Tribal Court: The Trial of the Tribal Chief Roman Reigns
The Usos arrived to a big pop and celebrated their massive victory over Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa from Money in the Bank. However, they were quickly interrupted by Paul Heyman and Solo Sikoa before Roman Reigns arrived shortly after. Roman was furious that this “Trial” was even taking place before the Usos showed a brilliant video package of all the times Roman Reigns has disrespected them (as well as Solo and Paul Heyman). The thing I liked the most about this video package was how it showed clips from the early days of the Thunderdome. Reigns told the Usos that he didn’t want to be that way, but he had to be that way. The Tribal Chief then went on about how he’s had enough and doesn’t want to do this anymore. Roman then put the family necklace onto Jey Uso before he knelt down to the Right Hand Man. Obviously, this led to Reigns low-blowing his cousin before Solo Sikoa destroyed Jimmy Uso. Reigns then started to wreck Jimmy by consistently smashing him in the head with both stairs and his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship all whilst a trapped Jey Uso was forced to watch. The segment then ended with Solo Sikoa hitting a Flying Solo to crash Jimmy Uso through the announce table. This was all great stuff from everyone involved and Roman Reigns mentioning real-life things like his children was excellent. The beatdown on Jimmy Uso was also done magnificently, but it arguably went a little bit too long. This opening segment and Jimmy then getting wheeled into an ambulance took up the first third of this show and that’s a lot of time.
Grade: B
United States Championship: Austin Theory VS Sheamus, The Grayson Waller Effect
United States Champion Austin Theory made his way down to the ring as he was about to put his Championship on the line against the leader of the Brawling Brutes, Sheamus. The in-ring action between the two men was alright, but it kept getting interrupted for ad breaks as a result of how long the first segment went. This meant we only saw about 6 minutes of the match and it resulted in Austin Theory retaining his title with a roll-up after Pretty Deadly caused a big enough distraction. Firstly, the way Sheamus got himself a United States Championship match made no sense, and this lack of time it got on TV made it feel pretty pointless.
Grade: C
It was then time for yet another edition of the Grayson Waller Effect as the Arrogant Aussie welcomed his guest Edge to the show. It’s the first time that the Rated-R Superstar has been seen in a while and you could tell he was delighted to be back. He tried on multiple occasions to talk to the crowd, but he kept getting interrupted by Waller who wanted the Hall of Famer to announce his retirement. However, that didn’t happen as Edge announced that he’s not retiring and he’s having a match tonight against none other than Grayson Waller. Whilst this still wasn’t nearly as good as the GW Effect in NXT, this was definitely the best one on the main roster as Waller actually got to act like the Arrogant Aussie that he is instead of just being a fanboy. Edge’s entrance is always cool too.
Grade: B-
AJ Styles VS Karrion Kross, SmackDown Women’s Divison, Edge VS Grayson Waller
AJ Styles and Karrion Kross have been feuding for a bit now on Friday nights and this was meant to be the big payoff to their feud. However, the match went no more than two minutes, and saw Michin take out Scarlett before AJ Styles delivered the Phenomenal Forearm to beat the Harvenger of Doom. This was really bad, Styles and Kross are both more than capable of putting on a good match, but instead had a short match which did nothing for either of them and made Karrion Kross look like a shell of the man who was unbeatable in NXT. Also, we didn’t even get to see Karrion’s entrance which is stupid because it’s great.
Grade: D
Asuka arrived to talk to the WWE Universe in Maddison Square Garden before she was interrupted by Bianca Belair who charged straight for the WWE Women’s Champion. Charlotte Flair then quickly arrived as she then charged at the EST before those two brawled which allowed Iyo Sky to come out of nowhere and attack Asuka with her Money in the Bank Briefcase. Bayley then nailed the Empress of Tomorrow with a Rose Plant onto the briefcase before Sky hit her fellow Japanese superstar with Over the Moonsault. However, Sky wasn’t able to cash in as Bianca Belair pulled Bayley out of the ring before Charlotte nailed Sky with a boot to end the segment. Pacing was bad on this show and this was another sign of that. This segment included 5 of the best women and arguably superstars (male or female) in the whole company yet it was completely rushed and a bit scrappy. It also made Bianca Belair and Charlotte Flair look really dumb as they cost Iyo Sky the opportunity to cash in and get rid of her briefcase. Instead, Flair or Belair could beat Asuka for the title and then get cashed in on by the Genius of the Sky and it would be their fault.
Grade: D
Grayson Waller made his WWE main roster debut in the final match of the night as he went one-on-one with WWE Hall of Famer Edge. This was definitely the best match of the night because it got the most time and didn’t have a bunch of unnecessary advert breaks in between. We know that Edge can wrestle and Grayson Waller showed the main roster audience, who may not have watched his run in NXT, that he can hang with the best. Unfortunately, though, it wasn’t enough for Waller as Edge countered the Rebel Heart-breaker’s attempt at the rolling Stunner by Spearing him to get the victory. After the match, Edge showed a bit of respect to Grayson which is good, but I do have to question if Edge really needed to win this. It’s not like a win or a loss matters at this stage of Edge’s career, but a win here for Waller and his star power would’ve risen significantly as a result.
Grade: C+
Jey Uso returns to Madison Square Garden
Roman Reigns, Solo Sikoa, and Paul Heyman were waiting in the ring for Jey Uso who arrived through the Madison Square Garden crowd. Jey started off by taking out Solo Sikoa before he laid in a chair shot on Roman Reigns. However, Solo made the save before Main Event Jey Uso whaled with a bunch of steel chair strikes onto his younger brother. Jey then called out Roman Reigns who was on the entrance ramp and laid out a challenge for the Tribal Chief. I’ve been saying since Hell in a Cell 2020 that Jey Uso should be the one to dethrone him and I’ve stood by that even when Reigns has faced the likes of Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre in Cardiff, Sami Zayn in Montreal or Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania. It just makes perfect sense given the storyline that WWE has told with Roman Reigns and this was another good segment that proved my theory. Whether Main Event Jey Uso dethrones Roman Reigns at Summerslam or Payback I don’t mind, but it can’t be anyone else but him.
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