Cedric Alexander def. The Brian KendrickThis marked one of Kendrick's first few appearances on WWE TV since disappearing after that awesome Street Fight against Akira Tozawa late last month, and it's good to see him back. Both he and Alexander are excellent athletes and I was glad they weren't limited here. The match could have benefited from a few more minutes, but the crowd was engaged in the enjoyable action and it's apparent these two have terrific chemistry together. I would be more than down for a feud between them as opposed to the never-ending Alexander vs. Noam Dar rivalry. The Revival def. Karl Anderson and Luke GallowsThere will be those who will be unhappy with The Revival returning to the ring on Main Event instead of on Raw right away, but you had to know this was probably a test run for the former NXT Tag Team Champions in regards to how the crowd would respond to them and if they could still go in the ring coming off Dash Wilder's jaw injury. Well, they passed with flying colors because this was a really fun match while it lasted. Heel vs. heel matches don't typically work, but Anderson and Gallows were babyfaces here, and with The Hardy Boyz really the last remaining credible face duo on Raw, it would be interesting to see if Anderson and Gallows become full-fledged faces eventually.
0 Comments
Braun strowman Attacked Roman ReignsI've rarely found Ambulance matches to be all that entertaining, but Reigns vs. Strowman at Great Balls of Fire looks promising on paper because their whole rivalry has centered around it, hence why Strowman's latest ambush on Reigns here worked. It's abundantly clear Reigns is having a blast in getting under the skin of the fans, while the fans continue to go nuts for Reigns getting his ass handed to him. Finn Balor and The Hardy Boyz def. Elias Samson and Raw Tag Team Champions Sheamus & CesaroI was looking forward to this match once it was announced because it featured an interesting clash of styles, and while it was a fun little six-man tag team matchup, that actor from the new Transformers movie totally took away from it. I know WWE wants him to promote whatever the hell he'll be involved in coming up, but he would have best been relegated to a backstage segment and not doing commentary during what should have been a meaningful match. That said, this bout furthered two feuds and the crowd was solidly behind the babyfaces throughout.
El Terrible and Ultimo Guerrero def. The KingdomEl Terrible and Guerrero are stars from CMLL, whose partnership with Ring of Honor started late last year. I'm all for the company bringing in fresh faces to work with the current talent, but I've never understood why they almost always lose to the wrestlers from other promotions. It doesn't look good for guys like The Kingdom, who have fared fairly well for themselves while TK O'Ryan has been out injured (not to mention Matt Taven beat Adam Cole clean not too long ago at a ROH live event). They picked up the pace down the stretch and had a nice little opening match, but its lack of purpose took away from it for me. Frankie Kazarian def. Hangman Page in a Strap MatchUnlike most Strap matches, Kazarian and Page weren't tied together with a strap, and instead, they were allowed to use straps as a weapon. That made the match much more entertaining in my opinion and the intensity from both men was an excellent touch. The one thing I was hoping for was blood given the nature of their feud, and we got that in the final few minutes. After their War of of the Worlds match fell flat, this was a significant improvement from them. Similar to Taven, I was hoping Page would continue to build momentum after beating Cole earlier this month, but I didn't have a big problem with Kazarian picking up a rare win.
Matt Sydal def. Trevor Lee, Eddie Edwards, Davey Richards, Suicide and Braxton sutter in a Sony Six-Way Elimination MatchAs previously noted, I wasn't a fan of last week's Sony Six Battle Royal because of how it lacked a proper story, it came across as random, and the in-ring action wasn't all that good. While this six-way suffered from a similar issue in not serving a true purpose, the wrestling was far more enjoyable and everyone played their roles well, especially with Edwards and Richards furthering their feud going into Slammiversary. Multi-man matches aren't usually an effective way of getting over individual talents in the X-Division, but if nothing else, it was a fun showcase for this group of competitors. GFW Women's Champion Sienna and Laurel Van Ness def. Knockouts Champion Rosemary and AllieWhile this was designed to push two stories in the Knockouts division forward, the match itself left a lot to be desired, especially considering it had been built up over the course of a few weeks. If that wasn't disappointing enough, Rosemary was pinned for the first time here by Sienna, and although the commentators made mention of that, it didn't feel like a big deal whatsoever when it really should have given how dominant she has been as champion.
|
Categories
All
Archives
May 2024
|