During the pre-show they announce that Lashley vs. Goldberg will be No Disqualifications AND Falls Count Anywhere. They also announce Reigns vs. Lesnar will be NO DQ... until they reverse it moments later saying that neither man wants it to be No DQ. I have no idea what to make of this.
The Usos vs. Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin
This show is 4 hours long. I ain't watching a pre-show. Usos win.
Main show starts with a video package of WWE jerking themselves off for bringing the world together... in Saudi Arabia. Yeah...
Huge promo package to open the show. Very impressive.
Hell in a Cell Match: Seth Rollins vs. Edge
They are still using the red cell. Not a fan. They have camels at the entrance way. Is that racist? Also call PETA. Those camels are too close to all the flames and pryo. This was a very good match. They used the cell early on before using weapons: tables, ladder and chairs which is fitting for Edge. Rollins jabs Edge in the eye with a chair leg to take over at one point. Would have been an amazing spot for blood. Rollins took a crazy bump off the top rope into the cell through a table on the floor. Insane! Some good use of weapons. Rollins superkicks Edge multiple times like their MSG Match. Wraps a chair around his foot for a sick superkick. Goes for the Stomp, Edge counters, takes down Rollins and uses the chair and a wrench for the crossface. Edge hits a stomp on Rollins on a chair for the finish. Edge missed a lot of the stomp but it was fine. Would had loved for this match to have blood for their feud. Big pryo for Edge's win. Rollins FINALLY has a good Hell in a Cell Match. The streak is broken.
****
Mustafa Ali vs. Mansoor
First time two Muslims have had a match 1 on 1 on PPV. That's dope. Mansoor gets a huge pop from his home country. This was a very basic match. Mansoor runs wild at the start. Ali cuts him off and gets some heat. Mansoor fires up and runs wild. Ali looks to maybe steal it but Mansoor is able to rally and win it. Mansoor's Saudi Arabia record stays undefeated at 4-0. Camera cuts to the crowd were SUPER bad during this match. Fuck you Kevin Dunn. Ali jumps Mansoor after the match. An Arab ninja man comes out. It's Tareg Hamedi, the karate Olympics athlete that knocked out his opponent in that viral video. He knocks out Ali with a kid. Mansoor and Hamedi celebrate together.
**1/2
Commercial for WWE working with Susan G Komen. Fuck them. Titus and Natalya in the ring with 4 breast cancer survivors. This I'm cool with.
Michael Cole gives the hard sell for Saudi Arabia. Get that Blood Money, Michael!
WWE Raw Tag Team Championship Match: RK-Bro (c) vs. AJ Styles and Omos
HUGE pop for AJ. Those Saudis love themselves a Georgia boy. Omos gets booed which is hilarious to watch the crowd pop for AJ and stop as soon as Omos walks past them. Riddle out with scooter but he rides to the back and comes back out on a camel. Not going lie: that made me smile. It was a cute camel. Riddle kicking his sandals off gets pyro and a CGI viper now and not birds. Oh and there's a match. Basic match again. Orton is super over and in full house show mode. AJ and Riddle work well together. Omos I dominate when in the ring but still very green. AJ goes for a Phenomenal Forearm but gets hit with a RKO (out of nowhere) and a Floating Bro by Riddle to end it.
**1/2
Kevin Patrick (some interviewer) talks to Becky Lynch. Not a bad heel promo. She at least sounds like she believes everything she is saying and makes it sound natural
Queen's Crown 2021 Final Match: Zelina Vega vs. Doudrop
Women come out in a full coverage gear and shirts. Not much to this 5 minute match. I loved Doudrop's (I hate that name) indie work and she was great but she did NOT look good here. I don't know why. Vega is a heel but worked the match as a babyface. She was pretty over at times with the crowd. Though the crowd was DEAD during the middle of this match. Vega dodges a splash and hits a Code Red to become the first Queen of the Ring. Shit end to a pointless tournament.
*1/2
Michael Cole plugs the "modern" Saudi Arabia. That Blood Money gets you a lot of ad time.
No Holds Barred Falls Count Anywhere Match: Bobby Lashley vs. Goldberg
Nice heat for Lashley. Goldberg chants before his music hits. I guess they got over that shit match with The Undertaker a few years back. 3 minutes for Goldberg entrance. Surprisingly quick entrance. Lashley uses a chair to attack Goldberg and work him over. Lashley goes after Goldberg’s knee. Looks to spear him through a table but Goldberg moves and Lashley goes through the table. Spear and Jackhammer by Goldberg. Goldberg takes the gloves off. Spear through the barricade. Goldberg still selling the knee nicely. Tries to squash Lashley between the steps. Lashley goes up the ramp and Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin come out. They try to attack Goldberg with kendo sticks but he swats them away. Attacks Lashley with the kendo stick. Goldberg Spear Lashley off the stage through two tables. Awesome looking spot. Goldberg wins. Not a bad match. Short, effective and Goldberg gets his revenge.
**
King of the Ring 2021 Final Match: Finn Balor vs. Xavier Woods
Not much of a story all match. Just two men battling to win. Xavier was faster and used his high flying while Balor had his strikes and grappling to stay on top. Nice false finish where Xavier misses the elbow and Balor goes for the double stomp but he misses too! Xavier lays out Balor and hits the elbow to win! THE BOY KING!!! So rarely does WWE actually let someone have a their feel good moment but this was it for Xavier and it was awesome. So happy for the guy.
***
WWE Championship Match: Big E vs. Drew McIntrye
This was a really good match. A very tit for tat match as both men looked to out power the other. Lots of belly to belly suplexes and power moves. Both men hit their finishers for huge near-falls. They did a good job of Big E having the Claymore scouted and able to counter it before getting hit with it. Big E is able to out-wrestle Drew up for a second Big Ending to finish it. Not much of a story to a match but it was fun to watch.
***1/2
WWE hypes their Be A Star campaign. They had a rally in Saudi Arabia. Curious if this Be A Star program applies for journalists. Asking for a friend.
Triple Threat Match for the WWE Smackdown Women's Championship: Becky Lynch (c) vs. Bianca Belair vs. Sasha Banks
All the women are out in full body gear again. Becky and Sasha are mega over. Bianca comes out smiling like a doofus. Oh and they show her losing to Becky and Sasha so you know she isn't as good as her two opponents. Why not show Bianca beating Sasha at Mania, Becky beating Bianca at Summerslam and Sasha beating Becky on Smackdown. Create an idea that everyone can beat the other. This was a good 3 way match. They did a lot of the "2 in, 1 out" bs but by the end all 3 were involved. Lots of good 3 women spots. One where Sasha tried a sunset on Bianca as she suplexed Becky and just looked weird. Everyone at one point looks to have it won. Bianca hits the KOD on Becky but she and Sasha fight to the floor. Sasha rolls in and Becky rolls her up while grabbing the ropes. So the heel cheats to win right? NOPE! Michael Cole quick as a whip: "Triple Threat rules so no DQ." So why didn't one of the women just use a damn chair? Cole is useless. Also the fans were pretty quiet. They popped for the entrances and the spots but not the match. Pretty much they wanted to see the women but not watch them work. Feel like any combination of these 3 would be better in a one on one match.
***1/4
We get one last plug for Saudi Arabia
WWE Universal Championship Match: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Brock Lesnar
This has been the best storyline in years for WWE. Roman Reigns is on another level than EVERYONE else in WWE. Yes, I said that. Lesnar looks weird without Heyman by his side. Both men come out swinging. Roman has the suplexs scouted and is able to counter them early on but Lesnar finally hits one. Roman hits a huge dive to the outside that looked insane. Spear for a 2 count. Roman starts rolling but Lesnar takes over and takes him to Suplex City. F5 for 2. Lesnar goes for another but hits the referee. Heyman tosses the belt in between both men and says "You know what you have to do." They have a tug of war but Lesnar gets the belt. Usos in and superkick Brock and a title shot by Roman ends it. Kinda flat for all the hype but obviously they are saving the big moment: "who's side is Heyman on?" for the real match at the Rumble is my guess. As is this was a good match to leave us wanting more, which is a nice change from the previous Roman/Lesnar matches.
***
This was EASILY the best Saudi Arabia (or Blood Money) show ever. I will be the first to admit that WWE has not been my favorite company in the world right now but this was an easy to watch show. Vince booked a hell of a card and this should have been a show of the year, but Vince is still smart enough to know not to blow the big pay-offs here.
Edge/Rollins was the only feud ender. They did a great job and had the match of the night for sure. Queen's Crown tournament was worthless and so was the finals. More on that in later article. King of the Ring finals was a feel good moment. Goldberg got his moment too for what it's worth. WWE and Women's title matches were good. The rest was a glorified house show or TV show. Maybe at Blood Money 7 will have more of the shit show we expect from these shows.
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