Undisputed WWE Championship "I Quit” Match: Cody Rhodes VS AJ Styles
WWE Clash at the Castle 2024 Live from Glasgow Scotland kicked off with an “I Quit” Match for the Undisputed WWE Championship as Cody Rhodes looked to retain over “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles. This was a totally fine wrestling match that had some really good moments, whether that was AJ continually wiping Cody or Rhodes showing a more darker and edgier side. However, I really struggle to enjoy these matches as the referee is always incredibly annoying, and that was very much the case here too. Also, I found the ending to be a bit odd as Styles refused to say I Quit until The American Nightmare threatened to smash his head with steel steps. However, after the match, the Undisputed WWE Champion just did it anyway which doesn’t really make much sense.
Grade: C+
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships: Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill VS Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark VS Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn
The next match saw Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill put their WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships on the line in a Triple Threat against both Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark, and the hometown heroes of Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn. This was actually a fun little match where Fyre and Dawn really got to showcase themselves like they’ve rarely been able to do in the past. Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark also had strong moments too whilst Bianca Belair had to do a lot of the heavy lifting for her team. Towards the end, Shayna was close to making Jade Cargill tap out before it looked like Belair and Cargill were going to retain following their Tag Team finisher. However, Isla Dawn then appeared and suplexed Cargill out of the way before she pinned Baszler for the 3 count meaning The Unholy Union are the new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions! I genuinely popped for this because not only was this a massive surprise, but it was well deserved too!
Grade: B
Intercontinental Championship: Sami Zayn VS Chad Gable
After a great video package, Sami Zayn got a massive ovation as he put his Intercontinental Championship on the line against Chad Gable. For most of this match, it was a good technical showcase between two very talented individuals. For the last part, however, it was all story based and that is my cup of tea! Chad once again attempted his favourite tactic of distracting the referee so one of his Alpha Academy students could cheat, but Maxxine Dupri refused to which angered Gable before Zayn nearly connected with a Helluva Kick onto Dupri. This then allowed Master Gable to hit a Chaos Theory for a wonderful near-fall that genuinely got me! Gable then ridiculed Maxxine which angered Otis before Chad (later on) locked in an ankle lock on Sami. However, Zayn then reversed it and Gable brilliantly delivered a chop block to Maxxine Dupri which really angered Otis before the two students left, allowing Zayn to hit the Helluva Kick and retain his IC Title! This was great, and whilst I wanted Chad to win, this was still a lot of fun!
Grade: B+
WWE Women’s Championship: Bayley VS Piper Niven
After a video package that made this feel like a WrestleMania Main Event, Piper Niven returned home as she looked to capture the WWE Women’s Championship out of the hands of Bayley. The crowd were fully behind Piper here, and they even booed for Bayley at times which was actually quite surprising. Earlier in the match, Chelsea Green got thrown out, but later on, a mysterious masked individual showed up and tried to help Niven, but it wasn’t confirmed who that person was. Anyway, after a good showing from both women, Bayley managed to sneak away with the victory. I have no problem with Bayley winning this match, but it definitely flattened the crowd a bit. In terms of Piper Niven, this cannot just be a 1-time thing, WWE have to push her strongly moving forward!
Grade: B-
World Heavyweight Championship: Damian Priest VS Drew McIntyre
And in the Main Event of this year’s Clash at the Castle, Drew McIntyre had a whole Scottish Army behind him as he looked to dethrone Damian Priest for the World Heavyweight Championship. This match started off pretty strong, with both men landing hard shots, but it all changed when Damian suffered a freak accident where he managed to catch his leg in between the ropes. This clearly hurt Priest as he was limping for the rest of the match, and it definitely slowed the pace down substantially. However, El Campeon still fought on and the crowd were fully behind Drew, and we got a couple of near-falls including a great one where Priest managed to kick out of a Claymore. Towards the end of the contest, the referee got knocked down and Drew managed to hit another Claymore as a new referee ran down. However, that referee was none other than CM Punk who delivered a low blow to McIntyre before Damian Priest hit a second South of Heaven to score the win and retain his World Heavyweight Championship. Overall, this was really good, and the storytelling at the end with Punk was excellent. This was also a massive moment for Damian Priest, who has fully established himself as a proper World Champion! However, that one freak moment could prove costly, and it certainly hurt this match overall.
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