SmackDown Live
Becky Lynch defeated Billie Kay
This was pretty standard stuff until Royce got involved. Kay couldn’t capitalize and Lynch won with the Dis-Arm-Her.
The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper and Rowan) (c) defeated Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson – WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championships
I’m not sure why this match happened again, especially considering it wasn’t as good as their encounter on the Money in the Bank Kickoff show.
The Anderson ‘hot tag’ heated things up, but it was just yet another convincing win for Harper and Rowan.
WWE Championship Number One Contender’s 5-man Gauntlet Match
I’ll go through this one round at a time.
Daniel Bryan defeated Big E – Round One
The story of this one was of course size vs. technique, despite Bryan defeated Big Cass two nights prior, before the latter was shockingly released under 24 hours ago.
Bryan managed to come out on top with the Running Knee after an impressive showing from the New Day member, including a vicious-looking Spear through the ropes, prompting “This is Awesome!” chants from the live crowd.
Daniel Bryan defeated Samoa Joe via Counout – Round Two
A similar story with this one, but a different outcome.
Joe had Bryan locked in the Coquina Clutch on the outside, but the ‘GOAT’ managed to escape and make his way into the ring with the referee at the count of nine, with Joe not making it.
The Miz defeated Daniel Bryan – Round Three
For some reason, the Bludgeon Brothers attacked Daniel Bryan, and The Miz came in to pick up the pieces with a Skull Crushing Finale.
Maybe Miz paid them, maybe they just felt like it. Who knows?
Rusev defeated The Miz – Final Round
Along with Round One, this was the most competitive match of the lot.
Miz had the upper hand playing a heel role, and the crowd even chanted “This is Awesome!” during a rest hold.
After a ding-dong battle, with the Bulgarian the clear babyface, Miz’s attempt at Bryan’s Running Knee was thwarted by a Machka Kick, and Rusev locked in the Accolade to stamp his ticket as AJ Styles’ challenger for the WWE Championship at Extreme Rules.
Match of the Show
WWE Championship Number One Contender’s 5-man Gauntlet Match
I suppose it’s almost cheating to award what was essentially four separate matches the ‘Match of the Show’, but with the combination of solid action, progressing some storylines, protection of those who lost, and Rusev winning, it was superb.
The Verdict
This is a very tough week, because there was a lot of needless matches on Raw, but the opener and main event were both very good.
I try not to account for the quantity of matches, but it’s very difficult when Raw has an extra hour to fill.
I’m going to give it to SmackDown, if we look at the Gauntlet matches separately.
‘Quality of Matches’ winner: SmackDown Live
6 years ago by Liam Winnard
Trending
- WWE Star Feels He Let People Down With WrestleMania 40 Match
- AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland Fires Back At WWE Star
- AEW’s Jon Moxley Addresses Fans Thinking He’d Appear At WWE WrestleMania 40
- AEW In-Ring Debut Confirmed
- Triple H Addresses New WWE Title Change
- Official WWE Draft 2024 Rules Announced
- WWE Star Says Trick Williams Isn’t Ready For The Main Roster
- Big Name Making WWE Debut This Week Update
- WWE NXT Star ‘Expected’ To Be Drafted To Raw Or SmackDown
- Top WWE Name Gives ‘Mad Props’ To Trick Williams Following NXT Championship Win
mailing list