Well That Changed Everything

So I go to dinner with the in-laws and apparently the wrestling world just went nuts.

Due to a bad viral infection, Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt will be off the pay per view with Kurt Angle and AJ Styles appearing as his replacements. I mean….wow indeed. Styles replacing Wyatt to face Finn Balor is fine, albeit a bit annoying as we’re likely to see Wyatt vs. Balor again later. That was the second biggest match on the card and having Styles on a show never hurt a thing.

Then you have the Shield reunion being ruined and….sweet goodness this is a big deal. The Shield was the entire focus of this show and now that’s been thrown out the window. This is a heck of a change of plans and there’s only so much you can do when your top story is out the window. Angle is a very surprise replacement but I’m not sure if having him in a TLC match is a good idea. Hopefully he’ll be safe (not likely given his high level of insanity) but this is quite the surprise.

Overall, I have no idea how well this is going to go. It’s something that can change every now and then and they only have so many options when you have a rash of illnesses like this. Hopefully the show winds up being ok but what does it say when the replacements make the show that much more entertaining?

Main Event – October 19, 2017: I’m Rather Speechless

Main Event
Date: October 19, 2017
Location: Moda Center, Portland, Oregon
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness

If WWE is heading towards Tables, Ladders and Chairs, Main Event is coming right along with it. This is another one of those weeks where the main show didn’t do so well, meaning the short form recap version might work a little bit better. Then again, that likely includes Dash Wilder losing in a singles match. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Rhyno vs. Dash Wilder

Yes, AGAIN, for the third time in six weeks. Rhyno works on the arm to start so let’s dash over to the ropes for the break. For some reason Dash tries a test of strength….and actually takes Rhyno down to his knees. Dash hammers away at the neck and gets two off a running neckbreaker.

We hit the chinlock and the fans are immediately chanting for Rhyno to fight back. I’m kind of stunned by how he stays popular but the fact that he’s basically the same character he’s always been has a lot to do with it. Rhyno fights up but the Gore is blocked with a knee lift. The spinebuster is countered into a sunset flip for two (Dash is learning from his previous defeats.) but the second attempt connects to finish Dash off at 5:29.

Rating: C+. You know what? Not bad at all. As repetitive as this mini feud has been, I can go for Dash learning a little about Rhyno and using that for a near fall. It’s still not a great match or a great story, but for a match that was supposed to be filler, they actually put some thought into it, making for a much better performance. Call this one a pleasant surprise.

We look back at Shield TripleBombing Braun Strowman through the announcers’ table.

From Raw.

It’s time for MizTV with Miz being flanked by the Bar and Curtis Axel but no Bo Dallas. Miz talked about how they’re ready to destroy the Shield right now but they’ll wait until Sunday night. Sheamus says the Shield will be broken into three pieces. They’re ready to destroy Shield and here’s tonight’s guest: their partner on Sunday, Braun Strowman.

Braun says it’s time to destroy the Shield forever and it starts tonight inside the cage. The fans get in a YES/REALLY battle with Miz, who has a bit of a surprise: there’s going to be a fifth member of the team. The fans want Curtis Axel but here’s Kurt Angle to say this isn’t happening.

Kurt has a deal for Miz though: if Strowman wins tonight, the fifth man can join. If Reigns wins though, Strowman is out and it’s 3-3 again. Miz says it’s on but Angle says everyone is banned from ringside in both the cage match (kind of redundant) and the Tag Team Title match.

Also from Raw.

Here’s Finn Balor for a chat. He talks about the Celtic festival of Sowen, which sounds like Halloween cranked up to eleven. Last week Finn say Bray’s tricks but he has his own too. This Sunday, the Demon will slay a monster of his own. Finn’s demon has no fear….and the Demon paint appears on his face. It disappears and Finn says his Demon dreams of nightmares (paint on and off again) and it wants to meet Sister Abigail. Run. Never let WWE get supernatural.

Drew Gulak vs. Mustafa Ali

Gulak has his NO CHANTS sign. Drew headlocks him to the mat to start and is greeted with a WE ARE CHANTING chant because this crowd is actually clever. Ali tries a drop down but Drew holds the ropes and slaps on a headlock. Back up and Ali springboards over him into a wristlock and we take a break. We come back with Ali scoring off a dropkick and getting two off the rolling neckbreaker. It’s too early for the 054 as Gulak (Drew: “NO FLY!”) pulls Ali off the ropes for a crash. Not that it matters as another kick to the head sets up the 054 for the pin at 8:00.

Rating: C. I could have gone for a bit more history between the two of them (though hearing Nigel sing the Aladdin song again made up for it) but this was fine. There’s something amusing about the fact that the faces ALWAYS win these matches. It’s logical, but WWE doesn’t do much to hide the fact that this is a glorified dark match.

Pay per view rundown.

From Raw again to wrap us up.

Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman

Inside a cage and Miz jumps in on commentary. Strowman sends him into the corner to start but it’s way too early for the running powerslam. Reigns slips out and tries to climb, only to get pulled down. Some clotheslines have almost no effect but some big boots have a big more effect. Strowman goes shoulder first into the corner and there are the rapid fire clotheslines. One heck of a spinebuster gets two on Roman and we take a break.

Back with Reigns tasting the cage a few times. Strowman throws him at the cage so Reigns grabs the top for a climb. Now why did he think that would work with Strowman looking at him. Strowman misses a charge and hits the cage though, allowing Reigns to score with some kicks to the face. A Samoan drop gets two with a heck of a kickout so Reigns makes another escape attempt. Cue the Bar to cut Reigns off so Ambrose and Rollins are outside to cut them off. THEN WHAT WAS THE POINT IN BANNING THEM BOTH FROM RINGSIDE???

Braun gets up in time to pull Reigns back inside with a superplex off the cage. Miz: “COVER!!!” Everyone not in the match brawls up to the stage as we cut away from the match entirely. Miz joins them and the fight heads backstage. Again, we’re not even looking at the CAGE MATCH WITH TWO MONSTERS FIGHTING EACH OTHER because we need to see this instead. For all we know there’s a tango contest going on at the moment as Miz closes a metal door, locking the four of them in the parking lot.

Back to the ring with Reigns fighting to his feet after suffering from a bad bowl of soup as served up by Chef Strowman (prove that it didn’t happen). Miz is back on commentary as Reigns goes up top, only to slip down and crotch Strowman. A Superman Punch staggers Strowman and a second puts him down. Strowman throws Reigns in the air but gets Superman Punched again for two.

It’s spear time….and Kane’s lights come on. Strowman splashes Reigns but eats a spear anyway. Kane comes up through the mat though and stares Reigns down, followed by a chokeslam. A second chokeslam sets up the running powerslam, followed by a Tombstone for good measure. Strowman adds another powerslam and Reigns is done at 17:24.

Rating: C-. Let me make sure I have this straight. Angle bans everyone from ringside so we have SIX PEOPLE interfere? And Reigns loses his first match after the reunion (not fairly but it’s a loss)? Here’s the thing: Kane was in Shield’s first match and Reigns retired his brother at Wrestlemania so there’s definitely a connection there. Unfortunately we didn’t hear anything about that and it’s basically just the idea that Miz got Kane to join for no apparent reason. Of course the announcers sold things well here, though there’s a better story to tell.

Miz, on top of a ladder, announces Kane as the fifth member of the team to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. The shortened version helped a bit here but that’s not exactly enough to make up for a pretty one dimensional Raw. Wilder vs. Rhyno was shockingly above average (I hesitate to call it good) and the cruiserweights did their thing and that’s enough to compliment a few nice things from Monday. Not bad here.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Updated History of the Intercontinental Title in E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:

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Main Event – October 12, 2017: Someone Help Dash

Main Event
Date: October 12, 2017
Location: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness

This week’s Raw was kind of a mixed bad and that means it’s not clear what Main Event will be like. The show entirely hinges on what kind of stuff we got on Raw, meaning we’ll be seeing a ridiculous amount of stuff on the Shield. Their reunion was shown about five times on Monday so it’s hard to guess what else they’ll put on here. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Heath Slater/Rhyno vs. Dash Wilder/Curtis Hawkins

Oh come on already. This is FIVE STRAIGHT WEEKS of Dash vs. some incarnation of Rhyno and Slater. Rhyno and Dawson start things out with Rhyno scoring a high backdrop. Slater comes in to a heck of a reaction and it’s time to crank on that arm. It’s off to Hawkins, who gets his arm cranked on until Dawson’s cheap shot changes control. We hit the chinlock and Dash actually cuts off the hot tag attempt. Hawkins talks a bit too much trash though and eats a flapjack, allowing the hot tag to connect this time around. Everything breaks down and the spinebuster puts Hawkins away at 5:29.

Rating: D+. Nothing we haven’t seen before but they were trying harder than usual here. I’m a bit sick of seeing Dawson lose this match but if it eventually gives us the Revival beating the heck out of Slater and Rhyno, everything will wind up being fine. At the same time though, I fully expect WWE to ignore the whole thing as Main Event means nothing. In other words, it’s not a big deal.

Long recap of Miz/Cesaro/Sheamus beating down Roman Reigns, who needs some help.

From Raw:

It’s time for MizTV to start things off and we have the Mizzies II! Last week Miz went from the A-Lister to THE GUY but he can’t take all the credit for the whole thing. That brings us to our first award for perseverance and the winner is Curtis Axel. The fans think he deserves it and Axel dedicates it to Bo Dallas, who is out injured this week.

Next up is Best Supporting Actors in destroying Roman Reigns and the winners in a tie are Cesaro and Sheamus. The Bar (still a stupid name) comes out to thank Reigns in their acceptance speech but Cesaro wants to remember Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose for breaking his teeth. Miz grants himself the award for Big Dog and again the fans think he deserves it.

This brings out Reigns but Miz knows he won’t come in down 4-1. Miz doesn’t want to hear about these lame rumors but Roman doesn’t like them being called rumors. This brings out Ambrose and Rollins with Cole saying Miz and the Bar never expected this to happen. Oh shut up Cole. The brawl is on with Miz bailing and the beatdown commences. Miz gets cornered and a TripleBomb plants him, allowing Shield to bring back the signature pose.

From later in Raw, after Braun Strowman beat Matt Hardy:

Strowman carries Hardy up the ramp but gets cut off by the Shield (now in matching t-shirts). Reigns spears him down and the triple beatdown is on. The TripleBomb puts Strowman through the announcers’ table.

Again from Raw:

Here’s Finn Balor to deal with the potential that Sister Abigail is alive. Balor thinks these threats make Bray feel like he’s scared. If that’s what Bray is all about, bring on the whole family. We cut to Bray’s empty rocking chair but Bray sits down. Bray says Finn may not be afraid of him but he’ll be afraid of her. They turned her into a monster but she chose Bray with her final breath. Now, the season of the witch is upon Balor.

A shawl appears over Bray’s face and a distorted voice says men are all the same. They just want to control everything but Bray is special. She’s seen what Bray has done to Finn so it’s time to punish him and the Demon. Abigail knows about demons and she’ll turn it into a dandelion. Her touch could have saved Finn but now her kiss will burn him to the ground. Abigail laughs and Bray returns.

Akira Tozawa vs. Tony Nese

Nese pauses to show off the bicep and gets chopped for his efforts. The standing backsplash gets two and Tozawa stomps away in the corner. Nese elbows him down though and we take a break. Back with Tozawa hitting a hurricanrana and a heck of a suicide dive for two more. Nese comes right back with a good looking pumphandle powerslam but his superplex is broken up, allowing Tozawa to hit the backsplash for the pin at 8:59.

Rating: C. These cruiserweight matches are still working just fine and there’s nothing wrong with that. Tozawa is one of the better members of the division and being a former Cruiserweight Champion is a fine calling card for his skills. I still like Nese as a midcard heel and there’s nothing wrong with him filling that role.

Once more from Raw:

Cruiserweight Title: Enzo Amore vs. Kalisto

Kalisto is challenging and it’s a lumberjack match. Enzo shoulders him down to start and does a dance, only to have to stare at the lumberjacks. Back up and Kalisto kicks him in the shoulder before a front facelock takes us to a break. We come back with Enzo in control and slowly stomping away until Kalisto kicks him in the head.

A springboard crossbody gets two and Enzo is knocked outside where the lumberjacks get him back inside. Enzo rolls him into the corner to take over and Kalisto is sent outside this time. The villains get in a few stomps until Ali and Alexander make the save. We hit the chinlock for a bit until Kalisto gets in a rollup for two of his own.

The lumberjacks get in a brawl until Kalisto superplexes Enzo onto the pile. Naturally this means it’s time to talk about Shield again. Back in and the Salida Del Sol is countered into the Jordunzo but Ali pulls Enzo outside because it’s No DQ. Enzo drops Ali with a clothesline and crotches Kalisto on the top. Not that it matters as Kalisto reverses into a super Salida Del Sol for the pin and the title at 14:29.

Rating: C-. Well that was surprising. I can’t imagine this lasting long term but it’s certainly a nice surprise while it lasts. Kalisto winning opens the door for some more title challengers in the short term, though it’s almost a guarantee that Enzo will not only get a rematch but likely get the title back at the pay per view. Still though, good win for the moment.

Overall Rating: C. It’s kind of amazing how much better Raw seems when you don’t see the same clip about five times in two and a half hours. This show wasn’t great by any means but the two original matches were fine and that’s more than you often get. Now if we can just find something else for Dawson to do.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Updated History of the Intercontinental Title in E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:

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

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Monday Night Raw – October 9, 2017: Bada Boom, Send the Hounds After Bray For Dressing Like a Woman

Monday Night Raw
Date: October 9, 2017
Location: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
Commentators: Michael Cole, Booker T., Corey Graves

It’s Shield night as WWE isn’t exactly being subtle with this one. Last week saw the trio standing in the same room and basically saying they were getting back together, though the question is how long they’ll be able to keep this going. Your trivia for the night: the team debuted in Indianapolis, split in Indianapolis and seems to be reuniting in Indianapolis. I don’t know if WWE did that on purpose but well done if they did. Let’s get to it.

We open with a long recap of Miz/Cesaro/Sheamus beating down the former members of the Shield and the trio looking at each other to end last week’s show. Again: not exactly a subtle idea here.

This was WWE’s beat you over the head booking at its finest as they made no secret of Shield reuniting. It’s cool that they’re back together and it gives WWE something to hype up but how much better would it have been if this was a surprise? Of course WWE wanted to hype it up, which is fine, but they took all the shock value they could out of it, which really made it a lot less fun.

Jason Jordan vs. Karl Anderson

Jordan takes him to the mat with almost no effort but gets caught in a headlock to slow things down. The first suplex looks to set up a shoulder in the corner but Luke Gallows offers a distraction and Anderson dropkicks the knee out. Back from a break with Anderson working on the arm and getting two off a spinebuster. We’re right back to the armbar until Jordan fights up with some clotheslines and a drive into the corner. The first belly to belly connects but Jordan has to knock Gallows off the apron. Anderson misses a charge in the corner and it’s the wheelbarrow neckbreaker to put Anderson away at 8:16.

Rating: C-. Anderson and Gallows are now on the list of people whose mere appearance sucks the life out of me. They’re not funny, they’re not interesting, their matches are average at best and now we’re stuck with them putting over Jordan, who is only moderately acceptable in this role in the first place.

Miz is getting iced down when Kurt Angle comes in. The TLC match is officially made for the pay per view with Miz/the Bar vs. Shield.

Here’s Elias to insult Titus Worldwide, which is like a car in the Indy 500: going around in circles but not going anywhere. He thinks the fans don’t want to hear a song tonight but he loves his own voice too much to not do one. Actually hang on as here’s Titus O’Neil plucking a banjo. Titus sings a little number about Apollo Crews being Elias up next.

Apollo Crews vs. Elias

Joined in progress with Elias stomping away and working on the arm. Elias even busts out Old School (which I don’t remember anyone but Undertaker ever using outside of a match with Undertaker) but Crews fights back for a few seconds. That’s about it from him though as he gets sent throat first into the ropes, setting up Drift Away for the pin at 3:14 shown.

Rating: D. This is another match that we’ve seen a few times now and it’s not getting any better. If there’s a reason for this feud (if you can call it that) to continue I’m not seeing it, as it’s something where there’s no drama and no real story but it keeps going anyway. Titus Worldwide is a nice little idea but with no star and barely ever winning anything, it’s not exactly lighting the world on fire.

Here’s Enzo Amore to talk about how awesome he is and how he has no challengers thanks to the rest of the division attacking him a few weeks back. He wants Angle out here right now for some explaining about why he’s defending the title against Kalisto at TLC. Enzo pulls out a signed contract saying that if any member of the division attacked him, they would never get a title shot.

The deal is Kalisto was signed after that contract was signed so the title match is official. Enzo doesn’t like it so Angle switches the title match to tonight. That’s fine, as long as it’s in the main event. Angle isn’t done yet though and makes it a lumberjack match with the rest of the division around the ring.

We recap the opening sequence.

Matt Hardy vs. Braun Strowman

Matt slugs away and gets in a dropkick but the Side Effect is easily countered with a throw. Back from an early break with Matt hitting a Twist of Fate for one. Another attempt is countered into a chokeslam and it’s the running powerslam to end Matt at 6:27. Not enough shown to rate but this was basically a squash.

Post break Shield says they’re back and aren’t scared of anyone. You can believe that.

Here’s Mickie James with something to say. Mickie has felt something has been wrong since she came back. Maybe it’s her southern accent or her country music or her age. Alexa Bliss has been the worst of them all for this because she’s been doing it all behind her back. That’s the kind of champion Bliss is and then she hid behind her bodyguard. Mickie has more energy in her than Bliss has cheap hair extension and pink hair dye and the only number that matters to her is seven.

This brings out Bliss to say she’s not here to cause trouble. Bliss has put together a career retrospective on James’ career and it’s presented as an old newsreel under the title Superstars of Yesteryear in black and white. Mickie calls Bliss to the ring but the champ pulls back at the last second, calling it a move as old as Mickie is. Mickie chases her down and gets in a few shots.

Bayley and Sasha Banks are talking with Kurt Angle about getting the shot at Asuka. Alicia Fox, Emma and Dana Brooke all come in and want the shot instead.

Jack Gallagher/Brian Kendrick vs. Cedric Alexander/Mustafa Ali

Cedric attacked Kendrick’s ankle last week to help set this up. Ali and Gallagher get in an argument on the floor, leaving Brian to send Cedric into the corner to take over. Jack comes in for a chinlock before hammering away in the corner. Cedric gets away and makes the hot tag off to Ali so things can speed up. The rolling neckbreaker gets two on Kendrick with Jack making a save. The distraction lets Kendrick hit Sliced Bread #2 for the pin on Ali at 3:46.

Rating: D+. As usual, aside from Enzo, the cruiserweights are treated like filler on here and that doesn’t do 205 Live any favors. Why would I want to watch a show dedicated to Raw’s filler talent? That’s really the best thing they can do here? I know the cruserweights were announced in the Draft over a year ago but their limited value on Raw was used up a long time ago.

We recap Shield’s actions tonight. There’s no hiding the fact that this show isn’t exactly covered in interesting talent.

Miz comes in to see Angle to call Shield out on their saying they can face any four or five people. Therefore, he’s going to find another partner and of course it’s Strowman.

Bayley vs. Sasha Banks vs. Alicia Fox vs. Dana Brooke vs. Emma

Elimination rules and the winner gets Asuka at TLC. Dana, now with pink hair, takes Sasha to the floor and it’s Alicia vs. Emma inside. Alicia pulls her away from the ropes but Dana comes back in to beat on Fox. That’s it for the team up with Fox as Dana hits her cartwheel elbows to Fox and Emma in the corner, only to have Bayley break it up. The cartwheel splash gets two on Bayley but the Bayley to Belly gets rid of Brooke. The graphic before the match announced it as elimination rules but Cole said it was one fall to a finish, meaning he was surprised by the match continuing.

Fox hits an ax kick to get rid of Bayley because she’s fallen below the ground since Wrestlemania. Back with Fox and Emma yelling at each other until Sasha runs Fox over. Fox gets thrown into Emma and it’s the Bank Statement to make her tap, only to have Emma roll Sasha up for the win at 9:43.

Rating: D+. This was full of botches and that’s not really surprising. Most of the match is designed to be spot after spot and there’s almost no way to have any kind of coherence when there’s nothing in between. You can’t get much of a match out of that, especially with four falls and a commercial in less than ten minutes.

Balor felt pure evil when Abigail spoke to him tonight and thinks Bray has unleashed something horrible. He knows what he has to do now.

Opening sequence for the fourth time tonight.

Strowman vs. Reigns in a cage next week.

Kalisto was inspired by people like Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero (who would have turned 50 today) but now, Enzo Amore is the Cruiserweight Champion. He hopes he can make the two of them proud.

The lumberjacks come to the ring.

Cruiserweight Title: Enzo Amore vs. Kalisto

Overall Rating: C+. This show was all about a handful of ideas but those ideas were handled well enough. The ending helped as well as there was nothing wrong with giving the fans something they wanted to see to close the show. At least they got some of the card set up for TLC and there are some ways to go as we go into next week.

Results

Jason Jordan b. Karl Anderson – Wheelbarrow neckbreaker

Elias b. Apollo Crews – Drift Away

Braun Strowman b. Matt Hardy – Running powerslam

Brian Kendrick/Jack Gallagher b. Cedric Alexander/Mustafa Ali – Sliced Bread #2 to Ali

Emma b. Alicia Fox, Sasha Banks, Bayley and Dana Brooke – Rollup to Banks

Kalisto b. Enzo Amore – Super Salida Del Sol

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Updated History of the Intercontinental Title in E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/10/02/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-the-intercontinental-title-updated-version/

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

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Monday Night Raw – July 10, 2017: More Important Than Wrestling

Monday Night Raw
Date: July 10, 2017
Location: Toyota Center, Houston, Texas
Commentators: Michael Cole, Booker T., Corey Graves

It’s the night after Great Balls of Fire and unless something major has changed, our top face is now an attempted murderer. Last night Roman Reigns lost the ambulance match to Braun Strowman and then attempted to kill him by putting him in the back of the ambulance and ramming it into a semi truck. You know, for kids. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of Reigns nearly killing Strowman, not for a lack of trying that is.

Opening sequence.

Here’s Big Cass, with JoJo introducing him as “Seven feet tall and you can’t teach that”. Cass: “How you doin?” He’s doing pretty well because he destroyed Enzo last night. We see some still shots and a video of after the match when Enzo had to be very slowly helped through the back. Cass warns everyone up and down the totem pole that he’s coming for them, even the one all the way at the top.

No one can get on the bandwagon now because he never needed anyone here. One day, he’s going to be Universal Champion and shove it down everyone’s throat when he’s main eventing Wrestlemania and appearing on the Tonight Show. No one can touch him because he’s seven feet tall and here’s Big Show to interrupt. Show easily chases him off because we need to have Cass pass the Big Show initiation or whatever they think the upside of this is.

Here’s Elias Samson with a song for Finn Balor, which Balor cuts off in short order.

Finn Balor vs. Elias Samson

Samson slams him down a few times so Finn kicks him in the head and loads up the Coup de Grace while the announcers talk about Samson beating up a guy on the way to an Eric Clapton concert. Back from a break with Samson grabbing a seated full nelson until Balor fights up and kicks him in the head again. Finn’s next kick is countered and Balor goes shoulder first into the apron. A Fujiwara armbar doesn’t get Samson far as Balor kicks him in the head and hits the Sling Blade. The Coup De Grace is enough to put Samson away at 10:10.

Rating: D+. Just a match here and Balor going over clean is the right call. Having Samson beat Ambrose twice via interference was one thing but Balor isn’t someone you want getting pinned at this point. Samson is much more of a character than a wrestler and there’s nothing wrong with that, at least not for someone like him.

The Hardys come out to celebrate and have something to say after a break. Jeff has been talking about how the team has been having some issues of late so maybe they should fade away and classify themselves as obsolete. They’re not going anywhere though because they have magic left to work. Cue Anderson and Gallows to say they’re magic killers. Matt says they’re a little bruised and broken (pause for the pop) but we can get a referee down here right now.

Hardys vs. Anderson and Gallows

Anderson gets double suplexed to start and there’s Poetry in Motion to Gallows as we take a break. Back with Jeff eating the Boot of Doom for two but making the tag off to Matt anyway. Gallows gets in a cheap shot from the apron though and it’s the Magic Killer for the pin at 6:55.

Rating: C-. Unless I’m missing something, that’s the first regular loss for the Hardys in over two years. This would seem to be setting up the Bullet Club vs. the Broken Hardys, or at least that’s where it would be going in a more interesting world. Then again, odds are we’re getting this match again and again because that’s how WWE works.

Post match here comes the Revival to lay out the Hardys.

It’s time for MizTV with the Mizzy Awards for last night’s Intercontinental Title match. First up is Best Supporting Actor, which goes to both Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel in a tie. After they thank Miz for changing their lives, Maryse wins Most Gorgeous, Beautiful, Sexy Leading Lady. Maryse is honored and that leaves us with Greatest Man in WWE. Miz opens the envelope and is shocked to say Dean Ambrose…..but he’s just kidding because of course Miz wins.

Miz saw a lot of people running their mouths last night but Seth Rollins, the Hardys and Akira Tozawa were all just full of hot air. Last night he beat the toughest man in WWE so what does that make him? Cue Ambrose to go after Miz but it’s Rollins coming in for the real save. Hopefully this sets up Miz vs. Rollins because I don’t think I can handle Ambrose vs. Miz again.

Post break Ambrose tells Rollins that he doesn’t trust him and there’s no reunion.

Sasha Banks/Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss/Nia Jax

Bliss and Banks get things going with Alexa running away to start. Nia comes in and runs Banks over as everything breaks down. Nia and Alexa are sent outside and we take a break. Back with Bliss getting choked in the corner, followed by Bayley getting two off a kind of bulldog.

Nia gets her leg dropkicked out and Bayley snaps her throat across the middle rope. A Bliss distraction lets Nia run Bayley over and things slow down a bit. The slow beating begins with Nia sending her into the corner and getting in a splash for good measure. Twisted Bliss gets two on Bayley and Sasha avoids the charge into the barricade. Bayley rolls Bliss up for the pin out of nowhere at 9:22.

Rating: D+. The ending was rather sudden and I’m hoping they’re not expecting that to be enough to revive Bayley. She looked like the biggest loser in the world in recent weeks and a simple rollup isn’t enough to fix that. Odds are we’re heading for a multi-woman match at Summerslam and I think I’m ok with that for the most part.

We look back at the ambulance match and Strowman walking out after.

Goldust vs. R-Truth

Goldust leans over the referee to get in a cheap shot and they slug it out early on. Truth takes over with right hands in the corner but gets crotched on the ropes for his efforts. We hit the chinlock for a bit, followed by a spinebuster for two on Truth. The scissors kick connects but Truth is too spent to cover. Goldust sends him into the post and the Final Cut is good for the pin at 5:40.

Rating: D. Not the best match in the world but they were smart to do this on Raw instead of the pay per view. No matter how you look at it, they’re both older and not the best in the ring but that doesn’t mean their angle should be forgotten. There will likely be a rematch and that should wrap things up.

Here’s Kurt Angle to introduce Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar for a chat. Angle congratulates Lesnar for his win last night and says Brock surprised him. Heyman gives a quick victory speech but here’s Roman Reigns to interrupt. Roman says the three of them were all in the Attitude Era (No Roman, they weren’t.) but Angle never learned how to handle Strowman and Lesnar is never around to do it.

Reigns thinks Angle owes him one and that should be Lesnar at Summerslam. Lesnar laughs this off because Reigns hasn’t earned it. Cue Samoa Joe to say Lesnar escaped him last night instead of beating him. Joe throws in that Reigns has never beaten him and wants another piece of Lesnar. They go nose to nose but Joe stops to say Roman lost last night. Reigns: “Look at me, then look at Braun if you can find him.” Angle makes Joe vs. Reigns for the title shot at Summerslam for next week.

I’m going to assume that Strowman interferes in that match because otherwise, WWE is actually going with the idea that wins and losses mean nothing. Joe pointing out the loss made sense and Lesnar saying Reigns hasn’t earned the shot makes sense, but then they just give him a #1 contenders match anyway. That makes very little sense but you have to expect that since it’s WWE. Hopefully they come up with something, though I can’t say I’d be complaining if they didn’t just have Lesnar vs. Reigns already.

Angle and Graves are in the back with Kurt saying they got the same text. Kurt is going to go public with whatever it is next week but knows it might be the end for him. He’s even worried that his family might walk out on him. Graves says it’s not a big deal but Angle doesn’t seem convinced.

Akira Tozawa/Cedric Alexander vs. Noam Dar/Neville

Cedric knocks Dar outside to start and right into the waiting arms of Alicia Fox. Back inside and Swann gets caught in the numbers game and some double stomping takes us to a break. We come back with Tozawa in trouble until Alexander gets the hot tag to come in with the springboard clothesline. Neville crotches him on top though, only to get crotched as well. Cedric dives onto Dar and Tozawa kicks the ropes to make it even worse for Neville. The top rope backsplash gives Tozawa the pin at 9:34.

Rating: C. This was angle advancement to set up Neville vs. Tozawa II as well as the already announced I Quit match between Alexander and Dar to FINALLY end their feud. This didn’t have the time to go anywhere but they did what they could do to set up both matches, which isn’t the worst thing in the world.

We look back at MizTV.

Rollins isn’t worried about Miz because he’s focused on Bray Wyatt.

Bray says Seth can’t escape his past or erase his sins. How dare Rollins take his eye off Bray. Wyatt is here tonight.

Seth Rollins vs. Bray Wyatt

Rematch from last night with Wyatt starting the mind games early. Seth hammers away but gets thrown into the corner for some forearms. Bray charges into a superkick for two and Seth takes him outside to start in on the hand. Makes sense after the eye poke last night. The hand gets rammed into various objects ranging from the barricade to the steps, only to have Bray counter a springboard into a release Rock Bottom.

Back from a break with Seth fighting out of a chinlock and getting in a dropkick. Bray grabs a DDT though and it’s right back to the chinlock. Wyatt can’t get in a suplex though and Rollins scores with an enziguri for a breather. The Sling Blade drops Bray again and there’s the springboard clothesline for two more.

After a Blockbuster and Falcon Arrow give Seth two more near falls, Seth has to slip out of Sister Abigail. You don’t see this much offense from a face a lot of the time and it’s kind of cool to see for a change. Bray headbutts him in the bad eye though and Sister Abigail is good for the pin on Rollins at 17:04.

Rating: C+. The hand stuff didn’t go anywhere but it was cool to see Wyatt get a second win in two nights, especially over a major name. In theory this should send Seth on to a feud with Miz, because losing back to back matches is grounds for a title feud (Right Roman?) and that’s going to be better for most people.

Post match Bray disappears and it’s the Miztourage coming through the crowd for the beatdown. Ambrose makes the save with a chair and beats the fire out of Miz.

Angle is on the phone with someone who he wants here next week to reveal something. He says he loves them to end the show. There was no update on Strowman, which was promised all night.

Overall Rating: C. This show was hard to grade as the wrestling wasn’t anything special though I don’t think it was supposed to be. Tonight was about setting up the board for Summerslam and that’s a good idea with over a month to go before the pay per view. I’m genuinely curious about the Angle story but it seems that all roads lead to Stephanie coming back to show him how business really works. Not a great show but it did some good things to set up stories for later, which is more important than wrestling on any given night.

Results

Finn Balor b. Elias Samson – Coup de Grace

Anderson and Gallows b. Hardys – Magic Killer to Matt

Bayley/Sasha Banks b. Nia Jax/Alexa Bliss – Rollup to Bliss

Goldust b. R-Truth – Final Cut

Akira Tozawa/Cedric Alexander b. Noam Dar/Neville – Top rope backsplash to Neville

Bray Wyatt b. Seth Rollins – Sister Abigail

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Histories of Saturday Night’s Main Event and Clash of the Champions, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/05/19/history-of-saturday-nights-main-event-and-clash-of-the-champions-now-in-paperback-plus-price-drops/

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

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

Monday Night Raw – July 3, 2017: Let’s (Get Ready to) Light It Up

Monday Night Raw
Date: July 3, 2017
Location: Talking Stick Resort Arena, Phoenix, Arizona
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Booker T.

It’s the go home show for Great Balls of Fire and the question becomes which match WWE is treating as the featured attraction tonight. In other words, it depends on if Brock Lesnar is here tonight or not, as tends to be the case all the time. Sunday’s show is suddenly a bit more interesting amid rumors of Roman Reigns vs. Lesnar at Summerslam instead of Wrestlemania so let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of Enzo Amore pleading with Big Cass to keep the team together and Cass teasing to do so, only to lay Enzo out again. Still the absolutely right call.

Here’s Enzo to open the show. He lists off all the bad things that have happened to him in the last year and says that all happened while Cass was behind his back. Cass watched all that time because he never had Enzo’s back. Cass wanted to take advantage of the silver tongue but now he has to face the fists that come with it.

Enzo is grateful for everything that’s happened to him and he’d shove his dad down a wishing well before he joined the dark side. He’s grateful to every kid out there wearing his gear. They’re the people who help put food on his table because he believes in the good that he’s doing. It’s something you just can’t teach. He walks in and out of a room with confidence because he knows who he is and he knows where he’s going. He’s been in holes a lot deeper than seven feet before and Cass is nothing more than a catchphrase that Enzo wrote.

Cass said his mouth writes checks that he can’t back up but no one goes harder than him. Next time, don’t be surprised if that merchandise check is for ZERO DIMES. Unless he starts wearing a Casshole shirt. Enzo is ready to go but comes back to say he’s ready to fight on his own because it’s all him now. This was an INCREDIBLE promo but there’s not much of a way around the fact that he has nothing to back it up with in the ring.

Cass says Enzo can’t talk the talk because on Sunday, he won’t be walking at all. He’s ready for Sunday but Enzo jumps him from behind and the fight is on. It’s quickly broken up but that was some good fire.

Sasha Banks/Bayley vs. Nia Jax/Alexa Bliss

Nia throws Bayley into the corner to start but gets dropkicked a few times. That just earns Bayley a modified Snake Eyes so it’s off to Banks for a double dropkick. Another dropkick puts Nia on the floor but she grabs Bayley off the apron and crushes her against the barricade. Back from a break with Bayley having been taken to the back from being crushed. Sasha stomps Alexa in the corner but Nia just crushes her with a backbreaker. Bliss stands on Banks’ hair for a bit until Sasha fights up and kicks Jax in the knee. The Bank Statement ends Bliss out of nowhere at 10:15.

Rating: C-. I’d love to see how much further they could make Bayley look worthless. At this point they’re setting her up for a heel turn and really, that’s about all they can do for her as she’s been treated as the biggest loser I’ve seen in a long time. Banks just beat the monster and the champ on her own but I’m supposed to care about Bayley? Really?

Braun Strowman tells Kurt Angle that he’s dealing with Roman Reigns tonight.

Long video on Samoa Joe vs. Brock Lesnar with Brock saying he’s not worried about Joe just because he put his hands on Heyman.

Noam Dar vs. Cedric Alexander

These two have spent more time being done fighting than they spent fighting in the first place. Alicia Fox makes her return and gets to see Cedric clothesline Dar to the floor. Back in and Dar gets in a kick to the chest for two. Dar starts in on the arm but Fox gets on the apron for an accidental distraction, allowing Cedric to hit the Lumbar Check for the pin at 2:09. NOW NEVER TALK TO EACH OTHER AGAIN.

We look at the attention the Ball Family got from their MizTV appearance last week. Ignore no one talking about wrestling and talking about Ball acting like an idiot but any publicity is good publicity right Vince? When is that Chris Benoit retrospective coming?

It’s time for MizTV with Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas behind Miz and Maryse. Last week, Miz exposed the Ball Family as the overrated acts that they are and Lonzo will prove it again when he’s an NBA bust. The only bigger bust than Lonzo is Dean Ambrose, who the Ball Family would be crazy to have as a representative. When Ambrose debuted, he was going to be the next Roddy Piper and the breakout star of the Shield. Now though, we know that Ambrose can’t handle success. Dean is going to be the biggest joke in WWE but here he is to interrupt.

Ambrose wants his rematch for the Intercontinental Title and wants it tonight. Cue Heath Slater and Rhyno though with Heath saying he’s never had a shot at a singles title in eight years. He’s always telling his kids that he’s got this and things will be ok but in reality, he has no idea if he’s got this. Dean: “You’ve got kids?” Miz says no but here’s Angle to say Miz is defending against Slater tonight and Ambrose on Sunday. Let’s have tonight’s match…..now.

Intercontinental Title: Miz vs. Heath Slater

Miz is defending and wearing a suit while Ambrose is on commentary. Slater grabs a rollup to start but we go with a headlock to slow things down instead. Some right hands have Miz in trouble as Dean talks about the delicious food that he hears Slater’s wife makes at the trailer. Miz bails to the floor off an atomic drop and we take a break.

Back with Miz holding a front facelock and sending Heath outside where Rhyno and the Miztourage get in a staredown. Ambrose: “Miztourage. That’s so bad. That’s almost as bad as Great Balls of fire.” Back in and Miz hits the YES Kicks until a flapjack takes him down. Slater slugs away and hits a jumping knee to the face for two.

The neckbreaker out of the corner gets two more and Slater powerslams him off the top for a nice counter. Rhyno goes after Dallas and Axel for getting on the apron to distract the referee, earning himself a posting. The distraction lets the Skull Crushing Finale retain the title at 12:48.

Rating: C+. Better than I was expecting here with Slater giving it a go but coming up short due to the numbers game. The Miztourage is a nice upgrade for Miz, who could only get so far with Maryse in his corner. Of course it doesn’t matter as he’s fighting Ambrose AGAIN, which feels like he’s been going on for a year now.

Ambrose hits the ring for the save but gets beaten down as well.

We look back at Strowman taking Reigns out last week.

Titus O’Neil wants Apollo Crews to face Braun Strowman for the sake of his daughter. Crews actually falls for it with Titus saying the power of freaky daddy strength is enough to beat Strowman. If FREAKY DADDY STRENGTH isn’t a shirt by Thursday, I worry about this promotion’s future.

Here’s Goldust to talk about his new film: the Shattered Truth. This film wouldn’t be possible without everyone in this arena. All the little people you see. With this film, he’s done the impossible and turned R-Truth into a star. The film is a highlight reel of last week’s non-match, shot something like a trailer with footage from the cameraman Goldust brought with him. When the film is done, Truth is behind Goldust, munching on some popcorn. Goldust is quickly chased to the floor.

Sheamus and Cesaro come into Angle’s office so he can give them their stipulation for Sunday’s title match against the Hardys: a thirty minute Iron Man match. EGADS are they trying to give me an aneurysm with these guys feuding forever?

Seth Rollins vs. Curt Hawkins

Hawkins polls the fans on who is going to win here. After Rollins tells him to shut up, it’s the windup jumping knee to the face for the pin at 9 seconds.

Post match Rollins grabs the mic and calls Bray Wyatt a coward. Whenever he’s ready for a fight, Wyatt is nowhere to be seen. Wyatt always talks about how he’s a god and ready to destroy everything but on Sunday, Seth is going to expose him for what he is. The only question will be if Bray is a man or a coward.

Samoa Joe and Brock Lesnar are live via satellite for a sitdown interview. Joe rants about being tired of answering questions because he’s ready to fight. Lesnar calls him a coward but Joe says Brock can never get his hands on him. Joe is ready to fight so Lesnar lists off all the names he’s beaten. That’s fine with Joe, who has a list of names he’s choked out. Lesnar and Heyman chuckle so Joe walks out and goes to find Brock. Angle tries to talk him down but security pulls Joe away from Lesnar’s room. I know Joe loses on Sunday but this is the best build of a Lesnar opponent in longer than I can remember.

Neville vs. Mustafa Ali

Non-title. Ali snaps off a running hurricanrana but it’s too early for the inverted 450. Instead Neville loads up a reverse belly to back superplex, only to have Ali land on his feet. The running tornado DDT plants Neville for two but he shoves Ali off the top for a crash. Ali’s head hits the barricade so Neville stomps away and tosses him into the air for the crash. For some reason Ali tries another rolling neckbreaker and eats a heck of a clothesline. The Rings of Saturn makes Ali tap at 6:20.

Rating: D+. The cruiserweights manage to kill another little piece of my soul. The matches are usually good but the show feels like it’s coming to a grinding halt whenever they show up. The 205 Live stuff is better but the matches here range from long to not interesting and that’s not good when they happen twice a week most of the time.

Bray Wyatt is in the desert and talks about people worshiping the sun. It’s been less than 100 days since Wrestlemania and things have been chaos ever since. The Beast has been made a mortal and there’s no stopping Bray now. On Sunday, Rollins will learn what it’s like to burn in the sun. This was as rambling of an interview as Bray has ever given and I have almost no idea what the point was supposed to be.

Bliss is leaving and says she let Sasha beat her as a strategy for Sunday.

Finn Balor vs. Cesaro

The Hardys jump in on commentary as part of a continuing trend tonight. Cesaro powers Balor up and hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker to take over. Some chops in the corner rock Cesaro but Balor gets thrown to the floor in a heap as we take a break. Back with Finn getting two off a sunset flip but Cesaro muscles him up with a gutwrench suplex.

Finn fights back and kicks Cesaro away, only to have Elias Samson come out for a distraction. Swiss Death gives Cesaro two and another uppercut rocks Finn. It doesn’t rock him enough though as Finn kicks him off the apron. Samson breaks up a dive so the Hardys get off commentary to brawl with Samson and Sheamus. Finn dives onto everyone and we hit various finishers until Balor throws Cesaro back inside for the Coup de Grace and the pin at 15:05.

Rating: D+. I wasn’t feeling this one but Cesaro and Sheamus have become a black hole of charisma and the Hardys aren’t exactly helping things. At the same time the tag division continues to die, American Alpha continues to sit in the black hole underneath Smackdown and the Revival was on Main Event last week and will be again this week. Just throwing that out there.

We run down the pay per view card. “Order now and get two pay per views for FREE” is the best pitch they could have for the Network.

Here’s an ambulance plus Braun Strowman to talk about how much he loves to hurt Roman Reigns. Titus O’Neil comes out to introduce Crews for the slaughter.

Apollo Crews vs. Braun Strowman

Crews does what he can to start but is quickly thrown outside as soon as Strowman gets his hands on him. We hit the neck crank before Crews is sent outside again. Titus fires him up enough that two enziguris stagger Strowman. The standing moonsault is broken up with Strowman kicking Apollo across the ring in an awesome block. Three straight powerslams finally put Crews away at 4:13.

Rating: D. This was just a step above a squash and that’s all it needed to be. Strowman is gearing up for the second biggest match at Sunday’s pay per view and it makes sense to have him squash someone. At least it was someone fresh and not the same stuff we’ve seen a dozen times.

Post match Titus tries to save Apollo from a worse beating but takes one himself. Apollo gets thrown into the ambulance but it won’t drive away. Of course Reigns is the driver (Thanks for having Crews’ back earlier you jerk) and he spears Strowman off the stage. Strowman is on his feet before the show is over.

Overall Rating: D+. Tonight felt like one of the longest shows I can remember in a good while. Parts of it were good and they’ve actually done a solid job of building up what should have been a nothing pay per view. Lesnar vs. Joe looks like a blast and I’m sure the ambulance match will be fun too. The problem here was the wrestling, which really didn’t do much for me and added even less to the show. It wasn’t the worst show in the world but it needed a good match in there to help carry things.

Results

Bayley/Sasha Banks b. Alexa Bliss/Nia Jax – Bank Statement to Bliss

Cedric Alexander b. Noam Dar – Lumbar Check

Miz b. Heath Slater – Skull Crushing Finale

Seth Rollins b. Curt Hawkins – Windup jumping knee

Neville b. Mustafa Ali – Rings of Saturn

Finn Balor b. Cesaro – Coup de Grace

Braun Strowman b. Apollo Crews – Powerslam

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Histories of Saturday Night’s Main Event and Clash of the Champions, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/05/19/history-of-saturday-nights-main-event-and-clash-of-the-champions-now-in-paperback-plus-price-drops/

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

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

New Column: The Reigns of Summer

Looking at Reigns’ potential Summerslam announced and what I think it’s going to be.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/kbs-review-reigns-summer/

Extreme Rules 2017: This Show Just Made the List

Extreme Rules 2017
Date: June 4, 2017
Location: Royal Farms Arena, Baltimore, Maryland
Commentators: Michael Cole, Booker T., Corey Graves

It’s the night of extreme, which is loosely translated as “night of gimmicky rematches”. The main event is a Fatal Five Way for a future shot at Brock Lesnar and the Universal Title, likely coming at next month’s Great Balls of Fire. The stories aren’t the strongest this time around so it’s going to be mostly up to the in-ring action. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Kalisto vs. Apolo Crews

Kalisto has been feuding with Crews and Titus O’Neil for a few weeks now with Titus stealing a tainted win over him last week. Feeling out process to start with the announcers talking about LaVar Ball trying to buy into the Titus Brand. If you don’t know who that is, leave it at that and consider it a good day. Kalisto takes over with some speedy technical stuff and sends Crews to the floor for a big springboard dive. He tries another dive but gets kicked in the head for his efforts as we take a break.

Back with Crews holding a front facelock but having to clothesline Kalisto down to break up a comeback. Kalisto makes his real comeback with the corkscrew springboard shoulder as Titus plays cheerleader. A small package gets two on Crews, followed by one heck of a tornado DDT for the same. Crews comes back with a Samoan drop but his standing shooting star only gets two. Titus offers some suggestions but the distraction lets Kalisto hit a quick Salida Del Sol for the pin at 9:35.

Rating: C+. That was a lot better than I expected and if it leads to Crews beating the fire out of Titus, so be it. Basically whatever gets Crews pushed better than he has been so far on the main roster with a bit of a character/personality to him is an improvement, as we’ve been seeing him waste away for over a year now. Kalisto continues to be the guy that should be near the top of the cruiserweight show but for now he’s just a low level performer who fights heavyweights on the main show. You know, because the cruiserweight division is nonsense

The opening sequence talks about about things going extreme and how this is all about facing Brock Lesnar. You might remember him even though you haven’t seen him in two months.

We recap Miz vs. Dean Ambrose. They feuded on Smackdown late last year but now they’re both on Raw so we’ll just keep it going. Miz got a shot at the title but Ambrose got disqualified, setting up this rematch.

Intercontinental Title: Miz vs. Dean Ambrose

Ambrose is defending and can lose the title via DQ. They start slowly with an exchange of hammerlocks as the announcers talk about this being Miz’s 92^nd pay per view match. A slap to the face annoys Ambrose so he hammers away in the corner. Dean keeps his cool and sends Miz outside for a suicide dive, followed by a whip into the barricade.

Things settle down though as we make sure that the EXTREME show doesn’t get too intense. Another yell from the referee allows Miz to get in an apron DDT for two. A neckbreaker is good for the same and Miz kicks him in the face for good measure. Three corner running dropkicks and the running corner clothesline has Dean in trouble but he’s still able to punch Miz out of the air.

Neither finish can hit so Dean sends him outside for another dive. Back in and Ambrose grabs a rollup for two, only to tweak his knee coming off the top. That means it’s off to the Figure Four with Dean finally getting over for the rope break. Dean gets crotched on top and Miz pulls him away, taking the turnbuckle pad with him.

The champ catches himself from sending Miz into the buckle but Miz uses the distraction to hit some YES Kicks. The big one is countered into a Figure Four on Miz but another rope grab is good for the break. They both limp on the bad leg for the slugout for a double knockdown before we FINALLY get to the obvious idea as Maryse slaps Miz. The referee says no and ejects Maryse though, allowing Dean to grab a rollup for two. Miz gets smart though and sends Dean into the referee but that’s still not a DQ. Instead Miz hits the Skull Crushing Finale for the pin at 20:02.

Rating: B. I’m happy with Miz getting the title back but sweet goodness they were waiting around until the gimmick played into the ending. The slap not counting was pretty obvious but at least the DQ thing set up the ending. The problem here is very simple though: there’s not much interest in these two fighting again because they did it for so long back in December and January. But hey, at least Cena got a marriage proposal in there before they send Miz right back where he was a year ago first right?

Bayley thinks Alexa Bliss was no Rock and Mankind but she’s been watching Tommy Dreamer, Sandman and Steve Blackman to get ready for tonight. She also saw Wonder Woman and feels empowered to take the title back.

Sasha Banks/Rich Swann vs. Alicia Fox/Noam Dar

Swann gets a great hometown pop with one fan in particular really seeming happy. How do I know that? It’s because they cut to the one fan’s reaction during the entrance. The women start but it’s off to Dar before anything can happen. That means Swann has to come in to kick Dar in the head a bit before handing it back to Banks. The Bank Statement has Fox in trouble until Dar pulls her to the ropes.

Fox takes over on Sasha for a bit but another kick allows the hot tag to Swann, who gets almost no reaction this time around. A running flip Fameasser drops Dar and the spinning kick to the face makes things even worse. Everything breaks down and Sasha hits the double knees off the top to drop Dar on the floor. Back in and the Phoenix Splash ends Noam at 6:23.

Rating: D+. Well that was filler. Seriously what else can you call something like this? They have a six match card and one of the matches gets less than six and a half minutes. That being said, this was a match that shouldn’t have gone any longer because it has no place on a pay per view card. Also why does Swann get to survive the hometown curse?

The winners dance.

Elias Samson sings about how bad Baltimore is. This goes nowhere but does manage to kill off three minutes.

We recap Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss. Alexa kind of cheated to win the title last month and then attacked Bayley with a kendo stick. Tonight it’s a kendo stick on a pole match but the question is whether Bayley is capable of getting extreme.

Women’s Title: Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss

Bliss is defending and gets sent into the corner early on, only to send Bayley outside. She’s too short to reach the stick though, which falls out to the floor instead. A belly to back suplex on the floor makes things worse for Bliss and Bayley grabs the stick. Graves: “It’s like she went from Prince Adam to He-Man!” Bayley takes too much time pulling the stick back though and gets speared down, allowing Bliss to hammer away with the stick. The beating is cut off with a Bayley to Belly but Bayley can’t follow up. More stick shots knock Bayley silly and the DDT finishes her off at 5:13.

Rating: F. So to recap: Bayley is the biggest star in NXT and then is booked like a huge loser in WWE. The fact that NXT was booked by Dusty Rhodes’ protege and WWE is booked by a “creative team” has nothing to do with this I’m sure. Yeah I’m sure they didn’t think that the simplest idea in the world (Bayley is an underdog who gets beaten down but keeps coming back because she has heart and loves what she does) needed to be completely redone in a horrible way or anything.

Just hand her the title almost right out of the gate, let her win an overbooked match at Wrestlemania and everything will be fine. It’s certainly not creative’s fault at all. Nah, it’s all on Bayley, just like all those other hot prospects in NXT who just can’t make it work for whatever reason on the main roster. All on them of course.

To clarify some of that rambling mess: this was a horribly booked match. The whole idea was building towards Bayley finding her inner anger and using the stick. They built it up well enough and then…..nothing. She had one chance to swing the stick and then Bliss just beat her up to retain in a very short match. There was no late hope spot, there was no comeback and there was nothing for the fans to get behind. This was just a step ahead of a squash instead of something interesting, which makes the last month or two a complete waste. Bliss looked great but Bayley continues to be completely mishandled.

Did I mention I REALLY don’t like WWE creative as of late?

Tag Team Titles: Hardy Boyz vs. Cesaro/Sheamus

The Hardys are defending in a cage with both members needing to escape to win, meaning no pinfalls. Cesaro and Sheamus head for the walls and the door to start but the champs pull them back in without much effort. A few whips into the cage set up a few Poetries in Motion against the cage. The advantage doesn’t last long as Cesaro sends Jeff into the cage. It’s still too early to leave though as Jeff makes the save.

They trade some escape attempts to no avail until Cesaro ax handles Jeff. Sheamus misses the Brogue Kick and gets caught in Matt’s tornado DDT to put all four down. The champs are up first and go up the cage, only to have Cesaro and Sheamus make quick saves. Jeff actually manages to get to the floor but that leaves Matt in a handicap match. The Side Effect drops Sheamus and Cesaro is put down as well but Matt can’t escape just yet.

Jeff tries to help and even pulls him halfway over the top before Cesaro punches him down to the floor. That means Matt gets pulled back down into the ring for a double Razor’s Edge (cool spot). A Brogue Kick drops Jeff again but Matt keeps Sheamus from escaping. Back to back Twists of Fate allows Matt to get his legs over the top until Cesaro hits an uppercut.

A super White Noise knocks Matt silly but here’s Jeff to dive off the top with a Whisper in the Wind to take Sheamus and Cesaro down again. Matt gets up and drags Jeff’s body towards the door as Cesaro and Sheamus go up over the top at the same time. Matt is on the floor first but can’t get Jeff out (again), allowing Cesaro and Sheamus to drop down and win the titles (for a face pop) at 15:45.

Rating: B. Uh, is it just me or does that ending not make sense? Matt and Jeff escaped first but Jeff’s escape is rescinded for going back in? When has that been a rule? It’s not the worst ending in the world and I’m fine with Cesaro and Sheamus as champions (imagine saying that six months ago) as they had to get the titles off Matt and Jeff somehow, likely without pinning them. The match being good always helps too.

We recap the Cruiserweight Title match. Austin Aries has lost to Neville twice in a row, both times via some shenanigans. Tonight it’s a submission match with Aries coming in on a bad leg, though he made Neville tap in a tag match six days ago.

Cruiserweight Title: Neville vs. Austin Aries

Aries is challenging in a submission match. Feeling out process to start with Neville working on an armbar instead of the taped up neck or bad knee. Aries smacks him in the back and hits a slingshot hilo, only to have Neville bail to the floor to escape the Last Chancery. Back up and Aries tweaks his knee coming off the ropes to give Neville a target. A dragon screw leg whip has the leg in trouble but Aries hits a few shinbreakers with the good leg.

The neckbreaker across the ropes is broken up and Aries might have hurt his arm on the landing. The arm is fine enough for Aries to take Neville’s leg out again and grab a figure four until Neville makes the ropes. Ignore this being a SUBMISSION match, meaning the rope shouldn’t be a break.

The Rings of Saturn go on Aries in the middle of the ring but he gets his feet to the ropes for another break. Now it’s Aries grabbing his own Rings of Saturn, only to have Neville grab the referee. That’s the threat of a DQ (ERG!) so Aries lets go to tell the referee not to do it.

Neville gets in a superkick and puts Aries on top but gets caught in a sunset bomb. The Last Chancery goes on but Neville crawls to the floor, only to have the hold stay on. Neville taps to no avail because the fall has to be in the ring. Aries misses the suicide dive to send him crashing to the floor. Back in and the Red Arrow hits Aries’ back, setting up the Rings to make Aries tap at 17:23.

Rating: B+. Other than actually growling at the referee to STOP WITH THE DQ THREATS BECAUSE IT’S A FREAKING SUBMISSION MATCH YOU STUPID PEOPLE, this was really entertaining stuff. Above all else though, it needs to be the finish to the feud. Aries has lost every single time and now he lost as clean as you can in a match like this (which STILL shouldn’t have disqualifications). Let it be over now and give us Akira Tozawa or someone else challenging for the title.

Great Balls of Fire ad with a 1950s theme because that’s the best they can come up with.

Lesnar’s title defense will take place at Great Balls of Fire.

We recap the Fatal Five Way, which is really happening because Braun Strowman is injured and we need a new #1 contender. Kurt Angle put five guys in a single match with the winner facing Lesnar next month.

Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor vs. Bray Wyatt vs. Samoa Joe

Winner gets Brock next month, one fall to a finish and anything goes. It’s a big brawl to start with Reigns being left alone in the ring until Bray Wyatt comes in to keep him from being lonely. Wyatt gets caught on the middle rope for a Samoan drop, followed by one to Joe for good measure.

Balor sends Reigns to the floor, leaving Bray to come back in and beat on Rollins and Joe. The three are sent outside for a big flip dive from Balor, only to have Reigns send him into the barricade. Joe breaks up the apron dropkick to Wyatt and sends Reigns into the steps. There isn’t much else to do here other than list off moves, as is so often the case in matches like this one.

Wyatt and Joe get together to hit people with steps, including a shot to Reigns which draws some solid cheers. They officially make a deal and take over on Balor inside as Corey is waiting on them to turn on each other. Seth starts a comeback but gets DDTed onto the steps for his efforts. Bray grabs a chair and cleans house again until he and Joe take turns backsplashing the chair onto Balor.

Joe finally misses a charge into a chair and Bray misses the crossbody, allowing Reigns to remember that he’s in the match. Roman gets the expected house cleaning segment until Bray takes him outside for a Rock Bottom onto the table. Now it’s Rollins coming back with a springboard clothesline on Wyatt, followed by a double Blockbuster to Bray and Joe.

Things speed up with Rollins loading up a suicide dive to Bray, who pulls Joe into the path instead. Back in and Sister Abigail plants Rollins, only to have Joe break it up and start the inevitable fight with Bray. Balor comes back in with a chair to break up the Koquina Clutch before dropkicking everyone in sight.

It’s time to load up the announcers’ table but Reigns comes back with a spear to drive Balor and Joe through the barricade. Seth is back up with a frog splash to drive Bray through the table but stays down holding his knee. The knee is fine enough for him to stand up for a staredown with Reigns as the chair is still in the ring. A quick Superman Punch gives Roman two, followed by Seth’s low superkick getting the same.

Another frog splash gets two more but here’s Bray for failed Sister Abigail attempts on both guys. Roman spears Bray down and hits Rollins with another Superman Punch. Balor takes one of his own but still comes back with the shotgun dropkick and Coup de Grace. It doesn’t matter though as Joe comes back in with the Koquina Clutch on Balor for the win at 29:10.

Rating: A-. I think I can go with Joe vs. Lesnar if I absolutely have to. This was a WAY better match than I was expecting with the extra time doing it a lot of favors. They had all five looking strong with the Bray/Joe alliance working fine for a story during the match. Joe winning is a good idea as he can get a rub from working with Lesnar, despite having almost no chance at actually beating him. I had a great time with this one and the ending is a very good call.

Overall Rating: B+. This was actually a heck of a show, albeit one that isn’t going to mean a thing after…..oh I’d say tomorrow. That’s a common problem in WWE and I’m not surprised to see it continue here. The idea of having a title match to build towards is a nice change of pace and should help the show a lot. Add that to a lot of really solid wrestling (only the Bayley vs. Bliss match was really bad, which is due to the booking instead of the action, or lack thereof) and you have a much better show than I ever would have guessed.

Results

Miz b. Dean Ambrose – Skull Crushing Finale

Sasha Banks/Rich Swann b. Alicia Fox/Noam Dar – Phoenix Splash to Dar

Alexa Bliss b. Bayley – DDT

Cesaro/Sheamus b. Hardy Boyz – Cesaro and Sheamus escaped the cage

Neville b. Austin Aries – Rings of Saturn

Samoa Joe b. Finn Balor, Bray Wyatt, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns – Koquina Clutch to Balor

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Histories of Saturday Night’s Main Event and Clash of the Champions, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:

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Extreme Rules 2017 Preview

So it’s time for one of the least gimmicky gimmick pay per views that WWE offers. I get the idea behind what they’re doing here but can you really consider a lot of these matches to be EXTREME? It’s a good idea if the bigger matches are all extreme (Is that really the best name they can come up with? It sounds so officially and corp……yeah that’s the best we’re getting.) but it really feels like a bunch of gimmick matches which are lumped together under the EXTREME banner. Let’s get to it.

Women’s Title: Alexa Bliss(c) vs. Bayley

There’s no announced Kickoff Show match this time around so we can jump straight into the bigger matches. This is kendo stick on a pole match with the big idea being that Bayley can’t get extreme with the stick. I mean, this ignores the time where she beat the fire out of Tommy Dreamer with one on Edge and Christian’s show. This lead to the not as bad as people thought This Is Your Life Bayley which again saw Bliss beat the heck out of her.

I smell a screwy finish here with Bayley using the stick but still losing the match somehow. Bliss needs to hang onto the title for a good while as she’s blown the roof off all of the expectations she had upon winning the title. Bayley continues to flounder on “Monday Night Raw” (A popular NXT talent being used horribly on the main roster? Really?) but I’m sure she’ll land on her feet eventually.

Tag Team Titles: Hardys(c) vs. Sheamus/Cesaro

Wake me when this one is over. This is a fine example of a feud that has dragged on for the better part of forever (really only about a month and a half) because there’s little reason for them to be fighting anymore other than the “Monday Night Raw” tag division is a barren wasteland. I know it’s asking a lot but the precious, overworked (and overstaffed) writing staff could build up more than one team at a time.

I’ll take the Hardys to retain here, even though they’re rapidly turning back into the standard version of the team. There isn’t much of a reason to care about them now other than nostalgia and hoping that they get to use the Broken characters down the line. They don’t need to be crushed or anything similar but I could go for some new champions. However, that seems to be the Revival’s spot to take and I think we’re all the better for it.

Intercontinental Title: Dean Ambrose(c) vs. The Miz

Again, WHY IS THIS FEUD HAPPENING AGAIN? Miz moving to “Monday Night Raw” was the worst thing that could have happened to him as he easily could be feuding with Randy Orton over the Smackdown World Title right now. Instead though he’s feuding with Ambrose again and chasing yet another Intercontinental Title. This time around though he can win the title via DQ and that sounds like a way to a screwy finish.

In theory this should be Maryse slapping Miz or something of a similar simple manner for a quick DQ. However, instead they’ll likely have Kurt Angle come out and say “eh that’s not happening” so the match can continue with Ambrose retaining. There’s no reason for Ambrose to keep the title (which he’s had for FIVE MONTHS) but I have a feeling they’re going to keep the belt on him even longer for absolutely no apparent reason.

Cruiserweight Title: Neville(c) vs. Austin Aries

This is their third straight pay per view match and also shows the major issues with having so many TV shows and pay per views. They had a great match at “Wrestlemania XXXIII” and a slightly less great match at “Payback 2017” but after seeing them fight in almost every possible style of tag match possible, I’m sick of watching them over and over again. This time around it’s a submission match, which at least adds a new element to the match.

I think I’ll go with Neville retaining here as him tapping out on Monday made it feel like they were setting up doubt that won’t go anywhere. If nothing else this seems likely to set up Akira Tozawa as Neville’s next challenger, which certainly wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world. Either way, I’m sure the match will be entertaining and I’m sure TJP and possibly Jack Gallagher will be interfering as well.

Rich Swann/Sasha Banks vs. Alicia Fox/Noam Dar

I’m sorry what now? This is the best they can do and yet American Alpha is stuck on the “Smackdown Live” bench for weeks at a time? This is really all they can come up with for Banks (I reserve the right to retract this is it helps set up a Banks heel turn) when you have Dana Brooke sitting around? Or Mickie James and Nia Jax perhaps? It’s two feuds put together and while that’s usually good, Banks feels completely forced into this spot.

I’ll take Swann and Banks in what should be the Kickoff Show match at worst. Swann is entertaining in the ring and has a gimmick with the dancing thing but Dar really doesn’t feel like he’s all that special. Fox is good in the crazy role and Banks is great by definition but that doesn’t mean we need to be having this match on pay per view.

Roman Reigns vs. Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe vs. Bray Wyatt vs. Seth Rollins

And WWE still seems confused by why the “Monday Night Raw” ratings suck. This is about an opportunity to be destroyed by Brock Lesnar at a nothing show in July and that’s really all they’ve got. The title isn’t on the line here and Lesnar isn’t going to be seen but we’re supposed to get fired up about a match with a stipulation that might change anyway? I mean, do you believe WWE won’t change the match before July? Nothing is actually on the line here and it’s basically a glorified prequel.

I’ll take Rollins to win here as there’s a reason for Lesnar to want another shot at him after their match at “Battleground 2015”. Paul Heyman even referenced that the night after “Wrestlemania XXXIII” so it’s definitely been considered. Not that it matters though as this is just a pit stop on the LONG road to “Wrestlemania XXXIV” where Roman Reigns can save us all again and we can boo him our thanks.

Overall Thoughts

Overall “Extreme Rules 2017” feels very skippable. The wrestling should be good enough but that doesn’t mean it’s a show you need to see. You have a match setting up another pay per view main event and a bunch of rematches, plus Banks slumming it with the cruiserweights. That’s really the best thing we can get out of WWE on the monthly pay per view schedule? Why do these things exist again? The show will likely be entertaining and the main event sounds fun but it’s not a show I’m looking forward to watching.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Histories of Saturday Night’s Main Event and Clash of the Champions, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:

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

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Monday Night Raw – May 29, 2017: Tune In Next Week To Find Out

Monday Night Raw
Date: May 29, 2017
Location: Bon Secours Wellness Arena, Greenville, South Carolina
Commentators: Michael Cole, Booker T., Corey Graves

It’s the go home show for Extreme Rules and we already have two matches announced. Tonight we have Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns and Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe vs. Bray Wyatt to help set up the Fatal Five Way at the pay per view. Other than that there’s always the chance that some new matches could be announced so let’s get to it.

We open with the John Cena narrated Memorial Day tribute.

Opening sequence.

Here are Miz and Maryse for MizTV. Miz complains about Dean Ambrose stealing his Intercontinental Title and then getting himself disqualified to retain it. Therefore, the rematch is going to have the title changing hands on a disqualification. We see a clip of last week’s match where Miz got Ambrose disqualified, which he’ll do again on Sunday.

As for tonight though, Miz brings out his guests: Sheamus and Cesaro. Miz praises them for being hard working guys but Sheamus and Cesaro think the fans have been fickle. After months of working harder than anyone, the fans turned on them for the sake of the shiny new toy. Miz thinks the same thing is true for him as he’s the one who made the title mean something. Cue Ambrose to say that someone needed to shut these three up. He’s not out here alone though as the Hardys run out to help clear the ring.

Hardy Boyz/Dean Ambrose vs. Cesaro/Sheamus/Miz

Joined in progress after a break in what shouldn’t be the biggest surprise. Sheamus works over Matt and throws him around before hitting the forearms to the chest. Cesaro comes in with a chinlock for a few seconds, only to have Matt get up and bring in Dean to clean house. Jeff baseball slides Cesaro and Dean hits the swinging neckbreaker on Sheamus.

A Miz distraction lets Sheamus knee Dean in the head though and we take a break. Back with Miz missing the big YES Kick and getting rolled up for two. A big boot gives Miz the same though and Dean stays in trouble. Ambrose fights away again but Cesaro and Miz take the Hardys off the apron so there’s no one to tag. I’ve always loved that spot and it still works.

The Rebound Lariat is enough for the hot tag to Jeff as everything breaks down. Miz eats Poetry in Motion and Side Effect for two. The Twisting Stunner drops Sheamus and it’s Dirty Deeds to Cesaro. A neckbreaker (looked like a Twist of Fate that was sold wrong) and the Swanton are enough to put Miz away at 12:45.

Rating: C. A bit dull at times but the ending helped it a lot. They had a hot finish, which is really what matters most in something like this. I’ve always been a fan of combining the two feuds into one match and the ending would suggest that at least one title will change hands on Sunday, which would be the best option.

The announcers talk but Graves is on his phone and leaves, looking a bit distraught.

Graves takes the phone to Kurt Angle, who says if it’s true, it could ruin him.

Elias Samson has a song for us before his match against a somewhat old looking jobber.

Elias Samson vs. Zac Evans

Samson throws him around and hits something like a spinebuster before pounding away on the ropes. Evans’ back is bent around the post, followed by the reverse swinging neckbreaker for the pin at 2:40.

Graves is back and doesn’t want to talk about what happened.

Samoa Joe watches a Finn Balor video and says he’s broken Balor before and can do it again. Bray Wyatt pops up on screen to say that Joe is blind like the masses. Only one man can slay the Beast and that man is the Eater of Worlds.

Bray Wyatt vs. Samoa Joe vs. Finn Balor

Bray bails to the floor to start so Finn hammers on Joe, which goes about as well as you would expect. Joe tosses Bray back inside, leaving us with the Balor showdown. One heck of a kick to the head staggers Bray but Joe is back in to hammer on Balor. The idea of a Bray vs. Joe showdown seems to intrigue the fans, only to have Joe sent outside again.

All three are back in for a Tower of Doom with Bray being the only man standing. Sister Abigail is broken up by Joe but Balor breaks up the Koquina Clutch. The big flip dives takes out the monsters and we go to a break. Back with Balor getting double teamed as the big guys take turns crushing him in the corner.

They take turns hitting backsplashes but Bray finally turns on Joe, as you had to expect him to do. Things don’t go well for Bray though as Balor makes his comeback with a string of strikes to the face. Balor sends both guys outside and hammers away, only to get caught in Joe’s Rock Bottom out of the corner. Bray dumps Joe again but Sister Abigail is broken up again. Joe takes it instead, only to have Balor jump Bray from behind. The Sling Blade and corner dropkick but Joe tosses Balor into the post and steals the pin at 16:48.

Rating: B. Really good match here with all three working hard. I like the idea of Joe winning, even though it’s fairly certain that either Balor or Rollins will be the one getting destroyed by Lesnar first. They’re certainly doing a good job of building Joe up though and that’s a great sign for the future.

Rollins says he knows Reigns better than anyone and knows that he owns him. Tonight it’s going to be the knee that used to be his greatest weakness but is now his greatest strength.

Noam Dar vs. Rich Swann

Alicia Fox and Sasha Banks are here as seconds. Dar jumps him from behind at the bell and stomps on the back of Swann’s neck. Rich makes a quick comeback as the women get into it. A middle rope Phoenix splash puts Dar away at 2:55.

Swann and Banks dance post match.

The Revival is back and asked about attacking Enzo. They deny any wrongdoing and play down the footage of them being seen last week around the time of the attack. Corey says that Big Cass has seen the tape.

We look at the 205 Live street fight between Brian Kendrick and Akira Tozawa.

Big Cass comes out to yell at Graves for implying that he had something to do with Enzo being attacked. There’s a more natural, fast paced feeling to this show and it’s working so far.

Kalisto vs. Titus O’Neil

Kalisto starts fast with the kicks and dropkicks Titus into the corner. A victory roll is broken up and Titus grabs a rollup with trunks for the pin at 49 seconds.

Here’s Alexa Bliss with a table of stuff and some random people for This is Your Life Bayley. Bliss talks about the kendo stick hanging in the corner, which Bayley would probably try to hug instead of use on her. Now it’s off to the table, which includes Bayley’s first doll, which she still plays with. Then we have a trophy for best in sportsmanship. Bliss also has Bayley’s yearbook where she was voted most likely to apologize.

That’s enough for the table of stuff though so let’s move on to the guests, starting with Mrs. Flapper, Bayley’s fourth grade teacher. Apparently Bayley had perfect attendance and sat next to her father, who she just couldn’t be away from without crying. Then we have Bayley’s best friend Tracy, who says Bayley was the nicest girl in the world. The problem was Bayley let people take advantage of her by taking the fall for them or doing their homework. Then something happened and they stopped talking. Bayley wanted to watch wrestling instead of going out and doing anything else.

Bliss finds this hilarious we have Bayley’s ex-boyfriend Phil, who said their first date was ok but kind of strange. Her dad was there every single time, including the time they almost had their first kiss. Phil didn’t really like her though because he just wanted to get closer to Tracy. She liked him too so they kiss, which Bliss deems disgusting. Cue the real Bayley to clean house, including going up to grab the stick. Bliss cuts her off though and pulls out a second stick to give Bayley a beating. This was a long segment but Bliss sold it as she can do so well. The joke got old in a hurry more than once but at least they kept it moving fast enough.

Enzo has been attacked again. Maybe we could see who did it if we didn’t use all of the cameras on crowd reaction shots. Cass blames the Revival but Angle says they were gone. Angle tells him to calm down while we figure this out.

Austin Aries/Jack Gallagher vs. TJP/Neville

TJP and Gallagher get things going with Jack being driven into the corner for some kicks From Neville. That just means the headstand in the corner and a quick dropkick to take us to a break. Back with Gallagher in trouble as TJP puts on a chinlock. Jack fights up again and makes the hot tag to Aries, who comes in and works on the leg. The Last Chancery is broken up with a jawbreaker and the villains are sent outside for a double suicide dive. Aries misses the missile dropkick but Neville misses the Phoenix splash. The Last Chancery makes Neville tap at 12:40.

Rating: C-. And so, we see it again. These four have had every possible combination as many times as they can now and I really don’t need to see them again. The match was fine but I have no interest in seeing anything else from these four. Hopefully Sunday is it for Neville vs. Aries as we’ve seen this match built up on two shows for the better part of three months.

Reigns says he’ll win.

Post break, Neville is livid.

We look back at Goldust attacking R-Truth a few weeks back.

Goldust says the story is about to be finished.

R-Truth Productions cuts Goldust off and we have Truth quoting Pulp Fiction. Goldust is gonna get got.

Sasha Banks will be on 205 Live. Pay no attention to the audience being tiny for weeks leading up to this.

Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins

They circle each other to start with the fans being almost one sided behind Rollins. Reigns throws him around and stares Rollins down. Some big forearms send Rollins outside but he hits the jumping knee, followed by a clothesline over the top. A dive takes us to a break with a good deal of time left.

Back with Rollins being sent into the barricade, right in front of a good number of empty first and second row seats. Reigns hits the corner clotheslines but the Superman Punch is pretty easily blocked. Rollins springboards into the Superman Punch for two but it’s too early for the spear. Instead Rollins hits the low superkick for two of his own, only to have Reigns no sell the Buckle Bomb and hit another Superman Punch.

They head outside with Reigns going shoulder first into the steps, setting up a Blockbuster for another two. That great looking frog splash is still only good for a near fall but Rollins misses the third Phoenix Splash of the night. An enziguri sets up the windup knee but Reigns spears him down for the pin at 18:22.

Rating: B-. As is the case in the tag match (albeit to a better degree), the match was good but nothing we haven’t seen several times before. I know the idea is that Reigns has the momentum heading into Sunday, though it’s really hard to buy the idea that he’s getting the title shot at some nothing show in July instead of in his fourth Wrestlemania main event in a row. Good main event, but people really didn’t seem to care.

Overall Rating: C+. That’s one of the better shows they’ve done in a long time as they kept the action strong and even had some stuff that left you coming back next week. I’ve never understood why so many shows have to be tied up nice and neat by the end. Give us some cliffhangers and stories to keep going instead of finishing things up and starting over again next week. I liked this show more than more recent Raw’s, even though it was only pretty good. I’m really not sure what that means but I don’t think it’s a positive.

Results

Dean Ambrose/Hardy Boyz b. Sheamus/Cesaro/Miz – Swanton Bomb to Miz

Elias Samson b. Zac Evans – Reverse swinging neckbreaker

Samoa Joe b. Bray Wyatt and Finn Balor – Coup de Grace to Wyatt

Rich Swann b. Noam Dar – Middle rope Phoenix splash

Titus O’Neil b. Kalisto – Rollup with a handful of trunks

Austin Aries/Jack Gallagher b. TJP/Neville – Last Chancery to Neville

Roman Reigns b. Seth Rollins – Spear

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Histories of Saturday Night’s Main Event and Clash of the Champions, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:

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

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