5 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE Saturday Night's Main Event (24 May - Results & Review)

2. Red-Hot Tag Does Basics… With A Twist

If you’re grading the opening match from Saturday based on in-ring action alone, it would merit passing marks, but not much else. However, when you factor in crowd reaction, the opener vaults to the head of the class.

The tag between Sami Zayn and CM Punk against Seth Rollins and Bron Breakker didn’t chart any new paths or do anything innovative, but they executed the tried-and-true basics well, with Punk throwing in a Code Red (an homage to Roxanne Perez?) to mix things up a bit. Both faces suffered in peril for a while, and both got a hot tag to run wild. Paul Heyman played his role perfectly as well.

The twist came while the referee and Zayn were dealing with Heyman grabbing Sami’s foot. Bronson Reed snuck into the ringside area and speared Punk through the barricade, opening the door for Breakker to spear Sami for the win.

Reed’s return was handled perfectly, with the Aussie superstar squaring off with Bron before the reveal that Seth and Bronson had made up and joined forces. Reed would then flatten Punk with a senton and Tsunami, effectively returning and joining the top heel stable on Raw, which in turn made Rollins’ group even more of a legit threat with two heavies to wreak havoc.

Through all of this, the crowd was molten for everything, which elevated the impact of the very basic action. Truly the best outcome for WWE.