4 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE Backlash 2025 (Results & Review)
DOWNS…
4. Penta’s Slide
Just four months into his run with WWE, Penta has gone from a revelation “taking WWE by storm” (as Michael Cole noted), to being on the losing end of several matches and becoming another guy with a really cool entrance.
Penta lost an Intercontinental Championship match to Dominik Mysterio at Backlash, which wasn’t a big surprise – Dirty Dom wasn’t going to lose the title this soon. Sure, they protected Penta by having the entire Judgment Day and El Grade Americano interfere to thwart the masked luchador, but it’s not going to lead to Penta getting his revenge on everyone and capturing the title.
Instead, he most likely will transition to feuding with a masked Chad Gable, which might produce really good matches but ultimately will only serve to shunt Penta further down the card. The singles run that started with some surprising promise is very quickly reaching the point where smart fans are asking, “When are they getting the Lucha Bros together?”
It’s a shame, really. Penta came into WWE on fire and they burned it out before WrestleMania. After this past month, he doesn’t feel like he’s going to progress beyond a certain point as a singles competitor. This isn’t doom and gloom – Lucha Bros could dominate the tag scene – but it’s disappointing (though not surprising) to see how he’s become “just a guy” as a singles wrestler so quickly.