4 Ups & 2 Downs From WWE Saturday Night's Main Event (18 July - Results & Review)
2. Grudge Match Actually Feels Like A Fight
Bayley vs. Lyra Valkyria benefited from some accidental blood when a Bayley elbow cracked Lyra’s nose. Beyond that, they started with high energy and didn’t let up for the entire match. It was messy in a good way, if that even makes sense. The pair weren’t uncoordinated or all over the place, but this wasn’t some slick, technical exhibition and nor should it have been. It felt like a proper fight at times, and was better for that.
Valkyria scoring the win by effectively choking her old mentor out worked too. Lyra then attacking again post-match sold the craziness of her new character, and it looks for all the world like Bayley might be winding down as a WWE star. She still has plenty to offer, clearly, but...are things coming to a natural end for the huggable one? Is an AEW reunion with Mercedes Mone incoming sooner rather than later?!
Watch this space. Anything could happen in this wacky biz.
Or, maybe Bayley was simply putting Lyra over properly so Valkyria's new unhinged character has some gas. We all know how important being all gas and no brakes is. Just ask Jacob Fatu. He'd have been proud of the physicality between these former tag-team partners. They were bringing it from the opening bell.
Confession: When this was hyped for SNME, yours truly thought it'd be one of the card's most boring bouts. Nope, it was fantastic from start to finish, and acts as a reminder not to judge a book by its cover. Or, it might be better to say 'don't judge a match before it happens'.
Top work.