We see Tommaso Ciampa walking through the parking lot, meaning some shit is about to go down tonight.
DANNY BURCH & ONEY LORCAN VS. ADRIAN JAOUDE & CEZAR BONONI
Bononi is a lot bigger than Burch, but Burch uses his speed, intensity, and experience to gain the upper hand early. Bononi looks oafish out there. No botches or anything, he just looks like he has no idea how to use his size and strength advantage. Jaoude looks a little better but neither of them really do much in this match. It’s a fairy easy win for Burch and Lorcan against two guys who look like they should squash them. Bononi and Jaoude need A LOT more work if they’re going to continue being a tag team going forward. Ugly match.
Match Rating: One Gold Medal
IN-RING PROMO: TOMMASCO CIAMPA
New entrance music for Ciampa. I was really digging the no-music entrance. Side note: I was called Tommaso Ciampa multiple times over Takeover/SummerSlam weekend.
I don’t know why. I don’t see it.
Most of the crowd is still all over the NXT champion. Excellent mocking of the crowd by the best heel in NXT. I can’t understand for the life of me how the things he’s saying are getting cheers from a portion of the crowd. “I’d pat the person who took out Aleister Black on the back.” *cheers*. Really? Anyone who cheers for that is hopeless, there’s no way to create a heel they will boo because they’re hipster scumbags. The promo itself was perfection. He continues to wow me every week.
Promo Rating: Ten Roddy Pipers
VIOLET PAYNE VS. SHAYNA BASZLER
This will likely be short and painful. Another attest to the shittiness of these types of crowd, the days of cheering for a new face to overcome a much more experienced and dangerous heel, a la 1-2-3 Kid and Razor Ramon, are over. Instead, “Shayna’s gonna kill you” permeates the arena. Why, if the crowd constantly boos Shayna? Oh yeah, because it’s more important to sound cool and get your chants heard.
The match goes as expected, and Violet is in… Payne. Hehe. In addition, the assholes chant “one more time” as Shayna keeps coming back to choke out the helpless Payne. Fucking jackasses. They’ll hypocritically boo her next time she has a match against Kairi Sane. These crowds are really ruining WWE for me.
Beatdown Rating: Four Randy Ortons
Ciampa starts shit with Otis Dozovic. Regal wants to see Ciampa in his office. Ooooooooh somebody’s in troublllleee!!
BACKSTAGE PROMO: THE NWO.. I MEAN THE UNDISPUTED ERA
These guys are really good at this. If there was ever a group that could rip off that NWO-style promo well, they’re certainly doing it.
Promo Rating: Six Roddy Pipers
LARS SULLIVAN VS. RAUL MENDOZA
Lars: your punishment for beating the ever-living shit out of Raul Mendoza before telling me you were cleared to wrestle is to wrestle a match against… Raul Mendoza. Poor Raul. Mendoza does wrestle smartly, going low and using his quickness, but it was inevitable that Sullivan would catch him and the destruction would begin. Sullivan hits a VICIOUS forearm/clothesline that might crush a man’s facial bones if he actually hit someone with it. Good for Mendoza that he’s able to recover enough to get some nice-looking moves in, but Sullivan is way too much of a powerhouse and brutally destroys him to finish the match. Mendoza fought admirably and he should get rewarded for the horrendous beating he took. At least he looked good doing it.
Match Rating: Six Gold Medals
PARKING LOT/BACKSTAGE PROMO: PETE DUNNE & RICOCHET
Dunne got a hair cut! He runs down Ricochet for his short time as champion, and Ricochet defends himself citing his pre-NXT career. Dunne sounds a lot more natural and a lot more confident. Ricochet’s words sound scripted, forced, and cheesy.
Pete Dunne Promo Rating: Three Stone Colds
Ricochet Promo Rating: Six Bobby Lashleys
A cool vignette for the Forgotten Sons, and an announcement of a tag match next week, Dakota Kai & Deonna Purrazzo vs. Lacey Evans & Aliyah. Where has Lacey been? She was hot and featured every week. I guess they didn’t have room for her to be featured, and they’re making sure she gets back on TV with his match. She has SUPERSTAR written all over her, and I look forward to her and Bianca Belair having tremendous battles over the NXT Women’s Championship. Look at the two women and their styles and personalities, and consider that they’re both good talkers. They could have an amazingly good feud. I also look forward to seeing what Deonna Purrazzo can do, she impresses me.
I love that Regal has brass knuckles in his office. Kassius Ohno is offended that Regal says he doesn’t need to talk to Ohno about the Aleister Black situation. Ohno is obviously fed up with being overlooked and passed over.
BIANCA BELAIR VS. NIKKI CROSS
Well speak of the devil. I expect this to be a great match. Nikki must be tired by the time the match starts, that’s a lot of energy used up on her entrance. She’s extremely entertaining, that’s for sure, and that’s all that matters. Of course, it helps tremendously that she’s an awesome wrestler. This match is a lot of fun, and that’s what makes it great. Bianca gets Nikki up in a military press to wow everyone. I enjoy that she’s playing into Nikki’s style and you can see that she’s having fun doing it with slight oversells and exaggerated facial expressions.
HERE COMES THE HAIR WHIP! That sounds so painful. Both women get counted out after Bianca gets out of a sleeper by smashing Nikki’s back on the steel ramp. Hilariously as they lay there, Bianca’s long strand of whipping hair is laying across Nikki’s neck. They continue throwing haymakers as referees break them up. They’re both able to continue getting at each other until Nikki jumps off the announce desk and takes out Bianca and the refs. Wow this was fun and awesome. I loved it.
Match rating: Eight Gold Medals
Overall Show Rating: Seven Gold Medals
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