IMG Credit: WWE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Drew McIntyre vs. Dolph Ziggler

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

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

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

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

Bayley vs. Alicia Fox

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

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

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

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

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

Elias vs Lio Rush

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

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

A disgusted Slater leaves.

We recap the opening segment.

We recap the Tag Team Title change.

We recap Ruby Riott revealing the Jim Neidhart table.

We recap Drew McIntyre injuring Dolph Ziggler.

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

Tamina vs. Ember Moon

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

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

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

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

Lars Sullivan video.

Intercontinental Title: Seth Rollins vs. Baron Corbin

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results

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

Drew McIntyre b. Dolph Ziggler – Claymore

Bayley b. Alicia Fox – Bayley to Belly

Lio Rush b. Elias – Guitar to the back

Ember Moon b. Tamina

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

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: December 3, 2018
Location: Toyota Center, Houston, Texas
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Renee Young

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

We open with a ten bell salute to George H. W. Bush, who was a Houston resident. Nothing wrong with that.

Ronda Rousey/Natalya vs. Nia Jax/Tamina

Actually hang on a second as here’s the Riott Squad with a table. The distraction lets Tamina hit a superkick to Rousey and the beatdown is on in a hurry. The Squad sets up the table and Natalya gets powerbombed through as Rousey is beaten down. No match.

Post break Rousey has Natalya checked on and glares revenge.

Here’s Alexa Bliss for a chat. Last week she was put in charge of the entire women’s division and then the open forum that she set up didn’t go well. That’s why we’re going to try this again so we’ve got Charly Caruso in the crowd to answer questions. We need some people to ask questions to though so here are Sasha Banks and Bayley. After having a seat, Bayley gets straight to the point: when are Dana Brooke, Alicia Fox and Mickie James going to run in and attack them?

The first question is about social media asking if Banks is going to stab her in the back. Banks laughs it off and says they’ll be partners for life. Second (asked by a woman who looks like Carmella’s sister) is if you could have a match with anyone who would it be. Bayley/Sasha at the same time: “Trish Stratus and Lita at Wrestlemania.”

Next: if you could have a superpower what would it be. Bayley would want to make things disappear, starting with Bliss. That’s enough for a victory lap around her chair. Banks thinks Bayley’s answer works for her too. Bliss says she already made Banks’ title disappear so we’ll move on. Fourth: what changes will they be bringing in 2019? Bayley wants the two of them to be the first ever Women’s Tag Team Champions. Cue Dana, Mickie and Alicia but Bliss calls them off. A match is made instead.

Bayley/Sasha Banks vs. Mickie James/Alicia Fox

Bayley charges at Mickie to start but gets taken into the wrong corner for the northern lights suplex from Fox. The chinlock goes on for a bit until it’s off to Fox via the hot tag. Mickie has to break up the Bank Statement so Sasha forearms her in the face several times. A kick to the face drops Banks for two with Bayley making the save. Bayley comes back in and it’s a Backstabber into the Bayley to Belly to finish James at 4:17.

Rating: D+. So now we’ve officially heard about the Women’s Tag Team Titles. I don’t particularly need to see them but having some titles to fight over would be better than having the same women having the same matches for no apparent reason so I’ll take what I can get. As long as it’s not Stephanie making some big speech to tell us about them.

We look back at Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre wrecking Finn Balor and Elias last week.

Rousey yells at Bliss about Natalya so Bliss offers her a new partner tonight. That’s not happening because Rousey doesn’t trust her so she’ll find a new partner herself.

Video on Baron Corbin’s rise to power and everything that he’s done to everyone. Thankfully we get the awesome voiceover guy to make this a little more interesting.

Chad Gable and Bobby Roode come in to see Corbin and demand a Tag Team Title rematch with AOP. That’s a big negative, but Roode has to beat Drake Maverick in a singles match tonight. Gable and the AOP are banned from ringside so everyone seems happy.

Scott Dawson vs. Gran Metalik

Before we get going, Dawson says that since the House Party can’t understand the point of tag wrestling, he’ll have to explain in a singles match. Jojo: “The following match will take place under Lucha House Party rules!” So yeah, it’s 3-1 instead.

Scott Dawson vs. Lucha House Party

Metalik starts things off and takes Dawson down early on before bringing in Kalisto for the elevated splash. It’s off to Dorado, who gets caught in a Gory Stretch. Wilder gets beaten up as well and some rapid fire tags set up the Salida Del Sol. Metalik drops a rope walk Swanton for the pin at 2:39. I’ve grown to hate these matches more than almost anything else on the show. I mean….yeah this is really stupid. I’m trying to come up with something positive here and it’s not coming to me.

Corbin has a box delivered to him and says he’s going to love it. That he would be Drew McIntyre, who is getting an appreciation night next.

Here’s Corbin (because of course) to host Drew’s appreciation night. Corbin talks about being living proof that you can rise above anything, even if you have some thorns in your side. This man has helped him overcome some of those thorns though, which is why we’re celebrating him tonight. After a video on Drew, here he is in the flesh. Corbin gets straight to the point and hands him the box, containing a gold medal. That’s the Raw Gold Medal of Excellence, now that McIntyre has put Kurt Angle out of action.

Drew talks about coming here seven months ago to change the culture in the locker room. The wrestlers have been in the back playing video games and exchanging compliments with fans on social media. That’s why he’s tried to reshape Raw in his own image. Drew is going to keep doing everything that has gotten him here….and this brings out Dolph Ziggler to interrupt. Ziggler says he brought Drew to Raw but didn’t see him in the video package. Drew was the muscle while Dolph was the brains.

McIntyre isn’t convinced, starting with Dolph not meeting the height requirement. The reality is that Drew was the brains, the muscle and everything rolled into one. This isn’t working for him anymore because Dolph’s role was to get him in a prominent position. McIntyre turns things personal by saying he’s the reason Ziggler was relevant for the first time in ten years. Apparently hurt by the truth, Ziggler punches him in the face and hits the Zig Zag. Ziggler goes to leave but Corbin says it’s match time.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Drew McIntyre

Joined in progress with Ziggler in trouble and being tossed outside. McIntyre sends him into a few things on the floor and takes it back inside for a chinlock. Ziggler fights up so it’s an overhead belly to belly to cut him off again. They head outside again and this time Drew wants a microphone. McIntyre says he’s going to treat Ziggler like someone he doesn’t like, which means some alternating rams into the barricade and then the apron. Cue Balor himself as we take a break.

Back with McIntyre getting two off the reverse Alabama Slam as frustration starts setting in. Ziggler punches his way out of a superplex attempt and hits the running DDT for the double knockdown. As you might expect, the fans aren’t exactly thrilled because Ziggler was a villain until about fifteen minutes ago. Ziggler sends him outside for a running clothesline off the apron but a headbutt gets McIntyre out of trouble. McIntyre sends him back in and the ref gets bumped, allowing Balor to dropkick McIntyre into the barricade. That’s enough for nine as McIntyre dives back in….for a superkick from Ziggler for the pin at 13:19.

Rating: C+. Well, it wasn’t clean. That makes things a little bit better, but there was no reason to not have McIntyre lose via countout here. Ziggler still isn’t the kind of guy who should be getting a big singles pin, especially over someone like McIntyre. That being said, this is far from some death sentence for McIntyre so it’s hardly the worst thing in the world.

Post break Drew promises to have the mountain fall down on Dolph. As for Finn, he’s a marked man.

Here’s a banged up Elias, with his hair down for a change, for a song. After some playing, Elias says he wants to wrap his guitar around Bobby Lashley’s head and at TLC, there will be no more hiding. Cue Lashley and Lio Rush to promise Elias some pain. Bobby strikes some poses including the bending over one, drawing Elias up the ramp for a fight. Elias gets the better of it and sends Lashley into the video wall, leaving Rush to bail. Before he can get too far though, Balor throws him onto the stage so Elias can blast him with the guitar.

Jinder Mahal is in Corbin’s office and offers to beat up Balor tonight. They’re not worried about Braun Strowman showing up tonight. Mahal leaves and here are Rhyno and Heath Slater. Corbin has come to a conclusion: there’s only room for one of them on Raw so one of them needs to quit. Neither will do that so Corbin makes a match between the two of them with the job on the line.

Drake Maverick vs. Bobby Roode

Roode gets in a few shots but we cut to the back where the AOP beats up Chad Gable. Corbin comes in to say he’s changed his mind and it’s now a 3-2 handicap match.

AOP/Drake Maverick vs. Chad Gable/Bobby Roode

Roode is smart enough to hit the Glorious DDT before the AOP can get in but they’re just in time for the save. The beatdown is on in a hurry with the side slam/middle rope stomp combination getting two. Gable comes out holding his neck but gets caught with an atomic drop/big boot combination. The Super Collider lets Maverick pin Roode at 3:49.

Rating: D-. This was an angle instead of a match (that tends to be the case a lot tonight) and I get the big story they’re telling with Corbin being drunk with power and wanting to ruin people who opposed him. That’s fine on paper, but it’s not something that’s working in reality. It comes off as tiresome instead of effective and that’s a bad thing to build the show around. The match wasn’t the worst, mainly because it didn’t include any stupid Maverick segment. That alone keeps it from being the failure that was last week’s match, so at least they’re improving.

We look back at Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, including Ambrose getting hit shots last week in a segment that gets worse every time I see it.

A bunch of security guards in gas masks come out to escort Ambrose, in a gas mask of his own, to the ring. Ambrose, still in the mask, says you can’t be too careful in a horrible city like Houston so he has some guards to protect him from that madman Seth Rollins. The mask comes off and Dean talks about how Rollins wanted something from him, just like all the people. Like all those people who would always stick their phones in his face to try and add some excitement to their lives.

Seth tried to control him and that’s the worst feeling in the world. Those people are sitting in the crowd right now but none of them have the courage to slap them in the mouth right now. Ambrose is proud to sit in this ring as the moral compass and at TLC, he could take the Intercontinental Title but he’d rather just teach Rollins a lesson. At TLC, Rollins will lose control of himself, his emotions and the Intercontinental Title. Don’t worry though, because he’ll be right there to save the title.

Cue Rollins from behind (at least he wasn’t a guard in disguise) to get in a few shots and then beat up the guards. Ambrose uses the distraction to get out but Rollins chases him down for the brawl. They come back to ringside though and Dean gets in a shot to the face with a gas mask. Ambrose even hits Dirty Deeds on the floor, followed by another inside. This was good but that’s the problem: it’s just good. This feud started off red hot and hasn’t lived up to the hype since then. The match will be very good as these two almost always are, but it’s not what it could have been.

Graves asks Renee about Ambrose again and Renee says how dare he try to find out what happens behind closed doors between a man* and wife. Fair enough.

We look back at the opening sequence.

Rousey has picked Ember Moon as her partner but Nia wishes it was Charly Caruso. Nia yells a lot and promises to injure Rousey just like she did to Becky. For some reason, she screams as I forget that Tamina exists.

Rhyno vs. Heath Slater

Loser gets fired so Rhyno goes straight at him to start and takes Slater, who has kids according to the fans, into the corner. Slater gets a neckbreaker for the pin at 1:07. It’s as sudden as it sounds.

Post break Slater comes up to ask Corbin if there is anything that can be done with Rhyno. That’s not happening, but Slater has a new job: as a referee.

Jinder Mahal vs. Finn Balor

Mahal takes him down into a headlock to start and drops Finn throat first across the top rope. Back from a very early break with Balor fighting out of a chinlock but getting pulled back down into a headlock. Balor is back up with the double stomp to the chest and a Sling Blade. The shotgun dropkick in the corner looks to set up the Coup de Grace but the Singh Brothers get involved to shove him off the top. This brings out Apollo Crews to take care of them but Mahal kicks him in the face. Balor hits a big flip dive, setting up another dropkick and the Coup de Grace finishes Mahal at 7:28.

Rating: D. And hey, it’s another preview for Mixed Match Challenge! Balor has done this kind of thing all season long so they might as well do it all over again here. At least they didn’t go with a stupid Mahal win as it was feeling that way for a little while. It’s sad that this is where Balor is now, but it’s a sign of the times around here.

Post break McIntyre jumps Balor in the back.

Lars Sullivan video.

Ronda Rousey/Ember Moon vs. Nia Jax/Tamina

Rousey walks hard to the ring but gets jumped 2-1 until Moon comes in. A middle rope Codebreaker rocks Nia and Rousey hits a running forearm off the apron to take her down again. Back from a break (with no bell beforehand) with Ember in trouble and Rousey bouncing back and forth on the apron. Ember gets over and makes the tag a few seconds later….and Rousey tags back out after a few kicks to Tamina. Nia loads up the big right hand, which she uses on Ember’s ribs after a quick tease.

Ember hurricanranas her way to freedom but Nia breaks up the hot tag, only to get knocked off the apron by Tamina. That means the hot tag can bring Rousey in for the clotheslines and knees to Tamina, who is knocked into the corner. Rousey demands the tag to Nia so she comes in and tags right back out. Rousey flips Nia back in and then beats Tamina up with the rapid punches in the corner. A jumping knee to the face gets two on Tamina but the Eclipse rocks her again. The armbar makes Tamina tap at 5:57.

Rating: D+. This was exactly what it needed to be with Nia being the loudmouth who won’t actually fight but at the same time, I’m not sure how much WWE can make me buy her as a threat to Rousey at TLC. She’s really living on that one right hand to Becky from a few weeks ago and that’s not exactly a lot of material. At least the ending was the right call here and Moon didn’t get treated like an afterthought again.

Overall Rating: D-. And yet, this was miles better than last week. Last week felt like a bunch of random stuff only loosely tied together. This show was tied together, but it was tied together with such a horribly uninteresting main character and story that almost doesn’t have a payoff because Strowman is nowhere to be seen.

That being said, there was no one segment here that dragged the show down to the depths and there was some watchable enough wrestling to carry things. I know the lack of Reigns has hurt them a lot, but it just goes to show you how risky it is to put everything on Reigns instead of building up other people at the same time. The other problem is they’re building the show around a midcarder who is now a middle management stooge. I need a lot more than that, but WWE is tripling down on Corbin instead of building someone up. That’s not working at the moment and it’s only getting somewhat less worse, not better.

Results

Bayley/Sasha Banks b. Mickie James/Alicia Fox – Bayley to Belly to James

Lucha House Party b. Scott Dawson – Rope walk Swanton

Dolph Ziggler b. Drew McIntyre – Superkick

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

Heath Slater b. Rhyno – Neckbreaker

Finn Balor b. Jinder Mahal – Coup de Grace

Ronda Rousey/Ember Moon b. Tamina/Nia Jax – Armbar to Tamina

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

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

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

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

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

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

Elias vs. Bobby Lashley

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lucha House Party vs. Revival

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

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

Bayley and Sasha Banks sell stuff for Cyber Monday.

Video on Lars Sullivan.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rating: F. Nope.

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

Finn Balor is ready to face Baron Corbin tonight.

Ember Moon vs. Alicia Fox

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

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

No Way Jose vs. Jinder Mahal

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

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

Intercontinental Title: Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler

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

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

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

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

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

Finn Balor vs. Baron Corbin

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results

Bobby Lashley b. Elias – Gator roll

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

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

Ember Moon b. Alicia Fox – Eclipse

Jinder Mahal b. No Way Jose – Khallas

Seth Rollins b. Dolph Ziggler – Falcon Arrow

Baron Corbin/Drew McIntyre b. Finn Balor – Claymore

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lars Sullivan is coming.

Sasha Banks/Bayley vs. Nia Jax/Tamina

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Revival vs. Lucha House Party

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

We look back at Charlotte attacking Ronda Rousey last night.

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

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

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

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

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

Survivor Series 2019 is in Chicago.

AOP vs. Chad Gable/Bobby Roode

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

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

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

The B-Team shills merchandise.

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

Natalya vs. Ruby Riott

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

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

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

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

Results

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

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

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

Ronda Rousey b. Mickie James – Armbar

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

Natalya b. Ruby Riott – Rollup

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

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

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

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

Veterans Day video. Nothing wrong with that.

Tag Team Battle Royal

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ember Moon vs. Tamina Snuka

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dolph Ziggler vs. Finn Balor

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

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

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

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

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

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

Survivor Series rundown.

Tag Team Battle Royal

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

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

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

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

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

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

Survivor Series Qualifying Match: Bobby Lashley vs. Elias

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

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

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

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

Sasha Banks vs. Bayley

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results

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

Tamina Snuka b. Ember Moon – Superfly Splash

Finn Balor b. Dolph Ziggler – Rollup

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

Bobby Lashley b. Elias via countout

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

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: November 8, 2018
Location: Manchester Arena, Manchester, Arena
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson

We’ve got one more show in England and things have been, shall we say, really pretty dull so far. I’m not sure what we’ll be seeing in the way of highlights but it would be nice to have a few British wrestlers around on the show, just to give things a little bit of flavor. Or they could go with the same stuff we always see around here. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Tyler Breeze vs. Mojo Rawley

So much for fun. Mojo clotheslines him down at the bell and sends Breeze hard into the corner for a running shoulder to the ribs. Breeze gets sent into the corner again and that means the chinlock goes on. The comeback is cut off by another chinlock but Breeze fights up with a superkick this time.

The middle rope crossbody is rolled through, only to have Breeze slip out of a fall away slam and grab a half crab. That means the dramatic crawl to the ropes so Breeze superkicks him off the apron. Back in and Mojo charges into a raised boot to the face, allowing Breeze to go up. This time the high crossbody is rolled through again but Breeze rolls it over again for the pin at 5:04.

Rating: C. Not too shabby at all here, especially considering how many times these two have probably had the same match. Rawley’s career is as alive as my chances to be Miss Nevada 1974 and while Breeze is still good, it’s clear that WWE doesn’t want him for anything more than this until Breezango can reform, because Heaven forbid they let him be the character or performer that worked so well in NXT. You know, where they developed him.

From Raw.

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

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

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

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

From Raw.

Drew McIntyre vs. Kurt Angle

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

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

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

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

From Smackdown.

Jeff Hardy vs. Samoa Joe

The winner is on the team and Miz and Bryan are on commentary. Joe goes straight at Hardy in the corner to start and even shouts trash talk at Bryan. Jeff is right back up and tries the Twist of Fate but Joe bails to the floor. Back in and Joe runs him over with an elbow and we take a break. We come back with Joe peppering him with right hands in the corner and the enziguri getting two.

The neck crank keeps Jeff in trouble until Joe takes him outside for a whip into the barricade. This serves as a backdrop for Bryan and Miz’s latest argument, meaning they ignore Jeff walking the barricade for the clothesline. Back in and the basement dropkick gets two on Joe, followed by the Twisting Stunner. The Swanton hits knees (in a great looking crash) and Hardy taps to the Clutch at 9:27.

Rating: C-. This was just going through the motions until the ending and there’s nothing wrong with that, especially given the story here. Joe is the better choice for the spot here, though that landing on the Swanton alone should give Jeff something. Maybe a nice back brace or a full body cast at this point.

Post match Joe talks more trash to Bryan and the fight is on. Miz breaks it up so Bryan beats him up as well, only to have Shane come in for the save. Bryan flips him over, not realizing who it was. Shane is incensed as Bryan walks off to end the show.

Recap of the old man tag match at Crown Jewel. Why did you have to bring that up again?

Revival vs. Chad Gable/Bobby Roode

In case you didn’t get enough of these two on Raw. I’ll let you figure out who I mean. Dawson headlocks Gable to start and gets headscissored down in one of the moves Gable always nails to near perfection. Roode comes in to drop a knee on a monkey flipped Dawson but Wilder trips him up from the floor. That means a double headbutt to Roode and the drop toehold sets up a running legdrop to the back of the head.

Roode gets chinlocked but is fine enough to send Dawson into the corner. There’s the hot tag off to Gable so things can pick up, including a rolling Liger kick to Dawson. Everything breaks down and a double clothesline puts the Revival on the floor as we take a break. Back with Gable in trouble in the corner as the Revival stomp away, followed by a Gory Stretch from Wilder.

Gable slips out but Dawson runs in for the save, meaning a slingshot suplex for two. Wilder adds some long form chinlockery until Gable can send him outside. Now the hot tag brings in Roode and it’s time for clotheslines and a spinebuster. The Blockbuster to Dawson sets up a moonsault for two with Wilder having to make a save. Roode gets sent outside, leaving Gable to try Rolling Chaos Theory on Dawson. Wilder makes a blind tag though and it’s the Shatter Machine for the pin at 11:26.

Rating: B-. That’s the best Main Event match in what feels like years with both teams looking great and a hot finish. Every now and then you’ll see some people go out there and work hard and that’s what happened here. I had a really good time with this one and never would have guessed that coming in. I’ll always take a surprise like this and I’m almost stunned at how good it was.

And one more time from Raw.

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

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

Tag Team Titles: AOP vs. Seth Rollins

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

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

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

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

Overall Rating: C+. Who would have thought that Gable and Roode would have been able to power a show this far? The stuff from earlier in the week wasn’t great but some of the more eventful stuff was at least interesting enough to make most of it work. There actually is a way to make this show work and they pulled off a pretty good one here.

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

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

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

Here’s Crown Jewel if you need a recap.

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

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

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

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

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

Bayley/Sasha Banks/Natalya vs. Riott Squad

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

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

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

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

Natalya cries as Bayley and Sasha console her.

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

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

Apollo Crews vs. Jinder Mahal

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

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

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

Tag Team Titles: AOP vs. Seth Rollins

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

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

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

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

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

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

We look at Strowman hunting for Corbin.

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

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

Elias vs. Dolph Ziggler

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nia Jax vs. Ember Moon

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

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

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

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

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

Finn Balor vs. Bobby Lashley

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

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

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

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

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

Drew McIntyre vs. Kurt Angle

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results

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

Apollo Crews b. Jinder Mahal – Standing moonsault

AOP b. Seth Rollins – Powerbomb/neckbreaker combination

Elias b. Dolph Ziggler – Drift Away

Nia Jax b. Ember Moon – Samoan drop

Bobby Lashley b. Finn Balor – Spinning Dominator

Drew McIntyre b. Kurt Angle – Ankle lock

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

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

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

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

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

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

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

Finn Balor vs. Bobby Lashley

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

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

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

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

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

Sasha Banks vs. Ruby Riott

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

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

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

Nia Jax says she’ll win the battle royal.

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

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

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

We see the Reigns promo again.

Wrestlers have sent out tweets to Reigns.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Apollo Crews vs. Elias

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reigns’ speech again.

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

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

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

Evolution rundown.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: October 18, 2018
Location: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Percy Watson, Nigel McGuinness

This is an interesting week as Raw was a run of the mill show but Smackdown reached one of the biggest milestones you can achieve. Now in theory that should mean that Smackdown gets some more time on this show over Raw, but stranger things have happened around here. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Rhyno vs. Konnor

They start with the power struggle and an exchange of chops goes nowhere. A short arm clothesline gives Konnor one and the front facelock goes on. Back up and a collision puts both guys down again but it’s Rhyno up first with a flying shoulder. Konnor kicks him in the face for two but misses a big elbow. Rhyno can’t hit a powerslam though and it’s an STO to give Konnor the pin at 5:12.

Rating: D+. I get that they’re trying to rehabilitate the Ascension a little bit and that’s a fine idea. The problem is that it’s not a practical one. You can’t have a team be that worthless for so many years and then just have them start winning without some kind of change. Maybe it’s a face turn, maybe it’s a gimmick overhaul or maybe it’s something else, but the fans aren’t going to buy them suddenly winning matches after being so pathetic for so long.

Quick look at the opening to Smackdown 1000 and the Evolution reunion.

Video on the Bella Twins turning on Ronda Rousey.

From Raw.

Here’s Rousey to say that the Bellas at least owe her an explanation. Cue the Bellas with Nikki saying the people paid to see them and not her. They don’t owe her an explanation because this is show business and not show friends. Ronda disrespected them and disregarded everything the two of them have done for this business. It disgusts them to see Rousey as the face of the women’s revolution because Nikki deserves to be champion.

They made the term Divas mean something and children look up to her. If that’s the case, the future of America is worse than I thought. The Women’s Title wouldn’t exist without the Divas Title. What is she going to do? Try to break their arms? Fans: “YES! YES! YES!” Ronda says she tried and thought they were friends, but now she knows they’re just a pair of do nothing Bellas.

They were there because of the men they were with and at Evolution, their arms are coming off. The only thing that is going to stop her is a referee and that hasn’t gone well in the past. Brie says the two of them have knocked down more doors in a week than Rousey ever has.

Rousey lists off the places she’s dominated before getting in the line of the promo with “the only door you ever broke down was to John Cena’s bedroom.” BIG gasp on that one. Rousey wants to fight now but Nikki just does her dance as security comes out to get rid of Ronda. They get taken down as well and Ronda calls the Bellas (now gone) out here again.

This was REALLY bad (save for that Cena line) with terrible delivery of awful lines and a story that no one with a brain is going to accept as realistic. Everyone came off looking worse here and it went on a good ten minutes longer than necessary. But hey, I’m sure TMZ will be talking about it.

From Smackdown.

Here’s Edge (with Tony Chimel doing his intro for old times sake), with the shoulder length hair again, for the Cutting Edge. This has always felt like his show because this is where some of his greatest achievements took place. He cashed in Money in the Bank on the Undertaker and had a No DQ match against Eddie Guerrero that people still talk to him about to this day. He even married and divorced Vickie Guerrero. However, he’s been watching the show for the last few weeks and now he needs to be Smackdown’s moral compass.

Therefore, his first guest is Becky Lynch, who Edge sees a lot of himself in. Becky says she modeled her career after him so that means a lot. Edge talks about not being someone who was supposed to succeed and having to scratch and claw their way to the top, just like Becky. The thing is though, Becky didn’t make the right choice.

If there was a friendship that got in Edge’s way, he crushed it, leaving a trail of burnt bridges. That’s not the right way, no matter how many titles you win. The path that Becky is on will lead to her sitting alone, looking at all of her titles on the wall, by herself. The bigger problem is she won’t even like herself.

Becky says it’s true that she doesn’t like herself because she loves herself. She tells Edge to get out of the champ’s ring and make sure you don’t hurt your neck again going through the ropes. Cue Charlotte to say that it’s not cool to go there. The fight is on with agents and referees having to break it up in short order.

Also from Smackdown.

World Cup Of Wrestling Qualifying Match: Rey Mysterio vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Non-title. This is Rey’s first singles match for WWE in four and a half years. Nakamura takes him down to start and drops a knee for an early one. A front facelock has Rey in some more trouble but he’s right back out with a headscissors. Rey knocks him outside for the sliding splash underneath the bottom rope. Back in and Rey gets caught in the Tree of Woe and we take a break.

We come back with Rey hitting a top rope seated senton and a top rope hurricanrana getting two. Nakamura kicks him in the head but misses Kinshasa, allowing Rey to headscissor him again. After Nakamura crawls over to the ropes, it’s a 619 into the springboard frog splash for the pin at 10:10.

Rating: C-. This was watchable enough but some of the spots weren’t exactly hitting and Nakamura was his usually uninspired self. Mysterio looked good in spots but it certainly wasn’t a match that would make you thrilled to see him back. It’s more like he’s lost some weight and come back after not being around for a bit. I’m glad he’s back, but it wasn’t exactly anything major.

For a change, here’s something from Smackdown.

Tag Team Titles: New Day vs. The Bar

New Day is defending and since they’re wrestling, Booker T. and Jerry Lawler are running New Day’s commentary booth. Woods headscissors Sheamus down for a basement dropkick and an early near fall as we cut to Lawler and Booker for more analysis than the regular team gives in a week. Cesaro takes over on the arm and it’s off to Sheamus for a double elbow as we take a break.

Back with Sheamus missing a charge into the corner and the hot tag off to Big E. Cesaro comes in as well and gets Rock Bottomed out of the corner, landing on his head. Sheamus misses the Brogue Kick and gets speared through the ropes, leaving Woods to hit a Shining Wizard for two on Cesaro. Back in and the Midnight Hour is broken up but Cesaro makes a blind tag. Big E. hits the Big Ending on Sheamus but gets Neutralized for two with Woods making the save as we take a second break in less than seven minutes.

Back again with Big E. missing a charge and getting caught in a powerbomb/top rope clothesline combination for two with Kofi Kingston breaking up the cover due to feet on the ropes. The Bar loads up the announcers’ table but here’s Big Show to chokeslam Kofi through it instead, leaving Sheamus to Brogue Kick Big E. for the pin and the titles at 13:38.

Rating: C. This was the Iron Sheik/Nikolai Volkoff “do something to make it memorable” title change and that’s fine. The tag division means nothing on this show so switching the titles doesn’t change a thing anyway. Hopefully the Usos can get back in there now as they’re more than overdue to be in the title scene again.

From Raw.

We go to the bowels of some building where Undertaker and Kane talk about the lack of respect. Michaels didn’t stay in the shadows out of respect but out of fear. They will unleash everything on DX for the first time ever and all of Shawn’s fears will be realized. HHH can crawl back to the board room and Shawn can hide in retirement. DX had three words for them, so they have three words for DX: Rest In Peace.

Zack Ryder/No Way Jose vs. Revival

Jose even has the full conga line with him. Dawson and Jose start and that means some dancing. Some arm cranking has Dawson in trouble and it’s off to Ryder for all of ten seconds. Wilder comes in and gets punched down but Dawson offers a distraction so Wilder can pull Jose down by the afro. To be fair it’s kind of Jose’s fault for having such large hair. Back from a break with Jose still in trouble as Wilder slaps on a chinlock.

Dawson comes back in and drops a knee for two but Jose elbows him in the face. The hot tag brings in Ryder to clean house and he slips out of a double suplex into a double neckbreaker. Revival heads to the floor and gets dropkicked, leaving Jose to high crossbody Wilder for two. Dawson makes a blind tag though and it’s the Shatter Machine for the pin on Jose at 9:58.

From Raw again.

Shield vs. Drew McIntyre/Dolph Ziggler/Braun Strowman

Shield does their entrance through the crowd after using the stage earlier. Strowman tells Ziggler to start the match and show him something so it’s Dolph vs. Rollins to get things going. Ziggler takes him down with a headlock, saying he could do this all day. Ambrose and Rollins have an accidental collision and the ensuing argument lets Strowman run everyone over. Reigns gets dropped as well and we take a break.

Back with McIntyre still in control of Reigns and Ziggler coming in for the chinlock. Reigns shrugs him off but it’s McIntyre coming in and taking a clothesline. Strowman cuts him off with a corner splash, only to have McIntyre tag himself in and stomp away. That’s not cool with Strowman, who tags himself in and yells at McIntyre a bit. A missed charge in the corner lets Reigns muscle him up for the Samoan drop (not as effective since we saw the same spot earlier in the night) but McIntyre and Ziggler knock Rollins and Ambrose to the floor.

The Claymore/Zig Zag combination gets two with Rollins and Ambrose making the save. The hot tag brings in Rollins, who clotheslines McIntyre and tags Ambrose in to start cleaning house. Strowman blocks the double suicide dives but Reigns comes off the apron with the Superman Punch. Back in and Dean rolls McIntyre up for two with Ziggler making the save. Dirty Deeds hits McIntyre but the referee takes forever to cover, allowing Ziggler to shove Rollins into the cover for the break.

That means another fight and Ambrose tries Dirty Deeds but Rollins shoves him away. Ziggler shoves them together and gets two off the Zig Zag on Ambrose. Reigns breaks up the Claymore/Zig Zag combination and Strowman goes shoulder first into the post. McIntyre Claymores Strowman by mistake (he seemed to miss but they moved the camera just in time to cover it) and a spear cuts McIntyre down. The TripleBomb finishes Ziggler at 14:34.

Rating: C+. This was nowhere near what they did last week and that’s probably because it’s the third time this match has taken place in about ten days. Ambrose and Rollins’ issues can take a backseat for another week, but it’s pretty clear that this isn’t over yet. That being said, the interesting thing here is Drew, who seems all but poised for the big turn after kicking Strowman in the face.

Post match Strowman powerslams Ziggler but eats a Claymore (and a great one at that), allowing McIntyre to leave to end the show. To quote JR: “Oh I like this. I like this a lot.”

Overall Rating: D+. So yeah, it’s not the most surprising thing in the world that the 1000^th episode of the second biggest wrestling show in the world was treated like any other show. We did however get more of the Bella Twins, because that’s how WWE works. It was interesting that World Cup got almost no attention save for the one World Cup qualifying match, as WWE continues to try to hide the fact that the show is actually taking place.

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: October 15, 2018
Location: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Renee Young

We’re two and a half weeks away from Crown Jewel from…..wherever WWE wants to announce it from being at the moment. Tonight we have more World Cup qualifying matches, which seems to be the main force of the entire show. Other than that, expect the tall old guys to talk about the smaller old guys. Let’s get to it.

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

Here are Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre to open things up. McIntyre declares them the greatest three man group in WWE history and they didn’t need matching suits to do it. We look at the end of last week’s show with Dean Ambrose walking out. After the show, he said he doesn’t think he fits in anywhere anymore. Back in the arena, McIntyre says they’ve broken the Shield.

Finally, Ambrose has had his eyes forced open and the Shield is broken. Strowman says that means there is no one watching Reigns’ back at Crown Jewel. Speaking of Crown Jewel, McIntyre is ready to qualify and win the tournament. Ziggler doesn’t know about that, because they might have to face off in the finals. McIntyre says it would be a shame if that happened because Ziggler isn’t him.

Cue Reigns and Rollins to say the team is fine. Ziggler asks where Ambrose is because he might just have to win in a forfeit. Rollins says Ambrose always shows up and Reigns talks about Strowman going to the back of the line. The fans start booing so Rollins sucks up to Philadelphia by talking about cheese steaks and how this is a fighting town. Let’s just do the qualifying match right now. This was longer than it needed to be and really didn’t change anything.

World Cup of Wrestling Qualifying Match: Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre

Non-title. McIntyre headlocks him to start and holds onto that for a bit longer than you might expect. A shoulder puts Rollins down so he jumps up and starts an exchange of kicks to the face. Rollins hurricanranas his way out of a powerbomb to send McIntyre outside, of course meaning the suicide shove. Since it’s the most obvious move in the world, McIntyre catches him and hits a belly to belly.

McIntyre pulls the ring skirt up but gets sent into the barricade so here’s Ziggler for a distraction. That’s enough for Rollins to be pulled into the exposed steel underneath the ring to bang up his arm. Back from a break with McIntyre working on the arm (as he should be doing) but getting superkicked down. The reverse Alabama Slam is countered into a victory roll for two, followed by the Blockbuster for the same.

Rollins heads up top and catches Drew in the Tree of Woe, so of course McIntyre sits up and pulls him down by the head. You know, because he can just do that. Rollins is fine enough to run the ropes for a superplex into the Falcon Arrow (big pop) but McIntyre Falcon Arrows him first for two off a great counter. Back up and Rollins turns on the fire with a clothesline to the floor and back to back suicide dives to Ziggler and McIntyre. Ziggler breaks up the Stomp and here’s Ambrose from the crowd to even things up. McIntyre jumps Ambrose but gets Stomped on the floor. Only Rollins beats the count back in for the win at 13:30.

Rating: B-. Good match with Ambrose coming in for the help, though I’m not sure what the point was in having him walk out to end the show and be back here like nothing happened just half an hour in. I’m very relieved that they didn’t have McIntyre lose clean here, and at the same time the Intercontinental Champion doesn’t take another bad loss. This was actually thought out booking for once, which is always well received.

Post break Rollins and Reigns are glad Ambrose showed up on Lunatic Time. That’s not cool with Dean, who says he’s only good for some laughs until they need to be bailed out. Reigns and Rollins say that’s not what they meant as Dean leaves to get read for his match.

Stills of Undertaker vs. HHH and its fallout at Super Show-Down.

We see D-Generation X reuniting last week.

We go to the bowels of some building where Undertaker and Kane talk about the lack of respect. Michaels didn’t stay in the shadows out of respect but out of fear. They will unleash everything on DX for the first time ever and all of Shawn’s fears will be realized. HHH can crawl back to the board room and Shawn can hide in retirement. DX had three words for them, so they have three words for DX: Rest In Peace.

There will be a battle royal at Evolution with the winner getting a future Women’s Title match.

Ember Moon/Nia Jax vs. Dana Brooke/Tamina

I actually forgot Tamina worked here. Her not having a match since the Royal Rumble might have something to do with that. Tamina takes Ember down into a chinlock to start and we go split screen to mention a bunch of people in the battle royal, including Torrie Wilson as we continue the false narrative that Torrie ever had any business in the ring.

Tamina shoves Ember across the ring and it’s off to Jax for a power battle that no one was asking for. They headbutt each other and Tamina escapes the Samoan drop. She can’t pick Nia up though and it’s a headbutt to stagger Tamina instead. The second Samoan drop attempt works but Tamina can’t cover. It’s off to Dana, who takes the Eclipse for the pin at 7:36.

Rating: D-. This is one of the things I’ve been dreading about Evolution: the pretending that certain people are any good or belong on such a stage. Torrie was eye candy who could barely do more than two moves and Tamina is the least interesting wrestler in years. I know they need to fill in the roster, but can we please stop pretending that all of the past women are important or that a lot of them belong anywhere near a major show? There were some incredibly talented female wrestlers, but that doesn’t mean they’re all on the same level because they wrestled here at the same time.

Post match Tamina superkicks Jax and teams up with Ember to throw her over the top. Ember tries to throw Tamina out but Dana eliminates them both.

We look back at the Bella Twins turning on Ronda Rousey. And no Cole, the world hasn’t been talking about this. Just stop.

Here’s Rousey to say that the Bellas at least owe her an explanation. Cue the Bellas with Nikki saying the people paid to see them and not her. They don’t owe her an explanation because this is show business and not show friends. Ronda disrespected them and disregarded everything the two of them have done for this business. It disgusts them to see Rousey as the face of the women’s revolution because Nikki deserves to be champion.

They made the term Divas mean something and children look up to her. If that’s the case, the future of America is worse than I thought. The Women’s Title wouldn’t exist without the Divas Title. What is she going to do? Try to break their arms? Fans: “YES! YES! YES!” Ronda says she tried and thought they were friends, but now she knows they’re just a pair of do nothing Bellas.

They were there because of the men they were with and at Evolution, their arms are coming off. The only thing that is going to stop her is a referee and that hasn’t gone well in the past. Brie says the two of them have knocked down more doors in a week than Rousey ever has.

Rousey lists off the places she’s dominated before getting in the line of the promo with “the only door you ever broke down was to John Cena’s bedroom.” BIG gasp on that one. Rousey wants to fight now but Nikki just does her dance as security comes out to get rid of Ronda. They get taken down as well and Ronda calls the Bellas (now gone) out here again.

This was REALLY bad (save for that Cena line) with terrible delivery of awful lines and a story that no one with a brain is going to accept as realistic. Everyone came off looking worse here and it went on a good ten minutes longer than necessary. But hey, I’m sure TMZ will be talking about it.

We look back at Kurt Angle winning the battle royal last week.

Angle, dressed as Jimmy Buffett for some reason, is in the back with Bobby Roode and Chad Gable. He’s enjoyed his vacation and is ready for the World Cup. The two of them leave and No Way Jose comes up for some dancing. Baron Corbin comes in and says Angle can have a warmup match tonight….against AOP. Gee I wonder what’s going to happen.

World Cup of Wrestling Qualifying Match: Dolph Ziggler vs. Dean Ambrose

They waste no time here with Ziggler suplexing him down and grabbing an early sleeper on the mat. Dean fights up and takes him to the floor for a whip into the barricade. Back in and Dean can’t get a Cloverleaf so he heads up top, only to get caught with a super X Factor for a big crash.

We come back from a break with Ziggler missing a suplex and getting catapulted into the post. Now the Cloverleaf works but Ziggler is able to make the ropes. Ambrose gets two off a chickenwing facebuster but here’s McIntyre to interfere, only to have Rollins follow him out for the save. Rollins helps Ambrose up but Dean shrugs him away (it’s not clear if Ambrose knew who it was), allowing Ziggler hit a superkick for the pin at 9:36.

Rating: C. This didn’t have the time to go anywhere and for once, they went with the right idea by not extending a match that didn’t need to be extended. They wrestled for a bit and then went to the finish to advance the storyline. You don’t need to do anything more than what’s going on here and that’s the right idea.

Post match Ambrose shoves Rollins away and leaves but Seth follows him up the ramp and gets in a shoving match. Reigns comes out to break it up so here’s Corbin to make Shield vs. McIntyre/Ziggler/Strowman later tonight. Third time in ten days.

Strowman, McIntyre and Ziggler are ready for the Shield. McIntyre wants Strowman to destroy Ambrose and Rollins but Braun doesn’t want to hear the lecture. If either of them screw up, they’ll get these hands.

Jinder Mahal vs. Finn Balor

OH MY GOODNESS ENOUGH ALREADY!!! You have TEN TEAMS in this tournament and there is no other combination you can have to do the weekly preview??? Sumir Singh is back from his injury. Mahal takes Balor down into a very early chinlock but Balor is right back with the Sling Blade and a running corner dropkick. The Coup de Grace finishes Mahal at 1:50. Well they made good time.

Post match here are Bobby Lashley and Lio Rush with the latter saying Balor knows he wishes he looked like Lashley.

Bobby Lashley vs. Tyler Breeze

Rush says hang on a second because Lashley needs to pose a bit more first. After a minute plus of showing off the muscles, Lashley takes Breeze into the corner but misses a right hand. Breeze gets shoved down but hits an enziguri to stagger the big man. Breeze’s middle rope crossbody is countered into the delayed vertical suplex. Rush starts up the chanting again and Lashley puts on a full nelson. Bored of that, it’s a powerslam to cut off Breeze’s comeback and it’s the twisting Dominator for the pin at 3:27.

Rating: D. Just a squash to establish the heel character here and the Rush heel act is starting to grow on me. It’s so easy to hate and as long as they don’t do anything stupid with it, they should be fine. Lashley has all the tools and if you can keep him away from a microphone, he’s that much better.

Here are Trish Stratus and Lita for a chat. Lita talks about having fun in Philadelphia but here are Alexa Bliss and Mickie James to interrupt. They take some shots at Trish and Lita, including Lita making fun of the lips and Mickie mocking Trish’s point. It’s been a long time since Trish and Lita have been in the ring but they can go through their closets and find the wrestling gear box. Mickie: “It’s WAY in the back.”

Trish and Lita make Allen Iverson “we talking bout practice” jokes (the original quote is over sixteen years old) and say maybe they should practice now. Mickie: “They’re serious. They took their jackets off.” No fighting ensues of course. Who in the world wrote the women’s promos tonight?

The Riott Squad makes fun of Bayley.

AOP vs. Kurt Angle

Angle is in the full El Conquistador body suit, including the mask. I’m sure that includes the boot inserts that make him taller than Angle usually is. Corbin comes out as Angle dances to start. A German suplex doesn’t work and the ankle lock can’t even go on. Rezar boots Angle down as Graves thinks something is off. The powerbomb/neckbreaker combination is good for the pin at 59 seconds.

Post match the mask is ripped off to reveal some no name. The real Angle runs out and Angle Slams Corbin on the stage.

The Riott Squad spray condiments on Natalya’s door.

Ruby Riott vs. Natalya

Post match the fight is on with Banks saving Natalya from a triple team. The Squad gets knocked to the floor so the new friends can stand tall.

Elias yells at a production guy for not having a green guitar pick.

Here’s Elias to talk about how everything here is built on a truth that even John Cena knows is true: WWE stands for WALK WITH ELIAS. Earlier today he was at lunch with Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz, who said true pain is psychological. True pain is going out there and pretending that you care about this horrible city.

After insulting the Eagles’ mascot, he’s ready to play the song but Apollo Crews of all people interrupts. Apollo says he figured it was his turn to interrupt Elias since everyone else has. They trade some barbs and Elias says this is what happens when you interrupt him. Elias misses a right hand and Crews hits an enziguri, followed by a very delayed gorilla press to send Elias bailing.

Shield vs. Drew McIntyre/Dolph Ziggler/Braun Strowman

Shield does their entrance through the crowd after using the stage earlier. Strowman tells Ziggler to start the match and show him something so it’s Dolph vs. Rollins to get things going. Ziggler takes him down with a headlock, saying he could do this all day. Ambrose and Rollins have an accidental collision and the ensuing argument lets Strowman run everyone over. Reigns gets dropped as well and we take a break.

Back with McIntyre still in control of Reigns and Ziggler coming in for the chinlock. Reigns shrugs him off but it’s McIntyre coming in and taking a clothesline. Strowman cuts him off with a corner splash, only to have McIntyre tag himself in and stomp away. That’s not cool with Strowman, who tags himself in and yells at McIntyre a bit. A missed charge in the corner lets Reigns muscle him up for the Samoan drop (not as effective since we saw the same spot earlier in the night) but McIntyre and Ziggler knock Rollins and Ambrose to the floor.

The Claymore/Zig Zag combination gets two with Rollins and Ambrose making the save. The hot tag brings in Rollins, who clotheslines McIntyre and tags Ambrose in to start cleaning house. Strowman blocks the double suicide dives but Reigns comes off the apron with the Superman Punch. Back in and Dean rolls McIntyre up for two with Ziggler making the save. Dirty Deeds hits McIntyre but the referee takes forever to cover, allowing Ziggler to shove Rollins into the cover for the break.

That means another fight and Ambrose tries Dirty Deeds but Rollins shoves him away. Ziggler shoves them together and gets two off the Zig Zag on Ambrose. Reigns breaks up the Claymore/Zig Zag combination and Strowman goes shoulder first into the post. McIntyre Claymores Strowman by mistake (he seemed to miss but they moved the camera just in time to cover it) and a spear cuts McIntyre down. The TripleBomb finishes Ziggler at 14:34.

Rating: C+. This was nowhere near what they did last week and that’s probably because it’s the third time this match has taken place in about ten days. Ambrose and Rollins’ issues can take a backseat for another week, but it’s pretty clear that this isn’t over yet. That being said, the interesting thing here is Drew, who seems all but poised for the big turn after kicking Strowman in the face.

Post match Strowman powerslams Ziggler but eats a Claymore (and a great one at that), allowing McIntyre to leave to end the show. To quote JR: “Oh I like this. I like this a lot.”

Overall Rating: D. We went back to the old days here as this show felt like it lasted about nine hours. I don’t know if it was the HORRIBLE women’s segments (with bad writing and bad delivery) or the feeling that we had seen so many of these matches before but I don’t remember a show being this interminable in a very long time. It doesn’t help when you’re building to two shows and a lot of what’s going on at one of the shows has nothing to do with what happened here. There were some good parts here, but the pacing and overall feel of the show were disasters. And don’t let the Bellas or Rousey near a mic for a long time.

Results

Seth Rollins b. Drew McIntyre via countout

Ember Moon/Nia Jax b. Dana Brooke/Tamina – Eclipse to Brooke

Dolph Ziggler b. Dean Ambrose – Superkick

Finn Balor b. Jinder Mahal – Coup de Grace

Bobby Lashley b. Tyler Breeze – Twisting Dominator

AOP b. Kurt Angle – Powerbomb/Neckbreaker combination

Natalya b. Ruby Riott via DQ when Sarah Logan interfered

Shield b. Drew McIntyre/Dolph Ziggler/Drew McIntyre – TripleBomb to Ziggler

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

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

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

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