 Mr. McMahon, Triple H, Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon and SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon Announced They Would Be Running Raw and SmackDown LiveIt was announced last Friday that Mr. McMahon would be appearing on this show to "shake up" Raw coming off Seth Rollins' comments last week about how abysmal the brand has been lately. Their grand plan for a shake-up, you ask? Putting the McMahons back in charge of both Raw and SmackDown. I don't know what's worse: having a heel general manager in charge or the McMahons, or both. The more things change, the more they stay the same, I suppose. On the bright side, they did say there would be new matchups and new faces on WWE TV in the coming months (we found out several stars from NXT are getting called up soon), but all of this is just lip service until they actually follow through on their promises. I'm definitely skeptical given their track record, but I'm also willing to give them a chance. Kurt Angle, Apollo Crews and Raw Tag Team Champions Bobby Roode & Chad Gable def. Baron Corbin in a No Disqualification 4-on-1 Handicap MatchYes, this was essentially the same "match" we saw at TLC with the babyfaces ganging up on Corbin and using his own tricks against him, but the crowd ate it up and Corbin deserved everything he got here. In other words, I didn't mind this one bit. If Angle isn't returning to his role as Raw general manager, I'm interested to see if he'll become an active member of the roster moving forward or if he'll only show up occasionally. Either way, I'm relieved Corbin's days as the head honcho on Raw are finally over.
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 WWE Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy def. Cedric Alexander (Kickoff Match)The last two matches these two had against each other were way better than this. That isn't to say it was bad by any means, because it was still very fun while it lasted, but they could have used more time and it was clear they weren't allowed to go all out. Hey, at least they technically made the pay-per-view, even if it was on the Kickoff show. Murphy winning was the right call since he's just getting started as champion, though it leaves me wondering what the future holds for Alexander and if he's Raw or SmackDown Live bound. Elias def. Bobby Lashley in a Ladder Match (Kickoff Match)I haven't particularly cared about this feud much at all, but it was weird for this to be bumped to the Kickoff show over the Mixed Match Challenge finals. Then again, this wasn't anything special whatsoever and easily among the least memorable Ladder matches I've seen in some time. The effort was there, though. I liked that Elias picked up the victory, but how much does it mean when he was attacked immediately afterward by Lashley and Lio Rush? By the way, they must have changed the rules for this at the last minute, because I was under the impression that you could pull the guitar down and use it to your advantage, but apparently it was over once Elias grabbed possession of it.
 Kenny King def. Eli IsomOn an already loaded lineup, I didn't see any real reason for this match to happen, especially since Isom isn't a huge name whatsoever. Then again, he has picked up a handful of notable victories this year, while King has been on quite the roll lately. It was a perfectly fine match that had its moments and Isom didn't look too out of place (though it was apparent he was wildly inexperienced compared to King). Obviously, King winning was the right call and I can certainly see him becoming a bigger star in 2019 (especially with so many departures reportedly happening). ROH World Television Champion Jeff Cobb def. "Hangman" Adam PageIt's unbelievable that Page has contended for the ROH World Television Championship time and time again over the past two years yet has never won it once. Perhaps he would have gotten a real run with the title if he chose to re-sign (which he still could but I believe that won't be the case). Nevertheless, if this was in fact his last marquee match in Ring of Honor, he went out with a bang. This was a hell of a sprint and both guys put forth an exceptional effort. The crowd ate up everything they did and was split on who they wanted to win. Cobb is on the rise in ROH and needed the decisive victory, so I loved the clean finish.
 Rich Swann def. Dave Crist to Qualify for the Impact X-Division Championship Ultimate X Match at HomecomingAs I noted in my thoughts on Jake Crist vs. The Mack last week, I couldn't care less for the Crist brothers as singles competitors, but they aren't bad in the ring whatsoever. That said, Swann was largely responsible for making this as a nice little opener and I appreciated that the interference was kept to a minimum. Swann winning was clearly the right call and I would assume the post-match angle with Mack coming to Swann's aid against oVe was done to set up a Sami Callihan vs. Mack matchup for Homecoming. That would explain why Mack failed to quality for Ultimate X last week. Impact Knockouts Champion Tessa Blanchard and Taya Valkyrie Came Face-to-FaceThe story of Valkyrie vs. Blanchard has been well told thus far with Blanchard doing everything imaginable to escape their matches with her title intact, even if that includes roughing up referees. Thus, it made sense to appoint a special guest referee to their upcoming outing at Homecoming, and that person was revealed to be Gail Kim. The verbal back-and-forth between Blanchard and Valkyrie was really good and I'm looking forward to their next match on pay-per-view.
 EC3 def. Bobby FishUndisputed Era (and specifically Fish) put EC3 on the shelf with an injury prior to TakeOver: WarGames II, so EC3 is out for vindication. I honestly don't think I've ever seen Fish in singles action on NXT TV before, but he did well and I found this to be a nice little match. It didn't last tremendously long, mind you, but I was happy that the interference from Undisputed Era was kept to a minimum and that EC3 was able to exact a measure of revenge with the win. Heavy Machinery made the save for EC3 afterward, so it looks like they might be next in line for a shot at the NXT Tag Team Championship, which is fine by me. Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch def. The MightyThese two teams originally clashed on NXT two weeks ago. Following Lorcan and Burch's victory, The Mighty ambushed them from behind, thus setting up this rematch. It was every bit as fun as their first encounter and I'll never get tired of the hard-hitting style that Lorcan and Burch work. The Mighty looked good here as well, but per usual, they lost again. I'm a fan of theirs, but it's incredibly difficult to get behind them when all they do is lose.
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