WWE Battleground feedback
Hi Dave,
Just wanted to give some feedback on Battleground. I gave the show a thumbs up, with the best match in my opinion being the Divas triple threat match just because it was finally something that showcased the changing divas division in such a positive and awesome way, and the worst match probably being the tag title match between the Prime Time Players and New Day, only because I really don’t have much interest in either team at the moment. But overall, a very entertaining show, and cool return during the main event of the Undertaker.
1. Sheamus VS Orton – Good match, monster pops for hometown boy Randy Orton. I was good with either guy winning since I really didn’t think it mattered who won.
2. Roman VS Bray – I thought Bray winning was a good idea since it can continue this feud and they can build on that. Good to see Luke Harper get involved, hopefully this marks a return of the Wyatt family since all three members of the Wyatt’s have pretty much been floundering since they disbanded the group.
3. Charlotte VS Banks VS Brie – I thought this was an awesome divas match and got my vote for best match of the night. They are finally showcasing the divas division in a strong light and I’m sure they can continue heating up the division in this manner to be on par with the men and main event matches. All of the women involved really put themselves on the line and held nothing back, awesome match, good to see the divas finally getting the time to showcase what they can do and what NXT has been doing with the women.
4. Cena VS Owens – Great rubber match between the two, however not as good as their first two matches in my opinion. Was hoping Owens was going to win the title, but no such luck. Hopefully they have a rematch at SummerSlam in some sort of stipulation match or maybe even a cage match to make things fresh and Owens takes the title.
5. Brock VS Seth – This was both a good and bad match for the same reason. Good match until the Undertaker got involved and was just weird how Rollins and the ref were both MIA and it was not announced if there was a winner by DQ or not as they simply were gone. But also a good moment and probably best moment of the night when Taker appeared and attacked Lesnar and gave him two tombstones. Although a little late, as this would have been more effective about a year ago, but better late then never and Taker clearly needed the time off after his Mania match last year with Lesnar so I can see why they waited. Not sure what the plan is from here, are they going to have a match at SummerSlam or what all the way until next year’s Mania? My hope is Summerslam where maybe Taker can get his win back, and then in a perfect world, to see Taker and Sting face each other at next year’s Mania in a retirement celebration match for both against each other, and both going
into the Hall of Fame at the same time as well? (Hint to the WWE booking team!) lol. But otherwise a good PPV for a “B” show, a little short which was surprising, and the main event return of the Taker was a little sloppy but very effective.
Thanks,
Jon Southerland
Clovis, Ca.
Hi Dave,
Thumbs up.
Best Match: Cena vs.Owens
Worst Match: Lesnar vs Rollins
Good show with fairly good wrestling. Opener was fine, crowd loved it. I really enjoy PTP so I’m glad to see them win. Curious to see where the New Day go from here. I didn’t care for Wyatt vs. Reigns at all. Went way too long and I was finding it hard to pay attention at some points. The Divas match was OK, but not what you want to start off the “Divas Revolution”. Questionable to book the first match, which they wanted to showcase how great women’s wrestling is, as a triple threat with Brie Bella. Owens vs. Cena was a good match with a bad finish, the “worst” of their three matches. Everyone bought the top rope AA as the finish, and in hindsight it probably should’ve been. For them to book Owens so weakly on Raw lately and then have him lose, I don’t get it. Rollins vs Lesnar could’ve been far better. Brock vaulting over the barricade and catching Rollins was the highlight. The Undertaker came off very heelish to me, I may be the only one. Brock beat Taker cleanly at WM30, Taker costs Brock a match against the top heel, hits him with a low blow, and beats him down. But hey, it’s The Undertaker.
Casey Goss
Virginia
Battleground
Thumbs in the Middle: Most of the matches were good but I don’t get this product anymore. There are two way to present pro-wrestling: as a sport or as a drama. WWE has always been a drama and that’s fine, but drama needs 3 basics elements: Protagonists and Antagonists; Character development; and Continuity. Right now their product doesn’t have any of those. Triple H is a heel on Raw but a face on NXT. Same with Stephanie, last year she helped Nikki to the title, but now helps Paige against the Bellas, who are face or heel depending on the day of the week. Paige, Becky and Charlotte are faces but they just follow Steph orders anyway. Sasha is a heel that only cares about herself, but then joins Naomi and Tamina because Stephanie told her so. They are all suppose to be strong independent women, yet the first thing they do is act like geeks that just follow their boss orders. Lesnar is the only hot face they got, what they do they do? Book him against Undertaker who is a legend that nobody would boo. I guess that’s a good way to make sure that people react to Reigns as a face, mostly because they don’t have any other choice. If Undertaker was so mad about losing to Lesnar, why he didn’t went after him before? They were both at Mania this year, right? And Taker didn’t had much of a challenge in beating Wyatt while Lesnar had a hard time taking on Roman; in fact, Brock was so beat up that Seth took advantage of that; either Taker is an idiot or he secretly works for The Authority. Funny, after all these years of WWE making fun of WCW they just turn into them. A great talented roster but with no clear direction, no clear Heel vs Face dynamic, no upward movement, and storylines and matches that don’t make sense.
Best Match: Cena vs. Owens.
Worst Match: Barrett vs. Truth
1. Barrett vs R-Truth. Actually not that bad, but the whole reason for this match was beyond boring. Hopefully this was the end of their “feud” *1/2
2. Orton vs Sheamus. Good opener, but this match was out of place. Why put the hometown hero on the opener? He is going to get a reaction anyway. ***1/2
3. PTP vs New Day. Crowd was so-so for this one, probably because they had to follow Orton in St Louis. **3/4
4. Wyatt vs Reigns. Good but it never clicked to anything more. If this was angle to set up a Shield reunion then Ambrose and Reigns should be executed for sheer stupidity. ***
5. Charlotte vs Sasha vs Brie. Another good one. Sadly the whole Divas division is just a backdrop excuse to showcase Stephanie, who is being prepared to be feed to Ronda Rousey who is not part of the company. Strange business model. ***
6. Cena vs Owens. God forbid that Cena ever lost a feud. They can do whatever they want with Owens but it’s just too late for him. He is now officially another guy in the roster. So far he has lost a match, lost a feud, lost by pin, lost by submission, is no longer a champion, and his opponents had kicked out of his finisher multiple times; all in the span of 3 matches. What’s special about him anymore? What’s is left for other faces like Sami Zayn? Same happened with Rusev. But the match was great, so I guess everything is fine. ****1/4
7. Rollins vs Lesnar. What little they did was fine but the finish, or lack of, was terrible. As far I’m concern that match still going on. So far Rollins title reign has been as dominant as Rey Mysterio’s. N/R
Leonard Mendez
San Sebastian, Puerto Rico
Thumbs down
Best Match: Prime Time Players (c) v. The New Day. Titus and Big E
are a joy to watch. The action moved quickly in and out of the ring and
the result was a match with excellent pacing and combat that looks as
natural as it gets in WWE. By the end of this match, I want to see more
of all five participants.
Worst Match: Seth Rollins (c) v. Brock Lesnar. Maybe this sparks a
great angle, which leads to a great feud, which leads to a great match.
Even if that is the case, this match had heat and hype only to be thrown
away. Rollins and Lesnar put on a non-WWE match for a few minutes,
which is phenomenal to see in the main event, before the Undertaker
pulled the plug. Is the match still going on? What happened to Seth
Rollins? What happened to the referee? I care way more about the
answers to those questions than, “Why is the Undertaker back?”
Casey Goldman
Thumbs in the middle show.
Best Match: Cena vs Owens
Worst Match: Reigns vs Wyatt
Why would anyone bother watching the pre-show.
1) Randy Orton vs Sheamus: Decent opener, but nothing I haven’t seen dozens of times already. (**1/2)
2) Prime Time Players vs New Day: Decent tag title match, but nothing I haven’t seen dozens of times already. (**1/2)
3) Roman Reigns vs Bray Wyatt: I call this type of match the WWE 2-Star Special. There’s some cool moves, a couple nice spots but no thought whatsoever put into any moves other than all the signature spots. Flat finish. (**)
4) Brie Bella vs Sasha Banks vs Charlotte: I don’t know who decided to hype a match with Brie Bella as the match that would burn the house down. Then again, she is the grizzled veteran who fought tooth and nail to get here and with Nikki, turned the Divas division into “must-see TV”. (**1/4)
5) John Cena vs Kevin Owens: A good match, best on the show by far. Owens actually came across really well in defeat, but the submission was unnecessary in my opinion. (***3/4)
6) Brock Lesnar vs Seth Rollins: Hmm. It’s 2015. (*1/2)
Brian Jackson
———- Forwarded message ———-
Thumbs Up
Best Match: Owens v Cena III
Worst Match: Barret v Truth
Evert match, including what I voted for the worst, was very entertaining. I wasnt looking forward to Sheamus Orton but it drew me in. New Day was a blast on the pregame show if anyone missed that and the tag maych was solid. The womens match finally brought some of the NXT feel to the show in addition to the performers call up. I really like Reigns-Wyatt especially where Wyatt caught him perfectly on the apron dropkick. Great timing and a nice spot. Cena Owens was the best match, still not as good as the first one to me and parts felt like repeats but really picked up at the end. Owens has now lost 3 big event matches in a row. Youre not getting over that way no matter how much they push that you hung in there for another match and thats a little frustrating. As good as they work together lets get each into another program because you dont want to keep running it into the ground. Imagine the anticipation if they are kept apart for a bit and then have another big encounter.
What almost took the show from a thumbs up for me, and I only didnt because I thought everything else delivered too well, was that ended to the main event and show. Look I dont care how cool folks thought ti was that Undertaker was back and the chanting. You have this match folks have been waiting for – for Brock to get his hands back on Rollins and the usual Lesnar beatdown and then that. Many folks predicted some type of screwjob and even this particular scenario but man just came off terrible for the show to just end especially with rollins teleporting into a black hole or something. We dont need PPVs ending like 00s era WCW and even some WWF times in 2015. As dave mentioned “it wont make sense” it doesnt! Hes back for revenge on the streak over a year and half later? Hes avenging Kane who has been a total heel for a long time corporately protecting Rollins and the Authority? Lesnar being a face. Just a terrible dynaminc all around. Again many points have already been made by others but they bear repeating. Didnt need such a sour taste after an awesome event otherwise.
Michael O’Brien
Thumbs in the Middle
Good wrestling overall on the show but more questions (including where does Owens go from here?) than answers:
Why would Brock turn his attention to a guy he beat instead of Rollins?
Is the Wyatt match going to be forgotten so it is Taker returning 16 months later to avenge his loss?
Will Undertaker be able to recover from Suplex City in 8 months to wrestle at Mania?
How do you avoid Taker losing (why bring him back to lose? Brock doesn’t need another win over him to be more over) AND pinning Brock (which should be saved and at least wasn’t wasted here with Taker laying out Brock and placing a comatose Rollins on top) without adding a third person to the match (defeating the vengeance angle) or giving a flat DQ/no contest?
Is the plan to give Rollins some credibility by beating a 50-year-old guy that his boss already beat at Mania?
And where exactly did Rollins and the ref go?
It got a good live reaction and made (marginally) more sense than a Shield reunion, but I’m more concerned than intrigued.
~Jim Rogers
Phoenix
Battleground: Thumbs Up
Best Match: John Cena vs. Kevin Owens
Worst Match: King Barrett vs. R Truth
Show started off with the kick off match Barrett vs. Truth. Hope this feud is done. It was pointless and once again a terrible waste of Wade Barrett. At least he picked up the win. Just thinking about that it is weird that Ambrose, Rusev, and Cesaro are not on this show in any form. Randy Orton vs. Sheamus turned out better than I thought. Sometimes these guys seem to go the boring route, but this was good.
Tag Titles are next. PTP retains over New Day. Thought there would be a title change, but an entertaining match with some good action. Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt again started off not that great, but picked up and delivered. Wyatt winning with help from Harper was fine. Hope Rowan gets back with them as well. This was a much better act with the three guys. All of them alone went nowhere fast. Wyatt should put him in a good spot for Summer Slam I would imagine. Sting maybe? Not sure where that leaves Roman though.
Triple threat women’s match is up with Sasha vs. Charlotte vs. Brie. I wouldn’t have chosen Brie for this spot or maybe just done a singles to showcase the NXT ladies. Instead it wasn’t up to NXT standards, but still pretty good. Charlotte winning was nice. Have to see where they go with this. How about the three teams of three in a triple threat tag at Summer Slam or Banks vs. Nikki Champions match? Why hasn’t Sasha come out with the NXT Title? Did she leave it in Florida?
John Cena vs. Kevin Owens delivers yet again. These guys have good chemistry. Wanted Owens to win, but still a great performance. Again not sure what happens next here for Owens. No interference by Rusev or Cesaro. I guess it depends on the open challenge for tomorrow. Main Event time. Started off good with Lesnar taking Rollins to suplex city. Finish was bad even though it was Undertaker returning. I mean the ref and Rollins disappear. Why do this now? Lesnar is super over as a face and no one wants to route against Taker. Plus what makes Taker so mad now? He was at Mania this year and didn’t even bring up Lesnar from the year before. Kind of makes no sense really. So Lesnar goes heel again or face vs. face or a triple threat with Rollins for the title? I guess we will find out tomorrow. Overall it was a good show, but don’t like not having at least an attempt at a finish in the main event at least call for a DQ.
Robb Block
Thumbs in the middle
Best: Cena vs Owens
Worst: Truth vs Barrett
The quality of the wrestling kept this from being a thumbs down, because the booking was once again strange and the main event didn’t deliver at all.
It makes no sense for a babyface Undertaker to cost babyface Lesnar the title. Lesnar beat him clean as a sheet at Mania 30, so there’s no reason for Taker to screw him outside of sour grapes. It sounded like there was some booing for Undertaker after the low blow and chokeslam, but that was it. I guess we’ll find out if the two would’ve had a good match 18 months ago had Undertaker not been concussed early in the match, because being there live, it was the worst match on the show by far until the historic finish.
It also makes no sense, in a world title match that has been hyped up for 5 weeks, for there to be A) no bell, B) no official announcement and C) no acknowledgement of anything by the announcers. Even a cursory “How lucky was Rollins?” would’ve been fine, unless that’s point 462 on the things announcers cannot say. Way too many logic holes here.
And the company trying to find a new John Cena had the guy they want to be the new top guy lose, while Cena wins clean again at the expense of another rising star. The only good part about that is the Cena open challenges are the best part of Raw, and it should pay off with someone beating him there. Cena is also seriously a Wrestler of the Year contender, whether anyone likes it or not.
Finally, kudos to the women, as there was max effort and they had a great match by WWE divas match standards. It wasn’t at the level of NXT takeover women’s matches, but it’s a start.
– Chris H
Lakeland, FL
WWE Battleground
Thumbs Up
Best Match:Cena vs Owens III
Worst Match:New Day vs PTP
Barrett vs R-Truth-OK match for the pre-show. Barrett going over is obviously the better play ** 3/4
Sheamus vs Orton-Great opening match. Really good physical match. Reminded me of a New Japan mid-card match. Which is a compliment. Orton gets the win in his hometown. ****
PTP vs New Day-This was mostly atrocious. I think they got cut due to time constraints. Just didn’t have time to get going. * 1/2
Wyatt vs Reigns-Another highly physical & entertaining match. Wyatt gets the win and looks to have reformed the Wyatt Family which could make him more relevant after stagnating the last couple months. Reigns continues to show that improved consistency. Another great match ****
Charlotte vs. Brie Bella vs. Sasha Banks-What a great match to kick of the newly revolutionized Divas division. The crowd was super-hot for this match, so that should relieve any doubts Vince may have had. What performances from Charlotte and Sasha particularly, but Brie Bella held own. Another piece of good booking by protecting Sasha, but letting Charlotte pick up a pinfall in her debut.
****
Cena vs Owens III-The all-important rubber match all thought was every bit as good as the previous two matches. Maybe even a tad better. Owens looked strong in defeat taking multiple AA’s, including one off the tope rope. but kicking out of all of them. Finally, Owens succumbed to the STF after the two stole the show again **** 1/2
Lesnar vs Rollins-As expected Rollins took a lot of suplexes (13 I believe). He had little offense to make it interesting, but it looked like Lesnar may roll. That is until Thje Undertaker showed up. The rumors were true and The Deadman showed up just as Lesnar was about to win the title. He cost Lesnar the title and proceeded to tombstone him 3 times. So-so match never got going but served it’s purpose in furthering storylines. ***
We still didn’t see Sting, so it looks like Taker will be facing Lesnar, or possibly Lesnar and Rollins in a Triple Threat for the title at Summerslam. I like the idea of a triple threat as it would give Taker a bit of protection his first match back. Should be interesting where they go from here. Overall, there were four matches that were 4 stars or better. Even though the main event wasn’t very good, the strong undercard and Taker appearance make this one of the best shows of the year.
J.C. Gethicker
OVERALL: Thumbs up! Way up!
BEST MATCH: John Cena vs. Kevin Owens
WORST MATCH: Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt
Hi Dave! Hope all is well with you and your family. Just got finished watching Battleground and I have to say I thought this show was fantastic. Two big thumbs up from me. None of the matches were bad and the Cena and Owens match, while not the best of their encounters, was still a great match.
SHEAMUS VS. RANDY ORTON — (***1/2) These guys tore the house down. The crowd absolutely loved Orton.
KOFI KINGSTON AND BIG E VS. PRIME TIME PLAYERS — (**1/2) — Nothing wrong with this at all. They had a solid tag team match and the right guys went over.
ROMAN REIGNS VS. BRAY WYATT — (**1/2) This went way too long and the action sometimes felt slow. I guess since Luke Harper interfered and cost Reigns the win the feud will continue and it looks like the Wyatt Family will be fully functional again once Rowan is off the shelf.
SASHA BANKS VS. CHARLOTTE VS. BRIE BELLA — (**3/4) The crowd was more into this than most Divas matches. Charlotte and Sasha were fine here and Brie Bella was better than she normally was. They got quite a bit of time and had a really solid match.
KEVIN OWENS VS. JOHN CENA — (****) So this was basically what we’ve come to know from these two: Hot crowd, Kevin Owens blessing us with his awesomeness and Cena trying to keep up. Seriously, Cena noticeably botched quite a few things in this match but he did some great big moves. The ending was perfect in my opinion.
BROCK LESNAR VS. SETH ROLLINS — (***3/4) So Lesnar does all his usual stuff with the suplexes. Rollins does his usual stuff with playing the chickin heel as well as being crafty. Crazy heat for this. Then suddenly, the Undertaker appears in the ring after the bell tolls to an unbelievable pop and just destroys Lesnar. The end. The action for the 12 minutes the match lasted was actually great but the ending was just unbelievable!
Craig Reeves
WWE Battleground Feedback
Thumbs Up
Best Match: John Cena vs Kevin Owens
Worst Match: King Barrett vs R-Truth
I thought this was a good but not great show. It had good in-ring action with some less-than-great finishes. Sheamus and Orton had a good match but if they have anything planned for Sheamus the Orton win didn’t help matters. I liked the tag title match and although I like The New Day as champs I probably like the Prime Time Players more at this point. Reigns and Wyatt also had a good match and the Wyatt family reunion is way overdue. If they don’t put Rowan back in I hope they put in someone like Solomon Crowe or even a revamped Bo Dallas.
The divas match was good but disappointing and Brie Bella appeared to be the reason.
Cena vs Owens was tremendous. I would have preferred a title win by Owens and really hope they continue his momentum, hopefully with a three-way with Cena and Cesaro at Summerslam.
Rollins vs Lesnar is a good example of booking a match where they wanted the draw without delivering. I did like the surprise of UNdertaker and think that is a good draw for Summerslam. The match itself was better than I expected, with the suplex city spots and Rollins getting more in than I expected.
Dave Musgrave
Oshawa, Ontario
THUMBS DOWN, as much as I hate to say it.
BEST MATCH was Cena-Owens, though I was disappointed by the result — KO is losing too much. Cena also seemed to make more of an effort to conceal his calling of the match while it was going on.
WORST MATCH was Rollins-Lesnar. I bet Rollins coud have a good athletic match with this guy, but I guess nothing mattered anyway. Undertaker should have done something with his hair to make himself look less old. I was relieved to see the kneepads under his pants when he was getting up from the Tombstones. I don’t see where this really goes, and I would have preferred the fantasy-booking answer of the Reuniting of the Shield.
Oh well, Summer Slam could still be good.
Richard Orloski
Thumbs up!
Best match: Roman Reigns VS Bray Wyatt followed by Orton VS Sheamus
Worst match: Lesnar VS Rollins
This could have been a “thumbs way up” show, but the Miz/Big Show segment and the main event brought it down. The time given to this match and the non-finish of the Lesnar VS Rollins match brought my enjoyment down a notch. And how are we suppose to react when Rollins gets up fresh after receiving 7 german suplexes? Yes, it was nice to see the Undertaker back, but still, we need a finish for the WWE title match. I guess the WWE will use cheap tricks like this going foreward since it’s on the WWE network and it cost less than PPVs. Last year, they promoted a Ambrose VS Rollins match that never happened. Instead we got a huge brawl between the two. I feel that down the line these specials events might become watered down.
Reigns VS Wyatt: Awesome clothesline spot by Wyatt when Reigns went for his dropkick on the apron. Great pace and great storytelling, and a couple of stiffs shots! Props to Wyatt for kicking out at 1 during the match (we never see those anymore, it’s either 2 or almost 3!).
Orton VS Sheamus: Same thing here, slow but interesting build-up. Orton is really under-rated and deserves more recognition for having great matches day in, day out. Both of their styles goes well together since they are rugged and what they do looks legit.
Prime Time Players VS New Day: Fun little match!
Cena VS Owens: I am not a Cena hater. He works really hard and delivers mostly great promos but his wrestling is getting really stale. It’s the SAME LAYOUT with every match looking and feeling the same! Just change the opponent, and voilà! I did not see any difference between the 3 matches he had with Owens! It was a fun match, but mostly just an exhibition of moves without any real storytelling. People kicking out of finishers left and right! And please, that springboard stunner looks awful.
Divas match: Fantastic match! I am very pleased to see not just an NXT women invasion, but an invasion of TALENT! Sasha Banks and Charlotte are naturals! Just add Natalya to the mix and we are set to have many months of classic matches! By the way, Brie using her husband’s kicking spot on Charlotte and Banks was lame.
Overall are very good show even without Cesaro, Rusev, Ziggler and Ambrose.
Manuel A.R.
Hey Dave,
Overall: Thumbs up show. Every match on the show met or exceeded my expectations. WWE is known for placing a comedown match between the feud filled battles. With the exception of the short Miz segment, this show travelled from battle to battle without losing steam. Lastly, the show ended on a high note with a cliff hanger that did not need description from the announce team.
Best Match: Owens and Cena wrestled their best match yet. I compare their trilogy to the progression between Windows Vista, Windows 8, and Windows 10. The matches are basically all the same, but each built on the successes of the prior match to enhance execution and increase functionality.
Worst Match: Nothing was bad enough to get the worst match label.
a. Bad News Barrett vs. R Truth. This match was about exactly what I expected it to be. Hopefully, Barrett is on to bigger and better things. Honestly, I am doubtful that he will ascend up the ranks. He has been discredited to the point of being another face in the crowd.
1. Sheamus vs. Randy Orton. It is not on the level of CM Punk in Chicago, but Orton has developed a growing connection with his hometown of St. Louis. Orton wrestled his standard economical match which was enhanced with crowd participation and some extra effort and physicality. Strong opener to the show with a satisfying finish. ***1/4
2. WWE Tag Title Match: The New Day vs. Prime Time Players. I loved the New Day’s pre match promo. They each have improved on the mic, and have all found individual voices within a collective message. The match itself was better than expected. This was the perhaps the best Prime Time Player’s tag team showing I have seen. The match was physical, the wrestlers moved with purpose, and the crowd reacted to the ebbs and flows. **3/4
3. Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt. Slow build into a solid heavyweight style match. The story told was smart and logical. Wyatt used Reign’s aggression to lure him into the steel steps and gain the advantage. Each transition had purpose, and by the end, the crowd sounded fully engaged. It may have been a little long and drawn out, but I was entertained. Moreover, they did not resort to the big move, counter, bigger move, counter, biggest move formula. This template was saved for Cena and Owens. I do not see any drawbacks in having the Wyatt family back together. Moreover, this gives a new duo for Reigns and Ambrose to square off against. ***1/4
4. Sasha Banks vs. Brie Bella vs. Charlotte. I am glad they decided to have a triple threat match instead of the predicted three team, nine person tag match. The ladies were given the time and platform to put on a memorable match. It was memorable, but not great. There was a notable amount of good moves and spots, but the momentum was often slowed and stopped by an awkward exchange or a mistimed move. Poor Brie looked outclassed. This is telling giving the fact she is the veteran of the trio. This was better than the normal WWE Divas PPV offering, but it was not the game changer it was designed to be. **1/2
5. US Title Match: Kevin Owens vs. John Cena. When comparing this to the prior two encounters, it was the best of the three. The execution was better and the counters were more creative. My only complaint is the sameness of the matches in the trilogy. The same moves were hit, the same moves were missed, and most importantly, the story told was identical. The match was great, but I wanted to see a different theme explored and a unique plot developed. The tap out finish was surprising for its decisiveness. ****
6. WWE World Title Match: Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins. Before the lights went out, we were in the midst of a compelling WWE title match. The match story was unique to the show. Rollins attempting to work the knee was smart. His short bursts of offense provided some additional meat and potatoes to the match. Brock was Brock. I am not sure how I feel about the Undertaker’s appearance. It may not fit into the traditional heel/face dynamic, but the story of Taker wanting retribution for losing to Brock and having Paul Heymen emphasize the defeat for the last 18 months is logical. Lastly, the show ended on a high note with a cliff hanger that did not need description from the announce team. If there is one notable pitfall to the show it is the fact that this did little to build credibility for Rollins. ***
Thanks, Derrick Hubard
Thumbs down. A laughably bad event, really.
Best Match: Reigns vs. Wyatt
Worst Match: Lesnar vs. Rollins.
Another event where the heels never cheat. Orton/Sheamus was paint-by-numbers, really so was Owens/Cena. Big move after big move with nothing in between and no chance of an unexpected finish. Reigns and Wyatt had some clever spots, at least, although too many of them made Wyatt look smarter and more athletic than Reigns. Tough to cheer a chump who keeps walking into big moves.
The women’s three way was decent, although Charlotte and Sasha felt way too choreographed and fed each other a little too blatantly. The tag match was completely unremarkable.
But, really, the main event was a disaster. It was far too short, Rollins didn’t do anything, none of the storyline build was really in play, and then Taker shows up to avenge … losing cleanly? I realize I’m old and no one cares anymore but what’s the motivation here? So is Taker a heel or is everyone too cool for that still? Was the goal to make Lesnar an even bigger babyface? Or are we just supposed to not care and be excited that Taker came back?
The really sad part is I don’t think any of these questions are really going to be answered. Brock will lose next month and everyone will cheer and it won’t matter that none of it makes any sense, even as wrestling logic goes.
Pretty sad when ten bucks a month is starting to feel like a waste.
Best
John Popa
Thumbs down
Best match John Cena vs Kevin Owens
Worst match Bad News Barrett vs R Truth
This PPV fell off a cliff for me. Enjoyed the first 2 hours especially the divas match. Loved Owens and Cena till that finish that just killed the rest of the night for me. Welcome to the midcard Owens. Has anybody not already a rock solid main eventer ever benefited from a John Cena feud? The main event what can I say I was enjoying Brock beating the crap out of Rollins….and than the nonsensical return of Undertaker, who was clearly the heel in all of this but the fans dont care they are just happy to see him. Frak this what a garbage finish.
Wade Haugen
Thumbs up!
Best match: Cena v. Owens III. Poetic finish that Owens loses since he doesn’t ascribe to the “Never give up” code? I’m still not bored with them. Great program.
Worst match: Sheamus v. Orton. Orton was great. I just wasn’t invested in a Sheamus match.
Worth noting:
The 5:29 Miz/Show spot is where a Divas segment would probably be placed. They did a much better job with the women at this PPV.
Lots of annoyances at the production end. Cameras missing spots and cutting to commercials.
Great hearing Steph recognize Muchnik and Wrestling at the Chase!
Undertaker finish got a reaction, but was a bad finish. Sets up a Brock v. Taker rematch and we never have the Brock v. Rollins revenge settled? Not good.
Honorable mention:
Miz was exceptional on the mic tonight. He was great. I thought for a split second that he might have a program in him before I saw Show arrive and realized that they have no plans. Too bad. I can’t remember the last time I was happy to see the Miz.
—
Nick Garcia @foothands
Columbus, Ohio