Bankers Life Fieldhouse - Indianapolis, IN
Commentary team: Michael Cole, Corey Graves & Byron Saxton
KICK-OFF SHOW
Blah blah blah blah blah. You know, I am opposed to giving wrestling a pre-game show analysis because....well, because it's dumb. At least we get video recaps to get caught up on the angles. Sami Zayn was in the Social Media Lounge taking questions from the Twitterverse and we had a women's match:
Alicia Fox vs. Nia Jax.
This should follow the Sting vs. Vader template but it was closer to Tony Garea vs. Vader. Nia Jax is improving, especially since she is being booked as the monster of the women's division. Fox has been around since 2008 or so and you would think she could improve in that span. Basically, Fox tries to hit and run and Jax uses her power. Finish comes when Jax hits the Samoan Drop. *
CLASH OF CHAMPIONS MAIN CARD
Match #1: The New Day (w/ Xavier Woods) (c) vs. Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows - WWE RAW Tag Team Championship.
The opener was an energetic match from the get-go. No slow spots here as both teams got some near-falls. Xavier Woods uses the trombone in a questionable manner against Karl Anderson's head, setting him up to eat the pin after the Midnight Hour. Match was rather short but was entertaining. New Day remain the tag champs as they push for the record title reign. ***
Match #2: T.J. Perkins (c) vs. Brian Kendrick - WWE Cruiserweight Championship.
Perkins won the Cruiserweight Classic to be crowned champ, while Kendrick won a Fatal 4-Way on RAW to earn a title shot. Kendrick refused TJ's handshake at the start. They went with the slow burn with this one, as it got better and faster as it moved along. It was a bit sloppy in parts but they got it together. Kendrick hit Sliced Bread for a near-fall. However, Perkins gets the kneebar for the submission. ***¼ Post-match, Kendrick gives the old respect hug fakeout into the surprise headbutt.
Match #3: Cesaro vs. Sheamus - Best of Seven Series - Match 7 (Tied 3-3).
Excellent, hard-hitting power match here with both guys pulling out stuff we have never seen them do before. Cesaro pulled out a 619 while Sheamus did a Celtic Cross across his knee. Cesaro did a dive through the ropes to the outside that saw him land on his head. Near-falls for both guys that had the crowd into the match. There were attempted aerial moves, stiff uppercuts and White Noise on the floor. Both guys go over the barricade as medical personnel came out to check on them. The referee stops the match, much to the displeasure of myself and everyone else. The ending really deflated this as we get a no contest. If we get an actual finish, this gets thrown in the MOTY talk. Not sure why they couldn't book a finish. I mean, why do we need eight matches between these two? ****
Match #4: Sami Zayn vs. Chris Jericho.
Quite the expectations for this match, which started off slow as the chemistry didn't appear to be there at first. Eventually, the match got better as each guy traded several near-falls with the pace picking up. Zayn gets a near-fall off a Blue Thunder Bomb with Jericho slapping on the Walls of Jericho. Zayn escapes that but falls victim to a Codebreaker for the three count. ***½ Zayn has stalled in the mid-card and Jericho is one of the hotter acts going right now, so the outcome was no surprise.
Match #5: Bayley vs. Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte (c) (w/ Dana Brooke) - Triple Threat Match - WWE RAW Women's Championship.
Lots going on in this match with plenty of near-falls, broken pin attempts, broken submission attempts and interference on Dana Brooke's part. Bayley and Sasha put aside their friendship in the name of competition but they also took the time to double-team Charlotte. The finish comes when Bayley accidentally knocks Sasha off the apron and eats a boot from Charlotte for the pin. Charlotte retains the title. ***¾ Of note: we didn't get much of the "third person disappears from the ring for 5 minutes" segment. Just straight back and forth action.
Match #6: Roman Reigns vs. Rusev (c) (w/ Lana) - WWE United States Championship.
This match kept a slower pace than everything else on the card. At one point, we get a "Let's go Roman! Roman Sucks!" dueling chant. Rusev was in control for most of the match as it just plodded along. Reigns hits the spear but Lana gets herself ejected after pulling the referee out of the ring. Rusev gets a near-fall after a superkick and then slaps on the Accolade. Reigns escapes that and hits a spear for the three count and the title. Match was slow for most of its time, picking up near the end and ended up being okay. **½
Match #7: Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens (c) - WWE Universal Championship.
So Smackdown gets 2:40 and RAW goes over 3:00? Anyway, this match was going along pretty good with and threatening to be match of the night, until Jericho makes way down to the ring and we get into overbooking mode. Rollins looked like a stupid idiot going after Jericho and then we get a ref bump. The finish comes when Stephanie sends down a second ref just in time for Owens to hit the Pop-Up Powerbomb for the pin. ****¼ Another strong match in a series of them tonight. A better finish and we could have two serious contenders for MOTY.
THE FINAL WORD: RAW's first foray into the second brand split era is a winner. Top to bottom, everything exceeded or met expectations. I was disappointed in the Cesaro-Sheamus finish and the slightly overbooked ending to the main event, but I won't complain too much because that ring was jammed with solid action all night.
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