I'll be honest, wasn't a fan. At the end of the day this was a wrestling show where wrestlers wrestled. Crazy, right? Problem is, wrestling is the least important part of wrestling, at least for guys like me. Don't get me wrong, wrestling is required, it looks badass and great wrestling can make a meh feud cool, but this show felt like guys fighting, the end. Pentagon and Omega had a dinger of a match, but it doesn't mean anything. That main event was awesome, but nothing will come of it. It's not like these were blow offs either, sans Cody vs Nick and Page vs Joey, they were all matches will no personal beef, which can work in some cases. Rollins vs Owens for example, just a really great match, Balor vs Styles from TLC last year, just a really great match. Difference is, if it's "Just a really great match" over and over it doesn't feel special. At the end of the day four matches felt special to me, the two title matches (NWA had build and ROH had a big match earlier in the show), Okada vs Schrull (one of the only matches where they actually had any story, that being Marty proving he can hang with the heavies), and my personal MoTN, Page vs Janela. Sure it was ridiculous, but it had a story, it had heart, it had spots that could only be done in this one match - thus making it special - and it had something actually happen in the end with the res-erection of Joey Ryan. That last part especially, something happened! I love subtle storytelling, but subtle storytelling is the seasoning on the steak. It makes it better than any other steak. The steak here is actual story. This show had a good amount of subtle storytelling, but there was no steak to season, and sorry babe, but I don't lick tables. Cody v Aldis has a nice steak, Okada v Schrull has a good steak, Lethal v Flip had half of a steak, Page v Janela had a juicy steak, and everything else was licking tables.
And no, I'm not some blatant wrestling hater. Storytelling is the steak, subtle storytelling is the seasoning, but wrestling is the potatoes. You need a nice balance of everything to be fully satisfied. Without your potatoes, you won't be full, and you'll get fat by eating desserts to finish the job. NXT and Lucha Underground for example, juicy steak, the right amount of seasoning, and a tasty side of potatoes. Truly a well balanced meal, guaranteed to leave you satisfied AND fit!
Also the finish of Cody v Aldis sucked but that's neither here nor there. Also, hated the commentary, mainly the "LOL, kayfabe!" bits
Really the most heartbreaking thing to me is that watching this didn't make me feel like a revolution is coming, it made me feel like "This is the indy stuff for a reason and WWE is the top for a reason", and considering how much I'm disappointed with the W as of late, that really bummed me out
High 6, low 7, one of the two, but I had a bad morning so I'm going to say high 6 for the vote. Poppa B1skit out
