-With the Draft starting tomorrow, we are likely to get a new crop of men and women on this show starting next week. May the odds be in their favor! Let’s get to it!
-Announce Team: Blake Howard and Brian James
-Taped: Schottenstein Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Apollo Crews vs. Ivar
-This should be solid! Apollo fires off a dropkick and avoids a charge that has Ivar flying to the floor. Slingshot plancha from Crews to the floor, and he nearly gets a slam once bak in the ring, but gets flattened. Bronco Buster in the corner from Ivar for a two count. Ivar with some body punches and kicks Crews around with his foot. That serves to annoy Crews as he fires off some punches. He gets another dropkick followed by a splash in the corner. A second try is snuffed out as Ivar flattens him again. The crowd pops as Ivar heads up, but The Doomsault misses. Apollo snaps off a German Suplex and gets a standing moonsault for two. Splash in the corner and now Crews comes off the top with a cross-body for two. He tries to lift Ivar on his shoulders and that doesn’t work. He flips out of a backbreaker, but Ivar catches him with a spin kick. Double under-hook powerbomb gets two! Ivar goes up again, but Crews lands a head kick and then heads up with him. World’s Strongest Slam from Ivar from the second ropes finishes for the pin at 4:52.
Winner: Ivar via pin at 4:52
-I was hoping they would get a little more time as they were hitting each other with bombs here. Ivar winning makes sense as he is being pushed on NXT and at least gets matches every now and then on RAW. I would like to see more from these two against each other. **3/4
-Make A Wish commercial with Cody Rhodes, Finn Balor, Becky Lynch, and Drew McIntyre! -Hulu commercials!
-King and Queen of The Ring commercial! If we don’t get Queen Chelsea what are we even doing?
-Back to SmackDown (from Pittsburgh) as we get the close of AJ Styles win over LA Knight. Styles is now the first challenger to Cody’s WWE Title at Backlash. Fun match even with AJ seeming to be a lock to get the win.
-WWE Speed commercial! I have seen a few matches. I am thinking about reviewing every match in one article once the tournament finishes. Not sure how I would properly rate matches that are sub 3 minutes, but perhaps we will see.
-Hulu commercials!
-Back to RAW as Damian Priest and Jey Uso have a face to face and show some mutual respect. Jey: “I took an uber,” line made me chuckle. Priest makes sure to rub in the face he is Champion now and tells Jey he is the first on a list of people the machine will feed him to make sure The World Titles look good on him. Jey calls Priest, “Dom Mysterio’s Bitch,” and Priest is being feed to him as he is next. The crowd is rocking with Jey as JD tries to get involved. Jey throws a super kick that JD ducks and it connects with Priest. Jey celebrates with the crowd as he leaves.
-NXT Battleline commercial! UFC Apex Arena. Should be an interesting environment.
-Hulu commercials!
-Cody Rhodes promo from London to hype the match with AJ Styles. I am all for this match! BULLET CLUB EXPLODES!
-WWE Draft: Night One: Tomorrow on SmackDown!
Gallus vs. The Creed Brothers
-It’s Wolfgang and Mark Coffey this time with Joe Coffey on the floor. Gallus blitzes Julius to start, but he goes to his mat wrestling to regain control. Brutus in and he gets a shoulder tackle and pounds away with double fists. Julius back in and he gets a two count. Double SOS Slams followed by kip ups as the Creeds try to one up each other. Standing stereo moonsaults. They continue to one up each other while forgetting about the match. Julius gets flipped out of the corner, but lands on his feet and tries to show-up his brother again. Coffey slides to the floor and gets in position for a blind tag. Wolfgang in with a running elbow as we take a break at 3:22.
-26 seconds of Hulu commercials!
-Back with Brutus throwing hands, but a knee stops his comeback attempt. Wolfgang back in with a slam for a two count. He hooks a modified chinlock as the crowd tries to rally Brutus. Mark back in and he hooks another chinlock variation. Forearms from Brutus and a backdrop gives him the space to tag Julius. Suplexes for everyone including a double Northern Lights on both Gallus boys. Standing Shooting Star Press gets a two count as Mark makes the save. Wolfgang back with a slam and then a double team cobra clutch slam gets two as Brutus makes the save. All four men meet in the middle of the ring and start trading right hands. Clothesline sends Wolfgang to the floor. Brutus eats a double axe. Julius decks Joe Coffey on the floor, skins the cat back in and now it’s The Brutus Ball for the pin at 7:38.
Winners: The Creed Brothers via pin at 7:38
-This was solid if a little clunky at times. The crowd was way into The Creed Brothers by the end and Julius is a freak athlete. **1/4
-Back to RAW last week as Rhea Ripley has an injured shoulder and her year long reign as World Champion is toast. She is coming back for blood as the crowd chants, “Thank you Mami.”
-Backlash France commercial! Should be a hot crowd!
-Draft Night Two: Monday On RAW; Also Judgment Day vs. Jey Uso, Andrade and Ricochet!
-Back to RAW for the Women’s Battle Royal to crown a new Women’s World Champion. This was a fun battle royal with some stories running throughout. Chelsea was great here and again, when she finally wins one of the two World Titles, the place is going to explode. She either needs to win Queen of The Ring or give her Money in The Bank. It comes down to the three women seen as favorites: Becky, Liv, and Nia. Nia put in a good performance as he got to play the monster role again and the crowd popped when she was finally eliminated. Becky vs. Liv are left and they battle on the apron, which lost some of the drama as Becky went through the ropes to get to the apron. I was actually waiting for Becky to get bounced and have some kind of screwy ending since she went through the ropes, but puts Liv out to the floor for the win. Becky was the smart choice as it will mean more for someone to beat her for the Title before Rhea destroys whoever when she returns.
-Thanks for reading!