The Rock is back, but he doesn't seem happy with Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes, showing his feelings with a simple hand gesture.
The massive return ended and pulled off a highly entertaining Bad Blood pay-per-view at Atlanta's State Farm Arena on Saturday.
It was a five-game stretch that delivered on some creative bumps in the middle of the card, including a great Hell in a Cell match, three returns, and one booking decision that appeared to be rejected by the audience. That's because four of those games involved some form of outside interference.
However, it ended with a stellar success that saw The Bloodline's story make its way into Survivor Series and WarGames.
Here are five takeaways from Bad Blood.
angry boss
The majority of the match between Solo Cicor and Jacob Fatu vs. Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns felt inconsequential as it was all a setup for the return and final moments.
What's notable is that Reigns has a stronger babyface reaction than Rose after both men make live, WrestleMania-like entrances.
The payoff for the hot tag with Reigns felt a little lackluster, and Fatu was treated like a monster. It took a callback top rope splash into the announce table for Rose to finally keep him down. Rose saluted Reigns and told him, “From now on, you decide.”
The rest of the New Blood entered the ring with Chicoa in a corner. Chicor grabbed Reigns and yelled at him. I told you I would be next in line! ” Outside the ring for Toma Tonga vs. Tonga Roa, another person wearing a mask appeared.
It was the returning Jimmy Uso, who was taken away by the new Bloodlines in the storyline. He opened the door for Reigns and caught Chicoa by surprise, giving him the victory. Usso and Roman's hug caused a huge reaction.
Shortly after thanking Rose, Uso had to convince Reigns to return to the ring to help “American Nightmare” who was being beaten by Bloodline. Reigns took the Undisputed WWE Championship and slowly handed it back to Rose.
For the first time since April, The Rock's music has become a hit. He stood alone as Bloodline retreated to the stands. he said nothing. I could see her eyebrows raised, her fingers in the air, and her throat slit.
He's either signaling Reigns, Rose, and Uso as targets, or he's referring to pinning Rose at WrestleMania, where Reigns will be pinned by Rose in a 1-2-3. I can feel it. In the Finals boss' mind, he may be the right person to face Rhodes next, not Reigns.
liven up the show
CM Punk and Drew McIntyre gave the trilogy a fitting conclusion in a fantastic and bloody Hell in a Cell match.
There was a wild spot where McIntyre suplexed Punk from the narrow apron through a table on the outside. Both men were bleeding in different places, Punk getting hit with a wrench and McIntyre getting hit with a toolbox.
Many weapons were used, most of which had a purpose. Punk damaged McIntyre's back, including dropping him onto an overturned table with McIntyre's leg torn apart. But the wrenches kept coming.
McIntyre hesitated to take a shot midway through the match and missed a Claymore. He then used a wrench to break the anaconda vise. Punk eventually tried to wrench a begging McIntyre, but the Scottish Warrior countered with a low blow.
Where McIntyre's arrogance and desire to humiliate Punk has cost him throughout this feud, it has done so again. Instead of thumbtacks, McIntyre dropped friendship bracelet beads on his opponent's head.
He missed a claymore attempt and slammed his already injured hip into the ring steps in the middle of the squared circle. Punk took advantage of this and wrapped a chain around GTS' knee for the third time in the match, pinning McIntyre and finally ending the feud.
Punk collapsed on his way to the back to sell his brutality while being treated by medical personnel. Will World Heavyweight Champion Gunter be next?
stripped away
The Atlanta crowd was waiting to see Rhea Ripley exact revenge on Liv Morgan and Dominik Mysterio. Ripley punches Mysterio like a piñata as he dangles from a shark cage by his chained ankles, and they're on their way to a climax.
At that moment, Raquel Rodriguez, returning after several months off due to a storyline injury sustained by Ripley, attacked Mami, resulting in a DQ in the match and awarding the Women's World Championship to her former tag team partner Morgan. was held.
He didn't get the outright winner, as he probably intended, and it didn't even reach Rodriguez, and the crowd booed. Things could change in the future, but this decision backfired for WWE overnight, as they will likely have to endure this story for many more months before we see any real results. .
Everything was good up until the questionable ending. Mysterio, who made a fun lowrider entrance with Morgan, played up the panic caused by being raised in a cage with a fear of heights. Morgan was injured shortly after Ripley's knee, which was the center of the story leading up to the match.
Morgan attempted a three amigo suplex, but Ripley countered a third suplex. Ripley went to the top rope and, in her own way, paid tribute to Eddie Guerrero and Jey Uso and hit a frog splash, but Mysterio managed to open the cage door and kick Morgan out.
Morgan and Ripley continued to fight to the floor as Mysterio watched and the challenger delivered a Riptide. Mysterio fell off the edge trying to check on Morgan. After Ripley brought Morgan back into the ring, she pulled a kendo stick from under the ring and defeated Mysterio. That set in motion a questionable finish.
WWE probably wants to keep Morgan's title, but she needs some muscle to make it believable.
It was part of a so-so night of Judgment Day-related matches. Damian Priest and Finn Balor had matches that probably would have been better suited for Raw. Nothing was wrong, but nothing special either.
Priest controlled the match early and often with heavy attacks. As expected, things took a turn when Judgment Day's J.D. McDonough, Carlito, and Mysterio got involved. This allowed Baylor to take the lead in the Cou de Grace, but Priest kicked out. Eventually, Baylor went for the top rope move again and Priest caught him for the South of Heaven win.
the queen still rules
The script for the ending remained the same after Bayley and Jax stepped out of their comfort zone. Jax in particular pulled off a number of counters, including a reversal with a hurricanrana. There was a funny scene where Jax was lying outside the ring and Bayley was unable to drag her back.
Bayley won the match with Rose Plant, but the referee called her out because Jax accidentally fell on top of her. Tiffany Stratton charges in with a bank briefcase and knocks Bayley down. Just when Stratton was about to officially make his money, Jax did Undertaker-like sit-ups and argued with his friend in the corner about his girlfriend's near betrayal.
Bayley took advantage of this and hit Jax with a rollup. She kicked out and Bayley tried to get back to the top rope. Stattron threw a briefcase at her to distract her. Jax jumped up and hit an Avalanche Samoan Drop, pulling Bayley with her and hitting the Annihilator to retain the WWE Women's Championship.
Jax, the Queen of the Ring, is often referred to as the Queen these days. Will Charlotte Flair be next to return?
additional bonus
WWE set up a VIP area in one of the suites where hosts Bianca Belial, Jade Cargill and Naomi hosted a party with WWE star, legend and artist Metro Boomin, but it was shortened to two. did. I'd rather watch the sixth match, but I thought it was a cool use of time to introduce about a dozen WWE Hall of Famers at ringside.
WWE appears to be setting the stage for a potential Gunter vs. Goldberg match, as the World Heavyweight Champion appeared and began insulting the Hall of Famer and former Atlanta Falcon, who was sitting ringside with his family. is. After Gunther told his son Gage that he hoped his father was a better father than a wrestler, Goldberg became angry and jumped over the barricade.
This came after Triple H announced that the male and female world champions would meet each year at Crown Jewel in a match with a decisive outcome to determine the winner of the newly announced Crown Jewel championship belt. This seems like WWE is creating more new awards to give out at Saudi shows, such as the Greatest Royal Rumble Belt and Best in the World Cup, to give Saudi shows a sense of honor. It smells bad. Booking this should be interesting to say the least.
Biggest winner: CM Punk
Biggest loser: Finn Balor
Best match: CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre
Grade: B+
