With every show there are parts that don’t measure up. Sometimes it’s rare, other times it’s a regular occurrence. This is a list of where things went wrong or didn’t quite measure up to expectations.
Let’s get the chaos started.
In no particular order
- The card. Seriously, why was the United States championship in the space between the kickoff show and pay-per-view rather than fully in the main show? People were still filing in as the match was underway, and it’s pretty easy to imagine some of their reactions if they missed it. The lone saving grace in the placement was this was meant more as a statement match than to move any storylines forward. It was a common theme for the night. More on that later.
- Michael Cole. While it’s not always easy to introduce upcoming events, the fact he announced the upcoming draft like the news hadn’t broken last week was annoying, but not as bad as his acting like it was fresh off the printing press. Should be fun when he moves to Smackdown once it’s on Fox and announces it as a new development.
- Kofi Kingston remains WWE champion. This is a different kind of rant as the match itself was the best of the night. The problem here is upcoming storylines. Randy Orton dominated the match throughout, and Kingston won with a couple of flourishes and that’s supposed to be his vindication. Here’s the thing, there’s no one left for Kingston to beat. Not any that’s a legitimate threat. Even more so, it would’ve been a far more vindicating storyline had he lost this, then won it back from Orton in a few weeks to a month. Kingston’s a great superstar, but he needs a little more oomph to his title reign and that would’ve been perfect.
- Rollins beating Strowman. Unlike Kingston and Orton’s match, this one was underwhelming at best. Rollins legitimately had no chance and should have lost, but instead of him finding a way, they manufactured a very weak knee injury arc for Strowman simply for Rollins to take advantage of. The lack of creativity just to push Rollins is, sorry to say, pathetic. Come one, people, you can do far better than this.
- Inconsistency of the matches. It’s understood that title matches aren’t always the best ones on the card. It often comes down to the superstars and what they put together. Other times, it depends on what the creative team wants to accomplish. One thing that’s for sure is when they’re done badly we’re left unsatisfied. This was the case with the US championship, Smackdown women’s championship, and the Universal championship. While they appealed to each superstar’s hard core fans, in general they were lacking. It’s okay to have the occasional clunker because of plotting, but almost half the matches?
Final Thoughts
While this was a good show overall, it’s apparent that someone in creative missed the memo that this was a pay-per-view and not an episode of Raw or Smackdown. Furthering storylines is a good thing, but matches like Style and Alexander for the US title, Bayley and Flair for the Smackdown title, and Rollins and Strowman’s Universal match were too abrupt and focused more on introducing or ending storylines rather than putting on a good show.
