Universal Champion Braun Strowman Crashed The Dirt Sheet; Strowman def. The Miz (Non-Title)I didn't mind last week's Miz TV segment with Otis, but this was downright deplorable. Sure, it was short, but it felt like it was a lot longer than it actually was. I feel bad for John Morrison for returning to the company only to deal with this garbage material. The subsequent matchup was essentially a glorified squash with Strowman winning rather quickly and decisively. I'm sorry but I have less than zero interest in Miz and Morrison challenging Strowman to a Handicap match for the Universal Championship at Backlash. It's obviously filler before Strowman faces The Fiend (hopefully at SummerSlam), but is the SmackDown roster that depleted that WWE has to rely on a tag team to feud with Strowman in the interim? AJ Styles def. Shinsuke Nakamura in an Intercontinental Championship Tournament Quarterfinal MatchIt's amazing to think that this was at one time a main event attraction at WrestleMania. It was cool to see them rekindle their rivalry here, but it didn't feel nearly as special as it should have. What was once a "dream match" has been reduced to a quarterfinal matchup in a tournament for the vacant Intercontinental Championship. Don't get me wrong, it was very well wrestled and the action was excellent, but I can't say I ever bought into the possibility Nakamura advancing. By the way, Michael Cole noted during Styles' entrance (which was clearly edited in during post-production) that Styles been officially traded to SmackDown. Who Raw will get in return remains unclear and I doubt it will be brought up again.
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AEW World Champion Jon Moxley def. 10 (Non-Title)10 has picked up a handful of victories in recent weeks on Dynamite and Dark and now it's clear why. AEW was trying to position him as a threat to Moxley, but unfortunately for him, he was disposed of fairly easily by Moxley here. The promo work from Brodie Lee and Moxley beforehand and afterward was solid, but I still can't muster up the excitement for Moxley vs. Lee at Double or Nothing. It could be a great match, but it still feels way too soon. MJF def. Marko StuntMJF will be facing Jungle Boy at Double or Nothing this weekend, so this match made sense. Stunt has played his role perfectly as the "sacrificial lamb" for guys like Lee and Lance Archer recently, and while I'm not the biggest fan of Stunt, it was nice to see him score some offense for a change and look good in defeat. That said, MJF winning was never in doubt and his post-match promo about Stunt was a gem.
Karrion Kross def. Liam GrayHaving Kross go out there and annihilate his opponents in under a minute is absolutely for the best. Like I said two weeks ago, it makes him look like an unstoppable and unhinged killer. Tommaso Ciampa hasn't been seen since being ambushed backstage by Kross over a month ago, so it was logical that he'd resurface here to set the stage for their TakeOver: In Your House clash. Ciampa is coming off big losses to Adam Cole and Johnny Gargano, so I'm interested to see who will go over. El Hijo del Fantasma def. Akira Tozawa in an Interim NXT Cruiserweight Championship Tournament MatchFantasma has been putting in some strong performances since arriving in NXT as part of the Cruiserweight tourney and this was no exception. Tozawa has also been a revelation throughout this tourney (despite still being positioned as a loser on Raw), so this was an excellent effort all around. Those masked men attempted to abduct Tozawa later on in the parking lot, but Fantasma once again sent them packing. I will honestly be shocked if Fantasma isn't ultimately revealed to be behind it.
#AskGSM Edition #338: Owen Hart in the WWE HOF, Double or Nothing Preview, Recent Deaths, More5/20/2020 #AskGSM is a weekly Q&A video where I, Graham "GSM" Matthews, answer fan questions from Facebook, Twitter and YouTube in regards to the world of wrestling. Nothing is off limits, and this week’s edition touches upon a variety of topics including:
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