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Csonka Reviews This Week’s WWE Free Matches (Vol. II)

July 20, 2017 | Posted by Larry Csonka
WWE Raw Bayley - Sasha Banks Image Credit: WWE
6.7
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Csonka Reviews This Week’s WWE Free Matches (Vol. II)  

Csonka Reviews This Week’s WWE Free Matches

OFFICIAL RESULTS
From Battleground 2016: The Wyatt Family defeated The New Day @ 8:55 via pin [***]
From Battleground 2016: Sasha Banks and Bayley defeated Dana Brooke and Charlotte @ 7:27 via submission [***]
From Battleground 2015: Charlotte defeated Brie Bella and Sasha Banks @ 11:30 via submission [**½]


The Wyatt Family vs. The New Day [Battleground 2016]: Woods was still selling fear of the Wyatts. Woods then decided he wanted to start against Strowman, but Bray tagged in. Woods was frozen in fear, so Kofi tagged in as Woods stood there in fear. That seemed odd considering that Woods faced off with Bray on Smackdown and seemed to have dropped his fear. Anyway, Kofi scored early with a dropkick, but Strowman tagged in for the short beat down. This led to quick tags from the Wyatts, with Bray and Rowan working the early heat on Kofi. Wyatt hit the running senton, and while Kofi looked to fie up, Bray destroyed him with a clothesline. They focused on Woods showing fear and dropping to the floor after that. Strowman did more big man things, they kept him limited as Rowan and Bray worked quick tags again, beating own Kofi in the corner. Kofi finally sidestepped Bray, sending him to the floor and getting the hot tag to Big E. Big E tossed Rowan around with suplexes, danced and hit the running splash. Big E hit a great overhead belly to belly, Strowman in and took out Woods, Bray hit Big E and Rowan got a near fall as Kofi made the save, Strowman missed a boot and fell to the floor, Kofi then wiped him out with a dive. Back in the ring Rowan posted Big E, bray tagged in and looked for Sister Abigail, but Woods made the save. He stared down with Bray, started to kneel before him and Bray took out Kofi. Woods snapped out of it and ran wild on Bray and hit the big splash. Superkick to Rowan, Big E with the spear through the ropes to Strowman and then Bray did the spider, which scared Woods long enough for him to hit Sister Abigail and pick up the win. That was another good match, it started a bit slow but they did a nice job of picking up the action down the stretch to provide a hot ending. The Wyatt Family defeated The New Day @ 8:55 via pin [***] It was a good but not great match that went nowhere due to the brand split. I have no idea why the Wyatts won when they were splitting up, I guess WWE just wanted to be unpredictable. But hey, we got that sweet final deletion rip off that one week on Raw. It’s really amazing how much Strowman improved since then, unfortunately for Bray, he’s just a dude saying pretty words with no real direction

Sasha Banks and Bayley vs. Dana Brooke and Charlotte [Battleground 2016]: As Bayley and Banks were playing to the crowd, Charlotte and Dana attacked. They bell rang and Charlotte took control and worked over Bayley right away. Bayley quickly fought back, got the tag to Banks and she worked over Charlotte. She went for a RANA off the ropes, landed very awkwardly, which could have been bad. She was thankfully ok, as Charlotte took control back and sent her to the floor. Dana tagged in as she and Charlotte grounded Banks and took control for a bit but Banks got the tag and Bayley ran wild on Dana, hitting the corner elbows. Charlotte distracted her, which allowed Dana to pull her off the ropes and take control of the match. Dana worked over Bayley in the corner as the crowd was rooting for Bayley to fight back. She did and got the tag to Banks, she ran wild on Charlotte, hit the corner knees and that got a near fall. Banks up top, she fights off Dana and then hit the high cross for a near fall. Charlotte fought back, hit natural selection but Bayley made the save and it broke down. Dana and Bayley went to floor and as Banks locked in the Banks statement, Dana made the save. It only saved her for the moment, as Sasha got the backstabber and Banks statement to score the win. Sasha Banks and Bayley defeated Dana Brooke and Charlotte @ 7:27 via submission [***] Good match with the crowd into it big time due to Bayley’s main roster debut. The ladies worked hard, keeping the vibe through out the match and we got the right result. Sasha gets the win, which set her up for title shot at Summerslam, and she and her best friend get a feel good moment over the villains.

Charlotte vs. Brie Bella vs. Sasha Banks [Battleground 2015]: Brie was actually smart to begin, looking to try and make Sasha and Charlotte fight it out. This was the beginning of the Divas Gang Wars/Divas Revolution, so we had Nikki & Alicia Fox, Naomi & Tamina and Becky & Paige (remember her?) at ringside. After Charlotte got sent to the floor, banks took control hitting her knees on the corner on both and picking up near falls on both. Banks took the heat, working over Charlotte and keeping Brie away as she went for near falls. Solid control segment by Banks, showing some fun character work in mocking Charlotte as she hit the corner knee strikes, but Brie made the save. The crowd chanted for Becky as Banks and Brie faced off at about the mid-way point, Charlotte then made her comeback, working over both until Brie fired up with clotheslines, which did not please the crowd. They hated it even more when she worked the Daniel Bryan kicks. Charlotte and banks worked a few awkward, not bad, just awkward counter spots leading to Banks scoring a near fall. Brie then took out both with the missile dropkick, Brie mode activated wit knee strikes, but she then got tossed to the floor. Banks then wiped out some of the seconds with a suicide dive, and Charlotte hit a plancha to wipe out more people. Back in and Banks hit a sloppy banks statement on Charlotte, but Brie broke it up and posted Banks, but Charlotte countered the X-factor into the powerbomb and figure eight for the win. Charlotte defeated Brie Bella and Sasha Banks @ 11:30 via submission [**½] This was a solid match, a little rough in spots, but perfectly acceptable. It wasn’t the hot start to the revolution they had hoped for, but the crowd was more interested in this match than the usual divas match at the time.

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.

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“Byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye Felicia!”

6.7
The final score: review Average
The 411
Overall a rather average collection this time around as we revisit some past Battleground matches. NOthing bad, but also nothing to rush to watch...
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