Sunday, September 26th
Nationwide Arena
Columbus, Ohio
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
New Day vs. AJ Styles, Omos & Bobby Lashley
This one was just added to the card today, which is not normally how you book your champion on a pay-per-view. It really is pretty amazing that New Day is still a thing in 2021. It just goes to show how much being genuine can work. After a little bit of start and stop with AJ, Lashley and Big E go at it. We get some action on the outside and it allows Lashley to take advantage of Kofi and toss him across the ring. They single out Kofi for awhile and Lashley does a nice job of making sure Kofi doesn't make the hot tag to Big E. Lashley gets him up for the Dominator, but Kofi is able to slip out of it. We finally get a hot tag to Woods and he hits a tornado DDT for a nearfall. Woods hits a missile dropkick and Big E is back up on the apron. He gets the tag and suplexes Styles all over the ring. We get a really nice segment between E and AJ. Kofi makes a blind tag and it leads to a top rope stomp off the shoulders of Big E, but Lashley is in to break up the pin attempt. Lashley misses with a Spear and ends up outside. AJ comes in and he gets launched outside. Big E then sends Kofi over the top, but Omos is there to make the save. Lashley is upset when AJ tags himself in. Lashley tags in himself and it leads to Lashley accidentally hitting the Spear on AJ and Big E hits the Big Ending and gets the pinfall on Lashley. For a match that wasn't on the card, they sure got a lot of time and rightfully so. I have been saying since they went back to the brand split that they need to do more matches like this with the champion to keep things fresher. This was a good example of one, although I'm not sure I love that Lashley got pinned here.
Match Rating: ***1/2
SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match
Street Profits vs. Usos
It seems like an odd choice to put both tag team matches to kick off the show. Montez has his ribs taped up and this leads to the Usos kicking him in the ribs as he is running the ropes. They continue to work on the ribs and rip off the ace bandage. Dawkins is finally tagged in and is able to catch one Uso on a suicide dive and hit a suplex. He catches the other Uso with a fist when he goes for one. Ford hits a Blockbuster off the top rope, but Jimmy is able to kick out. Ford goes for the big Frog Splash off the top rope, but they get their knees up on the injured ribs. Jimmy is able to counter out of another electric chair due to Montez climbing slowly. Dawkins is able to kick out of an Uso Splash. They throw Dawkins into the barricade, but then out comes Ford out of nowhere with a somersault dive over the ring post. He hits the Frog Splash, but the Usos break up the pin. Just an FYI, I will never be able to tell the difference between the Usos. Ford gets hit with a double superkick and then hit the double Uso Splash for the victory. This one was just okay for me. They seemed to be moving a little bit slower than normal and just didn't click.
Match Rating: **1/2
Lashley is backstage upset and he wants Big E tomorrow. He also uses the s-word here. At what point does WWE lose their TV-PG rating?
Raw Women's Championship Match
Alexa Bliss vs. Charlotte Flair
The hype video for this match has me absolutely not wanting to watch this match and I like both of these ladies as in ring performers. Alexa is getting a nice hometown pop for everything she does here. This match just feels very disjointed so far. Alexa gets her boots up on the moonsault and hits the Canadian Destroyer, but Charlotte kicks out. Charlotte is able to move out of the way of Twisted Bliss and goes for the Figure Four, but Alexa rolls her up for a 2 count. Charlotte hits a running boot to the face and hits Natural Selection for the victory. They didn't get a whole lot of time there and the match was just kind of weird to me. It lacked a flow and felt more like a TV match. Charlotte attacks Alexa after the match and then starts ripping up the stupid doll. Bliss comes back in the ring and attacks Charlotte. Charlotte is able to fight her off and throw her into the table.
Match Rating: *3/4
Paul Heyman is backstage on the phone, but won't let us know who it is.
Triple Threat Match For The United States Championship
Jeff Hardy vs. Sheamus vs. Damian Priest
As soon as the bell rings, Sheamus drills Hardy and he's out of the ring right away. Priest and Sheamus are brawling outside and out comes Hardy leaping out of nowhere. Priest hits a somersault dive over the top onto Hardy. Priest looks to lose his footing and falls off the apron. He recovers about as well as you could and starts hitting the clubbing blows on Sheamus. Hardy hits a Whisper In The Wind on both men and gets a 2 count on Sheamus. Sheamus hits an Alabama Slam and slaps on the Texas Cloverleaf. Hardy gets to the ropes, but he doesn't have to break the hold. Priest makes the save and hits Sheamus with a kick to the injured nose. Sheamus hits White Noise, but Hardy breaks up the pin attempt. He hits the Twist Of Fate. He goes up top, but Sheamus is able to knock him off. He goes up top and does an awkwardly funny mockery of Hardy and then hits Priest with a knee. Hardy hits a Swanton on top of both men while Priest is making a pin attempt. Hardy is the most over man in the match with the live crowd. We get the usual frantic finish with lots of nearfalls and Priest is able to roll up Sheamus for the victory. It had some nice moments, but it also had some sloppy spots.
Match Rating: **3/4
Big E is backstage and says that he will face Lashley tomorrow night at 8:00 pm sharp.
SmackDown Women's Championship Match
Bianca Belair vs. Becky Lynch
We get some dueling chants for both women. I've reached the point of the night where it takes everything I have to stay up. Becky dominates most of the beginning parts of the match. Bianca hits her nice vertical suplex. They tart having a tug of war with Bianca's hair, which Bianca wins and hits a spinebuster. We get a nice sequence of the going at it with counters after Bianca lifts Becky off the top rope. It ends with the Disarm-her being put on and Bianca getting her feet to the rope. Becky drives Bianca into the steel steps and heads up to the top again and hits a leg drop for a 2 count. Becky hits a nice guillotine leg drop as well. They once again start battling over the Disarm-her and Bianca gets a nearfall. This is one of those weird matches where the crowd is kind of quiet because they like both women. They are popping for the big moves though. Bianca has Becky up for the KOD, but in comes Sasha and she attacks Bianca. After that, Sasha starts attacking Becky and then hits the Backstabber on Bianca. She gives one to Becky for good measure. This was a pretty solid match that felt like it was heading for some sort of screwy ending, but at least it was something that makes the dynamic more interesting.
Match Rating: ***1/4
Extreme Rules Match For The WWE Championship
Roman Reigns vs. Finn Balor
Balor is the Demon character for the first time in a long time here tonight. For a show called Extreme Rules, it took until 10:32 for a weapon to be pulled out and it's a kendo stick. Balor has 4 kendo sticks, so he wins and starts lashing Roman in the back. Balor starts pulling out a table, which pops the crowd more than just about anything all night. Roman attacks him and tells the crowd that there will be no tables tonight. Reigns starts using a chair and attacks Balor with it. Balor is able to fight back and stomps onto the chair on Roman's chest. Balor tries to get the table in the ring and Roman hits him with a Drive By kick. They start battling in the crowd and Balor gets thrown onto the Kickoff Show table. I love that Roman put a mask on as he went into the crowd. Balor hits a crossbody off the table and puts Roman through another table. Balor sets up the table in the ring, but Roman ends up throwing him through it. Roman hits a Spear, but Finn kicks out and hits him with a low blow. That was a nice touch. Balor hits a senton over the top rope and hits the Coup de Grace, but the Usos come out and interfere. Balor hits a powerbomb on Jey through the announce table. Roman then comes and hits a Spear through the barricade. They really need to stop using that spot like every single show. Balor's music starts playing and it's supposed to be his heartbeat and he is up and okay now. He starts unloading on Reigns with a chair and hits a dropkick that sends Roman through the table as the music is still playing. Balor goes up top and the turnbuckle collapses out of nowhere. Roman hits the Spear and picks up the victory. This was all very strange, as the Demon seems to now have joined the Bray Wyatt universe. Roman sells how confused he is by looking up to the sky before celebrating. They went the non-Brock ending, which I didn't expect. That ending wasn't up my alley, but it was oddly entertaining to me. I didn't think this was a classic or anything, but it was an entertaining match overall. It was nice to see Balor booked strongly here against Roman.
Match Rating: ***1/2
This was kind of a middle of the road show for me. It was bookended by good matches, but the rest was a little all over the place for me. There just weren't many interesting stories told here tonight and just felt like a good episode of Raw or SmackDown.
Overall Rating: 60%
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