I can safely say this is the best Clash at the Castle WWE has ever done.
Opener was decent. Crazy amount of talent in that ring. They mostly did a good balance of keeping things looking semi real but still having some decent choreographed spots. The match was built around the heels trying to keep Bianca out of the match. So eventually, Bianca gets the hot tag and of course she... loses?
That was unexpected. I thought that Bayley's squad would win, although I was a bit worried when this match was first. But I would have bet that Asuka or Alexa would have to eat the pin. But, the match ended with Bayley pinning Bianca, and fairly cleanly. Which helps set up the singles feud later.
Overall, this was a match with a lot of talented wrestlers, so of course it was pretty good. But, it's hard to make a really strong story with six people involved, particularly when neither have been established stables for long. They did what they could.
***
Sheamus vs Gunther was the stiffest looking match we've seen in WWE for years (not including NXT). It was two people beating the fuck out of each other. When they're taking those kinds of hits, it seems like they both really want this. And when they're into it, you're into it.
Towards the end of the match Gunther hit a powerbomb where Sheamus landed awkwardly on his back, which was hopefully the plan. Later on he goes for the Brogue kick, but his back gives out leading to another powerbomb and a clothesline that would make JBL jealous.
Great match with two big guys hitting each other really hard. Because they were Ireland adjacent, Sheamus was treated as a hero, looked good in defeat, and received a standing ovation. Might be a good time to have Sheamus turn face. Very underrated talent.
****1/2
Liv Morgan comes out to a pretty nice reaction. I was a bit concerned that they kept Live out of the ring the last couple of weeks, but maybe it was a sort of reboot because the fans were starting to turn.
The match between her and Bazzler exceeded my low expectations. This is the best Liv has ever looked. The match was about the larger wrestler imposing her will on the smaller, but with Liv surprising with her ability to counter and endure. This was probably Liv's best match yet. She still has Kelly Kelly syndrome where a lot of her spots look overly rehearsed and don't flow smoothly, but much less so then before. The ending was a bit meh, with Liv doing a Code Breaker that didn't quite land right and her finisher.
I still think it was too early to give Liv the title. But since they already did that, they might as well try and give her a chance to succeed. Here, she looked like a credible champion with a win over a Ronda Rousey proxy. Hopefully this is a little reset to get her reign on the right track.
***1/2
God damn Edge is over. He and Rey made a pact with the devil to still be in this shape at their age.
The match was meh. It was basically Raw main event quality. Judgement day were finally getting a little momentum, so I don't know if them losing here was the right call. Not alot to say about this match. Edge hit a 619, sort of, which was kind of fun. There was also a fun spot where Priest impressively jumped onto the barricade, and was then crotched on said barricade.
Surprisingly instead of Rhea cheating to help the judgment day, they went the other way with Dominik helping daddy and Edge win.That was an odd choice which became more odd after the match when Dominick kicked Edge where Beth's babies come from, and then hits Rey. Kind of wonder why Dominick helped them if he was going to turn on them moments later. Or why the judgment day didn't then attack them when they were down. This didn't seem to be Dominck joining the judgment day either, as he walked off without them.
I guess Dominick needed something, and this was, something. But it really didn't make a lot of sense. Maybe there will be a better explanation on Raw. This really didn't help anyone involved except Dominick, so, odd choice.
**1/2
Seth came out for his match with Riddle in the greatest outfit in sports entertainment history.
And the match was almost as good as the outfit. As opposed to the last match, this had more of a PPV feel with both guys going deeper into their arsenals, and acting extra serious. For Riddle this meant being more focused and serious, for Rollins this meant being extra douchey.
Rollins tried whatever he could to get Riddle off his game. Taunting him, using Riddle's moves, and then going for the RKO. As a slight nerdy point, I really hate when wrestlers kick out of their opponent's finishers a lot in one show. To avoid that here, they had Seth use moves like the Bro Derek and Pedigree that are quasi finishers. So, you think they might actually end the match and it's still a nice pop when it doesn't. And, if they have Drew kick out of a spear or something later in the night, it won't feel like its been done.
The match had a finish that worked with the story. Riddle gets so mad that he goes after Rollins with a chair outside, but hits the announce table. Seth scrambles into the ring, and when Riddle tries to get back, he gets stomped. But, that doesn't end it, cause Rollins goes to the top rope, and hits a top rope stomp that looks sick.
This was a great match that competes with Sheamus and Gunther for match of the night so far. It was a different style, nailing the balance between sports entertainment and wrestling. There were some impressive spots that avoided looking super choreographed, solid story telling, and a clear face and heel dynamic that makes it easy to get behind Riddle. Only complaint is that Rollins should never do the turnbuckle/barricade bomb again. Needlessly dangerous.
****1/2
Mcyntyre vs Reigns was a hell of a match.
This was similar to Rock vs Hogan or Hogan vs Warrior. Not necessarily as good as those, but the same kind of a match. What I mean was that the fans were so into it that basically anything they did would get a monumental reaction. So, they worked it slow, and milked it.
The story was that Reigns was for once without help, and in addition the fans were so adamantly against him that it was distracting him. This included a great moment where Reigns demanded a microphone mid match to tell Cardiff to acknowledge him.
Mcyntyre was in control until Mcyntyre was hit by... a water bottle... Turns out that it was thrown by none other than Karrion Cross. Which, didn't actually factor into the match like Chekhov's gun. Bit disappointing. And with the type of character Kross has been built as, with him doing all those doom and gloom promos, throwing a water bottle seems like an odd move.
The two went back and forth. Mcyntyre kicked out of the second spear that Reigns hit him with. While Reigns argued with the ref Mcyntyre hit him with the Claymore, but the ref was knocked out of the ring. And then we hear Atown down.
Theory tried to cash in, because of course, why wouldn't he. But as he was turning in the briefcase, he was bunched in the face by none other than Tyson Fury, who we'd seen earlier in the night. See, that's a good example of showing something and having it pay off later. Shortly thereafter Mcyntyre hit the Claymore and was going for the pin. The ref that Theory brought in with him went to make the account. But Ref #2 is pulled out of the ring by the Uso's younger brother who was apparently in NXT.
So, Reigns wasn't really alone all this time. While Mcyntyre is distracted, Reigns hits him with the spear for the third time. Ref #1 comes back in and 1, 2, 3?
Well, that was unexpected. Really thought that this was meant to be Drew's moment. Surprising they didn't want to send the fans home happy. And after the match, Drew and Tyson fury did a sing along with the fans. No, not kidding. So, it was a deflating ending to a hell of a match.
****
Overall, that was an odd show. In terms of the match quality, it was pretty great. Drew and Reigns was great. Sheamus vs Gunther was a great brawl, and Rollins vs Riddle was great sports entertainment. Even Liv vs Shayna exceeded expectations.
The booking was kind of off. Aside from Liv Morgan and Edge/Rey all of the heels won. And, even Edge and Rey got attacked by Dominic and ended the match looking sad and miserable. And to be honest, I felt kind of bad for the fans. It was the first show big UK show in quite a while, the crowd was electric, and you'd think they'd have given them something to cheer for.
I'm not going to complain that a match didn't have the ending I wanted, and I think Reigns' ummmm reign has been great, but the point of building a dominant champion is to eventually have a hero overthrow them. And this seemed like the perfect moment. Heartbreak is part of wrestling, but at some point the hero has to win. Unless they're really going to wait for Cody to come back, I really don't see who is better positioned to do this than Mcyntyre, so I think they missed their best shot.
So I guess like a B+ for match quality and C for booking. I'd round it up to a B- overall, because I can't give the quality of wrestling here less than a B even if I didn't like the booking.
