CM Punk Starts the Show, Gunther VS Otis
After a recap of a historic Elimination Chamber, CM Punk stormed down to the ring to throw a few shots at some of his Rivals! Punk called The Rock a fraud, John Cena a sellout, and he went mad at Seth “Freakin” Rollins for costing him his guaranteed WrestleMania Main Event spot! This brought out Seth Rollins who started a massive brawl with Punk, a brawl that referees and security guards sucked at when it came to breaking it all up! Eventually, both men were finally separated after a commercial break, but still, this was a melee! I will say, I really liked what CM Punk said, especially about The Final Boss!
Grade: B
After Finn Balor told the rest of The Judgment Day that he was going to handle Bron Breakker tonight, Gunther made his way down to the ring as he took on Otis in the opening match of the night! Gunther talked down on Otis on his way to the ring, taking shots at him for the way he looks, but the problem for Gunther is Otis is a tough competitor! The former Number 1 Guy went wild on The Ring General, hitting him with multiple clotheslines as the Buffalo crowd cheered on! Ultimately, the World Heavyweight Champion was able to get the win with a very impressive Powerbomb, but he definitely had to fight for it! After the match, Gunther continued to beat up Otis and Akira Tozawa before Jey Uso ran down to make the save, only for the appearance of A-Town Down Under to help Gunther stand tall!
Grade: B-
Women’s Intercontinental Championship: Lyra Valkyria VS Ivy Nile, The War Raiders VS American Made: World Tag Team Championships, Finn Balor Interrupts Bron Breakker
After a Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky video package, AJ Styles was speaking with Cathy Kelley backstage before Karrion Kross appeared and gave his thoughts about John Cena! AJ told Kross that he’s going to call out Logan Paul next week before it was time for the first Championship match of the night as Lyra Valkyria went one-on-one with Ivy Nile for the Women’s Intercontinental Title! I thought this was a good match, both women looked good here, and they definitely benefited from the fact that this match got a lot of time! Lyra has established herself as a great in-ring competitor which is what her Championship run is centred around, but she was made to work here by a vicious Nile who continued to target the injured leg of Valkyria! Eventually, Lyra was able to pin Ivy following a Nightwing, but this was another contest where the Champion was made to work!
Grade: B-
After CM Punk and Seth “Freakin” Rollins brawled again in the backstage area, Adam Pearce gave Seth Rollins his wish of a Steel Cage Match for next week’s show! Ludwig Kaiser was then talking trash about Penta which resulted in Penta coming down to the ring and taking Ludwig out before Bianca Belair said she didn’t want to speak about Jade Cargill or Naomi and instead wants to focus on finding out who her WrestleMania opponent is going to be! Chad Gable then found himself with a box as he continues to try and master the dark arts of Lucha Libre before it was time for American Made to take on The War Raiders for with the World Tag Team Championships on the line! I say this most weeks, but both of these teams are really good, and I’m always particularly impressed by The Creed Brothers! The athleticism of Julius and Brutus is amazing, the Shooting Star Press (from Julius) in particular was incredible, and they’re more than good enough to be Champions! However, on this very night, they simply weren’t quite good enough as Erik and Ivar managed to deliver War Machine to get the win, meaning The Raiders remain at the top of the Raw Tag Team Division!
Grade: B-
The LWO had a video promo where Rey Mysterio said him and Dragon Lee will face The New Day in a Tornado Tag Team Match next week before Finn Balor interrupted Bron Breakker’s promo to say that he’s coming for the Intercontinental Championship! This led to Bron storming through the crowd and into the ringside area, only for the rest of The Judgment Day to try and jump him! However, both Dominik Mysterio and Carlito failed miserably, leaving Breakker to go after Balor, only for Finn to be pulled out of the ring by “Dirty” Dom (right as the IC Champ was going for a Spear)! I expect it’s going to be a multi-man match for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania, and I have no problem with that!
Grade: C+
Women’s World Championship: Rhea Ripley VS Iyo Sky
After a recap of John Cena’s shocking Heel Turn, it was Main Event time as Rhea Ripley put her Women’s World Championship on the line against Iyo Sky! The jeopardy heading into this match wasn’t particularly high, it felt pretty clear that Rhea was going to win, but there was still intrigue surrounding how the win would occur and if Iyo would get screwed, ultimately leading to a Triple Threat Match with Bianca Belair at WrestleMania! The action itself was good, both women are very, very talented, and the crowd was invested! However, the interesting part came when Bianca clapping for Iyo clearly struck a nerve with Rhea, and this meant that Ripley lost her focus a little, allowing Sky to take advantage with a hurricanrana followed by Over the Moonsault to get the shock win, meaning Iyo Sky is the brand-new Women’s World Champion! I didn’t see that coming at all, like genuinely, but it’s super cool! I still expect this to be a Triple Threat at Mania simply because of the pushing between Bianca and Rhea (which should’ve been a DQ by the way), but yeah, this was pretty cool!
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