IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: September 25, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Corey Graves, Michael Cole

It’s the go home show for Clash Of Champions though the Smackdown side of things might not interest you the most. The blue main event for Sunday’s show will feature Roman Reigns defending against Jey Uso, which kind of slows down the interest that the show is going to have. Maybe the last show before Sunday can help things out. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

In Memory of Road Warrior Animal.

Here are AJ Styles, Sami Zayn and Jeff Hardy for a Championship Ascension ceremony to set up the ladder match. Corey Graves, the emcee, explains the match and says there is no champion’s advantage. AJ says Jeff must think the title feels heavy because it’s the last time he’ll be holding it. As for Sami, why are you here? He took six months off to grow a neck beard and still thinks he’s champion.

Sami accuses AJ of being stupid for winning a tournament and calls Jeff’s title a shampionship. Jeff: “Sami, Sami shut up man.” Hardy actually agrees with Styles when he says Sami has no claim to the title. The belts are hung but Sami drives the ladder into their heads and beats on Jeff, with AJ making the save. Cue Adam Pearce to make the scheduled Sami vs. Jeff match a triple threat with AJ also involved. We’ll do that next.

AJ Styles vs. Sami Zayn vs. Jeff Hardy

Non-title. Sami gets sent to the floor so AJ can hammer on Hardy. That doesn’t last long as Sami comes in to jump AJ and then send Hardy outside. AJ is right back with a chinlock on Sami but Jeff is back in with a dropkick for the save. Jeff uses Sami for a springboard to splash Styles in the corner but Sami breaks up the Swanton by knocking him to the floor.

Styles follows with a slingshot forearm and we take a break. Back with the Tower of Doom being broken up and a triple slugout starting. Sami hits a running boot to each of them but AJ nails a Pele. AJ is back up with the Phenomenal Forearm to Jeff but Sami throws him outside and steals the pin at 12:02.

Rating: C. Not only is it winning a match via pin to set up a match that has nothing to do with pins, but it’s the most basic ending to a triple threat that you can find in WWE. Oh and for a bonus, the champ gets pinned. The wrestling was fine, but it feels like the kind of thing that we’ve seem time after time. Kind of like ladder matches in general, as WWE (counting NXT) has run an average of about a ladder match a month for the last year.

Post match AJ jumps Sami and climbs the ladder to pick up both titles.

We recap Miz/John Morrison threatening to sue Otis over the Money in the Bank briefcase.

Otis doesn’t buy this and doesn’t trust Miz’s lawyers so he’s keeping the briefcase. Miz and Morrison come up with the former saying that he is going to take everything, including Otis’ mama’s double wide. More threats are made, with Miz bringing up Mandy Rose being sent to Raw. Otis goes for Morrison’s throat and referees break it up. Is anyone ever going to explain why Otis and Mandy, who work in the same company, in the same city, in the same building, but on different shows where wrestlers seem to come and go as they please, is a big problem?

We look at Bayley attacking Sasha Banks twice in a row.

Here’s Bayley, with the chair that started it all, to have a seat for a chat. Bayley doesn’t have time for the fans booing because the champ’s time is important. She has business to tend to on Sunday because Nikki Cross is waiting for her. Why is Cross thinking it should be different just because there is no Sasha? Bayley looks at the chair and says she is retaining the title. Bayley: “Right Sasha?”

Gran Metalik vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

The rest of Lucha House Party and Cesaro are here too. Graves gets straight to the point by saying that singles matches have almost no bearing on tag team wrestling. Metalik misses a superkick to start but sends Nakamura outside. That’s fine with Nakamura, who sends him hard into the barricade, followed by a hard ram into the turnbuckle back inside. Metalik sends him outside and hits the big flip dive, followed by a slingshot hilo for two back inside. The moonsault misses though and Nakamura pulls him off the ropes. The reverse exploder into Kinshasa finishes Metalik at 4:17.

Rating: C. I was worried they would do something like have Metalik get the cheap pin here, which would be a bit too much to take. Granted when you have commentary saying that the match doesn’t mean anything for Sunday, you kind of have to wonder why we’re supposed to be interested. The match was fine as Metalik is talented, but it didn’t exactly draw me in.

Post match Cesaro comes in and lays out Lince Dorado as Kalisto looks on. After Cesaro and Nakamura leave, Kalisto gets in but gets yelled at by the rest of the team.

Jey Uso wants Roman Reigns to come deal with things.

Video on Jey Uso vs. Roman Reigns, including clips of them growing up and members of the Anoa’i Family commenting. Rikishi and Sika talk about watching their sons growing up and Jey is ready to fight his family to be champion. Jey says Reigns used to be a puppy and both dads say their kid will win. This was a really good idea and as usual, WWE knows how to produce a video.

Here’s Jey Uso for a chat. We see a clip from last week’s street fight, where Jey pinned King Corbin and then picked up the Universal Title. Reigns didn’t like the pin or what happened after the match, giving him a big glare to end the show. Uso wants Reigns out here now, but we see Heyman and Reigns in the back sitting in silence.

Heyman finally comes out of Reigns’ locker room and says the world should get to see these two face to face in the ring. Here’s where everyone has it wrong though: it’s on Reigns’ time, not Uso’s. That will happen tonight, but on Reigns’ time. Uso isn’t happy with that and says he’ll man up at Clash and tonight. Welcome to the Uso Penitentiary.

We recap Matt Riddle vs. King Corbin.

Corbin is ready to make Riddle say Bro, but with meanings involving all kinds of pain.

King Corbin vs. Matt Riddle

We get an inset promo from Riddle, who says he can’t wait to throw down and show Smackdown the difference between a stallion and a jacka**. Riddle starts fast and hammers away but Corbin catches him on the way inside. Corbin powers out of what looked like a Kimura and hits a hard elbow for two. A kick to the face sends Corbin outside though and Riddle throws him over the announcers’ table as we take a break.

Back with Riddle grabbing a triangle but Corbin powers out in a hurry. Corbin’s running right hand drops Riddle again and he can barely get back up. It’s just a ruse though as Riddle catches him with a jumping knee to the face. The Broton into another knee gets two so Riddle tries the Bromission. That’s broken up as well and Corbin hits the Deep Six but the End of Days is countered into another knee to the face. The Floating Bro hits knees though and End of Days finishes Riddle at 11:23.

Rating: C+. Was anyone asking for this to continue? I’m not sure, but WWE had the chance to set up a trilogy and all it took was Riddle losing clean to Corbin of all people. I’m sure we’ll have a third match at some point, but it’s not like Riddle had any momentum going after beating Corbin in the first place.

Post match Riddle says losing sucks but it isn’t stopping the stallion. He is going to keep going until Smackdown is the Bro Show.

The mystery woman puts on her jewelry and makeup. She also writes UNTOUCHABLE in lipstick on her mirror and takes a picture of it.

Alexa Bliss vs. Lacey Evans

Fallout from last week when Bliss took Lacey out after a match. In an inset promo, Alexa calls Lacey a Karen without calling her a Karen. Bliss rolls her up for two to start but Lacey knocks her down. Lacey sends it into the corner and throws the napkin at her, followed by the slingshot dropkick for two. We hit the cobra clutch for a bit but Bliss comes right back by cranking on the arm. Hold on though as the Fiend’s laugh is heard and we take a break.

Back with Evans stomping away and tying up Bliss’ legs for a forearm to the face. Bliss gets sent into the corner and a nasty slingshot dropkick puts her on the floor. Back in and Lacey gets two as we cut to a crowd shot (possibly so Bliss can fix her gear). Bliss makes the comeback with a basement dropkick but Evans cranks her down by the arm. Evans misses the double jump moonsault (Bliss had moved before the second jump) and we have the Fiend’s red light. Bliss snaps and unloads on Evans for the DQ at 10:50.

Rating: D. These two didn’t even seem to be in the same book out there for a lot of this, but some of that is due to trying to cram in a little too much. They did the Fiend’s voice and then did the light, all so Bliss could snap. On top of that, Lacey is now a former Marine, a tough mom, a southern belle, and now Karen. Pick two of those at most and calm down.

Post match, Alexa hits Sister Abigail on the floor and Fiend’s voice says let me in.

Here are Reigns and Heyman for the big closing. Before Heyman can get very far, here’s Uso to interrupt. Reigns cuts him off and says this family needs him to be the tribal chief. That’s why he’s keeping the title on Sunday and he walks away. Jey asks what if Reigns is wrong. Why can’t Jey be the Big Dog and provide for his family and kids as Universal Champion?

For his whole life, it has been Reigns as the star and the man. Whenever anyone talks about Jey, they ask which one he is. On Sunday, Jey is going to the top. Uso goes to leave but Reigns pops back up with a Superman Punch. Reigns screams at him about feeding the entire family with the title. Jey can take the payday and the whipping that comes with it, but he’s never taking the title from Reigns. He is never taking Reigns’ place at the head of the table. This was more incredible stuff from Reigns, as it tends to always be these days.

Overall Rating: D+. The wrestlers were trying, but this came off like a show that did not matter in the slightest. It was a bunch of middle of the road stuff, including a match where commentary said it didn’t matter with regards to Sunday. This felt like a show where they took the week off and threw whatever they had out there to fill in the time. Uso vs. Reigns has actually been set up well though and I’m more than a little impressed with how they have turned what should be a two minute squash into something interesting. Well done there, but the rest might as well have been Main Event.

Results

Sami Zayn b. AJ Styles and Jeff Hardy – Phenomenal Forearm to Hardy

Shinsuke Nakamura b. Gran Metalik – Kinshasa

King Corbin b. Matt Riddle – End of Days

Lacey Evans b. Alexa Bliss via DQ when Bliss attacked Evans

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: WWE

NXT UK
Date: September 24, 2020
Location: BT Studios, London, England
Commentators: Andy Shepherd, Nigel McGuinness

We’re back to the second week of the restart and it’s time to fight over a title. In this case that would be the NXT UK Women’s Title as Kay Lee Ray defends against Piper Niven in a match several months in the making. Other than that, we get the brackets for the Heritage Cup. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening recap/preview.

Opening sequence.

Earlier today, the Heritage Cup participants almost came to blows in the back.

Andy runs down the card.

Walter vs. Saxon Huxley

Non-title and dang does that Walter silhouette still work. Huxley charges at him but has to fight out of an early sleeper. Some shots in the corner just annoy Walter so he sends Huxley outside early on. Huxley comes back in with right hands and a big boot, plus a powerslam. The top rope clothesline gives Huxley two as commentary is stunned at the offense. They head outside with Huxley hitting a Thesz press but making sure to break up the count.

Walter gets sent into the steps but Huxley breaks up the count again, even though he would have had the countout. Some chops cut Huxley off though and he gets dropped onto the barricade. The powerbomb onto the apron is good for a nine count before Huxley dives back in. Walter sleepers him into a German suplex into a butterfly superplex as Huxley is in big trouble. The powerbomb gives Walter the pin at 6:09.

Rating: C+. I’m not a Huxley fan whatsoever but he was looking awesome there for a bit. That being said, there was no reason to believe he was going to beat Walter and I didn’t come close to believing the upset was coming. What we got from Walter was good here though, as he absorbed all of that from Huxley and still won. It made him look like the monster that he is and that was exactly the point in a good opener.

Post break, Huxley runs into Jack Starz, who says he’ll get it next time. Huxley shouts NEXT TIME a lot.

We go over the Heritage Cup rules.

The seven Heritage Cup participants and Sid Scala are in the ring. Scala brings out Pete Dunne for the official drawing and we get a few words about how important the tournament is. It’s all about honoring those who paved the way, which Dunne has always tried to do. On to the matchups! We get the following:

Joseph Conners vs. Dave Mastiff

Wildcard vs. Trent Seven

Flash Morgan Webster vs. A Kid

Noam Dar vs. Alexander Wolfe

Dar runs his mouth so Dunne snaps his fingers as he is known to do. The tournament starts next week.

The Hunt vs. Pretty Deadly

Great I have to try and remember who is who on Pretty Deadly. Boar suplexes Howley down to start and it’s off to Primate to crank on the arm. Howley gets a knee up to stop a charging Primate but a hiptoss brings him back down. Boar gets taken into the corner to start the double teaming and we’re already off to the chinlock. A powerbomb doesn’t get Boar very far as Howley is right back in for a bunch of knee drops.

It’s time to crank on Boar’s arm and a running elbow cuts him off again. Stoker dives into a raised boot (as tends to be the case) and Boar rolls over for the hot tag to Primate. House is cleaned in a hurry and a running crossbody takes Howley to the floor. Boar’s top rope headbutt hits Stoker for two in a good near fall as Primate is sent into the barricade. Howley’s distraction means there is no count off a rollup so Stoker rolls Boar up for the pin at 8:02.

Rating: C-. I’m not sure what it is but there is something about Pretty Deadly that makes me want to like them. Maybe it’s the matching pants, but there is something so annoying about them, though it’s annoying in a charming way. It’s nice to see a new team being built up, even if I still can’t remember which is which.

Post match Eddie Dennis comes out for a chat with Pretty Deadly.

Post break the Hunt runs into Flash Morgan Webster and Mark Andrews, who tell them to keep their chin up. The Hunt isn’t impressed.

Sid Scala can’t figure out how to keep things straight next week between Alexander Wolfe and Noam Dar. Pete Dunne volunteers to be guest referee.

Next week: a triple threat match to determine the Heritage Cup Wildcard.

Women’s Title: Kay Lee Ray vs. Piper Niven

Niven is challenging and shoves the champ outside without much effort to start. Back in and Ray starts in on the arm, including sending it into the corner. The armbar is broken up with more power and there’s a shoulder to drop Kay again. A headbutt keeps Ray in trouble and we hit a cobra clutch with a bodyscissors. That’s broken up so Ray finally wakes up and goes after the leg.

Something like an STF goes on for all of a few seconds before it’s time to just crank on the leg again. Niven fights up and sends her outside, where Ray gets in a superkick into a tornado DDT off the apron. Ray’s running knee hits the steps and they’re both in trouble. The referee checks on Ray and it’s time for the medics. Niven is frustrated at the turn of events and beats up the barricade as referees take Ray out.

Ray slaps Niven in the face so Niven throws it back inside and unloads with rights and lefts. A half crab sends Ray to the ropes but she’s back with a superkick into a Swanton for two more. Back up and Ray tries another superkick but the knee gives out again. Niven pulls her into the middle for the half crab, with Ray pulling the turnbuckle pad off in the process. The Niven Driver connects but Ray gets her foot on the rope. The Vader Bomb hits raised knees (not the smartest idea for Ray) and the Cannonball hits the exposed buckle, allowing Ray to get the pin to retain at 14:23.

Rating: C+. The leg work was a fine way to go and it was a bit of a twist to have it not be a fake injury for a change. Ray being willing to slap Niven in the face and be all aggressive while Niven hard a hart was a good plot as well. It wasn’t a classic and I can picture a rematch, but for now I’m a bit surprised by the result and a rematch seems likely.

Jinny is looking on to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. Pretty good show overall, though the Pete Dunne cameo could have been cut without losing anything. What we had here worked out well enough though and it was smart to get a title defended. When nothing has happened for six months now, it makes sense to get the champion in there and have a title on the line. Throw in Walter having a pretty hard hitting match and it’s an easy enough watch.

Results

Walter b. Saxon Huxley – Powerbomb

Pretty Deadly b. The Hunt – Rollup to Wild Boar

Kay Lee Ray b. Piper Niven – Pin after a missed Cannonball into an exposed turnbuckle

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: WWE

NXT
Date: September 23, 2020
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Beth Phoenix, Tom Phillips

NXT has their backs up against the wall at the moment as we are less than two weeks away from Takeover, there is one match announced so far, and apparently the company has been rocked by the Coronavirus. I’m not sure what that is going to mean but we are getting two #1 contenders crowned tonight. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

In Memory of Road Warrior Animal.

Opening sequence.

Battle Royal

Shotzi Blackheart, Candice LeRae, Xia Li, Kacy Catanzaro, Raquel Gonzalez, Dakota Kai, Kayden Carter, Rhea Ripley, Aliyah, Gia, Marina Shafir, Catalina, Raven, Ellie, Adrian, Rita, Emily, Indi Hartwell

The winner gets a shot at Io Shirai at Takeover. There is no Tegan Nox as Candice LeRae attacked her knee earlier today. I know I’m not going to be able to get everyone listed here as Gonzalez and Ripley have a staredown at the bell. That goes nowhere as everyone starts brawling everywhere else. Ripley tosses Gia without much trouble as commentary talks about William Regal trying to expand the competition for this match.

Raven gets tossed out and Ellie (I don’t know who these people are either) is gone as well. Ripley eliminates Shafir and Gonzalez gets rid of Adrian. Gonzalez isn’t done and eliminates a woman whose name we don’t hear. There goes Rita at Gonzalez’s hands as well and Rhea kicks Emily (they’re just getting single names here so it isn’t like you should know who these people are) out too. Gonzalez tosses Catalina but can’t get rid of Hartwell.

Aliyah sends Catanzaro to the floor but the feet don’t touch, allowing Catanzaro to do a Kofi Kingston style save, involving a backflip, walking on her hands, and pulling herself up by her feet. Back from a break with Kacy having to save herself again but Hartwell kicks her off the steps…and onto the barricade. Carter tries to help but gets eliminated, so Catanzaro stands on Carter’s shoulders for the save and gets back in. Ripley and Gonzalez gets in the big slugout but eliminate each other, leaving Kai panicking over her lack of an insurance policy.

We’re down to LeRae, Blackheart, Catanzaro, Hartwell and Kai, with Catanzaro swinging around the post to save herself again. A hurricanrana gets rid of Hartwell to get us down to four. Candice and Kai get together to finally get rid of Catanzaro and it’s time to double team Blackheart. Shotzi gets rid of Kai in a hurry and sends LeRae to the apron. LeRae gets back in so it’s a step up enziguri, only to have Blackheart miss the running charge into the ropes.

A neckbreaker drops Shotzi and LeRae sends her to the apron. Shotzi hits a kick to the head to get back in and goes up top but LeRae is right there again. They both go over the top and wind up on the apron, with Shotzi kicking her down onto the steps. LeRae manages a monkey flip to send Shotzi to the floor for the win at 15:06.

Rating: C-. It got some time and that isn’t the best idea in this case. The problem here was they had a bunch of people included to increase the numbers (probably indy wrestlers or Performance Center students), but it didn’t matter for the most part. Rhea and Raquel threw them out in a hurry to build them up and then just went out together, which didn’t make for the most exciting conclusion. Candice was the fairly obvious winner once we got near the end, though at least the ending was good.

Damian Priest is ready to beat Johnny Gargano at Takeover and he’ll warm up against Austin Theory tonight. Sarah Schriber is invited to the after party too.

Fandango, in a deerstalker hat, is in front of a dry erase board with a bunch of tag wrestlers around when William Regal comes up. After a warning from Regal about bad British accents, Fandango gives us his idea: we team up members of four teams (as in one member from four teams) in a tag match and the winning members’ teams face off to become #1 contenders for the Tag Team Titles.

Tommaso Ciampa vs. Jake Atlas

Fallout from Ciampa attacking Atlas a few weeks back. The threat of an early Willow’s Bell sends them outside with Atlas getting in some shots against the steps. Atlas pulls the ring skirt back and tries the catapult into the ring but Ciampa gets away in a hurry. Back in and Ciampa hits a hard clothesline but Atlas comes back and hammers away with right hands.

Ciampa is knocked outside for a middle rope moonsault, followed by a Blockbuster back inside. The cartwheel DDT misses though and Willow’s Bell gives Ciampa the…one count as he pulls off. Ciampa yells a lot before finishing with the Fairy Tale Ending (now spinning Atlas around to land on his back instead of his face) at 4:48.

Rating: C. This was all about making Ciampa look like a killer and that’s what they accomplished. Ciampa could be put into almost any level on the card and look good so I’m not sure why they are having him waste time with Atlas over a few different weeks. This should be it though and Ciampa can move on to something bigger and better.

Video on Ridge Holland, who is rather strong and rough.

Video on tonight’s Gauntlet Eliminator, set to a new Corey Taylor (of Slipknot) song, with all five participants saying they are ready to win.

Danny Burch/Roderick Strong vs. Fabian Aichner/Raul Mendoza

The winning team will then meet off in another tag match with their usual partners for a future Tag Team Title shot. Aichner throws Strong down to start and then brings in Mendoza, who is taken into the corner for the tag to Burch. The beating continues but Aichner’s distraction lets Mendoza pull Burch off the middle rope. Back from a break with Burch fighting out of Aichner’s chinlock but getting suplexed down hard. Mendoza stomps away in the corner and we hit the cobra clutch on the mat.

Aichner breaks up a sunset flip on Mendoza and even knocks Strong off the apron in a smart move. Therefore there is no one for Burch to tag so Aichner blasts him with a clothesline. The hot tag brings in Strong anyway and it’s time to start picking up the pace. An Angle Slam gives Strong two on Aichner but Mendoza gets in a cheap shot from the apron. Aichner hits a spinebuster for two but Strong kicks him in the face. Burch hits the Tower of London out of the corner to finish Mendoza at 8:49.

Rating: C-. This was a messy match, but that was kind of the point given that they aren’t regular partners. I’m a bit surprised to see Legado del Fantasma losing here as they seemed to be the next challengers, though maybe we are going to see Breezango win a big match before dropping them. Or I’m still really bad at fantasy booking, as I have been for years. Either way, this feels like a match thrown together because some partners might be missing due to illness.

Austin Theory is ready for Damian Priest but Johnny Gargano comes up to give him a bit of a pep talk anyway. Maybe Gargano will throw him a bone if Theory softens him up for Takeover.

Austin Theory vs. Damian Priest

Non-title. Priest works on the arm to start and then shoves Theory away without much effort. Theory seems to know he’s in a fight and then definitely knows he’s in a headlock. Back up and Priest goes up top for Old School before jumping down with a high crossbody to change things up. Theory is right back with a belly to back suplex into a standing moonsault for two as the pace slows a bit. Priest gets knocked outside in a heap and we take a break.

Back with Priest hitting the running elbow in the corner and the toss Falcon Arrow gets two. Priest misses the spinning kick to the head and Theory grabs a spinning torture rack slam (not a Blue Thunder Bomb Tom) for his own two. They head outside with Theory slipping out of a chokeslam onto the apron. The spinning kick connects this time though and there’s the powerbomb onto the apron to rock Theory. Back in and the Reckoning finishes Theory at 11:06.

Rating: C+. I like both guys and they both looked good here, as they should. Priest is infinitely better as a face than a heel. Just let him go out there and show off all of his cool stuff where we are supposed to cheer for it this time. That being said, the Reckoning isn’t exactly the most suitable finish for a monster of his size and athleticism. He can do something cooler looking, so maybe he should switch it up.

Post match Johnny Gargano runs in and superkicks Priest to set up their title match a bit more.

We get a night vision video with a distorted voice talking about titles. Someone wipes the dust off of a case holding some NXT Titles. The voice talks about coming back for what belongs to them and the person breaks the case to pick up one of the titles. The date of Takeover ends the show. Karrion Kross already? That seems a little optimistic but not impossible.

Video on Isaiah Scott.

Ridge Holland vs. Antonio de Luca

The much bigger Holland knocks him down to start but ducks his head to get kicked in the face. A Pounce sends de Luca flying though and an overhead belly to belly does the same. Holland headbutts him over and over in the corner (that was brutal) and Northern Grit finishes de Luca at 1:33. That worked.

Io Shirai is ready for Candice LeRae, who comes in to interrupt. Candice doesn’t think much of Shirai and Johnny Gargano comes in to yell as well. Damian Priest comes in and decks Gargano, likely setting up a mixed tag next week.

Next week: Shotzi Blackheart vs. Dakota Kai.

Gauntlet Eliminator

This is a hybrid of a Royal Rumble and a gauntlet match. There are five entrants and two start. Another comes in every four minutes and it’s pinfall/submission only for eliminations. The winner faces Finn Balor for the NXT Title at Takeover. Kyle O’Reilly is in at #1 and Kushida is in at #2, though neither get entrances. O’Reilly takes him to the mat to start and it’s time to hit the grappling. Kushida goes for the arm but O’Reilly gets in a bodyscissors until it’s a standoff to give them a breather from the grappling exchange. Kushida goes for the arm again but gets his legs tied up and they head to the rope.

Back up and Kushida gets in a hiptoss into the basement dropkick before cranking on the arm on the mat. That’s broken up as well so Kushida kicks away at the arm to mix things up a bit. They slug it out until it’s Bronson Reed in at #3. Reed wastes no time in throwing Kushida at O’Reilly and then fireman’s carries both of them at once. That’s broken up so Kushida kicks Reed in the ribs and then in the head.

O’Reilly goes for a cross armbreaker on Kushida but lets go to take Reed down by the leg. For some reason Kushida breaks that up for the Hoverboard Lock on O’Reilly until Reed breaks that up with a suplex to Kushida. Reed knocks Kushida outside and goes up top, only to be forearmed in the head by O’Reilly. Kushida knocks O’Reilly outside but here’s Velveteen Dream with a Dream Valley Driver to take Kushida down. Reed adds the Tsunami to get rid of Kushida at 7:48.

Timothy Thatcher is in at #4 and gets knocked off the apron as we take a break. Back with all three slugging away, with Thatcher going for Reed’s arm. Reed suplexes Thatcher down and it’s Cameron Grimes in at #5 to complete the field. Thatcher blocks Grimes’ kick to the face and goes for his arm but Reed knocks them both down. Everyone is down for a bit with Thatcher and O’Reilly being the first up for a slugout on the apron. O’Reilly knocks Thatcher off the apron and hits a running knee, with Reed catapulting Grimes onto the two of them.

Back in and Reed hits a Death Valley Driver for two on Thatcher and a powerbomb gets the same on O’Reilly. Grimes comes back in and gets sent down in a hurry, followed by a suicide dive onto everyone else. We take another break and come back with Thatcher and Grimes double teaming Reed. O’Reilly gets back in as Reed knocks the other two down. A Rock Bottom sends Thatcher onto Grimes for two and Reed goes up top. The Tsunami “misses” Thatcher (read as it hit Thatcher’s legs as he rolled away) so O’Reilly adds a top rope knee to Reed’s back for the pin at 21:37.

Thatcher and O’Reilly exchange ankle locks until Thatcher suplexes him down. Thatcher isn’t done and grabs Grimes’ leg before belly to bellying him down as well. O’Reilly goes for Thatcher’s arm but gets caught in a sleeper. That’s fine with O’Reilly, who ankle locks Grimes at the same time. That’s broken up by the sleeper so O’Reilly kicks off of Grimes to backflip onto Thatcher for two. O’Reilly strikes away at Thatcher and gets two off a backslide, followed by a rollup for the pin to get rid of Thatcher at 25:24.

We’re down to Grimes vs. O’Reilly with Grimes hitting a quick Cave In For two. Grimes yells about O’Reilly not being the star of the Undisputed Era and hits the flipping powerslam for two. O’Reilly is right back with a leg crank but Grimes kicks him in the face. Another Cave In misses and the knee seems to go out. O’Reilly grabs a heel look for the tap at 27:49.

Rating: B-. There was a lot to unpack here but what matters is they managed to make a new singles star, even if it is only in the short term, in O’Reilly. They needed someone fresh to go after the title and that’s what we got. That could be a heck of a match and O’Reilly has been on the big stage elsewhere before.

The problem here though is he didn’t exactly beat the biggest stars. The best illustration I heard about this match is that it felt like a North American Title #1 contenders match. Maybe that’s due to Coronavirus or maybe it’s due to trying someone new, but they might need O’Reilly to get one more big win next week. What we got was fine, but I’m not sure if it’s enough to carry it to the main event of a Takeover.

Post match Adam Cole and Roderick Strong come out to celebrate so here’s Finn Balor for the staredown to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. The big, long main event helped here as they are trying to slap things together as well as they can because their backs have never been this far up against a wall. What we could wind up seeing should work because it’s NXT, but dang they are stretching with some of these things. O’Reilly vs. Balor has my attention though and they could absolutely tear the house down. Couple that with a mystery return story and they could be fine. That’s a lot of could’s though, and that scares me.

Results

Candice LeRae won a battle royal last eliminating Shotzi Blackheart

Tommaso Ciampa b. Jake Atlas – Fairy Tale Ending

Danny Burch/Roderick Strong b. Fabian Aichner/Raul Mendoza – Tower of London to Mendoza

Damian Priest b. Austin Theory – Reckoning

Ridge Holland b. Antonio de Luca – Northern Grit

Kyle O’Reilly won the Gauntlet Eliminator last eliminating Cameron Grimes

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: April 24, 2006
Location: Wembley Arena, London, England
Attendance: 8,500
Commentators: Joey Styles, Jerry Lawler, Jonathan Coachman

We’re overseas for a taped show this week as it’s the go home show for Backlash. With all of the handicap matches for the main event exhausted, I’m not sure what we’re going to be seeing here. Aside from a red phone booth and whatever else WWE associates with England of course. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a long recap of Shawn Michaels vs. Vince McMahon, mainly focusing on their Wrestlemania match and the ensuing fallout.

Opening sequence.

Here are Edge and Lita to get things going. Edge talks about being in a triple threat match at Backlash and one of the men he is facing is HHH. We see Edge pinning HHH last week in the handicap match, followed by a clip of Edge pinning John Cena at New Year’s Revolution. This should be simple enough for even the British fans to figure out: Edge is going to be leaving Backlash as WWE Champion.

Cue HHH, to a pretty strong face pop. HHH says Edge has come a long way as he now looks like, talks like and acts like a champion. Edge even was a champion…for three weeks. It means Edge can go, but he can’t go very long. A lot of guys have that problem and HHH knows how frustrating that must be for Lita. Edge can even have his own catchphrase: the premature superstar. Edge insists he can do it ten times a night and last week he only needed three seconds to pin HHH.

That was rather impressive, but HHH was only focusing on sending Cena a message. On Sunday, he is focusing on the title and he will go through either of them to get back on the throne. Edge is sick of hearing about the eleventh title reign but wants to know why HHH is in the triple threat. He lost at Wrestlemania and has never beaten Edge, so Edge suggests that HHH likes to get on his knees in front of Vince.

That gives us the most obvious Lita joke of the year but HHH says he’ll bash Vince McMahon or his own grandmother in the head to be champion (dang Randy Orton stole that line from him all those years later). Cue John Cena to go after HHH as Edge and Lita bail. HHH is ready to go but here’s the Spirit Squad to interrupt. The let us know, through cheering form, that they will be facing the three of them tonight in a handicap match. HHH, Cena and Edge aren’t exactly thrilled.

Chris Masters/Matt Striker/Shelton Benjamin vs. Carlito/Charlie Haas/Rob Van Dam

Carlito and Benjamin start things off but it’s quickly off to Van Dam, who gets pounded down in the corner. Van Dam kicks him out to the floor and the villains are cleared out in a hurry. Rob hits a big dive and we take an early break. Back with Van Dam in trouble as Masters pulls him off the ropes to set up a bearhug. Shelton comes in for the reverse chinlock as the LET’S GO ROB chant starts up. That sounds so out of place after the RVD chants became so well known.

Van Dam fights up and makes the hot tag to bring in Haas as house is cleaned. Everything breaks down and Carlito hits a Backstabber on Benjamin. Masters comes in with the Masterlock to Carlito but Haas makes the save with a German suplex. Carlito Rolls the Dice on Striker but walks into the t-bone from Shelton. Van Dam comes in off the top with a kick to Benjamin’s…well something. The Five Star finishes Shelton.

Rating: C+. This didn’t get too much time considering the commercial but they were going non-stop almost the entire time they were on camera. That’s a good way to go and I can always go for a six man tag mixing up a bunch of feuds at once. Van Dam now has momentum going into the title match, Carlito vs. Masters will be a thing and Striker…well he has a job at least.

Vince McMahon calls last week’s “acts of God” a bunch of coincidences and says he has fired the pyrotechnics director. Vince has it on good authority that God is on holiday this week so tonight, Shane McMahon will take care of Shawn Michaels. Shane says he’ll get back at Shawn tonight and he swears to God….pause for a look around….that Shawn will get what’s coming to him.

Kane is still going insane when Big Show comes up. They have been friends and partners but they need to work this out. Show says May 19 and Kane threatens him if he says it again. Show: “May…19.” The fight is on with Kane sending him into a metal wall and beating the heck out of him until referees break it up. Show’s eye was hurt in the melee and it’s busted open rather bad.

Coach is in the ring because it’s time for a bikini contest. We have Candice Michelle, Maria, Torrie Wilson and Victoria here and the fans seem to fancy Torrie (as you might have guessed). They disrobe, the fans cheer for Maria, Candice wins anyway. Candice’s prize is the chance to kiss Coach but here’s Viscera to threaten to do, ahem, things, to Coach. Instead he’s taking the prize, meaning he beats up Coach, kisses Candice, and leaves with her.

We see the same video that opened the show.

Shawn Michaels vs. Shane McMahon

Vince is here to handle Shane’s introduction. Shane starts fast and is quickly sent over the top for a big crash. A cheap shot lets Shane get in a few knees and punches to the back before hammering away at the face instead. Shane even shows off a bit with a torture rack neckbreaker for two, only to miss a pretty good looking moonsault. Shawn wins a slugout and hits the forearm into the nip up, followed by the top rope elbow.

Vince breaks up Sweet Chin Music but gets beaten onto the announcers’ table for his efforts. Shane makes the save and helps Vince load up the announcers’ table. A monitor to the head sets up the big elbow through the table and Vince says he told Shawn so. Vince declares God a chicken who will abandon him on Sunday. The match is a no contest of course.

Rating: C. Pretty good for a Shane match as he just does his spots and doesn’t try to have anything resembling a traditional match. That’s all he should do and it worked out well enough. It wasn’t exactly good but Shawn can work with anyone and helped Shane through things here. They weren’t out there very long either and that helped hide a lot of the weaknesses.

We look back at Kane attacking Big Show.

We look at See No Evil, of course edited off the Network.

Backlash rundown.

Edge comes in to see Cena because they have to work together. Cena says Edge is a snake and if he tries anything, he’s going down quicker than Lita.

Post break, Edge and Lita seem to be scheming.

Umaga vs. Steve Lewington

Lewington would wind up having a cup of coffee on ECW as DJ Gabriel. Umaga wastes no time in kicking him to the floor before swinging Lewington into the steps. Back in and the running Tree of Woe headbutt sets up the running hip attack in the corner. The thumb to Lewington’s throat is good for the pin.

Post match here’s Umaga to slug away at Umaga, including a testicular claw before a right hand puts Umaga on the floor.

Lita comes up to see HHH and says she has smoothed it over with Cena. HHH hopes she’s still nice after he beats Edge on Sunday. Lita says if he does, she can hit him with his sledgehammer. She leaves, but HHH was hoping for advice on how to take on five guys at once. Dang some of these lines are brutal.

Flair vs. Umaga is set for Backlash.

Here’s Mickie James, dressed like herself and coming out to her own music. She’ll admit it: she got a little carried away after winning the Women’s Title. Yeah she dressed up like Trish and dyed her hair but now she knows who she is. She’s ready to beat Trish again on Sunday, but here is Trish in the full Mickie impression again. Trish keeps cutting her off and saying the same things Mickie is saying, setting up the fight. The Chick Kick sends Mickie out to the floor.

Edge/HHH/John Cena vs. Spirit Squad

The cheering starts before the bell and the trio clears the ring in a hurry. We take a very quick break and come back with Edge unloading on Johnny in the corner before it’s off to Mikey to get beaten up as well. Edge sends Johnny into Mikey but the distraction lets Mikey get in a few cheap shots. Kenny comes in and the numbers game have Edge in trouble. Edge gets away for a bit though and it’s off to HHH, who comes in off a slap from Edge, which doesn’t go well.

HHH takes over on Mikey but Cena slaps his way in as well, much to HHH’s annoyance. Mikey uses a trampoline to springboard up and get in a shot on Cena, allowing Johnny to hit a spinning kick to Cena’s head. Cena is sent outside for the big group beatdown and it’s an assisted moonsault to give Mikey two back inside. Mikey grabs a chinlock before it’s off to Mitch for a flipping neckbreaker. After a rather odd crawl over to the ropes, Mitch brings Johnny back in to get punched in the face over and over.

Johnny takes Cena down again though and it’s back to Mikey, who gets powerslammed. Cena manages to beat up the Squad for just a bit before it’s HHH tagging himself back in to clean house. Kenny breaks up the Pedigree as everything breaks down. The FU to Johnny and the Pedigree to Mikey connect at the same time as Edge and Lita walk out. Cena and HHH slug it out as the match and show end.

Rating: D+. This was another example of a match that was there to advance a story with some wrestling going on at the same time. The biggest problem with the Spirit Squad (ok the second biggest) was on display here: other than Kenny, none of them stand out in any way and they’re just a bunch of pests who can beat people up because of their numbers advantage. That’s fine if you’re a little more intimidating, but a bunch of annoying guys beating people up is kind of a weird combination. And the whole cheerleaders thing makes it even worse.

Overall Rating: C-. These British shows are always a little off and this one did nothing to hide the fact that we are coming up on a two match show this Sunday. The triple threat is looking good and they have done a nice job of making you believe that anyone could win. The McMahons vs. Michaels stuff though is one of those things that is feeling very stupid in a hurry and that could make for a long, long Sunday. Still though, this is a formula that worked well enough on a larger scale at Wrestlemania so maybe it can work out here too.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Dynamite
Date: September 23, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross

It’s the third AEW show in just over twenty four hours and they are 2/2 so far. I’m not sure what that is going to mean for tonight though, as Lance Archer has tested positive for the Coronavirus. Therefore the six man tag is out and Jon Moxley will be defending the World Title against Eddie Kingston instead. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

In Memory of Road Warrior Animal.

Opening sequence.

Kip Sabian/Miro vs. Joey Janela/Sonny Kiss

Sabian introduces Miro as the most handsome man and The Best Man in wrestling. We get an inset promo from Janela, who says Sabian marrying Ford is a bad, bad mistake. They’re not here to talk about real life or video games though because he and Sonny are on the express to victory. Sabian takes Sonny down by the arm to start but some armdrags have Sabian down as well.

The handspring slap connects in the corner and it’s off to Janela to start in on the arm. They take turns working on said arm until Sonny’s standing moonsault gets two. Miro comes in for a save which doesn’t work but he kicks Sonny anyway. The tag brings in Miro for the first time and he slams Joey with a spinning release Rock Bottom. There’s a release gutwrench suplex and it’s already back to Sabian for a kick to the chest.

Sonny gets over for the tag off to Janela but Miro comes in as well. Miro gets low bridged to the floor and comes up limping, allowing Janela to get in a kick from the apron. He’s fine enough to send Janela over the barricade and Miro tries to throw Sabian at him, only to have Sabian knocked out of the air.

Sonny adds a dropkick to take Miro down again and it’s Janela’s superkick for two on Sabian back inside. Miro comes back in to kick Janela in the head (which the camera barely catches) but Sonny blocks a springboard from Sabian. Sonny fights back but gets launched into Sabian’s Codebreaker for two with Janela making the save. The jumping superkick drops Sonny and the camel clutch (now named Game Over because they are running with this Twitch deal) finishes at 9:36.

Rating: C-. This….did not work. It was sloppy, it didn’t showcase Miro until the end (if he was actually hurt then fair enough) and it felt more like a way to make Janela and Kiss look good than establishing Miro. It could have been a lot worse, but this should have been Miro slaughtering someone, not Kiss and Janela showing they can hang with a monster.

Post match Eddie Kingston comes out to say if you haven’t been checking social media today, he’s getting a World Title shot tonight because he was never eliminated from the battle royal. He and Moxley were cut from the same cloth but then Moxley sold his soul to the land of sports entertainers. Before their match, he wants to look into the eyes of the entertainer so get out here Mox. Cue Moxley to get in Kingston’s face but referees break it up in a hurry.

Evil Uno vs. Hangman Page

Kenny Omega is on commentary again. Apparently Omega/Page were offered a tag match against the Dark Order but turned it down. Page, who is apparently sticking with the long pants, is backed into the corner for an early clean break before Uno shoulders him down. Page nips back up and kicks Uno in the chest to set up the big smile. The bridging pumphandle suplex gets two on Uno and a springboard clothesline knocks him off the apron.

Page hits a slingshot dive to take Uno down again and we take a break. Back with the rest of the Dark Order coming down to glare at Page but the team leaves before doing anything. Page drops Uno onto the apron but misses a top rope clothesline. There’s the fall away slam though and Page hits a running shooting star press for two. Uno gets up for a Swanton and a near fall but Page is back with a clothesline. The running shooting star press hits knees but Page shrugs it off and hits the Buckshot Lariat for the pin at 10:19.

Rating: C. Uno has indeed gotten better and even if that isn’t the most difficult improvement to make, it is an improvement and he deserves some credit. This wasn’t terrible by any means and while the ending wasn’t quite surprising, it’s good to see Page getting some more wins.

Earlier today, Tony Schiavone interviewed Matt Jackson, who says the Young Bucks have been acting a little weird as of late. It’s true that they shouldn’t have attacked that announcer or what’s his face the referee. The Bucks have lost a lot over the last few weeks though and some of their relationships have fallen apart.

They will do better though and Tony says FTR is the source of a lot of these problems but Matt wants to move on to the next fight. He asks if Tony has his phone….and smashes it against the wall. Matt whips out some money and throws it at Tony before walking back into the locker room. Tony: “Put this in their book. New chapter maybe.”

TNT Title: Brodie Lee vs. Orange Cassidy

Lee is defending and the Dark Order is at ringside. John Silver beats up Cassidy’s jacket and shirt on the floor, much to his own lack of a response. Anna Jay gets up on the apron for a distraction so Cassidy gives her his sunglasses, which Lee takes away. Cassidy starts with the slow kicks and gets a big boot for his efforts. A dropkick puts Lee on the floor though and Cassidy loads up a dive…which the rest of the Order catches.

Lee dives onto everyone and Cassidy is in trouble early. The referee gets distracted and the Order hammers away, setting up Lee’s slingshot hilo for two. Cassidy counters the swinging DDT into a swinging Boss Man Slam for two more. Back from a break with Lee hitting another suplex but getting sent outside. Cassidy hits the suicide elbow and then does it again.

The rest of the Order tries to interfere but accidentally takes each other out, leaving Cassidy to hit a top rope DDT. Some running penalty kicks have Lee annoyed so Cassidy hits the swinging DDT. The Air Raid Crash gets two on Lee in a pretty warm near fall. Silver gets inside but gets Orange Punched, allowing Lee to hit the powerbomb into the discus lariat to retain at 11:32.

Rating: C+. It was a little better than I was expecting and that’s always a nice thing to say. Cassidy getting in some offense is a good thing as it would have been a lot to have Cassidy win the feud with Jericho and then lose to Lee in a squash. It was an entertaining enough match though and that’s as good as you can ask for with Cassidy.

Post match Cody is back, now with dark hair and in dark gear, to unload on the Order. The Cody Cutter drops 5 and Cody wraps the leg around the post while throwing in an evil smile. The Figure Four makes it even worse as Cody is looking more intense than ever.

Post break Lee grabs the mic and screams about Cody being gone for five weeks while he has been here doing the work. What kind of a man lets others do his work for him or have his wife sent out thirst trap photos while calling him daddy? Lee grabs a dog collar from John Silver and says he’s going to wrap it around Cody’s awful tattoo (ha) and end him for good. Cody has a week to decide. Lee was really intense here and it worked.

Here are Matt Hardy and Private Party, with Matt saying the cheers just made his birthday. Matt talks about being attacked last week, which has him wondering who wanted to do it. Earlier that day, he talked to Maxwell Jacob Friedman and Brodie Lee, and of course he has issues with the Inner Circle. All he knows is that someone was wearing a face covering and someone hit him in the knee with something really hard.

Then Chris Jericho and Jake Hager were right there, with Jericho holding a bat. That makes Jericho the prime suspect and then they used the same bat to beat Private Party. After the match, Jericho tries to injure Isaiah Kassidy, because the more things change, the more they stay the same (which Matt gets out after three tries).

Cue Jericho, with bat, and the Inner Circle to interrupt, complete with a lot of pyro. Jericho denies attacking Matt last week because he would do it to his face. Matt is ready to fight right now even though he isn’t cleared. Marq Quen says he’s cleared to fight but Kassidy takes the mic and says he’s got this. Quen issues the challenge to Jericho for next week, promising to make him his Le Champion b****. Jericho doesn’t look impressed.

Here are FTR and Tully Blanchard in the ring for a chat. Tully talks about how great it is to have some fans here in attendance and he has some new ideas. Usually a World Title match has a one hour time limit but they have something in mind. From now on, title defenses on television are going to have twenty minute time limits so the fans can get a little brush with greatness. The champs get to pick the opponents too, so next week it’s FTR vs. SCU. If SCU can’t win in twenty minutes, FTR gets credit for the win.

They’ll need some new challengers after SCU though, but last week Best Friends were in a glorified backyard match…so here are the Best Friends to interrupt. Trent says last week was a war so let’s do this twenty minute challenge right now. A referee comes down and we’re ready to go but Dax says not so fast because the Best Friends need to become #1 contenders first. Chuck calls them a couple of “weenies” and we get the Big Hug.

Hikaru Shida/Thunder Rosa vs. Diamante/Ivelisse

It’s a big brawl to start with everyone fighting on the floor. Shida and Rosa hit stereo kicks to Diamante’s head and there’s a slam to put her down back inside. Shida suplexes Rosa onto Diamante for two and a running backsplash gets the same. Ivelisse comes in to hit Rosa in the throat and a quick powerbomb gets two. We take a break and come back with Shida getting two on Diamante.

Ivelisse gets the tag and starts to clean house, including a Downward Spiral and a Stunner. Rosa knees Shida by mistake and Ivelisse adds a kick to the head for two. An assisted Sliced Bread gets the same on Shida with Rosa making the save. Rosa and Ivelisse fight to the floor but Rosa comes back in to break up a Code Red. A Death Valley Driver hits Diamante and Shida’s Falcon Arrow gets two on Diamante. Shida hits the running knee to finish Diamante at 6:14.

Rating: C+. It was more of a brawl than a match and you could all but guarantee that the singles champions weren’t losing here. I like the feud between the two of them and you can probably pencil them in for another champion vs. champion match down the line. Some of the near falls were good here and I liked what we got for the most part.

Chris Jericho agrees to face Kassidy next week and dubs himself the Million Viewer Man. The only shots Kassidy is getting next week are from his right and left hands but here is MJF to interrupt. MJF doesn’t like Jericho being disrespected, which Jericho appreciates. Jericho calls him the uncrowned World Champion and MJF imitates Jericho in a funny bit.

They like each other, but they both ask why they called each other a loser. MJF talks about seeing it all over social media but Jericho says he saw it on Dynamite (nice save). MJF was calling his limo driver a loser and Jericho was calling Schiavone a loser so they agree they’re both all right. MJF and Jericho at the same time: “Thanks Dasha.”

Here’s what’s coming next week.

On October 7, Chris Jericho is celebrating thirty years in wrestling.

AEW World Title: Jon Moxley vs. Eddie Kingston

Kingston is challenging. They go to the mat to start with Moxley grabbing a quickly broken headscissors. The exchange of strikes ensues until Kingston takes him down with a clothesline. They head outside with Moxley being thrown over the announcers’ table and we take a break. Back with Kingston cranking on a chinlock before chopping Moxley down hard.

Moxley manages a quick piledriver for two with Kingston using the ropes to escape. Kingston is back with a powerbomb out of the corner for the same but misses the spinning backfist. They slowly slug it out again until Kingston suplexes him down twice for two. Kingston chops away in the corner but Moxley slaps him away. The spinning backfist is blocked again and Moxley slaps on a bulldog choke to retain at 10:53.

Rating: B-. Again this was much more like a fight than a match and that’s what it should have been. Kingston and Moxley are both brawlers at heart so it makes sense to have them do this instead of wrestle a technical masterpiece. It was a thrown together match and considering how little time they had to set it up, this worked out perfectly well.

Post match the Lucha Bros run in for the beatdown but Will Hobbs runs in for the save. A double superkick takes Hobbs down but here’s Darby Allin for…well not much of a save really as Ricky Starks jumps him from behind. The big beatdown is on, including Starks getting in a shot to Allin with the skateboard.

Overall Rating: B-. All in all, a completely fine show but it wasn’t quite as good as some of the stuff they have done in the past. What we got was good though and it was by no means a bad show. The problem is last night’s bonus Dynamite had a show stealer and this just had mostly pretty good stuff. I liked what we got though and they have some bigger stuff coming up in the next few weeks. Completely watchable show, but down a step from recent weeks.

Results

Miro/Kip Sabian b. Joey Janela/Sonny Kiss – Game Over to Kiss

Hangman Page b. Evil Uno – Buckshot Lariat

Brodie Lee b. Orange Cassidy – Discus lariat

Hikaru Shida/Thunder Rosa b. Diamante/Ivelisse – Running knee to Rosa

Jon Moxley b. Eddie Kingston – Bulldog choke

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

We’ll shift away from the horrible Retribution debut and look a bit into my wrestling memorabilia collection and one of the weirdest items I have ever seen.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/kbs-review-exist/

IMG Credit: Ring Of Honor Wrestling

Ring of Honor
Date: September 16, 2020
Location: UMBC Events Center, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

For the first time in nearly six months, we have a fresh show from Ring of Honor and they are starting with a bang. It’s the return of the Pure Title, a championship which has a special set of rules and hasn’t been around in nearly fifteen years. If nothing else it will be nice to see something other than Best Of lower level wrestlers for a change. Let’s get to it.

There’s a new opening sequence for the first time in years.

The opening video looks at the tournament, which will feature sixteen men and will focus on the principles the company was founded upon.

Quinn McKay gives us a quick history of the title.

We see the sixteen men in the tournament in no particular order:

Jay Lethal

Matt Sydal

Jonathan Gresham

Tracy Williams

PJ Black

David Finlay

Silas Young

Josh Woods

Kenny King

Rocky Romero

Delirious

Dalton Castle

Tony Deppen

Wheeler Yuta

Rust Taylor

Fred Yehi

There are alternates just in case someone can’t wrestle. In Block A, it’s Dak Draper and in Block B it’s Brian Johnson.

We’ve got brackets and it’s single elimination:

Block A

Jay Lethal

Dalton Castle

David Finlay

Rocky Romero

Silas Young

Fred Yehi

Tracy Williams

Rust Taylor

Block B

Jonathan Gresham

Wheeler Yuta

Delirious

Matt Sydal

Josh Woods

Kenny King

PJ Black

Tony Deppen

We’re not done with the rules.

First round matches have a fifteen minute time limit, second round is twenty, third is thirty and the finals are sixty.

Each match will have three judges in case of a time limit draw.

And now for the actual Pure Rules as they somehow haven’t been mentioned yet.

Each match begins and ends with a handshake.

You have three rope breaks per match. After they are gone, pins and submissions in the ropes count, but they still must take place in the ring.

Closed fist punches to the face are not allowed though open handed strikes are legal. Closed fists to other parts of the body, save for low blows, are legal. One closed fist to the face is a warning and the second is a DQ.

Standard 20 count.

Any interference means you are FIRED FROM THE COMPANY.

Jay Lethal talks about being around ROH for thirteen years and Samoa Joe giving him his first major break. He is the only former Pure Champion in the tournament and wants to be the first ever two time champion. We see some clips of Lethal defending his title against some legends and he isn’t changing anything up because it had gotten here this far. Dalton Castle has beaten him before and that is all that is in his head.

Dalton Castle talks about being a really good wrestler and how good he has been since he was eleven. Then he became the Ring of Honor World Champion and this is the perfect environment for him. No he hasn’t wrestled in five months but he has been wrestling for over twenty three years. You think he can’t just turn it on? The rules are different though and Castle is ready to suplex Lethal a lot. Castle worries that people are forgetting how dangerous he is because of all of the funny stuff he does. He is a dangerous man and he is showing it in the tournament. This was WAY different from Castle and I liked the new side.

Pure Title Tournament First Round: Dalton Castle vs. Jay Lethal

There are now graphics with some stats, including that Castle has won 85% of his matches with the Bang-A-Rang and that Lethal has won 88% of his matches in Baltimore. I love little things like that and they’re a nice touch that shows they have put in some effort during the time off. We also get a graphic showing that the judges (not shown) are Gary Juster, Will Ferrara and Sumie Sakai.

Castle gets a front facelock to start but Lethal rolls over into the ropes, with a voiceover saying that is his first rope break. There is even a clock on screen to show the match time. Dang there is some actual fresh effort around here. They go to the mat again with Castle working on the arm until Lethal spins out to pull on the arm. Castle stacks her up for two and it’s a standoff. Lethal misses a right hand and gets suplexed down and an overhead belly to belly sends Lethal hard into the corner.

Back from a break with Lethal working on the leg, including a shinbreaker. They trade forearms as Coleman talks about how this is real wrestling and not entertainment. The Figure Four is broken up and they’re both down for a bit. Back up and the Bang-A-Rang is countered into the Lethal Combination for two. Hail To The King is broken up and Castle pulls him down for the Bang-A-Rang, with Castle’s leg giving out in the middle. Lethal has to use his second rope break to save himself and comes back with some kicks to the head. The Lethal Injection connects for the pin at 13:11.

Rating: B-. Lethal was the safe pick here but that pre-match promo made me want to see Castle go forward here. That being said, if you want to make a new star, having them beat Lethal, perhaps in the finals, would be a great way to go. Lethal wasn’t wrestling like a heel here whatsoever, but if they’re going for just the basics, that is a little more acceptable.

Wheeler Yuta has been wrestling for six years now after turning pro at sixteen. He went to college in Philadelphia just so he could train in the city with Drew Gulak. Yuta trained in the Michinoku Pro dojo in Japan and trained in Germany as well. He is going to want to take people apart and find their weaknesses. Yuta praises Jonathan Gresham and knows Gresham isn’t worried about him, so Yuta can win.

Jonathan Gresham talks about being an amateur wrestler because he thought that’s what you had to do to become a pro. He saw Ring of Honor back in 2005 and knew it was where he wanted to go because of everything they combined. Gresham has wrestled around the world and his technique is winning the title. It’s time to reshape this company as the pure wrestlers see it.

Pure Title Tournament First Round: Jonathan Gresham vs. Wheeler Yuta

Gresham’s Tag Team Title is notably absent. They fight over a test of strength to start with the bigger Yuta taking him to the mat. Gresham bridges off the mat but gets caught in a bodyscissors. That is rolled into a rollup for two each but Gresham rolls over into a surfboard. The leg cranking takes us to a break and we come back with an exchange of head fakes until Yuta scores with a dropkick.

Gresham goes right back to the leg with an Indian deathlock (with Yuta’s eyes bugging out in fear). Yuta bails to the ropes for the break and then punches Lethal in the face, earning himself an official warning. Gresham is annoyed so the pace picks up as they slug it out (with legal open hand strikes). A quick arm trap cradle gives Yuta two and a springboard spinning crossbody gets the same.

There’s a high crossbody for the same but Gresham is right back on the leg. The Figure Four goes on but they roll over to the ropes (not announced as a break) and fall to the floor to bang them both up. They both beat the count and trade some rapid fire rollups for two each. Gresham stomps on the knee though and pounds it into the mat to make Yuta tap at 10:25.

Rating: C+. This was a different kind of match than the opener and that’s a good idea. Yuta frustrated Gresham here and it told an interesting story of Gresham fighting someone who is so similar to himself. Gresham finally just unloading on the knee to win was a good way to go and the match worked as a result. Yuta would be a nice addition if he’s sticking around, but Gresham wasn’t losing in the first round of this thing.

Overall Rating: B-. It’s nice to have this stuff back as the stakes are instantly higher when you don’t know who is going to win. The Best Of stuff was nice but when you have nothing more for over four months, there is only so much value. I could go for something other than the tournament going forward (as a supplement, not a replacement), but given how things are going, a tournament is the best idea for the time being and that’s understandable.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Late Night Dynamite
Date: September 23, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Chris Jericho, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur, Jim Ross

It’s a special edition of Dynamite for those who need a bridge to the next one. Dark was on…well officially yesterday as this is airing after the NBA Playoffs and Inside The NBA, meaning it is going to be starting at about 12:40AM. I’m not sure why we need three AEW shows in less than a day and a half but maybe they can surprise me. Let’s get to it.

Chris Jericho joins commentary.

Ben Carter vs. Scorpio Sky

Carter is a British wrestler who has been rather impressive on Dark. They take each other down to start until Sky is ready for an armdrag attempt. That’s fine with Carter, who hits the second attempt to give us a standoff. Another armdrag into an armbar has Sky in trouble for a bit before Sky fights up to run the ropes. A dropkick puts Sky down on the floor and he has no idea what to do with Carter here (those looks are doing more for Carter than almost anything else he can do).

Back in and Sky catches him with an elbow to the face into a dropkick and there’s a Russian legsweep. Sky hits a backbreaker into an abdominal stretch as the logical offense continues (Chris Jericho: “Homage to Tony Garea there!” Schiavone: “Wow….Tony Garea.”). Carter flips out and chops away in the corner (he might not want to do that again) but gets knocked down as we take a break.

Back with Carter fighting out of a camel clutch but getting knocked down for two more. Carter is back up and hits an AJ Styles moonsault into the reverse DDT, though he switches his into an Eye of the Hurricane for two instead. A running shooting star press gives Carter two more but he misses the moonsault to the floor. Sky kicks him in the face and rams Carter face first into the apron.

Carter shrugs that off and hits a running flip dive to the floor. Back in and Carter hits a frog splash for a very near fall. Sky grabs a neckbreaker but Carter is back with some forearms to the head. A spinning kick to the back connects but Sky is right back with a fisherman’s buster for a very near fall. Carter kicks him in the face and grabs a rollup for two more but misses some kicks to the face. Sky hits a running double stomp to the back and Carter looks mostly done on the mat. A big boot drops Carter again and the TKO finally gives Sky the pin at 15:32.

Rating: B+. Yeah that was outstanding and I don’t know what else you can say about something like this. Carter looked like a young star here and Sky gave him an outstanding rub here with Carter being presented as a major threat. His offense looked good and I could go for a lot more of him in the future. How did NXT UK not pick this guy up?

Video on the six man tag between Will Hobbs/Jon Moxley/probably Darby Allin vs. Team Taz/Lance Archer.

Anna Jay vs. Brandi Rhodes

They slug it out to start and Brandi hits an early spear to send Anna to the apron. Something close to a DDT onto the apron plants Anna again and Brandi whips her hard into the corner. Anna is right back with a sleeper but Brandi reverses into a victory roll for two. Brandi hits some atrocious right hands but gets sent into the corner for some rakes to the back.

A snap suplex drops Brandi again and it’s time for the boot choke in the corner. There’s a running seated Blockbuster for two on Brandi and we hit the seated crossface chickenwing. Brandi fights up again and hits a clothesline into a Sling Blade but here’s the Dark Order. Evil Uno doesn’t let Stu Grayson interfere so there is a very delayed two off a Shot Of Brandi (bicycle kick) which….I think grazed Anna’s arm. The Queenslayer knocks Brandi out at 6:03.

Rating: C-. They started very hot here but then it turned into a regular match and it didn’t work all that well as a result. Brandi botches a lot (that kick was horrible and the right hands were almost as bad) and Anna is far from someone who can do anything great in the ring yet. This wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but dang there were some very bad parts.

Scorpio Sky wants the TNT Title but here’s Matt Sydal to praise him as well. Sydal was happy with his debut in the Casino Battle Royal and Sky wants to see him do it again. Maybe they’ll even go out for drinks after the show. Sydal seems interested.

Video on Brodie Lee and his path of destruction. He gets to defend against Orange Cassidy, who receives quite a bit of praise.

Matt Sydal vs. Shawn Spears

Tully Blanchard is here with Spears, who drives Sydal into the corner to start. Spears grabs a headlock into a wristlock, which is escaped with a little spin in a hurry. Sydal headlocks takeovers him over, which seems to confuse Jericho. They head to the apron with Spears getting dropped back first but being fine enough to hit a baseball slide. Back in and Sydal hits a spinwheel kick and we hit an arm crank on the mat. We take a break and come back with Sydal hitting a standing corkscrew moonsault for two.

Spears grabs a Sky High for two more and a brainbuster onto the knee connects, sending Jericho over the edge when Excalibur uses the Japanese name. Sydal blocks the C4 and goes up top (where he wipes the sweat off in a nice nod to All Out) for a top rope Meteora and another near fall. Spears goes outside and has a seat in a chair so Sydal can hit a running charge to knock him out. Tully uses the distraction to load up Spears’ glove. Back in and the C4 is countered so Spears uses the loaded glove to knock Sydal silly. Now the C4 finishes Sydal at 13:42.

Rating: B-. I’m not surprised that they had a good match, but asking me to get interested in a Shawn Spears match that started at 1:23am is not going to be the easiest sell in the world. They did surprise me with the result though, as Spears does not seem like the kind of guy who was going to pin Sydal in Sydal’s first singles match. Well done with the twist ending, though Spears is still far from thrilling.

Post match Spears goes after Sydal again but Scorpio Sky makes the save to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. Ok they actually got me here as I was expecting an absolutely nothing show and got two good to VERY good matches, plus Brandi vs. Anna thrown in the middle. The obvious problem here is obvious though: aside from the most hardcore of hardcore fans, who in the world stayed up to watch this? It was a very good show (one of AEW’s best in a while actually), but it’s kind of hard to have that much interest or enthusiasm when it starts so late and comes on after another hour and thirty five minute Dark with several hours in between. Check out Carter vs. Sky though as they tore the house down.

Results

Scorpio Sky b. Ben Carter – TKO

Anna Jay b. Brandi Rhodes – Queenslayer

Shawn Spears b. Matt Sydal – C4

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: All Elite Wrestling

Dark
Date: September 22, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Excalibur, Taz, Veda Scott

It’s the first of two AEW shows on the same night because we’re just lucky enough to have them running a special show after the NBA Playoffs tonight. This is likely to be your usual stuff, but that goes without saying as they rarely shake things up around here. Hopefully it’s a little better than usual though. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

The announcers welcome us.

Fuego del Sol/Rembrandt Lewis vs. Dark Order

At least it’s Stu Grayson and Evil Uno here so I don’t have to figure out which is which. Fuego grabs a quick O’Connor roll for two on Grayson so it’s off to Lewis for a dropkick. Uno comes in to run Lewis over though as commentary talks about how much money Team Taz has and how much they spend on clothes. Lewis gets in a superkick but Uno suplexes him down into a legdrop. A side slam/top rope elbow combination gets two but it’s off to Fuego anyway. That earns him a running knee to the face from Grayson, setting up Knightfall. Uno picks him up and flips him into a spinning Downward Spiral for the pin at 4:11.

Rating: D+. You know when you ignore everything about their look, gimmick and characters, this version of the Dark Order isn’t half bad. They work well together and have cool looking moves, though I’m not sure how far they should be going around here. Odds are they’ll get the Tag Team Titles one day though, as AEW really, really likes the Dark Order.

Ricky Starks vs. Christopher Daniels

See now this is something you should be featuring. Why isn’t something like this the main event? Starks knocks him down to start and mocks Daniels’ dancing, only to get armdragged into an armbar. That’s reversed into a headscissors as they hit the mat but Daniels reverses into a front facelock. Daniels takes him down into another armbar before ducking Starks’ crossbody.

The Arabian moonsault gets two on Starks but he’s back with a rake to the eyes. A knee to the back sends Daniels outside and it’s a swinging neckbreaker for two back inside. Daniels is back with a t-bone suplex and an STO into the Blue Thunder Bomb gets two. They go to the pinfall reversal sequence until a double knockdown gives us a breather. Daniels’ Rock Bottom is countered and Starks hits the spear for the pin at 6:44.

Rating: C+. Yeah this worked, though I could have gone for more from them. Daniels is far from the peak of his career but he can still have a good match with almost anyone. Starks is a very talented guy but he needs to build up his resume. Beating Daniels clean like this is going to help him so nicely done here.

Puf/Calvin Stewart vs. Butcher and Blade

Eddie Kingston is here and Ricky Starks has jumped in on commentary. Puf is a large man who thought he was going to be Kip Sabian’s best man. Butcher and Blade jump them to start and Puf is sent outside so Butcher can send Stewart into the corner. Blade gets in a few cheap shots on the floor but Stewart manages a dropkick back inside. Puf comes in and runs Blade over so Butcher comes in as commentary tries to figure out how many sizes Puf is. A middle rope crossbody takes Puf down and it’s back to Stewart, who walks into Full Death for the pin at 4:21.

Rating: D+. They didn’t waste time here and Puf was fun enough while he lasted. There isn’t much you can usually do with someone his size but he can move a little bit and has some charisma so this went as well as could be expected. He’s no one I need to see again but for a one off match, it worked out fine.

Will Hobbs vs. Serpentico

Luther is here with Serpentico. A Luther distraction lets Serpentico get in a cheap shot to start and they head outside. That means Serpentico gets whipped into the barricade and it’s a delayed vertical suplex to drop Serpentico back inside. Hobbs gets slapped in the face and Serpentico hammers away in the corner, setting up a boot to send Hobbs outside. Back in and Serpentico slaps him in the face, earning himself a hard shoulder. Hobbs pulls him out of the air though and finishes with a spinebuster (even Starks is impressed) at 4:40.

Rating: C-. Hobbs is someone who could go a long way and I can see the hope AEW has in him. This was a good match for him as Serpentico is unique enough to feel like a big deal and throwing Luther out there with him makes it look even bigger. They both looked good here, but this was about Hobbs, as it should have been.

Dontae Smiley/Maxx Stardom vs. Lucha Bros

Eddie Kingston is here again. Fenix takes Stardom down to start and rolls over the ropes to get to the apron while still holding Stardom’s hand. Penta comes in for a double Paradise Lock into a double kick to the head. A spinebuster into a top rope missile dropkick low blow (think What’s Up but with a dropkick) makes it even worse for Stardom.

Back up and Stardom avoids a charge, allowing the hot tag off to Smiley. Everything breaks down and a double wishbone into a double kick to the face has Penta down again. There’s a dive over the top onto Fenix but Penta is back up with the Pentagon Driver on Stardom. Smiley makes a surprising save but Fenix is back in to dropkick Smiley to the floor. The elevated Fear Factor gives Penta the pin at 5:16.

Rating: C. That near fall at the end was an actual surprise and made things that much more entertaining. The Lucha Bros have fallen a long way since AEW started and hopefully they can get back to their previous greatness sooner rather than later. The match was nothing great, but they surprised me a few times.

Dark Order vs. Ryzin/Xander Gold

5 and 10 for the Order here. Gold and 5 trade wristlocks to start with Gold not being able to grab an armdrag. A running clothesline has Gold in trouble and 10 comes in to send Gold into the corner. Ryzin comes in to shove 10 but gets sent into the corner as well, allowing 5 to get in a cheap shot. There’s a cutter to Ryzin and Gold is knocked off the apron. Ryzin gets a boot up in the corner but misses a moonsault. Gold comes in to drive a shoulder into 5 in the corner, followed by a dropkick. Back to back kicks to the head rock Ryzin and it’s a top rope double stomp into a powerslam to finish Gold at 5:53.

Rating: C. This is the weaker version of the Dark Order as not only did they go toe to toe with the jobbers here and don’t look like as much of a team. They’re more a pair of wrestler with the same opponents rather than two people working together. Not a bad match again, but it’s something else that probably could have been trimmed to make the show shorter.

Kevin Blackwood/Daniel Garcia vs. Joey Janela/Sonny Kiss

Janela and Garcia grapple a bit to start but neither can get anywhere. It’s off to Kiss for some shaking to get on Garcia’s nerves and a running hurricanrana makes it worse. Blackwood comes in and gets dropkicked, meaning it’s right back to Garcia to run him over. Garcia puts on a surfboard but Kiss slips out and kicks Garcia in the face. The hot tag brings in Janela to clean house, including sending Blackwood into Garcia. There’s a dive onto both of them and it’s a DDT to Garcia back inside. The top rope splits splash gives Sonny the pin at 7:17.

Rating: C. This was much more of a formula tag match and that worked out well. Janela and Kiss are in the same place they were in months ago and I don’t know if I can see it going much further than that. That’s not a bad place for them and I’ll certainly take it over Joey vs. Kip Sabian.

M’Badu/Cruz vs. Gunn Club

There’s one of your Bingo spaces on the Dark card. Colten, I’m assuming another of Billy’s sons, is here as well. Billy tangos with Aubrey Edwards before headlocking M’Badu to start. M’Badu charges into an elbow in the corner and gets clotheslined down. The rather hefty Cruz comes in and Austin kicks his leg out. Cruz runs him over and drops an elbow for two before handing it back to M’Badu. The Stinger Splash misses though and it’s back to Billy to clean house. M’Badu is sent outside and it’s the Fameasser to finish Cruz at 4:07.

Rating: D+. M’Badu continues to look like he could be someone so at least it was Cruz taking the pin. Billy and Austin are two guys who are just there and feel like a required piece of most Dark matches. Nothing to this one, but that’s the case with most Gunn Club matches so far.

KiLynn King vs. Serena Deeb

They fight over a lockup to start and then do the same with a wristlock. King gets taken down and Deeb grabs something like a reverse Rings of Saturn. An armbar goes on with a knee in Deeb’s back until Deeb snaps off an armdrag into an armbar. That’s broken up as well and King hits some running knees in the corner. The chinlock goes on but Deeb fights up again and grabs a swinging neckbreaker. Deeb’s neckbreaker over the middle rope gets two and she drives King face first into the mat. The Serenity Lock (Konnan’s Tequila Sunrise) makes King tap at 4:39.

Rating: C. I’ve liked King quite a bit and she looked good again here. It would be nice to see her get a slightly bigger chance but I’m not sure when something like that is going to happen. Deeb has been signed this week so the ending was never in doubt, but at least they had a pretty good match on the way there.

Ben Carter vs. Lee Johnson

Carter was impressive last time. They to the mat to start and the counters are on fast until it’s an early standoff. It’s time to fight over some wristlocks as they’re moving very quickly here. A double nipup gives us another standoff as even Starks says these two are excellent. Back up and Johnson misses a dropkick but the second attempt connects so they can reset again.

Carter flips forward out of the corner and catches a charging Johnson in a Downward Spiral into the middle buckle. A snap suplex sets up the chinlock on Johnson before Carter pulls him into an STF. That’s broken up so Carter puts him up top for a top rope superplex, even as he slips off the ropes a bit. Johnson grabs a small package for two and it’s a double clothesline into a double nipup. They trade kicks to the face and they’re both down again. It’s a slugout from their knees until Carter tries AJ Styles’ moonsault into a reverse DDT.

That’s broken up and Johnson grabs a Blue Thunder Bomb for another near fall. Carter sends him to the apron for an enziguri but misses the middle rope moonsault. Johnson dives back in for the big running flip dive. The posing takes too much time though and Carter is back up with his own running flip dive. Back in and Carter misses the Phoenix splash, allowing Johnson to hit a Death Valley Driver for two more. Johnson goes up top but gets caught in a super Spanish Fly into a low superkick for….two. Dang they got me on that one. Carter jumps back up top and hits the frog splash for the pin at 9:44.

Rating: B. What do you want me to say here? Two young guys got some time and tore the house down with an incredibly entertaining match. If AEW wants to build up their younger guys, have them (try to) do something like this instead of having them lose for months on end. I really liked this and Carter looks like a great prospect who very well may get signed soon.

Brian Pillman Jr. vs. Eddie Kingston

Pillman starts fast with a shoulder to put Kingston on the floor. Kingston doesn’t approve and Pillman’s crossbody into some armdrags make it worse. A dive to the floor is broken up and Pillman is dropped hard onto the barricade. Back in and Kingston strikes away in the corner before whipping Pillman hard into the other corner. A shot to Kingston’s face just annoys him even more but Pillman grabs a top rope sunset flip for two. The crucifix is countered into a Samoan drop to plant Pillman and it’s off to the chinlock.

Pillman fights up again but Kingston just hits him in the back of the head like a smart brawler would. We hit the chinlock again, which just seems to fire Pillman up. The comeback is on with chops and rams into the corners and there’s a superkick to the floor. Pillman’s missile dropkick through the ropes sets up Air Pillman for two back inside. Kingston is back with a jawbreaker into a spinning Rock Bottom for two more but Pillman grabs something like a pumphandle driver for his own near fall. Kingston has had it with Pillman and knees him in the ribs, setting up the spinning backfist for the pin at 9:04.

Rating: C+. This was another good one as the veteran Kingston didn’t take Pillman seriously enough, allowing Pillman to get in a lot of offense. They were playing up the idea of an upset here and that’s what should be done in a match like this. Kingston works well as a brawler and we had a good match with a nice story as a result.

Dynamite preview wraps us up.

Overall Rating: C+. It was indeed better than usual and that was rather necessary. The last two matches felt like they belonged here, but above all else, the show is still too long. They could have had a heck of a show if this was about 45 minutes long instead of more than double that, but at least they had something good in here. If that becomes the norm we might be onto something, but I’ll need to see more of this and less of the usual.

Results

Dark Order b. Fuego del Sol/Rembrandt Lewis – Spinning Downward Spiral to Lewis

Ricky Starks b. Christopher Daniels – Spear

Butcher and Blade b. Puf/Calvin Stewart – Full Death to Stewart

Will Hobbs b. Serpentico – Spinebuster

Lucha Bros b. Dontae Smiley/Maxx Stardom – Elevated Fear Factor to Stardom

Dark Order b. Xander Gold/Ryzin – Top rope double stomp/powerslam combination to Gold

Joey Janela/Sonny Kiss b. Kevin Blackwood/Daniel Garcia – Splits splash to Garcia

Gunn Club b. M’Badu/Cruz – Fameasser to Cruz

Serena Deeb b. KiLynn King – Serenity Lock

Ben Carter b. Lee Johnson – Frog splash

Eddie Kingston b. Brian Pillman Jr. – Spinning backfist

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: September 17, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Byron Saxton

We’re back with another recap special, likely featuring the wrestlers who are either way too good for this show or not good enough to make the rather large Raw every week. In other words, this show tends to be all over the place, even though it should be the easiest thing in the world to book. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Michael Cole on Main Event? Never say never I guess.

Bianca Belair vs. Billie Kay

Belair grabs a headlock to start and isn’t having any of this countering. A sunset flip is blocked as well but Billie sloppily spins around into an Octopus. That’s broken up and Belair rolls away, setting up a running shoulder to take her down. A running dropkick sets up the running splash for two on Kay and they head out to the apron.

Kay kicks her in the face for two and some shots to the ribs keep Belair down. The chinlock goes on for a bit, followed by a hard whip into the corner to drop Belair again. That’s enough of being on defense as Belair fights up and sends her face first into the corner. The handspring splash gets two and the KOD gives Belair the pin at 5:42.

Rating: C. Perfectly fine match here as Billie didn’t get destroyed and Belair looked awesome as usual. What helped here a lot though was Cole on commentary. I know a lot of people don’t care for him all that much and fair enough, but he is the biggest name commentator today and that is the kind of addition who can add a lot, as he did here.

We look back at Jey Uso becoming #1 contender.

From Smackdown.

Jey Uso/Roman Reigns vs. King Corbin/Sheamus

There is no Reigns to start so Corbin punches Uso down, allowing Sheamus to hit the ten forearms to the chest. Jey manages a Samoan drop to Corbin to set up the running Umaga Attack but Corbin rolls away. Sheamus comes in for White Noise (with commentary arguing over what the move is called). The Brogue Kick is loaded up but here’s Reigns, with the distraction letting Uso hit a superkick to Sheamus. There’s a suicide dive to Corbin and a superkick to Sheamus sets up the Superfly Splash. Reigns tags himself in and spears Sheamus for the pin at 4:02.

Rating: C-. There’s something awesome about this Reigns showing up and doing almost nothing to get a win. It’s such an obnoxious thing to do and suits him so well, including the subtle things like Reigns telling Uso to get out of the way so he can hit the spear. This has worked crazy well and Reigns has barely done anything since joining Heyman.

Post match Jey holds up Reigns’ hand, with the Universal Title, as Reigns stares at him to end the show.

We look back at the Mysterio Family attacking Murphy.

From Raw.

Seth Rollins vs. Dominik Mysterio

In a cage. Rollins strikes away to start and for the first time, I can’t fathom how many camera cuts are made. They were changing in time with Rollins’ shots to the back. Dominik grabs a tornado DDT and goes for the escape but here’s Murphy to slide in a kendo stick. Rollins sends him into the cage and we take a break with Cole in mid-sentence. Back with Rollins raking Dominik’s face across the cage but Dominik reverses into a ram of his own.

There’s a headscissors to send Rollins into the cage and now Rey hands Dominik a stick of his own. Some rams into the cage set up a sitout spinebuster for two on Rollins. The go up top and both crotch themselves on the rope, with MVP giving Dominik credit for shaking the ropes and being crafty. Dominik goes for the door but Murphy jumps Rey and beats him onto the barricade.

Murphy climbs up to cut off Dominik but gets knocked down, giving us what sounded like a sound effect on the crash landing. Dominik hits a frog splash for two so he goes up again, only to get superplexed down into the Falcon Arrow to give Rollins two. Rollins hits the Stomp but stops to glare at the Mysterios instead of covering. That means a second Stomp to finish Dominik at 11:59.

Rating: B-. I very rarely notice this kind of thing but the camera cuts here were completely insane and some of the most annoying things I can remember seeing in years. It was every few other second and it became the thing I kept focusing on rather than the match itself. As for the match, it was more of the same as Dominik looked good but came up short in a match where he shouldn’t have won. It was good enough, but I don’t need to see any combination of the Mysterios and Rollins/Murphy for a long time.

Post match Murphy seems to humble himself before Rollins, who sends him into the cage anyway. Rollins asks how it feels and says Murphy sucks. With Rey in the ring, Rollins tells Rey’s wife that he hopes the daughter turns out better. Rey’s daughter Aaliyah checks on Murphy for a bit before getting inside to check on Dominik as well, as Dominik is holding his shoulder.

Humberto Carrillo vs. Mustafa Ali

Carrillo spins out of a wristlock to start and he takes Ali down for a quick standoff. The high angle springboard armdrag sends a frustrated Ali to the floor but he’s back in with a kick to the face. Carrillo is sent outside for a hard ram into the barricade and we take a break. Back with Ali grabbing a neckbreaker and blasting him with a forearm to the face. They slug it out until Ali Russian legsweeps him hard into the corner.

Carrillo is right back up with a springboard kick to the face and a running hurricanrana drops Ali again. Ali gets sent into the corner but Carrillo misses a charge. The rolling X Factor is countered into a sitout powerbomb for two. Ali is right back up with the middle rope tornado DDT for two of his own and it’s time to stomp away. The 450 misses though and Carrillo is back up with a Spanish Fly for two more. Ali doesn’t even have to get back to his feet before grabbing the Koji Clutch to make Carrillo tap at 9:02.

Rating: C+. Now this was interesting as they focused on Ali showing some heel tendencies, which isn’t something you see too often on Main Event. Ali as a more aggressive and frustrated guy who turns heel as a result could be interesting, though I don’t know if I can give WWE the credit to pull it off. For now, we have to rely on Main Event to work for us…which is probably the first time that has ever been said.

From Smackdown.

Here’s Bayley, with the chair she used to destroy Banks, for a chat. We look at the beatdown and Bayley says of course she loved every second of it. Bayley knows everyone wants answers but she is full of questions. Banks is watching so did she really think Bayley wasn’t going to be her next target?

Sasha wanted to be Two Belts Banks again and was just using Bayley the whole time. She knows it because Bayley was using her the whole time. Bayley used her to become Bayley Dos Straps and is now the longest reigning Smackdown Women’s Champion in history. After last night though, Banks is nothing to her. Good promo here, and the explanation is a nice twist on the usual formula.

Video on Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton.

From Raw.

Keith Lee vs. Drew McIntyre

Non-title. Lee hammers away to start and gets in a shot to the bad jaw, setting up a charge over the top. Back from a break with McIntyre slugging away so Lee goes right back to the chops. The top rope chop gets two and McIntyre drops him with a clothesline. A suplex doesn’t work for McIntyre so Lee runs him over with a crossbody for two of his own. Lee puts him on top for the superplex back down and a delayed two. The Claymore and Spirit Bomb are both blocked so it’s stereo crossbodies for a double knockdown. They pull themselves up…and here’s Retribution for the no contest at we’ll say 9:45.

Rating: C+. They went with the two big men hitting each other really hard formula here and it worked well. Lee still doesn’t lose for a good detail, but you can also tell that he has lost a lot of sizzle in the last few weeks. Maybe helping to deal with Retribution can be a nice boost though, which he somehow already needs. Also, well done on not having Orton interfere here, which felt like the obvious ending.

Post match the beatdown stays on but here’s the Hurt Business to take off the jackets and go for the fight as well. McIntyre and Lee get up to hit the big stereo flip dives onto everyone to end the show, as somehow no one was unmasked in that whole thing.

Overall Rating: C+. This worked out rather well as things are starting to pick up a bit on the way to Clash Of Champions. We still have a little way to go before we get there though and some of this stuff was a nice way to fill in some time. I’m not sure what else they can do to build up the show, but they have a few more title matches to set. That’s for next week though, so for now we have to settle for this one being pretty good.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

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