WWE’s Bad Blood: Blood spilled, grudges fought over, alliances made and titles not changing hands

Bad Blood was an event resurrected after almost three decades. Staying true to the name, we had five feuds being played out, only two of which were for titles. Both the titles up for grab were in the women’s division, and both of them didn’t change hands. The much-awaited showdown between Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa on who was the real Tribal chief was the main event. Just to add colour, it was billed as a tag-team match with Roman aligning with the champion Cody Rhodes. The event was held in Atlanta, Georgia, where both Roman and Cody spent a good amount of their younger days in. The home crowd needed to get their money’s worth. And they did.

Hell in a Cell

Drew McIntyre vs C.M. Punk

Drew McIntyre has everything on his side – age, physique, stage presence. Yet, he has never been able to crack that top level. Even though he was champion, the stories would be about how he lost the titles, rather than how he kept them. C.M. Punk has the IT factor, which is why he had a long and popular title reign. But that was in the past. He hasn’t aged well. It is getting harder and harder to believe that he can take anyone the distance, much less someone like Drew.

As befit a Hell-in-a-Cell match, there were assorted instruments used for punishment and a lot of spilled blood. Of course, the finale had to showcase how ridiculous this all was. Drew opened a bag that had, believe it or not, beads. They were supposed to be from the bracelet he stole from Punk containing the names of his wife and dog. Enough with the kindergarten-level plot points!

Punk won very unconvincingly and even pretended to need oxygen to walk out of there.

Rating: C

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WWE Women’s championship

There is an interesting narrative in the women’s division. Bringing Nia Jax front and centre was a surprising decision, considering the WWE’s long-held belief that wrestling fans will be able to accept women’s champions that are the objects of their fantasies. But instead of immediately getting her to turn over the belt to someone more conventional, they are sticking with her and building her up as the true force of nature that she easily embodies.

Bayley might be on a hot comeback streak, but what the Summer Slam match showed was she is not a physical match for Nia and it would take a big suspension of belief to accept that she was able to beat Nia in a regular match. To make things a bit more interesting, Nia’s sidekick Tiffany Stratton and her Money-in-the-Bank suitcase becomes the third wheel. Will Tiffany try to cash in over her friend and hero?

The match followed predictable lines. Bayley’s attempts at a count didn’t even reach one at times. It seemed like a matter of time before the Annihilator was unleashed and the match ended. There was a small interlude when the referee Jennifer Carr was knocked out. Stratton came out and used the briefcase to knock out Bayley. There was a will-she-won’t-she moment, but Nia got up in time. Tiffany beat a hasty retreat and Nia completed the formalities.

Rating: B-

Damien Priest vs Finn Balor

The most interesting storyline from Summer Slam was not about one of the matches, but how the group Judgement Day imploded. After Dominik Mysterio left Rhea Ripley hanging, Finn Balor cost Damien Priest his title; it was time for Priest to take it out on his former teammates.

A very uninspiring match-up. The size difference between the two meant that even thougn Finn got a few punches in, the end was already in view from the beginning. A brief interruption from Finn’s buddies Carlito and JD McDonagh delayed things, but Damien came through.

Rating: C

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Women’s World Championship

Liv Morgan vs Rhea Ripley

Practice makes perfect. For every performance art, you must rehearse. Professional wrestling is no different.

Rhea Ripley wants her title back. But Liv Morgan’s Harley Quinn shtick is catching on and Rhea will have to wait. The great soap opera triangle with Liv, Rhea and Dominik Mysterio continues. There was an excellent product placement of the car Lucha Low Rider as Liv and Dominik drove to the arena in it. As per Rhea’s insistence, Dominik was locked up in a shark tank that was raised above the ground to avoid him interfering.

Morgan tried attacking Rhea’s recovering leg to get advantage. Rhea soon got the upper hand. But then Dominik managed to get the door of the cage open. Only to find out that he was cuffed at the ankle. Then there was genuinely impressive moment where he was hanging upside on with just a handcuff on his leg. Rhea was about to go to the top and close the match when the Age of Stupid arrived.

First, she very vocally told the referee that she had to go take care of some business outside, and then she would come and take care of Liv. She started beating up the hanging Dominik with a kendo stick. This was stopped by Raquel Rodrigues who then pulled Rhea to the ring and put Liv on top of her, only to find there was no referee around. There was all round confusion before it became apparent that Rhea had won by disqualification, but Liv kept the belt. We are still not sure when the disqualification happened. Or why Rhea was not counted out when she went to beat up Dominik. All things that could have been smoothened if everyone had rehearsed!

Rating: D

The Bloodline vs Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns

Roman Reigns has too much charisma to remain a heel forever. His reappearance at Summer Slam pointed to interesting stories ahead. Turns out he was going to team up with Cody, who had beaten him in Wrestlemania XL. How long would this fragile alliance last? Especially when Roman announced he would have Cody’s back at Bad Blood, but would later take back what was his.

Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu came to a rather muted introduction. They were supporting actors, and they knew it. The next to arrive was a surprise. You would think the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion would be the last to come in. But no. The University of Arkansas marching band, who had gone viral playing Cody’s song during a college football match, got a larger stage to showcase their abilities. They made way for the Georgia Philharmonic who ushered in Roman. All in all, just over the top enough to get the crowd go ballistic.

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This match was probably the weakest of all the five. But it was evident that the fans wanted to see where the story would go, rather than see how. The commentators hyped up Jacob Fatu as a terrifying being, but it just wasn’t enough. The Superman punch kept getting foiled, until Cody took out Fatu outside the ring, leaving Roman and Solo ready to decide who was the real tribal chief. The remaining Bloodline members tried to pay spoilsport, but there was a man wearing a hoodie and a handkerchief on his face who super-kicked the extras into submission. It was Jey Uso, who aligned with his leader Roman than his own younger brother Solo. Oh, WWE! How you pull the heart strings!

We finished all the affairs and Roman handed over the belt back to Cody while looking at it all the time. We know that it is just a matter of time. But not today. For now, let us get back to our lives. But then… Someone had to just ask us if we knew what was cooking.

The off-ring drama was always integral to the stories that WWE was telling us, be it the brawls, the team-ups, car explosions or steamy sex. Well, the last one was in the ring, but not in a match! Now we are seeing more and more interruptions and guest appearances. They are like the post-credit sequences in Marvel movies. Well, people stay back to watch those, even though they became progressively sillier. As long as people expect and enjoy these entries, WWE will continue to roll them out.

Rating: B

*The author, Vinu Syriac, is a part-time reader, part-time writer, part-time armchair critic, and full-time nostalgiamaniac.