Tag Team Elimination Match
The Tag Team elimination match started off very fast, with Fandango losing in under a minute, followed by the shocking superkick that eliminated the WWE Tag Team Champions. Although I called The New Day being eliminated relatively early, I did not expect that to happen so fast. After this, you had The Hype Bros get taken out by a Magic Killer from Anderson and Gallows, as well as The Shining Stars eliminated by American Alpha. I expected Alpha to cruise, but they did not. A few nice moves from the teams crashing everyone on the outside gave them a chance to recover. Anderson and Gallows stopped Gable in his tracks, hit a Magic Killer and eliminated them.
A gore from Rhyno ended The Club’s night, as well as Enzo and Cass eliminating the Smackdown Live tag team champions. Thirty seconds later, Enzo and Cass got eliminated and it was down to The Uso’s and Cesaro/Sheamus. Struggling to find a win, both teams came so close to picking up victories. Cesaro barely saved Sheamus, but Jey hit a superkick only to be hit with a Brogue Kick and RAW ends up winning this match.
I was definitely surprised WWE would not have them split the first two matches and then have their main event fight decide what brand was more superior. Either way, I was more than impressed with this match. Some booking decisions confused me, especially The Uso’s being the last team on Team Smackdown. I would have liked to see Jordan and Gable pick up a big win here. They need it. It seems like all they do is lose and come so close. Does Smackdown Live not think they connect with the crowd? I also thought Enzo and Cass would have been a nice pick to win for RAW. When have they really WON anything? Either way, a few nice surprises and the action was fast and rarely dragged down. They had about 18 minutes and used every minute to tell a solid story.
Cruiserweights Stay on RAW
Let me start by saying that I enjoy the division as a whole. I like some of the pieces they have and feel like it could succeed in the long run. With that being said, I thought this match had a hard time trying to connect with the live crowd. It brought down the whole match when the pace was slow and methodical. I like ring psychology, but sometimes Cruiserweights need to hit the high spots first to grab the attention. I just did not feel that here and Kalisto was a bad choice for Kendrick.
Baron Corbin coming to make the match a disqualification helped a little bit, but THAT is the best you can do with him right now? After being pulled from the main event, you have him attack Kalisto…AGAIN?! There really needs to be an emphasis on how to make the Cruiserweights more appealing. Would it help moving them in another spot on the card? Kendrick is the right guy to lead the division and it needs to stay on RAW. Three hours needs this divison, unlike Smackdown who constantly puts on two hours of solid programming.
