The Right:
- Mickey Mouse was a good choice to open the show; pairing Mickey with the Women’s Tag Division was also the smart move ratings wise, as the division has struggled to find real momentum this season, even with the Bellas carrying it on their backs. The new matches Mickey announced sound intriguing, but I worry that they’ll suffer from the same sort of convoluted over-booking that has plagued MMouse Enterprises since its inception. Time will tell, but for now it was good to hear from the Chairman.
- Liv Morgan vs. Ember Moon: Liv Morgan finally made her debut on the big stage after being put to the side during her time with the EWA (like most superstars were, due to the erratic schedule!) Ember and Liv put on an impressive match, going all out in a match that felt suitable for a PPV. Liv was able to defeat the former Knockouts Champion, which obviously elevates her star and earns her a spot in the Premier Athlete Roulette.
- The Elite are FINALLY back after not being featured the entirety of the season. They’re somehow the number one contenders for the Undisputed Era’s tag titles, and I’m only not complaining because it’s good to see them back. That said, the Young Bucks are really the number one contenders in my heart, despite them being the bottom ranked team. I’m looking forward to the Young Bucks and the Elite meeting up, whenever that finally happens.
- The Depth of the Tag Division: Traditionally, the tag division isn’t my favorite, but things are looking pretty stacked in the PWI’s tag division right now. The Duct Tape Men and their fight against Tape-aphobia is hilarious, and it’s nice to see the Hollys getting one last chance to shine after years and years of doing nothing.
- Attitude vs. Sabu was a fantastic battle, and seemingly caps off the feud between the two. There’s always the chance that the feud continues from here, but I also think this serves as a natural conclusion for the story so we’ll see.
- The Immunity Championship in the main event — now listen, I’ve got some issues with the division as a whole, but tonight was a good step in tackling some of those issues. Lashley appeared from nowhere to take the title from Rollins, who appeared from nowhere to take the title from Attitude. I have issues with that, but ultimately, by presenting the two in the main event, they suddenly FEEL more important than they would in the middle of the card. That’s what needs to happen for the Immunity Championship, which has been a favorite of mine conceptually for quite some time. I still have complaints about the fact that the immunity rarely factors into storylines, but I’ve learned to keep those complaints to myself given the fact that it’s been an ongoing issue for over a decade. As I noted, the first step in making these two guys FEEL important was achieved tonight, and therefore the title also feels more important than it has in recent memory.
The wRong:
- Speaking of the Women’s Tag Division, the Undying Legends have TRIED to prop the division on their backs, and their efforts aren’t for nothing, but we’re still in a place where things feel less like a division and more like a time-filler for three or four teams. But hey, Rome wasn’t built in a day, so why should we expect the division to be built in three years?
- I’m not a fun-hater, but can we talk about how silly it is to have Nathan Jones, the most serious man in the HCW, backstage with Anthony in a comedy segment? Not to mention, it does Jones no favors in his quest to present himself as a world title challenger. Even Ted Brown says he’ll take the comedy segments under advisement; as PWI has gotten rid of the funny interviewers all together. I’m not saying that Anthony and Thomas should go the wayside, but there’s a time and place for them and we don’t need to see them de-legitimizing a world title that is already struggling to feel as important as the OTHER world title in the company. But hey, what do I know?!
The Ridiculous:
- The backstage in PWI is the most dangerous place to be, and that trend continued tonight with Angelina Love single-handily taking out Slammer LMFAO. We’ve seen Slammer bounce back from SOOOOO much over the past twenty years, but one chair shot from a woman? IMPOSSIBLE TO BOUNCE BACK FROM! I mean, his career might be over from such a devastating attack! *Insert facepalm emoji* One segment later, we’ve got Scott Nash attacking Thomas in the backstage, because why not?! I’m sure that advances Nash’s career and further legitimizes him as a world champion. *Insert facepalm emoji*
- The HCW Comedy Hour: Listen, like I said earlier, I’m okay with comedy segments, I truly am. But the HCW is running into a bigger issue here: It’s a brand limited to one segment per show, with the exception of the occasional Mayhem every other week or so. With those limitations in mind, perhaps maybe wait to have R-Truth randomly interrupt a match that ISN’T for the most important title of the brand? Obviously this is Mickey attempting to weaken the brand and to get it off his show, and I don’t hate that storyline as a concept, but I still think it’d work better on the HCW branded shows, and not during the HCW segment on the PWI shows.
- Kingston vs. Kross: I’ve got nothing against either one of these men, but the poor bastards were doomed for failure following what we had just witnessed with Sabu and Attitude. The bad part about putting a show-stealing match in the middle of the card is what it does to the momentum of the show that comes after. They did their best, but there was only so much they were going to be able to do given the circumstances and the fact that personality wise, these two just aren’t there yet.
World Of Wrestling: Murrey Universe 