Ariya Daivari def. WWE Cruiserweight Champion Neville by Count-out (Non-title)Heel vs. heel matches don't normally work in wrestling, and while the crowd was unsurprisingly quiet for this, it did make sense from a storyline standpoint after Daivari laid out Neville on Raw this week. Akira Tozawa was limited with what he had to say on commentary, which was for the best, and I liked the count-out finish that keeps Daivari in the title conversation and doesn't ruin Neville's undefeated singles streak. Gentleman Jack Gallagher Interrupted The Brian KendrickMost of what Kendrick and Gallagher have done throughout their rivalry up to this point has been either hit or miss, and this was absolutely a miss. Kendrick is a talented talker, but the material he was given to work with here (calling Gallagher a literal clown, etc) was godawful and fell flat with the crowd. Not even Gallagher interrupting Kendrick was enough to salvage this segment.
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Cedric Alexander def. Tony NeseIt's interesting that these two faced off considering it looks like they might be headed for a feud with each other based off their interaction on 205 Live this week (though this was taped before that happened). It was a quality contest with both men having strong showings. I appreciate Nese starting to show more signs of personality, but Alexander is the real star in my opinion and should ultimately be the one who beats Neville for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. Apollo Crews def. KalistoAs a babyface vs. babyface bout, there wasn't any incentive for the fans to cheer one guy over the other, but they weren't sitting on their hands the whole time and it was a good match, nonetheless. Both of these guys are suffering from a lack of direction at the moment (where was Titus O'Neil to support Crews?), but they are excellent athletes at the end of the day and can be counted on for enjoyable matchups such as this one. I liked how the finish came out of nowhere with Crews catching Kalisto in mid-air and hitting him with his finisher.
Raw General Manager Kurt angle Announced a Fatal 4-Way For the Universal Championship at SummerSlamIt's amazing how hot the Universal Championship picture has gotten in such a short period of time. Brock Lesnar wasn't even being discussed two months ago, but between Lesnar vs. Joe and now this four-way program, it has heated up considerably. Everyone, including Angle, played their roles remarkably well and I love that all four men will be vying for the title at SummerSlam as it carries a big fight feel. The brawl that ensued was excellent as well and started the show on a high note. Elias Samson def. Finn Balor in a No Disqualification MatchNeedless to say, this was the best bout these two have contested to date and it was refreshing for them to receive so much time. Samson doesn't have much "big match" experience, but he held his own here as Balor carried a majority of the matchup, resulting in this being very entertaining. They utilized the No Disqualification stipulation well and it was the perfectly slotted as the opener to the show (the previous segment aside). Despite being directionless since returning to the ring, Balor remains immensely over with the audience and I hope he comes out of this apparent program with Bray Wyatt looking strong. Sure, he fell short of victory against Samson, but it was only after Wyatt interfered. Here's hoping Samson can continue to ride this wave of momentum he's got going right now.
By RJ Marceau Going into Sunday night, I had little expectations for the show because the build was lousy and none of the matches were must-see. SmackDown since the Superstar Shake-up has been worse and I think that is what has affected the show quality and the pay-per-views in general.
The show started with a great tag team match between The New Day and The Usos. This match was good start to finish with great nearfalls at the end. I was surprised they did the title change here but I expect a rematch at SummerSlam with a stipulation. These teams have great chemistry and started the night off with a bang. Aiden English def. Tye Dillinger (Kickoff Match)I couldn't have cared less about this match coming in because of how many times it's been done since April and I'm sure I wasn't the only one who felt that way. The only saving grace of this match is that Dillinger and his "ten" gimmick is still (surprisingly) over with the audience and they were behind him to an extent in this bout. Obviously, it was nothing special and English winning made for a flat finish. He's a fine talent, but I see way more upside in Dillinger and it's a shame more isn't being done with him at the moment. The New Day def. The Usos to Win the SmackDown Tag TEam ChampionsThis was perhaps the perfect match to open the night with as these two tandems work exceptionally well together and they produced yet another gem of a matchup here. It isn't often we see so many nearfalls in a typical WWE match, especially in tag team affairs, but there were a surplus of them in this contest and each one of them was super suspenseful. All four guys deserve a ton of credit for a hell of a match, though I can understand fans not being happy with New Day capturing the championship. Personally, I would have waited until SummerSlam to do the title change, but it was bound to happen eventually.
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