WWE: Money in the Bank 2021 Review - July 18th, 2021

WWE: Money in the Bank 2021

July 18th, 2021

Fort Worth, Texas

The first PPV back with fans.

1) Alexa Bliss vs. Liv Morgan vs. Asuka vs. Natalya vs. Tamina vs. Nikki ASP vs. Naomi vs. Zelina Vega - Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match

There's so much here that's solid. Liv Morgan's story and raw emotion, the crowd is behind her and so am I. The return of Zelina Vega which NO ONE saw coming. Then, you've got Asuka and Naomi who's in-ring work is always great. Unfortunately, these things weren't enough to keep this afloat. Nikki Cross is now "ASP" which stands for.. "Almost a Super Hero" -- I don't know and I don't care. She's good, but this sucks and her spots here were sloppy. Tamina was bad as always, Natalya is just the same every time she's around and Alexa.. poor Alexa. She's fantastic and has worked this gimmick so well, but some of the dumb shit she is asked to do like casting a "spell" on Zelina that caused her to climb off the ladder just overshadows all the positives that she brings to the table. So, yeah. This was fine, but weighed down by way too much bullshit. The finish was flat as hell with Nikki ASP winning. The premise was cool with all the women being too focused on brawling atop the three ladders to stop Nikki. That's about it, though.

Match rating - **1/4

2) AJ Styles & Omos (c) vs. The Viking Raiders - WWE Tag Team Title Match

This rocked. AJ looked better than he has in about a year, flying around like a maniac and also throwing some amazing strike combos. Not to mention selling like a madman for the Raiders and making them look like a million bucks. He & the War Machine Boys truly showed out here. Omos was there and did what he was supposed to so no complaints there. Styles & Omos retain after a very fun match.

Match rating - ***1/4

3) Bobby Lashley (c) vs. Kofi Kingston - WWE Championship Match 

WWE: NXT UK Review - January 7th, 2020

WWE: NXT UK 

January 7th, 2021 

Commentators - Nigel McGuinness & Andy Shepherd 

1) Piper Niven vs. Jinni - #1 Contenders Match 

The winner of this gets a shot at Kay Lee Ray’s NXT UK Women’s Championship. Niven is the fan favorite and Jinni is the heel. They do a good job of establishing that even to a relatively new viewer. This honestly was a pretty good little match. Joseph Connors comes out and helps Jinni score the cheap victory. Poor Piper :( 

Match rating - **1/4 

Aoife Valkyrie video package airs 

Video package for Tyler Bate. He talks about dealing with his loss in the Heritage Cup and what he’s learned. Grad well is seen watching the video and isn’t impressed, they will face off next week. 

They do this sit down interview segment to introduce Ben Carter to the roster. Apparently it’s called SUPERNOVA SESSIONS and Noam Dar is the host. Dear lord. I’m new to watching actual whole episodes of NXT UK so don’t hate. Ben Carter sent shockwaves through wrestling with his appearance and match on AEW Dark and before AEW could even jump to sign him, WWE struck first and brought Ben to NXT UK. Here, Dar pronounces his name wrong and does a bunch of jokey shit. Carter says he’s here to face the best the wrestling world has to offer. Cruserweight champion Jordan Devlin shows up and Ben Carter somehow gets himself into a title match TONIGHT! Let’s go!!

2) Dave Mastiff vs. Saxon Huxley 

WWE Monday Night Raw Review (kind of) - November 30th, 2020

I don’t watch much WWE these days. Little to no TV stuff, an occasional NXT viewing and I tune in for atleast a little bit of every PPV if not the whole thing. However, I saw Styles/Riddle/Lee advertised for the show tonight and decided to give it a watch.

I’ve had this happen a few times where I see a match I expect to be good and decide to try to watch, but most times I’m bored before the match even starts or left disappointed. Tonight was the first time that didn’t happen in god only knows when.

That’s not to say tonight’s show was amazing, hell, I didn’t even watch the whole thing. However, I did catch three of the matches and a segment or two. And what I did catch was good enough that I wanted to write this little review/article up about them. 

Randy Orton opened the show as a guest on Alexa Bliss’ Moment of Bliss. I immediately sighed as I have no interest in 2014 Orton/Wyatt rehash. However, this segment honestly kept my interest. Orton continues to be awesome in 2020 and hooked me as soon as he started cutting his promo on the similarities he has with the Fiend and his past with Wyatt. Orton says he found Wyatt’s weakness and now he has to find The Fiend’s and he thinks he has... it’s Alexa. Vintage Orton stuff. Lights go out and Fiend shows up. Orton has Bliss in his arms and tosses him back to the Fiend and backs away. As Orton walks up the ramp, he says “who’s laughing now?” — now, I enjoyed this segment. I highly doubt it will make me excited about this feud going forward, but I normally wouldn’t even care to give this the time of day so I’d say that’s a win. 

Jeff Hardy vs. Elias - Symphony of Destruction Match 

This match followed the opening segment. A Hardy/Elias feud is something nightmares are made of, but this match was super fun for TV. Hardy’s swanton off the top turnbuckle to the floor crashing Elias through a table was a sick finish and honestly pretty scary as Hardy’s head landed on the corner of the steel steps. 

Match rating - ***

Cedric Alexander (w/ MVP & Shelton Benjamin) vs. Xavier Woods (w/ Kofi Kingston) 

So much talent surrounding this match, it’s just a travesty it’s been so misused, mainly in reference to the Hurt Business because New Day are the goats. None the less, this was a hot little singles match. Both guys got their shit in and it was a breeze to watch. Cedric wins and leaves to celebrate on his own which was... weird. MVP and Shelton look confused.

Match rating - **1/2 

AJ Styles vs. Keith Lee vs. Riddle - #1 Contender’s Triple Threat Match 

First off, why the fuck is Matt Riddle now just known as “Riddle?” Okay.. now to the good shit aka this match. It isn’t a PPV caliber MOTY contender that it probably could’ve been given more time and drama considering the talent involved, but it’s pretty damn suffice. We get spurts of what made Riddle & Lee’s matches on the indies so special. Styles has some awesome striking exchanges with Riddle and is the perfect sly heel and provided a great dynamic for two big time baby faces like Lee & Riddle. Also, the backstage segment between Riddle & Styles before this match was a lot of fun too. Anyways, after a bunch of action, Styles pins Riddle to win and will go on to TLC to face Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship! 

Match rating - ***1/4

Drew McIntyre & Sheamus vs. The Miz & John Morrison 

And with the result of the triple threat, I had a feeling we’d see AJ pop up during this main event so I made sure to tune back in for it and I’m sure glad I did. To begin, this match was a lot better than I expected. They isolated Sheamus and Miz & Morrison had some awesome new offense I hadn’t seen them use before. They build towards an EPIC Drew McIntyre hot tag. He really does feel like the main event guy WWE has built him as even without a crowd. Just great shit, AJ interferes and lays out Drew with a flying forearm and... tries to get Miz to cash in his briefcase?!?!? This is brilliant. Not AT ALL what I expected from this match or aftermath. I expected a simple AJ interference spot however WWE actually threw us something exciting as it felt like Miz may cash in which always generates that buzz feeling especially since the WWE Title did change hands on TV a few weeks ago thus making it more believable that it could happen again. This also builds AJ even moreso as the coward heel who sees Miz as an easier opponent than big Drew. It’s beneficial for both parties and I love it. Having Omos carry AJ out to “save Drew from getting embarrassed” was the icing on the cake. This match is gonna rule. 

Really sorta refreshing show here? I left thinking hm.. I’ll tune into TLC for sure and this time I’ll actually have some backstory because I normally just catch up day of the PPV’s. Not sure if I’ll tune in next week, probably depends on what matches are announced, but this was a pretty enjoyable Monday night and they have a lot of promising stuff in the works, let’s hope it continues and delivers. 

WWE: SummerSlam 2020 Review

WWE: SummerSlam 2020 Review

August 23rd, 2020

1) Bayley (c) vs. Asuka - Smackdown Women’s Title Match 

Tuned in around half way into this so my analysis may not be too accurate. It seemed to be going pretty solid and then they do the whole distraction thing and Bayley gets the win with a roll up to retain. This sets up for even more fire for Asuka later in her match with Sasha. 

Match rating - **1/2

2) Street Profits (c) vs. Andrade & Angel Garza - Raw Tag Team Title Match 

This is actually a match I fantasy booked to happen at SummerSlam bc of how bad I wanted to see Andrade & Garza team up. So I was pretty excited to see it go down and it honestly rocked. Street Profits continue to impress and Andrade & Garza were great heels for them to work against. Good back and forth tag with several cool moves/moments. Streets Profits retain. 

Match rating - **3/4 

3) Sonya Deville vs. Mandy Rose - No Disqualification Loser Leaves WWE Match 

This was a very good blowoff for this feud. They had tables and chairs involved and delivered a pretty competitive match that I enjoyed way more than I expected. Deville loses and apparently is “leaving WWE” per the stipulation. 

Match rating - ***

4) Seth Rollins (w/ Buddy Murphy) vs. Dominick (w/ Rey Mysterio) - Street Fight 

Okay fuck yeah. The eye for an eye stuff was a mixed bag with great action and a story but a terrible stip. This however has had an awesome build and the street fight stipulation is perfect. It’s taken a lot for me to want to care about this in recent weeks, but as soon as the bell rang, they pulled me in. The action, the tidbits with Rey & Angie, the emotion - it all ruled. Dominick looked fantastic in his debut match and not out of place at all. Rollins nails Dom with a curb stomp while Rey is handcuffed to the ropes and forced to watch. 

Match rating - ***3/4 

5) Sasha Banks (c) vs. Asuka - Raw Women’s Title Match 

Wow this was fucking awesome. Asuka eats shit on a power bomb off the apron early that made me wince. The premise of Asuka losing earlier due to Sasha and this being her second match of the night made you want to see her win that much more on top of the normal face/heel dynamic. They really went all out here with some sick back and forth action that had me on the edge of my seat up to the finish with Asuka knocking Bayley off the apron, getting caught in a submission by Sasha only to overcome again and hit a badass reversal forcing Sasha to tap. Asuka is the new Raw Women’s Champion. 

Match rating - ****

6) Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Randy Orton - WWE Championship Match 

I never expected to enjoy this or for it to turn out how it did but holy shit these two were stiff as heck and had me invested for the entire stretch. Drew has really settled into this main event role and feels like a perfect top of the card talent, not at all out of place in there with Orton, and honestly pulling the best Orton match (aside from the second Edge match) out of him in a good year or so. Orton and McIntyre seemingly both get cut the hard way from some stiff exchanges and it adds a lot to the match. Orton goes for the punt, McIntyre catches him in an insane power bomb. And they do a few finisher reversals before Drew catches Orton in a backslide for the pin. Great match. Drew is killing it as champion and with how this ended, I sense a rematch and I’m alllll for it. 

Match rating - ****1/4

7) Braun Strowman (c) vs. Bray Wyatt - WWE Universal Championship Match 

The trend of the night continues with this being shockingly solid. No dumb frills or gimmicks. Just a brawl between two bosses with personal issues. They brawl around ringside and backstage. Braun’s head gets skinned open and bleeds a little. They get back towards the ring and Braun rips the mat up with a box cutter exposing the wood. They trade moves on the wood before Wyatt puns Strowman after two sister abigails to win the title. 

Match rating - ***1/2 

Post match, ROMAN REIGNS attacks Bray Wyatt and Strowman both. Reigns wants his title back. Absolute shocker of a return considering the pandemic is still going on, but it was well done and with how solid of a show tonight was, I am a little stoked on the prospect of Bray’s title run and the return of Reigns - two things I never thought I would say in 2020. 

Kudos, WWE. You let your talents work a wrestling show with little to no excessive/over produced garbage and it was a super enjoyable watch. Let’s hope Raw continues the trend tomorrow with the debut of Keith Lee and the aftermath of SummerSlam! 

WWE Money in the Bank 2020 Review - May 10th, 2020

WWE: Money in the Bank
May 10th, 2020
Orlando, FL ///// Hartford, CT

What an interesting night we are in for. The two ladder matches are gonna be held in WWE's corporate office in Connecticut as the superstars will have to climb each floor and get to the roof where there will be a ring, ladders and the briefcases.

1) The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston) (c) vs. Lucha House Party (Gran Metallik & Lince Dorado) vs. John Morrison & The Miz vs. The Forgotten Sons - WWE Tag Team Title Match

Absolute barnburner to kick off the show. The New Day are the greatest team of the modern era so should we be surprised? Lots of action and spots. Some good near falls/teases that made you think this could go either way at any given moment. The Smackdown tag division hasn't slowed down or failed to deliver one bit amidst this crisis that has forced all shows to be held in an empty arena. New Day retains when all is said and done.

Match rating - ***3/4

2) R-Truth vs. Bobby Lashley

Truth was supposed to be facing MVP, but he gets squashed by Lashley instead.

Match rating - *

3) Bayley (c) (w/ Sasha Banks) vs. Tamina - Smackdown Women's Title Match

This wasn't as rough as I expected. Tamina managed to somewhat hang with Bayley, at least in my opinion. It still wasn't much, but good effort from both. Bayley retains.

Match rating - **

4) Braun Strowman (c) vs. Bray Wyatt - WWE Universal Title Match

Alright so anyone who knows me knows I have no real good feelings towards either of these two. But I will say this, Bray has won me over a good bit this year. Between the awesome match with Daniel Bryan at Royal Rumble and the fun house spectacle with Cena, Wyatt and his booking has been far from bad in 2020. I can't say the same for Braun who I've grown sick of. The story here is sorta cool though, given the history with Strowman being in the Wyatt Family in the past which I forgot about. The action here is good and they kept me interested the whole time. Strowman teasing becoming the black sheep again was cool also. So hell yeah. Harmless and pretty solid match here. Strowman retains unfortunately and that's the worst thing about it imo. I'd be so down for a Wyatt/Fiend title run at this point and that is something I never thought I would say.

Match rating - **3/4

5) Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Seth Rollins - WWE Championship Match

Fuck yeah, this was sick. To me, Drew & Rollins both work a similar style when it comes to big matches and they clicked super well with it here and hit a home run. I wish this would've had a crowd because it was so well worked. Rollins debuted new theme music that I didn't really care for, but that was the last thing on my mind when this match was over. Awesome back and forth contest with Drew slinging Rollins inside out across the ring with a release german off the ropes. Lots of cool moments here and big exchanges. Drew kicks out of the curbstomp and manages to hit the claymour kick finally and put Rollins down for the count to retain the title in his first defense. This was so much better than I ever expected it to be and picked up heavy down the stretch. Rollins reluctantly shakes McIntyre's hand post match as the champion thanks him. Who's next for McIntyre? I really hope it's Jinder.

Match rating - ****

6) Money in the Bank Ladder Matches 
Daniel Bryan vs. AJ Styles vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Aleister Black vs. Baron Corbin vs. Otis - Men's MITB Match
Asuka vs. Carmella vs. Dana Brooke vs. Nia Jax vs. Lacey Evans vs. Shayna Baszler - Women's MITB Match

Well. These matches happened. Simultaneously. It was entertaining, but also a little more on the side of 'what the fuck is going on here' type stuff. Funny moments like AJ & Bryan getting kicked out of Vince's office, Paul Heyman eating and both the men & women ruining that by starting a food fight, and my favorite moment - Corbin's trash talking to AJ Styles as he entered. On the women's side, Asuka really shined here yet again. From the jump she was the star as she was hiding on a platform as all the other women lined up during the introductions and dove down onto them and made a run for the elevators. This was something to behold and I didn't really like it as much as the Boneyard match or even Firefly Fun House, but it happened. The winners of each match were pretty shocking. SUPER happy for Asuka, no one deserves it more considering the effort she's been putting in lately. Otis is an interesting call. The mark/fantasy booker in me wanted AJ Styles to win, but I can't complain about a wildcard choice, I just can't help but feel Otis will be an afterthought in two years.

Final thoughts: Over by 9:30, a great WWE Title match, a spotty tag title opener, and an interesting main event held in WWE Headquarters. I can't complain about much about this show although there's only one thing on it I'll watch again, I'm sure the two main events will be talked about forever as it will probably never happen again so I'd say this is worth a look. Curious to see what's next for everyone with Backlash coming up on June 14th! STOKED to see Backlash being a thing again.

WWE NXT Review - May 6th, 2020

WWE NXT
May 6th
Orlando, FL

Commentators - Mauro Ranallo, Beth Phoenix, & Tom Phillips

1) Johnny Gargano vs. Dominik Dijakovic

I love heel Candice, but Gargano is still meh to me. Dijakovic does shit a big man shouldn't do and that's his biggest draw and it can be fun so this was alright. Candice came down to tease interference. This also being a TV match didn't allow Gargano to go into melo-drama mode so that also helped the case. Very fun back and forth match. Gargano wins when all is said and done and the self proclaimed king & queen of NXT continue their quest.

Match rating - ***1/4

Replay of Imperium attacking Riddle & Thatcher last week. They stake their claim for the NXT Tag Team Championship. I AM READY.

Io Shorai is warming up backstage for her title match with Charlotte. Queeeeeen.

2) Akira Tozawa vs. Jack Gallagher - Cruserweight Title Tournament Match

Fresh off another week of being squashed on Raw, Tozawa is expected to be taken serious by the majority. Poor Tozawa :( but he actually looked really good here. He & Jack seem to have some chemistry and things start out strong. However, as you'd expect, it ends before it can really turn into anything. Tozawa gets the win after an apron bump and a senton off the top rope.

Match rating - **1/2

Post-match, Tozawa sends a simple message to Fantasma - "I will beat you"

TONIGHT: Cole defends the NXT Title against Velveteen Dream

Charlotte preps for her first title defense since WrestleMania

3) Xia Li vs. Chelsea Green (w/ Robert Stone)

Green charges Li at the bell and this is intense from the jump. Alliyah runs down for the interference and it looks like the Li/Alliyah feud is continuing which I don't mind. This ends up giving Green the assist and Robert Stone puts his hand out for her post-match, teasing adding her to his fold with Green.

Match rating - **1/2

4) Karrion Kross (w/ Scarlett) vs. Leon Ruff

Good debut for Kross. Tom Phillips nailed it with the line "Karrion Kross is the damn devil. What the hell did NXT just let in it's doors?" A lot of people hated on their entrance with Scarlett lip syncing the words etc but I didn't HATE it. It fits the very cinematic vibe WWE has been doing with a lot of stuff lately. Kross destroys Ruff in a minute or so.

Match rating - **1/2

5) Charlotte (c) vs. Io Shorai - NXT Women's Title Match

I hate giving almost every match on this show the same rating, but when the action is fun, and it also accomplishes something or continues a story in a timely manner, I can't think of a better rating than a solid **1/2 - same thing here. Sure, you don't like to see title matches end in a DQ, but this whole thing was good. Up until the DQ, in the DQ, and after the DQ. It protects Shorai and keeps her in title picture, brings out Rhea Ripley, and causes a lot of mayhem in the women's division. So, yeah, Charlotte got disqualified for using a kendo stick after 8-9 mins. Rhea attacks Charlotte post match. Io is pissed at her for getting involved, I guess and argues her backstage.

Match rating - **1/2

Pull apart brawl between Io Shorai and Rhea Ripley backstage. GIMME THAT MATCH.

6) KUSHIDA vs. Jake Atlas - Cruserweight Title Tournament Match

This was the shortest of all the tourney matches so far. They seem to be getting less and less time. KUSHIDA catches Atlas in mid-air in the armbar and Atlas taps immediately.

Match rating - *3/4

Finn Balor seems to think a newcomer attacked him two weeks ago. Balor says they won't get the push they want when the bell rings, it will be a squash.

7) Cameron Grimes vs. Denzel Dejournette 

Squash. Trevor Lee with a cowboy hat wins. Post-match, Grimes says he wishes someone else wouldn't have beaten him to the punch on attacking Finn Balor. This brings out Balor who dares Grimes to slap him. It breaks down and Balor takes him out. Balor says he will find the snake that's hiding in the NXT locker room.

8) Adam Cole (c) vs. Velveteen Dream - NXT Championship Match

This was like a compact version of the NXT Title 'epics' we normally get on Takeover's so I was pretty unphased. Buncha moves then Undisputed Era runs down only for Dexter Lumis to slide from under the ring. He throws Roddy into the ref by accident. This allows Cole to get the advantage and inevitably pin Dream to retain the title.

Match rating - **1/4

Full thoughts: First half of the show was solid, but the second half sorta fell off for me and was a little harder to sit through. Still looking forward to next week though to see what's next for Finn Balor and also the Charlotte/Io/Ripley stuff PLUS Imperium/Thatcher & Riddle hell yeah!

2017 Match Rating Archive

I rarely have the time to write full reviews anymore so I am keeping my archive of star ratings here. I am still catching up on 2017 stuff so this will be updated periodically with a link posted to Twitter (@ThePWTruth) when I do. New additions will be in ITALICS. 

JANUARY:

Sami Zayn vs. Braun Strowman - Last Man Standing Match - WWE: Raw - 1/2/17 - ****

Neville vs. TJ Perkins - WWE: 205 Live - 1/3/17 - ***1/4

Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega - NJPW: Wrestle Kingdom - 1/4/17 - *****

Tyler Bate vs. Pete Dunne - WWE: UK Tournament - 1/15/17 - ****1/4

Katsuyori Shibata vs. Matt Riddle - RPW - 1/21/17 - ****1/4

AJ Styles vs. John Cena - WWE: Royal Rumble - 1/29/17 - ****

FEBRUARY:
Braun Strowman vs. The Big Show - WWE: Raw - 2/20/17 - ****1/4

APRIL:
The Young Bucks vs. The Hardy's - ROH: Supercard of Honor - 4/1/17 - ****

AJ Styles vs. Shane McMahon - WWE: WrestleMania 33 - 4/2/17 - ***1/2

The Hardys vs. Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows vs. Cesaro & Sheamus vs. Big Cass & Enzo - WWE: WrestleMania 33 - 4/2/17 - ****