WWE SNME XLV NYC Review: Roman Reigns Severely Killed The Show With Jalen Brunson

WWE SNME XLV NYC took place on July 18, 2026, live on Peacock, at Madison Square Garden in the Big Apple, New York City. WWE WrestleMania 42 was in the books, as the fans witnessed five new champions in Roman Reigns, Liv Morgan, Rhea Ripley, Trick Williams, and Becky Lynch as well as two surprise returns in Bron Breakker and Paige. Night 2 was definitely better than Night 1, as the only match that felt WrestleMania worthy that entire weekend was CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns.

WWE Backlash 2026 was in the books, as the fans witnessed a show stealer for the Vision story 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, a semi-awkward ending to the Kabuki Warriors storyline between Iyo Sky and Asuka without Kairi Sane, and a very boring Bloodline main event between Roman Reigns and Jacob Fatu.

WWE Saturday Night Main Event XLIV was in the books, as fans witnessed Seth Rollins drop the ball by not helping Street Profits win the tag titles from the Vision, Paige & Brie Bella controversially retain the tag titles in the worst match of the night, Penta retain the InterContinental Title against Ethan Page in an absolute barn burner, Becky Lynch and Sol Ruca give an appetizer to set up a title match at Clash in Italy, and Jade Cargill pin Rhea Ripley to score the win for her team of baddies.

WWE Clash in Italy 2026 was in the books, as fans witnessed Cody Rhodes retain the WWE Title in a controversial finish with Gunther’s foot under the bottom rope. Rhea Ripley retain the WWE Title after a plethora of botched interferences from Jade Cargill’s baddies, Brock Lesnar defeat Oba Femi for a trilogy that nobody asked for, Sol Ruca defeat Becky Lynch to become the new IC Champ in a show stealer and Roman Reigns neuter Jacob Fatu to retain the World Title in Tribal Combat.

WWE Night of Champions 2026 is now in the books, as fans witnessed Oba Femi become King of the Ring, Iyo Sky become Queen of the Ring, Seth Rollins defeat Bron Breakker in a show-stealing steel cage match, Trick Williams retain the U.S. Title against Ricky Saints in a bathroom break, Tiffany Stratton retain the U.S. Title against Jade Cargill thanks to Charlotte, and Sami Zayn defeat Cody Rhodes and Gunther to win his first WWE Title in the main event on the road to SummerSlam.

WWE decided to book four matches for the Saturday Night Main Event in New York City. Those four matches were: Paige & Brie Bella (c) vs. Fatal Influence for the Women’s Tag Titles, Danhausen vs. JD McDonagh, Lyra Valkyria vs. Bayley, and Cody Rhodes & CM Punk vs. Gunther & Sami Zayn in the main event. With that being said, it is now time for the WWE Saturday Night Main Event 45 NYC Review, starting with the Women’s Tag Title Match which was merely an average contest.

WWE SNME Review (7/18/26)

Paige & Brie Bella (c) vs. Fatal Influence – Women’s Tag Titles

Result: Fatal Influence defeated Paige & Brie Bella to become the new Women’s Tag Team Champions thanks to outside interference from Jacy Jayne.

You know the really awful movie, “The Room?” You know the movie that is notoriously famous for its weird dialogue, bad acting, and confusing plot? That is the best way to explain the women’s tag title reign of Paige and Brie Bella. That title reign was so abysmal that fans had to pray for it to end. Any team could have dethroned Paige and Brie on this night, and it would have been a blessing for the pro wrestling community. Granted, this team was not originally planned to even be tag champs.

The Bella Twins were supposed to be tag champs and Paige was supposed to be a singles star until Nikki Bella got injured. Now that Nikki Bella returned on SmackDown this week, hopefully this drought will end. Fatal Imfluence are a legitimate team who are better off in this tag division than either the mid card or the main event scene. Surprisingly, this tag title match was better than usual with a nice added touch of a roll up pinfall finish that was a recurring theme during the title reign.

Rating (Grade): 2.5 Stars (C-)

Danhausen vs. JD McDonagh – Human Monies Rivalry

Result: Danhasuen defeated JD McDonagh with help from NBA Star Karl Anthony Towns & unfortunately some annoying Minihausens.

As Brie Bella’s dropkicks became more crisp, Danhausen’s clone machine became more bizarre. At least the Minihausens made sense, but the fact that an NBA player came out of that clone machine makes an intelligent mark wonder if Danhausen is going to sign with the NY Knicks. That might actually be a better business decision because the clownery the fans see in these cursed matches are unnecessary and he might actually give Lebron James and the Philadelphia 76ers a run for their money.

Speaking of money, Danhausen stole all of Judgment Day’s human monies after failing to fulfill a promise for cursing their opponents, specifically Oba Femi in the King of the Ring Tournament. He even made things worse by cursing Liv Morgan after she tried to seduce him into cursing Iyo Sky in the Queen of the Ring Finals. Clearly, Danhausen is running through the Judgment Day to make their lives miserable. He already beat JD McDonagh, and Dirty Dom is unfortunately next at SummerSlam.

Rating (Grade): 2.0 Stars (D+)

Bayley vs. Lyra Valkyria – Personal Rivalry

Result: Lyra Valkyria defeated Bayley and took her out of commission on the steel steps, sending her straight to AEW to reunite with Mercedes Mone.

Maybe Danhuasen will even dethrone Liv Morgan for the Women’s Championship and WWE will throw the Roxanne Perez storyline angle out the door. That would not be surprising because WWE is already on the verge of throwing Bayley out the door. When Bayley was left off the WrestleMania 41 card and a plethora of PLEs after that, many noticed and saw that booking fallacy as disrespectful to 1/4 of the Horsewomen, who significantly paved the way for the women’s division in WWE today.

The mercurial character Bayley created was dropped, And, after Lyra Valkyria turned heel and broke up this team with Bayley, it was clear as day what direction WWE was taking this story. As Lyra transformed from a bird to a vulture, Bayley has gone from saying “Ding Dong Hello!” to “Ding Dong Goodbye!” This match was decent and never reached into the next gear, but it didn’t need to because Bayley is going to AEW to reunite with Mercedes Mone while Lyra becomes a top heel in WWE.

Rating (Grade): 3.0 Stars (C+)

CM Punk & Cody Rhodes vs. Gunther & Sami Zayn – Main Event

Result: CM Punk & Cody Rhodes defeated Gunther & Sami Zayn in the best match of the night, keeping their SummerSlam title match one on one.

While Lyra likely targets Sol Ruca for the InterContinental Title as a nascent heel after failing to dethrone her as a babyface, there are some other babyfaces who are on the verge of turning heel in the near future. Cody Rhodes is the first one who comes to mind as he was forced to coexist with his SummerSlam opponent in order to keep their title match one on one at SummerSlam, as WWE raised the stakes for this match by granting the possibility of a fatal four way if Gunther and Sami Zayn won.

Tensions were high, and CM Punk did a good job at making his feud with Sami Zayn feel personal by intentionally targeting him with punches and kicks before the bell rang and even after the bell rang to add insult to injury. There were no botches and the near-falls were excellently executed. Booking Nick Aldis to screw Gunther at the last minute was a nice touch to set up their SummerSlam match. And, Punk “accidentally” hitting Cody Rhodes in the face with his WWE Title was the cherry on top.

Rating (Grade): 4.0 Stars (B+)

Roman Reigns v. Jalen Brunson – Weird Commemorative Segment

Result: Roman Reigns gifted Jalen Brunson a WWE Championship belt to celebrate the NY Knicks NBA Championship victory while burying Seth Rollins.

After CM Punk put Gunther to sleep with the GTS, WWE should have probably ended the show with the tag match because what happened after that match put everyone to sleep. It is understandable that WWE wanted to celebrate the New York Knicks in NYC, but this was one of the most boring ways to execute that celebration. Nobody wants to see an NBA Player raise a WWE Title with Roman Reigns for fifteen minutes. How is that entertaining television? Who booked this?

And to make matters worse, WWE brought babyface Seth Rollins out there with an NBA Player from the Indiana Pacers to get “heel heat” in New York City just to be disrespectfully embarrassed by Roman and scurry back out of the ring. Rollins conquered the Vision as a babyface just to go back to being a chickenshit heel? If this is how the build for the main event of SummerSlam between The Shield brethren is going to look, WWE might as well rename SummerSlam to SummerScam.

Rating (Grade): 1.0 Star (F)

July 18, 2026 WWE SNME XLV NYC Results:

• Fatal Influence defeated Paige & Brie Bella to become the new Women’s Tag Team Champions thanks to outside interference from Jacy Jayne.
• Danhasuen defeated JD McDonagh with help from NBA Star Karl Anthony Towns & unfortunately some annoying Minihausens.
• Lyra Valkyria defeated Bayley and took her out of commission on the steel steps, sending her straight to AEW to reunite with Mercedes Mone.
• CM Punk & Cody Rhodes defeated Gunther & Sami Zayn in the best match of the night, keeping their SummerSlam title match one on one.
• Roman Reigns gifted Jalen Brunson a WWE Championship belt to celebrate the NY Knicks NBA Championship victory while burying Seth Rollins.
• The road to SummerSlam begins as the last roadblock to the biggest event of the summer culminates.

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.