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It’s been more than thirty years since WWE’s done a “proper” pay-per-view (or Premium Live Event, to use the modern jargon) in the UK. While the level of mainstream buzz over here isn’t anywhere near the level of SummerSlam 1992, there’s absolutely been a market thirsting for a proper “big time” WWE show. I mean, the UK hasn’t even had a main roster TV taping since November 2019.

We’re coming from the Principality Stadium – formerly the Millennium Stadium – in Cardiff, Wales… and the over-the-ring video boards have been shaped to look like a castle, which is pretty cool. There’s a LOOOONG entrance ramp with the over-ring boards replacing the usual Titantron.

Michael Cole, Corey Graves and Byron Saxton are on hand for commentary…

Madcap Moss & Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) vs. Austin Theory & Alpha Academy (Otis & Chad Gable)
Madcap Moss will be your trivia question answer then, as the first person to hit the ring for a WWE pay-per-view in the UK since SummerSlam 1992… Austin Theory’s gotten his first name back too, and hopefully a data plan that isn’t going to kill him taking those selfies abroad.

Dawkins and Gable start us off with shoulder tackles, as we’ve got some boomy ring mics. Lucha roll throughs and arm drags led to a stand-off, with a jab from Dawkins taking down Gable as Montez Ford came in to hit a neat dropkick. Man, this Cardiff crowd are biting for everything in this pre-show match.

After an ankle lock from Gable, Theory tags in and took Ford outside… back inside, Theory chokes Ford in the ropes, while Otis came in to splash Ford. Gable’s back to work over Ford with an armbar, stopping to knock Dawkins off the apron before Ford scored a double DDT to Otis and Gable… giving him an opening to tag out Madcap Moss.

Moss clears house, hitting a lot of shoulder tackles as Dawkins took Theory to the corner for a splash. A spin-out butterfly suplex nearly wins it, before Theory punched off one of Dawkin’s headbands. Gable’s in to hit a Chaos Theory German suplex, but Moss breaks up the cover, then chucked Otis with a fallaway slam.

Gable heads for Ford, teasing a German suplex off the apron… but Dawkins makes a save as Gable ends up taking a Doomsday Blockbuster as Michael Cole’s commentary peaked like mad… before a frog splash off the top from Ford put away Gable. Decent enough to start with, but this hot crowd’s going to boost everything here. **¾

After another trip to Stamford to wrap up the pre-show (seriously, why was that not in the bloody venue?), we’re taken back to Cardiff to see Roman Reigns arriving on a luxury mini-bus… then after the obligatory show-opening video package, chock full with tourist-y footage of Wales, and the CGI dragon from reDRagon’s entrance video, we’re back in front of around 65,000 fans packing out the stadium.

Alexa Bliss, Asuka & Bianca Belair vs. Bayley, Dakota Kai & IYO SKY
Wait, Alexa still has the CGI Lilly doll? Can you tell I’ve not watched regularly…

Bayley/Kai/SKY had a joint entrance as “Damage Control”, but a lot of it’s eaten up by a SummerSlam recap of their returns. Belair and and Bayley start as Bayley got the old “hey Bayley” chant from a few years back. She didn’t like that.

Both Bayley and Belair throw cheapshots on the apron as we start with a six-woman stare-off and things breaking down. Dropkicks from Belair have Bayley down, before Kai and SKY pull Belair out during a handspring attempt. We get a long set-up for a three-on-three suplex, but it’s the Damage Control lot who take it before Belair hit a handspring moonsault onto all three of them for two-counts.

Alexa tagged in as Bayley was trying to shut the crowd down… so she tags in SKY. Alexa throws some right hands, then stood on IYO as the crowd chanted for Bayley. They get her, as she clubbed away on Bliss, then took her into the corner as Dakota tagged in for some mudhole stomping.

Bayley’s bulldogged by Asuka, but manages to tag out to SKY… not that Asuka cared, as she hit a dropkick to Bayley, only to get a springboard missile dropkick from IYO moments later. A roll-up nearly nicks it for SKY, as Dakota then tagged back in to keep Asuka cut-off. Bayley gets a loud cheer as she tagged in… so she tagged right back out as Corey Graves noted that she was refusing to perform for the sheep. That’s a little stereotypical for Wales, no?

Alexa gets the tag in as she cannonballed into Bayley on the outside… but Dakota’s legal and hits a shotgun dropkick into the barriers. Back inside, a suplex gets Kai a two-count, as Alexa found herself cornered. She eventually fought back with right hands to SKY, only to get thrown into the middle buckle. Bliss eventually fought back with a jawbreaker, but Kai tagged in… which meant Bliss’ Code Red out of the corner was for nought.

Kai nearly wins with a running knee into the corner, as Bliss mounted one more comeback, scoring with a ‘rana out of the corner. Belair’s buzzing for a tag, but Bayley pulls her off the apron… then SKY hits a dropkick to knock her off before Asuka finally got the tag in. A huge missile dropkick from Asuka takes out SKY as Asuka was running wild, as a wild run saw her score with a pop-up knee, some backfists and kicks and a German suplex as she was taking IYO to town.

Bayley helps restore order for her troops, as SKY’s up kick laid out Asuka… Bayley’s back to hold Asuka for a see-saw Code Red as Bayley’s sliding lariat nearly won it. Belair’s back on Bayley, charging her into the corner ahead of a spinebuster and a standing moonsault for a near-fall. Belair lifts Bayley up top, but Kai’s legal again… and this time she’s spotted and thrown outside.

Bayley still goes after Belair, tying her in the corner by the hair, but Asuka and Bliss make a save with a superplex off of Belair’s back. Remember, Kai’s still legal, and he got caught by a roll-up from Belair, then was taken to the corner. Belair press slammed Kai out of the top rope, then used her as a Terry Funk ladder to swat away SKY ahead of a fallaway slam. From there, a powerbomb planted Kai, before Belair went up top and aborted a dive.

Kai runs in with a Scorpio kick, but misses a running kick in the corner as Belair went for a KOD. SKY tagged in, and with Bayley holding Belair in the corner by the hair, Belair’s triple-teamed with a Rose Plant and a SKY moonsault for the win. This was a good opener, if not a little draggy in the middle – Bayley getting the win clearly sets up her vs. Belair. ***½

We’ve got a Cody Rhodes vignette here, hyping up his dream to go for the title. Of course, they go over his injury pre-Hell in a Cell, and that gnarly bruise… before showing footage of his rehab.

Drew McIntyre’s warming up backstage when he’s stopped for a natter by Tyson Fury… Tyson’s at ringside for this, and gets the usual celebrity spot.

Then we get clips from SummerSlam 1992, and I’m wondering who’ll be Drew McIntyre’s flag bearer… and you know what that’s setting up for. A missed music cue, and the introduction for the family of the British Bulldog, and Bret Hart. HUGE POP for Bret.

WWE Intercontinental Championship: Sheamus vs. Gunther (c)
Ridge Holland and Butch were out with Sheamus in his quest to win the only WWE title he’s not held… while we got the surprise of an Imperium reunion, with Ludwig Kaiser reintroducing Giovanni Vinci alongside Gunther. Sadly, their old names didn’t return…

Everyone but Sheamus and Gunther go at it before the bell as they brawled to the back after Butch (still not got his name back) did an Orihara moonsault off the buckles. The bell goes just after that as Gunther and Sheamus chop the crap out of each other, while a big boot downed the Irishman.

Sheamus reverses a suplex, before Gunther telegraphed a back body drop and got kicked onto the apron. Gunther drops down off the apron to avoid some clubbering forearms in the ropes, but Sheamus followed him and chucked him into the ring steps. Back inside, Gunther’s forced to block those clubbering forearms again, before he chopped Sheamus back into the corner.

Sheamus pulls himself up top for a suplex, but got chopped to the floor as Gunther then made use of the ring steps some more as my feed dropped a little. Back inside, Sheamus gets chopped some more, then booted in the face as I tick the “feels like an old-school WALTER match” box.

Chops and forearms from Gunther trapped Sheamus in the ropes as his chest welted up. Boots to the face knock Sheamus down again, with a Boston crab following, then a crossface that Sheamus broke free of. Chops to the back give Gunther a new target, as the crowd almost to a man got behind Sheamus.

Gunther shuts down a Sheamus comeback with yet more chops, complete with a sweet slow-mo ripple replay. Sheamus is chucked outside once again, where he’s slammed onto the floor, then thrown across the announce table. Finally, Sheamus finds a way back in with those Ten Beats of the Bodhran forearms, which Gunther broke free of, only to find his way onto the apron for some more of those as we got a closer-up of Sheamus’ reddened chest.

Gunther tries to get away, but he sends Sheamus into the crowd… and got more of those beats over the guard rail, before a knee drop off the top saw Sheamus retain the upper hand back in the ring. Gunther escaped a White Noise setup as its back to the chops, looking to see just how bad Sheamus’ chest will look on social media later tonight.

Gunther ducks a punch and hits a German suplex, but Sheamus shook it off… then a chop… before a rebound knee off the ropes nearly put Gunther away. Another chop led to a sleeperhold from Gunther, dropping Sheamus to a knee, before he looked to spin it into a powerbomb, but Sheamus countered into White Noise for a near-fall.

Sheamus measures up Gunther for a Brogue kick, but it’s sidestepped and countered with a shotgun dropkick. A swift powerbomb plants Sheamus on his arse for a two-count, as Gunther then began to stomp on the arse of Sheamus. Gunther’s stopped on the top rope as Sheamus threw more chops, then pulled Gunther down for a Celtic Cross.

A delayed cover allowed Gunther to kick out at two from that Razor’s Edge, before he went for another Brogue kick… but the back gives out, allowing Gunther to dump him on his arse again with another powerbomb. A WILD LARIAT FOLLOWS… and just like that, Gunther’s still your Intercontinental champion. I guess they’re saving Sheamus for a rematch in Ireland, and if it’s anything like this, you can bet your bottom Euro I’m going to watch that. ****½

Gunther’s helped to the back by Vinci and Kaiser, while Sheamus got a deserved standing ovation in defeat. Next time, fella…

We’ve a big video package for the Usos here, as I guess we’re getting profile pieces for a lot of the guys who aren’t here? (apparently the non-premium version of Peacock gets adverts in those slots) Then there’s the tourism promo package for Cardiff…

UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards is shown in the crowd…

WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship: Shayna Baszler vs. Liv Morgan (c)
Good luck following what we just saw…

Baszler went for the arm early on, then a Kirifuda clutch as Morgan tried to counter with roll-ups. Liv tries a clutch of her own, but Baszler slips out before she was taken to the ropes for a dropkick to the back. On the outside, Baszler shoved Morgan into the barriers as Liv was forced to fight from the defensive position.

A clothesline gets Baszler a two-count, as did a German suplex, before Baszler worked over the champion’s wrist. Morgan avoids a punt to the arm, then ducked a kick before she scored with a missile dropkick. Liv kips up and mounted a comeback, landing an enziguiri and a springboard Codebreaker for a near-fall.

Morgan tries another springboard, but she leaps into a knee strike as Baszler picked up a near-fall, before Morgan surprised Baszler with a triangle armbar. Some punches in the hold allow her to morph the hold into a cross armbar, which Baszler tries to roll out of, before she stomped her way free.

A gutwrench facebuster and a knee strike waffles Morgan for a near-fall, before Baszler lifted Morgan up top for another kimura. Morgan fights free and pulls Shayna’s head into the top turnbuckle repeatedly, before a springboard sunset bomb almost won it. From the kick-out, Baszler locks in a Kirifuda clutch, then a cross armbar as Morgan rolled the pair into the ropes.

Morgan rolls out of another Kirifuda clutch for a near-fall, then a Codebreaker, before a rebound Flatliner off the ropes proved to be enough to get the win. This took a while for the crowd to warm to, but Baszler came real close, only to fall to a late flurry. ***

The Peacock ads get masked with ads for WWE Shop and Extreme Rules…

Exotic Adrian Street and Miss Linda are shown in the crowd.

Edge & Rey Mysterio vs. Judgment Day (Damian Priest & Finn Balor)
The former SmackDown tag champions are reuniting for this as there’s questions over Dominik. Will he ever turn? Meanwhile, Edge has a dragon mask to combine his love of Wales with his love of tagging with Rey… and his love of not tripping over the ramp way as he sprints.

There’s a killer singalong to Edge’s music, but weirdly not Judgment Day’s own Alter Bridge theme… anyways, Balor and Rey start us off, as Rey’s taken into the corner and met with body blows and chops, before Rey returned with a ‘rana as Priest tagged into the match. Priest wants Edge, and gets him… Priest dominated Edge early, but Rey Mysterio stopped a throw into the corner.

Balor tries the same trick to save Priest, but Edge spotted it and chucked him into another corner… then to the outside before he assisted Rey in a dive to the outside. Back inside, Priest caught a Quebrada from Rey and turned it into a Falcon arrow, then rolled on top for some ground and pound.

Rey’s cornered as Balor tagged in for a stomp, before a Balor backbreaker and a legdrop from Priest nearly put Rey away. Rey tries to rebound, but gets kicked in the ropes as my feed began to buffer. When it resumes, Rey’s back in the corner as the Judgment Day double-teamed him some more, leading to a grounded chinlock from Balor as he continued to slow the pace down.

Priest’s in to throw Rey outside to shut down a comeback… but Rey lifts Balor as he charged on the outside, sending Finn into the crowd… but a follow-up’s stopped by Priest, who teased a powerbomb off the railings. Instead, Rey slipped out and crotched Priest, who made the Zoidberg “whoop whoop whoop” noises, before he got pushed away as Rey made the tag out to Edge.

Edge runs wild, dropping Balor with an Edgeocution DDT, before he knocked Priest off the apron. A Meteora off the apron from Rey stopped Priest, as Edge then hit a 619 to Balor… Rey heads up for a big splash, bouncing off of Balor as Priest had to kick apart the pin as he climbed through the ropes.

Rey’s caught in a chokeslam from Priest, but Edge spears Priest off the apron in a throwback to the WrestleMania flaming table spear back in the day. Unfortunately, Rey can’t follow up as Balor chucked him outside, before Finn nailed a Slingblade on Edge, who I guess is legal. A shotgun dropkick takes Edge into the corner, before Dominik distracted the referee as Balor went for a Coup de Grace.

Balor’s brought down with a top rope ‘rana as Rhea Ripley went after Dominik on the outside… while Rey’s head-first tope broke that all up. Bonkers. Balor shuts down Rey though, but Rey shrugs it off as a 619 and a spear ended up getting the win for the former tag champions in a decent match, but one that obviously was just a chapter in the ongoing story. ***¼

After the match… we finally get the turn! Dominik punted Edge in the balls, and he’s going to be shot for that given how Cardiff treated Edge like a God earlier. Rey pleased with Dominik to see sense, but Dominik clotheslined his dad as Judgment Day applauded him. Cue the shocked faces, as Dom walked to the back on his own.

Promo package time for the main event – and apparently Drew McIntyre’s getting booed live… but we’ve got one match left before we head to that…

They announce the live crowd in Cardiff as 62,296… if that’s not the real number, then it feels pretty close.

Matt Riddle vs. Seth Rollins
Uhh, I don’t think I want to know why Riddle’s getting CGI goldfish on his entrance… while Wales had another singalong, this time vocalising Rollins’ music.

Riddle goes after Rollins at the bell, taking him into the corners as we got a look at Rollins’ 70s flares. Rollins powders outside and tries to go after Riddle on the floor, but the pair head back inside as Riddle scored with rolling gutwrench suplexes. Kicks and a back senton get Riddle a two-count as the crowd continued to sing Rollins’ theme, while a crowd shot meant that we nearly missed Rollins hanging up Riddle in the ropes.

Riddle comes back as he rolled Rollins into a triangle armbar, but Rollins’ attempt to break it saw him splat on the outside… before he powerbombed Riddle into the barriers – something that needed a replay as the live camera zoomed in a little too much on the impact. Rolling followed up with a tope to send Riddle into the announce table, before they returned to the ring, with Rollins controlling things.

Kicks and chops from Riddle force an opening, but Rollins ducks a kick and nailed a roll-up… then a thrust kick for a two-count. A Falcon Arrow does the deal for a near-fall from there, before things headed up top for an inverted superplex from Rollins… but Riddle pushed out and fought free of the move. Rollins heads onto the apron for a gamengiri that put Riddle into a Tree of Woe, following up with a Del Rio-ish double stomp that nearly won it.

A superplex from Rollins is next, but Riddle rolled through and added a Fisherman buster to stop the onslaught. Riddle takes Rollins to the corner for forearms, then caught Rollins in an Exploder out of the corner before an apron PK left Rollins on the outside… ahead of a springboard corkscrew splash.

Back inside again, Rollins surprises Riddle with a Pedigree, but it’s countered into a Go 2 Sleep, before a powerbomb and a knee strike almost put Seth away. Riddle goes up top for a corkscrew senton, but Rollins got the knees up, only to get caught in a triangle armbar as his attempts to follow-up were thwarted…

Rollins eventually kicks the hold away, before the Bro Derek (I knew it as the Neutraliser… shows how long it’s been since I’ve watched) almost saw Seth win with Riddle’s own finisher. Rollins looks to add a Phoenix Splash, but Riddle rolls away as an exchange of head shots led to Rollins hitting… a Chelsea Grin? Riddle knees away a stomp, but eats the enziguiri… then shrugged it off as a powerbomb’s turned into a Rollins Pedigree for a near-fall.

We get the monologues back as Rollins mocked Riddle, who slapped Rollins silly before he was turfed outside. A kick as Riddle came back between the ropes stopped all that though, before a Randy Orton-ish draping DDT stuffed Riddle… leading to Rollins going all Orton, only for a RKO to get caught and turned into a rear naked choke, with hammer elbows to the back of the head and kicks to force Rollins to the outside.

Riddle gives chase as he threw Rollins against the announce table, before Rollins avoided a chair shot. Heading back inside, Rollins caught Riddle with a curb stomp, before a curb stomp off the middle rope got the win. I enjoyed the sprint-like pace to the match, but considering they’d “made it personal” with that split-screen interview, a lot of this felt like any other outing. ***½

“Earlier today,” Tyson Fury’s having a chat with Roman Reigns… and Fury’s back in the crowd again. While Karrion Kross and Scarlett get the same sort of treatment. Max & Paddy: The Wrestler. Kudos to you if you get the reference…

Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Drew McIntyre vs. Roman Reigns (c)
Drew got Broken Dreams back, albeit as a “Just Before Big Match Main Event” entrance video, with shots of him making entrances through the years…

Drew’s getting a good reaction, which went counter to the live reports of his pre-tapes getting booed on-screen, while they made a big deal of Roman Reigns having crossed the two-year mark as (WWE) champion. The bell goes and this crowd is pro-Drew, as we open with a lock-up that eventually ended with Reigns backed into the corner for a break.

A second lock-up sees Reigns grab a side headlock, but it’s pushed off as McIntyre resisted a shoulder tackle, sending Reigns backing into the ropes out of confusion. Returning, Reigns elbows out of a waistlock, but got shoved down with a shoulder block as Reigns headed outside again to compose himself once more.

Reigns tries to slow the pace down, taking McIntyre to the corner for some mounted punches, but Drew slips out and returned the favour before a clothesline flipped Reigns over the top rope to the outside. Drew follows, whipping Reigns into the ring steps before a bottle of water was thrown at Drew from the crowd. Drew walking towards the thrower was a tip-off – it was Karrion Kross, who was threatened with Drew “shoving his hour glass up his arse.”

Reigns blindsided McIntyre with an uppercut, but Drew beats the count-out, only for some running kicks from Reigns to keep him down as the champion eventually got only a one-count. Clotheslines pin McIntyre into the corner, before Drew got sent outside again – again forcing Drew to try and beat the count-out.

McIntyre hangs up Reigns in the ropes, but couldn’t avoid a leaping clothesline back in as McIntyre was forced to kick out at one. A big boot gets another one-count as Reigns was starting to get frustrated with the one-counts…

Right hands from Reigns take McIntyre down, before the pair jockey for position over a suplex… only for Reigns to break it with a body blow and some stomps. We then get Roman with the mic, asking Cardiff to acknowledge him, prompting McIntyre to give him a “Glasgow kiss” (headbutt). Yay/boo punches break out from there, before McIntyre charged out of the corner with clotheslines, while a belly-to-belly chucked Reigns across the ring.

A neckbreaker’s next, as McIntyre kipped up then took things to the corner for a superplex… but Reigns broke the hold, as McIntyre grabbed Reigns by the hair, only to get knocked into a Tree of Woe… which he sat up from as he took Reigns down with a spider belly-to-belly suplex. Reigns rolls outside to avoid a Claymore kick… then avoided a Futureshock DDT back inside, only for McIntyre to hit a spinebuster for a near-fall.

McIntyre picks up Reigns, but an eye rake breaks things up before Drew was caught with a Rock Bottom for a near-fall. Reigns tees up for a Superman punch as we sail past the 20-minute mark, but Drew sidestepped and countered with the Futureshock DDT. Reigns hits the Superman punch seconds later as Drew telegraphed the Claymore, and almost won it right there.

Reigns sets up for a spear, but McIntyre kicks it away, only to eat the spear seconds later as Drew almost got put away. The crowd’s sensing a title change… but Reigns looked to shut that down with a guillotine choke. McIntyre charged to the corner to break it up, only for Reigns to reapply the hold as he mounted Drew… but this time McIntyre breaks free and posts Reigns to the outside.

McIntyre heads outside to retrieve Reigns, but opts to spear him through the railings before we head back inside… where a Claymore’s stopped with a spear as Reigns almost retained. Everyone’s biting on everything, including Reigns, who was arguing the ref’s count, which led to a ref bump as a Claymore kick knocked Reigns into the referee… with Charles Robinson spilling outside.

Oh bloody hell. That’s the cue for Austin Theory to run out with a referee, threatening a cash-in… but Tyson Fury gets up from his seat and punches out Theory for the babyface pop of the night. In the ring, Reigns misses a chairshot as McIntyre almost won with a Claymore… and we’re back to yay/boo punches from there.

It breaks down into a hockey fight, leading to a Superman punch from Reigns, a headbutt from McIntyre, then a spear from McIntyre… before a masked man came out of the crowd to pull out the referee as Drew was about to win. They unmask as Solo Sikoa – who hung up Drew in the ropes, allowing Reigns to hit a spear as Charles Robinson came in to count the three-count. Oh dear Cardiff, are you going to riot? This was a good “smoke and mirrors” WWE main event, but the jarring switches in pace were just that… and those of us expecting a Cinderella story in the main event were left sorely disappointed. ***½

Post-match, Tyson Fury hits the ring for a staredown with Reigns… but instead they shake hands, as the show closes with Reigns heading to the back with the newest member of his Bloodlike in Solo Sikoa shadowing him. After Roman’s gone, Fury pulls up McIntyre and paraded him to the crowd, then took the mic to try and give Drew a pep talk… and then sing American Pie to him? Something tells me that’ll get edited out of the replays, as McIntyre thanked the live crowd before Karaoke with Drew and Tyson rumbled on with Look Back In Anger….