0. Mixed Tag Team Match: Rusev & Lana vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas & Zelina Vega
Ryback vs. Kalisto from WrestleMania 32 continues to set the bar for Kickoff match that goes on before more than 200 people have actually sat down in the crowd. Dead matches in front of empty arenas are just not good. Love these folks but not good. *
Baron Corbin looked like Andre the Giant next to Drake Maverick in that backstage thing.
0. WWE Cruiserweight Title: Cedric Alexander [c] vs. Drew Gulak
Not exactly the showcase for 205 Live that was probably needed here. Even as a match based around Gulak holds and Cedric strikes, which is where these guys excel, it just wasn’t compelling. Environment wasn’t easy, but there are a lot of 205 Live matches from the last few months that weren’t even that great but were better than this. They picked it up for 20 seconds, blew a cradle reversal, and Cedric suddenly won. Yikes. **
0. RAW Tag Team Title: The B-Team [c] vs. The Revival
This was basically a RAW-level match that at least had a unique finish. Not much here. *1/2
Booker T aside, the Kickoff Show was terrible. All of the matches probably would’ve been better if there was more of a crowd and there was any care lately into making these guys interesting. All rollup finishes too – WTF?
1. WWE Intercontinental Title: Dolph Ziggler [c] w/ Drew McIntyre vs. Seth Rollins w/ Dean Ambrose
Rollins and Ambrose are SOOOOO over. Sometimes great wrestling is just watching a superstar come out to a POP. Otherwise, this had a lot of Dolph Ziggler chinlocks and the crowd being like, “Really? We just watched B-Team vs. Revival.” The match had flashes of fun but it was two guys who don’t really fill in the gaps well having their fourth or fifth match together in a few months. They kind of peaked with the first one and there doesn’t seem to be anywhere else they can go. The last few minutes were incredible, highlighted by that wild roll-through inverted superplex thing Seth did, but it doesn’t forgive how lame the first 15 were. ***
2. SmackDown Tag Team Title: The Bludgeon Brothers [c] vs. The New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods) w/ Kofi Kingston
A good tag match. These guys just did a whole lot of STUFF and made Jim Ross proud by maximizing their minutes. Big E throwing The Bludgeon Brothers around was awesome, as was Woods’ big elbow drop to the floor. The two Bludgeon Brother finisher near falls were wild too. Probably could’ve gotten great if they didn’t go with the DQ, but here we are. ***1/4
3. If Strowman Loses by Pin, DQ or Countout, He Loses Money in the Bank: Braun Strowman [c] vs. Kevin Owens
Braun just squashed KO’s ass – probably the best case scenario, outside of making it any fun.
4. Triple Threat Match – SmackDown Women’s Title: Carmella [c] vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch
I was all about Carmella doing Becky Lynch’s taunts but Triple Threats are hard, especially when they’re relying on Carmella pairing off with Becky or Charlotte. Some cool stuff here and there but the big spots felt off and it didn’t really ever get good. Becky’s attack post-match was the best though. **1/2
5. WWE Title: AJ Styles [c] vs. Samoa Joe
I wanted this to be good so bad. And it WAS! These guys aren’t their young selves and there might be something to say about them not really growing as in-ring performers in WWE but the match was great. Samoa Joe going full King of South Style with the “Daddy’s coming home tonight” was amaaazing. AJ keeping Joe in headlocks early not so much, though as a standalone thing to do in a wrestling match I liked it.
They went 20+ and brought it the whole time. Joe was just firing off shots and AJ was in PPV bumping mode – every kick to the leg was tremendous, and the machine gun kick to knock AJ off the top had the entire crew I was with flipping out. All-timer uranage out of the corner too, and the Styles Clash and chokeout near falls were great. Another DQ finish wasn’t ideal but up until then this was quality stuff – not the legendary match they might’ve had in the same spot in like 2012, but still great stuff. ***1/2
“Daddy, you’re bleeding.”
The Miz and The B-Team backstage was awesome. “Total Fellas… with a B!”
6. Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz
This was such a good quality old school professional wrestling match, with the action building slowly and getting more intense as time went , and spots like a top rope backdrop suplex feeling MASSIVE. I wish the crowd was more into it but the work was undeniable. And for a feud all about Bryan saying he wanted to punch Miz in the face, this actually WAS a match about Bryan throwing punches to Miz’ face!
Like, a lot of WWE guys wrestle WWE matches. And some of them are very good. But Daniel Bryan is a WWE wrestler who manages to sneak in actual wrestling. And it’s very good.
Loved Miz doing the bow-and-arrow, Bryan doing a better bow-and-arrow, them busting out the classic figure-four reversal spot, and of course Bryan leaning into Miz’ kicks and just slapping Miz’s face off. Miz able to get to the ropes on all of Bryan’s submissions was a nice little subplot too. Maryse, baby stroller by her side, handing her man a foreign object to win was an excellent finish on a show filled with questionable ones. ****
7. Demon Balor vs. Constable Corbin
The Demon Balor reveal and Corbin’s reaction = awesome. “You have to face him!” “NO!” Great surprise. Around this time these lengthy WWE shows tend to become grating, but between the Bryan/Miz match and Demon Balor this show actually picked up.
8. WWE U.S. Title: Shinsuke Nakamura [c] vs. Jeff Hardy
Nakamura should always wear black tights. Red is nice, but black makes him look like a killer.
Jeff doing the Nakamura taunts was so good. And then they kept it going which they probably shouldn’t have. Very decent match but something that felt like it belonged midway through a SmackDown, not on this show. And that Swanton to the apron just seemed like one of those things that was cool in a vacuum but something we’ll wonder aloud in six months, “Why did anybody allow that to happen?” **1/2
9. RAW Women’s Title: Alexa Bliss [c] vs. Ronda Rousey
Another Ronda match that hit all the right notes. At just five minutes or so this went exactly how it should have and with WWE, it’s really really nice when that happens. Ronda turning her back, sitting down, and closing her eyes was a GREAT spot, while Alexa taking advantage of that with a CHINLOCK was a wonderful commentary on Performance Center training. Not sure why Alexa was so confident for someone with no backup – alas, her hubris caught up to her, and now Ronda Rousey is our RAW Women’s Champion. ***
10. WWE Universal Title: Brock Lesnar [c] w/ Paul Heyman vs. Roman Reigns
This was… fine! It was OK! All I can do at this point is judge how they handled the stupid mess they got themselves in and if I’m in charge, I’m happy with how this all came off. Braun Strowman standing outside with the briefcase was a cool little deal. Him going down to a bunch of chairshots from Brock – maybe not so much. But them going only like five minutes and basically running a mini-Goldberg vs. Brock was good stuff. Finally, FINALLY Roman Reigns is our Universal Champion… until they show footage of Brock’s shoulder being up or some shit on RAW. ***
This show was… fine. Parts of it were good. The pop for Ambrose, Becky snapping, Demon Balor showing up, Miz vs. Bryan, AJ vs. Joe, Ronda tapping Alexa, Reigns finally being champ – all good stuff. But like a lot of these big WWE shows lately, it was too long and the build to it really took away from a lot of stuff fully clicking. I liked that a few potential stinkers were the quick matches they needed to be – Braun/Owens, Balor/Corbin, Ronda/Alexa, Brock/Roman. Bryan vs. Miz and AJ vs. Joe delivered in-ring too. A fine, fine show. SummerSlam Was Fine. 7/10
