3 Issues We Hated And three Factor We Cherished

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.’s (presumably?) annual overview of WWE Dangerous Blood, the present that sure, most likely ought to have been main-evented by the Hell in a Cell match. Because it seems, there is a beforehand undiscovered legislation of physics that claims CM Punk can by no means essential occasion a present if Dwayne Johnson is there — even when he is solely there for a number of seconds.

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Anyway, we’ve got tons to say about Punk and Dwayne and Hell in a Cell, in addition to a lot of the different matches on the present. The important thing exception is Damian Priest vs. Finn Balor; not for nothing, however Priest taking a number of Balor finishers and nonetheless scoring the win regardless of a complete secure’s price of interference tells you principally all the things you must know. We have now meatier issues to dive into, issues that had us both very joyful or very upset — Tiffany Stratton’s briefcase, Goldberg vs. GUNTHER, Raquel Rodtriguez coming again! You may examine what we missed on our Dangerous Blood outcomes web page, however we did not miss a lot. Listed here are three issues we hated and three issues we beloved about WWE Dangerous Blood 2024.

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The CM Punk and Drew McIntyre feud that has been brewing for the reason that former’s shock return in November final yr lastly bought a match that befitted the purported animosity between the pair. Inside Hell in a Cell, there have been no nook minigames, no visitor referee to make the cardinal error of placing on a bracelet. Simply unadulterated violence and an entire lot of blood – or no less than one thing that appeared so much prefer it. The pair pummeled each other with all method of plunder they may discover below the ring: wrenches, a toolbox, desk legs, and… beads? (Admittedly, that was a bit lame however I’ll concede it went with the story). When all was mentioned and accomplished, it took a weaponized GTS for Punk to place McIntyre means. However he was hardly leaving the “Hellish construction” as complete as he entered it, with McIntyre notably getting essentially the most offense in and Punk merely outlasting his nemesis with the fumes left within the tank. To additional promote McIntyre because the barbarian who discovered his aggressive zeal to be his undoing, Punk stumbled and collapsed as he tried to stroll up the ramp.

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After futile makes an attempt to depart of his personal accord, he accepted assist from medics, receiving oxygen earlier than being walked out ultimately. This was what the feud at all times promised and wanted, sometimes with the third time serving the attraction. And the argument may be credibly made that it’s the ending that issues. Not less than with the good thing about hindsight the earlier two matches seem to have been constructing to this because the true decider, and it extra cynically this positively ought to have got here sooner. However within the bubble of the motion tonight, and with the third act seemingly closing the story, the HIAC bout was all the things it wanted to be and a few. This was Punk’s first true nice match since returning to WWE and set the stage for each to maneuver on with their respective arcs, Punk together with his an important victory in his bid to achieve the highest of “WWE Uncooked” and McIntyre a sizeable setback to strengthen his descent into violent, blind-rage bothered madness. A good way to open Dangerous Blood.

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Written by Max Everett

I suppose this is a little more of a hope than a beloved, however from what I noticed tonight following WWE Girls’s Champion Nia Jax retaining over Bayley, I actually imagine that we’ll see Jax and Miss Cash within the Financial institution Tiffany Stratton transfer on from their on-screen frenemy-ship that is grow to be somewhat boring, and admittedly, somewhat uncomfortable, over the previous couple of weeks. I assumed the ending to this match was fairly nice, and nearly as good and fascinating because it might be following a Hell in a Cell match that opened the present, making all the things else really feel somewhat extra weak and slower than it usually world if an everyday singles match opened the PLE. I digress, as I am an enormous fan of Stratton and I feel it is quickly to be her time to shine. I actually appreciated their interplay on “SmackDown” the place Stratton argued with Bayley over the actual fact she may beat Jax, and I am glad that carried over into tonight.

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When Stratton’s music hit when each Jax and Bayley have been down, I used to be hopeful she’d money in, however I simply could not see it on an evening like tonight, so the story we bought out of it was sufficient for me to love. When Stratton handed the still-stunned referee (who had taken a bump from Jax) the briefcase, solely to have Jax sit up like The Undertaker and provides her a dying stare, that was a spotlight of the evening for me. Clearly, Stratton did not money in tonight, however she was left ringside, barely cowering and holding her briefcase, as Jax retained and left the ring and walked up the ramp by herself, so it appears secure to say that their “friendship” is over. I do not assume that is going to completely flip Stratton babyface, as she did smack Bayley with the briefcase in an try and money in, nevertheless it’s shut sufficient for somebody like me who adores her act.

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I feel Stratton is means too sturdy of a personality to have hanging across the champion with the “will she or will not she money in on a pal?” storyline to work for her, so I am hopeful that tonight was sufficient for them to maneuver on from one another as pals. Stratton must be racking up the victories to appear to be extra of a reputable risk for the championship, and that is what WWE must do for her. This additionally provides Bayley the justification to ask for a rematch, as Stratton interfered, so if WWE desires to proceed that story whereas Stratton will get her Ws, I would not be mad about that in any respect.

Written by Daisy Ruth

I could always remember the second the Wrestling Inc. crew — those on the clock for Dangerous Blood, no less than — seen that, as Triple H got here out for his “historic announcement,” there was a coated title belt within the ring. The rapid guess was that it was a brand new midcard ladies’s title, on condition that the thought of such a factor has been floating round just lately. This was adopted by the conclusion that the coated title belt was sitting on a podium with the phrases “Crown Jewel,” after which we glumly agreed the brand new ladies’s midcard champion would most likely be topped in Saudi Arabia. One particular person made a joke about Triple H making Braun Strowman defend the weird “Biggest Royal Rumble” title belt he received again in 2018.

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The truth that that final guess turned out to be the closest factor to the reality is so mind-numbingly silly that my mind continues to be attempting to course of it hours later.

So technically there’s a new ladies’s singles title, nevertheless it’s not for the midcarders. It is for whoever wins the match between the WWE Girls’s Champion and the Girls’s World Champion at Crown Jewel. There’s additionally a brand new males’s singles title which is able to go to the winner of a match between the Undisputed WWE Champion and the World Heavyweight Champion at Crown Jewel. Not less than I assume there might be two separate titles; Triple H solely displayed one belt however he mentioned a number of occasions there can be a males’s winner and a ladies’s winner, so it is barely unclear. However truthfully a part of me hopes the ladies do not even get one as a result of the factor Triple H unveiled at Dangerous Blood was virtually as a lot of an atrocity as Saudi Arabia’s human rights violations (to not point out these of their good pals, america).

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Anyway, lengthy story brief, we’re operating again the god-awful “battle of name supremacy” idea Vince used to make use of at Survivor Sequence yearly, solely now it occurs at Crown Jewel yearly, and it is not only for model supremacy — there are stakes! There is a title belt! A model new title belt that no one cares about and that can presumably solely be defended as soon as per yr, to be actual! Or will it even be defended? Does its lineage merge with the lineage of the winner’s world title till the subsequent Crown Jewel? How does any of this work? No person desires to elucidate and even fewer individuals are within the clarification as a result of we have already seen this film and it sucks. It is like AEW’s silly Continental Basic thought, with 15% extra narrative coherence and 2000% extra blatant pandering to Saudi royals. Not precisely the brand new ladies’s title I hoped for.

The worst half about it’s that now they have my Sami-Zayn-loving ass pondering he may need an opportunity at beating GUNTHER on Monday as a result of Sami at all times goes to Saudi now, which is simply impolite, WWE. It is the hope that kills you.

Written by Miles Schneiderman

There was so much about Triple H’s “shock” phase on tonight’s present that I completely hated, which I am sure we’ll go into extra on this article, however I’ve to say that no matter’s occurring with the Crown Jewel Championships is horrible. There, I mentioned it, time to maneuver on to the opposite ridiculous, not-so-great portion of this phase. When Triple H introduced that it will be the reigning Undisputed WWE Champion versus the reigning World Heavyweight Champion competing yearly for the belt, that introduced out GUNTHER. Seeing the champion wasn’t what I hated, although it did actually make this phase fairly a bit longer, which this present did not want. GUNTHER ran down his personal accomplishments a bit and talked about that he’ll be going through Sami Zayn for the championship on “WWE Uncooked” on Monday. No issues there, made sense to me.

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Then, GUNTHER needed to “acknowledge the legends” within the crowd. At this level, my mind was like, “Alright, get on with it,” not remembering the phase from a number of weeks in the past when GUNTHER instructed Bret Hart that his favourite wrestler is Goldberg, to take a shot at “The Hitman” who has famous issues with Goldberg. On the time, it was a fairly humorous quip, however tonight, it bought somewhat too critical in regards to the probability of seeing Goldberg again within the ring for me. GUNTHER principally challenged Goldberg with out saying as a lot, however bought him up and over the ring barricade when he mentioned he hoped he was a greater father than knowledgeable wrestler. That after all introduced out the WWE safety that needed to get Goldberg to again off, although I did like the actual fact it triggered the distraction to usher in Zayn to beat up on the champion.

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There isn’t a place within the present panorama of WWE for a Goldberg match. There wasn’t the final time he was concerned with the corporate, however now, with Triple H in artistic management, there actually is not a spot for him. Presumably, this complete factor and tease of a remaining match for Goldberg towards GUNTHER is simply one thing to get the Goldberg haters all riled up and speaking. In that case, that is undoubtedly working, as I am sitting right here writing about it, and I’ve already seen the groans about it on social media. I am hoping that is one thing that stays in Atlanta, since that is the place Goldberg is from, however on a present that felt fairly darn lengthy for beginning at an earlier time, the way in which this drug on after a fairly crappy announcement about Saudi Arabia simply wasn’t for me tonight.

Written by Daisy Ruth

Do not get me unsuitable, I like Tyson Kidd, however in keeping with Fightful he is the one who produced the Liv Morgan vs. Rhea Ripley match, which presumably consists of the end. TJ, my dude, this was not your greatest work.

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I am completely right here for the thought of a heel Raquel Rodriguez appearing because the Kamille to Morgan’s Mercedes Mone. That is advantageous. What’s not advantageous is the truth that Rodriguez drops Ripley, the bell rings for a disqualification, after which Rodriguez pulls Morgan onto Ripley to steal the pinfall in a match that is already ended, inflicting Michael Cole (who was having a tough evening on commentary anyway) to stammer out one thing a few “symbolic pin.” So Ripley wins, Morgan retains the title, and Rodriguez, who needs to be out right here trying like a pressure, as a substitute seems like an fool. Nice job everybody.

It is very exhausting to know what occurred right here. Did Rodriguez and the referee botch their timing, so the ref wasn’t taken out or distracted when Rodriguez attacked, forcing him to name for the bell? Did any individual assume the shark cage stipulation implied a no disqualification match? Did Ripley politic her means out of taking a second straight pinfall loss to Morgan, no matter how protected she was each occasions? Sean Ross Sapp claims “the end bought modified on the spot” and that sportsbooks had Morgan as the favourite, however when did the plan change and why, and why did Rodriguez not learn about it? If nothing else, dragging Morgan into the pin after the DQ is wild — she was proper there, did she not hear the bell ring?

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You understand, in hindsight, most likely not Tyson Kidd’s fault, however any individual has to take the autumn for this and Rodriguez and Ripley are each far too intimidating for me to name out publicly. How may you will have let it go down like that, TJ? The place have been you after we wanted you?

Written by Miles Schneiderman

The principle occasion was just about what we have come to anticipate from Roman Reigns and The Bloodline after the previous three years: a middling match weaved in to epic-level storytelling aplenty. Reigns locked up with Cody Rhodes as his unlikely associate, turning WrestleMania rival into ally for a basic “Can they co-exist?” match-up towards The Bloodline’s Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu. For essentially the most half, the match fell someplace in between the extent of TV essential occasion to pay-per-view opener, with moments of brilliance particularly coming from Fatu and Rhodes because the workhorses of the match.

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Reigns’ presence on this match was harking back to his previous Protect matches in that he spent a lot of the bout tagged out and neutralized. That is when the Guerrillas of Future made their presence identified, offering a pivotal distraction for Sikoa to all however have Reigns beat in the midst of the ring. Alas, behind G.O.D had appeared a masked assailant — Jimmy Uso, returning for the primary time since he was ejected from The Bloodline by Sikoa in April. That second fed into the end, seeing Reigns ship the spear for the pinfall win.

Not like when Uso final appeared below bandana and hoodie to assist Reigns, costing his brother at SummerSlam 2023, this truly made sense to the storyline and introduced an important piece again to The Bloodline chess board. They embraced, and it was a second of earnest redemption within the followers’ eyes contemplating their standing as villains simply 5 months in the past. You would be forgiven for pondering that is all she wrote, however Reigns is on restricted appearances so the Atlanta devoted was handled to much more of an expo dump: The Bloodline jumped Rhodes as Reigns and Uso made their exit, with the latter convincing the previous to make the save.

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Trustworthy to the narrative, Reigns hesitated, “This was solely a one-time factor,” he instructed his cousin. However this can be a Reigns that listens to his household, clearly, as he acquiesced and cleared the ring of The Bloodline together with his new allies at his facet. Reigns then held the WWE Championship for the primary time since shedding it at WrestleMania and gave the final word present of respect for his adversary-turned-ally by handing the title over with out battle. Even nonetheless, that wasn’t sufficient. Making his personal return for the primary time since April, “Remaining Boss” Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson made a post-credits model cameo, signaling in the direction of each Reigns and Rhodes with out saying a phrase.

There was so much to the complete essential occasion from begin to end, not all of it nice, nevertheless it’s clear this was simply one other step within the wider story. Reigns seems to have members of a would-be WarGames workforce, The Rock is starting to make his presence identified in ongoing affairs, and it was good progress in The Bloodline angle after many months of treading water whereas ready for the celebrities to align.

Written by Max Everett