Interesting to see some variety of opinions in regards to this PPV (definitely not a bad thing, otherwise it would be boring if we all just agreed with everything or everyone) but allow me to respectfully disagree with the negative comments I read from some of our fellow members above. Granted, this wasn’t by any means a picture perfect show but for the most part I found it quite enjoyable and one of the better PPV’s we’ve seen this year so went with an 8/10 myself.
To be perfectly honest, I do understand some of the frustration. Watching, for example, Miz and Ambrose go at it for the 200th time is certainly beyond tiring and then you had the opener between Seth Rollins and Bray Wyatt in which I think we have yet to determine the means of their feud. Simply put, what exactly are those two fighting over? Aside from these two matches however, I feel the show delivered just fine and despite a few more minor things that I’ll point out as we go on, I really can’t complain.
For starters, Enzo delivered another solid promo. Unfortunately for him, he was going to get destroyed one way or another so the match pretty much served its purpose. Other than that, I can’t help but point out the really mediocre music entrance they gave Cass which I find surprising given they usually do a good job with these things.
The tag team iron match I found excellent. Sure, it had some dull moments but those were unavoidable due to the time frame they had but the story told in the ring I thought was fantastic. I specifically like how Sheamus and Cesaro find new and creative ways to surprise and/or outsmart their opponents (aka the opening 15 seconds, which I thought was extremely clever) and if I could award one guy or gal from the entire show with the MVP award, that easily goes to Cesaro.
Neville and Tozawa had a nice thing going on the preshow and though the finish may have felt kind of iffy, it does play into what I originally proposed when this feud started, thus having Tozawa lose the first match and the Titus brand having to struggle before eventually finding success, which as we saw sort of played out during a backstage segment. Now, chances are we won’t wait till Summerslam (thinking triple threat or fatal 4-way there) for a rematch and probably have it on 205 sooner or later but I guess it works. For now, that is…
Speaking of iffy finishes, same pretty much applies to the woman’s championship match though once more, it was the easy way out for WWE in order to extend this feud and have it carry till Summerslam. The match itself was pretty good, as was the aftermath where Sasha had the last laugh and if I have something to complain about, it’s the fact that I literally last second changed my finish prediction in the forum contest from a DQ/countout to a clean pin or submission victory, thinking there would be at least one title change throughout the evening; funnily enough, all champions retained after all.
Tiny issue: I hate it when WWE insult our intelligence. In this instance, I really cringed with the announce team (especially Cole) trying to play the “have you ever seen this before” when Alexa pulled that move with the twisting of her arm as if it was broken. I don’t remember off the top of my head what it’s called (I know there’s a name for this flexible “ability”) but don’t insult us when we already saw this move a few months ago on Smackdown in her match with Becky Lynch.
As far as the Ambulance match is concerned, this certainly wasn’t the best match Roman and Braun have had but this has been one of the best feuds this year and being they have given us numerous great moments already, I can easily give them a pass. Speaking of great moments, the aftermath was probably the most important part of this entire thing, with Roman basically attempting to murder Braun in the parking lot area. A lot of people are calling or thinking double turn but being this has been a story that he have discussed to death already, I personally will never speak of Roman turning heel until I actually see it. Like, for real. Most definitely one of the best angles (Kurt’s reaction when he first entered the frame, by the way, I thought was priceless) and I am really looking forward to RAW to see where this goes.
Last but not least, the main event. Would have I marked if Joe won? Absolutely, but the fact of the matter is, we all knew that wasn’t going to happen so I think we at least got the next best thing, which was having Samoe Joe look extremely good and basically taking Lesnar to the limit. Given the limited duration (we all know Brock ain’t doing 10-15, let alone 20, minute matches), I think we had what felt like a big time fight in which Samoe Joe looked fantastic, dominating for the most part and strong by the end of it, even if on the losing side, which is something he can certainly use down the road if he were to ever get a rematch.
P.S.: When was the last time we saw so much blood?
To be perfectly honest, I do understand some of the frustration. Watching, for example, Miz and Ambrose go at it for the 200th time is certainly beyond tiring and then you had the opener between Seth Rollins and Bray Wyatt in which I think we have yet to determine the means of their feud. Simply put, what exactly are those two fighting over? Aside from these two matches however, I feel the show delivered just fine and despite a few more minor things that I’ll point out as we go on, I really can’t complain.
For starters, Enzo delivered another solid promo. Unfortunately for him, he was going to get destroyed one way or another so the match pretty much served its purpose. Other than that, I can’t help but point out the really mediocre music entrance they gave Cass which I find surprising given they usually do a good job with these things.
The tag team iron match I found excellent. Sure, it had some dull moments but those were unavoidable due to the time frame they had but the story told in the ring I thought was fantastic. I specifically like how Sheamus and Cesaro find new and creative ways to surprise and/or outsmart their opponents (aka the opening 15 seconds, which I thought was extremely clever) and if I could award one guy or gal from the entire show with the MVP award, that easily goes to Cesaro.
Neville and Tozawa had a nice thing going on the preshow and though the finish may have felt kind of iffy, it does play into what I originally proposed when this feud started, thus having Tozawa lose the first match and the Titus brand having to struggle before eventually finding success, which as we saw sort of played out during a backstage segment. Now, chances are we won’t wait till Summerslam (thinking triple threat or fatal 4-way there) for a rematch and probably have it on 205 sooner or later but I guess it works. For now, that is…
Speaking of iffy finishes, same pretty much applies to the woman’s championship match though once more, it was the easy way out for WWE in order to extend this feud and have it carry till Summerslam. The match itself was pretty good, as was the aftermath where Sasha had the last laugh and if I have something to complain about, it’s the fact that I literally last second changed my finish prediction in the forum contest from a DQ/countout to a clean pin or submission victory, thinking there would be at least one title change throughout the evening; funnily enough, all champions retained after all.
Tiny issue: I hate it when WWE insult our intelligence. In this instance, I really cringed with the announce team (especially Cole) trying to play the “have you ever seen this before” when Alexa pulled that move with the twisting of her arm as if it was broken. I don’t remember off the top of my head what it’s called (I know there’s a name for this flexible “ability”) but don’t insult us when we already saw this move a few months ago on Smackdown in her match with Becky Lynch.
As far as the Ambulance match is concerned, this certainly wasn’t the best match Roman and Braun have had but this has been one of the best feuds this year and being they have given us numerous great moments already, I can easily give them a pass. Speaking of great moments, the aftermath was probably the most important part of this entire thing, with Roman basically attempting to murder Braun in the parking lot area. A lot of people are calling or thinking double turn but being this has been a story that he have discussed to death already, I personally will never speak of Roman turning heel until I actually see it. Like, for real. Most definitely one of the best angles (Kurt’s reaction when he first entered the frame, by the way, I thought was priceless) and I am really looking forward to RAW to see where this goes.
Last but not least, the main event. Would have I marked if Joe won? Absolutely, but the fact of the matter is, we all knew that wasn’t going to happen so I think we at least got the next best thing, which was having Samoe Joe look extremely good and basically taking Lesnar to the limit. Given the limited duration (we all know Brock ain’t doing 10-15, let alone 20, minute matches), I think we had what felt like a big time fight in which Samoe Joe looked fantastic, dominating for the most part and strong by the end of it, even if on the losing side, which is something he can certainly use down the road if he were to ever get a rematch.
P.S.: When was the last time we saw so much blood?
