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Heading into Stomping Grounds, expectations were so low that tickets were being offered at severely discounted prices. Having almost half of the card (four out of nine matches) feature rematches from either Super Showdown, Money in the Bank or WrestleMania 35 didn't exactly scream excitement.
But once the first match of the night started, the Cruiserweight Title match on the pre-show, it was apparent that despite the low interest in the show, the audience in attendance was certainly invested in the show.
When certain Superstars are on the card (Seth Rollins, Kofi Kingston, Daniel Bryan, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, New Day), you can usually expect that there will be good matches despite being rematches. Some opponents just have great chemistry whereas some wrestlers (Baron Corbin) just have styles that aren't as appealing as others.
While Stomping Grounds wasn't an abject failure or a smashing success, it was a mixed bag of both good and only middle-of-the-ground matches. It also featured tag team matches, title matches and a Steel Cage match. So which match graded the highest and which was graded the lowest of the night?
Note: The matches are listed in the order in which they occurred, not by grade.
#1 Cruiserweight Championship Match between Drew Gulak, Tony Nese (c) and Akira Tozawa
As mentioned above, the first match of the night, albeit holding its usual pre-show spot, was one of the better matches of the night. While it was strange for Tony Nese to lose the title after only two months, it's hard to argue against any of the competitors winning the title at this point.
They've all been key members of the birth of the division and its maintenance to this day. As most multi-man matches are with the Cruiserweights, this one was fast-paced from start to finish. Each man had his moments and all three men were involved in the closing sequence of the match.
Nese got knocked off of the ring curtain by Gulak, and after that, Gulak finished off Tozawa for the win. Gulak was the heel of the match, but didn't seem like it with his actions. He didn't act any different than the other competitors of the match, whereas the Miz and Alexa Bliss (at times) have stolen matches out from under babyfaces.
Match Grade - B
#2 Raw Women's Championship match - Becky Lynch (c) vs. Lacey Evans
Like the Cruiserweight match, the crowd was hot for this bout. Becky Lynch is still greatly over with the audience, which actually helped this match from being worse. Evans missed a few spots and Lynch even had to wait on the ropes for Evans to be ready to receive a move from off the ropes.
Evans spent most of the match focusing on the ribs of 'the Man', and although it's a good strategy, it isn't the most visually-appealing. She's like Baron Corbin in that she has a few athletic moves, but for the most part, her offense is plodding.
The whole spot with Lynch stuffing Evans' sweat rag down her own throat was entertaining and was a throwback to the Million Dollar Man stuffing money down people's throats after matches. Due to Evans' limited skill set, this was on par with their match at Money in the Bank, which was also middle-of-the-pack.
Match Grade - C+
#3 Big E and Xavier Woods vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn
This was the match of the night in my opinion. The match starting off with nearly five Super Kicks from Owens to both of his opponents made it different from all the other matches. The early dominance from the Kami duo also helped to pace the match.
Big E looked good in one of his first PPV matches since returning from injury while Owens and Zayn were relentless in their attempts to knock off the New Day members. Owens performed both a Frog splash and Swanton bomb off the top rope, proving that looks are deceiving.
The pace obviously picked up when Big E entered off the hot tag. Him tagging Woods back in happened rather quickly as it appeared that Woods was still recovering from taking an early beating in the match.
Due to the pacing of moves and the ability of all the men in the match, this was easily the best bout of the night. And giving the win to Owens and Zayn was the right move after having been jobbed out on RAW and SmackDown prior to the PPV. They desperately needed to win whereas the New Day are essentially bulletproof when it comes to losing. They'll be fine.
Match Grade - A-
#4 United States Championship match - Samoa Joe (c) vs Ricochet
Despite the ability of the two participants, I was a little surprised that this wasn't better. Joe was in control for most of the match, using submission skills to keep Ricochet grounded. Perhaps that's why I was a little disappointed with this match. We were spoiled with Ricochet facing Cesaro twice in two great matches, so I was expecting the same with Samoa Joe.
It was still a pretty good match but like some of the other matches on the card, merely felt like a match that could have been on RAW or SmackDown instead of being on a PPV. Joe is one of the best heels in the company, but consistently losing matches like these make him look more and more like Bray Wyatt - all bark and no bite.
He's dangerous up and until the actual match but is destined to lose once the bell rings. He lost to Rey Mysterio in under a couple minutes, which shouldn't have happened to a heel of his standing. And although the match was competitive and longer than his loss to Mysterio, he was defeated by a much smaller face.
It was apparent by the backstage celebrations that Ricochet is someone that Triple H wants to push hard. Being greeted by several Superstars after he went through the curtains isn't something that is usually seen after a title changes hands. It was both interesting and weird to see a group consisting of Charlotte Flair, Heavy Machinery, Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins backstage together.
Match Grade - B
#5 SmackDown Tag Team Championship match - Planet's Champions (c) vs. Heavy Machinery
Like the other tag team bout of the night, this was one of the better matches at Stomping Grounds. A big part of that is due to Daniel Bryan being involved, but also because all four men showed up throughout the match. I'm still not a big fan of Otis and his strange humor and charisma, but his sequence with Rowan going back and forth across the ropes was fun, as it usually is between two big hosses.
Rowan continued to show some underrated skills for a big man, but to me, the surprise of the match was the athleticism and skill of Tucker. I knew he was an athletic big man, but performing a moonsault and jumping off of the top rope to the outside was impressive. For those reasons, Heavy Machinery proved that they were ready for the main roster.
One thing that always drags the matches of Heavy Machinery down, however, is the length of time it takes to set up the Caterpillar move from Otis. It might pop the crowd, but how believable is it for the person receiving the move to stay lying down for almost a minute while he warms up to perform the move? I've never been a fan of those types of moves like the Worm, People's Elbow or Five-Knuckle Shuffle. Overall, it was a solid match and one the last remaining good ones of the night.
Match Grade - B
#6 SmackDown Women's Championship match - Bayley (c) vs. Alexa Bliss
Leading up to the PPV, the build for Bayley and Alexa Bliss' match was among one of the best. They both cut amazing promos during 'A Moment of Bliss' on the go-home episode of SmackDown. Anticipation for the match was high due to it not being one of the rematches on the card as the two have a history going back to NXT. Bayley knows that 'the Goddess' isn't trustworthy.
When Bayley dove through the ropes outside onto Cross, the commentators said that Bliss pushed Cross in the path of a diving Hugger. It was hard to tell who pushed whom after a few replays, at least in my opinion.
Cross didn't actually initiate interference - Bayley did. She (Cross) simply went to check on Bliss after she got hurt outside and Bayley barked at her when she moved from one side of the ring to another. After 'the Hugger' had initiated physical contact, it made sense when Cross did go into the ring.
One talking point that annoyed me is when Byron Saxton said that 'Alexa Bliss is what's wrong with the SmackDown Women's Division'. I know it's probably what he was told to say in his headset during the match, but it still wasn't the truth. Bliss didn't outright cheat during the match, but instead acted cocky because she had beaten Bayley in the past. Had she cheated in Corbin fashion, okay, I'm fine with it being said.
The other reason it bothered me is simple - she isn't a member of the blue brand. While she has been manipulative in the past, she hasn't been a problem to the division whereas the constant pushing that Flair has received has been in my eyes. How has Asuka fared since losing the title?
She is a great performer but Bliss pinned Carmella to earn this title shot whereas Flair was handed two title shots in two weeks (SmackDown two weeks before 'Mania and WrestleMania itself). The commentary sometimes takes away from the match and this was an example of it.
Match Grade - C+
#7 Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre
While it was fun to see the two men attack each other outside the ring before the match even started, this was a jumbled mess at points. There was a point in the match where Roman Reigns chased Shane McMahon through the crowd, but the ref didn't count him out. Inconsistencies like that when someone is out of the ring for more than 20 seconds drop the grade down a bit.
Physically, these are two of the closest matched Superstars in WWE. They are both explosive and physical throughout their matches. But once again, McMahon was overly featured during the match. His interference was a foregone conclusion but should have led to a different outcome. But they won't book Reigns to lose back-to-back PPV matches, so here we are.
The two men are a good match, but when the result is always the same, it doesn't really matter. Had McIntyre picked up the win, it would have helped him infinitely more than Reigns winning again. Now McIntyre can't pick up a win over a guy that Shane McMahon beat last month.
Match Grade - B-
#8 Steel Cage match for the WWE Championship - Kofi Kingston (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler
Like the match between Ricochet and Joe, I guess I just expected more from this match. It featured two of the best Superstars in WWE in terms of endurance. Instead of setting it apart from other Steel Cage matches, this felt like it could have easily been on an episode of RAW or SmackDown.
The match did have its moments like battling atop the cage and pulling each other off of it when each man attempted to climb out and escape. But nothing really set it apart to make it special. Ziggler attempted to immobilize the champ with an ankle lock, which makes sense and Kingston had to climb the cage to break the hold since a rope-break didn't force Ziggler to break the hold.
But other than the interesting way in which Kingston won the match - diving out through the middle rope to the ground while Ziggler was crawling out - this was your typical WWE Steel Cage match. It wasn't brutal or physically taxing like Kingston's matches for the title were. There was also little chance of Kingston losing the title here.
Match Grade - B-
#9 Universal Championship match with Special Guest Referee Lacey Evans - Seth Rollins (c) vs. Baron Corbin
As storytelling and theatrics go, this match was perfectly fine. It made storyline sense to have Corbin pick Lacey Evans as the guest referee due to her involvement with Becky Lynch and the Raw Women's Championship. Seth Rollins is also in a relationship with Becky Lynch, so that was a potential pot waiting to boil over during the match.
It also made plenty of sense for Evans to abuse her power by refusing to count Corbin out, thus turning it into a 'No Count Out' match. While it would have made more sense for her to make the match 'No DQ' as well before Corbin bashed Rollins with a chair numerous times, it also was fine. And you knew that Lynch would be coming out at some point to even up the odds.
As a professional wrestling match, however, this was the type of match that has been on RAW lately - it could be good until it happens. Corbin has a slower style for the most part, outside of his slide under the ropes move and finishing moves. But during the middle of the match, it dragged a lot and even had the crowd chanting 'Boring', 'AEW' and 'Daniel Bryan' throughout various points of the match.
It didn't come across as a Seth Rollins match other than fighting back from under to win. Hopefully his next challenger, after the Extreme Rules match, will be a more exciting person. Corbin, despite getting boos from the crowd, just isn't a performer who makes you excited for a match in the veins of Finn Balor, Ricochet or Rollins.
Match Grade - C+
