SURVIVIN' THE SERIES'

Bayley, Mickie James, Nia Jax, Sasha Banks & Tamina vs. Asuka, Carmella, Mandy Rose, Naomi & Sonya Deville

The Asuka vs. Sasha battle towards the end was awesome, but everything else was pretty bleh. **1/4

Seth Rollins vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

This felt & looked like a very generic, long TV-match. Really not sure what else I could write about since it was so forgettable I came away from it with just nothing. *

AOP vs. The Bar

What in the absolute WHAT was that ending? So random. The match was very, very basic w/ Cesaro being the FIP, which was mostly spent in a headlock, and then Sheamus got the hot tag & the match went into it's finishing gear. They kept it short, simple & forgettable - I wouldn't call it bad,  but oh so very, very forgettable. *1/2

Buddy Murphy vs. Mustafa Ali

This was good & it followed the same dynamic most of the Buddy vs. Ali matches have followed. It was all about Buddy dominating with his power, and destroying Ali while Ali fights from underneath, takes some sick bumps & does his flippy stuff. Nowhere near their best match together, but still good. ***

Bobby Lashley, Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre & Finn Bálor vs. Jeff Hardy, Rey Mysterio, Samoa Joe, Shane McMahon & The Miz

This was fun action from start to finish, with the highlight being the awesome Finn vs. Rey sequence. Definitely the better of the 2 SurSer tag gimmick matches on the PPV. ***1/4

Charlotte Flair vs. Ronda Rousey

This was built pretty well, but I can't help, but to think that it ended just when it really got going. Some nice psychology throughout w/ Charlotte doing work over Ronda's legs to prepare her for the Figure 8 & Ronda's comebacks were very good as well. A bit longer and this would've been ranging from very good to possibly great (***1/2+). ***

Brock Lesnar vs. Daniel Bryan

The match gets me already during the entrances. Brock is walking down, Bryan with a cocky look on his face starts taunting him. Absolutely brilliant. Then the bell rings, Bryan charges at Brock's knee the same goddamn second. Then he quickly cements his character in this match as a little shit; he makes Lesnar chase him outside the ring, only for him to go inside & then mock his signature jumping taunt. That's when THE BEATDOWN began, and my goodness, it was the most brutal a Brock Lesnar beatdown has felt like since SummerSlam 2014, I'd say. W/ Bryan's history of neck problems & concussions, those German Suplexes looked even more brutal than they usually do. And Bryan's incredible selling helped there as well. Also you know that Brock is feeling the match when he is constantly talking shit, STARTING CHANTS & busting out BEARHUGS. Then kicks in the 2nd half of the match, and WOOOOO BABY was it a wildride; the low blow + Busaiku Knee SmackDown callback for a nearfall was legitimately one of the best nearfalls, if not the best nearfall of the year. Bryan's kicks look more brutal than usual as well; much of the credit goes to Brock for that, his selling is incredible, and for my money, he is a contender for the best salesman ever. And speaking of that, the sequence where Bryan does his charging corner dropkicks & Brock catches him on the F5 position, only for him to crumble down because of the work Bryan had done on his leg = just YESSS. That followed by the YES Lock where Bryan starts punching Brock in the goddamn face to keep it locked on, my GOODNESS. Best sequence of the year hands down. And even in the finish, Brock f'n Lesnar still SELLS. All of that capped off w/ that beautiful post-match shot of Bryan smiling like a madman. A gritty, violent masterpiece. The Match of the Year. *****