WWE is putting forward every effort to stand out and tried to create some noteworthy outcomes. It’s clear they have AEW on their minds as the dates for new TV programs nears.
The pre-show saw Drew Gulak retain the WWE Cruiserweight Championship and AJ Styles defeated Cedric Alexander in the U.S. Title match. This by no means should be considered a slight, but rather an opportunity for a free match to showcase two of the best high-endurance talents in WWE.
The opening match of the main show, while a predictable outcome, was fairly shocking seeing who the titles were dropped to. Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler are your new RAW Tag Team Champions, and I like it. Two who can easily be called top tier veterans should be the champions going into the Fall TV programming.
Bayley defeated Charlotte Flair to retain the SmackDown Women’s Championship
Did anyone notice how Charlotte slid into babyface mode simply by being paired again the now evil Bayley. Little girls are crying everywhere… Except they shouldn’t be up this late watching television on a school night. Maybe I am in the minority, but I would rather see Charlotte remain as a heel. Bayley as a heel is growing on me, and I would like to see it develop more into childish heel tactics such as the running away bit we saw tonight.
The Revival defeated The New Day to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championships
At this point I have lost track who is on which brand. Revival in less than six months win both Raw and SmackDown tag team titles. Impressive they went over the New Day, which is fine. We know they’ll have a tag team reign again… or will they? Revival and RKO as a stable. Very interesting if it lasts longer than Survivor Series.
Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross defeated Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville (as Fire and Desire) to retain the Women’s Tag Team Championships
Decent match, I think the crowd was getting a bit burned out. The interference from R-Truth and a 24/7 bit was unnecessary. Can we please bring a pair of women from NXT to challenge?
Shinsuke Nakamura defeated The Miz to retain the Intercontinental Title
I was hopeful for this match, never really thought I would see these two in a ring again together. Unfortunately, Zayn’s interference made this predictable and I felt the shine for this match was tarnished all too quickly. I was not entertained.
I was entertained however as Sasha Banks defeated Becky Lynch by DQ. This was a really good match. I mean, really good. Better than the past few. The match turned brutal with a brawl all over the arena as a result of Lynch accidentally clobbering the ref with a chair. My only gripe, was bringing back Banks, only to look like the weaker wrestler as Lynch celebrated with revenge after the match was over. It should have been the opposite. Banks didn’t need to win the title or the match, but be the one left standing and leave Lynch in a heap. Banks’ return seems a bit shoddy.
Kofi Kingston defeated Randy Orton to retain the WWE Championship.
I’m not one to brag, but I knew the outcome as Orton looked completely bored during his entrance. He visibly went to ringside and made nice with a fan wearing a Cena shirt. When Orton breaks character, you know he doesn’t care for the match. It was obvious. Orton did the usual pummeling and Kofi did the usual rallying. The crowd wasn’t into it, and to be honest, I wasn’t feeling it either. I don’t blame Kofi, I blame Orton for continuing to sleepwalk through matches, I blame the shoddy booking for the match to be the same thing we’ve seen eight times already, and the position on the card was a bad choice.
Hopefully Vince won’t use this as an excuse to say Kofi can’t draw. You know, because he is too blind to see how Orton dragged this match down deeper than a grave.
Erick Rowan defeated Roman Reigns with help from the returning Luke Harper
I’m glad he’s back. I’m glad Reigns lost. Another predictable win would have begun the decent back to being booed. In my opinion anyway. This did appear to be an easy win for Reigns until Harper showed up. See, instead of doing the whole “overcoming the odds” they now open the door for Reigns to get a little bite of humble pie and regroup. Fans popped for Harper. Who wouldn’t?
Seth Rollins defeated Braun Strowman to retain the Universal Championship
I still think the WWE Championship should always close a PPV like this. The WWE title feels more like a secondary title at this point. While I don’t agree with the outcome, it does make sense given the next feud. I fear Strowman is gradually becoming the next Big Show. Constant main event pushes, only to be the “big bad” for the hero to overcome. It was a good match, don’t get me wrong, but the overkill of finishing moves and surprise moves did take away a lot of the energy towards the end. It was more like a sigh of relief it was over rather than a rush of excitement.
The excitement came, when the lights went down and “The Fiend” arrived to raise hell.
That is how you send the crowd home happy.
My major gripe, and it’s been the gripe for close to a year now, these PPVs are getting way too long. First a pre-show, then a near-four hour show. Save the long ones for the special PPVs like Rumble and WrestleMania. Don’t they see how tired fans are? They’re burned out before the final match begins, which adds more pressure to whomever is in the main event.
Overall, not their best show, but good enough to certainly keep eyes tuned in this week.
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