This is pandemic WWE building to a Backlash that’s not even a B pay-per-view, but a D pay-per-view, and it’s in the middle of the American Awakening.
At least Matt Riddle’s going to be around more.
RAW (5/25/20)
Notable happenings… happened, I guess: Apollo Crews won the U.S. Title, Angel Garza pinned Kevin Owens clean. These things didn’t really feel earned though, as a result of either the match or story. COVID WWE on the way to Backlash is like a tree falling in the woods.
For the first time since all this mess began there were FOLKS in the crowd, though they were NXT wrestlers and trainees who all acted like every family who ever won front row tickets to a WWE event from Little Cesar’s.
I cannot believe they actually removed the empty chairs that had been awkwardly surrounding the ring for two months in order to have all the Performance Center wrestlers stand for the entire shows. Ridiculous.
MVP is crushing his role as Bobby Lashley‘s adviser and Nikki Cross nailed her part, a part that ultimately is building to another match with The IIconics. Ah.
Meanwhile, Rob Gronkowski beamed in to read some cue cards. Gronk is like Brad Armstrong – when the red light goes on, bye bye. Another Triple H failure!
There were other matches, though nothing really hit: Aleister Black and Humberto Carrillo did a cool tag team pose before they had a fine match with Austin Theory & Murphy, while Nia Jax vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Natalya had a cool spot or two but was like any other dumb Triple Threat.
Life is crazy, huh Liv Morgan?
The main event was was Street Profits vs. MVP & Lashley, an offshoot of another terrible Profits/Viking Raiders skit where they went GOLFING. Montez Ford was endearing hyping up all his PC trainee buddies standing around, but that was probably the only notable thing about this match before the obvious Drew McIntyre run-in. He and Lashley can brawl, but this might’ve peaked.
NXT (5/27/20)
Since it moved to the USA Network late last year, NXT has felt more and more like a boring main roster production. Since COVID-19, it’s almost the exact same thing… ALMOST, as occasionally they will do something like a Cage Fight.
That and Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch getting the intro promo they should’ve gotten three years ago were the highlights for me. Everything else had a good beat or two but eventually fell flat. The KUSHIDA/Drake Maverick/Jake Atlas Triple Threat was at times a fun showcase and at times an over-thought-out mess. I’m glad Keith Lee and Mia Yim made fun of that embarrassing Dinner with the Gargano’s stuff, but the tacked on seriousness at the end felt like someone plotted a story out a week too late.
Shotzi Blackheart risked life and limb on a dive into nothing in an otherwise just OK match with Raquel Gonzalez. Chelsea Green was a smart call for Charlotte Flair‘s partner vs. Rhea Ripley and Io Shirai and fit well in another just OK match.
Loved the Cage Fight. Matt Riddle and Timothy Thatcher credibly introduced a new match type for WWE, the right two guys to do this. Early in the match things got weird in a good way as they did a spot where Riddle knocked a couple of Thatcher’s teeth out, including a close-up camera shot of a few lonely pearly whites in hand.
“He can fight.”
“You can fight?”
“Yeah!”
The rest of the match delivered on that premise with great intensity, nasty strikes, sweet suplexes, and a sense of legitimacy even as they climbed platforms. NXT might have been a one-match show, but it was a heck of a match. Timothy Thatcher feels like a made man too, though I’ll let you know if that’s an actual thing when people are back.
MAIN EVENT (5/27/20)
NXT UK (5/28/20)
It appears Rhea Ripley took time out of her schedule as she broke out in the States to sell a couple chinlocks from Nina Samuels as well.
Travis Banks vs. Killian Dain also happened.
I did like the last match, as The Grizzled Young Veterans and Joseph Conners called anyone out and got the Street Profits and Matt Riddle. The resulting 6-man didn’t have a lot of surprises but it was fun to see Riddle in the environment and flashback to when the Profits really started to put it together.
Also, it ended when Riddle and Dawkins did a Doomsday Device where Riddle did a jumping knee instead of a clothesline.
SMACKDOWN (5/29/20)
I liked the chaos of the show open, but I wish pandemic WWE meant Jeff Hardy being found knocked out in the grass meant the debut of someone crazy like Dijakovic and not some dumb “real life” DUI angle that the old man liked. The options here seem to be Jeff relapsing in storyline or Sheamus now being some master of manipulation and carefully staged crime scenes. Either one is bad.
Speaking of bad, Michael Cole going through the social distancing spiel as there was a BATTLE ROYAL going on was a little too much. It wasn’t a very good Battle Royal either, though there were a few nice moments with The Bar reunion, Shorty G eliminating Nakamura, and Jey Uso being the last guy in with Sheamus. That clothesline by Jey to Sheamus elimination tease GOT ME.
Sonya Deville vs. Lacey Evans delivered, going from Saturday Morning Slam shtick to a spill outside and them just throwing hands. Sonya ended hung up in the apron, Lacey just recklessly threw her into the corner of a table – this was awesome.
A Moment of Bliss with The New Day and Sasha Banks & Bayley brought a quality crop of characters together. Bayley’s rejection of the Kofi hug killed me, and her and Nikki Cross on commentary for Alexa Bliss vs. Sasha was gold. The match? It was OK. Sasha’s slingshot rollup at the end was cool.
Shorty G got another slot on TV against Cesaro and they had a very cool match too. Cesaro straight-up catching a koppou kick was something; his transition into a Last Ride was something else. Shorty’s bump into the bottom rope is how you work a camera in an empty arena, too – oh man.
Yeah, they should hire that lady who was writing the Mandy Rose and Otis stuff back.
The big story this week was the very low key intro for Matt Riddle that treated him as a very big deal. Kurt Angle threw to a video of Riddle giving his elevator pitch, and Riddle might actually be the only guy who can make WWE scripts sound like he wants to say them. Time will tell.
If that wasn’t enough, Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus in the Semi Finals of the IC Title Tournament was your main event and I know these guys have chemistry but I did not expect them to have a match this good in the mostly empty arena. Like this was an actual great match, extra physical and genuinely dramatic as they’ve been pushing Sheamus never being IC Champion HARD even if Bryan is the obvious guy to advance to the finals against AJ Styles. There was little dead space – they just brought it to each other while always selling the David/Goliath dynamic. Bryan’s The Greatest, and Sheamus rules too.
And then Jeff ran out to continue the Sheamus feud, yeah watever thanks for the match.
205 LIVE (5/29/20)
Tony Nese beat Tyler Breeze on this edition, while newcomer Miles Tehuti brought it to Danny Burch before actually beating him.
Seriously though, where did Raul Mendoza and DJZ go? Kind of not fun to have people kidnapped in this environment.
My Favorite Things
- Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus
- CAGE FIGHT
- Matt Riddle Debuts on SmackDown
WWE TV Match of the Week: Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus
WWE TV MVP of the Week: Matt Riddle
