even though tonights, stomping ground wasn't a bad PPV by any stretch, and had some solid matches, the WWE is really running into a real disconnect with its fan base
https://twitter.com/user/status/1142999744936960000
Cruiserweight Championship -- Drew Gulak def. Akira Tozawa (via pinfall) and Tony Nese (c) to win the title
The shame is this was a pre show matchup. But it was off the charts as far as a cruise weight match goes and Drew Gulak is an amazing talent
4/5 stars
Raw Women's Championship -- Becky Lynch (c) vs. Lacey Evans via submission to retain the title
Strange match to start a PPV with. But the bottom line is that Lacey is way too green to be in a title match and there were a ton of sloppy moments in this matchup as well. Becky also wasn't at her best, there was just no emotion or fire from her. It doesn't help that she's now gone from being the man to being Seth Rollins' girlfriend, which is a weird thing to promote unless they're setting up a mixed tag team against Charlotte and Andrade. Lacey has a ton of charisma but he's just not ready for the push that she's getting and that's not her fault
2/5 stars
Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn def. The New Day via pinfall
This was a fun little match with no build up, and all of the competitors had great energy and chemistry. Kevin Owens is so under utilized by the WWE and Sami Zayn is a awesome perfomer. Just a solid fun midcard match
3/5 stars
United States Championship -- Ricochet def. Samoa Joe (c) via pinfall to win the title
Unbelievable high speed matchup with some great story telling. Samoa Joe just makes things look brutal and nasty and Richochet is the perfect combination of athlete and seller to make him look like the underdog cutting down a tree. This was a seriously fun match with a great result
4/5 stars
SmackDown Tag Team Championship -- Daniel Bryan & Rowan (c) def. Heavy Machinery via pinfall to retain the titles
This was a match that was better then it should have been, but that's because all of the competitors completly sold themselves out to make this good to the point of tucker doing moon saults and splashes to the outside of the ring. The crowd cheered for Bryan early because he's the home town and the crowd was chanting things like "We recycle" and "Drive a Prius" Daniel Bryan is the king of making everyone around him better.
4.5/5 stars
SmackDown Women's Championship -- Bayley (c) def. Alexa Bliss via pinfall to retain the title:
After watching the WWE 365 special after the PPV about Alexa Bliss you can't help but cheer for her return from multiple concussions and her desire to return to the ring. I kept waiting for Bliss to turn on Nikki who played the good friend to Bliss on multiple occasions before costing her the match. Bliss seems to still be tentative in the ring and this was more of a ground game match with a lot of arm wrestling and punch/kick. Bayley was almost trying to be the man as the angry face here, but I don't know if it worked. Also the Bayley to Belly is a bad finishing move and Bayley is terrible at it, she's no Magnum TA.
2.5/5 stars
Roman Reigns def. Drew McIntyre via pinfall
Look I have a lot of problems with Shane McMahon as the top heel in the company to the point where its ridiculous and his continual interference in the match did nothing to help McIntyre who's gone from main event push to incompetent henchman who needs Shane's help. Its just awful booking, and this feud continues with a Reigns vs Dew and Shane handicapped match on Raw. But this story line is everything that's wrong with WWE booking at the moment
1/5 stars
WWE Championship -- Kofi Kingston (c) def. Dolph Ziggler via door escape to retain the title (Steel Cage Match)
I thought that this should be the match of the night. But it was low intensity and plodding for a cage match, and worse still for a WWE Championship match, and that's on the two performers. I love Kofi, but frankly his run has to end, he's a fan service champion but he's been laying a lot of stinkers lately and I don't think Dolph cares much anymore, not that he ever really did. The ending was creative but couldn't save a surprisingly boring cage match
2/5
Universal Championship -- Seth Rollins (c) def. Baron Corbin via pinfall to retain the title
The long awaited special guest referee was Lacey, but this was the typical heel ref match with changing conditions and there's nothing new here. Of course they had to have Becky come out and beat up Lacey and then promote that Seth and Becky are an item. I think the WWE writers are too connected to social media and we're getting Snakes on a plane hot shot panicked booking which is what happened in the dying days of WCW. Look I think that Seth is an awesome athlete and wrestler, but he just is a second tier guy in terms of charisma. Baron is talented but he needs someone with charisma to carry him. This was really a Raw main event match and not a PPV main event match.
2/5 stars
Look at the end of the day this was a fun little ppv but it was really carried by the early matches more then anything else. The big matches with big performers could be best described as lacking. The WWE really on further notice avoided showing the whole arena and now we know why. The WWE has a real problem now that's probably reflecting in their network subscriptions and ticket sales. With AEW seemingly having all kinds of momentum, the WWE really needs to reshuffle their cards and talent and their booking just has to be better. It doesn't help that a few wrestlers tonight looked like they were going through the motions, Zigglar, Dew, Seth, and Becky among them.