Royal Rumble (January 24th)
The Royal Rumble match decided who would be the champion for the first time since Ric Flair won the WWF title in 1992. As Roman Reigns was champion going in, many fans were hoping he would be dethroned.It featured four matches on the main card aside from the Royal Rumble.
Charlotte defended her Divas Championship against Becky Lynch, New Day retained against The Usos, and Kalisto won the United States title from Alberto Del Rio. But by far the best was a Last Man Standing match for the Intercontinental title between champion Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens. They opened the show with what would’ve easily been a main event on any card. Ambrose retained, but it helped Owens a lot in
the long run.
The Royal Rumble was met with mixed reception. AJ Styles’ debut will certainly be remembered for years to come. One annoying aspect was Brock Lesnar getting eliminated only to walk away with no repercussions for The Wyatt Family. Reigns
getting taken out on the outside, helped to the back, and re-entering the match later (selling none of the injuries) was a huge negative as it didn’t make sense when you look back at previous Rumbles; anyone taken to the back would not be allowed to return.
Triple H went on to win the match and the title, which was unexpected to some, but also to legends like Bret Hart tiresome: “I didn’t like the decision that Triple H, surprise, put the belt on himself again… it just showed a real lack of imagination if you ask me”.
Personally I enjoyed the event. I liked that Triple H won as I didn’t expect it. The rest of the card was acceptable, and seeing AJ Styles in a WWE ring was like watching an alternate universe. I never believed it would happen, so WWE really outdid themselves and while I can understand some of the criticisms, the PPV delivered and didn’t end like previous Rumbles with a chorus of boo’s for the winner.
Thumbs Up!
Fastlane (February 21st)
I don’t like this event much as it always feels like a throwaway. Not much happened in this one .. Becky and Sasha won a tag match against Team B.A.D, Kevin Owens retained the IC title against Ziggler, The Wyatt Family showed they could still lose to random teams like Big Show, Kane & Ryback, and Charlotte defended her title against Brie Bella.
Probably the only gem to be found in this mess was AJ Styles facing Chris Jericho for the first time. WWE let AJ do what he does, and Jericho showed what he’s paid to do. Y2J put Styles over, even though it was a little unnecessary to kick out of the Styles Clash so early in his WWE career. Regardless, AJ facing Jericho so early after debuting was a sign of things to come.
For no reason at all, a Superstars match broke out between Curtis Axel and R-Truth, wasting a couple of minutes which could’ve been given to the main event.
The main event was a triple threat to become #1 contender between Dean Ambrose, Brock Lesnar, and Roman Reigns. The predictable WWE super hero booking of Reigns told everyone he was 99.99% sure to win and face Triple H at Wrestlemania.
To me, I felt like the main event was decent, yet Brock Lesnar looked out-of-place and not well-suited for a triple threat match with two guys who were nowhere near his level of intensity. Reigns typically no-sold chair shots and other moves before spearing Ambrose for the win. Yawn! The fans were firmly in Ambrose’s corner so they didn’t like it too much.
Thumbs Down.
Roadblock (March 12th)
Just another throwaway before Wrestlemania. It was a bit of a tease as it gave fans some hope of a different WM main event, but we all knew deep down nothing was going to change.
New Day retained against League Of Nations. Jericho made Swagger submit .. just because. Surprisingly, WWE found space to add a NXT Tag Team title match between The Revival and SAWFT which went down very well. I believe this was both teams debut on the main roster, and the reaction SAWFT got was pretty amazing. Rather telling of the main roster when NXT talents get all the buzz though .. and SAWFT were unsuccessful in their challenge.
Natalya put on a great performance against Charlotte, but could not take the title from her. Brock Lesnar was scheduled to face Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper in a handicap match, but due to Bray being injured .. Harper was fed to him and they lost the forgettable match and feud in four minutes. Sami Zayn and Stardust had a forgettable one before the main event.
The main event was actually pretty good despite the obvious outcome. What this did was show the fans what would’ve happened at Wrestlemania instead of HHH vs. Reigns. It would have been better received, as Ambrose showed he could go toe to toe with The Game. A false finish generated some excitement, but a pedigree put an end to a lengthy main event which was worthy of at least four stars. It helped to establish Ambrose as a main event player for the rest of the year.
Still, Roadblock should have generated a lot more excitement going into the biggest PPV of the year and it failed to deliver much outside the main event. A glorified house show.
Thumbs Down.
NXT TakeOver: Dallas (April 1st)
What I love about NXT TakeOver events is they don’t happen every month, and when they do .. every match means something as the feuds and characters are built up over an extended period. With just five matches and a much lower budget than Wrestlemania, many considered TakeOver: Dallas superior in many aspects.
The first match was for the NXT Tag Team titles between American Alpha and champions The Revival. After 15-minutes of fast-paced exciting action with two teams displaying superb chemistry, American Alpha made themselves known by winning the titles. An excellent way to start the show.
Next up was the debut of “The Greatest Man That Ever Lived” Austin Aries, facing off against the arrogant big man Baron Corbin. Despite it being the weakest match on the card, Aries made Corbin look good in defeat, and almost a year later we are beginning to see Corbin challenge for the WWE Championship.
Shinsuke Nakamura made his debut and instantly became a star in the WWE universe, so much so that some said he should appear at Wrestlemania in the main event. The NJPW style translated over into his debut match with Sami Zayn, who was there defending the honour of NXT and vowing to leave the promotion on a high. It was a brutal and very exciting match which many will consider match of the year.
Following that was super babyface champion Bayley defending her title against the undefeated Asuka. The crowd was still trying to get over Nakamura vs. Zayn, so they were a little quiet at first but they got into it. Asuka made her pass out and claimed the NXT Women’s Championship, which she still holds today.
The main event between Finn Balor and Samoa Joe for the NXT title will be remembered for Joe’s blood flow. Despite the stoppages to clean his face, it didn’t take away from anything as it made the contest seem more real and dangerous. Many were expecting Joe to get the win, so it was refreshing when Balor retained and kept it for a while longer. Many critics reviewed the event as one that helped to establish NXT as a third brand under the WWE banner, rather than a developmental promotion.
Both Thumbs Up!
Wrestlemania 32 (April 3rd)
This year we were treated to seven hours of Wrestlemania if you include the pre-show. In the first two hours we got classics such as Kalisto retaining his US title against Ryback, a 10-Diva tag team match, and The Usos beating The Dudleys in five minutes.
The main show started with a bang as we got the ladder match for the Intercontinental title right away. In one of the most memorable (yet disappointing as he lost it the next day) moments of the show, Zack Ryder got his Wrestlemania moment by winning the Intercontinental title.
Surprisingly Jericho and AJ Styles were on next, and while it was pretty good, fans were befuddled by having AJ lose his first Wrestlemania match. League Of Nations beat The New Day in a forgettable six-man tag. Dean Ambrose was made to look inferior despite coming close to beating Triple H the month before in a very one-sided No Holds Barred Street Fight with Brock Lesnar.
In what some consider the best match of the night, Charlotte was crowned the new WWE Women’s Champion by defeating Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch; leaving the old Divas title to be deactivated. This was a very important step in bringing the women away from the “divas” label they’d been slapped with for years.
In a 30-minute Hell in a Cell match, the suspension of disbelief needed to be at an all-time high as Shane McMahon fought The Undertaker with high stakes. Despite The Undertaker winning the match not long after Shane jumped off the cell, it came to nothing as Vince ended up giving Shane control of Raw anyways .. and later Smackdown full-time. Some enjoyed it, but I think the fans expected more.
One of the better decisions of the night was having NXT guy Baron Corbin win the 20-man Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal. The crowd popped for it, and Corbin looked really happy to get his Wrestlemania moment. It was unexpected in a good way.
The Rock returned out of nowhere and decided he wanted a match. So he got one with Erick Rowan and finished him in six seconds, setting a new fastest match at Wrestlemania record. Not exactly what I had in mind .. but the crowd seemed to enjoy it so I can’t complain.
By this point some of the crowd had sat for over six hours and was expected to sit through at least half an hour of Triple H vs. Roman Reigns (plus entrances) for the title. Reigns was so hated that Triple H got much of the support, and despite The Games best efforts to produce a classic, Reigns wasn’t up for it, and it dragged on, and on, with the crowd getting increasingly more angry and frustrated.
Reigns finally ended the match with a third spear and the crowd groaned as the firework display ended the show. The main event killed any good the PPV produced up til that point. Unlike the previous Wrestlemania where it seemed WWE wanted to make it up to disgruntled wrestling fans .. this time they seemed intent on frustrating the same demographic while catering to the casual audience who were there for nostalgia.
Thumbs Down.
Payback (May 1st)
Another event they never take seriously. Going into it the “new era” was being plugged with Shane and Stephanie McMahon running Raw .. so really it wasn’t the new era, it was stuff we’d seen before with a new tagline.
On the pre-show Dolph Ziggler beat the guy who just won a big match at Wrestlemania .. Baron Corbin, in eight minutes. Kalisto and Ryback worked a pretty decent contest for the US title, and should’ve been on the main show.
Simon Gotch killed The Vaudevillains career by throwing Enzo Amore in to the ropes and giving him concussion. They became #1 contenders, but since losing their chance they’ve been buried something fierce. Owens and Zayn had a match which was considered match of the night; wasn’t difficult for them to achieve.
The Miz retained his title against Cesaro. Ambrose and Jericho had a match which started well, but lost steam in the end and Ambrose picked up the much-needed win. Natalya challenged Charlotte for the Women’s title, this time with Bret Hart in her corner. A Montreal Screwjob killed any good they produced in the match.
The main event between Roman Reigns and AJ Styles was marred with stipulations being added after Shane restarted the match, and later Stephanie restarting it as well. The fans were firmly in the corner of AJ throughout. After the show came to an end and the cameras stopped rolling, Reigns yelled angrily at the crowd for booing him in the main event. WWE also edited a fan sign on their website to show “When It Reigns”, instead of “When It Reigns, It Bores”.
Thumbs Down.
Extreme Rules (May 22nd)
Corbin got his revenge on Ziggler on the pre-show. Gallows and Anderson made their PPV debut with an easy win over The Usos. Rusev finally got his career back on track after a lousy run in the League of Nations by making Kalisto tap out, claiming the United States title once more. The Vaudevillains lost in six-minutes to The New Day, and never seen in that slot again.
By far the best match of the night was the Fatal Four-way for the Intercontinental title between champion The Miz, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, and Cesaro. It was an exciting contest where all four men gave it their all and it seemed like anyone could win it, but in the end the craftiness of The Miz shone through and he came away as a credible heel champion. His run of good form escalated from the victory.
Ambrose and Jericho fought after that in an Asylum match, which didn’t go down seriously well considering the gimmick and overall pace. The only saving grace was Y2J’s selling when he was driven through the thumbtacks at the end. Just to show her dominance, Charlotte beat Natalya in a submission match with the stipulation that if Ric Flair came to ringside she would lose her title; only this time she had the help of Dana Brooke.
The main event was an Extreme Rules match between AJ Styles and Roman Reigns for the WWE World Heavyweight title. It was praised by critics, as it seemed to be a vast improvement over their previous, and AJ took some pretty mean bumps and tons of punishment. It seemed that AJ had found a way to work with Reigns and bring the best out of him.
The interference of Gallows, Anderson, and The Usos added to the intensity before Reigns finished it with a spear. Directly afterwards, Seth Rollins made his long-awaited return by giving Reigns a surprise Pedigree, much to the delight of the fans.
Thumbs Up!
NXT TakeOver: The End (June 8th)
Another TakeOver and only five matches on the card. Andrade Almas made his WWE PPV debut with a quick win over Tye Dillinger. The Revival and American Alpha improved on their previous encounter, but this time it was Dash & Dawson who walked away with the gold.
The best of the night was a dream match between Austin Aries and Shinsuke Nakamura. It started slow and methodical, but it came to an epic conclusion with Nakamura picking up the victory, and Aries still looked good in defeat. Nia Jax challenged Asuka for the NXT Women’s title, but it took only nine minutes to take the big woman down and it was fairly average to watch.
Finn Balor challenged Joe for the NXT title in a steel cage. It was good, but there was something missing which had been there before. Also I’m not sure if the cage was used enough to warrant it being there in the first place. Either way, it was a solid fight for the NXT title and Joe retained in the end. Not as epic of an event as TakeOver: Dallas, but still pretty good and worth a watch.
Thumbs Up!
Money In The Bank (June 19th)
It started with The New Day surviving a fatal four-way against Gallows & Anderson, SAWFT, and The Vaudevillains. Corbin picked up yet another win over Ziggler, and the new pairing of Charlotte/Dana Brooke saw off the team of Natalya/Becky Lynch. Apollo Crews picked up his biggest win to date over Sheamus in little under nine minutes.
One of the best outings on the card was the dream match of former “Mr. TNA” and IWGP Heavyweight Champion against “Mr. WWE” and 15-time World Champion John Cena. It was a great match, but ended in controversial fashion as Gallows & Anderson interfered behind the referees back.
The Money In The Bank briefcase was awarded in a ladder match involving Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho, Dean Ambrose, Alberto Del Rio, Cesaro and Sami Zayn. It was good, but the ending was a little predictable as many had Ambrose as their favourite. Regardless it was a solid ladder match filled with dangerous spots. After this, Rusev retained his US title against Titus O’Neil in a good cool-down match.
Rollins and Reigns seemed determined to put on a classic in the main event. Their chemistry has always been pretty good, but this time Reigns displayed heel tendencies and it helped the crowd get behind Rollins more. After a bunch of false-finishes, Rollins nailed Reigns with a second pedigree and beat him clean for the WWE Championship.
Ambrose’s music hit! The crowd popped as Rollins waited for him to come down the ramp. Ambrose appeared from behind, clocked Rollins with the briefcase, and cashed it in for a title match. One Dirty Deeds ensured his first WWE Championship title reign.
It felt like a step in the right direction. The ratings for Raw were getting lower and it felt right to put the belt on Ambrose, yet it seemed to go against him down the road. In the coming days it was announced Roman Reigns was suspended for thirty days for violating the wellness policy, which made sense after the way he was booked at Money In The Bank.
Thumbs Up!
Battleground (July 24th)
The PPV had a lot more meaning as the Brand Extension had taken place but the rosters had not yet split, so whoever left on the night with a championship would take it to the brand they were drafted too.
To open the show, Sasha Banks and Bayley made their main roster PPV debuts with a win in a tag match over Charlotte and Dana Brooke. The New Day came up against their biggest challengers to date in The Wyatt Family, and while Xavier Woods finally managed to show what he can do in the ring .. Wyatt, Rowan, and Strowman were too much.
Zack Ryder was fed to Rusev again. Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens followed that with an even better outing than their Payback encounter, and this time Sami found a way. Natalya made Becky Lynch tap out in a forgettable submission match. Even more so was Darren Young’s joke of an attempt at The Miz’s Intercontinental title.
SAWFT burst on to the main roster with a helping hand from John Cena to take on “The Club” members of AJ Styles, Gallows & Anderson. It was pretty good, not something to analyze to death .. but still something the fans enjoyed as the babyfaces got the victory.
Hard to say whether Zayn/Owens or the main event was match of the night, as the former Shield brothers fought one another in a triple threat for the WWE Championship. As predicted, it had plenty of action, finishers, close calls, and Ambrose finding the opportunity to hit Dirty Deeds on Reigns and take the title to Smackdown Live! All in all, Battleground far exceeded my expectations.
Thumbs Up!
And that’s it for today, apologies I couldn’t do the rest but I’ll be sure to have it to you soon. The trend going into the brand extension seems to be that the year started badly (aside from NXT who were awesome), but gradually got better and better. Thanks for reading!
