Alright, I’m going to try and figure out what I just saw.
Braun Strowman can teleport, Alexa Bliss slapped him like crazy, and the Fiend… tried to save her?
Let’s break this down.
Braun came out, bald now, and said the Fiend knows exactly what he’s gonna get at SummerSlam, because he’s the most evil son of a bitch that anyone on this earth has ever laid eyes on, and he called the Fiend out to face his fears so he can eat his entrails. Gory stuff.
Alexa answered the call instead, and got in the ring, as Braun kept staring forward. She wanted answers from him regarding his comments last week about not caring about her because they’ve been friends for years. Braun said she was using him, and everyone that comes in contact with the Fiend changes.
So Alexa told him to be careful what he wished for, told him to face her, and then SLAPPED him. Repeatedly. He picked her up, and then the Fiend appeared.
And Braun… disappeared. Braun showed up on the tron and laughed, the Fiend laughed back, and Alexa was on the floor. The show ended with the classic Fiend cut off.
So.. is this a double turn? I’m really confused.
I don’t know how to feel yet about this, because the thought of the Fiend as a babyface is strange. But as the story is being presented right now... yeah no I don’t like that. What are your opinions about this?
P.I.S.S.
AJ said there’s a lot going on right now but they have more pressing matters than hooligans tearing up the ring (seriously THIS is how they present RETRIBUTION), like who gets to face him for the IC title. It shouldn’t matter, but because of Daniel Bryan, he has to be a fighting champion. He wants to just hang out and enjoy his reign and stream on Twitch, but everybody always throws out suggestions for who he should defend the title against, with all these statistical reasons as to why.
But he likes statistics in sports, so he’s a handsome nerd. So he hired the Phenomenal Intercontinental Statistic System.
PISS. Hahaha!
So he had a whiteboard out, and he listed himself as #1 on the list for the IC title, and #2… NO ONE! ( I really popped for that reveal, even though I knew it was coming.)
And then Jeff Hardy came out and said that he didn’t get a fair chance for the title, and it’s a special title to him. He said Jeff vs. AJ is mega cool, and AJ says hell no. So Jeff attacked him and now we have a title match next week.
Well as you know I was hoping for Big E to be the one to go against AJ for the title at SummerSlam, but here we are. It does have logic in it though, as Jeff was supposed to face Daniel Bryan in a qualifying match before Sheamus framed him in a hit and run and never went to jail for it. I was marking out more for the big TNA reunion of Hardy, Styles, and the WWE debut of Joseph Park! If you weren’t aware, Joseph Park was Abyss in TNA. I’m not a huge TNA/IMPACT fan, but I like Abyss and a few others from a few years ago.
No build for this one, as we’re getting the title match next week, before SummerSlam. That’s an odd choice.
RETRIBUTION is causing chaos
So, RETRIBUTION caused much more chaos on this show, but it’s weird.
The lights were really screwed around with, and they showed up immediately running people off and beating up Big E and Morrison. This is better presentation than we’ve seen, but I’m still eh… Let me explain.
Sheamus told security to amscray before his match and they didn’t take advantage of it. Later on, they destroyed the backstage area and attacked some referees. I liked that part more, but I think it would have been better to not have them in featured as much with The Fiend and Strowman angle.
I’m still not sold on this, but we’ll inevitably see them back on Raw and I don’t really like that they pick and choose their spots. It looked stupid for them to not interfere in Sheamus’ match, or when AJ called them hooligans. They’re supposed to be these anarchists and trouble makers.
WWE isn’t investing in this angle the way they should. It’s causing me to not care.
The Rest
Asuka wins the battle royal - So sadly my feed for the show totally malfunctioned during this match and I saw very few parts of it. Here’s what I liked from what I saw.
Bianca Belair and Tamina had a really fun showing. Commentary put over big the fact that Bianca got the biggest woman in the ring out, and personally I would have loved a swerve and she won. But I didn’t get that. The other thing I liked was Sasha and Bayley interfered and Shayna got Asuka off the ring but she landed on Sasha and Bayley on the floor after she attacked them.
And that’s all I saw. But my feelings on Asuka winning are I’m torn. Asuka’s been the MVP of the crowd-less era and I like her in both feuds with Sasha and Bayley, but we have a lot of other women around that aren’t being elevated. Like I said, I’d have loved Bianca to win as a surprise but I get what they’re doing with Asuka. Will we see Asuka two belts?
Sheamus def. Chad Gable - What I thought was going to be keeping up with the theme of the night, Sheamus told security stationed by gorilla to clock out and go get a pint, and… they listened to him. Paid security listened to a rando because he said he’s got it? Yeah that’s stupid.
Gable tried his best with some nice crossfaces and working Sheamus’ leg, including a missile dropkick for a 2 count. A white noise and Brogue Kick put him away. And that was it. No RETRIBUTION.
How stupid does that make them look, as if they haven’t looked ridiculous for most of their run so far up to this point, that security LEFT and they didn’t take advantage?
Big E is wonderful - Again, my feed was super out of control tonight but I just want to say I love Big E. His promo after RETRIBUTION attacked was so wonderful and I’m happy to see (thanks to Claire) that he won the match without interference. Then he was Brogue Kicked by Sheamus and I’m sad because it reminded me that I’m not getting Big E vs. Styles. Sheamus and E doesn’t really excite me. Maybe that will change, but we’ll see.
Gran Metalik def. Shinsuke Nakamura - Before the match, LHP stole the tag titles from The Artists backstage, and then they casually walked out with them without being chased around. Cesaro and Nakamura did that sitcom “look back, look at each other, look back again” thing because that’s what people normally do, right?
My feed continued to suck during the match, but Kalisto returned and helped the LHP win. I wonder if Kalisto helps them win the tag titles. I enjoy the Artists but I didn’t see their reign last long.
SmackDown was decent but I really didn’t get to see a lot of it sadly. I wanted to see that women’s battle royal and of course I didn’t get to see most of it. I’m intrigued by Mandy and Sonya doing a hair vs. hair match at SummerSlam. The Universal title program is… something. I don’t know where the alignments are and I don’t know what role Alexa will play. But I feel like she WILL play a role at SummerSlam.
Grade: B-
What were your thoughts, Cagesiders?