Damage CTRL VS Charlotte Flair and Shotzi
After a new SmackDown intro (we’ll never see this one again), it was time for the opening match of the night as Damage Control’s Bayley and WWE Women’s Champion Iyo Sky took on the team of Charlotte Flair and Shotzi. This match was alright, I don’t remember too much about it which isn’t great, but that also means that there wasn’t anything bad or offensive about it. Shotzi looked decent throughout which is a good thing whilst we know how talented Charlotte, Bayley, and Iyo are. The ending saw Asuka arrive out of nowhere and steal the WWE Women’s Championship off of Dakota Kai before Shotzi took advantage of the distracted Bayley by hitting The Role Model with a DDT to get the win. Damage CTRL perhaps have the worst win-loss record of any tag team in history, but the stare-down between Iyo Sky and Asuka after the match made up for it (a little).
Grade: C+
Austin Theory VS LA Knight, The Judgment Day VS The Brawling Brutes
Jimmy Uso found Paul Heyman backstage and asked what the plans were for the night. Paul Heyman said that Jimmy needs to impress to be back in The Bloodline, which is why he then attacked AJ Styles after Styles went to get physical with The Wiseman. Damage Control were then furious backstage before Iyo Sky challenged Asuka to a match for the WWE Women’s Championship. LA Knight then arrived to a massive ovation as The Megastar cut a promo on The Miz. Grayson Waller and Austin Theory then arrived and trash-talked LA before we got a match between Theory and Knight. This was a fun little match and I had a lot of fun listening to Grayson Waller on commentary. It really is amazing to see just how over LA Knight is whilst Austin Theory can make anyone look good (which only helps). In the end, Grayson Waller’s plan to get Knight to collide with the exposed turnbuckle didn’t work, and The Megastar ended up hitting the B.F.T. to get the victory.
Grade: B- (Promo and Match Combined)
Paul Heyman was complaining to Adam Pearce in his office before LA Knight walked in and asked for a match with The Miz next week, something Pearce was happy to make official. Heyman then introduced himself to Knight but then warned him to knock when the Wiseman’s having a conversation next time. This was cool. The Judgment Day then arrived as The Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions Finn Balor, Senor Money in the Bank Damian Priest, as well as the NXT North American Champion Dominik Mysterio all cut a promo about how great they are. It’s literally gotten to the point where you can’t hear what Dominik’s saying because he’s being booed so loudly. The Brawling Brutes then arrived and Ridge Holland cut a (not very good) promo before it was time for Ridge and Butch to take on Balor and Priest. This was a fine match, there was nothing wrong with it, but I’ve also seen much better matches with The Judgment Day involved. My actual highlight of this whole thing was seeing Pretty Deadly back on my screen as Elton Prince and Kit Wilson were watching the match from backstage. The fact that Elton is still in a wheelchair for a dislocated shoulder just speaks to how brilliant those two guys are! Back to the in-ring action, Senor MITB Damian Priest dropped Ridge Holland with the South of Heaven, he then delivered the same move to Butch onto Holland before Finn Balor hit the Coup de Grace to seal the victory. After the match, The “Suit Profits” arrived as Bobby Lashley, Montez Ford, and Angelo Dawkins made it clear that they’re going to be the ones to run WWE going forward, not The Judgment Day. I’m sure that could work, but I personally would’ve saved this for when Bianca Belair’s back because that could’ve been money.
Grade: C+
AJ Styles VS Jimmy Uso
AJ Styles got pretty angry at The O.C. for not being there for him when Jimmy Uso attacked him. I like serious AJ a lot, he’s a lot better in that role than just being a straight-up Babyface. Asuka then accepted Iyo Sky’s challenge for a WWE Women’s Championship match before it was Main Event time as Jimmy Uso looked to get back into the good graces of The Tribal Chief Roman Reigns by picking up a victory against AJ Styles. This match was fine, but it also kind of summed up the show in the sense that little happened. Solo Sikoa came out to ringside with Paul Heyman which was interesting as Paul had told Jimmy earlier in the night that Solo wasn’t going to be there. In the end, to my surprise, AJ Styles delivered the Phenomenal Forearm to Jimmy Uso to get the victory. However, as AJ went to leave, he was attacked by The Judgment Day who then chucked The Phenomenal One in the ring, allowing Solo to floor Styles with the Samoan Spike. I also wasn’t expecting this and it is very interesting, especially if this leads to a confrontation between Roman and Damian Priest.