Buddy Murphy vs. Roman Reigns

[7.0] "(Grade:C+) I was enthralled by how good this match was! Matthews really proved himself against arguably the biggest guy in the WWE with some nice moves & selling well for Roman i.e. being tossed on the announce table & that wicked sell from the spear. Also, I forget how good roman actually is in the ring especially when you take off your rose-colored glasses; he can go in the ring. For their one & only match together it went very well."

[8.0] "This was very fun, Buddy and Roman had some pretty good chemistry and got a lot of good showcase here, its honestly a shame they didnt have more matches. Fast paced action and hard hitting, the two made each other look really good."

[7.0] "[3.75*] Roman Reigns and Buddy Murphy had really good chemistry that I didn't expect. Roman did a good job and Buddy Murphy's knees were spectacular. Murphy's selling on Spear was one of the best I've ever seen."

[9.0] "This was one of my favorite TV Matches in 2019, I remember I was rooting for Buddy Murphy and I was happy at the time because he was in a big storyline. But this match felt like a PPV Match it was very fast paced I love the hard strikes and Roman Reigns made Buddy Murphy look like a superstar. Sucks WWE never capitalized with Buddy Murphy but he's kicking ass in AEW as one of the AEW Trios Champion in The House of Black."

[9.0] "They gave this away on FREE TV. For a lot of WWE PPVs at the time this would have been match of the night on a lot of them. It was fast paced, hard hitting and a brilliant showcase for an in-established Murphy."

[8.0] "a great TV match. roman made murphy look like a million bucks. this could've been the start of a great push but WWE dropped the ball."

[5.0] "I can understand why there are people that like this match, some good spots and hey Buddy Murphy making a good match against Roman Reigns? The most protected guy in the booking of the company. Push for Murphy? Anyways, yeah this was a good match but this looks incredibly overrated, they just fought for a little bit more than 10 minutes and yeah they delivered good spots but in a very short time, there was some psychology for recognize the amazing in ring performance that Murphy is capable to deliver but for what was this match along his 14 minutes of time aprox. This was a normal match but a very overhyped one because of the normal bad level that WWE always delivered in the last years. In my opinion 2.5 Stars of match."

[8.0] "Pure gold. One of the first fights Murphy had in the main roster, and very difficult, but good to watch. Fast, brutal actions, strong knees, fast counters and one of the best-selling finishers I have seen. Everything is available on the official WWE channel on YT and I really recommend it to anyone. It's a shame Murphy had such a short stint with the main roster and we haven't seen many more fights like this."

[8.0] "Strong TV match between Reigns and Murphy here. A relatively new guy pushing a top star to the limit is always a fun one to witness. Reigns has great striking ability, power game is always on best display when facing someone smaller than him and it looked great here. When Reigns had to sell for Murphy he did a great job at doing so and made him look credible, Murphy strikes looked really good.****"

[8.0] "Gran forma de presentar a Buddy Murphy al enfrentarlo a la cara de Smackdown. A pesar de que sufre de pausas por los comerciales (al igual que todos los combates que se realizan en semanales) la acción es bastante buena y consiguen realizar spots muy buenos en el poco tiempo que le dieron. Buddy Murphy queda muy bien en la derrota, logra mostrar parte de su moveset y le plantea problemas a un Roman Reigns el cual, a pesar de que obviamente no perdería este combate, permite que su rival se luzca y aprovecha para demostrar sus dotes como luchador, a pesar de que los fans se empeñen en criticarlo como performer. Muy buen comienzo de carrera para alguien como Buddy Murphy, es una lástima ver como terminó la relación entre la empresa y el luchador. (***)"

[8.0] "This was one of the best TV matches in quite some time and might as well be one of the best matches on SmackDown ever. While watching this live I wasn't expecting much and though it's basically gonna be an extended squash for Reigns but they actually gave the match time. Both men had a solid showing and especially Murphy and even though he lost the match he looked really strong and WWE could have easily capitalized on this and Murphy could have had a solid run. [****1/4]"

[7.0] "This was an extremely good TV match that was almost great but it didn't quite get to that level. Really liked both guys performances and the crowd was into it throughout. They told a nice story in the ring and there were fun spots here as well. ***3/4"

[8.0] "where did Buddy Murphy go what the fuck I thought for sure they would put him in the IC title picture by now goddamn. Anyway match was fun to watch and with more time could have easily been a main event."

[8.0] "Very good. Both men did great. Roman made Murphy looked like a superstar and Buddy brought out the best of Roman . It was hard hitting, fast paced, no nonsense match. Very fun and entertaining. I could have watched these two men go on for another 10 mins. ****"

[9.0] "This was an awesome match between Murphy and Reigns here, and just the fact that this match happened is awesome. Three years ago this was definitely my dream match, when Murphy was the best bout machine in 205 Live I was already dreaming of seeing him main eventer in Raw or SmackDown and seeing him face top stars, the first name on my list of the top stars I wanted to see him face was Roman Reigns. And even though this match was pretty short and had no real background, this was truly fantastic. It's not surprising to see young guys pushing established guys to their limits anymore, but even so, there's a difference between Vince's estimation of Reigns and his estimation of Murphy, so I never thought it would be this competitive and contested. This was a very fast-paced and high-quality match where Murphy was able to shine like never before, Reigns is the best at creating stars and that could have been the case here if the booking had followed for Murphy. The ending was great, Murphy's selling of the Spear was absolutely insane. Great match here."

[8.0] "A good fight from Roman Reigns is rare and it should be noted, thanks to a sublime Buddy once again who sells us so well the blows including the spear. Another good match in weeklies. Really good chemistry and a nice fusion of style. Rating: ****"

[8.0] "A really nice match overall. It was perfectly designed to make Murphy as the fan-favorite. Reigns working on top was really good. Murphy put on a great showcase as he fought back and gained the audience's attention. The near falls towards the end were very well-done, which added a lot of drama. You couldn't ask for a better TV match."

[7.0] "Really good 15 minute match between these two. Reigns was good as usual while Murphy walked out a star despite losing. Great finish with that spear. (***3/4)"

[8.0] "This was the first watchable Roman match in a while, yet Reigns somehow managed to do even less wrestling than usual. No holds, just one throw, the rest his same 3 strikes over and over again. Buddy on the overhand excelled and completely overshadowed Roman as a technician, worker and seller. Obviously Roman was always going to win, but for him to win in his usual predictable sequence tainted what was a fine match and prevents any score above 8 (good)."

[10.0] "I love Buddy Murphy, so I was excited yet cautious with this match. I went into this thinking that Roman was just going to dominate with Buddy getting a couple of hits in, as he was presented as a weakling (at least when faced with Reigns). However, what I watched was a fantastic back and forth match. Roman made Murphy look like a main event player and Murphy in return sold the heck out of Roman's moves making look like a million bucks. I am enjoying the presentation so far."

[9.0] "Quality match. Murphy's first match on SD delivered massively. It was Roman's first great match since his return. Great storytelling. Murphy looked fantastic. ****1/4 rating"

[6.0] "The good ol' classic tale of a relative no-name pushing the top dog to the absolute limit. Murphy & Reigns told that story pretty well for sure - it could? ve been better, but it also could? ve been way less interesting too. Definitely a very solid TV meeting if nothing else. Good to see Murphy get such a spotlight on him."

[10.0] "WOW. This match ruled. Folks have always found ways to convince themselves that Roman isn't good but he always proves them wrong. Some may say that a 10/10 is a bit excessive for a random SmackDown Live match but this one is different. Roman being the "top guy" and Buddy being the guy trying to prove himself made for an excellent pairing here. Both men have surprisingly good chemistry and Buddy looked like a star. Roman went over but Buddy got over. It's one of those win win situations where both men looked good win or lose. Let's hope they keep this momentum for Buddy going. ****1/2"

[8.0] "Great tv match there ! And great SmackDown debut for Buddy Murphy, he really managed to have a good match with Reigns. I really hope he will, later, be intercontinental champion"

[7.0] "Good match. Slightly overblown because it's a good tv match but it really didn't reach that level for me at all. The spots were good but not incredible. The story was simple but wasn't nail-biting in its execution. Murphy took some wicked bumps, like the one where Roman threw him over the announcers table. Some of his offence looked a bit weak against Roman than it would with the CW, but I generally dug what he did. Roman sold well when required, making Buddy look very good. The finish was good but that flip bump Buddy did was pretty stupid, if you ask me. ***1/2"

[7.0] "It is very good weekly match with an huge Buddy Murphy's main roster impact. His performance is excellent with great impact knee strikes and perfect selling. I love too his enjoyable comeback. Reigns' performance is solid with his usual psychological and stamina good works. The match is ruined by spot breaks. ***3/4"

[8.0] "Very good match, good domination by Roman, the comeback from Murphy worked really well. Great WWE TV match. (***3/4)"

[9.0] "The best match of Roman Reigns since his return after recovering from leukemia. Underestimated talent and a top superstar collided in a squared circle and issued a mini extravaganza. Perfect, really perfect match for the SmackDown Live episode."

[9.0] "I really hope that this beautiful booking of Alexander and Murphy lasts more than a week, even though my expectations with wwes creative decisions are as low as they have made them be. What an in ring debut for Murphy on smack down. He actual had a very competitive and intense match with one of the top guys there in Reigns. Even though he was defeated, Buddy Murphy looked like a star last night. If only they let him deliver in the ring weekly, because it really is an issue of allowing him to go all out (as it is with most of the roster)."