July 18, 2021
Live from Fort Worth, TX
Hello everyone and welcome to a very special review here on the blog. With fans back in the arena, this time hopefully for good (fingers crossed), it’s only fitting I’d give this event a look. Apart from the typical Money in the Bank Ladder matches, Bobby Lashley puts his WWE Championship on the line against Kofi Kingston, while Roman Reigns takes on Edge for the Universal Championship. That and much more.
Enjoy the review!
The hosts are Byron Saxton, Corey Graves, Jimmy Smith, Michael Cole & Pat McAfee
Note: In the kickoff match, The Usos defeated Rey Mysterio and his son Dominik to win the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship
Female Money in the Bank Ladder Match – Alexa Bliss vs. Asuka vs. Liv Morgan vs. Naomi vs. Natalya vs. Nikki ASH vs. Tamina vs. Zelina Vega
As someone who was completely away from the live product during pretty much the whole pandemic, I’d like to know what the hell has happened to Nikki Cross. Is “A.S.H.” the PG version of “S.H.I.T.”, Rosey’s old gimmick? The bell starts and everyone goes for the ladders while Bliss stays on the top rope. She leaves and skips around for a while before trying to retrieve the briefcase using some magic super powers, but Asuka comes up from behind with a German suplex, only to eat a kick from Zelina Vega, who then turns around into an enziguiri from Liv Morgan. Clothesline by Natalya. Tornado DDT by Cross. Naomi with the What She Calls The Rear View. Superkick by Tamina Snuka. IT’S BREAKING LOOSE IN TEXAS! Tamina cleans house because Nobody’s Meaner Than Tamina (trademarked), and then Liv nearly steals it but Tamina destroys both her and Zelina. She sets up the ladder, but Asuka gets in her face and we get a slugfest. An international one! Asuka goes up to avoid a shot with the ladder, and gives Tamina a missile dropkick and stands tall. We get an “Asuka” chant while she literally buries Tamina under a ladder. She climbs it, but Tamina lifts the ladder and Liv comes in with a Codebreaker to Asuka to make the save.
Now it’s Morgan’s turn to climb, but Natalya saves and drops Liv on her knee. They get into a tug-of-war over the ladder, and Nikki comes in for some superhero action but ends up eating the ladder like a complete geek instead. Now Naomi and Tamina get into a slugfest on said ladder, which Morgan and Natalya are still grabbing and allowing them to do these spots (I hate these spots, drop the ladder and take them both out…) as Tamina gets a samoan drop. Zelina dumps Tamina with a flying headscissors, and Asuka sends her into the barricade with hip attack. Meanwhile, Natalya & Morgan just keep awkwardly holding the ladder. What the hell. Bliss comes in and traps Morgan in the corner, and Natalya blocks what looked like a version of Stratusfaction by Bliss, but she no-sells Natalya’s reversal and laughs in her face while Natalya goes to run the ropes, and then Natalya just charges anyway and (obviously) eats some ladder on a drop toehold. Duh, what were you thinking? This match is not clicking at all. Bliss goes after Morgan next with a senton bomb and she sets up the ladder, but Vega follows her to the top. And then… oh then… Bliss simply looks at Zelina and FUCKING HYPNOTIZES HER to steal the briefcase, but Natalya saves with a sitout powerbomb off the ladder. And now Zelina, seemingly back to being a normal sane human being, goes after Natalya herself. I have no words for this, it’s just not for me. How does Zelina go from normal to crazy to normal again all in the span of 25 seconds?
Next up, Naomi powerbombs Liv Morgan right into Zelina’s back and into a ladder in the corner, and she follows it up with a double springboard enziguiri to both Natalya and Tamina, followed by a double springboard stunner. Cross tries her luck next, but she gets slammed on a ladder by Naomi, who follows it up with the split legdrop. Natalya again makes the save and goes up, but Zelina goes up and puts her in a sleeper up there. Uh oh. Natalya climbs anyway and they both fight over the contract, but Liv Morgan pulls both down at the last second. Now they all get into a mega slugfest and literally make a pool of people in the ring, while Nikki Cross climbs a ladder on the outside and takes every single soul out with a flying crossbody, nearly failing miserably and knocking herself out on the ropes. For some reason they still show the replay of this like it was a big highlight reel moment. Here, have a look:
Thankfully it didn’t go wrong… Anyway, Nikki is all alone in the ring, but her former partner Alexa Bliss confronts her and hits her version of Sister Abigail. Natalya & Tamina again make the save and dump Bliss, going to work on her on the outside and taking her out with a ladder into the barricade. Then everyone proceeds to bury Alexa Bliss under a pile of ladders, and Morgan, seemingly being the only person with a brain in this match, goes back to the ring while everyone’s posing outside and climbs the ladder. Tamina stops her, but ends up eating a headscissors into the buckle. Two more ladders are set up in the ring, which is absolutely NOT setting up a contrived spot coming soon. No, sir. Asuka misses the hip attack on Morgan and gets caught on the ropes, as Morgan takes her out and climbs the ladder. And suddenly out comes everyone to climb all three ladders, while Nikki ASH…. simply grabs it while everyone’s there and seemingly ignores her??? Huh?? Yes, that’s your lame finish at 15:45.
- Rating: Terrible ending to what was easily the worst Money in the Bank Ladder Match I have ever seen in my entire life. A bunch of sloppy or botched or contrived spots, sometimes a combination of all three, particularly Nikki’s crossbody in which she was this close from landing with her feet on the top rope and cracking heads with someone in the ring. I also hated Alexa Bliss’ stuff during this match, like when she hypnotized Zelina, only for her to be normal again 15 seconds later and not sell it anymore. Just weird. And bad. The finish would get over almost as well as a fart in church. A really awful match, in my opinion. 1/2*
We recap the kickoff match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship. Jimmy sacrificed himself by covering Jey and taking Rey’s 619 instead, and then Jey sent Rey into the buckles and rolled him up for the win, with some leverage from Jey.
Meanwhile, Roman Reigns is happy for the Usos in the back. Reigns is happy all the family has gold, but not before reminding them it was all Reigns’ credit. Now it’s time to focus on keeping Roman’s belt.
WWE RAW Tag Team Championship – AJ Styles & Omos(c) vs. The Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar)
The Vikings won a battle royal last month on RAW to get this tag title shot. AJ starts with Erik, but after some second thoughts he tags Omos in instead. The Raiders do the same and try to cheapshot Omos with a 2-on-1 attack, but Omos completely no sells it and cleans house. Now Styles is feeling it, asking for the tag and hitting a kneedrop, but it only gets one. Styles ends up getting caught in the Vikings’ corner, and he plays Ricky Morton. Erik slams Ivar into Styles for one, and the crowd doesn’t give a crap about them despite being the babyfaces. Erik gives Styles a massive knee to the face that could and should ABSOLUTELY be a finish, but it barely even gets a two. Styles cheapshots Erik and dumps him with a dropkick, taking Ivar too with a baseball slide before tagging in Omos. Styles follows with a fantastic Omos-assisted flying hurricanrana on the floor, and apparently we ignore the tag to Omos as Styles puts Erik in a chinlock. Erik escapes and backdrops AJ, and out comes Ivar with a shoulderblock to Styles. Sideslam is followed by a splash, and the big cartwheel lariat gets two. Styles gets some distance with a jawbreaker and brings in Omos, who also eats the cartwheel lariat, but totally no-sells it. The Vertical Jump That Always Misses gets caught by Omos, who turns it into a powerslam.
Omos works the DREADED NERVE HOLD OF DEATH like this is 1986 and he’s Sivi Afi, but then he releases it and simply knocks Ivar down before tagging Styles back in. AJ and Ivar get into a slugfest, but Ivar manages to roll over Styles’ back and makes the ice cold tag to Erik, who comes in running wild and gets a release slam to Styles. Ivar knocks Omos off the apron as the Raiders now go to work on Styles together, and their German/springboard clothesline combo gets two. Ivar goes up but eats a Pelé Kick, setting up the tag to Omos. Ivar is still knocked out on the top rope, and Omos brings him down with a gorilla press slam for two. Back to Styles for a double-team attack, but poor AJ runs into Ivar’s knees in the corner, and Ivar blocks an Omos blind charge and makes yet another “hot” tag, which gets no reaction yet again. The Raiders double-team Omos with a couple of Erik knees, and Ivar manages to dump him with a clothesline, with Omos landing on his feet. Erik dives at Omos, who still doesn’t go down, and Styles nearly steals it with a roll-up on Ivar that gets two. Forearm on the apron sets up the big Phenomenal Forearm, but Erik shoves Ivar out of the way and they hit the Viking Experience for the win, but Omos saves by grabbing Erik and sending him into Ivar. Omos gets the tag and they all trade spinning heel kicks, ultimately leaving Omos alone with Erik, who charges into an Omos chokeslam for the win to retain the RAW titles at 12:55.
- Rating: This match certainly had a weird babyface/heel dynamic, but to their credit it got much better near the end and it turned out to be a pretty good match. Omos looks like he’ll be an attraction if he’s booked well, and for now keeping him alongside Styles so he can hide his weaknesses and just come in to do his handful of spots while he’s green is a good idea. Good little match. ***
Drew McIntyre says he’ll win the Money in the Bank in the state of Texas, much like he won last year’s Royal Rumble match here.
Lashley/Kingston recap – Kofi says he thinks Lashley might be getting a little soft because he surrounds himself with a lot of hot women, uses overpriced suits and takes vacations. Coming from the guy who throws pancakes in the air. How this is supposed to make Lashley a heel is beyond me, of course everyone would want Lashley’s lifestyle. Lashley says “enough of this bullshit”, and tells Kofi to get ready to fight not for the title, but for his life after calling Lashley soft. I can’t say I don’t second this.
WWE Championship – Bobby Lashley(c)(w/ Montel Vontavious Porter) vs. Kofi Kingston
We get big match intros for this one. Lashley’s wasting no time tonight, going after Kofi as soon as the bell rings while MVP grabs his leg, but Kofi manages to escape and gets a sunset flip for one. Kofi goes up with a flying double stomp for two, but Lashley turns things around with a big backdrop. Massive clothesline follows, and Lashley looks like a killer tonight. He proceeds to abuse Kofi in the corner with a couple of short spears, before eventually missing a blind charge. Kofi springboard gets caught by Lashley, who follows it up with an impressive one-handed chokeslam. Then he just slams poor Kofi all the way to the floor. Lashley follows him for some abuse on the outside, getting him up in a fireman’s carry and running Kofi’s head into the post like a sack of potatoes. HOLY SHIT. Put all the titles on this man tomorrow, please! He then does it a second time just to please me. Don’t piss him off next time, Kofi. Back in, Lashley takes Kofi’s head out in the corner before picking him up by the hair and hitting an elevated flatliner. Lashley goes for the Hurt Lock but can’t lock it in, and instead throws him 3/4 of the way across the ring with a release slam. Another flatliner takes Kofi down yet again, and Lashley slugs away. Three Dominators end poor Kingston’s night, while the ref literally begs for a pinfall so Kofi can live to fight another day. Lashley’s like “fuck that” and this time the Hurt Lock is academic to retain the gold at 7:35.
- Rating: Really an extended glorified squash, but I have to say – according to the story told in the video package that aired before the match, this was really the only way it could’ve gone. Having been watching Bobby Lashley since his early 2000s run, this is by far the best work of his career, and he looks like a badass STAR and probably the best choice for WWE Champion. Simple yet very effective match, though it would probably be better served on a RAW. **1/2
WWE RAW Women’s Championship – Rhea Ripley(c) vs. Charlotte Flair
Their match at last year’s WrestleMania was one of my personal favourite of that event, so I’m really curious to see this one. Ripley comes out first despite being the champion, because Charlotte IS the title! Big match intros for this one too. Big lockup gets things going in, and then Charlotte responds to a big “we want Becky” chant with a “suck it” and a middle finger to the crowd, with WWE blacking out the feed because they’re lame and the 9 year olds might see this and repeat it. They exchange some bitchslaps before Rhea blocks a big boot and hits a dropkick. She misses a charge and gets sent into the apron, with Charlotte following her as they get into a slugfest up there. Charlotte goes after the knee and tries to clip it, but Ripley notices climbing in and jumps to the middle rope to block, before stomping Flair. Nice! Baseball slide follows but she misses a senton to the outside and eats a low dropkick into the barricade. Charlotte goes for the pin back inside, but it only gets one. A suplex into the corner gets two. And we hit the chinlock. Ripley goes to fight out of that, but Charlotte grabs her by the hair and tosses her back down. Now Charlotte starts talking some trash while she slugs away on Ripley, being a massive prick and getting the crowd behind Ripley. Charlotte hits a nasty elbow to the face but misses a blind charge and eats a backdrop to the floor.
Ripley follows her to the floor with another senton, but this time it connects. Back in, Ripley runs wild with a couple of short arm clotheslines, but Flair blocks a third one and Ripley headbutts her instead and follows with a low dropkick. Northern lights suplex gets two. Charlotte snaps Rhea’s neck on the top rope but can’t get an O’Connor Roll, as Ripley explodes with a release German suplex. She goes up for a missile dropkick, but Flair grabs her leg in mid-air and turns it into a Boston Crab instead. Ripley rolls over for two and Charlotte goes for the figure four instead, with Ripley again rolling her over for two, only to get up and eat a Charlotte big boot for two. She goes up for the big moonsault, but Ripley shoves her off the top. Ripley gets her up on her shoulders, which is blocked by Charlotte, and then it looks like they mess up something but Ripley immediately makes up for it by muscling Charlotte up into a vertical suplex for two. Back up, Ripley chops away with extra mustard, but Charlotte eventually whips Ripley into the corner, who gets dumped off a Flair flip over the top. I love how Ripley is working Ric Flair’s spots in a match against his daughter! Ripley gets on the apron and tries to get back inside, but Charlotte big boots her back down and follows with her big moonsault to the floor.
Back in, Charlotte goes to finish but Ripley blocks the Natural Selection and works a modified cloverleaf submission, which Charlotte blocks by rolling through for two. Rhea goes for the Riptide, but it’s turned into a DDT by Charlotte at the last second for two. Chopfest follows and it looks like Ripley blocks another big boot, but Charlotte catches her with an elbow to the face and goes for the Ric Flair rope-assisted pinfall, but the ref catches her and stops the count at two. Charlotte stops to discuss with the referee for a while, which gives Ripley enough time to kick Charlotte and turn things around. Rhea takes her up for a superplex, but Charlotte again takes advantage of Ripley’s knee to escape and get Ripley off the top rope, and she follows with a flying Natural Selection for a great false finish. Charlotte preps the figure four yet again, but Ripley has some gas left in the tank and dumps her to prevent the hold. Ripley goes after Charlotte, who grabs her by the head and sends her skull first into the post. Ripley’s pretty much done, yet Charlotte proceeds to sandwich Ripley’s injured knee in between the post and the stairs, and viciously kicks at the stairs a number of times. Back in, Charlotte locks in the figure eight and Ripley taps at 16:50 to give Charlotte her 800th title.
- Rating: These two have insane chemistry and this is yet another match that proves it. I simply loved the match and most of their exchanges and reversal sequences. It was different than their WrestleMania 36 match, which focused more on selling and psychology for a longer period of time, while this one was more about the action, but I honestly love both equally. The finish was really clever and creative for once, despite Charlotte winning being as certain as death and taxes in life. Fantastic match. ****1/4
An annoyed Kevin Owens looks on as Riddle, King Nakamura and Rick Boogs sing and dance to Randy Orton’s theme music like idiots before the MITB match. Funny stuff.
Male Money in the Bank Ladder Match – Kevin Owens vs. Riddle vs. King Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Ricochet vs. John Morrison vs. Big E vs. Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre
Slugfest to start as Riddle takes Rollins out with a big knee to the face outside, and Ricochet takes Morrison out with a huge dive, followed by one from Riddle to Rollins. The house gets cleaned and suddenly it comes down to Drew and Big E, but Riddle comes in and eats an overhead belly to belly from Big E. Back to the big confrontation, and this time it’s Ricochet who tries to interfere with a springboard crossbody to Drew, who just grabs him in mid-air and simply drops him to the floor like an annoying mosquito before getting back to the confrontation with Big E. Now they go at it, with Drew getting the better of it via a belly to belly of his own, but Drew misses a charge and Big E takes him out with his crazy spear off the apron to the floor, which has most likely taken 20 years off his life thus far. This leaves Owens all alone, until Nakamura shows up and takes out Owens with an exploder suplex onto a ladder. Nakamura preps the ladder next, but Morrison comes in with his insane parkour stuff and takes out Nakamura. However, Nakamura ends up climbing and going after Morrison to save, putting him in a crazy armbar up there, and Rollins comes in with a flying knee off the top rope to Nakamura. Rollins and Morrison temporarily join forces against Nakamura and take him out with the ladder. And a shot to Big E while they’re at it for good measure. And to Drew. And to Riddle.
Morrison follows it up with a crazy samoan drop onto the ladder, and does a little cocky dance to celebrate. John’s so charismatic, I honestly don’t know how he’s not a former champion by now. Even Jack Swagger got a run back in Morrison’s generation, for crying out loud… The MorriSeth Association goes back to work with a double backdrop to Ricochet into a ladder. Owens comes in and goes after Rollins, but Morrison follows him and again saves Seth, helping him beat up Owens and exposing the announce table. They set up a ladder bridge, and Owens manages to escape that for a while, but Seth and Morrison again cut him off and go for a double team shot with the ladder, but Owens blocks and moonsaults their ladder onto them. Owens goes for an insane powerbomb onto the edge of a ladder on Rollins, but again Morrison saves him and it’s Owens who eats a double suplex onto the edge of the ladder. Good fucking lord, these guys are absolutely insane. Drew McIntyre tries his luck next with a number of chops with extra mustard, and he actually gets a pretty good little comeback sequence, but he too falls short against the incredible MorriSeth Association, and eats a crazy flying flipping elbowdrop from Morrison, and then Rollins… attacks Morrison with the ladder. NOOOOOO!
Rollins goes up after the briefcase, but everyone prevents him and Riddle takes him out with the RKO. Nakamura and Riddle go at it in a pretty awesome sequence of kicks, but McIntyre comes in and takes bothout with a double Claymore. Future Shock DDT to Big E. Ricochet tries an inverted hurricanrana on Drew, who uses his power to block it and hit his reverse Alabama Slam onto a ladder. McIntyre follows it up with a crazy dive onto a number of guys on the floor, and back in Rollins eats the Glasgow kiss. Drew does the countdwon and follows it up with the Claymore, but Jinder Mahal and his useless pair of geeks come out and beat up Drew to remove him from the match. When you go from beating Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania one year to feuding with Jinder Mahal the following year, something has to be fucked up. Ricochet takes advantage and tries to climb, but Riddle pushes him off, only for Ricochet to land on the top rope and hit an insane dive onto everyone on the floor. Fuck! Ricochet goes back inside the ring to prevent Riddle from winning, only to get caught in a kimura, while Rollins sets up a second ladder close to theirs. Big E goes after Riddle, but that only earns him an RKO. And one to Ricochet off the top of the ladder. Riddle stops to do Orton’s little mat-punching routine, but Rollins comes in and stomps him!
Nakamura takes Rollins out with a GTS and he goes up, but Morrison follows him up there and blinds him with the DRIPSTICK OF WET DEATH, only for Owens to pull him off the ladder and hit the Stunner. Nakamura prevents him from going up and eats the Stunner too in the process, and Ricochet takes the Pop Up Powerbomb. Now Rollins goes after Owens’ bad leg to prevent him from winning, and powerbombs him into the bridge ladder set up earlier. Rollins climbs and has his fingers on the briefcase, but suddenly out comes Big E with a massive Big Ending off the top of the ladder, and Big E climbs the ladder and retrieves the briefcase at 17:40.
- Rating: These guys went out there determined to put on a show and absolutely tore the house down. If the female Money in the Bank match was the absolute worst one I’ve ever seen (cinematic thing in 2020 aside), this one actually came close to beating the inaugural one from WrestleMania 21, which is still my all-time favorite.. Spectacular MITB match that allowed everyone to have their moments. Props to everyone involved, I loved it. ****1/2
Seth Rollins is hurt backstage and he’s determined to challenge the winner of the upcoming Universal Title match between Roman Reigns and Edge.
Reigns/Edge recap – WrestleMania took place exactly ten years to the date after he was forced to retire as the World Heavyweight Champion in 2011, and that hit him hard, even forcing him to take some time away. However, he watched the match back and saw the fear in Reigns’ eyes when he had the crossface locked in, which Reigns claims only succeeded in pissing him off even more, but then Edge made him tap with the same move after their six man tag match last Friday on SmackDown and stood tall with the belt.
Main Event – WWE Universal Championship – Roman Reigns(c)(w/ Paul Heyman) vs. Edge
Lockup to start goes to the corner, with Reigns adding a little cheapshot on the clean break. Another lockup ends with the same result, but this time with Edge returning the favour. They get into a brief technical sequence next that is won by Edge, and he adds the little bitchslaps to the back of Reigns’ head like Kurt Angle used to do to Rey Rey all the time. Edge shoulderblocks him, but he’s the one who goes down and he bails. Back in, Edge goes after the arm and shoulder, likely softening him up for the crossface, which is great psychology, but Reigns escapes that with a cheapshot. Reigns slugs away in the corner, but Edge snaps the arm on the ropes and throws him shoulder-first into the post a number of times, looking to follow up with the crossface but Reigns bails to escape it, while Heyman tells Reigns to make his father proud. Great story thus far. Reigns comes back in but Edge puts him back on the floor with a knee to the back, but then Edge follows him and walks into a samoan drop on the floor. Reigns sends Edge into the post and gets back inside, and Edge just barely beats the count back in at eight, but Reigns dumps him back to the outside. Reigns sends Edge into the post and gets two back in. The kickout only pisses off Reigns, though, as he gets on top of Edge and slugs away while saying “so you’re trying to take my money, huh” before sending him into the post. Put all the titles on him too!!!
Reigns stops to talk some trash before adding a suplex for two. Reigns works a headlock with extra mustard, literally trying to tear Edge’s surgically repaired nek right off his shoulders, and Edge just can’t escape it. The crowd rallies Edge as he shows some life, and he eventually escapes only to walk into an uppercut from Reigns. Drive By gets two. Superman Punch gets turned into a backslide for two and a double big boot results in a double KO spot. Back up, we get the weird boo/yay slugfest, which is one of the few things I didn’t miss from the crowds, until Edge blocks one of Reigns’ shots and catches him with the Edge-o-matic for two. Edge slowly gets back up and gets one hell of a loud reaction, being arguably the wrestler with the best crowd psychology these days, and he clotheslines Reigns before hitting the Edgecution for two. Edge puts Reigns up top and goes for something crazy, but Reigns takes him down with a shoulder, only for Edge to ram his nose into the edge of the post. Reigns gets caught in the tree of woe position, and Edge pounds away some more before putting him in an STF, which Michael Cole (being Michael Cole) calls a crossface. Reigns is about to make the ropes, so Edge turns the hold into the crossface (now it is one, Cole) to prevent Reigns from using the left arm, but Reigns still gets to the ropes with his right arm.
Edge preps the Spear and goes for it, only to get caught in the guillotine, which Edge escapes by tossing both Reigns and him to the floor. Reigns gets pissed and looks to spear Edge through the barricade, but he moves out of the way and Reigns takes himself out instead, and then Edge himself spears Reigns through another part of the barricade. He drags Reigns’ dead body back inside but only gets two, with Reigns barely rolling his shoulder off the mat. Edge goes for another Edgecution, but Reigns blocks it with an uppercut and a Superman Punch sends Edge into the ref, taking him out. Charles Robinson is on the mat like “I did the sprint of my life in your WrestleMania main event and this is how you thank me?” and Edge is like “hmm yeah, Undertaker was the one pinning me”. Long term storytelling! With the ref down, Reigns gets the piece of the chair and goes for the crossface himself, but Edge slugs and headbutts his way out of it before locking Reigns in it again. Cue The Usos to save Reigns, but Rey & Dominik prevent them from interfering and take them out. However, out comes Seth Rollins with a low superkick to Edge, breaking up the hold. Reigns sets up for the Spear, still selling his jaw from the crossface in a brilliant spot, but he eats Edge’s spear instead. A second referee comes out to count, but it only gets a delayed two. Edge looks to follow with another Spear, but he stops to boot Rollins off the apron, and then turns around into a Reigns spear for the win to retain the Universal Championship at 33:10.
- Rating: Hell of a main event that focused more on the story and the psychology and might not be for everyone, but I absolutely loved this match. The package showed Edge knew the crossface was the only time he saw any kind of fear of defeat in Reigns’ eyes at WrestleMania, and he immediately went after the shoulder and arm to set up that hold as soon as the match began, which made all the sense in the world. Meanwhile, Reigns was able to cut off Edge’s big hope spot by going after Edge’s fucked up neck, which also makes all the sense in the world. I didn’t particularly like the old lame “wrestler A stops to knock the interfering person off the apron and turns around to eat wrestler B’s finisher and lose”, but otherwise it was absolutely spectacular. I didn’t think the three way at WrestleMania was that awesome, it was very good but not great in my opinion, but this one I truly loved! Terrific main-event. ****1/2
After the match, a pissed Edge goes after Seth Rollins and they take their fight to the crowd, while John Cena returns and confronts Roman Reigns, most likely setting up a title match at SummerSlam.
END OF THE SHOW
Final thoughts: First of all, it’s always amazing to see the fans back in the arena, and it really shows how nothing is guaranteed in life and we need to be thankful for the smallest of things we have. With that out of the way, the show kicked off with a horrible Money in the Bank match, the worst ever in my opinion, excluding the cinematic match last year, but on the other hand, the guys’ MITB match is very close to the top of that list. The three final matches were simply great, all in their own different way, and unquestionably elevated the quality of this PPV. John Cena’s return in the end was a very interesting way to close the show too. Overall, I really liked this PPV, especially the last part, but the girls’ MITB match drags this way down. Still an easy high 7/10 from me.
FEEDBACK – IT’S YOUR TURN TO SPEAK!
And that’s all for this review, thank you so much for your time as always. I’ll see if I review SummerSlam or not next month, but for now get ready for some of the next shows coming up on my retro series, with WCW Halloween Havoc and WWF Survivor Series 1991 coming up soon. See you all next time, stay safe and have a great summer!