I have seen a lot of wrestling promoters set a mood for their wrestling events, but not many moods have hit like a clash between Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan advertised alongside Premier League Highlights and Modern Family.
Welcome to the Peacock Era.
0. WWE U.S. Title: Riddle [c] vs. Mustafa Ali w/ Retribution
They had a couple requisite “my GOD” moments towards the end here, but this Kickoff Match was never going to be about the wrestling given that Riddle is more about his scooter and Ali more about screaming at his group that was never going to work. It’s just a weird approach to wrestling, that’s all. RECKONING, SLAPJACK, MACE, and T-BAR all turned on Ali after the match, a sad end to a group I only allowed myself to care about for two of its’ forty-something weeks. **1/4
1. WWE Women’s Tag Team Title: Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler [c] vs. Sasha Banks & Bianca Belair
Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair can hit some great-looking spots and the Minnesota Wrecking Q is occasionally capable of a good ass-kicking, but this never felt like anything other than 10 minutes of getting in place for a finish where the camera zoomed in on Sasha and Belair all pissed off at each other. **1/2
2. WWE U.S. Title: Big E [c] vs. Apollo Crews
Big E and Apollo Crews have delivered a story way out of WWE’s league, a stupid fun old school WWF feud mixed with the intensity of a couple guys who have just been Guys With Potential for almost 10 years. I got so hyped over Big E spearing Crews to the floor and screaming in his face to begin the match that it hurt even worse when this ended after 5 minutes with a botched pin. I’m impressed I want more, like a full-on WrestleMania gimmick match. But this was short and unfortunate. *3/4
3. Braun Strowman vs. Elias w/ Jaxson Ryker
Braun Strowman vs. Shane McMahon being advertised then changing to Braun Strowman vs. Elias is a special kind of bait-and-switch, but I can’t say I was looking forward to the former and this ended up going by quicker so maybe lying about a wrestling card is… good? *
4. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Seth Rollins
This was a good match, though good in that way where it’s the first time in a while the two wrestlers have actually had a match that got any sort of time and focus. Given Nakamura’s preference for kick-based offense, Rollins tried out a few new kick combos of his own but I was more impressed by how balls out his tope was. They put together some quality counters at the end, and then it just kind of… ended. ***1/4
5. No Holds Barred: Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus
Their first RAW match without any weapons remains my favorite of this series, but once again: these two absolutely fucked each other up. It was like Regal vs. Finlay with more bumps into electronics. The wrestling is fun, but the way Drew and Sheamus are going so hard in the most wonderfully passive aggressive way on the Road to WrestleMania is what makes it art. ****
6. Randy Orton vs. Alexa Bliss
Randy Orton actually humored the boys bumping around for a match against Alexa Bliss and her fireballs, and then The Fiend returned all burnt and scary-looking. I don’t know, Jim. I just don’t think this is for me. But who is it for? WHO IS IT FOR? N/A
7. WWE Universal Title: Roman Reigns [c] w/ Paul Heyman vs. Daniel Bryan (Special Guest Enforcer: Edge)
Even without the backstory that has been both these guys’ WWE journeys (and that Edge guy standing around outside), this was just great pro wrestling. The “PPV performance” has become a quieter concept in a world with so much TV wresting, but these two gave their all to every spot as they told the story you’d expect them to: Daniel Bryan good and smart and lots of heart, Roman Reigns mean and big and sometimes a little bitch.
That vibe flowed through the entire match as both guys put in a PPV performance, Roman putting a little extra on every single thing: the power on his first side headlock takeover, the humiliation in his eyes when Bryan first out-wrestled him, the anger as he delivered a simple thing like a snap suplex.
Bryan is almost casually great, but its’ his approach to wrestling that makes the matches good: there’s a credibility and trust that he’s not only trying to beat Roman Reigns but he has the answer to do it. The man has thrown a lot of running clotheslines, but the word coming to mind for the one he threw as he rallied to try and conquer Roman is RUGGED. Just a balls out collision.
The production team and Roman Reigns’ eyes kept the YesLock over as a possible finish and they got all they could out of it towards the end, a dramatic close to the wrestling match before a referee bump really closed things up. Edge became a referee, Roman sold the YesLock, Jey hit a superkick so nasty I hope it didn’t re-injure Edge, and everybody began throwing chairshots so nasty I hope they didn’t injure everybody. ****1/2
Happy Thoughts: This had the usual confusion that surrounds WWE heading into WrestleMania these days, but after a slow start the actual wrestling matches delivered. Roman vs. Bryan is well worth seeking out. 3.0 / 5.0
