As a guy that doesn't follow much WWE anymore, I saw the card and thought it looked good.
It delivered, big time. 8/10 for this viewer.
And as someone who hasn't watched in a while but know this is just a "lets put a good card together and just make it to Rumble season" show, it's so good to see so many things. I'm alone in liking the canned heat, but after a while you really get impressed seeing the video package team making rushed-ass feuds seem like Austin/McMahon.
Mcintyre vs AJ Styles was a really fun match! The leg work was good, creative, fun and logical and the table spots were really good. AJ getting beaned like an MF with that chair... Man, there were a few big bumps he took to prove he owned his paycheck. I didn't really like the LACK of Omos interfering in this one, he did a thing here and there but... Anyway, Miz failing the cash-in like this was perfect Miz. He's picking the perfect opportunity when Mcintyre was down to take out AJ and grab the title (SLOWLY AS HELL, THAT WAS SO BAD) but forgot about Omos lol. They played up how AJ and Miz had his helpers around (until Morrison pissed himself and left, Johnny Impact for Impact champion soon plz) but Mcintyre was beating all sorts of ass on his own.
When I first joined this site I was a huge mark for Mcintyre, and it's so cool to see him as a top guy, and even cooler to see this dude be the most WWE-ass babyface ever and actually pull it off. Dude's coming out looking like a character from a romance novel with a big ass sword counting down to Claymores and killing dudes and thanking the fans and overcoming 5,000 odds... It feels like what Roman Reigns was supposed to, and it shouldn't work half as well as it does but damn does it ever and it's fun to watch.
Sasha vs Carmella... WWE's been in this weird spot to where the Horsewomen + Asuka are so much better than every other woman on the roster that it's hard to build anyone else up as a challenger, and going in this had placeholder we're biding that time until someone else is built up feud written all over it, but Carmella had her working shoes (and not much else...) on tonight FOR SURE. Seeing Carmella's new gimmick made me really cringe because that's always reserved for heels who're trash in the ring, but Sasha didn't even have to slow down much for her. Carmella got a believable advantage and kept the pace quick on offense, her and Sasha had a really damn good reversal sequence in the end, and I even bought into that Code of Silence as a finish in the most predictable match since WM30 (lol). She looked great in defeat against the best woman's wrestler alive. Bravo!
New Day vs Hurt Business was a WWE-style version of a good AEW tag match. While those are often hard to follow and blend together - as fun as they are - it was good to see WWE start leaning down that road a bit. There was still a heat segment but things kept moving, there was lots of action... Not much to say here, just good wrasslin'.
I fast forwarded through most of the women's tag, but I chuckled when I saw Nia and Shayna were a tag team. The girl who's the best at believably hurting people and the girl who's the best at injuring everybody. I don't have time for Charlotte Flair. I have less time for Asuka being a babyface in peril.
As for the Reigns vs Owens match... I honestly think (part of this is watching football all day) that WWE's commentary is underrated. They really sold the drama and intensity of this matchup, but I never ever want to hear "Head of the Table" again. As for the match itself, this accomplished what it wanted to and then some. I can't help but wonder about why WWE would write all this interference for Reigns and not for Styles (it's part of the storyline, yes), especially when Mcintyre is this valiant ass Greek hero that will take 4 heads and and roast them all over an open flame, and Kevin Owens is your Dad being Stan Marsh at a baseball game trying to pick fights. I love how they involved Owens' family as part of this, bringing back the "I'll fight for my family" aspect to his character, but I was waiting for him to have backup. Where's Daniel Bryan? Where's Rey Mysterio? Where's Sami Zay...well we saw him all night bumblefucking around with a slide show card and Kayla Braxton... *sigh* Most likable babyface on the roster is some pissant heel manager lol. Sami Zayn for TNT Champion.
Anywho, damn this match was fun for what it was. Opening with intensity was MUCH NEEDED, the weapon shots and assorted plunder was great, Owens finding multiple ways to dispatch Jey Uso was always a damn joy to see, and him always coming back always felt like it was really earned. (I still can't believe 2 TLC matches built around "overcoming da odds" still works after Cena's decade of doom.) Reigns spearing the barricade was devastating, and eventually Reigns had to go to the well and kick this man in the balls and choke him out to keep him down, despite being an all-time most overpowered superstar in WWE history + having help...
So yeah, good stuff. As for the main event, well...I don't really know what to say lol. But it was funny.
