IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: July 30, 2018
Location: American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Jonathan Coachman

You can tell it’s a big night around here as Brock Lesnar is actually gracing us with his presence for the first time in three months. Now a lot of people would find that to be a really bad idea but it’s been the case for a long time in WWE. Just to make it work even better, he’ll be confronting Roman Reigns. Let’s get to it.

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

In memory of Nikolai Volkoff and Brian Christopher.

We open with a recap of Reigns beating Bobby Lashley last week to become #1 contender.

Lesnar is here. The fact that that is newsworthy tells you a lot about WWE today.

Here’s Reigns in the arena to a mixed reaction. He thanks the fans in Miami for always having a special energy that you don’t get everywhere else. Reigns thanks Lashley for last week because that was a heck of a fight and he respects Lashley for it. He doesn’t respect Lesnar though because Lesnar doesn’t have time to show up here like he does in the UFC. Lesnar is coming to Summerslam and Reigns is going to hit him in the mouth.

This brings out Paul Heyman, to talk about the definition of insanity being trying the same thing over and over again and expecting the same result. If that’s true, Reigns should be in a padded room somewhere. This week’s spoiler: Heyman is going to put Reigns down and then become a two sport champion.

Reigns: “Just shut up Paul.” He wants Lesnar out here right now but Heyman says Lesnar will be out here if and when he feels like it. Lesnar will be at Summerslam but Reigns cuts him off, saying if Lesnar shows up he’ll be sent back to the UFC as Reigns’ b****. Cole says the show is in three weeks, annoying me as usual. It’s twenty days, not three weeks.

Brock is in the back reading Backwoodsman Magazine when Heyman comes in. He doesn’t watch the show so he didn’t hear what Reigns said. Heyman recorded Reigns’ statements but Lesnar throws the phone against the wall and continues reading. I hope Heyman bills him for that.

Finn Balor vs. Baron Corbin

Yes this is still going. Corbin powers him into the corner to start and shoulders Balor down as it’s one sided to start. A middle rope dropkick gets Balor out of trouble as we’re firmly in power vs. speed here. Corbin clotheslines the heck out of him though and we take a break. Back with Corbin grabbing a chinlock and shaking the heck out of Balor.

That’s broken up but Corbin does his slide underneath the ropes for the clothesline back inside. The slow beating continues (makes sense as Corbin doesn’t see Balor as a threat) and it’s off to a chinlock. One heck of a right hand drops Balor again and a weak CORBIN SUCKS chant starts up. Balor sweeps the leg and hits a double stomp, followed by an enziguri to put Corbin on the floor. The big flip dive drops him again and we take a second break.

Back again with Balor holding a chinlock, just in case you didn’t get the point the first time. The chokeslam is countered into a rollup and the Sling Blade rocks Corbin. Balor’s shotgun dropkick gets caught in a chokebreaker and Corbin hammers away, showing his first anger and aggression over eighteen minutes in. A very spinny Deep Six gets two and Balor rolls to the floor where he hits the shotgun dropkick against the ropes. Back in and the Coup de Grace misses, setting up the End of Days to give Corbin the pin at 20:14(!).

Rating: C-. This match was a great example of a lot of the problems in WWE. This was a rematch from Extreme Rules where Corbin got overconfident and lost. Therefore, Corbin, whose entire issue in this feud has been that he doesn’t think anything of Balor, should have been taking this more seriously and being extra aggressive. That happened for about thirty seconds of the match with Corbin acting like everything was normal. They acted as if the Extreme Rules match, as in the PAY PER VIEW match (which went 8:20, or less than half the length of this), didn’t change anything. If it doesn’t matter, why should I watch?

Kurt Angle yells at Heyman about Lesnar not appearing in front of the live crowd. If Angle wants to fix things, he can go do it himself. That’s not cool with Angle, who threatens to fire Heyman if Lesnar doesn’t go to the ring at some point.

Long video on the Evolution announcement last week. My goodness please don’t let them do this for three months.

Alexa Bliss comes up to Alicia Fox in the back and wants her to take tonight’s match against Natalya seriously. Ronda Rousey’s suspension is done and she’s going to be in Natalya’s corner tonight. Fox needs to worry about Natalya and Natalya alone but Fox has this. Tonight, she’s going to make Natalya’s cat say meow.

Alicia Fox vs. Natalya

Bliss and Rousey are the seconds. Natalya goes aggressive to start and tries an early Sharpshooter but Fox gets to the floor and pulls Natalya into the ring skirt. After beating the heck out of a tied up Natalya, Fox grabs the chinlock inside. That goes as long as you might expect but an abdominal stretch lasts a lot longer. Fox even one ups it by jumping up and wrapping her legs around Natalya’s waist (that’s a new one). The bridging northern lights suplex gets two and Fox goes after Rousey, allowing Bliss to get in a cheap shot. Fox’s running big boot is good for the pin at 5:05.

Rating: D+. There’s something likable about Fox and it’s good to have her back. If nothing else another person on the roster lets you keep some matches fresh instead of burning through the same ones over and over again. The match was more storyline than wrestling but Fox looked better than she did in most of her pre-injury matches.

Post match Rousey goes after Fox and hits the spinning Samoan drop. The numbers get the better of her for a bit but the villains get chased off.

Heyman is trying to get Lesnar (now reading American Frontiersman) to go to the arena but the offer of a hero’s welcome doesn’t do much for Brock. Lesnar says Heyman is getting under his skin so go get him a steak (medium well), baked potato and steamed broccoli. Make that medium rare and you have a heck of a meal.

Rousey is furious and wants a match before Summerslam or she’ll get suspended again. Angle gives her Fox next week.

Here’s Elias for a song. After a little guitar, Elias puts over his album and says he could have gone even higher on the charts but he was interrupted by Bobby Lashley. The fans start to cheer but Elias doesn’t want to hear from people who worship musicians like Pitbull and actors like the Rock. That brings on a ROCKY chant and Elias isn’t happy.

Elias has a song about how much he can’t stand the Rock but here’s Lashley to interrupt. That’s fine with Elias, because Lashley must want to sing with him. Elias starts playing Rockin’ Robin and Lashley joins in. Shockingly enough he can’t sing and Elias beats him down. A belly to belly sends Elias flying in short order.

Kevin Owens approves of what Corbin did and says Corbin is his son’s new favorite wrestler. Owens is concerned about the Lesnar situation because Brock is insulting Stephanie McMahon’s authority. If Brock goes out there, Strowman could cash in the briefcase before Owens has a chance to win it in the match Stephanie made. Corbin says that’s not his problem and Braun can cash in anytime.

We look back at Braun Strowman destroying Jinder Mahal last week.

Braun Strowman vs. Jinder Mahal

Jinder’s shanti is cut off by a GET THESE HANDS chant and a shove into the corner. Cue Kevin Owens to grab the briefcase and the chase is on with Strowman getting the case back and chasing Owens up the ramp for the countout at 1:36.

Strowman comes back and chases Mahal off.

Corbin brings Angle the phone so he can talk to Stephanie. She has an idea, even though Angle thinks the fans will be disappointed. Stephanie doesn’t care because we need to protect the main event of Summerslam.

A bunch of midcarders are in the locker room when Mojo Rawley comes in. He calls all of them out for not believing in his, just like everyone else he’s run down. Bobby Roode comes in with a slow clap so Mojo asks if he’s about to be catchphrased into submission. The fight is on with agents and referees coming in to break it up while the wrestlers want more brawling.

Apollo Crews vs. Akam

Before the match, the Authors promise to destroy everyone. Akam powers him down and puts n a very early cobra clutch. Crews fight up with a series of kicks to the head and the standing moonsault for two. The toss powerbomb doesn’t work but Akam misses a charge into the corner and gets rolled up for the pin at 2:57.

Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre

Dolph Ziggler is in Drew’s corner. The announcers are pushing the nickname Scottish Terminator for McIntyre. An early suplex muscles Rollins up and McIntyre sends him outside. A catapult sends Rollins throat first into the metal ring structure and we take a break. Back with Rollins hitting back to back to back suicide dives to send McIntyre into the barricade. I know McIntyre is called the Terminator but Rollins seems to have a throat of steel.

McIntyre is fine enough to get two off a spinebuster but a powerbomb is countered into a hurricanrana. Rollins superkicks him and McIntyre wants another, so Seth grants the request. It’s not enough to keep McIntyre down for the frog splash and super White Noise gives McIntyre two. If you’re going to use a move like that, it should be a pin. Rollins gets out of the Alabama Slam and hits the Stomp, drawing in Ziggler for the DQ at 9:22.

Rating: B-. Well they got the ending right, and that’s what matters here. McIntyre is getting better and better and the fact that they’re protecting him means a lot. As usual though, these matches just make you wonder why it’s not McIntyre as champion with Ziggler as his lackey. That being said, the throat into the steel and the super White Noise should have been much bigger deals than they were, but here they’re just spots in a ten minute match on Raw.

We recap Brock won’t come out and play.

Angle comes in to tell Reigns that since Lesnar will be in the arena tonight, Reigns needs to leave the building on Stephanie’s orders. Reigns asks when this is going to end because Angle isn’t a yes man. Corbin brings in security to escort Reigns from the building so Reigns pops him in the jaw.

Here’s the B Team for a chat. Charly Caruso asks about their change over the summer and the success it has brought them. Dallas: “Well Charles, the B in B Team stands for dream!” They’ve gotten the support from the B Teamers (dang it I like that) but the Deleters of Worlds don’t think much of them.

Here they are behind the champs with Matt Hardy saying this success is a cosmic anomaly. Bray talks about how dreams are fleeting but nightmares are real. They will never stop haunting the B Team but here’s the Revival to interrupt. Dawson says they’re the top of the division and a brawl breaks out with the Revival being cleared out in short order.

Matt Hardy/Bray Wyatt vs. Revival

Joined in progress with the B Team on commentary and Bray doing the spider walk to Wilder. Matt comes in and gets pulled into a Boston crab with Dawson dropping a bunch of legs. The champs talk about not sleeping since winning the titles, what the B stands for, and not being scared of the Revival. Revival takes turns on the commentary as Dallas expresses his disdain for fists and flips.

A Side Effect gets Matt out of trouble and it’s off to Bray vs. Wilder again. Bray’s body block takes him down and we get what sounds like a CM PUNK chant. Dawson dropkicks Bray and everything breaks down with Matt and Dawson fighting to the floor. Now it’s a RUSEV DAY chant as Wilder slips out of Sister Abigail. The Shatter Machine ends Bray at 5:54.

Rating: D+. It’s great to see the Revival win, even though I fully expect it to be a triple threat at Summerslam because we just had to have the rematch last week with Matt and Bray losing again. The thing is we’ve established that winning and losing mean nothing around here so it’s not that big of a shock.

Rollins talks about tired of getting jumped 2-1 when he’s jumped 2-1.

Riott Squad vs. Bayley/Sasha Banks

Sasha and Bayley now have matching jackets and want to be called the Boss and Hug Connection. No. Logan starts with an armbar on Bayley, who easily spins her down for a break. Banks comes in for the running Meteora and we hit the armbar. The announcers manage to stop talking about Reigns and Lesnar to talk about Evolution as Bayley hits a running knee in the corner.

Banks adds a Meteora on the apron and we take a break. Back with Banks in a chinlock until Morgan comes in for a chinlock of her own. What a versatile team. Banks gets up and throws her down for the hot tag to Bayley. A running knee to Morgan’s head has her in trouble and there’s the running elbow in the corner. Bayley hurricanranas Morgan down for a top rope Meteora (third of the match) from Banks. Bayley comes in off a blind tag and a Backstabber into the Bayley to Belly finishes Morgan at 8:48.

Rating: C-. I’m sick of Meteoras and I’m not sure what they’re doing with this Bayley/Banks story. It seems that they’re already dropping the Banks loves Bayley thing, or at least they’re not mentioning it at the moment. In a way that’s a relief but in another way it’s annoying because that was actually interesting after months of the same “they’re friends/they hate each other” stuff. I hope we get somewhere by Summerslam, because as much as I like both of them, I don’t know how much longer I can take this story running on a treadmill.

Heyman begs Lesnar to go out there so they can go be at a private steakhouse in 25 minutes. Lesnar’s pay has been confirmed so he doesn’t seem interested. Heyman finally explains the situation and asks him to do it as a friend. Lesnar grabs him by the jacket and says they’re not friends but just business associates. Therefore, Heyman needs to go out there and do his job.

Here are Angle and Corbin to address Heyman and Lesnar. Heyman does come out with no energy, knowing what’s about to happen. The fans greet him with the Goodbye Song and Heyman says Lesnar isn’t coming out here tonight. That sends Angle over the edge into a rant about what a champion does, like doing charity work, reaching out to the community, and DEFENDING THE TITLE. Angle: “BROCK LESNAR MUST BE THE WORST UNIVERSAL CHAMPION OF ALL TIME!” Fans: “YES!!!”

Heyman actually agrees and says he tried to rehabilitate Lesnar because he’s one of the few people Lesnar tolerates. Kurt doesn’t buy it but Heyman says take this out on Lesnar because Brock doesn’t respect anyone. However, Heyman thinks the world of Angle and would like to have a better working relationship with him. Angle fires him anyway, sending Heyman diving to Angle’s leg.

Cue Lesnar to give Heyman the greatest relief of his life. Lesnar finally gets in and hands the belt to Heyman before grabbing a mic. That’s rarely a good idea. He asks if Angle and Corbin have a problem with him….and there’s an F5 to Angle before a word is said. Corbin immediately leaves and Heyman slaps Brock on the back. Brock grabs him by the face and makes Heyman look at Angle. The fans want Strowman (or maybe Roman) but get Brock leaving to end the show. So yeah, that’s it and no, this isn’t going to get the result that the company wants, especially in New York.

Overall Rating: D+. They tried, but this didn’t get where it needed to go. The Lesnar story dominated the night and really, it might have been better if he just didn’t show up until Summerslam. I understand the idea of Lesnar hating the fans and the company but that’s not exactly fresh information. Lesnar’s character hasn’t been the problem. As usual the problem is Reigns, and tonight didn’t do anything to make me want to see him conquer Lesnar. Until that changes, Summerslam is another version of what hasn’t worked before.

Other than that, Evolution continues to loom over the women’s division, Ziggler continues to make you wonder why he’s in the spot he’s occupying, Strowman continues to have nothing to do because we’re waiting on Roman and Money in the Bank has to exists and Balor loses to Corbin because….well you have to validate Corbin’s role somehow. It just seems like everything is on Reigns vs. Lesnar, which didn’t work the first time and isn’t likely to work here. With that dominating the show, there’s not much the rest of the people involved can do, especially when the stories aren’t great in the first place.

Results

Baron Corbin b. Finn Balor – End of Days

Alicia Fox b. Natalya – Big boot

Jinder Mahal b. Braun Strowman via countout

Apollo Crews b. Akam – Rollup

Seth Rollins b. Drew McIntyre via DQ when Dolph Ziggler interfered

Revival b. Matt Hardy/Bray Wyatt – Shatter Machine to Wyatt

Bayley/Sasha Banks b. Riott Squad – Bayley to Belly to Morgan

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: July 23, 2018
Location: US Bank Arena, Cincinnati, Ohio
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Jonathan Coachman

It’s a big night around here and you know that because the official preview for the show is a big picture of Stephanie McMahon. She has some kind of a major announcement tonight and since she’s Stephanie, that’s put above the #1 contenders match and tonight’s title match. That’s the level of priorities around here so let’s get to it.

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

The roster (including Nikki Cross) is on the stage and Vince McMahon is in the ring to introduce HHH and Stephanie McMahon for the big announcement. HHH thanks all of the wrestlers across all brands, including NXT. There has never been a stronger bond than the one we have right now and that includes the women’s division.

HHH asks them to come forward so the women’s division (including the Smackdown women’s division) steps to the front. HHH talks about everything the women have done in recent years, including all those main events. Stephanie recaps the Give Divas A Chance and announces the first ever all women’s pay per view, called Evolution.

Cole gives us some more details: the Raw, Smackdown and NXT Women’s Titles will be defended, plus the finals of the Mae Young Classic will take place and the event is October 28 in the Nassau Coliseum.

It’s a cool announcement, but this is WWE’s version of history. Yeah it sucked when WWE was giving the women thirty second matches, but who ok’d those matches? That would be the people in the ring making the big announcement and treating it like the most amazing thing in the world. Throw in there being no real reason for Stephanie to be in there other than she was suddenly part of the whole thing and this wasn’t quite as perfect as WWE would like you to believe it is. Oh and can we get a Sara Amato shout out? I’m certain she’s earned one.

The B Team is thrilled with everything they’ve done in the last few weeks and wouldn’t want this to be with anyone else. They’re ready to defend their titles….which they forget in the locker room.

Elias is in the ring for his song but gets cut off by the first match.

Tag Team Titles: Matt Hardy/Bray Wyatt vs. B Team

The B Team is defending. Bray and Dallas start things off for the family reunion and Wyatt runs him over with little effort. The champs throw Wyatt down but he spiders up to send them outside. Back from a break with Bray fighting out of a chinlock as the Revival watches on. Again. Do something with that already. The hard clothesline sets up the hot tag to Hardy for some clotheslines of his own. The Side Effect gets two and the Twist of Fate gets the same with Axel making the save. Dallas shoves Wyatt into Matt, knocking him into a crucifix to give Axel the retaining pin at 8:17. Axel is rather confused.

Rating: D+. I’m hoping this ends the feud as there’s nothing left for them to do outside of an Ultimate Deletion, which isn’t out of the question for Summerslam. Assuming the B Team retains there though, can we move the Usos to Raw already? They’re stuck doing nothing most of the time and the idea of the Usos vs. Revival sounds great.

Post match Matt says that was wonderful and then beats the B Team down with Wyatt joining in. So yes, it is continuing.

Finn Balor and Chad Gable are in the back, casually talking about Evolution when a production worker comes up, carrying Balor’s gear. Apparently it’s being put in a new dressing room. That would be a doll house, as ordered by Baron Corbin. Baron pops up to make a bunch of jokes about Balor being short. IT’S STILL NOT FREAKING FUNNY!

We recap the Bayley and Sasha Banks story from last week.

Bayley and Sasha say they’re ready to be on the same team (write your own jokes) and they’re very excited about the pay per view. Bayley was glad to hear what Sasha said last week and that’s about it. I’m going to assume more is coming from this later.

There will be legends and past superstars on Evolution. Makes sense given the name, but I’m not sure how necessary they are. There could be some very interesting dream matches in there though.

Sasha Banks/Bayley vs. Samantha Simon/Karen Lundy

Banks knees Simon in the corner to start and cranks on the arm before Bayley comes in for a toss into the corner. A kick to the face sets up the Bank Statement to make Lundy tap at 1:22.

Here’s Elias again but this time it’s Braun Strowman interrupting. After congratulating the women on getting her own pay per view, it’s time to talk about Bobby Lashley vs. Roman Reigns in the #1 contendership match later tonight. It doesn’t matter who wins because he’ll be cashing in soon. Cue Kevin Owens to talk about Strowman ruining his kids’ dreams because Strowman has shown that Owens is breakable. Now it’s time for Owens to take everything away from him so Strowman says come try it.

This brings out Baron Corbin to say Stephanie has empowered him to handle this. Strowman needs help controlling his temper so here’s Jinder Mahal. We get some breathing exercises but Strowman says this isn’t working. He has Sunil Singh hold up a microphone because it’s time for Strowman’s breathing exercise. Everyone needs to close their eyes and chant with him: GET THESE HANDS! The beatdown doesn’t take long.

We recap the opening announcement.

A bunch of women have tweeted about Evolution.

We look back at Ronda Rousey coming back last week to attack Mickie James and Alexa Bliss. This earned her a Women’s Title match at Summerslam.

Mickie James vs. Natalya

Natalya elbows her down to start but Alexa Bliss offers a distraction so Mickie can take over. A front facelock and chinlock keep Natalya down but she fights up with an electric chair. Another Bliss distraction draws Natalya to the floor though and Mickie hits a superkick for the pin at 3:46.

Rating: D. That front facelock didn’t do them many favors and the match was really just there for the sake of talking about the women’s pay per view a little more. I know it won’t be hyped up this hard for the next three months but they’re already doing that WWE thing where they mention it so much that you start to get a little sick of it early on. At least the match was short though.

Video on WWE winning the Sports Humanitarian Award.

Reigns is going to win tonight and doesn’t care if he’s crammed down our throats because nothing is changing. He’s taking Lesnar’s title at Summerslam.

Elias tries again but this time it’s the Authors of Pain interrupting. They want competition other than Titus Worldwide. Cue Titus Worldwide to say the Authors have a lot to learn about WWE. Rezar: “To do what? How to trip and fall all over ourselves?” Apollo talks about how great Titus has been to him and wants the Authors to show Titus some respect. If they had Titus’ qualities, they would be champions as well as championship quality people. Akam thinks Titus should retire so the fight is on and the Authors are cleared out.

Angle and Stephanie talk about the pay per view some more when Corbin and Owens come in. Stephanie is proud of Owens and asks how he’s doing. Owens is ok and says he wants to face Strowman for the briefcase at Summerslam. Angle says no but Stephanie makes the match. I’m all for the idea of the briefcase being defended.

Tyler Breeze vs. Mojo Rawley

Mojo wastes no time in running Breeze over as we go to an inset interview with Bobby Roode. He’s not happy with what Mojo has said on social media and wants Rawley to stop hiding behind a keyboard. Breeze’s comeback gets him driven into the corner and the sitout Alabama Slam gives Rawley the pin at 2:18.

Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre say their plan is clearly working because Ziggler is Intercontinental Champion and McIntyre doesn’t lose. Tonight he’ll take out Finn Balor.

Elias. Balor this time.

Finn Balor vs. Drew McIntyre

Balor slugs away at the much bigger McIntyre and a dropkick puts him on the floor. The big flip dive puts McIntyre down again and we take a break. Back with Drew putting on an armbar with a chinlock. Balor fights up and scores with a DDT but it’s too early for the Coup de Grace. Instead he DDTs McIntyre down, drawing in Ziggler for the DQ at 7:11.

Rating: D+. Did we really need the break in there? Anyway this was just a way to set up the tag match next, which gets rather annoying when they’ve been hyping up this match all night long. I could go for Balor being moved into something like this as at least it’s not just a bunch of short jokes.

The beatdown is on until Seth Rollins makes the save. Angle comes out and the tag match is on.

Finn Balor/Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre/Dolph Ziggler

The good guys clean house and we take an early break. Back with Ziggler still in trouble until a dropkick is enough to bring in McIntyre. It’s Balor’s turn to take a beating with Drew slowly pounding him down without much effort. A missed charge allows the hot tag to Rollins though and the pace picks right back up.

The Blockbuster gets two on McIntyre Balor hits the Sling Blade on Ziggler and McIntyre’s reverse Alabama Slam is good for the same on Balor. Rollins grabs a hurricanrana on McIntyre to send him outside, leaving Ziggler all alone. That means the Stomp for the pin, because this feud is continuing by way of the champ getting pinned at 12:05.

Rating: C+. Not that was better, with some great last second saves. This sets up Rollins vs. Ziggler again, likely at Summerslam, which only has so much interest from me. I’m hoping it’s not in a ladder match but rather a way to let Rollins showcase everything he can do. If we’re stuck with Reigns in the main event scene, this is as things are going to be for Rollins.

Lashley promises to win tonight because Reigns will fail again.

Opening sequence recap.

Liv Morgan vs. Ember Moon

Morgan gets aggressive to start, including kneeing Moon down as the announcers talk about the women’s roster. Moon fights up with a jawbreaker and kicks away, including all of the screaming. A faceplant stuns Morgan again and the Eclipse is good for the pin at 3:48.

Rating: D. Moon keeps winning these matches but are they ever actually going anywhere? I know Rousey is getting the Summerslam title match and that makes sense, but beating the same women over and over again isn’t going to do her much good. At least the Eclipse hasn’t lost its effectiveness.

Rollins gets the Intercontinental Title shot against Ziggler at Summerslam.

Roman Reigns vs. Bobby Lashley

The winner gets Lesnar for the title at Summerslam. Reigns starts fast with the clothesline for an early two and they fight to the floor. The apron dropkick is countered into an overhead belly to belly suplex to put Reigns down and send us to a break. Back with Lashley nailing a spinebuster and grabbing a surfboard.

Reigns gets up and it’s a double clothesline for the double knockdown. They slug it out with Reigns getting the better of it and lifting Lashley to the apron, only to charge into a hard clothesline. Back in and Lashley counters the Superman Punch into a full nelson, followed by a headlock on the mat. Reigns fights up again and sends him shoulder first into the corner, meaning we get the multiple clotheslines.

Lashley is right back with a spinebuster but the spear is countered with….I’m not sure as it looked like it was supposed to be a leap frog but Reigns kneed/thighed him in the face instead. The Superman Punch gets two and Lashley rolls outside for a breather. Reigns slowly follows but can’t get the belly to belly. Instead Lashley throws him back inside for the spear and a rather near fall in a call back to Extreme Rules. Another Superman Punch rocks Lashley and the spear sends Reigns to Summerslam at 18:04.

Rating: B. I mean, is it really even surprising at this point? They’ve gone around the horn so far now that Reigns winning so often has gone from surprising to not surprising to surprising again and now back to not surprising. Who cares if this match makes Reigns 1-1 vs. Lashley? It gives Reigns another chance to fight Lesnar in the most non-epic epic feud that they’ve ever put together.

Lashley and Reigns shake hands and Lashley can barely stand in the aisle. A lot of posing ends the show.

Overall Rating: C. You can tell WWE is paying attention again as we have the bosses back with an announcement that is talked about more than the main event of Wrestlemania despite the show being more than three months away. Also, there has to be some kind of irony in the pay per view being called Evolution and the main event of tonight’s show giving us more of the same exact same match that fans have been sick of seeing for months now. It was a pretty entertaining show if you can get by all the Stephanie/Evolution talk, but now it’s on to Summerslam and Lesnar vs. Reigns. You know, because of course it is.

Results

B Team b. Matt Hardy/Bray Wyatt – Crucifix to Hardy

Sasha Banks/Bayley b. Samantha Simon/Karen Lundy – Bank Statement to Lundy

Mickie James b. Natalya – Superkick

Mojo Rawley b. Tyler Breeze – Sitout Alabama Slam

Finn Balor b. Drew McIntyre via DQ when Dolph Ziggler interfered

Finn Balor/Seth Rollins b. Drew McIntyre/Dolph Ziggler – Stomp to Ziggler

Ember Moon b. Liv Morgan – Eclipse

Roman Reigns b. Bobby Lashley – Spear

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

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

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

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

Never let it be said that a severe thunderstorm knocking out the power to my house for thirty hours will keep me out of a house show. There was a horrible storm in Lexington on Friday and nearly a fourth of the city was without power for over twenty four hours. As luck would have it, Raw was having a house show the next night and since the arena is ten minutes from my house, it was either go or sit in the dark.

The arena was mostly empty with the entire upper arena tarped off. It should be noted that Rupp Arena is huge, seating over 23,000 people. The weather and power outage had a lot to do with the attendance though, which has been strong during recent house shows in the arena. Granted, after this show, a lot of fans might not want to come back.

Before the show, we saw a good chunk of Rock vs. Brock Lesnar from Summerslam 2002.

I sat in the second set of seats off the floor with the entrance on my right for $28.50. Not bad at all for a good seat, especially with three empty seats on my right and left.

Kurt Angle did his opening video talking about the great show they had for us tonight.

1. Raw Tag Team Titles: B Team b. Heath Slater/Rhyno – Rollup with a handful of tights to Rhyno. C-. About eight minutes.

This was fine for an opener with Slater and Axel having a dance off to start and then some arm work on the champs. It went exactly as you would expect after that with the fans reminding the champs that Slater had kids and then being very happy when Rhyno came in. Everything broke down and Dallas shoved them together, followed by a rollup for the pin on Rhyno. This was fine for a house show opener with the fans being into Slater and Rhyno.

2. Mojo Rawley b. No Way Jose – Modified Alabama Slam. D+. About nine minutes.

It’s always good to see the TV feuds making their way to house shows. Rawley has grown on me a lot in the last year but Jose isn’t as much fun without the conga line. The interesting part here was Rawley being heavily booed in Rupp, stemming from his heel turn last year. This caused chants WE STILL HATE YOU and WE STILL REMEMBER. Rawley won with an Alabama Slam into a kind of Boss Man Slam for the pin.

3. Zack Ryder b. Mike Kanellis – Rough Ryder. D. About six minutes.

This is where the problem started for the show as the lack of star power was becoming really obvious. Ryder is someone who was a big deal several years back and Kanellis has never actually wrestled on Raw (his last non-Main Event TV match was in October). The match was Ryder doing his usual stuff and winning with the Rough Ryder.

Post match Kanellis bragged about being from a winning town in Boston and wasn’t leaving without a win here. Bobby Lashley came out to easily the pop of the night so far and won in about a minute with a spinebuster.

4. Bayley/Ember Moon b. Alicia Fox/Liv Morgan – Bayley to Belly to Morgan. C-. 8:20.

You would expect Sasha in Moon’s spot here but after the angle on Monday, they would have been walking a thin line. Fox in for Sarah Logan makes some sense as well as the show was pretty close to her hometown. As was the case with everything tonight: this was nothing special and had no fire throughout. Bayley’s entrance got a nice reaction but you could hear the lack of a reaction when Moon came out instead of Sasha.

5. Bobby Roode b. Elias – Glorious DDT. D. 6:26.

Before the match, Elias did a little song and said he wanted someone to sing with him. Roode came out and said he knew what he wanted to sing so they belted out a few minutes of Sweet Child of Mine. They had a standard TV match with Elias not doing anything memorable and Roode winning with the DDT. After the match Roode posed for a bit and a fan threw him a rose, which he seemed to appreciate.

Intermission.

6. Authors of Pain b. Tyler Breeze/Chad Gable – Last Chapter to Breeze. D. 5:25.

I was talking to some of the people in front of me (more on them in a minute) and one of them agreed that the was dying for some star power. I’m a fan of the Authors, but this wasn’t what the show needed at this point. Gable and Breeze did what they could but were squashed as you would have expected.

7. Raw Women’s Title: Alexa Bliss b. Nia Jax and Natalya. D+. 11:20.

Picture any triple threat you’ve ever seen with one person being sent outside and the other two fighting for the majority of the time. Now imagine that with Bliss, Jax and Natalya. In a bit of a surprise, Jax got the second loudest pop of the night. Bliss slapped Jax and then did the scream from Wrestlemania in the only memorable spot of the match. Jax hit a Samoan drop on Natalya but Bliss knocked her to the floor and stole the pin to retain.

8. Roman Reigns/Seth Rollins b. Dolph Ziggler/Drew McIntyre – Curb Stomp to Ziggler. B. 23:15.

Now THIS felt big and Rollins got a huge pop on the entrance. Reigns was mostly booed during his entrance but was cheered pretty regularly during the rest of the match. This was a long, drawn out match with a long heat segment on Rollins until the hot tag brought in Reigns to clean house. They had a very hot finish with several false finishes and Reigns breaking up the Claymore/Zig Zag combination. The fans were WAY into this and it was exactly what the show needed.

Rollins and Reigns signed autographs and talked to some fans to end the show, which almost every face wrestler did throughout the night.

Overall, this was one of the worst shows I’ve ever been to with almost no energy or star power. Aside from Lashley, until the main event, the biggest name we saw was….I guess either Roode or Bayley? That’s not a good sign in eight matches before you get to the main event. Maybe they weren’t putting out their top stars or their best effort due to such a small crowd, but I really wasn’t impressed.

What was a lot more fun though was talking to the guy in front of me. It turned out that he had been an indy wrestler (Scott Storm) for sixteen years and a multiple time NWA Southern Tag Team Champion (with pictures to prove it). I had a much better time listening to him tell stories and give a wrestler’s perspective on what was going on instead of the actual show. Just a lame effort all around and a really bad show as a result.

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Extreme Rules 2018
Date: July 15, 2018
Location: PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Michael Cole, Jonathan Coachman

It’s the extreme pay per view that forgot its extreme. Tonight’s show features ten matches and only a handful have any kind of gimmick attached, including the likely main event of the completely standard Roman Reigns vs. Bobby Lashley. WWE hasn’t done much to make the show feel special but maybe they’ll surprise me. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Sin Cara vs. Andrade Cien Almas

Rematch from Smackdown. Cara starts fast with a headscissors to send Almas outside but the suicide dive reinjures the elbow that kept Almas out for about a month. An elbow to the face puts Cara on the floor again and we get the double pose in the ropes/on the apron from Almas and Zelina Vega. Back from a break with Cara fighting out of an armbar and grabbing a hurricanrana out of the corner. Cara shoves him off the top and hits a frog splash but Vega offers a distraction. Back up and Almas hits a charge in the corner, setting up the running knees. The hammerlock DDT finishes Cara at 7:00.

Rating: C+. Nice cruiserweight style match here with the right ending, though they covered this already on Smackdown. I’m rarely a fan of having a match added to a card for the sake of having a match added to a card and that feels like what we got here. Almas needs to move up to something bigger now though as he has the complete package to really make a run up the ladder.

Kickoff Show: New Day vs. Sanity

Tables match. New Day clears the ring just after the bell and it’s already time to look for a table. Big E. gets double teamed inside until Young hits Wolfe by mistake. The spear through the ropes is broken up and Young drops the top rope elbow. Back from a break with Big E. still getting double teamed until Woods and Kofi send Wolfe and Young to the floor. Stereo suicide dives take them out but Killian Dain hits a dive of his own to crush them against the barricade.

Two more tables are set up on the floor and one is stacked upside down on top of another. Woods and Big E. fight their way out though and it’s a modified Tower of Doom with Kofi hitting a top rope double stomp instead of getting superplexed. Dain comes back in to flatten Woods and Big E. until Trouble in Paradise puts him back on the floor. Kofi and Wolfe fight on the apron above a table until Young comes off the top to drive Kofi through for the win at 7:36.

Rating: C. They moved a lot out there and it was entertaining while it lasted but that wasn’t exactly very long. Much like the other match, the right person won without much trouble, though at least this one was over some more successful opponents. I’m not sure where Sanity goes from here but they’re the kind of act that can go up against anyone and be tailored to make it work.

The opening video looks at a little bit of everything tonight, almost none of which feels like an important match in the slightest.

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

The B Team is challenging. Matt takes Dallas down to start with his zany screaming offense and Bo is already rolling to the floor. Back in and it’s off to Bray for the showdown with Dallas, who immediately tags instead. Bray has no problem pounding Axel down and Matt comes back in for his ten rams into the buckle. Matt gets two off a clothesline but runs into a boot to give the B Team their first opening. It also gives us our first dueling chant of the evening as the fans are split on the challengers.

Dallas whips Hardy into a DDT for two and it’s off to a neck crank. The comeback doesn’t take long and it’s Wyatt coming in to clean house. The release Rock Bottom plants Dallas but Axel breaks up the Kiss of Deletion. Dallas sends the champs together and the hanging swinging neckbreaker is enough to pin Hardy for the titles at 7:58.

Rating: D+. The ending is probably the right call as somehow the comedy team is the best thing that we can get for the titles instead of someone like Revival, who have already shown that they can wrestle a great match against a variety of teams. I’m sure someone finds them hilarious (and they are funny) but my goodness what happened to Hardy and Wyatt? They were a big deal just a few weeks ago and now they’re jobbing clean in an opening match.

The B Team compares this to Stretch Armstrong landing on the moon. Ok maybe I do like these two a bit more.

General Manager Kurt Angle is in the back and talks about how tired he is of Brock Lesnar refusing to defend the title. Therefore, Lesnar needs to show up tomorrow night to set up his next title defense or he’ll be stripped of the belt. I’m not sure what it says to think of that as a big relief.

Baron Corbin vs. Finn Balor

Another “I’m better because I’m bigger feud”. Balor starts fast but gets caught in the corner for some running clotheslines. Corbin punches him down for two and stomps on the back while making sure to mention that he’s bigger. It works so well that Corbin breaks up a springboard with another right hand for two more and it’s off to the chinlock.

Balor slugs away for a breather and kicks Corbin down but it’s way too early for the Coup de Grace. Instead it’s a chokebreaker for two and Deep Six is good for the same. A quick double stomp stuns Corbin but Balor can’t follow up. The End of Days are reversed into a small package to give Balor the fast pin at 8:20.

Rating: D. There was no need for this to be on pay per view and there was even less need for Balor to win. I like Balor, but he’s ice cold at the moment while Corbin had been getting a nice boost thanks to the Constable thing. The story was Big Cass warmed over and that’s not exactly something that was worth watching in the first place. These two didn’t have any chemistry together and there’s no reason to see it happen again.

In the back, the Bludgeon Brothers attack HELL NO with Kane taking a mallet shot to the knee.

We recap Asuka vs. Carmella. Asuka got cheated out of the title last month by the returning James Ellsworth (who just had to be cast in the role) so tonight he’s locked in a shark cage to ensure a fair fight.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Asuka vs. Carmella

Asuka is challenging and starts kicking away as soon as the shark cage goes up. Ellsworth is already dropping a chain down less than thirty seconds in but Asuka kicks it away. Carmella gets in a few shots so this time Ellsworth drops some mace. That doesn’t work either as the hip attack gets two and the Asuka Lock sends Carmella straight to the ropes.

Ellsworth manages to pick the lock but his pants get caught in the door, leaving him hanging upside down. Asuka beats on him like a punching bag and let’s stop the match so Ellsworth can be put back in the cage. Instead of letting the production people do their jobs, Asuka beats them up and leaves the cage hanging there. Carmella sneaks in, rams her into the cage, and gets the pin to retain at 5:37.

Rating: F. I don’t think this needs an explanation do you? Instead we’ll look at how fast everything is going for the sake of trying to cram all of this into the time limit, which isn’t likely to happen anyway because WWE will manage to over run anyway. This felt like a bad Smackdown angle, but at least Asuka got pinned again.

Asuka beats up Ellsworth to blow off some steam.

Quick recap of tonight’s happenings.

US Title: Jeff Hardy vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Hardy is defending and gets hit low before the bell. He says he can go so the bell rings and Kinshasa gives Nakamura the pin and the title at 5 seconds. That has to be an injury or something.

Post match Randy Orton is back….to stomp Hardy low as Nakamura is stunned.

We recap Kevin Owens vs. Braun Strowman. Owens tried to get everyone to go after Strowman in Money in the Bank so Strowman destroyed Owens’ car, then locked him in a portable toilet. The result: a cage match of course.

Kevin Owens vs. Braun Strowman

Pin, submission or escape. Owens bolts for the cage early on but Strowman pulls him back down. Strowman: “YOU SAY FIGHT OWENS FIGHT! FIGHT ME!” Owens slugs away and actually drops Strowman with a superkick. The frog splash gets two so Owens goes for the door, only to be pulled back in screaming for mercy. Strowman throws him into the cage a few times and stands over Owens as the fans want someone to GET THESE HANDS.

A Stunner of all things gets Owens out of trouble and back to back superkicks put Strowman down on one knee. Owens busts out some handcuffs to attach Strowman to the ropes but hammers away instead of leaving. I really don’t see this ending well. A chokeslam drops Owens again but he rolls away and mocks Strowman before going up. Strowman breaks the handcuffs and runs up the wall to catch Owens, who he chokeslams off the cage onto the announcers’ table (with the crash pad showing), giving Owens the win at 8:50.

Rating: D. Well the crash was great, but I could go for a match actually getting some time tonight. A long stretch of this was spent on the handcuffs bit and that was hardly revolutionary. I hope they don’t try to keep Strowman the face if this feud continues, but for some reason that seems to be the most likely outcome. If nothing else has made him the heel in this thing, this won’t either.

Post match Owens is taken out on a stretcher while Strowman laughs about how Owens won.

We look at the US Title match and Orton’s return.

We recap the Smackdown Tag Team Title match. Bryan annoyed the Bludgeon Brothers so they beat him down a few times. Kane made his return to help his former partner, setting up the title match here. It’s pure nostalgia but it’s been fun.

Smackdown Tag Team Titles: HELL NO vs. Bludgeon Brothers

Bryan, with bad ribs, is challenging on his own as Kane is too injured to compete. The rapid fire kicks give Bryan some early hope and Rowan gets knocked outside. A hurricanrana sets up the YES Lock on Harper but Rowan makes a quick save. Rowan gets two off a running splash and rips at Bryan’s face. Harper comes back in and eats some kicks, only to have Rowan catch the Flying Goat. He can’t hold Bryan long enough though and Harper’s suicide dive hits Rowan instead.

Cue Kane with a cast on his foot to limp down the aisle and take a diving tag. A pair of weak chokeslams drop the Brothers but Harper kicks him in the leg. Bryan tags himself back in for a missile dropkick and it’s time for the YES Kicks to Harper. A blind tag brings Rowan in and he spinwheel kicks Bryan down. Rowan whips Bryan into Kane, setting up a powerbomb/top rope clothesline combination to pin Bryan at 8:18.

Rating: C. They were flying through this (just like everything else tonight) but this was actually getting somewhere with Kane’s injury being a nice little story. That being said, Kane doesn’t quite have it in the ring anymore and it’s showing more and more every time. Bryan taking a fall after coming in injured and fighting most of the match on his own doesn’t hurt anything and the Brothers shouldn’t be losing the titles yet anyway. It was short, but this was one of the best things on the show so far.

Roman Reigns is walking in the back when he runs into the still celebrating B Team. He can be part of the team tonight if he Beats Lashley and they can all celebrate together. Roman walks away and the booing intensifies.

We recap Reigns vs. Lashley (which actually isn’t main eventing). It was about the #1 contendership but Lesnar wasn’t feeling that so it became the two bickering about who should fight Lesnar. Reigns called Lashley out for leaving and Lashley bragged about being awesome. They had a huge brawl on Raw which went very well but other than that, it feels like two kids arguing about beating up the bigger kid who would probably flatten them.

Roman Reigns vs. Bobby Lashley

Reigns powers him into the corner to start and shrugs off the first suplex. The apron dropkick sets up an early chinlock as they’re going fast but not really at a high pace if that makes sense. Reigns takes it outside again and they fight over the steps with Lashley (minus the headband) getting the better of it.

Back in and the fans call this boring as Lashley hits a belly to belly suplex but charges into a boot in the corner. Reigns is favoring his ribs as he hits the corner clotheslines so Lashley grabs a powerslam to hurt the ribs even worse. An ax handle from the top puts Reigns down again but he’s back up with something like an AA to put Lashley on the floor in a big crash. Back in and a legdrop gives Reigns two, followed by Lashley’s vertical suplex for the same.

Lashley’s spear is cut off by a Superman Punch, sending him rolling to the floor. Reigns tries a charge but gets caught in a belly to belly onto (not through) the announcers’ table. That doesn’t have much of an effect though as he Superman Punches Lashley off the top. The spear is loaded up but Lashley spears him down instead for the pin at 14:54.

Rating: C+. Well that’s certainly a thing that happened. Lashley winning was the only logical call as he needed something to energize his return, especially after that horrible Sami Zayn feud. I still expect the possibility of Reigns getting to beat Lesnar somehow, but at least they gave Lashley the win he needed here.

We recap Nia Jax vs. Alexa Bliss. Jax was defending against Ronda Rousey at Money in the Bank when Bliss cashed in her briefcase. Rousey snapped and attacked Bliss, earning herself a suspension. Therefore, tonight Rousey is in the front row instead of being in the ring but it might not matter as Bliss is defending in an Extreme Rules match.

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

Bliss is defending, anything goes, and Natalya and Mickie James are the seconds. Nia goes into stalking mode to start so it’s time for weapons, all of which Nia throws away without much effort. Bliss’ chair is pulled out of her hands and a gorilla press drop puts her onto a trashcan. Some trashcan shots have Nia down and Bliss wedges a chair in the corner.

Mickie and Natalya get in a fight on the floor with Bliss heading outside to send Natalya into the barricade. Rousey jumps the barricade and sends Mickie inside for a twisting Samoan drop (not bad). James gets sent over the announcers’ table and Rousey runs Bliss down but James is back up with a kendo stick. Back in and James hits Jax in the back to break up a Samoan drop. Bliss chairs Nia down and DDTs her on the chair to retain at 7:21.

Rating: D. This show is feeling more and more like a Vince Russo show every match. They flew through this again and the Rousey stuff was the focus (as it should have been) but it felt like it could have been a big TV angle instead of a pay per view match. It was as much as you were going to get out of hitting each other with weapons for a few minutes until the angle started and that’s all you really could have expected here.

Rousey chases Bliss and James off.

We recap AJ Styles vs. Rusev because the Intercontinental Title match really is main eventing. Rusev Day has become one of the hottest things in the company but Styles is still the Phenomenal One. It’s Rusev’s first ever singles match for the title and he’s ready to make the most of it.

Smackdown World Title: AJ Styles vs. Rusev

Rusev is challenging and has Aiden English singing him to the ring. AJ starts fast with some kicks to the leg but gets kneed in the ribs to cut him off. A backdrop puts him down and a belly to back suplex works on the ribs a bit more to start the setup for the Accolade. We hit the bearhug for a few moments until Rusev puts him on top. You don’t do that to AJ though as he slips between Rusev’s legs and kicks him to the floor with Rusev holding his leg.

Back in and a running seated forearm has Rusev in trouble, followed by a reverse DDT for two. AJ gets sent to the apron but doesn’t seem to mind as he snaps off a kick to the head. The springboard 450 misses and neither submission hold can go on. Instead AJ kicks him down but the running forearm is countered by a kick to the head from the mat (that’s kind of impressive).

A belly to belly on the floor sets up the Machka Kick for two and the roundhouse kick to the head gets the same. Rusev loads up the Accolade but the leg gives out from earlier. The one legged version of the Accolade doesn’t work very well so Aiden English rips off a turnbuckle pad. AJ slips out of another Accolade attempt and Rusev charges into the buckle. The springboard 450 gets two so Styles decks English and hits the Phenomenal Forearm to retain at 15:35.

Rating: B. Easily the best thing on the show so far, mainly because they didn’t rush through the thing. Rusev gets to save a little bit of face thanks to the messy ending too and that’s a good sign for his future. AJ wasn’t really in a lot of danger here and now he can move on to the biggest threat of all, which should be Samoa Joe.

Seth Rollins is ready to burn it down and get his Intercontinental Title back.

Intercontinental Title: Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler

Thirty minute Iron Man match with Ziggler defending and Drew McIntyre in his corner. Feeling out process start with Rollins taking it to the mat and working on a hammerlock. That goes nowhere so Rollins tries a rollup for two instead. Ziggler takes him to the mat as well but Rollins pops back up with a Buckle Bomb. La majistral gives Rollins the first fall at 4:35.

1-0 Rollins

Rollins hits a slingshot dive to the floor as Coach talks about John Cena and Shawn Michaels having an Iron Man match (wrong). The fans have a new annoying idea: counting down the time like the Royal Rumble clock, but on every minute. Back in and Ziggler hits an elbow but Rollins slips out of a suplex, setting up Stomp for the second fall at 7:57.

2-0 Rollins

Ziggler is rocked so McIntyre comes in to jump Rollins for the DQ at 8:45.

3-0 Rollins

McIntyre beats on him even more and gets ejected but there’s no second DQ, not even after a Claymore to Rollins as we hit ten minutes. Ziggler covers to get a fall back at 10:28.

3-1 Rollins

A superkick gives Ziggler another fall at 11:09.

3-2 Rollins

The fans aren’t happy that the clock has been taken off the Titantron (I’ll be happy for them) so Ziggler hits a Zig Zag to tie things up at 12:09, hopefully getting their attention back.

3-3 Tied

We get a WHERE’S THE CLOCK chant because fans don’t understand the concept of having something taken away from you if you abuse it. Therefore, they just start randomly counting down, even if it doesn’t match the clock on the screen. Rollins sends him outside but the suicide dive hits a forearm, allowing Ziggler to get a rollup with feet on the ropes for the pin at 14:07.

4-3 Ziggler

Ziggler grabs an armbar as we’re halfway through. With Rollins running out of time, Ziggler grabs a long sleeper with a grapevine to eat up a few minutes. Rollins fights up and sends him outside for a suicide dive and a springboard clothesline gets two as we have ten minutes left. The clock comes back on so we get a YES chant as Ziggler dropkicks Rollins off the top. Normally a big bump like that would get a reaction, but the fans were too busy counting down again.

They fight to the corner and on top until Rollins headbutts him back down. The frog splash gets two on the champ so Ziggler gets smart by grabbing the bottom rope. Rollins kicks him free and loads Ziggler up for the superplex into the Falcon Arrow for two with four minutes left. Ziggler breaks up the Stomp but gets sunset flipped to tie it up at 26:51.

4-4 Tied

Rollins wastes no time in pulling him down into a Sharpshooter and then a Crossface. With that not working, Rollins misses a Stomp and Ziggler rolls outside with a minute left. Back in and a quick Fameasser gets two to put them both down. Ziggler tunes up the band but walks into a superkick, setting up the Stomp but time expires on Seth at 30:10 (not sure how they messed that up) and it’s a draw.

Rating: B. REALLY annoying crowd aside (“We came up with something clever! Let’s do it thirty times in a row!”), this was a rather good match that never felt long in the slightest. I did like the idea of doing that many falls at the beginning as it gave the match a hot start and took away some of the dragging that comes with Iron Man matches. Better than I was expecting here so that’s a nice surprise.

Actually hang on a second here as Kurt Angle comes out to say we’re going to overtime.

Intercontinental Title: Dolph Ziggler vs. Seth Rollins

McIntyre runs in for a distraction and Ziggler hits the Zig Zag to retain at 14 seconds.

Overall Rating: D+. The last two matches came close to saving it but this was a prime example of WWE not taking the time to plan out their shows and cramming in WAY too much stuff to make them work. This show needed to have a few matches changed (drop Almas vs. Cara, move the Raw Tag Team Titles to the Kickoff Show, do the US Title match on Smackdown and cut Balor vs. Corbin) so that you don’t have to rush through everything else.

The show felt so rushed and while I REALLY appreciate them being out at a more reasonable time (show ended at 10:42), they needed to trim things down a good bit. Not everyone belongs on pay per view and that couldn’t have been more true here. I really would have been fine without some of these matches and the show would have had a lot more breathing room if they weren’t slapped on there.

Lesnar and the title being back will help a lot though as we now have a target for Summerslam. It’s not the worst show in the world, but they would have been in some serious trouble had the last few matches not completely bailed them out. Just cut down on some of this stuff and it would be a lot better.

Results

B Team b. Matt Hardy/Bray Wyatt – Hanging swinging neckbreaker to Hardy

Finn Balor b. Baron Corbin – Small package

Carmella b. Asuka – Carmella rammed her into the cage

Shinsuke Nakamura b. Jeff Hardy – Kinshasa

Kevin Owens b. Braun Strowman – Owens escaped the cage

Bludgeon Brothers b. HELL NO – Powerbomb/Top rope clothesline combination to Bryan

Bobby Lashley b. Roman Reigns – Spear

AJ Styles b. Rusev – Phenomenal Forearm

Dolph Ziggler b. Seth Rollins 5-4

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nia Jax/Natalya vs. Mickie James/Alexa Bliss

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

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

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

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

We recap Braun Strowman tormenting Kevin Owens last week.

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

No Way Jose vs. Mojo Rawley

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bo Dallas vs. Matt Hardy

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

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

Post match Matt and Bray clean house.

We look back at the opening segment.

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

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

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

Ember Moon vs. Liv Morgan

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

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

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

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

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

Finn Balor/Bobby Roode vs. Baron Corbin/Elias

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results

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

Mojo Rawley b. No Way Jose – Alabama Slam

Bo Dallas b. Matt Hardy – Hanging swinging neckbreaker

Ember Moon b. Liv Morgan – Jackknife rollup

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

Drew McIntyre b. Seth Rollins – Claymore

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

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

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

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

Opening sequence.

Ascension vs. Heath Slater/Rhyno

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

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

From Raw.

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

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

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

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

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

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

From Raw again.

Revival vs. Bobby Lashley/Roman Reigns

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

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

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

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

From Smackdown.

Usos vs. HELL NO

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

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

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

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

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

Quick look at Rusev attacking AJ Styles on Smackdown.

Jinder Mahal vs. Zack Ryder

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

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

We look at Braun Strowman wrecking Kevin Owens’ car.

From Raw.

Kevin Owens vs. Braun Strowman

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: July 2, 2018
Location: Denny Sanford Premier Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Commentators: Corey Graves, Jonathan Coachman, Michael Cole

We’re getting closer to Extreme Rules but we’re missing a lot of the extreme. At the moment we have one match with any kind of a gimmick announced with Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler in an Iron Man match. Other than that we might get to find out what Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley are fighting for since Brock Lesnar might not be working Summerslam. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening recap looks at Lashley and Reigns’ issues, including losing a match to the Revival to even their series. The third match is tonight. We also look at the Intercontinental Title match with Drew McIntyre costing Seth Rollins his rematch.

Here’s Reigns for a chat. He knows Lashley is a tough guy and that means he wants a fight right here right now. Lashley is an egomaniac so let’s do this. Instead here are Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre, to say Reigns couldn’t mind his own business last week. The fight is on in a hurry with the numbers taking Reigns down until Rollins runs in for the save.

Back from a break with Rollins and Reigns running into Kurt Angle in the back. The tag match is made for next week. Reigns wants it tonight but Reigns and Lashley are teaming up against the Revival. AGAIN. Actually hang on though as Angle makes Rollins/Reigns vs. McIntyre/Ziggler tonight. No word on if the Revival match is still on or not.

Matt Hardy vs. Curtis Axel

Bray Wyatt isn’t here tonight because of a car wreck on Friday, but of course WWE can’t possibly blame his absence on the B Team. That might make too much sense and they might have to write something original so it’s not in the cards. Nah instead here’s the B Team parodying Wyatt and Hardy again because it’s funny (pal). Matt shoves him down and Bo Dallas offers Curtis some advice.

A neckbreaker gives Matt two but it’s too early for the Twist of Fate. Back from a break with Axel hitting a bad looking dropkick and a backbreaker gets two. Hardy sends him into the buckle and grabs the Side Effect for two. The Twist of Fate is loaded up but Dallas offers a distraction, allowing Axel to post Hardy. The Axhole ends Hardy at 9:30.

Rating: D. This feud started off with some potential and has gotten old very fast because it’s a two note story: the B Team are a couple of schmucks and they parody Hardy and Wyatt. That’s the entirety of the story and there’s no hint that they’re going anywhere else. It comes off as more lazy writing and another case of coming up with the lone idea then putting up your feet and saying “back in a month”. This is becoming a bigger and bigger problem on Raw and this feud does it almost as badly as anything else.

Reigns and Rollins are talking about Seth’s Iron Man match when Lashley comes in. He wants to fight Reigns too but they’ll get it together tonight. Reigns says all Lashley has to do is stand on the apron and smile while collecting the win. Lashley is ready to fight now but they’ll work together tonight.

We recap Sasha Banks and Bayley exploding (again) last week.

Earlier today, Bayley went to counseling and Sasha was there too. Dr. Shelby (of Team HELL NO anger management fame) is their therapist and is ready to take them into the friend zone. Inside his office, Shelby goes over the seven tenants of friendship. More on this later because we have a running joke.

Titus Worldwide vs. Authors of Pain

Titus actually powers Rezar into the corner to start and brings Apollo in with Akum following him. A Dominator plants Crews as Cole spits out adjectives to describe the Authors. You know, because a team of powerful monsters need descriptions. There’s a powerbomb/neckbreaker combination to Crews and Titus is sent shoulder first into the post. The Last Chapter ends Crews at 2:56.

Kevin Owens is just arriving and looks very nervous about leaving his car. A valet comes up and asks for his keys but Owens says no chance.

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

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

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

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

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

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

We look back at Strowman flipping Owens’ car last week.

Owens complains to Angle about Strowman so Angle makes a match between them for tonight.

Bayley and Sasha are still at therapy with Bayley ranting about something we can’t hear.

Here’s Constable Baron Corbin to talk about how his job is to make everyone better. Last week he pulled Finn Balor from the ring because Balor was clearly tired. When he tried to talk strategy with Balor, he was attacked so the fight was on. Corbin wants Balor to come out here and apologize so here’s Balor, who doesn’t seem interested in apologizing.

Instead Corbin goes first and gives him some backhanded compliments, with Balor insulting Corbin’s clothes and haircut. That sends Corbin over the edge so Balor accuses him of being Stephanie’s stooge. Corbin punches him in the face but gets knocked to the floor, only to leave before Balor can dive. This is all fine as long as it doesn’t lead to Stephanie showing up to collect Finn’s balls.

Elias is playing in the background when the Riott Squad comes up. He plays a bit more as they wreck stuff.

Ember Moon vs. Liv Morgan

Liv slaps her hard to start so Ember tosses her to the floor for a very early break. Back with Ember going for an ankle lock but getting enziguried for her efforts. Liv actually wins a slugout and shouts that Moon is nothing, earning her a toss into the corner. A double stomp brings her out of said corner and the Eclipse gives Moon the pin at 7:26.

Rating: D+. Morgan got in a lot of offense here and that’s a positive sign for her going forward. She wasn’t a great worker when she started and while she’s still a work in progress, it seems that they have some confidence in her. Moon is still fine with the Eclipse, but that’s only going to carry her for so long.

Back in the office, Dr. Shelby is at his breaking point but he has the two of them talk as each other. This of course required them to imitate each other because that’s funny see. They argue again and Shelby screams a lot.

Revival vs. Bobby Lashley/Roman Reigns

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

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

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

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

Owens begs Angle to cancel the match tonight, offering to organize his office or give him some Shania Twain tickets while Owens babysits his kids. Angle says no, so Owens says Angle doesn’t deserve Shania Twain tickets.

Back from a break and we look at Reigns getting beaten down again.

Reigns comes in to see Lashley and the match is on for Extreme Rules.

No Way Jose is in the ring for a match with Mojo Rawley but Rawley says he’s paid too many dues to let something like this happen. He’s sacrificed everything for this opportunity and all Jose can do is dance. Mojo decks him from behind and beats up a member of Jose’s conga line. They brawl some more and Mojo gets the better of it. I find myself more and more interested in this story every week.

We recap Ronda Rousey snapping into a suspension.

Earlier today, Rousey said she’ll be in the front row at Extreme Rules.

Mickie James vs. Nia Jax

Alexa Bliss is with Mickie. Before the match, Nia talks about thinking she was done with Bliss for ever but we’re right back where we started. This needs to end so let’s make it an Extreme Rules match. Reality seems to set in for Bliss but it gets worse as Nia brings out Natalya to be in her corner. Mickie can’t do anything with Nia to start and gets thrown down in a heap. A trip tot he floor doesn’t go well for Mickie either and it’s a big staredown as we take a break.

Back with Mickie baseball sliding her off the apron and kicking away at the leg. A kick to the head keeps Nia in trouble and a running dropkick takes the knee out again. With Nia down, Mickie goes with just punching the knee but Nia grabs a bodyscissors for an escape. Mickie’s kick to the head is blocked so she slaps Nia in the face. A sitout powerbomb crushes Mickie and Natalya intercepts Bliss. The Samoan drop is good for the pin on James at 9:51.

Rating: C. The knee work was better than usual as Mickie mixed things up a bit but Nia winning was the right call. You have buddies like Mickie for reasons just like this and it’s a good enough way to advance the feud. Since we can’t use jobbers for the most part, this is about as good as it’s going to get.

Owens is trying to learn breathing techniques from Jinder Mahal but gets interrupted by an interviewer. Tonight, Owens is going to show the world how to destroy a monster.

We take another look at Reigns getting beaten down.

Lashley says Reigns got what he asked for. Reigns never would have been the guy if Lashley had been here.

Pay per view rundown.

Remember earlier tonight when we looked back at Owens’ car being destroyed? Well here it is again.

Kevin Owens vs. Braun Strowman

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

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

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

Overall Rating: D-. Oh dear this was a rough one and a lot of that comes back to the lack of Brock Lesnar. Right now you have Roman Reigns and Bobby Lashley fighting to be the top star on the roster but with no title to go after, which for some reason requires two Reigns matches. Finn Balor couldn’t have teamed with Rollins instead? Oh no because we need Corbin to have witty exchanges with Balor instead, making them both look and sound like idiots.

Then there’s Strowman, who is picking on Owens because there’s nothing better for him to do and no World Champion to stalk with the briefcase. At the moment this is at least going to be the case until after Extreme Rules and hopefully the rumors about Lesnar not working Summerslam are untrue. Other than that we had Nia being a jerk to Alexa because Bliss used the briefcase as it was intended to be used, the B Team parodying Hardy and Wyatt again, and Ziggler being pushed as the bigger deal over McIntyre.

It feels like some combination of bad writing and just not caring and that makes for a long sit. Smackdown is better, mainly because they don’t seem to put in as much effort into making us sit through this horrible writing. The show felt like they were just throwing stuff out there that made them laugh and put in as little effort as possible, which continues the trend of this being a very rocky few months. It wasn’t so much bad as much as it was lazy and uninspired, which is often a lot worse.

Results

Curtis Axel b. Matt Hardy – Axhole

Authors of Pain b. Titus Worldwide – Last Chapter to Crews

Roman Reigns/Seth Rollins b. Drew McIntyre/Dolph Ziggler via DQ when the Revival interfered

Ember Moon b. Liv Morgan – Eclipse

Roman Reigns/Bobby Lashley b. Revival via DQ when Revival double teamed Reigns

Nia Jax b. Mickie James – Samoan drop

Braun Strowman b. Kevin Owens via countout

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: June 28, 2018
Location: Valley View Casino Center, San Diego, California
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Vic Joseph, Percy Watson

This show has started turning into a nice little way of reminding me of what happened earlier in the week as most of it tends to go sailing out of my head a day or two after the show is over. It’s quick, it’s to the point, and while the original wresting isn’t great, it does things as well as can be expected. In other words, this is what the show was designed to do. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Chad Gable vs. Mike Kanellis

Gable wastes no time in reversing headlock takeovers and gets two off a rollup. A very fast takedown sets up an armbar on Kanellis and a running armdrag makes it even worse. Kanellis finally sends him throat first into the middle rope for a breather and some running clotheslines in the corner (with blown kisses) get two. The chinlock is broken up in all of three seconds and Gable knocks him to the floor for a running apron cannonball. The fans are behind Gable here, even as he gets taken down with a sitout Rock Bottom. A superkick knocks Gable into the corner but Rolling Chaos Theory gives Gable the pin at 5:19.

Rating: C. Not a bad match here at all as Gable got to show off and Kanellis gets to eat this week. Kanellis could go somewhere if he had a gimmick other than being Maria’s husband, especially when Maria isn’t around. Gable still has all the potential in the world but here he is on Main Event while Jason Jordan got the big push but now is sitting on the injured list because Heaven forbid the awesome American Alpha team got to continue.

We look back at Alexa Bliss winning Money in the Bank and cashing in, earning her complete destruction at the hands of Ronda Rousey, causing Rousey to be suspended.

From Raw.

Here are Alexa and Mickie James to brag about Bliss getting the title back and laugh off the idea of Rousey being a threat. Now Bliss gets to face the big bully in Nia Jax, assuming Nia’s arm is healthy by then. Bliss talks about how the mean girl overcame the pretty and popular one because it works in Hollywood. This is the real world though and Bliss knows how to overcome obstacles. She’s overcome Jax and Rousey and is still champion so boo her all you want.

Cue Natalya to say the countdown is on because we’re 23 days away from Rousey returning to deal with Bliss. That earns Natalya a lecture about posting her whole life on social media, because that’s the appropriate response here. Natalya isn’t done though, because she gets to face Bliss right now.

Alexa Bliss vs. Natalya

Non-title and Natalya has Nia Jax in her corner. Joined in progress with Bliss holding her in a bodyscissors before the moonsault knees to the ribs get two. Some stomps to the back give Bliss two but both seconds offer failed interference. Natalya uses the distraction to hit a discus lariat, followed by the Sharpshooter for the tap at 4:07.

Rating: D. In theory this should go somewhere for Natalya, who is still sniffing around the Rousey story, which could be a good idea for Rousey down the line. I’m never a fan of the champing tapping clean like this but it’s such a common practice to have a champion lose these days that it’s not even worth getting upset about anymore.

From Raw again.

Sasha Banks/Bayley/Ember Moon vs. Riott Squad

Banks starts fast with the Meteora to Logan so it’s off to Liv vs. Moon. Everything breaks down in a hurry and the Squad bails to the floor, leaving Moon to dive onto Riott and Morgan. Back form a break with Banks coming back in to clean house with clotheslines but Riott cuts her off with a kick to the face. Bayley makes a save and everything breaks down with Moon elbowing Logan in the face. Banks rolls Riott up for two but has to knock Morgan off the apron, allowing Riott to small package Sasha for the pin at 7:02.

Rating: D+. So you remember all those time where Bayley and Sasha can’t get along and it’s been going on for about four months now? This is the latest version. They really, really need to go somewhere with this already because it’s gone on for so long already and the energy from the whole thing is gone.

Post match Bayley snaps and beats the heck out of Sasha as the fans want tables. Banks gets tossed into the steps twice and the fans cheer for Bayley. The announcers treat this like a heel turn but Bayley is loudly cheered and it’s the result of Banks stabbing her in the back over and over. That doesn’t sound heel turnish to me.

From Smackdown.

Harper vs. Daniel Bryan

Bryan goes with the kicks in the corner to start but gets punched in the face. They head outside with Harper getting the better of it, setting up a neck crank back inside. A missed charge sends Harper outside again and there’s the suicide dive, which is caught without much effort. Harper drops him face first onto the announcers’ table and a big boot puts Bryan over the barricade.

Back from a break with the swinging Boss Man Slam getting two on Bryan. We hit the chinlock but Bryan jawbreaks his way to freedom, setting up the corner dropkick. Bryan charges right into a Michinoku Driver for two more though and Harper takes over one more time. Harper hits a dropkick and takes Bryan up top but gets punched down. That means a tornado DDT and the YES Kicks as Harper is in trouble. The YES Lock goes on but Rowan comes in for the DQ at 13:07.

Rating: C. Bryan was fine here and that’s all this match needed to be. You can find someone to team with him later on and Bryan vs. Miz can be a big time match at Summerslam. If nothing else Bryan vs. either Brother again is fine for a TV match and you can do the same thing with whoever his partner is. The match was fine.

Post match the beatdown is on until Kane of all people comes out for the save. Kane and Bryan clean house and the fans are very pleased. The TEAM HELL NO chants start up and cue Paige to say that at Extreme Rules, HELL NO is getting the Tag Team Title shot at the Bludgeon Brothers.

Breezango/Bobby Roode vs. Ascension/Curt Hawkins

What a random tag match. Viktor and Breezango start things off with a surprising mention of the teams’ former friendship. We get a pose off for a BOO/YAY off and now it’s off to Hawkins and Fandango for a dance off. Hawkins wants Roode instead though and Roode throws him citations before an atomic drop gives us the first major offense nearly two minutes in.

It’s back to Fandango for some right hands but Konnor comes in off a blind tag as we take a break. Back with Konnor missing a charge in the corner and the hot tag bringing in Roode to clean house on Hawkins. Fandango hands Roode the cop hat so the Glorious DDT can finish Hawkins at 7:55.

Rating: D. There’s not much you can do in an eight minute match when two minutes are spent on posing/dancing and three and a half are in a commercial. Hawkins’ losing streak is still amusing enough but I’m not sure how long it’s going to last on the big shows. Roode continues to be dying for a heel turn but that GLORIOUS is so over that I get why they’re hesitant to pull the trigger. Ascension and Breezango….I’m sorry guys.

And from Raw to wrap it up.

Intercontinental Title: Dolph Ziggler vs. Seth Rollins

Rollins is challenging and, after Big Match Intros, wastes no time in dropkicking Ziggler out to the floor. Some chops rock Ziggler and it’s off to an early armbar as they have about half an hour if not more. That’s broken up in a hurry and Ziggler hits his big jumping elbow for an early two. A headlock keeps Rollins in trouble and the pace slows a good bit. Rollins finally fights up and Ziggler bails to the floor, only to have McIntyre fail as a shield.

A staredown with McIntyre takes us to a break. Back with Rollins holding his knee and another chinlock keeping things slow. Rollins fights up and sends him into the corner for a breather and both guys are down. Ziggler backdrops him over the top to further the knee injury but Seth is back up for stereo crossbodies. Rollins’ knee is fine enough for a Sling Blade but McIntyre offers a distraction. That’s enough for an ejection, allowing Rollins to suicide dive onto both of them.

Back in and Ziggler crotches him on top for two and we take another break. We come back again with Rollins hitting the Ripcord Knee but Ziggler gets his foot on the rope. They fight to the apron where a DDT knocks Rollins senseless with the announcers declaring it over. Do they really think we buy lines like that anymore? Rollins knees him down again for a close two but gets caught on top.

Ziggler gets shoved down and the frog splash gets another close two and the fans are losing their minds. The Stomp and the Zig Zag both miss and Ziggler’s rollup with tights gets two. Now the Zig Zag connects for two and Ziggler is stunned. They head up top again and Rollins tries a superplex to the floor but has to settle for the superplex into the Falcon Arrow for an even closer two instead with McIntyre pulling the referee out for the DQ at 27:38.

Rating: B. And so, it’s going to continue, likely in some form of gimmick match at Extreme Rules. As usual, I would rather be seeing McIntyre in Ziggler’s spot but for some reason he’s just there as muscle and not even bothering to put him in the ring more often than not. As long as this leads to McIntyre dropping Ziggler and either winning the title or moving on to bigger and better things, everything will be fine. Just get Ziggler away from the spotlight already.

As for the match, it was much better after the second break but that first half was just filling time that the match really didn’t need to have. I would always prefer a hot seventeen minute match over a twenty seven minute match where about half of it feels like a waste of time. The ending didn’t help things either, but some of those near falls were great.

Post match the beatdown is on until Roman Reigns makes the save. A Superman Punch puts McIntyre back on the floor to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. The Intercontinental Title match helped, even though they only showed about five minutes and the post match stuff. I liked that Kanellis vs. Gable match far more than I expected to and it’s always nice to have a surprise. Raw wasn’t great this week but they did a good job of cutting away the bad stuff to give us a nice show, which is where this show can be rather successful.

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: June 25, 2018
Location: Valley View Casino Center, San Diego, California
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Jonathan Coachman

We’re getting closer and closer to Extreme Rules and that means we need to know who will be in the multi-man match for the right to face Brock Lesnar at Summerslam. Other than that we have an Intercontinental Title match tonight as new champion Dolph Ziggler (Huh?) faces Seth Rollins in a rematch from last week. Let’s get to it.

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

Kurt Angle and Baron Corbin are in the ring, but first we have to hear a lengthy introduction for all of Corbin’s job titles. Angle talks about the upcoming #1 contenders match but shifts towards a recent Facebook post from Paul Heyman, saying no one was worthy of facing Lesnar. Before he can make an announcement though, here’s Roman Reigns to interrupt. Bobby Lashley interrupts as well, with Reigns not being able to get to say anything.

Lashley says he wants Lesnar and Reigns has had three years of chances. That means it’s time to move on, but Reigns says Lashley moved on ten years ago. About ten years ago, Lashley was in the main event of Wrestlemania (well, pretty much) but then he decided to go to MMA and become famous. What has Lashley done around here since then? Reigns is the guy who has been main eventing Wrestlemania four years in a row and it’s going to be five. Lashley tells him not to disrespect his background but he’s ready for anyone Angle throws at him.

Angle says there was a snag in the details and the multi-man match is off at Extreme Rules. Reigns goes on a rant about Lesnar not wanting to be here unless he gets paid, but Lashley thinks Lesnar just wants a real challenge and is sick of seeing Roman’s face. Lashley: “Just like all these people here.” A challenge is issued and they’re ready to fight, but Angle says he’s willing to take a singles match between the two of them under advisement. Cue the Revival again though and we’re having a rematch from last week.

Revival vs. Roman Reigns/Bobby Lashley

Rematch from last week. Wilder gets sent outside to start and it’s a double shoulder to drop Dawson instead. A cheap shot from Wilder knocks Lashley into Reigns though and it’s Lashley, who loses the headband and reveals his rather large forehead, in trouble. More stomping in the corner doesn’t do much good for Revival as it’s quickly off to Reigns. That’s not very interesting to the announcers though so they read portions of Heyman’s Facebook post.

Reigns hits the apron boot on Wilder and we take a break. Back with Reigns in the same trouble Lashley was in earlier as Revival takes turns stomping away. The announcers talk about Lesnar some more as Wilder and Dawson talk trash and kick Reigns in the head. A Samoan drop gets Reigns out of trouble and it’s back to Lashley for that dreaded vertical suplex. It’s delayed and everything. Lashley loads up the spear but Reigns tags himself in for the Superman Punch to Wilder. Reigns loads up the spear but sidesteps a blind tag. Dawson’s charge hits Reigns but the distraction lets Wilder roll Reigns up at 13:03.

Rating: D+. Somehow, I’ll gladly take this, even if it might mean a third match next week and will mean nothing for the Revival because they’re not one of the featured tag teams at this point so they’re not going anywhere. Reigns and Lashley have some chemistry together as long as Lashley isn’t allowed to talk for very long, but their match might be a little rough.

Reigns and Lashley yell at each other.

Matt Hardy liked last week’s B Team parody, which he hasn’t seen done as well since he was sharing a tart with Bill Shakespeare. Bray Wyatt comes in and laughs about what the B Team did, promising consequences.

Matt Hardy vs. Curtis Axel

Before the match, the B Team parodies Matt and Bray again, this time choking on the smoke and lowering themselves with the lamp. They trade shots to the face to start with Matt putting him on the turnbuckle for more right hands to the jaw. A superplex doesn’t work for Matt as Curtis falls on top….for the pin at 1:54.

Post match Matt and Bray declare that a WONDERFUL win for the B Team.

Stills of last week’s Bayley vs. Sasha Banks incident.

The Authors of Pain (hey, they exist) shove a production guy and get talked down to by Titus Worldwide.

Bayley welcomes Alicia Fox back (uh, yay) but Angle comes in to tell Bayley that she and Sasha are teaming up again with Ember Moon against the Riott Squad. You can imagine Bayley’s reaction.

Authors of Pain vs. Rich Gibson/Rex Gibson

The Gibsons are in red and green, meaning the Authors are about to beat up some Christmas trees. They’re knocked/thrown to the floor in short order and the Last Chapter ends Rich at 1:03.

Titus Worldwide comes in to break up the post match beatdown.

Angle and Corbin are bickering in the back when Finn Balor and Braun Strowman come in. Braun talks about beating up Kevin Owens last week but now he wants to be his friend tonight. Therefore, it’s Braun/Owens vs. Balor/Corbin tonight. Yes they really are just taking the same people and shuffling them for different matches.

Long recap of Ronda Rousey going insane last week and beating down Angle and Alexa Bliss.

Here are Alexa and Mickie James to brag about Bliss getting the title back and laugh off the idea of Rousey being a threat. Now Bliss gets to face the big bully in Nia Jax, assuming Nia’s arm is healthy by then. Bliss talks about how the mean girl overcame the pretty and popular one because it works in Hollywood. This is the real world though and Bliss knows how to overcome obstacles. She’s overcome Jax and Rousey and is still champion so boo her all you want.

Cue Natalya to say the countdown is on because we’re 23 days away from Rousey returning to deal with Bliss. That earns Natalya a lecture about posting her whole life on social media, because that’s the appropriate response here. Natalya isn’t done though, because she gets to face Bliss right now.

Alexa Bliss vs. Natalya

Non-title and Natalya has Nia Jax in her corner. Joined in progress with Bliss holding her in a bodyscissors before the moonsault knees to the ribs get two. Some stomps to the back give Bliss two but both seconds offer failed interference. Natalya uses the distraction to hit a discus lariat, followed by the Sharpshooter for the tap at 4:07.

Rating: D. In theory this should go somewhere for Natalya, who is still sniffing around the Rousey story, which could be a good idea for Rousey down the line. I’m never a fan of the champing tapping clean like this but it’s such a common practice to have a champion lose these days that it’s not even worth getting upset about anymore.

We look back at Ziggler cheating Rollins out of the Intercontinental Title last week.

Rollins promises to get the title back tonight.

The Riott Squad takes over a Jinder Mahal photo shoot and break the camera.

Sasha Banks/Bayley/Ember Moon vs. Riott Squad

Banks starts fast with the Meteora to Logan so it’s off to Liv vs. Moon. Everything breaks down in a hurry and the Squad bails to the floor, leaving Moon to dive onto Riott and Morgan. Back form a break with Banks coming back in to clean house with clotheslines but Riott cuts her off with a kick to the face. Bayley makes a save and everything breaks down with Moon elbowing Logan in the face. Banks rolls Riott up for two but has to knock Morgan off the apron, allowing Riott to small package Sasha for the pin at 7:02.

Rating: D+. So you remember all those time where Bayley and Sasha can’t get along and it’s been going on for about four months now? This is the latest version. They really, really need to go somewhere with this already because it’s gone on for so long already and the energy from the whole thing is gone.

Post match Bayley snaps and beats the heck out of Sasha as the fans want tables. Banks gets tossed into the steps twice and the fans cheer for Bayley. The announcers treat this like a heel turn but Bayley is loudly cheered and it’s the result of Banks stabbing her in the back over and over. That doesn’t sound heel turnish to me.

Owens is worried about teaming with Strowman but Angle tells him not to worry.

No Way Jose vs. Mojo Rawley

Hang on though as Mojo doesn’t think much of having a rematch. You have to earn the right to come down the ramp to a WWE ring and neither Jose nor the conga line has done that yet. Mojo mocks a guy named Todd who is dressed like a cheeseburger, saying he’ll never get a WWE contract. We’re not having a match, but Mojo does deck Jose. No match, though Mojo continues to interest me.

Bayley tries to explain to Angle but gets sent to counseling next week instead. I rolled my eyes and sighed when I heard that, because it’s going to be bad.

Braun Strowman/Kevin Owens vs. Finn Balor/Baron Corbin

Owens and Corbin start things off with Baron running him over without much effort. It’s off to Balor, who gets in one arm crank before Corbin tags himself back in. The chokebreaker is escaped and Owens tags Strowman in for a change. Corbin tries a kick to the ribs but gets punched in the face for his efforts. Strowman orders Owens to get back in and this time Balor gets to stay inside for more than a few seconds.

That means a quick chinlock on Balor but Corbin breaks up the Cannonball. Instead Strowman comes in and splashes Balor while Owens Cannonballs Corbin, sending us to a break. Back with Balor working on Owens’ arm until Corbin comes in for more of the same. Owens gets in a shot to the face and brings Strowman in, meaning things are going bad in a hurry. Strowman cleans house, including the forearm to Balor’s chest.

With Corbin and Balor on the floor, Strowman heads outside for the running shoulders, which he’s managed to get over quite well. Owens gets the tag and tries one of his own, only to have Corbin drop him with a clothesline. That’s not cool with Strowman, who sends Corbin into the barricade for ruining his fun. Back in and Corbin makes one too many blind tags, earning himself a kick to the head. Corbin breaks up Balor’s dive and they fight up the ramp for the countout at 11:41.

Rating: D+. The match was watchable, though swapping the people in and out isn’t the most thrilling thing in the world. It would be nice if these guys had something to fight over other than “well, they’ve been fighting for weeks”, but that’s not going to happen anytime soon because everything else (as in all two or three things they could fight over) are occupied. I’m sure we’ll see these guys together again soon.

Post match Owens celebrates with Strowman, who isn’t pleased. Strowman chases the terrified Owens off. Just announce Balor/Owens vs. Corbin/Strowman for next week already.

After a graphic for the Intercontinental Title match, Owens hides in a closet and Strowman interrogates people. Strowman: “THE GUY WHO LOOKS LIKE HE’S GOT A BOWLING BALL UNDER HIS SHIRT!”

Post break Owens has security escort him to the exist. Even as he leaves, he’s still looking for Owens but the valet doesn’t have his keys. Strowman beat him there of course….and has turned Owens’ car upside down.

Intercontinental Title: Dolph Ziggler vs. Seth Rollins

Rollins is challenging and, after Big Match Intros, wastes no time in dropkicking Ziggler out to the floor. Some chops rock Ziggler and it’s off to an early armbar as they have about half an hour if not more. That’s broken up in a hurry and Ziggler hits his big jumping elbow for an early two. A headlock keeps Rollins in trouble and the pace slows a good bit. Rollins finally fights up and Ziggler bails to the floor, only to have McIntyre fail as a shield.

A staredown with McIntyre takes us to a break. Back with Rollins holding his knee and another chinlock keeping things slow. Rollins fights up and sends him into the corner for a breather and both guys are down. Ziggler backdrops him over the top to further the knee injury but Seth is back up for stereo crossbodies. Rollins’ knee is fine enough for a Sling Blade but McIntyre offers a distraction. That’s enough for an ejection, allowing Rollins to suicide dive onto both of them.

Back in and Ziggler crotches him on top for two and we take another break. We come back again with Rollins hitting the Ripcord Knee but Ziggler gets his foot on the rope. They fight to the apron where a DDT knocks Rollins senseless with the announcers declaring it over. Do they really think we buy lines like that anymore? Rollins knees him down again for a close two but gets caught on top.

Ziggler gets shoved down and the frog splash gets another close two and the fans are losing their minds. The Stomp and the Zig Zag both miss and Ziggler’s rollup with tights gets two. Now the Zig Zag connects for two and Ziggler is stunned. They head up top again and Rollins tries a superplex to the floor but has to settle for the superplex into the Falcon Arrow for an even closer two instead with McIntyre pulling the referee out for the DQ at 27:38.

Rating: B. And so, it’s going to continue, likely in some form of gimmick match at Extreme Rules. As usual, I would rather be seeing McIntyre in Ziggler’s spot but for some reason he’s just there as muscle and not even bothering to put him in the ring more often than not. As long as this leads to McIntyre dropping Ziggler and either winning the title or moving on to bigger and better things, everything will be fine. Just get Ziggler away from the spotlight already.

As for the match, it was much better after the second break but that first half was just filling time that the match really didn’t need to have. I would always prefer a hot seventeen minute match over a twenty seven minute match where about half of it feels like a waste of time. The ending didn’t help things either, but some of those near falls were great.

Post match the beatdown is on until Roman Reigns makes the save. A Superman Punch puts McIntyre back on the floor to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. I don’t know if it was the UK show earlier today wearing me down but this show felt like it was about 19 hours long with the especially long and not great main event not exactly helping things. I’m not sure where they’re heading with the major story, but I do appreciate the idea of a singles match instead of another multi-man match at the pay per view. Other than that, the show wasn’t too bad but it dragged a lot, which makes for a rough sit when there are two more shows tomorrow.

I’m worried about the lack of Lesnar though, as the entire rule book is thrown out the window when he’s involved. While I don’t think they’re crazy enough to just let him vacate the title and never come back, they’re dumb enough to go with something really bad at Summerslam that is nowhere near as good as it should be. In other words, just get the Lesnar vs. Reigns graphics back up again.

Results

Revival b. Roman Reigns/Bobby Lashley – Rollup to Reigns

Curtis Axel b. Matt Hardy – Crossbody

Authors of Pain b. Rick Gibson/Rex Gibson – Last Chapter to Rich

Natalya b. Alexa Bliss – Sharpshooter

Riott Squad b. Bayley/Sasha Banks/Ember Moon – Small package to Banks

Kevin Owens/Braun Strowman b. Baron Corbin/Finn Balor via countout

Seth Rollins b. Dolph Ziggler via DQ when Drew McIntyre interfered

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: June 21, 2018
Location: Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Percy Watson

We’re FINALLY at a fresh set of stories as Money in the Bank is done, which is one of the best things in the world that could have happened. Things hit the ground running this week as we only have four weeks to go before Extreme Rules. This was a big week of television and there’s a lot to cover so let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Tony Nese vs. Gran Metalik

Nese throws a right hand and poses so Metalik hits him right back, sending Nese into the corner. That earns Metalik a legsweep but he avoids a Lionsault. Nese bails to the floor and pulls him face first into the apron though as they’re not exactly doing anything major at the moment. Back in and a bodyscissors keeps Metalik in trouble but he’s right back up with a high crossbody to rock Nese. Metalik goes up again but has to crotch Nese to avoid some pain. The Metalik Driver is broken up and Nese’s running knee in the corner is good for the pin at 5:01.

Rating: D+. Again, I have no idea what I’m supposed to get out of seeing the same cruiserweights fight every week. We know they’re there and they’re on 205 Live every week, so it’s just two shows where I don’t have to pay much attention to either person. It’s not a bad match, but I’ve already forgotten a good chunk of what happened. There’s nothing that makes them stand out, and this is no different.

We look at Nia Jax vs. Ronda Rousey from Sunday.

From Raw.

Kurt Angle is in the ring to introduce Bliss, whose title is sitting on a table. He hands her the title and announces that Nia is cashing in her rematch at Extreme Rules. Bliss thanks the fans for giving her the opportunity to rub it in our faces, which draws a WE WANT RONDA chant. It’s all about Bliss now so cue a ticked off Ronda but Angle gets in her way. Alexa laughs all of this off because everything she did was perfectly legal.

It’s obvious that Ronda is upset because the stories were all about Bliss last night. Now, Rousey is just irrelevant. That’s enough for Rousey, who runs over Angle and hits Bliss in the back with the briefcase. She beats Angle up with it as well and takes out some referees for good measure. One heck of a powerbomb drops Bliss through a table.

Post replays, Angle suspends Rousey for 30 days.

Post break, Rousey promises to be back in thirty days to take care of Bliss, champion or not.

From Smackdown.

Here’s Carmella to get things going in the arena. Carmella talks about having self esteem issues when she was growing up because she never felt good enough. Then she started writing her own story and she saw something in herself that no one ever saw. Everyone out there needs to look in the mirror and repeat these words: Mella is MONEY! Why would someone like her ever have self confidence? She’s been moon walking and trash talking since she was a baby so everyone needs to just give up. Carmella brags about all of her accomplishments, which she has done completely on her own.

Cue Asuka, or at least James Ellsworth in Asuka gear. Ellsworth says no one was ready for Asuka and offers some praise to Carmella, saying she’s better than several women, including Trish, Lita, Rousey, and Mother Teresa. Now it’s the real Asuka, without robe or mask, coming to the ring to take Ellsworth down. Carmella uses the distraction to deck Asuka and wrap things up. I’m so glad they brought Ellsworth back for this role when there are probably a dozen people on the roster with nothing to do.

From Raw again.

Here’s Seth Rollins to talk about how far Elias took him last night. That’s what Seth wanted though, because it’s what it means to be the Intercontinental Champion. Let’s keep that going right now with an OPEN CHALLENGE.

Intercontinental Title: Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler

Ziggler is challenging and there goes some of the energy. Rollins knocks him to the floor and we take a very early break. Back with Ziggler throwing him back inside and kicking at the knee. A whip into the corner turns Seth upside down for two and we hit the chinlock. Rollins fights up….and the USA Network goes out. The feed comes back in a commercial so we eventually come back to Ziggler taking the Fameasser.

A superkick gives Rollins two but Ziggler heads up top. Rollins catches him again and rolls through a high crossbody. The buckle bomb connects but Drew McIntyre offers a distraction, allowing Ziggler to roll him up with tights for the pin and the title at 18:26. Too much was missed by the outage but this was the same match you would expect from these two.

Quick look at the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match.

Authors of Pain vs. Breezango

Oh yeah the Authors still exist. Akam shoves Breeze around to start but gets kicked in the face to put the big man on the floor. Rezar comes in but the double belly to back is broken up as well and it’s off to Fandango. That’s about all the good things there are to say about Fandango at this point as the middle rope stomp/backbreaker combination has him in trouble. Back from an abrupt break with Breeze Supermodel Kicking Akam, only to walk into the Last Chapter for the pin at 6:05. Not enough shown to rate but it was a squash.

We wrap it up with a very shortened version of the Smackdown gauntlet match, just looking at the eliminations and AJ Styles coming out to stare down Rusev to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. As usual, this show almost completely depends on what you get on Raw and Smackdown, so this week was a pretty easy sit. They were smart to keep things short with the gauntlet match as it could have covered the length of this show. The original content on here was nothing special, but with two short matches it’s hard to get annoyed. Completely fine show, but really just a recap hour.

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

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

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

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