Main Event
Date: September 6, 2018
Location: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Percy Watson, Nigel McGuinness

The march towards three different pay per views continues and that could mean a variety of things. Well actually it means we get what we already know we’re getting, because this show is a collection of highlights. Monday’s show was pretty dreadful while Tuesday’s was a lot of fun so let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Tyler Breeze vs. Mike Kanellis

Vic says that Baron Corbin must be watching this match. Why? He’s the Raw GM, not the Main Event GM. Mike kicks him down early on and goes up top, only to get small packaged for two. Some stomping has Breeze in trouble and it’s time to work on the knee. A half crab (with some yelling at the fans) keeps Breeze down but a superkick gives him two. Breeze actually rolls him up into a half crab of his own but gets catapulted into the corner. Kanellis grabs a rollup, only to be reversed into another one to give Breeze the pin at 4:50.

Rating: C-. They were actually working here and put on a decent match with a story in the leg instead of just doing a nothing match. Breeze still needs Fandango back, but nowhere near as much as Mike needs Maria. That being said, I’m not sure how much impact Mike and Maria can have together anyway, as it’s not like they have a track record to run on in WWE.

From Raw.

Here’s Shawn Michaels to talk about HHH vs. Undertaker in Australia. After allowing fans to shower him with praise and plugging some things (new shirt, the Network and Super Show-Down), Shawn talks about his fellow Hall of Famers’ predictions for the match. He wonders if the Streak being over has something to do with the picks, but he’s still picking HHH. Yeah they’re best friends, but HHH still has more left in the tank.

At Super Show-Down, with Shawn in attendance, the Cerebral Assassin is going to cerebrally assassinate Undertaker….and there goes the gong. Undertaker comes out and in a really cool visual, the lighting flashes against Shawn’s shirt, making the heart logo flash on and off. After the two hour and seventeen minute entrance, Undertaker says this just became personal. He talks about HHH and Shawn’s twenty year friendship (minus the part where they tried to kill each other) and brings up taking Shawn’s career.

Shawn says that’s not what this is about. He’s a man of his word and someone had to be a man of his word by actually staying out of the ring. He’s the only person to stay retired and he’s done it out of respect for Undertaker. Cue the ONE MORE MATCH chants, which Shawn says he hears every time he steps into an arena.

For nearly a decade, everyone knocks on his door at Wrestlemania season, begging for a dream match and he has to turn down millions of dollars because he respects Undertaker. Shawn goes to leave, but Undertaker asks if it’s respect or fear. If Shawn had ever chosen to come out of retirement, it would have been for Undertaker, and he would have put him down all over again. In Australia, Undertaker is going to put HHH down again.

It’s a good segment and I want to see HHH vs. Undertaker again, but I’m worried about the match being a huge letdown. I can’t imagine that doesn’t close the show in a 20+ minute match and that’s not really Undertaker’s strong suit anymore. Teasing Shawn vs. Undertaker again isn’t the best idea as I can’t imagine Shawn actually working one more match, no matter what. Still though, this was effective and had the result they were shooting for.

From Smackdown.

Here’s Samoa Joe to say he didn’t see AJ Styles here tonight. Last week he promised to show up at AJ Styles’ house so he’s sure that AJ is locked up tight with his family, probably cradling a baseball bat. AJ’s wife Wendy is probably cradling their daughter Annie, telling them that Uncle Joe is a bad guy. See, Joe isn’t a monster though because he’s managed to make AJ be home on a Tuesday for once.

Annie can enjoy being tucked in tonight and she can get used to it, because after Joe gets done with AJ, he’ll be there every Tuesday night. AJ pops up on screen to say it’s time to stop talking. Cue AJ for the fight with Joe grabbing a chair. AJ takes it away but misses a big swing against the post. Referees break it up so AJ springboards onto Joe, taking out one of the referees in the process. Paige finally gets AJ to leave.

Quick clip of Alexa Bliss vs. Natalya on Raw.

Zack Ryder vs. Mojo Rawley

Ryder is a little apprehensive to start until he sends Mojo into the corner. That earns him a knee to the ribs and we take a very quick break. Back with Ryder dropping the top rope elbow for two but missing the Rough Ryder. The running right hand in the corner sets up the sitout Alabama Slam to give Rawley the pin at 6:09. They edited the heck out of that.

Recap of Shield vs. Braun Strowman/Dolph Ziggler/Drew McIntyre.

From Raw.

Here are Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre to open things up. After a clip of last week’s attack on the Shield, Strowman talks about how that was justice. Two weeks ago, Strowman was ready to become Universal Champion but the Shield got involved. All that Reigns had to do was take his beating like a man, but now we have to go a different way, like it or not.

Strowman says that he has a path now with Ziggler and McIntyre at his side. Inside the Cell, he’s going to break Reigns’ spirit and body and there is no one to stop him. McIntyre says no one will ever be as dominant as they are. Ziggler promises to be more dominant than any group ever, including the Nation of Domination or D-Generation X.

The challenge is thrown out so here’s the Shield, only to have Baron Corbin send out some goons to stop them. That goes nowhere so Corbin sends out more of them but they’re taken out as well. The third batch is finally enough to keep Shield back, though they eventually break free and chase Strowman and company to the back.

Post break, Shield is arrested and taken away in an ambulance.

And from Raw again, after Strowman vs. Finn Balor.

Post match the beating is still on until a police siren goes off. A police van backs into the arena and it’s Reigns driving. Ambrose and Rollins come out of the back but the roster jumps them from behind. Reigns gets crushed by the steps, Rollins is knocked off the stage (and crashing arm first into the police van, slicing his arm wide open) and Ambrose is laid out on the announcers’ table. The big beatdown continues to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. They did the right thing here by focusing on the better stuff from Raw and the big angle from Smackdown. The best thing here though was the missing three hours between the Shield appearances, which wasn’t exactly the most thrilling time. The original matches here were good too, making this a very easy sit, even by Main Event standards.

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/23/new-book-kbs-complete-2003-monday-night-raw-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: September 3, 2018
Location: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Renee Young

As the months change, so do things around here on Raw. Last week saw Braun Strowman turn heel and join forces with Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre for the sake of fighting the Shield. Now that being said, the fans aren’t likely to boo them anyway, because that’s just how things work with Roman Reigns. Let’s get to it.

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

Here are Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre to open things up. After a clip of last week’s attack on the Shield, Strowman talks about how that was justice. Two weeks ago, Strowman was ready to become Universal Champion but the Shield got involved. All that Reigns had to do was take his beating like a man, but now we have to go a different way, like it or not.

Strowman says that he has a path now with Ziggler and McIntyre at his side. Inside the Cell, he’s going to break Reigns’ spirit and body and there is no one to stop him. McIntyre says no one will ever be as dominant as they are. Ziggler promises to be more dominant than any group ever, including the Nation of Domination or D-Generation X.

The challenge is thrown out so here’s the Shield, only to have Baron Corbin send out some goons to stop them. That goes nowhere so Corbin sends out more of them but they’re taken out as well. The third batch is finally enough to keep Shield back, though they eventually break free and chase Strowman and company to the back.

Post break, Shield is arrested and taken away in an ambulance.

Riott Squad vs. Bella Twins

The Bellas get the big entrance, including a plug for the premiere of Total Divas. Nikki hiptosses Morgan down to start as the announcers talk about Brie having a baby six months ago and all the wedding planning. A tornado flying armbar out of the corner gives Nikki two and it’s off to Brie for another armbar. It’s not enough to prevent a tag though and Morgan comes in for a kick to the back. It’s already back to Morgan, who get YES Kicked in short order.

The BRIE MODE knee hits Logan and Brie tries a suicide dive….but either completely botches it by getting caught on the ropes or Logan wasn’t ready to forearm her out of the air. Either way it looked like a disaster and takes us to a break. Back with Brie fighting out of a chinlock and diving over for the hot tag to Nikki. Everything breaks down and Brie botches another suicide dive, this time just not clearing the ropes. Nikki gives Morgan the Rack Attack 2.0 to finish things at 11:04 before Brie can botch anything else.

Rating: D-. Those two botches were terrible and didn’t do anything to get rid of the theory that the Bellas are really not very good in the ring. The announcers sounded like they were reading a list of awesome facts about the two of them and it felt more like a plug for Total Divas than a match. I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of them in the future, probably because the reality shows need new storylines. Lucky us.

Corbin is on the phone with Stephanie when Finn Balor comes in. Balor wants a rematch and thinks Corbin is overcompensating for something. Tonight, the rematch should be one on one, man against man. Corbin agrees, with the match taking place in two hours in the main event. He’s a more scheduled boss than Angle ever was.

Chad Gable and Bobby Roode are now a team because Roode has impressed him. It’s not like they have anything else to do.

Chad Gable/Bobby Roode vs. Ascension

Before the match, Konnor says Roode was a flash in the pan and couldn’t make it in the singles division. Then you have Gable, who is short. That’s not something you say to Gable, who German suplexes both of them and hands it off to Roode for a suplex of his own. Konnor takes him into the corner to stomp away and it’s off to the chinlock. Viktor gets in his own stomping before it’s back to Gable to clean house. A cannonball off the apron drops Konnor and it’s a missile dropkick to Viktor. Rolling Chaos Theory finishes Viktor at 6:01.

Rating: D+. I mean, it’s not like we have anything better for the tag division and there’s no need to bring in someone new when you have these people sitting around doing nothing. I’m fine with the team and maybe they’ll go somewhere. The match wasn’t too bad and once they get some chemistry together, things could go well. Take a shot and see what happens.

Here’s Elias to talk about living in an insane world and being slapped by an insane girl last week. The only solution is to follow him to the promised land. Last week Trish Stratus came out here and slapped him, which is clearly due to her struggling with the fact that WWE stands for WALK WITH ELIAS. Next up, what is up with the Ohio State Buckeyes? What is a Buckeye anyway? It’s not something like a Wolverine, which actually sounds intimidating.

Before he gets too far though, here’s hometown girl Alexa Bliss, along with Mickie James and Alicia Fox. Bliss is proud to be from here and graduated high school right here in this very building. She starts an OH-IO chant….and it’s time to rip on the crowd of course. She recognizes some of the zombies that she went to high school with and look where they are while she’s in the spotlight. Alexa apologizes for Trish’s actions last week and doesn’t even want to get started on Ronda Rousey and her pet cat Natalya. She’s like some music but here’s Rousey to interrupt.

Natalya vs. Alexa Bliss

Rousey, Fox and James are at ringside. Bliss hides in the ropes a few times to start before having a Stratusfaction attempt countered (with Cole and Graves making fun of each other and missing the move entirely). A hard forearm to the face drops Natalya in the corner so Fox and James can slap her a lot. Bliss hits a DDT and grabs an armbar to make Natalya scream a lot and tap at 3:14.

Rating: D. Anyone want to have a good match tonight? This was short and bad, though it did give Bliss some momentum before she gets annihilated by Rousey. The shorter time helped it a bit but when that’s about as high praise as you can give a match, it’s pretty clear that there’s a problem.

Post match Bliss stays on her but Rousey cleans house. Fox gets knocked to the floor but the distraction lets Bliss chop block Rousey. Some right hands send Bliss to the floor as Rousey is having trouble standing.

We recap the opening brawl.

Shield has been processed and fingerprinted at the precinct.

Corbin gives someone his Rolex to get cleaned. Not a good idea at 9:15 at night. Strowman and company come in with a demand for competition tonight. Drew and Dolph want a Tag Team Title shot tonight and imply that they’ll take out Revival to get their title shot. The two of them leave and Strowman tells Corbin to find him some competition tonight.

Revival is ready for their title shot when Ziggler and McIntyre jump them for the big beatdown.

Tag Team Titles: B Team vs. Revival

Tag Team Titles: B Team vs. Dolph Ziggler/Drew McIntyre

The B Team is defending and McIntyre drops both of them in about five seconds. Dallas low bridges McIntyre to the floor though and Axel gets two off a backslide. A clothesline puts Ziggler on the floor and the champs actually make it to a break. Back with McIntyre holding Dallas in an armbar and getting two off a suplex.

Ziggler comes in for some right hands and kicks the air in front of Dallas’ knee to set up a dropkick. McIntyre gets caught in a neckbreaker and the hot tag brings in Axel for the PerfectPlex on Ziggler. A quick save lets everything break down and Axel eats a superkick. The Claymore into the Zig Zag gives us new champions at 10:10.

Rating: D+. Where do I start? First of all, if you want to get Ziggler and McIntyre over as killers, don’t have them take ten minutes to beat a pair of comedy guys. This should have been about 90 seconds long and ended in the opening domination. Second, if you want Ziggler to break out of the mold of being a midcarder who never gets to break into the main event picture, don’t have him win a title that is viewed as lower than the midcard title.

The Authors of Pain and Drake Maverick are walking in the back with Maverick in a matching vest.

Connor’s Cure video, with a kid dressed up as a wrestling superhero. Cancer can’t see him.

Authors of Pain vs. Rakib Thompson/Jimmy James

Before the destruction, Maverick says he’s the Authors’ new manager and they’ll win the Tag Team Titles. I mean….sure why not. The Super Collider is good for the pin at 52 seconds.

Remember last week’s videos where legends talked about HHH vs. Undertaker? Well here’s another video, this time featuring a lot of the same clips in a different order. I really hope they stop with this promoting three shows at the same time thing.

Rousey is checking on Natalya when the Bellas come in. Natalya leaves and the Bellas praise Rousey, using those acting abilities. They offer to be her training partners or to help her with outside ventures, like starting a business or writing a book. Rousey thanks them and they talk over each other.

Here’s Shawn Michaels to talk about HHH vs. Undertaker in Australia. After allowing fans to shower him with praise and plugging some things (new shirt, the Network and Super Show-Down), Shawn talks about his fellow Hall of Famers’ predictions for the match. He wonders if the Streak being over has something to do with the picks, but he’s still picking HHH. Yeah they’re best friends, but HHH still has more left in the tank.

At Super Show-Down, with Shawn in attendance, the Cerebral Assassin is going to cerebrally assassinate Undertaker….and there goes the gong. Undertaker comes out and in a really cool visual, the lighting flashes against Shawn’s shirt, making the heart logo flash on and off. After the two hour and seventeen minute entrance, Undertaker says this just became personal. He talks about HHH and Shawn’s twenty year friendship (minus the part where they tried to kill each other) and brings up taking Shawn’s career.

Shawn says that’s not what this is about. He’s a man of his word and someone had to be a man of his word by actually staying out of the ring. He’s the only person to stay retired and he’s done it out of respect for Undertaker. Cue the ONE MORE MATCH chants, which Shawn says he hears every time he steps into an arena.

For nearly a decade, everyone knocks on his door at Wrestlemania season, begging for a dream match and he has to turn down millions of dollars because he respects Undertaker. Shawn goes to leave, but Undertaker asks if it’s respect or fear. If Shawn had ever chosen to come out of retirement, it would have been for Undertaker, and he would have put him down all over again. In Australia, Undertaker is going to put HHH down again.

It’s a good segment and I want to see HHH vs. Undertaker again, but I’m worried about the match being a huge letdown. I can’t imagine that doesn’t close the show in a 20+ minute match and that’s not really Undertaker’s strong suit anymore. Teasing Shawn vs. Undertaker again isn’t the best idea as I can’t imagine Shawn actually working one more match, no matter what. Still though, this was effective and had the result they were shooting for.

Corbin comes in to see Balor and says they can’t have their match tonight. Don’t worry though because Balor can face Strowman instead. So they’re doing a bait and switch on a match they made an hour and forty minutes ago?

Shield has been arraigned. Harold T. Stone thinks that’s a fast court.

Sasha Banks/Bayley vs. Dana Brooke/Ember Moon

Remember when Moon was given the big debut on Raw about five months ago? Banks hits a seated Meteora and we take a break less than a minute in. Back with Moon headscissoring Bayley and hitting a spinning springboard crossbody to take both of them down. It’s off to Brooke, who has to fight out of the Backstabber. Titus Worldwide offers her advice but she says she has this. She’s rolled up for the pin a few seconds later at 5:53. This match totally needed that break in the middle.

Post match Brooke says she’s had it with Titus and Apollo and walks away.

Renee talks about Balor vs. Strowman tonight, even though the graphic still has Corbin’s picture on it. That’s a pretty rare error.

Bobby Lashley leaves Corbin’s office with a piece of paper. It’s a performance review (ERG), saying he’s rather violent and has to undergo meditation in the ring with Jinder Mahal tonight.

Jinder is in the ring for the meditation and Lashley joins him. There is an angry energy coming from Lashley so Mahal has him sit down on the rub and they talk about Lashley being water. Mahal says shanti over and over again until Kevin Owens runs in through the crowd and stomps on Lashley. A distraction from Mahal allows Owens to hit a superkick, followed by the apron powerbomb. Well it lasted longer than I thought it would.

Clip of Shawn/Undertaker.

Next week: Mick Foley.

Shield has posted bail and left the precinct.

Finn Balor vs. Braun Strowman

McIntyre and Ziggler are out with Strowman. Balor gets knocked down in a hurry to start and a side slam makes it even worse. A sleeper doesn’t do him much good either so it’s a low bridge to send Strowman outside as we go to a break. Back with Balor fighting out of a chinlock but being sent outside for his efforts.

That’s a little better for Balor, who catches Strowman with a Sling Blade on the floor. They head back inside with Balor trying another sleeper before avoiding a charge to send Strowman into the post. That means the running flip dive to all three villains and Balor is rolling. Back in and Balor slaps on a triangle choke but Strowman muscles his way out. The powerslam finishes Balor at 10:37.

Rating: C. Match of the night here by about a mile. There was a little history here with Strowman being Balor’s friend for all of five minutes before destroying him in the match. A clean win like this does give Strowman some more momentum heading into the Cell and that’s a good idea. It certainly means more than beating the comedy goons.

Post match the beating is still on until a police siren goes off. A police van backs into the arena and it’s Reigns driving. Ambrose and Rollins come out of the back but the roster jumps them from behind. Reigns gets crushed by the steps, Rollins is knocked off the stage and Ambrose is laid out on the announcers’ table. The big beatdown continues to end the show.

Overall Rating: D. The Undertaker/Shawn segment and the closing segment were god but that’s nowhere near enough to fix the rest of this dismal show. You could tell it was a holiday edition this week as there was no fire to anything and the wrestling was as dull as you could have imagined. I’m not sure what it says when two mostly retired wrestlers having a match to renew a rivalry that ended six and a half years ago are more interesting than another rather good rivalry going to the Cell, but that’s what they’ve managed to pull off here. It’s a really weak show and Raw isn’t showing any signs of getting better at the moment.

Results

Bella Twins b. Riott Squad – Rack Attack 2.0 to Morgan

Chad Gable/Bobby Roode b. Ascension – Rolling Chaos Theory to Viktor

Alexa Bliss b. Natalya – Armbar

Dolph Ziggler/Drew McIntyre b. B Team – Claymore/Zig Zag combination to Axel

Authors of Pain b. Rakib Thompson/Jimmy James – Super Collider to James

Bayley/Sasha Banks b. Dana Brooke/Ember Moon – Rollup to Brooke

Braun Strowman b. Finn Balor – Running powerslam

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/23/new-book-kbs-complete-2003-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

Main Event
Date: August 31, 2018
Location: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson

We’ll wrap up Canada week here with the highlight package show. This week has been better than most for WWE as the followup to Summerslam has actually been pretty strong. The promos and stories have all been good and we’ve even had some nice matches to go with them. Hopefully the short form versions are good as well. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

No Way Jose vs. Tyler Breeze

Please don’t turn Breeze heel. Breeze armdrags him down to start and lays on the top, only to have Jose dance at him in return. Some right hands in the corner have Breeze in trouble so he takes out the knee to put Jose down. A half crab stays on the knee until Jose kicks him to the floor. That’s broken up after Breeze pulls him back to the middle but a dropkick to the knee makes things even worse. Jose is fine enough to catapult him into the corner and the pop up right hand is good for the pin at 5:12.

Rating: C-. Breeze is an interesting choice here and he was “aggressive” here, which sounds like the start of a heel turn. It’s not like he has anything else going for him at the moment but I still don’t want to see it happen. He’s rather amusing with the Fashion Police thing and I’d love to see them go somewhere when Fandango comes back.

Clip of Shield reuniting to cost Braun Strowman his Money in the Bank cash-in.

Clip of Strowman saying he was cashing in for a Cell match and agreeing to team with Reigns to face Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre on Monday.

From Raw.

Dolph Ziggler/Drew McIntyre vs. Roman Reigns/Braun Strowman

Roman and Ziggler start as it’s already after 11pm. A clothesline puts Ziggler on the floor and Strowman approves. The apron dropkick rocks Ziggler but McIntyre kicks Roman in the face to take over. Back in and Ziggler gets two off the running DDT, followed by the sleeper. The big jumping elbow gets two and it’s right back to the sleeper.

Reigns finally shoves him away and the big boot drops Ziggler. The hot tag attempt is broken up by McIntyre, who throws Reigns with an overhead belly to belly. Reigns Superman Punches Ziggler out of the air and Strowman gets the hot tag….but doesn’t get in. Reigns gets stomped down as Strowman watches from the apron. The referee disqualifies…..I’m not sure actually but the match ends at 8:50.

Rating: D+. Just an angle and there’s nothing wrong with that. There’s something wrong with wasting the last year plus on Strowman for the sake of having him be Reigns’ first victim, but that’s another rant for another time. As usual McIntyre looks better in ten second than Ziggler looked working most of the match, but that goes without saying.

Post match Strowman says he’s not finished with Reigns and beats him down. Ziggler and McIntyre join in until Ambrose comes in for the failed save. Rollins runs down and gets beaten up as well. A bunch of powerslams leave the Shield laying and Strowman poses with his new friends to end the show.

From Raw again.

Intercontinental Title: Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens

Rollins is defending and Owens is still rather popular here. Feeling out process to start with Rollins hitting a clothesline to put Owens on the floor. Back in and Rollins hits a slingshot Fameasser onto the middle rope. A clothesline off the steps puts Owens down and we take a break.

We come back with Owens holding a chinlock and getting two off a backsplash to the arm. The armbar goes on and Rollins starts to scream. They head outside with Owens missing the Cannonball into the barricade, allowing Rollins to chop away. Back to back suicide dives have Owens in trouble but he blasts the third attempt with a right hand. Rollins hits the other dive anyway and we take a second break.

We come back with Rollins hitting the frog splash, stopping to shake his bad arm, and then getting two. Owens sends the bad arm into the post and puts on a Crossface. As Rollins crawls to the ropes, Owens turns it into something like a camel clutch to keep Rollins in trouble. A foot on the ropes gets Rollins out of trouble and frustration is setting in. Some right hands to the face just annoy Rollins and he jumps over the Pop Up Powerbomb. A low superkick rocks Owens but he counters the Stomp into a Stunner of all things for two.

The fans are WAY into this and Owens takes him up top, only to get reversed into a running buckle bomb. Owens no sells it and superkicks Rollins for a hot near fall and they’re both down. It’s Owens up first but Rollins catches him on top and they slug it out. Rollins gets shoved down and lands on the arm but is still able to avoid a moonsault. The Stomp retains the title at 22:11.

Rating: B+. Heck of a fight here and I was actually buying the chance that the title was going to change. Owens is someone who can bring the great stuff when he’s given the chance and that’s what happened here. It’s amazing how much better Rollins is when he doesn’t have Ziggler doing the same stuff every week as this was a nice change of pace.

Post match, Rollins nods at him in respect.

Back from a break with Owens sitting in the ring in a chair. He says he quits and leaves, taking the tape off his hands as he goes.

Pay per view rundown.

Ember Moon vs. Ruby Riott

Moon headlocks her to start but gets legsweeped down. A right hand doesn’t have much effect on Moon as she flips over and wristdrags Riott, only to get distracted by the Squad. Riott forearms her off the apron and we take a break. Back with Moon shrugging off a cravate and hitting a butterfly suplex. The front flip forearm in the corner gets two but another distraction lets Moon miss a corner charge. Riott gets two off a falling middle rope backsplash but walks into a gutbuster. The Eclipse is loaded up but the Squad offers another distraction, allowing Ruby to Riott Kick her down for the pin at 9:53.

Rating: C. They actually had a story here with the Squad interfering over and over until Moon couldn’t stop them anymore. Riott has been a nice surprise in the last few months but egads what has happened to Moon? She was one of the big surprises on the post Wrestlemania Raw and now she’s jobbing on Main Event less than five months later?

Legends give their predictions on Undertaker vs. HHH.

From Smackdown.

Women’s Title: Charlotte vs. Carmella

Charlotte is defending and they have a lot of time. Carmella gets two off a rollup as the fans are already asking for Becky. A headlock keeps Charlotte in trouble so she suplexes Carmella down, which at least quiets the BECKY chants for now. The moonsault takes too long to set up though and Charlotte gets shoved into the barricade. Carmella hits the suicide dive for two and we take a break.

Back with Carmella hitting a headscissors and shouting a lot, as is her custom. Charlotte gets kicked in the chest but rolls through a high crossbody for one. The champ goes up but gets pulled back down in a pretty good looking super hurricanrana. Carmella slaps her in the back and screams a lot, followed by a pair of not very superkicks for two. Charlotte shrugs it off and hits a spear, followed by Natural Selection. The Figure Eight goes on and Carmella finally taps at 13:02.

Rating: D+. As usual, I have no reason to buy Carmella getting in any kind of offense on Charlotte but that’s what we’re stuck with. Thankfully Carmella lost clean here and we can get away from her for a bit. She’s fine as a short term champion but the four month title reign and seeing her ruin Asuka was WAY too much from here. Now we can move on to the better stuff and I think you know what’s coming.

Post match here’s Becky to jump Charlotte (to some loud cheers) and says she’s getting the title back at Hell in a Cell, “you b****”. Becky leaves and we get a bunch of replays to fill in the show as it feels like they went home way too early. That was more full on heel from Becky (and it went about as well as the other stuff) so I’m not sure what was up with that edited promo last week.

Overall Rating: C-. Well so much for Smackdown. AJ Styles and Samoa Joe can’t get time, but we can hear predictions on a legends match six weeks from now? There was good stuff on Raw but they can choose how much is shown from each clip. You can’t cut some of that out and get in one more thing from Smackdown? I know it’s standard around here but egads man.

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/23/new-book-kbs-complete-2003-monday-night-raw-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: August 27, 2018
Location: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Jonathan Coachman

I’m interested in where the big story goes this week. Last time around Shield came in and cost Braun Strowman the chance to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase, which in theory should make them villains. I mean, Strowman told everyone what he was going to do and Reigns knew he was there but Shield came out anywhere. Maybe we’ll get something this week, especially with the Cell coming up. Let’s get to it.

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

Here’s Roman Reigns to open things up and the fans aren’t exactly thrilled. He does however do the always cool fist bump to a very excited kid. Cole recaps last week’s match with Finn Balor, calling it a “thirty minute barn burner”. Eh, nineteen minutes, thirty minutes. Close enough. Cole also talks about Reigns defending the title over the weekend at live events, which is a nice touch.

Reigns says he told Braun Strowman to meet him out here at 8pm and it’s 8:05. If Strowman isn’t out here, the open challenge is on because he won this title to defending it. Cue Strowman to say he doesn’t think much of Reigns because of how he got out of trouble last week. Reigns says the Shield is a brotherhood of workhorses. All Strowman knows how to do is say GET THESE HANDS, but those hands never raise titles. Reigns has won everything there is to win around here so cash in that briefcase and let’s have this title match.

Strowman isn’t doing that tonight because he knows Rollins and Ambrose will run straight in for the save. Instead, he’ll cash in on September 16 inside the Cell, where no one can help Reigns. That’s cool with Reigns, but here are Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre to interrupt. Ziggler says Summerslam was a crime because the Intercontinental Title was stolen from him. He’ll cash in his rematch clause on his terms, but for now he needs a new challenge.

Drew says Reigns and Strowman are at the top of them mountain and now they have to come tumbling down. That’s a challenge, but Reigns wants to do it right now. Baron Corbin comes out, approves Strowman’s cash-in for the Cell, and makes the tag match that was just announced.

I’m split on the Strowman vs. Reigns announcement. I really, really like the idea of announcing the cash-in in advance to mix things up for a change, but Strowman is done when he loses again (which he will). It’s almost like having Reigns wait an extra four months to get the title was a really bad idea as Reigns is going to keep the belt for a LONG time, meaning Strowman still isn’t going to win and we spent over a year waiting on him to get a grand total of nowhere. But hey, at least Reigns had another crowning moment, because winning the World Title in the main event of Wrestlemania was just a thing.

Corbin comes to the ring and announces himself vs. Finn Balor, right now, meaning he’s ready and Balor isn’t.

Finn Balor vs. Baron Corbin

Corbin runs him over and does the slide underneath the ropes clothesline. The chinlock (take a shot) goes on as the fans think Corbin can’t wrestle. Balor fights up and jumps over the ropes, only to get knocked to the floor. Back in and we hit the chinlock again (that has to be a rib of some sort) before Corbin throws him outside again. A Sling Blade on the floor puts Corbin down and we take a break.

We come back with, you guessed it, Corbin holding a chinlock. The second slide underneath the ropes is cut off by a forearm but Deep Six gets two. Corbin gets knocked outside for the big flip dive but he can’t hit the Coup de Grace. Instead Corbin hits him with the chair for the DQ at 11:10. Actually hang on as Corbin says he forgot to mention that this was No DQ. More chair shots set up the End of Days for the pin at 12:38. So Balor goes from squashing Corbin at Summerslam to nearly winning the Universal Title to losing to Corbin in a pretty weak match to continue their already too long feud. Thanks for that WWE.

Rating: C-. This can be added to the list of matches I never need to see again. That being said, I could probably see the match coming up again at the pay per view, possibly even in the Cell. The problem continues to be that WWE seems to have no idea how to end a feud, because there’s no good reason to keep this going after the destruction at Summerslam. Give Balor ANYTHING else to do, like feud with Ziggler or McIntyre for example. Actually we can’t do that either, because their several months long feud with Rollins is still going. See how this is a problem?

Clip of HHH’s big speech against Undertaker last week.

Various legends (Jeff Jarrett, Ric Flair, Kevin Nash, Christian and Mick Foley) have weighed in on the match. It’s not that big of a deal.

Dana Brooke and Apollo Crews talk about flips and getting Dana on Evolution. Titus O’Neil comes in and says she has a match tonight. It’s against Sasha Banks. Dana is nervous and leaves as Apollo thinks Titus is nuts. Titus believes in her though and Apollo goes along with it.

Sasha Banks vs. Dana Brooke

Dana rolls her up for one to start and seems to let Banks up before the kickout. The threat of a Bank Statement sends Dana bailing to the floor but it’s time to pose back inside. A step up enziguri gives Dana two and she hammers away with some right hands. The top rope Meteora drops Dana and the Bank Statement is good for the tap at 2:31. Dana got in some offense here and it was nice to have Banks and Bayley get away from the Riott Squad for a bit.

Jinder Mahal comes up to Dean Ambrose and talks about all the anger inside him. Meditation is offered and Dean sees himself breaking a lot of Mahal’s bones. That’s enough for Mahal.

Here’s a well received Seth Rollins for a chat. He looks at the Shield shirt and says it’s time for the family business. They’re proud of being workhorses (second member of the team to say that) so let’s have an Open Challenge. Cue Kevin Owens to a MONSTER pop to say that his return to Raw has been a nightmare. If he had his best friend at Summerslam, he would be Universal Champion right now. The terrible summer ends tonight because he isn’t leaving here without a title, even though he’d rather be in Montreal. Owens speaks some French

Intercontinental Title: Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens

Rollins is defending and Owens is still rather popular here. Feeling out process to start with Rollins hitting a clothesline to put Owens on the floor. Back in and Rollins hits a slingshot Fameasser onto the middle rope. A clothesline off the steps puts Owens down and we take a break.

We come back with Owens holding a chinlock and getting two off a backsplash to the arm. The armbar goes on and Rollins starts to scream. They head outside with Owens missing the Cannonball into the barricade, allowing Rollins to chop away. Back to back suicide dives have Owens in trouble but he blasts the third attempt with a right hand. Rollins hits the other dive anyway and we take a second break.

We come back with Rollins hitting the frog splash, stopping to shake his bad arm, and then getting two. Owens sends the bad arm into the post and puts on a Crossface. As Rollins crawls to the ropes, Owens turns it into something like a camel clutch to keep Rollins in trouble. A foot on the ropes gets Rollins out of trouble and frustration is setting in. Some right hands to the face just annoy Rollins and he jumps over the Pop Up Powerbomb. A low superkick rocks Owens but he counters the Stomp into a Stunner of all things for two.

The fans are WAY into this and Owens takes him up top, only to get reversed into a running buckle bomb. Owens no sells it and superkicks Rollins for a hot near fall and they’re both down. It’s Owens up first but Rollins catches him on top and they slug it out. Rollins gets shoved down and lands on the arm but is still able to avoid a moonsault. The Stomp retains the title at 22:11.

Rating: B+. Heck of a fight here and I was actually buying the chance that the title was going to change. Owens is someone who can bring the great stuff when he’s given the chance and that’s what happened here. It’s amazing how much better Rollins is when he doesn’t have Ziggler doing the same stuff every week as this was a nice change of pace.

Post match, Rollins nods at him in respect.

Kurt Angle isn’t sure if his vacation is permanent or not.

We recap the opening segment.

Strowman officially gives Corbin the briefcase to confirm the cash-in.

Back from a break with Owens sitting in the ring in a chair. He says he quits and leaves, taking the tape off his hands as he goes.

Ziggler and McIntyre are ready to face Strowman and Reigns because there is no way they’re healthy either physically or mentally after last week. It’s time to change things around here.

B Team vs. Revival

Non-title and JoJo seems to laugh during the B Team’s entrance. Scott Dawson really isn’t happy with B Team holding the titles and sent out a tweet apologizing to the Midnight Express for allowing it. Axel gets sent into the corner to start but comes back with a running dropkick. The announcers talk about Owens, which does mean more at the moment. Revival is sent outside and we take a break. Back with Dallas trying to fight out of a chinlock but getting taken down with a drop toehold.

A tornado DDT doesn’t work though and Dallas hits his hanging swinging neckbreaker. Wilder seems to be holding his neck and brings Dawson in while laying on the apron. The hot tag brings in Axel to clean house but Wilder breaks up the PerfectPlex. A small package has Axel covered but Dallas turns it over again, just like at Summerslam. Unlike at Summerslam, this one is only good for two and the Shatter Machine finishes Axel at 8:50. That’s the B Team’s first loss and thankfully Wilder seems fine.

Rating: D. Another match that just came and went as WWE gets to show off its creative muscles by using option B to set up a title match. The whole point of the B Team is they use dumb luck to win matches and now they’re just losing clean in a short match on Raw. That’s the result of their face turn though, because WWE doesn’t know many ways to book a face act.

Post match the Revival holds up the titles and says we went from the Road Warriors to the Andersons to this. They can take the titles whenever they want them so keep the them warm. Top guys out.

Here’s Elias for some guitar. He talks about how things will get tough but never stray from the truth: WWE stands for Walk With Elias. The fans seem to agree but it’s time for Elias to sing. Actually hang on as Elias just had a moment of clarity. When Drake said he started from the bottom, he meant Toronto. Cue Trish Stratus of all people to interrupt and of course that gets a reaction. Elias makes this seem like a big deal for her and Trish says she’s a fan.

Trish tells him to hold his applause and shut his mouth but Elias says another performance in Toronto is like the Maple Leafs winning the Stanley Cup: it’s never happening in their lifetimes. Trish: “Kind of like you winning a WWE Championship.” She talks about ending her career here in Toronto but she’s coming back to face Alexa Bliss at Evolution. Elias says he’s looking forward to the swimsuit pillow fight so Trish tells him to get out. She clearly just wants to walk with Elias but he doesn’t date women in their 60s. That’s good for a slap and here are Ronda Rousey and Natalya as Elias bails.

Natalya vs. Alicia Fox

Before the match, Alexa Bliss says Trish is looking great but all that Stratusphere Yoga isn’t going to get her ready for the beating at Evolution. For tonight though, Bliss says she’s invoking her rematch clause against Rousey at Hell in a Cell. Of course it’s not here because she doesn’t like Canada and those accents freak her out. Mickie James comes out to keep an eye on Trish and we’re ready to go.

The threat of an early Sharpshooter freaks Fox out so Natalya dropkicks her in the ear instead. Back in and Fox knocks her down for two and asks WHAT IS GOING ON. The chinlock doesn’t last long and it’s the Sharpshooter to make Fox tap at 2:15. Like the Canadians were losing here.

Post break Trish, Ronda and Natalya run into the Bellas and take a picture.

More legends speak on HHH vs. Undertaker.

Corbin is calling for a masseuse when Bobby Lashley comes in to laugh at him. Therefore, Lashley can face someone next.

Bobby Lashley vs. Ascension

Lashley runs Viktor over with a shoulder to start but Konnor gets in a shot from behind to take over. Viktor’s front facelock has almost no effect and gets thrown away. The spinebuster gives Lashley the pin at 2:26.

Dean Ambrose vs. Jinder Mahal

Dang he looks a lot like HHH. Ambrose clotheslines him outside in a hurry and chops Mahal up against the barricade. Back in and Mahal knees him in the face, followed by a knee drop for two (I guess they’re both like HHH). Ambrose drops him ribs first on the top rope, shrugs off the Khallas, and finishes with the Dirty Deeds at 3:48.

Rating: D. The match was nothing but happy days are here again with Jinder being treated like the jobber that he always should have been. A win over him doesn’t mean anything but Dean gets to look dominant after a competitive match last week. Thankfully they didn’t try to make this competitive because Mahal is right back where he was two years ago, but with a big line on his resume.

Strowman and Reigns don’t like each other but they’ll work together tonight. In 20 days, Strowman destroys him. Reigns says in 21 days, Strowman is waking up.

Next week: Bellas vs. Riott Squad, B Team vs. Revival for the titles and Shawn Michaels talking about HHH vs. Undertaker.

Dolph Ziggler/Drew McIntyre vs. Roman Reigns/Braun Strowman

Roman and Ziggler start as it’s already after 11pm. A clothesline puts Ziggler on the floor and Strowman approves. The apron dropkick rocks Ziggler but McIntyre kicks Roman in the face to take over. Back in and Ziggler gets two off the running DDT, followed by the sleeper. The big jumping elbow gets two and it’s right back to the sleeper.

Reigns finally shoves him away and the big boot drops Ziggler. The hot tag attempt is broken up by McIntyre, who throws Reigns with an overhead belly to belly. Reigns Superman Punches Ziggler out of the air and Strowman gets the hot tag….but doesn’t get in. Reigns gets stomped down as Strowman watches from the apron. The referee disqualifies…..I’m not sure actually but the match ends at 8:50.

Rating: D+. Just an angle and there’s nothing wrong with that. There’s something wrong with wasting the last year plus on Strowman for the sake of having him be Reigns’ first victim, but that’s another rant for another time. As usual McIntyre looks better in ten second than Ziggler looked working most of the match, but that goes without saying.

Post match Strowman says he’s not finished with Reigns and beats him down. Ziggler and McIntyre join in until Ambrose comes in for the failed save. Rollins runs down and gets beaten up as well. A bunch of powerslams leave the Shield laying and Strowman poses with his new friends to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. I’m not sure what to think of this show. I wasn’t bored and they kept things moving, but there were so many issues in it that the good took some hits. First of all there’s the big angle, which makes me shake my head at how long we waited on Reigns to win the title, all while Strowman was the most popular guy in the company. I’m so glad that we spent all that time, just so Reigns can have a big name victim. It’s nice that they have something in mind, but this company really doesn’t buy into the concept of striking while the person is hot.

Then there’s the women’s stuff, which was more of the “oh we’re all sisters and love each other” between the Bellas and Rousey and Natalya, which is really just rather annoying. Then again that may be the Bellas in general (I guess wine and lingerie weren’t paying the bills now that Cena is gone).

Evolution is turning into one of the weirder builds they’ve done in a long time, especially since it’s over two months away and there are two other big shows in the middle. I’m curious about where Lashley and Owens’ stories are going, though at the same time you have Balor vs. Corbin killing interest every time the non-Demon version of Balor is out there.

It’s like they’re trying to focus on everything at once and that doesn’t really work when the stories aren’t the greatest in the first place. The show wasn’t bad, but I could go for them cooling it with Super Show-Down and Evolution for a week or two. At least until after the Cell, which should be a bigger deal than it’s being made out to be with two and a half weeks of shows left.

Results

Baron Corbin b. Finn Balor – End of Days

Sasha Banks b. Dana Brooke – Bank Statement

Seth Rollins b. Kevin Owens – The Stomp

Revival b. B Team – Shatter Machine to Axel

Natalya b. Alicia Fox – Sharpshooter

Bobby Lashley b. Ascension – Spinebuster to Viktor

Dean Ambrose b. Jinder Mahal – Dirty Deeds

Roman Reigns/Braun Strowman b. Dolph Ziggler/Drew McIntyre via DQ when Ziggler and McIntyre double teamed Reigns

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/23/new-book-kbs-complete-2003-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

Summerslam 2017
Date: August 20, 2017
Location: Barclays Center, New York City, New York
Attendance: 16,128
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Booker T., Tom Phillips, John Bradshaw Layfield, Byron Saxton

It’s kind of amazing how these modern shows go in one ear and out the other. Aside from the main event, I couldn’t tell you a single thing on this show, and I can tell you every match (mostly in order) from the first seventeen or so Wrestlemanias. It’s the nature of the shows being built up so fast and then running so long, as the same is true of shows I’ve been to even this year. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: The Miz/Miztourage vs. Hardy Boyz/Jason Jordan

Rematch from Raw. Now this one I remember because it took place about twenty minutes into the two hour Kickoff Show and the place was embarrassingly empty with MAYBE twenty percent of the place full. It’s just awful looking as the fans who aren’t in yet (as in the majority of them) are going to be annoyed at missing a match and the wrestlers have to go out in front of this empty building like they’re on some nothing indy show (in a huge arena for some reason). I mean, what in the world is the point?

Matt headlocks Axel to start and it’s quickly off to Jeff as the dozens and dozens of fans get behind the good guys. Jordan comes in to crank on the arm to no reaction, at least partially because there aren’t many people here to cheer. A dropkick gets two on Dallas and Jordan muscles him down to the mat.

Everything breaks down and Jordan directs traffic as the Hardys chop away in the corner. Axel saves Dallas from the Swanton and we take a break. Back with Jeff getting two off a basement dropkick as the crowd is now just embarrassing instead of depressing. Dallas pushed Jeff off the top though and it’s time to start the stomping in the corner. Miz (oh yeah he’s in this match) comes in for a reverse chinlock but Jeff kicks him away without too much effort.

Instead it’s Axel coming in to twist Jeff’s neck around as the fans chant for BROTHER NERO. Jeff dropkicks Miz and Dallas off the apron and knocks Axel away as well, allowing the lukewarm tag off to Matt. The middle rope elbow to the back of the neck gets two on Miz but he’s right back up with the YES Kicks. Matt shrugs those off though and there’s a Side Effect for the same. Jordan comes in to throw Axel around, including a suplex for two. Everything breaks down and Miz makes a blind tag, setting up a Skull Crushing Finale to pin Jordan at 10:31.

Rating: C. The crowd killed what would have otherwise been a pretty good six man tag. When you can hear the wrestlers breathing, it’s pretty clear that there isn’t much going on in the arena, which isn’t exactly the atmosphere you want for a show billed as a big party. The match itself was fine, and it helps to not have watched it six days earlier.

Kickoff Show: Cruiserweight Title: Akira Tozawa vs. Neville

Tozawa, part of Titus Worldwide, is defending after winning the title from Neville on Monday. He also has a banged up shoulder. You remember Neville. He was the awesome guy who turned into one of the best heels in the company but WWE decided that having him put over Enzo Amore made more sense and since there was apparently no way Neville could be a heavyweight again, he walked out a few months later.

Neville shoulders him down to start and then dropkicks the glare off of Tozawa’s face. That’s it for now though as Neville sends him outside and screams a lot, as is his custom. The jumping backsplash crushes Neville back inside but he’s able to snap Tozawa’s throat across the top rope. Back from a break with Neville scoring off a missile dropkick to the back for two and stopping to sneer.

The chinlock lets Tozawa have a breather and he fights up to send Neville outside again. That means the big suicide dive and a Saito suplex but it’s too early for the top rope backsplash. Instead Tozawa reverses a fireman’s carry into an Octopus hold as he’s certainly keeping things varied. Neville makes the ropes so Tozawa hits a Shining Wizard for two.

An enziguri staggers Tozawa but he’s right back with a second Shining Wizard to put both guys down. Tozawa is up first but gets pulled down by the bad shoulder. His legs are fine enough to kick Neville in the head and it’s time to go up again. After knocking Neville off the top, the backsplash hits knees and the champ is in big trouble. Neville jumps up top and hits the Red Arrow to the back for the pin and the title at 11:45.

Rating: C+. I get what they were going for here with the title change taking place on Summerslam but why not go with the first title change here and then switch it back tomorrow or the next week on Raw? Or, dare I suggest it, on 205 Live? Other than that it felt like they were just kind of going through the motions at times, but Neville going through the motions is still pretty good.

The crowd is fine now.

Kickoff Show: Smackdown Tag Team Titles: Usos vs. New Day

New Day is defending in what is kind of another Smackdown rematch, though it’s a different New Day lineup. Tonight it’s Woods and Big E., who has a huge cape. On the way to the ring, Kofi talks about how this is the place New Day first sang together and the original Francesca was born. Her sacrifice is what allowed us to have Francesca II: TURBO. Tonight they’re here to tear the house down with the Usos one more time.

Woods and Jimmy start things off in a technical sequence until Woods hits a roaring elbow to knock Jimmy’s block off. Some forearms in the corner have Jimmy in trouble but he gets in a shot to the face to stagger Woods. Back from a break with Jey putting on a chinlock and then slinging Woods into the corner. Woods knocks Jey off the top and avoids a charge from Jimmy. A missile dropkick has Jey in trouble but Jimmy pulls Big E. off the apron.

Thankfully the hot tag isn’t just a few seconds later and a backbreaker/middle rope knee combination gets two. Woods is in big trouble but scores with a victory roll faceplant (not a bad little move), which is finally enough for the hot tag to Big E. House is cleaned, including the release Rock Bottom out of the corner for two on Jey. Big E. powerbombs Woods onto Jey as the fast tags begin.

Woods even manages to electric chair Big E. so he can splash Jey as well but Jimmy comes in for a save. The double spinebuster gets two on Big E. and there’s the running Umaga attack for good measure as the pace picks up. Woods comes back in for a Rock Bottom into a Backstabber, which is somehow only good for two. That’s a heck of a finisher for those two if they’re ever a regular team.

Jey gets a blind tag but Woods knocks both Usos to the floor just in case. Big E.’s spear through the ropes is cut off by a superkick and a Superfly Splash while he’s still stuck in the ropes. The regular Superfly Splash gets a close two on Woods but he pulls Jey into a Koji Clutch. That’s broken up as well so Woods goes with a Shining Wizard for two.

A tornado DDT to the floor plants Jey and Jimmy takes the Midnight Hour, only to have Jey dive in at the last second for another save. Jimmy Samoan drops Woods to the floor and Kofi gets sent into the steps for checking on his buddy. Big E. is right back up with the spear through the ropes to take Jey down. Woods is done though and it’s four straight superkicks to Big E. into the double Us to give the Usos the titles back at 19:09.

Rating: B. Is there any surprise that this was the best thing on the Kickoff Show? This took some time to get going but these four delivered, as always. They know how to work well together and the diving saves for the false finishes were great. You could run these two over and over again, which is exactly what happened for the next few months. That can only go on for so long though, and that’s why the division isn’t great to this day.

The opening video starts with a shot of Brooklyn before heading backstage. The bigger matches get a quick look as someone spray paints the Summerslam logo onto a wall. That’s rather generic for the opening of such a big show.

John Cena vs. Baron Corbin

Corbin attacked Shinsuke Nakamura after Nakamura beat Cena, who made the save. Cena then cost Corbin his Money in the Bank cash-in to really hammer this home. The fans, ever so nice, ask Baron where his briefcase is. Cena slides outside to mock Corbin, even throwing on JBL’s hat. Well that makes any adult look like a moron so Corbin gives chase but Cena slides back in.

A headlock keeps Corbin on trouble as JBL points out the Cena issue with the crowd: they’re always chanting about him, whether it’s positive or negative. That’s not the best sign for the opponents, but at least Corbin had the chant to start the match. Some knees to the ribs put Cena in trouble and Corbin pops him in the jaw with a right hand.

The slide underneath the corner sets up the hard clothesline for two and Corbin is already looking frustrated. A suplex gets the same so it’s time to yell at the referee. Corbin hits a World’s Strongest Slam and we hit the chinlock. The fans ask about the briefcase again so Corbin says it’s on Cena. Another comeback starts up with the flying shoulders until Corbin slides under the ropes again, only to slide back in for a chokebreaker.

Cena blocks a superplex attempt and hits a tornado DDT, sending the fans right back into their chorus of booing. The AA is reversed into a Deep Six and Corbin can’t believe the kickout. He’s so serious that the shirt comes off and more slugging ensues. Cena sends him into the corner for the third slide but this time Corbin eats a big clothesline. The AA is good for the pin at 10:12.

Rating: D+. So that happened. The story wasn’t great, the action was nothing to see and Cena hit all of two moves to win in the end. Cena would go on to feud with Roman Reigns for the real rub, but that’s not the best way to boost Corbin. Just a complete nothing of a match here and it felt like they were getting it out of the way instead of featuring it, which is really weird to see for Cena.

Cena hugging kids and throwing his wristbands and dog tags is always cool to see. That just works.

Some wrestlers played Rocket League.

We recap Naomi vs. Natalya. Naomi won the title at Wrestlemania but Natalya thinks she’s turned it into a toy. Natalya attacked Becky Lynch after a match so Naomi made the save. This qualifies for the build to a title match.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Natalya vs. Naomi

Naomi is defending and gets slapped in the face at the bell but snaps off a hurricanrana to get herself out of trouble. A Blockbuster off the steps gives Naomi two more but Natalya posts her hard to take over. Back in and Natalya stomps away but the emotional offense has never been her strong suit. James Ellsworth and Miss Money in the Bank Carmella are watching in the back (she held that thing so long that she is still champion and Ellsworth has left, returned and left again in less than a year) as Natalya hits a running clothesline.

Naomi’s kicks to the legs don’t have much effect so Natalya grabs an abdominal stretch. That goes nowhere so Natalya hits the discus lariat for two and loads up a superplex. Naomi slips out and hits a super Russian legsweep, which of course gets us to even despite both of them taking the same impact. A spinning kick to the head and a headscissors driver give Naomi two but the dancing kicks are shrugged off (as they should be) with Natalya dropkicking her in the face.

Natalya gets caught in the ropes though and a slingshot legdrop gives Naomi two. The reverse Rings of Saturn is countered into the Sharpshooter but Naomi pulls rolls through and sends Natalya head first into the buckle. Not that it matters though as the split legged moonsault misses, setting up another Sharpshooter to make Naomi tap at 10:50.

Rating: D+. I was bored during this as Natalya is a black hole of charisma and Naomi isn’t the best at being serious. The wrestling was dull too and there was nothing happening here to draw me in. It doesn’t help when the women’s division on both shows have been dominated by the Four Horsewomen for so long that it’s almost impossible to get invested in anyone else (though Naomi has come a long, long way in the last year).

Post match Naomi is rather depressed.

We recap Big Cass vs. Big Show. Cass and Enzo Amore have split up and Show is standing up for him. Tonight though Enzo is being locked in a cage (good start) and Show has a broken hand thanks to Cass crushing it in the shark cage.

Big Show vs. Big Cass

Before the match, Enzo makes various Brooklyn/New York City rap references. He talks about loving to talk and how his worst day is better than Cass’ best and Cass has no heart. Thankfully Cass comes out to cut off the never ending promo and Enzo goes up in the cage. Show, not being the brightest guy in the world, hits Cass with the broken hand as Enzo is already running his mouth. He dances in the cage a bit, shouting about having the best seat in the house.

Cass gets thrown around and kicked in the ribs and there’s the side slam, only to have Show bang up the hand again. Enzo shouts something about Patrick the Starfish as Show misses a Vader Bomb, injuring his hand again. Cass’ big boot is blocked by a weak KO punch for two but the second attempt hits Show’s chest. It’s time to start in on the hand even more, despite that not really doing anything that’s going to let Cass pin him. Something like an armbar has Enzo jumping up and down, further making me want to see him put inside a wood chipper.

The fans call the hold boring so Cass stops, poses, and puts it on again. Show throws him down and hits a left armed clothesline, followed by the chokeslam for two. The hand goes into the post as Enzo is leaning through the cage bars. With Show down, Enzo pulls off his pants and whips out a bottle of lubricant (there’s no way I’m touching that one), oils himself up, and gets out of the cage. The match completely stops until Enzo gets down so Cass can kick him in the face. A pair of big boots put Show down and the Empire Elbow is good for the pin at 10:29.

Rating: F+. What in the world was that supposed to be? This was all about the bad hand but somehow it became about Enzo, that loudmouthed idiot, and then Cass just wins clean. I have no idea how this was the best idea they had but it was an awful match and a big waste of time. If I ever see Enzo oiled up again, I’ll be off in the next room gouging my eyes out.

General Manager Kurt Angle and Daniel Bryan get in a YES/NO off about which show will be better for the rest of the night.

Randy Orton vs. Rusev

Rusev jumps him from behind before the bell and Orton is in trouble. They get inside for the bell and it’s the RKO in ten seconds. That would be your “well the card is huge and we have to cut something” match of the night.

Bayley wishes Sasha Banks good luck tonight. Banks is taking her place due to a shoulder injury.

Raw Women’s Title: Sasha Banks vs. Alexa Bliss

Banks is challenging and has special gear that makes her look like a peacock (so she’s copying Charlotte tonight). Bliss gets fired up to start and slugs away in the corner but Banks flips her around and hammers at the champ’s head. One heck of a forearm drops Banks and Bliss talks some trash. With the forearms boring her, Bliss pulls Banks’ hair around the ropes and crotches her on the middle rope for painful measure. We hit the chinlock as it’s almost all Bliss in the early going.

A lot more trash talk sets up a choke shove to put Banks down again as the fans are trying to get behind Banks. The middle rope knees into the moonsault knees give Bliss two more and she drops Banks on the back of her head for the same. Bliss goes to the middle rope and chokes some more until Banks slams her down. A dropkick and clothesline put the champ down for two but she knees Banks in the face to take over again. Bliss’ Code Red out of the corner is countered into something like an Alabama Slam, followed by just kneeing the heck out of Bliss in the corner.

The Bank Statement doesn’t work as Bliss is right next to the ropes. Bliss pulls her down into the ring skirt and dumps Banks to the floor for a near countout, with Bliss freaking out when she gets back in. Twisted Bliss only gets two more and now Bliss doesn’t know what to do. Since hitting it again is out of the question, Bliss picks her up and gets pulled down into the Bank Statement. Banks’ shoulder gives out so she tries the hold again and Bliss taps at 13:17.

Rating: C. Nothing much to see here with Banks shrugging off everything Bliss threw at her and winning without a ton of drama. Bliss got to show off the offense here and looked very good, though there’s not much she can do when Banks is on offense for all of a minute and a half and wins completely clean. Banks would lose the title just eight days later, continuing her trend of not being able to remain champion for very long.

Video on wrestlers auditioning to be the new Colonel Sanders. A fight breaks out and Shawn Michaels winds up winning in one of the most random, bizarre things you’ll ever see. Becky Lynch as the Colonel oddly works.

We recap Finn Balor vs. Bray Wyatt. Bray had targeted Balor as his latest false idol, beat him on Raw, and covered him in fake blood. Balor then decided to bring the Demon back to fight as hard as he could. This worked in NXT but not up here and that was mainly for one reason: Cole explaining/hyping the Demon EVERY TWO FREAKING SECONDS, saying over and over that “the Demon is Finn Balor’s alter ego” because WWE doesn’t think its fans are that bright. I don’t think NXT ever actually explained it (if they did it was once) because they know how smart fans can be. And that’s why the Demon has never been back.

Finn Balor vs. Bray Wyatt

Cole mentions the Demon idea again during Bray’s entrance but gets cut off as He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands starts playing for Finn. We get the big smoky entrance with Finn looking awesome and the camera getting an AWESOME shot of him with his back to the ring and the crowd posing with him. Balor gets to the ring and LET’S HIT THAT EXPLANATION again. Seriously it’s not exactly a character that needs to be broken down and it’s made worse when Cole does it.

Wyatt is hesitant to start and a right hand just ticks Balor off. Balor shows him how to throw some real right hands and Wyatt needs a breather on the floor. You don’t do that to Balor, who charges around the corner to drop Wyatt again. Back in and Balor isn’t phased by the upside down stare so Wyatt bails to the floor. This time it’s a big flip dive as it’s all Balor so far. Bray finally pulls him off the apron and hammers away, followed by something like a reverse Stunner out of the corner.

Of course that means a chinlock, because even though Bray is a cult leader, he still follows WWE wrestling tropes. Balor is right back up with a Pele kick and a baseball slide to the floor. The double stomp from the apron to Bray’s back keeps him in trouble, causing Graves to drop a (failed) external occipital protuberance reference. I knew I liked him for a reason.

Bray kicks him in the face and hits the release Rock Bottom for two. The running backsplash gets the same but Finn kicks him to the floor for the shotgun dropkick against the barricade. Back in and Bray scores with a kick so it’s spider walk time. Balor pops to his feet, hits a Sling Blade, another shotgun dropkick, and the Coup de Grace for the pin at 10:39.

Rating: D. This was as exciting as Bray hitting some basic offense while Balor did all of his usual stuff. The problem again is in the Demon, which was what Balor would bring out for his biggest, most violent fights. When it’s just the standard wrestling match and even a pretty dominant Finn performance, the whole Demon character is pretty much a waste.

Ad for the Mae Young Classic. In other words, the modern NXT women’s division.

We recap Seth Rollins/Dean Ambrose vs. the Bar, which is built around the idea of Dean and Seth not being able to trust each other. They kept offering the Shield fist until they FINALLY got back together, mainly due to having to deal with the Bar. Now they’re united after a very well done series of segments that them saving each other but not being willing to trust each other. They got in a fight though and the Bar coming out to join in was FINALLY enough to get them to agree to fight together. This was actually a heck of a build and I got sucked into it, both live and again during the recap video.

Raw Tag Team Titles: The Bar vs. Seth Rollins/Dean Ambrose

Sheamus and Cesaro are defending and it’s Sheamus getting taken down so the challengers can drop some elbows. Rollins Downward Spirals Cesaro into Dean’s boot and the champs are cleared out early on. A quick distraction lets Sheamus Brogue Kick Dean so Seth tries a suicide dive onto both guys. That gets him slammed down hard as momentum changes in a hurry.

We settle down to Cesaro gutwrench suplexing Seth and the chinlock goes on. Rollins fights back and hits a Blockbuster but Ambrose is still down off what is apparently the most devastating Brogue Kick of all time. Sheamus keeps Rollins in the corner as Cesaro runs into the crowd and destroys a beach ball, because Cesaro is more awesome than you. An enziguri gets Rollins out of trouble but this time it’s Cesaro cutting him off. Seth sends him outside though and Cesaro comes up holding his knee.

Rollins goes out after him with Sheamus following, meaning it’s Dean diving onto everyone at once. Back in and Rollins rolls underneath Cesaro and makes the hot tag to bring in Ambrose. Everything breaks down and Seth springboards in with a clothesline to Sheamus. There’s the double suicide dive and the fans are eating up all these double team spots. We settle down again with Ambrose powering out of the Neutralizer and hitting the rebound lariat, only to have Sheamus cut off the tag.

Ambrose catches him on top with a superplex into a very fast frog splash from Rollins but Cesaro makes the save. Rollins and Ambrose are tired of this tagging stuff and unload on Sheamus in the corner but he’s right back with a tilt-a-whirl slam. Cesaro swings Dean for all of two rotations and the Sharpshooter goes on, with Dean looking more surprised than in pain. With Dean getting close to the rope, Cesaro rolls over into a Crossface to change focal points.

Instead of going for the submission, Cesaro loads up a powerbomb with Sheamus adding a top rope clothesline for another close two. Rollins finally comes in and gets knocked outside just as fast. Dean tells the champs to bring it so they load up a spike White Noise. Hang on though as Rollins is right in there with a hurricanrana to send Cesaro into Dean and Sheamus for the save. The wind up knee into Dirty Deeds finishes Sheamus for the titles at 18:38.

Rating: B. This took some time to get going but there was no other way to go with the finish. Rollins and Ambrose are a great team and the fans love them so let them have a long match and take the titles for a change. There was some chemistry here and that made for a good, long match that the show desperately needed.

We recap AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens. They’ve traded the US Title for a few months now and Owens is claiming a conspiracy thanks to the referee missing his shoulder being up in the most recent title match. Therefore, Shane McMahon is guest referee tonight, despite having a history with AJ and a history of being a crooked referee.

US Title: AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens

AJ is defending with Shane as guest referee. They get in a fight before the bell with Shane pulling them apart twice in a row, because Shane is going to be the focal point here. The bell rings and they fight out to the floor with AJ hitting a knee from the apron. Back in and AJ keeps him down, followed by a knee drop. One heck of a clothesline takes AJ’s head off and the Cannonball gets two.

The backsplash gets the same and the near fall off the Edge-O-Matic has Owens yelling at Shane. AJ is right back with a belly to back faceplant and the fireman’s carry into a backbreaker gives him two of his own. They’re both banged up and the delay allows Owens to “accidentally” shove Shane into the ropes to crotch AJ on top. He’s fine enough for a springboard 450, which hits Shane after Owens pulls him in. For reasons of storyline convenience, AJ is down after splashing Shane, allowing Owens to hit the Pop Up Powerbomb for two, thanks to a delayed count.

That means ANOTHER argument with Shane, allowing AJ to grab the Calf Crusher but Owens pokes him in the eye. Owens sends AJ into Shane to knock him to the floor, meaning there’s no referee to see Owens tap to another Calf Crusher. Now it’s AJ’s turn to yell at Shane, who shoves AJ into a rollup for a pretty fast two. The annoyed AJ puts him on top, only to get caught in the swinging superplex for the big crash.

Owens wins a slugout but gets reversed into a Styles Clash for a clean two. The Pop Up Powerbomb gets three, though with AJ’s foot on the ropes at one. Shane: “TWO!” That means another argument with Shane, who shoves Owens into a rollup for two, meaning they’re not repeating spots from earlier in the match. The Phenomenal Forearm into the Styles Clash retains AJ’s title at 17:23.

Rating: B-. Well of course most of the match was about Shane, because that’s what a Summerslam title match should be about. The wrestling was fine but you kept waiting on Shane to do something else. I’m not sure how this was the best they could do with Styles, but at least there’s an Owens vs. Shane story set up for the next eight months. That’s more important than the US Title and Summerslam right?

Video on some fans winning a sweepstakes and got to go to the show.

We recap Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Jinder Mahal and I can feel the headache coming. Mahal won the WWE Championship in a period of Vince McMahon insanity and has held it since May. Nakamura has hit Kinshasa on a bunch of people, including Cena to become #1 contender. In other words: help us Shinsuke Nakamura. You’re our only hope.

Smackdown World Title: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Jinder Mahal

Nakamura is challenging and a live violinist plays him to the ring. The fans singing the song is awesome as usual, especially when you consider it doesn’t have words. Jinder grabs a wristlock to start so Nakamura spins around into a headlock, much to the crowd’s delight. Nakamura puts him up against the ropes for the arm shaking and the required COME ON. Mahal bails to the floor so it’s a triple COME ON, including the Singh Brothers. The fans chant for 3MB because the comedy version of Mahal is better than the main event version.

With nothing else going on, let’s go to the Japanese commentary team. I don’t speak Japanese so it’s all Greek to me. Back in and Nakamura drops a knee and hits some Good Vibrations as Mahal has nothing. As in all together, not just so far. The Singh Brothers offer a distraction though and Mahal knocks him off the apron to take over for the first time. Some knee drops set up a chinlock, followed by Mahal doing the COME ON pose but shouting his own name.

After that brilliant display of saying his name, it’s back to the chinlock. Nakamura fights up with a kick to the face and some YES Kicks to set up the running knee to the ribs. With the covers not working, Nakamura grabs a triangle choke but Mahal gets his foot in the ropes. Nakamura’s running knee in the corner hits buckle and Mahal adds a jumping knee to the face for two of his own. Mahal goes shoulder first into the post but the Singh Brothers’ distraction lets Mahal hit a chinlock slam (he has ONE MOVE and can’t even do that right) to retain at 11:25.

Rating: D-. You know, it’s been about nine months since Mahal lost the title and e-freaking-gads I had forgotten how awful his title reign really was. This felt like a bad house show main event and it’s the biggest Smackdown match on the second biggest show of the year. You can feel the fans dying out there when Mahal is….well doing anything actually, but in this case I’ll go with being on offense and winning. I remember watching Sami Zayn and Shinsuke Nakamura beat the living tar out of each other for twenty minutes at Takeover: Dallas. Now though, a weak/botched/terrible cobra clutch slam puts him down? Not a chance.

We recap the Universal Title match with Brock Lesnar defending against Braun Strowman, Roman Reigns and Samoa Joe. Lesnar was announced as facing all three challengers and since he wasn’t happy, he’s threatened to leave WWE if he loses. The three challengers all say they can be the man to take out Lesnar. There’s just not much else to be said here but this is by far and away the main event.

Universal Title: Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman vs. Samoa Joe

Lesnar is defending and it’s one fall to a finish. Cole picks Reigns to win because Reigns beat Undertaker at Wrestlemania. Cole: “How can you bet against that?” You pick the guy who did it first, you nitwit. Reigns is of course booed out of the building because….oh you know the drill by now.

The brawl is on to start (well duh) with Strowman throwing Reigns to the floor and Brock hitting a belly to belly on Joe. Strowman gets posted and it’s time for the Reigns vs. Lesnar showdown that no one but WWE seems to love. Booker tries to say that Lesnar knew nothing but winning in UFC, which I’ll leave you to make fun of. Some suplexes put Reigns on the floor and it’s Strowman time.

Now THIS gets the fans’ attention but Reigns and Joe are right back in to break up the fun. That lasts all of five seconds before it’s back to Strowman vs. Lesnar, meaning another YES chant. Strowman LAUNCHES Brock into the corner and hits a heck of a clothesline to put the champ on the floor. As usual, Lesnar’s selling is very underrated. Everyone is on the floor now and Joe chokes Lesnar but sidesteps a Reigns spear, sending Lesnar through the barricade. That spot will always look cool.

Strowman is back up and loads up the title (with Graves hoping he uses Saxton as a weapon), setting up a running powerslam to drive a kicking Lesnar through it. The fans REALLY like that but here’s Reigns to kick Strowman in the face and kill their buzz all over again. Joe is back up with a suicide elbow to take Reigns out, meaning the fans are won right back. Thankfully Cole is doing a great job of explaining how cool it is to see people this big doing this stuff.

That’s exactly what he should be doing and it’s working here. Strowman throws an announcers’ chair at Joe and Reigns in a cool spot, followed by a second powerslam through a table to put Lesnar down again. Heyman has a look on his face that says “well, I didn’t see that one coming”. Fans: “ONE MORE TABLE!” Greedy twits. To mix things up a bit, Strowman picks that one up and turns it on top of the already out Lesnar. Half a dozen people come out to get the table off of Lesnar and a stretcher is brought out as Heyman seems to be near tears.

We’re not done yet though as Strowman hits Joe and Reigns in the head with the steps. With the steps in the ring, Reigns fires off the corner clotheslines and hits a good steps shot into Strowman’s shoulder. Joe’s rollup gets two on Reigns but he’s right back up with a Samoan drop for two. The Superman Punch is countered into the Koquina Clutch but Strowman (with some blood next to his ear) is back in with a double chokeslam. Everyone is down so here comes Lesnar again.

Strowman is the only one on his feet so it’s time for the big showdown. A running clothesline takes Strowman to the floor and there’s a German suplex each to Joe and Reigns. Strowman comes back in and elbow his way out of a German suplex, only to get caught in the Kimura. That’s broken up with a Superman Punch, with Joe and Lesnar taking one each as well. Reigns spears Lesnar for two so here’s Strowman for a dropkick to Reigns, just because he can do that too.

The powerslam gets two on Joe with Lesnar pulling the referee out at the last second. A Superman Punch gets two on Strowman, whose kickout puts Reigns on his feet. There’s a powerslam to Reigns with Lesnar making the save but getting loaded up into the F5. That’s broken up by a Reigns spear, drawing Joe back in for a Clutch on Lesnar. Brock reverses into the F5 but Reigns is right in there with some Superman Punches. Three in a row put Lesnar down but the spear is countered into the F5 to retain Brock’s title at 20:53.

Rating: A-. What a fight and that’s all it needed to be. They were making Godzilla/King Kong references here and they nailed the idea to near perfection. The best thing here was Strowman looking awesome and like the man that could beat Lesnar if he had the chance, with the bonus of Reigns taking the fall again. It’s not like Reigns losing was going to hurt him (it hasn’t yet) so going this was was the right call. This was all about violence and that was the story: big, strong people beating each other up for twenty minutes and all of the chaos that it caused. Well done, all around.

Lesnar can barely stand to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. This show suffered from the same problem as the modern Wrestlemania. It’s not the length that is the problem (the show never really did drag) but rather that almost nothing has a chance to sink in. Everything jumped from one match to the other and most of the matches didn’t have a ton of time.

It was “well that happened so let’s move on” time after time and that doesn’t make for a special show. The show isn’t terrible but aside from the main event, nothing on here felt important and that’s not what Summerslam needs to be. In other words: cut some stuff out and let it breathe, which might as well be the standard operating criticism around here.

Ratings Comparison

Miz/Miztourage vs. Hardy Boyz/Jason Jordan

Original: C-
Redo: C

Neville vs. Akira Tozawa

Original: C

Redo: C+

New Day vs. Usos

Original: B+

Redo: B

John Cena vs. Baron Corbin

Original: D

Redo: D+

Naomi vs. Natalya

Original: C-

Redo: D+

Big Cass vs. Big Show

Original: D

Redo: F+

Randy Orton vs. Rusev

Original: N/A

Redo: N/A

Alexa Bliss vs. Sasha Banks

Original: B-

Redo: C

Bray Wyatt vs. Finn Balor

Original: C+

Redo: D

Dean Ambrose/Seth Rollins vs. The Bar

Original: B

Redo: B

Kevin Owens vs. AJ Styles

Original: B

Redo: B-

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Jinder Mahal

Original: D+

Redo: D-

Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe vs. Braun Strowman

Original: A

Redo: A-

Overall Rating

Original: B

Redo: C-

Time has NOT been kind to this show and aside from two (or maybe three) matches, it’s not worth seeing.

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

kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/08/20/summerslam-2017-the-star-of-stars/

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/07/23/new-book-kbs-complete-2003-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

Main Event
Date: July 12, 2018
Location: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Commentators: Percy Watson, Nigel McGuinness, Vic Joseph

It’s the go home week for Extreme Rules and my goodness that doesn’t exactly bode well for the things they’ll be recapping here. This show has been one of the weakest builds in recent memory and while Smackdown was better this week, Raw was its usual horrid self. How often do I have to say something like this anymore? Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Titus Worldwide vs. Authors of Pain

Crews does what he can with Akam but gets tossed into the corner, followed by Rezar tossing him right back out of said corner. It’s back to Akam for a cobra clutch and a t-bone suplex but Crews sends him into the corner as well. The hot tag brings in Titus to show off some power, including a powerslam for two on Akam. Not that it matters as the Last Chapter is good for the pin at 4:22.

Rating: D+. Actually not too bad here as they kept it moving and the Authors got to look good. The important thing here is to have the Authors establish themselves on the main roster and beating up teams like this is a great way to start that process. It’s nothing great and it won’t mean anything, but at least they’re getting the idea right.

Video on Bobby Lashley vs. Roman Reigns.

From Raw.

Lashley and Reigns are in the back, arguing about Reigns going to the ring. Lashley wants Reigns to call him out as a DANIEL BRYAN chant drowns out some of whatever they’re saying. Lashley steps to the side and tells Reigns to carry on.

Here’s Reigns in the ring for a chat and he wastes no time in calling Lashley out. Before anything can happen though, here’s Kurt Angle, flanked by Baron Corbin, to interrupt. Angle wants them to save it for Sunday but the brawl is on anyway. A bunch of midcarders can’t break it up and the fight breaks out over and over again. Reigns is finally taken to the floor as Finn Balor gets in a shot on Corbin for a nice bit of continuity.

The fight keeps breaking out with even more people coming out and failing to separate them. Lashley keeps punching and throws Reigns inside but is finally pushed to the back. Reigns isn’t done though and hits the BIG dive over the top to take out about twenty people at the same time. Reigns’ music plays but he comes back AGAIN and dives at Lashley. Really, really solid segment here but it’s going to be annoying when this headlines again over the World Title. Also, they need to bring this intensity to the match instead of the boring match Reigns and Samoa Joe had at Backlash.

Again from Raw.

Nia Jax/Natalya vs. Mickie James/Alexa Bliss

Natalya wastes no time in trying a Sharpshooter on James but gets kicked away, allowing the tag to Bliss. The same Sharpshooter attempt sends Bliss bailing to the floor so Natalya baseball slides both villains down. Back from an early break with Natalya being sent into the corner so Bliss can hit her running slap. We hit the chinlock so IT’S TIME FOR AN INSET PROMO FOR SUNDAY! Sweet, I was worried that we wouldn’t get these stupid things again. Back to full screen with Natalya getting over for the hot tag to Nia, who starts wrecking Mickie. The splash in the corner sets up the big leg to give Nia the pin at 8:09.

Rating: D. Well what we saw was decent, but the inset promo felt like a second commercial. That and Nia just running over everyone has been done, especially since it’s a near guarantee that she loses on Sunday, allowing Bliss to go to Summerslam and hang with Ronda Rousey for a long match. Just not enough content here to make it work.

Immediately after the pin, Bliss hits Jax in the back with a kendo stick. The stick is quickly taken away and broken as Bliss runs away in a hurry.

Video on Kevin Owens vs. Braun Strowman.

Curt Hawkins vs. Chad Gable

Hawkins takes him down with a wristlock and actually gets a LET’S GO HAWKINS chant. Gable easily wins the second wristlock battle and armdrags him into an armbar. A monkey flip sends Hawkins flying but he rams Gable throat first into the rope. Back from a break with Hawkins getting two off a Michinoku Driver in a near fall. A powerbomb is loaded up but Gable slips out and sends him into the corner for Rolling Chaos Theory and the pin at 8:30.

Rating: C-. I know it’s not likely to go anywhere anytime soon but Hawkins is getting closer to actually winning a match. I’m not sure if they’ll ever actually pull the trigger and have him win something but at least they’re not having it be squash after squash. Hawkins can put on a good enough match and that’s what he did here, with Gable getting to look good in the end.

We see the big brawl that opened Smackdown and set up the main event.

New Day/HELL NO vs. Bludgeon Brothers/Sanity

In kayfabe, that’s some pretty awesome timing for the production staff to know when the match is going to grind to a halt so these videos can air. Back to full screen with Dain hitting a backsplash, just in time to go to a commercial. We’re not even nine minutes into this match and we’ve had two commercials and an inset promo. I know this is crazy for a fan to say, but I’d actually like to watch the match instead of an ad every three minutes.

Back with Woods still in trouble and Harper’s Michinoku Driver getting two. New Day makes the save, allowing Woods to hit his springboard tornado DDT on Harper. The hot tag brings in Bryan to hammer on Young as everything breaks down. We hit a parade of secondary finishers until Big E. spears Dain off the apron. Back in and Bryan knees Young down for the pin at 16:41.

Rating: C+. Well what we saw of it was good. A match that isn’t even eighteen minutes long doesn’t need two breaks and an inset promo as a mini break, but WWE has too much stuff to advertise to do a match like this uninterrupted. If nothing else Sanity getting this kind of push (two months after being announced) out of the shoot is nice, and odds are they win on Sunday.

And from Raw one more time.

Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre

If Rollins wins, Drew is banned from ringside on Sunday. McIntyre powers him into the corner with ease to start, allowing McIntyre to do his kneeling pose. A dropkick has almost no effect and McIntyre runs him over with a shoulder. It’s off to an armbar with McIntyre in full control so far. A chinlock keeps Rollins in trouble and McIntyre chops him back down to set up another armbar.

McIntyre drives him back first into the apron and we take a break. Back with Rollins flying off an overhead belly to belly and some stomps to the arm setting up yet another armbar. Rollins fights up and finally gets a breather by sending McIntyre face first into the middle buckle. McIntyre heads to the floor for back to back suicide dives, followed by the middle rope Blockbuster for a near fall of his own.

A charge in the corner goes badly for Rollins though as McIntyre grabs a reverse Alabama Slam, sending Rollins face first into the mat on a nasty looking landing. A sitout powerbomb gets two more but McIntyre gets caught up top, allowing Rollins to kick him into the Tree of Woe. That’s fine with Drew, who sits up and superplexes Rollins back down.

The Claymore is blocked with a superkick into the Falcon Arrow to rock McIntyre. It doesn’t rock him enough though as McIntyre scores with a headbutt, which seems to fire McIntyre up all over again. Rollins is fine enough to hit a Buckle Bomb and low superkick, followed by a curb stomp to an invading Ziggler. The distraction is enough for McIntyre to hit the Claymore for the pin at 21:06.

Rating: B. Now that’s more like it as this show was needing a long, good match to really boost things up. Thankfully they seem to have started planting the seeds for McIntyre to split from Ziggler but that needs to happen around Summerslam or so because Ziggler is already getting way too much focus by comparison. At least McIntyre won here though, as a loss would have been a rather bad idea.

Overall Rating: D+. Holy sweet merciful goodness what has happened to Smackdown? I mean I know it’s just Smackdown being Smackdown but egads this was basically the Raw highlight show with Smackdown being thrown in at the end. That was the case with Extreme Rules as well and it’s becoming more of a problem every week. Just pretend it matters. Is that too much to ask.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

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

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

It’s another pay per view and WWE isn’t exactly hiding the fact that this is just a pit stop on the way to Summerslam….whatever that’s going to be. The show isn’t exactly extreme with a cage match, an Extreme Rules match and an Iron Man match. It’s also a ten match card (plus two matches on the Kickoff Show, because this needed two matches on the Kickoff Show), one of which is guaranteed to go thirty minutes, that they claim will be ending at 10:30pm. Last time that meant 11:20 so maybe they can make it even later this time. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Sanity vs. New Day

This is a tables match for the sake of trying to make the show live up to its name. Ignore the fact that this isn’t actually on the show of course. Sanity was called up back in April but didn’t debut until June because….uh, reasons. New Day makes perfect sense for a first feud so this is as good about as good as things are going to be at the moment. That being said, Sanity has looked good so far so maybe there’s some hope.

I’ll take Sanity to win here as there’s no reason for them to lose. New Day has nothing to gain by winning here and Sanity has yet to actually win a big match. The violence would seem to suit Sanity quite well and a win over one of the best trios ever would do them some good. Killian Dain gets to look like a monster and overpower Big E. while Eric Young probably gets the win. That’s how it should go and New Day will put in a good performance in the process.

Kickoff Show: Andrade Cien Almas vs. Sin Cara

Here’s another match on the Kickoff Show which was added for the sake of adding something else. They already did the match on Tuesday and while it seemed quite good, a lot of it took place during the commercial. I’m not sure why they felt the need to cram something else in but that’s the way WWE tends to go.

Of course I’ll take Almas to win here because even WWE isn’t crazy enough to have him lose to someone as low level as Cara. Almas could become a top star in a very short amount of time around here and having him lose to Cara would be one of the dumbest things that WWE could do to him. If the match is as good as the one on Tuesday was though, we’ll be fine.

US Title: Jeff Hardy(c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

This was supposed to happen a few weeks ago but Nakamura was bitten by a police dog (wrestling writers wish they could come up with something that out of nowhere) and the match had to be postponed. Hardy has been champion for about three months now and all of his injuries have really held his reign back. What could have been a stepping stone to the main event has been every lame midcard title reign all over again.

Nakamura winning the title here is really the only result that makes sense here and somehow, despite being in the World Title match at WrestleMania earlier in the year, he kind of needs it. Hardy has shown that he can bounce back almost immediately from any loss but Nakamura has won a grand total of one important match (when he beat AJ Styles, allowing him to pick the stipulation for the next match, which he also lost) in the last few months. Give him the title and let people chase him for a few months.

SmackDown Women’s Title: Carmella(c) vs. Asuka

Speaking of people who have fallen through the floor since WrestleMania, we have Asuka, who went from someone who was being talked about as a big time Ronda Rousey opponent to….this. Earlier this week I was worried that they might have James Ellsworth go over her and had to be relieved when he tapped. Carmella is getting better as a character, but when you go from Charlotte vs. Asuka to her very tired act with Ellsworth, it’s a bit of a drop.

I’ll go with Carmella retaining here, likely through some major shenanigans. Asuka can go off to beat up the Iconics again and either Becky Lynch or Charlotte can come up to challenge for the title. I’m really not feeling Carmella as champion long term and she needs to lose the title, but that doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon.

Braun Strowman vs. Kevin Owens

This was put inside a cage as Owens kept running away from Strowman and maybe because there was only one match involving anything EXTREME on the EXTREME Rules card. Strowman has had it in for Owens since Owens tried to get everyone against Strowman during Money in the Bank. For some reason this has sent Strowman over the edge, to the point where he’s destroyed Owens’ car and knocked him off the stage in a portable toilet. And we’re supposed to cheer for him.

I know the logical answer here would be to have Strowman wreck Owens all over again, but I can’t shake the feeling that WWE would rather have Strowman destroy him until Owens finds a way to sneak out so Strowman loses by slipping on a banana peel. For some reason they love the idea of having Mr. Money in the Bank lose before cashing in, which seems to be destined for Summerslam next month. I have a feeling I’m wrong but I’ll take Strowman with what should be the logical ending.

SmackDown Tag Team Titles: Bludgeon Brothers(c) vs. Team HELL NO

Here’s the real SmackDown main event, which does suggest that WWE sees something more in Daniel Bryan’s future than him just leaving in September. The reunion with Kane has been some very good television (I can always go for N’Sync lyrics) and if they can back it up in the ring to any degree, there’s some money to be made there.

That being said, I have no reason to believe that the titles are going to change here so we’ll go with the Brothers retaining. There’s a good chance that Kane turns on Bryan for trying to make him into less of a monster and not doing things the way Kane wants to, setting up a match at Summerslam. With Kane having his election coming up next month, putting the titles on Kane and Bryan would be rather dumb, even more so with the Brothers being a strong monster team. No change here, but I don’t think Kane turns on Bryan just yet.

Raw Women’s Title: Alexa Bliss(c) vs. Nia Jax

This is the show’s namesake match, likely taking place for the sake of trying to make this match feel more interesting than the first two times they did it earlier in the year. The personal issues have long since been settled, leaving Ronda Rousey being at ringside as the lone point of interest. That being said, WWE managed to cool her off after her great performance when she snapped, so I have little faith that they’ll get this right either.

I’ll go with Bliss retaining here as there’s no one not named Ember Moon around to challenge Jax for the title at Summerslam. Just let Rousey get involved somehow to set up Bliss’ complete and utter destruction next month. This isn’t exactly a thrilling story in the first place though as their regular matches weren’t great and Rousey is the real focal point, even though there’s little reason to believe that she’ll even be on the upcoming episodes of Monday Night Raw. Bliss retains, in the only logical conclusion they have.

Finn Balor vs. Baron Corbin

The fact that I can barely remember that this match is taking place tells you almost everything you need to know. I don’t really understand why they’re fighting in the first place but I have a feeling it has something to do with either something Stephanie McMahon wants or something unfunny that Balor said to set up a match for the sake of getting the two of them on the show.

Corbin wins here as he’s been built up far better over the last few weeks, but more importantly because Balor is ice cold right now. He has nothing going on at the moment and while Corbin isn’t very far ahead of him, at least he has a character with something to do. Just get this in and out because it’s a story that isn’t drawing any interest and really doesn’t need to be on the show.

Intercontinental Title: Dolph Ziggler(c) vs. Seth Rollins

This is the thirty minute Iron Man match, which was the long gimmick the show had on the card for a good while. We’ve already seen these two fight for about thirty minutes on Monday Night Raw a few weeks ago and the match wasn’t terrible, though I have little confidence in Ziggler being able to pull off another very good match.

I’m expecting a draw here actually, probably setting up WWE’s favorite blowoff match between smaller guys: the ladder match at Summerslam. Drew McIntyre can interfere a bit here and keep things even as Rollins would win on his own, so at least the guy who should have the title in the first place can be involved. The match should be fun, though it has the same issue that all Iron Man matches will have: you can skip the first twenty seven minutes or so and still get the important stuff. But hey, anything to fill in time.

Raw Tag Team Titles: Matt Hardy/Bray Wyatt(c) vs. B Team

Hardy and Wyatt had some potential a few months ago but my goodness it’s gone sailing out the window. This entire feud is built around the B Team parodying the champions week after week, making them more entertaining than the easy to mock champions. The B Team is just a comedy pairing and while they’re doing fine, it’s rather pathetic to see that they’re the best challengers WWE can come up with for these lame champions.

I’ll go with the champs to retain here while hoping to hear SAY YEAH as soon as they come to the ring the next night on Monday Night Raw. This should have been on the Kickoff Show for all the interest it has and while the B Team is funny, I can’t imagine them actually getting the titles. Go with what works (at least better than the other option) and keep the titles on Hardy and Wyatt until the Revival can take the titles they should have taken about a year ago.

SmackDown World Title: AJ Styles(c) vs. Rusev

I’ll spare you my well covered rant about how this should close the show because even I’m tired of hearing how stupid it is for the SmackDown World Title to be treated so badly. Rusev is finally getting some form of a reward after months of being one of the hottest things in the company, but at least Jinder Mahal got to pin him at WrestleMania. This is long overdue and somehow Rusev’s first ever one on one shot at the World Title.

Of course I’m going with Styles to retain here as Rusev is more of a Monster of the Month than anything else. Rusev can get a lot out of a match with Styles before moving on to something else, though I’m hoping he’ll be back to the main event scene (or two matches from the main event because the Tag Team Title match is SmackDown’s real main event) one day. Styles retains here and hopefully moves on to a showdown with Samoa Joe at Summerslam.

Bobby Lashley vs. Roman Reigns

That’s right. This is your main event. The match with nothing on the line and with no gimmick attached other than IT’S ROMAN FREAKING REIGNS. There’s a good chance that this is going to be the de facto #1 contender match because….well it’s a Reigns match….but naturally we can’t do that for the sake of making fans boo Brock Lesnar, which has worked so well before.

In something I’m going to regret, I’ll take Lashley to win here because he needs a major victory. That feud with Sami Zayn left a very bad taste in fans’ mouths so it would be rather beneficial to give him a win and a potential title shot at one of the biggest shows of the year. There’s no reason whatsoever to have Reigns win so you can probably pencil him in. I’ll take Lashley to win though and hope that WWE isn’t as stupid as they come off at times.

Overall Thoughts

Is it any real shock that this week’s Monday Night Raw audience was so absolutely terrible? Consider what we have on the red side: a match which will close the show that is built around a kind of personal issue but certainly not for the title shot because the champion has already said that neither of them are worthy of a shot. That’s the big deal around here and that’s supposed to be the big attraction. Oh and it’s a regular match of course because we can’t bother living up to the show’s title. This is one of the laziest builds I’ve ever seen and I can only hope that Summerslam is better. For some reason though, my hopes aren’t up.

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

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

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Monday Night Raw
Date: July 9, 2018
Location: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Jonathan Coachman

It’s the go home show for the mostly non-extreme Extreme Rules. Instead we’re currently focused on Kevin Owens being locked in a portable toilet and being covered in blue liquid, because that’s what the end of last week’s show spent ten minutes setting up. I wonder what thrills we have on tap this week. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of Bobby Lashley’s original WWE career, leading into his return and feud with Roman Reigns.

Lashley and Reigns are in the back, arguing about Reigns going to the ring. Lashley wants Reigns to call him out as a DANIEL BRYAN chant drowns out some of whatever they’re saying. Lashley steps to the side and tells Reigns to carry on.

Here’s Reigns in the ring for a chat and he wastes no time in calling Lashley out. Before anything can happen though, here’s Kurt Angle, flanked by Baron Corbin, to interrupt. Angle wants them to save it for Sunday but the brawl is on anyway. A bunch of midcarders can’t break it up and the fight breaks out over and over again. Reigns is finally taken to the floor as Finn Balor gets in a shot on Corbin for a nice bit of continuity.

The fight keeps breaking out with even more people coming out and failing to separate them. Lashley keeps punching and throws Reigns inside but is finally pushed to the back. Reigns isn’t done though and hits the BIG dive over the top to take out about twenty people at the same time. Reigns’ music plays but he comes back AGAIN and dives at Lashley. Really, really solid segment here but it’s going to be annoying when this headlines again over the World Title. Also, they need to bring this intensity to the match instead of the boring match Reigns and Samoa Joe had at Backlash.

Nia Jax/Natalya vs. Mickie James/Alexa Bliss

Natalya wastes no time in trying a Sharpshooter on James but gets kicked away, allowing the tag to Bliss. The same Sharpshooter attempt sends Bliss bailing to the floor so Natalya baseball slides both villains down. Back from an early break with Natalya being sent into the corner so Bliss can hit her running slap. We hit the chinlock so IT’S TIME FOR AN INSET PROMO FOR SUNDAY! Sweet, I was worried that we wouldn’t get these stupid things again. Back to full screen with Natalya getting over for the hot tag to Nia, who starts wrecking Mickie. The splash in the corner sets up the big leg to give Nia the pin at 8:09.

Rating: D. Well what we saw was decent, but the inset promo felt like a second commercial. That and Nia just running over everyone has been done, especially since it’s a near guarantee that she loses on Sunday, allowing Bliss to go to Summerslam and hang with Ronda Rousey for a long match. Just not enough content here to make it work.

Immediately after the pin, Bliss hits Jax in the back with a kendo stick. The stick is quickly taken away and broken as Bliss runs away in a hurry.

Post break, Nia promises to use the extreme rules to get back at Bliss for everything she’s done to her in the last few months because anything goes.

We recap Braun Strowman tormenting Kevin Owens last week.

Owens comes in to Angle’s office and complains about Angle allowing all of this to happen. He threatens Angle with various legal issues over last week but has a doctor’s note banning him from competing tonight. Therefore, he’ll be hanging out in Angle’s office to hide from Strowman. And he even brought his own chair. I’m still not sure why Owens is supposed to be the heel in this whole thing.

No Way Jose vs. Mojo Rawley

The long awaited rematch. Mojo shrugs off some early forearms and runs Jose over with a shoulder. We hit the chinlock and thankfully don’t go to an inset ad for Sunday. A running splash in the corner sets up another chinlock as this is already dragging. Jose fights up with some right hands but gets caught with a wicked Alabama Slam for the pin at 4:14.

Rating: D+. Mojo continues to grow on me but they need to do something with him already. This “feud” has been going on for a few weeks now and we’re not exactly anywhere further than we were before. Let Rawley see what he can do in a slightly bigger feud and maybe this can go somewhere.

Earlier today, Bayley and Sasha Banks had more therapy in the same office with a different therapist. Bayley blames Banks for everything and that’s it for now.

Jinder Mahal tells Seth Rollins to search for inner peace. Rollins seems to get it and breathing ensues but Rollins sneaks out.

Here’s Rollins for a chat. He loves the nicknames he’s built up over the years but right now the most important is FORMER Intercontinental Champion. This Sunday is all about becoming the Iron Man and the Intercontinental Champion again, but Dolph Ziggler is going to bring the Scottish Wookie Drew McIntyre with him. Rollins is SETH FREAKING ROLLINS though and cue Ziggler and McIntyre for a rebuttal. Ziggler says he’ll bring his skills, the psycho McIntyre and the title, where he’ll walk out as still champion.

Sure, Rollins is great but he’s not Ziggler. Maybe Dolph can win 100-0 on Sunday to really hammer the point home. He botches a line about Rollins having no dignity left and then talks about his victories as a college wrestler. Rollins thinks Drew helped him win there too but then asks why McIntyre sticks with Ziggler. Maybe Ziggler has pictures of McIntyre getting friendly with sheep in Scotland? That’s enough for a challenge from McIntyre so Rollins accepts, saying he’s a baaaaad man.

The B Team impersonates Matt Hardy/Bray Wyatt. Again.

Here’s the B Team for a match and another impersonation, this time with Bo Dallas wondering what he can eat alongside the world on Sunday. Matt and Bray pop up on screen to say the time for fun and games is over. Laughter and fear are contagious so let’s do this right now.

Bo Dallas vs. Matt Hardy

An angry Matt starts hammering away in the corner to start as the Revival is watching in the back. That would be a rather nice development indeed. A suplex on the floor keeps Axel in trouble and we take a break. Back with Matt holding a cravate and an inset promo for Asuka vs. Carmella on Sunday. Matt takes him to the floor for a Side Effect onto the steps and some posing back inside. A neckbreaker across the ropes is broken up by a Curtis Axel distraction though and Dallas gets the pin at 8:39.

Rating: D. You know all those times that we’ve seen this before? Well this is the most recent version. I really hope we get to the Revival getting the titles out of this as neither of these teams are exactly interesting. At least we might get something entertaining from the Revival. Sure the impressions were funny at first, but repeating them for a month isn’t entertaining.

Post match Matt and Bray clean house.

We look back at the opening segment.

Lashley wants Reigns to fight on Sunday because Reigns isn’t walking out. Believe that.

Tyler Breeze offers the Riott Squad some fashion advice but they rip up the Breezango shirts.

Bliss can’t wait to hurt Nia again, this time in front of Ronda Rousey.

Ember Moon vs. Liv Morgan

Ember shouts a lot and runs Liv over a lot, knocking her outside as we take an early break. Back with Morgan keeping Moon in trouble with a cross arm choke and doing some screaming of her own with the blue tongue on full display. Cole asked Morgan why she had the blue tongue. Morgan: “I like blue.” Back up and Liv busts out a Matrix move to avoid a clothesline but gets sent face first into the middle buckle off a headscissors from the mat. Moon hits a springboard right in the corner and grabs a quick Jackknife rollup for the pin at 7:52.

Rating: D+. Another short match with the commercial cutting out the majority of whatever value we might have gotten from it. Neither of these two have anything going on at the moment so it’s not like this is going to lead anywhere. The Squad isn’t much without Ruby around to give them a voice, but Morgan has gotten better in the ring.

Finn Balor isn’t worried about tonight’s tag match but here’s partner Bobby Roode to say the two of them are similar. They’ll be partners tonight and it will be GLORIOUS. Balor doesn’t like Corbin and he’ll take it out on him in the ring.

Owens complains about Angle’s office when McIntyre and Ziggler come in. Angle cuts them off and says if McIntyre loses tonight, he’s banned from ringside on Sunday.

Here’s Elias to say he hasn’t performed in two weeks but it’s been for a reason. He’s been in the studio recording his debut album, which is happening because WWE stands for WALK WITH ELIAS. As you might expect, the song mocks Boston and the Boston accent, with Elias saying Tom Brady told him to just pretend to like the Boston fans like he’s done for so many years. Cue Corbin, to say he’d like to sing a bit as well, which means we get a version of Itsy Bitsy Spider mocking Balor’s size. In other words, it’s the warmed over Daniel Bryan vs. Big Cass feud all over again.

Finn Balor/Bobby Roode vs. Baron Corbin/Elias

Joined in progress with Roode taking Elias down into a headlock but making the mistake of going after Corbin on the apron. The distraction lets Elias knee Roode in the face and it’s Roode in early trouble. We hit the chinlock and this time it’s an ad for Reigns vs. Lashley. Back to full screen with Roode fighting up for the hot tag to Balor, who gets distracted by Corbin so Elias can send him into the corner as we take a break.

Back with Elias grabbing another chinlock because we haven’t seen one of those in five minutes. Balor fights up and Sling Blades Corbin, allowing the hot tag off to Roode. House is cleaned for a bit until Roode dives into a chokebreaker with Balor breaking up the count. The Blockbuster gives Roode two as Elias makes a save of his own but the Coup de Grace is broken up. Instead it’s the End of Days to put Roode away at 13:07.

Rating: C-. That’s a match that happened as Corbin continues to get a push while having one of the lamest feuds you can have in wrestling. Roode continues to be stuck in the same role he’s been in for months now and while a heel turn would help, it depends on what he goes after that. Not a terrible match, but it could be more about the match getting some time.

Owens is having a sandwich when Strowman comes in. Angle is tired of Owens running so on Sunday, it’s a cage match. Strowman sprays Owens with air freshener.

Sasha and Bayley are still in counseling and they’ll have to report to Angle next week. Dang it this could have been good.

Reigns says Lashley’s physical gifts don’t matter in a fight. When your gifts are in wrestling and fighting, yeah they kind of do. After Sunday, Lashley can be the guy somewhere else.

Extreme rules rundown. Still needs a lot more gimmicky stuff to live up to the name.

Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre

If Rollins wins, Drew is banned from ringside on Sunday. McIntyre powers him into the corner with ease to start, allowing McIntyre to do his kneeling pose. A dropkick has almost no effect and McIntyre runs him over with a shoulder. It’s off to an armbar with McIntyre in full control so far. A chinlock keeps Rollins in trouble and McIntyre chops him back down to set up another armbar.

McIntyre drives him back first into the apron and we take a break. Back with Rollins flying off an overhead belly to belly and some stomps to the arm setting up yet another armbar. Rollins fights up and finally gets a breather by sending McIntyre face first into the middle buckle. McIntyre heads to the floor for back to back suicide dives, followed by the middle rope Blockbuster for a near fall of his own.

A charge in the corner goes badly for Rollins though as McIntyre grabs a reverse Alabama Slam, sending Rollins face first into the mat on a nasty looking landing. A sitout powerbomb gets two more but McIntyre gets caught up top, allowing Rollins to kick him into the Tree of Woe. That’s fine with Drew, who sits up and superplexes Rollins right back down.

The Claymore is blocked with a superkick into the Falcon Arrow to rock McIntyre. It doesn’t rock him enough though as McIntyre scores with a headbutt, which seems to fire McIntyre up all over again. Rollins is fine enough to hit a Buckle Bomb and low superkick, followed by a curb stomp to an invading Ziggler. The distraction is enough for McIntyre to hit the Claymore for the pin at 21:06.

Rating: B. Now that’s more like it as this show was needing a long, good match to really boost things up. Thankfully they seem to have started planting the seeds for McIntyre to split from Ziggler but that needs to happen around Summerslam or so because Ziggler is already getting way too much focus by comparison. At least McIntyre won here though, as a loss would have been a rather bad idea.

Overall Rating: C-. The Reigns vs. Lashley stuff was rather good though I’m not wild on the idea of having them close the show over another World Title match. Of course that’s the most likely scenario because you have to keep Reigns strong so he can continue doing nothing but that’s a different story for later. The rest of the show wasn’t exactly inspiring stuff, especially with the idea of Rollins vs. Ziggler in another thirty minute match. The cage match is a nice addition but I’m really not feeling anything extreme about Sunday. I’m sure that expecting a lot of extreme things on a show called EXTREME RULES is just a mistake though.

Results

Nia Jax/Natalya b. Alexa Bliss/Mickie James – Legdrop to James

Mojo Rawley b. No Way Jose – Alabama Slam

Bo Dallas b. Matt Hardy – Hanging swinging neckbreaker

Ember Moon b. Liv Morgan – Jackknife rollup

Baron Corbin/Elias b. Bobby Roode/Finn Balor – End of Days to Roode

Drew McIntyre b. Seth Rollins – Claymore

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

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

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

Main Event
Date: July 5, 2018
Location: Denny Sanford Premier Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson, Vic Joseph

Oh come on already. Do I really need to watch Monday Night Raw all over again? Anything related with that show is going to be a chore at this point but that’s what we have to work with here. Well that and the Smackdown stuff which was perfectly watchable, although not exactly great. In other words I’m not sure what to expect here but it might not be the best thing in the world. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Ascension vs. Heath Slater/Rhyno

The ECW chants start up but switch to HE’S GOT KIDS in a hurry. Viktor can’t do anything with Slater so it’s off to Rhyno vs. Konnor for a power battle. A flying shoulder puts Konnor down but Rhyno charges into the buckle to put him in trouble. The fans get behind Rhyno but Konnor’s running splash into Viktor’s jumping knee doesn’t make things much better. The belly to belly gives Rhyno a breather and it’s back to Slater off the hot tag. Everything breaks down and Rhyno is sent to the floor, leaving Slater to take the Fall of Man for the pin at 5:07.

Rating: D. Just a Main Event match, but that’s the first time Ascension has won a match since February 7, 2017 in a twelve person tag. It’s their first two on two tag win since Superstars in February 2016. That’s getting up there in Curt Hawkins territory and I have no idea why they weren’t given at least a mini push at some point. Make them a one off challengers for the titles or something but don’t let them sit around doing nothing. What’s the point of calling them up in the first place?

From Raw.

Roman Reigns/Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler/Drew McIntyre

Ziggler and Rollins start with an early cradle getting two on Seth. Another rollup gets the same so Seth dropkicks him into the corner. Drew comes in to run Rollins over and a shove by the throat puts him down again. It’s off to Reigns who is powered into the corner so Drew can punch him in the head.

The Samoan drop is broken up and McIntyre runs Reigns over again. A superkick gives Ziggler two but one heck of a right hand knocks him out of the air. That’s enough for the hot tag off to Rollins as the pace picks up. A suicide dive hits McIntyre and an apron kick into the frog splash gets two with McIntyre diving in for the save. Rollins and Ziggler exchange rollups until Dolph is sent to the floor.

That means a dive off the post to both villains and we take a break because the match needs to keep going instead of going home after a hot ten minutes. Back with Rollins fighting out of Ziggler’s sleeper and sending him into the corner. McIntyre is right around the other side to pull Reigns off and break up the hot tag, so Rollins kicks him in the face. Now it’s time for the hot tag but the Revival pulls Reigns off the apron for the DQ at 15:49.

Rating: C+. Good match here and they got the ending right. You don’t want the champ, McIntyre or Rollins taking a fall here and Reigns isn’t going to lose so the DQ is as good of an idea as you can get. This was starting to rock before the break and would have been great if they just wrapped it up there but I’ll take what I can get.

Post match the Revival beats Reigns down as Rollins takes the Claymore/Zig Zag combo. Reigns takes a Shatter Machine for a bonus.

From Raw again.

Revival vs. Bobby Lashley/Roman Reigns

Reigns and Dawson start things off with Roman powering him into the corner. Dawson takes a breather on the floor and Reigns refuses to tag Lashley in. Back in and Dawson punches away at Reigns’ ribs, which were banged up earlier tonight. Some stomps set up a bodyscissors to keep Reigns in trouble as he can’t get anything going.

A gutbuster gives Wilder two and another shot to the ribs cuts off Reigns’ comeback. There’s a hard whip into the corner to cut Dawson off but Reigns still won’t tag. Instead it’s Lashley coming in without a tag for a pair of spinebusters but Reigns shakes off the offer of a tag. Revival unloads on him in the corner and that’s a DQ at 7:11.

Rating: C. It was much more about the angle than the match but I’ll take the Revival not looking like a pair of losers for a change. I could go for a lot more of the Revival, but that just doesn’t seem to be in the cards around here. Reigns vs. Lashley should be fine and if they make Revival look a little more valuable in the process, so be it.

Post match Lashley walks away while Reigns takes another Shatter Machine and a top rope splash. Fans: “ONE MORE TIME!”

From Smackdown.

Usos vs. HELL NO

If the Usos win, they’re added to the Tag Team Title match at Extreme Rules. Bryan drop toeholds Jimmy down to start and puts on the surfboard. A corner dropkick seems to wake Jimmy up for some reason so it’s off to Jey, who gets dropkicked as well. Kane comes in and misses an elbow but shoves both twins over the top at once. They pull Kane out with them though and it’s back to back dives to drop Bryan and Kane as we take a break.

Back with Bryan speeding up things up and hitting another running dropkick on Jey in the corner. There’s a super hurricanrana and the YES Kicks have Jey in even more trouble. The Usos finally get their stuff together and take Bryan down with Jimmy stomping away in the corner. A backbreaker/middle rope chop combination gets two and the Usos make a wish on Bryan’s legs.

Back up and a double clothesline allows the hot tag to Kane but he’s kicked to the floor without much effort. Jey charges into an uppercut but it’s time for the superkicks. Back to back double superkicks put Bryan down and get two on Kane and it’s time to go up. The Double Us is caught by the throat, allowing Bryan to knee Jey down and Kane to chokeslam Jimmy for the pin at 12:38.

Rating: C. Kane looked REALLY bad here, barely able to move and not doing much of anything other than being knocked back a few steps and signature stuff. The guy is 50 years old and barely even wrestles part time anymore, but his talking and character stuff is still more than enough reason to have him around. Bryan worked most of the match and was his usual self, but the important thing was they got the finish right.

Bryan and Kane do the YES pose and hug, only to be cut off by the Bludgeon Brothers. A big staredown ends the show.

Quick look at Rusev attacking AJ Styles on Smackdown.

Jinder Mahal vs. Zack Ryder

Mahal works the arm to start but walks into a dropkick to put him on the floor. Back in and Ryder’s backslide gets two but Mahal kicks him in the face. A faceplant and corner forearm look to set up the Broski Boot, the threat of which sends Mahal bailing to the floor as we take a break. Back with Mahal choking in the corner and grabbing a chinlock. Mahal’s suplex gets two and it’s right back to the chinlock. Ryder fights up with the usual, including the middle rope dropkick. A Sunil Singh distraction breaks up the Broski Boot and the Khallas gives Mahal the pin at 10:13.

Rating: D. I’m not sure why it took over a year for WWE to figure out but this is pretty much Mahal’s comfort zone: boring matches against lower level competition with no chance of elevation. He’s just not that good and having him in a prominent position on television doesn’t work for anyone but him. I’m hoping the experiment is over, just for the sake of my sanity.

We look at Braun Strowman wrecking Kevin Owens’ car.

From Raw.

Kevin Owens vs. Braun Strowman

Owens gets shoved down, rolls outside and runs away for the countout at 51 seconds.

Strowman gives chase so Owens runs into his car, only to not have his keys. Instead, he hides in a well placed portable toilet as Strowman arrives. The fans try to tell Strowman where Owens is as Strowman looks into the car window. He teases going back inside but puts the pieces together. Using a falsetto voice, Strowman asks if anyone is in there and Owens gives himself away.

Strowman wraps duct tape around the thing to seal Owens inside before dragging the toilet and Owens back into the building. We watch as Strowman drags him all the way back into the arena (which takes a good few minutes) and up onto the stage. Of course it’s knocked off the stage and Owens emerges covered in blue liquid. If you listen carefully, you can hear Vince dying with laughter about Owens being “COVERED IN BLUE STUFF” for the next five hours to end the show.

Overall Rating: D-. Oh now you knew they were showing the whole ending to Raw here. For them that’s comedy gold and while I have no idea how that can be seen as the best idea, there’s a good chance that we’re going to be hearing about it more over the next few weeks. This was a dreadful show after a dreadful Raw with even the clipped version not being worth seeing.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

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

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

It’s a dead week and this show made me feel dead inside so it kind of fits.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/kbs-review-reviewing-review-monday-night-raw-july-2-2018/