Csonka’s WWE Stomping Grounds 2019 Review

Csonka’s WWE Stomping Grounds 2019 Review

OFFICIAL RESULTS
– WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match: Drew Gulak defeated Champion Tony Nese & Akira Tozawa @ 11:25 via pin [****]
– Raw Women’s Championship Match: Champion Becky Lynch defeated Lacey Evans @ 11:20 via submission [**¾]
– Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn defeated The New Day @ 11:10 via pin [***¾]
– WWE United States Championship Match: Ricochet defeated Champion Samoa Joe @ 12:30 via pin [***¾]
– Smackdown Tag Team Championship Match: Champions Daniel Bryan & Rowan defeated Heavy Machinery @ 14:25 via pin [***¼]
– SmackDown Live Women’s Championship Match Champion Bayley defeated Alexa Bliss @ 10:50 via pin [**½]
– Roman Reigns defeated Drew McIntyre @ 17:40 via pin [**½]
– WWE Championship Steel Cage Match: Champion Kofi Kingston defeated Dolph Ziggler @ 20:05 via escape [**½]
– WWE Universal Championship Match: Champion Seth Rollins defeated Baron Corbin @ 18:45 via pin [*]

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WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match: Champion Tony Nese vs. Drew Gulak vs. Akira Tozawa: Gulak attacks right away, works over Nese but Nese fights back and lays in a flurry of kicks on Tozawa and covers for 2. Gulak in and Nese hits a German and double cover for 2. Nese super kicks Gulak on the floor and Tozawa hits a suicide dive and then a cannonball. Back in and Tozawa hit the missile dropkick but Gulak makes the save. Tozawa dumps him; heads up top but Nese cuts him off and hits the gut buster for 2 as Gulak makes the save. He follows with knee strikes, and suplexes Tozawa onto Nese. Gulak grounds the action, but Tozawa fights out and gets the octopus hold. Nese makes the save but Gulak locks on the Gu-Lock. Nese pops out but Gulak locks it on again but Tozawa flies in with the senton to break it up. He covers Gulak for 2. Tozawa hits a RANA, and flapjack on Gulak. The running dropkick connects for 2. Nese back in and hits the springboard moonsault for 2 as Tozawa makes the save. They trade chops, strikes by Tozawa follow, but Nese fires back and takes him up top and Tozawa fights him off and Gulak pops up and hits the superplex but Nese ten misses the 450. Nese fights back with a dude buster for 2, but Tozawa hits the shining wizard and covers for 2. Tozawa lays in kicks, Nese dumps him and Nese hits the running Nese, but Tozawa cradles him for 2. Nese then buckle bombs Tozawa and Gulak makes the save. Gulak and Nese trade strikes, German by Nese to he buckles, Tozawa takes out Nese and Gulak hits the Argentine cutter for the win. Drew Gulak defeated Champion Tony Nese & Akira Tozawa @ 11:25 via pin [****] This was a great match to kick things off, all action, with a great layout and work from all involved; Gulak winning the title was long overdue.

Raw Women’s Championship Match: Champion Becky Lynch vs. Lacey Evans: They lock up and work to the ropes, They then push and shove, Becky grounds things and starts working the kegs until Evans makes the ropes. Becky grounds her again, Evans makes the ropes but Becky attacks and they roll to the floor, where Becky rolls her back in and follows with knee strikes. Evans begs off and Becky slams her down and slams her to the buckles repeatedly. Becky follows with an elbow, hits a kick after slipping the first time as Evans was too far away and then powders. Becky follows with the baseball slide, but Evans fights back but Becky gets the backslide for 2. Evans starts attacking the ribs, and then bends her around the post and lays in kicks. Back in and Evans covers for 2. Evans lays the boots to her, and then grounds the action, attacking the ribs. Evans keeps things grounded, continu8ng her attack, and covering for 2. Becky battles back, but Evans hits a shoulder tackle and Becky counters back with a kick and then Evans fights off the XPLODER, attacks the ribs, and they work up top. Becky rolls off and into the arm bar, transitions to the disarmher, but Evans makes the ropes. Evans trips her into the buckles and covers for 2. Evans mocks Becky, takes her time, but Becky fires back and shoves the hankey into Evans’ mouth and follows with clotheslines. The flying forearm follows, and then lays the boots to Evans. The XPLODER connects and Becky covers for 2. Becky to the ropes and misses the leg drop. Evans looks for the slingshot elbow drop, countered, and they trade as Evans hits a rough sliced bread variation and boot for 2. Evans to the ropes, gets pulled off, and the disarmher finishes it. Champion Becky Lynch defeated Lacey Evans @ 11:20 via submission [**¾] Outside of some positioning issues by Evans, this was pretty good overall. Lets move onto the next challenger please.

– Ali is alive and gets a special video package, telling us he’s a good lad.

– Kayla is at Corbin’s locker room. Heyman exits, and denies the special ref job and teases Brock possibly being here. Corbin arrives and says he has chosen his referee for tonight. He doesn’t need help; he just needs a fair shot to beat Rollins tonight.

Big E and Xavier Woods vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn: Woods and Kevin begin. Kevin throws a flurry of superkicks, hits the swanton and covers for 2. Sami tags in and double teams and the blue thunder bomb connect for 2. Kevin hits the frog splash and Woods kicks out again. Kevin follows with strikes, tags in Sami and he connects with strikes. Sami follows with kicks, and Kevin follows with a cannonball for 2. The senton follows, and then another gets 2. Sami back in and lays in rights to Woods, slaps him around and Woods starts to fire back but Sami locks on the crossface. Woods escapes, but Sami tags in Kevin and stops the tag. Woods catches him with an enziguri and Sami takes out Big E. Woods counters back with a belly to back suplex, and needs a tag. Kevin in and misses the senton. The wheelbarrow buster connects and Woods tags in Big E. Big E runs wild with suplexes on Sami, takes out Kevin and hits the splash on Sami for 2. Sami fires back, looks for the tornado DDT, but Big E tosses him away and hits the STO for 2. Woods back in and Woods picks up Big E on his shoulders for the double team splash. The leg drop follows but Kevin makes the save. Big E dumps him and Sami cuts off the midnight hour, kicking Woods and posting Big E. The helluva and pop up powerbomb gets 2 as Big E makes the save. It breaks down, Woods and Sami to the apron, suicide spear by Big E takes out Sami. Woods then heads up top, Kevin crotches him and the stunner finishes it. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn defeated The New Day @ 11:10 via pin [***¾] This was exactly what I had hoped for, a very good and fun tag match that broke from typical formula, with Kevin & Sami picking up a much-needed win.

– Alexa manipulates Nikki backstage ahead of tonight’s title match.

WWE United States Championship Match: Champion Samoa Joe vs. Ricochet: They lock up and Joe starts pummeling him with strikes. Ricochet backs off, but Joe follows with jabs and talks shit to Ricochet. Ricochet lays in chops, strikes, and picks up the pace as he hits a head scissors and dropkick. To the floor and Joe lams him to the apron and then the steps. Back in and Joe misses a charge but rebounds with the STJoe for 2. He follows with chops, Ricochet tries to fire back but Joe mows him down with a back elbow, covering for 2. Joe works him over in the corner, following with chops. The running elbow and enziguri follows for 2. Joe grounds the action, Ricochet tries to fire up and fight back and hits the jawbreaker to escape. He follows with rights, but Joe levels him and the sitout powerbomb follows for 2. Joe grounds things with a neck crank, but Ricochet fires back and lays in rights and an enziguri; Joe is down. The RANA follows, and then the shoulder tackle and springboard clothesline connects. Ricochet follows with a dive, an back in hits the missile dropkick and lionsault for 2. Ricochet heads up top and has to leaps over Joe and Joe hits the snap slam for 2. They trade strikes and chops, but Joe hits a snap German and vicious lariat for 2. Ricochet slowly fires back, but Joe cuts him off, turning him inside out and the choke follows, but Ricochet hops over the ropes and stuns Joe. Ricochet up top and rolls through thee 630, and then hits the code breaker. Back up top and Ricochet hits the 630! 1…2…3! Ricochet defeated Champion Samoa Joe @ 12:30 via pin [***¾] This was a very good match, playing off of their strengths very well, as Joe was a great bully (that does all of those little things well, and Ricochet a resilient babyface with all the flash you could ask for) and giving us a surprising and welcomed title change.

– Ricochet gets congratulated by various stars and HHH backstage.

Smackdown Tag Team Championship Match: Champions Daniel Bryan & Rowan vs. Heavy Machinery: The crowd loves Bryan. Bryan and Otis start off. Bryan attacks with leg kicks to begin, Otis fires back, but Bryan follows with kicks and Otis hits a press slam and tags in Tucker as they do the hand off delayed suplex spot, and Tucker covers for 2. Tucker follows with shoulder tackles, and again covers for 2. Rowan in and levels Tucker, and then works him over with strikes in the corner. The dropkick follows, and that gets 2. He grounds the action, tags in Bryan and they double team Tucker, and Bryan then posts the knee of Tucker, rolls him back in and Bryan stomps the knees. Rowan back in and hits a head butt and then starts isolating the knee. The big running slash follows for 2. Rowan follows with chops and then runs into a boot and posts himself. Otis gets the hot tag and runs wild on Bryan. The slam follows, but Bryan trips him up and into the buckles. The corner dropkicks connect, but Otis cuts him off with a sitout powerbomb for 2. The Vader bomb misses for Otis, allowing Bryan to fire up and lay in kicks on Otis. Otis fires up and just absorbs the kicks, and follows with an overhead suplex. Otis sets and the caterpillar follows. Tag to Tucker and the belly to belly follows for 2 as Rowan makes the save. Bryan peppers Tucker with kicks, but Tucker fires back and hits the suplex. Tucker up top and the moonsault misses. Tags to Rowan & Otis, and they trade strikes, shoulder tackles, and then clotheslines. Bryan blind tags in as Otis slams Rowan. Bryan low bridges Tucker, missile dropkick on Otis, but Tucker is back and wipes out Roan with a dive. Bryan sneaks of with the win with the small package. Champions Daniel Bryan & Rowan defeated Heavy Machinery @ 14:25 via pin [***¼] This was a good and fun match with a layout that made Heavy Machinery look like threats and got the most out of them. Bryan & Rowan continue to be a surprisingly good tag team.

SmackDown Live Women’s Championship Match: Champion Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss: Nikki Cross is at ringside. They brawl at the bell with Bayley taking control and covering for 2. Bliss fires back in the corner, but Bayley stuns her off the ropes and covers for 2. Bayley repeatedly slams Bliss to the buckles, but Bliss cuts her off and covers for 2. Bliss chokes her out in the ropes, follows with strikes, and grounds the action. Bayley fights back but Bliss cuts her off with a back breaker. She chokes her out again, taking control and then stomping on Bayley and covering for 2. Bliss slaps her in the face, but Bayley firs back with a clothesline and covers for 2. Bayley lays the boots to her, but Bliss cuts her off with a right. Bayley to the apron, stuns Bliss off the ropes and follows with a knee strike. Hits another and Bliss powders to the floor. Bayley follows but Bliss posts her, starts attacking the arm and back in, Bliss covers for 2. Bliss continues to attack the arm, covering again for 2. They work into counters as Bayley hits a Saito suplex for 2. Bayley hits a sunset bomb into the buckles and Bliss rolls to the floor. Nikki checks on Bliss, and Bayley takes her out with a suicide dive as Bliss shoved her in the way. Bliss sends Bayley to the steps, The code red on the floor follows, and Bliss rolls her back in and heads up top. Nikki rolls in and that allows Bayley to counter twisted bliss with the knees. Bayley to belly finishes it. Champion Bayley defeated Alexa Bliss @ 10:50 via pin [**½] This was solid, with Bayley getting revenge and Nikki being involved in the finish as expected to continue the current storyline with Bliss.

– We get highlights of the recent 24/7 shenanigans with Truth & Maverick.

– The Good Brother congratulate Ricochet during his photo shoot. AJ Styles joins in and says he will see Ricochet tomorrow night. I am all about AJ vs. Ricochet.

Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre: Shane is out with Drew. Drew attacks and they brawl right away. Reigns follows with corner strikes and clotheslines Drew to the floor. Reigns follows with the BIG DAWG tope. He chases Shane through the crowd, and back to ringside where Drew cuts him off and slams him to the steps. Back in and Drew grounds the action. Shane gets in cheap shots, and Drew covers for 2. He grounds things again, and covers for 2. He stomps away at Reigns, looking to not only kick his ass, but to take his name as well. Drew lays in mounted strikes, as the crowd chants, “this is awful.” Drew looks for a suplex, but Reigns cuts it off and he hits the suplex. Shane stuns Reigns off the ropes and Drew hits a spinebuster for 2. He follows with a suplex, covering for 2. Drew again grounds things. Reigns fights back to his feet but Drew hits a lariat for 2. Drew grounds things, working the back of Reigns. He transitions to a Regal stretch variation, Shane teases a few times that he’s going to ring the bell but Reigns fires up and hits a Samoan drop. Both men are down, and then back to the feet trade strikes. Clotheslines by Reigns follow, and he works over Drew in the corner. The big boot follows. Reigns sets and then takes out Shane, follows him to the floor and hits another superman punch. Drew avoids the drive by and Drew hits the inverted Alabama slam onto the announce table, and back in follows with the uranage for 2. Drew takes Reigns up top, lays in chops and follows him up. Reigns fires back, but Drew keeps fighting and hits the superplex, covering for 2. Drew sets for a claymore, but Reigns counters into a backslide for 2. Head butt by Drew, he heads up top and flies off into the superman punch for 2. Reigns fires up and gets cut off but then hits the spear but Shane pulls the ref out. Shane beats down Reigns, heads up top and flies with coast to coast. Drew covers, Shane rolls the ref in, but Reigns kicks out at 2. Drew looks for the claymore, but Reigns hits the superman punch, dumps Shane and hits the spear for the win. Roman Reigns defeated Drew McIntyre @ 17:40 via pin [**½] This was a solid match that faded the longer it went on, had too much bullshit and went on for too long. These two has some really good ideas, and have a great hard-hitting 10-minute sprint in them some day, Unfortunately today wasn’t that day. Poor Drew, losing again and being Shane’s lackey.

WWE Championship Steel Cage Match: Champion Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler: This is win by pin submission, or escape. They circle and tease finishes to begin. Ziggler looks to escape, Kofi stops him but Ziggler hits a dropkick and looks to walkout the door. Kofi stops him and cradles him for 2. Ziggler catapults Kofi into the cage, Kofi climbs but Ziggler cuts him off and Kofi follows with a dropkick for 2. Kofi follows with uppercuts, but misses a corner splash. Ziggler slams him into the cage, and then rakes his face along the cage. The neck breaker follows. Ziggler then tosses him into the cage, and grounds the action. He tosses Kofi into the cage again, covering for 2. Back to the ground they go as Ziggler maintains control. Kofi fires up and hits a jawbreaker, but Ziggler follows with strikes and then runs into a back elbow and kicks, and then Kofi follows with a dropkick. Kofi lays in strikes, a dropkick and then gets sent into the cage as Ziggler covers for 2. Ziggler slaps him around, talks shit and Kofi then slams him into the cage a few times. Kofi counters the fameasser and the cradle gets 2. Kofi climbs, Ziggler stops him as he climbs. They battle on the ropes, Kofi slams him into the cage and Ziggler falls to the mat. Kofi climbs but then hits a high cross for 2. Kofi heads up top and climbs again, but Ziggler cuts him off and grabs his leg. He sends Kofi to the mat and climbs up and looks to go over but Kofi runs back up and they fight on top of the cage. Ziggler tries to climb down, but Kofi pulls him back over and they fall back onto the mat. They trade strikes; SOS by Kofi and that gets 2. Kofi sets, trouble in paradise is countered, and Ziggler attacks the knee. He locks on a shitty heel hook, Kofi fights and makes the ropes but there are no breaks unlike the Shane vs. Miz match. Kofi fires up and starts to climb while the hold is on but Ziggler hits a superkick. Kofi is hanging out of the door, but Ziggler pulls him back in and has the hold again. Kofi rolls, escapes, and Ziggler gets an ankle lock. Ziggler uses the cage for leverage, but Kofi powers up and he gets an ankle lock. Ziggler kicks him away and hits zigzag for 2. Kofi counters the superkick and Ziggler tries to back out the door, but Kofi stops him. Ziggler keeps fighting, he counters a suplex and tries to escape. Kofi pulls him back in and Ziggler rakes the eyes and kicks him away. Ziggler looks to escape, but Kofi suicide dives out the door to win. Champion Kofi Kingston defeated Dolph Ziggler @ 20:05 via escape [**½] This was a largely flat and bland match, where I never bought into Ziggler winning, but had a cool finish. Honestly one of the duller “big time” matches in some time.

– Post match, New Day celebrates, and Kofi puts over Ziggler as a challenger, but is still the WWE champion.

WWE Universal Championship Match: Champion Seth Rollins vs. Baron Corbin: Lacey Evans is the special referee, which is why they made it a point to make Rollins & Lynch’s relationship a thing on TV. Corbin attacks from behind, and lays in chair shots on Rollins. The bell finally rings and Corbin hits a slam and covers for 2. Corbin works him over on the floor, slamming him into the barricades, and the crowd chants, “this is stupid & AEW.” Back in and Rollins fires back, but Corbin hits the in and out clothesline. Corbin follows with rights, maintaining control as he grounds Rollins. Corbin lays in knee strikes, but Rollins lays in chops and then gets caught with a DDT. Corbin whips him to the buckles, lays in strikes as we get boring chants. They work up top and Rollins fights back, knocking Corbin to the mat but Corbin cuts him off and takes control back. They trade rights, and Rollins hits an enziguri for the double down. They trade again, Rollins fires up and hits sling blade. The blockbuster follows and he dumps Corbin. The suicide dive follows, and back in the springboard knee strike follows for 2 off the slow count. Corbin knocks Rollins to the apron, follows him out and Rollins fights back and powerbombs him through the announce table. Evans counts on Corbin, slowly, gets to 8 and then says there are no countouts in this match. Sure. Rollins drags Corbin back in and hits the superkick and then a suicide dive, which Corbin turns into an apron chokeslam. Back in and the chokeslam gets 2. Rollins fights back, stuns Corbin off the ropes and the superkick follows. The high fly flow connects but Evans fakes an injury on the count. Fuck off. Corbin attacks with chair shots, working over Rollins in the ring. Lacey no makes this a no DQ match. Yup. Rollins again fires back, and hits the falcon arrow, doing the deal, onto the chair, but no count. Lacey slaps Rollins, and follows with a low blow, End of days by Corbin but Becky makes the save and kicks Lacey’s ass. She beats her down on the floor, hits the XPLODER and follows with strikes. We get a new ref, Rollins hits the superkick, blackout and wins. Champion Seth Rollins defeated Baron Corbin @ 18:45 via pin [*] This was a dog shit of a main event, filled with all of the horrible special referee tropes that kill a match. The fans only cared about Becky’s run in and Rollins finally winning. Can we PLEASE get a new challenger for Rollins now?

– End Scene.

– Thanks for reading.

The 411 on Wrestling Podcast returns to the 411 Podcasting Network for episode 30. On the show, the good brother, Jeremy Lambert, joins 411’s Larry Csonka; the guys will review the WWE Stomping Grounds 2019 PPV, and then preview the ROH Best in the World PPV and AEW Fyter Fest events. The show is approximately 86-minutes long.

* Intro
* WWE Stomping Grounds 2019 Review: 2:20
* ROH Best in the World Preview: 34:50
* AEW Fyter Fest Preview: 52:30

You can subscribe and listen to the 411 on Wrestling Podcast via the above player on Transistor, or on the following platforms:

* iTunes
* Spotify
* Stitcher
* Google Play

6.8

The final score: review Average

The 411

WWE Stomping Grounds 2019 was a show that gave us an undercard that completely over delivered, two fun title changes and a tease that a show that was heavily mocked going into it was going to be great. But things really fell off in the final four matches, hitting bland and average at best efforts and closing with a horrible main event. It was far from a bad show, thanks to the first half, but the “top matches” under delivering as they did really hurt a potentially high quality event,