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Some live notes from The Barclays Center:
*The set looks absolutely massive and awesome. It is fitting for a show of this scale.
*Really nice to see the legendary George Napolitano is here.
*The new digital ring posts are going to take some getting used to visually but they absolutely make the ring stand out in a different way and are a cool, different, fresh way of staging the show. If I was WWE I would use them exclusively for pay-per-view events make the show stand out and look different from the weekly TV shows.
*The 12 Man Tag was way better than the one that was on Smackdown Live this week and really allowed everyone to shine. It was a great way to showcase the Smackdown tag roster.
*Dudleys vs. Sami Zayn and Neville was a solid match and a good continuation of what looks to be a turn for Bubba. Big pop from the NYC faithful for the Dudleys and good reactions for Neville and Zayn.
*Cesaro vs. Sheamus looked really stiff at times. Massive reaction for Cesaro coming out. Sheamus looked real aggressive and Cesaro got good reactions for his comebacks. He also got to showcase his strength. Some really good near falls by the end. Cesaro using the posts as a base into a springboard was genius. Forget what I said. Make them a permanent addition. A good start to the seven match series. Sheamus winning makes sense to make Cesaro the guy behind chasing him.
*As you might imagine, I loved the opening promotional video for the show.
*Jericho and Owens vs. Enzo and Cass was a smart way to open the show. The Enzo and Cass pop was incredible. I have no idea how it may have come across on television but there were part of the promo where the crowd was so loud you could not hear Enzo and Cass on the mic for their catchphrases. The Enzo toss over the ropes live was scary as it look like he almost didn't clear the ropes. There were a few rough moments but overall a good bout. They did a nice job of building up the heat for the hot tag with Enzo. Owens and Jericho's finish looked BRUTAL as live it looked like Enzo's face landed on Jericho's knee. Enjoyable opener that Brooklyn liked.
*Charlotte vs. Sasha was a tale of two cities. It was a little rough in the beginning as they had some problems at spots after Banks had that hellacious bump into the ring. They lost the crowd after the first backbreaker attempt went to hell. Thankfully, once they got to the point where Sasha hit the rana off the top out of an attempted powerbomb (shades of Rey Mysterio Jr vs. Juventud Guerrera) they saved it and got the crowd back into it and from there it was pretty damn great. Banks was way over here. The flying double knees to the floor was awesome as were the spots where Banks caught her in the Bank Statement, teasing a submission. The finish with Charlotte reversing the Bank Statements into the pinfall shocked the hell out of the crowd.
*Banks was walked out by two referees after.
*Miz vs. Crews was OK. I felt in the run-up to the show that the audience had no reason to care and after the ring entrances, the energy level dropped. Match was OK. Nothing wrong with it.
*For the second night in a row, massive chants for Goldberg in Brooklyn. I wonder if WWE management is surprised by that.
*Wow. Cena going on early. What a hell of a match!!! I have seen a lot of amazing wrestling matches over the years and this year has been especially exceptional. That said, the energy level for this bout and the near falls were beyond awesome. It was an instant classic. AJ Styles is in another world right now as a performer. Cena worked his rear off and was great. The call to have Styles beat Cena was the right one to make in my eyes. The Brooklyn crowd which booed the hell out of Cena coming out had no choice but to show him some respect. Cena leaving his armband behind in the ring and saluting everyone goodbye will get people talking.
*I love Jon Stewart but no one wanted to hear his promo live except me. They were a little more willing to listen once they realized he was the opening act for New Day's entrance.
*New Day vs. Gallows and Anderson was OK for the backdrop of the return of Big E. Gallows taking that flip bump into the guard rail was scary. Karl Anderson's work is so smooth and underrated and Kofi Kingston had some nice offense. Brooklyn really wanted to see Jon's Stewarts get posted. NYC can be a harsh mistress. I wasn't thrilled about the finish but a pissed off Big E laying waste to the guys who hurt him made sense as the way to advance the story.
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