Clash at the Castle went down this past Saturday live from the OVO Hydro Arena in Glasgow, Scotland and what a show it was. 5 matches on the card and 5 championships on the line, the show opened with the Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes defending his title in an I Quit match against the Phenomenal AJ Styles. This was a fun, weapons filled, chaos fueled match that saw the 2 men battle around the arena as they attempted to beat the life out of one another. Cody started the match with a fire lit under him, attacking Styles all around the ring area and backstage before locking him in a figure four and attempting the first call for the “I Quit.” Styles gained the upper hand though and bashed Cody around the ringside area with a chair before dropping him with a brainbuster on the announce table, causing him to bleed and get some color on his face, before engaging with Cody’s mom who was sitting ringside. Things looked bleak for the champ for a while as Styles fully gained the upper hand and began beating Cody down with a kendo stick and belt, before locking in the crossface and causing Cody to pass out. The match couldn’t end without the words I Quit being uttered though so AJ splashed water on Cody to wake him back up before continuing the assault, handcuffing the champ in the process. Styles began getting in Mama Rhodes face once again at this point, before she slapped him 3 times and an irate AJ threatened to hit her with a chair. As AJ turned his attention back to the ring and attempted his Phenomenal Forearm, Cody flung a chair at his head, causing him to fall backwards through a table. Cody uncuffed himself, hit Styles with 3 Cross Rhodes (1 onto a steel chair) and cuffed him to the 2nd rope before unloading on him with the chair, but Styles wouldn’t quit. As Cody threatened to hit him with the steel ring steps, AJ frantically quit to avoid the impact of that blow, but Cody now angered at AJ for threatening his mother, bashed the steps into him anyways after the bell rang. Cody walked out as champ and a bloodied and defeated AJ was helped out of ringside. It’s great to see a weapon fueled I Quit match because we don’t get them all that often anymore and was an awesome way to start the show hot and get the crowd going. Cody got a fantastic reaction from the Scottish audience that continued throughout the entirety of the match as well.
The next match saw the Women’s Tag Champs Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill defend their titles in a triple threat tag team match against the teams of Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark, and the hometown kids, Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn. I’ll just open this one up by saying Jade struggled once again, it was obvious, and we all saw it. It’s seemingly divided the internet; some people are quickly coming to her defense and others are starting to lose faith and get quite critical. I said what I said about her performance after King & Queen of the Ring and while this wasn’t much better, I saw more promise and highlight moments from her here, I think. Specifically, the Samoan Drop and fallaway slam combo to Isla Dawn and Shayna Baszler congruently was awesome and executed to perfection. But you can tell she still has nerves, she makes me nervous in there to watch sometimes, as soon as she slips up in the ring (as she did again in this contest) she seems to work a lot stiffer and more unsure of herself and it’s sketchy to see for her and her opponents. I know I couldn’t do what she does in there to perfection either, but as a spectator and an avid viewer of the product I feel like I have some leeway to talk and critique things from a fan standpoint, hence why I have a blog. I just know that WWE has marketed her very strongly and she’s had training from Bryan Danielson and Shawn Michaels at this point (2 of whom many would argue are the best workers of all time) and she still feels unsure about herself out there, so I have hope for her, but I am not near as sold as some other people seem to be at this point. Back to the match though this was a fun enough back and forth, confusing, chaos filled affair that saw all 6 women get at least a few moments to shine. Bianca Belair hit a 450 splash to Shayna’s back at one point in the match that was beautifully executed and her and Jade were made out to look the strongest and most dominant throughout the contest, Fyre and Dawn got a big hometown reaction with their moments of rapid-fire action, and Shayna and Zoey were made to look like ass kicking forces in their moments as well. In the end though after a tandem maneuver from the champs onto Shayna, Isla Dawn german suplexed Jade and Alba Fyre scrambled for the cover on Baszler for the 3 count and the win. A shocking result but an awesome moment for Fyre and Dawn to win the titles in front of their home country and fans as they celebrated with their families at ringside and got hit with “You deserve it!” chants from the audience. This felt especially special for Alba Fyre I’m sure as she just lost her mother a couple weeks back from a car accident, so major condolences to her and her family, and major kudos to her and Dawn to walk out of Scotland with the belts, well deserved and I hope they get a run with them.
Next, we moved on to the ever-evolving rivalry between Sami Zayn, Chad Gable, and the Alpha Academy as Chad battled Sami once again for the Intercontinental Championship with Maxxine and Otis stationed at ringside. This was a good representation of a classic style of wrestling match, it was basic, but it wasn’t boring, and the story was more about what was going on with Gable and the Alpha Academy and Sami’s attempt to help them break free more so than what was happening in the ring. Zayn and Gable are capable of doing whatever they need to and are 2 of the best workers in the business right now in my opinion, Zayn has one of the best minds for wrestling currently in the business and can put on a great story and a great match whenever and wherever he’s needed to, and Gable has proven he can go like no else when it comes to pure mat wrestling technique inside those ropes, so this rivalry has been well done and well executed from the beginning and this chapter was no different. Gable attempted to get Maxxine and Otis involved multiple times and cheap shot Sami while he had the ref distracted, but neither could pull the trigger on Zayn, much to the dismay and displeasure of Gable. At some point in the match, Gable got in Maxxine’s face, angered at her performance and attempting to rile her up, but Otis stepped in the middle of them before getting accidentally taken out by Sami from a suicide dive. As Gable and Sami tussled on the outside, Chad got inadvertently knocked into Maxxine’s bad leg and knocked her over before making his way into the ring. As Gable attempted to distract the ref so Otis could put a beating on Sami, a torn and irate Otis carried Maxxine up the ramp and away from the action, leaving Chad to fend for himself against the champ. Gable, now irate himself and distracted by Alpha Academy business, took a Helluva Kick from Zayn square off the back of the head for the 1-2-3. Sami got a hell of a reaction from the audience as well, like the lovable face he is, and Chad is really starting to draw good heat from being a blatant ass to the rest of the Alpha Academy. This is eventually boiling to an Otis-Gable matchup and that’s going to be a lot of fun.
We moved onto the Women’s Championship match next as the champ Bayley took on the other hometown girl, Piper Niven, for the strap. The crowd was into both these ladies as Bayley always gets a great reaction with UK audiences it seems, and Piper got her hometown roses from the Scots. Niven’s running buddy Chelsea Green was promptly ejected from ringside during the first 3rd of the match as she repeatedly made herself involved in the action and the ref caught her in the act rather quickly and disposed of her. Niven continued to use her strength to her advantage on the champ though, hitting running splashes and powerslams across the ring. Bayley fought back with a top rope Bayley to Belly reversal but as she went for the cover, Chelsea made her way back to ringside donned in a luchador mask for a disguise, or as I referred to her as, Lucha Chelsea…completely different person. In all seriousness though, Chelsea Green is awesome in just about any spot you can put her in. She’s great at doing the funny skits and annoying characters, but she can also really go in that ring if given the opportunity, so I hope she’s utilized more effectively before her time in WWE is up. Bayley leveled Green with a running baseball slide out of the ring before turning her attention back to Niven. After a few more moments of back-and-forth action, Bayley turned Niven over with a crucifix bomb and stacked her for the 3 count to retain the belt. This was a decent match, made better by Chelsea Green’s moments of involvement, and was well executed from both ladies involved. My main thing is I feel like Bayley isn’t getting much time to build stories for her matches so far since she’s had the Women’s Championship, and this led to this match feeling rather predictable before it ever even started.
Then we reached the big main event as Scotland’s favorite son Drew McIntyre took on El Campion Damian Priest for the World Heavyweight Championship. A Scottish Orchestra started the match off before Drew’s entrance, marching to the ring in traditional kilts and Scottish garb and performing “Scotland the Brave” on bagpipes and drums really giving this the big fight feel on Drew’s big night. These men are both heavyweights and heavy hitters, so they matched up well and the stare down before the match really drove that point home. Drew came out with a fire under him, raining down shots on him early before flipping onto him on the outside with a Senton leveling the champ. At one point early, Priest trapped his ankle between the middle and top ropes after slipping while performing a Springboard move which trapped him and allowed Drew to lay more punishment on the vulnerable champ as he was hung upside down. A rather dangerous oopsie by Priest that turned into an excellent spot and sold expertly well by both men. Priest fought back into the contest, though selling his ankle injury (or actually in pain. Who really knows?) along with way, as he hit a Razor’s Edge on McIntyre and hobbled into the cover for a near fall. After some back and forth and a series of beautiful kicks from Priest, the fight spilled to the outside and McIntyre drove Priest through the barricade with a Claymore Kick, gaining an eruption of excitement from the live crowd. McIntyre drug Priest back into the ring where he attempted a 2nd Claymore but was met with a South of Heaven chokeslam from Priest for a very near fall. Priest stayed in control for a minute and hit a top rope hurricarana on Drew, but landed on his injured ankle and this opened the door for Drew who walloped him with a 2nd Claymore clean in the ring, but Priest kicked out of a very near 2 fall himself, much to the dismay of the crowd. After a little more back and forth and an accidental collision from Priest into the referee, Drew hit a 3rd Claymore to the champion and went for the cover but this time there was no referee. As a ref booked it down to the ring, he slid in and counted 1-2…but stopped short of making the 3 count. Drew looked up and locked eyes with his archrival, CM Punk, donned in a referee shirt and throwing up the peace sign to Drew with a slight smirk on his face. A completely baffled and irate Drew began choking and grabbing at the collar of Punk before he was met with a low blow kick to the groin courtesy of Chicago’s favorite son and turned around to be met with a 2nd South of Heaven chokeslam courtesy of El Campion. The ref crawled his way back into the ring and made the 3 count on Drew. Damian walked into the lion’s den and walked out still champion, and McIntyre suffered another crushing defeat in his home country, this time at the hands of his sworn enemy. This was an excellent match from both men involved, the run-in from Punk (although expected) was executed nicely and really set that home crowd for Drew on fire, and this is a marquee moment for Damian as champion which he so desperately needed, and I love to see it. It’s always nice when we get a moment to see Punk as the shit disturbing heel he is, because the crowd just loves him too much nowadays to ever want to boo him, but watching this Scottish crowd collectively flip him off as he made his way up the ramp after costing their hometown hero the title and seeing him revel in it was great. Punk/McIntyre is quickly becoming rivalry of the year and they’ve yet to even have a match yet so I’m even more excited than before for that eventual showdown.
