 Bobby Roode and Becky Lynch def. Finn Balor and Sasha Banks in a Semifinal MatchUnfortunately, it was announced Charlotte Flair suffered an injury and had to pull out from this match. As I much as I love their pairing, the dynamic between Roode and Lynch was interesting as well. They had great chemistry with their opponents Balor and Banks as well. Balor vs. Roode was fresh, while Banks and Lynch always work well together. It's rare stuff from Raw and SmackDown Live carries over onto this show, but Banks' apparent heel turn was furthered here with her frustration ultimately costing her and Balor the match. Kurt Angle appearing afterward was a nice treat for the live crowd considering he's a Pittsburgh native, and he announced Charlotte will be back next week to reunite with Roode to take on The Miz and Asuka in the finals. Overall ShowAlthough I was looking forward to what was originally advertised, Lynch filling in for Charlotte turned out to be a pleasant surprise. The match we got instead was excellent and everyone played their parts to perfection. I didn't think Balor and Banks would win considering they lost to Miz and Asuka earlier in the tournament, but I enjoyed the action, nonetheless. Next week's finals should be fun.
0 Comments
 Rusev and Jinder Mahal def. United States Champion Randy Orton and Bobby RoodeMahal noted beforehand that Sunil Singh was still "hurt" from last week's attack at the hands of Orton and Roode, so he was replaced by Rusev in this match instead. They were actually tag team partners over a year ago and had a falling out, but apparently the company doesn't remember that. I fully expected Rusev to eat the pinfall loss for his team, but he ended up pinning Orton as I hoped he would, which led him to being added to the United States Championship bout at WrestleMania. The matchup was solid albeit a bit formulaic, though, and it ate up a good chunk of time. Becky Lynch def. Ruby RiottThis was better than most women's matches we tend to see on SmackDown Live nowadays because it was actually competitive and featured fun back-and-forth action. Lynch managed to overcome the odds, further making The Riott Squad look weak in the process. I can't complain about that at this point because they're already weak as can be. As for Lynch, I would love to see her win the WrestleMania Women's Battle Royal and then move to Raw, but I'm not sure how likely that is.
 The Revival def. Titus WorldwideConsidering this is a match we have seen countless times in the past, it was obviously nothing new. The bout was fairly formulaic and saw The Revival on offense for the most part. It wasn't bad by any means, but I can't say it exactly lit the world on fire. The Revival won as they should have, and that was all that mattered. The Revival will be a part of the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 34, and I expect they'll soon be joined by Titus Worldwide. Kalisto, Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik def. Tony Nese, Gentleman Jack Gallagher and Ariya DaivariThis was no different than the six-man tag team match we witnessed with these same men last week, expect Gallagher filled in for TJP. They, again, had their time cut, which was a shame, because this could have been a ton of fun if it was allowed to go a little longer. It was either that or a majority of the match happened during the commercial break, because all I saw was maybe a minute or two in length. If nothing else, The Lucha House Party continued their recent roll with the victory.
 Universal Champion Brock Lesnar Attacked Roman ReignsWWE is desperately, and I mean desperately, trying to get you and the masses to feel sympathetic toward Reigns, and it simply isn't working. Granted, he wasn't booed nearly as loudly here as he normally is, but WWE's attempts to get him over as the conquering hero, again, aren't going to be successful. That said, this was another strong promo from Paul Heyman as well as another strong attack from Lesnar. He has looked absolutely relentless in his assaults on Reigns, so imagine how much more effective they would be if someone such as AJ Styles or Daniel Bryan was the target. Nia Jax def. Mickie JamesJames allowed Bliss to escape Jax's wrath last week, so it was logical for Jax to get her hands on James this week. As a match, it was perfectly fine and served its purpose in giving Jax more momentum ahead of her Raw Women's Championship match with Bliss at WrestleMania. They're telling a simple story with them that the crowd is invested in, and that's all that matters.
 Hunico and Camacho def. Mike Dalton and Jason JordanDalton and Jordan had previously scored an upset victory over Hunico and Camacho, which confused me since it looked like Hunico and Camacho were being built up. I suppose the point of that was to make Dalton and Jordan look competitive here and make viewers think they had a chance of winning again. Of course, that wasn't the case, but this was a nice little match and a good showing from everyone involved. The Ascension Attacked The UsosThe Usos called out The Ascension as they had unfinished business from the last time they clashed, only for The Ascension to ambush them from behind and lay a brutal beating on them. It was rare we actually saw talking segment (or something that wasn't a match) take place in the ring and not backstage, so this was a refreshing change of pace to breath new life into their feud.
|
Categories
All
Archives
January 2025
|
RSS Feed