BRM Reviews WWE Clash at the Castle (awesome)

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Big Red Machine
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BRM Reviews WWE Clash at the Castle (awesome)

Post by Big Red Machine » Sep 4th, '22, 09:31

WWE Clash at the Castle (9/3/2022)- Cardiff, UK

This opening video packages has gone on for way too long.
Hearing Michael Cole mention Big Daddy made me smile.

IYO SKYE, DAKOTA KAI, & BAYLEY vs. BIANCA BELAIR, ALEXA BLISS!, & ASUKA- 7/10
I wish people would stop doing that spot with the connected line of vertical suplexes. There is no way to get into position for it that doesn’t look hokey.
This was your basic tag match, with some clever spots and a decent story about Bayley not wanting to have to face Bianca. The heels won cleanly when Bayley pinned Bianca after Bianca ate finishers from all three heels. I like the booking here, as it allows this non-title match involving one of the champions here on this big show to still have a consequential result.

They showed Tyson Fury in the front row, and also showed footage from earlier today of him shaking Drew McIntyre’s hand.

WWE INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH: Gunther(c) (w/Imperium) vs. Sheamus (w/the Brawling Brutes)- 9/10
This is the first time I’ve typed “Gunther” in a review. It feels dirty. And Ludwig Kaiser and Brawling Brutes are both painfully stupid.
The seconds started brawling while Sheamus and Gunt- f*ck it- WALTER stood there and stared at each other. I normally wouldn’t like this, but with these two both being heels, I could buy that they weren’t taking their eyes off of each other because they were afraid the other would take a cheap shot (as opposed to Tanahashi and Moxley).
Holy f*ck they just beat the sh*t out of each other. WALTER won clean. Sheamus got a HUGE standing ovation from the crowd afterwards.

They showed UFC Welterweight Champion Leon Edwards in the crowd. When was the last time we saw an active UFC competitor on WWE TV (who wasn’t under WWE contract at the time, so the Brock thing doesn’t count)? This feels significant in some way, but I can’t quite put my finger on why.

Michael Cole told us that Wales was “the only country in all of Britain that was allowed to showcase women’s wrestling through the 1980s.” I will admit that I did not know this, but my first thought here was that “only country in all of Britain” is really just one of three, so it’s not that impressive.

WWE SMACKDOWN WOMEN’S TITLE MATCH: Liv Morgan(c) vs. Shayna Baszler- 6.75/10
In the video package, Liv Morgan claimed she was going to rip Shayna Baszler’s arm off. That’s not a typo. I didn’t accidentally get the names backwards.
They worked each other’s arm. Liv won with an Oblivion, which disappointed me. She is too proud of herself (especially given the way she won the title). I think the best direction for her (especially if she’s feuding with someone like Baszler) is to have her cheat to win and turn heel, justifying her actions with a desire to keep her title and thus be able to keep living her dream.

They showed Adrian Street and Miss Linda in the crowd. It’s always cool to see people we rarely see.

EDGE & REY MYSTERIO JR. (w/Dominik Mysterio) vs. JUDGEMENT DAY (Finn Balor & Damian Priest) (w/Rhea Ripley)- 7/10
This was clunky in places, but built very well. The babyfaces got the win.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- didn’t like it
Dominik turned heel, kicking Edge in the nuts and hitting Rey with a clothesline. He needs to turn heel because he looks like such a trashy douche, but I’m not sure what his impetus was for turning heel at this particular moment. I enjoyed the shots off the feels laughing while this happened, while still their injuries.

MATT RIDDLE vs. SETH ROLLINS- 8.75/10
This was an absolutely excellent fight, which had a wonderfully heated atmosphere (despite the fans singing Rollins’ song instead of reacting to the match for large parts of it). They even did some fighting spirit stuff, which is rare for WWE. I thought it worked quite well here, particularly because it wasn’t as performative as it often feels other places.
The story was about Riddle wanting to get his hands on Rollins and Rollins’ trying to use that anger against Riddle. Rollins won cleanly, with a finish that was set up by him knocking Riddle off of his game by getting him angry.

FOOTAGE OF ROMAN REIGNS CHATTING WITH TYSON FURY EARLIER TODAY- I really hope he won’t get involved in the main event.

KARRION KROSS & SCARLETT ARE SITTING IN THE CROWD- I hope they don’t get involved in the main event, either, but I’m certain they will.

WWE UNDISPUTED TITLE MATCH: Roman Reigns(c) vs. Drew McIntyre- 8/10
This had a great “big-fight” atmosphere and started off with the slow “world title match/clash of the titles” build with the tests of strength and feeling each other out. They built from there (Drew got cut off after Karrion Kross distracted him) and they built well, but as time it went on, while the match was certainly building, you got the feeling that it just wasn’t going to hit that point of being special. With hindsight of having seen the finish, it was clear they were holding back because of the f*ck finish.
Said f*ck finish saw Solo Sikoa make his debut, pulling Drew out of the ring when Drew had the match won, and setting up for Roman to win with a Spear. I’m well past the point of being tired of these f*ck finishes. If Roman is going to be a world-beater, let him win cleanly. Yes, Drew is the sort of person you should protect with a f*ck finish (especially if this isn’t the blow-off), but Roman needing to cheat to beat Drew only makes Drew feel special if Roman isn’t relying on f*ck finishes to beat everyone else, too.
The match also saw Austin Theory run out during a ref bump and try to cash in Money in the Bank, only to get knocked out by one punch from Tyson Fury. All of these failed cash-ins make Theory feel like a joke, and they make MITB feel like a comedy gimmick.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT #1- snore
Tyson Fury hopped into the ring and got face to face with Roman. Then they shook hands. I was worried that they were going to give a title shot to this outside celebrity who has lost his only WWE match, so at least it’s good that that isn’t happening.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT #2- was good, but then turned bad
Roman and Sikoa left. There was a loud “AEW!” chant. It was only one or two people, but they were sitting in exactly the right spot for the microphone to pick it up. Fury went over to Drew and put him over big. Then he tried to cheer Drew up by singing American Pie. I swear to G-d I’m not making that up. He was shockingly good. Drew and everyone else joined in for the chorus. I checked how much time was left in the show, and was fully expecting them to get the whole way through the song, but they stopped after the chorus.
Drew got to cut the babyface promo thanking the fans for supporting him and vowing to win the title, and if it had ended here, I would have really liked it. Unfortunately, Drew then switched into full-on happy mode and asked the fans to party with him. He should not be doing that after having lost a world title match. More singing happened, then Cole plugged a live “press conference” on various social media platforms.



This was an awesome show from WWE. The atmosphere was tremendous, we got some major storyline developments, and the matches ranged from solid at the worst to absolutely excellent. While the finish to the main event was a let-down, even that match was still awesome. Obviously the atmosphere here was something you can’t replicate on a regular basis, but if this is what we’re going to get from Paul Levesque’s Creative team on PPVs, sign me up.
Hold #712: ARM BAR!

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KILLdozer
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Re: BRM Reviews WWE Clash at the Castle (awesome)

Post by KILLdozer » Sep 5th, '22, 22:29

Dominique turned heel because "his father chose Edge instead " basically.
Last edited by KILLdozer on Sep 6th, '22, 02:18, edited 1 time in total.
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Big Red Machine
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Re: BRM Reviews WWE Clash at the Castle (awesome)

Post by Big Red Machine » Sep 6th, '22, 01:24

KILLdozer wrote: Sep 5th, '22, 22:29 Dominique turned heel because "his father chose Edke instead " basically.
Okay... then why did he help them win the match?
Hold #712: ARM BAR!

Upcoming Reviews:
FIP in 2005
ROH Validation
PWG All-Star Weekend V: Night 2
DGUSA Open the Ultimate Gate 2013
ROH/CMLL Global Wars Espectacular: Day 3

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KILLdozer
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Joined: Dec 16th, '10, 22:54

Re: BRM Reviews WWE Clash at the Castle (awesome)

Post by KILLdozer » Sep 6th, '22, 02:19

Big Red Machine wrote: Sep 6th, '22, 01:24
KILLdozer wrote: Sep 5th, '22, 22:29 Dominique turned heel because "his father chose Edke instead " basically.
Okay... then why did he help them win the match?
To really aid in the shocking turn when it happened lol.
When they come, they'll come at what you love.

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