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.

The Sharpshooter goes on but Riott holds up the sunglasses and breaks them in half. Natalya is distraught…and that’s the match at 17:30. Ignore the Squad walking up the ramp and Natalya and company on the floor together because a countout doesn’t fit their script here or something. Even the crowd is counting them out as the referee just stands there.

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

Natalya cries as Bayley and Sasha console her.

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

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

Apollo Crews vs. Jinder Mahal

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

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

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

Tag Team Titles: AOP vs. Seth Rollins

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

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

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

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

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

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

We look at Strowman hunting for Corbin.

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

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

Elias vs. Dolph Ziggler

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nia Jax vs. Ember Moon

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

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

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

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

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

Finn Balor vs. Bobby Lashley

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

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

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

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

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

Drew McIntyre vs. Kurt Angle

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results

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

Apollo Crews b. Jinder Mahal – Standing moonsault

AOP b. Seth Rollins – Powerbomb/neckbreaker combination

Elias b. Dolph Ziggler – Drift Away

Nia Jax b. Ember Moon – Samoan drop

Bobby Lashley b. Finn Balor – Spinning Dominator

Drew McIntyre b. Kurt Angle – Ankle lock

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

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

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

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

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.

Rating: D+. I liked this a little more than I was expecting to with Jose getting to show off what he could do. That being said, there wasn’t much you could do with two jobbers against a good team like Revival. Of course you don’t get to know that much about Revival being good because there’s no time to get them on TV more than once every…oh few months more often than not.

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

Hang on though as Natalya says she isn’t coming alone so here are Bayley and the returning Sasha Banks. Riott takes her down into a chinlock as Renee compares the Squad to the witches in Hocus Pocus. Graves: “Is that a Bette Middler movie? I think they’re a little more talented than Bette Middler.” Renee: “…WOW.” A cravate keeps Natalya in trouble and Ruby hits some shoulders in the corner. Riott talks some trash but gets tripped down into the Sharpshooter, drawing Logan in for the DQ at 2:58.

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: October 11, 2018
Location: Allstate Arena, Chicago, Illinois
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson, Vic Joseph

This week focused on the fast pace build towards Crown Jewel and Evolution and for once, Raw was a heck of a show with all kinds of things happening at once. Smackdown on the other hand was a rather dull night with almost nothing that felt important. That could make for a rather interesting combined show so let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Zack Ryder vs. Mojo Rawley

The battle will never end. Rawley shoves him down to start but Ryder is right back up with some forearms to the face. That just earns him another grounding and right hands, followed by a shoulder for two. The chinlock wastes no time in going on but Ryder reverses a suplex into a neckbreaker. A jumping clothesline and the middle rope missile dropkick give Ryder two but a quick toss into the air gives Rawley the same. The Broski Boot doesn’t work so it’s the Rough Ryder for the pin at 5:02.

Rating: D+. Maybe it’s because I was there when the team split up in the first place but there’s something fun about watching these guys fight. There’s a bit of a chemistry there and they were able to have another perfectly watchable match here. Neither is going anywhere anytime soon, but maybe they can at least have some fun on this show for a change.

Video on HHH vs. Undertaker from Super Show-Down.

From Raw.

Here are HHH and the still bald Shawn Michaels to talk about spending 25 years climbing a mountain. On Saturday in Melbourne, Australia, they made it to the top. It turns out that they were lied to the whole time and we see a long package on Saturday’s long main event, complete with Undertaker and Kane turning on them. HHH talks about respect, like the kind you get from fighting back to back with someone for years. Or living up to your word when everyone else tells you not to.

Shawn says respect is a two way street. The flight from Melbourne to Chicago is a very long trip and they’ve had a long time to think. He thought about the respect that never was there in the first place but when they landed, HHH asked if he was ready. HHH knows Shawn is ready, but are Undertaker and Kane ready? They reveal the DX shirts because they want DX vs. the Brothers of Destruction at Crown Jewel. Not exactly shocking, but they could have done Shawn Michaels and HHH instead of DX, which tends to be less serious than this story would likely require.

From Raw again.

Ronda Rousey/Bella Twins vs. Riott Squad

Liv and Brie start things off and yes, they actually think this is a good idea in Chicago. Liv slaps her in the face but gets taken down, allowing Brie to miss a YES Kick. They get into a catfight and fight to the floor for a big staredown. Back in and it’s Rousey taking Morgan down by the arm. The entire Squad runs in fear as we take a break. We come back with Nikki fighting up and hitting (I think?) her spinning kick out of the corner. Brie comes in and gets caught with an STO on the floor to put her in trouble.

A shoulder to the ribs cuts Brie down again and an ugly hiptoss sets up a running knee to the face. Brie fights up from Ruby’s chinlock but Riott draws Rousey in so the Squad can keep Brie in trouble. A few forearms are enough to bring in Rousey and it’s time to hurt people. The spinning Samoan drop sets up the armbar with the Bellas running interference (including Logan laying down before Brie grabbed her) for the tap at 9:25.

Rating: D+. Just a shortened version of the Saturday match with the Squad being able to beat up the Bellas and having no chance against Rousey. I know we’re setting up Rousey vs. Nikki which probably has to start tonight for the sake of the calendar. Not a good match, but at least it’s going to get tot he point soon enough.

Post match the Bellas jump Rousey and laugh at her. Thankfully Rousey shrugs them off and throws them both down, only to get sent into the post on the floor. Some more whips send her into the steps and barricade for a bonus. I know why this had to happen, but is anyone buying the Bellas as a match for Rousey? Even both of them at once?

From Smackdown.

Women’s Title: Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch

Becky is defending and can lose the title via DQ. They’re in the ring for the Big Match Intros with neither getting an entrance so they’re starting fast. Becky works on a wristlock to start before raking Charlotte’s eyes across the top rope. A legdrop sets up the strut from Becky but she misses the spinning version, allowing Charlotte to roll her up for two. They clothesline each other but it’s too early for the Disarm-Her.

Instead Charlotte hits a dragon screw legwhip, only to be taken down into an armbar. Becky gets catapulted into the corner for a trip to the floor, which of course means a dive to take us to a break. Back with Charlotte being slammed off the top for two as Becky works on the arm some more. Charlotte chops away and grabs a belly to back suplex for a double knockdown.

Lynch gets crotched on top but manages to roll off into a cross armbreaker. That’s reversed into a sitout powerbomb and we take a second break. Back again with Becky trying to walk out but coming back in and throwing the belt down. That leads to an argument that doesn’t get us anywhere, so it’s an exchange of rollups, followed by a spear to put Becky on the floor.

Charlotte misses the moonsault though and the Bexploder gets nine. Becky follows her out and gets Bexploded as well, followed by Natural Selection back inside. Charlotte can’t cover though as Becky rolls outside, leading to another brawl for the double countout at 25:12. That might be a record for the longest one fall women’s match.

Rating: B. They beat each other up here and the ending should set up some kind of gimmick rematch at Evolution. You know, because the way to get any big feud to the next level is to have them fight multiple times in a month and a half. Either way, the draw is the right call here as neither is hurt and Charlotte can say she deserves another rematch.

Post match Charlotte spears Becky through the set. I feel that warrants a new version. Say with a giant fist.

Video on Rey Mysterio.

Crown Jewel rundown.

Heath Slater/Rhyno vs. Revival

Dawson and Slater fight over a wristlock to start with Slater showing off a nice bridge to escape. An armdrag into an armbar has Dawson in trouble and we take an abrupt break. Well cut but you get the idea. Back with Slater in trouble until a neckbreaker puts Wilder down. The hot tag brings in Rhyno to clean house and a TKO gets two on Dawson. Slater follows him in and walks into a DDT. Rhyno comes back in and it’s the Shatter Machine to give Wilder the pin at 7:55.

Rating: D+. Just a match really but it’s nice to have some fresh names around here. I know these four have been around before, but at least it’s been a few weeks since we last saw them. It’s still a shame that this is the best Revival can hope for anymore, especially when the Tag Team Titles are stuck in the main event scene again.

One more time from Raw.

Shield vs. Braun Strowman/Dolph Ziggler/Drew McIntyre

It’s a big staredown before the bell until McIntyre runs Rollins over to start. Ambrose comes in for a double suplex and some clubbing forearm shots to Drew’s face. That’s enough of that so it’s off to Strowman vs. Reigns with Roman not being able to Samoan drop him. Reigns gets saved from a double suplex and a double clothesline puts McIntyre and Ziggler on the floor. Strowman thinks better of fighting all three of them at once and goes outside for some yelling instead.

Back from a break with Reigns in trouble until he punches Ziggler out of the air. Strowman comes in and misses a charge into the post, allowing Reigns to hit the Samoan drop. It’s off to Rolling to speed things up but he spends too much time tuning up the band, allowing Ziggler to avoid the Stomp. The Buckle Bomb gets two instead as everything breaks down. Ambrose and Rollins hit the double suicide dives but Strowman is ready for them. Reigns takes out everyone with the BIG dive and we take a second break.

Back again with Strowman cranking on Rollins’ neck and handing it back to McIntyre, who cuts off a hot tag and kicks Rollins in the face. Ziggler gets catapulted into the corner and McIntyre takes an enziguri, only to have Strowman knock Ambrose and Reigns to the floor. Strowman yells at Ziggler, who yells right back until Strowman grabs him by the throat. That brings Drew into Strowman’s face until Rollins knocks McIntyre into Strowman for two. Rollins brings Ambrose in to pick the pace way up, including a suicide dive.

A swinging neckbreaker gets two more on Drew but it’s too early for Dirty Deeds. Ambrose has to elbow Ziggler down, allowing McIntyre to spinebust him for two. Rollins comes back in and suplexes Ziggler to the floor, leaving Dean to slug it out with McIntyre. A double clothesline puts both of them down and Strowman posts Reigns. Dean’s dive onto Strowman is caught so he spins it into a DDT to put both of them down as well. There’s a spear to Strowman but Drew is waiting for Ambrose with the Claymore for the pin at 21:58.

Rating: B+. This was a lot better than their Australia match with a ton of action for the last five plus minutes and a finish that actually surprised me. I’m very, very pleased that McIntyre is getting this kind of attention and protection as he’s now pinned Ambrose and Rollins in back to back weeks. I’m really hoping he gets the rocket push when this team with Ziggler ends, because it’s going to rock.

Post match Ambrose walks off on his own, leaving Rollins and Reigns confused to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. The mostly good Raw stuff helps this a lot but there’s only so much that can be done with this show. For once it makes perfect sense to not have much from Smackdown as the show barely meant anything this week and all the big stuff was on Raw. I could go for getting done with Crown Jewel already though, or at least the pretty lame World Cup tournament, which is really hurting a lot of the shows. Not terrible this week, but stick with Raw.

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 8, 2018
Location: Allstate Arena, Chicago, Illinois
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Renee Young

We’re done with Super Show-Down and that means we have less than a month to go before Crown Jewel. The big story coming out of Saturday seems to be an impending tag match between four people with more than two hundred years of age between them. Other than that, it’s time for Roman Reigns to remember that he’s Universal Champion. Let’s get to it.

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

Here are HHH and the still bald Shawn Michaels to talk about spending 25 years climbing a mountain. On Saturday in Melbourne, Australia, they made it to the top. It turns out that they were lied to the whole time and we see a long package on Saturday’s long main event, complete with Undertaker and Kane turning on them. HHH talks about respect, like the kind you get from fighting back to back with someone for years. Or living up to your word when everyone else tells you not to.

Shawn says respect is a two way street. The flight from Melbourne to Chicago is a very long trip and they’ve had a long time to think. He thought about the respect that never was there in the first place but when they landed, HHH asked if he was ready. HHH knows Shawn is ready, but are Undertaker and Kane ready? They reveal the DX shirts because they want DX vs. the Brothers of Destruction at Crown Jewel. Not exactly shocking, but they could have done Shawn Michaels and HHH instead of DX, which tends to be less serious than this story would likely require.

Bobby Lashley vs. Kevin Owens

Lio Rush is at ringside and has his own mic to keep up the hype during the match. Lashley shoulders Owens down to start so they head outside with Owens punching him in the face. Rush isn’t sure why the fans are cheering for Owens, so he shows the fans how to cheer for Lashley, being booed out of the building for the second time in about two minutes. Owens hits a big flip dive tot he floor and the fans REALLY like that. A whip into the barricade takes us to a break.

Back with Lashley holding a chinlock and Rush hyping things up even more. Owens fights up and has had it with Rush, chasing him to the floor. Lashley sends Owens into the barricade and stomps away, much to Rush’s delight. Back in and Lashley cuts him off with a spinebuster but the delayed vertical suplex only gets two. You know, because it’s a suplex and he’s a former World Champion.

Owens breaks out of a full nelson and superkicks him into a Stunner for a close two as Rush talks about still being in the fight. The frog splash is broken up with a crotching as Owens’ knees are tied up in the ropes for some extra pain. A spinning Dominator finishes Owens at 13:00.

Rating: D+. I’m not sure if that was a double turn but it was certainly a single one. I have no idea who thought leaving Lashley out there as a face for six months was a good idea but at least they’ve gotten him to a character that could work very well. Oh and more importantly than anything else: it happened while he was winning a match! Why is that such a hard thing to understand?

Post match Rush tells Lashley to go back and do some more, so he wraps Owens’ knees around the post.

Cole talks about the WWE World Cup, an eight man tournament (four from Raw, four from Smackdown) and introduces a video on the first entrant: John Cena.

Finn Balor and Bayley aren’t worried about facing Jinder Mahal and Alicia Fox again. Rush and Lashley come in to chant LASH-LEY some more, with Rush saying they’re the real too sweet combination.

Here’s Elias to say he’s the real legend around here. He doesn’t think much of John Cena and sings a song about him, throwing in a line about the Cubs losing in the playoffs for some serious booing. Cue Ronda Rousey of all people to cut him off though and it’s time for a match.

Ronda Rousey/Bella Twins vs. Riott Squad

Liv and Brie start things off and yes, they actually think this is a good idea in Chicago. Liv slaps her in the face but gets taken down, allowing Brie to miss a YES Kick. They get into a catfight and fight to the floor for a big staredown. Back in and it’s Rousey taking Morgan down by the arm. The entire Squad runs in fear as we take a break. We come back with Nikki fighting up and hitting (I think?) her spinning kick out of the corner. Brie comes in and gets caught with an STO on the floor to put her in trouble.

A shoulder to the ribs cuts Brie down again and an ugly hiptoss sets up a running knee to the face. Brie fights up from Ruby’s chinlock but Riott draws Rousey in so the Squad can keep Brie in trouble. A few forearms are enough to bring in Rousey and it’s time to hurt people. The spinning Samoan drop sets up the armbar with the Bellas running interference (including Logan laying down before Nikki grabbed her) for the tap at 9:25.

Rating: D+. Just a shortened version of the Saturday match with the Squad being able to beat up the Bellas and having no chance against Rousey. I know we’re setting up Rousey vs. Nikki which probably has to start tonight for the sake of the calendar. Not a good match, but at least it’s going to get tot he point soon enough.

Post match the Bellas jump Rousey and laugh at her. Thankfully Rousey shrugs them off and throws them both down, only to get sent into the post on the floor. Some more whips send her into the steps and barricade for a bonus. I know why this had to happen, but is anyone buying the Bellas as a match for Rousey? Even both of them at once?

Jinder Mahal/Alicia Fox vs. Finn Balor/Bayley

Mixed Match Challenge rematch with Jinder slamming Balor down for a chinlock less than fifteen seconds in. Balor fights up without much effort and brings Bayley in for a hurricanrana as we take a break. Back with Bayley fighting up from a chinlock but getting slammed back down again. Bayley finally sends her to the floor and makes the hot tag off to Balor for some house cleaning. An Eye of the Hurricane gets two with Fox making the save. The women fight to the floor and it’s an enziguri into the Coup de Grace to finish Mahal at 7:26.

Rating: D. These matches aren’t interesting, either on Raw or on Mixed Match Challenge. Balor and Bayley are bigger stars the Jinder and Fox no matter what they do and there’s no changing that. At least they kept it short enough here, but when that’s the best thing that you can say about a match, it’s a bad sign.

Dolph Ziggler gives Drew McIntyre and Braun Strowman a pep talk before their rematch with Shield. McIntyre doesn’t want to hear advice from the guy who lost on Saturday but Strowman tells them to focus on helping him become Universal Champion. It’s best that way you see.

Heath Slater tells Baron Corbin that he wants in on the World Cup. Corbin declines, because Slater isn’t very good.

Battle Royal

The winner is automatically in the World Cup tournament. The wrestlers are a bunch of no names (though one has a Chile sash), plus a guy in a Los Conquistador mask. Corbin comes out to put himself in the battle royal because he wants to prove that he’s worthy for the honor. He introduces everyone, including a Russian, an Egyptian, a Mexican (El Hombre Sin Nombre), a Polish wrestler (who is rather short), a wrestler from Antarctica, a Swede, EL CONQUISTADOR (Cole: “Is it Edge or Christian? Matt or Jeff?”), a wrestler from Luxembourg and of course Corbin.

Everyone goes after Corbin to start but he fights them off and starts eliminating people, though El Conquistador is chilling on the floor. Corbin dumps everyone and poses but El Conquistador comes back in for some German suplexes. We get some jumping jacks and an Angle Slam for the elimination to give El Conquistador the win at 3:46.

Rating: D. This was all angle and when one of the jobbers is named Seabass (Why can’t they just call him Copeland?), you kind of know what you’re in for. Angle going on to Saudi Arabia is fine, though it’s getting a little annoying having those cards be more stacked than Wrestlemania.

And it’s Jose Luis Rivera. Or Kurt Angle. Either way he’s a heck of a Spanish dancer.

Post break Angle looks like he needs oxygen and says he’s still on vacation.

Ember Moon vs. Nia Jax

Ember starts fast with an enziguri but gets slammed down without too much effort. A sleeper doesn’t get Moon very far so she goes with a hurricanrana. Nia gets caught with a baseball slide to the floor and there’s the suicide dive, which doesn’t even put Nia down. A missed charge sends Nia into the LED board though and that’s a countout win for Ember at 2:58.

Here’s Trish Stratus to say last week’s Moment of Bliss was a Moment of BS. Instead, it’s time for a Moment of Stratusfaction but here are Alexa Bliss and Mickie James to cut her off. After a short joke, Alexa talks about how she idolized Trish growing up. After all these years now, she’s learned that Trish really sucked. If Bliss had been around back then, Trish wouldn’t have even been able to get in the same ring with her.

Trish says come get in the ring right now so Bliss and Mickie do just that with the latter saying not so fast. Mickie brings up beating her in Chicago at Wrestlemania but Trish says they’ll both find out what a Hall of Fame beating feels like. If that’s the case, maybe we should just make it a tag match. Trish likes the idea, but thinks it’s an EXTREMELY difficult decision to pick a partner. Or it could just be Lita, who is here as well. The brawl is on but Mickie gets away before the moonsault.

The Shield given an old school hold the camera promo, talking about how this is a brotherhood and the results are the same either in Melbourne or Chicago.

Ascension vs. Bobby Roode/Chad Gable

Before the match, Konnor promises to take them both to the wasteland. Gable sends Konnor to the floor to start but Viktor is right back up with a running elbow to the face for two. The stomping in the corner begins and it’s off to a chinlock as the fans chant for CM PUNK. In this match, as in the sixth week of this feud, chant on people. Gable rolls over for a tag to Roode so house can be cleaned. There’s the Blockbuster to Konnor but Gable tags himself in for the Rolling Chaos Theory and the pin at 4:19.

Rating: D. So after SIX WEEKS of this stuff, we’re right where we could have been after….I don’t now, two? Roode is just now having issues with Gable? I can’t blame the fans for booing this for a second as it’s ridiculous to have this one lame story go on for so long. Just turn Roode heel already. They’ve done it several times almost at the drop of a hat tonight, so why is Roode so difficult?

Before Roode can yell at Gable, here’s the AOP to take all four of them apart.

We look back at the opening segment.

DX video, focusing on their comedy stuff. If you’re trying to make this serious, why show this stuff? The people who already know DX know who they are and how dominant they can be, so why go this route?

Here’s Paul Heyman to say he’s here to see a fight. He finds it interesting that Reigns and Strowman beat each other up on Saturday and now they’re here after a twenty hour flight for the fans’ entertainment all over again. While they’re doing that seven days a week and twice on Sundays, Brock Lesnar is in his own bed in his own house before waking up to a home cooked meal.

He’ll then run a mile to the Death Clutch Gym, which he designed to make it easier to become a two sport World Champion. Lesnar is on his own while Reigns has to keep an eye on Ambrose and Rollins. For Lesnar, it’s about me and now we and he’ll win at Crown Jewel. Shield’s entrance cuts Heyman off and panic ensues.

Shield vs. Braun Strowman/Dolph Ziggler/Drew McIntyre

It’s a big staredown before the bell until McIntyre runs Rollins over to start. Ambrose comes in for a double suplex and some clubbing forearm shots to Drew’s face. That’s enough of that so it’s off to Strowman vs. Reigns with Roman not being able to Samoan drop him. Reigns gets saved from a double suplex and a double clothesline puts McIntyre and Ziggler on the floor. Strowman thinks better of fighting all three of them at once and goes outside for some yelling instead.

Back from a break with Reigns in trouble until he punches Ziggler out of the air. Strowman comes in and misses a charge into the post, allowing Reigns to hit the Samoan drop. It’s off to Rolling to speed things up but he spends too much time tuning up the band, allowing Ziggler to avoid the Stomp. The Buckle Bomb gets two instead as everything breaks down. Ambrose and Rollins hit the double suicide dives but Strowman is ready for them. Reigns takes out everyone with the BIG dive and we take a second break.

Back again with Strowman cranking on Rollins’ neck and handing it back to McIntyre, who cuts off a hot tag and kicks Rollins in the face. Ziggler gets catapulted into the corner and McIntyre takes an enziguri, only to have Strowman knock Ambrose and Reigns to the floor. Strowman yells at Ziggler, who yells right back until Strowman grabs him by the throat. That brings Drew into Strowman’s face until Rollins knocks McIntyre into Strowman for two. Rollins brings Ambrose in to pick the pace way up, including a suicide dive.

A swinging neckbreaker gets two more on Drew but it’s too early for Dirty Deeds. Ambrose has to elbow Ziggler down, allowing McIntyre to spinebust him for two. Rollins comes back in and suplexes Ziggler to the floor, leaving Dean to slug it out with McIntyre. A double clothesline puts both of them down and Strowman posts Reigns. Dean’s dive onto Strowman is caught so he spins it into a DDT to put both of them down as well. There’s a spear to Strowman but Drew is waiting for Ambrose with the Claymore for the pin at 21:58.

Rating: B+. This was a lot better than their Australia match with a ton of action for the last five plus minutes and a finish that actually surprised me. I’m very, very pleased that McIntyre is getting this kind of attention and protection as he’s now pinned Ambrose and Rollins in back to back weeks. I’m really hoping he gets the rocket push when this team with Ziggler ends, because it’s going to rock.

Post match Ambrose walks off on his own, leaving Rollins and Reigns confused to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. There wasn’t a lot of good wrestling tonight by MY GOODNESS there was a lot of storyline stuff packed in there. I know it’s not the best show in the world but this wasn’t boring once (ok maybe once in the Ascension match), making the show a lot easier to watch. They set up a bunch of stuff for both shows (far easier this time since the shows both have their own roster) and certainly kept things moving. Good show, though some better wrestling would have helped a lot.

Results

Bobby Lashley b. Kevin Owens – Spinning Dominator

Ronda Rousey/Bella Twins b. Riott Squad – Armbar to Riott

Bayley/Finn Balor b. Alicia Fox/Jinder Mahal – Coup de Grace to Mahal

El Conquistador won a battle royal last eliminating Baron Corbin

Ember Moon b. Nia Jax via countout

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

Dolph Ziggler/Drew McIntyre/Braun Strowman b. Shield – Claymore to Ambrose

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 4, 2018
Location: Key Arena, Seattle, Washington
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson

It’s the final show before Super Show-Down and that means we’re going to be in for a lot of talk about the battle of the old men. Other than that we’ll have the Shield stuff because we need the Shield in our lives, plus whatever Smackdown can scrape together. That gets annoying when you consider that Smackdown has had the far more interesting build. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

No Way Jose vs. Mike Kanellis

Feeling out process to start as they fight over a headlock. After Jose dances a bit too much for Mike’s liking, it’s a hiptoss/neckbreaker to drop Kanellis instead. A splash misses in the corner though and Jose gets sent shoulder first into the post. Kanellis elbows him down and we hit ye olde chinlock. Jose fights up but gets thrown down by the afro and chinlocked again. The second comeback works a bit better with a flapjack, followed by a Regal Roll for two. A DDT gets the same but the pop up right hand misses. Kanellis nails a superkick and hits Cross Rhodes for the pin at 5:19.

Rating: D+. I have no idea how many times these two can fight and I’m getting worried about possibly finding out. Kanellis winning likely doesn’t mean much, but maybe they’re going to give him a bit of a push now that Maria is coming back. I’m not sure why as Kanellis isn’t all that interesting, but if you want Maria to give him the rub then he needs something before she gets there.

From Raw.

Drew McIntyre vs. Seth Rollins

Non-title. Drew sends him into the corner to start and shoves Seth’s face. You don’t do that to Rollins, who takes Drew outside for a suicide dive. Back in and McIntyre kicks him in the ribs and cranks away at an armbar with a hand to the face. Rollins gets sent hard into the corner and we take a break.

Back with Rollins getting two of his own off the Blockbuster and hitting a spring forearm to the back of the head for the same. The reverse Alabama Slam is countered into a victory roll and the Falcon Arrow gives Rollins two more. Super White Noise is countered into the buckle bomb (which is very impressive given McIntyre’s size) but here’s Ziggler for a distraction. The Claymore finishes Rollins at 11:15.

Rating: B-. Good match, bad finish aside. They’re definitely playing up the idea that the Shield is in trouble but I’m starting to get worried about the Ziggler as the weak link. If this leads to McIntyre flattening him then so be it, but it really better not lead to Ziggler getting a face push out of the whole thing.

Post match everyone comes in and it’s a big brawl with Shield being left laying. Strowman and company hit the Shield pose.

From Raw.

Ronda Rousey vs. Ruby Riott

Non-title. The Bellas and the Riott Squad are here as I try to figure out why the Bellas are friends with Rousey. Before the match, the Squad promises to give Ronda her first loss tonight. Rousey wastes no time in flipping Riott over, meaning it’s time for a breather on the floor. Another trip to the floor allows Riott to kick her in the ribs on the way back in and Rousey’s arm gets sent into the post for two.

Ruby fights up and pulls Rousey’s hair to bend her neck around the top rope. That’s rather unpleasant so Riott chokes away on the middle rope instead. Riott sticks with the hair theme by slamming Rousey down by the head and talking some trash. The Riott Kick is countered into a suplex and the over the shoulder powerbomb gets two. Rousey’s spinning Samoan drop sets up the armbar to make Riott tap at 6:52.

Rating: C. Much like the previous two matches, there wasn’t exactly a lot of drama about the finish as Rousey isn’t about to lose her first match here. Riott continues to look more polished in the ring than most, and that’s a good sign for her future. Also, Brie was involved in a match and didn’t seem to main anymore so things are looking up a bit.

From Smackdown.

Here’s Becky Lynch for her surprise before Saturday. Becky talks about how she’s learned you can’t be nice around here without getting stabbed in the back. We get a clip of the history of Lynch and Charlotte, which only makes the fans cheer for her all the more. Becky wants to know where her new action figure or magazine covers are while she has to watch Charlotte get a photo shoot. Becky has a new poster of Super Show-Down, featuring Becky standing over Charlotte and holding up the title. Cue a ticked off Charlotte to spear Becky and put her in the Figure Four over the apron. Becky limps off to end the show.

From Smackdown again.

Here’s Paige to open things up. She talks about how serious everything is between AJ and Joe at the moment and we see a clip of what happened last week as Joe went to AJ’s house. Paige says nothing happened as authorities were called and got there in time (you know, to the middle of nowhere where AJ probably lives). Now that brings us to tonight, where Joe has been charged with trespassing and should be fired, but AJ doesn’t think so. AJ wants to get his hands on Samoa Joe instead and he’s dropping the charges.

The match is on, and here’s a clip from AJ, who is at his house instead of at the show. He’s not in the right frame of mind to perform tonight because this is bigger than WWE. AJ is at his house tonight and is staying there until he knows Joe is on a plane to Australia. He needs to be there because his kids are waking up in the middle of the night, checking their closets for Uncle Joe. This has to end because Joe isn’t leaving the land down under. AJ is going to bury him alive. That sounds like the big blowoff to the feud, but Joe almost has to win at this point. Do you want to treat him like you did Nakamura?

Tyler Breeze vs. Mojo Rawley

Mojo shoves him down without much effort to start and hides in the corner for a not very adequately explored reason. Breeze is right back with some kicks to the ribs and one to the face, followed by a running forearm. Back up and Mojo blasts him with a clothesline and some headbutts as things slow down a lot. A corner shoulder and suplex get two on Breeze but he comes back with an enziguri.

The high crossbody is countered into a gutbuster for two more but Breeze rolls him into a half crab of all things. That’s broken up as well so Breeze hurricanranas his way out of a powerbomb attempt. The Pounce cuts Breeze in half for two but the sitout Alabama Slam is escaped, setting up the Beauty Shot for the pin on Rawley at 6:04.

Rating: C-. Better than the opener but still nothing to see. You can only watch these same matches over and over again before they stop being interesting and we passed that point about six months ago. They just need some fresh names around here as it feels like these two have fought half a dozen times now or so. That’s not good, and it doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon.

And from Raw to close things out.

Here’s Shawn Michaels for the big closing talk. Shawn says the people are making him feel good to come home again and now he’s thinking about how Super Show-Down’s match is going to be the last time ever. What emotion should he be feeling? It might even be joy because it is time for the final showdown. As cheap as he is, he bought a ticket to come to Australia to see it in person as an innocent bystander.

That was the case until a few weeks ago, when Undertaker made it clear that Shawn had to make a choice. Shawn has the utmost respect for Undertaker, though he’ll pick HHH every single time. For some reason that upset the Undertaker (mainly because HHH almost never beats Undertaker and Shawn should be smarter than that) so now he’s got Kane in his corner. Well if Kane tries anything, it’ll mean some Sweet Chin Music. Cue Kane to appear behind Shawn and drop him with a single right hand….so there goes the gong.

Undertaker appears next to Kane and Shawn looks up at him, only to be picked up for the Tombstone. That gives us the talked about moment of the night: Shawn Michaels’ bald head, which you had to know was coming but my goodness it’s jarring. HHH comes in for the save but gets beaten down as well. Double chokeslams leave Shawn and HHH laying, followed by a Tombstone to HHH. Undertaker and Kane pose on the stage to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. The Raw and Smackdown stuff bail out the weak original stuff again and that’s not the biggest surprise. You can tell they’re trying to make Super Show-Down into something big, but the TV leading up to it hasn’t been the best in the world. They really could use a fresh batch of names around here. Is there really no one else available? Not at all? With all the names they have on this roster? Anyway, nothing to see this week, but it should get you ready for Saturday.

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

Super Show-Down
Date: October 6, 2018
Location: Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia
Commentators: Michael Cole, Renee Young, Corey Graves

We’re at the latest big international show here and that means…well it’s hard to say actually. There’s a lot going on at the moment in WWE but they have a tendency to turn these shows into a glorified house show with almost nothing happening. Hopefully WWE has figured that out and knows that we need to actually get something important on the show. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is exactly what you would expect: a look at the big matches, mainly focusing on Undertaker vs. HHH.

The stadium looks great with a ton of people and no major gaps. We also get pyro, so you know this one is important.

Smackdown Tag Team Titles: New Day vs. The Bar

Bar is challenging after just being announced as #1 contenders. Big E. is the odd man out here as Kofi elbows Cesaro in the jaw for two and Woods comes in for a sliding clothesline. The top rope elbow gets two and everything breaks down with Kofi diving over the top onto both of them…and getting caught for a ram into the post. Woods gets rammed as well and the champs are in some trouble.

Cesaro cranks on Kofi’s leg for a few moments before it’s off to Sheamus for the ten forearms. That means a neck crank and a double backbreaker for two, followed by more shots to the back. Kofi finally kicks Cesaro away and runs over for the hot tag to Woods. A running Downward Spiral drops Sheamus for two but it’s an Irish Curse to cut him off.

Cesaro tags himself back in so Sheamus throws Woods at him for the uppercut. The Swing into the Sharpshooter draws Kofi back in for the save off a kick to the chest but falls outside with Sheamus. Woods kicks Cesaro in the chest though and it’s a Backstabber into a top rope double stomp (ala the Lucha Bros) to retain the titles at 9:40.

Rating: B-. Perfectly fine opening match here as New Day is one of the best choices to get a show started. They’re fun, they’re fast paced and they’re entertaining but more importantly they didn’t overstay their welcome here. The problem is I’m not sure who can take the titles from New Day, as there aren’t exactly many teams to challenge them. Are there even three other teams on Smackdown at the moment?

We recap Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch. Lynch was tired of not getting her title shot and Charlotte “stole” her title at Summerslam, sending Lynch over the edge. Becky won the title at Hell in a Cell and has become one of the hottest things on the roster as she’s channeled the rebel character.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch

Lynch is defending and we get Big Match Intros. Feeling out process to start with Charlotte being a bit tentative to go after her. That’s not the best idea in the world as Charlotte takes her into the corner and sends her post. Lynch pulls her down to the floor for a crash and two back inside, followed by some aggressive kicks in the corner. A Fujiwara armbar allows Becky to rip at Charlotte’s fingers until a heck of a belly to back suplex gets her out of trouble.

Charlotte chops away and stomps on the leg in the corner but Becky sends her face first into the buckle. That just earns her a big boot for two and Charlotte seems surprised by the kickout. We’re seven minutes into the match. Why is that surprising? The spear gets two more and again, Charlotte can’t believe it.

The moonsault misses because of course it does and Becky enziguris her down. Charlotte avoids a top rope legdrop though and goes for a Boston crab of all things. Becky makes the rope and tries to walk with the title so Charlotte throws her back inside for a second spear. The Figure Eight goes on but Becky hits her with the title for the DQ at 10:35.

Rating: C+. That’s fine as there was no way they were going to change the title here and it’s fine to have Charlotte be this close and then get cheated out of the title. Lynch is still on fire and one of the most popular members of the roster so everything is fine there. Rather nice match too, as you would expect from these two.

Post match Charlotte stays on her but gets suplexed into the barricade.

Here are Elias and Kevin Owens for a song. The fans seem to approve of Elias’ guitar playing (fair enough) and Elias knows they get what WWE stands for. Owens doesn’t like Australia though and thinks the show should have been in Canada. Elias name drops someone from Australia and then insults the local sports team because he knows how to annoy a crowd. That’s about it though as it’s time for an interruption.

Elias/Kevin Owens vs. John Cena/Bobby Lashley

Cena is looking FAR leaner and has grown his hair out longer than it’s been in the last fifteen years or so. Lashley and Owens start things off but it’s off to Elias without any contact. The guitar arm gets cranked and Lashley sends him face first into the buckle, only to charge into a boot in the corner. A powerslam sends Elias into the corner for the tag as Cole brings up Owens quitting a few weeks back. I didn’t know that was still in continuity.

Lashley rains down right hands in the corner so Elias comes in at the same time. That goes badly as well as Cole is wondering why the referee is allowing all of this. Fair question, even as Elias knocks Cena off the apron. Lashley gets stomped in the corner and Owens adds some shoulders for good measure. The chinlock goes on as the announcers go into a discussion of Cena’s ring rust.

Elias drives Lashley back into the corner and low bridges him to the floor for the big crash. Back in and Owens’ frog splash gets two, followed by the front facelock which is guaranteed to fail. Lashley throws him off and makes the hot tag to Cena as house is cleaned in a hurry. Cena hits the usual on Elias, including the AA, but adds the Sixth Move Of Doom (as Cole puts it), the back of the left hand to the face, for the pin at 10:01. Cena was in for maybe a minute.

Rating: C-. This was the house show match you would have expected and I could picture the finish before the bell even rang. Cena is far from a regular performer anymore so having him around for appearances like this is all you can ask for. The ending is fun and if Cena is just having a good time out there anymore, good for him.

Post match Cena says thank you and isn’t sure what the future holds. WWE will always be his home though and he’s focusing on the now. This felt like a retirement speech, though Cena has said things like this before.

Iiconics vs. Asuka/Naomi

Before the match the Iiconics are very proud to be home. It’s so strange to hear them as full on faces. Peyton and Naomi start things off with Naomi dancing a bit until it’s off to Billie. Asuka comes in as well so the Iiconics try some double teaming, only to have Naomi come in for a staredown. The Iiconics strike a superhero pose…and are immediately dropkicked to the floor as this is starting to get messy early on.

Back in and a cheap shot puts Asuka down for two as Peyton hammers away. Billie pulls on an armbar but a kick to the ribs is countered into a German suplex. The double tags brings in Naomi and Peyton to very little reaction as Naomi cleans house. Asuka’s missile dropkick to the shoulder puts Billie down for two but she breaks up Naomi’s springboard legdrop. Asuka is sent into the barricade and a knee to the head finishes Naomi at 5:43.

Rating: D+. Well duh. Was this one ever in any real doubt? Well of course it was because it’s WWE but they got the ending right here as the Iiconics finally win something and get to soak in some cheers. The match itself was as nothing as you would expect, but that’s not the point in something like this.

Post match the Iiconics pose and it’s a rather nice moment.

We recap the Smackdown World Title match. Samoa Joe went after AJ Styles to get the title but turned it personal by talking about Styles’ family. Joe couldn’t quite win the title so he got even more aggressive, to the point where AJ tapped in a match but the referee didn’t see it. To really cap things off, Joe went to AJ’s house to stalk his family, sending AJ completely over the edge.

Smackdown World Title: AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe

AJ is defending and anything goes, meaning there must be a winner. The fight starts in the aisle until they get inside for the opening bell. Joe hammers away but AJ sends him outside and into the table to take over. Back in and AJ kicks him in the chest, only to be taken down with one of the loudest and hardest chops in recent memory. A big boot puts AJ on the floor and the suicide elbow sends him into the barricade.

Back in and the slow beating continues with Joe slapping on a nerve hold. AJ’s comeback is cut off with a running elbow and it’s back to the hold again. Joe runs him over again and a catapult sends AJ throat first into the bottom rope. AJ fights up again and kicks Joe down, followed by the middle rope moonsault into the reverse DDT (one of the best I’ve seen him do) for his own near fall but Joe blasts him again.

The snap powerslam gives Joe two and something like Emerald Flowsion gets the same. Joe grabs a chair but AJ dropkicks it into his face, followed by some chair shots to Joe’s back. The chair is used as a launchpad but Joe catches him in a Rock Bottom through the chair to cut AJ off in a hurry. It’s time for a table as the seeds are planted for a TLC match between these two in December. Joe chairs him down but a superplex through the table is countered into an electric chair to bang Joe up even more.

Joe grabs his knee and says it popped so AJ stomps at the knee like a good crazed champion. The Calf Crusher is countered into the Koquina Clutch but AJ pulls himself under the ropes for the break. Joe’s throat is snapped across the top rope and it’s a springboard 450 onto the knee to keep Joe in major trouble.

They head outside with AJ hitting a Phenomenal Forearm off the barricade but AJ can barely throw him back in. The second Forearm is countered into the Clutch, followed by a heck of a suplex for two on the champ. The MuscleBuster is countered into a rollup which is countered into the Clutch but AJ rolls out of it again. AJ gets the Calf Crusher and Joe taps at 23:45.

Rating: B+. So what in the world is left for Joe Nakamura now? AJ has beaten him at every turn and there’s no reason for this feud to keep going. My guess is this moves on to either Daniel Bryan or Miz as the next challenger, as there’s not much left for Joe to do. He’s been pinned and tapped out, so it’s time to move on to someone fresh. That’s quite the shame, though AJ is only a month away from a full year as champion.

Bella Twins/Ronda Rousey vs. Riott Squad

Nikki and Ronda have some issues over who is going to start so Ruby jumps Nikki from behind to take over. Nikki shoulders her down and gets two off a spinebuster as Rousey really wants in. It’s Brie coming in instead so Ruby Downward Spirals her for two. Liv comes in to a nice reaction and an enziguri gets two of her own. The blue tongue comes out so Brie grabs it (uh….)and hits a dropkick.

The Brie Mode knee connects for two and it’s back to Nikki for a double suplex. Logan comes in instead and a running knee to the face drops Nikki. The Squad starts taking turns on Nikki until she sends Liv into the corner for a breather. That’s not enough for the hot tag though as Ruby comes back in and drops Nikki on the back of her head for two. Logan’s chinlock doesn’t last long as Nikki fights up, only to have Logan knock both partners off the apron.

Not that it matters as Nikki takes her down and dives over for the hot tag off to Rousey. Judo throws and right hands abound, followed by the spinning Samoan drop. Everything breaks down and Liv breaks up the armbar. Rousey isn’t having it though and armbars both Morgan and Logan at the same time for the double tap at 9:59.

Rating: D+. Pretty standard formula here and that’s perfectly fine. They were teasing the issues between Rousey and Nikki, which still isn’t the best match in the world but I’ll take them having a fight instead of being treated as equals in some dream match. That double armbar was cool if nothing else.

Cruiserweight Title: Cedric Alexander vs. Buddy Murphy

Alexander is defending but Murphy is the hometown boy. The confident Murphy shoves him in the face and gets two off an early knee. Cedric has to bail to the floor so Murphy hits a huge flip dive over the top. Back in and a top rope Meteora gets two more as Alexander is writhing in pain. A kick to the arm gets two more and we hit the chinlock.

The fans are entirely behind Murphy (well duh), even as he puts Alexander on top but charges into a running Michinoku Driver for two. The springboard spinning Downward Spiral (third time in one form or another tonight) sends Murphy to the floor with Alexander hitting his own running flip dive.

Back in and Cedric puts him on top but gets caught in a sitout powerbomb for two more. A jumping knee to the face looks to set up Murphy’s Law but Alexander reverses into a rollup for two. The Lumbar Check gets two, which is one of the only times that’s ever happened (Alexander’s bugged out eyes are a great touch). The springboard clothesline is countered with another knee to the face and Murphy’s Law is enough for the pin and the title at 10:30.

Rating: B-. That was the only option they had here as there was no reason to not change the title. Alexander has held the title for months now and isn’t exactly lighting the world on fire. They can switch the title back if they really want to, but this was the only choice they had and thankfully they figured that out.

Braun Strowman/Drew McIntyre/Dolph Ziggler vs. Shield

Shield does the very long entrance through the stadium crowd. It’s a brawl to start with the Shield clearing the ring and knocking the villains to the floor before the opening bell even rings. Strowman has to be saved from the TripleBomb through the announcers’ table and it’s Ziggler and Rollins heading inside for the official start.

Ziggler gets two off the DDT and it’s off to Strowman for the running charge in the corner. McIntyre comes in and pounds Rollins down in the corner, followed by Ziggler grabbing the sleeper. A belly to back suplex gets Rollins out of trouble and a Sling Blade puts Ziggler down. Strowman won’t allow the hot tag though and it’s another splash in the corner. Ziggler comes back in and talks a lot of trash until Rollins tosses him down again.

That’s still not enough for the hot tag as Strowman knocks Reigns and Ambrose off the apron to keep Rollins in trouble. Strowman misses a top rope splash (egads) though and the hot tag brings in Ambrose to clean house. A fall away slam drops Ziggler (you don’t see Ambrose using that one very often) sets up a double chickenwing faceplant for two each and Ziggler is in trouble.

Ambrose’s top rope elbow is rolled through for two and it’s a double crossbody for a double knockdown. Ambrose scores with a neckbreaker and the hot tag brings in Reigns. The corner clotheslines and a DDT get two on McIntyre but the Superman Punch hits Ambrose by mistake. Everything breaks down and Strowman goes shoulder first into the post. Reigns saves Rollins from the reverse Alabama Slam and everyone is down. Rollins and Reigns are surrounded as Ambrose gets up but doesn’t immediately pick a side.

Eventually he dropkicks Strowman to the floor for a suicide dive but the TripleBomb is broken up. A running charge knocks Reigns over and Rollins gets one as well. The Zig Zag gets two on Ambrose so Strowman wants Dean thrown outside to run him over too. Reigns spears Strowman through the barricade instead, leaving Rollins to break up the Claymore/Zig Zag combination. Dirty Deeds finishes Ziggler at 21:38.

Rating: C+. Way longer than it needed to be for what felt like a house show main event. The other problem is we’ve covered these teams fighting for a long time now and most of the impact is gone. They really need to move on to something else, but I’m not sure I see that happening for a good while, as is the case all the time around here.

We recap Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz. Some brass knuckles gave Miz the win at Summerslam so Bryan went after him again, setting up the pretty lame mixed tag match at Hell in a Cell. Tonight it’s one on one again for the #1 contendership.

Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz

The winner gets a title shot at Crown Jewel and Bryan is coming in with bad ribs. Miz goes right after the ribs at the bell and stomps away as Bryan can barely breathe. Some YES Kicks get Bryan out of trouble as the announcers argue about Talking Smack. The running knee misses so Miz hits one of his own for two. Miz loads up the Skull Crushing Finale but gets small packaged….for the pin at 2:27??? Cole sounds shocked and it seemed that Miz’s shoulder was up.

AJ looks on from the back and smiles.

We recap the Undertaker vs. HHH. They’ve fought for years, it was over, and now they’re fighting again because old guys fight around here. Shawn Michaels and Kane are both here as well.

Undertaker vs. HHH

Undertaker’s entrance is faster this year, clocking in at just over four minutes. During the Big Match Intros, the match is turned into No DQ, because A, there are people outside, B, so sledgehammers can be used, and C, because it’s an Undertaker match and he’s old. Feeling out process to start with HHH sticking his chin out, drawing both seconds up to the apron. HHH grabs the wrist and loads up Old School but gets punched into the corner instead.

Snake Eyes connects but the big boot is countered with a running knee. Undertaker gets sent outside where he grabs Shawn by the throat, drawing HHH out for the save, allowing Shawn to send him into the post. Shawn grabs a table but Kane chases him away. The Pedigree on the floor is broken up so they head back inside where HHH grabs a swinging neckbreaker. A THIS IS AWESOME chant is quickly cut off (thank goodness) as Undertaker knocks HHH over the corner.

The announcers’ table is loaded up but Shawn offers another distraction, only to have HHH backdropped over the barricade. They fight into the tech area where another Pedigree is broken up, followed by more brawling through the crowd. Back in and Shawn offers another distraction, earning himself a fight hand. Undertaker chairs HHH in the back and puts him on the table but Shawn interferes AGAIN (this is getting annoying), earning himself a big boot. The Taker Dive is loaded up but HHH cuts him off with a chair to the ribs.

Kane crawls out of whatever black hole he fell into and eats Sweet Chin Music onto the table, allowing HHH to dive off the apron as the tag match continues. HHH goes up top with a chair but dives into a chokeslam. The Tombstone gets two so the referee gets punched. A slow series of chair shots to the back keep HHH in trouble as the announcers try to pass this off as epic.

Undertaker wraps the chair around HHH’s neck, drawing Shawn to the apron to ask for mercy. Shawn gets in and takes a right hand to the nose, allowing HHH to hit the spinebuster. The Pedigree gets two and now HHH wraps the chair around Undertaker’s head. HHH Pillmanizes him for two as Kane makes the save, apparently because he enjoys seeing his brother destroyed. Shawn grabs the sledgehammer and HHH knocks Undertaker silly but there’s no referee.

Hell’s Gate goes on but HHH chokes him with the hammer to break it up. Shawn and Kane come in and get thrown back out a few seconds later so Undertaker picks up the hammer….and then throws it down. A chokeslam looks to set up the Tombstone but Shawn makes the save with Sweet Chin Music. Undertaker doesn’t actually go down so it’s a sledgehammer to the face into another Sweet Chin Music into the Pedigree for the pin at 27:31.

Rating: C. WAY longer than it needed to be but it was far from a bad match. They went with the only real option of smoke and mirrors here and there’s nothing wrong with that given the circumstances. It got really annoying with all of the interference as this was basically a tag match without being a tag match. The real problem though was I didn’t care about the match as it felt like a completely unnecessary sequel to an already great story. It certainly wasn’t bad and the build was good, but it’s something that came and went, which isn’t the best result.

Post match HHH and Shawn have an awkwardly long hug until they go over to help Undertaker up. Kane joins them in the ring for the big pose (Kane looks so out of place) until the monsters beat them up. A Tombstone plants HHH and Shawn gets chokeslammed through the announcers’ table to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. First of all: the show being four hours instead of five made a world of difference. I wasn’t wild at waking up at 4:45 for the show but my goodness it was nice to not have this be some bloated five hour show. Other than a few times in the main event, the show never felt like it dragged and most of the matches were either good or watchable at worst. The stadium looked great and there was some storyline advancement, making this WAY better than Greatest Royal Rumble. As a one off show, this was perfectly fine and a more than watchable show.

Results

New Day b. The Bar – Backstabber into a top rope double stomp to Cesaro

Charlotte b. Becky Lynch via DQ when Lynch used the title

John Cena/Bobby Lashley b. Elias/Kevin Owens – Sixth Move Of Doom to Elias

Iiconics b. Asuka/Naomi – Knee to Naomi’s head

AJ Styles b. Samoa Joe – Calf Crusher

Ronda Rousey/Bella Twins b. Riott Squad – Double armbar to Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan

Buddy Murphy b. Cedric Alexander – Murphy’s Law

Shield b. Dolph Ziggler/Braun Strowman/Drew McIntyre – Dirty Deeds to Ziggler

Daniel Bryan b. The Miz – Small package

HHH b. Undertaker – Pedigree

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

It’s that time again. Earlier this year, WWE went over to Saudi Arabia for a major international event. Now, we have another edition down in Australia, headlined by two guys who have a combined age of over 100 years. That doesn’t exactly instill me with confidence, but this does feel like a more energized show than Greatest Royal Rumble. Hopefully it’s even better when it actually takes place. Let’s get to it.

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

The tag team division on Tuesdays is one of the weakest things around as it’s all of….geez are there even four teams there at the moment? New Day is fine for placeholder champions until we see some new teams come up, but that might let them break their record for longest title reign. The Bar is good as well, but it’s not like one of them is that much better than the other.

I’ll take New Day to retain, as they’re that much better than anyone else at the moment. The Bar feels like the challengers of the month and that likely means two or three more title matches down the line. For now though I think the New Day retains, just for the sake of not killing the crowd. They’re still popular enough and that’s good enough to keep them in a prominent role.

Cruiserweight Title: Cedric Alexander(c) vs. Buddy Murphy

I’m not sure on this one, even though it sounds like the biggest layup on the card. Murphy is in his hometown and Alexander has held the title for six months now without losing a singles match (on TV) in over a year. That sounds like the easily formula in the world, but you never know around this place.

Actually, I think I’m going with Alexander retaining the title, even if he might not win the match. For some reason, WWE absolutely loves the idea of Alexander as the centerpiece of the division, no matter how long he’s been in the role so far. Alexander is a talented guy in great shape, but he doesn’t quite pop as a star. I don’t know if Murphy is the solution, but I actually don’t see him getting the title here.

SmackDown Women’s Title: Becky Lynch(c) vs. Charlotte

The more I think about this one, the more I’m trying to convince myself that WWE isn’t crazy enough to put the title back on Charlotte yet. Above all else, Lynch is someone who needs to keep the momentum that she’s built up. You can’t have someone be an effective rebel if they lose in their first title defense, especially when her whole thing is that she’s finally turned the corner.

I’m going to give WWE the benefit of the doubt here and take Lynch to retain, although not likely clean. You know this feud is going to go on for a few more months and Lynch needs to hold onto the title for a good while longer. There’s no benefit to putting the title back on Charlotte just yet as she’s already the most decorated champion of modern times. Let Lynch catch up a bit and get what she can out of this reign.

John Cena/Bobby Lashley vs. Elias/Kevin Owens

I had the Coliseum Video theme in my head as I wrote that one out. This match is happening for no apparent reason other than to get Cena on the card, even though I can’t remember the last time he was on Monday Night Raw. You can imagine this match being on any given house show and that’s not the worst thing in the world. Hopefully they keep this one short, as there’s not much you can get out of something like this.

Of course I’m going with the faces here, even though WWE would be a bit crazy to pass up on a potential Cena vs. Lashley match down the line. Just let us them have about ten to fifteen minutes to build to a hot tag and Cena can go back to China or wherever he’s filming next. As long as we get more of Owens and Elias together, because they’ve got a nice little chemistry going.

Bella Twins/Ronda Rousey vs. Riott Squad

This is another case of a match being a means to an end and while that’s annoying, there isn’t much of a way around it. The Squad has been a nice surprise in recent weeks with Riott herself showing some real talent (including but not limited to avoiding a weekly botch). That being said, I had forgotten who the Bellas and Rousey were fighting, because it’s all about those three. Well two of them at least.

I’ll take the Squad to win, hopefully with Brie taking the fall. At the end of the day, we’re destined for Nikki vs. Rousey for the title at Evolution, because that’s the match WWE has decided the fans are dying to see. We’re really supposed to buy that the stripper is a threat to the baddest woman on the planet, though thankfully we’re only looking at a three week build between the “former best friends” or whatever they’re going to say Rousey and Nikki used to be.

The Miz vs. Daniel Bryan

This is for a future WWE Championship shot, because WWE doesn’t believe in the term #1 contender anymore. These two have fought what seems to be a few dozen times now, with WWE releasing most of if not all of their previous encounters on YouTube, just to hammer the point home. While there is no word on when the title match would take place, I have a feeling I know what they’re doing.

I’m going with a non-finish here, setting up a four way for the title at Crown Jewel. That’s not the worst idea in the world, as it’s pretty clear that we’ll be seeing Miz vs. Bryan for a long time. Ignoring how little sense that makes and how it’s taking away the impact from Bryan FINALLY winning the title back (if he ever does), I can’t imagine they’ll have either get a clean fall here. We’ll go with a double countout here to make sure the feud keeps going.

Asuka/Naomi vs. Iiconics

I’m not sure I get the idea here. So Asuka has beaten up both Iiconics on her own for years now, but apparently she likes the Glow. Now though, after watching the Iiconics lose over and over, we’re supposed to be interested because they’re in their home country? I’m not sure how that’s going to be interesting to anyone aside from the Australian fans, which makes me wonder why they’re not throwing out some people who the Iiconics could beat in a hurry.

I’ll go with the Iiconics winning by pinning Naomi to give the fans something to cheer, though given how WWE has botched Asuka over the last few months, her losing to one of them for the first time wouldn’t shock me. This should be the popcorn break match and there’s nothing wrong with that, as the Iiconics are rather nice to look at if nothing else.

Shield vs. Braun Strowman/Drew McIntyre/Dolph Ziggler

Yes this is still going and at the moment, I can’t imagine that changing until Tables Ladders And Chairs in December. Until Strowman gets out of the way and falls down the ladder, we’re stuck with these trios until we get to a fresh challenger. That’s not the most thrilling thing in the world but it’s what we’re stuck with at the moment. There’s the drama over whether or not someone might be turning, though I can’t imagine they’ll do that here.

While I’m not entirely confident with the pick, I’ll take the Shield to win here as that tends to be the case in most of their big matches. Let them tease the split some more, because just a few weeks is nowhere near long enough for what should be a big deal. Strowman and company aren’t the best villains in the world but if it gets us closer to McIntyre as a breakout star, everything will be worth it. I think.

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

From where we stand right now, we’re looking at Samoa Joe becoming the latest version of Shinsuke Nakamura (who still exists, I promise). Styles has beaten him time after time and just having that one tap that didn’t count isn’t enough to prevent Samoa Joe from looking like a loser. At some point you have to have him win, and there’s really not much of a reason to not do that here.

Hence why I think Styles is going to retain. I know it makes sense to have Samoa Joe take the title here, but for some reason I can’t bring myself to say it’s going to happen. At some point Samoa Joe’s promo work isn’t going to be enough to carry him over the losses, but I don’t think we’re there yet. Styles retains, as little sense as it might make.

Undertaker vs. Triple H

And finally there’s this, which has dominated Monday Night Raw for the last month and might be just a way to get to D-Generation X vs. the Brothers of Destruction in Saudi Arabia. The big story here is….well it’s the fact that this has happened several times before and it’s happening one more time here. For some reason that’s supposed to be enough to draw an audience and while the build has been good, there’s not much of a way around the fact that they’re both old and Undertaker hasn’t had a good match in a long time.

That being said, I’ll take Undertaker to win, because Triple H doesn’t get to beat him for some reason. I’m sure the interference and outside shenanigans will be enough to get us to the tag match and that’s going to be the focus of the match anyway. The interesting thing here is going to be seeing how well they can actually have a match, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see the match being the kind of main event slugfest that they’re capable of having.

Overall Thoughts

I’m looking at this card and really, nothing is jumping off the page at me. The biggest worry that I have is the same problem from Greatest Royal Rumble: a card that is advertised as being big and is held in front of a bunch of people, but has very little that actually matters. Hopefully we get a few title changes to make the show feel important, though it wouldn’t shock me to have it come and go with almost nothing important happening.

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