Saudi Arabia.
1. Brock Lesnar vs. Bobby Lashley
Because Braun Strowman likes to use Twitter it was his match with Omos that had more people talking after the show, but this was the real super heavyweight battle of the evening. They got the barricade spot out of the way 30 seconds in in and stuck to mostly Bob kicking Brock’s ass. Brock’s “no, I don’t wanna give up… shaddup!” while he was in the full Nelson was a tremendous bit, like The Crusher and The Bruiser were locking up for the Crown Prince. Then it was over in like 5 minutes. Lazy, but powerful. ***1/4
2. WWE Women’s Tag Team Title: Asuka & Alexa Bliss [c] vs. IYO SKY & Dakota Kai
The Bray Wyatt logo appeared during Alexa Bliss’ pre-match interview and got the same pop Stone Cold used to get. The match was good, basic, perfectly fine: Dakota vs. Alexa, Asuka vs. IYO, then IYO dropkicked Asuka into a tree of woe on the outside to setup heat. When Alexa tagged in, they did the Tower of Doom and everybody had a good time before Nikki Cross ran-in to help Damage CTRL regain the titles they only lost on Monday. ***1/4
3. Steel Cage Match: Drew McIntyre vs. Karrion Kross w/ Scarlett
Karrion Kross and Scarlett sprayed more mace in Drew Mac’s face in this fine yet boring house show Cage Match. A superplex off the cage is always wild, right? ***
4. AJ Styles, Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows vs. Finn Balor, Damian Priest & Dominik Mysterio w/ Rhea Ripley
“Somebody’s gotta kick her ass!” exclaimed Michael Cole of Rhea Ripley, after she interfered. The New Japan undercard 6-man hit WWE’s Crown Jewel, highlighted by heel Dominik continuing to Try Stuff and a big superplex from AJ on Balor while Karl and Dom both got Electric Chair Dropped. Nobody kicked Ripley’s ass until the next Monday. ***
5. Braun Strowman vs. Omos
There was so much fuss over this for a day or two — for what?? They did a test of strength, Braun bodyslammed Omos then he clotheslined him over the top after a second try. It was fun. **3/4
6. Undisputed WWE Tag Team Title: The Usos [c] vs. The Brawling Brutes
“You hear that? You hear that, Butch? I ain’t Ucey enough – aaaaahhh!” shouted Jey until Butch grabbed him by the fingers. This was a solid match hurt by a couple things: it came after a lot of solid matches, and the crowd was more into chanting “Ucey” than booing the Usos or cheering for Ridge Holland, even when he double suplexed them. ***
7. Last Woman Standing – RAW Women’s Title: Bianca Belair [c] vs. Bayley
In this match Bianca Belair drove a golf cart down the ramp with Bayley on top of it, a spot so good it made up for any of the aimless brawling that might’ve come before it. Bayley getting trapped under a ladder that was wedged under the turnbuckle was a clever finish too, or at least one that made Bianca look clever. ***1/4
8. Undisputed WWE Universal Title: Roman Reigns [c] w/ Paul Heyman vs. Logan Paul
The WWE Celebrity Special was at it again with a few major spots to distract from anything else it might’ve been missing, but this one had the added benefit of a dedicated and well-trained (thanks, Drew Gulak!) Celebrity against a dominant champion actually capable of the balancing act required to sell for him either at the start with some amateur mat wrestling or the end with some actual near falls.
Logan is what a wrestling promoter might call a “prospect” too, giving every move an extra pop from a simple leapfrog to the infamous Buckshot Lariat to a frog splash into the commentary table (that he recorded while doing — what a showboat!)
Roman cutting off a Paul springboard with an uppercut delivered a spectacular photo, which we all know is what wrestling is all about. After a couple chinlocks they headed into an elaborate finish that could’ve felt overbooked if wasn’t so well-done, with appearances from The Usos and Logan’s brother Jake to setup a Solo Sikoa run-in for his second huge PLE spot. I’m actually not sure why they had to protect Logan Paul so much in losing to Roman Reigns, but— ***1/2
Happy Thoughts: All the wrestling was good but nothing was great, as WWE rolled on… 3.0 / 5.0
