WWE SNME - 5/23/2026: 3 Things We Hated And 3 We Loved

The 44th edition of "Saturday Night's Main Event" took place in Fort Wayne, IN, and was loaded with title matches and in-ring action. I'd tell you more, but that's been handled on the WWE SNME 5/23/2026 results page.

Now, it's time for the Wrestling Inc. Staff to tell you everything they hated, and everything they loved, from Saturday's big show. There was plenty to love, like the six-woman tag team showcase that kicked off the event, and there was plenty to hate, like the frustrating end to Sol Ruca's match with Becky Lynch. As always, you can continue the conversation in the comments section.

Enough of my pontificating, let's get into that sweet, sweet opinion content.

I do not normally write these kind of "Hated" slides, but considering his prominence in the NBA Eastern Conference Finals, and his recently announced merchandise deal with the NY Knicks, I truly, honestly expected to see some Danhausen tonight, and was let down that there was none-hausen.

Maybe Danhausen was busy visiting the morgues and monasteries of Fort Wayne, IN, looking for the necessary body parts to make his latest creation. He is quite simply the most entertaining thing WWE has going for it at the moment, and any show without Danhausen is lesser for it in my eyes.

I can accept that Seth Rollins wasn't there to stop The Vision after the main event. I can accept Becky Lynch's underhanded DQ. I am generally an agreeable guy, but the lack of Danhausen tonight was glaring, and quite frankly, wrong.

Written by Ross Berman

There, now I've bought myself at least another week of not being cursed.

Say what you will about the current storyline between Rhea Ripley, Jade Cargill, Michin, B-Fab, Charlotte Flair, and Alexa Bliss, with there being plenty that can be said in terms of how repetitive it's become. There's no denying that they put on a banger of a Six-Woman Tag Team opening match, though.

This was perfect to set the tone for the rest of this edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, making for a fun, action-packed, and well-paced match. I enjoyed that all six women were given quite a bit of time to shine in the ring and show what they can do between the ropes. The crowd was also very into this one, which always makes things that much better and engaging to watch as a viewer at home.

I'm sure that many are going to have their thoughts about the finish of this match, but I actually liked the way that things played out. Ripley being pinned by Cargill was a good call in my eyes, as it cemented her as a legitimate threat to Ripley's Women's Championship at WWE Clash In Italy next Sunday. I also liked the idea of her taking advantage of Ripley finally getting along with Flair while the two women celebrated with Bliss by blindsiding them from behind, fitting perfectly in line with her character, while still not doing too much. I thoroughly liked everything about this contest from bell to bell, and it was probably the highlight of this entire show for me.

Written by Olivia Quinlan

For whatever reason, I didn't foresee Sol Ruca getting the victory tonight over Women's Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch via disqualification. Maybe I should have seen it coming, but I was hopeful that Ruca would get a clean victory over "The Man" to go on to challenge her for the title. Thankfully, at least, one of those things is happening following Saturday Night's Main Event, but the way we got there kind of sucked.

I am extremely tired of referee Jessika Carr's spots within Lynch's matches. It's nothing against Carr, and I know she's a wrestler herself, but I highly doubt there's any chance WWE lets her wrestle on the main roster. In this match, Lynch moved Carr into the way of Ruca's Sol Snatcher, another one that didn't look too great at all, but maybe that's because the spot was a little more complex than a normal Sol Snatcher. No matter how it looked, it earned Ruca a victory, as Carr disqualified Lynch.

It was revealed that Lynch and Ruca will now go one-on-one for the Women's IC Championship at Clash in Italy next Sunday, and I while that, I can get on board with, if tonight's match wasn't a title match (and don't get me started on the days of confusion about that), why wouldn't WWE just let Ruca have a clean win over Lynch? Lynch herself said it during her promo on "WWE Raw" on Monday, Ruca doesn't exactly have much claim to a title shot, as she hadn't, at that point, won any matches on the main roster. Lynch should have thought she'd make easy work of the recent "NXT" call-up.

I really think Ruca has a shot at winning the title, so I'm not exactly sure why Lynch needed to look strong here, as she beat down Ruca with the title and three Manhandle Slams after the match. I guess I shouldn't be complaining, since they have an official title match coming up in a little over a week, but I just expected to see quite a bit more from them tonight.

Written by Daisy Ruth

When Paige was subbed into the WWE Women's Tag Title picture for an injured Nikki Bella, I'd assumed that this would be a temporary thing. Paige returns, makes the fans happy enough to forget that they paid to see both Bellas, and the titles go back to Lash Legend and Nia Jax, or some other team.

That might still be the plan, but Paige and Brie Bella walked out of Fort Wayne, IN with their reign intact, and it was a pleasant surprise. Brie Bella has always been something of a second fiddle, first to Nikki, and then to her husband, Bryan Danielson, and it feels like, alongside Paige, she is getting a modicum of her own time in the spotlight. Yes, it's still shared, but not with the usual familial ties.

Paige, as well, has had a fairly cursed career. There have been injuries, there have been personal betrayals, and many other indignities she's had to suffer, and while she hasn't always handled her issues with grace, there is always something nice about one more chance for her to go out on a good note. I am getting old enough to appreciate such things.

Written by Ross Berman

The Street Profits challenged the Vision's Logan Paul and Austin Theory for the World Tag titles in the main event, and it was a match that was just starting to get good before finding the most TV finish in the worst way.

Much of the match actually worked really well, delivering on fast-paced and high-flying offense. It was also really great to see the Profits doing what they do best again, with Montez Ford in particular standing out for his explosiveness and the sheer fluidity between spots. It felt as though the Profits were due to win the titles or leave it all in the ring trying, and things really started to pick up as they drew closer to finishing things.

That's when Bron Breakker emerged and looked to spear Ford, only for him to leapfrog and for Angelo Dawkins to launch him over the announcer's desk. They then returned to the ring, dropped Theory for what would have been a sure count. Paul Heyman put Theory's foot on the rope, prompting Ford to chase him and get clocked with brass knuckles from Paul while the referee was apparently arguing with Dawkins for some reason. Dawkins then took out Paul with a dive as Theory pinned Ford, thus allowing the champions to retain.

The show itself only ended once Breakker had returned to spear both of them, joined by Paul and Theory in the ring for a pose that cut rather abruptly. And it was just much the same ending to many shows featuring the Vision over the past year. It's hard to believe that the same referee who saw Breakker attempt to get involved, made a count that was interrupted, and watched Ford square up to Heyman on the outside, decided that Dawkins entering the ring was going to be his biggest issue.

Dawkins also entered the ring anyway to deliver the senton to Paul on the outside, which also means he could have stopped Theory from making the pin or tagged himself in. Theory and Paul needed to win the match because that was the plan. That is okay, even if not a decision this writer would make. But the way it is constantly done slowly corrodes any notion that the show is worth watching.

For an entire year, and whenever the wins matter most, the same tired tropes come into play with no development. No one learns from these routine heel antics, whether that be officials or wrestlers themselves. It's just frustrating that there is not enough bravery in booking heels to win clean.

Theory and Paul will not feel like legitimate stars while they continue to win exclusively with asterisks. And it makes the victims look stupid in the process.

Written by Max Everett

Ethan Page may not have won the Intercontinental Championship from Penta tonight, but he looked fantastic in defeat. That could just be me thinking about today's report about how well-liked he is backstage for how hard he works, and if that's the case, he proved the hard-working part, at least in the Saturday Night's Main Event ring.

Page gave it everything he had, and he looked to have the bout won at multiple points. He really heeled it up toward the end of the match, as well, when he used Penta's mask to pull the champion down to get him into position to hit the avalanche powerslam. I don't usually love mask spots like that, as they're so overused in WWE anymore, but Page didn't come close to fully unmasking him, and it just works so well for his character. The challenger was also dastardly in distracting the referee to pull off a near-victory. He took off one turnbuckle pad, then, while the ref's back was turned, took off the opposing corner's pad.

He just couldn't quite get Penta, however, and despite dodging it earlier in the match, Page took a Mexican Destroyer for the loss after going into the turnbuckle he exposed. He put up one hell of a fight all throughout the match, however, and I thought it was one of the best bouts of the night.

I do think Page wins the Intercontinental Championship sooner rather than later, especially if he's so well-liked in WWE, and I hated that this match wasn't the main event, especially with Seth Rollins not showing up to confront Bron Breakker. I did, however, love the match overall and how strong it made Page look, even in defeat. He often had answers for Penta's offense, which was impressive, and hung on until his own heelish ways got the better of him. I know I'm someone who loves all the recent "WWE NXT" call-ups (hey, it was a solid class), but I think even if I wasn't watching Page before, I'd still be curious to see just what he's going to do next.

Written by Daisy Ruth