Supercard Review: WWE Hell in a Cell 2016 - Charlotte Flair v Sasha Banks *Hell in a Cell*

On 30th October, WWE's RAW brand held the 8th incarnation of the Hell in a Cell PPV (the 1st to be entirely RAW branded). The main event was the first ever female Hell in a Cell bout with Sasha Banks putting her RAW Women's Championship on the line against Charlotte Flair, whilst a pair of semi-mains came from Roman Reigns and "The Bulgarian Brute" Rusev battling over the United States Championship and Kevin Owens placing the Universal Championship on the line, both inside the structure. With Cesaro, Bayley, RAW Tag Team Champions The New Day, Karl Anderson and Brian Kendrick on the undercard, how would Hell in a Cell turn out? Let's take a look. 

Despite what WWE's "triple main event" billing said, Charlotte Flair winning the RAW Women's Championship from Sasha Banks in a Hell in a Cell match was the main event in pretty much every sense of the term. It went on last, took up the most screen time and got the most hype. So how about that main event? It was always going to be difficult for Flair and Banks to step up not only into the main event, but to join the grand pantheon of Hell in a Cell matches, that includes classics like Shawn Michaels v The Undertaker and Cactus Jack v Triple H. There was a lot of history behind this bout, but at the same time there was none. Never before had two women main evented a PPV, never before had two women stepped inside the demonic structure. Was the match looking to emulate the past or create the future? It's difficult to judge something's effectiveness, if you're unsure of its aims. 

A large portion of the action happened outside of the bell, with Flair attacking Banks before the bell, leading to the two brawling outside of the cage. This would include the main angle for the bout that would drive the contest's narrative. Flair pulling Banks from the outside of the cage and hitting a powerbomb through the announce table looked superb. Banks took the bump like an absolute boss (pun intended), with the table collapsing underneath her and Flair's powerbomb looked tasty also. The build up could have been a lot slicker than it was, with Flair awkwardly bumping off the cage and then waiting for Banks to position herself into the powerbomb, instead of simply grabbing her. If the prior work had looked less cooperative then the big spot would have looked even better. The angle with Banks being put onto the stretcher and not wanting any help, only to pull herself into the cage when the announcement was being made, felt a little corny and didn't make a whole lot of sense. The two ladies played it well, but if the doctors had decried that Banks couldn't wrestle to the point that it had been communicated to the ring announcer (Jo Jo) then surely the match still doesn't go ahead? The spot has been played out in various formats over the years, including in a number of Hell in a Cell matches and I would've preferred the ladies had started with something that couldn't be easily compared to things we've seen over, at least, the last five years. 

Once the wrestlers were inside the Cell, I thought Banks and Flair did a damn good job, with a number of strong spots, some substantial storytelling and never for a moment looking out of place in the slot they were given. The majority of the bout was wrapped around Banks' back injury, with Flair targeting the damaged area and Banks offence kept to desperation flurries. The Boss' selling was mostly good, but the length of the bout (over 20 mins bell to bell) at times threatened it's believability, especially during a spot that saw her hit the three amigos suplexes (Because Eddie Guerrero). Spots-wise the match had some good use of the cell, from the very beginning where Charlotte hit a wicked monkey flip into the steel and a flurry of double knee shots from Banks that pinned Flair against the structure. A couple of the spots involving tables could have come off slicker, especially Flair's bump off the apron. Had these spots come together as planned then this probably would have been the undisputed match of the night. Flair winning the match with Natural Selection, having thrown Banks into a table twice, was a flat end to the evening, especially with the match in Banks' hometown. 

Match in a Sentence - A very good match, with some flashes storytelling brilliance, but it occasionally got lost and some of the bigger spots could have looked better

The show opened with Roman Reigns retaining the United States Championship over Rusev in a solid heavyweight scrap inside the structure. The match was hurt by having to take two other HIAC matches into consideration, meaning that the bout lacked any particularly impressive spots, meaning that Rusev bumping off the apron and into the cell was replayed about twenty times during the match. However, within the confines that they were given, I felt like Reigns and Rusev managed to produce an extremely watchable affray. They'd introduce a number of props to compliment that big lads style, whacking each other with Kendo sticks, the steel steps and a big metal chain. One of my favourite parts of the match was when Rusev had Reigns caught in the ropes and was wailing away with the kendo stick, but with the crowd chanting along, he stopped the beating and broke the kendo stick over his knee. It made me chuckle at home, but also got him a decent big of heat, because Boston loves to count. There was a couple of near falls with Reigns' being sent into the steps and then taking a superkick, which were worked well and had the crowd gripped, especially on the first one! 

My main problem with the bout was that it felt like a missed opportunity to make Rusev into a legitimate top guy in WWE. This was all down to how the story of the match unfolded and also, in part, the finish. The conclusion saw Rusev wrap the steel chain around Reigns' chin and apply a modified Accolade with the chain, with the two on top of the steel steps, now for me, unless you can do a run-in, that's the end of the match, right there. Instead, Rusev was made to look a bit dim, by dropping the chain to lock in a normal Accolade, allowing Reigns to power out and hit a Samoan Drop on the steps, followed by a spear to get the win. Why on earth would Rusev drop that chain? It just made him look a fool. Have Reigns pass out or if The Big Dog HAS to win for whatever reason, work an injury angle where Rusev can't keep the hold on because X, Y or Z, anything that gives a reason for The Bulgarian Brute to drop the chain. With the knowledge that Reigns was going over, I would've liked to have seen Rusev get more offence in during the first act of the match, where it seemed like Reigns always had the upperhand, even when the former champ resorted to raking the eyes, Reigns somehow rebounded and sent Rusev into the steps. There was a more interesting story to be told, with a few simple changes, that would've lead to both being elevated at the same time.

Match in a Sentence – Big heavyweight scrap, that utilised a number of props well, but could have done with cutting time and also feels like a missed star-making opportunity for Rusev.

The third Hell in a Cell contest on the card was Kevin Owens retaining his Universal Championship against Seth Rollins, after Chris Jericho had got himself locked inside the structure. There were a number of different elements that went into this, with the near 25 minute bout moving through a number of distinct segments. Each of these sections had their own merits, Owens focusing on Rollins injured tapped back had some good spots and suited the pairs styles, a lightning quick sequence of reversals sent the crowd into a frenzy and Jericho's involvement in the finish bought more storyline into the action without feeling over-booked. Everything on it's own was entertaining and the variation of styles meant that the 25 minutes went past fairly quickly, but (there's always a but) it wasn't melded together as good as it could have been. The back and forth sequence felt so out of place for what had come before, the run-in was awkwardly ambled towards with fire extinguishers and shit. It felt like when it was booked everyone had a load of good ideas, but not the time to make them fit together. 

Everything from when Jericho got inside the cage to when Owens pinned Rollins was very good. Rollins looked great fighting from underneath, managing to keep Jericho out of the action, only for Y2J to comeback just in time to keep Owens in the match. The spot where Rollins powerbombed Owens through a ridiculous structure of tables on the outside was superb stuff with the highspot itself looking insane. Similar to the Banks v Flair announce table spot, the build up could have been slicker, but the duo managed to recover the moment well, as when Rollins seemed to be unable to get Owens in position it could have been a lot worse, both visually and physically.  The finish built up nicely with Owens unable to put Rollins away with a Pop-Up Powerbomb, before Jeri-KO were finally able to combine for a sustained period, hammering away with chairs, before Owens hit a DDT on a chair for a near fall and finally won with a Powerbomb through a pair of seated chairs. It protected Rollins by having him scrap til the very end and also included some pretty cool looking moments along the way. I feel like everyone will benefit from this story ended, with Rollins able to stretch his babyface wings in a separate feud, whilst Jeri-KO can step up their best friends storyline that is obviously only heading in one direction.

Match in a Sentence - Good bout that goes through a number of different section, but doesn't quite manage to thread them together.

The biggest bout on the undercard saw Sheamus & Cesaro defeat The New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods, accompanied by Kofi Kingston) by disqualification, meaning that New Day retained the RAW Tag Team Championships. At times this match had some great wrestling, at times it was super awkward. Sheamus being the only heel in the contest, just meant that the structure of the whole thing was a bit off and that the first half of the match played out in front of a crowd that didn't really know how to react to it. The hot tag sequence was exciting stuff, with Big E having overhead belly to belly suplexes for days, Woods hitting a lovely tope conhilo and then Big E blocking a Brogue Kick and hitting a sit-out powerbomb for 2, but it didn't have enough substance or heat heading in to make it as satisfying as it could have done. The finish had way too much going on to set up the DQ finish, with Kingston retaliating Sheamus hitting Big E with Francesca 2 (the trombone, if you're not keeping up) with a Trouble in Paradise, whilst Cesaro got Woods to tap out to a Sharpshooter. After the match, I don't feel like anyone involved came out of the show looking any different from before the match took place.

Match in a Sentence - Some really well worked spots, but also incredibly awkward at points and did very little for anyone involved.

Brian Kendrick won his first singles title in WWE, taking the Cruiserweight Championship from TJ Perkins. The contest was technically sound but struggled to grab to crowd's attention and at points risked the audience turning on it. One of the matches biggest challenges was that it came directly after the Owens v Rollins HIAC bout, which had included the stupidly quick back and forth section. There was nothing in this match which even came close to the excitement of that piece of work. The spot that seemed to turn the crowd off was Kendrick trying to tape Perkins to the bottom rope by his wrist tape, which made absolutely no sense (the commentary team said Kendrick was going for the countout) and looked awful. WWE have weaved a story into the cruiserweight division that nobody wanted to see and have shown a clear misunderstanding of what made the Cruiserweight Classic so popular. The majority of the wrestling content was fine, because Kendrick and Perkins know what they're doing, but by the time Kendrick had won the belt I didn't feel anything or at least felt nothing near to how emotional I was for any of Kendrick's matches during CWC. 

Match in a Sentence - A match that struggled to get the crowds imagination, but included some decent wrestling 

Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson got a big victory over Big Cass & Enzo Amore, in a simple but enjoyable tag team match. Gallows, Anderson, Cass and Amore didn't reinvent the wheel here, but each part of the wheel was constructed well. Enzo & Cass' face shine was fun, Gallows and Anderson controlled the bout well, the build to the hot tag was good, Cass looked like a hero during his come back and the heels got the win thanks to some over exuberance from Cass and a swift double team on Amore. I would've liked to have seen Gallows & Anderson get a bit more time to work over Jersey's Finest and to have really ground on him to the point where the crowd were absolutely desperate for Cass to come lay waste to them, but in a show that went three and half hours, asking for more is an odd request. Gallows & Anderson needed this victory, after no supercard win since May and especially after the New Day feud had killed their momentum as two bald bad asses. Don't worry about Enzo & Cass they could lose week in week out and still turn things around with one promo, plus Cass looked like a beast, so all is well.

Match in a Sentence - Solid tag team match, that finally gives Gallows & Anderson a bit of momentum!

Rounding out the show we had Bayley picking up a victory over Dana Brooke in what was both women's first singles match on a main roster supercard. It was clear to see where both women were at in their careers in this match as Bayley shone, whilst Brooke looked average (that's being me being uncharacteristically nice).  From the awkward spot where Brooke tried to drop Bayley shoulder first onto the top buckle, it was clear that the contest was a little too sophisticated for a Brooke who should probably still be in NXT. Brooke working the arm was mostly sloppily executed, including a move that I believe was supposed to be a Bow and Arrow, but Bayley's selling was strong enough that it pretty much carried the match. Little touches, like only using one arm to do the wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man dance, made the contest for me and gave me a big smile on my face. The logical next step would seem to be moving Bayley into either a one on one feud with Charlotte or Nia Jax, the top two female heels on the RAW brand currently. 

Match in a Sentence - Very good performance from Bayley in a match that wasn't always as tight as it should have been

Best of the Rest 

• Big Cass & Enzo Amore knocked their pre-match promo out of the park, with a number of funky references to their opponents, such as renaming them Big Gal and Andy.

• The New Day's pre-match promo was mainly pandering and talk of potential merchandise for Cesaro & Sheamus, it wasn't great.

• Backstage, Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley shilled the upcoming Survivor Series PPV before Chris Jericho canvassed for position on the RAW Survivor Series team, with all the signature catch phrases. 

• Backstage, Tom Phillips interviewed Kevin Owens – Cesaro & Sheamus argued about something 

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 6.27/10

Show in a Sentence - A good show, with three good to very good Hell in a Cell bouts, even if each would have been improved by not having to take the others into consideration, accompanied by an average, yet mostly entertaining undercard.

Match of the Night - Sasha Banks v Charlotte Flair

All content - James Marston

All images are the property of their respective owners. 

Supercard Review: WWE Clash of Champions 2016 - Seth Rollins v Kevin Owens

After Smackdown's first PPV, Backlash, had been a surprisingly good effort, RAW's Clash of Champions was going to be even better, right? After all it had a stronger card, headlined by Kevin Owens defending the Universal Championship and with Chris Jericho, Cesaro, Sami Zayn and Sasha Banks all in major spots on the card. This was gonna be a great show...wasn't it? 

The main event that saw Kevin Owens makes his first Universal Championship defense against Seth Rollins in a bout that showed the potential of the performers, but was ultimately held back by some questionable booking. The performances from both Champion and challenger were spot on throughout, with Owens upping his intensity levels when in control, loudly voicing his opinions of Rollins, as he focused in on his opponents hamstring to control the bout, on the other hand Rollins sublte babyface performance was a great watch as he sold the injured leg well and made each near fall count selling just how desperate he was with the look on his face. The Architect didn't quite go full babyface here, which perhaps held the match back a little (especially in the opening), but there were certainly signs that a rematch would see the culmination of the turn. 

The action wasn't always as crisp as it could have been, yet there was still some sequences that betrayed the quality of the wrestlers, especially in the moments before Chris Jericho came to ringside. The section where Owens escaped the Pedigree, flowing nicely into a cannonball near fall, as well as a strike sequence coming moments after Rollins had escaped a Package Piledriver attempt were both done with at a strong pace, whilst the challenger continue to do an explemary sell-job. The build towards Owens putting himself through the announce table was handled well, with Rollins introducing the table earlier in the match, making it a Chekov's Gun. Rollins following this up with a Frog Splash also mirrored a spot moments earlier where Owens would deliver a gutbuster off the top before hitting the same move. 

Despite some problems with the booking not helping the pair, it was the conclusion that would stand out as the most frustrating of these. Having Jericho involved, made perfect sense, he's been associated with Owens for month and arguably has more heat than the champion at the moment, but his involvement made what could have been a simple finish into a big of a mess. There were some nice moments, like Rollins turning a Pop-Up Powerbomb into a Pedigree with the referee down and then hitting a pair of suicide dives on Jeri-KO, but there was also the overly contrived ref bump that left little reason for the ref to be down for so long and a messy finish that saw Stephanie McMahon sound a second referee down to the ring, long after the referee had initially been knocked down. Individually, I don't have any problem with a lot of the elements used in the finish, Jericho's interference, the ref bump, McMahon sending out a second ref, the near falls, but when put together it didn't quite work. You can have the best ingredients in the world, but that doesn't mean they'll all taste well together. 

The semi-main was a straight-forward United States Championship match where Roman Reigns took the belt from "The Bulgarian Brute" Rusev, which didn't have a lot to get excited about. Apart from the Indiannapolis crowd chanting for "CM Punk", there really wasn't anything wrong with this match, both men did everything they did well, it's just for almost 20 minutes of wrestling, there wasn't much that made sit up and take notice. You probably could have shaved ten minutes of this and got a better match out of it, because it felt like about that much action was having to be stretched across that longer time span. This was especially notably in the finish, where the pair seemed to be going over the same kind of ground, repeating a handful of spots and mainly sticking to having Reigns hitting the Superman Punch or Spear in a couple of different situations.

Both men had their moments of effectiveness, where I felt like the match could be going in a different direction, with Reigns selling his injuries well, whilst Rusev got over his frustration at being able to put away The Big Dog nicely. However, these were also two areas that I don't think were explored to their full potentianal, Reigns' rib injuries got slightly lost in the conclusion that seemed to want to do too much, and Rusev's frustration could have been to build to better ending. I think, what truly held this match back was the fact that Rusev and Reigns have had a shit load of matches on television over the last two years and this match didn't feel any different from any of their previous encounters. Yes, a lot of those had DQ finishes, but they've also had bouts with better conclusions that have gone longer and been more intense than this on Monday Night RAW.  

Arguably, the best match on the show was Match 7 of Sheamus and Cesaro's Best of Seven Series, which has been a sleeper hit on RAW over the previous five weeks. This encounter continued the theme, as Cesaro and Sheamus reached into the depth of storytelling opportunities that they'd left for each other over the previous five weeks. There were call-backs to previous finishes, use of the on-going narrative of Cesaro's injured back, as well as the pair pulling out new tricks, which the commentary team put over very well as the the duo attempting to surprise an opponent that perhaps knee them better than anyone else (at least, right now anyway). One of my favourite moments in this was Sheamus hitting a backbreaker version of his Pale Justice Crucifix Powerbomb, that despite not looking as polished as it could, pulled in a number of the match stories and looked fucking brutal in the process. 

I can see the finish splitting the wrestling audience, because having the match end in a No Contest after six previous bouts over five weeks, was a brave decision. However, I thought the pair worked the moment well, brawling around ringside and then into the crowd as Cesaro hit a clothesline over the barricade that kept them both down, as officals came to check on them and the match was called off. It was perhaps not what people were expecting and initially I'll admit that I wasn't sold on them leaving the series at 3-3, but once I saw Cesaro and Sheamus selling the match, selling how much effort they'd put into trying to beat the other and selling the desperation to continue the fight. The fact that the audience began to chant "Let them fight" after initially showing what at best could be described as indifference towards them, showed that the work had been done right. A rematch between the pair is now a bigger match, whilst there's also a couple of different aveneues to go down to prolonge the wait for a rematch, which would certainly beneficial to the guys who have fought 8 TV matches in 9 weeks! 

Charlotte retaining the Women's Championship over Sasha Banks and Bayley was an interesting one, because it was cleverly put together for the majority of the match but concluded with a contrived finish, that left a bad taste in the mouth. Let's tallk about that finish first, because it's bugs me more than a little. Charlotte hits a Big Boot on Bayley that knocked Banks off the apron and then another big boot on Bayley to pick up the win. Firstly, a big boot is a lame finisher, especially when your big boot doesn't look particularly impressive in the first place. The commentary appeared to allude to the fact that Charlotte's manager Dana Brooke was in the wrong place for the finish, which would have made slightly more sense had she been holding onto Banks' ankle. 

Outside of the finish, this was a cleverly booked and well performed encounter, that told a simple story. The idea that permeated the contest throughout was that Charlotte and Brooke were able to work together, whilst Banks and Bayley mostly decided to work as individuals and even when briefly on the same page their union wasn't strong enough to control the Women's Champion. Charlotte is capable of commanding the stage when in control and this allowed the sections were she worked over Banks to be good viewing, as Brooke kept Bayley down on the outside. Mostly the match flowed well, in terms of both storytelling and the action, with only the build towards a moonsault from Charlotte being anything but neat. It perhaps lacked the "Wow" factor off the WrestleMania 32 Three Way where Becky Lynch replaced Bayley, but still had enough dramatic near fall to keep the audience involved til the very end. 

Chris Jericho and Sami Zayn had a solid bout, that featured some strong sequences and near falls, which was held back by a couple of sloppy spot. The opening of the bout may have been my favourite part about it as the two appeared to slot together perfectly, as Zayn produced a fun face shine sequence that included a moonsault off the barricade, whilst Jericho used his crafty ways to take control, using the referee as a shield to hit a triangle dropkick. The characters provided a fine foundation to build upon and whilst there was some great reversal and near fall sequences, it was this foundation that made the contest such an enjoyable watch, as Jericho would always have something up his sleeve to keep control. The bout was only let down by a couple of sloppy DDT spots, that seemed to show Jericho struggling to hold Zayn up to complete the moves. 

Jericho getting the win with a Codebreaker was perhaps another point of contention here as out of all the matches on the card, a clean finish win for the heel made the least sense. A cheap win for Jericho would have worked wondefully, having him play possum before hitting a codebreaker perhaps, it was Jericho's devious ways that the match was built around so why not? Jericho didn't really stand to gain anything from pinning Zayn clean, and it could have potentially have harmed the man who's still developing a relationship with the WWE audience. Outside of his feud with Kevin Owens, Zayn has not just struggled for victories, but also to find an identifiable persona, that more casual fans could latch onto. Whilst Zayn proved once again that he's a reliable hand, the booking didn't help to cement him as top level performer, or even build towards that time. 

Perhaps one of the more dissapointing contests of the night was TJ Perkins first defense of the Cruiserweight Championship against Brian Kendrick, because despite a bright closing sequence, the pair struggled to connect with the crowd and lacked chemistry. I'm not sure that Kendrick was the best person to include in the first Cruiserweight bout on PPV, because despite being a more familiar face, he isn't someone who will "Wow" a casual audience like these intial Cruiserweight matches should. His new character is brilliant, his gritty work and Captain's Hook finish is great, but that only works if a crowd is either invested in the babyface or familiar with that character. As of this match they were neither. The rana spot to the outside woke the crowd up and lead into a good final stretch, where Perkins won with a Knee Bar, but if you missed the Cruiserweight Classic, I think you'd have been wondering what all the hype was about. 

The New Day's Tag Team title match with Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson was another contest that seemed to have to work against the booking to produce anything entertaining. Xavier Woods using the trombone to get the win for his team, only works for the babyfaces, if we've seen a lot of shenanigans from Gallows & Anderson, but we hadn't. Yes the duo had used their power to their advantage and had dominated throughout, but they hadn't really used anything underhanded to take or remain in control. The brevity of the bout also meant that their wasn't much of a build towards any hot tag and no lengthy face in peril section where these kind of antics could have taken place. I'm hoping we get to see a rematch because these two teams have come nowhere close to reaching their potential together, but if they're going to have to work against the creative team again, then I'd rather they not bother. 

Finally... 

ATPW Scale Rating - 6.32/10 

This was a good show, but it could have been a great show. There was a hell of a lot of talent on display here and a card that had something to be interested in from top to bottom, but when the PPV ended it felt like we didn't quite get to see the best out of the performers. I feel that this was at know fault of their own, as there was some great displays from the likes of Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Charlotte and Chris Jericho, but each and every one of them was held back by the creative of the show. As a "B" show, you kind of expect these shows to be used to build the bigger events, but a lot of these booking decisions seemed to even work against doing that! 

Show in a Sentence - Good wrestling, bad booking.

TV Review: WWE Monday Night RAW #1214 - Roman Reigns v Kevin Owens v Seth Rollins v Big Cass

It was a big week for the red brand, as they featured a four way dance for the Universal Championship that was vacated by Finn Balor on #1213. With an interesting mixture of wrestlers battling for the title, as Roman Reigns, Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins and Big Cass entered the main event, would Monday Night RAW produce a classic on the final episode of August? 

Before I get into the meat and potatoes of the Universal Championship match, lets begin by talking about the shocking conclusion and the return of Triple H. The former 9 time World Champion came seemingly out of nowhere to level Roman Reigns with a Pedigree on the outside when the Big Dog was on a roll, allowed Seth Rollins to get the elimination, before turning on The Architect with Pedigree and handing Kevin Owens the Universal Championship. I'm split on whether I actually liked the finish or not. Part of me enjoyed the surprise of The Game's return and the crowd reaction it garnered, then another part of me felt like it was another case of Triple H being put over ahead of everyone else. I think we'll have to wait til next week to see how it plays out, but there is no escaping the fact that two of the three eliminations came at the hands of a 47 year old Cerebral Assassin who hasn't been seen for over four months. Keeping things positive, it should be a good way of moving Owens up into that full-time main event slot, depending on how the story plays out over the next couple of weeks heading towards Clash of Champions.

Having considered the finish, the rest of the match was a lot less controversial, featuring some good stuff for sure. Despite being the first guy eliminated I felt like Big Cass' stock was raised considerably just by taking part, lasting a respectable twelve minutes against three guys with much more top level experience and taking a lot of offense before being pinned by Owens. The Babe Ruth of Beatdowns held his own in exchanges with Reigns and indeed seemed to have the upper hand on The Guy in the majority of their throwdowns. The Cactus Big Boot that Cass used to finish off their initial transaction was sweet, plus having him continue to be able to dodge Reigns' Superman Punch was a nice addition that opens up a potential clash for future supercards. The only man to not be basically eliminated by Triple H, Cass ended up taking a Superman Punch from Reigns as The Big Bambino looked to put Rollins away with The East River Crossing, before taking Avada Kedavra from The Man and Bullfrog Splash from Owens to crash out of the match. It was performance that instantly put Cass up a level and whilst he's clearly a long way from being as rounded as Rollins, Owens or even Reigns, if he remains fit and is booked right over the next couple of years, there is no doubt that The Don of Parmesan will be holding one of the companies top belts sooner rather than later. 

The rest of the contest had the Houston crowd hooked, as they popped for pretty much anything that happened and reacted with the over-used "This is Awesome" chant. In between Cass' elimination and Triple H's appearance, the highlight for me was a scrap between Reigns and Rollins that saw a particularly smooth series of reversals, that would culminate in The Aerialist nailing a falcon arrow for a strong near fall. The familiarity of the pair would be continue to be part of the story, with Reigns blocking a springboard high knee with a Superman punch, before the 2 time World Champion was able to block a Spear from Reigns. The pair have had numerous matches of the last two years, including a pair of bouts in Mexico over the past weekend and the fluidity created across those matches, helped to build a strong spine for this Four Way Dance. 

The biggest bout outside the main event was a six person tag, with Tag Team Champions The New Day [Big E & Kofi Kingston] teamed up with Bayley to battle The Club's Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson and their new found pal, Dana Brooke. I liked the idea of combining the Women's and Tag Team storylines as it meant that everyone got more screentime than if the two storylines had been split into separate segments and I felt like all six people involved in the match, as well as Xavier Woods in the New Day and Bayley's corner and Charlotte on commentary took the opportunity and ran with it. The bout merged the multiple gimmicks in an entertaining way, including Bayley joining all of New Day for a funky dance heading into a break. The build towards the finishing stretch was done very well, with Gallows pulling Big E off the apron to deny Kingston a hot tag, before a tag to Bayley produced a cool exchange between her and Brooke, before a Fosbury Flop style dive from Kingston onto Anderson and a Bayley to Belly allowed the babyface trio to pick the victory. 

In the second match of their Best of Seven Series, Sheamus and Cesaro continued their strong vein of form with another good collision as the tension between the two continues to build well. Having to have seven matches back to back, after already having two matches on RAW weeks before the series began, means that the duo are continually challenged to be creative and put on different types of matches and make sure that the audience know that they're going to see something new every time they sit down to watch one of these Best of Seven Series matches. Whilst Sheamus and Cesaro always bring a strong brawling style, the pair brought a different level of story-telling to this contest as The Swiss Superman was always one step ahead of The Celtic Warrior, with Sheamus kept to mostly flash pin attempts, including trying to win with his feet on the ropes towards the end of the bout. This would be flipped on it's head in the closing moments, as Sheamus sent Cesaro head over heels into the bulky ringpost, before locking in a Cloverleaf to earn a submission victory and go 2-0 up in the series. As things begin to warm up, I'm expecting this series to only get better and the storytelling to get richer. 

It was clear to see that Chris Jericho and Neville had had a house show run together over the weekend, as they put on a very smooth encounter in the shows opening match. Somewhat surprisingly it took the bout a few minutes to find it's feet, but once it did the pair produced some quality in-ring action, that presented a fun clash between the high-flying expert and the crafty veteran. Y2J was using all the old tricks to get the advantage, including hiding behind the referee before an eye rake, whilst The Man That Gravity Forgot had plenty in his bag of tricks also, including a beautiful Asai moonsault. Jericho being able to dodge Red Arrow multiple times also builds the potential for a rematch and protects the former NXT Champion despite the eventual submission loss. The final two sequences were great examples of what the pair could do together. Firstly, Jericho rolled through a German suplex attempt into a Walls of Jericho, that Neville reversed into a small package for a cracking false finish before Neville would go for a rana, after Y2J had escaped another Red Arrow, which Jericho would hold onto and eventually lock in a Liontamer to pick up the win. There's more that could be done between Jericho and Neville, I'm hoping that Owens winning the Universal Championship will free up Jericho to move into a proper feud with the Geordie. 

8 days after SummerSlam, Paul Heyman made his return to our screens in an odd segment with Commissioner Stephanie McMahon. Heyman and McMahon are two entertaining characters, that have a good amount of chemistry, which makes sure that whenever the pair share the screen, that you'll probably want to watch to see exactly what's going to happen. However, this time around, I'm not sure what actually happened. I feel like maybe I missed something, because to be honest, this felt like an unnecessary ten minutes of TV time, that didn't set up anything and didn't resolve anything either. Heyman came out, tried to pay Brock Lesnar's fine in $1 dollar bills, they then talked for a bit, Heyman begged McMahon to accept his apology, McMahon accepted and quickly left, leaving Heyman laughing in the ring. Both seemed to be heels, both came across as a bit dickish and I was left wondering if we'd ever get to see this go anywhere or if it was just a way to try to cash in on some of the controversy caused by Lesnar without actually having to pay Lesnar to be there. 

The only other lengthy talking segment on the show was Corey Graves hosting a chat between the four main event talents at the top of the show. There was some good stuff here as they looked to add a bit of depth to upcoming Four way dance and get the viewers to tune into the action at the end of the show. Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins had some banter, with Rollins initially donating his speaking time to Owens, whilst The Prizefighter compared the set-up to that of a group therapy session. Both men played their moment well, coming across as two guys jostling for each other's support in the match, whilst having a hint of animosity behind what they had to say. Big Cass also got some time to show what he can do on his own, having some decent back and forth with Owens regarding their recent feud, whilst also taking a jab at Rollins' penis size. Never forget those dick pics people, never forget. The segment concluded in fairly predictable fashion with Roman Reigns having fuck all to say and everyone brawling about.

Titus O'Neil and Darren Young continued their feud this week and still no one gave a single fuck. There was little get excited about again here, with the one big spot of the match, that saw O'Neil finally take control by lobbing Young over the top rope resulted in a ringside camera getting broken. I lost interest for a time, because The Real Deal just kept saying "You Owe Me" for reasons that weren't really explained and it would have been kind to have described any of the action as "average". The finish would see Young get a crucifix roll up victory after O'Neil got too involved with the referee. O'Neil would attack Bob Backlund before delivering Clash of the Titus to confirm that the misery will continue for a while long at least. The Prime Time Players were better together and they weren't that great to begin with.

Best of the Rest

• Sami Zayn returned to winning ways with a quick victory over Jinder Mahal following an Exploder Suplex and Helluva Kick 
• Nia Jax picked up her fourth victory in a row with a win over some lass called Hyan. 
• Braun Strowman extended his undefeated streak to over two month's with a victory over Americo [NWA's Barrett Brown] 

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 6.03/10 

Topping last week's episode to become the best episode since the post-Battleground episode, this was an in-ring action heavy edition of Monday Night RAW. The main event was an epic, that will probably split opinion due to how much you enjoyed the finish, but either way it was a quality outing that did a lot for various competitors, whilst presenting one of the most shocking finishes to Monday Night RAW in quite some time. Outside of the main event, the three biggest matches on the show (New Day & Bayley v The Club & Brooke, Cesaro v Sheamus, Neville v Jericho) all delivered good wrestling and were entertaining in various ways. Only two in-ring talking segments is a never going to be a bad thing either, it's a shame that the Paul Heyman and Stephanie McMahon segment felt much more like a time filler than anything else. 

If only the continuation of Titus O'Neil and Darren Young's feud hadn't been featured on the show, then you'd probably have had the best episode since the brand split right here! 

All content - James Marston

Banner Credit - Kai Stellar

TV Review: WWE Monday Night RAW #1213 - Chris Jericho v Roman Reigns

As the dust from SummerSlam began to settle and it was revealed that the newly crowned Universal Champion Finn Balor would be on the shelf for six months, WWE was once again in position of having to change their plans and put together an evening of action that one would have to imagine was vastly different from what had been scheduled. Would WWE be able to think fast and pull out a quality episode of RAW? 

The main event of the show saw Roman Reigns and Chris Jericho battling for the final spot in a Fatal Four-way match on RAW #1214, where the Universal Championship will be on the line. Despite being unresponsive for most of the show, Brooklyn were determined to display how much they dislike Reigns, who let's be honest has been playing a tweener role since WrestleMania 32 anyway. There was still a fair reply of "Yes he can" to every "You can't wrestle" chant and despite the crowd's dislike for Reigns, Brooklyn was invested in the headline contest from start to finish, popping for every near fall and essentially playing into the story WWE wanted to tell of Reigns overcoming various obstacles to pull out the win. Personally, I feel WWE are leaving money on the table by not turning The Big Dog heel, which in the long run would probably also lead to Reigns being accepted by the fans, in similar way to what's been seen in NJPW with Tetsuya Naito. 

Reigns and Jericho put on a strong main event match, with the pair both working a clever bout that was booked perfectly and had some great near falls. Reigns sold the Walls of Jericho well but I'm sure most of the crowd knew that WWE wouldn't have Jericho beat Reigns clean, so having Y2J's Jeri-KO partner, Kevin Owens, come down to ringside in the second half of the contest allowed for some much more convincing near falls. Jericho also made sure to protect himself and his codebreaker finisher by crawling into the pin, rather than instantly grabbing the cover. The story of Reigns being the powerful one, whilst Jericho bought a crafty veteran persona, sticking his thumb in his opponents eye and having his pal help him at ringside was told well, with Reigns selling the injured eye well. They could have made a bit more of The Guy being unable to see if they had a bit more time. I don't imagine Reigns will win the Universal belt on 29th August, but his involvement will make the win more important and guarantee that the crowd will be invested in the action.

As mentioned above, Finn Balor had to vacate the Universal Championship after less than a day holding onto the red belt. After RAW Commissioner Stephanie McMahon and RAW General Manager Mick Foley had introduced him at the top of the show, Balor would forfeit the belt in an emotional address to the Brooklyn crowd. It was difficult not to feel for Fergal Devitt. I'm not trying to be smart by using his birth name, I used it because as much this was a bad time for the character on screen, you have to think that it's much worse the man behind it. Someone who's worked since 2000 to get this point, someone who toiled in Japan for eight years to make a name for himself and become one of the best wrestlers in the world, spent three years in NXT becoming a rounded sports-entertainer and went on to win the top championship on WWE's RAW brand after just three matches on the show. Everything that Devitt had done previously, winning the NWA British Commonwealth title in 2004, winning the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team titles six times between 2008 and 2012, winning the Best of the Super Juniors in 2010 & 2013, winning the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship three times between 2011 and 2014, winning the NXT Championship and the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic in 2015, having great matches with Koji Kanemoto, The Motor City Machine Guns, Naomichi Marifuji, Golden Lovers, Gedo, Kazuchika Okada, Zack Sabre Jr., Adrian Neville, Kevin Owens, Samoa Joe and Shinsuke Nakamura, wrestling in Japan, the USA, the UK, Mexico, Ireland, Australia, Germany, Canada, France, New Zealand, Palau, Poland, Singapore and Hungary, was leading up SummerSlam 2016 and within hours it was taken away.

The segment swiftly moved away from Balor's concession with Seth Rollins coming out to claim the belt, only to be interrupted by Sami Zayn, Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens, Enzo & Cass and Roman Reigns. It made for some entertaining televison as I tried to work out who would be out next and the solution that McMahon & Foley would come up with. Rollins did a brilliant job with his smarmy heel promo getting some great heat for talking about how beautifully the Universal belt was, whilst Jericho also made the most of his time putting his hand in praying position and begging McMahon to give him the title. However, this parade of RAW's top talent probably wasn't needed as The Billion Dollar Princess and The Hardcore Legend could have easily announced plans on their own and given the matches or other segments more time. Personally, I'd have liked to have seen the winners of the matches from the previous night Supercard be the ones involved, but that's probably asking to much with a number of them involved in other stories and the card having to shuffled anyway! The segment concluded with Rollins attacking Zayn from behind prior to their opening match.

Big E picked up a win in first singles match since March and extend his undefeated streak to six matches with a quick victory over Karl Anderson, gaining revenge for the attack on his nads. This was a decent match, that could have done with an extra five minutes to allow the pair to get into the next gear, but did it's job well bringing New Day's feud with The Club to a close with Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods and Luke Gallows all involved in the match's conclusion. The segment that would lead into the contest was a lot of fun with New Day celebrating a year as Tag Team Champions and an appreciative Brooklyn crowd hanging off the groups every word. The interaction between the two groups was more good stuff with Big E making me choke on my tea with his request that The Club stop "talking that flim flam, that booty chatter". 

In the most interesting thing The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley & D-Von Dudley) have done for months, BRD & D-Von were out to do a retirement speech after a full year back in the company. As they were cutting their speech, I began to think how much of a shame it was that the pair hadn't been in the ring with The Club's Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson, as the two teams would seem to match up with each other pretty well. The segment was well put together and worked the crowd perfectly, as initially The Shining Stars (Epico & Primo) interrupted Dudley Boyz and when it seems like BRD & D-Von were about to put Epico & Primo through a table and end their career on a high note, The Club would attack. After D-Von took Magic Killer on the floor and BRD took it through a table, we could have the most engaging feud of Dudley Boyz's second run with WWE. The heat for Gallows & Anderson was arguably the best crowd reaction for them as a tag tram since their debut in April.

Talking of reactions, how about that pop for Bayley, eh? Making her first appearance since Battleground and her RAW debut, Mick Foley would introduce the former NXT Women's Champion as his new free agent signing after interrupting NEW Women's Champion Charlotte and Dana Brooke. This segment was my favourite part of the show, partly because Bayley finally getting the chance on the big stage, but mainly because Charlotte cut two excellent promos either side of it. Her initial speech about defeating Sasha Banks at SummerSlam was wonderfully slick as she claimed to have shown up Banks as a one match wonder. Her reply to Bayley asking for a title match was a equally well done, taking on a condescening tone and shuffling herself aside as she offered the debutant a match with Brooke instead. A great piece of business that sets up an interesting feud with two polar opposite characters with history dating back to 2013 in NXT, whilst Banks return from her back injury will only add more fuel to the fire.

The Universal Championship tournament would offer up another first time WWE clash as Rusev and Big Cass met in the ring for the first time since 2013. After some comedy from Cass & Enzo Amore as they tried to work out where the "Bulg Area" was, the match was a serious affair that used Rusev's rib injury caused by Roman Reigns the previous night as it's catalyst. As much as the victory was a huge lift for The Big Bambino, it was The Bulgarian Brute's performance that stood out, helped by some wonderful heel commentary from Corey Graves. Rusev constantly made sure the rib injury was in the audience's mind, not just grabbing the ribs, but showing the pain all over his face. The finish used this well as Rusev would walk out of the match because of the pain, in a good piece of juxtaposition between he and Sami Zayn...

The show's opening match saw Seth Rollins earn his spot in the Universal Championship match next week with a victory over Sami Zayn in a good match. Similar to the Rusev v Cass bout, it was the losing competitor who put on the strongest performance, as The Underdog from the Underground put on a masterclass, kayfabe hurting his ankle when jumping over Rollins and selling it for it all it was worth. This produced some compelling action and got the crowd behind the former NXT Champion, garnering great reactions off flash false finishes including a sunset flip bomb. The finish continued on an on-going theme from the match with Zayn's ankle not allowing him to hit a Michonoku Driver, allowing The Aerialist to hit a Pedigree for the win. Two of the best wrestlers in the company doing what they do best, a feud between Rollins and Zayn has the potential to be money.

Rounding out the Universal Championship semi-finals was another clash between two former NXT Champions as Kevin Owens and Neville had another good match with each other. The pair made the most of their short time on screen, crafting a pacy contest that was beneficial to both men. Neville looked the best he's done since his return from injury with a brilliant face shine that included a 450 splash off the apron and a 450 plancha, whilst the relationship between Owens and Jeri-KO team mate, Chris Jericho was strengthened. The had a smooth series of action, where the both avoided each others finishes, before Y2J would stop Neville from hitting Red Arrow, allowing Owens to hit an Argentine Neckbreaker to pick up the win.

Titus O'Neil cut a promo on this week's episode. I say cut, what I mean is butchered. The Real Deal somehow managed to fuck up every line he had to say, stumbling over his words and looking like a kid on their first day of drama school. He didn't looked like he believe a single word he was saying about former Prime Time Players partner Darren Young and appeared more like he was just struggling to remember what he had to say next. For someone who has been employed by WWE since 2009, it was unforgivably bad. Things didn't get better when Bob Backlund ran to the ring and Young waited until his life coach had been squashed by O'Neil before bothering to get his arse down to the ring where he'd then take a Clash of the Titus himself. A truly dreadful piece of TV. 

After an electric entrance, Bayley's match opposite Dana Brooke wasn't the best introduction for the former NXT Women's Champion. Whilst she got the win with a Belly to Bayley in an impressive fashion, I have to think those who were seeing Bayley for the first time would be wondering what all the fuss was about. Beginning the match by riding Brooke like a horse and a Slip N' Slide wasn't a great way to insert her into RAW's women's division. Despite a couple of awkward bumps the crowd remained behind Bayley throughout the short contest, which is definitely a good sign, let's hope we get to see better performance from Bayley over the next few weeks to get those more casual fans invested in her as well. Matches with Banks, Charlotte and Paige, and even Summer Rae and Alicia Fox offer plenty of options for Bayley going forward on RAW.

Best of the Rest 

• Braun Strowman picked up his six singles victory in a row, beating Johnny Knockout in just over a minute.

Finally... 

ATPW Scale Rating - 5.67/10

This a decent episode of Monday Night RAW and the best edition since the show following Battleground 2016. The unfortunate injury to Finn Balor meant that WWE put on four different matches, that had consequences and all had their own things to enjoy about them. Out of those matches, my personal favourite was the main event between Reigns and Jericho, but I also wouldn't argue if someone enjoyed Rollins v Zayn or Owens v Neville more. However, the segment featuring the debut of Bayley and some killer heel work from Charlotte was the pinnacle of the episode for me, even if Bayley's win over Brooke wasn't the best first match for the former NXT Women's Champion. 

Outside of the tournament was a mixed bag, with some good comedy from the New Day, a decent bout between Big E and Anderson, a strong angle involving Dudley Boyz, Shining Stars and The Club and an awful few minutes with O'Neil, Backlund and Young. Had the terrible promo from O'Neil not been on the show, RAW #1213 would have gotten over a 6 on the ATPW Scale.

With next week's show featuring the Four-Way between Rollins, Owens, Cass and Reigns to crown the second and longest reigning Universal Champion, which is undoubtedly a PPV quality bout, I would expect the show to be pushing back into the 6 range.

All content - James Marston
Banner credit - Kai Stellar

Supercard Review: WWE SummerSlam 2016 - AJ Styles v John Cena 2

WWE's second biggest evening of the year was here, with a six hour spectacular featuring twelve matches, including John Cena v AJ Styles 2 and the first ever meeting between Finn Bálor and Seth Rollins to become the first ever Universal Champion. With a quarter of a day to fill could WWE deliver a quality event? 

In what was arguably the main event and should have closed the show, John Cena and AJ Styles managed to up their game and improved on their 19th June contest. Without the involvement of Styles' The Club stablemates, the match was able to reach a much more satisfying conclusion and with the duo not having to worry about building something for another contest. This meant they could go all in and hold nothing back, throwing in their best ideas and pushing themselves to keep up the pace. The Money in the Bank original was a tasty little taster that left me wanting more, like a decent soup with a crusty roll, Number 2 was a fine main course with plenty of steak for the sizzle. 

The Phenomenal One and The Leader of the Cenation produced a captivating tit for tat "Anything you can do" style match with the two being presented as extremely evenly matched and almost always having a reply for their opponents offense. From the back and forth respectful opening that turned with Styles' suplex onto the apron, the real moment when the match became something special was after Styles' had kicked out of an Attitude Adjustment and Cena had returned the favour with the Styles Clash unable to put him away. The moves were done early enough that they weren't believable false finishes, but late enough to where I knew that the duo had something bigger and better coming up. Inside the structure of the bout the two were almost exclusively smooth and crisp, catching each transition, including plenty of risky switches and a collection of marvelous submission sequences. 

Styles picking up the win genuinely shocked me, as it almost seemed inevitable that Cena would over come, especially after losing the 19th June clash. Cena nailing an avalanche Attitude Adjustment and Styles kicking out of what seemed like it would certainly be the finish, but was only the beginning of the end. Cena's face directly after this as he watched Styles crawl to the ropes was a picture as he sold the bewilderment that anyone had kicked out of his fail safe last resort move. Styles slipping out of another AA attempt and hitting a Styles Clash felt like it could have ended the match also, but the Phenomenal Forearm with the pad removed added that exclamation point that and it was those extra details and thought that made this contest the match of the night and Styles' best match since coming to WWE in January. The win for The Phenomenal One surely slots him into a World Championship match at 11th September's Backlash, but Cena leaving his "Never Give Up" arm band in the ring as he walked out leaves his future up in the air.

The RAW brands strongest showing was the battle to become the first Universal Champion, between Finn Bálor and Seth Rollins. In their first encounter The Demon King and The Aerialist put on a great title match, that was put together astutely with a natural feeling ebb and flow, rising and falling like the tide without ever losing my interest always finding away to hold my attention. It was crying shame that the Brooklyn crowd, which was a piss-poor audience throughout the whole show, was more focused on making their disdain for the new Universal title belt known, booing the announcement of the match and chanting about the the design. Yes the belt is ugly as sin and lazily designed, but you've got two of top ten best wrestler in the company working their fucking arses off to entertain you, barely putting a foot wrong in this process, respect that instead of constantly trying "rebel" against any minor element of the product. As Rollins said on Twitter "More important than a title's appearance is what it represents to the men fighting over it". 

The match came straight out of the traps with a series from Bálor, that included him going straight for Coup de Grâce, which become the main theme of the match. I think that's what made the contest so enthralling, the urgency behind everything, even when Rollins was taking time to trash talk Bálor there was a purpose behind his actions. Whether it was mind games or attempting a big move, every movement from both men was to get them closer to becoming the top dog on RAW and grabbing the Universal belt. The match progress well with the both men showing pulling out new and old moves, with Rollins in particularly digging deep into his deep arsenal of moves like a near fall for off of God's Last Gift, as well as a Phoenix Splash attempt and attempting to turn a superplex into a Pedigree as opposed to his regular Falcon Arrow. Balor went for the Coup de Grace on a number of occasions with Rollins always having a counter, up until the very last moment. 

The finish kept to the motif, as it Rollins attempt to do something different that would ultimately be his downfall as his Pedigree attempt would be reversed, leading to two corner dropkicks from the Demon King before the victory was claimed with Coup de Grace.
Balor winning the Universal Championship on the second biggest show of the year on his WWE PPV debut in only his third broadcast (non-NXT) match is an incredible achievement, that instantly legitmises him and lifts his credibility to WWE's fanbase who might not watch anything outside the company and even more so to those who only watch these big shows. This was simple story, embellished with skillful in-ring performances and some great commentary by all three RAW announcers. 

The task of opening the show was handed to RAW's tag team division as Big Cass & Enzo Amore tangled with Jeri-KO (Chris Jericho & Kevin Owens). Enzo & Cass have become a reliable act to kick off a show with, they were famed for it during their run in NXT and have opened a number of episode's of Monday Night RAW recently and they didn't disappoint in Brooklyn. Despite having more than a passing similarity to The New Day's work on last August's Brooklyn shows, The Realest Guys in the Room's New York cliche-laden promo remained a fun watch, thanks to their undeniable energy and charisma. It was also a pleasant surprise that Cass has pretty decent singing voice! Not having Jericho & Owens get a chance to reply before the match was a missed opportunity though. 

This was a decent match, that was unfortunately let down by a handful of slips on risky moves. This included the finish which saw Owens launch Amore into the air, as if going for his Pop-up Powerbomb, and sending him straight into a Codebreaker from a waiting Jericho. Regrettably, Amore and Owens didn't get enough air on the Pop-up, meaning that Y2J double knee facebreaker had much less of an impact than it usually did. When the match was sticking to a relatively straight forward tag formula, everything was fine and dandy, with everyone playing their roles well, creating an entertaining mid-section to the contest. It was however when the four tried to produce something a bit different and more precarious that the fight ended up not delivering on the promising build. 

In the Smackdown Live's World title match, Dean Ambrose and Dolph Ziggler wrestled an oddly paced contest, that got a reaction of almost complete indifference from the Barclay's Center. The pair put on some decent wrestling, they went through a number of different styles and began with an interesting story, but it never changed gears. Fifteen minutes of plodding wrestling with more than a little lying around, isn't going to get a crowd excited in 2016. It might keep their interest, but it's not going to make them get behind anyone. The pair did some lovely detail work in the match, like Ambrose being out-wrestled in the early going and certain applications of simple moves like the Single Leg Boston Crab, but the broad strokes, like fleshing out the character work and changing the pace were missing.

The match lacked a definitive heel or babyface and neither did it give a reason to get behind one guy over the other. It was this guy doesn't like this guy, because he doesn't like him and so he's going to half heatedly do his taunts, but with little conviction. If this was a babyface v babyface match, they should have both bought their A games, got the crowd whipped up in a frenzy. This was the biggest match Ziggler has been given for years and he decided to do it on autopilot. It's also notable than on one of biggest stages possible, Ambrose bottled it once again. They had an opportunity to steal the show with little storyline to pander to and they left it sitting on the table. 

In the strongest match on the undercard, Charlotte won back the Women's Championship in a great match with Sasha Banks. After the duo had a handful of slip-ups in the first couple of minutes and Banks seemed to be knocked silly by a nasty bump of a backbreaker onto the top turnbuckle, it was impressive that The Genetically Superior Athlete and The Boss were able to compose themselves, not just regain the crowd's attention and support but enliven them with some top class wrestling. The sequence that had the crowd sit up, take notice, then rise to their feet saw Charlotte hip toss a charging Banks into a tree of woe position, before after a battle on the top rope Banks would smoothly reverse an avalanche crucifix powerbomb into a hurricanrana in a Halloween Havoc '96 throwback.

The final five mintues or so was dramatic stuff, with both women getting strong near falls and Banks always looking to find a way of getting the Banks Statement locked in. A long sequence in the hold that saw Banks push off the ropes to bring Charlotte back into the ring at one point with Charlotte hitting a chop block to set up Natural Selection for two, leading to both women selling the pain and frustration of the match in their faces and throughout their entire bodies. It was a cool pause, that allowed the women and the audience to breath before the final stretch, allowing time to consider the previous action with the knowledge that there was more to come. The selling across the bout was very good. Charlotte getting the pin was somewhat of a surprise after only losing the belt three weeks earlier, but it does also present a more interesting story to go forward with. However, I would have like to have seen The Nature Girl grab the tights on the pin, instead of getting the clean, albeit flash, pin.

Heading into the show, I certainly wasn't expecting to be writing about Brock Lesnar and Randy Orton's match six matches into the review. But here we are, after a bizarre final match. The finish is what most people will remember here and it was odd to say the very least. About ten minutes into the show closer, Lesnar delivered a number of blows to Orton with the Viper on the mat. A few seconds into the series of strikes and Orton was PISSING blood from his forehead. The stream of claret coming from his dome was reminiscent of the Guerrero v JBL bout from Judgment Day in 2005 and perhaps looked even worse because of the ever-growing pool on the mat. I stay away from dirt sheets so have no idea what the plan was hear, but it appeared like something had gone wrong somewhere whether Lesnar caught Orton too strong or it was a blade job gone awry, but it felt to me like WWE had to call an audible by sending Smackdown Live Commissioner Shane McMahon in to take an F5 just to give the show an actual ending. If this was what was the plan all along, whoever had the idea shouldn't be booking wrestling. 

The thing is, I was enjoying the interaction between Lesnar and Orton and felt like the two characters has slotted together exceptionally well. Orton having the RKO blocked in the first few exchanges and then taking an absolute beating from The Beast was a clever start that played off the story that had been presented across the two months of build. Lesnar battering people is rarely boring and this was no exception. He dominated his opponent with the regular German suplexes hitting seven without reply, before also just lobbing The Apex Predator through an announce table. We'd been told throughout the build that Orton could pull out an RKO at any time and that's what happened with one coming onto the other announce table and putting and end to The Conqueror's momentum. The spot were Lesnar crawled back towards the ring, only for Orton to hit his rope assisted DDT  may have been ever better. After both had kicked out of each other's finishes in the ring, it looked like the match would head towards a finish similar to that of Cena v Styles, but that wasn't to be! 

I'm not sure that anyone had picked out the Smackdown Live six woman tag bout as one they were particularly looking forward to, but it was perfectly acceptable contest, that included on of the biggest pops of the night. That pop was the return of the 2 time Diva's Champion Nikki Bella. This was Bella's first match since November and Brooklyn initially seemed pretty happy to see Bella. The return was built up well, with Eva Marie's entrance music playing, despite her being suspended, with her personal voiceover explaining that she was unable to compete due to stress. The angle is great way to turn a negative into a positive and the heat upon Marie's return will be nuclear. The returning Bella bolsters Smackdown Live's women's ranks and after the strong run she had before her injury matches with Becky Lynch, Natalya and Alexa Bliss should create some good action. 

The wrestling was decent, nothing spectacular, but it kept a good pace, showcased six talents effectively and featured some nice exchanges between Bliss and Lynch and later Natalya with both Carmella and Naomi. For me, Bella seemed to have more than bit of ring-rust and has perhaps came back a little to early, with her timing being off at a couple of point during the match, but the other five performed well, with Bliss and Carmella both rising to the occasion in their biggest match of both of their careers. Lynch did a solid job of trying to get the shit Brooklyn crowd going (although one fan at ringside looked at her in utter disgust when she was getting the audience to clap with her) whilst the heel trio were working over Carmella, whilst David Otunga did some of his best work on commentary here also. The finish built up well with Lynch and Naomi both getting flurries of action in, before the breakdown allowed Bella to pick up the win with a Forearm strike and TKO on Carmella.

The most disappointing match of the evening came in the form of the Tag Team title match as The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) put their belts on the line against The Club (Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson). The most infuriating part was that the match flopping was nothing to do with Kingston, Woods, Gallows and Anderson, but everything to do with some horrible booking decisions. The first of those booking decision was having comedian and former Daily Show host Jon Stewart anywhere near the ring. It wasn't just his involvement in the finish getting physically involved and not allowing Gallows & Anderson to get the win after Magic Killer, but also the fact that the one thing you'd expect him to be good at, the introduction of Kingston and Woods, was fucking shambles. Maybe it's the whole American sense of humour being non-existent thing that leads to Stewart being a professional comedian and hosting a major chat show for sixteen years and still being painfully unfunny and seemingly unable to perform in front of a crowd, or maybe he's just shit. It was made even worse by it being a replacement for the usually magical New Day pre-match promo. Fuck you, Jon Stewart, you are to energy what a Dyson is to dust. 

So, Stewart getting in the ring and flapping about like a fish in a bush wasn't actually the finish, Big E running down to the ring to stop Stewart getting pulled dick first into the ring post was, because of the disqualification. Now, Big E hitting multiple suplexes on the outside and cleaning house is always going to be a joy to watch, but it made no sense for him to come out and especially not in full gear and clearly able to compete. He wasn't in the match because he was (kayfabe) injured when his testes got squashed into the ringpost a few weeks ago, okay cool, I can buy that. What I can't buy however is that an injured Big E was backstage watching the match and when he saw Stewart's nuggets were in danger, stripped nude, rushed to get his singlet and boots on, repaired his knackered knackers and legged it to make the save. It was a mind bending piece of booking, that felt very much like a first draft that no one had bothered to look at a second time.  

Headlining the Kick-Off event was a twelve man tag team rematch from this week's Smackdown Live as The Usos (Jey Uso & Jimmy Uso), The Hype Bros (Mojo Rawley & Zack Ryder) and American Alpha (Chad Gable & Jason Jordan) took on The Vaudevillains (Aiden English & Simon Gotch), The Ascension (Konnor & Viktor) and Breezango (Fandango & Tyler Breeze) in a fun match, that also opened that portion of the show. With twelve men the action should always be exciting and giving the match over double the time it had on TV meant that all twelve men could get a time to showcase themselves as individuals and as teams. It also gave room for a nice face in peril sequence from Ryder, which came either side of flurries of action involving all competitors, as well as hot tag turmoil from both Jimmy and Jordan. 

The build towards a clash between The Usos and American Alpha got a whole lot more ammunition as the two teams were clearly the stars of the match, working together at points, trying to outdo each other at others and ending up like they might come to blows come the finish. It was an intelligent piece of build, with America Alpha hitting Grand Amplitude on Gotch, only for Jey to come flying off the top with a splash before Gable could get the pin, taking the victory for himself. Both Jey and Gable played the moment perfectly, staring at each other, as Gable tried to work out just what was going on. Jey had seemingly turned heel at the end of the match, putting his thing to his lips in "Shush" to the crowd, whilst also appearing to try to get in the face of American Alpha. There's some real potential for this feud, especially if given a slow burn and it could very well light up the blue brand before the end of the year.

The lone singles match on the Kick-Off was the 1st of a Best of 7 series between perennial rivals Cesaro and Sheamus. This was a match of two halves, as the first half was flat and the second half was an exciting stretch of action that had the crowd marking out and featured some creative spots and good quality wrestling. This was the tenth televised match between the two in just over two years and therefore the first part of the match felt like more of the same, lacked a bit of purpose, whilst also lacking the hard hits that have made their earlier bouts watchable on multiple occasion. You could easily have cut five or six minutes from this one and made it a better contest. 

Luckily for Cesaro and Sheamus they managed to end the contest on a high with strong final stretch. It would have been hard to continue a Best of 7 series otherwise! The crowd finally rememberedd that they like Cesaro when he started doing cool moves like using the new bulkier ringpost as a launching pad for a massive crossbody and the Cesaro Swing, whilst the two used their signature offence to create impressive reversal sequence and get good near falls. The finish was definitely the right way to go, after Cesaro had won two non-series matches previous, as Sheamus countered the Sharpshooter with a thumb to the eye, threw The Swiss Superman into the post and hit a Brogue Kick for the pin. It was a good combination of a dominant victory for The Celtic Warrior, whilst also have him cheat to win, leaving more room to create interesting and compelling narratives for the next three to six matches between the two.

Rounding of the Kick Off action was another tag match (making that five on the entire event) where Sami Zayn teamed with Neville for the first time since March to earn a victory over The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley & D-Von Dudley). This was an enjoyable clash, that made the most out of all four of the competitors, using their strengths to communicate a simple story that was easy to watch. It was paint by numbers kind of stuff, but was done well with Dudley Boyz being superlative veteran heels, whilst Zayn and Neville are two exciting babyfaces that may have found a spot for themselves in the tag division. Some of the stuff that Neville & Zayn (The Underdogs that Gravity Forgot or The Men from The Underground?) were doing in their face shine was super pretty and added to the promise that they have as a team, they would only get better and more creative with their offense if working together consistently. The finish involved Neville escaping a 3D thanks to his agility, before Zayn would hit D-Von with a Helluva Kick and The Man That Gravity Forgot nailed a Red Arrow was a exhilarating finish that capped off a solid tag clash. 

Rusev defending the United States Championship against Roman Reigns would never happen as the two began to brawl before the bell, leading to Reigns picking apart his Bulgarian counterpart on the outside of the ring and having to be pulled away from the scrap. In my opinion, this should have been how their match the previous episode of Monday Night RAW should have gone down, because it was a really good angle with a great brawling and got over the problems that the two have with each well. The problem was that this was on PPV and the second biggest show of the year, using this show to have an angle in the place of advertised contest is a bit silly. On it's own merits this was a strong piece of action that did what it had to do to show how the problems between two men had gotten out of hand, but it also has to be taken in the context of the PPV and the fact it came before the Lesnar v Reigns match meant that the show concluded on a bum note.

Bringing up the rear at SummerSlam 2016 was an Intercontinental Championship match where Apollo Crews challenged for The Miz's belt. This was an okay match, but the crowd would have cared more about a someone standing in the ring with a sparkler. Only going five minutes meant that Crews got no face shine and no chance to get an audience that is yet to invest in him to care about what was going, so we Maryse causing the distraction from the bell ringing. Both worked pretty well with each other, with the two characters and performers both seeming to have a little chemistry in the ring, whilst Crews comeback and spot that saw him catch a clothesline from Miz and hit a Belly to Belly suplex were also nice moments. Miz would end retaining his title with Skull Crushing Finale after pushing Crews into the ringpost to make sure the match did nothing for the career of the 29 year old former Uhaa Nation.

Best of the Rest 

• Tom Phillips spoke to Jeri-KO in a funny but menacing interview ahead of their bout with Big Cass & Enzo Amore during the Kick-Off show.

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 

Kick-Off - 6.1

Main Show - 6.43

Combined - 6.36

There matches stand out from SummerSlam for me, Cena v Styles, Balor v Rollins and Charlotte v Banks. Each one was worked was different from the other, but all three featured a big dollop of urgency and some great wrestling. Cena and Styles may have had the match of the night, but Balor and Rollins weren't far off and Banks and Charlotte produced another match that will help towards one day positioning women's wrestling in the main event slot. Even though Ambrose v Ziggler wasn't the match it could and should have been, I still think the stuff they did do was done well and it wouldn't have taken a whole lot more to boost it into the category of those first three matches. The Kick-Off event also managed to produce some strong action with the Twelve Man Tag and Sheamus v Cesaro worth a mention. 

It was, of course, the show was not without it's problems. Lesnar v Orton concluded the PPV in bizarre fashion, whether it was planned to unfold that way or not, which wasn't helped by the previous Reigns v Rusev having not actually started. Then there was New Day v The Club, which at no fault of the competitors turned into a shambles thanks to Jon Stewart and some first draft, no thought booking.

Nontheless, when you've got six hours of a mainstream product like WWE, especially on a show like SummerSlam, you aren't going to like all of it. That's just how it is, if something isn't directly at you, six hours of it isn't going to be all for you. However, I thought SummerSlam was a good PPV event, that had a mixture of styles across the show and featured some excellent wrestling at points. 

All content - James Marston