WWE's Bad Blood is one of the final PLEs of an incredibly successful year for the company. On a card packed full of heated grudge matches, CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre opened the night with a match that will be spoken about for years. Bloody, inventive, and befitting of their emotion-fueled feud, Punk and Drew provided a classic in waiting. Nia Jax survived Bayley's challenge and the threat of a Tiffany Stratton MITB cash-in to remain Women's Champion and Damian Priest overcame Finn Balor to win their encounter.

Raquel Rodriguez returned to give Rhea Ripley a DQ victory that kept Liv Morgan as Raw's Women's Champion, and Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns defeated The Bloodline in a frantic final match. Jimmy Uso returned to align with Roman and the night ended with the return of The Rock, who gestured at Cody and Roman before leaving.

Winners

Hell In A Cell

CM Punk and Drew McIntyre restore a WWE classic

After years of lackluster matches and diluting the spectacle, Hell In A Cell has been in desperate need of a makeover. Cheapened by being over-used at its own PLE, the unforgiving structure was used throughout the PG-13 era, where it eventually became watered down to the point it was to grueling professional wrestling what Hotel Transylvania is to horror. As promised, CM Punk and Drew McIntyre put on a clinic in violence and told a story for the ages. Both men bled profusely, tables were broken and a wrench and a toolbox were used as weapons.

Ultimately, "Hell In A Cell" should sound like a threat when a WWE superstar wants a match inside the cage. Following AEW's gore-centric encounter between Swerve Strickland and Hangman Adam Page, WWE showed that there is more than one way to tell a blood-soaked story inside a cage. Page and Swerve's match was about extremity and how far each other would go to hurt each other. Triple H called this match an "instant classic" in his press conference. He wasn't wrong. It was a masterclass in callbacks and psychological warfare.

Punk would get the victory over Drew McIntyre, but this was a win for both. Drew feels like a threat to everybody after this. He is a player at the head table for the foreseeable future. Now that any question about his ability to deliver a five-star match has left town, what is next for CM Punk? Seth Rollins is heavily mentioned as his potential WrestleMania opponent, but that isn't for five months. Both men are free for new opponents. Let's see what Raw brings.

Nia Jax

The Queen retains her crown

People have been casting doubt on Nia Jax her whole career. It makes it all the sweeter that her victory over Bayley means Jax is still WWE Women's Champion on SmackDown. She is unbeaten in nearly six months and is believable as the immovable object in the women's division.

After beating Bayley for the second time this year, Nia's attention will now turn to Tiffany Stratton. Ms. Money In The Bank attempted a cash-in during Jax's match, but the official was too slow and dazed to react fast enough. Their friendship has soured and shows no signs of recovering. How much longer will Tiffany Stratton be satisfied in this situation?

Liv Morgan

Raw's reigning, defending champion lives to fight another day

After all is said and done, even with her boyfriend locked in a shark cage, the Liv Morgan Revenge Tour keeps on rolling. Rhea Ripley picked up the win over Morgan via disqualification, only this time no of Judgment Day interfered. The match would be determined by the returning Raquel Rodriguez after Dominik Mysterio fell from his Shark Cage and was hit like a pinata with a kendo stick by Ripley. No, seriously.

Rodriguez has plenty of reasons to be involved in this match. In truth, it caught the crowd and audience by surprise, resulting in a flat reaction but there are layers of history here. Ripley and Rodriguez had a heated NXT feud, including a Last Woman Standing match. Morgan and Rodriguez held the Tag Team Championships last year. It may have left everyone a little cold on the night, but if the demand is for long-term storytelling, this makes a lot of sense and sets up an intriguing future

Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns

It turns out they could co-exist

The closest thing to a modern-day Mega Powers as it is possible to get, Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns picked up the win over The Bloodline, buried the hatchet, and furthered their own stories. The match's climax saw Jimmy Uso return to pledge allegiance to Roman Reigns, superkicking Tonga Loa and Tama Tonga and making the save on behalf of Cody Rhodes. The Bloodline's family affair is about to go into overdrive, especially with the arrival of The Rock at the end of the match.

After picking up the victory with his new tag partner, Cody Rhodes was attacked outside his bus by Kevin Owens in the parking lot after the match. KO's frustration and hurt at the hero's reception for Roman Reigns finally boiled over and now there will be hell to pay. This Friday's SmackDown will be essential viewing.

Losers

The Rock

Not everyone is playing ball with the return of The Final Boss

It's been a weird 2024 for The Rock's time in WWE. First, the good. Dwayne Johnson has always recreated his WWE personas magnificently, and The Final Boss is an excellent character in his repertoire. His social media promos and presence made WrestleMania season feel electrifying. His tag match was excellent and taking The Undertaker's chokeslam as Cody finished his story was an all-time great Mania moment.

Then there's the other side of things. The revisionist history of the Behind The Curtain documentary has seen him become a meme, and The People's Champ was asked to leave WrestleMania's Main Event by the people themselves. The latest storm came as a Tag Team match that felt more like a SmackDown main event than a PLE closer, leapfrogged the pay-off of Punk and Drew's nine-month feud and two Championship matches because of The Rock's presence. This is going to have to be managed going into the Netflix era. Dwayne's perceived ego could earn him the tidal wave of hate he's so desperate to avoid.

Finn Balor

Another L for the Irish superstar

For the first time since his long-standing feud with Edge, Finn Balor finally has a significant rivalry. Balor's feud with Damian Priest harks back to their time in Judgment Day, but this is the first time in a while Finn has been able to showcase his character. His "backstabber Balor" persona is interesting. The Prince has had more mic time in recent weeks and his entrance at Bad Blood was outstanding. All the pieces are there for him to push for major honors.

Here's a sobering stat. Finn Balor is 0-5 in singles competition on PLEs dating back to 26th November 2022. Even holding the tag team championship as much as he has over the last year, he is one of the few Paul Levesque guys waiting for a moment in the spotlight. Everyone is getting their shot but Finn's moment is long overdue.

The Crown Jewel Championship

A new Championship belt is revealed, but what's the point?

One of the most significant improvements made by WWE in 2024 is how most things make sense. The announcement that Crown Jewel's Main Event will now be Raw's World Heavyweight Champion vs SmackDown's WWE Champion for a new and very lavish Championship belt does not make much sense. Gunther came out to berate Bill Goldberg and hype the match but there's a big question to answer here: why?

At the time of writing, the Crown Jewel match is set to be Gunther vs Cody Rhodes. After two years of being involved at the business end of the Royal Rumble and having never gone one-on-one, using this dream match for a made-up title that has no lasting value feels wasteful. Wrestling is an art form that tells its story over weeks and not in an instant. There's still time for stakes to be added to that match. Here's hoping.

The Final Word

The three preceding Bad Blood PPVs were headlined by The Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels, Triple H vs Kevin Nash, and Triple H vs Shawn Michaels.
Major WWE moments to happen in Atlanta include Triple H returning from his quad injury at the 2002 Royal Rumble and Ric Flair's farewell ceremony the night after WrestleMania XXIV.
This is the first time CM Punk has been in the first match on a WWE PLE since the Elimination Chamber match in 2011.
Nia Jax is undefeated since losing to Liv Morgan on Raw on April 29th.
Jacob Fatu vibing to Solo Sikoa's music in their entrance.
Long live Michael Cole's hip-hop gimmick.