WWE Clash at the Castle results (2024) and commentary from Danny Damage!
Previously On…
Cody Rhodes visited some old friends from AEW on NXT and they all agreed that life’s a bit better now they work for a wonky-eyed fake Christian instead of an over-excited man-child without boundaries or experience in hearing the word “no”.
The advertising efforts looked to be a little gentler again. There’s a big Prime logo in the middle of the ring, but the additional sponsors seem to be happy dividing up the crowd/seating tiers and not wrapping the ring-side area like a cheap whore.
There was a free-to-download/play mobile game sponsoring the event too. But, every time the sales pitch was thrown out there, all I could hear was “Hey, kids, do you want a free video game?”, which could be perceived as a bit dodgy by many. Am I the only one who could see the cage/net hanging above?
At the start of the show, it appeared that WWE had left the super-fancy, mega-HD cameras at home and they didn’t trust Scotland to keep them safe. This changed later on in the night, but I chuckled for a minute or so early on.
If all of this wrestling action wasn’t enough for you on a Saturday night, you could have also joined Tony Khan for his exciting first-anniversary celebration for Collision…</sarcasm>.
WWE Clash at the Castle Results (2024)
Cody Rhodes vs. AJ Styles (I Quit Match/Universal Title)
Winner: Cody Rhodes
The crowd were rather quiet during AJ’s entrance and I didn’t think they were going to try and compete with the previous fans from overseas. That changed once Cody’s music set them up with the first “whoa-oh” and then they all woke up and started with the football chants.
Seeing as I Quit matches enjoy indirect no-DQ stipulations, it didn’t take these guys long to start breaking out the weapons and furniture. They even made their way into the crowd and then ended up fighting at the gorilla position, where not one person feared for their life.
Back in the ring, Cody utilised a Figure Four leg lock, but AJ eventually wriggled out of it. Cody’s mum was in the front row and AJ got in her face and he ate a couple of slaps. This seemed a bit silly at first, but it gave Cody time to cut his head open after taking a brainbuster onto the announce table.
AJ continued showing his nasty side as he trapped Cody’s head in a steel chair and dropped a couple of knees. He also beat the champion down with a Kendo stick too.
Then, AJ pulled out a bag with some handcuffs and a chain. He cuffed Cody’s hands behind his back and loaded his own fist/arm up with the chain. Unbeknownst to Styles, Cody got his hands in front of him and stood near a steel chair. As AJ tried to hit a chain-loaded Phenomenal Forearm, Rhodes grabbed the chair and launched it at his challenger’s head. This caused Styles to fall backwards and through a table they’d prepared earlier.
Cody took this opportunity to get the key from AJ’s bag of tricks, uncuff one of his wrists and use the other one (still cuffed) as a weapon. He cracked AJ in the face a few times before cuffing him to the middle rope and leaving him dazed in the corner.
As Rhodes got back in the ring and had the steel ring steps held high above his head, AJ realised he didn’t want none of that landing on/squashing him and told the referee that he quit.
As Cody was leaving the arena, Solo Sikoa crept behind him and drew his attention. This opened the door for the New Bloodline to sneak attack the champ, but Randy Orton and Kevin Owens showed up to make the save.
Women’s Tag Title Triple Threat
Winners: Alba Fyre & Isla Dawn (pinfall)
There wasn’t a huge pop for the local lasses, but the crowd started to remember them (and their original names) after some time. I’m pointing the finger at the NXT machine here, as Kay Lee Ray had already established herself significantly in WWE/NXT UK. Sadly, she was one of many victims during a wave of pointless name changes a couple years ago.
The moment that I thought to myself “It’s nice watching Jade Cargill grow/develop each week”, she made a hot tag and messed up her springboard dive. Fortunately, she recovered quickly and didn’t just stand there looking lost. Jade got straight back on the offensive and showed that she can think on her feet, even when she doesn’t land on them.
We were served a plate of the usual chaotic madness involved with triple-threat matches, with Jade and Bianca dominating whenever they weren’t being double/triple/quadruple-teamed.
The finish saw Jade and Bianca KO Shayna Baszler, but Fyre and Dawn nudged the champs outside the ring and sneaked the win for themselves.
Sami Zayn vs. Chad Gable (Intercontinental Title)
Winner: Sami Zayn (pinfall)
They started with a little chain wrestling and Sami soon found himself on the floor, trying to talk Otis into waking up from Gable’s spell.
This strategy didn’t work, but neither did Chad’s attempts at getting his minions to help him cheat. Otis refused to throw a punch and Maxine didn’t want to swing the belt at Zayn when Gable set it up.
Chad ducked a Helluva Kick and countered with a beautiful Chaos Theory German suplex for two.
Zayn “accidentally” threw Gable into Maxine, who took a bump on the outside. This made Otis pull his concerned face before carrying her back to the locker room. As all this was happening, Chad was back in the ring expressing his frustration towards his useless cohorts, but Sami charged in from behind and ended the match with a Helluva Kick.
The match was great and Chad left onlookers gobsmacked, but I’ve lost all interest in Sami Zayn. I can’t quite put my finger on what’s changed, but he doesn’t have that same energy or intrigue as he had when sniffing around The Bloodline.
As I said when Zayn beat Gunther at WrestleMania 40, it didn’t do anything for him. Gable could have taken that spot and told the story of his heel turn with Sami over the coming months; cheating being the only way he could beat his former friend/trainee.
Bayley vs. Piper Niven (Women’s Title)
Winner: Bayley (pinfall)
Although the production team managed to dig out those super fancy HD cameras for this match, 2024 seems to be the year of saying “Poor Bayley”. She felt like an afterthought during WrestleMania season, despite winning the women’s Royal Rumble. She’s been the workhorse of the women’s division for years but often has to make way for the monthly philanthropic pushes and lasses with their arsecheeks on display, and now, she’s trying to be a babyface against a Scot in Scotland. Give her a break.
Mid Morgan would have been a better opponent for Niven.
Some of the crowd got into the “Hey Bayley” singing, but not nearly as many as before.
They tried to get some heat on Piper by having Chelsea Green interfere on her behalf, but the referee ejected her early on.
Bayley fought from underneath with the aggressive, larger challenger keeping the pressure on, but the champ showed her veteran guile at every possible chance.
Chelsea returned with a mask on, barely hiding the fact that it was her. This allowed Niven to get in a bit more offence, but it wasn’t enough.
In the end, Bayley wrapped herself around the arms and shoulders of Piper and rolled her up with a crucifix pin, using the big gal’s size against her.
Damian Priest vs. Drew McIntyre (World Title)
Winner: Damian Priest (pinfall)
As you’d expect, the crowd went nuts for hometown Drew, even after two earlier matches featured talent from Scotland.
The two big lads started knocking the shit out of each other with heavy strikes and moves from the bell.
Damian went for his step-up, over-the-top-rope senton flippy-dippy thing and almost took himself out of the match. McIntyre called an audible and started beating on his upside-down opponent and then shouted something along the lines of “I can’t win with him like this” before helping Priest out of the ropes.
For the rest of the match, Damian was left hobbling around on one leg, at least acting like it was injured. To be fair to him, if he was hurt, he did a pretty good job carrying on with the injury. If he didn’t actually damage anything, he did a convincing job selling it.
Drew focused on the mangled limb and got a few near-falls. Priest tried to derail McIntyre’s momentum by rolling to the outside, but Drew followed him and Claymore Kicked him through the barricade.
As they got back in the ring, Damian soon regained his senses and hit McIntyre with his South of Heaven chokeslam for a two-count.
Then, Drew hit Priest square on with a Claymore, but somehow, only got a two-count. Now, I get a lot of people in the crowd (and in the office) who have a stonking great hard-on for Damian Priest, but I don’t buy him kicking out of Big Drew’s finish.
Sure, Priest looks and sounds like a “fully-grown bloke” compared to many of the athletic, yet smaller wrestlers on the scene at the moment, but when he’s in there with someone like Drew, you HAVE to recalibrate expectations.
Anyway, the referee took a bump to the outside before Drew landed another Claymore Kick, which had nobody around to count the pinfall attempt. That was until a second official charged down the aisle with all of the cameras suspiciously locked behind him, hiding his identity.
When the replacement referee slid into the ring and counted to two, he stopped and just glared at Drew. The camera then revealed that it was CM Punk, who had apparently been waiting backstage with an official’s shirt on, hoping for a referee bump to occur.
Once MyIntyre realised he’d been screwed out of the win, he grabbed Punk and backed him into a corner, only to get booted in the balls. This allowed Priest to hit another South of Heaven chokeslam and retain his belt.
CM Punk strutted off with a grin on his face, knowing he’d ruined another of Drew’s title opportunities. The crowd were initially upset with Punk’s actions, but before the show faded out, they were cheering for him.
And Another Thing…
As well as arguing about the not-so-crowd-pleasing finish, there are people discussing whether or not Priest’s botch was intentional or not. I don’t believe it was planned and I think we saw the inevitable result of Damian doing something he shouldn’t have been doing in practically all of his matches.
Honestly, we’re lucky there haven’t been any injuries with this unnecessary spot.
Every appearance, Priest charges towards the ropes and halts his own momentum by jumping onto the second rope and then throwing himself over the top. Instead of the smooth, 1990s Jeff Hardy dive he thinks he’s doing where he barely touches his opponent, he launches some kind of graceless, diving/rolling axe kick as if he’s trying to be Sanji from One Piece…
If you’re on Team Planned Spot, please explain how making the heel champion fight from underneath against the hometown hero makes a lick of sense. That’s right, it doesn’t. So, let’s just accept that accidents happen and be impressed with the improvisational skills demonstrated when Priest stepped in and slipped on his own dog’s shit.
Oh yeah, I know a lotta guys like what they’re looking at, but Samantha Irvin is still a horrendous attention-seeker. If her husband is really going to AEW, let him take her with him. She can fight Aubrey Edwards and Justin Roberts in an “Excess Spotlight on a Pole” match.
– OLDER PPV RESULTS –
- WWE King of the Ring 2024
- WWE Backlash 2024
- WWE WrestleMania 40 (Night 2)
- WWE WrestleMania 40 (Night 1)
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