WWE CLASH AT THE CASTLE

Glasgow, Scotland

CODY RHODES vs. AJ STYLES "I QUIT MATCH" (27:47): The last Clash at the Castle was in 2022 and in a soccer stadium in Wales. I'm not sure why they didn't do a Clash at the Castle last year, nor why this one wasn't in a big, outdoor stadium. It's also amusing that this is the 3rd straight PPV not held in the U.S. Backlash was in France. The King & Queen of the Ring was in Saudi Arabia. This show was in Glasgow in an indoor arena. I guess this arena is used for concerts? I don't know what else they watch in Scotland besides soccer. I don't think they have a basketball or hockey league. What other indoor sports are there? Either way, it'd be nice to finally have a PPV on in prime time, considering I have Peacock and thus would actually watch the show live if it wasn't on at 1 PM on a Saturday. Alas, the next PPV is on July 4th weekend so I probably won't be watching that one live either even though it's in Toronto and my personal favorite PPV of the year (Money in the Bank). This show was okay, but it suffered by starting good early but having two bad last matches. They also sent the fans home sad and angry, which is not the best decision in the world. Why they didn't put this Cody match on last? Baffling, really. This was the best match of the night. Both guys were bleeding, which is shocking to see in WWE since they had banned blood for decades. They did the usual stuff they do in I Quit matches. Chairs. Tables. Singapore canes. Handcuffs. The ending had AJ handcuffed to the ropes and Cody was going to crush him to death with the steel stairs so AJ quit. The crowd was on fire during this match which certainly helped it. I'll admit I was totally appalled at this match even happening. They already did Cody vs. AJ for the title at Backlash. Nobody thought AJ had a chance in hell of winning then so why the fuck do that match again? But this was a good match so I guess it doesn't matter. I'll eat my words. After the match, The Bloodline came out to beat up Cody then Randy Orton and Kevin Owens came out to beat them up. So The Bloodline's still a thing? Yawn. ***

THE UNHOLY UNION (ALBA FYRE & ISLA DAWN) vs. BIANCA BeLAIR & JADE CARGIL vs. SHAYNA BASZLER & ZOEY STARK (12:17): With six wrestlers in this match, it was action packed, which made it at least entertaining. Bianca did a 450 botch and missed but landed legs first on Shana. I bet that hurt. Everyone online was harping about how bad Jade looked and all the botches she did but, honestly, I didn't notice. Maybe I'm just used to her looking terrible in AEW all those years that I understand who she is. Bianca and Jade lost the tag titles to Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn. One of those winning wrestlers is from Scotland, so I guess that's why they won. **1/2

SAMI ZAYN vs. CHAD GABLE (22:13): There's a big storyline involving Otis on the verge of turning on Chad Gable. The crowds everywhere chant for Otis and everyone can't wait until he finally turns. Unfortunately, that's all anyone cared about. The match kept stopping for this storyline to interject itself and Gable to go out and yell at Otis and Maxxine. I'd have rather them just have had a great match with none of these outside shenanigans involved. And Otis still didn't turn. They're sure dragging that one out. Match was good but probably should have been a lot better considering the two great wrestlers involved. Zayn retained the IC title. **

BAYLEY vs. PIPER NIVEN (13:32): Sasha Banks is now in AEW as Mercedes Monet. She hasn't looked all that great in the few matches she's had so far. This surprised me at first because I remember her having great matches in the past...but then I remembered her great matches in the past were matches like the NXT ones she had against Bayley. Those were like ten years ago! Bayley is fat and a boring wrestler now...so it's not really shocking that Mercedes isn't great anymore, too. Bayley retained the women's title. Who's the other women's champ? Liv Morgan, right? Weird how half the roster isn't on these PPV's. No Dominick. No Rey. No Finn Balor. No Liv Morgan. Roman Reigns hasn't been seen since Wrestlemania. After the Cody match, The Bloodline did show up to beat him up, followed by Kevin Owens and Randy Orton making the save. But none of them were in matches. What the fuck, WWE? AEW is having 5 hour PPV's with everyone and anyone. This show felt like a cheat. 1/2*

DAMIAN PRIEST vs. DREW McINTYRE (20:18): At the last Clash at the Castle, Drew McIntyre lost in the main event to Roman Reigns and everyone in the building had to go home sad and mad and disappointed. Why the hell did they do it again? Drew is actually from Scotland. If you're going to have him lose in his hometown...maybe don't do it in the main event on a PPV, especially at a show with apparently astronomical ticket prices. I really ripped the WWE a new one when they had Drew lose at the last Clash at the Castle. I'm not going to rip them again because what's the point? The WWE may be super popular but it's not a great product and these bone-headed decisions happen too much and too often to really care anymore. I guess I am still ripping them. Like Damian Priest is some super-over, popular, rockstar wrestler that needs to be protected and keep the belt? Dude's a B-list, mid-carder. He even got his foot stuck in the ropes doing his over-the-top-rope somersault. That was embarrassing. The big ending had a ref bump and a new ref run out. But the ref only counted to 2 when Drew had Damian pinned. But the ref wasn't a ref...it was CM Punk in a ref shirt! Oh my God! CM Punk then kicked Drew in the balls, leading to Damian winning. They had been setting up a CM Punk vs. Drew match for awhile...and I always figured it was to because of this show. They would have CM Punk vs. Drew in the main event in Scotland. Maybe CM Punk is still injured (he hasn't wrestled since the Royal Rumble...and that was the only time he wrestled since returning to the WWE in November). Or maybe the plan was always to save Drew vs. CM Punk for Summerslam. Either way, it's a shitty way to end a show in Drew's home country. **