WWE Bash In Berlin (2024)

With WWE more and more open and willing to hold Premium Live Events in overseas territories, such as the UK and France, it seemed only a matter of time before one of Europe's premier wrestling locations got their own show. The SmackDown before confirmed the already suspected motion that the crowd would be on top form, and the card looked very entertaining on paper - it also helped that it was streaming at a reasonable hour for once.

The first match of the night was the Undisputed WWE Championship bout, between defending champion Cody Rhodes and longtime ally Kevin Owens. If I'm honest, the fued was pretty weak for the Triple H era of WWE, but the two men put on a great show regardless. What's more, they built on their storyline as the match progressed, which was very enjoyable to see. Both men hit their highlight reel moves, and gave thr crowd a lot to love. I think the ending came out of nowhere a little bit, but it wasn't that bad - the crowd were onboard.

This very solid opener was followed up by the Women's Tag Team Championship match, which saw champions Isla Dawn and Alba Fyre defend against former champs Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair. I like the women in this match - they've all got some great moves - so I was eager to see what their match would look like. They played out a solid tag affair, with each team playing their archetypal roles very well. The match ended somewhat unexpectedly, but I liked it. I hope we see more from these two teams.

One of the show's marquee matches followed this; the strap match between Drew McIntyre and CM Punk. It's been a phenomenal rivalry to this point, and my expectations were high. The intensity of the match reflected the rivalry and I loved every bit of it. The storytelling was great, the pacing was solid and the ending was well worked. This was a real high point to the show, as expected.

Match four of the evening was the mixed tag match with high stakes and high drama - Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest versus Liv Morgan and 'Dirty' Dom Mysterio. I hoped for a chaotic and entertaining affair, and that's exactly what we got. I loved how fiery the two baby faces were, and the tactics of the heels were fiendishly fun. I was slightly surprised by the winners, but I wasn't disappointed in the slightest. This was a great match, in my view.

The main event, as I'd hoped and expected, saw Austrian and German hero, and reigning World Heavyweight Champion GUNTHER defend his title against the legendary Randy Orton. The crowd was at its best here, and the wrestlers fed off it wonderfully. The match played out at a methodical pace, which was made a lot more watchable by the crowd. The story of the match was intriguing too, and while the winner was never in doubt, I enjoyed the journey the two men took us on.

Overall, this was yet another very good show from the WWE under Triple H. The matches were all very solid, the stories across the board worked and the results all made sense - even if a couple of them slightly surprised me. It was a memorable show and seeing the main event, with its physicality and atmosphere, was the cherry on top of the sundae.