Another international PLE set in Australia (Perth) occurred early this morning. I like the fact that by the time I got out of bed, it was already over and I could just check the results and see a few clips online. There really wasn’t anything I wanted to see because the builds have been less than half assed lately but one match ended up sticking out for me that I ended up really wanting to see.
Roman Reigns vs Bronson Reed
I like Roman Reigns more and more these days but I feel bad for the guy. I read how he mentioned his body feels terrible. And even if you make as much as he does, there’s nothing that can pure raw pain on a constant basis. The match was a nonsensical ECW crapfest type of street brawl, which meant whatever goes and allowed Heyman to help (over)book this thing. Typical brawling in the stands, followed by a literal garbage can and whatever junk was inside. I lost interest quickly especially when Bron Brekker came in for the aid for his partner. Then the Usos came in and it was a typical Bloodline clusterfuck except with Roman being a pseudo-face. I say pseudo-face because he behaves like a heel just like Bron Brekker is a pseudo-face. The only actual babyface in this thing was poor Jimmy, who’s effectively a 5th wheel.
At any rate, the ref was mostly paralyzed in this match to be anything except a gratuitous three count once Jey accidentally speared Roman which allowed him to be momentarily distracted for Bron to spear Jey. Then Bron pulled Roman so Bronson could Tsunami Roman for the big upset. I think this would have meant a lot more if there was zero outside interference. The important people remain those in the Bloodline and no matter how much they want to prop up Bronson, a win where there’s no rules means nothing because nothing makes sense and diminishes his effort. Also, the fact that the camera stayed on Roman and the Usos post-match demonstrated the actual important aspect in the story with Roman telling the Usos he didn’t want to see them until Christmas. So I guess Roman goes back home for a few months?
Stephanie Vaquer vs Tiffany Stratton
Ugh this was a mess. Tiffany isn’t a good wrestler/worker. I think she got nervous at the beginning and they were trying to go too fast. I’m guessing Stephanie tried to slow Tiffany down a little to recuperate. But there were some small things that looked awful because of the speed they were trying to maintain. I know people are super hyped on Stephanie Vaquer but I don’t see anything really special. The only move she does that’s special to me is the Devil’s Kiss because the people recognize what it is. The rest of her work is bleh to me because there’s no flow. This ended up being a spotfest which does nothing for me these days except bores me to tears. Stephanie won the women’s side of the Crown Jewel but I really don’t care.
John Cena vs AJ Styles
This was a last minute type of match with no build outside of Cena and Styles wanting to do it. Sadly, that was better than everything else in terms of hype for this PLE as a build. Obviously, this was the match of the night. It’s now acknowledged that Styles will retire next year so it was important for these two to get one final match together. Cena handed the announcer a nice note to really put Styles over. The first minute or so of the match was the only “real” wrestling we got to see on this entire PPV. It’s going to be a completely lost art once Cena, Styles, Punk etc. retire and leave the landscape of wrestling to the modern style of meaningless, story-less spotfests.
The match really was nothing more than an exhibition match between two legends doing their homage to people who helped their career. The early part (outside of the lock ups) was a little slow with AJ taking control. But once they started paying their homage, it woked the crowd up big time. I won’t go over every single move that was done but probably one of my favorite spots in the match was when the crowd called out 619, AJ got strung up on the 2nd ropes and Cena teased actually doing the 619 only to have AJ foil it with a simple clothesline. The crowd booed and Cena didn’t try it again but I like stuff like that. I mean Cena has been pulling out a lot of surprises, which now that they’ve got him going in the right direction is really what this retirement “tour” should have been from the beginning. Eventually, Cena paid two tributes to the Undertaker a goozle chokeslam and a Tombstone Piledriver with an FU/AA follow up for the pin. Both shook hands and raised each others’ arms out of respect.
One side note: I used to joke that AJ Styles only had finishers as his move set. This match almost was like that. But in this situation it actually worked. It’s a rare case where doing just finishers as the story made the match and the crowd worked with them. Very fun match.
Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky vs Kabuki Warriors
I had been completely turned off by the god awful, cringe build. I haven’t enjoyed Asuka for a very long time. She was at her height when she first arrived in NXT and was different and had an aura. Kairi is too tiny and her only positive attribute is that she’s cute. Otherwise, she’s an accessory and adds nothing. I tried giving this a chance but got bored really fast.
Cody Rhodes vs Seth Rollins
Heyman actually ordered Bronson and Bron to stay out of this match and he too didn’t accompany Seth. But it was good in the sense that at least you knew it wouldn’t be overbooked like the first match. At this stage for Cody, the only positive thing I can say about him is his entrance. That’s all he really has anyone to me. I can’t stand his matches and don’t think he’s a good worker to be honest. There was a funny spot where Seth was being setup for some suplex thing then got dropped and rolled into the ref. I think he meant to roll to the outside but got really pissed at the ref and went to the turnbuckle to cool off. Eventually, he dropped back out to the outside to delay but I think that’s when he cooled off. Seth seems to be really strung up in these matches. Maybe he’s becoming a contemporary Macho Man Randy Savage.
Anyway, this was another boring spotfest. I just can’t get into either of these guys unless they’re wrestling someone better. Like Seth does great with Punk but he can’t carry a match on his own. I hated that Cody hit a top rope Crossroads but only got a 2. However, Seth did have a watch that he gave Cody, which apparently was placed on some table out in the open for no good reason and ended up using the watch on Cody when the ref took a bump from a jab in the belly. That allowed Seth to finish Cody off and win the men’s crown jewel. HHH would come out to gift Seth the crown jewel belt and ring after which Seth gave a brief, unremarkable speech and got to stand in front the crowd with Stephanie Vaquer by his side.
Final Thoughts
The only match worth catching was AJ vs Cena. The rest of the card felt like dribble. Seth winning was okay and made sense to a degree but I’m just convinced more and more that Cody is not the man. He’s a token prop for the WWE but his 2025 has been completely unremarkable. After beating Reigns, Cody had nothing. It was stupid showing him with the Rock drinking tequilla, having his balls kicked in by Cena, getting bitch slapped by that stupid rapper, then continuously getting embarrassed and having bland promos. Seth seems like the person they really want to position on top but he’s too hit and miss for me. Neither are really exciting nor great promos. They can execute a promo on a perfunctory basis but they don’t convince me to want to see them wrestle unless a better opponent is standing opposite of them.
The only potentially interesting thing to come out of this PLE was Stephanie and Seth standing side by side. The reason I mention this is because Seth seemed to treat Stephanie with respect in the ring. Since Becky is the real top female star in the WWE, I can see such a symbolic act causing consternation in her and that might lead down the line for a Becky vs Stephanie match. Truthfully, I don’t want to see that match because Stephanie simply can’t cut a promo to save her life. Becky is just leagues above virtually the entire women’s division when it comes to the promo and character (and being flat out interesting department).
What really sucks for me is the fact that they just went from AJ/Punk to Cody to that stupid bimbo Maxine Dupri is just maddening. I get that the WWE’s goal is to constantly make stars but there’s really no one for Becky to challenge her. The only person that has created any significant interest was Punk because they’re on the same level when it comes to promo work. You could see that both Punk and especially Becky were doing great stuff with Becky finally having someone that she could dig into and sink her teeth into something.
At any rate, wrestling ain’t that great right now. There’s a few rare bright spots here and there so I’ll take what I can get. But I’m also not wasting my time for things I don’t care about.
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