A very good show brought down by a dud of a main event.
Every match on this show went really long, almost too long… there were points in most of the undercard where each match felt kind of meandering, and then it would have these individual moments and a last 5 minutes that were just so awesome.
Kickoff Show was a Kickoff Show. Seemed like they were relying on wrestler interviews more than usual, which is good, as nobody needs 10 minutes of David Otunga analyzing a Fatal 5-Way Match for the RAW Women’s Title.
0. Apollo Crews w/ Titus O’Neil vs. Elias
Super basic stuff, the John Cena vs. Roman Reigns of WWE Main Event on Hulu dot com. Headlocks, chinlocks, signature spots. It all mostly worked, even if it will be quickly lost to the ashes of time. I liked Elias’ vicious shove into the turnbuckle towards the end, at least. **1/4
1. WWE Intercontinental Title: The Miz [c] w/ The Miztourage vs. Jason Jordan
A good solid wrestling match that would have worked a lot better if the young upstart guy was over as a young upstart guy. As it was, it was The Miz doing The Miz things – everything flowed well, crowd was into it – but The Miz was also getting big pops for everything he hit, and that eventually became the most enjoyable part of the match. Jordan’s deadlift suplex was genuinely impressive, and the finish came together well. A good use of time THAT I felt a little cold on. Booker’s “get to the back of the line, kid” line as Jordan walked to the back cracked me up. This will probably go somewhere interesting, but the journey getting there hasn’t been great. ***
2. Finn Balor vs. Bray Wyatt
Liked Finn’s PPV gear, even if it seemed a couple sizes too small. This was an OK match that went way too long. The pre-match attack by Wyatt gave it a hook and and Balor sold his ass off the whole time, working as if his ribs were really broken. But the match felt like an indictment of modern day WWE-style… lots of random fun spots but they didn’t fill in the gaps. **3/4
3. RAW Tag Team Title: Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose [c] vs. Cesaro & Sheamus
Another match that felt a little meandering but there was a point about halfway into this, with the shot of everybody just lying on the floor after Dean Ambrose’s tope, with Dean trying to pop his damn shoulder back in and Cesaro’s bleeding from the mouth because his damn teeth were knocked halfway up his face, that this just felt completely utterly epic. The top rope powerbomb spot was incredible, and the Rollins knee > Dirty Deeds finish is always a winner. Lost me a little bit early, but this got sooooo good. ***3/4
4. Fatal 5-Way Match – RAW Women’s Title: Alexa Bliss [c] vs. Sasha Banks vs. Bayley vs. Nia Jax vs. Emma
This was a blast of a zany WWE multi-person match with Nia Jax pulling out the performance of her damn life. Match was all about her, with the clear highlights being her wild double Samoan drop and absolutely INSANE powerbomb bump on the outside. Also enjoyed Emma running around being aggressive as all hell. The powerbomb bump was the difference maker for Nia, but the corner post bump towards the end was something special too. Non-stop fun here. ***1/2
The New Day/Usos Hell in a Cell video package was awesome, wish SmackDown made that feud seem important.
5. John Cena vs. Roman Reigns
Atmosphere, atmosphere, atmosphere. This is a John Cena WWE Main Event Match, with all the pros and cons that may bring. I wish they relied on shtick more. I wish they relied on milking heat. But they just kind of went at it and had a Big WWE Main Event Match. And it was awesome. Not quite memorable epic, but absolutely awesome. Liked Reigns just straight-up squashing Big Match John early and smiling through every move, liked him peppering in those uppercuts that he’s mastered and Cena’s sells of them. So much greatness towards the end, with some incredible timing on the kickouts. The Samoan drop catch off the Five-Knuckle Shuffle, Roman spearing Cena onto the commentary table and landing on his HEAD, Cena catching Reigns’ big ass crossbody into an AA, the super AA kickout, the roll-through AA kickout – WOWWW. A big physical wonderful main event wrestling match. Excellent stuff, but not the career-defining epic it might have been in some other wrestling dimension. ****1/4
6. WWE Cruiserweight Title: Neville [c] vs. Enzo Amore
Worked it as it should’ve been, with Neville out-wrestling Enzo, but Enzo isn’t good enough to even hard sell that. Some neat parts, especially Enzo doing a backflip off the ropes and Neville just kicking his feet out. But also a lot of whatever. Finish with Enzo grabbing the title wasn’t bad on paper but came off more awkward than anything. *3/4
7. WWE Universal Title: Brock Lesnar [c] w/ Paul Heyman vs. Braun Strowman
God damnit. At the end of the day, just a massive disappointment. The build-up of Braun all year made this one of my most anticipated matches and it was just kind of a mess. And then Braun just lost, clean, to an F5. Nothing unique, nothing that put him over further. They did so much right with Braun and then it all felt lost in an instant. The first few minutes were a blast, but then they did that awkward spot with the Kimura lock where Braun grabbed the ropes and the ref didn’t break it, and everything just seemed to go to shit. There were parts of this that were fun, but it was more New Japan vs. MMA fighter spectacle than WrestleMania spectacle. Crazy anticlimatic. **
RAW Talk was well worth watching, even if Enzo went on for way too long, as it’s got John Cena talking longform about passing the torch and his future. The man CRIES, people. Incredible.
As a historical moment in time, this show will be fun to look back on, with Roman Reigns defeating John Cena in what definitely wasn’t John Cena’s last ride, but perhaps was Cena’s last ride as Big Match John.
A very fun show that ended really week. Almost everything was well worth watching, Cena vs. Reigns totally delivered, but that main event needed to deliver too and it did not. 7/10
