WWE WrestleMania 22
April 2, 2006
Rosemont, Illinois
The biggest show of the year features a stacked card with championships and personal bragging rights on the line. John Cena faces his biggest challenge yet as he defends his WWE Championship against Triple H in the main event. Rey Mysterio must tackle both Kurt Angle and Randy Orton to earn his first World Heavyweight Championship and Shawn Michaels looks to put an end to his personal beef with Vince McMahon.
Match 1: WWE World Tag Team Championship - Kane & The Big Show (c) vs. Carlito & Chris Masters
Remember
when Carlito and Chris Masters were a thing in the WWE? Well, they
opened up the night here to challenge the two biggest monsters in the
WWE for the World Tag Team Championship. Safe choice to open up the
night, there really wouldn't be a better spot on the card for these
guys. Decent match for what it was, short and to the point. Carlito
& Masters were able to get in a bit of offense but Kane & The
Big Show but after Masters inadvertently took out Carlito from the top
rope, Kane hit Carlito with a Chokeslam to secure the win for his team.
Would have been cool to see Carlito & Masters sneak out a win
against these two considering how high the company seemed to be on them
in 2005-2006. Either way, on to the rest of the show because it's about
to really pick up.
Winners: Kane & The Big Show
Rating: *1/4
Match
2: Money in the Bank Ladder Match - Matt Hardy vs. Shelton Benjamin vs.
Finlay vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Ric Flair
I've
probably seen this match more times than any other Money in the Bank
match so giving it a score might be pretty difficult here. This is
exactly how a Money in the Bank match should be constructed, not too
many guys so it doesn't create such a clutter and a match that's full of
guys who are just inches away from being back or new to the main event
scene. Also, this match didn't drag out longer than it needed to, it
went on for nearly 15 minutes and they made use of every single minute
in the match. Tons of new spots and old spots with Shelton Benjamin
continuing to be the shining spot for these matches. However, no better
spot for me came when Ric Flair was suplexed off the top of a ladder by
Matt Hardy. I can clearly recall my 7th grade self watching this match
and wondering if Flair was really hurt or not. Good times. Anyway, Rob
Van Dam secures the big win by pushing both Hardy and Benjamin off a
ladder before retrieving the briefcase up top. Perfect choice to win
this match as the ECW One Night Stand event a couple months after this
needed a big main event and now, they got it. Easily one of my favorite
Money in the Bank matches ever.
Winner: Rob Van Dam
Rating: ****1/4
Match 3: WWE United States Championship - Chris Benoit (c) vs. JBL
Interesting
to see these two go at it here on the mid-card after being in marquee
matches the past couple years. As you would expect, very physical match.
Those chops that Chris Benoit would deliver to his opponents were no
joke, I could almost feel JBL's pain as I watched through my screen.
They didn't want to overstay their welcome here with bigger matches on
the card coming up and needing more time so they went straight to the
point. Physical from the start and JBL was being his usual heel self by
using Jillian at ringside as a shield. Benoit was in control for the
better part of the match and finally locked in his Crippler Crossface in
the middle of the ring before JBL was able to roll him up and score the
win with some help of grabbing the ring ropes. Good match for what it
was, nobody was expecting a classic here but they certainly gave us a
nice match to transition into one of the bigger matches for the night.
Winner: JBL
Rating: **3/4
Match 4: Hardcore Match - Edge vs. Mick Foley
Man... I haven't seen this match in years. I just remember watching this match on loop as a kid to the point where I remembered the match in its entirety. Edge is coming off the biggest win of his career with a WWE Championship victory over John Cena in January. He tries to rebound his loss a few weeks later here with a huge match against Mick Foley in a Hardcore Match. Great build to the match in the preceding weeks with Lita playing a fantastic role in making everyone hate Edge that much more. Almost scary to go back and watch these old hardcore matches where shots to the head came a dime a dozen. It made for some sick sounds and spots but man... they looked brutal. Loved how Foley disguised some barbed wire beneath one of his flannels which allowed Edge to injure himself on a Spear. From there, the blood began to pour from both parties. The two did not hold back at all throughout this match with thumbtacks being brought in the match along with Mr. Socko covered in barbed wire to help push the pain a little more. But of course, the biggest and most legendary spot of the match came when Edge Speared Foley through a flaming table to put the nail in the coffin. Incredible finish to the match that has truly carried on for years after this. Both Edge and Foley get their marquee WrestleMania moments and what a moment it was.
Winner: Edge
Rating: ****1/4
Match 5: Booker T & Sharmell vs. The Boogeyman
WrestleMania 22 is my favorite WrestleMania ever and I just wish there was a way for me to forget that this match happened. Seriously, what did Booker T do to deserve this? I tried finding a video of him discussing this match on his podcast or something but to no avail. So if anyone can find that, that would be great. This was a silly squash match that saw The Boogeyman break out the worms and deliver a kiss to Sharmell with a mouth full of them. Finally, Boogeyman drops Booker T with his finisher to secure the win. Moving on.
Winner: The Boogeyman
Rating: 1/4*
Saturday, March 28, 2020
Saturday, March 21, 2020
WWE WrestleMania 34 Review (Part 2)
WWE WrestleMania 34
April 8, 2018
New Orleans, Louisiana
WrestleMania returns to The Big Easy! The 2018 edition of WrestleMania emanates from New Orleans where Ronda Rousey teams up with Kurt Angle to take on Triple H & Stephanie McMahon in a highly anticipated match. Also, The Undertaker answers John Cena's call for a match while Brock Lesnar puts his Universal Championship on the line against Roman Reigns in the main event.
Match 7: Shane McMahon & Daniel Bryan vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn
Perhaps the coolest backstory to any match for tonight is this one right here. Daniel Bryan stepping away from the ring due to injury but finally returning in the exact spot where he had his biggest career moment in 2014 was just perfect. Interesting to see three former Ring of Honor guys in a marquee match, seriously takes me back to the good days. Awesome to see Bryan make his way to the ring with the crowd roaring for him like it was 2014 all over again. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn attack both Bryan and Shane McMahon before the match and temporarily take Bryan out of the equation which left McMahon to fend for himself before Bryan was finally able to make his return. Once Bryan was able to insert himself into the fray, he took over the match and led his team to victory by submitting Zayn after hitting him with a Running Knee. Good match for what it was, nothing crazy but definitely served its purpose. A great way to get Bryan back in the picture and allowing him to overcome the odds and score the big win.
Winners: Shane McMahon & Daniel Bryan
Rating: **3/4
Match 8: WWE Raw Women's Championship - Alexa Bliss (c) vs. Nia Jax
Before the bell even rings, Nia Jax attacks Mickie James to take her out of the equation. The match is finally just between Jax and Alexa Bliss. Interesting story leading to this one with Bliss basically ridiculing Jax for her size, almost like the WWE was trying to do a "feel good" type of story here with Jax defeating her bully at the biggest show of the year. The match really just saw Jax dominate Bliss for the most part throughout the match with Bliss getting a little bit of offense in but never did I feel like Jax was in any real struggle. Jax hits a Samoan Drop from the second rope to score the biggest win of her career as she breaks down in tears following the pin. Another decent match but another one that also worked for what it needed to be. Nobody was expecting or even probably wanting a long match between the two considering how deep we were into the show already so they delivered with what they were given. Great moment for Nia.
Winner: Nia Jax
Rating: **
Match 9: WWE Championship - AJ Styles (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
This was the match the internet was begging for, their two favorites going at it for the WWE Championship on the biggest stage. One of the biggest memories I have of watching this match live was how dead the crowd was. It certainly wasn't knocking anything against the two in the ring, just a long show and the majority of the fans were simply ready to move on to the main event already. Despite that, the action in the ring was actually pretty damn good. The action between the two was a slow build from the start with the two almost playing mind games with each other to score an upper hand. Once things picked up a bit, AJ Styles put an emphasis on working on the left knee of Shinsuke Nakamura. Nakamura did a fantastic job in selling the attack throughout the match as the injury would eventually prevent him from pinning Styles or even throwing effective knees. Finally, Nakamura seemingly had Styles lined up for a Kinshasa before Styles reversed it into a Styles Clash. Awesome ending sequence there and a perfect ending to the match. Never mind the internet warriors putting down this match, it was a great battle between two great competitors that didn't have to rely on fancy flips and dives to do it right. Afterwards, Nakamura hands Styles his title before giving him a low blow for his troubles. Awesome stuff from the very beginning. If you were gonna have Styles go over, then something had to give and that was Nakamura turning heel. Shame this match has a pretty bad reputation. I enjoyed it a lot.
Winner: AJ Styles
Rating: ****1/4
Match 10: WWE Raw Tag Team Championship - The Bar (c) vs. Braun Strowman & Nicholas
Welp, we needed something to bridge the gap between the two world championship matches so here we are. Cesaro and Sheamus of The Bar come out on a Mardi Gras flavored float for their entrance which Braun Strowman would hilariously destroy soon after. Strowman walked through the crowd to pick his partner for the match and decided to choose a random kid in the stands named Nicholas. Apparently, he was the son of a WWE referee. Strowman basically wrestled the entire match and finally was able to pin Cesaro to score the win for himself and Nicholas. Quick match as you would expect, the main story here was Strowman winning the belts for himself and Nicholas. Served its purpose, on to the main event.
Winners: Braun Strowman & Nicholas
Rating: 3/4*
Match 11: WWE Universal Championship - Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Roman Reigns
Let me start off by saying how much I LOVED their encounter a few years back at WrestleMania 31. I was there live for that match and it was absolutely electric. I was one of the few fans who was actually looking forward to this match, the same cannot be said for so many others watching this. The build for this match was a little more personal and since we've seen the two go at it a few times before, the mystery and mystique of it all just wasn't as apparent compared to the first time. This was as physical as you could get in a pro wrestling match. Brock Lesnar was seemingly having his way with Roman Reigns for a better chunk of the match, suplexing him and hitting F5s left and right. As much as the two tried to win the crowd over, it just wasn't happening. They could literally do a dive off the top of the stadium and the nerdy fans would still be screaming for CM Punk somehow. Lesnar cut Reigns up with some nasty elbow strikes which made for a pretty gruesome scene of blood pouring out of Roman's forehead. Despite giving Lesnar a few Spears at the end of the match, Reigns would still fall to one last F5. Great match that was unfortunately ruined by spoiled fans in the stadium. They were physical from the start and gave it all they had. Great scene at the end with Reigns walking on his own terms as the show closed. At the time, it was unsure if Lesnar was going to ever return to wrestling again so Vince definitely threw us a curveball here and left the wrestling world wondering what would happen next. Smart, leaves more intrigue to what would happen in the proceeding weeks.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
Rating: ***3/4
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Underwhelming? Sure. But I still enjoyed this show for what it was worth. However, I still question if having such a long show is beneficial or not for the show. It almost felt like the train was running out of steam as it continued to progress. Regardless, there's still a lot of good in this event to definitely look back at it with fond memories. This is far from the best offering the WWE has given us but it's certainly still a great installment to WrestleMania.
Rating: 7/10
April 8, 2018
New Orleans, Louisiana
WrestleMania returns to The Big Easy! The 2018 edition of WrestleMania emanates from New Orleans where Ronda Rousey teams up with Kurt Angle to take on Triple H & Stephanie McMahon in a highly anticipated match. Also, The Undertaker answers John Cena's call for a match while Brock Lesnar puts his Universal Championship on the line against Roman Reigns in the main event.
Match 7: Shane McMahon & Daniel Bryan vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn
Perhaps the coolest backstory to any match for tonight is this one right here. Daniel Bryan stepping away from the ring due to injury but finally returning in the exact spot where he had his biggest career moment in 2014 was just perfect. Interesting to see three former Ring of Honor guys in a marquee match, seriously takes me back to the good days. Awesome to see Bryan make his way to the ring with the crowd roaring for him like it was 2014 all over again. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn attack both Bryan and Shane McMahon before the match and temporarily take Bryan out of the equation which left McMahon to fend for himself before Bryan was finally able to make his return. Once Bryan was able to insert himself into the fray, he took over the match and led his team to victory by submitting Zayn after hitting him with a Running Knee. Good match for what it was, nothing crazy but definitely served its purpose. A great way to get Bryan back in the picture and allowing him to overcome the odds and score the big win.
Winners: Shane McMahon & Daniel Bryan
Rating: **3/4
Match 8: WWE Raw Women's Championship - Alexa Bliss (c) vs. Nia Jax
Before the bell even rings, Nia Jax attacks Mickie James to take her out of the equation. The match is finally just between Jax and Alexa Bliss. Interesting story leading to this one with Bliss basically ridiculing Jax for her size, almost like the WWE was trying to do a "feel good" type of story here with Jax defeating her bully at the biggest show of the year. The match really just saw Jax dominate Bliss for the most part throughout the match with Bliss getting a little bit of offense in but never did I feel like Jax was in any real struggle. Jax hits a Samoan Drop from the second rope to score the biggest win of her career as she breaks down in tears following the pin. Another decent match but another one that also worked for what it needed to be. Nobody was expecting or even probably wanting a long match between the two considering how deep we were into the show already so they delivered with what they were given. Great moment for Nia.
Winner: Nia Jax
Rating: **
Match 9: WWE Championship - AJ Styles (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
This was the match the internet was begging for, their two favorites going at it for the WWE Championship on the biggest stage. One of the biggest memories I have of watching this match live was how dead the crowd was. It certainly wasn't knocking anything against the two in the ring, just a long show and the majority of the fans were simply ready to move on to the main event already. Despite that, the action in the ring was actually pretty damn good. The action between the two was a slow build from the start with the two almost playing mind games with each other to score an upper hand. Once things picked up a bit, AJ Styles put an emphasis on working on the left knee of Shinsuke Nakamura. Nakamura did a fantastic job in selling the attack throughout the match as the injury would eventually prevent him from pinning Styles or even throwing effective knees. Finally, Nakamura seemingly had Styles lined up for a Kinshasa before Styles reversed it into a Styles Clash. Awesome ending sequence there and a perfect ending to the match. Never mind the internet warriors putting down this match, it was a great battle between two great competitors that didn't have to rely on fancy flips and dives to do it right. Afterwards, Nakamura hands Styles his title before giving him a low blow for his troubles. Awesome stuff from the very beginning. If you were gonna have Styles go over, then something had to give and that was Nakamura turning heel. Shame this match has a pretty bad reputation. I enjoyed it a lot.
Winner: AJ Styles
Rating: ****1/4
Match 10: WWE Raw Tag Team Championship - The Bar (c) vs. Braun Strowman & Nicholas
Welp, we needed something to bridge the gap between the two world championship matches so here we are. Cesaro and Sheamus of The Bar come out on a Mardi Gras flavored float for their entrance which Braun Strowman would hilariously destroy soon after. Strowman walked through the crowd to pick his partner for the match and decided to choose a random kid in the stands named Nicholas. Apparently, he was the son of a WWE referee. Strowman basically wrestled the entire match and finally was able to pin Cesaro to score the win for himself and Nicholas. Quick match as you would expect, the main story here was Strowman winning the belts for himself and Nicholas. Served its purpose, on to the main event.
Winners: Braun Strowman & Nicholas
Rating: 3/4*
Match 11: WWE Universal Championship - Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Roman Reigns
Let me start off by saying how much I LOVED their encounter a few years back at WrestleMania 31. I was there live for that match and it was absolutely electric. I was one of the few fans who was actually looking forward to this match, the same cannot be said for so many others watching this. The build for this match was a little more personal and since we've seen the two go at it a few times before, the mystery and mystique of it all just wasn't as apparent compared to the first time. This was as physical as you could get in a pro wrestling match. Brock Lesnar was seemingly having his way with Roman Reigns for a better chunk of the match, suplexing him and hitting F5s left and right. As much as the two tried to win the crowd over, it just wasn't happening. They could literally do a dive off the top of the stadium and the nerdy fans would still be screaming for CM Punk somehow. Lesnar cut Reigns up with some nasty elbow strikes which made for a pretty gruesome scene of blood pouring out of Roman's forehead. Despite giving Lesnar a few Spears at the end of the match, Reigns would still fall to one last F5. Great match that was unfortunately ruined by spoiled fans in the stadium. They were physical from the start and gave it all they had. Great scene at the end with Reigns walking on his own terms as the show closed. At the time, it was unsure if Lesnar was going to ever return to wrestling again so Vince definitely threw us a curveball here and left the wrestling world wondering what would happen next. Smart, leaves more intrigue to what would happen in the proceeding weeks.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
Rating: ***3/4
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Underwhelming? Sure. But I still enjoyed this show for what it was worth. However, I still question if having such a long show is beneficial or not for the show. It almost felt like the train was running out of steam as it continued to progress. Regardless, there's still a lot of good in this event to definitely look back at it with fond memories. This is far from the best offering the WWE has given us but it's certainly still a great installment to WrestleMania.
Rating: 7/10
Wednesday, March 18, 2020
WWE WrestleMania 34 Review (Part 1)
WWE WrestleMania 34
April 8, 2018
New Orleans, Louisiana
WrestleMania returns to The Big Easy! The 2018 edition of WrestleMania emanates from New Orleans where Ronda Rousey teams up with Kurt Angle to take on Triple H & Stephanie McMahon in a highly anticipated match. Also, The Undertaker answers John Cena's call for a match while Brock Lesnar puts his Universal Championship on the line against Roman Reigns in the main event.
Match 1: WWE Intercontinental Championship - The Miz (c) vs. Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor
Absolutely perfect choice to open up the night, much respect to these three for bringing back some legitimacy to the Intercontinental Championship. The Miz was at his peak at this point, shame he never got to challenge for a World Championship around this time. Unfortunately for The Miz, Seth Rollins was pretty much destined to win this match here to open the night. Add Finn Balor to the mix and you get a recipe for a match that would steal the show on any day of the year. Fun action from the beginning to the very end here with everyone getting in their offense and giving us believable nearfalls. Loved the finishing sequence here with Balor not having enough energy to flip Miz over for a pin as he would then get struck with a Stomp from Rollins. Soon after, Rollins gave Miz a Stomp and boom, Rollins walks out as the Intercontinental Champion. Great stuff here, nothing too over the top but good enough to set the pace for the rest of the night.
Winner: Seth Rollins
Rating: ***3/4
Match 2: WWE SmackDown Women's Championship - Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Asuka
Before I get into this, let me just state that all of these matches are my first viewing since watching it live in attendance. This was my favorite match of the night, let's see how it holds up here. Fantastic build to this match with Asuka winning the Royal Rumble and wanting the biggest challenge she could possibly have in Charlotte Flair. Great action from the start, the two really going at it and definitely making this feel like a big match despite just being second on the card. They didn't have to rely on silly nearfalls scattered throughout the entire match, they built the match from scratch and gradually tuned things up a few notches as the match progressed. Awesome ending to the match with Charlotte hitting Asuka with a Spear before making her submit to a Figure Eight. The submission at the end was long enough to have us wonder or not if this was really the end of the streak and not too long to the point where it let the hype die down, it was just perfect. Awesome ending with the two embracing each other after Asuka exclaimed on the mic that Charlotte was ready for her. Great stuff.
Winner: Charlotte Flair
Rating: ****1/4
Match 3: WWE United States Championship - Randy Orton (c) vs. Bobby Roode vs. Rusev vs. Jinder Mahal
SmackDown Live counters Raw's Intercontinental Championship match with this loaded United States Championship match. Originally, it was supposed to be a triple threat match until the rising popularity of Rusev forced things to change. Great way to get all these guys on the card and give us a solid filler for the night. As you would expect, not the greatest match ever but certainly one that never bored me at all. It got its point across and didn't overstay its welcome, everybody got in their offenses and the crowd was pretty hot for everyone. They especially loved having Rusev on the card and the atmosphere was pretty electric for him here. Unfortunately for him, a distraction from Sunil Singh led to Mahal hitting a Khallas to secure the big win. Solid match for what it was and enjoyed seeing Mahal get the rub here. You gotta have your heels get wins at the biggest show of the year and a win from here was a great swerve to everyone.
Winner: Jinder Mahal
Rating: **3/4
Match 4: Triple H & Stephanie McMahon vs. Kurt Angle & Ronda Rousey
This was probably the most hyped match of the night with Ronda Rousey making her in-ring debut with Kurt Angle by her side. Triple H is a master of these matches, nobody is able to play smoke and mirrors better than him, go back and watch his match with Sting if you don't know what I'm talking about. The hype around this match was obviously for Rousey and how well she was going to perform in this match. Welp, she delivered. As a matter of fact, she delivered big time and completely blew away all my expectations. She was hopping around the ring like she's been doing this for years and they did a great job in making her look like an animal as Stephanie McMahon did her best to get away from her throughout the match. Finally, Rousey was able to get Stephanie alone in the ring as Stephanie begged for mercy until Rousey submitted her in a split second. Fun match and a fantastic debut for Rousey as she gets the big WrestleMania victory. Had my doubts leading into this one but they more than surpassed my expectations, kept me on my edge throughout. Good stuff.
Winners: Ronda Rousey & Kurt Angle
Rating: ***1/4
Match 5: WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship - The Usos (c) vs. The New Day vs. The Bludgeon Brothers
Giving us a break between the last match and the upcoming match between John Cena and The Undertaker sees the SmackDown Tag Team Championship on the line. Finally for The Usos, they get a chance to showcase their skills on the main card of WrestleMania after being with the company for years. These are arguably the three best tag teams on the SmackDown brand so it's always cool to see them get some shine. Good match for what it was, just about what you would expect from these guys in the short time they were allotted. Kofi Kingston falls to a big powerbomb from the top rope by The Bludgeon Brothers. Great to see Erick Rowan & Luke Harper celebrate as they score the biggest wins of their careers. Sucks that Kofi had to eat the pin but at least he got his big moment a year later...
Winners: The Bludgeon Brothers
Rating: **1/2
Match 6: John Cena vs. The Undertaker
This match almost breaks my heart. I always felt like since the WWE didn't capitalize on this match years ago that this match was just better left off as one of those "what if" kind of things. Despite that, the build to this match was fantastic with John Cena losing two big matches that would have guaranteed him a spot on the card. With that, he called out The Undertaker and after weeks and weeks of no appearances, The Deadman finally came out to face off against Cena after Cena had taken out an interrupting Elias. This match was the first for The Undertaker since losing to Roman Reigns a year ago and he needed something quick to get back on the wagon. His match here against Cena was the biggest squash match in the career of Cena as Undertaker was able to hit a Tombstone fairly quickly on Cena to pick up the win. There it is, we finally get a match between the two here at WrestleMania and it was nowhere near what anybody wanted. The feud was great and this was a great way to not only get both guys on the card, but also give Undertaker back some credibility after taking a huge loss. Fine moment for the night but definitely one that I could've lived without.
Winner: The Undertaker
Rating: n/a
April 8, 2018
New Orleans, Louisiana
WrestleMania returns to The Big Easy! The 2018 edition of WrestleMania emanates from New Orleans where Ronda Rousey teams up with Kurt Angle to take on Triple H & Stephanie McMahon in a highly anticipated match. Also, The Undertaker answers John Cena's call for a match while Brock Lesnar puts his Universal Championship on the line against Roman Reigns in the main event.
Match 1: WWE Intercontinental Championship - The Miz (c) vs. Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor
Absolutely perfect choice to open up the night, much respect to these three for bringing back some legitimacy to the Intercontinental Championship. The Miz was at his peak at this point, shame he never got to challenge for a World Championship around this time. Unfortunately for The Miz, Seth Rollins was pretty much destined to win this match here to open the night. Add Finn Balor to the mix and you get a recipe for a match that would steal the show on any day of the year. Fun action from the beginning to the very end here with everyone getting in their offense and giving us believable nearfalls. Loved the finishing sequence here with Balor not having enough energy to flip Miz over for a pin as he would then get struck with a Stomp from Rollins. Soon after, Rollins gave Miz a Stomp and boom, Rollins walks out as the Intercontinental Champion. Great stuff here, nothing too over the top but good enough to set the pace for the rest of the night.
Winner: Seth Rollins
Rating: ***3/4
Match 2: WWE SmackDown Women's Championship - Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Asuka
Before I get into this, let me just state that all of these matches are my first viewing since watching it live in attendance. This was my favorite match of the night, let's see how it holds up here. Fantastic build to this match with Asuka winning the Royal Rumble and wanting the biggest challenge she could possibly have in Charlotte Flair. Great action from the start, the two really going at it and definitely making this feel like a big match despite just being second on the card. They didn't have to rely on silly nearfalls scattered throughout the entire match, they built the match from scratch and gradually tuned things up a few notches as the match progressed. Awesome ending to the match with Charlotte hitting Asuka with a Spear before making her submit to a Figure Eight. The submission at the end was long enough to have us wonder or not if this was really the end of the streak and not too long to the point where it let the hype die down, it was just perfect. Awesome ending with the two embracing each other after Asuka exclaimed on the mic that Charlotte was ready for her. Great stuff.
Winner: Charlotte Flair
Rating: ****1/4
Match 3: WWE United States Championship - Randy Orton (c) vs. Bobby Roode vs. Rusev vs. Jinder Mahal
SmackDown Live counters Raw's Intercontinental Championship match with this loaded United States Championship match. Originally, it was supposed to be a triple threat match until the rising popularity of Rusev forced things to change. Great way to get all these guys on the card and give us a solid filler for the night. As you would expect, not the greatest match ever but certainly one that never bored me at all. It got its point across and didn't overstay its welcome, everybody got in their offenses and the crowd was pretty hot for everyone. They especially loved having Rusev on the card and the atmosphere was pretty electric for him here. Unfortunately for him, a distraction from Sunil Singh led to Mahal hitting a Khallas to secure the big win. Solid match for what it was and enjoyed seeing Mahal get the rub here. You gotta have your heels get wins at the biggest show of the year and a win from here was a great swerve to everyone.
Winner: Jinder Mahal
Rating: **3/4
Match 4: Triple H & Stephanie McMahon vs. Kurt Angle & Ronda Rousey
This was probably the most hyped match of the night with Ronda Rousey making her in-ring debut with Kurt Angle by her side. Triple H is a master of these matches, nobody is able to play smoke and mirrors better than him, go back and watch his match with Sting if you don't know what I'm talking about. The hype around this match was obviously for Rousey and how well she was going to perform in this match. Welp, she delivered. As a matter of fact, she delivered big time and completely blew away all my expectations. She was hopping around the ring like she's been doing this for years and they did a great job in making her look like an animal as Stephanie McMahon did her best to get away from her throughout the match. Finally, Rousey was able to get Stephanie alone in the ring as Stephanie begged for mercy until Rousey submitted her in a split second. Fun match and a fantastic debut for Rousey as she gets the big WrestleMania victory. Had my doubts leading into this one but they more than surpassed my expectations, kept me on my edge throughout. Good stuff.
Winners: Ronda Rousey & Kurt Angle
Rating: ***1/4
Match 5: WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship - The Usos (c) vs. The New Day vs. The Bludgeon Brothers
Giving us a break between the last match and the upcoming match between John Cena and The Undertaker sees the SmackDown Tag Team Championship on the line. Finally for The Usos, they get a chance to showcase their skills on the main card of WrestleMania after being with the company for years. These are arguably the three best tag teams on the SmackDown brand so it's always cool to see them get some shine. Good match for what it was, just about what you would expect from these guys in the short time they were allotted. Kofi Kingston falls to a big powerbomb from the top rope by The Bludgeon Brothers. Great to see Erick Rowan & Luke Harper celebrate as they score the biggest wins of their careers. Sucks that Kofi had to eat the pin but at least he got his big moment a year later...
Winners: The Bludgeon Brothers
Rating: **1/2
Match 6: John Cena vs. The Undertaker
This match almost breaks my heart. I always felt like since the WWE didn't capitalize on this match years ago that this match was just better left off as one of those "what if" kind of things. Despite that, the build to this match was fantastic with John Cena losing two big matches that would have guaranteed him a spot on the card. With that, he called out The Undertaker and after weeks and weeks of no appearances, The Deadman finally came out to face off against Cena after Cena had taken out an interrupting Elias. This match was the first for The Undertaker since losing to Roman Reigns a year ago and he needed something quick to get back on the wagon. His match here against Cena was the biggest squash match in the career of Cena as Undertaker was able to hit a Tombstone fairly quickly on Cena to pick up the win. There it is, we finally get a match between the two here at WrestleMania and it was nowhere near what anybody wanted. The feud was great and this was a great way to not only get both guys on the card, but also give Undertaker back some credibility after taking a huge loss. Fine moment for the night but definitely one that I could've lived without.
Winner: The Undertaker
Rating: n/a
Tuesday, March 3, 2020
What's One Thing You Would Change to NXT?
The WrestleRush team was present in the Pacific Northwest this past weekend for NXT TakeOver and before the event, we asked NXT fans a simple question... If given the power, what is one thing you would change to the NXT brand?
Monday, February 10, 2020
WWE's Top 10 Matches of 2019 Review (Part 2)
2019 was certainly a wild year in the WWE and while 2020 is already
here, I finally had time to stop and relive some of the best moments and
matches from last year. WWE posted their top 10 matches of 2019 on The
WWE Network and I decided to check them out and give you my thoughts on
each match.
#4: WWE Money in the Bank 2019 - WWE Universal Championship - Seth Rollins (c) vs. AJ Styles
This was certainly one of the more anticipated matches for the internet geeks in 2019 with their two biggest crushes in Seth Rollins and AJ Styles going at it for the company's top prize. These two are simply automatic, give them a time or place and they will deliver on all cylinders. I enjoyed the approach the two had for this match, they didn't rely on cheap nearfalls throughout the entire match to get pops from the crowd but instead let the action in and out of the ring really speak for itself. Smooth action from the two in the ring before having the fight spill a bit outside. Loved the innovative reversals the two had and loved the nice pace they maintained throughout the match. Great finishing few minutes here with Styles reversing a Stomp into a Styles Clash that had Rollins barely kicking out. That was probably the coolest reverse to Rollins' Stomp since Randy Orton turned it into an RKO years ago. Finally, Rollins is able to later hit his Stomp on Styles to seal the win. Great championship match that didn't have to rely on bells and whistles to get the crowd over for this, great wrestling from the start that would definitely be rated a bit higher if they were able to go a few minutes longer.
Winner: Seth Rollins
Rating: ****1/4
#3: WWE NXT TakeOver: New York 2019 - NXT Championship - 2-Out-of-3-Falls Match - Adam Cole (c) vs. Johnny Gargano
This is quite possible the biggest match in NXT history with the two biggest names going at it for the top prize at the biggest show, what more could you possibly ask for? Oh, let's go ahead and make it a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match while we're at it. Of course, they built the match around Johnny Gargano having the odds completely stacked against his favor. Nice start to the match with Adam Cole getting the first fall fairly quickly with a Last Shot to the back of the head of Gargano. If the odds weren't already stacked against Gargano, he must now have to score two straight falls against Cole to secure the win. Gargano is able to match Cole by submitting him in a Gargano Escape, love how Cole quickly tapped in order to conserve his energy for the remainder of the match. The fight for the last fall was absolutely wild here. Cole was doing his best to destroy Gargano but Gargano would not give in, there was a ton of nearfalls and every single one of them was just as believable as the next. Even with the help of the rest of Undisputed Era, Cole still wasn't able to score the win over Gargano. Finally, Gargano fought everyone off and locked Cole in the center of the ring with a Gargano Escape to secure the biggest win of his career. Awesome match, maybe the nearfalls at the end became a bit draining but regardless, an incredible effort from the two.
Winner: Johnny Gargano
Rating: ****3/4
#2: WWE Hell in a Cell 2019 - WWE Raw Women's Championship - Hell in a Cell - Becky Lynch (c) vs. Sasha Banks
Sasha Banks got a much needed change to her character by turning heel late in 2019 and gets the opportunity of a lifetime here against Becky Lynch, the Raw Women's Champion since WrestleMania. The two start the fight outside the cage before the bell rang with the two finally bringing it back in the ring as Lynch locked the door. They really tried their best to bring out all the stops for this one here as they introduced a couple new spots to keep things fresh. The feud between the two was heated and they treated it as such, loved seeing Banks drive her knees through Lynch against a ladder and later through a table. Finally, Lynch is able to calm the storm by hitting a Becksploder from the top rope onto a pile of steel chairs before submitting Banks with a Dis-Arm-Her. Solid match but maybe just a little too much of Banks dominating too much of the match and waiting for Lynch to finally retaliate with a big spot. Enjoyed seeing Banks as a heel despite how corny she can be at times with her trash talk. Either way, solid match that lived up to its expectations.
Winner: Becky Lynch
Rating: ***3/4
#1. WWE WrestleMania 35 - WWE Championship - Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Kofi Kingston
If I had to choose the best feud for the year of 2019, it would probably have to be the one between Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston. We all know the story of Kingston's long journey to finally getting a shot at the WWE Championship and the WWE did an amazing job of Kingston scratching and clawing his way to getting an opportunity. Bryan was the perfect opponent for Kingston, someone who had a very similar story to Kingston and ironically stands as the one in the way of Kingston realizing his dreams. Great match here from the start, Bryan fantastic in his role as a heel and giving Kingston some nasty kicks in front of Kingston's New Day partners and using his speed to divert Kingston into harming himself. The rest of The New Day didn't get too involved in the match here until needed when both Big E and Xavier Woods took out Erick Rowan at ringside. With Bryan having nobody by his side, he fell right into a Trouble in Paradise to end the match. Kofi Kingston is a WWE Champion for the first time in his long career in the WWE. What a moment. Big E and Woods reveal the original WWE Championship belt before Bryan redesigned it as they then brought it to Kofi who then celebrated in the ring. Beautiful moment to see Kingston celebrate the win with his kids in the middle of the ring. Incredible story and an incredible match.
Winner: Kofi Kingston
Rating: ****1/2
#4: WWE Money in the Bank 2019 - WWE Universal Championship - Seth Rollins (c) vs. AJ Styles
This was certainly one of the more anticipated matches for the internet geeks in 2019 with their two biggest crushes in Seth Rollins and AJ Styles going at it for the company's top prize. These two are simply automatic, give them a time or place and they will deliver on all cylinders. I enjoyed the approach the two had for this match, they didn't rely on cheap nearfalls throughout the entire match to get pops from the crowd but instead let the action in and out of the ring really speak for itself. Smooth action from the two in the ring before having the fight spill a bit outside. Loved the innovative reversals the two had and loved the nice pace they maintained throughout the match. Great finishing few minutes here with Styles reversing a Stomp into a Styles Clash that had Rollins barely kicking out. That was probably the coolest reverse to Rollins' Stomp since Randy Orton turned it into an RKO years ago. Finally, Rollins is able to later hit his Stomp on Styles to seal the win. Great championship match that didn't have to rely on bells and whistles to get the crowd over for this, great wrestling from the start that would definitely be rated a bit higher if they were able to go a few minutes longer.
Winner: Seth Rollins
Rating: ****1/4
#3: WWE NXT TakeOver: New York 2019 - NXT Championship - 2-Out-of-3-Falls Match - Adam Cole (c) vs. Johnny Gargano
This is quite possible the biggest match in NXT history with the two biggest names going at it for the top prize at the biggest show, what more could you possibly ask for? Oh, let's go ahead and make it a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match while we're at it. Of course, they built the match around Johnny Gargano having the odds completely stacked against his favor. Nice start to the match with Adam Cole getting the first fall fairly quickly with a Last Shot to the back of the head of Gargano. If the odds weren't already stacked against Gargano, he must now have to score two straight falls against Cole to secure the win. Gargano is able to match Cole by submitting him in a Gargano Escape, love how Cole quickly tapped in order to conserve his energy for the remainder of the match. The fight for the last fall was absolutely wild here. Cole was doing his best to destroy Gargano but Gargano would not give in, there was a ton of nearfalls and every single one of them was just as believable as the next. Even with the help of the rest of Undisputed Era, Cole still wasn't able to score the win over Gargano. Finally, Gargano fought everyone off and locked Cole in the center of the ring with a Gargano Escape to secure the biggest win of his career. Awesome match, maybe the nearfalls at the end became a bit draining but regardless, an incredible effort from the two.
Winner: Johnny Gargano
Rating: ****3/4
#2: WWE Hell in a Cell 2019 - WWE Raw Women's Championship - Hell in a Cell - Becky Lynch (c) vs. Sasha Banks
Sasha Banks got a much needed change to her character by turning heel late in 2019 and gets the opportunity of a lifetime here against Becky Lynch, the Raw Women's Champion since WrestleMania. The two start the fight outside the cage before the bell rang with the two finally bringing it back in the ring as Lynch locked the door. They really tried their best to bring out all the stops for this one here as they introduced a couple new spots to keep things fresh. The feud between the two was heated and they treated it as such, loved seeing Banks drive her knees through Lynch against a ladder and later through a table. Finally, Lynch is able to calm the storm by hitting a Becksploder from the top rope onto a pile of steel chairs before submitting Banks with a Dis-Arm-Her. Solid match but maybe just a little too much of Banks dominating too much of the match and waiting for Lynch to finally retaliate with a big spot. Enjoyed seeing Banks as a heel despite how corny she can be at times with her trash talk. Either way, solid match that lived up to its expectations.
Winner: Becky Lynch
Rating: ***3/4
#1. WWE WrestleMania 35 - WWE Championship - Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Kofi Kingston
If I had to choose the best feud for the year of 2019, it would probably have to be the one between Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston. We all know the story of Kingston's long journey to finally getting a shot at the WWE Championship and the WWE did an amazing job of Kingston scratching and clawing his way to getting an opportunity. Bryan was the perfect opponent for Kingston, someone who had a very similar story to Kingston and ironically stands as the one in the way of Kingston realizing his dreams. Great match here from the start, Bryan fantastic in his role as a heel and giving Kingston some nasty kicks in front of Kingston's New Day partners and using his speed to divert Kingston into harming himself. The rest of The New Day didn't get too involved in the match here until needed when both Big E and Xavier Woods took out Erick Rowan at ringside. With Bryan having nobody by his side, he fell right into a Trouble in Paradise to end the match. Kofi Kingston is a WWE Champion for the first time in his long career in the WWE. What a moment. Big E and Woods reveal the original WWE Championship belt before Bryan redesigned it as they then brought it to Kofi who then celebrated in the ring. Beautiful moment to see Kingston celebrate the win with his kids in the middle of the ring. Incredible story and an incredible match.
Winner: Kofi Kingston
Rating: ****1/2
Sunday, January 26, 2020
WWE Royal Rumble 2019 Review (Part 2)
WWE Royal Rumble 2019
January 27, 2019
Phoenix, Arizona
The official road to WrestleMania begins in the desert where two Royal Rumbles dictate the landscape of WrestleMania. Meanwhile, four big world championship matches fill in the rest of the show including Finn Balor having the challenge of the lifetime... a Universal Championship match against Brock Lesnar.
Match 5: WWE Championship - Daniel Bryan (c) vs. AJ Styles
The buildup leading into this match on episodes of SmackDown were absolutely terrific so the excitement for this one was certainly high. Unfortunately, those expectations were absolutely shot down here for this match. Whoever had the spot of following the first Rumble of the night would be stuck in a bad predicament considering how deflated the crowd would be from it. Having a fairly short match filled with lots of big spots would be the best case scenario for the two here, especially considering how heated their feud has been. Instead, we got an extremely long match that didn't match the intensity they brought in the television programming leading into this. This isn't to say the action in the ring wasn't enjoyable, it just dragged on for way too long than it needed to and about half way in, the crowd could not care less about who the winner was going to be. Eventually, Erick Rowan came out and helped Bryan win the match by delivering a Chokeslam to Styles. Seriously, what was that? Having Rowan come out to interfere in the match just seemed to anticlimactic in a match that just seemingly wasn't going to end. Love these two to death but this one gets a thumbs down.
Winner: Daniel Bryan
Rating: **3/4
Match 6: WWE Universal Championship - Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Finn Balor
This is another championship match for the night with a great backstory to it. Finn Balor beat out three other guys to earn his spot here against Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship. The build to this match was great and they did a fantastic job of making the fans believe in Balor being able to tackle the giant. If the crowd was dead for the last match, they definitely woke up for this one and having high hopes in Balor being able to score the win of a lifetime. Balor is able to catch Lesnar early on while Lesnar had his head turned away for a split second to start the match. Balor relied on his speed to try and take down Lesnar but was quickly caught and tossed around. However, the match would spill outside where Balor was able to drive Lesnar's gut into the corner of an announcers table twice before hitting a Coup de Gras on Lesnar in the middle of the ring. However, Lesnar is able to lock in a Kimura submission on Balor quickly to submit Balor for the win. Afterwards, Lesnar delivered an F5 to Balor for his troubles. Great match and exactly what it needed to be. Lesnar really works great with smaller opponents and this is a great example. For a split second, Balor looked to have the match in the bag until Lesnar turned the tides at the very end. Good stuff.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
Rating: ***1/4
Match 7: 2019 Men's Royal Rumble Match
With your Royal Rumble match, you always want to have a bit of everything. You want action and you want drama... but you also want some comedy and good fluidity to the match. I believe that's certainly what we got here for the most part in this year's Rumble match. Enjoyed the start with Elias knocking out Jeff Jarrett with a guitar shot before eliminating him and then getting the match going from there. Good flow to the match here and it was also cool to see a couple NXT guys come in and get some time in the match. Also loved the couple funny spots with Titus O'Neil making sure he didn't trip under the ring or No Way Jose getting eliminated. But tt became pretty clear that the winner was going to be Seth Rollins after Bobby Lashley drove him through an announcers table. The final four came down to Rollins, Andrade, Dolph Ziggler and Braun Strowman. A solid four guys to close out the night. Finally, it was down to Rollins and Strowman. Rollins and Strowman had a great exchange before hitting a Stomp to Strowman on the ring apron to score one of the biggest victories of his career. Loved the finish here with the right man going over despite it being fairly obvious once things were narrowing down. Would have been interesting to see a swerve with Strowman or perhaps even Andrade getting the win. But sometimes, it's the most obvious pick that makes the most sense and that was definitely the case here.
Winner: Seth Rollins
Rating: ****1/4
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
The main event was great and there were a few solid matches on here including a great bout between Asuka and Becky Lynch. However, this show was long... much longer than it needed to be. The length of the show really allowed some of the matches to suffer with the crowd being so fatigued from it all. Say what you want but you know it's true. But if anything, the show at least ended on a great note.
Rating: 6.5/10
January 27, 2019
Phoenix, Arizona
The official road to WrestleMania begins in the desert where two Royal Rumbles dictate the landscape of WrestleMania. Meanwhile, four big world championship matches fill in the rest of the show including Finn Balor having the challenge of the lifetime... a Universal Championship match against Brock Lesnar.
Match 5: WWE Championship - Daniel Bryan (c) vs. AJ Styles
The buildup leading into this match on episodes of SmackDown were absolutely terrific so the excitement for this one was certainly high. Unfortunately, those expectations were absolutely shot down here for this match. Whoever had the spot of following the first Rumble of the night would be stuck in a bad predicament considering how deflated the crowd would be from it. Having a fairly short match filled with lots of big spots would be the best case scenario for the two here, especially considering how heated their feud has been. Instead, we got an extremely long match that didn't match the intensity they brought in the television programming leading into this. This isn't to say the action in the ring wasn't enjoyable, it just dragged on for way too long than it needed to and about half way in, the crowd could not care less about who the winner was going to be. Eventually, Erick Rowan came out and helped Bryan win the match by delivering a Chokeslam to Styles. Seriously, what was that? Having Rowan come out to interfere in the match just seemed to anticlimactic in a match that just seemingly wasn't going to end. Love these two to death but this one gets a thumbs down.
Winner: Daniel Bryan
Rating: **3/4
Match 6: WWE Universal Championship - Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Finn Balor
This is another championship match for the night with a great backstory to it. Finn Balor beat out three other guys to earn his spot here against Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship. The build to this match was great and they did a fantastic job of making the fans believe in Balor being able to tackle the giant. If the crowd was dead for the last match, they definitely woke up for this one and having high hopes in Balor being able to score the win of a lifetime. Balor is able to catch Lesnar early on while Lesnar had his head turned away for a split second to start the match. Balor relied on his speed to try and take down Lesnar but was quickly caught and tossed around. However, the match would spill outside where Balor was able to drive Lesnar's gut into the corner of an announcers table twice before hitting a Coup de Gras on Lesnar in the middle of the ring. However, Lesnar is able to lock in a Kimura submission on Balor quickly to submit Balor for the win. Afterwards, Lesnar delivered an F5 to Balor for his troubles. Great match and exactly what it needed to be. Lesnar really works great with smaller opponents and this is a great example. For a split second, Balor looked to have the match in the bag until Lesnar turned the tides at the very end. Good stuff.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
Rating: ***1/4
Match 7: 2019 Men's Royal Rumble Match
With your Royal Rumble match, you always want to have a bit of everything. You want action and you want drama... but you also want some comedy and good fluidity to the match. I believe that's certainly what we got here for the most part in this year's Rumble match. Enjoyed the start with Elias knocking out Jeff Jarrett with a guitar shot before eliminating him and then getting the match going from there. Good flow to the match here and it was also cool to see a couple NXT guys come in and get some time in the match. Also loved the couple funny spots with Titus O'Neil making sure he didn't trip under the ring or No Way Jose getting eliminated. But tt became pretty clear that the winner was going to be Seth Rollins after Bobby Lashley drove him through an announcers table. The final four came down to Rollins, Andrade, Dolph Ziggler and Braun Strowman. A solid four guys to close out the night. Finally, it was down to Rollins and Strowman. Rollins and Strowman had a great exchange before hitting a Stomp to Strowman on the ring apron to score one of the biggest victories of his career. Loved the finish here with the right man going over despite it being fairly obvious once things were narrowing down. Would have been interesting to see a swerve with Strowman or perhaps even Andrade getting the win. But sometimes, it's the most obvious pick that makes the most sense and that was definitely the case here.
Winner: Seth Rollins
Rating: ****1/4
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
The main event was great and there were a few solid matches on here including a great bout between Asuka and Becky Lynch. However, this show was long... much longer than it needed to be. The length of the show really allowed some of the matches to suffer with the crowd being so fatigued from it all. Say what you want but you know it's true. But if anything, the show at least ended on a great note.
Rating: 6.5/10
Friday, January 24, 2020
WWE Royal Rumble 2019 Review (Part 1)
WWE Royal Rumble 2019
January 27, 2019
Phoenix, Arizona
The official road to WrestleMania begins in the desert where two Royal Rumbles dictate the landscape of WrestleMania. Meanwhile, four big world championship matches fill in the rest of the show including Finn Balor having the challenge of the lifetime... a Universal Championship match against Brock Lesnar.
Match 1: WWE SmackDown Women's Championship - Asuka (c) vs. Becky Lynch
The top women on SmackDown open up the night as Becky Lynch looks to really start off 2019 the same way she ended her 2018... on a huge note. Absolutely love the setup for the show here with the wrestlers entering from the dugout with fans being very close to the stage. Great choice to have these two jerk the curtain with so many title matches on the card, this one was arguably the one that got the least amount of hype so opening the show with it was a great call to not let it get lost in the scuffle. Fun opening match here with the two ladies going at it and giving each other some sick shots and nice submission spots that had the crowd having no clue who would come out on top. Loved the creativeness here between the two like seeing Asuka put an Asuka Lock on Lynch on the ropes or Lynch putting Asuka in an Asuka Lock. The last few minutes of the match had some sweet exchanges before Asuka was able to finally get Lynch to tap out.
Winner: Asuka
Rating: ****
Match 2: WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship - The Bar (c) vs. The Miz & Shane McMahon
The second title match of the night is once again from the SmackDown side of things as the unusual pairing of The Miz and Shane McMahon look to take down both Sheamus and Cesaro of The Bar for the gold... or silver if we're being technical. Slow start to the match here for the first half until the teams ramped things up a bit for the second half. Sheamus and Cesaro are great in setting up big spots throughout the match including a near callback to driving McMahon through one of the announcers tables and catching McMahon from hitting his patented Coast-to-Coast. Finally, an inadvertent Brogue Kick from Sheamus to Cesaro set up an opening for Miz to hit a Skull Crushing Finale before McMahon hit a Shooting Star Press to seal the win. Good match for what it was but would have probably preferred to see it be a little shorter than what it was. The win for Miz and McMahon was a bit predictable but still fun to see the finish and an interesting way for them to go into WrestleMania.
Winners: The Miz & Shane McMahon
Rating: **3/4
Match 3: WWE Raw Women's Championship - Ronda Rousey (c) vs. Sasha Banks
Arguably the biggest match for Ronda Rousey as the Raw Women's Champion here against Sasha Banks. Early on, the two are able to establish something to work around the match with Rousey inadvertently driving her elbow into one of the ring posts. Banks did a great job of working her moves and more so her submissions around that exact arm that had been bothering Rousey. Banks looked ferocious here and tried submitting Rousey by biting her fingers and even using a piece of her own attire against Rousey during one of her submissions. While much of the match was dominated by Banks, Rousey did a good job of getting in some of her offense in and really showing the audience that she has some seriously nice moves in the ring. However, much of the match just did feel like it was Banks in control of things while we were all just waiting for Rousey to basically overcome the odds at the very end. That is exactly what happened here with Rousey being able to hit another Piper's Pit to score the win after taking an offensive onslaught from Banks. Solid match that probably could have been scored a little higher if they continued the pace they had at the end of the match for a few more minutes or so.
Winner: Ronda Rousey
Rating: ***1/2
Match 4: 2019 Women's Royal Rumble Match
Smart call to have the Women's Royal Rumble Match in the middle of the night, keeps the ball rolling and prevent things from dragging on too much. Unfortunately, this Rumble match just wasn't clicking too well from the start. While the bigger names in Natalya and Charlotte Flair came out in the first half of the match, the match just wasn't anything out of the ordinary and the crowd had a pretty hard time keeping their interest early on. While the Rumble is a great way to introduce some NXT names to the larger WWE crowd, it certainly felt like there were way too many of them and the crowd stayed wondering who they were actually watching. Things finally got a little more interesting when Becky Lynch came out to take the place of an injured Lana where the match came down to herself, Charlotte and Nia Jax. The perfect three women to end the match here. Lynch was able to eliminate Jax from the outside before Jax later on shoved Lynch off the top of the stairs. This caused Lynch to injure her knee and before the referee was about to call Charlotte the winner, Lynch willed her way back in the ring. The two exchanged for a few minutes before Lynch was able to eliminate Charlotte to secure the win and a spot at WrestleMania. Solid ending to a rather bland Rumble. The right person won and they did a fantastic job of setting up her triumphant victory.
Winner: Becky Lynch
Rating: ***
January 27, 2019
Phoenix, Arizona
The official road to WrestleMania begins in the desert where two Royal Rumbles dictate the landscape of WrestleMania. Meanwhile, four big world championship matches fill in the rest of the show including Finn Balor having the challenge of the lifetime... a Universal Championship match against Brock Lesnar.
Match 1: WWE SmackDown Women's Championship - Asuka (c) vs. Becky Lynch
The top women on SmackDown open up the night as Becky Lynch looks to really start off 2019 the same way she ended her 2018... on a huge note. Absolutely love the setup for the show here with the wrestlers entering from the dugout with fans being very close to the stage. Great choice to have these two jerk the curtain with so many title matches on the card, this one was arguably the one that got the least amount of hype so opening the show with it was a great call to not let it get lost in the scuffle. Fun opening match here with the two ladies going at it and giving each other some sick shots and nice submission spots that had the crowd having no clue who would come out on top. Loved the creativeness here between the two like seeing Asuka put an Asuka Lock on Lynch on the ropes or Lynch putting Asuka in an Asuka Lock. The last few minutes of the match had some sweet exchanges before Asuka was able to finally get Lynch to tap out.
Winner: Asuka
Rating: ****
Match 2: WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship - The Bar (c) vs. The Miz & Shane McMahon
The second title match of the night is once again from the SmackDown side of things as the unusual pairing of The Miz and Shane McMahon look to take down both Sheamus and Cesaro of The Bar for the gold... or silver if we're being technical. Slow start to the match here for the first half until the teams ramped things up a bit for the second half. Sheamus and Cesaro are great in setting up big spots throughout the match including a near callback to driving McMahon through one of the announcers tables and catching McMahon from hitting his patented Coast-to-Coast. Finally, an inadvertent Brogue Kick from Sheamus to Cesaro set up an opening for Miz to hit a Skull Crushing Finale before McMahon hit a Shooting Star Press to seal the win. Good match for what it was but would have probably preferred to see it be a little shorter than what it was. The win for Miz and McMahon was a bit predictable but still fun to see the finish and an interesting way for them to go into WrestleMania.
Winners: The Miz & Shane McMahon
Rating: **3/4
Match 3: WWE Raw Women's Championship - Ronda Rousey (c) vs. Sasha Banks
Arguably the biggest match for Ronda Rousey as the Raw Women's Champion here against Sasha Banks. Early on, the two are able to establish something to work around the match with Rousey inadvertently driving her elbow into one of the ring posts. Banks did a great job of working her moves and more so her submissions around that exact arm that had been bothering Rousey. Banks looked ferocious here and tried submitting Rousey by biting her fingers and even using a piece of her own attire against Rousey during one of her submissions. While much of the match was dominated by Banks, Rousey did a good job of getting in some of her offense in and really showing the audience that she has some seriously nice moves in the ring. However, much of the match just did feel like it was Banks in control of things while we were all just waiting for Rousey to basically overcome the odds at the very end. That is exactly what happened here with Rousey being able to hit another Piper's Pit to score the win after taking an offensive onslaught from Banks. Solid match that probably could have been scored a little higher if they continued the pace they had at the end of the match for a few more minutes or so.
Winner: Ronda Rousey
Rating: ***1/2
Match 4: 2019 Women's Royal Rumble Match
Smart call to have the Women's Royal Rumble Match in the middle of the night, keeps the ball rolling and prevent things from dragging on too much. Unfortunately, this Rumble match just wasn't clicking too well from the start. While the bigger names in Natalya and Charlotte Flair came out in the first half of the match, the match just wasn't anything out of the ordinary and the crowd had a pretty hard time keeping their interest early on. While the Rumble is a great way to introduce some NXT names to the larger WWE crowd, it certainly felt like there were way too many of them and the crowd stayed wondering who they were actually watching. Things finally got a little more interesting when Becky Lynch came out to take the place of an injured Lana where the match came down to herself, Charlotte and Nia Jax. The perfect three women to end the match here. Lynch was able to eliminate Jax from the outside before Jax later on shoved Lynch off the top of the stairs. This caused Lynch to injure her knee and before the referee was about to call Charlotte the winner, Lynch willed her way back in the ring. The two exchanged for a few minutes before Lynch was able to eliminate Charlotte to secure the win and a spot at WrestleMania. Solid ending to a rather bland Rumble. The right person won and they did a fantastic job of setting up her triumphant victory.
Winner: Becky Lynch
Rating: ***
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