Excellent review! I agree with much of it, most notably the overall success of the night. I was fine, however, with all the elements of the first match. It could be WWE was hedging its bets because McIntyre has reportedly still not signed a new contract and has less than two months left on his current one. He still comes across strong while WWE doesn't waste Damian Priest's patience in having waiting longer than most to cash in Money in the Bank. I also wasn't surprised with Seth losing because I fully expected he'd be taking time off to deal with his knee issues. Pride vs Final Testament was okay, but it might have served WWE better to have Karrion Kross et al go over. They're currently in an NXT angle of some sort. LA Knight vs AJ Styles was what it needed to be. Styles (the steady veteran) put over Knight (the rising veteran) at the Showcase of the Immortals. But, Styles is a good candidate to cheat to win on Smackdown, to set up a short-term program with Cody Rhodes for Backlash where Rhodes will go over. I'm not a Logan Paul fan, in part because of his sketchiness but also because he only works PLEs (except for one Smackdown match). The bout worked well, but I have no interest in the mascot and whatever supposed TH-cam personality was in it. I'd have preferred seeing Orton win, but wasn't surprised with the result. I wish WWE would now retire the overused brass knuckles gimmick with Paul. Bayley vs IYO was a feel-good moment on a more modest scale than the main event. Less discriminating people are letting slide the multi-year long heel run she was on a little too easily for my taste. I'm happy for her and not surprised she won. Watch for a rematch with the Genius of the Sky before both move on to other things. Finally, Reigns vs Rhodes gave us the result we really should've had at WM 39. And but for the unprecedented social media backlash when Roman vs the Rock was announced - which I totally believe was the result of the Rock's deal to join the Endeavor board of directors - we might not have had Cody finishing the story at WM XL. But the WWE heard the response and pivoted back to Roman vs Cody. That not only served them better, it served the Rock better because he could go heel and receive nuclear reactions that included some support. The match was built up and executed tremendously. I wonder if Stone Cold Steve Austin will come out at some point and lament the inability to have come to an agreement to be the Rock's foil, instead of Undertaker. But it still worked. And it had the feel of the Rock being made aware though he may be the final boss, he can still answer to a more powerful in the ring.
Excellent review! I agree with much of it, most notably the overall success of the night. I was fine, however, with all the elements of the first match. It could be WWE was hedging its bets because McIntyre has reportedly still not signed a new contract and has less than two months left on his current one. He still comes across strong while WWE doesn't waste Damian Priest's patience in having waiting longer than most to cash in Money in the Bank. I also wasn't surprised with Seth losing because I fully expected he'd be taking time off to deal with his knee issues. Pride vs Final Testament was okay, but it might have served WWE better to have Karrion Kross et al go over. They're currently in an NXT angle of some sort. LA Knight vs AJ Styles was what it needed to be. Styles (the steady veteran) put over Knight (the rising veteran) at the Showcase of the Immortals. But, Styles is a good candidate to cheat to win on Smackdown, to set up a short-term program with Cody Rhodes for Backlash where Rhodes will go over. I'm not a Logan Paul fan, in part because of his sketchiness but also because he only works PLEs (except for one Smackdown match). The bout worked well, but I have no interest in the mascot and whatever supposed TH-cam personality was in it. I'd have preferred seeing Orton win, but wasn't surprised with the result. I wish WWE would now retire the overused brass knuckles gimmick with Paul. Bayley vs IYO was a feel-good moment on a more modest scale than the main event. Less discriminating people are letting slide the multi-year long heel run she was on a little too easily for my taste. I'm happy for her and not surprised she won. Watch for a rematch with the Genius of the Sky before both move on to other things. Finally, Reigns vs Rhodes gave us the result we really should've had at WM 39. And but for the unprecedented social media backlash when Roman vs the Rock was announced - which I totally believe was the result of the Rock's deal to join the Endeavor board of directors - we might not have had Cody finishing the story at WM XL. But the WWE heard the response and pivoted back to Roman vs Cody. That not only served them better, it served the Rock better because he could go heel and receive nuclear reactions that included some support. The match was built up and executed tremendously. I wonder if Stone Cold Steve Austin will come out at some point and lament the inability to have come to an agreement to be the Rock's foil, instead of Undertaker. But it still worked. And it had the feel of the Rock being made aware though he may be the final boss, he can still answer to a more powerful in the ring.