Wrestlemania XXXVII Night One
Date: April 10, 2021
Location: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida
Attendance: 25,675
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Samoa Joe, Byron Saxton
America the Beautiful: Bebe Rexha

Here we have an interesting one, as it’s the first show in a LONG time with fans. While this wouldn’t be a permanent change, it was more than a big deal as it felt like an actual Wrestlemania after the previous year’s…whatever you want to call that at the Performance Center. We’re still doing the two night thing and that should make for a big difference. Let’s get to it.

Just like last year, the theme is pirate related, as we’re in the home of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This means a big WWE themed pirate ship, which looks incredible. WWE knows how to do this stuff and it pretty much never fails.

Here is Vince McMahon on the stage, with a bunch of the roster behind him, to talk about how the wrestlers have worked to get us through the pandemic. There has been something missing though and that is all of the people. McMahon thanks the fans and welcomes us to Wrestlemania. That’s a nice moment and it makes things feel that much bigger.

Bebe Rexha, and her guitar player, perform America The Beautiful.

The opening video talks about how the company is back in business after a very long wait. This is going to be a high seas, high stakes adventure and it’s going to be bigger than the history of history. Hold on though as the Jack Sparrow impersonator from last year comes in to say that line was rotten so we’ll go back to where we were last year.

The video switches into a Pirates Of The Caribbean style look at various stars, followed by a more standard opening video. Sparrow: “Now how’s that for a cold open?” The other voice wants a big finish though, meaning we get the big WELCOME TO WRESTLEMANIA voice. Points for creativity and a bit of humor at least.

Commentary welcomes us to the show…and for the first time ever, we have a WEATHER DELAY. The fans bust out the ponchos as commentary tries to fill in time by talking about the announced opener of Drew McIntyre challenging Bobby Lashley for the Raw World Title.

Thankfully WWE gets smart and lets its wrestlers talk to fill in some time. Shane McMahon is ready to take Braun Strowman out but he doesn’t have a problem with him. Yeah he suggested Strowman was stupid, but think of the things he can do when they’re in a cage tonight.

MVP and Bobby Lashley come in to say this will be the crowning moment of the Almighty Era. It’s all over for Drew McIntyre, who is going to lose his dignity, his consciousness, and the match. McIntyre comes in to tell MVP to keep talking but say it to his face. Mother Nature can’t save Lashley because McIntyre will fight him back here if he has to. Everything is broken up and McIntyre is a bit shaken up, saying he needs to be out there in front of the fans because he’s waited for such a long time for this to happen. McIntyre really doesn’t seem smooth at talking off the top of his head.

The Kickoff Show panel chats a bit with JBL hyping this up as much as he can.

New Day is ready for AJ Styles and Omos because they’re fighting champions. Are Omos and Styles even a registered tag team? New Day knows there are bigger people out there and they really don’t care. Big E. comes in to sing the team’s praises and my goodness this man missed his calling as a preacher. Woods: “I AM DELIVERED!”

Commentary laughs about the rain delay and Cole tries to dub it Wrestlerania, which goes over as well as most of his jokes.

Braun Strowman is ready to prove that bullies do not win as he gives Shane McMahon the beating of his life. Not a bad promo here.

The Kickoff Show panel praise Vince McMahon’s opening of the show. This feels like filler as they try to find someone else to interview, which is fine.

Kevin Owens, naturally in the KO Mania V shirt, talks about meeting Sami Zayn back in 2002 and seeing the passion in him. They’ve wrestled each other around the world, literally doing this hundreds of times. People told them that they wouldn’t make it to the show and now they’re doing it again at Wrestlemania. They’ve been through all kinds of things and now he’s going to Stun someone. If Logan Paul, who is going to be at the match, has something to say about that, he’ll be in the ring. Good stuff here, as Owens can talk and was handed a microphone to do just that.

Cole and Joe are now in ponchos (Saxton’s microphone has died) and now they have about five minutes before the show can start up.

Bianca Belair isn’t scared of Sasha Banks because she’s ready to prove herself. The best thing though is that the fans will be there to see it. You could tell this was off the top of her head and she did fine.

Seth Rollins can’t remember Kevin Patrick’s name (“It’s Mike right?”) and doesn’t like being asked about “Zazaro” swinging him a record number of times. He doesn’t get the disrespect but he’s ready to show why he’s the new Mr. Wrestlemania. Rollins wraps it up and dubs him “Kevin-Mike”. Rollins: “Can we hyphenate?”

Miz and John Morrison are ready for the scumbags that are Damian Priest and Bad Bunny. Priest can never be as moist as Johnny Drip Drip. Miz hypes up the show as being the biggest in the world but I’m trying to get over the Drip Drip thing.

The Kickoff Show says the announcement has been made and the fans are coming back in.

We get a video on Bobby Lashley vs. Drew McIntyre for the Raw World Title. Miz cashed in the Money In The Bank briefcase on McIntyre but Lashley beat him a few days later. McIntyre has been on a roll lately but wants to get the title back because he wants his moment in front of fans after beating Brock Lesnar in an empty Performance Center last year. Fair enough. Of note: you can hear some of the production audio leaking over the video, which is always interesting.

Commentary fills in a bit more time as the fans get back to their seats.

Here are Titus O’Neil (this year’s Warrior Award recipient) and Hulk Hogan, this year’s hosts. They hype things up and the fans don’t seem thrilled to see Hogan. We’re kicking it off with the Raw World Title match and thankfully Hogan doesn’t make any major blunders.

Of note: absolutely none of the delay stuff is on Netflix, which goes from the opening video to O’Neil and Hogan’s entrances. This is better than Peacock’s version, which was cut into two parts and all messed up. I’ll call it progress, even with less content.

In what I’m guessing is another issue with the editing, here’s the Lashley vs. McIntyre video again.

Raw World Title: Bobby Lashley vs. Drew McIntyre

Lashley, with MVP, is defending. They fight over a lockup and trade knockdowns off some shoulders. With that going even, they hit each other in the face with Lashley getting the better of things. McIntyre’s clothesline puts Lashley on the floor, where he rams McIntyre into the barricade to take over again. A neckbreaker gives Lashley two and he shrugs off McIntyre’s attempt to go after the arm.

McIntyre fights up with the clothesline comeback, followed by the overhead belly to belly. A northern lights suplex gives McIntyre one but Lashley is back with the spinning faceplant. McIntyre charges into a spinebuster for two more and Lashley is getting mad. The Hurt Lock attempt is broken up though and McIntyre sends him into the corner for the reverse Alabama Slam. McIntyre loads up a superplex but gets knocked into the Tree Of Woe. As is his custom, McIntyre sits up for the belly to belly superplex to send Lashley crashing.

The Claymore is countered into the spinebuster…and McIntyre nips up. McIntyre is back with three straight Futureshocks for two and McIntyre seems to know he’s in trouble. The threat of the Claymore sends Lashley outside so McIntyre hits the big no hands flip dive take out both Lashley and MVP.

Back in and McIntyre dives into a Downward Spiral but the Hurt Lock is blocked. Another spinebuster is countered into the Kimura of all things, with Lashley making the rope. The Glasgow Kiss looks to set up the Claymore but MVP yells at McIntyre, allowing Lashley to get out of the way. Now the Hurt Lock goes on and McIntyre can’t even use the corner to roll out. McIntyre passes out at 18:50.

Rating: B. This was exactly what it should have been with two big strong guys beating the fire out of each other. You don’t get that kind of a fight very often and it worked rather well, with Lashley getting a genuinely impressive win. McIntyre didn’t so much get beaten as much as he got caught, though Lashley was looking awesome here, even in defeat. Rather good opener.

Titus O’Neil and the NWO are in the back when Bayley interrupts. She knows they’re the hosts of Wrestlemania and she hosts her own show. She does the Too Sweet deal but no one will do it back to her. X-Pac says he’s a big fan and does it, with Hall pretty clearly having no idea who Bayley is but doing it anyway. The rest walk away. You know this was a blast for Bayley.

Women’s Tag Team Turmoil

For a Women’s Tag Team Title shot on Night Two. Naomi/Lana are in at #1 and Billie Kay/Carmella are in at #2. Even commentary admits that Carmella and Kay are thrown together but Graves would rather just look at Carmella. Naomi takes Carmella down to start and Lana is in for a bulldog and some dancing back up. Lana gets sent into the wrong corner but fights out in a hurry, allowing Naomi to come in and clean house. The springboard kick to the face lets Lana tag herself in and…complete miss on…something commentary didn’t even recognize. A double X Factor plants Carmella but Kay makes the save. Kay rolls Naomi up and Carmella’s assist gets the pin at 2:21.

The Riott Squad (Ruby Riott/Liv Morgan in this case) is in at #3 and Riott starts cleaning house. Morgan gets sent into the wrong corner but fights out rather easily, allowing the tag back to Riott. A backbreaker into a top rope backsplash (crushing Kay between Riott and Morgan’s knees) gives Riott the pin at 4:58.

Carmella isn’t happy and superkicks Morgan (who shoves Riott out of the way) as Dana Brooke and Mandy Rose are in at #4 (with the camera hiding Rose slipping on the ramp). Rose starts fast with a running knee and a Blockbustr for two on Riott, with Morgan making the save. Brooke’s running flipping neckbreaker gets two more but Riott rolls Rose up for two. The Riott Kick connects and Morgan comes back in as everything breaks down. Riott is sent outside and it’s a superplex into Brooke’s Swanton for the…not pin on Morgan as she reverses into a small package to pin Brooke at 9:18.

Even the ring announcer gets the elimination announcement wrong and has to issue a correction. Natalya and Tamina are in at #5 and things slow down. Natalya powerbombs Morgan for two and Tamina grabs a fireman’s carry. That’s escaped as Morgan makes it into the corner and grabs a Codebreaker, allowing Riott’s top rope backsplash to connect for two. Morgan comes back in and charges into Tamina’s superkick. That means a Hart Attack (right after commentary brought up Natalya not wanting to live off of her family’s name) into the Superfly Splash to give Tamina the final pin at 14:06.

Rating: D+. What am I supposed to get out of this? The tag division was basically non-existent at this point with a bunch of thrown together teams just like this. Natalya and Tamina aren’t interesting on their own so having them together isn’t going to make it much better. There was about one regular team in here and that’s not enough to carry a five team match.

Seth Rollins vs. Cesaro

This is over Rollins mocking Cesaro for never winning anything on his own, while Rollins is a big success. They were playing up something like a Rollins political campaign, which didn’t exactly work but a lot of people have tried it over the years. Cesaro charges at him with the uppercut to start but a pair of early Swing attempts are blocked. Rollins grabs a buckle bomb for two and we slow way back down.

A superplex floated into the regular version gives Rollins two more and frustration is setting in. Back up and they strike it out with Cesaro getting the better of things but the Swing is countered again. Rollins kicks him in the headbutt misses the Stomp, allowing Cesaro to get the Swing. Cesaro tries the Sharpshooter, sending Rollins over to the ropes. An uppercut misses in the corner though and Cesaro’s arm is banged up.

Rollins knocks him down again and hits a corkscrew top rope splash for two. Cesaro hits a quick Neutralizer for two, only to get caught in the Pedigree for the same. Rollins yells about surviving the Swing and hits him in the back of the neck, followed by a kick to the back of the head. Cesaro isn’t having this and hits an uppercut into the UFO (because that’s something a human can do). A 23 revolution Swing sets up the Neutralizer to finish Rollins at 11:34.

Rating: B. This was about Cesaro showing that he could do this on the big stage and it worked rather well. It’s something that fans had been wanting to see for a long time and it lead to Cesaro’s World Title shot in the main event of Backlash. They set up the Swing as being the big deal to make Rollins eat his words. In other words, build up the story and then pay it off with the good guy winning. Nice stuff.

We look at Jey Uso winning the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal and Robert Roode/Dolph Ziggler retaining the Smackdown Tag Team Titles last night.

Roode and Ziggler brag about their success but think Omos and AJ Styles are going to take out the New Day.

Raw Tag Team Titles: AJ Styles/Omos vs. New Day

New Day is defending. Kingston can’t get an SOS on Styles to start but can escape an attempt at the Calf Crusher. Styles gets knocked into the corner and it’s time for some trombone inspired dancing. A blind tag brings in Woods for an elbow and a near fall so we hit the chinlock (Woods: “AJ! YOU ARE NOT A TAG TEAM WRESTLER! WE ARE EFFECTIVELY CUTTING THE RING IN HALF!”).

The unicorn Stampede has Styles down in the corner and Woods grabs a headlock but has to drag Styles away from the corner. It’s back to Kingston to continue the game of “keep the giant out of here”, including a middle rope double stomp to Styles. An enziguri misses and Kingston is back in with a springboard splash to the back.

Styles gets in a quick shot though and it’s off to Omos, who doesn’t seem pleased with Woods. The kicks to the leg and a dropkick are shrugged off and Kingston is knocked down as well. Some running elbows in the corner set up a backbreaker to Woods and Kingston is swatted away as well. A Phenomenal Forearm off Omos’ shoulders drops Woods and it’s a chokebomb finishes Kingston for the titles at 9:49.

Rating: C. This was a weird one as it was mostly Styles getting beaten up with the champs trying to avoid getting massacred by Omos. That’s a formula that has been done before (the Horsemen basically did the same thing against Kevin Sullivan and the Giant at Bash At The Beach 1996) and it still works. Omos and Styles don’t need to be this all time team, but they were good enough as a way to make Omos look like an unstoppable force.

We recap Shane McMahon vs. Braun Strowman. McMahon has decided to bully Strowman vs. being stupid (making it brains vs. brawn) but then kept running instead of fighting (including faking a knee injury). The result if a cage match and McMahon can’t run anymore.

Jerry Lawler is on commentary.

Shane McMahon vs. Braun Strowman

Inside of a cage (somehow the first non-Cell cage match since Wrestlemania II). McMahon won’t let the door open so here are Elias and Jaxson Ryker (McMahon’s cronies) to chair Strowman down. Strowman is sent inside and McMahon starts chairing away, only for Strowman to take the chair away. A shot to Strowman’s knee cuts him off again but it’s still not good enough to keep Strowman down.

Strowman threatens McMahon with GETTING THESE HANDS but some quick strikes slow Strowman again. McMahon tries to climb out and grabs a metal sheet off the top of the cage. Some shots to the back and another to the head get one on Strowman, who launches McMahon off the cover. McMahon gets launched into the cage a few times and a splash crushes him against the steel again.

The running powerslam is broken up though and a spinning DDT drops Strowman. A Coast To Coast hits Strowman in the ribs for two so Ryker and Elias try to help McMahon climb out. Strowman knocks the two of them off the side of the cage, sending McMahon crashing down. McMahon goes back up and finds a well placed toolbox to knock Strowman off.

That lets McMahon climb down…but Strowman rips the cage open and pulls him back inside for another beating. They both go back up top and stand on top of the cage, with Strowman just throwing McMahon back down. It’s time for vengeance though as Strowman goes back inside, yells at him, and hits the running powerslam for the pin at 11:27.

Rating: C. I’m not sure what to make of this, as Strowman wrecked McMahon the second he got his hands on him, as he should have. At the same time, it wasn’t exactly a great cage match, as it didn’t really come off as something that belonged at Wrestlemania. Maybe Extreme Rules, but not here. Good enough, but nothing special save for McMahon’s big crash.

Here’s some pyro. No idea why, but here it is.

Commentary talks about the Hall Of Fame but Bayley interrupts to call Michael Cole an idiot. She throws us to the package on the 2020 Hall Of Fame class, who didn’t get to have a special induction due to the pandemic.

Here’s the Class Of 2020:

John Bradshaw Layfield (yeah fine)
William Shatner (sure why not)
Bella Twins (moving on)
Jushin Thunder Liger (yep)
Titus O’Neil (Warrior Award, and they might as well rename it after him for all the stuff he does)
British Bulldog (perfectly acceptable)
New World Order (Hogan/Hall/Nash/X-Pac (yes X-Pac) only and….yeah again can’t argue that)

Batista was supposed to be in this class too but it was postponed due to the pandemic. He wasn’t mentioned here.

Wrestlemania XXXVIII is coming to Dallas (close enough), as announced by Steve Austin. Like he’d have anything to do at that Wrestlemania.

Booker T. joins commentary.

Miz/John Morrison vs. Bad Bunny/Damian Priest

Cue a bunch of bunnies to the ring, which brings out Miz and Morrison for their Bad Bunny diss track, Hey Hey Hop Hop (which is far catchier than it should be). This sends us to the video package, which is basically “Bad Bunny is a celebrity, Miz and Morrison don’t like him, Priest stands up for Bunny, tag match is on”. Bunny comes in on a semi truck for quite the visual.

Morrison backs away from Priest to start so it’s off to Miz vs. Bunny instead. Bunny gets in a right hand to the jaw and Miz realizes he’s in trouble. Another punch sends Miz in to the cornere, where Morrison declares it luck. Miz gets serious and drives him into the corner to take over. Back up and Bunny reverses a hiptoss into an armdrag and Miz is sent outside. Bunny’s la majistral gets two and he stops to dance a bit.

Miz slows things down and sends him face first into the ropes but Bunny snaps off a very spinning headscissors, with Priest getting VERY fired up on the apron. Morrison comes in and gets sent into the corner for a running elbow but the second is cut off. Miz gets in a cheap shot from the apron and Bunny is in trouble for a change. A sunset flip doesn’t get Bunny out of trouble as Miz kicks him in the face for another knockdown.

Bunny gets knocked outside and Morrison even busts out a Spinarooni in front of Booker T. Back in and Priest gets drawn into the ring so the double bunny stomping can ensue. Bunny manages to kick Morrison outside though and it’s a tornado DDT, allowing the tag off to Priest to clean house. The kicks set up South Of Heaven to Miz with Morrison making the save.

Stereo head claps and Falcon Arrows get two each and the villains head outside, with Bunny hitting the big dive onto both of them. Back in and Priest’s Cross Rhodes is countered into the Skull Crushing Finale with Bunny having to make the save. Bunny grabs a Canadian Destroyer to Morrison on the floor, setting up a Doomsday crossbody to give Bunny the pin on Miz at 15:14.

Rating: B-. This is a weird one to look at, as it’s ALL about Bunny, who had some pretty good athleticism and can do the big spots well enough. The match did go on a bit too long and that dragged it down a bit, though it gave the fans what they wanted. Bunny was one of the better celebrity wrestlers and Priest was there to do the heavy lifting. Good enough stuff, but it needed to be a few minutes shorter.

We look back at Lashley beating McIntyre earlier tonight.

We run down the Wrestlemania Sunday card.

We recap Sasha Banks defending the Smackdown Women’s Title against Bianca Belair. This was set up as Belair won the Royal Rumble but Banks wasn’t impressed, setting up their title match.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Bianca Belair vs. Sasha Banks

Belair is challenging. They stare at each other to start and then lock up with Banks shoving her down, only for Belair to pop back up. That means more shoving until Belair pulls a leapfrog out of the air. Belair backflips out of a sunset flip attempt and does her dance, allowing Banks to strike back. A wheelbarrow rollup is countered into a double chickenwing, which Banks reverses into a roll out to the floor.

Banks sends her from the apron into the post to set up a suicide dive…but Belair pulls a suicide dive out of the air. Belair gorilla presses her and walks up the steps for a toss back inside. That has Banks realizing this is different and pulls Belair down, only to get dropped with a running shoulder. A slam, with some squats thrown in, has Banks more in trouble but she gets smart by grabbing the hair. That lets Banks hit a running knee for two before she hammers away on the mat.

The chinlock doesn’t last long as Belair fights up and powers her to the apron. Banks tries to jump back inside and gets caught in a spinebuster so they head outside. That lets Banks grab the hair but Belair uses it to pull her into the steps. Banks’ running knees only hit the barricade and Belair heads back inside. A double slingshot suplex (with Belair having to muscle her up as only she can) puts Banks down and Belair starts running her over to pick up the pace.

Belair hits a running shooting star press to the back, followed by a double chickenwing faceplant. The 450 hits raised knees though and Banks knees her in the face, only to charge into a double powerbomb for two. The third powerbomb is countered into a faceplant and they’re both down again. Banks gets creative with a tornado DDT out of the corner and into a springboard to plant Belair for two more. A frog splash gets two and Banks sends her outside for a ram into the steps.

Back in and Banks ties Belair’s hair around Belair’s arm (ouch), followed by the Bank Statement. Somehow Belair gets over to the ropes so Banks goes up, only to miss a top rope double stomp. Belair’s 450 connects this time and the kickout has her screaming in shock. They fight over the hair and Banks gets in the whip, which sounds like a freaking rifle going off. Again, I know it’s been covered, but that’s from someone’s HAIR. How is that even possible? Anyway the KOD gives Belair the pin and the title at 17:17, with Cole screwing up and saying it’s a kickout before going into celebration mode.

Rating: B+. This turned into a fight and it felt like it belonged in the main event spot. The biggest thing here is that Belair elevated herself, which is something that had to happen. While the Four Horsewomen had done some great things, at some point you need a new generation to follow them. People like Belair were at the top of that list and this was the moment where she arrived. That hair whip spot was insane and Belair won clean, so you can’t ask for much more than that, even with Cole screwing up.

Belair celebrates to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. It’s a good show with some weak spots, though nothing really stood out as a classic/must see moment. The catch with this one was that it was all about getting to be in front of live fans, which really is a big deal after being cooped up in the Thunderdome for so many months. It’s not exactly a must see show, but there’s nothing overly terrible and it has enough good to carry things through.

Ratings Comparison

Drew McIntyre vs. Bobby Lashley

Original: B-
2022 Redo: B
2026 Redo: B

Tag Team Turmoil

Original: D
2022 Redo: D
2026 Redo: D+

Cesaro vs. Seth Rollins

Original: C+
2022 Redo: B-
2026 Redo: B

AJ Styles/Omos vs. New Day

Original: C+
2022 Redo: C
2026 Redo: C

Braun Strowman vs. Shane McMahon

Original: D
2022 Redo: D
2026 Redo: C

Miz/John Morrison vs. Bad Bunny/Damian Priest

Original: C
2022 Redo: B
2026 Redo: B-

Bianca Belair vs. Sasha Banks

Original: B
2022 Redo: B
2026 Redo: B+

Overall Rating

Original: B-
2022 Redo: B-
2026 Redo: B-

 

 

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

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NXT Live Event
Date: March 27, 2015
Location: San Jose University Event Center, San Jose, California
Attendance: 5,100

Ah the WWE Vault. This is basically the prototype for the Wrestlemania Weekend Takeover event. While there were clips shown from the show, this is the first time that the whole thing has been released in full. Sure it was released about eight months ago but after ten years, that’s hardly a stretch. Let’s get to it.

Hideo Itami vs. Tyler Breeze

Breeze grabs a headlock to start and stops to pose on the ropes. The fans declare Breeze gorgeous until he grabs another headlock to limited success. The knockdown lets Itami pose on the ropes as well, followed by a knee to the ribs. A PK drops Breeze again and he misses a splash in the corner. That means some kicks to the ribs for some rather over the top selling, followed by the boot scrape across Breeze’s (gorgeous) face.

It sets Breeze off so much that he hits an enziguri to take over for the first time, meaning it’s time to kick away in the corner. The chinlock goes on with Itami quickly getting up, only to get caught with a dropkick for two. Itami knocks him off the top and hits a good looking clothesline to start the comeback. The fans want a GTS but have to setting for a tornado neck snap across the top rope instead.

Breeze gets in his own neck snap across the top but Itami just blasts him with a discus lariat for two. A crucifix bomb gives Breeze two and the fans approve of the kickout. Itami picks him up for the GTS and the fans go nuts, only to go a bit less nuts when Breeze escapes. Breeze wins an exchange of kicks to the face for two but Itami fights up and strikes away, including the running corner dropkick. The knee pad comes down and it’s the GTS (to a ROAR, as it’s the first time he had used it in NXT) to give Itami the pin at 10:36.

Rating: B. Unfortunately one of the things that has been forgotten about this time in NXT is that Breeze was very good. He found his groove and could have a good match with anyone, which is why he was put in this spot with Itami. We weren’t far into Itami’s NXT run and putting him out there against Breeze made sense. Throw in the GTS and of course this worked very well.

Jason Jordan vs. Bull Dempsey

Jordan wrestles him down to start as we get a LET’S GO JOBBER chant…which could go for either of them actually as neither meant anything at this point. Dempsey takes him down with a headlock but gets powered up into the corner. The fans chant BULL S*** as we certainly have a feisty group this time. Jordan punches him down as you can hear some individual fans talking, which is always a weird thing.

Jordan’s belly to back suplex doesn’t work as Dempsey falls on him for two in quite the crash. Some elbows give Jordan two but Dempsey hammers away and runs him over. The Swan Dive misses so Dempsey runs him over again, setting up the Swan Dive for two (that was a weird sequence). Back up and Jordan sends him into the corner, setting up an exploder suplex for the pin at 6:58.

Rating: C. Not much to see here as Jordan was doing his wrestling stuff like Dempsey was your generic monster. That doesn’t exactly make for a great match and it didn’t help that neither of them meant much of anything. They were smart to keep this short, but they were smarter to put Jordan with Chad Gable to form American Alpha.

Becky Lynch/Dana Brooke vs. Alexa Bliss/Bayley

Geez there’s a lot here. Lynch is relatively new but rocketed into the title picture. Brooke is exactly what she has been forever. Bliss is still the fairy princess, complete with a tutu and the “glitter, glitz, glamour, sparkle” entrance (and is freshly back from a lengthy injury hiatus). Bayley is the hometown girl and crazy over.

Lynch mocks fear over the BAYLEY’S GONNA HUG YOU chants in a funny bit as she and Bayley start things off. Naturally Lynch immediately brings in Brooke for more posing, allowing Bayley to run her over and pose as well. Bliss comes in for something like Poetry In Motion before throwing Brooke into the corner. It’s off to Lynch, who is quickly taken down for the moonsault knees, though she’s fine enough to slam Bliss off the top.

Some running legdrops give Lynch two as the fans request Bayley. Instead they get Brooke coming in with a suplex into a chinlock, followed by a double limb stretch. Lynch comes back in and gets kicked to the floor, where she is smart enough to pull Bayley off the apron to break up the tag. Bliss kicks Brooke away though and the much needed tag brings in Bayley for the running ax handles. Lynch suplexes Bayley for two but she’s right back with a middle rope elbow to the jaw. The Bayley To Belly finishes Lynch at 8:09.

Rating: C+. Sweet goodness this was bizarre to see, as you have the future of the women’s division right in front of you and they’re little more than filler. While NXT was a bit better than the main roster when it came to women’s wrestling (of course), they were still just kind of there in this spot. The Women’s Revolution would be coming in about two and a half months though, and you could see the foundations here.

Kalisto vs. Solomon Crowe

Crowe is better known as Sami Callihan and he was doing a pretty cool hacker gimmick which never went anywhere. Kalisto rolls away from him to start but gets taken down into a headlock. They fight over a test of strength (not something you often see with smaller guys) and Crowe knocks him down.

Back up and Kalisto walks on his hands for a headscissors before grabbing a headlock. A dropkick puts Crowe in the corner but he’s back up with a triangle clothesline, which the fans seem to LOVE. Some rams into the apron have Kalisto in more trouble and it’s a springboard (bottom rope) splash from Crowe back inside.

Kalisto manages a quick hurricanrana for two and he sends Crowe into the middle buckle. A springboard spinning crossbody gives Kalisto two more and the fans sound rather impressed. The hurricanrana driver (always liked that one) gets two more but the Salida del Sol is cut off. Kalisto knocks him back down for a slingshot 450 and a near fall, only to dive into a Brock Lock to give Crowe the win at 7:49.

Rating: B-. I still think Kalisto could have been something. The fans were getting into his stuff and he could do the high flying stuff rather well. There is always a place for a talented guy doing that style and he could have been it. On the other hand you have Crowe, who flamed out hard but there was something interesting to the hacker deal.

Baron Corbin vs. Rhyno

Dang it’s weird to see Corbin with hair. They trade knockdowns to start and we lose audio for some reason. Rhyno knocks him into the corner and tries an early Gore, which is cut off by a kick to the face. The fans tell Corbin that he can’t wrestle (assuming they aren’t talking to the referee) before he starts hammering away with some big right hands in the corner.

A corner clothesline gets two as the fans try to get behind Rhyno. The hard whip sends Rhyno into the corner for two more so Corbin does it again for a rather delayed near fall. Rhyno finally blocks a whip into the corner and they collide for a double down. Back up and Rhyno hits a shoulder in the corner, followed by the spinning belly to belly for two. Corbin’s sitout chokebomb gets the same and the audio goes out again, likely due to not so nice chanting. Rhyno grabs a spinebuster for two but the Gore is countered into the End Of Days for the pin at 7:34.

Rating: C+. Rhyno was a good choice for NXT at this point as he was a veteran presence that the fans would still get behind for a match like this. Corbin was the up and coming star though and would be on the main roster in about a year. Pairing him with Rhyno here made a lot of sense and you could see him getting better, albeit rather slowly, at this point.

Post match Corbin goes after him again and gets dropped with a Gore (more like a weak clothesline to the ribs).

Here is HHH for a chat. He gets to do some pretty cool stuff, but this is bad***. The fans thank him but they’re the ones who deserve the thanks. This is a hot ticket though and a bunch of main roster wrestlers are sitting backstage to watch. Even Vince McMahon is back there! But no one cares about that because you are here to see NXT, and there’s that chant again.

Tag Team Titles: Blake & Murphy vs. Colin Cassady/Enzo Amore vs. Vaudevillains

Blake & Murphy are defending, Carmella is here with Cassady/Amore and this is elimination rules. Enzo and Cass do their usual entrance and of course the fans know every word. Enzo takes Murphy down for a walk on the back into some dancing to start. It’s quickly off to English to work on the arm before Amore gets to come back in for his jabs. Amore slaps English in the chest for a chop and Murphy comes in to get taken down by the arm.

English does some squats on the arm, followed by the exact same thing from Gotch. Cass wants to come in so English slaps him in the chest as well, allowing him to come in and throw Murphy around. The fans are rather behind Cass, including as he elbows Blake in the corner (and yells BANG after each one).

Amore comes in and goes up, only to get crotched on top so Blake can stomp away. Murphy gets to choke in the corner for two as the fans chant one of Amore’s 183 catchphrases. Murphy’s big knee drop gets two and we’re off to the chinlock. Thankfully it doesn’t last long and Amore gets up for the tag to Cass. House is quickly cleaned, including a corner splash and big boot to Murphy.

The East River Crossing pins Gotch at 8:36 and we’re down to two. Blake is back to take over on Amore and Cass so Carmella gets up on the apron for a distraction. That earns her a knock out to the floor though and Cass gets rolled up (seemingly with trunks) to retain the titles at 10:03.

Rating: B-. Enzo and Cass had the fans entirely behind them here and changing the titles wouldn’t have been a crazy idea here. At the same time, Blake & Murphy were getting better as a team at this point and you don’t want to break that up. The Vaudevillains…well someone had to be there so both of the other teams could get a fall each.

Women’s Title: Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks

Banks is defending. They stare at shout at each other to start until Charlotte cuts off a boot to the ribs. Instead Charlotte sends her into the corner and Banks is ready to leave, only to get jumped from behind. Back in and Banks avoids a charge in the corner but Charlotte rolls her up for a fast two. The Figure Four necklock with the rolling flips have Banks in trouble but she’s able to lay Charlotte over the corner for the hard knees.

The fans declare this wrestling, apparently realizing they aren’t at an Amway presentation. Banks slowly hammers away as the fans switch to a dueling chant. A quick strut takes too long though and Charlotte rolls her up for two. That’s it for the comeback though as Charlotte gets pulled into a crossarm choke. With that broken up, Charlotte fires off the chops but gets pulled down by the hair for two more. Banks is back with her own Figure Four necklock and drives Charlotte face first into the mat over and over.

Charlotte finally powers up into an electric chair and then spins Banks into a powerbomb. Back up and they trade forearms until Banks grabs a neckbreaker to put her down again. A big boot and spear drop Banks for two and they’re both down. The Figure Four is countered into a backslide to give Banks two but Charlotte pulls her into the Figure Four. That’s rolled into the ropes for the break so Charlotte goes up, with Banks knocking her right back down. The Bank Statement goes on and Charlotte finally taps at 13:57.

Rating: B+. Yeah this more than lived up to the hype of the women’s division at this point, as the women involved were beating the heck out of each other until Charlotte couldn’t hang in there anymore. This was miles ahead of anything the main roster women were doing at this point (though Paige and AJ Lee were trying) and the fans were seeing it. The main difference is these people were having a great match and happened to be women. It was a detail rather than a feature and that’s not something we had seen before, which is why it was so revolutionary.

Here is Sami Zayn for a chat. After soaking in some cheers, Zayn says he isn’t medically cleared to wrestle right now but he isn’t letting this go without doing something. There was a dirty word that was used to describe NXT: developmental. Now though, things have changed because of what they’ve been doing. There was a 2/3 falls match with someone named Cesaro and that was part of what made this the place to be.

Zayn knows we’re in the middle of 5,000 of the craziest fans anywhere…and here is NXT Champion Kevin Owens (who took the title from Zayn) to interrupt. Owens mocks the fans for buying what Zayn is saying, but he knows Zayn better than anyone else. He doesn’t think much of Zayn saying that WE did this before mocking Zayn for doing nothing for NXT.

The reality is that NXT blew up when Owens got here and that’s why they’re sold out here tonight. Owens brags about taking the title from Zayn, who shrugs it off. Zayn says he’s been here for two years, and Owens was texting him about coming to WWE. While Zayn was facing Cesaro, Owens was home watching it on his couch. A fight is teased…but Owens just had surgery so we’ll do this later. These two were great together, as always.

Adrian Neville vs. Finn Balor

The fans go a bit nuts over Balor’s entrance, which shouldn’t be that big of a surprise as he’s in full on Demon mode. They go technical to start with Neville grabbing a headlock takeover as the fans seem to describe themselves as NOT WORTHY. Balor fights up and hits a dropkick to the floor, only for Neville to come back in with a flying forearm. The big twisting flip dive drops Balor and the fans are split as the two of them get back inside.

A suplex gives Neville two and we hit the chinlock. Back up and Neville elbows him in the face, setting up another chinlock. Neville slowly stomps away and cuts off a charging Balor in the corner. A middle rope sunset flip doesn’t work as Balor rolls through for a basement dropkick. Balor hits some running forearms and knocks Neville to the floor, followed by a running clothesline back inside.

A top rope double stomp to the back of Neville’s neck gets two but Neville fights up with a kick to the face. Balor Pele’s him down but charges into a superkick for two. Neville flips out of a suplex and kicks him in the head before going up. The Red Arrow is broken up and Balor hits 1916 for two more. Neville crotches Balor on top for a change, setting up a heck of a top rope superplex. The Red Arrow misses though and Balor’s dropkick sets up the Coup de Grace for the pin at 15:31.

Rating: B. While it didn’t feel as important as a title match would have gone, this was still a good enough match to take the main event spot. They started slowly with the chinlocks but then it turned into two guys beating each other up until Balor got the win. Balor was on the way up the charts while Neville was heading up to the main roster (in three days) so it made sense to have Balor get the nice boost. Good match here, with the fans going nuts over the Demon.

Overall Rating: B. This wasn’t exactly a Takeover as it meant nothing from a storyline perspective, but what mattered here was making NXT feel like it mattered. This was the biggest weekend for WWE and NXT is part of the big menu of featured attractions. It was a sign that NXT was becoming a much bigger deal and they had the talent to make it work. This was a rather good show with the Women’s Title match being worth a look. It’s not exactly the introduction for NXT as it was for the fans already there, but NXT’s days were coming and things were only going to get better.

Results
Hideo Itami b. Tyler Breeze – GTS
Jason Jordan b. Bull Dempsey – Exploder suplex
Bayley/Alexa Bliss b. Becky Lynch/Dana Brooke – Bayley To Belly to Lynch
Solomon Crowe b. Kalisto – Brock Lock
Baron Corbin b. Rhyno – End Of Days
Blake & Murphy b. Colin Cassady/Enzo Amore and Vaudevillains – Rollup with trunks to Cass
Sasha Banks b. Charlotte – Bank Statement
Finn Balor b. Adrian Neville – Coup de Grace

 

 

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

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Survivor Series 2019
Date: November 24, 2019
Location: Allstate Arena, Chicago, Illinois
Attendance: 13,271
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Vic Joseph, Jerry Lawler, Nigel McGuinness, Beth Phoenix

I was thinking about this show the other day and couldn’t remember it very well so it was time for a rewatch. The theme here is the three way fight between all of the brands, with NXT launching a full on invasion for the sake of this show. That should be more than enough to carry things with a bunch of different brand vs. brand vs. brand matches. Let’s get to it.

I was in the arena for this show, sitting in the upper deck and looking straight at the Titantron.

Kickoff Show: Tag Team Battle Royal

OC, Revival, Forgotten Sons, Robert Roode/Dolph Ziggler, Street Profits, Zack Ryder/Curt Hawkins, Breezango, Lucha House Party, Imperium, Heavy Machinery

Only one member has to be eliminated. It’s the usual brawl to start and the Forgotten Sons are out rather quickly. The House Party follows them (thankfully meaning their seconds go with them), as do Hawkins and Ryder in a hurry. Ziggler is catapulted to the apron and pulls Dawson with him for an exchange of headbutts.

Kaiser tries to make a save but it lets Roode knock Dawson out to get rid of the Revival, with Kaiser being eliminated to eliminate Imperium too. Otis stops to dance and gets tossed as they are flying out of here so far. Fandango is sent outside (not out) and manages to catch Breeze, who is eliminated a few seconds later. The Profits dropkick the Revival out and we’re already down to Roode/Ziggler, the OC and the Profits.

Ziggler has to save Roode from the Magic Killer and superkicks the OC out to leave us with two. Roode and Ziggler get the better of things until Ziggler superkicks Roode by mistake. The Sky High lets Ford go up but he gets sent out to the apron. He’s able to get back up and frog splash Ziggler, only to get tossed by Roode for the win at 8:22.

Rating: C. They flew through this and that’s probably a good thing, as this was little more than a way to get things going. It’s nice to see the match just move along so quickly, with Ziggler and Roode being a fine choice to win. Not a good match or anything, but it was a fast paced start.

Smackdown – 1
NXT – 0
Raw – 0

Kickoff Show: Cruiserweight Title: Lio Rush (NXT) vs. Akira Tozawa (Raw) vs. Kalisto (Smackdown)

Rush is defending. They stare at each other to start until the challengers get together to knock Rush outside. Back in and Rush tries to make a save but is sent to the floor just as fast. Kalisto kicks Rush in the head on the apron but gets kicked down by Tozawa. Rush is back in to strike away at both of them as they’re at a very fast pace to start. Tozawa punches Rush in the face (he’s always been good at that) and a sliding boot to the face drops him as well.

Kalisto catches Rush on top and Tozawa goes up with them for a super….well they all flipped over and they’re all down. It looks like Rush super armdragged both of them, setting off an exchange of strikes to the face. Tozawa’s bridging German suplex gets two on Rush, as does the Salida del Sol, with Tozawa making the save. Tozawa’s top rope backsplash hits Rush as well but Kalisto makes the save this time. Another Salida del Sol hits Tozawa but Rush is in with the Final Hour to Kalisto to retain the title at 8:20.

Rating: B. They went with the fast paced, rather athletic match here and it worked rather well. Rush might have some issues behind the scenes, but the way he can move and fly is rather impressive. There is something fun about watching these people go nuts, even if they didn’t have a ton of time. Another rather good choice for the Kickoff Show.

Smackdown – 1
NXT – 1
Raw – 0

Kickoff Show: Viking Raiders (Raw) vs. New Day (Smackdown) vs. Undisputed Era (NXT)

They’re all champions but this is non-title. Big E., Ivar and O’Reilly start things off with O’Reilly’s strikes not working in the slightest. Fish comes in and gets tossed with ease, leaving Ivar to slip out of Big E.’s slam attempt. Instead Big E. runs him over with a shoulder, only to get low bridged to the floor by the Era. That leaves the Vikings to beat the Era up until Big E. is back in for a tag to Kingston.

New Day and the Vikings have their big showdown until the Era is back in to break it up. Fish kneebars Kingston with Ivar making the save, leaving Fish to beat on Kingston on the apron. With the other four on the floor, Ivar slams Erik onto the pile for the big crash. Back in and Ivar misses a charge into the corner, allowing Kingston to hit a standing double stomp on Erik.

The Midnight Hour gets two, with Ivar making the save. Big E.’s spear through the rope hits Erik but Kingston’s Trouble In Paradise hits the post. That leaves Big E. to get caught with the German suplex/springboard clothesline combination. The Era gets back in and O’Reilly is promptly powerslammed onto Fish to give Ivar the pin at 14:42.

Rating: B-. It got a good bit more time and while it wasn’t hard to figure out the result, it was another fast paced match that made for an entertaining showcase. The Raiders winning is a good way to go, as occasionally the best method is just straight power. It’s rarely great to see a champion lose, but a developmental champion losing to a main roster one makes it a bit better.

Smackdown – 1
NXT – 1
Raw – 1

And now, the show proper.

The opening video looks at the brand vs. brand vs. brand issue, with the big focus on NXT invading, as it should be. The other matches get some attention as well, which is a nice bonus.

Women’s Survivor Series Match

Smackdown: Sasha Banks, Carmella, Dana Brooke, Lacey Evans, Nikki Cross
Raw: Charlotte, Natalya, Sarah Logan, Asuka, Kairi Sane
NXT: Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair, Toni Storm, Io Shirai, Candice LeRae

Three in the ring at once, regular elimination rules. Storm, Evans and Logan start things off with Evans knocking both of them down but walking into a double flapjack. Cross comes in and gets knocked down, leaving Logan to cartwheel knee Storm in the back of the head. Everyone gets knocked down and it’s off to Sane, Sky and Carmella, the latter of whom tries to get attention while the other two stare each other down. That earns her some shots to the face so Brooke comes in instead.

A springboard headscissors drops Shirai and it’s Brooke coming back in for some rollups. The handspring elbow crushes Shirai and Sane, followed by a Swanton to both of them. It’s back to LeRae to kick Evans down and strike away in the corner. A middle rope spinning Downward Spiral plants Evans for two and it’s off to Ripley for a heck of a roar. That earns her a cross armbreaker from Asuka, setting off the parade of knockdowns.

Banks clears the ring and LeRae and Shirai are knocked out to the floor for a nasty crash (which comes after they were both in WarGames the previous night). That’s enough for the two of them to be out at around 7:45 so NXT is already down to three. Ripley, Charlotte and Banks come in, with Ripley taunting the other two of them to quite the reception but it’s off to Belair, Logan and Cross without any contact being made. Cross hammers on Storm on the floor, but the distraction allows Belair to grab a rollup with feet on the ropes to pin Cross at 9:38.

Carmella comes in to clean house but walks into a KOD, sending Carmella outside. Logan is back up with running knees from the apron to Charlotte and Storm but gets tossed down by Belair. The handspring moonsault gets two with Natalya making the save so Belair 450s Logan for the elimination at 12:10.

Charlotte comes in to yell at Belair and gets rolled up for her efforts. Carmella is in with a super hurricanrana to send Charlotte onto Belair for two each. Back up and Natural Selection hits Carmella for the pin, allowing Charlotte to mock Banks’ dance. That leaves us with four for Raw and three each for the other two as Banks, Sane and Storm come in. Storm takes Sane down in a hurry and Banks adds the Meteora to get rid of Sane at 16:48. Asuka is in to fire off the kicks, including a huge one to eliminate Brooke at 17:25.

Charlotte forcefully tags herself in and gets in a shoving match with Asuka, who gets shoved down. Evans tries to come in off a cheap shot and gets struck down, only for Asuka to mist Charlotte. Asuka walks out and the Women’s Right gets rid of Charlotte at 19:07. So Natalya is alone for Raw against Evans/Banks for Smackdown and Ripley/Belair/Storm for NXT. Natalya comes in and drops Evans, followed by the discus lariat to Storm. A rollup gets rid of Evans at 19:56 as commentary realizes that NXT is suddenly way ahead. Storm gets caught in a Sharpshooter/Banks Statement for the tap at 20:47.

Belair yells at Natalya and gets caught in a Hart Attack for the elimination at 21:16 to continue the rapid fire eliminations. That leaves us with Natalya vs. Banks vs. Ripley, with Banks quickly turning on Natalya and getting the easy elimination. We’re down to one on one and you can tell the fans are into the idea of Ripley getting this kind of a chance. Ripley stares her down and adds a running dropkick but Banks is right back up with a choke.

Banks sends her into the corner for some running knees, followed by the middle rope Meteora for two. That sends Banks back up, with Ripley kicking her out of the air for two more. The Prism Trap has Banks in more trouble until she flips her way into a Bank Statement on Ripley. Cue Shirai and LeRae to make the save…as I guess they’re still in this.

As I try to figure out if that means Asuka should still be in there as she left without her elimination being announced either, Banks knocks both of them down with a baseball slide. Ripley cuts that off but the Riptide is broken up. Shirai offers a distraction and hits a springboard missile dropkick, followed by Ripley’s Riptide for the win at 27:53.

Rating: B. The kind of confusing ending aside, this was one heck of a coming out party for Ripley, who came off like an absolute star throughout and that’s exactly the point. Other than that you have Charlotte and Asuka’s issues continuing and Belair looking like a star as well. The fans get to cheer for NXT though (especially in Ripley’s case), and that’s exactly what needed to be done for this crowd, who are certainly more behind them than anything else.

NXT – 2
Smackdown – 1
Raw – 1

We look back at Kevin Owens making a surprise return to NXT last night at Takeover.

Seth Rollins comes up to Owens, his Raw teammate, and asks what was up with that. Owens says NXT doesn’t need him like Raw does, so tonight he’s on the red side. He does however find it interesting that SETH ROLLINS of all people is talking about disloyalty…and he mocks the Shield pose.

Shinsuke Nakamura (Smackdown) vs. Roderick Strong (NXT) vs. AJ Styles (Raw)

Battle of the midcard champions with a dancing Sami Zayn here with Nakamura. Styles gets kicked down to start and a knee to the ribs drops Strong as well. Strong is back up to clean house and send Nakamura outside. Styles knocks Strong to the floor as well, followed by a hard knee to the head. Nakamura is back up with a suplex to Strong and a knee drop to Styles, with Zayn looking rather pleased.

Back up and Strong stretches Nakamura over his back before swinging him into a gutbuster. Styles sleepers Strong down, which doesn’t last long as Strong is back up to strike away at both of them. The running forearms in the ropes have Styles in trouble, as does a belly to back faceplant. Nakamura sends Strong into the corner though and kicks Styles down for two more. A sliding knee gets two on Strong with Styles making the save. Strong kicks Styles down to break up the Clash to Nakamura, who is pulled outside by Zayn.

Back in and a tiger driver gives Strong two before Nakamura drops him. Kinshasa is broken up by Styles, who is cut off by Zayn. That leaves Strong to knee Nakamura down for two but Nakamura is back up to clean house. Strong is knocked outside so Nakamura tells Styles to COME ON, meaning it’s time for a strike off. The Landslide gives Nakamura two and he blocks the Styles Clash attempt. Instead Styles settles for the Phenomenal Forearm, only for Strong to steal the pin at 16:48.

Rating: B+. I didn’t remember liking this one as much but they were all working hard and it didn’t get dull despite getting quite a bit of time. In addition to NXT getting yet another win, there was something great about Zayn on the floor as he was giving it his all out there. Solid match here and a rather nice treat.

NXT – 3
Smackdown – 1
Raw – 1

Daniel Bryan is warming up when the Miz comes in. Miz talks about feeling the evil of the Fiend and wants Bryan to put an end to him for the sake of themselves and their children. Bryan: “Get out of my face.”

NXT Title: Pete Dunne vs. Adam Cole

Cole is defending and is really banged up after being in WarGames last night. Dunne works on the arm to start, which is quickly broken up. They fight outside with Cole getting in a shot and starting in on Dunne’s bad knee. Dunne fights up and moonsaults over Cole in the corner, setting up an enziguri. The release German suplex sets up a big kick to the head, followed by a sitout powerbomb for two as they take a bit of a breather.

Dunne’s moonsault to the floor drops Cole again but another one hits raised knees back inside. The Last Shot gives Cole two and he brainbusters Dunne onto the knee for the same. The Boom misses and Dunne grabs the Bitter End for another near fall. They trade kicks to the head until Dunne goes up, only to have his moonsault superkicked out of the air (that always looks awesome) for two.

Dunne powerbombs him down for two more and Cole bails out to the floor. They head out to the apron, where Cole grabs a Panama Sunrise for a near countout. Back in and Dunne slugs away but the Bitter End is spun around into another Canadian Destroyer (and it didn’t look bad). The Boom retains the title at 14:06.

Rating: B. At this point, it was feeling like Cole was never going to lose the title no matter what happened, as he was coming in banged up from the night before and still hung in there to beat someone as good as Dunne. It’s still a good match, but seeing Cole retain without even having to cheat is a bit much to take. Yeah Dunne wrestled the night before as well, but Cole took the big bump in WarGames. That should mean a bit more.

The Smackdown men argue over leadership.

We recap the Fiend defending the Smackdown World Title against Daniel Bryan. The Fiend won the title at Crown Jewel and is all evil and such, even attacking Bryan, who was a heel at the moment. It seemed that the Fiend wanted to push Bryan into bringing back the YES Movement so he could kill it once and for all, which is quite the fiendish thing to do.

Smackdown World Title: Daniel Bryan vs. The Fiend

The Fiend is defending. Bryan fires off the dropkicks in the corner (under the red lights) until Fiend hits a running clothesline. Fiend slugs away and knocks him to the floor for a ram into the barricade. A hard posting drops Bryan again and there’s the backsplash on the floor. The release Rock Bottom drops Bryan back inside and a toss suplex makes it worse. The nerve hold goes on for a bit before they head outside again.

This time Fiend’s running knees hit the steps, followed by a posting from Bryan. Fiend gets taken down by a running knee from the apron, plus a big dive from the top. Back in and Bryan kicks away at the head, with Fiend getting up over and over. The stomping to the head has Fiend down and the running knee connects for two. Fiend does the big scary stand up so Bryan grabs a rollup, only to get caught in the Mandible Claw to retain the title at 10:01.

Rating: B-. This was about the Fiend running through one of the biggest heroes WWE has ever seen because the Fiend is one of the biggest monsters around. It made for a nice story, though it was hard to believe that Bryan had much of a chance here. Even with the alleged return of the YES Movement, it didn’t feel like much of a threat to beat the Fiend, certainly not so soon after he won the title.

Rey Mysterio is going to be more violent against Brock Lesnar and hopes his son Dominik is watching up close.

Men’s Survivor Series Match

Raw: Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Ricochet, Drew McIntyre, Randy Orton
Smackdown: Roman Reigns, King Corbin, Shorty G, Braun Strowman, Mustafa Ali
NXT: Tommaso Ciampa, Keith Lee, Walter, Damian Priest, Matt Riddle

The fans are VERY behind Walter (who you might know better as Gunther) as we figure out who is starting. Ciampa, Rollins and Strowman start things off, with Ciampa being shoved down. McIntyre and Walter come in, with Walter being more than happy to have a hoss fight. A running clothesline drops Strowman and McIntyre gets crushed with a seated senton.

Walter German suplexes McIntyre but can’t do the same thing to Strowman. Instead it’s a running dropkick to send Strowman into the corner, only for McIntyre to Claymore Walter for the pin at 2:57 in one heck of a middle finger to the fans. Priest comes in and strikes it out with McIntyre as the fans are ticked off about Walter. Strowman misses a charge into the post, allowing G (Gable, in case you had blocked out this stupid idea) to moonsault Priest. Riddle comes in and gets into a wrestling match with G, which doesn’t seem like a good idea.

The grappling goes to a standoff so Ricochet comes in with a springboard moonsault to G and McIntyre. Owens gets the tag and picks to frog splash G for the pin at 6:27. Owens goes outside but gets caught by Ciampa with the Willow’s Bell for the pin at 7:46. Orton comes in to stare Ciampa down but Ciampa is smart enough not to walk into the RKO. Instead they get up and brawl, with Orton grabbing the RKO a few seconds later. Priest tags himself in though and tries to roll the dice, only to get reversed into the RKO for the pin at 10:16.

Riddle comes in and has to escape an RKO attempt, which he counters into a rollup to pin Orton at 10:29. Riddle celebrates the huge win and walks into an RKO, allowing Corbin to get the pin at 10:54. Lee comes in and the fans are VERY pleased, only for McIntyre to take him down with a cheap shot. It’s back to Strowman, who takes them outside for the running shoulders….and then does it again for a bonus, only for Lee to cut him off in a massive crash.

McIntyre adds a Claymore to Strowman, who is counted out at 13:18. So we’re down to Rollins, Ricochet and McIntyre for Raw, Reigns, Corbin and Ali for Smackdown and Lee and Ciampa for NXT. Ricochet comes in to clean house but walks into the End Of Days for the pin at 14:30. Ali (hometown boy) comes in to clean house, including a sweet pop up X Factor to Ciampa. The tornado DDT drops Rollins and Ciampa gets posted. Corbin pulls Ali back to the floor though and yells a lot, which is enough for Rollins to hit the Stomp for the pin at 16:10.

Reigns yells at Corbin and McIntyre plants Ciampa with the reverse Alabama Slam for two. The Claymore is cut off with a spear though and McIntyre is done at 17:33, leaving Rollins alone. Rollins jumps Reigns but the suicide dive is knocked out of the air. Willow’s Bell hits Reigns, who counters the Fairy Tale Ending into a Superman Punch. With both of them down, Corbin comes in to knock Lee off the apron, though he’s also smart enough to drag Reigns over for the tag. Corbin yells at Reigns but a chokeslam to Ciampa doesn’t work, leaving Reigns to spear Corbin and Ciampa gets the pin at 19:55.

That leaves Reigns vs. Rollins vs. Ciampa/Lee with Reigns and Rollins getting together on Ciampa before doing the same to Lee. Rollins throws Ciampa outside but Lee is back up to cut off the TripleBomb through the announcers’ table. Back in and Ciampa’s running knee and Project Ciampa get two on Rollins but the Fairy Tale Ending is escaped. Ciampa avoids the Stomp but can’t avoid Reigns’ Superman Punch. The Stomp gets rid of Ciampa at 24:00 and we’re down to one each. The fans start to sing for Lee, who gets serious as he heads back inside.

Lee runs them both over with shoulders and sends Rollins flying, followed by a slingshot crossbody to take both of them out. Rollins escapes the Big Bang Catastrophe and kicks Lee down, setting up a frog splash for two, leaving commentary stunned. Back up and the Big Bang Catastrophe gets rid of Rollins (and Raw) at 26:34.

Reigns is back up with some Superman Punches for two on Lee, who kicks out, even as the referee hits the mat for the third time. The spear is countered into the Spirit Bomb for two more and my goodness the heat on that near fall. Lee goes up but misses the moonsault, allowing Reigns to hit the spear for the pin at 29:55.

Rating: B+. This was a lot more like it, as it felt like NXT had a chance to shock the world. Lee came off like an absolute star here and Ciampa more than held his own. At the same time, it might have been a bit of a stretch for NXT to be able to beat all star teams like this, even with their issues. The good thing is that NXT held its own here, and that’s exactly how you make it feel like a genuine third brand rather than just developmental. The Walter nonsense aside, this was a good performance from NXT and the fans went nuts all the way.

NXT – 3
Smackdown – 2
Raw – 1

Post match Reigns shows Lee some well earned respect.

Becky Lynch is tired of these fights with Shayna Baszler because Baszler has been training while Lynch has been going around the world. It doesn’t matter though as Lynch knows there is nothing Baszler can do to take her down. Then there’s Bayley, who made Lynch come looking for her. Now she’s going to hurt her.

We recap Brock Lesnar defending the Raw World Title against Rey Mysterio. Lesnar beat up Rey and then attacked his son Dominik (almost unrecognizable compared to what he would be a few years later) to make it personal. Rey brought in former UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez to go after Lesnar, which went pretty horribly, so now Rey is fighting for himself.

Raw World Title: Rey Mysterio vs. Brock Lesnar

Lesnar, with Paul Heyman, is defending and anything goes. Mysterio gets smart by grabbing a lead pipe to start, sending Lesnar to the floor. Back in and Lesnar runs him over with some clotheslines, sending Mysterio outside. Mysterio gets sent flying over the announcers’ table and then rammed hard into the post as the slow beating is on. Another posting is broken up though as Mysterio sends him into the post instead, only for Lesnar to German suplex him onto the pipe.

Lesnar gets in another German suplex but here is Dominik Mysterio with a towel. Lesnar grabs Dominik so Rey gets in a low blow, as does Rey. Some pipe shots have Lesnar in trouble and Dominik adds a chair shot, followed by a double 619. Dominik and Rey hit a frog splash each…for two, and you can feel the air go out of the place. Lesnar is back up with a German suplex to Dominik before pulling Rey out of the air for the F5 to retain at 6:55.

Rating: B. The good thing about Mysterio is that you can put him in a spot like this and the fans will believe that he could pull off a miracle. The false finish with the double 619 was great but after that, you knew it wasn’t going to happen. They were smart to keep this short and action packed, as there was only so much of a way to believe that Mysterio was going to be a threat long term.

We recap the women’s triple threat. Becky Lynch is still arguably the biggest star in WWE but Shayna Baszler isn’t scared of her. Bayley has to be there too because of the triple brand thing.

Bayley (Smackdown) vs. Becky Lynch (Raw) vs. Shayna Baszler (NXT)

Non-title again. Bayley rams Baszler into Lynch but Lynch fights out without much effort. A clothesline puts Lynch down, leaving Baszler and Bayley to brawl to the floor. That’s broken up and Baszler is knocked outside, leaving Bayley to sunset bomb Lynch into the corner. Baszler takes Lynch’s place and gets beaten up again, only to come back with a stomp to Bayley’s arm.

Bayley is back up and knocks Baszler outside before unloading on Lynch in the corner. A Stunner over the ropes cuts Baszler off again but Lynch knocks Bayley down to take over. Lynch plants both of them and drops the top rope legdrop for two on Bayley. Baszler is back up as well, only to get kneed down by Bayley, who takes Lynch out as well. The Bayley To Belly gets two on Baszler, who is right back with a gutwrench faceplant.

Baszler fireman’s carries Bayley, which is broken up by a missile dropkick from the returning Lynch. Bayley breaks up the slugout and gets choked by Baszler, with Lynch making the save. Lynch powerbombs Baszler out of the corner but gets choked as well. Baszler is sent into Bayley for the save and Lynch gets the Disarm-Her, which is broken up too. Bayley pulls Baszler outside but hurts her own leg, allowing Baszler to take both of them out. Baszler plants Lynch on the announcers’ table but gets suplexed by Bayley back inside. That’s shrugged off and the Kirifuda Clutch gives Baszler the win at 18:03.

Rating: B-. They were working hard and it was far from a bad match, but there was very litter crowd energy for this. At the end of the day, the crowd was just done after the Lesnar/Mysterio and Men’s Survivor Series matches. You can’t take that much energy out of them and then expect a match which doesn’t mean a ton (NXT was at worst tying here) to feel special. It’s not bad, but the show needed to be laid out better.

NXT – 4
Smackdown – 2
Raw – 1

Post match Baszler poses over Lynch, who knocks her onto the announcers’ table. Lynch puts her through said table (with a chair falling on Baszler’s head to make it even worse) and poses to end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. Excellent show here, with NXT feeling like they had arrived and actually winning with a pretty dominant performance. There’s nothing close to bad on the whole show and the crowd carried it to another level. I had forgotten how good the matches were throughout and the three way competition actually worked all night. Find a better way to finish and it’s that much better, but this was awesome stuff.

 

Ratings Comparison

Tag Team Battle Royal:

Original: D
2020 Redo: D+
2025 Redo: C

Lio Rush vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Kalisto

Original: C+
2020 Redo: C
2025 Redo: B

New Day vs. Viking Raiders vs. Undisputed Era

Original: B
2020 Redo: B
2025 Redo: B-

Raw Women vs. Smackdown Women vs. NXT Women

Original: B-
2020 Redo: B-
2025 Redo: B

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Roderick Strong vs. AJ Styles

Original: B
2020 Redo: B
2025 Redo: B+

Pete Dunne vs. Adam Cole

Original: A-
2020 Redo: B+
2025 Redo: B

The Fiend vs. Daniel Bryan

Original: B
2020 Redo: C+
2025 Redo: B-

Raw Men vs. Smackdown Men vs. NXT Men

Original: B+
2020 Redo: A-
2025 Redo: B+

Rey Mysterio vs. Brock Lesnar

Original: C+
2020 Redo: C+
2025 Redo: B

Bayley vs. Shayna Baszler vs. Becky Lynch

Original: D+
2020 Redo: C
2025 Redo: B-

Overall Rating:

Original: B+
2020 Redo: B+
2025 Redo: A-

The main event was a lot better than I gave it credit for before, as was the tag team battle royal. All around, an outstanding show.

 

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

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

Wrestlemania XXXVII Night One
Date: April 10, 2021
Location: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida
Attendance: 25,675
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Samoa Joe, Byron Saxton
America the Beautiful: Bebe Rexha

This is somewhere in between a Performance Center Wrestlemania and the regular version, as the show is taking place in front of a limited capacity audience. That alone is worth a look and now it is time for a Wrestlemania style show. The main event for the first night is Bianca Belair challenging Sasha Banks for the Smackdown Women’s Title. Let’s get to it.

No Kickoff Show matches (on either night) this year, which is a little weird to see.

The huge pirate ship set looks awesome, as WWE knows how to use what is available to them.

Here is Vince McMahon, with the roster behind him on the stage, to talk about how bad things have been over the last year. As we emerge from this pandemic, WWE would like to thank the fans for sticking with them and WELCOME TO WRESTLEMANIA! Very nice and you know it’s a big moment when the boss is out there for something like this.

Bebe Rexha, with a guitar player, singe America the Beautiful.

The opening video talks about how the WWE Universe has waited a long time to get back here, and now they are back for the spectacle and the passion. Wrestlemania is back in business (there’s a tagline for you). Tonight we will see an event that is bigger than the history of history.

That line is so bad that the voiceover from last year (with a bad Jack Sparrow impression) takes over to say this is a continuation from last year with wrestlers fighting for immortality. Now let’s drop some realness (as the kids say, because apparently kids say that), because tonight we continue a decades old spectacle.

That sets up the Wrestlemania highlight package, but first we need to thank the fans, including those in a commemorative chair or watching tonight on Peacock. The course has been corrected and this can’t be stopped. Sparrow voiceover: “Now how’s that for a cold open?” The original voiceover wants a big finish though so how about this: WELCOME TO WRESTLEMANIA!

Commentary welcomes us to the show….which is being delayed due to a weather delay, because of course it is. The fans bust out the ponchos and start heading for the concourses as this is quite the change of plans. With nothing else going on, commentary talks about Drew McIntyre vs. Bobby Lashley getting to start the show but since we have some time to fill, we’re going to get some special interviewers backstage.

Shane McMahon talks about how he hasn’t been bullying Braun Strowman and is ready to take him out tonight. MVP and Bobby Lashley interrupt to say that tonight will be the crowning moment of the Almighty Era. Drew McIntyre only understands violence and tonight, Lashley is going to give him that. McIntyre pops in and says Mother Nature can’t save Lashley so let’s do it back here.

MVP and Lashley are taken out and McIntyre talks about how he is trying to keep his emotions together and won’t lose it last year. Last year they were at the Performance Center and he won the WWE Title, lost it for three weeks and got it back, but now the weather is trying to hold him back again. Lashley is losing the title tonight. You can tell that McIntyre isn’t comfortable improving.

The Kickoff Show panel talks about how important the show is.

New Day is fired up about having the crowd back and you can’t feel that feeling until you feel it. They accepted AJ Styles and Omos’ challenge because they are fighting champions and don’t care how big or phenomenal their challengers are. No one can hang with them and here is Big E. to glare at interviewer Kevin Patrick, plus hype up how great the rest of the team is. It nearly turns into a sermon, as Patrick seems a bit scared.

Cole dubs the show Wrestlerainia but seems to be alone in that one.

Braun Strowman says he’s ready to get out there and destroy Shane McMahon for the sake of everyone who has ever been bullied. This isn’t going to be pretty or technical, because Shane is going to be beaten into an inch of his life. Tonight, he’s proving that bullies do not win.

The Kickoff Show panel talks about Vince McMahon’s speech.

Kevin Owens, rocking that KO Mania V shirt, takes the microphone from Kevin Patrick to talk about his history with Sami Zayn. They have known each other for almost twenty years and they started wrestling each other all over. One time they wrestled each other in front of 23 people in Owens’ hometown. They went to New York City, to Peru and around the world, but in those twenty years, no two people were talked down to by “industry experts” like they were.

Now they are here and tomorrow night they get to do it again at Wrestlemania. It has never been this big or this important but this isn’t the Sami that he has known. That’s ok though, because in the end, this is Wrestlemania and it’s Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens. Tomorrow night, Owens is Stunning some sense back into Zayn and if Logan Paul wants to try something, he’ll be in the ring. To the point, eloquent, and it told the story of their match. This stuff can be done with zero scripting and if the people can handle that, I have no idea why they aren’t given the chance.

Michael Cole and Samoa Joe, in ponchos, hype up the show being on in less than five minutes. In a good note for the two of them, Byron Saxton’s microphone has died.

Bianca Belair isn’t nervous but she knows she is getting in the ring with Sasha Banks. Belair doesn’t run from competition so tonight, she is proving that she is the best. Not too bad here.

Seth Rollins can’t remember Kevin Patrick’s name (Rollins: “It’s Mike right?”) but he loves the chaos of Wrestlemania. He isn’t happy with hearing about Zazaro Swinging him a record number of times but it was probably to help Zazaro springboard to a new level. Tonight the clouds will clear and the sun will shine down on the new Mr. Wrestlemania.

Miz and John Morrison aren’t worried about Bad Bunny and Damian Priest because they’re stars. BE JEALOUS!

The Kickoff Show panel gives us one more quick hype.

Now this is kind of interesting, because the Peacock version of the show has the weather delay with the promos as its own video (which is billed as the start of the show). Vince’s speech and America the Beautiful are on the regular video of the show and there is no mention of the delay, though the video with the delay references Vince’s speech. Because WWE.

Speaking of Because WWE, the opening video is on both the weather delay video and the regular Wrestlemania video.

Since we can’t just GET ON WITH IT ALREADY (and because the fans need to get back in their seats), here are hosts Titus O’Neil and Hulk Hogan, with the latter not getting the most positive reaction. Titus is fired up to be in his hometown and the WWE Universe is bringing the energy that they need. After one year, one month and one day, we are back live! Hogan doesn’t think the fans heard him so Titus says it again to a stronger reaction. They hype up the opening match with the Hurt Lock vs. the Claymore and wonder what happens when the Hulkamaniacs run wild for TWO NIGHTS!

We recap Bobby Lashley defending the WWE Title against Drew McIntyre. Miz cashed in Money in the Bank against McIntyre and won the title, only to lose it to Lashley eight days later (which was about as obvious of a result as you could have, as there was no way Miz was going to Wrestlemania as champion). McIntyre is getting his rematch, with Lashley trying to have the roster take McIntyre out before the show. That didn’t work, and now it is time for the showdown.

Raw World Title: Drew McIntyre vs. Bobby Lashley

Lashley, with MVP, is defending. They fight over the power lockup to start until Lashley runs him over with a shoulder. The overhead belly to belly works a bit better for McIntyre, who throws in a bit of a crude gesture. Some shoving goes to McIntyre but Lashley hits him in the face to cut that off. A running clothesline takes Lashley to the floor, where he is fine enough to drive McIntyre into the barricade a few times.

Back in and a neckbreaker gives Lashley one (because McIntyre doesn’t wait for two) before he sends McIntyre into the corner. The charge takes too long though and the arm goes into the post. A Codebreaker to the arm sets up a failed cross armbreaker attempt so McIntyre goes with some clotheslines instead. There’s the overhead belly to belly and then another one has Lashley in more trouble (as we see commentary standing at ringside for some reason, likely weather related).

The Futureshock is blocked though and Lashley hits the spinning Dominator for two of his own. McIntyre gets planted with the big spinebuster for two more but he’s right back with the reverse Alabama Slam. They go up top with the superplex being broken up so McIntyre puts on a Kimura up there instead. Lashley knocks him out so McIntyre does the situp toss back down (that always looks cool).

Back up and Lashley hits another spinebuster but, after a few seconds (good), McIntyre nips up for the staredown. Another belly to belly sends Lashley down again and now the Futureshock can connect. McIntyre isn’t done though as he rolls two more Futureshocks for two so it’s time to load up the Claymore. Lashley bails outside to avoid the whole kick in the face thing, only to have McIntyre hit a big running flip dive to the floor to take out Lashley and MVP at the same time.

Back in and the Hurt Lock is blocked so Lashley sends him flying again with a suplex. The Downward Spiral looks to set up the Hurt Lock again but McIntyre rams him into the corner for the break. A third spinebuster is countered into the Kimura, which is broken up as well for another double knockdown. McIntyre wins a slugout but MVP offers a distraction, allowing Lashley to duck the Claymore. The Hurt Lock goes on and McIntyre is in trouble, with even the flip out of the corner not breaking it up. McIntyre finally passes out to retain Lashley’s title at 18:21.

Rating: B. This was the heavyweight slugfest style match as you had two big men beating on each other until one of them couldn’t keep going. It was hard hitting, it was a heck of a fight, and it was about who could stay on their feet. That’s how you open the show and it felt Wrestlemania worthy, even if the ending wasn’t the best thing. Heck of an effort here though and this one stuck with me even over the last year.

Titus O’Neil is backstage with the NWO (Hogan/Hall/Nash/Syxx) and offers them a spot on Ding Dong Hello. She’ll settle for a Too Sweet, but only Hall and Syxx take her up on it before leaving. I forgot how good Bayley was as a heel.

Tag Team Turmoil

Five teams and the winners get a Women’s Tag Team Title shot tomorrow night. Lana/Naomi are in at #1 (they both like to dance) and Billie Kay/Carmella (after Kay FINALLY found a partner to pay off her amazing resume deal) are in at #2, with Kay not being exactly great at trying to match Carmella’s more suggestive entrances (but there was nothing for her to do in WWE because reasons). Carmella takes Lana into the corner to start and beats her down, only to have Lana slip away from Kay.

The hot tag brings in Naomi for the pull someone’s face into the back of her tights (because WE’RE HAVING FUN) before handing it back to Lana. This proves to be a bad idea as Lana can’t time kicking Kay down so Kay rolls Naomi up (with an assist from Carmella) for the elimination at 2:19.

The Riott Squad (Liv Morgan/Ruby Riott) are in at #3 with Morgan kicking Kay in the face (take notes Lana). Kay manages to put her down in the corner so though so Carmella can do her moonwalk into the dropkick. That doesn’t last long as Morgan fights up and hits a Codebreaker, only to hold Kay on top. Riott adds a top rope backsplash for the pin at 4:58 (total) but Carmella superkicks Morgan down after the fall.

Dana Brooke/Mandy Rose are in at #4, with Mandy infamously slipping on the ramp (edited out here, because WWE doesn’t make mistakes). An early Blockbuster drops Dana but she’s right back with a running flip neckbreaker for two. Riott grabs a sunset flip for the same and it’s Morgan coming in to pick up the pace. A Codebreaker into the Riott Kick gets two with Brooke having to make the save.

Rose gets in a kick to the ribs in the corner though Rose slips on the middle rope. Brooke slaps Rose in a rather personal area for a tag (sure why not) before a superplex drops Morgan. Not that it matters though as Morgan reverses into a small package for the pin at 9:17. After the ring announcer says the Riott Squad was eliminated and then issues a correction, Natalya and Tamina complete the field at #5.

Morgan rolls Natalya up for two but it’s off to Tamina for a sitout powerbomb. Tamina gets taken into the corner though and it’s the Codebreaker into the backsplash for two, because Tamina doesn’t get pinned you see. The superkick sends Morgan outside and there’s the Hart Attack to Riott. The Sharpshooter is loaded up but Natalya hands it off to Tamina for the Superfly Splash and the final pin at 14:06.

Rating: D. Egads man. The Women’s Tag Team Titles have been good for about three months out of the nearly three years they have been around and that is the case again here. Natalya and Tamina are about as interesting as the dogcatcher and the The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, but they need to go over the Riott Squad, Kay and Brooke/Rose, because of course they do. This match was frustrating and bad on top of that, as you have a bunch of thrown together teams (and the Riott Squad) fighting for a shot against another thrown together/oddball team. Just drop the titles already.

Get vaccinated!

We recap Seth Rollins vs. Cesaro. Rollins got swung around a bunch of times so he pointed out that Cesaro had never had a Wrestlemania Moment (whatever definition we’re using for it this year) in the form of some campaign ads of who you should approve of more. The match was set up as a result, with Cesaro wanting his big shot.

Seth Rollins vs. Cesaro

Cesaro hits a running uppercut to start and knocks Rollins to the apron for a bonus. There’s a knee lift but Rollins snaps the arm across the top rope to take over. Back in and Cesaro’s superplex is countered into a Buckle Bomb for two as Rollins turns up the sneering. The top rope superplex into the Falcon Arrow gives Rollins two but Cesaro is back up with another uppercut.

The Swing (you knew that was coming) sets up the Sharpshooter but Rollins makes the rope. Rollins drops him again and hits a corkscrew frog splash (that’s a new one) for two of his own. Cesaro is right back up with a Neutralizer for two, setting up the shocked kickout face. Another attempt is countered into a quick Pedigree to give Rollins his own near fall and they’re both down (as long as he doesn’t start countering Pedigrees, we should be ok).

Rollins shouts about how he survived the Neutralizer and the Swing, setting up a missed running kick to the face. That’s fine with Rollins, who swings his leg back and kicks Cesaro in the back of the head instead (cool). The Stomp is countered into the uppercut so now it’s the torture rack swing (with no hands, because THAT’S SOMETHING ELSE HE CAN DO). The 23 rotation Swing sets up another Neutralizer for the pin on Rollins at 11:27.

Rating: B-. They got the result right as there was no way Cesaro was coming back from losing after everything Rollins said about him. The problem is that if this was going to mean anything, it needed to come about six years earlier. I’m happy to see Cesaro get his win, but it’s really hard to buy that it is going to mean anything beyond maybe the next few weeks. Good match though, which shouldn’t be a surprise given who was in there.

We look at Jey Uso winning the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, plus Robert Roode/Dolph Ziggler retaining the Smackdown Tag Team Titles, last night on Smackdown.

Ziggler and Roode pick AJ Styles and Omos to take the Raw Tag Team Titles from New Day.

Raw Tag Team Titles: New Day vs. AJ Styles/Omos

New Day (Xavier Woods/Kofi Kingston) is defending and this is Omos’ in-ring debut. Kofi and Omos start but Woods chants at Styles and gets him to start instead. Styles can’t get the Calf Crusher early on so they trade rollups instead. A belly to back suplex sends AJ face first onto the mat and it’s time for some Francesca from Woods. That’s enough for Woods to come in and grab a headlock, allowing him to shout about how they are cutting the ring in half. Styles fights up and tries to get over for the tag but Woods realizes that could cause a variety of damage.

Woods drags him back to the corner before sending Styles to the floor, setting up a dropkick through the ropes. Kofi keeps Styles down and a springboard splash to the back gets two. UpUpDownDown is loaded up but Styles kicks his way out and crawls over to Omos for the tag, despite Woods’ protests.

The tag brings in Omos (Kofi: “YOU GOT THIS WOODS!”) and Woods’ kicks have no effect. Kofi’s top rope chop is pulled out of the air and a backbreaker has Woods’ back bent over Omos’ knee. A side slam drops Woods again and Styles comes back in with a Phenomenal Forearm off of Omos’ shoulders to knock Woods silly as this isn’t going well for the champs. A standing Sky High sets up the pin with one foot to finish Kofi for the titles at 9:45.

Rating: C. The match might not have been the best, but the story it told worked well. What mattered here was having Omos look like an unstoppable monster and they nailed every bit of that side. What they didn’t nail was the part where Styles, who could probably beat either member of New Day with a limited amount of trouble, was treated like Jesse to Omos’ Festus. The Omos stuff worked, but the Styles half really didn’t work.

Styles sits on Omos’ shoulders for the cool visual after the match.

GET VACCINATED!

The cage is lowered.

We recap Shane McMahon vs. Braun Strowman. Shane decided that Strowman was stupid and bullied him for the beat you over the head story of the show. Then Shane slimed him (as poured green goo over him) but their match at Fastlane was postponed to here due to Shane’s knee injury. This story was dumb and designed to put the focus on Shane, because of course it was.

Shane McMahon vs. Braun Strowman

Inside a cage with pinfall, submission or escape and Jerry Lawler joins commentary. As Lawler makes every joke about Strowman being stupid that he can think of, Jaxson Ryker and Elias (Shane’s goons) jump Strowman with chairs on the floor. A chair is thrown in with Strowman so the beatdown can be on. Strowman takes the chair away but Shane kicks him in the leg and takes over again because he’s Shane McMahon.

Shane’s escape attempt doesn’t work so he punches and kicks Strowman down in the corner. Another escape attempt is broken up but this time Shane pulls a piece of sheet metal off the top and beats Strowman down with that instead. Strowman fights up again and hits him in the face, with Shane being nice enough to sell for a few seconds. The running powerslam is loaded up but the knee gives out, allowing Shane to send him face first into the cage.

A DDT drops Strowman and Coast To Coast hits Strowman in the ribs. Shane goes for the climb so here are Ryker and Elias to help him over but Strowman knocks them off the cage. That makes Shane fall back inside too but of course he’s fine enough to get up again. This time Strowman follows, only to find a well placed toolbox (at least there would be a reason to have that up there) and knock Strowman off.

That’s enough for Shane to get over the top, where Strowman grabs him by the hand and then rip the cage open (that’s a new one) to pull him back inside. Strowman pulls him to the top of the cage and throws him down for the huge crash. Instead of climbing out though, Strowman climbs down, gives a speech about how this is for everyone who has ever been called stupid. The running powerslam finishes Shane at 11:26.

Rating: D. I for one enjoyed seeing the Shane McMahon Show here, as this was giving me Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax at Wrestlemania XXXIV vibes. This should have been Shane getting in a few shots off the interference and then being crushed like an old can. Instead, it was Shane beating on Strowman and getting in all of his stuff before Strowman beat him up to win. As usual, it was about Shane first and then everyone else, because that’s the Wrestlemania tradition we need to continue.

Here are some fireworks as the cage is raised.

Commentary talks about the Hall of Fame induction but Bayley interrupts, saying she can do Cole’s job better. She throws us to the induction ceremony video, with various people talking about how great this is.

Here is this year’s class:

JBL (long overdue)

William Shatner (not here but at least he did some stuff in wrestling before)

Bella Twins (who can’t quite do their dance in those dresses)

Jushin Thunder Liger (not here but he should be in every Hall of Fame)

Titus O’Neil (Warrior Award, as the man is a saint)

British Bulldog (again, how was he not already in)

NWO (yeah they’ll do as headliners)

Wrestlemania XXXVIII is in Texas.

Bad Bunny/Damian Priest vs. Miz/John Morrison

Booker T. is on commentary. Bunny is one of the hottest rappers in the world and a lifelong WWE fan. He performed his song about Booker T. so Miz and John Morrison wanted some collaboration. That wasn’t happening, so they broke his DJ’s equipment. Bunny eliminated them from the Royal Rumble and then picked up Damian Priest as a partner, setting up the big showdown. Miz and Morrison also destroyed Bunny’s really expensive car to make it…well material rather than personal in this case.

As for tonight, an army of bunnies hop to the ring, albeit with ears (and a head) falling off, leaving the rest of them to hold their big bunny heads on, because that’s how WWE does things. Miz and Morrison show up to do their Hey Hey Hop Hop rap live, which was a catchy song. On the other hand, Bunny rides into the stadium on the top of a semi truck for a pretty cool entrance.

Priest backs Miz into the corner to start but Miz wants Bunny instead. That’s exactly what he gets, with Bunny looking more comfortable than I would have expected. Miz sticks his chin out so Bunny hits him in the face (Morrison: “Rabbits are lucky! That was luck!”) before another right hand knocks him into the corner. The frustration is on so Bunny tackles him down and hammers away. Miz gets a bit more serious but this time Bunny grabs an armdrag.

Morrison isn’t happy and tells Miz to act like they’re the best tag team of the 21^st century. A rather spinning headscissors takes Miz down again so Morrison comes in for a change. That means a headbutt to send him into the corner and a running elbow….is elbowed out of the air to put Bunny in trouble for the first time. The pace slows down a bit as Miz gets to mock Bunny and then rip at his face. Bunny fights out of a chinlock but Miz hits the big boot to cut him off again.

Another shot knocks Bunny to the floor and Morrison busts out a Spinarooni, meaning Booker gets in his catchphrase. Priest makes the mistake of looking at the crowd and gets knocked down by Miz, allowing Bunny to get dragged back into the corner. Bunny gets a boot up in the corner though and a tornado DDT out of the corner gives him a breather. That’s enough for the tag to Priest to start cleaning house, including the toss suplex to send Miz into Morrison.

The South of Heaven chokeslam gets two on Miz as everything breaks down. Stereo head claps set up stereo Broken Arrows for two on Miz and Morrison with the villains rolling outside. Of course that means the big dive from Bunny but Priest gets knocked down back inside. Morrison pulls Bunny to the floor, where Bunny hits a Canadian Destroyer to leave Miz stunned. Back in and a Doomsday crossbody finishes Miz at 15:03.

Rating: B. It was longer than it needed to be and Bunny selling the first ten minutes was certainly a choice, but this was WAY up there on the celebrity match list. Bunny clearly put in some effort and time as he looked good with the stuff he was doing out there. It was more him doing moves than wrestling a match but for a one off, this was a very successful debut. Bunny is the celebrity and is going to get the attention because he is the reason the match is taking place, but he more than delivered here and it was a very impressive showing.

We look back at Drew McIntyre vs. Bobby Lashley from earlier in the night.

Here’s what’s coming tomorrow night.

We recap Sasha Banks vs. Bianca Belair for the Smackdown Women’s Title. Belair won the Royal Rumble and gets to challenge for the title, with both of them talking about how they’re the rest best around here. This was a simple story but it was set up well, with Belair being treated as the next big thing but needing to conquer the current big thing.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Bianca Belair vs. Sasha Banks

Belair is challenging and we get the Big Match Intros. They fight over the lockup to start until Banks pulls her down, only to have Belair nip up. Belair takes Banks down instead but has to bail out of a standing moonsault. Banks sends her to the apron for a neck snap across the top and a ram into the post, setting up Banks’ big dive to the floor. That’s fine with Belair, who catches said dive and gorilla presses Banks for a walk up the steps (that’s not normal, at all).

Back in and Banks gets in a few shots of her own, setting up some rights and lefts on the mat. The double arm crank keeps Belair down so let’s hit the wide shot to show off the SNICKERS logos. Banks goes up top so Belair brings her right back down with the big crash. They head outside where Banks uses the hair to pull Belair into the post, only to miss the running knees against the barricade.

Back in and Belair grabs a VERY delayed suplex, complete with a slingshot and muscling Banks back up before taking Banks back for the double knockdown. Banks is up first and grabs the hair, which is used to pull her into a clothesline from Belair. A standing shooting star hits Banks and a release Glam Slam drops her again. Belair’s 450 only hits knees though and they’re both down again. Back up and Belair is fine enough to hit a pair of powerbombs for two, meaning they’re down again.

This time it’s Banks up first with a double springboard tornado DDT (that was cool), with the kickout leaving her stunned. The frog splash (with Cole thinking it was a Meteora) gets two on Belair and now frustration is setting in. They head outside with Banks sending her into the steps before taking it back inside for the Bank Statement. Belair looks more scared than hurt and it’s made even worse as Banks rolls into the middle. You don’t do that to Belair, who rolls forward to make the ropes for the break.

Belair drives her into the corner with straight power but can’t hit a Stratusphere. Instead Banks gets her into the Tree of Woe but misses the Alberto double stomp. Now Belair can hit her 450 for two, meaning it’s her time to scream in shock. The KOD is loaded up but Banks sticks the landing, so Belair is done playing. The big whip with the hair rocks Banks and now the KOD gives Belair the pin and the title 17:27. Ignore Cole shouting about a kickout.

Rating: B. There was a lot more laying around in this one than I thought but they did a good job with Banks’ natural skills vs. Belair’s power/athleticism. This was making me think of Asuka taking the NXT Women’s Title from Bayley back in 2016, as Bayley was great but Asuka was that much better and overwhelmed her. Very good match and the first time a women’s singles match has headlined the show to give it the historical aspect.

The big celebration is on to end the show, complete with Belair’s family in the front row for a nice touch.

Overall Rating: B-. Overall the show is good, but there are some rather part parts that hold it back. You can only get so far with stuff like the Tag Team Turmoil match and the cage match, which both dragged on and didn’t seem to be the hottest stories in the first place. Other than that, it is the same problem as last year: having the show split in half takes away the feeling of this being the biggest show of the year. I get why they’re doing it, but egads it doesn’t feel as special. The good matches here are more than enough to carry it, but this is far from a classic.

Ratings Comparison

Drew McIntyre vs. Bobby Lashley

Original: B-

Redo: B

Tag Team Turmoil

Original: D

Redo: D

Cesaro vs. Seth Rollins

Original: C+

Redo: B-

AJ Styles/Omos vs. New Day

Original: C+

Redo: C

Braun Strowman vs. Shane McMahon

Original: D

Redo: D

Miz/John Morrison vs. Bad Bunny/Damian Priest

Original: C

Redo: B

Bianca Belair vs. Sasha Banks

Original: B

Redo: B

Overall Rating

Original: B-

Redo: B-

Almost everything is about the same save for Bad Bunny/Priest, which is better than I remembered.

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

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AND

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NXT
Date: September 12, 2023
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Booker T.

We are less than three weeks away from No Mercy and tonight we’ll find out the show’s main event. This week will see Ilja Dragunov vs. Wes Les with the winner getting an NXT Title shot against Carmelo Hayes at the big show. Other than that, Becky Lynch is here to challenge Tiffany Stratton for the NXT Women’s Title. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening recap.

Wes Lee vs. Ilja Dragunov

The winner faces Carmelo Hayes for the NXT Title at No Mercy. Lee knocks him into the corner to start and strikes away before doing it in another corner for a bonus. Dragunov comes back with some forearms of his own as commentary runs down tonight’s card. The enziguri misses for Dragunov and Lee dropkicks him in the back of the head.

One heck of a chop puts Lee down again but he flips out of a German suplex. Lee kicks him to the floor and hits the required dive but another is cut off. We take a break and come back with Lee getting two off a hurricanrana and kicking him in the head a few times. A Spanish Fly gives Lee two but a hard clothesline gives Dragunov the same.

Lee scores with the Cardiac Kick to send Dragunov outside but he’s right back with a top rope superplex. The H Bomb gives Dragunov two more so he loads up the Torpedo Moscow. Lee cuts that off with a jumping knee but Dragunov blasts him with the forearm to the back of the head for the pin and the title shot at 13:26.

Rating: B. This was quite the fight with Dragunov hitting Lee very hard but Lee hanging in there with his own fast paced offense. While Dragunov felt like the favorite, it wouldn’t have been crazy to see Lee pick up the win, which gave the match that extra layer of drama. Dragunov vs. Hayes II should be a heck of a fight though and No Mercy is looking a lot better.

Post match Carmelo Hayes comes out for the showdown.

We look back at Bron Breakker crushing Von Wagner’s head with the steps. Wagner moved away at the last second, but still got hit hard enough to suffer a minor skull fracture.

Here is a serious looking Baron Corbin for a chat. Corbin talks about how normally, people don’t like him and he doesn’t like them, but last week was different. Von Wagner has a history of skull issues and Bron Breakker took advantage of that. Breakker needs to come out here right now so here he is, though Corbin cuts him off at the entrance. The fans have to get in their chants about tables (because of course)….but Corbin thought last week was AWESOME! They celebrate a bit, but Breakker says he didn’t do it to make Corbin happy. It was about ending Wagner’s career and he absolutely loved it.

Corbin was out here to be nice and he was even going to pay Breakker’s fine, but apparently Breakker doesn’t get it. We hear about Corbin’s career but Breakker cuts him off and challenges him to a fight at No Mercy. Breakker tells him to spend the next three weeks with his family, but Corbin slaps him in the face and the fight is on. I’m glad they didn’t turn Corbin face (though they could have made it work there) but Breakker jumping straight to the match seemed like it needed another step.

Charlie Dempsey/Damon Kemp/Drew Gulak vs. Josh Briggs/Brooks Jensen/Myles Bore

Fallon Henley is here too. Briggs slams Kemp to start and Jensen adds an elbow, followed by the running corner clotheslines. Gulak comes in and gets caught with a running neckbreaker as everything breaks down. Borne hits his own neckbreaker on Dempsey, followed by Jensen hitting a running spinwheel kick on Kemp. The fight heads outside with Borne posting Jensen so Kemp can hit a Rock Bottom into a neckbreaker for the pin at 2:40.

Borne celebrates with the winners and Henley is upset.

Andre Chase wants Duke Hudson to find Thea Hail but she’s blocked him. We cut to Hail and Jacy Jayne backstage where two guys hit on them. They make fun of Hail for sounding a bit like a child so she beats them up. Hail is tired of looking like this so it’s time to go shopping.

Lyra Valkyria vs. Dana Brooke

Kelani Jordan is here with Brooke. They trade some misses to start until Valkyria kicks her out to the floor. Brooke takes her down for two back inside and the cravate goes on. Valkyria drives her into the corner and starts kicking away before hitting the spinwheel kick. A top rope splash finishes Brooke at 3:34.

Rating: C-. Every week, I watch Brooke’s matches and segments and try to find a way to be interested in anything she does. Every week, that gets harder and harder to do as Brooke continues to be that uninteresting. She’s just someone who can have an acceptable match and happens to have been around for a long time. That doesn’t warrant this much TV time but she’s here doing the same thing week in and week out regardless.

Post match Brooke tries to lunge at Valkyria but Jordan holds her back.

The NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament is coming.

Eddy Thorpe isn’t done with Dijak, who pops up in the woods where Thorpe tends to go. Dijak whips a tree and Thorpe is out to get him.

Dominik Mysterio runs into Carmelo Hayes and they brag about their titles. A match is set for next week.

Becky Lynch talks about her original time in NXT and no one thought she was championship material. Now she’s back and ready to win the title. Kiana James comes in to says he doesn’t want Lynch around here, which Becky takes as an application for a beating after she wins the title.

Global Heritage Invitational Group A: Tyler Bate vs. Axiom

They trade snapmares to start before Axiom takes him to the mat with a headlock. Back up and Bate elbows him out to the floor but they switch places, with Axiom hitting a moonsault. Bate powers him up into the airplane spin so Axiom rolls outside as we take a break. We come back with Axiom favoring his knee and charging into a suplex out of the corner.

They trade hard kicks as we see the Meta Four watching, with Noam Dar sitting on an elephant. Axiom cranks on the arm but gets caught in another airplane spin. This one is countered into a poisonrana for two, only to have Bate come back with a brainbuster for the same. Axiom Spanish Flies him into a rollup but Bate cuts him off with the rebound lariat. The Tyler Driver 97 finishes Axiom at 10:10.

Rating: B-. As tends to be the case with a lot of TV matches, the break in the middle killed a lot of the flow they had going. Axiom is one of those great hands that can wrestle with anyone while Bate always feels like he is one step away from being a breakout star. They had a good back and forth match here, but it could have been better with some more time.

Group A Standings
Butch (1-0-1, 3 points, 1 match remaining)
Tyler Bate (1-0-0, 2 points, 2 matches remaining)
Axiom (0-1-1, 1 point, 1 match remaining)
Charlie Dempsey (0-1-0, 0 points, 2 matches remaining)

Butch talks about his history with Tyler Bate, but next week, it’s time for Butch to prove that he is the toughest man in NXT.

Schism, now seemingly just Joe Gacy and Ava, say their tree is dying.

Carmelo Hayes comes in to see Trick Williams, who offers to have Hayes’ back next week against Dominik Mysterio. Hayes declines but they’re absolutely still friends. As this is going on, Wes Lee clears out his locker behind them.

Creed Brothers vs. Malik Blade/Edris Enofe

Ivy Nile is here with the Creeds and Angel Garza/Humberto Carrillo come out to watch from the balcony. Brutus gets knocked to the floor to start and Enofe dropkicks Julius for a fast two. Back up and an assisted crossbody gets two on Enofe with Blade having to make a save. A Hart Attack Blockbuster gets two on Brutus and a Fameasser puts him down again. Brutus powers up though and brings Julius back in to clean house. Everything breaks down and the Brutus Ball/powerbomb combination finishes Blade at 3:37.

Rating: C+. It was a fast paced match, but the Creeds are showing how they are far above almost every other team around here. They’re crisp, they work well together and Julius’ house cleaning is as good as it gets in NXT. They feel like they’re one big match away from the main roster, though the division getting some depth might keep them around a bit longer.

Post match Hank Walker and Tank Ledger come in to stare at the Creeds but Bronco Nima and Lucien Price come in to brawl with them in the aisle instead.

Becky Lynch is glad to see Lyra Valkyria, who wants her to win tonight.

Roxanne Perez talks about what the Women’s Breakout tournament can mean but Elektra Lopez and Lola Vice come in to talk trash to her. My goodness learn how women talk already.

No Mercy rundown.

Global Heritage Invitational Group B: Nathan Frazer vs. Akira Tozawa

Frazer grabs a headlock to start before sending Tozawa into the ropes. Tozawa is right back with a snap German suplex into a missile dropkick. With Frazer on the floor, Tozawa hits a dive but takes too long going up, allowing Frazer to run the ropes for a superplex. That’s floated into a suplex neckbreaker for the pin at 2:31. Well that was brisk.

Group B Standings
Joe Coffey (2-0-0, 4 points, 1 match remaining)
Nathan Frazer (2-1-0, 4 points, 0 matches remaining)
Duke Hudson (1-1-0, 2 points, 1 match remaining)
Akira Tozawa (0-3-0, 0 points, 0 matches remaining)

Joe Coffey is ready to beat Duke Hudson next week and win the group. Hudson comes in to point out that if he wins, it’s a three way tie and he’ll be able to call himself the Spoiler.

Mustafa Ali is happy with becoming #1 contender to the North American Title and doesn’t care about a fast count. Dragon Lee comes in and isn’t happy, but Ali says Lee will get the first title shot when he wins the title. Lee doesn’t seem happy.

Wes Lee says he’s done and leaves.

Gigi Dolin jumps jumps Blair Davenport but security breaks it up.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

NXT Women’s Title: Becky Lynch vs. Tiffany Stratton

Lynch is challenging and we get the Big Match Intros. Stratton drives her into the corner to start and cartwheels into a standoff. Lynch flips around a bit as well but it’s too early for the Disarm-Her. They trade forearms until Stratton knocks her to the apron for a hip attack. We take a break and come back with Lynch hitting a running elbow in the corner. A missile dropkick gives Lynch two but Stratton hits a Sky High for the same.

Lynch catches her up top but a superplex is broken up. A Swanton gives Stratton two and a double stomp gets the same as frustration is setting in. Lynch is back up and counters the Prettiest Moonsault Ever into a super Russian legsweep for two. They head outside with Lynch having to climb onto the barricade to avoid a powerbomb. Back in and Lynch hits a legdrop into the Disarm-Her, sending Stratton to the ropes. The sitout powerbomb gives Stratton two but the Prettiest Moonsault Ever misses. Lynch is right back up with the Manhandle Slam for the pin and the title at 13:20.

Rating: B+. This was a heck of a match and the good sign is that Stratton looked more than comfortable in there against a top star like Lynch. They’ve got something with Stratton and it seems that they know it, which makes her all the more valuable. At the same time, Lynch isn’t likely to be a long term champion and someone can take the title from her for a big rub. Great main event here and they more than lived up to the expectations.

Lynch celebrates to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. As usual, NXT is at its best when it lays out a bunch of things it needs to do and then accomplishes them, all while setting up something for the future. That was the case here, with both next week as well as No Mercy being set up. At the same time, they had a good opener and a better main event, making it a strong wrestling show as well. Very solid effort this week and No Mercy is looking that much better rather quickly.

Results
Ilja Dragunov b. Wes Lee – Forearm to the back of the head
Damon Kemp/Drew Gulak/Charlie Dempsey b. Josh Briggs/Brooks Jensen/Myles Borne – Rock Bottom neckbreaker to Jensen
Lyra Valkyria b. Dana Brooke – Top rope splash
Tyler Bate b. Axiom – Tyler Driver 97
Creed Brothers b. Malik Blade/Edris Enofe – Brutus Ball/powerbomb combination to Blade
Nathan Frazer b. Akira Tozawa – Suplex neckbreaker

 

 

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

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AND

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

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

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

In Memory Of Terry Funk and Bray Wyatt.

We open with a long recap of Heatwave.

Dyad vs. Creed Brothers

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

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

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

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

Roxanne Perez is ready to become #1 contender.

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

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

Global Heritage Invitational Group A: Charlie Dempsey vs. Butch

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

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

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

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

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

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

Von Wagner wants Bron Breakker, No DQ.

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

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

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

Gigi Dolin is ready to become #1 contender.

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

Dijak vs. Eddy Thorpe

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

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

Kiana James is ready to become #1 contender.

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

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

Bray Wyatt tribute video.

Blair Davenport is ready to become #1 contender.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tiffany Stratton comes out for the staredown with James.

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

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

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

 

 

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NXT
Date: August 15, 2023
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Booker T.

We’re a week away from Heatwave, which is the next TV special to fill in time on the way to the next major show. For now though, we should be in for a nice show, with a #1 contenders match between Dijak and Wes Lee. Other than that, there’s a good chance we hear from Rhea Ripley and Dominik Mysterio so let’s get to it.

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

Tag Team Titles: Tony D’Angelo/Stacks vs. Dyad

The Dyad, with Schism, is challenging. Stacks knocks Reid into the corner to start and we go outside with Schism staring Stacks into stopping. Back in and D’Angelo is sent into a spinwheel kick from Reid but a suplex puts Reid down. Stacks grabs a headlock and everything breaks down, with the champs clotheslining them to the floor. A big flip dive takes Dyad down again and we head back inside. This time Fowler throws Reid at Stacks, knocking him off the apron and into the announcers’ table.

We take a break and come back with Stacks fighting out of a chinlock but not being able to get in. Some Dyad double teaming draws D’Angelo in, meaning the referee doesn’t see Stacks’ small package to Reid. Stacks manages to kick Reid away and the hot tag brings in D’Angelo to clean house. Everything breaks down and here is Ivy Nile, who gets cornered by the 10 or so members of Schism. Two of them jump the Dyad though and D’Angelo belly to back slams Fowler to retain at 13:25.

Rating: C+. Nice match but PLEASE get to the end of the Schism stuff already as the “whoa there are a bunch of them and they’re wearing spooky masks” thing is getting really tiresome. They aren’t winning, but the story isn’t interesting and it’s becoming a chore to watch anything they do. Stacks and D’Angelo on the other hand are turning into a polished team and are developing rather nicely, especially as champions.

Eddy Thorpe talks about his fighting spirit and is ready to fight.

Carmelo Hayes is signing a bunch of stuff when Wes Lee comes in to say Hayes has been too busy for him lately. Lee says he’ll go become #1 contender and Hayes can sign a contract to defend the title against him at Heatwave. Hayes: “Why don’t you go do that?”

Andre Chase and Duke Hudson talk about how to get Thea Hail back on the right track. Chase has gotten her a match with Jacy Jayne to work through some emotions. Hail isn’t happy and accuses Chase of always trying to do what’s best for her. Hudson agrees and Hail tells Chase to try not to throw in the towel this time. With Hail gone, Chase asks Hudson what the **** that was. Hudson is off to talk to her.

Blair Davenport vs. Dana Brooke

Kelani Jordan is here with Brooke, who starts fast and sends Davenport outside. Back in and a stomp to Brooke’s back gives Davenport two but Brooke powerbombs her out of the corner for the same. They’re back on the floor with Brooke being sent into the steps, only to have Brooke knock her down back inside. For some reason Brooke goes to grab the bell, which is quickly take away. Back in and Brooke can’t quite get a rollup, so Davenport knees her in the face twice in a row for the pin at 3:55.

Rating: C-. I get what they’re going for with Brooke but it really isn’t working. She’s not the kind of person for this veteran spot and it’s showing badly every time she gets in the ring. It’s not working, but for some reason that is what we’re getting out of her. At least Davenport won though and that is what matters most.

Dijak comes up to Carmelo Hayes’ signing and tells him to save one for himself for after Heatwave. Hayes tells him to get to Heatwave before he talks that much.

Trick Williams vs. Drew Gulak

Damon Kemp and Charlie Dempsey are here with Williams. Williams shrugs off the grappling attempt and hits a pop up right hand to send Gulak outside. Back in and Gulak takes him down by the leg but Williams knocks him away again. A Rock Bottom plants Gulak before Williams goes after Kemp and Dempsey. Cue Brooks Jensen and Josh Briggs to take care of the two of them, leaving Williams to hit a spinning kick to the face for the pin at 3:56.

Rating: C. This was a fine way to make Williams look like someone before he gets destroyed by Ilja Dragunov next week. Williams is a fine hand in the ring and can talk very well, but Dragunov is a big test right out of the gate. As usual, Gulak can make anyone look good, which is why he’ll have a job in WWE in one form or another for as long as he wants it.

Dabba-Kato is coming back. Does he have to?

Here is Baron Corbin for a chat. He can say whatever he wants and not have to worry about the repercussions. Corbin ran Gable Steveson out of NXT and that locker room is full of a bunch of soft b******. Corbin is introducing a new era around here but here is Von Wagner, with Mr. Stone, to interrupt. Stone doesn’t think much of Corbin, who mocks Stone’s wardrobe choices.

We hear about Wagner putting Bron Breakker through a table last week and Wagner doesn’t have much to say. Corbin says Wagner needs to learn to do this or he’ll have a “security” shirt on every time the stars come through town. Wagner says he’s tired of Corbin and tells him to be out here next week with “one of your ten gimmicks” for a fight. A table is promised but Wagner can’t put him through one tonight.

Rhea Ripley and Dominik Mysterio call out Dragon Lee and Lyra Valkyria for next week.

Mustafa Ali addresses a bunch of people of North America, talking about how the recent and current champion do not represent them. Dominik Mysterio is a CONVICTED CRIMINAL and the people deserve better. He is the North American Champion that you need and in Ali you can trust. This sounded like a political rally.

Dijak vs. Wes Lee

For an NXT Title shot next week. Lee strikes away start and goes after the knee, even sending him outside early on. Back in and Dijak works on the arm before sending him into the post (with Vic calling the match to cut off Booker’s latest rambling). The running boot misses Lee in the corner but he manages to post Lee again as we take a break.

Back again with Dijak working on the arm until Lee flips over into a DDT. Lee manages to block a big boot and lift him up for a powerbomb but Dijak goes for the arm again. Feast Your Eyes is loaded up but Dijak’s knee gives out. The knee is fine enough for High Justice to connect for two before Dijak sends him outside and over the barricade. Cue Eddy Thorpe to distract Dijak, allowing Lee to knock Dijak down. The Cardiac Kick and Spiral Tap finish Dijak at 12:08.

Rating: B. This was a good fight and Lee continues to look like he belongs at the higher levels of NXT. To go from a tag guy without much going on to someone who can hang with anyone around here is very impressive and he is the logical next #1 contender after that North American Title reign. Dijak continues to be a heck of a monster, though he could use a win in the near future.

Lyra Valkyria and Dragon Lee are ready for Rhea Ripley and Dominik Mysterio next week. Lee thinks Valkyria is hitting on her, but not so much. They exchange pleasantries in their own languages with hit and miss results.

Tyler Bate is ready for Joe Coffey after an incident at an NXT live event on Friday.

Ilja Dragunov is ready for Trick Williams next week, when Williams’ fantasy will not become reality.

Vic Joseph plugs No Mercy with a dig-diggity-dig-dig-diggity-dog.

Joe Coffey vs. Tyler Bate

Bate takes him down by the head to start and survives a few rollup attempts. Coffey reverses into a quickly broken full nelson before Bate punches him down. A standing shooting star press gives Bate two, followed by the airplane spin for that dizzying effect. Back up and Coffey grabs a bridging German suplex for two of his own but Bate knocks him outside. There’s the big dive to drop Coffey again but Dabba-Kato returns to attack Bate for the DQ at 4:00.

Rating: C. This was just a means to an end with the Kato return, which is hardly the most thrilling idea. Kato is a monster but he’s a monster who was beaten by Axiom and Scrypts. That isn’t the most ringing endorsement, so now I guess it is time to rebuild him again. I get that he’s big, but trying the same thing over and over again without it working in the first place is quite the choice. Bate and Coffey had the match you would have expected but with just four minutes, they couldn’t get very far.

Baron Corbin is ready for Von Wagner next week when Bron Breakker comes in. Breakker isn’t done with Wagner, which Corbin finds interesting after what happened last week. Corbin isn’t scared of him.

Nathan Frazer talks about the Heritage Cup match with Noam Dar next week when Dar hacks his feed and tries to turn it into Supernova Sessions. Dar brags about how great of a champion he is but insists that his cup is real. We see a clip of Dar admitting otherwise so Frazer whips out a FRAUD alarm, which hs presses every time Dar lies. Dar keeps talking and the button is pressed quite a few times.

Jacy Jayne vs. Thea Hail

Chase U is here with Hail, who takes her down without much trouble to start and we take a break less than a minute in. Back with Hail fighting out of a chinlock but a neckbreaker is broken up. Jayne knees her down but has to go to the ropes to avoid a Kimura. A spinebuster gives Jayne two so Andre Chase gets on the apron. Hail avoids going into a buckle and yells at Chase, allowing Jayne to grab a small package for the pin at 8:11.

Rating: C+. This was another example of a storyline match and not much more, as Chase completely screwed that one up for Hail and has no one but himself to blame. Seeing the downfall of Chase U is kind of sad as they never really accomplished anything despite being crazy popular, and not it seems that they’re falling apart. I’d like to see something else happen for them, but that doesn’t seem likely at the moment.

Video on Humberto Carrillo and Angel Garza, as narrated by their grandfather, who talks about the importance of family staying together. We see clips of them wrestling together as children and it seems it’s time for a reunion.

Carmelo Hayes finishes his signing and Wes Lee comes in to get him to sign a contract. Hayes says he’ll see him next Tuesday but Lee clears the table and says he’ll see Hayes in the ring, before dragging the table with him.

Tiffany Stratton is back next week.

Heatwave rundown.

Wes Lee is in the ring with the table and tells Carmelo Hayes to get out here. Hayes says Lee is about to turn him into the old version so Lee talks about all of the things Hayes gets to do these days. Hayes brings up Lee’s time as North American Champion but then a little pressure comes up and Lee folds like a chair on the Alabama boardwalk. Lee is tired of being told he can’t do something but here he is after having become a Tag Team and North American Champion. He’s been told he can’t, until he did.

Hayes isn’t convinced and says Lee can’t beat him, which Lee says is all he has heard before. He won’t fail again and signs for next week. Hayes says Lee has earned this but warns him to not go chasing waterfalls, because next week, Melo won’t miss. Hayes signs, so Lee stomps the table in half and says he’ll see him at Heatwave to end the show. This was a fairly week final segment, but there’s only so much they can do to set up this match.

Overall Rating: C+. This show wasn’t the big one, but rather the way to set up the big one. They seem to be getting to some of the bigger stories coming to a conclusion next week and that should let them move on to the start of the road to No Mercy. For now though, it was an acceptable enough show as we get ready for next week’s important one.

Results
Tony D’Angelo/Stacks b. Dyad – Belly to back slam to Fowler
Blair Davenport b. Dana Brooke – Knee to the face
Trick Williams b. Drew Gulak – Spinning kick to the face
Wes Lee b. Dijak – Spiral Tap
Tyler Bate b. Joe Coffey via DQ when Dabba-Kato interfered
Jacy Jayne b. Thea Hail – Small package

 

 

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NXT
Date: August 8, 2023
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Booker T.

The long road to No Mercy is on but there are probably going to be a bunch of big time matches before we get there. A month and a half is too long to build up the card so odds are we’ll blow through some stuff over the next few weeks. That includes tonight’s North American Title match with Rey Mysterio here as a special guest. Let’s get to it.

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

Rhea Ripley and Dominik Mysterio are ready to prove how great Dominik is.

Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee are ready to show that Lee is the future of lucha libre.

Mustafa Ali vs. Axiom

This is over Ali trying to jump over Axiom to get a North American Title shot and feeling disrespected. Booker tries to make it into some complicated thing and Vic, apparently not in the mood tonight, wastes no time in asking what the heck Booker is talking about. They run the ropes to start until Ali runs him over. Back up and Axiom sends him outside for a dive over the announcers’ table, with Booker managing to stay on his feet.

Back inside and here is Scrypts to watch as Axiom is shoved off the top for a flip into a clothesline to drop Axiom. Cue Bronco Nima and Lucien Price as Ali reverses a suplex into a Jackhammer of all things. Axiom snaps off a Canadian Destroyer to send Ali rolling outside, where a huge springboard moonsault connects.

Hold on though as Axiom comes up holding his knee but he’s fine enough to avoid a 450 back inside. A tornado DDT plants Ali but he counters a cross armbreaker into a Sharpshooter. With that broken up, Axiom hits a springboard moonsault DDT and they’re both down again. Axiom goes up but Ali goes the mask and sends him crashing to the floor. The 450 gives Ali the pin at 10:07.

Rating: B-. Good action, as you would expect from these two as Ali moves forward to a likely North American Title shot, but WOW they need to drop this Scrypts stuff. He isn’t interesting, he looks tiny and they can barely decide what his name is, let alone giving us a reason to care about him. Just let Axiom go have good matches with people and stop trying to make Scrypts a thing.

Post match Ali says he’s next in line for the North American Title.

Schism promises to find the Creed Brothers, and proceed to destroy Ikemen Jiro.

Kelani Jordan vs. Blair Davenport

This is the result of Dana Brooke, here at ringside, wanting Jordan to do something so she called Davenport out. Jordan starts fast and can’t quite snap off a springboard hurricanrana. Davenport takes her into the corner and hammers away, with Dana’s coaching not really working. Jordan fights up but gets knocked out of the corner, allowing Davenport to stomp her in the back. A hard knee to the face finishes Jordan at 3:27.

Rating: C. Speaking of things that aren’t working, Dana Brooke is up there on the list. It’s a fine story of a veteran trying to push a newcomer to the next level, but at the end of the day, that veteran is Dana Brooke. She has always tried and seemed to be getting better at times, but this is not the right role for her and there isn’t much of a way around that.

Post match Dana chases Davenport off with a belt but nearly hits Jordan with it, earning Dana a glare.

Von Wagner is ready for Bron Breakker and threatens to put him in a table.

Tyler Bate vs. Noam Dar

This is for Dar’s unofficial Heritage Cup and therefore under Heritage Cup rules with the rest of the Meta Four at ringside. Round one begins with a fight over wrist control and go to the mat with neither being able to get the better of things. Back up and Bop and Bang doesn’t work for Bate so they clothesline each other and pop up for a glare. More fighting against the ropes ends the round with neither having much of an advantage.

Round two begins with Bate taking Dar down but having to clothesline Mensah off the apron. A big dive hits Dar on the floor and the Tyler Driver 97 finishes Dar at 43 seconds of the round and 4:15 overall to put Bate up 1-0. We take a break and come back with Bate missing what looked to be a dropkick off the top, banging up his knee in the process as round three ends.

Round four begins with Bate running him over for a rather close two. Dar is right back up and hits a spinning elbow for two before grabbing the kneebar. Bate stacks him up for two so Dar grabs the hold again until Bate taps at 2:20 of the round and 11:01 overall, tying it up 1-1. Round five begins with Bate unloading on one leg but Dar pulls him back into the kneebar. That’s broken up and Bate hits a German suplex before a small package gives Bate two. The Tyler Driver 97 is countered so Bate rolls him up for the pin at 2:13 of the round and 13:33 overall to win 2-1.

Rating: C+. I was expecting Dar to retain via cheating so well done on a bit of a surprise. I’m still not much of a Heritage Cup fan and the Meta Four do very little for me, but Dar has gone from all time levels of annoying to moderately interesting, so there is some growth there. It’s also nice to see Bate get a win, as he hasn’t been in the ring much lately.

Tank Ledger and Hank Walker name themselves Smash Mouth before being beaten down by Schism, who is still looking for the Creed Brothers.

Dijak comes in to Carmelo Hayes’ locker room and wants a title shot. Wes Lee comes in and wants a shot too but Dijak doesn’t like that. They argue as Hayes leaves, with Dijak sucker punching Lee and sending him into a locker.

Here is Ilja Dragunov to call out Trick Williams. Cue Williams, to say he has something to say, which is too far for Dragunov. He doesn’t want to hear from Williams after the Great American Bash, but Williams says Dragunov ran into the title rather than Williams hitting him with it. The challenge is on for a match because Williams wants to show he can back everything up because he isn’t a sidekick. Dragunov says be careful what you ask for because he won’t hold back and will break Williams. Williams says they’re on for two weeks at Heatwave. Dragunov is going to kill him, but Williams should put up a good fight.

Drew Gulak and Charlie Dempsey think Tank Ledger and Hank Walker are cowards for backing out of their match due to injury. Damon Kemp comes in to say he’s their man if they are looking for toughness. That’s just one, so here are Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen to say they’re tough. A tag match is made.

Bron Breakker is ready for Von Wagner.

Rey Mysterio gives Roxanne Perez a pep talk and is impressed with her. Thea Hail comes in and is a nervous wreck to meet him. Rey praises the heart he sees in the ring with her and she seems amazes. Thea asks if he still loves Dominik, which Rey says he does, even if things aren’t great right now. Rey leaves and Chase U comes in to say that was Rey Mysterio, Hall of Famer! Thea: “I know. And unlike you, he wouldn’t throw in the towel!” YOWZA that was cold.

Von Wagner vs. Bron Breakker

Mr. Stone is here with Wagner, who powers Breakker into the corner to start but Breakker runs him over with a clothesline. Breakker drops him again and hits a standing moonsault (or most of it) for two. Back up and a double clothesline leaves both of them down again for a breather. Wagner gets up and hits a running big boot but the fans want tables. Breakker doesn’t mind and hits a spear for the pin at 5:11.

Rating: C+. Nice power match here and they went the right way with the far more established Breakker winning, but please stop with the table stuff. It’s bad enough to have the fans chant for them in every weapons based match and I really don’t want to hear about them every time Wagner is out there at all. They’ve been done to death so many times that they’re probably eligible to be put on trial as a serial killer and those chants can take over a match way too fast. Find something else for Wagner to use as a thing please, before it gets even worse.

Post match Breakker goes after Stone but Wagner powerbombs him through a table.

Eddy Thorpe talks about the spirit he was given to fight for his people but Dijak has taken him out more than once. Now he has to take responsibility to refocus and readjust.

Lyra Valkyria interrupts Rhea Ripley and Dominik Mysterio, but she accuses Ripley of manipulating people. Ripley doesn’t like being accused of helping Dominik retain the title, so Valkyria challenges her to not be in Dominik’s corner tonight.

Schism asks Tony D’Angelo and Stacks about the Creed Brothers but tease coming after the Tag Team Titles instead.

Josh Briggs/Brooks Jensen vs. Drew Gulak/Charlie Dempsey

Fallon Henley is here with Briggs and Jensen. Gulak backs Jensen into the corner to start but charges into a boot to the face. An elbow misses for Jensen though and it’s Dempsey coming in for a headlock takeover. Cue Myles Borne to be in Gulak/Dempsey’s corner but since he doesn’t have water, Gulak sends him away. Briggs comes in to slam Dempsey and drops an elbow for two.

It’s back to Gulak, who is quickly taken into the wrong corner, with Briggs sending him flying off a slam. Briggs and Jensen drop Gulak but it’s Dempsey gets the tag anyway and twists Briggs’ arm over the ropes. Dempsey cranks on the arm, with Vic saying he has a regal approach to this kind of thing. Briggs fights up and brings Jensen back in as everything breaks down. Cue Damon Kemp to suplex Jensen, allowing Dempsey to snap off a dragon suplex and pin Jensen at 5:46.

Rating: C+ Briggs and Jensen have kind of fallen off the face of the planet since the Henley/Kiana James deal ended and that’s a shame as they aren’t a bad team most of the time. That being said, I do like Kemp being added to Gulak/Dempsey. They fit well together and that could be a nice three man team going forward.

Dana Brooke wants to know what that was from Kelani Jordan, but Jordan doesn’t know what her killer instinct looks like. Brooke will show her next week when she faces Blair Davenport. This really isn’t working as it’s still just Dana Brooke.

Ivy Nile vs. Kiana James

Before the match, James promises to tap into her wild side. James jumps her before the bell and takes it outside, with Nile getting posted and suplexed. Back in and we hit the armbar as we take a break. We come back with Schism surrounding the ring and rhythmically slapping the mat. Nile fights up but charges into a boot in the corner, allowing James to hit the spinebuster. A Fujiwara armbar has Nile in more trouble but she’s back with a powerslam. Schism offers a distraction though and a knee to the back of the head finishes Nile at 7:41.

Rating: C. Yay more Schism, as this one angle has been on TV four times tonight. I still do not get what NXT sees in these guys but they don’t seem to be going away anytime soon. At least they’ve mainly been portrayed as a bit more unhinged this week, as they have been the lamest cult in a long time. As for the match, James being more aggressive is good but they still need to find a way to make her stand out more. Nile continues to feel like a missed opportunity and could be something, provided she doesn’t have to talk.

Post match Schism gets in the ring but Tony D’Angelo and Stacks run in with crowbars for the save.

Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo text each other about how they’re a joke now but want to honor their grandfather. A reunion is teased.

Tyler Bate is polishing up his new Heritage Cup when the Meta Four come in to say Noam Dar needs it back for emotional support. Nathan Frazer comes in with his own cup and says they’re a Spider-Man meme. They argue over which cup is real and the result is Dar getting his cup back AND a shot at the real thing at Heatwave. Frazer to Bate: “I owe you one?” Bate: “Yep.”

Tiffany Stratton is asked what’s next for her but talks about clothes instead of the title.

Trick Williams runs into Wes Lee in the parking lot and is told to tell Carmelo Hayes to be ready. Williams tells Lee to tell him himself but Lee drives away. Drew Gulak and company show up to mock Williams and then tell Myles Borne he’s late again.

Here’s what’s coming on upcoming shows.

North American Title: Dragon Lee vs. Dominik Mysterio

Dominik, with Rhea Ripley, is defending and Rey Mysterio, who handles Lee’s entrance, is in Lee’s corner. Lee knocks him into the corner to start and hits the slingshot dropkick to send Dominik outside. The fight with Rey is teased and we take a break. Back with Dominik taunting Rey and grabbing a chinlock. Three Amigos hit Lee and Dominik hammers away with right hands.

Dominik goes for the mask, which fires up Lee to start the comeback. Lee knocks him outside for a big dive but Dominik grabs a neckbreaker for two back inside. They trade shots to the face until Dominik hits a 619. The frog splash hits raised knees though and the powerbomb gets two. Rhea slides in the North American Title but Rey takes it away. That’s enough for Rhea to hit Lee with the Women’s Title, allowing Dominik to hit a Michinoku Driver to retain at 11:40.

Rating: B-. One of the good things about Dominik is that he is far from a disaster in the ring. While he’s nothing compared to his dad (most aren’t), he’s certainly capable of having a completely acceptable match. That was on display here, with the Ripley stuff being more of a way to bail Dominik out rather than saving him at the beginning. Lee will get there one day, but Dominik isn’t losing that title for a long time, and that’s how it should be.

Post match Rhea yells at Rey but Lyra Valkyria comes in to send Rhea to the floor. The heroes stand in the ring to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. Maybe it was the show feeling longer with the limited breaks or something, but this show was testing my patience more than once. Between Scrypts, Schism and Dana Brooke getting so much time, it was a tough show at times and that isn’t a good thing to do. The action was mostly fine, but there were enough annoying parts to bring it back down. Not their worst show ever, but getting rid of some of the bad parts would help a lot.

Results
Mustafa Ali b. Axiom – 450
Blair Davenport b. Kelani Jordan – Knee to the face
Tyler Bate b. Drew Gulak 2-1
Bron Breakker b. Von Wagner – Spear
Drew Gulak/Charlie Dempsey b. Brooks Jensen/Josh Briggs – Dragon suplex to Jensen
Kiana James b. Ivy Nile – Knee to the back of the head
Dominik Mysterio b. Dragon Lee – Michinoku Driver

 

 

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

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AND

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Clash of Champions 2016
Date: September 25, 2016
Location: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
Attendance: 13,467
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

For some reason, this was requested back in the day so we might as well check it off the list. This is the first Raw exclusive pay per view after the Brand Split so the roster is a little limited. In this case, the main event is Kevin Owens defending the Universal Title against Seth Rollins. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Nia Jax vs. Alicia Fox

Jax showed up a few weeks ago and Fox didn’t like it, leading to Fox freaking out. Then Jax beat her up in a match so we’ll do it again. Fox dropkicks her at the bell to start fast and fires off kicks. That earns her some rams into the corner as Jax isn’t having any of that. We’re already in the chinlock for a bit before Jax sends her flying again. Fox slugs away in the corner though and hits a high crossbody. The ax kick gets two but Jax runs Fox over without much effort. The Samoan drop crushes Fox for the pin at 4:54.

Rating: C. This was about what you would expect here, as Jax shrugged off anything Fox threw at her and won pretty decisively. The match wasn’t anything special, with Jax getting a big push as she is new on Raw. Fox is someone who could be destroyed without sacrificing much and keeping it simple and to the point was the right way to go here.

The opening video looks at what it takes to be a champion and how we got to the major matches.

Tag Team Titles: New Day vs. Good Brothers

New Day, meaning Kofi Kingston and Big E. in this case, is defending. Before the match, Kofi talks about how a win here would make them champions for 400 days, but the Good Brothers want to break them up like Brangelina. Anderson and Gallows have never even had a big old bowl of Booty-O’s!

The Brothers finally come out and it’s a clothesline to Big E. on the floor, plus cheap shot to Woods. A Liger Bomb to Kofi for two and the champs are in early trouble. Gallows comes in for a kick to the head and hammers away in the corner. Big E. gets back up but Gallows knocks Kofi right back into the wrong corner. Kofi gets in a shot of his own though and the tag to Anderson takes too long, allowing Big E. to come in for the rapid fire suplexes. The Warrior Splash hits Anderson but he’s able to cut off the spear through the ropes.

Gallows comes in off a blind tag and boots Big E. in the face, setting up the big boot/flapjack combination for two. The tag brings Kofi back in and he is quickly spinebustered for two more. Big E. is dropped again but Kofi breaks up the Magic Killer. Kofi manages Trouble In Paradise and Big E. is back in for the Big Ending but Gallows breaks it up. The referee yells at Gallows, meaning Woods can get in a Francesca shot to Anderson. The Midnight Hour retains the titles at 6:45.

Rating: B-. They crammed a lot into a rather short match here but New Day is always a good choice to open the show. You are going to get the high energy match that the fans will react to and that is a smart way to bring up the energy. The Brothers were viable challengers here and had New Day in a lot of trouble more than once before coming up short. It felt like a hot house show opener and this worked well in pretty much every aspect needed.

We recap TJ Perkins winning the Cruiserweight Classic to become the new Cruiserweight Champion.

TJ Perkins has been working to get here since 1998 and his confidence is going to get him beyond Brian Kendrick.

Cruiserweight Title: Brian Kendrick vs. TJ Perkins

Perkins is defending and I do miss his video game entrance (and Kendrick’s I’m A Man With A Plan song). Not so much the purpose ropes, which was about all the identity the cruiserweight division had. They go with the grappling to start until TJP gets a headscissors. Kendrick switches that into a headlock but gets reversed into a kneebar, sending him straight to the ropes.

The fans are split as Kendrick ties him in the ring skirt and hammers away as commentary tries to get this division and its wrestlers over as much as possible. TJP is right back with a Muta Lock, sending Kendrick to the ropes again. Kendrick manages to send him outside to bang up TJP’s neck but his own knee is hurt as well. Back in and Kendrick gets in a cross arm choke before missing a charge and crashing out to the floor. TJP fights out of another crank and hits a dropkick into a heel kick.

A jumping neckbreaker doesn’t quite work for TJP but a double chickenwing backbreaker two two. With nothing else working, TJP snaps off a top rope hurricanrana to the floor for a double crash. Back in and Kendrick can’t hit the Sliced Bread so TJP goes up, only to miss the 450. Kendrick can’t get the Captain’s Hook but TJP can’t get the kneebar either. Now Sliced Bread gives Kendrick two but this time the Captain’s Hook is reversed into the Detonation Kick. The kneebar retains the title at 10:33.

Rating: B-. This was turning into a heck of a match but there was no way around the fact that it means absolutely nothing. The Cruiserweight Title was introduced in the Cruiserweight Classic and that worked well enough, but after that it became clear why it was gone again. No matter how good the matches might be, and this was a rather good one, you can only get so far with the purple ropes and a title for smaller wrestlers when Daniel Bryan was the hottest thing in the world just a few years ago.

Post match respect is teased but Kendrick drops him and walks off.

Cesaro, in his white tuxedo, is ready to finish the comeback and beat Sheamus to win their best of seven series. This series is about mental toughness and he is ready to show the Cesaro Section the biggest comeback in history.

We recap the first six matches, with Sheamus going up 3-0 but Cesaro has made a comeback to bring us to a winner take all match. The matches have been good, but egads it was hard to sit through this many matches between anyone.

Cesaro vs. Sheamus

The winner gets an unspecified title shot. Cesaro wastes no time in hitting a dropkick but Sheamus is right back with the forearms to the chest. Those are broken up and Sheamus is knocked to the floor, allowing Cesaro to hit the running seated senton off the apron. Back in and Sheamus knocks him off the top for a crash though, setting up a middle rope knee. Some backbreakers stay on Cesaro’s back and we hit the chinlock.

Back up and Sheamus hits a running spinwheel kick in the corner (that looked good) and a top rope clothesline gets two. Sheamus misses a charge into the post though and Cesaro scores with an uppercut to the back. A tornado DDT gets two on Sheamus and the Swiss One Nine (if that’s not the name, it should be) sets up a high crossbody for two more. The Neutralizer is blocked so Cesaro hits a heck of a springboard corkscrew uppercut for another near fall.

It’s too early for the Swing though and Sheamus gets two more off another backbreaker. Two Irish Curses combine for two (so hit a third one then) but the Cloverleaf is countered into a small package to give Cesaro two of his own. Sheamus gets creative with a Razor’s Edge dropped into a backbreaker (OUCH) but the Brogue Kick is countered into the Swing. Cesaro gets the Sharpshooter (while holding his back), sending Sheamus over to the rope.

The apron superplex is countered so Cesaro kicks him in the face instead, setting up one of those suicide dives which lands so badly that the referee runs out to make sure Cesaro isn’t dead. Back in and a quick Brogue Kick gives Sheamus two (as we see the fourth replay of the dive, which looked TERRIFYING).

Cesaro grabs a Neutralizer for two of his own and they’re both down again. Some uppercuts in the corner have Sheamus in more trouble until he cuts off a charge with a raised boot. Sheamus pulls himself up to the top but gets dropkicked down but Sheamus headbutts him right back off the top. A top rope clothesline to the floor hits Cesaro in the back and Sheamus hits White Noise on the floor. Cesaro clotheslines him into the crowd though and it’s a no contest as they’re both out at 16:30.

Rating: B+. This is a great example of a match where time has been kind. I couldn’t stand this feud at the time and the reveal of them getting a Tag Team Title shot didn’t help (though the Bar wound up being great) but this was an awesome fight. They didn’t stop for almost any time during the match and I wanted to see what they were going to come up with next. Awesome stuff here and if they hadn’t done the match to death, I would have liked it a lot more back in the day.

Post match Cesaro wants to keep going but Sheamus staggers out of the arena.

Bayley, still in the Hugger phase, is interrupted by Charlotte, still in….the only phase she has, who says Bayley cheated to get her title shot tonight. Charlotte insists that Bayley isn’t going to win tonight, with Bayley reminding her of that time she pinned Charlotte a few weeks ago. Charlotte: “You can’t even beat Sasha.”

Sami Zayn vs. Chris Jericho

I do miss Sami’s jaunty hat. Believe it or not, this is over Kevin Owens, who Sami doesn’t like but is Jericho’s new best friend. Therefore, this is about Jericho protecting his own honor after Sami said he was Owens’ b****. Jericho yells at the fans to start until Sami drives him into the corner and hammers away. The referee breaks it up and Jericho gets in the cheap shot.

Sami isn’t having that and snaps off some armdrags into a leg lariat, meaning Jericho needs a breather. With Jericho on the floor, Sami follows him out and hits the moonsault off the barricade. Back in and the referee distracts Sami, allowing Jericho to hit the triangle dropkick to take over. A top rope elbow to the face gives Jericho two and he crotches Sami on top to cut off a quick comeback bid. Jericho loads up the bulldog but Sami sends him hard into the corner and sends him outside.

There’s the big no hands running flip dive (that always looks great), followed by a Michinoku Driver for two on Jericho back inside. Sami misses a flying something off the top and Jericho is back with a step up enziguri. Jericho starts kicking him in the head but Sami pulls him down into a rollup for two more. The rope walk tornado DDT sets up the Helluva Kick but Jericho bails to the floor just in time.

The diving tornado DDT takes Jericho down again outside, only to have another Helluva Kick miss back inside. Instead Sami suplexes him into the corner but a third Helluva Kick misses, allowing Jericho to grab the Walls. Sami finally reverses into a rollup for two and the Blue Thunder Bomb connects for the same. Then Jericho hits the Codebreaker for the pin at 15:21.

Rating: B. Were you expecting anything else from Jericho vs. Zayn in a fifteen minute pay per view match? Sami was fighting from underneath for most of the match, which is where he excels like few others. There is something about watching him try to survive against a bigger star and even get close to winning multiple times, only to come up short. Awesome match here, as this show has been pretty great so far.

Bosses Mick Foley and Stephanie McMahon come up to Raw World Champion Kevin Owens, saying if anyone can live up to the rest of the show, it’s him. Owens isn’t impressed ad is ready to show them why they should have taken him over Seth Rollins with the #1 Draft pick. Rollins is no longer then man, but rather the mistake. Their mistake.

We recap the Raw Women’s Title match with Charlotte defending against Bayley and Sasha Banks. Charlotte beat Banks to win the title at Summerslam when Banks had a bad back. Then Bayley showed up and beat Charlotte in a non-title match, setting up the title match.

Raw Women’s Title: Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks vs. Bayley

Charlotte, with Dana Brooke (that didn’t go very far) is defending. Banks chases Charlotte straight to the floor and starts the fight so Bayley kicks both of them in the face. Back in and Bayley rolls Charlotte up for some near falls but Banks isn’t having that. Instead Bayley rolls her up for two but Charlotte pulls Banks down by the hair. We get the big three way standoff until Banks drops Bayley.

Charlotte grabs a neckbreaker to put Banks down but gets crotched on top. Bayley is back up and kicks Charlotte to the floor, setting up a twisting Stunner over the middle rope to take banks down. Brooke gets in a cheap shot on Bayley though, allowing Charlotte to knee Banks into the corner. There’s a hard whip into the corner and Banks’ back is getting a lot more messed up.

Charlotte stops to deck Bayley again but Banks sends Charlotte into the corner to even things up a bit. The Bank Statement is broken up but Bayley is back in with a double high crossbody. Bayley misses a running knee in the corner though and Banks stacks both of them up, setting up the double knees. Back up and Banks breaks up the Figure Eight and Bayley hits the Bayley To Belly for two on Charlotte, leaving everyone down again.

With nothing else working, Banks and Bayley beat up Charlotte…who of course shrugs it off and sends Bayley into the corner again. If that’s not enough, Charlotte drops Banks off the middle rope before doing the same to Bayley. Charlotte hits the moonsault onto both of them for two on Banks, who is right back up with the Bank Statement.

Brooke makes a save of her own and Bayley is shoved off the top for a crash. The Bank Statement has Charlotte in more trouble but Bayley breaks it up this time. Banks does the same thing with Charlotte and Bayley switching places, allowing Charlotte to send Banks hard into the barricade. Back in and Charlotte boots Bayley into Banks, followed by another big boot to retain the title at 15:28.

Rating: B-. Sweet goodness Charlotte was every bit as dominant back then and it was still not the most appealing thing. She kept shrugging off everything Bayley and Banks threw at her, including both at once, and then won the title by beating them both up without much trouble. Good enough match, but it was a lot of Charlotte, as tends to be the case.

The Kickoff Show panel recaps/previews the show.

Remember Nia Jax crushing Alicia Fox on the Kickoff Show? Here are some highlights, in case you were wondering about a near squash.

We recap Roman Reigns challenging Rusev for the US Title. Reigns, being kind of a jerk, interrupted Rusev and Lana’s celebration and shoved her into a cake. They had been supposed to fight at Summerslam but got in a fight before the match so nothing happened.

United States Title: Rusev vs. Roman Reigns

Rusev is defending and Lana handles his introduction. They fight over a lockup to start until Reigns knocks him outside. Back in and Reigns wins a slugout until Rusev spinwheel kicks him in the face for two. Rusev hammers away and whips him into the corner a few times as the fans are way behind Reigns. The clothesline comeback doesn’t last long as Rusev knocks him outside for some rams into the barricade.

Rusev is sent into the steps for two and we hit the chinlock. That stays on for a good bit before Rusev hits a running headbutt and stops for some Bulgarian style glaring. A dropkick of all things drops Reigns again but he rolls away from a top rope headbutt (he learned from the first headbutt you see). The corner clotheslines rock Rusev, who crashes out to the floor and gets sent into the steps for a bonus.

Back in and the Superman Punch is kicked out of the air, setting up a hot shot for two. Reigns cuts off the Machka Kick and hits the Superman Punch for two of his own. Back up and the Lana distraction lets the Machka Kick connect and Rusev loses it on the referee for a bit. The Accolade (camel clutch) is broken up though and Reigns hits the spear, only to have Lana pull the referee.

That’s good for an ejection and Reigns sends Rusev outside as well. The running dropkick hits Rusev but it’s the Machka Kick to give him two back inside. Now the Accolade goes on but Reigns powers up and hits the spear for the pin and the title at 17:10 (it’s as sudden as it sounds).

Rating: B-. This was the Reigns that does not have the best reputation, as while the wrestling was good enough, it wasn’t exactly exciting stuff and he kept shrugging off everything thrown at him. That doesn’t make for the most interesting matches and the ending came out of absolutely nowhere. Not a bad match at all, but there was no point where I was getting interested or excited.

Seth Rollins runs into Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley but he really doesn’t want to hear anything from Stephanie. They bet on the wrong guy, and tell HHH that he bet against the wrong guy.

We recap the Raw World Title match. Finn Balor won the Universal Title at Summerslam but got hurt, meaning the title was decided in a fatal four way. HHH interfered and cost Seth Rollins the title, siding with Kevin Owens instead in quite the screwjob. Now Rollins wants revenge, as HHH (and Stephanie) bet on the wrong guy (as you might have heard all of a few seconds ago). In other words, it was a bunch of Stephanie getting to be all fierce with people while Owens was just kind of there quite a bit of the while.

Raw World Title: Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens

Owens is defending and they fight to the floor to start with Rollins getting the better of things. Back in and Rollins stomps away in the corner, setting up the running knee to the face for two. Stomping and chopping in the corner have Owens in more trouble and the middle rope Blockbuster gets two. The Pedigree is blocked though and Owens snaps off a DDT for two of his own.

Rollins is sent outside and comes up favoring his knee, allowing Owens to stomp away back inside (the fans approve). Owens kicks away at the knee and backdrops a charging Rollins out to the floor. An elbow off the apron crushes Rollins again and the backsplash makes it worse. We hit the chinlock for a bit before Owens whips him hard into the corner to keep Rollins down. Back up and Rollins starts the comeback, including the Downward Spiral into the middle buckle.

A running dropkick sends Owens outside and Rollins uses the chance to set up the announcers’ table. Ever the smart champion, Owens bails back inside before anything can happen, only to get superkicked for two. Rollins misses a charge into the corner though and Owens kicks him in the knee again. The Cannonball gets two but Rollins is back up for an exchange of strikes to leave them both down.

Rollins’ springboard knee is cut off so Owens can hit the pumphandle brainbuster onto the knee for two more. A super gutbuster into the frog splash gives Owens another near fall and they head back to the floor. Owens misses the splash through the announcers’ table and it’s another double down. Back in and Rollins hits a frog splash for two so cue Chris Jericho.

The distraction lets Owens hit the package side slam but Rollins is back with a Pedigree for the same, thanks to Jericho putting the foot on the rope. The referee gets bumped (of course) so there’s no count for Rollins’ Pedigree. Jericho comes in but gets backdropped to the floor, setting up the suicide dive. Stephanie McMahon pops up to send in another referee….so Owens can hit the pop up powerbomb to retain at 25:07.

Rating: B-. This was REALLY long and could have easily had ten minutes shaved off. It was one of those matches where it felt like they were just trying to fill in time rather than winning the match most of the time. On top of that, it also felt like it was a HHH style match of “ok, let’s get everything done before we get to the shenanigans”. That’s not a great feeling, and it never came off like Rollins was going to win the title to make it even worse. Good action, but bad setup and execution.

Overall Rating: B. There’s a lot of good stuff on here, but it does run a bit longer than it needs to. It also doesn’t help that while the match quality is high, the show could not feel more second tier if it tried. Reigns winning the title was a moment that felt flat and other than that, there was nothing on here that came off like a game changing moment. It’s definitely a pick and choose show where some of the matches are worth a look, but you might not want to sit through the whole thing.

 

 

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NXT
Date: August 1, 2023
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Booker T.

We’re past the Great American Bash and Carmelo Hayes is still the NXT Champion after defeating Ilja Dragunov in the main event. The show was another strong effort when NXT goes on the road and now they’re having to get ready to do it again at the end of next month. There is a good chance that the build starts here so let’s get to it.

Here is the Great American Bash if you need a recap.

We open with a long recap of the Great American Bash.

New Tag Team Champions Tony D’Angelo and Stacks arrive but get jumped by Gallus. Joe Coffey says no matter what, Gallus boys on top.

Jacy Jayne storms the announcers’ table and promises to finish what she started with Lyra Valkyria at the Great American Bash.

Jacy Jayne vs. Lyra Valkyria

The fight is on before the bell with Valkyria in trouble as we officially get things going. Jayne takes her down and nails a kick to the back before they head outside. Valkyria takes over and we go to an early break. Back with Valkyria elbowing her way out of the corner but Jayne knocks her down again.

A backsplash gets two but Valkyria manages a quick toss outside, followed by a high crossbody back inside. Valkyria’s northern lights suplex gets two but Jayne’s spinebuster gets the same. Back up and Valkyria hits a spinning kick to the head into a top rope splash for the pin at 9:23.

Rating: C. They started fast but then it turned into a more basic match after the break. Valkyria gets a nice win over someone with some status and that is a good idea. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Valkyria as the next challenger to the Women’s Title and a win like this can be a step forward for her.

Trick Williams congratulates Carmelo Hayes on retaining the NXT Title but says he has to start doing this for himself. Hayes is totally cool with that and says Williams should go get his, but Williams says he isn’t a sidekick. Hayes says he never saw Williams as a sidekick, which Williams says he knows, but now it’s Williams’ time to go after the dragon. Williams clarifies that this is NOT a breakup and Hayes promises to have his back anytime. They seem to part as friends.

Tony D’Angelo and Stacks are getting checked out by the medics but D’Angelo says they want Gallus tonight. Stacks says that’s 3-2 but D’Angelo is going to make a call.

Here are Rhea Ripley and Dominik Mysterio for a celebratory chat. Mysterio says the win on Sunday makes him the greatest luchador of all time, but here is Dragon Lee to say Mysterio’s dad is the greatest of all time. Lee and Rhea disagree about Dominik’s cajones but we get a title match set for next week. Rhea says she’ll be here too, but Rey Mysterio pops up on screen to say he’ll be in Lee’s corner next week because Lee is the future of lucha libre.

Wes Lee is mad about his loss and vents to Carmelo Hayes, who tells him to calm the h*** down. Noam Dar comes in to say he’s the Heritage Cup Champion because Nathan Frazer never beat him. On the other hand, Dominik beat Lee twice. That’s enough to trigger a brawl, with referees quickly breaking it up.

Thea Hail is depressed over her loss at the Great American Bash, with Andre Chase saying he had no choice. Hail shouted she still had a chance but Baron Corbin shows up to tell them to leave. Corbin tells Hail that the job isn’t for everyone so she should leave. Chase: “That’s it Corbin. You’re a piece of s***.” A match seems to be made but Hail still doesn’t want to talk to Chase.

Eddy Thorpe vs. Dijak

Thorpe charges right at Dijak to start and sends him into the corner, setting up a high crossbody for two. Dijak is right back up for a slugout before drilling Thorpe with a clothesline. Dijak can’t get a chokeslam so Thorpe sends him into the corner for some shoulders to the ribs. A charge only hits post though and Dijak grabs a chokeslam for two. Back up and Thorpe grabs a suplex for two but can’t hit a German suplex. Instead Dijak tries a torture rack but gets reversed into the German suplex to knock him silly. They head outside, with Dijak posting him hard, setting up the cyclone boot to finish Thorpe at 4:22.

Rating: C+. This didn’t have time to get very far but they used the time they had well. Dijak continues to feel like a monster and some of the things he can do still look great. At the same time you have Thorpe, who has hit a rough patch and doesn’t feel like nearly the up and comer he was a few weeks ago. There is still time for him, but Dijak getting pushed is certainly interesting at the moment.

Tony D’Angelo makes a call to someone and gets a second partner for tonight.

Dana Brooke and Kelani Jones are happy with Brook’s win last week but tells Jordan to find her killer instinct.

Yulisa Leon/Valentina Feroz vs. Lola Vice/Elektra Lopez

Leon and Lopez start things off with Lopez taking over. Feroz comes in but gets caught in the wrong corner, allowing Vice add a running hip attack in the corner. Lopez’s enziguri sets up a chinlock but it’s quickly back to Vice. A belly to back suplex doesn’t work for Vice and Feroz crawls over for the tag to Leon. Everything breaks down and Vice kicks Leon in the head for the pin at 3:31.

Rating: C. Another match without much time, but what matters here is setting up Vice and Lopez as a new team. It’s not like there are a ton of options in the women’s tag division so setting up someone from NXT is a good way to go. Maybe this is just a one off, but beating Feroz and Leon does feel like a little something at least.

Tiffany Stratton talks about how much pain she was in against Thea Hail but she survived. She’ll be back next week for something fabulous.

Wes Lee/Carmelo Hayes vs. Oro Mensah/Noam Dar

Jakara Jackson and Lash Legend are here with Mensah and Dar. Lee starts fast on the floor and Hayes has to come out for the save before asking what Lee is doing. We settle down to Hayes being driven into the wrong corner but coming out with the springboard clothesline to Mensah. Lee comes in for two off a falling backsplash as the fans start chanting HAPPY BIRTHDAY to someone (apparently Hayes, who is turning 29). Mensah rolls outside and Lee loads up a dive but Hayes calls him off as we take a break.

Back with Mensah hitting a northern lights suplex for two on Lee. A quick shot takes Mensah down though and the big tag brings Hayes back in to clean house. Hayes takes Dar down with La Mistica (headscissors into a faceplant, minus the armbar) but Jackson gets in the way of something off the top. Everything breaks down and Lee’s Cardiac Kick hits Hayes by mistake. Mensah superkicks Lee into the Nova Roller to give Dar the pin at 10:45.

Rating: B-. This match, especially the ending, was more about setting up Lee as the likely next challenger for Hayes. After Lee’s record North American Title reign, he has more than earned a shot so that all lines up. Other than that, this was a pretty nice tag match and it isn’t like being pinned by a long running Heritage Cup Champion is some major upset. They did what they needed to do here and that’s nice to see.

Post match Hayes and Lee argue, with Hayes trying to play peacemaker but Lee yells a lot.

Bron Breakker talks about the sad story Von Wagner has been telling but the truth is that Wagner is soft like his father. The scar he had on his head was nothing compared to how Wagner will look after Breakker gets done with him.

Axiom is looking to get a North American Title shot (Dominik Mysterio can’t keep his masked people straight) but Mustafa Ali interrupts and tries to get his own title shot. Dominik and Rhea Ripley leave as they argue, with Axiom saying he doesn’t respect the disrespect. Ali rants about being disrespected for three years.

Baron Corbin vs. Andre Chase

The rest of Chase U is here and Thea Hail is rather distraught. Corbin powers him around to start but Chase slips out and knocks Corbin outside. A Death Valley Driver plants Chase on the floor and we hit the chinlock with a knee in Chase’s back back inside. Fans: “THROW THE TOWEL!”

Chase fights up and gets in a shot to the leg before dropkicking the leg out again. The Russian legsweep sets up the spelling stomps but Corbin is back with a spinebuster. A half crab goes on and Thea throws in the towel at 4:40. The referee doesn’t see it so the match continues with Corbin letting the hold go as Thea leaves. End of Days finishes Chase at 5:14.

Rating: C. As much as I want to see him win, Chase losing here is what makes the most sense. He isn’t as big of a star as Corbin, or even close to it, and he has the whole Hail thing on top of it. Corbin gets a bit of a win to help make up for the Gable Steveson mess, but for now it’s going to be about Chase U, which seems to be in a lot of trouble.

We look at Roxanne Perez going back home to Texas for the Great American Bash, where Blair Davenport jumped her. Then she beat Blair in a Weapons Wild match, because no one can break her.

Meta Four is bragging about their win when Tyler Bate returns to say he has been in Tibet for a bit. Since Noam Dar says he’s the Heritage Cup Champion and has beaten everyone, he might need a fresh opponent. Bate accepts the challenge (which he himself issued) so the title match is on next week.

Here is the Schism to find out who messed with them last week. There are six masked people in the ring with them, with Joe Gacy talking about how insubordination must be eradicated. Ava tells them to unmask one by one, with the first two being no one in particular. The third is….Ikemen Jiro of all people, with his stylish jacket. Schism throws him and one other person out, leaving two people that Schism KNOWS are the Creed Brothers. They jump the still masked men but the Creeds pop up on screen from a beach.

They’ve also been to the pyramids, Easter Island, and…well back to the beach in some place they can’t agree on. What matters is they are NOT in Orlando, so we see that the two masked men are just more people. Gacy tells the worldwide followers of the Schism to find the Creeds and bring them back. Well at least the Creeds are kind of back and the Jiro surprise was good for a chuckle.

Last week, Cora Jade snapped after her loss to Dana Brooke and stormed out of the locker room.

Gallus vs. Tony D’Angelo/Stacks/Santos Escobar

Stacks hammers on Wolfgang to start before D’Angelo comes in for more of the same. A hiptoss sends Stacks into Wolfgang in the corner and everything breaks down, with the good guys hitting stereo punches to the ribs. The ring is cleared out and we take a break with Gallus in trouble.

Back with Gallus taking turns on Stacks, including Mark holding a front facelock. Stacks slips away but his partners are pulled to the floor, meaning there is no one to tag. Not that it matters as the tag off to Escobar allows him to clean house. Mark sends Escobar to the apron, where he scores with an enziguri. A high crossbody hits Mark and a victory roll gets two. Everything breaks down and Escobar snaps off a super hurricanrana to Mark. The Bada Bing finishes for D’Angelo at 9:54.

Rating: B-. This was little more than a fun reunion between Escobar and D’Angelo while giving Escobar a mini boost before his US Title match. It was just fine for what it was and should finish Gallus off from the title hunt for the time being. I can really go for more of these main roster cameos in NXT and this was another good one.

The winners celebrate, and seem to bury the old hatchet…..to not end the show.

Ilja Dragunov says he isn’t done with Trick Williams and promises to begins his retribution next week.

Overall Rating: B-. This show felt like a nice, slower edition without much going on but when you look at it, they accomplished a lot. They covered the fallout from the Bash, set up some matches for next week and seemingly set up Hayes’ next challenger. That’s a rather efficient use of two hours and it’s cool to see an NXT that is covering so much in a single night. If there was some better wrestling throughout this would have been one of the better weekly NXT shows in a good bit. For not though, it was just another efficient one.

Results
Lyra Valkyria b. Jacy Jayne – Top rope splash
Dijak b. Eddy Thorpe – Cyclone boot
Lola Vice/Elektra Lopez b. Yulisa Leon/Valentina Feroz – Superkick to Leon
Oro Mensah/Noam Dar b. Carmelo Hayes/Wes Lee – Nova Roller to Lee
Baron Corbin b. Andre Chase – End of Days
Tony D’Angelo/Stacks/Santos Escobar b. Gallus – Bada Bing to Mark Coffey

 

 

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

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AND

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