Main Event – November 22, 2018: I’m Thankful For The Smile
IMG Credit: WWE
Main Event
Date: November 22, 2018
Location: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson
It’s a holiday week and that means things were being done a little differently this time around. The main focus was the fallout from Survivor Series which…was odd. There were some good moments though and that could make for some interesting choices in the highlight department. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
Opening sequence.
Ember Moon vs. Alicia Fox
Fox flips her down to start but Moon is right back up, much to Fox’s annoyance. A headscissors has Moon in more trouble and there’s a shot to the face for bad measure. Back up and Moon charges into some boots in the corner, followed by a hair pull to the mat. There’s a flipping neckbreaker as Fox is getting in way more offense than I would have expected. The chinlock goes on with Moon being pulled back down by the hair. Moon makes the comeback with some flying forearms but Fox gets two off a big boot. Ember hits Wade Barrett’s spinning suplex out of the corner, followed by the Eclipse for the pin at 5:38.
Rating: C-. Better match than you would have guessed here as Moon sold a lot, even though it was for Fox. The comeback wasn’t exactly in doubt and the Eclipse looked good as always. That’s all you need from a match like this and considering what it probably should have been, we’ll call this a nice surprise.
Highlights of Charlotte snapping on Ronda Rousey at Survivor Series, which wasn’t a heel turn in this modern wrestling world.
From Raw.
Here’s Rousey for a chat. She knows she’s defending the title against Nia Jax at TLC and knows how dangerous Jax is. Just look at what happened to Becky’s face. At TLC, Nia is tapping out and then the next chapter of Rousey is being written. She’s not out here to get sympathy because that’s not what a champion does. A champion is ready to fight at all times or they step aside. The fans chant for Becky but Rousey says this is her worst day. She wants to defend the title right now though because she’s a champion.
And from Smackdown.
Here’s Charlotte to get things going. Charlotte is very proud of what she did on Sunday and some of the fans don’t seem to mind. Rousey is moving around a little more slowly since Sunday because Charlotte was fighting for everyone in the back. She was fighting for Becky Lynch, who wanted Rousey to take the beating of her life. Well mission accomplished, because Rousey bowed down to the queen.
Cue Paige, to remind Charlotte that Rousey is coming for her soon enough. Charlotte shoved a bunch of referees on Sunday so it’s going to be a $100,000 fine. This brings out the IIconics, who know they’re Paige’s favorite. They want the $100,000 (It’s not a bounty.) so Charlotte will fight one of them right now.
Charlotte vs. Billie Kay
Charlotte sends her outside to start but a Peyton Royce distraction lets Billie get in a big boot to take over. Some right hands keep Charlotte in trouble but she’s right back up with a few shots of her own. Natural Selection finishes Kay at 3:14.
Rating: D. Well what else are you supposed to say about that? Charlotte seemingly turned heel on Sunday and now she’s squashing a heel jobber here. I’m sure this is exactly what WWE had planned and makes perfect sense if you squint hard enough, but I’m still trying to get over Charlotte fighting for Becky, who she hated just a few weeks ago.
Post match Charlotte tells Peyton to get in here but she’d rather leave.
Charlotte vs. Peyton Royce
So much for that. Joined in progress with Peyton hitting some knees to the face for two each and we hit the chinlock. Kay offers a distraction but Charlotte cuts Peyton off with a big boot. That’s enough to draw Kay in for the DQ at 1:48.
Post match the IIconics take her to the floor and grab a chair but Charlotte spears both of them down and rams them into the announcers’ table over and over. Charlotte knees them in the head and throws them over the table before posing a bit. I have no idea where we are right now. Is Charlotte a heel when she’s fighting Rousey but a face when she’s back on Smackdown? Am I missing something?
From Smackdown again.
Here’s Daniel Bryan for a chat. Speaking in the third person, Bryan says he gave up on his dreams three years ago and betrayed himself when he retired. The difference between Bryan and the people is he doesn’t give up and accept failure. He decided to fight and went to every doctor he could find and spent three hours inside a hyperbolic chamber every day. The healing worked but it also allowed him to meditate on his mantra of “fight for your dreams and your dreams will fight for you.” And it worked!
How else can you explain the miracle of him being able to return to the ring? He heard the loudest YES chants ever and it was a great moment. For these people though, it was just a moment because they weren’t there for the struggle and the pain. They weren’t there for everyone telling him to move on. The people were the only ones who moved on and you can hear it as these idiots chant for AJ Styles.
Bryan calls them fickle and says last week, Bryan’s dreams took over like they were programmed to do and kicked AJ low. Bryan’s dreams told him that he didn’t need to beat Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series because he won when Brock beat the weakness out of him. There would be a new emergence after that match because the old Bryan, the one that these people loved, is dead. The YES Movement is dead and all that’s left is Daniel Bryan: WWE Champion. All that matters is that you never give up on your dreams. He goes to leave but has the announcer say he is the NEW Daniel Bryan.
It’s going to take some time to see how this sticks, but I think I can go with it for now. The problem of course is the fans cheering Bryan anyway because he’s going to be great in this role, but WWE has pretty clearly given up on the concepts of faces and heels so you can’t exactly expect anything else.
We look at Braun Strowman’s elbow being destroyed on Raw.
Apollo Crews vs. Jinder Mahal
Rematch from Raw, in case you didn’t think Mahal could slide further down the ladder. Mahal shoves him into the corner to start but stops to breathe. Apollo flips up though and does a little breathing of his own. A kick to the gut slows Crews down so he pops up with a back elbow to the jaw.
That means the over the top dive to take Mahal out again and we take a break. Back with Mahal grabbing the chinlock for a long time until Crews fights up. That means a jumping clothesline but Mahal kicks him in the face. Not that it matters as Crews hits the jumping enziguri, followed by the gorilla press and standing moonsault for the pin at 9:33.
Rating: D. There was too much chinlockery in there but it’s not like Mahal has anything else to do. It says a lot when Crews has clearly surpassed you but it seems that reality has finally set in on the whole Mahal mess. Thankfully WWE has finally caught up on what everyone else knew over a year ago, but that doesn’t make up for what we had to deal with last year.
And from Raw to close things out.
Here’s Ambrose for the closing segment. Ambrose finds it funny that people are wanting to see Rollins beat him up because they would stab their friends in the back for a hot meal. AND WHAT IS THAT SMELL??? Apparently it’s fake LA garbage…and we cut to Rollins returning to the arena and running to the ring. Ambrose actually doesn’t bail and the beatdown is on. Referees come out for the save and now Dean runs into the crowd. Seth catches him without much effort though and dives off the barricade onto him again. A low superkick looks to set up the Stomp but Ambrose hits him low. Dirty Deeds ends the show.
Overall Rating: C. This was a step up from the usual Main Event with the right selection of highlights. There was a lot going on over the course of the week and this show covered just about every big thing going on. Couple that with Mahal losing all over again and this show brings a nice smile to my face.
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