2024-10-06 06:55:03
WWE Bad Blood began with a brutal and bloodied Hell in a Cell match that saw CM Punk stand tall over longtime rival Drew McIntyre.
Nia Jax also has retained her women’s championship over Bayley thanks to an assist from Tiffany Stratton, Damian Priest defeated Finn Balor and Raquel Rodriguez returned to help Liv Morgan keep her championship against Rhea Ripley.
The premium live event will later see the Roman Reigns’ first match since he lost his championship at WrestleMania. Reigns will team with his longtime adversary Cody Rhodes to face The Bloodline.
Who will win the matches and what will be the fallout for the rest of the year?
I’ll have live coverage of Bad Blood, including highlights, analysis and grades of all the action. Follow below and refresh your browser for the latest.
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Like Cody Rhodes, Roman Reigns received a special entrance as well for his first match since WrestleMania in April. The Georgia Philharmonic played Reigns’ entrance song.
Reigns walked to the ring without a championship around his waist for the first time in over four years after losing to Rhodes at WrestleMania.
Reigns, known as the Original Tribal Chief of the Bloodline, is looking to set Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu straight. Sikoa declared himself the tribal chief after Reigns took time off after WrestleMania and then brought in several members of the Anoaʻi family.
The University of Arkansas Pine Bluff marching band played the entrance song for the Undisputed WWE champion Cody Rhodes.
Typically the special entrances are saved for the big premium live events like WrestleMania. But Rhodes is wrestling in his hometown and he’s about to compete in a monster tag team match where he’ll team with Roman Reigns to face Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu of The Bloodline.
Liv Morgan didn’t have Dominik Mysterio to help her ringside in her championship match against Rhea Ripley. That’s because her boyfriend was trapped inside a Shark Cage outside the ring.
But Morgan did have aid in helping her retain her title. Her former tag team partner, Raquel Rodriguez, returned from injury and cost Ripley the title.
Ripley won by disqualification but all that matters is the championship. And that still is in Morgan’s hands.
The turning point came after Mysterio, Ripley’s former boyfriend, opened the cage. That distracted Ripley momentarily but she still hit Mysterio with a frog splash and then had her in submission. Ripley also hit her Rip Tide outside the ring as Mysterio watched from above.
Mysterio then fell out of the cage and was hanging helplessly. Ripley then got the clearance to go after Mysterio and the Eradicator telling the camera how she has “unfinished business.”
She grabbed a kendo stick from below the ring and swung away at Mysterio and blasted him like a Pinata. Ripley screamed “Happy Birthday to me.” Ripley turns 28 on Oct. 11.
But as Ripley was swinging away, Rodriquez came out of nowhere and drilled her, resulting in a DQ. Morgan is still the champion and now has her friend back in her corner. Morgan and Rodriquez won two tag team championships. Rodriguez had been out of action since February after being diagnosed with Mast Cell Activation Syndrome.
This rivalry between Morgan and Ripley just added another layer with Rodriquez back in the fold.
Grade: A-
In a throwback to the late Eddie Guerrero, Dominik Mysterio rode Liv Morgan to the ring in a vintage Lucha Low Rider.
WWE World Heavyweight champion Gunther made his way to the ring after Triple H’s announcement about Crown Jewel.
It wasn’t long before Gunther called out wrestling legend Goldberg, who had a front-row seat with his son. He poked the bear and the WWE Hall of Famer was soon in the ring.
Gunther’s latest rival, Sami Zayn then went for the attack.
Goldberg left the ring with the fans chanting his signature chant and looked into the camera, telling Gunther that he’s “next.” Goldberg is still over as ever.
Could we see Goldberg in the ring again at some point?
Hall of Famer Arn Anderson and close friend of Cody Rhodes’ late father, Dusty Rhodes, is at Bad Blood.
Crown Jewel takes place on Saturday, Nov. 2, from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Triple H delivered a history-making announcement at Bad Blood. Triple H said a new championship will be unveiled at WWE’s next premium live event, Crown Jewel.
“This year we will make history,” Triple H said inside the ring. “It will be the beginning of a new era in WWE.”
Triple H explained that the reigning champions on RAW and Smackdown will square off in both the men’s and women’s divisions. The winners will be crowned the 2024 Crown Jewel champion.
The massive title, which Triple H said features 50 carats of diamonds, was revealed.
Damian Priest gets another measure of revenge on Finn Balor.
Two months after Balor cost him his WWE championship at SummerSlam, Priest stands tall with a victory over his former partner and friend.
Balor came out alone but it didn’t stay that way.
Judgment Day members Carlito and JD McDonagh came out to try to help Balor and make it a 3 on 1 fight.
It worked for a little while, but it didn’t last. And not before long. Priest executed his signature South of Heaven on Balor for the win.
Priest will likely continue on his path at regaining his championship now that he has defeated his former Judgment Day partner.
Grade: B-
Balor’s entrance is a call back to one of his former characters.
Nia Jax used her strength and the assist from Tiffany Stratton to retain her women’s championship with a win over Bayley in the second match at Bad Blood.
Jax dominated most of the match but things changed when the ref was knocked down. Bayley finally had Jax down but no one was there to make the count.
That’s when Stratton, who holds the women’s Money in the Bank, came running to the ring. Was she going to cash in her contract and make the match a triple threat? It appeared so but the ref was slow to get up and never gave the signal for the cash-in. That’s also when Jax sat up to see what Stratton was up to.
Stratton would help Jax moments later when she distracted Bayley from the top rope. That gave Jax enough time to get the advantage. She hit Bayley with a Samoan Drop from the second rope and then sat on her for the win.
At some point, Stratton is going to cash in on Jax. That moment wasn’t tonight and Jax’s reign continues.
It was Bayley’s first attempt at her title since she lost to Jax at SummerSlam in August. Bayley gave a strong effort but Jax and eventually Stratton were too much.
Grade: B+
Oshkosh North High School graduate Tyrese Haliburton, the All-Star guard for the Indiana Pacers and Olympic gold medalist, has his eyes on Bad Blood.
The WWE fan called the Hell in a Cell match beween CM Punk and Drew McIntyre “a classic.”
Triple H responded to Haliburton’s tweet saying “the tone for the night has been set” and promised “more classics” on the way.
Bad Blood began with a lot of blood shed inside Hell in a Cell.
Was the bad blood between CM Punk and Drew McIntyre finally settled after their banger?
CM Punk overcame McIntyre and the demonic structure known as Hell in a Cell to score his second win over his longtime rival in the trilogy.
Punk hit his signature Go To Sleep move on McIntyre’s head while he had a chain strapped to his leg after he poured a bag of beads on his opponent, which was symbolic in this feud.
It ended a vicious match where both superstars were a bloody mess in a fight that announcer Cory Graves at one point said was “uncomfortable” for the sellout crowd at State Farm Arena.
It didn’t take long for the weapons to emerge in this match with a table brought into the equation and then soon a toolbox.
Punk used the table’s legs as he pressed it into McIntyre’s throat to gain the upperhand early on.
“Inside the mind of CM Punk is a scary, scary place,” said announcer Cory Graves.
But the momentum shifted as McIntyre took control. And Punk was the first to get busted open. McIntyre hit a huge Claymore on Punk outside the ring and then he would dominate.
McIntyre, at one point, was heard telling him “I’m going to injure you and your wife is going to leave you.” Their feud has gotten extremely personal with McIntyre stealing Punk’s valuable bracelet that has his wife’s name and dog on it.
McIntyre would then press down a wrench in Punk’s open wound as announcer Michael Cole screamed how “remorseless” McIntyre is.
Punk was a bloodied mess. Punk would get back in the match and change his fortune when he hit McIntyre in the face with the toolbox. He hit him again with the toolbox, including off the top rope.
One of the other big moments in the match came when McIntyre put CM Punk through a table, but McIntyre also went through and suffered a lot of pain.
Punk would recover and got the GTS on McIntyre. But momentum shifted to the point that McIntyre executed a thunderous White Noise on Punk to the steel steps.
He then gave Punk a low blow and seemed to be in control but he got cocky when he poured out a bag of beads onto the face of Punk. McIntyre was then going for a Claymore to finish Punk off but Punk moved and McIntyre landed awkwardly on the steel steps.
Punk then wrapped a chain around his legs and subsequently shoved those beads into McIntyre’s face.
He then executed his GTS on McIntyre for the win.
“It looks like a crime scene,” Graves said afterward.
This was physical, personal and punishing. It was Hell in a Cell at its finest for WWE’s top feud of 2024. Is this finally the end of Punk and McIntyre? If it was that was a hell of a way to conclude the feud.
Grade: A+
Bad Blood begins with the Hell in a Cell match between Drew McIntyre and CM Punk.
It’s the third straight premium live event the two longtime rivals will meet in WWE’s feud of the year that began at Royal Rumble in January.
Tale of the tape: McIntyre is 0-2 in Hell in a Cell matches. CM Punk is 2-2 in Hell in a Cell matches but this is his first in nearly 11 years.
Bill Goldberg, a WWE Hall of Famer and wrestling legend, was front row with his son, Gage, a freshman football player at Colorado. Next to them was Killer Mike, a Grammy award-winning rapper.
Metro Boomin, a famous record producer and songwriter who has over 4.9 million followers on X, is at Bad Blood.
He posed for a photo with WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque and arrived to Bad Blood with Atlanta’s own Cody Rhodes, the Undisputed WWE champion who will team with his arch emeny Roman Reigns in a monster tag team match in the main event.
The first Bad Blood was held on this date 27 years ago in St. Louis, Missouri. The event was then known as “Badd Blood: In Your House.” It was at that event where the brutal Hell in a Cell match was introduced.
Shawn Michaels beat The Undertaker in that match to become the No. 1 contender for the WWF championship at Survivor Series. Michaels would go on to defeat Bret Hart to win the title.
Bad Blood, with a new name, didn’t return on the WWE calendar until 2003. It was back in 2004 but then was removed from the company’s premium live event schedule. A Hell in a Cell match has been part of every Bad Blood event.
Liv Morgan will put her women’s championship on the line against Rhea Ripley. She sat down with Jackie Morent to preview their match.
Morgan noted how the rivalry with Ripley dates back over two years when she was taken out by her former tag team partner on April 18, 2022. Morgan would become a two-time women’s tag team champion, something she says made Ripley “jealous.”
Ripley then put Morgan out of action when she blindsided her on July 24, 2023. Morgan injured her shoulder and was out for months.
‘Instead of feeling sorry for myself I devised a little plan called the Liv Morgan Revenge Tour, which sole purpose relied on taking every single thing away from rhea just like she did to me,” Morgan said.
Morgan did that when she took out Ripley and then later won the championship that she had to vacate. Morgan then stole Dominik Mysterio away from Ripley at SummerSlam.
Time: 5 p.m. Central time
Date: Saturday, Oct. 5
It’s the first Bad Blood premium live event since June 13, 2004.
Bad Blood streams exclusively on Peacock in the United States and on the WWE Network everywhere else.
Matches are not in order
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