Los Angeles
This was a big weekend of wrestling. When I say "big" I technically mean that the three big promotions had ppv's. They weren't "big" shows, they were all B-shows. This one, No Mercy, was set up to be a big show but ultimately failed thanks to a lackluster main event. Ring of Honor had Death by Dishonor on Friday night. It was a fun show but nothing spectacular. The main event was an atrocious, short bore between dull champ Cody and NJPW's Minoru Suzuki (who was once awesome...but he's gotten old and is involved in the NWO rip-off Suzuki Gun, which is a stale spectacle). NJPW had a B-show early Sunday that featured Kenny Omega in the main event defending his utterly pointless U.S. title for the first time against Juice Robinson (who, for whatever reason, doesn't do it for me). That match was okay. And to cap off the weekend we had this, a RAW ppv, and the first ppv since Summerslam.
ELIAS vs. APOLLO CREWS (8:35): I love Elias...but not his matches. He comes out and plays guitar and sings a song about how bad the city he's in is. It's always so stupid it's hilarious. In the ring he's same old. This was the only match on an ungodly long one hour pre-show. Crews would be a champ and star in a promotion like ROH. Here he's a forgotten loser. This was pure filler. * (out of ****)
THE MIZ vs. JASON JORDAN (10:15): The L.A. crowd booed the good guy, Jordan, and cheered the bad guy, The Miz. They also chanted, "This is awesome!" when both guys were laying on the mat. I guess they were being sarcastic? The Miz is a true star these days but his matches are still mediocre. Making Jordan be Kurt Angle's lost son as a story line hasn't really gone anywhere. Every title was retained tonight. This was just okay. **
FINN BALOR vs. BRAY WYATT (11:35): Good match, at least compared to their awfully dull Summerslam snooze. I think they realized how bad that match was so they decided to ramp up the action and drama. Wyatt beat up Balor before the bell and so he was being led away by the refs but decided to go back and fight anyway! The bell rang and it was all action which was good. Remember Wyatt was the Smackdown champ this year? I totally forgot that. **1/2
DEAN AMBROSE & SETH ROLLINS vs. CESARO & SHEAMUS (15:55): Cesaro hit teeth first into the metal ring post and his front teeth went up into his gums. His mouth was a bloody mess and everyone thought he had broken them off or something. He finished the match and it had some action and near falls. Decent. **
ALEXA BLISS vs. BAYLEY vs. EMMA vs. NIA JAX vs. SASHA BANKS (9:40): Short. Fast paced. Not bad. They all suplexed the fat Jax off the apron to the floor. Bliss retained. **
ROMAN REIGNS vs. JOHN CENA (22:05): The match of the night! Reigns speared Cena on top of the announce tables and through an announce table. Reigns kicked out Cena's AA finisher a bunch of times including one from the top rope (which was ridiculous). Cena sat in the ring after the match then slowly walked away as if this was a retirement match or something. The problem was that these are two good guy's fighting for no good reason or any titles. Maybe they should have nursed a feud for awhile to have made this meaningful. But it turned out to be good so who cares? ***
ENZO AMORE vs. NEVILLE (10:40): Amore, cast off from his tag team partner and flying solo, won the cruiserweight title when he kicked Neville in the balls when the ref had his back turned. Remember that Neville vs. Balor match on one of those NXT ppv's a few year's ago that was incredible? I haven't seen a good Neville match since then (and Balor isn't exactly lighting the world on fire these days, either). This was a joke but, hell, at least it gave the 205Live crew something fresh. *
BROCK LESNAR vs. BRAUN STROWMAN (9:00): I always rant about the WWE never properly building anything up. Well they built the hell out of this match. These two were supposed to wrestle in July but Somoa Joe got Braun's spot when Braun was injured. Then at Summerslam they had a four way that was crazy and had Braun putting Brock through two announce tables and sending him away on a stretcher. So this match was a fucking Wrestlemania event! Right? Wrong! It was too short. And after Braun beat up Lesnar, Lesnar put him in the arm lock and then won with an F5. Bye, bye momentum. Braun is a chump now. Way to destroy his monster character. I was hoping for tables and destruction but it turned out to be two lumbering guys that got tired way too fast. Disappointing to say the least. **
