WWE HELL IN A CELL

Tampa, Florida

NATALYA vs. MANDY ROSE (9:45): Mark Henry, who just joined AEW as an announcer, mentioned on some random podcast that he thinks that Vince is about to sell the WWE. His reasons include them selling the WWE Network to NBC/Universal/Comcast and their latest mass firings that included Aleister Black, Braun Strowman, Andrade (Andrade wasn't fired, he wanted to leave so they let him), Lana, The Iconics, Mickie James, and Ruby Riott. The only reason I'd think they weren't selling is because what the hell would Triple H do? Unless there's some stipulation that he stays. I think Stephanie and Shane would leave and Vince is probably ready to retire. Supposedly the WWE had their most profitable year ever last year. Would the company be better creatively if they were sold? Maybe. This show was actually pretty good, but it didn't have any super entertaining matches like New Japan or AEW has, nor has any storylines that are particularly good. And the WWE has had the problem for awhile of having a loaded roster with great wrestlers that they do nothing with. They've always been known to push and feature good looking people instead of talented people. Case in point: Mandy Rose. She's gorgeous but shouldn't be in a wrestling ring. This was a forgettable pre-show match. -No Stars-

BIANCA BELAIR vs. BAYLEY "HELL IN A CELL" (19:45): Roman Reigns was supposed to defend his title against Mysterio in a Hell in a Cell match on this show. For unknown reasons, they had that match on Smackdown and Roman won. Then on RAW after this show they had Lashley fight Xavier Woods in a Hell in a Cell match. Was it just easier to set up on the cell and leave it there all weekend? Is that why they did it? Because Smackdown, RAW, and this PPV were all in the Yuengling Center in Tampa. Yep, they're still doing shows without fans in the Thunderdome (I guess the Mad Max guys never copyrighted that?). It's kind of weird seeing a PPV in front of no fans when every other sport has packed buildings in this country. But this is the last one, as the next PPV, Money in the Bank, is being held in Texas in a sold out arena. I am curious how the fans will react to a lot of this stuff. I'm certain they will cheer Roman Reigns even though he's a heel. And I bet they boo the hell out of Alexa Bliss and her unwatchable mess of a storyline. They did announce one match for MITB: Kofi Kingston vs. Lashley for the title. And Ricochet is in one of the ladder matches, which is the best idea the WWE has had all year. As for this match...it was entertaining, though nothing special. Belair retained the title. I've said this before, but Bayley as a heel has never worked. They also did a ton of spots where Bianca's hair was tied to things like a chair and the ropes. Bayley pulled out four Singapore canes taped together and did a bridge between the cell and ring and got power bombed onto them. That didn't even look like it hurt. They've really overdone the Hell in a Cell gimmick, haven't they? When was the last great one? I watched a Youtube video that the WWE put out of all the falls off of the cell over the years. They conspicuously didn't show the Dean Ambrose/Seth Rollins fall off the cell, probably because Dean is in AEW. They did show when Seth Rollins and Dolph Ziggler fell off the side of the cell and down onto the announce tables. I don't even remember that match. Alas, no one fell off the cell or even went outside tonight. **

SETH ROLLINS vs. CESARO (16:15): This was the first of 3 Wrestlemania rematches. Unfortunately, none of them were as good as the ones at 'Mania. This was a good match but kind of basic. I'm not even sure why they're wrestling. And it seemed like they built up Cesaro and he had that great match at Backlash against Reigns and now he's just losing to Rollins in a meaningless, mid card match. If it was up to me I'd have Cesaro win the title at Summerslam, which is happening at the new football stadium in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, John Cena is supposed to face Reigns for the title there. And you know he's not winning because he probably has a movie to shoot afterwards. **

ALEXA BLISS vs. SHAYNA BASZLER (7:00): What happened to Bray Wyatt? He was burned to death then returned and lost at Wrestlemania then disappeared. Alexa Bliss is still weirdly doing her evil-magical-powers gimmick, though, even without Bray around. Alexa controlled Nia Jax telepathically during this match; she made her slap Reginald and then scream. Okay. If Alexa has powers like that, why didn't she just make Shayna lay down and she could pin her? Granted, this gimmick has no logic. They even did a lame segment on RAW a few weeks ago that was reminiscent of Hogan/Warrior back in WCW when Hogan saw Warrior in a mirror. Well this time Shayna was running away from Alexa backstage and she saw Alexa in a mirror. Do they not realize that the Hogan/Warrior stuff in WCW was some of the worst shit ever done in pro-wrestling? I remember Dave Meltzer gave that Hogan/Warrior match a bunch of negative stars. I'm not sure I ever even saw it. What was I doing then? I guess not watching wrestling...I had better things to do. Maybe I should return to doing that. -No Stars-

SAMI ZAYN vs. KEVIN OWENS (12:40): I've said it before, but these two should just wrestle each other on every show until the end of time. They have so much chemistry together and do so many devastating, brutal moves to one another that their matches are always great. This one was good but too short and just as pointless as their 'Mania match. Just once I'd love to see these two wrestle for a title in a main event. Owens looked like he injured his shoulder in this match. He was also acting like he couldn't breathe because someone hit him in the neck on Smackdown and he had to play into the storyline of that. Owens did a Swanton off the apron to Zayn on the floor. They beat the hell out of each other and Zayn had a bloody mouth by the end. I'm kind of shocked that Zayn wasn't fired during the purge but then again Vince probably cracks up at his stupid conspiracy theory gimmick he's doing these days. **1/2

CHARLOTTE FLAIR vs. RHEA RIPLEY (14:10): This wasn't very good because Rhea isn't a good wrestler and the end was a DQ when Rhea hit Charlotte with the top cover part of the announce table to retain her title. I think they did the DQ because Charlotte is one of their big stars and thus they didn't want her to be pinned. Rhea definitely looks the part of a champion. She's tall and has the Undertaker biker look. But, man, she is just a monotonous mess in the ring. She's not exciting or entertaining. *

BOBBY LASHLEY vs. DREW McINTYRE "HELL IN A CELL" (25:45): This was a pretty good match. I was kind of surprised that Lashley won and retained the title. This means that McIntyre can never challenge Lashley for the title again. I suppose that doesn't matter, as I'm guessing he'll lose the title at Summerslam to somebody. They did a lot with the ring steps. McIntyre slammed Lashley onto them. Lashley then smashed them against McIntyre's head and into the cell. McIntyre's back was all scarred up from hitting the cell. McIntyre lost a MITB qualifying match on RAW to Riddle, so maybe he's in the dog house. It seems like Lashley has gotten better in the ring lately, which is kind of a surprise since he's in his 40's now. Hey, he figured it out. Good for him. **1/2

NXT TAKEOVER: IN YOUR HOUSE

 

Orlando

BRONSON REED & MSK vs. LEGAO DEL FANTASMA (13:40): This was kind of a strange match because the North American title and the tag team titles were on the line. The reason they did this was probably because instead of having Bronson Reed face Santana Escobar for the North American title and thus having 6 matches on the show instead of the usual 5, they just threw them into this match. The problem was that with two guys in this not used to wrestling in tag team matches a lot of it was a little sloppy and a little off. They definitely could have had a 6th match on this show, though, as it was pretty short and a lot of good wrestlers like Ciampa, Kushida, and Finn Balor weren't even on the show. This match was entertaining though nothing great. They did one spot where everyone did a dive over the ropes onto the floor leading to the fat man, Bronson Reed, diving through the ropes onto everyone. This was by far the worst Takeover I've ever seen (there was at least one audience-less Takeover during the pandemic that I didn't bother to watch). I think NXT has suffered in quality ever since they started doing their 2 hour live show to compete against AEW Dynamite. They're kind of in the same boat that the WWE is in with having too much programming now instead of building up Takeover shows with huge matches. Now a lot of those huge matches are just on their weekly TV show, like Finn Balor vs. Karrion Kross for the title that was on a month or so ago. **

XIA LU vs. MERCEDES MARTINEZ (7:40): This was terribly boring. Xia Lu was given this super racist samurai gimmick that is just cringe inducing. She came out with a straw hat on and wielding a sword. They really didn't do much in this match besides present a stale, basic, wrestling match that the fairly dead crowd didn't give a shit about. -No Stars-

LA KNIGHT vs. CAMERON GRIMES "LADDER MATCH" (19:30): This was the best match on the show and that isn't really saying a lot. Ted Dibiase was sitting at ringside because above the ladder was the Million Dollar belt. They even had one ladder that was gold. They did some brutal ladder spots. The big finale had Grimes falling off the big ladder onto a ladder bridge on the entrance ramp. Knight was tossed over the top rope onto a ladder bridge at ringside. Grimes is amusing whereas Knight seems to just be a forgettable, muscled heel. This at least held my interest. **1/2

RAQUEL GONZALEZ vs. EMBER MOON (12:40): It probably doesn't help that the two big NXT champions are not exciting or good wrestlers. Gonzalez and Kross are champs because they're big and tall. I can't really see any other reason. During the match, Moon's friend/partner, Shotzi Blackheart ran out to beat up Gonzalez's friend/partner, Dakota Kai. Those two are so much more exciting and entertaining in the ring that I was wishing I was just watching them wrestle instead. There was literally nothing memorable about this match besides the outside interference spots with Shotzi and Dakota. 1/2*

KARRION KROSS vs. PETE DUNNE vs. JOHNNY GARGANO vs. ADAM COLE vs. KYLE O'REILLY (26:15): Everyone on the internet didn't like the idea of this match but I thought it would be great. Four of these wrestlers are awesome and some of the best wrestlers in the world. The internet was right, though, as this didn't turn out that great. The problem a lot of people had was that it felt like by having a 5 way for the title it meant that NXT was just out of ideas and not even trying. The real problem turned out to be having 5 guys in the ring just didn't work at all. There were a lot of moves but no cohesion, no built up drama. There couldn't be, as it was just a mess of guys all over the place. Even the guys that laid out this match know that Kross sucks because twice he was taken out leaving the other 4 to wrestle each other. Kross was thrown through the door that was part of the entrance set and then onto the announce table later on. Kross ended up winning by choking out O'Reilly. This wasn't a bad match, it just felt like more a TV main event type of thing than a big PPV main event. Having a singles match wouldn't have been any better, though, because Kross isn't a very good wrestler and his matches are usually boring. Vince will fucking love him and push him to the moon on the main roster, though, simply because he's big and tall and has muscles. In a perfect world he'll go to RAW tomorrow night and maybe just lose the NXT title in one last match down the road and leave NXT forever. **

NJPW DOMINION

Osaka

BULLET CLUB (CHASE OWENS, EL PHANTASMO, EVIL, TAIJI ISHIMORI & YUJIRO TAKAHASHI) vs. CHAOS (HIROOKI GOTO, SHO, TOMOHIRO ISHII & YOSHI HASHI) & HIROSHI TANAHASHI (11:50): This show, like last year's Dominion, was kind of thrown together at the last second. Usually it's there 2nd biggest show of the year, and they tried, but it ended up being fairly underwhelming but not entirely their fault given the circumstances. Japan is mostly shut down because of Covid-19. NJPW was supposed to have two stadium shows in May that were cancelled; one at the Yokohama baseball stadium and one at the Tokyo Dome. Japan instituted a month long closure of most things and I guess some things are starting to open up there again since this did have fans in the building, albeit socially distant, masked, and they weren't allowed to cheer or boo, just clap. While the May shutdown was in affect, Will Ospreay relinquished the title because of a neck injury. As if all of this wasn't bad enough, Ospreay vs. Okada for the title was supposed to the Tokyo Dome main event at the end of May. It also didn't help that a bunch of wrestlers like El Desperado and Okada got Covid-19. They wrestled on this show so they've recovered. Amidst all of the doom and gloom they had a major show to put on. It was supposed to be on Sunday but Osaka recommended that nothing go on during weekends for whatever reason so they moved the show to Monday. It's kind of hard to fathom that this country is supposed to have the Olympics next month. But this show proved that a show can still go on. It only had 5 matches and of course they had to have some typical, superfluous New Japan multi-man tag matches like this one. This match was entertaining and had a ton of action, though, which was good. By the end there were different wrestlers just jumping in and out of the ring and delivering big moves back and forth at a frenetic pace. The Bullet Club beat up all the good guys after the match and left them lying around the ring. **1/2

LOS IGNOBERABLES DE JAPON (BUSHI, SANADA & TETSUYA NAITO) vs. SUZUKI-GUN (DOUKI, TAICHI & ZACK SABRE, JR.) (11:31): This was okay and fairly forgettable. It did set up a Dangerous Trekkers (Taichi & Sabre) vs. Naito & Sanada tag team title match down the road. That should be a lot of fun. Douki did a through the ropes dive. Zack Sabre was pinned and then was angry so he pinned the ref and told his partners to count. **

EL DESPERADO vs. YOH (23:40): This match, for El Desperado's IWGP Jr. title, was supposed to happen in April but El Desperado and a bunch of others in the company got Covid-19. These two definitely worked hard but the match was probably a bit too long and this deadly silent crowd did not help this match at all. Desperado had a fantastic match against Hiromu last year where he took his mask off. Not only did everyone see his face but the announcers said his name. Why he's back wrestling with a mask is beyond me. It reminds me of how Rey Mysterio lost his mask twenty years ago but these days still wears it. The whole juniors division in New Japan just hasn't been the same since all the greats like The Young Bucks, Kushida, Ricochet, and Rappongi Vice left. **

KOTA IBUSHI vs. JEFF COBB (14:54): This was a really good match and the best match on the show. Ibushi has said that he was injured on Night #1 of Wrestle Kingdom and that's why eventually he lost the title to Ospreay. For whatever it's worth, Ibushi looked better here than he has all year and was doing a lot of top rope high flying that he hadn't been doing recently. He did a top rope moonsault to the floor and a top rope Hurricanrana. Cobb was great as usual. These two definitely have good chemistry together, and this was better than their match in the G1 last year. They did a ton of near falls here and Cobb did Ibushi's patented knee to the face that shocked the announcers. Why is it such a big deal when wrestlers do their opponent's finisher? It happened in the main event when Shingo gave Okada a Rainmaker and the announcers were shouting like they just saw Bigfoot. ***

SHINGO TAKAGI vs. KAZUCHIKA OKADA (36:00): I guess I'm in the minority, since everyone seemed to love this match. I thought this was boring. They definitely did everything they both usually do. Shingo's elbows to Okada's head, though, seemed kind of tamer than usual, maybe because Okada's recovering from Covid-19. And the high drama that's usually the reason New Japan main event title matches are so great was absent here. I'm guessing because the sparse, only clapping crowd was fairly quiet. Maybe I'm just spoiled because AEW just had a PPV in front of a packed, rowdy, ferocious crowd that made pedestrian matches seem like matches of the year. This was for the IWGP championship that Ospreay relinquished. New Japan just randomly put two guys into this match for the title. No tournament, no reasoning. I guess because Shingo lost to Ospreay so he was the #2 contender and Okada beat Ospreay at the Dome in January. Shingo winning the title is great as he's awesome, but it felt like his win was a bit superfluous since he didn't beat the champion and won in a quiet building on a Monday. It also doesn't help that since last July, Evil, Naito, Ibushi, Ospreay, and now Shingo have been champ. They're kind of making the title meaningless these days. There wasn't much that was memorable about this match. Okada did his patented dropkick. Okada applied his sleeper hold twice. Shingo did a Rainmaker that shocked the announcers. The near falls were never that exciting because did it really even matter who won this match? It was just kind of handing them the belt for no reason. There was some action by the end but it never built to anything super exciting. I was pretty disappointed in this match. **