Here are my final thoughts on Raw and SmackDown Live’s WWE Stomping Grounds 2019!
Tony Nese (c) vs. Drew Gulak vs Akira Tozawa (Triple Threat Match for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship)
Reactions: From the moment the bell rang, this triple threat title match kicked off at a maximum speed level. As it wore on, it managed to rev up its momentum and bring the crowd to its feet. Nese looked to be on the verge of victory multiple times, but the unexpected ending was quite the shocker. Nese did everything in his power to eliminate the competition, but Gulak and Tozawa met him every step of the way.
A series of slick three-man spots and a hot mid- to closing-stretch kicked this bout into a higher gear. Nese’s German Suplex to Gulak while hanging over Tozawa, Tozawa’s top rope Senton Splash onto both men, and Gulak’s Superplex to Tozawa that led into a failed 450 Splash from Nese were all awesome moments. Gulak’s surprising victory put some extra sauce on one of the best Kickoff Show matches of the year.
Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
Becky Lynch (c) vs. Lacey Evans (WWE Raw Women’s Championship)
Reactions: This was a pretty good opener. It may have been a step below their Money in the Bank matchup, but it was still a fun rematch. Becky’s signature turnbuckle kick spot was the only major blotch on this entire affair. Lacey is constantly progressing and this match was a clear indicator of that. Becky and Lacey’s chemistry has reached an acceptable level that allowed them to try out a few new maneuvers and lengthen their time in the ring this time around. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to put the title on Lacey, but I guess WWE still wants to ride “The Man” gravy train. Another bout between these two women sounds like a great idea since both Becky and Lacey’s matches have been worthwhile.
Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
The New Day (Big E and Xavier Woods) vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn
Reactions: Owens and Zayn followed tonight’s Cruiserweight Kickoff Match formula by starting off hot. The opener to this one sucked me in, which I didn’t expect to do since this is one of the matches from the PPV I didn’t really care for. Woods took a ton of punishment from Owens and Zayn – thankfully, their assault on Woods was far from boring.
Big E’s hot tag comeback was pretty entertaining since it seems like he got some extra pep in his step thanks to him overcoming a previous injury. The New Day’s known for having good to amazing matches on PPV – this match fell right into the really good category. The fast-paced opening, long but interesting extended beatdown of Woods, hot tag sequence from Big E and the exciting closing moments made this match a blast to sit through.
Rating: 3 & a Half out of 5 Stars
Samoa Joe (c) vs. Ricochet (WWE United States Championship)
Reactions: Never mind Ricochet’s hilarious entrance botch. The match I was most looking forward to definitely delivered on its high potential. Joe and Ricochet put on a match that gradually built up and improved as it arrived at its dope climax. Joe dominated Ricochet with his brutal repertoire, which Ricochet did an awesome job of selling. Once Ricochet really got going though, his high-flying maneuvers kicked this match up a notch.
Joe’s power-based offense looked great as always and Ricochet’s slick counters kept the audience (and me, of course) enthralled the whole way through. With 10 more minutes added to it, this match could have possibly entered the five-star category. As it is though, this title bout was definitely a barn-burner. Let’s set up a rematch between these two ASAP!
Rating: 3 & a Half out of 5 Stars
Daniel Bryan and Rowan (c) vs. Heavy Machinery (Otis and Tucker) (WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship)
Reactions: Shout out to Heavy Machinery! One of the more underrated tag teams on the WWE roster showed its critics just how capable they are at having long matches with a lot of moving parts. Otis and Tucker are not only a comedy duo, but they’re also a powerhouse tandem who you can take seriously once the bell rings.
Daniel damn near has a good match with anyone he’s pitted against and Rowan has been holding up his end of the bargain during recent bouts. Both of these teams produced an engaging tag team encounter that was a fine showcase for Otis and Tucker. Even in defeat, Heavy Machinery came out looking way better than they ever have. I’m open to seeing this one take place at Extreme Rules with a Two-out-of-Three Falls or Tag Team Elimination stipulation attached to it.
Rating: 3 & a Half out of 5 Stars
Bayley (c) vs. Alexa Bliss (WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship)
Reactions: This match was just more proof of just how bad the chemistry is between Bayley and Miss Bliss. It moved at a snail’s pace and Alexa’s arm work was pretty damned boring. I’m of the belief that Bliss is a great promo, but a completely underwhelming wrestler. Having to watch her deliver another average match with Bayley in 2019 is just annoying at this point. Even with the added presence of Nikki Cross (who I adore!), this SD Women’s title match did nothing for me. Keep Bliss away from the title picture on both shows, please. She can keep her Raw talk show segment, though.
Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars
Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre
Reactions: Now why couldn’t we get this at WrestleMania 35? I always knew both of these guys had it in them to give us a hard-hitting bout with plenty of life to it. This rematch thankfully proved my theory right (FINALLY!). Once again, we got a match on this show that bypassed the slow-paced headlocks and arm holds and got straight to the good stuff.
Roman and Drew tore into each other from the word go and maintained a solid pace throughout, which is something I wish we got when this went down at MetLife Stadium. The action that transpired on the outside gave this match the extra heat it needed. Even Shane O’Mac’s interference didn’t take away from this rematch one bit (and I can’t stand that guy right now!). I enjoyed this and I honestly didn’t expect to.
Rating: 3 & a Half out of 5 Stars
Kofi Kingston (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler (Steel Cage Match for the WWE Championship)
Reactions: This one ran a bit too long for my tastes. It was decent in parts, but it would’ve been much better off without all that extra time tacked onto it. You can tell both men wanted to give the crowd one of those epic Steel Cage title matches, but they didn’t do enough to reach their goal.
The action itself was pretty basic, plus the constant ankle lock submission holds and counters got super repetitive near the end. Now that Kofi has jumped over the hurdle that is Ziggler (who no one cared to see come back in the first place), let’s put him against someone far more legit. I wish both men would have cut the fat by leaving out all of the boring limb work and keeping the rest of the action that actually mattered.
Rating: 2 & a Half out of 5 Stars
Seth Rollins (c) vs. Baron Corbin (WWE Universal Championship; Lacey Evans as the Special Guest Referee)
Reactions: So the special guest referee reveal was pretty…meh. It made all the sense in the world – Lacey has major beef with Rollins’ girlfriend, so everyone figured she’d have every reason in the world to screw with the reigning Universal Champion. Lacey’s biased officiating and constant stipulation changes got on my last nerves, so I guess she did her job well here. Becky coming out to even the odds was pretty cool, though.
As for the match itself, it started out horribly with Corbin in control and picked up once Rollins started landing his signature moves. No surprise there. It was far better than their Super Showdown match, but that really isn’t saying much. The hardcore elements saved this main event from being complete trash. Rollins got the win, so I’m just happy that the show ended on a good note. No more Corbin in PPV main events WWE, I beg of you!
Rating: 2 & a Half out of 5 Stars
Match of the Night
Tony Nese vs. Drew Gulak vs Akira Tozawa!
Final Verdict
The first-ever Stomping Grounds was solid at best. It’s pretty crazy to fathom how this PPV’s Kickoff Cruiserweight title bout proved to be the match of the night, but it is what it is. If you’re pressed for time, check out the aforementioned bout, plus the New Day vs. Owens & Zayn, the SD Tag Team title match, the US title match, and Reigns vs. Drew (yes, that match was much better than I expected). Stomping Grounds could have been one of WWE’s unexpected PPV highlights, but it was brought down by a number of contests that simply bored the crowd (and me) to tears. One half of this PPV was awesome, while the other half was completely mundane.
Final Score: 3 out of 5 Stars
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