Main Event – August 23, 2018: Revisionist History
IMG Credit: WWE
Main Event
Date: August 23, 2018
Location: Barclays Center, New York City, New York
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson, Vic Joseph
One more show from New York and we’re out of here until…well until they get Wrestlemania next year because it’s the greatest city in the world. Or so I’m told. Anyway this is going to be about the fallout from Summerslam, which actually gave us two rather strong shows. If they’re chopped up properly, we could be in for a nice week. Let’s get to it.
Here are Summerslam results if you need a recap.
No Way Jose vs. Mike Kanellis
Mike headlocks him to start as we hear about Maria Kanellis injuring her wrist but trying to get back by Evolution. That’s one of the first times we’ve heard any specifics about her status. Jose pops up without much effort and grabs a hiptoss, only to miss a charge into the corner. Showing some intelligence, Mike stomps away on the arm but spends too much time blowing a kiss, allowing Jose to avoid a charge of his own. A fireman’s carry flapjack gets two but Mike snaps the arm across the top rope. Kanellis’ superkick gets two but he’s slow going up, allowing Jose to punch him out of the air for the pin at 5:16.
Rating: C-. Better than most Main Event matches and that’s always nice to see. They were trying something with the arm and Kanellis was a little better than usual here. I get why Jose stays on Main Event so often as his energy is going to be more than enough to get the crowd going at the start of the night. Mike though….just hope Maria gets back soon.
From Raw.
The women’s division is around the ring (including the Bellas) for the presentation to Ronda Rousey and here’s Stephanie strutting to the ring to soak in their applause. After putting over Evolution, we see a package on Rousey destroying Alexa Bliss last night to win the title. Stephanie is proud of Rousey because this never would have happened without Stephanie’s business prowess. She shined Rousey up like a diamond and now everyone around the ring wants to be like Stephanie and Ronda.
Here’s Rousey but Stephanie wants to know why the fans aren’t chanting for her. Rousey says this isn’t about Stephanie for once and wants to know why the women aren’t all in the ring. They get on the apron and Rousey cuts Stephanie off again, saying that this is about everyone instead of just one person. Rousey puts over Natalya as the cornerstone of the division and the Banks vs. Bayley match from Takeover a few years back. She’s not Brock Lesnar because she’s going to be a fighting champion.
Stephanie says it’s true that Rousey isn’t Lesnar because this isn’t the Rousey who wanted to break people’s arms. Just look at poor Alexa Bliss, like in this clip where Rousey dislocated her elbow. Rousey wants to break everyone’s arm and take all of the spotlight. Actually that’s not true as Rousey is only going to break the arms of those who deserve it.
Stephanie gets her arm barred again (with the elbow being regularly bent, meaning it shouldn’t hurt that much) and since it’s not Wrestlemania, it works just fine. The face women, including the Bellas, pose with Rousey and it’s a big group hug because they’re all sisters or something. I’m not sure why this was necessary but at least it ended well.
From later in the night.
Stephanie is getting her arm looked at with Corbin and Bliss in the trainer’s room with her. Angle comes in and Stephanie yells at him, saying he needs a vacation. Stephanie makes Corbin the new acting General Manager. If that means one less boss, fine. I’m so sick of this story anyway that I’ll take any change at this point.
We get a clip of the Becky Lynch promo and subsequent brawl with Charlotte from Smackdown, but I’m not going to copy it from the old review as usual because it’s rather different. The version aired here doesn’t include Lynch ranting against the fans or really anything to suggest that she’s a heel. In other words, it’s made to look like she’s a fired up woman who got ripped off, suggesting that they’re changing the entire story. That might not be the worst idea, though it’s a pretty hard about face.
From Smackdown, unedited this time.
Miz and Maryse open things up with Miz looking rather serious until the Daniel Bryan chants start up. Miz says he was able to close his eyes and feel that in a way he never could before. Two nights ago, something happened at Summerslam and now he has a family to think about. Maryse is hugging Miz as he looks near tears and says that with a heavy heart….hang on as he needs to cry some more. He announces his retirement and there’s a YES chant.
Actually it’s his retirement of ever facing Daniel Bryan again because Sunday was a satisfying conclusion. Miz did exactly what he promised to do when he beat Bryan in front of a sold out Barclays Center. The 100 punches from Bryan didn’t equal one Miz punch because he has the hardest punch in this entire arena. Bryan promised to punch him but when Miz did it, he got the pin. Miz praises Maryse and plugs Miz and Mrs. but here’s Bryan to interrupt.
Bryan calls Miz a coward over and over again as Miz hides behind Maryse. It doesn’t matter what Bryan calls him because the record books will always say that Miz got the win at Summerslam. Bryan asks him to shut up for once because Miz is just hiding behind things, like the makeup he’s wearing right now. On Sunday, Bryan got to do what he wanted: expose Miz as a wannabe Hollywood star cosplaying as a wrestler.
Maryse tells Bryan to change his name to Daniel Bella but here’s Brie to punch Miz in the face. Miz and Maryse bail and Bryan announces a mixed tag for Hell in a Cell. Good thing Maryse chose now to bring Brie into it. I can go with this as A, Brie was always less annoying than Nikki and B, this isn’t the kind of match that should be in the Cell so having it move forward in another way is the right idea.
From Smackdown again.
Renee Young brings out AJ for an interview on the platform. AJ isn’t happy with what happened at Summerslam but he wouldn’t change a thing. He has a promise for Joe: the next time Joe mentions his family’s name, he’ll rip Joe’s heart out. Joe trips AJ from behind and pulls him down off the platform for the Koquina Clutch knockout. Joe: “OH WENDY!” AJ can’t come home and tuck in the kids because he’s already gone to sleep.
Stills of New Day winning the Smackdown Tag Team Titles.
Rhyno vs. Mojo Rawley
Mojo grabs the rope to get out of an early armbar attempt and we take a very abrupt break. Back with Rhyno fighting out of a chinlock and a collision staggering Mojo. The running shoulder in the corner sets up a belly to belly for two but Mojo chop blocks the knee. A running right hand in the corner sets up the sitout Alabama Slam to finish Rhyno at 6:52 in a match that had a lot clipped out in the middle.
Rating: D+. That clip in the middle didn’t do them any favors and I’m curious about what they did in the middle. Rawley has completely stopped meaning anything on Raw after his short push came to an abrupt ending, which is kind of a shame as he’s not a bad heel. Rhyno is the same guy he’s been for the last ten years and that’s why he’s still got a job to this day.
From Raw to wrap things up.
Universal Title: Roman Reigns vs. Finn Balor
Reigns is defending and runs Balor over to start. Balor does his jump over the top to avoid a charge but gets punched in the face to send us to a break. Back with Balor fighting out of a chinlock (good grief come up with something else) and kicking Reigns into the barricade. The running apron kick is broken up and Reigns drops him onto the apron. A hard whip sends Balor into the corner and Reigns yells at him a bit.
Balor takes him down though and scores with the double stomp to the chest. That’s all for the comeback as Reigns takes him into the corner for the clotheslines but Balor knocks him to the floor again. A good looking running flip dive has Reigns in trouble and we take a break. Back with Reigns hitting an uppercut but getting caught by a Pele. Balor gets all fired up and stomps away with an aggression you don’t often see from him. Reigns is right back with a sitout powerbomb for two but the Superman Punch is countered into an Eye of the Hurricane for a very hot two as the fans are completely into this one.
There’s the Sling Blade but the shotgun dropkick is blocked with a Superman Punch for another near fall. The spear is cut off with a knee and Reigns hits…I’m assuming the Superman Punch as the camera was on a fan’s reaction. Cue Strowman before the spear though and there’s another Sling Blade. The Coup de Grace misses though and it’s the spear to retain the title at 19:40.
Rating: B+. The fans helped carry this one and they had me believing that a title change might happen. I mean, that went away as soon as Cole kept saying “HE’S GONNA DO IT!” but they had me for a few seconds. Reigns needs a win like this and as usual, when he’s putting in the effort, the match was very good. Really strong main event and the post match stuff is going to be a big deal.
Post match Strowman is in the ring and kicks Reigns down as the cash-in is…..hang on a second as we’ve got Shield music (and no bell, meaning the cash-in didn’t take place). Cue Rollins and Ambrose in the Shield gear as the fans are VERY pleased. Strowman goes after Reigns but the triple beatdown is on. The trio knocks Strowman outside but he fights off the TripleBomb, only to get speared down. Now the TripleBomb connects to end the show.
I’m not sure what the thinking here is, but Strowman looked like a face with the cash-in and Shield looks like heels by thwarting the cash-in, but since Shield won’t be booed, they’re going to wind up being the faces no matter what. It should be fun seeing WWE try to twist Strowman into a heel, especially when he was willing to fight Shield on his own and Reigns welcomed the challenge of a cash-in.
Overall Rating: C+. The talking carried this show (again) as the promos have been on fire as of late. This was an interesting week for WWE as it felt like they were more worried about keeping the Brooklyn crowd from taking the shows over, but that made for some very good television. I know it gets boring at times and I’m right there with those making the same complaints, but when WWE turns it on, they can still do some great stuff.
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KB y do u believe Miz vs Bryan doent belong n da cell?
KB why do you believe Miz vs Bryan doesn’t belong in the cell?*
First of all, I chuckled. Well played.
It’s not a feud based on violence. This is a feud about Bryan needing to prove that both he and his philosophy about wrestling is better. I don’t think Bryan hates Miz and Miz certainly doesn’t hate Bryan. They both think their way of doing things is better though and ultimately, Miz wants Bryan to respect him. That’s not the kind of thing that fits with locking them inside a box and seeing who can walk out.