Ring of Honor

Patience is a virtue, but this is not a motto of Shaheem Ali nor LSG. They were set to challenge for the ROH Tag Titles in the main event; the challengers felt like there’s no time like the present. Out come the Briscoe Brothers, and we have a title match to open the show. It was the undefeated streak of C2C versus the 1000 day reign of the champs. Don’t mind the fact that there was a bit of a hiatus for C2C while Ali nursed an injury. The champs mixed in duo attacks and those targeting Ali’s neck to keep their challengers off balance. That streak was nothing but a speed bump to the reign of these champs; Ali even suffered the fall for his team to keep the Briscoes ruling supreme.

Raw

The excitement that came with the new Bobby Lashley is waning. This is more due to the fact that it is reported that production is feeding Lio Rush lines to yell during the match, which reminds me too much of those days of the Primetime Players so many moons ago. Rush as a hype man has so much potential. Using him to do it in this manner is so flat. I would like to think that this is a push by production because the Rush of Raw and his debut on 205 Live are two totally different presentations. Lashley’s match against Finn Balor went just as flat with a school boy roll up on the Heavyweight who returned to dominate.

Mane, why must Sasha Banks continuously be presented as an aloof competitor. It’s not just her either; it’s almost any pitted against the Riott Squad save Ember Moon. This may be my beef with the handling of trios when they have the numbers, but this contest was even. Sasha was joined by her partners, Bayley and Natalya. Nothing out of the ordinary until the end of the match. As the outside competitors got involved with one another, Sasha decides that she needed to take on the other members of the Squad. She reenters the ring and looked directly at the now alert Ruby, and proceeds to turn her back to her. Riott took advantage and hit her with the Riott Kick. Sheesh.

Stop reading if you’ve heard this before. Heel cuts promo. Apollo Crews interrupts again. This time, Crews is not so vocal because he has a point to prove. He executes some impressive moves sans his usual smile. The commentary team comments on his athletic prowess, but Apollo eventually slips up and gets pinned by the said heel.

The WWE keeps tempting me with the women’s version of the Samoan Swat Team every time Nia Jax and Tamina Snuka are in the ring together. They were opponents once again in a fatal four-way that also saw Ember Moon and Dana Brooke in action. The women naturally displayed the fact that no one could be trusted by taking every chance to score a quick win. Jax and Snuka disposed of the smaller women to get to the fisticuffs. Again, Jax would get Tamina up but was not able to complete the Samoan Drop. Tamina would deliver superkick to put her away before Moon took to the sky with a mean Eclipse on Tamina. A three count later, Ember was the winner and standing tall going into the women’s battle royal.

SmackDown Live

The treachery of the Big Show had to be repaid following his destruction of Kofi Kingston. It was Kingston who decided to be the enforcer of the New Day. He just was not ready for the message Show had drafted. Three choke slams were just the right amount to call Xavier Woods and Big E into the ring prompting the ref to call for the bell. It may have been 3-0n-3, but there was nothing even about the destruction that was delivered to the positive trio. For his troubles, Woods received the KO punch just before a final chokeslam.

Mixed Match Challenge

Naomi had an insignficant role earlier in the night after her tagging with Asuka didn’t work out the way it was booked. I’m glad there was a wrinkle thrown in the match with Day One Glow facing Awe-ska and all. The spirit of competition was not in the building; Asuka and Naomi celebrated with a moment of girl time that the Miz did NOT find amusing. It was to be expected that the women would mix it up for a few spots, but it was ultimately the men to determine the outcome of the match.

Lucha Underground

The Believers in the Temple were not pleased with the results following the seven-man elimination match for the Gift of the Gods Championship. Dante Fox was given the green light to take some of the top spots for the second week in a row. He may not have had the biggest moment in the match, but he was clearly the chief element in the outcome. Fox went down to the wire with The Savage, Jake Strong; he would eventually tap to the new champ just before the “bullshit” chants rained down from high.

NXT

Some poor guy named Jackson Xavier got destroyed by Kassius Ohno on his quest to prove to William Regal that he’s tired of being passed over. Meanwhile, the Velveteen Dream demanded to be inserted in the title match at War Games before the mayhem. He avoided getting manhandled by Lars Sullivan for telling the man to put on some pants.

Impact

Moose couldn’t finish his tag match because Eddie Edwards needed a little payback. With the help of a Singapore cane, Moose was escorted from the match and to a backstage brawl that eventually ended with Edwards getting locked out of the building. Moose hightailed it from the scene.

I know it’s been a long time since I watched a full Impact Show, but I’m sure it has been some time since Kiera Hogan has been in a position to close out a match. Her matches have the same tempo and result each and every week since her first match with Tessa Blanchard. Hogan comes out hot as a flame (pun intended) then she’s outsmarted by her opponent and disposed of rather quickly.

Evolution

Alicia Fox stepped in for the injured Alexa Bliss to open this monumental event. She was the obvious replacement since she’s been running with the crew for the past few months. The match essentially became a feature of the Attitude Era and the Late Attitude/Divas era. Amid all the hype and adulation from the event, there was a match that really didn’t have any meaning beyond the nostalgia factor.

The moment I lost my shit came when Tamina and Nia decided it was best to attack the rest of the women in the battle royal rather than fight each other. That excitement was quickly drained when they didn’t go all the way through with the team up. Ember was standing tall in all her glory when the majority of the dust cleared. She hit Tamina with another beautiful Eclipse before tossing her over the top rope. What followed was what I’d like to see as a big-time feud in the future; Jax and Ember traded spots in an effort to steal the shine. A Zelina Vega elimination later (she was absolutely launched into Tamina), and we would see Nia take out the War Goddess to get in line for a potential rematch with Ronda Rousey.