Survivor Series 2017
Date: November 19, 2017
Location: Toyota Center, Houston, Texas
Attendance: 14,478
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Booker T., Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton

I barely remember this show other than it was a bunch of Raw vs. Smackdown stuff, including AJ Styles vs. Brock Lesnar. As usual, the modern stuff has no impact on me because so much of it feels like it’s going to be similar to whatever we’re likely to get this year. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Matt Hardy vs. Elias

This is a bonus match, because a four hour show needs more content. Before the match, Elias asks if anyone wants to go for a walk. You can wear red or you can wear blue, but at the end of the day, what would Elias do? The song gets cut off by the booing but he gets it going to talk about how much he hates Houston. Hardy’s music cuts him off again and we’re ready to go. Since it’s a major pay per view and WWE has a really weird way of doing their pre-shows, the are far more empty seats than filled ones opposite the hard camera.

Hardy headlocks him down to start as the announcers start talking about other matches on the show. The Russian legsweep sets up the middle rope elbow to the back of Elias’s head as we take a break. Back with Matt dropping a fist for two but getting his throat snapped across the top rope. Elias switches over to the arm and cranks on an armbar for good measure. The arm goes into the post as Corey talks about getting to see matches we’ve never seen before, such as HHH vs. Shane McMahon. I’d recommend studying your WWE Network before.

The armbar goes on, followed by a double underhook shoulderbreaker for two. Matt gets sent to the apron and Elias follows for some reason, allowing Matt to hit a Side Effect and take over. Back in and Elias gets sent into all three buckles, followed by the bulldog for no cover. Another Side Effect gets two and the middle rope elbow is good for the same. Elias is smart enough to hit him in the arm though and sends it into the post. Drift Away puts Hardy away at 9:16.

Rating: D+. I can never get around the empty seats during these first matches. What in the world is the point of having a match when it’s something that means as little as this and isn’t even any good in the first place? The arm work was fine and it played into the finish, but it was nothing that wouldn’t bore you in the third hour of Raw.

Kickoff Show: Cruiserweight Title: Kalisto vs. Enzo Amore

Amore is defending and was sent into a cake on 205 Live to really make this personal. Before the match, Enzo goes into a rant about Kalisto sending him into a cake that Enzo paid for. Tonight, Enzo is going to make beef stew out of chicken. Enzo is extra aggressive to start but Kalisto kicks him away without much effort. The chase to the floor is on and Kalisto follows him back in with a slingshot Code Red for two. Kalisto goes to the ropes once too often though and gets his throat snapped as we take a break.

Back with Enzo getting two off a clothesline and pulling him out of the corner into a side slam for the same (cool move). The chinlock goes on for a bit until a running forearm in the corner gets two more. That means a second chinlock with a Stunner not quite breaking the hold. It’s too early for the Salida Del Sol so Enzo puts him in the Tree of Woe, only to miss a charge and hit the buckle.

Kalisto hits a top rope moonsault but his ribs won’t let him get a cover. He’s fine enough to hit the hurricanrana driver but the Salida is broken up again. They slug it out on the apron and Enzo pulls him head first into the rob that connects the buckle to the post. The Jordunzo finishes Kalisto at 8:13.

Rating: D+. That’s one of the better matches I remember from Enzo, which probably had a lot to do with Kalisto being in there to do most of the hard work for him. There was little chance that Enzo was dropping the title here so at least they kept it short, even with a commercial included. Not a good match, but it could have been worse.

Kickoff Show: Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens vs. Breezango

Sami is freshly heel here and doesn’t like being stuck having to face losers like Breezango. They should be on Team Smackdown tonight but Shane McMahon is holding them back. It’s all part of the McMahon sibling rivalry but here’s Breezango to cut them off. They got a tip of some fashion violators and all that ungroomed facial hair proves they’re right. That’s bad enough for some violations so Fandango dropkicks Owens down. Owens and Zayn are sent outside where they have fashioned tickets rained down on them as we take a break.

Back with Sami getting sent outside again but Owens gets in a cheap shot this time to put Breeze in trouble. Owens comes in for his usual pummeling but it’s already back to Sami for the chinlock. A kick to the face isn’t enough to get Breeze out of trouble as Owens comes back in for a chinlock of his own. That’s not good enough, so we hit the fourth chinlock in about two minutes.

Owens mixes it up with a backsplash but hits knees, suggesting that he should have stuck with the chinlocks. The hot tag brings in Fandango for the snap jabs and a middle rope dropkick. A tornado DDT gets two with Owens making the save but Fandango misses the Last Dance. The Pop Up Powerbomb finishes Fandango at 8:32.

Rating: D+. Well this concludes the worst Kickoff Show I can remember in a long time. It didn’t seem like Owens and Zayn cared at all here and really, can you blame them? The previous month they were headlining a pay per view and now they’re on the Kickoff Show? That’s the best you can have for these guys? Fair point as that’s the idea of the story. Other than that, I still feel bad for what happened to Breezango as they got themselves over and then were just dropped for….whoever the Smackdown Tag Team Champions were at this point. Does it really matter if they’re that forgettable?

The opening video focuses on the war between Raw and Smackdown, featuring the UNDER SIEGE deal, which was mainly all about Stephanie vs. Shane. I still don’t get how they didn’t have the Usos with the Uso Penitentiary deal leading that charge. The rest of the Raw vs. Smackdown matches get a quick look of their own.

We have a FIVE MAN commentary booth. As usual, quantity equals quality in WWE’s eyes.

New Day vs. Shield

This didn’t get the attention that it deserved because it’s a genuine dream match. Before the match, Woods says that while this is great fuel for the fan fiction writers, it’s also time for them to show that they’re the most dominant trio in WWE history. Kofi brings up the Raw roster invading three weeks after Smackdown did and not even doing it as well. They’re about to go Bob Barker on the Hounds of Justice (How did no one get that line in before?) and when Wrestlemania time comes up, the Shield will bite each other (true actually, at least before Dean got hurt).

They’re the true brotherhood around here and it’s time to prove it. And now, before the match, here’s another video of Smackdown invading Raw and vice versa, in case you didn’t get the point six minutes ago. The only new material here is New Day costing the Shield the Tag Team Titles. Big pop for Shield, as you had to expect. Seth and Dean have the half Raw half Shield shirts but Reigns is too cool to go that route.

Ambrose and Kofi start things off as the fans are split here, apparently not able to pick which wristlock they like best. Booker’s preview for the night: “There’s not gonna be a whole lot of entertainment.” This man gets paid to do this people. Rollins and Woods come in with Woods quickly realizing that he’s in way over his head. As the announcers discuss titles, Big E. comes in to face Rollins. Now you NXT fans should get where commentary should be going, but of course nothing is mentioned.

It’s off to Reigns instead and this isn’t quite the showdown that WWE thinks it is. Big E. breaks up a waistlock attempt and runs Reigns over with a shoulder, only to have an elbow do the same to him. A good looking Samoan drop gives Reigns two….and the fans are there with the SWEET because we’re that lucky. Everything breaks down and a triple clothesline takes Big E. and Kofi to the floor, leaving Woods to get stomped down in the corner. Rollins comes off the top with a right hands to the ribs as the Shield starts their rhythm.

Ambrose gives up the tag to Kofi though and things pick up in a hurry. The Boom Drop hits Ambrose but he kicks Kofi out of the air. It’s too early for Dirty Deeds though and the Unicorn Stampede is on. New Day does it again for good measure and the fans aren’t thrilled this time around. That’s enough for Rollins and Reigns and everything breaks down. Big E. spears Ambrose through the ropes, thankfully not coming that close to death. That’s only good for two and things settle down again with Ambrose’s shirt being ripped off. It’s an improvement, as Ambrose looks more normal in all black.

The chinlock goes on for a few moments before Dean breaks up a superplex attempt. Big E. can’t get one either and Dean missile dropkicks him down instead. The hot tag brings in Rollins, albeit with an unnecessary jump from Dean. Seth springboards in with the clothesline and starts in with his usual fast paced offense. The announcers are already getting really annoying with this Raw vs. Smackdown stuff and Graves being in the middle is all that’s holding it together.

Reigns comes in for a jumping clothesline to Woods and the Superman Punch knocks him even sillier. Big E. breaks up the spear but Rollins saves Dean from the Midnight Hour. The jumping knee into Dirty Deeds gets two on Kofi with Woods making a save of his own. A fired up Woods comes in so Rollins kicks him in the face to calm things down. Now it’s Big E.’s turn to break up the TripleBomb and there’s Trouble in Paradise to Rollins. Reigns is laid out on the floor so Woods puts Big E. on his shoulders so Kofi can jump over them for a splash onto Dean.

Woods drops Big E. onto him as well but there’s no cover. Instead Big E. picks up Ambrose and Rollins for a double Midnight Hour, leaving Reigns to spear Big E. onto the covers for a save. Both teams pull each other up for a cool visual and the fight is on again. Dirty Deeds plants Big E. on the floor and the spear cuts Kofi in half. Shield isn’t done though and it’s a super TripleBomb to completely finish Kofi at 21:32.

Rating: B+. This took some time to get going but once they turned it into the big fight feel, it became what it should have been. These teams are both great in different ways and while New Day has had more success as a trio, it’s hard to argue with them beating three former World Champions. Shield winning is the right choice, but at the same time it means that we have to hear about Raw being up 1-0 on Smackdown for far too long now.

Cole: “Raw is up 1-0!”

In the back, Stephanie McMahon: “Raw is up 1-0!” She gives the Raw women’s team a pep talk and it’s about as over the top as you would guess.

There’s a scoreboard to show Raw is in fact up 1-0.

Raw Women’s Team vs. Smackdown Women’s Team

Raw: Sasha Banks, Bayley, Alicia Fox, Asuka, Nia Jax

Smackdown: Carmella, Natalya, Becky Lynch, Naomi, Tamina

Lana is in Smackdown’s corner and Fox and Lynch are the captains. During the entrances (which are going to take their sweet time), Phillips reminds us that Raw is in fact up 1-0. Does WWE really think we have the attention spans of drunken squirrels? We also get to see the Raw women invading the Smackdown locker room so we can hear about UNDER SIEGE for the fifteenth time in the show’s first forty five minutes.

Fox and Lynch start things off with Fox actually getting the better of it off some forearms. Becky gets in a neck snap across the top though and drops a top rope legdrop for two. The threat of the Disarm-Her sends Fox to the ropes so Bayley tags herself in and grabs a rollup to get rid of Lynch at 2:02.

Natalya comes in next to stomp Bayley in the corner as Booker can’t figure out who is on which show. Tamina misses a splash in the corner and gets forearmed in the head before it’s off to Asuka to a big reaction. That’s just a preview though as a few kicks to the legs are enough before Asuka hands it back to Fox. Since it’s Fox and she’s not very good, it’s already back to Bayley, who gets beaten up in the corner. Carmella hits a superkick and Tamina’s Superfly Splash gets rid of Bayley at 5:27.

That’s what you get for cheering her when you’re not supposed to people. Nia comes in to face Tamina, and it’s not interesting a year earlier either. A shot knocks Naomi off the apron and Tamina does the same to Asuka before neither can hurt the other. Nia’s headbutt hurts both of them but Nia splashing her in the corner only hates Tamina. Lana gets on the apron for some reason so Nia knocks her off, allowing Tamina to superkick her to the floor. A dive from Naomi and another superkick set up the crossbody off the apron to get Nia counted out at 9:01.

Fox comes in and yells at Nia as she leaves and gets knocked down by Naomi. In one of those moments of brilliance you only see in wrestling, Naomi looks over her shoulder, sees Fox moving, and then starts jumping up for the split legged moonsault. Naomi is fine enough to get a sunset flip that she lets up at two…but Fox doesn’t get her shoulders up and the referee counts the pin anyway at 10:31. Banks is right back in to make Naomi tap to the Bank Statement at 10:47 so we’re down to Banks/Asuka vs. Carmella/Tamina/Natalya.

Asuka comes in to unload with kicks to Carmella and the hip attack gets two. Carmella pulls her down by the hair and hits a quick Bronco Buster before pausing to mock Sasha’s dance. For reasons of general stupidity, Carmella slaps Asuka in the face and it’s a knee to the head, followed by a heck of a kick to get rid of Carmella at 12:59. Banks and Natalya come in and hit each other a few times until Natalya gets the better of it for two. Sasha gets sent face first into the middle buckle and the Sharpshooter makes her tap at 15:22, leaving Asuka vs. Natalya and Tamina in the Ultimate Warrior at Survivor Series 1988 mold.

Natalya gets in a few kicks and hands it off to Tamina for a slam. The Superfly Splash that wouldn’t have hit even if Asuka hadn’t moved misses when Asuka moves and it’s a cross armbreaker to get rid of Tamina at 17:32. Natalya can’t get the Sharpshooter as Asuka pulls her into a kneebar, followed by a kick to the face. The Asuka Lock finishes Natalya at 18:27.

Rating: C-. This wasn’t great to start but the ending was exactly the right call with Asuka getting the star treatment at the end. The rest of the match wasn’t all that great as the focus was on Tamina (who still isn’t interesting, mainly because Nia is better at every single thing Tamina is around to do) or Alicia being wacky, making it an exercise in waiting around on Asuka. To their credit though, they got that part right and that’s what mattered most.

Here’s what coming on WWE Network. Don’t worry though, because they’ll air almost nothing but NXT, 205 Live and whatever tournament they have going on at the moment.

Stephanie (erg) brags to Daniel Bryan about Raw being up 2-0. She accuses Bryan of getting John Cena on the Smackdown men’s team by practically being family. Bryan: “Didn’t you put your husband on the Raw team?” It turns into a discussion of Wrestlemania XXX as this goes on way too long as we AGAIN recap the invasions. Sweet goodness WE WATCH THE TV SHOWS AND DON’T NEED TO HEAR THIS STUFF OVER AND OVER AGAIN! I haven’t watched the TV shows since last year and I can tell you what happens week by week just because of all these recaps.

Baron Corbin vs. The Miz

Smackdown vs. Raw and US Champion vs. Intercontinental Champion, though it’s non-title, like every match tonight. Miz has Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel with him and Corbin has been talking trash about Maryse and Miz’s unborn child. The threat of an early clothesline sends Miz bailing to the floor and it’s time for some consultation. A Dallas distraction lets Miz hit a baseball slide, followed by a clothesline to put Corbin right back on the floor. Corbin kicks him off the apron though as they’re going back and forth pretty fast so far.

The fans try to start some dueling chants but the LET’S GO MIZ chants are pretty clearly louder. Corbin misses a running crotch attack to the back but easily avoids a baseball slide. With Miz in trouble, Dallas hits Corbin in the knee to give Miz his first actual advantage. The Figure Four is easily blocked but a chop block cuts Corbin down again. Now the Figure Four goes on but that’s broken up in short order, allowing Corbin to hit Deep Six on one leg.

Dallas is right there again with a shot to the knee though and Miz adds a big boot. Corbin’s knee is fine enough to slide underneath the ropes and beat up the Miztourage but the End of Days is countered into a DDT for two. Some rather weak looking YES Kicks don’t have much effect so Miz hits the running corner dropkicks. Corbin shrugs them off though and End of Days is good for the pin at 9:26.

Rating: D+. Commentary really hurt this one as the put on Raw vs. Smackdown stuff continues. The leg work was fine but when Corbin is fine enough to do all of his usual stuff and then hit his finisher to win, it doesn’t mean that much. You had to give Smackdown something in this whole thing and given how bad the midcard titles are presented in the first place, this was the least painful loss for a champion.

Post match Corbin says he just shut everyone’s mouth.

Paul Heyman says everything about tonight is phenomenal, including AJ Styles. Then the bell will ring and the conqueror is going to rip AJ Styles apart.

Usos vs. Cesaro/Sheamus

Before the match, the Usos mock the Bar’s catchphrase and says they’ll be bartenders tonight. Or maybe they’re pole vaulters. Sheamus drives Jimmy into the corner to start and Jimmy isn’t sure what to do here. Instead it’s off to Jey who does the same to Sheamus, though he’s smart enough to stomp away and take over. As the announcers discuss Corey’s lack of success (as Booker hadn’t heard about it), Cesaro comes in and gets hiptossed down.

A quick double team puts Jimmy down though and it’s off to a headlock, because a chinlock isn’t sophisticated enough. Jimmy knocks Sheamus to the floor but a dive gets cut off by a Cesaro uppercut. Back in and Cesaro puts on a Crossface without the arm trap as Booker wants the Bar to be called the A-Team. Graves: “Why would you do that? They’re called the Bar Booker.” Sheamus drops a knee and puts on a chinlock with Cesaro running in to kick Jey off the apron.

The pop up uppercut gets two but Sheamus takes too long setting up the ten forearms to the chest. Booker: “Think about the brand!” Jimmy gets in a Whisper in the Wind and that’s enough for the hot tag to pick up the pace. He also picks up Cesaro with a backdrop into the corner for two, leaving Sheamus to argue with the referee. Jey gets in a superkick but Sheamus adds a forearm to the back, allowing Cesaro to Swing Jimmy into the Sharpshooter. The longest crawl to a rope I can remember gets Jey out of trouble, assuming you bought the Sharpshooter as a potential finish either (you shouldn’t have).

The spike White Noise is broken up and Sheamus is sent into the post. He’s fine enough to hold Jey up for White Noise with Cesaro adding a springboard spike. Jimmy makes a great looking last second save so Cesaro throws him out and loads up Jey in a powerbomb. Sheamus goes up top but gets punched in the face, allowing Jimmy to Samoan drop him down with Cesaro adding the powerbomb. Cesaro dives in the way of a double superkick, leaving Sheamus to take the same thing. Jimmy does the eternally cool tag while diving over the top to take out Cesaro. The Superfly Splash finishes Sheamus at 15:56.

Rating: B-. Yeah of course this was good with two very talented teams. Granted a year later the Usos haven’t had a meaningful match in forever and the Bar are now the Smackdown Tag Team Champions, but at least this was entertaining. If nothing else though, this is a great showcase of what happens when you just let people go and have a fun match, which is always going to help things out.

Jason Jordan, who was recently (and thankfully) replaced on the Raw team by HHH, wants to see HHH get eliminated before Team Raw wins.

We recap Charlotte winning the Smackdown Women’s Title on Tuesday to take Natalya’s spot tonight. If nothing else it was awesome to see Ric Flair come out after his health scares.

Charlotte vs. Alexa Bliss

Non-….you get the idea. Charlotte knocks her outside early on and is polite enough to hold the ropes open to invite Bliss back in. Booker of course talks about baseball. Back in and Bliss hides in the ropes before slapping her in the face. That earns Bliss a hard right hand so they head to the apron with Bliss snapping the arm to the floor. A dropkick into the steps has Charlotte in more trouble and it’s off to an abdominal stretch, though Charlotte has to kneel because Bliss isn’t that tall.

Some kicks to the ribs keep Charlotte in trouble and she gets sent face first into the middle buckle to make things even worse. Bliss tries to go aerial but a tornado DDT is countered into a t-bone suplex into the corner (with Bliss bouncing around as only she can). Charlotte gets crotched on top but rolls away before Twisted Bliss. That’s even worse for her though as she gets caught with middle rope double knees to the back (I still don’t get how that doesn’t cause a severe injury.).

Code Red gives Bliss two and she hammers away with even more fire than she usually shows. A guillotine choke has Charlotte in trouble (it worked for Bayley against Nia Jax) but a sitout powerbomb (looked great) breaks that up. The fans are split (as they should be) and Bliss breaks up the Figure Eight with a right hand that has the referee checking on Charlotte.

Natural Selection gets two but the moonsault misses (as always). Bliss grabs her DDT for two of her own so she chokes and screams a lot. Amazingly enough, Charlotte can pretty easily overpower Bliss and hits a spear to cut her in half. Back up and more kicks to the ribs have Charlotte in trouble but Twisted Bliss hits raised knees. A big boot sets up the Figure Eight to make Bliss tap at 15:46 and put Smackdown up 3-2.

Rating: B. Heck of a match here with Bliss looking like she could more than hang with someone on Charlotte’s level. You don’t see someone go move for move with Charlotte like this and it’s a great sign for Bliss’ future. The ribs story was perfectly fine, even if it meant that another champion had to lose. You know, because of bragging rights.

Post match, Charlotte nods in approval.

We recap AJ Styles vs. Brock Lesnar in another champion vs. champion match. Lesnar is the monster and AJ is the new underdog champion (sounds oxymoronish), thankfully saving us from Lesnar vs. Jinder Mahal.

Brock Lesnar vs. AJ Styles

Heyman handles Lesnar’s introductions, saying he’s fighting (Heyman: “Fighting. You hear that Mr. Performer?”) and the fans are split to start. Brock goes straight to the shoulders in the corner and throws AJ across the ring a few times. Forearms to the back keep AJ in trouble as the dominance is on early. One heck of an overhead belly to belly has Styles in more trouble and there’s the first German suplex. Lesnar sends him outside for a toss into the barricade as Cole is almost giddy.

Back in and another German suplex has AJ rocked but he tries to get up anyway. With Heyman cradling the Universal Title like a newborn, Brock hits a running knee in the corner. Lesnar wants him to fight and then clotheslines AJ right back down. Some right hands have little effect for Styles as Brock puts him down again. The F5 doesn’t work and Lesnar’s second running knee hits the buckle.

A DDT actually puts Lesnar down and it’s time to cheer for AJ as he kicks at the leg. Lesnar throws him off a tornado DDT attempt and they’re both down. AJ tries a springboard but gets caught in a German suplex that flips him over his head. Well of course it does. This time AJ ducks the big right hand and Lesnar falls to the floor, setting up the slingshot forearm. Brock goes knee first into the steps and there’s another forearm off said steps.

An enziguri makes things even worse back inside and the springboard 450 gets the first two as Heyman is panicking. The Styles Clash is countered into an F5 attempt which is countered into the Calf Crusher. You can hear the fans actually going nuts…until Lesnar grabs AJ’s head and rams it into the mat to break it up. Another F5 is broken up and the Phenomenal Forearm connects for a very close two. Brock is right back up with the F5 for the pin at 15:19.

Rating: A-. Oh yeah this worked. I was getting into these near falls all over again as they were nailing the Rocky story. Lesnar knows how to play the monster but AJ is even better at being the fighting from underneath high flier. This was great stuff and I’d love to see it again, even if a year later they’re somehow right where they were here. Anyway, great performance from both guys as Lesnar shows he can still do it.

We recap the Raw vs. Smackdown men’s match. Allow me:

UNDER SIEGE

Invasion

Invasion

Stephanie is really, really annoying

Roster changes because they knew the original lineups were awful

Invasion

Got all that?

Raw Men’s Team vs. Smackdown Men’s Team

Kurt Angle, Braun Strowman, Finn Balor, Samoa Joe, HHH

Shane McMahon, Randy Orton, Bobby Roode, Shinsuke Nakamura, John Cena

What are the odds that the whole competition comes down to this? Shane jumps at Strowman to start because Shane is the most awesome person ever. That’s shrugged off so we’ll try Joe vs. Orton instead. Joe headlocks him into the corner without much effort so let’s go with Nakamura vs. Balor instead. That certainly gets the fans into it, though Cole ruins it a bit by calling him Shin. The feeling out process begins as the NXT chants start up.

Nakamura takes him to the ropes for the swinging arms, only to be reversed into a TOO SWEET to the head. HHH comes in for a kind of weird showdown and takes Nakamura into the corner for the right hands. Nakamura gets in the first kick to the chest but the facebuster sends him into the corner for the tag to Roode. This one isn’t so much weird as much as it is….nothing. Since Roode’s pose takes forever, HHH punches him in the face. Fair enough actually.

The spinebuster takes Roode down again but Roode counters the Pedigree and hits a spinebuster of his own. That means we get the GLORIOUS pose but the Glorious DDT is broken up. Instead HHH drives him into the corner for the tag off to Angle for the rolling German suplexes.

A double clothesline puts them both down so the Raw guys switch places on the apron. It’s off to Nakamura for the running knees so Joe comes in to make the save. Everything breaks down and Nakamura hits Kinshasa on HHH, only to run into the now legal Strowman. The middle rope knee staggers the monster but the running powerslam gets rid of Nakamura at 11:31.

Roode comes in and kicks at Strowman’s legs, followed by the Blockbuster. That’s not even good for one so Roode tries it again, earning himself another running powerslam for the pin at 12:22. For some reason Joe and Strowman get in an argument, as do HHH and Angle. Smackdown is smart enough to let them fight until Orton and Shane come in like idiots. Orton powerslams Joe and Cena is all fired up, only to have Strowman come in for a heck of a 2-1 showdown. The AA and RKO are both broken up and Strowman knocks them both to the floor.

Orton and Cena get together and the rest of Team Smackdown (including the eliminated members) get together to suplex Strowman through a table. Naturally Shane gets to talk the trash but Joe breaks up an elbow to the floor with a belly to belly superplex. Cena comes in to hammer on Joe but gets booted in the face. The Rock Bottom out of the corner looks to set up the Coup de Grace, only to have Joe and Balor get in an argument. An AA to Joe, an AA to Balor and another to Joe is good for an elimination at 18:05.

Angle comes in for the showdown with some history behind it and Cena gets taken down without much effort. Back up and Cena elbows him in the face, followed by initiating the finishing sequence. The Shuffle is reversed into the ankle lock but Cena slips out without much damage. The Angle Slam does a little more damage, to the point where Shane has to make a save. Balor drops the Coup de Grace and another Slam gets rid of Cena at 21:45.

We’re down to Orton/Shane vs. Balor/HHH/Angle/Strowman so Orton comes in, only to get forearmed by Balor. A trip to the floor lets Balor shotgun dropkick Shane into the barricade. Back in and the Coup de Grace misses again, setting up an RKO to get rid of Balor at 23:46. HHH is right there to jump Orton from behind but the backbreaker gets him out of trouble.

Cue Sami and Owens to beat Shane up but he fights them off with a chair, because OF COURSE HE CAN DO THAT. An RKO drops Owens….and Strowman is back up to come in again. The running powerslam is good for the elimination at 26:32 and Shane is worried, mainly because he’s alone against HHH, Strowman and Angle. Shane stands around forever before going in to face Strowman until HHH tags himself in. Angle tags himself in as well and gets taken down by a Russian legsweep.

The jumping back elbow to the jaw and la majistral get two each. Shane hammers away in the corner but the Angle Slam puts him down. There’s the ankle lock for nearly a minute…until HHH comes in and Pedigrees Angle to give Shane the pin at 32:00. HHH stares at Strowman, helps Shane up, and Pedigrees him as well for the pin at 33:20.

Rating: D+. Yeah this still didn’t work a year later either. The first third is spent on showdowns that don’t mean anything and the rest is getting rid of the people who don’t matter so we can get down to the big stuff with Shane, HHH and Angle. You know, the older guys. The wrestling wasn’t the worst but it was long, didn’t feel important and came off more as a way to get to the ending instead of something worth seeing along the way.

Post match HHH is all smiley as Strowman stares him down. Strowman grabs him by the throat and says never do this again so HHH tries a Pedigree but gets powerslammed twice to end the show. This of course lead nowhere.

Overall Rating: B-. Much like last year, the show just felt long and brought down the good things they had going on. Now that being said, the good matches on the show were more than good enough to make up for the bad and the show is definitely worth seeing. AJ vs. Brock is more than good and the opener isn’t far behind. In other words, this Survivor Series is great if you take out the Survivor Series matches.

If nothing else, they’ve made me dislike Survivor Series, which used to be my favorite pay per view. This Raw vs. Smackdown story was pure annoyance with the announcers all suddenly being cheerleaders about a story that would disappear in a few days. It feels so manufactured and, because it’s WWE, they beat you over the head with it so hard that you’re waiting on the whole thing to finally end so you don’t have to hear about it anymore. Thanks for sucking the fun out of one of my favorite shows guys. It only took thirty years.

Ratings Comparison

Elias vs. Matt Hardy

Original: D+

Redo: D+

Kalisto vs. Enzo Amore

Original: D

Redo: D+

Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn vs. Breezango

Original: D+

Redo: D+

New Day vs. Shield

Original: B

Redo: B+

Team Raw Women vs. Team Smackdown Women

Original: D

Redo: C-

The Miz vs. Baron Corbin

Original: C+

Redo: D+

Usos vs. Cesaro/Sheamus

Original: B

Redo: B-

Charlotte vs. Alexa Bliss

Original: B+

Redo: B

AJ Styles vs. Brock Lesnar

Original: B+

Redo: A-

Team Raw Men vs. Team Smackdown Men

Original: D

Redo: D+

Overall Rating

Original: B-

Redo: B

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/11/19/survivor-series-2017-never-mind-the-talent-here-are-the-old-guys/

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

Survivor Series 2016
Date: November 20, 2016
Location: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Attendance: 17,143
Commentators: Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Mauro Ranallo, John Bradshaw Layfield, Michael Cole, David Otunga

I say this every year but it’s always hard to believe that it’s been a full year since this show. This was the first time that a Survivor Series was expanded to four hours but thankfully there’s a good chance that they could make it work, mainly due to the elimination matches. The main event though is Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg, which I’m sure will be completely uneventful. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Drew Gulak/Ariya Daivari/Tony Nese vs. Noam Dar/TJ Perkins/Rich Swann

This is a preview match for something called 205 Live, which debuts next week. I know it hasn’t gone great but the division really has evolved into a better place than when it started. Swann gets a nice reaction and then starts with Nese, who gets chopped in the corner. They do their regular flips with Swann’s jump over Nese’s feet getting a good pop (as always) before it’s off to Perkins.

Some suplexes set up an Octopus Hold but Nese reverses into a kind of gutwrench suplex. Gulak comes in and gets caught in the wrong corner with everyone working him over. We actually get a TJ PERKINS chant as he slaps on the kneebar to keep Gulak in trouble. Everything breaks down and we take a break.

Back with Daivari in trouble this time as Dar gets two off a running kick to the face. Nese offers a distraction though and a spinebuster takes Dar down. A superkick gives Daivari two and it’s back to Gulak to crank on the leg. If this sounds rather uninteresting, it’s only because that’s what it is.

Dar dropkicks his way to freedom and the hot tag brings in Swann to very little reaction. A good looking jumping hurricanrana takes Daivari off the middle rope as everything breaks down again. That means we hit the dives but the referee CUTS PERKINS OFF. Now you know that’s not working so Perkins dives over the referee to take out some villains. Back in and Swann’s standing 450 ends Daivari at 11:48.

Rating: C-. I forgot how uninteresting these earlier cruiserweight matches were. The guys barely have characters and the entire story here was “three faces vs. three heels”. It didn’t get much better for a long time but, as usual, the problem comes down to one simple thing: if the smaller guys on the main roster can be big stars and do all these dives, why should I be impressed when cruiserweights can do them too?

Kickoff Show: Luke Harper vs. Kane

Harper is part of the NEW Wyatt Family, which screwed Kane over, meaning we need a match here. Kane grabs a full nelson of all things and we’re in a chinlock fifteen seconds in. That goes nowhere so Harper grabs a headlock as the fans are oddly split here. Kane starts in on the shoulder by sending it into the buckle. Harper sends him outside though and hits that suicide shove of his (Who needs cruiserweights?).

A slingshot flip splash gives Luke two and we take a break. Back with Kane in a chinlock (well duh) but managing to superplex Harper down for a crash. The sidewalk slam gets two but Harper scores with a superkick for the same. Kane’s running DDT and Harper’s Boss Man Slam are good for two more each but it’s the chokeslam to put Harper away at 9:10.

Rating: D+. Well what were you expecting here? This was exactly the match you would have planned out for them and Kane won with his finisher. It’s about as paint by numbers of a power match as you can get and while it wasn’t terrible, it’s also a match I really didn’t need to see.

The opening video looks at Goldberg vs. Lesnar and then all the Raw vs. Smackdown matches. Well at least they got some time. I’m sure Stephanie’s voiceovers had nothing to do with it.

Raw Women’s Team vs. Smackdown Women’s Team

Raw: Bayley, Alicia Fox, Charlotte, Nia Jax, Sasha Banks

Smackdown: Alexa Bliss, Becky Lynch, Carmella, Naomi, Nikki Bella

Entrances alone take forever of course, which will be a theme tonight. Charlotte is Raw Women’s Champion and has Dana Brooke in her corner. Becky is Smackdown Women’s Champion but Nikki is captain. You know, because of course. Bliss gets a heck of a reaction (gee I wonder why). Actually hang on a second as there’s no Nikki. We cut to the back where she’s down after being attacked. Not to worry though, as Smackdown coach Natalya is more than willing to take the spot.

Carmella and Alicia get things going and it’s an early northern lights suplex to give Fox two. That just earns her a trip into the corner for the Staten Island Shuffle…and let’s look at Team Raw while Fox gets in a kick to the face. That felt like a hard edit to make sure we didn’t see something. Becky comes in and wants Bayley but Charlotte tags herself in instead. Banks does the same though and everything breaks down as Team Raw is about to implode. As usual, I would ask why Team Smackdown didn’t just let them. Nia will have none of this though and easily clears the ring to settle things down.

We settle down to Becky and Banks trading rollups before it’s off to Charlotte for more of the same. Becky can’t get the Disarm-Her and it’s off to Nia as things get a lot more difficult. Carmella and Bliss come in for the expected results and Naomi’s high crossbody is pulled out of the air. Natalya actually gets a reaction but Nia clotheslines her head off for her efforts. It’s off to Fox vs. Carmella with Alicia avoiding a Bronco Buster, setting up what looked to be a mostly missed ax kick for the elimination at 6:35. Bliss comes right in, sends Fox into the buckle and adds Twisted Bliss to tie it up at 6:48.

Charlotte and Naomi come in with the latter cleaning house, including knocking Nia outside and hitting a high crossbody to the floor. Nia posts her though and that’s a countout at 8:23. We pause for the Tye Dillinger TEN chant until Bliss takes Banks down and grinds her face into the mat. Banks sends Bliss and Natalya into each other, followed by the double knees in the corner to Alexa. Back up and Bliss saves Natalya from the Bank Statement, allowing Natalya to roll Banks up for the elimination at 10:20.

Charlotte comes in and gets suplexed, meaning we hit the SUPLEX CITY chants. You would think fans would know more chants than that. Charlotte goes up for the moonsault but, as always, Natalya powerbombs her down for two in the near fall that never ends Charlotte. The required Sharpshooter sends Charlotte crawling for the ropes but a big boot ends Natalya at 12:01.

Becky and Bliss get in an argument over who should come in, allowing Jax to suplex them both at the same time. Of course that gets a MAMA MIA from Mauro, which I miss hearing so often. Bliss gets caught in a slam but Becky makes a blind tag and missile dropkicks Bliss in the back to knock her onto Jax. The Disarm-Her actually makes Jax tap at 13:35 and it’s 2-2 with Becky/Bliss vs Charlotte/Bayley.

Jax mauls Becky, leaving Bliss to get big booted down for the elimination at 14:03. Becky fights back as fast as she can with the series of clotheslines into the leg lariat, followed by Bexplex. Bayley has to dive in for a save after a top rope legdrop before coming in for the slugout. Another Bexplex gets two but Bayley’s elbow to the back gets the same. You can tell Becky is getting tired out there so Bayley blocks the Disarm-Her and grabs the Bayley to Belly for the final pin at 17:53.

Rating: C+. The quick eliminations didn’t help things here but the ending was the right call. There was way too much talent on the Raw side to lose and I’m VERY glad it was Natalya, who can wrestle this style without having to dumb things down too much. Becky was pretty much all the blue team had for a lot of the match and she put up a valiant effort, only to be outgunned. That makes her look strong and Bayley getting a win like this is a good thing for her at this stage in her main roster career.

Charlotte takes Bayley out post match and beats her around ringside.

Smackdown mascot James Ellsworth runs into Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows, who weren’t funny in 2016 either. They make some bad chin puns but Raw GM Mick Foley comes in to run them off. Ellsworth talks about all the great memories he has of Foley, most of which involve him being in extreme pain. Foley thanks him anyway and suggests Ellsworth move to Raw. He appreciates the offer but politely turns it down because he’s true blue. Foley leaves and Ellsworth runs into Braun Strowman, who asks if he knows Ellsworth. James runs in a smart move.

Intercontinental Title: Miz vs. Sami Zayn

Miz is defending and Sami is trying to take the title to Raw. We get the Big Match Intros and Sami gets quite the reaction for being Canadian. Sami spins out of a wristlock to start and Miz looks annoyed in the corner. Miz gets sent outside but Sami has to bail out of the flip dive. The moonsault off the barricade works though, drawing over Maryse for a distraction. Well she can be quite distracting.

This one works well with Miz taking out the knee to get his first advantage. Some hard stomps to the knees have Sami in trouble but he’s still able to clothesline Miz to the floor. A flip dive works as well, followed by a Michinoku Driver for two. Miz’s short DDT gets the same and it’s time for a double breather. The running corner dropkick/clothesline look to set up the ax handle but Sami reverses into the Blue Thunder Bomb.

The Helluva Kick only hits corner though and that means the Figure Four. This one stays on for a good while until Sami makes the ropes, earning himself some YES Kicks. Sami reverses one into a Figure Four of his own but Maryse rings the bell. Since Sami isn’t all that bright, he of course falls for it, only to have Miz roll him up to retain at 14:06.

Rating: C-. Kind of a dull match as you knew a lot of Sami’s near falls weren’t going anywhere. I can go for Miz and Maryse teaming up to steal wins though and it’s a big reason why he’s been an awesome Intercontinental Champion. This would also help play into Sami’s heel turn nearly a year later as he would get tired of losing while playing by the rules. Makes sense, especially in a long term form.

Dean Ambrose and AJ Styles are bickering over being teammates tonight when Shane McMahon comes in and tells them to cool it so Smackdown doesn’t lose again.

Raw Tag Teams vs. Smackdown Tag Teams

Raw: Enzo Amore/Big Cass, Cesaro/Sheamus, Gallows and Anderson, New Day, Shining Stars

Smackdown: American Alpha, Breezango, Heath Slater/Rhyno, Hype Bros, Usos

A fall eliminates both members of a team. Enzo and Cass suck up to the live crowd, as you might expect. New Day and Slater/Rhyno are the respective champions. Fandango tries to give everyone a fashion ticket to start, earning himself a Midnight Hour for the elimination at 44 seconds. New Day spends too much time celebrating though and it’s a superkick from Jimmy to pin Big E. at 1:08.

Gallows comes in to punch Jimmy in the face before handing it off to Cass for the tall power. The fast tags continue as it’s off to Epico vs. Ryder (who is rocking some old school Survivor Series logo trunks) with Mojo coming in for a clap around the ears. Rawley gets taken down into the corner for the huge group beating though as we keep trying to get everyone in. It’s back to Ryder (not Slater like the fans want) but Gallows saves Anderson from the Broski Boot. Instead it’s the Magic Killer to pin Ryder at 5:08.

Gable comes in as Graves talks about how scared he is of American Alpha. It doesn’t seem to be the most valid fear to start though as Epico takes Gable down into a chinlock. Some rolling suplexes have Gable in more trouble and Primo comes in with a springboard ax handle to the ribs. He misses a charge in the corner though and it’s off to Jordan for a quick Steiner Bulldog to get rid of the Stars at 8:08.

The six remaining teams (Enzo/Big Cass, Cesaro/Sheamus, Gallows and Anderson vs. American Alpha, Heath Slater/Rhyno, Usos) come in at once as everything breaks down. That means Enzo gets tossed over the top onto a big pile….which was mainly Raw guys but whatever. Rhyno gets thrown over the top as well, only to have Slater add an even bigger dive. Back in and Cesaro swings Jordan but Gable makes the save with a Rolling Chaos Theory.

Gable isn’t done though as Jordan throws him over the top for a HUGE flip dive onto everyone. Sweet goodness those two were awesome together. I mean, not as awesome as Jordan on his own with Kurt Angle kind of around but still. Back in and it’s a quick Magic Killer to get rid of Jordan at 10:39 as the eliminations are still flying. A spinebuster plants Slater and he’s caught in the wrong corner.

Sheamus won’t tag Cesaro (this was before their ridiculous matching outfits) and an argument breaks out, allowing the hot tag off to Rhyno as everyone bickers. Rhyno comes in and Gores Gallows for an elimination at 12:28. Cass wastes no time with a big boot to Rhyno, followed by the Bada Boom Shaka Lacka for the pin at 12:45.

That leaves us with the Usos….who superkick Enzo down to set up the Superfly Splash and an elimination at 13:26 before I can type the Raw teams. So now we’re down to the Usos vs. Cesaro/Sheamus with the latter hitting the ten forearms (you know the chant) on Jimmy. Cesaro comes in and eats a double superkick but Sheamus Brogue kicks Jimmy with Jey making a diving save.

Super White Noise plants Jimmy again but Jey is right back with a Superfly Splash for two with Cesaro making a save of his own. The hot tag brings in Cesaro for the Uppercut Train and a 619 as the fans lose their minds over Cesaro again. A high crossbody gets two on Jey and it’s time for the Swing. Jimmy breaks up the Sharpshooter and Jey gets the Tequila Sunrise. That’s reversed right back into the Sharpshooter with Sheamus remembering he’s in the match to cut off Jimmy, leaving Jey to tap at 18:55.

Rating: B. This was during the time that I couldn’t stand Sheamus and Cesaro (not a lot has changed in a year) but they did a lot of stuff in this match, despite the crunched timeline. Getting nine eliminations in less than nineteen minutes is a lot but you have to clear the ring out at the beginning. It’s entertaining, but hits a hard ceiling that it’s not getting past.

Stephanie and Foley decide that Sheamus and Cesaro should get a Tag Team Title shot tomorrow night. They recap the rest of the show with Stephanie getting way too serious, as usual.

Preview for TLC with Dean Ambrose vs. AJ Styles in a TLC match for the title.

Cruiserweight Champion Brian Kendrick does his best Sean O’Haire impression and is ready for Kalisto. If Kalisto wins, he brings the division to Smackdown. It’s fine for a one off match but it was really hard to buy Kendrick as the best cruiserweight in the company in 2016.

Cruiserweight Title: Kalisto vs. Brian Kendrick

Kendrick is defending and charges straight into a knee to the face. Kalisto is right back with a suicide dive, followed by a springboard corkscrew crossbody for two. Some rollups give Kalisto more near falls and a shotgun dropkick has Kendrick in even more trouble. A rollup into the corner finally gives Kendrick a breather and he crushes Kalisto between the steps and the apron for good measure.

Back in and we hit the cravate to slow things back down. Kalisto manages to fight up and get to the apron where he grabs a C4 out to the floor in the big crash of the match. A good looking suicide dive takes Kendrick down again but he reverses a super Salida Del Sol into the Captain’s Hook. Kalisto finally grabs the ropes and fires off some kicks, followed by the hurricanrana driver. The Salida Del Sol gets two with Kendrick getting to the ropes. Kalisto heads up top….and here’s Baron Corbin for the DQ at 12:21.

Rating: C-. The match was good at times but Kendrick really isn’t the kind of guy you want as a long term champion. It also didn’t help that you knew they weren’t changing up the cruiserweight division so close to 205 Live’s launch. Corbin interfering was fine enough, but it really does make the title match feel like a big waste of time.

The Kickoff Show panel recaps the show so far.

Daniel Bryan yells at Corbin, who doesn’t want little pests running around on Smackdown.

We recap the men’s Survivor Series match, which started in July at the second Brand Split. Naturally this is about the McMahons as Shane and Stephanie are the Commissioners and therefore they have to be fighting. We look at all the entrants as this is treated like the major match is should be treated as. Then Shane is added to the match and that notion kind of falls apart.

Raw Men’s Team vs. Smackdown Men’s Team

Raw: Braun Strowman, Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins

Smackdown: AJ Styles, Bray Wyatt, Dean Ambrose, Randy Orton, Shane McMahon

AJ and Owens are the World Champions, Reigns is US Champion and Ellsworth is here as the mascot. This is also during the period where Orton is part of the Wyatt Family because we needed that story to get to Orton as World Champion again. Rollins gets a nice reaction and it’s far better without BURN IT DOWN or whatever the line is. AJ and Owens start things off with Styles wasting no time in hitting the drop down into the dropkick.

That’s enough of that though as it’s and they slug it out with AJ getting the better of it. The STUPID IDIOT chants mean it’s time for Jericho, who throws his shirt at AJ and hammers away. Styles dropkicks him down again as the announcers discuss Jericho insulting Undertaker on Twitter. It’s off to Ambrose vs. Rollins, which turns into far more of a wrestling match than it should.

Rollins can’t get a Pedigree so let’s go back to Jericho. Chris yells at Dean for the $15,000 jacket issue, earning himself some really bad armdrags. An enziguri cuts Dean down for two but Ambrose is right back with a bunch of right hands to the head. Shane comes in for the first time and my interest goes down. I’m still not a fan of middle aged Shane and this isn’t likely to change things.

Shane’s bad punches and an armdrag (better than Dean’s) take Jericho down until a dropkick cuts him off. The announcers debate the TV ratings as Reigns comes in and gets booed out of the building. Roman hammers him down in the corner and Seth comes in for a chinlock. That’s broken up so let’s go with Dean vs. Kevin. Owens hits a superkick but gets caught in a hurricanrana, only to have Jericho break up Dirty Deeds.

Everything breaks down and Strowman tags himself in, leaving the fans to chant for Ellsworth. The fight heads outside with Dean being left alone in the ring until Strowman catches his slingshot dive. Strowman walks him around the ring until AJ’s slingshot forearm to the floor breaks it up. Owens dives onto everyone and Strowman tosses Shane across the ring in a pretty good power display.

Some double teaming doesn’t do much to stop Strowman but they manage to knock him outside. That’s enough of Dean and Ambrose working together so they get in a fight, allowing Strowman to hit the running powerslam for the pin on Dean at 15:57. AJ was looking right at the cover and didn’t move. Shane gets to beat on Strowman for a bit but thankfully he gets hammered down as well.

The Phenomenal Forearm is pulled out of the air with AJ being tossed outside in a nasty heap. Orton gets thrown aside too but a stare from Bray stops Strowman in his tracks. Strowman grabs Jericho by the throat but decides to run Bray over instead, followed by a dropkick to put him on the floor. Braun goes outside as well but runs into an RKO onto the announcers’ table. After we pause to see what a random eight year old fan thought of it (he was applauding), Shane drops the top rope elbow to put Strowman through said table. That and Ellsworth grabbing Braun’s foot get Strowman counted out at 21:18.

Strowman catches Ellsworth running up the ramp though (How slow is this guy?) and throws him off the stage through some tables. Everyone else is mostly dead until Jericho covers Shane for two. Owens is fresh enough to drop the backsplash on Shane for two (but only after mocking the dance). There’s the Lionsault but Shane gets two of his own off a small package.

Shane takes a Codebreaker but Orton comes in before the cover, meaning Shane survives another finisher. He avoids a top rope splash though and it’s off to AJ to work on Jericho. With Owens getting in an insult to AJ’s hair (too far man), Jericho counters the Styles Clash into a failed Walls attempt. The Phenomenal Blitz rocks Jericho but Owens comes in with the List of Jericho to blast AJ. That’s a DQ at 29:23, but not before he gives AJ a Pop Up Powerbomb.

Orton gets the tag and comes in with the RKO to get rid of Jericho at 30:19. Notice Reigns blankly staring up at the ramp and not hearing the RKO RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM. So it’s down to Shane/AJ/Orton/Wyatt vs. Reigns/Rollins with Orton hammering on Rollins to start. Wyatt and Orton take turns on Seth as Shane is still laid on the apron after his long time in the ring. The superplex takes Rollins down (looks great too) but it allows the hot tag to Reigns. AJ comes in as well and MY GOODNESS the fans do not like Reigns.

House is cleaned with a series of Samoan drops, followed by a great looking Razor’s Edge powerbomb for two on AJ. Seriously that was good enough to cut off the booing. A Pele cuts off a Superman Punch and it’s back to Shane for no logical reason. Shane gets in a tornado DDT to drop Reigns and a clothesline takes Rollins down. Reigns tries a spear but gets awkwardly countered into the post.

In probably the spot of the match, Shane loads up Coast to Coast but gets speared out of the air for a SICK landing. Shane actually kicks out at two but you can see that he is completely gone. Like Lesnar after the botched shooting star gone. The referee says Shane is eliminated at 37:07, presumably due to his brains looking like a pie that has been run over by a bus driven by raccoons.

We pause for a bit as doctors get Shane out of the ring until Roman blasts Bray with a clothesline. Rollins and AJ get stereo hot tags with Seth’s Blockbuster putting Styles down. There’s the slingshot knee to AJ and a suicide dive to Wyatt. With Reigns down on the floor, let’s hit that ROMAN’S SLEEPING chant! Still one of my favorites because the fans just will not give him a break no matter what. An enziguri staggers AJ on top and now it’s WAKE UP ROMAN. Reigns does in fact wake up and saves Rollins from a hanging DDT on the floor.

With Orton down, it seems as good a time as any for a DoubleBomb. Styles makes a save before it can be loaded up but here’s Ambrose to jump Styles again. The fans call Dean a STUPID IDIOT as the former Shield beats up security. NOW the TripleBomb puts AJ through the table, allowing Rollins to get the pin at 47:00. It’s down to two on two with the Wyatts vs. the Shield (not the worst idea in the world)….and here’s Luke Harper for a distraction so the Wyatts can take over.

Reigns posts Orton but Harper superkicks him down, only to have Rollins score with a flip dive to the floor. Back in and the low superkick hits Wyatt but he dives into an RKO, giving Bray the pin at 49:25. Reigns, all alone, sends both of them outside and takes Harper out as a bonus. Back in and Orton eats a spear to save Wyatt, leaving Bray to grab Sister Abigail for the pin at 52:50.

Rating: A. This is a great example of a match that benefits from all of the time it had. What I loved about this was how long it took to take someone out. Most of the people in here were former World Champions and it doesn’t make sense to have them losing in a minute or two like in the other matches. They let the match build up for a change and that’s what makes this feel important.

Above all else though, this felt like someone surviving instead of whoever was left last. Look at the women’s match. Bayley barely looked like she had been through anything at the end. Orton and Wyatt looked banged up, which is how they should after a match like this. It’s a well put together match that got the kind of time it needed, which is exactly how something like this should be. Really strong stuff here with Bray, who actually needed it, getting the win.

We recap Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar. Goldberg was being interviewed about being in WWE2K16 and said he didn’t owe Lesnar a rematch. Lesnar challenged him though and Goldberg wanted his son to see him wrestle. The match was on and it does indeed feel like a battle of two people who could kill each other.

Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg

We get the full Goldberg entrance, complete with someone knocking on his door. Lesnar drives him into the corner to start but Goldberg shoves him right back down, scaring the heck out of Lesnar in the process. Back up and the spear connects to drop Lesnar again. There’s a second spear, followed by a Jackhammer to give Goldberg the huge upset at 1:25.

Yeah I still don’t like it. Sure it was shocking and a huge moment, but what did this set up? Goldberg eliminating Lesnar from the Rumble, Goldberg getting the most unnecessary Universal Title reign ever, and then a good sub five minute match at Wrestlemania. One of WWE’s biggest issues is giving fans something to cheer for and they give this spot to Goldberg, who they didn’t even create, for the sake of a video game (might not have been their call) and a story that could have made someone’s career. After this, Samoa Joe and Braun Strowman both fell to Lesnar, but Goldberg doesn’t. I don’t buy it, nor to I like it.

Goldberg celebrates with his family to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. One of the major perks about a match running nearly an hour on a three and a half hour show is that it can REALLY bring an overall rating up. Throw in a good women’s match and nothing really bad, this is actually a strong show. It’s far from perfect (main event aside, though that was the only thing that could have closed the show) but it’s a heck of a card, which I can always go for of course. The main issue is they could have gotten this one under three hours so it’s a bit long but nothing too bad. Really solid show though and most of that is due to the mega long match.

Ratings Comparison

Rich Swann/Noam Dar/TJ Perkins vs. Ariya Daivari/Tony Nese/Drew Gulak

Original: C

Redo: C-

Kane vs. Luke Harper

Original: C-

Redo: D+

Women’s Survivor Series Match

Original: C

Redo: C+

Miz vs. Sami Zayn

Original: C+

Redo: C-

Tag Team Survivor Series Match

Original: D+

Redo: B

Kalisto vs. Brian Kendrick

Original: C

Redo: C-

Men’s Survivor Series Match

Original: A-

Redo: A

Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar

Original: N/A

Redo: N/A

Overall Rating

Original: C-

Redo: B+

My eyebrows went up when I saw the original overall rating. The year of mellowing on the ending have helped a lot as there’s no way this is a B-. Also I really couldn’t stand Sheamus and Cesaro back then.

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2016/11/20/survivor-series-2016-there-are-no-words/

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

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

Monday Night Raw
Date: November 12, 2018
Location: Sprint Center, Kansas City, Missouri
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Renee Young

It’s the Stephanie Show this week. That’s the entirety of the official Raw preview: a photo of Stephanie with a promise of her addressing the World Cup controversy. I’m sure this will include discussions of how disappointed she is with everyone and how Raw must be the most ridiculous adjective filled show that only Stephanie can be proud of because only WWE seems to care about this battle for brand supremacy which was only first mentioned a few weeks back and won’t be mentioned again a week after Survivor Series. Let’s get to it.

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

Veterans Day video. Nothing wrong with that.

Tag Team Battle Royal

Lucha House Party, Bobby Roode/Chad Gable, Ascension, B-Team, Heath Slater/Rhyno, Revival

The winners get to be the captains for the Raw Survivor Series team (EGADS WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE???). Lucha House Party has all three members in for some reason…and here’s Braun Strowman to clean house for no logical reason. Strowman goes outside and runs some people over and we’ll say it’s a no contest (in a battle royal) at about 2:30.

Strowman has a seat in the ring and says he’s tired of waiting for the Acting General Manager Baron Corbin (Stephanie has been rubbing off on him)….and here’s Stephanie to interrupt. She talks about Shane McMahon disrespecting the locker room by declaring himself the best in the world. Braun gets up and yells that he doesn’t care about Shane or representing Raw.

Stephanie screeches about how he better care, just like the rest of the roster. That’s not happening because he’s tired of being treated like a meat castle. Get Corbin out here right now. Stephanie has a proposition: represent Raw and win the men’s match and he can have whatever he wants. Like, trains! Strowman wants a Universal Title match with Brock Lesnar, but first he wants Corbin.

Stephanie says done, but Braun wants to pick the stipulations. He also wants Corbin to sign a waver so he can’t get in trouble. That might take some more time but Stephanie seems cool with it. All she asks is to have Strowman not lay a hand on Corbin to prove he’s a proud member of the Raw roster.

Cue Ronda Rousey with Stephanie trying to introduce her but getting the microphone taken out of her hand. Ronda has been waiting for a challenge and Becky Lynch can do that. Now it’s Baron Corbin coming out for a pep talk but Ronda flips him over and leaves. Strowman is waiting on Corbin, but doesn’t touch him. He’ll be waiting after Survivor Series though.

This could have been worse as Stephanie was kept to a minimum, but it’s not doing much better about having the ridiculous focus on Raw vs. Smackdown. It’s not an interesting story and we’ve been here several years in a row now. Strowman wanting Corbin and then Lesnar again is fine, but just do those matches with regular elimination tags instead of this forced brand vs. brand stuff.

Ember Moon vs. Tamina Snuka

Nia Jax is in Tamina’s corner. Tamina throws her into the corner to start but Ember is right back with kicks to the leg. A sliding basement Downward Spiral sends Tamina outside. Ember follows but gets distracted by Jax, allowing Tamina to run her over. Back from a break with Ember fighting out of a chinlock and diving onto Jax….and bouncing off of her. The springboard crossbody gets two on Tamina but Jax offers another distraction. Tamina superkicks Ember down and hits the Superfly Splash for the pin at 8:35.

Rating: D. I kept writing Nia instead of Tamina because they’re basically the same person. They look similar, they wrestle the same powerful style and they’re even family. Now for some reason, WWE finds this more interesting than Ember, who they took the time to develop and build up in NXT. Why bring her up at all if you’re not going to use her for anything more than cannon fodder?

We look back at the Dean Ambrose/Seth Rollins story, including the AOP taking the Tag Team Titles from Rollins last week and getting beaten down by Ambrose after the match.

Here’s Rollins for an in-ring interview with Corey Graves. Rollins wants to know what’s up with Ambrose, but Dean isn’t man enough to come out here and face him. Ambrose pops up on screen in front of a car with a burning barrel next to it. Dean says maybe he’s doing this because Rollins treated him like a joke for too long.

See, Dean was the same guy all along and maybe one day his brothers can forgive him. Nah that’s not true, because Dean used to think that the Shield was stronger together. The truth is the Shield made him weak so he pours gas over the Shield vest. Ambrose: “Burn it down.” He throws it into the barrel and Rollins is even angrier. It’s nice to have a reason from Dean and the symbolism was great, but if Dean doesn’t win the feud, none of this really matters.

We look back at Drew McIntyre soundly beating Kurt Angle last week with the ankle lock.

Here’s Angle…..’s music with Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre actually coming out instead. Drew says they came here to take over and wants to know if the fans believe him now. First they broke the Shield and then he broke Angle. Last week Drew broke him down and then Angle started crying. Drew has never been so disgusted and he’s not allowing any more nostalgia acts on this show (make your own Ziggler jokes) but here’s Finn Balor to interrupt.

Balor says Drew crossed the line last week but Drew cuts him off to say dignity isn’t a right reserved for all. Last week, Drew kicked Finn’s head off because Balor is the problem with wrestling today. It’s all about emotion to him so go cry to the Balor Club. Balor says he’s been dealing with bullies for his whole life so let’s do it right now. Drew says deal, but it can be against Dolph instead. Balor seems happy but Drew headbutts him down before the bell.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Finn Balor

Balor is staggered but says ring the bell anyway. Ziggler knocks him down without much effort and we hit the chinlock. Back up and Balor gets in an enziguri from the apron but gets crotched going for the Coup de Grace. Cole declares this as Ziggler taking over as we take a break.

We come back with Balor kicking him in the head for a double knockdown. A quick double stomp gives Balor two but Dolph is right back with the Fameasser. Balor fights up again and sends Dolph outside for the big flip dive onto both of them, only to miss the Coup de Grace. Ziggler grabs a rollup but gets reversed into a second rollup to give Balor the pin at 12:15.

Rating: C-. I got more out of this match than I got out of all the Balor vs. Bobby Lashley matches combined. The trilogy of matches served no apparent purpose other than to fill time, didn’t advance either guy and offered no emotion from either of them. This match, while not exactly a classic, had a purpose, told a story, and made Balor look impressive for fighting from behind while setting up another match. That’s actual booking, rather than just throwing matches out there.

Post break Stephanie puts Balor on the team and gives him, Ziggler and McIntyre a pep talk about how they need to destroy Smackdown, including her brother Shane (WE KNOW WHO YOUR BROTHER IS! STOP ACTING LIKE NO ONE KNOWS HIS NAME!).

We look back at Becky Lynch calling out Ronda Rousey last week on Smackdown.

Rousey wasn’t mocking Becky last week and lists off a bunch of things that Becky learned while she was learning armbars. Becky is so hypersensitive that she’s the millennial man with skinny jeans and avocado toast. Ronda isn’t Charlotte and Becky isn’t Oliver Twist. Her fans have been here with her every single week and she didn’t change the definition of “fight like a girl” so the face of the women’s revolution could call herself the man. Nia and Tamina (ERG) come in and wish her luck. Great intensity from Ronda here, though pretty clearly reading from a script.

Here’s the Riott Squad to talk about breaking Jim Neidhart’s sunglasses last week. Ruby is rather emotional about what she did because Neidhart is a future Hall of Famer. She went too far last week…and enjoyed every second of it. Neidhart was a legend and he must have worn those glasses to shade his vision of Natalya, who is such a disappointment. Natalya’s music plays but she comes through the crowd to get at Ruby. The three on one takes her down though and it’s a Hart Attack for Natalya. It was an obvious fake out on the apology but Ruby sold it very well and I could go for seeing Natalya beat her up.

Survivor Series rundown.

Tag Team Battle Royal

Lucha House Party, Bobby Roode/Chad Gable, Ascension, B-Team, Heath Slater/Rhyno, Revival

Yes they’re actually doing this AGAIN because WE NEED CAPTAINS BLAST IT! Slater gets tossed out early, meaning Rhyno has to leave as well. Kalisto saves Lince Dorado, who pulls Scott Dawson to the apron with him. Gran Metalik gets rid of the Revival but Ascension gets rid of the luchadors. There goes the B Team as well, leaving us with the Ascension and Roode/Gable. A neckbreaker/moonsault combination hits Viktor but Konnor makes the save. Not that it matters as Gable pulls Konnor over the top for the win at 3:08.

Rating: D-. What kind of a battle royal is barely three minutes long. That would be a good one in case you weren’t paying enough attention. I’ve ranted enough about how stupid it is to have these captain spots when it’s all just a part of the battle for brand supremacy anyway. Gable and Roode are fine as a team and they win one of the most meaningless awards ever. Good for them.

The tag match will be on the Kickoff Show. At least it’s going to be short…I think.

Here are Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar for a chat. Heyman gets in his usual start and says Strowman deserves congratulations. At Crown Jewel, Strowman proved that he is an ALMOST unbeatable monster when it took five F5’s to put him down. Further congratulations to Strowman for getting back into the title picture after such a loss.

Congratulations are also in order to the Smackdown locker room for avoiding the beating that is coming to AJ Styles this Sunday. Heyman recaps AJ’s loss to Lesnar last year and makes a Hotel California reference (Heyman: “For those of you who don’t get the reference, go home and Google it b******.”). There is no one on Raw, Smackdown, NXT or in the UFC who can hang with Lesnar and no one he wants to beat up more than AJ. That’s why this Sunday, Lesnar will show that he’s the champion of champions.

Heyman is about to call that a spoiler but Jinder Mahal of all people interrupts. Last year, Mahal was focused on facing Lesnar and it cost him the WWE Championship. Mahal has a mantra for Lesnar, and Brock is actually willing to let him come in and say it. Lesnar to Heyman: “You should really hear this. After all, you’re Jewish.” Mahal explains shanti and the required beating cuts him off, with the Singh Brothers taking the most devastating German suplexes I’ve ever seen. Brock throws one of them over the top at Jinder but the Singh bounces off of him. That earns Mahal an F5 for improper catching technique.

Survivor Series Qualifying Match: Bobby Lashley vs. Elias

Before the match, Lio Rush talks about how perfect Lashley’s physique is and we get some poses, including the double glutes. Thankfully Elias cuts them off but he’s making a phone call. Elias introduces himself and tells child protective services that Lashley has kidnapped a child and is forcing him to point out various muscles. He was even bent over in front of the child! The authorities need to get here soon because Lashley and Rush have a tendency to make people fall asleep in a hurry. Lashley wants to fight so Elias says he sucks and heads to the ring.

We’re joined in progress with Elias fighting out of a chinlock and sending Lashley to the floor for a knee from the apron. Lashley sends him into the post though and Rush grabs Elias’ leg for the countout at 2:11. Well at least he didn’t take a clean fall this soon into his face turn.

Post match Elias grabs Rush and sends a charging Lashley into the post. Rush tries to run but gets thrown onto Elias for his efforts.

Here’s Alexa Bliss, flanked by Mickie James, Tamina and Nia, to announce the captains of the Raw women’s team. Bliss talks about the great team she’s put together, which includes Natalya who is off channeling her aggression to use on Sunday. That leaves one open spot (I had forgotten Alexa wasn’t in the match because she’s in the ring, since WE MUST HAVE A CAPTAIN WHO ISN’T EVEN IN THE MATCH!) so the winner of the following match gets the final roster spot.

Sasha Banks vs. Bayley

Banks goes for an early rollup and knees Bayley in the head to knock her off the apron. The Meteora gets two but Bayley elbows Sasha off the apron this time. Sasha sends her into the post though and hits the running Meteora to drive Bayley head first into it again. The third Meteora only hits post though and they’re both down.

Bayley is right back up with a Bayley to Belly on the apron (find a new place to fight) as we take a break. Back with Bayley’s top rope elbow hitting knees (apparently Bayley’s elbow is less effective than a cabinet door because Sasha’s knee is fine) so the Bank Statement goes on, drawing in Tamina and Jax for the double DQ at 8:32.

Rating: D+. The violence was good but egads I’m sick of these endings with the double DQ’s. Granted that might just be because Tamina has been in three different segments tonight and I just want this show to end. This was fun while it lasted with the Bayley to Belly looking great, but the ending was lame, which isn’t exactly surprising.

Post match Bliss laughs it off and introduces Ruby Riott as the final pick. The Riott Squad comes out but we cut to the back where Becky Lynch has Rousey in the Disarm-Her. She lets it go and comes to the ring, where the Smackdown women (complete with Charlotte, who is suddenly fine with everything from Tuesday, and Mandy Rose/the Iconics, who aren’t on the team in the first place) come in for the big brawl.

Ronda comes in but her arm is done. Becky, who looks to have a broken nose, grabs a chair and hits her in the arm again as the Smackdown women destroy everyone. Another chair to the arm has Rousey in trouble as Bliss watches on from the ramp. A long staredown between Rousey and Becky (the blood on her face adds a lot)….doesn’t end the show.

We cut to the back where Stephanie is yelling at Corbin over what just happened. She’s still yelling as we cut back to a furious Rousey to end the show. The big brawl was really good and Becky looked like a STAR, but closing on Stephanie yelling took the life out of what was an otherwise great closing segment.

Overall Rating: D. I’m really torn on this one as there’s some good stuff included (the closing segment, Ambrose/Rollins, McIntyre looking to have completely eclipsed Ziggler, Ronda’s fire and Lesnar wrecking Mahal and company) but then there’s nearly EVERYTHING else, which almost completely focused on either Stephanie, Tamina (I still need someone to tell me what WWE sees in her) or this obsession with having captains who pick the teams for Survivor Series.

I’ve been watching wrestling since the late 1980s and I’ve been a WWF/E fan for that entire time. Out of every show they do, Survivor Series was my favorite for a long time. I know it doesn’t matter as much compared to Wrestlemania or the Royal Rumble, but I’ve always liked that team concept and taking all these feuds that have been going on and piling them together into one match where you get some fun combinations.

Now though, WWE has taken that away. There’s no personal feud between the two brands and the focus is all on the show’s bosses. The feuds are now on the teams themselves and we get some invasion angle to set up the matches. The fun part of it is gone and now it’s all about Raw vs. Smackdown and brand supremacy and picking captains who sometime are and sometimes aren’t on the team. That’s all the last two weeks are going to be while Stephanie yells about how important this is to Raw and makes everyone feel beneath her.

I’ve been a wrestling fan for a long time and this is one of the first times where I’ve ever felt like what they’re doing isn’t for me. I used to look forward to Survivor Series every year and now I can’t wait for it to be over so we can move on to something I’ll probably like a lot more. Survivor Series used to be fun and now it’s just a show where they can get in as many buzzwords as they can while making sure the wrestlers look as unimportant as they can. Thanks for that WWE. It took 30 years but you finally took the fun away from my favorite show.

Results

Tag Team Battle Royal went to a no contest when Braun Strowman interfered

Tamina Snuka b. Ember Moon – Superfly Splash

Finn Balor b. Dolph Ziggler – Rollup

Chad Gable/Bobby Roode won a tag team battle royal last eliminating Ascension

Bobby Lashley b. Elias via countout

Bayley vs. Sasha Banks went to a double DQ when Nia Jax and Tamina interfered

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

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

Main Event
Date: November 1, 2018
Location: Spectrum Center, Charlotte, North Carolina
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson

It’s the final show before Crown Jewel, meaning it’s going to be a lot of focus on that show, again without saying where it actually takes place. In addition to all that though, it would be nice if we could have something fresh for the original content, which has been the case around here lately. That’s a nice way to help the show going forward and hopefully it happens again here. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Titus O’Neil vs. Mojo Rawley

They go straight to the power lockup to start with neither being able to get anywhere. Some right hands sends Mojo bailing to the floor and a dog bark fills in the time. Back in and Mojo gets in a shot out of the corner, followed by a hard clothesline. The chinlock goes on, and then the chinlock goes on again to keep things fresh. Titus fights up and drives him into the corner for a splash. Mojo is right back with the clothesline to the floor but Titus calmly comes back in and hits the Clash of the Titus for the pin at 5:04.

Rating: D. I know Mojo isn’t the best guy in the world but egads man, this is how far he’s fallen? You really don’t have anything better for him than losing to Titus on Main Event? Just a few months ago he was on Raw and feuding with a former US Champion. It’s not like he’s that bad and the energy alone should get him some more respect than this.

From Raw.

Here’s Baron Corbin with the Universal Title to say that personally, he wants Reigns to beat leukemia but professionally, he hopes he’s never back on Raw. He likes the feeling of this title on his shoulder…and here are Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman to interrupt. Corbin starts hyping up the title match but Heyman cuts him off for stealing his shtick. This Friday, history will be made when the Universal Title goes back on Lesnar’s shoulder where it belongs. That’s a guarantee instead of a prediction and you don’t get that very often.

You know something big is happening in the Super Bowl, the Stanley Cup Finals and the Academy Awards, but this time you know for a fact what’s coming. Cue Braun Strowman to say Lesnar is going to get these hands. Corbin tries to separate them and gets powerslammed. Lesnar and Strowman stare each other down until another powerslam leaves Corbin laying. Brock picks up the title and puts it on his shoulder so Corbin gets powerslammed again. That means an F5 for Strowman and Brock poses. Just a hype segment for the title match and it was fine.

We look at Roman Reigns vacating the Universal Title.

We look at Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins winning the Tag Team Titles, followed by Ambrose turning on Rollins in a great angle.

From Raw.

Here’s Rollins without the Tag Team Title to thank the fans for all the support they’ve given Reigns. Last week was a crazy night that ended with him winning half of the Tag Team Titles. Then his best friend turned on him and maybe it was Seth’s fault. Maybe Ambrose couldn’t forgive Seth for four years ago when Rollins did the same thing to him.

The only person who can answer that is Dean himself but if Ambrose doesn’t want to be found, he’s not going to be found. However, Rollins knew he could find Ambrose here so if he wants the spotlight so badly, come out here and get it. Ambrose’s music plays but no one comes out. Ambrose pops up in the crowd without saying anything so Seth says at least he faced Dean like a man when he turned his back on him.

Dean comes down a few steps but still won’t say anything. Seth yells about Dean spitting on them on the most emotional night in the history of the Shield. Dean made it all about himself and now he has the spotlight, plus all of Seth’s attention from now on. With nothing being said, Seth goes up the aisle after him but Dean gets out having never said a word. They’ve got something here and watching Dean and Seth tear into each other could be amazing.

Stills of Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte at Evolution.

B Team vs. Rhyno/Heath Slater

The B Team is still a thing. Who knew? Axel takes Slater into the corner to start but lets him out with a clean break. Slater sends him right back into the corner and does the West Virginia dancing. That actually seems to impress Axel but he runs Slater down anyway. Axel takes him into the corner for some stomping before it’s off to Dallas vs. Rhyno. Dallas gets chinlocked for a bit, followed by a hard whip into the corner.

It’s back to Slater, who also whips him hard into the corner. Rhyno adds some clotheslines but misses a charge in the corner, allowing the hot (I think?) tag to Axel. House is cleaned and the PerfectPlex gets two on Slater with Rhyno making the save. Dallas knocks Rhyno outside and it’s a sunset flip to finish Slater at 5:57.

Rating: D+. It’s almost weird to see Slater and Rhyno as the de facto heels, though it wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world to turn them. It’s not like the division really exists at the moment so throw in a fresh heel team just to put some other teams over. The match was actually fine enough and both teams still have some (albeit low) value.

Video on Kurt Angle, who wants to be the Best in the World.

From Raw.

Here are Kane, because running Knoxville is a part time job at best, and Undertaker for the big closing segment. The fans chant for Undertaker, who says it’s not easy to reach the end. But when the reaper calls, no matter how hard you fight, it’s your time to go. I’ll let it sink in that UNDERTAKER is talking about how you have to go when your time is up. Kane says what started as a whisper has now become a deafening cry.

This Friday at Crown Jewel (minor booing), the Brothers will take the battered souls of DX to the firey gates. It will be the end of DX’s error, but that’s on Friday. Tonight, DX is being summoned to the ring right now to have their souls destroyed. Cue HHH (with glow sticks, because WWE can’t decide if this is supposed to be serious or fun) without Shawn so Kane goes up the ramp after him, allowing Shawn to sneak in and superkick Undertaker. DX bails as Undertaker sits up (after going down from something he shouldn’t fall for) to end the show.

Overall Rating: F. Are you kidding me? You have a (great) World Title match on Smackdown and the setup of another World Title match and it can’t even get some stills? Instead we see clips from two weeks ago and the World Cup video from Angle? That’s more important than the oldest title in WWE? This is how WWE presents Smackdown and then wants us to care about a Raw vs. Smackdown pay per view? Come on people.

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

Crown Jewel
Date: November 2, 2018
Location: King Saud University, Stadium, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Renee Young

We’re back on the other side of the world this time and things aren’t exactly going well. The focal point of the show is D-Generation X vs. the Brothers of Destruction with Shawn Michaels coming out of retirement in a detail that has been forgotten in the whole ordeal. Other than that we’re going to have a new Universal Champion today as Braun Strowman and Brock Lesnar face off for the title vacated by Roman Reigns. Let’s get to it.

The video screen is in the shape of a crown for a nice touch.

Kickoff Show: United States Title: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Rusev

Nakamura is defending. Rusev throws him into the corner for some right hands and a shoulder to the ribs, followed by a suplex for one. A kick to the knee cuts Rusev down and we hit the front facelock. That stays on for a good while until Rusev pops up with a spinwheel kick. The Machka kick misses and Nakamura throws some right hands, only to get caught by the Machka kick a few seconds later.

It’s time to stomp on the spine but Nakamura kicks him in the head as well. The sliding knee gets two and Nakamura goes up for the knee but dives straight into the superkick for two. Nakamura bails to the ropes to avoid the Accolade and now the middle rope knee connects. Kinshasa is countered into the Accolade but Nakamura headbutts him low for another break. Now Kinshasa can connect to retain the title at 9:32.

Rating: D+. Just a match really and there’s nothing wrong with that to open things up. This could have been on almost any given house show and for a Kickoff Show match, that’s perfectly fine. Nakamura needs something to motivate him though and that would start with an actual feud for the title instead of these one off title defenses.

The opening video talks about the big matches tonight. Not much to that one.

Here’s Hulk Hogan to open the show as your host for the evening, complete with pyro. Your annoying idea of the show: a sparkling sound whenever a graphic comes on or leaves the screen. Hogan talks about how the power of Hulkamania is stronger than ever right here at the Crown Jewel jack. He’s happy to be here and the show starts now. This was just a glorified cameo.

We welcome a Saudi government official.

There’s an Arabic announce team at ringside.

Most of the people in the tournament are getting a quick sound byte which is them saying they’ll win and how important this is to them.

World Cup of Wrestling First Round: Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton

Both wrestlers have their resumes read off before their entrances for a little change of pace. Rey is in a singlet top, possibly for reasons of tattoos. Some kicks to the legs have Orton in early trouble and another kick to the head puts him down. He’s fine enough to dropkick Mysterio out of the air for two though and things slow down. The slow stomping begins but Rey headbutts his way out of a superplex attempt. Rey speeds things back up and hits the springboard middle rope crossbody. A spinning DDT gets two but the 619 is reversed into the hanging DDT. Back up and Rey grabs a quick rollup for the pin out of nowhere at 5:33.

Rating: C-. I can’t say I’m surprised about the fast match here as there’s a lot to get through and there’s a lot of other stuff going on that is taking its own time. Mysterio winning is the right call as the underdog is a story that tells itself. This was nothing special but it was the right result and didn’t overstay its welcome.

Post match Orton hits an RKO and throws Mysterio outside. Rey gets dropped ribs first onto the announcers’ table and is left laying.

Miz says there is no stopping him from winning.

World Cup of Wrestling First Round: Jeff Hardy vs. The Miz

We get the resumes again, and it really shows how frequently titles change anymore and how little a reign means. Miz grabs a headlock to start and poses, earning himself a hiptoss. The Skull Crushing Finale is countered into a rollup for two but Miz kicks him in the chest. A chinlock goes on for a bit as the announcers talk about Cleveland sports being so bad. Some running dropkicks in the corner rock Jeff but he’s fine enough to come out with a clothesline.

The legdrop between the legs into the basement dropkick gets two and the Whisper in the Wind is good for the same. Miz is fine enough to kick him in the leg but the Figure Four is broken up. Jeff kicks him to the floor and runs the barricade for the clothesline. Back in and Miz grabs a rollup but gets caught with his feet on the ropes. Jeff tries the Twist of Fate but gets reversed into the Skull Crushing Finale for the pin at 6:58.

Rating: D+. It’s very clear that they’re doing the stadium style matches and not veering from the greatest hits playbook as the fans might not be familiar with the product. There’s nothing wrong with that as it makes perfect sense for the location, but it doesn’t do much for the fans watching elsewhere. The match was watchable enough, though they didn’t exactly have time to go anywhere and it was clear they weren’t going to be putting in the harder effort.

World Cup of Wrestling First Round: Seth Rollins vs. Bobby Lashley

Non-title of course and Lio Rush is here for the hype. Lashley shoves Rollins down without much effort and we hear about all of Lashley’s athletic accomplishments. A spinebuster drops Rollins for two and Lashley sends him face first into the turnbuckle. That means a seated full nelson and a Downward Spiral cuts off Rollins’ comeback.

With Rush having been quiet (or at least off the microphone) throughout the entire match so far, Rollins finally fights up with a kick to the head to send Lashley outside. There’s the required suicide dive, though Rollins comes up holding his already weakened neck. The Buckle Bomb is broken up but Rollins slips away and hits the Stomp out of nowhere for the pin at 5:26.

Rating: C. The time issues are killing these matches and there’s no hiding that. Rollins beating Lashley is fine but it really should take more than five minutes for him to pull it off. Lashley’s downward spiral continues as it’s been a good while since he actually won a match. Rollins should make the finals here, or at least not lose clean anywhere along the line.

Kurt Angle says no one believes he can win this tournament, but no one believed in him during the Olympics either.

World Cup of Wrestling First Round: Kurt Angle vs. Dolph Ziggler

Drew McIntyre is out with Ziggler. Dolph goes for the leg to start but Angle throws him down with no issue. They head to the mat with Ziggler actually getting the better of it as the fans chant for Angle a bit. Back up and the belly to belly sets up the German suplexes on Ziggler, including the eternally teased one off the apron. Instead they head to the floor with Ziggler sending him into the steps, followed by a neckbreaker for two back inside.

The chinlock goes on as Cole talks about Angle not competing since Wrestlemania. Yeah dude I’d like to forget Greatest Royal Rumble too. Or the battle royal that got him into this match. Angle fights up and grabs the rolling German suplexes for two more as Kurt isn’t exactly going outside of his comfort zone here.

Ziggler’s DDT gets the same but the Fameasser misses, setting up the Angle Slam for Kurt’s own near fall. The ankle lock is broken up and now the Fameasser connects for two. Kurt is fine enough to slap on the ankle lock so Ziggler rolls through. A missed charge sends Angle into the post and the Zig Zag is enough to put him away at 8:17.

Rating: C-. This wasn’t so much bad, but much more hard to watch. Angle just doesn’t have it anymore but it’s impossible to get that through his head. This was a bunch of greatest hits (a common occurrence tonight) and I can’t say I’m surprised that Angle wasn’t allowed to go out there twice in a row. Ziggler going forward makes sense, though it wasn’t exactly a great match either way.

The announcers run down some of the remaining matches.

Smackdown Tag Team Titles: New Day vs. The Bar

Big E. and Kofi are challenging here and New Day comes out on a magic carpet and throw out the pancakes. The announcers make Aladdin jokes, which do make this a little easier to watch. Big Show is here with the Bar because he’s big all over. The world you see. Big E. drives Sheamus into the corner to start and we hit that hip swiveling. A shoulder gives Big E. one as the announcers talk about Sheamus being very underrated. I like the guy and yeah he kind of is, but there’s something that feels weird about him being a four time World Champion.

Cesaro comes in to monkey flip Kofi, who lands on his feet. The trombone plays on as Cesaro charges into a dropkick for two, followed by a crossbody for the same. A whip into the corner lets Show get in some choking/face squeezing though and Kofi is in trouble. Some knee drops set up the armbar before it’s back to Cesaro for the gutwrench suplex. The chinlock goes on again, as the pace of the match stays at a low level.

Kofi fights up and kicks Sheamus away but he gets driven right back into the champs’ corner for a backdrop/Jackhammer combination (Cesaro loaded up a suplex with Sheamus holding the legs and flipping Kofi back into the Jackhammer) for two more. The next comeback attempt actually works and it’s Sheamus missing a charge into the post (that’s becoming WAY too common these days around here), allowing the hot tag to Big E.

The Rock Bottom out of the corner gets two on Sheamus but the spear through the ropes hits a raised knee. A spinning kick to the face puts Cesaro on the floor and Kofi follows him out with a dive. Big E. gets shoved into the corner and the referee falls down getting out of the way, allowing Show to punch E. in the face. The Brogue Kick is enough to retain the titles at 10:33.

Rating: C. Probably the match of the night here and it was firmly below its ceiling, which wasn’t that high in the first place. It’s a match that has been seen before and featured a long heat segment. The additional time helped a little big but it’s still nothing that we haven’t seen a few times. Again, it felt like a house show match, and that’s not meant as a compliment.

Miz talks about how his throat was banged up in his first match but nothing is stopping him from ending Mysterio’s story and becoming Best in the World.

Mysterio says he’s banged up, but you can’t put a number on his heart. He’s been underestimated before and it’s never stopped him before, just like it won’t here.

World Cup of Wrestling Semifinals: The Miz vs. Rey Mysterio

Mysterio is banged up from the Orton attack and has lost the singlet. Miz tries to speed things up to start but gets taken down, only to avoid a kick to the face. Rey gets sent outside, slides back in, and hits a slingshot dropkick through the ropes. There’s the sliding splash underneath the bottom rope but it bangs up Rey’s ribs all over again. Not the brightest idea in the world Rey, but that’s never stopped him before.

Back in and Mysterio’s charge is reversed into an Alley Oop faceplant in a display of power you don’t get from Miz very often. The rib work continues with Miz putting on the bow and arrow, with Graves talking about Miz’s black belt in martial arts. A bodyscissors is slightly less martial artsy and Rey is sent ribs first to the floor. You certainly can’t fault the logic in Miz’s plan and an abdominal stretch makes things even worse.

Rey finally gets in a tornado DDT for the double knockdown and it’s time for the comeback. Right hands and a hurricanrana send Miz into the corner but he reverses the sitout bulldog into the Finale or a pretty close two. The same rollup that finished Orton earlier gets two here and there’s the 619. Rey loads up the top rope splash but it lands on the raised knees to give Miz the pin at 11:11.

Rating: C+. It’s amazing what a simple story and the extra time can do for you. This was far from a classic or anything but it was a good, eleven minute match. Miz winning clean again is a little jarring but he came in with an advantage in the first place. Mysterio going to the finals would have made a lot of sense for the underdog story but Miz could do some great bragging if he wins the whole thing.

Rollins says his back is against the wall and that’s where he does his best work.

World Cup of Wrestling Semifinals: Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler

Non-title again and McIntyre is with Ziggler. They go to the mat to start and that’s a standoff. Er, crawl off in this case. Seth goes for the ankle that was injured by Angle earlier but gets headlocked for his efforts. Rollins fights up and holds his neck but is fine enough to send Ziggler outside. With Ziggler being thrown back inside, McIntyre stares Rollins down so Dolph can grab a DDT for two and injure the neck even more. A neckbreaker sets up another chinlock and it’s off to some choking on the ropes.

The announcers talk about Seth’s bad back, despite the neck being the focal point for the last few minutes. That and, you know, Rollins holding his neck for most of the match. Sometimes sticking to the script isn’t as important as what’s right in front of you. Ziggler starts getting cocky again but is smart enough to hit another neckbreaker. The kickout starts the frustration though and it’s off to a bodyscissors with a neck crank at the same time.

Back up and Ziggler’s running DDT is countered into a rollup for two and it’s off to the pinfall reversal sequence. Rollins picks up a sunset flip and tries the Buckle Bomb, which is reversed into a Code Red for two more. The ripcord knee gives Rollins two but here’s McIntyre on the apron for a distraction. That doesn’t go very well as Ziggler is thrown outside, setting up the big dive to take them both out.

Back in and the Stomp misses, allowing Ziggler to hit the Fameasser for two of his own. Ziggler goes up for the sole purpose of the running superplex but Rollins’ neck gives out on the Falcon Arrow, allowing Dolph to hit the Zig Zag for the best near fall of the match. Rollins is right back up and diving onto McIntyre and he shoves Ziggler off the top, only to have McIntyre do the same to Rollins, who crashes to the mat. The superkick gives Ziggler the pin at 13:06.

Rating: C+. Well it wasn’t clean so they got the important part right, but are we really getting Ziggler vs. Miz as the final? That’s uh, quite the interesting choice for a final and not something that many people were likely to expect. They had a good match here again, which isn’t that much of a surprise, with the neck being a perfectly fine story. Again: the time made a huge difference here and it’s no surprise that the match was good given the extra work they were able to put in.

Ziggler says that wasn’t an upset and the next time you see him, he’ll be the Best in the World.

We recap AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe, which is really just a recap of their feud from a few weeks ago without any mention of AJ winning the anything goes match in Australia. We also see AJ vs. Daniel Bryan on Tuesday and Joe running in to choke them both out to set up this match. Again: not the most ideal setup, but completely acceptable given the circumstances and the most logical path they had.

Smackdown World Title: AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe

AJ is defending. They go straight at it after the Big Match Intros with AJ kicking at the knee to put Joe down in a hurry. A single right hand to the head puts Joe down (that’s a rare one) and they head outside with AJ slipping off Joe’s shoulder and posting him in some violence you don’t often see from him. Joe drops him face first onto the barricade and the leg is fine enough to hit the suicide dive, sending AJ hard into the announcers’ table. You can see Joe go into the angry face and that isn’t likely to be a good thing.

Back in and Joe hits a corner enziguri for two, setting up the neck crank. AJ fights up and hits the Pele but Joe is too big for the Styles Clash. Instead it’s a shot to the face to put Joe down but he ducks the Phenomenal Forearm. The snap powerslam gives Joe two and one heck of a clothesline is good for the same.

The Calf Crusher is broken up in a hurry and Joe is right back with the Koquina Clutch. AJ is smart enough to grab the bad leg though and Joe has to go back to the ropes. That’s quite the smart move. With the submissions not working, it’s another Pele and the Phenomenal Forearm to retain the title at 11:11.

Rating: B-. The matches on the show keep getting better and again, that’s not exactly surprising given who was in there. These two know each other very well and while the ending wasn’t exactly in doubt, at least they put in some effort. That being said, giving them eleven minutes wasn’t exactly long enough to make the match work as well as it could have been. Good, but not as great as their other matches.

Universal Title: Brock Lesnar vs. Braun Strowman

The title is vacant coming in and Paul Heyman and Baron Corbin are at ringside. Heyman says that we might as well get it out of the way and introduces Lesnar as the new champion. Corbin gets in and hits Strowman with the title, setting up the F5 for two. Another F5 gets two more as we’re just now a minute into the match. The third F5 gets the third two and Lesnar loads up another, but this time it sends Strowman outside. Strowman is back in at nine so Lesnar takes off the gloves. Another F5 is countered and Lesnar runs into a big boot, only to come back with another F5 to get the title back at 3:16.

Rating: Thomas Jefferson Sucka. I knew it. Deep down inside, I knew it. When I did my preview of this show, I said I was scared that they would do exactly what they did here but said I was going to give them the benefit of the doubt, because this was the stupidest thing they could do with this match. Lesnar is likely going back to UFC (or at least teasing the heck out of doing so) to set up a match for their World Title and that means SEVERAL MORE MONTHS without the title being around.

We had about two and a half months of Lesnar not being champion, with almost two weeks of that being spent with the title vacated. Now we’re RIGHT BACK WHERE WE WERE LAST YEAR but with no Roman Reigns to come and save us. Who in the world is supposed to take the title from Lesnar now? Strowman just got squashed, Rollins and Ambrose are going to be fighting each other for a LONG time, and…..dang who else is left? McIntyre? I can’t imagine they’d pull the trigger on him, even though it would be a good move at this point. Let’s just get it out of the way: Lesnar is probably holding it until Reigns gets back isn’t he?

This should have been Strowman’s night and instead, it was the fork in his main event career. No one is going to want to see him fight Lesnar again and now we need someone else to go after the title. Strowman, now weakened, can continue his feud with McIntyre, because Lesnar isn’t going to be around. Yeah the title belt to the head kept this from being clean, but my goodness they had everything there for Strowman to look like the real monster.

I do not get this. We just spent OVER A YEAR waiting on someone to stop Lesnar and now he’s just right back as champion. It would be like a movie ending with the good guys FINALLY winning and then the sequel coming out with the villains having taken over again. That might work for Star Wars, but at least they had the decency to wait about twenty five years instead of two months. This felt like the move that would annoy the fans who criticized Crown Jewel the most, and that’s not the kind of move that is going to do the company a lot of good. I do not get this.

Wait…do I not even get McIntyre vs. Strowman out of this? Are they going with Corbin over McIntyre now? Is McIntyre still going to be stuck as Ziggler muscle even longer? All because Lesnar needed to get the title again and sit on the sidelines with the thing while the rest of the roster fights over nothing? WHY ARE THEY DOING THIS???

We run down the Survivor Series card, which is all champions vs. champions again and two weeks from Sunday, because of course we only get that much time between pay per views. Again. Including AJ vs. Lesnar again, because AJ never lost the title and Lesnar lost it for all of two months of about a year and a half.

Shane McMahon comes out to watch the World Cup Finals. Did you know money talks? I didn’t know if that was clear enough given….well the fact that we’re here. Corbin is here as well.

World Cup of Wrestling Finals: The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler

Ziggler is with McIntyre and Miz is fired from Smackdown if he loses. Actually hang on as McIntyre is sent to the back. Miz jumps an annoyed Ziggler and sends him outside…but messes up his knee following Ziggler out. The bell hasn’t rung as a limping Miz sends him into the steps. The referee comes over to check on Miz, who insists he’s fine. Shane is watching and the referee says Miz can’t compete. Miz insists that he can because he’s never been injured (sounds like part of the Daniel Bryan feud) but Shane says the match isn’t going to be a forfeit….because he’s taking Miz’s place. My goodness this is happening.

World Cup of Wrestling Finals: Shane McMahon vs. Dolph Ziggler

Corbin freaks out as Shane is in a shirt (which comes off to reveal some jacked arms) and jeans. Shane slugs away (work with me here) to start and hits the jumping elbow to the jaw as the announcers have no idea how this is legal. Corbin grabs Shane so he gets ejected as well. The Zig Zag connects for two so Ziggler rips at his face until Shane comes back with more of his strikes. A DDT and a catapult into the corner sets up Coast to Coast (barely making contact) to make Shane the BEST IN THE WORLD at 2:37.

Shane celebrates like a crazy man and holds up the cup as the announcers are stunned. To recap, the hierarchy is now Brock Lesnar (best in the Universe), Shane McMahon (best in the World) and AJ Styles (best in WWE). The youngest of those: Brock, at a spry 41 years old. Shane: “I can’t believe it!” Oh….I think I can Shane. You just won a tournament you weren’t even in. I can believe anything at this point.

So, to recap, we just spent a good month building up this tournament and it’s all for the sake of Smackdown vs. Raw at Survivor Series (which you know is coming, mainly because they’ve advertised it tonight) with SHANE MCMAHON winning a tournament of eight former World Champions? All so he and precious Stephanie (assuming she’s done with her cause of the week) can argue again?

For the last few weeks, I’ve ranted and raved about how this tournament means nothing and how it’s going to be another version of the Greatest Royal Rumble, where the big match of the show would up meaning absolutely nothing. At this point, I think I’d prefer that. Survivor Series used to be my favorite pay per view, but now it’s being used for the sake of pushing Shane vs. Stephanie (just like last year) in a feud that stopped mattering the day after Survivor Series (just like last year). This tournament was little more than a way to get that ready and we were stupid enough to believe it was for anything else.

But Shane? You pick him to go in there for an injured Miz? Was Miz supposed to be the sympathetic face out of this whole thing? I know Shane is going to be in the Raw vs. Smackdown match at the pay per view because that’s what he does, but after the match they did before this, I don’t think I can imagine something even dumber. That being said, I haven’t been able to stop smiling since it happened.

Lesnar vs. Strowman is something that is going to cause issues for months to come. Shane’s big moment is going to stop meaning anything by the end of November and it’s not like this big story was any kind of a secret. It was just a matter of how they contrived the story this year and it happened to be a tournament that seemed pretty meaningless on the surface. I’m not really that mad about this, because it’s almost far from the worst thing this family has ever done in this company. They did this to set up Survivor Series and it’s going to be all about Shane vs. Stephanie. You knew it was coming, and this was part of it.

We recap D-Generation X vs. the Brothers of Destruction. They’re all old, they apparently hate each other now because twenty years of beating each other up wasn’t done out of love, and this match is going to get more time than any two matches on the show, because that’s the reward you get for being old. Oh and Shawn Michaels is returning to the ring for the first time in eight and a half years. I mention that at the end because WWE has somehow turned that into a pretty minimal detail. I’m as shocked as you are.

D-Generation X vs. Brothers of Destruction

DX has a ton of glow sticks and both have a bunch of NXT logos on their gear, including the entire back of HHH’s vest. That’s very cool of them to talk up the future so much. Now step back and let four people with a combined age of 206 have a horrible match for half an hour. Shawn in gear and bald looks like an alien. Or a character in a sitcom in an episode where everyone loses their hair.

HHH and Kane start things off and stare at each other for over a minute with a lot of trash talking included. The first right hand to the mask just annoys Kane so he uppercuts a crotch chopping HHH down (before he could do something that would likely get him killed in this country….wherever it is). HHH cranks on the arm and tags Shawn in, who comes in off the top with an ax handle to the arm to a limited pop while Cole is in the middle of a line about how interesting it is that Shawn comes in off the top.

A swinging neckbreaker puts Kane down and the fans just aren’t reacting, mainly because they probably don’t know much about the history here. The threat of Sweet Chin Music sends Kane to the corner and it’s off to Undertaker as Shawn looks a little scared. Shawn steps up to him but gets the throat slit. The crotch chop actually makes air so Shawn gets kicked in the face. Undertaker cranks on the arm but HHH breaks up Old School. Everything breaks down with Shawn being caught in the Tree of Woe and HHH being thrown over him and out to the floor.

The Brothers clear the ring and DX has a conference on the floor, which apparently includes HHH telling Shawn that he’s torn his pectoral muscle (already confirmed by WWE with surgery scheduled). Back in and double chokeslams are broken up with the Brothers being knocked to the floor instead. That earns DX another beating and now Old School connects on Shawn. The big boot in the corner misses though and HHH comes in but clearly can’t use the arm.

We get to the slow beating portion but HHH avoids the elbow drop and grabs a DDT. It’s back to Shawn for the forearm (with almost no elevation) and the nip up (FINALLY a strong reaction from Cole) but he can’t slam Kane. For some reason Kane can’t gorilla press Shawn though and it’s a double suplex to put Kane down again. The top rope elbow connects on Kane but Sweet Chin Music is countered into a chokeslam. Undertaker comes in again for Snake Eyes into the big boot but Shawn pops up with a superkick. There’s no HHH though so Undertaker sends Shawn outside to the announcers’ table.

HHH breaks up a Tombstone and sends Kane into the steps. After a loudly called spot to Undertaker, HHH gets whipped into the barricade, but for some reason Undertaker crashes into it as well. Kane hits a chokeslam to put HHH through the announcers’ table (without moving the monitors) and Undertaker hits the apron legdrop on Shawn. The fans think this is awesome and then just cheer for Undertaker (because Kane still can’t get any love). HHH is done so it’s the Brothers taking turns on Shawn inside.

Undertaker chokes on Shawn as it seems like they’re not sure what to do next. Some elbows to the head keep Shawn in trouble and it’s off to the chinlock. Kane adds the sidewalk slam but gets crotched on top. Shawn manages to post Undertaker and goes up but Kane is waiting on him. They slug it out on the ropes with Shawn punching him so hard that Kane’s mask (and hair) fly off. That means the moonsault to the floor onto both Brothers, with Shawn’s face bouncing off the floor in a painful looking crash.

HHH is back up and comes in off the hot tag for more left handed chops. With HHH only able to use one arm, Cole thinks it’s a rib injury. The Pedigree and Tombstone are broken up, followed by the Pedigree connecting on Undertaker. HHH has to deal with Kane (masked again) though and gets pulled into Hell’s Gate. A superkick to Kane sends him into HHH and Undertaker to break up the hold and all four are down again. The Brothers are up first but the double Tombstones are broken up. Sweet Chin Music into the Pedigree (understandably terrible) finishes Kane at 27:50.

Rating: D-. I’m giving them a break because of the injury (which probably changed a lot) but this was very similar to what had to be expected: a lot of laying around, a bunch of finishers, and the match being called epic because it went longer than the first round World Cup matches put together. This looked like four old men who hadn’t been told that they should have stopped a long time ago. It wasn’t a complete and utter disaster, but it was long, messy and a match that only felt like it existed because HHH decided it should.

The match just wasn’t very good. It had a few moments that weren’t bad, but a few moments over nearly twenty eight minutes don’t make those moments look good. They make the match feel long, which is the only way to describe this. All four of them need to go away as their time has passed. It was one thing when they were still doing well, but that’s not the case here and it hasn’t been for a long time now.

As for Shawn….he looked passable. Of course nowhere near the level he was at the peak of his career, but was anyone expecting that? Or even at the end of his career? It’s not going to be remembered as some incredible comeback, but rather as that time he came back and it was on that really bad show and didn’t completely embarrass himself. It could have been worse, but it’s not something that needed to happen.

Cole praises these four as “the four greatest of all time” as a ton of pyro ends the show.

Overall Rating: F. This show made me think of Wrestlemania XVII. That show very well may be the greatest card of all time with more masterpieces than you could find on almost any other show. With Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit, TLC II, Undertaker vs. HHH and Rock vs. Austin II and a bunch of other matches that didn’t mean much. That’s the same as this show. I mean, if you flip it around with one horrible thing after another that is.

The wrestling was, at best, worthy of a house show where they weren’t trying very hard. The best match of the night was Joe vs. AJ and that’s been done several times before, always at a higher level too. Other than that, you have two good tournament matches in the semifinals and four opening round matches which were watchable at best. Then Shane won the tournament, rendering the other six matches completely worthless, along with the finals themselves. What a great way of using over half of your card.

The interesting thing to me is how the show was mediocre (at best) until after the Styles vs. Joe match. The wrestling was watchable enough and while nothing had really happened, it wasn’t the worst show I’ve ever seen. There certainly wasn’t anything worth getting annoyed over or that left you scratching your head. Then the Lesnar deal happened.

That’s where everything fell off a cliff and there was no coming back. The wrestling stopped being good, the stories started being more about shock value than anything else and the main event felt like it was never going to end. That’s a problem when that was about the last third of the show after what wasn’t a great first two thirds. That doesn’t leave you much of anything and I’m not sure what positives you can get out of this.

When you break it down, you had a show where it didn’t look like there was a lot of energy (maybe the wrestlers were jetlagged, maybe they didn’t want to be there, maybe something else), where the big stuff that happened made you scratch your head and where the main event made you wonder when retirement homes started running wrestling shows. Or allowing moonsaults for that matter.

The problem is WWE bills these shows as some of the biggest of the year and they haven’t felt that way. So far they’ve felt like shows that are on a big stage but without the effort being put into them. I’m not saying the wrestlers weren’t trying because that wasn’t the case, but both shows in this country have felt flat. I know the fans are a completely different audience and they probably aren’t die hard followers of the product, but good wrestling can overcome that to a degree. I didn’t see that here and I didn’t see it back in April either.

At the end of the day, the shows just aren’t very good. While Greatest Royal Rumble was really boring, this one was brought down by bad choices. Lesnar is champion again and that’s just depressing. Shane is somehow the best in the world and now we’ll get to hear Stephanie complain about that for a few weeks. The old guys were given three times as long as they realistically should have had. Where is the good in this whole thing? In WWE’s bank accounts of course, but if that money doesn’t make the product better, I don’t see how that’s helping the fans at all, which was the case with this show too.

Results

Rey Mysterio b. Randy Orton – Rollup

The Miz b. Jeff Hardy – Skull Crushing Finale

Seth Rollins b. Bobby Lashley – Stomp

Dolph Ziggler b. Kurt Angle – Zig Zag

The Bar b. New Day – Brogue Kick to Big E.

The Miz b. Rey Mysterio – Miz blocked Mysterio’s top rope splash

Dolph Ziggler b. Seth Rollins – Superkick

AJ Styles b. Samoa Joe – Phenomenal Forearm

Brock Lesnar b. Braun Strowman – F5

Shane McMahon b. Dolph Ziggler – Coast to Coast

D-Generation X b. Brothers of Destruction – Pedigree to Kane

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

I don’t remember the last time a show has had fans this apathetic in a long time. Maybe it’s the ridiculous schedule that the company has gone with lately or the controversy surrounding the event or the card itself or some big combination of everything else, but Crown Jewel comes off like the kind of show that WWE is desperate to finish so they can never talk about it again. Hopefully it comes off a little better than the build has been. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: United States Title: Shinsuke Nakamura(c) vs. Rusev

This was added on Thursday because we just needed one more match before the show in case you thought you could have any extra time on your hands. Nakamura has only defended the title three times on TV because WWE seems to forget that he’s even champion, which likely has something to do with him having the longest reign in two years (in three more weeks it’ll be the longest since John Cena’s Open Challenge reign).

That being said, I can’t imagine the title changes here. While Nakamura has nothing going on at the moment, Rusev isn’t exactly doing anything at the moment either and I can’t picture a new champion when neither has anything going on. It doesn’t matter who has the title as long as the champion isn’t going to be on TV and for some reason, WWE doesn’t like the idea of the US Champion showing up very often.

For the sake of sanity, I’m only going to talk about the first round of the tournament in detail as there’s not much of a point in talking about matches that might not even happen. I’ll give my predictions for the rest of the tournament though.

World Cup Of Wrestling First Round: Seth Rollins vs. Bobby Lashley

We’re starting with a hard one here. I’m not sure where to go on this one with Lashley being the replacement for John Cena, and you could make a case for Cena being the favorite in the whole thing. That being said, do you really want to bring in the Intercontinental Champion for the sake of having him lose a match in the first round?

I’ll take Rollins to advance, though Lashley winning wouldn’t exactly surprise me. The only problem with Lashley advancing is having the Saudi government rip up the agreement because they had to listen to LASH-LEY LASH-LEY LASH-LEY for more than one match. Rollins can win here by a rollup or some other fluke and not really suffer much of a downgrade, as Rollins is just a bigger star right now.

World Cup Of Wrestling First Round: Dolph Ziggler vs. Kurt Angle

I’ll give them some points for matches that are making me think. Angle has been the Monday Night Raw guy getting most of the attention so far and it would make sense to have him move forward, especially over someone as annoying as Ziggler. That being said, is WWE really willing to put Angle out there with the risk of him ripping every ligament in his body and reinjuring his neck during the opening handshake?

I think they might be, at least for one match. Ziggler is going to get pushed no matter what because….well I have no idea actually but that’s been the case for years now. He’s going to be fine with or without the win, and it’s not like losing to Angle is something that is going to hurt him for the most part. Angle can get the win and do the very miniature Cinderella story, even if it’s not the most thrilling thing in the world.

World Cup Of Wrestling First Round: Jeff Hardy vs. The Miz

Things seem a little bit easier on the SmackDown Live side as you can probably pencil in the winner of this set of brackets from here. Hardy has been back (Did he ever really leave?) from his injuries and still hasn’t done much while Miz has already started talking about getting back in the World Title scene. I know Hardy is the more popular pick but this doesn’t seem to be that much of a contest.

I’m going with Miz of course, because just getting to listen to him brag in between the matches is going to be entertaining. Hardy is another bulletproof guy who can take loss after loss and not be in any serious trouble, if nothing else due to his charisma alone. Miz winning here makes sense and does more for him than it does for Hardy, which should make things a little more predictable as we move forward.

World Cup of Wrestling First Round: Randy Orton vs. Rey Mysterio

We’ll wrap up the first round on a pretty easy note. Orton is the kind of guy who has floated around the roster for years now with almost nothing changing no matter what he does. Mysterio is back after a long absence from the company and is someone who could get a heck of a push over the next few months, just for the sake of getting what you can out of his star power while it’s still there.

Of course I’ll be taking Mysterio to win here, if nothing else because there’s no need to have Orton advance in something like this. Some fans might not remember how good Mysterio is so having him pin Orton after defeating Nakamura to qualify for the tournament in the first place. Mysterio wins, as he should for the sake of building him up again.

That’s it for the first round, so we’ll shorten up the rest.

Seth Rollins b. Kurt Angle

The Miz b. Rey Mysterio

The Miz b. Seth Rollins

Miz is going back into the World Title scene and can use the bragging rights from the tournament to get himself a title shot. Rollins can have the match won and Dean Ambrose’s music hits to distract him, allowing Miz to score the win. It also gets you out of the storyline of having Shane McMahon threaten to fire a SmackDown Live wrestler for losing in the finals.

SmackDown Tag Team Titles: The Bar(c) vs. New Day

The eternal feud between these teams continues as the SmackDown Live tag team division (the Usos, Sanity, the Good Brothers, the Colons, whoever else they throw together at any given time) is apparently non-existent other than those two teams. The Bar took the titles from New Day last month with the help of Big Show, who may or may not be there this time around.

I’ll actually go with New Day winning here, just for the sake of the title change to make the show a little more fun. It’s not like it matters all that much as you’re likely to see these two trade the titles over and over again between these teams for months. At least we can get what should be a good match, which should help this show overcome some of its multitude of problems.

SmackDown World Title: AJ Styles(c) vs. Samoa Joe

This was added to the show on Tuesday as Daniel Bryan’s title shot was used on TV instead of waiting for this one because of Bryan not wanting to work in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, they’re brushing off this story again, which is about as good of an idea as they have. They really didn’t have another option aside from Nakamura for a champion vs. champion match and they’re going with the idea that makes more sense.

I’ll take Styles to retain here because there’s no reason to put the title on Joe at this point. They had their full feud and story with Styles winning the whole thing, making this more of a glorified house show match that takes place a few weeks after the pay per view feud has wrapped up. That’s the case a lot of the time and there’s nothing wrong with it. The match should be a lot of fun and Styles can retain, as we continue on towards Styles breaking CM Punk’s record for longest modern title reign (whatever that means).

Universal Title: Braun Strowman vs. Brock Lesnar

People, I’m scared here. Right now there’s no Roman Reigns to be the top guy in the company anymore and there’s a chance that WWE might want to put the title back on Lesnar for the sake of building up someone else to take the title from him in another big moment. Does that really sound all that ridiculous? WWE loves to have Lesnar as champion in absentia most of the time anyway, and it wouldn’t shock me to see it go there.

In something that I really hope to not regret, I’ll go with Strowman to win the title as anyone with a brain (who happens to be a wrestling fan who thinks about these things) likely sees as the logical choice. Strowman is still a popular guy and has a built in title challenger in the form of Drew McIntyre (PLEASE don’t have him interfere to cost Strowman the title.). This should be the easiest match on the card to guess, but that’s never stopped WWE before.

D-Generation X vs. Brothers of Destruction

And then there’s this, which has turned into one of the least interesting matches that should be the second featured match on any given WrestleMania card. The whole SHAWN MICHAELS IS COMING OUT OF RETIREMENT part has barely been mentioned and instead we’re being told about how old everyone in the match is, which makes them better or something like that. This match is going to be a rough one given the age/ring rust of everyone involved, but it’s likely going to headline with a ton of time.

Of course D-Generation X gets the win here, possibly with Michaels pinning Undertaker for the first time in….geez about twenty years? Unfortunately there’s a good chance that it’s going to be used to set up a WrestleMania 35 match between the two of them, because somehow that’s the sequel instead of the match that has been built up for all these years. I’ll go with D-Generation X winning but PLEASE don’t do the big hug after it’s all over. I don’t think I can take it.

Overall Thoughts

If they could have managed to do something worse to set this show up, I can’t imagine what it is. They’re holding a show that doesn’t feel important in a country they won’t specifically say with a host making his return to the company after being taken off for racial statements in a week that has had at least two hours of WWE TV in four of the five days this week (all but one has had three hours plus). I’m not sure what to expect here, but if Greatest Royal Rumble is an example, the show is looking like one of the most bloated messes of the year.

 

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

Mixed Match Challenge
Date: October 30, 2018
Location: Phillips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia
Commentators: Michael Cole, Renee Young, Vic Joseph

We’re getting pretty deep into the competition now as some teams are over the halfway point with their matches. That means things are going to start getting more interesting around here in some cases, but at the same time we might get some of the most one sided matches on the show. Let’s get to it.

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

Raw Division: Alicia Fox/Jinder Mahal (0-2) vs. Braun Strowman/Ember Moon (2-0)

The guys start so Jinder offers the power of shanti. That earns him a shove so he goes for a test of strength instead. This goes as well as you would expect and a shoulder sends him over for a tag to Alicia. Fox’s shoulder works a bit better on Moon, who stands up and watches as Fox runs the ropes so long that she needs water.

Somehow Fox is fine enough to take her down into a chinlock for a bit, followed by a big boot for two. The chinlock goes on again because Fox doesn’t have a very deep offense. Ember finally gets up and brings Braun in again so house can be cleaned. Strowman chases the Singh Brothers into a suicide dive from Ember, leaving Fox to go after Braun. She puts her hat on his head, which powers him up enough to powerslam Mahal for the pin at 9:17.

Rating: D-. This would be one of those matches where there was nothing to see as there was no drama and Fox is just so bad in the ring. Moon is talented but not ready to carry her through a match like this. That leaves Jinder vs. Braun and you can imagine what a waste of time that is. Big waste of time here, as are most Mahal and Fox matches.

Finn Balor and Bayley are ready to win next week in Manchester.

Lio Rush says Mickie James and Bobby Lashley aren’t losing next week.

Smackdown Division: Lana/Rusev (0-2) vs. AJ Styles/Charlotte (2-0)

Rusev grabs a Lana sign from the crowd so Charlotte picks up one of her own for a SIGN OFF before the bell. They stare at each other as the match starts and exchange chops with Lana’s actually making the most noise. Rusev throws in a Flair strut and let’s cut to R-Truth and Carmella ordering food in the back, with various grunting still heard from the ring. Charlotte chops Lana to the floor as we’re over three minutes in now with all four still inside. Rusev chops AJ down and gets a RUSEV DAY chant.

For some reason AJ leaves so Charlotte can chop Rusev, which doesn’t do much good. Instead here’s Lana back in to deck Charlotte as we actually get going over four minutes into the match. Charlotte does a reverse Worm and gets kicked in the chest as we discuss Truth’s pizza choices. Lana gets two off a facebuster so Charlotte suplexes her down. The guys come in and AJ hits the fireman’s carry backbreaker for two. Rusev sends him into the corner where Charlotte tags herself in as everything breaks down. Charlotte’s moonsault hits Rusev and the Figure Eight makes Lana tap at 7:44.

Rating: D-. I can’t put this beneath the first one but this is the kind of thing that I would be embarrassed to be seen watching. Maybe AJ was gassed from the Smackdown match with Bryan but my goodness this was awful. They’re getting worse and worse about hiding the fact that they have nothing to do in these matches and that’s making the shows harder to watch. I expected more from AJ and Charlotte, making this more disappointing than anything else.

Naomi and Jimmy Uso are ready for Truth and Carmella.

Truth and Carmella can’t go to England because Truth can’t find his passport.

Overall Rating: F. If this is as good of a show as they can put on, just cut the rest of the season down and give us AJ/Charlotte vs. Strowman/Moon in the finals. There was no point to watching this show as they knew exactly where this was going and they put in as little effort as they could. It’s one thing to do some comedy but to do it every single week is really tiring. I don’t hate the show by any means because it’s such a low level thing that it’s not worth getting mad at, but it’s still something that is becoming less and less fun to watch every 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

Monday Night Raw
Date: October 22, 2018
Location: Dunkin Donuts Center, Providence, Rhode Island
Commentators: Corey Graves, Renee Young, Michael Cole

It’s the go home show for Evolution so expect a lot of hearing about Nikki Bella vs. Ronda Rousey, which somehow is the highest profile match we can have on what was supposed to be a top level show. Other than that we have Crown Jewel next week, even though we’re not allowed to hear where the show is taking place. Let’s get to it.

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

Here’s Roman Reigns to say that he can’t fight every day. He’s been wrestling for eleven years and now it’s back. Therefore he has to vacate the title and seek treatment. He was diagnosed with leukemia when he was 22 years old and now he has to do it again. Reigns was done with football but the WWE gave him a chance. Whether it was cheering or booing, the fans always reacted to him and that’s what matters most. The best thing for him to do right now is to go home and focus on his family and his health.

This is NOT a retirement speech because he’s coming back to this ring when he’s healthy again. When he comes back, it’s not about titles but about a purpose. He wants to show his family and friends that when live throws a curve ball at him, he crowds the plate and swings for the fences. Reigns leaves the title in the ring and walks away, only to be greeted by Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose on the stage for a big hug and one more Shield pose.

The announcers are nearly in tears talking about what happened and wish Reigns the best.

Finn Balor vs. Bobby Lashley

Lio Rush hypes Lashley up as he throws Balor around. Balor knocks Lashley to the floor and chases after Rush, only to get run over by Lashley as we take a break. Back with Balor caught in a nerve hold as Rush keeps up the LASHLEY chants. Finn fights up but has to escape the delayed vertical suplex. The Sling blade looks to set up the Coup de Grace but Lashley pops up and blasts him with a clothesline. Balor is fine enough to grab a rollup for the fast pin at 8:29.

Rating: C-. This didn’t have time to go anywhere and it’s not like the fans cared about it after what opened the show. I know it’s hard to think about the title picture at the moment but Reigns leaving is going to open the door for a lot of new names in the main event picture. Balor could be one of them and a clean win here might suggest that being the case.

The announcers talk about the future of the Universal Title. Nothing has been determined yet but we might be getting updates throughout the night.

We look back at Drew McIntyre hitting the Claymore on Braun Strowman last week.

Dolph Ziggler and McIntyre say they have to look over their shoulders every night. McIntyre says when Strowman got done with Ziggler, he was coming for him so it was attacking first. After tonight, Ziggler won’t have to worry about a thing. McIntyre leaves to go monster hunting.

Sasha Banks vs. Ruby Riott

Preview of the six woman tag at Evolution. The early Riott Squad distraction lets Ruby beat Banks down from behind and we take an early break with Banks in trouble. Back with Banks getting elbowed in the face for two but sending Ruby into the buckle to get a breather. The right hands set up the double knees in the corner, followed by the middle rope Meteora. The Bank Statement goes on and draws Sarah Logan in, only to have Bayley make the save. That’s enough of a distraction for Ruby to send her into the corner, setting up the Riott Kick for the pin at 8:44.

Rating: D+. Nothing to see here, though again there’s only so much energy you can have all night long. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it and that’s making it hard to focus on the show. For a setup for the six woman tag, this was perfectly acceptable, even if this story has been going on for what feels like ever.

We see the Undertaker and Kane’s promo from last week.

Nia Jax says she’ll win the battle royal.

Here’s DX for a chat. They talk about being afraid of things but neither of them are scared of anything. Shawn: “Ain’t neither of us running for Mayor!” The other word running around has been nostalgia, which Shawn hoped was just a Greek word for “new merch”. It’s really a polite way of saying old. But then again, the #1 movie at the box office came out 40 years ago and two weeks ago, they sold out a 70,000 person stadium. HHH: “Maybe old is just another way of saying “we’re better than you””.

I’ll let you make your own jokes and stick with HHH saying the DX logo has been around for twenty two years. HHH talks about how there’s another X that says the future is better too. Shawn: “And we’re running that too!” They’re not coming to Crown Jewel to make you laugh, but to hand you a beating. Shawn loads up the catchphrase but some electrical noises go off….followed by a gong.

Undertaker and Kane appear on the screen, saying pride goes before destruction. DX can bring their delusions and try to retrieve their lost respect. They’ll unleash their utter contempt because Shawn can’t outrun the reaper or survive the Brothers of Destruction. The Brothers will own their souls for eternity and torment them in the deepest pits. They pour dirt into a grave. On a show where the Universal Champion says he has leukemia. And before they go to a country that is in the headlines for murdering a journalist.

We see the Reigns promo again.

Wrestlers have sent out tweets to Reigns.

There will be a new champion crowned at Crown Jewel when Strowman faces Brock Lesnar in a one on one title match.

We look back at the Bella Twins/Ronda Rousey segment from last week.

Here’s a somewhat shaken up Paul Heyman for a chat. His thoughts and prayers are with Reigns and he’s proud to have been in a locker room with that much pride for their friend. Tonight, Reigns was a man who sacrificed what he loved because he couldn’t be the Universal Champion. When you’re Universal Champion, you’ve earned the right to have people point at you and say you’re the best. Until 8:05pm EST tonight, we had the right to brag that the Universal Champion was the best in the world.

But now, no one is the champion so we need to find a new best in the world. There is only one person worthy of being champion and it certainly isn’t Braun Strowman. The only person who deserves to be walking into the Octagon as the Universal Champion is Brock Lesnar, and Strowman isn’t in his league. Cue Strowman and reality sets in quickly. Strowman says he’s going to bring the title back to Raw and when Reigns gets back from beating leukemia, he’s the first man in line for a title shot. For now though, Lesnar is going to get these hands. Strowman goes to leave and walks into the Claymore from McIntyre.

Post break Ziggler praises McIntyre, who says he did what most of the roster won’t do. He’s a grown man who doesn’t check under his bed for monsters. When Strowman shakes the cobwebs clear, he’ll realize that he needed them. Tonight, they defend the Tag Team Titles.

Here’s Elias to play a little guitar. Before he gets into the song about Apollo Crews though, here’s Apollo to cut him off.

Apollo Crews vs. Elias

Crews dropkicks him to the floor to start and hits a moonsault off the apron as we take a break. Back with Elias holding a chinlock for a rather long while until Crews powers up. The jumping clothesline drops Elias and the standing shooting star press gets two. A fall away slam into a Samoan drop is good for the same but Elias grabs the rope to avoid the toss powerbomb. The jumping knee to the face sets up Drift Away to finish Apollo at 8:00.

Rating: D. Well so much for Crews. I’m still not sure what the point is in having Elias out there for these nothing matches over and over, but at least they’re doing something with him and keeping him in front of the crowd. That’s certainly better than having him sit on the bench for weeks at a time and letting the fans forget about him. Still though, give him a push already.

Kurt Angle talks about how tough the World Cup of Wrestling is going to be. He talks about (as in reads cue cards about) all of his possible opponents with highlight packages of all seven of them. Angle has done a lot of things, but now he has the chance to be the best in the world. On this one night, he can do it all again.

Back from a break and here’s Elias to try the song again. This time it’s Baron Corbin interrupting, saying it’s his job to keep the show moving. Stephanie McMahon has sent him out here for something far more important than Elias playing his little guitar. He better quit staring at Corbin too, because if Stephanie didn’t like him, Elias would be fired.

Elias says he was in his own little world there for a second and writing a song in his head that he’s going to sing right now. The new song is about how Corbin is a coward and a puppet but Corbin has the mic cut. Elias walks off but comes back and blasts Corbin with the guitar. The face turn is a long time coming, but I’m not sure how well it’s going to work. Still though, you couldn’t hold it back much longer.

We look at the Bellas turning on Ronda Rousey two weeks ago.

Here are the Bellas and Rousey to sign. The twins bail as soon as Rousey shows up but she says she’s not going to beat them up tonight. Instead, she’s going to sign a contract so she can beat them up on Sunday. She even offers to put her hands behind her back because if they can beat her up like that, her own mother would kill her. They have her word, which is Ronda’s bond.

The Bellas come in and mock her for not being as good in judo as her mother or for not retiring undefeated from UFC. Nikki says Ronda’s mother is already ashamed of her so imagine what it’s going to be like when a Diva beats her for the title. She even slaps Ronda, who signs and promises to end Nikki on Sunday. This was WAY better than last week, partially because it didn’t go on for ten minutes. Now hopefully Sunday’s match follows this week’s example and not last week’s.

Reigns’ speech again.

Rollins and Ambrose say there are no words to talk about how they’re feeling, so tonight they’re going to win for Roman.

Dana Brooke vs. Nia Jax vs. Tamina vs. Ember Moon

One fall to a finish. It’s a brawl to start as the announcers try to push Tamina vs. Nia as an interesting battle. Nia drops Dana and hits a flip splash but gets superkicked to the floor by Tamina. Ember goes up and hits the Eclipse to pin Tamina at 1:37.

Evolution rundown.

Here’s Titus O’Neil on the stage to introduce a group of breast cancer survivors with title belts.

Trish Stratus and Lita are ready to fight on Sunday and aren’t worried about Mickie James and Alexa Bliss. Alicia Fox comes up to make fun of them but here’s Mickie from behind for the cheap shot brawl. Security breaks it up but Trish and Lita run back in to beat them up. Trish: “That’s how we did it in the Attitude Era.”

Tag Team Titles: Seth Rollins/Dean Ambrose vs. Dolph Ziggler/Drew McIntyre

Ziggler and McIntyre are defending. It’s a brawl to start with the champs being knocked outside to send us to an early break. Back with Rollins hitting a suicide dive onto both champs but McIntyre kicks him down back inside. Ziggler comes in, teases a superkick to Ambrose, and goes with a chinlock on Rollins.

That doesn’t last long as Rollins fights up and throws him down, followed by an enziguri on McIntyre. Ziggler is fast enough to get over and pull Ambrose off the apron though, leaving Rollins to take the reverse Alabama Slam. Back from a second break with Rollins making a blind tag and dropping a frog splash for two on McIntyre as Ambrose dives onto Ziggler. McIntyre gets put in the Tree of Woe but of course sits up to throw Rollins down.

Rollins is fine enough to superplex Ziggler into the Falcon Arrow as the fans are going nuts on these kickouts, probably because they know a title change is coming. The Stomp misses so Rollins lifts Ziggler up for a powerbomb into McIntyre. Dean comes back in but Dirty Deeds is broken up and a Claymore sends him outside.

Ziggler sends Rollins shoulder first into the post and gets two off the Zig Zag. The Claymore/Zig Zag combination is broken up by Ambrose but here’s Strowman as Rollins and Ziggler clothesline each other. McIntyre gets up to fight Strowman but they brawl into the crowd. Ziggler tries to grab a title but gets Stomped for the pin and the title at 19:16.

Rating: B. Well….yeah. This was the most obvious title change in recent history but at the same time, it’s the only thing they could do. With the Reigns situation, dedicating the match to him was the best thing they could do to guarantee an invested crowd during the title change. Another entertaining match too.

Post match the celebration is on….until Ambrose hits Dirty Deeds on Rollins. The place gets REALLY quiet as Ambrose pounds away on him and shouts about Rollins thinking he’s funny. The beatdown is on with Den throwing a title at him and then peeling back the floor mats for Dirty Deeds on the concrete. Dean rips off the Shield shirt and leaves through the crowd to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. I’m giving this one a big break tonight because of the opening announcement changing everything. That being said, I’m less interested in seeing either Evolution or Crown Jewel than I was coming in, though I’m wanting to find out where some other things are going. This week’s show made those two pay per views feel more like things we have to get through rather than something I want to watch, which is a really bad sign. Not a great show, but you have to give them a break on some parts of that.

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