I watched this in the company of friends, which is both an ideal way to watch wrestling and a not ideal way to remember everything I thought about the show.
The Kickoff Show was paced better than usual with two strong matches that kept the hour interesting. Corbin’s ridiculous shirt was great, as was New Day’s promo bit. Remember when they wrestled SAnitY in a Tables Match on the Kickoff last year? Good times.
0. WWE Intercontinental Title: Finn Balor [c] vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Here comes your Buy In talent, Finn Balor and Shinsuke Nakamura! This was… good, but only went 7 minutes so they just kinda went at it and got their usual shit in. Kicks and dives and knees and chinlocks. The finish was pretty beautifully laid out: Nakamura sets up a Kinshasa, Balor blocks it with the standing double stomp and sets up the Coup de Grace, Nakamura moves and hits a quick Kinshasa to the back followed by one to the front for a very surprising 1-2-3. ***1/4
0. WWE Cruiserweight Title: Drew Gulak [c] vs. Tony Nese
Another 7-minute Kickoff match, which had a first couple minutes that probably didn’t win over any new fans in the audience, but once Gulak did that sweet sunset flip from underneath counter he does the wrestling got hot. Nese hit two big spots, both of which looked like they legit hurt Gulak – a moonsault to the floor with Gulak’s legs hanging off the ropes, and a 450 splash that was more of a 450 knee drop. Gulak as Hometown Hero made for a nice atmosphere. ***1/4
1. No Holds Barred Match: The Undertaker & Roman Reigns vs. Shane McMahon & Drew McIntyre
A pretty great opener that I might’ve been less patient for if it was in the middle of the show or main eventing. It was the WWE’s usual fun stupid gimmick match that made the best use of The Goddamn Undertaker in what feels like forever. He hit all the Greatest Hits while Roman did that thing where he’s the best seller in wrestling. Elias got involved and Shane crashed through a table or two. Basing 20 minutes of wrestling around a few big Shane spots might feel like the logical route to go, but when you’ve got these three other more interesting guys in the ring it doesn’t feel right. The McIntyre/Undertaker showdown was cool, but didn’t feel like THE moment of the match. I did love the camera shot later on of Drew popping up like a slasher film serial killer to setup the Claymore, though the Reigns’ spear to stop it wasn’t quite caught as well. ***1/2
2. RAW Tag Team Title: The Revival [c] vs. The Usos
Just good tag team wrestling. It’s honestly as simple as that. The crowd was a tough sell, but The Revival tagged in and tagged out and cut-off and beat down while The Usos were… well, The Usos. Heck of a last few minutes as usual, and the Shatter Machine is one of the great tag team moves. Felt like the first match in a series – a double or triple more than a home run. ***1/2
3. Aleister Black vs. Cesaro
Jesus Christ was this a WRESTLING MATCH. Like a European BattlARTS through the lens of the WWE Performance Center or some bullshit I just made up. Black might have the best wrestling strikes in the business, so quick and flashy enough to pop these arenas he’s wrestling in. Cesaro is just the most capable man in wrestling, put him in any scenario and he will get it done. A random singles PPV match for the first time in ages that flips a crowd out? Sure, here you go. Here he and Black wrestled a match that not just got Black over as a killer but also reminded everyone that Cesaro is awesome too. So many highlights, big and small, from Cesaro legitimately actually catching a Meteora mid-air to Black pounding at Cesaro’s thighs to get out of a Sharpshooter. Black has hit a lot of great Black Mass spin kicks to end matches, but I think this was his best too. ****
Montez Ford is already at a minimum top 3 talker in WWE. Angelo Dawkins has translated to main roster TV surprisingly well too.
4. Handicap Match – SmackDown Women’s Title: Bayley [c] vs. Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross
There’s putting heat on a babyface and then there’s stacking the odds against them for a convoluted reason. The Alexa/Cross beatdown here felt more SmackDown tag match than anything else, and Bayley’s comeback didn’t hit either. Dumb gimmick and just a slow bummer of a match. *3/4
5. Last Man Standing: Braun Strowman vs. Bobby Lashley
At nearly 20 minutes they probably could’ve tightened this one up just a bit, but otherwise it kind of ruled. They followed up on the fun that was their Falls Count Anywhere and weirdly paid tribute to Lashley’s alma matter – Extreme Championship Wrestling – with a brawl all over the arena that had some great big man high spots. Lashley’s LEAP onto the barricade that resulted in him crashing through the table was incredible, and the Braun punching through a wall finish was another great movie moment. The crowd was clearly having a blast too – that’s always nice to see, yeah? ***1/2
6. Triple Threat Tag Team Match – SmackDown Tag Team Title: Daniel Bryan & Rowan [c] vs. The New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods) vs. Heavy Machinery
This ruled, partially because Daniel Bryan and Big E both pumped out some incredible performances and partially because Heavy Machinery got a real showcase and it… WORKED!? There was tons of good stuff packed in here: Bryan vs. Woods being an awesome pairing early on, Machinery showing off some new cool double teams (the toss into a sidewalk slam, the Otis suplex delivered with a Tucker top rope crossbody), Big E’s fire up on Bryan which was main event level amazing, and the Bryan backflip off the top CAUGHT by Big E leading to the Midnight Ending which was an all-time great finish. Big E had a NIGHT, and Bryan was just running around like he’s still the Best in the World here, even in some midcard tag. ****
7. WWE U.S. Title: Ricochet [c] vs. AJ Styles w/ Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson
Not sure about this one. Their first singles match on RAW a few weeks ago felt like a good first match in a longer series, then their second singles match was a little weaker, and now there’s this PPV-level match which… well, felt like a good first match in a longer series again. It’s fun to see Ricochet all excited to be on the main roster doing his best opposite AJ Styles, but AJ Styles only seems to show glimpses of greatness every few months these days. He’s running through the same fun spots, but it’s a little empty. An entertaining match, just not anything that ever wow’d me for the 15+ it lasted. And given the history and hype and so on, that’s a bummer. ***1/4
8. Kevin Owens vs. Dolph Ziggler
This was a good show but as far as getting a point across, Owens giving a Stunner and pinning Ziggler in under 30 seconds was Match of the Show.
9. WWE Title: Kofi Kingston [c] vs. Samoa Joe
A good old-fashioned simple championship match – there was nothing complex here, Joe wrecked Kofi for a while, something he looks very dangerous while doing, before Kofi caught him with Trouble in Paradise and sent him back to cutting the best promos that lead nowhere. I really liked the spot where Kofi tried to step his way out of the sleeper and Joe just pushed him away. Simple is good sometimes. Just seemed like something that would’ve been a lot cooler if Joe continued the wrecking and just won the title. Love Kofi, but Joe ain’t getting younger. ***1/4
10. Winner Takes All Extreme Rules Mixed Tag Team Match – WWE Universal Title & WWE RAW Women’s Title: Seth Rollins [c] & Becky Lynch [c] vs. Baron Corbin & Lacey Evans
Like the opener, a fun stupid gimmick match that was laid out for YOU, the viewer, to be sports entertained. There were definitely parts that dragged, but swap this out with the No Holds Barred opener and I think you’re getting similar quality. In the end, serviceable at what it needed to do, and serviceable wrestling can sometimes suck but it’s still pretty good wrestling, yanno? Seth bumped and bopped around for Corbin, Becky beat a little Lacey Evans ass, the frog splash/legdrop double tables spot was great, and then everything went into full angle land as Corbin hit the End of Days on Becky, Seth looked more intense and cool than he ever has as he beat the soul out of Corbin, and then Brock Lesnar came in and cashed-in Money in the Bank and won the stupid match. Why overshadow a legit holy shit man-on-woman violence moment with THIS bummer? You guys!!! ***1/4
So many really good not quite great matches, but the show was paced well and there was good variety – silly gimmicks, old school tag team wrestling, 3-way tag team insanity, Black and Cesaro kicking each other, Braun breaking through a wall… it was that kind of night. Good wrestling, though a bit much as is usual for the Pay-Per-View these days. 7/10
