Roman is out in the ring to start and orates on The Vision. He says things have changed from when he was at peak. He then zeroes in on Bronson Reed before Paul Heyman comes out with the shoelafala owner. The singalong for Roman Reigns starts and Heyman tries to turn it to Reed. Not going to pass. Bollocks. Reed says he’s from another Samoan tribe exiled to Australia. The two end up battling in the aisle. They end up in the ring where Reed threatens a Shoenami but Roman punches his way out. Usual pull-apart crap at the end.
All of this, of course, is in promotion of their match at Clash.
Match 1: JD McDonagh vs. Dragon Lee
Usual good action between these two, but Dragon has stumbled so much that he’s almost at jobber status.
Balor is tossed early when he attempts interference. Lee uses the distraction (ironically) to get a momentary advantage.
Later, JD is almost dropped on his neck in a Sitout Powerbomb, which is not what you want to see for the J-Day member. My Netflix starts to pooch amid a pinfall and I miss some action, but likely nothing of consequence. When it’s back, AJ Styles is taking out Dom Mysterio, so maybe I did miss something…
Lee hits the Flying Cross Chop (thanks Star Man), then Operation Dragon for the duke.
Winner: Dragon Lee
Backstage, LA Knight chats with Jackie Redmond. Knight’s slow heel turn continues as he talks about CM Punk. LA is arguably better as a cocky ass, so I like this.
Match 2: PENTA vs. Kofi Kingston
If anyone’s curious as to why Penta is getting over so well and his brother Fenix isn’t, look back to their time in TNA and see who got the world title.
Before the match begins, Rusev is shown in a promo video. Rusev is so bad-ass but he needs to get away from Raw. Hopefully he moves to SmackDown and goes after the US gold. He’d also fit well against Cody.
Also backstage, J-Day meets up. More tension teased, but we do get a promise of an AJ Styles vs. Finn Balor match.
Woods is holding his neck at ringside and looks even more ridiculous than usual. A petition is also going around to ban the Mexican Destroyer. It is a piledriver variation so…
Kofi seemingly hurts his leg on a jump, but Penta doesn’t accept it.
There really isn’t much that’s left for Kofi to do in WWE after being here for damn near 20 years, but he can still work a strong match.
Kofi tries tearing at the mask but nothing comes of it. The match is surprisingly boring and gets very little reaction from the audience. Mexican Destroyer is countered into a back body drop. Surprisingly, this doesn’t get three. Penta botches a top rope headscissor, but recovers and hits the Penta Driver for two, which I think is a first in WWE.
Late in the match, Grayson Waller eats a mule kick, then a Tope Con Hilo hits both ND members. Woods is clutching his neck after, so work. GW distraction leads to Trouble in Paradise for Kofi’s win.
Winner: Kofi Kingston
Backstage, Rhea is warming up, and Iyo walks into the picture. She thanks Rhea for the help last week and talks about Kabuki angst. From a distance, Kabuki sees the two talking and hugging… and you know.
We get a recap of Trinity Fatu’s announcement, then Stephanie Vacquer talking with Adam Pearce. Vacquer doesn’t get her match in Paris, but will have it soon.
Becky Lynch is out next. She quickly gets booed. She notes her WWE tryout in Birmingham, but she quickly throws the sentimentality out the window. She then rails on Nikki Bella before the HOF’er comes out.
“She said a swear!” – Stewie Griffin.
The two trade shots, with Nikki playing the “I paved the way” card, which is laughable. The scene drags quickly. The promo battle for this rivalry started way too early, and they’re out of material.
“She implied a swear!” – also Stewie Griffin.
Becky dials up Ozzy’s passing to little reaction. Physicality soon after with nothing conclusive. End result – Clash match for the WIC title.
Backstage, Jackie’s found CM Punk. I hope Becky and Nikki got backstage quick enough to watch this promo on the monitor, because that’s how it’s done.
Match 3: Rhea Ripley vs. Roxanne Perez
For those who don’t pay close attention, watching Rhea lip-sync her theme en route to the ring is fun.
Before this match, we get Sheamus in a video because reasons.
Good back-and-forth, but once again the crowd is largely dead. We get a “Let’s Go Rhea!” chant but they’re still relatively quiet. Roxanne hides behind Raquel at one point, but Rodriguez’s mystique is completely dead.
Roxy gets the ADV for a spell and the crowd sings. The crowd is far more interested in their own schtick than what they’re watching, which is just sad. Roxy is in a good series but the crowd is singing Rhea’s name to the tune of We Will Rock You for reasons beyond my comprehension. Becky was right – Birmingham sucks.
After a break, we get interference from Raquel. Roxy takes advantage. Cartwheel knee drop gets two. Glasgow Kiss turns things around for Rhea and she hits a nice Razor’s Edge. Rhea’s also running out of clear skin space. Just saying.
More Raquel incidents and we start toward the finish. Rhea overpowers Roxy and hits Riptide for the win. Good match.
Winner: Rhea Ripley
Post-match, Raquel attacks, but Rhea takes care of her. Eventually Roxy recovers and the two-on-one starts. Rhea eats a pounding until Iyo Sky comes in. Same story, different character roles.
Backstage, The Vision huddles.
Match 4: AJ Styles vs. Finn Balor
This was a hot match years ago when it first happened, but it has deteriorated in impact over the years.
Once again, we get a segment elsewhere before the match starts. This time it’s Rhea and Iyo playing nice backstage. Asuka comes in hot and grumpy. Kairi Sane tries to mediate to no avail.
AJ gets a chant as the crowd is noticeably more awake. Good back-and-forth action through the first break. AJ goes through his 15 moves of doom. Ushi Goroshi gets two. Slingblade reverses the momentum. Coup de Grâce misses and a reversal sequence continues. AJ hits the Styles Clash for the win. Strong finishing sequence.
Winner: AJ Styles
Backstage, Jey Uso and Roman Reigns are talking. Nothing of consequence said.
Next, we get another Bayley internal monologue video. This time it’s happy Bayley to start, then the devil-on-the-shoulder Bayley. There are too many Bayleys, but the conflict is admittedly somewhat intriguing. It feels like there is going to be a Wyatt Sicks involvement.
Backstage, Lyra expresses concern for Bayley, then Dom comes to talk to Pearce. The end result is a match between Dom and AJ for the IC Title.
Backstage, Roman attacks Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed, and LA Knight soon follows and brings Breakker out to the ring for…
Match 5: LA Knight vs. Bron Breakker
Battle continues to the entrance with Knight dominating. Crowd is largely dead.
Back from the break, the action is in the ring. Breakker comes back though and begins to dominate. The crowd is out of steam and takes the fun out of a long match.
They finally wake up and have their first “This is Awesome” chant of the night late in the action. Superspear is stopped by a big boot for two. More action keeps the heat going. Jump-up Elbow gets two. Rollins comes out soon after. Knight chases Rollins on the outside and runs right into a Spear. Back in the ring, a second Spear finishes the match.
Winner: Bron Breakker
After, Rollins attacks Knight until Jey Uso’s music hits. Jey goes after Rollins and he gets the biggest pop of the night. Punk comes next and he gets an even bigger pop and singing of his theme. Birmingham has completely destroyed Raw tonight with their need to feed their own egos and not enjoy the action.
Punk goes after Rollins until Breakker pulls him away. Birmingham has a censored chant going. Knight and Punk come to pushes and shoves as Jey tries to play peacekeeper. The heel turn is going to be awesome. The three title contenders come to full-out blows as Rollins and co look on gleefully.
Overall: The action was better than Birmingham deserved.
See you some other time.
