WWE Cruiserweight Champion Tony Nese vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Drew Gulak (Triple Threat Match) (Gulak wins by pinfall to become the new Cruiserweight Champion)
Triple Threat matches are made for Crusierweights. This was one of the best in a long while. Tozawa was a buzz saw, hitting all the high flying moves. Gulak was looking for any opportunity to steal a victory. Nese was a power house the entire time. Numerous near falls ended with Gulak getting the victory. 205 Live at it’s best. Grade: 9 out of 10
Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch vs. Lacey Evans (Lynch wins by submission)
A match can sometimes be told about a certain injury. Lynch was steamrolling through Evans until she took a shot to the stomach on the table. From there, Evans went right after that stomach from pillar to post. Lynch kept fighting, at one point doing some Matrix like move where she went from a laying position to standing. The Dis Arm Her sealed the deal. Good match. Grade: 8 out of 10
Big E & Xavier Woods vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn (Owens and Zayn win by pinfall)
In the first five minutes, Woods took a world class beating courtesy of Zayn and Owens. Once Big E got into the fray, it became one of the best tag team matches this year. Owens is fantastic with his trash talking and Woods lifting Big E on his shoulders is always impressive. Owens and Zayn winning was the right call as they need the win and New Day can regroup. Grade: 9 out of 10
United States Champion Samoa Joe vs. Ricochet (Ricochet wins by pinfall to become the new US Champion)
The best comparison for this match would be Samoa Joe vs Rey Mysterio from 10 years ago. Joe looked like a beast, mowing down Ricochet and taking all his shots. Ricochet kept fighting, hitting his shots when he could. Ricochet winning is surprisingly and he could have a long reign. He can have a match with anyone. And Joe reminded everyone he can have a great match given the time. 9 out of 10
SmackDown Tag Team Champions Daniel Bryan & Rowan vs. Heavy Machinery (Bryan and Rowan win by pinfall)
Daniel Bryan will never be booed in Washington. Rowan and he were the babyfaces of this match and Heavy Machinery were booed out of the building. This was a coming out party for Tucker and Otis even in defeat. Tucker does things a person his size should not do. Otis is crazy and could become huge player later on. Bryan winning was very nice. Everything is clicking tonight. 8 out of 10
SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss (Bayley wins by pinfall)
This match was about rewriting history. Bayley getting the win over Bliss righted a wrong from a few years ago. Nikki Cross played into the match, but not how Bliss wanted. A distraction of the referee at the wrong time allowed Bayley to recover and score the pin. Bayley’s post match disregard of Cross showed that The Hugger might have a little bit of an attitude Grade: 8 out of 10
Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre (Reigns wins by pinfall)
WWE Champion Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler (Steel Cage Match)(Kofi wins by escaping the cage)
Old school cage match here. No big spots or fancy moves. Ziggler and Kofi took turns being bounced off the steel cage. It became obvious late on that someone who would use the door. Kofi and Ziggler went back and forth, and in the end Ziggler was close to the open door. Kofi then dived through the ropes and out the door to win the match. Crazy end 8 out of 10
