Straight from his successful title defense against Drew McIntyre at Saturday Night’s Main Event, Cody Rhodes was about to sit with the fans, so we could all choose who’s going to be his next challenger, but the dark and prophetic duo of Zelina Vega and Aleister Black stepped forward. Black made it clear that he wanted that Championship, to which Rhodes reacted by removing his tie and unbuttoning his shirt. He stormed up to Aleister only to be blocked by Zelina’s abrupt slap to the face. I must say, he looked quite shocked. Ha! As was I.
What’s with these slapping games, huh? Becky Lynch already overused that option, so I didn’t want to see it again. We can’t nice things, can’t we? That’s only partly true because Nick Aldis swooped in and sanctioned a match for later between Black and Rhodes.
Ilja Dragunov (c) vs. Johnny Gargano – US Championship match
Gargano seemingly had the upper hand when he had Dragunov cornered with his chops to the chest, yet Ilja managed to turn the assault on his attacker by inflicting chops of his own while Johnny was in a difficult position. A headbutt from the champ sent Johnny tumbling to his ass, followed by a Senton.
Ilja was going for the H-Bomb, Johnny countered with double kicks, but that did nothing to Dragonov’s spirits since he came back and stomped on Gargano’s stomach. He even slam and dunked Johnny on his back. Just as Ilja drummed up another move near the ropes, Candice LeRae caused a slip up. Gargano utilized that to perform a suicide dive DDT combination.
It may take a lot to tire Johnny out, but he was left flabbergasted when Ilja came after him just as he was about to launch himself. He collided with the turnbuckle and suffered an impressive suplex from the apron. Dragunov retained with a triumphant H-Bomb the second time.
Winner: Ilja Dragunov
When Jade Cargill marched herself to ring wearing gold, I knew she was going to win this time. What happened to Tiffany Stratton will happen to anyone and everyone that tries to challenge Cargill for the title. “Make no mistakes about it. I’m that b*tch!”
Charlotte Flair vs. Nia Jax
Flair was looking for the Figure 4, but Nia countered with a sit-out powerbomb. She survived, much to Jax’s dismay. The Irresistible Force decided that it’s squashing time, unfortunately she missed. However, she tried to rectify that by placing Charlotte on the top turnbuckle, setting her up for something. Alas, Flair ended up on the apron, kicked Nia off the second rope, leaped in and delivered a knee to the chest of her opponent.
Regardless of the tornado DDT Charlotte was able to deliver, Nia remained in the match. Something weird took place after that… Lash Legend came out of nowhere, began to ragdoll Alexa Bliss on the main floor, Charlotte got distracted, which resulted in Jax toppling her with a conclusive Annihilator.
Since Lash pretty much dislocated Bliss’ neck, they went to the medical wing. While Alexa was waiting for the ice pack that was promised, she and Flair were ambushed by the Kabuki Warriors, specifically Asuka’s green mist.
Winner: Nia Jax
Giulia (c) vs. Chelsea Green – Women’s US Championship match
Chelsea started off with a slap to Giulia’s face, so the champ returned one in kind before trapping her challenger’s head between her arm. A headbutt from Giulia left Green soggy, and I wasn’t the only one laughing. The urgency in the current champ’s attacks are noticeable as she barely allowed Chelsea to breath, nor apply an effective enough strike.
Even Kiana James got involved at some point, that only encouraged Alba Fyre to pursuit her. It was so annoying, but Giulia witnessed that and kicked Fyre, that prevented her from concentrating on the match. Green rolled her up and used the middle rope to stack her down. Ethan Page, who’s both the NXT North American Champion and AAA World Mixed Tag Team Champion with Chelsea, was here to congratulate her.
Arg….
Winner: Chelsea Green
During a match between Rey Fenix and Talla Tonga, it was clear from the get-go that Tonga would outmatch Fenix no questions asked. Rey still did his best to cut down his opponent. Goodbye Amigos was a little wonky, but hurtful nonetheless. Fenix was looking to counter with a Hurricane Rana because he got caught earlier, Talla was too powerful as he slammed Rey on his back. A massive choke slam ended Rey right then and there. Regrettably, Solo wasn’t done yet when he ordered Talla to further massacre Fenix. Luckily, Sami Zayn, despite not being medically clear, came running in with a chair in tow. Nothing came of it since Sikoa and Tonga simply walked off.
Aleister Black vs. Cody Rhodes
In the early goings of the match, Black and Rhodes ventured on getting a better understanding of the other with some good old fashion ground and pound without the flashiness of high flying maneuvers. Cody hoisted Aleister up, letting all the blood to rush to his head, then face planted him on the mat. Just as Rhodes was going for the Disaster Kick, Aleister was lying and waiting with a knee to the face.
For a moment, Rhodes was able to fight back, but it didn’t do much as Black came back twice as hard. Those uppercuts were, indeed, rattling to watching. I think they knew, Zelina and Aleister, that Vega’s slight interference wasn’t sufficient and neither was that snap. So, Rhodes delivered a snap in the form of a powerslam of his own. It failed, though.
A roll up attempt from Rhodes almost caught Black off guard, so he naturally retaliated with a fearsome kick to Cody’s jaw. That stunned him very quickly. The beatings were brutal, but Rhodes was able to revive himself by turning Aleister inside out with a Disaster Kick. A set of back and forth strikes from both men knocked them out.
I thought it strange when I saw Cody and Aleister rolling away from the referee as if they knew something, or someone, was coming. When the official reached the count of three, Drew McIntyre delivered a Claymore to the unsuspecting man. He went on to yell in the referee’s face to blame him for his title match. Rhodes tackled him and proceeded to punch him. Black joined in seconds later. It became a 2-on-1 situation until Damian Priest showed up.
While Damian was mulling Aleister at the commentary desk, Zelina took it upon herself to jump him. That swirled around and sent her into the timekeeper’s area. Aleister woke up, applied pressure to Priest’s wound, then ran away with Vega. Back inside the ring, Cody was dealing with Drew. It became too much for Aldis, so he decided to suspend McIntyre. Affective immediately.
Ha, never mind about the match then… Tensions spilled to the back of the stage as well.
Winner: No one
TOP PHOTO: McIntyre yelling at Aldis. Courtesy of WWE
