Imperium VS Braun Strowman, Ricochet and Madcap Moss, LA Knight VS Kofi Kingston
After another recap from the Elimination Chamber, Kayla Braxton asked Jimmy Uso if he’d spoken to his twin brother Jey Uso. Jimmy said he hadn’t and he asked Jey to meet him in the ring tonight. The first match of the night then took place as Braun Strowman, Ricochet and Madcap Moss teamed up to take on Imperium. This was a fine match and the quality of it was good, but I definitely had my annoyances with it. One of those is the fact that Braun Strowman and Ricochet have been feuding and having matches with Imperium for far too long now. Second of all, I don’t like Ricochet and Strowman as a team as it just means the One and Only is going to get beaten up for ages so Braun can get the hot tag. What I did like was Drew McIntyre coming down to watch the action and also Gunther picking up the victory (he pinned Madcap). After the match, it looked like Drew was going to come and stare down with the Intercontinental Champion, but he was attacked by the Viking Raiders before Sheamus made the save. In the end, it was the four babyfaces of McIntyre, Sheamus, Strowman and Ricochet who stood tall as Imperium vanished into thin air.
Grade: C+
Rey Mysterio was being interviewed backstage before Santos Escobar came over and showed respect to one of his heroes. Dominik Mysterio then came over and laughed at both of them and when it looked like the Emperor of Lucha Libre was about to beat some respect into Dom, Rhea Ripley stood in between them. The Bloodline (Jimmy, Solo, Paul) were talking in their locker room and you could tell that Jimmy was unsure about what Jey was going to do next. Paul told Jimmy that he should go to the ring alone tonight. The Megastar LA Knight then walked down to the ring and he made the great point that WrestleMania in LA needs LA Knight. Knight was then interrupted by the New Day who said that WrestleMania opportunities are earned, not handed out (tell that to Omos). After a bit of back-and-forth bickering between the faces and heel, we got a match between Kofi Kingston and LA Knight. This match actually got quite a bit of time and it was alright, but I was surprised with Kofi Kingston being the controller in this match. Xavier Woods continuously played his trombone on the outside and this annoyed Knight to the point that he attacked Woods on the outside. This backfired on him though as the ending saw Woods cause distraction with the trombone, allowing Kofi to pick up the victory after delivering a Trouble in Paradise to the former Million Dollar Champion. I’m hoping this is leading somewhere as having LA Knight lose doesn’t feel like the right call.
Grade: C
Natalya VS Shayna Baszler, Rey Mysterio VS Karrion Kross
Charlotte Flair came down to the ring in what was meant to be a face-to-face stare-off with Rhea Ripley. However, Dominik Mysterio came down to the ring and talked about their similarities. Eventually, Charlotte had had enough of this, but Rhea Ripley then came down to “make the save” as the two stood face-to-face. This wasn’t an amazing segment to build the Flair-Ripley Mania match, but my word, Dom is funny.
Grade: C
We then got our first and only female match of the night as Natalya took on her old tag team partner turned bitter rival Shayna Baszler. Before the match, WWE played a video where Tegan Nox told Nattie that she would have her back. One thing I did not like was Shayna Baszler came out to Ronda Rousey’s music as she’s the bigger star. The match itself was pretty short and it ended up seeing Shayna Baszler pick up the win with an armbar. After the match, Ronda Rousey attempted to break Natalya’s nose, but she was taken down by Tegan Nox before the heels retreated. I have no idea why they retreated and Ronda Rousey asking Shayna who Nox was doesn’t make the Girl with the Shiniest Wizard look particularly great.
Grade: C-
The Firefly Fun House returned and it was another hectic addition where we saw the Firefly Fun House door left wide open. We also got the FFH (Firefly Fun House) News and Uncle Howdy doing the weather update. The episode ended with Bray Wyatt asking “can you keep a secret”. Like most Firefly Fun House episodes, it’s clever, but you don’t really know what it means. We then cut back to the Bloodline to see that they hadn’t moved a single inch and Paul Heyman told Jimmy Uso that he’d just got a text from the Tribal Chief telling us that Roman Reigns will be here next week. He then told Jimmy that Roman had warned him that if he doesn’t sort out his brother this week, he’ll do it for him next week.
Rey Mysterio then came down to the ring as he was ready to take on the Harvenger of Doom, Karrion Kross. The two men do work well together so they were able to have a decent match, but the real important part of this was the story. Scarlett sort of caused a distraction by taking a hard fall after Rey bounced off the ropes (he didn’t even check if she was ok) and whilst the referee was checking on her, Dominik Mysterio arrived and prevented Rey from hitting his trademark 619. Rey then got back into the ring and got wrecked by a right hand from Kross before the former NXT Champion picked up an important win with the Kross Jacket. As Karrion and Scarlett walked off, Dominik continually tried to goad his father into attacking him, but Rey still can’t do it. The story is being tolled well and I think if you make it a tag team match and add in Santos Escobar and Damian Priest, it can only elevate both the story and the match itself.
Grade: B-
Jimmy Uso ends the show
One-half of the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Jimmy Uso came down to the ring and he told his twin brother Jey that he will always have his back no matter what. What he needs right now is for Jey to be the same. Sami Zayn then arrived to a big cheer and he had a heart-to-heart promo with Jimmy. He told Jimmy that he was hurt when he Superkicked him without any hesitation at the Royal Rumble given the fact that he was the one who had his back right from the start. Uso then answered saying that he had no other choice before Jey Uso appeared in the crowd. Sami told Jimmy that he “didn’t have to go down with the ship” before he noticed Jey. When this happened, Jimmy attacked Sami Zayn, but this backfired on Jimmy as when he looked at his brother, he got met with a Helluva kick by the former Honorary Uce. Solo Sikoa then ran down to the ring before Sami left after having a quick glance at Main Event Jey Uso. Even though this wasn’t an amazing Bloodline segment, it was still good and if furthered the story. I’m also glad that WWE did a promo exchange between Sami Zayn and Jimmy Uso given the fact that Jimmy was the one who wanted Sami in the Bloodline in the first place.
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