Iron Moose

At least one of them was a real violinist: Brigit O'Regan ... and per her instagram the others might be as well.

I didn't feel like Nakamura did Joe many (any?) favors until the ending. I was relieved. I will also gladly add my voice to the chorus singing the glory of The Revival. That was beautiful.

Without intending to spoil anything: since it's Toronto, does anyone hope/think we'll get a Trish cameo?

oh god why would she do that #alldeadeverything

I'm surprised they didn't lean more on "YOLO" for Liv...

Given the Raw-exclusive cruiserweight title, it probably should have been Steph. Given the Full Sail crowd I have no idea how that would have played out, but I am very curious.

hell of a show.

Sasha also called Dana Miss Piggy back in NXT, setting up Emma/Dana v Charlotte/Sasha (in return, Sasha gave Charlotte a title match. )

Billie/Peyton/Asuka tripe threat! And I guess ... Itami/Tozawa v TM-61?

I've enjoyed Aliyah and Liv performances in the past, but I felt like this match was ... simultaneously weightless and a climax to a story we had not seen the rest of. Both Aliyah's viciousness (the running knee to start, the punching in the ropes, kicking during the submission - these are things you do once you have a history with someone) and Liv's finishing kick felt unearned / came out of nowhere. Maybe a less decisive finish (flash pin after a harder kick?) would have worked better.

A time-limit draw or double count-out or something might have been interesting.

In a hypothetical Ibushi/ZSJ final... ?

Polish Hammer for heels. Flying headscissors/hurricanrana for faces.

Aries-NWJ was fine. It helps AA and doesn't seem likely to hurt Jose. Aries-Itami will also be fine. I'm not sure I get Ember Moon yet, but the finisher was superb. Roode is wonderful until he has to do anything, and I hope Almas figures out his character soon. Revival are superb. I went in thinking they both should and would win, and over the course of the match I was turned to cheering for Gargano and Ciampa, even hoping that G&C would win after the foot on the rope spot. I wasn't too fond of either of the title matches. I don't think either pairing really clicked, and I think the main hurt Joe more than it helped Nak.

Itami's injury took him off the card at Takeover Unstoppable, which was the show Joe debuted at.

Moon over Kay. Curious about what they rename the O-Face. Roode over Almas. A toss-up, as a gobsmacked-by-losing Roode could be lots of fun, same for a relishing-the-boos-for-beating-the-new-guy Almas. Aries over Jose. Rebuild Aries, have him more ready for the title mix. I am least confident about this and Roode/Andrade. Revival over Gargano/Ciampa. Teams shouldn't beat the Revival too often. Set up a second round. Demon Asuka over Bayley. Brooklyn rather than Full Sail means less chance of a weeping Izzy disrupting the show, and Bayley back in Brooklyn (site of her greatest triumph) and not being able to win again gives space for her character to do another chase-redemption arc. Joe over Nakamura. I hope Joe is in Dallas-Worldbeater mode, only this time he wins. Joe losing, after a brief feud consisting of nose-honking, imaginary telescopes, and being bothered more at Regal than at Nak, makes both him and Nak look bad. I don't get the vibe that Nak wants it, and an anointing of him as champ (given his awful selling in, of all things, the Balor match) risks souring the crowds on him. ....they've booked up a Takeover where an almost straight-ticket set of heel victories creates the most appealing set of follow-ups. Weird.

A thought: the 20-minute time limit feels like a Chekov's Gun at this point. Is there a chance it's used, given that it eliminates both competitors?

While I'm sympathetic to the knot spot being a little much, I'll also remind everyone that the match as a whole had to immediately follow Ibushi/Alexander, so I'm giving it a lot of slack in trying to change the mood of the room. #signthemboth

I'd actually go with Nak. They can do a rematch in Full Sail in October and take the time to make him seem to care about beating Joe. Bayley... going up to Smackdown on a loss could situate her character in a place to let her move up the ranks more organically.

Two matches seems really light for an hour show, especially given the 20 minute time limit. Recaps? Maybe something from an NXT taping or a thought-to-be-dark match?

Yes.

Why would Sasha request a handicap title match. How would that even work.

Is it fair to say that Liv Morgan was a better ragdoll for Nia than Aliyah was for Asuka, or are the demands of the matches sufficiently different that it's an unfair comparison?

Based on tonight's show, we can add