We kick off the night with the US Champion LA Knight as he had issued an open challenge for his Championship prior to Bash in Berlin tomorrow. And guess who answered the call? European elegance himself… Ludwig Kaiser.
LA Knight (c) vs. Ludwig Kaiser – US Championship match
I’ve never heard anyone chant Kaiser’s name the way Germany has given he’s from there, so it felt accurate. He basked in it for all it’s worth as seen on his face and arrogant behavior. LA Knight isn’t the crowd favorite he’s grown accustomed to during his run in WWE. But, these things happen, so to dwell on it would be a waste of time.
Kaiser has momentary control of Knight’s arm and it’s quickly turned in favor of the Megastar as he continuously yanks on his challenger’s arm. Ludwig returns fire with a big right hand to the jaw of the Champion, completely stunning him. Unfortunately for Kaiser, Knight explodes out of the corner with a clothesline.
Later on, Ludwig bounces back after hitting the ring apron by shoving Knight against it as well, then follows that up by ramming the champ’s head towards the steel steps. Ludwig executes the same move that took out his former Tag partner, Giovanni Vinci and former Champion Kofi Kingston by taking out Knight’s right shoulder.
LA Knight has been on the receiving end of a beating from Kaiser, but he makes a comeback when he spears Ludwig into the corner of the ring. The champ sends Kaiser outside, then continues his pursuit by dribbling his challenger’s head on the German announce table. He nearly gained success after that elbow drop.
Kaiser was very close to pinning Knight with a perfectly timed step up enziguri, yet the champ gets back up with a body slam. Surprisingly, Kaiser almost steals one when he escaped the BFT, then rolled the champ by grabbing his tights.
LA Knight manages to thwart Kaiser’s efforts by driving a knee to the back of the challenger. He retains his title with a winning BFT. But, if I’m being honest, Kaiser’s right shoulder didn’t look fully down… If you check the final pin, you’ll see what I mean. However, I could be wrong, too.
Winner: LA Knight
Apollo Crews & Baron Corbin vs. Los Garza – Tag Team match
Crews and Humberto start this match as they show off their dodging skills for all to see. Apollo finally breaks that with a sudden drop kick to Berto’s chest and continues this streak of brute force with a delayed, but triumphant vertical suplex.
Once Baron comes into the fold, he hammers down on Angel’s head in the corner of the ring after managing to escape whatever Los Garza were preparing to do in the first place. Corbin plants Angel with a clothesline that rocks him.
When Los Garza corner Corbin, they play a sequence of double teams on him for good measure. Oof, that running knee Angel performed was painful to watch, so Corbin tags Apollo after he disposed of Berto. Corbin launches his partner onto their opponents much to the dismay of Santos and Elektra.
When we got back from a commercial break, Apollo is seen being battered from piler to post like a lifeless ragdoll. Los Garza were making great work out of Apollo, yet Crews wobbles his way out of their grip to tag Corbin. He’s cleaning house, amazingly so.
Apollo is looking great as he suplexes Loa Garza using his cord strength against them. That upper hand he had diminishes once Humberto lands a hit on his face with that springboard kick. Corbin sidesteps as Berto rushes towards him, yet he meets with Angel’s boot. A collision center of the ring puts this match at a standstill.
Legado del Fantasma can see that they’re losing, so Lopez attempts a distraction as Escobar drives Corbin into the steel steps. Because of this nonsense, Los Garza were able to hit the MTY on Crews.
Winners: Los Garza
In a dark room somewhere in the back, the Bloodline have made it their home. Solo warns DIY of the looming threat coming their way as they face the Tongas for the WWE Tag Team Championships next week. Before he became the Tribal Chief, Sikoa took out his brother, Jimmy Uso, the wise man, Paul Heyman, plus the former and longest Undisputed Champion, Roman Reigns.
Solo doesn’t care who between Rhodes and Owens wins at Bash in Berlin, he’ll be coming for either one at the end of the day. They’re both put on notice regardless of the outcome. I wouldn’t be surprised when Jacob Fatu announces his intentions for the US Championship.
Nick Aldis thanks the German crowd for the best European tour they had fun doing these past couple of days. Now, as we get back to business, Aldis welcomes the competitors fighting for the Undisputed Championship, Kevin Owens and Cody Rhodes.
Given Kevin’s track record of backstabbing his friends in the past, Rhodes noticed the very thing I saw last week when if he hadn’t turned around, Owens would have hit him with his own belt. With that in mind, Owens assures Cody that because of his relationship with Dusty Rhodes and his changed persona from all that time ago, he wouldn’t do that.
Nevertheless, Cody feels like Kevin might be angry with him for walking the same path he did and became more successful than himself. That Owens isn’t getting the same, if not more, credit he deserves. That Cody might be getting too much. I… don’t disagree with that.
Kevin replies that with the amount of text messages he’s received from people in the back informing him of Cody’s injured knee he got during the tour, that he could dismantle it even more from behind if he wanted to. Honorably, he prefers to fight the champ when he’s at 100%. It’s not self-sabotage like Rhodes is suggesting.
Even so, people in the past said that Kevin didn’t deserve to win the Universal Championship because of Triple H, that same narrative could come back if he wins against Cody with a bad knee. Rhodes reckons that Owens isn’t speaking out of confidence, but anger is the root of it all. When the American Nightmare came back at WrestleMania 38 after a Owens vs. Stone Cold match concluded, Kevin had to share the spotlight, which Cody could relate if that happened to him. But, he loves Owens despite that.
Eventually, when the match comes to an end, Cody asks Owens if they’ll still be friends. Kevin doesn’t let the rest of the world in on what he whispered into Rhodes’ ear, so I don’t know, but Cody looked stunned.
And speaking of friendships, Grayson Waller throws Theory under the bus again when he claims that he talked trash about Corbin and Crews not being a good enough Tag Team. At some point, Austin has had up to his head as he calls Waller out. Although, he did right to put Grayson in his place, Theory forgave him too quickly. Ha! The story Waller told that that’s what Australians do as banter sounds like an excuse for more unapologetic behavior in the coming days.
Andrade vs. Carmelo Hayes
Andrade leads 2 – 1 versus Hayes in these awesome battles they’ve been having for the past couple of weeks. When Hayes finally decides to slide into the match, they barely waste any time as they go head-to-head. Andrade throws Carmelo outside, then follows after him with a corkscrew spinning maneuver.
Hayes makes a comeback with a springboard clothesline, but Andrade stops him before he could reach the top of the ring to do God knows what else. Given the amount of matches they’ve had with each other, they’ve become familiar with the other’s potential moves. So, Andrade stomps on him at the edge of the ring.
Due to the twisting of Melo’s right knee, he didn’t get back up as fast as Andrade. He nearly pinned Hayes with that double Moonsault from the top, though. Hayes suddenly gets back up with that First 48 move just as Andrade wanted to explode from the other corner. Hayes managed to almost pick up the win with that Meteora, but Andrade remains in the game.
Melo kept favoring his knee during this match, while Andrade demonstrates his power as he lifts Carmelo like a sack of flour. Ha! When Andrade ran towards the exposed turnbuckle, he stopped having realized it, yet that distraction helped Hayes deliver a Super Kick. So, Andrade returns fire with an amazing springboard Spanish Fly. My God…
Hayes kicks out at two after suffering a back elbow, again. This was unbelievable to Andrade. Unfortunately for him, Melo trips Andrade off the top as he lands face first against the exposed turnbuckle. Ouch.
Melo wins this round with Nothing, but Net at 2 – 2 apiece.
Winner: Carmelo Hayes
At Bash in Berlin, we’re getting a rematch for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships with Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill facing the current champs, the Unholy Union. The Ring General and alleged King of the Ring Gunther defends his title for the first time against Randy Orton. My all-time favorite, the Mixed Tag Team match when the Terror Twins Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest battle Liv Morgan and Dominik Mysterio.
One of the most heated rivalries continues with CM Punk and Drew McIntyre in a Strap match. Cody Rhodes will fight Kevin Owens, a long-time friend, for the Undisputed Championship. Also, you guys can tune into the Countdown taking place before the Bash if anyone wants to be present for more controversial conversations with Superstars like Kevin Owens, Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes to name a few.
Nia Jax (c) vs. Michin – WWE Women’s Championship Street Fight match
As soon as Michin enters the ring, she beats Nia with her kendo stick to get an early start on her opponent, which Jax scurries out of. Once Jax gets ahold of Michin’s kendo stick, that’s when Michin momentarily backs off, yet she later shoves Nia into a post. Jax hits the mat hard after an ugly landing.
While Michin was taking out some more weaponry from under the ring, Nia runs towards her with a kendo stick. Ha! Never mind that table she wanted to setup. Jax put it back, only for Michin to pull it back out again.
Jax decides to lean the table on the turnbuckles, however, as she grabs Michin by the hair, Michin was ready for her with a fire extinguisher. From the top of the ring, Michin drop kicks the champ. She was looking to perform a tornado DDT on Jax, but the queen had he scouted as she slams Michin on the garbage can.
Following this, Michin was able to connect a tornado DDT on Jax using the trash can lids. Even though, Michin wasn’t successful in the pin, Nia was still down and possibly out. You’d think she’d stay on the attack, yet Michin took way too much time gathering more weapons, so that gave Nia enough time to recuperate. Jax almost delivered the Annihilator while Michin was laid out on a second table she setup.
Lucky for Michin, she was able to powerbomb Nia through the very table that could have been her demise. Things get even worst for Michin once Tiffany Stratton showed to help Nia. Stratton noticed that Jax was down and nearly cashed in, but she was caught by the champ and fumbled.
Tiffany decides to go up top, yet suddenly, Bayley arrives to intercept remembering that it was Stratton’s fault she lost the WWE Women’s Championship at SummerSlam in the first place. Bye, bye Tiffy. Back inside the ring, just as Michin had a head of steam, Nia easily destroys it with the Samoan Drop through a table. Oh my God… Nia annihilated Michin by shoving the poor girl into a trash can. Well… damn. Even after retaining her Championship, Jax wasn’t finished assaulting Michin.
Michael Cole asks the very important questions: Was Nia pissed off that Mkchin actually thought she could beat her even with less experience in Street Fights, or for Tiffany’s second cash-in attempt? Ha! Wade Barrett disagrees, of course.
See you all at Bash in Berlin!
Winner: Nia Jax
TOP PHOTO: Jax hits the Annihilator on Michin. Courtesy of WWE