OPENING SEGMENT: MIZTV
I’m done with Miz. Heels don’t get their own TV show. He has the potential to be the best heel on the roster but they insist on marketing him and having him be the cool heel. It doesn’t work for me at all. The crowd should be booing over his catch phrases instead of chanting along with them. At least in this segment he goes a little Roddy Piper on the Bludgeon Brothers. For some reason, Daniel Bryan comes out just as they are about to bludgeon Miz. Bryan challenges one of them to fight him first and Harper accepts. This segment felt like it fell flat.
Segment Rating: Two Katie Vicks
XAVIER WOODS VS. RUSEV
I love Rusev but I’m over Rusev Day. Too bad the crowd will probably chant it for the next 10 years. Woods is gonna get crushed here. He has nothing on Rusev. I don’t know how they can even make this one competitive. Rusev would have to try to lose. Woods is quick and gets in some decent offense but it’s only drawing out the match and delaying the inevitable. Rusev finally gets his head out of his machka and remembers that he’s Rusev and he’s wrestling Xavier Woods. Woods finally eats a Machka Kick and ends up in the Accolade to end the match. Rusev should not have taken that much punishment in a match against Xavier Woods. Woods is good but come on, he’s done nothing outside of tag team work to this point and he’s not getting any kind of singles push yet, while Rusev is the number one contender to AJ Styles. The match suffered because it didn’t make sense.
Match Rating: Three Gold Medals
Jeff Hardy is weird. Is he broken/woken now? What is this? Shinsuke is hurt so Jeff is issuing an open challenge. Let’s see who accepts.
Is this a big deal that the cast of GLOW showed up? I don’t watch it so I have no idea. This annoys me. Make it stop.
UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: ERIC YOUNG VS. JEFF HARDY (c)
I really like this. I could see Young winning the title, but I think the much more likely outcome is Sanity beating the shit out of Jeff Hardy and getting DQ’d. I like the way the match goes with Young dishing out a ton of punishment that leads Graves to ask I wonder if this is about winning or about maiming Jeff Hardy. Good question to put in the fans’ minds. Make people question whether he answered the challenge to get a title shot or because Sanity saw an opportunity to pounce on a victim. Young has controlled almost the entire match. I love Jeff’s face paint. Phillips calls him Jeffrey Nero Hardy as says he’s feeling woken, perhaps telling us of the character change. The Usos arrive to get some redemption for last week and the match ends as we get chaos in the ring with Hardy and the Usos standing tall. Back from break, and we now have a six-man tag. The US Title match was a really good way to showcase Eric Young and Sanity’s punishing style and attitude.
Match Rating: Seven Gold Medals
THE USOS & JEFF HARDY VS. SANITY
Killian Dain is incredible, if you haven’t watched NXT, get ready to be amazed by this guy. Don’t let his size make you think he’s limited in what he can do. Alexander Wolfe looks like the guy you pay at a German brothel before a hooker shits on your chest. At least that’s what a friend told me. The Usos do the hot tag as well as any team in history. Jeff Hardy looked like he had no idea there was a match going on until he hit the Swanton Bomb for the win. I don’t even know if he realized he tag into the match at first. He didn’t react to anything all match. Weird.
Match Rating: Five Gold Medals
BECKY LYNCH VS. SONYA DEVILLE
Sonya gets way too cocky and gives Becky a chance to recover rather than keeping the pressure on her. Becky shows she can grapple as well and frustrates the hell out of Sonya, and Sonya ultimately gets thrown over the announce table. Sonya smartly turns to her striking game which seems to be her strength. Becky is definitely the better overall wrestler but Deville definitely has her in striking and maybe even in submission. Becky’s best play would be to stay away from mat wrestling until she has an opportunity to lock in the Dis-Arm-Her. A miscommunication between Sonya and Mandy leads to that exact opportunity and Becky grabs it for the win. A fun match.
Match Rating: Six Gold Medals
IN-RING SEGMENT: JAMES ELLSWORTH & PAIGE
Lots of heat on Ellsworth. He calls out Asuka. I am all for an Asuka-Ellsworth feud. Especially because we all know how it ends. Paige makes the match for next week. Love it. Ellsworth it really good on the mic.
Segment Rating: Four This Is Your Lifes
DANIEL BRYAN VS. LUKE HARPER W/ERICK ROWAN
We saw DB warming up backstage with Gallows & Anderson, I wonder if they’ll come out to help him and neutralize Rowan at any point. This feels like a huge mountain to climb for Bryan. Sure that’s what he’s built his career on, but the way the Bludgeon Brothers have been going lately, this doesn’t feel like a winnable fight. Especially with the early punishment DB is taking, getting dropped face first on the announce table and kicked into the timekeeper’s area. Harper should not throw Bryan into the corner or off the ropes at all because it will only give him a chance to counter and get back into the match. Stay right on him and don’t let him get more than an arm’s length away. Then again, even when Bryan gets to running, Harper seems to catch him and stay in control of the match. A big tornado DDT gets Bryan back into it and he’s able to duck a clothlesline and lock in the Yes! Lock, but Rowan does the expected and gets Harper DQ’d. Cue the good brothers? Not soon enough as the Bludgeons destroy Bryan. HOLY SHIT IT’S KANE! Team Hell No?!? Oh shit, I’m all for Team Hell No vs. the Bludgeon Brothers. Kane and Daniel Bryan take out the Bludgeons, and we seem to have a reunion on our hands. Would it be team Hell Yes now? We get a hug in the middle of the ring and crowd pops. TEAM HELL NO IS BACK, AND PAIGE GIVES THEM A TITLE SHOT AT EXTREME RULES! What an ending.
Match Rating: Ten Gold Medals
The show was pretty lame early but it certainly picked up.
Overall Show Rating: Seven Gold Medals
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