7 Match Star Ratings For WWE Clash At The Castle
Drew McIntyre's dreams get broken in a white-hot main event.
The build to Clash at the Castle, the first real test of 'Papa H's' credentials as a booker, was better than Vince McMahon mustered for several years. That's not saying much, because Vince McMahon's booking philosophy was screaming "Go f*ck youself you little mark c*nt!" for about two decades, but looking at the Nielsens, it's enough.
WWE has told the same story with Drew McInryre for two years now. "I was sh*te, a proper disappointment, and then I came back much better - which is probably an indictment of the developmental system, but don't think too much aboot that bit hen."
WWE has never told it in quite such an effective way, however, and the video packages that captured the sheer amount of work Drew has put in were so good that he'd have to turn heel if he didn't get it done. His match with Roman Reigns was framed, brilliantly, as nothing less than the culmination of his life's work.
Elsewhere, Matt Riddle and Seth Rollins worked people into thinking they actually hurt one another, which is half the battle. Gunther and Sheamus just stared at each other as their underlings brawled around them. Why rip off the angle that everybody buried before Forbidden Door?
,,,twice?
The Bayley faction versus babyfaces bit was only good, being honest, because people were happy to see Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky on the main roster. Three performers in a six-person programme are miscast. So, an uneven build.
How was the show itself...?
7. Pre-Show: Madcap Moss & Street Profits Vs. Austin Theory & Alpha Academy
There wasn't a great deal to this unannounced pre-show match: short, simple, the babyfaces and the heels did things in the correct order to get the crowd up. Madcap Mass got them going with his explosive rope runs and unreal power game, Chad Gable was a phenomenally entertaining d*ckhead, and the Street Profits continued, albeit quietly, their tremendous 2022 run.
This was a house show match with an amazing PPV-level finish: the Profits levelled Gable with a Blockbuster to the outside in a demented spot that was perfectly executed.
Star Rating: ★★¾