Kickoff Show match: Madcap Moss and The Street Profits VS Austin Theory and the Alpha Academy
The first match of the night saw a solid 6-man tag team match. The whole point of this match was just to hype up the crowd even more. Madcap Moss was super over which was nice to see, and all six wrestlers are great. The Street Profits had a really cool tag team manoeuvre where Ford did a dive of his teammate. Ford won with his amazing frog splash. A solid Kickoff show match.
Grade: C+
Bianca Belair, Asuka, Alexa Bliss VS Damage Control (Bayley, Dakota Kai, IYO SKY)
The newly named Damage Control walked down to the ring with new entrance music. That is a shame because the three members have some of the best music on the entire roster. All six women are very talented, and the fans were singing Bayley’s name to the Role Model’s disgust. Bianca Belair eventually got the big hot tag, and she was super over as expected. I really liked that Michael Cole brought up the history between Asuka and IYO SKY in Japan. Damage Control got the victory after Bayley pinned Bianca Belair! Kai, SKY and Bayley all hit their finishing moves onto the champion, so it makes sense that she lost but it was a surprise. Damage Control needed the win, so this was the right result to most likely set up Belair VS Bayley for the future.
Grade: B
Intercontinental Championship: Gunther VS Sheamus
Sheamus came down to the ring for a big ovation which was nice. Ludwig Kaiser then revealed that Giovanni Vinci is back alongside him and the Ring General before Gunther came out in his classic black jacket, a nice nod to both NXT UK but also confirming the return of Imperium. This match was incredible, the best on the night in my opinion. It was hard hitting, brutal and even more violent than people were expecting which is saying something. This match was nearly 20 minutes long and by the end, the two stars were absolutely shattered. Some of the moves that were hit where insane and Sheamus and Gunther’s chests were both a mess. Gunther won with a powerbomb and then a vicious lariat. Gunther’s momentum continues and after the match, Sheamus was cheered out of the building by the Cardiff crowd. Well done to both of them.
Grade: A
SmackDown Women’s Championship: Liv Morgan VS Shayna Baszler
The SmackDown Women’s Champion aimed to pull off another big victory against the Queen of Spades. I was looking forward to this match as I didn’t know who was going to win. This was a solid match, it was amazing, but they did a good job. Shayna Baszler locked in the Karifuda clutch but Morgan managed to get to the ropes. Liv Morgan hit the codebreaker and then the oblivion to get the clean victory. A good win for Morgan even though a loss for Baszler isn’t great.
Grade: B-
Edge and Rey Mysterio VS The Judgement Day
Edge had the best entrance of the night; his song was sung by the crowd. Edge also came down to the ring wearing a Luchador mask which was cool and then the Judgement Day did their really cool entrance. This was a fun match, Edge hit a 619 which was cool, and he even speared Damian Priest through the middle rope to the outside, a less dangerous version of Big E’s move. Dominik Mysterio kept being a pest for the Judgement Day before Rhea Ripley smashed him with a punch. Ripley then got took out after Rey Mysterio hit a dive onto both her and his son. Young Mysterio than got involved again which allowed a really cool 619 from Rey Mysterio into a spear from Edge for the win. After the match though, Dominik turned on his father after low-blowing the Rated R-Superstar. Edge’s sell of this was absolutely brilliant. Dominik needed to give himself some personality so this was already an improvement for Young Dominik. The Judgement Day laughing about all of this was pretty funny.
Grade: B
Matt Riddle VS Seth “Freakin” Rollins
Matt Riddle came down to the ring in Patrick’s colours from SpongeBob whilst Seth Rollins was in the craziest outfit, I think I have ever seen in professional wrestling. This match was great, Rollins is the best wrestler in the world right now whilst Riddle has been in a great run of form. Riddle hit a lovely dive to the outside whilst Seth Rollins hit the Broderick for a near-fall. Rollins also pulled out the pedigree, but Riddle kicked out with only one of his shoulders which was cool. Riddle rolled into the ring and was met by a stomp from the Visionary. He then hit another one from the middle rope to get the victory which was a really good ending. Rollins finally gets a big PPV win, and this should set him up for an Undisputed WWE Universal Championship match. Riddle looked really good so a loss shouldn’t hurt him too much.
Grade: A-
Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns VS Drew McIntyre
Drew McIntyre entered the arena for a humongous pop including a really cool video showing his entire WWE run in about 2 minutes. Roman Reigns then entered with no Paul Heyman and no Usos which looked really strange. The crowd were singing Drew McIntyre’s name for nearly the entirety of the 30-minute match to Roman’s disgust. At one point, a water bottle was thrown at Drew but thankfully, it wasn’t a fan, and it was actually Karrion Kross. At one point in the match, Reigns got a microphone and asked the crowd to acknowledge him. At one point in the match, Drew McIntyre hit the Claymore kick and Roman fell into the referee. Austin Theory’s music then hit, and he ran down to the ring planning to cash in his MITB briefcase. However, he got met with a right hand from Tyson Fury which was really funny. Then, Drew McIntyre hit a spear onto Reigns and then Claymore kicked him, and I genuinely thought he was going to win but the referee was pulled out of the ring by the youngest Uso, Solo Sikoa! This was so unexpected but so brilliant. Reigns then hit another spear to get the victory in a brilliant ending. The Tribal Chief has shown just how smart he is but he has also solidified himself as arguably the GOAT. A loss for Drew is a shame but he will bounce back. When he does win a world championship again, it will be amazing. Hopefully we get Reigns VS Rollins soon.
Grade: A
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