The show opens with Alexa Bliss taking on Sasha Banks. Bliss gets a below average reception. Again this is a product of stacking the return of a character that is not hot with the crowd and then quickly running her into a feud where she can’t build any momentum with the crowd. These shows were all taped and aired before any fans could see that Bliss had returned and how this feud was built up. Because the live crowd has no history the reception is bad for Bliss, which hurts the match.
It’s very unfair to Bliss. She should have had a chance to return, cut some promos, and build towards a match the crowd would be hot for. This just seemed like going through the motions. Banks was impressive as usual and got a huge reaction when she hit the ring. The bottom line is that she has presence and the best ring music in the business.
Banks wins a fairly one sided match that was nothing special, but helps build her as the super heel Champion they want her to be. This angle did very little to further Bliss. It will be important for her to bounce back in the coming weeks.
The WWE chose to run a lot of promos for WM31 which is totally understandable, but odd considering this is a taped show people watch on demand. They probably could have run some in ring promos or an additional match on the show instead. They did air three important backstage promos.
Itami and Breeze had an exchange where Itami challenged Breeze to a 2 out of 3 falls match on the show next week. That will be the main event.
Blake and Murphy presented Carmella with a gift. She didn’t throw it in their face and this really seemed to upset Big Cass and Enzo. The Carmella heel turn is coming, or at least this is what they are suggesting.
Bayley and Emma had another awkward conversation in the locker room that ended when Emma slapped Bayley hard. This pretty much cemented the turn of Emma who needed a harder edge. She’s got a ton of talent, but WWE used her as a comedy act for her first trip to the main roster. This is the best way to reenergize her.
After all the fuss and filler they roll into the match with Owens and Balor for the title. Balor did not paint up for this match and that fact was played up by the announce team. They framed that by suggesting Owens had coerced Balor not to do it. In reality this was a way of protecting Balor.
Owens was made to look like a beast yet again. He took Balor’s best shots and also dished out some punishing moves. He attacked the knee of Balor, which was again another way of protecting Balor. Owens worked a very refreshing style match where he attacked a body part and told the story of how it was weakening Balor.
The finish happened when Balor hit his double drop kick sending Owens into the corner. He takes longer than usual to get to the top for his Coup De Grace and doesn’t connect clean and further injuries his knee. Owens recovers to hit his finisher the Pop Up Powerbomb.
This was a great match going nearly 15 minutes. Balor’s entrance is usually good enough, but he’s the whole package in the ring as well. This match was no properly hyped for a lot of reasons. WWE wanted to get past it so that they can move forward with Balor as unscathed as possible, and they also wanted to continue the massive push of Owens. They are building to the Zayn rematch, which should be pretty epic.
It’s very refreshing to watch a guy get built in the classic way, by looking strong and winning matches clean. It’s also nice to know that the company has the ideal counter balance in Zayn to make this feud a big success.
This was a good show as it advanced a lot of the major story lines. Fans should get told next week or the week after when the next live special is. That’s likely when a lot of this will be paid off. NXT is keeping things simple and producing outstanding in ring product. As long as they keep this up then the show will continue to shine.