It’s still hard to watch Joe Anoai’s announcement from last week. It puts a lump in my throat every time I see it.
BARON CORBIN
You know what? I’m ok with Corbin shit talking Reigns a little bit. It’s so hard to get real heat nowadays without getting cheered for being an awesome heel, that if they’re going to have true hated heels like Corbin, you have to get really dirty. If Joe is ok with it, that’s all that matters.
THE BEAST! Brock Lesnar interrupts Corbin, and I’m sure he doesn’t appreciate Corbin sucking up to him on the mic. Heyman does his thing. BRING OUT STROWMAN! I love Heyman’s line: I couldn’t be more sure about the outcomes of this match if they were pre-determined. And bravo to Vince for playing the long con with Brock Lesnar, having him become so loathed by the fans for staying home and doing nothing and keeping the Universal Championship off TV and making sure he’s a heel. Nobody wants to see him win the title.
BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!!!!! Corbin puts his hands on Strowman and actually attacks him. Lesnar watches in amusement as Corbin gets manhandled. Three times. Finally Brock sneak attacks with an F5. Did you expect anything else? Brock holds up his former property. Well done. Very well done.
Segment Rating: Eight This Is Your Lifes
FINN BALOR VS. BOBBY LASHLEY w/LIO RUSH
Rush runs down Balor’s win last week, then Lashley comes out wrestles PISSED OFF. Lashley didn’t look like he helped Balor much on Finn’s suicide dive. Balor smacked the floor HARD on his back. Textbook stuff here. Rush gets the crowd pissed on the mic, throughout the match, as usual, and Lashley pisses them off even more with his rest holds and boring heel style to set up a huge comeback by Balor. It works, the crowd really came alive when Finn got going.
Balor sets up for the Coup de Grâce and gets Lashley disqualified while the crowd chants “YOU SUCK” over and over. Lashley and Rush humiliate Balor after the match. These guys are really hot as heels, keep this shit going, because it works, and I can’t wait to see them both get the shit beat out of them. This may not have had a ton of action in the match, but it had so much great ring psychology and they had the crowd in the palms of their hands.
Match Rating: Eight Gold Medals
The rumor was that Lashley would be replacing Cena at Crown Jewel. And now that rumor is confirmed.
They show Becky Lynch crashing a Ronda Rousey interview last night. Will Rousey turn heel with the other horsewomen? That would be pretty cool.
TRISH STRATUS, LITA, BAYLEY, SASHA BANKS, & NATALYA VS. ALICIA FOX, MICKIE JAMES, & THE RIOTT SQUAD w/ALEXA BLISS
I’m really not a fan of sticking all the women in one big match tonight, like they used to do when they didn’t want to give them multiple matches or segments. But then again I guess it’s a cool way to give Trish and Lita one more match without having to carry too much of it themselves. Still, I don’t really like this. I think they’re killing the Riott Squad with their booking. They need championships, not losses. It doesn’t do anything to Mickie or Alicia, they have their roles, but the Riott Squad should be much more dominant and vicious than they’ve been booked. They look great when they have the face in their corner during a match, but the overall results haven’t been there.
At least they’re giving this match ample time, unlike they did with the multi-woman matches on Raw and SmackDown last week. All hell breaks lose and Bayley and Lita hit Twists of Fate on Liv and Ruby. That’s exactly what I’m talking about with the Riott Squad. They make them look good for a little while during the match, then make them cannon fodder for the faces to get the pop. Natalya makes Alicia Fox tap to the Sharpshooter after she and Lita do the Hart Attack. That was pretty cool. It was a good match, the concept just irks me. I’ll still give it its just due.
Match Rating: Six Gold Medals
Ember Moon challenges Nia Jax to a match tonight. Nia’s promos suck so bad I’m going to use her to rate bad women promos.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: ELIAS
Face Elias? I like it. He’s looking for Baron Corbin. He runs into Dana Brooke, who asks for a song. “For you? No.” Jinder Mahal is not at peace tonight.
ELIAS VS. JINDER MAHAL w/THE SINGH BROTHERS
Graves says the Singh Brothers are like Slash and Duff McKagan. That’s blasphemy. Jinder obviously has the upper hand after his attack backstage. It’s a very good start to Elias’ face turn. I’m interested to see if his move set changes at all. He is definitely a versatile wrestler. Elias makes a comeback and hits Drift Away for the win. It’s a good match more for advancing Elias’ new storyline than for its in-ring entertainment.
Match Rating: Six Gold Medals
Our blog’s patriarch gets a video package promoting his appearance in the World Cup at Crown Jewel, and then shows he can still cut an awesome promo.
Promo Rating: Eight Gold Medals
THE ASCENSION VS. BOBBY ROODE & CHAD GABLE VS. THE AUTHORS OF PAIN w/DRAKE MAVERICK
The Ascension and Roode & Gable try to take out AOP early… then stand at yell at each other so the show can go to commercial. Great spinebuster by Konnor on Gable. These matches are never as good as advertised, but this one isn’t half bad. And holy shit, as I say that the match ends on NOTHING. Then AOP destroys everybody. What a fucking shit match, right as I was complimenting how it was starting to get good. Praise to Odin, STOP DOING THIS TO US!
Match Rating:
SETH ROLLINS
Seth wants answers, and rightfully so. Ambrose’s music plays but he appears in the crowd, Shield style. He’s got a mic but I think he’s gonna leave without saying anything. He’s a master of psychology. Yep, I was right. Great segment.
Seth Rollins Promo Rating: Seven Stone Colds
Dean Ambrose Promo Rating (yes, I count that as a promo): Six Jake Roberts
NIA JAX VS. EMBER MOON
Ember is hanging in there as best she can. She so athletic so I don’t doubt her ability to stay out of Nia’s grasp, but can she do enough to keep her down for a three count? Maybe her best option is to hope Nia can’t make it back into the ring after Ember’s somersault off the top rope. No such luck. Tamina interrupts? Nia takes out Ember and Tamina smiles. This is it. This is the start of the women’s tag team division, and what a dominant them they’d make. Mark it dude, that’s what that was.
Booking Rating: Seven Dustys
THE REVIVAL VS. KALISTA & LINCE DORADO w/GRAN METALIK
Graves hates Lucha House Party. I’m not sure if they’re on Raw just for tonight or what. I’m a huge fan of their matches on 205 Live, especially the matches that they’ve each individually put on with Tony Nese. I’m also a big fan of The Revival and their old-school beat-down style. It’s diametrically opposed to Lucha House Party’s high-flying fast-paced offense. Kalisto hits Salida del Sol on Scott Dawson for the win. This match didn’t do much, and Revival continues to be beaten, regularly.
Match Rating: Two Gold Medals
APOLLO CREWS VS. DOLPH ZIGGLER w/DREW McINTYRE
After losing the tag team belts to The Shield last week, McIntyre takes credit for breaking up The Shield. Crews is kicking the balls out of Ziggler, but expect McIntyre to have an effect on that. Crews has so much power it’s amazing. Well, he’s just not used to winning I guess so he really doesn’t know how, as he lands on Ziggler’s knees with a frog splash then eats a superkick to end the match.
Match Rating: Four Gold Medals
THE BROTHERS OF DESTRUCTION
We’re gonna get a fight here, I can feel it. Yep, they call out D-X. ARE YOU READY? But where is Shawn? He’s in the ring! Superkick on Undertaker! That’s how D-X works. Taker is about to sit up. Yep, I love being right. When did Michaels go cross-eyed? And bald? He went from the Heartbreak Kid to the Brokedown Kid. Not that I can say much.
Segment Rating: Six This Is Your Lifes
I really liked tonight’s show. A couple things sucked, but overall I thought there was a lot of great character building and psychology.
Overall Show Rating: Seven Gold Medals
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