongoing, increasingly violent rivalry between Drew McIntyre and Damian Priest was also written, this time in a steel cage. Priest left Tampa victorious after an impressive match with McIntyre. It remains to be seen if this is the end of their battle, but there's undeniably chemistry between the two.
Finally, in the main event of the evening, Jey Uso successfully defended his WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Logan Paul. The match featured interference from Cena, which opened the door for the biggest return of the night: Cody Rhodes. Rhodes announced that Cena and Paul will team up against himself and Uso at Money in the Bank in two weeks.
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Here are the results, grades and analysis from Saturday Night's Main Event:
Jey Uso def. Logan Paul in 9:47 to retain the World Heavyweight Championship
Grade: A-
Best spot: Cody Rhodes' return
Analysis: In my pre-show predictions, I suggested we would see Cena's next opponent set up in the aftermath of his match with R-Truth. If we're grading predictions, I think I would get partial credit. Thinking about how I wanted to grade this match, I focused more on the storyline progression than the actual in-ring action, which was solid, but was inevitably overshadowed by the return of Rhodes and the set up for the tag-team contest between him and Uso against Cena and Paul at Money in the Bank. The tease of Cena interfering earlier in the night was very well done and pairing him with Paul works very well as we build toward an inevitable rematch of the WrestleMania 41 main event.
Damian Priest def. Drew McIntyre in 12:23
Grade: A
Best spot: McIntyre superplexing Priest back into the ring
Analysis: Despite us having seen Priest and McIntyre feuding for what feels like forever, the chemistry and talent between these two allows for everything to come across as fresh. The finish here — Priest winning with a vicious Con-Chair-To felt like the end of this program — and perhaps represented a bit of a turn for Priest in the sense that he's a bigger, more violent player moving up on the "WWE SmackDown" card. We still have four undecided Money in the Bank ladder match spots and you could make a very strong case for Priest deserving one of them and potentially becoming a two-time briefcase winner.
John Cena def. R-Truth in 4:23
Grade: B+
Best spot: R-Truth's entrance
Analysis: The build here was ridiculous — in a good way — and the match was exactly what it needed to be. R-Truth remains one of the most remarkably entertaining talents in WWE history and provided some genuine laugh-out-loud moments in the shortest match of the night. Cena's actions later on in the show will be what everyone is talking about rather than this match.
Zelina Vega def. Chelsea Green in 5:09 to retain her Women's United States Championship
Grade: C+
Best spot: Vega's avalanche Code Red
Analysis: Solid — albeit brief — action here, but ultimately the biggest takeaway is that the Women's United States Championship picture needs an injection of an established, marquee-name star to elevate it similar to what Becky Lynch has done with the Women's Intercontinental Championship on 'WWE Raw.' I don't see how Green can justifiably stay involved here, which is unfortunate because she developed a persona and character that is somewhat based on being in this specific championship picture.
Seth Rollins and Bron Breakker def. Sami Zayn and CM Punk in 13:13
Grade: A
Best spot: Breakker's flying clothesline
Analysis: An excellent start to the show, all four men shined and put together the most complete match of the night. Breakker does something that makes you go 'holy &^#%' every time he steps in the ring, Zayn can work wonders with anyone, and the chemistry between Rollins and Punk is through the roof. The returning Bronson Reed is a perfect fit for the Rollins/Breakker/Paul Heyman stable, even if it's going to take a little explaining after the tsunami assault Reed previously delivered to Rollins. This faction feels significantly more dangerous heading into Monday's episode of 'WWE Raw.'
For a recap of all of the action from WWE Saturday Night's Main Event, check out Uncrowned's live blog below: