WWE has spent a good amount of time taking their shows around the world. The most recent PLE has come to us live from Glasgow, Scotland.
It is the first time a big event has come to the country, but does that mean that WWE gave us its best? Let’s look at the matches below.
Cody Rhodes vs AJ Styles – WWE Championship “I Quit” Match (4/5)
What a hot opener! The Glasgow crowd was molten hot throughout the introductions with Cody Rhodes and AJ Styles matching their energy.
So far, this may be the best match for Rhodes’ reign. This harkened back to the old school “I Quit” matches of the territories.
Both men beat the living crap out of each other all over the OVO Hydro. Not so much that we got bored of it, just enough to stretch the match.
The spots for the match were fantastic, with some creative use of the appliances around the ring. It was great to see both men get some colour as it sold the intensity of the match.
The ending was fantastic and showed another level of Rhodes’ character. It’s a fantastic way to open up the show.
Jade Cargill & Bianca Belair vs. Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn vs. Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark – WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship Triple-Threat Match (3/5)
Well, that was truly unexpected. Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair seemed to be the heavy favourites going into the match, and the action leaned this way. The tag champs dominated the majority of the contest.
This was a good triple-threat match. The psychology was well thought out as the challengers teamed up to tag on the overpowering champions. It was a logical thing to do and nice to see the match go this way.
Cargill is still green and needs some work. She missed a few spots during the match but did recover so her rise to the top of WWE might not be far off.
Isla Dawn and Alba Fyre winning was a shock but it got a great pop from the crowd. They are a more polished team and having them win could hopefully make the women’s division more relevant.
Sami Zayn vs. Chad Gable – Intercontinental Championship Match (4/5)
These two men could fight forever, as far as I’m concerned. This was a great technical match.
Sami Zayn and Chad Gable are two of the best in the company and they proved it. The action was back and forth, and they did a fantastic job of keeping the crowd engaged throughout.
Gable has made leaps and bounds as a character. His bully persona is truly detestable which will make the crowd pop even more when he gets what is coming to him.
There were a few times during the match that it looked like Gable may walk out of Scotland the Intercontinental Champion, but of course, there were other plans at play. Otis will eventually complete the turn on Gable but the way to get there has been great.
Both men have the crowd eating out of their hands and, when the Alpha Academy does implode, it will be great.
Bayley vs. Piper Niven – WWE Women’s Championship Match (3.5/5)
Piper Niven may have come up short tonight, but that doesn’t mean she wasn’t a winner. Niven hasn’t been given much in the way of singles exposure with WWE, but she did tonight, and she made the most of it.
Bayley is a great worker, but Niven showed that she is too. She flew around the ring and pulled off some amazing power moves. Even Bayley, herself, had to pull out some moves she wasn’t accustomed to.
The match was better than most thought it was going to be. The David and Goliath story played out perfectly.
These women worked their butts off to entertain the crowd. Even Chelsea Green provided some great entertainment.
Hopefully, WWE sees what they have with Niven and gives her a well-deserved push.
Damian Priest vs. Drew McIntyre – WWE World Championship Match (3/5)
This was the story of two halves. The first part of the match didn’t flow well, and the action wasn’t great. It was hard-hitting sure, but it didn’t seem like it was planned out very well.
Once they moved into the later stages, the match did pick up. There were some great spots with the Claymore outside the ring being the best of them.
Damian Priest did a good job selling the leg injury and continues to improve with each match. His top rope hurricanrana was another highlight of the match.
The flurry at the finish was fantastic, and who didn’t think Drew McIntyre had the match won after he hit the Claymore inside the ring?
The ref getting knocked out was telegraphed from a mile away. Everyone and their sister knew that CM Punk was going to get involved in the match.
It was a shame to take away the win from McIntyre, but it will add fuel to their match at SummerSlam.
