This is our experimental first offering of Rapid Reactions, which is our quick reviews of big shows. Rather than allowing our writers and podcasters to think about shows and come up with curated takes, we're getting their immediate reactions to WWE Bad Blood. My thoughts will be last.
Bad Blood featured one WWE match of the year candidate, a couple of matches that felt like they would've been great RAW or SmackDown main events, and one really confusing match in which one, or maybe all members of the match weren't on the same page. And it also saw the new Mega Powers (Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns) and the return of The Final Boss, aka The Rock.
We'll give you three possible ratings; thumbs up, thumbs down, or thumbs in the middle.
Jeff Hawkins
Thumbs in the Middle
A one match show with story points after it. A rather enjoyable Hell in a Cell match between Drew McIntyre and CM Punk that eschewed the high spots and contrivances of figuring out a way to get around the stipulation in favor of embracing carnage inside the cage. A fun fight match where the props helped instead of got in the way of set pieces. This was the high point.
Other than that is was mostly forwarding/stringing along existing stories between the Terror Twins continuing to feud with Judgment Day and the will she/won’t she cash in of Tiffany Stratton’s Money in the Bank briefcase in the Bayley/Nia Jax match. Bayley took a lot of damage to a lukewarm crowd that just wanted to get to Stratton. Both Terror Twins' matches had focus on other things and took away from any star power either has.
The main event was by most standards plodding until the hardcore and high spots began which woke up a crowd that wanted a reason to go nuts. Commentary focused on whether Roman and Cody could co-exist but as Cole brought up the Dusty/Ole/Assassins angle during the intro, it meant there was no possibility of it happening. Cody is always game to hurt himself and did a great jump off the post to take Jacob Fatu out on the table. Crowd was very satisfied with the returning Jimmy Uso helping Roman against Solo, and the post match return of the Rock, so this will be rated much higher than it probably should be but the last third was fun.
Paul Fontaine
Thumbs Up
Opener was one of the best matches in WWE history. Rest of the show was good to very good. Hot crowd definitely added to the enjoyment and some nice surprises including Goldberg getting involved in an angle and the return of Jimmy Uso. And then The Rock was the icing on the cake.
Scott Young
Thumbs Down
After one of the best Hell in a Cell matches in a LONG time, we were treated to one of the blander shows this year. Go out of your way to see Hell in a Cell, which was one of the best WWE matches of the year.
Keila Cash
Thumbs in the Middle
CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre in Hell in a Cell was the perfect way to end a feud ten months in the making. Despite the peaks and valleys in-between, Punk and McIntyre delivered an instant classic brimming with blood and hate that had the Atlanta crowd red hot from the jump. No notes. All points.
Rhea Ripley vs. Liv Morgan for the WWE Women's World Championship had a flat finish to a feud that has officially hit a plateau. Ripley taking a one-minute intermission to beat Dominik Mysterio like a piñata versus beating Liv for the title was an absolute choice. Raquel Rodriguez coming back was a nice surprise, but the execution was iffy as the match was thrown out. The smoke and mirrors of it all has watered down what was the hottest angle of the summer in WWE which is a shame considering the talent involved.
Jeremy Finestone
Thumbs Up
The best match was the Hell in a Cell opener between CM Punk and Drew McIntyre. HIAC stole the show, with a match that built upon ten months of friction from the day Punk returned at Survivor Series last year.
The show never quite hit the peak of the first match, but by design it was meant to be the blowoff while everything else built to future matches for the company. While nothing missed until the main event, the energy from the crowd manifested fully with the opener and closing matches, and the star power in the main event with Cody Rhodes, Roman Reigns, and eventually The Rock put the closing minutes over the top.
GG
Thumbs Up
I hesitate to give a show anything but a thumbs up with a match like the opener, but hey, I guess WrestleMania 13 was probably a thumbs down. Nia Jax and Bayley worked their assess off, but they probably needed to have a simpler match so that Nia's hit rate was better. Finn Balor was awesome and a bumping machine, but we knew he was going to lose and lose he did. Rhea Ripley played stupid babyface, but even in playing stupid babyface, because of what looked like to be a miscommunication between all parties involved and the referee, you had something that made zero sense when it was over. I'm still not exactly sure who won.
But this show was built around two matches; one that delivered in the ring, or cage, or cell, and one that delivered in bigger picture storyline. Drew McIntyre and CM Punk had one of the best Hell in a Cell matches ever and could be the best match in WWE this year. It was everything I wanted out of the feud since the beginning, bracelet beads be damned. The main event tried to be a very old school tag team match with the heels keeping the babyface in the corner and preventing him tagging his partner. I liked that part of the match, but I also like old school tag team wrestling and we see very little of it today. I was surprised the heels actually lost, but the storyline advancement with Jimmy Uso returning and The Rock showing up at the end was strong to end the show.
