By Graham "GSM" Matthews Cesaro def. Alberto Del Rio, Sheamus and Apollo Crews in No. 1 Contender's Fatal 4-Way Match For the United States Championship I loved how these four went from facing each other in singles matches last week on SmackDown to competing in tag team action on Raw to colliding in a Fatal 4-Way on this show. It was such a natural, logical progression that I'm actually impressed by because this isn't something we see often. All four guys work very well together, so it was no surprise they produced a fun Fatal 4-Way to set up the subsequent U.S. title match. Del Rio attacking Cesaro afterward should lead to a continuation of their rivalry that I am very much looking forward to. United States Champion Rusev def. Cesaro Rusev was a total heel for wanting to defend his title immediately following the ambush on Cesaro, and it made Cesaro look like a strong babyface (literally and figuratively) as a result. Cesaro scored just enough offense for the fans to rally behind him, and that one spot that saw Cesaro reverse the Accolade into a pinfall attempt was excellent and nearly convinced me he had the title won. It was announced Rusev will be defending the star-spangled prize against Titus O'Neil on Monday's Fourth of July Raw (which I called this past week), but Cesaro vs. Rusev would be a great program down the road.
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By Graham "GSM" Matthews King Cuerno def. Mil Muertes I thought it was foolish to do this match so close to Ultima Lucha Dos instead of holding off on it, but we later found out they'll meet in a Death Match at the event. That also helped better explain the screwy finish to this match. That said, the match itself was well-wrestled and they had good chemistry together, but it felt like they could have used a few more minutes to reach that next gear, though I assume they want to save their best work for the big rematch. Catrina seemingly remains a heel manager, but I guess Muertes is a babyface by this point following his feud with Matanza Cueto. Prince Puma def. Dragon Azteca Jr. This is a match that should have been advertised in advance given their history together as tag team partners, yet I understand why it wasn't since Puma vs. Rey Mysterio was just made official for Ultima Lucha Dos at the end of last week's episode. At any rate, this was an excellent match where Azteca came out of it looking just as great as Puma. I was worried he would be overshadowed by Puma and Mysterio in their trio, but he had the crowd solidly behind him here. Puma winning was logical since he'll be in the bigger bout at Ultima Lucha Dos, but unless I missed something, I found it strange there was no mention of Azteca's match with Black Lodus. Or is that not happening anymore? By Graham "GSM" Matthews Alexa Bliss def. Carmella I remember the series of matches these two had when Blake and Murphy were feuding with Enzo Amore and Big Cass last spring and they were pretty deplorable. That said, both women have improved immensely in the ring since then. They still have a ways to go until they're truly great, but they've made strides and it has shown. This was a nice match that was given a surprisingly pleasant amount of time. Bliss going over was the right move to set her up as a credible opponent for Bayley next week. Andrade "Cien" Almas def. Noah Potjes Almas is off to a lackluster start on NXT and it's a major shame. He has all the talent in the world and is an excellent wrestler, but having him beat cult favorite Tye Dillinger not once but twice was the kiss of death for him. That's not to say he won't be able to rebound, but it's going to be tougher for him to build a fan following at this point. If the crowd didn't side with him when he was working with an enhancement talent in Potjes, it might be a while before he wins over the faithful at Full Sail University. By RJ Marceau As I was on the train ride home from work today I had some ideas going through my head on what the WWE should do at Battleground leading into the WWE Draft. After Raw ended, they still were promoting the main event of Battleground as the Triple Threat match with Ambrose vs. Rollins vs. Reigns. The WWE needs to make a decision to either exclude Reigns from the bout or just make him a non-factor. In my scenario, Reigns is out of the picture and the main event is Rollins vs. Ambrose. They contest a great match ending with a very controversial double count-out or draw. Shane and Stephanie try to come out with a new decision and decide that a rematch on the next night's Raw would settle this dilemma. On Raw, in similar fashion maybe Ambrose gets disqualified or a draw occurs again, leaving the audience in utter confusion. By Graham "GSM" Matthews Allysin Kay, Veda Scott and Amber Gallows def. ThunderKitty, Sumie Sakai and Crazy Mary Dobson Kay is Sienna from TNA (this must have been filmed before she signed with them a few months ago), Scott does managing for Ring of Honor, I saw Sakai in action at an independent wrestling last month, and Dobson made a one-off appearance in NXT not too long ago. Thus, I was familiar with two-thirds of the competitors in this match, and ThunderKitty and Gallows quickly impressed me with their respective performances. I honestly expected this to be a train wreck given how many women were involved, but each of them played their role well and it ended up being a pleasant surprise of a bout. ODB def. Faye Jackson I liked the idea of a pre-match video package on the debuting Jackson, but she seemed fairly generic to me. By that I mean, nothing about her stood out. No real backstory, nothing. She wasn't awful in her premier appearance in ROH, so that was at least something, but on the other hand, I'll likely forget all about her by next week. In working with an established veteran such as ODB, she was carried to a competent contest. |
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