WWE Clash at the Castle: Punk foils McIntyre again

Thomas Starr

WWE Clash at the Castle: Punk foils McIntyre again

WWE was in Scotland for Clash at the Castle. All five matches were title matches with the two heavyweight men’s titles being the focus. The crowd sang and chanted throughout the event but were not as loud or overbearing as the crowd in France.

The pre-show featured a nice video package with William Regal.

Shot backstage as Cody Rhodes vs. AJ Styles is kicking off the show.

Undisputed WWE Championship “I Quit” Match
Cody Rhodes (c) vs. AJ Styles

Good intensity early on. The crowd is loud and singing similar to the crowd in France. Cody got two tables out within the first few minutes. They fought backstage. Including the production area. Styles suplexed Cody over the top rope to the floor then dropped Cody on the announcer’s table with a nasty looking brain buster. Cody was busted open after being thrown into the ring bell area. Styles put Cody’s head in a chair and stomped it, then brought out the Kendo Stick.

Cody passed out in the STF, but did not lose because he could not say, “I quit.” So, we are to believe that someone could be beaten to death, but not lose because he did not say, “I quit.” Okay. Styles handcuffed Cody and beat him with a chair. He then had a confrontation with Cody’s mom, who slapped Styles. Cody managed to get the handcuffs in front of him and threw a chair at Styles who then fell through a table. Styles apparently keeps a handcuff key ala Jim Cornette (look it up) as Cody found it and unlocked the cuffs.

Styles was also busted open, so we have a “double juice” match for the first time in WWE in years. Cody handcuffed Styles to the ropes and wore him out with a chair. Cody threatened to hit Styles with the steel steps, so Styles quit rather than take more punishment.

Winner: Cody Rhodes

The Bloodline attacked Cody in the aisleway. Randy Orton and Kevin Owens made the save.

WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship Triple Threat Tag Team Match
Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill (c) vs. Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn vs. Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark

Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn are the home country fan favorites. They also have weird, unmemorable ring names. Michael Cole explained that three women will be in the ring at the same time, and they can only tag their partners. Am I wrong or have they not said that triple threat matches are No DQ? If so, they have to tag?

Bianca and Jade dominated early on. Several chances for Jade to highlight her power. Dawn, Fyre, Baszler, and Stark all teamed up to beat up Jade and Bianca. The ref did not stop anything, so it is No DQ? If it is, why is anyone tagging?

The crowd came alive as Alba Fyre began cleaning house. Isla Dawn took a bump from the top rope and sold her elbow and the ref just stood next to her and watched the match. No concern registered at all. Some back-and-forth action with everyone in the ring.

Bianca and Jade took back over. They hit a spiked DDT on Baszler, but Dawn suplexed Jade and pinned Baszler.

Winners: Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn are the new Women’s Tag Team Champions.

Intercontinental Championship Match
Sami Zayn (c) vs. Chad Gable

Some nice back and forth action early on. The crowd was in the mood for some singing. Very basic wrestling early. Gable starts to work on Sami’s shoulder as the match changed in tone. Cole asked Wade Barrett to translate one of the crowd’s songs, but he said he only knew the original tune and not the, um, unpleasant version.

Sami continued selling his left arm and shoulder as the action went back and forth. Gable told Maxxine to use the Intercontinental Title to hit Sami. She refused and Gable yelled at her. Later, when they were at ringside Sami reversed Gable and he landed on Maxxine’s already injured leg. He told Otis to finish Sami instead. But Otis chose to carry Maxxine to the back, which distracted Gable long enough for Sami to hit the Helluva Kick for the win.

Winner: Sami Zayn

WWE Women’s Championship Match

Bayley (c) vs. Piper Niven

Piper is another home country hero. Chelsea slapped Bayley early on. Later, Bayley stomped on Chelsea’s hand. Chelsea protested to the referee about her hand. In the process she shoved the ref, who kicked her out from ringside. Piper dominated for several minutes. When Bayley finally got in some offense, she used a series of headbutts that did not look good. The crowd booed, but it was hard to tell if they were booing because they want Piper to win or because the headbutts looked terrible.

The crowd seemed pretty split in this match. They were mostly just singing. As Piper started to get more offense, the crowd started chanting her name. Bayley reversed Piper in the corner. Chelsea returned in a lucha mask. She was in the exact outfit she had on before except now with a mask. Funny. She distracted the ref who missed Bayley’s pin attempt. Bayley then beat up Chelsea. Bayley hits a Crucifix Driver for the pin.

Winner: Bayley

World Heavyweight Championship Match
Damian Priest (c) vs. Drew McIntyre

They had the full bagpipe entrance for Drew. They put up the noise meter on the screen. As you would imagine, Drew was pumped up coming out to that reaction. I wonder if anyone was worried about a possible riot if he lost this match? Drew flipped over the top rope and onto Damien on the floor. Incredible. It stood out even more, because we had not seen it over and over on the earlier card.

Damien tried to leap over the top rope but got tied up in the ropes. That was close to a disaster. It looked like a botch that was inches from being more serious. Drew, who looked concerned, adlibbed and beat up Priest in the ropes.

Priest began selling the leg that was caught up in the ropes. It is hard to tell if he is really hurting or not. He did execute a Razor’s Edge on the leg. With both men down, they did the I-hit-you-now-you-hit-me spot that I detest. Priest continued selling his leg. They went to the outside and Drew hit a Claymore that drove Priest through the guardrail that surrounds the timekeeper’s area.

Drew kicked out of the South of Heaven chokeslam. Priest hit a huricanrana, but Drew got up and hit a Claymore. Priest kicked out. There was a ref bump and visual pin for Drew. A new ref came running down and counted to two and then stopped, then everyone realized it was CM Punk. Punk mocked Drew and then hit a lowblow. Priest hit South of Heaven for the win.

Winner: Damien Priest

Overall: Some really good wrestling. Rhodes vs. Styles was a masterclass and the best match on the show, but the rest was good to very good. Keeping these events to five or six matches is a godsend. The events fly by and do not feel like a task. I am not sure when wrestling promotions started thinking they needed a dozen matches on every PPV or PLE, but hopefully some others will follow the WWE’s lead. Punk showing up as the ref worked great. The crowd did not realize it was him until he stopped at two. Viewers only saw his back. Drew vs. Punk is the best feud in wrestling right now, in my opinion.

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