 Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champion Sami Zayn Saved World Heavyweight Champion Seth "Freakin" Rollins and Cody Rhodes From The Judgment DayThis felt like the segment where we'd find out what was next for Rhodes and it makes total sense that Rollins would answer the call. Not only did it look like Rhodes was going to challenge Rollins a month ago before Brock Lesnar attacked him, Rollins has something to prove as he lost three straight matches to Rhodes last year. It wasn't long before Judgment Day interrupted them and set the stage for the six-man tag team match in the main event once Zayn made the save. It was a solid segment on the whole. Chad Gable def. Ricochet, Tommaso Ciampa and Matt Riddle in an Intercontinental Championship No. 1 Contender's MatchThe match aired uninterrupted thanks to the first hour being commercial-free and it was a very fun four-way. Ricochet and Riddle have already unsuccessfully challenged Gunther for the title, and with Gable being in his home state, he was the best choice to go over. He and Gunther had a great match last Monday and I'm excited to see them run it back. Ciampa vs. Gunther also would've been a treat (they had a Match of the Year contender at an NXT TakeOver event two years ago), but maybe we can see still that eventually. Shinsuke Nakamura def. Bronson ReedThese two along with Ricochet and Ciampa have been having the same matches against each other for months and I'm glad the feud feels like it's finally over, or at least so it seems with Nakamura moving on later in the night. Don't get me wrong, this was solid stuff and they got an ample amount of time, but I'm not a fan of the 50/50 booking and I'm worried what happens to Reed now. Zoey Stark and Shayna Baszler Interrupted Becky Lynch; Baszler def. StarkThere's really nothing left for Lynch to say about her feud with Trish Stratus before the blow-off, so while I understand why she'd be on this show, her promo felt pretty pointless, especially since it ended up leading to Stark vs. Baszler, anyway. Those two had a well-wrestled match and I was surprised Baszler received a decent reaction (the crowd was dead for her matchup against Ronda Rousey at SummerSlam), but we still haven't seen a full-fledged face turn from Baszler, so I can't say I was shocked by the quiet crowd reaction here. Ludwig Kaiser def. OtisWith Gable set to challenge Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship soon, this was a nice way of giving the feud more exposure on the show by having a member of Imperium face a member of Alpha Academy. Kaiser beat Matt Riddle last week and Otis this week, so I appreciate that he's being built up a bit. Why can't Giovanni Vinci get that same treatment? The match was fine while it lasted and the crowd popped big for Gable making the save afterward. Hopefully these reactions carry over into the coming weeks. LA Knight Attacked The MizThere was no explanation provided as to why Knight, a SmackDown Superstar, was able to appear on Raw. I shouldn't bother asking questions at this point, but I do, anyway. Knight continues to be mega over and the segment was great, so I'm not complaining. Knight flubbed one of his lines, but otherwise, they gelled really well on the mic and it left me looking forward to an eventual match between them, which isn't something I say often about Miz nowadays. The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) def. The Viking RaidersKingston had been out injured since March. It doesn't feel like it's been that long, but I'm glad he and Woods are back in the tag team division. Woods wasn't hurt, but I guess WWE had no use for him on his own without Kingston or Big E around, so New Day feels fresher than they have in a while. This was a good comeback match for them against familiar foes in Viking Raiders. I'm looking forward to them eventually challenging Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. Cody Rhodes, World Heavyweight Champion Seth "Freakin" Rollins and Shinsuke Nakamura def. The Judgment Day (Finn Balor, Damian Priest and NXT North American Champion "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio)As I've said before, we've seen several variations of Rollins and Rhodes against Judgment Day in recent months, but the matches continue to deliver and close out the show on a high note. The action was entertaining and the babyface team was able to coexist (Balor getting pinned again should be significant), but the "swerve" was that it wasn't Rhodes or Rollins who turned on each other but rather Nakamura attacking Rollins. He's been leaning heel for weeks, so I figured that would happen. Will Rollins vs. Nakamura be the main event while Rhodes temporarily feuds with Balor to prolong Rhodes vs. Rollins? Overall ShowThe show started strong with the commercial-free first hour, died down a bit in the second hour, and finished strong in the third hour. All in all, it was a thumbs-up SummerSlam follow-up show. We have Rollins vs. Nakamura, Gunther vs. Gable and more Judgment Day tension to look forward to along with Lynch vs. Stratus next week. New Day's return was notable as well. WWE's international/stadium shows are over for the time being, so fingers crossed they can maintain the momentum heading into Payback.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Categories
All
Archives
December 2025
|
RSS Feed