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. **

AEW DOUBLE OR NOTHING

 Jacksonville

SERENA DEEB vs. RIHO (14:05): I remember reviewing AEW's first PPV, Double or Nothing, and mentioning that it was a great show mostly because of the "crowd for the ages." Well at least for half of this PPV, this was once again a crowd for the ages. The reason is that this was the first AEW show with a full house since the pandemic started. And this loud, raucous crowd definitely sounded like they'd been cooped up in the house for a year. Some noted that this match was the best pre-show match they'd ever seen and pretty much everyone raved about it. It was mostly a basic match but the crowd was so loud and it was such a party atmosphere that it elevated this match. Deeb retained the NWA women's title...and no, I have no idea why the NWA champion is on this show. Riho was in Japan during most of the pandemic so it was nice to see her back because the crowds love her and she's super entertaining to watch. **1/2 (out of ****)

ADAM PAGE vs. BRIAN CAGE (12:00): This was two guys just beating the shit out of each other, which is a good thing. When Taz's crew came out to help Cage win he waved them off but ended up losing. I'm guessing Cage will turn into a good guy and feud with Taz's stable. Unfortunately, when Taz's stable comes on TV I want to change the channel. I think one flaw with AEW is that there are way too many groups. **1/2

THE YOUNG BUCKS vs. JON MOXLEY & EDDIE KINGSTON (21:00): This was fantastic. Of course it was, though, because the Bucks always deliver on PPV. The insane crowd definitely helped. The Bucks are heels now, so they did a bunch of heel things like use a hairspray can to spray Moxley in the eyes. The Bucks also did a bunch of other wrestler's moves like Hogan's leg drop and Roman Reign's "ooh-ahh" spear. By the end of this, the Bucks just destroyed Moxley and Kingston. They gave them multiple face kicks and finally did four double knees to the head on Moxley for the win. This was super entertaining and wild and a hell of a lot of fun. ***1/2

CASINO BATTLE ROYALE (JUNGLE BOY) (23:30): The boisterous crowd peaked when Jungle Boy won this battle royale. It was more or less a typical battle royale; entertaining, mostly forgettable. Lio Rush was the surprise entrant here, and he looked amazing and the crowd ate up everything he did. The final two were Christian and Jungle Boy. The crowd reached a fever pitch during this and popped like they'd just won the lottery when Jungle Boy won. Jungle Boy stood on the second rope to bask in the adoration and Marko Stunt ran out and hugged him and it was awesome. **1/2

CODY RHODES vs. ANTHONY OGOGO (10:55): It was kind of obvious that the party atmosphere would diminish and the crowd would get tired. These AEW PPV's are long, at four hours, and so the crowd was quiet during this match. It didn't help that this was a bore. Anthony Ogogo was apparently a boxer in the Olympics. I'm not sure why he never went pro. He hasn't wrestled much, so he didn't exactly blow the doors off the place. Cody won. Yawn. 1/2*

MIRO vs. LANCE ARCHER (9:50): This definitely did remind me of a Lance Archer G1 match, as the Wrestling Observer reviewer noted. It was two big guys slugging it out and delivering back and forth power moves. Miro won with his submission hold to retain the TNT title. They might have to change that name, as come next year Dynamite is moving to TBS. **1/2

BRITT BAKER vs. HIKARU SHIDA (17:20): The crowd got back into the show big time to root on Britt Baker late in this match. This was just an okay match, as neither is all that exciting in the ring for whatever reason. The last few minutes were great, though, as the crowd cheered everything Baker did and roared with approval when Shida tapped out to her mouth claw submission. Baker won the title and when she was walking to the back, Tony Schiavone left the announce table and walked over and gave her a hug and whispered something in her ear. That was such a touching moment. You can tell a company is doing something right when you well up with tears of joy when someone wins a title. **

DARBY ALLIN & STING vs. ETHAN PAGE & SCORPIO SKY (12:30): The crowd was also very loud when Sting did anything in this match. Shockingly, Sting even did a stage dive off the poker chips onto Page and Sky. That was insane. Sting is in his 60's. So while there wasn't really much to this match, hearing the crowd pop for Sting and Sting doing all of his trademark moves was fun to see. **1/2

KENNY OMEGA vs. PAC vs. ORANGE CASSIDY (27:00): Early on I was like, man, I thought this match would be better. But by the end of this, when all three were just back and forth delivering devastating maneuvers to one another and every near fall got massive gasps from the audience, this turned into a phenomenal match. I would have rather seen a Pac/Omega singles match...but the reason they shoehorned Cassidy into this match is because he's a crowd favorite and they knew with a full house it would be better with him in it. There were so many great near falls in this match. And the last ten minutes were just non-stop, crazy action. The big problem with this match is that they really played out Omega being a heel. Don Callis pulled the ref out of the ring when Cassidy was about to win. Omega knocked out the ref. Omega hit PAC with all of his belts when the ref was out. After Cassidy almost won, Omega reversed it and pinned him with a quick small package. So the end was a bit anticlimactic...but this match was awesome and by far the best AEW championship PPV match so far. ***1/2

THE INNER CIRCLE vs. THE PINNACLE "STADIUM STAMPEDE" (31:30): When they announced that this match was going to be another Stadium Stampede match...I was a little surprised. The whole reason they did this last year is because Double or Nothing had zero fans in the building and they needed something special to close the show. Why would they go and have a match in an empty football arena when they have a packed crowd in Daily's Place? Well my fears were right. The match didn't really work, although they did go to Daily's Place at the end and Samy Guevera pinned Shawn Spears in the ring in Daily's Place. There were some entertaining things in this match, but most of it was kind of boring. When MJF and Jericho were brawling in the football offices, they came across new Jacksonville Jaguars coach Urban Meyer. He handed Jericho a laptop to hit MJF with. Then, when Jericho threw MJF through a table, Urban Meyer said, "Holy shit." That was amusing. FTR and Ortiz and Santana battled in a backstage club where Konan was the DJ. Wardlow and Jake Hager brawled backstage in a kitchen area and meat freezer. Samy and Spears battled in a room filled with chairs. Spears ran for his life from motorcycles and a golf cart. The Inner Circle also made their entrance by repelling down the scoreboard. They mostly didn't even fight on the football field, it was mainly backstage stuff. Eventually, Jericho and MJF ended up in the upper deck of Daily's Place where Jericho put a bloody MJF through a table. Samy and Spears wrestled in the ring at Daily's Place for awhile until Samy pinned him and The Inner Circle won. Then the IC got in the ring and the whole crowd sang Jericho's theme song together and it was a great way to end the show. ** 

WRESTLEMANIA BACKLASH

Tampa

SHEAMUS vs. RICOCHET (7:10): A couple years ago, Ricochet faced Will Ospreay in the NJPW Super Jr.'s tournament. The match was basically just a bunch of gymnastic flips and was awesome to some of us and shockingly obtuse to some old school fans. I was thinking of that match because those were two exciting up and comers and everyone was talking about them and you thought they'd end up huge, popular stars eventually. Will Ospreay is the New Japan champion and just had the match of the year in the main event of Dontakau night 2 against Shingo Takagi. It was a 45 minute epic and Ospreay is pretty much undoubtedly the best wrestler in the world. So what happened to the other dude that was in that memorable BOSJ match? Well...Ricochet is losing to Sheamus on the pre-show of a random WWE PPV. It's kind of sad, really, because Ricochet was just as good as Ospreay on the night back then. The WWE hasn't done anything with Ricochet. Why they haven't is one of the world's great mysteries. Another sad fact is that Ricochet is still exciting and still does most of his high flying acrobatics. Ospreay of course learned over the years to add to his arsenal by competing with the world's best and given the opportunities to thrive and grow and learn. This was actually a good match, although forgotten, forgettable. I'll never forgive the WWE for chewing up and spitting out Ricochet like he's day old meat. **1/2

RHEA RIPLEY vs. CHARLOTTE FLAIR vs. ASUKA (15:20): Charlotte wasn't at Wrestlemania. She was taken off TV supposedly because a doctor thought she was pregnant (she wasn't). Then she might have had the corona virus. I think she was just sidelined because her husband (Andrade) asked for his WWE release and got it and they wanted to secretly punish her. Either way, she's back. Not wrestling at Wrestlemania probably isn't a big deal for her because she's one of the few WWE wrestlers that make over a million bucks a year. With Flair gone they gave Rhea Ripley the title at 'Mania. Rhea Ripley has the look of a star (she's tall, menacing, fierce) but she's a dull wrestler and it's kind of hard to tell if she's supposed to be a heel or a face. They seemed to make this a three way so Charlotte could lose without getting pinned. That ended up not really making sense since on RAW the next night, Asuka pinned Charlotte in a singles match. Baffling! But that's par for the course in the WWE. Nothing ultimately makes sense. Did I mention yet that this show had a match with zombies? Jesus, that should have been the first thing I wrote about this show. This was a good match but fairly pedestrian. The show was actually a pretty good one, at least for WWE standards. Charlotte did her top rope moonsault. Ripley pinned Asuka. Typical fare. **1/2

REY MYSTERIO & DOMINIK MYSTERIO vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER & ROBERT ROODE (17:00):

This match only went 17 minutes but it felt like it went 30. That's never a good thing. Dominik was beat up backstage earlier in the show so Rey went out to do the match himself. Of course a crippled, hobbling Dominik came out eventually and they ended up winning the tag titles. The early part of this match when just Rey was there was exciting. Then by the end there was some drama...but in between this just seemed to go on for ages and ages. Rey Mysterio has to be the last of the Monday Night War wrestlers still around and wrestling, isn't he? It's shocking since he's still actually a really good wrestler. I remember he faced Psychosis in ECW and they were body slamming each other on cars in the ECW Arena parking lot back in the mid 90's. How old is this dude? Like 50? **

DAMIAN PRIEST vs. THE MIZ "ZOMBIE LUMBERJACK MATCH" (7:00): Well this match will go down in the history books as one of the stupidest things the WWE has ever done. And that's saying something. This was a lumberjack match...but the lumberjacks were zombies. They didn't even mention this before the PPV. The reason they did this was to promote the Netflix zombie movie that has Dave Batista in it, Army of the Dead. The huge problem is that they did the match like the zombies were actually real zombies. So when The Miz lost, the zombies came in and attacked him, presumably eating him and killing him. So he's dead. Or a zombie. Who in the WWE thought that this was a good idea? Yes, we know wrestling is fake, but there's a limit. The WWE seems to forget this by burning The Fiend to death, having Braun Strowman be tossed off a building to his death, Sami Zayn crushed to death in a trash compactor. It's ridiculous. How can you take anything serious when zombies are killing off wrestlers who just show up the next night perfectly fine? They might have been able to salvage this if they played it off as a joke and the announcers had a good time with it. Maybe. But they played it off as it being a serious match with real zombies. What the fuck? I can't believe I actually watch this shit. -No Stars-

BIANCA BELAIR vs. BAYLEY (16:05): I mentioned that I didn't think Bianca Belair was that good of a wrestler...and then she had a great match with Sasha at 'Mania. Sasha is awesome, though, so that probably helped. This match was a bore. Bayley as a heel has never worked. Eh. *

BOBBY LASHLEY vs. BRAUN STROWMAN vs. DREW McINTYRE (14:15): This match was fantastic. It was all big moves, all action. They broke the announce table. Lashley retained the title by pinning Braun. ***

ROMAN REIGNS vs. CESARO (27:35): This match was exactly what I've always wanted from a WWE PPV main event and never get. A championship match. No gimmicks. No ref bumps. No outside interference. A long match. Near falls. Drama. Why do they never do this? Because it was great. The only thing that could have made this better is if Cesaro won and there were fans in the building to cheer his win. After Vince told 'Stone Cold' on that podcast that Cesaro just doesn't have "it"...the boy is finally wrestling for the title. It's kind of crazy that this happened. After Vince said that a few years ago, I'm surprised Cesaro didn't quit. Cesaro has always been one of the WWE's better wrestlers, it's just too bad it took them this long to realize that. Remember that great Sami Zayn/Cesaro match on the first NXT Takeover show? That was 7 or 8 years ago and was probably the last time Cesaro was in a big singles match and given the time to breath and show his strengths. The best thing they did was to give Cesaro multiple moments of near-winning which heightened the drama. It seems like most Roman Reigns matches these days use the Brock Lesnar playbook: beatdown, short failed comeback by loser babyface, more beatdown and victory. But this match was more 50/50, which was great. After the match, Jey Uso came out to beat up Cesaro which ruined everything the match had achieved. So at least for one night, the WWE delivered a NJPW-esque main event. Which was shocking...and spectacular. ***

WWE WRESTLEMANIA XXXVII

Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, Florida

NIGHT 1

Attendance: 25,675

BOBBY LASHLEY vs. DREW McINTYRE (18:20): This show started with Vince welcoming the crowd while all of the wrestlers stood on the entranceway. Then some lady sang the national anthem. Then there was a 30 minute weather delay. Nice way to start the show! The rest of the show went on fine, though, but it is surprising that this is the first time that happened since they've been doing outside Wrestlemania shows for awhile. I wonder what would happen if they had to cancel the show? I also suspect they might have used some fake crowd noise...but maybe I'm just used to that so much now that I even hear it in my sleep. This show ended up being just okay. There were no great matches and two bad ones. The Takeover shows earlier this week were much better. They opened the show with the big championship match which was an odd choice. I'm guessing they did this because they decided Lashley was going to win and didn't want to end the show on a sour note. Everyone thought McIntyre would win for some reason, but considering Lashley just won the title...they made the right call. This was one of the better matches on the show. Lashley, who often looks sloppy and confused in spots, performed well. It was two guys doing big moves and the crowd seemed into it. ***

NATALYA & TAMINA vs. LIV MORGAN & RUBY RIOTT vs. CARMELLA & BILLIE KAY vs. LANA & NAOMI vs. DANA BROOKE & MANDY ROSE (14:15): This was a tag team turmoil match...meaning two teams start and then the winners face a new team and so on until there's a final winner. This match was awful. The winners face Shana Baszler and Nia Jax tomorrow night. The big problem, which was obvious and apparent in this match, is that the WWE tends to hire pretty girls instead of good wrestlers. That means that a lot of these girls are more models than athletic types, which made this a fairly atrocious in-ring match. I don't even remember them announcing this match yet alone having any sort of build. Thank God the main event reclaimed women's wrestling to its rightful place. -No Stars-

CESARO vs. SETH ROLLINS (11:35): Cesaro was, for one night anyway, a star. The crowd adored him. I'm not sure why. Wrestlemania usually gets the hardcore fans...but I'm not sure they did this year. Hardcore fans of course have always loved Cesaro. In a perfect world, this match would have been the main event for the title and went 35 minutes long. Alas, it was pretty entertaining for its 11 minutes. Cesaro did his leg swing on Rollins and also his shoulder swing. Rollins used to be this big, main event star but the last year or so he's been kind of lost at sea. **1/2

AJ STYLES & OMOS vs. THE NEW DAY (9:45): AJ wrestled most of this match and then when Omos came in he destroyed Kofi and Xavier Woods without giving them any offense and then pinned one of them with just one foot on their chest. So they pushed Omos as this unstoppable monster...yet he'll never be in an exciting wrestling match in his life because he's a bore. So this seems like a dumb decision, pushing a guy that can barely wrestle. They even won the tag titles here. Supposedly, AJ had been bugging HHH for months to get an HHH vs. AJ match on this show. I'm not the biggest HHH fan, but that match would have been lightyears better. 1/2*

BRAUN STROWMAN vs. SHANE McMAHON "CAGE MATCH" (11:25): This was disappointing. Shane is in his 50's, so I guess expecting him to do some crazy, suicidal dive off of something isn't in his best interests. But that's kind of what you expect in a Shane O'Mac match...otherwise, why have it? The big move was Braun throwing Shane off of the top of the cage and into the ring. I was kind of hoping the "big" move would have been something more spectacular. There was a unique moment when Shane was climbing out of the ring and Braun just ripped the cage open and pulled him back in. Before the match started, Shane's goons, Elias and who ever the other guy is, beat up Braun with a chair before the match started. Shane then used the chair on Braun in the ring. Shane did a coast to coast kick. I was kind of hoping this would have been another wild Shane O'Mac spectacle but unfortunately it wasn't. *1/2

BAD BUNNY & DAMIAN PRIEST vs. THE MIZ & JOHN MORRISON (15:05): Is Bad Bunny a big star? I have no idea, as I never heard of him before he showed up on RAW a month or two ago. He was on Saturday Night Live last month...but that might be more because this show was on Peacock which NBC owns. Maybe he is a big star? Who knows? Either way, he did a top rope jump to the floor and a Canadian Destroyer on the floor to Morrison. Like any non-wrestler, though, he was sloppy and all over the place. The crowd seemed to like him, though, and this was fun. **1/2

BIANCA BELAIR vs. SASHA BANKS (17:15): This was a really good match. It's not shocking, as Sasha Banks has been one of the WWE's best wrestlers for years. Belair did some high flying which was nice to see. She did two 450 top rope splashes and a standing shooting star press. They kept using her long, hair braid as a weapon throughout the match culminating in Belair using it as a whip across Sasha's chest that left a huge mark. This was fast paced and back and forth and ended with Belair winning the title and the crowd happy. It was a good way to end the show. ***

NIGHT 2

Attendance: 25,675

RANDY ORTON vs. THE FIEND (5:50): I've been complaining for years that they should split 'Mania into 2 nights because it's gotten too long. They finally did it last year and, unfortunately, it feels like a diluted product. The same thing happened to New Japan's Wrestle Kingdom when they switched to 2 nights. It doesn't really feel as special or as big when it's spread out over 2 nights for whatever reason. What I wish both NJPW and WWE would do is keep it 1 night but just have the biggest matches and cut out all of the lame shit that nobody cares about. The entire Wrestlemania 37 felt a little underwhelming. Granted, a lot of it was still entertaining, and of course one of the big problems is that the WWE just isn't as good anymore. Night 2 on Sunday started with this awful match. Randy Orton burned The Fiend to death last year but he's back and apparently fine now. They did a stupid special f/x backstage gimmick where the burnt Fiend miraculously turned into his normal self. Alexa Bliss came out and wound up a giant music box by the ring and The Fiend came out of it. That was kind of a cool entrance. That's about all I can say about this match that was good. After a few minutes of monotonous wrestling under the red lights that I thought were gone for good but are back, Alexa Bliss appeared on top of the music box and she was crying black liquid. This confused The Fiend and Orton RKO'd him and won. Huh? So Alexa Bliss and The Fiend are going to feud? What the fuck is going on with this storyline? It has to go down as one of the most legendary dumb storylines in the history of wrestling. And, unfortunately, it doesn't really seem like it's over. 1/2*

NIA JAX & SHAYNA BASZLER vs. NATALYA & TAMINA (14:20): I thought Night 2 had a better card and might be the superior show. It was not. It was probably about as good as Night 1, though matches like this didn't help. We did get Nia Jax saying "shit" on live TV. That was about as memorable as this got. Shayna did a knee to Natalya's face that looked ultra dangerous. I think I noted this before but it sometimes seems like Shayna doesn't realize that pro-wrestling is fake. The big story here was Nia and Tamina facing off since they're both large. Tamina tried to pick up Nia and slam her in what was probably supposed to be a big moment but she could barely lift her and kind of just dropped her. Nia and Shayna retained the women's tag titles. *

KEVIN OWENS vs. SAMI ZAYN (9:20): This was fantastic. I could watch these 2 wrestle each other every week forever. It helps that they've been wrestling each other forever, from their youth days in Canada to their Kevin Steen and El Generico matches in ROH. They have great chemistry together, and like how Omega and Ibushi are, they trust one another enough to deliver crazy, sick moves against each other. After the match. Logan Paul, who's a Youtube star and now a celebrity boxing star, got a 'Stone Cold' Stunner from Owens. ***

SHEAMUS vs. RIDDLE (10:50): This was really good until Sheamus botched what was supposed to be a top rope slam. He couldn't hold Riddle and so the move fell apart. Riddle looked as good as he's ever looked in the WWE tonight. It's kind of sad he's not in a better promotion where he can have the epic, awesome, 30 minute matches he's capable of having. Sheamus won the U.S. title here. ***

APOLLO CREWS vs. BIG E "NIGERIAN DRUM FIGHT" (6:50): A "Nigerian Drum Fight" sounds kind of racist, doesn't it? They had drums at ringside but I don't think they ever used them. They used a drum cymbal and a Singapore cane because I guess this was just a hardcore match. Apollo Crews won the IC title after a big mystery man came in and slammed Big E. The problem was that the new mystery man looked too much like Damian Priest. I bet the people in the cheap seats thought he was Damian Priest. This match sucked. 1/2*

RHEA RIPLEY vs. ASUKA (13:30): This match was awful. Rhea Ripley looks like a star...she's tall and has that Matrix, lesbian/goth biker style going for her. But Rhea Ripley just can't put together an entertaining wrestling match for whatever reason. Did she ever have a good match in NXT? Asuka gave Ripley a DDT off of the apron which was cool. The rest of this match was boring as shit. It's too bad Charlotte wasn't at 'Mania this year, because this match really needed her. The reason Charlotte wasn't in this? Because the WWE doctors thought she was pregnant even though she wasn't. Yeah, that sounds like a bullshit excuse. I'm guessing they punished her since her boyfriend, Andrade, just asked for his WWE release and got it. 1/2*

ROMAN REIGNS vs. EDGE vs. DANIEL BRYAN (22:41): This was a really good, exciting match. The only problem was that the heel won and sent the crowd home sad. What a way to end the show! Have the bad guy win! They did this once at 'Mania when The Miz beat Cena in the main event...and that's pretty much known as the worst 'Mania ever. I can see that you want the supposed big star of the company to come out on top but you also kind of don't want to end the show on a downbeat note. I thought that Edge would win the title simply because why the hell else would you bring him back and have him win the Rumble and everything? They turned Edge heel because he was beating everyone up with chairs and was looking feral by the end of this. The crowd still cheered for Edge, though, although they seemed to adore Bryan and still did the "Yes" chant that I thought was kind dead and buried. Jey Uso was basically in this match, hitting people with chairs, attacking Edge and Bryan early. Reigns put Bryan though the announce table. Edge gave Bryan a conchairto. Edge speared Reins and was ready to win late and the crowd was loving it but Bryan pulled Edge out of the ring. That was a great, dramatic moment...but if Edge had won there the audience would have erupted and that would have been better. Reigns stacked Edge and Bryan on top of each other and pinned both. The crowd groaned. They did boo Reigns throughout, which people weren't sure they'd do. This was the first time a live audience could react to heel Reigns. They still boo him, no matter what. Some things never change. ***

NXT TAKEOVER: STAND & DELIVER

 

Orlando, Florida

NIGHT 1

ZOEY STARK vs. TONI STORM (9:52): It's Wrestlemania week...which means a plethora of wrestling shows. Not as many as usual (Ring of Honor used to put on a big PPV before 'Mania), but the WWE is having 9 straight nights of shows...which is insane. RAW, the Hall of Fame, 2 NXT Takeovers, Smackdown, 2 Wrestlemania nights, RAW, then NXT on its new Tuesday night. Granted, none of this means anything since the most memorable thing of the week already occurred when Will Ospreay beat Ibushi on Sunday to win the IWGP championship. I gotta admit...I'm rarely surprised watching wrestling...but when Ospreay won I was surprised. And while that match was fantastic, this show did have a match of the year contender. This was night 1 of their 2 night Takeover: Stand & Deliver. Tonight it was the last Wednesday NXT show on USA and so the last night of the Wednesday night wars. They're moving to Tuesdays because of the NHL. I didn't even watch this on USA, though, because it was on Peacock commercial free. The show was pretty good though tomorrow night will probably be better since it has a ladder match and an Adam Cole match. This Stark vs. Storm match was on the pre-show. It was fast paced and short at least. The women's division in NXT is not the greatest these days. **

PETE DUNNE vs. KUSHIDA (10:39): Quite the dream match, no? Who would have ever thought these two would ever be wrestling? And for a 10 minute bout, it was pretty good. Though short on time and with no buildup or story, you kind of got what you paid for. Dunne is more a ground and pound, brutal wrestler...Kushida is the fast, high flyer. Since they're both so good it still worked. These two are too good to be in a forgotten opener, though. **1/2

BRONSON REED vs. ISAIAH "SWERVE" SCOTT vs. CAMERON GRIMES vs. LA KNIGHT vs. DEXTER LUMIS vs. LEON RUFF (23:14): This was a Gauntlet match, meaning 2 guys started and then after a few minutes another entered. It was elimination style and the winner is facing Gargano tomorrow night. The one guy that might not have a good match with Gargano ended up winning, which is kind of disappointing. Bronson Reed is fat and does all of the Yokozuna type of stuff. Isaiah Scott was kind of the star with his high flying and cockiness. LA Knight is kind of the prototypical wrestler that Vince loves (tall, muscled, good looks, a bore) so I was shocked he didn't win. This was a lot of fun, actually. A ton of action. Good match. ***

WALTER vs. TOMMASO CIAMPA (16:59): This match was phenomenal...but of course it was. Walter is probably WWE's best wrestler just for the fact that he's usually the only one who ends up in my top 10 matches of the year every year. Ciampa is so great that he refuses to leave NXT for the main roster. Usually, Walter matches are squashes, but they turned it around here and had Ciampa on offense for most of it. This was brutal, which sickening chops and kicks and slams. The story had Walter's hand damaged so he couldn't deliver his patented chops. There were a ton of near falls. The end was a bit anti-climatic, with the fading Walter just winning out of the blue. It was also kind of obvious Ciampa wasn't winning the UK title because, what, he's going to go live in England and wrestle now? But this will probably end up being the WWE's best match all year. ***1/2

MSK vs. GRIZZLED YOUNG VETERANS vs. LEGADO DEL FANTASMA (15:24): This had a lot of action, a lot of high flying, a lot of bodies all over the place. MSK won the tag titles here. They had a tough spot here trying to follow that classic...but it was entertaining. **1/2

RAQUEL GONZALEZ vs. IO SHIRAI (12:56): Both of these wrestlers are pretty boring for whatever reason, so this was just okay. Gonzalez won the women's title here. It's funny, but Io Shirai did like ten moonsaults in this match plus jumped off the big skull on the entranceway...but she's still a bore. I think it's because she's dating New Japan's Evil...and he's boring as well. Gonzalez is tall...but doesn't have much of an arsenal. This wasn't terrible or anything but for a main event title match you kind of want something longer, more dramatic, and more awesome. **

NIGHT 2

KILLIAN DANE & DRAKE MAVERICK vs. BREEZANGO (8:38): Since it's Wrestlemania week ...remember when Fandango debuted and beat Jericho at 'Mania and then a few months later he disappeared forever? And remember the crowds would do that stupid dance to his entrance music? That seemed like it was ten years ago...and yet Fandango is still around. I'm not sure where he's been? Probably in the blackhole that's WWE Superstars, a TV show that exists but I'm not sure when it's on or what channel. It's strange, but the WWE keeps people around that just aren't on TV. Why do they still pay them? This baffles me. Well Fandango is back on TV, albeit on the Peacock app, albeit on the pre-show. This show was only on the Peacock app. The picture quality was good and they added the pause and rewind buttons. Hopefully come Saturday night the whole thing won't crash. Last night's Takeover was a better show, but this still had his moments. This forgettable match wasn't one of them. They still haven't figured out what to do with Drake Maverick and I think they've tried just about everything. 1/2*

SANTOS ESCOBAR vs. JORDAN DEVLIN "LADDER MATCH" (18:06): This was the match of the night. It was for the cruiserweight title...which I think used to be the 205Live title. There were 2 belts hanging above the ring so who the fuck knows what's going on...I'm not sure anyone watches 205Live anymore, especially considering it's not even live anymore even though it's called "live." These 2 did a bunch of crazy shit. Devlin did a moonsault off of the top of the ladder which was awesome. Escobar pushed Devlin off of the ladder and down onto another ladder and then grabbed the titles to win. Good match. ***

EMBER MOON & SHOTZI BLACKHEART vs. CANDICE LeRAE & INDI HARTWELL (10:35):

I've said it before, but Shotzi reminds me of Hiromu Takahashi. That's not entirely a good thing, as Hiromu broke his neck and is now less exciting as he once was. Shotzi did a dive through the ropes and Candice and Indi didn't even catch her and she almost landed right on her head. Alas, she's crazy and thrilling to watch, and perhaps the WWE's most exciting female wrestler now. This match wasn't very good, though, since Candice and Indi are kind of pedestrian and Ember Moon didn't do much of note. *1/2

JOHNNY GARGANO vs. BRONSON REED (16:23): They really should have had Isaiah "Swerve" Scott win the Gauntlet match last night instead of Bronson Reed. I think Reed is Samoan...so maybe he's related to The Rock or something and that's why he's been semi-pushed. Bronson is not a very good wrestler. He got really tired and slow too fast in this match and botched one particular top rope spot where he was supposed to hold on to Gargano but let him slip and fall to the mat. Gargano is awesome so at least half of this match was good. The announcers noted that this was Gargano's 16th straight Takeover show. Jesus. I guess he's never going to RAW or Smackdown. Granted, that's probably a good thing, as him and Adam Cole and Ciampa would probably die a slow death on the main roster. **1/2

KARRION KROSS vs. FINN BALOR (17:08): Kross won the title in August by defeating Keith Lee but he was injured so he had to give it up. He won the title here to make up for that. Kross is a Vince type; tall, muscular, boring. He'll never be in a good main event, so giving him the title is a mistake. By the end of this it was fairly entertaining, though nothing spectacular or anything. Kross just wrestles awkwardly whereas Balor is flawless. Maybe they'll finally kick Balor out of NXT. Why is he still there, anyway? They mentioned this was Balor's 16th Takeover show. The only great Takeover match I recall him having was that match years ago against Neville. **1/2

KYLE O'REILLY vs. ADAM COLE "UNSANCTIONED MATCH" (40:10): This was the longest WWE singles match in a really fucking long time, right? Walter had a 40 minute match in 2019 but that was in NXT:UK. This was too long, though, as some of it dragged. It was certainly memorable, and brutal, although a lot of the "hardcore" stuff didn't really work. After watching AEW doing exploding barbed wire and thumbtacks and buckets of blood...using a chain and chairs just kind of pales in comparison. They used the chain way too much and it always came across as kind of silly. They did a suplex on the announce table and it didn't break. They fell through the entrance walkway that collapsed. Cole hit O'Reilly with a tire iron and a TV. The ref was knocked out for awhile. O'Reilly wrapped a chain around his leg and jumped off the top rope to knee Cole in the head while Cole was draped over an upside down chair. Then O'Reilly pinned him for the win. I think if these two just had a regular wrestling match it would have been better. **1/2