This show has some interesting matches on it so it is a shame that despite their insistence that this night is historic, which it is, there hasn't been more build to a lot of the matches.
Lzzy Hale and Nita Strauss kick off the show with a musical performance. They are both talented musicians but the song is a touch on the nose.
Trish Stratus & Lita vs Alicia Fox & Mickie James
Alicia is in this as Alexa is injured. Shame, as she does my head in. The crowd seem hot for this, let's hope it lasts. This was a good opening match that did unfortunately have one very noticeable botch by Alicia Fox towards the end. It was pretty obvious that the veterans would win but I thought they would pin Fox, even if the historical parallels worked with them pinning James. A good way to start the show. ***
Battle Royal for a Future Title Shot
Much like the first ever women's Royal Rumble, this is a mixed bag of current workers, wrestlers that deserve to be honoured for their contribution, and wrestlers that are the very definition of the darker days of women's wrestling. I'm looking at you Kelly Kelly. For the most part this was like any other battle royal, complete with the odd miscommunication, until the end where it turned into a pretty good match. The crowd was fully behind Ember Moon at the end but they didn't turn on the match when she didn't win. I wish she had though. **1/2
Mae Young Classic Final - Toni Storm vs Io Shirai
These two had some very good matches in Stardom in the last few years. What we got here was a very good match that I wish would have been given more than 10 minutes. For me, it was a touch short of Storm's semifinal match with Meiko Satomura. I feel a large part of that was that the match felt a bit rushed. I would have liked to have seen them go longer but they did very well with the time they got. Give them longer and they will tear the house down. ****
Sasha Banks, Bayley & Natalya vs Riott Squad
This was a fun match that benefited greatly from how good of a team the Riott Squad are, even if they keep losing. This got given plenty of time to shine and they took advantage of it. It was well structured and it featured a number of nice little touches that added a little bit extra to the match. I do wish the extra time this got had gone to the MYC final though. ***1/2
NXT Women's Title - Kairi Sane vs Shayna Baszler
These two have proven that they have good chemistry with the matches that they have had so far. This followed a similar layout to their previous matches with Baszler working over the arm of Sane, even using Pentagon's armbreaker. There is an awesome looking spot where Baszler lifts Sane up by her arm from the top rope. This was an excellent match, and even interference from Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir couldn't change that. Best match of the night so far, and one that sets up future NXT storylines very well. This was well done pro wrestling. ****1/4
Smackdown Women's Title, Last Woman Standing - Becky Lynch vs Charlotte Flair
The hype video for this has dubbed over boos for Becky and cheers for Charlotte. Nope. This is easily the most well built match on the card and it really should be main eventing. Becky is easily the most over person on this show. This match was an absolute war. They left nothing at all in the tank here. They used kendo sticks, chairs, tables, ladders and whatever else they could get their hands on. There were a ton of great spots and the intensity remained high throughout, meaning it felt like they really hated each other. I'm not sure that they could have done much better with this if I'm honest. The match was excellent, the tone was spot on and the right person won. Superb. ****1/2
Raw Women's Title - Ronda Rousey vs Nikki Bella
I understand why, from WWE's point of view, this is the main event but I really wish they would have highlighted the best wrestling match on their first ever all-female PPV. Having said that this match was better than I expected, which admittedly was very little. I feel like Bella got a bit too much in but at least it was as competitive as a main event should be, even if Bella's dominant section was a touch unbelievable. Rousey retained though, so that's good. **1/2
Overall Grade - A-
I'll admit it, I had my concerns about this show but it turned out I had nothing to worry about as this was one of the best main roster shows of the year. The presentation was really good and you could tell that every person involved was willing to give it everything they had to make this show a success. Another thing this show had going for it was that it never outstayed its welcome, clocking in at a sensible running time for once. Do yourself a favour and check this one out.
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