LA Knight vs. The Miz

[7.0] "There wasn't anything too exciting and Cena as guest ref didn't add much, but it's solid for what it was and it served it's purpose to help elevate LA Knight."

[5.0] "[2.5*] I thought the match was fine for what it was supposed to be. I thought they went a little too long and there were times when Cena, as the legend he is, had to put the crowd back on the match. LA Knight is very over and WWE should continue his push, he is very charismatic."

[8.0] "The match was way better than I expected out of LA Knight and the Miz. John Cena being a special ref didn't impact the match in the slightest yet gave the match even more star power. The match pace was perfect, not too fast, not too slow, and playing with the crowd just enough to keep them hooked. Both move sets meshed pretty well and some sequences worked very very well. After the match John cena and LA Knight got face to face before cena lended a hand and lifted LA Knights hand, hopefully this leads to a LA Knight vs Cena match at fastlane, but we can only hope."

[5.0] "This was an okay match but it was way too long. Cena being the special guest referee was fun and the crowd was super into Knight, which was awesome, but this was a really basic match. **1/2"

[6.0] "This match was full of highs and lows. The psychology and character work of the three men involved was great, and despite being a Special Referee, Cena called the action right down the middle and interfered just in the right moments in the right way. During first half of the match it was being a pretty good encounter, with some surprising spots by both men and innovative moves, specially from LA Knight, but after some time, it all started to become stale and overly long. Neither Miz or Knight are two wrestlers with the skills to wrestle a match for too long if there isn't a big story that backs it up, and this isn't the case. We already know Miz works the way he does to have a safer career, but LA, while he tries to innovate with his offense, he executes some of his moves pretty badly. Also, they built the match around Miz trying to finish Knight with the Skull Crushing Finale and being unable to connect it after some tries, but the moment he does, LA kicks out. LA Knight is not at that level yet, and this match is not that big to have someone kick out after a finisher. LA didn't need that to look good. Also, it was a shame LA didn't have some promo time with Cena and Miz. It would have been even better than already was. It was a good match, but it shouldn't have been that long (*** 1/4)"

[6.0] "after the match, i was like hmm OK! personally, i expected much more from these two, because THE MIZ has already proved himself before, and doesn't need any explanation, but LA KNIGHT should work more on his ring skills.i don't know, maybe the booking wasn't that great, but when i think about this match, i don't remember too much from it! this match should've taken place at smackdown or raw main event. (***)"

[6.0] "This was a pretty solid match, but I felt as though it went a little long. As much as I like Knight and Miz, I also think they're two guys who benefit from having an opponent who's a better in-ring wrestler than them. In this scenario, I think these two did a solid job of putting on an entertaining match. I'm not sure how I feel about Cena randomly becoming the Special Guest Referee, but he was fine. All things considered, my favorite part of this was Knight getting the win. I hope this is the start of things to come for him, as I really like him as a character."

[3.0] "The point of the match was just to get L.A. Knight more over by beating The Miz and getting put over by John Cena. Was fine for what it was and what it wanted to be. If they wanted L.A. Knight to have a good match he should have faced someone who could easily do just that (someone like Dolph Ziggler as an example). The match could've also been shorter to circumvent this as it had no reason to go 15 minutes.  "

[6.0] "Decent match. The face that everyone wanted to win won. It was your typical face vs heel faceoff- The coward MiZ vs the hero- LA Knight. They went through their movesets, nothing special, nothing too fancy or extraordinarily good. It was as expected but the fans were really sold on Knight winning and they got just that. Feel good match with Cena serving as special ref. ***"

[7.0] "Two very good wrestlers who feel a little two similar in the ring. Both men are better at promos so if they wanted L.A. Knight to shine he should have face someone who could better showoff his talents. John Cena took up two much of the spotlight early on but the match really picked up in qualify in the last five minutes. 7/10"

[7.0] "Decent, if a little flat, both men gave it great effort, but the match got pulled down by 2 things: 1; the fact that Becky and Trish just tore the house down and 2; The Miz is given so few wins that even when hitting his finisher, the crowd didn't really buy that he had LA Knight beat. Still decent though"

[6.0] "I initially was scared that they're gonna make it all about Cena, but he kept his inclusion subtle with only some individual arguments with both guys, but I think that it would have been better if he stayed out of it. Miz and Knight had a good buildup going into this match and I'm sure they were able to carrry this on their own, as the crowd was really invested into this. Not bad, could have been better."

[6.0] "The initial promo exchange between The Miz and John Cena was nothing short of amazing, showcasing their amazing mic skills. Having John Cena as the referee added an enjoyable element to the match. LA Knight's undeniable popularity with the crowd show to me that he's deserves a title shot in the near future. Overall, the match delivered with solid in-ring action and some great spots."

[7.0] "Did a great job furthering build for LA Knight, but is not one I am rushing to rewatch anytime soon. Cena added a ton and made it better than it would have been without him, but still did not take it to the next gear, which was great for it's spot on the card."

[7.0] "The match between LA Knight and The Miz in-ring performance wasn't as good as the entertainment surrounding it. The match entailed some entertaining parts thanks to the promo between John Cena & The Miz and having Cena as the special guest referee. The outcome was the only one acceptable in the current climate at WWE."

[7.0] "Way better match than expected. These two have a similar style and a solid chemistry. It is the better match of Miz in years and maybe the LA Knight's best since his call-up. Of course these guys don't have the style to be 10/10 matchs contenders, but the charisma and personna carried them on. Hearing the crows on this one is a treat."

[7.0] "Thought this match was good. The crowd helped this match, and the wrestlers did a good job in the ring. Both wrestlers fighting with Cena added a layer of intrigue to the match but also distracted from the story they were telling. They had the right winning and a pretty good post-match segment which helped."

[7.0] "The most over babyface in the company right now vs a heel coming off some of his best mic work in years accompanied by an established megastar as Special Guest Referee. The match was bound to be pretty good from the get-go! It was worked decently, crowd was invested, and Cena did enough as Referee to impact the match more in a positive light than a negative one. Like I said, pretty good match with the right guy going over."

[7.0] "The biggest face in the WWE against one of the biggest heels in the WWE. LA Knight vs The Miz. It was a very interesting match, the crowd was into it, and having John Cena as referee inevitably brings some positives to the match. The match was good, no botch, LA Knight proved he can wrestle, ditto for Miz. I was afraid the Miz would win, but fortunately HHH made the right choice. I had a great time, even if the match could have been even better!"

[6.0] "LA Knight and Miz are both very charismatic people and are capable of cutting great promos that get you hyped for their matches. But, while they're definitely not bad wrestlers, they both definitely shine more when they're in the ring with someone who has a more interesting arsenal, e.g. a Rollins or a Balor. It was fine for what it was, and the crowd were pretty hot, but this was just very serviceable overall. ***"

[4.0] "This match is probably a new template of a '2* special' - if the crowd wouldn't be hot before the bell, it would probably die a death because of how middling the middle portion was, they used so many bells and whistles to get to the finish line. LA Knight pinned The Miz clean in the middle, and got endorsed by Cena after the match but it didn't feel like a big deal at all."

[7.0] "This match was pretty much what you expected of it, and thats not a bad thing. There was good back and forth action and trash talking that fit with the build, enough guest referee involvement without it being overdone or nonsensical, and a good false finish preceded the right outcome."

[5.0] "On paper, LA Knight vs Miz with John Cena as a guest referee definitely sounds intriguing so I can see why they booked it, but overall, the match felt pretty bland as far as in-ring action. Both guys are great on the mic and having Cena there added to the moment, but LA Knight has always been somewhat limited with his in-ring ability and Miz plays it pretty safe at this point in his career. The match felt like it was dragging at times which is weird to say with how much charisma these 3 guys have. With that being said, seeing an obvious LA Knight push was fun and there were still some good moments between Cena and Miz."

[6.0] "I've seen a few reviewers refer to this match as the stereotypical WWE match, and I have to agree. Thats not a bad thing necessarily, but workwise, nothing really stood out here. Besides a couple of DDT variations which I thought were pretty unique, this was mostly a match that was totally solid, but nothing noteworthy or memorable. It was detracted even more by the special guest referee, who did the job fine, but it was another distraction without adding much to the story of the match. What was added though was a feeling of importance, brought on by a white hot LA Knight, megastar in Cena, and Miz coming off a few of his best promos in years. This was a bit of a spectacle, and I'm glad they did it, but in-ring was a little bland."

[8.0] "This is most definitely not a techinical classic, but it is pretty fun if I do say so myself. What needed to be done was done. LA Knight won and Miz ate his words. THe start was great with Miz telling the host of Payback, John Cena how to be the host as Miz is the self-proclaimed greatest host of all-time. He was mad that John is the special guest referree and I worried that this would hurt the match but it actually helped. He set a level of legitimacy and called everything right down the middle and at the end passed the torch (for the millionth time) to LA Knight. YEAH!"

[3.0] "This was as good as a special guest ref match could be I guess. It was the right finish, a clean LA knight win. The Cena stuff took away from the match but it was probably the best spot to use him if you had to this PPV. Nothing terrible here just sports entertainy humdrum wwe stuff. *1/2"

[5.0] "This was a solid match but this definitely should've been shorter. The crowd was really into it, because La Knight was involved and seeing Cena anytime nowadays is great. Essentially think of this match as the most basic WWE style match ever which could be a good or bad thing depending on who's watching.**3/4"

[4.0] "A incredibly mediocre match. Even if the rivalry was discreet, the crowd was involved, the in ring action was dull, slow, lasted too long and Cena's special referee added nothing to it. I like LA Knight but he must change his finisher and make shorter matches."

[7.0] "This was decent with a very old school face/heel dynamic. Cena was fun in his role. I still don't get the hype around Knight, but that is because I only watch the ples and not the weekly show. The segment between Miz and Cena before the match was solid gold. I love when they both couldn't avoid breaking character and hold back their laughter."

[10.0] "This was the match of the night for me, seeing the miz and John cena and the litlle story behind the start of the match and the touches when john cena was the referee and also being a star was perfect, the crowd was heavily invested on LA KNIGHT every single punch they interacted and booed the miz, this was an perfect midcard match, The skull crusher finale by the miz looked brutal, and La knight elbow was also sensational, a perfect matchup and cena raising the hand of La knight was a feel good passing the torch moment."

[7.0] "Pretty good decisive victory for Knight here. Nothing remarkable or special. I did like the double knees to the chest spot and the spinning DDT thing. Both of them were pretty innovative in the sense that Ive never seen them done before. The tension between both men and Cena showed throughout and I thought that it might lead to a match between Cena and Miz for a later date. The only downsides in my opinion was that the pacing was a little too slow and they went a bit too long. Other than that, this was still a pretty good match. If you dont watch it, then youre not exactly missing anything. 6.5/10. ***1/4"

[6.0] "John Cena came out as the host of Payback to announce he was going to be the special guest referee, causing Miz to come out and berate Cena for being a bad host and to not get involved. It was a good way to get the crowd worked up before LA Knight came out to a massive pop and the match began shortly after. Cena as the referee did a fine job, as he played it down the middle, gave fair counts and at times physically enforced the rules, managing to add some intrigue with both LA Knight and Miz getting in his face. It never led to Cena attacking one of them, thankfully. LA Knight won, the obviously correct decision. Cena gave LA Knight a handshake that he reluctantly accepted in a cool moment that felt like a tease for a future match. This match itself went too long and the wrestling wasn't anything special, but between the hot crowd that reacted to everything and Cena as the referee, overall this was pretty good. 6/10"

[4.0] "This was so dull. The crowd was hot for it, which helped, and the angle of Cena as the special referee was ok, even if it didn't make much of a difference on anything. The match itself was just boring. I can't remember any of it, nothing stood out, and it was too long for what was offered."

[4.0] "It's okay. Neither Miz nor Knight wrestle in a particuarly interesting way to me, and they didn't even give Knight a promo beforehand. I wonder if they're losing confidence in his ability to talk as well as people claimed he could? Anyways, the Cena reffing felt out of place but actually added something to an otherwise boring match. I can't remember anything impressive ring-wise about this the day after, and the bit about Cena getting physical with both guys made zero sense. I know they can't have him be biased towards Miz only so Knight's victory looks clean, but if that's the case, why do this at all? Pretending like Cena wouldn't know what a ref should and shouldn't do is ridiculous. But yeah, this was a safely worked, perfectly watchable, perfectly forgettable match. Begging them to do something more interesting with Knight, because this feels like his ceiling."

[4.0] "This felt like it went over 30 minutes and the only highlight was seeing John Cena on a PLE. This really didn't have to be longer than 6-7 minutes. LA Knight cuts a fantastic promo but in order to hide his weaknesses as a wrestler, they really shouldn't put him in lengthy matches."

[7.0] "This match was fine helped by the insane crowd response to LA Knight. Miz worked very hard as well, when MIz wants to he can do so well. John Cena added a fun aspect to this match but didnt get to involved. THe pre match promo with Miz was great too. Big win for LA Knight."

[8.0] "this Match was pure SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT juice! Adding John Cena as a special referee was a great move, adding a lot more possibilities to this match. the promo before the match was really cool. now let's go to the match itself, Cena did a great job as a judge and sometimes you couldn't even remember that it was him there, La Knight and The Miz incredibly have a lot of charisma when they are together in the ring, I really liked the spots of this match but I felt the lack of that Spot that La Knight does in top rop. it's amazing how active the crowd is during La Knight Matches, it gives a totally different magic. I think this is one of the 3 matches that ended right in this event."

[6.0] "I haven't seen much of LA's in-ring work and I guess he did quite well there. Miz was a great opponent for LA to beat and to have a story with. Did not like Cena's slow counting and the length of the match though. Had it been even 5 minutes shorter, it surely would have been better"

[5.0] "This match was made better by the insane crowd reaction for LA Knight (which I don't pretend to understand), but it was still very mediocre. These are two very competant workers who provide nothing spectacular in the ring - and that's exactly what this match was. It was a competant wrestling match but nothing to write home about. Also John Cena was there. YEAH."

[5.0] "La Knight is a pretty mediocre wrestler with a very very annoying chant and this match didnt make me see him as the future star of the company or whatever narrative that some fans are building around him. His in ring acumen is just not up to the standards of the best wrestlers in WWE. Barely remember anything about this and I saw it several hours ago."

[6.0] "I wanted to rate it a 7 but then I got to writing and suddenly realized... that I don't really remember much from that match. It was fine, don't get me wrong, Cena as a special guest referee was also good but the best way I can describe this match is... basic? It's kind of sad that we need to have this trade off in wrestling, you are either really good in the ring or you have charisma dripping out of every pore in your body. Miz and Knight are the ones that put all the stats into charisma. Both are truly exceptional with mic in their hands but when it comes to in ring action it kind of drags. It's hard not to cheer for LA Knight but I have a feeling that he came a few years too late. In the attitude era he would be a Megastar(pun intendet)."

[6.0] "I don't understand why they add this SmackDown main - event into a PLE, it was too boring and drugged. LA Kinght won after The Miz tried to it the Five Knuckle Shuffle in front of Cena and at least the crowd was happy bout that. Skippable to me. ***1/4"

[5.0] "A very important match for the LA Knight to finally consolidate itself as a big deal, The Miz played his heel role perfectly and Cena as a special referrer gave a nice dynamic to the match, which was finally the pass to LA Knight to bigger flights in WWE (**3/4)"

[7.0] "This was a fun match with a crowd that was on fire for LA Knight. John Cena being the special guest referee and the interactions he had with the two superstars was a welcome addition to the match that led to some fun spots including LA Knight having a staredown with Cena. The Miz proved once again how skilled and entertaining he is in the ring by running through a smooth match that kept the fans watching and he succeeded in making LA Knight look like he could be a top star for WWE. LA Knight is over with the crowd and is great in the ring and this will definitely lead to big things for him in the future. (6.5/10 or ***1/4)"

[8.0] "-// ***3/4 //- You know, this match kinda went on longer than necessary. I mean, sure, I'm all for boosting Miz's in-ring cred but he's done everything in his career to make me think otherwise of him, but let's face it, the guy's been putting over everyone lately, so it wasn't exactly the right time for Knight to struggle so much in putting him down. They had the crowd in the early going, but it felt like they lost some of that momentum as the match dragged on. Though Cena's involvement pre and post match was something satisfying to say the least."

[5.0] "I don't know the angle going into this, but L.A. Knight is taking on Miz with John Cena as the guest referee. They announced Cena as "the greatest of all-time". He's not, but I do think they believe what they are saying and there are tons of other guys that deserve that title more than him. Guys like Ric Flair. Hulk Hogan. Stone Cold Steve Austin. The Rock. Cena's done a good job over the years of carrying the company, even when the crowd hated him, but the fans wouldn't hate "the greatest of all-time". The crowd is clearly behind L.A. Knight and The Miz loves being hated, so it's a no-brainer who will win with Cena as referee. I'll be honest. I just wasn't into this. My mind kept wandering to other things while this was going on."

[7.0] "This was really fun the added factor of Cena being the referee added intrigue to the match , LA is very over and him beating a guy like the Miz helps his case. Nice to see Cena back , Cena vs Knight would be fire and they kind of teased it during the match. Cena has a big bald spot and was very noticable during the match , the match itself was good with some slow spots here and there. Miz loses again which is not surprising given how much Miz loses. The feud has been fire and so was most of this match."

[6.0] "An alright match. Did not felt like a match worthy of a PLE. John Cena being the special guest refree probably went against this match. Both Miz and LA did not go all out. Both men have a weak moveset and finishers. This match probably needed a gimmick like a hardcore match or something. The promo battles were good and this payoff was kinda meh. You could've had a banger of a match and had Cena come out to congratulate LA Knight, then LA could've used his finish or something for their upcoming match."

[8.0] "Pretty nice match. Miz is really great putting people over and LA Knight did amazing in his first big test in the main roster. The addition of John Cena (the GOAT) as special guest referee made it still better, because it made us pay attention to every single interaction from him with both Miz and LA Knight, just in case. And having Cena raising LA Knight's hand and acknowledging his victory at the end is going to help him so much to get more over with the crowd and the fans who don't know him yet. I think this rivalry may keep going for at least two more months and they would still deliver amazing promos and TV segments."

[8.0] "This was perfectly fine. It's further proof that despite the criticism and hate he sometimes receives, Miz can still put on a good wrestling match if he wants to. Putting him in a match against LA Knight was a smart move, as it allowed Knight to break free from the cycle of being used in the mid card and getting singles matches on PPV. Overall, this was a pretty good match that served its purpose effectively. The match provided Knight with a much-needed victory over a veteran mainstay, and Cena raising Knight's hand was a nice touch. Perhaps with a slightly shorter runtime, it could have been even more enjoyable, but it still delivered an enjoyable one."