Go-home shows en route to pay-per-views are never really the best for in-ring content, so the best you can hope for is a few good angles. We didn’t really get that either. But Main Event and NXT were pretty hot these week, and Cesaro vs. Sami Zayn from RAW and AJ Styles vs. Xavier Woods from SmackDown! gave the people two good matches.
RAW was pretty awful, stuck in lame Money in the Bank build and the occasionally compelling AJ Styles/John Cena promo. Ambrose Asylum with Reigns and Rollins was neat but should’ve probably felt way bigger than it did. Cesaro/Zayn was a really fun sprint. The main event of Dean Ambrose vs. Chris Jericho was good – their TV matches are better than their PPV matches. The first half-hour being dedicated to the tag division was pretty cool but this was not New Day and Enzo’s finest work. The 8-man tag was pretty fun too. Otherwise, I mean, this was a show where Enzo Amore said he fucked a trombone.
The C-show strikes again, as Main Event is where wrestlers you’ve probably given up on go to show they can still work. Jack Swagger vs. Viktor was a total shocker – both these guys do the occasional thing that reminds you they’re solid hands, but they’re mostly stuck in nothing matches. This thing was god damn brilliant – a nice snug match with some real drama towards the end. Then, Apollo Crews vs. Bubba Ray Dudley was Crews’ best match since his short and effective debut against Tye Dillinger, with Bubba working a simple heel shtick that reminds you this stuff can still get over in 2016, and Apollo’s athletics getting peppered in at all the right times.
NXT was one of the better episodes in a while, with the sweet Authors of Pain and Paul Ellering debut (what a wild entrance), fun TM61 vs. Blake & Murphy and Tye Dillinger/Andrade “Cien” Almas matches, and the Balor/Nakamura confrontation which was tremendous. Joe’s promo was strong too. It’s still missing the buzz of last year, but this was a step in the right direction.
SmackDown! wasn’t much, but it has a really good Xavier Woods vs. AJ Styles match. AJ is really good as a heel and Woods reminds you that he can go. Rusev destroying the Lucha Dragons was a highlight, as was Jericho in the millionth Money in the Bank buildup promo. Charlotte vs. Natalya was OK but the women’s division is back to 3-minute nothing matches and that sucks. The main event of Ambrose/Cesaro/Zayn vs. Jericho/Owens/Del Rio had its moments but these last few weeks have been way too much of these guys against each other in interchangable matches. Alberto diving towards Sami to try and block a dive was cool though.
Superstars had Sasha Banks vs. Summer Rae and Baron Corbin vs. Jack Swagger. Corbin vs. Swagger was the highlight, a nice snug match and one of Corbin’s better outings on the main roster.
WWE TV Match of the Week: AJ Styles vs. Xavier Woods was a really great little TV match, and a good example of an AJ Styles as a Heel type of match, with him on offense for most of it but still throwing in his impressive spots. Woods played his role great here too and was really going balls out.
WWE TV MVP of The Week: Jack Swagger absolutely brought it this week, but AJ Styles was my MVP, and has really been WWE’s MVP since Mania. The heel turn is bringing out all sorts of charisma, he had a good angle with Cena on RAW, and a good match with Xavier Woods on SmackDown!.
