WWE brought their flagship show and Smackdown to our shores in the United Kingdom this past week.
While the blue brand came out the victor, both episodes were fairly bland and lacklustre in truth. Over on the Raw show, Bobby Roode, Alexa Bliss and Kevin Owens all advanced to Money In The Bank. Seth Rollins once again stole the show with a thrilling Intercontinental Championship Match against. And WWE’s latest plan to have Roman Reigns cheered backfired as he was booed out of the building for attacking Jinder Mahal. When you get booed opposite The Maharaja you know you have problems.
Smackdown saw hometown hero Paige book Carmella into a sensational title defence at the MITB PPV. The fans were just thankful the Mellabration came to an end. Andrade Almas made his debut on the main roster. Daniel Bryan once again taught Big Cass a lesson in respect… And wrestling. While The New Day and Becky Lynch advanced to Money In The Bank, and Shinsuke Nakamura finally defeated AJ Styles.
10. Bobby Roode Def. No Way Jose and Baron Corbin In A Triple Threat Match To Advance To Money In The Bank.
This was by far the weakest of all qualifying matches. Bobby Roode is so bland as a babyface. Apart from his catchy entrance theme he has nothing worth cheering about. Why WWE has kept him as a good guy on the main roster is a mystery to me right up there with trying to discover who the anonymous Raw General Manager was. I refuse to believe it was Hornswoggle. Roode winning here was the only thing WWE could do, unless they wanted to throw No Way Jose into the ladder bout for a giggle. Saying that, Baron Corbin winning would’ve got a bigger laugh.
9. Becky Lynch Def. Sonya Deville And Mandy Rose In A Triple Threat Match To Advance To Money In The Bank.
As much of a fan of Sonya Deville as I am, I was so glad that Becky Lynch got the win here. She desperately needs it, and she’s still the most talented female performer on the Smackdown roster. I don’t care what people say, Charlotte is only ever as good as her opponent. I don’t think Lynch will win at MITB, and hopefully we start to see her snap and turn to the darkside. I’d love to see that happen. In other news from the women’s division, Carmella had her God-awful “Mellabration” which was even more boring than a Royal Wedding. Hard to believe I know, but true. Thankfully Paige interrupted proceedings to a thunderous hometown ovation to announce that Carmella would be defending her title against Asuka at MITB. Surely The Princess of Staten Island’s luck has run out or will WWE get her ready for Asuka and defeat The Empress of Tomorrow? Time will tell.
8. Roman Reigns Speared Jinder Mahal Through A Wall.
It’s never a good idea to kick off Raw with your least popular guy, but WWE seem to get a kick out of sending Roman Reigns out there at the top of each show to get booed (or as Michael Cole put it, “serenaded”) out of the building. That’s exactly what happened once more in London, and Roman didn’t exactly help the situation by claiming he was robbed and being held back by management again, the same management that has given him countless opportunities since he left The Shield. Kurt Angle even got cheered when he said management (The Authority’s new name, I’m guessing) had refused Reigns anymore chances at qualifying for Money In The Bank. Reigns is meant to be the top babyface in the company, something tells me things aren’t going to plan. Anyway, Reigns took his frustration out on Jinder Mahal, beating him senseless backstage before Spearing him through a wall that WWE had seemingly put up in the o2 Arena simply for that purpose. And despite that carnage, Roman was booed again. Just turn him heel and be done with it.
7. Andrade Almas Debut.
Andrade Almas made his Smackdown debut in London and got a great reception. He beat a local talent in a match which wasn’t anything to write home about, but the post-match promo by his manager is what made this for me. She’s what took Almas to the next level in NXT, and WWE will be hoping she can do the same on the main roster. If Almas is not wearing championship gold before the year is out I’d be amazed.
6. Alexa Bliss Def. Bayley And Mickie James To Advance to Money In The Bank.
Once the news broke of Nia Jax defending the Raw Women’s Championship against Ronda Rousey at Money In The Bank, it was pretty clear which one of these three were advancing to the ladder match. Poor Bayley never wins, and Mickie is just there for her veteran status these days, so this was always going to be Alexa’s to lose. She’s the favourite to win the briefcase and the most logical. I firmly believe the MITB gimmick works best when a heel is holding the contract, and a cowardly heel at that. Bliss fits the bill.
5. The New Day Def. The Bar For One Member Of Their Team To Advance To Money In The Bank.
Following the news leaks these past few days of WWE planning a mega push for Big E, this result didn’t exactly come as a surprise. The bout was good though, which was to be expected considering the talent on show and the incredible chemistry the tandems have. Big E branching off on his own could be a good thing, but I just don’t think I’m ready to say goodbye to The New Day just yet.
4. Kevin Owens Def. Elias and Bobby Lashley In A Triple Threat Match To Advance To Money In The Bank.
I know that last week I wrote that Elias would win Money In The Bank, and I’m man enough to admit when I get it totally wrong. You see, Kevin Owens took the last Raw spot in the ladder match by beating The Drifter and Bobby Lashley in the night’s main event. Owens pulled double duty on Raw, after failing to capture the Intercontinental Championship (more on that later), he took the place of the injured Jinder Mahal per orders of Stephanie McMahon. It still hasn’t been explained why Stephanie keeps helping a guy who put her father in the hospital, but we won’t get into that. Sami Zayn cost Lashley the match in similar fashion to Mahal on Reigns the previous week. Elias losing was such a shock to the system, I genuinely thought he was a guarantee to not only be in the match but win it. However, KO is in and that’s a great consolation prize.
3. Daniel Bryan Destroyed Big Cass.
The reception Daniel Bryan got in London was awesome. Well deserved too. He looked genuinely taken aback by it which is hardly surprising considering American audiences by and large have treated his monumental comeback with a collective “meh”. Bryan kicked off this week’s edition of Smackdown with an in-ring interview with Renee Young, although the talented journalist didn’t get to ask a single question because her voice was drowned out by the sell-out crowd chanting for Bryan. Then Big Cass had to come out and spoil everything. Give him credit, he’s good at getting people to hate him. But is it good heat or go away heat? I’m not so sure yet. What I am sure of is I loved seeing Bryan kick his butt once again, and make him tap out one more time. The story didn’t need continuing after Bryan won cleanly at Backlash, but if we’re going to persist with it at least keep having Big Cass run his mouth only for Bryan to make him scream out in pain every time. Brilliant stuff.
2. Seth Rollins Def. Kevin Owens To Remain The Intercontinental Champion.
Once again, Seth Rollins proved he is The Man in WWE right now. He can do no wrong. He’s in the form of his life, add Kevin Owens to that and you got a recipe for an instant classic. While it wasn’t a classic, it was still the best thing about Raw and exceptionally good. Rollins has been so good this year that some are speculating Vince McMahon has decided to push him to the forefront of the show and challenge Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship over the summer months. Now that’s what I want to see. Anything is better than Roman Reigns right now.
1. Shinsuke Nakamura Def. AJ Styles.
We were all worried, but finally these two great athletes eased our concerns with a great main event on Smackdown. And we also got a decisive winner which always helps. The victor, Shinsuke Nakamura in this case, got to name the stipulation for their WWE Championship Match at Money In The Bank. With Nakamura winning this one, I think it’s safe to say he won’t be taking home the title come PPV time. The finish here was smart and reminded of Eddie Guerrero in his prime. Heel Nakamura is pretty awesome. He’s got his character down, now he just needs to start putting in show-stealing performances. This was good, now let’s see what they can do when the lights are on bright.