[8.0] "Really solid opening match with 2 great wrestlers. Some nice counters and after a slow start, it really picked up towards the end. Nothing special, but a good debut for the WHC. (7.75/10)"
[4.0] "Flat, boring, by the numbers and filled with a ton of Rollins worst main event instincts. No idea whats happened to him in ring over the last couple years. His selling was abysmal, his physicality was lacklustre, and his storytelling abilities have diminished significantly since the end of the Thunderdome. This was a match where he took an apron bump to the head, shrugged it off a minute later and hit a Suicide Dive, before immediately pivoting into selling the leg, which he did with little convincing and never succeeded at creating jeopardy with. The finish was embarrassing too, as it pretended to involve the leg story that Rollins ignored in the previous two minutes to hit all his cool leg based offence, but with no consequence and anguish for Seth since he easily won even after the stumbling block of the failed stomp. Surely, it would have been more dramatically satisfying if he didnt win immediately afterwards. Lots of the action was just counters and AJ seemed like he was sleepwalking through the beats. Huge failure for introducing the significant new title, especially as it was cast off in the opener in favour of a tag title match and a non title rematch."
[7.0] "[3.25*] I thought so much if I was going to give it more, but I think despite the fact that the match was very good wrestling-wise, the whole construction was bad. AJ getting drafted to SmackDown, which made ridiculously obvious Seth was going to retain, the match being very one-sides.. and these aspects took 0.25 in my opinion."
[9.0] "If it wasnt for the bloodline story this wouldve been a perfect main event. Many nearfalls and awesome moments though a bit predictable. Incredible wrestling and such an enjoyable match. One of AJs best in the WWE."
[9.0] "It's not as spectacular as their Money In The Bank (2019) match, but it's still a fantastic match and brand new babyface Seth Rollins was the right choice as the inaugural world heavyweight champion."
[8.0] "This was an awesome match to kick off the show. AJ and Seth have amazing chemistry and these two didnt disappoint. The two went back and fourth for about 20 minutes. One thing I didnt like is how Rollins no sold at points. The pacing was good and Rollins got the win."
[7.0] "I wasn't feeling this for the first 5 or so minutes but things picked up nicely with some good ring psychology displayed by both. Styles tried to lock in the Styles clash a couple of times and got in a pedigree but not enough to defeat Rollins"
[8.0] "This was a really fun match. The match started off a little slow but sped up as it went along. The two went at it with some nice sequences and action. Seth winning was definitely the right choice here but Im not crazy about his lack of selling all match long."
[5.0] "It was decent, but it failed to have that big feel. AJ and Seth are capable of so much better, and the result was never in doubt. It was a match in time that will largely be forgotten, and that's the way it should be. A disappointment, but one I barely remembered happened. 2.5 Stars."
[6.0] "It was alright, but it didn't feel like anything big and it should, if you want to establish a new world championship as important. They had an okay, professional match with nothing out of ordinary, but that's about it. Good opener, but it didn't feel like a world title match."
[7.0] "This match was cursed since the very beginning. The construction of this whole match was bad. You can't make a Tournament Final look so one-sided like this. You can't make one of the wrestlers the absolute protagonist of the story while the other is the antagonist. Both should be protagonists, but at the end just one can get the win. It was plain obvious Seth was going to win since the Title was announced. He basically carried RAW on his back without having a World Title, so its fitting he has to be the Champion of the brand. It was weird to think the recently drafted AJ was going to win and return to RAW. There was also no interactions between them, all the story was focused on Seth Rollins wanting the Title and be the opposite of what Roman Reigns is. It would have been better and more unpredictable if Edge was the one who faced Rollins, since he made that promo telling how winning the Title would be the last thing he would do in his career, plus his previous story against Seth, plus the fact that due to the way Edge is used it doesn't matter if he's on RAW or SmackDown, he could be a Free Agent without a problem. After all the negative, I have to praise both men for trying to get as much as they could from this. The little psychology details from Seth, his knee selling to increase the drama and a bit of unpredictability, the control of the pace from both men. This was two artists of the ring beign given awful tools to create their art. (*** 3/4)"
[7.0] "Took a while for them to find their groove, but I really enjoyed the last few minutes. Great payoff with AJ and Seth struggling to put away the other due to injuries sustained from earlier in the match. Had they hit that higher gear earlier on I would go higher but ultimately I'd just classify this as "good"."
[8.0] "World Heavyweight Championship (2023) 1° Match: Great match to start the story of this belt, with two fighters exposing their great talent. This two have a lot of chemistry and showed it with good sequences and moments. Very enjoyable to have the right time and a constant pace. Maybe the end should have had some a false ending, but at the same time this made the moment when Rollins connected to his finisher, because none of them so far could execute their final moves, but Rollins could do it and win the match."
"Good match, Seth Rollins definitely deserved this win, everything went the way it was supposed to, I can see why people think this is a consolation prize but I feel like Seth can make this title prestigious. It has been couple years since we last saw AJ vs Seth since MITB, definitely wanna see these two compete against each other again sometime in the future."
"Great match between two of the best in the industry right now. The story was simple; both men want to be champion. They kept a good pace for the whole match with great back and forth spots. A few great false finishes and the right guy winning made this a super fun match."
[6.0] "A little underwhelming, nothing you haven't seen before from two super competent workers. The most notable thing for the match was how bad the production was on the hand stomp."
[3.0] "Not so radical, but I agree with the comment of arkhamoutlaw10 and the claims described. This match reminded me of Jericho vs. Edge and Orton vs. Punk, when action in the ring happens for the sake of action, and really significant moments never happen. This match is getting worse in my eyes because of the attitude towards selling, which simply doesn't allow me to take what is happening seriously. They could either show just beautiful, dynamic wrestling, or get confused and demonstrate some kind of thriller and a desire to become the first owner of a new belt. They didn't do either, and this is really a very weak beginning for the history of the new championship. Much worse than Balor vs. Rollins (*1/2)."
[6.0] "It was a good match but the predictable outcome and lack of story going in really dampened it for me. Both are excellent wrestlers but werent given much to chew here."
[8.0] "Good match here between Rollins and Styles. Two of the best workers of their generation fighting to make a title matter. Not as good as their match at MITB 2019, but still good. Clean moves, Styles even whipping out some classics he hasnt done in a while, and Rollins finally getting his due and becoming world champion again. ****"
[8.0] "The perfect match to open this show, in my opinion. These two, in my eyes, are two of the best of their generation and its always a joy to see the two of them go one-on-one. While I will say that I dont think this was as good as their match from Money in the Bank 2019, this was still a very enjoyable match and a worthy match of the first World Heavyweight Champion. Awesome stuff."
[7.0] "Match was good ofc we got two of the best in ring wrestlers in WWE but something was missing here. It felt like they were just going from move to move the match had no soul and the selling of the leg was weird at the end"
[8.0] "No one deserves this title except Seth Rollins, Now WWE should give Seth Rollins a long and attractive title reign, We should enjoy this title reign. 8/10"
[9.0] "They hit their best moves and then they added some good false finishers and a good leg injured story, obviously the result was really good. If you don't like MOVEZ this is not you cup of tea. ****1/2"
[7.0] "Was a very fun match to open NOC but it should have been the main event if they want us to take the title serious. Would have preferred AJ win but both killed it"
"This match is very good, sadly they put this match for opening Night Of Champions 2023. And, this a important win for Seth Rollins because Rollins will make this title more important and more interesting"
[8.0] "Why was this match in the opener? The Match was good but i expected a bit more. It was a bit slow. The winner was predictable, but i still enjoyed it"
[7.0] "This was good, but the way Seth sells in his matches is so weird. The winner is never in doubt here, so it's hard to get into the drama they tried to create here, but both guys' work looked good, and their counters were on point here. The ending here is really dumb however Seth has a bad leg that he's "selling" and it gives out, so you know what he does he goes for a pedigree instead, in which you land right on ur leg anyways. Seth would then hit a stomp for the win anyways, which felt a bit anticlimactic. I expected a bit more there.***1/2"
[7.0] "Not the greatest match these two could've put on, but still a pretty good match regardless. Good spots, and a good way to start the World Heavyweight Championship. [*** 3/4]"
[7.0] "Good match to crown the first champion for a title that feels unnecessary. Styles and Rollins have good chemistry so this was at the level AJ can arise to in 2023."
"That was very average show, in my opinion only 3 matches are good (Raw Women's, ITC and WHC title matches) rest was skippable. Main event like other Roman's matches, boring until last 5-10 minutes."
[5.0] "This was fine. A decent match between two wrestlers with excellent expectations but neither hit near their best. A good feel for the match undercut by its placement on the card and the very predictable winner. A bit boring at point but with enough high-points to keep you interested, you can't help feeling this was the diet coke version of the match between these two. Maybe neither guys heart was really in it?"
[8.0] "Very good opener with two great wrestlers and the return of one of the better titles in WWE history. AJ and Seth have a lot of good and impressive offense in this one. Seth sold the leg really well. Wish they had more time."
[8.0] "It felt good enough for an opener, one or two spots felt like botched. Otherwise a really enjoyable watch . It has some re watch value attached to it too."
[8.0] "Great match that had potential to be excellent. Both wrestlers gave each other some pretty cool moves and each had a few close kickouts. AJ hitting the pedigree was also cool to see. But ultimately IMO the match loses points for not going 5-10 minutes longer, which it easily couldve. AJ didnt even do the styles clash and it took one stomp. Still a great match but not as great as their match at MITB 2019."
[8.0] "A really good match but unfortunately, because I watched the show a couple of hours after it aired, I've been spoiled the result of this match only, so the magic was not here has much as it could've."
"[9.0] Great way to start a show. I would've rated this a perfect 10 if AJ did The Spiral Tap. What can I say... I like Flippy Shit... in moderation :)"
[7.0] "Good match.I these two could have had a classic, I think it was a good opener expected better though.Still these two are the all time greats in that ring."
[7.0] "It was a very good match to start the show. Two former world champions battling it out to become World Heavyweight Champion, it was just about perfect. Can't wait to see the matches that revolve around this title! [***3/4]"
[8.0] "You can't really have a bad AJ vs Rollins match and it was indeed good but some spots didn't land properly and the finish seemed simple. The crowd wasn't as hot as expected and the match seemed to lack that one big spot that makes everyone go OMG. Overall a solid match and good opener for PPV"
[5.0] ""Your expectations are your problems." This match was exactly that for me. Match upset, "leg injury" made me think that the situation was repeated from Edge's match on the WM"
[6.0] "A good display of what you'd expect from these guys given the context and where they're at in their respective careers. That said, there's much about this style that I just don't find particularly engaging. Much of it is predictable and there was only a handful of spots that took me by surprise."
[6.0] "I thought this was just satisfactory for PPV err PLE standards at least. The match kind of started kind of samey and stayed that way for quite a while, before It got pretty good in the last couple of minutes. I did like the calf crusher counter into a pedigree that set up the finish. I still wish AJ Styles had won, but that doesn't affect my rating because Seth Rollins is still a great choice for champion. I wouldn't mind to see a rematch for the title because maybe they could have a better matchup down the line at some point."
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