This was a strange show.
I can honestly say that I liked half of what I saw and didn’t like half of what I saw. WWE 50/50 ed the whole show for me.
Much of the comedy was a hit for me, in addition to the stupid music by Shane McMahon and Elias. But there were some strange decisions that made me not too excited about WrestleMania for Crude.
At the moment, it’s McIntyre / Lashley, Fiend / Orton, Bad Bunny / Miz, Asuka / Ripley and AJ and Omos / New Day. How much of that excites you?
I like some, but the main things are not a success for me. We still have two weeks to go. Turn to me, WWE.
Let’s go to the main hits and mistakes of this show. For a complete summary of Crude, check out Rev. Claire Elizabeth’s live blog!
Well … more fire
Randy Orton still doesn’t understand that you can’t fight fire with … literal fire when it comes to The Fiend.
Before Orton left, Alexa Bliss said that he should be careful what he wants. The idea was that Orton would summon the Evil One and finish him off once and for all.
Orton came out with a bag and said it was time to put an official end to The Fiend and Alexa Bliss.
Silly Randy.
Bliss came out and finished the … Bliss in the Box? The Demon lighting came back, as well as the shrill sound I didn’t miss.
So, what was in Orton’s purse?
… Gasoline.
Fiend did not flinch when Orton dumped him, and then Fiend charged against him and Orton hit the RKO. Bliss entered the ring and Orton was distracted by her. He got the Mandible Claw for that. Then an Abigail sister.
And then Bliss pointed at the sign and it was engulfed in flames. That’s how we got The Fiend vs. Randy Orton for WrestleMania.
Huh?
Come on, man. What are we doing? The presentation of the return of the Crunchy Demon was good in Fastlane, and they blew it here. And no correspondence from Firefly Fun House? This is the wrong call.
I am very disappointed with this. I don’t know how to rescue him. Help me, Cagesiders.
Multiple stories
Most of this match was rest hold city and it just proved that WWE doesn’t know what it’s doing with Crude. They trusted the commentary team that sold Sheamus’s match the night before, while he fought as if he hadn’t fought a deadly ThunderDome Exploding match in Fastlane.
They made this match last week. Lashley has already won. There is no need for him to “set an example” for Sheamus, as one of the commentators said. He did already.
Then, when Lashley made him hit, Alexander and Benjamin pulled him out of the ring and attacked him. Who, except Drew McIntyre, saved his biggest rival, not named Bobby Lashley. He then entered the ring and tried to get Lashley to fight him, but MVP calmed Lashley and got him out of the ring.
That was a really unfortunate way to start the show. Sheamus has lost so many fights since turning to Drew and he doesn’t deserve it. Three games in one week! Two of the three are unnecessary, and both Lashley’s match.
The only thing this match did was to sell dissent with Cedric and Shelton and Lashley and MVP. Sheamus had to continue to be sacrificed for that. MVP said he embarrassed the almighty both for being out there and for losing his Crude tag team titles. To compensate, they went to Adam Pearce to get a handicap match two against one against McIntyre, which McIntyre accepted on one condition – if he wins, Cedric and Shelton will be banned from the ring in WrestleMania.
McIntyre dominated the two men in the first few minutes and went for the Claymore kick, but Alexander pulled Benjamin out of the ring. Alexander scored and almost pinched his knee outside. The Hurt Business then dominated the second half and worked well to put McIntyre on the floor.
But we knew what was going to happen. After a hellish Claymore for Alexander, McIntyre won the victory. Ced and Ben should simply run away and not even get close to MVP and Lashley. Of course not, and MVP punished them. Then, in an interesting twist, Lashley went to a bunch of guys in the locker room and put a bounty on Drew.
Ricochet was one of those men, and it MUST be him. Please let it be him. I need Ricochet at the Wounded Deal.
As for the rest of it, I’m saddened by The Hurt Business’s presentation after Lashley’s WWE title victory. They immediately lost their tag titles and are now imploding. Give me Ricochet at the Wounded Deal, of course, but did they need to do all of that?
Drew is just Drew. I didn’t really think about it, but it has been quite one-dimensional for a while. But I also don’t know how to change it a little bit to make it fresh. Is weird.
On the plus side, Sheamus officially ended this and goes after Riddle!
Hey Hey, Hop Hop
You may think you know what my reaction was to that, but believe me … you don’t know.
Miz asked who Bad Bunny thinks he is? How he dared to ridicule the only double Grand Slam champion. Miz played for the tron where a WrestleMania the poster showed Bad Bunny and Damian Priest, but not Miz and Morrison.
Then they played their new single Hey Hey, Hop Hop, a disguised Bad Bunny track and it was … very well produced, actually. He challenged Bunny to a fight and said that his next match with Jeff Hardy would serve as a demonstration of what is to come.
That was Hilarious. Stupid but Hilarious. I laughed about it a lot. Yes, me! I usually hate Miz and Morrison things. THE BUNNY SUITS! HAHAHAHA! It looked like a better produced video and song, almost as if Bad Bunny himself was involved.
Hardy asked Miz to get Morrison out of the ring because we all know what happens. Miz surprisingly agreed. If you thought Morrison would come back anyway and interfere, we were in the same boat. I was very surprised.
When Miz’s hand was raised, BAD BUNNY HE WITH A GUITAR! From now on, we have a singles match with Miz and Bunny in WrestleMania. I bet Morrison and Priest will be added, but maybe not? It depends on whether Bad Bunny has really trained enough for a singles match. If he did, I’m in the game.
Bad Bunny understands. He’s the best celebrity they’ve had in the series involved in stories.
AJ Rocks! AJ Rocks!
Styles praised Omos’s debut in WrestleMania and said he will team up with the best fighter in WWE history. He went over the New Day compliments and said that they can’t lose with Styles’ fighting ability and Omos’s size.
Kingston interrupted and said that they are not a real team. So Woods told Omos that Styles would take him down, as he is a big man with great skills. They then questioned how much Styles knows Omos. They asked what was the favorite color of Omos, ice cream and WWE fighter, and Styles failed on all three questions.
Embarrassed, Styles challenged Kingston to a match.
They exchanged strangles and takedowns, and Styles kicked him out of an attempt to immobilize. Styles jumped on the top rope and Kingston bent down and knocked over Styles. Really smart to drop on a pin by Kingston using his legs.
Kingston tried a Trouble in Paradise, but Styles kicked him in the back of the head and guy, it looked horrible. He sold it so well that I thought he had a concussion. He broke Calf Crusher, and Styles was going to the Phenomenal Forearm, but Woods played the trumpet and distracted him.
Omos went to get Woods and Kingston took the opportunity to fix Styles. It was a fun game and I liked the tension between Omos and AJ. AJ is also very good with comedy and provided another segment of laughter for me.
The rest
Asuka defeated Peyton Royce / Rhea Ripley debuted
Asuka opted for an early Asuka Lock, but Royce made the transition to his own performance. She sent Asuka face to face with a tensioner and suplexed her. Asuka attempted the hip attack, but Royce dodged and sent Asuka to the ground. Asuka did a German suplex and kneed Peyton in the face to almost fall. Royce sold Asuka’s facebuster for another fall. Royce went to the upper rope with a double step and almost won. She fell on Asuka Lock. Peyton was very well booked here.
AND THEN RHEA RIPLEY LEAVE! She called Asuka one of the big ones. She mentioned Charlotte and is recovering from COVID-19. So, as she’s not here, she challenged Asuka for the title in WrestleMania, and Asuka accepted! That’s right! It was not presented as a heel, as was rumored, and I prefer it that way. I’m excited about this one.
CHOO CHOO!
HAHAHAHAHA ARE TOUCHING THE TRAIN’S HORN AND THE ENGINE SURVEYING THE SOUNDS WHILE BRAUN RUNS AROUND THE RING! Shane doing stupid shit was stupid and yes, of course he feigned his injury so he wouldn’t have to fight. So stupid, but the sounds were hilarious.
The Reginald Tag Team Champions defeated Mandy and Dana
Yes, that was just for Reginald’s continuation as the focal point of the women’s division. The guy can just get in and out of the ring and not have the team disqualified or get kicked out. Cool, cool, cool, cool.
Grade: C
What were your thoughts, Cageisders?