The Undisputed Era vs. War Raiders
Let's get to the brief positives first: Roddy & Kyle sure excel at bumping their asses off for their babyface opponents' shine & comebacks. Hanson's hot tag with that cartwheel spot was also really good. Sadly the match just wasn't overall very interesting. It didn't have half the energy UE's matches vs. Burch & Oney + Moustache Mountain had. Neither did it have the laser focused psychology of their matches vs. AOP & MM. Also the Rowe FIP bit surprised me, because of how bland it was. So far I've LOVED every other heat segment by Roddy & Kyle, but my goodness were they just straight up dull as hell working the heat here. Kyle's offense looked super weak too - it's something that wasn't unusual for him pre-WWE, but I think he has kept it very nice & tight ever since the UE run started, so it surprised me quite a bit. Not a good match. **
Kassius Ohno vs. Matt Riddle
This was easily the best looking match up on the card, and it ended up being the best match of the night. 9 minutes was about the perfect length for it, and they packed one helluva match into those. Pretty damn snug action from start to finish - loved the opening with Riddle delivering those signature, scrappy, awesome open hand bodystrikes of his. The match quickly transitioned into Ohno on top & Riddle fighting from underneath, and it's a dynamic that works wonderfully with those two. Ohno's work on top was very good - a couple of absolutely fantastic moments there, in particular that ring skirt spot was so amazing. Riddle's comebacks were very good & loved the finish w/ him destroying Ohno with those Danielson elbows, and then continuing the attack when Ohno tapped out. Very good shit all around. ***1/2
Johnny Gargano vs. Ricochet
An overly long PWG-style spotfest. Some people like that kind of stuff, but I sure goddamn don't. And the thing about bad PWG spotfests is that they usually never go 2 fuggen' 5 minutes. My least favorite match of 2018 was Gargano's match vs. Black from Takeover, and this was a couple of storytelling!!1 dialogues away from being on the level of that. Jeeeezuz! *
Bianca Belair vs. Shayna Baszler
Somewhat awkward at times & the flow wasn't there for most of it, but there were some, very nice positives about it. I thought that Belair's selling was pretty good throughout, the big hairwhip spot was extremely well done, and the choke drama is something that could've been very corny, but it actually was done fantastically here. I could see them having a real banger in their next meeting, because while this wasn't good, it wasn't bad either, and there were some real flashes of greatness there. **1/4
Let's get to the brief positives first: Roddy & Kyle sure excel at bumping their asses off for their babyface opponents' shine & comebacks. Hanson's hot tag with that cartwheel spot was also really good. Sadly the match just wasn't overall very interesting. It didn't have half the energy UE's matches vs. Burch & Oney + Moustache Mountain had. Neither did it have the laser focused psychology of their matches vs. AOP & MM. Also the Rowe FIP bit surprised me, because of how bland it was. So far I've LOVED every other heat segment by Roddy & Kyle, but my goodness were they just straight up dull as hell working the heat here. Kyle's offense looked super weak too - it's something that wasn't unusual for him pre-WWE, but I think he has kept it very nice & tight ever since the UE run started, so it surprised me quite a bit. Not a good match. **
Kassius Ohno vs. Matt Riddle
This was easily the best looking match up on the card, and it ended up being the best match of the night. 9 minutes was about the perfect length for it, and they packed one helluva match into those. Pretty damn snug action from start to finish - loved the opening with Riddle delivering those signature, scrappy, awesome open hand bodystrikes of his. The match quickly transitioned into Ohno on top & Riddle fighting from underneath, and it's a dynamic that works wonderfully with those two. Ohno's work on top was very good - a couple of absolutely fantastic moments there, in particular that ring skirt spot was so amazing. Riddle's comebacks were very good & loved the finish w/ him destroying Ohno with those Danielson elbows, and then continuing the attack when Ohno tapped out. Very good shit all around. ***1/2
Johnny Gargano vs. Ricochet
An overly long PWG-style spotfest. Some people like that kind of stuff, but I sure goddamn don't. And the thing about bad PWG spotfests is that they usually never go 2 fuggen' 5 minutes. My least favorite match of 2018 was Gargano's match vs. Black from Takeover, and this was a couple of storytelling!!1 dialogues away from being on the level of that. Jeeeezuz! *
Bianca Belair vs. Shayna Baszler
Somewhat awkward at times & the flow wasn't there for most of it, but there were some, very nice positives about it. I thought that Belair's selling was pretty good throughout, the big hairwhip spot was extremely well done, and the choke drama is something that could've been very corny, but it actually was done fantastically here. I could see them having a real banger in their next meeting, because while this wasn't good, it wasn't bad either, and there were some real flashes of greatness there. **1/4
Aleister Black vs. Tommaso Ciampa
A long leg psychology match, but a long leg psychology match done right! Ciampa was like a man possessed targeting that leg, and Aleister's selling was pretty great throughout. Even when he did his comebacks that required him doing something with his leg, he always made sure to let the people know that it's killing him. Good stuff. ***1/4
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