By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE King and Queen of the Ring Hits
Gunther vs. Randy Orton in the King of the Ring finals: My favorite match of the night. The methodical pacing of the match stood out as a positive in this era where flips and dives have become the norm as opposed to feeling special. The finish with one of Orton’s shoulder not being pinned was disappointing, but I like that the company addressed the situation as opposed to pretending like nothing happened (see the WrestleMania 35 main event finish). The wrestlers told a good story with Orton’s injuries. While Gunther dominated the match while targeting Orton’s injured back and knee, it always feels like Orton is an RKO out of nowhere away from stealing a win.
Sami Zayn vs. Bronson Reed vs. Chad Gable in a Triple Threat for the Intercontinental Championship: A strong three-way. They went with the expected spot of Otis costing Gable the match in a way that allowed him to maintain plausible deniability so that he can remain in his sympathetic spot. Unfortunately, Reed had to stand around while that spot was playing out and basically wait to take the Helluva Kick. Here’s hoping that Reed hasn’t hit his ceiling from a creative standpoint. The talented big man should more than a mid-card guy who always loses to the stars.
Cody Rhodes vs. Logan Paul for the WWE Championship: An enjoyable main event. The focus on the brass knuckles felt unnecessary and the spot with the comedian grabbing Paul’s leg was a groaner for everyone outside Saudi Arabia. There was no reason to think that a title change might occur, so the appeal was seeing the D-bag Paul character get put in his place by the popular world champion. It will be interesting to see what’s next for Cody. Things should get a lot more interesting once we get through this early portion of his title reign when no one thinks he will lose.
Nia Jax vs. Lyra Valkyria in the Queen of the Ring finals: A decent match with a strong finish. The match was laid out well with Valkyria throwing caution to the wind and not showing any fear of the women’s division monster. Valkyria was spotlighted nicely throughout the tournament. She made a splash by going to the finals and there was a big risk that it would have been too much too soon had she actually won the tournament. While Valkyria worked a quality match, her dropkicks showed a lot of light. The creative forces have done really good work with Jax by saving her losses (including her Royal Rumble elimination) for key moments and then following up by giving her key wins like this to help her maintain her monster status.
Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair vs. Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles: A soft Hit for a solid pre-show match. By the way, why do they always seem to have pre-show matches in Saudi Arabia, yet they stopped having them on other PLE’s? No, that’s not a pitch for more pre-show matches. Anyway, the outcome was totally predictable for what amounted to a showcase match for Cargill and Belair. Will creative put in the work to build up another women’s team or will every match feel this predictable until the inevitable breakup?
WWE King and Queen of the Ring Misses
Becky Lynch vs. Liv Morgan for the Women’s World Championship A Hit from a match quality standpoint. I’m a fan of Dominik Mysterio helping Morgan win the championship. The Miss is due to the broadcast team having to act like they are among the only people who have not noticed the background shots on Raw of Morgan and Dom spending time together. The WWE broadcast teams have been a million times better since Vince McMahon left the company, but it was a step back and a turnoff to have Michael Cole and Corey Graves act so oblivious.
Jason why do you think this show has an F grade right now in your poll? I’ve seen some AEW dynamite and collisions get Fs but not WWE shows lately and definately not PLE’s,especially one that the pro wrestling media seemed to like. Just curious your thoughts
Just guessing. Some combination of people who legitimately disliked the show, others who hate the politics of Saudi Arabia, and AEW fanboys who give WWE shows F grades regardless of the quality (just as there are WWE fanboys who give AEW shows F grades regardless of the quality).
What a sad sad world this is..