Survivor Series 2024
Date: November 30, 2024
Location: Rogers Arena, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Commentators: Corey Graves, Michael Cole

It’s time to put some people in a cage big enough to wrap around a pair of rings. That’s pretty much all you need to know here, as you have Roman Reigns and the Bloodline facing Solo Sikoa and his version of the same thing. Normally I would say what else is going on here, but it’s not like anything else really matters. Let’s get to it.

Since we’re going to have two of them, here are the WarGames rules:

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.

The opening video looks at WarGames, mainly focusing on the men’s version. Nothing outside of WarGames is even mentioned.

The cage is lowered.

Team Ripley vs. Team Morgan

Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair, Naomi, Iyo Sky, Bayley
Liv Morgan, Raquel Rodriguez, Nia Jax, Tiffany Stratton, Candice LeRae

Bayley and Jax start things off with Bayley firing off the forearms. Jax charges into a boot in the corner and Bayley knocks her into the space between the rings. Some more forearms have Jax in trouble and Bayley gets smart by taking off part of her gear for some whipping. Unfortunately Jax takes it away and whips her right back to take over. The running hip attack rocks Bayley and Jax runs her over for a bonus.

Another hip attack crushes Bayley against the cage and it’s Naomi in….wearing a birthday hat and grabbing a colorful kendo stick…and a toilet seat. Oh here we go. Anyway Naomi strikes and kicks away at Jax and Bayley is back up as the fans chant HAPPY BIRTHDAY, which kind of takes away the violent thing. Jax is sent into the corner, where the toilet seat is put around her neck for the hips to the face from Naomi. Because of course.

Stratton is supposed to be in to even it up but LeRae comes in instead. She throws in a bunch of chairs before getting in herself, though thankfully everyone was standing around waiting on her anyway. That’s broken up rather quickly and the chairs are set up with another one bridged between them. Jax is back up and lays Bayley onto them for a very save moonsault from LeRae.

Belair is here to get the advantage back and she grabs a trashcan…and then gets a fire extinguisher. She’s STILL not in as she also finds a table, because we need about eight weapons in the double cage. That’s not enough either as she grabs another chair (because the five or so inside weren’t enough), which believe it or not somehow doesn’t let the villains take over. Instead Belair FINALLY gets in and helps beat Jax down, with the stomping slowly ensuing. Since it took Belair so long to get in, it’s already time for Stratton, who gets a trashcan and lid.

Belair gets clocked with the lid and Bayley is catapulted into Jax’s vicinity for a clothesline. Naomi gets crushed by the big legdrop and a middle rope G9 hits Belair. Some chair shots have Jax down and it’s Sky…running all the way over to the other side of the ring to find a purple trashcan. It comes with a rope attached so she can climb up with the can on her back, but LeRae is there to meet her.

Sky tries a sunset bomb but can’t make it work, eventually landing in the ring nearly two minutes after her entrance. A missile dropkick cuts LeRae down and it’s a flip off between Sky and Stratton (“I can do that too!”). The Bullet Train connects in the corners until Jax runs Sky over. Rodriguez is in to even things up again and she pulls out a table, which she leaves on the floor. Thankfully she gets in because NO ONE IS DOING ANYTHING.

Jax and Rodriguez powerbomb people into the cage and onto each other until it’s Ripley in to complete her team (with a horned facemask as a bonus). Ripley brings the table in and gets to clean house as her partners get up. Jax and Rodriguez are knocked into the corner with weapons, including the toilet seat and Bayley using Belair’s hair as a whip in a great spot. LeRae and Rodriguez get in a few shots, but it’s Ripley standing alone as Morgan is supposed to come in, only to be scared to death instead.

Morgan teases leaving but comes back with a baseball mat and gets inside, meaning the match is officially on and can end at any time. Ripley takes off the facemask and says bring it, before easily disarming Morgan. The Riptide is broken up though and Ripley is held for some baseball bat shots to the ribs. That’s broken up and we hit the parade of knockdowns until Jax Samoan drops Bayley for two.

Sky and Stratton both head up, with Sky putting on the trashcan, before they both flip dive onto a pile of people in different rings. There’s your big spot, and it allows Stratton to pull out…the Money In The Bank briefcase, as both Jax and Morgan (the reigning champions) are both down. Sky breaks that up with a blast from the fire extinguisher and Ripley handcuffs Rodriguez to a rope.

Jax cuts Ripley off though and drops a leg on Belair for two. Bayley vs. Sky is teased but quickly cut off by Jax, who doesn’t like the idea of fun. The Annihilator is loaded up but turned into a double powerbomb through a table. Riptide is broken up by the handcuffed Rodriguez and Morgan Codebreakers a chair into Ripley’s face. They go up top and Ripley fights back, with a super Riptide through a table finishing Morgan at 38:05.

Rating: C-. Yeah this hasn’t gotten any better in a year, as it was much more about getting in spots than anything else. There were so many sections that were little more than waiting around for someone to come in, which just made the match feel long. It had a few moments, but forgive me for not getting into stuff with a toilet seat and Belair taking so long to pick out various weapons. Cut out a lot of time and it’s better, which is rarely a good sign.

We recap LA Knight defending the US Title against Shinsuke Nakamura. Knight is the popular champion but Nakamura returned and attacked him, setting up the title match.

US Title: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. LA Knight

Knight is defending and backs away from some early kicks. Nakamura takes him down for a kick to the back but Knight is right back with the stomps in the corner. They go outside with Knight ramming him into the apron, followed by a ribs first drop over the top back inside. Nakamura goes simple by kicking him in the face for two and the slow kicks have Knight in more trouble.

Knight pops back up and blocks a spinning kick, setting up a Burning Hammer of all things for two. They go up top, where Knight slips a bit, allowing Nakamura to kick him back down. A belly to back superplex flipped into a faceplant gives Nakamura two but Knight knocks him right back down. The jumping top rope elbow connects but Nakamura bails from the threat of a BFT. They fight between the rings, where Nakamura manages a reverse DDT. Kinshasa gives Nakamura the title at 9:47.

Rating: C+. I couldn’t quite get into this one, as they never got out of the low gears. Knight losing is a bit weird as well, as he was on fire at this point and Nakamura just popped up and won the title. If nothing else, it does give Knight a fresh target, but it’s kind of a weird way to get there.

We recap the Intercontinental Title triple threat. Bron Breakker is the unstoppable monster, Sheamus is the old fighter wanting the title and Ludwig Kaiser is here to make it a triple threat.

Intercontinental Title: Bron Breakker vs. Sheamus vs. Ludwig Kaiser

Breakker is defending. Kaiser gets smart by heading outside, leaving the other two to slug it out. That doesn’t last long as Kaiser comes back in and gets planted so Sheamus Irish Curses Breakker. Kaiser breaks up a powerbomb and wedges a chair into the corner, earning himself a double beating. Breakker isn’t about to let Sheamus hit the ten forearms but Kaiser breaks up the running spear.

Sheamus is dropkicked into the steps and rammed into the announcers’ table, only for Breakker to suplex Kaiser on the floor. Back in and Breakker knocks Sheamus down again, meaning it’s time for the Scott Steiner pushups. Sheamus fights back so Kaiser makes the save and they all go outside. Sheamus and Kaiser fight on the announcers’ table, with Breakker diving off the apron for a double clothesline.

Kaiser breaks out of a gorilla press with a rake to the eyes….but Sheamus rises up (great visual) for the ten forearms to the chest. Breakker tries to cut it off and gets forearmed as well. Sheamus’ double clothesline off the barricade drops them both so Kaiser grabs the shillelagh. You never take another man’s shillelagh so Sheamus clotheslines him over the barricade and throws it down, leaving him to go after Breakker.

Sheamus gets the better of the brawl and hits a Celtic Cross for two but Breakker catches him on top with the super Frankensteiner. Back up and the Super Spear hits the chair in the corner, allowing Sheamus to hit the Brogue Kick. Kaiser pulls the referee though and Sheamus is not pleased. Back in and Sheamus knees Kaiser down but Breakker runs Kaiser over. The Super Spear to Sheamus retains the title at 14:25.

Rating: B+. I can always go for a match that is exactly as advertised and that’s what we got here. This was about three people beating the fire out of each other and they didn’t do anything else. Even Kaiser, who isn’t known for his power offense, was getting his stuff in against the monsters. It was a lot of fun and Breakker is thriving in this style.

We recap Gunther defending the World Title against Damian Priest. Gunther beat Priest for the title with an assist from Finn Balor at Summerslam. Now it’s a rematch, with Gunther calling Priest street trash, which doesn’t sit well with Priest, as you might expect. Gunther is also coming off a loss at Crown Jewel, with Priest suggesting that Gunther is losing his aura.

Raw World Title: Damian Priest vs. Gunther

Gunther is defending. They take their time looking at each other until Gunther’s early headlock takeover doesn’t get him very far. Priest’s armdrags into armbars have Gunther in trouble and the threat of a spinning kick to the head sends him bailing outside. Back in and Priest runs him over with a shoulder, followed by something like a flapjack. Priest comes up favoring his shoulder though and you know Gunther knows what to do with that.

Gunther rams the arm into various things, followed by a hammerlock for some knees into the arm. The first big chop drops Priest again and Gunther cranks on both arms at the same time. Priest fights up and they hit big shots at the same time for a double down. Priest gets up and hits a running elbow in the corner, followed by a lifting Downward Spiral for two. Gunther tries a crossface chickenwing but Priest pulls him into a triangle choke, using his still fine legs.

That’s broken up so Priest tries the Razor’s Edge, which is reversed into a sleeper. The powerbomb gets two and Gunther goes up top, only to get caught by Priest. A super hurricanrana brings Gunther back down and the Razor’s Edge gets two, as Priest can’t hook the leg. The chokeslam doesn’t work as the arm gives out and Gunther pulls him into a Kimura.

Back up and Priest hits a heck of a clothesline before going up top. Gunther knocks him down and Priest seems to have hurt his other arm. Cue Finn Balor with a Coup de Grace off the steps to Priest. Gunther kicks him down as well, followed by the powerbomb and an arm trap sleeper to retain at 19:30.

Rating: B. It was good, though it was hard to buy that Priest had any kind of a chance to win here. The idea here was to have Gunther get his win over Priest without the interference…and then it was basically the same thing as Summerslam. The arm work was good stuff and Gunther knows how to pick an injury apart, which was exactly what we got here. Good match, though the ending was a bit disappointing.

We recap the men’s WarGames match, which is basically original Bloodline vs. Solo Sikoa’s new Bloodline. Bronson Reed joined the villains, but Paul Heyman brought in CM Punk to even it up, though he owes Punk a favor as a result.

Team Reigns vs. Team Sikoa

Roman Reigns, Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso, Sami Zayn, CM Punk
Solo Sikoa, Bronson Reed, Jacob Fatu, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa

Sikoa and company get in their cage so Punk reaches in for a shove, as he knows how to keep things interesting. Tama and Jey start things off after some rather lengthy introductions. The lengthy continues as they stare at each other for over a minute without making contact. Eventually Tama wins an early slugout and hits a quick slingshot splash for a cover, only to realize it doesn’t matter yet.

The fans tell him that he censored up, which seems a bit harsh. There’s no need to swear. Jey knocks him back into the corner for the running Umaga Attack and it’s Bronson Reed coming in for the evil advantage. Reed brings in chairs, which Jey throws at him, only for Reed to knock out of the air. Jey gets knocked down and crushed with a backsplash so the double teaming can ensue.

The fans want Jimmy and get him a few seconds later, with Jimmy being smart enough to run in and start slugging away instead of looking for weapons and allowing the villains to beat Jey down even more. Man, when JIMMY USO is the smart one, you’re in trouble. Something like an extra spinny Whisper In The Wind drops Reed and Tama as the Usos get to fight back. The stereo ten right hands in the corner have Reed and Tama staggered some more and Reed gets sent into the cage.

Loa is set to come in next but Sikoa sends in Fatu instead, as the fans know things just got serious. Fatu runs both Usos over, with Fatu hitting a handspring body block to send Jimmy into the cage, setting up a moonsault to Jey. Tama is back up to flip a lifted Jey down for a slam as the dominance is on. CM Punk is about to go in next, but Reigns cuts him off and sends Zayn in instead. You can imagine how well this goes with Punk, though thankfully Zayn is also smart enough to ignore the weapons (again, because they’re REALLY NOT NEEDED).

A clothesline drops Tama and Zayn punches Reed down in the corner as Punk is looking ticked off in the cage. Fatu pulls Zayn out of the air but Jimmy makes the save with a superkick. Reed is back up to start pounding away though and things even up a bit. Loa is in next and, since his team is mostly in control, he throws in some tables. The Usos and Zayn get caught in the corners for quite the beatings and Reigns is set to go in next, but Punk goes in front of him, which is pretty much in line for him.

Most of the other team is waiting on him so Punk steps back down and grabs a tool box, which is bounced off four straight heads. A bulldog sends Fatu onto the toolbox but he pops right back up and hits Punk with the pop up Samoan drop. The brawl heads towards the area between the rings and Sikoa is in to complete his team (albeit after saying something to Reigns).

Sikoa slams the door on Zayn’s head and then does it again to the Usos. With Sikoa inside, the Tongas lay out the Usos again and it’s a moonsault from Fatu into a Tsunami from Reed as the destruction continues. The clock is almost down so Sikoa uses a padlock and chain to lock the door. Reigns is freed from the cage and Sikoa and company stop to look at him, which doesn’t seem to be the best idea.

Reigns looks around the outside of the cage to find a way in and eventually realizes there’s no roof on the thing and goes up the side. Quite the collection of punches allows reigns to get in and a high crossbody off the top takes out all five of them at once. Reigns goes over to help his teammates up (not Punk) and gets in a big staredown with Punk, but here is Paul Heyman to cool things off. NOW we get the announcement that WarGames have officially begun, as apparently the last two minutes didn’t count.

We get the big ten way staredown and the ensuing fight as everyone pairs off. Sikoa’s Spike misses Reigns, who spears Punk (holding Fatu at the time) by mistake. Now the Spike connects with Reigns to give Sikoa two, leaving him looking stunned. Fatu and Reed go after Punk but Fatu seems to injure his knee on a moonsault attempt. Zayn and Jimmy are back up but get taken right back down, allowing a table to be set up. Reigns fights back but gets knocked onto the table…and Reed goes up.

Make that all the way up, as he climbs to the top of the cage for the Tsunami but Punk pulls Reigns out of the way. The crash results in Reed breaking his ankle, which would keep him out of action for a LONG time. Sikoa is back up with another Spike to Reigns but Jey makes the save with a superkick.

The 1D hits Fatu, which actually keeps him down for a change. Fatu is laid on a table but Jey gets sent into the cage. Zayn cuts Tama off with the Blue Thunder Bomb and Jimmy goes up to the top of the cage for a Superfly Splash to crush Fatu. With everyone else down, Sikoa is left alone against everyone else and it’s finishers a go-go, including a GTS into Reigns’ spear for the pin at 41:56.

Rating: B. The best thing I can say here is that it felt like a fight. This came off like two teams, even with one of them makeshift, going into a battleground and fighting until one of them was defeated. It did go too long, which you know is coming with one of these matches, but at least it wasn’t full of a bunch of weapons. They definitely needed to trim it down again as a lot of the early stuff feels worthless by the time you get to the huge brawl, though that’s all you get with modern WarGames matches. Good stuff here, though not without the usual issues.

Post match the winners get the big celebration and Punk and Reigns seem ok, though Punk doing the GTS pose while everyone else does the point is great. Punk hugs Heyman and Reigns looks at Heyman and they all go to the entrance to pose again, with Punk again doing a different gesture in a funny bit to wrap it up.

The long highlight package finishes things off.

Overall Rating: B. The thing with a show like this is that it is basically two matches with three others, including a nearly twenty minute World Title match, feeling like bonus features. The men’s version was pretty awesome but the women’s match was quite the misfire. Throw in three other matches which were good enough to bring the show up a bit and we’ll call the whole thing a solid enough event. Just fix the women’s match.

 

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Survivor Series 2023
Date: November 25, 2023
Location: Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Illinois
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

So believe it or not, the focus is going to be on WarGames and in this case it means the good guys need one more star to help fight off Judgment Day. In theory that is going to be Randy Orton, who has been gone for about a year and a half and isn’t quite back yet. Other than that, Damage CTRL is facing another ragtag group of women so let’s get to it.

It’s almost weird to see the old Then Now Together Forever intro after the change at Wrestlemania XL.

The opening video focuses on WarGames, because what else was it going to be?

The cage is lowered.

WarGames recap:

• 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.

Women’s WarGames

Charlotte, Bianca Belair, Becky Lynch, Shotzi
Bayley, Iyo Sky, Asuka, Kairi Sane

Lynch and Bayley start things off with Lynch sending her into the cage, only to get sent into the buckle. Bayley catches Lynch going up top but Lynch rolls over her and they slug it out. Lynch’s exploder sends her flying but Bayley gets in a ram into the cage. They go between the rings so Bayley can get in a suplex as they’re certainly going with the violence to start. The fight goes into the other ring and Lynch sends her into the cage a few times.

The Disarm-Her goes on but here is Dakota Kai with a kendo stick through the cage to break it up. That’s enough for Bayley to take over and it’s Shotzi coming in, with a ram of the door onto Bayley’s head, to take over. Naturally that means a bunch of chairs and weapons are thrown in, because THE BIG DOUBLE CAGE isn’t enough. Shotzi sets up the chair and Bayley has to climb the cage to get away from some rather painful swings.

They all go up the cage and ram each other into the steel until Bayley crashes down. Stereo forearms from the to take her down again but it’s Iyo Sky coming in to tie it up, complete with a chain. For some reason Lynch and Shotzi don’t see her coming and get beaten down, as WarGames seems to make people a bit slow. A springboard double missile dropkick puts Lynch and Shotzi down again and Bayley is back up. Lynch gets double superplexed down for a crash but Shotzi fights out of the corner, allowing Belair to come in.

Belair whips with the hair and the fans rather approve. A spinebuster puts Bayley down but she and grab the braids, only to get suplexed down. Lynch and Shotzi are back in with a guillotine legdrop and top rope splash before Kairi Sane is in to even things up. Well eventually that is, as she takes her sweet time getting a trashcan lid and then headscissoring Belair anyway.

The sliding forearm against the cage sends Belair into the cage before it’s time to bury Shotzi under some chairs. The pop up elbow drop crushes Shotzi but Belair is back to throw Sane onto Bayley and Sky. Charlotte comes in to complete her team and Sky is sent crashing into the cage. Naturally the fans want tables but have to settle for a top rope double Natural Selection (which Graves has to point out to Cole, who realizes his mistake in a funny bit) to Bayley and Sane.

Charlotte starts climbing the cage but Sky, with a chain, gets o her shoulders and gets all the way to the top. Sky drops the chain to Kai, who ties it around a trashcan so Sky can pull it up (that was clever). Sky puts the trashcan over her head and dives onto the pile (she LOVES that spot), who were nice enough to stand there while Sky took forever to get ready (fair enough). Asuka is in to complete the field and she has some colored kendo sticks. And a table. And a fire extinguisher.

Therefore, a good minute after her clock ended, Asuka gets in and WarGames officially begins. Damage CTRL all grab weapons to hammer on the others, with Lynch and Belair being tied together with the chain like they’re in an old western. Shotzi is back up but gets misted by Asuka to cut her right back down. Lynch is put inside the trashcan and dropkicked down for two and it’s time to set up a table. Belair and Lynch come back with powerbombs out of the corner though and Charlotte goes all the way up top for the huge moonsault to wipe out everyone.

We get the big staredown between Lynch and Charlotte, who hug for the rather positive reaction. The Figure Eight and cross armbreaker go on but Sane is up for the save. Shotzi is back up to drop Asuka for two with Bayley making a save of her own. Bayley Rose Plants Lynch but gets caught with a Sliced Bread from Shotzi. Belair is up with the fire extinguisher and Charlotte spears Bayley. The KOD hits Bayley as well and the super Manhandle Slam through a table finishes her off at 33:37.

Rating: B. It had the carnage and violence with the weapons, but there is always a lack of intensity to these matches that hold them back. Part of it stems from the people coming to the ring but then pausing to get their weapons. Other than that, it was the usual WWE WarGames: a lot of brawling and hitting other people with weapons, with the cage mainly being there to jump off of rather than for violence, which is more than a bit odd.

The winners pose on top of the cage.

Chelsea Green, Piper Niven and the Alpha Academy are enjoying some Ruffles when Pretty Deadly come in to argue over whether they’re chips or crisps. R-Truth comes in to say they’re Ruffles.

Sami Zayn tells Jey Uso that Randy Orton, the last member of their team, isn’t here yet. Jey isn’t surprised and takes the blame because the Bloodline injured him two years ago. Sami says it’s not his fault and things seem to be ok.

We recap Miz challenging Gunther for the Intercontinental Title. Gunther is the longest reigning champion and doesn’t think much of Miz, who wants the title back. To say Miz has no chance here would be an understatement.

Intercontinental Title: Miz vs. Gunther

Gunther is defending and commentary spends his entrance talking about how he is almost unbeatable, even giving Miz’s long shot betting odds. Miz kicks at the leg to start and a chop just annoys Gunther. A much better chop puts Miz down but he’s back up with more chops and some left hands in the corner to actually take over. Gunther gives chase but gets his leg wrapped around the post to slow him down.

The Figure Four around the post stays on the leg, though it’s good enough to boot Miz out of the air back inside. Gunther slows things down a bit and chops away to drop Miz again. A release German suplex sends Miz flying and a big boot lets Gunther pose as the dominance is on. Back up and Miz strikes away at the knee again, with a shinbreaker slowing Gunther down. Some kicks to the chest stagger Gunther into the corner and a tornado DDT gets two.

The Skull Crushing Finale is blocked though and Gunther grabs his powerbomb for his own near fall. The sleeper goes on so Miz goes to the corner, pulling the turnbuckle off in the process. A low blow into the Skull Crushing Finale gets two (with Cole letting us know that “MIZ IS GONNA DO IT!” to ruin the moment) and Miz is shocked. The fans want to see it again but Miz gets caught in the sleeper. That’s reversed into a ram into the buckle so Miz can roll him up for two (with a Bret Hart vs. Roddy Piper reference), only to get blasted with a clothesline. The top rope splash into the Boston crab retains the title at 12:19.

Rating: B-. This was about as good as it was going to be as there was just no reason to believe that Miz was going to win. Even his big near fall was only so good, as pretty much no one was on Gunther’s level at this time. Miz going after the leg to slow Gunther down was a good story, as Miz can still wrestle a fine match given the chance. It was a good match, but there was just not much drama and that held it back.

Judgment Day is ready for WarGames and is rather pleased that Randy Orton doesn’t seem to be here. Even if he shows up, he might poison the other team and Judgment Day wins anyway.

We recap Dragon Lee vs. Santos Escobar. This stems from Escobar turning on Rey Mysterio and the LWO, so Lee is standing up for the team (replacing Carlito, who was also injured by Escobar). Pretty simple story here and that’s not a bad thing.

Santos Escobar vs. Dragon Lee

Escobar forearms away to start and stomps him down, setting up a quick backbreaker for two. Some running knees in the corner send Lee outside, where he has to escape having his leg crushed in the steps. A running hurricanrana off the apron sends Escobar outside and there’s the big running flip dive.

Back in and Escobar kicks him in the head, setting up a super hurricanrana for two. Like any good rudo, Escobar goes after the mask but Lee is fine enough to tie him in the tree of woe for thee double stomp. Back up and Escobar hits a heck of a superkick but Lee muscles him up into a sitout powerbomb for two. Escobar shrugs that off and his a Canadian Destroyer, followed by the Phantom Driver for the pin at 8:20.

Rating: C+. WWE was doing what they could to make Lee into a bigger deal around this time but it was only going to get so far when he kept losing. Escobar was running through the LWO on his way to a showdown with Rey Mysterio whenever Mysterio got back and he had to beat Lee on the way there. This wasn’t a great match, but it kept Escobar looking strong and it’s nice to have something other than a title or WarGames mach on the show.

New Day is here with a Slim Jim car.

We recap Zoey Stark challenging Rhea Ripley for the Raw Women’s Title. Stark is the new tough star and Ripley needs a fresh victim so the match is on.

Raw Women’s Title: Rhea Ripley vs. Zoey Stark

Ripley is defending and Stark actually double legs her down to hammer away to start. A dropkick sends Ripley outside and there’s the dive off the top to take her down again. Back in and a missile dropkick continues Stark’s hot start but Ripley headbutts her into the next county to cut that off in a hurry. Stark is right back with a DDT onto the apron and a springboard corkscrew senton gets two. They go outside again with Ripley dropping her onto the apron and then sending her into the post to really take over.

Ripley cranks on both arms back inside and then stomps her down before taking Stark up top. What looks to be a super chokeslam is countered into…I have no idea what Stark was doing there but she gets two and screams a lot. Ripley elbows and kicks her in the face, setting up a belly to back faceplant. Riptide is countered though and Stark hits a running knee for two. The Z360 is blocked as well and now Riptide can connect to retain the title at 9:16.

Rating: C. This got a bit sloppy after that whole thing off the top, as even commentary didn’t seem sure about what was going on. Other than that, it was Ripley against someone who only felt like so much of a threat. That’s part of the problem with someone becoming as big of a star as Ripley: you can only have so many realistic challengers to her and that is becoming an issue here.

Randy Orton still isn’t here and Jey Uso still blames himself.

We recap the men’s WarGames match. Judgment Day is the big monster heel stable on Raw and a bunch of people are sick of them, so violence ensued and the match is on. Drew McIntyre is in with Judgment Day for the sake of getting his hands on Jey Uso in a cage. It still isn’t clear if Randy Orton will be here, as he hasn’t been around in about a year and a half at this point.

Men’s WarGames

Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins, Jey Uso, Sami Zayn, Randy Orton
Damian Priest, Finn Balor, Dominik Mysterio, JD McDonagh, Drew McIntyre

McIntyre and Priest stare each other down on the stage as Balor goes to start with Rollins (who doesn’t have a Randy Orton here yet). They start fast with Rollins diving over the ropes to jump Balor and hammer away. The fight is quickly on and Rollins sends him into the cage a few times and they change rings, where Balor escapes a buckle bomb. Balor sends him into the cage to take over and there’s a Sling Blade to drop Rollins again as a CM PUNK chant starts up.

A superkick gives Rollins a breather but Balor backdrops him onto the plate between the rings. The Coup de Grace misses though and Rollins grabs a quick Sling Blade. Rollins drops him again and it’s JD McDonagh to uneven things, albeit a good bit less than five minutes into the match. Rollins kicks him on the way in but gets hit with a kendo stick for his efforts.

Balor and McDonagh take turns choking with the kendo sticks but Rollins sends McDonagh into the other ring. That’s broken up in a hurry and a middle rope kendo stick to the back puts Rollins down again. Jey Uso is in next (McIntyre gives him a death stare) and chairs McDonagh down before firing off the YEET punches. The dancing spit punch puts Balor down but McDonagh is back up with a running Spanish Fly.

Rollins makes the save and hammers on Balor in the corner as the clock runs down. McIntyre is ready to get in and go after Uso but Priest cuts him off, saying they stick to the plan. Rollins and Uso jump him as he comes in but the other two make the save, allowing Priest to whip out a baton and take over. Priest hits some running shoulders in the corner, followed by a lifting Downward Spiral to Rollins.

A top rope flip dive takes out Rollins and Uso and Balor chairs Uso in the back. Sami Zayn comes in to even the sides, and takes his sweet time doing so. McDonagh, ever the nitwit, swings a kendo stick at Zayn, who takes it away and blasts him with it instead. The table is thrown in, which the fans find UCEY. Zayn is fired up as he stomps away, setting up a Blue Thunder Bomb to Balor. With the villains down, Zayn goes up and grabs a pipe, which is used on various opponents in rather painful ways.

A kendo stick to the back rocks Balor and Zayn throws the stick out of the cage, possibly by accident. McIntyre is in and throws Rollins and Zayn around without much effort. That leaves McIntyre to finally go into the other ring with Uso, who slugs away but gets dropped by a neckbreaker. The rest of Judgment Day is back up to hammer away, but McIntyre’s Claymore runs into a superkick from Uso.

A 1D puts McIntyre down and Cody Rhodes is in, with Cole immediately going into the Dusty Rhodes tribute. Cole: “Cody also invented a big event in this city as well!” And we move on. Rhodes cleans house and suplexes Balor onto McDonagh for a crash. It’s bullrope time (of course) and Rollins joins Rhodes in taking out Balor and McDonagh. Dominik Mysterio is in to complete the Judgment Day and gives Rhodes Two Amigos…and then realizes he’s surrounded.

The big group beatdown has the fans rather pleased and a table being set up in the corner makes them even happier. The rest of the villains save Mysterio and the fans chant for Orton. That’s switched to Punk, followed by silence as McIntyre and Priest hit a triple chokeslam (and a good one at that). McDonagh adds a moonsault, Balor hits the Coup de Grace and Mysterio drops the frog splash.

Priest Razor’s Edges Rollins through a table and the clock ends….but there’s no Orton. Instead here is Rhea Ripley with Priest’s Money In The Bank briefcase, which for some reason is enough to bring Orton out (no cash-in) and egads the fans are happy to see him. Orton gets in the cage (no weapons) and slams the door, which bounces back open in a funny bit. House is quickly cleaned, mainly because Judgment Day comes at him one at a time.

McIntyre gets in a shot on Orton and the big beatdown is on. Everyone else is back up for the save and Orton and company hit quintuple hanging DDTs. Orton teases an RKO to Uso but Uso superkicks Priest to save Orton instead. The RKO drops Mysterio and it’s a parade of finishers to the villains. Everyone goes after McDonagh, who tries to escape but Zayn and Rollins follow him up top. With Orton on the mat, Zayn and Rollins throw McDonagh into an RKO, leaving Rhodes to Cross Rhodes Priest for the pin at 34:22.

Rating: B+. I liked this one a bit more than the women’s version, mainly because it felt more like a fight rather than a big series of weapons spots. The pop when Orton came out was insane and it made things feel special. You don’t see that kind of thing very often and the whole thing was about as violent as this is going to get. Seeing Mysterio and Mysterio get beaten down was a good way to go and this felt like an all-star team coming together to take out a mostly unified opposition. Solid main event here, and while it wasn’t a classic WarGames match, it was good by WWE standards.

The good guys celebrate, the copyright notice comes up….and the impossible happens as CM Punk is back for the first time in almost ten years. The fans take over the IT’S CLOBBERIN TIME and Punk hugs a bunch of fans. This was an absolutely insane moment that I never thought I would see. Even after Punk left AEW, it was hard to fathom and yet here it was. Great way to end the show and dang it worked.

A long recap ends the show.

Overall Rating: B. This show was centered around two matches and those matches both delivered. The other three were just filler to get us from one big match to the next and that’s a fine way to go. The big stories here were the double returns at the end and those worked rather well. It helps that the show was less than three hours from start to finish so they didn’t waste any time. Good show here, with the special moment at the end being worth a look.

 

 

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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 2019
Date: November 24, 2019
Location: Allstate Arena, Chicago, Illinois
Attendance: 13,271
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Vic Joseph, Jerry Lawler, Nigel McGuinness, Beth Phoenix

I was thinking about this show the other day and couldn’t remember it very well so it was time for a rewatch. The theme here is the three way fight between all of the brands, with NXT launching a full on invasion for the sake of this show. That should be more than enough to carry things with a bunch of different brand vs. brand vs. brand matches. Let’s get to it.

I was in the arena for this show, sitting in the upper deck and looking straight at the Titantron.

Kickoff Show: Tag Team Battle Royal

OC, Revival, Forgotten Sons, Robert Roode/Dolph Ziggler, Street Profits, Zack Ryder/Curt Hawkins, Breezango, Lucha House Party, Imperium, Heavy Machinery

Only one member has to be eliminated. It’s the usual brawl to start and the Forgotten Sons are out rather quickly. The House Party follows them (thankfully meaning their seconds go with them), as do Hawkins and Ryder in a hurry. Ziggler is catapulted to the apron and pulls Dawson with him for an exchange of headbutts.

Kaiser tries to make a save but it lets Roode knock Dawson out to get rid of the Revival, with Kaiser being eliminated to eliminate Imperium too. Otis stops to dance and gets tossed as they are flying out of here so far. Fandango is sent outside (not out) and manages to catch Breeze, who is eliminated a few seconds later. The Profits dropkick the Revival out and we’re already down to Roode/Ziggler, the OC and the Profits.

Ziggler has to save Roode from the Magic Killer and superkicks the OC out to leave us with two. Roode and Ziggler get the better of things until Ziggler superkicks Roode by mistake. The Sky High lets Ford go up but he gets sent out to the apron. He’s able to get back up and frog splash Ziggler, only to get tossed by Roode for the win at 8:22.

Rating: C. They flew through this and that’s probably a good thing, as this was little more than a way to get things going. It’s nice to see the match just move along so quickly, with Ziggler and Roode being a fine choice to win. Not a good match or anything, but it was a fast paced start.

Smackdown – 1
NXT – 0
Raw – 0

Kickoff Show: Cruiserweight Title: Lio Rush (NXT) vs. Akira Tozawa (Raw) vs. Kalisto (Smackdown)

Rush is defending. They stare at each other to start until the challengers get together to knock Rush outside. Back in and Rush tries to make a save but is sent to the floor just as fast. Kalisto kicks Rush in the head on the apron but gets kicked down by Tozawa. Rush is back in to strike away at both of them as they’re at a very fast pace to start. Tozawa punches Rush in the face (he’s always been good at that) and a sliding boot to the face drops him as well.

Kalisto catches Rush on top and Tozawa goes up with them for a super….well they all flipped over and they’re all down. It looks like Rush super armdragged both of them, setting off an exchange of strikes to the face. Tozawa’s bridging German suplex gets two on Rush, as does the Salida del Sol, with Tozawa making the save. Tozawa’s top rope backsplash hits Rush as well but Kalisto makes the save this time. Another Salida del Sol hits Tozawa but Rush is in with the Final Hour to Kalisto to retain the title at 8:20.

Rating: B. They went with the fast paced, rather athletic match here and it worked rather well. Rush might have some issues behind the scenes, but the way he can move and fly is rather impressive. There is something fun about watching these people go nuts, even if they didn’t have a ton of time. Another rather good choice for the Kickoff Show.

Smackdown – 1
NXT – 1
Raw – 0

Kickoff Show: Viking Raiders (Raw) vs. New Day (Smackdown) vs. Undisputed Era (NXT)

They’re all champions but this is non-title. Big E., Ivar and O’Reilly start things off with O’Reilly’s strikes not working in the slightest. Fish comes in and gets tossed with ease, leaving Ivar to slip out of Big E.’s slam attempt. Instead Big E. runs him over with a shoulder, only to get low bridged to the floor by the Era. That leaves the Vikings to beat the Era up until Big E. is back in for a tag to Kingston.

New Day and the Vikings have their big showdown until the Era is back in to break it up. Fish kneebars Kingston with Ivar making the save, leaving Fish to beat on Kingston on the apron. With the other four on the floor, Ivar slams Erik onto the pile for the big crash. Back in and Ivar misses a charge into the corner, allowing Kingston to hit a standing double stomp on Erik.

The Midnight Hour gets two, with Ivar making the save. Big E.’s spear through the rope hits Erik but Kingston’s Trouble In Paradise hits the post. That leaves Big E. to get caught with the German suplex/springboard clothesline combination. The Era gets back in and O’Reilly is promptly powerslammed onto Fish to give Ivar the pin at 14:42.

Rating: B-. It got a good bit more time and while it wasn’t hard to figure out the result, it was another fast paced match that made for an entertaining showcase. The Raiders winning is a good way to go, as occasionally the best method is just straight power. It’s rarely great to see a champion lose, but a developmental champion losing to a main roster one makes it a bit better.

Smackdown – 1
NXT – 1
Raw – 1

And now, the show proper.

The opening video looks at the brand vs. brand vs. brand issue, with the big focus on NXT invading, as it should be. The other matches get some attention as well, which is a nice bonus.

Women’s Survivor Series Match

Smackdown: Sasha Banks, Carmella, Dana Brooke, Lacey Evans, Nikki Cross
Raw: Charlotte, Natalya, Sarah Logan, Asuka, Kairi Sane
NXT: Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair, Toni Storm, Io Shirai, Candice LeRae

Three in the ring at once, regular elimination rules. Storm, Evans and Logan start things off with Evans knocking both of them down but walking into a double flapjack. Cross comes in and gets knocked down, leaving Logan to cartwheel knee Storm in the back of the head. Everyone gets knocked down and it’s off to Sane, Sky and Carmella, the latter of whom tries to get attention while the other two stare each other down. That earns her some shots to the face so Brooke comes in instead.

A springboard headscissors drops Shirai and it’s Brooke coming back in for some rollups. The handspring elbow crushes Shirai and Sane, followed by a Swanton to both of them. It’s back to LeRae to kick Evans down and strike away in the corner. A middle rope spinning Downward Spiral plants Evans for two and it’s off to Ripley for a heck of a roar. That earns her a cross armbreaker from Asuka, setting off the parade of knockdowns.

Banks clears the ring and LeRae and Shirai are knocked out to the floor for a nasty crash (which comes after they were both in WarGames the previous night). That’s enough for the two of them to be out at around 7:45 so NXT is already down to three. Ripley, Charlotte and Banks come in, with Ripley taunting the other two of them to quite the reception but it’s off to Belair, Logan and Cross without any contact being made. Cross hammers on Storm on the floor, but the distraction allows Belair to grab a rollup with feet on the ropes to pin Cross at 9:38.

Carmella comes in to clean house but walks into a KOD, sending Carmella outside. Logan is back up with running knees from the apron to Charlotte and Storm but gets tossed down by Belair. The handspring moonsault gets two with Natalya making the save so Belair 450s Logan for the elimination at 12:10.

Charlotte comes in to yell at Belair and gets rolled up for her efforts. Carmella is in with a super hurricanrana to send Charlotte onto Belair for two each. Back up and Natural Selection hits Carmella for the pin, allowing Charlotte to mock Banks’ dance. That leaves us with four for Raw and three each for the other two as Banks, Sane and Storm come in. Storm takes Sane down in a hurry and Banks adds the Meteora to get rid of Sane at 16:48. Asuka is in to fire off the kicks, including a huge one to eliminate Brooke at 17:25.

Charlotte forcefully tags herself in and gets in a shoving match with Asuka, who gets shoved down. Evans tries to come in off a cheap shot and gets struck down, only for Asuka to mist Charlotte. Asuka walks out and the Women’s Right gets rid of Charlotte at 19:07. So Natalya is alone for Raw against Evans/Banks for Smackdown and Ripley/Belair/Storm for NXT. Natalya comes in and drops Evans, followed by the discus lariat to Storm. A rollup gets rid of Evans at 19:56 as commentary realizes that NXT is suddenly way ahead. Storm gets caught in a Sharpshooter/Banks Statement for the tap at 20:47.

Belair yells at Natalya and gets caught in a Hart Attack for the elimination at 21:16 to continue the rapid fire eliminations. That leaves us with Natalya vs. Banks vs. Ripley, with Banks quickly turning on Natalya and getting the easy elimination. We’re down to one on one and you can tell the fans are into the idea of Ripley getting this kind of a chance. Ripley stares her down and adds a running dropkick but Banks is right back up with a choke.

Banks sends her into the corner for some running knees, followed by the middle rope Meteora for two. That sends Banks back up, with Ripley kicking her out of the air for two more. The Prism Trap has Banks in more trouble until she flips her way into a Bank Statement on Ripley. Cue Shirai and LeRae to make the save…as I guess they’re still in this.

As I try to figure out if that means Asuka should still be in there as she left without her elimination being announced either, Banks knocks both of them down with a baseball slide. Ripley cuts that off but the Riptide is broken up. Shirai offers a distraction and hits a springboard missile dropkick, followed by Ripley’s Riptide for the win at 27:53.

Rating: B. The kind of confusing ending aside, this was one heck of a coming out party for Ripley, who came off like an absolute star throughout and that’s exactly the point. Other than that you have Charlotte and Asuka’s issues continuing and Belair looking like a star as well. The fans get to cheer for NXT though (especially in Ripley’s case), and that’s exactly what needed to be done for this crowd, who are certainly more behind them than anything else.

NXT – 2
Smackdown – 1
Raw – 1

We look back at Kevin Owens making a surprise return to NXT last night at Takeover.

Seth Rollins comes up to Owens, his Raw teammate, and asks what was up with that. Owens says NXT doesn’t need him like Raw does, so tonight he’s on the red side. He does however find it interesting that SETH ROLLINS of all people is talking about disloyalty…and he mocks the Shield pose.

Shinsuke Nakamura (Smackdown) vs. Roderick Strong (NXT) vs. AJ Styles (Raw)

Battle of the midcard champions with a dancing Sami Zayn here with Nakamura. Styles gets kicked down to start and a knee to the ribs drops Strong as well. Strong is back up to clean house and send Nakamura outside. Styles knocks Strong to the floor as well, followed by a hard knee to the head. Nakamura is back up with a suplex to Strong and a knee drop to Styles, with Zayn looking rather pleased.

Back up and Strong stretches Nakamura over his back before swinging him into a gutbuster. Styles sleepers Strong down, which doesn’t last long as Strong is back up to strike away at both of them. The running forearms in the ropes have Styles in trouble, as does a belly to back faceplant. Nakamura sends Strong into the corner though and kicks Styles down for two more. A sliding knee gets two on Strong with Styles making the save. Strong kicks Styles down to break up the Clash to Nakamura, who is pulled outside by Zayn.

Back in and a tiger driver gives Strong two before Nakamura drops him. Kinshasa is broken up by Styles, who is cut off by Zayn. That leaves Strong to knee Nakamura down for two but Nakamura is back up to clean house. Strong is knocked outside so Nakamura tells Styles to COME ON, meaning it’s time for a strike off. The Landslide gives Nakamura two and he blocks the Styles Clash attempt. Instead Styles settles for the Phenomenal Forearm, only for Strong to steal the pin at 16:48.

Rating: B+. I didn’t remember liking this one as much but they were all working hard and it didn’t get dull despite getting quite a bit of time. In addition to NXT getting yet another win, there was something great about Zayn on the floor as he was giving it his all out there. Solid match here and a rather nice treat.

NXT – 3
Smackdown – 1
Raw – 1

Daniel Bryan is warming up when the Miz comes in. Miz talks about feeling the evil of the Fiend and wants Bryan to put an end to him for the sake of themselves and their children. Bryan: “Get out of my face.”

NXT Title: Pete Dunne vs. Adam Cole

Cole is defending and is really banged up after being in WarGames last night. Dunne works on the arm to start, which is quickly broken up. They fight outside with Cole getting in a shot and starting in on Dunne’s bad knee. Dunne fights up and moonsaults over Cole in the corner, setting up an enziguri. The release German suplex sets up a big kick to the head, followed by a sitout powerbomb for two as they take a bit of a breather.

Dunne’s moonsault to the floor drops Cole again but another one hits raised knees back inside. The Last Shot gives Cole two and he brainbusters Dunne onto the knee for the same. The Boom misses and Dunne grabs the Bitter End for another near fall. They trade kicks to the head until Dunne goes up, only to have his moonsault superkicked out of the air (that always looks awesome) for two.

Dunne powerbombs him down for two more and Cole bails out to the floor. They head out to the apron, where Cole grabs a Panama Sunrise for a near countout. Back in and Dunne slugs away but the Bitter End is spun around into another Canadian Destroyer (and it didn’t look bad). The Boom retains the title at 14:06.

Rating: B. At this point, it was feeling like Cole was never going to lose the title no matter what happened, as he was coming in banged up from the night before and still hung in there to beat someone as good as Dunne. It’s still a good match, but seeing Cole retain without even having to cheat is a bit much to take. Yeah Dunne wrestled the night before as well, but Cole took the big bump in WarGames. That should mean a bit more.

The Smackdown men argue over leadership.

We recap the Fiend defending the Smackdown World Title against Daniel Bryan. The Fiend won the title at Crown Jewel and is all evil and such, even attacking Bryan, who was a heel at the moment. It seemed that the Fiend wanted to push Bryan into bringing back the YES Movement so he could kill it once and for all, which is quite the fiendish thing to do.

Smackdown World Title: Daniel Bryan vs. The Fiend

The Fiend is defending. Bryan fires off the dropkicks in the corner (under the red lights) until Fiend hits a running clothesline. Fiend slugs away and knocks him to the floor for a ram into the barricade. A hard posting drops Bryan again and there’s the backsplash on the floor. The release Rock Bottom drops Bryan back inside and a toss suplex makes it worse. The nerve hold goes on for a bit before they head outside again.

This time Fiend’s running knees hit the steps, followed by a posting from Bryan. Fiend gets taken down by a running knee from the apron, plus a big dive from the top. Back in and Bryan kicks away at the head, with Fiend getting up over and over. The stomping to the head has Fiend down and the running knee connects for two. Fiend does the big scary stand up so Bryan grabs a rollup, only to get caught in the Mandible Claw to retain the title at 10:01.

Rating: B-. This was about the Fiend running through one of the biggest heroes WWE has ever seen because the Fiend is one of the biggest monsters around. It made for a nice story, though it was hard to believe that Bryan had much of a chance here. Even with the alleged return of the YES Movement, it didn’t feel like much of a threat to beat the Fiend, certainly not so soon after he won the title.

Rey Mysterio is going to be more violent against Brock Lesnar and hopes his son Dominik is watching up close.

Men’s Survivor Series Match

Raw: Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Ricochet, Drew McIntyre, Randy Orton
Smackdown: Roman Reigns, King Corbin, Shorty G, Braun Strowman, Mustafa Ali
NXT: Tommaso Ciampa, Keith Lee, Walter, Damian Priest, Matt Riddle

The fans are VERY behind Walter (who you might know better as Gunther) as we figure out who is starting. Ciampa, Rollins and Strowman start things off, with Ciampa being shoved down. McIntyre and Walter come in, with Walter being more than happy to have a hoss fight. A running clothesline drops Strowman and McIntyre gets crushed with a seated senton.

Walter German suplexes McIntyre but can’t do the same thing to Strowman. Instead it’s a running dropkick to send Strowman into the corner, only for McIntyre to Claymore Walter for the pin at 2:57 in one heck of a middle finger to the fans. Priest comes in and strikes it out with McIntyre as the fans are ticked off about Walter. Strowman misses a charge into the post, allowing G (Gable, in case you had blocked out this stupid idea) to moonsault Priest. Riddle comes in and gets into a wrestling match with G, which doesn’t seem like a good idea.

The grappling goes to a standoff so Ricochet comes in with a springboard moonsault to G and McIntyre. Owens gets the tag and picks to frog splash G for the pin at 6:27. Owens goes outside but gets caught by Ciampa with the Willow’s Bell for the pin at 7:46. Orton comes in to stare Ciampa down but Ciampa is smart enough not to walk into the RKO. Instead they get up and brawl, with Orton grabbing the RKO a few seconds later. Priest tags himself in though and tries to roll the dice, only to get reversed into the RKO for the pin at 10:16.

Riddle comes in and has to escape an RKO attempt, which he counters into a rollup to pin Orton at 10:29. Riddle celebrates the huge win and walks into an RKO, allowing Corbin to get the pin at 10:54. Lee comes in and the fans are VERY pleased, only for McIntyre to take him down with a cheap shot. It’s back to Strowman, who takes them outside for the running shoulders….and then does it again for a bonus, only for Lee to cut him off in a massive crash.

McIntyre adds a Claymore to Strowman, who is counted out at 13:18. So we’re down to Rollins, Ricochet and McIntyre for Raw, Reigns, Corbin and Ali for Smackdown and Lee and Ciampa for NXT. Ricochet comes in to clean house but walks into the End Of Days for the pin at 14:30. Ali (hometown boy) comes in to clean house, including a sweet pop up X Factor to Ciampa. The tornado DDT drops Rollins and Ciampa gets posted. Corbin pulls Ali back to the floor though and yells a lot, which is enough for Rollins to hit the Stomp for the pin at 16:10.

Reigns yells at Corbin and McIntyre plants Ciampa with the reverse Alabama Slam for two. The Claymore is cut off with a spear though and McIntyre is done at 17:33, leaving Rollins alone. Rollins jumps Reigns but the suicide dive is knocked out of the air. Willow’s Bell hits Reigns, who counters the Fairy Tale Ending into a Superman Punch. With both of them down, Corbin comes in to knock Lee off the apron, though he’s also smart enough to drag Reigns over for the tag. Corbin yells at Reigns but a chokeslam to Ciampa doesn’t work, leaving Reigns to spear Corbin and Ciampa gets the pin at 19:55.

That leaves Reigns vs. Rollins vs. Ciampa/Lee with Reigns and Rollins getting together on Ciampa before doing the same to Lee. Rollins throws Ciampa outside but Lee is back up to cut off the TripleBomb through the announcers’ table. Back in and Ciampa’s running knee and Project Ciampa get two on Rollins but the Fairy Tale Ending is escaped. Ciampa avoids the Stomp but can’t avoid Reigns’ Superman Punch. The Stomp gets rid of Ciampa at 24:00 and we’re down to one each. The fans start to sing for Lee, who gets serious as he heads back inside.

Lee runs them both over with shoulders and sends Rollins flying, followed by a slingshot crossbody to take both of them out. Rollins escapes the Big Bang Catastrophe and kicks Lee down, setting up a frog splash for two, leaving commentary stunned. Back up and the Big Bang Catastrophe gets rid of Rollins (and Raw) at 26:34.

Reigns is back up with some Superman Punches for two on Lee, who kicks out, even as the referee hits the mat for the third time. The spear is countered into the Spirit Bomb for two more and my goodness the heat on that near fall. Lee goes up but misses the moonsault, allowing Reigns to hit the spear for the pin at 29:55.

Rating: B+. This was a lot more like it, as it felt like NXT had a chance to shock the world. Lee came off like an absolute star here and Ciampa more than held his own. At the same time, it might have been a bit of a stretch for NXT to be able to beat all star teams like this, even with their issues. The good thing is that NXT held its own here, and that’s exactly how you make it feel like a genuine third brand rather than just developmental. The Walter nonsense aside, this was a good performance from NXT and the fans went nuts all the way.

NXT – 3
Smackdown – 2
Raw – 1

Post match Reigns shows Lee some well earned respect.

Becky Lynch is tired of these fights with Shayna Baszler because Baszler has been training while Lynch has been going around the world. It doesn’t matter though as Lynch knows there is nothing Baszler can do to take her down. Then there’s Bayley, who made Lynch come looking for her. Now she’s going to hurt her.

We recap Brock Lesnar defending the Raw World Title against Rey Mysterio. Lesnar beat up Rey and then attacked his son Dominik (almost unrecognizable compared to what he would be a few years later) to make it personal. Rey brought in former UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez to go after Lesnar, which went pretty horribly, so now Rey is fighting for himself.

Raw World Title: Rey Mysterio vs. Brock Lesnar

Lesnar, with Paul Heyman, is defending and anything goes. Mysterio gets smart by grabbing a lead pipe to start, sending Lesnar to the floor. Back in and Lesnar runs him over with some clotheslines, sending Mysterio outside. Mysterio gets sent flying over the announcers’ table and then rammed hard into the post as the slow beating is on. Another posting is broken up though as Mysterio sends him into the post instead, only for Lesnar to German suplex him onto the pipe.

Lesnar gets in another German suplex but here is Dominik Mysterio with a towel. Lesnar grabs Dominik so Rey gets in a low blow, as does Rey. Some pipe shots have Lesnar in trouble and Dominik adds a chair shot, followed by a double 619. Dominik and Rey hit a frog splash each…for two, and you can feel the air go out of the place. Lesnar is back up with a German suplex to Dominik before pulling Rey out of the air for the F5 to retain at 6:55.

Rating: B. The good thing about Mysterio is that you can put him in a spot like this and the fans will believe that he could pull off a miracle. The false finish with the double 619 was great but after that, you knew it wasn’t going to happen. They were smart to keep this short and action packed, as there was only so much of a way to believe that Mysterio was going to be a threat long term.

We recap the women’s triple threat. Becky Lynch is still arguably the biggest star in WWE but Shayna Baszler isn’t scared of her. Bayley has to be there too because of the triple brand thing.

Bayley (Smackdown) vs. Becky Lynch (Raw) vs. Shayna Baszler (NXT)

Non-title again. Bayley rams Baszler into Lynch but Lynch fights out without much effort. A clothesline puts Lynch down, leaving Baszler and Bayley to brawl to the floor. That’s broken up and Baszler is knocked outside, leaving Bayley to sunset bomb Lynch into the corner. Baszler takes Lynch’s place and gets beaten up again, only to come back with a stomp to Bayley’s arm.

Bayley is back up and knocks Baszler outside before unloading on Lynch in the corner. A Stunner over the ropes cuts Baszler off again but Lynch knocks Bayley down to take over. Lynch plants both of them and drops the top rope legdrop for two on Bayley. Baszler is back up as well, only to get kneed down by Bayley, who takes Lynch out as well. The Bayley To Belly gets two on Baszler, who is right back with a gutwrench faceplant.

Baszler fireman’s carries Bayley, which is broken up by a missile dropkick from the returning Lynch. Bayley breaks up the slugout and gets choked by Baszler, with Lynch making the save. Lynch powerbombs Baszler out of the corner but gets choked as well. Baszler is sent into Bayley for the save and Lynch gets the Disarm-Her, which is broken up too. Bayley pulls Baszler outside but hurts her own leg, allowing Baszler to take both of them out. Baszler plants Lynch on the announcers’ table but gets suplexed by Bayley back inside. That’s shrugged off and the Kirifuda Clutch gives Baszler the win at 18:03.

Rating: B-. They were working hard and it was far from a bad match, but there was very litter crowd energy for this. At the end of the day, the crowd was just done after the Lesnar/Mysterio and Men’s Survivor Series matches. You can’t take that much energy out of them and then expect a match which doesn’t mean a ton (NXT was at worst tying here) to feel special. It’s not bad, but the show needed to be laid out better.

NXT – 4
Smackdown – 2
Raw – 1

Post match Baszler poses over Lynch, who knocks her onto the announcers’ table. Lynch puts her through said table (with a chair falling on Baszler’s head to make it even worse) and poses to end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. Excellent show here, with NXT feeling like they had arrived and actually winning with a pretty dominant performance. There’s nothing close to bad on the whole show and the crowd carried it to another level. I had forgotten how good the matches were throughout and the three way competition actually worked all night. Find a better way to finish and it’s that much better, but this was awesome stuff.

 

Ratings Comparison

Tag Team Battle Royal:

Original: D
2020 Redo: D+
2025 Redo: C

Lio Rush vs. Akira Tozawa vs. Kalisto

Original: C+
2020 Redo: C
2025 Redo: B

New Day vs. Viking Raiders vs. Undisputed Era

Original: B
2020 Redo: B
2025 Redo: B-

Raw Women vs. Smackdown Women vs. NXT Women

Original: B-
2020 Redo: B-
2025 Redo: B

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Roderick Strong vs. AJ Styles

Original: B
2020 Redo: B
2025 Redo: B+

Pete Dunne vs. Adam Cole

Original: A-
2020 Redo: B+
2025 Redo: B

The Fiend vs. Daniel Bryan

Original: B
2020 Redo: C+
2025 Redo: B-

Raw Men vs. Smackdown Men vs. NXT Men

Original: B+
2020 Redo: A-
2025 Redo: B+

Rey Mysterio vs. Brock Lesnar

Original: C+
2020 Redo: C+
2025 Redo: B

Bayley vs. Shayna Baszler vs. Becky Lynch

Original: D+
2020 Redo: C
2025 Redo: B-

Overall Rating:

Original: B+
2020 Redo: B+
2025 Redo: A-

The main event was a lot better than I gave it credit for before, as was the tag team battle royal. All around, an outstanding show.

 

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

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Monday Night Raw
Date: November 24, 2025
Location: Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Commentators: Joe Tessitore, Wade Barrett

It’s the last Raw before Survivor Series and that means we’re going to be seeing the final push towards WarGames. The main matches are pretty much entirely set but there is always room for one last build. We might even focus on some of the non-WarGames matches this week, which isn’t a bad idea. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of the setup of the men’s WarGames match, with Drew McIntyre, Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar being added in the last week and a half.

Here is Roman Reigns to get things going. He says his catchphrase but here is Cody Rhodes for a staredown, complete with his own catchphrase. Rhodes says Reigns is a man of his word and the last time it was for a match. This time though, it’s for war. Rhodes wants to know what’s in this for Reigns, who says it’s Rhodes who is brand new to this fight. They don’t like each other or know each other very well, but Reigns knows they both care about family.

A lot of this team is his family and before they were on his team, they were in his Bloodline. He’s been invested in them for a long time and he’s here to see that investment through. Rhodes: “Understood.” He welcomes Reigns to his team, which doesn’t sit well with Reigns. Cue CM Punk, who hits his own catchphrase and tells the crowd to acknowledge them. Punk remembers teaming with Reigns before and Reigns remembers Punk ruining his life. That’s kind of true, but Punk says if Reigns stabs Punk in his back this Saturday, he’d stab his family in the back.

Rhodes tries to cool it down but Punk doesn’t like Rhodes saying it’s his show, because this is Monday Night Raw on Netflix. Cody can be the quarter back on Friday but on Monday, he’s the champ. Reigns finds this ridiculous and says that he hates Paul Heyman and the Vision more than he hates the two of them. If we’re being honest, that title (he doesn’t specify which) would look better on his shoulder. Reigns goes to leave and Punk asks who Reigns was talking to. Reigns says that’s for them to figure out and leaves. That last exchange was rather good, though this felt like some forced drama.

Paul Heyman is in the back with the Vision and tries to get Drew McIntyre to take tonight’s tag match for the WarGames advantage seriously. Logan Paul mocks the idea that the partner is going to be Brock Lesnar but Heyman warns Paul about what happens if Lesnar’s name comes out of the wrong mouth. Instead, Paul will be McIntyre’s partner, which Paul calls a wise choice.

Last Time Is Now Tournament Quarterfinals: Gunther vs. Carmelo Hayes

Hayes pounds him into the corner to start, which is broken up with raw power. A running shoulder drops Hayes and Gunther actually gets on the buckle to mock the crowd. That earns him a powerbomb out of the corner and a springboard DDT gives Hayes two. One heck of a chop cuts Hayes off though and we take a break.

We come back with Hayes managing a quick sleeper, which Gunther reverses into one of his own. That’s escaped with a backflip and Hayes is right back with the sleeper. Gunther powers out again and they trade chops until Hayes knocks him down. A butterfly suplex sends Hayes flying but he’s right back with a DDT to counter the powerbomb (that was nice) as we take another break.

We come back again with Hayes grabbing a quick First 48 but Nothing But Net is cut off. Gunther chops the post by mistake so Hayes tries a springboard DDT, which pretty much completely misses (which commentary acknowledges). Instead, Hayes hits a running flip dive onto Gunther’s back for a big crash.

Gunther tries the powerbomb but gets reversed into a heck of a tornado DDT off the barricade. Back in and Hayes grabs La Mistica but misses Nothing But Net. The big clothesline into the powerbomb gives Gunther two and the fans are losing it on these near falls. Gunther elbows him in the head over and over, setting up the powerbomb for the pin at 17:25.

Rating: B+. There was no reason to believe that Hayes was going to win here but they had me believing that it was possible. That’s a sign that something is going right and I was pulled into everything they were doing here. Hayes has found something as a good guy and a definitive win over Miz in their feud should help. On the other hand though, this seems to be Gunther’s tournament to lose at the moment, which shouldn’t be surprising.

Cody Rhodes/CM Punk/Roman Reigns are still arguing when the Usos come up to say tonight’s advantage match is a tag match. They happen to be the best tag team ever so……we seem to have a solution! They leave and Reigns tells Punk and Rhodes to fix this.

Here is Dominik Mysterio for a chat. He promises to end John Cena’s retirement tour in his hometown this weekend, continuing to prove that he is the greatest Mysterio of all time. Mysterio brings up that Cena isn’t here tonight but cue Cena’s music….and it’s a mini Santa, complete with a mini Stu the Cameraman.

Mini Cena (or John Weena according to Barrett) can’t do the slide underneath the bottom rope so he has to go for the ropes. Mysterio insults Cena, who calls him the worst Mysterio of all time. Mysterio seems to say that’s not what Cena is supposed to say but Cena challenges him for a fight…and then gets kicked in the chest. That means it’s time for a Shuffle, a 619 and a frog splash, only for Rey Mysterio to interrupt and chase him off.

Rey Mysterio vs. JD McDonagh

Finn Balor is here with McDonagh. We’re joined in progress with Mysterio backdropping him down and hammering away in the corner. That’s broken up and McDonagh drops him face first onto the buckle to take over. McDonagh stomps him down and grabs a chinlock, with the fans being rather behind Mysterio. McDonagh lets go and poses on the ropes, allowing Mysterio to send him outside.

That’s fine with McDonagh, who drops him onto the announcers’ table as we take a break. We come back with Mysterio in trouble but managing to send McDonagh into the post for a big crash. The top rope seated senton connects for Mysterio and he kicks McDonagh in the head for two. The 619 is countered into a Spanish Fly for two and they both need a breather. Balor tries to get up for a distraction so Mysterio sends McDonagh into him. The 619 and springboard splash give Mysterio the pin at 10:24.

Rating: B-. Mysterio continues to be able to look good against just about anyone in the ring and that was the case again here. It helps that McDonagh has been rapidly improving in recent weeks and it made for a pretty nice match here. The ending was a bit flat, but at least Mysterio gets a win before what should be a major showdown with Dominik in the near future.

Post match Balor goes after Mysterio, who manages to slip away.

Adam Pearce tells Raquel Rodriguez that she’s in the title mix. New Day comes in to complain about what’s going on with the Tag Team Titles but Pearce snaps. Apparently Dragon Lee and AJ Styles want to give them a title shot next week. Grayson Waller is so happy that he gives Pearce a wig.

Brock Lesnar arrives.

Here is a ticked off Becky Lynch for a chat. After a break, her WarGames team joins her before she goes on a rant about how the decision of last week’s title match will be overturned and she will be champion again. While that was a mistake, AJ Lee made a bigger mistake last week and now she’s making an even bigger mistake by locking herself in a cage.

Lynch has assembled the greatest team in the history of WarGames. She brags about how she’s put together all of these people, including Asuka, who she has beaten nine out of ten times, and Jax, who has great bones. Lynch doesn’t have to wear a mask like Rotten Rhea Ripley, which brings out the other team. AJ Lee talks about how the old her would jump Lynch and break her apart, but unlike Lynch, she bites instead of barking.

Ripley gets the mic and starts swinging rather than talking and the brawl is on. Ripley and company clear the ring, with Sky hitting a hue moonsault to the ring, sending Lynch running off. Pretty standard brawling segment, but Lynch was basically doing a straight up Trump impression without the voice and it was hilarious.

Last Time Is Now Tournament Quarterfinals: Penta vs. Solo Sikoa

Penta kicks away to start but they’re quickly on the floor. Sikoa manages to send him over the barricade, with Penta popping back up for a hurricanrana from said barricade. We take an early break and come back with….the match having been stopped as Penta was injured on the hurricanrana. Sikoa wins at around 4:50, with nowhere near enough shown to rate.

We see a woman’s finger circling a glass and a graphic says FOUR DAYS. It looks to be in the same font as Wrestlemania’s logo.

Maxxine Dupri can’t believe she won the title and calls Natalya. Before that happens, various women come up for some threatening glares. Adam Pearce has to come get her out of trouble.

Stephanie Vaquer is mad at Nikki Bella for betraying her and swears vengeance. See you at Survivor Series.

Survivor Series rundown.

Usos vs. Logan Paul/Drew McIntyre

For the WarGames advantage. Jimmy knocks Paul into the corner to start and sends him to the floor as we take an early break. We come back with Paul still in trouble, with Jey stomping away and sending him into the corner. A running splash connects but Paul fights out of trouble. McIntyre comes in for a slugout with Jey, who manages a needed suplex.

Paul cuts Jimmy of before the tag though, as he continues to be wise beyond his years. McIntyre takes Jey outside for a toss over the announcers’ table and we take another break. We come back again with Jey getting double suplexed, with both McIntyre and Paul doing nip ups. McIntyre charges into some boots in the corner though and the needed tag brings in Jimmy for the parade of superkicks.

Paul manages a Blockbuster for two, only for Jimmy to drop him with a spear. Everything breaks down and here’s the Vision, but cue Cody Rhodes and CM Punk to even it up. The brawl ensues on the floor but Jey hits a big dive to take them down. That’s enough for Paul to roll Jimmy up for the pin at 17:02.

Rating: C+. This felt long (might have been stretched to help after the injury finished the previous match early) and it didn’t have much of a doubt about the eventual result. At the end of the day, WarGames is almost always going to have the villains in control and given the lineups, it would be insanity to go in a different direction here. Not a bad match, but dropping five minutes would have been nice.

Post match the brawl is on with Roman Reigns coming in to clean house. The staredown is on and the credits roll, but cue Brock Lesnar, who actually falls down during his entrance and flips backwards (live TV people). The villains get on the apron and the big brawl ensues to end the show.

Overall Rating: B- This show started off strong and then hit a wall around halfway through. The big problem with a show like this is a hard one to get around: the main event, and big story, was about getting the advantage in a match on Saturday. It makes for little more than a big preview, with little actually being changed for Survivor Series. It’s good enough, but outside of the really good Gunther vs. Hayes match and maybe the opener, it’s not worth a look.

Results
Gunther b. Carmelo Hayes – Powerbomb
Rey Mysterio b. JD McDonagh – Springboard splash
Solo Sikoa b. Penta via doctor stoppage
Drew McIntyre/Logan Paul b. Usos – Rollup to Jimmy

 

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Smackdown
Date: November 21, 2025
Location: Ball Arena, Denver, Colorado
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We’re just over a week away from the Survivor Series and in this case that means it is time to both firm up more of the WarGames matches and set up some other things for the card. That can take a bit of time, but otherwise we also have to move forward in the Last Time Is Now tournament. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a long recap of the men’s WarGames match, with Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns returning on Raw.

Here is the Vision for a chat. Paul Heyman has a vision for WarGames, which will see five heroes crushed by each member of his team. This includes Logan Paul, who says he has a lot to say but cue the Usos to interrupt. Jey brings up taking out the Vision, with Heyman says just ticked off Paul.

Heyman takes credit for the Bloodline, with the first lesson he taught the Usos being that the numbers game always wins. The Usos say they aren’t here alone so here is…Cody Rhodes’ music. We cut to the back, where Drew McIntyre gets off Rhodes’ bus and Rhodes is seen out cold. The Usos run to the back to check on Rhodes as I try to figure out how the cameraman knew to be there as McIntyre was getting off the bus.

Post break Rhodes is still down on the ground outside, with McIntyre driving away and shouting SEE YOU AT WARGAMES.

US Title: Ilja Dragunov vs. ???

It’s open challenge time and it’s….JD McDonagh challenging. We even get an explanation for why he’s here, with commentary saying that McDonagh is here to support Finn Balor in the Last Time Is Now tournament. They fight into the corner to start until Dragunov hits him in the face to break that up. Back up and McDonagh sends him face first into the middle rope and we take an early break.

We come back with the two of them slapping it out until Dragunov hits a running clothesline. Some rolling German suplexes have McDonagh in more trouble but the Constantine Special is countered into a Spanish Fly. McDonagh suplexes him out to the floor for a double crash and we take another break.

We come back again with McDonagh getting two off a brainbuster but missing a moonsault. That lets McDonagh kick him in the face but Torpedo Moscow is cut off. Now the moonsault can connect to give McDonagh two, only for Dragunov to come back with Torpedo Moscow. The H Bomb retains the title at 15:20.

Rating: B+. This has become a standard on the show in recent months and that’s a good thing. It’s a case of having wrestlers come out there and do a bunch of stuff in the ring. As entertaining as the matches have been, it would be a bit nicer to have an actual story to set these matches up. While they’re kind of getting there with Tommaso Ciampa, they need to have an actual match for it to work. Either way, another pretty awesome match here.

We look at the recent drama of Charlotte and Alexa Bliss/Rhea Ripley, with Charlotte not wanting to team with Ripley but then agreeing to do it anyway.

Charlotte and Bliss are in the back, with Bliss making her talk to Ripley, with Iyo Sky leaving.

Nick Aldis has no update on Cody Rhodes but goes over to yell at the Vision. Drew McIntyre is still suspended, but he didn’t come into the arena so there is no violation of the suspension. Oh and Bronson Reed will win tonight.

Ilja Dragunov runs into Tama Tonga, who says he’s coming for the title. Dragunov also finds Tommaso Ciampa, who says a bit wordier version of the same thing.

Last Time Is Now Tournament First Round: Carmelo Hayes vs. Bronson Reed

Paul Heyman is here with Reed. Hayes slugs away to start fast but Reed is back up with a hard chop in the corner. A running knee in the corner has Hayes in trouble and a running elbow puts him down again. Hayes’ DDT has Reed in trouble though and a springboard DDT drops him for a second time.

That’s enough for Reed to bail out to the floor for a meeting with the Vision (with Logan Paul and Bron Breakker showing up) and we take a break. We come back with Hayes being whipped hard into the corner and we hit the chinlock. Reed tries to fight up but Paul interferes to cut him back down. Reed’s backsplash misses so Hayes can roll him up for two, followed by a middle rope clothesline. The Fadeaway sets up the frog splash for two more but the First 48 is countered.

The Tsunami misses and it’s the First 48 to send Reed outside. That means a big dive to take Reed down, followed by a top rope DDT to give Hayes two. Reed hits a heck of a running clothesline to send Hayes outside. Breakker loads up a spear, but cue Jey Uso to cut him off. Reed heads outside after Hayes…and it’s Cody Rhodes to post Reed and give him Cross Rhodes. That’s enough for Hayes to beat the count at 13:31.

Rating: B-. This might not have been the big giant slayer win for Hayes, but it was about the best option that they had available. Hayes needed a win and Reed shouldn’t be getting pinned, so this was the solution. I’ve seen far worse, and Hayes is at least winning to become more of a star than he’s been in recent months.

Post match Rhodes says he doesn’t want to be done with Drew McIntyre and historically, a Steiner is never better than a Rhodes. Logan Paul can go do a flip and Rhodes is the last person to beat Brock Lesnar and he did it TWICE. This was a fired up promo and that’s where Rhodes can shine.

Chelsea Green hides from Giulia and Kiana James, who yell at Alba Fyre instead. With the two of them gone, Green comes out and says she’s the greatest women’s champion of all times. Jade Cargill pops up, with Green realizing she screwed up and running off.

Sami Zayn gives his friends a pep talk about the MFT’s, who are ready to fight next week. The promos from the Motor City Machine Guns, Rey Fenix and Shinsuke Nakamura aren’t much, but we do get an old school Survivor Series graphic to hype up the match.

Fraxiom vs. DIY

Candice LeRae is here with DIY. Ciampa is wearing a shirt that says “DON’T CALL ME A JACKASS”, Gargano’s says “DON’T CALL MY BEST FRIEND A JACKASS” and LeRae’s is “DON’T CALL MY HUSBAND’S BEST FRIEND A JACKASS!” Ok that’s kind of amazing. Anyway, Ciampa and Frazer start things off but it’s off to Axiom off a quick blind tag. Everything breaks down and Fraxiom hits a pair of dives to the floor.

Back in and a pair of frog splashes hit Ciampa for two but Gargano is back up with a superkick. Frazer is sent into the steps for a crash and we take a break. We come back with Frazer coming back in to clean house. That’s quickly cut off with a Shatter Machine for two, followed by a superkick/Fairy Tale Ending combination for two on Axiom. That’s broken up and Axiom is right back on his feet as the Fireflies are out. LeRae steals Axiom’s mask though and Gargano gets a fast pin at 7:44.

Rating: C+. The match didn’t get a ton of time but it was four guys working their usual entertaining style. I could go for Axiom losing less frequently and I could definitely go for less of the stealing the mask deal, but at least the team had an out for the loss. They had a story coming into this with the US Title stuff, so this did have a few bonus points.

We get the sitdown face to face with Rhea Ripley and Charlotte. They have a history and they’re willing to fight again, but first up it’s WarGames. Ripley is willing to go to war with Charlotte at her side and Charlotte says yes. They shake hands and it seems to be ok.

Last Time Is Now Tournament First Round: Finn Balor vs. Penta

Penta jumps him to start and the brawl is on with Balor taking over. That’s quickly cut off and Penta sends him outside for the big running flip dive. We take a break and come back with Penta hitting a superkick to send him into the corner. Balor is right back with some kicks of his own, which is countered into something like a MuscleBuster for two. The Sling Blade drops Penta again but the Coup de Grace misses, allowing Penta to get two more off a rollup. The Penta Driver gets two and the running Canadian Destroyer gives Penta the clean pin at 10:03.

Rating: B-. These guys had a fight for about ten minutes and it was pretty much all action throughout. That made for an entertaining match and it’s encouraging to see Penta get another clean win. I’m not sure if he’s going to make it past the quarterfinals, but at least he’s getting there in the first place.

Sheamus is injured and out of the tournament so we’ll have to see who is replacing him.

Solo Sikoa and the MFT’s are ready to crush Sami Zayn and company.

Here is Team Ripley to name its final member. Ripley praises her current team members and brings out the fifth member: AJ Lee. Cue the other team to jump Ripley and company from behind, with Becky Lynch running in to jump Lee from behind as both teams seem to be complete to end the show. Lee was hardly a surprise and that made Lynch the obvious counterpart, which isn’t a bad thing.

Overall Rating: B. This show was feeling focused again and they covered quite a few things. You had the US Title stuff, the tournament, and the WarGames build. Throw in the hype for next week’s Survivor Series match and I liked the mix we had this week. It’s nice to see them building towards some stuff when things are getting more important. Now just keep it going when we get to the actual important stuff.

Results
Ilja Dragunov b. JD McDonagh – H Bomb
Carmelo Hayes b. Bronson Reed via countout
DIY b. Fraxiom – Rollup to Axiom
Penta b. Finn Balor – Running Canadian Destroyer

 

 

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Monday Night Raw
Date: November 17, 2025
Location: Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York
Commentators: Wade Barrett, Joe Tessitore

So we’re back home for WWE, but the bigger deal is that it is the last Raw appearance for John Cena, who happens to be the new Intercontinental Champion. Other than that, we need to find out who he will be facing in his final match, which is taking place in less than a month. WarGames also has to continue its build so let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of John Cena’s last appearance in Boston last week, where he won the Intercontinental Title for the first time.

Here is Cena to an absolute roar and the fans sing him to the ring in a great moment. Cena gets the big introduction, which is appropriate as this is his final Raw. He says that while he appreciates the enthusiasm, it is the fans who deserve the thanks. There is a special feeling here because this is the city that can make or break careers. This is the last time that they can be together on this show…and here is Dominik Mysterio to interrupt.

The fans are not pleased to see Mysterio, who says no one wants to hear what Cena has to say. Last week, Cena was handed a title shot, just like he has been handed everything else. He wants his rematch and Cena is willing to oblige, but Mysterio wants it on his terms. The fans tell Mysterio to shut up in a certain way, but Cena says it’s “CHOCKO FUN CUP”.

Mysterio wants the rematch at Survivor Series and Cena is in. As for tonight though, Cena is going to have one more match and challenges Mysterio, which draws out the rest of the Judgment Day. Cena is ready to fight and the beatdown is on, but Sheamus and then Rey Mysterio run in for the save. The good guys clear the ring, allowing Cena to issue the six man challenge.

John Cena/Sheamus/Rey Mysterio vs. Judgment Day

We’re joined in progress with Sheamus in trouble as Balor chokes on the ropes. A slingshot hilo gives McDonagh two but Sheamus gets in a shot of his own, allowing the much needed tag off to Rey. House is cleaned but Dominik breaks up the 619 attempt, somehow making the fans hate him even more.

We take a break and come back with Rey managing to crotch McDonagh on top. That’s enough for the much needed tag to Cena as everything breaks down. A Sling Blade hits Sheamus and Cena is dropped as well, setting up a moonsault into a Coup de Grace. Rey and Sheamus make the save, setting up triple ten forearms to the villains’ chests. A triple Shuffle (with Sheamus switching places with Cena so Cena can be in the middle) sets up the AA to McDonagh for the pin at 11:34.

Rating: B. While the action was good, it was absolutely not the point of the match here. This was all about Cena getting to do this one more time and it was basically a house show main event as a result. It really is the end of an era and while it might not exactly be important at the moment, it was an entertaining match with the fans loving it all the way.

We look at Drew McIntyre joining the Vision’s WarGames team on Smackdown.

Adam Pearce and Nick Aldis are in the back to complain about Paul Heyman bringing McIntyre out of suspension on Smackdown. Cue Heyman, who says that everything he did was within the rules and regulations. If they think they’re mad over his fourth pick, he has something even worse as the fifth pick. They see the name on his contract and aren’t pleased. Pearce: “This is going to be fun.”

During the break, Judgment Day got into a fight with a comedian and some New York Giants.

We look back at Nikki Bella turning on Stephanie Vaquer last week.

Here is Vaquer for a chat but Bella jumps her on the stage. Bella says she didn’t come back to sit on the sidelines and cheer for Vaquer. She’s here to take the division, and the title, back.

We look at the build to the women’s WarGames match.

Bayley and Lyra Valkyria are in the back when the Kabuki Warriors come in. They want Bayley to be on their WarGames team, which has her laughing at them for a firm no. Valkyria is rather proud of Bayley, who asks if Valkyria is five.

Last Time Is Now Tournament First Round: Solo Sikoa vs. ???

Tama Tonga is with Sikoa, who is facing…Dolph Ziggler! And yes that’s what he’s being called rather than Nic Nemeth, as he is currently known in TNA. Ziggler’s right hands don’t work as Sikoa runs him over, which starts up some rather loud pro ZIGGLER chants. Ziggler knocks him down for the jumping elbow before an STF sends Sikoa to the ropes. Another knockdown sets up the top rope elbow to give Ziggler two as we take a break.

We come back with Sikoa missing the running Umaga Attack, allowing Ziggler to hit a quick DDT for two. The Zig Zag is countered into the Spinning Solo for two more. Sikoa can’t hit the Samoan Spike though and it’s the Zig Zag to give Ziggler a near fall. Back up and another Zig Zag attempt is blocked, allowing Sikoa to hit a massive Samoan Spike for the pin at 8:55.

Rating: B. Ziggler is likely only back for a one off appearance, which is fine, as the fans were going nuts with everything he did. On top of that, they had a rather nice back and forth match, with Sikoa benefiting from being out there with another veteran. Sikoa needed another win too, as he hasn’t had much success of note recently.

Video on Je’Von Evans, a high flier from NXT.

Here is Alexa Bliss, who hasn’t been able to get in touch with Charlotte all weekend. After everything they’ve been through, Charlotte isn’t willing to talk to her? Everyone told her to stay away from Charlotte but Bliss wouldn’t listen. She knows who Charlotte is inside but now Charlotte might prove her wrong.

That’s not what a best friend should do but here are the Kabuki Warriors, Nia Jax and Lash Legend to interrupt. They don’t think much of Bliss (including mocking her sparkly pants) and the beatdown is teased, with Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky running in to even it up a lot. Cue Charlotte with a kendo stick for the save and it seems that everything is cool.

Survivor Series rundown.

Women’s Intercontinental Title: Becky Lynch vs. Maxxine Dupri

Lynch is defending and trash talks Dupri during the Big Match Intros. As a bonus, Lynch gets in an argument with the referee at the bell, allowing Dupri to hit a big boot for two. Dupri goes up but gets slammed off the top for the crash. A backbreaker sends Dupri outside and we take a break. We come back with Dupri kicking her down and then grabbing a suplex for two.

A legdrop gets two on Lynch and Dupri takes the straps down to hammer away. Lynch grabs a cross armbreaker, which is reversed into an ankle lock to put Lynch in big trouble. That’s broken up and Lynch’s Manhandle Slam gets two, with Dupri putting her foot on the rope. Lynch gets in the referee’s face again but this time referee Jessika Carr shoves her finger away and says worry about Dupri. That includes sending Dupri outside so Lynch can go unhook a turnbuckle pad…but AJ Lee is back. The distraction lets Dupri hit a high crossbody for the pin and the title at 9:45.

Rating: B-. When this whole thing started, it felt like something where we would just get done with it because Dupri was nothing more than a goof in over her head. However, she’s done remarkably well in the whole thing and I actually don’t hate it. While I don’t think Dupri is the next big thing, it’s a good way to give her a hot start to what could be a serious run. Nice job here.

Last Time Is Now Tournament First Round: Gunther vs. Je’Von Evans

This is Gunther’s first match since Summerslam. The much smaller Evans tries to move around to start but can only get so far. Gunther gets in a big chop to put him down and we take a break. We come back with Evans hitting a dropkick but a second is countered into a Boston crab. That’s broken up so Gunther goes right back to the back with a hard forearm. Evans is able to get in a superkick and Gunther’s powerbomb is countered into a hurricanrana. Gunther is sent outside but his suicide dive is countered into a hard ram into the apron.

We take another break and come back again with Evans grabbing a Stundog Millionaire. That’s enough to send Gunther outside for a suicide dive, followed by a high crossbody back inside. One heck of a frog splash gets two back inside but Gunther knocks a top rope cutter out of the air. The powerbomb gives Gunther two and the sleeper finishes Evans off at 15:12.

Rating: B+. Ok I might have been wrong about Evans, as he has grown on me at a remarkable rate. The best thing about him is he knows how to wrestle like a smaller guy, meaning he’s doing more than just impressive athletics. Since he isn’t that big, it’s easy to sympathize with him and he leans into that style. At the same time, Gunther’s selling here was great, as he was giving reactions of “what the heck was that” as he staggered around. I had a really good time with this and Evans is a serious prospect.

Maxxine Dupri, with AJ Lee, is so proud of her win. Lee is happy with someone standing up to a bully but the Alpha Academy comes in to celebrate with Dupri. As Lee is a bit scared, Rhea Ripley comes in to ask if Lee has time to talk. She sure does.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

Here are Paul Heyman and his WarGames team for a chat. Heyman introduces the team (Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed, Logan Paul and Drew McIntyre) before talking about all of the teams he has led to the ring for WarGames over the years. Cue CM Punk, the Usos and Cody Rhodes to interrupt and the brawl is on. Punk and Paul slug it out in the ring with Punk taking over…and Brock Lesnar is back.

House is cleaned in a hurry, but of course Roman Reigns is back as well. Reigns and Lesnar have the big staredown and Lesnar is sent outside but Reed jumps Reigns from behind. The Tsunami is broken up and the NYPD come out to break it up, even with Reigns spearing Reed through the barricade to end the show. Red hot closing segment here, and nice job of having Reigns there as a secondary surprise rather than saving it for the closing of next week’s show.

Overall Rating: A-. Dang what a show here, with nothing close to bad, a bunch of rather good matches, a nice surprise with Reigns coming out and the big special opener. It’s a rare instance when WWE brings out the big guns on the special stage like this but it worked out so well here. This was one of the better WWE shows I’ve seen in a VERY long time

Results
John Cena/Sheamus/Rey Mysterio b. Judgment Day – Attitude Adjustment to McDonagh
Solo Sikoa b. Dolph Ziggler – Samoan Spike
Maxxine Dupri b. Becky Lynch – High crossbody
Gunther b. Je’Von Evans – Sleeper

 

 

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

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Smackdown
Date: November 14, 2025
Location: MVP Arena, Albany, New York
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We’re into the Last Time Is Now Tournament, with two more first round matches this week. In addition, Cody Rhodes might have some issues with Aleister Black, with Drew McIntyre and Damian Priest being involved as well. That could cause some problems for the champ and that isn’t good with WarGames in just a few weeks. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening recap looks at the setup of Women’s WarGames.

Here are Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky for a chat. Ripley doesn’t think much of the Kabuki Warriors thinking they have a numbers advantage. Now, the Warriors have nowhere to hide in WarGames. Ripley brings out teammates Charlotte and Alexa Bliss, with the latter saying they’re in to end their opponents. And then Charlotte says she’s out because she doesn’t like Ripley, who she thinks is a snake. Ripley probably thinks the same about her, and with that, Charlotte walks away.

Last Time Is Now Tournament First Round: Jey Uso vs. The Miz

Miz’s entrance cuts off Jey running his own entrance back so he’s booed even more heavily than usual. Miz knees him down to start fast but the running clothesline in the corner is countered into a backslide. The Skull Crushing Finale is blocked as well and Miz is sent outside for a suicide dive.

We take a break and come back with Miz hitting a hard DDT for two. That’s enough for Miz to initiate John Cena’s finishing sequence (Just like R-Truth. No wonder they were a good team!), setting up the Skull Crushing Finale for two. They go up top, where Uso reverses a super Skull Crushing Finale into a face first drop onto the turnbuckle. The spear into the Superfly Splash finishes for Uso at 9:55.

Rating: C+. Miz is one of the more useful people on the WWE roster, as he can be beaten over and over without losing much of his status. At the same time, he has all kinds of credibility after winning pretty much everything imaginable over the years. Uso beating him is the right move, but Miz’s history with Cena gave you just enough of a reason to believe he could pull off the upset. Nice effort here.

DIY comes up to Ilja Dragunov, with Tommaso Ciampa complaining about not getting the title shot. Nick Aldis is fine with how Dragunov is doing things, with Dragunov saying tonight’s shot is going to someone who fights with honor and respect. Aldis leaves and runs into Paul Heyman and Bronson Reed.

Post break, Heyman talks to Aldis about the WarGames agreement, which says Heyman can pick any wrestler from any show to be on his team. Aldis already knew this but here is Cody Rhodes to interrupt. Rhodes wants to fight and a match with Reed is set for tonight. Heyman says that’s not good enough because it should be a title match. Rhodes: “Nick, book it.” Aldis does as he’s told, with Heyman giving a great evil smile.

United States Title: Ilja Dragunov vs. Axiom

Axiom is challenging and takes him down by the arm to start fast. A headlock grinds Dragunov down a bit, only for Dragunov to come back with a takedown. The H Bomb is blocked though and Axiom tries to catch him on top. That’s broken up as well and Dragunov knocks him down, setting up the top rope backsplash for two.

We take a break and come back with Dragunov rolling some German suplexes. Axiom slips out and hits a missile dropkick but Dragunov kicks him in the face again. Dragunov’s H Bomb misses and Axiom is back up with a springboard moonsault DDT (GEEZ) for two. The super Spanish Fly connects but the Golden Ratio is countered with the Torpedo Moscow. Now the H Bomb is enough to retain the title at 11:13.

Rating: B. That DDT alone kept me interested in this as Axiom is a rather solid hand in the ring. Dragunov gets to add another name to the pile of victims as he’s gearing up for what could be an interesting showdown with Ciampa. I’m not sure how that’s going to go, but it’s nice to see it built up over some time.

R-Truth is still trying to get Nick Aldis to let him into the Last Time Is Now tournament. Chelsea Green comes in to demand pyro for her Women’s US Title win, with Aldis saying yes to shut her up.

During the break, Tommaso Ciampa attacked Axiom with Nathan Frazer making the save.

Here is Sami Zayn for a chat. He talks about how he beat Solo Sikoa for the US Title and got to do a bunch of things as champion. Now he wants to keep up the war with Sikoa and the MFT’s but he hasn’t been medically cleared. That has left him on the sidelines for weeks but that ends tonight. Zayn wants Sikoa out here right now so here he comes, complete with the MFT’s.

Sikoa says he knows the real Zayn will do desperate things and knows that Zayn is still hurt. This could go very badly for Zayn, as Sikoa could have them drop him where he stands. Zayn says it won’t be long as he is officially medically cleared, but he didn’t come alone. Cue Shinsuke Nakamura and the Motor City Machine Guns for the brawl, with Rey Fenix joining in for a big corkscrew dive off the top. This could make for a good Survivor Series match.

Jey Uso and Cody Rhodes run into each other and have a nice reunion. Jimmy Uso comes up to say he has their backs tonight and at WarGames.

Solo Sikoa wants Sami Zayn so Nick Aldis makes the Survivor Series match for…the Smackdown before Survivor Series. Well they’re in the right area at least.

Last Time Is Now Tournament First Round: LA Knight vs. ???

And the opponent is….ZACK RYDER, unfortunately what sounds like a remix of Oh Radio but it’s a better than nothing. They’re a bit slow to start until a Rough Ryder attempt misses. Instead Knight is sent outside and we take an early break. We come back with Knight hitting a backdrop and firing off the left jabs.

A jumping neckbreaker gets two but Ryder sends him into the corner for the running Reboot. Back up and Knight rams him into the buckle for the reverse DDT. Ryder is able to hit a Rough Ryder out of nowhere for two more and the BFT is countered into a rollup for the same. Ryder’s middle rope dropkick is countered into a sitout powerbomb though and the BFT finishes for Knight at 8:37.

Rating: C+. They didn’t have much time, especially with the break in the middle, but it was cool to see Ryder back, even if it’s a one off. Ryder is someone who has turned his time away from WWE into something and I’m sure he’ll turn this into something else that makes him money. Knight winning is fine, but this was about the cameo and it was rather fun.

Iyo Sky, Rhea Ripley and Alexa Bliss look for a replacement for Charlotte but get jumped by their opponents, with Lash Legend and Nia Jax laying them out.

Jade Cargill vs. B-Fab

Non-title. B-Fab dropkicks her into the corner to start fast and fires off some elbows. Cargill isn’t having this and drops her with a hard forearm. The fall away slam sends B-Fab flying and a chokeslam drops her again. There’s a powerbomb to drop her again and Cargill gives her a second one. Jaded finishes for Cargill at 2:14.

Post match Michin comes in to check on B-Fab and Cargill isn’t impressed.

Next week’s first round Last Time Is Now tournament matches:

Carmelo Hayes vs. Bronson Reed
Penta vs. Finn Balor

Carmelo Hayes says he’ll see Miz when he sees him but first, he wants to get a shot against John Cena because he won’t miss. Bronson Reed comes in to say he’ll end Cena after ending Hayes next week.

Aleister Black talks about how he and Zelina have corrupted Damian Priest, just as they said they would. Now though, they’re coming for the rest of the locker room.

Smackdown World Title: Cody Rhodes vs. Bronson Reed

Reed, with Paul Heyman, is challenging and misses a charge into the corner to start. Rhodes hits him in the face but gets elbowed down for two. They head outside where Reed runs him over and we take a break. We come back with Rhodes scoring with a Disaster Kick but the snap jabs are countered into the Jagged Edge. The Tsunami misses though and Rhodes hits a Cody Cutter for two. Reed rolls outside, where he cuts off a suicide dive with a shot to the face. Rhodes fights back….and Bron Breakker runs in for the DQ at 5:23.

Rating: B-. They knew they didn’t have much time here so this was about getting as much in as they could manage. What they did was good enough, though it was smart to not have Reed take a pin. You can pretty much guarantee that this was a way to set up the post match stuff and that’s ok for a match like this.

Post match Breakker and Logan Paul beat Rhodes down. Cue the Usos for the save and a table is brought inside. Drew McIntyre (suspended last week) runs in to wreck the Usos, with Paul Heyman saying “ANYBODY” to a screaming Nick Aldis. The good guys are wrecked, including a Claymore and Tsunami to Rhodes, to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. There was more of a theme to this show, as WarGames is coming so the teams have to be set up. At the same time, there wasn’t as much in the ring, with only the Dragunov vs. Axiom match standing out. It’s the kind of show that is more about setting things up for later than anything else, and while this kind of a show is necessary, it’s not the most thrilling thing to watch. Decent, but pretty skippable show this week.

Results
Jey Uso b. The Miz – Superfly Splash
Ilja Dragunov b. Axiom – H Bomb
LA Knight b. Zack Ryder – BFT
Jade Cargill b. B-Fab – Jaded
Cody Rhodes b. Bronson Reed via DQ when Bron Breakker interfered

 

 

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

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Monday Night Raw
Date: October 13, 2025
Location: RAC Arena, Perth, Australia
Commentators: Wade Barrett, Michael Cole

We’re done with Crown Jewel and still in Australia so this is airing twelve hours earlier than usual. Seth Rollins and Stephanie Vaquer won the Crown Jewel Titles and John Cena and AJ Styles had an incredibly special match. It’s time to start getting ready for next month’s Survivor Series and WarGames so let’s get to it.

Here is Crown Jewel if you need a recap.

Long Crown Jewel recap.

Here is the Vision for a chat. The fans are not happy to see Seth Rollins, who calls them a bunch of “w******” before hitting his usual catchphrases. Rollins praises each of the members, including giving Heyman a kiss on the head, and saying that Breakker and Reed are being incredibly successful. Rollins asks the fans who is the greatest World Heavyweight Champion of all time. The reality is that he has beaten CM Punk and Roman Reigns on his own. He didn’t need the men in this ring but rather he chose all of them. Rollins is the greatest of all time and has proven it, so here’s a lot of pyro.

Penta runs into Rusev, who is facing the winner of tonight’s Intercontinental Title match. If that’s Penta, Rusev recommends prayer because pain is coming. Dominik Mysterio is coming up from behind, sees Rusev, and leaves.

Intercontinental Title: Penta vs. Dominik Mysterio

Mysterio is defending and fires off a quick superkick. That earns him a hurricanrana to the floor, where Penta gives him a backdrop onto the announcers’ table. We take a break and come back with Mysterio being sat on top for a kick to the head. A springboard spinning crossbody gives Penta two, followed by the slingshot dropkick in the corner for two more. Mysterio is able to send him outside for a suicide dive, allowing Mysterio to do the Penta strut.

A running dropkick in the corner gets two and we take another break. We come back again with Mysterio missing a slingshot hilo and being sent outside for a big top rope dive. Penta gets in two Amigos but Mysterio suplexes him for two instead. The Penta Driver gets two but Mysterio reverses the Canadian Destroyer into a Michinoku Driver. Cue Rusev, who gets taken down by Penta. The distraction lets Mysterio grab the title and the timekeeper’s hammer. As expected, the referee gets rid of the belt but Mysterio hammers Penta in the knee. A 619 into the frog splash retains the title at 15:38.

Rating: B. They started to roll at the end there and Mysterio continues to roll as his rather awesome title reign keeps going. The fans are even getting into him cheating, which gives his future that much more potential. He’s likely going to hold the title for a good while and that could make for some very interesting moments. The fact that the match was good makes it even better.

LA Knight is ready to face CM Punk tonight and then he’s moving on to go after the World Title. Punk comes in to say Knight isn’t beaten him tonight, with Knight disagreeing.

Asuka yells at Kairi Sane for losing at Crown Jewel so Sane offers to talk to Iyo Sky. That’s not what Asuka wants, but rather for her to face Rhea Ripley tonight. This surprises Sane, even though the match was announced earlier tonight. Sane shows off a big bruise on her head and gets slapped as a result.

Rhea Ripley vs. Kairi Sane

Iyo Sky and Asuka are here too. Sane rolls away from her to start and gets in a slap, which doesn’t seem to be the best idea. A crossbody is pulled out of the air though and Ripley muscles her up for a suplex. Sane sends her outside with a running headscissors, where Ripley knocks her out of the air. Asuka’s distraction brings Ripley outside but Sky goes after Asuka instead. Sane gets in a shot of her own on Sky though and we take a break.

We come back with Ripley fighting out of a chinlock and running Sane over for two. The headbutt sets up Riptide, with Sane slipping out and taking it to the apron. Ripley is sent outside for a dive off the apron but she’s fine enough to hit a Razor’s Edge toss. A running kick to the face gives Ripley two and she puts Sane up top. The top rope double stomp in the Tree Of Woe gives Sane two so she goes up top again. A top rope hurricanrana is countered into a faceplant so Asuka offers a distraction. Sky kicks her down and Riptide finishes Sane at 16:00.

Rating: B. It’s nice to see Ripley get another win and it makes sense for that to take place in her native Australia. This story has been going on for a pretty good while now and Ripley is starting to look more dominant, though at some point the Warriors need to get a big win of their own. For now though, Ripley beating Sane is a good result for the short term.

Post match Ripley goes after Asuka but Sane makes the save with a kendo stick shot. Asuka DDTs Ripley onto the announcers’ table.

The Usos are in the back, with Jimmy not getting why Roman Reigns is mad at them over trying to help him. Jey says they have to worry about their own business, with Jimmy not liking the tone. He’ll deal with Bronson Reed on his own.

Bronson Reed vs. Jimmy Uso

Uso slugs away to start and gets cut off just as fast. Reed misses a charge and gets sent outside where Uso fires off some right hands. Back in and a World’s Strongest Slam plants Uso, who loses his shirt to reveal some taped up ribs. We take a break and come back with Reed missing a backsplash to give Uso a breather. Uso enziguris him into the corner and hits a Whisper In The Wind for two. Due to reasons he “he’s not very bright”, Uso tries a Samoan drop and collapses. Reed drops a backsplash and hits the Tsunami for the win at 9:17.

Rating: C. This was about what you were expecting, as the former Bloodline’s issues continue to mount. There is only so much that you can do when Uso is banged up in the first place and is facing someone whose whole offense is built around getting to injure someone’s ribs. Reed’s big run continues and that is rather nice to see given what he has been doing in recent months.

Post match Bron Breakker shows up for a Super Spear but Jey Uso runs in for the save before the around the ring version can connect. Jey fights back and the villains run off. Jimmy seems to appreciate the help but Jey doesn’t look happy with him.

Lyra Valkyria isn’t sure if she can trust Bayley against Judgment Day and says this is a one time thing. Bayley laughs it off.

Bayley/Lyra Valkyria vs. Judgment Day

Valkyria takes Perez down by the arm to start and it’s quickly off to Bayley to send the villains into the corner. The WHOA running elbow connects and Valkyria is sent into them as well. Rodriguez sends Valkyria flying into Bayley though and Perez comes in for a Russian legsweep/big boot combination.

We take a break and come back with Perez sending Valkyria into the corner to crotch Bayley, who gets planted with a slingshot suplexed. A double springboard moonsault gives Perez two but Bayley manages to get over for the tag. Valkyria comes in and cleans house but slaps Bayley to wake her up a bit, which makes Bayley laugh. Bayley goes nuts and wrecks the villains, with the top rope elbow into the Rose Plant finishing Perez at 11:10.

Rating: C+. I can go with Bayley having two different sides to her as long as they drop the whole voices thing. Her just losing control and snapping is fine, as it’s giving Valkyria more TV time and it seems to be working. I don’t know how long it’s going to last, but it’s working well for now.

Seth Rollins and Paul Heyman talk about how great things have been and how great they will be going forward. Rollins knows something amazing is on the horizon. Bronson Reed and Bron Breakker come in, with Rollins saying they are this close to the top of the mountain. Nothing can stop them.

AJ Styles comes up to Adam Pearce and says Crown Jewel was amazing, though it would have been better if he had won. Dominik Mysterio comes in to ask where his attention is and says he’s the only champion defending his title. Styles agrees and thinks he and Dragon Lee should get a Tag Team Title shot next week. Works for Pearce, who says Mysterio can tell the champs.

Here is Stephanie Vaquer for a chat. She’s happy to have won her fourth title in a year but here is Judgment Day to interrupt. They both say they should be champion, so Vaquer tells them to do something about it. Perez says she’ll do it on her own time.

The attendance for the three days is 40,503.

Jey Uso vs. LA Knight vs. CM Punk

For a future shot at Seth Rollins. Knight stomps Uso down in the corner to start but gets sent outside. Knight gets to beat on Punk outside, only for Uso to hit a suicide dive. We take a break and come back with Punk hitting the running knees in the corner but Uso sends him into the corner. The Umaga Attack hits Knight but Punk neckbreakers Uso to cut him off. Punk drops the top rope elbow on Knight, who escapes a GTS attempt. Knight hits a double top rope elbow for two each and we take another break.

We come back with Uso and Punk slugging it out until Knight is back in. Knight superplexes Punk but gets Superfly Splashed by Uso for two. Uso is sent outside and the BFT hits Punk, with Uso breaking up the cover. Back in and the Superfly Splash hits Punk’s raised knees and the GTS gives Punk the win at 13:30.

Rating: B-. Punk winning is a good way to go as him getting to face Rollins one on one should makes for a big match whenever it happens. At the same time, it’s nice to see Knight not take the fall for a change. Uso already has something else going on with his family so this could have been a lot worse.

Post match Punk celebrates but here is the Vision, with Breakker hitting a spear each for Jey Uso and LA Knight. Punk gets beaten down as well and Rollins talks a lot of trash. And then Breakker spears Rollins. Breakker says something to Reed as Heyman looks stunned. Reed gives Rollins a Tsunami and Heyman is forced to hold up Breakker and Reed’s arms, with Breakker holding up the title to end the show. That’s one heck of a twist and I did not see it coming, though dang it’s pulling quite the trigger.

Overall Rating: B+. The ending boosted this one up a lot, though I’m scared that it’s Reed and Breakker turning on Rollins for the sake of playing mind games with Punk before the title match. The crowd was hot all night (though I could go forever without hearing that Will You Be My Girl song again) and it feels like the stakes have been raised now that we are done with the Crown Jewel stuff. Just keep that energy going though, as we have a long way to go before Survivor Series.

Results
Dominik Mysterio b. Penta – Frog splash
Rhea Ripley b. Kairi – Riptide
Bronson Reed b. Jimmy Uso – Tsunami
CM Punk b. Jey Uso and LA Knight – GTS to Uso

 

 

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

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

Crown Jewel 2025
Date: October 11, 2025
Location: RAC Arena, Perth, Australia
Commentators: Michael Cole, Wade Barrett

It’s time for the annual champion vs. champion show and that should make things interesting. The word there is should, as the build has been hit or miss at best. We have Seth Rollins vs. Cody Rhodes and Tiffany Stratton vs. Stephanie Vaquer, plus AJ Styles vs. John Cena for the last time. Let’s get to it.

We open with a video of the Crown Jewel titles being transported from Saudi Arabia to Australia. This aired on Smackdown.

The opening video focuses on Rhea Ripley (makes sense) and talks about the sounds they make around the world. Those sounds don’t need translations because it’s real. Now it’s Australia’s turn.

Roman Reigns vs. Bronson Reed

Street fight and Paul Heyman is here with Reed. Reigns slugs away to start and sends Reed into some buckles before raining down the right hands. It’s already time to go outside, which has Heyman waddling away. Reigns knocks him over the barricade and throws some Prime at him, which is quite the product placement. Some trashcan shots to the back have Reed in trouble and they get back to ringside, where Reigns finds a cricket bat and a rugby ball.

Reigns hits him in the back with the bat but poses too much, allowing Reed to run him over. That doesn’t work for Reigns, who is back with a posting and some kendo stick shots. Reigns grabs the mic and says if Perth wants tables, they have to acknowledge him. That’s at least a smart way to get them brought in so nice job. Reed uses the delay to get in a cheap shot and send the table back underneath the ring. They head back inside where Reed hammers away with chairs.

One of the chairs is set up, which isn’t a great idea as Reigns gives him a Samoan drop through said chair. Some rapid fire clotheslines against the ropes rock Reed and a jumping version puts him down. Reed’s Jagged Edge gets two and it’s time for the stop sign. A chair is wedged into the corner before a release Rock Bottom onto the sign gives Reed two. Reed’s charge goes into the chair (of course) but Reed bails outside before the spear can launch.

They go outside and here’s Bron Breakker with a Super Spear. A double powerbomb sends Reigns through the announcers’ table so cue the Usos (who Reigns didn’t want to get involved) for the save. The 1D drops Breakker but he’s right back up with a gorilla press gutbuster to Jey. The Super Spear sends Jimmy through the barricade but Reigns is up to cut off the Tsunami to Jey. Back up and Jey accidentally spears Reigns through a table, leaving the Tsunami to give Reed the pin at 21:07.

Rating: B. I had fun with this and it makes Reed look like an absolute monster. Yeah he had help, but pinning Reigns is a big deal no matter who you are. At the same time, Reigns isn’t going to be happy with the Usos for not listening to him and now we’ll have some fallout. Good stuff here, and probably the right way to go.

Post match Reigns and the Usos are sitting on the mat, where Reigns yells at them for saying no one thinks he can do this on his own. It only works one way and he doesn’t want to see their faces. Fans: “SOMEONE’S IN TROUBLE!” With Reigns gone, the Usos argue as well, with Jey saying Reigns is always going to be himself and leaves on his own.

Women’s Crown Jewel Title: Stephanie Vaquer vs. Tiffany Stratton

They go with the grappling to start with Stratton working on a headlock but getting reversed into a wristlock. A rollup gives Vaquer two and it’s an early standoff. Stratton knocks her down but charges into a superkick for two. Something like a standing STF (that’s a new one) has Stratton in trouble until it’s broken up to leave both of them down. Stratton cartwheels into an Alabama Slam for two and Vaquer is in trouble for the first time.

That doesn’t last long as Vaquer gets in a dragon screw legwhip out of the corner but the knee is fine enough for Stratton to hit End Of Heartache for two. The Devil’s Kiss attempt is countered into a boot to the face to give Stratton two more and some frustration is setting in. A Swanton hits raised knees though and now the Devil’s Kiss connects. The SVB gets two but Stratton gets in the Regal Roll. The Prettiest Moonsault Ever misses though and Vaquer’s corkscrew moonsault finishes at 10:17.

Rating: B-. This was about what I was expecting, as they had a perfectly fine match but it didn’t feel overly important no matter what they were doing. There was no way around the lack of heat on the story and they were running with an anchor here. Vaquer needed the win a lot more than Stratton, but it’s not like this is going to mean much in the long term.

Post match HHH presents Vaquer with the title, which is massive on her (or on anyone for that matter). She talks about how this is for everyone and now she is the Crown Jewel Champion.

Paul Heyman and Bron Breakker praise Bronson Reed for his win. Heyman also says no matter what, they cannot help Seth Rollins tonight because he has to win tonight.

AJ Styles vs. John Cena

There’s no recap here, which makes sense as even Styles has said there’s no story. It’s just two guys who have had a great rivalry facing each other one last time. Styles is even in the old school shorts, which I haven’t seen him wear in at probably fifteen years. The roof comes off for Cena’s entrance as this guy might have a future. We get the Big Match Intros and Styles gets a specialized entrance of his own, being described as the definition of Total Nonstop Action and hopes to get to BEAT UP JOHN CENA one last time.

Styles grabs a headlock before having to grab the rope to avoid an armdrag. The fans are already declaring this awesome and…yeah fair enough in this case. Cena’s headlock works a bit better but Styles pops up for a dropkick to cut him down. The AA attempt is countered and Styles hits the sliding forearm for two. Another sliding forearm gets another two but the Phenomenal Blitz is countered with the ProtoBomb.

There’s the Shuffle into the AA for two, which shouldn’t be a shock as it’s only the first finisher. Styles is back up with the fireman’s carry backbreaker onto the knee but Cena busts out a Skull Crushing Finale for two more. Styles’ torture rack slam gives him two of his own and they have to pull themselves up. A Scorpion Death Drop (without the moonsault) drops Cena for another near fall but the Styles Clash is countered into most of an STF. That’s reversed into a crossface but Cena reverses into an Accolade (oh it’s one of THOSE matches).

Styles escapes into a Koquina Clutch…which is reversed into the Walls Of Jericho (Cole: “You have got to be kidding me.”). Styles escapes that so Cena pulls him into the STF, which Styles reverses into the Clash for two more. Styles tries the Phenomenal Forearm but dives into Sister Abigail (complete with the Kiss) for two and the Fireflies are out. Cena smiles at that and looks up for a second in a great moment. Styles grabs Angel’s Wings for two and it’s time to strike it out.

Neither finisher can connect so Cena tries a Pedigree, which is reversed into a Deadeye for two. Cena is back up with a Randy Orton hanging DDT and the fans want an RKO. That’s exactly what they get for a near fall…so Cena loads up the Punt. Styles counters that into an AA for two as Barrett compares this to watching a video game. The Shuffle is loaded up but Cena reverses that into a chokeslam for two as the fans want a 619. Cena actually does the drop toehold into the ropes and the crowd is ready to lose it.

That’s cut off with a clothesline, which is probably better as Cena might have torn everything in his body. The springboard 450 connects for Styles and he tunes up the band for Sweet Chin Music and another near fall. The Phenomenal Forearm gets two more so the fans chant YES. Cena cuts that off with a quick AA for two so he takes Styles up. The super AA is reversed…so it’s a Tombstone to Styles, followed by the AA for the pin at 27:12.

Rating: A+. There are certain matches where you just know you’re seeing something special and that was the case here. They were out there having a great time and paying tribute to everyone they could think of and it was an instant all timer. In addition, the fans more than boosted this up and took it from something great to something incredible. I loved this.

Post match respect is shown (of course) and even commentary gives them a standing ovation.

We recap Rhea Ripley/Iyo Sky vs. the Kabuki Warriors. Ripley and Sky are friends and that’s not ok with Asuka, who wants Sky with them alone. Sky is torn and now it’s time to fight.

Rhea Ripley/Iyo Sky vs. Kabuki Warriors

Ripley somehow gets a reaction that can rival Cena’s, which is an amazing feat. The Warriors charge at them to start and clear Ripley out, with Asuka sending her head first into the post. Asuka and Sky have the big showdown with Sky flipping around and tripping her to the mat. Sky hammers away next to the ropes and hits a running dropkick as Barrett has to remind us that this is in fact a tag match.

Asuka is sent outside for a suicide dive but comes back with a hard kick to take over. That’s good for an eight count and Sane grabs the upside down triangle choke back inside. Asuka comes back in to yell at Sky and then fire off some kicks before Sane comes back in. Sky rolls over for the tag but the referee doesn’t see it (of course) so it’s a pair of spinning backfists to Sky’s head. Sane sends Sky crashing into the corner for two but she manages a flapjack to Asuka. The tag brings Ripley in and yeah the fans approve.

A running kick to the head gets two on Sane, who has to escape a Razor’s Edge. Asuka comes back in for two off a Shining Wizard but Ripley kicks Sane’s head off. Sky is back in with a missile dropkick for two more, followed by a top rope armdrag. Over The Moonsault is broken up and Ripley is sent into the steps, only for Sky to drop the Warriors with an Asai moonsault. Back in and Over The Moonsault hits Sane for two, with Asuka making the save.

Ripley comes back in and gets caught with the assisted Insane Elbow, with Sky making the save this time. Sky hits a painful looking missile dropkick to Asuka and everyone is down. Ripley wins a slugout with Asuka and Sane has to break up a super Riptide. That means a regular version to Sane and Over The Moonsault finishes for Sky at 19:02.

Rating: B. The match went a bit longer than it needed to but this worked for what it needed to be. The fans wanted to see Ripley and Sky gets to knock the Warriors back a few steps. We’re all but guaranteed to see Sky vs. Asuka one on one at some point and that should be awesome, with this being a nice stepping stone to get there.

We recap Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins. They’re both big stars but Rollins is going nuts because he can’t beat Rhodes. The idea is supposed to be that this is about who is the future of WWE but it hasn’t exactly clicked. Rollins’ self doubt has been a much better way to go and thankfully has become the focal point of the build.

Men’s Crown Jewel Title: Seth Rollins vs. Cody Rhodes

Rollins has gear inspired by his previous matches with Rhodes and the camera makes sure to show him taking off his watch. Rollins’ headlock doesn’t do much to start as Rhodes reverses into a release gordbuster. It’s already time for a breather on the floor, with Rollins having to yell at the fans. Back in and they argue a lot before slugging it out, with Rhodes hitting the drop down uppercut.

Rollins needs another breather on the floor, where he gets to throw some things around. He even goes after commentary, which allows Rhodes to send him face first into the announcers’ table. Rollins dropkicks him through the ropes and hits a double stomp to the back for two back inside. A running clothesline gives Rollins two and he counters the Disaster Kick into a sitout powerbomb for two more, which means it’s time to yell a the referee.

Rollins starts in on the arm but Rhodes fights up, only to get pulled into the Figure Four. Rhodes escapes and the fans chant for CM PUNK to get on Rollins’ nerves. A Vertebreaker drops Rollins hard and the Disaster Kick does it again. The Bionic Elbow sends Rollins outside for the suicide dive, followed by a Cody Cutter for two back inside. Another Disaster Kick is countered into the Pedigree to give Rollins his own two. Rhodes gets up and misses a Cody Cutter attempt, meaning it’s a Pedigree into a Stomp for another near fall.

Rollins is stunned so he goes outside to grab his watch but changes his mind and puts it down. The distraction lets Rhodes score with Cross Rhodes for two but Rollins catches him on top. That means Rhodes is tied in the Tree Of Woe for a coast to coast headbutt for two more. Rollins comes up favoring his own arm so Rhodes goes up, with Rollins catching him with a super Spanish Fly for another near fall.

Now it’s Rollins going up, with Rhodes pulling him down in a super Cross Rhodes for two of his own. They slug it out until Rollins has to escape a Pedigree before grabbing the watch. The referee is bumped and the watch to the head sets up the Stomp. The Super Stomp gives Rollins the pin at 29:44.

Rating: B. This was WAY longer than it needed to be as it was almost all about setting up the watch, which was telegraphed all the way from the beginning. The problem with the build to this match was Rhodes had nothing to gain, which made Rollins winning almost the only way to go. The match was good, but it doesn’t really change anything for either of them, which is the big problem with the whole thing.

Post match HHH comes out to put the title on Rollins. Cathy Kelly comes in to talk to Rollins, who takes the mic and goes on about his greatness. Rollins hits the catchphrases and Stephanie Vaquer comes out so the two champions can pose to end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. Well, they managed to make it work. This show is pretty much all about the wrestling rather than anything major happening storyline wise and that’s ok. Nothing is bad and there’s an all time classic with Cena vs. Styles, plus a fun opener and a good enough main event. If nothing else, I’m rather happy because we don’t have to act like the Crown Jewel Titles mean anything for another year, mainly because we won’t even see the belts. Pretty awesome show here, with a rare instance of a match actually feeling special.

Results
Bronson Reed b. Roman Reigns – Tsunami
Stephanie Vaquer b. Tiffany Stratton – Corkscrew moonsault
John Cena b. AJ Styles – Attitude Adjustment
Rhea Ripley/Iyo Sky b. Kabuki Warriors – Over The Moonsault to Sane
Seth Rollins b. Cody Rhodes – Super Stomp

 

 

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

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