WWE Bash In Berlin 2024: 3 Things We Hated And Three Things We Loved

Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s first-ever review of WWE Bash at Berlin, the company's inaugural PLE taking place in Germany! For better or for worse, WWE put on quite the performance in front of a hot Berlin crowd, and the WINC staff is here to separate the best from the worst — at least, in our opinions. Our Bash in Berlin results page is the place to go for the objective facts of the event, but we're here to tell you what we thought of each and every match on the show, as well as WWE's direction going forward!

So, were we moved by Kevin Owens not having the heart to take down his friend Cody Rhodes? Were we entertained by GUNTHER defending the World Heavyweight Championship in Germany? And most importantly, did we weep tears of actual joy at CM Punk finally getting his bracelet back? Here are three things we hated and three things we loved about WWE Bash in Berlin 2024.

I don't think I've written a "hated" segment for a Cody Rhodes match on a premium live event, and I really never thought I would, but this match just wasn't a great way to kick off Bash in Berlin for those of us watching at home. I'm glad the crowd in Germany seemed white hot and got a big event they've been waiting a long time for, and even well-balanced between cheering for Rhodes and for Owens, but this match just didn't hit the spot to start off the show, and it kept me feeling kind of bummed and almost bored throughout the rest of the card. Maybe that's because this match, and the rest of the matches in Berlin, were so predictable. We often discuss how the major WWE championships don't change at shows like these here at WINC, and we weren't wrong in that prediction. The way this feud was set up was pretty bad to begin with, with Rhodes just kind of politely telling Owens he was getting a title opportunity for helping Rhodes against the Bloodline. There was an Owens heel turn teased for weeks, something that was even teased within this match with Owens going for the apron powerbomb, but deciding against it.

The thing that bothered me most throughout the match was another tease that went nowhere. On Friday night's "WWE SmackDown," Kevin Owens alluded to Rhodes suffering a knee injury on a house show in Germany over the last week. I hated that little portion of their face-to-face last night, because Rhodes just made it extremely awkward, something that's unusual for him. He basically was like, "Oh. No. What are you talking about, friend? I'm okay!" During their match at Bash in Berlin, commentary mentioned this apparent knee injury a few times, but Rhodes didn't sell ANYTHING about it until over halfway through the match. We as a crowd weren't even aware which knee it was, until commentary mentioned it when Rhodes' left knee "buckled" when he attempted to jump to a turnbuckle and it gave out on him.

Prior to that attempt at a move, Rhodes was able to lock Owens in the figure-four leglock. Which, I've never taken that submission personally, I'd imagine it would also put a bit of pressure on Rhodes' knee as well. But, he was fine. After the knee buckled, Rhodes also got both his knees up to counter a senton from Owens. Make it make sense! Overall, the match had a predictable outcome, which made it a slog to get through and put a damper on the rest of the show for me. Rhodes need a feud with substance again, and hopefully we'll get a bit more of that when he moves on to the new tribal chief, Solo Sikoa.

Written by Daisy Ruth

On the one hand, I hate it for Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn, who are both immensely talented, that their reign as women's tag champs had to end this way. On the other hand, I can't help but ask myself why they won the titles in the first place (it was because Scotland, wasn't it) and be grateful that the belts are back around the waists of the women who never should have lost them.

It helps that these four put on a pretty tremendous showing, far superior to the triple threat tag at Clash at the Castle that saw Fyre and Dawn walk away with the belts without actually beating the champions. After the dreary slog of the opening contest, something faster and more exciting was extremely welcome, and the two teams showed out in a huge way. Plus, it looks like Bianca and Jade finally have a tag team finisher! As I've stated before, tag team wrestling is the best kind of wrestling, and a match like this one was exactly what Bash in Berlin needed out at that point on the card.

Beyond that though, I'm just glad Belair and Cargill are the champs again. I will never understand why they lost, but we can stop worry about that now. They elevate a set of titles that desperately need elevating, and being champions gives them a clear role in the creative landscape that hopefully prevents them from getting lost in the shuffle — though the fact that two talents like Belair and Cargill were ever in danger of being lost in the shuffle is indicative of the low regard in which WWE holds the women's tag division.

Written by Miles Schneiderman

What has become widely recognized as one of WWE's hottest angles of the past year received its second strike during Bash In Berlin. CM Punk and Drew McIntyre met for the second bout of their grudge feud spanning back to Punk's surprise return at Survivor Series last year, a Strap Match to follow up on their maiden match earlier this month, but once again found itself undone by the stipulation.

During their first match at SummerSlam, the waters were muddied with the involvement of special guest referee Seth Rollins, with McIntyre and Punk's feud competing for air with that of the "Second-City Saint" against Rollins. It was also tragically undercut by its emphasis on a bracelet, said to be symbolic of Punk's family, and that becoming the undoing of his concentration. In the weeks since, Punk admitted he had taken his eye off the ball and sought to rectify it in Berlin, challenging his rival to a Strap Match much in the same way he did ahead of his Dog Collar Match with MJF in 2022. But his match with McIntyre fell far shorter than his previous grudge match, lacking both the spectacle and spite as it descended into a match of finishers and limbering to each corner. Because absolutely nothing fits a blood feud's trial by combat like a glorified game of capture the flag, except for maybe any other stipulation WWE has at its disposal; yes, that includes the Hog Pen Match. Earnestly, this writer really wanted at least one of Punk's matches with McIntyre to deliver on the entertainment value it promised before the bell rung. But what has transpired thus far has been underwhelming at best, a potentially graphic blow off to real-life animosity marred by pantomime tropes and props.

Written by Max Everett

I have to admit, I predicted that Women's World Champion Liv Morgan and Dominik Mysterio would come out victorious in their mixed tag team match against Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest, but boy, was I glad to be wrong, for once. I'm very happy the "Terror Twins" came out on top, especially moving in to Bad Blood next month. I think we're likely to get Ripley and Morgan inside a steel cage, or at least in some kind of interesting stipulation match, and that's something I'm dying to see, and something that bodes well for Ripley getting the championship back. It's especially great that we're hopefully moving in to getting the Women's World Championship away from a storyline mostly focused around a man, but that's a gripe for another day. This match overall was also really fun with some great spots focused on the ladies, like Ripley attempting a Riptide on Mysterio after choking him with her legs around his neck, and Morgan hitting some kind of hybrid Oblivion/Codebreaker.

For whatever reason, I completely forgot about the rest of the "new" Judgment Day when it came to this match. I guess I was so focused on the Ripley/Morgan/Mysterio storyline, I was almost surprised when Finn Balor, Carlito, and JD McDonagh came out to interfere in the match. There were a few moments where I thought to myself, "Oh, this seems a bit overbooked," but when Judgment Day, or most of them, outside of McDonagh, cleared out toward the end of the match, the bout seemed to fix itself, in my eyes. I hope Priest gets a few matches against Carlito and McDonagh on "WWE Raw," and it leads to a larger match for him at Bad Blood. Despite neither men having a title, I think some of these premium live events can use some non-title, blood feud action, like we saw with CM Punk and Drew McIntyre and this mixed tag match. Let Priest and Balor go after each other in what I believe will be a phenomenal match.

Overall, I enjoyed this match and I think it will lead to interesting things moving forward this week on "WWE Raw." Maybe Mysterio will be angry at Morgan for getting distracted and losing for them, when she was staring daggers at Priest for beating Mysterio up on the outside of the ring when Ripley was right behind her. Maybe the rest of the Judgment Day will be upset with the couple overall. Maybe it will be Priest calling out Balor and Ripley demanding another championship match from Morgan. While this isn't my absolute favorite story in WWE right now, I do find it enjoyable, and it can still go up from here.

Written by Daisy Ruth

If you were looking for a compelling story of the challenger overcoming the champion then Bash In Berlin's main event might not have been for you. But if you were a fan of wrestling, the timeless tale of two of the biggest and baddest upper echelon contenders settling their claim for gold, then Randy Orton and Gunther's rematch for the World Heavyweight Championship might be right up your alley.

What had been billed very much as Gunther's European homecoming lived up to the hype, with much of the early proceedings dominated by dueling chants for both champion and challenger. This was a very sports-centric premise from the get-go, a marked departure from the status quo of the sports-entertainment brand, with Orton receiving his second bite at Gunther simply for the fact that Paul "Triple H" Levesque confirmed there would be one during the WWE King & Queen of the Ring press conference. There was no familial nor romantic involvement on each side, no real-life heat to predicate it, just a classic tale of the challenger feeling they have the champions' number after an indecisive finish in their previous match. As such, it delivered on the idea of a balanced competition, comprised of spiteful and calculated yet simple offensive maneuvers, and each competitor looking to score the one move that finally puts the other way.

It was by no means the spectacle one might have come to expect after watching Roman Reigns or Seth Rollins' title runs, but Gunther is a very different champion tailored to presenting wrestling in its purest form, and Orton proved to be the perfect dancing partner for this event.

Written by Max Everett

Something happened at Bash in Berlin that doesn't happen all that often: The babyfaces won every contest. Of course, GUNTHER is only a babyface in Germany, but the point stands — there wasn't a single match result that sent the crowd home unhappy. It was an odd choice, if a predictable one, for a show that already didn't have a whole lot going on in terms of long-term storytelling.

With no Kevin Owens heel turn and no Bloodline presence on the show at all, there was no sense of where Cody Rhodes' title reign goes from here. He and Owens started the match friends, they wrestled, they're still friends, the end. The women's tag titles certainly don't have a direction, except maybe a circle, seeing as we're just now getting back to where we were back in June. CM Punk has defeated Drew McIntyre and taken back his little bracelet, so that story could potentially just be over; my gut says they have a third match in them, but at the moment it seems unnecessary. Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest have gotten their revenge on Dominik Mysterio and Liv Morgan, and while Ripley still hasn't regained her title, that seems like an inevitably at this point . And GUNTHER has officially beaten Randy Orton, leaving him now free for ... who, exactly?

I'm not saying the situation is bad, necessarily. But on a show where not a whole lot actually happened, some heel victories would have been a welcome piece of story advancement.

Written by Miles Schneiderman