 World Heavyweight Champion Gunther Addressed Jey UsoThis was a necessary promo from Gunther to follow up on what Jey said to him on last week's Raw. He showed a different side to himself now that Jey isn't afraid anymore and I thought he carried himself exceptionally well. He's actually stepped up his mic skills big time over the last year and I don't think that's been acknowledged enough. This was a strong segment to start the show. Bayley def. WWE Women's Tag Team Champion Liv MorganI'd be down with this as a full-fledged feud at some point later this year, specifically over the Women's Intercontinental Championship to give it a credibility boost. They work well together and thus this was a quality contest from them. Bayley winning was logical to send the message that Bayley and Lyra Valkyria could capture the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania 41. Rey Mysterio def. Julius CreedThis Mysterio vs. El Grande Americano feud has hardly been WrestleMania-worthy, but I can't complain about Chad Gable getting a singles match at 'Mania for the first time, not to mention the matchup itself will be enjoyable. This served as basic build with Mysterio and Creed having a nice little sprint, Mysterio picking up the clean win and Americano standing tall afterward. I can see Americano winning to extend the rivalry a bit further. AJ Styles def. Karrion KrossThese two had a string of matches on SmackDown and Styles won every single one of them. After tonight, Kross remains winless against Styles. Believe it or not, this marked Kross' first televised match on WWE TV since July. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary about this outing, but I love that Kross wore similar tights to Styles and that he sacrificed himself in the end so Styles could embrace his "evil ways " (if you get it, you get it). The post-match angle with Logan Paul laying out Styles was simple stuff. Jey Uso Addressed World Heavyweight Champion GuntherI honestly would've kept the final sell for the World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania to what we got from Gunther in the opening segment. That isn't to say this was bad, but it definitely wasn't needed. Jey went from cutting one of his best promos in recent memory last week to doing his usual shtick this week. Sure, the crowd was hot for it, but it felt like a step backward for his character and didn't really accomplish anything, either. Penta vs. Finn Balor Ended in a No ContestBalor may mean very little these days, but I was excited for this first-time-ever encounter, nonetheless. They had a good match, but I'm sure they're capable of better. Bron Breakker attacked Balor first upon entering the ring, so Balor technically should've won by disqualification, but WWE.com ruled it as a no contest. All of this did its job in hyping the Intercontinental Championship Fatal 4-Way for WrestleMania, though Breakker tending to his knee afterward has me worried he might be hurt before then. Seth Rollins, CM Punk and Roman Reigns Attacked Each OtherOn the whole, I'd say the build for the men's Triple Threat match at WrestleMania has underwhelmed, but this was a solid final segment with the three of them. Paul Heyman has played a pivotal role, so I liked how Reigns roughing up Heyman was what led to Punk coming out to rescue him. Rollins standing tall once again seems suspicious and makes me slightly less confident that he's winning this weekend, but that chair shot he delivered to Reigns from behind was a wonderful nod to The Shield's split over a decade ago. Overall ShowI thought this was a perfectly serviceable go-home show. The road to WrestleMania this year has been all over the place and I don't think this episode did much to move the needle in either direction. There was hype for all of the expected matches except for Cody Rhodes vs. John Cena (we'll get that on SmackDown) and the pre-taped promos from the Women's World Championship combatants were great. This show gets a thumbs-up from me, but not an overly enthusiastic one.
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