 Bobby Lashley and Mustafa Ali Interrupted United States Champion Seth Rollins; Lashley def. AliRollins is basically a babyface now if it wasn't already obvious. The only difference in his character presentation is that he isn't trashing the audience anymore. His exchange with Lashley left the door open for a rematch that I assume will take place at Survivor Series unless it's a multi-man match with Ali and Austin Theory. Speaking of Ali, he was made to look like such a loser (again) here. Yes, he showed heart before eating defeat, but the crowd didn't seem to care and they actually booed when Rollins mentioned his name during his promo. This was all about Lashley reasserting his dominance. Mia Yim def. TaminaThis was Yim's first official match on the main roster. Did she wrestle when she was in RETRIBUTION? I don't remember and don't want to remember. Anyway, this was fine. Tamina is terrible, so there was only so much Yim could do with her. I'm bummed she doesn't have her old entrance music, but her new theme isn't bad. Hopefully the alliance with The O.C. will get Yim more over with the audience in time. Chad Gable def. Matt RiddleThis was a part of the ongoing feud between Alpha Academy, Riddle and Elias. Elias previously rejected Riddle's request to team up, but between Gable beating Riddle here and Otis beating Elias last week, it looks like it's going to have to happen. I think that's actually a step backward for Riddle, who beat Seth Rollins in the main event of Extreme Rules just over a month ago. This was a fun sprint as you'd expect from these two. Johnny Gargano and Dexter Lumis Crashed Miz TV with The Miz and Byron SaxtonThe Miz and Lumis storyline has definitely dragged on longer than it should have, but admittedly, I got a big kick out of this segment with Miz attempting to act genuine and wearing a cardigan sweater. Gargano has been doing way too much of the comedy crap, but he played his role well here and they set the stage for Miz vs. Lumis in two weeks (presumably on Raw and not at Survivor Series). Here's hoping that's what ends it once and for all. Domink Mysterio def. Shelton BenjaminI'm in full favor of Benjamin getting more television time. Aside from his run in The Hurt Business, he has been vastly underutilized for the most part since coming back to the company five years ago. Sure, he lost the last two weeks, but it's better than him being relegated only to Main Event. He and Dominik had a nice little match, but while Dominik's been getting good heat lately, the crowd sat on their hands for this one. WWE Women's Tag Team Champion IYO SKY def. Dana BrookeBrooke certainly works hard and I applaud her for that, but I got a good laugh out of her saying that in that WWE Digital clip that he "elevated" the 24/7 Championship when she held it and was so offended when Nikki Cross threw it in the trash last week. The belt is where it belongs, Dana. This was a squash for SKY, as it should have been. Post-match, Yim officially joined Team Bianca in WarGames, and Rhea Ripley joined Damage CTRL's team later on. That means one spot on Team Bianca remains. Dolph Ziggler def. Austin Theory by DisqualificationI really liked the promo Theory cut backstage earlier in the episode (even though his logic behind cashing in the Money in the Bank when and how he did was flawed) and the aggression he showed in this match. Plus, he didn't come out taking selfies, either, which tells me this serious side of Theory is here to stay. These two work well together and they had a quality contest, but the focus was on Theory's relentless attack on Ziggler and getting himself disqualified. I still say the execution of his cash-in was awful, but I'm all for Theory developing an edge coming out of it. Baron Corbin def. Akira TozawaI liked how this was set up via the backstage segments that aired throughout the night with Tozawa getting the better of Corbin and JBL in poker. Tozawa is not only super skilled in the ring but he can also be very entertaining as a character, so I'm happy he had a chance to remind people of both of those things on this show. He pushed Corbin to the limit before falling short of victory, so I enjoyed this while it lasted. United States Champion Seth "Freakin" Rollins def. Finn BalorRollins and Balor never cease to deliver great matches together and this was no exception. It was also refreshing with it being the first time they've ever faced off where Rollins was the babyface and Balor was the heel. I wasn't a fan of the shenanigans outside of the ring at the end and AJ Styles costing Balor the title, but I understand it was designed to protect Balor in defeat. Styles vs. Balor at Survivor Series is going to be awesome, by the way. Overall ShowRemember that episode of Raw from three weeks ago where the general consensus online was that it was the worst Raw of the Triple H? I'd honestly argue this was worse. Was it an atrocious show? No, but it was dreadfully boring, enough to the point where I checked the time multiple times because the three hours were going by longer than usual. The Survivor Series and WarGames hype was well done, but there weren't many memorable matches or moments outside of the main event and everything involving Theory.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Categories
All
Archives
March 2026
|
RSS Feed