WWE Stomping Grounds 2019
**PRE-SHOW**
WWE CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE MATCH:
This started out as a standard three-way with some creative stuff and concluded with about four or five minutes of wonderfully laid out nearfalls. Watch this match!
**MAIN SHOW**
WWE RAW WOMEN'S TITLE MATCH:
Lacey's entrance gear tonight looked completely ridiculous. Also ridiculous is the ring announcer introducing Lacey as "the sassy southern belle." It sounds like something out of Wrestlicious.
The match was solid for the time it got. Lacey is great at being her character and is a pretty darn good heel, and Becky is a great babyface in the ring and overcame the challenge presented by Lacey's work on her ribs.
ODD MUSTAFA ALI VIDEO - Very well produced, but I'm not sure what the point of it was.
KAYLA BRAXTON CATCHES PAUL HEYMAN COMING OUT OF BARON CORBIN'S LOCKER ROOM - I'm f*cking tired of these Brock Lesnar teases. F*ck Brock. No one wants to see him anyway. Heyman gives Kayla a non-answer. Kayla then grabs Corbin as he is coming out of his locker room. He gives the standard heel BS lines about picking a completely unbiased referee but still doesn't tell us who the referee will be.
A sneak attack by Owens on resulted in Woods being the babyface in peril from the moment the bell rang and these guys made the most of the extra time they created by skipping the shine. This was one heck of a babyface in peril story followed by a great back-and-forth tag team match.
ALEXA BLISS! & BAYLEY BACKSTAGE - Filler.
WWE UNITED STATES TITLE MATCH:
Someone decided that they needed to add a sound effect of a bullet ricocheting to the beginning of Ricochet's entrance because that person hates me personally. Just because you can do something like this doesn't mean you should.
This was a great underdog babyface vs. monster heel match. I really wish this win didn't have to come at Joe's expense, but maybe there is a bright side here where this match finally makes Vince see the light on Ricochet.
RICOCHET GETS CONGRATULATED BY TRIPLE H AND VARIOUS FORMER NXT BABYFACES - Who was the tall blonde standing next to Carmella?
WWE SMACKDOWN TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH:
Another great tag team match, and one that seemed brilliantly designed so that you could view Bryan as the babyface if you wanted to in order to keep the predictably pro-Bryan crowd into things.
WWE SMACKDOWN WOMEN'S TITLE MATCH:
Bliss worked the arm while Bayley worked the head. At one point Bliss was on the outside with Nikki and Bayley went for a five and Bliss pushed herself off of Nikki to avoid it, simultaneously pushing Nikki into the way of Bayley's dive. Bliss hit a Code Red on the floor, got Bayley back into the ring and went up for Twisted Bliss… but Nikki Cross got into the ring and tried to attack Bayley. The referee was able to hold Nikki back so there was no DQ, but it also cost Alexa precious time during which she didn't want to go for her finisher because the referee wasn't paying attention. Bayley was able to recover and got to the to but Alexa pushed her off again and went for Twisted Bliss but Bayley got her knees up, then won with the Belly-to-Bayley. Credit where it's due: Alexa's mental grooming of Bayley coming back to bite her in the end is a completely logical direction that I had considered WWE taking things in.
GALLOWS & ANDERSON BOTHER RICOCHET WHILE HE IS HAVING AN OFFICIAL WWE PHOTO SHOOT WITH HIS NEW BELT - Fine. Gallows & Anderson were being kind of pushy and trying to steal Ricochet's spotlight. AJ showed up to congratulate him as well and got a HUGE pop. Unlike the other two, AJ did not act like a dick. he did tell Ricochet that he would "see him tomorrow," so that sounds promising.
Roman and Drew had an awesome brawl and Roman had to overcome Shane's interference to get the victory… and he did just that, so this f*cking feud had better be over now.
I laughed my ass off at the "it always Reigns in Seattle" sign. Also on the list of America's rainiest cities (down at #10) is Binghamton, NY. I bring this fact up to point out that my parents' beloved alma mater has so little to brag about that its alumni were forced to tell their children facts like this in an effort to make it sound cool.
STEEL CAGE MATCH FOR THE WWE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH:
An excellent steel cage match with a story built around escaping the cage… and they sure built to one heck of a finish.
SHANE MCMAHON PROMO - WHY IS THIS FEUD STILL GOING ON?! Shane announced himself & Drew McIntyre vs. Roman Reigns in a handicap match.
WWE UNIVERSAL TITLE MATCH WITH LACEY EVANS AS SPECIAL GUEST REFEREE:
Speaking of feuds that are continuing much longer than they should, we can add Becky Lynch vs. Lacey Evans to the list. Rollins argued with her, allowing Corbin to attack him from behind. Corbin then beat Rollins up with the chair that Rollins had brought to the ring. Lacey finally took the chair away from Corbin and called for the bell. She then let Corbin beat Seth up on the outside without counting them out.
Why doesn't Corbin just slap on a wristlock and have Lacey ring the bell? Alternatively, why hasn't Becky Lynch come out here to attack Lacey yet? What's Lacey going to do? DQ Seth? Then Seth would keep the title. And now you know why biased referee angles are dumb.
The fans chanted "THIS IS STUPID!," "AEW!," "DANIEL BRYAN!," "CM PUNK!" and "BORING!"
I couldn't get into this match because these heel referee spots are all the same thing all over again, with the heel ref either not counting or changing the rules. At least when Mike Awesome and Lance Storm had their famous "Canadian Rules" match they (and special referee Jacques Rougeau managed to do it in a way that made it entertaining. Becky eventually came out and beat Lacey Evans up, and a new referee took over so Rollins could get the win. What took her so long? This was boring. An almost show-killing main event. Someone said that Referee John Cone had now cost Corbin another title match (though I don't see what he did wrong), which means that this feud, too, will continue. Always remember fans, that Vince McMahon hates each and every one of you.
Final Thoughts
This was a pretty great show from WWE, with solid wrestling all up and down and the card and several matches that were pretty damn great... until we hit the main event, which was a solid example of how a bad main event can poison fans' feeling towards a show.
WWE CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE MATCH:
Tony Nese(c) vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Drew Gulak - 8/10
This started out as a standard three-way with some creative stuff and concluded with about four or five minutes of wonderfully laid out nearfalls. Watch this match!
**MAIN SHOW**
WWE RAW WOMEN'S TITLE MATCH:
Becky Lynch(c) vs. Lacey Evans - 6.75/10
Lacey's entrance gear tonight looked completely ridiculous. Also ridiculous is the ring announcer introducing Lacey as "the sassy southern belle." It sounds like something out of Wrestlicious.
The match was solid for the time it got. Lacey is great at being her character and is a pretty darn good heel, and Becky is a great babyface in the ring and overcame the challenge presented by Lacey's work on her ribs.
ODD MUSTAFA ALI VIDEO - Very well produced, but I'm not sure what the point of it was.
KAYLA BRAXTON CATCHES PAUL HEYMAN COMING OUT OF BARON CORBIN'S LOCKER ROOM - I'm f*cking tired of these Brock Lesnar teases. F*ck Brock. No one wants to see him anyway. Heyman gives Kayla a non-answer. Kayla then grabs Corbin as he is coming out of his locker room. He gives the standard heel BS lines about picking a completely unbiased referee but still doesn't tell us who the referee will be.
KEVIN OWENS & SAMI ZAYN vs. NEW DAY (Xavier Woods & Big E.) - 7.75/10
A sneak attack by Owens on resulted in Woods being the babyface in peril from the moment the bell rang and these guys made the most of the extra time they created by skipping the shine. This was one heck of a babyface in peril story followed by a great back-and-forth tag team match.
ALEXA BLISS! & BAYLEY BACKSTAGE - Filler.
WWE UNITED STATES TITLE MATCH:
Samoa Joe(c) vs. Ricochet - 7/10
Someone decided that they needed to add a sound effect of a bullet ricocheting to the beginning of Ricochet's entrance because that person hates me personally. Just because you can do something like this doesn't mean you should.
This was a great underdog babyface vs. monster heel match. I really wish this win didn't have to come at Joe's expense, but maybe there is a bright side here where this match finally makes Vince see the light on Ricochet.
RICOCHET GETS CONGRATULATED BY TRIPLE H AND VARIOUS FORMER NXT BABYFACES - Who was the tall blonde standing next to Carmella?
WWE SMACKDOWN TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH:
Daniel Bryan & Erick Rowan(c) vs. Heavy Machinery - 7/10
Another great tag team match, and one that seemed brilliantly designed so that you could view Bryan as the babyface if you wanted to in order to keep the predictably pro-Bryan crowd into things.
WWE SMACKDOWN WOMEN'S TITLE MATCH:
Bayley(c) vs. Alexa Bliss! (w/Nikki Cross) - 6.25/10
Bliss worked the arm while Bayley worked the head. At one point Bliss was on the outside with Nikki and Bayley went for a five and Bliss pushed herself off of Nikki to avoid it, simultaneously pushing Nikki into the way of Bayley's dive. Bliss hit a Code Red on the floor, got Bayley back into the ring and went up for Twisted Bliss… but Nikki Cross got into the ring and tried to attack Bayley. The referee was able to hold Nikki back so there was no DQ, but it also cost Alexa precious time during which she didn't want to go for her finisher because the referee wasn't paying attention. Bayley was able to recover and got to the to but Alexa pushed her off again and went for Twisted Bliss but Bayley got her knees up, then won with the Belly-to-Bayley. Credit where it's due: Alexa's mental grooming of Bayley coming back to bite her in the end is a completely logical direction that I had considered WWE taking things in.
GALLOWS & ANDERSON BOTHER RICOCHET WHILE HE IS HAVING AN OFFICIAL WWE PHOTO SHOOT WITH HIS NEW BELT - Fine. Gallows & Anderson were being kind of pushy and trying to steal Ricochet's spotlight. AJ showed up to congratulate him as well and got a HUGE pop. Unlike the other two, AJ did not act like a dick. he did tell Ricochet that he would "see him tomorrow," so that sounds promising.
ROMAN REIGNS VS. DREW MCINTYRE (w/Shane McMahon) - 8/10
Roman and Drew had an awesome brawl and Roman had to overcome Shane's interference to get the victory… and he did just that, so this f*cking feud had better be over now.
I laughed my ass off at the "it always Reigns in Seattle" sign. Also on the list of America's rainiest cities (down at #10) is Binghamton, NY. I bring this fact up to point out that my parents' beloved alma mater has so little to brag about that its alumni were forced to tell their children facts like this in an effort to make it sound cool.
STEEL CAGE MATCH FOR THE WWE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH:
Kofi Kingston(c) vs. Dolph Ziggler - 8.25/10
An excellent steel cage match with a story built around escaping the cage… and they sure built to one heck of a finish.
SHANE MCMAHON PROMO - WHY IS THIS FEUD STILL GOING ON?! Shane announced himself & Drew McIntyre vs. Roman Reigns in a handicap match.
WWE UNIVERSAL TITLE MATCH WITH LACEY EVANS AS SPECIAL GUEST REFEREE:
Seth Rollins(c) vs. Baron Corbin - 4.5/10
Speaking of feuds that are continuing much longer than they should, we can add Becky Lynch vs. Lacey Evans to the list. Rollins argued with her, allowing Corbin to attack him from behind. Corbin then beat Rollins up with the chair that Rollins had brought to the ring. Lacey finally took the chair away from Corbin and called for the bell. She then let Corbin beat Seth up on the outside without counting them out.
Why doesn't Corbin just slap on a wristlock and have Lacey ring the bell? Alternatively, why hasn't Becky Lynch come out here to attack Lacey yet? What's Lacey going to do? DQ Seth? Then Seth would keep the title. And now you know why biased referee angles are dumb.
The fans chanted "THIS IS STUPID!," "AEW!," "DANIEL BRYAN!," "CM PUNK!" and "BORING!"
I couldn't get into this match because these heel referee spots are all the same thing all over again, with the heel ref either not counting or changing the rules. At least when Mike Awesome and Lance Storm had their famous "Canadian Rules" match they (and special referee Jacques Rougeau managed to do it in a way that made it entertaining. Becky eventually came out and beat Lacey Evans up, and a new referee took over so Rollins could get the win. What took her so long? This was boring. An almost show-killing main event. Someone said that Referee John Cone had now cost Corbin another title match (though I don't see what he did wrong), which means that this feud, too, will continue. Always remember fans, that Vince McMahon hates each and every one of you.
Final Thoughts
This was a pretty great show from WWE, with solid wrestling all up and down and the card and several matches that were pretty damn great... until we hit the main event, which was a solid example of how a bad main event can poison fans' feeling towards a show.