WWE SNME XLIV Fort Wayne Review, Highlights, & Grades: Seth Rollins Dropped The Ball

WWE SNME XLIV took place on May 23, 2026, live on Peacock, at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. WWE Backlash 2026 was in the books, as the fans witnessed a show stealer for the Vision storyline between Bron Breakker and Seth Rollins, the culmination to a memorable double turn between Trick Williams and Sami Zayn, an egregious waste of time involving Danhausen and his clone machine that he used to beat Miz and Kit Wilson, a semi-awkward ending to the Kabuki Warriors storyline between Iyo Sky and Asuka without Kairi Sane, and a boring Bloodline main event between Roman Reigns and Jacob Fatu.

WWE is now on the road to Clash in Italy with one roadblock at Saturday Night Main Event XLIV in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Now that the hype has died down a bit, WWE decided to “up the ante” with five matches, which is a “significant” upgrade from the usual four matches on other SNMEs. Those fives matches were: Rhea Ripley and Charlexa vs. Jade Cargill & Baddies in a Six-Women Tag match, Becky Lynch (c) vs. Sol Ruca in a Non-Title Match, Penta (c) vs. Ethan Page for the InterContinental Title, Scream Mode (c) vs. Irresistible Forces for the Tag Titles, and The Vision (c) vs. Street Profits for the World Tag Titles in the main event.

With that being said, it is now time for the WWE SNME XLIV Fort Wayne 2026 Review, starting with Team Ripley vs. Team Cargill, which was an average contest.

Rhea Ripley & Charlexa vs. Jade Cargill & Baddies – 6-Women Tag

Result: Jade Cargill pinned Rhea Ripley to score the win for her team.

Rhea Ripley and Michin were the best performers in this match. Ripley had a gnarly hot tag and Michin executed a jaw dropping Frankensteiner counter to Ripley’s Electric Chair Facebuster and even delivered a Styles Clash as a tribute to her partnership with AJ Styles and the O.C. back in the pandemic era. The match got weird when Ripley, Flair, and Bliss prematurely celebrated for coexisting when they did not even win the match yet. Why did WWE book them like dumb babyfaces here?

These three women are all multi-time world champs. They should be wise and experienced enough in this sport to not take their eyes off the prize. It is understandable that their team was imploding every week and that they had a sense of euphoria for finally being on the same page, but they should not be celebrating until the mission is complete. Jade Cargill capitalized on that premature celebration and pinned the current World Champion in what was a “pride comes before the fall” moment.

This was a questionable decision since Cargill already has a world title match against Ripley at Clash in Italy next Sunday. Cargill did need the momentum as number one contender but the world champ did not need to be pinned in this non-title match. The world champ should be protected and should only take major losses when she is losing the world title. Instead, Cargill could have pinned Charlotte Flair or Alexa Bliss, who have nothing to lose, and still get the momentum she needs for Ripley.

Rating (Grade): 2.5 Stars (C-)

Becky Lynch (c) vs. Sol Ruca – Non-Title Match

Result: Becky Lynch got herself disqualified by referee Jessika Carr.

This was more of a teaser than a match. It was basically an appetizer before the full course meal. Sol Ruca essentially delivered all of her high octane offensive maneuvers against Becky Lynch. The pivotal moment in the match came when Ruca went for the Sol Snatcher on Lynch, but Lynch moved the referee in harm’s way to eat the Sol Snatcher. This was quite similar to when Shawn Michaels moved the cameramen in harm’s way to eat the Suicide Dive by Undertaker at WrestleMania 25.

The aforementioned referee was obviously Jessika Carr, who has beef with Lynch and knows all about her sneaky, backhanded, and devious tricks. Although she was technically hit by Ruca, she called a disqualification on Lynch, as she knew that Ruca inadvertently hit her solely because Lynch put her in harm’s way. Thanks to this DQ victory, Ruca earned an Intercontinental Title shot against Lynch at Clash in Italy next Sunday, as officially announced by Nick Aldis on behalf of Adam Pearce.

This DQ finish was implemented to protect Lynch in defeat, but it could have easily been prevented. Granted, this was a clever way to get to the title match, but there are much better ways to get there. Instead of wasting everyone’s time with a match that will not be delivered, it would have been smarter to merely book Ruca in a number one contender’s match against other hungry contenders so that she can earn her shot against Lynch at Clash in Italy without making Lynch take a loss as champ.

Rating (Grade): 2.0 Stars (D+)

Penta (c) vs. Ethan Page – InterContinental Title

Result: Penta retained the InterContinental Title in an absolute barn burner.

Once WWE was done insulting the fans’ intelligence with two asinine finishes at the start of this show, they finally produced a banger between Penta and Ethan Page for the workhorse title. Ethan Page sold every moment in this match very well, especially after the near-falls for his Avalanche PowerSlam and Penta’s Tornado DDT and Penta Driver. His facial expressions were impeccable and his usage of the steel behind the turnbuckle pad was characteristic of a nefarious execution by a generic heel.

Putting two former AEW stars against each other on a WWE show on the weekend of AEW Double or Nothing was a ballsy move by WWE. After that MJF interview with Ariel Halwani where he said that some stars merely used AEW as a bridge to WWE, Penta and Ethan Page went out there to show AEW what they’re missing. They definitely made a statement in this match, and ending the match with Page eating the trap he set up was good karma. Penta was the rightful winner.

It was surprising that Rusev and Je’Von Evans did not get involved in this match to set up a Fatal Four Way. Nonetheless, it was way too soon for Ethan Page to win the IC Title, as he has only been on the main roster for a month. Granted, he can take short cuts and bypass “slow burn” journeys to get what he wants. However, Penta just won the IC Title from Dirty Dom in March and had a historic title defense in a six-man Ladder Match at ‘Mania 42. It was smarter to continue solidifying his reign.

Rating (Grade): 4.0 Stars (B+)

Paige & Brie Bella (c) vs. Irresistible Forces – Tag Titles

Result: Paige & Brie Bella controversially retained the tag titles in the worst match of the night.

Paige and Brie Bella are having a miserable tag title reign. Their tag matches have been consistently mediocre, at best, and this match was difficult to watch. The only good maneuvers in this match was when Jax delivered a Samoan Drop and a Leg Drop. Brie Bella was delivering sloppy dropkicks and miscalculated shoot kicks. Paige was merely taking bumps and did not really deliver much offense. Lash Legend was selling every move poorly and there was significant delay in her transitions.

When Nia Jax looks the best in any match, it should be a wake up call for the women’s division. The match even ended with babyfaces cheating to win. While Paige was executing the pin-fall, Brie provided leverage with her foot to assure the victory. If WWE really wanted to protect Nia Jax and Lash Legend in defeat, Nikki Bella should have shown up to help Paige and Brie win. However, faces should not be nefariously winning matches, unless WWE plans on turning them heel this summer.

The real question here is: Why did Irresistible Forces get a tag title rematch if nothing different was going to happen? After losing the tag titles at WrestleMania 42 to Paige and Brie Bella, Nia Jax and Lash Legend already invoked their rematch clause on the May 1, 2026 episode of SmackDown. That match had the exact same controversial finish that this match had when it needed some angles or interferences from other strong heel teams like Judgment Day and Fatal Influence to juice it up.

Rating (Grade): 1.5 Stars (D-)

The Vision (c) vs. Street Profits – Tag Titles

Result: The Vision nefariously retained the tag titles in a spectacular closer with help from Bron Breakker and Paul Heyman.

Montez Ford was the MVP of this match, as he really stood out with his maneuvers and pacing in the entire contest. The use of brass knuckles by Logan Paul and the unjustifiable interferences by Paul Heyman and Bron Breakker were key to screwing Profits out of this tag title match. Hence, Profits were protected in defeat and deserve a tag title rematch this summer after that impeccable performance, while the heels nefariously won and correctly left a very sour taste in everyone’s mouths.

But, the real question is: Where was Seth Rollins? Street Profits needed Seth Rollins’ help to win the tag titles and they could be an insurance policy to assure that Rollins gets his lick back against Breakker after Breakker defeated him at Backlash. This was a missed opportunity. WWE teased this partnership continuously on Raw. Despite the lack of trust Ford has for Rollins, Rollins should still interfere to counteract any shenanigans by The Vision, whom he despises and wants to see fumble.

Why would Rollins want to see Vision still hold the tag titles? Rollins could have regained Ford’s trust by helping him and Dawkins win the belts instead of teaching him a lesson by staying in catering to eat green beans and chopped liver. Just like WWE is delaying the tag team breakup between Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss, they are stretching out this chase for the titles when they could just pull the trigger and strike while the iron is hot with arguably their best storyline in the division today.

Rating (Grade): 4.0 Stars (B+)

May 23, 2026 WWE SNME XLIV Fort Wayne Results:

• Jade Cargill & Her Bougie Baddies defeated Rhea Ripley & Charlexa via pinfall.
• Sol Ruca defeated Becky Lynch via disqualification.
• Penta retained the IC Title against Ethan Page via pinfall.
• Paige & Brie Bella retained the Tag Titles against Nia Jax & Lash Legend via pinfall.
• WWE announced that Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar will have a contract signing on Raw to make their match official for Clash in Italy.
• The Vision retained the World Tag Titles against Street Profits via pinfall in the main event.

If you’re not down with just that and would like even more WWE SNME Coverage from Mark Justice, check out more of his articles right here on LTW, on Last Word on Sports (LWOS), and subscribe to his popular YouTube channel by clicking HERE.