NXT
Date: August 29, 2023
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Booker T.

We’re done with Heatwave and about a month away from No Mercy. Carmelo Hayes has retained the NXT Title and seems likely to be facing Ilja Dragunov next. For now though, we have a cage match between the Creeds and Schism for the Creeds’ chance to return full time. That would be one of two cage matches in four days this week because WWE likes to do things a lot. Let’s get to it.

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

In Memory Of Terry Funk and Bray Wyatt.

We open with a long recap of Heatwave.

Dyad vs. Creed Brothers

In a cage and if the Creeds win, they’re back in NXT full time. Schism jumps Brutus outside the cage and take him to the back, leaving Julius down 2-1. Julius suplexes his way out of trouble but gets caught with a double clothesline. Some ankle locks slow the Dyad down but they send him face first into the cage as we take a break.

Back with Julius still in trouble but here is Brutus to charge through the rest of the masked Schism members. With nothing else stopping him, Brutus rips the cage door off and gets inside to beat up the Dyad without much trouble. The door is used to crush Dyad against the cage and Fowler gets gorilla pressed into the wall.

What looks to be a Doomsday Device is broken up and Julius is sent into the cage again. Some cage shots to Brutus keep him down until Julius makes the save. Julius lifts both of them onto his shoulders at once for a Brutus Bomb in a very impressive power display. The beatdown is on in a hurry and stereo sliding lariats finish the Dyad at 13:45.

Rating: B-. This was more of a fight than a match and that is what it should have been. There is something amazing about watching the Creeds run through other, possibly more talented teams, with pure power and athleticism. Both of them can just wreck people and it is all kinds of fun to watch every time they’re out there. Just get them something else to do already so they can move up to the main roster.

Roxanne Perez is ready to become #1 contender.

We get a rather well produced video looking over the Global Heritage Cup Invitational. It’s a round robin tournament, set up as two groups of four with the winners facing off for a future title shot. All group matches have a 12 minute time limit and it’s two points for a win, one for a draw and zero for a loss. These matches are NOT under the rounds system.

Tony D’Angelo and Stacks are admiring their titles in the back when Carmelo Hayes comes in to brag with them. The Street Profits come in and show respect to Hayes, while mentioning a blemish on his record. Hayes is ready to get rid of it while the Profits….are interrupted by a brawl between Dana Brooke, Elektra Lopez, Lola Vice and Kelani Jordan.

Global Heritage Invitational Group A: Charlie Dempsey vs. Butch

Drew Gulak and Damon Kemp are here with the Meta Four watching from a box. Dempsey suplexes Butch down to start as the fans are on Butch’s side. They stay on the mat to trade control over the other’s hands. Back up and Butch knocks him down for some forearms to the face. Dempsey’s German suplex gets two but Butch pulls him into an armbar. Butch snaps the fingers again and it’s the Bitter End for the pin at 4:52.

Rating: C+. This was your technical match of the night and my goodness it’s nice to see Butch being like Pete Dunne but under a different name. He has a history in NXT and it is great to see him going back to what made him one of the best things in wrestling for a long time. Dempsey is rather good as well, but he’s not Butch yet and it showed here.

Group A Standings
Butch – 1-0-0 (3 points)
Tyler Bate – 0-0-0 (0 points)
Axiom – 0-0-0 (0 points)
Charlie Dempsey – 0-1-0 (0 points)

Dragon Lee thinks he deserves a North American Title shot but Mustafa Ali comes in to say he’s never had a one on one title shot. People like he and Lee should be fighting for NXT…but Lee already struck out so it’s Ali’s turn now. Lee doesn’t seem to agree as Ali leaves.

Here is Ilja Dragunov to praise Trick Williams for last week. Williams left it all in the ring and proved that he is NOT a sidekick. Dragunov was impressed but now he wants Carmelo Hayes. Hold on though as Noam Dar interrupts from the box to say they’re already on the way to California for No Mercy. Dragunov says it’s very Dar-esque to put the attention on himself and laughs off Oro Mensah’s childish insults.

Dragunov wants to know why he isn’t coming up there right now. Lash Legend says Dar isn’t afraid of anyone so Dragunov takes off the jacket. The Meta Four freaks out so Dar says let’s do this next week: Mensah vs. Dragunov. Works for Dragunov, who kicks Mensah in the head and sends him bailing at the threat of the Torpedo.

Von Wagner wants Bron Breakker, No DQ.

Lola Vice/Elektra Lopez vs. Kelani Jordan/Dana Brooke

Lopez powers Jordan down to start and it’s off to Vice for a double hip attack to the head. Vice’s spinning backfist gets two but Jordan kicks her way out of trouble. Brooke flips Jordan onto Lopez for two as everything breaks down. A spinning kick to the head finishes Jordan at 4:01.

Rating: D+. As usual, Dana Brooke matches aren’t very good and it shouldn’t be a surprise anymore. Jordan is still brand new at this and still has a long way to go. Then you have Lopez, who feels like she should be a star but never really broke out. Finally there is Vice, and she has something. There is a presence to go with her charisma and that could get her a long way.

Gigi Dolin is ready to become #1 contender.

Trick Williams talks to Carmelo Hayes, who doesn’t like people thinking Williams got him the win over Ilja Dragunov. Now Hayes has to fight Dragunov one on one but Williams isn’t sure if Hayes can beat him. Hayes isn’t happy, but as he leaves, Williams says “I know you can”, though Hayes doesn’t seem to hear him.

Dijak vs. Eddy Thorpe

Eddy starts the fight in the aisle and hits a running boot in the corner for two. A suplex gets the same on Dijak but he’s right back with High Justice for two. They’re both knocked down so Dijak pulls off his belt and the tug of war is on. Thorpe sends him shoulder first into the post but gets tossed hard over the announcers’ table for the big crash. Dijak misses a chair shot in the corner so Eddy him outside. The referee takes the chair away and Dijak gets in a belt shot. The cyclone boot finishes Eddy at 4:15.

Rating: C. These two had a hard hitting match but they seem to be stuck in the purgatory that is the NXT midcard. Either of them could move up to the next level without much of a stretch but for now, they’re more people just trading wins without going anywhere. Why aren’t either of them in the North American Title hunt? Or even the Heritage stuff?

Kiana James is ready to become #1 contender.

Bron Breakker interrupts Baron Corbin and tells him to stay out of the No DQ match with Von Wagner next week.

Angel Garza wakes up with blood on his hands. After he washes it off, Humberto Carrillo knocks on the door and says he had a dream about their grandfather. They seem to have had the same dream, with Garza scratching his chest until he bled. Carrillo reveals that he did the same thing, which means they have to start from….scratch. They pull out a Los Lotharios shirt and seem to be on the same page.

Bray Wyatt tribute video.

Blair Davenport is ready to become #1 contender.

Rhea Ripley and Dominik Mysterio aren’t impressed by Dragon Lee. Mysterio says he belongs to Mami and Ripley promises to make him champ for life. Lee and Mustafa Ali can even fight each other for a North American Title shot at No Mercy. Dominik will even be guest referee!

Global Heritage Invitational Group B: Nathan Frazer vs. Joe Coffey

The rest of Gallus is at ringside. Frazer works on the arm to start but Frazer seems to accidentally slam his head against the top rope (I’ve never seen that before) so Coffey slams him down. The referee checks on Frazer as fast as he can but Frazer is fine enough to grab a headlock. Coffey powers him into the corner but gets knocked to the apron. A dropkick sends Frazer outside and we take a break.

Back with Frazer firing off a bunch of running forearms into a swinging suplex for two. Coffey cuts him off with a pop up uppercut into a bridging German suplex for two more. Frazer is fine enough to send him outside for a heck of a dive (which barely makes contact). The frog splash gets two back inside but Frazer misses a phoenix splash. A Gallus distraction lets All The Best for The Bells finish for Coffey at 10:00.

Rating: C+. If Frazer is going to be getting the title shot against Dar at the end of this whole thing, they are already building him up for quite the underdog run. Other than that though, we had another good enough match, with Coffey getting something of an upset win. Frazer continues to be a fireball every time he’s out there though and that is always fun to see.

Group B Standings
Joe Coffey – 1-0-0 (3 points)
Akira Tozawa – 0-0-0 (0 points)
Duke Hudson – 0-0-0 (0 points)
Nathan Frazer – 0-1-0 (0 points)

We’re off to Chase U, where there is no Thea Hail. Duke Hudson doesn’t know where she is but can’t imagine she skipped class. Chase recognized Duke Hudson for being in the Global Heritage Invitational. Chase didn’t know that Hudson was from Australia, thinking it was New Zealand. Hudson seems surprised at the round robin structure. Class is dismissed and Hudson and Chase talk about the tournament. Thea Hail comes in and seems to imply she skipped class. Hudson says they’re off to Study Hall but Hail says she’s going out. Jacy Jayne pops in to ask if Hail is ready and they leave together. Oh dear.

Fallon Henley talks to Myles Borne, who is cleaning the ring after Drew Gulak and company. She offers him a spot on a team with Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen, so he’s in.

Wes Lee is in the desert and says he wants another shot at Carmelo Hayes, who didn’t beat him as Lee beat himself. It’s different the next time he gets a chance.

Tyler Bate sizes up the competition in his group but seems to think twice at Butch. As for next week though, he’s going to be waiting in the ring for Dabba-Kato, so come be the Goliath to his David.

Roxanne Perez vs. Gigi Dolin vs. Kiana James vs. Blair Davenport

One fall to a finish and the winner gets a Women’s Title shot next week. Dolin and James fight to the floor to start, leaving Davenport to forearm Perez down. Back in and they trade rollups for two each Everyone stares at each other. Dolin plants Perez on the apron and whips James into the barricade. Davenport takes Dolin down but James moonsaults off the barricade to drop Davenport, only to get taken down by Perez’s dive.

We take a break and come back with Perez getting the worst of a Tower Of Doom. The lack of impact leaves Dolin to hit running charges and dropkicks against the ropes until Perez fights up. Pop Rox is broken up by a James dropkick but Davenport plants Perez or two. Dolin gets two off a half and half suplex and everyone is down (including James on the floor). Perez is back up with Pop Rox to Davenport but she rolls out to the floor. James is back in with the 401k to Perez, followed by the Dealbreaker to Dolin for the pin and the title shot at 11:39.

Rating: B-. This was a better match that I was expecting as they were moving well out there and kept up the action throughout. James kind of stole the win but she did it by taking out two people in a row. That’s an impressive way to get the title shot and it’s nice to see her get a boost. The women’s division can use some fresh blood so even a short shot of James is a good idea.

Tiffany Stratton comes out for the staredown with James.

Carmelo Hayes is watching Wes Lee’s promo and goes into Shawn Michaels’ office, saying they need to talk to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. Another fine show here, even if it was more about setting things up than last week’s show with a bunch of showdowns. They have about a month before No Mercy and they started fast here, though that tournament sounds long (I can however go for something other than another single elimination format). This wasn’t exactly a must see show, but it started to set things up in the right time.

Results
Creed Brothers b. Dyad – Double sliding lariats
Butch b. Charlie Dempsey – Spinning kick to the head
Lola Vice/Elektra Lopez b. Dana Brooke/Kelani Jordan – Spinning kick to the head to Jordan
Dijak b. Eddy Thorpe – Cyclone boot
Joe Coffey b. Nathan Frazer – All The Best For The Bells
Kiana James b. Gigi Dolin, Roxanne Perez and Blair Davenport – Dealbreaker to Dolin

 

 

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AND

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NXT
Date: July 25, 2023
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Booker T.

It’s the go home show for the Great American Bash and believe it or not, Judgment Day is here again. At least Dominik Mysterio being North American Champion gives him a reason to be here, but WWE is getting dangerously close to overexposing the team. Other than that, we get the final showdown between Carmelo Hayes and Ilja Dragunov before their title match. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of Dominik Mysterio winning and defending the North American Title.

Here are Dominik and Rhea Ripley to get things going. They talk about how great each other is until Rhea has to shout down a CUT THE MULLET chant. As for Lyra Valkyria….and never mind as here is Wes Lee to interrupt. Lee hates seeing Dominik holding that title and wants his rematch TONIGHT.

Cue Mustafa Ali to say he respects Lee but not so much Dominik. Ali wanted his chance to be the new North American Champion but Dominik stole it when this clown….and Lee doesn’t like that. Ali didn’t mean it like that but Dominik says this is a problem between them. That makes Ali swing at Dominik, only to hit Lee. Dominik: “Excuse me, champ coming through.” The other two brawl as Dominik and Rhea escape. Just make the triple threat already, but first of all, make sure you praise Rhea for the little silent things she does. Here she had her head on Dominik’s shoulder and the biggest grin on her face and it made things so much better.

Tony D’Angelo and Stacks are ready to win the Tag Team Titles. Lucien Price and Bronco Nima come in to say they want the belts too, so a match is on for tonight.

Lyra Valkyria challenged Rhea Ripley for tonight. This video might have been more effective if the match hadn’t already been announced.

Valkyria says she has been here for seven months and needs to know where she stands. She isn’t going to stand in the shadows like Jacy Jayne because people will see who she is.

Carmelo Hayes/Trick Williams/Ilja Dragunov vs. Schism

Hayes and Joe Gacy start things off with an exchange of knockdowns. Williams comes in for a rather high dropkick but Gacy hits him in the face and brings in Reid. That’s fine with Williams, who hits him in the face and hands it off to Dragunov. Fowler comes in and gets wrestled down without much trouble, meaning Williams can hit him in the face. Everything breaks down and Schism is sent outside as we take a break.

Back with Hayes fighting up and bringing Williams back in. Gacy gets knocked to the floor as Dragunov tags himself back in and knocks the other two outside. Dragunov goes outside with him but misses a charge which sends Williams hard into the steps. Back in and Fowler actually takes over on Dragunov, who chops his way to freedom rather quickly. Everything breaks down and some of the Schism followers pull Reid and Fowler down. Hayes tags himself in and Nothing But Net finishes Gacy at 11:28.

Rating: C+. The ending is what matters here, as Dragunov has been on a roll in recent weeks so Hayes needed to get some momentum of his own on his way to the title match. the (allegedly) incidental contact is more than enough to make things personal and the title match should be awesome.

Video on Tiffany Stratton, who knows she is awesome and isn’t sweating a submission match with Thea Hail.

Von Wagner vs. Javier Bernal

Bernal jumps him to start but gets booted in the face. Wagner hammers away on the mat and hits a swinging slam for the pin at 1:02.

Post match Wagner puts him through the announcers’ table but gets blindsided by Bron Breakker. The beating is on and Wagner gets chaired down for a bonus.

Trick Williams goes after Ilja Dragunov in the back, with Dragunov threatening to break him. Carmelo Hayes says he has this but Williams wants Dragunov tonight. He’s going to call Dragunov out, even with Hayes not looking happy.

Here is Gable Steveson for his big decision. Steveson lists off some of his accomplishments in the Olympics and says he has options in front of him. He is ready to announce his decision but Baron Corbin cuts him off. Corbin talks about how Steveson should just go back to college because this place is full of sharks. Steveson needs to leave before he gets hurt, which he says makes his decision for him. The challenge is on for the Great American Bash and Corbin gets suplexed a few times.

Dana Brooke vs. Cora Jade

Singapore Cane match and Kelani James is here with Brooke, who seems to have a Catwoman theme going. They fight on the floor to start and Brooke sends her into the steps. Jade is sent hard over the announcers’ table, with Booker T. getting wiped out in the process (Fans: “ARE YOU OK?). Jordan comes back by taking out the legs and there’s the stick to the back.

They get inside with Jade piling up a bunch of sticks and slamming Brooke onto all of them. One heck of a running knee in the corner hits Brooke in the face but she gets in a shot of her own for a breather. The handspring elbow in the corner sets up a failed bulldog though and Jade hits the DDT for…two. A Jordan distraction lets Brooke send Jade into a chair, allowing Brooke to get the pink kendo stick. Brooke slams her onto the chair and drops a Swanton for the pin at 7:40.

Rating: C. Ok that result is a surprise as I never would have bet on Jade actually losing here. Jade seemed to be ready for a push up the card over the last few months but for some reason she lost here in what should be an upset. Those stick shots were rather loud too, making this a more violent than expected match.

Carmelo Hayes warns Ilja Dragunov about Trick Williams wanting to call him out. Dragunov is fine with that, but it won’t be for a match. He will break Williams, and then he’ll break Hayes at the Great American Bash.

Drew Gulak and Charlie Dempsey are training with Myles Borne, who doesn’t impress them. Damon Kemp comes in and wants to train with them, which works for the villains.

Bronco Nima/Lucien Price vs. Tony D’Angelo/Stacks

Scrypts is on commentary as Nima takes over on Stacks. It’s quickly off to Price, who gets elbowed in the face. D’Angelo comes in and is taken down but manages to knock Nima into the corner. It’s already back to Stacks for a chinlock, which doesn’t last long either. Price is back in for a running corner clothesline. Cue Axiom to go after Scrypts and the distraction lets D’Angelo come in to clean house. The Bada Bing finishes Price at 4:55.

Rating: C. I didn’t think it was possible, but Scrypts actually made commentary more annoying. I’m not sure what WWE sees in him other than being a heck of an athlete but anything involving Scrypts talking is horrible. As for the match, the Family getting a win makes sense as they have a title match this weekend, but Price and Nima losing so soon was really surprising.

Post match Gallus pops up to say they’re retaining on Sunday.

Dijak is ready to hurt Eddy Thorpe.

Zion Clark is in the crowd (apparently an MMA fighter and author).

Great American Bash rundown.

We get some cell phone footage of Roxanne Perez attacking Blair Davenport in what looks to be a convenience store. Perez beats her up and threatens her for their fight at the Bash before leaving as the cops arrive. No green frogs were harmed in the filming of this fight.

It’s time for Supernova Sessions with the Meta Four. Their guest this week is the REAL Heritage Cup champion, Noam Dar! They recap Dar losing the Cup….which they somehow have here! Dar wakes up from his stupor and gets out of his wheelchair before going to stand on his couch. Cue Nathan Frazer (with the real Cup) and Dragon Lee to say Dar is a fraud. Now it’s Yulisa Leon and Valentina Feroz to take out the women, allowing Frazer and Lee to clear the ring.

Duke Hudson and Andre Chase narrate a Thea Hail training montage. Thea says she doesn’t need a miracle, because all she needs is a chance.

Humberto Carrillo and Angel Garza yelled at each other and officially split up.

Lyra Valkyria vs. Rhea Ripley

Non-title and Dominik Mysterio is here with Ripley. Valkyria’s headlock doesn’t last long as we hear about Dominik having a triple threat title defense on Sunday. Ripley gets tripped down and looks rather mad, only to get rolled up for two. Back up and Ripley knocks her down but gets rolled up for two more. That earns Valkyria one heck of a German suplex and we take a break.

Back with Ripley hitting a belly to back faceplant for two but Riptide is countered into a choke. Ripley breaks that up and goes up top, only to spend too much time looking at Dominik. Valkyria sends her outside for an apron hurricanrana but Ripley pulls a high crossbody out of the air. A suplex is countered into a DDT on Ripley for two but Valkyria gets kicked down. The Riptide finishes for Ripley at 10:12.

Rating: B. And that is how you give someone one heck of a rub. Ripley talked about how awesome Valkyria was a few weeks ago and then backed it up in the ring here. This was a great way to make Valkyria look like a star, as while she isn’t as good as Ripley, she could be a force around here with some more time. Heck of a match and Ripley made Valkyria look very impressive.

Post match Ripley says prove her right and beat Jacy Jayne.

Great American Bash rundown.

Here is Trick Williams to call out Ilja Dragunov, who comes straight down the aisle. A dropkick hits Dragunov and Williams unloads on him against the barricade. Dragunov fights back and unloads with chops in the corner before dropping a big right hand to the face. Carmelo Hayes tries to make the save and gets dropped as well. Dragunov promises to take the title on Sunday to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This show had some nice moments and the wrestling was mostly ok, but what matters most is it made me more interested in seeing the Sunday’s pay per view. That’s the point of a show like this one and they made it work. The Bash needs to be a hit as they don’t do shows like that very often, but the hype for the show went well and that’s what matters the most, at least for tonight.

Results
Carmelo Hayes/Trick Williams/Ilja Dragunov b. Schism – Nothing But Net to Gacy
Von Wagner b. Javier Bernal – Swinging slam
Dana Brooke b. Cora Jade – Swanton
Tony D’Angelo/Stacks b. Lucien Price/Bronco Nima – Bada Bing to Price
Rhea Ripley b. Lyra Valkyria – Riptide

 

 

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

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NXT
Date: July 18, 2023
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Booker T.

We are less than two weeks away from the Great American Bash and that means it is time to build towards Ilja Dragunov challenging Carmelo Hayes for the NXT Title. That should go well, as it’s Ilja Dragunov vs. Carmelo Hayes. Other than that, Judgment Day’s NXT excursion continues as Dominik Mysterio challenges for the North American Title. Let’s get to it.

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

Here are Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes to open things up ans Vic Joseph is seen tapping Booker T. on the arm over and over in the background. Williams introduces Hayes, who talks about how the numbers game and interference cost them a tag match last week. Ilja Dragunov tried to “help” and here is Dragunov to interrupt.

Dragunov says he didn’t mean to mess with Hayes’ business last week, but he wasn’t about to let Damian Priest use his Money In The Bank briefcase to take the NXT Title to the main roster. Dragunov accuses Hayes of losing control last week, but Hayes praises his ability to keep going.

Threats are made for the Great American Bash, with Hayes saying he feels everything. There is no one more qualified to face him than Dragunov, but Hayes isn’t going to lose anytime soon. He is Mr. PLE and he will hit different. Dragunov says he has a fire inside but Hayes promises to blow it out. They only have so much time to set this up so diving in head first like this is a good idea.

Mustafa Ali comes in to Wes Lee’s locker room and says he doesn’t think much about Lee agreeing to face Dominik Mysterio. Ali is already set for his title match, but he isn’t sure about tonight. Lee doesn’t seem to like that disrespect.

Earlier today, Stacks picked up Tony D’Angelo from prison and everything seems ok.

Humberto Carrillo/Angel Garza vs. Dragon Lee/Nathan Frazer

Angel and Humberto jump them to start until it’s Frazer picking up the pace as he and Humberto start. A running dropkick sends Humberto into the corner for one so here is Lee for a change. Lee gets taken into the wrong corner and Humberto goes after the mask. A suplex gives Humberto two and here are Yulisa Leon and Valentina Feroz. Frazer’s flip dive is cut off and dropped in front of them as we take a break.

Back with Lee fighting back and hitting a running knee for two on Garza. Everything breaks down and Carrillo drops Frazer face first onto the announcers’ table. Back in and a double top rope slam puts Lee down, setting up one heck of a moonsault to give Carrillo two. Garza hits a superkick on Lee but Frazer is back in with a middle rope Downward Spiral. Lee’s sitout powerbomb gets two on Carrillo, followed by a running flip into a reverse DDT to finish Garza at 11:27.

Rating: B. This got rocking by the end and that is what you want from a match like this one. It’s always a good idea to let a bunch of fast paced, talented wrestlers go out there and tear the house down and that is almost what you had here. Carrillo and Garza can work well with anyone and Lee/Frazer might just be a bit better. Very fun stuff here with some great near falls.

Post match Garza yells at Carrillo, who shoves him down and says it was his fault. Carrillo leaves through the crowd, with Garza following.

Baron Corbin finds a man standing near a bunch of torches and doesn’t know how he let this happen. Everything was easy but then he burned everything he had. Now it’s time to evolve, but to what? He will face his future, and we see the hooded person is…..a slightly taller Corbin?

Earlier today, NXT Anonymous revealed a clip of Booker T. giving Roxanne Perez a pep talk.

Booker is NOT happy about this invasion of privacy.

Gigi Dolin vs. Kiana James

James starts fast and hammers away but gets dropkicked to the floor for her efforts. Back in and James slams her down for two before Dolin wins a strike off. Dolin misses a shot though and pulls her down by the hair. It’s time to bring in the loaded bag but Dolin has it taken away, allowing James to hit the 401K onto the bag for the pin at 3:28.

Rating: C. That’s quite the odd result as I wouldn’t have bet on Dolin, who has felt ready to move up to the next level, to lose here as James hasn’t been doing much lately. Maybe James gets to go somewhere, but there is a good chance that this isn’t over yet as Dolin is going to want revenge. Or at least to find out what is is in the bag.

Last week, Scrypts agreed that he and Axiom would face Lucien Price and Bronco Nima this week, but Axiom said they aren’t a regular team. He’ll team with Scrypts, but this can’t keep happening.

Ivy Nile takes down the Diamond Mine banner.

Noam Dar is so depressed that he canceled last week’s Supernova Sessions.

Last week’s planned Supernova Sessions guest, Eddy Thorpe, is interrupted by the Meta Four, who give him a consolation prize of a photo of Noam Dar. The ensuing trashing of the photo results in Oro Mensah vs. Thorpe, likely tonight.

Bronco Nima/Lucien Price vs. Scrypts/Axiom

Axiom is powered into the corner to start but comes out with a headscissors and kick to the face. Back up and Axiom gets over to Scrypts for some flips…..and a forearm to the back of Axiom’s head as the team splits. A running boot gives Mina the pin on Axiom at 2:12. Good, as the team was holding Axiom back.

It’s time for Tony D’Angelo’s big return celebration. Stacks, with a bunch of people behind him, brings out Tony, who is very proud of what Stacks did. We see a video of the two stringing Gallus along to pretend that Stacks was turning on Tony. It’s all a ruse get the title shot and here is a livid Gallus. They don’t like being lied to, but the rest of the Family whip out crowbars so the beating can ensue. Mark Coffey goes through a table so D’Angelo and Stacks can hold up the titles.

Elektra Lopez vs. Thea Hail

Lopez, with Lola Vice, knocks Hail with Duke Hudson, into the corner t start but Hail comes out with a suplex. Not that it matters as Hail grabs the Kimura for the tap at 1:11.

Post match Hail says she wants to make Tiffany Stratton tap out, meaning it’s time for a REMATCH chant. Cue Stratton to say the rematch is on, because Hail is in over her head. Hail wants a submission match but gets turned down. That’s fine with Hail, who puts on the Kimura again until Tiffany agrees to the stipulation.

Tony D’Angelo and company wish Dominik Mysterio good luck tonight. With D’Angelo and company gone, Rhea Ripley calls over Lyra Valkyria and tells her to deal with Jacy Jayne.

Gable Steveson makes his decision next week.

Oro Mensah vs. Eddy Thorpe

The rest of the Meta Four is here with Mensah. They start fast by trading knockdowns until Mensah gets in a shot to take him down. Some right hands keep Thorpe in trouble and Mensah kicks him down again. The neck crank doesn’t last long as commentary bickers about who is right coming into this. Thorpe fights back and knocks Mensah outside, leaving the Meta Four to carry the catatonic Noam Dar inside. The distraction lets Dijak run in and drop Thorpe, setting up Mensah’s running spinwheel kick in the corner for the pin at 4:42.

Rating: C. This wasn’t much to see but Dijak cutting Thorpe off means we should be having a big showdown in the near future. For now though, Mensah gets to shine a bit, which really has not been the case so far in the Meta Four. Not bad here, though somehow Dar was the interesting part, which might never have been said before.

Kelani Jordan and Dana Brooke do gymnastics. Cora Jade is not impressed.

We get a split screen interview between Blair Davenport and Roxanne Perez. Roxanne isn’t happy with NXT Anonymous (Blair: “It isn’t me.”) but she’s ready to face Blair in her home state of Texas. Blair says Perez had a great rookie year but that was last year. Perez goes off about how she is tired of being treated as this helpless and now she is ready to prove herself. Blair says you either have the killer instinct or you don’t (Perez: “I have it!”) and we’ll see that reality at the Great American Bash. Perez storms out as Blair mocks her.

North American Title: Dominik Mysterio vs. Wes Lee

Mysterio, with Rhea Ripley, is challenging. After the Big Match Intros, Lee grabs a headlock to start as the fans debate if Dominik is ready. Lee kicks him to the floor and teases the dive as we take a break. Back with Dominik hitting Three Amigos into the 619 into a Michinoku Driver or two.

The frog splash misses though and they slug it out with Dominik getting the better of things. Some right hands keep Lee down but Lee comes back with some hard shots of his own. Lee kicks him in the face and grabs a springboard tornado DDT. The Spiral Tap connects but cue the Judgment Day for a distraction. Ripley belts Lee and Dominik gets the pin and the title at 10:32.

Rating: C+. This was all about the big surprise at the end and that worked very well. Lee has gotten far more than enough out of the title reign and pulling the trigger here was a great surprise. That was one heck of a curve ball, but as usual, it helps that Dominik can wrestle a completely fine match. It’s not like this is some manager beating Lee, which makes it just a little more interesting. Pretty awesome surprise here and nicely done on finally ending Lee’s reign in a unique way.

The fans are STUNNED as Judgment Day celebrates to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. The ending and the pretty awesome tag match were what mattered here and carried the show. The Bash is mostly set at this point, with Bron Breakker’s status being the top question mark. I liked the show well enough, but there are some parts that don’t quite feel as important. Unfortunately most of those were the women’s segments, which don’t quite have the same gravity. Stratton vs. Hail feels almost a bit silly in parts, but the fans want to see Hail win so there is something there. Overall, pretty nice show that did some important things, but not quite must see.

Results
Dragon Lee/Nathan Frazer b. Humberto Carrillo/Angel Garza – Running flipping reverse DDT to Garza
Kiana James b. Gigi Dolin – 401K
Bronco Nima/Lucien Price b. Scrypts/Axiom – Running boot tom Axiom
Thea Hail b. Elektra Lopez – Kimura
Oro Mensah b. Eddy Thorpe – Running spinwheel kick in the corner
Dominik Mysterio b. Wes Lee – Belt shot from Rhea Ripley

 

 

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NXT
Date: June 20, 2023
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Booker T., Vic Joseph

It’s the first week of Gold Rush, a two week pair of shows focusing on titles. This week is so big that NXT is bringing in a bonus title in the form of Seth Rollins defending the World Heavyweight Championship against Bron Breakker. Other than that, the North American Title is on the line with a special guest referee. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening video talks about the importance of titles, with some of tonight’s participants promising to leave as champion.

North American Title: Wes Lee vs. Tyler Bate

Bate is challenging and Mustafa Ali is guest referee. Feeling out process to start with Lee flipping around until Bate grabs a headlock. Lee tries a rollup out of said headlock for a rather fast two, leaving Lee and Bate looking at Ali. Back up and Lee gets rolled up for a MUCH slower one, which has Bate looking a bit worried. They go outside and fight over a lockup as Ali doesn’t bother with a count.

We take a break and come back with a double clothesline leaving both of them down. A slugout goes to Lee, who can’t even get one off a backslide. Instead he dropkicks Bate in the back but Bate scores with the middle rope elbow. The Cardiac Kick misses for Lee and Bate’s rebound lariat gets two.

Lee takes him up top for an attempted superplex but Lee gets punched out to the floor for the big crash instead. That’s almost enough for a countout but Ali goes outside to wake him up. Not to be unfair, Lee wakes up bate as well, but the distraction lets Lee hit the Cardiac Kick to retain at 13:03.

Rating: B-. Ali’s ordeal in the end is probably going to cause problems later, but for now it was a good match between two people who can make anything work. What started off as just an ok run from Lee has turned into the best North American Title reign ever and it’s going to be a big deal when he loses the thing. Ali might be the one to take it off of him, but for now he was just a mildly screwy referee.

Post match respect is shown but Bate doesn’t seem pleased.

Gigi Dolin looks at a bunch of murals as she talks about what art means to her. She has been betrayed by a bunch of people and art lets her do what she wants.

Kiana James isn’t interested in what happens with Dolin because James has ambition.

Here is Duke Hudson for a pep rally in honor of Chase U’s star student Thea Hail. The student section and Drew Gulak/Charlie Dempsey are here as Hail talks about how she didn’t have a ton of accomplishments. She graduated high school last year (Dempsey: “What have we gotten ourselves into?”) and thanks Andre Chase for pushing her.

After thanking Hudson and her coaches, Hail promises pain to Tiffany Stratton next week so here is Tiffany to interrupt. Hail needs to understand that she got lucky next week but she would have to be very dumb to believe she has a chance next week. Hudson said Hail is winning the title next week because she leaves it in the ring every week. Tiffany gets in the ring and promises she won’t tap next week, only to tap to a quick Kimura. Crazy Hail is so much fun and she was again here too.

Joe Gacy thinks he might be the problem with Schism and yeah, that might be the case. Ava says they’re still one tree with four roots.

The Diamond Mine doesn’t like Schism and is ready to get rid of them.

Lyra Valkyria comes up to Jacy Jayne and asks what the problem is. Jayne says last week was just locker room chatter but Valkyria doesn’t buy it. With Valkyria gone, Jayne thinks she should have just kicked her in the face.

Josh Briggs/Brooks Jensen vs. Hank Walker/Tank Ledger vs. Edris Enofe/Malik Blade

Fallon Henley is here with Briggs and Jensen and this is for a title shot next week. Briggs kicks Ledger in the face to start but gets dropkicked by Enofe. A double slam plants Enofe and another one puts Ledger down as we see Gallus watching in the back. Briggs is pulled to the apron and dropped onto the apron before all six come in for the huge brawl. Enofe and blade manage a pair of flip dives to the floor but Ledger and Walker hit stereo Vader Bombs to take the other four down outside. Back in and Walker hits a full nelson slam for two on Enofe and we take a break.

We come back with Briggs and Jensen cleaning house again but Enofe cuts them off. Ledger snaps off a fall away slam until Jensen is back in with a superkick. A Hart Attack hits Ledger but Blade dives in for the save. Enofe adds a frog splash for the pin on Ledger and the title shot at 9:14.

Rating: C+. I’m been a Blade/Enofe fan for a good while now so it is nice to see them finally getting something of a chance. While I don’t think they win the titles, there is at least a chance they pull off the upset and that is more than I would have bet on previously. If nothing else, NXT desperately needs some new teams in the title hunt so why not these guys? The match was your usual triple threat insanity with everyone going everywhere, though Briggs and Jensen looked dominant for long strethes.

Gallus isn’t impressed but Humberto Carrillo and Angel Garza come in with some threats.

Damon Kemp picks his stipulation against Eddy Thorpe: RAW UNDERGROUND.

Roxanne Perez jumps Blair Davenport, who doesn’t seem upset.

New Heritage Cup Champion Nathan Frazer comes in to see his mentor Seth Rollins, who congratulates him on the win. Rollins tells him to have fun with that thing and Frazer leaves, when Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams come in. Violence is teased but everything is cool. They respect each other, champion to champion.

Cora Jade vs. Dana Brooke

Feeling out process to start with Brooke knocking her down and hitting a handstand splash for an early two. Back up and some shots to the ribs have Brooke in trouble, allowing Jade to shout at the people a lot. An anklescissors and a running kick (seemed like a dropkick that didn’t go so well) send Jade outside but she catches Brooke with a knee. A DDT plants Jade back inside and it’s time to work on Brooke’s knee.

Brooke sends her into the corner and tries the handspring but her knee gives out. Brooke shouting “MY KNEE” is quite the hint as trainers come in to check on her. We take a break and come back with Brooke fighting off of a stretcher and forearming away. A chop block cuts her off back inside but she’s fine enough to hit some clotheslines. Brooke gets an elbow up in the corner but she misses a Vader Bomb. A half crab goes on though Brooke won’t tap, leaving the referee to stop it at 10:42.

Rating: C. Well that was….a lot. There is something to be said about Brooke fighting through the pain and not giving up, but it was a story that started and ended in about eight minutes, which lessens a lot of the impact. Jade looked like a good villain, but this felt like a story that was a bit more than Cora Jade vs. Dana Brooke needed.

Von Wagner and Mr. Stone sat in an empty arena earlier today, with Wagner saying this is where it all started. Stone asks about the picture, which Wagner says is about his skull being born locked into place and he had to have surgery when he was 15 months old. They pulled his face down and fixed his skull and gave him a life. The scarring on his head was bad and the kids used to call him a monster, but all he could do was take it. That’s enough for today and Wagner thanks Stone for what he did. Rather intense moment here, though the reveal that a photo looking like Wagner had surgery revealing just that wasn’t quite shocking.

Eddy Thorpe looks into Raw Underground….and here is Gable Steveson to say he’ll help train Thorpe if need be. Gable says he knows Damon Kemp better than anyone (not mentioned here, but that would be his brother).

Here are Carmelo Hayes and Baron Corbin for a face to face debate. The two argue over potential and what they both could do, with Hayes making fun of Happy Corbin. That doesn’t bother Corbin, because being Happy got him a $1.8 million house. Hayes lists off what he was accomplishing at 27, which was around the same age when Corbin was getting cut from the NFL.

He respects the black and gold originals for building the house, but Hayes has ripped the roof off the house and made it bigger. Corbin threatens violence but says he’ll just take the title and have his hot wife pour a drink that Hayes can’t afford. They kept this short but there were some big shots thrown in there.

Nathan Frazer and Dragon Lee wish Yulisa Leon and Valentina Feroz luck in their tag match. With them gone, Frazer tells Lee that he’s trying to thank the people who helped him get here, so Lee can have the first shot at the Heritage Cup. Works for Lee.

Stacks jumps Joe Coffey in the parking lot and kidnaps him in the trunk of his car.

Yulisa Leon/Valentina Feroz vs. Jakara Jackson/Lash Legend

The rest of the Meta Four are here too. It’s a brawl to start and Leon seems to hurt her knee. Jackson takes Leon down for two and grabs the chinlock as Lola Vice and Elektra Lopez come out to watch. They leave just as fast as Jackson switches to a seated abdominal stretch. Noam Dar offers a distraction but earns Oro Mensah a flip dive instead. The distraction lets Legend kick Leon in the face for the pin at 3:21.

Rating: C-. The Meta Four are the new group around here and as a result, they need to win something to matter. That isn’t the easiest thing to do after they lost their big prize last week but this was better than nothing. Jackson and Legend could be a nice team, and when you tie that in with Dar’s incredibly annoying nature, there might be something here.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins vs. Bron Breakker

Rollins is banged up and defending, as the fans give him a WELCOME HOME chant. An early Pedigree attempt is blocked so Rollins sends him outside for a running kick from the apron as we take a break. Back with Rollins fighting out of a bearhug on the bad ribs but some overhead tosses put him right back down.

Rollins misses a charge and gets German suplexed to bang up the ribs again. Breakker’s spear hits post though and a running knee sends him outside. The three straight suicide dives take Breakker down again and it’s time to set up the announcers’ table. The frog splash through said table has Breakker in trouble and we take another break.

Back again with Rollins reversing a German suplex into a rollup for two. The low superkick sets up a missed frog splash and Breakker plants him down with a Frankensteiner. The gorilla press powerslam gets two but Rollins is back up with a Pedigree for two of his own. Back up and Breakker spears him in half for two, leaving them both down again. Rollins manages a superkick into the stomp into another stomp to retain the title at 17:07.

Rating: B. They saved the best for last here with Breakker being a nice foil for Rollins, even in a match with almost no chance of a title change. Breakker was in over his head here but still made Rollins work, at least partially due to the rib injuries holding Rollins back. What mattered was having such a big name here and Rollins made it work as a result. The power vs. speed/high flying formula was at work here and Breakker came off strong in defeat.

Rollins poses post match but Finn Balor runs in to jump him from behind. Several shots to the ribs connect but Balor fights off security. Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams run in for the save to end the show. That was a nice surprise and could set up something in the future.

Overall Rating: B-. There was a weak part between the Hayes/Corbin segment and the main event but the rest of the show was quite good. What mattered here was making multiple things, including the titles, feel important. I’m really digging this strategy of having the main roster stars come down, as they make the show seem that much more important. Another fine week here, with the last twenty minutes really pulling things higher.

Results
Wes Lee b. Tyler Bate – Cardiac Kick
Edris Enofe/Malik Blade b. Hank Walker/Tank Ledger and Josh Briggs/Brooks Jensen – Frog splash to Ledger
Cora Jade b. Dana Brooke via referee stoppage
Jakara Jackson/Lash Legend b. Yulisa Leon/Valentina Feroz – Pump kick to Leon
Seth Rollins b. Bron Breakker – Stomp

 

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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Summerslam 2020
Date: August 23, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips, Samoa Joe

We’re a year removed from this show and things have indeed changed a bit. For one thing, we are FINALLY out of the Thunderdome, which was a full two days old when this aired. In something that hasn’t changed, I have no idea what happened at this show, save for the main event. That’s kind of nice for another look so let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: US Title: Apollo Crews vs. MVP

Crews is defending and it’s strange to see him as just a guy in trunks and not….whatever he would become next year. As a bonus, the rest of the Hurt Business is banned from ringside. MVP takes him down into a very quickly broken knee bar but Crews is back up with a sunset flip for two. That’s enough for MVP to bail to the floor as things cool down a bit. Back in and Crews flips away from him, setting up a quick dropkick for two. MVP is fine enough to toss him over the top and out onto the steps as the beating begins.

The running boot misses in the corner so Crews goes up, only to get crotched on top. The superplex brings Crews back down but MVP lands hard and the delayed cover gets two. A clothesline puts MVP on the floor and there’s the big flip dive to take him down again. They both dive back in to beat the count and it’s time to slug it out. Crews gets the better of things and it’s a spinebuster into the standing moonsault for two. The toss powerbomb retains the title at 6:37.

Rating: C. This was about as Kickoff Showey of a match as you could get and it happened to have a title on the line. There was nothing wrong with it and Crews gets a win to make him feel that much more important as US Champion. You’re only going to get so much out of a standard Raw level match and this was about it. Not bad, but as forgettable as any other Kickoff Show match.

The opening video is much more about the Thunderdome than anything else, though the matches themselves do actually get some attention. Well the bigger ones at least. The Smackdown World Title match between the Fiend and Braun Strowman has a tagline of “You’ll Never See It Coming”. That’s one way of advertising things.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Bayley vs. Asuka

Bayley is defending as part of the Bayley/Sasha Banks Are The Most Amazing Women Ever stretch. Granted it wound up being pretty awesome so it’s kind of hard to complain all that much. Banks (the Raw Women’s Champion and Bayley’s partner as the Women’s Tag Team Champions) is at ringside too as they fight over the grappling against the ropes to start. Asuka dropkicks her in the ribs to take over and pulls Bayley down into a reverse Koji Clutch.

The foot on the rope gets Bayley out of trouble in a hurry so she bails to the apron, allowing Asuka to kick the leg out again. There is something fun about watching Asuka pick someone apart like that and it always works. Bayley gets kicked out to the floor and Banks is already looking worried. Asuka grabs a DDT (or close enough) off the steps for two back inside but Bayley manages to snap her neck across the middle rope for a much needed breather.

Some stomping sets up the chinlock with Bayley shouting a lot as she keeps Asuka down. Back up and a quick Bayley to Belly gets two but Asuka kicks her in the head for a double knockdown. A German suplex into the hip attack gives Asuka two and they head to the apron for the slugout.

That doesn’t last long so they head back inside for an exchange of leglocks. Asuka knees her in the face for two but Bayley is right back with a running sunset flip into the corner. The “patented” (I want paperwork) top rope elbow is countered into a quickly broken cross armbreaker so Asuka is back with a kick to the head. Banks takes the running hip attack though, allowing Bayley to grab a rollup to retain at 11:33.

Rating: B-. Good and logical choice for an opener here with Asuka fighting as hard as she could to pick up the first title. That didn’t wind up working out, but they did a nice job of going back and forth against each other. What mattered here was having Asuka seem ready to pick up the win until Banks’ interference was enough to throw her off for a split second. Nice match with the story making perfect sense.

Post match Banks (who faces Asuka later tonight) and Bayley beat Asuka down and leave her laying.

Dominik Mysterio asks Rey Mysterio to let him go out there alone tonight. Rey, realizing how much of a disaster it would be to ask fans to care about Dominik on his own, says no but is finally talked into staying in the back.

Video on Retribution’s path of….well really just annoyance so far, though this period of breaking stuff would be their apex as a team.

Raw Tag Team Titles: Street Profits vs. Angel Garza/Andrade

Garza and Andrade, with Zelina Vega (who recently poisoned Montez Ford), are challenging and Kevin Owens is on commentary. We get the traditional rain of red solo cups to start as the Profits’ inset promo talks about how they are here for revenge. Andrade slugs away at Ford to start but gets caught with a big jumping clothesline. A jumping hurricanrana brings Andrade off the top and there’s the double flapjack to drop Garza.

Ford loads up the big flip dive, but gets countered into a double powerbomb onto the floor (as tends to happen). Back in and we hit the armbar on Ford, allowing Garza to TAKE OFF HIS PANTS (Vega approves). A cross armbreaker over the ropes has Ford in more trouble and it’s back to Andrade for an armbar of his own. Garza adds a running knee to the ribs (and promises to win the titles, which Owens does not like) and the running kick to the ribs makes it worse.

There’s the top rope Alberto Double Stomp for Andrade’s next near fall. Ford flips out of a belly to back suplex though and the enziguri sets up the diving tag to Dawkins. Chris Jericho’s Judas Effect only takes Dawkins off one foot (ha) and he spears Andrade down. Ford comes back in with the crazy high crossbody but Garza rolls through for two, even with Vega holding his feet on the rope. Vega gets on the apron to yell but Ford knocks Garza into her. The Sky Cash Out into the twisting frog splash retains the title at 7:50.

Rating: C. Total Raw match here which was the latest exhibit of how much charisma that Garza has. The guy can make anything look better but Andrade had the star power and that is what gets you ahead around here. This feud, or some form of it, went on for the better part of ever and never once got interesting because the Profits were that much better. Now get some fresh competition in the tag division.

The long form celebration is on.

Bayley and Sasha Banks don’t like Kayla Braxton’s questions but know that Sasha will beat Asuka tonight. Bayley even busts out a broom because it’s going to be a sweep.

We recap Sonya Deville vs. Mandy Rose, which has been going on for a long time. Sonya got jealous of Mandy getting all of the attention and eventually turned on her by calling her selfish. Since it’s WWE, we’re supposed to side with the bombshell model, which was made even worse when Sonya was about five levels ahead of Mandy on the mic. Sonya cut off some of Mandy’s hair so the hair vs. hair match was set.

Then a psychotic fan broke into Deville’s house with zip ties and a knife, likely in an attempt to kidnap and/or kill Deville. Rose happened to be staying there and the two got away as the stalker went into the wrong part of the house. This sent Deville into a lengthy legal process and since her lawyer felt that cutting her hair off was a bad idea, it was turned into a No DQ Loser Leaves WWE match. Fair enough, but next time you have a crazed stalker who might be trying to kill you, make sure you think of kayfabe. Go out separate doors or something and worry about being stabbed later.

Sonya Deville vs. Mandy Rose

No DQ and the loser leaves WWE. Mandy offers a handshake to start so Deville rolls her up for two. Back up and Mandy hits her in the face and they head outside with Deville getting suplexed onto the ramp. A clothesline off the announcers’ table puts Deville down again and let’s get a table. As usual, that takes way too long and it’s Sonya ramming Mandy into the announcers’ table to take over.

Back in and a running knee to the chest gets two and it’s a dragon sleeper with a bodyscissors to put Mandy in even more trouble. The trash talking fires Mandy back up though and it’s a jumping knee for two on Sonya. It’s back outside for more ramming into the announcers’ table before Mandy slides chairs over the regular table, with Sonya having to duck the decapitation attempts. That’s either brilliant or really stupid and I’m not sure which. Back in and three straight running knees set up Angel’s Wings to crush Sonya. Another running knee gives Mandy the pin at 9:49.

Rating: C-. This had the intensity but dang Mandy is not the greatest in the ring. I completely get why WWE would want to push the heck out of here but Sonya was so much more of a complete package and felt like a natural. It’s a shame that she had to go away, though it was a rare instance where something is more important than wrestling (egads that’s hard to say).

Post match Otis comes out to celebrate with Mandy (Yeah remember when that was a thing?), who fails at the Caterpillar.

Here’s what’s coming on the WWE Network!

We recap Seth Rollins vs. Dominik Mysterio. This was part of the never ending Rollins vs. Mysterios feud, which saw Rollins gouge Rey Mysterio’s eye out. Dominik is willing to fight for his father in a street fight, which also happens to be his in-ring debut. Rollins also destroyed Dominik by tying him into the ropes and destroying him with a kendo stick for a pretty nasty moment. Other than that though, this feud was complete death by this point and this was the match that I was dreading coming into the show.

Seth Rollins vs. Dominik Mysterio

Street fight and Rollins, with Murphy, is in gear inspired by Rey Mysterio at Halloween Havoc 1997. Rey is here with Dominik, as you might expect. Rollins wrestles him down without much trouble to start and seems rather comfortable. He’s so comfortable that he offers Dominik a headlock before tripping him down with ease. Dominik gets in a few right hands before getting dropped again. A springboard armdrag and then some regular versions have Rollins down, which is just a step too far.

Rollins drops him again and gets a kendo stick, which is dropkicked out of his hands. Dominik gives chase but gets knocked down, only to have Rollins kick the stick away. The one armed camel clutch has Dominik in more trouble and Rey is nervous. The Sling Blade lets Rollins work on Dominik’s hand and Murphy sends in a chair. Seth yells at Rey a lot as he stomps away but the Stomp (that’s confusing) is countered into a drop toehold into the chair. The Buckle Bomb is countered into a hurricanrana into the corner to stagger Rollins again as this comeback needs a crowd reaction.

A tornado DDT out of the corner gets two and the kendo stick shots have Rollins in more trouble. Dominik goes up but it’s Rollins running the corner for the superplex into the Falcon Arrow for two. Rollins is mad (as he should be) and it’s time to kendo stick Dominik for a change. Murphy throws in a table but Rollins takes too long going up, allowing Dominik to hit a super White Russian legsweep through the table. Since wrestling logic is a thing, Dominik is fine and hits a frog splash for two.

Dominik takes too long grabbing things again, allowing Rollins to superkick and kendo stick him some more. Saxton: “Rey can do nothing to help his son!” As you try to see the invisible wall keeping Rey from doing anything, Rollins pulls out some handcuffs. Cue Rey’s wife Angie to try and do something but Rey holds her back.

Murphy loads up the steps to take out Dominik’s eye, meaning the invisible wall is smashed as Rey finally gets involved (making the last five or so minutes subject to wrestling logic). With Dominik as backup, Rey is quickly cuffed to the ropes as the villains look up at Angie. Dominik is back up to make the save this time….and his frog splash hits knees, because he isn’t very good at this. Rollins tells Rey to reach for Dominik and then hits the Stomp for the pin at 22:36.

Rating: C-. Being away from this story for a year has taken away some of the bad feelings about it, but this still wasn’t very good. Above all else, this was WAY too long as Rollins felt like he was dealing with an annoyance than any real threat. Dominik isn’t an embarrassment in the ring by any means but he also isn’t ready to be in a 20+ minute featured match at Summerslam. He looked ok for a debut, but the length of the match (and the feud) dragged it way down.

The villains sneer post match and Rey hugs Dominik.

Raw Women’s Title: Sasha Banks vs. Asuka

Banks is defending and has Bayley in her corner. Commentary points out that Banks has never had a successful singles title defense, which does not bode well for her future. Banks goes straight for the knee (ala Bayley in the first match) but Asuka spins up and fires off the Kawada kicks. A sliding forearm (minus some power because of the knee) sends Banks outside and Asuka is right there with a kneebar on the floor.

They wind up on the apron, where Asuka kicks the post by mistake. Bayley cranks up the trash talk (because she’s very good at that) and Banks takes her back inside to fire off kicks in the corner. Banks switches to the shoulders but gets caught in an electric chair faceplant. Asuka can’t be trusted with two legs in front of her and Banks has to bail to the ropes to escape the kneebar.

With that broken up, Asuka gets a bit creative by taking her up top for a super DDT. The missile dropkick gives Asuka two but Banks goes after the knee again, setting up the double knees in the corner. They’re both down so Bayley goes into coaching mode….and Asuka immediately grabs the ankle lock. Bayley isn’t good at coaching. The Bank Statement is countered into the Asuka Lock which is countered as well. Bayley’s distraction fails and the Asuka Lock goes on again to make Banks tap for the title at 11:31.

Rating: B-. I liked this one a good bit as Banks and Bayley had a plan to take Asuka out but still couldn’t do it. That’s a nice way to make Asuka look even more impressive while also continuing the build to Banks vs. Bayley. They took their time to get there but Bayley was awesome almost every step of the way. Banks held up her end as well and it was a heck of a match on top of the storytelling.

Post match Banks glares at Bayley, who begs forgiveness.

We recap Randy Orton vs. Drew McIntyre for the Raw World Title. Orton has attacked a variety of legends, which has McIntyre ready to fight back and defend their honor, along with his title. McIntyre talked about how Orton has been protected for years while McIntyre fought every day to get here. They did a nice job with the culture clash here and the video does a good job of making this feel big.

Raw World Title: Randy Orton vs. Drew McIntyre

McIntyre is defending and we get a quick inset promo from Shawn Michaels, who wants Orton to get Claymored. Orton bails to the floor to start as the mind games are going strong early on. Back in and Orton begs off again but does hit a few right hands before bailing to the floor for a second time. This time the chase is on but Orton catches McIntyre on the way back in. The RKO attempt is blocked so McIntyre shoulders him down. Another threat of the RKO sends McIntyre bailing outside and you can see a bit of shock.

Back in again and McIntyre unloads in the corner but has to block the RKO for a third time. The ensuing charge sends McIntyre shoulder first into the post and Orton sends him into the barricade to make it worse. A posting sets up a drop onto the announcers’ table and then Orton does the latter again. Orton gets a bit creative by suplexing McIntyre off the table for a delayed one (that kickout at one was a good deal for McIntyre).

The chinlock goes on for a bit, followed by the Orton Stomp and some slow staring at the….uh, screens. McIntyre comes back with a Stunner to the knee in the corner and a spinebuster for the double knockdown. With the knee banged up, McIntyre goes Flair with the Figure Four (nice job given Orton attacking Flair and other legends leading up to this). Orton can’t roll out so he grabs the referee for a distraction and goes to the eye to escape. McIntyre’s eye looks to be cut a bit as they slug it out from their knees. Make that from their feet, with McIntyre having to block the RKO again.

The overhead belly to belly sends Orton flying and McIntyre does it again for a bonus. A top rope shot to the head drops Orton and McIntyre nips up as the adrenaline starts flowing. McIntyre loads up a superplex, gets knocked into the Tree of Woe, and pulls himself up to send Orton flying with the choke superplex as usual. As impressive as that is, commentary shouldn’t be that impressed or surprised, but WWE commentators are seen as stupid for a reason.

The Futureshock gets two but McIntyre misses coming off the top. Orton’s powerslam gets two and he is busted open as well. The hanging DDT is broken up and it’s a Cactus Clothesline to put both of them on the floor. They get back in fast but this time the hanging DDT connects. With nothing else working, Orton loads up the Punt but McIntyre cuts him off. The Claymore misses so Orton tries the RKO again, only to get caught in a backslide of all things to retain the title at 20:34. Commentary shouts about how Orton NEVER SAW IT COMING because they need to hit that tagline.

Rating: B. I liked this one a good bit as they were playing up the story they had established coming in. The idea was that Orton was the seasoned veteran who had learned from the legends and he was cheating every chance he had here. Throw in the RKO as the ultimate weapon (which he never hit, as it is probably being saved for later) and this was a chess match with McIntyre using everything he could while Orton just waited to hit the RKO. I liked what they were doing and the ending worked well. Good match, which shouldn’t be much of a surprise.

Orton looks up at McIntyre from the floor because this isn’t over.

We recap Braun Strowman vs. Bray Wyatt for the Smackdown World Title. These two have been feuding for MONTHS in one bad match after another. Last month, they fought in the swamp (because reasons) and Wyatt made Alexa Bliss appear because Strowman has always wanted her. Strowman doesn’t buy it because he knows the Fiend is going to corrupt her as well. Bliss slapped Strowman a bunch so he teased attacking her but decided to fight the Fiend instead. In other words, this feud was really, really stupid and nothing they were changing made it any better at all.

Smackdown World Title: The Fiend vs. Braun Strowman

Strowman is defending and this is Falls Count Anywhere. Fiend is driven back into the corner to start but comes back with a heck of a clothesline to drop Strowman. They’re already on the floor with Fiend busting out a toolbox. A few shots with said toolbox don’t do much to Strowman, who runs Fiend through the barricade. Strowman chokeslams him onto (not through) the announcers’ table and a steps shot to the face drops Fiend again.

Back in and the powerslam sends Fiend right back to the floor, which doesn’t mean as much as he can get pinned out there as well. Strowman kicks him up the ramp and they fight backstage. Fiend whips him into a few walls and Sister Abigail gets two. They come back into the arena where Strowman is sent into the video screen to bust up some of the color.

The Mandible Claw goes on but Strowman gets up anyway and shoves him into the apron for the break. Back in and another powerslam gets another two on Fiend so Strowman yells a lot. Strowman grabs a box cutter from the toolbox and starts cutting up the mat to expose the wood. That takes WAY too long so Fiend is back up with a Rock Bottom and a pair of Sister Abigails onto the wood for the pin and the titles at 11:58.

Rating: C. The shorter time helped but egads this feud was death and everyone but WWE seemed to know it. You could have seen this title change coming from before Extreme Rules last month, making for a very long and slow build. They kept this the way they should have and the lack of anything involving Bliss helped here. It could have been worse, but you’re only getting so much out of a hoss fight like this one. As long as Strowman isn’t champion any longer though, it’s an upgrade.

Post match Roman Reigns is back (for the first time since March) with the spear to the Fiend and the beating is on. Another spear hits Strowman and Reigns shouts about how they aren’t monsters unless he’s here. Reigns bends a chair over Strowman and spears Fiend down again. He grabs the title, says it has always been his, and calls Fiend a freak in a mask. Cole: “WE NEVER SAW THIS COMING!” Reigns would win the title a week later, as he should have, along with joining Paul Heyman, which was an amazing twist.

Overall Rating: B-. This was a bit of an odd show as the stuff that was good was quite good but the weaker stuff just felt tacked on. WWE was still figuring things out after getting into the Thunderdome and this came off as somewhat of a Summerslam in name only. It certainly isn’t a bad show with the Bayley/Banks/Asuka stuff and McIntyre vs. Orton all being good. Tighten things up a bit and it could be great, but for now it just has to settle for being pretty good.

Ratings Comparison

Apollo Crews vs. MVP

Original: C
Redo: C

Asuka vs. Bayley

Original: B-
Redo: B-

Street Profits vs. Andrade/Angel Garza

Original: C
Redo: C

Sonya Deville vs. Mandy Rose

Original: D+
Redo: C

Seth Rollins vs. Dominik Mysterio

Original: D+
Redo: C-

Asuka vs. Sasha Banks

Original: B
Redo: B-

Randy Orton vs. Drew McIntyre

Original: B+
Redo: B

Fiend vs. Braun Strowman

Original: C+
Redo: C

Overall Rating

Original: C
Redo: B-

I’m not sure if that overall rating makes sense but the rest of the show was certainly in the same ballpark, save for Rose vs. Deville.

Here is the original review if you are interested:

 

 

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

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

AND

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

Wrestlemania XXXVI Night Two
Date: April 5, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield

It’s the second half of one of the weirdest shows ever and I’m not sure what that is going to mean. Even a year later, this show is mostly forgotten outside of the main event and I’m curious to see how the rest of it holds up. I was actually surprised by some of what’s on the card as it has completely escaped me over the last year. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Natalya vs. Liv Morgan

You know, you don’t have to have a Kickoff Show match if this is as good as you can get. Natalya headlocks her down to start but lets it go for an early standoff. A rollup gives Morgan two and she gets some sarcastic applause for a bonus. Morgan ducks a clothesline with the Matrix and rolls her up for two more, allowing her to get in her own sarcastic applause.

Natalya is right back with her belly to back drop into the step over basement dropkick for two more. The surfboard goes on and Morgan screams a lot but she avoids a charge in the corner to grab another rollup. A Codebreaker gives Morgan two and Natalya’s sitout wheelbarrow faceplant gets the same. The Sharpshooter attempt is countered into a step up enziguri and Morgan grabs another rollup for the pin at 6:22.

Rating: C-. This was as interesting as it was going to get with Morgan trying one rollup after another to little avail until the ending. Morgan always seems like someone they want to push to the moon but can’t figure out how to get there. This win isn’t going to be some game changer, but at least they gave her something, even if this was nearly depressing as a way to start the night.

Stephanie McMahon gives us a quick welcome.

We get the same still pretty great pirate parody opening video.

Rob Gronkowski talks about knowing a thing or two about dropping the hammer on a championship Sunday.

NXT Women’s Title: Charlotte vs. Rhea Ripley

Ripley is defending and it’s a shame that she didn’t get the big moment after the pretty cool video of her walking into the empty Raymond James Stadium. We get the recap video after Charlotte’s entrance, as Charlotte won the Royal Rumble and Ripley threw her hat in the ring, meaning it was time for Charlotte to go after the NXT Women’s Title again. Ripley looks a bit weird in blue tights but Wrestlemania has had some strange choices over the year.

Charlotte takes her down to start and we hit the trash talk in a hurry. Ripley seems to be favoring her knee as they lock up and Charlotte drives her into the corner. The chops, with more trash talk, have Ripley in more trouble but she comes out with the Riptide for a quick two. That’s enough to send Charlotte outside for a breather so Ripley follows her out with an elbow to the face.

A flip dive off the steps takes Charlotte down again and Ripley sends her face first into the mat back inside. Ripley gets two more off a snap suplex and it’s time to kick Charlotte in the back. The bodyscissors stays on the ribs but Charlotte gets in a shot to the leg for a breather. Another kick to the knee has Ripley in trouble and Charlotte twists it around to make things even worse.

The leg is wrapped around the post but Ripley comes back with a belly to back faceplant. Ripley is back up with some good knees to the face, setting up a dropkick to a kneeling Charlotte. A lot of shouting at the knee drives Ripley on but Charlotte sends her to the apron for another kick to the knee. Ripley catches her on top for an electric chair faceplant but Charlotte hits her in the face. The knee to the knee in the corner misses though and Ripley scores with a missile dropkick, which bangs up the knee even more.

Charlotte is back up with a chop block but Ripley grabs the legs for the Prism Trap (such a cool name). That’s reversed into a Boston crab but Ripley powers out into a pinfall reversal sequence. Back up and Ripley scores with a big boot for two and frustration is setting in. Ripley takes her up top but gets shoved down, only to get the boots up to block the moonsault. Charlotte hits a spear for two so it’s time for the Figure Eight for the tap and the title at 20:27.

Rating: B+. This felt like a battle and a struggle, which is exactly how it should have felt. They made it feel important, but I really can’t get behind the idea of Charlotte winning here. It’s like she came in and showed NXT how little they mean compared to the main roster. Charlotte has won everything there is to win in WWE, so why did she need to win this too? Ripley needed this win a lot more than Charlotte, but that has never stopped WWE before.

Long video on night one.

Aleister Black vs. Bobby Lashley

Lana is here with Lashley and this might be the greatest example of “what a difference a year makes” in recent memory. Black has horns on his shoulders because of course he does. Lashley powers him around to start and then does it again to make his point clear. A leg dive doesn’t work for Black as Lashley supelxes him down and hammers away.

Lashley misses a charge and falls out to the floor but Black misses the middle rope moonsault, earning himself a suplex. There’s a running shoulder to the ribs in the corner, setting up a neckbreaker to drop Black again. Black knees his way out of the delayed vertical suplex but Lashley snaps off a powerslam for two more.

Now the suplex can connect for two but Black is back with kicks to the legs. Another kick puts Lashley on the floor and now the middle rope moonsault connects. Back in and Lashley hits a crossbody of all things for two but Lana gets on the steps for no logical reason. The Dominator is loaded up but Lana demands a spear….which charges into Black Mass to give Black the pin at 7:16.

Rating: C. Not a bad back and forth match here but the ending didn’t do it many favors. Lana and Lashley was an idea that went on too long and pretty much never worked but WWE didn’t seem to get the idea for a good while. Then there’s Black and egads what happened with him? He had a nice push in the spring and summer but then it just all fell apart later on, because WWE. I don’t get it either, because he just pinned a big star clean here and then WWE just gave up.

Bayley and Sasha Banks aren’t worried about the five way tonight. They are united to keep Bayley’s Smackdown Women’s Title because they are best friends. Bayley leaves but when asked if she wants to win the title, Banks says we’ll see.

We look at Mojo Rawley winning the 24/7 Title last night.

Rob Gronkowski wants the 24/7 Title.

We recap Otis vs. Dolph Ziggler. Otis and Mandy Rose seem to have a thing for each other but Ziggler doesn’t get it. Then he and Sonya Deville got together to split them up before they could get together, with Mandy getting together with Ziggler instead. The Smackdown hacker intervened and shows the plot, meaning Mandy and Otis can be on the same page once Otis deals with Ziggler. Yeah this was kind of nuts but it was funny and oddly charming.

Otis vs. Dolph Ziggler

Sonya Deville is here with Ziggler, who is chased outside before the bell. Otis splashes him in the corner to start but Ziggler is right back with a superkick to the floor. A posting gives Ziggler two back inside and we hit the choke. There’s a dropkick for two more and the choking moves to the ropes this time. The jumping elbow sets up something like a rear naked choke, which Otis breaks up in a hurry. Otis starts the jiggling and hammers away, including the running clotheslines.

A slam lets Otis step on Ziggler’s back and a whip into the corner puts Ziggler down again. Otis sends him outside for a whip into the barricade, followed by a posting for a bonus. Back in and a pop up World’s Strongest Slam has Ziggler in trouble and Sonya demanding that he get up. A Sonya distraction lets Ziggler get in a low blow and they’re both down for a bit. Cue Mandy Rose (you knew this was coming) to slap Sonya and hit Ziggler low, setting up the Caterpillar to give Otis the pin at 8:09.

Rating: C-. The match was nothing beyond a Smackdown level match but I was stunned by the result. I really would never have bet that Otis would have beaten Ziggler so well done on the surprise ending and going the right way. There was no logical reason for Ziggler to win here, which was exactly why I would have expected it. Otis and Mandy were never going to be a long term angle, but for a one off moment, this was very well done.

Post match Otis picks Mandy up and they have their first kiss, which would have been a great moment with a crowd.

We recap Edge vs. Randy Orton. Edge returned in the Royal Rumble for the huge surprise, where he eliminated Orton. This made Orton ask if Edge wanted to reunited Rated RKO one more time, only to surprise Edge with a big beatdown. With Edge gone, Orton gave his wife Beth Phoenix an RKO, which was treated like the worst thing ever, because Beth went from a Hall of Famer to a damsel in distress. Orton explained that he was doing this to save Edge from turning into what Orton had become, even if it meant ending his career all over again. Makes wrestling sense and it set up a Last Man Standing match, so who am I to complain?

Edge vs. Randy Orton

Last Man Standing and dang it must be awful for Edge to put in all that work and his Wrestlemania entrance is in front of an empty building. Orton runs in from behind (thanks to the classic cameraman disguise) with the RKO and the referee has to ask Edge if he wants to do this. That’s an of course so Orton hits another RKO for an early nine. They head outside with Orton hitting him in the face with the camera for seven so let’s go backstage.

It’s off to the gym first with Orton using a strap from a gym machine (in a moment whose accidental significance went completely over my head live) to choke him but Edge gets back up and hits him with a chain. Edge hammers him onto a table and then into a chair to pound away even more. We go aerial as Edge grabs a machine and uses it to pull himself up and land on Orton in the chair. Edge shouts about nine years but gets whipped into a wall to put him down.

Orton can’t quite crush him with a sled so Edge sends him into some equipment. They fight into a rather narrow hallway where Orton goes face first into a garage door. That’s only good for six though as Edge wants to beat him up some more. It’s back into the arena now with Orton throwing Edge into the barricade. Edge uses said barricade to pull himself up at nine so it’s time to go backstage again, this time to the office area. They take turns ramming each other into a board room table until Edge sends him face first into a wall.

Orton is thrown onto the table and Edge pulls himself up on the….whatever the chain link stuff is above the table to drop an elbow. We lose a cameraman so another has to run in to catch them in a storage room. Orton staggers away with his left arm pretty banged up, but he is able to knock Edge onto an anvil case. They go through more stuff with Edge finding some chairs, which Orton throws away in a hurry. A whip into a bunch of stuff gives Orton nine and they wind up in what loos like an interview area.

Edge gets in a few more shots of his own, including a kick to the ribs, and they’re both down for a breather. With Orton knocked onto a table, Edge climbs a ladder onto a scaffold and drops a huge elbow through Orton through said table for a double eight. It’s time to stagger around some more, this time with Orton’s shoulder bleeding. Orton sends him into more equipment for another eight and then takes him onto the back of a covered pick up truck.

The hanging DDT onto said cover gives us another double eight and they climb onto the top of a big production truck. Edge cuts off a Punt with the spear for nine but another spear charges into an RKO. With Edge getting up again, Orton drops down and grabs some chairs to take back to the top of the truck. Orton sounds like he mentions Edge’s daughters but the Conchairto is countered into a standing choke. That’s enough to knock Orton out but Edge says stop counting. The Conchairto crushes him for good and Edge wins at 36:40.

Rating: B-. I liked this one way more the first time around as this really did feel long here. They had some good violence and beat each other up but you easily could have cut out ten plus minutes and done the same thing. You also get into the same problem that so many Last Man Standing matches have, in that you spend so much time waiting on the counts that the match loses a lot of steam. I still like it, but cut this stuff down.

Back in the arena, Mojo Rawley runs from the menagerie of numskulls but Rob Gronkowski dives off a balcony onto the pile to win the title. Apparently this took HOURS to film as Gronkowski wouldn’t do it, even after Vince McMahon himself demonstrated the dive (the video released of Vince doing it is kind of awesome).

Raw Tag Team Titles: Austin Theory/Angel Garza vs. Street Profits

The Profits are defending and Theory is a last minute replacement for an injured Andrade, just to hammer home how messy this show is. Zelina Vega is here with the challengers too. Dawkins headlocks Theory to start and then runs him over with a shoulder. The champs start taking turns on the shoulder but Theory sends Dawkins outside. That means Garza can hit a superkick, allowing him to come inside and TAKE OFF HIS PANTS.

Some kicks to Dawkins’ ribs set up a seated abdominal stretch but Dawkins flips out without much trouble. Ford comes in to clean house and there’s the big flip dive onto Theory (and Dawkins by mistake). Back in and Garza kicks Ford down, setting up a Lionsault for two. The Wing Clipper is countered with an enziguri though and the hot tag brings in Dawkins. Theory catches him with a quick TKO but Ford comes in with the frog splash to give Dawkins the retaining pin at 6:23.

Rating: D+. There was a very firm limit to what they could do here with no real feud between one of the teams hadn’t even been together for a week and they didn’t even have seven minutes to do their thing. It felt like a Raw match and in this case, that is about as good as you could have expected. The Profits were brand new champions here and as usual, there weren’t exactly a ton of teams for them to challenge them. Take away one of the only ones around and how good could this have been?

Post match the beatdown is on but Bianca Belair runs in for her debut and takes out Vega.

Titus O’Neil has taken over hosting duties, meaning he says he’s hosting.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Bayley vs. Sasha Banks vs. Lacey Evans vs. Tamina vs. Naomi

Bayley is defending under elimination rules and Naomi’s entrance is still cool even in an empty arena. Everyone goes after Tamina to start because it is Wrestlemania season and therefore she matters again. With Tamina knocked to the floor, the other four pair off until Bayley and Banks double team Evans for two. The mini tag match breaks out with Lacey and Naomi hitting stereo dropkicks for stereo near falls.

Tamina (sorry, the POWERFUL Tamina) gets back in to wreck everyone and gets a few near falls. Bayley and Lacey are kicked to the floor, leaving us with a Team BAD reunion, assuming more than about 4% of the audience actually remembers that weird trios period at the start of the Women’s Revolution. Tamina gets double teamed down and it’s a parade of finishers to get rid of her at 6:26 (because Tamina is Andre the Giant at Wrestlemania).

With the unstoppable monster stopped, Bayley starts beating on everyone else with the trash talk thrown in for a bonus. Naomi comes back in to beat up Bayley and Banks at the same time, including a Rear View to Banks and a middle rope kick to both. That’s about it for the Offense though as the Bank Statement makes Naomi tap at 10:15. Bayley: “DANCE TO THE BACK!”

Bayley and Banks double team Lacey, including something like a double powerbomb for two. A running knee (Bayley: “THIS IS FOR SUMMER”!, meaning Lacey’s daughter) hits Banks by mistake and the cracks seem ready to form. The distraction lets Lacey hit the Woman’s Right to finish Banks at 13:26 (with Cole’s call being heard on the replay, because the building is that quiet).

So it’s one on one with Evans hammering away and grabbing a neckbreaker for two. Bayley sends her shoulder first into the post though and the stomping ensues. More shouting and right hands in the corner have Lacey in trouble but she gets up a boot to cut Bayley off. The slingshot Bronco Buster connects and the double springboard moonsault gets two. Cue Sasha with a Backstabber to Lacey though, allowing Bayley to hit the bulldog driver to retain at 19:18.

Rating: C. It worked well, even after the awesome force that is Tamina was gone. At least these four have some backstories and characters so it is a little bit better than having five random people in there doing all of their spots as fast as they can. Bayley retaining is fine enough, as she has a tendency to do well at Wrestlemania, though Lacey winning the title would have been a nice feel good moment.

Wrestlemania 37 is in Los Angeles. I’m sure.

We recap John Cena vs. the Fiend in the Firefly Funhouse Match. Cena returned a few weeks ago and didn’t a Wrestlemania match but the Fiend showed up to point at the sign (because THE FIEND has to point at the sign) and the challenge was on. Bray Wyatt then explained that this is fallout from Cena beating him at Wrestlemania XXX, which is what send Wyatt completely over the edge and led to the creation of the Fiend. It makes enough sense and that’s all it needs to do for the most part.

John Cena vs. The Fiend

Cena does his full entrance and we cut to the Funhouse, where Wyatt says Cena will be fighting himself. Cena follows him through the door and I guess we’ll say the match starts there. With Cena standing in the dark, Puppet Vince pops up to ask if Cena has the ruthless aggression to be a star. If not, he’s fired. Bray appears in the ring and calls out someone for a fight and here’s Cena in his 2002 gear to say RUTHLESS AGGRESSION (ala his debut against Kurt Angle) but he can’t hit the slap on Bray. Wyatt: “You can look but you can’t touch!”

Bray disappears and we hit the Saturday Night’s Main Event intro (yeah don’t bother to try and make sense out of some of the pieces of this). Bray does a Hulk Hogan impression (behind a piece of the big blue cage of course) and talks about how his partner Johnny Largemeat is all about the muscles. Cena, lifting weights, comes in and does a Hogan/Randy Savage hybrid impression. He lifts so much his arms won’t come up anymore and now it’s off to the Dr. of Thuganomics Cena.

Wyatt and Cena are in the ring again with Cena realizing that he can only speak in rhyme. We get a Husky Harris joke and Cena talks about taking chances. That’s too much for Wyatt, who calls Cena a bully to takes others’ weaknesses and turns them into jokes. Cena throws the nuts at Wyatt, who knocks him out with a chain. Now it’s cult leader Wyatt and we go to the Wrestlemania XXX match, which Wyatt calls his grandest failure. Back in the ring now, with Wyatt saying it is time to rewrite his own story.

Bray hands Cena a chair (again ala Wrestlemania) and tells Cena to fix his mistake. This time Cena swings….and now we’re on Nitro, with Bray as Eric Bischoff to introduce the Hollywood Hogan version of Cena. Puppet Vince: “IT’S SUCH GOOD S***!” Cena freaks out and realizes he is beating up Huskus the Pig. The Fiend pops up behind him for the Mandible Claw and, after hearing Cena calls Bray overhyped and privileged, Sister Abigail finishes at about 13:30.

Rating: A+. This is one of those things that was amazing live and then it gets even better when you have a chance to think about the thing. This was a huge deconstruction of the entire John Cena legacy, down to what would have happened if he had finally turned heel like so many people wanted him to.

It turns into a What If/Road Not Taken idea and that is amazing to see, as Cena really does have a detailed and incredible rise to the top. Wyatt sees him as a fraud who has done everything he can to hold others, including Wyatt himself, down and he needed to avenge his Wrestlemania XXX loss. This was outstanding and one of the most well thought out and incredible ideas that I’ve seen WWE ever present, and I’m probably missing big parts of the whole thing.

Titus O’Neil isn’t sure what he just saw.

We recap Drew McIntyre vs. Brock Lesnar. McIntyre was the Chosen One but screwed up and got fired, so he reinvented himself and came back to WWE as a man. Then McIntyre won the Royal Rumble, eliminating Brock Lesnar in the process. Cue the title match, as McIntyre is finally ready to achieve his destiny.

Raw World Title: Drew McIntyre vs. Brock Lesnar

Lesnar is defending and for once, Paul Heyman doesn’t’ handle his introduction. Drew hits the first Claymore for the first two count at 17 seconds. Another Claymore is countered into the German suplex, followed by a second for a bonus. There’s the third and McIntyre is in trouble. The F5 gets one (that’s Drew’s thing) and another gets two. There’s a third F5 for another near fall (Heyman: “He’s really good. Hit him again! He can’t keep kicking out all night!”) but McIntyre escapes the fourth. Three straight Claymores make Drew champion at 4:32.

Rating: C+. It was fun and energetic but I’m completely over watching this style. It has been done to death and I could go for something fresh. Is it asking too much for a ten minute match instead of ten finishers in four minutes? McIntyre winning was the only way you could go here as Lesnar has been champion for so long recently that it no longer has any impact. This went as it should have, but egads find a better way to do them.

McIntyre celebrates to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. I liked this one better than the first night by a good stretch as the matches certainly felt bigger. The main event and some other things came off like they belonged on Wrestlemania, but there are still things that make this show feel like absolutely nothing. Again though, you can only put so much of that on WWE as they were up against the wall and had to do a lot of things at the last minute. It was good if you give them a lot of breaks and really, how can you not with a show like this?

Overall Overall Rating: C+. Of course this didn’t feel like Wrestlemania and that is because it barely was Wrestlemania. The problem is that with so much build and setup for the whole thing, WWE absolutely had to do something, especially if television was going to continue as usual. No it isn’t good by comparison to other Wrestlemanias but nothing was the same around this time. Things would get better going forward but this was still the dark ages of the pandemic. They did what they could here and in that regard, this show worked out as well as it could have.

Ratings Comparison

Liv Morgan vs. Natalya

Original: D+

2021 Redo: C-

Charlotte vs. Rhea Ripley

Original: C+

2021 Redo: B+

Aleister Black vs. Bobby Lashley

Original: D+

2021 Redo: C

Dolph Ziggler vs. Otis

Original: D+

2021 Redo: C-

Randy Orton vs. Edge

Original: B

2021 Redo: B-

Street Profits vs. Angel Garza/Austin Theory

Original: D+

2021 Redo: D+

Bayley vs. Sasha Banks vs. Naomi vs. Tamina vs. Lacey Evans

Original: D

2021 Redo: C

John Cena vs. The Fiend

Original: N/A

2021 Redo: A+

Brock Lesnar vs. Drew McIntyre

Original: D

2021 Redo: C+

Overall Rating

Original: C-

2021 Redo: B-

Overall Overall Rating

Original: C

2021 Redo: C+

That’s one of the biggest changes I can remember having as the matches almost all went up and then the overall rating barely goes up. This was hardly a normal show though so the drastic swing a year later isn’t surprising.

Here is the original review if you are interested:

https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2020/04/05/wrestlemania-xxxvi-night-two-the-wwe-psyche/

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.

 

Wrestlemania XXXVI Night 1
Date: April 4, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton
Host: Rob Gronkowski

A year has passed since this show and it still does not seem real. Aside from the main event, this show has almost been erased from history as it is barely ever discussed whatsoever. The Coronavirus wiped everything out and the show was moved to the Performance Center, making it feel like a show that they had just to say they had it. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Cesaro vs. Drew Gulak

Their respective friends (Shinsuke Nakamura/Sami Zayn and Daniel Bryan) are feuding so these two are having a match as well. Yeah it’s weak but what else are they supposed to do? Cole is calling this one on his own and it sounds so strange. Gulak goes for the arm to start but a short armscissors is countered into a powerbomb. They head outside with Cesaro getting in another shot but the arm is banged up.

An armdrag on the bad arm sets up a whip into the steps but Cesaro uppercuts him out of the air for two. A Fujiwara armbar is broken up so Gulak settles for two off a sunset flip. Cesaro boots him in the face and loads up a torture rack airplane spin (with no hands at one point for a crazy visual) before just dropping Gulak for the pin at 4:27.

Rating: C. The match was fine but EGADS this is bizarre. It’s like we’re watching a training session that was recorded and they slapped a Wrestlemania logo on the thing. It was watchable enough and would have been acceptable as a warmup but I can’t believe that this is Wrestlemania. Of course it isn’t on WWE given the circumstances but my goodness this is weird and that isn’t likely to change over the course of the show.

Stephanie McMahon welcomes us to the show and says that while this is going to be the most different Wrestlemania ever (due to the current circumstances, with no mention of the virus, which was a weird WWE thing for a LONG time).

Rather than someone singing America the Beautiful live, we get a montage of previous performances. Fair enough and actually a pretty cool idea.

The opening video continues the pirate theme but someone doing a pretty bad Jack Sparrow impression cuts it off, saying it sounds like they are starting at the end. He says the video isn’t trying and calls for the “classic movie trailer voice”. The trailer voice is cut off by the Sparrow impression (which is how he refers to it) but the video still doesn’t work, so he says go to the shots of our heroes looking all serious. These people are larger than life and are marred by the work of hundreds of days and nights.

This is their quest for gold, glory and immortality. Tonight, forget EVERYTHING you know because fate leads the way, and fate can surprise us. History waits for no one and tonight, their chance to shape history begins right now. The traditional montage takes over from here. I love pirate movies and while this was pretty much a parody of the idea, it makes me wonder how good the real thing would have been with the WWE budget behind a pirate themed show.

Host Rob Gronkowski (erg) welcomes us to the show and does some fine script reading as he talks about how this is a two night event. He talks about being able to start a party on a Saturday night, even if that might be a little difficult in a mostly empty building. Mojo Rawley joins him because you need the hype here. Gronk gives him some pretty lame chops and we’re off to the first match.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Alexa Bliss/Nikki Cross vs. Kabuki Warriors

The Warriors (Asuka/Kairi Sane) are defending and commentary points out that they took the titles from Bliss/Cross back in October. This is their first title defense since DECEMBER, because the titles really don’t mean much in WWE. Asuka and Bliss get things going with a lot of laughing but it’s off to Sane without any contact. Sane shoves Bliss around a bit, drawing Bliss back up to knock Sane down. That sets up the double knees to the ribs and a tag off to Cross, who is taken into the champs’ corner.

Some forearms stagger Asuka though and Bliss tags herself in. That means a baseball slide can knock Sane outside, followed by a flip dive from the apron. Back in and Asuka punches Cross in the face, allowing the tag back to Sane. Everything breaks down again with the Warriors taking over on the floor. Back in again and a bulldog into a basement dropkick rocks Cross but Sane gets a bit cocky.

That means Cross can kick her away, allowing the tag back to Bliss. House doesn’t have time to be cleaned though as Asuka offers a distraction, allowing Sane to catch Bliss in the ropes. The Alberto double stomp gets two and Bliss is in trouble, despite Cross trying to get….well no one here to clap. The referee yells at Asuka, allowing Sane to snap Bliss’ neck across the ropes.

Bliss forearms Asuka in the face so Asuka kicks her head off. Another shot from Bliss allows the hot tag to Cross, meaning it’s a lot of screaming as she forearms and bulldogs Sane. A high crossbody gives Cross two but Sane gets in a cheap shot from the apron. The Reckoning gets two on Asuka with Sane breaking it up off a top rope elbow (and possibly with a camera edit because that count looked ready to go down before Sane appeared).

Asuka tries the Asuka Lock on Cross but Bliss breaks it up with Twisted Bliss. Back up and Asuka hits a Codebreaker on Cross but the Insane Elbow is broken up. Instead it’s a powerbomb/top rope forearm to knock Cross silly….for two. Nikki avoids a charge to send Asuka into the post. The Reckoning sets up another Twisted Bliss for the pin and the titles at 15:11.

Rating: C. That was a lot longer than I would have bet on but the title change was the right way to start. If nothing else, just so Bliss can do her pose with a title again. You can only have the Warriors hold the title so long before it stops meaning anything due to a lack of defenses. I can’t imagine this makes a huge difference, but it was the right move here.

Sami Zayn brags about taking the Intercontinental Title from Braun Strowman, even though people thought it was inevitable that Strowman would destroy him. Tonight, people think it is inevitable that Daniel Bryan will take the title from him, but we’ll see about that.

King Corbin vs. Elias

This is fallout from Corbin knocking Elias off a platform here in the arena. That should have, you know, broken most of his bones, but instead it put him out for eight days. Corbin insists that Elias isn’t here but the comeback is here before the referee can even start to count. Corbin goes outside to start the fight in the aisle so Elias blasts him in the back with the guitar.

Elias sends him into various things and they head inside for the opening bell. An elbow to the face gives Elias two and it’s time to choke near the ropes. Corbin tosses him over the top and wants the countout but settles for right hands to the ribs back inside. The slide underneath the rope in the corner clothesline gets two on Elias and it’s time to hammer on Elias’ bad shoulder (because he has a bad shoulder after crashing off the balcony last week).

Said bad shoulder goes into the post for two and Corbin yells at the referee, which you can hear a lot more of in the empty arena. Back up and Elias sends him shoulder first into the post to even things up a bit. A kick out of the corner sends Corbin into another corner and Elias hammers away. Elias has to roll through the top rope elbow and charges into Deep Six for two. Back up and Elias nails a jumping knee to the face but gets sent throat first into the ropes. A rollup with feet on the ropes gives Corbin two but the referee catches the cheating and yells a lot. Instead Elias grabs a rollup and tights for the pin at 8:52.

Rating: C-. That’s one of the least interesting matches I can remember in a long time, but what were you expecting given who was in there? It’s bad enough that Elias’ big revenge was a rollup pin after getting beaten down for a few minutes, but the fact that it came over Corbin made things even worse. Just not an interesting match and it would have felt a lot better as the nothing Kickoff Show match instead.

We recap Shayna Baszler vs. Becky Lynch for the Raw Women’s Title. Becky Lynch has been champion for about a year and is out of people to face. Baszler showed up from NXT and….bit Becky’s neck for some reason, drawing a bunch of blood. Then Baszler demolished the Elimination Chamber match to become #1 contender (in other words she beat up a bunch of losers and Asuka), setting up Lynch’s biggest challenge in a long time. Lynch reminding Baszler that she beat Ronda Rousey to get the title was a great response and this was a heck of a build.

Raw Women’s Title: Becky Lynch vs. Shayna Baszler

Lynch is defending and drives to the arena in a semi truck because…something about the Man I guess? They go straight to the slugout to start and the threat of the Kirifuda Clutch sends Becky bailing out to the floor. Baszler is sent into the steps to put her in trouble, followed by a missile dropkick back inside. Lynch comes up favoring her back but hammers away in the corner anyway.

A hard knee rocks Lynch but she slips out of the Kirifuda Clutch to grab a rollup instead. Baszler grabs a cutter for two but can’t hit a running knee. They fight to the apron with Lynch talking trash as they forearm it out. Lynch Rock Bottoms her onto the apron for two and the champ looks a bit surprised.

Baszler slams her off the top and grabs a quickly broken cross armbreaker. Instead Baszler puts on her own Disarm Her but Lynch is out in a hurry. This time Lynch grabs the Disarm Her on the ropes, only to have Baszler knock her off the rope for a big crash. Baszler picks her up for a hard swing into the announcers’ table (geez that always looks rough) before throwing it back inside. The Kirifuda Clutch goes on but Lynch backflips over for the pin to retain at 8:32.

Rating: C. Yeah I’m not sure I get this one, as Lynch was ready to lose the title and Baszler seemed primed to take the thing from her. Throw in the Lynch was about to go on maternity leave (fair enough that she didn’t know it at this point) and there was no reason to not switch the title here. It seemed that they were setting up a submission rematch, but at some point you need to just change the title and be done with it, which should have been the case here.

Intercontinental Title: Sami Zayn vs. Daniel Bryan

Bryan, with Drew Gulak, is challenging and Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura are here with Zayn. Rob Gronkowski and Mojo Rawley do the YES chant from the balcony, which just looks sad with two people in there. Sami bails straight to the floor and then does it again to get in Bryan’s head. Back in and the third exit ensues, which finally causes Bryan to go after him, only to have Cesaro and Nakamura get in the way.

Gulak dives onto the two of them and hammers away, meaning Gulak and Zayn get to have their own staredown. Bryan finally gets his hands on Zayn thanks to a suicide dive and it’s time to crank on the leg. Zayn is sent outside again for another suicide dive, followed by a missile dropkick back inside. Bryan slaps him in the face and shouts that Zayn is the loser because he hasn’t beaten anyone.

The running dropkick in the corner might have Zayn crying (JBL: “You shouldn’t be crying at Wrestlemania.”) but he cuts Bryan’s charge off with a shot of his own. Back up and Bryan hits the running clothesline, followed by the rapid fire strikes. Hold on though as Bryan needs to go after Cesaro and Nakamura, only to dive into the Helluva Kick to retain Zayn’s title at 9:18.

Rating: C. Another rather disappointing match here but again, it’s kind of hard to complain about much on this show. The biggest problem continues to be the lack of time, as you can only make a match feel so big in just over nine minutes. It’s also another situation where the title should have changed hands, as Zayn went home because of the virus (fair) and had to vacate the title without wrestling again in nearly six months.

Smackdown Tag Team Titles: John Morrison vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Jimmy Uso

Morrison is defending for Miz and John Morrison and this is a ladder match. Injuries and virus concerns took away enough of the partners that this is as good as we can get here. Everyone misses a kick to start and Morrison and Kingston both stick the landings on a monkey flip attempt, meaning it’s an early standoff.

Everyone goes out to grab a ladder (Morrison gets the only regular sized one) and they all climb up, with Jimmy being knocked down and coming up clutching his knee (always a good sign). He’s fine enough to get to his feet but Kofi dives off the ladder to take him down. Morrison is right there to go after Kofi but they both miss kicks and takedowns. Kofi knocks Jimmy off the ladder but Morrison takes him down as well, meaning Jimmy has to make a save of his own.

A springboard lets Kofi dropkick both of them through the ladder (cool), only to have Morrison clear the ring again. Morrison stabs Jimmy in the knee with the ladder but Jimmy sends him face first into the ladder in the corner. That’s fine with Morrison, who knocks him onto the ladder and hits a corkscrew flip to crush Jimmy again. Kofi is back up with a springboard hurricanrana to pull Morrison off of the ladder, because of course he can do that.

After knocking Jimmy outside, Kofi hits a big dive over the top to take Morrison down again. Jimmy tries to run the barricade so Kofi throws the ladder at him for another knockdown. It’s time to bridge the ladder between the ring and the apron, which never winds up going well. Jimmy is laid on said ladder but Morrison walks the rope to get from one corner to another and Spanish Fly Kofi off the top.

That leaves Morrison down so Jimmy can hit a Superfly Splash to crush him all over again. Kofi and Jimmy climb the same ladder (with Kofi climbing from inside because he’s a bit unique) and Jimmy gets knocked off in a heap. Morrison gets knocked down as well and Kofi comes off with the jumping double stomp to make it worse. Back up and Jimmy bridges the ladder between the rope and the standing ladder (uh oh) and then sends Kofi face first into the bridged one.

Morrison gets superkicked out of the air so Jimmy goes up another ladder, only to be shoved down. It must have been quite the fall as he went down with his feet facing the entrance and landed with his head facing the entrance. Or maybe WWE just needs better editors. Morrison throws a ladder out and goes up, only to have Kofi climb the same ladder. Jimmy is back in to climb another ladder and they all get a hand on the titles. A double headbutt knocks Morrison down….and he comes up with the titles for the win at 18:33.

Rating: B. This was the big spotfest match that you knew was coming here at one point or another on the show and there is nothing wrong with that. They did their thing all over the place here with one crazy spot after another. That’s how a match like this is supposed to be and it was as fun as you could have imagined a triple threat match for the Tag Team Titles would be. Granted there is one thing wrong with the match, which would be the horrible knee injury that Jimmy suffered, which would keep him out of action for over a year.

We recap Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens. Rollins is doing his evil messiah deal and Owens doesn’t want to hear it, nor does he want to deal with the beatdowns Rollins and company have given him. Grudge match time.

Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins

Dig that KO Mania IV shirt with the Andre the Giant/Hulk Hogan style as Owens continues an awesome tradition. After a quick bit of hiding in the ropes, Rollins starts the slugout and it goes about as badly as you would go. Owens hammers him down, shrugs off a kick to the face, and hits a hard clothesline. There’s a backsplash to crush Rollins but it’s too early for the Cannonball.

Some chops have Rollins in trouble on the floor but he manages a backdrop on the apron to avoid a rather painful powerbomb. A Falcon Arrow on the apron plants Owens again as Rollins is already focusing on the back. Rollins hits a hard suicide dive to knock him into the barricade and he does it again for a bonus. Back in and Rollins keeps the trash talk up but misses a pair of Stomps. Owens doesn’t miss a DDT though and a superkick lets him hit the Cannonball.

The Stunner is countered and Rollins nails an enziguri, only to have Owens nail a rebound lariat for another knockdown. A superplex is loaded up but Rollins blocks it, setting up the buckle bomb. Some superkicks rock Owens, who is still fine enough to hit a pop up sitout powerbomb for a close two. They go outside and Rollins blasts him in the head with the ring bell for the DQ at 10:09.

And no this isn’t what we’re doing because Owens says let’s keep it going with no countout or DQ. That’s fine with Rollins and the bell rings, allowing him to hit a jumping knee to the face. Rollins takes it outside again and sends him into various things, followed by a steps shot to the face.

A bunch of chair shots have Owens in big trouble but he comes up with a HARD bell shot to the head. With Rollins mostly done, Owens climbs onto the big WRESTLEMANIA sign and dives off, though he is nice enough to ask if Rollins thinks this is a Wrestlemania moment. Back in and Rollins tries to talk his way out of trouble, earning himself a Stunner for the pin at 17:15.

Rating: B-. I didn’t remember liking this one all that much but they beat each other up rather well and it was entertaining enough. The bell to the head sounded great and the violence was good, once you got part the pretty worthless pause in between the falls. Owens can brawl with the best of them, but unfortunately he got hurt here too and would miss time of his own, because this show is cursed.

R-Truth comes up to Mojo Rawley and Rob Gronkowski and complains about being 24/7. I think you know what happens here and Rawley celebrates with the title.

Paul Heyman scares the heck out of Charly Caruso and talks about how great how sure he is that Drew McIntyre is losing. Brock Lesnar is going to destroy McIntyre and leave him a broken man because Lesnar is the most awesome fighter ever. He gets the message across with a bit more emotion as you might guess.

We run down the night two card.

Smackdown World Title: Braun Strowman vs. Goldberg

Goldberg is defending and there is no recap because there is no story. Goldberg won the title in Saudi Arabia so he could lose to Roman Reigns here, but then Reigns pulled out due to the Coronavirus concerns (again, fair). After about twenty seconds of staring each other down, Goldberg kicks him in the ribs and hits an early spear.

Strowman is back up so Goldberg hits two more spears for a near fall. Make it four, but the Jackhammer is countered into a powerslam. We’ll make that two powerslams and the third sets up a fourth to make Strowman champion at 2:11. The entire match was three moves and one of them was a kick to the ribs.

Wrestlemania XXXVII is in Los Angeles. Just like it was in the Memorial Coliseum in 1991.

We recap AJ Styles vs. The Undertaker. Styles didn’t like Undertaker being a broken shell of himself so he insulted Undertaker the man, including Undertaker’s wife. This did not wind up going well and for the first time, it seems that this is Mark Calaway fighting instead of Styles, which should make things all the more interesting. Oh and they’re in boneyard to make things a little spicier/more cinematic.

Undertaker vs. AJ Styles

The hearse rides into the boneyard and the druids pull out the casket, which of course has Styles in it for a chuckle worthy moment. In a bit cooler moment, we get Biker Taker again, riding to the boneyard to Now That We’re Dead by Metallica. AJ wastes no time in talking trash, asking if Michelle McCool knows Undertaker is out this late. Undertaker knocks a brick out of his hands and the fight is on, with Undertaker dragging him around. He even calls AJ Alan to make it more freaky.

AJ is sent into the closed casket but Undertaker’s punch goes through the hearse window (cue the Goldberg flashbacks). He is fine enough to throw him through the windshield and they fight on top of the hearse, with Undertaker still getting the better of things. Undertaker hammers away while yelling at AJ to not talk about his wife and then quotes Clubber Lang by saying he has a lotta more. AJ gets smart by throwing dirt in the eyes and then trying to punch Undertaker into a grave.

It turns out that standing in front of someone who can’t see and talking a lot makes you easy to punch so Undertaker drills him in the jaw. That’s enough to knock Undertaker into the grave but the Good Brothers show up, complete with imitation western music. Undertaker goes after them….and we’ve got druids for some reason. They don’t really do much good though, as they stand there while Undertaker goes in a circle punching them. Now Undertaker can beat up Gallows and Anderson in peace, including beating on them with the handle of a shovel.

AJ is back with a tombstone (the stone, not the move) though and shatters it over Undertaker’s back. That means trash talk from AJ and weird sounds from Undertaker….and they are both knocked through the wall of a shed. Undertaker wheezes and backs away, allowing AJ to break a shove over his back to knock him into a grave. With Undertaker down, AJ jumps in the dump truck (or whatever you call it)….and Undertaker appears behind him in a big ball of light. Eh it’s not that insane really.

AJ runs off (as you should) and climbs onto the roof of the barn so Undertaker shoots fire out of the roof foo. Cue Gallows and Anderson so Undertaker beats them up again and throws Gallows into the abyss. A Tombstone onto the roof drops Anderson and Undertaker says it’s just him and AJ. For some reason AJ swings at him and gets chokeslammed off the roof and through a big piece of wood. Undertaker climbs down and asks AJ what his wife’s name is. Or maybe AJ can tell Undertaker how old he is.

AJ is out on his feet as Undertaker picks him up and talks about how AJ is tougher than he gave him credit for. It’s time to go to the grave and AJ says he’s sorry. Undertaker wants to know what for and then picks AJ up by the throat. AJ begs him not to bury him and Undertaker hugs him while saying AJ put up a great fight. Then Undertaker boots him into the grave and fills it in with the dirt. The gong sounds and we’ll say that’s the match at about 19:12 (your individual times may vary).

Rating: A. Yeah this is still great and is the pinnacle of the cinematic stuff. It doesn’t get too goofy (I mean, Undertaker stuff is weird by definition) and it felt like two guys having a fight. AJ being all cocky and sure of himself until he finally realized what he was up against is a classic Undertaker story and it worked well here. Above all else, this felt like Undertaker having one last brush with greatness before hanging it up and I can see why he was ok with this being the big ending. Go out doing something different and special, which is what he did here. I loved this when I watched it and still do here, so well done.

AJ’s gloves hand sticks out of the grave as Undertaker gets on his bike, throws up the fist to make the fire go off again. Undertaker’s symbol goes up on the barn wall and he rides away to end the show. And to end Undertaker’s career it seems, as he has not wrestled since and announced his retirement at Survivor Series about seven months later.

Overall Rating: B-. Like I said at the beginning, this show has kind of been forgotten and it is easy to see why. I’m not sure how you could expect anything else here, as the show was cobbled together from whomever was left and they did what they could to still have a Wrestlemania. It’s a Wrestlemania in name only for the most part, but it isn’t like they had any control over the thing. What we got was good enough, but don’t expect this to be anything more than an historical curiosity, because it doesn’t feel like Wrestlemania.

Ratings Comparison

Drew Gulak vs. Cesaro

Original: C

2021 Redo: C

Alexa Bliss/Nikki Cross vs. Kabuki Warriors

Original: C

2021 Redo: C

Elias vs. King Corbin

Original: D

2021 Redo: C-

Shayna Baszler vs. Becky Lynch

Original: B-

2021 Redo: C

Daniel Bryan vs. Sami Zayn

Original: C+

2021 Redo: C

Jimmy Uso vs. John Morrison vs. Kofi Kingston

Original: B

2021 Redo: B

Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins

Original: C

2021 Redo: B-

Goldberg vs. Braun Strowman

Original: N/A

2021 Redo: N/A

Undertaker vs. AJ Styles

Original: A+

2021 Redo: A

Overall Rating

Original: C

2021 Redo: B-

Mostly in the ballpark, but it’s not like this is a show that is going to feel the same after a year.

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

https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2020/04/04/wrestlemania-xxxvi-night-one-broken-undertaker/

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.

Monday Night Raw
Date: October 4, 2021
Location: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Jimmy Smith, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

It’s time for the second half of the Draft and that could make for a huge night. These are the picks who were not made on Smackdown and the changes do not go into effect until October 22. On top of that though, we also have GOLDBERG making an appearance so you know things are special. Let’s get to it.

Here is the first night of the Draft if you need a recap.

Commentary explains the Draft rules.

Here is Becky Lynch to get things going. Becky says it has been about a year and a half since she has been on this stage but she is ready to make some executives unhappy. The first Draft pick to Raw is…..yeah of course it’s her. Becky talks about how she never lost the Raw Women’s Title and Charlotte can’t stand the idea that she can’t beat her. Maybe it’s time to become Becky Two Belts again….and here is Charlotte to interrupt.

Charlotte reminds Becky that she took the Smackdown Women’s Title from her before and she can do it again. Cue Bianca Belair to interrupt too, saying she has her own unfinished business. The two of them must feel threatened because they both took cheap shots at her on Smackdown. Neither of them are ready for her to become the EST of Raw because she goes here now. Charlotte: “That was really cute but SHH!”

The fans think Charlotte sucks so she mocks the WHAT chants. Belair: “You don’t even go here anymore!” Becky can feel the disrespect and says she would fight Charlotte right now, but she has nothing left to prove. Maybe Charlotte and Belair should fight instead! Charlotte isn’t interested in charity cases but here are Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville to make the match for later tonight. That’s not all either, as we need to have some title matches, starting with this one.

Well first of all, it’s time for the first round of the Draft.

Round One
Raw – Becky Lynch
Smackdown – Usos
Raw – Bobby Lashley
Smackdown – Sasha Banks

So Lynch is the only change, but seeing Paul Heyman’s sigh of relief when the Usos stayed with Roman Reigns was great.

US Title: Damian Priest vs. Jeff Hardy

Priest is defending and drops Hardy with a running shoulder to start. A kick to the face sends Priest outside but Hardy misses the clothesline off the apron. The running flip dive off the steps doesn’t miss for Priest though and we take a break. Back with Priest kicking him in the head but not being able to hit the Reckoning. The Sling Blade sets up the Twist of Fate into the Swanton, but Priest reverses into a crucifix to retain at 6:50.

Rating: C. We didn’t get to see much of this but what we got was good enough. Priest continues to rack up some pretty substantial wins and that is the best way to go. I’m not sure what is next for him, but mowing down one challenger after another is going to work. Just keep them coming and Priest looks like a bigger star every time. It has worked for years and it can work for him too.

Post match Hardy says he loves the fans, even when he has been around for a long time. There have been good and bad times for him and maybe it is time to see his new ego. That’s in a few weeks….but here is Austin Theory to interrupt. Theory doesn’t mean any disrespect and is honored to be here with a legend. He doesn’t mean to fanboy and asks if they can take a selfie. Hardy is glad to….and then gets clotheslined down. A TKO onto the knee leaves Hardy laying and Theory poses next to him on the mat for another selfie. Works for me, as this was one of the more effective debuts in a while on this show.

Riddle is glad Randy Orton is back because it is time for them to get some revenge on AJ Styles/Omos. Orton is even looking great, though Riddle isn’t sure if that is a snake in his pocket. Orton calms him down and talks about how they are facing Styles and Omos at Crown Jewel, but that leaves him free tonight. How about he finally faces Omos one on one? Riddles seems scared by the idea.

Time for round two.

Round Two
Raw – Seth Rollins
Smackdown – King Nakamura/Rick Boogs
Raw – Damian Priest
Smackdown – Sheamus

As long as he isn’t a messiah again, Rollins to Raw is fine.

Shayna Baszler vs. Dana Brooke

Brooke goes after the arm in the corner to start but gets pulled into a cross armbreaker. That doesn’t work so it’s the Kirifuda Clutch to end Brooke at 1:21.

Post match Shayna goes after Brooke’s arm again but Doudrop dances out for the save. Baszler hits her from behind but the shot doesn’t drop Doudrop

Paul Heyman is very happy to have the Usos on Smackdown, because he is the warden of the Uso Penitentiary. He is asked if that is how Heyman maintained Brock Lesnar’s free agent status and everything gets serious, with the Usos staring at him.

Mansoor/Mustafa Ali vs. Humberto Carrillo/Angel Garza

Carrillo splashes Mansoor into the corner to start but gets caught in a reverse DDT. It’s off to Ali, who gets punched in the face by Garza. That lets Garza TAKE OFF HIS PANTS but Ali is back with a suplex. Carrillo and Mansoor go to the floor and the distraction lets Carrillo post Ali for the pin at 1:45.

Time for round 3.

Round Three
Raw – AJ Styles/Omos
Smackdown – Shayna Baszler
Raw – Kevin Owens
Smackdown – Xia Li

Owens doesn’t seem to mean anything anymore, but Li is an interesting change, even if it probably means the end of Tian Sha.

Here is Big E. for a chat. He calls Raw his show and talks about how nice it was to be back with New Day last week. On top of that though, he had a physically grueling match with Bobby Lashley but now he is the rightful WWE Champion. Before he could even breathe though, he already had his next challenger in the form of Drew McIntyre. Big E. wants him out here right now so here is McIntyre in person. McIntyre says he’s going to Smackdown but now he has unfinished business.

Big E. deserves to be the WWE Champion (pause for the YOU DESERVE IT chants) but there is one person who hasn’t congratulated him yet. As much as Big E. deserves it though, he did cash in on an injured champion. Then again, Bobby Lashley helped cause the same thing happen to McIntyre and since no one likes Lashley, maybe Big E. did the world a favor. McIntyre gets to the point and challenges Big E. for the title.

Cue Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode, with the former talking about how he gave both Big E. and McIntyre their big break. We see some clips of Ziggler doing just that and now he wants a thank you. Big E. thinks Ziggler has upgraded with Roode, who doesn’t like the implications. Roode: “They call you Big E. Well they call me Big Bob!” Big E.: “No one, not one person, has ever called you that.” Ziggler just wants his thank you bug the tag match is made instead.

Big E./Drew McIntyre vs. Dolph Ziggler/Robert Roode

McIntyre throws Ziggler around to start and hands it off to E. for the apron splash. Roode comes in and gets dropped by McIntyre’s neckbreaker but it’s back to Ziggler for a dropkick on E. A middle rope knee misses for Roode though and McIntyre comes back in for the big boot. Everything breaks down and it’s a superkick to put McIntyre down on the floor as we take a break.

Back with McIntyre fighting out of a chinlock and dropping Roode with the Glasgow Kiss. Big E. gets the tag for some suplexes as everything breaks down. The Zig Zag hits Big E. and McIntyre has to make a save. Roode knocks McIntyre to the floor but dives into an overhead belly to belly. The Big Ending is loaded up but McIntyre tags himself in and hits the Claymore for the pin at 10:20.

Rating: C. I’m sure it had been a few weeks since they had dusted off the idea of two people facing each other teaming together. There isn’t much of a secret in where the feud is going and given how little time they have to set something up, this is about as good as they could do. McIntyre vs. Big E. will be fine and it’s always fun seeing Ziggler get beaten up.

Post match Big E. gives Roode the Big Ending and says he and McIntyre can do it at Crown Jewel. That works for McIntyre.

Reggie has been told that Adam Pearce wants to talk to him about the Draft but that’s not the case. The usual gang of idiots, plus Jaxson Ryker and the Viking Raiders go after the title but escapology ensues. Apollo Crews and Commander Azeez cut him off….but they let him go. The chase continues.

Here is Kevin Owens for a chat but Akira Tozawa interrupts. Tozawa doesn’t want to fight Owens, because he wants the 24/7 Title. Owens gives him a Stunner instead.

We needs more Draft picks!

Round Four
Raw – Street Profits
Smackdown – Viking Raiders
Raw – Finn Balor
Smackdown – Ricochet

As much as I love Ricochet, it’s not like there is any reason to believe this is going to change anything. Balor to Raw could be good though.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Rhea Ripley/Nikki Ash vs. Tamina/Natalya

Tamina/Natalya are defending. Before the match, Nikki promises BSK to anyone who comes after them. BSK would mean Boom, Smash, Kapow, because of course they do. Natalya takes Nikki into the corner to start and it’s off to Tamina to run Nikki over. Nikki reverses into a sleeper but can’t get over to Ripley.

Instead it’s a superkick for two but Nikki slips out of a slam and brings Ripley in. A headbutt sets up a running basement dropkick to drop Natalya, who avoids a charge in the corner. Natalya misses her own basement dropkick though and Ripley gets two off a northern lights suplex. Nikki drops Natalya on the floor and it’s the Riptide to Tamina. A splash off of Ripley’s shoulders gives Nikki the pin at 3:23.

Rating: C-. I’d like to believe that this will end the feud but you never can tell around here. Ripley and Ash are fine enough for the titles but they need someone else to fight for them. You can only get so far with the same teams, but that is not something WWE has ever learned with these titles. At least they kept it short and to the point here.

We have a round five.

Round Five
Raw – Karrion Kross
Smackdown – Humberto Carrillo/Angel Garza
Raw – Alexa Bliss
Smackdown – Cesaro

Well that changes…pretty much nothing, especially if Bliss is going to be gone for awhile.

Here is Goldberg for a chat. Goldberg doesn’t like Bobby Lashley saying that attacking Goldberg’s son was an accident. It was intentional, so Goldberg wants him in this ring so he can intentionally break Lashley’s neck. Cue Lashley to say that it was an accident and he isn’t messing up his suit.

Lashley is willing to give Goldberg the match at Crown Jewel, and we’ll make it no holds barred. Goldberg thanks Lashley and promises to apologize to his kids, because Lashley is next and dead. Lashley cuts off the music and says Gage Goldberg can come try it again, but this time it won’t be an accident. Cue Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander, who are taken out in a hurry.

Seth Rollins is so happy to be here that is is singing, but don’t mention Edge. He’ll deal with that on Smackdown.

New Day vs. Cedric Alexander/Shelton Benjamin

Alexander and Benjamin are beaten up but Shelton manages to take Kofi into the corner to start. That just earns him a tornado DDT and it’s already off to Woods to pick up the pace. Everything breaks down and Kofi’s standing double stomp hits Shelton on the floor. The rope walk elbow gives Woods the pin on Alexander at 2:25. Woods: “CROWN ME! CROWN ME! CROWN ME!!!”

Post match here are the Street Profits to congratulate New Day on their new movie. After Ford says no spoilers, they make it clear that they want the smoke. Kofi has a drink from the cup and dancing ensues.

Video on Finn Balor.

Randy Orton vs. Omos

Well in theory, as Omos has not officially accepted the match yet. Cue AJ Styles and Omos, with the former calling Riddle Gilligan and saying Riddle doesn’t have the brain cells to keep the titles. Omos is ready to fight so Orton takes out Styles, then does it again with an RKO. That’s enough for Orton and there is no match.

One more round.

Round Six
Raw – Carmella
Smackdown – Ridge Holland
Raw – Gable Steveson
Smackdown – Sami Zayn

Well that’s eventful. It says a lot when Sami Zayn is possibly the least interesting pick. And yes, Saxton says Stevenson instead of Steveson.

Steveson’s family is happy with the pick, though he doesn’t say anything.

Here are all of the picks.

Raw
Round One – Becky Lynch
Round One – Bobby Lashley
Round Two – Seth Rollins
Round Two – Damian Priest
Round Three – AJ Styles/Omos
Round Three – Kevin Owens
Round Four – Street Profits
Round Four – Finn Balor
Round Five – Karrion Kross
Round Five – Alexa Bliss
Round Six – Carmella
Round Six – Gable Steveson

Smackdown
Round One – Usos
Round One – Sasha Banks
Round Two – King Nakamura/Rick Boogs
Round Two – Sheamus
Round Three – Shayna Baszler
Round Three – Xia Li
Round Four – Viking Raiders
Round Four – Ricochet
Round Five – Humberto Carrillo/Angel Garza
Round Five – Cesaro
Round Six – Ridge Holland
Round Six – Sami Zayn

Charlotte vs. Bianca Belair

Non-title and Becky Lynch joins commentary. Becky reads a poem about being able to beat Sasha Banks as Charlotte takes Belair down with a headscissors. Belair sends her into the corner though and then flips over Charlotte, setting up a dropkick. Charlotte is sent to the apron where she hits Belair in the face but can’t quite suplex her into the post. Instead they head to the floor, where Charlotte sends her into the timekeeper’s area as we take a break.

Back with Belair getting two off the delayed suplex. Saxton: “That could be you Becky Lynch!” Becky: “YEAH KICKING OUT! LIKE I DID BEFORE, BYRON SAXTON!” Well that was feisty. Charlotte is right back with a powerbomb for two but Natural Selection is blocked. The KOD is escaped as well but Charlotte is right back with a spear for two.

Belair runs Charlotte over again but gets caught on top for another crash. The double moonsault gives Charlotte two but the Figure Four is countered into a small package to give Belair two. The KOD (with Charlotte landing on her shoulder) gets two, with Becky pulling Belair out for the DQ at 13:10.

Rating: B-. It was good stuff (save for the kind of messy landing on the KOD) and the ending was the right way to go. You don’t want to have either of them take a clean fall in this one so the ending was the best choice they had. Charlotte leaving unscathed is fine too, as it isn’t like she has anything going on at the moment. Solid main event, with neither looking weak in the end.

Post match it’s the Manhandle Slam to Belair but Sasha Banks comes in to take out Becky and Belair. Banks poses to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. I never know how to grade something like this as there is so much going on that it is hard to keep track of everything. Above all else, it was certainly an eventful show as we find out where the shows are going in just a few weeks while also setting up Crown Jewel. I’m wanting to see where things are going, and hopefully that includes some more short matches. They make the show feel like it is going so much faster and that is a great thing. You can put in some longer matches here and there, but you need to keep the attention up on the longer shows. Good enough show, but slowing down will help.

Results
Damian Priest b. Jeff Hardy – Crucifix
Shayna Baszler b. Dana Brooke – Kirifuda Clutch
Humberto Carrillo/Angel Garza b. Mansoor/Mustafa Ali – Carrillo sent Ali into the post
Big E./Drew McIntyre b. Robert Roode/Dolph Ziggler – Claymore to Ziggler
Nikki Ash/Rhea Ripley b. Natalya/Tamina – Splash to Tamina
New Day b. Cedric Alexander/Shelton Benjamin – Rope walk elbow to Alexander
Bianca Belair b. Charlotte via DQ when Becky Lynch interfered

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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Monday Night Raw
Date: September 27, 2021
Location: Heritage Bank Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
Commentators: Jimmy Smith, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

We’re done with Extreme Rules and the biggest changes involve a doll and this show. First up, Charlotte destroyed Lillie the doll last night, sending Alexa Bliss into an emotional breakdown. Other than that we have a WWE Championship match set for the top of the show, because Monday Night Football is going to kill them otherwise. Let’s get to it.

Here is Extreme Rules if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of Big E. cashing in Money in the Bank to win the WWE Title, plus pinning Bobby Lashley again last night at Extreme Rules in a six man tag. The rematch is set for tonight.

WWE Title: Big E. vs. Bobby Lashley

Big E. is defending and after the Big Match Intros, we’re ready to go. Lashley powers him into the corner to start so Big E. fires off a slap to the face. That earns him a beating in the corner and a snap suplex for less than one. A clothesline puts Big E. on the floor but he snaps off a belly to belly to send us to a break. Back with Lashley hitting a Downward Spiral into a big clothesline to put Big E. in even more trouble. Lashley takes him up top but Big E. blocks the superplex.

That’s fine with Lashley, who knocks him off the top and down onto the apron for a crash instead. The double clothesline on the floor teases the double countout but they make it back inside. That means the slugout can be on but Lashley has to go to the ropes to avoid the Big Ending. The spear through the ropes drops Lashley….but here are Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander in Hurt Business shirts. Lashley hits a spinebuster and seems pleased but here is New Day to go after Alexander and Benjamin. The spear cuts Big E. down as the other four fight inside for the DQ at 10:00.

Rating: C+. I’m not sure how many people expected a clean finish here so it wasn’t like it was a disappointment. Giving Big E. a DQ loss doesn’t exactly make him look great but I’m sure you are going to see something else from him later tonight. They mostly delivered a nice match though and that’s all they needed to do.

Post match the brawl is on and security comes out to break it up. Actually we’re not done as this match is happening again later tonight inside a steel cage (which they just happen to have lying around).

Erik vs. Angel Garza

Ivar and Humberto Carrillo are here too. Erik powers him around to start but gets caught in an armbar for his early efforts. That’s broken up and Garza is back with his knee to the face. Garza TAKES OFF HIS PANTS, which Carrillo teases throwing in. That brings Ivar over but the distraction lets Garza hit a superkick into the Wing Clipper for the pin at 2:01.

We recap Charlotte beating Alexa Bliss last night and destroying Lillie, plus beating up Bliss again, because it has been so long since Charlotte accomplished anything.

24/7 Title: Reggie vs. Ricochet

Reggie is defending. Feeling out process to start with Ricochet working on a wristlock but they need to trade moonsaults over each other out of the corner. Ricochet sends him outside for the big flip dive as the 24/7 goons are watching from the front row. That’s enough for them to jump the barricade and jump Reggie for the DQ at 1:20.

Post match Ricochet fights back but Drake Maverick has a walkie talkie, telling someone to do it now. Cue Akira Tozawa to go after Reggie, who escapes anyway. Note that Ricochet is the one who is a guest star but we have a continuing story involving four morons trying to catch an acrobat to win a comedy title.

Riddle is on his own tonight because Randy Orton is probably taking a week off to have some Skyline Chili. Or he needed to take a break from Riddle because he wanted to RKO him on the concrete. Riddle thinks that’s a bad idea because it could hurt Orton’s back. It’s cool though, because Riddle has his headphones with Orton’s theme song. Singing ensues.

Akira Tozawa is still in the ring and wants a match with someone.

Keith Lee vs. Akira Tozawa

Yes it’s Bearcat and it’s a splash into the Big Bang Catastrophe for the pin on Tozawa at 35 seconds.

We recap the opening match and a very serious Big E. promises to beat Bobby Lashley again, just like he did when he promised to cash in. A serious Big E. is a good Big E.

US Title: Sheamus vs. Damian Priest

Priest is defending and it’s no countout/no DQ. Why Priest needed to have his entrance before that big recap is beyond me, but letting the US Champ stand around in the ring for three minutes certainly isn’t a bad look or anything. Before the match, Sheamus says this won’t be pretty, but it will be pretty ugly as he gets the title back. They go with the power to start with Sheamus headlock takeovering him down.

Priest fights up but gets elbowed in the face to cut him off. The Broken Arrow is broken up so they head outside, where Priest hits a quick suplex. There’s a big boot and it’s already time for a table. Sheamus isn’t having that and sends Priest into the steps but the ten forearms on the apron are broken up. Instead, Sheamus hits the White Noise through the table in a big crash to send us to the break.

Back with Priest fighting out of a kendo stick choke, because White Noise off the apron through a table is just a spot. Another table is set up in the corner but Priest is back up with kendo stick shots. A chair is brought in but Priest is sent head first into it in the corner (that sounded great). Priest is back up with South of Heaven for two and they slug it out from their knees. An enziguri gives Priest two but he jumps into the jumping knee to the face for the same. The Reckoning is loaded up but Sheamus slips out, only to be sent through the table in the corner. Now the Reckoning can retain the title at 15:50.

Rating: B. This was a heck of a fight and the match they should have had last night at Extreme Rules. I’m not sure what the point was in having an extreme match on Raw when you had a regular match on the extreme pay per view. The other problem here: Sheamus, a multiple time World Champion, just hit his secondary finisher off the apron and through a table. It sent us to a break and we came back with Priest being fine. You could do an injury spot or a title change off of that, but it might not even be the biggest spot in a Raw match.

Mustafa Ali isn’t happy with Mansoor signing the two of them up for a six man tag with Jeff Hardy. Ali rants about Hardy, who pops up behind them, asking what Ali would say to them. After Ali backpedals hard, Hardy talks about how they are up against some scary monsters. He’s ready to twist their fates.

Jinder Mahal/Veer/Shanky vs. Mansoor/Mustafa Ali/Jeff Hardy

Shanky sidewalk slams Ali to start so it’s off to Mansoor, who gets elbowed by Veer. We hit the neck crank for a bit but Mansoor fights up in a hurry and brings in Jeff to clean house. Everything breaks down and Veer’s baseball lariat finishes Ali at 3:44.

Rating: D+. So yes, we really are reheating Jinder Mahal and the final form of the Singh Brothers. This hasn’t worked before and it isn’t likely to work now, but that has never stopped WWE before. Maybe focusing on Veery and Shanky would help, but I have no reason to believe that will be the case.

Karrion Kross promises to hurt people.

Karrion Kross vs. Jaxson Ryker

Kross knocks him into the corner to start and mocks Ryker’s military history. A suplex takes Ryker down but an armbar is broken up. The Doomsday Saito set up the Krossjacket to make Ryker tap at 1:37. That’s good for a smile.

Doudrop is going to answer Charlotte’s Open Challenge for a Women’s Title match.

Bobby Lashley rants about Big E. winning the title with the Money in the Bank briefcase. Tonight, he isn’t injured and he can hurt Big E. even more in a cage.

Riddle vs. AJ Styles

Riddle suplexes him down for an early two but gets hit in the face for a trip to the floor. AJ hits a sliding knee off the apron and we take a break with Riddle in trouble. Back with Riddle striking away but getting caught in a pumphandle gutbuster to cut him off. Riddle kicks him to the floor and hits a big dive to take AJ down again.

Back in and the Floating Bro is countered into a Calf Crusher (that was sweet) but Riddle slips out. The comeback is on as Riddle gets all fired up, even knocking Styles down a few times. That’s fine with AJ, who counters a running knee into a Burning Hammer (geez) into the Styles Clash for the pin at 12:10.

Rating: C+. This match right here might embody Raw’s troubles more than anything else. There is no reason for this match to happen. RKBro beat Styles and Omos for the titles and we have seen several combinations since then. It is continuing just for the sake of having matches and filling in time now. The match will be fine, but find a reason for them to fight other than “they’re fighting again”.

Post match, Omos plants Riddle again with the chokeslam.

We look back at Shayna Baszler snapping on Nia Jax and putting her on the shelf with an arm injury last week.

Shayna has no comment, but does have a nifty deck of cards.

Women’s Title: Charlotte vs. Doudrop

Charlotte is defending. Doudrop shoves her around to start and Charlotte can’t manage to slam her. The big running backsplash crushes Charlotte….and here’s Eva Marie because WWE absolutely refuses to move on from ANYTHING. Charlotte gets in a chop block and Natural Selection retains at 1:52.

Post match Eva poses over Doudrop and gets decked by Charlotte.

Goldberg (OH HERE WE GO) is back and talks about how he and Bobby Lashley are both fathers. He doesn’t know what kind of a father Lashley is but Lashley attacked Goldberg’s son at Summerslam. Now he is going to fulfill the vow he made when his son was born and hurt Lashley a lot. I’m so excited for this. It’s right up there with a bad infection.

Eva Marie is still in the ring and complains about the disrespect. She can beat anyone in the locker room so here is Shayna Baszler. The Kirifuda Clutch knocks Eva out in a hurry and the fans approve. Shayna lets go and unloads on Eva’s arm ala last week with Jax for a bonus. I could go for face Shayna.

Nikki Ash and Rhea Ripley say they have nothing in common except the titles. Nikki thinks they need matching blue gear, but Rhea says it’s a good color on Nikki only. Hey, remember when Riddle and Orton were a team who didn’t agree on anything but they worked well together and one of them was really excited about the team and wanted them to have matching gear and a wacky name but the other wasn’t interested?

WWE Title: Big E. vs. Bobby Lashley

Lashley is challenging in a cage and jumps Big E. before they’re both inside. Big E. is sent into the barricade and the cage as this is one sided before the bell. A posting makes it even worse and we take a break. Back with the bell ringing and Big E. sending him into the cage over and over. A running clothesline drops Lashley again but he’s back up with a trip into the cage wall.

The spear is countered into a hiptoss into the corner but Big E. has to fight out of a Hurt Lock attempt. Lashley settles with a suplex for two and goes up but Big E. is right up there for an attempt at a super Big Ending. That doesn’t quite work as Big E. comes back down but gets caught in a dragon sleeper over the ropes. That’s enough for Lashley to go for a climb but Big E. is back up for the save.

Big E. goes up but the Hurt Business is there to cut him off. Lashley goes for the door but here’s Xavier Woods to slam the door on his head. New Day gets rid of the Hurt Business, with Kofi hitting the trust fall off the cage onto both of them. We take a break and come back with Big E. ducking an elbow and hitting the trio of belly to belly suplexes. The spear cuts Big E. down for two though and Lashley goes for the door. That’s broken up so Lashley tells him to stay down, only to walk into the Big Ending for two. A spinebuster plants Big E. so it’s time to climb but Big E. pulls him back down with the super Big Ending to retain at 16:31.

Rating: B. This was a pair of big strong guys hitting each other very hard and that’s what it needed to be. Setting up the super Big Ending earlier and then actually doing it in the end worked well and it felt like a major victory for Big E. He needed this to solidify himself as the champion and it was a good fight that felt like a pay per view level title match.

Post match the cage is raised, but here’s Drew McIntyre to stare Big E. (who is fine with this) down to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. In something I’ve had to say far too many times over the years, there is a good two hour show in here somewhere, if you trim off a lot of the fat. By fat, I mean a lot of the repetitive stuff that has been done so many times that it doesn’t feel like it matters anymore whatsoever, such as Eva Marie vs. Doudrop, Jinder Mahal and company, the 24/7 Title, Styles/Omos vs. RKBro and probably Karrion Kross. It’s either not going to happen or it has happened so many times that there is no reason to be interested anymore.

The rest of the show did have some good moments, which tended to be when they were focusing on what the talented wrestlers can do in the ring. There were good matches and it felt like important things were happening here. The problem is there was so much other stuff that didn’t work and dragged the good down. That happens far too often on Raw, but it does seem like they are getting out of the horrible depths they had reached a few months ago. I’ll absolutely take that, but the Draft is going to change everything anyway so I’m not sure if it matters.

Results
Bobby Lashley b. Big E. via DQ when Kofi Kingston and Cedric Alexander interfered
Angel Garza b. Erik – Wing Clipper
Reggie b. Ricochet via DQ when R-Truth interfered
Keith Lee b. Akira Tozawa – Big Bang Catastrophe
Damian Priest b. Sheamus – Reckoning
Jinder Mahal/Veer/Shanky b. Jeff Hardy/Mansoor/Mustafa Ali – Baseball lariat to Ali
Karrion Kross b. Jaxson Ryker – Krossjacket
AJ Styles b. Riddle – Styles Clash
Charlotte b. Doudrop – Natural Selection
Big E. b. Bobby Lashley – Super Big Ending

 

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

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Main Event
Date: September 16, 2021
Location: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Commentators: Kevin Patrick, Byron Saxton

We’re on the way to Extreme Rules, which is currently missing out on anything extreme. I can’t really picture that changing here, but Main Event isn’t exactly a show that likes changing things up very often. At best we can get a few good original matches and that’s about all. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Jaxson Ryker vs. Drew Gulak

Ryker powers him into the corner to start so Gulak tries a slap to the face. This goes as well as you would expect as Ryker plants him down and hits a running headbutt. A shot to the throat slows Ryker down though and it’s a headlock takeover to put him on the mat. It takes Ryker a bit longer than expected to suplex his way to freedom as the comeback is on. A top rope hurricanrana of all things sets up the swinging Boss Man Slam (to a much weaker reaction) to finish Gulak at 5:24.

Rating: D. As has been the case with a lot of Ryker matches, this just wasn’t interesting. A good chunk of the match was spent in a headlock on the mat and that’s not exactly the best way to go. Both of them can do better than this, but it felt like they were doing the bare bones to get by.

From Smackdown.

Here is the Bloodline to get things going. Roman says WWE runs sports entertainment in New York. He runs WWE, so therefore, he runs New York City and Madison Square Garden. Therefore, MSG should acknowledge him. That leads to quite the cheering….and here is Brock Lesnar to interrupt. The Usos immediately get between Reigns and Lesnar, as Paul Heyman asks why Lesnar needs to go after the Universal Title. He could do….and then Lesnar grabs the mic.

Lesnar asks why Heyman didn’t tell Reigns he would be at Summerslam and the crowd’s YOU F’D UP chant has to be censored. Reigns glares at Heyman, takes the title and leaves with the Usos. Lesnar does his bouncing dance and Heyman does the old Lesnar introduction. Lesnar says that was great, but wants Heyman to accept his challenge to Reigns before Lesnar kills him.

That would be the challenge for the Universal Title, and Lesnar gives him five seconds. The F5 is loaded up but Reigns makes the save with the Superman Punch. Superkicks from the Usos don’t do much good and the Usos are destroyed as Reigns leaves with Heyman. This was another amazing segment and I was eating up every second of it.

From Smackdown.

Tag Team Titles: Usos vs. Street Profits

The Usos are defending and they start fast by sending the Profits outside. The big dive drops Dawkins and we take a very early break. Back with Dawkins shouldering Jimmy down for two but getting hit in the face. Jimmy knocks Dawkins down for two more but misses a jumping legdrop. That’s enough to bring Ford back in for a huge no hands dive onto both Usos. Cue Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman to watch as we take another break.

Back again with Dawkins grabbing a swinging neckbreaker and handing it back to Ford for the house cleaning. Ford loses a shoe and throws it out but hits a one shoed running Blockbuster for two. A Doomsday Blockbuster gets two and Dawkins is stunned at the kickout. Back up and Dawkins’ running leapfrog over Jey lands in a superkick from Jimmy. Ford pulls Jey outside, leaving Jimmy to get rolled up for two. The kickout sends Dawkins into a superkick though and the Superfly Splash connects for two more. Dawkins is back up to plant Jimmy and Ford adds the twisting frog splash, which draws in Reigns for the DQ at 15:20.

Rating: B-. This was another high energy match but the two commercials didn’t exactly make this much better. What we got was good enough though, even with the screwy ending. Reigns getting so frustrated that he comes in for the save worked out well enough, as he has a lot going on. I’m just not sure who else is around to challenge the Usos at the moment and that’s a problem.

Post match Reigns says he’ll take Brock Lesnar on once he gets done with Finn Balor. Cue Balor….meaning the Demon. Thankfully Michael Cole is right there to walk us through the idea of the Demon because it’s that complicated to understand. The Demon stares Reigns down to end the show.

From Raw.

Charlotte vs. Shayna Baszler

Non-title, but it is a Championship Contender’s match, which is treated as more important around here at times. Earlier today, Nia Jax was annoyed at Baszler for costing her the Raw Women’s Title last week but they’ll be fine going forward. Maybe they can get some acting lessons together. Shayna goes after her to start but gets sent outside for the big slingshot dive to send us to a break.

Back with Baszler shaking the ropes to break up a moonsault but some elbows get Charlotte out of the Kirifuda Clutch. Baszler German suplexes the heck out of her for two and kicks away, which brings Charlotte back to life. A shot to the face staggers Baszler and Charlotte sends her outside for the moonsault.

Cue Nia Jax for a distraction though, allowing Shayna to send Charlotte into the steps as we take another break. Back again with Charlotte starting in on Baszler’s knee but missing a middle rope knee to the knee. Nia gets up on the apron to distractions Shayna so Charlotte can hit a big boot for the pin at 14:25.

Rating: C+. It was a fine back and forth match but egads I’m done with trying to care about Nia and Shayna fighting. This has been going on for the better part of a year now and for some reason they keep at it, despite it being WAY past time to have them go their separate ways.

Post match Charlotte stays in the ring and here is Alexa Bliss, carrying both Lillie and a present. It’s a gift for Charlotte, but she doesn’t think Bliss knows her taste. Charlotte collects titles instead of dolls and at some point you have to leave your dolls at home. They do a near cartoon exchange of “you want it/no I don’t” until Charlotte accepts the present. Charlotte: “Well it’s not ticking.” And it’s a Charlotte style Lillie doll, which Bliss names Charlie.

Bliss wanted Charlotte to have someone to play with after she takes the title at Extreme Rules. Bliss: “She’s even a narcissistic little b**** like you!” Charlotte doesn’t want the doll and she’ll send Bliss a Mattel Charlotte figure when she is in the padded room. The fight is on and Bliss kicks her out to the floor. Back in and Bliss grabs a Code Red to send Charlotte running. This was another case of insane things being said as written by bad writers and going WAY too nuts to make it work.

From Smackdown.

It’s time for a contract signing for Bianca Belair vs. Becky Lynch (not here yet) at Extreme Rules. Belair looks at the contract, but first talks about how she can’t believe she is here. She respects Lynch for being a new mom and a champion but she can’t believe Lynch ran from a fight. Lynch keeps talking about that 26 seconds at Summerslam because Lynch knows what happens when they’re in the ring in a real match. We’ll find that out at Extreme Rules and Belair signs.

Cue Becky, in a big red coat and sunglasses to amp up the heel look. Becky says she knew she had Esther’s number at Summerslam when she saw Belair’s face as her music hit. Belair can be the Man or she can be a fan and there is nothing wrong with sitting out there with the regular people. She’s going to give Belair a rematch and maybe she would have beaten her in twenty seconds here in MSG. So what if she doesn’t sign the contract. Adam Pearce: “What do you mean if you don’t sign it?” Belair: “SIGN THE D*** CONTRACT!”

The fans chant SIGN IT and Becky is confused. She sat at home and heard them chant WE WANT BECKY and she came back at the last second but this is how you treat her? She left her baby girl at home and now they’re picking a flash in the pan over her? Well if you can’t join them, beat them, and there’s the signing. Becky throws the contract at Belair and leaves. Becky is getting the heel stuff to work, but the “Belair gets a fair match” stuff isn’t exactly accurate. She had one at Summerslam and lost. Stop acting like she was some kind of a victim.

Lucha House Party vs. Angel Garza/Humberto Carrillo

Garza and Metalik tried takedowns for no counts to start and come up with a handshake. Metalik gets a boot up in the corner so Dorado can come in with a top rope hurricanrana. Garza and Carrillo are sent outside for the stereo dives and we take a break. Back with Dorado hitting a splash off of Metalik’s shoulders to crush Carrillo. Garza gets in a cheap shot from the apron to take over and come in though and Carrillo adds a powerbomb for two.

Carrillo and Metalik both head up top with the ladder snapping off a jumping super hurricanrana, allowing the double tag. Dorado kicks both of them in the face and gets two off a high crossbody. The Golden Rewind kind of connects with Garza and the moonsault kind of connects for two, leaving Carrillo to flip dive onto Metalik on the floor. Garza kicks Dorado in the face, TAKES OFF HIS PANTS and finishes with the Wing Clipper at 8:07.

Rating: C. These teams work well together and that shouldn’t be a surprise after watching Main Event at any point in the last year or so. It’s another case where you could have any of them taking up some time on Raw and being completely acceptable, though you are not likely to see that anytime soon. It was certainly better than Ryker vs. Gulak at least.

We look at Seth Rollins injuring Edge.

On Raw, Big E. promised to cash in Money in the Bank.

From Raw.

Raw World Title: Bobby Lashley vs. Randy Orton

Orton is challenging and MVP/Riddle as the seconds. They head outside early on where Orton has to save Riddle by sending Lashley into various things. A ram into the announcers’ table gives Orton one back inside but Lashley sends him into the corner. Lashley misses a charge into the post but he is fine enough to counter the hanging DDT. Orton gets sent outside and comes up holding his leg, only to be fine enough to drop Lashley onto the barricade. A clothesline sends Lashley over said barricade and we take a break.

Back with Orton forearming away and hitting a superplex to send them both crashing down. The delayed near fall sends Lashley outside, where he picks Orton up and sends him head first into the post. Back in and a running shoulder hits Orton’s ribs in the corner to drop him in pain. A neckbreaker gives Lashley two and we hit the chinlock. Orton fights up and hits a heck of a clothesline, setting up the scoop powerslam for two.

The RKO takes too long to set up though and Lashley hits the spear for the big near fall. The Hurt Lock doesn’t go on and it’s the RKO to drop Lashley…who rolls to the apron, with an assist from MVP. Orton gives MVP and RKO and the fans are WAY behind him…until another spear retains the title at 13:18.

Rating: C+. You had two talented guys getting some time here and it worked well as a result. I liked the match and even though it was unlikely that Orton was going to win, there was just enough of a chance and that makes things so much better. They built up how fresh of a match this was and while that wasn’t a game changer, it was a nice detail to remember.

Post match the brawl is on again with Riddle making the save. That earns him a beating as well, so Lashley puts him through the announcers’ table. Lashley comes up holding his knee though….and it’s cash in time!

Raw World Title: Bobby Lashley vs. Big E.

Lashley is defending….or he would be if not for his knee injury. Big E. slaps him in the face and that’s enough to ring the bell. Lashley takes him to the mat and the brawl is on. A spear cuts Big E. down for two but he goes back to Lashley’s bad leg. The Big Ending gives Big E. the pin and the title at 1:18!

New Day comes out to celebrate and a lot of pyro goes off to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. The recap stuff helped a good bit here as you can tell WWE is slowly starting to fix some things. They have nowhere to go but up at this point, at least on Monday, so it is quite the relief to see things getting better. The original stuff was as useless as it often tends to be on Main Event, and I can’t even pretend to be surprised anymore.

 

 

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