Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens
Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens lock up with Reigns hitting a few shoulder blocks and then sending KO to the outside. He follows up with a neckbreaker and a big boot, which ends with a suplex and a two count. Owens fights back with a jawbreaker to Reigns and they spill to the outside. Thrusting Reigns into the barricade gives him the upper hand. Both men continue to brawl around the ring until they get back inside.
Reigns hits ten forearms to Owens in the corner and hits a big boot. Kevin reverses a move and hits a back body drop and then gets a close pin for himself. Reigns stops Owens from hitting a cannonball into the corner and hits a nice clothesline. Roman misses a Superman punch, which allows more offense from Owens and he heads up top. Roman hits a Superman Punch and Owens flies to the outside. He grabs his title and walks out, allowing Roman to win via countout.
This was a really good match to kick off the in-ring action on Smackdown. They gave them a commercial break to work with and really sold Roman being the man in control offensively. Kevin Owens got plenty of offense in, but this was more focus on how good Reigns has gotten over the past few months in terms of fluency and creativeness in the ring. KO took a good heel loss, not being pinned and really looking like a guy who could care less about Roman. I never want to see him respect his opponents, so this was perfect. Overall, a really solid bout from both men. I wonder who steps up and challenges Owens?
Surprising Finish To Tag Team Match
The Lucha Dragons took on Sheamus/Barrett, The Dudley Boyz and The Acension in a Fatal Four Way match. Obviously, when you look at this match on paper you expect either Dudley Boyz to win or Sheamus and King Barrett.
Neither came true, as those two team eliminated one another and The Lucha Dragons picked up the victory. I am not against this, but I am very surprised WWE made this call. Do they want to push Kalisto and Sin Cara…finally? If they do, I agree with this decision. If they do not, what is the point of them winning? One of the biggest problems in the WWE has been their mismanaging of the tag team division.
With The Uso’s nearing their return, why would WWE want to push this team over a veteran team like The Dudley’s or a more believable team like Sheamus and Barrett? When I mean believable, I mean believable as champions. We need real competition for The New Day. A developed and believable team that can dethrone them.
