Liv Morgan defeated Natalya
5.5/10
- I've been talking to a whole lot of fans of Liv Morgan backstage.
- They start things off friendly, but Nattie keeps getting the upper hand.
- The two trade holds, but Natalya is taking Liv to school.
- Liv gets a Codebreaker variation off a slingshot atomic bomb counter.
- Morgan's dropkick against the ropes works really well.
- Every WrestleMania match Natalya had before tonight had at least six people in it.
- Natalya gets rolled up with a body scissors for the pin.
NXT Women's Championship
Charlotte Flair defeated Rhea Ripley (c) to win the title
8/10
- Rhea wearing Mania-worthy gear.
- Charlotte goes for a
- A lot of "REALLY, CHARLOTTE?" from Rhea early. She fortunately switches up the trash talk.
- I thought we were about to get a 90 second finish there after the Riptide.
- Ripley is really taking over. She has some kind of lazy kicks, but goes to an aggressive body scissors.
- Charlotte works over Ripley's leg and does it well. The lack of the crowd really adds to the leg getting worked over.
- This is very physical, and the strikes are landing hard. The two have really good chemistry. A Ripley kick misses, but she makes up for it with a dropkick, and later a missile dropkick.
- Charlotte's LIMB WORK is outstanding, Ripley's selling it outstanding. Ripley's Solefood, Charlotte's Boston Crab, a series of pin reversals.
- Ripley gets front superplexed to the mat.
- Charlotte eats foot on a moonsault attempt and does a terible spear.
- Flair applies a Figure Eight, and Ripley is slugging away. Ripley taps out!!
Aleister Black defeated Bobby Lashley (w/ Lana)
5/10
- This is the Elias vs. Baron Corbin of last night, only better.
- Lashley is wearing tights. They work for him. I like the updated look.
- Lashley beats down Aleister Black the entire match besides an Asai Moonsault.
- Black counters the spear with Black Mass and wins.
- No reason this couldn't have been on tomorrow night's Raw.
Otis defeated Dolph Ziggler (w/ Sonya Deville)
5/10
- So they had Ziggler resort to shouting the same insults Mandy was in the ring late last year.
- Sonya is with Ziggler.
- Ziggler connects with a big dropkick and is in control until a catapult.
- Otis starts mowing down Ziggler. Pop-up World's Strongest Slam.
- Sonya causes a distraction and Ziggler kicks Otis in the balls. Mandy comes out, attacks Sonya, and low blows Ziggler.
- Caterpillar wins it.
- Otis vs. Ziggler really needed a crowd. Ironically, the rest of it took place without a crowd, but the culmination needed it most
- Otis and Mandy kiss.
WWE 24/7 Championship
Rob Gronkowski defeated Mojo Rawley (c) to win the title
- A bunch of dorks chase Rawley out to the ring.
- I couldn't tell who the other guys were cause of the camera shaking
- Gronk had said earlier he wanted to win the title, so he jumps off the platform onto all the dorks and wins the title.
- He darts out of the building.
Last Man Standing
Edge defeated Randy Orton
5/10
- Randy Orton OUT OF NOWHERE with an RKO. He posed as a cameraman.
- Another RKO hits. Orton cracks Edge with a camera.
- They brawl into the gym of the PC and Orton chokes Edge. Edge pull-up kicks Orton.
- Edge does an odd swinging seated senton off weight equipment.
- Edge sends Orton into a door after avoiding a HAM SLED.
- Edge gets sent off the stage into the barricade.
- Not a ton of bumps being taken in this match. They fight into the board room and the hall way.
- This just hasn't been good. Edge isn't bumping, and it's a lot of the same thing over and over.
- That elbow drop from Edge through a table ruled, and it would have ruled a whole lot more if I could have actually seen what happened. Unfortunately, WWE teaches people to shake a camera instead of shooting what happens.
- Commentary calling this like it's a golf tournament certainly doesn't help.
- Draping DDT on a truck bed hits for Orton.
- Spear and an RKO on top of the semi truck.
- This match has gone over 30 minutes and it needed like half of that in this situation.
- Chairs are brought out and Edge gets the upper hand.
- Edge finishes Orton with a Conchairto.
- This was way, way too long.
WWE Raw Tag Team Championships
Street Profits (c) defeated Austin Theory and Angel Garza (w/ Zelina) to retain the title
5/10
- Another Raw hour two match that wasn't necessary tonight.
- Ford and Garza both hit dives.
- Angelo was a little slow on this one at times
- Theory hits a TKO, but Ford lands a Frog Splash and Angelo gets the pin.
- Austin and Angel beat down Street Profits after the match and Zelina gets a kick in.
- Bianca Belair shows up and saves them and hits Zelina with a KOD.
- The Bianca Belair moment is another I wish could have happened in front of 70k.
- Titus O'Neil takes over hosting for Gronk.
WWE Smackdown Women's Championship
Bayley (c) defeated Lacey Evans, Sasha Banks, Naomi and Tamina to retain the title
6.5/10
- Naomi has different hair every week and it always looks awesome.
- Everyone jumps Tamina, but she fights them off.
- There's a neat merry go round spot with everyone but Tamina.
- Bayley responding to hearing Michael Cole's commentary was amazing hahaha.
- Good on Cole for calling out the ref for threatening to DQ in a no DQ match. Unless he was saying he couldn't count the pin.
- Everyone helps pin Tamina.
- Bayley and Sasha double team Naomi and Sasha submits her.
- Bayley has become one of the most verbally hilarious wrestlers in the world.
- Lacey repeatedly kicks out of two person pins.
- Bayley accidentally knees Sasha in the head.
- Sasha and Bayley argue, but Bayley saves her. Lacey ends up pinning Sasha with a Women's Right anyway.
- Lacey and Bayley have a pretty good match of their own. Great, crisp knees from Bayley, kicks from Lacey.
- Lacey gets tied up in the tag ropes, but fights back.
- Sasha hits a Backstabber on Lacey, and Bayley wins with the Rose Plant.
- I really enjoyed this.
Firefly Funhouse Match
The Fiend defeated John Cena
Angle: 7/10
- Cena sees a Vince McMahon puppet in the Funhouse.
- Bray Wyatt plays off of the Kurt Angle vs. Cena debut match.
- Cena in his 2002 gear! Wow. Wyatt dodges Cena's slap.
- Bray Wyatt sings Nikki Bella's theme to Cena to taunt him.
- There's a Saturday Night's Main Event themed segment. Cena is there lifting weights.
- This is a trip.
- Thuganomics John Cena appears. He raps about Husky Harris.
- "You're a slut for opportunity, you're blowing every chance"- John Cena to Bray Wyatt.
- We see old school Bray Wyatt in his old house.
- He appears in the ring, but can't hit Sister Abigail. He does a callback and asks Cena to hit him with a chair. Cena tries and disappears.
- Firefly Funhouse match rewards you if you're a lifelong wrestling fan, and that I can appreciate.
- Wyatt parodies Eric Bischoff in the NWO. Cena is there in an NWO shirt.
- The Vince McMahon puppet says "It's such good shit!"
- Cena is attacking Wyatt, but it turns out to be the pig puppet.
- The Fiend appears. He uses Cena's own words against him about being the most overhyped star in existence.
- Fiend wins, and Wyatt counts the three.
WWE Universal Championship
Drew McIntyre defeated Brock Lesnar (c) (w/ Paul Heyman) to become champion
5.5/10 (Short)
- Claymore right out of the gate.
- McIntyre misses the second and gets suplexed. A few more suplexes, as is tradition.
- F5 from Brock, but Drew kicks out at one. That was definitely designed for a crowd pop.
- F5 and a two count. A third, and a two count.
- Paul Heyman just tells Brock to keep doing it.
- Drew counters a fourth, and hits three more Claymores. Drew wins.
- I think I'm done with the "lets do 8 finishers in two minutes and go home" matches.
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 that may change upon a second viewing, or sitting on the match for a period of time. Don't take them too seriously, and have (and share) your own!
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