WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event 2025 (WWE SNME 2025) schedule has offered a fantastic slate of shows featuring championship matches, celebrity appearances, and a very special retirement. There is one card left this year and there is no doubt WWE will continue to pull out all the stops. Look back on the history of the show, along with full cards/results for each of the three specials so far and Saturday Night’s Main Event XLI and XLII, coming up this Fall and Winter.
WWE SNME History
In 2024, WWE, under a new agreement with NBC Universal, revived Saturday Night’s Main Event (SNME), a show that originally ran from 1985 – 1991 on NBC. WWE SNME was a unique show when it debuted as it often featured star vs star, and championship matches that weren’t otherwise seen on weekly TV at the time. According to many, the success of Saturday Night’s Main Event helped usher the second golden age of professional wrestling in the U.S.
It also bolstered a golden age of television for NBC as SNME aired in place of Saturday Night Live reruns and was a huge draw in the early days. The March 14, 1987 edition remains to this day as the highest rated show to ever air in a late night timeslot. That particular event featured Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant in a massive battle royal. For viewers, SNME offered a free chance to see a glimpse of stars like those two in action. The success of Saturday Night’s Main Event spurred additional prime time specials including Friday night’s The Main Event. The debut episode was a rematch of Andre vs Hogan from WrestleMania III. 33 million viewers tuned in producing a 15.2 rating. To this day, that event remains as the highest-rated television show in wrestling history, and one of the highest rated viewed television specials of any kind, outside of professional sports.
Like all good things however, the show came to an end as ratings declined and NBC for the first time, acquired rights to broadcast NBA games. The combination of the two things led to the network pulling the plug. The last SNME on NBC aired on April 27, 1991.
Two episodes ran on Fox in 1992 before the show was discontinued only to return 14 years later on it’s original home of NBC. This revival was part of WWE’s contract agreement that saw it renew its rights to air Raw weekly on USA Network. Five episodes of the show aired between 2006 -08 before it was canceled again. But it seems SNME has always had a special place in WWE’s heart as following yet another agreement with NBC, this time to air SmackDown on USA Network as Raw was moved to Netflix, the company opted to try their hand at the broadcast prime time special one more time. As part of the new agreement, WWE would produce quarterly specials over the course of the five-year deal, meaning 20 new Saturday Night’s Main Event programs in all.
SNME Revival in 2024-25
Credit: WWE
WWE aired its first Saturday Night’s Main Event of the revival in December 2024 from the Nassau Coliseum, home to the first-ever SNME. The revival was steeped in nostalgia, complete with the return of the original theme song, no TitanTron, classic red, white, and blue ropes, referees in formal attire, elements of the branding calling back to WWE’s throwback logo, and Jesse Ventura back on commentary. The first show also saw then-champion Cody Rhodes enter with the Winged Eagle belt instead of his Undisputed WWE Championship.
The event was incredibly well-received with a full arena of over 15,000 people in attendance. There were six matches on the card including the tournament final of the new Women’s United States Championship, and three world title matches between Rhodes and Kevin Owens; Gunther, Finn Balor, and Damian Priest; and Liv Morgan and IYO SKY. It was clear that WWE was pulling out all the stops for the show’s return. And that mentality has continued as WWE began 2025, with a full four-event slate of SNME on tap.
WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event 2025: Full Schedule, Cards, and Results
WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event XXXVIII (January 25, 2025 – Frost Bank Center, San Antonio, Texas)
Credit: WWE
- Royal Rumble ladder match WWE Undisputed Championship/Winged Eagle WWE Championship contract signing between Cody Rhodes (C) and Kevin Owens
- Dark – LA Knight def. Carmelo Hayes
- Women’s World Championship: Rhea Ripley (C) def. Nia Jax
- WWE Intercontinental Championship: Bron Breakker (C) def. Sheamus
- Braun Strowman def. Jacob Fatu
- World Heavyweight Championship: Gunther (C) def. Jey Uso
WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event XXXIX (May 24, 2025 – Yuengling Center, Tampa, Florida)
Credit: WWE
- Dark – American Made vs Latino World Order
- Seth Rollins and Bron Breakker (w/ Paul Heyman) def. CM Punk and Sami Zayn following the return of Bronson Reed, who aligned with Rollins/Breakker
- WWE Women’s United States Championship: Zelina Vega (C) def. Chelsea Green (w/ Secret HERvice)
- John Cena def. R-Truth
- Damian Priest def. Drew McIntyre in a steel cage match
- WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Jey Uso (C) def. Logan Paul
WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event XL (July 12, 2025 – State Farm Arena, Atlanta, Georgia)
Credit: WWE
- Randy Orton (w/ Jelly Roll) def. Drew McIntyre (w/ Logan Paul)
- WWE United States Championship: Solo Sikoa (C)(w/ JC Mateo, Talla Tonga, and Tonga Loa) def. Jimmy Uso
- LA Knight def. Seth Rollins (w/ Paul Heyman) after Rollins suffered a storyline knee injury
- WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Gunther (C) def. Goldberg in Goldberg’s retirement match
WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event XLI (November 1, Salt Lake City, Utah)
- World Heavyweight Championship: CM Punk def. Jey Uso to win the vacant title
- WWE Championship: Cody Rhodes (C) def. Drew McIntyre
- WWE Women’s Championship: Jade Cargill def. Tiffany Stratton (C)
- WWE Intercontinental Championship: Dominik Mysterio (C) def. Rusev and Penta
WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event XLII (December 13, Washington, DC – John Cena’s final match)
- Gunther def. John Cena
More From LWOS Pro Wrestling
Header photo – WWE – Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on WWE SNME, Saturday Night’s Main Event 2025, and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.
You can check out WWE programming on Netflix (Raw), USA Network (SmackDown), The CW (NXT), Tubi (WWE Evolve), A&E (WWE Superstar Sunday – Rivals, WWE LFG, and Greatest Moments) and Peacock (WWE Main Event as well as archives and premium live event streaming). Follow WWE on social media to relive top moments and matches on YouTube, and catch fast-paced action on X (WWE Speed).
