WWE Bad Blood 2024

On paper, this premium love event looked like it could be a contender for show of the year. It saw the return of an iconic 'Attitude Era' pay-per-view name, it had a stacked card, including two massive marquee matches, and it was a show full of high stakes and the time to explore them. I was, unfortunately, unable to watch the show live, but I avoided spoilers, and saw it the evening after.

The hotly anticipated 'Hell In A Cell' match between rivals Drew McIntyre and CM Punk kicked off the evening, in what I hoped would be one of the matches of the year. The commentators said it wasn't going to be a wrestling clinic, and they were right; it was a war. The physicality and intensity wad off the chain. Each man lived up to the name of the event, as both were soon caked in blood. It was an old school match, which felt straight out of the early 2000's. Some of the action was straight out of a horror film! At the end of it all, the right man won, and the storytelling was absolutely exhilarating. This was by far the best cell match in years.

The WWE Women's Championship match between Nia Jax and Bayley had the insanely difficult job of having to follow the incredible opener. For what it's worth, I thought the ladies put forth a great effort, full of some great spots, including a creative ref bump. Unfortunately, there were a couple of botched moves, but, considering the ambition of those moves, it didn't bother me much. The match ending was exciting, though the result was very predictable.

The third match of the night was the battle of former 'Judgement Day' brothers; Damien Priest and Finn Balor. After being electric for the first half of the night, the crowd was audibly fatigued during this match, which was a shame. They still had energy for some of the bigger spots, but there was definitely a difference. The actual match was good, but not as good as I hoped. It felt very much like it was cut down for time. It also suffered from that annoying trait where there's a discrepancy between the effect of two wrestler's finishers - it was a little irritating. The outcome was expected, but not the one I wanted, if I'm honest.

Between matches, there was a brief segment, in which COO Paul 'Triple H' Levesque announced the attendance, as well as two new one-off championships for the next Saudi Arabia event; WWE Crown Jewel - an announcement which was awkwardly greeted with boos from the live crowd. There is no hiding from the controversy caused by WWE's deal with the Saudi government, and many fans aren't happy about it. This segment also saw appearances from World Heavyweight Champion GUNTHER, no.1 contender Sami Zayn, and the returning legend Goldberg. It seems he will be the next challenger, likely at Survivor Series: War Games.

The fourth match was another 'Judgement Day' infused rivalry, pitting former member Rhea Ripley against new member, and Women's World Champion; Liv Morgan. Not only was the title on the line, but 'Dirty' Dom Mysterio, who betrayed Ripley for Morgan, was locked in an elevated shark cage. I loved the rivalry coming into this one, and I hoped these ladies could back up their great match from Summerslam. The match was a little slower than that previous match, but I still liked it. Unfortunately, the end to the match was really awkward - evidently there was some sort of miscommunication, because it didn't have the desired effect in the arena, and the time keeper missed the call for the end of the match.

Finally, it was time for the main event; a big money tag team match which saw the new Bloodline's Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu take on the all-star team of WWE Undisputed Champion Cody Rhodes and former champion Roman Reigns. You knew this was a big-time match when Rhodes got a marching band for his entrance, and Reigns an orchestra for his. It certainly made this one feel high stakes. The match followed a classic face versus heel tag team narrative, before exploding into chaos towards the end. Everything came full circle with not one but two shock moments too, which had me shocked and thrilled!

Overall, I thought this was yet another solid event from the WWE, though not without its issues. The opener was the runaway match of the night, the three bouts after all slightly underdelivered, the Saudi segment did not go over well, but was saved by the brawl that followed, and the main event provided three key storylines for the coming weeks of television. This may not have been the show of the year, as I had hoped, but it did what it needed to do.