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Scottrade Center – St. Louis, MO – Sunday, July 19, 2015
Michael Cole, Hall of Famer Jerry Lawler, and JBL are on commentary.
~KICKOFF MATCH~
King Barrett defeats R-Truth at 9:15. This is a rematch from last month’s Kickoff show. Barrett seems angry, but R-Truth is able to control the early parts of the match by keeping his cool. The true King makes the comeback just as the Kickoff show takes a commercial break. I still don’t get that. When we get back Barrett is in control, keeping Truth on the mat. Momentum shifts back and forth as both men try their signature moves. Eventually Barrett is able to land the Bull Hammer to pick up the win. This was okay for the preshow, but man winning King of the Ring just did nothing for Barrett did it?
Rating: **¼
~MATCH #1~
Randy Orton defeats Sheamus at 16:54. These two have wrestled each other just a time or two. They battle in and out of the ring, with control shifting back and forth. Not much happens here that would surprise anyone, it’s the usual solid but unspectacular match between these two. For as many times as they’ve worked, they never really clicked together, and I actually generally like both of them. Hey guess what happens in the end? Orton hits an RKO out of nowhere to continue WWE’s odd fascination with having the Money in the Bank briefcase holder lose every match. This was a fine opener as the St. Louis crowd was into Orton, but it didn’t accomplish much of anything.
Rating: **¾
~MATCH #2~
WWE Tag Team Champions The Prime Time Players (Darren Young & Titus O’Neil) defeat The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston, w/ Xavier Woods) at 8:50 to retain the titles. The PTP have been Champs since 6.14.15, and this is their first defense. This is a rematch from Money in the Bank. The champs dominate in the early going until the New Day are able to isolate Young and work him over for a while. Eventually the hot tag is made to O’Neil, and he’s a house afire. Woods tries to interfere but he gets thwarted. Young hits Kingston with the Gut Check to take him out, and then O’Neil hits Big E with the Clash of the Titus to get the pin and retain the titles. This was perfectly acceptable tag team formula, but putting the belts on the PTP was a questionable decision in the first place.
Rating: **½
~MATCH #3~
Bray Wyatt defeats Roman Reigns at 22:05. Reigns goes right after Wyatt, who tries to slow down the pace and keep Reigns on the mat. The crowd is mostly pro-Wyatt, but they’re not super against Reigns either. They fight both in and out of the ring, and every time Reigns tries to build momentum Wyatt is there to cut him off. Both men counter and kick out of each other’s signature moves. Late in the match Reigns throws some steel chairs into the ring, and when the referee has his back turned, a man with his identity concealed by a hoody attacks Reigns. That gives Wyatt the chance to drop Reigns on the edge of the ring apron. Back in the ring Wyatt hits Sister Abigail to get the win. The mystery man is revealed as Luke Harper. For as much as people dog on Reigns, this was a good power match between two guys with quite different ground-based styles. It went a little long and the finish was lazy, but it was pretty good aside from that.
Rating: ***
~MATCH #4~
Charlotte (w/ Becky Lynch & Paige) defeats Brie Bella (w/ Nikki Bella & Alicia Fox) and Sasha Banks (w/ Naomi & Tamina) at 11:30. The action is pretty much non-stop as all three women are eager to get the Divas Revolution off to a hot start. Banks and Charlotte are pretty well liked by the crowd, but every time Brie gets any offense in, the crowd boos and even chants “No!” The fight spills to the floor at one point but they bring it back in pretty quickly. Late in the match Banks traps Charlotte in the Bank Statement and Brie breaks it up. Brie tries the Bella Buster but Charlotte counters with a powerbomb, and then locks on the Figure-Eight Leglock to get the win. That was a good high energy showcase for the Divas division, and showed that they don’t need Stephanie dividing them into teams like a gym teacher to get over.
Rating: ***¼
~MATCH #5~
WWE United States Champion John Cena defeats Kevin Owens at 22:11 to retain the title. Cena has been the Champion since 3.29.15, and this is his thirteenth defense. These two have split a pair of matches with each other on the last two special events, so this is a big-time rubber match. The crowd HATES Cena and loudly sings “John Cena sucks” along with his music. Owens controls the bulk of the match, able to control Cena and cut off his comeback attempts. Cena works in some new offense, including a nice reverse electric chair drop into the STF, but Owens is able to escape. The Champ even pulls off a boss Code Red but it only gets two. Even an Attitude Adjustment isn’t enough to put Owens away. Both men pull out big moves and counters, and they both refuse to stay down. In the end, Cena traps Owens in the STF and drags him out to the center of the ring, where Owens is forced to tap out, deflating the crowd. Another great match between these two, but if there was ever a case where someone REALLY needed to go over Cena, this would have MADE Owens. Cena and Owens work so well together and this was no exception – great counters, great near-falls, and a hot crowd. But man, Owens should’ve gone over here no doubt.
Rating: ****¼
~MATCH #6~
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins and Brock Lesnar (w/ Paul Heyman) wrestled to a no-contest in approximately 9:00. Rollins has been the champion since 3.29.15, and this is his fifth defense. Lesnar is finally getting his rematch from losing the title when Rollins cashed in Money in the Bank on him at WrestleMania 31. The champion tries to fly around and avoid Lesnar, but the Beast catches the Champion and takes him on a one-way journey to Suplex City. Rollins tries to bail through the crowd but Lesnar will have nothing to do with that. Back in the ring Rollins goes low on Lesnar, and hits a bunch of superkicks. Lesnar doesn’t seem too fazed by that, and continues throwing Rollins around with suplexes. He hits an F-5 and goes for the cover, but the lights go out and the gong hits. When the lights come back on the Undertaker is in the ring! No bell rings or anything, so officially it’s a no-contest but I don’t see why it wouldn’t be a DQ win for Lesnar. As a match this was little more than suplexes, and it made the WWE Champion look extremely out of his depth, which is never a good thing. Plus, the match was only to set up Undertaker v Brock Lesnar, so Rollins was totally an afterthought here. I don’t care for that.
Rating: **
Anyway, Undertaker kicks Lesnar in the sack (drawing a chorus of boos), and then flattens the Beast with a Chokeslam. Undertaker then hits a Tombstone Piledriver, and follows with one more.
A2Z Analysiz
The main event is pretty underwhelming and it was all used to set up a match at the NEXT pay-per-view, which I’m not really a fan of. There’s a solid women’s match and a great Cena v Owens match in the middle of the show, but the rest is pretty skippable.
