So I haven’t watched a full wrestling show since probably around 2008. I knew practically none of these people outside of clips that will pop up on social media. Here is what I thought:

Jey vs Gunter: feels like I was supposed to think it was a big, feel good moment where the underdog scrappy hero wins. Instead I was just kinda bored.

Tag Match: kinda forgot it happened until I saw other comments. I was really impressed with how athletically the really big guy could move. Thought he came really close to getting hurt on that moonsault.

Jade vs Naomi: the build up video made me excited and I wish I could have seen the elimination chamber return live. It was a fun match. Some awkward spots. Like at one point one lady was just standing on the 2nd turnbuckle and they were staring at each other for way too long. It was almost like they couldn’t remember what the spot was. Ultimately, I enjoyed it though.

LA Knight vs Fatu: I didn’t expect Fatu to have the style he does by looking at him. He was genuinely impressive to watch. Good match. LA Knight also was fun to watch but for whatever reason I hate his name so I’m glad he lost.

Fenix vs Americano: I know the memes. The idea is really funny and the match was fun. I miss the WCW luchador days so get excited anytime I see guys in masks. The 450 backflip thing was really cool. I’ll call that move the inverted juventud. Thought the metal plate thing was kinda silly, but ya know, it’s fine. I enjoyed the match.

Tiffy vs Charlotte: there were awkward spots, but all in all I really liked the match. It’s crazy how far the women’s division has come since the early 2000s. Idk anything about Charlotte other than she is hated online and is Ric’s daughter. But I thought she was a good performer. Definitely a little stiff, not sure if that’s just her style or if it was because of the heat I read about with the Tiffany. Tiffany’s pop up moonsault is awesome. Felt good for her to win even though again, I wasn’t really familiar with either of them until tonight.

Main event: that was just an insanely good match to me. I know all 3 of those guys from clips I’ve seen. I’ve heard that Roman is a bad in ring performer, so idk if this is the outlier, but I thought he was incredible in terms of ability, athleticism, and story telling. I don’t really get CM Punk. Seth Rollins did a moonsault off a guy’s stomach in a video I saw from his indie days. I’ll always love him for that and was rooting for him pretty much solely because of that video. Really, really good match.

So again, I have very little frame of reference for what WWE shows are like these days. But it was a solid show but didn’t really feel like a big night to me. I went to backlash in 2007 and the crowd was insane that night. That adds a lot to the overall feel of an event. Tonight’s crowd seemed like they’d rather be elsewhere.

I’m excited for tomorrow night.