Monday Night Raw
Date: January 4, 2021
Location: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
Commentators: Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips, Samoa Joe

It’s another major show with another Legends reunion. This time around the focus is on Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair and Torrie Wilson for some reason but other than that, it seems like they are in for a bunch of appearances. Other than that, we have Keith Lee challenging Drew McIntyre for the WWE Title. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a shot of Hulk Hogan’s picture on the back of a phone. Hogan introduces it as the H Phone, which can let you YouTube, Instagram, Tweet and even make a phone call. Hulk says you can even use it for a phone call. Posing ensues.

It’s time for MizTV with John Morrison listing off all of tonight’s legends. The guests this week are the New Day, who say they have their own talk show called New Day Talks. Xavier Woods serves as the band, with Miz not being sure what to make of this. Now it’s Woods turning into the bailiff for the first question: What are your New Year’s Resolutions? Morrison wants to graduate from hibachi school and take a photo every day so he can do one of those cool photo montages at the end of the year.

Miz isn’t pleased so Kofi asks the next question: which legend would you like to have dinner with? Morrison: “Tatanka. Definitely Tatanka.” That means it’s time for the cooking portion of the show but Miz erupt Miz erupts. Cue Teddy Long for our first cameo to say he has an idea: Miz and Morrison can face THE UNDERTAKER. That brings out Adam Pearce for a correction, so maybe we can just have a tag team match, next. Teddy didn’t exactly sound as usual here, as he was rushing through his stuff. If this is their best idea to open the show, they deserve to lose every fan they have.

New Day vs. Miz/John Morrison

Woods runs Morrison over to start and hands it off to Kofi for more of the same. It’s already back to Woods but Miz comes in to knee him in the ribs. Kofi comes back in with the spinning crossbody for two and there’s a kick to Miz’s chest. Morrison misses the running shooting star press though and a dropkick to the chest gives Kofi two. Miz and Morrison are sent outside for the big dive from Kofi and we take a break.

Back with Morrison kicking Kofi in the head and handing it to Miz for the left hands. Miz cranks on both arms so Kofi fights up, earning himself a knee to the ribs. The Figure Four is countered into the SOS, which is enough for the hot tag to Woods. House is cleaned, including the discus forearm to Morrison. Kofi dives off the steps with an ax handle to Miz and a Shining Wizard finishes Morrison at 13:16.

Rating: C+. The action was good but this wasn’t exactly an inspiring tag match to get things going. Miz and Morrison are a better choice in the ring than either of them on their own, though I could still go for more than this as a way to start off what is supposed to be a special show. It could have been on any given show and that’s not a good sign.

We recap Randy Orton almost setting Alexa Bliss on fire last week.

Orton says he wanted to do it last week but he couldn’t make himself go there. Maybe that is the change that the Fiend has brought on him because he showed restraint and compassion. He hates himself for it but that means he can sculpt that anger into being anything and everything. Can you imagine if he directs that newfound hatred for himself towards someone else? He doesn’t want to talk about the Fiend, because he wants to go talk to some legends about why he is the Legend Killer.

We look at Angel Garza winning the 24/7 Title from R-Truth at the New Year’s Eve celebration.

Garza hits on Alicia Fox but thinks that his title is more beautiful than she is. He moves on to Sgt. Slaughter, Tatanka and Mickie James, but Slaughter smells the rose and calls him a maggot. And that’s probably the last we’ll see of all of them.

AJ Styles vs. Elias

Omos and Jaxson Ryker are here as AJ takes him to the mat with a headlock to start. Elias comes back with some chops as we hear that AJ will be in the Royal Rumble. A Stun Gun cuts AJ off again and Elias gorilla presses him onto the turnbuckle. There’s a clothesline to knock AJ outside and we take a break.

Back with Elias hitting a chokeslam for two, with Ryker looking rather pleased at his influence. AJ gets in a shot of his own but the Phenomenal Forearm is kneed out of the air for a rather near fall. That’s enough for AJ, who counters an electric chair with a hurricane into the corner. A brainbuster sets up the Styles Clash to finish Elias at 7:35.

Rating: C. This was a good bit shorter than last week’s match and while it wasn’t great, it was a nice showcase for Elias. He might not be the most polished in the ring but putting him in the ring with AJ is going to make him look good. Having Ryker be a bit of an influence is a way to go and this worked well enough on most points.

Post match Ryker brings in the guitar but Omos comes in to kick it out of his hands. Ryker panics and leaves with Elias.

Charlotte is in the Royal Rumble.

Riddle tries to get Big Show to become the Big Bro. Show likes the idea and tells Riddle to keep thinking as Riddle leaves. Randy Orton comes in to remind Show what happened when they met last time. Show says he’s ready to go right now so Orton grabs him by the throat and Show sits down. He isn’t falling for Orton trying to get him to do something foolish because Show isn’t ashamed to be a legend. Orton leaves and Show simmers.

Charlotte/Asuka vs. Peyton Royce/Lacey Evans

Non-title and Ric Flair is here with Charlotte and Asuka. Lacey now has a Lacey The Legend hat to make it a special night. Charlotte takes Peyton down to start so Lacey comes in for a wave to Ric. The chase is on outside until Peyton gets in a few cheap shots on the way back in. The double teaming works for a bit but Charlotte hits Evans with a Downward Spiral in the corner.

Asuka comes in with a missile dropkick but gets knocked outside. That lets Evans seem to hit on Ric, earning herself a slap from Charlotte. The brawl is on and we take a break. Back with Asuka getting stomped down in the corner and Lacey grabbing a chinlock. Asuka fights up and hits a running clothesline to drop Royce, allowing the double tag to Evans and Charlotte.

Back to back fall away slams put Royce and Evans down, setting up the moonsault onto both of them. Asuka tags herself in though and hits a Shining Wizard for two on Royce. Charlotte tags herself in as well and it’s a Codebreaker from Asuka into a mostly missed Natural Selection on Royce. That’s broken up but Evans stops to hit on Ric again, who seems intrigued. Charlotte breaks that up but Ric accidentally trips her, allowing Royce to grab a crucifix for the pin at 12:33.

Rating: C-. Well at least one of the legends finally did something, even if it was a mistake. I would bet on this being more about Flair than anyone else, because WWE has a tendency to make every story about him in one way or another. Hopefully it means a way to get the titles off of Asuka and Charlotte, because it’s not like they need them in any way./

Post match Evans kisses Ric on the cheek as Ric is upset. Charlotte gets in his face and says stay out of her business. The crushed Flair leaves again, because we needed to do this story for at least a second time.

Sheamus fires Drew McIntyre up for the main event and says kick Keith Lee in the head one extra time. Cue Hulk Hogan and Jimmy Hart to say he’s a big fan of Sheamus. He also says Drew is a great champion who reminds him of himself. Drew thanks him for the praise and asks if Sheamus reminds him of Jimmy. Hart: “I can see the resemblance!” Jimmy Hart is a national treasure. Sheamus offers to have drinks with Hulk and Drew, but not Jimmy, earning himself a shouting from the megaphone. Drew and Hogan hit the catchphrase after a nice endorsement (ignore that Hogan’s arms are still bigger than Drew’s).

Riddle vs. Bobby Lashley

Non-title and MVP is here with Lashley. Riddle jumps him before the bell and we’re ready to go with Lashley sending him into the corner to start fast. A hurricanrana out of the corner puts Lashley on the floor but he catches Riddle in a fireman’s carry. Lashley drives him HARD into the post and we take a break. Back with Riddle fighting out of a chinlock but getting blasted with a clothesline.

Lashley hammers away in the corner but the spinning Dominator is countered, allowing Riddle to hit the kick to the chest. The Final Flash gives Riddle one but Lashley catches him on top. The Dominator connects for no cover as Lashley goes with the Hurt Lock. Riddle tries to fight out and bounces off the ropes, with the referee having to duck. That means the referee doesn’t see Riddle tap, making Lashley let go. Lashley doesn’t get why he didn’t win and gets rolled up for the pin at 9:07.

Rating: C. It was energized while it lasted and the ending likely sets up a title rematch at the Rumble. What mattered most here was commentary asking if Riddle was really giving up or if it was a way to sneak in a win. Just putting that idea out there makes Riddle look far stronger and keeps him looking a lot stronger going into the probably title match.

Mark Henry, on a scooter, tells Ricochet to stay with it. Ricochet leaves and here’s Orton to pop up and enter the Royal Rumble. He asks if Henry is entering as well but sees that he won’t be able to due to whatever is wrong with his leg. Henry is ready to leave but Orton threatens him. That means Henry can either leave right now or have Orton strike. A dejected Henry leaves.

MVP insists that Riddle quit so there is no controversy. Lashley promises punishment.

Mandy Rose vs. Shayna Baszler

Baszler jumps her during the entrance and beats the heck out of Mandy, meaning it’s Dana Brooke running in for the save. We have a replacement.

Dana Brooke vs. Shayna Baszler

The Kirifuda Clutch goes on but Dana reverses into a rollup for the pin at 36 seconds.

Post match Mandy has to save Dana from the Kirifuda Clutch and a flapjack plants Shayna.

Ric Flair talks to IRS and Molly Holly when Randy Orton pops up. IRS and Molly leave so Orton asks Flair to walk the aisle with him tonight. Don’t worry, because Orton isn’t going to let Flair screw up again. Flair says no because Orton has done it himself, sending Orton into a rant about how much better Charlotte is than Flair himself. Flair is crushed, again.

We look at Keith Lee becoming #1 contender.

Riddle comes up to Lee to give him a bit of a pep talk. Lee thanks him but doesn’t seem to want to talk.

Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy

Orton pokes him in the eye to start and takes it to the floor. That lets him drop Hardy onto the announcers’ table a few times before going after the arm back inside. Hardy hits a clothesline but Orton knocks him out of the corner and hits the circle stomp. The chinlock goes on but Hardy neckbreakers his way to freedom. Orton rolls to the floor so Hardy hits a running clothesline off the apron to send us to a break.

Back with Orton grabbing the chinlock again but this time he puts his finger in Hardy’s ear gauges to pull rather hard. With that let go, Orton drops the knee for two instead. We hit another chinlock before Orton just opts to hammer Hardy down again. Hardy fights up and this time hits a basement dropkick for his own two. There’s the Whisper in the Wind for the same and Orton is sent to the floor for a dropkick through the ropes. The hanging DDT catches Hardy on the way back in though and the RKO finishes Hardy at 12:12.

Rating: C. I’m going to have to downgrade this one a bit as the ear gauge thing was hard to watch. Orton beating Hardy is going to keep him strong and it’s not like Hardy is going to lose anything by taking a fall here. Hopefully there is something else from Orton with the legends later though, because this wasn’t much in the way of being more evil and violent.

Lucha House Party runs into Melina, who does their dance.

Lucha House Party vs. Hurt Business

Non-title and MVP is on commentary. Metalik headscissors Benjamin down to start but the rope walk dropkick is countered into a nice powerbomb. Dorado comes in with a middle rope hurricane on Alexander, who snaps off a Michinoku Driver. The Golden Rewind sends Alexander bailing to the corner for the tag to Benjamin and the pace picks up. A jumping knee sends Metalik tot he floor but Shelton and Cedric get in a bit of an argument over the tags. That’s enough to let Dorado crucifix Shelton for the pin at 2:52 (same exact way the other Tag Team Champions lost an hour ago).

Post match MVP yells at them to get on the same page. THEY HAVE BEEN CHAMPIONS FOR TWO WEEKS!

Nikki Cross is talking to Torrie Wilson when Angel Garza comes up to offer Torrie a rose. Torrie says she’s talking to Nikki but sends Garza down the hall to meet Kylie Jenner and Cardi B. It’s actually the Boogeyman, who scares Garza into a rollup to give R-Truth the 24/7 Title back. Truth leaves with the ladies and Ron Simmons comes up for the catchphrase.

Raw World Title: Drew McIntyre vs. Keith Lee

Lee is challenging and walks through the legends (including Booker T. and Jeff Jarrett) to get here. They shove each other around to start and run the ropes, with Lee not quite getting high enough on a leapfrog. He’s fast enough to drop down as Drew comes back though (that was a smooth save) and then forearm him out to the floor. Lee follows him out and hits the big Pounce to knock Drew over the barricade.

Back from a break with Lee driving in elbows and shoulders in the corner to keep Drew in trouble. Lee slams him down to stay on the bad ribs for two and McIntyre’s belly to belly attempts are blocked. McIntyre finally sends him into the corner though and NOW the belly to belly connects (for some Legends applause). A neckbreaker sets up McIntyre’s nip up but Lee plants him with a spinebuster.

They head outside again with Drew managing a powerbomb off the apron, with Lee’s back hitting the edge of the announcers’ table as he crashes through to take us to a break. Back with the two of them going up top, with Lee hitting a freaking Spanish Fly for two, because he can just do something like that. The Spirit Bomb is countered though and the Claymore retains the title at 21:13.

Rating: B+. This was the kind of hoss/how are they doing that kind of match and if you ignore the times where they nearly killed/horribly injured each other, it was a heck of a fight. I’m a bit surprised by the ending, but Lee got a lot out of this and looked like a threat. If they can follow up on that, it might go somewhere for him, but that hasn’t quite been the case yet. Heck of a match here though.

Post match McIntyre grabs the mic but here’s Goldberg to interrupt. Goldberg says McIntyre has a lot of things going for him, except for respect. McIntyre doesn’t respect those legends so that’s where Goldberg steps in. He isn’t demanding anything like a match at the Royal Rumble, but Drew seems interested.

They go head to head and Goldberg shoves him down….as we cut to Straight Up Steve Austin because we’re out of time. On a show that is THREE HOURS LONG, they manage to go over (for the second time in three weeks). That takes talent. Not as much talent as making up a character trait for McIntyre, but still talent.

This was horribly dumb, as McIntyre spent the entire summer defending the legends from Orton but now, because they need a story for the Rumble, he disrespects them? That’s not how writing a story works, but I don’t think WWE quite understands it that way. I did see a theory that said it was the script they had for Goldberg confronting Reigns and just changed the opponents. It’s just a fan theory but….would you put it past them?

Overall Rating: C-. The main event bailed out a lot of this show, but the ending segment brought it right back down. This was another one of those shows where the legends are just there for the sake of saying hi for two seconds and then it’s back to everything else, making them feel really out of place. If that’s the case, why bring them in? Was anyone going to miss Tatanka, IRS (who sure got over his son being burned alive a few weeks ago in a hurry) or Alicia Fox? Or about half a dozen other “legends?” Just say Hogan and Flair and a few others are back (and don’t have at least eight names advertised not show up).

Other than that, this was a pretty bad show otherwise, as it had four straight matches end with some kind of a rollup, with two of those having the same finish. The Rumble is looking all over the place at this point and Goldberg vs. McIntyre isn’t exactly a thrilling addition. Next week is going to get smoked by the college football title game, but after a show like this, how many people were going to be watching anyway? The show was much more lame than terrible, but that’s probably a lot worse in this case.

Results

New Day b. Miz/John Morrison – Shining Wizard to Morrison

AJ Styles b. Elias – Styles Clash

Lacey Evans/Peyton Royce b. Charlotte/Asuka – Crucifix to Charlotte

Riddle b. Bobby Lashley – Rollup

Dana Brooke b. Shayna Baszler – Rollup

Lucha House Party b. Hurt Business – Crucifix to Benjamin

Randy Orton b. Jeff Hardy – RKO

Drew McIntyre b. Keith Lee – Claymore

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

Monday Night Raw
Date: October 26, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, Samoa Joe

We’re on the way to Survivor Series, meaning that the rosters, which have now been together for all of a week and a half, will suddenly realize how much they can’t stand the people on the other show because of all of their newfound pride. I’m not sure how WWE is going to make us believe that the shows are invading each other when they work in the same building and the people have been appearing on the other shows since the Draft anyway, but this show isn’t the most logical. Let’s get to it.

Here is Hell In A Cell if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of Randy Orton beating Drew McIntyre to win the Raw World Title.

Opening sequence.

Here’s McIntyre for a chat. He lost the title last night but he will be getting it back. The loss made him think of the movie Rocky, because Rocky got knocked down a lot but kept getting back up. McIntyre is going to get back up and keep going, but here are Miz and John Morrison to interrupt. McIntyre: “You just messed up.” They praise McIntyre for his title reign but say it’s really doing him a favor. Now he doesn’t have to worry about facing Randy Orton for the title, because Miz is Mr. Money in the Bank.

Miz even talks about beating Orton for the title when he first cashed in the title….right here actually. And it turns out that Orton is a guest on A Moment Of Bliss right here tonight! They hope McIntyre doesn’t take another 19 years to get the title shot but McIntyre headbutts Miz and suplexes Morrison. Miz breaks up the Future Shock though and the two of them get away, minus the briefcase. McIntyre does stomp on Morrison’s sunglasses though and says he has an idea to run by management.

We run down tonight’s three Survivor Series qualifying matches.

Survivor Series Qualifying Match: AJ Styles vs. Jeff Hardy

Before the match, AJ says he is 2-0 on Raw, so why is he in a qualifying match? Hasn’t he proven himself around the world? Does he have to prove himself to Adam Pearce and the rest of the jokers in the back? AJ should be the captain of Team Raw because he is the face that runs this place. He is still over Hardy using a knee brace to win a match and promises to make Jeff with he was still on the bottle.

We start fast with Jeff hammering away but stopping to dive onto Jordan, who catches him in the air and we take a break. Back with AJ hitting a brainbuster for two but the Phenomenal Forearm is broken up. The basement dropkick gives Hardy two of his own and there’s the slingshot dropkick in the corner for the same. AJ’s fireman’s carry backbreaker gives him a breather though and it’s the torture rack powerbomb for two more. Hardy fights back but has to stop to glare at Jordan, allowing AJ to catch him on top. AJ sends him into the buckle and the Phenomenal Forearm sends AJ to Survivor Series at 9;57.

Rating: C. This was more about making AJ look like a threat because of Jordan being out there with him and that’s fine. Hardy isn’t going to be hurt by a loss and AJ belongs on the team. The wrestling was completely acceptable because it was AJ Styles vs. Jeff Hardy but beyond that, the action wasn’t the point here.

Post match AJ and Jordan leave so here’s Elias to hit Hardy with another guitar.

R-Truth is ready for all of his challengers. He eats and sleeps dangerously so much that his name is R Franklin Dangerously Cobblepot Truth.

Susan G. Kommen video.

Lucha House Party vs. Akira Tozawa/Drew Gulak

Gulak and Dorado knock each other down to start and here’s R-Truth to walk around the ring. Tozawa rolls him up for two and everyone goes after Truth until Gulak grabs a rollup to actually win the tag match at 2:07.

Post match everyone tries to pin Truth but he runs off.

It’s time for the Firefly Fun House where everyone is having a tea party. Ramblin Rabbit doesn’t understand any Bray is upset because Hell in a Cell is awesome. Cue Alexa Bliss with some special tea for Rabbit. It has strawberry, peach, cinnamon and a secret ingredient. Why yes, it is arsenic, and Rabbit dies again.

Bray thinks they’re all mad to come here because this is a wacky place. You need to let him heal you, so Bliss goes into her trance and says let him in. Rabbit tells Honey Bunny that he’s coming home and Bray beats him senseless as Bliss laughs. Bray is looking forward to seeing Randy Orton on A Moment Of Bliss tonight. BYE! Of note: this segment included camera shots of the non-existent crowd watching the screen. They felt the need to show monitors watching monitors. Twice. Think about that for a second and try to keep your brains in your skulls.

We look back at Braun Strowman beating Keith Lee last week with a low blow.

Keith Lee says there was nothing fair about last week and promises to show Braun a real monster next week. Tonight it’s about getting on the Survivor Series team though, because that’s what’s important around here.

Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler argue over who is the team captain. HEY! DID YOU KNOW THEY ARGUE A LOT??? BECAUSE THEY ARGUE A LOT! GET IT???

Here’s Elias for a song before his match. His new album is #2 on the charts so let’s get it to #1. The playing begins but there’s something else going on.

Survivor Series Qualifying Match: Elias vs. Keith Lee

Lee runs him over to start and hits a running crossbody to put Elias on the floor. A Pounce sends Elias over the announcers’ table and we take a break. Back with Elias fighting out of an armbar and knocking Lee down. An elbow drop gets two but Lee is right back with a powerslam. Lee hammers away in the corner but Elias faceplants him down for two. Cue Jeff Hardy’s music for a distraction though and Lee is back with the Spirit Bomb for the pin at 9:58.

Rating: D+. Lee is now to the point where he needs interference to beat ELIAS in about ten minutes. Remember like two months ago when he was the unstoppable monster of NXT? Yeah forget all that, because now he is just another person in the overflowing midcard on Raw. It’s incredibly frustrating and really not that surprising, which is a lot of the problems in WWE in one situation.

Post match, Hardy breaks a guitar over Elias’ back.

The Hurt Business yells at someone for daring to go near their bathroom.

We recap Orton winning the title last night.

Orton doesn’t care who is coming for the title because there is only one Randy Orton and that means the same thing for everyone.

Long video on the Hurt Business vs. Retribution. I really wouldn’t advise reminding us of that.

Retribution vs. Hurt Business

Elimination rules. Before the match, MVP talks about how the Hurt Business has been taking the fight to Retribution as part of a deal with Raw. Once they are dispatched, it will be time to collect payment, and the Hurt Business wants to be paid in gold. Lashley and T-Bar get things going and they fight over the lockup to start. They slug away (sweet goodness with the camera cuts) until Lashley powers him down with a Downward Spiral. It’s off to MVP to hammer away as well but T-Bar gets in a shot to the ribs, allowing the tag to Mace.

The pounding continues and Slapjack hits a dropkick to the back of the head for two. MVP is back with a running boot in the corner and an exploder gets two. Cue Reckoning on the apron to…scratch herself a lot and shout GET OFF ME, suggesting that there are bugs all over her (or she’s a fan of Billy Kidman’s time in the Flock). The distraction lets Slapjack roll MVP up for the pin, but she keeps writhing around and freaking out as we take a break.

Back with Lashley waistlocking Slapjack as we see Reckoning admitting the whole thing was faked during the break, earning herself an elimination. The spear gets rid of Slapjack without much effort so it’s T-Bar in to beat on Lashley. They fight to the floor and that’s a double countout to get us down to Alexander/Benjamin vs. Mace/Ali. Alexander goes after Mace in a hurry but gets knocked into the corner.

Mace pounds away in the corner and hits a running splash but Alexander knocks Ali off the apron. A boot to the face staggers Mace and it’s the Neuralizer into Paydirt to finish Mace and get it down to 2-1. Cedric starts pounding on Ali, who manages a running kick to knock Benjamin off the apron. A big backdrop puts Ali down though and Alexander kicks him to the floor. That’s fine with Ali, who hits Alexander with the chair for the DQ at 13:49.

Rating: D+. This is the kind of ending that would usually be fine for a team like Retribution, but given that they have lost every match they have had so far, including some via clean submission, this is another nail in their already hole filled coffin. At least they didn’t save this for Survivor Series, because it would have been the biggest waste of time since Four Doinks. Nothing match, but the death of Retribution continues to be more sad than anything else.

Post match the Hurt Business chases Ali off.

Angel Garza hits on Mandy Rose, Dana Brooke and Nia Jax, who gets rid of them. With Garza gone, Jax/Baszler and Mandy/Dana argue over who the captains should be. Oh and watch the titles. Shayna can’t believe Nia seems interested in Garza. Jax: “Why not?” Are we really going to have to sit through this “I’M THE CAPTAIN” stuff for the next month again?

The Miz vs. Drew McIntyre

John Morrison is here with Miz and his distraction lets Miz go after the knee. That goes badly for Miz as McIntyre knocks him to the floor for the chop, only to get sent ribs first into the steps. Back in and Morrison’s cheap shot actually works, allowing Miz to hammer away. McIntyre doesn’t seem to mind and nips back up, only to have the Future Shock broken up. Morrison’s briefcase shot misses and Drew sends the briefcase flying. Back in and the Claymore finishes Miz at 4:13.

Rating: D+. Just a quick match here to show that McIntyre is still around. The match was a glorified handicap match anyway so McIntyre gets to look extra good in a short outing. It isn’t like Miz losing is going to hurt him whatsoever and the briefcase will keep him relevant for a long time to come.

New Day, dressed as the Street Profits (with Kofi getting a little groggy from the red solo cup), are ready for Survivor Series where it’s champions vs. champions. That means the Street Profits vs. the New Day, Asuka (who comes in) vs. Sasha Banks, Randy Orton vs. Roman Reigns and, with the Hurt Business coming in, Bobby Lashley vs. Sami Zayn. MVP says they have their eyes on the Tag Team Titles too but Asuka starts the New Day Rocks dance to get rid of the Hurt Business.

Adam Pearce and Pat Buck are here to introduce the Raw women’s Survivor Series team: Nia Jax, Shayna Baszler, Mandy Rose, Dana Brooke and….hang on as Nia wants to announce the fifth member because she’s the captain. Not so fast because Shayna thinks she’s the captain, but Pearce makes a four way to crown the fifth member.

Lana vs. Lacey Evans vs. Peyton Royce vs. Nikki Cross

It’s a brawl to start with Royce diving onto Cross and Evans as we take a break thirty seconds in. Back with Royce running Cross over for two but Cross is back up to dive onto Lana. Cross’ high crossbody gets two on Royce as we hear about Elias’ album reaching #1 on Apple Music. Lana comes back in (tripping over the ropes a bit on the way) and is promptly hit with the Woman’s Right to give Evans two. Lacey’s superplex attempt on Cross is broken up and Cross knocks Peyton down as well. The Tower of Doom works well enough though…and Lana steals the pin at 8:05.

Rating: D. And there it is, despite very little drama in the whole thing. Who else was going to win here? Lana is the spunky underdog of the team and in a normal promotion, she would make a big impact at Survivor Series. In other words, odds are she is eliminated in two minutes after Nia crushes her through a table again.

Post match Nia hugs Lana before driving her through the announcers’ table for the sixth time.

Randy Orton isn’t worried about the Fiend and Alexa Bliss coming after him on A Moment Of Bliss. If Fiend wants to get involved, Orton can introduce him to the RKO.

Mustafa Ali says Retribution isn’t a failure because they will win when everyone else suffers. Yeah no one believes you.

Survivor Series Qualifying Match: Sheamus vs. Matt Riddle

Riddle goes for the legs to start so Sheamus bails out to the floor. Back in and Sheamus grabs a headlock to take him to the mat but Riddle muscles him up into a gutwrench suplex. Sheamus hits the Irish Curse, only to have Riddle knock him outside for the flipping dive as we take a break. Back with Riddle winning a strike off and kicking Sheamus in the head. The Broton gets two but Sheamus is back up with a knee to the face for the same.

Sheamus goes up but Riddle catches him with a top rope exploder superplex. Riddle goes up this time but the Floating Bro hits knees. Another Irish Curse is countered into a rear naked choke, which is broken up as well. The Brogue Kick misses and Riddle grabs a bridging German suplex for two more. Riddle’s back gives out on the Bro Derek attempt though and Sheamus Brogue Kicks him for the pin at 12:48.

Rating: B-. I’ve been a Sheamus fan for a long time now but SHEAMUS??? Pinning Matt Riddle completely clean in a match with some stakes? This was a brutal and hard hitting match but they have these options and they picked Sheamus? For the life of me I don’t get this company at times and it can get rather head scratch inducing trying to make it work.

It’s time for A Moment Of Bliss with Randy Orton as the special guest. Orton isn’t interested in sitting so Bliss asks him if he was surprised about his win last night. Of course not, so Bliss asks about Orton and McIntyre burning the house down. Orton knows what that means and asks about the Fiend, but here’s McIntyre instead. The fight is on with a laughing Bliss sitting on the top rope.

The Claymore is loaded up but we’ve got the Fiend. Well at least the Fiend’s entrance, which Orton uses to escape. Orton knows what’s behind him though….and is actually smart enough to walk forward and fight with McIntyre instead of turning to face the Fiend. McIntyre is dropped onto the announcers’ table and Orton pounds away to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. Above all else, this show was miles better than last week and that’s what I needed out of it. There was a point to this and while I don’t get a lot of the booking choices, they did some things that made sense and advanced us towards Survivor Series. I still wouldn’t call it good as there were some bad matches, but you can see where they’re going for the pay per view. Just tighten some things up and get rid of some stupid ideas and we’ll be in for a pretty good show. This wasn’t great, but it was an upgrade and that’s what they were badly needing.

Results

AJ Styles b. Jeff Hardy – Phenomenal Forearm

Drew Gulak/Akira Tozawa b. Lucha House Party – Rollup to Dorado

Keith Lee b. Elias – Spirit Bomb

Hurt Business b. Retribution via DQ when Mustafa Ali used a chair

Drew McIntyre b. The Miz – Claymore

Lana b. Lacey Evans, Nikki Cross and Peyton Royce – Tower of Doom to Cross

Sheamus b. Matt Riddle – Brogue Kick

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

Smackdown
Date: October 2, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We are past Clash Of Champions and the pretty amazing moment between Roman Reigns and Jey Uso in the main event. Reigns wants to be acknowledged as the Tribal Chief of the Anoa’i Family and beat his family to get what he wanted. Even Paul Heyman seems scared of what he has done and now we will get to see where things are going. Let’s get to it.

Here is Clash Of Champions if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of Reigns destroying Jey until Jimmy Uso came down to throw in the towel.

Here are Heyman and Reigns for Reigns to be officially crowned Tribal Chief. Heyman, sounding shaken, says it’s time for the crowning, but Reigns says he wants to hear Jey Uso acknowledge him. Cue Jey to say he doesn’t know Reigns, who showed his true colors on Sunday. Jey did as well though, because Reigns beat him up. Reigns won’t break his spirit though, and if Jimmy didn’t throw in the towel, Jey would be champion.

Reigns says if Jey wasn’t proud of what he did, Clash was the worst night of his career, both professionally and personally. That’s not what he wanted to do going into that match because he was trying to help Jey. All he wanted to do was put his name in the main event for once. He loves Jey more than Jimmy does and all Jey had to do was acknowledge him as the Tribal Chief.

All he wanted was to represent the family to the fullest, but Jey disrespected him. Jey broke his heart and even now, Jey can’t look him in his eyes. If Jey wants another shot, sure he can have it. We’ll do it at Hell In A Cell, but it will have the highest stakes in WWE history. Reigns hugs him and whispers something in his ear that the microphone doesn’t entirely pick up and walks off with Heyman.

Jey cuts him off though and says whatever the stakes are, Reigns is on. Cole implies that the match is going to be inside the Cell but neither Jey nor Reigns said that. With Reigns and Heyman gone, here is AJ Styles to say it doesn’t matter who gets the most chicken bones at the end of the table. AJ says Jimmy is the better athlete anyway and Jey is just the runt. Jey knocks him outside and hits a dive off the announcers’ table.

Jey Uso vs. AJ Styles

AJ starts with the trash talk (in the loudly mic’d up ring) but gets kicked down. A headbutt to the chest connects but AJ avoids a charge in the corner. Some kicks to the back and chest set up the jumping knee to Uso for an early two. Uso gets catapulted throat first into the bottom rope but he’s fine enough to counter the Styles Clash. AJ gets sent outside again but he’s fine enough to cut off a dive with a kick to the head. There’s a suplex to put Jey onto the announcers’ table and we take a break.

Back with Jey fighting out of a chinlock and grabbing a neckbreaker for two. The superkick is cut off though and AJ grabs the fireman’s carry backbreaker for his own two. Uso kicks him to the floor and hits the big dive but the Superfly Splash hits knees. Jey breaks up the Phenomenal Forearm though and hits a low superkick to set up the Superfly Splash for the upset pin at 10:46.

Rating: B-. This is a heck of an upset win for Jey but it isn’t the biggest stretch in the world and that’s one of the better things about being such a successful tag wrestler. No Jey hasn’t done these things on his own, but he has had success elsewhere so this isn’t coming completely out of nowhere. Good match too, which shouldn’t be a surprise given who was in there.

Post match Jey looks serious and keeps saying “I’m gonna get him.”

We look at Sami Zayn winning the ladder match.

Sami as both Intercontinental Titles and says he knows people are expecting him to gloat. Tonight is a whirlwind of emotions though and at the top of that list is resentment and anger. Initially his anger was against the fans because no one said a word when he was stripped of the titles. When AJ won the fraudulent title the fans cheered and then they just accepted it when he lost it to Jeff Hardy. As the only one around here with any principles, Sami throws the new title in the trash.

We recap Miz and Morrison trying to get Otis to hand over the Money in the Bank briefcase.

Next week: Otis defends himself in court. Oh sweet goodness.

Otis vs. John Morrison

Otis slugs him down to start and runs him over with a clothesline for a bonus. A pop up faceplant drops Morrison again and Otis throws him down with a suplex. The Caterpillar into the Vader Bomb finishes Morrison at 1:39. Well that was efficient.

Big E. says that with the Draft looming, he wants to face Sheamus in a Falls Count Anywhere match next week.

Sheamus vs. Shorty G.

Shorty sends him into the post and gets two off a German suplex to start. The moonsault misses though and the Brogue Kick drops Shorty. Another finishes him at 53 seconds. Of all the people being treated as stupid jobbers, Gable very well might be the most frustrating one I’ve seen in years.

Here’s Raw’s Kevin Owens (in a Street Profits shirt) for the Kevin Owens Show. Since this might be his new home after the Draft, he thought he should get used to this place so he’s here to talk to Alexa Bliss. Owens talks about how he has seen this change in Bliss’ attitude and anger, which reminds him of what he sees in Aleister Black. Bliss doesn’t know what he means and asks about Owens changing as well.

Owens says this is about her changing and asks to understand about the darkness taking over her. In a rather out there voice, Bliss talks about being in his (the Fiend’s) presence and how you feel like you’re on pins and needles. When he looks at you, it’s like you can’t look away. Owens would not know what that is like though, as Owens says we’re not talking about Black anymore. He says it’s like Bliss is brainwashed, and she says that’s true.

All of the lies have been washed away and she has been cleansed by him. Owens: “He’s here isn’t he?” Bliss: “He’s everywhere. I can hear him now. Let him in.” The lights go out and here’s the Fiend for the Mandible Claw to Owens as Bliss looks on. Fiend reaches his hand out to Bliss, who slowly takes it in a pretty creepy moment.

King Corbin/Cesaro/Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Matt Riddle/Lucha House Party

Before the match, Riddle talks about how this might be his last chance to team with his Lucha Bros. Kalisto isn’t there, though the rest of the House Party doesn’t seem to mind. Nakamura strikes away at Dorado to start but gets caught with a dropkick. Cue Kalisto though and we take a break. Back with Metalik being stomped down in the corner and Cesaro coming in for the delayed suplex.

Nakamura grabs a front facelock but Metalik hits a tornado DDT, allowing the hot tag to Riddle to forearm away at Corbin. There’s a t-bone suplex to Corbin into the Broton. The running kick to the chest gets two with Nakamura making the save. The Golden Rewind hits Nakamura but Cesaro comes in to uppercut Riddle for two. Metalik nails the big running flip dive to Cesaro but Kalisto kicks Dorado in the head by mistake. Riddle is right back up with a Final Flash to Cesaro, setting up the Bro Derek for the pin at 6:43.

Rating: C. That was a bit of a weird ending as they did the Kalisto miscommunication and then Riddle just pinned Cesaro a few seconds later. I guess we need to save him pinning Corbin for the epic trilogy match, or maybe they want to just keep Corbin looking strong because….he’s Corbin I guess. At least Riddle got the pin though.

Long recap on the fallout from Bayley attacking Sasha Banks.

The mystery woman is Carmella, who says she danced around forever and it didn’t get her anywhere. Now she is the princess and untouchable, unless she doesn’t want to be.

Here’s Sasha Banks for a chat. Banks talks about how she thought Bayley would have grown a backbone over the years but that hasn’t happened. Next week, it’s Bayley vs. Banks for the Women’s Title and Bayley knows what happens when there is no one there to save her. The neck brace comes off and Banks says Bayley doesn’t stand a chance, b****. I’d like to think that’s going to be shenaniganzy.

Next week: the Draft, Bayley vs. Banks for the title, Sheamus vs. Big E. in a falls count anywhere match and Owens vs. Fiend.

Intercontinental Title: Sami Zayn vs. Jeff Hardy

Sami is defending and has taped up ribs. Jeff gets knocked into the corner to start and Sami stomps away, only to have Jeff get in a kick tot he ribs. The turnbuckle pad got ripped off somewhere in there but Jeff avoids being sent into the steel. There’s a backdrop to Sami to send him outside and a baseball slide sends him into the announcers’ table. Jeff misses Poetry In Motion against the barricade though and we take a break.

Back with Sami putting on a chinlock and shouting about Jeff’s title reign being a fraud. Sami heads to the middle rope for an elbow to the back of the head for two as frustration is starting to set in. With Sami going up again, Jeff follows him up and grabs a top rope superplex for the double knockdown. The Twist of Fate is countered into a backslide for two and the Blue Thunder Bomb is countered into a sunset flip for a near fall.

Sami suplexes him into the corner and now the Blue Thunder Bomb connects for two. Jeff knocks him down again but the Swanton hits knees (with one possibly hitting Jeff in the head). The Helluva Kick misses and Jeff loads up the Whisper in the Wind but Sami pulls him down, sending Jeff face first into the exposed steel for the pin at 14:11.

Rating: B. This is the kind of thing that people forget WWE can offer. They have an insanely deep talent pool, and when they cut away all of the nonsense and bad writing and angles and just let their really good wrestlers have a pretty long TV match, you get good results. It was a very nice wrestling showing between two people who know exactly how to have this kind of a match and I had a good time with the whole thing. Nicely done, and do it more often.

Overall Rating: B-. There were some parts on here which weren’t the best, but those matches were kept very short, leaving us with a pretty solid show. You had two good matches and some stuff was set up both for next week and at the pay per view. This was an efficient use of two hours which even expanded up to downright entertaining at times. Just like the main event, the show felt like it stripped away so much of the boring and downright stupid stuff that you get on Raw, leaving more or a wrestling show. WWE can still do these things rather well and if they just went that way, we would all be much happier.

Results

Jey Uso b. AJ Styles – Superfly Splash

Otis b. John Morrison – Vader Bomb

Sheamus b. Shorty G. – Brogue Kick

Matt Riddle/Lucha House Party b. Cesaro/Shinsuke Nakamura/King Corbin – Bro Derek to Cesaro

Sami Zayn b. Jeff Hardy – Hardy fell onto the exposed turnbuckle

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

WWE runs a show like this every year and every year I try to figure out if it makes sense to have a show built entirely around titles. On one hand it is about as easy of an idea as you can have for a pay per view, but at the same time, aren’t most shows built around title matches? Either way I’m not driving six hours one way for a middle of the road pay per view this year so things are looking up. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Raw Women’s Title: Asuka(c) vs. Zelina Vega

This one was thrown together pretty recently but WWE did something smart to help set it up: they gave Vega a clean win over Mickie James. It is no secret that Vega does not have the most polish in the ring, but she has enough to get by. Now though, she has beaten someone with an established resume and that should give her enough to be a decent enough challenger to Asuka.

Now that being said, there is no reason to believe that Vega has even the tiniest prayer here so it’s Asuka retaining in a walk. Asuka is someone who could be champion for a good while to come as it’s not like there is any major credible challenger on her horizon. Let her beat Vega here and maybe again in a rematch on Monday Night Raw while we wait and see who else WWE can find for her. For now though, Asuka wins and does so with ease.

Raw Tag Team Titles: Street Profits(c) vs. Andrade/Angel Garza

Sweet goodness it feels like we have been here quite a few times now. This is one of those matches that WWE seems to want to run at multiple pay per views and that is what we have seen so far. The Street Profits have held the titles for a LONG time (at least for these titles) and they have beaten Garza and Andrade several times as champions. That should mean something, but I’m not sure if it does.

For probably the third time in a row, I’ll take Andrade and Garza to win the titles. We’re kind of at the point where they have to or there is nothing left for them to do as a team. We’ve kind of been here for months now and until they actually win the belts, the team might as well be on a treadmill. We are way past the point where the Street Profits need to prove themselves and they will probably get the titles back later, but for now, we need new champions.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Bayley(c) vs. Nikki Cross

Speaking of long reigning champions and matches we’ve seen before, we have this one, with Bayley continuing her practically 500 day reign as champion against Cross, who Bayley seems to have beaten about half a dozen times already. The idea here is that Bayley is vulnerable without Sasha Banks in her corner, but the only thing that I can think of from that concept is “….oh come on.”

Of course Bayley retains here, because the ONLY thing that this should be setting up is the mother of all showdowns for Bayley and Banks. You could put that one in the Cell, but it might need something even bigger than that. I don’t think they can stretch it all the way to WrestleMania, but if anything deserves that kind of a stage, it would be Banks FINALLY dethroning Bayley. If it sounds like I’m treating Cross like an afterthought here, it’s only because she is one in this case.

Smackdown Tag Team Titles: Cesaro/Shinsuke Nakamura(c) vs. Lucha House Party

WWE is doing a really bad job of making these matches seem like they don’t matter because there are other stories already being set up. In this case it would be Lucha House Party imploding as Kalisto seems to be thinking about himself more than the team. Now that could go multiple ways here, as it isn’t clear which members of the team will be getting the shot. That being said, I don’t think it’s going to matter.

I’ll go with the champs retaining here, but there is a little voice in the back of my head that could see the titles changing hands, setting up a story where the new champs have to decide what to do with Kalisto. I don’t think WWE has thought that far ahead or put that much thought into the idea of the Lucha House Party splitting up though, so I think it’s safe to drop that idea and just go with Cesaro and Nakamura retaining.

US Title: Bobby Lashley(c) vs. Apollo Crews

It’s a Payback rematch here but things have already changed. Not only has Lashley already figured out a better name for the Full Nelson than the Full Lashley, but the Hurt Business is good when they are fighting Retribution and bad when they are fighting Crews and his friends. That’s confusing enough, but at least the match should be a pretty easy result to figure out.

This is the best (or maybe worst depending on how you look at it) example of a match where they needed to have a title match and since there is no one fresh to challenge (because Ricochet doesn’t exist on pay per view), they’re going with a rematch from last time. Lashley should retain here as Crews already got what he could out of the title and there is no need to change it back.

Intercontinental Title: Jeff Hardy(c) vs. Sami Zayn vs. AJ Styles

It’s the monthly ladder matches because we need to have one of some kind about every month in WWE. Hardy is champion, Styles wants a rematch, Zayn looks like Fidel Castro and has his own title from five months ago (not six because WWE can’t count) so let’s put two titles above the ring for a ladder match. As usual, this has me worried about a screwy finish, and I can’t even say WWE wouldn’t go there.

I’ll play it safe and say Hardy retains here, but it wouldn’t shock me to see two people pulling down titles to make this a glorified elimination match. Zayn has no real claim to the title and while Styles should get a rematch, I think he might be the odd man out here. Zayn has been more interesting than he has in years in his current heel run (again, if you cut out the five month hiatus) and I’d like to see him get something going, but it doesn’t seem to be this. At least not with both titles.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Nia Jax/Shayna Baszler(c) vs. Riott Squad

Oh yeah this is a thing they’re doing too. This isn’t a match that has any interest from me as Jax and Baszler have already sucked the life out of the titles. I’m not sure what that means for the titles’ futures, but it isn’t doing much for their present. Lately the champs have mainly existed to beat up Lana because her husband is now working elsewhere, leaving this match as kind of an afterthought.

The champs retain here, as WWE sees them as more interesting than anyone else. At the moment, that does seem to be the case when compared to the Riott Squad, though having Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan slipping on one banana peel after another is getting a little tiresome. Maybe they throw in a curve here, but I have a feeling that the wacky tag team partners idea is going to continue for a good while.

Smackdown World Title: Roman Reigns(c) vs. Jey Uso

I wanted to put this one on last because it’s the best story in WWE today. While there might not be much doubt in who is going to win, this is a lesson in how to take something that should be nothing and turn it into something. They’re members of the same family, Reigns is the star, Uso wants to know why he can’t be the new big dog. If you have a sibling, there is a good chance you have been in one of their shoes before. That’s how you make a wrestling story work: by giving the fans something to grab onto.

I don’t think there’s any real doubt about who wins here. Reigns is Reigns and Uso is waiting on his brother to get back to action. What is going to be interesting here is seeing how Reigns retains. There is a case to be made for Uso to get in some offense and come off looking like a star, or there is a case for Reigns to beat him in two minutes, including a cold stare at Uso’s unconscious body. I’m expecting something in the middle, as Reigns turns it on when he needs to in order to retain, but Uso should get in a little something (emphasis on little) in defeat.

Raw World Title: Drew McIntyre(c) vs. Randy Orton

So what we have here is the champion who won the title at Wrestlemania and held it against some questionable opponents before escaping with the title against Orton at Summerslam, setting up a rematch at Clash Of Champions. Oh dang it I have the wrong notes here. That’s the story they did with Kofi Kingston against Orton last year. And people wonder why this company is seen as creatively bankrupt.

I’ll take….dang who will I take? I’ll go with Orton here, as I have a feeling they still want to do something else with both of them down the line. I’m not sure what, but I didn’t feel right putting McIntyre. The biggest problem for both is I’m not sure where they go next, but maybe the Draft can shake things up enough. That has to be coming soon, though so is the Cell, which could make for a good blowoff match. Orton wins here though, in a pick I have zero confidence in making.

Overall Thoughts

The more I think about it, the less I like this card. It feels like WWE is running on creative fumes at the moment and that isn’t surprising. This show is taking place on September 27 and is their third pay per view in six weeks (with Takeover running next Sunday night). It’s a case of WWE needing to let them have a breather but content is king these days and this is what we have to work with. This show has some matches which could work out rather well and probably will, but after two pay per views so recently, it’s a little hard to get up for this one.

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

Smackdown
Date: September 11, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

Things took a surprising turn last week as Jey Uso of all people became the new #1 contender to the Smackdown World Title. That could set up quite the one sided title defense for Roman Reigns but you never know. As for tonight, Jeff Hardy defends the Intercontinental Title against AJ Styles. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a Never Forget graphic.

We get a long recap of Reigns’ comments last week, plus Uso becoming #1 contender.

Here are Reigns and Heyman for a chat. Heyman talks about letting the cat out of the bag two weeks ago. Then at Payback, they took the Universal title. That took us to last week when Jey Uso captured the #1 contendership in the biggest win of his career. Heyman invites Uso to the ring and we see some photos of the Usos and reigns growing up together. Uso thanks Heyman for getting him a spot last week but Heyman says it was Reigns’ idea, with Heyman just following an idea.

Reigns talks about how they are family and Jey earned this. He has never had a chance like this and while Reigns is going to beat him up like when they were kids, they’re still blood. Uso can go with that but here’s King Corbin to cut them off. Corbin thinks this is a setup because it’s family facing off at the Clash. He can’t stand someone abusing their power. Cue Sheamus to interrupt this time to recap all of the strings being pulled last week. Uso doesn’t want to hear it and challenges them to a tag match. The brawl is on with Reins not moving an inch as Uso cleans house.

Here’s what’s coming tonight, including Jeff Hardy defending the Intercontinental Title against AJ Styles. Sami Zayn storms the production truck and wants the title graphic taken away from Hardy.

Intercontinental Title: Jeff Hardy vs. AJ Styles

Hardy is defending but hang on a second because here’s Sami Zayn during the Big Match Intros. They can have this match but it’s an exhibition. Cue Adam Pearce with security to get rid of Sami, who doesn’t like any of this. AJ jumps Jeff from behind but walks into the Twist of Fate. The Swanton misses though and we take a break. Back with AJ hammering away and sending it outside to stomp on the floor. Jeff sends him into the steps though and nails the Whisper in the Wind back inside. The basement dropkick into the splash gives Hardy two and Hardy sends him outside again. Cue Sami to jump Styles for the DQ at 7:34.

Rating: C. The match never had the chance to go anywhere because of the time but the triple threat at Clash has seemed pretty obvious for a good while now. I’m glad they didn’t let this go very far as there was no reason to let us get invested into a match that is going to go nowhere on the way to the pay per view.

Post match Sami hits the Helluva Kick on Jeff.

After a quick look at Reigns and Uso, Hardy collapses on his way to the back.

Post break Hardy is dehydrated. Styles storms in and wants Sami to stop all these shenanigans.

We recap Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura going to Raw, with commentary explaining the Brand To Brand Invitational deal.

Cesaro and Nakamura are in their room in the back but here are the Street Profits to say they wanted to check the show out. With Cesaro and Nakamura gone, the Profits eat their popcorn.

Hardy is getting better when Sami comes in again, triggering a brawl.

Lucha House Party vs. Cesaro/Shinsuke Nakamura

Non-title and we get an inset promo from Kalisto, who calls himself the leader and says it’s time to win the Tag Team Titles. Gran Metalik hurricanranas Cesaro a few times to start and it’s quickly off to Kalisto for an assisted splash. Nakamura comes in for some knees to the face and ribs for two, followed by a knee choke in the corner. Kalisto is sent outside but we cut to the Street Profits in the back where a party has broken out with Nakamura and Cesaro’s champagne. That means a rollup pins Nakamura at 3:33.

Rating: D+. They aren’t wasting time with this show and in a way that’s nice. I could have gone without the champs being pinned but at least it wasn’t clean. The champions vs. champions match taking place on Raw is a little weird but there is a good chance that they are setting up something for the pay per view. It would at least make some more sense.

Post break the House Party joins the party.

Here’s Bayley, with the chair she used to destroy Banks, for a chat. We look at the beatdown and Bayley says of course she loved every second of it. Bayley knows everyone wants answers but she is full of questions. Banks is watching so did she really think Bayley wasn’t going to be her next target?

Sasha wanted to be Two Belts Banks again and was just using Bayley the whole time. She knows it because Bayley was using her the whole time. Bayley used her to become Bayley Dos Straps and is now the longest reigning Smackdown Women’s Champion in history. After last night though, Banks is nothing to her. Good promo here, and the explanation is a nice twist on the usual formula.

Nikki Cross vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Tamina vs. Lacey Evans

The winner gets Bayley at Clash Of Champions. Nikki comes out first but Bayley jumps her during the entrance. Lacey knocks Bliss down for an early two and whips her into Alexa’s boots in the corner. Tamina gets taken down as well but Evans misses the slingshot stomp. It’s Bliss coming back in to clean house until Tamina runs her over. Bliss’ DDT is easily blocked and Tamina kicks her in the face.

Lacey is back in but her slingshot dropkick is broken up. Cross is back up for the first time and kicks Tamina leg off, followed by the running clothesline for two. Tamina and Evans are sent outside for a dive from Cross. Bliss helps Nikki up but gives her Sister Abigail on the floor as we take a break. Back with Bliss having slowly walked out, almost in a trance. Lacey kicks Tamina down and hits the slingshot elbow for two.

Tamina is back up to break up the moonsault but misses a charge into the corner. The double jump moonsault connects but it’s Cross coming back in to make the save. A bulldog/running clothesline combination gets two on Lacey but it’s Tamina taking Cross down. Tamina superkicks Cross but walks into the Woman’s Right. Cross is back up with the Purge to Lacey but she has to slip out of Tamina’a Samoan drop. The rollup to Tamina sends Nikki to the Clash at 12:00.

Rating: D+. I can’t believe how much of a relief it was that Tamina didn’t win here. That would have been one of the most annoying outcomes they could have had and it is far from outside of the question around here. That being said, they were on different pages near the end there and it looked pretty rough. At least Nikki won, but I’m not sure how much of a chance she has a the pay per view. Still better than Tamina though.

We get another vignette of the mystery woman, who is getting dressed and has long blonde hair. Sweet goodness it isn’t Eva Marie is it?

Otis vs. John Morrison

Tucker is at ringside and Miz is on commentary. Morrison starts by kicking away but Otis uses the power of jiggling. Miz gets up so Tucker cuts him off, only to have Miz run off with the lunchbox. Otis uses the distraction to splash Morrison and hit the Caterpillar. The Vader Bomb is good for the pin at 2:27. Miz does know that he himself said possession of the contract means nothing right?

We look at Big E. being taken out by Sheamus last week.

Otis reveals that Miz had a fake lunchbox. Then he bites the real contract.

Miz says his lawyer thinks they can find a loophole in the Money in the Bank contract now that they have it. In reality they have an apple core, so Miz calls in a favor.

Evil Vince Puppet comes in (Vince: “What the my home is going on in here?”) and says Bray has lost his trust. If Bray doesn’t cooperate, he’ll be fired. That’s why there is a new special advisor to the Firefly Fun House, Wobbly Walrus, who might remind you of a certain Heyman. Vince: “This is such good ****!” Bray: “OH NO!” To Be Continued.

Jey Uso/Roman Reigns vs. King Corbin/Sheamus

There is no Reigns to start so Corbin punches Uso down, allowing Sheamus to hit the ten forearms to the chest. Jey manages a Samoan drop to Corbin to set up the running Umaga Attack but Corbin rolls away. Sheamus comes in for White Noise (with commentary arguing over what the move is called). The Brogue Kick is loaded up but here’s Reigns, with the distraction letting Uso hit a superkick to Sheamus. There’s a suicide dive to Corbin and a superkick to Sheamus sets up the Superfly Splash. Reigns tags himself in and spears Sheamus for the pin at 4:02.

Rating: C-. There’s something awesome about this Reigns showing up and doing almost nothing to get a win. It’s such an obnoxious thing to do and suits him so well, including the subtle things like Reigns telling Uso to get out of the way so he can hit the spear. This has worked crazy well and Reigns has barely done anything since joining Heyman.

Post match Jey holds up Reigns’ hand, with the Universal Title, as Reigns stares at him to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. This was one of the more efficient shows that Smackdown has produced in a good while. They advanced stories, they kept things fast and set up a few things for the future. Above all else, this show flew by and I was stunned when it was halfway over. Now that being said, as well structured as it was, the content wasn’t all that great with a lot of the stories feeling pretty middle of the road at best. The Universal Title and Women’s Title matches are both feeling pretty small and the other story is about Otis’ lunchboxes. That’s not much, but the show was well put together, which isn’t that bad.

Results

AJ Styles b. Jeff Hardy via DQ when Sami Zayn interfered

Lucha House Party b. Cesaro/Shinsuke Nakamura – Rollup to Nakamura

Nikki Cross b. Lacey Evans, Alexa Bliss and Tamina – Rollup to Tamina

Otis b. John Morrison – Vader Bomb

Roman Reigns/Jey Uso b. King Corbin/Sheamus – Spear to Sheamus

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

Smackdown
Date: August 21, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

It’s finally time for Thunderdome as WWE makes its first venture outside of the Performance Center since the Coronavirus began. I’m not sure what to expect here and in a way that’s a nice feeling. WWE knows how to do something like this, but they could also screw it up very, very badly. Let’s get to it.

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

We open in the arena with lightning on the ceiling and the pyro going off (a lot of it too). You know it’s the Thunderdome because it says so on their big signs.

And here’s Vince McMahon with the virtual fans around the ring. Vince promises that you’ll never see it coming this week….and here’s the Fiend. After a very long entrance, they do the staredown but here’s Braun Strowman to interrupt. The lights start to flicker and here’s Retribution to surround the apron. Fiend nods at Strowman and then waves. There go the lights again and Fiend is gone, leaving Strowman alone with probably twelve members of Retribution.

They all come in and jump him so here’s part of the locker room for a failed save attempt. More of them come out, including some women, and they finally clear Retribution out (including one mask being moved to the side but you can’t see the face). Retribution bails with Miz coming in after everyone is gone. Strowman is helped up…and throws down Drew Gulak and Jimmy Uso, who had helped save him.

That’s it for the opening segment and the best thing I can say is a lot of stuff happened. The problem is how little interest I had as soon as Strowman came out, because he is still one of the least interesting top stars the company has had in forever. Also, nothing really happened here other than Strowman being a jerk.

Sheamus vs. Big E.

The locker room is still around the ring. They power each other around to start until Big E. clotheslines him out to the floor. A shoulder puts Sheamus into the steps and the apron splash connects. Sheamus is fine enough to come back in with a top rope clothesline as Cole wonders why Retribution has not delivered a manifesto (yes a manifesto) to explain what they want. The Irish Curse connects and the lights start to flicker as we take a break.

Back with Big E. hitting a belly to belly into the Warrior Splash. Sheamus hits a jumping knee to the face for two but Big E. grabs a Rock Bottom out of the corner. Big E.’s charge hits the post and Sheamus grabs White Noise as Matt Riddle and King Corbin get in a fight on the floor. Sheamus gets distracted and Big E. grabs a rollup for the pin at 10:07.

Rating: C. They were having a nice power match here but Big E. needs a distraction to beat Sheamus? Big E. winning more matches is a good idea and hopefully they can continue as we keep going forward. WWE could have something there with his push, but a fluke rollup on Sheamus after a Corbin distraction causes the pin isn’t exactly a breakthrough win.

Jeff Hardy, scheduled to challenge for the Intercontinental Title tonight, has hurt his knee. Someone may have attacked him, though I’m more surprised by seeing Hardy’s leg, possibly for the first time ever.

Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura jump the Lucha House Party from behind on their way to the ring.

Tag Team Titles: Cesaro/Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Lucha House Party

Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado are challenging for the Party. Nakamura and Metalik start things off with the former hitting a knee to the ribs. Another running knee in the corner gets two as we get an inset interview with Miz and John Morrison, who make Spanish jokes. Cesaro comes in for some shots of his own but Metalik manages a top rope hurricanrana. The tag brings in Dorado to pick up the pace, including the triple moonsaults to Nakamura. Metalik hits a big springboard dive to the floor but it’s Cesaro countering Dorado’s hurricanrana into a sunset flip for the pin to retain at 5:40.

Rating: D+. Nothing to see here but was anyone really expecting the House Party to be a serious threat to the champs? It’s not like Cesaro and Nakamura are likely to be the next great champions but they’re better than the House Party. If nothing else, this makes me hope that we could see something more from Kalisto on his own. He’s the best thing about the team and I could go for more of him.

Post match Kalisto yells at Dorado and Metalik has to break them up.

We look back at the opening sequence and see AJ Styles kicking Jeff Hardy’s knee out.

AJ says he was just trying to show some fire against Retribution, unlike Hardy. That’s the story of Jeff’s career in a nutshell though. He heads to the ring but stops to clink belts with Bayley and Sasha Banks.

Mandy Rose talks about how it has been a rough week for everyone. She knows that things are very dark right now but she needs to talk to Sonya Deville directly. Mandy turns to the camera and talks about how the Sonya she has known for years is still in there. She doesn’t know how Sonya is feeling, but Mandy wants to put this all behind them and get back to the way they were. They’re in a weird place with this story as there is no way they can just ignore everything that happened this week but it threw quite the wrench into the plans.

Here are Sasha Banks and Bayley for a chat with Corey Graves. After the mentioning of their nicknames, Graves gets straight to the point by asking if they’re splitting up. Bayley and Banks: “No.” Bayley knows Asuka isn’t winning both titles in one night and Banks doesn’t want any pot stirring.

Graves talks about how they weren’t sure who was going to go first and tensions seem to flare a bit over the idea that one of them would need some help against Asuka. Banks says no one can beat them both in one night so here’s Naomi to interrupt. They can’t decide who fights her first so Graves suggests a Beat The Clock Challenge to decide who faces Asuka first. Naomi dropkicks them both and it’s time for the first match after the break.

Naomi vs. Sasha Banks

Non-title and the clock is ticking. Naomi takes her down and slowly punches away before a headscissors puts Banks on the floor. Back in and Banks catches her on the ropes for the double knees to the ribs for two. The chinlock doesn’t last long and Naomi kicks Banks in the head. Banks rolls through a springboard crossbody for two but Naomi muscles her up to drop Banks ribs first on the ropes. A springboard kick to the head gives Naomi two more but Banks has had enough of this and grabs the Bank Statement for the tap at 3:39.

Rating: C-. Naomi can do some athletic things in the ring but it feels like they’re going from move to move instead of having some kind of flow to the match. She would do a move, they would stop, then she would do another move and they would stop again. The athleticism was good, but it didn’t exactly look great.

Naomi vs. Bayley

Non-title again and the clock is set at 3:39. Naomi is still banged up so Bayley knocks her straight back down and starts stomping away. The sliding lariat gives Bayley two and a clothesline out of the corner gets the same. Naomi is back with the Rear View for the pin out of nowhere at 1:55. That would be three losses for Bayley in the last four TV shows.

Post match here’s Asuka to say she will be the empress of every title. Banks comes charging and gets kicked in the head. Asuka goes to the ring and kicks Bayley around too, with Bayley seeming to limp a bit. She does remember to go back and grab her belts while leaving Banks laying on the ramp.

Jeff Hardy is cleared if he can get through the pain. He’s good to go.

Dana Brooke tries to offer condolences to Sonya Deville over what she went through this week. Sonya slaps her in the face.

Here’s Sonya on the stage to respond to Mandy Rose. There’s nothing Mandy can say to get out of this because they’re going to fight at Summerslam. No matter what happens, they’re having a No DQ match and the loser leaves WWE.

We look back at Alexa Bliss and the Fiend.

Nikki Cross talks to Alexa earlier this week and something was off.

Intercontinental Title: AJ Styles vs. Jeff Hardy

Jeff is challenging and injured coming in. During AJ’s entrance, Daniel Bryan pops in to say he thinks AJ is acting like a coward for only facing Jeff when he is injured. AJ goes after him but Jeff uses the bad leg to kick out of instinct. Jeff gets some boots up in the corner but AJ knocks him off the ropes, leaving Jeff in a heap on the mat. AJ goes to whip him into the ropes and Jeff collapses again. Back up and Jeff manages to backdrop him to the floor and we take a break.

We come back with Jeff hitting his sitout gordbuster for two but he crashes while trying to go up. The Phenomenal Forearm is knocked out of the air though and they’re both down again. AJ grabs the Calf Crusher but Jeff gets straight to the rope. Back up and AJ tries the Styles Clash but Hardy gets in a shot to the head with his knee brace, setting up the Twist of Fate. The Swanton connects for the pin and the title at 11:15.

Rating: C+. This was a match built around the story and that went well enough. Hardy winning the title back is a pretty big moment and while I wasn’t wild on them hammering in the story with the addiction stuff, they paid it off in a nice way. A rematch at Summerslam wouldn’t surprise me either and that’s not a bad thing.

Post match Hardy gets a quick interview and says he hopes this helps others. He gets cut off by his own music though to kind of kill the moment.

Post break, AJ is ticked off and rants to Joseph Park and Kayla Braxton about the loss.

Talking Smack returns tomorrow with Kayla Braxton and The Miz as hosts.

It’s time for the Firefly Fun House with Bray Wyatt talking about how love can ruin all kinds of things. It can turn a field of sunflowers into a grotesque wasteland. He gets a phone call, which he takes on his hand, which tells him to talk about Braun Strowman and Alexa Bliss for example. That brings us to Firefly Theater Presents, with Huskus the Pig as Braun (in a GET THESE HOOVES shirt) and Ramblin Rabbit (in a big wig) as Alexa. They know there is something between them…but Bray interrupts and asks what is going on around here. He gets rid of both of them and talks about how the Fiend can’t wait to get his hands on Braun. Cue Braun, who jumps Bray and drags him off, shouting that he isn’t finished with him.

Post break, Graves and Cole aren’t sure how Strowman got to the Fun House as no one has been able to get in there. Other than Seth Rollins last year of course.

We cut to the back where Braun and Bray are still fighting, with Braun knocking him around and then chokeslamming him off a ledge. Bray is seen laying on the concrete and a well placed ambulance pops in as Wyatt is out. Medics and referees load him into the ambulance and it pulls away, only to stop because the Fiend is inside. I wrote that before it happened but it was the only way that was going.

Overall Rating: C. So that’s the debut of Thunderdome and it was about what I was expecting: a somewhat more energetic than usual show but with a lot of the same stuff. Let’s see. We had the Braun Is Magic ending, a champ losing clean (again: third time in less than two weeks), a meaningless Tag Team Title match, Retribution doing their thing, and a Vince McMahon appearance that went nowhere. It was an energetic show, but not exactly something you need to see.

Now that being said, the Amway Center is a HUGE improvement over what we were seeing at the Performance Center. It felt big and important and those are some of the things the shows have been missing. They needed to freshen things up and that was accomplished tonight. I could go for more of this going forward and that’s going to be the case, which is a big improvement. The digital fans are a bit of a weird visual, but you forget that they’re there pretty quickly. Overall, not a great show, but a much better looking one.

Results

Big E. b. Sheamus – Rollup

Cesaro/Shinsuke Nakamura b. Lucha House Party – Sunset flip to Dorado

Sasha Banks b. Naomi – Bank Statement

Naomi b. Bayley – Rear View

Jeff Hardy b. AJ Styles – Swanton

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

Smackdown
Date: June 26, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

This one has gotten interesting in a hurry as the WWE is facing a horrible Coronavirus outbreak (I’m as shocked as you are) so it isn’t clear what we’re going to be seeing here. One thing is going to be the Boneyard match in its entirety, which will eat up over a quarter of the show. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a tribute to the Undertaker, with a pretty awesome highlight package.

The roster is on the stage to chant THANK YOU TAKER.

We open with a look at Undertaker debuting at Survivor Series 1990. The nearly silent reaction is about as clear cut as you can get that it worked.

John Cena and Roman Reigns talk about how awesome Undertaker is.

From Wrestlemania XXXVI:

Undertaker vs. AJ Styles

They are in a graveyard for this one and there goes the gong as a hearse pulls up to the gate. The casket is pulled out by some druids and it’s AJ inside for a good surprise. Undertaker rides in on the motorcycle to Metallica and AJ talks about Michelle McCool digging the grave. Undertaker goes after him so AJ grabs a rock, only to get sent into an open casket. Undertaker punches through a window and cuts his arm open but throws AJ on top of the hearse anyway.

Some right hands knock him off the hearse and Undertaker has a seat while asking if AJ wants more. After Undertaker quotes Clubber Lang (“You want some more? I got a lot more.”), AJ throws some leaves in his face and gets in a low blow. Undertaker stands up after some right hands and knocks AJ down again, this time into a grave. Cue the OC as this has turned into a western.

A bunch of light comes out of a building and the walls come down to reveal a bunch of masked men. They surround Undertaker and do the eternally brilliant thing of attacking him one at a time. With that taken care of, Anderson and Gallows jump Undertaker but he isn’t about to be hit with a shovel. Instead Undertaker takes it back and beats them down, allowing AJ to break a tombstone over his back.

AJ hammers away and calls him an old man but breaks his fingers on Undertaker’s head. They fight through a wall and both lay on the ground sound like they’re dead. AJ says Undertaker is nothing but Undertaker flips him off and says come on. A shovel over the back puts Undertaker down in a grave and AJ goes to the machine with a barrel of dirt. Then a light shows up behind him and Undertaker pops up to beat on him some more. AJ climbs up a well placed ladder to get on the roof of the barn, so Undertaker makes flames come up to keep him in place.

Anderson and Gallows are up there too, with Gallows being thrown off. Anderson gets Tombstoned onto the metal roof and Undertaker chokeslams AJ off the roof. Undertaker climbs down and asks AJ what his wife’s name is now. They’re just getting started as Undertaker carries him over to the grave. AJ apologizes so Undertaker picks him up and says AJ put up a great fight. Undertaker hugs him and says most people wouldn’t have given him that kind of a fight. Undertaker turns to leave….and then knocks AJ into the grave. Undertaker gets in the machine and pours the dirt on AJ for the win at about 18:30.

Rating: A+. I don’t know what else you could have wanted from this match. This went so far beyond anything resembling sane or rational and went into complete insanity territory, making it one of the most entertaining things I can remember WWE doing in a LONG time. Of course it’s not good but that’s the point. This was entertaining, and that’s a lot more than you are going to get out of most Undertaker matches these days. Watch this and be prepared to laugh quite a bit, because it’s like Final Deletion but with production value.

AJ’s hand sticks out of the dirt as Undertaker gets on his bike. He throws up the fist so more fire comes up on the building and the Undertaker symbol lights up to end the show.

As we came back from commercials during the match, Edge, Christian, Bret Hart, Kane and Ric Flair talk about how awesome Undertaker is.

Back in the arena, King Corbin talks about how Undertaker left after a thirty year career of kissing up to the McMahons. Undertaker was a charter member of Vince McMahon’s special club, which is why he was around for thirty years. He has been stealing a living from this company for twenty years and now people are out here chanting THANK YOU TAKER. That’s why Corbin wants to leave Mark Calaway with this thought: you suck. Cue Jeff Hardy for the save, because, according to Cole, he has a long, storied history with Undertaker.

Steve Austin and Kurt Angle think a lot of Undertaker.

In the back, Hardy says the Mount Rushmore of WWE would be Undertaker’s face four times. He’ll beat up Corbin tonight because he has a degree from Deadman U.

Alexa Bliss vs. Nikki Cross vs. Dana Brooke vs. Lacey Evans

The winner faces Bayley for the title at Extreme Rules. It’s a brawl to start until Cross rolls Bliss up for two and immediately apologizes. Bliss rolls her up for two as the other two are down on the floor. That lets Bayley and Banks insist that they would never turn on each other, even as Lacey throws Bliss into the barricade. Back in and Brooke’s cartwheel splash hits Cross for two.

Bliss comes in and gets caught with a handspring elbow in the corner. Lacey hits the slingshot bronco buster onto Bliss and Cross at the same time before taking Brooke down for right hands to the head. Brooke elbows Evans down though and hits a Swanton for two. Twisted Bliss misses Brooke so Cross dropkicks Brooke to the floor. Lacey hits the slingshot elbow for two on Cross but has to give Brooke the Woman’s Right. The distraction lets Cross roll Lacey up for the pin at 5:17.

Rating: C. Just a quick match to set up Cross as the challenger and that’s fine for a one off title defense. There is no reason to think she’ll win the title, which has been the problem for so many of Bayley’s title defenses for so long now. Then again, I’m sure they’re just waiting for the right time for Sasha. Totally happening any show now.

HHH and Shawn Michaels think Undertaker is alright.

New Day/Lucha House Party vs. Miz/John Morrison/Cesaro/Shinsuke Nakamura

Big E. punches and elbows Miz to start and there’s the apron splash. Dorado adds a top rope splash but it’s off to Cesaro, who has to flip out of a powerbomb. An anklescissors takes Cesaro down and Metalik climbs onto Dorado’s shoulders for another splash. Cesaro powers him into the corner though and it’s off to Nakamura, who has to duck Trouble in Paradise. It’s quickly off to Morrison, who gets dropkicked down.

Nakamura takes Kofi down to the floor though and sends him into the Plexiglas. Everyone comes into the ring for a big staredown and we take a break. Back with Miz and Morrison working over Kofi until Big E. makes the save. Kofi finally gets away and brings in Metalik to start cleaning house. Metalik gets in a running sunset bomb for two and Dorado adds a top rope shooting star press for two. Everything breaks down and the Golden Rewind hits Morrison, followed by Metalik’s rope walk elbow to finish Miz at 11:10.

Rating: C+. They surprised me here as I would have bet on Nakamura and Cesaro pinning New Day to set up the pay per view title match. They can still go there but Lucha House Party getting the win is surprising. The division needs some more depth and there will always be room for some masked high fliers.

Corbin says he’ll beat up Hardy, even if he’s a student of Undertaker. What did that teach him? How to be an alcoholic jailbird?

Here’s Braun Strowman to talk about Bray Wyatt making him afraid. One night they were sitting in the swamp when Bray saw a snake coming out of the water. Strowman wanted to stomp it but Bray said that was his friend. Bray got face to face with the snake and it bit him, so Bray laughed. It was then that Braun knew he was facing something evil, so he started doing the devil’s work. And he loved every second of it.

We get one of the old Wyatt feed interruptions before Strowman talks about how he still has some of that evil inside him. Braun can’t keep living like this so let’s go back to the swamp. He’s either coming out of this a broken man or knowing that he beat evil. Then he can feed Bray to the alligators in the swamp. Bray’s laughter is heard and Strowman laughs with him.

There’s your cinematic match and there is also your latest Strowman segment that doesn’t make me want to watch him defend the title. I don’t want to see them in the swamp, I don’t want to see them fighting each other and I don’t really want to see Strowman. What is the big appeal here? “Hey, now look where we’re having a match!” Maybe find someone interesting enough that you don’t need to do all these bonuses?

Batista and Mick Foley talk about what it means to face Undertaker.

Jeff Hardy vs. King Corbin

Corbin elbows him in the face to start and Hardy is rocked early on. The slow stomping and shots to the back have Hardy down but he manages to knock Corbin outside. Corbin drops Hardy with a single shot to the face, only to have Jeff send him over the announcers’ table. Back in and the Whisper in the wind misses so Corbin sends Hardy shoulder first post into the post. Corbin mocks Undertaker’s kneeling pose and we take a break.

Back with the roster around the ring and Hardy fighting out of a chinlock. Corbin knocks him down again but gets sent into the corner, where he slides under the corner and decks Hardy with the running clothesline. The chinlock goes on again but Hardy jawbreaks his way to freedom. Some right hands into a basement dropkick gets two but one heck of a Deep Six gives Corbin the same. They head outside with Corbin crashing into the steps, setting up the Swanton to give Hardy the pin at 12:17.

Rating: C. Not too bad here but it felt like a low level house show semi main event. As weird as it is to have Hardy suddenly be Undertaker’s representative, it’s not like they had a much better option given their limited circumstances. Corbin getting beaten up is always worth a quick glance and it worked just fine here.

Post match Corbin jumps Hardy again but Big E. Braun and Matt Riddle all come in to take him down. A big celebration, with Undertaker appearing on the screen (Cole: “The most intriguing character in WWE history.”) and Jeff kneeling in respect, ends the show.

Overall Rating: C-. It was pretty clear that this was going to be a weird one coming in and they did what they could with what they had. They didn’t have much of a crew here and that is completely understandable. With so many people who aren’t going to be around for a little (or maybe a long) time, they did what they could have and focusing on Undertaker was a good idea. It felt like a half regular show and half tribute show and that…..I guess you could say it worked. It’s a weird week, but they didn’t have much of a choice.

Results

Nikki Cross b. Alexa Bliss, Dana Brooke and Lacey Evans – Rollup to Evans

New Day/Lucha House Party b. Miz/John Morrison/Cesaro/Shinsuke Nakamura

Jeff Hardy b. King Corbin – Swanton

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

Smackdown
Date: June 19, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

With all of the insanity going on at the moment, it might be nice to have a wrestling show to clear the pallet a bit. We’re done with Backlash and that means it’s time to get ready for Extreme Rules. The big story tonight is the return of the Firefly Fun House, as Bray Wyatt is likely going after the World Title again. Other than that, we may have the debut of Matt Riddle. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of AJ Styles winning the Intercontinental Title last week.

Opening sequence.

There are wrestlers around the ring for Styles’ Intercontinental Title presentation. AJ is glad that everyone got their cheering right and he’s just here to say he told you so. Life’s rewards are for the people who go and claim the brass ring instead of waiting for a handout. He’s ready for the title presentation but Renee Young isn’t the right person to do it. Instead, AJ wants Daniel Bryan to do it himself.

Bryan gets in the ring and AJ says put it around his waist, but make sure not to do anything stupid. AJ says Bryan doesn’t have to do it if he’s a coward. Bryan finally puts the title on and says that last week, AJ was the better man. Bryan gets all fired up and says AJ is going to be a great champion. Imagine AJ vs. Gran Metalik or against Big E. (they both seem game), but AJ sees it a little different.

That’s fine with Bryan, who thinks Drew Gulak should get a shot because he beat AJ two weeks ago. AJ thinks Bryan is trying to get himself a title shot so he has to become #1 contender. The next person to challenge for the title is going to have to suffer the consequences. Cue the debuting Matt Riddle, much to AJ’s annoyance. AJ sees another human being looking for a handout. The fight is on with Riddle cleaning house so AJ says get a referee out here.

AJ Styles vs. Matt Riddle

The wrestlers are still around the ring. Hold on though as AJ says no shoes, no shirt, no title shot. The bell rings and Riddle hits a German suplex into the rolling gutwrench suplexes for two. Riddle hammers away on the mat and kicks him in the head for two more. More shots have AJ in the corner so he snaps off a dropkick to get a breather.

Back up and Riddle kicks him down in the corner but this time AJ hits a running clothesline to the apron. Riddle gets knocked into King Corbin and gets in an argument as we take a break. Back with AJ in control but the YES Kicks just fire Riddle up. A right hand to the head puts him down though and a snap suplex gives Styles two. AJ takes him down again and a dragon screw legwhip sends Riddle into the corner.

Riddle’s comeback is cut off with a shot to the leg but a jumping knee to the face rocks AJ. A quick suplex drops AJ again and the Broton gets two. Riddle grabs a rear naked choke but has to let go when Styles bridges back for two more. The Calf Crusher goes on so Riddle goes to the ropes, meaning AJ heads outside to get in Bryan’s face. AJ yells at Bryan before loading up the Phenomenal Forearm, only to get caught in the Bro Derek to give Riddle the pin at 12:53.

Rating: B-. That’s a good way to have a debut and the lack of a clean finish helped a bit. AJ has no one to blame but himself here and that makes for a good way to set up some potential matches in the future. You could go with Styles vs. Riddle or Bryan or maybe even all three (hopefully not), or perhaps Riddle vs. Bryan for the #1 contendership. It’s nice to have the options like that though and that’s what they did here.

Post match the lumberjacks get in the ring to celebrate with Riddle, who strikes his still awesome pose.

We get a long video on Sheamus vs. Jeff Hardy, including the build to Backlash and Sheamus beating him in the big showdown.

Hardy sits down for an interview with Renee Young and talks about having to put out one fire after another. He isn’t wild on Sheamus throwing his failures in his face over and over. Yes he lost the match but he’ll lose a bunch more in his career. The failures make him wonder if he is a bad father or husband but he knows he has to catch himself before the line of thinking spirals out of control. Hardy knows he is a junkie and an alcoholic and Sheamus us just another obstacle to be overcome on his road to redemption. He isn’t done yet.

Shorty G. talks about being ready to face Mojo Rawley, who is bigger and heavier than he is. He’s used to that though and Rawley, who is behind him, doesn’t know what it’s like to have eyes in the back of your head. Gable lays out Rawley with a right hand and heads to the ring. Nice idea, but Rawley was so close that Gable knowing he was there wasn’t that impressive.

Shorty G. vs. Mojo Rawley

They’re in the ring when we come back from a break (as they should be) and Gable goes straight for the ankle lock. That’s broken up so it’s a northern lights suplex for two on Rawley instead. Back up and Rawley hits a heck of a Pounce for two of his own, followed by a running splash in the corner.

Gable is right back with a German suplex out of the corner but the high crossbody is caught in a fireman’s carry. That’s reversed as well, with Gable grabbing a small package for the pin at 2:42. Cole calls that an upset and thankfully Graves cuts that nonsense off in a hurry. It’s Mojo Rawley. It’s an upset if he can figure out how to operate a spoon.

Here are Miz and Morrison for MizTV. After talking about the whole Universal Title fiasco on Sunday (Morrison: “You don’t change the rules before the big game!”), it’s time to deal with the canned ham in the room. Morrison: “Otis.” That brings out Mandy Rose as their guest, with Graves being annoyed at Cole for talking during the entrance. They get straight to the Sonya Deville discussion but she isn’t here to be insulted.

Mandy goes to leave but Miz stops her with a surprise. Cue Sonya (in a suit and tie), with Mandy asking if we’re still on this. Mandy says she’s done but Sonya says she can’t be done. Sonya rants about how Mandy has gotten all of these opportunities but what has she done with them? Win matches? Make someone better? Oh wait: made out with Otis by a pool so everyone can see.

Mandy asks why Sonya is still doing all of this and assumes it’s because she’s alone. Sonya says she’s not even mad anymore because she’s looking at the two of them and thinks the difference has to be their appearances. The only thing Mandy has is her presentation so Sonya is going to take everything Mandy has until she is as ugly on the outside as she is on the inside. The brawl is on with Sonya bailing as Miz and Morrison separate them.

It’s a shame that Mandy just has nothing to offer here because Sonya is nailing it and is telling a good story. This would be gold with someone like Trish, who could give something right back in the whole thing instead of just kind of standing there for the most part. Mandy is trying, but there just isn’t enough depth to make her work.

New Day vs. Lucha House Party

Non-title and Bayley/Sasha Banks are on commentary for some reason. After freaking out at New Day throwing their gear at commentary, Kofi and Gran Metalik trade flips to start. That doesn’t go anywhere so everything breaks down, with Big E. throwing belly to belly suplexes (Bayley and Sasha: “BAYLEY TO BELLY!”). The House Party hits some springboards to take New Day outside and that means the big flip dives as we take a break.

Back with Big E. splashing Dorado but getting caught in the Golden Rewind. Metalik comes in for the rope walk dropkick but gets dropkicked out of the air. Dorado’s top rope splash gets two on Kofi with Big E. making the save. Big E. shoves Metalik off the top and it’s Kofi’s running double stomp to Dorado. The Midnight Hour finishes Dorado at 9:35.

Rating: C. What an odd choice (not a bad thing) for a setup as you don’t often see the champs facing a team in a non-title win like this. What we got was good enough though, even with the rather bizarre commentary choice. It wasn’t bad by any stretch, but it was a weird situation all around.

Post match, Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura immediately run in to beat down New Day. The Swing into a knee to the head knocks Kofi cold and Cesaro and Nakamura head outside to celebrate with Bayley and Sasha. Cesaro yells at commentary about being here for eight years and being treated like this.

Dana Brooke, Tamina (free of the asylum), Alexa Bliss, Naomi and Lacey Evans are hanging out at the Performance Center and decide they should ALL be #1 contenders. They’ve lost Nikki Cross though and that seems concerning.

Sheamus is a bully but he wants to help raise Jeff Hardy up. He’ll do that next week as a proper Irishman should: with a proper toast.

Bayley and Sasha love that idea but here’s Nikki Cross to jump both of them. Alexa Bliss makes the save but Nikki wants Sasha right now. Bayley accepts for her.

Sasha Banks vs. Nikki Cross

Joined in progress with Nikki fighting out of the corner and hitting a dropkick. Sasha begs off and says she’s sorry before sending Nikki outside. Nikki catches her in the ring skirt and hammers away but Sasha gets in a shot to the face. The chinlock into the double arm crank has Nikki in trouble until she sends Sasha into the corner. Cross knocks her down but can’t get the Bank Statement, instead getting rolled up for two. They go to the pinfall reversal sequence until Banks hits a Meteora for the pin at 4:34.

Rating: C-. That was a pretty big coincidence to have Banks and Bayley out there to set up the match but it’s something other than arguing in the back to set up the match earlier in the night. Bayley accepting the match on Banks’ behalf should be a way to set up some strife between the two of them but I’ve long since given up on the idea of these two ever actually fighting so why bother thinking it’s happening now?

Video on Titus O’Neil’s charity efforts, which have earned him a nomination for an ESPY humanitarian award.

We look back at AJ Styles vs. Matt Riddle.

Next week: AJ defends against Drew Gulak.

It’s time for the Firefly Fun House. Bray has been gone for a long time so he has joined a book club, learned the new Tik Tok moves, learned how to raise the dead, learned how to knit, and taken over a reptile society. Ramblin Rabbit pops in to say Bray has just been sitting in the corner muttering about losing to Braun Strowman. After a clip, a distressed Bray thanks him for the reminder. It’s true that he lost, but in defeat, he learned that he went about this the wrong way.

We cut to the arena where Braun Strowman comes out (now with what sounds like a train at the start of his music), causing Bray to give him thumbs down. Bray wasn’t lying about raising the dead and he morphs into the Wyatt Family version, saying that in order to move forward, they have to take a step back to where it all began. Bray created him so now Braun needs to come see him. Follow the buzzards and run. The lantern is blown out to end the show. Does WWE really think that Strowman’s time with the Wyatt Family was that important? And they’re going to fight at the Wyatt Compound aren’t they?

Overall Rating: C-. Pretty meh show with only Riddle’s debut being noteworthy (making that probably the seventh most important headline about him this week). It’s too early to say if that is going to mean anything but at least he debuted strong. Other than that, totally skippable show here as we’re heading towards a bunch of rematches before we get to the Summerslam build. That isn’t much to write home about, but June/July rarely is.

Results

Matt Riddle b. AJ Styles – Bro Derek

Shorty G. b. Mojo Rawley – Small package

New Day b. Lucha House Party – Midnight Hour to Dorado

Sasha Banks b. Nikki Cross – Meteora

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

Money In The Bank 2020
Date: May 10, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Samoa Joe, Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips

It’s a special event this time around as the majority of the show will be taking place in the Performance Center but the two ladder matches, taking place at the same time because reasons, are to be held at WWE Headquarters in Connecticut. This could be anywhere between a disaster or fascinating, or perhaps a combination of both. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Cesaro vs. Jeff Hardy

This is Hardy’s first match in over two months. Cesaro grabs a headlock to start but Jeff goes old school with an atomic drop. Jeff sends him outside but gets dropped onto the barricade for his efforts. Back in and Cesaro chokes with the boot to put Jeff in more trouble. A middle rope elbow to the back gives Cesaro two and we hit the chinlock.

Jeff fights up and takes it outside again, only to be whipped hard into the apron. Cesaro stomps on the ribs even more and we hit the abdominal stretch. A hiptoss breaks that up but Jeff takes him down into another chinlock. Jeff hits the legdrop between the legs but gets crotched on top. An elbow to the face knocks Cesaro down though and Whisper in the Wind connects (with Hardy landing on Cesaro’s leg in a scary crash).

The Twist of Fate gets two but Cesaro blasts him with a clothesline. They head outside again with Cesaro hitting a running uppercut against the barricade but Hardy sends him knee first into the steps. Hardy’s running clothesline from the barricade drops Cesaro and it’s the Swanton finishes at 13:28.

Rating: C. That was a long one so maybe they were trying to get Hardy’s ring rust off. Cesaro made him work here and the match wasn’t too anyway. Hardy’s comeback story could be a long form one and that isn’t a bad thing. Hardy is a major star and someone who could add some much needed energy to the show. Hopefully it works out well, because Hardy isn’t going to have much time left to go.

The opening video focuses entirely on the ladder matches, with what sounds like an automated voice over talking about how you have to climb the corporate ladder. The risk is worth the reward.

Smackdown Tag Team Titles: New Day vs. Lucha House Party vs. Forgotten Sons vs. Miz/John Morrison

New Day is defending, Jaxson Ryker is here with the Sons and it’s one fall to a finish. Gran Metalik wristlocks Kofi to start but gets flipped down in a hurry. There’s a running shoulder to drop Metalik again but Blake tags himself in and sends Kofi outside. Morrison comes in as well and catches Metalik on top as everything breaks down. The super Spanish Fly onto everyone else puts everyone down in the huge crash.

Back in and Cutler elbows Metalik down for two and it’s off to Blake, who is thrown at Metalik for the hard knockdown. Elbows to the head put Metalik in more trouble until a tornado DDT gets him out. The hot tag brings in Dorado for a dropsault to Miz/Morrison for two. A hurricanrana gets the same with Blake making the save as Kofi comes back in. Morrison’s springboard kick to the head drops Kofi, who is right back up with the Boom Drop to Miz.

Trouble in Paradise is blocked so it’s off to Cutler to stomp on Big E. in the corner. Kofi is right back in again to take over on Cutler as the fast tags continue. Miz makes a blind tag as the double stomp/reverse DDT plants Big E. The Skull Crushing Finale gets rid of Blake as Morrison gets two on Big E. with the House Party making the save.

A springboard hurricanrana takes Morrison down and it’s a top rope splash into a rope walk elbow for two on Big E. Back up and Big E. sends the Sons to the floor so he can launch Kofi onto Blake. Cutler posts Kofi hard and Ryker tries to get involved, earning himself an ejection. Everyone is down on the floor until Big E. gets inside. Metalik springboards at him but gets caught in the Big Ending to retain the titles at 12:01.

Rating: B. This took some time to get going but once they got into the higher gear, everything got better in a hurry. New Day continues to hold the titles but at some point they need to have someone new take over the top spot. Kofi and Big E. are great, but how long can they be champions before that starts wearing off?

Lacey Evans is ready for Money in the Bank thanks to preparations and planning. She has memorized the layout of WWE Headquarters so she’ll win the briefcase and then take the title from Bayley.

Drew McIntyre doesn’t like the idea of being called an underdog. He looks like Goliath but he has definitely been in a David story. Seth Rollins is great but Drew has more heart, passion and desire. Plus the WWE Championship, which he isn’t losing tonight.

R-Truth vs. MVP

Truth seems to hear the fans shouting WHAT’S UP back at him. Before the match, Truth offers to teach MVP about ballin, including an explain of how scoring works in basketball. MVP isn’t interested….so here’s Bobby Lashley to interrupt. He’ll be taking MVP’s place, which MVP says is what’s up.

R-Truth vs. Bobby Lashley

Truth tries to take the night off too and accidentally slaps Lashley, meaning the pain is imminent. The HEY LOOK OVER THERE strategy doesn’t work as Lashley throws him into the corner and then across the ring for a bonus. The spinebuster and spear finish Truth at 1:43.

We get the Real Heroes video, featuring athletes honoring healthcare workers.

King Corbin says he’ll win the briefcase for the second time.

Bayley doesn’t want to hear about possible strife with Sasha Banks. No she doesn’t blame Banks for losing the tag match on Smackdown.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Bayley vs. Tamina

MVP gets swapped out but this match goes on. Good to know that WWE hates us. Bayley is defending and has Sasha Banks in her corner. Tamina doesn’t like being hit in the face to start and Bayley’s trash talk makes it worse. Some forearms give Bayley a breather so she goes up top, only to get shoved in the face. Bayley gets down and Tamina says bring it, meaning the chase is on.

Tamina gets pulled down so her leg can be wrapped around the post. More shots to the knee keep her in trouble but Tamina shoves her away. The superkick to the chest is countered into a kneebar, sending Tamina over to the ropes. Bayley can’t Samoan drop Tamina so she rolls outside for some water. After a few sips, Bayley throws the water in her face.

That earns Bayley a hard clothesline and a whip into the barricade, which even knocks one of the ladders over. Back in and the Samoan drop is blocked so Tamina superkicks her to the floor. Bayley is thrown over the announcers’ table before going back inside for the superkick and Samoan drop. Sasha’s distraction means no cover so Tamina grabs her by the leg. Bayley uses the distraction to grab a crucifix for the retaining pin at 10:28.

Rating: D-. That’s as good as this was going to be as there was nothing good about this. I still don’t know why WWE thinks we need to see Tamina on television whatsoever and the match was as terrible as expected. Tamina is not good at any of this and pushing her, even as a challenger of the month, feels like such a waste of time and resources. Just never do this again, please?

Post match Tamina tries another Samoan drop and gets chop blocked.

Seth Rollins says Drew McIntyre knows that it is his destiny to lose the title tonight. Drew is still willing to step into the fire though and Seth admires that courage. Tonight, Seth will take away his burden.

Quick preview of the Last Ride.

We recap Braun Strowman vs. Bray Wyatt. Strowman was part of the Wyatt Family back in the day but has since broken free and become Universal Champion. Bray wants the title back.

Smackdown World Title: Bray Wyatt vs. Braun Strowman

Strowman is defending and it’s Bray rather than the Fiend. Braun grabs him by the throat and shoves him into the corner to start. Bray: “Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning!” A clothesline puts Bray down in the corner and he agrees that Braun is strong. Strowman sends him outside again but the running charge around the ring is sent over the announcers’ table.

Bray gets back inside and laughs at him but the evil seems to be coming out. Cue Huskus the Pig to say Bray can do it, meaning it’s a DDT on the floor for Bray’s first offense. Back in and Bray’s running clothesline gets two, followed by a tornado DDT into Sister Abigail for two more. Bray looks shocked for the first time and screams a lot. Ref: “It was two!”. Bray: “I KNOW!” Another Sister Abigail is countered into a chokeslam and they’re both down.

Strowman sends him outside so the running shoulder can connect but Bray kicks him off the apron. As Bray laughs inside, Strowman comes up in the black sheep mask. Bray is thrilled because he knew this would happen as Strowman rips his shirt off. Strowman drops to his knees and poses in front of a kneeling Bray. They hug as the puppets pop up to celebrate Braun being home. Then Braun takes the mask off and steps on it, setting up the running powerslam to retain at 10:43.

Rating: D. I know the Wyatt Family was a big deal for a long time but it’s not like Strowman was that important of a part. The angle makes sense but it’s not like it’s something that is going to draw that much interest. Strowman still doesn’t feel like the next big thing or a long term champion but at least the they gave him the first title defense, which he certainly needed.

Post match Bray glares at him and the Fiend pops up.

The hacker pops up to say he sees everyone and hears everything. He is the truth and no one is safe. He presses a button and we see all kinds of wrestlers on his multiple monitors.

We recap Drew McIntyre vs. Seth Rollins for the WWE Championship. Drew won the title at Wrestlemania and now Rollins is coming after the title because it is his destiny.

Raw World Title: Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre

Drew is defending and Seth has new music. Rollins grabs a headlock to start so Drew hits a running shoulder to take care of that. The arm cranking doesn’t get Seth very far as Drew goes with more shoulders, followed by a running clothesline to the floor. Back in and one heck of a chop puts Rollins down, followed by an even louder one to make it worse. Seth gets smart by going after the leg before weakly sending Drew shoulder first into the post.

The suicide dive to the floor sets up a Sling Blade for two back inside. Seth stays on the leg with the half crab and then switches to an STF. A Crossface sends McIntyre outside so Seth hits the running knee from the apron. Another jumping knee off the barricade knocks McIntyre even sillier so let’s load up the announcers’ table. The third knee connects from the table and Seth goes inside to talk trash as Drew tries to get up.

Another suicide dive is countered into an overhead belly to belly onto the table though and they’re both down outside. More suplexes connect back inside and Drew kicks him in the head. There’s the top rope shot to the head but Seth rolls to the apron before the Claymore. Drew goes with a spinebuster for two instead but Rollins kicks him back down. The frog splash gets two so Seth goes to grab a chair. That gets thrown away so Drew blocks the Stomp with a Glasgow Kiss.

Rollins catches him on top with the superplex into the Falcon Arrow for two. The Stomp is countered again, this time into the Future Shock for two more. They head up again with McIntyre’s leg getting tied in the Tree of Woe so Seth can step on it. That’s fine with Drew, who pulls himself up for a belly to belly superplex. The Claymore is cut off by a superkick and the Stomp finally connects for two. Drew has had enough and Glasgow Kisses him again, setting up the Claymore to retain at 19:30.

Rating: B. That’s how this should have gone as you get McIntyre over with one big win after another. Let him stack up wins for a few months before giving him the really big test (and I don’t mean Brock Lesnar) with someone new. It’s worked for years and it will again, despite what WWE seems to think for whatever reason.

Post match Drew shows respect and says that’s what he needed.

R-Truth says he beat MVP, even though MVP has lost a lot of weight. He’s happy with his win but he has no one to celebrate with. That’s why he’s coming for the 24/7 Title, so Tom Brady better look out. Charly: “He means Rob Gronkowski.” In case you didn’t get the joke you see. Because if you’re watching this, you have to be a moron of course.

Men’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match/Women’s Money In The Bank Ladder Match

Men: Aleister Black, AJ Styles, Otis, Daniel Bryan, King Corbin, Rey Mysterio

Women: Lacey Evans, Nia Jax, Asuka, Shayna Baszler, Dana Brooke, Carmella

There is no commentary for this. Both matches are going on at the same time and they all get entrances to start in the lobby of WWE Headquarters. Well not Asuka actually as she is nowhere to be seen. Actually hold on as she’s standing on a ledge above the other five. The men start brawling in the gym as Asuka dives onto the other five and goes for the elevator. She gets the doors closed so Shayna, Carmella and Lacey give chase up the steps.

The men fight in the gym with Corbin throwing a weight at Bryan but hitting a mirror instead. AJ punches Otis as Corbin sends Bryan into some weights. Otis gets smart by putting a barbell over AJ’s chest. The other five run off and wind up near the bathroom. Brother Love pops out of a stall and tells Rey that he loves him. Rey: “I love you too but I’ve got to go.” They wind up in the offices and then get in the elevators, but Rey can’t get inside in time.

Back to the women with the trio going to the elevators and nearly being run over by the men stumbling out. The men fight into a room with ropes in front of the walls, where Bryan ties Corbin up for the kicks to the chest. Black is smart enough to use this moment to escape as Bryan kicks Otis down as well. Bryan runs off as well, as Doink pops out from behind a chair.

The three women run into Nia, who knocks Carmella into a meeting room. Shayna and Dana join them with Shayna and Nia knocking each other down. Dana sees a briefcase above the table and pulls it down, but Stephanie McMahon pops in to say that’s not the right one. And clean this place up. Carmella breaks a poster over Dana’s head and moon walks out but gets dropped with the Woman’s Right.

AJ has gotten up but runs into a Rey Mysterio poster, which he has to stop and punch. He goes hunting for Rey (passing a Roman Reigns painting on the wall, launching a thousand internet reports) but gets freaked out by an Undertaker painting for some continuity. AJ goes into an Undertaker themed room and we get flashbacks to the Boneyard match. Black pops in and kicks him into said room before shutting the door and smiling. Now it’s off to catering, where Paul Heyman is having a lot of food.

Cue nearly everyone involved in the match for a big staredown, because they need to yell at each other instead of going up. Otis stops for food but destroys a sandwich…..and declares a food fight. Heyman takes food to the face and it’s time to throw stuff at each other. Shayna chokes out Rey, who is then crushed by Nia and Otis. Nia throws Dana into a Coke machine and then powerbombs Carmella through the table. That leaves Nia and Otis (eating) to have an awkward staredown before going their separate ways.

Otis goes into the cafeteria and is VERY happy…..as Johnny Ace (in the white suit) scooters up. Johnny declares PEOPLE POWER and gets pied in the face. Asuka finally pops up again and yells at a janitor for not knowing how to get to the roof. The other women come in so she throws the mop at them. Dana slips on the wet floor and Nia beats up Lacey and Shayna. Black and Bryan are fighting near an office when AJ comes in to jump Bryan.

They fight into Vince’s office (complete with dinosaur skull), realize where they are, and are immediately ordered out. Well after they fix the chairs they messed up of course. Vince makes sure to sanitize before sitting back down to work. Outside, AJ says Bryan looked like a coward in there but it was AJ who fixed the chairs. The fighting continues but Black and Corbin join them, with the latter throwing Bryan over the big conference table. Corbin: “I’m going to the roof!”

And now we go to said roof, with Nia throwing Asuka into the ring. Lacey joins them and is dispatched in a hurry so Nia can load up the first ladder. Asuka gets sent into the ladder but it’s the Woman’s Right to put Nia down. Asuka drops Lacey and shoved the ladder down, straight onto Nia’s head for your first OW of the match.

Lacey goes up but is pulled down again, only to go up at the same time as Asuka. An elbow knocks Lacey onto Nia so Asuka is alone on the ladder….but here is Corbin to go up as well. For some reason Asuka knocks him down and then unhooks the women’s briefcase for the win at 21:30.

Otis is up there as well but breaks the ladder as he tries to climb. Corbin misses a charge into the corner so it’s the Caterpillar on the roof. Black is in to kick Otis down with Mysterio adding a top rope seated senton. Rey and Black go up at the same time but AJ is in for the save. With Rey down, Corbin throws him over the roof for the huge thud. Black gets the same treatment as Corbin seems to have murdered two people on television.

Bryan is up there as well but Corbin pulls him down and sends him into the ladder. AJ Phenomenal Forearms Otis and fights with Corbin on top of the ladder. They take the briefcase down at the same time but here’s Elias to break a guitar over Corbin’s back. AJ drops the briefcase though and Otis catches it for the win at 26:57.

Rating: B. This is going to be one of those matches where I need to think about it a lot in the coming days. I definitely had fun with it, but there were parts that made my head hurt. Some of the people disappeared for way too long to be believable (like some of the women who never made it to the roof) and it was a little too much on more than one occasion.

That being said, I has a great time with this and it was one of the more unique things I’ve seen in a very long time. One of the big criticisms of recent WWE is how similar so many things have looked. That was absolutely not the case here and they had a very unique match as a result. I was completely wrong about Otis winning, but there is a good chance he loses it or doesn’t get a World Title match somehow. Asuka winning makes sense, though I’m starting to worry about Shayna. Either way, this is definitely worth seeing at least once, if nothing else for all of the moving parts.

Overall Rating: B+. It worked a lot more than it didn’t, as the Smackdown singles title matches were the only glaringly bad spots. They needed to do something out of the box to shake things up a bit around here and this was as good as they could have done. I liked it more than I expected to and the main event delivered, though I’m worried about how boring things will get when they’re back to the same formula over and over again. The main event is worth checking out, but it’s almost even more frustrating when you know what they can do but just won’t do it most of the time.

Results

New Day b. Forgotten Sons, Lucha House Party and Miz/John Morrison – Big Ending to Gran Metalik

Bobby Lashley b. R-Truth – Spear

Bayley b. Tamina – Crucifix

Braun Strowman b. Bray Wyatt – Running powerslam

Asuka won the Women’s Money in the Bank ladder match

Otis won the Men’s Money in the Bank ladder match

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

Smackdown
Date: May 8, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

It’s the go home show for Money in the Bank and I’m not sure what else there is to set up. Part of the problem over the last few weeks is building up to a show that is centered around something likely to take place later. That isn’t exactly a thrilling destination, and the TV leading up to it hasn’t been all that strong either. Maybe things can change next week, but this could be a rough one to finish the build. Let’s get to it.

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

Mandy Rose, with Otis, and Sonya Deville, with Dolph Ziggler, are warming up for their match.

Mandy Rose vs. Sonya Deville

Mandy has a bad leg coming in but goes straight at Sonya in the corner and hammers away. It works so well that she does it again, sending Sonya bailing to the floor. Back in and Sonya hits a running knee for two and we hit the bodyscissors with Sonya shouting about how embarrassed Mandy should be. They head outside with Mandy sending her into the steps and then over the announcers’ table for a big crash. Back in and Mandy loads up the Bed of Roses but Sonya reverses into a rollup with trunks for the pin at 5:02.

New Day/Lucha House Party vs. Miz/John Morrison/Forgotten Sons

Jaxson Ryker is here with the Sons. Miz and Kofi start things off but everything breaks down in a hurry. The villains are sent to the floor and it’s a dive from everyone not named Big E. to take them out. Back from a break with Blake stomping on Big E. in the corner until it’s reversed into an abdominal stretch. The Warrior Splash connects and the House Parts adds three splashes of their own for two.

Kofi comes back in with a top rope stomp to the arm, only to miss a splash into the post. Miz comes in to stomp away, setting up Morrison’s hard running knee to the face. Now it’s Kofi being sent outside for a suicide dive and we take a break. Back again with Morrison hammering on Kofi but Miz gets kicked away….so the Sons pulls everyone to the floor to prevent the hot tag. SOS plants Miz though and it’s the hot tag to bring in Gran Metalik for a springboard flipping seated senton.

Dorado adds a spike hurricanrana into a 450 but the Sons make the save. The Midnight Hour is broken up and it’s the double stomp/reverse DDT combination on the floor to plant Big E. Back in and Dorado gets some rollups for two on Morrison but a backflip Samoan drop (geez) plants Dorado right back. Starship Pain misses and it’s a reverse hurricanrana to Morrison, only to have Miz slip in for the Skull Crushing Finale and the pin at 17:58.

Rating: B-. This was a nice long match where different people got to got out and showcase themselves. If nothing else, it’s nice to see a match about building momentum that might actually has something to do with winning the match on Sunday. I can’t imagine anyone but the Sons leaving as champions, but it was a pretty good match on the way there.

King Corbin is ready to team with Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura tonight but he’s looking forward to Sunday. He wants to see how far Rey Mysterio can fly off the roof and knows that Otis will clog the elevator like he clogs his arteries.

Here’s Jeff Hardy for a chat. He’s worked hard to get back here and can still hear the fans in his head. Sheamus is watching in the back and can’t believe this is what he was waiting on for all these weeks. Jeff says he can’t believe Sheamus didn’t interrupt him yet so here’s Sheamus right on cue. Sheamus doesn’t want to hear about Hardy, who has been around forever and done everything around here, wanting one more run. The fans are tired of him and his suspensions, releases and no shows.

Above all else though, they’re tired of the wasted potential. Jeff calls him a hater but Sheamus says he’s really a fan. When is the real Jeff coming back? Jeff says he should ask the same thing about Sheamus, who says Jeff’s flame has barely been burning for too long. Sheamus comes to the ring to extinguish it for good and the fight is on. Jeff slugs away and hits a Whisper in the Wind into the Twist of Fate. The Swanton connects and shouting on the ropes ensues.

Here’s Braun Strowman for a chat. It’s true that he debuted as part of the Wyatt Family but now he’s his own man. Now Bray has been sending him presents to remind him of the past but if Bray has something to say to him, come do it to his face. Cue Bray, with a very enthusiastic “HI BRAUN!”

Bray says that he created Strowman and knows what is best for him. He can teach Braun how to be special and all it’s going to take is the Universal Title. Bray needs to GET the Universal Title and he repeats the line, but Braun isn’t going to say GET THESE HANDS to prove a point. Bray hands him a mask and the puppets pop up to beg him to come home. Braun says he is home and he has the Universal Title. On Sunday, he’s going to keep it.

Maybe it’s Strowman’s delivery but I can’t get behind this feud. It wasn’t like Strowman was a major part of the Wyatts so having him worried about the past doesn’t quite work. The idea makes sense, but I’m not exactly buying into it. That and I have little confidence in Strowman retaining, so it feels like a given ending (even if it might not be one).

Daniel Bryan and Drew Gulak have a chat with Otis.

Lacey Evans/Tamina vs. Bayley/Sasha Banks

Sasha and Bayley play Rock Paper Scissors to decide who starts so Tamina clotheslines them out to the floor. Bayley winds up starting and kicks Tamina into the corner, only to get thrown down with ease. A Sasha distraction lets Bayley get in a shot to the leg and the double teaming begins. Lacey cuts Bayley off on the floor so Tamina can grab her by the hair. Since Tamina isn’t that good though, Bayley snaps Tamina’s throat across the top and we take a break.

Back with a double elbow getting two on Lacey but she’s over for the hot tag to Tamina anyway. Bayley gets crushed in the corner but the top rope splash misses. The Bayley to Belly plants Tamina and it’s the top rope elbow for two. Lacey comes back in with the Woman’s Right to Sasha, setting up the superkick to Bayley. Tamina hits the Samoan drop to finish Bayley at 13:54.

Rating: C-. Hey, remember all those other times where WWE tried to push Tamina and failed to understand that no one cared? This was the most recent. Normally I would say that there is no chance of her winning the title on Sunday but things have been so wacky of late that I could believe they actually go that insane route. Hopefully everything goes back to normal and Bayley retains, because no one deserves that punishment.

Here’s a tour of the WWE corporate headquarters.

Dana Brooke and Carmella are ready to win the ladder match.

The Hacker pops up to show us some clips of people getting ready for Money in the Bank. He also plays a voicemail from a woman saying that not only is it coming, but it is coming soon. The Truth Will Be Heard. This is the most elaborate hype I’ve ever seen for one of R-Truth’s songs.

Cesaro/Shinsuke Nakamura/King Corbin vs. Daniel Bryan/Drew Gulak/???

The mystery partner is…..Otis, as they spoiled about thirty minutes ago. Bryan front facelocks Corbin to start and brings it in to Gulak for a running dropkick. Cesaro comes in and gets planted with a powerslam for two. It’s off to Otis to wreck things, including a running corner splash to Nakamura. The good guys clear the ring and we take a break.

Back with Bryan flipping out of Corbin’s suplex and bringing in Gulak to slug away on Cesaro. Gulak flips out of the corner into some weird chickenwing/Crossface combination until Cesaro powers out. A clothesline puts Cesaro on the floor it’s the Gulock on Corbin until Nakamura makes the save. Otis comes in and jiggles off Cesaro’s shots to the face. Corbin sends Cesaro outside but walks into a middle rope clothesline for two. Not that it matters as Deep Six finishes Gulak at 10:49.

Rating: C+. Pretty standard six man tag without the most thrilling mystery partner after that opening segment. That being said, it’s kind of amazing that Otis of all people is someone who has grabbed the brass ring like this. He didn’t feel out of place here and that’s a cool thing to see. I can’t imagine he wins the briefcase, though I couldn’t imagine him beating Dolph Ziggler at Wrestlemania so I guess it’s possible. A very tiny bit possible, but possible I guess.

Post match the brawl is on again with Corbin setting up a ladder. A mini ladder match breaks out with everyone involved with Sunday’s match trying to climb. Corbin shoves Bryan off the ladder and onto Otis before pulling down the briefcase to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. Maybe it’s just the fact that the show was better than Raw but I enjoyed this well enough. One of the biggest problems with Raw at the moment is the lack of a reason to care about a lot of the people involved. While I don’t care for everyone involved with this show, most of them are at least somewhat established and you either know something about them or what they are trying to do. In other words, the show feels like it has had some effort put into setting everything up.

This show still isn’t great and it’s nothing that I’m going to think about by tomorrow morning, but it’s a watchable show with established storylines, characters and feuds. It’s fine enough and while it didn’t make me want to see Sunday’s show any more than I did coming in, I’ll take something like this over Raw any day. The quality might not have been as great, but it was so much easier to watch overall and that’s what matters most.

Results

Sonya Deville b. Mandy Rose – Rollup with trunks

Forgotten Sons/Miz/John Morrison b. New Day/Lucha House Party – Skull Crushing Finale to Dorado

Tamina/Lacey Evans b. Sasha Banks/Bayley – Samoan drop to Bayley

King Corbin/Shinsuke Nakamura/Cesaro b. Daniel Bryan/Drew Gulak/Otis – Deep Six to Gulak

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