IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: May 14, 2019
Location: 02 Arena, London, England
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

It’s the second of two nights in London and that means we get to see how close to four names WWE can bring in from Raw this week. This is also the go home show for Money in the Bank so it’s time for the brawl between Kofi Kingston and Kevin Owens. Throw in the required build towards the ladder matches and we could be in for a nice little show. Let’s get to it.

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

Here’s Roman Reigns to call out Elias, but first he wants the Miz out here. After sucking up to the crowd, Miz talks about how he has five days until Shane McMahon is trapped in a cage. Shane attacked Miz’s father and that is not acceptable, so it’s time for payback. It’s also time for Shane and Elias with Shane saying that Miz isn’t a Wild Card because he’s just disgusting. Therefore, Miz is banned from the building tonight.

Elias doesn’t like Reigns calling him a wedding singer and Reigns has underestimated him. At Money in the Bank, Reigns will find out what WWE stands for. Shane wants to get rid of Miz and Reigns right now so here are Rowan and Daniel Bryan to help. The beatdown is on so it’s the Usos for the save.

Post break Shane makes himself, Rowan, Bryan and Elias vs. Reigns/Usos. If Miz interferes, the cage match is off.

Randy Orton vs. Andrade vs. Ali vs. Finn Balor

Non-title. Before the match, Orton says he’ll win the briefcase on Sunday and make RKO the dangerous letters for the WWE Champion. Zelina Vega promises a spoiler for Sunday, which means Andrade wins the briefcase. Joined in progress with Ali holding his leg but being able to roll Orton up for two. The snap powerslam drops Ali but he comes back with a dropkick for a breather.

Orton teases the RKO out of the corner so Ali hangs on and takes Orton down instead, meaning it’s Andrade coming in for the save. Andrade runs Balor and Ali over, setting up the running knees in the corner. Instead of covering though, Andrade listens to Vega and throws a ladder in. Said ladder is superkicked back into his face by Ali, who dives into another ladder shot from Andrade to take us to a break.

Back with Balor hitting a Sling Blade on Andrade and dropkicking him into the corner. Ali hits the rolling X Factor on Balor but misses the 450, instead rolling into the RKO. Balor takes care of Orton though and we’re down to two for the moment. Andrade is back up and sends Balor into the steps, setting up the hammerlock DDT for the pin at 9:58.

Rating: C+. Gotta pin that champ! It’s another match where there were more options to take the fall but instead of going with Orton, which would mean more and hurt him less. I doubt this is going to go to another title match between Balor and Andrade, though it would make sense to give Andrade the title at this point after pinning Balor twice.

Post match Andrade climbs the ladder but here’s Ricochet to springboard onto the ladder and punch him down. Ricochet grabs the briefcase, more or less guaranteeing that he won’t do it on Sunday.

Carmella says she’s the favorite this Sunday and is going to threepeat.

Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston fire each other up.

Here’s Charlotte for a chat. She talks about her historic rivalry with Becky Lynch, which will end on Sunday with her as the Smackdown Women’s Champion. We get a video history of their feud, dating back to NXT. They met in the main event of Wrestlemania and now they’re doing it again here. It is quite the feud, but I could go for something else already. The problem though is the lack of challengers for Lynch, which has been the case for awhile now. Charlotte didn’t need to be in the ring for this.

Lacey Evans promises to make Becky Two Belts Becky Black Eye. On the other hand, she’ll go from Lacey Evans to Lacey Evans: Raw Women’s Champions.

Aleister Black talks about appearances being deceptive and how no one likes the place they try to venture into when they try to accomplish their goal. He tries to hide his villainy with old odd ends, stolen from various places, when most he plays fade to black. I think I need an English degree to understand what he just said.

Shane McMahon/Daniel Bryan/Rowan/Elias vs. Roman Reigns/Usos

Jimmy and Bryan start things off with a basic sequence, including Bryan hitting a shoulder block. Jey comes in and gets taken into the corner for some chops from Elias as the villains take over. Something off the top bangs up Jey’s knee and it’s off to Shane for some elbows to the new target. Bryan comes in to add a running dropkick to the knee. Jey gets shoved off the top for a hard crash into the barricade as we take a break.

Back with Jey in trouble and Elias slamming him down for some near falls. An enziguri finally takes Shane down so Reigns can come in to clean house. Reigns fires off clotheslines in the corner to keep Bryan in trouble but an Elias distraction lets Bryan get in a kick to the ribs. Rowan comes in so Elias immediately tags himself in, much to Rowan’s annoyance. A jumping knee to the face gives Elias two, followed by an elbow from Rowan as we take a break.

Back again with Elias getting caught in a Samoan drop so Jimmy can come back in to pick up the pace. Bryan misses a superkick but all of his teammates take one, followed by Jey tagging himself in for some double superkicks. Everything breaks down and Rowan knocks Jimmy to the floor. Reigns comes off the steps with a Superman Punch to Rowan, leaving Jimmy to take the Coast to Coast for the pin at 19:12.

Rating: C-. Gotta keep Shane strong, just in case being the top heel in the company isn’t enough. This one is a lot less annoying than Balor taking a fall though as Shane has a brighter present than Andrade and possibly even a better future. As much as I cringe saying that, at least Shane vs. Miz should be done on Sunday, a mere six and a half months after it started.

Post match Miz comes in and cleans house with a chair but Shane escapes unscathed.

Here’s this week’s Firefly Fun House, which seems to be the start of Wyatt’s return to the ring.

Ember Moon says she’ll risk it all to win it all.

Bayley says Sunday is a chance to show what she can be.

Pay per view rundown, which doesn’t look bad.

Asuka/Kairi Sane vs. Sonya Deville/Mandy Rose

Back with Sane getting two off a crossbody to Rose, who nails a Kiss of the Rose to take over. Deville’s running knee gets two but Mandy misses a running boot in the corner. It’s back to Asuka to clean house with the Asuka Lock getting broken up by Sonya. That’s enough for Sonya to come back in for some kicks to the chest and a spinebuster. Mandy wants the pin though, allowing Asuka to roll her up for the fast pin at 8:46.

Rating: D+. This show is dragging and this was another case of the same. The ending was a quick one though and a way to make Sonya think that she might have made the wrong decision by letting Mandy have the spot. At the same time, Kabuki Warriors? They really spent time and came up with that?

Video on Lars Sullivan.

Lars Sullivan has nothing to say.

Kevin Owens can’t wait to interview Kofi Kingston and isn’t worried about the rest of the New Day. He talks about the various things he could do to hurt Kofi but New Day’s entrance cuts him off.

We come back from a break with Kofi sitting in the KO Show chairs with no Owens in sight. Kofi says he accepted an invitation to come onto the show and asks where Owens is. Owens pops up on screen to say that Kofi is on his own for the first time in eleven years. After he loses the title, reality sets in. That reality is that Kofi doesn’t win the title without New Day and on Sunday, he’s facing the most dangerous man in WWE. We see a video on Owens rising to the top of WWE, starting with laying out John Cena on his first night on the main roster.

Owens finally comes out but stops in the aisle, meaning Kofi charges out to go after him. Cue Sami Zayn to jump Kofi from behind, I guess confirming that the Usos only count as one Wild Card entry, because WWE STILL CAN’T MAKE SENSE OUT OF THIS STUPID RULE! Woods runs in for a failed save attempt so Owens shouts about how he has help and Kofi doesn’t. The Cannonball misses and the Helluva Kick only hits rope. Trouble in Paradise takes Sami down and Kofi shouts at Owens to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. It felt like they had been on tour for a long time and now they’re just running on fumes. Tonight’s show actually felt long for a change and that hasn’t been the case for Smackdown lately. The lack of a major focus on the ladder matches helped though as I’m liking the Kofi vs. Owens story more and more every week. They’ve got a little something with Kofi being on his own and Owens knows just how to exploit it. Not a very good show here, but it could have been worse. Oh and they still can’t count to five (spare me about the Usos being one Wild Card as that would be stretching it even for WWE).

Results

Andrade b. Finn Balor, Randy Orton and Ali – Hammerlock DDT to Balor

Shane McMahon/Rowan/Daniel Bryan/Elias b. Roman Reigns/Usos – Coast to Coast to Jimmy

Kabuki Warriors b. Mandy Rose/Sonya Deville – Rollup to Rose

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2000 Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Part 1 (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/02/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-thunder-reviews-volume-vii-january-june-2000/

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: May 13, 2019
Location: 02 Arena, London, England
Commentators: Renee Young, Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We’re over in England this week for a taped show, which happens to be the go home show for Money in the Bank. I’m not sure what we’re going to be seeing this week but odds are we’ll be getting a match between the people involved in Sunday’s ladder matches. Oh and at least four people from Smackdown, because the Wild Card Rule is a mess. Let’s get to it.

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

Here’s Miz for MizTV top open things up. He talks about how important Money in the Bank is for the future but there is something else we need to get out of the way. That would be Miz’s match with Shane McMahon, when they will be locked in a cage. Miz promises to win and then brings out Roman Reigns as his guest. Reigns doesn’t think much of his Money in the Bank opponent Elias, who has never actually done anything in this company. That sounds good to Miz, who talks about Reigns’ movie career and suggests a buddy comedy.

Reigns doesn’t like it because that sounds like the old Miz. He wants to talk to the new Miz, who chased Shane McMahon and Elias out of the arena with a chair last week. After seeing a clip of that chase, Miz talks about getting some respect after thirteen years around here. Last week he brought the fight, which is what he is going to do to the daddy’s boy on Sunday. Shane is going to go down faster than his dad did to a Superman Punch.

This brings out Shane to say that he is still the boss and therefore, MizTV is over. Cue Bobby Lashley and Elias to attack from behind and join Shane in the aisle. Actually let’s get a referee out here, as the show opens with a fifteen minute talking segment, Shane McMahon, and an impromptu match.

Elias/Bobby Lashley vs. Roman Reigns/The Miz

Shane is at ringside. Miz hammers on Elias to start and gets two off an early Reality Check. It’s off to Reigns, sending Elias bailing to the floor. Back in and the good guys clean house, with Miz hitting alternating YES Kicks to both of them. Lashley picks Miz up and tries a powerbomb but settles for a Downward Spiral.

We take a break and come back with Shane choking Miz on the ropes, allowing Elias to hit an Old School Meteora for two. Lashley’s delayed vertical suplex has Miz in more trouble but he DDTs Elias to get a breather. The hot tag is cut off by Lashley though and Miz is still down. Lashley misses a charge into the post but Shane pulls Reigns off the apron and sends him into the steps for the DQ at 11:08.

Rating: D+. Just a tag match here though at least they kept it a little shorter than they did before. That being said, just having Reigns around isn’t going to be enough to fix the ratings woes as this was the same main event style tag match that they run ever week, albeit with Shane interfering. It was watchable, but nothing that they haven’t before.

Post match the brawl is on until Miz cleans house with a chair.

We get a long video on Seth Rollins vs. AJ Styles, looking at a comparison of the two paths they took to get here. Rollins rose up the ranks and has been successful everywhere he has gone. Styles on the other hand started in the dying days of WCW, then did something else for a long time, and was in WWE to show how great he really was. Seth defeating Brock Lesnar while AJ failed is the big difference, with AJ wanting to prove that he can win the big one on Raw.

We look at Braun Strowman nearly murdering Sami Zayn last week. How Sami survived that and appeared on Smackdown the next night still hasn’t been explained.

Strowman says he regrets that the trash compactor didn’t turn Sami into a cube. No one can stop him from becoming the Monster in the Bank again. An assistant comes in to say Shane wants to talk to Strowman. Did Strowman just admit to attempted murder?

Post break, Sami is pleading his case to Shane when Strowman comes in. Sami thinks he deserves something for what happened last week, like Strowman’s Money in the Bank spot. He’ll even fight for it tonight. That sounds good to Shane, who removes Strowman from his match against Drew McIntyre and makes it Sami vs. Strowman, falls count anywhere, for the spot in the ladder match. Strowman promises to eat Sami alive and fear sets in.

Mojo Rawley vs. Apollo Crews

Crews would be your fourth Smackdown name, assuming you count Shane (Vince had to write him off as part of the Wild Card Rule last week and his profile on WWE.com says Smackdown so I’d think he counts.). Some stomping in the corner has Rawley in trouble to start but a flip from Crews tweaks his knee. Crews says he can go and gets his leg taken out, allowing Rawley to yell a lot. The running right hand in the corner sets up the Alabama Slam to give Rawley the pin at 1:13. So he screams a lot and paints his face. That’s the best they can come up with?

Alexa Bliss complains about her luggage being lost because she’s a celebrity. Nikki Cross, now sounding completely sane, comes up to ask if anything is wrong. Bliss doesn’t know how Cross grew up in a place like this and could use someone to talk to. Cross didn’t think anyone had noticed her being here in four weeks so Bliss spills her guts about her recent issues. She can’t wrestle tonight without her gear, so Cross gets the chance instead.

And now for the show’s centerpiece: a double contract signing! Lacey Evans, Charlotte (that’s five) and Becky Lynch all come out for the signings with the fans being behind the champ. Becky talks about how great it is to be back in London before promising that Lacey will crumble under the pressure of the Man being on her neck.

Charlotte talks about Becky’s big mouth getting her in trouble again and how it’s always been her issues. Lacey complains about Becky not wearing the proper clothing to such a formal occasions. This isn’t a fight in a barn. Who wears a camisole and leather pants to a barn fight? Becky laughs it off and signs, leaving Charlotte to talk over the BECKY TWO BELTS chants. She finds this hilarious and Becky’s confidence can’t hide her jealousy. On Sunday, Becky will bow down to the Queen.

Charlotte signs and Lacey says the WWE needs a lady to show them the way. Lacey says Becky can “continue to pretend to swing around something that she doesn’t have” and it’s not going to be enough to take out two real ladies. Becky offers her a free shot as Becky signs. The table is shoved aside and the fight is on with Lacey getting caught in the Disarm-Her. Charlotte breaks it up with a big boot and a double powerbomb puts Becky through the table. Both titles are held up for a pretty good visual.

That’s the second contract signing in three weeks. Is that really the best thing that they can come up with? It’s not like it’s some brilliant trope that you never see anywhere else. They’re just sitting there trading shots at each other. Do they really have nothing better to do than the contract signing? Just have them yell at each other on stage or something for the sake of a little change of pace.

Baron Corbin vs. Ricochet

Ricochet starts with the flips, including one over Corbin to set up a springboard crossbody. Corbin heads outside so Ricochet kicks him in the face and hits the moonsault off the middle rope. Back in and a heck of a clothesline drops Ricochet as we take a break. We come back with Ricochet trying more flips until running into Deep Six.

Ricochet spins around into a DDT for two but the 630 misses. Instead he settles for a hurricanrana and a standing shooting star for two, with a rather big surprise at the kickout. Corbin hits End of Days for the pin at 9:31. Graves: “You may not like it but you have to accept it.” The WWE booking philosophy ladies and gentlemen.

Rating: D+. Graves’ line at the end is great and sums up Corbin quite well. He’s winning more and more big matches despite not exactly being thrilling, while Ricochet’s only win as of late has been a pin over perennial midcarder Robert Roode. I know we’re going to get Corbin as World Champion at some point and I kind of wish we could just get it over with already so the nightmare can be real.

Post match Corbin pulls out a ladder but Ricochet shoves him off.

Rey Mysterio says Samoa Joe crossed the line by yelling at his son last week. Cesaro comes in and asks when Raw became bring your kid to work day. Well Shane was first a referee in 1988 so somewhere around then? Cesaro says Dominic looks more like Joe than Rey because he’s a foot taller, so is Dominic even Rey’s kid? The fight is on as I wonder how many more people we can accuse of being Dominic’s father.

We get a long video on Roman Reigns, the same one we saw last week on Smackdown.

AJ says he’s ready to win on Raw and make Monday Night Rollins the House that AJ Styles built.

Naomi vs. Nikki Cross vs. Natalya vs. Dana Brooke

During the entrances, everyone, including Bliss, gets to talk about how important winning MITB would be. Cross is her usual fired up self during her entrance. Bliss comes out for commentary so Corey can lose his mind again. It’s a brawl to start with Naomi hitting a Bubba Bomb on Dana, leaving Nikki to tie Natalya in the ring skirt for the forearms. Naomi knocks the two of them down and we take a break. Back with Dana’s handspring elbow getting elbowed in the back so Natalya can put on the surfboard. Nikki goes up top to dive onto it but Naomi shoves her down and breaks it up herself.

Brooke and Natalya get together and double gorilla press Naomi but Nikki comes back in with something like the Rings of Saturn on Naomi, plus some screaming. This time Natalya makes the save so Naomi gives her the split legged moonsault for two as Brooke makes her own save. Hang on though as we now have a ladder set up at ringside, with Nikki spearing Natalya underneath it. Brooke dives onto the other three but Nikki pops up and takes her down. Back in and Nikki’s hanging swinging neckbreaker finishes Natalya at 9:20.

Rating: C-. Not terrible here and it’s nice to see Nikki win, though I could go for her being in the ladder match over Natalya. That being said, we can’t do that because Natalya is a veteran and that means she needs to be around every single time. Naomi was rather energetic here, though I don’t give her much of a chance to win on Sunday.

Sami rants about Braun being part of the toxic fantasies around here because everyone wants to run through their problems. It’s better to be right than strong though, which is why Sami will figure something out tonight.

Cesaro vs. Rey Mysterio

During the entrances, Samoa Joe says Rey is the one who crossed the line by bringing his son into WWE. On Sunday, he hopes he sees Rey and Dominic. Rey starts fast with the short hurricanrana and a better headscissors out of the corner. Cesaro grabs a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker but Rey winds up on his shoulders.

Another headscissors tries to take Cesaro to the floor but he lands on his feet….with Rey still on his shoulders. The third headscissors sends Rey into the barricade but Cesaro is right back with a pair of swings into the barricade to knock Rey silly. There’s a one armed apron superplex for two more and we take a break.

Back with Rey reversing a suplex into a DDT and speeding things back up. The spinning faceplant sets up la majistral for two and Cesaro is rocked. The 619 is countered into the Swing but Cesaro misses the Swiss19. A Code Red gives Rey two of his own but the Neutralizer is reversed into a headscissors. That means the 619 into the top rope splash to finish Cesaro at 10:40.

Rating: B. Best match of the night by a mile here as both guys were allowed to show off a bunch of their rather impressive stuff. It’s a fine move to have Rey get built up for his title shot on Sunday, though Cesaro’s latest singles push is already starting to falter, which tends to be the case every single time.

We recap the Usos tormenting the Revival over the last two weeks.

The Revival is sick of the Usos tormenting them and it stops now.

It’s time for the Firefly Fun House but Bray is nowhere to be seen but pops up from behind a table. Rabbity is seen in a chair with a bandage over his eye as Bray talks about having a secret. It’s almost time to show the world what he has been working on, but he’s going to need the help of all his Fireflies.

The cheering warms his soul, but there is still a lot of darkness in his noggin. This time though, he has learned how to control it. Bray gets a lot more sinister and asks if we want to see his secret. He turns to the door and we cut to some rather creepy images of what looks like a bunch of toys, and Bray morphs into something like an evil clown with his hair down. Bray, in a dark voice: “Yeowy wowwy.” Well that worked, though you need to see it to get the full effect. I’m not sure how well it works in an arena, but these are great.

We look back at the contract signing.

Money in the Bank rundown.

Seth Rollins says it is personal with AJ now. We see a match between the two of them from 2006 (which isn’t fifteen years ago like Seth says) at NWA No Limits, where Seth says his family got to see him. Now it’s time to show what he can do as the backbone of Raw, but now he isn’t looking up at AJ anymore. Now it’s AJ looking up at him.

Braun Strowman vs. Sami Zayn

Falls Count Anywhere with Braun’s Money in the Bank spot on the line. Braun starts fast and rips Sami’s hoodie off before sending him outside. That means the running shoulder so Sami bails into the crowd. A beer to Braun’s face lets Sami run even more and they make it to the concourse. Some trashcan shots to the head just annoy Braun, who throws Sami into a column for two.

Cue Baron Corbin with a chair to the back plus some trashcan shots to put Strowman down. A belly to back suplex puts Strowman through a merchandise table so Sami can get two. Strowman is back up and sends Corbin into a wall as we take a break. Back with Strowman in control again and throwing Sami into a barricade in the arena. The threat of a ladder sends Sami bailing to the back again but this time it’s Drew McIntyre jumping Strowman.

A DDT onto a chair gives Sami two so Strowman gets up and hits McIntyre with an ice chest. Sami crawls away and goes through a curtain to get back into the arena. Strowman follows and drops a bunch of ladders on Sami but here are Corbin and McIntyre to beat Strowman up. A ladder to the face puts Strowman down and the two of them suplex him through a ladder. The Claymore is enough to give Sami the pin at 14:36.

Rating: C+. This was a nice garbage brawl with Sami having to come up with something to survive against the monster. I can go for having Sami in the ladder match as he’s a more interesting candidate than Strowman, who isn’t likely to win the title anytime soon. The interference was a good idea and I liked the match well enough, with the right decision helping a lot.

Post match Strowman gets up so Corbin throws Sami to him. A chokeslam through the announcers’ table leaves Sami laying to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. After the last two weeks, this was a major relief and it still wasn’t that good of a show. They kept things moving and they even had some stuff happen, but most importantly it wasn’t a show with a lot of explanations or meaningless matches that didn’t change anything. Those promos during the show helped a lot as well and were a lot more effective than having the wrestlers come out and talk where they take forever to say something. Money in the Bank is looking a little better, but it might just be that Raw wasn’t as much of a slog this week.

Results

The Miz/Roman Reigns b. Elias/Bobby Lashley via DQ when Shane McMahon interfered

Mojo Rawley b. Apollo Crews – Alabama Slam

Baron Corbin b. Ricochet – End of Days

Nikki Cross b. Natalya, Naomi and Dana Brooke – Hanging swinging neckbreaker to Natalya

Rey Mysterio b. Cesaro – Top rope splash

Sami Zayn b. Braun Strowman – Claymore from Drew McIntyre

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2000 Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Part 1 (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/02/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-thunder-reviews-volume-vii-january-june-2000/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: April 23, 2019
Location: Pinnacle Bank Arena, Lincoln, Nebraska
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

We’re officially into the new era of Smackdown after last week’s brand split and believe it or not, Roman Reigns is the focal point of the show again. Last week saw Reigns attack Vince McMahon, which has started off rumors that he might be fired. In other words, it’s McMahon time again and that’s likely to be the case for the time being. Let’s get to it.

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

Here’s Shane McMahon to get things going. After making Greg Hamilton do the big intro, Shane wants to talk about Roman Reigns. We see the clip of Reigns hitting Vince last week, which is like disgracing the American flag or defacing Mount Rushmore (which Shane stumbles over). That man is a national treasure and it’s time for payback.

Shane lists off some options before saying that he’ll deal with Reigns right now in this ring. Reigns comes out and they both drop their mics. Cue Elias from behind and the beatdown is on. Drift Away leaves Reigns laying. Great. More McMahon Family Fun as Shane and Vince like each other again.

Post break Elias and Shane promise more to come for Reigns.

We look back at Kevin Owens becoming an honorary member of the New Day.

Kofi Kingston is proud to be WWE Champion and Owens comes in to shout a lot. He’s happy to be part of the team and wants to do them proud.

Finn Balor vs. Andrade

Non-title. During the entrances, Vega and Andrade say Balor can’t run and promises to extend Andrade’s legacy with the Intercontinental Title. A very early Vega distraction lets Andrade kick him to the floor, setting up a corkscrew dive to send us to a break. Back with Balor reversing a powerbomb into a DDT. The Coup de Grace is broken up so Balor gets in a sunset flip for two instead.

Andrade is sent outside and that means the running flip dive (good looking one too) to crush Andrade again. Back in and Andrade elbows him in the face, setting up the running knees in the corner for two. Vega tries to interfere with a high crossbody but Andrade catches her instead, allowing Balor to hit the shotgun dropkick into the corner. Now the Coup de Grace can finish Andrade at 7:51.

Rating: C+. This has been WWE telling you that their first match didn’t matter, as Balor should have no reason to face Andrade again. Now of course he will because we need a trilogy match between two people whose first two matches might have been fifteen minutes combined. Just make sure the title is on the line next time because losing to the champ gets you a title shot.

Elias sings a challenge to Roman for Money in the Bank. Shane pops up and likes the idea before they leave together.

Earlier today, Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville told Paige that they were above her now and Absolution wasn’t happening again.

Kairi Sane vs. Peyton Royce

Before the match, the IIconics declare Kairi and Asuka super lame-os instead of superheroes. Last week, Peyton only got pinned because she was dehydrated. Tonight though she’s had a whole GALLON OF WATER (Billie: “Really? A whole gallon?”) so she’s ready to give Kairi her first loss on Smackdown. Kairi kicks her in the arm to start and kicks Peyton in the back, setting up the Interceptor spear. The Sliding D in the corner sets up the Insane Elbow to finish Peyton at 1:35.

Post match Sonya and Mandy come out to applaud Kairi.

Aleister Black sits down in a dark room and says he won’t explain his tragic backstory. You’ll learn about him soon enough.

Jinder Mahal vs. Chad Gable

Mahal is another bonus Superstar Shakeup move. And never mind as Lars Sullivan jumps Gable from behind during his entrance. Mahal runs so Sullivan beats up the Singh Brothers. R-Truth runs in and tries to go after Sullivan but gets laid out as well. No match.

We look at the Shane/Reigns/Elias segment again.

Reigns accepts the Money in the Bank challenge.

Here’s Charlotte for a chat. She talks about the main event of Wrestlemania but there’s a problem: Ronda Rousey lost the Smackdown Women’s Title for her and now Becky is carrying it around without beating Charlotte. This brings out Becky, who says it was Winner Take All at Wrestlemania. Becky did what Charlotte couldn’t and now she’s Becky Two Belts. Charlotte laughs it off and says that every time Lacey Evans knocks her out, it’s Charlotte in her head.

They start talking over each other with Becky saying she wants fresh challengers but management keeps putting Charlotte in front of her. If Charlotte wants to work her way up, Becky can beat her again and still be Becky Two Belts. This brings out Bayley, who says Becky has never beaten her. Charlotte tells Bayley to get in the back of the line so Bayley calls her out for always getting title shots. Bayley slaps the mic out of her hand and says earn a title shot for a change.

Bayley vs. Charlotte

Bayley shoves her down to start and hits the running elbow to the back. That’s shrugged off and Charlotte chokes on the ropes, only to get rolled up out of the corner for two. A middle rope crossbody gives Bayley the same and she hits a running shoulder in the corner. Charlotte pops back up and goes after the knee as we take a break.

Back with Bayley kneeing her in the face but holding the knee in pain. Charlotte runs her over again but misses the moonsault. A belly to back gives Bayley two and the running elbow in the corner gets the same. Bayley gets pulled off the ropes but is fine enough to small package her way out of the Figure Eight for two. The spear finishes Bayley at 10:38.

Rating: C. Why yes, they did bring Bayley over to Smackdown to lose to Charlotte to set up another Becky vs. Charlotte match. I mean, they haven’t gone one on one on pay per view in over a month so it’s time to do the same thing all over again. Someone really needs to introduce WWE to the law of diminishing returns as it seems to be a very foreign concept.

Post match Becky says that she’ll give Charlotte a title shot at Money in the Bank, meaning she’s working twice that night.

We see the Firefly Fun House video, though they make sure to cut to a shot of the crowd watching it, just in case you started to get into what they were presenting.

Kofi Kingston vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Non-title, Rusev and Lana are at ringside and Owens and Woods have their own announcers’ table. Nakamura misses an early kick to the head and gets sent to the floor. Kofi teases a dive so Nakamura can get back in, where he takes Kofi down into a cross armbreaker. That’s switched into a cross armbreaker but Kofi stacks him up for two and the escape. Kofi’s top rope splash to the back gets two and a dropkick puts Nakamura on the floor again. A dive is cut off with a kick to the face though and Nakamura adds the knee drop off the apron.

Back from a break with Nakamura hitting more knees, followed by a kick to the head. They head outside with Nakamura kicking him out of the air for two as we go to New Day for more commentary. Kofi flips to his feet and goes to the middle rope but Nakamura hits the sliding German suplex to take him down again. Kinshasa is countered with the standing double stomp. Trouble in Paradise misses so Kofi settles for the SOS, drawing in Rusev for the DQ at 13:23.

Rating: B-. The ending wasn’t exactly in doubt as WWE isn’t about to push Nakamura into the World Title scene all of a sudden. Kofi not winning isn’t the biggest problem in the world as it’s basically a matter of time until he loses the title. Good match from two good workers, but what comes after is probably what really matters.

Post match Owens and Woods make the save with Woods being taken down. Owens cuts the nonsense and superkicks Kofi, setting up the big beatdown. He shouts that Kofi’s kids better have had a good time because Owens is coming for the title. Kofi tries to fire up but gets stomped down in the corner. Woods breaks up the apron powerbomb so Owens gives it to him instead to end the show. I know it seemed obvious from the beginning, but that’s because it was obvious from the beginning. Why stretch it out for another few weeks instead of just getting to the point already?

Overall Rating: C+. I don’t know if it’s the lack of Baron Corbin or the show just not trying to feel so big and important but this is such an easier night to watch than Raw. Kofi vs. Owens isn’t the most interesting in the world but it’s fine for Kofi’s first feud, especially when it’s a very strong possibility that Owens could win the title. The rest of the show had some questionable decisions but the action was good and nothing was all that bad. Or maybe it is just the lack of Corbin.

Results

Finn Balor b. Andrade – Coup de Grace

Kairi Sane b. Peyton Royce – Insane Elbow

Charlotte b. Bayley – Spear

Kofi Kingston b. Shinsuke Nakamura via DQ when Rusev interfered

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2000 Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Part 1 (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/02/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-thunder-reviews-volume-vii-january-june-2000/

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

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

Shield’s Final Chapter
Date: April 21, 2019
Location: Taxslayer Center, Moline, Illinois
Commentators: Renee Young, Corey Graves, Michael Cole

Welcome to your weekly “WWE must have fresh content” show as we get a special look in at a house show where the Shield is teaming together for THE LAST TIME EVER WE PROMISE AND WE’RE NOT CHANGING IT AGAIN FOR REAL THIS TIME. This would be at least the third farewell moment for the team, but this time it’s televised. Oh and we get an Intercontinental Title match for a bonus. Let’s get to it.

The announcers welcome us to the show and run down the card, which does indeed have a third match added.

Video on the history of the Shield, which really is quite the dominant run. They do include the split, which is one of those things that has to be included to really complete the story.

Intercontinental Title: Finn Balor vs. Elias

Balor is defending and is in trouble at the opening bell as Elias jumps him again and stomps away. Elias starts working on the arm, meaning it’s off to the armbar early on. A pull of the arm cuts off Balor’s comeback and the arm goes hard into the buckle. Balor does the same thing to Elias and gets two off a rollup. A Fujiwara armbar has Balor in more trouble and for some reason his skin looks yellow.

The hold is broken up and the Sling Blade connects but Elias clotheslines him right back down. Balor goes up and gets caught, nearly getting knocked onto the announcers’ table right next to the apron. With Renee running for cover, Balor grabs a sunset flip for two, which seemed to be the planned finish but Elias’ shoulder was up (that’s kind of a big deal at the moment). La majistral finishes Elias at 6:46.

Rating: D+. It was watchable enough and nothing that we haven’t seen done better on Raw in recent months. That being said, this wasn’t the focal point of the show and there’s nothing wrong with throwing it onto the card to pad things out a bit. Both guys get good reactions from the crowd so starting the night off with a quick match worked well enough.

Post match Elias loads up another song but the Riott Squad cuts him off. They want to sing along and try their hand, but the song turns into one about loving them instead of him. The dejected look on Elias’ face is funny, even as he gets cut off again.

Bayley/Ember Moon vs. Riott Squad

This is announced as a six woman tag but it’s two on two with Liv Morgan on the floor. Bayley sends Logan into the corner to start and gets thrown down on her face as a result. Logan gets in her own toss into the corner and it’s off to Riott vs. Moon, which is treated as a big deal. That doesn’t last long before Logan comes in again and takes a Stroke of all things. Bayley adds a baseball slide but Morgan breaks up the top rope elbow. Logan’s running knees in the corner rock Bayley again and it’s off to the standing Cloverleaf.

With that broken up, a hot shot into the buckle (this match likes corners) almost allows the hot tag to Moon but Riott breaks it up. As is the case EVERY SINGLE TIME, the hot tag goes through a few seconds later with Moon getting to clean house. Riott kicks her in the face and grabs a rollup for two with Liv holding on as a bonus. The referee does his job for a change and ejects Morgan, leaving Riott to take the Eclipse for the pin at 7:12.

Rating: C-. Another Raw level match and I can’t even get annoyed at Riott taking another pin. That’s the kind of thing that is just going to happen over and over again and it’s not worth getting annoyed over. What did annoy me was that false hot tag into the hot tag thing. Just do something else now and then to mix it up a bit. Like, let the tag go through on the first attempt for once.

The Shield goes old school with the pick up the camera promo, talking about how many changes they’ve caused around here. Those changes are still going. Believe that.

We look at Bobby Lashley, Drew McIntyre and Baron Corbin interfering in a Lucha House Party six man earlier tonight, beating up both teams to show off how awesome they are.

Shield vs. Baron Corbin/Drew McIntyre/Bobby Lashley

Before the match, the villains get to say something. Corbin says we’re not going to get a happy ending, just like we didn’t at Wrestlemania. Lashley promises violence. McIntyre wraps it up by saying history is written by the victors and the beating will be real tonight. Rollins has his original Shield vest in a nice touch. Rollins and Corbin start things off in what is likely a future pay per view title match.

Corbin shoulders him down and we hear a story about Renee and Dean’s first date, which included Rollins. It’s off to Dean for the first time with a sliding clothesline putting Corbin in more trouble. Lashley comes in and gets a clothesline of his own as the Shield starts picking up the pace on the villains. We settle down to Reigns vs. McIntyre with the Samoan drop giving Reigns two. Ambrose comes in again and the suicide dive hits McIntyre. Lashley and Corbin are right there to beat Dean down though and it’s Ambrose in trouble for the first time.

Corbin knocks Rollins and Reigns off the apron though and Dean slaps on a surprise Figure Four with McIntyre making the save. A snap suplex almost lets Dean get over for the tag so Lashley is right back with a belly to belly. Dean finally gets in a neckbreaker so Rollins can come in with the springboard clothesline. Corbin’s chokebreaker is countered into a rollup for two but Lashley clotheslines him from behind.

Rollins is fine enough to knock both of them off the top and high crossbody Corbin, allowing the tag to Reigns. Everything breaks down and the standing elbow lets Dean drop Drew. There’s a Rebound Lariat from Dean and a superkick from Seth at the same time, plus a spear to cut Lashley down. The Stomp into Dirty Deeds plants Corbin and it’s the final TripleBomb for the pin at 14:26.

Rating: C+. It’s almost every Shield match you’ve seen for years, but very thankfully about ten minutes shorter than the original match at Fastlane. There was no doubt about who was winning here and there was no need to have these goons and McIntyre put them in trouble for very long. This was the Greatest Hits version of the Shield and that’s exactly what it should have been in their swan song.

Post match the Shield poses and the fans thank Ambrose, including a PLEASE DON’T GO chant. Rollins: “Don’t you think we tried that already?” Seth talks bout how long it took to get us here and how none of this would be possible without the family in the ring. They hug and say something the mic isn’t supposed to hear and it’s time for Ambrose’s big farewell.

Dean talks about how the three of them are just like everyone else: if you work hard enough you can get anywhere you want to go and (with a point to Reigns) overcome any obstacle in front of you. If someone tells you that you can’t do something, stick your middle finger in the air and go get it. Reigns actually doesn’t say anything and it’s posing to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. It wasn’t a show that you need to see whatsoever but they were in and out in about an hour and ten minutes so it’s not like it’s overly long. It’s really more of a footnote than anything else and after saying goodbye to the Shield so many times already, it’s kind of hard to get invested in it all over again. For a third of a house show with a special main event, it was completely fine but only worth seeing if you’re a major Shield fan.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2000 Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Part 1 (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/02/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-thunder-reviews-volume-vii-january-june-2000/

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

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

You’ve probably seen this before.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/kbs-review-without-much-feeling/

IMG Credit: WWE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Drew McIntyre vs. Dolph Ziggler

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

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

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

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

Bayley vs. Alicia Fox

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

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

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

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

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

Elias vs Lio Rush

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

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

A disgusted Slater leaves.

We recap the opening segment.

We recap the Tag Team Title change.

We recap Ruby Riott revealing the Jim Neidhart table.

We recap Drew McIntyre injuring Dolph Ziggler.

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

Tamina vs. Ember Moon

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

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

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

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

Lars Sullivan video.

Intercontinental Title: Seth Rollins vs. Baron Corbin

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results

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

Drew McIntyre b. Dolph Ziggler – Claymore

Bayley b. Alicia Fox – Bayley to Belly

Lio Rush b. Elias – Guitar to the back

Ember Moon b. Tamina

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

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Starrcade 2018
Date: November 25, 2018
Location: US Bank Arena, Cincinnati, Ohio
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton

This is something that could range from interesting to head scratching. Last night, WWE held a big house show featuring stars from both shows under the name of Starrcade. The show ran about three and a half hours and tonight we’re seeing a one hour version with some special moments and matches selected. Let’s get to it.

Note that I was in the arena for the show so this will be my second time seeing it. You can check out a full set of results right here.

We open with Elias playing a little song. He knows it can’t get better than having him here but he’s willing to try with a special guest. That would be Ric Flair, who puts Elias over as a big deal. Elias thinks they need to sing a son off his album and asks people to silence their cell phones, but here are Nia Jax, Mickie James, Tamina and Alicia Fox to cut them off. Nia says they want to walk with him and Flair is rather pleased.

Flair calls them all beautiful and Elias sings some of Elias’ Words. Even Flair gets in a few lines and dances a bit until Nia screeches out a line, much to the fans’ annoyance. Fox starts dancing but Elias calms them down. Elias tells Nia to shut her mouth, but he’s got some friends to do it for him. This was HEAVILY edited as the full version ran nearly twenty minutes as opposed to the ten it got here.

Nia Jax/Tamina/Mickie James/Alicia Fox vs. Bayley/Sasha Banks/Ember Moon/Dana Brooke

Ember and Mickie start things off with both going for the arm until Ember hits the spinning middle rope crossbody for two. Brooke comes in for the handspring elbow and the cartwheel moonsault for a near fall of her own. It’s off to Bayley to a nice reaction, sending Mickie over to Tamina for some hiding. Tamina comes in properly and crushes Bayley in the corner before sending her to the apron. That earns Tamina a Stunner over the middle rope but Nia sneaks in to run Bayley over for two.

The rapid fire tags in the corner allow Fox to grab a chinlock before Jax does the same. Bayley sends Jax into her partners though and that’s enough for the hot tag to Banks. Everything breaks down and Moon hits the Eclipse on Tamina, followed by Brooke’s high crossbody to Mickie’s knees. Jax gets taken down and Bayley drops a top rope elbow to the back, leaving Fox to get caught in the Bank Statement for the tap at 6:53.

Rating: C-. Perfectly fine opener here that didn’t overstay its welcome and played off a fun opening segment. Banks and Bayley were very over with the live crowd and anything that involved Jax taking a beating was getting a strong reaction. Now if only Bayley and Banks were allowed to do anything interesting, or even different, from week to week.

Samoa Joe says the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Some might say Joe has been insane, but others might think AJ has been because AJ has taken beating after beating. The real definition of insanity is walking into a cage with Joe and expecting to walk out at all.

Here’s Miz for MizTV, starting off with a discussion of some great Starrcade matches from years gone by. One such match was for the US Title, which will be on the line tonight. That includes Rey Mysterio, who comes out in a neck brace thanks to Randy Orton on Smackdown and Shinsuke Nakamura, who looks weird in all blue. Miz asks Rey what it means for Rey to be here and we hear some Starrcade legends name dropping.

Rey wants to take a piece of history with him, like the US Title. Nakamura doesn’t quite get the idea of Starrcade but eventually clarifies that he doesn’t care about the show or Rey. He loved watching Orton go evil on Rey and Miz agrees, so Rey tells him to shut up. Rey invites Nakamura to get evil right now but Miz runs his mouth again, this time for a distraction so Nakamura can jump Rey to start us off.

US Title: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Rey Mysterio

Nakamura is defending and rips the neck brace off to start fast with the knees to the neck. Kinshasa is countered into a rollup for two but Nakamura blasts him down again. Rey is put on the corner for the running knee to the ribs but kicks Nakamura down. That sets up a missed dive which takes out Miz instead and I think you know where this is going. The springboard seated senton drops Nakamura, only to have Miz come in for the DQ at 2:11.

Post match the beatdown is on until Rusev makes the save. Lana is out with him and wants a tag match right now.

Rusev/Rey Mysterio vs. Shinsuke Nakamura/The Miz

The villains tease leaving to start but get thrown back in so we can start properly. Nakamura breaks up an early 619 to Miz and cranks on a cravate to Rey’s bad neck. Rey gets sent outside for some cheap shots from Miz and it’s right back to the neck cranking. A kick to the face finally gets Rey out of trouble and an enziguri is enough for the hot tag to Rusev.

Everything breaks down in a hurry and there’s the Machka Kick for two on Miz with Nakamura making the save. Another distraction lets Miz hit the Skull Crushing Finale for two but Rey is right back up with a double 619. The jumping superkick is enough to put Miz away at 6:05.

Rating: C. All it was missing was Alfred Hayes and Sean Mooney calling it a Coliseum Video exclusive. This was a rather random tag match that worked just fine, even though it didn’t get a ton of time. There’s nothing wrong with that of course and the wrestling worked perfectly fine for what it was. I don’t need to see either of them team together again, but at least it was fun.

Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles

In a cage. Joe goes right at him to start and drives AJ into the corner but some kicks to the leg have Joe in trouble. AJ starts driving him into the corner as well, this time for some shoulders to the ribs. Back up and Joe faceplants him before starting the whips into the cage, which you had to know were coming. A running forearm drives AJ into the cage and a back elbow gets two.

It’s too early for Joe to leave so Joe slams him out of the corner instead. The corner enziguri rocks AJ again for two but Joe misses a charge into the cage to give AJ a shot. AJ’s moonsault out of the corner into the reverse DDT gets two, even with Joe’s foot on the ropes because that doesn’t matter in a cage match. Well not in this one at least as that rule changes depending on how the referee is feeling at the time.

Joe ducks the Phenomenal Forearm and plants AJ again for a double knockdown. It’s time to fight next to the door but Joe misses another charge and gets caught with a tornado DDT. That’s good for two and AJ is sent face first into the cage again, setting up the backsplash for two. AJ charges into a Rock Bottom out of the corner but Joe takes too much time going for the door, allowing AJ to get in a chop block. The Calf Crusher makes Joe tap at 11:54.

Rating: B-. Good match here, but were you expecting anything else from these two? They could have a good match in their sleep so having them do it inside a cage isn’t exactly shocking. AJ winning makes complete sense as it’s not like this match means much in the first place and he’s won almost everything in the whole feud now anyway. As solid as these two are against each other, Joe really needs to move on to someone else, just to avoid losing any more.

Overall Rating: C+. Well it was fun while it lasted, but the whole thing ran three and a half hours as opposed to this one only getting fifty seven minutes. Given that it’s the WWE Network, you would think they could just air the full show, especially since they were already filming the thing anyway. What we got was good, but there was a lot of other rather entertaining stuff that was left out for reasons I still don’t quite get. Anyway, fun little show, but nothing worth going out of your way to see.

Results

Bayley/Sasha Banks/Dana Brooke/Ember Moon b. Tamina/Nia Jax/Alicia Fox/Mickie James – Bank Statement to Fox

Rey Mysterio b. Shinsuke Nakamura via DQ when Miz interfered

Rusev/Rey Mysterio b. Shinsuke Nakamura/The Miz – Jumping superkick to Miz

AJ Styles b. Samoa Joe – Calf Crusher

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Sure why not. Last year, WWE brought back Starrcade in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, marking the first edition of the show in about seventeen years. Now it seems to be a tradition over Thanksgiving weekend (the show’s original time, at least in general) and I took in this year’s edition in the US Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio. The show ran over three and a half hours, including a fifteen minute intermission.

Before the show, they aired an ad for the Wednesday night lineup, including the Mae Young Classic. The show that ended a month ago.

The crowd was hot all night and attendance was strong, with some sections blocked off. I didn’t see a hard camera so I’m not sure how this was shot, though there were regular cameramen around all night.

The show opened with a tribute video to Dusty Rhodes, who created the idea for Starrcade. This was well received and you could tell the fans were slightly older here, with a lot of Ric Flair and Dusty fans all night long.

After a Welcome to Starrcade (not THIS IS STARRCADE but close enough) from hometown boy Greg Hamilton, we opened with Elias playing a little guitar and bringing out Ric Flair to a huge ovation. Flair was in fine form tonight, hitting on various women and saying that Elias would be at the Hyatt hotel tonight waiting for them. Flair wanted to walk with Elias and said Elias could have any woman he wanted….except Charlotte of course. They started to sing one of the songs off of Elias’ album but were interrupted by Mickie James, Tamina, Alicia Fox and Nia Jax (who uh, wasn’t popular). After Flair hit on Mickie, this happened:



After the song was over, Elias said that Nia’s singing was almost as painful as her hitting Becky in the face. That didn’t sit well but we had some more visitors to set up a match.

Bayley/Sasha Banks/Dana Brooke/Ember Moon b. Nia Jax/Tamina/Mickie James/Alicia Fox – Bank Statement to Fox (6:50, C).

This was a really good choice for an opener with the fans going coconuts for Bayley and Banks while booing Jax out of the building anytime she was even looked at. With Bayley in trouble, Jax came in and loaded up the right hand before smiling and putting on a chinlock. I’m not wild on her getting such a push after all of her errors, but she knows how to milk things. Brooke managed to botch two moves in about thirty seconds of ring time, including a slam (she nearly dropped whoever she was picking up) and trying a high crossbody that hit James in the legs. Banks got the hot tag and everything broke down with Banks making Fox tap.

Drew McIntyre b. Finn Balor – Claymore (7:06, C+).

The hot crowd continued here with the fans being very pleased by Balor. Dolph Ziggler was out with McIntyre in street clothes and interfered a few times, suggesting that his foot injury isn’t going to keep him out of action for that long. Balor fought back and hit his usual stuff but a Ziggler distraction let McIntyre avoid the Coup de Grace and hit the Claymore for the pin.

B Team b. Revival – Sunset flip to Dawson (5:32, D).

There’s not much to say here as Axel did his dancing and annoyed the Revival, who said they were here to wrestler and not make people laugh. The B Team’s entrance was over, which isn’t a surprise given how catchy it is. This really could have been cut and I’m still not sure how to handle the B Team being former Tag Team Champions and the Revival never winning the belts.

Smackdown Tag Team Titles: The Bar(c) b. New Day – Brogue Kick to Big E. (8:37, C).

This was another fun one as the crowd was WAY into New Day’s antics. Before the match, Kofi LAUNCHED some pancakes into the crowd but had some left to throw at the Bar. They actually threw them back at New Day in a fun segment. The cool spot of the match saw Big E. get kicked in the face and nearly fall down but wave his arms to keep his balance and then clapping while in the Trish Stratus Matrix pose. It was really impressive and another example of what an athletic freak he is.

There was a funny spot in the middle where the spike White Noise got two and Sheamus yelled at the referee in the corner. The referee yelled right back at him and Sheamus backed off in a hurry, even cowering in the corner. Cesaro got in on it too and almost got yelled off the apron. Earl Hebner used to do that with HHH but I haven’t seen it in years. It’s still very funny though. Anyway Kofi got beaten down but made the hot tag and hit a big dive (with trombone accompaniment) but Big E. walked into the Brogue for the pin. Fun match.

Bray Wyatt b. Baron Corbin – Rollup (7:08, C-)

Corbin came out gloating over injuring Braun Strowman on Raw and issued an open challenge. This was Bray’s first match since September 15 and the time away seems to have done him some good. He was a full on face here, even slapping hands on his way to the ring. There was definitely an extra energy to him and it showed a lot. Wyatt didn’t hit Sister Abigail, but did almost every other signature spot. Corbin tried the slide under the ropes clothesline once too often and got rolled up for the pin.

Post match, Corbin said that didn’t count because of various reasons so they restarted it as a No DQ match. This brought out Ziggler and McIntyre to beat Wyatt down but Balor and Elias ran in for the save. The good guys eventually took over and Sister Abigail finished Corbin at 4:15. Call the whole thing a C, with Wyatt’s return being a very nice surprise.

Intermission.

Charlotte b. Asuka – Rollup (10:08 B).

Easily the match of the night so far, though the fans weren’t sure what to make of Charlotte. She slapped hands on the way to the ring but then bragged about injuring Ronda Rousey, which didn’t sit well with the crowd at all. But hey, I guess the whole crowd is antiquated and stupid for not understanding WWE’s brilliant moves. Asuka’s offense still looked crisp but her aura is long gone and she’s just one of the women on the roster now. Charlotte hit a hard spear for two but had to keep rolling out of arm holds, including three Asuka Locks. One more rollup gave her the pin and they posed together after.

MizTV with Rey Mysterio, in a neck brace, and Shinsuke Nakamura. Rey namedropped some Starrcade legends, including Eddie Guerrero to a very positive reaction. Nakamura was pleased with what he saw Randy Orton do to Rey on Tuesday and wanted in on it. The fight was on in a hurry.

US Title: Rey Mysterio b. Shinsuke Nakamura(c) via DQ when Miz interfered (2:11)

This was just a quick one with Rey doing what he could but taking Miz out by mistake. Rey did get a good near fall on a cradle to counter Kinshasa. You could see the finish from the Miz landing, but I don’t think you saw what was coming next.

Rusev/Rey Mysterio b. The Miz/Shinsuke Nakamura – Jumping superkick to Miz (6:20, C-).

What in the name of Coliseum Video exclusives is this? The double beatdown was on after the previous match but Rusev ran out and Lana challenged the villains for the tag match. Amazingly enough, Lana is really, really good in the cheerleader role. This was quite the mess but the whole visual of these oddball teams worked well enough. Not bad or anything, and Rey hitting a double 619 made up for a lot of it.

Brief pause to set up the cage, with highlights of Flair vs. Sting from Starrcade 1989 playing to fill in time.

AJ Styles b. Samoa Joe – Calf Crusher (12:35, B-).

Picture every match these two have had and put it in a cage. That’s about what they did here and while it wasn’t great, it’s virtually impossible for these two to screw something up. AJ worked the leg and Joe sent him into the cage a bunch but since AJ couldn’t springboard, he settled for the submission win. Of note, Joe grabbed for the rope and the referee told AJ to break before realizing that wasn’t the case and letting the hold continue. That’s good, as the fans were yelling at him over the flaw in logic.

Intercontinental Title: Seth Rollins(c) b. Dean Ambrose – Rollins escaped the cage (18:53, B).

Both got great reactions but the hometown Ambrose’s was a little bit better, despite him playing a full on heel and sneering at the crowd. They beat each other up rather well with the only weapon being a kendo stick brought in before the match started. There was a long slugout which got the fans even more into the match and some good near escapes. That being said, there were multiple instances of both guys doing slow climbs when there was nothing stopping them from going through the door, including when Dean had him tied up in the Tree of Woe. They eventually fought on top but Ambrose came down and went for the door, which Rollins kicked into his head to escape and retain.

Overall, it was a very fun show that was a combination tribute to Flair and Rhodes and a really strong house show. Other than the B Team vs. Revival, this all felt important and big and I was half expecting a title change with Mysterio vs. Nakamura. It was a cool moment and the Starrcade graphic was very nice to see again. I’m not sure why they aren’t airing the full thing on the Network, but the one hour version should be fun.

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lars Sullivan is coming.

Sasha Banks/Bayley vs. Nia Jax/Tamina

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Revival vs. Lucha House Party

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

We look back at Charlotte attacking Ronda Rousey last night.

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

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

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

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

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

Survivor Series 2019 is in Chicago.

AOP vs. Chad Gable/Bobby Roode

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

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

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

The B-Team shills merchandise.

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

Natalya vs. Ruby Riott

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

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

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

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

Results

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

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

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

Ronda Rousey b. Mickie James – Armbar

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

Natalya b. Ruby Riott – Rollup

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: October 29, 2018
Location: Spectrum Center, Charlotte, North Carolina
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Renee Young

It’s the go home show for Crown Jewel and the question now is how they survive the fans not wanting to hear about the show. When Undertaker can’t make mention of the show without being booed out of the building, they’re in serious trouble. Brock Lesnar is here tonight too and that means a lot of Ladies and Gentlemen. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with the Roman Reigns announcement from last week. Nothing wrong with that.

You know something big is happening in the Super Bowl, the Stanley Cup Finals and the Academy Awards, but this time you know for a fact what’s coming. Cue Braun Strowman to say Lesnar is going to get these hands. Corbin tries to separate them and gets powerslammed. Lesnar and Strowman stare each other down until another powerslam leaves Corbin laying. Brock picks up the title and puts it on his shoulder so Corbin gets powerslammed again. That means an F5 for Strowman and Brock poses. Just a hype segment for the title match and it was fine.

We look back at Dean Ambrose turning on Seth Rollins.

Finn Balor vs. Bobby Lashley

Balor gives Corbin a Too Sweet sign as he’s carried out. I knew it would be Lashley before the announcement because they’ve only done the match once and that means it’s time to do it at least once more the next week. Lio Rush comes out to say that Balor didn’t deserve that win last week because he has way too much false bravado. Maybe Balor can help cheer for Lashley instead of standing there in his leather jacket. Lashley takes him straight into the corner for some shoulders to the ribs and a side slam. The nerve hold goes on as Rush says Lashley smells like money. Does Rush just walk around smelling Lashley?

Balor gets up and dropkicks him to the floor for the big flip dive and they’re both down as we take a break. Back with Balor in trouble and the nerve hold going on again. Balor fights up and punches his way out of a powerbomb attempt, setting up the double stomp to the ribs. Lashley’s spinning Dominator gets two, at least partially because Lashley stops to adjust the headband. The delayed vertical suplex is escaped and the Sling Blade drops Lashley. Rush shoves him off the top to break up the Coup de Grace and the DQ at 8:59.

Rating: C-. I’ll take that over Lashley taking another pin though it’s not like Balor really benefits from this. These two have no direction of note at the moment and it’s a little disappointing that things haven’t picked up a bit with the empty space on top of the card. You would think they might see what sticks up there but having Lashley get pinned one week and then Balor win via DQ the next isn’t going to get them there.

Post match Lashley beats Balor down and Rush gets in a slap. He gets a message on his phone and seems very pleased.

Back from a break, Lashley and Rush go to see a banged up Corbin. He liked seeing Balor get what was coming to him and thinks Lashley should get a reward. Therefore, he’s now in the World Cup of Wrestling, replacing John Cena because he didn’t qualify in the first place.

After Evolution, Becky Lynch interrupted Ronda Rousey after an interview and said she’ll see her soon. They meet at Survivor Series.

Lita/Trish Stratus/Bayley/Sasha Banks/Natalya vs. Riott Squad/Alicia Fox/Mickie James

Alexa Bliss is with the villains. Trish takes Logan down to start and does the same off a flying headlock takeover. She does it to Logan again with a headscissors to Riott at the same time. Lita comes in for a clothesline to Morgan in the corner and the DDT plants Morgan again. It’s too early for the moonsault so Bayley and Banks hit stereo baseball slides and dives off the apron as we take a break.

Back with Fox in trouble as Banks and Trish drop a double elbow. Fox takes over on Banks though and it’s off to Mickie for a chinlock. Notice that Mickie talks a lot of trash during the hold. So many people would just sit there and glare at the camera. It adds a little something and keeps the hold from being so bland, which is a nice little touch. Logan comes in for a chinlock of her own and screams a lot while holding onto Banks.

It’s off to Fox, who gets kicked into the wrong corner, though she manages to knock down everyone but Natalya. That means it’s off to Natalya for a basement dropkick and the discus lariat for two. Everything breaks down and Bayley and Lita hit stereo Twists of Fate, setting up a top rope elbow from Bayley to Morgan and the moonsault to Riott. Lita holds Fox for the Hart Attack clothesline from Natalya (Shouldn’t she be playing the Neidhart role?) for two, followed by the Sharpshooter to make Fox tap at 13:24.

Rating: C. This was straight out of the night after Wrestlemania XXV with Ricky Steamboat in the ten man tag. The legends looked fine (Lita barely ever hit the moonsault that well when she was active) and even one of the modern wrestlers got the win. This was perfectly fine and it’s not like Fox losing is a new thing.

The winners pose and Bayley bows to Trish and Lita.

Nia Jax says she’s cashing in her title shot at some point after Survivor Series. Ember Moon comes in and says she feels like she caught lightning in a bottle last night when she eliminated more people than Nia. That’s not cool with Jax, who thinks she’s being disrespected, so a match is set up for later.

We look at Ambrose turning on Rollins again.

We look at Undertaker and Kane attacking DX at Super Show-Down.

Here’s Elias for a song. He got here early because Ric Flair had been wanting to hang out with him. Flair told him that Elias was his favorite and Elias already knew. As per Flair’s request, here’s a clip of Elias laying out Baron Corbin last week to a rather positive reaction. As much as it hurt him to break one of his Fender guitars, that felt good. Elias has a song for Corbin tonight but since Corbin can’t be out here right now, he’ll take the music to Corbin.

He heads to the back, denies Dana Brooke a song, tells a guy to take a cake to his dressing room, and knocks on Corbin’s door. Corbin says go away, but Elias tells him to silence his phone and sings about Corbin being a disappointment and a taller stupider version of Kurt. Corbin comes out and is told that he used to be the lone wolf but now he’s just Stephanie’s….and here’s Jinder Mahal to jump Elias. Their match is next.

Jinder Mahal vs. Elias

Jinder jumps the banged up Elias at the bell and hits a chinlock with a knee in the back. That’s switched to an abdominal stretch for a good while until Elias mule kicks him down. That sets up some clubberin in the corner and Drift Away is good for the pin on Mahal at 4:06.

Rating: D. It’s nice to have Mahal down where he belongs with almost no mention of him being the former WWE Champion in that abomination of an idea. For a first match with Elias on the side of good….it could have been worse. He fought through adversity and won, but putting him in there against Mahal wasn’t the brightest idea in the world. Hopefully the eventual match with Corbin is a little better.

Here are the World Cup brackets:

Seth Rollins

Bobby Lashley

Kurt Angle

Dolph Ziggler

Jeff Hardy

The Miz

Rey Mysterio

Randy Orton

Video on Kurt Angle.

Angle says everyone better be ready, because he’s coming to prove that he’s still the best in the world.

Ascension vs Bobby Roode/Chad Gable vs. AOP

The other four jump the AOP before the bell and send them into metal objects. Joined in progress after the break with Cole talking about how it’s not clear what’s going to happen to the Tag Team Titles. Roode gets pulled off the apron to break up a hot tag attempt from Gable and Konnor hits a spinebuster for two with Akum making a save. Gable dropkicks Konnor into Akum to send him outside and it’s Rolling Chaos Theory into a neckbreaker to give Roode the pin on Viktor at 1:08.

Post match the AOP destroy all four of them.

Some kids with cancer tell Roman Reigns to get better.

Another look at Ambrose turning on Rollins last week.

Here’s Rollins without the Tag Team Title to thank the fans for all the support they’ve given Reigns. Last week was a crazy night that ended with him winning half of the Tag Team Titles. Then his best friend turned on him and maybe it was Seth’s fault. Maybe Ambrose couldn’t forgive Seth for four years ago when Rollins did the same thing to him.

The only person who can answer that is Dean himself but if Ambrose doesn’t want to be found, he’s not going to be found. However, Rollins knew he could find Ambrose here so if he wants the spotlight so badly, come out here and get it. Ambrose’s music plays but no one comes out. Ambrose pops up in the crowd without saying anything so Seth says at least he faced Dean like a man when he turned his back on him.

Dean comes down a few steps but still won’t say anything. Seth yells about Dean spitting on them on the most emotional night in the history of the Shield. Dean made it all about himself and now he has the spotlight, plus all of Seth’s attention from now on. With nothing being said, Seth goes up the aisle after him but Dean gets out having never said a word. They’ve got something here and watching Dean and Seth tear into each other could be amazing.

Rush talks about how the only thing left for Lashley to accomplish is to be the best in the world.

Video on DX being ready for the Brothers of Destruction.

Nia Jax vs. Ember Moon

Rating: D. This didn’t have time to go anywhere and now we’re setting up Nia vs. Tamina. I know I get annoyed at Tamina being around but this feud is going to be the worst thing they can do for her because it’s going to showcase the problem: Nia is everything Tamina is supposed to be but better. Nia is bigger, stronger, moves better, has more charisma, isn’t as injury prone, is from the same family and is even younger than Tamina. How in the world am I supposed to be interested in Tamina when there’s a better version across the ring from her?

Tamina and Nia have a post match staredown.

Lucha House Party vs. Revival

It’s Lince Dorado and Kalisto for the House Party here and I’m completely down with this. The tag division needs more teams and there’s always room for a luchador tag team. Kalisto kicks Wilder out of the corner to start as Graves already can’t stand the House Party. Wilder comes back in for a hot shot and belly to back suplex before handing it off to Dawson for a snap suplex. Dawson grabs a Gory Stretch before knocking Dorado off the apron. A little trash talking is a bad idea though as Kalisto hits a springboard Salida Del Sol to finish Dawson at 3:20 as Dorado dives onto Wilder.

Rating: D+. While I shed another tear over the Revival losing to another team, it’s a good idea to send the House Party to the main roster. It’s not like they have anything else to do on 205 Live and with the new names showing up, moving them on is hardly a stretch. Kalisto is a former US Champion so he can certainly hang on the main roster. Makes more than enough sense to me.

Here are Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre for a chat about Crown Jewel, which McIntyre isn’t on. Now that they’ve broken the Shield, Drew is looking at Lesnar vs. Strowman for the Universal Title. Ziggler says that’s cool, but Angle saying he’s going to win the World Cup isn’t so cool. He’s looked up to Angle for most of his life but now things have moved on. Ziggler is the best in WWE and the best in the world so he’s going to steal the show again.

Apollo Crews vs. Dolph Ziggler

Joined in progress with Ziggler charging into an elbow. The jumping clothesline gives Apollo two but he seems a bit shaken up. Ziggler pulls him off the top for a close two but Apollo is up again. That means a very delayed gorilla press into the standing moonsault for two on Ziggler. Apollo takes too long going up again though and the frog splash hits knees. A superkick finishes Apollo at 2:57.

Clip of Undertaker and Kane filling graves in front of tombstones for Shawn and HHH. The tone deafness of this company is amazing at times.

Here are Kane, because running Knoxville is a part time job at best, and Undertaker for the big closing segment. The fans chant for Undertaker, who says it’s not easy to reach the end. But when the reaper calls, no matter how hard you fight, it’s your time to go. I’ll let it sink in that UNDERTAKER is talking about how you have to go when your time is up. Kane says what started as a whisper has now become a deafening cry.

This Friday at Crown Jewel (minor booing), the Brothers will take the battered souls of DX to the firey gates. It will be the end of DX’s error, but that’s on Friday. Tonight, DX is being summoned to the ring right now to have their souls destroyed. Cue HHH (with glow sticks, because WWE can’t decide if this is supposed to be serious or fun) without Shawn so Kane goes up the ramp after him, allowing Shawn to sneak in and superkick Undertaker. DX bails as Undertaker sits up (after going down from something he shouldn’t fall for) to end the show. This was four old guys talking about how old they are like they’ve done for years now.

Overall Rating: D+. This was the hard sell show for Crown Jewel and….it kind of worked. The thing is, the show isn’t that interesting on its own. WWE has hit the brakes on it in a hard way because of all the controversy around it and the card never looked all that great in the first place. There’s a tournament for a prize that seems to have no meaning beyond Friday and four other matches, one of which might not even happen if the rumors about Daniel Bryan are true. That’s not exactly inspiring stuff.

That being said, this show was much more in WWE’s wheelhouse: focusing on one show (announcing Lynch vs. Rousey was a one off segment and didn’t take away any focus from Friday) and hyping it up as hard as they could. That’s been lacking due to Super Show-Down and the Evolution, so it was a necessary thing to do. It’s too little too late to really excite me over the concept, but at least it’s an effort, which is more than they’ve had so far.

Results

Finn Balor b. Bobby Lashley via DQ when Lio Rush interfered

Trish Stratus/Lita/Bayley/Sasha Banks/Natalya b. Riott Squad/Alicia Fox/Mickie James – Sharpshooter to Fox

Elias b. Jinder Mahal – Drift Away

Bobby Roode/Chad Gable b. Ascension and AOP – Rolling Chaos Theory/neckbreaker combination to Viktor

Nia Jax b. Ember Moon – Legdrop

Dolph Ziggler b. Apollo – Superkick

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