I actually watched both nights in full, though only Night 2 live. I thought it was an awesome weekend of wrestling and one of the best combined PPVs (or Premium Live Events, if you weeeiiiill) they've ever done. Even the stuff I wasn't really arsed about came off fine. Some of it I've only watched once and I was heavily in my cups during it, but I re-watched my favourite things and they came off just as well as they did live. I'll also re-watch Reigns/Cody at some point but that fucker was like 50 minutes all in and I'm not ready to tackle it sober just yet.
I thought the first third of this was okay and the final two thirds were pretty great. I'd read one or two things about this being the best women's match in company history, maybe even the best North American women's match ever. I don't know about that, but I sure bought into them trying to steal the show as a fuck you for not main eventing Night 1, and if nothing else they absolutely whomped the shit out of each other. It was about as physical as any women's match WWE have ever done and even those often-tired strike exchanges worked for me here more than they will 95% of the time. In the first third they set the tone with some of that striking, teased a few things that didn't come off but would later, it was a nice slow build title match. Then there was one chop exchange that carried a little extra weight and from there they had me completely. They flipped a switch then and everything they did, every layer they added, felt like they were building something incredible. They were shredding each other with those chops, easily the best I've ever seen Charlotte throw, and I loved how Rhea put a stop to it by just booting her in the guts and stomping on her foot. The pacing on every big nearfall was great and even those goofy moments with each of them pulling their own hair out in response to a kick-out felt earned. The first German suplex off the middle rope was a cool spot, but the second from a standing position was truly bonkers and Flair is a lunatic for taking that thing literally on her face. No hands, just nose-first with neck cranking at an ugly angle, one of those bumps you save for a moment like this. I also liked how she went for the figure-8 at several different points and Ripley either managed to fight her off, or on that last attempt make it to the ropes immediately. If Charlotte had applied it in the middle of the ring she might've been able to bridge up and the outcome would've been different, but she couldn't and it's something they can lean into if and when they run this pairing back. The finish ruled as well, first with the post bump and then Ripley hitting the avalanche Riptide. A big finish for a big match. Maybe they really should've gone on last.
Brock Lesnar v Omos
Goofy cowboy babyface Lesnar was pretty fun for a while there. This was about as low key as you'll get with Brock these days, but it was seven minutes of what it needed to be and I thought he looked as great as ever. He's still an amazing salesman and I loved him almost laughing as Omos picked him up and threw him across the ring. He made all of Omos' big boy shit look nasty and Omos really laid it in on his end. There was one forearm shiver to the kidneys that they did the slow-mo replay of and Lesnar's whole body rippled like he'd been electrocuted. Lesnar dropping to a knee when his back gave out was a nice little touch that will put over the scale of a situation, just by virtue of the fact it's Lesnar and any chink in the armour is significant. It looked like he threw that first German suplex from the pits of hell the way he was damn near horizontal as he popped his hips.
Gunther v Sheamus v Drew McIntyre
You knew what this was going to be. It was built as a match between three guys who hit hard as a bastard, who've worked matches together before where they all hit hard as a bastard. Sheamus and Gunther had that match in Cardiff that left Sheamus with a minced chest and Gunther is pretty well known as the guy who'll shred you with chops and lariats and everything else, like the modern WWE version of Kensuke Sasaki. Sometimes matches like that can feel a wee bit on the nose, where all of the hitting hard is there as some sort of demented sideshow, something that becomes the point of the match rather than the means to the end. Not that I'm opposed to a demented sideshow now and then, but sometimes winning the actual contest becomes secondary to showing how tough the wrestlers are. Now that we've all seen behind the curtain we know who likes to work stiffer and who's more inclined to lean into shit, so there was always an element of "well we know THIS isn't going to be a monkey show," but there was never a point here where it felt like Sasaki and Kobashi doing a six-minute chop battle just for the novelty of it. When any of these three hit each other I bought that it was in service of actually taking out the person on the receiving end, the ultimate goal to win the match and the title belt, not a demonstration of manliness. But of course they still absolutely walloped the shit out of each other. Sheamus either bladed his chest like a madman or the chops drew blood, and for all the times you've seen pasty white Sheamus with a blood blistered chest I don't remember him actually bleeding from them. Whenever someone was left to recuperate on the peripheries it felt warranted, rather than someone sitting out for a couple minutes so the other two could do some stuff. Running knees, big boots, headbutts, chops, forearm clubs, the whole shebang. At one point Drew headbutted Sheamus like he was a bighorn sheep. Their big exchange at the end was amazing, both of them dead on their feet, propping each other up while throwing lariats to the face and neck, not a single thing pretty about it, just muscle memory from a Scottish guy and an Irish guy that have been moulded by this sort of brutality. Gunther hitting the out of nowhere splash to save the title was an awesome moment, and then him powerbombing Sheamus ONTO Drew before finishing it off with a regular powerbomb was a spectacular finish. I also thought the commentary on both nights was really good and Michael Cole laughing his head off at what these nutjobs were doing to each other is about as relatable as he's ever been. At a certain point you just kind of forget where you are and you lose yourself in the moment like everybody else. Maybe the best triple threat WWE have ever done.
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