Not only is it time for WWE's first PPV in the UK in 30 years... it's also the first weekend of our #ArcadeMonth festivities! Check it out!
The pre-show match between The Street Profits and Madcapp Moss vs. Alpha Academy and Austin Theory was fun for what it was, but hardly an all-timer. The crowd here is SUPER fired up for the event. What's with Michael Cole's microphone though? Insane "From The Heavens" by Montez Ford to get people ready for the big show.
Bianca Belair, Alexa Bliss and Asuka against Damage Control (Bayley, Dakota Kai and Io Sky) was a perfect choice for an opener, as they had tons of backstory on this one dating back to SummerSlam. Both teams worked quite well and the decision to give this to Damage Control made a ton of sense if you're going to build them up as something special.
Sheamus vs. Gunther was just a hard-hitting brawl with a tremendous story to it. The fact that Imperium reunited right before the match told me that Gunther wasn't losing here tonight... but there was just enough back and forth in this to make you really wonder if I could be wrong. Great, great match here and the crowd ate it up. Nice reception for Sheamus after, too -- he really is one of the most overlooked guys on the roster for his skill level.
While I didn't love the Liv Morgan-Shayna Baszler match, it held its own on such a stacked card. The headline here is that Liv won without a fluke victory... which is something she'll need to keep doing if she wants to be taken seriously (especially with a rematch looming against Ronda Rousey). I wouldn't have minded a Shayna Baszler win here as she's (finally) regaining her killer instinct.... but I get that Liv Morgan is the project here.
Edge & Rey Mysterio vs. The Judgment Day was a bit formulaic but still fun. We all knew this was ust a backdrop from the Dominik story. In terms of his inevitable turn, I enjoyed it. It wasn't over the top but gave him a bit of his own identity. What's more, I REALLY enjoyed The Judgment Day laughing in the background as it happened; heels don't do much of that any more. It reminds me of the Heenan Family celebrating when Paul Orndorff turned on Hulk Hogan.
Matt Riddle vs. Seth Rollins had a great energy to it (another really solid build-up, too, which tells you something about this current WWE era). Some phenomenal wrestling sequences here, and this is a match where you'd almost excuse them for doing a complete brawl. They did bring back the heat towards the end, which made this match all the better. Rollins has to be one of the most consistent PPV performers, and that performance did wonders for Riddle here as well.
Drew McIntyre vs. Roman Reigns had the famed "big fight feel" and a crowd clearly behind Drew. I walked into this conceding that this could very likely be the end of The Tribal Chief's title reign - not that that's what I wanted. On to the match.... it was one of the best main events I've seen in a long while. So many twists and turns, so many big moments. An unusual moment between Tyson Fury and Austin Theory. A few smoke and mirrors moments, and seemingly a new member for The Bloodline. Loved everything about this, and even more, I loved that my prediction was wrong and Roman retained.
Could I have done without the impromptu karaoke session after the match? Hell yes. That was such a.... weird ending.
Overall, a decent Premium Live Event, but that main event was next level.
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