Kickoff Show: Big E def. Baron CorbinThis stemmed from Corbin stealing Big E's Money in the Bank briefcase a week or two ago and Corbin thinking he could cash in the contract himself to turn his fortunes around. Corbin has been one of the best things going in WWE as of late and Big E just won Money in the Bank, so putting them on the Kickoff show was a nice way of getting them on the card. The match itself was pretty standard stuff but was solid for the time they were allotted. I'm glad Big E has been able to maintain momentum as Mr. Money in the Bank, but I get the feeling WWE doesn't know quite what to do with him until he attempts to cash in. RK-Bro def. AJ Styles and Omos to Win the Raw Tag Team ChampionshipThis was a really smart choice for the opener. RK-Bro have been the best part of Raw since WrestleMania 37 and are a very popular tandem. Putting the titles on them here was also the right call. Styles and Omos have ran their course as a team, and although it's a dead division that could use them, I'd rather see Styles utilized in a singles capacity again. It was an entertaining opener that the live crowd was certainly into. Alexa Bliss def. Eva MarieNo disrespect to the women involved, but this was easily my least anticipated match of the night because of the awful storyline we've gotten with them coming into this event. The Lilly stuff is just awful. As I've said before, Bliss plays her role well, but I have yet to see her have a single compelling/above-average match with this character. I guess you could have said the same about Bray Wyatt, but at least they didn't go too overboard with the supernatural crap. This was perfectly fine for what it was and it was wise of WWE to get this out of the way early. Damian Priest def. Sheamus to Win the United States ChampionshipI wanted to see a hard-hitting affair from these two (similar to what we got from them on Raw recently) and they did not disappoint. They beat the hell out of each other and there were plenty of cool nearfalls. I'd definitely be down for a rematch. Priest shined in his debut at the Royal Rumble, again at WrestleMania, and now he won the United States Championship at SummerSlam. Is he going to become Universal Champion at Survivor Series? In all seriousness, I'm happy WWE has been getting one of the NXT call-ups right. SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos def. Rey and Dominik MysterioI know we've seen what feels like a million matches between these teams in tag team and singles matches over the last month, but they never cease to work well together and this was no exception. Their chemistry was once again strong and the crowd was invested in the action. It was too soon for The Usos to lose the belts (despite Jimmy Uso's recent issues) and I'm actually glad it wasn't tension between the Mysterios that cost them the victory. Rey getting pinned as often as he has been is weird, though. Rick Boogs Played Intercontinental Champion King Nakamura to the RingWhen I saw Boogs in the ring, I was wondering whether we were getting an unadvertised rematch for the Intercontinental Championship between Nakamura and Apollo Crews. That would have been a total waste of time seeing as how Boogs pinned Crews in tag team action on SmackDown two days ago. Thankfully, It only existed to get Nakamura and Boogs on the show and for them to get that rock star reaction. Seriously, they're super over right now. I know he's the Intercontinental Championship, but I'd love to see Nakamura back in the Universal Championship picture at some point. Becky Lynch def. Bianca Belair to Win the SmackDown Women's ChampionshipWhat a roller coaster this was. First, we found out Sasha Banks wouldn't be appearing despite being advertised up until earlier in the show, though WWE likely knew a lot sooner she wasn't going to make it considering she wasn't on Friday's SmackDown or on last weekend's live events. Carmella came out instead, but you had to know a swerve was considering Belair has already beaten Carmella a bunch of times. Sure enough, Lynch made her grand return after over a year away to a monster pop... only to defeat Belair in literally five seconds. What a baffling booking decision. I'm stoked Lynch is back, but it shouldn't have at the expense of Belair. At the very least, they should have had the match and it should have been competitive, or better yet, don't do the match at all and figure something else out instead. This was all over the place. WWE managed to deliver a special moment only to ruin it moments later. That has to be some sort of a record, right? Drew McIntyre def. Jinder MahalI'm not going to lie and say I was overly excited for this encounter coming into the show, so I had no issue with this being kept on the shorter side. I know it would have meant a lot to them to have a lengthier match on the big stage, but I'm sorry, Mahal bores me to tears in the ring. Keeping this a straightforward singles affair was what needed to happen. McIntyre won and now we can all hopefully move on. Charlotte Flair def. Nikki A.S.H. and Rhea Ripley in a Triple Threat Match to Win the Raw Women's ChampionshipThe talent in this match was undeniable, so from that standpoint, I enjoyed it. They worked hard and Ripley was the clear favorite. That said, I hated the outcome. I think it's well documented that I'm no fan of that Nikki A.S.H. character, but if they were going to put the title on her (which they did way too quickly), they needed to go all the way with it and not take the title off her within a month. The belt is right back on Flair. I had no issue with Flair beating Ripley for the belt at Money in the Bank, but getting Nikki involved now feels even more pointless. I'm not even sure where they could from here. I can understand if fans aren't into Nikki or Ripley challenging her after this. Edge def. Seth RollinsThis was far and away the best match of the night. I don't think there can be any debate at this point that Edge has a lot left in the tank and is a master storyteller. Of course, Rollins was responsible for a lot of the magic of the match as well being the fantastic performer he is. These two had no problem stealing the show and the crowd was along for every step of the ride. Props to Edge and Rollins for such a storytelling masterpiece. Xavier Woods Sprayed Down The Miz and John MorrisonI've never wanted to see Miz and Morrison split up as badly as I do right now. Both guys are in desperate need of a refresh, and I don't think getting Logan Paul on Morrison's dumb talk show on Monday's Raw is the answer. I applaud them for giving their "comedy" their all, but it doesn't seem to click with a majority of the audience. This wasn't funny at all, though I loved Woods' Razor Ramon/Scott Hall cosplay. Where the hell was Kofi Kingston? WWE Champion Bobby Lashley def. Goldberg by Referee StoppageGoldberg's matches have been very hit or miss since he returned five years or ago. He'll have hoss fights that are entertaining (see: WrestleMania 33 vs. Brock Lesnar, Royal Rumble 2021 vs. Drew McIntyre), and then he'll have matches that are absolutely abysmal (see: Super ShowDown 2019 vs. The Undertaker and Super ShowDown vs. Bray Wyatt). Unfortunately, this fell in the latter category. Goldberg told me in our interview earlier this week that he had more time to train compared to previous comebacks, but that wasn't too apparent in this outing. There were a few scary spots and it looked like he legitimately got hurt. Even if he didn't, the match still sucked. Lashley beating up Goldberg's son Gage afterward means this feud isn't over yet and that's a shame because I have no desire to see them run it back after this mess of a match. Universal Champion Roman Reigns def. John Cena; Brock Lesnar ReturnedAfter starting out slow, this turned into a hell of a main event. They had the audience hanging on every nearfall and it was clear Cena hasn't lost much of a step after being out of the ring since 2019 (I don't count his Firefly Fun House match from WrestleMania 36). From a storytelling standpoint, similar to Edge vs. Reigns, this was a blast and the drama was at an all-time high as to whether Reigns' run would come to an end or not. Reigns winning would be a fine enough ending, but Lesnar making a shocking comeback was the cherry on top. I know it's not exactly CM Punk debuting in AEW, but Reigns vs. Lesnar feels fresh now with Reigns as a heel and the Paul Heyman connection. Color me intrigued. The question now is where they do it, though I get a sinking feeling they'll give it away in Saudi Arabia this October. Ugh. Overall ShowThis was the definition of a mixed bag of a show with there being so much good as well as more bad than there should have been. Lynch returning was an awesome moment, which was followed by a super baffling moment with her beating Belair quickly and decisively. We also got the return of Lesnar and an excellent main event, but before that, we had to sit through the slog that was Lashley vs. Lesnar. McIntyre vs. Mahal was whatever, but Sheamus vs. Priest was fun. Moreover than anything else, Edge vs. Rollins was one of my favorite matches all year. What a weird show, but because I'm biased being there in attendance, I'm willing to give it a thumbs-up. The follow-up to SummerSlam is almost always awful heading into the fall, but with Lesnar and Lynch being back in the field, I'm curious to see where they go with a lot of stuff. On a personal note, I'd prefer for Saturday pay-per-views to be a regular thing, but I'm not banking on it.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Categories
All
Archives
July 2024
|