Opening Segment
- Kofi Kingston and Seth Rollins both come out to the ring to plead their case to be cashed in on by Brock Lesnar.
- Brock Lesnar comes out playing up the beatbox thing with the briefcase, calling it his BEAST BOX. He looked like he's having a great time doing this, which is a change.
- This gimmick goes on almost painfully long, and I don't know why.
- Brock Leaves, and Kofi Kingston, THE WILD CARD, gets attacked from behind by Dolph Ziggler, THE WILD CARD.
- We come back from commercial to see Dolph Ziggler then attacking Xavier Woods. This goes out into the crowd, and nobody is trying to stop it.
- Ziggler beats the shit out of Xavier Woods with a chair until Kofi Kingston makes it out to the ring to help. This is the first half hour of the show.
- Dolph Ziggler cuts a pretty solid promo and says he knows how good Kofi Kingston is and that he always has, and told everyone as much. However, he says that should have been him and he's going to make sure everyone knows it.
Memorial Day Block Party
- The Usos have a block party. EC3 is there in his gear.
- Tamina shows up and stares down Naomi, then smiles and hugs everyone. This is a lame WWE trope.
- The Revival thank The Usos for being invited, but Naomi invited them. She wants them to squash the beef. I'm not sure what to make of all this. Wilder literally squashes beef though.
- Jimmy Van didn't know what Cornhole/bean bag toss was until this weekend.
- Eventually Dawson stomps the boards.
Shane McMahon defeated Lance Anoa'i
4/10
- Shane McMahon says he's wrestling tonight, and has Drew McIntyre at his side. Shane gives a history lesson about the Samoan Wrestling Dynasty. This is a neat angle to take.
- Lance Anoa'i is the opponent. That's a really good touch. Drew McIntyre kicks his ass really hard, though. Drew tosses Lance all around.
- It took 50+ minutes for a match to start on WWE Raw. I dunno if this is the way to follow up launching competition.
- This is back and forth, and gets "this is awful chants." Lance does a nice one-legged dropkick that stops the chants.
- The crowd doesn't wanna see this. Shane wins with a modified triangle.
- Shane puts it on again and says he'd do it to Sika too and calls Roman Reigns a mistake.
- For some reason, it took all of this to make Reigns finally come out to the ring. Weird.
- Another segment that went on way, way too long.
Beastbox
- Brock is back, and he's beastboxing again.
- Seth Rollins comes out and wants Lesnar to face him now.
- Lesnar then finds out he's got a full year to cash in Money in the Bank, and it seems like he's going to take his sweet time
24/7
- R-Truth and Carmella -- the fourth and fifth Smackdown wrestlers on this show are chased around by people trying to win the 24/7 Title.
- Truth eventually shows up at the cookout.
Becky Lynch & Nikki Cross vs. IIconics
4.25/10
- Nikki Cross doesn't get an entrance. Her affiliation with Becky Lynch is nice, though.
- Nikki is handling the early part of the match, and it looks like Peyton's face gets crushed by a double cross body press.
- The ref is distracted and can't see a Nikki pin.
- Becky tags in to a great ovation and offense. I've noticed that her aerial offense has been restricted.
- Becky wins with the Manhandle Slam, but it doesn't look great. Neither does Nikki's tackle outside.
- The IIconics never win. The decision to take the titles off Sasha & Bayley has really buried the titles.
- Lacey Evans shows up, and then just walks away.
Ricochet defeated Cesaro
6.5/10
- In the first part of this match, it was one of Ricochet's more exciting Raw performances. He was doing things that he doesn't do in every match
- Cesaro did the Cracker Jack!
- There's no heat to this at spots, but they work so well together. Unfortunately, we're getting matches that don't necessarily make sense from a booking perspective
- A torture rack bomb is countered into a Code Red. The audience loved it.
- Ricochet wins with a huracanrana. This was very good.
- There are times I'm okay with 50-50 booking, and Ricochet vs. Cesaro is one of those times.
Other Stuffs
- Rey is giving up the title, but for some reason isn't doing it it tonight. Samoa Joe says he's heard that Rey Mysterio is going to come out and give up the U.S. title next week. Okay.
- Another abbreviated Firefly Funhouse gimmick. We see another, then finally,
WWE Unversal Title Top Contender
Baron Corbin defeated The Miz, Braun Strowman & Bobby Lashley
6/10
- We get a lot of backstage promos. Miz talks about earning the title shot, and Braun separately congratulates him on his new kid. Lol.
- This is fast paced, and has some of the common aspects of WWE matches -- ie Strowman getting posted.
- One of the better Tower of Dooms, with Braun throwing everyone around.
- Why aren't Corbin and Lashley a tag team at this point?
- Miz is not fast, but the crowd is behind him as a babyface.
- Corbin with a great Deep Six. Another day goes by.
- Strowman mows down Corbin a couple of times in a row.
- Strowman and Lashley just disappear. No elimination was announced. They just left through the crowd.
- Miz's double knees are actually faster now.
- Corbin wins with an End of Days. Cool. Get him better gear.
- Corbin has been doing his best work over the last couple of months.
THE ELECTRIC CHAIR
- They have a fucking electric chair in the ring for this segment.
- I bet Vince McMahon just had that electric chair at his house
- A fan asks when Sami is going to retire, and Sami implies that he's inbred.
- "You could have asked me about AEW" - Sami Zayn. Well, then.
- This segment sucks ass.
- I hope the Electric Chair segment is replaced by one where the subject sits in a throne that was hit with a sledgehammer
Seth Rollins defeated Sami Zayn
6/10
- This is a surprisingly average match early on. This is the case through the break.
- Rollins cracks Zayn with a big dropkick.
- Rollins' knee buckles.
- I love how Sami Zayn does little things like pushing the crossface on a pin after a Blue Thunder Bomb to make the kickout harder.
- Rollins eats knees on a frog splash, but wins with two Stomps.
Rating guide
10- Perfect, 9- MOTY Territory, 8- Excellent, 7- Great, 6- Good, 5- Average to above average, 4- Slightly below average, 3 or below: Poor
Each match starts at a 5 and slides up and down based on entertainment, execution, time, environment, reaction and stakes. The ratings are in no way an indication of a "star rating," which is a completely different system. A standard, non-offensive "TV match" lands at a 5.The gap between 5.75-6 is generally the largest, with anything reaching 6 being recommended viewing.
These are opinions, and incredibly inconsistent ones. Don't take them too seriously, and have (and share) your own!
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