NOAM DAR, RICH SWANN & T.J. PERKINS vs. ARIYA DAIVARI, DREW GULAK & TONY NESE (11:50): This was the first forgettable pre-show match. All these cruiserweights flying around should have produced some fireworks. The crowd was a tomb save for one or two of the over the top rope dives. Eh. This division deserves better (they are getting their own show next week on the Network). *1/2
KANE vs. LUKE HARPER (9:10): A pre-show match (the pre-show started at 6 PM and the whole show ended a little before 10:30 PM). Why does Kane still exist? 1/2*
TEAM RAW (CHARLOTTE, BAYLEY, NIA JAX, ALICIA FOX & SASHA BANKS) vs. TEAM SMACKDOWN (NATALYA, BECKY LYNCH, ALEXA BLISS, CARMELLA & NAOMI) (17:30): The problem with 5 on 5 elimination matches is that you see multi-person matches so much on RAW and Smackdown that seeing a whole ppv of them is dull. I guess this show had the caveat of seeing RAW and Smackdown wrestlers against each other that you typically don't see. That wasn't enough. This show was mostly a drag. A singles match between Charlotte and Sasha would have been ten times better than this: a glorified RAW match. Nia Jax was a monster. Bayley won by pinning Becky then Charlotte beat up Bayley. Natalya subbed for Nikki Bella who was attacked by someone (or something!) backstage. This was average stuff. **
THE MIZ vs. SAMI ZAYN (14:05): If Zayn won then the IC title would have moved to RAW. The Miz ended up winning an okay match. A Dolph Ziggler/Zayn match would have been better, but, alas, The Miz beat Ziggler last week to win the title again (he's a 6-time IC champ). Zayn is awesome. I wish they'd give him a real feud with some real wrestlers for once. **
TEAM RAW (THE NEW DAY, GALLOWS & ANDERSON, SHEAMUS & CESARO, ENZO AMORE & BIG CASS & THE SHINING STARS) vs. TEAM SMACKDOWN (HEATH SLATER & RHYNO, THE HYPE BROS, AMERICAN ALPHA, THE USOS & BREEZANGO) (18:55): This was the tag-team elimination match. Seeing 9 guys standing around both corners of the ring was kind of ridiculous. The New Day got eliminated early which was a surprise. Besides a bunch of people leaping over the ropes onto a pile of bodies, this was fairly pedestrian. **
BRIAN KENDRICK vs. KALISTO (12:25): Decent until the end. Baron Corbin came in and beat up Kalisto to cause a DQ. If Kalisto had won the Cruiserweight title then the whole division would have went to Smackdown. The best moment was when, on the edge of the ring outside of the ropes, Kalisto did his Del Sol flip/slam move down onto the floor. Sadistic. Fast-paced match but nothing spectacular. **1/2
TEAM SMACKDOWN (AJ STYLES, DEAN AMBROSE, BRAY WYATT, RANDY ORTON & SHANE O'MAC) vs. TEAM RAW (KEVIN OWENS, CHRIS JERICHO, ROMAN REIGNS, BRAUN STROWMAN & SETH ROLLINS) (52:55): Jesus. This match was almost an hour long. Brutal. There were some highlights. Shane did an elbow drop from the top rope onto Strowman on the announce table. The Shield reunited to power-bomb AJ Styles through an announce table (Dean Ambrose is feuding with his teammate, Styles, hence the reasoning). James Ellsworth grabbed Strowman's ankle to keep him out of the ring and count him out...leading to Strowman tossing Ellsworth off the stage through a table. Shane tried a Van Terminator and was speared in mid-air by Roman. This legit knocked the wind out of Shane and instead of being pinned the ref just said Shane was eliminated and he had to be helped to the back. I love Shane...but he's probably too old to be doing crazy shit. If this was a wake up call, then it's a bitter pill to swallow knowing we might not see another Shane O'Mac match. The final had the Wyatt Family (Orton, Bray, and Luke Harper, who wasn't in the match) being the final members left to win it. This was way too long but fun in spots. **1/2
BROCK LESNAR vs. GOLDBERG (1:30): The re-match 12 years in the making...that nobody wanted to see. I've never watched the infamous Lesnar/Goldberg Wrestlemania match. It was apparently one of the worst matches ever and the fans booed because Lesnar was going to UFC and 'Berg was just quitting. But nostalgia is king these days (thanks mostly to Netflix, who have revived old shows like Gilmore Girls and Full House for no good reason). Goldberg is the WWE's newest pet project. He's the face of the WWE's new video game and he had his first wrestling match in 12 years tonight. I'm guessing his stipulation for one more match was to easily defeat Lesnar in a few minutes? Otherwise, I'm baffled. Lesnar picked up Goldberg and rammed him into the corner. Then Goldberg pushed him to the ground, gave him two spears, Jack Hammered him, then pinned him. No Suplex City. The Beast lost for the first time since this year's Royal Rumble and got massacred for the first time since coming back to the WWE. Since Goldberg isn't sticking around for any sort of feud...what was the point of this? To sell more video games and Goldberg DVD's? Because it sure makes Lesnar look like a chump. Strange ending to a mediocre show. *1/2
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