Wrestlemania XXXIX Night Two
Date: April 2, 2023
Location: SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, California
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves
Attendance: 67,553
America The Beautiful: Jimmie Allen

After a rather long intermission, we’re ready to wrap up the show and this night has a lot to live up to. The first night was outstanding and now we have the real main event, as Roman Reigns defends the WWE Universal Title against Cody Rhodes. In addition, Gunther defends the Intercontinental Title against Sheamus and Drew McIntyre and we have a Cell match as a bonus. Let’s get to it.

Jimmie Allen sings America The Beautiful.

Kevin Hart gives us the cold open again, this time talking about how the sequel has to be bigger and better. Points for not just redoing the same video from the night before and keeping up with the theme.

Miz and Snoop Dogg welcome us to the show with a quick recap and preview. Snoop is ready to get us going.

Brock Lesnar vs. Omos

The story here is that Lesnar can’t overpower Omos (with MVP). Seriously that’s about it. Lesnar can’t double leg him to start and gets tossed around. Running shoulders don’t do much for Lesnar so Omos hits a headbutt and grabs a slam. Omos throws him around again and hits some forearms to the back. We hit the bearhug, followed by another slam, and another bearhug to keep Lesnar in trouble. Lesnar fights out and is quickly chokeslammed for a near fall. Back up and Lesnar rolls some German suplexes but his back gives out on the F5 attempt. Then Lesnar hits the F5 for the pin at 4:56.

Rating: C-. Well they definitely did the right thing in keeping this short, as the whole thing was about Lesnar doing his power moves but not doing them all that well because Omos is that big. It’s a very basic story and while Omos got in some impressive stuff, it felt more like a way to get Lesnar on the show more than anything else (which granted that’s more or less what it was). Not a great match but the fans liked the big throws so points for that.

Liv Morgan/Raquel Rodriguez vs. Natalya/Shotzi vs. Chelsea Green/Sonya Deville vs. Ronda Rousey/Shayna Baszler

It’s the women’s match of the showcase tag match from last night. Baszler and Rousey (the bullies) didn’t have to qualify here and were just thrown into the match. Morgan Backstabbers Sonya to start and a one kneed Codebreaker makes it even worse. Natalya comes in for the sling shot belly to back drop. The basement dropkick puts Morgan down again but she hurricanranas her way to freedom.

Rodriguez comes in and gets to throw Natalya around, leaving Natalya to hand it off to Green. A missile dropkick has no effect so Sonya comes back in, allowing Green to grab some hair. Shotzi comes in so Baszler throws her outside, where Rousey is waiting on her. That leaves Baszler to get caught in a triplebomb, meaning Rousey has to get on the apron…but the three on one is broken up by Green and Sonya.

Shotzi dives onto people in the ring and on the floor, but Green stops to tell us to get our cameras ready. Rather than face Rodriguez, Green dives onto a bunch of people at ringside. With no one else left inside, Rodriguez powerbombs Morgan onto the pile for the big crash. Back in and Rodriguez fall away slams Shotzi, setting up the corkscrew Vader Bomb. Sonya comes in for the save though and some double teaming puts Rodriguez on the floor.

Green and Sonya celebrate until Natalya and Shotzi are back in for an assisted double Sliced Bread. A Hart Attack gets two on Sonya with Green making the save. There’s the double Sharpshooter to Sonya and Green until Morgan dives off the top for the save. Morgan takes Shotzi down but Rousey and Baszler (now with one boot and limping) come back in to break it up. Rousey armbars Shotzi for the win at 8:22.

Rating: C+. I don’t know if Baszler’s injury put she and Rousey on the floor for so long but they were almost not around whatsoever for a good chunk of the match. The match was pretty similar to its male counterpart but two of these teams felt thrown together and it hurt a lot. Rousey and Baszler winning should set them up as the monsters of the division and they would win the Tag Team Titles in about a month and a half…after Rodriguez and Morgan won them first. As usual, those things are a mess.

We look at Bobby Lashley winning the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal on Smackdown.

Lashley comes out and shows off the trophy.

Xavier Woods and UpUpDownDown preview the Intercontinental Title match.

We recap Sheamus vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Gunther for the latter’s Intercontinental Title. Gunther is a monster champion and his fellow Europeans want to hit him really hard and win the title. Sheamus and McIntyre are friends but both want the title, meaning they’re willing to fight each other. This falls into the “do we need to draw you a picture here” category. It also falls into the “we saw this video (or something really similar to it) last night” category.

Intercontinental Title: Sheamus vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Gunther

Gunther is defending and Titus O’Neil is on commentary. Sheamus and McIntyre waste no time in knocking the champ to the floor before starting to lay into each other. Sheamus hits a clothesline and takes McIntyre into the corner for some uppercuts. McIntyre is sent to the apron for the forearms but Gunther is back up with chops for both of them. Gunther sends McIntyre into the post for a crash out to the floor, followed by a big boot to Sheamus’ face.

The Boston crab has Sheamus in more trouble until McIntyre comes in to break it up. McIntyre and Gunther chop it out (and they’re loud chops too) but Sheamus is back in with the uppercuts all around. With Gunther getting back up, Sheamus ties him in the ropes for the forearms to the chest, mixed in with chops from McIntyre. That leaves Gunther down so Sheamus ties McIntyre up in the ropes for almost thirty forearms to the chest.

Gunther is back in to break up the Celtic Cross though and a German suplex drops Sheamus again. The big clothesline gives Gunther two but McIntyre is back up to suplex Sheamus into Sheamus in the corner. There’s a Futureshock to Gunther but the Claymore misses. Gunther powerbombs McIntyre down and goes up but Sheamus is right there with a super White Noise. The Celtic Cross sets up the Cloverleaf so Gunther makes the rope, which means nothing because it’s No DQ.

Sheamus lets go and puts the hold back on anyway, only to have McIntyre come in for the break. That doesn’t go well either as Sheamus knees both of them down but McIntyre cuts off the Brogue Kick. McIntyre headbutts him out to the floor and busts out the big flip dive, leaving everyone down on the floor. Cole to O’Neil: “You never did that!” O’Neil: “AND I NEVER WILL!”

Back in and Sheamus Brogue Kicks McIntyre for two, followed by the Claymore to give McIntyre two of his own. Sheamus drops McIntyre again and covers but Gunther dives in with a top rope splash. Gunther’s powerbomb to Sheamus onto McIntyre leaves them both down, followed by another powerbomb to pin McIntyre and retain at 16:35.

Rating: A. It’s rare that I’ll watch a match back on its own but I’ve seen this one more than a few times now as it’s that kind of brutal. These guys beat the fire out of each other and that is exactly how it was advertised. They didn’t stop and for once it felt like three people having a match. There were stretches where it was two in and one out, but it was a brutal and hard hitting enough match to make up for it. Excellent stuff here, as you probably should have expected.

WWE did charity work this week.

We recap Asuka vs. Bianca Belair for the latter’s Raw Women’s Title. Belair won the title last year at Wrestlemania and has become a huge star during her reign. Then Asuka showed up as an evil clown and Belair is all scared, at least somewhat due to Asuka spraying her with the mist over and over. It’s a simple story but it didn’t exactly work and this never felt like a big feud.

Raw Women’s Title: Bianca Belair vs. Asuka

Asuka is challenging and comes out with a team of masked Asukas, while Belair counters with an all girl kids dance troupe. Eh point to the champ. Belair kicks her down at the bell and hits a dropkick into the corner, setting up the right hands. That’s broken up and Asuka kicks her down, setting up the big missed kick to the head. Asuka puts her on top but Belair flips over her and hits a spinebuster for a fast two.

Something close to a triangle choke has Belair in trouble before Asuka switches to the Asuka Lock. It’s not on quite full though and Belair rolls outside, where she PLANTS Asuka with a sitout powerbomb. Back in and Belair misses a charge into the post, allowing Asuka to pull her into a heel hook. Belair powers out but Asuka grabs an ankle lock, which is rolled away for the break. Asuka is right back up with a missile dropkick for two and things slow down a bit.

They go to the apron where Asuka hits a hard dropkick into the post. Belair sends her into the post to even things up a bit, setting up a deadlift superplex to bring them back inside. Asuka’s kick to the face gets two but a Codebreaker is blocked. A running Blockbuster into a handspring moonsault gives Belair two and frustration is setting in. They go to the corner with Asuka slipping out of a fireman’s carry and hitting a Codebreaker for two of her own. Back up and the mist misses but Asuka slips out of the KOD. The cross armbreaker doesn’t quite work for Asuka though and Belair powers up for the

Rating: B-. This was good but it never hit that next level, save for maybe the final sequence. The story just wasn’t that compelling coming in and it didn’t really feel like a major showdown. Belair retaining the title over a top level challenge is good though as beating Asuka is still an impressive feat.

We look at Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens beating the Usos for the Tag Team Titles in Night One’s main event.

Here are Miz and Snoop Dogg to announce tonight’s attendance of 81,395, giving us a two day total of 161,892. That’s great, but Miz isn’t happy with Snoop for putting him into an impromptu match last night. Dogg: “So you want to do it again?” Of course not, because Miz doesn’t like being humiliated in his town. Snoop says this is the people’s city and introduces….Shane McMahon, because SHANE MUST BE A THING. Shane thanks the fans and sounds like he can barely breathe after his entrance. Time for a match

Shane McMahon vs. Miz

Shane punches him in the corner and yeah they’re as bad as before. Then he drops down, leapfrogs over Miz and….tears his quad on the landing less than thirty seconds in. That brings Snoop in to hit Miz in the face and apparently we have a replacement. Snoop knocks him down again and drops a People’s Elbow for the pin at 2:11. This seems to have been completely impromptu with either the referee telling Snoop to get in there or Snoop coming up with the idea on his own. Either way, major points to Snoop who had no idea what he was doing and gave the fans a very fun moment out of nowhere.

We recap Edge vs. the Demon Finn Balor inside the Cell. Balor threw Edge out of the Judgment Day the night he joined, setting off a feud between the two of them. This led to Judgment Day attacking both Edge and his wife Beth Phoenix, meaning it’s time for the big, violent fight.

The Cell is lowered and we get a voiceover (from Russell Crowe of all people, as part of a movie tie-in) talking about how evil it is as well.

Edge vs. Finn Balor

Inside the Cell and this is Brood Edge (and yes, his Titantron literally says BROOD EDGE), who comes out of the Brood ring of fire with a shiny mask that makes him look like the Terminator while wearing wings, against the Demon. They waste no time in getting the weapons, with Edge grabbing a red chair and Balor grabbing a purple kendo stick (because not only do you need weapons in the Cell, but you need COLOR COORDINATED weapons).

Balor gets the better of things and knocks him to the floor, only to get hammered back inside. Edge knocks him off the apron and grabs a bunch of kendo sticks (two purple, one red), some of which he uses to pin Balor into the corner of the Cell. A dropkick off the apron hits Balor to make it worse, meaning it’s time to set up the table. Balor uses the delay to get out and sends Edge hard into the steps. They get back inside where Edge hits a quick Impaler but the spear is countered with a Sling Blade.

They go outside with Balor being dropkicked through a table, only to come back in with an Unprettier. The Edge-O-Matic gets two more and it’s time to grab a ladder. Edge throws said ladder at Balor’s face and Balor is busted open BAD, meaning we pause for the medic to come inside to check on him (this led to a hilarious reaction from Mick Foley, because apparently YOU CAN PAUSE A CELL MATCH DUE TO AN INJURY).

Edge uses the delay to get a bunch of weapons ready but Balor is back up with 1916. The spear only hits ladder and Balor hits another Slind Blade. Coup de Grace connects for two and Balor climbs the ladder, only to get countered into a super Edgecution for a slightly delayed two.

That takes too long again and Balor is back up with his own weapons shots, including a bunch of chair shots to Edge. Balor climbs up but instead climbs the cage and gets onto the camera platform. This adds a full nine inched above the top rope but the Coup De Grace only hits table. Edge’s spear gets two so he unloads with chair shots to the back. The Conchairto finishes Balor at 18:10.

Rating: B-. This was the modern Cell match and that is not a good thing for the most part. The bell rang and they went straight for the weapons, which didn’t exactly make the Cell itself feel important. It was a violent and hard hitting match but other than one or two spots, I’m not sure how much the Cell was needed. Either use the Cell or don’t, because this was a street fight with the cage blocking the camera view.

We look at the Wrestlemania trailers.

Backlash is coming to Puerto Rico. You should too!

We look at the Hall Of Fame induction ceremony.

Here is the class in the stadium:

Stacy Keibler (who has not aged a day)
Andy Kaufman (represented by his family)
Great Muta (that’s a nice addition)
Tim White (Warrior Award, and his brother looks identical to him)
Rey Mysterio (that’s about as perfect of a choice for an active headliner as you could pick)

Mysterio shakes the other inductees’ hands (bowing to Muta).

We look at Set Rollins’ entrance from last night. Feel free to get on with the show at any time.

We recap Roman Reigns defending the WWE Universal Title against Cody Rhodes. The big idea here is Rhodes wants to finish his story, meaning winning the title in his dad’s honor while also completing his long rise to the top of WWE. Reigns has been champion for two and a half years and isn’t going away that fast, so it’s time for the big showdown. It feels like a main event and Cody is almost the last man standing to fight Reigns.

Smackdown World Title: Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns

Reigns is defending and has Paul Heyman/Solo Sikoa with him. Rhodes gets his big entrance and goes over to say hi to his family, including giving his weightlifting belt to an unmasked Negative One (the son of the late Brody Lee, who makes occasional AEW appearances). Reigns gets a special entrance of his own, with a team of pianists playing the start of his entrance live. We get an ACKNOWLEDGE ME from Reigns before the bell finally rings.

Rhodes hammerlocks him over to the ropes to start and Reigns isn’t impressed. A headlock takeover and a right hand has Reigns a bit more annoyed so he bails out to the floor. Heyman’s advice is that Reigns isn’t here for Rhodes because Rhodes is here for him. Heyman: “NOW SMASH HIM!” Back in and Reigns elbows him in the face, meaning it’s time to raise up a finger. Rhodes manages a dropkick (Reigns is stunned again) for two, with commentary saying that cover wasn’t about getting a pin but rather sending a message to Reigns. What that message is isn’t clear but I’d guess “Eat At Joe’s”.

The Disaster Kick is pulled out of the air though and Reigns hits a powerbomb for two. Some suplexes have Rhodes in more trouble but he’s back up to send Reigns out to the floor. That goes badly for him as well as Reigns drops him face first onto the apron. A hard slam puts Rhodes down onto the ramp but Rhodes gets in one of his own. Rhodes sends him back inside but Sikoa gets in a chair shot to the ribs, allowing Reigns to come back with the apron boot.

The cravate slows Rhodes down back inside until he fights up, only to have Sikoa interfere again. This time it lets Reigns hit a hard clothesline before whipping Rhodes into the corner to stay on his bad ribs. They go back outside with Reigns loading up the announcers’ table but getting backdropped through the other one for the big hope spot. Back in and Rhodes hits the drop down uppercut into the snap powerslam.

There’s the Cody Cutter for a big near fall so Reigns rolls outside, meaning it’s a suicide dive to hit him again. They try to get back in but Sikoa gets in a weightlifting belt shot….which the referee hears for an ejection. The distraction lets Rhodes hit Cross Rhodes for two (with Heyman looking on in fear for a nice visual). Reigns is back with some shots to the head and a release Rock Bottom gets two.

The Superman Punch is countered into a Pedigree (Heyman even reaches through the ropes this time) for two and it’s time to start the comeback. Said comeback is cut off with a Superman Punch to knock Rhodes out of the air for two more. The spear is countered into a sunset flip for two and Rhodes whips out a Figure Four for a change of pace. Reigns turns it over (while slapping the mat on the way there), with Rhodes getting over to the ropes for the break.

A big spear connects for two and now Reigns is stunned for a change. With nothing else working, Reigns hits him in the face over and over before grabbing the guillotine choke. Rhodes can’t spinebuster his way to freedom but he can slip his head out and hammer away at Reigns for a change. The referee gets bumped though and a double knockdown gives us quite the breather. Cody is back up for the Cross Rhodes but the Usos run in to break it up. The 1D drops Rhodes but here are Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn to take out the Usos.

A Stunner into the Helluva Kick leave Reigns down and the other four brawl out into the crowd. Rhodes gets the big dramatic near fall (and thank goodness that wasn’t the pin as Rhodes winning thanks to Owens and Zayn wouldn’t have worked) and they’re both down again. Back up and the slug it out with both of them being staggered off the shots. The Superman Punch is countered with the Flip Flop And Fly into the Bionic Elbow. Rhodes hits back to back Cross Rhodes….but Sikoa comes in with the Samoan Spike. The spear retains the title at 34:36.

Rating: B+. A year removed from this and my goodness I’m still amazed at the guts it took to not pull the trigger here. This was Cody’s chance to win the whole thing and they kept it on Reigns, which is quite the way to go. They beat the fire out of each other and it had the big match feel, but not pulling the trigger here still feels way off. Heck of a main event, but man they had the fans ready for the moment and just didn’t do it.

Replays and a highlight package wrap us up.

Overall Rating: B. There were some weak parts here and there but the good stuff is more than enough to carry this. Much like Night One, you can’t fault the atmosphere and the look/feel of the show, which made for a heck of a showcase for everyone involved. The main event was very good (ending aside perhaps) and the Intercontinental Title match was great, mixed in with some other strong stuff along the way. I liked this one a lot and the slightly shorter running time helped, but it’s just a few ticks below Night One’s instant classic status.

Overall Overall Rating: A-. Wrestlemania has a complicated history but this was going along with the big, epic show feel and it worked to near perfection. It’s one of the best Wrestlemanias ever and what matters is the show feeling as big as possible. Granted it helped that there was some great action, though that ending is one of those things that is going to stick in a lot of fans’ memories for a very long time. I loved the show overall, and my goodness WWE knows how to make these things work so well.

Ratings Comparison

Brock Lesnar vs. Omos

Original: C+
Redo: C-

Women’s Tag Team Showcase

Original: C
Redo: C+

Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus vs. Gunther

Original: A-
Redo: A

Asuka vs. Bianca Belair

Original: B
Redo: B-

Shane McMahon vs. Miz

Original: N/A
Redo: N/A

Edge vs. Finn Balor

Original: B
Redo: B-

Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes

Original: B+
Redo: B+

Overall Rating

Original: B+
Redo: B

Overall Overall Rating:

Original: A
Redo: A-

At least most of them are in in the ballpark. Either way, excellent show.

 

 

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Royal Rumble 2019
Date: January 27, 2019
Location: Chase Field, Phoenix, Arizona
Attendance: 48,193
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Renee Young, Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips

It’s time to go back to the stadium with another major show. The Royal Rumble has changed a good bit in recent years as it is now another extended show with a pair of Royal Rumble matches instead of just one. No one is exactly jumping off the page as a favorite in either of them, though Becky Lynch is currently the most popular person in the company. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Bobby Roode/Chad Gable vs. Scott Dawson/Rezar

Non-title but if Dawson and Rezar (regular partners injured) win, the regular teams get a title shot each. And yes, this match was completely necessary as a last minute addition. The match is so awesome that a cameraman falls down during Roode and Gable’s entrance for the always fun camera shot. Drake Maverick is with Dawson and Rezar. Dawson’s headlock on Roode doesn’t get very far as Roode takes him into the corner for a monkey flip from Gable. Wilder wouldn’t have let that happen.

An exchange of near falls doesn’t go very far so Gable hits a springboard spinning crossbody for two. Dawson takes him down though and catapults Gable into a chokeslam to put the champs in trouble. Rezar chokes on the rope and Dawson grabs a northern lights suplex for two. The chinlock doesn’t last long as it’s back to Rezar to keep knocking Gable around.

Dawson sends him into the ropes but they bang heads for a double knockdown. Rezar comes back in and tries another chokeslam but Gable reverses into an armbar over the ropes. That’s enough for the hot tag off to Roode, who hits a spinebuster on Dawson. Back up and Dawson dropkicks Rezar by mistake, leaving Roode to take a neckbreaker/moonsault combination for the pin at 6:55.

Rating: D+. This would be a textbook definition of a match that did not need to be added to the show and did nothing more than fill in time. As usual, that’s not a good idea and yet it keeps happening around here almost every show. I’m not sure how much of a point there was to having the makeshift tag team thrown out there to lose when Akam wasn’t going to be back for months. Nothing good here and a match that didn’t need to happen.

Kickoff Show: United States Title: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Rusev

Nakamura is challenging and Lana is here with Rusev. Nakamura gets driven into the corner for some shoulders to the ribs and a suplex brings him right back out. They head outside but Nakamura gets in a running kick to the face off the steps, setting up the running knee to the jaw. Back in and Bad Vibrations into the running knee to the ribs gets two and we hit the front facelock. Rusev fights up and punches away, setting up the spinwheel kick for two.

Rating: C-. Just a little better than the opener but not all that much. Nakamura taking the title from Rusev just over a month into the title reign doesn’t exactly mean much, but that’s the case with so many of the midcard title changes around here. The match was a watchable enough power exchange but it still feels like a title change for the sake of a title change.

Kickoff Show: Cruiserweight Title: Hideo Itami vs. Kalisto vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Buddy Murphy

Murphy is defending, one fall to a finish, and Ariya Daivari is here with Itami. They circle each other for a bit until Itami rolls to the floor. That leaves the other three to trade rollups for two each until Murphy hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker to drop Tozawa. Kalisto’s very springboardy hurricanrana is broken up as everything breaks down again. Kalisto tries a Cannonball off the apron but gets caught in Murphy’s suplex instead.

Itami gets back in and poses, meaning it’s time for the showdown with Murphy. The champ gets struck down in the corner and Itami demands respect as we can see his future going down the drain in a hurry. Murphy goes outside and tries to powerbomb Kalisto into the barricade, only to have Tozawa hit a suicide dive into Kalisto, which sends Murphy into the barricade for a crash. Itami throws Kalisto and Tozawa back inside so he can get two on each of them.

A Murphy distraction lets Kalisto kick Itami in the head and it’s a monkey flip to send Tozawa onto Murphy on the floor. Murphy comes back in and gets missile dropkicked by Tozawa, only to have Itami break up the top rope backsplash. Itami gets knocked to the outside though and Tozawa hits a suicide headbutt. Kalisto and Murphy follow with dives of their own with the champ getting the best of it.

Back in and Kalisto hits a hurricanrana driver for two on Murphy, who is right back up with a Liger Bomb for his own near fall. Tozawa scores with a reverse hurricanrana on Murphy but it’s Itami breaking that up. The Salida Del Sol gets two on Itami and everyone is down. A series of kicks puts everyone down again for a bit so Murphy knees Kalisto and Tozawa. Murphy slips out of whatever Itami’s spinning knee deal was (I STILL don’t get that one) and knees him down as well, setting up Murphy’s Law to retain at 12:06.

Rating: B-. Now that’s more like it with an action packed twelve minute match that actually felt like it mattered for a change. Or at least it felt like a match that had been set up more than thirty seconds before they came to the ring. Murphy continues to look like a star and it’s easy to see why he’s a much bigger deal just a year later.

The opening video looks at how important the Rumble is, with some great historical footage included. It has more history than any show not named Wrestlemania so it’s a smart move to go into that well. This switches into your regular opening video, which does its usual good job at looking at the rest of the card.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Becky Lynch vs. Asuka

Asuka is defending after taking the title from Becky in a TLC match at TLC, with Charlotte being included as well. Becky is on fire at this point and it’s a matter of time before she gets the big hero moment. They go with the aggressive lockup to start and that goes absolutely nowhere. Becky’s running shoulder earns her a running dropkick and a lot of shouting from the champ. Neither of them can get the arm so Asuka kicks her in the leg for two instead.

Becky is right back up with shots to the face and a kick to the ribs, followed by a running clothesline to sent Asuka to the floor. They switches places and you just don’t do that to Asuka, who scores with the running hip attack. Asuka heads outside as well and gets sent into the apron, only to send Becky into the post. The Bexploder sends Asuka into the barricade though and Becky is starting to seethe.

That means the aggressive stomping in the corner and the next of what is likely to be a bunch of armbars. That’s broken up so Becky avoids another hip attack and hammers away in the ropes. Asuka isn’t about to get beaten up though and pulls Becky into the Asuka Lock while still in the ropes. With that broken up, Becky fights out of the corner and grabs a Disarm-Her in the corner. That doesn’t last long either so Asuka knees her out of the air. Asuka strikes away but misses a missile dropkick so Becky can hit a Rock Bottom for two.

Back up again and they fight to the apron with Asuka hitting a fisherman’s neckbreaker to the floor and they’re both down. Asuka is in first and Becky beats the count, earning herself a basement dropkick to the head. They slug it out until Asuka kicks her head off for two. Asuka goes up so Becky stops her with a kick of her own and a super Bexploder gets a rather near fall as the crowd is staying right with them.

The middle rope legdrop misses though and Asuka catches her in a Disarm-Her. To keep up the same line of thinking, Becky gets her own Asuka Lock before switching to the Disarm-Her. Becky is too weak to get it on in full so Asuka rolls out and grabs the Asuka Lock and flips forward Cattle Mutilation style for the tag at 17:09.

Rating: B+. These two beat the heck out of each other and that finisher was the mega death version of the Asuka Lock. It’s really weird to see Becky lose though and it was even more surprising watching this live as Becky was the hottest thing around. Having her tap is a bit much, but sweet goodness would they get mileage out of that loss. The counters and different styles were awesome here though and it’s a near instant classic.

Smackdown Tag Team Titles: Shane McMahon/The Miz vs. The Bar

The Bar is defending and Miz’s dad is in the front row. Miz and Shane are together because of the Best In The World tournament but Shane has agreed to be nice to him so they can succeed together. In other words, expect the Shane Show to continue. Shane spears Sheamus down at the bell and it’s time for an early breather. Miz comes in to roll Cesaro up for two but it’s way too early for the Skull Crushing Finale.

Sheamus grabs Miz from behind to hold him in the corner though and Cesaro scores with the running uppercut. A right hand knocks Shane to the floor so Miz kicks away to avenge his fallen partner. They all head outside with Miz having to be saved from a double powerbomb through the announcers’ table. It’s too early for the big elbow through the table so Shane hits a top rope clothesline on Sheamus instead.

Shane gets sent hard into the barricade and that should let him stay down and use up all the oxygen in the first three rows. Back in and Sheamus drops a knee on Miz before cranking on the arm. The ten forearms to the chest and a double suplex back in get two as Shane is back up onto the apron. Cesaro drops a middle rope ax handle for two and Sheamus comes back in to talk more trash.

Miz sends Sheamus to the floor though and a backdrop puts Cesaro down as well. That’s finally enough for the hot tag to Shane and it’s bad punches a go-go. A DDT gets two on Sheamus and Shane loads up Coast To Coast to both of them at once. Cesaro pulls him out of the air and into the Swing though and it’s a rather long one this time.

Since it was just a really long Swing, Shane is right back with a triangle choke. Sheamus makes a save and it’s the spike White Noise for two, with no one making the save. Well you knew he was going to kick out of at least one finisher. Miz is back in to save Shane from the Brogue Kick, which hits Cesaro by mistake. The shooting star press finishes Cesaro for the titles at 13:23.

Rating: C. It’s every complaint about a Shane match that you could find: he’s pushed too hard, he looks ready to explode from hyperventilating after about eighteen seconds and he kicks out of a big finisher. Oh and now he’s a champion, naturally getting the pin in the process. It had already gotten bad and it was only going to get worse from here.

Shane and Miz celebrate with Papa Mizanin as the announcers get to praise Shane a bit.

Cole announces the attendance and Meltzer has a correction out immediately.

We recap Ronda Rousey vs. Sasha Banks. Rousey wants to see Banks get fired up and is ready to show us the difference between a Boss and a champion. Sasha promised to prove how good she was and made Natalya tap in a tag match on Monday. Graves: “It’s one thing to make Natalya submit.” Nice little unintentional insult there.

Sasha isn’t concerned about keeping her emotions in check. Tonight, she’s proving that she’s the best in the world.

Raw Women’s Title: Sasha Banks vs. Ronda Rousey

Rousey is defending and goes straight for the armbar but Banks armdrags her right back down. A springboard armdrag doesn’t work that well and Rousey mocks Banks’ pose. Rousey tries her own Three Amigos but Banks blocks the third, only to have to go to the ropes to avoid an armbar. A kick to the ribs puts Banks on the floor but Rousey punches the post by mistake.

That lets Banks hit a suicide dive to put Rousey down for a change. The chinlock doesn’t last long so Banks hits the running knees in the corner instead. Back up and Rousey hits a running elbow to the face for two so Banks hits a running knee of her own for the same. Rousey shrugs it off and loads up Piper’s Pit but gets reversed into a nasty armbar, complete with some finger bending.

Banks switches over into the Bank Statement but it’s broken up in a hurry. Now Piper’s Pit can connect and Rousey armbars her over the ropes. Rousey goes up but gets superplexed right back down so Banks can go back to the armbar. You don’t do that to Rousey, who rolls Banks over with some judo throws. They go outside with Rousey grabbing the armbar in full to make Banks tap.

Back in and Rousey hammers away in the corner but Banks gets in a shot of her own for the double knockdown. The armbar is broken up again and another Piper’s Pit is countered into a crossbody. The Bank Statement goes on until Banks switches to a Fujiwara armbar. Rousey rolls out and gutwrench suplexes the heck out of her, setting up another Piper’s Pit for the pin at 13:49.

Rating: B. This took time to get going but they were rolling at the end. Rousey was such a freak of nature as she probably hadn’t had 25 matches by this point (certainly not 10 big ones) and was going back and forth with one of the best around on the big stage. The battle of the submissions attempts worked well here and I got way into this all over again.

Post match they do a left handed handshake since Banks’ arm is wrecked. Banks does hold up the Horsewomen sign though because she isn’t the nicest loser in the world.

We recap the Kickoff Show. We’re so lucky.

John Cena has been injured and won’t be participating in the Royal Rumble. He was totally and really here and everything though. Honest. Braun Strowman is replacing him.

Beth Phoenix joins commentary.

Women’s Royal Rumble

90 second intervals and Lacey Evans (making her main roster in-ring debut, save for a random Main Event match) is in at #1, meaning she needs to introduce herself. Natalya is in at #2 and Lacey runs the ropes to start. Neither can hit a dropkick and Lacey can’t quite do a nip up. A clothesline can’t get rid of Natalya and she reverses a powerbomb with a hurricanrana. Natalya hits the discus lariat as Mandy Rose is in at #3, sending Graves over the edge all over again.

Another discus lariat drops Mandy and it’s the double Sharpshooter, which Graves says is like the even more stuffed Oreos. Liv Morgan is in at #4 and is out in less than ten seconds. Lacey and Mandy start double teaming Natalya but Lacey sends Mandy into the corner for the double Bronco Buster. Mickie James is in at #5, giving us the first non-blonde. House is cleaned in a hurry until Mickie has to save herself from being tossed by Mandy. Ember Moon is in at #6 and gets to clean house as well. No one can eliminate anyone else and it’s Billie Kay in at #7.

She’s fine with staying on the floor though, saying she’s going to wait for Peyton Royce to go in. More non-eliminations continue and it’s Nikki Cross in at #8 (Graves: “Batten down the hatches.” I really need to find out what hatches are and what it means to batten something.). She runs over Billie at ringside and then dives onto everyone else inside. Mandy and Nikki have a weird showdown with Nikki getting the better of it. Billie is inside now and get beaten up as well because she isn’t great on her own. Peyton Royce is in at #9 and it’s IIconics time. The team beats down Nikki and it’s time to fight on the ropes some more.

Tamina is in at #10, giving us Lacey, Natalya, Mandy, Mickie, Ember, Billie, Nikki Peyton and Tamina, meaning the ring is too full. Tamina gets to wreck people until Nikki gets to have another not that interesting staredown. A dropkick and tackle put Tamina through the ropes but she’s right back in with a kick to Nikki’s face. Mickie low bridges Tamina to the apron but she comes back in with the Superfly Splash to Nikki. A superkick gets rid of Mickie and it’s Xia Li in at #11.

Li kicks away at a lot of people but gets knocked down by Tamina. Sarah Logan, in Braveheart paint, is in at #12 as the ring is full and the crowd is dead. Ember has to hang on by her feet but pulls herself back in (finally a reaction) and the IIconics get rid of Cross. Charlotte is in at #13 and PLEASE get rid of some people. She gets jumped on the way in but everyone is fought off in a hurry. Lacey eliminates both IIconics at once and Charlotte kicks Li out to finally clear the ring a bit. Charlotte and Tamina have a staredown (NO ONE CARES ABOUT TAMINA!!!) and Charlotte gets rocked by a superkick.

Kairi Sane is in at #14 and she runs to the ring while looking through a telescope because of course she does. Charlotte gets rid of Tamina as Sane dives in. Charlotte chops Sane down but she’s right back up with the Insane Elbow to Logan. That’s enough to get rid of Sarah and it’s Maria Kanellis in at #15. She breaks up a staredown between Charlotte and Lacey, including a double bulldog. Charlotte is back up with a spear to Maria, who apparently doesn’t belong in this ring.

Naomi is in at #16 and that wakes the crowd up a bit. Mandy sends Naomi to the apron but gets backdropped out, only to pull Naomi to the floor. The feet don’t touch so Naomi backflips onto the barricade, tightrope walks across, and does a crazy athletic jump from the barricade to the steps. And then Mandy pulls her off the steps for the elimination anyway in a great heel move. Charlotte kicks Lacey out and it’s Candice LeRae in at #17. Candice Black Widows Ember but it’s broken up in a hurry.

Natalya powerbombs Charlotte out of the corner and it’s Alicia Fox in at #18 (I had almost forgotten about her.). Maria wants to be friends with Alicia so they beat up Sane. Alicia puts her captain’s hat on Maria before stopping to dance. Maria throws it on the ground and stomps on it….sending Alicia into a fit. She’s back up to eliminate Maria though as Kacy Catanzaro is in at #19 and starts with the hurricanranas. A slingshot version puts Alicia on the apron but she skins the cat to come back in.

Zelina Vega is in at #20, giving us Natalya, Moon, Charlotte, Sane, Candice, Alicia, Catanzaro and Vega. Candice and Vega slug it out as fallout from Andrade vs. Johnny Gargano but they slow down, meaning it’s yet another lull. Ruby Riott is in at #21 and has Logan and Morgan with her so all three pull Charlotte to the floor for some triple teaming. Fox gets the same treatment and Vega rolls to the floor to hide underneath the ring.

Riott throws Fox back inside and then eliminates her, followed by a powerbomb into the barricade for LeRae and another elimination. Dana Brooke is in at #22 and hits a weird looking sitout powerbomb on Catanzaro. Now the Squad pulls Brooke to the floor (I really can’t stand this whole people being on the floor but not eliminated deal as it makes things more confusing than they need to be) and Riott eliminates Sane. Io Shirai is in at #23 and dropkicks the Squad down, setting up the big moonsault to the floor (she was never in so it’s not an elimination).

Shirai and Riott go over the top to the apron for a slugout but they both get back in. Rhea Ripley is in at #24 but the star power hasn’t started for her just yet. She wrecks things a bit until Moon takes her down with a wheelbarrow faceplant. Brooke kicks Catanzaro to the floor but she holds her legs up, hand walks to the post, flips up to it and climbs back in to blow away Naomi’s save. Ripley blocks Catanzaro’s spinning DDT though and tosses her out for real.

Sonya Deville is in at #25 and spears Moon down but Brooke hits her with a shoulder. Brooke enziguris Ripley but gets sent to the apron and dropkicked out. Vega leans from under the ring to laugh at Brooke….and here’s freaking Hornswoggle to chase Vega back inside. That doesn’t last long as Ripley throws her out, with Hornswoggle chasing Vega to the back. Alexa Bliss is in at #26 to a MAJOR pop in her first match since September. The moonsault knees to the ribs hit Moon but Sonya pounds Bliss down in the corner. Bliss is right back by sending her to the apron though and a right hand gets rid of Sonya.

Bayley is in at lucky #27 and gets her own house cleaning segment, including a clothesline to get rid of Riott. That’s not all though as she knocks Ripley out as well as Lana is in at #28. Well not in really as she can barely walk due to her ankle injury from earlier. The trainer comes out to check on her in the aisle as Shirai saves herself from an elimination. Lana is still being checked on as Nia Jax is in at #29, only to jump Lana in the aisle for a bonus.

Fit Finlay comes out to tell her to go to the ring and it’s time for the giant to wreck some people. Shirai makes the mistake of trying a moonsault and gets knocked out in a hurry. Natalya somehow gets Jax up for a fireman’s carry but can’t do anything else with it and gets eliminated after 56 minutes. Carmella is in at #30 (an honor she won in Mixed Match Challenge), giving us a final group of Moon, Charlotte, Bliss, Bayley, Lana, Jax and Carmella, though Lana hasn’t gotten anywhere near the ring.

Carmella gets in a dropkick on Moon but Jax runs her over. Hold on though as Lana is still down so here’s Becky Lynch to say she wants the spot instead. Finlay says do it and the fans are WAY into this again. Becky gets the long awaited showdown with Jax but Charlotte breaks it up and sends Becky to the apron. That doesn’t work either and it’s Becky coming back in with a missile dropkick to Jax. Bliss goes after Moon and pulls her to the apron by the hair (freaking ow man) and then chokeshoves her out after a rather ridiculous 53 minutes.

Carmella hits a Bronco Buster on Bliss and there’s a Buckle Bomb from Bayley. Carmella and Bayley team up to throw Bliss out so Jax clotheslines them both. Charlotte saves Becky from Jax’s facebreaker so Carmella gives Becky a Downward Spiral instead. For some reason Charlotte goes up top so Carmella tries a running headscissors, only to get sent to the apron.

That lasts all of two seconds but Charlotte puts her out there again and a big boot gets us down to four (Bayley, Jax, Charlotte and Becky). Bayley dropkicks Charlotte and Jax against the ropes but Jax is right back with a big boot to eliminate Bayley, leaving us with three. The three way showdown is on with Jax splashing both of them in the corner. That sends Becky to the floor (not out) and it’s a Charlotte vs. Jax showdown that is a little more interesting than it sounds.

Something like a slow motion AA has Jax in trouble but Charlotte can’t follow up. Charlotte gets her onto the apron and Becky pulls her out, leaving us with Charlotte vs. Becky in the rivalry that won’t end. Hold on though as Jax shoves Becky off the steps and we have a knee injury. Referees check on her but Becky pulls herself back in for the fight. Well kind of at least as Becky falls straight back down as soon as she’s inside.

Becky says it’s her time and Charlotte has already taken enough from her. Charlotte, obviously, goes right after the knee but Becky kicks her in the face. She sends Charlotte to the apron but another kick to the leg cuts off the rally. Charlotte misses a charge though and a forearm sends Becky to Wrestlemania at 1:11:23.

Rating: D+. The Becky parts made it better but WOW this was badly laid out. There were far too many instances of people just standing around and doing nothing with several people staying in there too long. Ember for 52 minutes? Natalya for 56? Mandy Rose for nearly 26? You don’t need everyone in there for that long and it’s ok to come up with something other than “everyone stays on the ropes while two people do something in the middle” over and over. They got the right winner but it was a heck of a chore to get there.

Becky can barely stand but is very pleased with the results. The celebration goes on for a LONG time.

We recap AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan for the Smackdown World Title. Bryan turned heel to steal the title and became the crazy environmentalist so, after losing to Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series, it’s time for a (second) rematch. AJ is out to show that he isn’t complacent, which included attacking Vince McMahon in a story that went nowhere.

Smackdown World Title: AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan

AJ is challenging. We get the Big Match Intros and AJ hammers him down in the corner so the champ bails for a bit. Back in and they fight on the mat for a bit with AJ’s wristlock not getting him very far. A headlock works a bit better as the first gear work continues. Bryan bails to the floor again but comes back in….to get punched in the face. An uppercut puts Styles in the corner and he gets dropped chest first onto the post to give Bryan a target.

Bryan starts in on the shoulder and cranks on a hammerlock on the mat with Styles having to use his foot to reach a rope. A cross armbreaker is broken up as well so Bryan punches him in the face to even the score. AJ scores with a dropkick and the pinfall reversal sequence gets some near falls each. Bryan tosses him hard into the corner and that means the running dropkick.

A dragon suplex has AJ (with his bloody nose) rocked again and Bryan kicks him off the top and out to the floor. Bryan goes out after him but it’s the moonsault off the barricade into the perfect reverse DDT (that’s one of the best he’s ever hit). Back in and the springboard 450 hits Bryan’s knees, meaning the LeBell Lock goes on. Not to be outdone, AJ escapes and reverses into the Calf Crusher to stay on the knee.

That’s broken up as well and they’re both down for a bit. Bryan gets up first and kicks away at the arm, setting up the big kick to the head for two. AJ catches him on top and they slug it out up there, with Styles backflipping out of a belly to back superplex. The Calf Crusher goes on again before AJ switches to a cradle for two instead. Neither can get a backslide so AJ grabs a brainbuster for two more.

Rating: B+. I’m not wild on the ending but you can’t have AJ lose a clean fall here. They were working a heck of a match here with both of them going with their own style and having the other broken down. I don’t particularly care for Rowan interfering, but he and Bryan would wind up being a nice enough team so well done, even if it wasn’t the best feeling at the time.

Post match Rowan holds AJ up for the running knee from Bryan so things can continue.

We recap Finn Balor vs. Brock Lesnar for the Raw World Title in a match hyped up as David vs. Goliath. Balor is small but can do extraordinary stuff so he wants to fight Lesnar. This isn’t the Demon for reasons of Balor wanting to do it himself, even though the Demon IS Balor, meaning the whole thing doesn’t make a lot of sense. Or they just don’t want Lesnar losing because that wouldn’t be very Lesnarish.

Raw World Title: Finn Balor vs. Brock Lesnar

Lesnar is defending and we get the Big Match Intros. Balor dropkicks him at the bell to start and another running dropkick sends him into the corner. The first belly to belly cuts him off in a hurry though and we settle down for the first time. Another belly to belly on the floor rocks Balor again and it’s time to load up the announcers’ table.

Balor sends him ribs first into the corner of said table though and he does it again for painful measure. Brock can barely stand up as he throws Balor back inside for the shoulders in the corner. Another belly to belly has Balor flying but Lesnar is wincing a bit. Lesnar gets in yet another suplex but this time Balor is up with a Sling Blade. That’s it for the offense though as Lesnar BLASTS him with a clothesline.

Lesnar can’t hit a German suplex though as the stomach gives out. The F5 is countered into a DDT and Balor gets smart by stomping at the ribs. The big flip dive to the floor puts Lesnar down again and Balor hits a second for good measure. A third flip dive takes Lesnar down again but Renee says we’re having a new champion to end Balor’s hopes. Back in and Balor kicks him in the face, setting up the Coup de Grace for two, with Lesnar spinning into the Kimura on the kickout, making Balor tap at 8:36.

Rating: C+. Well that was short. They had some moments in there but at the same time, Lesnar wasn’t exactly doing much for the first half of the match. It got better once he was selling but there are only so many things you can do in less than nine minutes. The stuff with Lesnar’s stomach being messed up was enough to go somewhere, but this was only so good.

Post match Lesnar beats Balor up a few more times. This is something else that went nowhere.

Jerry Lawler and JBL join commentary.

Men’s Royal Rumble

90 second intervals again and Elias is in at #1, meaning it’s time for a song. Well make that insulting Phoenix until he’s interrupted by Jeff Jarrett of all people at #2. Jeff gets to strut and say ain’t I great as Elias is rather pleased by being interrupted by someone who brings something to the table. For now though, they need to sing together. And yes, they really are doing this three hours and forty minutes into a show with an hour long match to go. Jeff goes to spell his name so Elias hits him in the face to get things going.

Elias hammers away on the ropes and hits a clothesline so he can get in another catchphrase. A guitar shot to the back is enough to get rid of Jeff. Shinsuke Nakamura, last year’s winner, is in at #3 and he wastes no time in kicking Elias down. For some reason Elias goes up top for Old School, though it’s just an armdrag instead of a shot to the back. Kurt Angle is in at #4 to a big reaction and he starts in with the suplexes. Elias gets him in the corner though and it’s Big E. in at #5, with his gear including Kofi’s best Rumble moments. That’s rather cool….I think.

The Warrior Splash hits Nakamura but an Angle Slam takes Big E. down. Nakamura is back up with the running knee to Angle’s ribs and another running knee gets rid of Kurt. Honestly, it’s better to have him out that fast before he hurts himself again. Johnny Gargano is in at #6 and gets to clean house on Nakamura and Big E. The slingshot spear cuts Elias down and it’s Jinder Mahal in at #7. After he knocks everyone down, Gargano knocks Mahal out in about thirty seconds. The Singh Brothers get beaten up for a bonus and now it’s back to something that actually matters.

Samoa Joe is in at #8, just as Nakamura is surrounded in the corner. Elias gets kicked down and Joe just walks away from Gargano’s middle rope dive (that will always be cool). Joe dumps Big E. and it’s Curt Hawkins in at #9, still in the middle of his horrible losing streak. Hawkins gets in a few shots but bails to the floor in what is probably a smart move. The fans get behind Hawkins, even as Joe grabs him in the Koquina Clutch. For some reason Elias breaks that up and Hawkins bails to the floor again, this time hiding underneath the ring.

Seth Rollins is in at #10, giving us Elias, Nakamura, Gargano, Samoa Joe, Hawkins and Rollins. The springboard clotheslines hits Elias and there’s the Falcon Arrow to Gargano. Elias gets sent to the apron and then into the post for the elimination. It’s Titus O’Neil in at #11 and he crosses himself before charging to the ring, only to stop himself before getting to the apron in a funny moment. Titus sees Hawkins hiding underneath the ring and chases him inside, only to be eliminated almost immediately. Joe throws Hawkins out a second later to end the harmless comedy segment.

With the ring a little more cleared out, Kofi Kingston is in at #12 and things settle down a bit. As everyone fights by the ropes, Mustafa Ali is in at #13. Joe is waiting on him so Ali scores with a dropkick, only to get grabbed by Nakamura. That’s fine with Ali, who slips over the back and tells Nakamura to COME ON. Nakamura does just that and gets tossed out by Ali in quite the upset. Ali isn’t done either as he hits a tornado DDT on Gargano, only to get planted by Joe. Dean Ambrose, still in his pretty disastrous heel run, is in at #14 and goes right at it with Rollins, as expected.

With that broken up, Dean sends Kofi over the top but Kofi keeps one foot off the ground and rolls over to the steps to save himself. That’s not as good as his others, but maybe he’s crashing underneath the expectations. Kingston comes back in with a DDT to Dean, who is right back up to get rid of Gargano. No Way Jose, with the Conga Line, is in at #15 and Joe literally eliminates him in two seconds. No worries though as he and the Conga Line dance to the back as that was quite the use of an entrance.

Drew McIntyre is in at #16 and headbutts Jose for dancing too close to him. After cleaning some house, Joe and McIntyre slug it out for the hoss fight. The Claymore drops Joe and there’s one for Rollins as well as Xavier Woods is in at #17. As he is coming in, Kofi is knocked off the apron but sunset flips Woods, allowing him to keep one foot up.

Woods stands up with Kofi on his back (Cole to JBL: “I remember when you and Ron used to do this.”) and walks over to the steps for the real save of the year. Then McIntyre eliminates Woods and Kingston a second later because this show doesn’t like fun to last too long (completely appropriate for McIntyre of course). Pete Dunne is in at #18 and that gets a nice reaction. Dunne goes after Joe and Graves is rather pleased with everything going on at the moment.

Ali hangs on after being thrown to the apron and it’s Andrade in at #19. Andrade goes after Dunne in a match that sounds rather interesting indeed. With no one close to an elimination, Apollo Crews is in at #20, giving us Joe, Rollins, Ali, Ambrose, McIntyre, Dunne, Andrew and Apollo. McIntyre is sent to the apron and it’s Aleister Black (without the riser) in at #21. He goes right after Dunne in another match that sounds awesome (it’s almost like Dunne is great or something) but switches to Ambrose, with Black Mass connecting for the elimination.

Shelton Benjamin is in at #22 and goes at it with Crews for the athletic freak off. Crews saves himself from being eliminated as Shelton gets Koquina Clutched. That’s broken up and Ali dumps Joe in an upset. Baron Corbin is in at #23, fresh from his shift at *insert restaurant joke of the day here*. Deep Six drops Ali but he hangs onto the rope so Corbin knocks out Crews instead. Black and McIntyre slug it out and it’s Jeff Hardy in at #24 to keep the talent field high.

Lashley pulls Rollins, who low bridged him out, to the floor and beats the heck out of him to let off some steam. Rollins is spinebustered through the announcers’ table and it’s Braun Strowman in at lucky #27 for a possible (though unlikely) winner. Strowman knocks Corbin out in a hurry and there goes Benjamin a few seconds later. McIntyre dumps Hardy as Dolph Ziggler, his recent rival, is in at #28. That means a superkick to get rid of McIntyre and it’s Randy Orton in at #29 for the slow walk to the ring.

Strowman is right there for the showdown and the RKO is blocked in a hurry. Andrade loads up a superplex on Ali, so Strowman puts them BOTH on his shoulders with Mysterio diving off the top to take them down in your HOW CAN HE DO THAT spot of the match. R-Truth (also here because of the Mixed Match Challenge) is in at #30….but hang on as Nia Jax of all people jumps him from behind to take his spot, continuing the near trolling levels of a push. That gives us a final group of Rollins, Ali, Andrade, Orton, Strowman, Ziggler, Orton and Jax.

Nia gets to wreck some people and Ali is out in a hurry after a surprising thirty plus minutes. Orton stares Jax down but can’t hit the surprise RKO attempt, earning himself a shoulder down. Jax tells Rey to go for the 619 on Orton but cuts him off, only to get superkicked by Ziggler. The 619 hits Jax and Orton connects with the RKO, setting up a baseball slide from Mysterio to get rid of her.

Orton tosses Mysterio and Andrade dumps Orton, leaving us with Ziggler, Andrade, and Rollins and Strowman on the floor. Strowman comes back in and splashes Andrade and Ziggler in the corners to send them outside again. Hold on though as Strowman needs to go to the floor again to run Rollins over.

Everyone goes after Strowman in a 2004 flashback but he gets rid of Andrade and Ziggler. Rollins uses the momentum to put him on the apron but charges into a chokeslam. Back in and Rollins grabs a guillotine to pull Strowman to the apron and sends him into the post. A kick to the ribs sets up the Stomp on the apron to get rid of Strowman to give Rollins the win at 57:34.

Rating: B. This was much more like it with a nice mix of brawling, comedy, action and an only somewhat guaranteed winner. I know you can’t really hide the fact that someone is a shoe in winner but it’s nice to see them at least giving it a little bit more drama. Rollins winning made sense here as he had been on fire for the last year and needed something like this. Good Rumble, though there have been a lot better.

SIGN POINTING, yes I said SIGN POINTING, ends the show.

Overall Rating: B-. I’m curious to see how this one holds up against the original rating as the length was driving me crazy this time around. There is a lot of good stuff on here but EGADS it’s a two hour Kickoff Show and then four hours and forty minutes of the main show. You really needed to have the weird Tag Team Title deal on the Kickoff Show and then put Miz and Shane on the main show? That, plus Bryan vs. Styles, could have been on a big Smackdown at worst and this show could have been trimmed down by 45 minutes.

The only bad thing on here is the women’s Royal Rumble, but when that one match is nearly an hour and fifteen minutes long, it has quite the negative impact on the rest of the show. The men’s match makes up for it and the card is much better than worse, but they really, really need to stop with these shows getting close to (or over in Wrestlemania’s case) seven hours. It doesn’t matter how good it is. If you’re going three hours over the length of Wrestlemania X7, the time is going to cause a lot of problems. Anyway, good show, which could have been great with a big editing job.

Ratings Comparison

Chad Gable/Bobby Roode vs. Scott Dawson/Rezar

Original: D+

2020 Redo: D+

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Rusev

Original: C

2020 Redo: C-

Buddy Murphy vs. Hideo Itami vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Kalisto

Original: C+

2020 Redo: B-

Asuka vs. Becky Lynch

Original: B+

2020 Redo: B+

The Bar vs. Shane McMahon/The Miz

Original: D

2020 Redo: C

Sasha Banks vs. Ronda Rousey

Original: B+

2020 Redo: B

Women’s Royal Rumble

Original: B

2020 Redo: D+

AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan

Original: C-

2020 Redo: B+

Brock Lesnar vs. Finn Balor

Original: C+

2020 Redo: C+

Men’s Royal Rumble

Original: D

2020 Redo: B

Overall Rating

Original: D+

2020 Redo: B-

WOW. I was actually shocked by the original ratings of those Rumbles and the Styles vs. Bryan match. I’ve mellowed a lot since then as the show really isn’t that bad.

Here’s the original review if you’re interested:

https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/01/28/royal-rumble-2019-i-almost-had-a-birthday-watching-this-show/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2004 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/26/new-book-and-e-book-kbs-complete-2004-monday-night-raw-reviews/

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

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

Survivor Series 2022
Date: November 26, 2022
Location: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Attendance: 15,609
Commentators: Kevin Patrick, Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Wade Barrett

It’s been a year since WWE had its first (main roster) WarGames match and believe it or not, the focus is on the Bloodline. This time around Sami Zayn has to prove his loyalty to the team, which is creating some drama. Other than that, we have Team Belair vs. Team Damage CTRL in the women’s version, which should be quite good as well. Let’s get to it.

The opening video, featuring Ozzy Osbourne, looks at WarGames because, well, what else would it look at?

Commentary welcomes us to the show and explains the rules of WarGames:

• Two wrestlers start and fight for five minutes.

• After five minutes, the team with the advantage (as determined before the match) gets a three minute advantage.

• The teams alternate until all ten are in and then it’s first pin/submission to win.

• No it isn’t the original WarGames rules. Let it go already.

Team Belair vs. Team Damage CTRL

Belair: Bianca Belair, Alexa Bliss, Asuka, Mia Yim, Becky Lynch
Damage CTRL: Bayley, Dakota Kai, Iyo Sky, Nikki Cross, Rhea Ripley

Kai and Belair start things off with the former running away to get it going. Belair wrestles her to the mat before hitting a running shoulder as the slow pace starts. A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker puts Kai down again and we talk about Belair’s recent interview with Sports Illustrated, which is as WARGAMES-y as you can get.

Kai gets in a shot of her own and they go into the second cage and try to make it all the way to first gear. A scorpion kick staggers Belair but she runs Kai over and sends her into the cage (as we now remember that they’re in a CAGE). Another toss into the cage leaves Kai down and it’s Sky unevening the odds. Sky and Belair take turns flipping around until Belair gets caught between the two of them in between the rings.

The villains take over on Belair in the corner until she double suplexes her way out of trouble. Asuka comes in to help Belair clean house and we get the big showdown with Sky. They both counter whips into the ropes until Asuka hits a running hip attack against said ropes. The running knee to the head puts Sky down again and Belair is back up with a gorilla press toss to Kai. Cross is in next but first it’s time for the weapons. Asuka gets the door slammed onto her head, leaving Cross to tornado DDT Belair.

With Belair and Asuka down, Cross whips them with her coat until Kai and Sky are up to get in their variety of choking. It’s Bliss coming in to even things up again and some dropkicks put Cross and Kai down. Belair gets back up and breaks a kendo stick but Kai and Sky use the full ones to cut her off. Cross sits on top of the cage as sticking and hair whipping ensue below. Naturally that means the big dive to take everyone out and yes Cross laughed the whole time.

Now it’s Bayley coming in so let’s grab some ladders. The fans want tables so Bayley obliges as the match has more or less stopped while she moves stuff around. Bayley sends Belair into the corner before putting her in between the rings again. A table shot to the ribs leaves Belair trapped until Yim is….released to grab more weapons. House is quickly cleaned, including Kai being rammed into the cage and kicked in the face over and over.

Cross chokes Yim and the people split off again as this really isn’t picking up. Some superplexes have everyone down and it’s Ripley coming in to complete Damage CTRL. House is quickly cleaned until everyone just kind of stands around (save for Ripley Prism Trapping Asuka) until Yim makes a random comeback on Ripley as the rest are in the other ring.

That’s broken up and it’s Lynch in to complete the field, meaning the match can officially be won. Lynch gets to clean house as the ans aren’t exactly on fire for this. That might be due to how slow everything is going since Lynch keeps messing with the trashcan instead of running around punching people or wrecking them all with a chair.

We get the big Lynch vs. Bayley showdown with Lynch easily getting the better of things. With Bayley stomped down, Lynch turns around to see Ripley for the really big showdown. A quick Riptide attempt is broken up but Bayley makes the save. Now Riptide can connect for two with Asuka making a save. The mist blinds Ripley but Bayley drops Asuka face first onto the turnbuckle.

Bayley beats Lynch down and declares herself as a role model more than The Man. The Rose Plant onto the steel between the rings gets two and it’s time for a bunch of people to go to the corner. Cross cuts Belair off to break up a seven person Tower Of Doom so a bunch of people crash down instead. Sky moonsaults off the top of the cage onto Yim and Belair (who is favoring her leg) to FINALLY wake up the crowd.

Everyone is down (cue the overhead camera shot) until Cross beats up Bliss. Cross shouts about how she hasn’t forgotten and handcuffs Bliss to…nothing as Bliss handcuffs herself to Cross instead. An electric chair onto a trashcan leaves them both down and we pause again. Ripley is back up to send Asuka into the cage but Yim is back up with a choke.

That means a big crash through the ladder and, say it with me, everyone is down again. Becky and Belair get the showdown Damage CTRL and Kai gets Manhandle Slammed. The KOD to Sky lets Belair put Kai on a table and send Bayley into the cage. Lynch drops a leg off the cage to put Kai through the table for the pin at 39:34.

Rating: C. Sweet goodness this was boring. As is the case with just about every modern incarnation of this match (in WWE, NXT or AEW) it went WAY too long as this was about 15-20 minutes longer than it needed to be. The longer time meant that there were far too many stretches where nothing went on as they were laying around waiting on someone to do something. There were good parts to it, but this needed to be WAY shorter with a lot more action than we got.

On Smackdown, with a hidden Jey Uso listening, Kevin Owens told Sami Zayn to turn on the Bloodline. With Owens gone, Jey asked if Sami had talked to anyone but Sami said he just got here. Then Sami cost Jey a match for the WarGames advantage, with commentary wondering if it was on purpose.

Roman Reigns makes sure Jey Uso is ready for WarGames. Jey is ready, but he doesn’t trust Sami after last night. He would take Sami out if Reigns gave the order, but Reigns tells him to be on the same page tonight. Reigns will know if Sami is telling the truth and wants Jey to focus. With Jey gone, Reigns looks worried and has Paul Heyman call Sami.

We recap Finn Balor vs. AJ Styles, which has been going on for a few months. Styles couldn’t deal with the Judgment Day’s numbers game, so he brought back the OC to even things up.

Finn Balor vs. AJ Styles

The rest of Judgment Day (minus Rhea Ripley) and the OC are here too. Of note: Cole talks about Dominik and Ripley invading Rey Mysterio’s home during Thanksgiving. Dominik better watch that or he’ll get arrested. They fight over arm control to start with Styles driving him up against the ropes for a clean break.

Back up and Balor takes him into the corner but his kick to the ribs is cut off. Styles starts going after the leg, including a shinbreaker which has Balor appealing to their past friendship. Balor manages to take him down though and stomp away, though he has to stop to favor the leg. A knee to the back gets two and we hit the abdominal stretch. Styles fights his way out and hits the running forearm, followed by the fireman’s carry backbreaker for two.

Another shot to the leg cuts Balor down but Dominik breaks up the Phenomenal Forearm. Everyone else brawls on the floor and fight into the crowd, leaving Balor to hit a Sling Blade on Styles. A charge is cut off though and Styles suplexes him into the corner. It’s too early for the Calf Crusher though as Balor manages a double stomp to leave Styles down. Balor’s back is all messed up from….something but he’s fine enough to try his own Styles Clash. That’s broken up, just like Styles’ Calf Crusher attempt.

Another double knockdown gives us a breather, followed by Balor’s own fireman’s carry backbreaker. 1916 is broken up though and Styles moonsaults into a Nightmare on Helms Street for two. Balor puts him back down but misses the Coup de Grace. Instead Styles grabs the Calf Crusher until Balor rams him head first into the mat to escape. Back up and they slug it out until Styles is sent to the apron, where the Phenomenal Forearm finishes Balor at 18:23.

Rating: B. There are matches where you know you’re going to see something good just based on who is out there. That was the case here and WWE was smart enough to give the two of them that much time. Styles hadn’t been doing so well in his battle against Judgment Day and you have to give him a win like this every so often to keep him looking strong. Good stuff here and a heck of a match between two talented stars.

Post match Styles yells at Balor a bit.

We recap Shotzi challenging Ronda Rousey for the SmackDown Women’s Title. Shotzi won a six way #1 contenders match but Rousey isn’t taking her incredibly seriously, though having Shayna Baszler help with a beatdown made it easier. Rousey and Baszler also injured Shotzi’s friend Raquel Rodriguez so things are personal.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Ronda Rousey vs. Shotzi

Rousey, with Baszler, is defending. Shotzi slugs away to start but gets flipped over. The ankle lock goes on until Shotzi sends her into the corner. Rousey is sent outside but Baszler takes Shotzi’s dive instead. Shotzi sends her into the steps and fires off some hard forearms back inside. A high crossbody is suplexed out of the air but Shotzi sweeps the leg. That doesn’t work for Rousey, who ties up the legs and they kind of lay around on the mat.

Back up and Shotzi nails a right hand to stun Rousey but gets sent outside. Shotzi takes out Baszler and sends her over the barricade, setting up a dive onto Rousey and Baszler at the same time. They beat the count back in and Shotzi goes up, only to get judo thrown down hard. Piper’s Pit and the armbar retain the title at 7:13.

Rating: C+. They were limited with what they could do here, as it’s hard to buy Shotzi as a threat to either the title or Rousey. Shotzi has all kinds of charisma but she hasn’t been presented as a major star, certainly not on Rousey’s level. For what we got here, things went well, though that was about as good as it was going to be.

Sami Zayn comes in to see Roman Reigns and admits that yes, he did talk to Kevin Owens. He didn’t tell Jey Uso about it because he didn’t want to put something extra on Jey’s plate before the WarGames advantage match. And Owens talked to him, saying he should turn on the Bloodline. Reigns gets that Owens and Zayn were friends but this is about his family, so whose side is Zayn on? Zayn says this is what he wants and he’s not turning on the Bloodline. That seems good enough for Reigns.

US Title: Bobby Lashley vs. Austin Theory vs. Seth Rollins

Rollins is defending. Lashley runs Theory over to start and Rollins sends Theory outside, leaving the other two to slug it out. Rollins slips away from a Hurt Lock attempt but Theory pulls Rollins outside for a ram into the barricade. Back in and Theory hammers away on Lashley, who fights up to beat on both of them. A DDT/Downward Spiral combination drops Rollins and Theory and the spinning Dominator hits Rollins as well.

Theory pulls the referee though and tries to grab a chair, which is easily blocked by Lashley. Rollins sends him into the steps though, allowing Theory to jump Rollins from behind. The steps hit Lashley as well and the rolling dropkick gets two on Rollins. A running elbow to the face gets the same and Theory talks a lot of trash. Rollins is back up with a Sling Blade, followed by a bunch of suicide dives to the other two.

That’s not enough as Rollins hits a big dive to take them both out again. Back in and Theory counters a dropkick into a powerbomb for two on Rollins and everyone is down. It’s Lashley up first to take over, meaning Theory uses a sleeper to…well attempt to break up the Hurt Lock. The save eventually works, leaving Rollins to Pedigree Lashley for two. The Phoenix splash misses though and Theory gives Lashley a running Blockbuster.

A Town Down is countered into the Hurt Lock but Theory flips backwards out of the corner. That’s broken up by Rollins’ frog splash so Lashley Hurt Locks both of them at once. With that broken up, Lashley’s spear misses in the corner so Rollins forearms Theory in the back of the head. Rollins uses Theory for a step up Stomp to Lashley and superplexes Theory. The Falcon Arrow is loaded up but Lashley spears Rollins, with Theory landing on him for the pin and the title at 14:50.

Rating: B. This got a good bit better by the end but it was only working so well for the most part. It needed to be about three minutes shorter to really work well. The whole feud was only so good in the first place and then the blowoff match, while good, hit a ceiling. Theory getting the win is nice to see, even if he had to steal the pin for the title.

Jey Uso tells Roman Reigns that he’s ready.

We recap the men’s WarGames match. Everyone hates the Bloodline, who isn’t sure if they can trust Sami Zayn. Now it’s time to see if he can prove himself.

Bloodline vs. Team Owens

Bloodline: Roman Reigns, Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso, Solo Sikoa, Sami Zayn
Owens: Kevin Owens, Drew McIntyre, Sheamus, Ridge Holland, Butch

Butch and Jey start things off and they shout at each other from different rings for a good while. Jey finally gets into the other ring after about a minute of standing around. Butch takes him down without much trouble and cranks on the fingers (as he is known to do), which he then ties into the cage wall. Back up and Jey manages to send him into the cage, followed by a pop up neckbreaker.

Jey goes after the arm and sends it into the cage, only to have Butch stomp on the arm again. Butch gets in something close to a Kimura and it’s Ridge Holland in to give the good guys an advantage. Holland crushes Jey in the corner over and over and a high/low takes him down again. The Brutes start in on Jey’s arms for a bit of a unique strategy, including stereo jumping stomps to said arms. The clock runs down and a sitting Reigns instructs Sami to even things up.

Sami takes more than a minute to get to the ring, allowing Jey to get up and take over on the Brutes. Holland gets stomped between the rings and the fans seem to approve of Zayn. Double teaming cuts off Holland’s comeback but Butch gets up the cage to moonsault onto Jey and Zayn. Now Holland is able to fight up and actually take over until he misses a charge into the cage (thanks to Zayn pulling Jey out of the way).

Drew McIntyre is in next and beats up both villains without much trouble. Jey is sent into the cage over and over before a belly to belly sends Zayn into the corner. Drew: “I’M FEELING PRETTY UCEY RIGHT NOW!” Jey manages to knock Drew into the Tree of Woe but he sits up to send Jey crashing back down. There’s the Futureshock to Zayn but Jimmy Uso comes in to tie it up. That means it’s time for some tables, though Jey doesn’t want Zayn to help set them up.

Jimmy has to break it up as even more time is burned off. The Brutes are beaten down again though, with Butch being sent into the cage so a table can be set up in the corner. McIntyre fights up and avoids being sent through it as Kevin Owens unties things again. Owens brings in some chairs and plants Jimmy onto one, setting up the Cannonball to Jey. A chair is thrown at Jey and we get the Owens vs. Zayn staredown.

Holland, continuing to be useless, breaks it up by jumping Zayn, allowing Jimmy to deck Owens. Jimmy is put through a table though as Cole can’t remember who has the advantage at the moment. Solo Sikoa makes it 4-4 and gets to clean house, as tends to be the villains’ custom. The Samoan drop hits Holland and it’s an Owens vs. Sikoa staredown. They slug it out between the rings until Sikoa shrugs off a ram into the cage.

Some superkicks have the same lack of effect and Sikoa backdrops his way out of a powerbomb attempt. Sikoa goes over to slug it out with McIntyre with Sikoa getting the better of things, only to have the Umaga attack cut off. Sheamus completes Team Owens but Zayn holds the door shut in a smart move. Not that it matters as Sheamus slams it onto Zayn’s head and starts to clean house.

A double clothesline takes down some villains as Reigns is getting ready. Zayn is sent into the cage and the Brutes go after Zayn and the Usos for the big beatdown. White Noise hits Sikoa but it’s Reigns time so the match can officially begin. Naturally this means everyone gets up and we get the five on five staredown, making the last 28 minutes or so pretty much a formality. The fight is on and Reigns cleans house without much effort.

Sheamus cuts off a spear though and we get the quintuple ten (or more in some cases) forearms to the villains’ chests. McIntyre and Sheamus beat on Reigns and the Brogue Kick hits Sikoa. The distraction lets Reigns spear Sheamus but Butch makes the save. Zayn is back up to beat on Butch but Jey superkicks Zayn, presumably by mistake. A super 1D hits Butch for two with Holland making the save this time. Reigns spears Holland through the table in the corner but McIntyre is back up.

Sikoa saves Reigns from a powerbomb and Spinning Solo puts McIntyre through a table. Owens Stuns Sikoa for two so Reigns makes the save for a change. Reigns and Owens slug it out with Reigns hitting a Superman Punch. Owens is back with a Pop Up Powerbomb into the Stunner but Zayn grabs the referee at two. That leaves Owens staring at Zayn (who the fans like) but a superkick is cut off by a low blow. Zayn seems to know he has sealed his fate and Reigns looks up at him, leaving Zayn to Helluva Kick Owens. Jey adds the Superfly Splash for the pin at 38:32.

Rating: B. It’s good fight and as usual this was about the storytelling with Zayn and the Bloodline, but the same problems were there again. There is just SO MUCH waiting around for the match to really get going and it doesn’t feel like hatred. Instead, it feels like “how can we get these weapons spots in” rather than just beating each other up. Cut the match down by about fifteen minutes and it’s much better, but for now it’s just good rather than great.

Zayn is officially accepted into the team, with Jey giving him the big hug. Replays and posing end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. There were some good parts, but WarGames continues to be more of an idea that sounds great on paper rather than in execution. Two matches took about an hour and forty minutes and that does not leave much for the rest of the show. What we got was good and having Zayn get the big definitive Bloodline acceptance (which will absolutely last forever) was nice, but dang it took time to get there. I know Survivor Series has evolved beyond the traditional elimination tag format, but it would be nice to have this new format tweaked a bit, as it could make the show that much better.

 

 

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Survivor Series 2021
Date: November 21, 2021
Location: Barclays Center, New York City, New York
Attendance: 15,120
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Jimmy Smith, Byron Saxton, Pat McAfee

Since it’s Survivor Series and there are no other possible options for the show in the history of ever, it’s time for a Battle Of Brand Supremacy with wrestlers who have been on the roster for about a month. That means a battle of World Champions Roman Reigns and Big E., plus Survivor Series tag matches and….a Rock 25th Anniversary battle royal? Let’s get to it.

For the sake of simplicity, all matches involving champions are non-title.

Kickoff Show: Damian Priest (Raw) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (Smackdown)

US Champion vs. Intercontinental Champion and Rick Boogs handles Nakamura’s entrance, much to Pat McAfee’s (now dancing on the announcers’ table) delight. Priest works on the arm to start but a Boogs guitar solo cuts that off, allowing Nakamura to grab a headlock. Nakamura takes him into the corner for Good Vibrations, with Boogs playing something that is in no way Good Vibrations.

Back up and Priest knocks him down and grabs a chinlock, meaning Boogs plays some more for a distraction. Some strikes to the head rock Priest and the sliding German suplex makes it worse (with McAfee jumping up to celebrate). Priest fights up and hits a running elbow in the corner, followed by a hard clothesline for two.

South Of Heaven is broken up though and Nakamura kicks him in the head again. Kinshasa is countered into South Of Heaven for two but the Reckoning is blocked. Priest counters an armbar into a triangle choke but Boogs guitars Nakamura to freedom AGAIN. Finally Priest goes outside and breaks the guitar (McAfee: “YOU SON OF A B****!”), with one of the pieces nailing Nakamura for the DQ at 9:24.

Rating: C. I was having fun with the back and forth as they had some chemistry together, but at the same time, there is only so much you can get with the constant Boogs interference. I do like that they didn’t have a champion get pinned here and instead went with Priest snapping to finish things up. Not a great match, but a fast paced one to start things off.

Smackdown – 1
Raw – 0

The opening video talks about how this is two sides battling….and we see a clip from Rock’s Netflix movie Red Notice. The voiceover talks about how many things the movie and show have in common before moving into the nonsense about this being the ONE NIGHT where Raw and Smackdown go head to head. Clips from the movie mock teamwork, which is what this show is all about. After more clips and more generic opening video statements about how important the show is, we’re ready to go.

We recap Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte. They were old friends but then both wanted to be the best, with Lynch getting there in a big way. Then Lynch left on maternity leave and Charlotte bragged about how great she (as in Charlotte) is so now that Lynch is back, it’s time to fight.

Before we got there though, there was also the VERY awkward moment where Charlotte was supposed to hand over the Raw Women’s Title and dropped it instead, leading to ALL KINDS of problems/discussion. Oh and Charlotte’s REALLY annoying “UH-OH” promo. This does at least have a personal story rather than just doing the Raw vs. Smackdown deal.

Charlotte (Smackdown) vs. Becky Lynch (Raw)

For a bonus, they’re both dressed as characters from Wandavision, with Charlotte as the villain and Becky as the hero. Becky hits her in the face to start and the brawl is on early. Charlotte goes for the leg but has to escape a Disarm-Her attempt. Back up and Charlotte hits a spear but Becky hits a heck of a spinning kick to the face. They head outside for a hard posting to Charlotte but it’s too early for the Manhandle Slam.

Charlotte gets her down and rams Becky’s face into the mat over and over. Becky is sent outside so Charlotte loads up the moonsault, which is shoved HARD into the barricade for a great looking crash instead. Charlotte sends her into the barricade and they both get back in at the same time for the big staredown. Becky avoids a shot to the knee in the corner but an armbar is countered into a powerbomb for two.

Some stomps in the corner have Charlotte in trouble and the fans aren’t thrilled with Becky. A fall away slam sends Becky into the corner for a crash, followed by the Andrade double moonsault for two. Charlotte snaps her throat first across the top but Becky knocks her into the ropes. The Fameasser onto the ropes gives Becky two and Charlotte misses the big boot, only to ram her head into Becky’s for two instead. The second big boot gets two instead so Becky is right back with a Christian layout reverse DDT.

Back up and the Manhandle Slam gives Becky two more, setting up a cross between a Figure Four and a heel hook. Charlotte turns it over for the break anyway and they’re both down for a bit. I’m not sure why Becky is down but it does make things a bit more dramatic. Yet another big boot knocks Becky outside and the moonsault…well it comes close to her at least, with the replay not making it any better.

Back in and Charlotte grabs her own Disarm-Her but Becky slips out. They fight into the corner where Charlotte grabs a rollup with ropes for two, as the referee sees the cheating. Becky reverses into a rollup of her own and doesn’t get caught grabbing the ropes for the pin at 18:13.

Rating: B+. These two work well and they treated it as a huge match, especially at the start where they both came out swinging. The ending was more of a way to save Charlotte than to give us a definitive winner, but after Charlotte has gone over so many times, doing a tainted job to the biggest female star ever isn’t asking too much. Great opener, with all kinds of energy and the big fight feel.

Raw – 1
Smackdown – 1

Classic Rock Moment: Debuting at Survivor Series 1996.

Raw Men vs. Smackdown Men

Raw: Seth Rollins, Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, Austin Theory, Bobby Lashley
Smackdown: Drew McIntyre, Jeff Hardy, King Woods, Happy Corbin, Sheamus

Survivor Series match and MVP/Madcap Moss are the respective sixths. Lashley has his spot after taking it from Dominik Mysterio and also caused Rey Mysterio to lose his spot to Theory. On the other side, Sami Zayn lost to Hardy, costing himself a spot on the team. You know, in case you needed a recap on the five people per show being thrown together. Rollins, the self proclaimed Raw captain, lets Owens start, so Owens bails to the floor and leaves for the countout less than a minute in.

After Owens takes a bow, McIntyre jumps Rollins on the floor as Theory comes in to face Woods. Theory gets his arm cranked on and it’s McIntyre coming in to launch him into the corner. Sheamus and McIntyre take turns chopping at Theory (McAfee is rather giddy) and Corbin gets in on it with a pretty good right hand. Theory manages to punch his way to freedom though and the tag brings in Rollins, who is knocked right back into the Smackdown corner.

It’s Hardy coming in to start on the arm and a quick splash gets one. Rollins is able to grab Sheamus by the arm though and Balor comes in to work on that arm for a change. Again though, that doesn’t last long as Sheamus drags him right back over for the tag to Corbin. We continue to e parade of arm cranking between people who don’t really dislike each other, making this match feel all the less interesting. Deep Six gets two on Balor with Lashley making the save, meaning everything breaks down.

With almost everyone else being knocked down, Balor kicks Corbin in the head and drops the Coup de Grace for the elimination. Hardy comes in to face Balor and the fans are rather pleased. It’s Hardy taking over with the basement dropkick but Balor’s own dropkick gets his own two. Lashley comes in for a running shoulder in the corner to Hardy, which has McAfee worried on commentary.

Hardy fights out of Balor’s chinlock and hits Whisper in the Wind, leaving Lashley and McIntyre to fight on the floor. Lashley posts him (McAfee: “DREW ARE YOU OK???”), leaving Theory to cover Hardy for two as the fans are interested in….something. It’s back to Woods to clean house, including a discus forearm to Theory. Lashley crotches Woods on top though and the Hurt Lock is good for the elimination to make it 4-3 Raw.

Everything breaks down again and Balor’s slingshot dive is pulled out of the air by Sheamus. We get the big Lashley vs. McIntyre showdown with Lashley backing up for some reason. McIntyre jumps him instead but Lashley powers him into the corner. That earns him a clothesline out to the floor with McIntyre following to post Lashley for a change. They fight over the barricade and that’s a double countout to get rid of the big guys.

The fans are NOT happy, even as Lashley jumps McIntyre after the eliminations. A Claymore drops Lashley though and a Glasgow Kiss drops a laughing Rollins before both guys leave. We’re down to Sheamus/Hardy vs. Rollins/Theory/Balor with Sheamus charging into a boot in the corner. That’s enough for Rollins to dive over for the hot tag to Balor, who is quickly powerslammed for two.

Balor is back up with a Sling Blade but the Coup de Grace misses, setting up the Brogue Kick to give Sheamus the pin. Theory is right in for a heck of a dropkick and it’s Rollins coming back in for a chinlock. After a pretty good while, Sheamus powers up and brings Hardy in to clean house.

Everything breaks down with Sheamus playing Matt Hardy for a springboard splash to the other two in the corner. That’s enough for Sheamus and Hardy to hit stereo ten forearms to the chest, followed by White Noise to Rollins. Everything breaks down again and Rollins pulls Hardy off the apron, leaving Theory to roll Sheamus up for the elimination. That leaves us with Hardy vs. Rollins/Theory…but Sheamus decks Theory before he leaves….and then does it to Hardy too.

Rollins is fine enough to get the tag and hit a frog splash for two on Hardy as we settle in to the beating. Theory takes Hardy up top but gets knocked down, setting up the Swanton for the pin. Rollins isn’t happy and glares at Hardy, who grabs a rollup for two. A hard forearm to the back of the head gets two on Hardy but the Twist of Fate drops Rollins. The Swanton hits raised knees though and the Stomp gives Rollins the final pin at 29:55.

Rating: B. It was a fun, hard hitting match, but the Raw vs. Smackdown lineups continue to feel so worthless. They might as well do a Lethal Lottery format and you would get the same result. The good thing is that the talent is here and can make a match like this work, but the format desperately needs to change to make it more interesting.

Raw – 2
Smackdown – 1

WWE did some charity stuff in Harlem.

Vince McMahon arrived earlier and got a big reception from a bunch of the wrestlers. Then he pulled out a gold egg, because cross promotion.

Classic Rock Moment: recreating the Montreal Screwjob a year later at Survivor Series 1998.

Roman Reigns comes in to see Vince McMahon, who shows him the egg. That’s Cleopatra’s egg, which was given to him by the Rock. Apparently it’s worth $100 million dollars, which Reigns says is as much as his next contract. And that’s it.

The Rock 25th Anniversary Battle Royal

Shanky, Commander Azeez, T-Bar, Robert Roode, Angel, Humberto, Shelton Benjamin, Sami Zayn, R-Truth, Cedric Alexander, Montez Ford, Jinder Mahal, Dolph Ziggler, Cesaro, Otis, Mansoor, Drew Gulak, Erik, Chad Gable, Ivar, Apollo Crews, Omos, AJ Styles, Ricochet, Angelo Dawkins

The Street Profits come to the ring with a bunch of Pizza Hut. Nothing wrong with a sponsorship. Cole and Graves get pizza but Saxton is denied, as he should be. Styles bails to the floor and stands on the announcers’ table as everyone else fights for the smart move of the night. Gulak and Benjamin are out to start with Humberto following them. Truth heads outside to get some pizza, which he offers to Omos and Otis.

The latter takes it before throwing Truth out and going after Omos. Otis doesn’t last long and Gable armbars Cesaro over the rope. That’s broken up and Cesaro knocks Gable out and T-Bar is dropkicked to the floor by Ricochet. The fans want pizza but have to settle for Alexander and Garza being tossed out. There goes Erik and Ivar at the hands of Shanky, because the potential is in Shanky instead of the Viking Raiders. Omos gets rid of Shanky with ease and Roode catapults Mansoor out.

Roode and Ziggler go after Omos and the giant gets rid of Roode, leaving Styles to Phenomenal Forearm Ziggler for the elimination. Zayn tries to rally the remaining Smackdown names but yells at Ricochet, leaving Ford and Dawkins to toss him out. Omos gets rid of Azeez, who pulls Styles out despite Omos’ protests. Crews is out next and we’re down to Omos, Dawkins, Ford, Cesaro and Ricochet. Cesaro rallies the troops to go after Omos, earning himself an elimination. There go Dawkins and Ford, leaving us with Ricochet vs. Omos. That doesn’t last long either as Omos tosses him out for the win at 10:38.

Rating: C. This was ALL about Omos, who threw out about half of the field and dominated throughout. It worked for Andre and even if Omos isn’t quite there, it was a nice performance. Omos is someone who works well in this kind of a spot, even if this had absolutely NOTHING to do with the Rock.

Raw – 3
Smackdown – 1

Post match Styles goes for the pizza but Ford kicks him in the head and throws it into the crowd.

Classic Rock Moment: winning the 2000 Royal Rumble, even if Big Show really won.

We look at the pre-show match.

RKBro (Raw) vs. Usos (Smackdown)

Riddle starts fast with an armbar attempt on Jimmy but gets stacked up for two and the break. A headbutt just makes Riddle mad and he grabs a spinning gutwrench suplex to send Jey flying. Orton comes in and we hear about his hear in Ohio Valley Wrestling for a bit of a rarity. The threat of an RKO sends Jimmy bailing to the floor so it’s off to Jey, who stomps Orton down in the corner.

That just earns Jey a punch to the nose (simple, yet effective) and a trip to the floor, allowing Riddle to hit the springboard Floating Bro. A drop onto the barricade cuts Riddle off though and it’s back to Jimmy for the suicide dive. We slow things down a bit with Jey hammering away in the corner until Riddle manages a kick to the head. That’s way too soon for a hot tag to Orton though and Jimmy is back in with a chinlock.

Riddle fights up and manages a Bro To Sleep (which doesn’t make anything close to full contact), allowing Orton to come back in to clean house. Snap powerslams drop the Usos and Jey gets belly to back dropped onto the announcers’ table. Not to be outdone, Jimmy gets the same as McAfee is losing it even more than usual. Back in and the hanging DDT hits Jey but he’s fine enough to block the RKO.

Riddle is up again and kicks Jey in the head before nailing Jimmy with a running forearm. Jey manages to kick Riddle down for two and the pop up Samoan drop gets two. There’s a superkick to Riddle and a double superkick to Orton. The double superkick from either side gets two on Riddle, who kicks out and stays rigid for a weird moment. Riddle’s enziguri gets him out of trouble though and Orton gets a blind tag. Jimmy doesn’t notice though and his Superfly Splash is pulled into the RKO to give Orton the pin at 14:48.

Rating: B. Two of the best teams in WWE have a good match when they are given about fifteen minutes on a big stage. Sometimes these things write themselves and that was the case here, as Orton even managed to get in the cool RKO that he hits in these important matches. Another solid match on the show in what shouldn’t be a surprise at all. Now just do it again for the titles.

Raw – 4
Smackdown – 1

Classic Rock Moment: vs. John Cena at Wrestlemania XXVIII. I’d say that counts, though it’s still hard to believe Cena lost.

Sonya Deville and Adam Pearce wait for Vince McMahon in his office. Vince comes back…and the egg is gone. The middle management goons are sent to find out who did it, saying if they don’t find out tonight, Vince will find out himself on Raw.

Video on Xia Li, the Protector, in comic book form. Yeah this was too cool to work and it never went anywhere.

Raw Women vs. Smackdown Women

Raw: Bianca Belair, Rhea Ripley, Liv Morgan, Carmella, Queen Zelina
Smackdown: Sasha Banks, Shayna Baszler, Shotzi, Toni Storm, Natalya

Zelina is still a queen and Ripley is half of the Women’s Tag Team Titles with Nikki Ash, which mean a grand total of nothing (Zelina and Carmella would win them the next night on Raw). Toni Storm (as announced in a completely necessary tweet earlier in the day) starts with Carmella, who drops Storm with a right hand. Hold on though as Carmella hands it off to Zelina before heading outside to put on her protective mask. It takes forever to put the mask on so Carmella has Zelina do it, allowing Storm to grab a rollup for the pin.

Belair and Banks come in for a Wrestlemania rematch but Shotzi tags herself in. A quick backsplash gets two on Belair but she’s right back up to knock Shotzi silly. Belair’s jumping splash gets two so Morgan comes in for a middle rope….uh, something, and a near fall. Natalya comes in for two off a snap suplex and a pinfall reversal sequence gets some near falls each. The step over basement dropkick gives Natalya two more but it’s off to Ripley to freshen things up.

Natalya doesn’t seem to mind and brings Baszler in for a double suplex. The jumping stomp to Baszler’s arm is blocked though and the slugout is on. Ripley has to fight out of an armbar as well as the Kirifuda Clutch, allowing her to stomp on Baszler’s head. Shotzi saves Baszler from the Riptide though and everything breaks down. Ripley breaks out of another choke and it’s a double tag to give us Belair vs. Banks.

Belair tries the power but gets pulled straight into the Bank Statement. That’s broken up so Banks sends her face first into the middle buckle, setting up a tornado DDT for two on Belair. Back up and Zelina tags herself in so Belair launches her at Banks for two more. No one will tag Banks so she has to block Zelina’s Code Red. Banks tags herself in and flips Zelina over into a cutter for the pin. Morgan comes in for a pinfall reversal sequence of her own until Oblivion connects to get rid of Storm.

Baszler comes in to choke Morgan and even kicks Ripley off the apron to prevent a tag (that’s smart). It’s off to Shotzi for a weird looking splash, followed by Banks’ frog splash to eliminate Morgan. Ripley comes in and muscles Banks up for a delayed suplex and a near fall. A missile dropkick sends Banks flying into the corner but Shotzi comes in off a blind tag. Shotzi offers a distraction so Baszler can come in with a knee to the face to pin Ripley, leaving Belair vs. Natalya, Shotzi, Banks and Baszler.

Belair comes in and suplexes Natalya for two before firing off the shoulders in the corner. Baszler’s distraction lets Natalya hit a powerbomb out of the corner for two and it’s off to Banks. Shotzi gets into it with Banks and pulls her to the floor where Banks gets counted out to make it 3-1.

Natalya comes in and Sharpshooters Belair, who rolls Natalya into Baszler for the break. A rollup finishes Natalya to make it 2-1, with Baszler coming in next. The Kirifuda Clutch is countered into a release Glam Slam to get rid of Baszler and it’s Shotzi vs. Belair. Shotzi grabs a choke in the corner and a faceplant drops Belair again. The running hip attack in the ropes gets two on Belair, who sends Shotzi into the corner and hits the KOD for the pin/win at 23:46.

Rating: C-. Well that was ridiculous. The last five minutes of this was Belair doing her best Super Cena impression, as she ran through three people on her own (four if you count getting rid of Banks). The match wasn’t anything special otherwise, as the Belair vs. Banks segment was the only thing worth seeing. This felt long until the ending, when it became one head shaking moment after another. Storm was trying and got a bit of a run, but this was all about making Belair look strong and to say they went overboard would be an understatement.

Raw – 5
Smackdown – 1

Classic Rock Moment: The Rock is at the first Smackdown on FOX and rips on Baron Corbin/hangs out with Becky Lynch.

Paul Heyman knows nothing about the missing egg but thinks those people from BROOKLYN might have had something to do with it. That’s not what he is being asked about though: what about Brock Lesnar’s suspension being lifted soon? Uh, Heyman doesn’t want to talk about that either.

Video on Bobby Lashley.

We recap Roman Reigns vs. Big E. Last month, Big E. cashed in Money In The Bank to become the new Raw World Champion. The New Day celebrated because they’re a brotherhood, but Reigns said they were no Bloodline. Reigns broke Woods’ King Of The Ring crown and now it’s time for a clash between World Champions.

Big E. (Raw) vs. Roman Reigns (Smackdown)

Paul Heyman is here too as we hear about their time together in FCW. They fight over a lockup to start with neither getting anywhere, meaning it’s off to another staredown. Big E. shoves him a bit and Reigns bails to the floor, where Heyman lists off some Anoa’i family members at the table. Back in and Reigns hits the jumping clothesline for two before stomping away rather hard.

An elbow drops Reigns and Big E. gets to talk a bit of trash to set up the missed apron splash. Big E. comes up favoring his knee and you know Reigns is happy with that. Back in and the chinlock goes on for a bit until Big E. powers up for the break. You don’t do that to Reigns, who boots Big E. down for two more. Big E. is sent outside again as Reigns is getting frustrated and growling at the crowd. A reversed whip into the steps puts Reigns in trouble for a change and some belly to bellies make it worse back inside.

The Warrior Splash connects but Big E. charges into a Samoan drop for two. Reigns fires off the corner clotheslines until Big E. Rock Bottoms him out of said corner for two of his own. The Stretch Muffler has Reigns in trouble so he powers up into a sitout powerbomb to rock Big E. again. A Rock Bottom gets two more as they’re sticking with the big shots here. Two Superman Punches only keep Big E. down for a few seconds so Reigns hits a third…but Big E. is back up before the spear can even launch.

Reigns is sent to the apron for the spear out to the floor but comes right back in with his own spear (minus through the ropes) for a rather near fall. They take their time getting up, with Reigns talking about how Big E. doesn’t deserve to be here. The guillotine is broken up but Big E. tries another spear through the ropes and gets caught in the choke. Reigns gets it on again back inside, only to muscle Reigns up into the Big Ending for two.

They head outside again, with Big E. fired up this time as he sends Reigns face first into the announcers’ table. A posting and ram into the barricade have Reigns in more trouble but he’s fine enough to send Big E. knees first into the steps. A Superman Punch off the steps lets Reigns kick the knee out and hit a spear for the pin at 21:56.

Rating: B. It took some time to get going and could have had a few minutes cut out, but this was a heck of a fight. The problem here though was there was no reason to believe Reigns would lose. Big E. is great, but winning the title via Money in the Bank makes him feel a step beneath Reigns, in addition to the fact that Reigns already feels like a bigger star than anyone else at the moment. Big E. was trying here, but you know Reigns getting pinned is going to be a huge moment, not something in a stand alone show like this one.

Raw – 5
Smackdown – 2

Overall Rating: B-. This show is going to depend on how you look at it. While the wrestling was mostly good, with the main event and men’s Survivor Series match carrying it, the biggest problem is NOTHING HAPPENED. Raw dominated the head to head competition and there was nothing on here that I felt like I needed to see. Reigns is still the unstoppable force and whoever got the red shirts this year had a strong night. What else is there to say about the wrestling with non-existent stakes?

Then you have everything else and it was just sad. The Rock obsession was cool and made sense, but without him actually having anything to do with the show the impact kind of falls apart. I know he’s busy, but if he isn’t going to be there, maybe don’t focus on him so much. The egg stuff was stupid, though I can’t fault WWE for trying to make money and it was relatively short.

Overall, as has been the case for a long time, there was enough good to pretty good action to make the show a decent watch, but there is absolutely nothing from a storyline perspective. The Battle For Brand Supremacy stuff worked for a few years but now WWE has given up on it meaning anything, so why should I care about what they’re doing? Good enough show, but totally unimportant.

Ratings Comparison

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Damian Priest

Original: C+
Redo: C

Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte

Original: B+
Redo: B+

Raw Men vs. Smackdown Men

Original: B-
Redo: B

Battle Royal

Original: C
Redo: C

Usos vs. RKBro

Original: C+
Redo: B

Smackdown Women vs. Raw Women

Original: C-
Redo: C-

Big E. vs. Roman Reigns

Original: B
Redo: B

Overall Rating

Original: B-
Redo: B-

Oh yeah this is about as similar as it gets.

 

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

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AND

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Monday Night Raw
Date: September 18, 2023
Location: Delta Center, Salt Lake City, Utah
Commentators: Michael Cole, Wade Barrett

We’re less than three weeks out from Fastlane and that means it might be time to start announcing something for the show. So far there are no matches officially announced, though you should be able to figure out a few of them without much trouble. Other than that, Becky Lynch is he new NXT Women’s Champion and we’ll likely hear something about that. Let’s get to it.

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

Here is Cody Rhodes to get things going. Before he can get very far though, here is Dominik Mysterio (Cody’s scheduled opponent) to interrupt. Dominik talks about how Jey Uso is going to join the Judgment Day and mentions that Rhea Ripley is out tonight after the attack at the hands of Nia Jax last week.

Cody asks if the fans heard that and thinks that the Dominik/Rhea relationship has some Steve Urkel/Laura Winslow vibes, because Rhea isn’t that into him (he must not have seen the last few seasons). Besides, if you watched last week, it seems that Rhea has eyes for Jey Uso. Cue Finn Balor and Damian Priest to join Dominik before the match.

Cody Rhodes vs. Dominik Mysterio

Non-title. Cody starts fast and suplexes Dominik and grabs a quickly broken Figure Four. Dominik gets in a few shots of his own but walks into the Cody Cutter. Cross Rhodes finishes Dominik at 2:10. That’s a fast lost for Dominik, even against Cody.

Post match Judgment Day stares down Cody but Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn run down to even things up. Judgment Day backs off and leaves. Please not another six man main event. Cody goes to leave again but Owens says cut the music. Owens asks him to get back in the ring because they need to talk about something.

Post break Owens says that Jey Uso is back on Raw because of Cody, which Cody says is correct. Owens talks about everything Jey did to a lot of people, so why is Cody willing to bring him back? Cody says there are people in the back who need to hear this but there are people here who probably already know this. His job is to make these people happy and Jey deserves a second chance. And besides: now the Bloodline is down a member.

Sami tries to play peacekeeper and asks Owens to give Cody and Jey a chance. Owens says he sees where this is going and says sure, he’ll pretend Jey didn’t cost them all the Universal Title and is just one shade of eye liner away from joining the Judgment Day. He won’t trust Jey, but he’ll trust them and they better be right. This is getting interesting and I can always go for that.

We look at Rhea Ripley retaining the Women’s Title over Raquel Rodriguez but getting crushed by Nia Jax after the match was over.

Ripley has bruised ribs and is day to day, the same as Rodriguez, who has whiplash.

Kofi Kingston vs. Ivar

This was going to be a tag match but Erik is out so we’ll do it solo. Kofi can’t headlock Ivar (with Valhalla) down to start so Ivar runs him over with a clothesline. Back up and Kofi hits the jumping elbow, only to get crushed with a seated senton out of the corner. Elbows and right hands get Kofi out of the corner and a top rope shot to the head staggers Ivar.

There’s a running clothesline but it’s too early for the Boom Drop. Instead Kofi kicks him in the head for two but Ivar hits a backdrop to the floor. The big splash off the apron crushes Kofi again and we take a break. Back with Ivar hitting a powerslam and a crossbody drops Kofi for the third time. The top rope splash misses though and Kofi runs the corner for a spinning high crossbody.

The SOS gets two but Ivar tiger bombs him down for the same. Ivar nails a spinwheel kick and hits a Bronco Buster so he goes up top. The top rope splash is loaded up but Valhalla tells him to go bigger, meaning it’s a moonsault (not a bad one either) for two. Kofi fights up and hits a sunset bomb out of the corner, setting up Trouble In Paradise for the pin at 13:04.

Rating: B. That was a heck of a match as Kofi is still good for a pretty awesome performance when he is given the chance. Ivar was more than holding his own here though as the power vs. speed was rolling. Sometimes you find two guys who have surprising chemistry and that was absolute the case here. Rather good stuff.

We look back at Shinsuke Nakamura attacking Ricochet.

Ricochet says he’s the cheat code for Nakamura and tonight it’s game over.

Ricochet vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Hold o though as here is Seth Rollins to charge at Nakamura and the chase is on, with agents and security breaking it up. Back with the bell ringing and Ricochet backing him into the corner. Nakamura gets in a cheap shot to take over but the kick to the chest is blocked. Instead Nakamura hits a running knee for two and we hit the seated abdominal stretch.

Ricochet fights up but gets kicked back into the corner for a choke. The sliding German suplex is blocked though and Ricochet hits the middle rope moonsault to the floor as we take a break. Back with Ricochet kicking a charging Nakamura down and a handspring elbow does it again. The running shooting star press gets two on Nakamura and a springboard high crossbody does it a second time. Nakamura knocks him outside and Ricochet hits an enziguri before chairing Nakamura down for the DQ at 12:58.

Rating: B-. Well at least Ricochet didn’t get pinned, though having him beat Nakamura down like that at the end was a little weird. Either way, Nakamura is all but guaranteed to go to Fastlane for a rematch with Rollins while Ricochet can continue to be the star of the future, as he has been for years now. It’s kind of his thing and that isn’t likely to change anytime soon.

Post match Ricochet yells at the referee but Nakamura takes his knee out. Ricochet’s knee is destroyed with a chair and the post until Rollins runs in for the save. Nakamura backdrops his way out of a Pedigree attempt though and security breaks it up. Well they do for a bit at least as Nakamura gets in another cheap shot to the bad back to leave Rollins laying.

Post break Rollins needs help getting into the trainer’s room.

Piper Niven and Chelsea Green are ready for Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark because they’re friends. Niven doesn’t buy that, as Green doesn’t even know where she’s from.

Piper Niven/Chelsea Green vs. Shayna Baszler/Zoey Stark

Non-title. Stark and Green start things off with Stark slugging away and hitting a basement clothesline. A slingshot hilo connects and it’s Baszler coming in for a reverse DDT backbreaker. Stark comes back in, though things seem a bit testy between her and Baszler. A missed charge in the corner staggers Stark though and Niven comes in to plant her for two. Stark gets up and hands it back to Baszler, who takes Niven outside. Cue Nia Jax to send Niven into the steps for the DQ at 3:52.

Rating: C. This was short and more about Jax than anything else. That may be here or there, but it is interesting to have her go after a bunch of different women rather than focusing in on just one to start. Other than that, good for not having the champs lose so soon, as they aren’t exactly the most firmly established in the first place.

Jax wrecks everyone post match and puts the division on notice.

Chad Gable comes up to Adam Pearce and asks for one more shot at Gunther but Pearce says he has to earn it. Bronson Reed comes in and says he’ll be glad to help. The match is on.

We look back at the Rock and Pat McAfee’s surprise cameos on Smackdown.

Damien Priest tries to talk Jey Uso into joining the Judgment Day, which is family instead of relatives. Priest wants an answer tonight.

Chad Gable vs. Bronson Reed

Otis and Maxxine Dupri are here with Gable. Some forearms stagger Reed to start and a missile dropkick does it again. It’s too early for the German suplex so Reed is right back with a powerslam. Reed catches him on top for a gorilla press toss onto the turnbuckle. We take a break and come back with Gable going after the knee. Reed blasts him with a clothesline but Gable grabs the cross armbreaker over the top. Reed’s backsplash only hits knees though and Gable can’t follow up. Gable grabs a sleeper so Reed drops backwards onto him, setting up the Tsunami for the pin at 9:35.

Rating: C+. That’s more than a bit surprising as you wouldn’t expect Gable to lose again so soon. That being said, it’s nice to have Reed get a win, as he is someone who has been in need of that kind of a moment for a good while now. I don’t know if he’s going to get a big showdown moment with Gunther, but I’ll take him getting an important win like this one.

Tommaso Ciampa is done with waiting and is ready to take out Imperium to get what he wants.

Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens still don’t see eye to eye about Jey Uso. Cue Jey, which has Owens walking off but Sami knows he has a big decision to make about Judgment Day.

Here is Becky Lynch to brag about winning the NXT Women’s Title. She wants to be champion that matters though and that means it is time to test herself tonight. Therefore the open challenge is on so here is Natalya to answer. This isn’t what Becky had in mind but Natalya says she deserves it and shoves her down. Ring the bell.

NXT Women’s Title: Natalya vs. Becky Lynch

Lynch is defending and gets sent outside hard to start as we take an early break. Back with Becky hitting a running forearm into the Bexploder for two. Natalya snaps off a release German suplex but the Sharpshooter is countered into a small package. A superplex gives Natalya two more but another Sharpshooter attempt is broken up. Becky hits the missile dropkick, only to have Natalya come back with a discus lariat. The Disarm-Her is countered into a rollup for two but Lynch reverses into a rollup of her own for the pin at 6:14.

Rating: B-. That’s about as Natalya of a match as you’re going to get: she comes in, she isn’t the most thrilling choice, she has a completely fine if not better than that match and then loses again. While she’s the perfect choice to guarantee at least a passable match. On the other hand, it doesn’t matter all that much as the fans don’t seem interested in her no matter what she is able to do in the ring. For a one off match, it high quality, but rather low on the interest levels.

Dragon Lee is in Adam Pearce’s office when Dominik Mysterio comes in to yell at both of them. Lee promises to win the North American Title next week.

Giovanni Vinci vs. Tommaso Ciampa

Ludwig Kaiser is here too as Vinci uppercuts Ciampa into the corner. A clothesline puts Ciampa down again as we see Gunther watching in the back. Vinci gets two off a belly to back suplex but Ciampa strikes away. Ciampa comes back with a Thesz press and a reverse DDT but Kaiser offers a distraction. That doesn’t work for Vinci as Ciampa pulls him into the Sicilian Stretch for the tap at 3:28.

Rating: C. As has been the case with LA Knight in weeks past, what mattered here was that Ciampa got another win. That is how you make someone feel like a bigger deal and they are making it work with him. He’ll have to move up the ladder sooner than later if he is going to, but at least he has a place to start.

Seth Rollins says he’s tired and in a lot of pain but he’s trying to keep it together. He’s tired of these games though and he’s willing to do anything to get Nakamura in the ring. Nakamura can name the time, the place and even the stipulation if he wants. Now Nakamura needs to decide who defines his legacy.

Video on Drew McIntyre vs. Jey Uso.

Drew McIntyre vs. Jey Uso

They talk trash to each other to start until McIntyre shoves him into the corner and asks if this is all he has. Jey ducks a shot in the corner and strikes away but McIntyre is right back with the chops. A snap suplex gives McIntyre two but Jey sends him outside, setting up the dive. Another dive hits McIntyre and here is the Judgment Day as we take a break.

Back with McIntyre hitting the top rope superplex, followed by the Glasgow Kiss. Jey manages a quick Samoan drop for two but the suicide dive is cut off. Back in and McIntyre’s spinebuster gets two, only to have Damien Priest offer a distraction on the floor. Jey get in a hard shot of his own for two but kicks all of Judgment Day down. The distraction lets McIntyre hit the Claymore for the pin at 14:12.

Rating: B-. This was all about the angle rather than the match and McIntyre gets a nice rub with a pin in Raw’s main event. He hasn’t had many such wins for a bit so maybe things are turning around now. On the other hand you have Jey loses, but he should have his hands full with Judgment Day for the time being. Not a great match, but the kind that opens up a lot of doors in a variety of directions.

Post match McIntyre leaves and Uso gets beaten down. McIntyre thinks about making the save but stands still until Cody Rhodes runs in for the real save to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. This show felt more like the NXT of old and that is a good thing. You could almost feel the list of things that they wanted to accomplish being checked off one by one. There were some things set up for the future, but none of those were set up for Fastlane. They still have two Raw’s left before the pay per view, but I’m getting tired of the matches being announced so late in the show’s buildup. Either way, good enough show here, as they got a lot done.

Results
Cody Rhodes b. Dominik Mysterio – Cross Rhodes
Kofi Kingston b. Ivar – Trouble In Paradise
Shinsuke Nakamura b. Ricochet via DQ when Ricochet used a chair
Piper Niven/Chelsea Green b. Shayna Baszler/Zoey Stark via DQ when Nia Jax interfered
Bronson Reed b. Chad Gable – Tsunami
Becky Lynch b. Natalya – Rollup
Tommaso Ciampa b. Giovanni Vinci – Sicilian Stretch
Drew McIntyre b. Jey Uso – Claymore

 

 

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

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AND

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Smackdown
Date: September 15, 2023
Location: Ball Arena, Denver, Colorado
Commentators: Corey Graves, Michael Cole, Kevin Patrick

This is the first Smackdown under the Endeavor banner and I’m not sure I can imagine there are going to be any major changes for the time being. We’re also about three weeks away from Fastlane and nothing has been announced so they might want to get on that. Not that they will, but they should. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a surprise appearance by Pat McAfee, who was working in nearby Boulder, Colorado and swung by. McAfee welcomes us to the show but here is Austin Theory (in a black tank top, dressed almost identically to McAfee) to interrupt. Theory mocks McAfee and makes an Aaron Rodgers shirt before making fun of McAfee’s physique. McAfee makes a marijuana references and says this is the people’s show rather than Theory’s show. Do you know what that means?

AND HERE IS THE ROCK! The fans certainly seem to remember him but Theory says this is his ring. Rock: “SHUT YOUR B**** A** UP!” McAfee is loving this and Rock takes off his jacket to reveal his own black tank top (and throw said jacket into the crowd), followed by a little FINALLY. Theory says it’s Rock and Austin in the ring one more time, but this time it’s a REALLY tough Austin. Rock says….and Theory says it doesn’t matter what Rock says.

McAfee can feel the death coming as Rock says it matters what he and the people say, because Steve Austin is Rock’s boy. Rock talks about Theory being from A-Town but it’s clear that he’s an a-hole. He gets half of the arena to chant YOU ARE and the other to chant A**HOLE, which takes up so long that McAfee makes fun of it. Rock lays Theory out with the spinebuster and hits a People’s Elbow. McAfee adds one of his own and everyone celebrates. Oh yeah I’d say the Rock showing up as a total surprise still works.

AJ Styles vs. Finn Balor

Damian Priest and Dominik Mysterio are here too. Feeling out process to start with Balor taking him down and grabbing an early chinlock. Back up and Styles hits the drop down into a dropkick, setting up a backbreaker to send Balor outside. We take a break and come back with both of them hitting crossbodies for a double knockdown. Styles hits the Phenomenal Blitz, followed by the basement forearm.

A Mysterio distraction lets Balor rake the eyes but Styles hits a belly to back faceplant for two. Balor kicks him away and goes up, only to have the Coup de Grace broken up. A fireman’s carry backbreaker sends Balor outside and Styles nails the slingshot forearm to the floor. Styles decks Mysterio and the team is sent to the back. The Phenomenal Forearm misses and here is Jimmy Uso for a distraction, allowing Balor to crucifix Styles for the pin at 8:28.

Rating: B-. Oh like these two were going to have anything but a good match. The ending keeps probably the biggest story going around here rolling as Jimmy continues messing with things. They’re having a few people get involved here and that makes for an interesting story. As for the match itself, it was Balor vs. Styles. What else were you expecting?

Pat McAfee and the Rock are talking when John Cena comes up. Cena and Rock have the staredown and then hug because everything is cool.

Finn Balor comes up to Jimmy Uso and offers both of the Usos a spot in the Judgment Day. Jimmy politely declines but Balor says there is no leader in the Judgment Day. Balor: “No Roman.” That might get Jimmy’s attention, so here is Paul Heyman after Jimmy leaves.

Here is the LWO for a chat, with Rey Mysterio talking about how the team reminded him what family represents. He has a family that is united and stronger than ever. Santos Escobar talks about how the family won the title when Rey stepped up. His dream has always been to face Mysterio for a title so he issues the formal challenge. Rey seems a bit taken aback….but he’s just kidding because of course he accepts. Cue Bobby Lashley and the Street Profits to interrupt, with a challenge quickly being made and accepted.

Street Profits vs. LWO

Joined in progress with Wilde getting two on Dawkins. Wilde misses something off the top and the Revelation finishes for Ford at 52 seconds shown. Something tells me this was trimmed for time.

Post match the beatdown stays on, with the entire LWO being taken out.

LA Knight vs. The Miz

Feeling out process to start with Miz hammering away until Knight hits a neckbreaker. The slingshot shoulder hits Miz again but he’s right back with a knee to the ribs. Knight is back with another neckbreaker and a middle rope bulldog gets two. Miz goes to the eyes though and the running corner clothesline gives him two of his own.

We take a break and come back with Knight hitting a running kick to the chest. Knight manages to send him into the corner for a running knee and another near fall. They trade rollups for two each until Miz hits a hanging DDT for two. Miz misses the big kick and Knight slugs away, setting up the BFT for the pin at 11:28.

Rating: C+. It was a little shorter than the Payback match and that helped it a good bit. What matters, again, is Knight getting the win and in theory, moving himself up the ladder. This really should end their feud so Knight can move on to something else, and thankfully it was a feud that went exactly as it should have, at least in the ring.

Post match Knight says he’s here for gold and it doesn’t matter if it’s Rey Mysterio, Gunther, Seth Rollins or even Roman Reigns. He’s top two and he’s not second, so with everybody saying it, LA KNIGHT! That was a good line.

We cut to the back where Solo Sikoa is not pleased with Knight but Paul Heyman tries to talk about how Roman Reigns has to give that kind of an order. Sikoa has to worry about Jimmy Uso and John Cena. Sikoa says he already knows what he needs to do and promises to finish this. Tonight. He looks at the taped up thumb and leaves, with Heyman wondering who gave that order. A distressed call to Reigns ensues.

Pretty Deadly comes in to see Adam Pearce, who is glad they’ll be back in the ring soon. Elton Prince says that he can still hear his bones breaking and Ridge Holland laughing. Pearce asks why Prince is in a wheelchair for a shoulder injury but instead we get a quick pep talk and a YES BOY.

Bayley and Dakota Kai fire each other up backstage but Kai isn’t sure if Bayley is ready for Asuka. Bayley doesn’t seem overly sure.

Bayley vs. Asuka

Dakota Kai is here with Bayley. They trade rollups for two each to start and the threat of a kick sends Bayley into the corner. Instead Asuka dropkicks her to the apron, where Bayley manages a ram into the post. We take a break and come back with Bayley kneeing her in the head for two but not being able to hit the sunset bomb into the corner.

She tries to slide back over but thankfully Asuka armbars her instead. With that broken up, Asuka grabs a German suplex and they’re both down. Asuka misses a Codebreaker and Bayley takes her outside, where the announcers’ table is loaded up. Cue Shotzi to scare Bayley away and Asuka gets a backslide for the pin at 8:56.

Rating: C+. This match helped fuel a few stories, as you had Asuka getting ready for a title match next week against Dakota Kai as well as Shotzi scaring the daylights out of Bayley. As usual, Bayley can’t beat Asuka, but that’s not the point here. Asuka is ready to go and Shotzi is looking like more of a star than she ever has before. That’s not bad for a match that didn’t even last nine minutes.

Here is Grayson Waller or the Grayson Waller Effect. His guest has headlined Wrestlemania but now his star is fading faster than his hairline. Cue John Cena to be his guest, though Waller mocks him for leaving his hat on. Waller thinks Cena needed help hosting Payback and since he only wanted to be a guest referee, his in-ring career is over. Cena isn’t the best right now and that’s enough to get him to take the shirt off.

Cue Jimmy Uso to interrupt and takes the mic away from Cena (who hasn’t spoken yet). The fans chant for Cena to cut Jimmy off but Jimmy says if Cena isn’t going to do anything, get out of his ring. Cue Paul Heyman and Solo Sikoa, with the latter getting in Cena’s face. Sikoa grabs Jimmy but turns around to superkick Cena into the corner. Jimmy smiles at Sikoa, who ignores him but hammers on Cena. Cue AJ Styles for the save and Sikoa, Jimmy and Heyman bail to end the show. This is starting to get interesting with everything coming together and I want to see where this goes.

Overall Rating: B. There was little reason to care about the wrestling here when you had the Rock, but the action itself was more than fine enough. Knight got his win, Asuka looked strong going into her title match and Balor vs. Styles worked. At the same time you had some stuff being teased for later, including multiple stories coming together in the main event segment. I liked this show a lot, with Rock being one of the bigger surprises in recent memory.

Results
Finn Balor b. AJ Styles – Crucifix
Street Profits b. LWO – Revelation to Wilde
LA Knight b. The Miz – BFT
Asuka b. Bayley – Backslide

 

 

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Smackdown
Date: August 25, 2023
Location: KFC Yum Center, Louisville, Kentucky
Commentators; Wade Barrett, Michael Cole, Kevin Patrick

This is not going to be a normal show and it shouldn’t be. The wrestling world lost an all time legend and a current star this year as Terry Funk and Bray Wyatt both passed away. As a result, I’m not expecting much in the way of storylines tonight, but it isn’t likely to be a full on tribute show either. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a double graphic for Terry Funk and Bray Wyatt (listed as Windham Rotunda) with the roster (including Braun Strowman and also Erick Rowan). Michael Cole is at ringside and talks about how this is for the two of them and we get the ten bell salute.

We get the music video on Wyatt (starting with He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands) and looking at most of his WWE run, including the Firefly Fun House and the Fiend. We see some pictures of him with the other Wyatts and his family (oh boy). He blows the lantern out…..and we’re back in the arena where the empty rocking chair gets a spotlight. Well. That was heartbreaking.

Back from a break and we get a series of tweets from wrestlers and personalities memorializing Terry Funk.

Rey Mysterio vs. Grayson Waller

Non-title. Rey takes him down to start and does Waller’s knee drop pose, followed by a forearm to the face. A headscissors sends Waller into the corner but another is countered to send Rey to the apron. Waller kicks him in the face and slides out after him, only to get hurricanranaed into the barricade.

We take a break and come back with Waller stomping Rey down into the corner before hammering away with some forearms. Waller’s top rope elbow gets two but he charges into a boot in the corner. Rey hits a springboard DDT for two and knocks Waller down again but here is Austin Theory for a distraction. The ensuing rollup gives Waller two and a collision puts both of them down. Cue Santos Escobar to go after Waller but his knee gets banged up again. Rey is back up with a 619 and hits the slingshot splash for the pin at 12:04.

Rating: C+. I’m rather glad that they’ve more or less dropped the distraction leading into a rollup, or at least it’s no longer a near running joke. Waller continues to lose and continues to not exactly be great in the ring. Rey did his thing here to carry it, but Waller might be better off as someone who just talks rather than wrestles on a regular basis. It suits him better.

We see the original Bray Wyatt vignette from NXT.

We get some tweets on Bray.

Commentary talks about Bray.

Damage CTRL yells at Kayla Braxton and call her short. Like Zelina Vega, who isn’t beating Iyo Sky tonight.

We look at the Fiend’s debut. That worked.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Iyo Sky vs. Zelina Vega

Sky, with Damage CTRL, is defending. Vega gets slammed to start but slips out of a second and kicks Sky in the head. Sky is dropped again and Vega hits a middle rope Meteora (with an Eddie tribute of course). Back up and Sky hits a great looking springboard missile dropkick but Vega is back with a DDT. Code Red is blocked but works on the second time, with Sky falling out to the floor. Sky is fine enough to send her into the steps, followed by t running knees in the corner back inside. Over The Moonsault retains at 6:10.

Rating: C. This was a way to get Sky’s first title defense out of the way against a popular challenger and that worked just fine. Vega has that fight until the end style to her and the Code Red is enough of a threat that it might steal a win someday. For now though, Sky gets her win and is ready to move on to a more serious feud.

More Bray tweets.

Here is Cody Rhodes to pay tribute to Terry Funk. He remembers being at the airport in Denver with his dad at 11 years old when he heard someone call Dusty Rhodes an egg sucking dog. The same person said something about his mother and Cody didn’t quite get it. Of course it was Funk, and we get the In Memory graphic.

The people who get in this ring have been called a lot of things, but Terry Funk and Bray Wyatt were cowboys in the best sense of the word. Of all of the wrestlers who said they went to West Texas State University, Funk actually attended classes there. Funk gave an entire company and a revolution “the rub”, and we see the WWE tribute video to him. Tonight we’re getting a hardcore tag match in Funk’s honor.

Street Profits vs. Brawling Brutes

Hardcore. It’s a brawl to start with the Brutes taking over, including Butch hitting a dropkick to each of them. Holland is back in as Butch moonsaults onto both of them. Holland puts Butch in a fireman’s carry for a version of the Terry Funk ladder spot (that was nice) but Ford sends them both outside. There’s the big flip dive and cue Bobby Lashley as we take a break.

Back with the Brutes hitting the stereo ten forearms to the chests and getting two on Ford. The Profits are back up with Ford hitting a nice Blockbuster for two, with Butch making the save. Butch pulls out a table (and seems to offend Lashley in the process) but Ford takes it away. What looks to be a Rock Bottom is broken up but Lashley spears Butch down on the floor. The Sky High/neckbreaker (the Revelation) sends Holland through the table for the pin at 12:24.

Rating: C. for a regular tag math with a table thrown in, it was rather good but for a hardcore match, it was hardly hardcore. That being said, the ladder spot was awesome and the Brutes feel like a team who belongs in such a match. It might not have been the most logical way to pay tribute to Funk, but the fans were into the Profits.

More Bray tweets.

We get a TMZ video with Miz threatening LA Knight.

Here is LA Knight or a chat before his match. Knight talks about how he saw the Fireflies out here earlier tonight. It got him thinking about how your greatest foes can be your greatest helpers. He and Bray Wyatt did some horrible things to each other but it was Bray getting him ready for anything.

That brings him to Miz, who threatened him (with Knight doing a high pitched impression) but was only an afterthought even when he was main eventing Wrestlemania. If Miz wants to try and end Knight, come find him anywhere anytime. Knight hits the catchphrase but has one more piece of advice for Miz: the next time you see him, RUN. That got a heck of a reaction, as it should have. Excellent stuff and the ending was a great tribute.

Here’s what’s coming next week, including the rescheduled return of Jimmy Uso. That makes sense as no one was up for a major storyline this week.

LA Knight vs. Finn Balor

Wyatt’s last opponent vs. the person the Fiend debuted against. Knight starts fast by sending him to the apron for a hand stomp. As we’re told Miz vs. Knight is set for Payback, Knight rams him face first into the announcers’ table for two back inside. We take a break and come back with Balor getting faceplanted and kicked in the head for two.

Balor fights back and hits the shotgun dropkick into the corner. The Coup de Grace misses though and Knight hits his powerslam. Balor is back up and drops Knight again, only to get crotched on top this time. Knight jump sot the top for the superplex and the BFT is good for the clean pin at 10:45.

Rating: B-. They were in a weird spot here as there is no storyline reason for them to be fighting. Knight goes over as he needs the win more and it’s not like anyone is going to count a loss like this against Balor. What mattered here was doing something with people who had been associated with Wyatt and this was about as good as they could have done, all things considered.

Knight leaves and the lights go out Fiend style, with the lantern showing up in the ring and a silhouette of Bray (appearing to have wings thanks to the firefly behind him) appearing on the Titantron. A THANK YOU BRAY chant takes us out.

Overall Rating: A. As has been the case before, this wasn’t about the wrestling. This was about paying tribute to two wrestlers who passed away this week, one of whom was a current member of the roster. Bray getting more focus than Funk made sense, but Cody’s promo and the Funk video were both great. They focused a bit on storylines here but moving most of them until next week is the right way to go. The show had me thinking about Bray and Funk throughout though, and that’s what it should have been this week.

Results
Rey Mysterio b. Grayson Waller – Springboard splash
Iyo Sky b. Zelina Vega – Over The Moonsault
Street Profits b. Brawling Brutes – Revelation to Holland
LA Knight b. Finn Balor – BFT

 

 

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Monday Night Raw
Date: August 14, 2023
Location: Canada Life Center, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Commentators: Michael Cole, Wade Barrett

We are starting on the road to Payback and it is probably time to start getting towards the build to the show. If nothing else, we need some actual matches for the card and it wouldn’t surprise me to see that list built up a bit tonight. Other than that, the big showdown this week is Trish Stratus vs. Becky Lynch. Let’s get to it.

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

Here is Judgment Day, minus Finn Balor, to get things going. They agree that communication has been an issue, but as long as Damian Priest has the briefcase, they dictate what goes on around here. Priest isn’t happy with Balor not being here, so if they’re supposed to be a team, where is he? Cue JD McDonagh to interrupt and Priest immediately tells him to be careful.

McDonagh has a message from Balor: don’t worry about McDonagh, but rather Sami Zayn and Cody Rhodes. Rhea Ripley doesn’t want to take orders from anyone and Dominik is booed out of the building, despite it being part of NORTH AMERICA, meaning he is their champion. McDonagh goes to leave, but Ripley tells him to tell Balor that they need to talk. Cue Zayn to go after McDonagh, who posts Zayn’s bad arm to stop that cold.

Sami Zayn vs. JD McDonagh

Zayn is heavily favoring his arm, with that big bump on it from last week probably not helping things. A backdrop puts McDonagh down fast and a monkey flip sends him crashing into the ropes. McDonagh gets smart by going after the arm so Zayn tries to take it outside. The bad arm is sent into the announcers’ table and we take a break.

Back with McDonagh dropkicking him out of the air. Zayn hits a one armed Michinoku Driver but McDonagh is back with a Spanish Fly. The crossface goes on the bad arm but Zayn slips out and suplexes him into the corner. Cue Finn Balor for a distraction so McDonagh can roll him up for two, followed by a headbutt to drop Zayn. The raised boots block a moonsault though and, after kicking Balor down, Zayn finishes with a Helluva Kick at 11:43.

Rating: B-. This was even more impressive when you consider Sami wrestled the match with one good arm. That is a heck of a lot more than some could do and to top it off, they didn’t go with the distraction finish. This went pretty well and I could go with seeing it again when Sami is healthy. At the same time, that is a heck of a blow to McDonagh, who still doesn’t have his footing around here in the first place.

Adam Pearce seems ready to strip Chelsea Green of the Women’s Tag Team Titles but she cuts him off and threatens to call human resources. Green wants to hold talent auditions to find her new partner but Katana Chance and Kayden Carter come in. They want the first shot at the new champs, but here is Piper Niven to drop both of them. She says she is the new partner and takes one of the titles. Green agrees, seemingly out of fear.

Video on Imperium.

Cody Rhodes is ready for Finn Balor tonight and is ready to bring it in Winnipeg, as he hasn’t been here in a long time.

Here is Imperium, with Gunther standing on the announcers’ table, for a chat. Gunther talks about how hard he has to work to build the title, and says that as a European, he is always looking forward to come to Canada. Then he walked the streets of Winnipeg this morning and gets why no one likes it here.

For now though, he wants to address Chad Gable, who impressed him last week. In general, Gable has worked hard for years and is a former Olympian. But Gunther has achieved more in a year than gable has in his entire career. Cue the Alpha Academy, with Gable talking about how Gunther put him on the clock a few weeks ago. Well now he Gunther is on the clock because he is less than a month away from the longest Intercontinental Title reign ever.

Gable is chasing him down though and he has been looking for a chance for ten years now. Tonight though it’s Gable vs. Giovanni Vinci so get that big bald head in here. Before the match, Ludwig Kaiser promises that Gable will be embarrassed and then hits on Maxxine Dupri again. He is willing to rescue her from becoming an absolute embarrassment and gets slapped in the face for his efforts.

Giovanni Vinci vs. Chad Gable

Gable goes for the arm to start but a leapfrog is countered into a powerslam for two. A belly to back suplex puts Gable down and a backbreaker gets two more. Gable loses a chop off in the corner but comes back with some strikes of his own. Gable’s moonsault misses so Vinci hits one of his own for two. Not that it matters as Gable is right back with Chaos Theory for the pin at 5:04.

Rating: C+. This is all you need to do with Gable: give him a nice win and make him look like more and more of a threat to Gunther as the title match gets closer. It’s a very simple formula and even if Gable winning the title feels like a long shot at best, they’re setting it up in the right way. Good enough here and that’s all it needed to be.

Post match Gunther says he’s not done and wants Otis right now.

Otis vs. Gunther

Non-title. Otis starts with the giggling so Gunther powers him into the corner. A headlock slows Otis down and Gunther forearms him in the back to send it to the ropes. Gunther slowly pounds him down but the chops wake Otis up a bit. They trade big clotheslines until Otis grabs a fall away slam. The Caterpillar is broken up by a no great looking basement dropkick. Instead Gunther kicks him in the head and manages a powerbomb for the pin at 5:08.

Rating: C+. That powerbomb alone was worth a look and Gunther was selling the Otis goofiness well enough. The good thing here is that there wasn’t much of it to be seen, as Otis was wrestling a pretty straight power style (jiggling aside). Nice enough match here as Gunther got to show off, which is always nice to see.

Post match Gable comes in to after the villains but Gunther gets away.

Damian Priest and Finn Balor are annoyed at each other but Rhea Ripley yells at the to get their killer instinct back. JD McDonagh tries to come up but Priest scares him off. Balor is ready to get the instinct back tonight by beating Cody Rhodes.

We look at the Bloodline drama from Smackdown, with Jey Uso standing tall and then quitting.

Earlier today, Drew McIntyre was interrupted by Matt Riddle, who thinks they can be a great team. He has already accepted a match against the Viking Raiders and asks Drew about being his partner. Drew finally cuts him off and says he’ll consider it if no one else will.

Video on Indi Hartwell.

Drew McIntyre/Matt Riddle vs. Viking Raiders

Cole thinks they should be called the High Landers. Riddle starts for the team and is quickly sent outside, where the Raiders run him over. We take a break and come back with Riddle striking away but getting beaten down again. Riddle knees his way out of trouble and brings McIntyre back in to clean house, including a suplex and neckbreaker.

A Michinoku Driver gets two on Ivar The Claymore is cut off by a distraction and Erik punches McIntyre in the face. Riddle tags himself back in and the springboard clothesline/German suplex combination gives Ivar two. A belly to back suplex is broken up and it’s back to McIntyre as everything breaks down. Riddle’s Floating Bro hits Ivar, leaving McIntyre to Claymore Erik for the pin at 9:27.

Rating: B-. Nice stuff here, and they didn’t even have McIntyre turn on Riddle. While I could see that taking place down the road, I guess we might be getting them as a regular team for the time being. McIntyre needs something to do, though I’m really not sure if that is going to be a mostly goofy tag team. For now though, nice start at least and McIntyre got the pin.

Video on Rhea Ripley attacking Raquel Rodriguez.

Rodriguez gives Indi Hartwell a pep talk.

Matt Riddle and Drew McIntyre talk about wanting the Tag Team Titles but New Day cuts them of and says that’s not how it works. Xavier Woods goes on a rant about how everything is going nuts around here so a tag match is made for next week. New Day’s dancing almost cracks Drew up. Riddle: “The Glas Bro’s accept.”

Rhea Ripley vs. Indi Hartwell

Non-title and Dominik Mysterio/Candice LeRae are the seconds. Ripley throws her around to start but misses a charge into the corner. Hartwell’s spinebuster gets two and they go outside, with Ripley posting her as well. Ripley decks Candice and finishes with Riptide at 2:57.

Here is Shinsuke Nakamura to explain his attack on Seth Rollins last week. Nakamura speaks Japanese before switching to English to say he wants the title. Cue Rollins to say he didn’t like that but if Nakamura wants a title shot, all he has to do is ask. Rollins is a fighting champion and Nakamura can have the title shot whenever, so just name the date. They shake hands and Nakamura says something we can’t hear, which has Rollins confused. Rollins turns to face him again but Nakamura his him with Kinshasa and leaves.

Miz does not approve of the idea that LA Knight showed him up last week. He asks if Byron Saxton is an LA Knight guy now. Saxton: “Yeah.” Miz: “DON’T SAY YEAH!” Miz promises to beat someone next week on Raw.

Trish Stratus vs. Becky Lynch

Zoey Stark is banned from ringside. Becky hammers away to start but Trish uses the face mask for a weapon. Some chops in the corner rock Becky but she’s back with a Bexploder. They go to the floor and Becky strikes away before knocking the mask off back inside. Trish catches her on top but can’t quite get the Stratusphere. The second attempt works a bit better and Becky gets sent into the steps.

Stratus tries to use the mask again but Becky takes it away, only to get choked on the middle rope. We take a break and come back with Becky hitting the top rope legdrop as Trish is draped in the ropes. Trish hits a spear but it’s too early or Stratusfaction. A tornado DDT is blocked as well so Becky gets two off a superplex. They fight out into the crowd and that’s a double countout at 11:30.

Rating: C. Oh boy that’s quite the ending, as this feud has more or less died in recent weeks and now it’s going to continue until Payback (more than likely). I’m not sure how WWE sees that much heat in this thing as it’s already been going on for months. The match itself was ok enough, but I really don’t get this continuing.

Post match the brawl continues into the concourse, with Becky beating hr up at the merchandise stand. The Manhandle Slam is broken up by Zoey Stark, who leaves Trish hanging on a high five. Lynch gets dropped with the Chick Kick and the villains leave.

Gunther yells at Imperium for their screwups tonight and says he’ll defend the title against Chad Gable next week.

Adam Pearce yells at Trish Stratus and Zoey Stark. We’ll get Trish vs. Becky Lynch again, this time inside of a steel cage.

Cody Rhodes vs. Finn Balor

Balor goes to the arm to start and cranks away a bit to keep Rhode sin some early trouble. Back up and Balor chops him into the corner, where he throws in some shoulders to the ribs for a bonus. The chinlock goes on to keep Cody in trouble as this is mostly one sided to start. Cody fights up so here are Dominik Mysterio and Rhea Ripley for a distraction. Balor gets in a dropkick through the ropes and we take a break.

Back with Cody fighting back and hitting a hard shot to the face, only to have Damian Priest come out as well. Cody kicks away from 1916 but gets caught with the Sling Blade. The shotgun dropkick sends Cody into the corner but the Coup de Grace misses. The Cody Cutter connects so Priest grabs the leg for a distraction. Cody’s dive hits Balor and Priest but Balor is back with a superplex. Dominik slides in a chair, which is cut off by the referee. Priest slides in the briefcase, which Cody cuts off and uses on Balor. The Cross Rhodes finishes Balor at 13:57.

Rating: B-. Another good enough but not quite great match here, as Cody using the briefcase is a bit more acceptable when he’s already down 4-1. The Judgment Day’s issues continue and now we get to see if their next step is fixing things or falling apart. For now though, Cody gets a win as he’s waiting for his next big opponent.

Post match the beatdown is on but Sami Zayn runs in for the save. JD McDonagh runs in to break that up and Cody is taken out with South of Heaven. The big beatdown keeps going to end the show with Judgment Day posing. Again: that only works so well when Balor just got beat.

Overall Rating: C+. This was the show about setting up things for the future rather than having much big going on here. You can probably figure out a few of the Payback matches from here and odds are they’ll be made by this time next week. That being said, what we got did work with some good enough matches and the stories being built up well enough. Not a bad show, but probably a skippable one.

Results
Sami Zayn b. JD McDonagh – Helluva Kick
Chad Gable b. Giovanni Vinci – Chaos Theory
Gunther b. Otis – Powerbomb
Drew McIntyre/Matt Riddle b. Viking Raiders – Claymore to Erik
Rhea Ripley b. Indi Hartwell – Riptide
Becky Lynch vs. Trish Stratus went to a double countout
Cody Rhodes b. Finn Balor – Cross Rhodes

 

 

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Monday Night Raw
Date: August 7, 2023
Location: Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Commentators: Michael Cole, Wade Barrett

We’re done with Summerslam and the wasn’t much on the Raw side. Finn Balor again failed to win the World Title from Seth Rollins, Damian Priest still has the Money In The Bank briefcase and Cody Rhodes beat Brock Lesnar again. Payback is in about a month and that means it’s time to start the build up. Let’s get to it.

Here is Summerslam if you need a recap.

Long Summerslam recap video.

We’re commercial free for the first hour.

Here is Cody Rhodes to get things going. Cody talks about how he was face to face with one of Minneapolis’ own at Summerslam and defeated him when he beat Brock Lesnar. After the match, Lesnar shook his hand, which was Lesnar ACKNOWLEDGING him. Now Rhodes feels like he could beat anyone in the world….and here is Seth Rollins to interrupt. Rollins (in yellow sunglasses and what look like massive yellow Crocs) to say he is thanking Cody for helping him, but let’s put this “I can beat anyone” to the test.

Cue Judgment Day (minus Finn Balor) to say they run Raw, including determining the title matches. Dominik Mysterio is the REAL workhorse around here. Dominik takes the mic but Balor runs in through the crowd and the beatdown is on. Sami Zayn runs in for the save and the good guys stand tall. Cody throws out the challenge for the six man main event.

Earlier today, Ricochet complained to Adam Pearce about Logan Paul’s brass knuckles. Pearce can’t do anything, but Chad Gable, Riddle and Tommaso Ciampa all come in to interrupt. It’s a four way and the winner gets an Intercontinental Title shot against Gunther. Everyone gets in their promises of winning.

Ricochet vs. Matt Riddle vs. Chad Gable vs. Tommaso Ciampa

One fall to a finish and the winner gets a future Intercontinental Title shot. Feeling out process to start with no one getting anywhere. Gable and Riddle grab stereo ankle locks but Ricochet and Ciampa make the ropes. That leaves us with Riddle vs. Gable but Ciampa is back in to send Gable outside. Ricochet drops Ciampa with a springboard clothesline for two but Riddle gets the same off a fisherman’s buster.

Gable is back in to faceplant Riddle for two, with Ciampa coming back in with a reverse DDT or two. Ricochet flips out of the Fairy Tale Ending and the Benedriller gets two more. Everyone goes to the corner for a huge Tower Of Doom, with Ricochet bouncing off the mat for a rather funny facial. Gable ankle locks Ciampa, whose rope grab means nothing. Instead Riddle makes the save and knees Gable but has to take Ricochet out instead.

Another knee rocks Ciampa and a superplex makes it worse. Gable and Ricochet both come off the top but dive onto knees, giving Riddle and Ciampa stereo two counts. Ricochet hits a big flip dive to the floor but dives back into Ciampa’s kick to the face. Project Ciampa gets two so Riddle hits the Bro Derek, with Gable making the save off a top rope splash. Gable is back up with Chaos Theory to Ciampa for the pin at 10:06.

Rating: B. The action was pretty much non-stop here and it was cool to see these four getting to showcase what they can do. Gable, the hometown boy, gets another shot at Gunther, which makes last week’s loss a bit more questionable. Leave the five minute time limit thing alone and it would work but instead we’re getting a rematch after Gunther already beat him. Either way, good match here, with all of the moves you could want.

Post match Gable gets to celebrate, even carrying his son around the ring.

Video on Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar.

Sami Zayn has to play peacemaker between Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins. They’re cool enough to work together to fight the Judgment Day, but Sami doesn’t buy it.

Video on Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso.

Miz is told he has to wait as LA Knight has a photo shoot.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bronson Reed

Reed powers him up against the ropes to start and runs Nakamura over. Nakamura’s shots to the face have little effect as Reed shoulders him down again. Back up and Nakamura hits a running knee into a sliding kick to the face. Good Vibrations shakes Reed up but he runs Nakamura over again as we take a break (it’s not the end of the first hour yet but I guess picture in picture doesn’t count as a commercial).

Back with Nakamura hitting the middle rope knee and scoring with a running kick to the chest for two. Reed grabs a running powerbomb for the same and a Death Valley Driver gets two more. Nakamura’s spinning kick barely grazes Reed, who hits a hard clothesline. The Tsunami misses though and back to back Kinshasas finish Reed at 11:51.

Rating: C+. This has been a nice feud but I don’t really need to see them fight again. It’s also more than a little weird that Nakamura was showing no signs of last week’s heel turn, which had been built up for a few weeks. Reed losing again isn’t great, but at least Nakamura took some work to put him down. Just let them both move on.

We look back at Rhea Ripley attacking Raquel Rodriguez in recent weeks.

Ludwig Kaiser comes in to the Alpha Academy locker room to suggest that Maxxine Dupri (here alone) would be better off with Imperium (or at least Kaiser). She slaps him in the face and Otis pops up to issue the challenge for tonight. Deal.

Here is Becky Lynch for a chat. She is tired of dealing with Trish Stratus and she is ready to wrap this up next week. It’s the greatest of the previous generation vs. the greatest of this generation (and the next and the next and the next) but here is Zoey Stark to interrupt. She doesn’t like all of this badmouthing Trish, but Becky says Trish is just using her. Stark: “You are d*** right. I am good at what I do!” She rants about how great she is until Shayna Baszler interrupts.

Baszler is a bit banged up but she says you should see Ronda Rousey. Well you can’t, because she got rid of Rousey at Summerslam (Becky approves). Stark says Baszler looks like a tough punching bag, which Becky thinks are fighting words. Cue Adam Pearce to agree. Not the best exchange here, as none of them were exactly feeling it on the mic.

Before the match, we get a long video on Finn Balor vs. Seth Rollins.

JD McDonagh is in the back with Finn Balor when Damian Priest interrupts. Priest wants to know what was up with Balor making his own plans earlier. They argue over Balor’s loss, with Priest saying Balor is crowding him. Balor: “That contract is crowding both of us.” Rhea Ripley breaks it up, saying they need to act like men. McDonagh tries to intervene, saying that if the briefcase is coming between them, maybe Priest should get rid of it.

Shayna Baszler vs. Zoey Stark

Becky Lynch is having some lemonade at ringside. Feeling out process to start with Baszler knocking her down without much effort. Back up and Stark kicks away at a variety of Baszler’s injuries, meaning the chinlock can go on. Baszler fights up and hits a few kicks to the floor as we take a break.

Back with Baszler fighting out of a chinlock and making the clothesline comeback. Stark kicks her in the face for two but Baszler grabs a gutwrench suplex for two more (Becky approves). The Kirifuda Clutch sends Stark outside but Becky offers a distraction, allowing Baszler to kick her in the ribs and eventually hit a Piper’s Pit (now the World’s Baddest Slam) for the pin at 12:42.

Rating: C-. This was a good bit longer than it needed to be. I’m not sure if they were playing up the idea that Baszler is hurt and can’t take out Stark like she usually would, but it wasn’t exactly a great first match for Baszler after the big Rousey victory. Baszler can do better than that, but she needs to be more of a killer than all hobbled around.

Becky toasts Baszler’s win.

Shinsuke Nakamura is being interviewed when we cut to JD McDonagh attacking Sami Zayn, who has a HUGE lump on his elbow (that’s either a bad dislocation or a bursa sac).

Otis vs. Ludwig Kaiser

Maxxine Dupri and Giovanni Vinci are here too. Kaiser punches him into the corner to start but Otis gyrates his way out and grabs a slam. Otis hammers away in the corner but Vinci offers a distraction, allowing Gunther to come in with a cheap shot. Kaiser hits an enziguri and gets the pin at 2:57.

Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes almost argue over who gets to say that Sami Zayn isn’t cleared to compete tonight, so it’s 3-2. Shinsuke Nakamura comes up and offers to be their partner. Rollins agrees without getting Rhodes’ approval.

Here is Miz for a chat. He doesn’t get what is going on here because the fans suddenly love LA Knight. Why is he waiting behind someone like Knight? You’re supposed to introduce yourself when you get here and pay respect to those who came before you. Knight did NOT do any of that and he is tired of the lack of respect.

Cue Knight to say he thought the battle royal was enough of an introduction but sticks out his hand anyway. Miz says no, because Knight doesn’t deserve to shake his hand. He calls Knight the flavor of the month, but Miz thinks Knight is just an Attitude Era fanboy playing cosplay in the middle of his ring. Knight says you don’t want to make this personal so Miz goes on a rant about what he has been doing for the last twenty years.

That sounds personal to Knight, who talks about spending the last twenty years making himself a dangerous man on the outside while WWE bet on all of the wrong horses. Like Miz for instance. He’s been waiting for the right chance to come in but Miz got a twenty year head start because he’s safe. Yeah Miz has won a bunch of stuff and good for him, but Knight hasn’t been here yet. Now Knight is on the rise and Miz’s career is in the toilet. Knight is fine with making Miz a stepping stone (and he doesn’t mean the little ones down there).

Miz goes on a rant about being the main event, so Knight says prove him wrong. The jacket comes off and Miz throws it at him to start the fight. Knight reverses the Skull Crushing Finale into Blunt Force Trauma to knock Miz silly. Knight shakes his hand on the mat for a bonus. This was a good comeback promo from Knight, who has the charisma to make this work, but the Miz stuff needs to be a one off match and not a feud.

Here are the Viking Raiders for an open challenge.

Viking Raiders vs. New Day

Valhalla is here with the Raiders and this is the first New Day match since before Wrestlemania. Woods kicks away at Erik to start before handing it off to Kofi for the same. A Valhalla distraction lets Ivar kicks Woods in the face and it’s a top rope splash to give Ivar two. The beating continues until Woods manages a tornado DDT to escape.

Kofi comes back in for the Boom Drop but misses Trouble In Paradise. The SOS gets two but Ivar splashes him in the corner, allowing Erik to knee him in the face for two. Back up and Kofi kicks Erik in the face, setting up Trouble In Paradise into the Limit Break to give Woods the pin at 5:37.

Rating: C+. It’s nice to have Kofi and the New Day back as the team can be slotted into any spot you want. They’re automatically near the top of the depth chart and that should make for a better future for the tag division. If Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens are both out of action, New Day getting the titles again soon wouldn’t be out of the question.

Shayna Baszler interrupts a Becky Lynch interview and says she’ll be coming for The Man sooner than later. Lynch says she’s not hard to find.

New Day is glad to be back and teaches interviewer Jackie Redmond their dance.

Sonya Deville has torn her ACL and is out indefinitely, meaning the future of the Women’s Tag Team Titles isn’t clear.

Judgment Day vs. Shinsuke Nakamura/Cody Rhodes/Seth Rollins

During the entrances, here is Raquel Rodriguez to jump Rhea Ripley. Indi Hartwell and Candice LeRae are here to help try and break it up but Ripley jumps both of them off, meaning it’s Candice going after Ripley instead. They’re broken up, with Ripley throwing her shoe at Candice.

After a break we get down to the actual match (after Cole says Wrestlemania is coming to the northeast for the first time in eleven years, as math is no longer his strong suit), with Nakamura dropping Dominik for an early two. We take a break and come back with Nakamura in trouble and not quite being able to fight his way out. Nakamura finally manages to kick his way over to Rollins for the tag so house can be cleaned for a bit. Priest can’t get the Broken Arrow so Rollins hits the Falcon Arrow for two.

Rollins hits some suicide dives but springboards into an uppercut, allowing Priest to hit the swinging Downward Spiral. With Rollins outside, Balor shotgun dropkicks him into the barricade and we take a break. Back with Rhodes coming in to pick up the pace but Balor catches him with the reverse DDT for two. The Cody Cutter gives Rhodes the same but Priest uses the briefcase to break up Cross Rhodes. Cue Sami Zayn (with a taped up elbow) to jump Priest, allowing Rollins to superkick the briefcase into Balor’s face. Cross Rhodes finishes Balor at 14:22.

Rating: B-. This was your main event tag match and that’s all it needed to be given the kind of weird circumstances. What mattered here was giving the good guys a win as Rollins is now about as ready as he can be to move on to someone else. Nakamura’s heel turn seems to have been kind of dropped after last week but maybe they’re planning something for later with him.

Rollins and Rhodes reluctantly shake hands and the good guys celebrate…until Nakamura Kinshasas Rollins to end the show. Well I guess it’s later.

Overall Rating: B. They got a lot covered in here and had the action to back it up. There are probably four or five matches set up out of this show, plus the return of New Day for a nice moment. With not much time until Payback, this is the kind of show that they needed and they certainly got out of the blocks fast. Good show here, but more importantly, they did a lot of stuff for the future, which is not something you can often say about WWE TV.

Results
Chad Gable b. Ricochet, Tommaso Ciampa and Matt Riddle – Chaos Theory to Ciampa
Shinsuke Nakamura b. Bronson Reed – Kinshasa
Shayna Baszler b. Zoey Stark – The World’s Baddest Slam
Ludwig Kaiser b. Otis – Enziguri
New Day b. Viking Raiders – Limit Break to Erik
Shinsuke Nakamura/Cody Rhodes/Seth Rollins b. Judgment Day – Cross Rhodes to Balor

 

 

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Summerslam 2023
Date: August 5, 2023
Location: Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We’re back with one of the most important shows of the year and the card is rather stacked again. The main event is likely going to see Smackdown World Champion Roman Reigns defending against his cousin Jey Uso in Tribal Combat, with the title of Tribal Chief on the line as well. Raw has a double main event of Brock Lesnar vs. Cody Rhodes III and Finn Balor challenging Seth Rollins for the Raw World Title. Let’s get to it.

The opening video features Kid Rock (because of course) and a bunch of wrestlers around cars as the focus is on Detroit. We look back at the first Summerslam in 1988 and some other famous moments. It’s time to rock in Detroit though, complete with noted Kid Rock masterpiece Bawitaba. Oh and Born To be Wild by Steppenwolf because…reasons.

Logan Paul vs. Ricochet

Ricochet knocks him to the floor to start and teases the dive before they run the ropes and trade some dives. Ricochet misses the big kick to the head and gets elbowed in the face. Paul takes him down into the quickly broken chinlock before they head to the apron, with Paul hitting a hanging neckbreaker. Back in and a running powerslam (apparently a shot at Ricochet’s injured partner Braun Strowman) sets up the cupped hand to the ear.

A big boot and splits legdrop (the Hogan Paul, seriously) get two but Ricochet drops him again. That means the People’s standing moonsault for two on Paul and they’re right back on the apron. A standing Spanish Fly from the apron doesn’t work as Ricochet lands on his feet, setting up a regular Spanish Fly on the floor. Back up and Paul hits a Buckshot Lariat to the floor (cool), followed by a standing moonsault for two back inside.

Paul misses a charge into the post though, setting up a super swinging neckbreaker for a huge crash. A springboard clothesline hits Paul and a standing shooting star press gets two. Ricochet misses the big kick but Ricochet ducks the big right hand. One heck of a tornado DDT gets two on Ricochet, who is right back with the Recoil. Ricochet goes up but has to pause because of the bad ribs, allowing Paul to get his knees up to block the shooting star press.

Paul grabs an Alley Oop and nips up to show off a bit more. A frog splash hits Ricochet for two but he’s right back with the Benedriller into a top rope springboard moonsault for another near fall. Ricochet’s 630 misses and cue one of Paul’s goons to give him some brass knuckles. The big right hand finishes Ricochet at 17:52.

Rating: B. Gah that ending hurt it a lot as they just kind of fell apart at the finish. They had a heck of a game of “can you top this” going here and then the ending felt like it came out of nowhere. Paul had to get a win here as he hadn’t won anything since last year at Summerslam and it hut things a lot. Good, fast paced opener here and it did exactly what you would have expected.

Sheamus arrived via monster truck.

Long recap of Brock Lesnar vs. Cody Rhodes. Lesnar turned on him the night after Raw and they have traded wins since, with Lesnar breaking Rhodes’ arm at least once.

Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar

Cody jumps him before the bell but gets caught with a quick suplex. A neck snap across the top staggers Brock and a pair of Disaster Kicks make it worse. Cody tries it again though and this time gets rammed into the corner for his efforts. Brock is knocked to the floor for a hard suicide dive though and Cody has an opening. Back in and Brock hits a trio of suplexes to send Cody down and it’s time to bounce a bit.

Another German suplex sets up another suplex and Cody falls out to the floor. Brock knocks him off the apron and tells Cody to save himself but Cody beats the count again. That means an overhead belly to belly and Brock clotheslines him outside again. An F5 on the floor gets nine and Brock is mad. Another F5 through the announcers’ table gets nine and now Lesnar looks more confused than angry.

More suplexes wake Cody up for some reason and he heads outside, where some postings slow Brock down and a steps shot (DQ anyone?) makes it worse. The Disaster Kick and Cody Cutter drop Lesnar back inside and a double springboard Cody Cutter gets two. Lesnar pulls him into the Kimura but Cody makes the rope. Back up and Lesnar is sent into an exposed buckle, setting up Cody’s Kimura. That’s broken up so Cody hits three Cross Rhodes for the pin at 17:32.

Rating: B. They were trying for an epic match here and it just didn’t get that far. Cody surviving and surviving was a rather Lesnar style story and it worked well enough, but I still can’t buy Lesnar losing to the Cross Rhodes, which just isn’t a very good finisher. This was the way the feud had to end though as Cody gets a huge win to defeat Lesnar for good and should be on his way back to the title picture sooner than later.

Post match Lesnar actually shows respect and even high fives some fans as he walks away.

Slim Jim Battle Royal

Erik, Ivar, JD McDonagh, Rick Boogs, Otis, Chad Gable, Ludwig Kaiser, Giovanni Vinci, Ridge Holland, Butch, Sheamus, Riddle, Grayson Waller, Shinsuke Nakamura, Bronson Reed, Tommaso Ciampa, Apollo Crews, LA Knight, Santos Escobar, AJ Styles, The Miz, Austin Theory, Karrion Kross, Cameron Grimes, Omos

We get a quick look at the history of battle royals but hold on because here is MVP to introduce Omos as the final entrant. Omos comes to the ring and throws out Crews plus McDonagh in short order. Boogs is out as well but it’s time for a bunch of people to gang up on Omos. The Brutes hit the triple forearms to Omos’ chest but it’s not enough to get rid of him.

Imperium gets rid of Otis as the ring is clearing out a bit. Gable tosses Vinci and the Vikings are both out. Ciampa’s Willow’s Bell gets rid of Nakamura but Reed tosses Ciampa without much trouble. Theory eliminated Holland and Grimes in an impressive short run, only to get clotheslined out by Escobar. Kross gets rid of Escobar rather quickly and Gable tosses Kaiser. Omos dumps Riddle and Butch at the same time and knocks down a bunch of people.

Knight goes at Omos with some clotheslines but gets booed down for his efforts. Everyone starts getting together to go after Omos though and he’s finally out. Miz and Waller get together for a kind of perfect alliance and toss Gable…at least to the apron. Miz tosses Knight to the apron but gets tossed out by Knight for his efforts. Sheamus gets rid of Waller (gah that was my pick) and it’s Sheamus vs. Knight. Reed cuts that off with a double clothesline before AJ Pele’s Kross out.

We’re down to Gable, Styles, Knight, Reed and Sheamus until Reed tosses Gable out. Knight is sent to the apron again but manages to leverage Reed out to get us down to three. Styles ducks the Brogue Kick but gets sent to the apron by Knight. Kross is back to grab Styles’ leg though and the Brogue Kick gets rid of him. We’re down to Knight vs. Sheamus, with the former hitting a quick powerslam. Blunt Force Trauma is broken up so Sheamus goes up top, with Knight jumping to the top for a belly to belly superplex. Knight hits a running clothesline and actually wins the thing at 12:41.

Rating: B-. Not a great match but that’s how it should have gone. Knight has been needing a big win and he got it right here, with WWE not even to have anyone get pinned to give him the victory. The follow up is going to be even more important, but what matters here is that Knight got the big win after being set up for it. The fans wanted him to win and now we see where he goes from here. Other than that, it was nice to see some feuds advanced in the same match, with Omos looking like a monster again. They didn’t go too long here either and it was a rather entertaining match.

We recap Ronda Rousey vs. Shayna Baszler. Rousey has been the star for years but Baszler has always been there with her. Baszler is tired of Rousey being the star and it’s time to fight.

Shayna Baszler vs. Ronda Rousey

This is under MMA rules, meaning knockout, pass out or tap out to win (no pins, DQ’s or countouts). They go with the grappling to start with Rousey taking her to the mat and hammering on the back. Baszler gets up and kicks Rousey in the head to knock her to the floor. Back in and Rousey hits a heck of a running knee to the head as the fans are NOT impressed so far.

Rousey hammers away at the back some more and they crash out to the floor, with Baszler favoring her arm. We pause for the medics to look at her but Rousey clears them out. Baszler gets a suplex but Rousey grabs an armbar. That’s reversed into the ankle lock on Rousey before switching to the Kirifuda Clutch to knock Rousey out at 7:24.

Rating: D+. Yeah this didn’t work. It felt a lot longer than it really was and the fans absolutely did not care. They would have been much better off with a submission match and a sprint, but instead it was plodding and waiting around for anything to happen. Baszler winning is the absolute right idea, but dang the execution couldn’t have been much worse.

Tonight’s attendance: 59,194.

We recap Gunther vs. Drew McIntyre for the Intercontinental Title. Gunther is about a month away from breaking the record for longest reign in history but McIntyre is back and motivated to take the title.

Intercontinental Title: Gunther vs. Drew McIntyre

Gunther is defending and gets dropped by an early running shoulder. The Glasgow Kiss sends Gunther outside, where he manages a posting and drop onto the steps for a breather. Back in and Gunther drops him with the chops as the pace slows a lot. Gunther snaps off a German suplex but McIntyre comes back with a heck of a clothesline for a double knockdown.

McIntyre snaps off his own suplex into a neckbreaker but the Claymore misses. Instead Gunther dropkicks him into the corner but the powerbomb is broken up. Instead McIntyre powerbombs Gunther into the Futureshock for two and they slow down a bit. The threat of the Claymore sends Gunther outside and McIntyre hits the running flip dive, even landing on his feet.

Back in and a dropkick cuts off the Claymore, setting up Gunther’s powerbomb for two more. Gunther’s top rope splash gets two and slaps him in the back of the head a few times. They chop it out with McIntyre getting the better of things and scoring with the Claymore out of nowhere for two. McIntyre takes him up top for another chop off until Gunther manages a crotching. The top rope splash and a hard clothesline sets up a powerbomb to retain at 13:44.

Rating: B. This was another five minutes away from being a classic but it did do well for what it was. They had two people beating the fire out of each other and I’m a bit surprised that McIntyre came up short. At the end of the day though, Gunther is about a month away from breaking a 35 year old record and it would be quite the waste to not capitalize on that kind of number if WWE wants to. Heck of a match here, but it could have been that much better.

We recap Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor for the Raw World Title. Rollins beat him at Money In The Bank, but Balor wants revenge on Rollins injuring him seven years ago at Summerslam so the rematch is on. The shadow of Damian Priest and his Money In The Bank briefcase hangs over the whole thing too.

Raw World Title: Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor

Rollins is defending and….he looks like a Christmas present wrapped by an unsupervised seven years old. With the coat off though, Rollins reveals the same vest he wore when he faced Balor at Summerslam 2016. They slug it out to start with Rollins getting the better of it and sending Balor into the corner. A kick to the arm slows Rollins down and Balor bends it around the rope in the corner. More arm cranking ensues and we hit the armbar as the pace has slowed a lot.

Balor hammers away in the corner but Rollins is back with some Kawada kicks and a clothesline for two. Balor uses the arm to send Rollins outside though and more shots to said arm keep him in trouble. There’s the buckle bomb against the barricade, followed by a Sling Blade back inside. Balor gets a cross armbreaker but Rollins slips out and hits a pair of buckle bombs of his own.

The frog splash gives Rollins two but the Stomps is blocked. Instead Balor hits his jumping double stomp and a shotgun dropkick into the corner. The Coup de Grace is countered with a superplex, but the Falcon Arrow is countered into a small package. An exchange of kicks leaves them both down for a needed breather. Balor drops him again but the Coup de Grace misses. Rollins is back with the Pedigree for two….and here’s Damian Priest with the Money In The Bank briefcase.

They trade rollups for two each, with Balor’s kickout sending Rollins into a right hand from Priest. Balor hits a Pedigree for two so here is Judgment Day. Priest offers the briefcase to Balor, who turns it down, allowing Rollins to hit a quick Stomp for two. Rollins dives onto Priest and takes out Dominik Mysterio but Balor hits the Sling Blade and another corner dropkick.

The Coup de Grace connects for a VERY close two and Balor is stunned. Balor tells Priest to do…something as the referee checks on Rollins. Priest throws in the briefcase and distracts the referee, allowing Rollins to hit the Stomp onto the briefcase (they telegraphed the heck out of that one) to retain at 18;25.

Rating: B+. I was getting into this one and the near falls near the end pulled me in. They went back and forth here with the rather modern WWE style, meaning it was quite the entertaining match, even if they didn’t do the best job of hiding the ending. This should wrap up Balor vs. Rollins and that opens the door for someone, perhaps Cody Rhodes, to come for the title. The ending is going to set up a lot of Judgment Day drama and that is a good thing, as Balor vs. Priest has potential.

Priest is NOT pleased and glares at Balor, who glares back.

The Alpha Academy and Miz shill Mike’s Hard Lemonade and argue over who is harder/a Mike. Miz is locked in an anvil case for his efforts.

We recap the Smackdown Women’s Title match. Asuka, Bianca Belair and Charlotte have all been fighting each other and cheating the other out of title matches, so snow it’s time for a triple threat.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Charlotte vs. Bianca Belair vs. Asuka

Asuka is defending. Everyone misses a shot to the face to start until Asuka rolls Belair up for two. With Asuka sent to the apron, Belair drops Charlotte but a handspring kick to the face is blocked by Asuka. Charlotte drops Asuka but gets stared down by Belair. That’s broken up and Asuka knees Belair for two, with Charlotte making the save. Asuka German suplexes Charlotte and slugs it out with Belair, until a heck of a Charlotte high crossbody takes them both down.

Double Natural Selection gives Charlotte some near falls before she boots Belair in the face. Asuka breaks up the Figure Four with a Codebreaker for two on Charlotte and everyone is down. They slug it out again with Belair taking over but her handspring moonsault hits quadruple knees. Belair is kicked to the floor and Charlotte gets caught in the Asuka Lock. Now Belair can hit the moonsault to break it up but Charlotte knocks both of them to the floor.

Charlotte moonsaults off the top in Belair’s direction, barely grazing her with her hands and handing about a foot and a half behind her. Asuka is kicked to the floor and Belair faceplants Charlotte, only to have Asuka come back in and steal the near fall. Belair powerbombs Charlotte but gets pulled into the Asuka Lock, allowing Charlotte to roll both of them up for two. Charlotte moonsaults onto both of them for two….and then tries a double Figure Four (Graves: “I don’t think the human anatomy will allow that to happen.”).

With that not working, Belair is sent over the top and lands knee first on the steps, which has her screaming on the floor. Medics come out to check out Belair, who is helped out (with a very, very bad limp, but on her feet). Asuka slugs away at Charlotte, who hits a spear for two.

Charlotte gets the Figure Eight but Belair is back with a 450 to break it up and cover Charlotte for two more. With Asuka on the floor, Belair loads up the KOD but gets armdragged out. Charlotte knocks Asuka to the floor and gets the Figure Four on the bad leg. Make that The Figure Eight until Asuka makes the save with the mist. Then Belair rolls Asuka up for the pin and the title at 20:48.

Rating: C-. Oh man this was rough. It picked up a bit at the end but there is only so much you can do with a bad match layout and a crowd that wasn’t interested. This felt like a match where they had every single thing laid out in advance and had to stick to the script throughout. Belair regaining the title is more than a bit weird, but at least they had a hotter finish than anything else in the rest of the match.

And here is Damage CTRL with the briefcase! Belair goes after Bayley but Sky briefcases her down. The cash-in is on!

Smackdown Women’s Title: Bianca Belair vs. Iyo Sky

Sky is challenging and Over The Moonsault makes her the champion at 9 seconds.

Bayley and Sky celebrate, with Dakota Kai appearing to join them in a nice moment. I mean, as nice as it can be after you attacked an injured woman to take her title.

We recap Jey Uso challenging Roman Reigns for the Universal WWE Title and the title of Tribal Chief. This is the next step in the years long Bloodline Saga, with Jey splitting from Reigns earlier this year and pinning him at Money In The Bank. That was the first pinfall loss for Reigns in over three years and now Jey is coming for everything in Tribal Combat.

Smackdown World Title: Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso

Reigns, with Paul Heyman (Solo Sikoa was taken out on Smackdown), is defending and this is Tribal Combat, which basically means street fight. They stare at each other for over a minute until Reigns shoves him away. A hard shoulder drops Jey and Reigns hits him in the face. Jey slips out of a suplex though and hammers away, setting up a Rock spit punch. The Samoan drop doesn’t work and Jey kicks him in the ribs, setting up a clothesline to the floor.

The suicide dive mainly hits Reigns in the back and Jey loads up a table, but Reigns fights up and takes over without much trouble. The apron boot to the face connects for two but Jey scores with an enziguri. Reigns is knocked outside so Jey loads up a suicide dive, only to be cut off by a kendo stick shot. Reigns starts talking trash and knocks him into the corner for daring to try a comeback.

The rapid fire clotheslines connect but a Superman Punch is cut off with a kendo stick to Reigns’ ribs. Jey unloads with stick shots to the back to send Reigns outside and now the big running flip dive takes him out again. Back in and the Superfly Splash is Superman Punched out of the air for two. The spear is countered into a rollup for two and it’s a superkick into the Superfly Splash for two more, leaving them both down.

Jey gets in some chair shots to the back and throws in a bunch more chairs for a bonus. Heyman is begging for mercy for Reigns (“HE’S YOUR FAMILY!”) as Jey puts Reigns up top. The superplex is broken up and Reigns powerbombs him onto the chairs for two. Reigns brings a table inside (there is still one set up outside) but has to cut off Jey’s spear. Instead Jey is sent to the apron and manages a Samoan drop to send Reigns through the outside table.

Jey pulls out a strap and whips reigns into the crowd, where Solo Sikoa pops up to take Jey out. Sikoa puts Jey through a table and they head back to the ring, where Spinning Solo plants Jey again. Reigns spears Sikoa by mistake though, allowing Jey to hit his own spear for two. Jey gets in a bunch of chair shots to both of them but takes too long going after Reigns, allowing Sikoa to score with a superkick.

Reigns stops to yell at Sikoa for some reason, allowing Jey to spear Reigns through the barricade. Sikoa is put through the announcers’ table and Jey hits another spear back inside. Jey hits the Superfly Splash…..and Jimmy Uso pulls Jey out at two. Jimmy stares at Jey forever before superkicking him, allowing Reigns to hit the spear through the table in the corner to retain at 36:01.

Rating: C+. This was WAY too long and while the violence and carnage was good, there was a lot of standing around and waiting for something to happen. Shave about ten minutes off of this and it’s way better, but it only worked so well. At the same time, you have the Jimmy twist, which felt like a twist for the sake of a twist. It’s time for something big to happen in this story and that means Reigns needs to either be on his own for a bit or just lose the title. The battling Usos doesn’t seem like a long term story, but I’m not sure who is next for Reigns at the moment. For now though, not a great match, but it had its moments.

Jimmy doesn’t leave with Reigns and Heyman, suggesting that he isn’t back on the team.

The long highlight package takes us out.

Overall Rating: B. This is a rather good show with some rocky points holding it back. The women’s matches didn’t work and the main event was FAR longer than it needed to be and led to a rather lame surprise ending. Other than that though, this was a heck of a show with one very good (if not better) match after another. If some of those problems were corrected, this could have been a great one but as it is, it’s a solid show that went on too long and made some mistakes.

Results
Logan Paul b. Ricochet – Right hand with brass knuckles
Cody Rhodes b. Brock Lesnar – Cross Rhodes
LA Knight won the Slim Jim Battle Royal last eliminating Sheamus
Shayna Baszler b. Ronda Rousey – Kirifuda Clutch
Gunther b. Drew McIntyre – Powerbomb
Seth Rollins b. Finn Balor – Stomp onto the Money In The Bank briefcase
Bianca Belair b. Asuka and Charlotte – Small package to Asuka
Iyo Sky b. Bianca Belair – Over The Moonsault
Roman Reigns b. Jey Uso – Spear through a table

 

 

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