Smackdown
Date: March 5, 2021
Location: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

It’s time for a big fight feel as Daniel Bryan vs. Jey Uso is taking place inside a cage. If Bryan wins, he gets the Universal Title shot against Roman Reigns at Fastlane, so I’m not sure how much more they can telegraph what is going on here. I’m curious to see what Bryan can get out of him though so let’s get to it.

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

We open with a long video on Edge winning the Royal Rumble and picking Roman Reigns for Wrestlemania.

Michael Cole brings out Daniel Bryan for an in-ring chat. Cole recaps tonight’s main event and we see the graphic for the original Fastlane plans: Edge/Bryan vs. Reigns/Uso. Bryan knows that he is the one who will go along with everything and do whatever is asked of him, but that isn’t the case anymore. He wants to go to Wrestlemania, even though WWE wants to have Edge vs. Reigns in a battle of the eras.

Bryan throws us to a package on the Elimination Chamber and the ensuing title match against Reigns (plus Edge attacking Reigns later). Back in the arena, Bryan talks about how he has won three Elimination Chambers so you would think he would be cool with this. That’s not the case though because he felt like a failure because he did not make it to Wrestlemania.

From the floor, he looked up at the Wrestlemania sign and knew that he should be going there instead of Edge. He should be going because he loves this so much. Bryan has wrestled more matches in the last three weeks than Edge and Reigns have wrestled in the last year. Tonight he steps into a steel cage for the chance to go on to Wrestlemania because this could be his last chance. Cue Roman Reigns and company and we take a break.

Back with Reigns talking about how Bryan said he loved wrestling so much. Bryan doesn’t love this though because in reality he needs it. Love is about what you will do for others, not what you need to survive. Reigns does this because everyone needs him and that shows he loves it. The cameraman, Jey, Paul, the fans, they all need him. Tonight, after Jey beats Bryan, he’ll know it too.

Jey takes the mic from Bryan and says tonight, Reigns isn’t locked out because Jey is locked in. Jey goes for a cheap shot but gets knocked down so Bryan can stare at Reigns. Bryan was very emotional here and even stumbled over some words. Normally that sounds bad but here it made things feel more real because he was so fired up about everything.

We look back at Sami Zayn and King Corbin arguing to cost themselves a match against the Street Profits.

Street Profits vs. Sami Zayn/King Corbin

Before the match, Sami talks about how the Profits won a fluke match last week but here’s Corbin to say this isn’t a team. If one of the Profits want a singles match, come get one. The Profits like that but Sami says not so fast because he didn’t agree to a single match. Too bad apparently.

King Corbin vs. Montez Ford

Corbin powers him into the corner to start and whips Ford into another corner for the chest first crash. Ford manages to avoid a shot from Corbin and grabs a spinning DDT. A standing moonsault gets two but Sami offers a distraction, allowing Corbin to hit the End of Days for the pin at 2:40.

Post match Sami says he helped Corbin so Corbin can help him, only to have Dawkins knock him off the apron and into Corbin. That’s too much though and Sami is on his own.

Angelo Dawkins vs. Sami Zayn

Joined in progress with Dawkins sending him into the corner and nailing a dropkick for two. Sami gets in a shot of his own to take over though and a series of near falls has him frustrated. Dawkins is right back with a bulldog for two of his own but an exploder suplex is blocked. A neckbreaker gets two on Sami instead but he runs Dawkins over. Hold on though as Montez Ford spills his drink on the cameras to mess with Sami again. That’s enough to let Dawkins roll him up for the pin at 4:23.

Rating: D+. Just a quick match here which was designed to keep the angle going and there is nothing wrong with that. Sami and Corbin as a weird team is good enough and it keeps Corbin from being near the main event scene so I’m rather pleased. That and at least this was something fresh too, which is always welcome.

Reginald runs into Carmella, who accuses him of being a snake. She knocks the bottle out of his hand and he is officially fired. Good. Now get rid of him.

Dominik Mysterio vs. Chad Gable

Dominik starts fast with an armdrag but Gable spins out of a wristlock. A spin into a drop toehold has Dominik in more trouble and it’s time to crank on the leg. Dominik fights up but walks into a tiger suplex for two. Gable misses the moonsault though, allowing Dominik to counter a rollup into la majistral for the pin at 2:59.

Post match Rey dives onto a charging Otis and the Mysterios bail.

Seth Rollins talks about how Cesaro tried to humiliate him last week, which he won’t forget. Murphy comes up and offers his assistance with Cesaro, but Rollins says get out of his sight.

Shayna Baszler vs. Bianca Belair

Nia Jax and Sasha Banks are here too because we’re doing the tag match again at Fastlane. Reginald follows, because that just needs to be a thing still. Belair tries a dropkick but the leg gets caught, allowing Baszler to take over on the arm. Baszler throws her down by the arm and keeps up the cranking so Belair uses the good arm to slam her way to freedom.

A suplex lets Belair nip up but Baszler counters a double chickenwing into a roll to the floor. Reginald offers a distraction though and Baszler kicks Belair in the face….before going down for some reason. Jax shoves Reginald down and clotheslines Banks as well, allowing Baszler to grab the Kirifuda Clutch. That’s reversed into the KOD though and Belair gets the pin at 4:32.

Rating: C-. Reginald needs to fall in a hole and not be found as soon as possible as this story absolutely does not need a one note character who happens to be an acrobat. It seems that Reginald and Carmella are done, so why is he involved in this whole thing? Just drop him already or let him find a story that might actually need him. Just having Belair beat Baszler to build her for the title match is fine enough. Why mess with that?

Reigns tells Jey Uso not to embarrass himself or the family. Jey says he has this.

Murphy vs. Cesaro

Cesaro throws him around to start as Seth Rollins joins commentary. Murphy gets over to the ropes and manages to pull Cesaro to the floor, setting up the big flip dive. Back in and Murphy gets two off a top rope Meteora, only to dive into an uppercut for his efforts. The running uppercuts and a running big boot rock Murphy again, setting up the Swing. Rollins says this is about him and the Sharpshooter makes Murphy tap at 3:10.

Rating: C-. Not much to this one but it worked out well enough for what they were trying to do. Cesaro is on a roll and will likely be facing Rollins at Fastlane, though I’m not sure what that is going to leave for him to do at Wrestlemania. This doesn’t exactly bode well for Murphy, but that has kind of been the case for a long time now so it isn’t that much of a surprise.

Reginald (Roman Reigns isn’t getting this much screen time) is leaving but knocks on Banks’ door. Banks: “NO!” Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax say he reeks of failure, but Jax thinks he’s kind of cute.

Big E. is back next week.

Here is Apollo Crews, carrying a spear and flanked by two guards in camouflage. He now has a rather thick accent (think Black Panther) and says this is how he talks because he is a real African American. These men are the Nigerian Elite Guard who have protected his family’s wealth for a generation.

For years he was made fun of because people thought he was from the jungle. Now Big E. is trying to do it again so he is going to listen to his ancestors telling him to take what is his. Crews wants a rematch for the Intercontinental Title and promises to conquer Big E. This was a step away from Apollo Crews and a step closer to Saba Simba.

Natalya and Tamina want to know why they aren’t in the Women’s Tag Team Title match but are told to get over it.

Daniel Bryan jumps Jey Uso in the back.

It’s time for Ding Dong Hello with Bayley reading some tweets. These are Sweet Tweets though because no one could hate her. She reads the first two about how great she is but the third gets on her nerves and makes her storm off.

Corey Graves is inside the cage to explain the rules, which isn’t something you see very often these….well probably decades actually.

Jey Uso vs. Daniel Bryan

If Bryan wins he gets to challenge Reigns (here with Paul Heyman) for the Universal Title at Fastlane. They slug it out to start until Jey sends him into the cage early on. It’s way too early to get through the door though as Bryan grabs the leg, only to get pummeled in the head for his efforts. It’s time to go up the cage but Jey crotches him down in a hurry. Bryan catches his climb as well and nails a missile dropkick, setting up a running kick to the arm. Jey’s arm is sent hard into the cage and then does it again for a bonus.

Bryan goes up but Jey knocks him into the Tree of Woe and kicks away at the leg. It’s too early for Jey to get out though as Bryan catches him as well, only to have Jey hit a super Samoan drop for the double knockdown as we take a break. Back with the two of them sitting on top of the cage until they get back in and onto the top rope.

Bryan gets knocked down and Jey hits the Superfly Splash for two but it’s too early to escape. An enziguri sends Bryan down and there’s a superkick for two more. Bryan elbows away but Jey knocks him down again, setting up a catapult into the cage. They both climb up again with Bryan getting in a shot to the arm, setting up a butterfly superplex to the mat. The YES Lock goes on and, since the rope break doesn’t count, Jey has to tap at 12:04.

Rating: B-. They beat each other up for a good while here and the arm stuff was set up at the beginning and paid off in the end. That’s how you do a match like this and it makes perfect sense for Bryan to go that way. It wasn’t exactly a surprise as Bryan winning was all but a guarantee, but they had a good match to get there so it worked out rather well.

Bryan poses on the cage as Reigns glares to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This show was all about setting up Fastlane and I think you know where the card is going from here. I’m still not entirely sure that the event is going to mean much in the long run but it’s nice to see WWE focusing on it for a change instead of Wrestlemania every single second. There wasn’t much in the way of top level wrestling here but it did its job, which is the more important thing from a show like this.

Results

King Corbin b. Montez Ford – End of Days

Angelo Dawkins b. Sami Zayn – Rollup

Dominik Mysterio b. Chad Gable – La majistral

Bianca Belair b. Shayna Baszler – KOD

Cesaro b. Murphy – Sharpshooter

Daniel Bryan b. Jey Uso – YES Lock

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

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AND

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

Smackdown
Date: February 26, 2021
Location: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We have a big announcement this week as women’s Royal Rumble winner Bianca Belair is going to announce her opponent for Wrestlemania XXXVII. Granted it should be pretty clear who she is going to face, but at least they are going to announce the match so we can start the proper build. Let’s get to it.

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

Here are Roman Reigns, Jey Uso and Paul Heyman to get things going. After a long look at Reigns beating Daniel Bryan and then being attacked by Edge on Sunday night, Reigns says Smackdown needs him. He’s so good at everything that it has to be perfect, but there is one person standing in his way. That’s the guy who jumped him on Sunday and then pointed at the Wrestlemania sign. Edge has a beautiful family and is a father and husband. Reigns respects the comeback and everything Edge is about but he doesn’t want to hurt him.

Cue Daniel Bryan to say that absolutely Sunday was perfect for Reigns. Why wouldn’t it have been? All Reigns had to do was face Bryan just after the Elimination Chamber. That doesn’t sound like a Head of the Table spot to Bryan, who thinks Reigns should have been in the main event slot. Reigns can silence the comparisons, and there have been a lot of them, by defending the title against him at Fastlane, with no conditions. Uso doesn’t want to hear that because Bryan goes to the back of the line. Bryan asks again but Jey jumps him and the trio leaves. Everything here made sense.

Edge comes in to see Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville about Bryan possibly getting a title shot first. Post break, Pearce tries to calm Edge down and says tonight it’s Bryan vs. Uso, with Bryan getting the Fastlane title match if he wins.

Alpha Academy vs. Rey Mysterio/Dominik Mysterio

Rematch from last week when Otis turned to the dark side and crushed Rey’s ribs. Otis starts fast by throwing Rey into the corner and hitting a shoulder to the ribs. Rey gets away and brings in Dominick to pick up the pace against Gable. A headscissors sends Gable into the corner and a middle rope diving tornado DDT gets two. Everything breaks down and a double 619 hits Gable and Rey hits the top rope splash. Otis breaks up the cover and it’s a World’s Strongest Slam into the middle rope splash to pin Rey at 3:39.

Rating: C-. I can go for these two doing something and again, it’s kind of amazing how nicely Otis is sliding into this role. Gable not so much because he was great for years and was just stuck with a horrible character, but Otis is a rather nice surprise. It’s going well enough and that splash looks good.

We look back at Apollo Crews destroying Big E. last week to put him on the shelf.

Here’s Apollo Crews for a chat. Some people have not been happy with what he did but this is who he is. He is a real African American because he is from Nigeria. Crews comes from a lineage of Nigerian royalty and he wears the country’s colors with pride and power. That’s what Big E. learned last week when he was taught a lesson from his grandfather about showing power. Last week, Crews showed Big E. the steel and tonight, Shinsuke Nakamura will see the same thing.

Apollo Crews vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Crews jumps him before the bell and we take a break. We come back joined in progress with Crews whipping Nakamura hard into the corner and running him over. Crews’ release German suplex is countered though and Nakamura kicks away at the chest. The sliding knee gives Nakamura two and there’s the sliding German suplex for the same. Crews heads to the floor and manages to sucker Nakamura in for a whip into the steps. Back in and Nakamura grabs a sleeper but gets sent into the buckle. An Angle Slam finishes for Crews at 4:37.

Rating: C. That’s the best Crews has looked in a long time, if not ever (the new tights helped a lot), and that is a good sign. I was a bit worried about Crews’ promo but it went in a fine direction and this could work out well for him. Big E. vs. Crews should be a heck of a fight when we get there and this was a good way to debut Crews’ new side.

Paul Heyman tells Roman Reigns about the Bryan vs. Uso match with the Fastlane implications. The “IF Bryan wins” part is emphasized.

Tamina vs. Liv Morgan

Natalya and Ruby Riott are here too as Tamina runs Liv over to start. Morgan gets sent into the corner as we hear about Natalya and Tamina’s history and legacy in wrestling. Tamina even has a catchphrase: “From reliable to undeniable.” I’d like to point out how many people Smackdown has sitting on the sidelines while TAMINA AND NATALYA are getting regular TV time. Morgan gets knocked down again but does manage an enziguri. A middle rope dropkick knocks Tamina down but she’s right back with the Samoan drop. The swinging Rock Bottom (which was more laying her down than a slam) finishes Morgan at 3:57.

Rating: D. There’s something about Tamina that just takes the life out of any match. That problem was on full display here as there is no reason to be interested in anything she or Natalya are doing. They’ve both been around for so long and having them as a ticked off team isn’t going to get people interested. Well maybe in what is on another channel, but not in the two of them.

Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville are in the ring for Bianca Belair’s pick. We see a video on Asuka and another on Sasha Banks and now Belair is ready to make her pick. Well actually she’s ready to talk about making choices….but here is Reginald to interrupt. He wants her to know what a loser she will be if she picks Sasha, who is here to interrupt as well. She tells Reginald to never speak for her and tells Belair that if she wants to make a statement, her choice is clear. Banks is the best, which makes Belair second best. Belair makes the pick and the match is set. At least they didn’t drag it out, but drop Reginald already.

Sami Zayn’s film crew gets some shots of King Corbin before their tag match tonight. Corbin doesn’t like the attention but Sami thinks they could be the new Can-Am Connection. I don’t think Corbin is convinced.

Sami Zayn/King Corbin vs. Street Profits

Corbin starts with Dawkins as Sami yells at the documentary crew. Dawkins gets punched down and sent into the corner but the crew is in the way of Corbin as he tries to slide underneath the bottom rope. That lets Ford dropkick him down and we take a break. Back with Ford in trouble as Corbin knees him into the corner. Ford fights over and brings in Dawkins to clean house. Corbin is knocked outside where the crew keeps filming him, much to Corbin’s annoyance. Ford hits the big flip dive and it’s a double underhook swinging neckbreaker to Sami. The frog splash finishes for Ford at 8:07.

Rating: C-. This was more about the antics with the film crew but it worked out well enough. I’m guessing we’re going to be getting more with Zayn/Corbin, which isn’t the worst idea in the world. Hopefully it gives us some more entertaining stuff like Corbin getting annoyed at the film crew and keeps Corbin from sniffing the main event scene because no one needs to see that.

Daniel Bryan is ready to move on to Wrestlemania but here’s Edge to seem not so happy about the idea. If they were to meet at Wrestlemania, who wins that match? Bryan won’t answer, but he seems to like the possibility.

Here’s Seth Rollins to talk about the letter he sent to WWE last week….and here’s Cesaro to cut him off. Rollins cuts him off and praises Cesaro’s greatness, saying he has always been one of the best around. For some reason though, there has always been something missing. Why hasn’t Cesaro ever been the Universal Champion?

Rollins says he is missing that killer instinct and Rollins can teach him. Take a week or two to think about it and come back with a good answer. Cesaro grabs the legs (Rollins: “NO! PUT ME DOWN!”) and swings him (out of his jacket), followed by a second for a bonus. The uppercut leaves Rollins laying.

Daniel Bryan vs. Jey Uso

If Bryan wins, he gets Reigns for the title at Fastlane. Bryan works on the wrist to start and moonsaults over Jey (with a quick touch to his banged up knee), setting up the running clothesline. A top rope hurricanrana gives Bryan two and Jey is sent outside, where he knocks a dive out of the air. The bad knee is dropped onto the announcers’ table and then sent into the post as we take a break. Back with Uso still working on the knee before hitting a Samoan drop.

The Superfly Splash misses though and Bryan knocks him to the floor, setting up the running knee off the apron. Back in and Bryan comes off the top but bangs up the knee again, allowing Jey to kick it out. The half crab goes on but Bryan slips out and tries the running knee, only to get chop blocked down. A butterfly superplex brings Jey off the top though and the threat of the YES Lock sends him over to the rope. They roll outside to keep up the brawl with Bryan’s knee going into the steps, setting up the double countout at 12:47.

Rating: B-. The ending was a surprise and that’s a good thing. They have a few different ways to go for Fastlane now and the combination of possibilities have me rubbing my chin. I can’t imagine Bryan doesn’t get a straight shot at Reigns, but now they are going to have to go in a different direction to get there, which is not a bad thing.

Post match Bryan gets the YES Lock on Uso but Roman Reigns makes the save. Uso has to save Roman from the YES Lock and it’s a spear to Bryan. The guillotine choke knocks Bryan cold to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This show dragged a bit in the middle but aside from the book ends, I love that they move from story to story pretty fast. You have two hours of Smackdown a week and it’s nice to see them using it to get a lot of things over. You don’t have five segments or interviews from one story and it makes the show move around that much more smoothly. The show might not be that much better than some others, but it’s a lot easier to watch and that’s more important.

Results

Alpha Academy b. Rey Mysterio/Dominik Mysterio – Middle rope splash to Rey

Apollo Crews b. Shinsuke Nakamura – Angle Slam

Tamina b. Liv Morgan – Spinning Rock Bottom

Street Profits b. Sami Zayn/King Corbin – Frog splash to Zayn

Daniel Bryan vs. Jey Uso went to a double countout

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

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AND

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

Elimination Chamber 2021
Date: February 21, 2021
Location: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
Commentators: Samoa Joe, Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips, Michael Cole, Corey Graves

The long Road to Wrestlemania continues here as we have one of the two pay per views between the Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania. This time around they are doing something a little different with the Elimination Chamber matches as the Raw World Title is on the line, but the winner of the Smackdown Chamber gets an immediate title shot. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Ricochet vs. John Morrison vs. Elias vs. Mustafa Ali

The winner replaces Keith Lee, who is out thanks to an attack by Bobby Lashley, in the US Title triple threat match. The rest of Retribution is here as well. Morrison and Elias are knocked to the floor to start so Ricochet can hammer away on Ali. The other two get back in and Elias chops Ricochet in the corner. Elias grabs a reverse DDT on Ricochet but Morrison grabs a reverse DDT on Elias, leaving Ali to neckbreaker Morrison and drive everyone down.

Back up and Elias’ running knee gets two on Ali with Slapjack making the save. Ricochet knocks Elias to the floor but walks into the Moonlight Drive to give Morrison two. Starship Pain misses though and all four are down in different corners. It’s Ricochet up first to knock everyone down, including a bridging half nelson suplex for two on Morrison. Ali is back up with his tornado DDT on Elias but Ricochet hits a 450, with Ali needing Retribution to make the save. Ricochet’s big flip dive is cut off though and a powerbomb sends him into the post, leaving Morrison to roll Ali up for the pin and the title shot at 7:00.

Rating: C. Fun match, though I’m more annoyed at the fact that it needed to happen. How WWE has managed to drop the ball with Keith Lee amazes me to no end yet I can’t say I’m surprised. Morrison works just fine as a replacement, but if WWE/Vince can’t stand Lee this much, just send him back to NXT where he can do a heck of a lot more for you.

The opening video focuses on the Elimination Chamber, talking about how it is an obstacle to the ultimate goal. Everyone looks nervous about getting in but the prize is worth it.

For those who keep track: Cole only calls the Thunderdome award winning, as it has lost its critical acclaim.

Jey Uso vs. Kevin Owens vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Cesaro vs. King Corbin vs. Sami Zayn

Inside the Chamber and the winner faces Roman Reigns for the Universal Title later in the night. Also of note: Cole says that HHH invented the Chamber but Eric Bischoff debuted the concept. New one on me, but are you really surprised? We get a video on the participants and Roman Reigns during the entrances. Cesaro is in at #1 and Bryan is in at #2, with Cesaro starting fast with a backbreaker for two. Bryan comes back with some uppercuts and strikes for two of his own but seems to tweak his knee. Owens: “HIS KNEE! HIS LEFT KNEE!”

Bryan tries to go after the arm but has to settle for some uppercuts. Cesaro shows him how to throw an uppercut but has to shake some feeling back into the arm. A delayed vertical suplex shows that the arm is just fine but it’s King Corbin in at #3 (Owens: “WHY HIM???”). Corbin takes both of them down, including cutting off Cesaro’s uppercut train with the Deep Six. Bryan is taken to the outside where Corbin rams the banged up knee into the pod. Owens: “NOW TAKE HIM INSIDE, PUT A HOLD ON HIM AND GET RID OF HIM!”

Instead Corbin punches Cesaro down and takes them both back inside. With Bryan knocked out again and Cesaro tied in the Tree of Woe, Sami Zayn is….well not in at #4 as he holds his pod door closed rather than fight Corbin. Bryan jumps Corbin but Cesaro comes in through the other side and drags Zayn out. Zayn sends Cesaro into the pod door but Bryan sends Zayn into the Chamber.

The Helluva Kick only hits pod and Zayn is down, leaving Corbin to crotch Bryan on top. Cesaro and Zayn climb up onto the pod with Cesaro uppercutting away, sending Zayn crawling horizontally away, because climbing down is too complicated. Cesaro gives chase and kicks him down before doing some pullups from the roof. After dropping down, Cesaro gets clotheslined by Corbin and there’s a chokeslam to Bryan.

Cesaro posts Corbin though and it’s a top rope corkscrew uppercut to set up the Swing. The Sharpshooter makes Corbin tap at 17:40 (Owens: “BYE!”) and it’s Kevin Owens in at #5 (at just over 18 minutes as the intervals are all over the place). Zayn says hold on a second and tries to get the old team back together one more time, earning himself a face first trip into the pod. Bryan gets German suplexed and it’s time for the exchange of uppercuts with Cesaro. An enziguri drops Cesaro but Bryan grabs a sleeper.

That’s broken up with a Backpack Stunner as the two land on Cesaro for a crash. Zayn gets superkicked and it’s time for a bunch of Cannonballs. It’s Zayn up first with the half nelson suplex to Owens, setting up a parade of finishers to put everyone down again. Owens’ pumphandle brainbuster onto the knee gets two on Bryan and Jey Uso is in at #6 (at 23:06, as they aren’t even trying with the intervals here). Owens sends him straight into the Chamber and hits the big flip dive onto the pile. The Stunner gets rid of Zayn at 25:20, leaving us with four.

Owens goes to throw Zayn out but Jey slams the door onto Owens’ arm, leaving Owens vulnerable to a bunch of superkicks. The Superfly (not frog Cole) Splash gets rid of Owens at 26:39. Cesaro uppercuts Uso and hits a top rope elbow for two, followed by some Swings into the Chamber. Bryan kicks Cesaro out of the air and grabs a backslide for two more. Another kick to the head gets another two and Bryan stomps away. The running knee is countered into the torture rack but Bryan slips out for another kick.

Cesaro uppercuts him off the top and a super gutbuster sets up a Swing, only on the bad leg for a great twist. Uso breaks it up with a superkick though and the Superfly Splash gets rid of Cesaro at 32:36. Another Superfly Splash gets two on Bryan but another one off the top of a pod hits raised knees. The running knee finishes Uso to give Bryan the title shot at 33:55.

Rating: B. The best thing here was I wasn’t sure who was winning until the end. That’s a great feeling to have as they really could have gone in about four directions and any of them would have worked. Bryan coming in as an underdog will work just fine and hopefully the match with Reigns will live up to even most of the hype. Rather good stuff here and Bryan winning was a pretty nice feel good moment as he hasn’t been in the main event as much of late.

And so much for waiting.

Smackdown World Title: Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan

Reigns is challenging and has Paul Heyman with him. Bryan says YES he can go and counters an early spear into the YES Lock but Reigns powers out. Some heavy right hands and forearms knock Bryan silly and the guillotine choke finishes him off to retain the title at 1:35.

Post match Edge spears Reigns down and we see the Wrestlemania sign, with pyro going off. Cole thinks this might be Edge’s decision, because only in WWE can the obvious need an official announcement for the obvious.

We look at Bad Bunny as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live, where he had the 24/7 Title.

Miz doesn’t like Bad Bunny being the guest when it should have been Miz and John Morrison. He asks Bunny why he’s here and slaps him in the face, earning a harder one from Bunny. Miz is ready to fight but runs into Damien Priest, who scares him off.

US Title: Riddle vs. John Morrison vs. Bobby Lashley

Lashley is defending and has MVP, on a crutch, with him. They start fast with Lashley cleaning house on both of them but Riddle grabs a sleeper. That’s broken up and Riddle is sent outside, allowing Morrison to hit a Flying Chuck to the champ. Morrison gets knocked outside and posted but Riddle dives off the steps onto Lashley. That earns him a nasty backdrop onto the floor, but at least the dive looked nice.

All three are back in and a double kick to the face rocks Lashley….who knocks them both to the floor. Riddle and Morrison try coming in from different sides but Lashley drops them again. MVP: “WHATEVER YOU WANT TO DO!” Riddle avoids a charge to send Lashley to the floor and a kick from the apron staggers the champ. A pair of dives take Lashley down, leaving Riddle to hit a Pele to send Morrison into the corner. The t-bone suplex sets up the Broton into the Penalty Kick to rock Morrison again.

The bridging German suplex gets two but Lashley is back in, only to get taken down with the Final Flash. The Floating Bro mostly connects but Morrison knees Riddle in the head. Starship Pain barely grazes Lashley for two (MVP: “YOU REALLY THOUGHT THAT WAS GOING TO PIN THE ALMIGHTY??? Morrison: “Shut the h*** up!”) and Morrison is so annoyed that he grabs MVP’s crutch. Lashley slaps the Hurt Lock on Morrison but Riddle breaks the crutch over Lashley’s back. The Bro Derek gives Riddle the pin and the title at 8:40.

Rating: C+. I liked the story here and it gives Riddle the big win that he has been needing for a long time now. Above all else though, it gets the title off of Lashley and, in theory, should let him go after the World Title. What in the world is there left for him to do otherwise, save for maybe put Riddle over in a singles match? Also, and I have absolutely no idea if this is the case, but if that knee injury was faked (MVP denied some of the rumors about it) to set up that finish, well done indeed.

Wrestlemania is coming in 48 days, exclusively on Peacock. Maybe they’ll have announced the ticket information by then.

Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks are ready for the Women’s Tag Team Titles, with Reginald offering them some champagne after their win. Belair likes the idea of holding the title and toasting her Wrestlemania decision.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Bianca Belair/Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax/Shayna Baszler

Jax and Baszler are defending and Jax starts with Belair. Some early charges miss to frustrate Jax, meaning it’s off to Banks. That’s fine with Jax, who throws her at Belair for a catch and toss back. Baszler comes in and is taken down for an early Meteora from Banks, who is sent to the apron for a standing splash from Jax. We settle down to Baszler taking Banks down by the arm and stomping away at said arm, which is cranked back hard.

A clothesline gives Baszler two and it’s time for more am cranking. Jax slams Banks down for two and we hit the cobra clutch. Banks fights up and rolls Baszler into the corner, only to knock Belair off the apron by mistake. A knee to Baszler’s face allows the tag to Belair but what looked to be a Glam Slam is countered into a not quite complete Glam Slam. Banks tags herself in and hits a frog splash for two on Baszler with Belair being stunned by the kickout.

The KOD hits Baszler and Belair makes sure to feed her leg back for Jax to pull her out at two (WWE can be really, really bad at telegraphing something like that). Everything breaks down and the Samoan drop hits Belair. Banks comes back in with the top rope Meteora but here’s Reginald with a bottle as the Bank Statement has Jax in trouble. The rope is grabbed so Reginald hands Banks the bottle, which she isn’t using. Instead Jax decks her from behind and hits the Samoan drop to retain at 9:35.

Rating: C-. To recap: one of the Women’s Champions, who is teaming with the Royal Rumble winner who can challenge either of the champions, just got pinned by another champion thanks to botched interference by the official wine person of a woman not involved in the story and who also pinned the champion who pinned the champion. I remember when Brisco and Funk did that same story back in 78 but they didn’t have the hair working as well. The match felt rushed, but at least Jax got her heat back after losing to the wine guy on Smackdown.

Miz and MVP have a chat we can’t hear.

Video on Drew McIntyre defending the Raw World Title in the Elimination Chamber.

Raw World Title: Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton vs. Sheamus vs. Kofi Kingston vs. AJ Styles vs. Drew McIntyre

Inside the Chamber with McIntyre defending, Omos is here with AJ, and Sheamus will enter last. Jeff Hardy is in at #1 and Randy Orton is in at #2 with Hardy knocking Orton outside. A thumb to the eye cuts Hardy off as Joe says “they say the Chamber is the providence of those who dare.” Since when are there Elimination Chamber philosophers? Back in and Orton knocks Hardy down, setting up some stomps to the ribs.

We hit the chinlock but Hardy is back up for the legdrop between the legs. The splash gives Hardy two but the Twist of Fate and RKO are both blocked. Drew McIntyre is in at #3 (at about 4:32, as the weird intervals have carried over). A belly to belly suplex takes Hardy down and there’s a neckbreaker to Orton. McIntyre launches Hardy face first into the pod wall, though he did make sure to tell the cameraman to move. McIntyre: “I told you to move!” Back in and Orton stomps McIntyre down in the corner and a neckbreaker gets two more.

The hanging DDT onto the Chamber floor connects and it’s Kofi Kingston in at #4. Kofi goes right after Orton….and rolls him up for the very fast elimination at 8:54. Orton lays Kofi out with an RKO so AJ orders Omos to get him out of here. Omos rips the Plexiglas off and runs in to cover Kofi for two. Adam Pearce comes out to eject Omos as AJ covers Hardy for two more. Kofi is back up with a tornado DDT to put AJ on the Chamber floor and everyone is down for a bit. Kofi and AJ slug it out on the Chamber floor with AJ getting monkey flipped into the wall.

McIntyre throws Kofi down without much trouble and then suplexes him into the Chamber wall, followed by a heck of a backdrop to Styles. That leaves McIntyre as the only one standing as Sheamus is in at #6 to complete the field (at 17:06, or about six minutes faster than it was completed in the first match). The slugout is in on a hurry with Sheamus getting the better of it and taking McIntyre outside. AJ and Kofi keep fighting as Hardy has been down for a pretty long time.

Kofi gets up and dives onto Sheamus and McIntyre. That’s enough for Kofi to climb a pod with Sheamus following him, only to get crotched down by McIntyre. With Sheamus up top, McIntyre loads up a superplex, which has Saxton wondering if Sheamus is thinking about a superplex. AJ and Hardy come in to make it a Tower of Doom (Hardy seems to be favoring his knee), setting up Kofi’s big Trust Fall onto everyone for a cover each.

Kofi hammers away on Sheamus but another Trust Fall is pulled out of the air. The Brogue Kick gets rid of Kofi at 23:47 and we’re down to four. Hardy is back up with a Twist of Fate each to the other three. A Whisper in the Wind takes out McIntyre and Sheamus, leaving AJ to take the Swanton. McIntyre is back in with the Claymore to eliminate Hardy at 25:33 and we’re down with three. The jumping knee gets two on McIntyre and there’s White Noise to put him down again.

AJ’s springboard…Swanton instead of a 450 (thanks to a bit of a slip) gets two on McIntyre. A full on 450 gets two but Sheamus comes off the top with a clothesline to drop Styles. McIntyre grabs the Future Shock on Sheamus but he’s right back up with the Brogue Kick. AJ hits a Phenomenal Forearm out of nowhere to get rid of Sheamus at 30:23 and we’re down to AJ vs. McIntyre. Another Phenomenal Forearm is loaded up but McIntyre Claymores it out of the air to retain at 31:12.

Rating: B. This was another good one as they had some options to win but the talent was a little better overall to make up for a few things. Granted it was annoying waiting around for Miz to run in and join the match but maybe they’re waiting for later on that. They gave it some time and the ending was a good way to go with the Claymore looking great. Sheamus vs. Drew could be fine as a Fastlane match but I’m not sure who that leaves for McIntyre at Wrestlemania.

Post match McIntyre celebrates….and Bobby Lashley jumps him from behind. The big beatdown is on and the Hurt Lock leaves McIntyre laying. Cue Miz with the referee and please let it be over.

Raw World Title: Drew McIntyre vs. The Miz

Drew is defending and the cash in is on with Miz hitting a DDT for two. The Skull Crushing Finale gives Miz the title at 25 seconds. I know Miz has been annoying for a long time and he isn’t keeping the thing long……BUT THE MONEY IN THE BANK BRIEFCASE IS GONE AND I CAN BE HAPPY FOR LIKE THREE MONTHS!!!

Miz poses with the title to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. It’s a really weird show as you have six matches with two of them adding up to be about two minutes long. The important thing here was some big stuff happened (to put it mildly) and the two Chamber matches were both rather good. Throw in the briefcase FINALLY going away and the Wrestlemania match being set and it’s hard to complain that much, especially for a two and a half hour show.

The one thing that might not be a good sign: they have how many people sitting at home but Morrison, Bryan and McIntyre all wrestle twice? With Bryan and McIntyre’s matches following the exact same formula? They might want to work on that a bit, but that has been the case for so long now that it’s not even worth getting annoyed over. Very good show, based entirely on two matches and the death of a briefcase.

Results

Daniel Bryan b. Jey Uso, Kevin Owens, King Corbin, Cesaro and Sami Zayn – Running knee to Uso

Roman Reigns b. Daniel Bryan – Guillotine choke

Riddle b. Bobby Lashley and John Morrison – Bro Derek to Morrison

Nia Jax/Shayna Baszler b. Bianca Belair/Sasha Banks – Samoan drop to Banks

Drew McIntyre b. AJ Styles, Randy Orton, Sheamus, Jeff Hardy and Kofi Kingston – Brogue Kick to Styles

Miz b. Drew McIntyre – Skull Crushing Finale

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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We’re on the Road To Wrestlemania and since WWE likes to have a few extra events these days, we have two pay per views before we can get there. This time around that includes Elimination Chamber, which does have something interesting with the show’s namesake matches. They’re doing something different with the two World Title matches this time around so maybe they’ll have something. Let’s get to it.

US Title: Bobby Lashley(c) vs. Keith Lee vs. Riddle

Lashley is on a heck of a roll as US Champion but I’m not sure if he is going to hang onto the title here. They have done a nice job of setting up the match but that’s assuming you ignore the absence of Lee, who was not even on the go home Raw. I’m not sure if that is going to be a big deal, but at the same time, it could give them an out to retain the title because WWE doesn’t mind having Lee lose quite often.

I’ll go with Lashley retaining the title, though I’m not sure how much longer he’ll be champion. In theory he should be on the way to challenging for the World Title sooner rather than later but he’ll need to lose the US Title first. I’ll take Lashley beating Lee here though, as Riddle continues to get close to winning the title but never actually gets there. I’m not sure he’ll notice though and he’ll still be just fine anyway.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Nia Jax/Shayna Baszler(c) vs. Bianca Belair/Sasha Banks

My goodness these titles continue to find new ways to feel completely worthless. How many times in a row can the challengers be another thrown together team who have almost no time together as partners? That’s where we are again here, but at least Belair and Banks have a story together. I mean, of course they have the chance to have a story together because they totally haven’t made it clear that Belair is challenging Banks at Wrestlemania.

Anyway I’ll take Belair and Banks winning the title here, as there is no reason to keep the titles on Jax and Baszler. I don’t like the champions who feud with each other, but at least it could give them a chance to transition the titles to Raquel Gonzalez/Dakota Kai in NXT where they belong. Just go with what makes sense for the titles for once. It might be nice for a change.

Raw World Title: Drew McIntyre(c) vs. Sheamus vs. AJ Styles vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton vs. Kofi Kingston

I have no idea where they are going with the WWE Title right now. Everything on paper says it should be McIntyre vs. Sheamus in a one or two match program for the title but unless Sheamus wins the belt here and they go to Fastlane where McIntyre gets it back and then moves on to Wrestlemania, I’m not sure what else there is to do. That somehow leaves them with few options and a lot of options, which is quite the situation.

In what is rarely a good idea, I’ll go with the logical way and say Sheamus leaves as champion here, setting up the showdown with McIntyre at Fastlane. I’ll also ignore the Money in the Bank briefcase because I can’t manage to care that much less about Miz and the contract. But yeah, we’ll go with Sheamus winning here, probably eliminating McIntyre last to get the title.

Jey Uso vs. Kevin Owens vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Cesaro vs. King Corbin vs. Sami Zayn

Now we have a match with even more options to win because it’s kind of obvious what is coming after this match is over. This time around, the winner of the Elimination Chamber gets to challenge Roman Reigns immediately thereafter, making this kind of the consolation prize for the winner due to reasons of impending destruction. That doesn’t mean it is going to be a bad match, but it kind of weakens the impact.

I know the easy answers are either Cesaro or Owens….so I’ll go with Owens, hopefully allowing him to wrap up the feud with Reigns once and for all in another pretty awesome match. The match has a lot of potential and could go several different ways, but having the Chamber as a #1 contenders match never set all that right with me. It should be good though, and that’s all it needs to be.

Smackdown World Title: Roman Reigns(c) vs. ???

So yeah I don’t think there is going to be that much drama to this one. Unless they have some kind of screwy finish to the Chamber where the winner is only in the ring for about ten seconds and comes into the title match fresh, this is about as much of a layup as you’re going to find. There is a good chance that Reigns is still champion going into Wrestlemania next year so I can’t imagine him dropping it here.

I think I’ve made it clear enough but just for the sake of completion, Reigns retains here and should do it pretty easily. Above all else, this continues the theme of Paul Heyman being smart enough to keep Reigns from having to work that much a lot of the time, and that is a great use for him. It fits everything they’re doing and Reigns has to do nothing but hold out his hand and take the title, because he knows he’s good enough to get away with it.

Note that I’m leaving off Asuka vs. Lacey Evans, which isn’t going to happen because WWE isn’t that crazy, despite it still being listed on the WWE.com preview as of early Sunday morning. Granted WWE.com also says that the show starts at both 7pm (Network schedule) and 8pm (show’s official page) so maybe I’m thinking too much into this.

Overall Thoughts

Overall….I’m really not sure what to expect from this one and that’s a nice thing to be able to say. Above all else, either Chamber match could go in a few different directions and I’ll absolutely take that over last year where Shayna Baszler was the biggest lock to win in the history of the match. It shouldn’t be so difficult to write a story that leaves you with multiple options but since WWE does not have the best track record in that area, it’s rather nice to have that kind of a feeling for this show.

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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Smackdown
Date: February 19, 2021
Location: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

It’s the go home show for Elimination Chamber and I’m really not sure how much more there is to add to the show. Most of the matches would seem to be set, but there is always room to add one or two more things. The main event this time around is a six man tag featuring all of the Elimination Chamber participants. Let’s get to it.

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

Here’s Edge to open things up. He has a big decision to make and this Sunday, things are going to get a lot clearer. You have the two World Titles on the line but Roman Reigns is being the smart one by facing the winner of the Elimination Chamber. That means there are thirteen possible opponents for Wrestlemania so he needs to start evaluating things.

Cue Roman Reigns, flanked by Jey Uso and Paul Heyman, for a pretty long entrance. Roman says there aren’t thirteen possible opponents because there is one main event. You have Drew McIntyre who is a main eventer, but Roman Reigns is the main event. Edge thinks Reigns is sounding insecure because he needs to face Edge to be in the main event of Wrestlemania. Whomever Edge faces is the main event, be it anyone from Raw or Smackdown.

Cue Sami Zayn to say he’s the real champion because he’s the champion of the people. As Sami asks his camera crew to film him pointing at the sign, Jey superkicks him down. Reigns stares Edge down and hands the title off to Heyman before opening his hands, seemingly in peace. Reigns walks over to Edge and whispers something in his ear (which we can’t hear) before leaving with Heyman and Uso.

Apollo Crews vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Big E., on his couch, is on commentary. Before the match, we get a quick interview from Apollo, talking about how he doesn’t like being told to go back to catering. Nakamura runs him over for an early two to start but Crews nails a dropkick to send Nakamura outside. That’s enough to send him into Big E.’s snack tray, which means the big staredown to send us to a break.

Back with Nakamura hitting his sliding German suplex out of the corner for two. Crews grabs a spinebuster for two but gets pulled into a cross armbreaker, which Nakamura turns into a rollup for the pin at 5:58. Not enough shown to rate but it was just a quick match to have Crews and Big E. out there.

Post match Crews jumps Nakamura again and goes for the steps but Big E. says that isn’t happening. Big E. tells Crews to go to the back but Crews jumps him from behind with the steps. Crews isn’t going back to catering and throws the steps and Big E. back inside. The referee intervenes and Big E. rolls to the floor, with Crews throwing the steps onto him (with the camera not showing the crash of course) to leave Big E. laying. Medics come out immediately and, after the break, Big E. is taken out on a stretcher.

I’m sure this sets up a title match, but wouldn’t it be better to have Crews win, get denied a shot because Big E. has beaten him time after time, and then attack anyway? This made him feel like even more or a loser than he was when Big E. beat him over and over and that’s not the best way to go.

As Big E. is wheeled out, here’s Seth Rollins to say that was a tragedy, just like what happened last week. We see everyone walking out on Rollins last week, which earned Cesaro a big beating after the segment. As a result, Rollins has written a formal protest to WWE because everyone ruined last week out of fear. There are already millions who have embraced the vision for a better future, but the biggest loser is Cesaro. That’s why Cesaro was taken out last week. Everyone should embrace the vision, unlike that loser Cesaro. Embrace the vision. This is really the best they have for Rollins?

Edge comes up to Kevin Owens in the back and says that he understands what it’s like to have to keep getting back up. Owens appreciates that because he has come close to winning the Universal Title time after time over the last few months so now it is all he can think about. They appreciate the idea of facing each other at Wrestlemania.

Big E. is taken to the ambulance.

Riott Squad vs. Tamina/Natalya

Neither gets an entrance, as they shouldn’t for the sake of saving some time. Riott chops away at Tamina to start before handing it off to Liv for some kicks of her own. Morgan’s springboard something is knocked out of the air so it’s off to Natalya to strike away. Riott comes back in for a Codebreaker into an STO for two as Billie Kay, in a Tamina shirt with Natalya ears, comes out. That’s enough of a distraction for Tamina to hit a swinging Rock Bottom to finish Riott at 3:03.

Rating: D+. This was the latest match between one team thrown together and another team who isn’t likely to make it to the title scene anytime soon. Instead, The Riott Squad is the kind of team that only exists for the sake of putting other teams over. The women’s tag division is awful right now, but that has been the case for a pretty long time now. Just keep throwing teams together I guess, because it’s not like the division is going to mean anything anytime soon.

Billie comes in to celebrate with them and gets laid out.

Edge runs into King Corbin, who says he’s the main event of Wrestlemania. Corbin talks about a $39,000 watch but Edge holds up a phone, which tells the time and takes pictures.

It’s time for Ding Dong Hello with Bayley, who says it’s episode dos, which means two in case you’re like Michael Cole and don’t speak Spanish. Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler are the guests and come in through the door, with Jax talking about how Bayley shouldn’t be upset that they took the titles from her. They’re glad Bayley got rid of Sasha Banks, because Banks is such a waste of time. Like, almost as bad as Bianca Belair.

Cue Reginald, who says Banks is like a fine wine and the two of them are like a boxed wine. He thinks Belair and Banks could take the Tag Team Titles so here’s Banks to interrupt. Banks doesn’t like Reginald speaking for him but promises to beat Belair at Wrestlemania. Cue Belair to say not so fast and issue the six person tag challenge.

Bianca Belair/Reginald/Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax/Shayna Baszler/Bayley

Banks strikes away at Baszler to start and manages to take her down, but Reginald comes in for the stretching and then leaves. Jax takes Banks down so Bayley, in street clothes, comes in to stomp away. Baszler starts working on the leg but Jax misses a running splash in the corner. We settle down to Nia yelling at Reginald about how she isn’t the boxed wine. Reginald starts picking up the pace with the dodges, only to get run over again. Bayley and Baszler beat on Banks outside as Nia catches Reginald’s crossbody. A double dropkick to the back puts Reginald on top of Jax for the surprise pin at 5:05.

Rating: D+. I’m still not sure where they’re going with this whole thing but it’s still weird to see men and women in the same match. Jax losing doesn’t mean anything anymore after how things have been going for her in recent weeks, but this was certainly a strange way to go with everything. Throw in the fact that it might be a one off deal and it’s even weirder.

Cesaro feels sorry for Seth Rollins, who had the chance to come back as someone new but then did the same thing he did before he left. There is time to deal with Rollins later, because Cesaro need to go win the Elimination Chamber and then the Universal Title. Edge comes up and Wrestlemania is teased.

Rey Mysterio/Dominik Mysterio vs. Alpha Academy

Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode are on commentary, where they insist that they are not ducking the Street Profits. Dominik can’t get very far by trying to wrestle Gable so it’s off to Rey vs. Otis. That goes badly for Rey as well as it’s a World’s Strongest Slam into a big splash. Instead of covering, Otis hits a splash, followed by a few more, which is a DQ at 1:30 when Otis won’t listen to the referee telling him to stop.

Post match Rey is destroyed some more, including a middle rope splash.

Edge and Daniel Bryan bond over bringing their careers back to life. Bryan appreciates that and thinks Edge can thank him by challenging him after Bryan wins the title on Sunday.

Post break, Rey is very slowly helped to the back.

Daniel Bryan, Cesaro and Kevin Owens discuss how often Kevin Owens has turned on people. Bryan: “There have been so many times. I should have made a list.” Owens says they won’t have to worry about a Stunner tonight. Just worry about it on Sunday. Or maybe two, three, four. Cesaro: “At least he’s honest.” Bryan: “Is he?”

Reginald brings Carmella some wine and tries to hide the fact that he was in the match earlier. She’s not mad, because she knows he’ll do the right thing. Or else. Carmella drinks the wine, deems it disgusting, and throws it in his face.

Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair are getting a Women’s Tag Team Title match on Sunday.

Sami Zayn/King Corbin/Jey Uso vs. Daniel Bryan/Kevin Owens/Cesaro

Edge is on commentary as Bryan forearms Uso into the corner. Cesaro comes in for a double slam so Jey bails over to Corbin for the tag. A few shots to the face mean it’s off to Bryan to uppercut Sami into the corner as well. Corbin comes back in for some knees to the ribs but it’s right back to Cesaro to clean house. Some uppercuts put Sami on the floor but Corbin throws him back in like a good partner. That’s fine with Cesaro, who can’t quite get the Swing. Instead Corbin comes back in and gets Swung into a commercial.

Back with the Swing continuing (now that’s a well done editing trick) but Cesaro gets sent outside and thrown over the announcers’ table. Paul Heyman has joined commentary as Cesaro gets beaten up in the corner, including some choking from Corbin. Uso comes back in and hammers away, allowing the tag back to Corbin to continue the hammering away.

Cesaro finally gets in a shot to Corbin and the hot tag brings in Bryan, which Cole and Heyman ignore to keep bickering. Everything breaks down with Owens hitting the Cannonball off the apron to Uso. Zayn rolls Bryan up for two and hits the Blue Thunder Bomb for two with Cesaro making the save. Corbin knocks Cesaro outside as Bryan butterfly superplexes Zayn down, setting up the YES Lock for the tap at 13:07.

Rating: C+. This was fun, though it wasn’t like it means anything other than some minor momentum for Sunday. I like Bryan getting a little push, as they really could go in a bunch of different ways for the Chamber. Bryan is certainly one of them, but it’s not like there is any secret to the fact that this is all about Edge vs. Reigns at Wrestlemania in the end.

Post match the Parade of Finishers is on, with Edge getting in a spear on Uso but getting speared down by Roman Reigns to end the show (note that Reigns just sticks his hand out so Heyman can hand him the title, because that’s what Reigns sees him as being good for).

Overall Rating: C. The reason this show worked out so well was that it didn’t drag. They kept things moving and got to the point, even if they are still trying to hide the fact that Reigns vs. Edge seems all but carved into stone for Wrestlemania. I’m not sure what a lot of the other people are going to get to do, but they had a nice build up to Sunday, which is a nice start on the way there. Good enough show, and it did a nice job of advancing a lot of stories.

Results

Shinsuke Nakamura b. Apollo Crews – Cradle

Natalya/Tamina b. Riott Squad – Swinging Rock Bottom to Riott

Bianca Belair/Reginald/Sasha Banks b. Nia Jax/Shayna Baszler/Bayley – Crossbody to Jax

Rey Mysterio/Dominik Mysterio b. Alpha Academy via DQ when Otis continued attacking Rey

Daniel Bryan/Cesaro/Kevin Owens b. Jey Uso/King Corbin/Sami Zayn – YES Lock to Zayn

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

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AND

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

Smackdown
Date: February 12, 2021
Location: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We’re less than two weeks away from Elimination Chamber but you might not realize it around here. There has not been a single Smackdown match announced for the show but that might be changing this week. Roman Reigns apparently has a big announcement and that could be a good thing. Seth Rollins is back too so let’s get to it.

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

Here are Roman Reigns, Jey Uso and Paul Heyman for a chat with Adam Pearce, who is already in the ring. Reigns tells Pearce that he isn’t waiting on him so let’s get on with this. Pearce doesn’t call any shots around here and Reigns isn’t waiting on Pearce or Edge. Reigns knows that Edge hasn’t announced his Wrestlemania match because he knows Reigns will beat him all the way onto a Legends contract.

No one is taking the title from him so Edge is holding out hope that someone pulls a miracle before Wrestlemania. Speaking of contracts, Pearce has one in his hand and that is for Reigns’ title defense inside the Elimination Chamber. Reigns hands Heyman the mic, who says Reigns’ contract says he has to defend the title AT Elimination Chamber rather than INSIDE the Elimination Chamber. Instead, the winner can receive a title shot on the against Reigns, who won’t be in the Chamber itself.

Pearce seems to laugh it off but Heyman asks what he’s going to do about it. Fire Reigns this close to Wrestlemania? Last year’s show didn’t have Reigns and it was the lowest attended Wrestlemania of all time. Pearce says it’s time to start the qualifying process, and there are going to be two names who don’t need qualifying matches. Those would be Jey Uso and Kevin Owens, the latter of whom has Reigns outside the ring and in Pearce’s face. Reigns doesn’t think Pearce gets this but Heyman says it’s going to be on Reigns’ time.

Post break Pearce is freaking out over having to get all of the qualifying matches together but Sonya Deville has an idea: a tag team qualifying match with the winning team both getting into the Chamber. Pearce likes the idea, which is good because Sonya has already booked it.

Commentary confirms that the winner of the Chamber match will face Reigns that night.

Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match: Rey Mysterio/Dominik Mysterio vs. King Corbin/Sami Zayn

Before the match, Sami talks about how he and Corbin don’t get along but tonight they’re working together so WWE can’t give the Mysterios the spots in the Chamber. Rey and Dominik start fast by sending them to the floor for the double dives and we take a break. Back with Dominik rolling Sami into the corner and hitting a running elbow. Sami is right back with the Blue Thunder Bomb for two and it’s off to Corbin. Everything breaks down and the double 619 hits Corbin, with Rey taking him to the floor. That leaves Dominik to be suplexed into the corner, setting up the Helluva Kick for the pin at 7:33.

Rating: D+. I’m not sure how much drama there was to this one and that’s ok. The Mysterios continue to have problems and a showdown at Wrestlemania wouldn’t surprise me. Zayn and Corbin inside the Chamber should work out wee as they’re the perfect kind of midcarders who could beef things up a little bit.

Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode come in to see Deville and Pearce. They want in the Elimination Chamber, and are even willing to be in different pods. Sonya gives them a chance, in another tag team qualifying match, against Cesaro and Daniel Bryan.

We look back at Bianca Belair talking to Sasha Banks last week when Carmella and Reginald interfered, earning Reginald a whipping.

Reginald brings Sasha Banks some wine but Banks isn’t buying it. She takes the drink anyway and keeps talking to Kalisto.

Here’s Big E. for a chat. He is going to be a fighting champion and, after a Gorilla Glue reference, he mentions being past the Apollo Crews chapter….and here’s Crews to interrupt. Crews accepts the challenge, but Big E. was going to issue the challenge to anyone here except Crews you see. Big E. was looking forward to Michael Cole accepting the challenge but Crews implies Big E. is scared. Big E. lowers the mic and says he has beaten Crews time after time so go back to catering and get your paycheck. Crews gets in his face and a lot of arguing ensues, with Big E. saying they’re done so bring out the next challenger.

Intercontinental Title: Big E. vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Nakamura is challenging and Big E. powers him around to start. That earns him some kicks down and the champ is in some trouble. It’s already time for the Kinshasa but Big E. pulls him into the Big Ending. That’s broken up and Nakamura kicks him in the back of the head. Another Kinshasa is loaded up but Crews runs in to dropkick Big E. for the DQ at 3:24.

Rating: C-. No time for much here as we continue to build towards Crews’ final showdown, likely at Elimination Chamber. That should work out well as Crews at least has a bit more of a background after that US Title reign. I liked how serious Big E. got, but saying Crews can’t have a match isn’t the most heroic thing to do. I don’t think there’s a turn coming or anything, but it didn’t quite feel right.

Video on Seth Rollins.

The locker room comes to the ring for Rollins’ return. After a break here’s Rollins, with BURN IT DOWN again. He’s still in the suit with the one glove though so I’m getting mixed messages here. Rollins is glad to be back and knows that things have changed since he sacrificed himself at Survivor Series. The thing that has changed the most though is him though, because he has become a parent for the first time. He is now the father of a beautiful, perfect baby girl, who has changed his life in ways he never dreamed of.

Rollins sees the talent around here and he wonders where he fits in. Now he knows where that is: Rollins is the great leader that Smackdown needs to push it into the future. Leadership isn’t about what they can do for him but what he can do for them. Everyone walks out as Rollins talks about being a leader and a mentor. Rollins says all you have to do for a better Smackdown is embrace the vision. The lights come back up and he realizes that only Cesaro is left at ringside. Then Cesaro shakes his head and leaves as well, only to have Rollins run to the floor and chop block him. The beatdown is on until referees break it up.

Video on the Elimination Chamber.

Bayley vs. Liv Morgan

Ruby Riott is here with Morgan, who starts fast and hammers away. Bayley misses a clothesline and Morgan hits a middle rope dropkick to the floor, meaning it’s time for a trip to the floor. A dive off the steps takes a bit too long for Morgan and Bayley sends her hard into the barricade instead. Back in and Bayley hits a shoulder breaker to rock Morgan but it’s an enziguri to give Morgan two. Cue Billie Kay to offer Riott her resume, which Riott throws away. The referee gets rid of them though and it’s the Rose Plant to finish Morgan at 3:45.

Rating: D+. The story continues and that’s one of the things I really wish WWE would stop. Bayley beat one half of the Riott Squad thanks to Billie messing up last week and now she did it to the other half this week. It was no secret that they were going in this direction after last week and that’s because WWE is pretty repetitive. That’s not good and it wasn’t even much of a match in the first place.

The Street Profits were at Daytona Motor Speedway this week.

Street Profits vs. Otis/Chad Gable

During the entrances, the Profits say they want the titles back and Otis/Gable train for the smoke. Gable takes Dawkins to the mat to start but Dawkins manages to reverse. They send each other into opposite corners for a standoff so Ford comes in instead. An armdrag into an armbar has Ford flailing around but it’s back to Dawkins to take Gable down. That doesn’t last long as Otis gets the tag and starts to throw Profits around. Ford low bridges Otis to the floor to break up a clothesline though and it’s the Cash Out to finish Gable at 4:50.

Rating: C+. This was a pretty snappy match and that was a nice surprise. Gable and Otis work well together and I could go for seeing them develop a bit more in the future. The Profits continue to be great and you know the rematch for the titles has to be coming sooner rather than later. Everyone was working here though and the pretty short amount of time flew by.

Here’s Sasha Banks to talk about Wrestlemania. She has been dealing with Bianca Belair, who is like a little sister. Cue Belair to say Banks isn’t the boss of her. Those are fighting words so here are Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler to interrupt. Jax can’t believe how big their egos are and asks Shayna if she cares about Belair’s pick. Belair shows us the MY HOLE clip from Raw so the brawl is on. Baszler is knocked down so Jax is tripped onto the apron, meaning she has to stop herself from shouting about….well you get the idea. Belair and Banks take out Baszler as well and the two stand tall.

Elimination Chamber Qualifying Match: Bobby Roode/Dolph Ziggler vs. Daniel Bryan/Cesaro

Non-title. Ziggler takes Bryan down for an early two but Cesaro comes in for a double slam. It’s off to Roode, who has to avoid the YES Lock, and gets sent outside. Cesaro is right there and is whipped into the steps. Sami Zayn and King Corbin come out to watch and we take a break.

Back with Bryan in trouble as Roode snaps off a suplex for two and hands it back to Ziggler. Bryan takes Ziggler down but Roode decks Cesaro, allowing Bryan to grab a rollup for two. Roode’s spinebuster gets two more on Bryan but Ziggler misses a charge in the corner, allowing the hot tag to Cesaro. Everything breaks down and Bryan hits Roode with the running knee. The Fameasser gets two on Cesaro but he’s right back up with the Swing into the Sharpshooter to make Ziggler tap at 11:04.

Rating: C+. Another good match between talented teams, even if the Tag Team Titles get their annual smack in the face for the sake of some qualifying matches. In this case I’m not sure who else could have taken the loss, but I would have preferred it not to be the champs. Bryan and Cesaro winning was mostly but not entirely obvious and that’s a nice feeling.

Post match Jey Uso, Sami Zayn and King Corbin all come in for the brawl. Everyone goes at it until Kevin Owens runs in for the Stunnerfest. Roman Reigns watches from the back as Owens sits down, saying that he’s coming for Reigns to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. This show worked well for me for one reason: those tag team qualifying matches. Both of them were pretty good, but the real reason they were nice to see was they were different. Instead of the usual four singles matches, they actually threw in something fresh for a change and that’s nice to see. Not so much the idea was brilliant, but it was a change from the norm and I can absolutely go for that over the same old stuff that they do all the time. The rest of the show was fine enough, but I like that they’re actually taking some different paths week to week.

Results

Sami Zayn/King Corbin b. Rey Mysterio/Dominik Mysterio – Helluva Kick to Dominik

Big E. b. Shinsuke Nakamura via DQ when Apollo Crews interfered

Bayley b. Liv Morgan – Rose Plant

Street Profits b. Chad Gable/Otis – Cash Out to Gable

Cesaro/Daniel Bryan b. Dolph Ziggler/Robert Roode – Sharpshooter to Ziggler

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.

Smackdown
Date: February 5, 2021
Location: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

The Royal Rumble has come and gone and, should the men’s winner Edge take the blue route, he will be challenging Roman Reigns, who retained the Universal Title. He has about nine weeks to decide where to go, as does Bianca Belair, who won the women’s Royal Rumble. Let’s get to it.

Here’s the Royal Rumble if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of the Royal Rumbles.

Here are Roman Reigns (Cole: “The ever aloof.”), Jey Uso and Paul Heyman to get things going. Reigns says he doesn’t says he doesn’t like talking about the past and would rather look to the future, because the future seems to be Edge. Reigns goes on a rant about how he’s the best (including calling himself WWE Champion) and asking why Edge is wasting time on Raw and NXT. Why not come here and bring yourself to the island of relevancy?

Now why is he out here first anyway? Edge is making the head of the table wait? Heyman says Edge is here so he needs to get out here right now. Heyman: “Music and entrance for Edge please. PYRO FOR EDGE PLEASE!” No one shows up and Heyman whispers something to Reigns, who does not seem pleased. Reigns isn’t happy with Edge disrespecting him and gets serious, saying Edge is going to give him his decision by the end of the night.

King Corbin vs. Dominick Mysterio

Rey Mysterio is here with Dominick but Corbin jumps both of them on the way to the ring, including launching Rey off the stage. We start after a break with Dominick firing off a dropkick but getting knocked down in a hurry. Rey is having his knee examined as Corbin continues to hammer away and grabs a chinlock. Corbin elbows him down again and asks if Rey has been training Dominick.

Back up and Dominick manages to send him outside for the dive as Rey drags himself to ringside. We take a break and come back with Dominick hitting a neckbreaker for two. Deep Six plants Dominick for two but he sends Corbin outside again. Rey has gone underneath the ring and grabs Corbin’s leg, setting up the 619. The frog splash gives Dominick the pin at 9:23.

Rating: C-. Well that was pretty nefarious. I’m not exactly feeling what is coming off as a bit of a Dominick heel leaning but Dominick vs. Rey could be somewhat interesting if that is where we wind up going. That being said, having Corbin involved is not exactly the best way to go with anything, but that hasn’t stopped WWE before.

We look at Sami Zayn interfering in the Intercontinental Title match two weeks ago.

Big E. talks about being ready to fight tonight to defend his Intercontinental Title. Much like Lady Liberty, bring him your tired, hungry, bearded and bald because we are going to fight for this prize.

Daniel Bryan vs. Cesaro

They start fast with Bryan going after the arm and then backdropping Cesaro out to the floor. The dive takes Cesaro down again but he blasts Bryan with an uppercut back inside. We see Shinsuke Nakamura watching from the back before Bryan kicks the springboard corkscrew uppercut out of the air. A YES Kick gets two but Cesaro (who has been cut open on the side of his head) is back up with a torture rack into a backbreaker. The Swing sets up the Sharpshooter….and Bryan taps at 4:14.

Rating: C. I wouldn’t have bet on that one but dang if they aren’t giving Cesaro a nice something as of late. I’m still far from believing that any of this is going to matter in the long run after being burned far too many times, but it’s nice to see for a change. If nothing else, who would have expected such a clean and easy win?

Respect is shown post match.

We look at Bianca Belair winning the Royal Rumble.

We see Bianca Belair’s parents watching her win live, including her dad climbing onto the coffee table and then falling over the back of the couch.

Belair is asked who she is going to face but she is so excited and can’t listen to everyone telling her what to do. She is going to do it her way and announce her decision soon.

Seth Rollins is back next week. Again.

Bayley vs. Ruby Riott

Liv Morgan is at ringside and Billie Kay is on commentary, where she insists that she was only allegedly thrown out of both the Riott Squad and Royal Rumble. Riott nails an early Riott Kick for two but Bayley throws her face first into the top turnbuckle. It’s time to work on the armbar but Riott fights up and sends her face first into the buckle to even things up.

Riott’s rollup gets two so Bayley sends her throat first (a lot of firsts in this one) into the bottom rope. A Stunner over the middle rope sets up another armbar so Billie gets up to shove the ropes closer to Riott. Morgan doesn’t like that and gets in an argument with Billie, leaving Riott to get caught with the bulldog driver for the pin at 3:59.

Rating: C-. This was more about the Riott Squad than anything else and that’s not the worst thing. Billie continues to be an absolute gem and has come miles after going I guess what you call solo. The resume thing is hilarious and now I’m not sure she even needs to rejoin Peyton Royce. At this point, she’s far more entertaining on her own and that’s great to see.

Post match Billie offers Bayley a resume.

Edge is here.

Here’s Bianca Belair for her big interview after winning the Royal Rumble. Everything has blown up since she won the Royal Rumble and she has had to ask who a lot of people are with all of these texts. Now she has a decision to make because Asuka and Sasha Banks are both interesting opponents. Cue Reginald to say Belair can’t beat Sasha or Carmella, which draws out Carmella to say the same thing.

Now it’s Sasha coming out to say she isn’t looking at Carmella anymore because that’s in the rear view mirror. Belair has her attention now because she has seen what Belair can do in the Royal Rumble. Yeah Belair can be the strongest and the fastest but the best? Belair may have it all, but she doesn’t have the title. Reginald says Belair will lose if she picks Sasha so Belair whips him out with the hair to wrap things up with no decision.

Roman Reigns is told Edge is here.

Sami Zayn can’t believe how unfair everything has been to him but tonight it’s time for some happy footage when he gets the Intercontinental Title back.

Otis/Chad Gable vs. Robert Roode/Dolph Ziggler

Non-title and the Street Profits are doing commentary in a window in the corner of the screen. Gable easily outwrestles Ziggler and takes him into the corner, where a dropkick puts Gable down. The Profits try to figure out why they can’t get a rematch as Roode suplexes Gable for two. Gable kicks him away though and the hot tag brings in Otis to start throwing people around. The Caterpillar (with the Profits bouncing along with Otis) hits Roode and it’s Gable hitting the Rolling Chaos Theory on Ziggler. Roode is back up though and the Glorious DDT finishes Gable at 3:31.

Rating: C. I know the Profits probably got on people’s nerves here and that’s understandable. However, the thing that made this work was it was different. If there is one thing that WWE really needs to fix, it is how stale their presentation feels. Just throwing something in there like this made the match at least feel different and that’s a good thing. WWE needs some fresh ideas and if they are actually trying something, good for them.

We look at the first ever Main Event, thirty three years ago today.

Hulk Hogan (with Jimmy Hart in the background) talks about the match and hypes up Edge’s decision. Hogan had absolutely nothing to say here and it was obvious.

Edge meets Shinsuke Nakamura.

Intercontinental Title: Apollo Crews vs. Sami Zayn vs. Big E.

Big E. is defending and Sami is chased outside early. Crews rolls some German suplexes for two on Big E. with Sami coming in for the save. Sami is sent outside though with Big E. following him, allowing Crews to hit the big flip dive onto the champ. Crews nails a great looking apron moonsault to crush Big E. again but Sami dives off the steps to take him down.

We come back from a break with Sami choking on the ropes but Big E. fights up and snaps off the suplexes to Crews. Sami gets put down as well and there’s the double Warrior Splash. With Sami on the floor, Crews hits an enziguri on Big E. but gets dumped to the floor. The release Rock Bottom out of the corner plants Sami for two more but Crews knocks Big E. down again.

Crews’ frog splash gets two on Sami, only to have Big E. suplex both of them at the same time. With that crazy power display taken care of, Big E.’s spear through the ropes is cut off by a knee to the face. The Helluva Kick hits Big E. for two with Crews making the save this time. Now Sami is frustrated again so Crews hits him in the head over and over. Crews throws Sami over the timekeeper’s table but walks into the Big Ending for the pin at 11:54.

Rating: B. This felt like a really nice B level house show main event. There wasn’t a ton of drama about Big E. winning but they had him break enough of a sweat that it felt like a title change could have been a remote possibility. I wouldn’t have bet on that in this one, which felt like it went a lot further than it should have. Nice job.

Post match Big E. is all fired up but Crews glares at him from behind.

Seth Rollins is still back next week.

Here’s Edge for the big closing segment. Edge talks about how he spent the last seven months dreaming. He was dreaming every mile he logged because he wanted to get back something that was his. Then he outlasted twenty nine of the best in the world today to win the Royal Rumble. Now he isn’t sure who he should face at the Royal Rumble. He asks his family and gets one answer, then he asks his friend and gets another answer. Then he was on his way here tonight and asked someone on the corner and got another answer. Edge: “His name was John. He was a nice guy.”

Cue Roman Reigns and company to cut things off though as we get a bit more serious. Edge thinks it’s funny that Reigns already needs backup, but Reigns promises that Paul won’t make a move. Reigns sends Jey to the bus because he has this himself. Edge has one chance to acknowledge him as the main event of Wrestlemania….but here’s Kevin Owens with a Stunner to Reigns before Edge can say a word to end the show. I don’t think anyone was really expecting a decision from Edge here and they still have time to set things up in the future, but we’re really not done with Owens vs. Reigns?

Overall Rating: C+. Unlike Raw, this show actually had some energy and that’s one of the best things that can be said about a big follow up show. They have time to announce the Rumble decisions later, so this was more along the lines of setting up the new reality. We now have Wrestlemania coming up a heck of a lot sooner than later and that is going to dominate everything. It certainly dominated Elimination Chamber, which wasn’t even mentioned despite being in just over two weeks. Overall, good show here, with some solid action and a nice feeling that the stakes are being raised.

Results

Dominick Mysterio b. King Corbin – Frog splash

Cesaro b. Daniel Bryan – Sharpshooter

Bayley b. Ruby Riott – Bulldog driver

Robert Roode/Dolph Ziggler b. Otis/Chad Gable – Glorious DDT to Gable

Big E. b. Apollo Crews and Sami Zayn – Big Ending to Crews

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.

Smackdown
Date: January 29, 2021
Location: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

It’s the final show before the Royal Rumble and that means there are probably going to be a few surprises to really hammer things home. That can be a good thing but sometimes they leave you wondering if this is really all that WWE has to offer. Hopefully that is not the case here as there are some things that need to be upgraded. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Here is Daniel Bryan to get things going and he is rather excited that it is Royal Rumble weekend. As his daughter likes to say, we are just two sleeps away. Bryan talks about being proud of everything he has accomplished in his career, but he has one thing left to do: win the Royal Rumble and go on to the main event of Wrestlemania. No one knows what that means more than him and to climb that mountain one more time involves him going through twenty nine other men.

The honest truth is that he doesn’t know how many more Wrestlemania Moments he has left, but if he wants to go to the main event one more time, he is going to have to win the Royal Rumble. The Alpha Academy has him ready and he can’t wait to see everything you’ll only see at the Rumble….and here are AJ Styles and Omos. AJ talks about throwing everyone over the top to win the match, with Omos adding in that AJ is here because of the Quarterly Brand To Brand Invitational.

With that idea having been successfully dragged out of mothballs, AJ says Bryan doesn’t look ready for the Rumble. Bryan is in his sports coat, so AJ thinks Bryan might be the GM again. The challenge is on for tonight and AJ shoves him down, with Omos getting between them. Bryan seems in, and if Omos is there or not, Bryan is going to give AJ a beating.

We look back at Bayley and Bianca Belair running the obstacle course, with Bayley attacking Belair after losing.

Bayley brags about winning, plugs Belair’s WWE Network Chronicle special, and promises to beat her again tonight. Then Belair can go into the dark-est hole of her life.

Bianca Belair vs. Bayley

The 8K cameras are back and yeah they’re still creepy in a way. Belair slams her down a few times to start and it’s already a standoff. A suplex gives Belair two but Bayley is back up with a running clothesline for two. Belair’s arm is banged up so Bayley shouts DING DONG, which is enough to make Belair snap. A bunch of forearms to the back have Bayley out on the apron, followed by a standing moonsault back inside for two. We take a break and come back with Belair driving shoulders into Bayley’s ribs in the corner but Bayley fights back.

Cole says Bayley is jealous, prompting Bayley to shout “I’M NOT JEALOUS MICHAEL!” A knee to the face gives Bayley two (the replay made it look even worse) and it’s time to go back to Belair’s arm. The middle rope elbow gives Bayley two but Belair grabs a crucifix for the same. Back up and Belair punches her in the face but the bad arm gives out on a Glam Slam attempt. Belair manages a hot shot though and the KOD finishes Bayley at 10:48.

Rating: C+. Belair has grown on me at a crazy level over the last year and I’m liking her more and more in the ring every time. A win in the Royal Rumble isn’t out of the question and that is pretty impressive given that she only debuted in the Royal Rumble last year. Good stuff here, with Bayley putting her over clean to give Belair a huge win.

Post match Belair can’t believer what she has accomplished because that was the biggest win of her career. She sounds like she is near tears and says the only thing that tops this is winning the Royal Rumble.

Dominick Mysterio vs. King Corbin

Dominick jumps Corbin during the entrances and the beatdown is on in the aisle as we take a break. We come back with Rey Mysterio on commentary and the opening bell, which sees Dominick make Corbin chase him. That lets Dominick hit (mostly) an awkward looking slingshot knee to the head. Back in and Corbin hits a belly to back suplex and knocking Dominick down while shouting at Rey.

Dominick manages to send him into the corner and nails a middle rope dropkick as Rey coaches from the floor. The 619 is broken up so Dominick settles for a hurricanrana into the corner. Corbin sends him face first into the corner as well, only to have Dominick come back with a tornado DDT for two. Corbin cuts him off again though and the End of Days is good for the pin at 4:44.

Rating: C-. Dominick continues to seem like he is trending towards a heel turn and the more I think about it, the more interested I kind of am in seeing it. That’s about as non-committal of a position as I can come up with for it but that’s just how Dominick goes. He doesn’t have much to him other than being Rey’s son, but at least he can do a thing or two in the ring.

Post match Corbin goes after Rey but gets taken out.

Big E. offers Sonya Deville a dollar and an Arby’s coupon to find out his Royal Rumble number. That isn’t happening, so here are Miz and John Morrison (erg) to suggest they might cash in on Roman Reigns tonight. Morrison makes some Gamestop stock jokes and that’s enough for Sonya to leave. Big E.: “I love the pop culture reference too.” He has things to do though so a lot of laughter ensues but Big E. gets serious and calls them over the hill with no chance to win the Royal Rumble. The brawl is on with Big E. not having much trouble taking both of them out. Referees break it up.

Tomorrow on Backstage: Tamina vs. Natalya to determine the #30 entrant in the Royal Rumble. So they’re doing that instead of the men’s #30 and the women’s #1 and #2? Sure why not.

We look at Sasha Banks defeating Reginald last week, which gave Carmella a Royal Rumble title shot.

Sasha Banks is walking through the back when Kalisto hits on her a bit. With that out of the way, Sasha runs into Reginald, who offers her a bottle of win to go with losing her title. Banks hits on him and then promises to break Carmella’s jaw. Reginald can keep the wine because he needs a drink.

Long video on Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns.

Bad Bunny will be performing his song about Booker T. at the Royal Rumble.

Sami Zayn stops Shinsuke Nakamura in the back because he finds it suspicious that the Raw wrestlers are here. He also thinks Nakamura and Cesaro are splitting up so since Sami helped liberate Nakamura, it’s time for Nakamura to return the family. Sami needs his Intercontinental Title back and takes credit for everything Nakamura has done in NXT and WWE. Nakamura says he appreciates everything Sami has done but Sami can go to h***.

We get a split screen sitdown interview with Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens (in an Ever Rise shirt). Owens doesn’t think anything is going to be different on Sunday because he has beaten Reigns twice. There is nothing that Reigns or his family can do to keep Owens down because he will be the Last Man Standing. Paul Heyman joins Reigns and tells Owens not to speak of the tribal chief that way. Owens asks if Reigns is going to let Heyman rehash his old statements so Reigns says we should talk about Owens’ family.

What kind of a man was Owens’ father? Owens’ father is (not was) a great man, so Reigns needs to watch where he is going. Reigns asks if Owens’ father is a smart man, which Owens confirms and again warns Reigns about where he is going with this. Reigns says Owens isn’t built for this because he isn’t a castle, a knight, a bishop or a queen. Owens is a pawn and Reigns is the king because everything revolves around him.

What Owens doesn’t understand is that he will never be Universal Champion and it isn’t his fault. That makes Owens a fool and his father a fool too. If that’s the case, it means Owens’ grandfather is a fool as well. Owens isn’t happy but says he knows what Reigns is trying to do. On Sunday, they’re going to be in the same room, but Reigns says Owens still doesn’t get it. One day Owens is going to see his grandfathers again and they are going to call him a disgrace for not acknowledging Reigns as his tribal chief.

Owens throws his water down and says the only thing his grandfathers would acknowledge Reigns as is a delusional jackass surrounded by yes men. Reigns is some mafia boss who projects toughness to hide that he is an emotional bully. Owens goes off, shouting about how his family made him the man he is today.

After Sunday, he is going to be the same Kevin Owens, but he’ll be Universal Champion. Reigns’ feed cuts out and Owens storms off. This was GREAT and you could feel the emotion because it felt like two adults talking with one of them going very personal to drive the other over the edge. The mind games were awesome but the emotions were better and that’s why this feud has worked so well.

Video on Goldberg vs. Drew McIntyre.

AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan

Omos is here with AJ but AJ sends him to the back to do this one on his own. Cesaro is on commentary as they go to the mat with AJ not being able to keep Bryan down. The test of strength lets them trade some flips until Bryan’s cross armbreaker sends AJ over to the ropes. Bryan starts working on the arm but AJ gets up for a shoulder. There’s a knee to the ribs to put Bryan down again but he’s right back with a butterfly suplex.

Cue Sami Zayn (he’s got signs) for a distraction though, allowing AJ to knock Bryan off the top. A whip into the steps has Bryan down and we take a break. Back with AJ slowly pounding Bryan down but a running corner dropkick rocks AJ for a change. There are some kicks to the chest as Cesaro is getting annoyed at Sami at ringside. A top rope hurricanrana gives Bryan two but AJ is right back with the Calf Crusher.

The rope is finally grabbed and Sami yells about how the referee is finally doing his job. The Phenomenal Forearm is pulled out of the air though and the YES Lock (or most of one) goes on, with AJ getting a foot on the rope. Hold on though as here’s Big E. to run Sami over but Cesaro jumps Big E. for his efforts. Bryan dives onto Cesaro and Sami but AJ throws him back inside. That’s enough for Sami to come in to jump Bryan for the DQ at 12:10.

Rating: B-. There was a lot of stuff going on at ringside but I think I can live with twelve minutes of these two doing their awesome things to each other. This was what you would expect from an AJ vs. Bryan match and as usual, I could have gone for another twenty minutes of so. Like they wouldn’t have made it work.

Post match Cesaro beats on Big E. in the ring but here’s Shinsuke Nakamura to kick Sami and AJ in the head. Nakamura and Cesaro have a staredown but Sami is up to knock Nakamura into Cesaro, meaning nothing bad can happen. The villains are sent outside and it’s time for a smark dream six man (With I guess Big E. being the least internet friendly name?).

AJ Styles/Cesaro/Sami Zayn vs. Shinsuke Nakamura/Daniel Bryan/Big E.

Nakamura misses a sliding knee to start and gets clotheslined down by Cesaro. Nakamura hits a kick to the back of the head as Cole tries to figure out the lineups (this seems to be a little tricky for him). A front facelock lets Nakamura drag Cesaro into the corner for the tag to Big E., who is uppercutted down. Sami comes in to strike away at Big E.’s head, which doesn’t seem to hut that much as he’s over for the tag to Bryan without much effort.

A double hiptoss drops Sami to give the already legal again Big E. two. Sami kicks Bryan in the back of the knee to put him in trouble and AJ wraps the leg around the post. We take a break and come back with AJ stomping on the knee and giving it a DDT. Zayn’s superplex is broken up though and Bryan nails a missile dropkick.

The hot tag brings in Big E. for the rapid fire belly to belly suplexes to all three villains. Cesaro is back up with that sweet springboard corkscrew uppercut for two but the Neutralizer is broken up. Big E. loads up the Big Ending but this time it’s Miz and John Morrison coming out to jump Nakamura and Big E. for the DQ at 9:53.

Rating: C+. This was another good one with quite the talented lineup so I’m not sure how much you can complain here. I mean aside from the same ending, but given how much time there is left in the show, I think you know where this is going. The Royal Rumble shows always have something like this going on so it’s forgivable to see this much interference, even if it was in a pretty nice match.

Post match the big beatdown is on but here’s Otis for the save and yes indeed that’s where we’re going. Otis cleans house as commentary asks who is going to be able to dump him over the top. Last week Bianca Belair fireman’s carried him and walked around with him. I don’t think it’s that big of a task. Anyway a double Caterpillar hits Miz and Morrison and we take a break.

AJ Styles/Cesaro/Sami Zayn/Miz/John Morrison vs. Shinsuke Nakamura/Daniel Bryan/Big E./Otis

Miz and Bryan go straight to the brawling to start as Cole thinks it’s a ten man tag, with Corey Graves being there to handle the counting and explain that it’s a handicap match. Miz takes Bryan outside and drops the knee onto the announcers’ table, setting up the Figure Four back inside. That’s broken up with some right hands (a counter you don’t see often enough) but Sami comes in with a Blue Thunder Bomb. Graves: “We could be two days away from the Road To Zaynylvania!”

Morrison comes in to put Bryan down again and Miz adds a kick to the ribs. Bryan finally manages stereo crossbodies with AJ and everything breaks down without Bryan making a tag. Cue Sheamus to be the partner though and the hot tag brings in in to run over everyone. The Irish Curse sets up the Cloverleaf on Sami but Morrison makes the save. The parade of secondary finishers is on with Sami being the last man standing. That doesn’t last long though as Sheamus hits a heck of a Brogue Kick to pin Sami at 5:25.

Rating: C. I didn’t hate this and some of that is due to Sheamus kicking Sami’s head off at the end. It was a little chaotic and having it come after about thirty five minutes was a lot, but the talent was all there and they did some chaotic action at times. Now granted I’m not sure how much this helps build the Rumble, but at least it was something different. I can completely get someone not liking it though as it was rather WWE with all of the rapid fire additions.

Post match (of course) Miz and Morrison jump Sheamus but Braun Strowman makes his big return to wreck EVERYONE to end the show. Now that works as a big moment to hype up the Rumble.

Overall Rating: B-. This was a rather weird show but I liked what I got out of the whole thing. Owens and Reigns had a great segment and the last forty or so minutes were designed to build to the Rumble. It’s not like the pay per view needs that much build so anything we got here was a bonus. Much like the main event(s), I can see why someone wouldn’t be a fan, but I want to see the Rumble and that’s what matters the most.

Results

Bianca Belair b. Bayley – KOD

King Corbin b. Dominick Mysterio – End of Days

Daniel Bryan b. AJ Styles via DQ when Sami Zayn interfered

Daniel Bryan/Big E./Shinsuke Nakamura b. AJ Styles/Cesaro/Sami Zayn via DQ when Miz and John Morrison interfered

Daniel Bryan/Big E./Shinsuke Nakamura/Otis/Sheamus b. AJ Styles/Cesaro/Sami Zayn/John Morrison/Miz – Brogue Kick to Zayn

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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Smackdown
Date: January 22, 2021
Location: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We’re just over a week away from the Royal Rumble and that means it is time to start the last push towards the pay per view. Tonight features a title match of its own with Big E. defending the Intercontinental Title against an upgraded Apollo Crews, but Roman Reigns is not going to be happy and that could be great. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of last week’s show with Adam Pearce being set for the Royal Rumble title match against Roman Reigns but then having it switched out to Kevin Owens through some trickery.

Here are Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman for an opening chat. Reigns laughs off the idea of Card Subject To Change because Adam Pearce swapped himself out of the title match. You won’t be seeing Kevin Owens here tonight Reigns doesn’t want him here. Reigns comes here and goes to work because that’s what he does. He even put his health in danger, but what if he gets hurt? Man his back and neck have been bothering him lately. His ankles have been messed up since college. What if he just said his back was hurting too badly to wrestle at the Royal Rumble?

Cue Pearce to say this has gotten out of hand. Reigns doesn’t want to hear it and says Pearce needs to make his way back into the title scene. Pearce doesn’t buy that but Reigns says that Pearce can’t handle this. He hasn’t had a match in six years because he doesn’t have the heart. Maybe that’s why he never made it to the WWE.

Reigns and Heyman take this as disrespect, which means Pearce is disrespecting the family. Therefore, Heyman wants to do something about it and challenges Pearce to a fight. Heyman, citing his status as a New Yorker, says he will whip Pearce’s a**. Pearce says it’s on and Reigns promises Pearce is getting whipped too. See, I think we all know where this is going, but it’s still fun to see how it goes down the obvious path.

Here’s Sami Zayn to handcuff himself to the barricade for a protest, while declaring his entrance in the Royal Rumble.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Charlotte/Asuka vs. Riott Squad

Charlotte/Asuka are defending, Billie Kay is here with the Squad, and Asuka seems fine after being terrified of Alexa Bliss on Raw. Charlotte beats on Ruby Riott to start as Natalya and Tamina are watching backstage. Asuka comes in for a few shots but a Kay distraction lets Riott bring LIv Morgan in. A high crossbody hits Charlotte and we take a break. Back with Morgan snapping off a headscissors on Charlotte and Riott sending her face first into the corner for two.

Charlotte finally kicks Riott away and nails the fall away slam to send Morgan into the corner. The Downward Spiral into the top turnbuckle allows the tag off to Asuka. The sliding knee gets two as everything breaks down. Asuka German suplexes Morgan but Riott comes back in to roll her up. Billie accidentally distracts the ref though meaning no count. Instead it’s a running hip attack to Morgan and Charlotte hits Natural Selection to finish Morgan at 8:32.

Rating: C. The wrestling was fine, but are we really just going to ignore Asuka being scared of Alexa Bliss and losing to her clean? Or everything with Charlotte and Lacey Evans/Ric Flair? Nothing at all? You might think that was worthy of a mention on this show but this was a run of the mill match with the titles being a backdrop to Billie screwing up again.

Post break, Billie tries to make amends by having the Squad in the Royal Rumble. She offers to help them practice by being Bianca Belair and Carmella (with impressions included) but the Squad, being as nice as they can, say Billie is out.

Here is a dressed up Daniel Bryan for a chat. He is VERY happy that the Royal Rumble coming up because it is all about the drama and the questions of what number you will have and when you are coming out. It makes him feel alive because he is ready to win and move on to main event Wrestlemania. Cue Cesaro to say that was a nice explanation, but he could have done it better (and in five languages).

Cesaro talks about being the first ever Andre the Giant battle royal winner so he will know how to win the Royal Rumble. Bryan is ready to fight right now but Cesaro says that since Bryan isn’t dressed to wrestle, he’ll issue an open challenge. Cue Dolph Ziggler, to say he can do anything in the ring and Cesaro is one of the few who can match him (Ziggler: “Sorry DB but it’s not 2014 anymore.”). The challenge is accepted.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Cesaro

Daniel Bryan is on commentary as they go to the grappling to start. Ziggler’s sleeper doesn’t work and Cesaro hits him in the face, setting up a rather long Cesaro Swing. They go to the pinfall reversal sequence with Ziggler getting two but having his superkick blocked. The Fameasser gives Ziggler two and we hit the sleeper again. That’s reversed into the Neutralizer and Ziggler is done at 3:43.

Rating: C+. They didn’t have much time here but Cesaro getting momentum is nice to see, even if there is no reason to believe that it is going to go anywhere. I’ve been burned by Cesaro’s pushes being canceled too many times now but at least we’re getting a little something here. It’s better than nothing after all these years.

We recap Sasha Banks challenging Reginald to a match before she is willing to face Carmella again.

Sasha Banks vs. Reginald

Reginald gives Sasha a flower to start so Sasha slaps the taste out of his mouth (even Carmella’s mouth drops open for that). Sasha climbs the ropes for a hurricanrana but Reginald flips forward to land on his feet. A waistlock doesn’t work for Sasha as Reginald backflips out and lands on his feet outside. Banks hits a baseball slide and whips him into the steps….where Reginald front flips off of them and sticks the landing. Back in and Reginald dives over a monkey flip attempt and then counters a sunset flip.

A Rey Mysterio sitout bulldog works better but Banks seems to tweak her knee. Reginald flips away from a basement dropkick but a powerbomb is countered into an armdrag. Banks manages to send him outside for the Meteora off the apron. Back in and Banks grabs his hands while still on the mat, only to pull herself up for another Meteora. Something like La Mistica is completely messed up but Banks pulls him into the Bank Statement for the tap at 4:00. Cole: “Now the sommellier has something to whine about!” Graves: “I can’t even with you.”

Rating: C-. I have no idea what to think here as this was much more of a gymnastics routine that made Reginald look like a star for reasons I don’t quite understand. Banks vs. Carmella is set up, but I’m not sure why they went this way to get here. The match was fun, but how does this make me want to see Carmella get a title shot?

Paul Heyman compliments Roman Reigns for setting up the match with Adam Pearce because he knows Reigns has a plan. Reigns says he just handed Heyman a microphone and now Heyman has to deal with this. Heyman panics.

We recap Apollo Crews cheating to become #1 contender last week.

Intercontinental Title: Big E. vs. Apollo Crews

Crews is challenging and charges into a belly to belly to start. The apron splash connects but Crews is back with a pump kick into the standing moonsault for two. Big E. hits the Rock Bottom out of the corner for the same and Crews heads outside with Big E. saying Crews made a mistake with the slap. Crews gets in a shot on the floor and heads back inside to go up top. Hold on though as Sami, still handcuffed, unlocks the cuffs as Crews hits a missile dropkick. Sami runs in for the Helluva Kick to Crews for the DQ at 2:55.

Post match Sami hits a Helluva Kick for Big E. as well.

Kevin Owens is in his car because he isn’t allowed in the ring tonight and says this is all going to end with Roman Reigns at the Royal Rumble. Owens talks about his tattoos telling a story, including his grandparents’ initials on his knuckles. They always supported him but they passed away before he could make it to WWE. Both of them had horrible illnesses but they kept fighting, just like he’ll do at the Royal Rumble when he becomes champion.

The Street Profits bring Sonya Deville (talking to Dolph Ziggler, who leaves before they get there), a fruit basket to congratulate her on her new job. They don’t get why she is hanging out with Ziggler but they get to the point: they want their rematch. Sonya isn’t sure though because they held the titles for a long time and Ford’s knee is still banged up. Some more teams need a chance and once the Profits are healthy, they can be back in the title scene. That seems to be cool, but the Profits are not happy after she leaves.

We recap the debut of Bayley’s talk show last week where she challenged Bianca Belair to an obstacle course race.

Bayley and Belair come out to go over the obstacles with Bayley going first. She takes her time and walks around some of the walls she is supposed to climb, and then drops the Chad Gable she is supposed to carry. Bayley finishes with a time of 1:12 and then says let’s EST this course for Belair, meaning it’s a lot harder. Belair starts fast but has to fireman’s carry Otis instead of Gable…..which she promptly does, and then dunks a basketball to win with 17 seconds left. Well that was impressive. Bayley pelts the basketball at Belair’s stomach though and the beatdown is on, including Bayley throwing her into the basketball goal.

Dominick tells Rey Mysterio that he has this, despite what Rey thinks.

Dominick Mysterio vs. King Corbin

Corbin starts fast by knocking Dominick to the floor, setting up a heck of a clothesline. Dominick fights back but the 619 is countered. A big right hand knocks Dominick silly and the End of Days finishes at 2:11. Well that was abrupt.

Paul Heyman vs. Adam Pearce

Pearce is in workout gear and Heyman, in his suit, tapes his fist on the way to the ring. Hold on though as Heyman tweaks his ankle on the steps and goes down. The referee checks on him but Heyman says “CARD SUBJECT TO CHANGE.” And yes indeed here’s Roman Reigns to hit the Superman Punch to send Pearce to the floor.

Reigns hits him low and sends him into the fan screens before taking him up to the stands like he did to Kevin Owens. Speaking of Owens, here he is in a hoodie to beat on Reigns. Owens is sent into the barricade and they head inside, where Owens nails a Stunner. Referees come out as Owens takes him outside again and beats on Reigns some more. A Stunner on the floor drops Reigns again and the Pop Up powerbomb puts him through the announcers’ table to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. I know we go over this every week but Smackdown continues to be so much better than Raw for one major reason: the show feels fun. This show didn’t have a ton of great wrestling but some angles were advanced and a hot ending angle made up for some of the weaker points. The pay per view is all but set on the Smackdown side and they did what they needed to do here for one of the last shows. It’s nothing great, but it’s not like Raw left the bar that high.

Results

Charlotte/Asuka b. Riott Squad – Natural Selection to Morgan

Cesaro b. Dolph Ziggler – Neutralizer

Sasha Banks b. Reginald – Bank Statement

Apollo Crews b. Big E. via DQ when Sami Zayn 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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AND

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Smackdown
Date: January 1, 2021
Location: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We have finally made it to the new year and that means it is time to start getting ready for the Royal Rumble. Last week saw a pair of huge matches as Kevin Owens got cheated out of his shot at the Universal Title and Big E. won the Intercontinental Title. That sounds like a good place to start for the new year so let’s get to it.

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

In Memory Of Jon Huber/Luke Harper.

We open with a long recap of Roman Reigns needing Jey Uso’s help to retain the Universal Title over Kevin Owens.

Here are Roman Reigns, Jey Uso and Paul Heyman to open things up. Reigns says Happy New Year and talks about how rough 2020 was. However, when you’re the Head of the Table and the Tribal Chief, you can make it work. Look at everything he accomplished in 2020. Heyman is the most honest man he has ever done business with and Jey has had the best year of his career by just listening to Reigns. Reigns praises Jey for being Main Event Uso all along and knocking it out of the park, which is why Reigns loves him.

Cue Kevin Owens but Reigns says turn the music off. Reigns rants about how Owens won’t go away no matter what and he’s sick of Owens as a result. Owens says that since he’s still standing here, Reigns and his family have failed. That failure makes it clear that the Big Dog has been replaced by a giant b****. As for tonight, Owens is here to fight Jey and after that beating, Reigns’ family will have nothing to celebrate.

We look at Big E. winning the Intercontinental Title last week.

Big E. vs. King Corbin

Non-title with Sami Zayn, who is already ranting about a conspiracy, on commentary. They run the ropes to start with Big E. elbowing him down for an early two. Corbin gets in a shot to the face of his own and then hits Big E. in the throat. Big E. gets sent into the post (Sami: “You love to see that.”) so Corbin tries the slide under the post clothesline, only to walk into the Big Ending. That’s enough to draw Sami in for the DQ at 2:52.

Post match the Knights Of The Lone Wolf come in for the beatdown on Big E., drawing in Apollo Crews for the save.

Apollo Crews/Big E. vs. Sami Zayn/King Corbin

Joined in progress because it was sanctioned during the break and we don’t need to waste time seeing that happen. Sami elbows Crews in the corner and hands it off to Corbin for a running clothesline. Crews gets sent outside for a cheap shot from the Knights, followed by being thrown back outside for no cheap shot this time. Back in and Crews snaps off a powerslam, allowing the hot tag to Big E.

The suplexes abound, setting up the Warrior Splash (Graves: “Like getting run over by a Big Rig.”) for two. Corbin grabs Deep Six as Sami argues with the Knights on the floor. Crews comes back in to go after Corbin in a Backlash 2016 Kickoff sequel. Corbin doesn’t like that and argues with Sami before walking out. That’s enough for Crews to grab the Toss Powerbomb to finish Sami at 6:13.

Rating: C-. Not much of a match but it made Crews look good in the process. I’m not sure what that means going forward but if it means Crews vs. Big E. instead of Corbin vs. Big E., I certainly approve. Big E. wasn’t really a factor here, though he had his big moment last week already. Now build him up a challenger in a hurry.

Kevin Owens talks to Adam Pearce about the match with Jey Uso, but Pearce says he can’t do that because it’s just asking for trouble. Owens can have anyone else on the roster instead. Owens: “Fine. I’ll take Roman Reigns.” That’s enough to get Pearce to agree to the match with Uso.

Big E. talks about how things have been good for him since he won, with fans celebrating him from Rome to Rochester (Brodie Lee’s hometown). He has had little Amanda’s (Brodie Lee’s wife) and Nolan’s (Brodie Lee’s son) celebrating with him and like the 1967 Toronto Maple Leafs (Brodie Lee’s hockey team), he will be a fighting champion. The open challenge is on and Apollo Crews is right there to accept.

Riott Squad vs. Tamina/Natalya

Billie Kay is here with Tamina and Natalya, who she has put together to deal with the Squad. Morgan rolls Natalya up to start but gets shoved down as Billie yells at everyone. The distraction lets Natalya get double dropkicked into the corner so it’s off to Ruby vs. Tamina. That doesn’t last long as it’s quickly off to Liv for a double Russian legsweep. Hang on though as Billie is now in the Squad’s corner, with Ruby yelling at her a bit. Billie tries to play coach, allowing Liv to roll Tamina up for the pin at 2:25.

Post match, Billie celebrates the victory.

We look back at last week’s Women’s Tag Team Title match.

Bayley/Carmella vs. Bianca Belair/Sasha Banks

Reginald is here with Carmella and Bayley. Belair takes Carmella down without much effort to start and then lifts her up by the arm. Bayley comes in and gets dropkicked down for a trip to the floor. That means a dive from Banks for two back inside as we take a break. Back with Bayley getting two on Belair and working on the arm, which was apparently hurt during the break.

The double arm crank doesn’t last long as Belair suplexes her way to freedom, only to have Carmella break up the tag attempt. A kick to the ribs sets up another armbar but Belair powers out without much trouble. It’s off to Banks for the trash talk off with Carmella, who sends her to the apron. Banks hits the running knees in the corner so Bayley comes in for the save. Belair tries to use her hair to pull Banks over for the tag but Bayley grabs it instead.

That just earns her a hair whip into the post, leaving Banks to get superkicked by Carmella. The Bronco Buster misses though and the Bank Statement goes on, with Reginald pulling Carmella to the floor. The threat of violence from Banks has Reginald backflipping off the apron but the distraction lets Carmella hit a swinging X Factor for the pin at 10:04.

Rating: C. I guess one Carmella title feud wasn’t enough. It’s not exactly thrilling but it’ll work fine enough for another title match if they have to. That isn’t going to last long term but at least Banks is likely to have another successful defense in there. Carmella has been a little better as of late so this is hardly a disaster, but it’s a little disappointing.

Roman Reigns isn’t happy with the main event being made because whoever made the match doesn’t respect him. Reigns sends Uso to find out who did it.

Sonya Deville is back and everyone is surprised to see her.

Here are the Street Profits for the 2021 Smoketacular. Montez Ford lists off all of their accomplishments this year but Angelo Dawkins wants to know what is under a blanket. That would be a drum set, because Dawkins needs to play a bit. Ford has some predictions for 2021, like the “I Was Intercontinental Champion” shirt (which they introduced) becoming the #1 seller at WWE Shop. Next up we have Dolph Ziggler, who has ripped off Shawn Michaels for so long that he is going to be dubbed the Heartache Kid. Cue Ziggler and Robert Roode and the big beatdown is on, with Ford’s leg being destroyed with post and chairs.

Post break, Ziggler and Roode say that’s all on the Street Profits’ hands because they want the Tag Team Titles. They want their title shot and won’t stop until they get it. Of note: the team now seems to officially be the Dirty Dawgs, making me wonder which names were rejected.

Daniel Bryan/Otis vs. Cesaro/Shinsuke Nakamura

This is fallout from Cesaro/Nakamura not liking Bryan training with Chad Gable (at ringside) and Otis earlier today. Cesaro headlocks Bryan down to start and hands it off to Nakamura for a chinlock as we hear about Cesaro and Nakamura’s battle royal success. Bryan is sent outside for an uppercut from Cesaro as we take a break.

Back with Cesaro slamming Bryan down and handing it off to Nakamura for the kicks. Bryan avoids a big one though and it’s off to Otis to start wrecking things. The Caterpillar hits Cesaro and Bryan comes back in for a sunset flip on Nakamura. Back up and Nakamura’s armbar doesn’t work, as Bryan reverses into the YES Lock for the tap at 10:00.

Rating: C+. The Otis/Gable addition was a little weird but, again, they are already starting to rise up the card a little bit while also gaining some credibility. I’m not sure how Cesaro and Nakamura have already fallen down, but the Nakamura ship sailed years ago. At least Bryan is being kept strong though, and that could mean a lot in the future.

Roman Reigns gives Jey Uso one more pep talk.

Kevin Owens vs. Jey Uso

Owens unloads on him to start and stomps Uso down with no trouble. They head outside with Owens hitting a backsplash on the floor, followed by another for two back inside. Back in and Owens starts in on Jey’s recently injured leg, including crushing it on the rope. Uso gets in some right hands for a breather and a superkick puts Owens down on the floor. They head outside with Owens hitting his own superkick and throwing him over the announcers’ table. We take a break and come back with Jey shoving Owens off the top. Jey has to bail out of the Superfly Splash though and Owens hits the Stunner for the pin at 7:25.

Rating: C. The post break stuff was rather short and the match was almost a squash. This should be setting up the next Reigns vs. Owens match at the Rumble and if so, they did a nice job of reheating Owens in a hurry. It wasn’t a competitive match or even close to one of the most part, but that wasn’t the kind of match they should have had here.

Post match the beatdown is on, with Owens telling Reigns to come help his family. Jey gets handcuffed to the top rope so the leg can be further destroyed. Owens finally gets tired of the beating and unhooks the cuffs, allowing Jey to stagger up the aisle. That just earns Jey another beating, including a superkick onto a table. Owens loads up something but here’s Reigns to jump him from behind. Jey grabs a chair and the big beatdown is on, with Reigns unloading with said chair. Owens gets sent into various screens and then gets tossed off the stage through a table to finally end the beating.

Overall Rating: C+. There wasn’t much done here, but with the show going up against the college football playoff, they weren’t going to have any kind of an audience in the first place. The wrestling was just mostly there, but it does seem to be setting up things for the future, which is the best way to use a show like this. Don’t waste the big stuff when you won’t have an audience, and they didn’t make such a mistake here. Not a great show, but a smartly done one.

Results

Big E. b. King Corbin via DQ when Sami Zayn interfered

Apollo Crews/Big E. b. King Corbin/Sami Zayn – Toss Powerbomb to Zayn

Riott Squad b. Tamina/Natalya – Rollup to Tamina

Carmella/Bayley b. Sasha Banks/Bianca Belair – Running X Factor to Banks

Daniel Bryan/Otis b. Shinsuke Nakamura/Cesaro – YES Lock to Nakamura

Kevin Owens b. Jey Uso – Stunner

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

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

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

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