Smackdown
Date: October 22, 2021
Location: Intrust Bank Arena, Wichita, Kansas
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee

We’re done with Crown Jewel and that means it is time to start getting ready for Survivor Series. The big story coming out of the show is Roman Reigns retaining the Universal Title as Paul Heyman managed to stay in the middle while still interfering in the match. That could mean more than a few things going forward so let’s get to it.

Here is Crown Jewel if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of Roman Reigns retaining the Universal Title over Brock Lesnar, albeit with an assist from the Usos and a title belt shot.

Here are Reigns and Paul Heyman for a chat to get things going. Reigns isn’t happy with Heyman, as he doesn’t get why the title was thrown into the middle of the ring last night. Reigns: “Shall we work on this?” He demonstrates how to put the title in his hand and says that Heyman isn’t good as his job. We hear Reigns’ various monikers, including the greatest Universal Champion of all time (that has been a long five years). Reigns lists off all of the people he has smashed while champion, including Brock Lesnar.

Speaking of Lesnar, wasn’t he supposed to be here tonight? Reigns has Heyman pull out his phone to read Lesnar’s promise to beat up Reigns as soon as he arrives tonight. Reigns: “He’s tweeting now!” That makes Reigns laugh and he wants Lesnar out here for his second beating in a row. He faces the Titantron but no one shows up, so Reigns thinks Lesnar must be scared. Reigns makes it clear: he isn’t leaving the ring until Lesnar gets here.

We take a break and come back with Reigns and Heyman still in the ring, with the former talking about how great he is. The fans want Lesnar but Reigns says Lesnar is scared of him, just like everyone else. Reigns is ready to leave but here is Lesnar to cut him off. The fight is on with Lesnar knocking him to the floor but stopping to look at Heyman. One heck of a steps shot knocks Reigns silly and it’s time to load up the announcers’ table.

Cue the Usos for the save so Lesnar beats them up, allowing Reigns to get back up. Lesnar drives Reigns into the post and then steals a camera, which he throws at the post to break it into pieces. Someone gets sent over the announcers’ table so Adam Pearce sends out various wrestlers to calm Lesnar down but they’re beaten down as well. Cesaro, Jeff Hardy and the Viking Raiders finally calm things down, leaving Lesnar to hold up the Universal Title. Now that was a hot angle and it felt like Reigns was running scared for the first time.

Post break, and post a bunch of replays, Adam Pearce gets in the ring to say Lesnar’s actions were unacceptable. Therefore, Lesnar is suspended indefinitely. Cue Lesnar again and Pearce knows he messed up. Lesnar grabs him by the shirt and wants Pearce to say it again. Pearce, while struggling to breathe, repeats the suspension. Lesnar: “Is that right?” Lesnar hits an F5, hears his music start, and hits another F5, with Pearce’s pants being ripped in the process. That’s not enough for Lesnar, who grabs the mic and tells Pearce to say it again. Since Pearce can’t move, Lesnar hits him in the face with the microphone to some rather strong praise from the crowd.

The locker room is worried about what happened and here is Naomi to get in Sonya Deville’s face. Sonya yells at her and since Naomi is a face on the WWE roster, she calmly walks away without any rebuttal. Drew McIntyre pops in to say he’s here to make a difference so it’s open challenge time.

Here is Drew McIntyre in the ring and it is still open challenge time.

Drew McIntyre vs. Sami Zayn

Sami has a new theme and says he’s used to being forgotten around here. He is actually the longest tenured member of the Smackdown roster and he is kind of a locker room leader. McIntyre may be a former WWE Champion, but he’s a newbie around here. Sami will accept the challenge and drops to the floor at the opening bell. McIntyre follows him outside and sends Zayn into the barricade for a big crash.

We take a break and come back with Zayn hammering away in the corner but McIntyre snaps off an overhead belly to belly. Sami snaps Drew’s throat across the top rope but the Glasgow Kiss gets McIntyre out of trouble. A charge hits post to put him back in trouble though and Sami sends him into said post again. The Helluva Kick, complete with the countdown, is cut off with the Claymore to finish Zayn at 6:50.

Rating: C-. It wasn’t a great match or anything but they kept it short as they should have. I was expecting this to be bell, Claymore, bell and it was only just a little bit more than that. It was a good way to debut McIntyre on his new show and it worked out well enough. Zayn can lose over and over and talk his way right back into being fine so this worked out in a short span.

It’s time for the official coronation of King Xavier Woods, with Kofi Kingston making the presentation. Woods comes to the ring and Kofi puts the cloak onto him, allowing the fans to hit a YOU DESERVE IT chant. Woods: “ME???” The scepter is presented, and that just leaves the crown. Kingston gives Woods a huge over the top introduction and puts the crown on his head to a rather positive reception. Woods promises it will be a fair and fun reign, with Kofi reading a proclamation and waving the robe behind him. Goofy fun here and it’s great to see Woods getting the chance to do something on his own.

Becky Lynch isn’t interested in trading titles with Charlotte, so maybe she should be Becky Two Belts again.

Xia Li is coming soon.

Mansoor vs. Mustafa Ali

Rematch from Crown Jewel where Mansoor won. Ali misses a charge in the corner and walks into a backdrop. There’s a clothesline to the floor and Mansoor backdrops him from the apron to the floor. Back in and a high crossbody gives Mansoor two but Ali is back in with a Batista Bomb for two. A tiger suplex of all things drops Ali but he is back up with a sunset flip. That’s fine with Mansoor, who sits down on it for the pin at 2:37. Mansoor was certainly energetic here.

Ridge Holland isn’t surprise he made it here.

Aliyah is ready to give Smackdown a makeover.

Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo say that winning is easy when you look this good.

Sheamus delivers nothing but bangers. These were short and to the point and a lot better than what I would have expected from introductions.

Here is Hit Row to rhyme about how great they are and now they need a big bag for all of their nice things.

Hit Row vs. Dustin Lawyer/Daniel Williams

Swerve takes Lawyer down in a hurry and hits a running elbow to the back. The backsplash gives Dolla two and it’s a Wasteland/World’s Strongest Slam to Williams and Lawyer at the same time. A side slam/running kick to the head finishes Lawyer at 1:12. Simple, to the point, get the idea over, wrap it up before you overstay your welcome. Not a thing wrong with that.

We recap Lesnar’s destruction earlier, including that of Adam Pearce.

Sonya Deville says Pearce is going to be ok eventually and she told him what would happen. For now though, we have to keep going and she’ll take care of things on her own.

Happy Corbin vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Non-title Champions Contenders match and Corbin thanks Nakamura for sending him into the downward spiral that eventually made him happy. Madcap Moss and Rick Boogs are here too as Corbin powers Nakamura into trouble to start. Nakamura is back up with some shots in the face to take over and Good Vibrations (with Boogs accompanying on guitar) makes it worse. Back up and Corbin shoves Nakamura to the apron before dropping him face first…well close enough to the apron as we take a break.

Back with Corbin hammering away on the mat until Nakamura fights up and hits a running knee. Nakamura strikes away and hits the running knee in the corner for two. End of Days is broken up but the Deep Six gives Corbin two of his own. Boogs guitars Nakamura back to life and he knees Corbin down. Kinshasa is loaded up but Moss goes after the guitar, drawing Nakamura out for the save. Corbin sends Nakamura into the steps though and End of Days finishes Nakamura at 9:38.

Rating: C. Sweet goodness I can’t stand that finish and it’s the kind of thing that WWE loves to do. Not only did they not hide how the match was going to end, but a champ takes a fall to set up a title match which could have been set up any of about a dozen other ways. That’s not how WWE likes to do things though, because why put in the work when you can be lazy instead?

Charlotte says Becky Lynch can hand over the title really easily. Just pretend it’s Charlotte’s suitcase that Becky carried for years. We aren’t even done with the first “THE ROSTERS ARE FINALIZED” show and we already have a guest star from Raw.

Here are Becky Lynch and Charlotte, in their gear, to exchange titles. Sonya Deville tells them to hand it over but Becky drops hers. They trade the titles but Charlotte issues the challenge for winner take all. Cue Sasha Banks to call Charlotte a b**** so Becky leaves, saying she’ll see one of them at Survivor Series. Sasha and Charlotte insult each other and Banks wins a quick brawl to end the show. Just like it was last year, this was hardly anything that helped the titles, but that is long past the point of mattering.

Overall Rating: C+. This felt like a new era and that appears to be what they were going for here. There were new people introduced doing new things and it made for a good way to set things off. I liked how they introduced a lot of new people and set things in motion, with a hot opening segment making it that much better. This might not have been a classic, but it was a good way to make things interesting for the future.

Results
Drew McIntyre b. Sami Zayn – Claymore
Mansoor b. Mustafa Ali – Cradle
Hit Row b. Dustin Lawler/Daniel Williams – Side slam/running kick to the head combination to Lawyer
Happy Corbin b. Shinsuke Nakamura – End of Days

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.

Impact Wrestling
Date: October 21, 2021
Location: Skyway Studios, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Josh Matthews, D’Lo Brown

It’s the go home show for Bound For Glory and the card is set. That could leave a few different directions to choose this week and I’m curious to see where things are going to go. The good thing is that Impact has earned the benefit of the doubt over….dang a year plus or so? Let’s get to it.

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

Opening recap.

Opening sequence.

Bullet Club vs. FinJuice

For the Bound For Glory Tag Team Title shot and that would be Chris Bey/Hikuleo for the Club. Finlay starts with Hikuleo with the big man knocking Finlay down without much effort. It’s already off to Robinson, who backsplashes Bey for a fast two. Robinson knocks Bey off the top and a double bulldog drops Hikuleo for two. Finlay gets knocked down though and it’s Bey coming in with a springboard rake to the back.

The chinlock goes on but Finlay gets up and, with Bey holding a leg, hops over for the tag to Robinson in a unique visual. Everything breaks down and a Russian legsweep/running big boot gets two on Bey with Hikuleo making the save. The referee gets bumped so Hikuleo’s chokeslam gets no count. Another referee runs in to count two but Finlay manages a cutter. The double tag brings in Robinson to strike away on Hikuleo but a snap powerslam plants Robinson back down. Everything breaks down and it’s a double rollup to give us a double pin at 9:22.

Rating: C+. These teams have some good matches with each other and that was the case again. The draw isn’t exactly surprising as I couldn’t imagine one of these teams being left off of the Bound For Glory card. You just learn to live with the three way matches and it could be fun watching these two trying to make the Good Brothers look better.

Post break the referees explain things to Scott D’Amore, who will make a decision by the end of the night.

Here’s what’s coming tonight and at Bound For Glory.

Josh Alexander talks about growing up in the middle of nowhere and not being able to afford to play hockey. Then he found pro wrestling and he was instantly hooked. He started wrestling but broke his neck and had to have surgery. Somehow he came back and then broke his neck again but actually came back one more time, albeit with a different attitude. Now he wanted to put in the work to become the best he could be, even if it was just in Canada. He won the Destiny Wrestling World Title and then got signed by Impact Wrestling (with a clip of Scott D’Amore handing him the contract in a great moment).

It was off to Impact Wrestling, where he wanted to win the X-Division Title, after being inspired by Low Ki. He held the title for so long that there was only one thing left for him to do, which led him to Option C and the main event of Bound For Glory. It isn’t that failure isn’t an option, but Alexander doesn’t think he can fail. This was REALLY good and showed you a different look at Alexander, which had been lacking for a long time. I want to see him win now and that had not been the case coming in.

Jordynne Grace/Fallah Bahh vs. Chelsea Green/Crazzy Steve vs. John Skyler/Tenille Dashwood

Three way tag between the six people in the Digital Media Title match at Bound For Glory. Grace powers Green into the corner and it’s off to Bahh, who doesn’t seen to scare Green. It’s off to Steve to hammer away on Bahh in the corner. Skyler comes in to take over on Steve, who bites Dashwood in the face to escape.

That’s enough for the hot tag to Grace, meaning it’s time to clean house. The running knees in the corner set up the running backsplash to crush Skyler. Everything breaks down and Skyler has to save Dashwood from the Banzai Drop. Steve hits the middle rope DDT on Bahh but Dashwood sneaks in with the Spotlight Kick to finish Bahh at 4:25.

Rating: C-. I’m not wild on these this kind of a match as it is little more than a preview for Sunday’s title match. They threw everyone in there and one of them happened to get a win. I guess that counts as momentum, but this is such a lower card title that it is hard to get overly interested in a short and wild match like this one.

Here is a serious Rhino for a chat but Heath cuts him off before anything can be said. Heath says it has been a little while but they have been through a lot over the years. Their families know each other but Heath didn’t hear from him throughout the course of his injury. Heath knows it’s Eric Young doing this to Rhino but the one thing he wants Rhino to know is that he misses you. His daughters miss Uncle Rhino (you know that’s a chant) and that’s good for a smile, but Violent By Design interrupts.

Eric Young says Violent By Design isn’t something you walk away from. Heath makes it sound like a cult and says Rhino is brainwashed. The brawl is on and Heath gets beaten down until Rhino finally pulls Young off. Rhino teases Goring Heath but walks out instead, leaving Heath to get beaten down. They are managing to make me care about a Rhino/Heath/Eric Young story so well done.

Minoru Suzuki is coming.

Savannah Evans vs. Mickie James

This is James’ first Impact match in six years and Tasha Steelz is here with Evans. Mickie gets shoved down by the much bigger Evans to start but slugs away anyway. Some forearms are cut off by a Steelz distraction, allowing Evans to choke on the ropes. We hit the bearhug, with Mickie biting her way to freedom. The MickieDT is blocked so Mickie settles for the middle rope Thesz press for a near fall. Cue Deonna Purrazzo for a distraction, allowing Evans to hit a full nelson slam for two of her own. Evans misses a charge into the post, so Mickie kicks her in the head and hits the MickieDT for the pin at 7:27.

Rating: C. This was a way to get Mickie in the ring and give her a win over a monster and that worked out just fine. They didn’t need to make this complicated and what we wound up getting was the right way to go. Mickie vs. Purrazzo might not be a dream match but it’s a heck of a match for the biggest show of the year.

Post match, Purrazzo gets in James’ face but there is no contact allowed. Instead, here is Matthew Rehwoldt to lay Mickie out instead.

Post break, Scott D’Amore isn’t cool with what just happened. While Purrazzo didn’t break the agreement, she broke the intent of it and should be stripped of the title. That’s not what D’Amore wants though, because he would rather see her lose it at Bound For Glory. Purrazzo isn’t happy so D’Amore bans Rehwoldt from ringside for the title match to make it worse.

Brian Myers isn’t happy with the Learning Tree for screwing up last week and fires Manny Lemons (who seems to explode). Sam Beale is cut as well, but he asks for an autograph from Myers. Instead, he has to settle for VSK in a disappointing downgrade.

Scott D’Amore is in his office for the Knockouts Tag Team Titles contract signing but no one shows up. Cue RD Evans, the IInspiration’s entertainment lawyer (and former barrister for Deonna Purrazzo), with Decay appearing as well. Rosemary isn’t happy about having to sign in ink instead of blood but the champs are in anyway. Evans signs for the IInspiration and we get the promise of heads being bitten off. I’ll let you guess who promises to do so.

Alex Zayne vs. Trey Miguel

They go with the grappling to start with Miguel throwing him down, giving us a standoff. Zayne rides Miguel down to play some mind games of his own as commentary promises that it is going to pick up. Miguel sends him outside and loads up the dive but Zayne comes back in and we get a kneeling staredown to keep up the mind games. Zayne scores with an enziguri and they both crash out to the floor as we take a break.

Back with Miguel pulling him down into something like a reverse Koji Clutch to put Zayne in trouble. With that broken up, Miguel goes up but Zayne hits a running flip super hurricanrana (because he can just do that) to bring Miguel back down. Some kicks rock Zayne, who is back with a jumping knee. Zayne puts him on top but has to block a sunset bomb. The 619 around the post rocks Zayne though and the top rope Meteora finishes for Miguel at 11:56.

Rating: C+. This was just starting to cook when it wrapped up. Miguel getting the pin is a good way to build him up for Saturday and Zayne looked good in defeat. I’m not sure what is next for Zayne, but there is always the chance that he falls into the pack in the X-Division. That’s better than doing nothing on 205 Live, but not by much.

Post match here is Steve Maclin to lay Miguel off but Bullet Club comes in to jump Maclin. El Phantasmo hits the big low blow on Miguel so the Club can stand tall (more so in Hikuleo’s case).

Bound For Glory rundown, including the announcement of the triple threat Tag Team Title match.

Here is Josh Alexander for the final chat before Bound For Glory. He is two days away from a shot at the World Title and doesn’t understand what a risk is. Alexander spent years at a construction site but took the chance to prove that he could do everything he dreamed of doing. That was a risk, but the risk that he will not take is letting his boys think he won’t take a shot. Cue Christian Cage to say he knows what it’s like to be on this stage. Everything comes down to emotion and you have to be able to keep it in check. Some people crack under the pressure but some people thrive and win World Titles, like Christian himself.

Over the last few weeks, Christian hasn’t seen anything to suggest that Alexander has what it takes. Alexander has heard all of this before, including about Christian when he first came here in 2005. As long as Christian is getting paid by a billionaire in another company, he can’t be the face of Impact Wrestling. At Bound For Glory, he’s slamming the Forbidden Door in Christian’s face because he’s the best in the world. Christian: “You’re not even the best wrestler from Canada.” The brawl is on and security/wrestlers break it up to end the show. This was good stuff, though that Alexander video from earlier was hard to top.

Overall Rating: B. They were in a weird spot here as the wrestling was taking a distant backseat to everything else going on. This show was about the final push towards Bound For Glory and very few people on the pay per view card were active on this show. What mattered was making me want to see Bound For Glory and that worked very well. Impact is doing everything they need to do right now and if they can stick the landing on Saturday, they could be in a heck of an awesome place for the first time in the better part of ever.

Results
Bullet Club vs. FinJuice went to a double pin
John Skyler/Tenille Dashwood b. Jordynne Grace/Fallah Bahh and Chelsea Green/Crazzy Steve – Spotlight Kick to Bahh
Mickie James b. Savannah Evans – MickieDT
Trey Miguel b. Alex Zayne – Top rope Meteora

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.

WWE’s Bianca Belair Top Special First Time Ever List.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/wwes-bianca-belair-top-special-first-time-ever-list/

Here’s What Crown Jewel Means For The WrestleMania 38 Main Event.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/heres-crown-jewel-means-wrestlemania-38-main-event/

Update On Brock Lesnar’s Upcoming WWE Status And Schedule.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/update-brock-lesnars-upcoming-wwe-status-schedule/

VIDEO: WWE Crowns Two New Royals Plus Fallout From Both.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/video-wwe-crowns-two-new-royals-plus-fallout/

Becky Lynch Breaks Character After WWE Crown Jewel To Say Thank You.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/becky-lynch-breaks-character-wwe-crown-jewel-say-thank/

Backstage Reaction To WWE Crown Jewel, When WWE Is Returning To Saudi Arabia.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/backstage-reaction-wwe-crown-jewel-wwe-returning-saudi-arabia/

VIDEO: The Former IIConics Release New Music Video.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/video-former-iiconics-release-new-music-video/

WWE Made Two Confusing Changes To Crown Jewel Main Event.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/wwe-made-two-confusing-changes-crown-jewel-main-event/

As always, please check out all of the videos if you can, hit up the comments section and get on the Wrestling Rumors Facebook page.

NXT UK
Date: October 21, 2021
Location: BT Sport Studios, London, England
Commentators: Andy Shepherd, Nigel McGuinness

The fans came back last week and saw a classic with Ilja Dragunov successfully defending the United Kingdom Title against A-Kid. It did feel like something was changing around here and that is quite the upgrade as it just makes the show feel that much bigger. Hopefully they do that again this week so let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Xia Brookside vs. Aleah James

Brookside cranks on the arm to start but neither can get very far. A headlock takeover puts James down but she reverses into a headscissors to keep Brookside in trouble. That’s finally reversed and it’s a seated abdominal stretch to put James in trouble. Back up and James fires off some kicks, only to get taken down with a running neckbreaker. The Iconoclasm is loaded up but James kicks her away and grabs a sunset flip for the pin at 4:17.

Rating: C. I’m not sure what has happened to Brookside but this feels like the kind of losing streak that you see before someone turns heel. The idea of Brookside as a villain is almost hard to fathom but that might be where things are going. James looked good here and we could be in for a nice new batch of women moving up the ranks here soon.

Post match, Brookside shows frustration as the heel turn is looking imminent.

Meiko Satomura is the Final Boss so she’s not scared of Jinny.

Kenny Williams is looking a little nuts and says he can be even badder after his Heritage Cup loss. Then we see some bugs on the ground because….someone needs to be like Bray Wyatt?

Jack Starz/Dave Mastiff vs. Symbiosis

Fallout from Starz/Mastiff cutting off Symbiosis’ failed interference attempt in a Tag Team Title match. Eddie Dennis is at ringside and Pretty Deadly is on commentary, which should be downright snazzy. T-Bone shoves Starz down without much trouble to start but gets pulled into an armbar. That earns Starz a fall away slam and it’s off to Primate as commentary talks about Tik Tok. Starz gets up and cleans house with some dropkicks, setting up a clothesline from Mastiff to clear the ring.

Mastiff’s backsplash sets up Starz’s slingshot splash for two on Primate. T-Bone comes back in and it’s time to wreck Starz, including sending him crashing out to the floor. Back in and a sitout powerbomb gets two on Starz and Primate pounds on his (own) chest. There’s a delayed vertical suplex for a delayed two on Starz, who is then tossed outside. That’s actually fine with Starz, who slams T-Bone on the floor and makes the hot tag to Mastiff. Everything breaks down with Mastiff hitting Into The Void but Dennis hits Starz with a chair for the DQ at 8:26.

Rating: C. They went pretty fast here and the match didn’t feel nearly as long as it was. What we got was a way to keep things going between the two teams as Starz/Mastiff seem ready to move into a Tag Team Title feud with Pretty Deadly. Good enough match here, as the tag division is bringing in some fresh blood, just like the women’s division.

Post match the beatdown is on but Ashton Smith and Oliver Carter save Starz and Mastiff.

Video on Amale, who says her loss to Emilia McKenzie was a fluke.

Charlie Dempsey thinks his time in NXT UK has been great so far but Gallus interrupts. They don’t think he should get too confident, but here are Teoman and Rohan Raja to brawl with Gallus.

It’s time for Supernova Sessions, though this time it’s actually in the ring. Noam Dar is ready to take the Heritage Cup next week, and it happens that he’ll be taking it from this week’s guest, Tyler Bate (with Trent Seven). Dar says he respects Bate so much that he’s willing to let Bate forfeit the Heritage Cup to him right now.

That isn’t happening, so Dar accuses Bate of going soft and blames Seven for the problems. Seven is ready to take him down but Bate says hold on, because this is going to be Bate beating Dar again. Dar gets in a cheap shot and bails with Sha Samuels. I think you know where this is going and that’s not a bad thing.

Gallus steals Jordan Devlin’s jacket as he’s warming up.

Jordan Devlin vs. Joe Coffey

The jacketless Devlin jumps him in the aisle before the bell but Coffey says ring the bell. Devlin shrugs off the early flurry and grabs a headlock takeover but Coffey fights up and hits a quick powerslam. The armbar has Devlin in trouble until he fights up and sends Coffey shoulder first into the post.

Coffey’s ribs get wrapped around the post as well and there’s a knee to the ribs to make it worse. Some kicks to the chest set up an abdominal stretch, followed by a bodyscissors. That’s countered with a ram into the corner but Coffey bangs up his ribs again. Devlin goes up top but dives into a hard uppercut. A pop up World’s Strongest Slam gets two on Devlin and the springboard spinning crossbody gets the same.

Another shot to the ribs puts Coffey on the floor though and Devlin hits the Penalty Kick off the apron. Back in and Devlin goes up, earning himself a belly to belly superplex right back down. Coffey is up first and slugs him down for two, setting up the running headbutt to the ribs in the corner. Devlin kicks him right back though and the 450 is good for a rather near fall. Back up and the Devlin Side finishes Coffey at 14:10.

Rating: B-. The latest rise of Devlin continues and that is an interesting way to go. I’ve long since thought that he seems primed for a main event run around here and Ilja Dragunov could use some new challengers. Beating someone as big as Coffey could get him in that direction, but I’m not sure how soon a match like that would happen, assuming it ever does.

Overall Rating: C+. This show seemed designed to help move us towards the next batch of challengers and stories, which is not a bad thing. At some point you need to move forward and it would make a lot of sense to do so now that the fans are back. NXT UK has been good for a long time now and it would be nice to see them take another step forward, which might have started this week.

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.

Crown Jewel 2021
Date: October 21, 2021
Location: Mohammed Abdu Arena On The Boulevard, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Commentators: Byron Saxton, Corey Graves, Michael Cole

After a year and a half away, WWE is returning to Saudi Arabia and the show is actually looking huge. For the first time in a very long while, we are seeing what looks to be a massive show with a lot going on. The main event is Roman Reigns defending the Universal Title against Brock Lesnar and that should be enough to carry just about anything. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Usos vs. Shelton Benjamin/Cedric Alexander

Non-title and the fans are WAY behind the Usos to start. Jey and Alexander start things off with Jey grabbing a belly to back suplex for two. It’s off to Shelton, who powers Jey into the corner and then hands it straight back to Alexander for a knee to the face. The arm work begins, including a shoulder breaker on Jey, setting up an armbar. A superplex sends Jey crashing down for two and it’s back to Alexander for a Tequila Sunrise.

With that broken up, the cross armbreaker goes back to the arm but Jey slips out. Jey gets in a shot of his own and gets over to Jimmy for the hot tag to clean house. What looked to be a mistimed Samoan drop gets two on Alexander, who is right back with a neckbreaker for the same. Benjamin is back in with a running knee in the corner as everything breaks down. The Angle Slam gives Benjamin two and Paydirt connects for the same. Jey is back up though and it’s a series of superkicks to send Benjamin outside. More superkicks set up the Superfly Splash to finish Alexander at 10:40.

Rating: C. Totally fine tag match here, which shouldn’t be a surprise given who was involved. The Usos are one of the best tag teams the company has ever seen and Benjamin/Alexander work well together. The fans were WAY into the Usos too, making this a nice mixture. Good start to the night here, with the match being exactly what it needed to be.

The opening video talks about how huge this show is and goes into the standard look at the major matches.

There are camels by the stage.

We recap Edge vs. Seth Rollins inside the Cell. Rollins attacked Edge, who referred to Rollins as Edge-Lite. This set up a series of back and forth mental games between the two until Edge beat him at Summerslam. Then Rollins broke into Edge’s house (which was unlocked, so it wasn’t hard) and beat him in the rematch, attacking Edge’s neck in the process. Now it’s time for the big finale, inside the Cell, as Edge wants a lot of revenge.

The Cell is lowered.

Edge vs. Seth Rollins

Inside the Cell to start big. Edge slugs away in the corner to start as the fans declare this awesome in a hurry. Rollins gets kicked in the face to send him outside but comes back in with the springboard knee to the face to take over. A suicide dive only hits Cell though and Edge sends him hard into the steps. Edge throws in the steps and hits the Edgecution for two but already seems to be limping a bit. It’s already time to go for the chair bar but Rollins is back up with the Sling Blade.

They head outside again with Edge sending him into the Cell to regain control. Edge tries the Crossface but Rollins grabs the chair bar to hit him in the eye and escape. Rollins knocks the chair into Edge’s face and hits a frog splash for two. It’s already time for the table at ringside but first Rollins has to plant Edge with the Unprettier (which is suddenly Edge’s move) for two more.

Rollins takes his sweet time going up top, allowing Edge to shove him into the Cell and through the table for the big crash to the floor. The steps are thrown in, with Edge busting on the Edge-O-Matic to plant Rollins again. Edge leaves Rollins on the steps and goes up top to drive a chair into him for the big crash and a delayed near fall. Rollins is back up with a superkick into the Pedigree for two of his own and they’re both down. The Stomp is loaded up but Edge counters into a Buckle Bomb to set up the spear for the VERY near fall.

With nothing else working, it’s time for a ladder, which knocks Rollins right back down. Rollins is able to whip Edge into the ladder in the corner and let’s get another table for a bonus. The ladder is set up as well but Edge fights up to meet him on top. That’s not the best idea though as Rollins busts out a sunset bomb through the table for another near fall. Some superkicks drop Edge to his knees and a basement superkick puts him down.

Since that isn’t enough, Rollins wraps a chain around his boot for another low superkick. The Stomp onto the chair is countered with a crotching using the chair, allowing Edge to kick him down for a change. There’s a low superkick to Rollins and Edge grabs a Crossface, complete with a wrench in Rollins’ mouth. That’s not enough either though as Edge puts Rollins’ head onto the chair, setting up the Stomp for the pin at 27:40.

Rating: B. It was a heck of a fight and they beat each other up rather well, but this is what modern Cell matches have become: TLC matches with a big cage on top, which can leave things feeling a little cramped. There’s so much stuff around and inside of the ring that it almost feels messy, which isn’t what I would like to see in a Cell match. Going back and forth with the moves and spots that brought them here (including what is apparently now Edge’s Unprettier) worked, though it never hit that next level. In other words, most modern Cell matches.

Video on Bianca Belair.

We recap Mustafa Ali vs. Mansoor. Ali mentored Mansoor but then turned on him when the team didn’t work. It’s time for revenge.

Mansoor vs. Mustafa Ali

Ali is in his hometown and gets a huge reaction. They fight over wrist control to start with Mansoor grabbing a quickly broken armbar. Back up and a dropkick puts Ali on the floor as Cole mocks Ali for setting up a hashtag about himself. Mansoor dropkicks him to the floor but Ali sweeps the leg to drop him back first onto the apron. Back in and Ali grabs a camel clutch, followed by a tornado DDT for two.

Some trash talk lets Mansoor fight back up and an atomic drop has Ali begging off. Ali is sent outside but comes back with a kick to the face. The 450 misses though and Mansoor suplexes him into the corner. A moonsault gives Mansoor a delayed near fall (with the camera on a young girl in the crowd) due to a banged up neck, allowing Ali to grab a Koji Clutch. The rope gets Mansoor out of trouble and he avoids another 450 attempt. Mansoor hits the slingshot neckbreaker for the pin at 10:00.

Rating: C. This was exactly what you would have expected and that means it worked out just fine. They had a simple feud and Mansoor gets his revenge in front of his hometown/country fans. It was a good example of a match where they didn’t make things too complicated and it was a success as a result.

Post match Ali jumps Mansoor but here is a man with a his face and head covered to slowly walk down the ramp. The covering comes off to reveal….a silver medalist in karate from Saudi Arabia (“a karate player” according to Cole, making me want to bust out some Karate Fighters). Ali gets kicked in the head and posing with Mansoor ensues. Nice moment for the live crowd there.

Some women who have beaten breast cancer are given WWE Title belts with Natalya and Titus O’Neil talking about how great they are. Nothing wrong with that.

Raw Tag Team Titles: RKBro vs. AJ Styles/Omos

RKBro is defending, but hang on as Riddle goes backstage during the entrance. As you might have guessed, Riddle comes out on a camel to head to the ring (Orton’s stunned look is great). Styles and Riddle start things off and the fans are rather into this. Riddle scores with an early kick to the chest and it’s off to Orton, to a heck of an RKO chant. Orton sends Styles into the corner and it’s right back to Riddle for the gutwrench spin into the suplex.

The problem is Riddle suplexes Styles into the corner so Omos can come in. Riddle tags Orton in almost immediately and the beating is on in a hurry, with Omos dragging Orton over to the corner. Styles comes in to stomp away and hit the dropkick, but Styles wants Omos to finish him off. That means a nerve hold (which looks like Omos is just putting his hand on Orton’s shoulder) but Orton is up in a hurry, allowing the tag back to Riddle.

Styles scores with the Phenomenal Blitz, only to get caught with a Pele. Orton comes in again and hits a powerslam but Omos’ distraction breaks up the hanging DDT. Orton snaps Omos’ throat across the top and then counters the Phenomenal Forearm into the RKO. The Floating Bro retains the titles at 8:43.

Rating: C. Total Raw level match here with a cool looking spot with the RKO. I get why the feud continued here but it feels like they have just run out of things to do in the ring or to build towards a match. RKBro needs some new competition because we have been doing this for several months now and it isn’t interesting anymore.

Becky Lynch isn’t happy with Kevin Patrick asking her about momentum (Becky: “We go all the way back to the old country!”). She isn’t worried about being in a triple threat match, which she explains in a hurry.

Video on Charlotte, who isn’t on this show.

Queen’s Crown: Doudrop vs. Zelina Vega

Vega gets powered around to start but a neck snap across the top gets her out of trouble. For some reason Vega tries a sunset flip and is quickly pulled up. Doudrop hits some ax handles to the chest and drops an elbow but gets pulled off the ropes. A tornado DDT gives Vega two and she sends Doudrop into the corner for a running shot to the face. Doudrop is back to her feet for a swinging side slam for two, setting up a running backsplash for the same. Back up and Vega avoids a splash, setting up a Code Red to give Vega the crown at 5:50.

Rating: C-. The match was about as good as you were going to get given the size difference and by comparison, this actually got time. The fact that a match which wasn’t even six minutes long was nearly double the second longest match in the tournament is not a good sign, but at least they went with someone who could use the push. All in all, the tournament felt thrown together, but I’ll take Vega finally winning something.

We recap Bobby Lashley vs. Goldberg. Lashley beat him via referee stoppage at Summerslam but then accidentally (perhaps) beat up Goldberg’s son after the match. Goldberg wants revenge and it’s falls count anywhere and no holds barred.

Goldberg vs. Bobby Lashley

No holds barred and falls count anywhere. Lashley wraps a chain around his fist and hammers Goldberg down to start before sending him shoulder first into the post. Since Lashley can’t find a table, he beats Goldberg up with a chair and sends him into the corner again. Now the table is slid inside and Lashley stomps him down in the corner. The table is set up in the corner and Lashley takes out the leg (which caused the stoppage at Summerslam).

A chair is wrapped around the leg and a bottom rope Pillmanizing has Goldberg….well just kind of laying there. The leg is fine enough for Goldberg to get up and avoid the spear, sending Lashley through the table in the corner. Goldberg hits a spear into the Jackhammer but doesn’t cover. Instead, Goldberg takes his gloves off and throws Lashley outside for the spear into the timekeeper’s area.

Goldberg loads up the steps and then sends Lashley into various objects at ringside. Lashley is put on the steps but avoids being crushed by the rest of the steps. They go up the ramp and here are Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander, armed with kendo sticks. Goldberg beats the two of them up in a hurry and takes away Lashley’s kendo stick. Said stick is broken over Goldberg’s knee and a spear off the ramp through some tables finishes Lashley at 11:27.

Rating: C+. That could have been a lot worse. I still have absolutely no interest in seeing Goldberg and I do not care about his bored kid, but that could have been a lot worse. They used all of the smoke and mirrors here and that is the best idea. Goldberg was never exactly versatile to start and now he’s twenty years past his prime, so this is about as good as it was going to be.

King of the Ring: Finn Balor vs. Xavier Woods

Of note: there was a Survivor Series ad before the match, hyping it up as the only night of the year where Raw and Smackdown go head to head. This is the seventh match of the night and the third Raw vs. Smackdown match. They go with the technical stuff to start with Woods rolling his way out of a headlock. An armbar has Balor in some trouble for all of about five seconds before he takes Woods down. The basement dropkick gives Balor two and we’re off to the chinlock.

Woods tries to fight up but gets taken down for the double stomp. A Nightmare on Helm Street gives Balor two but he charges into a superkick to give Woods the same. They strike it out for a bit until Woods grabs a small package for two. Balor goes up but gets superplexed back down, allowing Woods to load up the Limit Breaker. That only hits knees though and Balor hits the shotgun dropkick in the corner. The Coup de Grace misses though and Woods la majistrals him for two. Woods hits a gordbuster into double knees to the chest and now the Limit Breaker is enough to give Woods the pin and the crown at 9:37.

Rating: C+. What matters the most here is that it was a nice moment. WWE set up a story here and then paid it off, with Woods talking about always wanting to be king and the fans getting behind him. It’s an underdog story and WWE actually went the right way with the whole thing, which is not something you ever see around here. Nice job for once.

We recap Drew McIntyre vs. Big E. for the WWE Title. Big E. cashed in Money in the Bank to win the title last month and that means McIntyre is allowed to challenge for the title again. They don’t seem to get along and are both hyped up for this match.

WWE Title: Drew McIntyre vs. Big E.

McIntyre is challenging and is told to hit the ropes to start. Big E. isn’t going anywhere off the shoulder but McIntyre jumps over him in the corner and drops Big E. with another shoulder. They head outside with McIntyre hitting the overhead belly to belly, followed by a Russian legsweep for two back inside. McIntyre hits a spinebuster for two and there’s another overhead belly to belly to cut off Big E.’s comeback.

The Futureshock is countered and Big E. runs him over, setting up the Warrior Splash for two. The Michinoku Driver drops Big E. for two more but he’s back with the Rock Bottom out of the corner for another near fall of his own. Now McIntyre can hit Futureshock for two more but the Claymore is countered into a powerbomb. That means a Stretch Muffler can work on McIntyre’s knee until McIntyre rolls out.

Big E. doesn’t seem to mind as he comes back with the Big Ending for a very close two. With that not working, Big E. loads up a super Big Ending but gets reversed into a super bulldog for the next near fall. The Claymore is countered and Big E. loads up the spear through the ropes but McIntyre runs back in for the Claymore and a VERY close two. To mix things up a bit, McIntyre loads up his own Big Ending, which is reversed into the real thing to retain the title at 13:22.

Rating: B. Take two big, heavy hitters and let them beat each other up for a little while. That’s all we had here and it was a good one as a result. What matters here is giving Big E. another big win, as he hasn’t been champion that long and needs to establish himself as a top guy a little bit more. This worked out rather well and was one of the best things on the card, which shouldn’t be a surprise.

There was a Be A Star event earlier today.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks vs. Bianca Belair

Lynch is defending. No recap for this, but Lynch returned to beat Belair for the title at Summerslam, where she replaced Banks, who returned and attacked both of them. Belair picks Lynch up for an early suplex before gorilla pressing Banks (with one hand, because of course she can do that). Lynch is back in to send Belair outside and roll Banks up for two. The Backstabber is blocked so Banks settle for Stratusfaction (while kicking Belair off the apron at the same time).

Belair is right back in to beat on Banks in the corner but Lynch elbows her into the face. Lynch monkey flips Banks at Belair, who gets taken down with a hurricanrana. Belair pulls Banks up into a torture rack but Lynch hits a missile dropkick, sending Belair flying on the impact. With Banks on the floor, Lynch picks Belair’s leg and gets two off a bulldog. Banks comes back in so Lynch Bexploders both of them for a double two.

Lynch goes up top but gets pulled out of the air and double planted down. That leaves Banks and Belair to fight over a backslide until Belair blasts her with a clothesline. Banks is back up with a knockdown of her own and goes up, only to have to bail out of the frog splash. After Belair sends Banks outside, a powerbomb gets two on Lynch. Everyone gets back in, with Belair grabbing a delayed vertical suplex on Lynch. While Lynch is still in the air, Banks tries a sunset flip but Belair kicks her away and THEN suplexes Lynch (that’s scary).

Belair misses a moonsault though and it’s a Bank Statement/Disarm-Her at the same time. That’s let go because Belair should be mostly done so banks puts Lynch in the Bank Statement. Rather than just kicking her for the break, Belair hits a handspring moonsault, which does not exactly seem that wise. Back up and Banks sends Lynch outside, allowing her to grab Belair by the braid. Belair breaks that up and grabs a European Clutch for two, with Lynch breaking it up (sans handspring moonsault).

The Manhandle Slam gets two on Banks with Belair making another save. Belair slips out of another Manhandle Slam but gets sent out to the apron. Banks tries to powerbomb her off the apron but Belair backflips her way to freedom. Lynch is right back up with a double clothesline off the barricade and it’s the Disarm-Her on Belair back inside.

Banks tries to make the save so she Disarm-Hers both of them at the same time. That’s broken up with Belair trying a double KOD but Lynch falls off. Belair is knocked down again but Banks reverses the Manhandle Slam. That just leave Belair to come back in with the KOD on Lynch. Banks tries to steal the pin but Lynch rolls her up and grabs the ropes to retain at 19:33.

Rating: B+. This was the action packed match that I was hoping it would be and there were times where I believed all three of them could win. It felt like the big time match that it needed to be and one of the biggest things on the card. I liked this a good bit and while I could go for them figuring out the title situation on each show, this was what the match needed to be. Pretty awesome stuff here and the match of the night.

We recap Edge beating Seth Rollins inside the Cell.

Long recap of Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar for the Universal Title. Reigns has been champion since last August with Paul Heyman at his side. Now Lesnar is back though and suggesting that Heyman is really in his corner. It has become a question of whose side Heyman is on, which has become much bigger than the match itself.

Universal Title: Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar

Reigns, with Paul Heyman, is defending. They go with the grappling to start and no one gets anywhere. Lesnar hammers away in the corner but it’s too early for a suplex. Instead Reigns hammers away, only to have to block another German suplex attempt. Lesnar powers him into the corner for the shoulders to the ribs. The German suplex finally connects and it’s more shoulders into the ribs in the corner. They head to the floor with Lesnar getting posted.

Reigns gets thrown back in but manages a Superman Punch, setting up the HUGE dive over the top to take him out (good grief). Back in and the spear gets two, setting up another Superman Punch. Lesnar leapfrogs another spear to send Reigns into the corner (ala Goldberg at Wrestlemania XXXIII) and it’s time for Suplex City, complete with Lesnar mocking Reigns’ roar. The F5 gets two (on a great near fall) but another one is countered into the guillotine.

Lesnar breaks it up with a spinebuster and hits another F5, which in this case means throwing Reigns at the referee. The referee gets thrown outside and Reigns is back up with a spear for no cover. Heyman is conflicted and throws in the title….right between the two of them. Heyman: “YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH IT!” They fight over the title with Brock pulling it away but the Usos come in for a double superkick. Reigns hits him in the face with the title and another referee comes in to count the pin at 12:22.

Rating: B. Good match here, mainly because it felt like a match. This wasn’t about a bunch of finishers spammed together as they actually built something up for a change. That makes the match so much better and a lot more fun to watch, which is more than I would have bet on otherwise. The ending leaves the door open for more later on and doesn’t give us a definitive answer to the Heyman deal. It’s the best story in wrestling today and it would be a shame if they just cut it of.

The Bloodline celebrates as Lesnar wakes up to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. This was actually a heck of a show with the big matches delivering and nothing bad throughout. The crowd was way into it as well and that is always going to boost things up. Above all else, there were some nice feel good moments here and the show felt like it was designed to make the fans happy rather than screwing them over time after time. Easily the best Saudi Arabia show to date and one of the best WWE shows of the year.

Results
Edge b. Seth Rollins – Stomp onto a chair
Mansoor b. Mustafa Ali – Slingshot neckbreaker
RKBro b. AJ Styles/Omos – Floating Bro to Styles
Zelina Vega b. Doudrop – Code Red
Goldberg b. Bobby Lashley – Spear off the ramp
Xavier Woods b. Finn Balor – Limit Breaker
Big E. b. Drew McIntyre – Big Ending
Becky Lynch b. Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks – Rollup while grabbing the ropes to Banks
Roman Reigns b. Brock Lesnar – Belt shot

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.

New Match Added To WWE Crown Jewel.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/new-match-added-wwe-crown-jewel/

WWE Hall Of Famer Undergoes Emergency Surgery.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/wwe-hall-famer-undergoes-emergency-surgery/

VIDEO: WWE Debuts New Series With Two New Episodes.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/video-wwe-debuts-new-series-two-new-episodes/

VIDEO: Undertaker In Saudi Arabia Before WWE Crown Jewel.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/video-undertaker-saudi-arabia-wwe-crown-jewel/

VIDEO: Sasha Banks Issues A Challenge For A Dream Match (And It Might Happen).

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/video-sasha-banks-issues-challenge-dream-match-might-happen/

PHOTOS: Karrion Kross Completely Changes His Look (And It Helps).

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/photos-karrion-kross-completely-changes-look-helps/

AEW’s Britt Baker Being Recruited By Another Company’s Champion.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/aews-britt-baker-recruited-another-companys-champion/

Health Update On NXT’s Jacy Jayne After Scary Crash.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/health-update-nxts-jacy-jayne-scary-crash/

As always, please check out all of the videos if you can, hit up the comments section and get on the Wrestling Rumors Facebook page.

In which I ramble and lose my train of thought about last Friday.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/kbs-review-friday-night-highlights/

We are on the way to Crown Jewel and this time around that means we are going to be seeing quite the stacked card. There are some rather big matches set for the show and this time around, something might actually happen. For once it feels like a major show that just happens to be taking place in Saudi Arabia, which has certainly not been the case for most of the shows over there. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Usos vs. Cedric Alexander/Shelton Benjamin

Are they still the Hurt Business? Anyway, this was added the day before the show as a way to give us something to get the crowd going. That should be enough to warm up the crowd, though you never know what this kind of crowd is going to be at these things. If nothing else, this is a way to have the Usos around for the main event, as Roman Reigns might need some bodies to throw at Brock Lesnar.

I’ll go with the Usos winning here, as they are one of the best WWE teams in a long time now. Alexander and Benjamin are back together, but it isn’t like they would have been a serious threat to the Usos on their best day. The action should be good, but this is all about the Usos, because they are a mixture of good and more important, making them the easy winners here.

King of the Ring: Finn Balor vs. Xavier Woods

We’ll get one of the more important matches out of the way here, along with one where I’m not sure who is winning. You have the much bigger star in Balor, who already has the Prince name and would be an easy step up to the King deal, but on the other hand you have Woods, who seems to be obsessed with winning the thing. That’s a nice story to throw in and WWE has actually done it well for a change.

As great as it would be to see Woods finally win something, I think it’ll be Balor winning, as he could us something to boost him back up. Balor is a much bigger star and it makes sense to give him the rub, even if Woods could do a lot more with the idea. This is a case where there isn’t a bad option for the win, and as long as they get to actually do something here, we should be in for a good one.

Goldberg vs. Bobby Lashley

Let’s get this one out of the way so I don’t have to think about it again. This is the rematch from Summerslam, where fans were not exactly interested in seeing it in the first place. Then Goldberg, known for his sensitive emotions, got all serious because Bobby Lashley attacked Goldberg’s son Gage, meaning it’s time to get old man serious. That’s totally what this match needed, right?

As stupid as it is, I’m going with Goldberg winning here, because it seems like the kind of thing that WWE would do for the sake of some kind of feel good moment. Since Gage will be at the show (!!!), you can picture the big deal at the end, which is going to be one of those things that isn’t as interesting as WWE thinks it is but will run with it anyway, all at Lashley’s expense. Yay.

Raw Tag Team Titles: RKBro(c) vs. AJ Styles/Omos

I know they haven’t been feuding for very long but this feud has worn out its welcome in a hurry. There are a few other teams on Monday Night Raw but these two have been the exclusive title feud since before Summerslam, meaning I really never need to see them fight again. Both are still good pairings but at some point, you just need to see them fight someone else.

It seems way too early to have RKBro drop the titles just yet so I’ll go with the champs retaining their titles. Styles and Omos seem like a team who could be split up to go their separate ways a bit more easily, so maybe that is being set up by another loss. Omos is going to be given a chance on his own, even if he isn’t ready for the it yet. For now though, it should be RKBro retaining, which I think it will be.

Mansoor vs. Mustafa Ali

This is the easiest pick on the show and I don’t think that is any kind of a secret. WWE understands what they have in Mansoor and there is nothing wrong with that. There is nothing wrong with giving a lower midcard wrestler a win in a match that is going to mean a lot to the live fans, no matter what WWE seems to think at any other point in the year for whatever reason.

Of course Mansoor wins here, because even WWE isn’t crazy enough to think there is any reason to do something else. Mansoor is likely going to be the most over star on the show and now he gets another win in his home country. Ali is a very talented guy in his own right and I could go for seeing him on such a big stage. I know it isn’t the best place for him, but it’s not like he was doing anything else beforehand (or likely after). Mansoor wins here, in as sure of a pick as you can have.

Queen’s Crown: Zelina Vega vs. Doudrop

I can’t help but sigh when I think about this match. The tournament has had six matches so far and those matches have totaled less than fourteen minutes of action. WWE has not exactly treated this tournament like anything that matters and what says honor than a match between someone who hadn’t won a match Vega, who hadn’t won a thing until the tournament started and Doudrop, who is turning into little more than a comedy character?

There seems to be more upside in Vega than Doudrop at the moment, so I’ll take her to win here. Vega is someone who feels ready to become a star as soon as she is given a chance, though it would not shock me whatsoever to see Vega lose something else. At least she is getting on the show this time, which is more than she can say most of the time. Vega wins here, though it really could go either way. Now can they at least get five minutes? Please?

WWE Title: Big E.(c) vs. Drew McIntyre

Now this one actually gets my interest up a bit, as these two could have a solid match against each other. Big E. has shown that he can hang with the bigger stars and McIntyre had a very nice main event level run as champion. Above all else, this feels like a title match these days, though comparing it to Reigns vs. Lesnar hardly does the WWE Title any favors.

I’ll go with Big E. retaining here, as McIntyre is on his way to SmackDown and there is no need to have him be like Charlotte and take the title over to the other show. Big E. can get a nice win, McIntyre doesn’t really get hurt by the loss and everyone gets to move on to whatever they are doing next. In other words, WWE has actually done something well for a change. I’m as shocked as you are.

SmackDown Women’s Title: Becky Lynch(c) vs. Bianca Belair vs. Sasha Banks

I’m not even going to try and keep track of what is going on with the title and who is on which show as of Crown Jewel and then as of Friday, because WWE is probably going to have some wacky idea to get them out of this. What matters here is we have three women who all could be a legitimate threat to leave with the title, which is always a nice situation to be in.

As for a winner, I think I’ll go with Lynch retaining, as she is fresh off of a loss to Banks and could use the pickup again. That would leave the door open for Lynch and Charlotte to swap titles ala Street Profits and New Day (because that’s such a great idea that doesn’t devalue the titles in any way), meaning we can have the Horsewomen back on top again at Survivor Series! Lynch retains here, leaving us with more room for the same stuff we’ve seen before.

Edge vs. Seth Rollins

The build for this match has been up and down to put it mildly, but what matters here is the fact that they set up the Cell in a way that actually fits. These two have been incredibly angry and violent with each other and it makes sense to do something like this as a result. It was also great to not have something as annoying as the calendar deciding that the match would take place, so again, WWE has actually done this right.

Give me Rollins to win though, as he is likely to be sticking around full time rather than having Edge pop in and out every few months. I wasn’t thrilled with having Edge win the first match, but at least Rollins tied it up a few weeks back. Rollins wins here and could easily be slotted in as Big E.’s next challenger, but don’t bet against WWE going the other way for the old guy getting his moment (to go along with winning the Royal Rumble and headlining WrestleMania of course).

Universal Title: Roman Reigns(c) vs. Brock Lesnar

Now this feels like a main event and that is not something you get to say very often these days. Reigns has taken everything to a different level, but Lesnar is the kind of monster that you do not get to see very often. You also don’t get to see Lesnar as the good guy (or at close as he can get to being one) so they have something special here. By that I mean Paul Heyman being caught in the middle, because WOW he has been an amazing force in this whole thing.

I’m completely lost here, but for the life of me I can’t picture Reigns dropping the title yet, nor should he. Above all else, Lesnar being the absentee champion again does not interest me in the slightest and I’m almost scared to think of WWE doing it again. Reigns should retain here, though I’m not completely sure he is getting the win. You know you’re going to see this match again, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see it at a big stadium in Texas next year.

Overall Thoughts

Above all else, this show is lacking that one dumb or less than great sounding match that so many of the Saudi Arabia shows have had. There is no gauntlet match or multi person tag match, so we’re left with what feels like a pretty straightforward major pay per view level card. That should work out well, so for once I’m actually optimistic about this show. Still not great on the location, but at least the content should work.

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 1988
Date: November 24, 1988
Location: Richfield Coliseum, Richfield, Ohio
Attendance: 13,500
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon, Jesse Ventura

It’s one of my favorite times of the wrestling year as we’re up to Survivor Series. As usual I’m redoing an old show to go with last year’s, and this time around it’s from my favorite era. The vote went to the 1988 edition and that means the Mega Powers are running wild. Other than that, there’s a heck of a tag team showcase. Let’s get to it.

In a sign of the times, there’s no opening sequence and we go straight to the announcers welcoming us to the show.

Team Ultimate Warrior vs. Team Honky Tonk Man

Ultimate Warrior, Brutus Beefcake, Jim Brunzell, Sam Houston, Blue Blazer
Honky Tonk Man, Bad News Brown, Danny Davis, Ron Bass, Greg Valentine

Warrior took the Intercontinental Title from Honky Tonk Man about two months ago. Everyone else is just kind of thrown in, including Brunzell, who is replacing Don Muraco after Don left the company. Even the announcers think it’s a bad idea to have Brown on a team. Beefcake hammers on Valentine (See what I did there?) to start but Davis, the EVIL referee, knees Beefcake from the apron.

Not that it matters as Brutus slaps on the sleeper and Davis is done in less than a minute and a half. Honestly, what else were you supposed to do with him? Valentine comes back in and Jesse gets on Beefcake for not tagging out (which was actually a problem for him last year too). Blazer (Owen Hart as a superhero) comes in off the top to start on Valentine’s arm until Brunzell gets the tag to do the same.

The great looking dropkick plants Greg but Brown makes a blind tag and beats the tar out of Brunzell. Bad News finally gets tired of it and scores the elimination off a Ghetto Blaster (enziguri, a pretty awesome looking move at the time). The rather skinny dancing cowboy (it was a different time) Sam Houston comes in and gets hammered in the chest (Jesse: “Welcome to the big time kid.”), followed by a clothesline (which also hammers him in the chest).

Valentine comes in and hits Brown by mistake so Bad News walks out, as you kind of knew he would. That’s a great way to protect him, especially when he’d be getting some World Title shots on the house show circuit in January and February. Houston tries a sunset flip but gets punched in the face and it’s off to Bass (the evil cowboy). Another sunset flip doesn’t work as Houston needs to find something else. A powerslam plants Houston, just as I realize that he looks like someone let the air out of Tito Santana.

Warrior comes in and drops Bass with a right hand and a corner clothesline. Honky Tonk Man and Valentine are knocked away as well as the fans are going nuts. A Rocket Launcher gives Blazer two on Bass and Honky Tonk Man gets dropkicked into the corner. Blazer powerslams Valentine down but Honky Tonk shoves him off the top, setting up a Figure Four to make Blazer give up. Superman has Kyptonite, Martian Manhunter has fire and Blue Blazer has leg submissions.

Beefcake comes in and Jesse actually brings up their partnership. So we’re down to Beefcake/Warrior vs. Valentine/Honky Tonk Man/Bass and Beefcake is in trouble. The Shake Rattle and Roll is broken up with a backdrop and a right hand knocks Honky Tonk Man out of the air. There’s the atomic drop for the funny sell job but Beefcake STILL won’t tag. Seriously dude learn your lesson already.

Beefcake grabs the sleeper but he and Honky Tonk Man fall out to the floor. The sleeper goes on outside and that’s a double countout to get us down to 2-1. The double teaming begins in a hurry and Warrior is in trouble in the corner. A double clothesline takes the villains down and back to back ax handles give Warrior the win at 17:51.

Rating: C. This wasn’t great but it was a good choice for the opener. The fans are going to eat up Warrior and Beefcake every time and those were some fine choices for villains to dispatch. There was no way Warrior was going to lose here though and it was nothing more than a showcase for his new title reign. That’s hardly a problem as it worked the previous year, albeit with some far, far better talent.

Team Demolition vs. Team Powers of Pain

Demolition/Brain Busters/Bolsheviks/Fabulous Rougeau Brothers/Los Conquistadors
Powers of Pain/Rockers/British Bulldogs/Hart Foundation/Young Stallions

Here’s a famous one and to clear up a common misconception: this is NOT the only time Bret and Shawn teamed up as they were together on some house shows in the 90s. All the managers are here too, making this one of the best who’s whos in wrestling history. As you might guess, any wrestler being eliminated means his partner is gone as well.

Davey Boy Smith and Conquistador #1 start things off and I’m not going to bother mentioning every tag. With so many people to feature, there’s not going to be much more than a few seconds of action for each. Shawn gets taken into the wrong corner, though there are wrestlers almost surrounding the apron, which means we need a variety of camera angles to make sure we can see most of the early action.

Marty dropkicks Arn (who Jesse praises) down so it’s off to Tully as I really want to see Bret in there now. Instead it’s Jacques coming in and missing a middle rope crossbody, allowing a tag off to Dynamite Kid. Ray Rougeau comes in and it’s a good thing Dynamite doesn’t break his nose. Bret comes in and a quick small package gets rid of the Rougeaus so we can have a little room.

It’s off to Neidhart, who is quickly caught in the wrong corner. An awkward looking clothesline takes Smash down and it’s Barbarian coming in for the real showdown. That always awesome big boot takes Smash’s head off and it’s back to Bret to hammer away on Ax’s ribs. Tully comes in with a top rope shot to the ribs as this should get entertaining in a hurry. Shawn and Ax get the tags and it’s time to demolish Michaels, which will never get old. It’s off to Nikolai Volkoff for the gorilla press backbreaker (albeit a sloppy one), followed by a great looking spinebuster from Anderson. You can hear the fans react to it as well, which they certainly should.

A Conquistador comes in and gives up a hot tag to Jannetty. The rapid tags continue until it’s Davey’s turn to take Nikolai’s kick to the ribs. Tully misses an elbow drop though and it’s off to the Warlord vs. Ax for the big showdown of the match. Warlord gets the better of it and trips the now legal Smash down just as easily. It’s already off to Barbarian for a running knee to the ribs as another team needs to be eliminated in short order. Tully comes back in and walks into a gorilla press hot shot, followed by a powerslam from Neidhart for two.

Next up is Dynamite getting stomped down so it’s off to Jim Powers to hammer on Zhukov. Boris rolls through a middle rope crossbody though and gets rid of Powers to tie things up. Shawn comes back in to speed things up again, including a middle rope fist drop for a near fall. It’s back to Tully who sees Barbarian waiting on him and struts over to Volkoff for the tag. The Russian actually takes over and hands it off to Ax, who hammers Barbarian down without much effort.

It’s Shawn back in a few seconds later and a blind tag allows Marty to sunset flip Boris for the pin and an elimination. As has been the custom so far though, Marty gets beaten down just after having some success. It’s right back to the Bulldog to face Tully with a hard toss sending Blanchard into the corner. The next tag in a very, very long series of them brings in Neidhart for something like a Demolition Decapitator on Dos. Dynamite with his sweet 70s mustache comes in for a middle rope knee and it’s back to Barbarian.

Hang on a second though as Bobby needs to give Tully some instructions before he gets pounded down. The advice seems to be a tag to Smash, who hammers Barbarian down for a neck crank. That goes nowhere either so it’s off to Neidhart to suplex Blanchard, followed by a backbreaker from Bret. They head into the corner with Bret trying a German suplex but Tully raises an arm for the pin and an elimination.

We’re down to the Powers of Pain/Rockers/British Bulldogs vs. Demolition/Brain Busters/Conquistadors with Dynamite getting two on Tully off a Tombstone. Shawn comes in and it’s a four way brawl between the Brain Busters and the Rockers, drawing a double DQ to really clear the ring out some more. The fans are NOT pleased with that but we’re at nearly half an hour into this with four teams left so it’s something that had to be done.

Ax cranks on Dynamite’s neck as the four eliminated guys fight to the back. Davey comes in and crucifixes Ax for two, only to get sent hard into the corner. It’s back to Dynamite for some forearms to Smash’s head but, as has been the case all match long, the tag is just allowed with little resistance offered. Davey gorilla presses and powerslams Uno but it’s right back to Ax vs. Barbarian with the latter being hammered down. Jesse talks about this being the dream match, which we’ve heard multiple times now.

Dos comes in and eats a double back elbow for, uh, dos, followed by Dynamite getting the same off a gutwrench suplex. A big legdrop from Warlord gets no cover and both Jesse and Gorilla are all over him for such a stupid mistake. To top that, Dynamite does the same thing for probably the fourth time tonight. The snap suplex to Smash sets up the diving headbutt but Dynamite only hits the mat, giving Smash the pin. That’s it for the Bulldogs in the WWF as Dynamite’s back was basically held together by gum and paperclips at this point. Throw in a fight with the Rougeau Brothers and there was just no future for them here.

Warlord goes shoulder first into the post and Ax hammers away as Jesse still can’t believe that the Conquistadors are still around. Fair enough point actually. Demolition’s manager Mr. Fuji gets on the apron to yell at Ax despite the team being in control. That’s rather odd and sounds quite a bit like a plot point. A neck crank slows things down again but Warlord shoves Smash to the ropes, which Fuji pulls down to send Smash outside. Ax goes over to check on his partner but Smash is counted out to get us down to two on two.

Fuji and Ax get in an argument with Fuji hitting him with the cane. Smash is up though and slams Fuji down before leaving. The Powers of Pain go to check on Fuji though and we’ve got the ultra rare double turn. I mean, it didn’t really work immediately but it does solve the problem of BRINGING IN THE POWERS OF PAIN AS FACES. It’s one thing to have a pair of power brawlers as faces when they have the Legion of Doom’s charisma but that’s certainly not the case here. So the Conquistadors hammer on Warlord until Fuji trips Dos up, allowing Barbarian to drop a headbutt and FINALLY wrap this up at 42:24.

Rating: A-. The amazing roster is what people remember the most here and I can’t say I blame them. The double turn is cool and all but sweet goodness it’s hard to remember that when you see all the talent in this thing. You might never see a better collection of talent (and the Young Stallions) in a single match. The problem here though is having too many people around, making it pretty difficult to have anyone stand out. It’s a very good match though and easily the highlight of the night.

Demolition comes back in to brawl with the Powers of Pain.

Bad News Brown doesn’t care about Survivor Series but thinks he should be the WWF World Champion. He’s beaten everyone who has been put against him, including winning the Wrestlemania battle royal. It’s kind of odd to see them reference something from that long ago at this point and I rather like it. Now I’d like to get away from Brown as those big eyes are still intimidating.

Gorilla and Jesse discuss Brown as the intermission continues.

Fuji is with the Powers of Pain and thinks Demolition was getting too overconfident so it’s time for a new team. Barbarian actually talks, which is certainly a rarity in this company. Gene doesn’t think Fuji can be trusted, and I for one believe Mean Gene Okerlund.

Gorilla and Jesse don’t have much on that one, as it pretty much speaks for itself.

We look at the remaining two matches in those always awesome squares. The sobering/surprising part: of the heels in the next match, Harley Race, the veteran at this point, is the only one still alive. Even the managers are both gone.

Team Andre is ready for their match with Bobby Heenan saying everyone is going to be afraid of Andre. For reasons that I don’t want to fathom, Dino Bravo is co-captain and promises to put some shame in Jim Duggan. Rick Rude, Mr. Perfect and Andre all say they’ll win. Harley Race doesn’t get to say anything. How rude indeed.

Team Mega Powers is united and ready to fight. Koko B. Ware, Hercules and Hillbilly Jim all come off as filler and it’s hard to fathom that they’re in a pay per view main event. Well maybe not Hercules.

Team Jake Roberts vs. Team Andre the Giant

Jake Roberts, Jim Duggan, Ken Patera, Scott Casey, Tito Santana
Andre the Giant, Dino Bravo, Harley Race, Rick Rude, Mr. Perfect

Patera is a strongman, Casey is a jobber to the stars (He’s replacing B. Brian Blair, who was replacing Junkyard Dog. He also went on to train Booker T.) and the main feuds here are Jake vs. Andre and Duggan vs. Bravo. In an odd thing to hear, Perfect is introduce as Mr. Perfect Curt Hennig. Rude and Patera start things off with Ken shoving him away as Gorilla talks about Patera retiring him.

Bravo comes in for a really bad power battle. Thankfully it doesn’t last long, though Jesse does manage to get in his talk about Bravo’s bench pressing abilities. It’s off to the awesome matchup of Jake vs. Perfect (who I really hope had a 20+ minute match at some point) with Roberts getting the better of it and handing it off to Tito (who also should have gone 20+ with Perfect). Bravo comes back in and gets his arm cranked on for a bit. Casey hits an ax handle but walks into an atomic drop.

It’s off to Race for a belly to belly before handing it off to Rude. A headbutt staggers Perfect and it’s off to Patera for an elbow to the face. Duggan comes in to a heck of a reaction and clotheslines the heck out of Perfect. A right hand in the corner staggers him again but Andre reaches over the ropes and grabs Duggan’s head to take over. Gorilla turns this into an ad for the Royal Rumble in a pivot that would have made Vince proud.

Tito hits something like the flying forearm for two on Rude but Duggan misses an elbow drop. A double collision puts Rude and Duggan down and it’s back to Patera. Since Ken isn’t all that good though, he charges into a boot in the corner and the Rude Awakening makes it 5-4. Casey charges in and gets dropkicked down by Race, followed by Bravo’s side slam for the pin. Duggan comes in swinging away as his team is suddenly in BIG trouble. Unfortunately he winds up in the wrong corner as well (he never was all that bright) and the one sided beating continues.

Duggan finally gets away for a clothesline and it’s off to Race vs. Santana (sweet goodness the teases of awesome matches in this one are almost too much to take). That one doesn’t last too long though as Bravo comes back in and gets sunset flipped for two more. Race comes in again and grabs the piledriver for two (that probably should have been a finisher), only to walk into Tito’s flying forearm for the pin.

Santana’s reward is Andre, who chops him down with ease and hammers away like King Kong swatting at a fly. For some reason Tito tries a sunset flip and Andre sits/falls on him for the elimination. We’re down to Andre/Perfect/Rude/Bravo vs. Roberts/Duggan, with the latter knocking Andre into the ropes. Jake comes in and chokes away, only to have Rude tag himself in and knock Jake into the corner.

We hit the hip swivel and it’s off to Perfect, who I bet can do a mean swivel of his own. Jake is in trouble but manages to clothesline Bravo (who would be the weak link of the team), only to have Rude clothesline him from the apron. One heck of a right hand puts Roberts down, allowing Dino to grab a piledriver of his own. That’s only good for two as well, allowing Duggan to come in off another hot tag. The three point clothesline is loaded up but Bravo’s manager Frenchy Martin (a worthless and rather bulbous excuse for a manager if there ever was one) pulls him to the floor.

Duggan has had enough and brings in the 2×4 to blast Bravo in the ribs, making it 4-1. Roberts gets to deal with Perfect first and knees him away, meaning it’s time for more Bravo. For some reason Jake tries a test of strength and is quickly taken down. The threat of a DDT is blocked with a back body drop and Bravo brings Rude in again.

Rick slowly hammers Jake down as Jesse suggests that Jake’s wife Cheryl will leave Jake for Rude if Jake loses. A quickly broken bearhug has Jake in trouble but he pulls Rude’s tights down. It’s enough of a distraction for a DDT to get rid of Rude but it’s Andre time. The choking ensues and Andre is quickly disqualified but Jake is more or less dead, giving Perfect the easy pin at 30:02.

Rating: C. This was another long match but it told a good story. The villains were COMPLETELY dominant here and Duggan and Roberts were the only ones who could do anything. It makes Jake and Duggan look good, but they were overmatched by the whole team. It keeps the feuds ready for next time when the heroes can fight back. It’s a smart story and things are set up well for the future. The match wasn’t the worst and it’s nice to have the whole version as the Coliseum Video version cut this down to EIGHT MINUTES.

Team Twin Towers is ready to destroy the Mega Powers. You’re not going to do that chums. For some reason the camera goes into an EXTREME closeup on Boss Man when he’s talking about crushing Hogan. That was a heck of a disturbing visual.

Team Mega Powers vs. Team Twin Towers

Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Koko B. Ware, Hillbilly Jim, Hercules
Big Boss Man, Akeem, Ted DiBiase, King Haku, Ted Rooster

Akeem is freshly off his transformation from the One Man Gang. Also, sweet goodness that’s quite the fall for DiBiase, who was helping to get the title off Hogan just ten months earlier. Of note here: Hogan gets his own entrance while the rest of the team comes out on their own. What a selfish hero. Hercules wants to start with DiBiase (who recently purchased Hercules and called him a slave) but it’s Savage starting for the team instead. Somehow we don’t get a reference to Wrestlemania and it’s off to Hercules after a clothesline from Savage.

Rooster comes in and stops Koko in the corner as I wonder how we got two bird brains in the main event. It’s already back to Hercules to slug it out with Haku but he hands it off to Hogan in short order. A double big boot with Hillbilly helping Hulk drops Haku but it’s quickly back to the Rooster. My goodness they’re tagging fast tonight. The Rooster tries to ram Koko’s head into the corner and the powers of racial stereotypes takes over. A missile dropkick puts Rooster down and Savage drops the elbow for the first elimination.

The good guys clear the ring and we take a brief break as Heenan apologizes for his man losing so quickly. Haku comes in and pokes Hogan in the eye and a heck of a dropkick puts him down. Hercules comes in, gets slammed, and it’s right back to Hillbilly. Thanks for coming in Herc. Akeem splashes Jim in the corner a few times and the running splash ties things up. Koko comes back in and throws a few right hands before Hogan comes back in instead. There really is no hiding the fact that this is ALL about Hogan and Savage (as it should be of course).

Koko and Hercules take turns hammering on Akeem until Koko misses a charge in the corner. The Boss Man Slam gets rid of Ware and it’s 4-3. Boss Man turns around and gets Hogan, drawing a heck of a reaction from the crowd. Right hands set up a slam on the Boss Man but Hogan charges into a spinebuster (still weird for that to not have an official name). The running crotch attack has Hogan in more trouble and it’s off to DiBiase for a clothesline. That’s already enough for the Hulk Up and an atomic drop but Hogan is nice enough to hand it off to Hercules.

The beating is on (Jesse: “A slave doing this to his master!”) and some clotheslines have DiBiase in trouble until Virgil trips him up. DiBiase grabs a rollup to get rid of Hercules but Savage is smart enough to run in and grab a rollup of his own to eliminate DiBiase. That leaves the Twin Towers/Haku vs. the Mega Powers and it should be a matter of time now. Savage leg dives Haku and brings in Hogan, who eats a superkick to put Hulk in trouble. The Towers take turns beating Hulk down and we hit the nerve hold from Haku.

For some reason Boss Man tries a top rope splash and, of course, misses completely. The hot tag brings in Savage but Slick makes a quick trip (WAY too common of an idea on this show). Slick grabs Miss Elizabeth and of course you know this means war. It’s Hogan making the save but Boss Man cuffs him to the ropes, which takes too long, earning himself a countout. Boss Man beats the heck out of Hogan with the nightstick before doing the same thing to Savage.

That’s enough to DQ Akeem and unfortunately we don’t get the over the top Jesse reaction. Haku misses an elbow on Savage and of course Slick taunts the cuffed Hogan with the key. A missed superkick takes Slick down and Elizabeth steals the key, freeing Hogan as Savage is being mauled. Haku’s top rope splash gets two and another superkick puts Savage in the corner for the tag. The big boot and legdrop wrap things up at 29:08.

Rating: C+. This really was just about the last five minutes and maybe Hercules vs. DiBiase to a much lesser degree. At this point though, you need as much hype towards Hogan vs. Savage as you can have and five months in advance is more than acceptable. It’s not a great match or even close to one but it was entertaining and accomplished the primary goal. You can’t ask for much more than that.

Hogan poses and hugs Elizabeth without even checking on Savage. Randy poses as well but clearly isn’t cool with all this. I love how Hogan was made the face in this whole thing. Today he would be the top heel in about five minutes but there was no way that was working in 1988.

Overall Rating: B. While not as good as the first edition, this show more than holds its own and has a classic (albeit a VERY long one) to bolster some not great action otherwise. There’s a story/point to every match and they did a good job of further establishing the concept. It was hardly a played out idea at this point and the matches were given ample time (too much in some cases) to flesh out the pretty new match. It’s so weird to see this as more of a stepping stone to Wrestlemania, which was the be all and end all even back then. Good show this year but not as good as the first edition.

Ratings Comparison

Team Ultimate Warrior vs. Team Honky Tonk Man

Original: D
2012 Redo: C
2017 Redo: C

Team Powers of Pain vs. Team Demolition

Original: A
2012 Redo: A
2017 Redo: A-

Team Andre the Giant vs. Team Jim Duggan

Original: F
2012 Redo: C-
2017 Redo: C

Team Mega Powers vs. Team Twin Towers

Original: D+
2012 Redo: C+
2017 Redo: C+

Overall Rating

Original: D+
2012 Redo: B
2017 Redo: B

I must have been in a really, really bad mood the first time I watched this as only the second match is in the same ballpark. Everything else is pretty much the same and I think we have my definitive take on this show.

Here’s the original if you’re interested:

And the 2012 Redo:

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 1988
Date: November 24, 1988
Location: Richfield Coliseum, Richfield, Ohio
Attendance: 13,500
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon, Jesse Ventura

It’s year number two of the series and there’s a new champion in the form of the Macho Man. He and Hogan have formed the Mega Powers and are in the main event tonight against the Twin Towers who are neither twins nor towers, but they’re two monsters in the forms of Big Boss Man and Akeem, formerly the One Man Gang. There are only four matches again here but it’s a long show as well. Let’s get to it.

Gorilla and Jesse go over the rules (elimination rules, pin/submission/countout/DQ for an elimination) and we’re ready to go.

Team Ultimate Warrior vs. Team Honky Tonk Man

Ultimate Warrior, Brutus Beefcake, Sam Houston, Jim Brunzell, Blue Blazer
Honky Tonk Man, Bad News Brown, Danny Davis, Ron Bass, Greg Valentine

This is fallout from Warrior winning the title at Summerslam. Brunzell is subbing for Don Muraco who has left the company at this point. That’ll be a recurring theme tonight. Valentine and Beefcake starts us off, making it the second year in a row that Beefcake has opened for his team. It’s quickly off to Davis and the sleeper puts him out in less than a minute and a half. Well to be fair there’s no reason for him to be around anyway. Valentine charges right back in to continue the war of the original Dream Team, which I doubt most people would remember at this point.

Greg goes after the legs as is his custom, but since we’re only about three minutes into the match, the Figure Four is broken up. Well to be fair everyone says that Valentine doesn’t get warmed up for about ten or fifteen minutes so he’s still looking for his keys at this point. Off to the Blazer (played by then mostly unknown Owen Hart) who drops an ax handle onto Valentine, giving us the trademark slow fall.

Valentine goes for the arm (not a hammer lock which takes away the irony of it) but Blazer easily takes him down with a headscissors and brings in Brunzell. The Killer Bees were gone at this point so he’s just a guy in trunks. He’s a guy in trunks with a good leapfrog though as he clears Valentine with a lot of room to spare, only to get slammed down. Brunzell pops up and hits the dropkick but it’s off to Bad News. Sweet goodness was this guy born in the wrong generation. Imagine him after the rise of MMA, remembering that he’s a legitimate Olympic bronze medalist in judo.

Brown comes in like the headhunter he’s known as and kills Brunzell with a clothesline. Brunzell tries some basic stuff so Brown kicks him in the chest and beats on him in the corner. Brunzell misses a charge in the corner and the Ghetto Blaster (enziguri) gets the easy pin to tie things up. Brutus comes in and grabs Brown so Houston, one of the least intimidating guys ever, can come off the top with a double ax.

Houston misses a charge in the corner and Brown pounds on him like a stupid looking dancing white boy. A clothesline takes Houston’s head off and here’s Valentine. Make that Brown again and Valentine accidentally hits Brown. That ticks off Bad News and he walks off. That’s not a face turn. He just didn’t like anybody. Houston tries to steal a pin on Valentine but Greg is like boy please.

Off to Bass in a match that I think happened before in the NWA. A rollup gets two for Houston but he charges into another boot in the corner. That’s a popular move in this match. A middle rope cross body gets two for Sam and a forearm from Bass takes his head off for two. Houston’s monkey flip is countered into a powerslam and he’s gone, thank goodness. The guy is just not interesting or good at all.

Warrior comes in to fire the crowd up and attacks everyone left on the other team (Valentine, Bass and Honky vs. Warrior, Beefcake and Blazer at the moment). Honky comes in because he’s not that bright and there he goes, flying through the air off a shoulder tackle. Off to Bass who gets slammed down and hit with a Rocket Launcher from Blazer. Honky comes in and is cross bodied down immediately. A monkey flip and dropkick have Honky in even more trouble so it’s off to Valentine.

Owen gets crotched on the head of Valentine during a leapfrog but apparently Blazer has balls of steel because he suplexes Valentine down and drops a knee for two. Blazer goes up but Honky shoves him off, sending Owen down onto his knee. The Figure Four means a quick elimination by Valentine and we’re down to 3-2. Off to Beefcake vs. Valentine and Jesse mentions that these guys were not only a team but tag champions. Why is that such an afterthought?

Off to Bass who also has history with Beefcake but that isn’t mentioned here, despite it happening like three months before this. A headbutt keeps Beefcake down and it’s back to Elvis Man. His contribution is ramming Beefcake’s head into Bass’ boot and tagging in Valentine. Well no one ever accused him of being a ring general. After Warrior charges in like an idiot, it’s back to Honky for Shake Rattle and Roll, but Brutus backdrops out of it to start his comeback.

Back to Bass who hits a top rope clothesline to keep the advantage and brings in Honky who goes up. Beefcake punches him in the ribs because Honky is about as fast as Arn Anderson at going to the top. Beefcake wins a slugout and we get the eternally funny selling of an atomic drop by Honky. There’s the sleeper but Man dumps them to the floor and they fight to a countout.

This leaves us with Valentine and Bass vs. Ultimate Warrior. Gee I wonder what’s going to happen. A double clothesline puts Warrior down but Valentine can only get two. More double teaming works for a bit but Warrior gets to the ropes and starts shaking. Another double clothesline doesn’t work and an ax handle each gets the two pins to make Warrior the sole survivor.

Rating: C. Not the best match in the world but for a midcard match it was fine. Warrior was insanely over here (as well as insane in general but that’s another talk for later on) and the fans erupted for his comeback at the end. The rest of it is just ok and there’s nothing wrong with that. This was the right choice for an opener though.

Team Demolition vs. Team Powers of Pain

Powers of Pain, Rockers, British Bulldogs, Hart Foundation, Young Stallions
Demolition, Brain Busters, Bolsheviks, Fabulous Rougeaus, Conquistadors

Now here’s a famous match. Demolition won the titles at Wrestlemania and are rapidly becoming faces based purely on fan reactions. They’re with Mr. Fuji here. These are the same rules as last year, meaning if a member of a team is beaten, he and his partner are both gone. Los Conquistadores are masked guys and would probably be played by different guys every night. My guess here would be Jose Estrada and Jose Luis Rivera here.

British Bulldog starts with let’s say Conquistador Uno. It’s quickly off to Jacques who was having legit backstage issues with the Bulldogs at this point. Off to Zhukov vs. Shawn and Michaels moonsaults out of the corner ala Daniel Bryan. Marty comes in and I’m not likely going to mention every tag here given how fast they’re happening. Ax comes in to pound on Jannetty and it’s off to Arn Anderson of the Brainbusters. Tully comes in and gets beaten up in the face corner for his efforts.

Jacques is tagged to be the fourth heel in about a minute and a half. Dynamite pounds on Jacques which is probably the most interesting pairing in the match given their real issues. Jim Powers comes in for about a second before it’s back to Dynamite to face Raymond Rougeau. A sunset flip gets two for Dynamite and it’s back to Powers to face Zhukov. Smash comes in and Powers is in trouble. Jacques dropkicks Powers into the corner and here’s Bret to a BIG pop. Bret quickly small packages Raymond to get things down to 5-4. There are still a ton of people on the apron though.

Off to Roma vs. Volkoff with Roma being in trouble quickly. Roma comes out of the corner and in an impressive spot, he jumps from the mat to the top rope and hits a spinning crossbody for two. Volkoff comes back with a dropkick of his own and it’s off to Smash vs. Neidhart. Jim quickly tags out to Barbarian for the real feud of the match: Powers vs. Demolition. Smash, still a cowardly heel, brings in Conquistador Dos.

Warlord comes in to pound on Dos as does Bret. Ax comes in and kicks Bret down before it’s off to Tully. Bret clotheslines Tully down and from the mat they tag in Shawn (he and Bret have to interact at Survivor Series. It’s like law or something) and Smash respectively. Volkoff and Smash double team Shawn with Nikolai hitting the gorilla press backbreaker. Back to Tully who immediately tags in Arn for the wicked spinebuster for two.

Uno comes in again and slams Shawn down but it’s off to Marty even faster. Back to Volkoff who tosses Marty around with ease. Davey comes in and the power advantage is negated. Nikolai brings in Tully who drops a lot of elbows on Davey before it’s off to Dos vs. Warlord. Warlord no sells everything and gorilla presses Dos into a tag to Ax. They slug it out with Ax taking over and handing it off to Smash.

Smash doesn’t do as well and it’s a double team from the Powers to take over on him. Tully comes in with a middle rope elbow to the head of Barbarian but Barbie clotheslines Blanchard’s head off. Barbarian tags Neidhart for a powerslam on Tully and then it’s off to Dynamite. Arn slows him down and brings in Uno who brings in Zhukov. Powers gets the tag and backdrops Boris, but Zhukov rolls through a crossbody for the pin out of nowhere to eliminate Powers and the Stallions.

It’s 4-4 now and Shawn comes in with a fist drop for two on Boris. Barbarian comes in and Tully gets tagged in. Tully realizes who he’s facing so he immediately tags in Nikolai without making a single bit of contact. Ax pounds away on Barbarian with current champion taking over. Off to Nikolai again with nothing of note going on. Shawn comes in to face Zhukov and makes a blind tag to Marty, who sunset flips Boris out of nowhere for the elimination.

Marty rolls up Dos for dos and it’s off to Uno for a BIG backdrop. Ax vs. Marty now as Ax takes over and brings in Arn. Davey gets the tag as does Tully and Blanchard is scared to come in again. I’m not sure why as he whips Marty into the corner and Jannetty is turned upside down. Smash comes in and puts on a front facelock but he tags off to Dos. It’s downhill for Demolition’s team now as the Harts pick apart both Conquistadores, including hitting something similar to the Demolition Decapitator on Uno. Amazingly enough that only gets two.

Shawn dropkicks Uno down and it’s off to Marty with another dropkick for two. Dynamite comes in and there’s the snap suplex. A middle rope kneedrop gets two and Jesse is impressed by Uno’s toughness. Back to Barbarian with a powerslam and a fist drop but he headbutts Uno into the wrong corner and it’s off to Tully. On Bobby’s advice, Tully goes right for the eyes and takes over.

Demolition double teams Barbarian and it’s off to a chinlock from Smash. Uno comes back in and is carried to the corner by Barbarian, but Ax makes the save and puts the chinlock on again. The Brainbusters come in for some offense but Arn puts his head down and gets kicked in the face. Off to Jannetty with a jumping back elbow and it’s time for Anvil. Neidhart immediately does the same thing Anderson did and gets kicked in the face as well.

Blanchard can’t suplex Neidhart and it’s off to Bret. Can we watch these two for 20 minutes or so? Bret pounds away in the corner and the Canadian tries a German on the American, but Blanchard gets his shoulder up and Bret is pinned. It’s now Demolition, Los Conquistadores and the Brainbusters vs. the Powers of Pain, the British Bulldogs and the Rockers. The Bulldogs beat up Tully and it’s off to Shawn. The Busters double team Shawn, drawing in Marty for a four man brawl. Both referees come in and both teams are disqualified and eliminated. It’s down to two teams apiece.

The four eliminated guys brawl to the back as Smash puts a chinlock on Dynamite. Off to Dos with a knee to the ribs, followed by Uno with a top rope forearm. Uno misses a kind of Swanton and it’s off to Warlord with a gutwrench slam. Barbarian comes in with the Kick of Fear followed by the delayed vertical suplex from Davey. Ax comes in for a power showdown with Davey.

Dynamite comes in and clotheslines Ax down before bringing in Davey to hit the gorilla press and powerslam on Dos. Barbarian hits a backbreaker to knock Dos into the corner for another tag, this time to Ax again. The Conquistadores take over on Barbie which isn’t something you say all that often. Dynamite gets a tag because Barbarian only has to fight off Uno.

Warlord gets a quick tag in and drops a leg but doesn’t cover, much to Jesse and Gorilla’s dismay. Dynamite comes in and ducks his head, allowing Uno to tag out AGAIN. Smash charges into a boot and there’s the snap suplex. The Swan Dive misses and a basic clothesline pins Dynamite, getting us down to three teams. That would be it for the Bulldogs as a team in America, mainly due to the medical issues of Dynamite and those fights with the Rougeaus I mentioned. Smash and both masked dudes work over Barbarian in the corner but he easily powers over to Warlord.

Warlord misses a charge and hits the post shoulder first and it’s time for Ax to pound away. Off to Smash who stays on the arm as Fuji gets on the apron. Off to Dos and then Uno with a top rope shot to the shoulder. Fuji is back on the floor now and Ax is in, cranking on the arm some more.

Fuji gets back on the apron and Warlord makes a comeback, only to be clotheslined down again by Smash. Fuji pulls down the top rope as Smash hits the ropes, sending him out to the floor. Remember that Fuji is Demolition’s manager. Demolition gets counted out and we’re down to one team apiece. Ax goes off on Fuji and Fuji hits him with the cane, only to get laid out with a slam.

Demolition leaves Fuji laying as we’ve got the Powers of Pain vs. Los Conquistadores left. They have a standoff until the Powers go out and help Fuji to his feet. Ladies and gentlemen, I present the ultra rare double turn. Back in the ring, Dos comes in to pound on Barbarian and it’s off to Uno. Fuji trips Uno and a headbutt from Barbarian gets the pin to win the match.

Rating: A. What a great match this was. It had EVERY tag team you could want to see in one match as well as a major move at the end with Demolition turning face. You had mini-stories in the match itself which is always a nice touch, with teams having short matches against each other. Also this was about five minutes shorter than the one last year which helped it tremendously. Great match and the 42 minutes that it runs flew by.

The Powers put Fuji on their shoulders post match. Demolition runs in and cleans house.

Bad News says he’s a loner no matter what and that he wants the world title.

Warrior says he can’t breathe properly because of the power stuffed down his throat.

Fuji says he made Demolition and now he’s going to break them.

Heenan says his team will win.

The Mega Powers are ready and Hogan wants Bossman.

Team Jake Roberts vs. Team Andre the Giant

Jake Roberts, Ken Patera, Jim Duggan, Scott Casey, Tito Santana
Andre the Giant, Rick Rude, Dino Bravo, Mr. Perfect, Harley Race

Casey is a jobber who is here because B. Brian Blair left the company. Blair was on the team because JYD left, so Casey is the third string guy. Rude and Patera start things off. This would be around the time when Gorilla suggested that Patera retire because he wasn’t any good anymore, so you can tell what kind of stuff we’re about to get. Rude gets thrown around a bit and it’s off to Bravo, as Gorilla implies Patera made him retire. Now there’s a trivia answer for….somebody I guess.

Bravo bangs on Patera a bit before it’s off to Perfect (called Curt Hennig as well here) with a double ax off the top. Patera shrugs it off and drags Hennig over to hand him off to Roberts. Jake works on the arm as he was known to do before bringing in Santana. Tito and Hennig have as good of a match as you would expect them to have with Tito getting the better of it, only to miss a charge in the corner. Hennig elbows him down and it’s off to Bravo again. Talk about bringing the talent level down.

Off to Roberts who hits Bravo once and then brings in Casey to really cripple the level. A monkey flip doesn’t work for him and now he gets his first real opponent on PPV: Harley Race. Race beats up Casey like he’s a grizzled veteran who is here because his investment went south and he’s working for the guy who caused him to lose all his money and is now beating up some jobber who got a spot on a major show because there was no one else available.

Rude comes in again and it’s time for everyone to get their shots in on Casey. This has to be some kind of initiation or something. Hennig headbutts him and hurts himself in the process. Back to Tito as the match gets a lot better all of a sudden. Did I mention I really like Santana? Patera helps with a double elbow to Perfect and it’s off to Duggan to fire up the crowd again. Hennig tries various things to Duggan’s head which don’t work at all. See, when Duggan does it he follows up. When Casey does it, he doesn’t do anything. One is a legend, the other is never heard of again.

Off to Casey again for some contractually obligated reason more than likely and he’s immediately drilled by Rude which makes my day better. Casey misses a charge and it’s off to Tito with a cross body. Duggan beats up Hennig as well but he misses an elbow. Duggan and Henig hit heads and it’s off to Rude vs. Patera. Patera throws Rude around but misses a charge and gets Awakened for the first elimination.

Casey tries to come in and jump Rude, only to be sent into the heel corner and beaten up even worse than before. Off to Race who hits a good old man dropkick before bringing Bravo back in. Side slam hits and it’s 5-3. See you later Casey, have fun training that Booker T guy. It’s back to the bread and butter of this match with Perfect vs. Tito…the latter of whom immediately tags out and brings Duggan back in. Ok then.

Hennig kicks Duggan in the face which he sells for some reason, but the punches that follow aren’t sold and Duggan gets all fired up. Duggan, ever the lunkhead though, gets fired up near Andre who chokes him down immediately. Back to Hennig for a second and then Rude comes in for his offensive contribution. Duggan finally clotheslines Rick down and it’s a double tag for Tito and Race.

Since Race is a genius, he moves aside of a charging Tito and slams Tito’s head into Andre’s. Well that’s one thing he’s good for. Dino comes in again but misses a charge into the corner and gets sunset flipped for two. Back to Race for the piledriver for two and he whips Tito in, only to get forearmed out of nowhere for the quick elimination, making it 4-3. Andre climbs in, grabs Tito, chokes him a bit and sits on his chest. For reasons that no one could figure out, Tito tries a freaking sunset flip. Pain immediately comes to his chest and Andre makes it 4-2 (Andre, Dino, Rude, Hennig vs. Duggan and Roberts).

Duggan comes in and clotheslines Andre into the ropes, where he and Jake both get in some open shots on the Giant. Jake chokes away but Andre gets his arms free. Andre, being a smart giant, tags out after getting beaten up that badly and brings in Rude. Rude whips Jake into the buckle a few times as we hear about the Cheryl Roberts story. Off to Hennig with some chops and Andre kicks a bit from the apron because that’s what evil giants do.

Hennig slingshots Duggan throat first into the bottom rope so Andre can choke a bit more. Off to Bravo who gets beaten on by a suddenly fired up Roberts. The short clothesline looks to set up the DDT but Rude leans in to break it up. Rick comes in legally now and stomps away like he’s still in Memphis, which means very slowly with a lot of playing to the crowd in between.

Dino piledrives Jake for two but an elbow drop misses and here’s Hacksaw again. Duggan sends him into the corner and literally throws him out before clotheslining him down. The Three Point Clothesline is loaded up but Frenchy Martin, Bravo’s manager, hooks Duggan’s foot. Bravo slams Duggan on the floor so Duggan hits Bravo with the 2×4 for the DQ, leaving Roberts alone 3-1. Bravo manages to get a tag to Hennig before Jake can pin him so Roberts punches Perfect instead.

The DDT is loaded up but Perfect makes the corner and it’s off to Dino again. Jake, likely drunk, tries a test of strength with a guy billed as the world’s strongest man. When that doesn’t work Jake tries another DDT but is backdropped this time instead. Back to Rude and Jake heads to the floor to think. Well he is considered a master of psychology so thinking is what he does. That and cocaine.

Back in and Rude takes over again, hitting a gutbuster on the Snake. Would that even hurt a snake? Off to a bearhug but Jake quickly thumbs him in the eye. Rude hits a top rope punch and swivels the hips a bit, only to have his tights pulled down and DDTed for the elimination. Andre comes in and hammers Jake before choking him in the corner….for a DQ. It’s two on one which means nothing as Hennig immediately covers Jake for the pin and the final elimination.

Rating: C-. The lower half of this match being pretty weak really hurts it. Other than Jake, Andre and Duggan, at this point most of these guys didn’t mean much. Rude was on his way up but he was still a glorified midcard guy here. Just not a very interesting match and it definitely didn’t need to go half an hour.

Jake puts the snake in post match but Andre is gone before it can get to him.

Andre says he said he would win and he did. He is NOT afraid of snakes though.

Jake says that he’ll take care of business with Damien. Next year, he’ll get his revenge.

The Twin Towers’ team is all ready.

Team Mega Powers vs. Team Twin Towers

Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Koko B. Ware, Hillbilly Jim, Hercules
Big Bossman, Akeem, Ted DiBiase, Red Rooster, Haku

Savage is world champion and this is based on a tag team feud which would be blown off in a huge live match on February 3. Hogan comes out to his own theme music after his partners all used Savage’s. This is actually a plot point as the Mega Powers would explode because Savage thought Hogan was taking his spotlight. It’s a Wrestlemania rematch with Savage vs. DiBiase to start things off.

They knock each other down with DiBaise taking over in the corner. The champ comes back with right hands and a clothesline. Off to Hercules who is feuding with DiBiase as Ted had called Hercules a slave, prompting a face turn. Instead Herc gets the Red Rooster who doesn’t do well at all, which is the idea. Heenan said he could take anyone, even Rooster, to the top. Off to Koko who gets in a shot to Ware and it’s off to Akeem (One Man Gang).

Haku comes in with a chop but misses a legdrop and it’s back to Herc. I’m not sure why when you have Hogan and Savage on the apron but whatever. Now it’s off to Hogan and the place erupts. He takes Haku down and drops some elbows before bringing Hillbilly in for a quick main event opportunity. Akeem comes in and runs Jim over before bringing Rooster in. Even Gorilla found that stupid. Jim doesn’t do much to Rooster so here’s Koko instead.

Rooster rams Koko’s head into the buckle, but see, Koko is black so it doesn’t hurt. A missile dropkick gets two on Red and it’s off to Hogan. The big boot sets up Savage’s elbow and it’s 5-4. Hogan’s team has a massive in ring celebration while Bossman’s team hits the floor. Heenan rips into Rooster as we get Savage vs. Haku. Haku chokes on the ropes but Hogan makes a blind tag and, brace yourselves, actually loses a slugout!

Haku hits a nice dropkick but gets slammed down and it’s off to Herc. A suplex puts Hercules down and it’s off to Akeem. A splash misses and it’s off to Hillbilly who fires away with all he’s got. Jim’s big boot doesn’t take Akeem down and a clothesline floors Jim. The 747 (big splash) gets the pin and we’re tied up. Koko comes in and dropkicks Akeem in the back before wisely bringing in Hogan to do the heavy lifting.

Back to the world champ with a double ax to the head but they can’t knock Akeem down. Hercules pounds away a bit as does Koko with a dropkick only sending Akeem into the corner. Akeem shrugs it off and hits Koko once to take over. Off to Boss Man who hits his namesake slam to make it 4-3. It’s Hogan in now and this is the match everyone has been wanting to see.

Hogan pounds him into the corner and everyone left on Hogan’s team (Hogan, Savage, Hercules vs. Bossman, Akeem, DiBiase, Haku) gets in a shot. Hogan easily slams the then bigger Boss Man but he charges into a spinebuster. That looked really good too. Back to Akeem and the big men hit a double elbow to take Hulk down. Off to Haku who gets in some shots to the neck before tagging in Boss Man. I wonder why they’ve gone so long since having DiBiase in there.

Naturally as I say that he comes in and clotheslines Hogan down. A falling punch gets two but Hogan Hulks Up. Off to Hercules for some revenge and some hard clotheslines and punches. Virgil trips him up though and a school boy eliminates Hercules. It’s now 4-2 but Savage charges in and rolls up DiBiase to pin him within about ten seconds.

Haku comes in again but misses a headbutt, allowing Hogan to get the tag. Something like a superkick takes Hulk down and it’s back to Boss Man for some headbutts tot he back. Akeem comes in for his usual shots before it’s back to Haku again, who suplexes Hulk for two. It’s nerve hold time followed by the Boss Man Slam for no cover. Instead Boss Man goes up and misses a splash.

The hot tag brings in Savage who cleans house. Slick trips Randy up and things slow down again. Boss Man puts on a bearhug as Slick goes after Liz, grabbing her by the arm. Hulk makes the save and DRILLS Slick with a right hand. The Towers go to handcuff Hogan to the rope but Boss Man gets counted out in the process. Boss Man beats on Hogan with the nightstick and then goes to beat on Savage. Akeem helps with that, drawing a DQ for himself and getting us down to Hogan and Savage vs. Haku.

Hogan is still cuffed to the rope though so it’s basically a one on one match. Haku beats on Savage as the camera is on the Towers leaving. Slick has the keys and is taunting Hogan with them. Savage holds the rope and avoids a kick but there’s no Hogan to tag. Haku accidentally superkicks Slick and Liz raids his pocket to get the key. Hogan is freed and Haku hits a top rope splash for two. Hot tag to Hogan and since it’s 1988, you can fill in the ending for yourself.

Rating: C+. While not great, this was better than the previous match to be sure. This would be part of the Mega Powers Exploding, as Savage would be jealous of Hogan for getting the glory and not being there for him earlier in the match. It’s no classic or anything, but 80s Hogan is always fun.

Liz hugs Hogan post match and you can see Savage getting madder and madder. See, the key to the old feuds is you see the things happen and THEN you get the turn, rather than getting the turn and then the explanation. In other words, it wasn’t all about shock.

Overall Rating: B. It’s definitely not as good as last year’s, but in this case you should check out the full version instead of the clipped one, because the clipped one shaves off like an hour of it and the interviews are different as well. The matches are much more hit and miss here, but thankfully they’ll tweak things a bit next year by going with four man teams and shorter matches, which does a lot of good for the pacing of the show. Also, did we really need guys like Koko B. Ware and Red Rooster in the main event? Really? Anyway, not a terrible show (the clipped version is a terrible tape) but certainly not as good as last year’s.

Ratings Comparison

Team Ultimate Warrior vs. Team Honky Tonk Man

Original: D
Redo: C

Team Demolition vs. Team Powers of Pain

Original: A
Redo: A

Team Jake Roberts vs. Team Andre the Giant

Original: F
Redo: C-

Team Mega Powers vs. Team Twin Towers

Original: C+
Redo: D+

Overall Rating

Original: D+
Redo: B

I’ve heard of getting better with age but this is a big change. I guess I’ve really grown to appreciate late 80s WWF more than I thought.

Here’s the original review if you’re interested:

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