I just wanted to stop for a second and say thank you to everyone who takes the time to read my stuff. Whether you agree with what I say or think I’m a moron, I can’t begin to express my gratitude to you enough. It means so much that you give me your time like this and I hope to be able to do better to keep earning it in the future. It’s because of you all that I get to do this for a living and I couldn’t ask for anything better. Thank you all and know that it means the world to me to have you all around.

KB

Dynamite
Date: November 26, 2025
Location: The Pinnacle, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Bryan Danielson

We’re done with Full Gear and that means it is time to start the Continental Classic. This has become one of AEW’s signature events and will take place over the next few weeks on the way to World’s End. That’s in addition to Samoa Joe regaining the World Title from Hangman Page, plus the return of Swerve Strickland. Let’s get to it.

Here is Full Gear if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

We run down the card.

We look at the Don Callis Family’s issues at Full Gear, which was a rough night for the team.

Continental Classic Gold League: Kyle Fletcher vs. Kazuchika Okada

Don Callis is on commentary. Okada’s Unified Title, which is no longer unified because Okada has surrendered the Continental Title for the tournament, isn’t on the line but he can lose the Unified Title if he doesn’t make the finals. Got that? Eh you probably don’t need to as whatever unification they do won’t last anyway.

We get a handshake to start but Fletcher tries to jump him early on. They trade headlock takeovers and go face to face before Okada starts in on the arm. Okada takes him up against the ropes for some chest slapping but Fletcher runs him over without much trouble. An elbow gives Fletcher two but Okada kicks the referee into the ropes to crotch Fletcher, setting up a dropkick out to the floor. Somehow this isn’t a DQ and we take a break.

We come back with Fletcher kicking the referee into the ropes to crotch Okada, setting up a nice superplex. Okada manages to hit the White Noise onto the knee, followed by the top rope elbow. The Rainmaker is countered into a half and half suplex but Okada hits the dropkick. The Tombstone connects but Okada’s Rainmaker is countered into a Michinoku Driver for the double down. They forearm it out from their knees until Fletcher lawn darts him into the corner, setting up a sitout Last Ride for two. The referee almost gets bumped and Okada tries the Rainmaker, which is reversed into a cradle for the pin at 16:48.

Rating: B+. Well, at least Okada took a fall here, and that’s a big deal. Fletcher is pretty clearly one of the stars of the future around here and beating Okada is still an important moment. They had a rather good match here and I was surprised that they actually pulled the trigger with one of them losing.

Gold League Standings

Kyle Fletcher – 3 points (3 matches remaining)
Mike Bailey – 0 points (4 matches remaining)
Kevin Knight – 0 points (4 matches remaining)
Pac – 0 points (4 matches remaining)
Darby Allin – 0 points (4 matches remaining
Kazuchika Okada – 0 points (3 matches remaining)

Post match we do get a handshake, even with Okada teasing the middle finger.

We recap the Elite’s reunion at Full Gear.

Kenny Omega says this is complicated. He hasn’t been a model friend, but maybe the Young Bucks deserve a second chance. The Bucks leave Omega’s locker room.

After winning the TNT Title, the bloody Mark Briscoe talks about how he wasn’t sure if he wanted to keep wrestling after losing his brother. Then it was loss after loss but the Conglomeration became his road family. The title is for his road family and for his real family.

Women’s Tag Team Title Tournament Semifinals: Sisters Of Sin vs. Babes Of Wrath

Cameron catches Hart’s kick to the ribs to start and Nightingale comes in for a double belly to back suplex. Blue makes the save and Nightingale fires off some corner clotheslines. An assisted splash misses though and it’s Hart coming back in to take over on Cameron. Everything breaks down and Cameron hits Blue with a Sling Blade. Black fights back to take over on Cameron and we take a break.

We come back with Cameron still in trouble but she manages a belly to back suplex to escape. Nightingale comes back in to clean house but a double kick to the chest cuts her down. Cameron gets dropped as well so Hart tries her moonsault…and overshoots it, instead having to jump forward for a kind of splash. With Nightingale on the floor, Cameron fights back and everything breaks down. The Babe With The Powerbomb finishes Hart at 11:38.

Rating: B-. This was a good enough choice, as the Babes feel like a real threat to win the whole thing. The fans like them and they work well enough together so pushing them all the way to the finals is a smart way to go. Other than that, it’s not like the Sisters are hurt that badly by a single loss so this made the most sense.

Here are the Opps (minus Hook) for a chat. Before Samoa Joe can get very far though, Swerve Strickland and Hangman Page, each carrying a chain, arrive in the back. Joe sends Katsuyori Shibata after them and talks about how brilliant he really is. We see a package on how Hook swerved everyone the entire time, which still doesn’t feel like that big of a shock. Cue Hook to brag about how smart he is but Page and Strickland are here to wreck the Opps’ lackeys. The Opps leave and Page and Strickland use their chains for some hangings.

After his loss at Full Gear, Jon Moxley said he was feeling fine after his match and is ready to keep going. The rest of the Death Riders are….I have no idea, as you can never tell who is making them mad.

Continental Classic Blue League: Jon Moxley vs. Mascara Dorada

Moxley takes him down by the arm to start but Dorada flips up without much trouble, much to Moxley’s annoyance. Dorada sends him outside but misses a dive, allowing Moxley to send him into the barricade. Back up and Moxley gets knocked down again, though he’s fine enough to knock a dive off the ramp out of the air.

We take a break and come back with Dorada snapping off a hurricanrana on the floor, followed by a running cutter over the barricade. Back in and a Code Red gives Dorada two and hits electric chair flipping slam gets the same. Moxley fights out of a cross armbreaker but can’t hit a Death Rider. On the other hand, Dorada can hit a superkick and a 450 for two, leaving them both needing a breather. Moxley gets his knees up to block a shooting star press and a choke finishes Dorada at 12:56.

Rating: B-. Good enough match here, though it felt similar to Fletcher’s match earlier, as he gets a win to make up for his loss at Full Gear. That’s fine in theory, but when Moxley is right back and winning clean a few days after the loss, it takes away from what Kyle O’Reilly managed to do on Saturday. Just give us a little breather from Moxley? Maybe?

Blue League Standings

Jon Moxley – 3 points (3 matches remaining)
Claudio Castagnoli – 0 points (4 matches remaining)
Konosuke Takeshita – 0 points (4 matches remaining)
Roderick Strong – 0 points (4 matches remaining)
Orange Cassidy – 0 points (4 matches remaining
Mascara Dorada – 0 points (3 matches remaining)

Post match Marina Shafir comes into the ring with Moxley but here is Toni Storm to interrupt. Storm praises Moxley but she’s operates in love rather than hatred. As for Shafir, it’s time to start thinking of the right kind of match. She woke up next to Mina Shirakawa this morning and realized she hadn’t gotten Shirakawa anything for Christmas. Therefore, next week it’s an anything goes death match.

Kris Statlander is ready to face someone else and she knows where she’s going. Who’s coming with her?

Continental Classic Gold League: Darby Allin vs. Kevin Knight

Knight backs him into the corner to start but Allin is back with an armdrag into an armbar. Back up and Knight kicks him in the face, setting up a monkey flip to bang up Allin’s knee. They go outside and Knight avoids a charge into the barricade and hits a moonsault to put Allin down again. A belly to back superplex drops Allin again and we take a break.

We come back with Knight sending him outside again but getting dropped onto the ramp. A running dropkick off the ramp sends Knight into the barricade and a rollup gets two back inside. The Scorpion Death Drop is broken up so they both hit clotheslines (and kind of do the inside out flips on the landing for quite the visual).

Knight is back up with a DDT on the ramp and a heck of a diving clothesline over the top rope connects. Back in and a Code Red gives Allin two but Knight ties him in the Tree Of Woe. The Coast To Coast connects and the UFO Splash gives Knight the completely clean pin at 11:57.

Rating: B. I’m surprised by the ending and while it doesn’t mean that Knight is going to win, he certainly picks up the biggest win of his career. It’s something I wasn’t expecting and came after a good match. Yes Allin was banged up and is now on quite the losing streak, but at least Knight got the kind of win he can hang his hat on going forward. Good stuff here.

Gold League Standings

Kyle Fletcher – 3 points (3 matches remaining)
Kevin Knight – 0 points (3 matches remaining)
Mike Bailey – 0 points (4 matches remaining)
Pac – 0 points (4 matches remaining)
Darby Allin – 0 points (3 matches remaining
Kazuchika Okada – 0 points (3 matches remaining)

Schiavone declares this Knight’s biggest win ever in the tournament. Since it’s his first match ever in the tournament, that’s not clearing much of a bar.

We look at FTR winning the Tag Team Titles at Full Gear.

Eddie Kingston doesn’t want to talk about Hook but he heard Samoa Joe mention his name. He’s not in line for a title shot, but maybe he would be if he beats Katsuyori Shibata on Collision. The match is made.

Continental Classic Blue League: Claudio Castagnoli vs. Orange Cassidy

Cassidy gets some early near falls off some rollups, including one off a reversed powerbomb attempt. Castagnoli’s running uppercut connects in the corner but Cassidy gives him the lazy kicks. They go outside, with Cassidy hitting him with a hard clothesline to take over. A nasty Swing into the barricade drops Cassidy again and we take a break.

We come back with Castagnoli missing a charge into the post and falling out to the floor. Cassidy hits a diving tornado DDT but Castagnoli is able to uppercut him out of the air for two. The elbows to the head have Cassidy in trouble but he manages another DDT. The Orange Punch and Beach Break get two as does a hurricanrana to counter the Neutralized. Castagnoli has had it with this though and nails Swiss Death for the pin at 12:24.

Rating: B. Cassidy fighting against a giant is a good way to go and the match went well, with Castagnoli getting to run him over. Castagnoli is someone who can ignite Beast Mode and plow through people and it always works. That’s what we got here, with Castagnoli getting off to a nice start, while Cassidy can still catch up.

Blue League Standings

Jon Moxley – 3 points (3 matches remaining)
Claudio Castagnoli – 3 points (3 matches remaining)
Konosuke Takeshita – 0 points (4 matches remaining)
Roderick Strong – 0 points (4 matches remaining)
Orange Cassidy – 0 points (3 matches remaining
Mascara Dorada – 0 points (3 matches remaining)

Post match the Death Riders come in for the beatdown but most of the people in the tournament come in for a big brawl. Dorada moonsaults onto a pile on the floor as Kazuchika Okada looks on. The Death Riders are cleared out to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. This was a themed show, with the focus being almost entirely on the in-ring side of things. That’s where AEW tends to shine and it certainly did here, with four matches kicking off the Continental Classic. The title situation is a huge mess and WAY more complicated than it needs to be, but I can more than settle for some rather awesome wrestling up and down the show.

Results
Kyle Fletcher b. Kazuchika Okada – Rollup
Babes Of Wrath b. Sisters Of Sin – Babe With The Powerbomb to Hart
Jon Moxley b. Mascara Dorada – Choke
Kevin Knight b. Darby Allin – UFO Splash
Claudio Castagnoli b. Orange Cassidy – Swiss Death

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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

Survivor Series 2022
Date: November 26, 2022
Location: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Attendance: 15,609
Commentators: Kevin Patrick, Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Wade Barrett

It’s been a year since WWE had its first (main roster) WarGames match and believe it or not, the focus is on the Bloodline. This time around Sami Zayn has to prove his loyalty to the team, which is creating some drama. Other than that, we have Team Belair vs. Team Damage CTRL in the women’s version, which should be quite good as well. Let’s get to it.

The opening video, featuring Ozzy Osbourne, looks at WarGames because, well, what else would it look at?

Commentary welcomes us to the show and explains the rules of WarGames:

• Two wrestlers start and fight for five minutes.

• After five minutes, the team with the advantage (as determined before the match) gets a three minute advantage.

• The teams alternate until all ten are in and then it’s first pin/submission to win.

• No it isn’t the original WarGames rules. Let it go already.

Team Belair vs. Team Damage CTRL

Belair: Bianca Belair, Alexa Bliss, Asuka, Mia Yim, Becky Lynch
Damage CTRL: Bayley, Dakota Kai, Iyo Sky, Nikki Cross, Rhea Ripley

Kai and Belair start things off with the former running away to get it going. Belair wrestles her to the mat before hitting a running shoulder as the slow pace starts. A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker puts Kai down again and we talk about Belair’s recent interview with Sports Illustrated, which is as WARGAMES-y as you can get.

Kai gets in a shot of her own and they go into the second cage and try to make it all the way to first gear. A scorpion kick staggers Belair but she runs Kai over and sends her into the cage (as we now remember that they’re in a CAGE). Another toss into the cage leaves Kai down and it’s Sky unevening the odds. Sky and Belair take turns flipping around until Belair gets caught between the two of them in between the rings.

The villains take over on Belair in the corner until she double suplexes her way out of trouble. Asuka comes in to help Belair clean house and we get the big showdown with Sky. They both counter whips into the ropes until Asuka hits a running hip attack against said ropes. The running knee to the head puts Sky down again and Belair is back up with a gorilla press toss to Kai. Cross is in next but first it’s time for the weapons. Asuka gets the door slammed onto her head, leaving Cross to tornado DDT Belair.

With Belair and Asuka down, Cross whips them with her coat until Kai and Sky are up to get in their variety of choking. It’s Bliss coming in to even things up again and some dropkicks put Cross and Kai down. Belair gets back up and breaks a kendo stick but Kai and Sky use the full ones to cut her off. Cross sits on top of the cage as sticking and hair whipping ensue below. Naturally that means the big dive to take everyone out and yes Cross laughed the whole time.

Now it’s Bayley coming in so let’s grab some ladders. The fans want tables so Bayley obliges as the match has more or less stopped while she moves stuff around. Bayley sends Belair into the corner before putting her in between the rings again. A table shot to the ribs leaves Belair trapped until Yim is….released to grab more weapons. House is quickly cleaned, including Kai being rammed into the cage and kicked in the face over and over.

Cross chokes Yim and the people split off again as this really isn’t picking up. Some superplexes have everyone down and it’s Ripley coming in to complete Damage CTRL. House is quickly cleaned until everyone just kind of stands around (save for Ripley Prism Trapping Asuka) until Yim makes a random comeback on Ripley as the rest are in the other ring.

That’s broken up and it’s Lynch in to complete the field, meaning the match can officially be won. Lynch gets to clean house as the ans aren’t exactly on fire for this. That might be due to how slow everything is going since Lynch keeps messing with the trashcan instead of running around punching people or wrecking them all with a chair.

We get the big Lynch vs. Bayley showdown with Lynch easily getting the better of things. With Bayley stomped down, Lynch turns around to see Ripley for the really big showdown. A quick Riptide attempt is broken up but Bayley makes the save. Now Riptide can connect for two with Asuka making a save. The mist blinds Ripley but Bayley drops Asuka face first onto the turnbuckle.

Bayley beats Lynch down and declares herself as a role model more than The Man. The Rose Plant onto the steel between the rings gets two and it’s time for a bunch of people to go to the corner. Cross cuts Belair off to break up a seven person Tower Of Doom so a bunch of people crash down instead. Sky moonsaults off the top of the cage onto Yim and Belair (who is favoring her leg) to FINALLY wake up the crowd.

Everyone is down (cue the overhead camera shot) until Cross beats up Bliss. Cross shouts about how she hasn’t forgotten and handcuffs Bliss to…nothing as Bliss handcuffs herself to Cross instead. An electric chair onto a trashcan leaves them both down and we pause again. Ripley is back up to send Asuka into the cage but Yim is back up with a choke.

That means a big crash through the ladder and, say it with me, everyone is down again. Becky and Belair get the showdown Damage CTRL and Kai gets Manhandle Slammed. The KOD to Sky lets Belair put Kai on a table and send Bayley into the cage. Lynch drops a leg off the cage to put Kai through the table for the pin at 39:34.

Rating: C. Sweet goodness this was boring. As is the case with just about every modern incarnation of this match (in WWE, NXT or AEW) it went WAY too long as this was about 15-20 minutes longer than it needed to be. The longer time meant that there were far too many stretches where nothing went on as they were laying around waiting on someone to do something. There were good parts to it, but this needed to be WAY shorter with a lot more action than we got.

On Smackdown, with a hidden Jey Uso listening, Kevin Owens told Sami Zayn to turn on the Bloodline. With Owens gone, Jey asked if Sami had talked to anyone but Sami said he just got here. Then Sami cost Jey a match for the WarGames advantage, with commentary wondering if it was on purpose.

Roman Reigns makes sure Jey Uso is ready for WarGames. Jey is ready, but he doesn’t trust Sami after last night. He would take Sami out if Reigns gave the order, but Reigns tells him to be on the same page tonight. Reigns will know if Sami is telling the truth and wants Jey to focus. With Jey gone, Reigns looks worried and has Paul Heyman call Sami.

We recap Finn Balor vs. AJ Styles, which has been going on for a few months. Styles couldn’t deal with the Judgment Day’s numbers game, so he brought back the OC to even things up.

Finn Balor vs. AJ Styles

The rest of Judgment Day (minus Rhea Ripley) and the OC are here too. Of note: Cole talks about Dominik and Ripley invading Rey Mysterio’s home during Thanksgiving. Dominik better watch that or he’ll get arrested. They fight over arm control to start with Styles driving him up against the ropes for a clean break.

Back up and Balor takes him into the corner but his kick to the ribs is cut off. Styles starts going after the leg, including a shinbreaker which has Balor appealing to their past friendship. Balor manages to take him down though and stomp away, though he has to stop to favor the leg. A knee to the back gets two and we hit the abdominal stretch. Styles fights his way out and hits the running forearm, followed by the fireman’s carry backbreaker for two.

Another shot to the leg cuts Balor down but Dominik breaks up the Phenomenal Forearm. Everyone else brawls on the floor and fight into the crowd, leaving Balor to hit a Sling Blade on Styles. A charge is cut off though and Styles suplexes him into the corner. It’s too early for the Calf Crusher though as Balor manages a double stomp to leave Styles down. Balor’s back is all messed up from….something but he’s fine enough to try his own Styles Clash. That’s broken up, just like Styles’ Calf Crusher attempt.

Another double knockdown gives us a breather, followed by Balor’s own fireman’s carry backbreaker. 1916 is broken up though and Styles moonsaults into a Nightmare on Helms Street for two. Balor puts him back down but misses the Coup de Grace. Instead Styles grabs the Calf Crusher until Balor rams him head first into the mat to escape. Back up and they slug it out until Styles is sent to the apron, where the Phenomenal Forearm finishes Balor at 18:23.

Rating: B. There are matches where you know you’re going to see something good just based on who is out there. That was the case here and WWE was smart enough to give the two of them that much time. Styles hadn’t been doing so well in his battle against Judgment Day and you have to give him a win like this every so often to keep him looking strong. Good stuff here and a heck of a match between two talented stars.

Post match Styles yells at Balor a bit.

We recap Shotzi challenging Ronda Rousey for the SmackDown Women’s Title. Shotzi won a six way #1 contenders match but Rousey isn’t taking her incredibly seriously, though having Shayna Baszler help with a beatdown made it easier. Rousey and Baszler also injured Shotzi’s friend Raquel Rodriguez so things are personal.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Ronda Rousey vs. Shotzi

Rousey, with Baszler, is defending. Shotzi slugs away to start but gets flipped over. The ankle lock goes on until Shotzi sends her into the corner. Rousey is sent outside but Baszler takes Shotzi’s dive instead. Shotzi sends her into the steps and fires off some hard forearms back inside. A high crossbody is suplexed out of the air but Shotzi sweeps the leg. That doesn’t work for Rousey, who ties up the legs and they kind of lay around on the mat.

Back up and Shotzi nails a right hand to stun Rousey but gets sent outside. Shotzi takes out Baszler and sends her over the barricade, setting up a dive onto Rousey and Baszler at the same time. They beat the count back in and Shotzi goes up, only to get judo thrown down hard. Piper’s Pit and the armbar retain the title at 7:13.

Rating: C+. They were limited with what they could do here, as it’s hard to buy Shotzi as a threat to either the title or Rousey. Shotzi has all kinds of charisma but she hasn’t been presented as a major star, certainly not on Rousey’s level. For what we got here, things went well, though that was about as good as it was going to be.

Sami Zayn comes in to see Roman Reigns and admits that yes, he did talk to Kevin Owens. He didn’t tell Jey Uso about it because he didn’t want to put something extra on Jey’s plate before the WarGames advantage match. And Owens talked to him, saying he should turn on the Bloodline. Reigns gets that Owens and Zayn were friends but this is about his family, so whose side is Zayn on? Zayn says this is what he wants and he’s not turning on the Bloodline. That seems good enough for Reigns.

US Title: Bobby Lashley vs. Austin Theory vs. Seth Rollins

Rollins is defending. Lashley runs Theory over to start and Rollins sends Theory outside, leaving the other two to slug it out. Rollins slips away from a Hurt Lock attempt but Theory pulls Rollins outside for a ram into the barricade. Back in and Theory hammers away on Lashley, who fights up to beat on both of them. A DDT/Downward Spiral combination drops Rollins and Theory and the spinning Dominator hits Rollins as well.

Theory pulls the referee though and tries to grab a chair, which is easily blocked by Lashley. Rollins sends him into the steps though, allowing Theory to jump Rollins from behind. The steps hit Lashley as well and the rolling dropkick gets two on Rollins. A running elbow to the face gets the same and Theory talks a lot of trash. Rollins is back up with a Sling Blade, followed by a bunch of suicide dives to the other two.

That’s not enough as Rollins hits a big dive to take them both out again. Back in and Theory counters a dropkick into a powerbomb for two on Rollins and everyone is down. It’s Lashley up first to take over, meaning Theory uses a sleeper to…well attempt to break up the Hurt Lock. The save eventually works, leaving Rollins to Pedigree Lashley for two. The Phoenix splash misses though and Theory gives Lashley a running Blockbuster.

A Town Down is countered into the Hurt Lock but Theory flips backwards out of the corner. That’s broken up by Rollins’ frog splash so Lashley Hurt Locks both of them at once. With that broken up, Lashley’s spear misses in the corner so Rollins forearms Theory in the back of the head. Rollins uses Theory for a step up Stomp to Lashley and superplexes Theory. The Falcon Arrow is loaded up but Lashley spears Rollins, with Theory landing on him for the pin and the title at 14:50.

Rating: B. This got a good bit better by the end but it was only working so well for the most part. It needed to be about three minutes shorter to really work well. The whole feud was only so good in the first place and then the blowoff match, while good, hit a ceiling. Theory getting the win is nice to see, even if he had to steal the pin for the title.

Jey Uso tells Roman Reigns that he’s ready.

We recap the men’s WarGames match. Everyone hates the Bloodline, who isn’t sure if they can trust Sami Zayn. Now it’s time to see if he can prove himself.

Bloodline vs. Team Owens

Bloodline: Roman Reigns, Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso, Solo Sikoa, Sami Zayn
Owens: Kevin Owens, Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, Ridge Holland, Butch

Butch and Jey start things off and they shout at each other from different rings for a good while. Jey finally gets into the other ring after about a minute of standing around. Butch takes him down without much trouble and cranks on the fingers (as he is known to do), which he then ties into the cage wall. Back up and Jey manages to send him into the cage, followed by a pop up neckbreaker.

Jey goes after the arm and sends it into the cage, only to have Butch stomp on the arm again. Butch gets in something close to a Kimura and it’s Ridge Holland in to give the good guys an advantage. Holland crushes Jey in the corner over and over and a high/low takes him down again. The Brutes start in on Jey’s arms for a bit of a unique strategy, including stereo jumping stomps to said arms. The clock runs down and a sitting Reigns instructs Sami to even things up.

Sami takes more than a minute to get to the ring, allowing Jey to get up and take over on the Brutes. Holland gets stomped between the rings and the fans seem to approve of Zayn. Double teaming cuts off Holland’s comeback but Butch gets up the cage to moonsault onto Jey and Zayn. Now Holland is able to fight up and actually take over until he misses a charge into the cage (thanks to Zayn pulling Jey out of the way).

Drew McIntyre is in next and beats up both villains without much trouble. Jey is sent into the cage over and over before a belly to belly sends Zayn into the corner. Drew: “I’M FEELING PRETTY UCEY RIGHT NOW!” Jey manages to knock Drew into the Tree of Woe but he sits up to send Jey crashing back down. There’s the Futureshock to Zayn but Jimmy Uso comes in to tie it up. That means it’s time for some tables, though Jey doesn’t want Zayn to help set them up.

Jimmy has to break it up as even more time is burned off. The Brutes are beaten down again though, with Butch being sent into the cage so a table can be set up in the corner. McIntyre fights up and avoids being sent through it as Kevin Owens unties things again. Owens brings in some chairs and plants Jimmy onto one, setting up the Cannonball to Jey. A chair is thrown at Jey and we get the Owens vs. Zayn staredown.

Holland, continuing to be useless, breaks it up by jumping Zayn, allowing Jimmy to deck Owens. Jimmy is put through a table though as Cole can’t remember who has the advantage at the moment. Solo Sikoa makes it 4-4 and gets to clean house, as tends to be the villains’ custom. The Samoan drop hits Holland and it’s an Owens vs. Sikoa staredown. They slug it out between the rings until Sikoa shrugs off a ram into the cage.

Some superkicks have the same lack of effect and Sikoa backdrops his way out of a powerbomb attempt. Sikoa goes over to slug it out with McIntyre with Sikoa getting the better of things, only to have the Umaga attack cut off. Sheamus completes Team Owens but Zayn holds the door shut in a smart move. Not that it matters as Sheamus slams it onto Zayn’s head and starts to clean house.

A double clothesline takes down some villains as Reigns is getting ready. Zayn is sent into the cage and the Brutes go after Zayn and the Usos for the big beatdown. White Noise hits Sikoa but it’s Reigns time so the match can officially begin. Naturally this means everyone gets up and we get the five on five staredown, making the last 28 minutes or so pretty much a formality. The fight is on and Reigns cleans house without much effort.

Sheamus cuts off a spear though and we get the quintuple ten (or more in some cases) forearms to the villains’ chests. McIntyre and Sheamus beat on Reigns and the Brogue Kick hits Sikoa. The distraction lets Reigns spear Sheamus but Butch makes the save. Zayn is back up to beat on Butch but Jey superkicks Zayn, presumably by mistake. A super 1D hits Butch for two with Holland making the save this time. Reigns spears Holland through the table in the corner but McIntyre is back up.

Sikoa saves Reigns from a powerbomb and Spinning Solo puts McIntyre through a table. Owens Stuns Sikoa for two so Reigns makes the save for a change. Reigns and Owens slug it out with Reigns hitting a Superman Punch. Owens is back with a Pop Up Powerbomb into the Stunner but Zayn grabs the referee at two. That leaves Owens staring at Zayn (who the fans like) but a superkick is cut off by a low blow. Zayn seems to know he has sealed his fate and Reigns looks up at him, leaving Zayn to Helluva Kick Owens. Jey adds the Superfly Splash for the pin at 38:32.

Rating: B. It’s good fight and as usual this was about the storytelling with Zayn and the Bloodline, but the same problems were there again. There is just SO MUCH waiting around for the match to really get going and it doesn’t feel like hatred. Instead, it feels like “how can we get these weapons spots in” rather than just beating each other up. Cut the match down by about fifteen minutes and it’s much better, but for now it’s just good rather than great.

Zayn is officially accepted into the team, with Jey giving him the big hug. Replays and posing end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. There were some good parts, but WarGames continues to be more of an idea that sounds great on paper rather than in execution. Two matches took about an hour and forty minutes and that does not leave much for the rest of the show. What we got was good and having Zayn get the big definitive Bloodline acceptance (which will absolutely last forever) was nice, but dang it took time to get there. I know Survivor Series has evolved beyond the traditional elimination tag format, but it would be nice to have this new format tweaked a bit, as it could make the show that much better.

 

 

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NXT
Date: November 25, 2025
Location: Theater At Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Booker T.

It’s the second week of Gold Rush and that means it’s time for more title matches. This includes the usual assortment of titles being on the line, but we are also less than a month away from Deadline. In this case, that means John Cena will be announcing the participants in the annual Iron Survivor Challenges. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of last week’s show.

Evolve Title: Sean Legacy vs. Jackson Drake

Drake, with Swipe Right, is defending. Legacy starts fast with some atomic drops to send him outside, where Swipe Right offers a distraction. That lets Drake get in a cheap shot from behind but Legacy snaps off a dropkick back inside. Drake suplexes him into the corner though and we take a break.

We come back with Drake striking away but Legacy manages a missile dropkick to the floor. Legacy takes out Swipe Right and gets two off a sitout implant DDT. Drake kicks him back down and drops some moonsault knees for two of his own. They head up top with Legacy grabbing something like a tabletop superplex for two more but Drake drapes him over the top. A springboard knee to the back of the head sets up the Unaliver (running knee) to retain the title at 10:58.

Rating: C+. Perfectly fine match here, though Legacy is starting to lose his charm. He felt like the one who was going to be the big breakout star in Evolve and then he keeps losing. Maybe he’s turning heel or something soon, but this is only getting him so far. Nothing bad here, but it felt like a glorified warmup match.

Earlier today, Ethan Page came up to Sol Ruca and told her to stop worrying about Zaria. Myles Borne came in and Ruca left, with Borne saying he’s ready to face Trick Williams tonight. Page says Williams only worries about himself, which is the right way to go. Sneering ensues.

Speed Title: Fallon Henley vs. Zaria

For the vacant title. Henley, with Fatal Influence, throws her down to start but a sleeper is broken up. Zaria’s sunset flip gets two and she sits down on Henley to break up another cover. The Texas cloverleaf goes on and sends Henley over to the ropes as we’re down to two minutes left. Zaria grabs another sleeper and lifts her up in the corner before sending her outside. Henley is thrown back inside and Zaria goes after Fatal Influence, with Henley using the distraction to get in a cheap shot.

Back in and Zaria’s F5 is countered into a DDT for two so Zaria fireman’s carries her again…as time expires at 5:00. Cue Ava to say not so fast and it’s now Sudden Death. Henley crashes out to the floor and we take a break. We come back with Zaria firing off some clotheslines and sending her flying with a suplex. Reid offers a quick distraction though and Henley hits a Shining Wizard. The Fameasser gives Henley the title at 12:25.

Rating: C+. That’s not exactly what I think of when I hear the word SPEED but it’s nice to see Henley get a win. She’s had a long stretch of not doing much so this is a good development for her career. If nothing else, it makes her feel like something of a star rather than just a lackey on a team, which is how she has felt for a long time now.

Shiloh Hill talks about how important his dad was to him over the years and how the Wrestlemania shirt his dad gave him is a big deal. Nothing wrong with something like this.

John Cena picks the entrants for the Iron Survivor Challenges. For the men, we’ll be seeing Je’Von Evans, Leon Slater, Joe Hendry, Dion Lennox and….the winner of Myles Borne vs. Trick Williams.

We look back at the Culling turning on Tatum Paxley last week.

TNA Knockouts Title: Lei Ying Lee vs. Jordynne Grace vs. Kelani Jordan

Jordan is defending. Grace (the crowd favorite) and Lee take turns beating on Jordan until Jordan jumps on Grace’s back. That’s broken up with a top rope Blockbuster from Lee, who knees Grace in the head for a bonus. Jordan knocks Lee outside but Grace is back up with a running Vader Bomb. Lee goes after Grace so Jordan double stomps the two of them, followed by a DDT for two on Grace. Jordan’s Asai moonsault takes both of them out and we take a break.

We come back with Jordan frog splashing Grace for two with Lee making the save. Lee takes both of them down but Grace’s German suplex drops her for two more. Jordan’s super Spanish Fly plants Grace for another near fall so Grace powerbombs both of them for two on the champ. Jordan misses a 450 and gets kicked in the face by Lee, with Grace making the save. Grace gives Jordan the spinning torture rack powerbomb but Lee kicks Grace away and steals the pin and the title at 13:59.

Rating: B. This got a good deal of time and thankfully ends the NXT star holding the TNA title deal. Lee is a nice example of someone who needed to win something to boost herself up and this is as good as anything else. There are a lot of talented women in TNA to come after the title and now they don’t have to deal with the invasion nonsense. Nice match here, with the right result.

Fatal Influence is happy with their success and they want Lainey Reid to win her title. Ava comes in to say there’s no interference.

We get a sitdown interview with Ricky Saints, who talks about how important it will be to face Oba Femi again at Deadline. Yes he beat Femi before, but now he’s not sure if he can do it again. Now he’s gotten all kinds of questions and people wondering if he can do it. What does it mean if he can’t again? All he knows is he’s going to prove that the impossible is possible again. Because he’s Ricky Saints.

Evolve Women’s Title: Kendal Grey vs. Lainey Reid

Grey, with Wren Sinclair, is defending and tackles her down to start the brawl fast. The early cross armbreaker attempt is broken up so Grey switches to just stomping away in the corner. Reid heads outside, where she manages to trip Grey face first into the steps (and HARD at that) as we take a break.

We come back with Grey’s top rope moonsault taking Reid down to start the comeback. Grey gets kicked outside but comes right back in, where Reid stomps her down for two. Reid’s running charge is countered into a powerslam but cue Fatal Influence for a distraction. Wren Sinclair breaks that up but gets knocked into Charlie Dempsey’s arms on the floor. The mass ejections get rid of everyone on the floor and Reid hits a superkick, only to miss a splash. Shades Of Grey (running Downward Spiral) retains the title at 10:28.

Rating: C+. It’s no surprise that WWE wanted to have Grey on a show like this as she is pretty clearly one of their bigger prospects at the moment. That shouldn’t be a surprise as she is young, talented and the fans like her. Let her develop and if it goes well enough, odds are she’ll be a big deal on the main roster one day.

Darkstate is ready to win the NXT Title to go with the Tag Team Titles.

John Cena announces the women’s Iron Survivor Challenge field: Sol Ruca, Lola Vice, Kelani Jordan, Jordynne Grace and Kendal Grey. That’s an interesting field.

Iron Survivor Qualifying Match: Myles Borne vs. Trick Williams

Borne grabs a quick rollup for two to start before grinding away on a headlock. Williams fights out of that and puts on a front facelock, followed by a quick suplex for two. A quick Borne Again gets two and we take an early break. We come back with Williams hammering away, with a flapjack connecting for two. Borne’s small package gets two but he walks into an AA.

The Trick Shot is countered into a powerslam for two more and Borne gets fired up. A reverse DDT gives Borne two but he walks into a release Rock Bottom. They trade shots to the face before both try jumping neckbreakers at the same time for a cool spot. Another Borne Again is blocked so Williams knocks him outside for a spinning kick to the face. Borne Again connects on the floor as well, followed by another inside to pin Williams at 11:21.

Rating: B-. I wasn’t feeling this one as much as I was expecting, as the ending just kind of came out of nowhere. I’m not sure if they ran out of time or something else, but it was like they just wrapped it up in a few seconds. Borne winning is a much more interesting prospect though, as it feels like they have something with him.

Post match Darkstate surrounds the ring but Joe Hendry, Leon Slater and Je’Von Evans run in for the staredown to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This show was focused on the Iron Survivor Challenges being set up, with the title matches not feeling nearly as important. With the NXT Title match being held back for Deadline, this show was more about the minor titles, which only made for so much interest. It’s a fine enough show, but more of a setup for later than anything else.

Results
Jackson Drake b. Sean Legacy – Unaliver
Fallon Henley b. Zaria – Fameasser
Lei Ying Lee b. Kelani Jordan and Jordynne Grace – Powerbomb to Jordan
Kendal Grey b. Lainey Reid – Shades Of Grey
Myles Borne b. Trick Williams – Borne Again

 

 

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Survivor Series 2021
Date: November 21, 2021
Location: Barclays Center, New York City, New York
Attendance: 15,120
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Jimmy Smith, Byron Saxton, Pat McAfee

Since it’s Survivor Series and there are no other possible options for the show in the history of ever, it’s time for a Battle Of Brand Supremacy with wrestlers who have been on the roster for about a month. That means a battle of World Champions Roman Reigns and Big E., plus Survivor Series tag matches and….a Rock 25th Anniversary battle royal? Let’s get to it.

For the sake of simplicity, all matches involving champions are non-title.

Kickoff Show: Damian Priest (Raw) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (Smackdown)

US Champion vs. Intercontinental Champion and Rick Boogs handles Nakamura’s entrance, much to Pat McAfee’s (now dancing on the announcers’ table) delight. Priest works on the arm to start but a Boogs guitar solo cuts that off, allowing Nakamura to grab a headlock. Nakamura takes him into the corner for Good Vibrations, with Boogs playing something that is in no way Good Vibrations.

Back up and Priest knocks him down and grabs a chinlock, meaning Boogs plays some more for a distraction. Some strikes to the head rock Priest and the sliding German suplex makes it worse (with McAfee jumping up to celebrate). Priest fights up and hits a running elbow in the corner, followed by a hard clothesline for two.

South Of Heaven is broken up though and Nakamura kicks him in the head again. Kinshasa is countered into South Of Heaven for two but the Reckoning is blocked. Priest counters an armbar into a triangle choke but Boogs guitars Nakamura to freedom AGAIN. Finally Priest goes outside and breaks the guitar (McAfee: “YOU SON OF A B****!”), with one of the pieces nailing Nakamura for the DQ at 9:24.

Rating: C. I was having fun with the back and forth as they had some chemistry together, but at the same time, there is only so much you can get with the constant Boogs interference. I do like that they didn’t have a champion get pinned here and instead went with Priest snapping to finish things up. Not a great match, but a fast paced one to start things off.

Smackdown – 1
Raw – 0

The opening video talks about how this is two sides battling….and we see a clip from Rock’s Netflix movie Red Notice. The voiceover talks about how many things the movie and show have in common before moving into the nonsense about this being the ONE NIGHT where Raw and Smackdown go head to head. Clips from the movie mock teamwork, which is what this show is all about. After more clips and more generic opening video statements about how important the show is, we’re ready to go.

We recap Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte. They were old friends but then both wanted to be the best, with Lynch getting there in a big way. Then Lynch left on maternity leave and Charlotte bragged about how great she (as in Charlotte) is so now that Lynch is back, it’s time to fight.

Before we got there though, there was also the VERY awkward moment where Charlotte was supposed to hand over the Raw Women’s Title and dropped it instead, leading to ALL KINDS of problems/discussion. Oh and Charlotte’s REALLY annoying “UH-OH” promo. This does at least have a personal story rather than just doing the Raw vs. Smackdown deal.

Charlotte (Smackdown) vs. Becky Lynch (Raw)

For a bonus, they’re both dressed as characters from Wandavision, with Charlotte as the villain and Becky as the hero. Becky hits her in the face to start and the brawl is on early. Charlotte goes for the leg but has to escape a Disarm-Her attempt. Back up and Charlotte hits a spear but Becky hits a heck of a spinning kick to the face. They head outside for a hard posting to Charlotte but it’s too early for the Manhandle Slam.

Charlotte gets her down and rams Becky’s face into the mat over and over. Becky is sent outside so Charlotte loads up the moonsault, which is shoved HARD into the barricade for a great looking crash instead. Charlotte sends her into the barricade and they both get back in at the same time for the big staredown. Becky avoids a shot to the knee in the corner but an armbar is countered into a powerbomb for two.

Some stomps in the corner have Charlotte in trouble and the fans aren’t thrilled with Becky. A fall away slam sends Becky into the corner for a crash, followed by the Andrade double moonsault for two. Charlotte snaps her throat first across the top but Becky knocks her into the ropes. The Fameasser onto the ropes gives Becky two and Charlotte misses the big boot, only to ram her head into Becky’s for two instead. The second big boot gets two instead so Becky is right back with a Christian layout reverse DDT.

Back up and the Manhandle Slam gives Becky two more, setting up a cross between a Figure Four and a heel hook. Charlotte turns it over for the break anyway and they’re both down for a bit. I’m not sure why Becky is down but it does make things a bit more dramatic. Yet another big boot knocks Becky outside and the moonsault…well it comes close to her at least, with the replay not making it any better.

Back in and Charlotte grabs her own Disarm-Her but Becky slips out. They fight into the corner where Charlotte grabs a rollup with ropes for two, as the referee sees the cheating. Becky reverses into a rollup of her own and doesn’t get caught grabbing the ropes for the pin at 18:13.

Rating: B+. These two work well and they treated it as a huge match, especially at the start where they both came out swinging. The ending was more of a way to save Charlotte than to give us a definitive winner, but after Charlotte has gone over so many times, doing a tainted job to the biggest female star ever isn’t asking too much. Great opener, with all kinds of energy and the big fight feel.

Raw – 1
Smackdown – 1

Classic Rock Moment: Debuting at Survivor Series 1996.

Raw Men vs. Smackdown Men

Raw: Seth Rollins, Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, Austin Theory, Bobby Lashley
Smackdown: Drew McIntyre, Jeff Hardy, King Woods, Happy Corbin, Sheamus

Survivor Series match and MVP/Madcap Moss are the respective sixths. Lashley has his spot after taking it from Dominik Mysterio and also caused Rey Mysterio to lose his spot to Theory. On the other side, Sami Zayn lost to Hardy, costing himself a spot on the team. You know, in case you needed a recap on the five people per show being thrown together. Rollins, the self proclaimed Raw captain, lets Owens start, so Owens bails to the floor and leaves for the countout less than a minute in.

After Owens takes a bow, McIntyre jumps Rollins on the floor as Theory comes in to face Woods. Theory gets his arm cranked on and it’s McIntyre coming in to launch him into the corner. Sheamus and McIntyre take turns chopping at Theory (McAfee is rather giddy) and Corbin gets in on it with a pretty good right hand. Theory manages to punch his way to freedom though and the tag brings in Rollins, who is knocked right back into the Smackdown corner.

It’s Hardy coming in to start on the arm and a quick splash gets one. Rollins is able to grab Sheamus by the arm though and Balor comes in to work on that arm for a change. Again though, that doesn’t last long as Sheamus drags him right back over for the tag to Corbin. We continue to e parade of arm cranking between people who don’t really dislike each other, making this match feel all the less interesting. Deep Six gets two on Balor with Lashley making the save, meaning everything breaks down.

With almost everyone else being knocked down, Balor kicks Corbin in the head and drops the Coup de Grace for the elimination. Hardy comes in to face Balor and the fans are rather pleased. It’s Hardy taking over with the basement dropkick but Balor’s own dropkick gets his own two. Lashley comes in for a running shoulder in the corner to Hardy, which has McAfee worried on commentary.

Hardy fights out of Balor’s chinlock and hits Whisper in the Wind, leaving Lashley and McIntyre to fight on the floor. Lashley posts him (McAfee: “DREW ARE YOU OK???”), leaving Theory to cover Hardy for two as the fans are interested in….something. It’s back to Woods to clean house, including a discus forearm to Theory. Lashley crotches Woods on top though and the Hurt Lock is good for the elimination to make it 4-3 Raw.

Everything breaks down again and Balor’s slingshot dive is pulled out of the air by Sheamus. We get the big Lashley vs. McIntyre showdown with Lashley backing up for some reason. McIntyre jumps him instead but Lashley powers him into the corner. That earns him a clothesline out to the floor with McIntyre following to post Lashley for a change. They fight over the barricade and that’s a double countout to get rid of the big guys.

The fans are NOT happy, even as Lashley jumps McIntyre after the eliminations. A Claymore drops Lashley though and a Glasgow Kiss drops a laughing Rollins before both guys leave. We’re down to Sheamus/Hardy vs. Rollins/Theory/Balor with Sheamus charging into a boot in the corner. That’s enough for Rollins to dive over for the hot tag to Balor, who is quickly powerslammed for two.

Balor is back up with a Sling Blade but the Coup de Grace misses, setting up the Brogue Kick to give Sheamus the pin. Theory is right in for a heck of a dropkick and it’s Rollins coming back in for a chinlock. After a pretty good while, Sheamus powers up and brings Hardy in to clean house.

Everything breaks down with Sheamus playing Matt Hardy for a springboard splash to the other two in the corner. That’s enough for Sheamus and Hardy to hit stereo ten forearms to the chest, followed by White Noise to Rollins. Everything breaks down again and Rollins pulls Hardy off the apron, leaving Theory to roll Sheamus up for the elimination. That leaves us with Hardy vs. Rollins/Theory…but Sheamus decks Theory before he leaves….and then does it to Hardy too.

Rollins is fine enough to get the tag and hit a frog splash for two on Hardy as we settle in to the beating. Theory takes Hardy up top but gets knocked down, setting up the Swanton for the pin. Rollins isn’t happy and glares at Hardy, who grabs a rollup for two. A hard forearm to the back of the head gets two on Hardy but the Twist of Fate drops Rollins. The Swanton hits raised knees though and the Stomp gives Rollins the final pin at 29:55.

Rating: B. It was a fun, hard hitting match, but the Raw vs. Smackdown lineups continue to feel so worthless. They might as well do a Lethal Lottery format and you would get the same result. The good thing is that the talent is here and can make a match like this work, but the format desperately needs to change to make it more interesting.

Raw – 2
Smackdown – 1

WWE did some charity stuff in Harlem.

Vince McMahon arrived earlier and got a big reception from a bunch of the wrestlers. Then he pulled out a gold egg, because cross promotion.

Classic Rock Moment: recreating the Montreal Screwjob a year later at Survivor Series 1998.

Roman Reigns comes in to see Vince McMahon, who shows him the egg. That’s Cleopatra’s egg, which was given to him by the Rock. Apparently it’s worth $100 million dollars, which Reigns says is as much as his next contract. And that’s it.

The Rock 25th Anniversary Battle Royal

Shanky, Commander Azeez, T-Bar, Robert Roode, Angel, Humberto, Shelton Benjamin, Sami Zayn, R-Truth, Cedric Alexander, Montez Ford, Jinder Mahal, Dolph Ziggler, Cesaro, Otis, Mansoor, Drew Gulak, Erik, Chad Gable, Ivar, Apollo Crews, Omos, AJ Styles, Ricochet, Angelo Dawkins

The Street Profits come to the ring with a bunch of Pizza Hut. Nothing wrong with a sponsorship. Cole and Graves get pizza but Saxton is denied, as he should be. Styles bails to the floor and stands on the announcers’ table as everyone else fights for the smart move of the night. Gulak and Benjamin are out to start with Humberto following them. Truth heads outside to get some pizza, which he offers to Omos and Otis.

The latter takes it before throwing Truth out and going after Omos. Otis doesn’t last long and Gable armbars Cesaro over the rope. That’s broken up and Cesaro knocks Gable out and T-Bar is dropkicked to the floor by Ricochet. The fans want pizza but have to settle for Alexander and Garza being tossed out. There goes Erik and Ivar at the hands of Shanky, because the potential is in Shanky instead of the Viking Raiders. Omos gets rid of Shanky with ease and Roode catapults Mansoor out.

Roode and Ziggler go after Omos and the giant gets rid of Roode, leaving Styles to Phenomenal Forearm Ziggler for the elimination. Zayn tries to rally the remaining Smackdown names but yells at Ricochet, leaving Ford and Dawkins to toss him out. Omos gets rid of Azeez, who pulls Styles out despite Omos’ protests. Crews is out next and we’re down to Omos, Dawkins, Ford, Cesaro and Ricochet. Cesaro rallies the troops to go after Omos, earning himself an elimination. There go Dawkins and Ford, leaving us with Ricochet vs. Omos. That doesn’t last long either as Omos tosses him out for the win at 10:38.

Rating: C. This was ALL about Omos, who threw out about half of the field and dominated throughout. It worked for Andre and even if Omos isn’t quite there, it was a nice performance. Omos is someone who works well in this kind of a spot, even if this had absolutely NOTHING to do with the Rock.

Raw – 3
Smackdown – 1

Post match Styles goes for the pizza but Ford kicks him in the head and throws it into the crowd.

Classic Rock Moment: winning the 2000 Royal Rumble, even if Big Show really won.

We look at the pre-show match.

RKBro (Raw) vs. Usos (Smackdown)

Riddle starts fast with an armbar attempt on Jimmy but gets stacked up for two and the break. A headbutt just makes Riddle mad and he grabs a spinning gutwrench suplex to send Jey flying. Orton comes in and we hear about his hear in Ohio Valley Wrestling for a bit of a rarity. The threat of an RKO sends Jimmy bailing to the floor so it’s off to Jey, who stomps Orton down in the corner.

That just earns Jey a punch to the nose (simple, yet effective) and a trip to the floor, allowing Riddle to hit the springboard Floating Bro. A drop onto the barricade cuts Riddle off though and it’s back to Jimmy for the suicide dive. We slow things down a bit with Jey hammering away in the corner until Riddle manages a kick to the head. That’s way too soon for a hot tag to Orton though and Jimmy is back in with a chinlock.

Riddle fights up and manages a Bro To Sleep (which doesn’t make anything close to full contact), allowing Orton to come back in to clean house. Snap powerslams drop the Usos and Jey gets belly to back dropped onto the announcers’ table. Not to be outdone, Jimmy gets the same as McAfee is losing it even more than usual. Back in and the hanging DDT hits Jey but he’s fine enough to block the RKO.

Riddle is up again and kicks Jey in the head before nailing Jimmy with a running forearm. Jey manages to kick Riddle down for two and the pop up Samoan drop gets two. There’s a superkick to Riddle and a double superkick to Orton. The double superkick from either side gets two on Riddle, who kicks out and stays rigid for a weird moment. Riddle’s enziguri gets him out of trouble though and Orton gets a blind tag. Jimmy doesn’t notice though and his Superfly Splash is pulled into the RKO to give Orton the pin at 14:48.

Rating: B. Two of the best teams in WWE have a good match when they are given about fifteen minutes on a big stage. Sometimes these things write themselves and that was the case here, as Orton even managed to get in the cool RKO that he hits in these important matches. Another solid match on the show in what shouldn’t be a surprise at all. Now just do it again for the titles.

Raw – 4
Smackdown – 1

Classic Rock Moment: vs. John Cena at Wrestlemania XXVIII. I’d say that counts, though it’s still hard to believe Cena lost.

Sonya Deville and Adam Pearce wait for Vince McMahon in his office. Vince comes back…and the egg is gone. The middle management goons are sent to find out who did it, saying if they don’t find out tonight, Vince will find out himself on Raw.

Video on Xia Li, the Protector, in comic book form. Yeah this was too cool to work and it never went anywhere.

Raw Women vs. Smackdown Women

Raw: Bianca Belair, Rhea Ripley, Liv Morgan, Carmella, Queen Zelina
Smackdown: Sasha Banks, Shayna Baszler, Shotzi, Toni Storm, Natalya

Zelina is still a queen and Ripley is half of the Women’s Tag Team Titles with Nikki Ash, which mean a grand total of nothing (Zelina and Carmella would win them the next night on Raw). Toni Storm (as announced in a completely necessary tweet earlier in the day) starts with Carmella, who drops Storm with a right hand. Hold on though as Carmella hands it off to Zelina before heading outside to put on her protective mask. It takes forever to put the mask on so Carmella has Zelina do it, allowing Storm to grab a rollup for the pin.

Belair and Banks come in for a Wrestlemania rematch but Shotzi tags herself in. A quick backsplash gets two on Belair but she’s right back up to knock Shotzi silly. Belair’s jumping splash gets two so Morgan comes in for a middle rope….uh, something, and a near fall. Natalya comes in for two off a snap suplex and a pinfall reversal sequence gets some near falls each. The step over basement dropkick gives Natalya two more but it’s off to Ripley to freshen things up.

Natalya doesn’t seem to mind and brings Baszler in for a double suplex. The jumping stomp to Baszler’s arm is blocked though and the slugout is on. Ripley has to fight out of an armbar as well as the Kirifuda Clutch, allowing her to stomp on Baszler’s head. Shotzi saves Baszler from the Riptide though and everything breaks down. Ripley breaks out of another choke and it’s a double tag to give us Belair vs. Banks.

Belair tries the power but gets pulled straight into the Bank Statement. That’s broken up so Banks sends her face first into the middle buckle, setting up a tornado DDT for two on Belair. Back up and Zelina tags herself in so Belair launches her at Banks for two more. No one will tag Banks so she has to block Zelina’s Code Red. Banks tags herself in and flips Zelina over into a cutter for the pin. Morgan comes in for a pinfall reversal sequence of her own until Oblivion connects to get rid of Storm.

Baszler comes in to choke Morgan and even kicks Ripley off the apron to prevent a tag (that’s smart). It’s off to Shotzi for a weird looking splash, followed by Banks’ frog splash to eliminate Morgan. Ripley comes in and muscles Banks up for a delayed suplex and a near fall. A missile dropkick sends Banks flying into the corner but Shotzi comes in off a blind tag. Shotzi offers a distraction so Baszler can come in with a knee to the face to pin Ripley, leaving Belair vs. Natalya, Shotzi, Banks and Baszler.

Belair comes in and suplexes Natalya for two before firing off the shoulders in the corner. Baszler’s distraction lets Natalya hit a powerbomb out of the corner for two and it’s off to Banks. Shotzi gets into it with Banks and pulls her to the floor where Banks gets counted out to make it 3-1.

Natalya comes in and Sharpshooters Belair, who rolls Natalya into Baszler for the break. A rollup finishes Natalya to make it 2-1, with Baszler coming in next. The Kirifuda Clutch is countered into a release Glam Slam to get rid of Baszler and it’s Shotzi vs. Belair. Shotzi grabs a choke in the corner and a faceplant drops Belair again. The running hip attack in the ropes gets two on Belair, who sends Shotzi into the corner and hits the KOD for the pin/win at 23:46.

Rating: C-. Well that was ridiculous. The last five minutes of this was Belair doing her best Super Cena impression, as she ran through three people on her own (four if you count getting rid of Banks). The match wasn’t anything special otherwise, as the Belair vs. Banks segment was the only thing worth seeing. This felt long until the ending, when it became one head shaking moment after another. Storm was trying and got a bit of a run, but this was all about making Belair look strong and to say they went overboard would be an understatement.

Raw – 5
Smackdown – 1

Classic Rock Moment: The Rock is at the first Smackdown on FOX and rips on Baron Corbin/hangs out with Becky Lynch.

Paul Heyman knows nothing about the missing egg but thinks those people from BROOKLYN might have had something to do with it. That’s not what he is being asked about though: what about Brock Lesnar’s suspension being lifted soon? Uh, Heyman doesn’t want to talk about that either.

Video on Bobby Lashley.

We recap Roman Reigns vs. Big E. Last month, Big E. cashed in Money In The Bank to become the new Raw World Champion. The New Day celebrated because they’re a brotherhood, but Reigns said they were no Bloodline. Reigns broke Woods’ King Of The Ring crown and now it’s time for a clash between World Champions.

Big E. (Raw) vs. Roman Reigns (Smackdown)

Paul Heyman is here too as we hear about their time together in FCW. They fight over a lockup to start with neither getting anywhere, meaning it’s off to another staredown. Big E. shoves him a bit and Reigns bails to the floor, where Heyman lists off some Anoa’i family members at the table. Back in and Reigns hits the jumping clothesline for two before stomping away rather hard.

An elbow drops Reigns and Big E. gets to talk a bit of trash to set up the missed apron splash. Big E. comes up favoring his knee and you know Reigns is happy with that. Back in and the chinlock goes on for a bit until Big E. powers up for the break. You don’t do that to Reigns, who boots Big E. down for two more. Big E. is sent outside again as Reigns is getting frustrated and growling at the crowd. A reversed whip into the steps puts Reigns in trouble for a change and some belly to bellies make it worse back inside.

The Warrior Splash connects but Big E. charges into a Samoan drop for two. Reigns fires off the corner clotheslines until Big E. Rock Bottoms him out of said corner for two of his own. The Stretch Muffler has Reigns in trouble so he powers up into a sitout powerbomb to rock Big E. again. A Rock Bottom gets two more as they’re sticking with the big shots here. Two Superman Punches only keep Big E. down for a few seconds so Reigns hits a third…but Big E. is back up before the spear can even launch.

Reigns is sent to the apron for the spear out to the floor but comes right back in with his own spear (minus through the ropes) for a rather near fall. They take their time getting up, with Reigns talking about how Big E. doesn’t deserve to be here. The guillotine is broken up but Big E. tries another spear through the ropes and gets caught in the choke. Reigns gets it on again back inside, only to muscle Reigns up into the Big Ending for two.

They head outside again, with Big E. fired up this time as he sends Reigns face first into the announcers’ table. A posting and ram into the barricade have Reigns in more trouble but he’s fine enough to send Big E. knees first into the steps. A Superman Punch off the steps lets Reigns kick the knee out and hit a spear for the pin at 21:56.

Rating: B. It took some time to get going and could have had a few minutes cut out, but this was a heck of a fight. The problem here though was there was no reason to believe Reigns would lose. Big E. is great, but winning the title via Money in the Bank makes him feel a step beneath Reigns, in addition to the fact that Reigns already feels like a bigger star than anyone else at the moment. Big E. was trying here, but you know Reigns getting pinned is going to be a huge moment, not something in a stand alone show like this one.

Raw – 5
Smackdown – 2

Overall Rating: B-. This show is going to depend on how you look at it. While the wrestling was mostly good, with the main event and men’s Survivor Series match carrying it, the biggest problem is NOTHING HAPPENED. Raw dominated the head to head competition and there was nothing on here that I felt like I needed to see. Reigns is still the unstoppable force and whoever got the red shirts this year had a strong night. What else is there to say about the wrestling with non-existent stakes?

Then you have everything else and it was just sad. The Rock obsession was cool and made sense, but without him actually having anything to do with the show the impact kind of falls apart. I know he’s busy, but if he isn’t going to be there, maybe don’t focus on him so much. The egg stuff was stupid, though I can’t fault WWE for trying to make money and it was relatively short.

Overall, as has been the case for a long time, there was enough good to pretty good action to make the show a decent watch, but there is absolutely nothing from a storyline perspective. The Battle For Brand Supremacy stuff worked for a few years but now WWE has given up on it meaning anything, so why should I care about what they’re doing? Good enough show, but totally unimportant.

Ratings Comparison

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Damian Priest

Original: C+
Redo: C

Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte

Original: B+
Redo: B+

Raw Men vs. Smackdown Men

Original: B-
Redo: B

Battle Royal

Original: C
Redo: C

Usos vs. RKBro

Original: C+
Redo: B

Smackdown Women vs. Raw Women

Original: C-
Redo: C-

Big E. vs. Roman Reigns

Original: B
Redo: B

Overall Rating

Original: B-
Redo: B-

Oh yeah this is about as similar as it gets.

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Survivor Series 2020
Date: November 22, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Byron Saxton, Samoa Joe, Tom Phillips, Michael Cole, Corey Graves

I can list off the lineups for just about every Survivor Series up until the mid 90s, but I couldn’t tell you what headlined this show if my life depended on it. There is something about the Battle For Brand Supremacy years that suck the fun out of these shows and that was certainly the case again with this one. Maybe it holds up better upon seeing it though. Let’s get to it.

We’re still in the original Thunder Dome for this one, just in case you needed a time capsule effect.

Kickoff Show: Battle Royal

Dolph Ziggler, Elias, Chad Gable, Cedric Alexander, Humberto Carrillo, Shelton Benjamin, Shinsuke Nakamura, Robert Roode, Jeff Hardy, Apollo Crews, Ricochet, Angel Garza, Rey Mysterio, Dominik Mysterio, Murphy, Kalisto, Miz, John Morrison

This is the first match for Brand Supremacy so I don’t bother listing brands for everyone. The Mysterios and Miz (Mr. Money in the Bank)/John Morrison are the only ones to get entrances. Dominik clotheslines Morrison out in a hurry as Kalisto and Rey have a lucha off in the middle. Cedric gets rid of Kalisto though and Ziggler superkicks Rey to break up the 619.

Ziggler tosses Rey and Garza gets rid of Carrillo to clear out a bit of the ring. The Hurt Business (Benjamin/Alexander for you non-history geeks….who are reading this by mistake) eliminate Garza but Ricochet gets rid of Alexander. Benjamin eliminates Ricochet with a knee but Crews tosses Benjamin for some rapid fire eliminations.

Ziggler gets in his first of probably 183 saves before fighting to the apron with Murphy. Roode knocks Murphy out but gets dumped by Dominik, who avoids a Ziggler charge and kicks him out. Crews and Elias double team Miz until Nakamura knees Crews out. We’re down to Hardy, Nakamura, Gable, Miz, Dominik and Elias, with Hardy getting rid of Nakamura and Elias back to back.

Hardy and Gable pair off with Gable tossing him out before Miz kicks the other two in the face. Some YES Kicks have Dominik in more trouble but he sends Miz to the apron. Miz slides back in just before Dominik baseball slides him outside (that’s clever). Gable is back up with some rolling belly to bellys to Dominik but Rolling Chaos Theory is blocked. Dominik hits a 619 and dumps Gable, only to get thrown out by Miz for the win at 12:08.

Rating: C-. As usual, a battle royal is usually based on how long it went and this didn’t quite overstay its welcome. At the same time, it had a smart moment with Miz rolling back in, even if it was the “hey he’s not out!” deal. This was a simple way to get a lot of people on the show and just like Wrestlemania, it served its purpose well.

Raw – 1
Smackdown – 0

The opening video looks at the Battle For Brand Supremacy, including the champion vs. champion matches. Oh and one more thing: it 30 years to the day of Undertaker’s debut and he’s making his final farewell. The fact that I forgot about that tells you how nutty the last year has been.

Team Raw Men vs. Team Smackdown Women

Raw: AJ Styles, Keith Lee, Sheamus, Braun Strowman, Riddle
Smackdown: Kevin Owens, Jey Uso, King Corbin, Seth Rollins, Otis

It’s kind of amazing to see how many of these people have changed shows in just a year, as things continue to be shaken up. Omos is here with Styles (self appointed team captain) and everyone gets individual entrances, including Lee, allowing commentary to talk about his amazing performance at Survivor Series 2019. The fact that he wound up doing absolutely nothing as a result is very sad, as well as telling about how bad things have gotten in WWE. Otis is the Blue Collar Working Man and Jey is freshly on Roman Reigns’ side. It’s also still part of Rollins’ messiah phase, which hasn’t gotten better with age.

Styles and Uso start things off with Jey working on a headlock. That’s broken up and AJ hits a quick dropkick, only to miss the Pele kick. The pop up Samoan drop gets two on Styles as Graves thinks Cole wants to take Styles out for a chocolate malt (I’ll go if AJ won’t). Otis comes in and misses a charge, allowing the tag off to Riddle.

Some kicks to the chest wake Otis up (via gyrating) but he takes Riddle down and hands it off to Owens. Things get intelligent as Owens stomps on Riddle’s bare feet, only to let him get over for the tag to Sheamus. Rollins wants to come in and face Sheamus….which means dropping to his knees. Rollins tells Sheamus to DO HIS PART, so there’s the Brogue Kick for the elimination at 6:07, as Rollins needed to go off on paternity leave.

Team Smackdown has a meeting on the floor so Strowman runs them over and tells Team Raw to work together. In this case, that means Lee comes in to face Otis so they can fight over a power lockup. Lee can’t shoulder him down and can’t hit the Grizzly Magnum, but neither can throw the other. A shot to the face puts Otis down though and it’s Strowman coming in for a dropkick. Otis jawbreaks Styles to get a breather though and it’s off to Owens for a backdrop. Everything breaks down and Owens hits a bunch of Stunners but walks into the Phenomenal Forearm to give Styles the pin at 12:17.

Corbin comes in with Deep Six to Sheamus but AJ Peles him down. Riddle adds the Floating Bro and Corbin is done at 13:08. It’s Uso and Otis vs. the whole Raw team and Sheamus knees Jey in the face for two. Otis is back in to run various people over but Strowman comes in to kick him in the face. Somehow Otis knocks him down though and hits the Caterpillar but the Vader Bomb is countered into the running powerslam at 16:40.

Uso is left alone so he fires off as many superkicks as he can, setting up a dive onto the whole team. Omos pulls AJ out of the way of the Superfly Splash but Uso superkicks AJ’s leg to break up the Phenomenal Forearm. Lee comes in off a blind tag though and it’s the Spirit Bomb to finish Usos for the win at 18:59.

Rating: C-. This wasn’t great as Raw never felt like it was in any serious danger. Even at the start, it’s a little hard to buy Jey Uso and Otis as threats against three former World Champions, Riddle and Lee. It wasn’t a terrible match, but this started off slow and then got weaker as things went on. Uso’s comeback at the end was good, but how much can you do when it’s 5-0?

Raw – 2
Smackdown – 0

New Day (Raw) vs. Street Profits (Smackdown)

New Day is in Gears of War costumes (due to being in the game) and they look pretty awesome. Before the match, the Profits sing Shawn Michaels’ theme and do his pose for reasons of they like to talk a lot. Dawkins and Woods start things off and, after doing a grand total of nothing, it’s off to Kingston vs. Ford. They jump over each other a few times until Ford kick shim outside.

That doesn’t last long so Ford takes him down inside and Dawkins adds a splash for two. Kingston blocks the belly to back suplex into a moonsault and it’s the Profits taken outside for a big dive. Back in and Woods gutbusters Ford for two and we hit the chinlock, with Kofi grabbing a solo cup. Said cup is then kicked, sending it all of two feet. Kofi comes in for a waistlock but Ford finally grabs a jumping DDT, allowing the hot tag to Dawkins. House is cleaned in a hurry and Dawkins throws Woods at Ford for a belly to back suplex.

Back to back spinning splashes crush Woods in the corner but he escapes what looks to be the Midnight Hour. Instead, Kofi is back in for the real thing (or as real as it can be without Big E.) for two on Ford. One heck of a dropkick rocks Kingston though and it’s back to Dawkins for the Anointment.

Ford adds the Cash Out but the ribs mean there’s a very delayed near fall. Woods comes in with a missile dropkick to Dawkins but Ford hits Kingston with Trouble in Paradise. That earns him a gorilla press gutbuster for a very close two and Ford is taken up top. It takes a bit too long though and Dawkins loads him into an electric chair for a Doomsday Blockbuster and the pin at 14:03.

Rating: B. Now this picked up the pace a lot and was the kind of match that should have opened the show. The Profits get to prove that they can beat one of the best teams ever, and it’s not like New Day can be hurt by pretty much anything. I got into this with all of the near falls and big moves and it felt like a big match throughout.

Raw – 2
Smackdown – 1

The Smackdown women begrudgingly agree to work together.

Nia Jax rallies the Raw women but leaves Lana out because she’s mean.

Bobby Lashley (Raw) vs. Sami Zayn (Smackdown)

The rest of the Hurt Business is here with Lashley. Zayn bails to the floor to start but takes too long yelling at the Hurt Business, allowing Lashley to get in his first shot to the back. They get back in and Sami tries a clothesline, which Lashley runs through in an impressive visual. Zayn tries to run off but can’t get around the Hurt Business. Instead, he snaps Lashley’s throat across the top rope to take over.

Back in and the beating is on, at least until Lashley sends him flying with a release suplex. The delayed vertical suplex drops Zayn, who says it gives him vertigo. Sami uses the goldbricking to get in a cheap shot before going outside to yell at the Hurt Business. That’s just enough time for Lashley to get back up and jump Zayn, only to miss a charge into the pose. As Lashley barely beats the count, Sami tries to take off the turnbuckle pad but charges into a spinebuster instead. One more attempt at going after MVP fails and it’s the Hurt Lock to make Zayn tap at 7:45.

Rating: C-. This was the most realistic way to go, but that doesn’t make it the most interesting match. The main thing here was you had to have Zayn running away from the monster that is Lashley. No one is going to buy Zayn as a physical threat to Lashley, so trying to get the DQ was the right call. What we got was a long cat and mouse game until Lashley finally pulled him in, as he should.

Raw – 3
Smackdown – 1

Roman Reigns fins the Usos and blames Jey for the loss. Jey lost because he couldn’t control the team, meaning they don’t respect Reigns or his family. That makes it hard for them to have a seat at the table, so go find your brother and get out of here.

Asuka (Raw) vs. Sasha Banks

Banks takes her down into an armbar to start and then switches into a headlock. The chinlock sets up a quick armbar as Asuka can’t get anything going to start. Asuka tries to roll out of an armbar but has to fight out of a Bank Statement instead. That’s broken up and Asuka grabs a fireman’s carry into the Asuka Lock. Banks is right back out of that too and the Backstabber gets two, meaning Asuka needs a breather.

Back in and the hip attack sends Banks outside, setting up the mocking dancing. A sliding kick to the face drops Banks again and we hit the armbar. We’ll make that an abdominal stretch but Asuka drives her into the corner for the break this time. They fall out to the apron, where Asuka gets the world’s fastest ankle lock. That’s released after about half a second so it’s the running hip attack to put Banks on the floor.

Banks is right back up to the apron but she dives into a Codebreaker to put them both down. Back in and Banks grabs the Backstabber for two as the noise machine is getting more into this. The running knees in the corner set up the Bank Statement, which is reversed again so Asuka can grab another Codebreaker for two more. The pinfall reversal sequence gets some more near falls until Asuka kicks her in the head, only to charge into a rollup to give Banks the fast pin at 13:02.

Rating: B. Good stuff here as they are talented women getting time to do their thing. Banks is someone who can feel like a huge star with every tool you could ask for and it’s great to see her showcase herself on the big stage. Asuka might not be the top star anymore, but she can easily hang in a match like this and arguably have a better match than anyone else else in the division. Rather solid match here and that shouldn’t be any kind of a surprise.

Raw – 3
Smackdown – 2

We recap Miz winning the Kickoff Show battle royal.

Also on the Kickoff Show, the Gobbledy Gooker won the 24/7 Title from R-Truth.

The Gooker follows a trail of birdseed (ala Wile E. Coyote) so Akira Tozawa can win the title.

R-Truth hits Tozawa with a bag of birdseed to win the title back.

Raw Women vs. Smackdown Women

Raw: Nia Jax, Lana, Shayna Baszler, Lacey Evans, Peyton Royce
Smackdown: Bianca Belair, Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, Bayley, Natalya

This is during the stretch where Nia put Lana through a table nine times in a row (complete with counter) and then shunning her into fear. Smackdown seems more united here, more or less guaranteeing their downfall. Evans drives Bayley into the corner to throw the napkin in her face. That means Natalya can come in to front facelock Peyton, setting up a double suplex from Natalya and Belair.

Morgan comes in to hit Royce in the face but it’s a double clothesline to put them both down. It’s off to Baszler vs. Riott with the former firing off the hard kicks to the face. Jax comes in and has to fight off the big group beatdown in the corner. Lana tags herself in much to Jax’s annoyance but Natalya shoulders her down. Commentary makes it clear that Lana is about to get killed so Jax tags herself in and yells at her, ordering Lana to stand on the steps.

It’s off to Royce (who plays cheerleader) and gets tossed into the corner by Bayley. Belair comes in for a gorilla press Snake Eyes, setting up Bayley’s top rope elbow. We hit the parade of secondary finishers until Peyton superplexes Bayley onto a pile on the floor. Back in and Royce hits Deja Vu (swinging suplex) to finish Bayley at 9:55.

Natalya comes in and elbows Royce in the face, setting up the belly to back drop. Royce pulls her into a half crab but Belair offers a distraction from the floor, allowing Natalya to tie Royce up in…..I have no idea what she was trying. The more recognizable Sharpshooter makes Royce tap at 11:48. Evans comes in, misses the double jump moonsault (which still looks awesome) and pops back up to hit the Women’s Right to finish Natalya for the elimination at 12:39.

Evans catches Belair on top and it’s a super Spanish Fly for two. With that not working, it’s off to the Riott Squad to beat up Jax in the corner, including the Riott Kick to really stagger her. Baszler tags herself in and goes after Riott’s arm but has to settle with the Kirifuda Clutch. That’s flipped over for a near fall but Riott is out cold anyway and Baszler gets the pin at 16:57.

Morgan wants Baszler but gets to hip attack Evans in the corner instead. A missile dropkick sets up the crucifix to finish Evans at 18:05. We’re down to Jax/Baszler/Lana (still standing on the steps) vs. Belair/Morgan so Morgan hits a running tornado DDT on Jax. An enziguri doesn’t do much to her so it’s the Samoan drop to finish Morgan at 19:08.

That leaves Belair alone between Jax and Baszler but she sends Baszler outside and hammers on Jax. A big shot to the face puts Belair down and Jax drops the leg for two so it’s back to Baszler. The Kirifuda Clutch goes on in a hurry but Belair gets to her feet. The walk to the ropes only kind of works though as she passes out and lands in the ropes. That doesn’t bother Baszler, who won’t let go and gets disqualified at 22:32.

So it’s Jax/Lana (still standing there) vs. Belair, who is mostly unconscious. Belair is able to fight out of the Samoan drop through the table and they fight on the floor for the double countout at 23:22….meaning Lana is the sole survivor. She’s so excited that she starts crying while celebrating like a moron.

Rating: D+. This was stupid when it aired live and it’s stupid now. The whole Raw side was about Jax being horrible to Lana, who I guess we’re supposed to cheer because she cowered in fear. In other words, she didn’t actually do anything but we’re supposed to cheer for her anyway because she’s plucky or something for getting put through nine tables and then standing there. Morgan was working hard out here and did as much as she could, but she isn’t Lana or Jax so it doesn’t matter. This Lana vs. Jax feud was terrible and this was the latest bad part of the whole thing.

Raw – 4
Smackdown – 2

TLC is coming.

We recap Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre in the battle of the World Champions. Reigns is the unstoppable monster and McIntyre beat Randy Orton on Raw to get the title back. Now we have a showdown.

Roman Reigns (Smackdown) vs. Drew McIntyre (Raw)

Non-title again and Paul Heyman is here with Reigns. They hold their titles up at each other before we get the big lockup to start. An exchange of shoves don’t get either of them anywhere until Reigns grabs a headlock takeover. McIntyre does it right back and then shoulders Reigns to the floor in a power display.

Back in and Reigns starts pounding him down into the corner, setting up a ram into the buckle to send McIntyre outside. A whip into the steps has McIntyre in more trouble and we hit the chinlock back inside. That works so well that Reigns knocks him down and grabs another chinlock to keep McIntyre in trouble. McIntyre fights up again but the Future Shock is countered.

Reigns scores with a Samoan drop for two and they’re both down for a bit. Back up and the Superman Punch is countered into a spinebuster for two and they head outside again. This time it’s Reigns being sent into the barricade and then the steps before they head back inside. Reigns kicks him in the head to take over again though and it’s time to start talking a lot.

They trade big shots to the face but Reigns misses the running clothesline and gets dropped with the Future Shock for two. Back up and Drew has to send him flying to break up the guillotine choke but gets sent shoulder first into the post. The spear is loaded up but countered into a Kimura with a bodyscissors. That sends Reigns straight to the rope and then the floor, where he Samoan drops McIntyre through the announcers’ table in a big crash.

Now the spear can send McIntyre through the barricade…which is good for two back inside. Another spear gets another two and Reigns is STUNNED. Yet another spear is loaded up but McIntyre hits the Claymore, knocking Reigns into the referee. Cue Jey Uso for a distraction so Reigns can hit a low blow, setting up a superkick. Reigns grabs the guillotine and McIntyre is out at 24:53.

Rating: A-. This was the kind of match that you would expect from these two as it felt like a clash of the titans. Reigns was ahead of McIntyre throughout but McIntyre had some moments to give you a reason to believe he could pull it off. The fact that he kicked out of two spears and then had to get cheated out of the win was even better, as McIntyre came off like a real threat to Reigns. Odds are we’ll see this again, and probably on a bigger stage.

Raw – 4
Smackdown – 3

Post match Reigns is happy with Jey, though Jey doesn’t seem thrilled with what he had to do.

It’s time for the Undertaker’s Final Farewell and we’ve got some special guests:

Shane McMahon
Big Show
JBL
Jeff Hardy
Mick Foley
Godfather
Godwinns
Savio Vega
Rikishi
Kevin Nash
Booker T.
Shawn Michaels
Ric Flair
HHH
Kane

With the guest list out of the way, we get the expected awesome video on Undertaker’s career, set to Metallica’s Now That We’re Dead, featuring just about everything you could want from an Undertaker retrospective. Various talking heads talk about how great Undertaker is and how he is one of the few constants in WWE.

Back in the arena and the legends are gone, with Vince McMahon in the ring instead. Vince talks about how Undertaker debuted in the WWF (yes F) and has entertained a global audience. Now it is time to say goodbye, and the Undertaker’s legacy will live on eternally. Vince brings out the Undertaker, who gets an extended entrance (grab a lunch) and takes a long time looking around….at what would be an empty arena, but that’s not exactly the point. You can tell how emotional this is for him and we pause for him to soak in the canned UNDERTAKER chants.

Undertaker says that he has made that slow walk to the ring for thirty years. He has laid people to rest time and time again, and now his time has come. Now it’s a THANK YOU TAKER chant before he says it is time for him to rest in peace. Undertaker strikes his pose….and we get a hologram of Paul Bearer holding the Urn to make it extra special. There’s the throat slit as the music swells as Undertaker takes the long, long (LONG) walk up the aisle. With one look back and the big fist in the air, Undertaker walks through the curtain to end the show.

This is one of the more unique and special moments you get in wrestling, as no one goes thirty years and getting to end it on the exact day makes it even more special. Undertaker absolutely deserves something like this, and I can get the idea of him not having that much to say. It wouldn’t surprise me if this had to be done here instead of at a regular event with fans, just for the sake of Undertaker being able to keep his composure. This was a cool moment and it was the only thing that could have headlined the show. Thank goodness there was no angle or anything, because this is how it should have ended.

Overall Rating: C+. The amazing Undertaker segment was enough to bring this up, as otherwise it was right in the middle, with one good match for every bad. As usual, the Battle For Brand Supremacy was a grand total of nothing, with the final match having no impact and a bunch of people wearing different color shirts as their only means of a bond. The stories and overall theme of the show really hurt it, which is saying a lot as the wrestling was pretty good for the most part. It’s not a great show, but it was running with a big anchor, as the Brand Supremacy deal is destroying Survivor Series.

Ratings Comparison

Battle Royal

Original: D
Redo: C-

Raw Men vs. Smackdown Men

Original: D+
Redo: C-

New Day vs. Street Profits

Original: B
Redo: B

Bobby Lashley vs. Sami Zayn

Original: C-
Redo: C-

Asuka vs. Sasha Banks

Original: B+
Redo: B

Raw Women vs. Smackdown Women

Original: D
Redo: D+

Drew McIntyre vs. Roman Reigns

Original: B
Redo: A-

Overall Rating

Original: B
Redo: C+

Dang I really don’t know what I’m doing with this stuff do I?

Here is the original review if you’re interested:

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Survivor Series 2019
Date: November 24, 2019
Location: Allstate Arena, Chicago, Illinois
Attendance: 13,271
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Vic Joseph, Jerry Lawler, Nigel McGuinness, Beth Phoenix

I was thinking about this show the other day and couldn’t remember it very well so it was time for a rewatch. The theme here is the three way fight between all of the brands, with NXT launching a full on invasion for the sake of this show. That should be more than enough to carry things with a bunch of different brand vs. brand vs. brand matches. Let’s get to it.

I was in the arena for this show, sitting in the upper deck and looking straight at the Titantron.

Kickoff Show: Tag Team Battle Royal

OC, Revival, Forgotten Sons, Robert Roode/Dolph Ziggler, Street Profits, Zack Ryder/Curt Hawkins, Breezango, Lucha House Party, Imperium, Heavy Machinery

Only one member has to be eliminated. It’s the usual brawl to start and the Forgotten Sons are out rather quickly. The House Party follows them (thankfully meaning their seconds go with them), as do Hawkins and Ryder in a hurry. Ziggler is catapulted to the apron and pulls Dawson with him for an exchange of headbutts.

Kaiser tries to make a save but it lets Roode knock Dawson out to get rid of the Revival, with Kaiser being eliminated to eliminate Imperium too. Otis stops to dance and gets tossed as they are flying out of here so far. Fandango is sent outside (not out) and manages to catch Breeze, who is eliminated a few seconds later. The Profits dropkick the Revival out and we’re already down to Roode/Ziggler, the OC and the Profits.

Ziggler has to save Roode from the Magic Killer and superkicks the OC out to leave us with two. Roode and Ziggler get the better of things until Ziggler superkicks Roode by mistake. The Sky High lets Ford go up but he gets sent out to the apron. He’s able to get back up and frog splash Ziggler, only to get tossed by Roode for the win at 8:22.

Rating: C. They flew through this and that’s probably a good thing, as this was little more than a way to get things going. It’s nice to see the match just move along so quickly, with Ziggler and Roode being a fine choice to win. Not a good match or anything, but it was a fast paced start.

Smackdown – 1
NXT – 0
Raw – 0

Kickoff Show: Cruiserweight Title: Lio Rush (NXT) vs. Akira Tozawa (Raw) vs. Kalisto (Smackdown)

Rush is defending. They stare at each other to start until the challengers get together to knock Rush outside. Back in and Rush tries to make a save but is sent to the floor just as fast. Kalisto kicks Rush in the head on the apron but gets kicked down by Tozawa. Rush is back in to strike away at both of them as they’re at a very fast pace to start. Tozawa punches Rush in the face (he’s always been good at that) and a sliding boot to the face drops him as well.

Kalisto catches Rush on top and Tozawa goes up with them for a super….well they all flipped over and they’re all down. It looks like Rush super armdragged both of them, setting off an exchange of strikes to the face. Tozawa’s bridging German suplex gets two on Rush, as does the Salida del Sol, with Tozawa making the save. Tozawa’s top rope backsplash hits Rush as well but Kalisto makes the save this time. Another Salida del Sol hits Tozawa but Rush is in with the Final Hour to Kalisto to retain the title at 8:20.

Rating: B. They went with the fast paced, rather athletic match here and it worked rather well. Rush might have some issues behind the scenes, but the way he can move and fly is rather impressive. There is something fun about watching these people go nuts, even if they didn’t have a ton of time. Another rather good choice for the Kickoff Show.

Smackdown – 1
NXT – 1
Raw – 0

Kickoff Show: Viking Raiders (Raw) vs. New Day (Smackdown) vs. Undisputed Era (NXT)

They’re all champions but this is non-title. Big E., Ivar and O’Reilly start things off with O’Reilly’s strikes not working in the slightest. Fish comes in and gets tossed with ease, leaving Ivar to slip out of Big E.’s slam attempt. Instead Big E. runs him over with a shoulder, only to get low bridged to the floor by the Era. That leaves the Vikings to beat the Era up until Big E. is back in for a tag to Kingston.

New Day and the Vikings have their big showdown until the Era is back in to break it up. Fish kneebars Kingston with Ivar making the save, leaving Fish to beat on Kingston on the apron. With the other four on the floor, Ivar slams Erik onto the pile for the big crash. Back in and Ivar misses a charge into the corner, allowing Kingston to hit a standing double stomp on Erik.

The Midnight Hour gets two, with Ivar making the save. Big E.’s spear through the rope hits Erik but Kingston’s Trouble In Paradise hits the post. That leaves Big E. to get caught with the German suplex/springboard clothesline combination. The Era gets back in and O’Reilly is promptly powerslammed onto Fish to give Ivar the pin at 14:42.

Rating: B-. It got a good bit more time and while it wasn’t hard to figure out the result, it was another fast paced match that made for an entertaining showcase. The Raiders winning is a good way to go, as occasionally the best method is just straight power. It’s rarely great to see a champion lose, but a developmental champion losing to a main roster one makes it a bit better.

Smackdown – 1
NXT – 1
Raw – 1

And now, the show proper.

The opening video looks at the brand vs. brand vs. brand issue, with the big focus on NXT invading, as it should be. The other matches get some attention as well, which is a nice bonus.

Women’s Survivor Series Match

Smackdown: Sasha Banks, Carmella, Dana Brooke, Lacey Evans, Nikki Cross
Raw: Charlotte, Natalya, Sarah Logan, Asuka, Kairi Sane
NXT: Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair, Toni Storm, Io Shirai, Candice LeRae

Three in the ring at once, regular elimination rules. Storm, Evans and Logan start things off with Evans knocking both of them down but walking into a double flapjack. Cross comes in and gets knocked down, leaving Logan to cartwheel knee Storm in the back of the head. Everyone gets knocked down and it’s off to Sane, Sky and Carmella, the latter of whom tries to get attention while the other two stare each other down. That earns her some shots to the face so Brooke comes in instead.

A springboard headscissors drops Shirai and it’s Brooke coming back in for some rollups. The handspring elbow crushes Shirai and Sane, followed by a Swanton to both of them. It’s back to LeRae to kick Evans down and strike away in the corner. A middle rope spinning Downward Spiral plants Evans for two and it’s off to Ripley for a heck of a roar. That earns her a cross armbreaker from Asuka, setting off the parade of knockdowns.

Banks clears the ring and LeRae and Shirai are knocked out to the floor for a nasty crash (which comes after they were both in WarGames the previous night). That’s enough for the two of them to be out at around 7:45 so NXT is already down to three. Ripley, Charlotte and Banks come in, with Ripley taunting the other two of them to quite the reception but it’s off to Belair, Logan and Cross without any contact being made. Cross hammers on Storm on the floor, but the distraction allows Belair to grab a rollup with feet on the ropes to pin Cross at 9:38.

Carmella comes in to clean house but walks into a KOD, sending Carmella outside. Logan is back up with running knees from the apron to Charlotte and Storm but gets tossed down by Belair. The handspring moonsault gets two with Natalya making the save so Belair 450s Logan for the elimination at 12:10.

Charlotte comes in to yell at Belair and gets rolled up for her efforts. Carmella is in with a super hurricanrana to send Charlotte onto Belair for two each. Back up and Natural Selection hits Carmella for the pin, allowing Charlotte to mock Banks’ dance. That leaves us with four for Raw and three each for the other two as Banks, Sane and Storm come in. Storm takes Sane down in a hurry and Banks adds the Meteora to get rid of Sane at 16:48. Asuka is in to fire off the kicks, including a huge one to eliminate Brooke at 17:25.

Charlotte forcefully tags herself in and gets in a shoving match with Asuka, who gets shoved down. Evans tries to come in off a cheap shot and gets struck down, only for Asuka to mist Charlotte. Asuka walks out and the Women’s Right gets rid of Charlotte at 19:07. So Natalya is alone for Raw against Evans/Banks for Smackdown and Ripley/Belair/Storm for NXT. Natalya comes in and drops Evans, followed by the discus lariat to Storm. A rollup gets rid of Evans at 19:56 as commentary realizes that NXT is suddenly way ahead. Storm gets caught in a Sharpshooter/Banks Statement for the tap at 20:47.

Belair yells at Natalya and gets caught in a Hart Attack for the elimination at 21:16 to continue the rapid fire eliminations. That leaves us with Natalya vs. Banks vs. Ripley, with Banks quickly turning on Natalya and getting the easy elimination. We’re down to one on one and you can tell the fans are into the idea of Ripley getting this kind of a chance. Ripley stares her down and adds a running dropkick but Banks is right back up with a choke.

Banks sends her into the corner for some running knees, followed by the middle rope Meteora for two. That sends Banks back up, with Ripley kicking her out of the air for two more. The Prism Trap has Banks in more trouble until she flips her way into a Bank Statement on Ripley. Cue Shirai and LeRae to make the save…as I guess they’re still in this.

As I try to figure out if that means Asuka should still be in there as she left without her elimination being announced either, Banks knocks both of them down with a baseball slide. Ripley cuts that off but the Riptide is broken up. Shirai offers a distraction and hits a springboard missile dropkick, followed by Ripley’s Riptide for the win at 27:53.

Rating: B. The kind of confusing ending aside, this was one heck of a coming out party for Ripley, who came off like an absolute star throughout and that’s exactly the point. Other than that you have Charlotte and Asuka’s issues continuing and Belair looking like a star as well. The fans get to cheer for NXT though (especially in Ripley’s case), and that’s exactly what needed to be done for this crowd, who are certainly more behind them than anything else.

NXT – 2
Smackdown – 1
Raw – 1

We look back at Kevin Owens making a surprise return to NXT last night at Takeover.

Seth Rollins comes up to Owens, his Raw teammate, and asks what was up with that. Owens says NXT doesn’t need him like Raw does, so tonight he’s on the red side. He does however find it interesting that SETH ROLLINS of all people is talking about disloyalty…and he mocks the Shield pose.

Shinsuke Nakamura (Smackdown) vs. Roderick Strong (NXT) vs. AJ Styles (Raw)

Battle of the midcard champions with a dancing Sami Zayn here with Nakamura. Styles gets kicked down to start and a knee to the ribs drops Strong as well. Strong is back up to clean house and send Nakamura outside. Styles knocks Strong to the floor as well, followed by a hard knee to the head. Nakamura is back up with a suplex to Strong and a knee drop to Styles, with Zayn looking rather pleased.

Back up and Strong stretches Nakamura over his back before swinging him into a gutbuster. Styles sleepers Strong down, which doesn’t last long as Strong is back up to strike away at both of them. The running forearms in the ropes have Styles in trouble, as does a belly to back faceplant. Nakamura sends Strong into the corner though and kicks Styles down for two more. A sliding knee gets two on Strong with Styles making the save. Strong kicks Styles down to break up the Clash to Nakamura, who is pulled outside by Zayn.

Back in and a tiger driver gives Strong two before Nakamura drops him. Kinshasa is broken up by Styles, who is cut off by Zayn. That leaves Strong to knee Nakamura down for two but Nakamura is back up to clean house. Strong is knocked outside so Nakamura tells Styles to COME ON, meaning it’s time for a strike off. The Landslide gives Nakamura two and he blocks the Styles Clash attempt. Instead Styles settles for the Phenomenal Forearm, only for Strong to steal the pin at 16:48.

Rating: B+. I didn’t remember liking this one as much but they were all working hard and it didn’t get dull despite getting quite a bit of time. In addition to NXT getting yet another win, there was something great about Zayn on the floor as he was giving it his all out there. Solid match here and a rather nice treat.

NXT – 3
Smackdown – 1
Raw – 1

Daniel Bryan is warming up when the Miz comes in. Miz talks about feeling the evil of the Fiend and wants Bryan to put an end to him for the sake of themselves and their children. Bryan: “Get out of my face.”

NXT Title: Pete Dunne vs. Adam Cole

Cole is defending and is really banged up after being in WarGames last night. Dunne works on the arm to start, which is quickly broken up. They fight outside with Cole getting in a shot and starting in on Dunne’s bad knee. Dunne fights up and moonsaults over Cole in the corner, setting up an enziguri. The release German suplex sets up a big kick to the head, followed by a sitout powerbomb for two as they take a bit of a breather.

Dunne’s moonsault to the floor drops Cole again but another one hits raised knees back inside. The Last Shot gives Cole two and he brainbusters Dunne onto the knee for the same. The Boom misses and Dunne grabs the Bitter End for another near fall. They trade kicks to the head until Dunne goes up, only to have his moonsault superkicked out of the air (that always looks awesome) for two.

Dunne powerbombs him down for two more and Cole bails out to the floor. They head out to the apron, where Cole grabs a Panama Sunrise for a near countout. Back in and Dunne slugs away but the Bitter End is spun around into another Canadian Destroyer (and it didn’t look bad). The Boom retains the title at 14:06.

Rating: B. At this point, it was feeling like Cole was never going to lose the title no matter what happened, as he was coming in banged up from the night before and still hung in there to beat someone as good as Dunne. It’s still a good match, but seeing Cole retain without even having to cheat is a bit much to take. Yeah Dunne wrestled the night before as well, but Cole took the big bump in WarGames. That should mean a bit more.

The Smackdown men argue over leadership.

We recap the Fiend defending the Smackdown World Title against Daniel Bryan. The Fiend won the title at Crown Jewel and is all evil and such, even attacking Bryan, who was a heel at the moment. It seemed that the Fiend wanted to push Bryan into bringing back the YES Movement so he could kill it once and for all, which is quite the fiendish thing to do.

Smackdown World Title: Daniel Bryan vs. The Fiend

The Fiend is defending. Bryan fires off the dropkicks in the corner (under the red lights) until Fiend hits a running clothesline. Fiend slugs away and knocks him to the floor for a ram into the barricade. A hard posting drops Bryan again and there’s the backsplash on the floor. The release Rock Bottom drops Bryan back inside and a toss suplex makes it worse. The nerve hold goes on for a bit before they head outside again.

This time Fiend’s running knees hit the steps, followed by a posting from Bryan. Fiend gets taken down by a running knee from the apron, plus a big dive from the top. Back in and Bryan kicks away at the head, with Fiend getting up over and over. The stomping to the head has Fiend down and the running knee connects for two. Fiend does the big scary stand up so Bryan grabs a rollup, only to get caught in the Mandible Claw to retain the title at 10:01.

Rating: B-. This was about the Fiend running through one of the biggest heroes WWE has ever seen because the Fiend is one of the biggest monsters around. It made for a nice story, though it was hard to believe that Bryan had much of a chance here. Even with the alleged return of the YES Movement, it didn’t feel like much of a threat to beat the Fiend, certainly not so soon after he won the title.

Rey Mysterio is going to be more violent against Brock Lesnar and hopes his son Dominik is watching up close.

Men’s Survivor Series Match

Raw: Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Ricochet, Drew McIntyre, Randy Orton
Smackdown: Roman Reigns, King Corbin, Shorty G, Braun Strowman, Mustafa Ali
NXT: Tommaso Ciampa, Keith Lee, Walter, Damian Priest, Matt Riddle

The fans are VERY behind Walter (who you might know better as Gunther) as we figure out who is starting. Ciampa, Rollins and Strowman start things off, with Ciampa being shoved down. McIntyre and Walter come in, with Walter being more than happy to have a hoss fight. A running clothesline drops Strowman and McIntyre gets crushed with a seated senton.

Walter German suplexes McIntyre but can’t do the same thing to Strowman. Instead it’s a running dropkick to send Strowman into the corner, only for McIntyre to Claymore Walter for the pin at 2:57 in one heck of a middle finger to the fans. Priest comes in and strikes it out with McIntyre as the fans are ticked off about Walter. Strowman misses a charge into the post, allowing G (Gable, in case you had blocked out this stupid idea) to moonsault Priest. Riddle comes in and gets into a wrestling match with G, which doesn’t seem like a good idea.

The grappling goes to a standoff so Ricochet comes in with a springboard moonsault to G and McIntyre. Owens gets the tag and picks to frog splash G for the pin at 6:27. Owens goes outside but gets caught by Ciampa with the Willow’s Bell for the pin at 7:46. Orton comes in to stare Ciampa down but Ciampa is smart enough not to walk into the RKO. Instead they get up and brawl, with Orton grabbing the RKO a few seconds later. Priest tags himself in though and tries to roll the dice, only to get reversed into the RKO for the pin at 10:16.

Riddle comes in and has to escape an RKO attempt, which he counters into a rollup to pin Orton at 10:29. Riddle celebrates the huge win and walks into an RKO, allowing Corbin to get the pin at 10:54. Lee comes in and the fans are VERY pleased, only for McIntyre to take him down with a cheap shot. It’s back to Strowman, who takes them outside for the running shoulders….and then does it again for a bonus, only for Lee to cut him off in a massive crash.

McIntyre adds a Claymore to Strowman, who is counted out at 13:18. So we’re down to Rollins, Ricochet and McIntyre for Raw, Reigns, Corbin and Ali for Smackdown and Lee and Ciampa for NXT. Ricochet comes in to clean house but walks into the End Of Days for the pin at 14:30. Ali (hometown boy) comes in to clean house, including a sweet pop up X Factor to Ciampa. The tornado DDT drops Rollins and Ciampa gets posted. Corbin pulls Ali back to the floor though and yells a lot, which is enough for Rollins to hit the Stomp for the pin at 16:10.

Reigns yells at Corbin and McIntyre plants Ciampa with the reverse Alabama Slam for two. The Claymore is cut off with a spear though and McIntyre is done at 17:33, leaving Rollins alone. Rollins jumps Reigns but the suicide dive is knocked out of the air. Willow’s Bell hits Reigns, who counters the Fairy Tale Ending into a Superman Punch. With both of them down, Corbin comes in to knock Lee off the apron, though he’s also smart enough to drag Reigns over for the tag. Corbin yells at Reigns but a chokeslam to Ciampa doesn’t work, leaving Reigns to spear Corbin and Ciampa gets the pin at 19:55.

That leaves Reigns vs. Rollins vs. Ciampa/Lee with Reigns and Rollins getting together on Ciampa before doing the same to Lee. Rollins throws Ciampa outside but Lee is back up to cut off the TripleBomb through the announcers’ table. Back in and Ciampa’s running knee and Project Ciampa get two on Rollins but the Fairy Tale Ending is escaped. Ciampa avoids the Stomp but can’t avoid Reigns’ Superman Punch. The Stomp gets rid of Ciampa at 24:00 and we’re down to one each. The fans start to sing for Lee, who gets serious as he heads back inside.

Lee runs them both over with shoulders and sends Rollins flying, followed by a slingshot crossbody to take both of them out. Rollins escapes the Big Bang Catastrophe and kicks Lee down, setting up a frog splash for two, leaving commentary stunned. Back up and the Big Bang Catastrophe gets rid of Rollins (and Raw) at 26:34.

Reigns is back up with some Superman Punches for two on Lee, who kicks out, even as the referee hits the mat for the third time. The spear is countered into the Spirit Bomb for two more and my goodness the heat on that near fall. Lee goes up but misses the moonsault, allowing Reigns to hit the spear for the pin at 29:55.

Rating: B+. This was a lot more like it, as it felt like NXT had a chance to shock the world. Lee came off like an absolute star here and Ciampa more than held his own. At the same time, it might have been a bit of a stretch for NXT to be able to beat all star teams like this, even with their issues. The good thing is that NXT held its own here, and that’s exactly how you make it feel like a genuine third brand rather than just developmental. The Walter nonsense aside, this was a good performance from NXT and the fans went nuts all the way.

NXT – 3
Smackdown – 2
Raw – 1

Post match Reigns shows Lee some well earned respect.

Becky Lynch is tired of these fights with Shayna Baszler because Baszler has been training while Lynch has been going around the world. It doesn’t matter though as Lynch knows there is nothing Baszler can do to take her down. Then there’s Bayley, who made Lynch come looking for her. Now she’s going to hurt her.

We recap Brock Lesnar defending the Raw World Title against Rey Mysterio. Lesnar beat up Rey and then attacked his son Dominik (almost unrecognizable compared to what he would be a few years later) to make it personal. Rey brought in former UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez to go after Lesnar, which went pretty horribly, so now Rey is fighting for himself.

Raw World Title: Rey Mysterio vs. Brock Lesnar

Lesnar, with Paul Heyman, is defending and anything goes. Mysterio gets smart by grabbing a lead pipe to start, sending Lesnar to the floor. Back in and Lesnar runs him over with some clotheslines, sending Mysterio outside. Mysterio gets sent flying over the announcers’ table and then rammed hard into the post as the slow beating is on. Another posting is broken up though as Mysterio sends him into the post instead, only for Lesnar to German suplex him onto the pipe.

Lesnar gets in another German suplex but here is Dominik Mysterio with a towel. Lesnar grabs Dominik so Rey gets in a low blow, as does Rey. Some pipe shots have Lesnar in trouble and Dominik adds a chair shot, followed by a double 619. Dominik and Rey hit a frog splash each…for two, and you can feel the air go out of the place. Lesnar is back up with a German suplex to Dominik before pulling Rey out of the air for the F5 to retain at 6:55.

Rating: B. The good thing about Mysterio is that you can put him in a spot like this and the fans will believe that he could pull off a miracle. The false finish with the double 619 was great but after that, you knew it wasn’t going to happen. They were smart to keep this short and action packed, as there was only so much of a way to believe that Mysterio was going to be a threat long term.

We recap the women’s triple threat. Becky Lynch is still arguably the biggest star in WWE but Shayna Baszler isn’t scared of her. Bayley has to be there too because of the triple brand thing.

Bayley (Smackdown) vs. Becky Lynch (Raw) vs. Shayna Baszler (NXT)

Non-title again. Bayley rams Baszler into Lynch but Lynch fights out without much effort. A clothesline puts Lynch down, leaving Baszler and Bayley to brawl to the floor. That’s broken up and Baszler is knocked outside, leaving Bayley to sunset bomb Lynch into the corner. Baszler takes Lynch’s place and gets beaten up again, only to come back with a stomp to Bayley’s arm.

Bayley is back up and knocks Baszler outside before unloading on Lynch in the corner. A Stunner over the ropes cuts Baszler off again but Lynch knocks Bayley down to take over. Lynch plants both of them and drops the top rope legdrop for two on Bayley. Baszler is back up as well, only to get kneed down by Bayley, who takes Lynch out as well. The Bayley To Belly gets two on Baszler, who is right back with a gutwrench faceplant.

Baszler fireman’s carries Bayley, which is broken up by a missile dropkick from the returning Lynch. Bayley breaks up the slugout and gets choked by Baszler, with Lynch making the save. Lynch powerbombs Baszler out of the corner but gets choked as well. Baszler is sent into Bayley for the save and Lynch gets the Disarm-Her, which is broken up too. Bayley pulls Baszler outside but hurts her own leg, allowing Baszler to take both of them out. Baszler plants Lynch on the announcers’ table but gets suplexed by Bayley back inside. That’s shrugged off and the Kirifuda Clutch gives Baszler the win at 18:03.

Rating: B-. They were working hard and it was far from a bad match, but there was very litter crowd energy for this. At the end of the day, the crowd was just done after the Lesnar/Mysterio and Men’s Survivor Series matches. You can’t take that much energy out of them and then expect a match which doesn’t mean a ton (NXT was at worst tying here) to feel special. It’s not bad, but the show needed to be laid out better.

NXT – 4
Smackdown – 2
Raw – 1

Post match Baszler poses over Lynch, who knocks her onto the announcers’ table. Lynch puts her through said table (with a chair falling on Baszler’s head to make it even worse) and poses to end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. Excellent show here, with NXT feeling like they had arrived and actually winning with a pretty dominant performance. There’s nothing close to bad on the whole show and the crowd carried it to another level. I had forgotten how good the matches were throughout and the three way competition actually worked all night. Find a better way to finish and it’s that much better, but this was awesome stuff.

 

Ratings Comparison

Tag Team Battle Royal:

Original: D
2020 Redo: D+
2025 Redo: C

Lio Rush vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Kalisto

Original: C+
2020 Redo: C
2025 Redo: B

New Day vs. Viking Raiders vs. Undisputed Era

Original: B
2020 Redo: B
2025 Redo: B-

Raw Women vs. Smackdown Women vs. NXT Women

Original: B-
2020 Redo: B-
2025 Redo: B

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Roderick Strong vs. AJ Styles

Original: B
2020 Redo: B
2025 Redo: B+

Pete Dunne vs. Adam Cole

Original: A-
2020 Redo: B+
2025 Redo: B

The Fiend vs. Daniel Bryan

Original: B
2020 Redo: C+
2025 Redo: B-

Raw Men vs. Smackdown Men vs. NXT Men

Original: B+
2020 Redo: A-
2025 Redo: B+

Rey Mysterio vs. Brock Lesnar

Original: C+
2020 Redo: C+
2025 Redo: B

Bayley vs. Shayna Baszler vs. Becky Lynch

Original: D+
2020 Redo: C
2025 Redo: B-

Overall Rating:

Original: B+
2020 Redo: B+
2025 Redo: A-

The main event was a lot better than I gave it credit for before, as was the tag team battle royal. All around, an outstanding show.

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Monday Night Raw
Date: November 24, 2025
Location: Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Commentators: Joe Tessitore, Wade Barrett

It’s the last Raw before Survivor Series and that means we’re going to be seeing the final push towards WarGames. The main matches are pretty much entirely set but there is always room for one last build. We might even focus on some of the non-WarGames matches this week, which isn’t a bad idea. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of the setup of the men’s WarGames match, with Drew McIntyre, Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar being added in the last week and a half.

Here is Roman Reigns to get things going. He says his catchphrase but here is Cody Rhodes for a staredown, complete with his own catchphrase. Rhodes says Reigns is a man of his word and the last time it was for a match. This time though, it’s for war. Rhodes wants to know what’s in this for Reigns, who says it’s Rhodes who is brand new to this fight. They don’t like each other or know each other very well, but Reigns knows they both care about family.

A lot of this team is his family and before they were on his team, they were in his Bloodline. He’s been invested in them for a long time and he’s here to see that investment through. Rhodes: “Understood.” He welcomes Reigns to his team, which doesn’t sit well with Reigns. Cue CM Punk, who hits his own catchphrase and tells the crowd to acknowledge them. Punk remembers teaming with Reigns before and Reigns remembers Punk ruining his life. That’s kind of true, but Punk says if Reigns stabs Punk in his back this Saturday, he’d stab his family in the back.

Rhodes tries to cool it down but Punk doesn’t like Rhodes saying it’s his show, because this is Monday Night Raw on Netflix. Cody can be the quarter back on Friday but on Monday, he’s the champ. Reigns finds this ridiculous and says that he hates Paul Heyman and the Vision more than he hates the two of them. If we’re being honest, that title (he doesn’t specify which) would look better on his shoulder. Reigns goes to leave and Punk asks who Reigns was talking to. Reigns says that’s for them to figure out and leaves. That last exchange was rather good, though this felt like some forced drama.

Paul Heyman is in the back with the Vision and tries to get Drew McIntyre to take tonight’s tag match for the WarGames advantage seriously. Logan Paul mocks the idea that the partner is going to be Brock Lesnar but Heyman warns Paul about what happens if Lesnar’s name comes out of the wrong mouth. Instead, Paul will be McIntyre’s partner, which Paul calls a wise choice.

Last Time Is Now Tournament Quarterfinals: Gunther vs. Carmelo Hayes

Hayes pounds him into the corner to start, which is broken up with raw power. A running shoulder drops Hayes and Gunther actually gets on the buckle to mock the crowd. That earns him a powerbomb out of the corner and a springboard DDT gives Hayes two. One heck of a chop cuts Hayes off though and we take a break.

We come back with Hayes managing a quick sleeper, which Gunther reverses into one of his own. That’s escaped with a backflip and Hayes is right back with the sleeper. Gunther powers out again and they trade chops until Hayes knocks him down. A butterfly suplex sends Hayes flying but he’s right back with a DDT to counter the powerbomb (that was nice) as we take another break.

We come back again with Hayes grabbing a quick First 48 but Nothing But Net is cut off. Gunther chops the post by mistake so Hayes tries a springboard DDT, which pretty much completely misses (which commentary acknowledges). Instead, Hayes hits a running flip dive onto Gunther’s back for a big crash.

Gunther tries the powerbomb but gets reversed into a heck of a tornado DDT off the barricade. Back in and Hayes grabs La Mistica but misses Nothing But Net. The big clothesline into the powerbomb gives Gunther two and the fans are losing it on these near falls. Gunther elbows him in the head over and over, setting up the powerbomb for the pin at 17:25.

Rating: B+. There was no reason to believe that Hayes was going to win here but they had me believing that it was possible. That’s a sign that something is going right and I was pulled into everything they were doing here. Hayes has found something as a good guy and a definitive win over Miz in their feud should help. On the other hand though, this seems to be Gunther’s tournament to lose at the moment, which shouldn’t be surprising.

Cody Rhodes/CM Punk/Roman Reigns are still arguing when the Usos come up to say tonight’s advantage match is a tag match. They happen to be the best tag team ever so……we seem to have a solution! They leave and Reigns tells Punk and Rhodes to fix this.

Here is Dominik Mysterio for a chat. He promises to end John Cena’s retirement tour in his hometown this weekend, continuing to prove that he is the greatest Mysterio of all time. Mysterio brings up that Cena isn’t here tonight but cue Cena’s music….and it’s a mini Santa, complete with a mini Stu the Cameraman.

Mini Cena (or John Weena according to Barrett) can’t do the slide underneath the bottom rope so he has to go for the ropes. Mysterio insults Cena, who calls him the worst Mysterio of all time. Mysterio seems to say that’s not what Cena is supposed to say but Cena challenges him for a fight…and then gets kicked in the chest. That means it’s time for a Shuffle, a 619 and a frog splash, only for Rey Mysterio to interrupt and chase him off.

Rey Mysterio vs. JD McDonagh

Finn Balor is here with McDonagh. We’re joined in progress with Mysterio backdropping him down and hammering away in the corner. That’s broken up and McDonagh drops him face first onto the buckle to take over. McDonagh stomps him down and grabs a chinlock, with the fans being rather behind Mysterio. McDonagh lets go and poses on the ropes, allowing Mysterio to send him outside.

That’s fine with McDonagh, who drops him onto the announcers’ table as we take a break. We come back with Mysterio in trouble but managing to send McDonagh into the post for a big crash. The top rope seated senton connects for Mysterio and he kicks McDonagh in the head for two. The 619 is countered into a Spanish Fly for two and they both need a breather. Balor tries to get up for a distraction so Mysterio sends McDonagh into him. The 619 and springboard splash give Mysterio the pin at 10:24.

Rating: B-. Mysterio continues to be able to look good against just about anyone in the ring and that was the case again here. It helps that McDonagh has been rapidly improving in recent weeks and it made for a pretty nice match here. The ending was a bit flat, but at least Mysterio gets a win before what should be a major showdown with Dominik in the near future.

Post match Balor goes after Mysterio, who manages to slip away.

Adam Pearce tells Raquel Rodriguez that she’s in the title mix. New Day comes in to complain about what’s going on with the Tag Team Titles but Pearce snaps. Apparently Dragon Lee and AJ Styles want to give them a title shot next week. Grayson Waller is so happy that he gives Pearce a wig.

Brock Lesnar arrives.

Here is a ticked off Becky Lynch for a chat. After a break, her WarGames team joins her before she goes on a rant about how the decision of last week’s title match will be overturned and she will be champion again. While that was a mistake, AJ Lee made a bigger mistake last week and now she’s making an even bigger mistake by locking herself in a cage.

Lynch has assembled the greatest team in the history of WarGames. She brags about how she’s put together all of these people, including Asuka, who she has beaten nine out of ten times, and Jax, who has great bones. Lynch doesn’t have to wear a mask like Rotten Rhea Ripley, which brings out the other team. AJ Lee talks about how the old her would jump Lynch and break her apart, but unlike Lynch, she bites instead of barking.

Ripley gets the mic and starts swinging rather than talking and the brawl is on. Ripley and company clear the ring, with Sky hitting a hue moonsault to the ring, sending Lynch running off. Pretty standard brawling segment, but Lynch was basically doing a straight up Trump impression without the voice and it was hilarious.

Last Time Is Now Tournament Quarterfinals: Penta vs. Solo Sikoa

Penta kicks away to start but they’re quickly on the floor. Sikoa manages to send him over the barricade, with Penta popping back up for a hurricanrana from said barricade. We take an early break and come back with….the match having been stopped as Penta was injured on the hurricanrana. Sikoa wins at around 4:50, with nowhere near enough shown to rate.

We see a woman’s finger circling a glass and a graphic says FOUR DAYS. It looks to be in the same font as Wrestlemania’s logo.

Maxxine Dupri can’t believe she won the title and calls Natalya. Before that happens, various women come up for some threatening glares. Adam Pearce has to come get her out of trouble.

Stephanie Vaquer is mad at Nikki Bella for betraying her and swears vengeance. See you at Survivor Series.

Survivor Series rundown.

Usos vs. Logan Paul/Drew McIntyre

For the WarGames advantage. Jimmy knocks Paul into the corner to start and sends him to the floor as we take an early break. We come back with Paul still in trouble, with Jey stomping away and sending him into the corner. A running splash connects but Paul fights out of trouble. McIntyre comes in for a slugout with Jey, who manages a needed suplex.

Paul cuts Jimmy of before the tag though, as he continues to be wise beyond his years. McIntyre takes Jey outside for a toss over the announcers’ table and we take another break. We come back again with Jey getting double suplexed, with both McIntyre and Paul doing nip ups. McIntyre charges into some boots in the corner though and the needed tag brings in Jimmy for the parade of superkicks.

Paul manages a Blockbuster for two, only for Jimmy to drop him with a spear. Everything breaks down and here’s the Vision, but cue Cody Rhodes and CM Punk to even it up. The brawl ensues on the floor but Jey hits a big dive to take them down. That’s enough for Paul to roll Jimmy up for the pin at 17:02.

Rating: C+. This felt long (might have been stretched to help after the injury finished the previous match early) and it didn’t have much of a doubt about the eventual result. At the end of the day, WarGames is almost always going to have the villains in control and given the lineups, it would be insanity to go in a different direction here. Not a bad match, but dropping five minutes would have been nice.

Post match the brawl is on with Roman Reigns coming in to clean house. The staredown is on and the credits roll, but cue Brock Lesnar, who actually falls down during his entrance and flips backwards (live TV people). The villains get on the apron and the big brawl ensues to end the show.

Overall Rating: B- This show started off strong and then hit a wall around halfway through. The big problem with a show like this is a hard one to get around: the main event, and big story, was about getting the advantage in a match on Saturday. It makes for little more than a big preview, with little actually being changed for Survivor Series. It’s good enough, but outside of the really good Gunther vs. Hayes match and maybe the opener, it’s not worth a look.

Results
Gunther b. Carmelo Hayes – Powerbomb
Rey Mysterio b. JD McDonagh – Springboard splash
Solo Sikoa b. Penta via doctor stoppage
Drew McIntyre/Logan Paul b. Usos – Rollup to Jimmy

 

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AAA Alianzas
Date: November 22, 2025
Location: Gimnasio Olimpico Juan de la Barrera, Mexico City, Mexico
Commentator: Jose Manuel Guillen

This appears to be a show that airs about once a month or so and in this case, it was broadcast on the WWE YouTube channel. That’s enough to get me to watch the show, though apparently commentary is entirely in Spanish. I’m not sure what this is going to mean or how much I’ll understand but the name of the show means Alliances, so expect some kind of a team deal. Let’s get to it.

Note that I do not follow the regular AAA shows nor do I understand more than a tiny bit of Spanish so I apologize in advance for any storyline or character points that I miss.

We open with a recap of El Hijo del Vikingo saying he’s the best and being interrupted by El Grande Americano, leading to a brawl. We also see Dominik Mysterio beating Dragon Lee to retain the Mega Title at Heroes Inmortales. Later, the Wyatt Sicks attacked Pagano and Psycho Clown and Chelsea Green and Ethan Page became the Mixed Tag Team Champions.

Mysterio and Americano, partners later tonight, share a bag of popcorn.

A team called El Ojo (the Eye) gets what seems to be instructions from their manager (I believe it’s Dorian Roldan).

We get the traditional tribute to Antonio Pena.

Je’Von Evans vs. Axiom vs. Octagon Jr.

For a future Cruiserweight Title shot, with champion Laredo Kid on commentary. Octagon gets knocked down to start but gets back up for a rollup on Axiom. Commentary talks about John Cena and Smackdown as they trade missed dropkicks for a triple staredown. A dropkick and springboard armdrag send Evans outside and Axiom follows it up with a running hurricanrana to Octagon.

Evans is back in to send Axiom outside, only to get hurricanranaed by Octagon. Back up and Octagon hits a running corkscrew dive to take both of them out on the floor, followed by a slingshot corkscrew splash for two on Axiom. The corkscrewing continues with a high crossbody for two on Evans as Axiom makes the save. This time it’s Axiom hitting the big dive to the floor to take both of them out as the fans approve.

Back in and Evans is knocked down, followed by a Codebreaker to Axiom, leaving all of them needing a breather. Octagon’s 450 mostly misses Evans but gets two anyway, with Axiom breaking it up. Evans hits a heck of a no hands dive onto Octagon on the floor, followed by a great frog splash for two on Axiom.

Back in and Axiom kicks Octagon down and backslides Evans for two. A superkick gets two more on Octagon, who catches Axiom on top. The tabletop superplex drops Axiom for another two with Evans making the save this time. Axiom’s super Spanish Fly hits Octagon but Evans cuts off the Golden Ratio, using Octagon as a launchpad for a cutter. The top rope cutter gives Evans the pin on Axiom at 12:12.

Rating: B. This is straight out of a bunch of promotion’s playbooks, as you take athletic wrestlers and let them fly around the ring for a bit to start the show. It’s worked well for years and will continue to do so for a long time. Evans continues to rack up experience, which is only going to help him in the end. Axiom is already fairly seasoned and can hang in there with anyone, with Octagon being more than good in his own right. Rather fun opener here.

Post match Kid gets in the ring for a respectful handshake and staredown.

Dominik Mysterio and El Grande Americano are in the back, with Mysterio holding up some Gringos Locos masks.

El Ojo vs. Psycho Circus/Pagano

No DQ and Dorian Roldan is here with El Ojo (El Mesias, Mecha Wolf, Forastero, Sanson) and Psycho Circus is Psycho Clown/Murder Clown/Dave The Clown). The Clowns clear the ring to start and we settle down to Pagano striking away at (I believe) Wolf, including a springboard cutter. Pagano whips out the weapons but gets taken down by the quick dive, allowing everyone to grab weapons for the big brawl.

The Clowns get the better of things and Murder takes over with cookie sheet. That earns him a big group beatdown, including stomps and kendo stick shots. Murder is right back with a double Samoan drop and the crushes Mesias, allowing the needed tag off to Psycho. Everything breaks down again and we hit more dives, meaning it’s table time. Dave takes out Psycho by mistake and Mesias gives Dave a Backstabber.

Pagano’s middle rope Codebreaker takes Mesias down and Murder chokebombs Wolf. Sanson comes back in to clean house until Psycho sunset flips Forastero for two. Forastero and Sanson take Psycho up top for a double superplex, which naturally is turned into a Tower Of Doom. Some top rope splashes ensue and everyone is down for a needed breather. The clowns hit their dives (mostly) and it’s Psycho with a super Spanish Fly onto some chairs to pin Sanson at 12:08.

Rating: B-. Kind of like the opener, you knew what you were going to get with the people involved. They didn’t bother trying to do anything but have a violent fight here and from what I’ve seen, that tends to go with the Clowns’ strengths. The Clowns have felt like a big deal around here for a long time and having them face what seems to be a top heel stable is always going to work.

Post match the Clowns brag about their win but Bo Dallas pops up on screen and accepts a challenge for a match against the Wyatt Sicks at Guerrera de Titantes. It seems to be a Carnival Of Carnage, which doesn’t sound pleasant.

Dragon Lee talks to El Hijo del Vikingo about their tag match tonight but Vikingo doesn’t seem interested.

Mixed Tag Team Titles: Lola Vice/Mr. Iguana vs. Chelsea Green/Ethan Page

Green and Page are defending and the champs run them over to start fast. Some stereo hurricanranas take Green and Page down though and Vice rams her hips into Green’s head. Vice even blows a kiss to Iguana, who isn’t sure what to do. A snap suplex drops green and it’s off to the men, with Iguana pulling out his namesake. Page cuts that off with a powerslam out of the corner and kicks Iguana in the face for a bonus.

Another powerslam attempt is countered into a tornado DDT and the tag brings in Vice to kick away at Green. The running hip attack in the corner gets two, with Page making the save. Everything breaks down and Iguana hits a springboard hurricanrana to take out Page on the floor. The referee goes down and Green brings in a kendo stick. Vice takes it away but so does Page, and a hard shot knocks Iguana (who was protecting Vice) out for the pin at 7:02.

Rating: C+. Green and Page are some of the most entertaining people in wrestling today and they got to showcase some of that here. At the same time, Iguana and Vice were able to do their thing, with the fans approving. These titles are almost guaranteed to be a bit less than serious, so Green and Page annoying the fans until someone knocks them off is a good way to go.

Post match El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. runs in for the brawl with Page. Green gets in a cheap shot though and Page beats him down.

Dominik Mysterio/El Grande Americano vs. Dragon Lee/El Hijo del Vikingo

Mysterio and Americano are the clear crowd favorites here. Lee and Mysterio start things off with Lee snapping off a running hurricanrana. Vikingo comes in to cut off a charge into the corner so it’s off to Americano, who shoves Vikingo down. Americano’s armdrag into a hammerlock has the fans singing (again) and Americano does a handstand, complete with claps of his feet.

That’s broken up and Lee hits a running dropkick but Vikingo won’t let him use the big dive. Vikingo does his own dive and NOW Lee can bust out the flipping dive. Lee and Vikingo nearly get in a fight on the floor, allowing Mysterio and Americano to hit stereo baseball slides. Back in and Mysterio dropkicks Lee outside again and some rolling suplexes make it worse. Vikingo gets the tag to take over on Mysterio, but Lee tags himself in out of frustration.

Lee’s top rope double stomp in the Tree Of Woe gets two and it’s back to an annoyed Vikingo. A Michinoku Driver gets Mysterio out of trouble and Americano comes in for the comeback. Americano hits a springboard Blockbuster (nice) into something like White Noise for two on Lee.

Vikingo goes up but Lee is sent into him for a crotching so Americano covers Lee, with Vikingo firing off a 450 for the save. Unfortunately that hits Lee, who is right back with Operation Dragon for two on Mysterio. Lee dives over for the tag and of course Vikingo pulls his arm back and even knocks Lee out. The 619 sets up Americano’s running headbutt to finish Lee at 17:01.

Rating: B. The fact that I can’t understand the promos or the backstory but knew the story they were telling in the match means they were doing something right. The action was there as well, with everyone working hard and putting in a good match that the fans liked. I got into this and it felt like a big time main event, so well done all around.

Post match Mysterio brags about their win and says they’re the best in the world. Cue the reunited Lucha Bros, who seem to disagree, and say something about chicken nuggets. This seems to be a challenge for Guerra de Titantes on December 20 in Guadalajara. Mysterio and Americano seem to be in to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. I had a good time with this show, which certainly felt like a WWE formatted show at times. I could get a nice enough idea of what was going on here, which is quite the feat when the show is in an entirely different language. This was definitely a faster paced style, but the show was entertaining and kept my attention for almost two hours. Nice job, and something I could go for more of if WWE wants to do some more special broadcasts.

Results
Je’Von Evans b. Octagon and Axiom – Top rope cutter to Axiom
Psycho Circus/Pagano b. El Ojo – Super Spanish Fly onto chairs to Sanson
Ethan Page/Chelsea Green b. Mr. Iguana/Lola Vice – Kendo stick shot to Iguana
El Grande Americano/Dominik Mysterio b. Dragon Lee/El Hijo del Vikingo – Running headbutt to Lee

 

 

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Full Gear 2025
Date: November 22, 2025
Location: Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey
Commentators: Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, Bryan Danielson, Nigel McGuinness

We’re back on pay per view with a rare rematch in the main event. In this case that would be Hangman Page defending the World Title against Samoa Joe, this time inside of a cage. Other than that, we have the return of the Casino Gauntlet match to crown the inaugural National Champion. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Bang Bang Gang vs. Big Bill/Bryan Keith vs. Outrunners vs. Max Caster/Anthony Bowens

For $200,000 and Dalton Castle is on commentary. Gunn punches Bowens to start and the big shot to the head drops Bowens in a hurry. Back up and Bowens hits an atomic drop, prompting Caster to do the clapping. Bowens yells at him, saying he has this so Caster tags himself in. Robinson comes in to take over on Caster but Magnum tags himself in to dropkick Caster.

It’s off to Bill for the big boot to the floor and we take a break. We come back with Floyd coming in to clean house, including the Mega Powers elbow on Keith. The Unacclaimed break that up but Scissor Me Timbers is cut off. The Arrival into the Mic Drop has Keith in trouble and Caster wants to scissor. Bowens isn’t sure but Bill interrupts anyway. Bowens strikes him down but Robinson steals the rollup pin on Bowens at 7:27.

Rating: C+. Not a bad all over the place match here and I’ll take that over the Unacclaimed winning and being all annoying with the WE DON’T LIKE EACH OTHER deal. The Gang has been needing a win of some sort and this is as good as anything they’re going to do at the moment. Just let Robinson talk some more and they should be fine.

Kickoff Show: RPG Vice vs. Big Boom AJ/QT Marshall

Paul Wight and Don Callis are on commentary. Vice is beaten up to start and AJ powerslams Romero. Beretta gets punched off the apron and they all brawl to the floor as we take a break. We come back with Marshall fighting out of a chinlock but getting sent outside. The Rizzler checks on Marshall but Romero shoves Big Justice (AJ’s son) down, which draws Wight over to scare them away.

Back in and the tag brings in AJ to clean house, including some powerslams. A gorilla press and full nelson slam give AJ two with Romero making the save. AJ loads up the Powerboom but Callis offers a distraction. Beretta gets in a cast shot and the running knee connects for two. Strong Zero gets two on AJ with Marshall making the save from the top. Romero grabs the cast but Justice comes in with a Diamond Cutter. Beretta goes after Justice and gets punched by Wight, setting up a Powerboom/Blockbuster combination to finish Beretta at 9:14.

Rating: C. The match was fine and while I’m not a fan of the Costco Guys, they seemingly have an audience and there’s no harm in having them in a less than serious Kickoff Show match. It’s not like RPG Vice is doing anything important right now anyway. You can pretty safely call this “harmless” and that’s an acceptable use of time on this show.

Kickoff Show: Hook/Eddie Kingston vs. Workhorsemen

The Workhorsemen jump them on the floor to start and it’s Hook in trouble in the corner to start. Drake chops him up against the ropes but Hook suplexes his way to freedom. It’s off to Kingston (in street clothes) for a DDT and the pin at 1:52. I’m going to assume this was shortened due to time and hopefully not due to Kingston’s knee, which he was favoring at the end.

Kickoff Show: CMLL Trios Titles: Don Callis Family vs. Sky Team

Sky Team (Mistico/Neon/Mascara Dorada) is defending but there is no Kazuchika Okada, who apparently hasn’t arrived yet. Hechicero and Konosuke Takeshita jump the champs from behind to start, with Hechicero crushing Mistico’s arm with a chair. The arm is sent into the steps and then twisted around a chair as Takeshita chinlocks Dorada inside. We get the opening bell and it’s Dorada flipping over Takeshita and handing it off to Neon.

A top rope armdrag takes Hechicero down as we cut to Okada arriving in a rather fancy car. The Kickoff Show ends and we pick things up on the proper pay per view everyone brawling. Mistico has been taken out and now Okada manages to get to the ring. Hechicero tries to get his partners on the same page but Okada flips Takeshita off. The champs block superplex attempts and here’s a taped up Mistico to fight back. A springboard double high crossbody connects and a spinning wristdrag drops Okada.

Back in and Neon does the same to Okada but Takeshita grabs a kind of wheelbarrow Tombstone. Takeshita loads up Raging Fire but Okada breaks it up. The Family gets in a shoving match and a Rainmaker accidentally hits Takeshita. Dorada and Neon are back in to take Hechicero down, setting up stereo moonsaults to the floor. Mistico poisonranas Hechicero and La Mistica retains the titles at 13:44.

Rating: B. The Sky Team continues to be a blast, which shouldn’t be a surprise. The catch here though is that the titles were totally secondary to the stuff with the Family, which has been going on for a long time now. I’m not sure what that’s going to mean, but at least they seem to be setting up the big showdown, likely at World’s End.

We recap Darby Allin vs. Pac. Allin has been going after the Death Riders for what feels like ever and now it’s time to have him face someone other than Jon Moxley. The catch this time is that Pac wants it one on one with no shenanigans.

Pac vs. Darby Allin

After a quick video of a bandaged Allin getting ready to fight, with Allin’s face being fine (not so much with his taped up arm and ribs). Allin takes him down by the arm to start and cranks away, including an armbar. A shotgun dropkick sends Pac outside but he reverses a hurricanrana back inside. Allin grinds away on a headlock instead before switching to a leglock, which has Pac in the ropes.

Pac is back up with a gorilla press onto the floor, which isn’t going to do well on those bad ribs. That’s only good for an eight count so Allin ribs the tape off Allin’s arm and gives him an Indian burn. A hard whip sends Allin through the corner and outside again for a nasty crash. Back in and Pac scores with a missile dropkick but Allin ties him in the ring skirt and hammers away.

A dive drops Pac and Allin puts him in a chair for a missile dropkick. Back in and Pac grabs a snap German suplex, followed by a toss into the corner. Allin fights up with a knockdown of his own but Pac blasts him with a lariat for two. The Brutalizer goes on, with Allin getting his feet into the ropes for the break. Allin sweeps the leg and gets the Scorpion Deathlock but here is Wheeler Yuta for a distraction. That makes Allin let go and a baseball bat to the face finishes for Pac at 16:57.

Rating: B. Allin wanting to do this clean and then cheating in the end is about as on point for the Death Riders as you can get, though I’m almost scared to know how much longer the team is going to be fighting Allin. Odds are Allin will want revenge and that sounds like a reason for quite the violent match. Again.

We recap the women’s four way tag. They’re all in the Women’s Tag Team Title tournament. Pretty much end of recap.

Sisters Of Sin vs. Timeless Love Bombs vs. Babes Of Wrath vs. Megan Bayne/Marina Shafir

The winners get to pick the stipulation for their semifinals match in the tournament. It’s a brawl to start with Storm and Shafir being left alone in the ring. Storm gets sent into the corner for the rapid fire kicks and forearms from Shafir and Bayne. A suplex sends Storm flying into the corner again but she’s able to flip Shirakawa onto Bayne for a quick two.

Back up and Bayne takes over on Shirakawa so Shafir can come back in for some choking. Blue comes in with a quick swinging neckbreaker but the Babes come in to take Blue down. Hart gets a chance to take over on Cameron but stops to shove Shafir. This doesn’t go well for Bayne, who gets in a shot of her own so Shafir can take over on Cameron. A tornado DDT finally gets Cameron out of trouble and the much needed tag brings in Nightingale.

That doesn’t last long either as it’s off to Shirakawa, who takes over on the Sisters. Shafir is right back in with Mother’s Milk but Storm makes a quick save. That’s enough for Storm to come in and clean house but Cameron tags herself in. A high crossbody gives Cameron two on Storm but Bayne German suplexes the Sisters at the same time. Everything breaks down and Shirakawa hits a dive to the floor, leaving Storm to small package Cameron for the pin at 13:10.

Rating: C+. Bayne got to show off a bit, but as usual there is only so much you can do with so many people in one match at one time. It also doesn’t help that this was for a stipulation in a tournament semifinal match. That doesn’t exactly make it feel must see, but with so much of the women’s division in the tournament, it was about all they could do.

We recap FTR vs. Bandido/Brody King for the Tag Team Titles. FTR are the all time team around here but King/Bandido are the hot team.

Tag Team Titles: Bandido/Brody King vs. FTR

FTR, with Stokely Hathaway, is challenging and we get a quick video from Hathaway where he walks in a dimly lit room and looks at footage of the champs. I’m assuming he’s not a fan. Bandido and Wheeler start things off with Wheeler working on the arm but Bandido is back with some armdrags. Harwood and King come in to slug it out with King taking over and hitting a quick backsplash for two.

Bandido comes in and slams King onto Harwood, meaning it’s Macarena time. Hathaway’s distraction doesn’t do much as Bandido dives over him, only to get dropped face first onto the announcers’ table. Back in and Harwood grabs a Gory Stretch but Bandido is out with a kind of double spinebuster (or a double flapjack that didn’t work). It’s still not enough for the tag though as Bandido gets pulled into the corner.

That doesn’t last long either as he kicks his way to freedom and brings in King to wreck both of them. A Death Valley Driver sends FTR into the corner for a cannonball but Harwood low bridges Bandido out to the floor. King is able to block the PowerPlex though, with Bandido coming in with a frog splash back to Harwood. King’s dive onto Hathaway only hits the floor, leaving Bandido to roll Harwood up for two.

The sitout powerbomb into a top rope splash gets two on Bandido, who is right back with a one armed gorilla press to send Wheeler outside. The big dive takes FTR out again and Bandido counters the Shatter Machine back inside. That’s enough to set up the 21 Plex but Harwood pops up for a Shatter Machine, with King having to make the save. Wheeler grabs a title and knocks Bandido silly for two but he’s right back up for a Shatter Machine to Harwood for two.

The monkey flip 450 is broken up, just like the Doomsday Device, as Bandido powerslams Wheeler out of the air for two more. King tries to get back in and is quickly spike piledriven onto the apron. Something like a double reverse AA plants Bandido for two and the spike piledriver gets the same. The Shatter Machine gives FTR the titles back at 20:12.

Rating: B. This was the kind of high speed, action packed match you would expect, but dang some of the lack of selling took me out of it. People were hitting big moves and the other person just kept popping up. That’s a good way to derail things a bit, as it made me roll my eyes more than anything else. FTR getting the titles back is fine as Bandido and King never felt like a long term team. That being said, can we do something with Bandido already? I’d say he’s earned it.

We recap the Casino Battle Royal for the inaugural National Title. Well recap it as much as possible, as we only know a few of the entrants so it’s basically just about Ricochet and the Hurt Syndicate.

National Title: Casino Gauntlet Match

For the inaugural title. The idea is basically a Royal Rumble with unknown entrants, untimed entrances and the first fall wins, meaning it could be over with only two entrants. Bobby Lashley is in at #1 and Shelton Benjamin is in at #2 and they show respect to start. Lashley goes for the leg and can’t get anywhere so they circle a bit until Ricochet is in at #3 after quite the disappointing segment.

Ricochet says we want violence so here are the Gates Of Agony to jump the Syndicate. MVP gets jumped on the floor while Benjamin is dropped onto a chair and Lashley is sent into the steps. The Gates are sent to the back as Ricochet dances and Claudio Castagnoli is in at #4. Ricochet’s dive is cut off by an uppercut and Castagnoli throws him back inside. The Swing sets up the running uppercut in the corner but Ricochet manages a headscissors out to the floor.

Daniel Garcia is in at #5 to choke Ricochet from the apron, allowing the Riders to crush him in the corner. Orange Cassidy is in at #6 and gets picked up by Castagnoli. The spinning DDT is blocked so it’s a Stundog Millionaire for Castagnoli as Wheeler Yuta is in at #7. Cassidy and Yuta’s staredown is cut off by the Death Riders, with Ricochet getting in on the running shots in the corner.

Kevin Knight is in at #8 and takes out Garcia on the floor but gets cut off by Ricochet. The Riders take over again and it’s Roderick Strong in at #9 with a Sick Kick for two on Ricochet. Mark Davis is in at #10 for a spinning piledriver on Ricochet and another one to Cassidy. Mike Bailey is in at #11 with a DDT to Davis but Bailey and Knight aren’t sure who should cover. Knight rolls Bailey up for a fast two so he kicks Knight in the face. Garcia grabs a Dragontamer on Bailey but Matt Menard is in at #12.

Menard and Garcia yell at each other and it’s Davis vs. Castagnoli, which is cut off by the returning Hurt Syndicate. Davis and Castagnoli are sent outside so Ricochet comes back in and immediately realizes his screwup. The Syndicate quickly beats him up but Cassidy is back in with some Orange Punches. Lashley misses a charge into the barricade and Wheeler knees Cassidy for two, with Knight making the save. Knight hits the UFO splash but Ricochet drops him with the Spirit Gun for the pin and the title at 22:55.

Rating: B-. This was a bit weaker than some of the previous editions of the match as it was pretty much just Ricochet vs. the Hurt Syndicate with some other stuff going on. Most of the people involved were little more than warm bodies and there wasn’t much drama about a lot of them winning the title. Ricochet is a good choice though, as he’s been doing some great stuff in recent weeks.

We recap Jon Moxley vs. Kyle O’Reilly. Moxley has been broken by submitting so he’s facing a submission expert, who has made him tap out before. This time though it’s No Holds Barred, which is a bit less violent after the last time Moxley tapped out inside Blood & Guts.

Jon Moxley vs. Kyle O’Reilly

No Holds Barred. O’Reilly strikes away at the bell to start and they go to the grappling. That’s broken up and O’Reilly kicks him into the corner, with Moxley sticking out his face for some free shots. A bend of the finger sets up an abdominal stretch on Moxley, which O’Reilly switches into an ankle lock. Moxley bails out to the floor before coming back inside to work on the arm.

That’s enough wrestling, so Moxley whips out a fork to stab O’Reilly in the head. The blood starts flowing and Moxley bites away at his head. Moxley works on the arm and bites a finger before switching to a full nelson. That’s reversed into another ankle lock, which is countered into a stabbing of O’Reilly’s nipple (Schiavone: “You want to describe that one Excalibur?”).

O’Reilly grabs a choke and dragon screw legwhips Moxley over the rope. A catapult sends Moxley into the post and the ankle lock goes on again back inside. The kneebar has Moxley in trouble and O’Reilly stabs him in the head with the fork for a change. O’Reilly grabs a chain and they take turns wrapping it around each others’ neck before fighting for a suplex. Moxley is the one getting suplexed but they’re still connected so neither can go anywhere.

They trade forearms until Moxley shrugs off some kicks and bulldog chokes him. That’s reversed as well until Moxley gets an STF, which is broken up with a stab to the hand. Moxley stomps him onto the chain (the fans do Seth Rollins’ song) and it’s time to Pillmanize the arm. The Death Rider sets up a Kimura, which is reversed into an ankle lock with the chain to make Moxley tap at 19:18.

Rating: C+. They were getting close to some good stuff here with the grappling but then it kept getting derailed by the fork nonsense. The chain was fine and the chair fit in well, but the fork stuff felt like it was from a totally different match. I do like the stuff with Moxley’s tough man image being broken as it fits the long term story for him. Just stop with the ultraviolent garbage and let the match work on its own.

Post match Moxley beats him down again but gives what looks like a look of respect.

We recap Mark Briscoe vs. Kyle Fletcher for the TNT Title. They’ve traded wins but Briscoe wants one more shot at the title. If he loses though, he has to join the Don Callis Family.

TNT Title: Kyle Fletcher vs. Mark Briscoe

Briscoe is challenging, Don Callis is on commentary and it’s No DQ. We get a special video with Briscoe talking about trying to find a new family after his brother passed away. He found that with the Conglomeration and now his future family depends on this match. This was really good and it hit the emotional notes perfectly well to sell the stakes for Briscoe. They forearm it out to start (as tends to be the case in AEW) but Briscoe can’t get an early Jay Driller.

Instead Fletcher sends him outside, where Briscoe gets in a trip off the apron. Some chairs are brought in, with one of them hitting Fletcher in the back. The Bang Bang Elbow is pulled out of the air though and Briscoe gets brainbustered onto the chair. A short ladder is brought in and Briscoe’s missed running flip dive sends him through it for a crash. The bleeding Briscoe is taken inside and whipped into the ladder again.

Briscoe fights out of trouble though and it’s a missile dropkick to send the ladder into Fletcher. That’s enough to get Callis off commentary and Briscoe grabs a table. Fletcher gets off of said table before the dive though and suplexes Briscoe on the floor instead. A bunch of chairs are loaded up on the floor but Briscoe gets up and sends him onto them. That takes too long as well, allowing Fletcher to shove him off the top and through the table for the big crash.

Back in and something like a running Alabama slam sends Briscoe through another table in the corner for two. As Callis tries to figure out if he has to feed Briscoe’s kids if Briscoe joins the Family, Fletcher pours out the thumbtacks (of course). The powerbomb onto the tacks is broken up and Briscoe gives him a fisherman’s buster onto the tacks. Briscoe grabs a barbed wire table, plus a ladder and a regular table (yet somehow, Fletcher can’t be kept down for three seconds at the moment).

They go to the apron, where Briscoe drives him into the group of open chairs. Back in and they both climb the ladder, with Briscoe getting to the top for an elbow to drive Fletcher through the table (onto the tacks) for two. That means that either Fletcher is winning or they missed the point where it should have ended. Fletcher is back up with the screwdriver (yep they missed it) but after stabbing Briscoe, gets it stuck in the turnbuckle. A brainbuster onto the tacks gets two on Fletcher, who manages to turn the screwdriver upside down in the buckle.

The super brainbuster onto the pointed up screwdriver is teased (this is stupid), only to be reversed to avoid a bad case of death. The Cutthroat Driver is broken up with a stab to the head and a running stab sets up the brainbuster to give Fletcher two more. They go up top, with Briscoe managing a toss Razor’s Edge through the barbed wire table. That and the Jay Driller are enough to finish Fletcher at 25:16.

Rating: B-. I know what they were going for here and what makes it all the more frustrating is THEY HAD IT. If this ended with Briscoe’s big elbow from the ladder (and maybe a Jay Driller for the family thing), it would have been great and easily the best thing on the show. Instead, they went another five minutes and had the stabbing stuff, which is, in a word, REALLY FREAKING STUPID. Forgive me for not buying the image of Fletcher teasing impaling Briscoe’s head on a screwdriver. The first twenty or so minutes were great and the last five minutes were dumb, which makes this quite the irritating situation.

We recap the Young Bucks/Josh Alexander vs. Kenny Omega/Jurassic Express for a million dollars. The Bucks have been broke for a bit but are teasing joining the Don Callis Family for the sake of getting their money back.

Young Bucks/Josh Alexander vs. Kenny Omega/Jurassic Express

For a million dollars. Nick works on Perry’s arm to start and they flip around a bit until they both try dropkicks. Matt and Luchasaurus come in with Luchasaurus working on the arm. It’s quickly off to Omega for more of the same, though Omega comes up favoring his recently damaged ankle. The villains take over on Omega, who manages to hurricanrana Nick to the floor.

The ensuing dive slows Omega down though and it’s back to Perry, who gets World’s Strongest Slammed onto the apron. Nick dives onto Luchasaurus and hands it back to Matt for Risky Business on Perry. The chinlock goes on for a bit until Perry hits a nice running diving DDT, allowing the much needed tag off to Luchasaurus. The Bucks superkick him down but he manages a double knockdown of his own and it’s back to Omega.

House is quickly cleaned but Alexander escapes You Can’t Escape. Everything breaks down and it’s a springboard Destroyer to Luchasaurus but Perry hits a running knee to leave everyone down. Omega and Alexander get up to slug it out until Omega grabs a snapdragon. The Bucks come in to take Omega down and we hit the ankle lock, which is broken up via the ropes. Matt gets caught in a spike Tombstone but the Countdown To Extinction is broken up.

Alexander clotheslines Matt by mistake though and now the Countdown To Extinction connects, with Alexander making the save. Perry hits a double Doomsday Device on the Bucks, who completely no sell it (because a springboard double clothesline has no effect) and start firing off the superkicks. Some of those superkicks hit Alexander, who gets planted with the One Winged Angel on the floor. A rollup gives Perry two but it’s the BTE Trigger to finish Perry at 19:06.

Rating: B+. I’m not big on the Bucks but they know how to do an exciting six man tag. I wasn’t expecting the Bucks to win here, as it felt like Alexander was only there to take the loss. The match was rather entertaining, though you can tell Omega is a far shell of what he used to be. That’s no surprise given what he’s been through, but dang it’s getting rough to see him out there.

Post match the Bucks get their money and Callis says they’re in the Family. Alexander and the rest of the Family jump Omega and the Express, with the Bucks almost being dragged away by Callis. The Bucks come back for the big save and make peace with the Express, followed by the big hug with Omega. Oh good grief ENOUGH WITH THE ELITE MELODRAMA ALREADY. Omega has to be helped to the back and even collapses on the ramp. The Family seems to have left with all of the money, so the Bucks are still broke.

We recap Mercedes Mone challenging Kris Statlander for the Women’s Title. Mone beat her before and now wants to do it for her 385th title.

Women’s Title: Mercedes Mone vs. Kris Statlander

Only Statlander is defending. Mone goes for the leg to start but gets rolled up for two instead. The Statement Maker is broken up as well so Mone sends her outside in a crash. Statlander is able to roll through a dive though and a nice superplex drops Mone hard. It’s too early for the 450 though as they’re definitely starting fast. Statlander rolls outside and seems to be favoring her elbow, with Mone hitting a running Meteora off the apron.

A big stomp to the arm has Statlander in even more trouble and it’s off to a Fujiwara armbar back inside. Back up and the bad arm is sent into the buckle but she uses the good arm to elbow Mone in the face. Mone uses her feet to bend the arm again and snaps off a tornado DDT for two. Fourteen Amigos have Statlander down and the fans cheering for Mone (the villain, because doing something cool is more important).

The frog splash lands on raised feet and Statlander manages a backdrop, followed by something like a Michinoku Driver for two. The bad arm gets crushed again but Statlander gives her a Blue Thunder Bomb on the floor. Back in and Mone hits a Codebreaker into a Backstabber into a sunset bomb into the corner. The running Meteora is cut off with a clothesline so Mone kicks at the bad arm again.

Statlander’s crossface is reversed into one from Mone, which is broken up as well. A super gutbuster (Dean Malenko style) drops Mone for a delayed two but the arm is too banged up for Staturday Night Fever. Instead it’s a package piledriver for two, with Mone having to grab the rope for the escape. Mone is back with a hurricanrana and running knees against the ropes for two and they fight over a Tombstone. Statlander finally sends her into the corner and muscles her up into the Staturday Night Fever to retain at 23:06.

Rating: B+. This was rather good as well and would have been even better had Mone not seemingly been more about getting cheered than winning. What matters the most is that Statlander won, which is what should have happened. There was no reason for Mone to win here and while she will likely get the title down the line, at least she didn’t get it here, as Statlander picks up probably her biggest win ever. Really nice match here, with the arm injury telling a good story as Statlander didn’t have her usual power advantage.

The Don Callis Family is happy with having the money and Callis says that it’s time for the team to come together for the Continental Classic. Konosuke Takeshita says he’ll be in, as does an angry Kyle Fletcher. Well that was obvious, but in a good way.

We recap Hangman Page vs. Samoa Joe. Page retained the World Title over a good Joe last month so now it’s evil Joe in a cage.

AEW World Title: Hangman Page vs. Samoa Joe

Page is defending in a cage and apparently comes to the ring to a song from Red Dead Redemption 2. They tease rams into the cage to start with Page getting the better of things to bust Joe open early. Page takes his boot off to hammer Joe in the head for two but Joe sends him into the cage right back.

Now it’s Page busted open and getting his face raked against the cage, which isn’t a good sign. Page is back up to win a slugout and even tries his own Koquina Clutch. Joe’s release Rock Bottom out of the corner drops Page and he takes a turnbuckle pad off. Another comeback lets Page tease the Deadeye but here is Katsuyori Shibata for the distraction.

Eddie Kingston cuts him off but the referee gets crushed against the cage. The Deadeye connects for no count and here is Powerhouse Hobbs to break through the door. Page sends him into the cage and hits a Buckshot Lariat on Joe for no count. Instead here’s Hook to deck Page with the title and reveal an Opps shirt. Commentary acts like this is some shocking moment, as someone joining a stable he was part of just a few months ago is shocking. The Elite has done that what, half a dozen times? Anyway, Joe hits the MuscleBuster to retain the title at 16:02.

Rating: B. It was a violent, bloody brawl in a cage, which might have had a bit more impact had there not been two blood baths earlier in the night and two far bloodier cage matches just ten days ago. On the other hand, I do kind of like Joe winning the title again, as Page was (again) coming off as a huge afterthought as champion. I don’t get why that’s the case, but Joe is more interesting almost by definition. Good, violent match here, though a heel on top of a stable as champion, AGAIN, isn’t the most thrilling way to go.

Post match the Opps (complete with a group of Opps Dojo goons) celebrate but the lights go out. We see a burning home and Swerve Strickland is back. The Opps bail and Swerve takes out the goons (Like a…..house of fire?), with Page getting up to help to end the show. I’ve heard worse ideas.

Overall Rating: B+. This did exceed my expectations, which weren’t overly high coming into the show. What matters the most is that they changed the World Title, which just wasn’t an interesting situation for a long time. At the same time, we got some rather good matches, with the six man and Women’s Title matches being pretty close to excellent. I really could go with a lot less of the blood and more hardcore violence, but that’s just baked into a lot of modern wrestling. Either way, more than solid show tonight with some very good moments, even at five and a half hours (yes, the Kickoff Show counts, as always).

Results
Bang Bang Gang b. Max Caster/Anthony Bowens, Outrunners and Big Bill/Bryan Keith – Rollup to Bowens
Big Boom AJ/QT Marshall b. RPG Vice – Powerboom/Blockbuster combination to Beretta
Hook/Eddie Kingston b. Workhorsemen – DDT to Henry
Sky Team b. Don Callis Family – La Mistica to Hechicero
Pac b. Darby Allin – Baseball bat to the face
Timeless Love Bombs b. Sisters Of Sin, Marina Shafir/Megan Bayne and Babes Of Wrath – Small package to Cameron
FTR b. Bandido/Brody King – Shatter Machine to Bandido
Ricochet won the Casino Gauntlet Match – Spirit Gun to Knight
Kyle O’Reilly b. Jon Moxley – Ankle lock with a chain
Mark Briscoe b. Kyle Fletcher – Jay Driller
Young Bucks/Josh Alexander b. Kenny Omega/Jurassic Express – BTE Trigger to Perry
Kris Statlander b. Mercedes Mone – Staturday Night Fever
Samoa Joe b. Hangman Page – MuscleBuster

 

 

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