Hiya!

So, it appears Disney+ in the Philippines still does show WWE pay-per-view events. The sick twist to it all is they only show it when it’s on. No replay available. No way to check out a recording. If you miss the live show, too bad! This does make me happy Netflix is getting WWE programming because what Disney+ is doing sucks!

Anyway, I knew about this because I was able to watch WWE’s Clash at the Castle as it was in Scotland and the show happened around 3 AM over here in the Philippines. So, yay for me, I guess. Sure, I had to cut down my sleep time because of it, but I still got to watch it!

So, let’s go check out the reason why I have bags under my eyes. Let’s go review Clash at the Castle 2024!

Match #1: Cody Rhodes vs. AJ Styles for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship in an “I Quit” match

I expected this to be the opener despite it being for the biggest prize for the Smackdown brand and having the special “I Quit” stipulation. It wouldn’t make sense for a homegrown Scottish WWE Superstar to start off the show and I couldn’t see where else to put this on the card. I do have to say adding the “I Quit” stipulation seemed weird as Cody Rhodes and AJ Styles are hardly known for being submission specialists. Okay, AJ Styles has the Calf Crusher but when was the last time you saw him actually beat someone with that?

This did mean the match was mostly both competitors taking liberties with traditional wrestling rules and just battering each other with weapons and taking the match into the crowd. While it was generally fine, I would’ve preferred it to be something like a Last Man Standing match then! Still, there were some highlights, like the brawl through the production room, AJ Styles suplexing Cody Rhodes to the outside as well as him nailing a brainbuster to the American Nightmare on the announcer’s table. I do have to question why Cody’s mom was featured as she really didn’t do anything of note in the grand scheme of things.

The finish saw The Phenomenal One bring out handcuffs and lock them on Cody Rhodes so he could pummel the American Nightmare with a kendo stick and a steel chair. Styles then wrapped a chain around his forearm and tried to clock Cody with his Phenomenal Forearm finisher. Rhodes blocked the attempt by throwing a steel chair at him while Styles tried it and sent him crashing through a table! Cody then removed the handcuffs, hit the Cody Cutter and hit a couple of Cross Rhodes on Styles but his foe still didn’t quit. Rhodes then hooked the cuffs on Styles and the middle rope. The American Nightmare then wailed on the Phenomenal One but he still didn’t quit! Cody then grabbed the steel steps and threatened to smash Styles’ head in with it. This was too much and Styles yelled “I quit” for Cody to retain his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.

This was an okay match. While I love the escalation throughout, it just lacked the kind of punch of brutality needed to make it more than just okay. There was some good in-ring storytelling but, like I said, having Cody’s mom here didn’t really do anything as she just slapped Styles and that was it. They really needed to lean into the submission aspect of the match a bit more. Instead, it just became a Hardcore match with more steps (pun intended).

Match #2: Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill vs. Shayna Baszler and Zoey Starks vs. Isla Dawn and Alba Fyre for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship

I really didn’t know what to expect from this match but I certainly didn’t expect it to be terrible. Boy! Was I wrong! The match started out fine, with Belair and Jade Cargill dominating with their power. This led to some impressive feats, like Jade Cargill performing a Samoan Drop and fallaway slam to Fyre and Starks at the same time. This led to the other teams doing the smart move of teaming up for a short while to try to take the pair out. This didn’t last very long, which made me very disappointed.

What also disappointed me were the various botches. Things like Alba Fyre not getting enough lift for her springboard to the outside, Jade Cargill flopping hard on the mat with her springboard attempt, Cargill slipping when hitting a boot while trying to powerbomb Fyre and Belair accidentally hitting Baszler in the back with a 450 splash.

The finish came with Belair shoving Baszler to an unprepared Jade Cargill. Cargill hits The Submission Magician with an awkward elbow and boot and the duo hit a DDT and wheelbarrow suplex to Baszler. Cargill went for the pin but Isla Dawn sneaks in with a not so good looking back suplex to take out Cargill, pin Baszler and win the match for her team! Isla Dawn and Alba Frye are your NEW WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions!

This was just a sloppy match. I am currently editing this as it turns out the top rope wasn’t hooked up properly, leading to some of the botches. So, while I can’t blame the participants for everything, I can still blame them for how things started to break down by the end. The finish didn’t seem earned as there was a lot of posturing from Cargill, possibly from being embarrassed as she messed up the springboard when she got the hot tag. Still, a mess is a mess, no matter who’s to blame.

Match #3: Sami Zayn vs Chad Gable (with Otis and Maxxine Dupri) for the WWE Intercontinental Championship

Despite this match being “only” for the Intercontinental Championship, the secondary championship of the RAW brand, this was the match which had the most hype for me. The storyline buildup for this involving Chad Gable’s Alpha Academy has been great. While it does make Sami Zayn more of a secondary character to the proceedings, it’s just an intriguing story. Thankfully, the match itself was pretty good, with some back and forth between Gable and Zayn with dueling suplexes and Gable stuffing Zayn’s top rope splash with a dropkick.

Still, the main highlights involved Chad Gable’s interactions with Maxxine Dupri and Otis. Things like Maxxine stopping herself from hitting a vulnerable Sami Zayn with the Intercontinental belt, Gable berating Dupri and Otis coming to her defense and Zayn almost knocking Maxxine out with a Helluva Kick because Gable ducked out of the way.

The finish was pure cheeseball wrestling drama and I loved it. Gable had Zayn in an ankle lock in the outside and Zayn reversed the move. This sent Gable right into Maxxine’s injured leg, who was tending to Otis. Gable climbed back into the ring and ordered Otis to assault Sami while he distracted the official. Otis was about to do it but Maxxine called out Otis’ name. This led to Otis carrying Maxxine to the backstage while Gable yelled at them to come back. This distraction was enough for Sami Zayn to recover, nail the Helluva Kick on Chad Gable and get the pinfall victory to retain his Intercontinental championship.

The wrestling action itself was top shelf but it really felt like the main story was all about Alpha Academy’s breakdown. I do love how well the ending was choreographed, with everything running like clockwork, especially the inadvertent chopblock to Maxxine’s knee. I like wrestling where story comes first and this certainly had that in spades!

Match #4: Bayley vs Piper Niven (with Chelsea Green) for the Smackdown Women’s Championship

By this part of the show, I suddenly realized how many Scottish Superstars the WWE has in their roster. After all, 3 of the 5 matches in Clash at the Castle had a Scottish representative in it! Who’d have thunk it? Anyway, Chelsea Green got her sent to the back very early in the match as she started berating the official after Bayley stomped on her hand to a great crowd reaction. So it essentially became a regular singles match. Not really much to call out here. Piper hit a cannonball on Bayley to the outside and Bayley hitting a Bayley-to-Belly on Niven from the second rope.

The finish saw a masked woman, who may or may not have assaulted Chelsea Green backstage as she was wearing her exact outfit, distract Bayley’s pinfall attempt. Bayley then attacked this innocent masked woman to take her out. The Role Model went for her Rose Plan finisher but Piper Niven gets out and hits her Piper Driver for a 2 count. Piper goes for a splash but Bayley gets her knees up. The two head outside where Niven hits a spinning sidewalk slam. Piper goes for a senton but Bayley rollos out of the way. Niven blocks a Rose Plant with a headbutt but Bayley rallies and hits a crucifix driver to get the pinfall victory and retain her Smackdown Women’s Championship.

This was just an okay match. I’m a little shocked we didn’t get more antics from Chelsea Green as she was the most entertaining part of the match. The action in the ring was pretty so-so. The finish seems more like an improvisation as it just came out of nowhere.

Match #5: Damien Priest vs Drew McIntyre for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship

This match was for the biggest prize on RAW but, honestly, I wasn’t feeling it. This is mostly because the story was more on Drew McIntyre facing off against CM Punk and the feud with The Judgement Day’s top guy, Damien Priest, felt secondary. The match really took some time to get good. I did love the bit with Damien Priest’s leg getting tied up in the ropes but it turns out that was due to the aforementioned faulty top rope. Still, I love Drew McIntyre’s adlib of getting Priest untied as he can’t win the championship this way.

There were some cool moments, like Priest nailing a powerful clothesline to floor McIntyre as well as the former Senor Money in the Bank getting out of a White Noise attempt from the Scottish Warrior to hit the Razor’s Edge. McIntrye was no slouch as he did hit a Claymore to send Priest through the ring barricade. Still, nothing as memorable as Priest’s leg getting tied up.

The finish came after the referee was taken out accidentally. Priest reveresed a Claymore into a limp looking powerbomb. Priest went for his South of Heaven finisher but Drew got out of the move and hit a Claymore. Drew went for the cover while another referee rushed in from the back. The official counts to 2… and stops. It was actually CM Punk in a referee’s outfit! McIntyre goes after Punk but Second City Savior delivers a low blow. Priest hits his South of Heaven finisher and the original official counts to 3. Damien Priest is still your WWE World Heavyweight Champion thanks to CM Punk!

This was just an okay match but the ending was terrific! A lot of coordination was needed to make it as spectacular as possible, like having the official avoid one move only to get hit by another. Camera angles were used to obscure the “second official” so you wouldn’t know it was CM Punk. Sports entertainment at its finest!

Overall, this year’s Clash at the Castle was just okay but the storytelling was fantastic. That’s not necessarily a bad thing but I do wish there was some better balance as relying more on the spectacle does make the action feel a little more lame. Still, this was worth the watch… and the eyebags.

Byee!

What did you think of this year’s WWE Clash at the Castle? Let me know in the comments section below!