My Monday night in the ThunderDome opened with the taping of this week's Main Event. The first match was Veer squaring up against Drew Gulak.
Drew seems to be the standard of Main Event. Just last week, Gulak went up against Bronson Reed in his Main Event debut. It's an intangible sense that performing on camera with Drew is a way to gauge future potential. And Gulak's opponent this week, Veer, is all power and potential.
Veer made an impressive debut on Main Event. Quite the specimen of a human that there was no way for Gulak to overpower him. Drew instead focused on the knees of his opponent, trying to take the beast off his base. But it was not to be because Veer picks up the win.
Main Event's second match was Lucha House Party verses T-Bar and Mace. These athletes are familiar with each other. Size is often a factor to be considered in David and Goliath matches, however, I don't think Lucha House Party ever lets their size stop them from giving it their all.
High flying action sends the Dominant Duo of Mace and T-Bar out of the ring and onto their backs. Soon, however, they would be back in control to pick up the win,
Next on to Monday night Raw. I was so happy that the evening didn't open with a 15 minute promo. Instead, there was a over the top battle royal to see who would replace a missing Randy Orton later in the evening for a last chance triple threat match. Matt Riddle weasels his way in as the replacement and wins. His character might be having a little bit of an identity crisis because he demands that Orton's music plays and then he strikes Randy's signature pose. Seemed like a predictable outcome all the way. There was more interesting things happening during this battle royal than seeing who would win.
Damien Priest is back! He has been away for several weeks dealing with a back issue. I loved seeing him and Jinder Mahal in the same ring. At one point, they went after each other. I have said it more than once and I'll say it again - "Bob" should drop the belt to either Mahal or Priest and then have McIntyre reclaim the gold against one of them.
The next entertaining thing about the opening match was Omos coming down the ramp to settle a score with the Viking Raiders. He pulls both men out of the ring and proceeds to send Erik into the barricade and Ivar into the LED apron. Lastly, the 24/7 title changed hands 4 times on the outside of the ring. Tozawa loses to Drew Gulak. Gulak loses to R-Truth and then Truth loses it back to Tozawa. All this happened in less than 2 minutes.
Earlier I talked about Matt Riddle's character having an identity crisis. I think Nikki Cross is going through something similar. While being interviewed moments before her match against Shayna Baszler, she starts rambling on about being "almost a super hero". Nikki A.S.H.? Graphics down the ramp still said Nikki Cross but there was a lot of promoting from the announce team in referring to her as Nikki A.S.H. Oy Vey! What a 3-week whirlwind she has had. First she debuts a new look. Following week, her husband gets released and now Nikki A.S.H. I hope this will all be worth it in the long run. Until then, she continues to be on a winning streak.
Second chances seems to be the theme of the night. The re-match between Asuka and Naomi against Piper Niven and Eva fits such a theme. The cracks with Piper and Eva have been evident from their debut. Yes, I keep saying Piper. I refuse to say the "D" word. Anyway, Eva got a taste of her own medicine when she went for a tag and Piper jumped off the apron giving Eva her first loss since her return.
Continuing with the women, we see a 6 woman tag match between the team of Tamina, Nattie and Charlotte against Dana Brooke, Mandy Rose and Rhea Ripley. Mayhem erupts before the bell. Quite the brawl but I wasn't invested in the match because of the yawn inducing personalities of Mandy and Dana. Just not a fan. I think they try too hard to get their personas over instead of becoming their persona. For example, Sheamus is the Celtic Warrior. Mark Calaway is the Undertaker. Corey Graves made a good point during the color commentary of the match.
Graves: You know what Saxton. I can stand in a batting game for 6 months straight doesn't mean I can play for the Yankees.
Despite their training, Dana and Mandy do not have what it takes to be main eventers. My point is proven when Charlotte pins Mandy for the win.
Still scratching my head at the surreal reality that Braun Strowman, Aleister Black, Buddy Murphy and Killian Dain were the ones released.
The triple threat match between McIntyre, Riddle and Styles was a second chance opportunity to qualify for the upcoming Money in the Bank pay-per-view. Physical dominance on display right out of the gate from Drew. Suplexes, thunderous chest slaps and belly to bellies across the length of the ring were unleashed from his arsenal in an attempt to end the match early.
AJ and Matt came back with viciousness of their own. They form a temporary alliance to put Drew through the announce table. This puts the titan out of the equation for a moment. AJ takes the submission game to Riddle where he focused on torturing the ankle of his opponent. But Riddle dug down deep and gifted a knee to the face of Styles. Back and forth it goes with Styles hitting a brain buster and going for the pin to no avail. McIntyre from the outside pulls AJ out of the ring where he repeatedly body checks Styles from the apron to the barricade. Back in the ring, Drew takes out his frustration out on Matt Riddle. Eventually, all three competitors are on the outside. Riddle goes for a kick to AJ and instead meets a foot full of steel. He is lead out of the ring area with a "possible" broken foot.
Riddle would eventually make his way back to the match with a taped up foot. He hits the RKO on Styles but Omos saves his tag partner from being pinned. Drew takes advantage and with one Claymore Kick, secures the victory.
Now there were two matches that were not shown next day via Hulu. Nor are they available on Peacock Peacock is a travesty of a company for many reasons. One reason is the fact that they are still a month behind on uploading current episodes of Raw and SmackDown.
Regarding the missing matches, unless you watched it live in the ThunderDome or via cable or satellite, you missed the strap match between Elias and Jaxson Ryker. Elias debuted new entrance music and Jaxson debuted new ring gear. No bueno to both, especially Ryker's gear. He was dressed in mustard yellow and ketchup red ripped trucks reminiscent of Hulk Hogan. Despite the gross gear, he did beat the tar out of Elias for the win.
The other match that did not replay on Hulu was between Ricochet and John Morrison. High flying match start to finish but the highlight happened outside the ring. John is already on the outside when he jumps over the barricade to protect himself from Ricochet. If you watch carefully, you can see Morrison walk and then take two steps up before sitting on the edge of the barricade. Ricochet flies out of the ring with a cross body. Impressive and impactful move that cause both men to be counted out.
Great evening in the ThunderDome. I am going to miss it when it is gone. I think WWE should give away SummerSlam tickets to some of the LED audience members in appreciation of our loyalty. Many a Monday night, I was an active member in the ThunderDome from my living room for the entire 3 1/2 hours of taping. What do you say WWE?
#BringBackBraun
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