The great storytelling continues.
I absolutely love that Reigns just puts his hand out and commands Heyman to give him the microphone.
Roman Reigns decided that he doesn’t want to be referred to as the tribal chief - because Jey Uso didn’t refer to him as the tribal chief. Jey came down all bandaged up and said that his spirit wasn’t broken, and if Jimmy didn’t throw the towel in, the title would be his.
Roman called Clash of Champions the worst night of his life. He was trying to do Jey a favor! All he wanted to do was put him in the main event, put his name in the marquee, give him a huge payday and let him do something nice for his wife and his kids. He said he loves Jey, even more than his brother does. He’s day one, he’s been there his whole life.
Jey disrespected him, embarrassed their whole family, and he broke Roman’s heart. But Jey was focused on the Universal title still, and Roman noticed.
Roman just decided that they’ll go at it again at Hell in a Cell. I’m totally fine with this. I love this feud and it’s such a total 180 from the last Universal title feud. It captivates me. I’m wondering what the stakes are that Roman was referring to. That sinister smile on his face when Jey accepted his match at Hell in a Cell. Evil.
I thought it was interesting that Jey said that Jimmy cost him the title. That could be a sign come Hell in a Cell. Bring the whole damn bloodline out and make it extra special. I’ve rarely been into a feud like this so I hope WWE doesn’t mess it up.
Coming for the title
Sasha came out and asked Bayley if she really thought her not being medically cleared was going to stop her from the beat down at Clash of Champions. Bayley is nothing but a coward that needed her time and time again to keep her title.
She used her to become the longest-reigning SmackDown Women’s Champion in history. She knows Bayley isn’t at the show because she’s scared of her, but next week they’re going to have a match for the title.
Sasha takes her neck brace off and sold the drama of next week so well.
Sasha’s acting is top notch (she was picked for season 2 of The Mandalorian after all!) and there isn’t anything negative to take away from this.
Doing the title match next week on the draft show is certainly an interesting idea. It definitely makes me think that one of them will be drafted to Raw, and that’s exactly what this feud needs.
Cleansed
Kevin Owens succumbed to The Fiend, and the Fiend officially gained a new partner.
Owens brought Alexa Bliss out and asked about her change in attitude and says it reminds him of what he’s seeing in Aleister Black. Owens said she used to be cheery, and she replied by saying people change and maybe he should try it sometime. He admitted to doing a lot of terrible things in his career, but tonight isn’t about him, it’s about her.
Alexa said people will fear what they don’t understand and asked him if he’s ever met Him before. You go all pins and needles around Him and it feels like he’s looking through you and you can’t look away. Owens said she’s been brainwashed, and Alexa agreed! Her brain has been washed and now she sees the truth. Bliss said He’s everywhere and she can hear Him now, and that Owens should let Him in.
The lights go down and Owens is in a Mandible claw! He choked out Owens and turned to Alexa, sitting in the chair. She slowly rose and grabbed his hand, smiling at the camera. (The camera missed most of the smiling because WWE sucks.)
Golly is Alexa killing it in this new role or what? This was great. Almost looks like maybe she’ll be able to control the Fiend if she chooses to do so, which was a contrast to their first meet up.
Now the biggest concern - next week Fiend and Owens will be facing each other for the Fiend’s first ever television match. Is… Owens going to be affected like all his other opponents not named Bill Goldberg?
The Rest
Sami Zayn def. Jeff Hardy - Sami started to street fight Jeff in the beginning, but when Jeff got the better of him he had to duck out of the ring. Sami almost drove Jeff into one of the turnbuckles, and the top padding suddenly wasn’t there. They played back footage from the commercial where Sami took it off and threw it away. Uh… no one saw that during a break?
After a really smooth superplex from the top rope, Jeff countered a Blue Thunderbomb and Sami kicked out at 2.9! I actually thought it was over. Sami was able to knock Jeff off the top rope and into the exposed turnbuckle face first for the win. I had thought that it was going to swerve on him and he would lose, and I’m very happy to see that wasn’t the case.
Jey Uso def. AJ Styles - This was an interesting moment after Jey’s encounter with Reigns. I wouldn’t have liked to see Jey in a match so quickly after the hellacious beatdown at Clash of Champions. Jey went for a splash and Styles got his knees up, but when Styles was going for the Phenomenal Forearm, Jey kicked the ropes and made him lose his footing. Styles sold the superkick really well and fell to a big splash from Jey.
Knocking off a former world champion in Styles is a great look for Jey Uso. I don’t think they’ve ever faced each other either and it made for quite a fresh match up. It’ll be interesting to see if Styles ends up going to Raw in the draft.
Matt Riddle and Lucha House Party def. King Corbin and The Artists - What a god awful promo from Matt Riddle before this match. I can’t even stand the Bro stuff anymore, which was my first worry when he was called up to the main roster. Kalisto was absent from the promo and most of the match, but he came out later and ended up kicking Lince Dorado in the face “by accident” Lince had done a stunner that Nakamura needed to help him with.
Cesaro hit a nasty uppercut to Riddle and he sold that really well, but after everyone broke down, Cesaro fell to the “Bro Derek”. That is just… no. Good grief. After, Riddle tried getting in between Kalisto and Dorado’s latest pushing match and then they just decided to cut away from it.
Carmella returned - She told us that she is no longer our Princess and that she’s untouchable, basically whenever she decides to be untouchable. I missed her, so this was a welcome sight. I’d like to see her drafted to Raw because I’d like to see her involved with Asuka. Also she’s not really been on Raw since coming to the main roster. Changes are always welcome.
Sheamus def. Chad Gable - Welcome back, Gable. Sorry bud.
Otis def. John Morrison - This happened. Otis is representing himself in court in the Miz/Otis legal battle next week. Whatever.
More hits than misses on this show. The main three programs are delightful and the new addition of Kevin Owens to this Fiend/Alexa storyline is fun. Otis, Miz and Morrison, Gable, Riddle, Corbin, and Kalisto and Lince are buckets of meh.
Grade: B-
What were your thoughts, Cagesiders?