It’s a New Day…kinda
While it was a heartfelt moment getting to see Kofi Kingston in his native Ghana, the rest of the opening promo was fairly predictable. Dolph Ziggler interrupted with his own video package and the two had a little verbal spat. It was fine for some final hype for the match between Kingston and Ziggler at Super Showdown, but this type of opening segment has been a recurring theme for just a little too long.
Grade: B-
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn vs Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods
This match was pretty good, just not flashy or really all that memorable. It was a standard match with good performers. Also it’s a little weird seeing Xavier Woods wrestle this much since he was usually relegated to the mouthpiece when Big E was around. The post-match beatdown by Dolph Ziggler was also pretty good.
Winner: Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods
Grade: B
“Anything Roman can do, I can do better”
WWE did the thing where they showed us what happened last night as if it wasn’t only 24 hours ago. Shane McMahon’s cocky attitude is enough to make anyone want to Superman Punch his lights out.
Not Graded
Moment of Bliss
Alexa Bliss basically threw shade at Bayley for the beginning part of this segment, implying that Bayley simply had a “good night”. The whole segment quickly devolved as Carmella and Charlotte Flair joined them. No one really got a chance to shine, but I think the point was to establish the number one contender triple threat so the segment accomplished its baseline goal. Also what is this new coffee gimmick thing that Bliss is doing?
Grade: B-
R-Truth vs Elias-24/7 Championship Match
This was a mess, but it was an entertaining mess as the 24/7 Championship is supposed to be. I think it’s hilarious that R-Truth lost the belt in the match but then pinned Elias under the ring. How did the person know to ring the bell? Whatever, that belt totally belongs to Truth!
Winner: Elias, then R-Truth
Grade: C+
Dog Puns
Shane McMahon saying he was going to break Roman Reigns like a bad dog and neuter him was, in theory, supposed to sound intimidating. It just made me laugh. And the Claymore outta nowhere from Drew McIntyre looks devastating. It’s unfortunate that it was followed up by another one of McMahon’s god-awful Spears.
Grade: C
Alexa Bliss vs Bayley vs Carmella
This was overall a great match. All three women put in a nice showing, which is usually one of the challenges of a multi-person match. There was a weirdly clunky bit where Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose showed up, but kudos to WWE for creating and trying to maintain that secondary feud between Rose and Mella. Bliss actually wrestled and took some bumps so hopefully she’s good to go. I’m hoping this Bliss-Bayley feud goes a lot better than the last one.
Winner: Alexa Bliss
Grade: B-
Lars Sullivan’s first interview
I do have to admire the tenacity of WWE for still trying to make Lars a thing. Not only was interview terrible, and steeped in potential serial killer overtones, but the crowd was absolutely not having it.
Grade: F
Andrade vs Apollo Crews
Suprise, Finn Balor rolled up to brawl with Andrade so there was no match. I’m not too upset since it was meant to add hype to the match between the two of them at Super Showdown but I wish they hadn’t sacrificed Crews like that.
Grade: C+
GOLDBERG!
Call me what you will, but I will never not pop for Goldberg or Undertaker. I do think this match is about 20 years too late, it’s happening and this was great go-home promo and segment for their upcoming match. I wonder how much they paid Taker for that 10 second appearance in the ring.
Grade: B+
Final Thoughts
I guess this counted as a go-home show since Super Showdown is on Friday. I think it did fine hyping up the card going into the pay-per-view. There was an almost Twilight Zone feel to this episode because a lot of times, WWE treats these overseas shows as if they’re not canon so there’s almost no reason to care about the outcomes of the matches.
Overall Grade: C+
