WWE Saturday Night's Main Event Ending Explained (Jan 25, 2025): Results & What It Means [SPOILERS]

Warning: The following copy has SPOILERS for WWE Saturday Night's Main Event (Jan 25, 2025)WWE made a short pit-stop on the road to the Royal Rumble, as Saturday Night's Main Event rolled in to San Antonio, Texas. After weeks of belittling his opponent, Gunther defended his World Heavyweight Championship against Jey Uso. There was more Championship gold on the line, as Nia Jax would attempt to taste WWE gold once more as she faced Rhea Ripley in the first defense of her WWE Championship

Sheamus would try to finally land his own personal Holy Grail, as the Irishman challenged for the Intercontinental Championship against Bron Breakker. Jacob Fatu took on Braun Strowman in the name of honoring The Bloodline, and hometown hero Shawn Michaels oversaw Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens' contract signing with their ladder match for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble set for next Saturday.

WWE Saturday Night's Main Event Results - Jan 25, 2025

• Jesse Ventura joins Joe Tessitore to open the show in what announcers are now calling the Okerlund Position, in homage to the legendary WWE announcer, Mean Gene Okerlund.
• Rhea Ripley defeated Nia Jax in a clean pinfall victory with a Riptide.
• Bron Breakker defeated Sheamus with a devastating spear in the best match of the evening.
• Shawn Michaels arrives to conduct the contract signing between Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens. After a war of words and multiple Kevin Owens interruptions, the contract is signed and the belts are handed over.
• KO punches Cody, Shawn Michaels intervenes. HBK then lands Sweet Chin Music on Kevin Owens to leave him lying on the canvas.
• Braun Strowman defeated Jacob Fatu via DQ. Strowman was left defenseless and trapped in the corner, but Fatu would not stop hitting his hip attack on Braun at full speed, before throwing the referee out of the ring.
• Fatu continued to attack Strowman after the bell. He hit him with countless hip attacks and landed three top rope moonsaults, and left Strowman with a bloodied, broken nose.
• Gunther defeated Jey Uso via pinfall, despite withstanding two spears and an Uso splash.

Rhea Ripley Shines In A Clean Victory

The Eradicator has always had a reputation as a fighting champion, but Rhea Ripley picking Nia Jax for her first title defence was a bold decision. It was something of a free hit for the champion's opponent, in that Jax was challenging for a belt on what isn't even her native show. She takes another loss, but little moments like Nia's crushing second rope leg drop means that she still walks into the Royal Rumble as arguably the biggest threat in the whole match.

For Ripley, this clean pinfall victory over an established champion is mighty impressive, as Rhea cements her place as the alpha in the women’s division (for now). Rumors are buzzing that a legitimate dream match with Bianca Belair may await her at WrestleMania 41. If that’s true, she will have one eye firmly on The EST in next Saturday’s Royal Rumble.

Bron Breaks Sheamus's Heart

For fans of no nonsense, hard-hitting pro wrestling, Sheamus and Bron Breakker comfortably delivered the best match of the evening. The velocity of Bron Breakker’s spear as Sheamus leapt off of the ring steps towards him has to be seen to be believed.

Sheamus’s Brogue Kick as Breakker went to his trademark spear was just as impressive, as Breakker's foot met the rope at the very last moment. Breakker retained his championship after a spear, but the reputation of both men comes out of this match far greater after they shared another banger.

Shawn Michaels Takes Down Kevin Owens

Shawn Michaels adopting a somber approach in his hometown - turning down his undying charisma and showmanship for a more steely tone - spoke volumes as the bad vibes continued around Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens’ bitter feud. The latest in Kevin Owens’s antagonistic t-shirt collection was to mimmick Terry Funk’s legendary Dusty Sucks Eggs shirt (changed to Cody Sucks Eggs, naturally), but Cody was in no laughing mood.

HBK dropped Kevin Owens with Sweet Chin Music, in a disappointing moment that harked back to an era when WWE audiences would routinely have to choke on the stench of nostalgia at the behest of today's stars. However, that doesn’t detract from the overall quality of the intense segment.

Jacob Fatu: WWE's Most Wanted

The Bloodline are currently without the man who has lead them for most of 2024, as Solo Sikoa’s leave of absence continues, but Jacob Fatu just became the most dangerous man in wrestling. Incredible from his pre-match promo til the end of his screen time, and guiding a merciless and never-ending attack on one of the most physically imposing men in WWE history in Braun Strowman, this was a vulgar display of power in Texas from Jacob Fatu.

This assault had shades of Bronson Reed’s breakthrough assault on Seth Rollins, and was a moment so shocking and cool that the crowd actually cheered for him while he was in the flow of unstoppable violence.

Uso's Yeet Cannot Defeat Gunther

As Gunther made his way to the ring to defend the World Heavyweight Championship, Michael Cole pointed out he has held a championship for over 80% of his entire time in WWE. Jey Uso is being tipped by most experts for a world championship win at some point in his future, but Gunther remains WWE’s most formidable champion.

It's hard to believe that the biggest member of the Jey Uso Fan Club could belive that tonight would be his night, his showcase moment will surely happen at a landmark event. He has a mountain to climb, and Gunther still represents WWE's peak.

With the second episode of the rebooted franchise in the can, WWEis establishingSaturday Night's Main Event as a fun but ultimately skippable card, as every champion retained their title and it was a night of little incident. Nothing that happened between Kevin Owens and Cody Rhodes pushed their story forward, and while the matches were all incredible, this felt more like a star-studded house show than a PLE. There are much worse ways to spend two hours, but this was an evening that left little impact on the WWE landscape.