The pre-show featured Andre Cien Almas defeating Sin Cara and in one where it was nothing short of entertaining, Sanity defeated The New Day in a Tables Match.
Almas over Sin Cara, great. Not surprised Sanity got the W, they are new to the blue brand. New Day will always entertain, so a loss doesn’t hurt them at all. If anything, this generates a new ongoing three-man stable feud. This match should have been on the main show, it was that good, and definitely better than most matches tonight.
The B-Team defeat The Deleters of Worlds to win the RAW Tag Team Championship
Yep. It happened. The B-Team got the big nod and they’re the new champs. I suppose many might look at this as the beginning of the end for Wyatt and Hardy’s time together. I don’t know. I enjoyed their weirdness. Kudos to Curt Axel and Bo Dallas. They’ve been around for a long time and this is a nice acknowledgement their years of hard work. Dallas never really got off the ground besides his “Bo-Lieve” gimmick and Axel’s short run with Paul Heyman was forgettable.
I wonder if it was hard for Bray to drop to his brother.
Finn Balor defeated Bacon Rorbin
The Constable of Constipation, Bacon Bits Rorbin came up short, despite doing all his typical “big man – big moves” shtick. Balor winds up winning with a small package. Clever, it didn’t end with a finisher.
I do have to say, the Constable looks more like Val Venis/Chief Morley. Remember him?
Carmella defeats Asuka (again)
James Ellsworth was locked up and held above the ring in a shark cage. All throughout the match he dropped objects to Carmella, but the ref caught each time. I felt like this was some sort of video game. Ellsworth then manages to free himself from the cage, but gets stuck and hangs upside down. Asuka kicks the snot out of him, they lower the cage, just enough for Carmella to sneak up from behind and push Asuka head-first into the cage, KO-ing her. Seriously. This is how it went. Asuka owned Carmella all match. Honestly, they really have trouble booking these. Asuka isn’t protected, she continues to look bad in this feud. This just looked so bad.
Kurt Angle demands Brock Lesnar appear on RAW or he will be stripped of the Universal Championship. Brock who? Which title? Does anyone even care anymore? Brock hasn’t given prestige to the Universal Championship, it has been turned into a punch line. I’m all about extended title reigns and championships considered as special. Back in the 80’s and 90’s the World title was only defended at the PPVs or supercards. During that time, the champion might have a match against a mid-carder or jobber, just to keep that person on television. I remember the interviews conducted by Mean Gene Okerlund or Gorilla Monsoon.
Shinsuke Nakamura defeats Jeff Hardy in a minute to become United States Champion
I’m guessing Jeffy is injured. Nakamura hits a low blow while the ref turns around before the bell rings. Ref turns, and doesn’t even question why Hardy is suddenly lying on the ground. Bell rings, Kinshasa, cover, and it’s over. Randy Orton comes out and stomps on Hardy’s nuts.
Yep, the pre-show tables match still best match of the night.
Kevin Owens defeats Braun Strowman
Yep. But not how you would think. Owen had some offensive moments, such as using the cannonball and a superkick. He handcuffed Strowman but still ate a chokeslam for it. Nothing worked, and the big “HOLY CRAP” moment comes as Owens tries to climb the cage, and Strowman races up the cage wall, damn he moves fast, and lobs Owens off the top, and plunges all the way down and through an announce table. Good grief! Strowman never needed a win, he just wanted to commit murder on pay-per-view.
The Bludgeon Brothers defeat Team Hell No to retain the SmackDown Tag Team Championships
Earlier in the night, Harper and Rowan ambush Kane and Daniel Bryan. So we’re given the “uh oh, this match might not happen bit.” It starts as a handicap, until Bryan rallies, and everyone is down on the arena floor. Kane arrives, with a boot on his leg. Missed opportunity for Kane to walk down with a… cane. Bludgeons overpower the wounded duo, and retain the SmackDown Tag Team Championships.
Bobby Lashley defeats Roman Reigns
Yep. You read it correctly. The announce team hash over and over how Reigns “should be” Universal Champion, based on what happened at the Greatest Royal Rumble when both Lashley and Lesnar went through the cage and appeared to have hit the ground first. They also say after this match, they will address the ultimatum Kurt Angle delivered to Brock Lesnar. Show up, or get stripped of the title. This makes me nervous.
The crowd boos hard throughout this match. Boring, CM Punk, referee, any chant you can consider came from the live crowd. However, in a surprise, the live crowd really got into this. Bobby Lashley took some pretty sick bumps while Reigns failed to sell anything. I will give Reigns credit, he made Lashley look really good. A ton of back and forth, which can be expected from the two bruisers. Lashley took a nasty spill to the floor when Reigns tossed him clear over the top rope. Match over when Reigns charges for the Spear, and Lashley snaps up and delivers his own for the clean victory.
Lashley wins. Wow.
Alexa Bliss retains the RAW Women’s Championship over Nia Jax in an Extreme Rules Match
This one got nuts. Objects and weapons, Ronda Rousey suddenly at ringside with a ticket, Natalya and Mickie James at ringside, you knew this was going south fast. Rousey lost it and went after James. She got a bit too excited I think, she might have legit hurt James. Bliss wins after multiple chair shots followed by her Blissful DDT.
Meh.
AJ Styles retains the WWE Championship over Rusev (Day) w/ Aiden English
This likely marks the end of the Rusev/English team. The end of the match saw Enlish rip off a turnbuckle pad, but Rusev had no idea and wound up ramming his head into the exposed corner. It took both a 450 splash and the Phenomenal Forearm to put Rusev away. This was a fantastic match though. Rusev was at his best tonight and AJ looked awesome as always. My only gripe, is it couldn’t have ended cleanly.
I’ve noticed a trend tonight. Too much protecting going on. Way too much. It’s as though WWE Creative feels every match has to end with some sort of wonky finish. Sorry, but it is not working. Asuka, looked bad. Rusev/AJ? Didn’t need it. Rousey didn’t need to interfere, Bliss vs. Jax was Extreme Rules, and ended with interference and objects anyway. Hardy/Nakamura was a waste.
I am impressed WWE pulled the trigger and made the Iron Man match for the Intercontinental Championship as the main event. One the one hand I think it was a great move, on the other, it is yet another pay-per-view the company championship, the WWE Championship is not the main event match.
Iron Man Match for the Intercontinental Championship: Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler
Great match. Great main event. 30 minutes of wrestling. Startling surprise as Rollins is up 3-0 early on, with two pinfall wins, one featuring a Curb Stomp and another with McIntyre purposefully earning a DQ. Ziggler used that opportunity to quickly tie it up, and then take the lead, 4-3. Rollins and Ziggler went back and forth. Tied up with three minutes to go. Rollins went for some submission attempts but Ziggler escaped each one. Ziggler attempted to run with a minute left. Rollins hits a superkick and stomp as the clock runs out, and it goes to a draw. I thought the match was pretty exciting in the last five minutes. But Ziggler retains on the draw. Good job guys.
Wait… Wait a minute. Kurt Angle arrives. This one will not end in a tie. Sudden death overtime! One fall finish! But wait! McIntyre shows up and distracts Rollins, allowing Ziggler to hit a Zig Zag drop for the final finish! Ziggler gets the final pinfall victory.
So Angle comes out to restart, but doesn’t have anything to say about the interference? Man, come up with something better folks.
I felt, maybe WWE fans have difficulty watching long matches. The live crowd seemed easily bored if there wasn’t anything high-impact taking place. Continuous Rumble countdown riffs each time the minute ran down to zero, and some distractions in the crowd set people off easily. Sam Roberts didn’t help, starting the post show with a jab about a 30 minute match. Come on. Not a good way to put it over. I hate this guy.
In any case, this one is wrapped up and over. Not the best showing. It says something when a pre-show match was better than over half of the main card. Very strange booking decision and some odd ways these matches were performed.
