0. 2/3 Falls – WWE U.S. Title: Kalisto [c] vs. Alberto Del Rio
Thought Alberto del Rio vs. Kalisto from the Kickoff Show was clear MOTN. It didn’t have the most action of the evening but the character work was tremendous. Rio was in full rudo mode and Kalisto is really finding his place. This was as close as we’ve gotten to an Eddie/Rey type match since Jericho/Rey. Loved the DQ first fall finish. WWE needs more matches like this. I wish this Alberto del Rio showed up more often. ****1/4
1. Becky Lynch & Sasha Banks vs. Naomi & Tamina
Happy to see the women open the show, and they had a heck of a tag match. Sasha’s run at the end was great. It’s beating a dead horse to say I wish they’d give Sasha time like this all the time, but I wish they’d give Sasha time like this all the time. Her strengths are not in quick TV matches right now. ***1/4
2. WWE Intercontinental Title: Kevin Owens [c] vs. Dolph Ziggler
Owens and Ziggler did some cool new stuff, but overall it wasn’t my favorite match of theirs. It was fun though … the last 5 minutes were REALLY hot, and Owens shit talk is on another level right now. “Chinlock Island” needs to be a thing. And it seems like Jericho has gifted “Ask him!” to Owens as well. ***1/4
3. Big Show, Kane & Ryback vs. The Wyatt Family (Luke Harper, Erick Rowan & Braun Strowman) w/ Bray Wyatt
The Wyatts vs. Ryback/Kane/Show 6-man was pretty good. Ryback has really had his working boots on lately. Kane was really the only weak point and really seems to be on his last legs. Decent beatdowns on the Wyatt’s combined with a hot finish. Interesting to see the Wyatt’s lose here though… hope this is leading to a face turn otherwise I just don’t know. ***
4. WWE Divas Title: Charlotte [c] w/ Ric Flair vs. Brie Bella
Charlotte and Brie had an OK match but it really brought the show to a halt. They were certainly trying. Charlotte is finding her voice as a heel and Brie’s fun playing face, but the work isn’t there. In a night of FU’s to the Internet, Brie wearing Bryan’s Mania 30 kickpads and losing might have been my favorite. **1/2
5. Chris Jericho vs. AJ Styles
Styles and Jericho had a match much like Jericho talks about Styles – good not great. Jericho is looking better than he has in years and is trying REALLY hard but I hate to say that he just isn’t keeping up with the match he wants to have. This was probably the 2nd best of the series behind the great SmackDown match and ahead of the pretty good first RAW match. ***1/2
The Cutting Edge Peep Show w/ The New Day
The Cutting Edge Peep Show with New Day was GREAT until they shoehorned the League of Nations into it to setup what I assume is a Mania tag. Maybe Barrett is working and they’ll bring Christian back for ONE MORE MATCH. Edge & Christian totally did not seem like the out of touch dads you expect them to be and went toe to toe with New Day here, and New Day is just on another level as the most culturally relevant thing WWE has going right now. Big E is a modern day Road Dogg and I mean that as a high compliment. Not sure if they turned New Day here or not … it’s actually amazing how much they’ve stayed over as heels despite being the freshest most entertaining thing on the show every single week.
6. R-Truth vs. Curtis Axel w/ Social Outcasts (Heath Slater, Curtis Axel and Adam Rose)
Axel and Truth being trotted out for a match was WEIRD. Golden Truth seems like a pet project of Vince’s and I appreciate the time they’re giving it, but it had no place on this show. Just a dead match in a dead slot. 3/4*
7. Triple Threat #1 Contender Match: Brock Lesnar w/ Paul Heyman vs. Roman Reigns vs. Dean Ambrose
The main event was good with some great moments, but overall it didn’t get to any high level – and that’s ignoring the sour Reigns win. It had stuff I really liked… Lesnar in beast mode, Reigns and Ambrose going at it (these two are going to have some great matches down the road), the Ambrose slap to Lesnar and chairshot frenzy to Lesnar and Reigns. But it also had Ambrose being treated like a total chump – constantly getting his ass beat by Lesnar, which led to apathy if not outright boos when Ambrose and Reigns teamed up on Lesnar. Just weird presentation if they are indeed going with Ambrose/Brock, which is a match I’m all in on. They’ve got some work to do on Triple H/Reigns though. ***1/4
Overall, it was a fun night of wrestling with some questionable presentation – as WWE right now tends to be. The first half was really hot while the last half slowed things down quite a bit. 6/10
