One of the newest premium live events in WWE took place Saturday with Bash in Berlin, marking another pay-per-view across the pond for the company, but the first ever in Germany. It was not a heavy card with only five matches scheduled to take place, but three of them were for titles, including the Undisputed WWE Championship match between friends Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens, as well as the World Heavyweight Championship bout between Gunther and the icon Randy Orton. The women's tag titles were on the line as well, and two of the top feuds in wrestling had another battle. European crowds have given WWE an electric atmosphere this year, and this time around, we were treated to one of the greatest crowds of all-time.
Here's everything that happened during the Bash in Berlin.
World Heavyweight Championship: Gunther vs. Randy Orton
The Ring General's first title defense as the World Heavyweight Champion came against "The Viper" Randy Orton. After over a year as the Intercontinental Champion, many people expect Gunther to maintain his newest title for a considerable length of time.
As Gunther entered the ring, the man normally known for being pure business couldn't contain his excitement to perform in front of the Berlin crowd, giving them a "Let's Go!" before crawling into the ring. Another big moment came just moments later when Gunther's lackey Ludwig Kaiser grabbed the mic from Samantha Irvin and addressed the crowd in German. It was only fitting that he would announce Gunther's participation as well.
The moment the match started, the crowd erupted in a German song, keeping Gunther and Randy Orton from going after one another. It was clear they were excited to see these two titans duke it out.
The beginning of the fight was a tremendous display of athleticism from both wrestlers. Every headlock was immediately countered. Every time someone got the upper hand, it would be reversed almost instantaneously. The first person to get a legitimate upper hand was Gunther, who put Orton's left hand in a tough hold behind his back. Orton was able to force a break by reaching the ropes though.
This fight had numerous breaks due to the crowd getting too excited. Orton even played into it at one point, raising his hands during a break in the action to gauge the crowd's response. Orton told Gunther to do it as well, but the Ring General, ever the professional, did not.
Soon after, the match would get moved outside the ring, where Orton dominated Gunther, launching him onto the announcers' table four times. When the match got back into the ring, Orton continued to physically dominate Gunther, something we haven't seen happen often. Orton went as far to embarrass Gunther, putting the Ring General's head under his knee while Orton nodded to the crowd.
It took quite a while before Gunther started to gain some momentum, and any momentum he had gained was halted when he injured his right hand. Every chop, punch, or elbow he landed with that hand made the Ring General grimace in pain.
Gunther still managed to hold his own though, until Orton hit Gunther with a quick jab to the face, an illegal move, right in front of the referee, which led to a DDT with Gunther on the second rope.
Orton had the opportunity to win after that move, but with the crowd chanting for an RKO, Orton didn't opt for the pin. Once Gunther got up, Orton attempted an RKO, but was caught by Gunther, who kicked Orton in the chest. Gunther attempted to follow that up with two power bombs, but each time his injured arm gave out, arguably saving Orton's hopes of the title.
The third time was the charm though. After Orton nearly recovered and was able to turn the fight around, Gunther finally landed the power bomb, only for Orton to kick out at two. Orton retaliated with his first RKO of the match, but he was unable to turn his finisher into a victory. Both fighters were exhausted.
Gunther was seriously hurt, and Orton took the opportunity to build a platform out of the steel steps, which he repeatedly bounced Gunther off of, before slamming him through the announcer's table.
Orton dragged Gunther back into the ring, but let the crowd get to him. He started to showboat, giving Gunther just enough time to recover and avoid Orton's next RKO. Gunther immediately turned that failed RKO into a sleeper hold. Gunther maintained that hold for about 45 seconds before Orton broke free. But Gunther would immediately land a chop to Orton's back and re-grip the sleeper hold. Even when Orton tried to break the hold by carrying Gunther on his back and slamming him, Gunther popped right back up to re-equip his sleeper hold.
Eventually, it became too much for Orton to bear. Despite dominating for most of the fight, Gunther got the finishing blow, forcing Orton unconscious with a nearly three-minute consecutive sleeper hold. Gunther is still the World Heavyweight Champion.
Following the match, the pair met at the center of the ring to shake hands, showing mutual respect between both fighters.
Liv Morgan & Dominik Mysterio vs. Rhea Ripley & Damian Priest
However, the couple looked anything but powerful as the match started. Damian Priest went to town on Dominik Mysterio putting all of his anger into massacring Mysterio with back elbows and kicks to the face. Before Priest could finish the match, Morgan made the tag with Mysterio, and much like Priest, Ripley absolutely dominated the beginning of her matchup against Liv Morgan.
No matter who was in the ring, Mysterio and Morgan looked outclassed and on their way to an embarrassing defeat. It wasn't until Morgan distracted Priest from outside the ring when Mysterio would get a hit in, launching Priest into the steel steps, and then flipping onto Priest for a cover attempt.
Mysterio started taking control of the match afterwards, landing tornado DDTs and even putting Priest in a headlock before Priest was finally able to tag Rhea Ripley. Unlike Priest, Ripley continued her domination from earlier, hitting Morgan with running knees, German suplexes, and even an elbow to the face before slamming Dominik Mysterio and putting him in a headlock with her legs.
Rhea's domination would lead way to a double razor's edge decimating Morgan and Mysterio. Before Priest could finish the match though, the rest of Judgment Day: JD McDonagh, Carlito, and Finn Balor came out of the woodworks to protect their teammates.
Priest was unable to overcome the attack, giving Mysterio an opportunity to win after landing a 619. Priest kicked out though.
Ripley re-entering the ring was all the Terror Twins needed to win the match. Ripley landed a backbreaker and riptide on Morgan, while Priest ensured no one from Judgment Day could interfere any longer. In the end, Ripley would pin Morgan for the win.
CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre (Strap Match)
After McIntyre threw Punk back into the ring, McIntyre strapped his own arm and then asked the referee to start he match. The ref refused though, forcing McIntyre to strap Punk on his own. Finally, the match begun, and McIntyre continued his onslaught, including touching one corner.
Punk was able to flip the match on its head though. He had every opportunity to start touching turnbuckles, but instead, Punk was reveling in the opportunity to beat McIntyre to a pulp. Even after McIntyre had been down for a minute, Punk did not turn on a single light in the corners.
The next several minutes of the match didn't take place in the ring at all. The pair traded blows with Punk flipping McIntyre on the announcers' table. McIntyre launching Punk into the corner headbutting him. The fight would eventually move back into the ring with CM Punk bleeding from his forehead.
Both fighters landed serious blows after this. McIntyre landed a devastating claymore. Punk dragged McIntyre into a chair in one of the corners that McIntyre had set up earlier. Each fighter had tapped three turnbuckles, but neither was able to secure the fourth and the victory. The closest either fighter came to victory though was after McIntyre launched CM Punk into a table and started carrying his battered body through the ring. As McIntyre touched each corner, Punk sneakily touched them all as well, leaving just one corner for both fighters to touch. Unfortunately, neither would get there before the lights reset.
Following a few more blows from each fighter, McIntyre started to get cocky, and even started wearing the bracelet with Punk's wife and dog's names. That's the very bracelet that has caused Punk so much distress. However, this move would give Punk some extra motivation. After falling to a Claymore, McIntyre nearly hit all four turnbuckles, but Punk would retaliate by putting McIntyre into the floor with four GTS's, one before each corner to win the match, but not before stripping McIntyre of that annoying bracelet.
Women's Tag Team Championship: Bianca Belair & Jade Cargill vs. Isla Dawn & Alba Fyre
Belair and Cargill wasted no time establishing themselves as the favorites. Both Belair and Cargill landed massive blows on Alba Fyre. In fact, it took interference from Isla Dawn in order for Fyre to land a single blow on Bianca Belair, finally throwing Belair through the ropes by her hair, then jumping through the ropes to attack Jade Cargill.
The tide of the fight had been turned. Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn were being menaces to Belair, who could not tag Cargill to get out of the ring. Fyre even landed a move that not only countered a grab from Belair and turned it into a DDT, but also kicked Cargill in the face, knocking her off the apron.
After a suplex to Isla Dawn, Belair was finally able to tag Cargill. Cargill was fresh and wasted no time putting Dawn to the mat over and over, but Dawn refused to get pinned.
Cargill had the champs' numbers, but still tagged Belair back in sooner than expected. That gave Fyre and Dawn exactly what they wanted as the pair landed a devastating tag team move on Belair, which would've ended the match if Cargill didn't dive into the ring to break up the cover.
Each team had their opportunities to win the match after, but it would be Belair and Cargill to get the last laugh. After the pair teamed up to take Fyre out of the match, Dawn could not handle the onslaught from her opponents. Cargill landed the pin, and we officially have new women's tag team champions.
Undisputed WWE Championship: Cody Rhodes vs. Kevin Owens
Even after the match started, it took several minutes for Owens and Rhodes to go after one another, waiting for a moment of lapse in the German crowd's cheers. Once the match got going, Owens was the first person to land a major shot, knocking Rhodes to the mat with a shoulder bash bouncing off the ropes.
Owens appeared to have the upper hand on Rhodes early on. Even when Rhodes would get Owens into position for a Crossrhodes, Owens would escape the hold and attempt a counter of his own. Rhodes would jump through the ropes to attack Owens, but Owens would catch him and land a blow of his own.
Rhodes would actually be the first person to land a cover though. Owens faced no trouble kicking out, but Rhodes immediately followed the cover up with a leglock attempting to get Owens to tap out, but Owens was never in serious danger.
This whole sequence was a masterclass from Rhodes, who constantly kept up his attack. Owens showed remarkable resiliency though, forcing Rhodes into a a slugfest, where Owens definitely holds the advantage.
The match would bounce back and forth between both competitors for a long while afterwards. Rhodes would land more hits, and had several opportunities to win the match, including a cody cutter from the ropes, but Owens never wavered. Rhodes constantly landed blows, but the few blows Owens landed did some serious damage. The most obvious example was a neckbreaker that took Rhodes out of commission for nearly a minute.
The back and forth continued. Rhodes lands a crossrhodes, Owens lands a slam from the corner, the pair trade super kicks. Every move from one of the fighters was met with equal retaliation. The moment this stopped was when Rhodes' injured knee buckled while attempting to jump off the corner. Owens refused to go after Rhodes while he was injured, he had several opportunities to attack Rhodes, but passed up on many of those chances in order to win "legitimately."
Owens would eventually land a stunner after Rhodes convinced Owens he was good to go, but Rhodes would kick out. He followed that kick out up with two consecutive crossrhodes. Rhodes attempted to land a third, but Owens broke out and landed yet another stunner, but that would only prolong the inevitable. Owens showed mercy, and it came back to bite him. Cody Rhodes won the match after countering a swanton by putting his knees up. That was the turning point Rhodes needed to secure the victory.
