Battleground, Raw still going strong
The WWE presented Battleground Sunday night in Washington D.C., and Raw emanated Monday night from the CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh.
I was at both shows and here is a recap of the events.
The first thing that stood out to me was how loud the Verizon Center was in D.C. and how CONSOL was almost as loud.
Battleground got off to a fast start with the women鈥檚 tag match between WWE Women鈥檚 champion Charlotte and Dana Brooke taking on Sasha Banks and a mystery partner.
If you read my column on Sunday, then it was no mystery that Bayley made her main roster debut.
The crowd went nuts for Bayley鈥檚 introduction, and if you watch the match again on the WWE Network, notice the joy on the face of Sasha Banks as the fans were chanting her name before she was even introduced.
Once Bayley鈥檚 music hit, the look on Sasha鈥檚 face was one of pure happiness for her real life friend Bayley making her long-awaited debut.
Bayley is already back in NXT, but look for her to be up full time shortly on either Raw or Smackdown.
The crowd remained hot for The Wyatt Family鈥檚 victory over The New Day before coming back down a little for Rusev鈥檚 victory over Zack Ryder.
Next up was the amazing bout between Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn.
The match is by far the best WWE match of the year, and it is one of the best matches I have ever seen live.
After a couple more matches, the crowd really got into the six-man match between The Club and the team of John Cena, Enzo, and Cass.
Enzo cut one of the better promo鈥檚 from the last few years and if you haven鈥檛 seen it, definitely check it out on the WWE Network.
After a solid Highlight Reel between host Christ Jericho and the returning Randy Orton in what may have been Orton鈥檚 best mic work to date, Dean Ambrose retained the WWE title over Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns in a triple threat match when he pinned Reigns.
The event was one of the better pay-per-view鈥檚 that I have been to, and I am not the only one who feels that way.
鈥淭his was one of the best shows I have seen,鈥� said Drew Kuvinka, of Monessen, a veteran of over 50 WWE shows. 鈥淚t was really good.鈥�
Monday night was the first edition of the WWE brand split, and it set the bar very high at CONSOL.
And kudos to the Pittsburgh crowd for being one of the louder crowds I have heard at a show in the arena.
鈥淭his is the best Raw I have been to,鈥� said Chad Carroto, of Monessen, a diehard wrestling fan. 鈥淭he only thing I didn鈥檛 like was Reigns.
鈥淚 have never seen Finn Balor have a bad match, but Reigns takes the life out of everyone he faces.鈥�
The show started off with Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley bringing all of the wrestlers onto the stage area.
With the announcement made that at SummerSlam the first Universal champion would be crowned, it answered the question of how Raw would counter the WWE title being in Smackdown.
The name of the title is a little weak, but maybe it will grow on the public.
My biggest disappointment was that Pittsburgh native Corey Graves, working his first broadcast as a color commentator on Raw, was not introduced to the live crowd.
By far the biggest ovations of the night were for Balor鈥檚 two wins and the Women鈥檚 title change when Sasha Banks made Charlotte tap out.
One of my highlights Monday was when I was taking to Scott DeUnger of Charleroi, and he had his five-year old son Brody with him.
When Brody heard someone ask where Finn Balor鈥檚 demon paint outfit was that he wore in NXT, he simply replied, 鈥淔inn is all out of paint!鈥�
That was the type of line that reminded me why I fell in love with wrestling as a little kid.
And this weekend of shows reminded why I still enjoy writing about the business.