IMG Credit: WWE

NXT
Date: December 4, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Beth Phoenix, Nigel McGuinness

Things got more interesting last week with Finn Balor going after Adam Cole, though it isn’t clear if they’re going to be alone, as Tommaso Ciampa was in the mix too. They have something interesting with the NXT Title picture and that is going to make for some fun shows as we get ready for Portland. Granted that’s a long way off though and a lot could change by then. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening recap.

Opening sequence.

Mauro Ranallo previews the show.

Killian Dain is in the ring to call out an opponent to replace the injured Damian Priest.

Killian Dain vs. Pete Dunne

They go straight to the fight with Dunne kicking him down and working on the arm. The fingers are bent back but a clothesline doesn’t put Dunne on the floor. Instead Dain hits a crossbody and crushes Dunne for two. The reverse chinlock goes on, followed by a running elbow to give Dain two more.

The second chinlock goes on, this time with Dain hammering away at the chest at the same time. Dunne fights up and hits a German suplex, only to get caught going up top. Dain pulls him to the apron, only to get stomped on the hand. A moonsault jams Dunne’s knee though and Dain hits a dive, with the camera missing most of it.

Back from a break with Dunne hitting a tornado DDT and stomping on the fingers again. A kick to the head gives Dunne two and now the moonsault to the floor connects. Dain drops him onto the apron though and a Cannonball against the steps makes it even worse. Back in and Dunne tries to catch him on top, only to get dropped backwards for the big crash to give Dain the pin at 14:46 (the same thing Dain did to Dunne at Takeover to accidentally give Dunne the pin on Priest).

Rating: B-. Nice match here with a good callback to the previous match at Takeover. Dunne losing is still something I’m not used to after watching him destroy people for so long but it’s what happens when you move up in competition. He jumped into NXT when the talent pool was crazy deep and it’s going to take some time for him to adjust himself.

Dakota Kai thinks Tegan Nox isn’t worth her time and now Rhea Ripley wants to play hero. Tonight, Dakota is taking her out, just like she did to Mia Yim.

Here’s the Undisputed Era, minus Bobby Fish, for a chat. They’ve been on a roll lately and the greatness is just beginning. However, they don’t like the way they were treated last week, as NXT allowed Bobby Fish to get hurt and then Keith Lee knocked Adam Cole around like a rag doll. Cole is NOT a rag doll and wants Lee out here right now for an explanation. Cole dubs him Mr. Moment Maker so the fans sing about basking in his glory.

Strong brings up Roman Reigns beating Lee at Survivor Series, because he’s a loser you see. Lee gets to the point and looks at all the gold. Cole: “My eyes are up here.” Lee: “I’m just deciding which of these championships I should take first.” The fight is on with Lee cleaning house. Tommaso Ciampa runs down to send Cole back in, but Strong saves him from the Spirit Bomb.

Xia Li wants revenge on Shayna Baszler.

Kushida is back from his broken wrist.

Xia Li vs. Shayna Baszler

Non-title. Li wins an early strike off and Baszler isn’t sure what to do. They go to the mat with Baszler not being able to hang in the striking. Instead she flips Li over, only to get kicked in the head. Baszler takes her down by the arm though and hits the big stomp to put Li in trouble. More strikes give Li a breather but she can only do so much with one arm. Li heads up top and strikes her way out of a superplex attempt. A powerbomb out of the corner gets two but Baszler pulls her into the Kirifuda Clutch for the tap at 4:06.

Rating: C+. Li was giving it everything she had here and got in some big shots that made her look good. It wasn’t like the ending was ever in doubt here as Baszler just won the main event of Survivor Series and isn’t going to lose something like this. Li got to show off a lot and I could see her being something in a few months.

Kassius Ohno is back from the UK and wants to be ready for Worlds Collide, when NXT meets NXT UK. That could be good if they treat it like something special, and it seems that they might.

Forgotten Sons vs. Adrian Alanis/Leon Ruff

Ruff and Alanis are from Evolve. Blake wastes no time in clotheslining Ruff in the back of the head and there’s the buckle bomb to make it worse. Alanis comes in and gets taken down by a running knee to the head. A release German suplex sets up the reverse DDT/middle rope stomp finishes Alanis at 1:21.

Post match Jaxson Ryker chokeslams Ruff onto the apron for a heck of a nasty crash.

Dakota Kai vs. Rhea Ripley

Kai’s new Titantron is the attack on Tegan Nox for an outstanding addition. Hold on though as Ripley has a mic and says not so fast. It was a great setup at Takeover, and now we have another one. Cue Mia Yim to run Kai over and the fight is on. Yim destroys Kai, sending her into the barricade over and over again. They eventually go into the crowd with Kai crawling away. No match of course.

With Ripley still at ringside, cue the Horsewomen for the other brawl. Ripley fights them off as well as she can but the numbers game eventually gets the better of her, allowing Baszler to choke her out. Ripley is out so Baszler talks trash about how Ripley can’t win when anything is on the line. Now Ripley wants a title shot, and so does Baszler. They’ll fight for the title in two weeks. Best thing about this: flowing from one story into another without having to go to the back and set things up. It feels MUCH more natural and that is the best thing that they could have done here.

Ciampa and Lee are ready to face the Undisputed Era. Dominick Dijakovic shows up and seems to be joining them tonight.

Video on Finn Balor, who wants the NXT Title back. He’s playing chess while Cole is playing checkers, so checkmate.

Video on Isaiah Scott.

Matt Riddle vs. Kassius Ohno

The fans chant for Riddle in the Goldberg cadence for a fun moment. They go with the grappling to start until Riddle takes him down by the (right) arm. The cravate has Riddle in more trouble but he’s back out with a German suplex as the eyes get a bit more serious. Ohno gets sent outside for a kick to the chest and we take a break.

Back with Riddle kicking at the chest as the announcers keep hyping up When Worlds Collide. Ohno gets in a shot to the throat and a big boot to drop Riddle as he is willing to cheat to finally beat him. Or he’s just a villain in general. The cravate goes back on and is switched into a crossarm choke to keep Riddle in trouble.

That’s broken up as well and Riddle hits a Broton but has to bail out of a standing moonsault. The Bro To Sleep sets up a powerbomb to plant Ohno, and the Final Flash knocks him silly. Riddle’s Floating Bro gets two but Ohno is right back with a suplex. Ohno tries a cradle piledriver but gets reversed into a knee to the face and the Bro Derek to give Riddle the pin at 12:33.

Rating: B-. Yeah of course these two have good matches against each other because they work well together and have similar styles. At the end of the day though, Ohno exists to put Riddle over and that’s a great role for him. What matters more than anything else here though is the hype for When Worlds Collide, meaning it might actually be important for once. They have been watchable before, but it would be great to see the show have some meaning.

We look back at Baszler beating Ripley down. The title match is official for the 18^th.

Kushida vs. Raul Mendoza

Or not as here’s Cameron Grimes to jump Mendoza and take his place. This stuns Kushida for some reason.

Kushida vs. Cameron Grimes

As stunned as he is, Kushida is fine enough to hit a handspring kick to the face to put Grimes on the floor to start, setting up a big flip dive off the top to take Grimes down again. Back in and Kushida grabs something like the Black Widow and bends the arm WAY back for a nearly terrifying visual. Another handspring is countered into a German suplex to put Kushida down for the first time and the Superman forearm connects. Grimes tries his backflip into a German suplex but Kushida reverses into a rollup for the pin at 4:16.

Rating: C. This was a weird one as Grimes has been getting a pretty big push in recent weeks but then loses here to the returning Kushida. I get why Kushida gets the win to put himself back on track but why have him beat Grimes and not, say, Mendoza like you had planned? Just a weird moment but it came at the end of a fine match.

We recap Lio Rush vs. Angel Garza. They meet for Rush’s Cruiserweight Title next week.

Also next week: Yim vs. Kai.

Undisputed Era vs. Dominick Dijakovic/Tommaso Ciampa/Keith Lee

Strong gets taken into the corner for the early beating and Ciampa already has to give himself some applause. O’Reilly comes in for a standing guillotine on Dijakovic and is quickly tossed out of a suplex. A middle rope splash gives Dijakovic two and the standing knees to the back make it even worse. The Era is sent outside and we take a break. Back with Dijakovic fighting out of O’Reilly’s abdominal stretch and hitting one heck of a clothesline.

That’s not enough to get over for the tag though as O’Reilly grabs the leg. It takes all three members of the Era to pull Dijakovic back into the corner for a unique visual. Dijakovic fights up and makes the tag off to Ciampa so house can be cleaned. A jumping knee to the back of O’Reilly’s head sets up Project Ciampa for two.

The Fairy Tale Ending is broken up and it’s High/Low to give Strong two with Lee and Dijakovic making a double save. Strong drops Ciampa again as things settle into the normal structure again. Cole and Lee get the hot tags and it’s time for the real house cleaning. The threat of a big dive sends the Era scattering so Lee runs over O’Reilly and Strong.

Dijakovic hits a spinning springboard dive but Cole breaks up a superplex to put O’Reilly on the pile outside. Cue Finn Balor to dropkick Cole into the referee in the corner. 1916 plants Ciampa but Lee rises up behind Balor for a great visual. Lee hits the Spirit Bomb on Balor and, after avoiding the Last Shot, hits the Limit Breaker for the pin on Cole at 11:48.

Rating: B. This was the kind of match that NXT knows how to do very well as they had the interference but then gave us the big moment to end things as well. These guys beat the heck out of each other and had the big spots in there, with Lee continuing to get the rocket push. That being said, there are other people involved who could get the title shot as well, which makes for a lot of great possibilities.

Post match here’s William Regal to make Keith Lee vs. Finn Balor vs. Tommaso Ciampa for next week with the winner getting a title shot the following week. That really could go any of the three ways and that’s not something you see every day.

Overall Rating: B. Another night with the wrestling being good throughout, as well as setting up multiple things that I want to see later on. You don’t get that very often and they made it work here, which almost no one else can do. The future is crazy bright with Lee and Ripley getting the monster pushes, but what makes it so much better is you could see them winning, which is almost unthinkable. More good stuff here though, as NXT’s roll continues (for years now).

Results

Killian Dain b. Pete Dunne – Middle rope belly to back slam

Shayna Baszler b. Xia Li – Kirifuda Clutch

Forgotten Sons b. Adrian Alanis/Leon Ruff – Reverse DDT/middle rope stomp to Alanis

Matt Riddle b. Kassius Ohno – Bro Derek

Kushida b. Cameron Grimes – Cradle

Keith Lee/Tommaso Ciampa/Dominick Dijakovic b. Undisputed Era – Limit Breaker to Cole

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

NXT
Date: October 9, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Beth Phoenix, Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo

We’re into the second week of head to head and that could mean some interesting developments. Above all else, it should be interesting to see how the show adjusts after getting flattened in the ratings last week. Maybe it was a one off surprise due to the debut, but it could be the start of a trend and that could mean some changes. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of last week’s show, which had a lot going on.

Cruiserweight Title: Drew Gulak vs. Lio Rush

Gulak is defending and it is officially the NXT Cruiserweight Title, albeit with the same design and color. Rush dropkicks him into the corner to start and hits a Spanish Fly for two as Gulak bails to the floor. That means a suicide dive and a bottom rope moonsault to the floor. Back in and Rush’s tornado DDT is countered with a toss to the mat, setting up a running clothesline in the corner to give Gulak two.

Gulak works on something like an abdominal stretch on the mat before switching over to an armbar. Rush fights up and goes to the top, only to get kicked to the floor as we take a break. Back with Rush kicking at the chest but the springboard Stunner is countered into the Gulock in the middle of the ring.

Rush teases the tap but unhooks the legs and gets out, including a backflip into a cradle for two. Rush’s dragon sleeper is broken up in a hurry and Gulak’s Cyclone Crash gets two, with Rush getting a foot on the rope. Rush breaks up a superplex and hits the springboard Stunner this time around. The Final Hour (Low Down) gives Rush the pin and the title at 11:41.

Rating: C+. Rush as a face is something that seems like a waste of his natural talking skills but I like his work better as a face than a heel so it’s a weird mixture. This was a pretty obvious title change though and there’s nothing wrong with that, as you want to get the title’s new era started off with a big deal.

Post match William Regal comes out to wrap the title around Rush’s waist but Gulak breaks it up and hands the title over himself in a nice moment.

Video on Finn Balor.

We get another video on Tegan Nox’s return, with her first match next week.

Rhea Ripley vs. Aliyah

Aliyah tries to hit Rhea in the face for some reason and gets blasted for her efforts. The standing Cloverleaf has Aliyah in trouble and Rhea swings her around for a bonus. A forward powerbomb makes it worse and Rhea cranks on it for the tap at 1:22. Total squash and that Cloverleaf looked great.

Post match Rhea says Shayna Baszler didn’t beat her and she’s coming for the title.

There will be a press conference in Las Vegas on Friday, featuring major announcements involving Brock Lesnar, Cain Velasquez, Brock Lesnar, HHH and Braun Strowman. Sounds Crown Jewelish.

Breezango vs. Ever Rise

Breezango are dressed as construction workers this week, complete with rather fetching women in hard hats. Breeze has to get Fandango away from them as Beth seems VERY pleased with the new look. Mauro: “Adam on line one.” Hang on though as the Forgotten Sons drag Ever Rise out and we have some replacements.

Breezango vs. Forgotten Sons

Cutler beats up Breeze to start and it’s a running hiptoss from Blake to send Cutler into Breeze’s back. Breeze is back up without much trouble and brings Fandango in for the Falcon Arrow, followed by Breeze coming back in pretty quickly. The illegal Fandango hits a sunset bomb on Cutler but Jaxson Ryker pulls Breeze outside for the posting. Fandango dives onto him, only to have Blake do the same to take Fandango out. Back in and a toss powerbomb into the knees sets up the Memory Remains for the pin on Fandango at 3:37.

Rating: C-. I was surprised by how short the match was and that’s a good thing. They didn’t overstay their welcome, though neither of these teams feel like a top pairing. Breezango are the kind of team who can lose and bounce back with no trouble and that’s a valuable thing to have. The Sons….they may be better off being forgotten.

Keith Lee is ready to beat Dominik Dijakovic next week. They need to blow that off already.

Boa vs. Cameron Grimes

They really love Grimes around here, though it might be due to his hat. Cue Killian Dain to distract Boa, allowing Grimes to finish with the standing double stomp at 9 seconds.

Post match Dain beats Boa up, including Vader Bombs and throwing him onto the announcers’ table.

Video on Damien Priest, who wants to use Pete Dunne to make himself famous.

Roderick Strong vs. Isaiah Scott

Non-title and Strong gets some encouragement from the Undisputed Era before coming to the ring. Strong headlocks him down to start and lets him know that this is HIS house. That just brings Scott to his feet for some chops and a cartwheel moonsault for two in a creative spot.

After a quick trip to the floor, Strong comes back in for a strike off, with Mauro getting in a Lucha Underground reference by saying they’re both looking for the kill shot. The first backbreaker cuts Scott off though and it’s time for more loud chopping. Another backbreaker gives Strong another two and we take a break. Back with Scott kicking away from the mat and then kicking at the chest, which draws out the rest of the Era.

Scott crotches Strong on the middle rope and gets two off a hanging DDT. A Downward Spiral into the running kick to the back of Strong’s head connects for two more and Strong is in big trouble. Strong gets caught hanging by his feet from the bottom rope so Scott destroys him with a slingshot double stomp. The Era offers a distraction though and it’s a running knee into the End of Heartache. The Stronghold finishes Scott at 10:25.

Rating: B-. Scott gets better every time he’s out there and the fans are WAY into him, which should be a clear path to something that matters around here. He looked good against Strong here and the champ needed some help to escape, so maybe they have some bigger plans for Scott. He’s impressed me everywhere he has gone so I would certainly be pleased.

Post match, the Era gets in the ring with Cole praising Scott. Everyone wants to be the best and fulfill this dream of being the best, which is why Finn Balor and Tommaso Ciampa. Cue the Velveteen Dream to ask if someone said Dream. He pops up above the entrance and says that while some of the Era is great, allow Dream to show him his reality.

We see Strong imitating Shawn Michaels’ Playgirl pose with the North American Title in a certain place. Dream gets his rematch in two weeks, but first he snaps his fingers and the title disappears from the picture, being replaced by a rather small censored logo. Cue Tommaso Ciampa with a chair and a crutch to chase the Era off and have a seat. Ciampa: “Goldie? Daddy’s home.” I could go for Undisputed Era vs. NXT Legends/All Stars.

Quick video on Walter and Imperium.

During the break, Angel Garza tried to hit on the interviewer and steal Ciampa’s interview time. Ciampa showed up and laid out Garza after some Spanish ranting. Interviewer: “What did he say?” Ciampa: “I have no idea.”

Dakota Kai vs. Bianca Belair

Kai starts fast by kicking Belair to the floor for an early two. A charge gets Kai launched face first into the buckle and the hard shoulders to the ribs in the corner make it even worse. Belair squats her to show off but has to kick out of a small package. A tilt-a-whirl faceplant gets two and we take a break.

Back with hitting some clotheslines and a running dropkick, followed by the pump kick to the side of the head. Some kicks to the head in the corner give Kai two, including the running kick to the face in the corner. Kai rolls her up out of the corner but gets pulled into the double chickenwing facebuster. Belair’s running shooting star press gets two and frustration is setting in. Back up and Kai tries one more kick but gets caught in the KOD for the pin at 10:12.

Rating: C+. This started slowly but got a lot better in the end, with Kai kicking her heart out but coming up short. I like Kai more and more every time I see her and hopefully this is a sign that she has her old skill back. She looked a bit better here with the more serious looking gear and the kick working more than usual. Push her and you might have an underdog star on your hands. I’m not sure about having her lose here, but NXT loves it some Belair so her getting a win like this isn’t surprising.

Post match Belair says that she wants Baszler and Rhea can go through her to get the title shot. It’s amazing how much better her promos are without the un-de-fea-ted nonsense.

Dominik Dijakovic is ready to bring out the best in Keith Lee again. He knows Keith’s limits though and is ready to take him there.

We look back at Finn Balor being drafted to Raw and becoming the first Universal Champion.

Video on Pete Dunne wanting to make a name for himself in WWE. That’s what he’s done ever since, and now Damien Priest is trying to do the same thing. That won’t be happening off of Dunne’s back.

The NXT roster congratulates Rush for winning the title.

Kushida vs. Walter

Non-title. Feeling out process to start until Walter powers him onto the apron and pats him on the head. They take turns riding each other on the mat until Kushida gets in a dropkick to send us to a break. Back with Kushida slipping off a springboard and getting kicked in the face for his efforts. The one legged Liontamer has Kushida in more trouble as Walter cranks away.

That’s broken up so Walter chops away but the powerbomb is countered into a DDT for the breather. Kushida gets sent to the apron and manages to snap the arm across the rope. A sunset bomb is blocked though and Walter stomps on the face to put Kushida on the floor. He’s right back up with a rolling DDT to the floor though and they both have to beat the count.

Back in and a kick to the arm sets up the Hoverboard Lock but Walter reverses into the sleeper. Kushida flips out of that and Walter has to grab the hands to block a cross armbreaker. Walter powers out again and it’s a half nelson pumphandle suplex into a bridge for two.

The frog splash is broken up and Kushida grabs the Hoverboard lock on top before superplexing him down by the arm. A foot on the rope gets Walter out of trouble so Kushida dropkicks the arm again. Walter dropkicks the heck out of him and the powerbomb gets two in a great near fall. With nothing else working, Walter hits a ripcord lariat to FINALLY put Kushida away at 16:48.

Rating: B. Much like Kai vs. Belair, this one took its time getting going but once they hit that other gear, it was some awesome stuff with both guys hitting each other very hard and setting up a big finish. It didn’t hit the level that some of Walter’s matches have but it was the match Kushida has been looking for around here. Walter still feels like a treat and a big, special performer, which is why you put him in a spot like this. Very good main event.

Next week: Ciampa vs. Garza and in two weeks, Strong defends against Dream.

Overall Rating: B-. This was another good show, this time focusing on the wrestling instead of the surprises and the angles. I like where most of the stuff is going, though I still have some issues getting behind the Undisputed Era holding everything. The challengers are starting to line up though and that could make for some quality television going forward. Some of the stuff at the beginning didn’t click, but the bigger matches made up for them enough and that’s what matters here.

Overall, I think it’s a tie between the shows this week as I might have rated Dynamite a bit low. They had the better match with Private Party vs. the Bucks and their stuff being set up for the future was better, though I liked the wrestling better overall on NXT. What matters is that neither show dropped in quality by any major amount and both were rather good shows that you could watch back to back with no issue. Another good week, as the wrestling renaissance continues.

Results

Lio Rush b. Drew Gulak – Final Hour

Rhea Ripley b. Aliyah – Seated Cloverleaf

Forgotten Sons b. Breezango – Memory Remains to Fandango

Cameron Grimes b. Boa – Standing double stomp

Roderick Strong b. Isaiah Scott – Stronghold

Bianca Belair b. Dakota Kai – KOD

Walter b. Kushida – Ripcord lariat

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

NXT
Date: September 25, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo, Beth Phoenix

Well it was a good run while it lasted, but things have to come to an end at some point. This will be the last week that the show is split between USA and the WWE Network. Therefore, this week’s show is going to be setting up next week’s two hour USA debut and that means we should be in for the usual big night. The big announced match is Matt Riddle vs. Killian Dain in a street fight to crown a new #1 contender. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of last week’s show, including HHH in the crowd leading an NXT chant and the Undisputed Era holding all of the titles.

The Undisputed Era is above the announcers’ booth.

Keith Lee vs. Dominick Dijakovic

They miss strikes to start, including Lee missing a spinning kick to the face. Just to show off, Lee leapfrogs him and hits a crossbody to crush Dijakovic. A big shoulder sends Dijakovic to the apron and they fight over a suplex with neither being able to get anywhere. Dijakovic pulls him to the apron for a chokeslam (THUD) and we take a break.

Back with Lee hitting a one handed spinebuster and some overhand chops to the chest. Dijakovic looks at him and gets sent head first into the buckle. That means a slingshot corkscrew dive and somehow Dijakovic isn’t a splat on the floor. Back in and Lee can’t muscle him up for a suplex, though thankfully Dijakovic manages to turn it into a small package attempt.

Back up and Lee elbows him in the head over and over, setting up a middle rope moonsault for two. Lee takes it to the top but Dijakovic reverses into a super Canadian Destroyer for two, followed by his own moonsault for two more as Lee just sits up for the cover. The Limit Breaker finishes Dijakovic at 12:35.

Rating: B. This is one of those pairings that just works no matter what they do. Those spots were making my eyes open up and that’s the kind of thing you don’t get to do very often. Both guys are looking awesome from these matches and I’m sure there will be one more match, possibly next week even, and I can more than go for that.

We look back at Candice LeRae becoming #1 contender and getting in a staredown with Shayna Baszler.

We look back at last week’s wild brawl to end the show. William Regal had to break it up and made Matt Riddle vs. Killian Dain in another street fight for the #1 contendership tonight.

The Street Profits promise to get their titles back next week.

Dakota Kai vs. Taynara

This is Kai’s big return after destroying her knee. Taynara on the other hand has lost her last name. Kai kicks her in the face to start and goes up, only to get crotched down. Taynara gets in a kick, a judo throw and another kick for two as Kai is in trouble. That doesn’t last long as Kai hits a kick to the face and an ax kick to the back. Some Kawada kicks have Taynara in more trouble, followed by the running kick to the face in the corner. The GTK finishes Taynara at 2:42. Kai looked good in a limited capacity here and hopefully they give her the push that she never got before.

Video on Johnny Gargano.

Matt Riddle vs. Killian Dain

Street fight and the winner gets Cole for the NXT Title at some point. They go straight for the strikes but Riddle can’t get a cross armbreaker. He can however German suplex Dain for two so the big guy heads outside. A running forearm off the steps rocks Dain and we take a break.

Back with Dain choking in the corner until Riddle scores with a knee to the face. An exploder suplex sends Dain flying and the Broton connects. A Penalty Kick gets two but Dain is right back with a powerbomb for two. Riddle is fine enough to hit an Alabama Slam into the Floating Bro for another near fall.

Back up and Dain sends him outside for a suicide dive, followed by the pelting of a chair to the shoulder. They head into the crowd with Riddle hitting some kicks but it’s a crossbody through a wooden wall to crush both of them. Back from another break with Riddle hitting a Broton off the bleachers through another table. A bunch of kicks to the face and chest have Dain in trouble and they head back inside for a slingshot Broton.

Dain is fine enough to crossbody a chair onto Riddle to take over. Three straight Vader Bombs (how Dain beat him in the first match) get two but a fourth attempt with a chair is blocked with a chair shot to Dain’s back. The Final Flash knee into the chair into Dain’s head gets two and Riddle hammers away with shots to the head. What looked to be a low blow doesn’t seem to stop Riddle as he grabs a Fujiwara armbar for the tap at 20:29.

Rating: B. What else were you expecting here? They beat each other up for twenty minutes here and Riddle gets to slay the dragon to set up the title match. The title match is next week but it would make sense to let it be the big main event in a few weeks instead of cramming it onto an already stacked show. Either way, very good showing here and Dain can be a monster again at almost any time.

Post match here’s Cole to shout at Riddle, who armbars him as well. The Undisputed Era runs out so Riddle bails.

Over on the WWE Network now and we look at more replays from the street fight. That’s a good idea as the fans need some time to switch platforms.

Rhea Ripley vs. Kayden Carter

Carter explodes at the bell so Ripley runs her over with a dropkick for two. The delayed vertical suplex gets the same and Ripley forearms her in the head. A hurricanrana sends Ripley down and Carter runs the corner for a several springboard hurricanrana. Carter’s low superkick gets two but Ripley is back up with Riptide at 2:37. They packed a TON into this and it was a blast in such a short amount of time.

Ever Rise vs. Danny Burch/Oney Lorcan

That would be 3.0 under what seems to be their official name. Martel takes Lorcan down to start as Mauro clarifies that there is no relation to Rick the Model. Parker comes in and gets headlocked down by Burch before handing it back to Lorcan for a double Russian legsweep. With the referee yelling at Burch, Martel sneaks in and throws Lorcan outside so the villains can take over.

A snap suplex gets two on Lorcan and we hit the armbar. Lorcan gets knocked down again and Martel takes him down with a backbreaker. A northern lariat connects but Parker runs into Martel by mistake, allowing Burch to come in and clean house. Burch and Lorcan get very fired up and the assisted elevated DDT finishes Martel at 6:28.

Rating: C+. Nice hard hitting match here with Burch and Lorcan being fine for an upper midcard team who isn’t likely to win the titles. However, in NXT that means they very well may get them some day and it would work well enough. I liked what we saw here and Ever Rise (bad name) was working as well.

Chelsea Green and Deonna Purrazzo are here.

Raul Mendoza vs. Cameron Grimes

Grimes goes for the standing double stomp at the bell again but gets caught in a wristlock instead. A quick hurricanrana takes Grimes down and it’s a springboard headlock takeover to show off a bit. Back up and Grimes gets in his cool counter to a crossbody into a powerslam for two of his own. Grimes whips him hard into the corner and grabs the armbar to keep Mendoza down.

Back up and Grimes gets two off a Superman punch before it’s right back to the armbar. Mendoza fights to his feet and hits a running knee to set up a missile dropkick. A cartwheel kick staggers Grimes on top and a springboard hurricanrana gets two. Grimes is back up and hits the standing double stomp for the pin at 7:26.

Rating: C. The abundance of armbars got a little annoying here but Grimes continues to be miles ahead of what he was doing back in Impact. He has a certain charisma to him and that stomp is a solid finisher. Mendoza is still one of the smoothest people on the roster and what we got here was even more proof.

Kushida/???/??? vs. Imperium

Kushida needs partners to face the team (minus Walter) and he has…..Breezango, which is an interesting choice. Aichner sends Kushida into the corner to start but gets hiptossed into the basement dropkick for two. A blind tag lets Imperium get in the triple teaming, with Breezango only coming in for the save once it’s down to one on one. Fandango comes in for two off a sunset flip and a double boot to the head gets two on Barthel.

Breeze has to fight out of the wrong corner but a little misdirection lets Barthel throw him outside. An elbow to the face puts Breeze in trouble and Wolfe comes in for a chinlock. A backbreaker gives Wolfe two and double dropkicks in the corner have Breeze on the floor again. Fans: “NOT THE FACE!” The chinlock doesn’t last long as Breeze backdrops Barthel to the floor but Kushida and Fandango are pulled to the floor before the hot tag can connect.

Breeze manages an enziguri and now the hot tag brings in Fandango. Everything breaks down and Fandango sends everyone to the floor for the big flip dive. Back in and Kushida’s cross armbreaker is broken up so he kicks Aichner and Wolfe to the floor. The handspring elbow is blocked by an uppercut to the head but an O’Connor roll with a bridge pins Barthel at 11:09.

Rating: C+. The ending was a bit of a surprise though it’s a good idea to give Kushida the pin and set him up as a bigger challenger for Walter later on. Kushida has been doing some good things around here but hasn’t had the big moment to get him over the hump so maybe this can help him. Breezango continue to be a lot more motivated down here than on the main roster and can you blame them in the slightest?

Post match Kushida celebrates but Walter kicks him in the head. Imperium poses to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. I’m glad the split format is already gone as it was weird to see the weird double episode thing. Dain vs. Riddle was a rather fun match and they kept the rest of the show moving fast enough to make the show work. I liked it better than last week, though next week is what matters more than anything else. AEW is going to draw in a lot of fans, but they have their work cut out for them.

Results

Keith Lee b. Dominick Dijakovic – Limit Breaker

Dakota Kai b. Taynara – GTK

Matt Riddle b. Killian Dain – Fujiwara armbar

Rhea Ripley b. Kayden Carter – Riptide

Danny Burch/Oney Lorcan b. Ever Rise – Assisted elevated DDT to Martel

Cameron Grimes b. Raul Mendoza – Standing double stomp

Kushida/Breezango b. Imperium – Rollup to Barthel

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

NXT
Date: July 17, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo, Beth Phoenix

It’s weird to say this but NXT is in a little bit of a funk. I don’t know if it’s the Breakout Tournament or Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole III not being the most inspiring story in the world, but the last few shows haven’t been the most thrilling the world. They’re not bad by any stretch, but when your standards are this high, anything but great is jarring. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Matt Riddle vs. Arturo Ruas

Ruas is formerly known as Adrian Jaoude, with Mauro mentioning that he has a new identity. They go into an MMA striking battle to start with Nigel listing off their stats. Riddle takes him to the mat and they trade waistlocks into a standoff. Ruas gets in a powerslam but can’t get a full cross armbreaker. Instead Riddle tries his own but Ruas rolls out into another standoff. Back up and Riddle scores with a kick to the ribs so Ruas double legs him down. Another battle of kicks goes to Riddle and it’s the Final Flash knee strike. Riddle pounces on him until the referee stops it at 3:41.

Rating: C. Uh, shouldn’t pounding away with right hands until the referee calls it off be a DQ instead of a knockout? This was a nice change of pace between two people who know what they’re doing so I can go for a little something different. Riddle needs some competition though and a story would help him go a long way. The charisma and skills are there so give him somewhere to go with them.

Post match Killian Dain runs in and wrecks Riddle, including sending him shoulder first into the post and slamming his head onto the floor. A backsplash to Riddle’s back makes it even worse and Dain takes Riddle to the stage…..for another running backsplash THROUGH the stage. Well that worked.

The Street Profits don’t take kindly to the Undisputed Era thinking they deserve the titles more than the Profits. If the Profits aren’t serious, why can’t the Era just beat them? Come see how serious they are because they’re going to keep the titles. Dawkins: “And that is undisputed.” Ford’s shocked face is great.

We look at Mia Yim attacking Marina Shafir in the parking lot last Saturday.

Breakout Tournament First Round: Dexter Lumis vs. Bronson Reed

Lumis is Samuel Shaw and Reed is Jonah Rock. Reed says he’s from Australia and a usual night out for him is a fight fight at a pub. Why does no one talk about Australian strong style? Lumis frames his hands to look at Rock, who reaches his hand out at Lumis for a scene straight out of a character loading screen. The much bigger Reed runs him over but an elbow lets Lumis put him on the floor.

Lumis’ running flip dive misses but he lands on his feet, leaving Reed to run him over. Back in and Lumis sends him throat first into the bottom rope and hammers away. The neck crank goes on for a bit until Reed is back up with forearms to the face. The announcers talk about Lumis enjoying pain as Reed gets two off a backsplash (common move tonight). Lumis is right back up with a belly to back suplex and spinning legdrop, only to miss the Swanton. Reed slams him down and a top rope splash finishes Lumis at 5:52.

Rating: C. Lumis seems like someone who could be interesting if he was given some promo time and maybe a few vignettes. Reed is someone you get the idea of immediately and he looked good in the ring. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him work before but there’s some potential there and I was pleased with a short match here.

Here are the updated brackets:

Bronson Reed

Cameron Grimes

Angel Garza

Jordan Myles

Tyler Breeze thinks he might need some backup against the Undisputed Era. Cue the Forgotten Sons to say he’s not a real man. Breeze: “Oh I’m a real man. Check out his beard.” Breeze thinks Jaxson Ryker is Buddy Murphy and doesn’t seem worried.

We look at the debut of evil Io Shirai last week, when she said she didn’t need any friends.

Next week: Kacy Catanzaro vs. Io Shirai.

Kushida vs. Apollo Crews

Welcome home for Crews and he gets quite the reaction, even though he was never a big star in NXT. They shake hands to start with Kushida taking him to the mat and Gator Rollins him for two. Back up and they trade flips to dodge until Crews nails a dropkick to take over. Kushida slides to the floor and gets the chase going, allowing him to catch Crews with a handspring double heel to the face. Crews is fine enough to hit a pop up gutbuster and the chinlock is on. A Stinger Splash sets up a heck of an overhead belly to belly suplex for two on Kushida.

Back up and Kushida catches him with a kick to the arm in the corner as the setup for the Hoverboard Lock begins. The Tajiri handspring elbow connects and a basement dropkick has Crews in even more trouble. Crews powers out of an armbar attempt and some rolling German suplexes keep Kushida rocked.

He’s fine enough to Downward Spiral crews into the middle rope but Crews hits a jumping enziguri to put both guys down. Kushida catches him on top with another double heel shot to the head and pulls Crews down into a cross armbreaker. With that not working, Kushida rolls into the Sakuraba Lock for the tap at 10:45.

Rating: B. This worked quite well with Kushida getting to show off some more, though I can understand the criticisms from people saying he’s not that interesting. So far all he’s had are one off matches that get to showcase his skills, but he needs either some serious competition or something personal to challenge him. Crews is still very talented, assuming you don’t expect him to have some kind of character behind him.

Post match Kushida offers Crews respect and we get another WELCOME BACK chant.

Keith Lee isn’t happy with his tenure so far as he’s had a lot of starts and stops. He has yet to see any of the opportunities that were promised to him and he’s been passed by for all the new talents. Right now we’re in the middle of a tournament with eight people fighting for a title shot. Now there’s Damien Priest running around and getting all this attention so maybe he should change the narrative. I fully support more Keith Lee.

Next week: Lee vs. Priest.

Here’s Adam Cole for his first NXT Title defense but first, a chat. Cole talks about being on the Bay Bay Championship Tour as of late and he’s been able to show the world what power is. It is now undisputed that there is a power switch happening in NXT. He’s never said he won’t be a fighting champion so let’s have a title match right now, against this man. We see a clip of Johnny Gargano at his training school and showing a student the NXT Title. You know where this is going.

NXT Title: Adam Cole vs. Twan Tucker

Tucker is challenging and doesn’t look nervous. Cole insists that he’s alone here and it’s one on one. Tucker didn’t come alone though and here’s Gargano to charge the ring and go after Cole. No match of course.

Gargano superkicks him to the floor and hits a dive to the floor. They go into the crowd with Gargano hammering away and whipping Cole through various things. Referees break it up and Cole holds up the title so Gargano dives on him again and hammers away. They get into the ring and it’s the Gargano Escape to make Cole tap to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. Yeah this was way better than the previous weeks with some good wrestling and a few things being set up for later. The main thing here is trying to make Gargano vs. Cole feel more important….but I’m just not feeling it. We’ve done that so many times now and you could say this is their fifth match after three falls in the first one. That’s quite a bit to take and NXT rarely goes there. They do seem to be setting up the Undisputed Era dominance, though I’m not sure how interesting that would be. At least we had something good here though and NXT feels back on track.

Results

Matt Riddle b. Arturo Ruas via referee stoppage

Bronson Reed b. Dexter Lumis – Top rope splash

Kushida b. Apollo Crews – Sakuraba Lock

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

NXT
Date: July 3, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Beth Phoenix, Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo

Things took a bit of a turn last week with Io Shirai turning full heel on Candice LeRae. That could make for some interesting changes as we head towards Toronto with that match being a potential TV main event between now and then. Other than that it’s time for more of the Breakout Tournament so let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Aaliyah vs. Mia Yim

Vanessa Borne is in Aaliyah’s corner. Aaliyah takes her down to start and yells a lot but misses an enziguri. Borne has to pull her out of the way of a rolling kick in the corner and Mia is in trouble again. A kick to the back and a knee drop (with a forward flip) keep Aaliyah down as the announcers drop Beatles lyrics.

Mia is right back with the Tarantula but walks into an enziguri. Something close to a surfboard has Mia in a different kind of trouble but she avoids another knee. Aaliyah gets sent into the corner for a Cannonball, followed by a toss to the floor for a double suicide dive. Back in and Protect Your Neck finishes Aaliyah at 4:52.

Rating: C-. Aaliyah still doesn’t look great most of the time but this was one of her better performances. What matters most is Yim heading straight for Shayna Baszler and the title in a match that I didn’t expect to be looking forward to. It seemed like Candice would be getting this spot but they’re making this work.

Post match Mia sends Borne into the steps and goes to commentary to say she’s coming to beat up Shayna Baszler. Oh and for the title too.

We look back at Shirai snapping last week and destroying Candice.

The Forgotten Sons storm into William Regal’s office and complain about their title shot. Regal says they got themselves disqualified so it’s to the back of the line with them. Threats are made but Regal has accepted the Street Profits’ idea for some challengers. Therefore, next week, Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan are getting a shot at the Profits.

We see Adam Cole going to Gargano’s Restaurant but the owner, Frank, doesn’t seem happy. Cole goes over to a wall of Johnny Gargano’s stuff and tacks up an autographed photo of himself. Cole gets his pizzas and leaves while pointing out the updated wall.

We cut to Cole bringing the pizzas to a wrestling school where Johnny recently spoke. Cole doesn’t think much of the students because Johnny lied to them. Johnny told them that they could achieve something but Cole can see that they’re not good enough. Cole brought them the pizzas because they need to take it home, sit on their couch and give up. Just accept that Johnny got lucky to win the NXT Title and give up already. Cole is an awesome jerk but I really don’t need to see him fight Gargano again.

Kushida vs. Jeff Parker

Kushida wrestles him to the mat without much effort to start and grabs a headlock. That goes nowhere so it’s time to work on the arm on the mat with an elbow going into Parker’s ribs. The threat of the Hoverboard Lock (now called the Sakuraba Lock) sends Parker over to the rope so Kushida kicks him in the arm. Now the Sakuraba Lock finishes Parker at 2:32.

Tyler Breeze doesn’t like the Undisputed Era taking credit for NXT’s success because this used to be NX-Breeze.

Killian Dain watches film.

Breakout Tournament First Round: Isaiah Scott vs. Cameron Grimes

That would be Shane Strickland vs. Trevor Lee. Scott says he’s confident and Grimes knows he’s the best in the world. They go technical to start with Grimes going for the arm as the fans know Scott’s signature chants. A quick trip to the floor goes nowhere so Scott comes back in with an armbar of his own. Grimes goes with some heavy forearms to escape so Scott cartwheels into a headscisccors to take over again.

The armbar goes on again but Grimes reverses into an armbar of his own. One heck of a clothesline drops Scott and it’s time to work on the arm a little more. Scott is back up with a hurricanrana out of the corner and a Downward Spiral gets two. The top rope stomp misses though and Grimes grabs a sitout powerbomb for his own two. Grimes gets sent outside and Scott nails a running flip dive. Back in and they trade strikes to the head until Grimes’ running flipping suplex takes Scott down. The standing double stomp finishes Scott at 8:32.

Rating: B. Grimes is the guy that I always heard great things about but never got the appeal. That changed here as these two had a heck of a match which made me want to see more of the tournament. Both guys looked like stars here and neither would have been hurt by the loss. Really good, action based match here and it worked.

Bianca Belair vs. Priscilla Zuniga

Belair shoves her in the face to start so Zuniga shoves her right back. That’s WAY too far for Belair, who takes off the earrings and takes Zuniga down for a beating. Some hair tosses set up shoulders in the corner and it’s a gorilla press, with squats. Two powerbombs into a reverse buckle bomb sets up the KOD to finish Zuniga at 2:13. This was ten miles ahead of everything Belair has done so far and showed off the crazy athleticism that the announcers kept talking about. She looked awesome here and had a fire she has never approached before.

Matt Riddle training video.

Tyler Breeze vs. Roderick Strong

Breeze works on the arm to start but Strong reverses into a headlock in a hurry. Back up and Breeze kicks him in the face but gets dropkicked right back down. They head outside with Breeze getting dropped back first onto the CORNER of the steps, followed by another backbreaker onto the barricade. Back in and Strong starts stomping at the back (makes sense) before grabbing something like a surfboard.

Breeze fights out of that as well and sends Strong outside for a running forearm from the apron. A Backstabber gives Breeze two back inside but Strong enziguris him on top. That means a superplex to bang up Breeze’s back even more but the Strong Hold is broken up. Most of the Supermodel Kick gives Breeze two and his own enziguri puts Strong down. Cue Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish so Breeze kicks Fish down, only to walk into End of Heartache for the pin at 11:23.

Rating: B-. Another well done instance of having one person get a victory and the other being protected in a loss. This doesn’t hurt Breeze at all and Strong looks better at the same time. I could see Strong taking the North American Title at some point and they’re giving him some credibility to move in that direction so far. I would say keep it up, but would you expect anything else from NXT?

Overall Rating: B. This was a show built around the idea of advancing stories while also making the stars already there look good. You need these kind of shows without a big main event for a change and this one worked quite well. Some of the Takeover card is starting to come into shape and given the atmosphere, it could be another great one.

Results

Mia Yim b. Aaliyah – Protect Your Neck

Kushida b. Jeff Parker – Sakuraba Lock

Cameron Grimes b. Isaiah Scott – Standing double stomp

Bianca Belair b. Priscilla Zuniga – KOD

Roderick Strong b. Tyler Breeze – End of Heartache

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

NXT
Date: June 12, 2019
Location: APGFCU Arena At Hartford Community College, Bel Air, Maryland
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo

We’re on the road again for the first regular show as we head towards Toronto in August. I’m not sure what to expect going forward, but we have about two months before the next Takeover, which should be enough time to set up something great. Hopefully things get back to normal around here, though even their off weeks are still good. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

The announcers run down tonight’s double main event of Oney Lorcan/Danny Burch vs. the Undisputed Era and Kushida vs. Drew Gulak in a submission match.

Io Shirai/Candice LeRae vs. Marina Shafir/Jessamyn Duke

Shayna Baszler is watching from the ramp. Shirai has a banged up shoulder so Candice starts by running Shafir into the corner for a jackknife rollup for two. Back in and Shafir hits a kick to the face so Duke can come in for a kick to the back. It’s back to Shafir for a judo throw and something like a torture rack but with Candice bent around the back instead of the shoulders.

That’s broken up but Shafir kicks Shirai off the apron to keep Candice in trouble. Candice manages to send Duke into Shafir and an enziguri allows the hot tag to Shirai. The 619 hits Duke and a springboard missile dropkick makes it worse. Shirai hits the Baszler arm stomp on Duke but Baszler pulls her away from the moonsault. That’s fine with Shirai, who moonsaults onto Baszler instead. Candice dives onto Shafir and Duke and the match is thrown out at 5:45.

Rating: C+. There was some energy to this one and the match worked well as we’re supposed to ignore Shirai losing her mind at Takeover. Candice continues to be rather spunky and the kind of person you want to see win. This felt fun and I had a rather good time with it, so you can call this a very nice surprise.

The huge brawl continues post match with Baszler getting involved as well. Referees have trouble breaking it up and can’t quite get them apart.

We look back at Tyler Breeze vs. Velveteen Dream at Takeover.

Dream talks about how it’s solid and dependable, but he doesn’t mean the title. Get ready for the next experience.

We look back at Drew Gulak vs. Kushida from two weeks ago.

Drew Gulak vs. Kushida

Submission match. Kushida goes with a bodyscissors to start as the announcers get in their MMA terms. Gulak has to cover up and Kushida spins around his back to show off a bit. Back up and Kushida starts in on the arm before sending Gulak outside without much trouble. The armbar goes on but Gulak reverse slams his way out of trouble. The Gory Stretch goes on with both of Kushida’s arms being bent backwards until they almost touch each other.

That’s broken up so Gulak goes with something like a Boston crab to switch over to the back instead. An armtrap headlock (Mauro: “As annoying as a robocall.”) keeps Kushida down before Gulak switches over to a regular armbar. Kushida gets out of that as well and it’s a hiptoss into a basement dropkick. A springboard tornado DDT sets up the cross armbreaker but Gulak gets a foot on the rope.

They roll around into what would have been a pinfall reversal sequence in a regular match but this time Gulak gets into an ankle lock. Kushida escapes again and takes it to the apron for some kicks to the chest. They slug it out back inside with Kushida hitting a handspring elbow. Kushida headscissors him down and slaps on the Hoverboard Lock for the quick tap at 10:07.

Rating: B. This never hit the higher level I was expecting but they can only do so much with ten minutes. Some of the grappling was awesome here though and the counters were starting to get really good. What matters most here though is Kushida getting this kind of a push as he continues to look awesome every time he’s out there.

Post match Kushida applauds him and Gulak shakes his hand.

Aaliyah and Vanessa Borne don’t like the idea of Mia Yim thinking she should get a title shot. They don’t think she looks like a champion so they’ve got her some books, including books on fashion, English and grammar. If she can’t read, how can she use the books? We really need smarter heels around here.

In two weeks: Shirai vs. Baszler for the Women’s Title in a cage.

We look at Mansoor winning the battle royal at Super ShowDown and his post match speech. The latter was good, the former not so much.

Oney Lorcan/Danny Burch vs. Kyle O’Reilly/Roderick Strong

Lorcan and O’Reilly grapple to start with Kyle taking him to the mat for a broken up leglock. With that not working, they hammer on each other in the corner until O’Reilly kicks him in the face. Everything breaks down and it’s a big slugout with the Era being sent outside for the running dive from Lorcan.

Burch sends O’Reilly into the half and half suplex from Lorcan with Strong having to make a save. It’s back to Strong for the loud chops in the corner and the first backbreaker keeps Lorcan in trouble. A running knee to the back makes it even worse and Lorcan’s throat is catapulted into the bottom rope. The chinlock goes on but Strong lets go so he can knock Burch off the apron in a smart move. Another slugout goes to O’Reilly but Lorcan is right back with a running Blockbuster.

That’s enough for the tag off to Burch so house can be cleaned. A powerbomb into the Crossface has O’Reilly in trouble but Strong makes a quick save. O’Reilly hits a Dean Ambrose rebound lariat for two with Lorcan diving in for a save. Everything breaks down and it’s a four way knockdown. Cue Jaxson Ryker, who beats up security on the way to the ring. The distraction lets Burch roll O’Reilly up for the pin at 9:45.

Rating: B. Anytime they want to completely stop with this Ryker stuff, I’d be completely ok with it. He doesn’t exactly fit with what they’re going for at the moment and having him be the big Frankenstein monster in the ladder match felt completely out of nowhere. It’s not that he’s a bad character or addition, but keep him out of this division at the moment.

Overall Rating: B+. Three good matches, storyline advancement and a big main event set up for two weeks. It’s too early to know where things are heading for Toronto but unlike the main roster, I have every confidence that NXT can make something like that work. Just keep giving us shows like this and my head might stop hurting a bit after Monday and Tuesday nights.

Results

Candice LeRae/Io Shirai vs. Marina Shafir/Jessamyn Duke went to a double disqualification when all four brawled on the floor

Kushida b. Drew Gulak – Hoverboard Lock

Oney Lorcan/Danny Burch b. Kyle O’Reilly/Roderick Strong – Rollup to O’Reilly

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

NXT
Date: May 29, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Beth Phoenix, Mauro Ranallo

It’s the go home show for Takeover and that means we should be in for some nice final push segments towards the show. The card feels a little thrown together but that has never stopped NXT from making these things work before. If they do things right, we could be in for another classic. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Bianca Belair vs. Mia Yim

Rematch from three weeks ago where Belair won. Mia dropkicks her to the floor early on and Bianca isn’t sure what to do. Back in and Bianca takes her down with a double leg but gets reversed so Mia can hammer away even more. A Cannonball in the corner keeps Bianca in trouble but she comes back with a kick to the face for two.

It’s off to a double chickenwing to keep Yim down, followed by a delayed vertical suplex (with squats) to show off Belair’s power. Mia is right back with a Tarantula and an SOS for two so an annoyed Belair dropkicks her in the face. The cocky cover gets one but what looks like a Glam Slam is countered into a rollup to give Mia two. Belair forearms the heck out of her for one and it’s back to the double chickenwing.

That’s broken up as well and a shot to the face gives us a double knockdown. Code Red (that’s becoming WAY too popular of a move these days) gives Mia two more and Eat Defeat sends Belair outside. They chop it out on the ramp and dive back in at nine with Belair taking over again. Yim pulls the hair to get out of a powerbomb though and Protect Yo Neck finishes Belair at 10:08.

Rating: C+. I’m not wild on either of them but the match was a good one with Belair thinking she was better than Yim due to being so much better of a pure athlete. Yim is the kind of person who is going to fight no matter what and that’s what she did here, which made for a good story being told. Belair continues to be really annoying, so at least she has the heel stuff down.

Long video on Tyler Breeze vs. Velveteen Dream, with Dream talking about how Breeze went to NXT and was overwhelmed so he’s back here to recapture his former glory. There is only room for one person to steal the spotlight here and that’s what Dream does. That’s a good story between two people who are rather similar at their cores.

We look back at Io Shirai saving Candice LeRae from the Horsewomen last week.

Shayna Baszler and the Horsewomen aren’t worried about Shirai because Shirai can’t bring weapons to Takeover. Baszler’s weapons, as in the Horsewomen, are right here.

Drew Gulak vs. Kushida

One fan tries to start a GULAK chant and thankfully gives up in short order. Gulak’s wristlock doesn’t last long as Kushida takes him down, only to get reversed into a hammerlock. Kushida rolls away from that as well and it’s a standoff. A grab of the leg sets up a half crab on Kushida, which is broken up in a hurry. Kushida switches to a triangle and Gulak slaps his leg, which looked a lot like a tap but doesn’t count here.

The hold is broken up again and it’s off to an also quickly broken Crossface. Kushida can’t keep an Octopus hold on either and neither can hit a hiptoss. Instead Kushida gets sent to the apron and snaps the arm over the top rope. Back in and Gulak’s arm is fine enough for a gutbuster, followed by something like an Octopus hold on the mat. That’s broken up as well and Kushida gets the hiptoss, this time into an armbreaker.

Since a hold can’t stay on for more than a few seconds, Gulak gets up and grabs an ankle lock. That’s reversed into another armbreaker which is reversed into another ankle lock. Kushida scores with an enziguri into the corner and the Hoverboard Lock goes on. Gulak rolls away but gets caught in a Downward Spiral. What looks to be a camel clutch is rolled into a rollup to pin Gulak at 8:15.

Rating: B. This was the human chess match which can be so fun to watch. These two were countering everything the other had and it was really entertaining to see where they were going from move to move. The ending felt like a clean version of Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit at Wrestlemania XVII with all those submission holds (they even had a Crossface and ankle locks) until someone got caught in a pin.

Post match Gulak yells but Kushida holds up three fingers.

Io Shirai isn’t worried about the Horsewomen but Candice LeRae comes up to say she has her back at Takeover.

Takeover rundown.

Video on Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole. Johnny has worked hard to get here but Cole thinks that he deserves the title because of how great he is. Oh and pinning Gargano in the first fall in New York.

Oney Lorcan/Danny Burch vs. Forgotten Sons

Burch armbars Blake to start but a blind tag lets Cutler come in for a double back elbow. A double backbreaker gives Blake two but it’s quickly off to Lorcan for the chops. Jaxson Ryker offers a distraction though, allowing Blake to hit a clothesline. Ryker gets ejected (Mauro: “IT’S ABOUT TIME!” We’re not even two minutes into the match.) and here are the Street Profits to jump him. The Profits come in for the double DQ at 2:11.

Post match, with the fans chanting THANK YOU PROFITS, the fight is on with the Sons bringing in chairs. Cue the full Undisputed Era to beat everyone down and hit the pose. Cole grabs a ladder and the Era drives it into Ryker’s face. The ladder is set up on the stage and Cole sits on top of it, promising Johnny Gargano and Matt Riddle that Takeover will be Undisputed to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. I don’t know if it’s the fast turnaround or that we’re coming off the previous awesome Takeover, but this one isn’t feeling like the biggest show in the world. I’m sure it’s going to be very good, but that’s not exactly the kind of level that you expect from NXT. This was a strong enough go home show, though I’m not exactly sold on the entire card.

Results

Mia Yim b. Bianca Belair – Protect Yo Neck

Kushida b. Drew Gulak – Rollup

Oney Lorcan/Danny Burch vs. Forgotten Sons went to a double DQ when the Street Profits interfered

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

NXT
Date: May 15, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Beth Phoenix, Nigel McGuinness

It’s time for a fresh taping cycle and that means a few fresh things around here. First of all we have to deal with the Tag Team Titles, as the Viking Raiders are now on the main roster, meaning they aren’t likely to be able to defend the titles around here. Oh and Takeover is in two and a half weeks so we need some matches. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Mauro and Nigel talk about Percy Watson leaving and wish him well. Beth Phoenix is introduced onto the team.

Here are the Viking Raiders, with Mauro giving a quick explanation about the name change which we really didn’t need. They talk about raiding Raw recently and promise to raid again in the future. For right now though, they want William Regal out here for an announcement.

This brings out the boss and the Raiders make it quick: they’re relinquishing the titles effective immediately. Cue the Street Profits, who think the Raiders are running from them. They know they can beat the Raiders, with Dawkins making a joke about the Raiders not using their real names. The Profits want one more match for the titles and Regal says it’s on. As usual around here: the problem comes up and NXT has a solution to it in a hurry.

We look at the end of last week’s show, with Roderick Strong costing Adam Cole the match against Matt Riddle. Cole wasn’t happy and the argument continued after the show went off the air. A fight nearly broke out and Cole thought Strong didn’t deserve to be on the team.

The Undisputed Era, minus Strong, talk about who the leader of the team is but something is going on behind them. With all of them trying to see what’s happening, here’s Strong to say that he thought about what happened last week. The Matt Riddle problem has been taken care of, and Strong hands Cole a flip flop. That’s quite the abrupt shift in storyline so there might be something bigger afoot.

Cezar Bononi vs. Keith Lee

Lee leapfrogs over him to start and runs the big Bononi over with a shoulder. A drop toehold sends Lee throat first into the rope but Bononi’s shoulders have little effect. Lee blocks a whip and hits a running forearm in the corner, followed by a heck of a Pounce. The Spirit Bomb finishes Bononi at 2:30.

We look back at Io Shirai jumping Shayna Baszler last week at the Performance Center.

Official for Takeover: Baszler defends against Shirai.

The Forgotten Sons don’t like the Street Profits being handed another title shot. They won’t let Regal forget them again.

Kona Reeves vs. Kushida

Kushida taps his watch to make the lights change for a nice touch. They go straight to the mat with Kushida getting a front facelock and riding Reeves all the way to frustration. A hammerlock keeps Reeves down but here’s Drew Gulak of all people to watch from the stage. Reeves fights up and slams him into the corner, followed by some right hands to the head. The chinlock goes on but Kushida is up in a hurry, this time with a series of kicks for two. The Hoverboard Lock is countered so Kushida kicks him to the floor and hits a top rope flip dive. Back in and the Hoverboard Lock makes Reeves tap at 5:05.

Rating: C. This was a strong showcase for Kushida with Reeves only getting in a few shots here and there. Kushida vs. Gulak could be rather interesting for a technical showcase and the popular Kushida shutting up the annoying Gulak is a good idea. I’m liking how Kushida is being presented so far and he could be a big success around here.

Bianca Belair doesn’t like Mia Yim talking to Regal about stealing her title shot but Yim was talking about a rematch with Belair. That doesn’t work either so Belair goes into Regal’s office.

Riddle has taped up ribs and talks to Johnny Gargano about something.

Gargano isn’t worried about the Undisputed Era being back so strong. That’s why he’s defending against Cole at Takeover.

Vanessa Borne vs. Jessie

Jessie is from the Mae Young Classic. Borne runs the rather tall Jessie over to start and hooks a drop toehold for good measure. Some stomping makes it even worse and stomping in the corner makes it much worse, but in a corner. Aliyah adds a slap to Jessie’s face but she comes back with a spinwheel kick to Borne. That’s it from Jessie as Borne snaps off a running swinging neckbreaker for the pin at 2:50.

Tag Team Titles: Street Profits vs. Viking Raiders

The Raiders are defending. It’s a brawl to start with the Raiders taking over but the Viking Experience is broken up with a spear from Dawkins. Ivar and Dawkins trade cartwheels and Dawkins takes him down again, setting up the frog splash from Ford for two. We get down to a regular match and it’s the Forgotten Sons coming in to jump Ivar for the DQ at 2:15.

Post match the brawl is on, with Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch joining the fun. The Profits take Erik down and count their own two before running away. The Vikings aren’t happy and it’s a springboard clothesline/German suplex combination to Burch. Lorcan gets thrown over the top and onto a pile of people, followed by the Viking Experience to Blake. The Raiders hold the titles to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This show was flying by with a bunch of matches that didn’t get a lot of time. However, they also got a lot of stuff done with the Tag Team Title situation being addressed (more on that next week I’m sure), the issues with the Undisputed Era getting fixed up (for the time being) and two title matches being set up for Takeover. As usual they know how to get things done when they need to and that’s what happened here.

Results

Keith Lee b. Cezar Bononi – Spirit Bomb

Kushida b. Kona Reeves – Hoverboard Lock

Vanessa Borne b. Jessie – Running swinging neckbreaker

Viking Raiders b. Street Profits via DQ when the Forgotten Sons interfered

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

NXT
Date: May 1, 2019
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson, Nigel McGuinness

Things are staying interesting around here and tonight we have the latest import in the form of Kushida, who makes his in-ring debut. As usual he gets to face Kassius Ohno, which should work out well for everyone involved. Throw in the Undisputed Era having some issues and we could be in for a good night. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a quick video on Kushida and how important he is.

Opening sequence.

Forgotten Sons vs. Danny Burch/Oney Lorcan/Humberto Carrillo

Fallout from last week’s brawl. Cutler and Lorcan strike it out to start until a running Blockbuster takes Cutler down. Blake comes in instead and gets uppercutted out to the floor. That means the big dive onto all three Sons and it’s off to Carrillo for a standing moonsault to the legs. The sky high springboard armdrag sends Cutler outside but it’s Ryker coming in off a blind tag to unload on Carrillo. The Sons take turns on Carrillo in the corner with various combinations of stomping.

Ryker’s cobra clutch doesn’t last long and a missed headbutt allows the tag off to Burch. Cutler gets pulled down into the Crossface with Ryker making a save. Everything breaks down and Carrillo’s suicide dive hits Lorcan by mistake. That leaves Burch on his own against all three Sons, which works as well as you would expect. A Polish Hammer drops Burch and Carrillo gets buckle bombed into Cutler’s raised knees. Ryder holds both Carrillo and Burch in a double reverse DDT for top rope knees to the chest (with Ryker dropping them instead of DDTing them) for the pin at 7:33.

Rating: C. Here’s where NXT is so many steps ahead of Raw and Smackdown: the Forgotten Sons weren’t working as they were, so NXT changed things up a bit and turned them into something that did work. They actually fixed the characters instead of throwing up their hands because their first half baked not completely developed idea wasn’t a runaway success. That’s how wrestling is supposed to work, but the biggest wrestling shows don’t get that.

Shanyna Baszler and company don’t like being asked about Io Shirai pinning Baszler so the microphone is slapped away.

Earlier this week, Bianca Belair and Mia Yim yelled at each other at the Performance Center. They’ll fight next week.

Mansoor vs. Dominik Dijakovic

Mansoor is smart enough to duck the cyclone boot and hurricanranas Dijakovic into the corner. A high crossbody is countered into the standing backbreaker and Mansoor is tossed outside, thankfully not breaking his leg as it awkwardly crashes into the barricade. Dijakovic gets two off a splash but Mansoor is right back with a sleeper. That doesn’t work very well so Mansoor goes with a kick to the head. With Dijakovic kneeling, Mansoor jumps onto the leg and uses it as a springboard for another kick. Dijakovic has had it and knocks Mansoor silly, setting up Feast Your Eyes for the pin at 5:12.

Rating: C+. This was a lot better than I was expecting and Mansoor looked good here with a lot of offense. Much like the Sons though, Dijakovic has gotten far better as he’s now just an athletic monster who has said what he wants. You don’t need to go into some huge development. Just feature them and give them impressive wins so people think something of him. It worked with Dijakovic and it would work with pretty much anyone else.

Post match here’s Velveteen Dream on a purple couch, accompanied by some good looking women. He’s heard that Dijakovic had words for him, so Dream has his own….in the form of a personalized version of the Star Spangled Banner, promising to steal the show like he does with his big elbow. Of all the Velveteen Dream things, this was the Velveteen Dreamiest.

We look back at the end of last week’s show with Matt Riddle helping Johnny Gargano against the Undisputed Era.

The Undisputed Era promise to take care of Riddle but bring up Strong’s loss last week. Strong walks away and Bobby Fish follows him, saying Cole’s timing was terrible.

Kassius Ohno vs. Kushida

Kushida gets the big debut entrance and looks just like he did in New Japan, which is a good move as the Back to the Future look is a signature for him. Ohno kicks away a handshake offer and throws the much smaller Kushida into the corner. Kushida’s wristlock is countered into a quickly broken chinlock as the fans are firmly on Kushida’s side. A takedown goes to Kushida, who rides Ohno’s back to mess with him a little bit.

The cartwheel into a basement dropkick rocks Ohno again but he’s right back with the cravate. That’s reversed as well and we have a standoff. The wrestling isn’t working so Ohno kicks him in the face but Kushida is fine enough to come back with a springboard missile dropkick. Ohno’s sitout facebuster gets two and Kushida’s nose is busted open.

The bloody nose doesn’t stop Kushida from coming right back up with a springboard hurricanrana for two. The handspring elbow is cut off with a hard forearm to the back of the head to give Ohno two more. There’s the pump kick to Kushida, who is right back with a running shot to the face. With Ohno rocked, Kushida grabs the Hoverboard Lock (not named) for the tap at 8:07.

Rating: B. Given that Kushida was my favorite New Japan name, I was kind of expecting to like this one and then it lived up to the hype. It was a very good, hard hitting match with Kushida taking everything Ohno could throw at him at and winning in the end. He’s going to be just fine around here and he looked great in his first performance.

Overall Rating: B-. A strong debut, stuff set for next week, no bad matches and angle advancement make the show the usual awesome evening. After watching two mostly bad major TV’s this week, NXT continues to be the big saving grace that fixes so many of my problems in about forty five minutes. Another good show here, and I would expect nothing less.

Results

Forgotten Sons b. Humberto Carrillo/Danny Burch/Oney Lorcan – Top rope knee to Burch

Dominik Dijakovic b. Mansoor – Feast Your Eyes

Kushida b. Kassius Ohno – Hoverboard Lock

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

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

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

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

IMG Credit: Ring Of Honor Wrestling

Ring of Honor
Date: October 31, 2018
Location: Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman

Things got more interesting around here last week as Jeff Cobb made his in-ring debut and ran over Punishment Martinez to become TV Champion. Sometimes you need to shake things up a little bit and that’s what they did last week. The show isn’t the most thrilling in the world at times but when they do something well, they do it very well. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Scorpio Sky vs. Adam Page

Page doesn’t think Sky can strike gold and beat him. Neither can get anywhere with a headlock so Page runs him over with a shoulder, followed by a big boot for good measure. The stomping in the corner sets up a clothesline to put Sky on the floor and that means some whips into the barricade. A running fireman’s carry toss into the post rocks Sky again and we take a break.

Back with Sky hitting a super hurricanrana to get himself a breather with a two thrown in for a bonus. Sky grabs a chinlock but Page jawbreaks his way to freedom. The fall away slam and a German suplex give Page two, followed by Sky stomping him in the back for the same. Sky hits a fisherman’s buster for the same so Page turns him inside out with a discus lariat, setting up the Rite of Passage for the pin at 10:52.

Rating: C. Perfectly watchable match here with both guys hitting a few nice moves and one of them winning in the end. Page is someone who could become a big deal around here with people moving on and off the roster so it makes sense to have him get a few wins. Sky is already in a perfectly fine midcard stable and will be ok despite the loss.

The Kingdom is sick of the conspiracy against them but it’s over now because Matt Taven is the REAL World Champion.

Page wants a title shot against any champion.

Clip of Cobb winning the TV Title.

Shane Taylor vs. Eli Isom

It feels like we’ve seen this match half a dozen times in the last few months. Taylor spits on his hand when a handshake is offered so Isom hits a quick chop. A jumping knee to the face rocks Taylor and there’s a dropkick to stagger him again. Isom’s springboard is broken up though and a hanging Stunner has him in more trouble.

Back from a break with Isom striking away and hitting an enziguri, earning himself a heck of a clothesline to cut him down. More strikes give Isom a breather and he actually manages a Samoan drop (impressive) for two. Not that it matters as Taylor plants him with Greetings From 216 for the pin at 6:59.

Rating: D+. They were getting somewhere with the Isom comeback but it would have been too far to have Isom beat a monster like Taylor here. I’ll give them credit for turning Isom into something better than just a goofy jobber. He’s not great or even very good here yet but at least they’re trying to do something, which is more than some people get.

Post match Taylor wraps a chair around Isom’s neck but Cheeseburger (GO AWAY YOU TINY ANNOYING MEAT THEMED MAN!) runs in for the save. Thankfully Taylor cleans him out with ease so Flip Gordon runs in instead. A few chair shots to Taylor’s back cuts him down and Gordon tells Bully Ray that he’ll fight him anywhere, anytime in any match Ray wants. Cue Ray to mock Gordon and say we’re NOT having a TLC match tonight or any night.

Gordon is a nothing and Ray is a two time Hall of Famer. Ray asks if Gordon is a betting man so Gordon says he bets he can kick Ray’s a**. Here’s Ray’s idea: next week, they both pick a guy to come to the ECW Arena. The winner’s guy gets to do whatever they want to the other. Ray says his guy is Silas Young, who comes out for a staredown.

Cody wants a one on one rematch for the World Title.

Jonathan Gresham/Jay Lethal vs. Kushida/Jushin Thunder Liger

Kenny King is on commentary. Lethal and Kushida start things off (I can go for this) and some snapmares don’t do anyone any good. They hit the mat with neither getting anywhere off some attempted arm holds so we’ll try Gresham vs. Liger for a change. Liger headlocks him down but gets broken in just a few seconds, as Gresham rolls him up for two. Lethal comes back in for a showdown that isn’t as epic as you might have expected. Liger’s shoulder doesn’t work so Lethal tries his own but Gresham makes a blind tag and catches a distracted Liger in a German suplex for a smart move.

A hard whip into the corner has Liger in more trouble as Lethal and Gresham start making more tags. Liger shoves them into each other though and brings in Kushida for the springboard elbow on Lethal. Gresham comes in for a very fast paced series of rollups for mostly zeroes until a rollup for two on Gresham sends us to a break. Back with Liger putting Gresham in the surfboard and Lethal getting caught in a cross armbreaker. Lethal and Kushida head outside so Liger wraps up Gresham’s arm and leg while wrapping a leg around Gresham’s neck at the same time. I’m sure that’s going to hurt.

Back up and Gresham sends Liger into Kushida and the hot tag brings in Lethal to take over. The Lethal Combination gets two on Kushida but Lethal takes too long setting up the Lethal Injection and gets taken down instead. Gresham takes Kushida to the floor for a running knee off the apron, leaving Lethal to kick Liger in the head. The Lethal Injection is good for the pin at 12:41.

Rating: C+. This felt like they were going for the special tag match and it only approached that level. The wrestling was fine but was there any serious doubt that Lethal and Gresham were going to win in the end? Right now we’re waiting on the start of Lethal’s next title program and maybe King is part of that, but this didn’t make for the most exciting main event. Pretty good, but nothing that you need to see.

Overall Rating: C-. While nothing great, this was a perfectly watchable episode of the show. I could still go for them advancing the top stories (or having a top story actually) but what we got here was fine enough. Just give Lethal something to do as we get ready for Final Battle, which is only about six weeks away. They need to start putting something together, and I hope it’s more than Lethal vs. Taven.

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

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

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

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