Last night was a very good showing, it wasn’t great, but very, very good. I will say however, watching it from the arena is much better than watching it on TV. You get a great feel for the crowd and how the energy is flowing. A lot of my reaction will be based on what the live crowd was reacting from and my opinion on matches. It was great to see the Charlotte crowd giving love to the hometown favorites Braun Strowman, Charlotte Flair, and Cedric Alexander. I really hope we get more PPV events in the near future, because North Carolina is such a great wrestling setting. We put some photos and video clips of the event on our Instagram page and you can view those right here. I haven’t gone back and watched the whole broadcast of the PPV, but I have gone back and watched a few matches again. Hopefully there isn’t a huge difference between what I saw live and how I would’ve perceived it on TV.

- Men’s Triple Threat Match: Cruiserweight Championship

Drew Gulak (C) over Lince Dorado and Humberto Carrillo

This was just like any other Cruiserweight title match on a PPV. It was very good, but there was no fan investment. This was an awesome live event match, but it seemed like Gulak had it under the control during the whole match. I predicted Gulak would win, but I wasn’t so sure, because Triple Threat matches can play tricks on fans. I don’t know what the future holds for the brand, but there is still a lot of talent on 205 Live that can be pushed.

GRADE: 8.2/10

- Men’s Singles Match: United States Championship

AJ Styles (C) over Cedric Alexander

I totally wasn’t expecting this match to be on the kickoff show, but I thought it was fine. Looking back, it was a short match, but it felt longer than 5 minutes. I read that some people thought this was a burial of Cedric Alexander, but I disagree. Although the match wasn’t a very long one, it was a great showcase of Cedric Alexander in a match with one of the best competitors that wrestling has to offer, in a title match. It wasn’t a burial, if anything it helps him, but with that being said, it wasn’t great, but it was good. I think this will be a theme for the rest of the PPV.

GRADE: 7.7/10

- Men’s Tag Team Match: RAW Tag Team Championship

Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler over Seth Rollins and Braun Strowman (C)

This match turned out pretty good and it only made sense to put it on as the opener. It was the first of two title changes throughout the night. I expected the champs to drop the title here, because it didn’t really make sense to have the tag champs fighting each other in the main event. Robert Roode was the star of the match and one has to wonder why he doesn’t get a Universal title shot after this performance. He pinned the champ, so it only makes sense, right? I doubt that will happen anytime soon, but I’m glad Roode finally received that kind of opportunity.

GRADE: 8.7/10

- Women’s Singles Match: SmackDown Women’s Championship

Bayley (C) vs. Charlotte Flair

As far as a match goes, this was bad, but as far as storytelling goes it was solid. Bayley’s odd heel turn has been not very good in my opinion, but doing something like removing the turnbuckle to secure a victory is some old school heel work. I really wanted Charlotte to win here and I’m not even a really big Charlotte fan, but I felt like SmackDown Women’s division needed a title change, especially in literally the Queen City. There is more to tell in this story, so keep your eyes open.

GRADE: 7.6/10

- Men’s Tag Team Match: SmackDown Tag Team Championship

The Revival over The New Day (C)

I expected a title change here and the match was pretty good in this one. These two teams have good chemistry, but again, there wasn’t a whole bunch of fan investment in this. The crowd wasn’t disinterested, but there wasn’t a lot of excitement among fans. I thought the finish was great and the submission to secure the victory was cool. Although tag titles usually don’t have lengthy reigns, but I think The Revival could be in for a decent reign here.

GRADE: 8.4/10

- Women’s Tag Team Match: Women’s Tag Team Championship

Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross (C) over Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville

For what this match was, it was entertaining. It didn’t need to steal the show. The 24/7 title chase was an added bonus to the match, but I wish Alexa would’ve secured the pin on R-Truth during the match. That would’ve been interesting to see. I will say this though, Nikki Cross has star potential written all over her. I felt like she carried the match and made it somewhat interesting. My hope is that this title gains a little bit of credibility in the near future, because there currently isn’t much interest in it for some reason.

GRADE: 7.8/10

- Men’s Singles Match: Intercontinental Championship

Shinsuke Nakamura (C)over The Miz

I hate to see Nakamura not getting much attention, because he is super talented and he proved that yet again last night. Of course, he had a little help from Sami Zayn, but he and The Miz put on an exciting match. Although I read that people didn’t particular enjoy watching this match, I don’t really understand why. The crowd was into it and they were almost fully rooting for The Miz. I’ve been vocal about not liking a live mic from ringside from a manager, but it worked in this case. It was a nice added touch to help get The Miz over even more.

GRADE: 8.2/10

- Women’s Singles Match: RAW Women’s Championship *Match of the Night*

Sasha Banks over Becky Lynch (C); DQ, Title did not change hands

This was the best match of the show and it wasn’t even close. Literally, the only thing bad about the contest was the ending. This honestly could’ve been the main event, but it was in the perfect spot looking back. It got fans fired up for the rest of the show. I was fired up to finally see Becky Lynch competing live and she and Sasha put on a show. The crowd absolutely loved it and honestly, the fan interest wasn’t higher in any other match. Although I am very critical of Sasha Banks, she is an amazing competitor and she made Becky Lynch look great here. This feud isn’t done and I can only assume that they will be fighting in a Cell during the next PPV.

GRADE: 9.7/10

- Men’s Single Match: WWE Championship

Kofi Kingston (C) over Randy Orton

There was a lot of anticipation going into this match and I’d say it lived up to most of that hype. Watching Randy Orton’s entrance live is amazing and it was a fun match, but I can say from being in the crowd, the majority of the fans wanted a title change here. There were still a lot of Kofi fans rooting on the New Day member, but most of the crowd wanted Orton to win. Kofi’s title reign has been more than anyone expected and I can’t see it lasting more than another month honestly. I thought Orton was the guy to take him down, but clearly it is not the time for that change in the eyes of creative. This only strengthens what has already been a great championship run for Kofi. We’ll see what happens next at Hell in a Cell.

GRADE: 8.4/10

- Men’s No DQ Match

Erick Rowan over Roman Reigns

Nobody expect Rowan to get a win by himself over Roman Reigns and this was the case. Luke Harper is back and he came to the aid of his former tag team partner. This was a nice twist to the story and putting these guys back together without a “gimmick” is great for the competitors and fans. Hopefully we’ll get to see them get a good push moving forward. They did a great job of trying to get sympathy for Roman Reigns over the last few weeks and it seemed like the majority of fans wanted Roman to win. This loss did absolutely nothing to Roman, but Erick Rowan winning this match made him an even bigger threat moving forward. My biggest hang up on this match was that I expected more destruction. The crowd was even chanting “we want tables”, but I don’t know if that was heard on TV. I don’t know what is next here, but I don’t expect Roman to be down for long.

GRADE: 8.4/10

- Men’s Singles Match: Universal Championship

Seth Rollins (C) over Braun Strowman

Braun Strowman looked exceptionally strong in this match even though he took the loss here. It took 4 Curb Stomps and a Pedigree to take him down. It doesn’t look like Strowman will get another push like this for the next little bit, but I certainly don’t think he will get lost in the shuffle. Putting this match to the side though, The Fiend appeared last night after the match and attacked the Universal Champion. All that needs to be said is that it should be a fun few weeks.

GRADE: 8.8/10

Yacs

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