AEW/NJPW FORBIDDEN DOOR

 

Toronto

THE MOGUL EMBASSY (BISHOP KAUN, BRIAN CAGE, SWERVE STRICKLAND & TOA LIONA) vs. BEST FRIENDS (CHUCK TAYLOR & TRENT BERETTA), ROCKY ROMERO & EL DESPERADO (12:23): At 5 hours long, this show was too long. It didn't bother me because it took me 3 days to watch it. It was a great show. The only glaring problem was the crowd was spent after the Omega/Ospreay match and thus the last two matches weren't as good as they probably would've been with a hot crowd. The pre-show, free on Youtube, had four matches, none particularly great, though this was a fun opener. The building was maybe half full for this match, which probably didn't help, as I recall last year's Forbidden Door pre-show matches in Chicago featured a gigantic amount of crowd noise. Remember they were popping for Goto and Yoshi-Hashi like they were Hulk Hogan and The Rock? So the Toronto crowd is not as loud as Chicago, and doesn't show up on time. **1/2 

ATHENA vs. BILLIE STARKZ (7:49): The announcers noted that Athena hasn't lost a match since last September's Grand Slam event. I was wondering why I haven't seen her in a while, and it's because she's the ROH women's champ and thus probably only on the ROH shows that nobody watches (they're only on the Honor Club service which costs $9.99 a month and doesn't even give you the ROH PPV's). This was forgettable. *

EL PHANTASMO vs. STU GRAYSON (7:14): Stu Grayson is now affiliated with that Manson cult ROH group led by Vincent. Huh? Maybe he just didn't want to wrestle a full schedule or something. Why the Super Smash Brothers are not still a tag team is baffling to me, as they were one of the best tag teams in wrestling. It also makes little sense to me why NJPW made El Phantasmo a babyface. He was a perfect heel! Decent match, though, for the short time they got. **1/2

LOS IGNOBERNABLES DE JAPON (BUSHI, HIROMU TAKAHASHI & SHINGO TAKAGI) vs. UNITED EMPIRE (TJP, KYLE FLETCHER & JEFF COBB) (7:30): Would it kill them to put Shingo Takagi, one of the best wrestlers in the world, a singles match on Forbidden Door? They didn't last year, either, although at least he got put in a prominent multi-man match with Sting. They also threw Hiromu into this pre-show match. They should have put Hiromu in a singles match with one of AEW's high flyers. Oh, well. This had some good action while it lasted. **1/2

MJF vs. HIROSHI TANAHASHI (15:46): I don't think anyone thought Tanahashi was going to win the AEW title here. That was also the problem with the Sanada match. Maybe they shouldn't even defend the big titles on Forbidden Door. Tanahashi actually wrestled the night before this against Swerve Strickland on Collision. That match was better. Considering Tanahashi is a hobbling, shell of his former self, why is even still wrestling? Maybe put him on a tag team or something to hide his glaring flaws. It's really sad to watch him wrestle these days. They even put him in the G1 again. Jesus. The guy can barely walk around. Even MJF made fun of how he walks. Match was just okay. **

CM PUNK vs. SATOSHI KOJIMA (13:40): This was CM Punk's first singles match since he won the title from Moxley at last year's All Out. He wrestled twice in multi-man matches on Collision. The most intriguing aspect of this match was the fact that he got booed and Kojima got cheered. I guess this stems from the fact that everyone outside of Chicago backs The Elite in the infamous locker room brawl. Punk looked good here but Kojima looked incredible. Kojima looked so much better than Tanahashi, which is surprising since Kojima is older and has wrestled longer. This was the first round of the Owen Hart Tournament, which Punk will presumably win. The winner gets...nothing! So what the fuck is the point? **1/2

ORANGE CASSIDY vs. DANIEL GARCIA vs. KATSUYORI SHIBATA vs. ZACK SABRE, JR. (11:15): This was the 2nd best match on the show. This match was super entertaining and so much fun to watch. I loved this. Shibata and Zack Sabre were slapping each other and kept pushing Garcia out of the way but he kept trying to do his stupid, gyrating dance. It had comedy and was hard hitting and the crowd loved it. Fantastic match. Orange Cassidy retained his International Title. ***1/2

SANADA vs. 'JUNGLE BOY' JACK PERRY (10:49): I thought this match would be better because Jungle Boy is one of AEW's best wrestlers. Sanada on the other hand is mostly a bore. He also looked like he didn't want to be there and was going through the motions (granted, he looks like that in every match). The huge problem with this match was the fact that Jungle Boy was not going to win the IWGP title and everyone knew that. After the match, Jungle Boy turned heel by knocking down Hook, who had previously been his best friend and sometimes tag partner. They have been teasing a heel turn for Jungle Boy but I'm not so sure it's the right decision. I guess after the whole Christian feud, they didn't know what else to do with him. I guess we'll see if it turns into anything worthwhile. I could care less about a Hook vs. Jack Perry match, though. **

THE ELITE (THE YOUNG BUCKS & 'HANGMAN' ADAM PAGE), EDDIE KINGSTON & TOMOHIRO ISHII vs. BLACKPOOL COMBAT CLUB (JON MOXLEY, CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI & WHEELER YUTA), KONOSUKE TAKESHITA & SHOTA UMINO (21:29): This match was entertaining but the problem was that The Young Bucks didn't get tagged in until late, so we didn't get too much of a great, crazy Young Bucks match. Takeshita and Ishii were both in the match the longest, so this was more a hard striking match than a high flying one, although Page and the Bucks all did top rope spots and the Bucks did a zillion super kicks. Good match but I thought this could've been better. **1/2

TONI STORM vs. WILLOW NIGHTINGALE (10:27): This wasn't very good. Willow is the NJPW women's champ, so maybe they should've had her defend that title and win instead of lose here. Toni retained the AEW title. There wasn't much to this. Willow did a top rope moonsault that was impressive. *1/2

WILL OSPREAY vs. KENNY OMEGA (39:50): What can I say about this match? It's hard to even put into words how impressive these two wrestlers are. I didn't think they could top their match from January, and they didn't, but this was still one of the best matches you'll ever see and perhaps just as good as their Tokyo Dome match. I'd probably actually have to watch their January match again to see which one was better. The only negative I'll say was when Don Callis came back after being kicked out to hand Ospreay a screwdriver when the ref was distracted. The match was so great and we didn't want to see outside interference ruin it. Thankfully that wasn't how the match ended. The story of the first match was that Omega busted open Ospreay on a DDT from the top rope down onto the exposed turnbuckle. In this match, both men got busted open. Omega got busted open when Ospreay bashed his head onto the announce table multiple times. Ospreay got busted open when Omega slammed his head onto the ring steps multiple times then did a DDT on Ospreay atop the ring steps that were turned sideways. This match was so engrossing. By the end it was just pure brutality. I can't even fathom all of the punishment these two went through and still kept going. Ospreay was bleeding like a stuck pig all over the ring at one point. Ospreay gave Omega a Tiger Driver that put Omega right on his head. I can't believe he didn't break his neck on that. After the screwdriver spot, Omega put his foot on the ropes to avoid a 3 count. Ospreay did a One Winged Angel and Omega kicked out at 1. Eventually Ospreay won with the Hidden Blade and then the Stormbreaker. This was dramatic as anything you'll ever see, two wrestlers going all out for 40 minutes. I can see why they didn't put this on last, but in hindsight they obviously should have. Nothing could go on after this. This was pure spectacle and one of the best matches you will ever see in your entire life. Ospreay won the U.S. title. I was kind of hoping that Omega would win here and Ospreay would finally get his win at the big show at Wembley in August. After watching the horror show these two put each other through, though, I'm not sure I want to see them do this again. What more could they possible accomplish? This was just incredible and a high water mark few can ever hope to achieve. ****

DARBY ALLIN, STING & TETSUYA NAITO vs. MINORU SUZUKI & THE JERICHO APPRECIATION SOCIETY (CHRIS JERICHO & SAMMY GUEVARA) (15:09): So nothing could follow the Omega/Ospreay match. With a hot crowd, this match might've been excellent. The crowd was half into it. Even the showdown with Jericho and Sting (who, apparently, have never wrestled before) got barely a response. The big spot was Sammy doing a 630 splash from the top rope onto Sting on a table. That was fucking insane. Too bad the crowd was spent. Naito wrestled in a t-shirt, which usually means you don't consider this a big match. Match was entertaining but the dead crowd hurt it. **

BRYAN DANIELSON vs. KAZUCHIKA OKADA (27:47): This match also probably would have been a lot better with a hot crowd. After 4 and a half hours of wrestling (there was also Tom Lawler dark match before the pre-show...he was supposed to wrestle Adam Cole on the show but Cole was sick) plus following one of the greatest matches of all time, I can't really blame the crowd for being pretty quiet for this dream match. The one good thing about this year's Forbidden Door was that we actually got some dream matches. Last year, CM Punk, Danielson, and Omega were all injured and not on Forbidden Door. This year we got Okada/Danielson and Omega/Ospreay. So there's that. While this match was pretty good, it was also way too slow. Okada is not the great Okada of five years ago. He's too methodical now. I can't even remember the last great match he's been in. It also didn't help that Danielson fractured his arm at the 17 minute mark. In the press conference after the match, he mentioned possibly being out 6 to 8 weeks, which might hurt his chances of wrestling at the big Wembley show. If he didn't injure his arm would this match have been better? Who knows? The ending was also flat. Danielson kicked out after a Rainmaker. But then Danielson submitted Okada and Okada tapped out. That was kind of anti-climactic. I'd have rather seen him win with a flying knee or something more dramatic and exciting. Match was pretty good but the quiet, tired crowd and the injury kind of ruined it. Good show over all, though. AEW really pulls out all the stops on their PPV's. And you can definitely say you got your money's worth. Now bring on Wembley! **1/2

NJPW DOMINION

 

Osaka, Japan

WILL OSPREAY vs. LANCE ARCHER (8:01): Thank God this show started with a real match and not the usual, lame series of multi-man matches that everyone can't wait to be over so they can get to the meat of the show. Unfortunately, this was not a great Will Ospreay match like we're used to. It was too short to be much of anything, and Lance Archer didn't do much of interest. Archer is signed to AEW but I think he's only been on an AEW show once all year. Even Tony Khan is baffled what to do with him. Ospreay won this U.S. title tournament and will face Kenny Omega at Forbidden Door. Considering Omega and Ospreay's first match this year was one of the greatest matches in history, they have a pretty high bar for the rematch. Ospreay's been injured for awhile but he's back and beat up. Maybe he should do what Omega did and take a year off and go get some surgery. **1/2

LOS IGNOBERNABLES DE JAPON (BUSHI, SHINGO TAKAGI, TITAN & TETSUYA NAITO) vs. JUST 5 GUYS (DOUKI, TAKA MICHINOKU, TAICHI & YOSHINOBU KANEMARU) (9:24): Do you think anyone in this company knows there's a hamburger chain in America called Five Guys? I always bash the fact that Bullet Club is still around because that was cool ten years ago but at least Bullet Club is a decent name. Just 5 Guys? It doesn't help that it's stacked with losers. This match at least had so many people in it a lot was happening so it wasn't boring. **1/2

CATCH 22 (FRANCESCO AKIRA & TJP) vs. INTERGALACTIC JET SETTERS (KUSHIDA & KEVIN KNIGHT) (10:38): Good match. Catch 22 won the Jr. tag titles. I didn't even know Kushida and some guy I never heard of had the Jr. tag titles. Wasn't Kushida out of action since last year because of foot and mouth disease? How did he have a title? Kushida looked good here, which kind of surprised me because he's aging fast. Kevin Knight was a bit green and sloppy. Akira and TJP are a lot of fun. ***

ZACK SABRE, JR. vs. JEFF COBB (8:46): Zack retained the TV title. This company has too many titles. This title has a 15 minute time limit because I guess there's commercials after 15 minutes on TV? Match was okay. **

BISHAMON (HIROOKI GOTO & YOSHI-HASHI) vs. HOUSE OF TORTURE (EVIL & YUJIRO TAKAHASHI) vs. UNITED EMPIRE (GREAT O'KHAN & AARON HENARE) (13:46): Good match. Aussie Open won the tag titles but then one of them got hurt so they forfeited them. Goto and Yoshi-Hashi won the tag titles here. House of Torture of course interfered throughout the match. Evil even knocked the announcer over again like he always does. There was a lot of action and a lot going on and it was a wild melee and the good guys won. Good stuff. ***

DAVID FINLAY vs. EL PHANTASMO (18:51): The one true dud on this show. Finlay retained the NEVER title. Finlay is the new leader of Bullet Club. Bullet Club is stocked with all of these new American wrestlers that I don't know. I feel bad for Finlay, because the leader of Bullet Club always gets beat up and kicked out of the company. Or maybe that's a good thing, since Prince Devitt and AJ Styles went to WWE and Omega and Jay White went to AEW after they all led Bullet Club. El Phantasmo was great as a heel so I have no idea why he's a babyface now. This was just dull. 1/2*

HIROMU TAKAHASHI vs MASTER WATO (19:50): Wato won the Super Jr. tournament by beating Titan in an awesome match last week. Wato lost here, though, so his push is moot. I do recall him being the Jr. title champ awhile back, though, right? Or was that not a thing? The last five minutes of this match were awesome. Before that it was hit-or-miss. Hiromu isn't as great as he once was, but they both delivered with some high drama and great near-falls at the end. The crowd was super into the final few minutes of this match. ***

KAZUCHIKA OKADA, HIROSHI TANAHASHI & TOMOHIRO ISHII vs. JON MOXLEY, CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI & SHOTA UMINO (20:38): This was a good match. Supposedly Claudio didn't make it to the building until 25 minutes before this match because of Visa issues. You wouldn't know it, though, as everything looked seamless. The big spot was when Ishii delivered a lunging head butt to Moxley that busted him open. That looked brutal and probably was a botch. This was very entertaining although Shota Umino didn't really look all that great to be honest. ***

SANADA vs. YOTA TSUJI (17:01): Dominion is the 2nd biggest show of the year for New Japan. I remember loving this show in the glory days. They had some awesome matches on this show. AJ vs. Okada for the title. Omega vs. Elgin in a ladder match. The Omega/Okada 60 minute draw. Omega winning the title from Okada in a 2 out of 3, 65 minute match. I was thinking of all these great matches when they announced that the main event for this show was going to be Sanada defending the title against a guy I never heard of. What? This is the main event of your 2nd biggest show of the year? Really? Yota Tsuji was a young lion and wrestled in RevPro and CMLL previously. I guess they wanted to make his main roster debut a big deal. Everyone raved about his performance here, so I guess it paid off. Tsuji is a big dude and does some high flying and big moves. He's still a bit green and figuring it out, though, but he will probably be a big star in the company moving forward. Sadly, this match wasn't very good. Sanada is boring. The crowd really wanted Tsuji to win but, c'mon, Sanada just won the title, he wasn't losing this early. There were some good matches on this show but this wasn't one of them and was too short to be a main event. **

AEW DOUBLE OR NOTHING

 

Las Vegas

THE HARDY'S & HOOK vs. ETHAN PAGE & THE GUNNS (15:10): This was the pre-show match. This went way too long. This was also the first match Jeff Hardy has been in since his return. He looked like he twisted his ankle at one point, because he hurt it then stupidly tried to climb up on the top rope to do a move and he awkwardly slipped off and almost landed on his head. That was scary. He did finish the match but didn't do his Swanton Bomb finisher. Hook got the win with a tap out. Remember when Hook was super over and super popular? Well they haven't really done much with him since then. He should, like, evolve, right? I really hope The Hardy's retire soon, because watching them wrestle these days is just sad. *

BLACKJACK BATTLE ROYAL (ORANGE CASSIDY) (22:25): There were like a hundred wrestlers in this match. It was for the International Title, which used to be called the All Atlantic title. I have no idea why they changed it. Cassidy retained. Kommander did his awesome rope walk into a flip dive to the floor. Considering you lose when you fall to the floor...does this make sense? They said he didn't "enter" the match yet but isn't being on the top rope entering the match? The Lucha Brothers got a lot of spots in this match. Ricky Starks, Juice Robinson, and Jay White were also beating each other up and eliminating each other. Big Bill got pushed big for unknown reasons. The final had Swerve Strickland and Orange Cassidy left and those two tore the house down. The final few minutes with those two were awesome. **1/2

ADAM COLE vs. CHRIS JERICHO "UNSANCTIONED MATCH" (17:00): This was a dud. Not a surprise, since Jericho is too old and slow to be in singles matches anymore. Basically this was a no rules match. Jericho was hitting Cole with a Singapore cane when Britt Baker came out and started hitting Jericho with a Singapore cane of her own. That got a huge pop. Cole and Jericho sprayed each other with a fire extinguisher. The end had Jericho bring a chain into the match and Cole ended up hitting him in the head with the chain. Eventually, Cole kept punching Jericho in the head so the ref stopped it. Kind of a lame ending. This was just boring. *

FTR vs. JEFF JARRETT & JAY LETHAL (20:00): You can tell that Sonjay Dutt is one of AEW's writers, because the matches he's involved in always have way too much going on in them. In this one, we had Mark Briscoe, who was the special referee, get inadvertently hit with a guitar. Aubrey, the new ref, ran down to the ring but was hit with a guitar over the head by Karen Jarrett. This all felt like it was written by Vince Russo. Although, if it was it probably would have been a Guitar on a Pole match. FTR retained the tag titles. If this had been just a standard wrestling match it probably would have been kind of dull, so at least all the craziness and House of Torture-esque interference made it entertaining. **1/2

WARDLOW vs. CHRISTIAN CAGE "LADDER MATCH" (17:10): I'm not sure why they didn't just have Luchasaurus face Wardlow for the title here. I guess because Christian is famous for being in ladder matches and hasn't been in one in AEW yet. The big spot was when Wardlow put Luchasaurus on two tables and then did a Swanton Bomb off a Big Dog ladder onto him. That was insane. Jeff Hardy made that move famous twenty years plus years ago and it's wild to see a big dude like Wardlow do it. The other memorable moment came when Wardlow tried to jump from the top rope onto the ladder and climb it but he's too fucking big and the ladder cracked and him and Christian fell awkwardly off it. The big spot made the match. And is Luchasaurus never going to wrestle again? He hasn't wrestled a match since he lost to Jungle Boy in that cage match in March. **1/2

TONI STORM vs. JAMIE HAYTER (3:05): Jamie Hayter must be injured. How else to explain her losing the title in 3 minutes? The Outcasts constantly interfered in his match, even beating up Hayter before she even came out of the curtain. They sprayed her in the face with paint when the ref wasn't looking. Britt Baker did come out to help to no avail. Hayter beat Storm for the title last November. Kind of weird to go back to Storm as champ so soon unless Hayter really is injured. I was also thinking this could be a way for Britt to beat Storm for the title at the big Wembley show in August considering Britt should be in a big match on that show. Either way, this wasn't really much of a match. *1/2

THE HOUSE OF BLACK vs. THE ACCLAIMED & BILLY GUNN (15:30): This was an unannounced match. You know there's trouble in the booking department when that happens. I think this will be happening a lot more now that AEW has a new, 2 hour, weekly show debuting in a few weeks. CM Punk is going to be the star of that show as well, although he hasn't been announced yet. Tony Khan apparently is the head booker and is now going to have to book 5 hours of weekly wrestling plus his PPV's and Ring of Honor shows. So expect more of these unannounced, out of the blue matches. The crowds still love The Acclaimed. I enjoy Max Castor's raps, but in the ring they're kind of mediocre. The House of Black usually works better with high flying or hard hitting wrestlers, not wrestlers like The Acclaimed. This wasn't terrible, but there were long stretches where Bowens was just getting beaten down and waiting and waiting and waiting to give a hot tag. Billy Gunn obviously got pinned. **

JADE CARGILL vs. TAYA VALKYRIE (8:50)/ KRIS STATLANDER vs. JADE CARGILL (0:48): The crowd was sitting on their hands and waiting for this to be over when finally they popped when Taya delivered her finisher and got a 2.5 count. They both have the same finisher. That's strange. Jade eventually won in a sloppy, awful match. Jade had a cool entrance where she did some dance moves with a few dancers and a female rapper sang. Jade definitely looks impressive but she's terrible in the ring and hasn't improved a lick. After Jade won, Mark Sterling, her manager, announced an open challenge and anyone from the back could come out for a match. I was thinking of who would be a big surprise and could only think of Mercedes Mone, but she's injured. Statlander came out. She got a big pop. She's been injured forever and won the TBS title by giving Jade her first loss. That was cool. They even shot confetti into the ring. Jade sucks in the ring, so I'm glad she lost the title. Neither match was great but Statlander winning was awesome. **

MJF vs. SAMMY GUEVARA vs. DARBY ALLIN vs. 'JUNGLE BOY' JACK PERRY (27:50): This was definitely the best match on the show. This show wasn't one of AEW's best shows, but it was typical in that it was very entertaining. There wasn't one match-of-the-year, great match on this show, though this came close. The problem was that this had no drama or emotion, it was just a 30 minute spot fest. After the 20th Canadian Destroyer, I was kind of wondering if they knew how to do anything else. The big spot was when Sammy grabbed Darby and did a Spanish Fly from the top rope down onto MJF and Jack Perry on the floor. That was insane. They all did a bunch of crazy moves except for MJF, who doesn't fly. The end had Darby giving a Coffin Drop onto Sammy but MJF laid his belt on Sammy and Darby landed on the belt. Then MJF did a head lock takeover on Darby and pinned him. This echoes how MJF beat Darby at Double or Nothing 2020. This was a wild match and pretty similar to that PAC vs. Orange Cassidy vs. Omega title match a few years ago. Those three are obvious better, all around wrestlers than these 4, though. This was fun and creative, but I think these young guys still need to focus more on the drama and emotion that an epic, title match deserves instead of just delivering crazy high spots that get old after you keep doing them non stop. ***

THE BLACKPOOL COMBAT CLUB vs. THE ELITE "ANARCHY IN THE ARENA" (27:00): This was a good match and pretty much the same as last year's Anarcy in the Arena match. The two best spots featured Matt Jackson. Claudio had given him a pile driver in the bed of a pickup truck outside the building. Eventually Matt made his return to the arena and came into the ring and kicked Jon Moxley in the head but Matt had an exploding charge on his sneaker and it exploded on Moxley's face. That was cool, and had me thinking of Onita. After Moxley put thumbtacks onto the ring, TBCC took off Matt's sneaker and sock and dropped him feet first onto the thumbtacks. That was a crazy spot. They also put thumbtacks in Nick's mouth then Claudio gave him an uppercut. They also all brawled around the building. Claudio did a Giant Swing on Nick out on the concourse then threw him head first into a trash can. Moxley and Omega both slammed each other onto barbed wire on a big poker chip by the entrance. There weren't a lot of moves or wrestling in this match, which is kind of a shame since Omega and The Young Bucks are three of the most exciting wrestlers in the business. The one disappointment of this show and AEW in general lately is that Omega has been tied into these multi-man matches and hasn't been in a lot of singles matches. The last AEW PPV Omega singles match was when he lost the title to 'Hangman' and that was two and a half years ago. The ending came when a masked man came into the ring to help TBCC. It turned out to be Takeshita, who I guess is a heel now. Yuta pinned Omega, which was kind of a shock. This presumably sets up The Elite & somebody (hopefully Kota Ibushi) vs. Takeshita and TBCC in a Blood & Guts match. That would be the greatest match in the history of the world, right? And we never got that Blood & Guts match with The Elite. It was set up. It was supposed to take place in March of 2020 in Newark. And we all know what happened in March of 2020. So we'll hopefully finally get that match, 3 years too late. The pandemic is finally over! ***

WWE NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS

 

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

SETH ROLLINS vs. AJ STYLES (20:40): This show was just okay, although the super hot and boisterous crowd certainly was a big plus. AEW's Double or Nothing crowd was a little tepid, and they only sold half of the seats in the T-Mobile Arena in Vegas. That show was better than this, but the WWE is hot these days for whatever reason. I guess The Bloodline storyline has resonated. That seems to be the reason everyone says that the WWE is hot. The big problem with the WWE is that everything feels sterile whereas AEW feels kinetic, wild, and alive. Oh, well. This first match was for the new World Heavyweight championship. If you remember, they unified the two titles at last year's Wrestlemania and now they've un-unified them. It lasted a little more than a year, so that's longer than I would have figured. I both like and don't like having two main titles. On one hand, you get more championship matches on the PPV's so that's usually a plus. On the other hand, it kind of dilutes both champions. Seth was the obvious favorite and won. If this match had occurred five or so years ago it probably would have been better. AJ is obviously not as great as he once was, so I'm not sure why he was even in this match (they did a tournament on RAW and Smackdown and this was the final). I thought this would be better. **

TRISH STRATUS vs. BECKY LYNCH (14:50): How old is Trish Stratus? And what has she been doing since she left the WWE? Did she make enough money back in the day or did she have to get a real job since then? Who knows? Okay, she's 47. It's weird that they had so many women's matches on this show considering Saudi Arabia treats women like cattle. The women all have to wrestle in full body suits because they can't show skin except for their heads and hands. It's just sad. None of the women's matches were any good. And considering Trish is 47 and hasn't wrestled in years, why did they make this a 15 minute match? Jesus! Too long. I suppose this feud will continue since Trish won thanks to interference by Tony Stark. Is that her name? Who is Tony Stark? I give up. 1/2*

ASUKA vs. BIANCA BELAIR (15:00): Last month, in Puerto Rico, the fans booed Bianca out of the building for unknown reasons but she still beat Asuka and retained her title. They probably should have done the title switch then, but I believe they wanted Bianca to get to some dumb, days-as-champ milestone. Asuka won the title here. This match was not good at all. I kind of thought Bianca and Asuka were, like, good wrestlers. This was a bore. 1/2*

RHEA RIPLEY vs. NATALYA (1:10): I feel bad for Natalya. She had to fly all the way to Saudi Arabia just to lose in a 1 minute squash. What was the point of this? I'm baffled. -No Stars-

BROCK LESNAR vs. CODY RHODES (9:40): I was suprised Cody lost here. I guess they didn't want to have Brock lose to Cody twice in a row. That, and they'll probably do another match soon. I think this is only the second time Cody lost since coming back to the WWE. I'd say they were pushing him but he lost at Wrestlemania and now here so who the fuck knows? The story was that Brock beat up Cody on RAW last week and injured his arm. So Cody had a cast on his arm and played up like he was some sort of superhero impervious to pain. This was akin to his match last year against Seth Rollins when Cody had a torn bicep. Cody won that match, though. This match was pretty good because Cody got a lot of offense in. I don't know...I'm kind of tired of Brock Lesnar. **1/2

SAMI ZAYN & KEVIN OWENS vs. ROMAN REIGNS & SOLO SIKOA (26:25): This match wasn't that great or anything but the crowd was going ape shit for Sami. Sami was banned from Saudi Arabia for every previous show there because he's part Syrian and Saudi Arabia used to hate Syria. Now they don't so Sami is back. Sami posted pictures online where he visited Mecca this week. Is he a Muslim? I didn't know that. He spoke Arabic to the crowd before the match. Does he speak Arabic or did he memorize that? It sounded like he can speak Arabic. I know he speaks French. Does he really speak three languages? Oh, there was also a match. It was for the tag team titles. The big story was that the ref got knocked out and The Uso's came in. They inadvertantly super kicked Solo and Reigns got mad. Then Jimmy Uso super kicked Reigns twice. The Bloodline storyline keeps going and going and going and going. Jesus Christ. They're really milking this fucking thing, aren't they? I'd heard that eventually they're doing Solo vs. Roman. Does that mean we'll get a Solo turn in six months and this storyline is like The Never Ending Story? What was that giant, flying white dog's name? The crowd during this match was epic but the match itself was just a typical TV match. Just imagine if Sami was champ and had a title match here. But they didn't want to pull the trigger and have Sami win the title. Those fucking idiots. **1/2

WWE BACKLASH

 

San Juan, Puerto Rico

BIANCA BELAIR vs. IYO SKY (18:01): Puerto Rico paid the WWE to do this show there. I hope this doesn't mean the WWE never goes back, because this was one of the hottest wrestling crowds I've ever seen. You would have thought that this match was Omega/Okada or Steamboat/Flair or something considering how crazy the crowd was going during it. It felt like this crowd had never seen wrestling before or something and couldn't fathom how amazing it was. I was thinking this was probably a similar reaction to when movies were first invented and the audience saw a train pulling into a station on screen and went insane (that happened in 1895 by the way, and no, the audience probably didn't go insane). This match was good and all, but it wasn't that good. And there is wrestling in Puerto Rico. It's just that the WWE hasn't been there in years. Bianca retained her title but Iyo Sky was the star even though she's supposed to be a heel. **1/2

SETH ROLLINS vs. OMOS (10:31): You can tell Vince is back in charge because Omos is getting pushed. He faced Lesnar at 'Mania and now he's facing another huge star. Omos never wins against these big stars, though, so this "push" is moot. Sure, Omos is a tall dude, but can't Vince see that he fucking sucks? Granted, Vince also put Giant Gonzalez on TV and pushed Andre when Andre was past his prime. Vince loves big dudes. That'll never change. On another note...why is Vince not in jail? It came out that he paid a woman in his company 7 million dollars in a sexual harassment suit to get her to be quiet about it. And yet he's back, pushing tall wrestlers that can't wrestle. I hope Seth goes to AEW someday, because he's a great wrestler and this weird, dancing, Joker-esque gimmick is just fucking baffling to me. *

AUSTIN THEORY vs. BOBBY LASHLEY vs. BRONSON REED (6:51): Bronson Reed beat Okada last year in New Japan. Now he's getting pinned by Austin Theory. Did he make the right decision to return to the company that fired him? Maybe he didn't like living in Japan. Who knows? They were sort of pushing Theory's U.S. title as being the 2nd biggest belt...but now they're having a new RAW world title. Maybe they'll give it to Theory. What ever happened to the Intercontinental title? That seemed to have disappeared. This match was short and pretty forgettable. *1/2

RHEA RIPLEY vs. ZELINA VEGA (7:11): I guess Zelina is from Puerto Rico? The crowd was into this because of that. Besides the hot crowd, this show was fairly mediocre. Where's Charlotte and Becky Lynch and Rhonda Rousey, anyway? They used to be the big stars in this division. *1/2

BAD BUNNY vs. DAMIAN PRIEST "SAN JUAN STREET FIGHT" (25:03): They probably should have made this the main event since Bad Bunny is from Puerto Rico and everyone came to this show to see him. Originally it was supposed to be Bad Bunny & Myserio vs. Damian Priest & Dominic. I think that match would've been better...especially because both Dominic and Rey showed up in this match. Carlito showed up and got the biggest pop of the night. I remember him in WWE but he didn't last too long. Silvio Vega also showed up but I don't remember him in WWF. This was a hardcore match so they used Singapore Canes, a trash can, a chain, and chairs. They did a big spot out in the crowd where Damian Priest slammed Bunny down onto two tables from a sound rig set up. Bad Bunny is a popular musician these days, filling Yankee Stadium, rumored to be dating Kendall Jenner. So I guess it's unique seeing him leaping from the top rope and hitting people with steel chairs. He's not really mainstream popular, though, but if you have kids they probably know who he is. I downloaded his album last year and didn't really like it. Maybe I'm just too old to be cool (it's all in Spanish, too, so there's that). This match was entertaining at least. And at least they learned their lesson from Cardiff and had Bad Bunny win his match in his hometown. **1/2

THE BLOODLINE (THE USO'S & SOLO SIKOA) vs. KEVIN OWENS, SAMI ZAYN & MATT RIDDLE (22:05): I was kind of bored watching this. The Bloodline storyline was the hottest thing the WWE has done in years...but that was a few months ago. Now it feels stale. They really missed the peak by not having Sami or Cody beat Reigns for the title. Because the story of Sami possibly turning on The Bloodline being so white hot, they've recreated that but with The Uso's and Solo Sikoa. They teased Solo turning on The Uso's in this match. Ugh. You know...it worked with Sami. It doesn't mean you just do it again with someone else and it'll work. I'm still bitter about how they botched the pinnacle of The Bloodline storyline. It'll go down in infamy as one of the worst decisions in wrestling. Matt Riddle ended up getting pinned. He's back from rehab and I guess this was his punishment. **

CODY RHODES vs. BROCK LESNAR (9:43): Brock Lesnar was a bloody mess in this match after he rammed his head into the exposed steel turnbuckle. I'm guessing they did this obvious set up for blood because at 'Mania in the Hell in a Cell match they stopped the match to tend to Finn's bloody wound and got a lot of flak for it. The WWE hasn't done blood in years because of advertisers. I guess they could do it here because this show was on Peacock (which does have commercials)? Who knows? Maybe they were jealous of AEW because AEW always does bloodbaths and the crowds love them. Either way, the match was pretty good but short. They started with Cody beating up Brock before the bell and hitting him with the ring steps. Then we got the Brock suplexing and destroying Cody for a while. Then Cody was in the kumura submission hold but flipped it over and pinned Lesnar. This match would've been a lot better if Cody was champ and it was for the title. Roman, the champ, wasn't on the show. I'm pretty flummoxed as to the WWE's popularity and high ratings and big crowds these days because the product has been falling apart ever since Sami lost in February. **1/2

NJPW SAKURA GENESIS

Tokyo

GREAT O'KHAN, MINORU SUZUKI & TORU YANO vs. EL DESPERADO, HIROSHI TANAHASHI & YOH (13:10): This show started with four straight multi-man matches. Jesus. I don't know why New Japan wastes everyone's time on their big shows with these short, usually meaningless matches. I guess the idea is to at least put all of the stars on every show so the fans don't feel ripped off, even if some of the stars are in pointless matches like this. Early on, with Suzuki and Desperado in together, this was good. Once Great O'Khan entered, though, things went south. Toru Yano didn't want to get tagged in so Suzuki slapped him hard across the chest as a tag. I don't even know what was going on in terms of these teams. It probably didn't help that I watched the Japanese language broadcast, which I always do anyway because it's better. **

UNITED EMPRE (AARON HENARE, FRANCESCO AKIRA & JEFF COBB) vs. HOUSE OF TORTURE (EVIL, SHO & YUJIRO TAKAHASHI) (8:01): There wasn't too much interference/cheating in this match. Usually these House of Torture matches are aptly named because they're a torture to watch. Dick Togo got into the ring to choke Jeff Cobb at one point while the ref tried to rip a hammer out of Sho's grasp. There obviously wasn't much to this match except Jeff Cobb came across as a beast. *

JUST FIVE GUYS (DOUKI, TAICHI & YOSHINOBU KANEMARU) vs. LOS IGOBERNABLES DE JAPON (BUSHI, SHINGO TAKAGI & TETSUYA NAITO) (9:20): Just Five Guys is the new Sanada group. It's filled with a bunch of losers, though, although I will admit that Taichi has grown on me since his debut in the company. The crowd treated the entrance of Naito like he was the King of Japan or something. I was wondering if maybe this show was in Naito's hometown or something but the show was just in Tokyo. Maybe Naito is from Ryogoku, a part of Tokyo that's the home of sumo wrestling, where this show was from. Who knows? Sadly, Shingo was in this match instead of being in a better singles match later on. I can't really say they're burying him, considering he was in a 36 minute Korukaen Hall main event against Henare a few weeks ago that everyone was talking about (it was good not great). But seriously...Shingo should be in the main event picture and stat. There really wasn't much of note in this match. *1/2

BULLET CLUB (DAVID FINLAY, EL PHANTASMO & KENTA) vs. GUERRILAS OF DESTINY (HIKULEO & TAMA TONGA & MASTER WATO (8:46): At least this multi-man match had a big storyline in it. The Bullet Club (why do they still exist?) turned on El Phantasmo after the match and beat him up. I guess he's turning into a good guy, which doesn't make sense because he's a great heel. The only other noteworthy thing about this match is that Tama Tonga is still wearing that stupid suit that looks like Iron Man. *1/2

MERCEDES MONE vs. AZM vs. HAZUKI (13:53): I'm not entirely sure why New Japan now has an IWGP Women's title. They don't even have a women's division! Literally, Mercedes Mone is the champ and the only woman in the division. Mercedes won the title in San Jose awhile back against Kairi Sane, who's in Stardom. Tonight she successfully defended against AZM and Hazuki, who are both in Stardom. Considering Bushiroad owns both Stardom and New Japan...why not just have Stardom championship matches on these shows instead of having an IWGP Women's title? And we all thought New Japan had too many titles...but they already introduced two new ones this year: the women's title and the TV title. They also have a Strongman tag team title...and who the hell knows where that came from or what the point of that is. As for this match...it wasn't as good as the Kairi Sane/Mercedes match from San Jose. While this wasn't sloppy or anything, it wasn't crisp and it was kind of messy and all over the place in terms of women falling all over each other. It was fast paced, which makes sense considering Stardom has a High Speed title. I haven't watched one of those High Speed title matches yet, but it makes me wonder: is it because there's a time limit? Because what if a wrestler just starts wrestling slow? Is the ref supposed to DQ them for going too slow? It seems like a silly title to me. I'm not sure where Mercedes goes from here. She's more an "attraction" than a full time New Japan wrestler. I think she's wrestling on a big Stardom show next. This was an entertaining match and Mercedes looked great. **1/2

ZACK SABRE, JR. vs. SHOTA UMINO (13:35): Zack retained the TV title here. There's a 15 minute time limit for these TV title matches. Would it have killed this company to put the time on the screen? The crowd was actually on fire at the end of this when Shota was getting a bunch of near falls. Are they that into Shota Umino? I do remember he was a big crowd favorite in that Jericho match at last year's Forbidden Door. Considering he lost here, they haven't pulled the trigger on him yet. He is referee Red Shoe's son, so I'm sure he'll get that mega push eventually. This match was kind of dull until the last few minutes, which were great. **1/2

AUSSIE OPEN (KYLE FLETCHER & MARK DAVIS) vs. BISHAMON (HIROOKI GOTO & YOSHI-HASHI) (15:30): This was the match of the night and one of the best matches of the year. Fuck, this was awesome. Were they chanting that in Japanese? The crowds are allowed to finally chant now, although 99% of the crowd was still wearing masks even though you don't have to (one couple in the front row didn't have masks on...but it looked like everyone else did). I've been seeing a lot of Aussie Open lately because they've been on AEW's Dynamite and Rampage a lot lately. They actually wrestled in Milwaukee four days after this for Rampage to defend the tag titles they won here against Best Friends. I'm surprised by that, considering Kyle Fletcher did a moonsault off the top rope and his head whiplashed against the bottom of the guard rail after he landed and the wound was pouring blood so he had it wrapped up mid-match. It definitely looked like he got a concussion from that, although he continued the match and looked fine. Aussie Open looked like the greatest tag team of all time in this match and the crowd was loudly behind them. Goto and Yoshi-Hashi were okay, but Aussie Open was on another level in this match. This was just all action and fast paced and the crowd was going nuts and we got a title change. Fantastic match. ***1/2

HIROMU TAKAHASHI vs. ROBBIE EAGLES (21:12): Most of this was a bore because Eagles worked on Takahashi's leg for the majority of this match. I was so bored I was focusing on the woman in the front row for a lot of this match. Eagles did an over the top rope dive and he landed on Hiromu and the guardrail and his feet hit a lady's head in the front row. Zack Sabre, who was ringside because he's a part of Eagle's stable, gave the lady an ice pack to tend her wound. The lady kept the icepack on her cheek the whole fucking match! Did the injury hurt that much or, what I suspect, she was just being courteous and also didn't know what to do with the ice pack? Just put it on the floor when she was done? Yell to one of the ringside boys to fetch it? Considering I was focusing on that, what does it say about the greatness of this match? At least the final flurry was great. New Japan really comes through with the final five minutes of their big matches. It's kind of like...why not just do a five minute match if the rest is going to be trash? Eagles gave Hiromu some sort of Frankensteiner maneuver from the top rope that put Hiromu right on the top of his head that was gruesome. Eagles had Hiromu in a long submission hold that the crowd got into because they thought Eagles would win the title. He didn't. I heard last year that Hiromu might turn heavyweight and be in the G1. I guess that idea is out the window. And where's Kushida? He wasn't at Wrestle Kingdom because he got hoof and mouth disease. Is he still sick with that? Has he turned into a cow? **1/2

SANADA vs. KAZUCHIKA OKADA (26:58): The one problem that New Japan has is that it's kind of obvious when a title change happens. AEW has the same problem. Sanada got a new look with a new haircut and shaved face and started a new stable. He's lost to Okada in the main event a billion times so why would they even have this match if he was going to lose again? It was kind of obvious he was winning the title here. And while most of this match was just okay and fairly standard, the last five minutes or so were excellent and the crowd was frenzied and loud and ready to burst. Okada just won the title in January, but I think everyone is sick of him as champ so it's good that somebody else has the title. I'd prefer Ospreay or Shingo, but Ospreay's hurt and they don't seem to be pushing Shingo too hard these days for whatever reason. Sanada got this title opportunity because he won the New Japan Cup. Ospreay was injured and had to leave the Cup. Could Ospreay have possibly been the one that was supposed to win the title here? Who knows? Sanada's not the greatest, mostly because he has the personality of a rock, but he's good enough. Plus, I was so sick of them putting him in main event title matches constantly against Okada for years and never having him win. I doubt he'll keep the title long, but it was nice to finally see him win the big one. **1/2

WWE WRESTLEMANIA 39

 

Inglewood, California

NIGHT 1: Saturday, April 1st

AUSTIN THEORY vs. JOHN CENA (11:20): This first night was better than night 2. This match wasn't the reason. Cena did all of his famous spots but there wasn't much else to this. Cena's bald spot is glaring. Should he shave his head? Maybe he'd look weird. Austin Theory hit Cena in the balls when the ref wasn't looking and won to retain his U.S. title. Hopefully, Triple H and the idiots in creative aren't attempting to replicate Roman Reigns' never ending run with Austin Theory and his U.S. title reign. *1/2

THE STREET PROFITS vs. ALPHA ACADEMY vs. BRAUN STROWMAN & RICOCHET vs. THE VIKING RAIDERS (8:28): This was perhaps the best match of the first night. It was short but super exciting and the crowd fucking ate this up. They did a bunch of "big" spots that got the crowd into an orgiastic frenzy at points. At one point, all of the big men jumped off the top rope one after the other. Ricochet did a Shooting Star Press off the top rope to the floor. It was a lot of fun. It still pains me to see them putting Ricochet in a team with Braun Strowman. If you recall, Ricochet and Will Ospreay had that incredible match in New Japan years ago and it seemed as if they were both going to be huge, main event stars one day. Will Ospreay stayed in New Japan and honed his craft and is now one of the best wrestlers in the world. He main evented the Tokyo Dome, won the IWGP title, has had multiple 4-star matches and has evolved into being a great wrestler instead of just a guy that does flips. Ricochet, sadly, is still just a guy that does flips because he signed with WWE. I cry every time I see him. ***

SETH ROLLINS vs. LOGAN PAUL (16:16): This was another fun, entertaining match. Logan Paul came out hanging from a glider contraption that carried him down to the ring from up above, reminiscent of Shawn Michael's ascent at Wrestlemania years ago. KSI, who is another Youtube star, came out dressed in an energy drink costume. Eventually, Logan Pul did a top rope splash but landed on KSI on the announce table when Seth Rollins moved and shoved KSI onto the table at the last second. Logan Paul is very entertaining in the ring. He does all of the high flying maneuvers and comes across as a big time star. Is Seth Rollins the last star the WWE has that can take Roman Reigns' title? Because there might not be anyone left. ***

BECKY LYNCH, LITA & TRISH STRATUS vs. DAMAGE CTRL (BAYLEY, DAKOTA KAI & IYO SKY) (14:38): Becky Lynch was, at one point, the WWE's biggest star. Then she left to have a baby and came back as a heel for no good reason. Still, I'd have rather seen her in a singles match than this superfluous mess. I can't watch Trish Stratus without thinking of that infamous Vince McMahon/dog segment on RAW during the attitude era. Does she regret doing that? I guess not since she's still wrestling for the company that made her crawl around and bark like a dog then strip to her bra and panties on live TV. Lita did her patented moonsault. Iyo Sky did a bunch of top rope jumps. Wrestling crowds seems to love has-been legends still wrestling but I can't figure out why. *1/2

REY MYSTERIO vs. DOMINIK MYSTERIO (14:30): I find the heel Dominik Mysterio to be hilarious. Maybe some don't. If you do, you probably enjoyed this match. He threw a drink into his sister's face at ringside. His mom, at ringside, slapped him. They both delivered 619's. It's crazy that Rey Mysterio is still doing all of these high flying moves when he was doing all this 25 years ago in his apparent heyday. Fun match. **1/2

RHEA RIPLEY vs. CHARLOTTE FLAIR (23:34): This was supposed to be the main event for night 1. The reasoning was that the men were going to main event night 2 so they should let the women main event night 1. Well, fuck the women, apparently. They didn't get to main event night 1 for whatever reason. This started very boring but the last five or so minutes were pretty dramatic and exciting. The one thing I hated with this year's Wrestlemania was that they continuously had wrestlers kick out of each other's finishers to create drama and big crowd reactions. They probably do this at every Wrestlemania, though, to make it seem special or something. I think it's ridiculous. It almost ruined the Seth Rollins/Logan Paul match. They had a perfect ending after the table break but for no good reason had a kick out and kept going. There's also a reason for a finisher. It's...to finish! That's the whole point. **1/2

PAT McAFEE vs. THE MIZ (3:35): This Miz and Snoop Dog were the hosts of both nights. I forget why, but The Miz ended up wrestling Pat McAfee for a few minutes. An NFL player from the San Francisco 49's came out of the crowd to beat up The Miz as well. No, this wasn't any good. 1/2*

KEVIN OWENS & SAMI ZAYN vs. THE USO'S (24:17): Yes, Sami Zayn beating Roman Reigns for the title would have been the perfect main event at this show. The WWE has never been good at booking, though. So this was kind of like...you can't have delicious ice cream, but we'll give you some frozen yogurt instead. So Zayn and Owens beat The Uso's for the titles. The crowd got to go home happy on night 1. It wasn't as good as Zayn winning the title, but it was something. I actually thought that this match would be better. The Uso's are usually in very exciting and entertaining matches. Maybe it's because Zayn & Owens aren't a tag team and thus haven't gelled together fully. It was a good match, just not great. And the WWE so fucked it up by not having Zayn vs. Roman as the main event. Do you realize how hard it is to luck into a perfect main event? It's like winning the Powerball lottery. And it's as if they won and threw out the ticket. **1/2

NIGHT 2: Sunday, April 2nd

BROCK LESNAR vs. OMOS (4:55): Considering how much they're paying Brock Lesnar...couldn't they have given him a better match on the biggest show of the year? This wasn't as sloppy as I thought it would be. It was pretty forgettable, though. *1/2

RONDA ROUSEY & SHAYNA BASZLER vs. CHELSEA GREEN & SONYA DEVILLE vs. LIV MORGAN & RAQUEL RODRIGUEZ vs. SHOTZI & NATALYA (8:23): Outside of the two Miz matches, which really don't count, this was by far the worst match on either night. What the fuck even was this? A 4 way tag title match? Was it even for the tag titles? Last year, Liv Morgan seemed on the precipice of being a main event star. That seems gone. Ronda Rousey was once a huge star and now she's seemingly forgotten. Shotzi was super over in NXT and now they have her teaming with...Natalya? What? Does that even make sense? I give up. 1/2*

GUNTHER vs. SHEAMUS vs. DREW McINTYRE (16:36): This was a good match and very hard hitting. Two disappointing aspects of this match, though: it wasn't as good as Gunther vs. Sheamus from Clash at the Castle. And why the fuck didn't they let Sheamus win? They already had him lose in his  home country at Clash. Why is the WWE hell bent on disappointing their fans? It seems like Gunther is a part of their Roman Reigns and Austin Theory never-ending title reign playbook. You know...why not do that playbook with a babyface? Why only do it with heels which means you constantly anger your viewing audience? Gunther also doesn't look like the monster he once did when he was fatter. Now he's skin and bones. The WWE ruins everyone. I wonder if Cody is wishing he stayed in AEW about now. ***

BIANCA BELAIR vs. ASUKA (15:58): This was boring. They also should have let Asuka win the title. I can't even think of anything memorable from this match. *

THE MIZ vs. SHANE McMAHON (2:12): Shane McMahon came out to a huge pop and started to wrestle The Miz but blew out his quad after jumping over The Miz maybe twenty seconds into the match. Snoop Dog then came in and punched The Miz twice then gave him a People's Elbow. I'm not sure if someone told Snoop to do this or he just did it to save this mess. It all reminded me of the time Vince came out during a Royal Rumble and blew out both of his knees and had to sit in the corner. That was hilarious. This was just sad.

EDGE vs. FINN BALOR "HELL IN A CELL" (18:08): The big moment came when Edge threw a ladder at Finn Balor and it hit him the head. Balor was bleeding so they stopped the match while doctors tended to him. If you can't have blood in a "Hell in a Cell" match...maybe don't call it that. Edge had to stand there like an idiot for a few minutes. Other than that, the match was okay. They did all the usual stuff: they used Singapore Canes and chairs and broke a table. There was a ladder set up in the ring but t they never climbed it. Finn Balor climbed up to a set up perch halfway up the Cell and did his foot stomp through a table but Edge moved. I thought that this would've been better, actually. **

ROMAN REIGNS vs. CODY RHODES (34:29): Most people expected Cody to win the title here. After all, what was the point of having Sami Zayn lose last month? You figured Zayn lost because Cody was going to win here. When Drew McIntyre lost to Roman at Clash at the Castle, I mentioned that the WWE would probably lose a lot of fans because it was such a disappointment. They sent home a soccer stadium of fans disappointed. I was wrong. The WWE stayed hot and sold out arenas and the ratings stayed good. Then they decided not to have Sami Zayn win the Royal Rumble. Then they had Zayn lose to Roman in Montreal and sent an arena of fans home disappointed. Okay, is the third time the charm? They sent the entire SoFi Stadium crowd home disappointed on night 2 when Roman pinned Cody after Solo Sikoa interfered. How many times does the WWE have to disappoint the fans for them to stop watching the product? Maybe the WWE doesn't think it matters because it didn't after the McIntyre loss and seemingly didn't matter after the Zayn loss. Is three times the charm? There's absolutely no reason why Cody didn't win the title here. The WWE has a few arguments as to why Roman won. #1: They want to make Roman a legend and a big star by giving him a forever title reign. Okay, that's fine, but he's already had the title since August of 2020. How much fucking longer do you need? We get it! #2: Business is booming, so putting the title on someone else might change this. Okay, but you need to constantly evolve and change and grow to sustain momentum. You can't keep yourself locked in amber forever. How many times do we need to see Roman win by cheating? It's getting ridiculous. #3: They're waiting for The Rock to be available to win the title. Okay, but when the fuck is that going to happen? And he's a movie star, it's not like if The Rock wins the title he's going to be around every month to defend it and have a long reign. There's a reason why I love AEW and I don't love the WWE. Night 2 proves why. Triple H in charge of creative has not changed anything. Sure, there's less of the dumb, Vince comedy and more long-term booking than Vince's on-the-fly booking. But the big picture says that Triple H's WWE is just as disappointing, deflating, and tone-deaf as Vince's was. The WWE is so hot that Endeavor, that owns the UFC, just bought them. Will anything change? The sour taste in my mouth after watching this main event will never go away. I hope the fans feel the same way and the ratings plummet. Maybe only then will they realize the error of their ways. **1/2