Another big show in the WWE this year will happen today as WWE comes from Melbourne, Australia in front of 70,000 people. A lot of big matches are happening here.
Let's Do This!
No Pre-Show today. It's straight to the show. The new WWE opening takes place, and we get a WWE video package putting over the show and the LAST TIME EVER match.
It looks like the Raw Announce Team will be calling the show.
We go to the arena, and they've already spent more money on fireworks than they have for WWE programming this year. 70,309 in attendance. For once, the entrance way is understated.
1) SmackDown Live Tag Team Championship
The Bar vs. The New Day (c)
I wonder if Vince/WWE Management is ordering people to run the aisle tonight. Both tag teams were doing that coming to the ring. Nice back and forth action with Kingston and Cesaro, along with Woods after getting the tag. Woods and Kingston had an awesome sequence of moves to start off. The Bar a minute later catches both guys flying towards them and put them into the ringpost. Also, thank you Renee for telling us that Australia has a Starbucks. I was worried for those poor people.
The Bar do some of their trademark attacks while in control of the match. The Bar went from being this cobbled-together team to becoming one of the best tag teams in the entire company. Their style of offense is so different compared to the others on the roster. Xavier gets the tag in and goes on the attack after a really solid sequence by The Bar. Sheamus gets the backbreaker on Xavier, and Xavier is selling the move really well. Woods almost gets a 3 on Sheamus after dodging a Brogue Kick. Elevated European Uppercut by The Bar. Cesaro Swing and Sharpshooter by Cesaro. Kofi kicks both Sheamus and Cesaro. Both Sheamus and Kofi go over the top. Trouble in Paradise to Cesaro. Great ending here with Xavier hitting a backstabber and holding it while Kofi comes off the top with a Double Stomp. The Speed Force of The New Day retains the titles.
Winners: The New Day (still SmackDown Live Tag Team Champions)
Match Grade: B. Really fun opening match with both teams not quite going insane but just working a very solid match to get the crowd warmed up. All four of these guys looked good at times during the match, which should be the point. I think there is still room for this feud to continue after this.
2) SmackDown Live Women's Championship
Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch (c)
Wow. They are just showing that SmackDown is just nothing but curtain jerkers, huh? But damn! Charlotte Flair looks awesome in her robe. They cut her entrance short. And here comes Becky Lynch! Becky is NOT running down the aisle. She just walks the whole thing holding up her title.
Mixed reaction for Charlotte and more solid applause for Becky Lynch during the introductions for the title match. LOUD "LET'S GO BECKY" chant after the bell rings. Effective, smart audience early on with Lynch working on the legs of Charlotte. BECKY PULLS CHARLOTTE'S ARM THROUGH THE ROPES AND ESSENTIALLY CAUSES CHARLOTTE TO SOMERSAULT DOWN TO THE FLOOR. Ouch! I'm loving this new version of Becky Lynch. Thank you WWE and Becky Lynch. Charlotte starts getting back into the match. But Becky flips around her body and lands a Fujimara Armbar! Wow. Charlotte reverses into a Sidewalk Slam in a nice looking sequence.
Now Charlotte goes after the knee of Becky Lynch. Charlotte unloads with some of her typical offense. These two are having a very good match. Big Boot by Charlotte almost gets her the title. Becky almost catches her in a rollup seconds later. Boo-Yeah segment of strikes happening now. SPEAR by Charlotte! Becky gets out at 2.5. To me, this is already a better match than the match at Hell in a Cell. Charlotte goes for the moonsault off the top. Knees up! 2 count only though. Enzigiri by Becky. Becky goes for the top rope leg drop. And she misses. Charlotte gets Becky in a BOSTON CRAB?! She's a Flair, NOT a MARTEL! Becky gets to the ropes, goes to the outside, and gets her belt. Charlotte drives Becky into the barricade. Both women are back in the ring. Spear by Charlotte. FIGURE 8... BUT BECKY GRABS THE TITLE AND SMASHES CHARLOTTE IN THE KNEE.
Winner: Charlotte Flair (by DQ); Becky Lynch (still SmackDown Live Women's Champion)
Match Grade: B. Another very solid match on this show. If you asked me which match was the better worked between the two Becky/Charlotte matches, I would point out this one as I enjoyed the match itself here. The finish of Hell in a Cell was obviously better. Good show so far.
After the match, Charlotte attacks Becky to boos from the audience. Becky clothesline Charlotte on the floor. Becksploder suplex on the outside now followed by a ramming knee into her face. Mixed reaction now for Becky.
Here are Elias and Kevin Owens in the center of the ring. ELIAS BREAKS OUT THE OPENING RIFF OF THUNDERSTRUCK ON HIS GUITAR! LOL! Nice tribute to AC/DC here even as a heel. Loud "Owens" chant. Owens heels on the city. And Elias starts to get in on that too. Bobby comes out to interrupt their heel work. No Lio Rush. :(
3) Elias/Kevin Owens vs. John Cena/Bobby Lashley
God it's been a LONG time since John Cena has been in a WWE ring on TV. Seems to me that the "Let's Go Cena" chants are a bit louder than the "Cena Sucks" chants. Elias and Lashley start us off here. Nice solid exchange here between the two. Owens tags in and starts working on Lashley. Lashley handles both of the heels by himself. Elias blasts Cena off the apron before he can tag. And the heels finally knock Lashley down to start working on him. Good heat seeking by Elias and Owens here working on Lashley and the crowd. Lashley starts fighting back, but he gets sidestepped by Owens sending him CRASHING to the floor. Owens hits a big Frog Splash for a 2 count. Lashley finally gets Owens off of him. Tag to Cena and Elias. 5 MOVES OF DOOM!!!! You Can't See Me! Attitude Adjustment. Wait! Cena hits a Sixth Move of DOOM! A walking punch right to the chin from what I can tell. 1-2-3.
Winners: John Cena and Bobby Lashley
Match Grade: C. They worked for the finish here for the most part. Lashley took all of the offense and the heel attacks in this match until Cena took the tag. From there, Cena just came in to hit his big moves literally. Not too bad, but it didn't really capture my attention
Cena gets on the mic and talks to the crowd. He says thank you. He has no idea what the future holds. He just knows he's focusing on the now. Cena looks like an American Schwarzenegger with his hairstyle. It actually suits him.
4) The IIconics vs. Asuka/Naomi
The IIconics are from Australia. They do their schtick in front of their home crowd. They actually don't heel on the crowd. Here comes Asuka. And then here comes Naomi. Asuka's HAIR GLOWS! Lol! Naomi's outfit glows. Asuka's hair glows. Somehow, that's awesome. Even better is Peyton Royce's bad dancing on the outside.
Decent match so far, although the Australian crowd does not want to boo their hometown act. It's hard to get into match where the IIconics get any sort of offense on Asuka. And for some reason, she's the one that takes the heel offense by the IIconics. Funny selling by Payton to a kick by Naomi. Billie Kay gets Naomi face first on the apron. They team up on Naomi in the ring with a wheelbarrow knee to the head of Naomi. 1-2-3. I'm shocked.
Winners: The IIconics.
Match Grade: D-. Well, that happened. Naomi and Asuka take a loss for the hometown act. The match itself was not exactly a good match. But they worked hard. So, I'm not going to completely destroy this. I expect a rematch at Evolution.
So far, this show has felt for better and for worse as a house show. The first four matches have not done anything to change this perception. The last two matches have pulled the show down a level. Here's hoping....
5) WWE Championship
No Disqualification, No Countout
Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles (c)
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I'm not saying this should main event. It shouldn't. But a random 6 man tag with Roman Reigns gets higher billing than a title match with this much heat on TV?!
Samoa Joe only gets to ringside before AJ's theme plays. AJ doesn't even bother doing his regular entrance. He takes off his entrance gear. Both men stare at each other with the aisle between them. AJ starts walking up while Joe just waits. They are starting the fight outside the ring. The bell finally rings once AJ gets in the ring. Good set up for the match here.
AJ at one point gets sent over the table, but AJ lands on his feet, goes back over the table, and goes back on the attack on Joe in the ring. Joe just screams when AJ hits him. HARD CHOP!!!! Cole said it echoed in the stadium. I don't doubt it. Joe launches himself through the ropes at AJ. Wrestlers do that all the time. But when Joe does it, it is always a sight to see. Joe is throwing him around the ring. A suplex on the floor by Joe. Trap hold by Joe. Joe continues to torture and brutalize AJ in the ring. As Cole mentions, this is the type of fight Joe wants: slow, methodical, torturing his opponent. Styles finally starts fighting back. AJ hits his Moonsault/Reverse DDT which is always amazing. Even more so considering the man is 41. Joe absolutely knocks the world out of AJ with a big clothesline. Michael Cole doesn't seem to be as produced tonight as usual. He's calling the match and not shilling every 2 minutes and is doing a really solid job on commentary.
Joe brings in a chair. But AJ dropkicks it right into the face of Joe. AJ is bleeding from the mouth it looks like. White gloves are on the referee. Joe gets nailed with more chair shots by AJ. He now sits on a chair in the ring and goes back to work. URINAGE BY JOE ONTO THE CHAIR TO AJ. 2 count. Joe goes under the ring and brings out the table. Table is set up in the ring. AJ and Joe both go through the table. AJ had him in the electric chair, and he fell back through the table. Joe is grabbing his knee. His knee seemed to pop. AJ tells the referee to back up. AJ starts working on the knee. Calf Crushier on Joe. NO! CLUTCH! AJ rolls out of the ring and kicks Joe in the face. Snap on the top rope to Joe. AJ goes on the ropes! 450 on the knees of JOE!
AJ rolls Joe to the outside of the ring and goes after him. Big kick to the knee of Joe. AJ hits a Phenomenal Forearm off the barricade on Joe. Joe is out. This has been a war. And it hasn't been your stereotypical No DQ match. AJ signals to the crowd. CLUTCH LOCKED IN! AJ backs up Joe into the corner. SUPLEX from the clutch. 2 count for Joe. He puts AJ on the top rope. Musclebuster escaped. Rollup. Clutch. Calf Crusher now by AJ. Joe tapped out. AJ wins.
Winner: AJ Styles (still WWE Champion)
Match Grade: B+. And there falls another heel who could have taken the title. AJ's keeping this title until either WrestleMania or The Miz takes it from him. For Joe, I don't know where he goes from here. He may be ending up in Nakamura-Land where you are only on TV once a month if at that. Good match overall though. These two will always have good chemistry.
6) The Riott Squad vs. The Bellas and Ronda Rousey
LOUD BOOS for The Bella Twins. Cool moment where Ronda high fives everyone along the right side of the aisle coming towards the ring. She's loving this ride, folks. Loud ovation for her. Deservedly so. Say what you will about her. She's added a lot to the WWE Women's Division and the company as a whole since coming in. Nikki and Ronda argue about who is going to start the match. Nikki starts us off with Ruby. Liv and Brie go at it. DROPKICK TO Brie. HOW DOES IT FEEL?! Brie grabs Liv's pierced tongue and starts working on her. The controversy is dead folks. Liv feels safe working with Brie. Let it die now.
The match is really nothing until Ronda gets the tag. The crowd comes alive. Ronda goes for the armbar, but Liv breaks it up. Liv and Logan go on the attack. But Ronda grabs both the arms, JUDO THROWS BOTH OF THEM, AND NAILS A DOUBLE ARMBAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THEY BOTH TAP OUT!
Winners: The Bellas and Ronda Rousey
Match Grade: C-. Another fine match on this glorified house show. The Bellas worked the match. Brie and Liv are fine, folks. Rousey looked like a star like she is. We're all good here.
So far, this has been a very skippable show. If you didn't want to wake up at 5am to watch a WWE show, only the WWE Championship match has been worthy to see. But even if you don't watch that, you should be able to be ok to skip that.
7) WWE Cruiserweight Championship
Cedric Alexander (c) vs. Buddy Murphy
Buddy Murphy gets the hometown ovation. This may be the only match where we get a (token) title change. Murphy gets a knee in early on. Dive to the outside on Alexander. Then a double knee attack off the top rope for a 2 count. Good decent back and forth match. Again, it's a bunch of moves. They're flipping and flopping all over the place. The problem I have is... I literally just do not care about what they are doing. They're killing themselves with some solid wrestling. But WWE has conditioned me and a lot of the audience to just not care. Murphy does a good Kenny Omega impersonation with a V-Trigger. Murphy kicks out of the Spanish Fly and the Lombar Check. Another knee to Alexander. Murphy hits his Pumphandle Driver finisher on Alexander. 1-2-3. What? Two hometown acts win? J.R. must be thinking "Must be nice not to be humiliated in your hometown on TV."
Winner: Buddy Murphy (NEW WWE Cruiserweight Champion)
Match Grade: B-. I want to give this more. But if I'm honest with myself, I can't. I just don't care for this division. Good moment to get the crowd pumped. The crowd helped push this match up, and both guys worked hard. But again, this company has conditioned me not to care. And that has consequences when it comes to my rating of these matches. And to be honest, I've seen better this week. (People on Twitter are saying "THIS is going to cause people to give 205 Live another look." My response is most people will either a) sleep through this, b) get coffee (like I did at one point), c) forget about it the next day, or d) just skip it once they get around to actually watching the show. Sorry, 205 Live fans. This WAS NOT the show-saving match you were looking for. This was for the live crowd and the small amount of people who actually watch 205 Live.
8) The Shield vs. Strowman, Ziggler, and McIntyre
The Shield make the decision to come through the crowd, in which 10,000 fans decide they want to get their mug on TV while they are making their way down. You expected something else?
A lot of brawling early on. The Shield gets the heels on the outside and play as if they are going to put Strowman through the table at ringside, but McIntyre and Ziggler stop it from happening. It's now Seth begin worked on by the heels. Rollins takes about 6-7 minutes of offense by the heels. He gets McIntyre off of him, but Strowman just mows over The Shield corner and reasserts control. Ziggler: "No one cares. No one cares." I'm about at this point with this show. Rollins continues to try to fight back. But Rollins continues to be mowed over whenever Strowman gets in the match. Now, Rollins is in the ring, and Strowman is climbing the ropes! He misses a big splash off the top rope.
Seth tags in Dean. Ziggler and Ambrose are legal. Ambrose finally gets some offense in. Ambrose and Ziggler have a good series ending with a double crossbody attempt. It's now McIntyre and Ambrose. Neckbreaker by Ambrose. Here comes Reigns. Crowd starts booing. Reigns batters and assaults McIntyre with a series of attacks. Reigns accidentally Superman punches Ambrose while going after McIntyre. Rollins is in now. Everyone is in except Dean. Strowman crashes into the ringpost and to the floor. McIntyre gets Superman Punched for a 2.
Strowman, Ziggler, and McIntyre do the Shield stalking on the ring apron. Ambrose gets up on the fourth apron. He fakes going after "his brothers," but he attacks Strowman instead. McIntyre is left alone. Double tag. Ambrose is legal. Shield Bomb to McIntyre is BLOCKED BY A SPEAR by Strowman. Roman is thrown to the floor. Now Rollins is. Ambrose is left alone. Running blast to Reigns by Strowman on the outside. Another running blast to Rollins. Zig Zag to Ambrose. 1-2-Kickout. Strowman barks at Ziggler to throw Ambrose to the floor so he can run him over. Ambrose is outside. He goes to do that, but Reigns spears Strowman through the barricade. Claymore/ZigZag blocked by Rollins. Rollins and McIntyre go outside. Dirty Deeds by Ambrose to Ziggler. 1-2-3.
Winners: The Shield
Match Grade: B. Good six man tag match all things considered. All six men had moments to shine. But nothing again is settled here, and this just feels again like something you would get in a house show minus the barricade spot with Reigns and Strowman. Still, I'd say this is probably the second best match on the show at this point.
9) #1 Contendership for the WWE Championship
Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz
Finally, a match that means something on this show. So far a lot of this show has been missable. This may help save this glorified house show. The Miz goes to cut a promo. And Daniel Bryan cuts him off with his entrance. Daniel does his whole "Yes!" entrance all the way down the aisle. He looks worn out when he gets on the corner. Lol. 70,000 people are doing the Yes chant. Ok. Maybe 65,000. A few weren't doing it.
Miz goes after the ribs early on. Bryan's shirt was covering the fact that his ribs were taped up underneath. Miz is in the corner now, doing the "Yes!" poses, but Bryan kicks him when he runs towards Bryan. "Yes!" kicks by Bryan. RUNNING KNEE BY MIZ! Bryan's own move! 1-2-Kickout! Skull Crushing Finale blocked! ROLLUP! 1-2-3! WHAT?! Did Miz forget to kick out?! That was quick! The crowd was stunned!
Winner: Daniel Bryan!
Match Grade: D-. That's not for the finish. I'm glad that Bryan won. And it helps make the show a little more memorable. But that match just didn't get into any gear whatsoever. And I think it's a bit of a disservice to the fans to promote this match as being a big confrontation when it only lasts 4 minutes at most.
WWE goes into hype mode now. Bryan vs. Styles will take place at Crown Jewel (the next overhyped Saudi house show). We also get some hype for the Evolution show.
10) LAST TIME EVER
Undertaker (w/Kane) vs. Triple H (w/ Shawn Michaels)
It's the He's Bald Kid coming out to the ring first. Here comes Triple H. And he's walking a fast pace to the ring. Can he make it to the ring for the water spit moment?! He does!! Lol. He had to book it to make it in time. Triple H has an NXT symbol on his jacket. They say Triple H hasn't beaten The Undertaker in 16 long years! FALSE! He beat The Undertaker in an Elimination Chamber, eliminating him last to become WWE Champion in 2009.
DAMN! Kane's boom almost blew out my ears and headphones out! The Undertaker's entrance gets a massive pop from the crowd. My question is will this match last as long as Undertaker's entrance? Match is now No DQ.
Nice back and forth early on. Triple H playing mind games with Undertaker. Undertaker nailed the Old School on Triple H, which is amazing given what his body has been through and at his age. Snake Eyes hits, but he meets Triple H's knee coming off the ropes. Shawn gets involved throwing Undertaker into the post. Shawn has been more involved here than Kane as he helps Hunter sets up a table. Triple H gets thrown over the barricade into the timekeeper's position. He tries to fling a chair away, but it comes flying back at him. Lol. Undertaker clears off a table, and again, Shawn gets in the way. I guess Kane isn't working by the hour here. Lol. Nice old school match thus far.
Both men are working by the electrical area now (a call back to their match at WrestleMania X-Seven in some ways). They are fighting through the crowd. It literally is like watching an Attitude Era match. They come back through the timekeeper's area. Shawn runs into a right hand by Undertaker. Triple H legdrops Undertaker when he comes in. Both men outside. Massive chair shot.
These guys are working a slow, methodical, Old School, awesome pace here. Every move means something (unlike the Cruiserweight Championship match earlier). Taker puts Triple H on the table. He goes to hit a move, but Shawn runs in to take a boot to save Hunter. Undertaker goes in to dive at H, but he gets hit with a chair. Kane finally fights in the match and goes after Hunter and HBK. But he gets Sweet Chin Music. Kane gets put through the table by Triple H's elbow drop. Chokeslam to Triple H. Tombstone to Triple H. 1-2-Kickout by Triple H. Undertaker sells bewilderment. Taker nails the referee! He tells Shawn he's next. "Are you watching?" MASSIVE CHAIR to the back of Triple H. Again, this is so Old School. I love it. Another chair shot. The chair is bent, and HBK is having a panic attack on the outside. Taker puts the chair around Hunter's neck. HBK begs and pleads for him not to do this. Undertaker is distracted. HBK takes a punch. Spinebuster by Triple H. (Again, EVERYTHING means something here.)
A new referee is in the ring now. Padigree. Undertaker kicks out at 2. These guys are masters of psychology here. Now Hunter wraps the chair around Undertaker's neck. The Game climbs up the corner. HE PILLMANS Undertaker! Kane pulls out the referee at 2.8. Wow! This is amazing. So old school. I'm hooked folks. HBK has the Sledgehammer. He slides it to Triple H. Kane hands a chair to Undertaker. Both guys get up with their weapons. SLEDGEHAMMER INTO THE CHAIR by Triple H. Cover by Triple H. No referee! WOW! Triple H gets caught in HELL'S GATE! Hunter uses the sledgehammer to choke Undertaker. Both have to let go. (WrestleMania 27 callback!) These guys are having a great match here. HBK gets in the ring. He's got the Sledgehammer. Kane comes in to help. Low blow to Kane. HBK gets thrown out. Undertaker is choking. Undertaker picks up the sledgehammer. He throws it out. Chokeslam by Undertaker. Sweet Chin Music to Undertaker. Undertaker eats a Sledgehammer going for the Tombstone. Sweet Chin Music into The Pedigree. 1-2-3!
Winner: Triple H
Match Grade: A+. I know this is a high grade, but this was a great Old School Match. I ate every second of this as four men told a great story here. Triple H having to get this victory by any means necessary, and Shawn Michaels doing everything he can in order to make sure his friend got that win. Undertaker doing everything he can to keep Shawn at bay. Kane... Kane really was there just to take a couple bumps and pull out the referee once. Still, this was awesome.
Undertaker looks up at HBK and Triple H as they hug in the center of the ring. Undertaker hands the sledgehammer to Triple H and nods to both of them. Triple H offers him his hand. Undertaker takes it. They are hugging now in the ring. All four take a curtain call. Fireworks go off. Good ending. Triple H gets his win finally over Taker. UNDERTAKER TOMBSTONES TRIPLE H! WOW! Kane floored HBK. Shawn gets thrown outside!!! The announce table gets cleared out. SHAWN GETS CHOKESLAMMED THROUGH THE ANNOUNCE TABLE! The Brothers of Destruction walk off as the show goes off the air.
LAST TIME EVER Thoughts:
- Incredible match. It was so great to see two old pros just go out there and tell a great story with every action, every move, and every expression being a story in itself. They proved that Old School still works.
- I was really impressed by Undertaker working this long of a match, even one that was more of a brawl. He looked, pardon the pun, phenomenal compared to where he was two years ago at WrestleMania 33. It's so good to see him back in good wrestling condition.
- Triple H deserves just as much credit for doing the things he did. He took that corner over the rope bump like a champ, like he did 20 years ago. It's easy to rag on him and say that he's slowed down. He hasn't slowed down. He's working smarter. He only wrestles a limited schedule and knows when to pull out his greatest hits.
- This is obviously leading to something more between these four. Kane and Undertaker are probably facing Triple H and Shawn Michaels in Saudi Arabia next month. We may even get Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series or Royal Rumble.
Show Grade: B. I know I went off several times about how this show felt like a House Show with a huge stadium. But when you stand back and watch it in the big picture, the main event just made this whole show feel much more important. Last Time Ever showed that two older wrestlers can go out and have a great match that tells an amazing story. Add to that a few good matches (AJ/Joe, Charlotte/Lynch, 6-Man Tag) and a title change (Murphy), and this show that felt like a house show up to the main event now in hindsight looks pretty good. That's the power of a great main event: it can change the way you look at the rest of the show.
Well, that last hour validated my decision to wake up this morning. Check out the above mentioned matches (and the opening tag match as well). The rest of the show is very missable, especially (surprisingly) Miz vs. Bryan.
Thank you for checking out this page. Check the Table of Contents for more... contents. Lol. Take care of yourselves. Spread some awesomeness. Excuse me now while I get some coffee.
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