Who would have thought that a pay-per-view with that name would turn out to be this good? WWE knocked this one out of the ballpark and have a full head of steam heading into Summer Slam. Each match on this card was extremely fun and they were all different with how they were presented. Physicality, athleticism, and storytelling were all in play tonight as each match either progressed or ended the storyline that was present going into the night.
The highlights for me tonight would come from 2 different matches tonight. First, the 30-minute tag team iron man match was phenomenal. With WWE swerving everyone with the opening match pinfall on Matt Hardy after the diversion of Cesaro opening an opportunity for Sheamus to hit his devastating Brogue Kick. With the Hardy’s falling behind 3-1 the narrative was set as they had to do anything and everything possible to catch up in the match. With the Hardy’s tying, it up at 3-3 with about 2 minutes left in the match, both teams stepped on the gas to try to get that last fall needed to seal the victory. It looked as if the Hardy’s were about to win as Jeff climbed to the top of the turnbuckle while a busted and bloodied Matt looking on as Jeff hit a Swanton Bomb on Sheamus. Little did Jeff know that Cesaro, being the savvy and smart wrestler, tagged himself into the match without the Hardy’s knowing and as Jeff went to cover Sheamus for the match-winning pinfall, Cesaro swooped in and pinned Jeff to the mat for the 1-2-3 and a 4-3 lead with 17 seconds left in the match. Jeff chased Cesaro around the ring and eventually caught up to him and hit a Twist of Fate only to realize that the clock hit zero right before the 3 count. Phenomenal match and the groundwork continues to be laid for the “Broken Hardy’s” to make their WWE debut.
The next, and final major highlight for me, came from the Strowman vs Roman Ambulance Match. This match continued to build on the physical feud these two have had since the Royal Rumble. These two are the wrestling equivalent of Batman vs Joker and are destined to fight forever, which is a positive thing for both the fans as well as WWE because these two continue to bring incredibly physical and fun matches. We had Strowman get pushed through the LED board on the entrance ramp, ferocious chair shots from Roman that were shrugged off by the monster that is Strowman, and finally we had attempted murder, yes you read that correctly, as Reigns crashed the ambulance into a tractor trailer in a rage from losing the match. This was an “unhinged” side of Reigns that we have not seen in a long time from Reigns and somehow, after the local fire department had to use the jaws of life to get him out, Strowman walks away under his own power battered, and bloody but not broken. Hopefully, this feud gets elevated with the Universal Title getting thrown into the mix after Reigns beats Lesnar at upcoming pay-per-view Summer Slam on August 20th of this year (this story line idea has been confirmed by multiple wrestling news outlets).
This lead to the main event of the night where Universal Champion Brock Lesnar put his title on the line against Samoa Joe. The build up to this match had been phenomenal, each wrestler having their strengths displayed to the fullest. This match was as physical as people thought it would be. With Samoa Joe and Brock Lesnar both having shoot backgrounds in wrestling, and MMA it made for one fun match up. Between Samoa Joe’s attack on Lesnar before the match even started and a low-blow to Lesnar during the match(not cool, Joe) Joe gave Lesnar everything he could handle. By the end of the match, after escaping multiple submission attempts by Joe, Lesnar was able to hit his patented F-5 finishing maneuver to remain champion. All in all this pay-per-view was extremely fun from top to bottom and surpassed my expectations. Our rating for this show was a B+. Hopefully, the RAW brand keeps up the excellent work!
—-Cruiserweight Championship match – Neville(c) vs Tozawa – 11:31
Neville retains via pinfall.
—-Seth Rollins vs Bray Wyatt – 12:06
Wyatt wins via pinfall
—-Big Cass vs Enzo Amore – 5:21
Big Cass wins via pinfall
—-WWE Raw Tag Team Championship match – Sheamus and Cesaro(c) a.k.a. “The Bar” vs The Hardyz
“The Bar” retain after winning 4-3
—-WWE Women’s Title match: Alexa Bliss(c) vs Sasha Banks – 11:35
Sasha wins by count-out – Alexa Bliss retains title
—-WWE Intercontinental Title match – The Miz(c) vs Dean – 11:07
Miz wins via pinfall
—-Roman Reigns vs Braun Strowman – Ambulance Match – 16:30
Braun wins
— WWE Raw Universal Championship Title match: Brock Lesnar vs Samoa Joe Raw Main Title – 6:35
Lesnar wins via pinfall