Opening Segment
Roman Reigns comes out to the ring and talks about how his victory over Samoa Joe was for Dean Ambrose, further solidifying the Shield, even though Ambrose is injured. Jason Jordan enters, thankful to Roman and acting like he’s a member of the Shield. When Rollins tries to calm him down, Jordan boasts that they’re the most dominant group in WWE.
Then, the Balor Club comes out. It was such a pleasant surprise, in my opinion, to see that the Bullet Club is finally reuniting in the WWE. Finn mentions that 2018 is the year of the Balor Club, and after some time in limbo for Balor, it makes sense for him to move forward with the Good Brothers.
Bayley and Sasha Banks vs. Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville
Winner: Sasha submits Mandy with a Bank Statement
I think that this was a great showing for the new call-ups in Absolution. This match kept the credibility of Bayley and Sasha but also implemented Mandy and Sonya not only as competition, but also as equal members of their stable. The two women worked well as a team, with frequent tags, double-teaming, and cutting the ring in half. This match was so good that I hardly noticed that these women have been facing each other every week for over a month.
“Woken” Matt Hardy vs. Curt Hawkins
Winner: Hardy pins Hawkins following a Twist of Fate
Before the match, Matt debuted a new theme song, complete with the extended laughter and “DELETE”. Hardy also debuted a more aggressive fighting style to match his Woken personality. After he picks up the win, Bray Wyatt appears behind him. They come face to face and they just start laughing? This was strange, but what isn’t in this rivalry?
The feud seems compelling on both ends, and it’s good to see Wyatt in a storyline that isn’t somewhat boring (see storylines with Finn Balor, Randy Orton, Dean Ambrose, etc.) and he already seems to be looking better because of this. Matt, of course, looks great in this, as it looks like he’s getting creative freedom with his character.
MizTV is Back!
The return of the Miz began with a song from Elias. Elias trashed the town, as per usual, but then praised the Miz before disappearing. I thought this was kind of weird—while I understood that WWE wanted to put Elias on the show, it seemed like Elias was putting the Miz over more than putting himself over. For a brief moment, I wondered if he was joining the Miztourage. But, after he left, the Miz praised Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel for “holding down the fort” while he was gone. Dallas and Axel proved over that time that they are entertaining and when given the opportunity, can thrive on TV.
Among all this self-praise, The Miz rewinds to two months ago, when he “allowed” Roman Reigns to “borrow” the Intercontinental Championship and was triple power bombed onto the announce table. He calls out Roman to return his title back to him. In my opinion, it’s a good move to get the Miz back into a title picture, especially because he was Rolling Stones superstar of the year.
Enzo Amore vs. Cedric Alexander
Winner: Amore via Countout
Cedric Alexander is so talented in the ring, with his kicks, flips, etc. and it surprised me that they didn’t give him the title. I think he’s is one of the greatest representations of the Cruiserweight division and he makes the show fun to watch. Even though Enzo was busted open mid-match, he seemed to milk an ankle injury to get the count-out victory. The only plausible reason for Enzo to keep the title I can think of is if he’s going to defend it against Drew Gulak, the other top representation of the Cruiserweight division. I was somewhat surprised to see that he wasn’t on the show, since he’s so talented on the microphone and he makes his matches so entertaining with his in-ring skill and heel-ish tactics.
After the match, Enzo is in the training room as the doctors check out his ankle. He’s in immense pain and is screaming and crying until Nia Jax comes to visit. He plays it cool while she’s worried about him, and as soon as she leaves, he goes back to being in pain. For some reason, I like this throwback to a romantic storyline between superstars. It’s been several years, and Enzo’s cool-guy charisma matches well with Nia’s unusual softness. I’m surprised that I’m interested in this mini-storyline.
The Bar (Cesaro and Sheamus) vs. Titus Worldwide (Apollo Crews and Titus O’Neil)
Winner: Titus gets the roll-up pin on Sheamus
Titus Worldwide seems to be working for me. Obviously, it won’t become a main event program, but it’s entertaining for the mid card and I’m intrigued to see who else will become a member of the Titus Brand. I wonder if the Bar’s surprise loss will shake up their Royal Rumble plans against Jason Jordan and Seth Rollins. In my opinion, the Bar’s act is getting a bit stale so it would be nice to see some friction between the two or something to shake it up.
Lesnar Calls out Strowman and Kane
Paul Heyman accompanies Lesnar to the ring and boasts about how he and Lesnar disagree with the viewpoint of “How can Lesnar survive Kane AND Braun?” Paul boasts that Brock could pin them both at the same time. Kane attacks him from behind, and this is looking like the same thing as last week. Personally, I think that Braun Strowman was necessary for this match. Kane doesn’t have the same draw he used to, and Kane vs. Brock just doesn’t warrant a main event match. Braun saved this segment from being a repeat of last week’s. He pulled the set onto Lesnar, and for once, we see Lesnar at a point of weakness. It’s rare, but a treat to see a horrified Paul Heyman as Lesnar was pulled out on a stretcher.
Rhyno vs. Samoa Joe
Winner: Joe makes Rhyno submit to the Coquina Clutch
This match made absolutely no sense to me. It didn’t further either of these storylines. The point of Rhyno and Slater’s story at the moment is for Rhyno to show Slater how to fight like a man, and it doesn’t make sense for him to lose. If they wanted Joe to go over, they should’ve chose someone else.
In his post match interview, Joe called Roman’s IC victory an “Pyrrhic victory”, meaning his victory was so difficult that it felt like a loss. If this were true, Roman wouldn’t have opened the show with a smile on his face. Roman didn’t even mention that the match was difficult to him. This just makes Joe look like he’s making excuses for his loss. This entire segment just didn’t work for me.
Nia Jax takes out Asuka
Alexa tried to stir up drama between Asuka and Nia, but Nia saw right through it, so it didn’t make a lot of sense for Nia to attack Asuka out of nowhere. However, it led to a match for these two women next week. It’ll be interesting to see how the story develops between two of the most dominant forces in the women’s division.
Balor Club (Finn Balor, Karl Anderson, and Luke Gallows) vs. Jason Jordan, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns
While WWE shied away from using the term “Bullet Club”, Gallows and Anderson mentioned the names of some of their buddies in Japan. Throughout the match, Jordan seems to come off as the annoying follower of Reigns and Rollins, just going along with and cheering on when he didn’t really do any of the work. WWE seems to be pushing him as more of an annoying and problematic character instead of the “Next Big Thing”, which seems like a better way to go because it was obvious that fans would resist a babyface Jason Jordan.
It was very helpful for the Balor Club to pull off the victory in this match, especially if this is the year of the Balor Club. It also shines light on the fact that Jason Jordan keeps making mistakes. At the end, the Miztourage ambushes Roman Reigns and they deliver a triple power bomb reminiscent of the one the Shield gave the Miz two months ago. This was a good way to end the show because it reminds the fans that the Miz will not sit and watch Roman Reigns be successful in any way.
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