Make the match!
The Viking Raiders started the show, with newly formatted entrance type that actually says “Viking Raiders” on it along with their new individual names. Commentary was working hard to get the name change over as well. I definitely snorted at the Street Profits’ digs at the champions’ name changes as well as Montez Ford’s comment “You’re on Raw, aww”. It was the right amount of boisterous disrespect that the Profits are known for. It was a great opening segment, the audience was sucked in right away, and were totally behind the Street Profits as they challenged for the NXT Tag Team Championships.
Grade: A
Undisputed Era Reconciliation
We were shown the shouting match between Adam Cole and Roderick Strong from last week and it seemed that Strong had quit. But as the rest of Undisputed Era was being interviewed, Strong brought a bloody flip flop as a peace offering and it seems the boys are back on the same page. I guess some families need therapy and others need parking lot sneak attacks. It’s all good.
Grade: A
Keith Lee vs Cezar Bononi
I have to admit that I get hyped whenever I hear Keith Lee’s entrance music. The match itself was fairly short and Lee dominated it for the most part. I was looking forward to seeing more of his rivalry with Dominik Dijakovic, but it seems that’s on hold as Dijakovic recovers from a torn meniscus. Hopefully they find another meaningful feud for Lee.
Winner: Keith Lee
Grade: B
Cathy Kelley standing by…
Kelley had several backstage segments so I’m just going to put them all here. We learned that Shayna Baszler will be defending her title against Io Shirai at the upcoming Takeover event, Mia Yim and Bianca Belair are going to have a rematch, and Johnny Gargano will defend his title against Adam Cole again. I found the backstage segments this week pretty entertaining, especially with everyone barging into William Regal’s office.
Grade: A-
Kona Reeves vs Kushida
I don’t think I’ve mentioned how much I adore Kushida’s Back to the Future aesthetic, but it’s amazing. The match was pretty good too. I liked Reeves’ work here; always love a larger performer using their size to their advantage. It was kinda weird that Drew Gulak was just standing on the ramp watching the match and then left without saying a word, but I guess we’ll get to that later on.
Winner: Kushida
Grade: B+
Vanessa Borne vs Jessie
I guess they decided that Jessie doesn’t need her last name anymore. Borne showed a bit more offense than I’m used to seeing from her, though at times the sequences seemed a little slow as if they were trying to figure out what to do next. Jessie will benefit from more in-ring time, but I do want to see more of her.
Winner: Vanessa Borne
Grade: B-
Viking Raiders vs Street Profits-NXT Tag Team Championships
Firstly, I was highly impressed by the two big men and their dueling cartwheels. Secondly, the whole match was lit! I enjoyed it from the beginning until the no-contest finish. But I’m not even mad about the no-contest because it made sense. The Profits winning would’ve been almost too predictable since the Raiders are officially on Raw. I giggled at the unofficial “win” by the Profits as well. Also Mauro totally knows what he’s doing with those Viking Experience puns.
Winner: No Contest
Grade: A
Final Thoughts
Yowie wowie, Beth Phoenix is on commentary now! Good luck to Percy Watson in whatever he decides to pursue next. This was a great episode. We’ve got a Takeover coming up so we’re building up to that. I’m curious as to what’s going to happen with the tag team championships going forward though. Every other champion who’s been called up has had to lose the NXT title they were holding so we’ll see how this pans out for the Viking Raiders.
Overall Grade: A-
