WWE Stomping Grounds (June 2019)

 

Original Airdate: June 23, 2019

From Tacoma, Washington; Your Hosts are Michael Cole and Renee Young (RAW), Tom Phillips and Byron Saxton (Smackdown), with Corey Graves sitting in with both teams

Opening RAW Women's Title Match: Becky Lynch v Lacey Evans: Lots of posturing to start, until Becky takes her down for a kneebar, but Lacey has the ropes. Lynch stays on her with a waistlock, but Evans has the ropes again, and bails this time. Becky forces her back in, and a tour of turnbuckle smashes (all four) rattle Lacey. Lynch botches a springboard, but Evans is nice enough to stand still so she can try it a second time, and Lacey ends up on the outside. Lynch barrels into her with a baseball slide, and back in, a backslide gets two. Becky with a dragon corkscrew legwhip, but Evans manages a takedown, and she wrenches the champ around in the post in rather brutal fashion. Lacey works an armbreaker, but Becky shifts the weight into a cradle for two, so Evans unloads in the corner. She goes back to the arm with an armbar, and it's worth noting how dark the building looks in general, especially the upper levels. And, considering the attendance was reportedly only around six thousand (in a building that can accommodate three times that), it's no wonder. Becky escapes, and makes a minor comeback, but Evan strikes at the arm to prevent the exploder suplex. Evans takes her up for a superplex, but Becky manages to counter down into a cross-armbreaker, but Lacey shifts to a cradle for two. Becky holds on, but Evans makes the ropes, and sends Becky into the middle turnbuckle. Slingshot broncobuster gets two, but Evans makes the mistake of getting cocky, and Lynch makes a real comeback. Exploder suplex gets two, but a 2^nd rope legdrop misses. That allows Lacey to try a slingshot elbowdrop, but Lynch lifts the knees, and schoolgirls for two. Lacey fires back with a slingshot stunner for two, and this is kinda falling apart. Evans goes up, but Becky slams her off, and Dis-Arms-Her at 11:25. Not lazy, but just not very good. * ¼

The New Day v Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn: Xavier Woods starts with Kevin, and Owens immediately issues an invite to a superkick party. A series of them drops Woods for a flying somersault senton splash for two, so Sami tags in to Blue Thunder Bomb him for two. Back to Owens for a flying frogsplash for two, and things settle down from there. Shame, that was fun. The heels work Woods over in their corner, and Owens uses a Cannonball for two. Pair of senton splashes get two, and Sami tries a crippler crossface, but can't put it away. Owens keeps pounding, but Woods manages to throw an enzuigiri, and Sami has to think fast to prevent a tag. He manages to knock Big E off the apron to do so, but Woods reverses a side suplex. That brings Owens in with another senton splash, but Woods dodges this time, and hits a victory facebuster to shake Kevin off. That's enough for the hot tag to Big E, and it's suplex city for Sami. Frogsplash gets two, but Zayn blocks a German suplex, and then blocks an avalanche as well. He tries a tornado DDT, but Big E blocks THAT, and drops him with a uranage for two. Tag to Woods to set up a tandem splash, and Xavier adds a springboard legdrop for two. New Day go for the Midnight Hour, but Sami escapes, and both babyfaces end up butting heads. That allows the tag to Owens, and a Helluva Kick/Pop-Up Powerbomb combo looks to finish, but Big E saves at two. He clotheslines Sami near out of his boots, but eats a superkick from Owens - only for Woods to save. Big E spears Sami off of the apron, allowing Woods to nail Owens with an enzuigiri. Woods goes up, but Kevin knocks him off, and a stunner finishes at 11:06. Hot start, solid middle, hot finish. ** ¾

WWE United States Title Match: Samoa Joe v Ricochet: Joe beats him like a bad parent in a Costco parking lot would to start. Ricochet responds by sticking a moving, and Joe ends up on the outside, but manages to dodge a baseball slide. That allows him to ram Ricochet into the apron, and the challenger takes a trip into the stairs for good measure. Inside, Joe tries an avalanche, but Ricochet dodges, so Joe just uranages him for two instead. I'm not trying to knock the guy, but everything about Joe's look makes him come off like an Indy geek, and I'm honestly surprised they let him dress that way. Joe with an avalanche and an enzuigiri for two, and he grounds his challenger in a hold, but Ricochet manages a jawbreaker to escape. Joe responds with a sitout-powerbomb for two, and he goes back to the ground with a headvise. Ricochet escapes, and has enough space to pepper Joe with a kick combo to buy time. Rana leads to a flying clothesline, and Joe ends up on the outside - Ricochet quickly following with a dive before the champ can dodge again. Springboard flying dropkick on the way back in sets up a springboard moonsault for two, and Ricochet goes back up for another dive, but Joe dodges this one. He snaps off a powerslam for two, so Ricochet throws chops at him. He tries a handspring backelbow, but Joe catches him in a suplex, and adds a lariat for two. Uranage, but Ricochet throws elbows to block, so Joe goes to the Coquina Clutch instead. Ricochet manages to get to the apron to force a break, and he snaps Joe's throat across the top rope as he does. That buys the challenger time to get to the top, but a dive misses, and Joe throws a clothesline. Ricochet absorbs it, however, and a double kneeling facebuster sets up the flying 630 senton splash at 12:20. I wasn't feeling this most of the way through, but it wasn't 'bad' by any means. * ¾

WWE Smackdown Tag Team Title Match: Daniel Bryan and Rowan v Heavy Machinery: Rowan starts with Otis, but the crowd wants Bryan, and the champs oblige. Bryan peppers him with strikes for a takedown, but runs into a press-drop while going for the kill shot, and the challengers add a weird hanging vertical suplex where they hand Daniel off to each other mid-move. Looks cool, but from a kayfabe perspective, what's the point? Tucker knocks Daniel around, and feeds him a lariat for two. Side suplex, but Bryan blocks, and tags back to Rowan to barrel into Tucker. Tucker eats a turnbuckle smash and an avalanche, followed by a poorly executed dropkick for two. Unless the intention was to dropkick Tucker in the belly, in which case, it was flawless. Rowan works a headvise, and a combo with Bryan in their corner leaves Tucker down for Daniel to bash into the post a few times. That leaves Tucker with a bad wheel, and Bryan goes to work on it. Weird booking choice, considering the crowd is firmly behind hometown hero Bryan, and you'd think it would be a slam dunk to have him get destroyed by the two heavy hitting guys instead. Rowan misses a charge to allow a tag to Otis, and Bryan gets knocked around. The crowd isn't buying Otis as a babyface against Bryan though, so he's basically running wild to the sounds of crickets. He misses a charge to allow Daniel to attack with cross corner shots, but Otis eventually catches him in a sitout-powerbomb for two. That put poor Daniel dangerously close to Otis' butt, which is probably a health hazard. Based on the way that dude moves (or, more accurately, doesn't move), I'm assuming it's filthy. Otis tries a 2^nd rope pump-splash, but Bryan wants no part of the hot zone, and dodges. He hammers Otis with Yes-Kicks, but Otis starts chugging like a choo-choo train, and throws Bryan with a suplex. Avalanche follows, and a weird worm elbowdrop leads to a catapult into Tucker's arms for a suplex. Bryan slugs it out with Tucker, but misses the big roundhouse kick, and Tucker suplexes him down. Tucker goes up for a flying moonsault, but Daniel moves (mostly - still got caught with the boot on the way down), and there's tags all around. Power-showdown goes to a stalemate, so Bryan blind tags in, and dives at Otis with a flying high knee. He tries a tope at Tucker, but gets hit on the way down. That gives Tucker the edge, but he has to dive at Rowan before he can turn his attention to Bryan, and by the time he does, Daniel is ready with a cradle at 14:18. Mostly good fun, but the tone deaf booking of Bryan as a heel made this an uphill battle. ** ¼

WWE Smackdown Women's Title Match: Bayley v Alexa Bliss: I'm not digging Alexa's 'sexy clown' makeup job tonight. No one want to fuck Doink! They get in each other’s faces to start, and it quickly turns into a slugfest. Bayley gets the better of it, and throws a high knee in the corner for two, but Alexa fights off a front-facelock. Bayley responds with a snake-eyes for two (which looked hilarious, since they're both so small that Bayley had to jump up just to clear the top turnbuckle), and then Alexa just throws her into the middle buckle afterwards anyway. Well, that was much more direct. Bliss works a chinlock, but Bayley starts powering out, so Alexa cracks her with a backbreaker to keep control. She bootchokes the champion, but gets in the referee's face, and Bayley recovers with a bodypress for two. Bliss quickly pounds her back down, but gets arrogant, and Bayley throws a lariat for two. Bayley puts the boots to her ahead of a stupid rolling elbowdrop, and Alexa rightly decks her for stealing the dumbest shit out of RVD's playbook. Sadly, Bayley fights her off again, and a kneesmash sets up a dive off the top, but Bliss dodges. Reversal sequence sees Bayley throws a high knee, but Bliss bails to the outside before the champion can capitalize. Bayley follows with a running dropkick, but Alexa dodges that as well, and the champ eats post. That gets two as they head back in, and Alexa starts going after the arm. Reversal sequence ends in Bayley hitting a side suplex for two, and she adds a sunset bomb into the buckles, knocking Alexa to the outside. She dives after her with a tope, but ends up taking Nikki Cross out instead, allowing Alexa to recover enough to dodge a charge - Bayley ending up colliding with the steps. Bliss adds a Canadian destroyer on the floor, and she rolls the champion in to finish with the Twisted Bliss, but Bayley lifts the knees after Alexa loses time to a miscommunication with Nikki. Bayley-to-Belly then finishes at 10:39. This was kinda all over the place. ¾*

Roman Reigns v Drew McIntyre: They slug it out in the aisle before the bell, and inside, Roman unloads a ten-punch. Clothesline sends Drew over the top, so Roman dives with an INSANE tope suicida (seriously, dude must be part bird), but he gets distracted chasing Shane McMahon around, and McIntyre nails him. Reigns takes a trip into the steps on the way back in, where McIntyre turnbuckle smashes him, and unloads in the corner. Overhead belly-to-belly suplex gets Drew two, and Shane is ready with a cheap shot while Reigns is on the ropes. Drew grounds him in an armbar, but Reigns slugs free, so McIntyre backelbows him back down for two. It's funny watching the referee repeatedly say 'watch the hair, watch the hair' while allowing a dude to unload on a guy with a long series of mounted punches directly to the face. Like, I don't think that's the biggest of his problems right now. McIntyre with a suplex for two, and he works the armbar again, but Reigns manages a headbutt to break free. McIntyre cuts him off again, however, this time with a clothesline for two. Drew works a modified surfboard, but can't get a submission out of him, so he goes to an STF instead. Roman powers out, and this time manages a Samoan drop, leaving both guys looking up at the lights. They stagger up for a slugfest, and McIntyre tries a corner whip, but Reigns rebounds out with a clothesline. He starts making a comeback, but Shane protests on the apron ahead of the Superman Punch, so Reigns gives it to him instead. That brings Drew to the outside to go after him, so Roman tries the Drive-By, but it misses. That allows McIntyre to slam him into an announce table with a wild inverted whiplash, but it only gets two as they head back in. How is THAT shit not the finish? Drew takes him up with a vertical superplex for two, but Roman counters the Claymore Kick into a backslide for two. McIntyre responds by going up with a dive, but Reigns is ready with a Superman on the way down, and he hooks the leg for two. Spear, but Shane pulls the referee out of the ring at two to prevent the pin. With the referee down on the outside, McMahon hits Reigns with the Coast to Coast, and McIntyre covers for a dramatic two count. Claymore, but Reigns blocks with the Superman, so Shane straight up runs in. Roman quickly gets rid of him, however, and another spear finishes McIntyre at 17:20. This was pretty fun, actually. A lot better than the crummy WrestleMania match, that's for sure. ***

WWE Title Cage Match: Kofi Kingston v Dolph Ziggler: The first few minutes go nowhere, as Dolph makes various half-hearted escape attempts, and Kofi barely bothers to stop him. Ziggler tries a catapult into the cage, but Kofi lands on side, and starts to climb. Ziggler pulls him off, so Kofi throws a dropkick for two, but misses a stinger splash. That allows Ziggler to dump him into the cage, and a neckbreaker follows, as Dolph takes control of the match. As horrible as the commentary generally is, I do appreciate them taking the time to make a point of how the cage limits use of the ropes, which will work against Kofi's springboard heavy offense. Dolph takes him to the ground with a crippler crossface, but Kofi manages a chincrusher to escape, so Ziggler just beats on him in the corner instead. This has been really disjointed and boring thus far. Ziggler tries a corner whip, but Kofi manages to springboard off the middle to block, and he dives back at his challenger. That buys him time for a comeback, but a charge misses, and the champ eats cage. That looked really awkward, with the miss falling short of the cage, forcing Kofi to do a second hop to plant himself against it on his own volition. Again, but Kofi reverses him into the steel this time, and gives Dolph a few bonus trips for good measure. Schoolboy gets two, allowing Kofi to climb (because a freaking CRADLE is apparently enough to put Ziggler down?!?!), but Dolph manages to catch up to him on the top rope. Yeah, I'd fucking hope so. Kingston wins that battle and keeps climbing, but then has a change of heart, and dives back at Dolph with a flying bodypress for two. Okay then. Kofi climbs again, making it to the very top, but Ziggler pulls him back to the top rope. Dolph knocks him off so he can try to go up and over, but Kofi meets him at the top of the cage, and both guys end up taking a spill back down to the mat. Kofi recovers with an SOS for two, but Trouble in Paradise misses, and Ziggler tweaks the leg. He manages to slap on a grapevine, and Kofi makes the ropes, but apparently someone turned the rope break rule off. That leaves Kofi to climb the cage while in the hold, until Ziggler releases, and immediately throws a superkick. It connects, and knocks Kofi out, but his limp body nearly falls through the door to the outside. That could have been a cool finish, though the heel/face roles would have to be reversed. No matter, Dolph pulls him back in, and goes to a kneebar. That goes nowhere, and Kofi tries Trouble, but gets caught in an anklelock. Kingston manages a reversal, but Ziggler quickly fights him off, and lands the Zig Zag for two. Superkick, but Kofi catches the leg, and grounds him in a... front-facelock. Okay then: the sequel. Dolph tries to put it in reverse and go through the door while in the hold, but Kofi sinks his teeth in to block. Suplex, but Ziggler slips free, and dives for the door again. He very slowly starts pulling himself through, but Kofi dives over him (through the top and middle ropes), and lands on the floor for the escape win at 19:56. This was way too long for such an unfocused effort, and the finish (while cute) felt poorly executed. * ¼

Main Event: WWE Universal Title Match: Seth Rollins v Baron Corbin: Lacey Evans is revealed as the hyped special guest referee. It's funny, I thought the shorts she had on during the opener looked like a referee's gear. Of course, she has completely different shorts on now anyway, so I'm thinking any foreshadowing was strictly coincidental. Seth's gone full Power Ranger with his entrance gear tonight. Corbin attacks from behind while Seth argues about Lacey's presence as referee, and she allows the challenger to beat him with a chair, since, technically, she hasn't called for the opening bell yet. Once Rollins is good and hammered, Lacey calls for the bell, and Corbin immediately takes him to the outside for some abuse with various objects around ringside. Back in, Corbin works him over in dull fashion. Superplex, but Seth manages to block, so Corbin dives with an axehandle off the middle rope. Baron goes back to working the champion over, until Seth manages to throw an enzuigiri to buy time. He starts making a comeback, and Corbin ends up on the outside to set up a tope. Rollins with a springboard flying high knee and a superkick on the way back in, but Lacey slow counts him to two. Seth stays focused with another springboard, but this time Baron slugs him out of the air before he can execute it. Corbin tries a chokeslam on the apron, but Rollins counters by powerbombing him through an announce table. I think it's cute that Renee's format sheets are all printed on pink paper. Seth heads back in and tells Lacey to count, but she slow rolls him. Even with that help, Corbin is clearly not going to make it in, so she stops short, and announces that the match is now no countout. Are we sure it was Bischoff they brought back, and not Russo? Seth with another tope, but Corbin catches him with a chokeslam on the apron this time. Back in for another chokeslam, but it only gets two. That wasn't really even a fast count. Corbin tries another dive off the middle, but Seth dodges this time, and lands a superkick. Flying frogsplash, but Lacey's shoulder gives out right before the third count. Nothing wrong with recycling old angles, and Evans is trying, but this is falling flat. Corbin grabs the chair and starts unloading with that now, as Evans pretends not to see what's going on until after he's nearly broken the dude. And then when she does, she announces that the match is no DQ anyway, so no bigs. Corbin sets up a DDT on the chair, but Rollins counters with a falcon arrow onto it. He hooks the leg, but Lacey just outright refuses to count now. Seth complains, so Lacey starts slapping him across the face, and throws a low blow for good measure. That allows Corbin to hit the End of Days, but enough is enough, and Becky Lynch runs out to attack Evans! Becky sends her into the barricade with a suplex before other officials can pull them apart, and one of them gets summoned in by Corbin to take over. End of Days, but Rollins counters to a superkick, and the curb stomp retains at 18:23. Honestly, thank God for the overbooking here, because even if it wasn't great, I'd really hate to see this lame match without it. *

BUExperience: Weak stuff. There are a few okay/good matches, but the whole thing felt so instantly forgettable that I barely remember the undercard already. Add in a noticeable lack of star-power, two ice cold top programs, and you get a big fat...

...DUD