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TRISH STRATUS & LITA vs. MICKIE JAMES & ALICIA FOX (11:05): This was the WWE's first all-women's ppv. The reason behind it isn't great, though. The WWE is having a show on Friday in Saudi Arabia. This will be their second visit this year to Saudi Arabia. The first time they went the company got a lot of flak because women aren't allowed to wrestle on the show there. That's not the only thing bad/wrong about Saudi Arabia (alcohol, homosexuality, and porn are illegal, among other ridiculousness). A few weeks ago, Saudi Arabia had a U.S. citizen murdered in Turkey because he was a newspaper critic of them. But the WWE only cares about money. So here's at least a bone to throw the women that can't get a big pay day like Shawn Michaels and Brock Lesnar who are only wrestling in Saudi Arabia because the paycheck is so large. An all women's show! The WWE, granted, has made strides in the last few years at making their women's division less of a bra-and-panties, mud-pit melee type of a comedy farce. Sasha Banks, Charlotte, Asuka, Ronda Rousey, Becky Lynch, and Bayley have led the charge. They did a women's Royal Rumble this year and last year a women's Hell in a Cell match was the main event on that ppv. There was only one good match on paper on this card, though, and that was the only one that delivered. As for this opener? It was three old hags and Alicia Fox. It was okay but the crowd was super hot. The arena was as dark as a cave, probably because there were a lot of empty seats, but this was a hardcore crowd which was good. *1/2
BATTLE ROYAL (NIA JAX) (16:10): They always throw a monotonous battle royal on shows when they don't know what else to do it seems. I didn't pay much attention to this. It was the usual stuff. *1/2
TONI STORM vs. IO SHIRAI (10:20): Shirai was Stardom's big star in Japan. That's an all women's wrestling company. Of course she lost here, though, which seems fairly inept. This was the finals of the Mae Young Women's Classic...which I didn't watch and probably no one else did since it wasn't on RAW or Smackdown. The internet fans slobbered over this match when it was announced but it was way too short. Both of them did some crazy moves, though, like a top-rope moonsault to the floor and a suplex on the apron. They're both definitely future stars. **1/2
SASHA BANKS, BAYLEY & NATALYA vs. RUBY RIOTT, LIV MORGAN & SARAH LOGAN (13:10): Good match. The last great women's match was Bayley vs. Sasha at a NXT Takeover awhile back. So you'd think they'd put Banks or Bayley in a one on one match. Nope! Banks is great, perhaps the WWE's best women's wrestler. They've been sort of setting up a Bayley/Banks feud forever...so maybe pull the trigger. **1/2
SHAYNA BASZLER vs. KAIRI SANE (12:10): Good match. This was for the NXT title. Kairi Sane is awesome and gorgeous, a true WWE rare gem. Baszler is a UFC style brute. This was more entertaining than their Takeover bout earlier this year. The end had outside interference from Baszler's Four Horsewomen contingent so that ending sucked and blew. **1/2
BECKY LYNCH vs. CHARLOTTE "LAST WOMAN STANDING MATCH" (28:40): The WWE doesn't have many half hour long matches. Maybe they should, as it takes time to build drama and emotion and tell a story. This was the WWE's best match of the year. NXT had better matches, but the WWE main roster hasn't had much to cheer about all year. This was awesome stuff. It was basically a tables, ladders, and chairs match. Becky elbow dropped through Charlotte on the announce table. Charlotte did a moonsault onto Becky on a table and it didn't break so she did it again but did a Swanton Bomb. They both dropped each other on a pile of chairs in the ring. They hit each other with Singapore canes. They brawled through the crowd. The finish had Lynch power bomb Charlotte off the top rope through a ring side table and Flair didn't beat the ten count. This was emotional and dramatic as hell. Also very entertaining. I do love plunder matches so perhaps I'm biased, but this still was definitely a high water mark for WWE women's matches. Lynch retained the title, and is still apparently a heel even though she was voraciously cheered throughout. ***1/2
RONDA ROUSEY vs. NIKKI BELLA (14:15): They created this feud out of thin air two weeks ago for no reason. They should have made the Lynch/Flair match the main event. Seeing Rousey selling for ten minutes was atrocious. Rousey kept her title. This was perhaps better than even I thought, albeit it still was pretty bad. *1/2
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