 Women's World Champion Liv Morgan def. IYO SKYI thought their last encounter at Night of Champions was good albeit unspectacular. This, however, was much better. It was nicely paced and both women put forth an excellent effort. I could have done without the interference from the rest of The Judgment Day, but this was a really enjoyable opener otherwise. I was pulling for SKY to win because Morgan's reign has been so damn uneventful, so while I was disappointed SKY lost, I can only hope this will be a turning point in how she's booked going forward. I'm just not sure who's waiting in the wings to challenge given the dire state of Raw's women's division right now. LA Knight, Solo Sikoa and Royce Keys def. The Bloodline (The Usos and Jacob Fatu)Although this was a fairly standard six-man tag team match, I had fun with it because you could tell that the six Superstars were having fun with it themselves. Sikoa specifically shined, which wasn't surprising since he's been a blast as a babyface over the last month. That spot with Keys and Fatu by the barricade looked awesome, too. I was happy that Knight pinned Jey for the victory, but will it actually amount to anything? Gunther def. Nick AldisPersonally, this was my favorite match of the night. Sure, it didn't get a ton of time (I wish it went a little longer), but it had outstanding emotion and great action. Aldis deserves a lot of credit for having as stellar of a showing as he did, and that Oasis entrance was incredible. I'm stoked he got that moment. Gunther winning was the correct outcome, but Aldis looked wonderful in defeat. Please don't let this be the last time we see him wrestle in a WWE ring. Fatal Influence (Jacy Jane and WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid) def. Paige and The Bella TwinsThis was almost the exact opposite of the six-man tag team match from earlier. The crowd didn't care about this nearly as much, nothing about it stood out at all and it felt like it ended abruptly. To be fair, Brie Bella got legitimately hurt at one point, so that was probably a factor. Thankfully, The Bella Twins turned heel afterward by attacking Paige and ending that alliance. Undisputed WWE Champion CM Punk def. Cody RhodesAs well wrestled as this was, I do agree with the majority opinion that it fell below my lofty expectations. It wasn't bad by any means, and I didn't find the early goings as boring as most, but it needed to hit that next gear in order to feel as special as it should have and they didn't quite get there. It was entertaining on the whole, however, and they benefited from the Randy Orton return in the closing stretch. I appreciate how that will keep Rhodes busy outside of the title picture while Punk focuses on other opponents for the foreseeable future. Oba Femi def. Brock Lesnar in a Hell in a Cell MatchThis was more underwhelming than Punk vs. Rhodes and suffered from a similar issue in that they were just starting to get going when they went to the finish. Everything that came before it was solid, but they definitely didn't need the cage if they weren't going to utilize it. With the big fight feel this had, they should have gone several more minutes at least. Nonetheless, Femi going over decisively was the only appropriate ending, and Lesnar's post-match endorsement of Femi was a terrific touch. During his brief promo, Lesnar didn't officially announce his retirement, but that certainly seemed to be the vibe here. Overall ShowThe last two matches slightly missed the mark for me, but that didn't take away from what was overall a thumbs-up event in my book. Five of the six matches delivered and the women's tag team match was marred by an injury (though I can't imagine it would have been much better had that not happened). The three hours flew by, and while it would have been ideal for a few of the matches to get more time, there was enough to keep me invested. That said, Night 2 has to hit a home run in order for the weekend to be considered a success.
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