If it wasn’t a good match, something noteworthy happened like Charlotte Flair’s return or Randy Orton setting The Fiend on fire. You know. Good show!
WWE’s weekly TV is usually bad, but it was interesting to see on the Kickoff Show how much better the non-TV stuff was at building up matches: Paul Heyman/Kevin Owens on Talking Smack and Sami Zayn playing Tom Cruise on Kayla Braxton’s Instagram were, as a man once said, “good shit.”
0. Daniel Bryan, Big E, Chad Gable & Otis vs. Sami Zayn, Cesaro, Shinsuke Nakamura & King Corbin
Solid match with a ton of cool pairings, but instead of interesting characters and feuds weaving into a match it was just a last-minute announcement then wrestling moves before doing the one thing it was there for: Big E pins Sami. Give us more to care about, baby! It’ll help Big E and Sami too! **1/2
1. TLC Match – WWE Title: Drew McIntyre [c] vs. AJ Styles w/ Omos
If the first Drew/AJ match had to happen with fake crowd noise during COVID-19 then I’m glad they at least made the best of it. They wrestled a smart championship match within the overused TLC match, Drew the Destroyer vs. AJ being a crafty limb work guy using all the weapons to be craftier. They both worked with an aggressiveness and energy that’s usually missing from RAW, and Styles already showed at Clash of Champions he still has a few lunatic performances left in him. The belly-to-belly suplex onto a ladder and press slam through a table bumps were big bumps in a world absolutely FILLED with them.
The finish with The Miz cashing in Money in the Bank to turn it into a Triple Threat Match felt more busy and complicated than fun and chaotic, but I guarantee you that final climb with Miz/Drew/AJ would’ve had a live crowd losing their minds. ****1/4
2. SmackDown Women’s Title: Sasha Banks [c] vs. Carmella
Proof that great selling and a few awesome bumps can overcome the silliest storylines, a match that not only exceeded expectations but was a low key highlight of the show. Sasha’s X-Factor bump and the dive catch by Carmella’s sommelier REGINALD were legendary, and they traded submissions at the end like they were auditioning for RINGS. Mercedes Varnado, folks. ***
3. RAW Tag Team Title: Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods [c] vs. Cedric Alexander & Shelton Benjamin w/ MVP
The boys did it again: Kofi & Xavier are so smooth and such reliably great tag wrestlers, while Cedric and Shelton add a new flavor to what can occasionally be a repetitive match. Between armbars, jumping knees, and a deadlift Doomsday Device – The Hurt Business’ beatdown ruled. The final takeout of New Day at the end was tremendous too, a proper closing stretch to crown new champions. ***1/2
4. RAW Tag Team Title: Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax [c] vs. Asuka & Charlotte Flair
Just a one-note Return Match that at 10 minutes had way less going compared to the last tag – which was also 10 minutes. *3/4
5. TLC Match – WWE Universal Title: Roman Reigns [c] w/ Paul Heyman vs. Kevin Owens
Wrestlers like to talk about maximizing your minutes, but with how slow-moving WWE can be it makes sense that Kevin Owens adapted that concept to maximizing your month-long feud with Roman Reigns. I don’t know if this goes anywhere, but way to make it all count. They came in with a compelling story and Owens kept it that way by attacking at the bell, then kept it moving like an Attitude Era match or something.
Both Owens and Reigns sold like masters of their craft as they added to the runtime without feeling extra… it just felt like Owens naturally kept coming back. They teased the Owens win effectively and Jey Uso randomly taking table bumps just felt like a natural part of the match. Crazy fun WWE main event with a story and approach that turned it into a memorable match – COVID-19 or otherwise. ****1/2
6. Firefly Inferno Match: Randy Orton vs. The Fiend
I guess setting a guy on fire has to go last, but besides a GIF of Randy Orton giving The Fiend the RKO while The Fiend was on fire… this was bad wrestling and I do not want to spend any more time thinking about it. DUD
Happy Thoughts: Besides the main event, this show ruled. RAW sucks, Thunderdome sucks, but the boys and girls can still wrestle and both TLC matches were great. 8/10
