Saturday, September 3rd, 2022
Principality Stadium
Cardiff, Wales
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
So they finally move some shows to a Saturday night and of course I am out of town for both of them. So I'm playing catch up here for another impressive stadium show for WWE.
Bianca Belair, Alexa Bliss & Asuka vs. Bayley, Dakota Kai & Iyo Sky
The crowd starts singing the "Hey Bayley" song and she's not wanting any of it. Things break down early on and the fans start singing again. We get a triple suplex from the faces and then Bianca hits a cartwheel moonsault on all three ladies. I don't really care much typically for castles and dragons, but I do like the ring skirt being used here. It looks very much like a wrestling graphic. Bliss and Sky now give us our first true one-on-one spot of the match. Sky hits a springboard dropkick on Asuka after Bayley takes a hit to allow her the time to do so. Sky seems a little off here tonight. The match as a whole is a little slower paced than I expected. After a quick hot tag to Asuka, Bayley hits here with a weird seated clothesline. Bianca is now in and hits a spinebuster on Bayley. Alexa and Asuka hit a double superplex off of Bianca's back. We get an obvious springboard moonsault spot from Sky and we're in the ring now with Dakota and Bianca. Bianca walks in the ring while pressing Dakota and uses as her a weapon before hitting the slam. Bianca hits the powerbomb and goes up top. Dakota moves and Bianca rolls through, allowing Dakota to hit the Scorpion Kick. She misses a kick in the corner, but Bayley grabs her hair and Dakota connects this time. Bayley hits the Rose Plant and Sky hits a moonsault to pick up the victory. This was surprisingly very mediocre. I was expecting a petal to the metal match and we didn't get that at all.
Match Rating: **1/4
After a Cody Rhodes vignette, they show Drew McIntyre talking to Tyson Fury. They've already mentioned how this is the first premium live event in a stadium in UK in 30 years like 73 times and now they show the highlight of British Bulldog/Bret Hart main event. They then announce the family of Bulldog and Bret Hart. Bret gets a huge reaction, as he should.
Intercontinental Championship Match
Sheamus vs. Gunther
Sheamus gets a well deserved big reaction. The Imperium apparently are back together and introduce Gunther. This is actually my first time seeing Gunther on the main roster. I'm not always as big of a fan of his matches as a lot of people are, but he is a star. Imperium and the Brawling Brutes start brawling, but Gunther and Sheamus remain in a staredown. Butch hits a moonsault on the outside and the two competitors start going at it as soon as the bell rings. The action spills outside and Sheamus tosses Gunther into the steps. Gunther starts with the chops and he eventually knocks him off the top rope and to the floor. The crowd starts chanting "Walter" and Cole actually acknowledges it. Meanwhile, Gunther body slams Sheamus onto the steps. Gunther hits a big boot to the head of Sheamus and some stiff shots follow that. After a long heat segment, Sheamus is able to hit more than just 10 Beats Of The Bodhran. Sheamus hits a big knee and gets his first true nearfall. Sheamus hits White Noise and gets an even closer call. They have the audience on their feet. Sheamus goes for a Brogue Kick, but Gunther ducks and hits a powerbomb that doesn't quite hit the way he wanted to. Gunther tries to climb to the top, but Sheamus kicks the ropes and hits the Celtic Cross, but again Gunther kicks out. Sheamus goes for the Brogue Kick again and Gunther once again hits a powerbomb. Gunther then hits a huge clothesline and he retains his Intercontinental Championship. That was what you would expect from these two and I'm sure a lot of people will like this more than I did. This was a good match, but didn't quite hit where I was hoping it would go. Sheamus gets a huge standing ovation on his way out. For whatever reason he isn't considered to be on the top tier of guys on the roster, but he has been one of the most consistent performers of the last decade.
Match Rating: ***1/2
We get a lengthy Uso vignette before we get the backstory on Liv Morgan and Shayna Baszler.
SmackDown Women's Championship Match
Shayna Baszler vs. Liv Morgan
WWE never seems to book the underdog champion very well. Liv tries to throw as much at her as she can, but it backfires when he's walking the top rope and Shayna counters. Baszler dominates the next couple of minutes before Morgan is able to counter a move and put on the Triangle Choke. She then puts on an armbar, but it doesn't last long enough. Liv hits a powerbomb for a 2 count and then Shayna immediately puts on the Kirifuda Clutch. Morgan hits a Codebreaker and Oblivion for the victory. This was a little better than I was expecting, but I still don't really agree with how they are booking Liv.
Match Rating: **1/2
Edge & Rey Mysterio vs. Damian Priest & Finn Balor
This storyline still doesn't make much sense to me. Edge is crazy over with the live crowd though. After Mysterio gets the better of Balor, Priest is tagged in and he wants Edge. He nails Edge with a right hand, but that only seems to wake Edge up. Rey gets back in and now the heels are feasting. Mysterio sends Balor flying into the audience and then leaps up on the barricade. Priest leaps up to join him, but is crotched on the barricade. Mysterio tries to crawl back in the ring to tag in Edge, but Priest grabs his ankle. Mysterio fights him off and in comes Edge. Edge then hits a 619 on Balor and Rey hits a splash, but Priest breaks up the pin attempt. Edge Spears Priest off the apron to the floor and then Balor tosses Mysterio out of the ring. Dominik distracts the referee and it allows Rey to hit a top rope hurricanrana on Balor. Rhea Ripley attacks Dominik until Rey hits her with a dive. Mysterio hits a 619 and Edge follows up with the Spear and they secure the victory. This one felt like TV match good, but nothing extraordinarily great.
Match Rating: ***
After the match, Dominik kicks Edge in the crotch and then clotheslines dad as the Judgment Day applauds him.
We get a Drew McIntyre hype video for the main event tonight.
They announce the attendance as 62,296 and it looks pretty legit to me.
Matt Riddle vs. Seth Rollins
This is the match I was most looking forward to on this card. After an early attack from Riddle, Rollins hits a barricade bomb to knock Riddle out. Rollins then hits a dive through the ropes and knocks Riddle on the announce table. Rollins throws him back into the ring Rollins hits a double stomp off the top rope onto a draped Riddle. After some good back-and-forth action, Rollins hits a Pedigree for a 2 count. Rollins starts insulting Riddle and then goes for the draping DDT and nails it. It should be noted that the crowd continues to sing Rollins' entrance music over and over. Rollins mocks Randy Orton some more by pounding on the mat like he's going for the RKO, but Riddle unleashes some fury on Rollins. He throws Rollins back in the ring, but Rollins hits the Stomp onto Riddle when he's on his way back in. He hits another Stomp, this time from the second rope and picks up the victory. That was a hard fought match between these two. Rollins is still probably the best in ring performer in the company at this point.
Match Rating: ***3/4
Undisputed Universal Championship Match
Drew McIntyre vs. Roman Reigns
I know this will surprise you, but McIntyre is the overwhelming favorite here. We get the typical Roman Reigns house show match start here. The action is outside the ring and McIntyre gets a bottle thrown at him. It turns out it's Karrion Kross and the distraction allows for Reigns to take advantage. Roman dominates and hits a vicious big boot. Reigns grabs the microphone and tells Cardiff to acknowledge him, but McIntyre hits him with a Glasgow Kiss. McIntyre hits a spinebuster into a pin attempt, but Roman kicks out at 2. Roman comes back with a Rock Bottom and he gets a 2 count. McIntyre comes back with a Future Shock DDT and goes for the Claymore Kick, but Reigns hits a Superman Punch instead. Reigns hits the Spear, but it's not enough to put McIntyre away. We get the now generic Spear through the barricade spot. Back in the ring, Reigns hits the Spear again and McIntyre kicks out again. We get a ref bump spot and Austin Theory's music hits. He goes to cash it in, but Tyson Fury knocks Theory out before he can make it official. McIntyre hits a Claymore Kick, but Reigns kicks out. They start brawling again until McIntyre hits a Spear and a Claymore Kick. Solo Sikoa debuts by pulling the referee out of the ring. Solo snaps McIntyre's neck on the top rope, Reigns hits the Spear and Reigns picks up the victory. Well that was a pretty flat finish. The match was pretty good, but it's getting tiring seeing this same type of match over and over. Tyson Fury comes in the ring and shakes Reigns' hand. Fury then grabs the mic and tells McIntyre that he should be proud. Honestly, he should be furious since some guy came out and ruined it for him. Fury then starts singing "American Pie", which is a song I really don't care for. This is pretty lame.
Match Rating: ***1/4
This show was solid, but unspectacular. The stadium enthusiasm definitely helped things out, especially in the main event. It's great that the matches all got a good amount of time, but sometimes matches just don't need to be as long as the performers want them to be. The opener could have easily had 5 minutes shaved off of it. I liked it better than I did SummerSlam, but it's nothing I'm going to rush back and watch again.
Overall Rating: 68%
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