 braun Strowman Confronted Brock LesnarEven before Roman Reigns' announcement last week, WWE had been doing an abysmal job of building up the Universal Championship match for Crown Jewel, so this last-minute attempt to make Strowman vs. Lesnar mean something ran hollow for me. On the bright side, Paul Heyman's mic work was above-average per usual and the crowd was behind babyface Strowman, but I still don't find myself looking forward to the matchup, especially considering how dull their last one-on-one encounter was at No Mercy 2017. Finn Balor def. Bobby Lashley by DisqualificationThis was another quality contest from Balor and Lashley, but Lio Rush's live mic remains a major annoyance. It makes me want to change the channel more than it makes me want to boo him and Lashley. It was weird of Lashley to lose clean last week and then lose by disqualification this week (following interference from Rush), only to be added to the upcoming WWE World Cup by Baron Corbin immediately afterward. He'll be replacing John Cena, who reportedly wants no part of Crown Jewel and I can't say I blame him.
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 Trish Stratus and Lita def. Mickie James and Alicia FoxThis was probably the perfect match to open the show considering the star power involved. Plus, the crowd was hot for everything they did, so that added to my enjoyment of it as well. It's a shame Alexa Bliss wasn't medically cleared to compete in time for the pay-per-view (she has gone on record many times in the past and said how it has been her dream to share a ring with Stratus), but at least she still interfered and I could see WWE throwing her a bone at some point and giving her a one-on-one match with Stratus on another show. Despite the lackluster build, this turned into a very entertaining affair. Nia JAx Won the Women's Battle Royal to Earn a Future Title OpportunityThis was basically every women's Battle Royal you've ever seen. That's not to say it was bad, but it didn't really stand out as anything special until the final stretch or so. There were a few rough spots here and there, but on the whole, this was a decent Battle Royal with a few fun cameos from women of the past. I've mentioned before how the Jax and Ember Moon partnership that's been happening recently did nothing for me on Raw, but it made sense to establish an alliance between the two coming into the event for their face-off here to actually mean something. I would have preferred Moon or Asuka winning over Jax, but Jax's victory does set up a rematch with her and Ronda Rousey, which we never got after Money in the Bank earlier this year.
 Sami Callihan def. Trevor LeeBetween facing Ethan Page last week and taking on Callihan this week, it looks like Lee is officially a babyface. I don't know what he did to officially turn, though. At any rate, this was a fun little match that allowed Callihan to maintain momentum and to set up the post-match angle that saw Cage confront Callihan. I'm looking forward to their eventual one-on-one clash for the Impact X-Division Championship. Impact World Tag Team Champions LAX def. The Heavenly Bodies (Non-title)According to the commentators, The Heavenly Bodies were a part of a recent IMPACT One Night Only pay-per-view, but I didn't watch it, so this was my introduction to them. They scored way more offense than I thought it would, but that's not a bad thing. They looked real good in defeat and it was an enjoyable encounter on the whole. Based off a backstage segment from later on in the night, Matt Sydal and Page appear to be LAX's next championship challengers.
 Toni Storm def. Meiko Satomura in a Semifinal MatchThe clash of styles here was perfect considering Satomura is such a seasoned veteran while Storm is still new to the game of wrestling yet has shown incredible potential in her few years on the scene. Putting those two things together made for an amazing affair that the crowd was heavily invested in from start to finish. I also loved how they gradually picked up the pace as they went along and the second half in particular was just fantastic. Their signature spots have been established nicely over the course of the tournament, so the fans in attendance popped huge when each of them kicked out of the other's finisher. Storm looked like an absolute star in victory here and Satomura proved once again that she remains among the best women's wrestlers in the world. What a match. Io Shirai def. Rhea Ripley in a Semifinal MatchSimilar to Storm, Ripley hasn't been doing this for very long, and likely even less than she has, so it's super impressive how she has been able to come into her own so quickly. After all, she showed signs of promise in in the 2017 Mae Young Classic, but her evolution as a character over the last year has been something to behold. Despite her defeat to Shirai, she has a very bright future ahead of her, and there's no questioning how tremendously talented Shirai is. This was another extremely entertaining match that was certainly worthy of taking place in the semifinals.
 EC3 def. Adam ColeWith Bobby Fish returning from injury, Undisputed Era is officially back in full force. I liked Adam Cole's promo that started off the show as well as the enjoyable encounter between Cole and EC3 that followed. It had a nice pace and was honestly one of the better bouts I've seen EC3 in since his coming to NXT. He was long overdue for a victory, so that was refreshing. Considering he was attacked by Undisputed Era afterward, it's possible he'll be added to the likely WarGames II main event alongside War Raiders, Ricochet and/or Pete Dunne. Mia Yim def. AliyahAlthough this was billed as Yim's NXT TV debut, she actually appeared on NXT TV before years ago in a quick squash against Charlotte Flair. Of course, she has come a long way since then and her spot on the NXT roster is well-deserved. However, I wasn't a fan of Aliyah dominating a majority of this match. I understood what they were going for, but this should have been a better showcase for Yim that didn't make it look like she was inferior to someone who has mainly been positioned as an enhancement talent.
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