INSANE Crowd Reactions, New Champions, No Heel Turn! WWE Bash In Berlin 2024 Review | WrestleTalk - video Dailymotion

WrestleTalk

What did you think of Bash in Berlin? Let us know in the comments! Can You Name Every Pixar Movie? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7WfugGU7iI More wrestling news on https://wrestletalk.com/ Unlock the secrets to working in professional wrestling, sign up to https://www.wrestlingmasterclass.com/  0:00 - WWE Bash In Berlin Review 1:35 - Cody Rhodes vs Kevin Owens 4:00 - Isla Dawn & Alba Fyre vs Jade Cargill & Bianca Belair 5:16 - CM Punk vs Drew McIntyre 7:24 - Liv Morgan & Dominik Mysterio vs Rhea Ripley & Damian Priest 8:41 - Gunther vs Randy Orton INSANE Crowd Reactions, New Champions, No Heel Turn! WWE Bash In Berlin 2024 Review | WrestleTalk #WWE #BashInBerlin #WrestleTalk  Buy WrestleTalk Merch here! https://wrestleshop.com/   Youtube Channel Comments Policy We appreciate the comments and opinions our viewers provide. Do note that all comments are subject to YouTube auto-moderation and manual moderation review. We encourage opinions and discussion, but harassment, hate speech, bullying and other abusive posts will not be tolerated. Decisions on comment removal are made by the Community Manager. Please email us at support@wrestletalk.com with any questions or concerns.

Transcript

00:00Kevin Owens doesn't turn heel...yet. We have new Women's Tag Team Champions.

00:04That German Crab was someone else wasn't it? I'm Pete Quinnell and this is my review of

00:08Bash in Berlin 2024. Before we dive into the review of the show,

00:14I want to talk about the pre-show. Now, I know, there's not any wrestling on the pre-show,

00:18but I want to give a massive shoutout to the sit-down interviews they had with Randy Orton,

00:21Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens. I know Triple H being in control of WWE isn't new anymore,

00:26but I keep finding things, big or small, that are much better than they used to be.

00:30Everything feels so much more natural, and it's not a big ask, but them referencing that if Orton

00:35wins the belt he'll be a 15 time world champion, and Owens and Cody talking candidly about Cody

00:40leaving the company and Owens' role in that departure, and how they tie that back into the

00:44very natural and relatable feelings going into the title match, everything just feels so much easier

00:48to connect to on every level. And this also might be a good time to talk about the crowd in Berlin.

00:54They were electric all night. Insane chants, big cheers, boos, they had it all. Counting

00:59the referee's count in German is very fun, I like that, more of that. Once again,

01:04an international crowd have elevated what would have been a good show into one of the better ones.

01:08It's honestly a recipe for success in WWE. Have every single B-Show be an international show,

01:13it's a cheat code on how to make them feel more important. And it allows for fans across the world

01:18to come to shows, makes WWE feel like more of a global company, it makes your shows better,

01:22it can allow your international wrestlers to have big hometown pops,

01:25which is not what Gunther had on the show because he's not from Germany.

01:29So now, the wrestling. We begin with Cody Rhodes vs. Kevin Owens for the undisputed WWE

01:34Championship. While the build could be argued to be a little jank getting to this point,

01:38the potential story of Kevin Owens vs. Cody Rhodes was enticing. Once again,

01:42I enjoy when a wrestler's own continuity is referenced. It makes every single wrestler have

01:47their own story, it makes every single story unique. Owens turns on people, that's what he

01:52does, but spoilers, he didn't this time. The match itself was really fun, with the crowd

01:56helping the atmosphere feel electric the whole time, with the pair even getting a standing ovation

02:01before the match began. They started feeling each other out, babyface vs. babyface stuff,

02:05but then they started getting a little too into it later on. Owens kept looking pissed off

02:09throughout, meaning they both got into hockey fights and brought the intensity in what could

02:13have been a bland babyface matchup on paper. After a few big moves like a rolling senton

02:18off the middle rope and a Cody Cutter that was counted into a stunner that was counted

02:20into a crossroads for a near fall, the intensity picked up even more, spilling to the outside,

02:25and the story Owens had brought up came to the fore as Cody went for a top rope Cody Cutter,

02:30but his knee gave out. The target had been set, the target that Owens said he knew about but

02:35hadn't hit a single move on the whole time so far. Cody was struggling, Owens had the

02:41opportunity to take advantage, but stopped himself. He didn't want to taint his victory,

02:45he didn't want an asterisk next to his win like it was when he won the Universal Championship.

02:50He allowed Cody to recover, Cody yelling at him that he's fine so keep fighting,

02:54so Owens kicked his knee in response. After hesitating and not wanting to take advantage,

03:00he succumbed, which you'd think might be the heel turn, but then he went to do the apron

03:04powerbomb and stopped himself again. He couldn't bring himself to regress to his darkest point,

03:08but he does hit a stunner for a near fall. Cody gets back into it though, hitting two crossroads,

03:13and on the third it was counted into another stunner for another near fall. Owens went for

03:17a Swanton Bomb, but Cody got the knees up, hit another crossroads, and won.

03:21The match was great. They're both great wrestlers and can always put on a good match at minimum. I

03:26think the match hit its climax at the knee attack in a banded apron powerbomb spot, where I feel

03:31like Cody should have just hit a crossroads and won, rather than hitting two, then a stunner,

03:35then a counter swanton, then another crossroads to win. The finish felt a little superfluous,

03:40but regardless, I had fun. I don't think the symbolism of using the knees, the thing that

03:44Owens was targeting in the finish was worth the extra few moves and going past the climax, but

03:49it was a very fun opener and the crowd had set the tone for the night. Post-match, Owens didn't turn

03:53heel, showed his respect to Cody, and in a nice little detail, refused Cody showing him respect

03:58back and didn't let him raise his hand. Up next was Isla Dawn and Alba Fire vs Jade

04:03Cargill and Bianca Belair for the Women's Tag Team Titles. The magic of video editing was fully

04:07present here, as it actually made it look like Dawn and Fire had actually won some matches

04:11sometimes. The video package was trying to put over how rough these past few months for the

04:15babyfaces have been, and aside from not winning the title matches by not being pinned in a triple

04:19threat and losing via DQ respectively, I failed to see how it's been rough for them. The match

04:24itself was okay, nothing super special unfortunately. My biggest issue with the match is that

04:29if you're so concerned with protecting Bianca and particularly Jade as your big stars, then there are

04:34no stakes for them, there's no peril. They need to have equals or close to equals to deliver some

04:39challenge to them, and this match wasn't booked to make the champs look like equals.

04:42I think there was one point where the champs actually looked like a dominant force,

04:46and that was when Alba Fire hit a Tornado DDT on Bianca Belair while also kicking Cargill

04:51off the turnbuckle. That was just a good move by a good wrestler that gave her team the advantage.

04:55Every other time the champs got control or maintained it, it was through underhanded

04:59tactics or by cheating or just generally feeling inferior but sneaky. If they're your tag champs,

05:04make them more imposing. It also means Cargill and Bianca look better when they win,

05:10and the finish was fine, and the match was decently worked, I just wasn't particularly

05:14invested and the booking of the match didn't do enough to hook me in.

05:16Following this was CM Punk vs Drew McIntyre in a strap match, and yes,

05:20it was the version of a strap match where you have to tap all four corners to win

05:24uninterrupted whatever that means, which is bad. I do not like this version,

05:28and you'll see why when I talk about the match, which in spite of that, was very good.

05:33Drew attacked Punk before the bell and took the early control, but Punk came right back

05:36into it with a GTS. Now at this point CM Punk could touch one of the turnbuckles and try to win,

05:41but opts not to because he wants to beat up Drew some more. One of the lights stays on that Drew

05:45had turned on earlier and the commentary can't decide whether it should stay on or turn off,

05:49I do not like this version of a strap match. After lots of weapons and brawling on the outside

05:52with chairs and a back body drop on the commentary table, Drew hits a Claymore on the inside of the

05:56ring and manages to turn on three of the four lights, but Punk managed to roll to the outside

06:01and pull Drew across the ring into a chair that was set up in the corner. But Drew comes back

06:05into it again when he drops Punk from inside the ring to the outside through a table. Drew revealed

06:11he still has the bracelet and hits another Claymore, but he can't get all four lights before

06:15Punk comes back into it and hits a GTS. Punk notices the bracelet and gets fired up once more,

06:20hitting another GTS, and he starts turning the lights on, hitting a GTS after each light for a

06:26total of five in the match, taking the bracelet back before tapping the fourth and final light.

06:31Now it sounds like the whole red light green light thing was fine really, what am I complaining

06:35about? And you know what, it was fine, you're right, I should stop being such a baby. But

06:40would the match really have been worse if it just ended in pinfall? Was the match really

06:45enhanced by the red and green lights, or Drew managing to turn on three lights, or Punk choosing

06:49to hurt Drew over turning lights on? Or would all of those story beats have been just as good,

06:54if not better, in a match with a strap where it's just won by pinfall or submission?

06:58It's a rhetorical question, having the lights added nothing. Aside from that though,

07:02this was a great match. I do wonder how Drew will react to this now that the feud is seemingly

07:06wrapped up, with Punk getting not only the win, but the bracelet back too, in dominant fashion.

07:11Similarly with Owens and Rhodes, it felt like this match reached its climax and then carried

07:15on for just a bit too long. I don't know if we needed to see Punk hitting four GTS's with each

07:19tap of the corner, it felt a little overkill, especially if the feud is continuing, but still,

07:24good stuff. Next was the mixed tag match of Liv Morgan and Dominik Mysterio vs Rhea Ripley and

07:28Damian Priest, and this one was a lot of fun. It's exactly the match you'd think it would be,

07:33babyface is standing tall for a while, heels being sneaky and coming back into it,

07:36teases of spots you want to see, before the heels shut them down. They did do a good job of drawing

07:40out the finish here, and this time I think it was actually done quite well. Lots of soap opera

07:44drama nonsense. The crowd went absolutely ballistic, probably the loudest they were all

07:50night for a single spot, when Ripley got her hands on Dom-Dom and did the headscissor choke

07:54in the corner thing that she did to him before he was recruited to Judgment Day. I mean hey,

07:58if that's what got him to join originally, who's to say he might not turn on Liv again and rejoin

08:02Rhea? Don't do that WWE, it was a joke. But Rhea then went for a Riptide on Dom,

08:06and Liv saved him, but that's fine, Rhea will just get to hit it later, right?

08:10Judgment Day came out to cause a distraction with Finn Balor hitting a Slingblade on Priest behind

08:14the referee's back, allowing Dom to hit a 619 and a Frog Splash for a very good nearfall,

08:18and they continued to wreak havoc at ringside, but Priest overcame them all,

08:21while Ripley in the ring hit the Riptide on Morgan to get the win. It was a feel good moment,

08:26and the pair of them hugging after the match was great, but they did tease the moment of Rhea

08:30hitting the Riptide on Dom, and they didn't do it, which means they probably still will do it,

08:34so...this feud must continue I guess? But does it really need to just for that?

08:41And finally it was the main event of Gunther vs Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship,

08:45and the crowd were absolutely insane here, singing Randy's theme, giving Ludwig Kaiser's

08:50introduction all the gravitas it deserved, and doing all sorts of chants and songs for

08:54the entire duration of the match. But quick note to German crowds and all crowds going forward,

08:59don't do the wave, it makes me feel icky because it used to be used to show boredom,

09:03and it feels weird seeing an excited and invested crowd do it too.

09:06The story of the match was a very simple one, Orton targeted Gunther's right arm so Gunther

09:11had to adapt, and when I say that Gunther is a perfect wrestler, I do mean it. Every single time

09:17he did anything with that right hand, he sold it. Every. Single. Time. Constantly reinforcing what

09:23a toll it was to use it. So when he can't get Randy up for a powerbomb three times in a row,

09:27it makes sense you're invested in his struggle. So then when he does hit that powerbomb,

09:31the release is even bigger, an RKO was counted into a German suplex, Gunther hit a big old

09:36smash from the top rope and immediately sold his hand again because he's a perfect wrestler,

09:39the finish was a tried and tested one with Gunther locking in a sleeper hold,

09:43Orton powering out of it, Gunther locking it in again, Orton countering it again,

09:47and Gunther locking it in a third time to make Orton pass out, even featuring some nice elbows

09:51to make it that much more effective. Gunther retained in a very fun match, and that was

09:56Bashing Berlin, a good show that was elevated into a pretty great one courtesy of a wonderful

10:00German crowd. I don't have too many more thoughts on it, but you can be sure I can extend it out to

10:04an hour when I do the podcast review with Dan Layton later today. I'll give this show a solid

10:084 out of 5. For now though, why not check out a new episode of Survival Series on Cutscene,

10:13where the competitors have to name every single Pixar animated movie.

INSANE Crowd Reactions, New Champions, No Heel Turn! WWE Bash In Berlin 2024 Review | WrestleTalk

Category

Transcript

Recommended