You’ve probably seen this before.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/kbs-review-without-much-feeling/

IMG Credit: WWE

I forgot I had redone this and it really, really needed it.

December To Dismember
Date: December 3, 2006
Location: James Brown Arena, Augusta, Georgia
Attendance: 4,800
Commentators: Joey Styles, Tazz

Speaking of no effort on the undercard, of the five matches aside from the main event, one was announced. Yeah of a six match card, you were told two matches and still expected to pay the full price for the show. Now the good sign here is that the other announced match was the reunited Hardy Boyz vs. MNM (Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro, a good young team and reminiscent of the Hardys.) but the lack of effort here does not bode well. Let’s get to it.

Naturally the opening video focuses on the Chamber and how amazing it is that there are WEAPONS in the pods now.

MNM vs. Hardy Boyz

Jeff is Intercontinental Champion coming in and fresh off a long feud with Nitro. MNM has Melina with them and this is the result of an open challenge issued by Matt and Jeff. Matt and Mercury start things off with Hardy getting in a shoulder before it’s time for a four man standoff. It’s time to work on Joey’s arm but it’s off to Nitro, who takes a hiptoss of his own. Everything breaks down again and something like a double belly to back suplex drops Mercury again. Joey finally gets in a shot to the ribs, only to have Johnny get caught in a Razor’s Edge into a sitout powerbomb.

Melina offers a distraction so Matt can get caught by a clothesline. The fans try to make this feel like ECW by shouting about various diseases Melina has but it’s just no the same. A quick headscissors from Melina has Tazz making jokes about her short skirt, as well as setting up a double faceplant for two on Matt. The announcers keep bickering and you can tell this isn’t going to be much of a show. It’s just clear that the effort isn’t here and it’s showing badly.

Jeff gets knocked off the apron and MNM gets to use some Poetry In Motion for some salt in the wounds. They go a bit too far though with an attempt at a Twist of Fate, allowing Matt to shove Joey into Nitro for a good old fashioned crotching. Jeff gets to come in for a sitout gordbuster on Mercury as the Hardys clear the ring. It’s time to fire off all the dives and the fans are actually interested for a change.

Back inside and Mercury takes the Twist of Fate, only to have Nitro pull him away from the Swanton. MNM starts in on Jeff’s back as the fans go even more insane for the good guys. A double whip sends him into the corner, drawing out another LOUD screech from Melina. Just to prove her worth, Melina flips off the fans like a true ECW woman should. I mean, she’s not actually on the ECW roster but it’s not like that roster was strong enough for a full pay per view anyway.

A backbreaker/slingshot elbow drop gets two on Jeff and we hit the chinlock, meaning it should be time for the comeback. Jeff kicks Mercury outside but he’s smart enough to pull Matt outside to break up another tag. Nitro shows some intelligence of his own by pulling Jeff back to the MNM corner, only to have a Whisper in the Wind take both of them down.

Now it’s the hot tag off to Matt for a wide variety of clotheslines, including one in the corner to really mix things up. The Side Effect gets two on Nitro as everything breaks down. Jeff can’t get a superbomb on Joey as Nitro makes the save, allowing Mercury to counter into a super hurricanrana.

The Hardys hit stereo superplexes but Melina gets on the apron for a distraction, only to get kicked down by Nitro by mistake. The Snapshot (flapjack/DDT combo) gets two on Jeff with Matt making the save, followed by a double cutter off the middle rope to drop Nitro and Mercury at the same time. The Swanton onto both of them at the same time gives Jeff the pin at 22:23.

Rating: B+. Even though the show is probably going downhill from here and the ending was a bit flat, this was a very cool version of the old tag team formula. You just don’t get that kind of wrestling anymore and it’s really fun to see them break it out every now and then. The Hardys would stick around for a bit on a nostalgia tour, including a few more matches against MNM. This would be one of the last big time MNM matches as the team would split soon after this with Mercury being released in March.

Rob Van Dam thinks the ECW World Title is worth the risks of the Elimination Chamber.

Matt Striker vs. Balls Mahoney

Striker is a former teacher who still wears argyle to the ring, making him one of the biggest heels in the new ECW. Mahoney is an ECW original and looks like a caveman in jean shorts. Before the match, Striker says he’s here to restore order in a violent society so this is going to be an Extreme Rules match.

That would normally mean anything goes but Matt means an extreme enforcement of the rules, meaning no eye gouging, no hair pulling, no maneuvers off the top rope and of course no foul language. The announcers rip on Striker for having his face on his trunks and I can’t help but agree. It’s a great heel tactic though. Mahoney goes for the leg to start but settles for a cross armbreaker to send Striker over to the ropes.

Matt sends him shoulder first into the post and starts in on the arm, making sure to pull the hair behind the referee’s back. We hit the armbar for a bit before Mahoney gets crotched on the top. A Fujiwara Armbar (with Matt shouting TAP) shows more intensity than Striker has ever had about anything but Mahoney gets the rope. It’s comeback time with a side slam and backdrop, followed by a sitout spinebuster for the pin on Striker at 7:22.

Rating: D. So not only are the matches being announced that night, but it seems that the booking is being made up on the fly as well. This should have been the most basic story imaginable with Mahoney beating him in a straight match before Matt cheats to win. Instead we get a clean pin after a few minutes of arm work. As usual it’s not the worst match in the world as the arm work was fine, but this could have been on any given TV show instead of a pay per view.

Sabu has been attacked and is put on a stretcher. The BS chant drowns out the medics and the next theme music.

Elijah Burke/Sylvester Terkay vs. FBI

Burke is better known as D’Angelo Dinero in TNA, Terkay is a big man with an MMA background and the FBI (Full Blooded Italians) are two smaller guys named Guido Maritato and Tony Marinara, both ECW originals. The Italians also have the gorgeous and scantily clad Trinity in their corner. Guido and Burke, in a hat, start things off as Joey tells a drooling Tazz to take a cold shower. Burke is taken to the mat and Guido steals the hat like a true villain, though he’s on the good team here.

It’s off to Terkay to beat Marinara down in the corner and throw Guido over the top onto his partner. Fans: “YOU STILL SUCK!” Guido fights out of Burke’s chinlock but eats running knees in the corner, followed by an STO for two. Another chinlock is broken and the tag brings in Marinara to clean house as the fans are just GONE. The Italians kick out Terkay’s legs but he forearms Tony into the Elijah Experience (the Stroke) for the pin at 6:42.

Rating: F. What am I even supposed to think about this? Burke and Terkay were a nothing team with Terkay being released in about six weeks. The FBI were just another pair of token ECW originals with Guido being nothing more than a jobber and Mamaluke being released on the same day as Terkay. Another bad match here and I’m losing the little faith I have in the show.

Terkay lays Guido out post match.

Sabu is taken away in an ambulance.

Daivari vs. Tommy Dreamer

Daivari has Great Khali (7’2, 420lbs) in his corner. This is a rematch from a recent episode of ECW where Dreamer beat Daivari by DQ when Khali interfered. An early distraction lets Daivari hammer away, only to be knocked outside. Back in and a suplex drops Daivari but Khali low bridges Tommy to the floor. The referee sees it though and ejects the giant like you might see on any given episode of Raw.

That’s one of the major issues here: the matches don’t feel like something worthy of a pay per view. Like I said, this was originally on TV and the rematch doesn’t feel special in the slightest. Dreamer gets caught in a chinlock as the fans want hardcore. Good point actually as we haven’t had anything besides a regular match so far, again missing the point of ECW. Another chinlock keeps the match going and he puts Daivari in the Tree of Woe for the running dropkick. Dreamer’s DDT is loaded up but Daivari grabs a rollup and tights for the pin at 7:22.

Rating: F+. If there’s a point to this show besides making ECW look like the most worthless show that has ever existed, it’s sailing over my head. It’s a bunch of bad matches (save for the opener, which had four people not on the ECW roster) with no stories and weak TV finishes. Dreamer being on the show made sense but you can’t even put him in a hardcore match to give the fans a little something? Apparently not because that might be entertaining and that’s clearly not the goal here.

Post match Dreamer chases Daivari up the ramp but runs into Khali, who chokeslams him on the stage for something more interesting than almost anything else on the show tonight. Medics check on Tommy, who says he can’t feel his feet.

Paul Heyman has found a replacement for Sabu: Hardcore Holly. The audience audibly groans. Not boos, not yells, not shouts, but groans in pure disappointment. That should not be happening on a wrestling show but can you blame them?

Mike Knox/Kelly Kelly vs. Kevin Thorn/Ariel

Knox is a big guy with a beard and Kelly is his blonde bombshell girlfriend, though she has a thing for CM Punk. She even wishes him luck in the Chamber tonight. Thorn is a vampire enthusiast and Ariel is his…..I guess girlfriend. Again no real story here other than two pairs who had nothing else to do. The guys start things off with the first significant contact coming over a minute in as Kevin gets in some right hands. Knox’s clothesline doesn’t have much effect as Thorn grabs a chinlock. They’re just letting the crowd die here every second the women aren’t in there.

Kevin charges into a boot for two and Knox slowly pounds away before grabbing a front facelock. The hold is driven back into the corner for the tag to Ariel, meaning Kelly has to come in as well. Aries chokes a lot including a boot version in the corner which is nothing more than an excuse for an upskirt shot. It would be even better if Kelly actually sold any of this. Knox walks away instead of tagging in, leaving Kelly to take a choke legsweep for the pin at 7:43.

Rating: F-. Only because this was somehow even worse than the other matches. Kelly was gorgeous and the crowd loved her but she was one of the worst “wrestler” I’ve ever seen. Ariel was trying but if this is the best she has to work with, there’s not much else she can do. Absolutely horrible here with a lame angle to end things.

Post match Ariel keeps choking Kelly until Sandman (ECW legend) comes out for the save.

Bobby Lashley (basically Brock Lesnar minus charisma) isn’t worried about Paul Heyman stacking the deck against him.

We recap the main event, which as usual is basically just a video about the Chamber and people talking about how extreme the match will be.

Here’s Paul Heyman, flanked by his nameless personal security, for a chat. Heyman talks about how Hulkamania will die with Hulk Hogan and the WOOs will die with Ric Flair but thanks to him, ECW will live on forever. That brings him to the Chamber, which Sabu will not be participating in because of his injuries. However, tonight is about the new generation of ECW and not about the old stars like Sabu or the Sandman. Tonight we see the crowning jewel of the ECW Champion the Big Show, the biggest star ECW has ever seen.

The Chamber is lowered.

ECW World Title: Hardcore Holly vs. Test vs. CM Punk vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Lashley vs. Big Show

Show is defending and each pod has a weapon included. They don’t really try to hide the fact that Show, Holly and Test are on the same team here. Holly and Van Dam start things off with a slow pace (fair due to the nature of the match) until they head outside where Van Dam springboards onto the cage wall in a very cool looking spot.

Unfortunately he misses his dive off the cage and clotheslines himself on the top rope, leaving Holly to stand around. Holly goes up top and dives into a raised boot, allowing Van Dam to hit Rolling Thunder over the top and onto the cage floor. A suplex sends Van Dam back inside and Holly gets in his great looking dropkick for two. CM Punk comes in third and smashes Holly with his chair. Van Dam picks the chair up and pelts it at Punk’s head to stop him cold. Punk’s face says something like “Ok that really hurt.”

Van Dam tries his legsweep but Punk hits something like a Fameasser onto the chair to draw some blood. The bloody head is sent into the chair in the corner, only to have Holly swing Punk head first into the cage wall to take over again. Things slow down again until Holly grabs a top rope superplex on Punk with Van Dam coming in for a near fall. Rob superkicks Punk to break up a bulldog on Holly (makes sense in a way) and it’s Test with his crowbar in fourth.

Test goes after Punk and Van Dam but leaves Holly alone to go along with the plan. Van Dam comes back with chair shots to the villains’ heads, followed by a running dropkick to send the chair into Punk’s head as well. The Five Star Frog Splash eliminates Punk at 12:35, taking at least half the air out of the arena as well. Punk was the HEAVY crowd favorite here and having him go out first after getting beaten up more than anything else is another middle finger the crowd after way too much of the same throughout the night.

In an awkward moment, Test turns on Holly with a big boot for two but the referee says it’s a three anyway, putting Holly out at 12:45. Van Dam goes on top of Big Show’s pod but Show reaches through the roof to grab his foot, allowing Test to throw him off for a big crash. An elbow drop off the pod onto the chair onto Van Dam is enough for the elimination at 14:00 and OH MY the crowd is not happy.

I don’t mean they’re booing or anything but they just completely turn on the show (not hard at this point) because we’re down to Lashley, Test and Big Show for the title in the most un-ECW match you can imagine. If there was ANYTHING the fans could still cling to on this show it was the hope that Van Dam or Punk could win the title but instead it’s Punk out first and TEST eliminating Van Dam. Yes Test, the same guy who was nothing for years in WWE and was even released for a while, is the one that gets rid of the most popular guy left in the match.

As if all that wasn’t enough, we have a minute to kill because Test has no one left to fight. Lashley is supposed to come in fifth but Heyman’s security guards don’t let him out of his pod, meaning we have even more waiting around. Lashley finally uses his table to break through the roof of the pod (not that impressive when you remember Big Show did the same thing a few minutes earlier) and kicks Test away to almost no reaction.

Test is sent hard into a pod door as we might as well just have the villains walk out and let Lashley have an even longer celebration. The chair is kicked into Test’s face as the crowd isn’t even bothering reacting to anything. A spear pins Test at 19:42 but for some reason there’s over a minute left on the clock so let’s wait around even more because WWE can’t tell time.

Lashley kills time by dragging the table out of his pod and throwing it at Show’s pod. Show FINALLY gets in with his barbed wire baseball bat but Lashley blocks a bunch of swings with a chair. Another swing gets caught in the cage wall (with Show clearly shoving it further in) and we’re down to a regular fight.

A shot into the cage has Show busted open and Lashley throws him through a pod door. Heyman is panicking as Show tosses Lashley over the top and back inside but the chokeslam is countered into a DDT. Back up and Show misses a charge, setting up a spear to give Lashley the title at 24:40. Show’s total time in the match: three minutes and forty four seconds.

Rating: F-. What else is there even to say about this disaster? Actually there’s a very interesting backstory to this and it explains a lot. At this point, Paul Heyman was helping to write ECW TV and he had a rather different vision of what this should have been. Instead of Lashley winning like this, Heyman was going to put the title on Punk, who would have lasted throughout the entire match and eliminate Big Show early on (to his credit, Big Show was completely on board with the idea and more than ready to put Punk over). This makes even more sense when you consider Show had his title rematch two days later and then left for a year.

On top of that, the match was really pathetic with career midcarders Holly and Test taking up spots instead of putting someone young in there who might get a rub out of the thing. Sabu really would have been perfect here as he excelled in this kind of crazy hardcore environment but instead we had Holly, who wasn’t even a factor in the match. This whole thing was a disaster and a perfect way to end one of the worst major shows ever.

A quick celebration takes us out after less than two hours and fifteen minutes on the air.

Overall Rating: F. You could actually make a case that during the main event, at the moment that Van Dam was pinned, the original ECW was finally buried once and for all. It certainly wasn’t alive and well but it was still something that people wanted to believe in. Van Dam being eliminated, or instead this show as a whole, was the WWE saying no more because we’re doing this our way now.

If you need more proof just look at the rest of this show. Aside from a good opening match (again, between people not on the ECW roster) and the at least somewhat interesting idea of the main event, there was nothing on this show that mattered with four matches in the middle not even advertised with a bunch of people who wouldn’t even be on the roster in about six weeks.

On top of that, this show was one week after Survivor Series 2006 and two weeks before Armageddon 2006, as in the two full fledged WWE pay per views for November and December. This show was designed to be a disaster and the results aren’t shocking as the show only drew 90,000 pay per view buys, the lowest of all time until the WWE Network changed the pay per view model entirely.

One more note on the show itself: this isn’t the wrestlers’ fault. They were stuck in a horrible situation and had to make the best of it. Yeah the wrestling was horrible for the most part but there was no story or reason for having most of the matches. You can only go so far with those limitations and it showed badly here. That’s on the booking though and not the talent itself.

The original ECW died here and that’s really how it seems WWE wanted it that way. Heyman looked at this show and flat out told Vince that it would bomb. He would be promptly sent home and didn’t appear on WWE TV for over five years. Now I certainly get the idea that ECW wasn’t exactly in line with what WWE wanted to do, but the fans who still watched and supported the show didn’t deserve this kind of treatment. It felt like WWE punching the fans in the stomach and then spitting on them so Vince could laugh at ECW, before becoming ECW Champion in April.

This show is on the shortlist for worst show of all time and it’s really hard to come up with something to top it. They knew this was going to be bad and didn’t even deliver a full show (remember that it ran less than two hours and fifteen minutes with a total of match time of an hour and sixteen minutes) to the fans who actually paid to see it. This was an insult to the fans and I feel sorry for people who actually wanted to see this because WWE certainly doesn’t think much of them.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 1997 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/11/20/new-paperback-complete-1997-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: December 10, 2018
Location: Valley View Casino Center, San Diego, California
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Renee Young

We’re at the go home show for TLC and the question now becomes how bad can things actually get. Tonight is likely going to be focused on the final push towards the bigger matches, even if there isn’t any interest in those bigger matches. In other words, expect another Baron Corbin night as he has to hammer in his power before possibly losing it on Sunday. Let’s get to it.

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

Here’s Seth Rollins to get things going. He isn’t happy with Dean Ambrose and tonight it’s time to spit some truth. Rollins is tired of hearing Baron Corbin (you and me both brother) talking about things so Corbin can get out here right now. Corbin says his door is always open to a superstar of Rollins’ caliber but Rollins tells him to cut it. Since Rollins has been dealing with Dean Ambrose, he hasn’t had the chance to tell Corbin how much he sucks as General Manager.

Rollins talks about everything Corbin has done wrong, including ruining a team like the Revival in whatever a Lucha House Party Rules match is. If Corbin keeps firing people, is it just going to be him, Lashley and McIntyre out here? Rollins: “That’ll send ratings up.” Or maybe they can have more urination segments. Then there’s BROCK LESNAR, who is never around and hasn’t wrestled on Raw since 2002. Right now, morale and TV ratings are at an all time low and it’s all because of Corbin’s job as boss.

Corbin says he doesn’t care about any of this because he’s in charge. If Rollins isn’t careful, it’s going to get worse for him. Rollins: “I don’t think it can get much worse around here pal.” Corbin talks about becoming permanent GM of Raw on Sunday after Rollins loses his Intercontinental Title. Then it’s time for Rollins’ life to become a nightmare.

Rollins tells him to start doing it tonight so the challenge is on. Actually, if Corbin wants to have a TLC match so badly, let’s do that tonight. Corbin says no so Rollins calls him a coward over and over. That’s eventually enough to get Corbin to agree to the match and it’s going to be for the Intercontinental Title.

I’m of two minds about this. On one hand, it’s a good sign that WWE is acknowledging how much people have been rejecting the show. The problem though is that this isn’t making things better. Having a TLC match is going to be cool, but not if Corbin is involved as he’s a big part of the problem. It’s one thing to admit that something is wrong, but until you do something to fix it long term, the problem is still there.

Post break Rollins says he wants to be a leader and has to take a stand. If he won’t, he doesn’t deserve the title.

Tag Team Titles: Drake Maverick/AOP vs. Chad Gable/Bobby Roode

Maverick and the AOP are defending in a handicap match. Fallout from last week when Roode lost a match he had to win to earn a title shot. Gable has his own robe and is now in regular gear. Akam takes Gable down to start and hands it off to Rezar for a knee to the ribs. Everything breaks down for a few seconds and AOP are knocked to the floor, leaving Maverick to be hiptossed inside. That’s followed by a heck of a toss over the top and we take a break.

Back with Gable in trouble again as even Maverick can get in some shots to the ribs. Maverick runs back over to Akam for a tag but Gable sends him into the corner and makes the hot tag to Roode. House is cleaned for a few moments until everything breaks down. The Super Collider takes Roode down but Gable reverses his into a hurricanrana. The sitout powerbomb/neckbreaker combination plants Gable but Maverick wants the pin on Roode. As expected, he takes a little too long posing and gets rolled up to give Roode the pin and the titles at 8:24.

Rating: C-. This feels like part of the course correction that the show seems to be on. Either that or it’s another example of giving the fans a thrill for the sake of making them ignore how bad some of the other things are. Either way, it’s a nice moment and thankfully erases some of the mess from the whole robe situation.

We look back at Dolph Ziggler defeating Drew McIntyre last week, followed by Drew attacking Finn Balor for interfering.

Post break, Roode and Gable are proud of their win and say there hasn’t been much hope as of late. They knew if they put the work in it would be worth it and now they feel GLORIOUS.

Here’s Natalya to talk about what Ruby Riott is putting her through. Natalya has gone through so much just to get to WWE, including a little thing called the Montreal Screwjob. We’ll ignore how stupid that is and move on to Natalya dedicating her match on Sunday to Jim Neidhart. You know, the guy who worked for the company after the Montreal Screwjob. She’s going to use everything she has to put Riott through a table on Sunday.

This brings out the Riott Squad, with Morgan and Logan bringing out a table with a sheet on it. Ruby talks about Natalya feeling sorry for herself all the time and how she needs to get a good therapist already. Since Ruby won’t be invited to the Hart Family Christmas, she has a gift for Natalya. That would be the table with a picture of Jim Neidhart on it, so he and Natalya can be closer than ever. As usual, Natalya can’t talk and Ruby is a great promo.

Dolph Ziggler says he brought Drew McIntyre in from obscurity. Tonight, he’s not the good guy or the bad guy. He’s Dolph Ziggler and he’s taking McIntyre out.

Here’s McIntyre for a chat before his match. No one stays undefeated forever, including Andre the Giant or the Undertaker at Wrestlemania. The loss has made him even more dangerous and Finn Balor can explain that to you. Tonight, he’s kicking Ziggler’s head off.

Drew McIntyre vs. Dolph Ziggler

Ziggler goes right after him to start but has to fight out of the corner as Drew slugs him down. A belly to belly suplex sends Ziggler flying and we take a break. Back with McIntyre hitting Super White Noise with Ziggler almost falling out for a nasty looking landing. They head outside with Ziggler posting McIntyre for a close nine but Ziggler collapses trying a superkick back inside. McIntyre talks a lot of trash so Ziggler snaps off the Zig Zag for two. They both take a good bit of time to get up and it’s Ziggler trying another superkick, only to get caught with a quick Claymore for the pin at 8:19.

Rating: D+. Nothing much to this one and I really, really hope that Balor isn’t going to be replaced by Ziggler on Sunday. I don’t get how he could possible be the third biggest face on the show, mainly because he’s not a face but rather a heel who was beaten down by another heel. At least McIntyre won though.

Post match McIntyre destroys Ziggler some more but referees break up a powerbomb on the floor. Instead, McIntyre kicks Ziggler’s head into the LED ring skirt.

We look back at Corbin forcing Heath Slater to face Rhyno and end his career as a result.

Bayley vs. Alicia Fox

Sasha Banks, Jinder Mahal and the Singh Brothers are all here. Apparently since Finn Balor is hurt, Apollo Crews is taking his place in Mixed Match Challenge. That thing is cursed man. They fight over a lockup to start with Fox actually driving her into the corner. That’s more success than I would have bet on for her. A takedown sets up the early chinlock until Bayley fights up, only to get caught with a sunset flip out of the corner.

That’s countered into an elbow drop, followed by a belly to back suplex to drop Fox. A Stunner over the middle rope means it’s time to adjust the ponytail. The Singh Brothers offer a distraction so Fox can kick her in the face, drawing out Crews to deal with the Brothers. Banks gets involved as well, leaving Bayley to hit the Bayley to Belly for the pin at 3:47.

Rating: D. Bad stuff here, but that’s to be the case when you have five people getting into a fight on the floor. I’m completely ready for Mixed Match Challenge to be over and at this rate, the entire roster will have been involved in the thing in one way or another. However, how in the world are they supposed to fill in the spots left over from the lack of Mixed Match Challenge preview matches?

Dean Ambrose talks about how that was the real Seth Rollins earlier tonight: he was insane, off the hinges and going without a plan. Rollins isn’t an architect, but if he’s still Intercontinental Champion after tonight, Dean is taking the title on Sunday. As for Roman Reigns, who apparently doesn’t know what’s going on between Dean and Seth, who cares? Dean is asked to talk about a video of Roman’s farewell speech on the same night Rollins and Ambrose won the Tag Team Titles and the ensuing fallout. This goes on for several minutes and Dean has no reaction.

Here’s Elias for a song. Before he gets to that though, Elias talks about Lashley having an interview earlier today where he said all the San Diego sports teams should move to a cool town like Los Angeles. Elias on the other hand would rather perform downtown in San Diego than in front of a bunch of LA trash. He’s not happy with himself for hitting a child like Lio Rush in the back with his guitar last week but tonight he’ll beat him in a match. As for the song, it’s mainly about how much Lashley sucks. Therefore, here are Lashley and Rush to interrupt.

Elias vs Lio Rush

Heath Slater makes his refereeing debut. Rush gets gorilla pressed to start and Elias tosses him around with a heck of a hiptoss. A whip into the corner sends Rush through the ropes (that’s a new one) but Lashley gets in a cheap shot, allowing Rush to start his flipping around back inside. A sitout Last Ride crushes Rush so Lashley comes in….not for the DQ for some reason. Lashley stares Slater down and a spinebuster plants Elias. Rush brings in the guitar so Lashley can break it over Elias’ back and Slater counts the pin at 4:13.

Rating: D. Much more of an angle than a match, as you had to expect. Slater as the intimidated referee could be interesting and it’s not like we’ve seen that story in recent memory. There isn’t much else for him to do in the ring at the moment so mix things up a bit and see if we can get people to care more. What can it hurt?

A disgusted Slater leaves.

We recap the opening segment.

We recap the Tag Team Title change.

We recap Ruby Riott revealing the Jim Neidhart table.

We recap Drew McIntyre injuring Dolph Ziggler.

Corbin comes in to tell Slater he did a good job. Slater is ready to go home but Corbin says he has another match to referee tonight.

Here’s Alexa Bliss to moderate a Q&A session with Ronda Rousey and Nia Jax. Before Rousey comes out, Jax says she’s going to become Raw Women’s Champion at Rousey’s expense. Nia is a 6’ 300lb Samoan woman and the anti-Rousey. Her secret is the right hand which broke Becky Lynch’s face with one punch. On Sunday, she’s going to hit Rousey over and over until Rousey taps out. She’s also a strategist, so she plans on avoiding the judo and hitting Rousey in the face. Cue Rousey to chase both of them off because she wants a fight. Ember Moon runs out to even things up.

Tamina vs. Ember Moon

Ember throws her outside to start and we pause for a Nia vs. Tamina staredown. Back in and Tamina gets in a hard shot for two. A whip into the corner sets up a chinlock for longer than it needs to go on. Ember fights up and starts in with the kicks but gets caught in a powerslam. Some knees to the face put Tamina down and with Rousey throwing Nia over the barricade, the Eclipse finishes Tamina at 5:10.

Rating: D-. Good. Now fire Tamina, tell her to never disgrace us with her presence again, and keep her away from anything involving television. I don’t remember the last time I saw anyone who can suck the life out of a show like her and what could have been an entertaining Moon match was a barren wasteland of joy because Tamina is that bad.

Baron Corbin doesn’t like being accused of abusing his power. Then on Sunday, he’s going to win by forfeit because Strowman is too hurt to compete. Charly Caruso asks him about rumors that Strowman is going to show up but Corbin laughs them off.

TLC rundown, with Elias vs. Lashley now a ladder match.

Lars Sullivan video.

Intercontinental Title: Seth Rollins vs. Baron Corbin

Corbin is challenging in a TLC match with Slater as referee. Rollins stomps him down in the corner and knees his way out of a suplex. They head outside with Rollins grabbing a chair but getting punched in the face for his efforts. Corbin orders Slater to get him a ladder but the delay lets Rollins hit a spring clothesline and we take a break. Back with Corbin cracking a chair over Rollins’ back and whipping him into the barricade to make things even worse. Rollins gets in a dropkick and tries for a ladder but Corbin suplexes him into said ladder in the corner.

Corbin hits the slide under the ropes clothesline and stops to hit the Strowman pose. A backdrop sends Rollins to the floor but he springboards in to catch Corbin on the ladder and hammer him down. Corbin is fine enough to knock him outside and we take another break. Back again with Corbin hitting a Deep Six and some big right hands to the head. Corbin tries another slide but walks into an enziguri.

That means it’s time for the big beating with a chair as Cole recaps the opening segment again. Back to back suicide dives connect but the third sees Corbin throw him through a table. Corbin can’t climb fast enough though as Rollins chairs him down. One of the chair shots hits Slater and knocks him off the apron, though Rollins doesn’t seem to mind as he hits a huge splash off the top through Corbin through a table.

Back in and Rollins goes up but Slater shoves the ladder over, sending him arm first into a table in the corner, which doesn’t break. Corbin climbs up and…..gets powerbombed through the table as Rollins won’t stay down. With Slater down, a Stomp is enough for Rollins to climb up and retain the title at 24:30.

Rating: C+. It’s hard to screw up a TLC match and there was some drama at the end, even though the Slater turn (I think?) didn’t mean much. The problem here is even more Corbin, which is the last thing this show needed. Rollins winning to give us a hero we can believe in helps, but my goodness did we need a twenty five minute Corbin match to wrap things up?

Overall Rating: D. Much like the opening promo, I’m not sure what entirely to think here. First of all, there were some better parts this time around. The main event was good if you ignore everything going on before it and the Tag Team Title change was a nice little surprise that offered something to cheer for.

The problem though continues to be Corbin, who is all over the show and not interesting enough to warrant more than about five minutes a week. This week he opened the show, closed the show (with nearly half an hour in the main event) and appeared in multiple backstage segments. That’s too much for almost anyone not named The Rock or Steve Austin and Corbin, like almost any other wrestler ever, is nowhere near those two. Most of this show was about “will Corbin keep his power” but he’s killed off so much interest in the show that I don’t care what happens to him or the show itself.

Rollins trying to be the hero is a good thing, but like he said, with no World Champion to chase, what’s the point? If Strowman wins on Sunday, it’s probably six weeks until Lesnar defends the thing again and I’d be rather surprised if Strowman gets the title. If Corbin wins on Sunday, nothing changes around here and we wait for a new challenger to get a shot. Either way, it’s a lot of sitting around waiting, which isn’t helping the show’s problems. I need a reason to watch and Baron Corbin getting 25 minutes after being the anchor that drags this show down isn’t it, no matter how many things Rollins jumps off.

Results

Bobby Roode/Chad Gable b. AOP/Drake Maverick – Rollup to Roode

Drew McIntyre b. Dolph Ziggler – Claymore

Bayley b. Alicia Fox – Bayley to Belly

Lio Rush b. Elias – Guitar to the back

Ember Moon b. Tamina

Seth Rollins b. Baron Corbin – Rollins pulled down the title

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 1997 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/11/20/new-paperback-complete-1997-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Mixed Match Challenge
Date: November 27, 2018
Location: Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Michael Cole, Renee Young

It’s time for the playoffs, meaning we’re down to four teams left on either side. Tonight we’ll get down to the final two Raw teams and given the options we have, I’m not sure what to expect here. Well other than some bad wrestling and unfunny comedy because this show isn’t something anyone is taken seriously. Let’s get to it.

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

Raw Division Quarterfinals: Ember Moon/Curt Hawkins vs. Alicia Fox/Jinder Mahal

The women start things off with an exchange of rollups until Moon headscissors her into the corner. Mahal comes in and Moon wants to face him, knowing how worthless Hawkins really is. I mean, she’s not wrong. Mahal punches him down and slaps on a headlock takeover but Hawkins scores with a dropkick. A clothesline puts Mahal on the floor but Hawkins stops to go after the Singh Brothers, allowing Mahal to get in a shot to take over.

Back in and we hit the chinlock on Hawkins, because that’s all Mahal knows how to do. Actually I sit corrected as Mahal switches off to a cravate to show some range. And never mind as it’s right back to the chinlock, just to keep things comfortable. Hawkins fights up and sends Mahal outside for the hot tag off to Moon so the pace can pick up.

The spinning suplex out of the corner is broken up so Moon settles for a low superkick instead. The Eclipse connects…but Hawkins tags himself in and covers out of desperation for win. Since that doesn’t count, Moon Eclipses one of the Singh’s, leaving Mahal to hit the Khallas on Hawkins for the pin at 8:04.

Rating: D. Well of course we’re getting more Mahal. The guy can’t even win a match on Main Event but he’s one of the final four options for the #30 spot in the Royal Rumble. Oh and make sure to push the heck out of Mahal and Fox, because it’s so wacky to have them advance this far after being a disaster in the regular season. This felt like a way to laugh at the fans and pull the rug out from them, which seems like the goal more often than not.

Asuka and Miz are ready for Naomi and Jimmy Uso next week.

Naomi and Jimmy Uso are ready for Asuka and Miz next week.

Fox and Mahal promise to win next week. Mickie James comes in and says Fox should watch this.

Raw Division Quarterfinals: Bobby Lashley/Mickie James vs. Bayley/Finn Balor

The men start things off but Lashley tags out less than a second in. That means a lot of stalling until a Lio Rush distraction lets Mickie get in a cheap shot to take over. The way too early chinlock goes on, followed by a neckbreaker for two on Bayley. We hit the bodyscissors as they don’t exactly seem interested in going full speed ahead here. Bayley gets up and it’s a double clothesline to set up the double tag.

That’s a bit of overkill as only one is needed but I guess that’s making up for the weaker effort. Balor tries to pick up the pace but gets knocked off the apron and into the announcers’ table. Since that’s only good for two, Lashley sends him outside again and mocks Braun Strowman’s run around the ring, allowing Balor to hit the Sling Blade. Mickie is right there to pull Bayley off the ropes though and there’s no tag.

Back up and Lashley misses a charge into the post, allowing the hot tag off to Bayley. A flapjack cuts her off in almost no time though and the top rope Thesz press gets two. Bayley fights out of the MickieDT but Rush breaks up her dive. Balor throws Rush outside and hits the flip dive onto both guys, leaving Bayley to grab the Bayley to Belly for the pin on James at 9:20.

Rating: C+. That’s one of the better matches of the entire season so far for the simple reason that it felt like they were trying. Instead of having a dance off or doing something stupid, you had two teams fight each other because they wanted to advance on in the competition. That hasn’t been the case for most of the season and it was very, very nice for a change.

R-Truth and Carmella are ready for Jeff Hardy and Charlotte next week.

Jeff Hardy and Charlotte are ready for R-Truth and Carmella next week.

Balor and Bayley try the Dirty Dancing lift to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. The second match was much better than the first and that’s enough to make this a better show than we’ve had in a few weeks. If nothing else it’s great to have the ending in sight, because we’ve sat through this whole thing for so long that there’s no charm left to it. Hopefully the finals are good, because what we’ve gotten so far hasn’t exactly been worth seeing.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 1997 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/11/20/new-paperback-complete-1997-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: November 26, 2018
Location: Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Renee Young

We’re coming up on TLC and the card is already starting to come into focus. Last week saw two big matches set up and you can imagine some more taking place tonight. We also don’t know any of the big gimmick matches yet, which are often some of the most important things on the show. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley, Lio Rush and Drew McIntyre in the ring. They talk about how great their Thanksgiving was, though they didn’t indulge themselves like these common people. They’re all thankful for everything they do, including what they did to Braun Strowman last week.

We see last week’s attack that put Strowman on the shelf and then go to Birmingham, Alabama where Strowman says he’ll be on the shelf for a while. His surgeon has never seen an injury like this before nor worked on an arm this size. He’ll be back though and what happened last week will look like a paper cut compared to what he’s doing to the three of them.

Back in the arena, Corbin is fine with winning via forfeit at TLC and becoming permanent GM. He’s going to remember everyone who didn’t respect him…and there go the lights. It’s Elias time and he runs down the idea of Corbin as permanent GM. Anyone would do a better job, including Rush, even though he would violate some kind of child labor law. This week’s song says little more than Lashley sucks and it’s time for a match after a break. Long promo here that accomplished absolutely nothing. Elias is already collapsing under the weight of bad face jokes.

Elias vs. Bobby Lashley

Corbin, McIntyre and Rush are at ringside. Lashley’s new nickname seems to be the Almighty. I’m sure that’ll work just fine. Elias chops his way out of the corner to start but gets taken down into an early chinlock. Back up and Elias sends him outside, setting up a baseball slide, much to Lashley’s friends’ annoyance. Lashley comes back in and drops Elias with a right hand for a choke with the boot.

The chinlock goes on again until Elias gets sent to the floor. A hard posting has Elias in trouble and we take a break. Back with Elias hitting a running clothesline, followed by the jumping knee. A top rope elbow gets two with Rush pulling the referee out for the DQ at 9:24…or not as Corbin says this is No DQ, which he didn’t get the chance to announce after Elias interrupted him.

Elias fights back but gets pulled to the floor and has to deal with Corbin and McIntyre. It’s time for the guitar but Corbin jumps him from behind. Lashley stomps on the guitar and Corbin chairs Elias out to the floor. A double whip sends him into the barricade as the beatdown just keeps going. McIntyre gets in a great looking shot with a reverse Alabama Slam onto the steps, followed by Lashley hitting the spear. Lashley finally throws him back inside and a gator roll gets the pin at 14:11.

Rating: D. The angle part at the end made this feel way longer than it should have been and that doesn’t work well for a match. It’s a good sign for Elias that he’s getting this kind of treatment, though the latest heel trio isn’t the strongest thing in the world. The show still needs some top faces and having them beaten down like this isn’t helping things.

Post break Corbin fires a production worker for the spotlight on Elias. Alexa Bliss comes up to him and offers her services for anything Corbin might need. Since this is no longer the Attitude Era, Corbin puts her in charge of the women’s division. That would make her the third heel authority figure on this show.

Dean Ambrose was at his doctor’s office earlier today and said he won’t be at the show tonight in the toxic waste dump of Milwaukee. That’s why Rollins was fine with an open challenge for the title tonight because there was no chance Dean would be in the arena. As for tonight, Dean is getting his shots to avoid all the diseases that the fans carry. There is nothing that can wash away Rollins’ sins though and at TLC, Ambrose is putting him out of his misery for good.

Renee Young still won’t talk about what’s up with Dean.

Lucha House Party vs. Revival

In case last week wasn’t enough. Before the match, the Revival talks about the tag team etiquette that the House Party didn’t show last week with their lucha rules. And again, this is under Lucha House Rules, meaning it’s 3-2. Metalik dropkicks Wilder down to start and it’s off to Kalisto to climb onto Dorado’s shoulders for the splash. Dawson comes in for a torture rack kneeling backbreaker, followed by various drops for two. Not that it matters as the luchadors all come in and take over on Dawson, including the Salida Del Sol. The shooting star finishes Dawson off at 2:32 and I want to pummel whoever wrote this nonsense.

We look back at Nia Jax breaking Becky Lynch’s face.

Bayley and Sasha Banks sell stuff for Cyber Monday.

Video on Lars Sullivan.

Here are Nia Jax and Tamina for a chat. Nia says she has a lot to be thankful for this year, mainly being breaking Becky Lynch’s face. That brings her to Ronda Rousey, so we see Jax beating Rousey up at Money in the Bank. Then it was Charlotte beating her up at Survivor Series, leaving Ronda to talk about how hard a champion has to fight. Nia is now on top of the mountain but here’s Rousey to interrupt.

Rousey yells at her about how Nia is from a warrior culture who likes to hit people in the face. She could fight the champ right now, but Jax just got done washing Becky’s crusted blood off her hand. The double teaming seems imminent but Natalya runs in….and gets jumped by the Riott Squad. Rousey makes the save.

We recap the Drake Maverick issue from Survivor Series and ensuing jokes.

Maverick is ready to see the AOP crush Bobby Roode and Chad Gable.

Tag Team Titles: AOP vs. Chad Gable/Bobby Roode

Gable and Roode are challenging. Maverick goes after Roode’s robe and the distraction is enough for Akam to get in a few shots in the corner. Gable comes in with a missile dropkick and the armbreaker over the ropes to keep Rezar in trouble. Maverick now has the robe on and stands on the stage for the GLORIOUS pose as we take a break.

Back with Roode coming in off the hot tag but getting caught in a fall away slam from Akam. A low bridge sends Akam outside though…and we cut to Maverick in the robe in the bathroom where he puts the robe in the toilet and….yeah I think you get the idea. Roode is so distraught that it’s the sitout powerbomb/neckbreaker combination for the pin to retain at 9:04.

Rating: F. Nope.

Alexa comes in to see Banks and Bayley and thinks they need to get to know each other. Banks isn’t happy but Bliss offers them the chance to go to the ring for an open forum from the fans. The two of them aren’t pleased but seem to agree.

Finn Balor is ready to face Baron Corbin tonight.

Ember Moon vs. Alicia Fox

Mixed Match Challenge playoffs preview, with Ember’s new partner….Curt Hawkins. He and Jinder Mahal, with the Singh Brothers, are here as well. Fox kicks her in the face for a very early two and a neckbreaker gets the same. The chinlock doesn’t last long and Moon hits the spinning suplex out of the corner. The Eclipse finishes Fox at 1:53.

Post match Hawkins celebrates like he won in a funny bit. No Way Jose comes out and Ember gets dragged into the conga line and starts dancing because WWE has no idea how she is supposed to work.

No Way Jose vs. Jinder Mahal

Jinder kicks him down to start and it’s off to an early chinlock. Some knee drops keep Jose in trouble and the chinlock goes on again. Jose comes back with a middle rope crossbody and some clotheslines but Mahal drops him across the top rope. The Khallas gives Mahal the pin at 4:27.

Rating: F. A four minute match shouldn’t include two chinlocks. How can your offense be that limited when you’ve been doing this for so many years now? While I don’t think this is the resurgence of Mahal’s career, it’s painful to watch his terrible matches and seeing him win brings back some really harsh memories.

Intercontinental Title: Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler

Open challenge and I actually collapsed a bit when I heard the record scratch. Ziggler says he’s going to get back to being the best in the world by becoming champion again. They hit the mat to start and Ziggler can’t quite keep up. Instead Rollins sends him outside and we take a break.

Back with Rollins in trouble and Ziggler ripping at his face. The chinlock goes on, Ziggler chokes on the ropes, and the chinlock goes on again. Ziggler puts on a third chinlock before throwing him outside for a second break. Back again with Rollins making a comeback and hitting the Sling Blade. An enziguri rocks Ziggler and Rollins heads up, only to get crotched back down. He shoves Ziggler down but misses the frog splash, setting up the Fameasser to give Ziggler two.

Ziggler’s jumping DDT is blocked so he settles for two off a small package instead. The sleeper goes on but Rollins drops him back and hits the low superkick for two. Rollins misses the Stomp and walks into the Zig Zag for another near fall. After looking at some fans being excited, Ziggler heads up top but Rollins catches him with the superplex into the Falcon Arrow to retain at 22:45.

Rating: B. It was a good match and I’ll give them some big points for the non-finisher ending, but egads I never need to see these two fight again. The match took a long time to get going but things picked up a lot after the break. I was starting to get into it at the end and that’s the best thing I can say about something on this show. As usual, Rollins is one of the more entertaining people, even if he was out there with Ziggler.

Here’s Bliss to host the open forum with Bayley and Banks. The first question is what would either of them change about the Raw women’s division. Sasha wants to send Bliss back to Smackdown but Bliss asks why Banks has let Bayley drag her down. That goes nowhere though as here are Mickie James, Alicia Fox and Dana Brooke to jump Banks and Bayley (last night Brooke was on the Starrcade special teaming with the two of them). Bayley and Banks clean house with ease anyway.

Finn Balor vs. Baron Corbin

Balor goes straight at him but gets hit in the jaw. Just to get the self parody going. Corbin has a chinlock on less than thirty seconds in. Corbin gets sent outside for a kick to the chest and we take a break. Back with Corbin holding another chinlock and sending Balor into the corner. That means ANOTHER chinlock, followed by a clothesline, followed by the fourth chinlock in less than ten minutes. This isn’t the kind of thing you want in a featured match.

Deep Six looks to set up the End of Days but Balor is right back with the shotgun dropkick. The Coup de Grace misses though and Corbin grabs a mic, making it a 2-1 handicap match with Drew McIntyre joining him. Balor flip dives onto McIntyre and dropkicks Corbin into the timekeeper’s area but McIntyre jumps him from behind. The Claymore is good for the pin on Balor at 13:25.

Rating: D-. Corbin is just so bad in the ring and this was more of the same heel abuse of power stuff that we’ve seen for the better part of forever. Balor was just cannon fodder here and the match was bad because they let Corbin run things instead of doing anything exciting. Terrible main event.

Post match Lashley comes out for the triple beatdown to end the show. At least McIntyre seems to be away from Ziggler now and that’s some of the only good news on this show.

Overall Rating: F. As I said earlier, nope. This was a complete wreck of a show with about 1947 chinlocks and one terrible match after another. They were doing every warmed over leftover that they could find here. Rollins vs. Ziggler again. Corbin vs. Balor again. Jinder Mahal still being employed again. The heel authority figure that we’ve seen for TWENTY YEARS NOW again, and this time he spawned a new heel authority figure.

I guess it’s WWE’s version of a greatest hits show as they just do the same things they’ve done all year and present it like it’s new. Hopefully Christmas comes early this year so they can be asked to do something more interesting come Rumble time. Like Brock Lesnar vs. Braun Strowman! Again!

Results

Bobby Lashley b. Elias – Gator roll

Lucha House Party b. Revival – Shooting star press to Dawson

AOP b. Chad Gable/Bobby Roode – Sitout powerbomb/neckbreaker combination to Roode

Ember Moon b. Alicia Fox – Eclipse

Jinder Mahal b. No Way Jose – Khallas

Seth Rollins b. Dolph Ziggler – Falcon Arrow

Baron Corbin/Drew McIntyre b. Finn Balor – Claymore

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 1997 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/11/20/new-paperback-complete-1997-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: November 19, 2018
Location: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Renee Young

It’s night three in Los Angeles and we’re on the side that won. Last night at Survivor Series, Raw completely swept Smackdown in the battle for brand supremacy. Therefore, you can expect a heck of a lot of bragging this week, which likely means Stephanie time. We’re less than a month away from TLC, while likely means no Brock time. Let’s get to it.

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

Here’s Baron Corbin to open things up…and he introduces Stephanie. She wants to soak it in a bit because last night they proved they were the best. Tonight they’re celebrating but first Corbin wants Stephanie to follow through on her promise of making his position permanent. Instead here’s Braun Strowman to interrupt. He wants his match with Corbin so Stephanie makes the match for TLC. She throws in a bonus though: if Corbin wins he’s permanent GM but if he loses, he loses all authority.

Strowman has a deal as well: if he beats Corbin, he gets Brock Lesnar for the Universal Title at the Royal Rumble. Strowman is in and it’s a TLC match at TLC. Corbin thinks that’s a horrible idea for Strowman but he’s going to have Strowman vs. Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre in a handicap match tonight. Stephanie doesn’t like it so she adds Corbin, Balor and Elias to make it a six man. This has been your “Stephanie is all powerful and last night’s match meant nothing at all” moment.

Baron Corbin/Bobby Lashley/Drew McIntyre vs. Braun Strowman/Finn Balor/Elias

Elimination rules. Before we’re ready to go, Elias has something to sing. He talks about how the universal truth of what WWE stands for and then plays a nice little song. Corbin starts with Corbin and of course tags out to McIntyre before it can go anywhere. Drew’s should doesn’t work so he goes to the eyes, only to get shouldered down. Balor comes in and gets kicked in the face to the floor as we take a break.

Back with no eliminations and McIntyre getting two off a suplex to Balor. Lashley adds a running shoulder in the corner and it’s off to the chinlock. Corbin cuts off the hot tag attempt with a Deep Six and it’s back to Lashley for the hard whip into the corner. Balor finally kicks him away and makes the hot tag off to Elias. House is cleaned but Balor tags himself back in and hits the big flip dive onto Lashley. The Coup de Grace is broken up though and it’s the Claymore for the first elimination at 12:14.

We take another break and come back with Elias getting stomped in the corner, setting up the armbar with a beard grab. Back up and Elias can’t fight out of the corner as Corbin whips him hard into the corner. That means the chinlock, which is at least a third of Corbin’s offense. Drew knocks Strowman off the apron so Elias has no one to tag after hitting the jumping knee. A top rope elbow gets two with Lashley making the save. Lio Rush annoys Elias so Lashley spears him down for a countout at 20:54.

Back from another break with Strowman in more trouble as Lashley shoulders him in the ribs. Strowman fights up from Corbin’s chinlock and runs Lashley over on the floor. The powerslam gets two on Corbin but McIntyre hits Strowman with a chair for the DQ at 27:50. More chairs to the ribs knock Strowman to the floor and Lashley adds a spear. Strowman gets up again and eats a Claymore as I’m assuming the match was thrown out somewhere in there.

Rating: D+. The ending actually annoyed me because we went thirty minutes to get to the injury angle. There was a grand total of no reason to let this go on so long and the lack of an ending was typical WWE nonsense. Just get to the injury angle and stop spending so much time on average at best wrestling that is just there to fill in part of the show.

They send Strowman into the steps and Corbin gets in some more chair shots. Lashley holds Strowman’s arm with a belt and Corbin crushes his arm with the steps. We’ll say the match was thrown out with McIntyre being DQ’d, because Heaven forbid WWE TELL US THE MATCH IS OVER or something like that. It’s just too much effort to say “the referee has disqualified Lashley and Corbin”. The villains leave and Strowman gets up while holding his arm.

We look back at Dean Ambrose burning his Shield vest last week.

Here’s Seth Rollins for a chat. Today is six years to the day of the Shield debuting in WWE and the three of them ran this place. Rollins is looking forward to facing Dean Ambrose at TLC because Ambrose can’t run away anymore. It’s going to be the two of them one on one for the Intercontinental Title.

Last week Dean said he’s been this guy the entire time. Rollins learned more about Dean from the WWE Chronicle on the Network than he has anywhere else. He didn’t know Dean had a horrible infection because Dean never told him or answered when Seth calls. Rollins is feeling highly aggressive tonight right now so Dean can come out here for a fight. Dean pops up on screen to say Seth doesn’t get what he wants that easily.

The Shield has done more harm than good because while everyone loved them no one knew what it was like when the cameras turned off. They were rotten to the corner and what they did will come back around on them in different ways. Look at Roman. For what he did, he has to answer to the man upstairs. What’s worse though is Rollins has to answer to Ambrose. The camera pans out to show Dean backstage and Rollins says come find him. Dean continues to be a great jerk and that’s what he needs to be.

Cole asks Renee what’s going on and she doesn’t agree with it, but he was on the shelf for a long time.

Rollins goes to find Ambrose and beats up some security guards who don’t like being asked where Dean is. Well that was rather rude of them.

Graves thinks Renee knows more than she’s letting on and she’s visibly annoyed.

Lars Sullivan is coming.

Sasha Banks/Bayley vs. Nia Jax/Tamina

Alexa Bliss is on commentary. Banks hammers away at Nia to start as Bliss doesn’t like being called out for stabbing her friends in the back. Apparently Banks and Bayley don’t even like Renee, who seems rather surprised. Bayley, in what looks like a Bob Sparkplug Holly tribute outfit, comes in for the running elbow in the corner. Tamina gets kneed down in the corner and stereo dropkicks through the ropes have the monsters in trouble as we take a break.

Back from a break with Bayley hitting a jawbreaker on Nia and bringing Banks back in. That earns her a knock to the floor and it’s Banks’ turn to fear for her life by facing Nia. Tamina adds the running hip attack in the corner and we hit the chinlock. Back up and some running knees drop Tamina and it’s off to Bayley, who walks into a heck of a superkick. Bayley slugs away though and hits a Thesz press, followed by a high crossbody for two. The comeback is cut off by Nia’s right hand and Banks is knocked off the apron, leaving Bayley to take the Samoan drop for the pin at 11:12.

Rating: D. I can’t wait for Rousey to beat Jax and get us on to ANYONE else but Nia and Tamina being the boring, dominant pair. Also, you have to love WWE being all serious and worried about concussions and then pushes the heck out of someone who caused a concussion by being reckless. I’m sure that makes Becky feel great.

Charly Caruso is trying to interview someone when Ambrose pops up on a video screen and says he’s still waiting on Rollins.

Post break, Rollins goes through the same door Dean went through and finds another door with BURN IT DOWN painted on. It’s locked though, and Seth is frustrated.

We go from that to reminding you that Drake Maverick had some issues last night with controlling his bodily functions.

At catering, people made fun of Maverick. It’s every bad pun you can imagine and Drake storms off.

Revival vs. Lucha House Party

This is under Lucha House rules, meaning all three members of the House Party can compete. Kalisto kicks Wilder down to start and the planking splash connects. Dorado comes in with a springboard dropkick but Dawson takes him down. He makes the mistake of throwing the pinata to the floor though and it’s back to Metalik. The pinata is brought back in for the rope walk elbow but Wilder gets up. Instead they throw the pinata to the floor, leaving Dorado to kick Wilder in the head. The shooting star finishes Wilder at 2:54. This was about as dumb of a thing as I’ve seen in years.

We look back at Charlotte attacking Ronda Rousey last night.

Seth promises to find Dean because of what he said about Reigns. Dean walks behind him with Seth not seeing anything. Titus O’Neil says Dean was just year…but doesn’t know which way he went. It’s a hallway with two ways to go and Titus can’t figure that out?

Here’s Rousey for a chat. She knows she’s defending the title against Nia Jax at TLC and knows how dangerous Jax is. Just look at what happened to Becky’s face. At TLC, Nia is tapping out and then the next chapter of Rousey is being written. She’s not out here to get sympathy because that’s not what a champion does. A champion is ready to fight at all times or they step aside.

The fans chant for Becky but Rousey says this is her worst day. She wants to defend the title right now though because she’s a champion. Cue Corbin to say that title defense isn’t happening and Rousey isn’t happy. She’s never backed out of a fight and that’s why she’s the baddest b**** on the planet. Go find an opponent right now, unless Corbin wants to fight her instead. Corbin goes to find her a challenger.

Raw Women’s Title: Mickie James vs. Ronda Rousey

Rousey is defending. Mickie goes after Rousey’s bruised ribs and then hits her in the face. It’s off to a chinlock but Rousey fights up and hits three straight Piper’s Pits. The armbar makes Mickie tap at 2:21.

Rousey goes up the ramp and runs into Nia and Tamina…who walk away.

Video on Daniel Bryan vs. Brock Lesnar from last night.

Survivor Series 2019 is in Chicago.

AOP vs. Chad Gable/Bobby Roode

Non-title. Akam wrestles Gable to the mat to start and a BIG knee to the face keeps Gable in trouble. There’s a spinebuster to keep Gable down but the armbar over the ropes puts Rezar in trouble. The hot tag brings in Roode to clean house, including the Blockbuster to Akam. Gable comes back in and hits a top rope sunset flip for the pin at 3:20.

Rating: D. Oh come on. Let me make sure I have this straight: you bring up two monsters like the AOP, don’t use them for a few months, make them the Tag Team Champions almost at random, and then have their manager turn into a comedy joke that results in them losing clean to Chad Gable and Bobby Roode, all for the sake of pushing a toilet humor joke? I’m so glad I spend time watching this show every week and get this for my efforts.

Ambrose is waiting on Rollins and is already sick of people complaining over him mentioning Roman. This isn’t about Roman because it’s about the bond between brothers being broken. If Rollins finds him tonight, he’ll break him too. Dean smells something bad and thinks it’s Rollins’ fear. Apparently it’s the people of Los Angeles. And so much for this new character.

The B-Team shills merchandise.

Rollins leaves because Dean doesn’t want to find him.

Natalya vs. Ruby Riott

Natalya takes her down to start and hammers away but the rest of the Squad offers a distraction, allowing Riott to take over as we take a break. Back with Ruby holding a guillotine choke and then cutting off a comeback attempt. Natalya slams her off the top and hits the discus lariat but has to deal with Sarah Logan. The Sharpshooter goes on but Liv Morgan makes the save behind the referee’s back. That’s enough for the rollup but Natalya reverses into one of her own for the pin at 8:14.

Rating: D+. How bad is it that this feud over broken sunglasses is more interesting and better done than so many of the other stories on the show as of late? It’s certainly an improvement over the AOP/Drake Maverick nonsense and it doesn’t involve brand supremacy. No it’s not good, but it has a point and feels a little emotional so I’ll take what I can get.

We look back at Strowman being attacked earlier. Strowman has a shattered elbow.

Here’s Ambrose for the closing segment. Ambrose finds it funny that people are wanting to see Rollins beat him up because they would stab their friends in the back for a hot meal. AND WHAT IS THAT SMELL??? Apparently it’s fake LA garbage…and we cut to Rollins returning to the arena and running to the ring. Ambrose actually doesn’t bail and the beatdown is on. Referees come out for the save and now Dean runs into the crowd. Seth catches him without much effort though and dives off the barricade onto him again. A low superkick looks to set up the Stomp but Ambrose hits him low. Dirty Deeds ends the show.

Overall Rating: D. This show was pulling back and forth all night long. Some of the Dean vs. Seth stuff was good and the Rousey promo worked, but my goodness it’s hard to defend stuff like the Maverick jokes and Ambrose complaining about a smell. It doesn’t help when Survivor Series really does feel like the most worthless show ever, as even the big storyline about Corbin and Strowman has been moved to the next pay per view. It’s like the show was trying to work but every few minutes, something stupid would drag it right back down. At least Stephanie was kept to one segment, which is better than I was expecting.

Results

Baron Corbin/Drew McIntyre/Bobby Lashley vs. Braun Strowman/Finn Balor/Elias went to a no contest

Nia Jax/Tamina b. Bayley/Sasha Banks – Samoan drop to Bayley

Lucha House Party b. Revival – Shooting star press to Wilder

Ronda Rousey b. Mickie James – Armbar

Chad Gable/Bobby Roode b. AOP – Top rope sunset flip to Rezar

Natalya b. Ruby Riott – Rollup

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Smackdown Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Mixed Match Challenge
Date: November 13, 2018
Location: Enterprise Center, St. Louis, Missouri
Commentators: Michael Cole, Renee Young, Vic Joseph

Things have suddenly gotten more interesting around here as the winners of the tournament now get to be #30 in the Royal Rumbles. That means a lot more to WWE than what was on the line last season (though that was really cool too) and it opens a lot of doors around here. Tonight it’s all about the undefeated teams and that could make for something very interesting. Well as interesting as it gets around here. Let’s get to it.

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

Since Daniel Bryan might have crushed his skull, AJ Styles won’t be competing tonight. There is a replacement though.

We open with Bryan leaving the arena, which is quite the moment.

Raw Division: Mickie James/Bobby Lashley (3-0) vs. Braun Strowman/Ember Moon (3-0)

The women start things off with Mickie flipping her down but Moon popping to her feet for a standoff. A battle over a backslide somehow turns into an abdominal stretch on Ember. With that going on, we cut to Paige telling Charlotte that she has a replacement. So Paige now has authority on this show too? Back with Moon escaping and bringing in the men.

Lashley isn’t worried and gets shoved into the corner with Strowman brushing off his shoulder. A boot to the chest takes Lashley down and Strowman picks him up for a release gordbuster. The hot tag goes through but Rush offers a distraction, meaning it’s time for Strowman to give chase, which is quite the visual. Strowman shoulders Lashley down, leaving Moon to superkick James. The Eclipse gives Ember the pin at 5:45.

Rating: C-. The Strowman vs. Lashley showdown was cool but I don’t know how much doubt there was about the winners here. Strowman is clearly a huge star and virtually unbeatable so pushing him towards the win, and the #30 spot, isn’t that hard to picture. Also, it’s not like James taking the fall is that big of a deal.

The announcers say even the teams with no wins can make the playoffs. Wait there are playoffs? They also talk about the prize, which is a big help.

Bobby Roode and Natalya are ready to beat Jinder Mahal and Alicia Fox.

Jinder Mahal and Alicia Fox are ready to beat Bobby Roode and Natalya.

Smackdown Division: Charlotte/Jeff Hardy (3-0) vs. Miz/Asuka (3-0)

Miz and Hardy lock up to start with Miz making fun of the DELETE chant. That earns him some rapid fire rams into the buckle so we’ll go back to Wrestlemania with Asuka vs. Charlotte. Asuka takes her down by the arm but it’s way too early for the Asuka Lock. Instead Charlotte drops down with Asuka diving over her for a standoff. Charlotte kicks Miz off the apron, only to get taken down by the hip attack. Back in and we hit the armbar as R-Truth and Carmella are in the comments.

Asuka misses the running knee and gets rolled up for two before it’s back to the men. Jeff gets two off a quick rollup and the Whisper in the Wind is good for the same. The Twist of Fate is countered into the DDT for two with Charlotte making the save. Asuka kicks Charlotte down and backfists Hardy for two more. It’s legally back to Asuka, who joins Miz for some YES Kicks. Miz’s big one is countered into the Twist of Fate and Charlotte spears Asuka down. The Figure Eight makes Asuka tap at 9:15.

Rating: B-. You can tell when the teams are that much better than everyone else and this is a great example of what you can do with some extra time. Asuka tapping doesn’t even feel important anymore, though it makes sense to have Charlotte get the big win as she’s going into the showdown against Rousey.

Rusev and Lana are ready to win and advance to the playoffs.

Carmella and R-Truth are ready to win and advance to the playoffs.

Overall Rating: C. Well the battles of the undefeateds didn’t quite happen in full but what we had was good enough. I’m assuming we’ll be moving on to the top four teams from each side going into a single elimination playoff, which makes the regular season mean very little but other than the prize, it’s not like the show means much in the first place. Anyway, it’s nice to see that things are wrapping up because it really can’t come soon enough around here. At least we had one pretty good show around here though, which is more than has been the case this season.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Smackdown Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Mixed Match Challenge
Date: November 6, 2018
Location: Manchester Arena, Manchester, England
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Renee Young

The series that never ends continues with the British edition. This show is really is really starting to feel the weight of its fourteen week schedule and that’s becoming a major problem. The issue is the lack of any real drama to most of the matches, plus the formula the show has settle into using every single week. I would say I have hope but that’s just not the case. Let’s get to it.

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

Raw Division: Mickie James/Bobby Lashley (2-0) vs. Finn Balor/Bayley (2-1)

There is something to be said about how straight to the point this show is. The women start and the British fans are all over singing to Bayley. Finn pays cheerleader as Bayley fights off a wristlock and gets two off a rollup. It’s off to the guys because we haven’t seen these two fight enough. Lashley poses a lot and Balor goes to do the same (to be fair, he could give Lashley some competition) but gets pulled off the ropes.

After a look at Naomi and Jimmy Uso in the back, we come back to Lashley holding a nerve hold. Balor fights up and sends him chest first into the buckle and the tag brings the women back in. Mickie cuts off a charging Bayley with a superkick as everything breaks down. The Sling Blade drops Lashley but Balor makes the mistake of going after Rush, allowing Lashley to shove him off the top. The MickDT finishes Bayley at 8:43.

Rating: D+. Not terrible here with the expected ending, though it’s a nice treat anytime you can have Mickie out there showing off. It’s better to have Bayley take the fall here as she doesn’t have anything important going on and Balor already lost to Lashley once this week. It was nice to have them play one of these straight for once too, which you don’t get around here very often.

In the back, Lashley and Mickie aren’t worried about the battle of the undefeateds with Ember Moon and Braun Strowman next week.

Smackdown Division: Jimmy Uso/Naomi (1-2) vs. R-Truth/Carmella (0-2)

The guys start and that means dancing. A lockup goes nowhere so the women come in to dance some more. That’s enough of that though so let’s have a rap battle instead. Truth is of course very good at it and Naomi isn’t half bad either. Jimmy says a little bit as well and then, you guessed it, DANCE BREAK! Carmella uses said break to superkick Naomi down and grab a chinlock, followed by one heck of a spinning headscissors. Naomi hits a quick kick to the head for the pin at 5:01. It’s as sudden as it sounds.

Rating: N/A. Yeah I know it’s long enough but come on. The rapping/dancing was more than half of what was already a short match and that’s not something I’m going to rate. This was the same thing we’ve seen time after time around here, because if there’s one thing WWE knows how to do, it’s take something fun like Truth and Carmella and beat it into the ground.

Charlotte and AJ Styles are ready for their battle of the undefeateds with Miz and Asuka.

Miz and Asuka say the same thing.

Everyone dances, because wins and losses mean nothing on this show.

Overall Rating: F. I’m so sick of this stupid show. Next week sounds a little more promising with the four undefeated teams fighting, but there are still five more weeks of this mess to go. I didn’t think it was possible but they’ve managed to ruin what should be the easiest, most entertaining shows of the week. That takes talent and WWE pulled it off. Another waste of time this week.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Smackdown Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: November 5, 2018
Location: Manchester Arena, Manchester, England
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Renee Young

After everything last week, even the wrestlers needed a Monday night off so we have a taped show from earlier in the day. It’s time for the annual November England tour and it happens to be one of the two final shows before Survivor Series. Therefore, it’s time to crank out some stories in a hurry. Let’s get to it.

Here’s Crown Jewel if you need a recap.

The roster is on the stage and there are security guards at ringside as Baron Corbin comes out. After some clips of Brock Lesnar winning the Universal Title again (just go with it), Corbin talks about Survivor Series and lists off some of the upcoming matches. In addition to just winning for pride though, Raw has a score to settle because Shane McMahon stole the title of Best in the World from Dolph Ziggler. Don’t worry though, because Stephanie McMahon will be here next week to deal with that (You knew it was coming.).

As for the men’s Survivor Series match, Corbin has named himself as captain, meaning he won’t be in the actual match. Therefore, he has to put together a great team, which will start with Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre. Another member is Braun Strowman, who might not be happy with Corbin right now. We’ll call Crown Jewel a teaching moment though and Strowman will learn soon enough.

As for the women’s Survivor Series match, the captain will be picking the full team, so here’s Alexa Bliss. She’ll use her leadership as a five time Women’s Champion to pick her team tonight, starting with the Riott Squad vs. Bayley/Sasha Banks/Natalya. Cue Kurt Angle to say he wants to compete again this year, just like last year when he lead Team Raw to victory.

Corbin doesn’t think so because Angle needs to be permanently gone from the show. They reach an agreement: tonight Angle vs. Corbin with the winner getting to be the captain. Angle leaves and Bliss tells the women to get ready but here’s Strowman to storm the ring. Security is dispatched in all of five seconds and Corbin runs off. The roster goes after Strowman as well but he gets through them all while everyone else brawls. In the back, Strowman can’t find Corbin. This ends Exposition Theater, as we fly towards Survivor Series as fast as possible.

Bayley, Sasha and Natalya are ready because Natalya is wearing her dad’s sunglasses.

Bayley/Sasha Banks/Natalya vs. Riott Squad

The Squad jumps them from behind to start but Natalya fights out and blocks an early Riott Kick. The Sharpshooter is on Ruby in the first ten seconds with Logan having to make a save. Logan takes Natalya to the floor and sends her into the barricade as we take a break. Back with Natalya fighting out of the corner and bringing in Banks for some Meteoras, including a top rope version to Morgan.

Riott makes the save and drags Morgan over for the tag. Banks and Bayley hit some running knees, followed by a standing one for good measure. Bayley’s suicide dive drops Logan and Morgan and gets two off a small package on Riott. The chinlock slows Bayley down and Morgan is nice enough to say “Hi Bayley!” Having a match is no reason to not be polite.

Logan’s cobra clutch doesn’t work so she sends Bayley throat first into the middle rope, followed by a middle rope faceplant from Logan. Back from another break with Bayley armdragging Logan and making the hot tag off to Natalya. A faceplant gets two on Logan with Riott making the save.

The Sharpshooter goes on but Riott holds up the sunglasses and breaks them in half. Natalya is distraught…and that’s the match at 17:30. Ignore the Squad walking up the ramp and Natalya and company on the floor together because a countout doesn’t fit their script here or something. Even the crowd is counting them out as the referee just stands there.

Rating: D+. This was longer than it needed to be and while the ending was good, the lack of a countout (or even a bell) was kind of annoying. Yeah her sunglasses were broken. Why is the match just ending? Or better question: why is this feud still going? The angle was effective though and I actually cared about Natalya for the first time in forever.

Natalya cries as Bayley and Sasha console her.

Strowman’s hunt continues, including in the locker room and bathroom. Of note: one of the guys in the locker room was Roy Johnson, who wrestled in the first UK Title tournament.

Recap of D-Generation X vs. Brothers of Destruction. Haven’t I suffered enough just watching that match already?

Apollo Crews vs. Jinder Mahal

Before the match, Crews talks about wanting victories in the ring over moral victories. An early dropkick gets two on Mahal but he pulls Crews down into a chinlock. That goes nowhere so it’s a gorilla press into the standing moonsault for the pin on Mahal at 2:21. That’s the year for Mahal: from World Champion to losing to Apollo Crews.

Here’s Seth Rollins, with both Tag Team Titles, for a chat. He knows the three titles look a little weird but it was supposed to be three titles and a big trophy. That brings him to Lesnar, who is slapping everyone in the face by holding Roman Reigns’ title. He would tell Lesnar that to his face, but Lesnar isn’t here tonight. Seth: “Shocker, I know.”

Dean Ambrose is here tonight though and Seth wants him right here in his face. Ambrose isn’t here though and that means Rollins can’t defend the Tag Team Titles by himself. Corbin pops up on screen and, after telling his guys to barricade the door, makes a title match for right now.

Tag Team Titles: AOP vs. Seth Rollins

Rollins is defending and starts with Akam, who drives him into the wrong corner. Rezar comes in and blasts Rollins with a clothesline as the numbers are already becoming a problem. Back from a break with Rollins fighting out of a chinlock but getting taken down and pummeled without much effort. The Last Chapter is broken up and Rezar is clotheslined to the floor for a suicide dive.

Back in and Akam is sent outside for a double suicide dive in a rather nice hope spot. A Sling Blade hits Rezar back inside and it’s time to stomp the foot. Drake Maverick offers a distraction but the side slam/middle rope stomp is broken up. Rollins knees Rezar in the face and hits the frog splash for two but the stomp is countered into a heck of a powerbomb. The powerbomb/neckbreaker gives us new champions at 9:47.

Rating: C. They had to do something with the titles and putting the titles on these monsters is as good of an idea as they had. Rollins made a go of it though and that was far more entertaining than I was expecting. AOP will be fine and can run through some teams until someone finally derails them. Not a bad match here, with Rollins trying as hard as he could.

Post match here’s Ambrose to say Rollins wants to know why. Rollins asks why and gets hit with Dirty Deeds.

Renee Young finally comments on the thing, saying Dean won’t talk about it even to her. That’s all they needed to say.

We look at Becky Lynch calling out Ronda Rousey last week on Smackdown. She won’t be intimidated like everyone else.

We look at Strowman hunting for Corbin.

Corbin has a makeshift studio in the storage room when Strowman storms in. Security is dispatched, with one of them holding onto Strowman’s leg as he drags the guy along.

Here’s Dolph Ziggler to claim a conspiracy against him in the World Cup. First Drew McIntyre was ejected and then everyone’s favorite D-Lister is replaced by Shane McMahon of all people. Cue Elias to interrupt and the fans are VERY glad to see him. He was just on the phone with Liam and Noel Gallagher, who said if Elias sings the right song tonight, Oasis will reunite. Ziggler doesn’t want to hear it but Elias sings anyway. That earns him a challenge and we’re ready to go.

Elias vs. Dolph Ziggler

Ziggler headlocks and dropkicks him to start as the fans don’t seem pleased. Elias fights up but gets elbowed in the face as the announcers talk about the tournament having a bit of a screwy ending. Ziggler cranks on the arm for a good while until Elias gets up and kicks him down. A top rope elbow misses Ziggler and we take a break. Back with Ziggler holding a chinlock and uppercutting Elias for two.

The chinlock goes on again because this match hasn’t been boring enough already. Elias gets up (again) and hammers away with some right hands and forearms but Ziggler avoids the jumping knee. The second jumping knee connects for two and a sitout powerbomb gives Elias two more. Ziggler headbutts him and the Zig Zag is good for two more with Elias getting a foot on the rope. Back up and Drift Away is good for the pin on Ziggler at 14:21.

Rating: D-. This was awful and one of the most lifeless matches I’ve ever seen. I’m sure you can chalk a lot of it up to jet lag but my goodness they were in slow motion and doing a lot of chinlocks out there. Elias needs some dominant wins somewhere in this face turn as he’s just taking beatings and then winning in the end. These guys can do better but this was horrible.

Angle isn’t worried because a fire has been lit inside of him to go and be Raw team captain.

Here’s Ronda Rousey for a chat. Last week on Smackdown, Becky Lynch threatened to rip her arm off. It’s easy to see why people love Becky and there’s a quick chant for her. Ronda respects her, but Becky has no idea what’s going on. While Becky’s mom was waking her up for school, Ronda’s mom was waking her up trying to break her arm. While Becky was a stewardess, Ronda was in the most dominant title reign of all time.

Rousey wants her to bring all of her rage in two weeks because Ronda wants a challenge at Survivor Series. Becky can call herself the man but Rousey is the baddest b**** on the planet. Ronda goes to leave but here’s Nia Jax to interrupt. Nia tells her to be ready because she’s fighting for “the most dominant brand in sports entertainment” at Survivor Series. When she’s done, Nia will be waiting on her.

Video on WWE working with Girl Up, a charity to promote young girls in sports.

Nia Jax vs. Ember Moon

Ember kicks her down to one knee to start but the crossbody literally bounces off of Nia. Another throw has Ember in trouble and it’s off to a chinlock. Nia drops her face first onto the top turnbuckle but misses the legdrop. The kicks have Nia in trouble and the springboard spinning crossbody gets two. There’s a discus forearm for two more but the Samoan drop finishes Ember at 4:55.

Rating: D+. Again, I ask what the point was in bringing Ember up to the main roster. They had her show up on the Raw after Wrestlemania and I don’t think she’s won a major match since. She was trying here and the match wasn’t terrible, but this has already been one of the most lifeless shows I can remember in a long time. They didn’t have much of a chance out there.

Post match freaking Tamina comes out….and beats up Ember as Nia joins forces with her. I guess it’s better than them fighting. Nia screams that she won and jumps up and down.

Finn Balor isn’t worried about Bobby Lashley and Lio Rush because Manchester is Balor Club.

Corbin gets in his car because he has an emergency appointment. Angle can face Drew McIntyre instead. Strowman shows up as Corbin gets away.

Finn Balor vs. Bobby Lashley

Before the match, Lio says he wishes they were in Liverpool and says Michelangelo couldn’t create a work of art like Lashley. See, he respects Manchester, so he’s going to pretend that Balor is every single person in this city. Lashley chokes on the ropes to start as the announcers talk about the tournament. A missed charge lets Balor hit a dropkick to the ropes but Rush trips him up.

That means a chinlock for a bit until Balor gets up for a sunset flip. Balor slips out of a powerbomb but gets caught by the vertical suplex for two (Kicking out of a finisher!). An enziguri looks to set up the Coup de Grace but Rush offers a distraction. Lashley gets sent outside so Balor dropkicks Rush. He takes too long on the floor though and gets caught by Lashley, followed by the spinning Dominator for the pin at 6:29.

Rating: D. Hey remember when Balor beat Lashley twice, including one off a clean pin? Well none of that matters because Lashley won the third match with help from his manager. This was another lifeless match in a series of them and that’s one of the last things this show needed. It’s more 50/50 booking and, as usual, that helps no one.

Post match Drew McIntyre comes out for a staredown with Lashley and the fans seem intrigued. Lashley leaves and Drew helps Balor up before kicking him in the face.

Next week, Stephanie McMahon is here, Alexa announces the Raw women’s Survivor Series team and Brock Lesnar will actually show up.

Drew McIntyre vs. Kurt Angle

If Angle wins, he’s team captain at Survivor Series. Angle jumps him before the bell but McIntyre blasts him with a headbutt. We hit the armbar, which might actually cause Angle’s arm to come off his body. A neckbreaker sets up a second armbar but Angle pops up with an Angle Slam to put McIntyre on the floor.

Back from a break with McIntyre hitting a suplex and putting on a third armbar. McIntyre picks him up…..and the armbar goes on again. Angle fights out of it (probably due to familiarity) and rolls the German suplexes. The Claymore kicks Angle’s head off….and Drew doesn’t cover. OH MY GOODNESS JUST END THE SHOW ALREADY!!! Angle goes for the leg but Drew pounds him down and glares at him again.

To really show off, Drew sticks his leg out so Angle lunches again, earning himself another beatdown. Drew calls Angle an embarrassment and now the ankle lock goes on. The hold is kicked off and Drew gives him an Angle Slam before sitting in the middle of the ring instead of covering. Drew puts him in an ankle lock with the grapevine and Kurt taps at 14:36.

Rating: D. They had an idea here with McIntyre wanting to humiliate Angle but egads how many times can we see Old Man Angle get beaten down like this? It wasn’t really interesting the first time and this was a long match to end an already awful show. This was much more about the storytelling than the wrestling and Drew played the heel well, but it was the wrong place and the wrong time.

Overall Rating: F+. I don’t know if it was the exhaustion from the crazy schedule over the last week (though that has been a nightmare of WWE’s own creating) or the jet lag or just the show being taped but I haven’t been begging for a show to end like this in a long time. A seven match show with three rematches from within the last eight days is inexcusable, especially when one of them was a trilogy match.

And in case we haven’t done enough lately, next week is a go home show where we’ll have to listen to Heyman talk about how important Survivor Series is and Stephanie talk about how she won’t let her brother humiliate her or whatever her latest screeching moment is. It feels like they need a vacation right now and things are likely to be just as exhausted next week when they have a Saturday show in Rome and have to be back in America on Monday for Raw. This was a really bad show though and a lot of it seems to be from pure exhaustion and overload.

Results

Bayley/Sasha Banks/Natalya vs. Riott Squad went to a no contest

Apollo Crews b. Jinder Mahal – Standing moonsault

AOP b. Seth Rollins – Powerbomb/neckbreaker combination

Elias b. Dolph Ziggler – Drift Away

Nia Jax b. Ember Moon – Samoan drop

Bobby Lashley b. Finn Balor – Spinning Dominator

Drew McIntyre b. Kurt Angle – Ankle lock

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Smackdown Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Survivor Series 2005
Date: November 27, 2005
Location: Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan
Attendance: 15,000
Commentators: Joey Styles, Jerry Lawler, Jonathan Coachman, Michael Cole, Tazz

This show is all about brand vs. brand, which really isn’t an interesting story because they would interact pretty regularly but of course WWE doesn’t get this. Therefore, the main event is a five on five Team Raw vs. Team Smackdown Survivor Series elimination tag for pure bragging rights. At least they didn’t have a full pay per view about it yet. Let’s get to it.

As you would expect, the opening video is about fighting to survive. The theme is still mostly about Raw vs. Smackdown, which really only matters in WWE’s eyes. Still though, a well built feud for bragging rights is better than building up a match for a lame story so I’ll take what I can get.

Booker T. vs. Chris Benoit

Here’s an idea they blatantly copied from WCW as this is the first match in a best of seven series for the US Title. Booker had been defending and we had a double pin in a match against Benoit, meaning we need to have seven matches instead of one. At least both guys are good. Benoit glares out at Sharmell and goes right at Booker in the corner to start. Feeling out process in the early going as Booker gets in a quick slam for two. Booker gets sent to the floor and it sounds like something falls near the entrance.

As Benoit takes Booker to the mat, Cole unintentionally buries the WCW TV Title (the first series was for a shot) by saying this series is actually important. Either Cole doesn’t know what the original was for or Vince fed him that line and then cackled a bit. Back up and Booker kicks him in the face, followed by an elbow to the same general area for two.

A raised boot in the corner and a side slam breaks it up and we hit an armbar. Yeah after the shots to the head and a slam where Benoit lands on his back, it’s a hold on the arm. Come on Booker you’re smarter than this. Thankfully Booker wakes up and goes to an abdominal stretch instead. Benoit fights out again so Booker knocks his block off with a spinwheel kick. Tazz starts talking about Cole looking mints and having a funny face as a result.

WHAT IS WITH HIM??? Every single show he goes on these insane tangents that make NO sense and barely talks about the match. Why did he keep doing commentary for the better part of ten years? Occasionally he’ll say something insightful (like AVOID THE HOLE in the Buried Alive match in 2003) but most of the time it’s just random babbling. Anyway, there’s a neckbreaker for two from Booker and we hit the chinlock.

Benoit fights up and starts the Germans, only to eat another kick to the face. A quick dragon screw leg whip looks to set up the Sharpshooter but Booker rolls him up for two. More rolling Germans look to set up the Swan Dive but Sharmell offers a distraction, only to have Benoit headbutt Booker down. The Swan Dive misses anyway and Booker grabs a rollup with his feet on the ropes (and Sharmell holding them there) to win the first match in the series.

Rating: B+. This is a heck of a match and a really good opener. They’re a case of two people who work really well together and this is what they can do with time. After Booker realized that the armbar was stupid (which it was) and he started cutting Benoit off every time, the match fell into a good story that ended with Sharmell’s interferences playing in to the finish. Really good stuff. Booker would win the series in January.

Eric Bischoff is warming up for his match with Teddy Long. Oh geez it’s this show. Vince comes up to wish him luck and Bischoff brings up Montreal. Bischoff promises to bring him up to date though because the fix is in with Kurt Angle vs. John Cena for the Raw World Title. Cena pops up and oh geez it’s THIS show. After a quick gay joke from Cena, Vince says “keep it up my nigga” and then does his strut past Booker and Sharmell. If you’ll excuse me, I’m off to go sing Real American for no reason in particular.

Women’s Title: Melina vs. Trish Stratus

Joey Styles of Raw and Tazz of Smackdown are on commentary as this is interpromotional. Trish is defending after Melina had MNM kidnap her on Raw and demand a title shot. Melina has MNM with her and the ticked off Trish has the recently debuted psycho Mickie James in her corner. Trish attacks to start and sends Melina to the floor for a big dive off the top. I could really get used to this psycho and angry Trish. It’s shall we say, rather attractive in a purely innocent way of course.

The headstand into a headscissors puts Melina down but she forearms Trish in the back to get a breather. Joey talks about Melina being inexperienced on paper, sending Tazz into an actually funny rant about “WHAT PAPER ARE YOU COMMENTATORS ALWAYS TALKING ABOUT???” Melina kicks her square in the face but has to deal with Mickie, leaving MNM to load up a Snapshot on Trish, only to get caught just in time. Instead of that being the logical DQ, it’s just an ejection. So you can come in, pick someone up and throw them down and not get disqualified? Good to know.

Melina puts on a surfboard as the announcers debate which of Trish’s laces are more valuable at the moment. A hair takedown gets two on Melina and we hit the screeching. Tazz: “I’m kind of cool with that.” The Stratusphere (that headstand headscissors out of the corner) sets up a spinebuster of all things for two. After Mickie pulls Trish away from a charge, some kicks to the face set up a top rope bulldog to retain Trish’s title.

Rating: D+. This wasn’t much but it’s amazing how good Trish got in just a few years. She looked like she knew more about what she was doing out there than almost any Diva going today, which is probably why she’s considered the best ever. Melina would get way better when she became a wrestler instead of mainly being a valet. Not a great match but good lord Trish knew how to dress.

Detroit Tiger Dmitri Young is here.

We recap HHH vs. Ric Flair. HHH returned from some time off and turned on Flair, making Ric a face in the process. This led to a great match inside a cage at Taboo Tuesday where Flair turned on the magic one more time and won. You know HHH isn’t letting it end that way though so we’re having a last man standing match.

Ric Flair vs. HHH

Last man standing. HHH jumps him in the aisle before Flair can even get his robe off. They get inside with Flair in big trouble, made even worse by HHH grabbing a chair. Flair comes back with a kendo stick, which really looks weird in his hands. They brawl to the hockey boards with HHH taking over again and bringing it back to ringside. Flair is up at seven after a backdrop on the floor and an elbow to the back makes Flair swear a lot.

Ric’s strikes have little effect (WAY too early for that) and they head outside again. You can tell they have a long time to go here and I’m not sure if that’s a good thing. Flair goes into the post so HHH pulls out a toolbox and picks a screwdriver to bust Ric open BAD. If it wasn’t opened up enough, Ric makes sure to blade (on camera by mistake) to make it even worse.

Back in and we get more screwdriving (I would have pictured Flair being a big fan of screwdrivers), followed by two knee drops that clearly miss by a good eight inches each. I know they almost never hit but get it together production guys. They go back outside to load up the announcers’ table but first of all HHH grabs a spinebuster on the floor. HHH yells a bunch of trash on the mic so Flair grabs him by the crotch.

That’s not cool with HHH because Stephanie is the ball ripper in this company so it’s a Pedigree through the announcers’ table, only to have Flair backdrop HHH through the other table. It’s only good for nine though because HHH isn’t losing to a backdrop, even if it’s from Flair. A bunch of chops get a six for Flair but HHH can’t bring himself to use a chair. Instead HHH pounds on him even more, only to take a low blow. A chair off the head drops HHH for eight more so Flair bites the forehead.

HHH gets crotched against the post FOUR TIMES IN A ROW before Flair bites him on the back of the leg. There’s a Garvin Stomp of all things followed by a chop block but the Figure Four is broken up. Well, says, Flair, if that doesn’t work, why not a chair to crush the leg against the post? Now the Figure Four goes on and he can grab the ropes all he pleases.

HHH taps for no meaning so Flair lets go, only to have HHH beat the count at nine. He’s still able to drop Flair with a clothesline and bring in some steps. As so many people have done, HHH makes the mistake of holding them over his head, allowing Flair to score with a drop toehold to send HHH face first into the steps. HHH is up again and two Pedigrees get eight each so HHH gives him a third. Flair is STILL getting up so it’s a sledgehammer to the general area a few inches above Flair’s back to give HHH the win.

Rating: B. Long but good here with a ridiculous amount of blood to really make this feel like an old school brawl. HHH was always good at being especially evil and look how evil he was here as he beat up a guy in his late 50s. I’m not sure how bright it was to give Flair this kind of a rub when you could build up someone new, but you know HHH wasn’t going to sell like this for anyone but Flair or Shawn. Still though, good, violent brawl.

Flair goes out on a stretcher.

Trish and Mickie are online.

Orton is giving Team Smackdown a pep talk about why he should be the leader since Batista is injured. Cue Batista who thinks he’s in charge. JBL disagrees and gets stared down in a funny bit.

Here are Edge and Lita (good lord) with something to say. Edge has an announcement to make…..and it’s not him cashing in his Money in the Bank contract. No actually he and Lita are going to have their own talk show soon, called the Cutting Edge. That’s enough of that now though so let’s go annoy Dmitri Young. Edge goes with the basic jabs at the Tigers and Young looks stunned that a heel would insult him.

After some steroids jokes, Edge runs down the Detroit sports teams (ignoring the LET’S GO REDWINGS chants). Young lists off the sports championships Detroit has won but can’t see one on Edge (who would wind up with as many World Championships as the Redwings as of 2015).

We recap the Raw World Title match which is built around trying to make Cena vs. Bischoff into Austin vs. McMahon again. Bischoff doesn’t like Cena as champion so he’s gotten Kurt Angle: Wrestling Machine to take the title. Angle has beaten him before but Kurt now has his own personal referee in Daivari to really stack the deck.

Raw World Title: Kurt Angle vs. John Cena

Cena is defending, Daivari is referee and Angle’s YOU SUCKS are censored due to Bischoff thinking it’s unfair. Kurt takes him down by the leg to start and drops elbows on the knee, followed by an early leg crank. Back up and the threat of a right hand sends Angle to the floor but Daivari keeps Cena in the ring. So much like Bill Alfonso in ECW, Daivari is a heel for doing his job.

The fans are red hot for this one as Lawler talks about all the countries watching this show live. Apparently Coach thinks the Gaza Strip is a topless bar. The release fisherman’s suplex drops Angle for no count. That earns Cena the ankle lock for way longer than anyone should be able to survive the hold. Cena gets the rope but Daivari kicks his hand away. The hold is reversed and Cena’s ankle is FINE, allowing him to slam Angle and slap Daivari. Kurt makes sure Daivari doesn’t call for the DQ so Cena rams them together to get a breather.

Cena gets sent into the steps and a second referee comes in to count two. Well you knew there was going to be a way around Daivari. Kurt grabs a waistlock before throwing Cena hard into the corner to keep him in trouble. The fans are ALL OVER Cena and another suplex gives Kurt two. Off to something like an STF on Cena but Kurt goes to a regular chinlock instead. Cena fights up and grab a DDT without selling the ankle injury one bit. The champ wins a slugout and initiates his finishing sequence, including pumping up the shoes.

Kurt clotheslines the referee down and there’s a low blow for Cena. Here’s a third referee as you would think Daivari would have risen from the dead by now. The Angle Slam gets two, followed by a superplex for the same. The moonsault misses because of course it does so Kurt uppercuts the third referee. Daivari is finally up so Cena DDTs him back down, only to have a Smackdown referee come out to take over. He’s got a quick night though as Cena hits the FU to retain.

Rating: B-. WAY too overbooked here but they had to protect Cena here, even if he wouldn’t sell being in the ankle lock for thirty seconds. You could see Cena’s inexperience in matches at this level coming through, which is so bizarre when you know what he would become. Angle was so hot at this point that they had to do something with him but what can you do when you don’t want to give him the Raw World Title? Well in this case you wait for Batista to get hurt and give him the Smackdown World Title until he leaves for TNA in less than a year.

Eric Bischoff vs. Teddy Long

Let’s get this over with because neither is a wrestler and this is happening because EVERYONE LOVES BRAND WARFARE! Teddy has network adviser Palmer Cannon in his corner and we have two referees to make sure this is fair. Eric throws some kicks and Teddy does his bouncy dancing. Bischoff finally chokes him down as we’re waiting on a match to break out.

The fans think this is boring and that’s being too kind. A sleeper takes Teddy down but a shoe to the head breaks it up. Bischoff’s karate shot to the throat….and here’s the Boogeyman. Eric looks to the entrance but Boogeyman is behind him with a choke and a pumphandle powerslam. Teddy wins and it’s time for more dancing.

Rating: I. I’ve had infections that were more pleasant than this. Moving on.

The Raw and Smackdown teams are cheered on by their respective rosters.

We recap the main event. Back in October at Raw Homecoming, Bischoff turned the lights out on a Smackdown six man tag. This triggered a war between the shows as they kept invading each other to try one more time to get this brand warfare thing to matter, even though no one outside of WWE cared. You over there. You say you cared? Stop lying, because you know you didn’t. Why? Because no one cared.

Team Raw vs. Team Smackdown

Raw: Big Show, Kane, Shawn Michaels, Carlito, Chris Masters

Smackdown: Rey Mysterio, Bobby Lashley, Batista, Randy Orton, John Bradshaw Layfield

Batista is Smackdown World Champion but has a bad upper body due to an attack by Kane and Big Show. JBL has his publicist Jillian Hall, who still has a mole on her face. Lashley is still pretty new here but considered a can’t miss prospect. Orton (with his dad) is replacing Eddie Guerrero who passed away just a few weeks before this show. Kane and Big Show are Raw Tag Team Champions. The announcers bicker throughout the nearly ten minutes of entrances which makes me think we’re in for a long match. This really is one sided on paper.

Shawn and Orton get things going after Batista wasn’t allowed to start due to his injuries. Randy backs him into the corner and slaps the taste out of Shawn’s mouth, only to have Shawn slap him down to one knee. Three times in a row Shawn headlocks him to the mat but gets caught in a headscissors. With that not working, Shawn slaps him even harder but Orton grabs a slam.

The announcers talk even more than they do now with Tazz being a jerk. Like, moreso than usual. Masters comes in but takes a dropkick from Orton. It’s off to Lashley for the big power showdown. Lashley tells him to try his luck and Masters charges into a powerslam for two. A cheap shot from the apron lets Masters try the Masterlock but you know that’s not working. Lashley sends him flying with a belly to belly and it’s off to Carlito who has to be dragged in.

Some clotheslines set up a running powerslam for two (on Carlito in case you’re a bit slow today) and it’s off to Michaels. That’s fine with Lashley who slams him off the top, followed by an overhead belly to belly. I told you Lashley was a can’t miss prospect. I wonder how he wound up missing so badly in WWE. The Dominator plants Carlito but Kane chokeslams Lashley from the apron to give Shawn the pin for the first advantage.

Mysterio comes in for some kicks to Shawn’s legs but Kane interferes again with a knee to the back. It’s back to Masters who might be able to do something with Rey this banged up. A gorilla press drop sets up the tag to Kane (Tazz: “This isn’t good.”) who is quickly chopped down by some kicks to the head and a standing moonsault for two.

Rey charges right into a boot to the face though as the announcers are now talking about qualifying matches and Coach not being funny. A bearhug puts Rey in trouble as the argument turns to ratings. Tazz: “Joey I beg of you shut up.” Mysterio finally escapes and it’s off to Batista to really get Smackdown going. Kane gets in a shot to the bad ribs but Batista spears him down with ease. The rest of the Raw guys are dispatched and it’s a 619 to Kane, followed by a spinebuster for the elimination.

Batista walks into a Big Show chokeslam for two, followed by a double chokeslam from Kane and Show behind the two referees’ back. They didn’t notice that three of the nine people still at ringside weren’t around? We settle down to JBL vs. Big Show but the giant throws Rey around a bit first. Orton snaps Show’s throat across the top and the Clothesline From JBL, the 619, the RKO, another Clothesline From JBL and a springboard seated senton from Rey finally ties it up.

We’re down to Mysterio/JBL/Orton vs. Shawn/Carlito/Masters, which again is pretty one sided. Everything breaks down again and JBL throws Shawn on the floor with a fall away slam. Masters plants Rey down and it’s off to Carlito for a chinlock as Shawn is still down. Rey fights up and JBL gets in a blind tag, setting up another Clothesline From JBL to get rid of Carlito, who has to be helped from the ring. Masters suplexes JBL for two as Shawn STILL hasn’t moved.

Back to Mysterio who avoids a charge in the corner and hits the 619, followed by Dropping the Dime (Springboard legdrop. Tazz: “HE DROPPED THE WHOLE DOLLAR ON HIM!”) to make it 3-1. JBL throws Shawn back inside and it’s off to Rey for another 619. As Joey Styles points out that Smackdown could have won on a countout, Shawn superkicks Rey and JBL for back to back pins in 15 seconds to get it down to Orton vs. Michaels.

Orton is quickly sent to the floor for a big dive as things speed up. Back in and some clotheslines set up the top rope elbow as the fans want Undertaker (who was advertised for the show). JBL tries to come in with a chair but eats a superkick, setting up the RKO to give Smackdown the pin.

Rating: B+. That’s how you do an elimination tag. This was great stuff (save for the commentary, though it was actually entertaining at times) with the eliminations coming fast enough that they didn’t get ridiculous and Shawn doing his best to make you believe he was dead before his comeback. They kept people looking strong too and the whole thing worked well. Good match and a really good main event to make the Survivor Series match feel important again.

The Smackdown roster hits the ring and here’s Undertaker. Well scratch that as first we have the druids bringing a casket. After a lot of chanting, the casket lights on fire (as Orton had done to Undertaker about a month and a half back) and Undertaker walks out. Undertaker stalks to the ring to clean house and a throat slit has Orton terrified to end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. For a show that almost no one remembers, this is a heck of a good card. The main event is good, there’s a lot of other solid stuff around, Trish looks about as good as she ever has……..and dang it Teddy Long’s dancing makes me smile. I don’t think I can call this a classic but there’s a lot of really good stuff on it to carry it a lot higher than I thought it was going to be. They’re in a transitional period here but this was a great show.

Ratings Comparison

Booker T vs. Chris Benoit

Original: B

2012 Redo: B-

2015 Redo: B+

Trish Stratus vs. Melina

Original: B

2012 Redo: C-

2015 Redo: D+

HHH vs. Ric Flair

Original: B-

2012 Redo: B+

2015 Redo: B

John Cena vs. Kurt Angle

Original: B+

2012 Redo: C

2015 Redo: B-

Theodore Long vs. Eric Bischoff

Original: O (For Oh I can’t think about this anymore)

2012 Redo: S (For Six Minutes)

2015 Redo: I (For Infections I’ve had that were more entertaining)

Team Smackdown vs. Team Raw

Original: B

2012 Redo: B

2015 Redo: B+

Overall Rating

Original: B

2012 Redo: B

2015 Redo: A-

I’m surprised by how much more I liked the girls and Cena vs. Angle. They’re good but they’re not that good. Still a solid show though.

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/11/14/history-of-survivor-series-count-up-2005-a-forgotten-almost-classic/

And the redo:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2012/11/11/survivor-series-count-up-2012-edition-2005-raw-vs-smackdown/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Smackdown Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

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

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