9 Match Star Ratings For WWE Stomping Grounds
6. Samoa Joe Vs. Ricochet - United States Championship Match
There was a weird dissonance to the opening five minutes.
A bit slow, a bit boring, the audience was asked to get behind babyface Ricochet in a bland, by-the-numbers start. WWE doesn't do nearly enough on television to inspire this sort of reaction. The audience tends to ignore this on Sunday nights, and instead waits patiently for the action to heat up. Ricochet at this point is a guy they really like because he is really great at wrestling, and so they only sparked into life when he showcased this - and not his early selling - rendering the match uneven.
The last seven minutes were exceptional, though; Ricochet's phenomenal double-rotation bump highlighted the dynamic; the spot framed Joe as an insurmountable monster, and Joe himself carried his formidable threat without, having mastered the psychological nuance to preserve his killer aura.
Ricochet added more precision oomph to his spectacular aerial assault, aiming a vicious kick right in Joe's ear, and Joe was game to put this over as an absorbing mini-war. There was a selflessness to Ricochet's performance here too, one that showed a keen understanding of storytelling; he aimed a purposefully soft chop at Joe, before Joe fired back with a proper welter, which inspired the fire of Ricochet's last-stand comeback.
A very good match that elevated Ricochet's stock. What f*cking good it will do him, who knows.
Star Rating: ***3/4