Wes Lee def. Josh BriggsBriggs was the perfect opponent for the returning Lee as they had a nice dynamic together due to the size difference. They had quality chemistry and the crowd was behind Lee throughout. The pre-match video package highlighting his NXT run, injury and return was well done. Briggs and Ivar interacting at ringside seems to indicate those two will be going one-on-one again soon. I'm happy Ivar's NXT return run isn't over yet despite losing to Oba Femi last week.
0 Comments
A.J. Francis def. Bryan Idol in a No Disqualification MatchI give Francis a lot of credit. Despite being subpar in the ring, he's become more relevant since leaving WWE the second time with his runs in TNA and MLW. Now he's arrived in the NWA, but it remains to be seen whether he'll be sticking around or if this was just a one-off. He did a nice job of eliciting heat with his pre-match promo. They benefited from the stipulation, which was added right before the bell rang. Aside from a few messy moments, this was decent and the crowd was into it.
Jey Uso def. Finn Balor in a King of the Ring First-Round MatchThe entire Judgment Day (sans Rhea Ripley, of course) started the show to patch up their differences from Backlash, but I think it's only a matter of time before tensions boil over. It was announced shortly before Raw went live that Drew McIntyre wasn't cleared to compete (which was probably always the plan if I had to guess), leading to Uso taking his place. They had a good match, but they very much worked a WWE style where they didn't really do anything yet the crowd was hot enough that it didn't matter.
The Bloodline (Solo Sikoa and Tama Tonga) def. Kevin Owens and Randy Orton in a Street FightThe two teams brawled before the bell, leading to Nick Aldis coming out and making it a Street Fight. It would have been a very good match regardless, but the stipulation made it even better. They made excellent use of it by taking their fight all over the arena and had an incredible opener. Everyone was expecting Jacob Fatu to arrive and aid Bloodline to victory, and as awesome as that would have been, Tanga Loa (Tonga's Guerrillas of Destiny tag team partner from New Japan Pro-Wrestling) debuting was a cool surprise. This was a stellar start to the show.
|
Categories
All
Archives
May 2024
|