The Lucha House Party def. Drew Gulak, Gentleman Jack Gallagher and Humberto CarrilloHonestly, for as much talent involved in this thing, I was disappointed by just how boring this was on the whole. They were given plenty of time and could have had a real barn burner of a bout, but they worked the wrong type of match. It was very slow for the first three-quarters or so before they finally picked up the pace in the final few minutes. This could have been so much more exciting but felt like it fell flat instead. If nothing else, I liked the story told with Gulak's disdain for Carrillo going to the top rope being what cost them the victory. Ariya Daivari def. Cedric AlexanderI don't think I've ever seen an above-average match involving Daivari in WWE over the last two and a half years. He is a perfectly fine wrestler, but even with his recent resurgence, he simply doesn't do a ton for me when the bell rings. Thankfully, Alexander is excellent and was able to make this fairly entertaining. The hard-hitting nature of the contest helped wake up the crowd and Daivari winning allowed him to maintain momentum. It appears Alexander will be feuding with Oney Lorcan going forward, which I am in full favor of if their last encounter against each other was any indication.
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The New Day Called Out Mr. McMahonMan, I knew Kofi Kingston was over, but it didn't really dawn just how over he actually is until I heard the reaction he received from the audience here. I don't think there's any denying that he is the most popular star in the entire company right now and how fans desperately want to see him become WWE Champion. I loved the passion New Day showed during their promo, but McMahon's material wasn't anything new. I wish they had already announced Daniel Bryan vs. Kingston for the WWE title at WrestleMania 35 instead of waiting so long, but at least this served to set up the Gauntlet match main event for later in the night. Charlotte Flair def. Asuka to Win the SmackDown Women's ChampionshipThis show was originally supposed to feature a Fatal 4-Way to determine the number one contender to the title at WrestleMania, but that was scrapped in favor of this impromptu outing. Once Becky Lynch mentioned during a backstage interview that Flair brought nothing to the table for the WrestleMania main event, you just had to know Flair was winning here. Poor Asuka, who has been a complete afterthought since the Royal Rumble and arguably long before that as well. On the bright side, this was an excellent match that was on par with their WrestleMania encounter from last year. It started out slow, but once they picked up the pace, the crowd was invested in the action and went crazy when the championship changes hands. Now the question is if both belts will be on the line at the event and if WWE plans to merge them following 'Mania.
EC3 def. Tyler BreezeIt's sad that Heavy Machinery received a louder reaction from this crowd later in the show than EC3. I hate to sound like a broken record, but he has truly been buried since arriving on the main roster at the onset of 2019. He would have been way better off in NXT, or at the very least, WWE could have waited to call him until after WrestleMania. At any rate, he and Breeze had a nice little match two weeks ago that was won by Breeze. EC3 played the heel then, but he was back to being a babyface here, which was confusing. Needless to say, WWE doesn't know what the hell to do with either of these guys at the moment. Oh, and Breeze has a new haircut. I honestly had no idea until the bell rang. Heavy Machinery def. The AscensionThe Ascension being on offense for the majority of a match isn't exactly my definition of exciting. I'm a fan of Heavy Machinery's and the final few minutes of this with them hitting their signature spots was fun, but there was no reason for The Ascension's heat segment to last as long as it did. I quickly lost interest as the result, but at least the Boston crowd was still into them by the end. They were regulars on Raw and SmackDown Live for a brief period earlier this year, but they've since been forgotten about like the rest of the recent NXT call-ups. What a shame.
Becky Lynch def. Raw Women's Champion Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair in a Beat the Clock ChallengeBefore the bout, all three women addressed how it was announced earlier in the day that the Raw Women's Championship match will indeed be in the main event of WrestleMania 35, which is amazing news. The actual Beat the Clock Challenge gimmick did nothing for me, though. With there not being anything on the line, fans didn't have any incentive to care who won. Sure, Lynch received a bit of a momentum boost, but The Riott Squad continue to look like massive losers. Finn Balor def. Intercontinental Champion Bobby Lashley and Jinder Mahal in a 2-on-1 Handicap MatchAs I've said several times before, I could not care less about this rivalry between Balor and Lashley. This was originally supposed to see Lashley team up with Lio Rush against Balor, but Rush blamed "injuries" he sustained at the hands of Braun Strowman last week as the reason why he couldn't compete. Instead, he was replaced by Mahal, who I'd argue was an even worse choice, because his win-loss record in recent months has been atrocious. With this victory, Balor earned the opportunity to challenge for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania. I figure that's where we'll see The Demon show up again.
Moose def. TreyThe Rascalz have impressed me in virtually every match they've been a part of since arriving in IMPACT several months ago. Trey is an incredible athlete in his own right and put forth a hell of an effort against Moose, even though his chances of victory were slim to none. I was happy he was made to look credible in defeat, while Moose came across as dominant and aggressive. This was successful all around, but I'm curious what's next for Moose. Eddie Edwards and Eli Drake def. Fallah Bahh and KMBahh and KM are still technically comic relief, but they seem to win most of their matches and have been positioned as players on the tag team scene. Thus, it meant something for Edwards and Drake to beat them and remain a cohesive unit throughout. This was a nice little match that was probably the perfect length at only five minutes long. I assume Edwards and Drake will be in line for a shot at the Impact World Tag Team Championship eventually.
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