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.
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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.
Drago def. Sammy Guevara in a Super X Cup First Round MatchI've been a big fan of Drago's work in Lucha Underground, so it's super cool to see him competing in GFW as part of the Super X Cup. Once again, the pre-match video packages did an excellent job of getting fans familiar with the combatants and the in-ring action was incredibly entertaining. Drago emerged victorious as he should have, but I hope this isn't the last we've seen of Guevara. Additionally, I appreciated this was what kicked off the show and not the typical drawn-out talking segment. unified GFW Knockouts Champion Sienna def. Amber Nova (Non-title)Sienna certainly has a dominating presence about her in the ring, so this short and sweet squash match accentuated her strengths and was best kept brief. Her mic skills are gradually getting better and I thought her post-match promo was decent. Karen Jarrett might as well be the Stephanie McMahon of GFW, but I'm glad her mic work was limited in this segment. It was then announced that Sienna will defend the Unified GFW Knockouts Championship against Rosemary next week in a Last Knockout Standing match, and I assume the rest of the women (Gail Kim, Allie and Laurel Van Ness) who showed up will be involved in the title picture as well going forward.
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