Bray Wyatt has officially returned to Eater of Worlds.
I loved the music at Firefly Fun House that turned into Wyatt’s old fast trick.
In the dark and creepy swamp, Bray said that Braun was a lost sheep looking for a home. Bray gave him a purpose and created it. But Braun never lived up to being the monster he created.
Once you enter the swamp, you can never really leave. And there is a part of Braun that still lives there. Braun is not able to handle the gift that Bray gave him. So it’s time for Bray to destroy the monster he became.
I really liked this promotion. I wish they would start this angle this way, because originally making them face each other with the pretense that Braun suddenly left the Wyatt family on their own was silly. However, going back to the roots of Braun’s career in the family was great. It helped establish why Bray was a force to be reckoned with as the world eater.
Later, Braun, before his match with John Morrison, cut his own intense promotion in which I was partially sold. He said that a man has to grow up and face his fears, and that he is ready and willing to go through the gates of hell and slap the devil in the face. The last thing he wants is for Bray to become the Demon, because even he knows that the Demon is the existence of evil.
It was a decent promotion, but Braun still has work to do with his delivery. As I’ve always said, Braun is better as a mindless ass kicker with fewer spoken words. It certainly did with Morrison! Keep it this way, WWE. The monster among men is not always threatening. Swamp Fight is intriguing as it will most likely be cinematic, so all bets are void.
Bro is not directing the show
Matt Riddle’s blessing as a great performer and a more unique stunt will end up being his curse in WWE. The “brother” is great and really put Riddle on the map, even in the Indies. I first saw Riddle perform at the first Progress show in New York in 2017 and I was captivated by his style. (Fun fact: He faced WALTER for the title of Atlas and OMG was his purple chest after that!)
So when WWE finally signed him up, he was really excited. He did very well on NXT and then the call came.
Immediately, I knew where this was going.
“Bro who runs the show” was great the first time. The second time was a great thing. Now, he is a crutch that WWE gave him and will probably last the rest of his damn career. It will be on their shirts, it will be very close to each promotion, and the announcers will hit it on the ground. * Whispers * Hi WWE, he doesn’t need it, okay?
So anyway! The match between him and AJ was great. His sleeping / powerbomb / running knee blow brother was a great combination. Later, AJ had one of the smoothest transitions in a calf crusher I’ve ever seen, and Riddle responded to the Bro mission, but Styles led him to victory. Then Styles showed respect for Riddle and shook his hand.
And then Corbin (not Borebin this week and I’ll explain why) criticized him from behind. The styles sank because he already showed his respect and Corbin hit a nasty End of Days that Riddle sold as a champion. Corbin is not Borebin this week because I really enjoyed using him in this program. Before this game, he cut a promotion behind the scenes and said Bro was just a kid who couldn’t remember putting on his shoes. He called Riddle’s career so far a “honeymoon phase”. It was actually a very good promotion!
Now, will this positivity continue next week? Possibly not, but right now, and I can’t believe I’m about to say this, I’m … interested in this new dispute.
WWE, just let Corbin be serious, and not the fucking artist.
The rest
Bayley and Sasha Banks def. Asuka and Nikki Cross – We started with Alexa Bliss’ “A Moment of Bliss”, where Bliss said a mysterious guest would send shock waves through the SmackDown locker room. Cross assumed it was her and thanked Bliss for her consideration, but after being told it wasn’t her, Bayley and Sasha came out and said that the evolution of women really started because of them. Then the REAL surprise guest appeared … Asuka! Bayley and Sasha attacked BlissCross and Asuka made the save, which then led to a match.
Asuka loves her hip attacks, doesn’t she? She got some on Banks from the start. Cross came back in, as did Bayley, and Cross stuffed it into the apron on the ring. Cross hit a crossbody and then hilariously she and Asuka danced at the bulletin board. But that without mercy, Bayley lifted her legs up on the rope to help herself in a victory for her team.
I really liked the consistency in the reservation between Bayley and Sasha for fear of Nikki Cross. She is a force to be reckoned with, after all. Cheating to win makes all the sense in the world here and definitely something a delusional heel would do after claiming to be the greatest champion. One thing I did notice was that no special provisions of the Extreme Rules have been announced for any of the women’s title matches on Sunday. Why? Give me stips! Bayley and Nikki certainly deserve one after that behind-the-scenes fight after the game!
Cesaro def. Big E – Cesaro and Shinsuke also subscribed to one of Eddie Guerrero’s methods, right? There was a really cool Stretch Muffler at a Cesaro Swing moment. Big E’s belly to belly is never smooth. The cheating moment was Nakamura knocking out Kofi and taking advantage of a distracted referee, helping Cesaro to win. Later, they announce that they will do a table match for the SmackDown tag team titles.
This makes sense since the tables were the most important thing for the past two weeks. However, I don’t know. I have a feeling that seeing a cheat match on a pay-per-view that already has its own pay-per-view cheat later in the year is cheap. I’d save tables, stairs, and chairs for … Tables, stairs, and chairs. The extreme rules should be for any type of DQ, No Holds Barred, Falls Count Anywhere. However, I am sure the draw combination will still be excellent given who will be on it. What do you say, Cagesiders?
Lacey Evans def. Naomi – No surprise here. Lacey stole a victory and, unsurprisingly, did not receive DQ’ed after literally tying Naomi’s hair on the second rope in front of the referee. Then he took advantage of the Women’s Law when Naomi, with the help of said referee, keep in mind that his hair was untangled. Bad reffing, ref! Naomi deserves better than this. I really didn’t like Lacey’s heel trick and I’m not happy she’s back. Spinning his heel for a loss in a karaoke contest? Really?
Braun Strowman def. John Morrison – Basically a pumpkin to show Braun’s new intensity when entering Extreme Rules. However, Morrison was beaten like a champion.
Sheamus finally appeared – After weeks of being in the tron at his home, presumably, Sheamus attacked Jeff Hardy from behind while interviewing him about why he chose to accept Sheamus’ challenge. The most interesting part of this was the revelation that the bar fight between them will be next week on SmackDown, and not on Extreme Rules this Sunday. I think I honestly prefer that.
Sonya, Mandy and Otis are so strange, you guys. This damn era COVID-19 is directly evil.
While I generally enjoyed the show, I was bothered by a couple of bitter points. This “surprise” in A Moment of Bliss was simply overkill for people to tune into, which I’m sure. But after all this week of promoting the women’s revolution, WWE should have expected fans to take on an important announcement possibly about Evolution 2. And the other sour point was Naomi’s continued mishandling. Naomi deserves better, and that’s not just my point of view: she’s currently trending on Twitter. Naomi is much more talented than WWE would have you believe. It’s a damn shame.
Grade b
What were your thoughts, Cagesiders? Give me your predictions of extreme rules!
