[7.0] "Good match , Escobar was very sloppy for some reason though. At some points it was very visible that Escobar was getting in place for Owens to perform the move. Escobar is talented , but here I don't know why he was so sloppy. Owens did well though and at points even carried Escobar . Solid match , but a little too choreographed."
[8.0] "Really fun match. Tense, back-and-forth affair. Santos Escobar's credible heel work has elevated his character. Kevin Owens threw himself around the ring with abandon. Good way to open the show."
[7.0] "[7.5] Fun match to cap off the US title tournament. Loved the crowd, they popped for hometown hero Owens and booed the hell out Logan Paul whenever he appeared on screen. Owens pulled off some really memorable moves in this match."
[7.0] "A victory for Kevin Owens totally justified, even though he overshadows Santos Escobar, I think he should be in Royal Rumble to have more relevance, yes, knowing WWE, it is most likely that if Owens loses, they will freeze him again until they decide to give him some relevant story."
[6.0] "[3.5*] This was a good match for WWE's weekly show level, the match revolved around Kevin Owens carrying the action and delivering his entire move set (which is brilliant)."
"I thought the match had a slow start then picked up a lot steam towards the end. These 2 have very different styles but they put together a great match. KO working with a smaller opponent is fun for his offense."
[6.0] "Pretty good TV match. The winner gets to face Logan Paul for the US Title at Royal Rumble. Logan came out for commentary and didn't say or do anything important aside from the crowd booing him a few times while the match was going on. Owens and Santos had a solid back and forth, there wasn't really anything that stood out, but it was all enjoyable to watch. Owens won with the Stunner to get the title shot and got into a brief confrontation with Logan after the match. 6.5/10"
[7.0] "match was cool! both Kevin and Santos performed very well and made it an exciting match, which I wasn't sure about what the outcome would be but Santos had like 40% chance in my mind to win, but Kevin won it deservedly. although I think that Logan would retain the Title until Wrestlemania, but this tournament totally turned out to be good. (***1/2)"
[7.0] "This started out a little slow, but it picked up a bit towards the end and ended up being a good TV match. Escobar had a good showing, but I always was sure that Owens was getting the win, as it just makes more sense for the story. Escobar can continue his feud with LWO, and we can get some follow-up to the exchange from WrestleMania 37 between Owens and Logan Paul."
[7.0] "This was a pretty good match. Angel and Humberto were interfering so The LWO came in and took them out. Logan was pretty good on commentary. The action was actually pretty good and I am surprised that Santos lost, but this match really could have gone either way."
[4.0] "Really poor match from these two. Both of them were off their game and there were a few sloppy moves and execution here. Not much from a psychology perspective and it was mostly spots in the corner and outside. It also followed the usual formula of having someone on commentary and them taking up a lot of the spotlight. I expected better from these two and especially for the opening match and finals of the tournament. The booking was also bad with Logan on commentary taking the spotlight and two ad breaks during it."
[7.0] "The US Championship #1 Contender match was decent but nothing spectacular. It was the right call to leave Angel & Humberto away from this match. Escobar & KO are talented Superstars, which showed in this one. With them having the spotlight, they didn't disappoint a hard-fought battle. One thing that upset me was Logan Paul's presence on commentary. It served absolutely no purpose. You can tell he doesn't have the skill to do a proper promo. He's just being his natural douchebag."
[7.0] "I didn't expect any strong match from them, but they showed it. For some reason it seemed to me that they would not be able to work together in the ring. And the lack of intrigue only complemented the lack of my personal interest in the fight. But fortunately, all this turned out to be just my fears, and the fight turned out to be pleasant. We didnt jump higher than the ceiling, but we practiced our classic tricks at a good pace. No complaints at all. And Owens won, which was expected even before the start of the tournament. The Owens Paul sign looks attractive."
[6.0] "Not the best match of the tournament, but certainly not the worst. It was solid enough and featured good wrestling, but I felt Santos so off. I think I've seen enough matches of Santos to came to the conclusion that WWE style is not for him. Best I've seen from him is when he wrestled smaller guys like Rey or Pete Dunne, working a fast paced full of lucha stuff match. You ask him to work slower and less flashy and he dissapears. Kevin Owens carried most of the match and it was the obvious winner of a tournament, that without being bad, was bad booked since the very beginning, as the eventual winner was the only one who built some heat with the Champion before the tournament started. A heel wasn't going to win the tournament, neither a guy from NXT. It was a good showcase, it had some good matches, but it was pointless from the core. Good match, but a bit cold (*** 1/4)"
[6.0] "A good match, but nothing very surprising, it was KO doing what he always does and Santos also at that pace. a cool detail was Logan Paul's reactions during the match. Other than that, meh, more of the same, a solid 6/10."
[8.0] "Great opening match. I liked Logans work on commentary; I thought that Escobar still came out of this looking strong, and KO did great as always."
[8.0] "Well that was quite an opening match on the first Smackdown of the year.They worked very well together and would no doubt have an even bette match on a PPV."
[9.0] "Loved this match ! I see Santos doing big things in 2024 & pairing with garza brothers is excellent idea ! Match was given good amount of time ! Very much looking forward for RR match between Ko & paul that can be MOTN Ko is Ko , he cant have a bad tv match ! very good opening tv match"
