Get ready for one of the wildest weeks in wrestling, as Dave Simon and Genesis Johnny North break down the biggest stories from WWE Backlash and SmackDown, preview a stacked Saturday Night’s Main Event, and set the table for Money in the Bank and AEW’s Double or Nothing. If you missed the show live or just want all the best quotes and opinions from your favorite pro wrestling crew, we’ve got it right here.
John Cena Turns Heel, Jeff Cobb’s WWE Debut & The Aftermath of Backlash
The fallout from WWE Backlash was a huge talking point on this episode. Dave Simon summed it up with, “John Cena’s heel tactics against Randy Orton and his attack on R-Truth… plus, the surprise debut of former NJPW star Jeff Cobb as JC Mateo, teaming with Solo Sikoa to help Jacob Fatu retain the US Championship.”
When discussing Jeff Cobb’s new WWE persona, Johnny North said, “If you don’t know, JC is Jeff Cobb. He has a new name. I guess now just JC… just took the t-shirt off. Looks jacked, like, yeah, you don’t need to wear a shirt. You’re big, look good.”
Dave Simon was unimpressed with how the debut was handled: “This is not a great debut for JC. Also, the name is awful. Why can’t he be Jeff Cobb? Why do they like they’re only referring to him as JC?”
Johnny added, “That’s the old, we got to make our own characters, so they have to give them their own names. And I guess that’s what they want to do instead of Jeff Cobb, I guess that was too plain for him. So I guess JC sounded better to them.”
After seeing the on-screen graphic, Dave continued: “It’s JC Mateo Mateo Oh… They just showed that a graphic on the screen. They have not said that I don’t know if it’s Mateo or Mateo or how they’re pronouncing it because the whole time they’ve been referring to him as only JC. But then we just saw a graphic on the screen. I guess they decided let’s give him a last name and it is JC Mateo that is Jeff Cobb’s new name. He has a new name.”
Johnny North reacted, “I imagine it might just be JC in the end of all this but wait and see we’ve seen them short names, right and Fellows like they’ve already sure in the name before and they’ve really even announced it.”
On Cobb’s in-ring debut, Johnny added, “For his first WWE match. I think it’s fine. It’s just he hasn’t really stood out in this match. It’s just very much a basic kind of match. I feel he’s working the WWE style very well though, and I think getting used to wrestling WWE style he’s already there. I don’t think there’s gonna be a problem whatsoever not like with Penta and Phoenix is about to deal with. I think he had these matches. The thing is like you said first match he hasn’t shown us anything that truly like wow, you got to check this out.”
Dave, again, criticized the presentation: “Yeah, and the presentation like they didn’t do him any favors.”
SmackDown Surprises, Money in the Bank Qualifiers & The Build to Saturday Night’s Main Event
Friday night brought some unexpected twists, with Alexa Bliss qualifying for the Women’s Money in the Bank. Dave summarized, “Alexa Bliss has qualified for Money in the Bank… she won a triple threat match against Michin and Chelsea Green. So Bliss will be in Money in the Bank.”
Discussing Bliss’s angle with Charlotte Flair, Johnny said, “Alexa pretty much put herself over as a baby face and you actually felt for a little bit like she felt sympathy and like Charlotte was kind of like a role model to her early on and Charlotte being the jerk that she is being the heel that she is kind of blew her off.”
On Giulia’s SmackDown move, Dave said, “That was an interesting twist Giulia now on Smackdown Bliss on Money in the Bank and Charlotte she doesn’t want any new friends.”
Johnny commented on new talent: “They haven’t really gave me reasons to care about her whatsoever. So hopefully on Smackdown they can kind of fix that give her something.”
Money in the Bank qualifiers are heating up, with Johnny saying, “If Punk’s in it, I love Punk in that, but again, you got to give me names first before I start making selections here.”
Dave added, “Nakamura, Aleister Black, LA Knight—triple threat qualifying match next week on SmackDown.”
On the women’s side, Dave: “Charlotte flair Giulia and Zelina Vega triple threat next week qualifying match money in the bank. Ooh Ooh Giulia and Charlotte and Zelina.”
Johnny: “I Think Charlotte with the figure eight on Zelina Who advance and that’s what’s gonna happen… and then she wins money in the bank Charlotte wins again.”
Dave: “Charlotte wins money in the bank… Has she ever won money in the bank I Don’t think so.”
Johnny: “Makes sense.”
Explosive Promos & Rivalries Heating Up: Saturday Night’s Main Event Preview
Dave hyped up the upcoming SNME card: “Damien priest and drew McIntyre cut promos on each other Setting up a steel cage match, which could be fun. That’ll be a Saturday night’s main event.”
Johnny called the card big: “To me, it’s bigger than backlash… this is like insert something’s gonna happen here. It’s gonna mean something going forward.”
Discussing John Cena vs R-Truth, Johnny: “I would love for our truth to actually beat Cena and then maybe get a title shot and then lose but I think he should win. I think that’d be awesome to see.”
Dave replied: “It is non-title, right? So you want this to continue Cena has what like 20 dates left? Like how many dates is it left? It’s got to be like 24 23 at this point.”
On the stacked card, Dave: “It’s a pretty big show though I mean you got Damien priests drew McIntyre steel cage John Cena versus our truth one-on-one CM Punk and Sami Zayn teaming up to face Seth Rollins and Braun breaker and Jay uso defending the world title against Logan Paul.”
Johnny: “Say matches like yeah to me. It’s bigger than backlash.”
Johnny’s take on Backlash: “No, it wasn’t sadly like I expected better and they did not deliver sadly.”
AEW Double or Nothing: Controversy, Champions & The Road to Vegas
AEW’s week ahead got time as promised. Dave set it up: “We will talk about a w a little bit later when we talk about double or nothing… and of course MJF some big news for him this week, right so we’ll talk about that stuff finally, yeah.”
Later in the show, the crew discussed Jon Moxley, MJF, Will Ospreay, Adam Page, Mina Shirakawa, and the Owen Hart Cup—Dave: “Jon Moxley retained the AEW World Title against Samoa Joe with questionable help from Gabe Kidd… MJF’s ongoing power play to join The Hurt Syndicate and regain the AEW World Championship, the uneasy partnership between Will Ospreay and Adam Page heading into their Owen Hart Cup final, and Mina Shirakawa’s upset victory ending Toni Storm’s impressive Eliminator streak.”
Johnny: “I think Will Ospreay’s the best wrestler in the world right now, but Adam Page needs this win more than anybody.”
What’s Next for WWE, AEW & The Summer Ahead
Johnny wrapped the mood around new faces in WWE: “They haven’t really gave me reasons to care about some of these new faces… hopefully SmackDown can fix that, give her something.”
Dave looked at the big stories: “Gunther declared he’ll challenge the World Heavyweight Champion after SNME, the uneasy alliance between Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky, and Bron Breakker’s backstage attack on Jey Uso—Raw’s setting up a ton for this summer.”
Key Takeaways
- John Cena’s heel turn and attack on R-Truth was the most talked-about moment from WWE Backlash.
- JC Mateo (Jeff Cobb) made his WWE debut, but hosts agreed the presentation could’ve been better.
- Money in the Bank qualifiers have started, with Alexa Bliss and Solo Sikoa punching their tickets.
- Saturday Night’s Main Event features Cena vs. R-Truth, Priest vs. McIntyre in a cage, and a loaded tag match.
- AEW Double or Nothing is packed with controversy, with Moxley retaining and big matches set for Vegas.
