I was one of those rare creatures that actually was looking forward to this PPV and had higher expectations. This show kinda exceeded expectations for me because this show was very good if not great.
I know this is a trend in this blog but I haven't seen the preshow match unfortunately which was a cruiserweight championship match so I can't talk about it.
Becky Lynch vs Lacey Evans for the RAW Women's championship.
Tacoma, Washington doesn't like Lacey Evans at all in this matchup (no shit, Omar). Didn't expect this match to open the show, to be frank with you.
The match itself was solid. Lacey Evans pretty much dominated this match but Becky managed to get in some offence like an armbar to Lacey or a disarmher if you're Michael Cole. The match ended with an actual disarmher from Becky and she retained the RAW women's championship.
After the Match.
An Ali video package was played about him showing the light to people. This was aight. Also, Kayla Braxton asked Paul Heyman if Brock Lesnar is gonna show up? Paul answered by basically saying that Kofi is here and Seth is here which I was a bit confused by.
Baron came out of his locker room and she asked about him choosing his special guest referee for the Universal Championship match. He said yes.
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn vs Xavier Woods and Big E.
Xavier Woods took a beating earlier in the match from Owens with a frog splash and a Senton. Big E then was carried by a beat up Woods and did a splash which got the crowd to chant "Holy shit" and I agree with them 100%.
Kevin Owens ended this match with a W for his team by hitting a stunner to Xavier Woods. This was a good match. Hoping that Owens and Zayn actually compete for the tag team championship at some point.
Ricochet vs Samoa Joe for the United States championship.
We go from a backstage conversation from Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross about their hatred for Bayley to this match and it was very good. At one point, Samoa Joe did a devastating looking sitout powerbomb to Ricochet. Minutes after that, Samoa Joe hits a German suplex followed by a clothesline to a near fall.
The match ended with Ricochet hitting the 630 splash and he just won the US championship like that. A finish I didn't expect but I can't hate on it. Maybe if Rey comes back we could see a Ricochet vs Rey Mysterio match for the championship? Sign me up if that's the case.
Heavy Machinery vs Daniel Bryan and Rowan for the SmackDown Live Tag Team Championship.
Before the match, Ricochet was congratulated by his peers including Charlotte Flair which will piss some people off because "shE bRoKe kAyFaBe". Anywho, Daniel Bryan got a standing ovation while Heavy Machinery got the exact opposite for obvious reasons.
During the match, Daniel Bryan hits Tucker Knight on both of his knees. Otis got the tag from Knight and he gave his comeback while the crowd were booing him. Daniel Bryan hits Otis with series of kicks and Otis was channelling his inner Hulk Hogan and delivered the caterpillar.
Daniel Bryan and Rowan retained the titles after Tucker hits a crossbody to Rowan on the outside and Bryan rolls him up for the win. Another good tag team match. That finish made it seemed that we're getting a tag team rematch but who knows?
Bayley vs Alexa Bliss for the SmackDown Women's championship.
Those two competitors had good matches together like their match at Payback 2017 as well as bad matches like their match the following PPV. Was this match better or worse? It was way better.
Alexa Bliss hits Bayley with a vicious right hand. Then, Bliss countered a series of moves from Bayley but she didn't reverse one move which was a back suplex. Minutes later, Bayley delivered the sunset flip to Bliss on the middle turnbuckle.
Nikki Cross interfered when Bliss was trying to hit the twisted Bliss and because of that, Bayley retained the women's championship with the Bayley to belly. I've seen people call Alexa Bliss a "lazy worker" and this match proved that she isn't that.
After the match.
Ricochet was taking a picture until Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows and AJ Styles showed up and Styles told him that he'll see him on RAW tomorrow. Hmm? What does that mean?
Roman Reigns vs Drew McIntyre.
Micheal Cole responded the "this is awful" chants by saying that the crowd are showing their disdain for Shane McMahon which is kinda true if they were responding about this whole storyline but it isn't.
Look, I love me some technical wrestling but that kind of wrestling didn't fit this overall match if that makes sense? The match was surprisingly okay but started off VERY slow.
The only thing I liked about this match was when Drew delivered the reverse Alabama slam to Roman on the announce table but it didn't break. Roman Reigns won the match with a spear. What does that mean for this storyline? Hoping that it ends is my answer.
Kofi Kingston vs Dolph Ziggler for the WWE championship Inside A Steel Cage.
A decent match delivered between those two guys. Dolph Ziggler hits Kofi on his leg and immediately after that, delivered an ankle lock which is smart considering that Kofi's finisher is the trouble in paradise.
The match ended with Ziggler crawled his way out of that cage and Kofi jumped out of that opened door. That was a risky yet clever finish from Kingston.
After the match.
Drew McIntyre and Shane McMahon were backstage pissed off and Shane made a match between himself and Drew vs Roman in a 2 on 1 handicap match. Just when I thought that this feud is over.
Seth Rollins vs Baron Corbin for the Universal Championship.
Baron Corbin revealed that the special guest referee for this championship match is none other than Lacey Evans which is a very smart move and also explains why Lacey had a ref design trunks earlier in the night.
Shout out to that person that came up with that idea. The crowd, however, didn't like that idea and started to chant "AEW", "Daniel Bryan" I believe and the typical "CM Punk" chants.
Seth Rollins delivered a powerbomb to Corbin through the announce table and Lacey started to count till 8 to which she made the match a no count outs. Rollins then delivered the frog splash to Corbin and Lacey stopped the pin count from 2.
Baron Corbin hits Seth with a steel chair which would end the match via a DQ but she didn't and made the match in a no DQ match. Seth Rollins delivered Corbin with the falcon arrow on the chair and Evans didn't count.
After Evans hits a low blow on Seth and Baron delivers the end of days, out came Becky Lynch and evened the odds by beating up Evans. The match ended when an actual referee came out and Seth Rollins delivered the stomp on Corbin to retain the championship. Other than Lacey's tactics, this was aight. The finish was good though. RAW and Smackdown this week should focus on building up newer storylines or at least I hope.
So, to recap for all of you slow mofos:
Like: Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn vs Xavier Woods and Big E, Heavy Machinery vs Daniel Bryan and Rowan, Ricochet vs Samoa Joe, Bayley vs Alexa Bliss.
Didn't like: For the first time in me reviewing the main roster PPV shows, there's not one thing I didn't like. YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!
The real question is, What are your thoughts on Stomping Ground? Put on any opinions in the comments below. Follow me on twitter @omartheplayaguy and follow the blog for honest pro wrestling opinions. Anyways, stay safe smarks.
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