Is them turning the lights down for the championship intro’s a new thing on the main roster now, or just because this show was all about championships? Either way, I liked it.
Great night of promos too. New Day ranting on the Kickoff Show, Becky laying down the law on Sasha, Sami’s introduction for Nakamura… classics.
What else is there to even say about the Kickoff Show? I’ve appreciated some of the tweaks they’ve made to help it flow better but if we’re rebooting WWE soon let’s reboot this bullshit too.
0. Triple Threat Match – WWE Cruiserweight Title: Drew Gulak [c] vs. Lince Dorado vs. Humberto Carrillo
As these Triple Threat Cruiserweight Title matches tend to be, a fun actual showcase of guys who usually have to wrestle these weird long quiet matches on 205 Live. Dorado and Carrillo are a pair of wrestlers who do cool stuff, and they did a lot of cool stuff here. Gulak meanwhile is a marvel, there for every crazy idea they had and providing an attitude that gave the match a thread. He’s like a toned down Daniel Bryan or something. The tope Doomsday Device is always a wild spot, especially when you’re adding a rotation to it like Humberto did. Fun fun fun. ***1/2
2. WWE U.S. Title: AJ Styles [c] vs. Cedric Alexander
Cedric got this off to a fired up start and they didn’t really let up in what was a short but neat match. Cedric in a feud with AJ over the U.S. Title is some kind of cool fantasy booking stuff, even if Styles kind of looks around sucks these days. Cedric reminds me of a younger Styles, what with the pep and all that, so that’s cool. Plus Styles brought the pain like a suplex on the apron and Styles Clash on the floor. I like how Cedric goes OWWWWW when Styles kicks him too. ***1/4
1. RAW Tag Team Title: Seth Rollins & Braun Strowman [c] vs. Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode
Remember that week where they looped BURN IT DOWN throughout Seth’s theme and then never did it again? I’m glad they never did it again. These four had themselves a fantastic little formula tag match, with Ziggler working well with Rollins as per usual when he wasn’t bumping around huge for Strowman. Roode obviously just fits these types of matches like a glove. Ziggler’s DDT countered with a deadlift falcon arrow for Rollins to setup Rollins getting the hot tag sure seemed like an odd spot to do considering Rollins had just gotten beat up for a while, but hey adrenaline blah blah blah. Nice chaotic finish here to setup ROODE PINNING ROLLINS. ***1/2
2. SmackDown Women’s Title: Bayley [c] vs. Charlotte Flair
These two were having themselves a fine little match with Charlotte beating some ass, and then Bayley cheated and won and quickly ran to the back. I LOVED IT.
3. SmackDown Tag Team Title: The New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods) [c] vs. The Revival
Heck of a match – Revival did a beatdown, Dash did a tope, Woods fired up and fought back, and Dash chop blocked Woods leading to Dawson tapping out Woods. There was a Shatter Machine on the floor in there too. Good shit. ***1/2
4. WWE Women’s Tag Team Title: Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross [c] vs. Fire & Desire (Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville)
“I thought that we were, like, building women up” – bless Renee Young. Outside of the amazing Nikki Cross swivel, this match was a meta examination of Corey Graves, Jaded Man Who Reads Too Much Twitter, a wannabe victim who claims everyone acts like a victim. It was a fine match, but that’s the memory. Thanks a lot, Corey. ***
5. WWE Intercontinental Title: Shinsuke Nakamura [c] w/ Sami Zayn vs. The Miz
Sami’s pre-match promo was absolutely epic, but hear me out: what if Sami and Miz switched places? Anyways, this was another match about something else than the actual match: in this case, Sami Zayn doing live commentary. Around that they did a lot with a little, or something. Nak beat some ass and they had a weirdly compelling bit of grappling on the mat at one point. The finish was hot too, love when Nak throws a frantic KINSHASAAAA!!! ***1/4
6. RAW Women’s Title: Becky Lynch [c] vs. Sasha Banks
This had a whole lot of brilliant bits because these two are superstars but it was also very much a First Match between them. Like I said though, brilliant bits: Banks feeding into the heel act, Becky throwing shots, a bunch of sweet Bank Statement setups and counters, and a missile dropkick near fall that actually got a This is Awesome chant. The eventual brawl all over the arena was at first annoying because of the obvious screwy finish it was headed towards, then cool because it was chaotic and it seemed like they were just going to continue the match, and then it just ended. Becky’s “ah whatever” when it was announced she was DQ’d was very cool. ***1/2
7. WWE Title: Kofi Kingston [c] vs. Randy Orton
I LIKE THESE MATCHES, GOD DAMNIT. This, much like the SummerSlam match, features an absolute snoozer of a Randy Orton beatdown, but I also can’t deny just how god damn SOLID he is, doing everything so casually that I am both somehow bored and compelled at the same time. These matches kind of expose Kofi as a babyface who can’t quite take advantage of it all, but overall the work… so solid. Great finish teases and final Trouble in Paradise too. ***1/2
STREET PROFITS AND KING BOO-KA! Amazing.
8. No DQ Match: Roman Reigns vs. Erick Rowan
There sure is something to be said about a good old-fashioned brawl in between all the cool spots and moves, but I won’t use this match to say it. I’m all in on Roman Reigns selling an ass-kicking, but in this spot opposite the very serviceable Erick Rowan it just didn’t click. The double chokeslam through the table was wild and I loved whatever that spiked sceptre was Roman picked up, but ultimately just a solid match. Thankfully it got a little newsworthy at the end with Luke Harper making his return and making this whole “Who Tried To Kill Roman?” deal half interesting. ***
9. WWE Universal Title: Seth Rollins [c] vs. Braun Strowman
Both a fine David vs. Goliath match and also a real “let’s just get this show over with” match. Braun had his working boots on and put his body through some STUFF, including a major crossbody block and top rope splash, but I can’t say this went anywhere beyond a fine big guy/small guy match. Plus Seth just does not feel credible opposite Braun. The four curb stomps plus Pedigree finish was a good deal for Braun but also just kind of felt desperate, like, “OK guys, we shouldn’t have put Braun in another god damn position to lose but here we are so let’s do this.” ***1/4
And now THE FIEND is after Rollins.
Lots of good wrestling. Just good. Merely good. That’s fine. But also just fine. Merely fine. 6/10
