WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event results, grades, analysis: Seth Rollins’ injury overshadows Gunther beating Goldberg


The 40th edition of WWE’s “Saturday Night’s Main Event” took place Saturday night at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. The card was headlined by a World Heavyweight Championship match between Gunther and Goldberg, billed as latter’s final contest ever. Overshadowing all of the in-ring action, though, was what appeared to be a serious-looking knee injury to Seth Rollins, one of the most important and talented performers on WWE’s roster.

Near the end of Rollins’ match against LA Knight — the penultimate bout of the evening — Rollins went for a springboard moonsault, which Knight evaded. Rollins landed on his feet, tweaking his knee and immediately falling to the ground clutching his leg. Rollins retreated to the corner and was checked on by the referee, Paul Heyman and the ringside doctor. Rollins deemed himself OK to finish the match, which happened suddenly as Knight hit his Blunt Force Trauma finisher and picked up the win. Rollins, who has a history of knee injuries, was seen being helped backstage while the broadcast was in commercial break.

Advertisement

The main event match, Gunther versus Goldberg, was one of the best of the latter stages of the legend’s career. While not a technical masterpiece, there was compelling storytelling and it was a fitting end for one of the most influential figures from the revered “Monday Night Wars” era of professional wrestling, with Goldberg ultimately losing to the WWE World Heavyweight Champion.

Elsewhere, Solo Sikoa utilized his numbers advantage to defeat Jimmy Uso to retain his United States Championship. Despite being in WWE for 15 years, it was the first one-on-one championship match of Uso’s career and he delivered nicely, even in a losing effort. After Sikoa’s MFT faction beat down Uso, Jacob Fatu stood tall by taking them all out and likely setting up a SummerSlam championship rematch.

Advertisement

Saturday Night’s Main Event also set the stage for the next two major WWE shows, with Bianca Belair returning as the announced special guest referee for the Jade Cargill vs. Naomi no holds barred match at WWE Evolution on Sunday night, and the opening bout between Drew McIntyre and Randy Orton being a launching point for a celebrity-driven tag match at SummerSlam between the two longtime stars and their respective partners, Logan Paul and Jelly Roll.

Here are the full results from Saturday Night’s Main Event:

Gunther def. Goldberg in 14:19 to retain the World Heavyweight Championship.

  • Best spot: Charles Robinson getting speared viciously

  • Analysis: Yeah, I am giving this match an A, bring on the heat. This match was exactly what it needed to be. We got the iconic Goldberg entrance, Gunther made him look strong in the early stages, there was excellent in-match storytelling — and in the end, the right person won. This wasn’t going to be a five-star match or, as mentioned above, a technical masterpiece, but it hit every note fans could have possibly wanted in a farewell to a 58-year-old legend that washes away some of the more forgettable moments of the past seven years for Goldberg. The Hall of Famer’s place in wrestling history is always going to be polarizing, but him getting to go out in this fashion — in a city that has meant so much to him and his legacy in the business — was an overwhelming positive.

LA Knight def. Seth Rollins in 11:37.

  • Best spot: Rollins’ Buckle Bomb

  • Analysis: If Rollins is legitimately hurt — and it seems that way considering how quickly the finish took place and the footage of him being helped backstage after the match — it is devastating for WWE and “Monday Night Raw.” Rollins has been the centerpiece of the brand for the entirety of 2025, particularly after his landscape-changing win at WrestleMania 41. Until we learn more regarding the severity/timetable, it’s going to be hard to forecast what all of this means. In the immediate aftermath, that Money in the Bank briefcase tentatively needs a new holder and the most dominant faction on “Raw” is suddenly without its biggest star. Perhaps you simply hand the briefcase to Knight? Does Rollins turn it over to Bron Breakker? Do they battle at SummerSlam for it? All of these are options the Uncrowned team panic-booked internally on Saturday night. WWE will pivot, but it’s unfortunate that this happened in the middle of another incredible year for Rollins.

Advertisement

Solo Sikoa def. Jimmy Uso in 10:50 to retain the United States Championship.

  • Best spot: Uso’s corkscrew splash

  • Analysis: I preferred this match to the Jimmy Uso vs. Jey Uso contest we saw at WrestleMania 40 last year. Jimmy has shown relatively consistently that he’s ready for a solo championship run of his own — this was his first one-on-one title match of his career — so there’s certainly opportunity for him after being protected with Sikoa cheating to win. Even with using underhanded tactics, it does feel like Sikoa is building up significant momentum once again after losing Tribal Combat to Roman Reigns to open the year. Much like Uso is pushing for a singles title run, it wouldn’t surprise me if we see Sikoa with one of WWE’s top titles before the end of next year. For now, though, Jacob Fatu has a rematch seemingly lined up at SummerSlam next month.

Randy Orton def. Drew McIntyre in 8:25.

  • Best spot: Jelly Roll taking the Claymore Kick after the match

  • Analysis: A solid television match — make no mistake, these events/matches should be graded on a different scale than how we look at traditional WWE PLEs. We all knew Logan Paul and Jelly Roll would make their presence felt, and that was the big takeaway here. The post-match fracas and backstage segments made it clear we’re heading for a tag-team match at SummerSlam — and that was confirmed later in the night. McIntyre, Orton and Paul are good enough in the ring, and Jelly Roll has shown enough fandom and passion for the wrestling business, that this should work out relatively nicely at the inaugural two-night SummerSlam at MetLife Stadium next month.

For complete coverage of the event, check out Uncrowned’s live blog:



Source link


Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *